RTHK: Music conductor Andre Previn dies aged 89 Andre Previn, the pianist, composer and conductor whose broad reach took in the worlds of Hollywood, jazz and classical music, always rejecting suggestions that his bop 'n' blues moonlighting lessened his stature, died on Thursday. He was 89. His manager Linda Petrikova said Previn passed away in his Manhattan home. His ex-wife Mia Farrow tweeted Thursday, "See you in the Morning beloved Friend. May you rest in glorious symphonies." Previn was a child prodigy whose family fled Nazi Germany. As a teenager, he found work as a composer and arranger in the musical sweatshops of Hollywood, mostly at MGM, winning four Oscars for his orchestrations of such stylish musicals as 1964's "My Fair Lady." Previn then abandoned Hollywood for a career as a classical conductor. He was named musical director of the Houston Symphony in 1967, and went on to lead such renowned orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and London's Royal Philharmonic. In 1998, his opera based on "A Streetcar Named Desire" premiered at the San Francisco Opera. Through his career, Previn continued to dip in and out of the jazz world. "I don't ever consciously change gears when I play jazz or classical," he once said. "It's all music." Arguably, no one ever performed at so high a level in so many different genres of contemporary music. But Previn's versatility came at a price. "Music critics have made it quite clear," he once said, "that any composer who ever contributed a four-bar jingle to a film was to be referred to as a 'Hollywood composer' from then on, even if the rest of his output were to consist solely of liturgical organ sonatas." Previn became as close to a household name as anyone in his field his fame burnished by his propensity for popping up in the gossip columns. He married five times, including glittering collaborations with Farrow and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. He was among those in Hollywood who early on experimented with LSD, and his memoir of his movie-studio days, "No Minor Chords," contained juicy revelations about everyone from Lenny Bruce to Ava Gardner. Previn never even heard jazz until he was a teenager. Born in 1929 into a wealthy Jewish family in Berlin, he was sent to eminent teachers to study classical music as his gifts became apparent. But the family was forced to flee from Germany in 1938, moving briefly to Paris before travelling to the United States. (AP) This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Hong Kong: Lau Kong-wah visits Wan Chai Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah toured a music school and a co-working space in Wan Chai today. Mr Lau first visited Haw Par Music Farm to learn about how the Grade I historic building Haw Par Mansion was revitalised into a music school. The school provides music training and community outreach activities to foster cross-cultural exchange between Chinese and Western music, art and culture. He then went to Mustard Seed Co-working Space. The co-working space is one of the participating properties under the Space Sharing Scheme for Youth. It leases shared space to young entrepreneurs at concessionary rent and provides startup support such as thematic seminars and workshops. Mr Lau also met District Councillors. This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. DAMASCUS, Feb.28 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Syrian refugees returned from Lebanon to Syria on Thursday, state news agency SANA reported. A total of 22 buses transported the Syrian refugees into Syria and delivered them to their hometowns in the countryside of Homs Province in central Syria, as well as the countryside of the provinces of Aleppo, Hama, Deir al-Zour and Damascus. According to SANA, dozens of batches of Syrian refugees have returned to Syria from Lebanon over the past few months after their areas were cleared of rebels. More than 1 million Syrian refugees are registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, while the Lebanese government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million. To facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, Russia drafted a strategy and presented it to the Lebanese authorities. The strategy aims at securing the return of 890,000 Syrian refugees to their homeland. Illinois Gov. Pritzker's Pension Plan Comparing Kentucky and Illinois Kentucky and Illinois have two of the worst-funded pension plans in the country, and theyre struggling under the weight of skyrocketing costs. Both are now considering drastic measures to ease the annual burden in ways that critics say will ultimately make the problem worse.In Kentucky, where teachers staged a "sickout" on Thursday over separate pension legislation, an unusual, if not unprecedented, bill is making its way through the legislature that would allow regional colleges, universities and other quasi-government institutions to leave the state's troubled pension system without immediately paying off their debt. Instead, they could pay it off over 25 years.Employers leaving the fund would be required to provide other retirement options for their employees, such as a 401(k).The legislation is being pushed by the presidents of the regional universities as increasing pension costs are squeezing their budgets and forcing them to raise tuition.But ditching the plan without a lump sum payout is a move that actuaries have warned could threaten the solvency of the $2 billion plan.We believe that enacting this provision will result in substantial sustainability risk as other employers lobby for the enactment of similar type legislation to reduce their pension cost, GRS Retirement Consulting said in a report last week.Jim Carroll, co-founder of the advocacy group Kentucky Government Retirees, is worried that the government employers that don't leave the pension system will ultimately pay the price.This makes a bad problem worse by incentivizing employers to leave, he says. You could end up with a bankrupt plan, and how does that help anything?Kentuckys state employees plan has been in a freefall for more than a decade, despite major reforms. Over the past 10 years, its gone from paying the equivalent of 6 percent of its payroll costs toward pensions to roughly half last year. (The average among all statesis less than 15 percent.) During that time span, the state plan has gone from having about 60 percent of the assets it needs to meet its liabilities to just 13 percent.A big reason costs have spiked recently is because the pension system changed the way it values its liabilities. Thats resulted in a roughly one-third increase in pension payments for government employers. The states regional colleges and universities have been allowed to phase that in, but theyre worried about future hikes. The schools say the strain has already forced them to increase tuition, which is making college unaffordable for middle- and lower-class families.The bipartisan bill passed the Kentucky House this week by a wide margin and is now before a Senate committee. Gov. Matt Bevin has stayed quiet on the bill, but he previously vetoed legislation that would have allowed government agencies to exit the state-run, county employees pension plan.In Illinois, pension costs are similarly overwhelming . Newly elected Gov. J.B. Pritzkers administration is pushing a plan that -- if it fails -- could result in Illinois being the first state in the modern era to be downgraded to junk status.Facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit, Pritzker wants to extend the schedule for paying off the state's pension debt by seven more years. He says the change would save $800 million a year.That sort of delaying the inevitable is exactly what got Illinois into its current pension crisis and, S&P Global Ratings warned this week, has been a key contributor to Illinois deteriorating credit position, which is one notch above junk. If it adopts the budget in its current form, the agency continued, it remains at risk of repeating a pattern of putting off hard choices while eroding pension funding.The plan would put a huge dent in the states pension payment, which is scheduled to be $9.1 billion next year, or roughly 21 percent of the budget. (The average among all states is about 6.5 percent, according to the Center for Retirement Research .) The state employees plan, which represents about one-third of that $9.1 billion payment, is in the worst shape -- over 10 years, it has gone from 54 percent funded to just 35 percent. Meanwhile, the state's annual payments into the plan have nearly tripled.Pritzkers administration is also looking at reducing the pension systems unfunded liability by issuing $2 billion in bonds and is evaluating publicly owned assets to sell or repurpose. Proceeds from bond and asset sales or transfers would go into the pension plan to pump up the value. The administration is pitching an income tax hike on higher-earners to help pay off the bonds.Analysts characterize those ideas as big risks that have a high chance of not paying off. Pritzker's budget plan faces long odds as conservatives criticize it for relying on new taxes, and progressives say it doesn't go far enough to tax the wealthy and corporations.Illinois and Kentucky share some key similarities that contribute to how they got here.For starters, neither state paid its full pension bill for years, which is akin to skipping credit card or mortgage payments and letting the interest pile up. While many other states did the same, Illinois and Kentucky neglected pensions to the point where they were already unhealthy by the time the recession hit in 2008 and severely damaged plans.Both state employees plans also have more retirees than active employees, which means they are paying out more money than they are taking in most years.But when it comes to turning things around, the states face different barriers.Illinois' obstacles are generally legal and political. Protections for worker pensions are fierce and, barring a change to the state constitution -- which is likely difficultIllinois will be hard-pressed to find ways to reduce its retirement liabilities.Kentuckys biggest barrier is time. Its state employees' plan has been cash-flow negative for more than a decade. Following pension reform, it reduced its liabilities and has for the past three years met or exceeded its payments. But according to actuaries, Kentucky must continue to overpay for years to keep the plan solvent. Any slight shift in finances could derail the fund. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations Denise Natali will travel to Iraq to discuss efforts to stabilize the country, the State Department announced in a press release on Friday NEW YORK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2019) Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations Denise Natali will travel to Iraq to discuss efforts to stabilize the country, the State Department announced in a press release on Friday. "Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations Denise Natali will travel to Baghdad and Sulaimani, Iraq, March 1-8," the statement said. "During her trip, she will meet with senior government officials and international partners to discuss stabilization challenges and opportunities." During her visit, Natali is expected to take part in a panel discussion at the Sixth Annual Sulaimani Forum at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani. The Assistant Secretary will also make a presentation addressing the principles of effective stabilization and the lessons that can be applied in Iraq. In late 2017, Iraqi authorities declared victory over Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia), which seized and held vast swathes of territory in the middle Eastern country for almost three years. Since the group's defeat in Iraq, Baghdad has been urging the international community to provide support to restore the areas of the country which were affected by the war. (@FahadShabbir) Hungarians living in Ukraine perceive Ukraine's bill on state language as a "total Ukrainization," which will further worsen inter-ethnic relations within the country, the deputy head of the Hungarian community in Kiev, Tibor Tompa, said on Thursday KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2019) Hungarians living in Ukraine perceive Ukraine 's bill on state language as a "total Ukrainization," which will further worsen inter-ethnic relations within the country, the deputy head of the Hungarian community in Kiev , Tibor Tompa, said on Thursday. Later in the day, the Ukrainian parliament is expected to hold the second reading of the bill, which expands the use of the Ukrainian language in public life. Under the new bill, the Ukrainian language becomes mandatory for state and local authorities, educational institutions and service sector. Last October, the Verkhovna Rada held the first reading of the bill. "The Hungarians clearly perceive this bill as a total assimilation ... This is a total Ukrainization," Tompa told the 112 Ukraine tv channel, stressing that the Ukrainian authorities did not consult with local Hungarians on the matter and that the bill made no mention of regional languages. Tompa said the bill was "destructive" and did not contribute to the strengthening of inter-ethnic relations in Ukraine. The Ukrainian-Hungarian relations deteriorated over Ukraine's 2017 education law, which practically eliminated the use of Hungarian and other minority languages at schools after the fourth grade. Several countries, including Hungary and Romania, said the law violated the rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine, while Moscow said the legislation was contrary to Ukraine's international commitments. Miami, FL (UroToday.com) The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the consumption of bladder irritants (caffeine and other fluids) in men and women with and without urge urinary incontinence (UUI). Data was utilized from the 3-day voiding diaries completed by the participants of the Symptoms of Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction Research Network (LURN). Only completed bladder diaries were used for data analysis. Researchers defined UUI as subjects indication of sometimes or greater to the question about leaking urine in connection with a sudden need to rush to urinate (LUTS Tool questionnaire).Total number of 461 diaries was used for analysis (see Figure 1). Women reported UUI more often compared to men (66% vs 34%, p<0.001). According to the presentation, participants who reported UUI and urgency had a higher BMI compared to the participants without UUI and urgency (30 vs 28, p<0.001 for UUI group; 29 vs 28, p=0.042 for the urgency group).Overall, participants with UUI had a lower fluid intake compared to the non-UUI group. UUI group was 45% less likely to consume caffeine (OR=0.55, 95 CI 0.32;0.95, p=0.03) (Figure 2).Data analysis shows that men and women who reported urgency on the LUTS Tool Questionnaire were 31% less likely to consume alcohol (OR 0.682, p=0.0675) after adjusting for BMI, age, and intake volume. There was no significant difference in the consumption of caffeine, carbonated and acidic beverages between urgent and non-urgent groups.This study showed that people with UUI consume a lower amount of fluid and more likely to reduce their caffeine intake than people without UUI.Presented by: Anne P. Cameron, MD, FPMRS, University of Michigan, Margaret E. Helmuth, Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Abigail R. Smith, Arbor Research Collaborative for Health H. Henry Lai, Washington University School of Medicine Cindy L. Amundsen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University, Ziya Kirkali, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Brenda W. Gillespie, University of Michigan Claire C. Yang, University of WashingtonJ. Quentin Clemens, and the LURN Study, University of MichiganWritten by: Hanna Stambakio, BS, Clinical Research Coordinator, Division of Urology, University of Pennsylvania, Twitter: @AStambakio at the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction Winter Meeting, SUFU 2019, February 26 - March 2, 2019, Miami, Florida Miami, FL (UroToday.com) Although uroflowmetry is a frequently used diagnostic test to assess voiding dysfunction, concerns exist regarding the use of a single uroflow test for clinical decision making. It is primarily used to screen for bladder outlet obstruction, and uroflowmetry results can be affected by bladder volume and voided volume, time of day (obstructive symptoms are often worse at night), as well as the timing of medications. Key aspects of uroflowmetry involve the maximum and average flow rate, voided volume, flow time, and flow pattern.To address the limitations that can occur with a single office-based uroflow event, Craig Comiter, MD, of Stanford University School of Medicine, and Edward Belotserkovsky, Ph.D., of BE Technologies, developed a novel mobiletouchless uroflowmetry application called MenHealth to assess lower urinary tract symptoms. They reported that the mobile application processed the sound of urine hitting the water surface in a toilet and calculated urinary flow rate and voided volume in real time.By using a mobile application to obtain data, they believe MenHealth can be useful for ambulatory and unlimited home uroflowmetry measurements, the data of which can be used to provide a more accurate assessment of urinary function. The data could be analyzed to account for varying volumes, varying times of day, and medication status, amongst other confounding factors. Furthermore, the application allowed for hand-free collection of data with voice commands to start and stop.Dr. Comiter presented the data of his validation trial at the SUFU Winter meeting on February 28, 2019. To confirm the accuracy of the MenHealth uroflowmetry application, the results of MenHealth were compared to a standard medical office urinary flowmeter (Laborie UROCAP II), which served as the reference.Two males, aged 36 and 58, provided a total of 50 voids with measurement of uroflow and voided volume (22 tests using UROCAP II and 28 tests using MenHealth application). The average maximum flow rate and average voided volume were calculated and their ranges were determined. Comparisons between the two devices demonstrated no significant statistical difference between the MenHealth audio uroflowmetry and the Laborie UROCAP II (p>0.05; see Figure).Of note, a uroflowmetry report containing average flow curve information and voiding diary could be sent to the physician or an HER database.In a separate validation trial, 101 independent testers evaluated the MenHealth application. 94% rated the application as easy or very easy to use. 57% reported they would test their urine flow every week or several times a week, and 74% responded they would conduct self-testing once per month or more. 84% of testers stated they would purchase the application if a physician recommended it. 100% of testers responded that they would definitely use the app if the cost were covered by insurance.Based on their study, flow curves and voided volumes obtained by the MenHealth application are similar to those obtained from a standard office-based uroflowmeter. Additional advantages to the use of the application include capturing more meaningful data based on multiple events in varying conditions. The authors also stated it is a hands-free application that is easy to use, and more hygienic than the standard uroflowmetry device, and that it virtually converts any toilet into a mobile uroflowmeter.Presented by: Craig Comiter, MD, Professor of Urology and, by courtesy, of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Stanford University Medical CenterWritten by: Judy Choi, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine @judymchoi Miami, FL (UroToday.com) Multi-channel urodynamics is widely used to evaluate the storage and voiding functions of the lower urinary tract. However, as many urologists will attest, the study is invasive, non-physiologic, and prone to artifacts, as reported by Natalie Swavely, MD, of Virginia Commonwealth University. Consequently, there are challenges regarding both the interpretation and clinical utility of urodynamics. Prior studies, for instance, have shown poor repeatability of urodynamic findings in short-term follow-up in healthy volunteers, as well as inconsistent demonstrations of detrusor overactivity in men with and without lower urinary tract symptoms.In a podium session at the 2019 SUFU Winter Meeting, Dr. Swavely sought to examine urodynamics results in normal, healthy volunteers to better define what constitutes as normal. Such findings could, therefore, be used to evaluate novel adjuncts or alternatives to standard urodynamics.Her group recruited 24 healthy volunteers (10 men and 14 women) to undergo standard multi-channel urodynamic testing. Eligibility was dependent on having 1 on all symptom questions of the ICIq-OAB survey and having no history of medical conditions or use of medications that affect bladder function. All participants were also required to complete a three-day bladder diary and undergo evaluation with uroflowmetry and bladder scans. Urodynamics was performed according to ICS standards, and all tracings were evaluated twice by an expert neuro-urologist in a blinded fashion. Urodynamics data was analyzed categorically for compliance, detrusor overactivity, bladder outlet obstruction, contractility, usage of straining during voiding, detrusor contraction, EMG activity, and flow.The mean age, BMI, and maximum voids were comparable across sex, as were ICIq-OAB scores for frequency, nocturia, urgency, and urge incontinence. All participants had at least 1 urodynamic abnormality with an average of 4.251.29 abnormalities per participant. The most common abnormalities included uncoordinated EMG activity (87.50%), straining to void (79.17%), intermittent flow (70.83%), and poorly sustained bladder contraction (60.87%).Based on their findings, the authors reported that normal, healthy volunteers have high rates of abnormal urodynamic findings, despite being completely asymptomatic. They, therefore, concluded that artifacts and the non-physiologic nature of urodynamic testing present serious challenges in both diagnostic interpretation and clinical utility of urodynamics and that there is a need to develop less-invasive and more physiologic techniques to more accurately evaluate bladder function.Presented by: Natalie Swavely, MD, VCU Division of Urology, VCU HealthWritten by: Judy Choi, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine @judymchoi Description GIS 1 st March, 2019: Mauritius will be hosting the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Africa and the Middle East Conference 2019 from 1st to 4 May 2019 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava. Some 400 delegates and youth from 40 countries will be participating. In the context of this conference, the International Executive Vice President of JCI, Mr Oumar Ouedraogo, is currently in Mauritius to take stock of progress as regards the organisation of the event as well as to meet with stakeholders involved. He also paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, yesterday afternoon at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis. In a statement following the courtesy call, Mr Ouedraogo indicated that the Conference is an annual event inviting delegates and stakeholders around the world to collaborate on local, national and international issues through impactful seminars, plenary sessions, trainings, workshops and general assemblies. The event is of great importance since it will focus on the most pressing issues of our times with focus on the African continent, he pointed out. The theme chosen this year is Business for a sustainable development. Moreover, the International Executive Vice President of JCI appealed to the Mauritian youth to participate and to bring a change in their community while doing things in a sustainable manner. The JCI Africa and the Middle East Conference 2019 The conference, which is the biggest youth conference of change-makers, will include interactive seminars and plenary sessions hosted by international keynote speakers. Networking events will foster sharing of business opportunities from the world to Mauritius and from Mauritius to the world. An Awards ceremony and Gala night will also be held at the end of the conference to reward the most deserving active citizens and projects in the African and Middle East region. JCI around the World With over 5 000 Local organisations in more than 100 countries and territories, JCI forms a vibrant international community of nearly 200 000 active citizens. All members belong to a JCI Local organisation where they focus on finding solutions to improve their local community. Local organisations are affiliated to National organisations where members coordinate activities on national and international scales. This structure links JCI members together to form a global grassroots movement creating a global impact through local actions. Wouldnt it be nice to know if the air is breathable in Los Angeles today? At the risk of sounding cliche: Theres an app for that.The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) released an IoS air quality application in November and plans to follow up with an Android version in May. The interactive tool gives citizens access to air quality information, weather updates, news about the SCAQMDs activities and other key data.The public uses our website, they use our phone number, but most people have a mobile device. This seemed like the easiest way for them to get this important information and to be a partner with us, said Assistant Deputy Executive Officer and Chief Information Officer Ron Moskowitz.The SCAQMD spent about $130,000 to build the app, devoting four months to development and a month to testing prior to launch. The resulting tool quickly proved itself as a means of driving citizen engagement.Over 3,500 users installed this app within the first four months of release, said SCAQMD Systems Analyst JiaYuan Li. An average of 350 sessions are generated each day, which means users are constantly checking the app throughout the day.Theres plenty to check. Users can tailor the app to report on air quality and weather in multiple locations in order to plan their daily activities. They can get targeted alerts when air quality becomes unhealthy and check on forecast air quality for the coming days.The SCAQMD taps a range of sources for this information. The data is collected through an EPA-approved and -regulated monitoring network, and the air quality index is calculated using EPA-approved methods, Moskowitz said. Weather comes from the online service OpenWeatherMap, and the app taps into Esri GIS data to locate fueling stations for drivers of alternative-fuel vehicles.An interactive map allows users to see their air quality data in real time, and the app also provides direct contact with the SCAQMD's 1-800-CUT-SMOG phone line.All these tools are being deployed to service some 18 million residents across the counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and Los Angeles.The interface is constantly under review, as managers seek to make the app ever more user-friendly. To tackle this challenge, a dedicated mobile experience team has been formed, Li said, adding that the group is made up of district analysts, programmers and user interface designers. The expressed purpose of this team is to continuously work with the users, bridging the gap between users and the agency.The planned Android release will deepen those engagements further. Even as the agency gears up for that next step, the IT team is looking at additional technology implementations. The team recently released an app to enable online permitting of dry cleaners, gas stations and spray-painting booths.It used to take days and weeks for an application to be submitted and approved. Now you can go online and within two hours you can get your permit, Moskowitz said. We are going to be doing a lot more with that, looking at a lot more forms. We want to continue to digitize our paper processes to make everything as easy as possible.In the longer term, the district is considering its options around emerging Internet of Things solutions. While the IoT vision of a sensor on every streetlight offers the promise of a significantly broader base of air quality data, Moskowitz is moving ahead with some caution.The problem with low-cost sensors is that they may not look at all the different pollutants we are looking at. On top of that there is a serviceability question, making sure that they are operational and accurate, he said. That being said, our scientists are evaluating these low-cost sensors and we expect that we will eventually be deploying these to get a more granular readout of the air quality.Air quality has been a longstanding issue in southern California, which in past decades was famous for its smog problems. Moskowitz remembers it well.Growing up, we had smog days where we were told to stay indoors because your throat and lungs would actually hurt from breathing the air, he said. Over the last 30 years, we have made significant improvements cleaning up air pollution, but there is still so much work to do. This app helps accomplish some of that work by providing the public with important information in a way that they can access really easily. Oracle is still looking for someone to lead public-sector projects after Jonathan Reichental, who was set to start the job in January, backed out to start his own business.Formerly the CIO of Palo Alto, Calif., Reichental told in November that hed been offered the job as global industries solution leader of Oracles public-sector division.has since confirmed that job title wasnt quite right Reichental was offered the job of senior director of public-sector industry solutions and he didnt end up taking it. Reichental said on Thursday that while he was scheduled to start at Oracle in mid-December 2018, he asked to postpone his start date until January. Then, through conversations with friends, family and Oracle over the holidays, he decided it was time for something else.After 30 years in the workplace, I thought, rather than jumping into yet another big job This will be an opportunity to potentially explore my own thing, he said. I thought this was a great opportunity for me to pursue my own business.Although he said it was too soon to give a name or other specifics for this business, Reichental said it would involve consulting, teaching, workshops and content development.My disposition for a big part of my career has been innovation, so Im going to focus on innovation strategy and adoption and understanding of emerging technology and trends, he said.Keith Rajecki, Oracles vice president of solutions for the public sector, education and research, said the role Reichental turned down was not created for him, and Oracle is actively seeking to fill it.Theres been no organizational changes or changes to our strategy as a company, he said.Rajecki declined to comment on the future direction of Oracles public-sector projects before this role is filled, but the new hire, whomever it may be, will coincide with a renewed push into public-sector software by the company in recent months. This included the hire of Peter Pirnejad, a former assistant city manager in Napa and director of development services in Palo Alto, as strategy director for Oracles new community-development platform. Comedy Magician Murray SawChuck found out this morning that illusionist Jan Rouven along with Raiding the Rock Vault will be moving to the Tropicana Las Vegas in November of this year. Murray has had a very successful run of 2 1/2 years headlining at the Tropicanas Laugh Factory Theater. He is currently the longest running headliner at the hotel since Follies Bergere left a few years ago. Murrays current contract with hotel goes through October 30, 2014. Murray is currently in talks with other casinos to move his show as Murray wont be extending his run at the Tropicana Hotel. Murray said, I welcome Jan Rouven to the Tropicana Las Vegas as its been a great casino for me and I wish Jan a very successful run there! Get into the Mardi Gras spirit at the popular rooftop bar and grill, BEER PARK at Paris Las Vegas, with Hurricane cocktails served all day on Tuesday, March 5 (Pictured: BEER PARK Hurricane Cocktail). Photo credit: Wilson Fox The colorful cocktail will be made with both light and dark rum, fresh passion fruit, orange and lime juice, simple syrup, grenadine and garnished with a cherry and orange slice on top. Served in a 16-ounce glass, the Fat Tuesday drink will be priced at $12. 18th century scolds bridle in the Markisches Museum Berlin. Made in many different styles, some husbands allowed their wives to pick the style they preferred and even adorned them with scrolls or gold paint. A lighter weight chain could be used to ease the burden on the neck and shoulders while being chained to the wall of their home. This item is one of the more disturbing objects in Henry Wellcomes collection. This example has a bell on top to draw even more attention to the wearer, increasing their humiliation. It was used until the early 1800s as a punishment in workhouses. (Credits: Science Museum London) 16th-century Scottish branks. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. The 'Bishops branks of St. Andrews. 17th century Dunfermline branks. An Iron scolds bridle mask used to publicaly humiliate. A Belgian Iron scolds bridle or branks mask, with bell, used to publicly humiliate and punish, mainly women, for speaking out against authority, nagging, brawling with neighbours, blaspheming or lying. The brank, or scolds bridle, originated around the early 17th century. The metal device passed over and round the head and was fastened at the back of the neck by a small padlock. The bridle-bit - a flat piece of iron, about two inches long and one inch broad, went into the mouth, and kept down the tongue by its pressure. A branked scold in New England, from an 1885 lithograph. Scolds bridle Medieval instrument against women chatter. Staged photo of a woman in the Middle Ages scolds bridle. The shows title piece (all works 2014) depicts five stiffly corseted women wearing scolds bridles. The artists predilection for hiding the faces of his figures deprives them of identities and safely relegates them into the anonymity of fiction. Peering out from behind their shackles, the eyes of these women urge us to look past any assumptions regarding their mindless acceptance of fashion or subservience. They stare at the viewer with accusation, resignation and defiance. Citation: Magenta Magazine Lauchie Reid. The Magenta Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2015. If a wife talked too much during the Middle Ages, you were often forced to wear metal torture devices on their face to serve as punishment by their husbands.Scolds bridle is a metal mask meant to bring upon public humiliation. It originated from Britain and spread to other European Countries and was used to punish and torture women till about the 1800s. Scolds bridle was assigned by the local magistrate to women found gossiping or quarrelling.The device was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head (although some bridles were masks that depicted suffering.) A bridle-bit (or curb-plate), about 2 inches long and 1 inch broad was slid into the mouth and either pressed down on top of the tongue as a compress or used to raise the tongue to lay flat on the wearers palate. This prevented speaking and resulted in many unpleasant side effects for the wearer, including excessive salivation and fatigue in the mouth.First recorded in Scotland in 1567, the branks were also used in England, where it may not have been formally legalized as a punishment. The kirk-sessions and barony courts in Scotland inflicted the contraption mostly on female transgressors and women considered to be rude or nags or common scolds.Branking (in Scotland and the North of England) was designed as a mirror punishment for shrews or scolds; women of the lower classes whose speech was deemed riotous or troublesome; often women suspected of witchcraft by preventing such gossips or scolds from speaking. This also gives it its other name The Gossips Bridle.It was also used as corporal punishment for other offences, notably on female workhouse inmates. The person to be punished was placed in a public place for additional humiliation and sometimes beaten. Though primarily used on women, the branks were at times used on men as well.When the branks was placed on the gossipers head, they could be led through town to show that they had committed an offence or scolded too often. This was intended to humiliate them into repenting their riotous actions. A spike inside the gag prevented any talking since any movement of the mouth could cause a severe piercing of the tongue. When wearing the device, it was impossible for the person either to eat or speak. Other branks included an adjustable gag with a sharp edge, causing any movement of the mouth to result in laceration of the tongue.In Scotland, branks could also be permanently displayed in public by attaching them, for example, to the town cross, tron or tolbooth. Then, the ritual humiliation would take place, with the miscreant on public show. Displaying the branks in public was intended to remind the populace of the consequences of any rash action or slander. Whether the person was paraded or simply taken to the point of punishment, the process of humiliation and expected repentance was the same. Time spent in the bridle was normally allocated by the kirk session, in Scotland, or a local magistrate.Quaker women were sometimes punished with the branks for preaching their doctrine in public places.The scolds bridle did not see much use in the New World, though Olaudah Equiano recorded that it was commonly used to control Virginia slaves in the mid-18th century. White men and women were usually placed in the stocks as an equivalent punishment. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc outlined several tasks that VBSP will have to perform this year PM Phuc said that as Vietnam refuses to leave anyone behind, the country must take drastic measures to realise the orientation on sustainable poverty reduction. VBSP holds an increasingly important role in realising such an important task. Accordingly, the prime minister set out a raft of activities VBSP must handle to effectively perform its duties. First is ensuring the effective management of policy credit sources through teaming up with relevant organisations to ensure capital is provided in a timely and simple manner, along with satisfying the publicity and transparency factors. This goes parallel to the effective implementation of Directive 40 of the Central Party Committees Secretariat and Decision 401 of the prime minister on strengthening Party leadership towards policy credit. PM Phuc stressed that procedural requirements should be made increasingly simple in the face of soaring capital demands to avoid losses and ensuring transparency to policy beneficiaries. Actual lending revenue this year must be higher than last year as the poor and policy beneficiaries are on the rise, he said, and the government is ready to support the bank in fulfilling the task. As the states commercial banks have engaged in reform measures, VBSP also needs to embark on reforms in order to favour policy beneficiaries under close supervision of the political system, said PM Phuc. The second activity is the importance of increasing inspections, furthering co-ordination, and constantly improving service quality to enable the whole system to effectively handle tougher tasks over the new development period. Third, it is a must for the VBSP system to augment the application of IT at work to boost efficiency, productivity, and service quality as well as reduce costs, especially the implementation of effectively-run projects on production and services. Next is working closely with professional organisations on consultancy and technical support provision to loan borrowers. VBSP both provides credit and instructs in organising production and business models at the grassroots level. It is also necessary to scale up efforts for the successful implementation of political tasks assigned by the Party and the state, particularly taking care of both the spiritual and material lives of all employees. The prime minister also urged relevant authorised agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Government Office, to join efforts to ensure timely capital provision to VBSP to expedite credit programmes. Local authorities are also told to pay due heed to policy credit and VBSP operations, and use part of their local budgets to supplement the capital sources to aid the poor and policy beneficiaries. This is a necessity as investing for the poor and in humans in general is of utmost importance, and in many localities, the party committees and local governments have paid special attention to this, said PM Phuc. With an extensive operation network across the country and holding direct transactions at nearly 11,000 commune-level transaction points, VBSP has mobilised more than VND194 trillion ($8.4 billion), including VND11.8 trillion ($513 million) of authorised capital from local budgets to lend policy beneficiaries, to provide loans worth over VND187 trillion ($8.13 billion) by the end of 2018. Nearly 6.7 million poor households, near-poor households, and policy beneficiaries have received loans from the VBSP system. The total loans from credit programmes under the prime ministers assignment have amounted to VND165 trillion ($7.17 billion). The credit quality has been improved constantly with over-due debts falling to a mere 0.78 per cent of total loans. After 16 years in operation, VBSP has provided loans for more than 34.1 million poor households and policy beneficiaries, helping over 5.1 million households out of poverty. The loans have helped create jobs for more than 3.6 million labourers, and over 3.6 million poor students have received loans to serve their study. Over 11.3 million clean water and sanitation works have also been built in rural areas. So far, only Vietnam Airlines has ordered wide-body aircraft that can handle a direct flight to the US, Photo: Le Toan Identified as an important market since 1996, the United States has been in Vietnam Airlines sights for a long time, with the national flag carrier opening a representative office in the US in 2001. Vietnam Airlines has been co-operating with major airlines in the US such as Delta Airlines to operate codeshare flights from Vietnam via Narita Airport in Japan and Frankfurt in Europe to 15 destinations across the US. Over the last 10 years, Vietnam Airlines has been actively preparing to weather technical and commercial challenges from such a route. We have been in active discussions with Boeing, Airbus, and other aircraft engine manufacturers about the appropriate aircraft required, those which are capable of operating nonstop from Los Angeles to Ho Chi Minh City even in strong headwinds, Duong Tri Thanh, CEO of Vietnam Airlines, told VIR. According to Thanh, the airline has ordered two kinds of airplanes, including the 365-seat A350-1000 and the 352-seat B777 8X, to serve the route to the US. Vietnam Airlines is also set to join Philippine Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and United Airlines, with the possible addition of Garuda Indonesia and Thai Airways in the future, in operating nonstop flights from Southeast Asia to the US. Entering the market Along with Vietnam Airlines, local budget carrier Vietjet also plans to expand its fleet with a wide range of aircraft in order to offer direct flights to American cities. In its plan, the company will open routes to areas with large Vietnamese communities in the US, such as California. So far, Vietjet has signed partnerships with major global airlines such as Qatar Airways and Japan Airlines to carry out codeshare flights to faraway destinations, including the US, To Viet Thang, vice president of Vietjet, told VIR. Despite being the newest domestic airline, Bamboo Airways has just passed the rigorous Air Operator Certificate after four years of efforts in accordance with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards, and will undergo the International Air Transport Associations Operational Safety Audit this year. In 2020, Bamboo Airways will operate a direct route to the US for sure, said Dang Tat Thang, general director of Bamboo Airways. Saving time is the main benefit of direct flights, particularly with long routes such as Vietnam-US. Although there is also a competitive advantage to direct flights, currently the domestic aviation industry has no aircraft capable of such a long route. Obstacles remain At present, only Vietnam Airlines can meet the requirements of wide body aircraft which allows for refuelling while passengers remain on the plane. The two other carriers, Vietjet and Bamboo Airways, plan to set up direct flights to the US but are facing stumbling blocks due to the regulations requiring wide-body aircraft. In addition, although Vietnam Airlines have made progress looking for suitable aircraft types, they cannot immediately operate the direct route because of the delivery schedule of the A350-1000 and B777 8X, according to Thanh. The ordered aircraft are not expected to arrive until 2021 and 2022, respectively. For the B777 8X, we will receive four shipments during the months of February, June, October, and November in 2022. So the earliest flight could be in June 2022. For the A350-1000, the first two aircraft can be delivered during the second half of 2021, so the earliest flight might happen at the beginning of 2022, Thanh added. Besides, even when Vietnam Airlines have these aircraft, it will be difficult to maintain a consistent number of passengers and goods on the flights. Therefore the airline expects losses initially. If we operate one-stop flights, the cost and flight time will also increase, meaning the competitiveness of the product will be weak, Thanh said. He also noted there is currently high competition within the US market from indirect routes of other airlines. Now there are about 20 airlines offering a VietnamUS route. The prices for these routes are very high. He still affirmed, Until this route becomes feasible, we will continue co-operating with airlines in the US to expand codeshare flights. On that basis, if the efficiency of the route increases, we will think about opening it. Asides from preparing the fleet as well as finding ways to compete with international airlines, the nations airlines will have to ensure security standards are maintained and prove their capacity to operate direct flights. Huge capacity in direct flights Statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism showed that in 2018, Vietnam welcomed 903,830 tourist arrivals from North and South America, including 687,226 from the US. In January 2019, the respective figures were 105,309 and 80,658. Meanwhile, according to the annual Open Doors report by the US-based Institute of International Education, the number of Vietnamese students in the US has risen for the 17th consecutive year in a row. In the 2017-2018 school year, the nation ranked sixth in the list of countries home to Vietnamese students, with a number of 24,325, up 8.4 per cent compared to the previous school year. Data released by Boeing showed the potential of any future Vietnam-US route, with 700,000 arrivals in 2017 marking an average growth of 8 per cent in the 2010-2016 period. Los Angeles and San Francisco ranked first and second among the top 100 origins and destinations of the Vietnam-US route, with a growth rate of 8.4 per cent. Ho Chi Minh City-Los Angeles ranked third, whilst Ho Chi Minh City-San Francisco was the 15th most popular route which currently has no direct flights. According to Airbus latest forecast for 2019, the market capacity of the Ho Chi Minh City-Los Angeles route can reach 136,000 arrivals and can climb by 18-20 per cent if direct flights become operational. It is clear that there is huge potential for the Vietnam-US route, with direct flights set to grow the market between the two countries. On February 15, the FAA announced that Vietnam complies with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards and has been granted Category 1 rating which allows Vietnams airlines to operate a direct route between Vietnam and the US. The Category 1 status is based on an August 2018 FAA assessment of the safety oversight provided by the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, and is a technical prerequisite for Vietnamese airlines to fly to the US. The Category 1 determination is a substantial achievement. The assessment and preparation process to achieve FAA Category 1 has lasted for nearly 10 years, from 2010 to the present. In order to maintain a Category 1 rating, a country must adhere to the safety standards of ICAO, the United Nations technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance. Electronics chains prowl drug trade, FPT shop - source: internet The latest report by market research company Business Monitor International Research (BMI Research) stated that the total value of the local pharmaceutical market hit $5.3 billion, including the $1.6 billion pharmaceutical retail market, which is held by 57,000 drugstores across the country. Especially, no single chain occupies more than 5 per cent of the total market share, according to Chris Blank, founder and CEO of PharmaCity. This means that the local pharmaceutical retail sector is in dire lack of leading brands. In fact, the number of drugstores under pharmaceutical retail chains makes up a minuscule portion of the 57,000. Specifically, PharmaCity runs 165 drugstores across the country, while Phano Pharmacy operates 60 and Vistar Pharmacy 20 stores. This fragmented and multi-hued market offers great opportunities for technology retailers, which have long experience in running store chains. After 15 years of operation, Mobile World Group (MWG) runs more than 1,000 thegioididong stores specialised in mobile devices, 700 Dien May Xanh stores specialised in consumer electronics, and 350 Bach Hoa Xanh stores selling food and necessities. Similarly, FPT Retail owns about 500 FPT Shop and F-Studio stores across the country. Vingroup, a local interdisciplinary economic conglomerate, also officially entered the pharmaceutical distribution sector, utilising its knowhow from operating more than 1,000 Vinmart+ convenience stores and 74 Vinmart supermarkets across the country. Vingroups establishment of Vinfa JSC as well as many deals between technology retailers and pharmaceutical firms in 2018 highlight retail giants migration into pharmaceutical retail. Early November 2018, Vingroup launched 11 Vinfa drugstores in Hanoi, six months after establishing Vinfa JSC and the VND2.2 trillion ($95.65 million) pharmaceutical manufacturing and research centre in Bac Ninh. Investing in the pharmaceutical manufacturing centre is part of our strategy to expand Vingroups operations in the medical sector, said Phan Thu Huong, chairwoman of Vinfas board of directors. Similarly, after acquiring the Long Chau drugstores at the end of 2017, FPT Retail (under FPT Group) planned to increase the pharmaceutical chain to 400 units by 2022, opening an average of 100 drugstores each year. At present, there are 24 Long Chau drugstores located across the country. At FPTs annual general shareholders meeting that took place last March, Nguyen Bach Diep, chairman of FPT Retail, mentioned that the Long Chau drugstores enjoy higher average monthly sales than other stores in the market. Specifically, the stores generate $136,000 in sales revenue each month, while PharmaCity makes $11,000, Phanos $18,000, and An Khangs $32,000. FPT Retails main rival, MWG, is also prowling the pharmaceutical distribution segment. Last year, MWG spent VND62 billion ($2.7 million) to own 49 per cent of An Khang Retail JSC. Currently, MWG runs eight An Khang drugstores in Ho Chi Minh City. When first announcing their entrance into the pharaceutical sector in 2017, Nguyen Duc Tai, chairman of Mobile World Group, said that the company expected to spend VND500 billion ($21.74 million) in order to purchase 20-40 per cent of pharmaceutical retail chains, then raise its ownership ratio to 60 per cent. According to Tai, as no firms occupy 20 per cent of the local pharmaceutical distribution market, there is no clear leader in the segment. Therefore, MWG planned to penetrate the market as soon as possible to beat competitors, and years of market research would cost the corporation valuable opportunities. In addition to giants, smaller retailers Digiworld and Nguyen Kim have set their sights on moving into pharmacies. At the beginning of last August, Nguyen Kim purchased 2.12 million Ladophar stocks (27.14 per cent), successfully raising its ownership from 24 to a controlling 51.14 per cent. Nguyen Kim made its first investment into Ladophar in late 2014 by buying 10 per cent of the firms capital. Afterwards, the technology retailer raised its ownership to 24 per cent. In addition to Ladophar, Nguyen Kim also invested in FT Pharma. Recently Digiworld and Nestle Vietnam also signed a strategic co-operation to develop nutritional and medical products. According to Digiworlds 2018 business report, its revenue from healthcare and consumer products hit VND75 billion ($3.26 million), up 50 per cent on-year. Apartments in Ho Chi Minh City remain far cheaper than those in nearby Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok As the upper class continues to grow and consolidate demand for high-end and luxury housing products, the market still has room for growth. The number of the so-called super-rich in Vietnam, and their general rise across Asia, has continued to grow over the past five years and shows no signs of slowing down. A relevant factor in this is the revised Law on Housing issued in 2014 allowing foreigners to own houses in Vietnam, which has created a demand for high-end real estate from neighbouring countries. When the policy came into effect in 2015, the percentage of foreign owners in many high-end projects reached its highest limit, featuring mainly buyers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. In the past few years, the luxury housing segment in Vietnam has attracted more and more foreign investors because of attractive profit margins. In the context that profits continue to rise with high price hikes and positive rental rates, the number of international investors and operators entering the luxury market will climb in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. These funders carry large investment flows and introduce more new high-end real estate models to the Vietnamese housing market. For example, for the first time, the branded residential area was introduced into the country. This relaxing real estate model, showcasing a new lifestyle classified as high-class, was recently brought to Vietnam by international hotel groups. More buyer involvement The combination of famous hotel brands and top design standards helps the quality of real estate products get recognised at a high level equivalent to the brand, providing a competitive advantage compared to non-branded high-end housing projects. Richard Leech, senior general manager of Commercial, Asset, and Property Service Management at Alpha King Real Estate Development JSC, said that central business districts (CBD) in Ho Chi Minh City are most attracted by wealthy and foreign buyers. That is why Alpha King is focusing business on high-end luxury accommodation with artworks, amenities, a prime location, and value-added services. We want to offer something extra special, something that is very different to others, Leech said. According to Neil MacGregor, managing director of Savills Vietnam, purchases by non-Vietnamese in 2018 reached unprecedented levels, with the vast majority of high-end projects hitting their 30 per cent foreign quota at launch. Ho Chi Minh City saw some prime District 1 projects launched for the first time, with talk of restrictions on any further residential projects in the city centre going forward. The much-touted oversupply that had been foreseen by many in 2017 failed to materialise as many projects were delayed, leading to feverish sales activity at the launch of those developments that did make it to market, MacGregor said. He added that the momentum of Vietnams residential market continued to be driven by golden demographics, the positive economic outlook, and the completion of new infrastructure projects. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are undergoing rapid transformation, continuing to catch up to regional peers. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh Citys apartment market is underwritten by strong occupier demand, whilst the high-end segment in both cities is appealing to both local high-net-worth individuals and international purchasers. High levels of capital inflows, increasing numbers of foreign developers, and suitable policies will continue this pattern of growth. The fundamentals have supported strong price increases over much of the last decade, despite a slow period from 2010 to 2014, said MacGregor. With a steady increase in average incomes and good financing packages available to domestic buyers, the market has witnessed much positive change. Moreover, high urbanisation rates and infrastructure development have provided depth to the market and opened up new areas of the key cities for higher-end development. Hikes still lower than rivals According to Savills Vietnam, apartment prices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are generally still lower than regional peers such as Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, despite much stronger growth rates in Ho Chi Minh City compared with these markets. The average price across the broader market is expected to continue to increase, albeit at a somewhat slower pace, with price increases linked to higher development standards and continued strong residential demand driven by urbanisation, the rapid growth of the middle class, as well as new infrastructure, MacGregor added. New house prices in Ho Chi Minh Citys CBD now average around $5,500-6,500 per square metre, a fraction of the eye-watering levels seen in Hong Kong where prices are at an all-time high. With many countries also introducing cooling measures, resulting in higher taxation, the relatively low taxation in Vietnam appears increasingly attractive to buyers both at home and abroad. MacGregor said, It is not surprising that demand for investment properties in Vietnam has increased significantly since 2015, when the new housing law opened the market to international investors. With the distinct shortage of prime property in Vietnams key cities, many buyers can see the potential for significant capital gains over the longer term. In the meantime, rental yields in excess of 5 per cent represent an attractive investment versus falling returns elsewhere in the region. Although there is still a long way to go for the Vietnamese property market to reach the dizzying heights of Hong Kong and Singapore, Vietnam is well on its way to becoming Asias next tiger, with strong economic growth, a rapidly growing middle class, and, for the time being at least, relatively affordable pricing, he added. Meanwhile, figures from CBRE Vietnam also revealed 2018 to be somewhat of a comeback for the luxury apartment segment, with a range of projects coming to fruition such as Cove Residences, The Vertex Private Residences, Alpha Hill, Grand Manhattan, and Metropole Thu Thiem. High absorption of 90 to 100 per cent has been reported in projects which are located in strong locations, such as the Empire City, Midtown, and Metropole in Ho Chi Minh City. Luxury projects are now offered at $8,000 per sq.m or more, with prices expected to increase an additional 5 per cent this year. Technology outbreaks The Fourth Industrial Revolution is set to bring new technologies and impact peoples working, shopping, and socialising habits. For high-end properties, high prices and more advanced technologies have been integrated into housing products, from design to promotion to operation and management. According to Olivier Do Ngoc, CEO of EZLand Vietnam Development JSC, Industry 4.0 is an inevitable trend that will affect the Vietnamese real estate industry both directly and indirectly. A number of developers have already started installing smartphone applications for their office buildings or residential projects to improve the customer experience or to facilitate information sharing, Do told VIR. Vietnam has been very active in approaching Industry 4.0 by planning to build green smart cities that will impact the way people live, work, and consume in the future, and that may have a fundamental impact on various aspects of the real estate market. At the corporate level, technology will become an even more quintessential part of an organisation, and companies will have to be rebuilt based on leveraging Big Data and other key knowledge gained from the development of Artificial Intelligence, information networks, and customer services, Do said. Today, the real estate market in Vietnam is still limited in the amount of consolidated data available online, but there is an emerging trend of databases listing market data including new projects, units for sale and rent, actual transaction prices, and other information helping to create transparency and also assisting both customers and developers in making informed real estate decisions. (TNS) Next Year's budget for the Kentucky counties of Owensboro and Daviess' 911 dispatch center will be about $1 million less than it was during the 2018-19 fiscal year.That sounds like a huge decrease, but it's happening because city and county officials added $755,000 to the 911 budget last year to purchase and install a new computer-aided dispatch system.With a vendor selected and planning underway to install the new system, the dispatch center won't have that expense on its budget when the new fiscal year begins in July."Almost the entire reduction in the budget is related to the CAD project," said Paul Nave, 911 director of Owensboro-Daviess County Dispatch.Earlier this month, officials sent an award letter to Tyler Technologies, selecting them to provide the new CAD system, and officials are currently negotiating a contract with the company. Although the money for the new system is in the current budget, installing the system and transferring data into it will likely take more than a year, Nave said.The computer-aided dispatch system sends information to patrol cars about incidents, such as the caller's name, the location and the call type. The CAD system is also used to generate reports about calls for service.The county has been using the current CAD system since the late 1980s, and the city began using the system in 2003.Nave said the vendor who built the current system is no longer providing technical support.While the system is still functioning, there is no way to repair the system if it breaks down, he said.The new CAD system will provide enhanced information to law enforcement and responders, such as photos and building plans."We are going to overload them with data," Nave said.The system will have plans for apartment complexes, businesses and factories. When officers are sent to a home for a call, the system will automatically provide them with a history of all the previous calls made to that home, something which now can only be done manually by a dispatcher, Nave said."When we are swamped and extremely busy, there's a delay getting that information to the officer," Nave said. "With the new system, there would not be that (manual) process, it would be automatic."The new system will also be compatible with "Next Generation 911" changes that are coming in the future.Nave said the state is developing a system, for example, that will eventually allow dispatchers to locate the cellphone being used to make a 911 call, instead of only a location based on the nearest cellular tower, Nave said.In Owensboro, that eventual upgrade will eliminate times when 911 cellular calls from near the river bounce to the Spencer County tower, which routes the call to Spencer County's 911 dispatch."That (will be) less transfers and less delays" dispatching responders to a scene, Nave said.Data will have to be transferred and from the old system to the new, which will take several months, Nave said."I'm estimating 12 to 18 months to go live, roughly" with the new system, Nave said.In this 911 budget for 2019-20, and future budgets over the next 15 years, $30,000 will be placed annually into a fund for future CAD system upgrades, or to replace the system in the future. The fund was created at the request of Daviess Judge-Executive Al Mattingly, Nave said."So when the CAD needs to be upgraded or needs to be replaced, the money is in the bank, and you don't have to ask each government to come up with the amount," Nave said. After the initial foreign investment surge that started in the 1990s, the Vietnamese aviation industry has seen incredible expansion. In 2000, only about five million passengers travelled on domestic and international flights in Vietnam. In 2018, the number of passengers travelling through Vietnamese airports reached over 105 million with Vietnamese airlines alone carrying 50 million passengers. Aviation experts have highlighted Vietnam as one of the top 10 countries for aviation expansion in the coming decade, and the fastest-growing in Southeast Asia. Indeed, the growth has been exceptional in 1993, only 20 international airlines were flying to Vietnam, and there were only about 20 international destinations one could fly to and from the country. Fast forward to 2019, there are about 60 airlines flying to Vietnam, and you can fly to about 100 destinations. In advance of the upcoming Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit in Hanoi, Vietnam has received more good news that should be a bellwether of even further expansion for its aviation sector. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week announced that Vietnam has been granted Category 1 (CAT 1) certification, signifying that the country satisfies safety and other conditions for direct flights to the US. These direct flights are expected to increase business and tourism travel to Vietnam and bode well for the economy. Vietnams challenges include ensuring that its airports can meet the increasing demand. The recent doubling of the apron space at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City will allow the southern commercial hub to land and park more planes, but more terminal space is needed. The new airport outside of Ho Chi Minh City may not be ready until 2025. However, recent developments in regional airports, such as the opening of Van Don International Airport in the north-eastern province of Quang Ninh and upgrades in Cam Ranh Airport in Central Vietnam should help the situation. Poised for more investment Decree No.92/2016/ND-CP on the aviation industry was issued in 2016 to help loosen some restrictions on the sector and has spurred development, but further liberalisation of the investment regime is needed. For example, there are still 120 types of permits and over 25 types of approvals provided for in the various regulations related to the aviation industry. Recognising that further liberalisation of the regulatory regime can boost investment and increase development in the sector, the government is considering revising Decree 92 a few years after it was issued. With more industry expansion, the regulatory framework must also be updated. In particular, Vietjets prominence in the sector and quick growth changed the face of the industry. In 2012, Vietnam Airlines held 70 per cent of the domestic market share. Now its market share is only about 50-55 per cent, according to reports. New entrants such as Bamboo Airlines have also started to take flight. Other established airlines may also undertake initial public offerings in the future to raise capital. The international route market shares of major carriers from East Asia have been affected by new entrants from the Middle East. The success of new entrants in both the domestic and international routes signals that Vietnam presents great opportunities to new players. In response to these factors, the Vietnamese government has recently published draft amendments to Decree 92. If developed into a law, the new amendments will open up expanded opportunities for foreign investors in the aviation industry. However, in one aspect the law will make it more difficult for new domestic entrants: increased capitalisation requirements. The government is expected to continue reviewing and possibly refining the draft for issuance soon. According to the draft amendments, the investment ceiling for foreign investment in an air carriage business enterprise will be raised to 49 per cent from the previous 30 per cent of the share capital. The largest shareholder will be required to be a Vietnamese company or individual. If the Vietnamese company or entity has foreign investment capital, the foreign capital may not exceed 49 per cent. The new Vietnamese-to-foreign shareholder ownership ratio contemplated in the draft is generally in accordance with Southeast Asian standards. For example, foreign ownership in Thai airlines is limited to 49 per cent. In Indonesia and Malaysia, local investors must own more than 50 per cent. In the Philippines, foreign investors are limited to less than 40 per cent ownership. The draft also proposes that there will no longer be a distinction between international and domestic-only carriers in minimum capital requirements. Investment opportunities The elimination of the differentiation in capital requirements between foreign and local airlines puts Vietnamese law in a similar position to Thailand, which also makes no distinction. However, Thai minimum capital requirements are far lower, as scheduled operators are required to have a fully paid-up registered capital of at least THB200 million ($6 million). Charter operators must have paid-up registered capital of at least THB25 million ($753,000). Other proposed amendments will also help liberalise investment. For example, the requirement that new airlines must be consistent with government master plans for the airline industry may be abolished. This change should reduce the steps in the application process and is one fewer regulatory hurdle. It is hoped that the new amendments can reduce the number of steps involved in the approval process, for example by eliminating initial pre-approval by the prime minister on an investment project. Other improvements in the draft decree may simplify processes for share transfers (only registration with authorities will be required). The proposed amendments to Decree 92 are also geared towards encouraging private investment in airports. Vietnam currently has about 25 commercial airports, including the recently opened Van Don International Airport serving the large northern tourism hub of Quang Ninh province, which is home to Halong Bay. More than 10 of these airports are international-ready, though only six or so are currently handling direct international flights. As mentioned above, the government is proceeding with the expansion of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, as well as the major investment in a world-class international airport in Long Thanh, outside Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi and Danangs airports have recently been significantly upgraded. Many regional airports servicing international flights, such as Cam Ranh near the south-central city of Nha Trang, are already attracting private investment. Recent private investment plans in airports in the central province of Quang Binh, and Dong Hoi city of neighbouring province of Quang Tri have also been announced. Thus, it is clear that there are opportunities in airport construction and services in Vietnam. Under the proposed amendments to Decree 92, an airport enterprise, whether establishing and maintaining a domestic or international airport, is only required to have minimum capital of VND200 billion ($8.7 million). Boost from FTAs The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will likely have a positive effect on the Vietnamese aviation sector. In the last several months, various European countries such as Spain and the Czech Republic have announced expanding co-operation with Vietnam to increase air travel. The various member countries acceding to the CPTPP have reached heftier commitments to each other on air transport-related services than with previous free trade agreement. This can include activities such as flight training, design and operation of airports, and ground-handling services in various countries. New rules on registration On January 23, 2019, the government of Vietnam issued Decree No.07/2019/ND-CP to amend and supplement Decree No.68/2015/ND-CP on registration of nationality and rights towards aircraft. Decree 07 will take effect on March 11, 2019 and is expected to help the development of the aviation industry. Currently, any aircraft owned by a Vietnamese entity must be registered in Vietnam. Under Decree 07, the registration requirement only applies to aircraft that are owned and operated by Vietnamese entities. One other change is related to the irrevocable deregistration and export request authorisation (IDERA) mechanisms. At present, Decree 68 is silent on procedures or applications for completion of IDERA documents. Decree 07 adds the terms and resolution of complaints/petitions and completion of IDERA documents. Other provisions relate to deregistration of damaged aircraft and registration of temporary Vietnamese nationality for aircraft. In this regard, under Decree 07, seriously damaged aircraft which can no longer be repaired or recovered can be deregistered from Vietnamese nationality. Also, under Decree 07 an aircraft registering for temporary Vietnamese nationality (for the purpose of, for example, being trialled in Vietnam) is no longer subject to the requirement of not taking any other nationality or having foreign nationality deregistered. With the new changes in Decree 07, Vietnam moves further into compliance with its obligations under the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (commonly known as the Cape Town Treaty). Specific guidance on the IDERA documents could provide more comfort to lessors with respect to recovering their assets in the event of default. Vietnams growing aviation industry will benefit from this, as airlines should have more access to leased aircraft. The draft amendments to Decree 92 and the issuance of Decree 07 are indicative of Vietnams overall revamping of its aviation regulatory framework, and show that the government is seeking to encourage more foreign investment to meet the countrys rapidly growing air transportation demand. Vietnamese and foreign-invested hospitals alike are investing heavily in infrastructure and technology, Photo: Le Toan Without having to wait in long queues or fill out a stack of administrative documents, Phan Van Truong (50) easily and quickly made an appointment for a check-up at Hanoi French Hospital (HFH) through phone in a February morning. At other hospitals I would have had to wait in a long queue to register. I am very pleased with the procedures at HFH, where the healthcare infrastructure and equipment are all cutting-edge, he told VIR. Several years ago, when I found out I got diabetes, I visited many famous local hospitals, but in the end I always walked away disappointed. I was enraged by the time- and money-consuming processes. I then decided to go to Singapore where I saw all the most advanced technologies, services, and therapies, Truong added. He has been suffering from diabetes for years and spent a fortune on travelling the region, to Singapore and Thailand and even to the EU in search for a remedy. He decided to stop going overseas and get treated at HFH two years ago. Many hospitals in Vietnam, especially private ones, are now equipped with advanced technology and offer high-quality services on par with regional standards. They pay more attention to satisfying patients to attract more of them, Truong said. Overseas treatment is good, but expensive for a life-long disease like mine. I chose home services as the quality of healthcare has improved a great deal, while the prices are much lower. Many of Truongs friends have come to the same decision and are satisfied with domestic treatment. If hospitals pay attention to technology investment, I think the quality will increase further and fewer Vietnamese people will decide to go abroad, he said. Making heavy investments HFH is a typical example of how local hospitals are making increasing investments to ride the waves of the 4.0 era and get ahead competition. Long queues have disappeared from many hospitals which now offer state-of-the-art facilities and innovative technological solutions. According to industry insiders, public- and private-run hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and other cities and provinces have been improving service quality in recent years, especially in 2018. HFH has made significant investments in renovation and expansions, as well as talent development. The hospital is going to open a modern building next month and has been purchasing state-of-the-art equipment, aiming to become one of the most high-tech and elegant healthcare facilities. HFH is now one of the leading integrated healthcare providers in North Vietnam thanks to this development strategy. One of the factors behind its success is that it has been set up in a hotel style for the comfort of patients. What is more, the hospital follows the Lean 6 Sigma (LSS), which has brought about excellent results: it reduced waiting times, shortened/simplified procedures, and eliminated most waste. LSS is currently the most advanced quality management and improvement system in the world. Hoa Lam Shangri-La Healthcare LLC, a joint venture between local Hoa Lam Services Co., Ltd. and Singaporean partner Shangri-La Healthcare Investment Pte., Ltd., and FV Hospital are also worthy foreign names that have made heavy investments in state-of-the-art facilities. Vietnamese-run hospitals are also picking up speed, with Vinmec International Hospital, the healthcare brand of Vietnams leading private-run conglomerate Vingroup, as well as Childrens Hospital No.1 and Medical University Hospital (both in Ho Chi Minh City) being the prime names. For example, Childrens Hospital No.1 is planning to develop more modern check-up and treatment facilities by 2021 under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, aiming to increase its image over rivals. Medical University Hospital also benefits from medical tourists who have been visiting Ho Chi Minh City in growing numbers to combine travel with medical care in recent years. According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), these moves have increased the attractiveness of the local healthcare sector, thus changing the minds of Truong and the majority of Vietnamese who previously opted for overseas services. We know that Vietnamese people spend billions of US dollars on overseas treatment, but now the trend seems to change. The sector has won the confidence of non-Vietnamese patients, too. Statistics showed that last year around 300,000 non-Vietnamese nationals received examination and treatment in Vietnam, over 50,000 of whom were inpatients, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Health, told VIR. We are trying to increase the number of non-Vietnamese for checks-up and examination and treatment, while attracting more foreigners working and living in Vietnam, she added. Challenges ahead Considering it as its second topmost task in 2019, right after the Lunar New Year holiday, Tien and other leaders of the MoH began working on improving the quality of healthcare services to attract patients. Accordingly, many measures were discussed and tasks were then assigned to specific units. To achieve the target, the minister said that it is necessary to comprehensively increase the quality of hospitals and clinics in communes, districts, and provinces to ease the overload at central hospitals. Central hospitals are still overloaded treating common diseases such as appendicitis, stomachache, headache, and others, thus damaging their image. These diseases should be treated at provincial, district, and communal hospitals, allowing central hospitals to focus on the application of high-tech and offering customised services, Tien added. However, this is not an easy task. According to experts, although both private and public hospitals have made efforts to improve service quality in 2018 to attract patients and increase revenue, there still glaring shortcomings. There is still a lack of transparency in the reliability and safety index, as many mistakes, medical complications, and nosocomial infections have not been comprehensively assessed and publicised. The current indexes are only external indicators, they said. There should be an independent and reliable unit to study, assess, and publicly cover hospital governance and service quality. Another barrier is the lack of a proper legal framework for PPP investment in the healthcare sector. While the MoH said that it is working on a circular guiding the development of PPP projects in the sector in line with Decree 63/2018/ND-CP on PPP legal framwork, and is expected to issue it within this year, no specific deadline has been announced so far. PPP is an optimal solution for hospitals to achieve financial autonomy. So far, PPP co-operation has helped hospitals improve service quality, as can be seen through the examples of the establishment of the Health Evaluation and Promotion Centre at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018 between the hospital and Japans International University of Health and Welfare, the dormitory project at Haiphong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the dormitory project at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, and the build-transfer project to build new headquarters for Hanoi University of Public Health. With these challenges, the MoH, its units, and hospitals will have to do their utmost to keep todays achievements and retain the confidence of Truong and other Vietnamese patients, thus preventing the drain of money in the rapidly changing world of healthcare. Medical tourism model full of potential in Vietnam, illustration photo source: internet According to Frost & Sullivan, a leading global research and consulting firm, the value of the global medical tourism market reached approximately $78.5 billion in 2010. This figure in Southeast Asia was about $4.4 billion in 2012. Despite these promising indicators, Vietnam is still showing little interest in this type of tourism. At a while the Ministry of Health reported that about 40,000 Vietnamese go abroad every year to receive medical treatment, spending a total of $3 billion on average per year. To catch up with the trend, local investors are looking to build international standard hospitals around popular tourist attractions such as Vingroup with its Vinmec International Hospital in Phu Quoc, Vung Tau, Halong, Nha Trang, Do Son, and Danang along with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. As these medical centres have sprung up, they have welcomed thousands of local and international visitors and patients coming to relax and enjoy treatment. Many tourists wishing to beautify their looks also enjoy reputable beauty salons located in Vietnam due to their cheap price in comparison with their home country. Records on the worlds medical tourism business show many Asian countries such as India, Thailand, and Singapore enjoy high revenue after growing a successful model. Singapore currently possesses the best medical system globally with a team of excellent experts and doctors, as well as advanced equipment. Whilst Thailand is widely considered a powerhouse thanks to its well known tourism base in addition to a team of skilful well-trained doctors. In recent years, medical tourists in Thailand have only accounted for 9 percent of the total number of visitors to the country yearly, an average of 1.5 million visitors. Malaysia earned $292 million from medical tourism in 2017, up 30 per cent on-year. In comparison to those countries Vietnam enjoys many strengths, such as in the fields of Oriental herbal medicine, dentistry, and aesthetic treatment. Such treatments come at a reasonable cost, while the nation is able to combine these practices with rich and stunning natural landscapes. However, Le Duc Khang, lecturer of Philosophy of Traditional Medicine at Vietnam University of Traditional Medicine, told VIR, Healthcare in Vietnam has been showing great improvements, but we still lag behind. The country needs to do a lot to develop healthcare tours. Firstly, medical standards and service quality must improve nationally. Secondly, doctors must be competent in foreign languages so they are able to clearly communicate with patients. And it is important that the administrative procedures are streamlined, so that it becomes a simpler process for patients. Khang also stressed that Vietnam should call for greater investment from domestic and foreign teams of medical science in hi-tech and high-quality treatment centres. Hopefully, Industry 4.0 will help Vietnam traditional medicine to strengthen its position within the healthcare system. Based on experts in the tourism industry, the nation has a number of long-standing traditional medical practices and a huge number of experienced doctors. Among the types of traditional medicine offered, acupuncture is one of the best renowned among visitors. The countrys skill in acupuncture became known throughout the world via the story of Nguyen Tai Thu, a professor, doctor, and expert in acupuncture treatment. He used to collaborate with Swedens NTT Acupuncture Medical Tourism International Group to promote and operate a number of acupuncture tours. The tours saw qigong, a system of co-ordinated body postures and movements, breathing, and meditation used for purposes of health, introduced to international visitors. However, with only a few hundred visitors per year, the revenue from the medical tourism was negligible. Nguyen Van My, chairman of Lua Viet Tours, stated that traditional medical tour has potential but needs to be diversified. For example, instead of designing a tour taking visitors to sites, having health check-ups, and purchasing medicine on such streets as Luong Nhu Hoc, Trieu Quang Phuc, or Hai Thuong Lan Ong in Ho Chi Minh Citys District 5, leisure and health tourism could be more intertwined. These tours could take place with a private Oriental medicine doctors, or feature a tour where tourists can learn about Vietnamese herbal medicine, how they are planted and processed. Currently, there are no Southeast Asia countries that have yet to develop Oriental medical tourism products, though this method is receiving more and more attention, My said. In order to attract more foreign tourists, medical centres nationwide are in need of modern and professional facilities and equipment, along with teams of well-trained nurses and doctors. Moreover these medical centres and hospitals must also co-operate with travel agencies to create and promote more unique tourism products. Gaining traction in 2017, the nations healthcare sector saw a string of mergers and acquisitions in 2018 Photo: Le Toan In 2018, the sector witnessed a slew of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) spanning across different segments, from hospitals and clinics to pharmaceutical firms. Hoan My Medical Corporation, backed by Singaporean firm Richard Chandler, bought out Hanh Phuc Hospital and Huu Nghi General Clinic. These deals helped Hoan My expand its nationwide network and improve maternity services, while the smaller clinics benefit from the firms large customer database. Elsewhere, South Koreas Sun Medical Center bought out Nha Khoa My and went down in history as the first buyer of a Vietnamese dental clinic. According to Vietnam Dental Tourism JSC, the sector is poised for strong growth in the coming years, especially with overseas tourists. The cost of dental services in Vietnam is half of developed countries, while the quality is considered to be similar. By joining forces, Sun Medical Center and Nha Khoa My said they hope to cater to both local and non-local patients. The most active segment for healthcare M&A last year was pharmaceuticals, as foreign investors deepened their partnership with local firms. Japans Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which had already owned 24.5 per cent of DHG Pharmaceutical JSC since 2016, ramped up its stake at the Vietnamese drugmaker to 34 per cent. It is estimated that Taisho paid VND319 billion ($13.9 million) for these new shares. It seems that the path to take over DHG Pharmaceutical is now getting much easier for Taisho, after the Vietnamese firm scrapped its foreign ownership limit (FOL) last July. State Capital Investment Corporation has also announced its intention to divest the entire 43.31 per cent of DHG Pharmaceutical. Le Thi Hong Nhung, investor relations manager at this company, told VIR that Taisho has helped the Vietnamese company greatly in research and development, distribution, as well as sustainability and information transparency. We look forward to further synergies between the two partners, said Nhung. Mutual benefits A similar situation can be found at Pymepharco, another medicine producer and distributor. The company has been a long-time partner of Germanys Stada Arzneimittel, which held a 49 per cent stake prior to 2018. After Pymepharco lifted its FOL in November, Stada immediately raised its stake to 72 per cent, essentially taking over the Vietnamese company. During their annual general meeting, four representatives from the German company were elected onto Pymepharcos board. It is noteworthy that M&A deals in Vietnams pharmaceutical sector had already begun to pick up pace in late 2017 when South Koreas Daewon purchased 15 per cent of Traphaco JSC, and Polands second-largest pharma firm Adamed Group spent $50 million for 70 per cent of Davipharm. According to analysts, these moves bring benefits to both sides. The Vietnamese firms acquire international expertise, best governance practices, and access to global markets, while overseas investors gain access to domestic markets and avoid Vietnams restrictions on foreign direct investment. This is especially crucial because hospitals and pharmaceuticals are both conditional sectors, with strict criteria on investment capital and medicine distribution. In fact, to make room for higher international ownership, Vietnamese companies had to give up some sensitive business sectors, including direct exports and imports of medicine or vaccine trading. Moreover, M&A deals are likely to increase as both foreign and domestic firms want a slice of the bigger cake. Analysts at KPMG Vietnam forecast that healthcare spending is estimated to pick up from $16.1 billion in 2017 to $17.2 billion in 2018, and reach close to $20 billion in 2020. This accounts for 7.5 per cent of Vietnams GDP and is likely to grow as more middle-class citizens can afford private healthcare and the Vietnamese population becomes older. A recent paper by Ken Research, a global publisher of market intelligence, equity and economy reports, highlighted that Vietnamese patients spend about $3 billion on overseas screening and treatments every year, which means the prospects of high-quality healthcare in Vietnam are highly positive for private hospitals, clinics, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals. Rising demand Don Stokes and Eric Johnson, partners at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, said that after decades of investing in manufacturing, investors are increasingly interested in Vietnams social infrastructure, which includes non-core infrastructure assets that accommodate social services and improve the quality of life and standards of living within a community. Healthcare is one good example of social infrastructure, especially as public healthcare providers in Vietnam are struggling to keep up with the rising demand. Vietnam remains behind regional neighbour Thailand and other ASEAN countries in the provision of private healthcare services at international standards, which should also allow plenty of headroom for growth, if the particular challenges of this sector can be addressed, said the lawyers. Regarding downsides similar to other mergers, disagreements can damage partnerships. Nguyen Huu Tung, former founder of Hoan My Medical Corporation, admitted that Hoan My and VinaCapital endured a rough relationship in the past due to Tungs inexperience in conducting M&A. At first, I thought that the foreign partners were purely financial investors. This was very wrong, because they wanted a very tight grip on our hospital. They demand control, something that the Vietnamese founders may not feel comfortable with or have any experience with, said Tung. He has since rekindled the partnership with VinaCapital, which last year invested $25 million in his new business, Tam Tri Medical JSC. In an interview with VIR, Vu Thi Thuan, chairwoman of Traphaco JSC, said that it also took time for the company to get used to new funders. The previous investor of Traphaco was Mekong Capital, whose American management style was vastly different from the South Korean approach. However, we are grateful that our South Korean partners share the same vision with us, and we are working very hard together towards the same goal of improving Traphaco, said Thuan, adding that besides knowhow in pharmaceuticals, different overseas partners have helped Traphaco improve its corporate governance and sustainability practices. By Khanh Nguyen - Senior associate director, Capital Markets, JLL Vietnam Vietnam has become an attractive destination for many foreign investors largely due to the countrys policies encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI), its political stability, and strong economy. Furthermore, the country has been taking the initiative to improve its transparency, according to JLLs Global Real Estate Transparency Index. Vietnam remains one of the most favoured destinations for foreign investment in Southeast Asia. Singapores CapitaLand recently agreed to buy a controlling stake in developer Ascendas-Singbridge in a deal which would value the target company at S$11 billion ($8.13 billion). Last August, private equity firm Actis acquired Standard Chartereds principal finance real estate business in Asia. In the Vietnamese real estate market, 2018 started off with the acquisition of Sunwah office tower by Nomura Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. According to a press release, Nomura acquired a 24 per cent stake in the Grade A office building located in the Central Business District (CBD) of Ho Chi Minh City. As for the residential sector, in March 2018 CapitaLand announced the acquisition of a 0.9 hectare development site in Tay Ho district of Hanoi, for approximately VND685 billion (approximately $29.78 million). Later, in the third quarter of 2018, CapitaLand bought a 6-hectare development site in Binh Trung Dong ward of District 2 in Ho Chi Minh City for VND1.38 trillion ($60 million). The development is expected to yield more than 100 landed residential units, targeted for completion by 2021. Another property giant, Frasers Property has publicly announced last year that they entered into a conditional share purchase agreement with Tran Thai Lands Co., Ltd. to acquire 75 per cent of the issued share capital of Phu An Khang Real Estate JSC (PAK) and Phu An Dien Real Estate JSC (PAD) each. It is intended that PAK and PAD will undertake the development of residential-cum-commercial projects in District 2 and Thu Duc district of Ho Chi Minh City. Another notable transaction is Keppel Lands divestment of its stakes in Quoc Loc Phat JSCs project in District 2. Malaysian property group Berjaya Land Bhd. also announced in a filing that it divested its entire resultant 32.5 per cent of the capital contribution in Berjaya Vietnam Financial Centre Limited to Vinhomes JSC and Can Gio Tourist City Corporation for a cash consideration of VND884.9 billion ($38.47 million). The development project would comprise of an office building, a five-star hotel, service residences, and shopping mall on a 6.64ha land in District 10 of Ho Chi Minh City. In conjunction with the disposal, Vingroup and its affiliates are also being considered as potential buyers of Berjaya Vietnam International University Town One Member LLC (BVIUT) and have injected capital and raised its stake in the company to 99.2 per cent. Through its subsidiary, Berjayas initial stake in BVIUT has been diluted from 100 to 0.8 per cent and the company intends to dispose of the remaining stake in the near future. Powerful M&A drive in real estate, illustration photo As of December 2018, Berjaya announced that it divested its entire 75 per cent stake in T.P.C Nghi Tam Village Ltd. (TPC Village) to Hanoi Hotel Tourism Development LLC for a cash consideration of VND1.245 trillion ($54.13 million). TPC Village is involved in the operation of the five-star Intercontinental Hanoi West Lake Hotel in Hanoi. Real estate transactions in 2018 were diversified with a good variety of asset and property types. In May 2018, one of Japans largest management companies specialising in real estate properties for logistics operations, CRE Inc. through its subsidiary CRE Asia agreed to invest $6.2 million in Sembcorp Infra Services (SIS) in a share subscription agreement. The new capital from CRE Asia and bank borrowings will fund the development of an additional 30,000 square metres of warehouse space in Vietnam by SIS. Within the same month, global private equity fund Warburg Pincus and industrial real estate developer Becamex IDC officially launched their joint venture BW Industrial Development JSC (BW Industrial). With over 200ha of projects under development and the initial investment of more than $200 million, BW Industrial is the largest for-rent industrial and logistics developer in Vietnam, according to their announcement. Another industrial transaction in 2018 is the sale and leaseback of a warehouse in VSIP 1 in the southern province of Binh Duong in the last quarter of 2018. Mapletree Logistics Trust Management Ltd. has entered into a conditional asset transfer agreement with Unilever International Co., Ltd. (Unilever Vietnam) to acquire the warehouse unit for VND725.1 billion (approximately $31.5 million). Upon the completion of the acquisition, the property will be leased to Unilever Vietnam for 10 years with annual rent escalations. When looking at the market as a whole, we expect continued growth through most asset types, including industrial and other growing sectors such as hospitality alternatives like education. The industrial market will be the hottest sector in 2019, backed by continued movements from China and positive impacts from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. We expect foreign investors to continue showing keen interest and strong commitment to the Vietnamese real estate market. 2019 will be a reforming year for the market with more regulations and reconciliation taking place. The prolonged approval process may impact new developments in 2019. Therefore, sourcing for clean and clear projects that are ready for development would be a challenge for investors in the upcoming year. However, we believe that the reform of regulations would help improve transparency, making the Vietnamese real estate market even more attractive to foreign investors. The lucrative Vietnamese healthcare sector is on the radar of foreign investors According to a VIR source, a group of South Korean companies are seeking co-operation with pharmaceutical companies in Vietnam to enter the healthcare market. Boasting high growth potential buoyed by a growing and aging population, rising per capita income, and increasing awareness of foreign-branded drugs, the lucrative Vietnamese healthcare market is also on the radar of investors from the European Union, the United States, Japan, and Singapore. Potential funders have been making preparations to benefit from new free trade agreements (FTAs) by opening representative branches or looking for partners in Vietnam. According to the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) means that Vietnam has gone further than World Trade Organization (WTO) terms on market access for EU service providers, thus making the country an attractive destination to EU investors. As a fast-growing ASEAN economy, Vietnam holds substantial potential for international companies. The EVFTA and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) are therefore widely celebrated by the pharmaceutical industry as it supports fair and equal access to the market. Thanks to these agreements and Vietnams regulations, foreign companies are establishing legal entities and can become long-term partners here, therefore we expect robust future growth, EuroChams PharmaGroup told VIR. Industry insiders forecast that together with the FTAs, positive changes in legislative reforms are expected to brighten the picture of foreign investment in the sector. Decree No.155/2018/ND-CP and Decree No.169/2018/ND-CP are the two long-waited new orders recently issued by the Ministry of Health (MoH), reflecting positive amendment on pharmaceuticals and cosmetics business conditions in the controversial Decree No.54/2017/ND-CP, cutting a number of procedures in pharmaceuticals imports, clinical records of proposed imported drugs and drug registration. Thus far, in moves to make long-term profit amid mounting competition, international healthcare and pharmaceutical firms have created a focus towards innovative life sciences in Vietnam. However they will have to wait as till now the MoH is still working on a circular guiding the development of public private partnership (PPP) project in the sector. Additionally there are other legal barriers that hinder their next steps, including issues related to intellectual property rights, reimbursement process drug registration and others. At a while some internationally-invested players are putting focus on increasing their manufacturing output in Vietnam to reap tax incentives. Said to be among the leaders of this movement are US-headquartered MSD Group, Nipro Pharma Vietnam, and B.Braun, Germanys largest pharmaceuticals and medical equipment producer. Alongside overseas players in a rush to prepare for the new period, more domestic firms are also joining the race to cash in on unmet needs in the home country, where the pharmaceutical markets turnover is expected to continue double-digit growth over the next five years. Several days ago Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pressed the button to kick off construction of the 1,000-bed International General Hospital, with investment of over VND3.7 trillion ($160.9 million) by private-run property conglomerate FLC Group. The project marked the official entry of FLC into the healthcare sector, with another ambition to develop a hi-tech healthcare and pharmaceutical park in the northern province of Quang Ninh. The venture makes it the second Vietnamese property developer to penetrate into the sector, following Vingroup. Vingroup is now expanding rapidly in the country with a network of Vinmec hospitals. Industry insiders said that growth of Vietnams drug spending per capita, which typically expanded 10.6 per cent on-year to an estimated $53.54 in 2018, has prompted more private Vietnamese corporations to dip into the sector, thus heating up competition in the market. Last year the market also witnessed newcomers including electronics giants Digiworld JSC and Nguyen Kim. There are calls for private investment in developing satellite hospitals to ease overloads at central ones, and its new foreign investment attraction strategy to prioritise hi-tech healthcare in the future. The room for private healthcare development remains vast when the countrys total spending on healthcare makes up 5.8 per cent of GDP, making it the highest rate in the region and forecast to keep stable over the next 20 years, the World Bank said in their Vietnam 2035 report. Furthermore, private-run healthcare in Vietnam accounts for just 5.4 per cent, while the threshold in the United Kingdom is 10 per cent, Thailand 24 per cent, and India 93 per cent. After the February 27-28 summit was concluded without a deal, Le Thi Thu Hang, spokeswoman of Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, In the last two days, Vietnam and the international community have kept a close eye on the important summit between the DPRK and the US in Hanoi. Vietnam fully supports the process for peace and denuclearisation in the Korean Peninsula. US President Donald Trump and DPRK Chairman Kim Jong Un have affirmed that the meeting in Hanoi was an important step forward in the dialogue between the two sides. Via the dialogue at this summit, the top leaders of the two sides have made a positive and constructive effort and discussed many important issues related to peace and denuclearisation in the Korean peninsula. Vietnam was applauded for doing a very good job in organising the DPRK-US Summit As the host of the summit, Vietnam has also made great efforts and thorough preparations in all areas, ensuring security and absolute safety during the summit, and demonstrated its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, co-operation, and development, and being a reliable member of the international community. The role, status, and preparations of Vietnam for the summit have been highly commended. Vietnam shares the international communitys hope that all sides continue the dialogue to resolve issues in the Korea Peninsula, as well as boost relations between the US and the DPRK, and we stand ready to continue playing a role in constructing and creating peace, and co-operate with each other to speed up the peace process in the Korean Peninsula. President Trump told Vietnams Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, I very much appreciate the hospitality [of Vietnam]. It was really something special. We got off Air Force One last night and I drove down the boulevards, and I saw all of the buildings under construction and how Vietnam is thriving. The US leader also told Vietnams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc that he was quite impressed at Vietnams achievements. Coming in from the airport, seeing everything thats been happening and been built, even since last year when we were spending time together during my second trip. Youve made tremendous progress and its a great thing for the world to see. And now the world is actually watching and theyre looking at Vietnam. On February 28, President Donald Trump told a press conference with hundreds of reporters in Hanoi, after his discussions with DPRK Chairman Un, Thank you, prime minister and president of Vietnam. We are in Hanoi. Its an incredible city, and whats happened over the last 25 years has been incredible for the people of Vietnam, the job theyve done, economic development. Really something special. So I want to thank all of the people of Vietnam for having treated us so well. Right after he left Vietnam on Air Force One a few hours later, President Trump wrote on Twitter, Thank you to our generous hosts in Hanoi this week: President Trong, Prime Minister Phuc, and the wonderful people of Vietnam. Nguyen Thanh Binh According to Solidiance, an APAC-focused consultancy firm, the Vietnamese fintech market was worth $4.4 billion in 2017, and is predicted to reach $7.8 billion by 2020, equalling a 77 per cent increase over three years. This predicted fast-paced development is driven by numerous factors, including regulatory efforts to increase financial inclusion and to reduce cash payments, rising income and consumption which fuel the e-commerce sector, high Internet and smartphone penetration rates, and a young and tech affine population. In line with the United Nations goal of promoting financial inclusion, the Vietnamese government has made significant efforts to tailor regulations to increase banking penetration to 70 per cent from 59 per cent in 2017, and to shift to a non-cash payment economy where the cash to total liquidity ratio should be less than 10 per cent by 2020 (Decision No.986/QD-TTg). The Vietnamese government recognises fintech as one of the key factors enabling the aspired fast transformation of the financial landscape and, therefore, established the State Bank of Vietnams Steering Committee on Financial Technology in 2017 to promote the development of fintech firms in Vietnam. The committee designs programmes focusing on electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC), Open Application Programming Interfaces (Open APIs), peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, e-payments, and blockchain technology. The continuous economic growth in the past years (higher than 6 per cent per year in the last five years and 7.08 per cent in 2018) with the associated increase in income has been boosting the e-commerce sector which counted 35.4 million of users with an average spending of $62 in 2017, and is expected to increase to 42 million users (42.5 per cent of the projected population) with an average e-commerce consumption of $96 by 2021 (predicted by Solidiance). This predicted boom of the e-commerce sector coupled with the governments efforts to reduce cash payments will naturally spur the development and expansion of fintech solutions. Moreover, according to the World Bank, the high level of Internet (52 per cent) and smartphone penetration (72 per cent) make Vietnam one of the fastest adopters of smartphones and Internet (at low cost) in Southeast Asia, and provide the necessary infrastructure for fintech services, even in remote rural areas. The population in Vietnam is young (60 per cent under 35 years old) and technology affine, which has given rise to a vibrant tech entrepreneurship scene, particularly for fintech solutions. One prime example of a fintech product from Vietnam is MoMo, a service of M_Service, which provides a digital wallet and a payment app, and is included in the list of the 100 leading global fintech innovators, according to the Fintech100 report by KPMG and H2 Ventures. As the leading digital payment solution in Vietnam, MoMo has raised $32.75 million of funds from Standard Chartered and Goldman Sachs. Within the fintech market, digital payment solutions accounted for about 89 per cent, personal finance (9 per cent), and corporate finance (2 per cent) of the total market volume in 2017. In the coming years, personal finance and corporate finance services are expected to grow faster than digital payment solutions and will account for 24 and 6 per cent of the total fintech market volume by 2025, respectively (predicted by Solidiance). For personal finance, fintech will provide solutions to the demand in the P2P lending and consumer finance segment, particularly in remote areas like fintech solutions which require less face-to-face interactions compared to traditional banking. For example, MoneyBank is a pioneer in P2P lending and provides loans 24/7 without paperwork and is available throughout Vietnam (only excluding island districts). Moreover, Artificial Intelligence (AI)/robo-advisor solutions aspire to (partly) replace wealth managers in providing saving and investment advice to clients. Finhay offers portfolio investment advice based on AI, which accepts an initial investment as low as around $2. Fintech in the corporate finance segment might focus on crowd funding and P2P lending solutions to provide funds for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that still account for a large part of the Vietnamese economy, but often struggle to get the necessary loans. Pressure on traditional banks Vietnams young and tech affine population is a hotbed for fintech growth, Photo: Le Toan The rise of new fintech products and services puts pressure on the traditional banking model that has high operating costs of maintaining physical infrastructure with a high level of manual labour. Established financial institutions need to become more efficient in order to remain competitive with the new rising fintech players. To this end, financial institutions can incorporate fintech products as well, and can collect user data combined with machine learning to improve the accuracy of their evaluation of the credit risk of borrowers and, therefore, potentially reduce losses and broaden lending, making them more profitable. For example, in the Philippines, a country next door, Lenddo builds credit score for applicants by accessing their social media activity, browsing history, geolocation, and other smartphone data. These kinds of risk quantification are particularly promising in countries with a low level of financial data on the customer, such as Vietnam. For customers, the emergence of fintech grants access to more products and services which are conveniently available anytime and anywhere at a lower price tag. Corporations, especially SMEs, have additional sources of funding through fintech platforms which is likely to encourage innovation and the implementation of new business ideas. From the macroeconomic perspective, the emergence of fintech accelerates the transformation of the Vietnamese financial landscape to a more efficient financial market with more diversified products which are available to more people and companies at lower prices. The transforming financial market is becoming more and more efficient in terms of efficiently allocating funds to necessary business projects and households and, thus, will help the economy to grow even more in the long-run. However, there are still considerable challenges facing the fintech industry in Vietnam which require urgent attention. First of all, since the fintech industry is fast-paced, quick adjustments of regulatory guidance and approvals are necessary to decrease compliance and investment risk. For instance, P2P lending is not regulated yet, and these kind of monetary brokerage services can only be carried out by licensed financial institutions. Moreover, using technology-based fintech products and services online leave customer more exposed to cybercrime or the misuse of proprietary personal data. Last but not least, the reduction of face-to-face support with traditional bank clerks requires a higher level of financial literacy by fintech product users in order to decrease premature financial decisions. Fintech and global trends Fintech is disrupting the finance industry by providing innovative financial services that include, for example, cashless payments, P2P lending, crowdfunding, and robo-advisory. In fact, global investment in fintech has increased from $19.9 billion in 2014 to $41.7 billion in 2017, with payment and lending technologies having attracted the majority of the funding. The fast-paced development in fintech is due to the fast adoption rate as consumers can conveniently use their smartphones to use the provided services. With the new fintech products, consumers can open bank accounts over the Internet without having to physically visit a bank and can monitor their accounts, make payments or even get a loan using their smartphone. To manage their investment portfolios, customers can now get recommendations from robo-advisors, which provide algorithm-based financial advice and automatically optimise clients asset allocation. These kind of automated financial planning services are available 24/7 and can be offered at a much lower cost compared to the traditional services provided by personal wealth managers. Compared to the traditional financial services that rely more on face-to-face interactions, the new fintech services enrich the diversity of financial products that are independent from the location of the customer (urban or rural), enable faster and more convenient access to financial services, provide more personalised products, and create cheaper deals as fintech companies can reduce investment into infrastructure such as the maintenance of a heavy branch network. According to a study conducted by CNBC, one-third of the population in the 20 major economies have already used fintech products. In particular, China (68 per cent), India (52 per cent), and the UK (42 per cent) are the leading countries in terms of fintech adoption rates. Moreover, popular cashless payment services that use near-field communications terminals, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay, are already available in 27, 24, and 18 countries, respectively. The popularity of fintech products is expected to continue to increase as 1.7 billion people are still without bank accounts and global institutions, such as the World Bank Group or the United Nations, are investing in and promoting financial inclusion programmes as means to reduce poverty. Report: Seattle Increases Citywide Internet Connectivity to 95 Percent Washington, D.C., Office of Planning Launches Demographic Data Dashboard Hipcamp Offers Real-Time Federal Campsite Availability Info Code for America (CfA), a nonpartisan and nonprofit national organization aimed at helping government use tech to better serve real people, recently helped San Francisco automatically clear 8,132 marijuana convictions.The work was done in collaboration with San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon as part of a criminal justice reform project. Before the collaboration, the district attorneys office had previously expunged 1,230 marijuana-related convictions, bringing the total number cleared to 9,362, the total number of convictions the office had identified for dismissal. The work was all done after a decision to retroactively honor the recreation legalization of marijuana in San Francisco for adults 21 or over dating back to 1975.The project CfA helped build is called Clear My Record, and it uses an algorithm to read and interpret data in order to automatically evaluate eligibility for convictions to be cleared, doing its work in just a few minutes, according to press release from the organization. In the past, to have clearing convictions required individuals to petition the court on their own. That process was often time consuming and costly. With Clear My Record, individuals were able to get their convictions cleared without taking any action on their own.In its press release, CfA described this work as a new standard for record clearing throughout California.This novel approach creates a blueprint for the future the development of policy and technology that expands, streamlines and automates the record clearance process at scale to reduce barriers to employment, housing, health, and education that millions of Americans face, the group said in the release. And there are lessons in this work that can help many other procedures in the justice system and beyond work better for every American.A new report shows that 95 percent of households in Seattle have Internet access, which marks a 10 percent increase since 2014.The progress was unveiled by the city earlier this week with the release of its 2018 Technology Access and Adoption study. In a press release, the city noted that while there are still barriers that exist to many households, the survey shows progress in the citys goal to improve digital equity in Seattle households.In Seattle, we know that access to fast, reliable Internet is an equity issue. Our city is more connected than ever before but we still have a lot of work to do to fill the gaps. More and more, digital access and digital skills are prerequisites to gaining access to jobs and opportunity, Mayor Jenny Durkan said in the release. Thanks to the Technology Access and Adoption study, we know our low-income and insecurely-housed communities are experiencing lower levels of connectedness and their digital skill levels are suffering as a result. This study will help us as we work to improve digital access and equity for all of Seattles residents.Seattle has conducted this study intermittently five times dating back to the year 2000. The central purpose is to gauge the level of access residents there have to Internet and other advanced digital technologies. The methodology of the study involves more than 20,000 randomly selected residents asked for answers via mail, phone or online means. For this years report, 4,315 household surveys were collected between May 23 and June 25, 2018, totalling 10,358 residents.Other key data in the report includes that 21 percent of households with annual income less than $25,000 do not have Internet at home; households with multiple adults or with children are more likely to have faster connections than those with single adults; and reasons that residents dont use Internet include cost, speed and confusing service plans.Seattle has long been a pioneer in the digital equity space, offering a civic tech matching fund before digital inclusion was on most jurisdictions radars.The Washington, D.C., Office of Planning State Data Center has launched a new demographic data dashboard through its data visualization portal This new platform is an interactive means for residents and others to find accurate and up-to-date information about demographic trends taking place within the nations capital. Data sets available through the dashboard range from population size to poverty rates. They can also be sorted by wards, as well as by year, age, race and gender.The idea, the city notes in a press release , is to help stakeholders including citizens, government agencies and members of community groups get a useful analysis that can be used in strategic planning, policy creation, business development and other pursuits.OP is committed to open data and transparency of information for the public, said Acting Director Andrew Trueblood in a press release. We are looking for ways to better meet residents where they are, both in terms of engagement and visualization, and this user-friendly Data Visualization Portal makes popular demographic charts and data much more accessible for residents, researchers and other stakeholders.The platform was built through a collaboration between the citys office of the chief technology officer and its office of planning. To make things even easier for interested parties, the planning office also provides free technical support, assistance and training on how to access Census Bureau data for local nonprofit groups, governmental agencies, researchers, community groups and members of the general public.Folks looking to get real-time information about whether federal campsites are available have a new resource: Hipcamp Hipcamp is a for-profit website that bills itself as an online marketplace that helps facilities users discover unique camping experiences. It has a catalogue of more than 370,000 private and public camping options, and now it has expanded its selection to also include federal camping choices. For example, if one wanted to plan a camping trip to Yosemite National Park, one could simply visit Hipcamps Yosemite page and do it through there.Its a cool functionality, one that developers have built by API integration with Recreation.gov. In a blog announcing the addition, Hipcamp notes that this is also the result of years of grassroots organizing for the adoption of open data standards in public campsite reservations.This marks a major step forward in making the campsite reservation process more seamless and less frustrating, ultimately helping us fulfill our mission to get more people outside, the company wrote in its announcement. Several hospitals in the country have recently performed nationwide first involving complicated surgery using robots, Photo: Le Toan At last weeks conference on Medical AI held by the Ministry of Health and Vietnams leading technology group FPT Software, experts agreed that AI is changing the entire world, including the medical sector. Gobally, the field involves the most AI applications. It is expected to transform the whole medical sector in the years to come. Vietnam is not an exception, said Nguyen Tien Dung from the University of Toulouse in France. Dung cited global market research and consulting firm MarketsandMarkets as saying that AI in the global medical sector rose by over 50 per cent annually, expecting to reach from $2.1 billion in 2018 to $36 billion in 2025, making up 20 per cent of the total AI market. Not only helping to reduce examination and treatment costs by half and increasing quality by 40 per cent, AI application has become an inevitable trend in the Vietnamese medical market. In mid-February, Ho Chi Minh City-based Peoples Hospital 115 successfully performed robot-assisted brain tumour surgery, making it the first case of its kind in Asia. With the case, the hospital has made a hallmark in the medical field in both Vietnam and the wider region. According to Prof. Amin Kassam, vice president of Aurora Health Care, the Modus V Synaptive robot system first used in the United States in 2015 was brought to the hospital last year. The system is designed to be used in neurological and skull surgeries. Robotically-assisted brain surgery has been widely used in developed countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia, allowing doctors to perform complex procedures with more precision, flexibility, and control than conventional techniques. Robotic surgery is usually associated with short, minimally-invasive surgeries. The hospital now has around 400 inpatients. The number of patients getting neurosurgery is 2,350 cases a year on average. Thus, the investment in advanced technologies like robots is a top priority, said Dr Phan Van Bau, director of the hospital. Though Peoples Hospital 115 made medical history, Binh Dan Hospital is actually the pioneer in the application of robots in surgeries. In 2016 the hospital used a robot known as the American DaVinci in its surgeries. The following year the hospital successfully used a robot in surgery for an elderly liver cancer patient. To date, the hospital has performed around robot-assisted surgeries for 585 patients. Following this trend, many other hospitals have made huge investments to follow their lead. Each robot is said to cost around VND54-70 billion ($2.35-3.04 million. Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital, Quang Ninh Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, and the National Pediatrics Hospital are among the prominent names. Late last year Quang Ninh Obstetrics used a robot arm for the first time in uterus surgery for a 49-year-old woman. Cho Ray Hospital also carried out two robot-assisted kidney transplant surgeries, also a first. With the price cheaper by up to seven times than robot surgeries in Singapore and the US, technology innovation has helped to curb the trend of Vietnamese people going abroad for advanced medical services, thus keeping around $3 billion a year from their overseas services, industry insiders said. At present, hospitals in the US are known to have 3,000 robots which assist surgeries, while the number in South Korea is 100, around 10 each in Thailand and Vietnam. Though the number is not significant, it is likely to increase strongly in the future as many more Vietnamese hospitals make plans. Vuong Quang Long, the founder and CEO of Tomochain A belated startup carrier Long was a bit late in embracing startups. Earlier, he spent most of his time on economic studies. Long had finished a two-year Masters degree in the Netherlands, then spent another eight years doing research, working, and acquiring a doctorate degree in the US. In 2014, while completing his graduation thesis, Long and some foreign friends conceived the idea and initiated a project on creating the NEM blockchain platform which has carved out a spot among the worlds top 20 blockchain platforms with a market cap surpassing $500 million. In Longs mind, blockchain is the engine of trust and it is an ideal platform for doing transactions between the parties who are unknown to each other as the technology ensures transparency and makes forgery impossible. In early 2015, leaving behind his successes in foreign markets, Long decided on returning to his home country. His first project in e-commerce did not yield the expected results after nearly one and a half years. Then, being aware of fresh opportunities from blockchain and algorithm, Long has built up Tomochain to exploit the potential. Tomochain was oriented as a technology platform to write unfocused applications and smart contracts developed based on Ethereum virtual currency, allowing faster transaction speeds at lower transaction fees. While working on Ethereum, he got to know that this platform could not handle transactions related to several dozen thousand people. That was why Long and his colleagues at Tomochain began building a new blockchain infrastructure which allows users to reach dual targets: issuing tokens (digital currency) and building decentralised applications for businesses. Distributed tokens may carry stable value. The value of a token might be set to be equal to a gram of gold, one US dollar or a barrel of oil. When tokens are circulated on the Tomochain platform, they will have high liquidity and could be transacted and become asset-secured tokens, Long explained. Tomochains founder and CEO assumed that the use of blockchain and decentralised applications Tomochain has developed for enterprises could help firms ensure information privacy for users and the whole system. The platform suits the fields that require a high level of transparency, such as tracing agricultural product origin, finance, and healthcare. In addition, it can help build up payment portals that are better and more competitive compared to AliPay for Vietnam and the whole Southeast Asian region. Businesses can use the Tomochain platform for bond issuances in the form of tokens. The investors could later transact the bonds in the secondary market to create bond liquidity. This will help firms to raise money more easily. Tomochain provides blockchain infrastructure to diverse business partners operating in different fields. The projects running trials on the Tomochain platform include Triip Protocol a scoring and payment platform to serve tourists; BigBorn a decentralised advertising platform in Southeast Asia; and TE-Food a firm providing solutions to trace food origin. Businesses can use the Tomochain platform for bond issuances in the form of tokens. Investors can later transact the bonds in the secondary market to create bond liquidity. This will help firms to raise money more easily. In the past year, Tomochain signed co-operation contracts on platform provision with numerous businesses, including Binkabi which is a fintech firm using blockchain technology to tackle impediments in the agricultural value chain in developing countries. Binkabi joined hands with Tomochain to integrate blockchain technology into agricultural product exchanges. With the advantages as a pioneering business in blockchain solutions for businesses, Tomochain is in a position to usher in faster transactions on the exchange with lower costs and higher safety and privacy, said CEO Quan Le of Binkabi. Rising to a global platform In parallel to installing applications for businesses, early last year Tomochain issued 50 million Tomo tokens worldwide, drawing in $8.5 million from 50 domestic and international organisations. Last May, the total value of these 50 million Tomo tokens touched $100 million. Later, in the wake of a plummeting cryptocurrency market, the tokens current value fetched about $15 million, still relatively high compared to the initial $8.5 million value. Long shared that the proceeds from their initial coin offering (ICO) met the startups expectations and went to serve their future development plans, including expansion into the Japanese market. According to Long, Japan is quite a particular market, as Japanese blockchain investors have limited connections with the outside community. Tomochain sees Japan as a strategic market with huge potential. Tomochain currently has partnership relations with Vnext, a renowned software firm in Vietnam that has a good grip of the Japanese market and its 200 engineers are working in Japan. In last November, Tomochain inaugurated its Japan office, getting one step closer to its target of growing into a global provider of blockchain solutions. We want to bring Japanese users a compelling financial system built on the blockchain platform. Besides, we aim to support firms to avail of the advantages of blockchain such as asset digitalisation and other financial services, Long said. Besides Japan, Vietnam is one of Tomochains key markets as the companys leaders are working in Hanoi. Tomochain aims to serve global users. Tomochains regular users fetch around 10-20,000 people. Our target is augmenting user volumes on the global scale and to be listed among Coinmarketcaps top 100 cryptocurrencies by the end of this year, he added. Cambodia held annual joint military exercises with China on Thursday amid increasingly tight-knit relations between the two countries. The Dragon Gold exercises were held in Kampot provinces Chumkiri district on land controlled by Infantry Brigade 70, an elite reserve force for Prime Minister Hun Sens bodyguard unit. The joint exercises included tanks, armored personnel carriers, combat helicopters, howitzers, surveillance technologies and methods of defending against biological weapons, according to the defense ministry. Previous Dragon Gold exercises were held in 2016 and 2018 after Cambodia-US military exercises, known as Angkor Sentinel, were halted amid worsening relations with the west over Hun Sens human rights record. Chhun Socheat, a defense ministry spokesman, said the drills were aimed at improving the comprehensive and strategic friendship between the two militaries. China last year pledged some $100 million in military aid to Cambodia. Tea Banh, the defense minister, Vong Pisen, commander-in-chief, and Hun Manet, head of the army, have all visited China since October. Despite facing no substantial external threats, Cambodia argues it must increase military capacity to defend its borders, pointing to the National Polices 2018 annual report, which recorded 146 violations of Cambodias airspace last year. Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong visited Cambodia last month, meeting King Norodom Sihamoni and Hun Sen. It was unclear if the Communist Party chief discussed the border issues with Cambodian leaders, but in a joint communique to conclude his visit both countries came to an agreement to settle the emerging issues between the two countries by peaceful means. Cambodian political analyst Lao Monghay said the Vietnamese leaders visit was part of Hanois efforts to retain its traditional influence in the face of Chinas rise. Vietnam is trapped in its own geography, Monghay said in reference to Chinas claims in the South China Sea and Beijings bid to spread its influence across Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam makes its best attempt to stop Cambodia from falling into the hands of China like it was during the Khmer Rouge regime. That would impose threats to Vietnams national security. Allegations by the United States that there were plans by the Chinese government to lobby Cambodian leaders for a Chinese military base in the Kingdom were denied by Phnom Penh. Socheat of the defense ministry denied the drill was a threat to Cambodias neighbors. We seem to have no significant muscles to flex since we are a small country It [the drill] is not related to any threats to anyone. The Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh did not respond to request for comment. Experts say the military drill is a part of Chinas grand strategy to shore up its backyard influence in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia used to be a tributary region to the Chinese Empire. The current Chinese leadership has their long-sighted strategy with an ambition to restore their influence in Asia in general and in South East Asia in particular, Monghay said. China is also engaging with other Southeast Asian states for similar exercises. China has held a larger annual drill with Malaysia since 2014 in what they call Aman Youi (Peace and Friendship) which was also joined by Thailand, as an observer, last year, when Beijing also hosted inaugural ASEAN-China maritime exercises. Paul Chambers, a military expert at Thailands Naresuan University, said Dragon Gold is part of Chinas broader strategy to expand its military reach in Southeast Asia to challenge the existing hegemony of the United States. In line with Beijing's goal of transforming Cambodia into a hub of Chinese economic and military influence in Southeast Asia, the drills help to both entrench such military diplomacy and at the same time advertise to Southeast Asia China's close regard for the region, Chambers told VOA Khmer in an email. China is seeking to leverage its drills and military aid as a means of competing militarily with the US in Southeast Asia. The result could be an intensifying arms race between the two countries in the region. Trapaing Thmar reservoir, the largest of the Khmer Rouge regimes irrigation projects built atop the bones of the dead, is running dry amid one of the worst droughts to hit Cambodia in living memory. In northwestern Cambodia, over 400 kilometers from Phnom Penh, the vast protected area serves as a crucially important water store for thousands of rice farmers and their families in Phnom Srok district and other neighboring areas. Trapaing Thmar reservoir also provides a home to a number of endangered species, including the Sarus crane. During a recent visit to the area, farmers were fishing and pumping water to their rice field from small ponds that are all that remains of the more than 12,000-hectare reservoir. In Banteay Meanchey provinces Phnom Srok district, farmers complain that there is a scarcity of rain, both during the wet and dry season. It is not like before. It is worse than ever, says Ping Chantrea, a 30-year-old farmer who adds she can no longer produce enough rice. It only rained twice during the wet season last year, she laments from her home in Ponley communes Porabun village, as other farmers sit around and share their concerns over the lack of rainfall. And now early this year until now, it has not rained at all, said another farmer, who is at eight-months pregnant. I lost the money I saved from my wedding, she says. Cambodian farmers harvest rice in two seasons: the rainy and dry seasons. Farmers in this district have complained that production of paddy rice in both rainy and dry seasons has declined. Cambodias rainy season typically arrives in May and ends in October. Another farmer, Laing Thom, says the temperature is rising and the rains not regular. Now it is only about 8 am, but it is very hot, says Thom. Cambodia has been ranked among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in Southeast Asia. The impacts may already be being felt. Thom says he cannot produce much rice on his 2.6-hectare farm. I cant make a profit, or even cover the cost of fertilizer, he adds, complaining of price manipulation. No More Rice Farming On February 20, Prime Minister Hun Sen called on farmers to stop rice farming during the dry season this year due to the drought. I want to call on all authorities to advise all people not to do dry-season rice farming... Please do farming only one time this year because we do not have enough water, Hun Sen told thousands of garment workers in Kandal province, adding that Cambodia will face severe drought and water shortages this year. In a directive dated January 17, Hun Sen called on local authorities and villagers to save water from natural reservoirs for daily use and crops. Cambodia will likely be indirectly impacted by a phenomenon called El Nino, which refers to a short-term period of warm ocean surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, stretching from South America towards Australia. Cambodia will also grapple with soaring temperatures of between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius in April and May. Lim Kean Hor, minister of water resources and meteorology visited Trapaing Thmar reservoir in Phnom Srok district on the morning of February 23. He said villagers in Phnom Srok villagers had broken the rules by farming during the dry season, against the direction of the prime minister. They have farmed more than the plan allowed. They were allowed to do only a total of 5,000 hectares of land, said the minister. We lack water, he said, adding that rain might fall in mid-May. Impacts on Farmers The drought has now affected over 20,000 hectares of rice fields in 13 provinces, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management. In 2015, Cambodia experienced its worst drought in half a century, with most of its 25 provinces experiencing water shortages, and about 2.5 million people severely affected. Mean Seum, chief of Chantreas Porabun village, said it is estimated that only 10 percent of the normal amount of paddy rice will be produced this year. Mostly they owe money to microfinance [institutions] and other people, he said. The debt will be more. If it is worse like that in the future, parents will migrate to work in Thailand or children will be forced to work, he added. There is no family in this village whose members dont go to Thailand, he said, adding that the migrants work in construction or agriculture. Normally the migrant workers return to help their families with the harvest. But they wont come this year, he added. Seum himself has three-hectares of land and rents two hectares for farming. But he cannot break even in the current climate, he says. People also get angry with each other because some families get water for their rice fields and some dont, he adds. Em Dara, the technical assistant at the Ministry of Water Resources, who oversees the reservoir, said about 5,000 hectares of land have been affected so far. It has affected thousands of families, he said. Some dont have water to use now. It has affected species and fish in the reservoir as well. The climate has changed now. It is the worst in ten years, he said. The reservoir can store up to 180 million cubic meters of water but now holds less than 1 million cubic meters, according to Dara. Villagers are also concerned about the impact on fish stocks. There is no water. This year is worse than other years, says Mea Siz, 58, who is fishing at Trapaing Thmar reserve. I am now concerned about fish here. Taking a Chance Having land to farm crops, especially rice, is the most important thing in many Cambodians lives. It is what gives them a sense of security, community, and family. Eighty-five percent of Cambodias approximately 16 million people still depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. Despite being aware of the water shortage, farmers in this district say they have decided to carry on farming through the dry season. I could not make rice during the rainy season, so I decided to do in the dry season, but it was not successful, says Chantrea. I thought that the water in the reservoir was enough, but it was not because many farmers have done farming at the same time and the water is insufficient, she adds. Deu Yuch, another farmer, says the poor farming conditions have led him to fall into $3,000 of debt. I dont know what to do, but will keep growing rice in the next season, he says. We have no choice. We have to take a chance. Some parts of the community have been provided water from an irrigation system built by Chinese investors. The water has been transported from nearby provinces -- Siem Reap and Oddar Meanchey -- according to Khut Khuon, a Poichar commune chief. Africa-born particle physicist Ketevi Assamagan is a man on a mission. His goal is to bring science education to a new generation of young Africans through a traveling program known as the African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications, or ASP. "Sometimes, people just need some help to be able to find the right resources," said Assamagan, an ASP founder who works at the U.S. Energy Department's Brookhaven National Laboratory here on Long Island. "So, together with some colleagues, we decided to create this school." Born in Guinea, Assamagan grew up in Togo and earned a doctorate from the University of Virginia in 1995. Gratitude to past mentors fueled his desire to start the ASP, he said. LISTEN: Physicist talks about science training for young Africans Positive elements The ASP program runs for three weeks every two years in a different African country. The first was in 2010 in South Africa, with subsequent gatherings in Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda and Namibia. The next is planned for July 2020 in Marrakesh, Morocco. Each workshop brings together up to 80 students, who are treated to intensive lectures and training by top-flight physicists. "We get students from all over Africa [who] have at least three years of university education," Assamagan said. "The majority of them are usually at the master's level and they come from different fields: nuclear and high energy physics, medical applications, computing, mathematics and theoretical physics." The students' expenses are covered by roughly 20 international sponsors, including the Brookhaven lab; the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy; the South African Department of Science and Technology; and Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics. Another sponsor has been the European Center for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, in Geneva. Assamagan worked on CERN's particle accelerator for several years while conducting research on the elusive Higgs boson subatomic particle. He left in 2001 to join Brookhaven. Sustained support After the program, participants are paired with senior mentors who offer advice on additional education, teaching and research opportunities, both in Africa and abroad. For Zimbabwe native Last Feremenga, participation in the 2010 ASP workshop served as a springboard to a doctorate in physics from the University of Texas. Now he's a data scientist with Digital Reasoning, an artificial intelligence firm headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. "I sift through large datasets of written text in search of rare forms of conversations/language. These rare conversations are useful for our clients from health care to finance," the 32-year-old told VOA in an email. He added that he's using "similar tactics" to those he learned at ASP. Julia MacKenzie, senior director of international affairs for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, says training programs such as ASP are especially important in developing countries. "Science is increasingly recognized as an important engine of economic growth and societal advancement," she wrote in an email. She noted "increasing numbers of such programs on the African continent, where there is a surging young population entering the workforce." "A potential impact of graduate training is exposure to new ideas and people," MacKenzie added. "Any time graduate students can come together, it's likely that new friendships will form, and those relationships can provide support through inevitable challenges and spawn new collaborations." Hands-on learning Assamagan says that when he was in high school in Togo, science was taught from second-hand textbooks from abroad. There was no experimentation. "Direct involvement in terms of playing with things and getting mental challenge to try to figure it out was not really there," he said. "We want to resolve that" through ASP. The 70 or so science teachers at the workshop last year in Namibia learned hands-on experiments that could be replicated with scant equipment and resources. For example, using only a small plastic box with an aluminum plate, tin foil, Styrofoam, pure alcohol and dry ice, high school students could build a tabletop "cloud chamber" to simulate the detection of cosmic particles from outer space. Another experiment taught physics to elementary school children by way of art. The children could drip paint on a canvas tilted at various angles, then observe the patterns the paint made as it descended. "You can then start introducing the idea of gravity," Assamagan said. "And then relating things falling down to the Earth going around the sun as being driven by the same force." Assamagan predicts a bright future for physics research in Africa. He says he sees talent and commitment, but that more digital libraries, along with continent-wide access to high-speed internet connections and the political will to provide them, are needed. Amnesty International said Friday that it was shocked by the increase in executions recently carried out in South Sudan, noting that at least seven men were put to death in February. The London-based rights group said the deaths represented "as many [people] as were executed in the whole of 2018" in the east-central African country. Seif Magango, Amnesty International deputy director for East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes, called on South Sudanese authorities to enact a moratorium on executions and take steps to abolish the death penalty. "That is something we condemn in the strongest terms, because this issue of the death penalty is unacceptable. They should not be executing people in secrecy without even letting their families know. That is not how they should be handling matters of justice," Magango told South Sudan in Focus from Nairobi, Kenya. 3 from same family Amnesty International said in its release that at least three of the seven executions in February involved men from the same family. It said the family of the men learned of their deaths only after they had been executed. South Sudan's Penal Code Act 2008 allows for execution by hanging for several crimes, such as murder; bearing false witness resulting in an innocent person's death; and aggravated drug trafficking. Magango said Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases. "Regardless of the crime, it is unacceptable to use the death penalty, because it actually does not prevent future crimes. It could be a terrible injustice if new evidence shows a person was executed in error," he said. Magango said the rights group was urging South Sudan to immediately commute all death sentences. "We are calling on South Sudan government ... to stop executing its citizens. They can still punish people with prison terms up to life imprisonment," he said. South Sudan Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro confirmed that death by hanging still happens in South Sudan but indicated that the practice might change. Laws 'will be studied' "Establishment or changing laws is a process. We are currently in the process of building a country. This development has been delayed by internal conflict. So laws which do not conform to the aspirations of international organizations will be studied as the country establishes its permanent constitutions and relevant laws," Lomuro told South Sudan in Focus. He noted the Commission on Truth, Reconciliation and Healing was established to play a crucial role in determining how perpetrators of crimes should be punished after the new Transitional Government of National Unity is established later this year. "That commission is not only supposed to reconcile the people after the conflict but also be able to address issues where somebody has been murdered by a certain person. People can choose to forgive them, but first of all, those [who] committed the crimes accept that they have committed the crimes and [those crimes] call for apology," Lomuro told VOA. Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States and China still have the death penalty, but according to Amnesty, more than 140 countries have either abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. (TNS) Following the lead of Denver police, radio traffic from the Denver Fire Department will no longer be accessible to the public starting next month, though one automated dispatch channel will remain open.Fire department leaders in January made the decision to encrypt their radio traffic to make it easier to communicate with police, who decided to encrypt their traffic as well, fire department spokesman Greg Pixley said. Both agencies use the same radios, he said.What police are doing, we are following, Pixley said.The fire departments radio traffic will disappear from public scanners at 4 a.m. March 18, Pixley said. However, the public will still be able to listen to automated dispatch alerts that tell firefighters where to go and the basics of what is happening there, though communication from firefighters on scene will be blocked, he said.The Denver Police Departments radio traffic will also go silent that day, despite earlier estimates that it would take until at least April to switch to the new technology.Denver police Chief Paul Pazen said last month that news organizations would have the option to sign an agreement with the city to gain access to the encrypted channels. But that agreement isnt expected to be ready before March 18, spokesman Sonny Jackson said Tuesday.Things are moving quicker than we realized, he said.Denver police have not yet said what theyll ask local news organizations to agree to before being granted access to the citys encrypted radio traffic.The change comes as a 911 communications center is completed and officers and firefighters receive new radios. Pazen said the change will help keep sensitive information from being broadcast publicly and keep suspects and criminals from keeping tabs on police operations. Pixley said in November that the fire department was not planning on encrypting its channels, but he said Tuesday that the department later learned it would need to do so to facilitate easy communication with police. Its difficult to switch between encrypted and unencrypted channels, he said, and echoed Pazens concerns about sensitive information being broadcast.It was simpler to encrypt everything, Pixley said.We want to have some degree of control over those super-sensitive calls that we have, Pixley said. We also want to limit the ability of sensitive information to get out.Pixley said the agreement between news outlets and the city would also grant access to the fire departments communications.Representatives from the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition have previously expressed concern about Denvers decision to encrypt, saying it would inhibit journalists abilities to report breaking news.At least 28 other public safety agencies in the state encrypt their radio traffic. U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuela's opposition are pushing the military to let in humanitarian aid in the belief that it could break a month-long standoff over power in the troubled South American nation. But top commanders are showing no signs of breaking their loyalty to Nicolas Maduro and disgruntled rank-and-file troops have yet to act. In a speech to Venezuela's exile community in South Florida on Monday, Trump warned Venezuela's military that standing by Maduro could bring disastrous consequences. You will lose everything, he said. The threat brought a terse response Tuesday from Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who went on state television to say that Venezuela's military was indeed willing to lose everything even their lives to defend Maduro. They'll have to go over our dead bodies, he said. Here's a look at the opposition's struggle to win over Venezuela's all-critical military. Why is Venezuelas military so important? Venezuela's military has served as the traditional arbiter of political disputes in Venezuela and under both the late Hugo Chavez and Maduro has vastly expanded its reach within Venezuela. The military was predominately responsible for overthrowing dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez in 1958 and under the constitution holds no allegiance to any political party or ideology. The opposition believes that the military's recognition of Juan Guaido as interim president is vital in order to force Maduro out of power and solidify a transitional government. Venezuela's president by law serves as commander in chief, and so without that recognition, Guaido's self-proclamation as the nation's rightful president is almost wholly symbolic. Boasting some 200,000 troops and 1.7 million militiamen, Venezuela's armed forces command not just the nation's firepower but many key sectors of the economy as well, making their backing critical. Even though Maduro has lost a majority of public support, analysts believe that as long as he maintains the military's support he is unlikely to step down from the presidency. Why hasnt the military flipped? Venezuela's top military brass has a lot to lose if Maduro leaves power. Accused of human rights abuses and long suspected of having a role in drug trafficking, many likely fear ending up behind bars and distrust the opposition's offer for amnesty. They simply don't believe that amnesty is a viable proposition, said Phil Gunson, a senior analyst with the Crisis Group based in Caracas. Many of them believe it's a trap. Lower-ranking troops suffer from the same food shortages and meager earnings as the rest of the nation, but analysts believe they lack the organization to stage a significant rebellion. About half a dozen mid-ranking officers have pledged their allegiance to Guaido, but they generally don't command large numbers of troops or are already in exile. While there have been a handful of small-scale rebellions in recent years, none have succeeded, and those who have tried to stage a coup have wound up behind bars or dead. Case in point: Among those seated at the stage with Trump yesterday was the mother of Oscar Perez, a police officer who was killed after a months-long attempt to fuel a rebellion. The big problem they face is if a small group comes out, then they will pay the price that so many others have, Gunson said. Why is bringing in aid critical to winning the military? With control over the nation's borders, it's the military that will decide whether or not the humanitarian aid Guaido is vowing to bring into the country ultimately enters or not. The opposition is hedging its bets on a simple premise: That if rank-and-file troops let the aid in, they will essentially have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's commander in chief. They believe that troops will have difficulty at a fundamental, moral level in using force to stop a mass group of civilians trying to get aid in and are likely to think of their own struggling families. Eric Farnsworth of the Council of the Americas and Americas Society, a Washington-based think tank, said that to take that step troops will need to be certain that the international community has their back. He said that while Trump and others have used strong rhetoric, seeking to ensure those who take the risk that they will be rewarded, troops may still be skeptical as to whether it's just talk. At the end of the day, this is an individual choice, he said. It's not just your career; it's your actual life. I think the key is to make sure that those who do take that decision are protected in some way. Will the military break the stalemate? Venezuela's crystal ball is still very cloudy. While the opposition is hoping that if the military does let in aid on Saturday, as Guaido has called for, it will mark a clear turn of events, the reality is the conflict is likely to drag on. In the short-term, the aid sitting at Colombia's border and in three other collection sites puts Maduro in a tough position. But Farnsworth said it might not have the impact some would hope. He said that just as critical as getting the aid in is ensuring that it is distributed properly inside Venezuela. I think there are some monumental logistical challenges, Farnsworth said. Unless there's a credible plan for distribution and something that makes sense, then it could potentially backfire. It's also possible that even if the aid is let in, it isn't seen by the public or even the majority of troops as a clear signal that the military is now backing Guaido as Venezuela's president. Both sides will undoubtedly declare victory after the 23rd, Gunson said, referring to the date Guaido set for it to be ferried in by caravans of Venezuelans. And unless there is a clear break between the military and Maduro, I think the show will go on. The struggle for the upper hand will continue. Bangladesh has told the United Nations Security Council that it cannot take in any more Rohingya refugees. Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told the body Thursday: "I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar." He accused Myanmar of making "hollow promises and various obstructionist approaches" in the negotiations to return the Rohingyas to Myanmar. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?" Haque asked. "Not a single Rohingya has volunteered to return to Rakhine due to the absence of conducive environment there." Hau Do Suan, Myanmar's ambassador, said his country needs more time in its efforts to repatriate the Rohingyas. He asked the council to consider the "huge physical as well as psychological barriers" in the process of returning the Rohingyas. "It takes time and patience as well as courage to build trust and confidence among different communities in Rakhine." British Ambassador Karen Pierce said, "We are very disappointed that there hasn't been more progress on getting the refugees back." She added: "The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far." Russia and China, unlike the Western members of the council, believe that it is up to just Myanmar and Bangladesh to craft a solution for the return of the Rohingyas. More than 720,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape persecution and violence in Myanmar. Because of previous refugee crises in Myanmar, Bangladesh currently is home to nearly one million Rohingya refugees. The United Nations has praised the countrys generosity and has appealed to the authorities to continue to allow people fleeing violence in Myanmar to seek safety in Bangladesh. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is a predominantly Buddhist country. It has a long history of tension with its ethnic minorities, much of it based on religion. Southern Chin State is the only State in Myanmar with a Christian majority. It also is the poorest and least developed region in the country. The large Rohingya Muslim population in Rakhine State continues to suffer discrimination and repression from the majority Buddhist community. Though they have lived in Myanmar for generations, the Rohingya are denied citizenship and remain stateless. Jacqueline Landaverde, 17, applied to colleges hoping to study political science and law. Kevin Palma, also 17, wants to major in health sciences and eventually become a cardiovascular surgeon. While both live in Massachusetts and were born in the U.S., their parents werent. They came to the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status Program (TPS). TPS granted them legal status in the U.S. and allowed them to work. As the name indicates, TPS was always intended to be temporary while the countries affected recovered from natural disasters or political crises. Even if a person lives and works legally in the United States as a TPS beneficiary for many years like Palmas and Landaverdes parents, it does not give recipients a path to permanent residence or a green card. And in September 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security [DHS] announced it would end the program for six of 10 protected countries. Immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan more than 400,000 individuals would lose their legal status including both teenagers parents who are from El Salvador. TPS was slated to end for almost 300,000 Salvadorans, Sept. 9, 2019. Broken families Both young people expect their lives to change dramatically if their parents are forced to return to El Salvador. Almost certainly it would end their dreams of going to college. When it struck me was about two years ago, in 2017, when I was actually told the consequences that would happen. Basically, family separation ... I would have to stay here. Id have to get a full-time job to take care of my siblings, Palma said. Landaverdes situation is no different. As the eldest in her family, she, too, would have to get a job and take care of her three siblings. Finding herself potentially in this situation has been a shock. Growing up I never knew. I just knew protection and my parents were legal in this country. ... We heard these rumors TPS is going to be canceled. And then I confronted my parents, Landaverde said. Landaverde said her parents gave a brief explanation and said, It has kept us here in this country. But she really understood what it meant when she did her own research and discovered the Massachusetts Temporary Protected Status Committee, which organizes rallies and meetings, and keeps TPS holders informed. Thats when I realized, Oh, this is TPS, and if its taken away, this is going to happen, she said. Stage play, real stories VOA met with both high school seniors and their friends in Bethesda, Maryland, at the Imagination Stage Theatre where, along with 11 other children, ages 10 to 17, they performed The Last Dream a project from the Boston Experimental Theatre in which children of TPS recipients tell their real life stories. The project, organizers said, was born after staff from the Boston Experimental Theatre heard the stories from children of TPS recipients. We need to grow the hell up and fast. Do you not understand that this might be our last Christmas together? asks one of the young actors during a birthday party in The Last Dream. Talking about what? What do you mean? another child asks, bewildered. I dont think anyone can watch this, walk away, and say I am going to live the same way or Im going to continue to ignore them, Jared Wright, one of the playwrights, told VOA. Audience member Beth Brooks-Mwano, who felt grateful for the children sharing their stories so generously, said that she took away a new understanding. I can help by actually bringing awareness, she said. The Last Dream was part of a three-day series of events in which thousands of TPS holders came to the nations capital to speak with legislators and lobby for a solution, giving TPS recipients a path to permanent residence in the U.S. While Democrats support this kind of solution, most Republicans are against it. Will you help me? In October, a U.S. federal judge blocked the Trump administration from ending TPS protections for people from Haiti, Sudan, Nicaragua and El Salvador while the terminations were contested in court. The U.S. Justice Department criticized the stay, saying the court wrongly took the power to decide such matters from the executive branch of government. But on Thursday, TPS recipients from those countries won a preliminary injunction. DHS, in its compliance with the decision, announced an extension of designations for those countries through Jan. 2, 2020 Currently, there are a total of seven court challenges to TPS terminations under the Trump administration. In one case, Saget v. Trump, a decision is expected in March. The Last Dream presentations are ongoing around the country. Palma and Landaverde should hear from colleges around April and May. My plan is to be in college in a year, but I dont know if that is going to happen because in September is the termination of El Salvadoran TPS, Palma said. Sofia Landaverde, Jacquelines 10-year-old sister, whose birthday it is in the play, shared among tears, deep breaths and long pauses how sad she was when she found out about TPS. Nobody wants to be separated from their parents because every child deserves to be with their parents, she said. I think they (Sofias parents) would choose for us to stay here because there is a lot of violence in El Salvador. Theres a lot of stuff going on that is not really good for kids, she said. On stage at the end of the play, Sofia is alone. She is afraid she wont have her parents for her birthday next year. In front of an audience of more than 50 people, she asks, Will you help me? Will you? Cambodian union leaders say Prime Minister Hun Sens promise of free legal benefits to vulnerable women, including garment factory workers, was prompted by the European Union threatening to withdraw the Everything But Arms agreement. Late last month, the prime minister Hun Sen told garment factory workers that he would pay $500,000 from his own funds to finance a team of 50 lawyers who are to provide legal support to female workers who find themselves in legal disputes, according to the Phnom Penh Post. He also called on factory owners not to dismiss factory workers as a way to solve conflicts. In January, Phnom Penh-based W&D factory, a supplier of the British retailer Marks and Spencers, fired some 1,200 factory workers after they protested demanding improved work conditions. Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said the free legal service would start very soon and would be given to vulnerable women, including female workers and be dealt with in regional offices across the country. On February 11, the European Union announced it had officially begun the withdrawal procedure for Cambodias Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement, under which least-developed countries such as Cambodia can export to the EU tariff-free. Ou Tephalin, president of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation, believes Hun Sens promise was part of a strategy to prevent the EUs preferential trade agreement from being withdrawn. I think its also related to the EBA. He [Hun Sen] wants to show to the international [community] that he tries to reform something because he tries to maintain EBA, she said. But spokesman Heng Sour denied any connection between the new promises and EBA. There is no linkage of such initiative to the EBA, he said in a message to VOA. It is a complement to some NGOs' service. It is good for the people who are in need. Unless Cambodia sees substantial improvements in its human rights record, the European Union will suspend the agreement for Cambodia and regular taxes will apply. Over the next six months, the EU will engage in a monitoring mission to Cambodia to assess the situation. Cambodia relies heavily on trade with the EU, with more than 40 percent of its exports going to countries in the community. But while Tephalin welcomed the initiative, she said more wide-ranging reforms were needed to prevent corruption and serve justice to the people. Union leaders and workers could only win a court case if the case did not involve someone who has the power, she said. Kong Athit, vice president of Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (CCAWDU), agreed that Hun Sens move seemed aimed at preventing the withdrawal of the EBA agreement, or at least mitigating its effects. Maybe his [Hun Sen] prediction [is] that there will be a lot of demand for the legal service for the workers, he said, explaining that if the Everything But Arms agreement was withdrawn, some factories might have to close and workers could find themselves in front of the court to fight for their rights. Athit said that while the promise could be seen as a political move to both gain support from the garment industry and prevent EBA from being withdrawn, the effectiveness of the legal aid service would depend on its technical implementation. For Tephalin, preventing the EBA from being withdrawn lies exclusively in the hands of the government. The only problem is: Is the government willing to reform, and also willing to follow the EBA conditions about respecting human rights and labor rights in Cambodia?.... Its in the governments hands. And if they want to make the situation better, they need to follow the EUs recommendation and reform, she said. The sounds of a gun battle continue to rock Somalias capital Friday, a day after two car bomb attacks by insurgents were launched on one of Mogadishus busiest streets. Officials say at least 20 people have been killed and 40 wounded in the bombings and the clashes between the militants and security forces. Al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group, has claimed responsibility. An al-Shabab spokesman told Reuters that his group is in control of the Maka Almukarramah Hotel. The government tried three times to enter the building, but we repulsed them. We still control the hotel, said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaabs military spokesman. The first explosion occurred just after the 8 p.m. local time Thursday when an explosives-loaded vehicle was detonated on Maka Al-Mukarama Road. Eyewitnesses said dozens of people were sitting outside hotels and restaurants in the area when the bomb exploded. Journalist Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamoud was sitting outside a coffee shop when it occurred. Before the explosion, a street trader saw a parked vehicle with emergency lights on, we suspected the car is exploding, we started to run and then the same car exploded, Mohamoud told VOA. It was a huge explosion throughout the city. An hour after the explosion, a second one occurred near the busy K4 junction in Mogadishu. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the deadly Ebola virus is likely to spread in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo because of deteriorating security in conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The latest WHO figures put the number of Ebola cases at 885, including 555 deaths. International efforts to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in eastern DR Congo have hit a serious roadblock. The charity Doctors Without Borders has suspended its life-saving operations. The action follows attacks on two of its Ebola treatment centers this week the first on February 24 in Katwa, followed by an attack three days later in Butembo. The World Health Organization called the attacks deplorable and said there is a great risk of the spread of the disease. During the attack on the facility in Butembo, four Ebola patients fled for their lives. WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said three of the patients have since returned, while one is still missing. "If you want, the positive note is that all of these four patients were convalescent, that means they were already getting better," he said. "Hence, they had a lower viral load, which makes it way less likely for further infections.But yes, it is highly important to find those people, that last patient and then, of course, immediately start the contact tracing and monitor the contacts these patients might have been in touch with." Lindmeier said the WHO remains committed to staying in the DRC until the job is done. However, he notes that an Ebola outbreak as complex as this one can only be managed collectively and by having all the partners on the ground. He added that it is normal to expect organizations to do whatever is necessary to protect their staffs. The Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces is the second largest in history after the 2014 epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people.Prior to the recent incidents, progress was being made in containing the spread of the Ebola virus in the DRC. The WHO reports the disease is now largely under control in the former hot spots of Mangina, Beni, and Komanda.It says more than 250 people have been cured and 80,000 protected through vaccination. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose AK Party is facing major defeats this month in local elections, is being accused of behaving like a "dictator" after his threat to remove victorious pro-Kurdish mayoral candidates. Erdogan, addressing supporters this week, issued a stark threat to voters in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast: Candidates deemed sympathetic to the PKK Kurdish separatist group who are elected will be removed. "If you happen to send the opportunities provided by the state to Qandil [where PKK leaders are based in neighboring northern Iraq], we will once again, immediately and without waiting any further, appoint our trustees," Erdogan said. The warning was aimed at Turkey's second-largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish HDP. Ankara accuses the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, a charge it denies. Already, dozens of elected HDP mayors have been removed from office and jailed, accused of aiding the PKK. The HDP's leadership is calling on voters to take back control of the towns and cities seized by Ankara. The pro-Kurdish party dismisses terrorist allegations against its candidates. "If they remove any of our successful candidates, it's not that the elected mayors are terrorists but rather Erdogan is a dictator," said Ertugrul Kurkcu, honorary president of the HDP. Validated candidates Kurkcu points out the Higher Election Board, which administers elections in Turkey, has validated all the HDP's mayoral candidates. The HDP claims any alleged transgressions by its candidates during campaigning should be a matter for the Turkish judiciary, rather than the president. Erdogan's warning is being interpreted as an attempt at voter intimidation. "This is a kind of a threat to Kurdish voters: If you want to have peace and tranquility in the region, you have to elect my candidates. If you vote for the opposition, I will sack the mayors. I am going to lead you like sheep," said Kurkcu. "But after all these huge struggles for democracy, I do not see honorable Kurds or honorable citizens who will accept this threat. Instead, it provokes anger and rebellion." Kurkcu's position may be well-founded. The HDP "will sweep all Kurdish-majority cities and towns despite massive intimidation and black propaganda," predicted analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. Analysts say there is growing anger among many Kurds over the security crackdown that has been in place since the collapse of the 2015 peace process with the PKK. Towns ravaged In Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, many towns and city centers were reduced to rubble as security forces ousted Kurdish fighters. Human rights groups say more than 200,000 people have been left homeless. Along with over 80 pro-Kurdish HDP mayors removed from their posts and imprisoned, dozens of the party's parliamentary deputies languish in jail, including its former charismatic leader, Selahattin Demirtas. They are all being held on terrorism charges. State-appointed trustees now administer nearly all towns and cities in southeast Turkey. Many of the cultural reforms encouraging the Kurdish language have been rolled back, including the use of Kurdish on official signs. Erdogan, in his early years in power as prime minister, had positioned himself as an advocate for Kurdish rights. He was rewarded electorally with his AK Party, securing more votes than the HDP in polls. However, the collapse of the peace process with the PKK amid mutual recriminations saw Erdogan abandon the courting of Kurds and turn toward Turkish nationalism. "There is a lot of distrust by Erdogan. Erdogan was sincerely believing in the peace process and believes the PKK and HDP abused this," said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara's Middle East Technical University. Aligned with nationalists Since the December 2015 general election, Erdogan's AK Party has deepened its relationship with Turkey's hard-line Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has been in the forefront of calls for a crackdown on the pro-Kurdish movement. With the Turkish economy mired in recession and public discontent mounting, Erdogan now depends on the MHP's support in the March elections. Analyist Yesilada said Erdogan has little choice but to continue his hard-line rhetoric against the pro-Kurdish movement. "AKP doesn't have the votes to retain Istanbul and Ankara," Yesilada said. "Erdogan has to throw something to [MHP Chairman Devlet] Bahceli. ... So we will see the worst manifestations of populism." However, the HDP is determined to make Erdogan pay a heavy electoral price. "In western Turkey, our party is not listing candidates in seven major cities," said Kurkcu, "meaning that we are directing our voters, around 10 percent of the electorate, to add their vote to the general opposition. This is not a vote for the main opposition but rather against Erdogan." The HDP's surprise move could prove decisive, with opinion polls indicating the opposition ahead in many of Turkey's main cities and Istanbul too close to call. Analysts suggest a serious setback for the AKP could be the impetus for Erdogan again resetting the political agenda by reaching out to Kurds and abandoning his Turkish nationalist ally. A three-judge court in Buenos Aires on Thursday acquitted former Argentine President Carlos Menem of charges that he interfered with the probe into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center. But the court convicted several others on charges related to the deadly terrorist attack that killed 85 and injured at least 300. Menem's attorney said the ex-president was "relieved." But a victims group criticized the court's ruling, asserting that the Menem government knew the attack was imminent but did nothing to prevent it. Previous court rulings concluded that the investigation was full of irregularities, corruption and political interference. Among those found guilty Thursday were a former federal judge and intelligence chief. Both were involved in paying a car dealer accused of supplying the vehicle used in the bombing. The 1994 attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building remains unsolved. But Argentina and Israel have long suspected Hezbollah militants were carrying out orders from Iran. Iran has denied any involvement. Canada says it will allow an extradition hearing to proceed against the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies, paving the way for a legal battle that could complicate the Canadian and U.S. relationships with China. Canada's Department of Justice announced Friday that a date for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou's extradition hearing would be set in a Vancouver courtroom on March 6. "The department is satisfied that ... there is sufficient evidence to be put before an extradition judge for decision," it said. The Chinese Embassy in Canada said it was "utterly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes" the decision to allow the case to proceed. Lawyers for Meng said she maintains her innocence, and they called the U.S. extradition request an abuse of the legal process. Meng was arrested at the request of the United States as she changed planes in Vancouver in December. She is wanted by Washington on charges that she conspired to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran. Bilateral ties harmed The case has damaged China's relationship with Canada. After Meng's detention, China arrested two Canadians on national security grounds, and a Chinese court sentenced to death a Canadian man who previously had only been jailed for drug smuggling. China has repeatedly called on Canada to release Meng, but Canada has refused, saying the case is a legal matter, not a political one. It could be months or even years before Meng, who is under house arrest in Canada, is sent to the United States, since many decisions can be appealed in the Canadian justice system. U.S. President Donald Trump suggested last year that the United States could cut a deal with China to secure Meng's release. However, since then the U.S. Justice Department has unsealed its indictment against Meng and Huawei, and Trump has played down the idea of dropping the charges. As the White House gears up for the 2020 campaign, it's pressing the case that Democrats are rallying behind what it's calling the policies of "socialism." Trying to portray Democrats as out of step with ordinary Americans, Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the choice in the next election is "between freedom and socialism, between personal responsibility and government dependence." It was the latest step in a coordinated effort by President Donald Trump and his allies to drive up enthusiasm among the GOP base by sowing fears about the policies pushed by Democrats. "The moment America becomes a socialist country is the moment America ceases to be America," Pence told the crowd of conservative activists. Pence also took aim at "Medicare for all" and the Green New Deal, policy proposals prominent in the crowded Democratic contest for the presidential nomination. The Medicare proposal really means "quality health care for none," Pence said. And "the only thing green" about the Democrats' environmental framework to combat climate change, the vice president said, "is how much green it's going to cost taxpayers if we do it: $90 trillion." Pence called Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is making a second run for the Democratic presidential nomination, an "avowed socialist" and said Sanders epitomized Democratic candidates and officials who "have papered over the failed policies of socialism with bumper-sticker slogans and slick social media campaigns." White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said at the conference Thursday that Americans should "put socialism on trial and then convict it." Trump was expected to deliver a similar message when he addresses the conference Saturday. The White House has tried to cite the political chaos in Venezuela, where moderates backed by the Trump administration are challenging the socialist government of Nicholas Maduro after years of economic collapse, as a warning sign about the consequences of Democratic policies in the United States. A Gallup poll from last August found that 37 percent of Americans feel positive about socialism, a share little changed over the past decade. Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats (57 percent) reported having a positive view of socialism, more than three times the share of Republicans (16 percent). According to Gallup, young adults are especially likely to view socialism positively. About half of Americans under 30 (51 percent) and 41 percent of those age 30 to 49 reported feeling positive, compared with about 3 in 10 of those 50 and older. (TNS) Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials have warned Philadelphias mayor and City Council that the wireless-Internet kiosks being installed throughout the city may violate rules against advertisements along state and federal roads, a breach that could cost the city millions in government funds for projects like the planned cap over I-95 near Penns Landing.The kiosks may be considered outdoor advertising devices subject to PennDOT regulation" under a law banning most advertising along roads that include some of Center Citys busiest throughways, deputy secretary for highway administration George McAuley wrote in a Dec. 20 letter to Mayor Kenney and Council President Darrell L. Clarke.McAuleys letter came after advertising and media company Intersection had finished installing the first of what are expected to be 100 kiosks citywide under the LinkPHL moniker. Intersection has installed similar kiosk networks in New York, where it is based, and in Newark, N.J.The tall, slablike Wi-Fi hotspots also offer cell phone charging ports, telephones that can make domestic calls, and small screens displaying local information like weather forecasts, all supported by big digital ads that run on the sides of the devices.PennDOTs reaction to the kiosks is the latest volley in a years-long tussle between city officials and the transportation agency over Philadelphias permissiveness toward outdoor advertising along federal- and state-controlled roads within its borders.While PennDOT has no information regarding the location of the kiosks and whether any additional kiosks are to be installed, we are requesting that the city consult with PennDOT prior to authorizing installation," McAuley wrote in his letter, which was obtained by anti-billboard advocacy group Scenic America under the states Right-to-Know law and provided to the Inquirer. PennDOTs failure to effectively control outdoor advertising could result in the loss of federal highway funds"If states fail to regulate advertisements along their state and federal roads, known as controlled routes," they can lose 10 percent of their yearly federal-highway-funds allocation. Or they can be barred from spending any highway money inside municipalities that are authorized to control their own ads, but are failing to do so.Pennsylvania typically receives more than $1.6 billion a year in federal highway investments, according to PennDOT, so it would lose at least $160 million if it were docked 10 percent. Philadelphias allocation for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 is $162.7 million, according to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, which administers the program.The federal funds are helping pay for Philadelphia projects including the planned cap over I-95 from Chestnut to Walnut Streets and the rehabilitation of the Market Street bridge over the Schuylkill River.In 1974, PennDOT agreed to let Philadelphia police controlled routes within its borders, which include busy urban arteries such as Market, Broad, Chestnut and Arch Streets, as well as limited-access routes like I-95.The state agency in 2014 took back control of all Philadelphias controlled routes except a strip of Market Street east of City Hall, fearing that some of the ads going up in the city could cost it transportation funds that are contingent on adherence to the federal laws.About a year later, Philadelphia lost control of the Market Street segment , too, with Federal Highway Administration officials saying the city had not demonstrated that it was adequately vetting outdoor-ad proposals for legal compliance when awarding permits.The kiosks at the center of the latest flareup between City Hall and PennDOT are being installed as part of a 20-year concession agreement with a company that merged to form Intersection. The deal, which was approved by City Council and signed by former Mayor Nutter in 2014, also calls on Intersection to install ad-supported shelters and seating at transit stops.Philadelphia could pocket an estimated $18 million in shared advertising revenue over the life of the agreement, city spokesperson Kelly Cofrancisco said in an email.The Philadelphia Art Commission, which has jurisdiction over signage on city streets, has so far approved 35 kiosk locations, Cofrancisco said. Nine of these locations including the seven that currently have kiosks in place have received necessary approvals from the Philadelphia Streets Department and PennDOT, she said.This was contradicted by PennD spokesperson Chelsea Lacey-Mabe, who said in an email that PennDOT has issued neither approvals nor permits for any kiosks in Philadelphia.We are working with the city to schedule a meeting to discuss the issue, she said.The Federal Highway Administration said in a statement that it is aware of the concerns raised regarding Philadelphias digital kiosks, and PennDOTs communication with city officials that these kiosks must conform with state and federal outdoor advertising requirements.Intersection said it is aware of the letter and continues to work very closely with the City of Philadelphia and PennDOT.Each LinkPHL location requires review and permitting from PennDOT as well as the Streets Department and Art Commission, and installation is on schedule, the company said in a statement.Clarke spokesperson Jane Roh said the Council presidents legislative staff is waiting to hear from the mayors office about timing for a meeting with PennDOT.Cofrancisco said city officials have been in contact with PennDOT about the kiosks since receiving the December letter and that they are optimistic we will be able to work through their concerns.We have had similar conversations previously with PennDOT about the advertising on street furniture controlled by the city," including on bus shelters and panels over subway entrances, Cofrancisco said. The practice of advertising on state roads is not new.But Mary Tracy, Scenic Americas executive director, said ads on street fixtures like bus shelters are routinely given a pass by regulators because they support what is seen as vital urban infrastructure. There is less of an urgent need for Wi-Fi signals and power sockets to charge cell phones, which are already easy enough to access, she said.These are not such pressing needs that we want to give up our precious public space and treat our cities like were consumers, not citizens, Tracy said. The city has gone too far with this one. U.S.-backed forces in Syria are closing in on the last patch of Islamic States self-declared caliphate in Syria. Syrian Democratic Force spokesman Mustafa Bali said Saturday three SDF soldiers have been wounded. Militants have been killed, he said, but he could not confirm a number. Fighting continues and heavy weapons are being used, Bali said. SDF forces have advanced significantly and have moved into Baghuz. Militants are still planting and using IEDs and bombs are exploding as the SDF forces are advancing. There is also heavy street fighting. The advance on the terror groups remaining fighters began late Friday. The final assault, announced on Twitter by Syrian Democratic Force spokesman Mustafa Bali, began just a day after the lead commander said the northeast Syrian village of Baghuz would be liberated within a week. After evacuation of thousands of civilians and our comrades who held hostage in #Baghouz, operation to clear the last remaining pocket of ISIS has just started at 18:00 this evening, Bali wrote. Another SDF official, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity, said 15,000 troops were taking part in the operation, with the backing of U.S. and coalition airpower and artillery. Our final assault on Baghuz began with intense fighting with [IS] terrorists, SDF spokeswoman Lilwa Abdullah told VOA separately. But we will keep fighting until we break into their last defense line. ... There arent any civilians left in Baghuz, so its a matter of time before we take a full control of it, Abdullah added. The U.S.-led coalition declined to provide any update late Friday, saying it was too early to assess the operations progress. SDF officials had been bracing for a difficult fight, saying their troops are likely to encounter some of the Islamic States most dedicated and hardened fighters, aided by booby traps, improvised explosive devices and an extensive system of tunnels and caves. Sources close to SDF officials on the ground told VOA there is grave concern that an unknown number of IS fighters may be hiding below ground in a network that may extend for more than two kilometers. SDF and coalition officials had estimated more than a week ago that Baghuz held only about 300 IS fighters, as well as a few thousand civilians. But in the past week alone more than 13,000 civilians have fled the enclave. Some had been telling SDF officials as late as Thursday that the tunnels remained packed with civilians. The final assault on Baghuz also comes just a day after U.S. President Donald Trump told U.S. soldiers that the final shred of the IS caliphate had already fallen. "We just took over, you know, you kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now it's 100 percent, he said while visiting with U.S. troops at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on Thursday. "You saw what happened. Everybody saw. We have the whole thing," he added. We did that in a much shorter period of time that it was supposed to be." The comments, which barely caused a stir among the troops in attendance, quickly drew a sharp rebuke on Twitter from a spokesman with the YPG, a Kurdish militia that has contributed to the SDF, who berated the presidents ignorance regarding the battle front as abhorrent. Victory doesnt seem to be coming in next days, the YPGs Zana Amedi warned via Twitter. ISIS is not simply laying down arms and surrendering, he added, using an alternate acronym for the terror group. Theyre preparing to make a last stand which is making it harder to predict a quick ending. Despite having been reduced to a small patch of land, IS has held on by using civilians as human shields and by using the tunnels and caves to launch occasional counterattacks against SDF forces. It is a very difficult and complex situation, coalition spokesman, Col. Sean Ryan, told VOA Tuesday. The threat remains as long as Daesh (IS) fighters have not given up in Baghuz and have the will and weapons to fight. Russia's economy has stagnated for some years and suffers under sanctions imposed by the West after it annexed Crimea in 2014. Still, Moscow remains a vibrant city that attracts immigrants from around the world, most of them from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. For many of those migrants, the search for prosperity is often not easy. Ricardo Marquina has more from Moscow in this report narrated by Jim Randle. Editor's note: We want you to know what's happening, and why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. The other family separation The legal volatility around the Temporary Protected Status program in the U.S. is forcing some families to confront what separation could mean for them. But they still don't know when, or even if, it's going to happen. Hoda Muthana wants to come home Hoda Muthana, the Islamic State supporter who left the Alabama home she shared with her family years ago to move to the so-called caliphate in Syria, says she will face the legal consequences of her decisions. But Trump and his secretary of state say the 24-year-old will not be allowed back into the country over questions regarding her citizenship. The case could be a litmus test for legal and moral issues, including how the country wants to handle returning extremists. Aftermath of the caliphate Syria, after years of civil war and Islamic State rampage, is battered. The U.N. says some parts remain "lawless," so those displaced by violence cannot return to their homes yet. Children who Kurdish forces allied with the U.S. say they rescued from IS are waiting to reunited with their families in Iraq. But as the extremist group battles for its last territory, the fallout for its fighters, their families, and their hostages remains unclear and at times, chaotic, as VOA reporter Heather Murdock witnessed. How Democrats want to handle immigration Capitol Hill reporter Katherine Gypson gives a rundown of where the party stands on four key policies. Spelt risotto was on the menu at a recent lunch in Paris. Spelt is an ancient form of wheat with a nutty flavor. It is rich in fiber and minerals, and counts among dozens of sometimes ancient and obscure foods scientists say benefit people and the planet. A green cuisine effort is growing in France as scientists warn that meat consumption must be drastically cut to fight climate change and sustainably feed a global human population set to reach 10 billion by 2050. "Seventy-five percent of our food comes from 12 crops and five animals. Sixty percent of all our calories come through three vegetables," said David Edwards, director of food strategy at environmental group WWF, which jointly produced a report, "Future 50 Foods," with the German food giant Knorr. The message: Our current eating habits, which rely heavily on large-scale farming and livestock production, have got to change. "We've had a 60 percent decline in the wildlife population since the 1970s the last 50 years, within a lifetime," Edwards added. "And ... a precipitous decline in insect populations also ... food has pushed wildlife into the extreme margins." The Paris lunch featured many of the report's so-called "future" foods. Vegetables are in. Meat is out. On the menu: walnuts, root vegetables, lentil flour, yams and soy milk. Also, fonio a drought-resistant grain that Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam now markets in the United States and serves at his New York City restaurant. He sources it from smallholder farmers in Africa. "We're still importing food like rice in Senegal. Yet we could have our own fonio, our own millet. We should be consuming it. But we still have this mentality that what comes from the West is best," Thiam said. Former White House chef Sam Kass, who led Michelle Obama's campaign against childhood obesity, is now fighting for the environment. "When we talk about these dramatic changes to overhaul everything, people are like, 'I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know what to do.' And here, it's like, just pick 2 to 3 foods and eat them once a week. That would be a big start," Kass said. In Europe, research fellow Laura Wellesley of British think-tank Chatham House says governments must aid in a shift to so-called plant-based meat and, more controversially, meat grown in laboratories. "The EU has really invested quite heavily in this area but it could do more," Wellesley said. "It could invest more public finance in the research and development of culture and plant-based meat that are truly sustainable and are healthy options. And it could also support the commercialization of innovations." At the Paris lunch, diner Thomas Blomme gave his first course a thumbs-up. "[S]ome sort of soup, with a lot of spices and some new ingredients. Tasted really well with some lentils," he said. And for diners heading back to work but feeling a bit sleepy after the seven-course tasting menu: A green moringa after-party booster juice was offered. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mocked U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday over the collapse of a summit on North Korean denuclearization, vowing Washington would not get a better Iran nuclear deal than the one it exited last year. A second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed on Thursday over sanctions, and the two sides gave conflicting accounts of exactly what happened, raising questions about the future of their denuclearization talks. "President Trump should've now realized that pageantries, photo-ops & flip-flops dont make for serious diplomacy," Zarif said on Twitter. "It took 10 yrs of posturing plus two years-literally thousands of hours-of negotiations to hammer out every word of the 150 page JCPOA (Iran nuclear accord)," Zarif added. "You'll never get a better deal," said Zarif, who is back in his job after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected his resignation earlier this week. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders earlier said on Twitter: "President [Barack] Obama refused to walk away from a bad deal with Iran. President @realDonaldTrump refuses to make the same mistake with Iran, North Korea, or anybody else. Zarif is widely believed to have come out strengthened from his resignation thanks to Rouhani's endorsement as well as a chorus of support from moderate Iranian lawmakers, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander and, implicitly, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After Trump abandoned the nuclear deal and reimposed U.S. sanctions in May, Zarif had come under heavy criticism from hardline opponents who accused him of selling out his country. The mother of a migrant toddler who died shortly after being released from the nations largest family detention center sued the tiny Arizona city Thursday that for years was paid by the U.S. government to run the facility in name only. The lawsuit from Yazmin Juarez of Guatemala alleges that her 1-year-old daughter, Mariee, developed a respiratory illness at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, and medical staff provided inadequate treatment before releasing her three weeks later. The lawsuit targets Eloy, Arizona, which collected $438,000 a year from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to officially run the Texas facility for four years even though the city is roughly 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) away. Eloy then paid the private prison operator CoreCivic to operate Dilley, in an arrangement questioned by ICEs own lawyers. Mariees death in May underscored the complaints advocates have long had about medical care for detained immigrants, as the Trump administration has sought to detain more migrant parents and children for longer times. Infants in detention At least nine infants younger than the age of 1 are currently detained at Dilley, according to lawyers who work with migrant families detained there. Legal groups filed a complaint Thursday with the Department of Homeland Security about what it described as an alarming increase in detained infants. Democrats in Congress have called for investigations into Mariees death as well as other recent incidents, including a woman delivering a stillborn baby while in custody last week and the deaths of two children detained by the Border Patrol in December after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with their parents. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment on Juarezs lawsuit, but said it takes the welfare of detainees very seriously. ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agencys custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care, the agency said. Health care The lawsuit alleges that Mariee developed a severe fever a week after entering Dilley March 5, 2018. As her mother repeatedly tried to seek medical treatment, the lawsuit alleges medical staff at Dilley misdiagnosed Mariees illness and did not prescribe the correct medication, before releasing both mother and daughter March 25 and clearing them to travel. Juarez took Mariee to an emergency room almost immediately, the lawsuit alleges. She remained hospitalized for the rest of her life, dying in May. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened the facility in 2014, during the administration of former President Barack Obama, so it could detain more parents and children together during a previous surge of migrant families trying to enter the United States. ICE, Eloy and CoreCivic ICE used Eloy to expedite the opening with so many migrants coming into the system. The agency modified an existing detention agreement with Eloy to quickly open the Texas facility. Under the setup, ICE paid the Arizona city several million dollars per year, and it in turn funneled the money to the private prison company that ran the facility. Eloy kept a cut, to the tune of about $400,000 per year. The Department of Homeland Securitys inspector general leveled harsh criticism against ICE, Eloy and the private prison operator CoreCivic, formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America. The pass-through arrangement was long criticized by advocates and the DHS inspector general, which said it violated budget guidelines and wasted money. ICE replaced Eloy last year with the city government in Dilley, which now collects the same fees. Stanton Jones, a lawyer for the Juarez family, said Eloy deserved blame for what happened to Mariee precisely because they did so little. Eloy never lifted a finger to exercise any sort of oversight or participation in the operation of the facility, Jones said. Eloy city manager Harvey Krauss declined to comment, and it remains to be seen how much legal liability the city of nearly 20,000 people between Tucson and Phoenix will face. CoreCivic agreed as part of the previous arrangement to assume any legal liability on Eloys behalf. A CoreCivic spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that it will defend and indemnify any lawsuits with respect to allegations related to the operations of the facility for which CoreCivic is responsible. But CoreCivic said ICE was responsible for medical care at the Dilley facility. South Korean President Moon Jae-in stressed the importance of a unified Korea, peace, and moving past the 1910-1945 period of Japanese rule during an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement against Japanese occupation of the peninsula. Overcoming colonial rule, war, poverty and dictatorship, we have accomplished miraculous economic growth, Moon said Friday at an official event marking the birth of the Korean independence movement. On that day (March 1, 1919), we were reborn as citizens of a republic; we were no longer subjects of a dynasty or a colony of Imperial Japan. The great journey toward a democratic republic began at that time looking beyond independence and liberation, he said. North Korea Moon also discussed his North Korean engagement policy. Last year, I met with Chairman Kim Jong Un for the first time at Panmunjom and, by bringing the minds of 80 million Koreans together, we proclaimed to the whole world that an era of peace has dawned on the Korean Peninsula, Moon proclaimed, noting that shots are no longer heard in the sky, on the land and across the seas. While the second summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump ended in Hanoi without an agreement between Pyongyang and Washington, Moon remained optimistic. He said that summit made meaningful progress leading to enhanced mutual understanding and built more trust between the two nations. I have high regard for President Trump, who has expressed his commitment to continuing talks and optimistic views, Moon said. He also clarified his vision of unification as one achieving a unity of mind while acknowledging differences and establishing mutually beneficial relations. Moon also discussed promoting peace on the peninsula and the financial benefits he was certain would follow. He said, Peace on the Korean Peninsula will serve as a new driving force for economic growth, which will not only impact both Koreas but also encompass Northeast Asia, ASEAN and Eurasia. Japan The South Korean president also addressed the discrepancies of historical events chronicled by Seoul and Tokyo. The task of setting history right is what is needed to help our future generations stand tall. Firmly upholding the national spirit is the state's responsibility and duty, he said. Bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo have soured in recent months after the Moon administration dissolved a fund set up by Japan to assist surviving comfort women during World War II and court decisions ordering Japanese companies to compensate the victims of forced labor. Tokyo says both matters were resolved in 1965, when South Korea and Japan resumed formal diplomatic relations. Grant Newsham, senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo, said many independence movement celebrations tend to have elements of ethnocentrism or nationalism in them. Besides sort of instilling or recreating some sort of domestic or national pride, one often does think of who it is nearby that you don't like all that much, and for [historical] reasons, you may have some resentment toward them, he said. The Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University's Cho Jin-goo noted it was previously important to cooperate closely with Japan because of regional security issues security when Seoul was a weaker country. Even though he states a gap in power still exists, the Korean side can raise their voice to Japan, in comparison with the past situation, allowing Seoul to address issues related to the past. However, Yang Ki-ho in the Department of Japanese Studies at Sungkonghoe University struck a more positive tone regarding future relations with Tokyo. He said the Moon administration has undertaken a dual approach with Japan to try and address past and present issues independently. In that sense, Yang said, the March First Movement anniversary event could be a turning point. ... It should be considered as a positive, futuristic point instead of a negative criticism to Japan. Although he did also mention that it is inevitable to experience some conflicts between [South] Korea and Japan, attributing that to a lack of communication and misunderstanding. While the events taking place throughout South Korea won't necessarily improve or harm relations, Newsham said, he pointed out that bilateral ties are not entirely bad. You know, in some parts of it, particularly in the military to military. It's actually always been pretty good, he said. But Cho does see some possibilities for ties to further worsen in the coming months. He said that's when Japan revises its school textbooks, often claiming sovereignty over islets both nations assert as their own (referred to as Takeshima in Japan, Dokdo in South Korea, and the Laincourt Rocks internationally) and lawmakers make an annual pilgrimage to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report. Americans views of Russia have plummeted to levels not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to a newly released survey by the U.S.-based Gallup polling center. The data say 52 percent of Americans see Russian military power as a direct threat to U.S. vital interests, and that a third identify Russia as the United States' arch rival, thereby displacing North Korea from the top position in Gallup's semi-annual ranking of perceived U.S. enemies. The percentage of Americans who view Russia unfavorably also increased a single percentage point to 73 in the latest poll, a record high in Gallup's trends. The findings follow a January 2018 poll by the independent Moscow-based Levada Center showed that two-thirds of Russians called the United States their main enemy. Pavel Sharikov, a senior research fellow at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, says although the latest results are a cause for concern, the outlook may not be as bleak as it seems. "From my perspective, both Moscow and Washington have contributed to these numbers," he said, noting that numerous variables - from Western sanctions over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and accusations of meddling in U.S. elections, and the recent collapse of the INF weapons treaty - have sparked unprecedented levels of belligerent rhetoric. "From the United States, there is a lot of criticism toward Russia, which Russian politicians take very seriously and very dramatically, and they react to this criticism" with escalated threats, Sharikiv said. "This sentiment in Russia [is] that it should remain a strong military power...the president's and generals' rhetoric about the Russian military being on the rise, about Russian weapons systems being so robust," he said. "This is also what leads to Americans perceiving Russians and Russia as a military threat. So these polls are a very big concern." But general Russian public perceptions of the United States, Sharikov said, differ significantly from opinions held among the pro-Kremlin community. And a spate of recent polls in Russia, he added, indicate an increasingly positive perception of Americans. "It used to be, a couple of years ago, the general Russian public opinion was that Russia and the United States are enemies, but I have looked at the recent polls of the Levada Center, and there has been a very clear trend toward a positive perception of the United States and Europe among Russians, especially among the younger generation," he said. "For a very long time, the negative perception of the United States was very clearly related to a very high rating of President [Vladimir] Putin, so right now there is no correlation," he said. "And while President Putin's ratings are very dynamic - and, right now, it's getting lower - the general Russian public opinion is getting more positive toward the United States." Andrei Kolesnikov, a political analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, says general public fears of warfare expressed by people polled on both sides of the ocean aren't likely to affect diplomatic ties in any significant way. "Major political decisions are being made at a different level," he said. "Besides, the relations between the countries are already quite poor. It just doesn't help to improve the situation when ordinary people start thinking in a negative way." Outside St. Isaacs Cathedral in St. Petersburg, where just days ago the choir sparked controversy with a performance of a Soviet-era satirical song about a nuclear submarine attack on the United States, locals appeared to be more nonchalant about the Gallup findings. "This kind of published research just reinforces existing fears and biases and ultimately worsens relations," said one young St. Petersburg resident, an engineering student, who asked to remain anonymous. "People will believe whatever they see reported on television and online," she said. "And, in Russia, what do they hear most about? U.S. political interference in other countries and sanctions. So of course they view the U.S. as a major enemy." On the streets of Moscow, too, one young professional, a psychology professor, echoed the opinion that news reports loaded with mutually antagonistic statements by U.S. and Russian officials - not to mention myriad online media threads - largely exaggerate perceptions of reciprocal enmity. "All this gossip about Russian aggression began during Soviet times, in the mid-20th century or even earlier, and it's never going to stop until people unplug from mass media," he said, rolling his eyes at the mention of Gallup and Levada Center polls. "I guess you can perceive me as an enemy if you want, but you're perfectly safe to come have a drink with me if you like," he added, laughing. "Thirst can be a truly dangerous thing, right?" One Moscow-based American largely echoed that sentiment, emphasizing interpersonal connections over international relations. "I think these polls are asking too general of a question and most people are totally politically incompetent," said Robert, who chose to withhold his last name. "I think everyone should have a voice and democracy is a necessity but international politics isnt a simple thing, and even experienced politicians cant understand a lot of it - too many moving parts and cultural misunderstandings." Adding that he believes Russia and the United States are mutual enemies at the national level, he sees most of the conflict unfolding in geopolitical proxy disputes in places such as Syria. "As an expat in Russia, and former expat in China and Cambodia, I dont feel distrust or angst from locals, although they would have logical reason to feel it," he said. "I feel different from the locals, of course, but my connection with them is on a personal level, not a political one. They realize and I realize, too, that governmental decisions are far, far removed from individual people themselves, especially in non-democratic countries like those Ive lived in. "Ive spoken with people about politics in each of these countries and every one of them has shared my feelings of people connections, not political connections, between individuals," he added. Gallup conducted the poll among 1,016 Americans living in all 50 states between Feb. 1 and Feb. 10. Olga Pavlova contributed to this report from Moscow. The parents of Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who was released from North Korean custody in a vegetative state, accused North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of "unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity" Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to blame Kim for the death of their son. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto," they said in a statement. "No excuses or lavish praise can change that." Warmbier died just days after he was returned to his family in June 2017. Trump said Thursday he does not believe Kim knew about the brutal mistreatment Otto Warmbier suffered during his imprisonment in the isolated regime. The 22-year-old student was visiting North Korea with a tour group when he was arrested in January 2016. Two months later, he was convicted of stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He was sent home to the United States in June 2017, arriving in a vegetative state, and he died six days later when his parents decided to remove his feeding tube. North Korea blamed his brain damage on botulism, but a U.S. coroner found no evidence of that. WATCH: Human Rights Advocates 'Flabbergasted' by Trump Warmbier Comments During a question-and-answer session with reporters Thursday in Hanoi, Trump was asked if he had confronted Kim about Warmbier. Trump said he "believed something bad happened to" Warmbier, but said he doesn't think "the top [North Korean] leadership knew about it." "I don't believe that he would have allowed that to happen," the U.S. president said, referring to Kim Jong Un. "Just wasn't to his advantage to have allowed that to happen. Those prisons are rough they're rough places, and bad things happen." Trump said Kim told him he felt "very badly about it." Later Friday Trump tweeted that he had been misinterpreted, that Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Ottos mistreatment and death. However, he did not mention Kim in his tweet. A U.S. federal court judge last November ordered Pyongyang to pay more than $500 million to the Warmbier family. His parents filed a lawsuit against the reclusive regime, asserting their son had been intentionally beaten. It is unlikely North Korea will pay the judgment since there is no mechanism to force it to do so. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was the guest of honor Friday at a ministerial meeting of the world's leading Islamic organization. Her presence at the gathering in Abu Dhabi, in which she delivered a keynote address, prompted Pakistan's top diplomat to opt out of attending. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his Indian counterpart's attendance at the session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was based on a bilateral invitation from the United Arab Emirates that OIC officials did not know about. Swaraj spoke to the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers. "A host country invited her bilaterally. It had nothing to do with (the) OIC. Even the secretary general of the OIC was not aware of it," Qureshi said in an exclusive interview with the VOA Urdu service. Pakistan had asked the UAE to withdraw its invitation, which was sent before military skirmishes between India and Pakistan this week put the region on edge. Upon receiving a negative response, Qureshi decided to boycott the meeting, although Pakistan sent lower level officials instead. Qureshi regretted that Pakistan was not consulted on the issue but said he understood the UAE's position. India wants to become a member of the OIC, a group of 57 Muslim countries that calls itself the "voice of the Muslim world," even though analysts call it a "paper tiger" that is mostly irrelevant in international affairs. Even though the majority of India's population is Hindu, it has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. Pakistan opposed India's bid for membership. In her speech Friday at the OIC meeting, Swaraj raised the issue of terrorism, calling it a "distortion of religion." India claims Pakistan's failure to act against terrorist groups on its soil is the reason relations between the two suffer. One terrorist group, the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), claimed responsibility for a Feb. 14 suicide attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed more than 40 security personnel. India's retaliatory strikes on Pakistani territory earlier this week resulted in a military stand-off that put the region on edge. Asked about Swaraj's comments against terrorism, Qureshi said, "No one has fought as hard as Pakistan against terrorism. We've suffered 70,000 casualties ... We're all against terrorism." Qureshi has also repeated on many international broadcast channels that Pakistan would take action against any group or individual if India provided evidence. India has given Pakistan a dossier on the attack in Kashmir near Pulwama. Qureshi has promised to examine it, saying Pakistan is willing to have a dialogue with India on the contents. Qureshi also says the head of JeM is in Pakistan but is "unwell and cannot leave home." (TNS) Large piles of brush and debris sat awaiting pickup, street lights hung by their wires and belongings from the homes of Columbus residents sat in garbage bags by the curb five days after a tornado hit the city of around 24,000 on Saturday.Jennifer Middlebrooks and Jonell Foster stood outside of a home on Waterworks Road in Columbus where a tarp was being spread to cover a missing roof by volunteers. Middlebrooks and Foster are two volunteers with Fairview Baptist Church in Columbus. Several church volunteers have been spending the past week helping clear the damage from the storm.On Sunday, we went canvassing in the neighborhoods hit to just see how we could assist, Middlebrooks said.Volunteers have been doing chainsaw work on brush and debris, tarping roofs and general clean up.There was no damage to our church, although a few of our church members had damage, Foster said.The storm kind of jumped around a bit, Foster said.It is not just local churches, city work crews and local volunteers who are helping to rebuild in Columbus after the tornado last weekend. Organizations from far and wide have joined together to lend a hand.Ed Hultgren, training manager at Convoy of Hope, a faith-based organization, was one of about a dozen volunteers doing chainsaw work this week in Columbus, cutting down about 40 trees on Wednesday alone.We got here Sunday and in the first week, we usually try to do 100 semi-loads of brush, Hultgren said. The group has also worked with Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to distribute supplies.Diane Sherrod, regional coordinator for the Families First for Mississippi Columbus, has been on the ground providing assistance to storm victims in the area around 14th street.Families First has partnered with the MEMA to provide assistance with volunteer efforts already being organized in the Columbus community.Sherrod said the home of a young woman receiving assistance from the center in Columbus was hit by the tornado and sustained significant damage to the roof, rendering the residence unlivable. The woman has nine children.We are working with them on finding some resources for their short-term needs, and we plan to follow up with them with some case management so we can help them with their long-term needs, Sherrod said.Sherrod said the centers first priority was to provide assistance to their client, but there were others in the community without shelter or food.The day after the tornado hit, the center partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of the Golden Triangle on 14th Street, which has storm damage, to distribute overnight bags of food and supplies to storm victims.The executive director had put together some lunches and we went into the communities that were affected and we dispersed lunches to those that were victims of the tornado, Sherrod said.An hour away from the site of the damage, several Tupelo-based nonprofit organizations have organized supplies and volunteers to assist those in Columbus without food, shelter and other necessary services.John Brown, executive director of the North Mississippi chapter of American Red Cross, said there are 100 staffers working to assist those affected by flash flooding, tornado damage and river flooding.We are still sheltering at the Townsend Center and also doing mobile feeding via our emergency response vehicle, Brown said.So far, more than 1,600 meals and snacks have been served in Columbus from mobile food trucks, and the organization has begun disaster assessments and bulk distribution of needed supplies, such as clean-up kits to more than 300 homes just in Lowndes County.The operation is set up at the chapter office in Tupelo. Red Cross staffers are doing community trainings to recruit volunteers for the shelter, bulk distribution and feeding, and fundraising for these efforts.Seventeen counties are significantly impacted right now, we are forecasting a level three disaster response that puts us at $250,000 cost, so we will be raising money to offset that cost, Brown said.Some Tupelo organizations may be smaller in size, but not in commitment to help those affected by the last weekends storms.Katina Holland, founder and CEO of Wear It Well, a Tupelo-based nonprofit organization, said her daughter inspired her to do something to help in Columbus. Wear It Well has worked this past week to gather donated supplies and transport them to storm victims in Columbus with the help of United Way in Lowndes County.My daughter lives in Columbus, she wasnt there when it happened, but immediately after the tornado she said she wanted to do something, Holland said.Columbus is not the only city affected by a week of heavy rain, strong winds and eventually severe storms. Due to massive flooding in Saltillo, faith-based nonprofit organization Eight Days of Hope began working to alleviate flooding in Saltillo homes.Eight Days of Hope partnered with First Baptist Church in Saltillo the day after the storms reached their peak to offer commercial dehumidifiers, commercial fans, muck-out kits for families to gut their homes, and generators where needed. Eight to 10 volunteers have been in the neighborhood helping folks dry out their homes.They have trailers there with dehumidifiers and fans that people who were affected by the flood can put in their homes and get all of the moisture out of their homes, First Baptist Church, a couple of our members live in the neighborhood and we have helped carry these fans over and help out, said Sherry Flanagin, a West Baptist Church member who is working with Eight Days of Hope to help Saltillo residents.Some of the houses werent too bad, the water just came in over the flooring and ruined floors, so we are having to take the flooring out, then we are having to cut the sheet rock out about four feet high to replace that and the insulation that was damaged by the water, Flanagin said.Flanagin said it is muddy, but the standing water has finally receded.The nonprofit organization has also committed to help spray homes for mold at a later point.cristina.carreon@journalinc.com Twitter @Cris_carreon902019 the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.)Visit the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.) at www.djournal.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Two Saudi sisters hiding in Hong Kong after fleeing what they say is certain retribution at home for renouncing Islam are now in political limbo after their permission to stay in the autonomous Chinese city expired on Thursday before they were granted political asylum. Known to the media by their aliases Rawan and Reem, false names used to protect their identities, the sisters have been in Hong Kong for five months after they fled a family vacation in Sri Lanka. The sisters, age 18 and 20, could face the death penalty for the crime of apostasy or renouncing Islam if they returned home, according to their lawyer Michael Vidler. Seeking asylum As Hong Kong has not signed the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, Rawan and Reem have applied for asylum in an unknown third country. Saudi Arabia, however, canceled their passports in November and the women now face an uncertain future as tolerated overstayers, according to Vidler. We have received acknowledgement today from the Hong Kong Immigration Department of our request for the sisters to be allowed to continue to stay pending determination of their application to a third country place of safety, he said in a statement Thursday. We are hopeful this extension will be allowed and that their application for an emergency rescue visa be granted soon, he also said. Hong Kongs Immigration Department told VOA it does not comment on individual cases. The Saudi consulate in Hong Kong also did not reply to a request for comment. Taking their case to Twitter In a statement released Thursday by Vidler, Rawan and Reem said they live in fear every day in Hong Kong. They also claim to have moved 13 times to avoid detection by Saudi authorities. We want to leave to a third country place of safety as soon as possible. We desperately hope that this will happen very soon and that the Hong Kong government will continue to allow us to stay here until then, they said. The women have spoken publicly of their case as well under the Twitter account #HKSaudiSisters, where they have amassed nearly 2,500 followers. Rawan and Reem initially traveled to Hong Kong in September where they hoped to board a plane for Australia, but say they were intercepted at the airport by Saudi officials, including the consulate general, according to Vidler. The officials attempted to persuade the sisters to return to Saudi Arabia, where they would also face a return to the countrys repressive laws governing the movement of women. Amnesty International said this week that Hong Kong authorities had a duty to allow the sisters to remain and travel to a third country. Reem and Rawan must not be sent back to Saudi Arabia, this would place them in grave danger. They fled the Kingdom after repeated abuse by male relatives, and they are at real risk of serious human rights violations if they are forcibly returned, Kate Schuetze, Amnesty Internationals Refugee Researcher, said in a statement. Less of a magnet for refugees Once a magnet for refugees from across Asia, Hong Kongs contemporary treatment of refugees is controversial. There are around 10,000 asylum seekers living in Hong Kong, according to the refugee rights group Justice Centre. Many spend years waiting for their claims to be processed before they can be resettled in a third country. This is the second high profile case this year involving young women fleeing their families in Saudi Arabia. In a case earlier this year, 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun was stopped in Thailand while in route to Australia. Alqunun arrived in Bangkok on Jan. 5 on a flight from Kuwait after running away from her family. After initially being denied entry into Thailand, she barricaded herself in an airport hotel room and posted pictures and texts of herself on Twitter, drawing global attention to her plight. The attention prompted Thai immigration authorities to reverse their earlier decision to send her back to Saudi Arabia. She was later granted asylum in Canada. Egypt's public prosecutor on Thursday ordered the detention of six people for four days in connection with in incident in which a locomotive smashed through buffers and burst into flames at Cairo's main train station. The train's driver, his assistant, another train driver and three other rail employees will be held for four days pending investigations into Wednesday's incident, the public prosecutor said in a statement. Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed said Thursday that the death toll from the crash had risen to 22. State TV had said Wednesday that 25 people died in the crash, but the health minister revised the toll to 20 later in the day and said 43 people had been injured. Egypt's public prosecutor said Wednesday that a preliminary investigation indicated the driver had stepped off the train to talk to another driver without pulling the hand brake, causing the unattended locomotive to speed off and hit a concrete platform. Security camera footage from inside the capital's Ramses station showed the train failing to stop as it arrived at Platform 6, smashing through the buffers and a metal end railing and exploding into a huge ball of fire. Transport Minister Hisham Arafat, who said the train's diesel tank had exploded, resigned Wednesday. Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker will temporarily head the Transport Ministry, a cabinet source said Wednesday. Somali security forces Friday ended the al-Shabab siege of a residential building in Mogadishu after battling the militants for almost 24 hours. An unknown number of al-Shabab militants had remained holed up in a building near a hotel in Mogadishu since Thursday. VOA's reporter on the scene says government security forces cordoned off the entire area and began collecting dead bodies, barring journalists from getting close to the building that was under siege. The death toll from Thursday's twin car bombs in the area has climbed to more than 30 people, according to admission records from three hospitals. VOA reporters in the city say the death toll is likely to rise because the number of the dead bodies and recovery of those injured remained unavailable. Al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-affiliated militant group, claimed responsibility for Thursday's twin blasts and the siege of the building. The assault started Thursday night when the militants detonated twin car bomb outside hotels and restaurants along the city's main Maka al-Mukarama road. Within an hour of the blasts, armed militants started firing and hurling hand grenades from a nearby residential building. Somali security officials believe the militants missed their target, which likely was one of the hotels in the area, and mistakenly went into another building for cover. "Somali security forces typically have been known to end such militants' sieges in the city within a few hours, but this 24-hour operation is the longest ever, and it shows there is security negligence," said Abdisalam Guled, former deputy of the Somali National Security Agency. Speaking to state-run radio, Somali Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Guelleh said flushing militants out of the building was not easy. "The operation was supposed to end quickly, but the fact the militants were desperately holding a number of civilians as human shields made it difficult for the security forces to intensify their operation," Guelleh said. The group has been fighting to overthrow a Western-backed federal government that is protected by 22,000 African Union-mandated peacekeepers. Fight against al-Shabab Al-Shabab lost most of its strongholds in south and central Somalia to military forces from the Somali National Army and the African Union. The movement and mobilization of a large portion of al-Shabab military attacks also were weakened by a dramatic increase in the number of U.S. airstrikes. In 2018, the U.S. military command for Africa reportedly carried out 50 raids against the militants. As of Tuesday, U.S. raids in 2019 targeted the militants 23 times, including one in central Somalia on Tuesday that killed 20 terrorists and destroyed one vehicle. Despite the continued military pressure on the terror group, it continues to carry out assassinations and blasts in Mogadishu. Last month, militants assassinated the country's Deputy Attorney General Mohamed Mursal, and the oldest Federal lawmaker, Osman Ilmi Boqorre. Heavy gunfire rang out across central Mogadishu on Friday as Somali special forces battled to dislodge insurgents who bombed a hotel, killing at least 29 people, then holed up with hostages in a neighboring building. Islamist al-Shabab fighters set off an explosive outside the Hotel Maka Al-Mukarama late Thursday, leaving rescuers to dig through the rubble. Another bomb exploded a short time later about 1 km (0.6 miles) away. "The scene is fearful. ... The death toll may rise and rise," said Abdikadir Adem, the director of the privately-run Aamin ambulance service. The militants fled to the adjacent building and fired on soldiers and contingent of U.S.-trained Somali troops known as the Alpha Group who were deployed Friday to flush them out. "The security forces are engaged in rescuing civilians who are being used as shield by the terrorists," interior minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle told the state-run news agency Friday afternoon. The attack on a hotel popular with government officials came days after U.S. forces in Somalia stepped up airstrikes against the al Qaida-linked group, which is fighting to dislodge a Western-backed government protected by African Union peacekeepers. Soldiers manned roadblocks around the scene and fired into the air to keep back crowds of relatives who shouted out the names of missing loved ones. "I have been running to and fro from the blast scene to hospitals since yesterday (Thursday) evening in search of my husband and brother. ... I have just seen them in hospital. They are in a critical condition," mother-of-three Halima Omar told Reuters. Lawlessness Al-Shabab's military spokesman said on Friday it was still in control of the Hotel Maka Al-Mukarama, located on a street lined with other hotels, shops and restaurants. "The government tried three times to enter the building, but we repulsed them," said Abdiasis Abu Musab. Most roads in the city were shut to traffic, including those leading to hospitals. Somalia has been convulsed by lawlessness and violence since 1991, and a further layer of chaos was added in 2015 with the formation in the north of a splinter group of former al-Shabab insurgents who pledged allegiance to Islamic State. At least 25 people have been killed this week in clashes between the two militant groups, a military official from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland told Reuters. Al-Shabab has also carried out attacks in neighboring countries contributing to the African Union peacekeeper force inside Somalia, including one on a hotel and office complex in Kenya in January that killed 21 people. Under U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington has stepped up attacks against the group, and U.S. Africa Command announced six airstrikes that it said had killed 52 militants since Feb. 23. South Sudan executed at least seven people in February, a death toll that Amnesty International says, represents as many as were executed in the whole of 2018 in the east-central African country. All the victims were men, according to the human rights organization. Three were from the same family. Amnesty said in a statement Friday the execution of the three men was shrouded in secrecy and their family was not informed of their impending execution and only learnt of the death of their loved ones after they had been executed. South Sudan executes by hanging. South Sudan authorities have absolutely no respect for the right to life as they continue to totally disregard the fact that the world is moving away from use of the death penalty, said Seif Magango, Amnesty Internationals deputy director for East Africa. Rather than execute people, the authorities should rehabilitate prisoners and make them well-adjusted individuals that can contribute positively to society, Magango said. Amnesty warned at the end of last year that South Sudan had executed more people in that year than in any other year since its independence in 2011. We are shocked and dismayed that executions have become the order of the day in South Sudan, Magango said. Amnesty International says it opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception. Eight anti-government protesters were sentenced to jail in Sudan late Thursday, state media reported, the first such punishments handed down by emergency courts introduced by President Omar al-Bashir to contain rallies demanding an end to his iron-fisted rule. The eight were among hundreds who had taken to the streets earlier on Thursday in Khartoum and Omdurman, defying a ban on protests that first erupted in December over bread prices and have since gained momentum and presented a major challenge to Bashirs three decades in power. Chanting their rallying cry of freedom, peace, justice, the crowds gathered in several districts of the two cities before being confronted by security forces with tear gas, witnesses said. Bashir has not only banned all unauthorized rallies but also given sweeping powers to security forces to carry out raids and personal searches as part of the state of emergency imposed after an initial crackdown failed to quell the protests. The eight protesters sent to jail for participating in protests were handed terms ranging from six months to five years by three separate courts in Khartoum set up Tuesday to investigate violations under the state of emergency imposed by Bashir to quell the protests. Four of them were sentenced to five years in jail, three to three years and one for six months, the official SUNA news agency reported, adding they had been accused of violating a state of emergency order banning participation in protests. They are the first such accused found guilty of violating directives issued by Bashir as part of the nationwide state of emergency he imposed last week. 870 protesters in court In a separate statement, the Democratic Lawyers Alliance that is part of an umbrella group spearheading the movement against Bashirs rule said 870 protesters were produced in emergency courts in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman on Thursday. It said the courts dismissed cases against a large number of accused, but scores were sentenced to jail terms ranging from two weeks to one month. Protesters had earlier expressed defiance as they took to the streets. We came out today because we have no alternative, Siddiq, who gave only his first name for security reasons, said. The only alternative we have is to overthrow this regime. We will continue despite the state of emergency. Two months of deadly protests Deadly clashes surrounding protests have rocked Sudan for more than two months, with demonstrators gathering since Dec. 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread. But years of anger over the countrys economic woes turned the protests into nationwide rallies against Bashirs rule, with people calling on him to step down. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence so far, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 have been killed, including medics and children. The authorities have cracked down on demonstrations, detaining hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders, activists and journalists. Journalist among first arrests Hours after Bashir declared the state of emergency, security agents detained a prominent editor for criticizing the move in a televised interview. Osman Mirghani, editor-in-chief of independent daily Al-Tayar, was taken away by security agents from his office, and his family said Thursday they were still unaware of his whereabouts. Bashir, who swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, has remained defiant in the face of protests. Last week he also dissolved the federal and provincial governments and appointed 16 army officers and two officers from the feared National Intelligence and Security Service as provincial governors. He has also pushed on with top-level changes to his administration that saw him sacking longtime ally and first vice president Bakri Hassan Saleh. Return to military rule The United States, Britain, Norway and Canada have criticized the state of emergency as a return to military rule. Allowing security forces to act with impunity will further erode human rights, governance and effective economic management, the four countries said in a joint statement Tuesday. The return to military rule does not create a conducive environment for a renewed political dialogue or credible elections, it added. Khartoum hit back at the rebuke Wednesday, saying it was an intervention in the countrys internal affairs. The state of emergency will not impact freedoms of people and their rights, the foreign ministry said. The Taliban carried out a pre-dawn assault Friday against a major military base in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 25 troops and taking a number of others hostage. Afghan officials and Taliban sources say a group of heavily armed insurgents in military uniforms, including suicide bombers, stormed the Shorab base in Helmand province, which also housed U.S. troops. The raid began with a suicide bomber detonating his explosives-filled vehicle at the main gate and enabling other assailants to enter the fortified compound. The ensuing clashes continued until late afternoon. Afghan officials were unclear whether security forces killed and cleared the base of all the attackers because heavy rain in the area hampered the operation. The provincial governors office said in a statement at least nine assailants, including three suicide bombers, were killed by Afghan forces and a clearance operation was underway. It did not give any details about casualties suffered by Afghan forces. A local security official speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity confirmed the death of at least 25 Afghan troops. Sources said more than two dozen Taliban rebels participated in the raid and took hostage an unspecified number of security personnel who were asleep in one of the rooms at the time of the attack. A Taliban statement claimed its mujahideen (holy warriors) killed dozens of security personnel, including Americans, and putting strong resistance after taking up positions inside the base. It went on to claim insurgents destroyed several aircraft inside the base and also killed six pilots, though insurgent claims are often inflated. Just hours after the attack began, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, Col. Dave Butler, rejected Taliban claims as more lies, saying the attack "was repelled by the brave Afghan security forces. It was not possible to independently verify claims made by either side. In a statement late last year, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani revealed his forces have lost almost 30,000 personnel since he took office in September 2014. Afghan civilians also have borne the brunt of the intensified hostilities and almost 4,000 civilians were killed in 2018, according to the United Nations. The Taliban attack comes as insurgent negotiators are due to resume peace talks with American interlocutors in Qatar on Saturday after a two-day break. Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding the fate of the Islamic State terror group's self-proclaimed caliphate, pitting the word of the president of the United States against that of U.S.-backed forces on the ground in Syria. President Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to announce the fall of the last sliver of the IS caliphate, a small collection of tents and ruined buildings in the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz. "We just took over, you know, you kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now it's 100 percent," he said while visiting with U.S. troops at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. "You saw what happened. Everybody saw. We have the whole thing," he added. "We did that in a much shorter period of time than it was supposed to be." Rebuke from YPG But the comments, which barely caused a stir among the troops in attendance, quickly drew a sharp rebuke on Twitter from YPG spokesman Zana Amedi, who berated the president's "ignorance" regarding the battlefront as "abhorrent." "For weeks, several #SDF officials made it clear that civilians remaining in Daesh-held territory would be protected and their safety would have to be ensured before moving on to the last pocket," Amedi wrote, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group. "Victory doesn't seem to be coming in next days." And a spokesman for the YPG, a Kurdish militia that forms the majority of the U.S.-backed force, predicted that the fight would not end for at least a week. The YPG, or People's Protection Units, is a Kurdish militia that makes up a large part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Fight against IS Trump's comments also contrasted with a statement made earlier in the day by the lead commander of U.S.-backed forces in Syria, who said it would still be days before a total victory over the caliphate could be assured. "We will announce the complete victory over Daesh in a week," Commander in Chief Mazloum Kobani said in a video released by SDF officials, citing the continued evacuation of civilians from Baghuz. Just over a week ago, SDF commanders said there were likely just a thousand or so civilians left in the IS holdout, and admitted the massive outflow since then had taken them by surprise. U.N. officials on the ground in Syria estimate that in the past week alone, 13,000 civilians from Baghuz have been taken to the nearby al-Hol displaced-persons camp, with 3,500 arriving Thursday alone. The overwhelming majority are women and children, many of whom are malnourished, according to U.N. officials. And SDF officials say there are more to come. "SDF is predicting about a couple of thousands of civilians are still inside and to be evacuated, which is not taking less than one week," Amedi wrote on Twitter. "Judging by what we're told by people [who] fled, ISIS is not simply laying down arms and surrendering," he added, using an initialism for Islamic State. "Instead, they're preparing to make a last stand, which is making it harder to predict a quick ending." When contacted for comment Thursday, Pentagon officials referred VOA to the White House, which has yet to comment. Previous declaration This would not be the first time Trump, who has repeatedly expressed a desire to pull 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, has announced the end of IS. "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency," he tweeted Dec. 19, 2018, adding in a video released by the White House that "we have beaten them and we have beaten them badly." And several times this past month, Trump has teased possible announcements about the end of the IS caliphate within days or hours. But despite being reduced to a small patch of land, IS has held on by using civilians as human shields and by utilizing a series of tunnels and caves underneath Baghuz, which have allowed fighters to hide and to launch occasional counterattacks against SDF forces. Pace of airstrikes slows The pace of airstrikes against the group has also slowed, due in part to weather and the presence of so many civilians. "It is a very difficult and complex situation," coalition spokesman Col. Sean Ryan told VOA this week. "The threat remains as long as Daesh fighters have not given up in Baghuz, and have the will and weapons to fight." But despite the delays, retired Gen. David Petraeus, a former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, praised the SDF's cautious approach. The SDF is "ensuring that there are not civilian casualties that will really cast a shadow on what should be a very significant achievement," he told VOA Thursday. Current U.S. defense and intelligence officials have repeatedly warned that even once the IS caliphate is defeated, the terror group will remain a threat. Officials believe the terror group still has about 13,000 fighters spread across Syria, many operating as part of an active insurgency or sleeper cells. "The focus will have to shift to what are groups of insurgents and terrorist cells in Iraq and in Syria," Petraeus said. "You see on a daily basis a number of attacks from these residual elements." In the meantime, the focus will remain on Baghuz, which may still be hiding high-ranking IS officials. The coalition Thursday confirmed the death of Fabien Clain, also known as the French voice of IS for his work in narrating the group's French propaganda videos, in an airstrike in Baghuz on Feb. 20. "The coalition continues to target ISIS in its last safe haven in Syria while disrupting ISIS attempts to re-emerge in liberated areas as they plot attacks throughout the region and the West," the coalition said in a statement. By any measure, it has been another extraordinary week in the presidency of Donald Trump. The president came up short in hopes of striking a major nuclear deal in his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trumps efforts in Vietnam were largely overshadowed, though, by the riveting testimony before Congress of his once trusted personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. It was another glaring example of the split-screen nature of the Trump presidency. There was disappointment in Hanoi after the Trump-Kim summit failed to live up to expectations for a comprehensive agreement on North Koreas nuclear program. He [Kim] has a certain vision and it is not exactly our vision, but it is a lot closer than it was a year ago, Trump told reporters at a post-summit news conference. And I think, you know, eventually we will get there. But for this particular visit we decided that we had to walk. Overshadowed at home But the events in Hanoi were largely eclipsed by another drama half a world away that played out in a congressional hearing room Wednesday in Washington. Cohen, the former longtime personal attorney and fixer for Donald Trump, submitted to hours of public testimony that hinted at possibly ominous consequences for the president. Cohen unloaded on his former boss, describing incidents where Trump either allegedly lied or may have broken the law. These included allegedly being directed to lie about the presidents knowledge of hush money payments to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. She has said that Trump bought her silence to cover up an affair, which the president has denied. But beyond the specific allegations made by Cohen, he also painted a broader portrait of the man he worked for as a key associate for many years. I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat. Cohen as target Trump has denied Cohens allegations. At his post-summit news conference, the president said Cohens testimony was incorrect and he blasted Democrats for holding the hearing while he was negotiating with the North Koreans. I think having a fake hearing like that and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing, the president said. During the hearing, Republicans did little to challenge Cohen on his specific allegations regarding the president. They did slam him as an admitted liar and unreliable witness, however, who was being used by Democrats to go after the president. This is an attempt to injure our president and lay some sort of soft cornerstone for future impeachment proceedings, said Republican Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana. WATCH: Trump Says Cohen 'Lied a lot' Except About Collusion On Thursday, Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio underscored this view, slamming the Democrats. I do think they are going to pursue this crazy course toward impeachment, he said in a brief interview with VOA congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson. He went on to describe Trumps tenure in office so far as an amazing two years, citing tax cuts, economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. Cohens journey During hours of testimony, Cohen documented his journey with Trump from ardent defender to disenchanted adversary. I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing to do things for him that I knew were absolutely wrong, Cohen said at one point, adding that being around Trump was intoxicating. But Cohen also apologized for previously lying to Congress, and he lamented that he was loyal to Trump for so long. So many things that I thought he can do that are just great, and he can and he is doing things that are great, he told Democratic Representative Jim Cooper of Tennessee. But this destruction of our civility to one another is just out of control. Despite Republican efforts to pummel Cohen as an untrustworthy witness, the political and legal damage wrought by his testimony could turn out to be substantial. Michael Cohen is not a good witness, not a great witness. He is the ultimate witness because he was there. He lived it. He breathed it, said former prosecutor Randy Zelin in an interview with Associated Press Television. 2020 looms Beset by weak polls and investigations at home, Trump was hoping for more success with North Korea to boost him domestically. Because he wants a win. This is the only diplomatic achievement that he can claim right now, said Stimson Center research analyst David Kim. We are pulling out of Syria. We are pulling out of Afghanistan. We have bad relations with our friends in NATO. As other presidents before him, Trump is looking abroad for a foreign policy success that he could tout in time for his re-election campaign. For Donald Trump, he loves the pomp, he loves the circumstance, and he is not the first, nor will he be the last president, who turns across the ocean when their approval ratings are low, and his are low, said California political analyst Sherry Betich Jeffe via Skype. The lack of a breakthrough on North Korea combined with the public spectacle of Cohens riveting testimony come at a time when the president is preparing to face a daunting political landscape for next years campaign. Look, he is still at 43 or 44 percent of public thinking he is doing a good job. That is not a terrible number, but it is probably not a high enough number that he would want to go into the election [with] said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. The Cohen testimony also serves as a reminder of the challenges for President Trump in the weeks and months to come. They include the long-anticipated report on the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, and a growing list of investigations from congressional committees headed by Democrats after they won back control of the House of Representatives in last years congressional midterm elections. VOA congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson contributed to this report. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in Hanoi that the United States is trying to lower tensions between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals, India and Pakistan. The comments come after days of escalation between the two countries, skirmishes between their air forces and increasing fears of an all-out war. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has more from the State Department. Utah: IAM Veteran Michigan: Impressive Progress Pennsylvania: Helping Agencies Modernize IAM Indiana: Creating a Holistic View of Citizens When it comes to identity and access management (IAM), state IT executives want to emulate the solutions developed by retail giants such as Amazon. Think about how citizens access their favorite retail website, said Erik Avakian, chief information security officer of Pennsylvania. They can go to different areas of the site and buy what they need with one unified credential.Modeling itself on todays digital retail world, the Keystone State is integrating identity proofing, social media log-ins and password strength meters. These are things people expect when they go to other major websites, so we are trying to bring that type of experience to government, he added. Regardless of the agency they are doing business with, citizens will have a unified credential they can use across multiple applications.To some people, IAM might seem like a technical security issue about back-end authentication between systems. But it also serves as a cornerstone of digital business. Without an enterprise-level IAM strategy, state agencies will continue to operate in a siloed fashion, and each application will require its own password system and identity-proofing solution.As more states move to implement digital government strategies, identity comes into play, because it is part of securing those types of transactions and enabling the digital experience, said Avakian. But what is the best approach? Four states have tackled IAM at the enterprise level, creating laboratories for possible success elsewhere. Here are their stories.Some state governments have been working on single-sign-on (SSO) capabilities for years, while others are planning their first pilot projects. But executives have come to accept that IAM is less of a one-time project and more of a discipline. Like security, IAM is a lifestyle, said Gartner analyst Kevin Kampman. It is not going to go away. The objectives change, the terrain is changing, the needs are changing, and you need to be able to adapt to that.Dave Fletcher (left), Utahs chief technology officer, noted that IAM is tied to security, and the threat environment is always changing. Adapting to that reality requires adding new features such as multi-factor authentication. We also need to be able to integrate a growing number of cloud services with our sign-on solution, he said. It is a constantly moving target.Utah has been working on SSO capabilities since 2002, primarily focused on provisioning and deprovisioning employees and enabling access to the applications they need for their jobs, Fletcher said. Utah ID provides access to about 900 different applications and services. Now the state is applying that approach to business- and citizen-facing applications as well. Utah provides more than 1,300 online services, and more than half provide services to businesses.In 2016, legislation was passed that requires the Department of Technology Services (DTS) to create a single-sign-on business portal. With a budget of $1.3 million annually, the first phase of the portal is expected to be completed in July 2019. The new portal works primarily with four agencies: Tax Commission, Department of Workforce Services, Labor Commission and Department of Commerce. Business owners will be able to sign up for notifications, such as a tax payment deadline; and service providers, including accountants and attorneys, will have the opportunity to manage multiple businesses.Utah is not stopping with business owners. DTS is working with the state Medicaid agency to integrate its applications into the SSO effort. The thing that initiated the business single sign-on was that some legislators wanted to extend that type of service to the citizens at large, Fletcher explained, so this business portal is just the first step.Fletcher explained that the portal will become a common eligibility system that cuts across all of the health and human services departments as well as unemployment, making them fully integrated and easier to use. Eventually DTS wants to take it beyond state agencies to local governments as well.The state of Michigan is another example that shows you are never really done with IAM. It has been working on its MILogin enterprise IAM solution for more than five years, with different use cases for employees, businesses and individual citizens. Citizens can use MILogin to renew their drivers license, hunting license or fishing license. Employees across all agencies now use MILogin to access the statewide enterprise and resource planning system called SIGMA, said David DeVries (below right), who recently left the position of CIO and director of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget.By almost any measure, the state has made impressive progress. Almost 230 Web and mobile applications are integrated behind MILogin, and more than 4 million Michigan citizens have logins. We have an established program here, DeVries said. Our challenge has been, and still is, to keep up with the technology because it is constantly changing.DeVries established a policy that all new software programs and all major rewrites or upgrades will have MILogin as their front-end identity piece. Several systems are going live with the SSO log-in in 2019. DeVries pointed to the states new vehicle registration system that will be using the MILogin, which he anticipated going live in February. Our main requirement was that the vendor was not going to bring his own log-in system to use. They were going to incorporate ours. We are forcing that through the other programs. That is another challenge: how to encourage that, enforce it, and then keep the cost down.In 2013, the National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded grants to Michigan and Pennsylvania to pilot identity management solutions. That started the conversation in Pennsylvania on how to streamline the citizen experience and enhance security and has led to the Keystone Login SSO initiative. We want to get to a unified credential that is secure and provides different levels of assurance depending on the type of transaction the citizen is trying to do, said CISO Erik Avakian (below left).If a citizen is applying for benefits, that may require identity proofing, he explained. Here is how that works: A user can provide information from their drivers license or state ID card, which is then verified by the Department of Transportation based on an exact match of the information provided. Or the person can undertake a knowledge-based authentication, which is currently provided as a service by Experian. The constituent is asked for identifying information (name, address and other optional pieces of information). Experian matches the user against its data system and returns a series of multiple-choice questions that the constituent should be able to correctly answer. A score is then returned based on the responses and other criteria such as the vendors fraud alert system.Pennsylvania is seeking to move beyond siloed applications that require citizens to have user logins and passwords for multiple sites. All these different user names and passwords are frustrating to the citizen and less secure because they have to remember all of them, Avakian said. The experience is disjointed. Keystone Login gets us beyond that.One application that has gone live with Keystone Login is a financial disclosure application used by more than 10,000 current and former employees to file annual Statements of Financial Interest under the State Ethics Act and/or Governors Code of Conduct (an executive order). Approximately 30 applications are scheduled to go live in 2019, including the voter services portal, business registration and professional licensing and an enterprise grants portal.Pennsylvanias Office of Information Technology is trying to get agencies to see Keystone Login as part of their legacy modernization process. As agencies modernize or move to a new version, we say as part of this version, lets migrate you to Keystone Login instead of using your own directory, Avakian said. We have APIs to help agencies come on board; there is an onboarding guide, and a communications plan put into effect. We have been working hand in hand with the agencies and have an applications team available to help them. It is definitely something the agencies need help with. But we didnt do it in a silo; we are all moving together.Indiana expects several agencies to go live with its Access Indiana SSO solution in 2019. The states Office of Technology and Management Performance Hub have been working since 2017 with four of the states largest citizen-facing applications from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Health and Human Services, Workforce Development and the Department of Revenue.Graig Lubsen, communications and marketing director at Indianas Office of Technology, sits on three of the four working committees involving Access Indiana. He said Indiana sees SSO as a first step toward the state taking a more holistic view of citizens and the services they access by creating a single client account across agencies. If you dont have everybody using the same credential, you cant have a singular view of a person or citizen from the state governments perspective, Lubsen said. We had to tackle single sign-on first.Better understanding citizen interactions with state government could lead to the state being able to recommend services that they would either qualify for or could be interested in, according to Dewand Neely (right), the states chief information officer. The state could maybe utilize the citizen information to save money, such as on mailing costs by being able to centrally verify a persons address. We can also develop a central portal for a citizen to manage their experience with state government, customizing the design to show things the user interacts with or messages that are of interest.The state chose to work with NIC subsidiary Indiana Interactive to build the solution. Initially we were using another off-the-shelf product from a major technology company, which we had in place for INBiz, our business one-stop portal, Lubsen explained. But as we developed the requirements, we found that there were too many restrictions on what we could do with that solution, so we chose to build our own. (For instance, adding multi-factor authentication would have been too expensive using the previous solution, he said.) We have saved a bunch of money and were able to add flexibility in terms of password requirements and the user flow and experience.Like other state IT execs, Neely and Lubsen have found that legacy system integration is a more involved process: Our Department of Homeland Security has a public safety portal that is being built from scratch, Lubsen said. We were able to add the sign-on component with only 10 hours of development work. With the BMV, their system is older and it took them weeks to do.Neely explained that from discussions with agencies early in the development process, his team is aware that each new agency will have unique needs. This has shown itself from various password complexity requirements or even the password history. Its important that we have phases where we bring in agencies over time and not bite off everything at once. This means Access Indiana must be resilient, scalable and flexible to meet these demands.Integration work for the BMV and Department of Revenue is already done, but the state may wait until other agencies are ready to make a bigger bang as they all go live with Access Indiana together, Lubsen said.Indiana has found that good governance is a key part of the IAM process. The work is led by an executive committee made up of the heads of all participating agencies and the governors office. There also is an advisory committee of the IT directors and a marketing committee made up of communications directors from each of the agencies. A call center committee was established to determine how the state was going to handle calls about creating an account. They chose to outsource that work to a third party. We didnt want to throw that onto the agencies, and we need to have 24/7 support, Lubsen said. We tried to look at it from all the angles and make sure these committees are composed of subject matter experts to drive the process forward.Through Indianas governance structure, the IAM team accepts feature requests from all project partners and then each partner rates how high a request is ranked. There are currently 16 items in our backlog, such as strengthening confidence in user identities, which are being sorted by order of importance, based on agency votes.Gartners Kevin Kampman encourages IT leaders to see IAM as an evolution as they work with agency partners. It doesnt take long before you realize that, like security, identity touches every activity you do, so you need a comprehensive approach to identity in order to succeed, he said. Otherwise, it is just like driving on a rocky road: You are going to have bumps all the way. You want to be able to smooth that out by having a consistent and shared view of how you deal with identity in different contexts. The U.S. Treasury Department issued fresh Venezuela-related sanctions on Friday against six individuals, according to a statement posted on its web site. The United States also targeted Venezuela's government with new sanctions on Monday and called on allies to freeze the assets of state-owned PDVSA after deadly violence blocked humanitarian aid from reaching the country over the weekend. Uganda accused Rwanda on Friday of blocking goods trucks and other vehicles from entering the country, and of stopping its nationals from crossing into Uganda amid a resurgence of hostility between the two African neighbors. Rwandan authorities have been blocking entry to vehicles from Uganda since Wednesday, Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo told reporters in Kampala, adding 129 cargo trucks were now stuck at the border. Denying this, Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Richard Sezibera said trucks were being diverted to Kagitumba border crossing in the north because of construction at the busy Gatuna border post. "Those who have gone through Kagitumba, they have crossed," he said. Sezibera said Rwanda was stopping its nationals from crossing the border because Rwandans going into Uganda have been detained and accused of being spies with no consular services provided to them. "People are coming in, people are going out except for Rwandans who have been strongly advised not to travel to Uganda because of challenges of insecurity that they are facing there," he said. "It's not up to Rwanda. It's up to Uganda (to sort it out). Of course, Ugandans are welcome here, we have no problem on our side of the border." Opondo said the crossing at Kagitumba was also blocked. Ugandan officials had summoned Rwanda's ambassador to Uganda, Frank Mugambage, to provide an explanation, he said. Speaking at a news conference before Sezibera's remarks, Opondo also denied that Rwandans were being held for political reasons, saying that if there were any Rwandans in Ugandan prisons they had been processed through the police and judicial system. The dispute over border crossings appears to be an escalation of the Cold War-style hostilities and allegations by the two countries of supporting each other's dissidents that have been reported in Ugandan and regional media over recent months. Opondo said Rwandans stopped at the border included traders and hundreds of children who cross the border daily to attend schools on the Ugandan side. Landlocked Rwanda transports a significant amount of its imports via a trade route passing through Uganda from the Kenyan seaport of Mombasa. The same trade route serves as a crucial pipeline for Kenyan exports and also helps supply merchandise to Burundi and parts of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A protracted halt to people and goods crossing any of the borders along the route has the potential to trigger a major regional economic crisis. Relations between Rwanda and Uganda have historically alternated between friendly and hostile. Rwandan President Paul Kagame was once a key figure in the rebel group that catapulted Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni to power in 1986 and once served as a senior intelligence official in Uganda in the late 1980s. Later Museveni supported Kagame's rebel group that ended Rwanda's 1994 genocide. But the two countries nearly went to war in the late 1990s after their forces clashed in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where they jointly helped topple former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko before turning on each other. The U.N. Security Council failed to agree Thursday on either a U.S. or Russian proposal to find a way forward on the Venezuelan crisis. The 15-nation council voted on two draft resolutions. The U.S. text had the support of the majority of the council members but was blocked by Russia and China, while a Russian draft garnered only four positive votes. The U.S. text stressed the need to "prevent further deterioration" of the humanitarian situation and to allow unhindered access for the delivery of aid throughout the country. The government of disputed President Nicolas Maduro has refused to recognize that there is a humanitarian crisis in the country and is not permitting aid from the United States to enter the country, saying it is a pretext for a U.S. military invasion. The American draft also expressed "deep concern" that the May 2018 presidential elections that gave the incumbent Maduro a second six-year term were "neither free nor fair" and called for a political process leading to new elections. It also showed support for the "peaceful" restoration of democracy and rule of law. "Regrettably, by voting against this resolution, some members of this council continue to shield Maduro and his cronies, and prolong the suffering of the Venezuelan people," said U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams. "Regardless of the results of today's vote, this resolution shows that democracies around the world, and especially in Latin America, are mobilizing behind interim President [Juan] Guaido," he said of the National Assembly leader who declared himself interim president Jan. 23. Russian response The Russian resolution called for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but added that Maduro needed to approve aid deliveries. The Russian text also expressed "concern over the threats to use force" against Venezuela. Moscow's envoy said Washington's proposal was an effort to "escalate tensions and to implement their scenario for an unconstitutional change of government." Vassily Nebenzia warned that the focus on the humanitarian situation was merely "a smoke screen." "We are seriously concerned at the fact that today's meeting may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real not humanitarian intervention as a pretext for external intervention as a result of the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela," Nebenzia said. Last Saturday, troops and Maduro supporters blocked the entry of trucks carrying food and medical supplies in violent clashes at Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Four people were killed, and dozens were injured. Venezuela's U.N. envoy said that Saturday's violence was an "international incident," not a domestic one, and he asserted that all was well in his country. "Venezuela today is completely at peace, a peace preserved by the constitutional government of President Nicolas Maduro, who is in full exercise of his legal powers and who guarantees the protection of national territory, as well as the well-being of the Venezuelan people and effective control over the country," Ambassador Samuel Moncada said. "Let me repeat: There is no type of violence in Venezuela. If there are threats against peace, those threats come from abroad." Thousands of civilians continue to flee Baghuz as Islamic State militants make a final stand to retain control of their last stronghold in Syria, the United Nations reports. The U.N. Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs says increasing numbers of people are managing to escape Baghuz in rural Deir-ez-Zor, but at a very heavy price. In the last week, around 13,000 people most of them women and children have arrived at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, according to OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke. He says many are exhausted, hungry and sick. "Those who are fleeing have told us of desperate situations for civilians in the area they are fleeing from," Laerke said. "Civilians are being killed and injured on a daily basis. There is large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure and shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities." The road from Baghuz to the al-Hol refugee camp is long and arduous. Laerke says more than 84 people have lost their lives either en route to the camp, or shortly after arriving. He says two-thirds of these deaths are children under the age of 5. Another 175 children have been hospitalized for severe acute malnutrition, he reports. Laerke says the camp is increasingly overcrowded, noting that approximately 45,000 people have arrived since December and more arrive every day. An estimated 30,000 Nigerians have returned since Tuesday from Cameroon to the flashpoint town of Rann, which has been targeted repeatedly by Boko Haram militants this year, the U.N. refugee agency said in an emailed comment to Reuters on Thursday. The men, women and children were among 40,000 civilians who fled Rann and sought refuge in the Cameroonian village of Goura. A United Nations humanitarian report said 5,000 remained in Goura and were expected to make the 8-km (5-mile) trip to Rann on foot on Friday. The other 5,000 had reportedly traveled to Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's Borno state, or to other unknown locations, the U.N. report said. The Rann residents who decided to return did so after being visited by Nigerian officials who encouraged them to go, and gave assurances that security would be restored in the area, the UNHCR statement said. "They have responded to this appeal and many have opted to take the return journey home," UNHCR said. "We have also advocated with the authorities to guarantee admission and protection of those seeking asylum and government support so that humanitarian organizations can deliver assistance." On Wednesday, the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities had ordered the 40,000 refugees to return to northeast Nigeria. Earlier this month the militant group Boko Haram killed at least 60 people in Rann after it was abandoned by the military, Amnesty International and security sources said. That attack came two weeks after Boko Haram overran the town, driving out Nigerian soldiers and signaling the group's re-emergence as a force capable of capturing army bases. UNHCR has previously criticized Cameroon for refusing to accept refugees from Rann, in breach of its international obligations, but UNHCR officials met Cameroonian authorities on Wednesday and received assurances that refugees would not be forced to return, it said. Islamic State militants are being as vicious at the end as they were at the start when they rolled out their caliphate. Gaining worldwide notoriety with macabre public-square slayings, beheadings of Westerners, murdering gay Syrians and Iraqis and enslaving Yazidi women, the militant group bragged their caliphate would rival the Abbasid empire of the Middle Ages, which lasted two centuries. Theirs has lasted less than half-a-decade. In a bid to hold on to their last redoubt in the hardscrabble desert in eastern Syria the militants have kept to character, shunning the laws of war, readily sacrificing non-combatant lives, using as human shields women and children, nearly all of them their own wives and offspring. Islamic State once controlled 88,000 square kilometers of territory straddling Syria and Iraq and imposed its medieval-style rule on nearly eight million people. At its peak the militant group, which skewed the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, generated billions of dollars from extortion, oil-smuggling, theft and kidnapping. IS propagandists sought to legitimize their quasi-state by claiming false attributes of statehood, from minting coins to opening schools locals didnt want their kids to attend. For the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces battling IS the final assaults cant come fast enough. Because of the risk of non-combatant casualties, we have been compelled to go cautiously and accurately, says Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the SDF. The caliphates roll-back is being cited by U.S. and European officials as an example of successful Western intervention. The Kurds and allied tribesmen were mentored, supplied and advised primarily by the United States first by Barack Obamas administration, then by Donald Trumps. Despite the small investment in terms of American ground troops, never more than about 2500, the U.S. strategy of shaping a local proxy force and supporting it from the air worked better than many had expected. And it is already emerging as the default model for other challenging U.S. counter-terrorism missions, say U.S. officials. Gen. James Hecker, vice director of operations at the Pentagon, highlighted the benefits of using surrogate forces, before a congressional panel last month, arguing the strategy lessens the need for large scale U.S. troop deployments, reduces the chances of being caught in quagmires and fosters an environment where local forces take ownership of the problem. Among those who took ownership in eastern Syria were members of the Shaitat tribe. In 2014, Islamic State militants massacred Shaitat tribesmen who had the temerity to revolt. IS fighters shot, beheaded and crucified an estimated 900 of them, the bloodiest single atrocity committed by the terror group in Syria. As with other slaughter, IS gloried in the barbarity, recording the slayings on cellphones for social-media sharing. That massacre as well as others prompted a former British intelligence officer, Richard Barrett, to predict in a report for the Soufan Group, a security consultancy, that IS was sowing the seeds of the caliphates demise, arguing eventually the barbarity of the militants would catch up with them and provoke a backlash. The Shaitat tribesmen fighting alongside the Kurds in eastern Syria are part of that reaction. The caliphate may be crushed but it has left behind a high body count and added to the war trauma of Syrias vicious conflict. The legacy of studied cruelty will haunt the Levant for generations. But IS aims to add to the legacy. A pro-Islamic State online magazine, Youth of the Caliphate, has bragged the group will survive. Other IS social-media channels have emphasized that the terror groups strategy is now to cause as much havoc as possible, using insurgency tactics honed in Iraq by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis al-Qaida mentor, after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. A draining insurgency is already in full swing in neighboring Iraq. Everything and anything is fair game as far as Islamic State is concerned -- government targets, civilians, anyone whos considered a collaborator with local or central authorities. The groups aim, as in the past, is to provoke over-reaction and widen deep-seated sectarian rifts, which have only become more toxic in Syrias long-running conflict, to exploit the sense of dispossession many ordinary Sunni Muslims feel in Syria and Iraq, both of which are ruled by Shiite regimes, warn analysts and Western officials. Today conditions in both countries are more favorable for the future resurgence of ISIS. The areas from northeastern Syria to Western Iraq lie in ruins, whole communities are devastated and the borders are too porous to be secured by central governments, according to Hassan Hassan, co-author of a book on the terror group. There are still pockets of IS fighters in territory controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, mainly in the vast Baida desert in Syrias southeast and in areas south of the capital Damascus. Others have been making their way to the northwestern province of Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Theyre not being embraced by their rival jihadists, who also nurture dreams of establishing a caliphate. The al-Qaida group likely worries the Islamic State presence will invite more bombing from the Russians. Al-Qaida is enjoying a resurgence, benefiting from the humiliation of its competitor, say Western officials. Some of the thousands of IS fighters in Syria may end up joining al-Qaida for survival reasons, but analysts believe most wont. The majority of the IS survivors will carry out bombings like the blast on January 16 in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which killed 15 people, including four Americans, say U.S. and U.N. officials. Elsewhere, the group retains offshoots and adherents in Libya, Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Philippines and in Europe, too. But the hope of Western officials is that the demise of the caliphate will diminish the militant groups macabre appeal and at least reduce the lure of the group for European recruits. Nonetheless, the head of Britains foreign intelligence arm, MI6, Alex Younger, cautioned Western policy-makers recently against a sense of triumphalism as IS is returning to its natural state as an asymmetric, transnational terrorist organization. Passage of two U.S. Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait in February, the fourth such move since mid-2018, shows Washingtons growing support for Taiwan against threats from China, Asia scholars said this week. Observers say the passages are aimed at showing China that the U.S. Navy has regularized patrols in the East and South China seas despite and because of Chinas maritime expansion. I think the United States, by demonstrating its determination and resolve to be more actively implementing naval operations, is to send a message to China that they dont like Chinese more aggressive and more assertive behavior in this region, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the think tank Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taiwan. On Feb. 25-26, the U.S. Navys guided-missile destroyer Stethem and a dry cargo ship, the Cesar Chavez, passed through the 160-kilometer-wide strait separating Taiwan from China. More frequent ship movement International law allows U.S. naval ships to pass through the Taiwan Strait, but their arrivals without a specific motive are almost always read as a political signal. During the first of the most recent four actions, the USS Mustin guided missile destroyer and the USS Benfold anti-aircraft ship sailed northbound through the strait. Taiwans defense ministry announced the passage with no objection. China bristled. Taiwan looks to U.S. military support for its defense against China, which has the worlds third most powerful armed forces. Taiwan wants more help from the United States, the island governments deputy China policymaker Chiu Chui-cheng told VOA last week. Recent ship movement in the strait confirms the U.S. Navys Indo-Pacific Command as an ever-present force in the Western Pacific, said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. The United States Navy, or Indo-PACOM, have been doing maritime reconnaissance near the Chinese coastline on a regular basis, Huang said. Its more like regular training exercises. Sympathy in Washington The U.S. government sees democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as one of several East Asian friends that form a maritime perimeter around China, its former Cold War foe and a trade adversary today. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its own territory. In January Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated in a speech that his government could use force against the island if needed to make the two sides unify. U.S. President Donald Trump has sparred with China over the past year on trade tariffs, adding friction to an ever-tense relationship. His administration has approved two arms sales to Taiwan, while Congress passed an act last year calling for more high-level Taipei-Washington visits. If you look at how supportive the Congress, the bipartisan support for Taiwan has been, its really quite unprecedented, said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate with the Stimson Center think tank in Washington, D.C. So I think theres a domestic calling here in the United States to demonstrate more support for Taiwan at this time. Chinese reaction China has flown military aircraft near Taiwans air defense zone at least 15 times since 2015, per one local scholars calculations. Local media reported that 38 Chinese planes flew near Taiwans south coast in late January. Chinas first aircraft carrier also passes through the strait, apparently as a warning to Taiwan. Leaders in Beijing resent Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen for rejecting a dialogue condition that each side sees itself as part of a single China. She was elected in 2016 and said last month she plans to seek another four-year term next year. After the U.S. Congress approved a measure in 2017 to allow visits by Navy vessels and military officials to Taiwan, Chinese embassy Minister Li Kexin said any such ship calls at the major Taiwan port in Kaohsiung would justify the use of force. China will keep expanding its high-seas naval capability, particularly in the East China Sea near Taiwan and in the widely disputed South China Sea, analysts in Taiwan say. But the country will carefully calculate whether future moves might worsen relations with Washington, Yang said. The U.S. and South Korea are expected to announce they will significantly scale back annual large-scale joint exercises. Media reports quoting unnamed U.S. defense officials say the official announcement is expected in the coming days. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to confirm the reports when contacted by VOA. Scaling back the exercises could be seen as a good faith gesture to keep nuclear talks with North Korea alive following the failed Hanoi summit, and to address President Donald Trump's concerns over the high cost of these massive demonstrations of force. The annual joint drills known as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, which are usually conducted in the spring, were first postponed in 2018 to facilitate North Korea's peaceful participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics that were held in South Korea. High cost President Donald Trump suspended the exercises indefinitely after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last June in Singapore, where the two leaders agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Trump had long been critical of the cost of these joint exercises that bring in thousands of troops, fighter jets, war ships and other military assets from U.S. bases around the world. The president was asked about the future of the military drills at the recent Hanoi summit, where Trump and Kim failed to agree on specific measures to reduce the North's nuclear capabilities, nor to ease crippling economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang. "You know, the military exercises, I gave that up quite a while ago because it cost us $100 million every time we do it. We fly these massive bombers in from Guam, and when I first started a certain general said, 'oh, yes sir, we fly them in from Guam, it's right next door.' Right next door is seven hours and then they come and drop bombs and go back," said Trump. U.S. military leadership is reportedly planning to replace the large-scale drills with a series of smaller exercises and training, and implementing technology-based virtual exercises instead of deploying thousands of actual troops for the war games. Nuclear talks The scaling back of the joint exercises could also be part of the Trump administration's efforts to offer North Korea some incentive to continue to engage in nuclear talks, short of reducing the economic sanctions that the U.S. says will remain in place until a substantial and irreversible reduction in Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities is achieved. "He's going to lower the military tension at the moment and keep it low, but he is going to keep the economic sanctions on. And let's see if North Korea comes in with a more reasonable bargaining position," said Patrick Cronin, the Asia-Pacific Security Chair at the Hudson Institute. The U.S. military justified these large scale joint military exercises in the past as defensive in nature and necessary to maintain operations readiness.In recent years the drills included an increased the number of troops and firepower in a show of force to counter the North's continued missile and nuclear tests. North Korea has denounced the U.S., South Korea joint exercises as aggressive provocations and rehearsals for war. The United States and its allies are not winning the counterterrorism war for the Sahel, the head of U.S. special operations forces in Africa told VOA Thursday. I would tell you at this time, we are not winning, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, said Thursday on the sidelines of Flintlock, a major U.S.-led military exercise in the region. The exercise involves about 2,000 commandoes from more than 30 African and Western countries. The host of this years exercise, Burkina Faso, is battling an insurgency from several al-Qaida-linked groups, particularly in the past several months. What we fight against, what we see every day is like a toxin, Burkinabe Lt. Col Coulibaly Kanou told VOA. I do not know what the terrorists want from us. The U.N. said last week that more than 100,000 people in Burkino Faso have been displaced by violence, and the countrys education minister has said more than 150,000 children are not going to school because of the jihadist threat. The threat is growing, U.S. Ambassador to Burkino Faso Andrew Young told VOA in an interview. Were in a tough fight, and the fight is getting harder. To counter that threat, the United States Embassy in Burkina Faso is expanding the amount of resources applied to the security problem and the amount of resources allocated toward supporting equitable economic development. We have asked for resources, and the resources have been provided to us to accomplish the mission, Young said. WATCH: Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks on Islamic Insurgency and Burkina Faso Financial support increased U.S. Africa Command has increased financial support of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, troops from Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Niger and Mauritania who patrol together against militant fighters, to nearly $111 million. Young said Burkina Faso has received $30 million of those funds. Hicks cautioned that all nations interested in a secure and prosperous Africa should watch the Sahel very closely and continually reassess whether or not there are enough resources applied. He said he would not recommend more drones or more advisers at this time, but he wouldnt advise reducing U.S. troop numbers in the region, either. Were trying to avoid as much as possible the kinetic activity that could eventually disenfranchised the people from the legitimate government, Hicks said. Pentagon makes cuts in Africa The generals recommendation to no longer decrease U.S. troop numbers in West Africa comes after the Pentagon ordered a 10 percent cut to U.S. defense personnel in Africa, effective over the next few years. The shift supported the administrations new focus away from counterterrorism toward strategic competition with China and Russia, and the first U.S. military cuts on the continent pulled between 100-200 from West Africa. U.S. military officials have not revealed where future troop cuts will hit. Terrorist threats plaguing the Sahel have continued to spread. While the exercise participants took on a simulated threat, officers from Burkina Faso periodically left the training exercise to check in on troops carrying out a combat mission. Niger and Mali are fighting al-Qaida-linked militants, and Chad is combating a militant push from the expansion of Islamic State and Boko Haram in neighboring Nigeria. But as of early Thursday, Hicks said he had not received a request for additional funding, troops or equipment during this months military exercise. Nobodys asked me for anything since Ive been here, Hicks told VOA, adding that African partners have shown great appreciation for current U.S. support. Col. Nathan Prussian, commander of the Armys 3rd Special Forces Group, told VOA that partners in the region have sought better equipment and help with logistics and coordinating operations. No partner has come to me and said, I need you to be on the ground with me on every operation I do, Prussian said. Military exercises The Flintlock 2019 exercise focuses not just on tactical skills, such as shooting or formations, but also on military operational skills. Army Col. Max Krupp, the Special Operations Command Africa senior mentor, is serving as an adviser at the command headquarters in Camp Zagre on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. Commandoes there collected intelligence and battle updates from several military outposts in Burkina Faso and one outpost in Mauritania as part of a simulated operation. Krupp told VOA that the U.S. has seen a lot of tactical success stem from the exercise in the last couple of years, but that (success) alone will not turn the tide of violent extremist organizations in the region. Special operations forces may be able to shoot, communicate and move in the areas in which they are assigned, but without the ability to command and control them and understand the benefit and how it ties into the larger picture, our energies are best focused at the higher operational and strategic level, he said. All 50 U.S. states are not equal when it comes to how much tax revenue they send to the federal government. The states that keep the government solvent are the ones where taxpayers contribute more than they get back. At the top of that list are Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York, which all receive 83 cents in federal spending for every dollar they contribute. The four states produce almost 17 percent of all federal receipts, despite being home to just 11.8 percent of the U.S. population. "As long as the high income earners remain in the Northeast, these states will continue to have a negative balance of payments," Laura Schultz of the State University of New York (SUNY) Rockefeller Institute of Government, told VOA via email. Schultz co-authored a report evaluating how U.S. states compare when it comes to the tax revenue they send to the federal government and how much they get back. The report examined revenue and spending data for 2016 and developed a preliminary assessment for 2017. Virginia, Kentucky, New Mexico and West Virginia get the most back from the federal government, raking in far more than they contribute. Virginia almost doubles its money, paying about $10,000 in tax revenues per resident, while receiving more than $20,000 in federal money per person. The states Washington, D.C., suburbs are home to a sizable federal workforce. The world's largest naval base is also located in Norfolk, Virginia. The presence of government workers means that the Old Dominion receives a larger allotment of federal payroll dollars and corresponding federal contracts, according to Schultz. Low-income states are the other big winners. They pay less in federal income taxes, while people who live in those states are more likely to benefit from government support programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or SNAP, a nutrition assistance program. (Photo/scol.com.cn) A themed KFC restaurant featuring the poetry of Du Fu, a famous Chinese poet from the Tang Dynasty, was unveiled on Feb. 27 in Chengdu, capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province, scol.com.cn reported on Wednesday. The new restaurant has opened thanks to cooperation between KFC and the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum - a museum developed from the former residence of Du Fu in Chengdu. Located at Tianfu Square, the economic, cultural, and commercial center of Chengdu, the two-story KFC restaurant, named Tianfu Jinxiu themed restaurant, is entirely different from the typical international fast food chain restaurant, both in terms of decoration and the items for sale. (Photo/scol.com.cn) The storefront is decorated with patterns of auspicious clouds in traditional Chinese style, and pictures of Du Fu's Thatched Cottage are displayed on the French windows. The restaurant walls show pictures depicting daily life in China during the Tang Dynasty, and Du Fu's poems, paintings, and calligraphy can be seen everywhere on the tables and walls of the restaurant. Children are drawn to the three-dimensional (3D) holographic images beside the pickup counter, which reproduce 3D scenes of the old Du Fu cottage in different seasons, together with his seasonal poetry. (Photo/scol.com.cn) Besides these elements of traditional Chinese culture and Du Fus poems, KFC and the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum have also launched creative cultural products in the restaurant, including cup sleeves with famous scenic spots around the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum and famous Du Fu poems in the calligraphy style of Chinese Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799). Guests have applauded the new restaurant. They expressed that this KFC restaurant has enriched its cultural attraction while the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum has found another way to reach more people. (Photo/scol.com.cn) Liu Hong, the curator of the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum, disclosed that the new KFC restaurant is an attempt at development in the cultural creative industry. The Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum is committed to carrying forward and developing traditional Chinese culture and is striving to bring it into modern life, to better promote and pass it on from generation to generation, said Liu. Citizen access is expanding, with taxpayers logging into a variety of state and local systems. Loose control over IAM leads to fragmentation and excessive complexity, not to mention a poor citizen experience. The rise of cloud technologies creates a range of new access points for government employees, whose identity must be verified and validated across both legacy and emerging platforms. Rising mobile access among both citizens and government workers creates an additional vector for IAM. Regulatory and compliance constraints put added pressure on government to ensure proper management of beneficiary identity and other aspects of IAM. Cloud-Based Management AI and Machine Learning Blockchain Beyond Access As a technology innovation leader in the Illinois Department of Commerce, Jennifer M. ORourke struggled with the sheer volume and complexity of identity and access management, or IAM.As we looked to provide a particular organization with a tax credit, there were audit points that included other organizations, but we kept those resources in isolated, segmented, disparate systems, said ORourke, now co-founder and president of identity technology firm Attest. There was no efficient, portfolio-level way in which a given individual or organization could engage with the department.Across government, technology leaders and business-line managers rank IAM as a foremost concern: In 2018 the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) included identity on its top 10 list of state tech priorities for the first time. A number of factors have come together to make IAM a pressing issue:Biometrics and multifactor authentication have helped validate user identities, but these tend to be tech-heavy solutions and they arent always user-friendly. IT leaders are looking toward the next iteration.The vendor community is eager to assist: Grand View Research sees the IAM market reaching $22.68 billion by 2025. Before the spending starts, its worth looking at some of the main tools currently emerging on the IAM landscape, including cloud-based controls, artificial intelligence and blockchain.The rise of cloud computing creates new challenges around IAM, but also offers new solutions.Move to the cloud and IAM leaves the familiar (if clunky) confines of your legacy environment. You may work with multiple cloud providers, each with its own unique security controls. This creates the potential for confusion and complication. But cloud also brings its own remedies.Cloud providers and third parties may offer identity as a service, or identity as a platform. These tools create a central identity database that integrates with your internal directory. Through that they manage a single sign-on and multi-factor authentication, and they can identity life cycle management, said Henry Bagdasarian, executive director of the Identity Management Institute.Google, for instance, boasts that its Cloud Identity tool makes it easy to provision and manage users and groups, set up single sign-on, and configure multi-factor authentication directly from a central console. All the major cloud providers claim similar capabilities. Some will also offer identity governance services, helping to create policies for identity management, while others may deliver authentication services in support of multi-factor authentication.Centralization is the key asset here. By leveraging the cloud to create a central directory, IT leaders can gain a global view of IAM, integrating their legacy and cloud iterations in a common touchpoint. You want to centralize and automate as much as possible. You dont want your system admin to have to go one by one removing and adding people, Bagdasarian said.In the big picture, IAM seeks to manage identity, ensuring that those who interact with government systems are who they claim to be. In a more granular sense, though, IAM puts the emphasis on access its about limiting who gets in, and where.Some experts point to rising capabilities around machine learning and artificial intelligence as a potential boon to access management. AI can see into the inner workings of a system with a speed and volume unmatched by human senses.Imagine Im looking at a dashboard showing how many logins I had today, how many people requested access to a system, how much traffic we are seeing, said Sarah Squire, co-author of the 2017 NIST Digital Identity Guidelines.AI can look for those same types of things and it can crunch way more data, said Squire, now senior technical architect at IAM solutions firm Ping Identity. It can also see much more subtle patterns. It can find anomalies: No one has ever logged into your government system at 3 a.m. from China before. Thats weird. Lets tell someone or block that access.An instructor with the SANS Technology Institute, Kenneth G. Hartman says this kind of access control could be the low-hanging fruit for AI. The simplest examples are when I am known to be in San Francisco and someone is using my identity in China. That automatically triggers an alarm, he said. Whats interesting about AI is that it can detect even more subtle patterns, things we as humans might not notice. I normally log in at 9 a.m. and then I start coming in at 7 a.m. and maybe there are algorithms that pick up on that.AI and machine learning could help on the identity management side as well, for instance by cross-checking the veracity of citizen data across multiple fragmented databases. Suppose you have data that isnt consolidated and there is a discrepancy, said Gartner Senior Analyst Kevin Kampman. You might be able to use machine learning to spot that. Say someone puts their initials instead of their full name, but everything else seems to match. Machine learning could help you to consolidate those records on a large scale.On the cutting edge of IAM, theres blockchain, the shared immutable ledger technology best known as the infrastructure that supports bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Those key descriptors shared, immutable, ledger make some believe that blockchain could serve as a formidable new implement in the IAM toolkit.At Attest, ORourke and her team have a product in beta (due for a Q1 2019 release) that includes a wallet wherein citizens can digitally establish their identity on blockchain, and a pair of APIs that government could use to connect with citizens seeking to authenticate themselves in this way.One advantage here lies in the validity of the credential. A physical drivers license can be altered, whereas with a cryptographically endorsed digital credential, it is immutably clear that the drivers license has in fact been issued by the DMV, ORourke said.Moreover, the identity rests in the hands of the citizen, potentially freeing government from the laborious upkeep of those many, fragmented IAM repositories. For the first time, a user can have a natively digital attribute, something about themselves, and they can be the holder of that, as opposed to the current state where all the different government departments are the authors or writers of this information and the holders of this information, she said.Blockchain credentials would have the advantage of being sharable across all government offices. In the absence of a central identity database which many citizens would find more than a little creepy government could leverage blockchain as a way to consolidate its IAM needs.In the ecosystem today, there is no one single entity that has certificate authority. There is no central place where all the participants can consistently go to in order to validate a document or a relationship between an individual and, say, the department of motor vehicles, ORourke said. Blockchain could deliver that central touchpoint, without the Orwellian overtones of a central ID database.In fact, some say the greatest value of blockchain lies in the possibility that it could get the government out of the identity business entirely.Former Utah state CIO Phillip Windley chairs the Sovrin Foundation, a nonprofit that is using blockchain to back up identity. In Canada the organization has worked with banks and employers to launch initial forays into what it calls self-sovereign identity, the idea of a decentralized identity that is more about who you are and less about who issued the credential.We dont want government to be the central identity player and we certainly dont want Google or Facebook to do that either, Windley said. So we create a decentralized network where the parties issue credentials about whatever they know about. The bank issues a credential saying that I am a customer. My employer issues me a credential saying that I work in a certain place.The idea is nascent, but it has its supporters: IBM has partnered with Sovrin and has even produced a GitHub tutorial on self-sovereign identity.If government were to pursue these emerging IAM methodologies, some say, it could reap added benefits, beyond just access control.Take AI for instance. The immediate benefit is clear: Lets stop those 3 a.m. logins from China. But AI could have broader applications across identity management as well. Say the county is trying to act as a buyer for electrical power and they want to give constituents a discount. AI could be used to identify constituents who could benefit from that and who havent signed up for some reason, Kampman said.This example highlights the potential for IAM to make government more user-friendly, but it also highlights the inherent risk in any new IAM evolution: When you tinker with identity, you skirt the edge of privacy.You have to be careful when there is sensitivity around personal data, Kampman said. Whether its AI or any identity-related effort, you need governance over this to be clear about what can be used and what cant be used for a given purpose. You are a custodian of data and when you aggregate that data your responsibilities increase exponentially.Broadly, the looking-before-leaping paradigm is in full force here. As government IT leaders and their business-line peers seek to better manage access and identity in an emerging cloud-driven enterprise, theyll need to be thoughtful not just about the how, but about the why behind their efforts.There needs to be a strategy, Kampman said. What is the outcome going to be? The technology world can solve these problems but it needs to be done with a viewpoint toward how it will appear to the end user. You want to have control over the technologies but you also want all the stakeholders to have an opportunity to contribute toward governance.Some, meanwhile are looking over the horizon to an IAM end game in which all these pesky log-ins and multiple identities and siloed access management apparatus just go away. They envision a world where people simply are who they say they are.Some describe it as contextual identity. You typically log in from this device, in this place, at this time. You type this fast, using these keys, with a browser configured in this or that way. Taken together and smashed through appropriate algorithms, this data could serve to identify a user with little to no further fuss.We want a situation where our security is so good, we can tell whether you are an attacker or a valid user just through your traffic, Squire said. Our holy grail is zero log-in. GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswanas president on Friday dismissed a report that the country had offered Zimbabwe a $600 million diamond-backed loan and said his government had only offered to guarantee a $100 million private credit line for Botswana companies to invest in their troubled neighbour. Zimbabwes secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs was quoted in the state-owned Herald newspaper on Tuesday saying Botswana had offered to lend Zimbabwe $500 million to support its diamond industry and another $100 million for the local private firms. I want to clarify these reports that we are giving Zimbabwe hundreds of millions in loans. That is totally untrue, Mokgweetsi Masisi told reporters in Gaborone, a day after visiting Zimbabwe for business and trade mission. We are not giving them a single loan. The only thing we gave them yesterday were medical supplies made in Botswana and supplementary feeding worth 2.1 million pula ($197,600). There is $100 million credit from private banks in Botswana and Zimbabwe to help Botswana private companies, Masisi added. What we have demanded, which we are waiting for, is a letter of guarantee from the Zimbabweans to counter our own guarantee, he said. Masisi also said Botswana, which is the largest producer of diamonds by value, would help Zimbabwe with its diamond trade because it would be useful and strategic for Botswana as it aims to become a global centre of diamond trading. Zimbabwes diamond sector has struggled since the government kicked out private companies from the eastern Marange fields in early 2016 after they declined to merge under the state-owned mining company. Relations between Zimbabwe and Botswana have improved following a strained period when Botswanas ex-President Ian Khama, who stepped down in 2018, routinely criticised Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe for holding on to power for too long. A military coup in 2017 forced Mugabe to resign, ending his 37-year rule. (Reporting by Brian Benza; Editing by Alison Williams) Parker James Montgomery, of Alexandria, died on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, at the Medical Center of Aurora in Aurora, CO at the age of 22 years old. Best of 2019 The best entertainment of 2019, as chosen by Vulture's critics. Click here to see selections for every subject and more. Photo: Vulture If you follow Vulture literary critic Molly Youngs monthly newsletter, you know she reads a mind-boggling number of books each year. In 2019, these are the ones she loved the most. 10. Doxology by Nell Zink 9. Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan Machines Like Me $14 $27 now 48% off $14 The only time I think about cryonics is when my mind turns to the few dozen people (Iris Murdoch, Shakespeare, Goethe, etc.) whose brains I wish were still available so they could comment on modern moral dilemmas such as climate-change denial, privacy, animal rights, and AI. Luckily there is Ian McEwan, who is alive, operating at a normal temperature, and writing what I can only describe as literary moral thrillers at a satisfying clip. $14 at Amazon Buy $14 at Amazon Buy 8. How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell How to Do Nothing $14 $27 now 48% off $14 Ah, the book that broke 10,000 brains. Or maybe fixed them. You be the judge. Odells polymathic joyride is the antivenin to a sea of dreadful self-improvement TED Talks and Medium manifestos touting the benefits of mindful attention. Its about art, its about technology, its about birdwatching, its about garbage, its about you. $14 at Amazon Buy $14 at Amazon Buy 7. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi Trust Exercise by Susan Choi $11 $27 now 59% off $11 Trust Exercise is a teenage love story with a plot like sorcery, and it is riddled with bullets of social insight. This formula (wizardry plus insight bullets) is like the Traveling Wilburys or buttered popcorn: a sum even greater than its formidable parts. Halfway through theres a gotcha moment in the Gone Girl vein, but it is nimble enough that the twist feels momentous instead of head-spinning. $11 at Amazon Buy $11 at Amazon Buy 6. Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes 5. Oval by Elvia Wilk Oval $13 $17 now 24% off $13 Oval is Don DeLillos White Noise updated for 2019 minus the satire of academia plus a layer of millennial discontent. Anja is a scientist who lives in a socio-environmental living experiment in Berlin, which means a campus of ecohouses that are poorly ventilated and smell like human waste. She works for a sinister company in a dystopian future where climate change is a daily hassle and art galleries have been converted into venues for initial coin offerings. Swift plot, lotta underline-able sentences, whats not to love? $13 at Amazon Buy $13 at Amazon Buy 4. The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter The Book of X $18 $18 There are very few good reasons to use the word oneiric in a sentence and here is one of them: Its one of the few English adjectives appropriate to Sarah Rose Etters novel about a woman born with a stomach disfigurement who navigates the world (as we all do) with the trepidation and fury and occasional exultation that results from having a disappointing body. $18 at Amazon Buy $18 at Amazon Buy 3. Stay and Fight by Madeline ffitch Stay and Fight $14 $27 now 48% off $14 Having spent part of my childhood in a secluded xenophobic community, I have a soft spot for novels about secluded xenophobic communities. This one takes place in Appalachian Ohio. Its about three women who push a certain Dont Tread on Me philosophy to a punishing extreme by living off the grid in a DIY hut, eating groundhog stew, getting in trouble with multiple authorities, and focusing every trick of human resourcefulness onto a situation of wretched poverty. $14 at Amazon Buy $14 at Amazon Buy 2. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado In the Dream House $18 $26 now 31% off $18 If you told me a few months ago that the most page-turn-y book of 2019 would be a formally experimental memoir of domestic abuse I would have said, Haha, nice. Im also in the market for a bridge if you have one to sell. Jokes on me. $18 at Amazon Buy $18 at Amazon Buy 1. The Topeka School by Ben Lerner The Topeka School $15 $27 now 44% off $15 I dunno if Ben Lerner was reading a lot of Faulkner when he wrote The Topeka School or if he naturally shares some of that writers fixations (clan, memory, language) and modes (doom-filled, funny, allusive), but either way: damn. Channeling W.F. in a work that is wholly nonderivative and frighteningly contemporary is a feat I cant adequately evaluate, only admire. This is a book that simultaneously gives no fucks and all of the fucks. $15 at Amazon Buy $15 at Amazon Buy *This article appears in the December 23, 2019, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now! WAAY 31 spent the day talking with folks who are still dealing with floodwaters and the damage they've left behind. We got a closer look at some of that damage in a Colbert County neighborhood that still has some standing water. We talked with one homeowner whose house was hit by the flooding, and we learned more about the clean-up efforts that are underway because of it. Weve barely unpacked," said Jesse Young. "We still have stuff in the attic we havent even unpacked yet. Jesse Young and his family just moved into their home on Dee Drive in September. The last thing they wanted was to be forced out, but thats exactly what happened when his neighborhood flooded. Friday night, it started coming into the backyard, it got into the pool, and thats when I started getting worried; but I knew it was going to stop raining on Saturday," Young said. "But when I woke up at 6:30 in the morning, it was already up two of my steps, and thats when I knew it was time to act. By acting, Young means he surrounded his home with sand bags. The sand bags helped, because it was probably about an inch and a half higher on the water side of the sand bags," he said. "Even though it still got in the house, it couldve been worse. Young says only about an inch of water got into his home, but just that inch will cause more than enough work for weeks to come. The insulation will act like a wick and suck up the water about six inches into the drywall, so you have to go a foot above that," he said. 'So, were 18 to 20 inches above the floor, cutting all the drywall, the baseboards, and then we have fans and dehumidifiers to air all the moisture out of the house. The American Red Cross was in Youngs neighborhood on Thursday, assessing damage, which is something Young never expected to see. Now, he tells WAAY 31, hes just ready for things to be back to normal. My little girl is terrified that everything is going to be destroyed. My son is worried about everything," he said. "My kids just dont understand. They dont understand why they cant come home. They dont understand why this happened. Were trying to explain to them, at a young age, that it will be okay, its just going to take time. After learning how much money its going to cost to repaint his walls and possibly replace his floors, Young says he and his neighbors really want some assistance from FEMA. Hes now urging other homeowners with flood damage to report it, so that FEMA will see just how serious this is and, hopefully, help out. When an event like last week's flooding is over, county engineers have 30 days to send their damage reports to the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. Officials say after that, if the entire state meets a threshold of $7.2 million in damage, those reports then head to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. County engineers estimate just four of the worst roads will take anywhere from $4.5 million to $6 million to fix altogether. "From the end of an incident period, you have 30 days to collect damages both for your individual assistance and public assistance," said Brian Hastings, State EMA Director. "At that point, it's a federal process, so we don't like to talk about timelines. Nothing is guaranteed." For now, drivers in Jackson County will have to deal with blocked roads. One driver, Tasha Sampson, said the roads are too scary to drive. "I just don't want to take chances on it," said Sampson. State and county emergency management officials took a trip on Thursday to County Road 17 to look at the damage. On the side of the road, there are tire tracks from people going around the barricade and cutting through. The road itself has gotten continually worse over the past week. "It will help our case and build our narrative, for requesting a major disaster declaration," said Hastings. Once the counties are done with their report, it needs the governor's signature before heading to the president, who will need to sign a disaster deceleration. This could open up funds to help counties, cities and even homeowners. As the FAME program in Alabama continues to grow and expand from one community college to four, one of the key ways they continue to attract new talent is by bringing in high school students to learn about the experience up close. On Thursday, more than 200 students from Limestone, Lawrence, Madison and Morgan counties were bussed to Calhoun Community Colleges Decatur campus to see the FAME program in person. High school students were able to ask questions to current AMT students about their experiences with FAME. High school students were able to ask questions to current AMT students about their experiences with FAME. High schoolers were able to speak with some of the current AMT students as well as some of the companies who sponsor them, like Bruderer, Packaging Corporation of America and Toyota. They were also taken over in groups to tour the Advanced Manufacturing Center at the Alabama Robotics Technology Park across the street. Austin High School junior Delroy Tulloch told WAAY 31 that he grew up working with his hands and now works at the metal shop at his school and does some 3D printing as well. He said exploring FAME seems like a natural fit. It's just all kind of culminated until I get to where I am now where I just can't get enough of it, you know? I'm just always looking for something else to do. And so all that stuff just kind of draw me in, like a good smell, you know? said Tulloch. Applications for this falls FAME group at Calhoun are due on March 15 at midnight. Among many technology milestones last year, one of them was certainly that 2018 was the first year that e-scooters became a fixture in many major U.S. cities. Adoption has grown quickly , with e-scooter rider growth exceeding similar first-year adoption rates of other mobility services, such as bike-sharing, car-sharing and ride-hailing apps. Unfortunately, this rapid growth could run head-first into a brick wall as a number of state and local governments start passing laws and regulations that either ban or undermine the viability of e-scooters.One reason e-scooters have gained many converts is because they are so easy to ride. But while motorized electric scooters have existed as a product for a few years, the costs and practicalities of owning one did not make sense for most people. To address these hurdles, a flood of startups have begun offering app-enabled e-scooter rental services.Scooters offer many benefits to city dwellers. On foot, pedestrians have a limited range many people are not willing to walk further than a quarter-mile because of various factors including health, climate and available time. But with scooters, a persons range increases substantially. In Santa Monica, Calif., the first city where e-scooter company Bird launched its operations, the average ride length was 1.6 miles. This expanded range not only makes it possible for individuals to live, work and play in more areas, but it also makes parts of the city that can only be reached by car, such as because of a lack of crosswalks or sidewalks, more accessible to those without vehicles.Unfortunately, while some have given this new mobility option an enthusiastic reception, others have bemoaned incidents of scooters blocking sidewalks, breaking traffic ordinances and causing accidents. In response, a number of cities, from West Hollywood, Calif. , to Winston-Salem, N.C. , are simply banning the scooters once they arrive. Others have proactively blocked scooter companies from introducing the service, such as Columbia, S.C. , which enacted a one-year ban on the vehicles in January. And still others have started enacting a hodge-podge of regulations that put these vehicles at a relative disadvantage, such as allowing 16-year-olds to drive cars, but not scooters, or allowing scooter owners to ride at night, but not those using a scooter-sharing app.There likely is a need for some new laws to address legitimate concerns, but it is unclear what those are. Rather than creating new rules unsupported by any evidence, a better approach is to establish a regulatory sandbox for e-scooters, an idea that has grown in popularity for addressing emerging technologies in other industries, such as financial services . Much like parents allow children to safely learn and explore in a controlled environment, the idea of a regulatory sandbox is to create a testing ground for businesses to experiment with new technologies or business models where existing regulations may be inappropriate or incomplete. This environment allows businesses to learn quickly and solve problems as they arise without responding to artificial constraints. It also allows regulators to collect data so that they can make more informed decisions about what problems need to be addressed and which interventions are most useful.Using a regulatory sandbox would not mean that states could not set safety rules for the scooters, such as braking distance requirements, or the riders, such as helmet and licensing requirements, but it would seek to minimize those rules and only create ones backed by solid evidence. Neither would it prohibit local governments from enforcing traffic laws and fining those who violate them, such as riding without helmets where required by law . And local governments that want to be proactive, rather than banning scooters, can work cooperatively with companies to address problems unique to scooters as a service, such as the issue of where riders should leave them once they are done riding. Scooter companies can also work together to come up with common rules for riders, like penalizing within the app those who block bike paths or wheelchair ramps.Given the many benefits of e-scooters, it is unfortunate that the trend in many cities seems to be banning or overregulating them. However, it is not surprising. When automobiles were first invented, many reacted with similar outrage at the seemingly noisier, dirtier and more dangerous vehicles, with Vermont even passing a law requiring someone to walk in front of a car waving a red flag at all times, and many cities banning the vehicles altogether.More than a century later, its time we do better. (TNS) Suffolk County authorities rolled out a new online system Wednesday that will allow residents to file police reports for fender benders, lost items, criminal mischief and other minor incidents without having to travel to a precinct house or wait for officers to come to them.The Suffolk County Police Department is the first in the Long Island/New York City area to offer online police reports, said County Executive Steve Bellone and Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart. The closest community in New York State with a similar system, according to officials, is Syracuse."We want to utilize technology to deliver services to residents in a more efficient way, Bellone said.The new system, which will be offered in English and Spanish through the Suffolk County Police Departments website, SuffolkPD.org , will also free up officers so they can focus on more serious situations, Hart said."We now have the ability to allow patrol officers to respond more quickly to emergencies and other situations that require our immediate attention," Hart said.The time and resources saved could be substantial, Hart said. Suffolk police took 6,726 lost-and-found reports, 3,886 property damage reports and 4,973 criminal mischief reports in 2018, she said.The types of crimes that can be reported online also include harassing communications and identity theft. Incidents related to emergencies, schools, domestic violence, hate crimes and threats of physical violence will still have to be filed at precinct houses.Chief of Department Stuart Cameron said the new system will make it easier for people who need insurance reports to file claims for damaged cars or vandalized property, since residents wont have to wait for officers to show up at their homes or travel to precinct houses to file a complaint. He said the new system, like shopping on Amazon, provides convenience to residents.It is completely optional, Cameron said. If you want a police officer to come to your house to take a report, we will always come if the public requests us, just like you can always go to a brick-and-mortar store to buy something.Suffolk police have already received about 100 online reports since the programs soft launch in October. Officials said the new system will not require any additional personnel and will be paid for through asset forfeiture funds. The city of San Diego and the U.S. Marine Corps have entered into an agreement to collaborate on various smart city initiatives, including programs involving renewable energy, drones and smart streetlights, according to the Mayor's Office Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer announced the partnership alongside Maj. Gen. Vincent A. Coglianese, the commander of the city's Marine Corps Installations Command, during a press conference last week.The city and the Corps will soon begin forming working groups to focus on three primary areas of development: protection and security, mobility and public works."Were building on the long tradition of collaboration between the U.S. military and the city of San Diego and taking that partnership to the next level for the betterment of the San Diego region, Faulconer said in a statement.The smart city concept is one that has been increasingly embraced by communities across the country. Initiatives generally revolve around leveraging technology to collect and analyze data, while making service delivery more responsive.To facilitate the partnership, Faulconer and Coglianese signed a memo of understanding outlining the parameters of the agreement and collaboration.Both will work together to "pilot various innovative solutions," using working groups where needed to review issues and develop action plans to carry out programs, the memo states. Officials will also conduct monthly conference calls, as well as semi-annual in-person meetings to discuss the progress of various projects.San Diego and the Marine Corps have a long history working together and this agreement is a testament to our partnership, said Coglianese said in the release.The partnership will focus on a number of initiatives, including collaboration involving some 3,200 recently installed smart streetlights , which are equipped with a bevy of sensors that assist with data collection and law enforcement operations.The city and Corps are also likely to collaborate on drones. Last year, San Diego was one of a handful of cities picked to participate in a UAS testing program run by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now the Corps will become one of some 20 partners involved in the San Diego regions consortium for the pilot program.The collaboration is part of a Marine Corps program called Installation neXt , which seeks to create stronger, more resilient military bases through various initiatives. Often these initiatives are compatible with the smart city model, said Lt. Col. Brandon Newell, West Coast lead for Installations werX West, one of the programs divisions.Installation neXt frequently seeks out mutually beneficial relationships with institutions and communities in pursuit of its goals, Newell said."Our Installation neXt program is focused on the future of installation stations and bases," Newell said. "My job is to find collaborative opportunities that are stepping stones to that future.There are things that the Marine Corps is doing that the city will be able to leverage, and then there are things that the city is doing that we want to be able to leverage as well, he said. Niki Lauda needs more time before he is ready to return to formula one. That is the view of his friend and Austrian countryman Dr Helmut Marko, who says he misses his breakfast buddy in the Barcelona test paddock. Although rivals, Marko says he has a "respectful friendship" with the F1 legend. "It's an unfamiliar situation for me now. I'm lonely at breakfast and there's not someone who can replace him," Marko, a top Red Bull official, told RTL. Hopes were high that Lauda, 70, could finally return to the paddock early in 2019 following his lung transplant of last year. Marko, though, says the Mercedes team chairman needs more time. "Thank God he is better, but it will take some time before he can be among so many people," he said. Lauda's doctor Walter Klepetko said last week that Lauda cannot take the transcontinental flight to Melbourne, adding: "Large crowds are always a potential threat of infection". (GMM) Get some friends to help with this fishbowl of Patron, blue curacao, and lime juice. Photo: Melissa Hom When Jersey boys and Francophiles Bruce and Eric Bromberg opened Blue Ribbon Brasserie in 1992, they modeled it after the late-night spots they frequented while in culinary school in Paris. The small Sullivan Street space quickly earned its New York merit by combining elegantly executed staples with hours that crept toward daylight, drawing in chefs and insomniacs alike. We dont always try to be the most creative and inventive guys in the room, Bruce tells Grub Street. Were interested in creating the best versions of things we love to eat, and things we ate as kids. You could fit several of the Sullivan Street brasseries into their new venture, the Ribbon, in Times Square, which occupies the massive space formerly occupied by Guy Fieris American Kitchen and Bar. But while Fieris incarnation swallowed you up with its size, the Brombergs have decided to divide and conquer; to that end, theyve transformed the subterranean level of the space into a lounge called Blue, which officially opened last night. Its their first foray into nightlife, yet its a natural progression, given the late hours theyre accustomed to. Its conceived as a place to grab a drink after a play, a space with 17 seats at the bar to hang at while you wait for your table in the restaurant, or a low-lit hideaway at which to drink Champagne and eat caviar well into the night. While others would be dubious about opening up in Times Square, Bruce is optimistic. I think if we can be part of the impetus or catalyst that changes the neighborhood a little bit towards a bit more of a local scene and also gives the tourist a little bit more of a New York flavor which I think we certainly embody then I think thats a really exciting prospect for us. Fried chicken drizzled with truffle honey. Photo: Melissa Hom Order your caviar Imperial-style. Photo: Melissa Hom The hallmarks of the Blue Ribbon brand are here, along with an elevated DJ booth, a dance floor, and paintings of NYC luminaries like Biggie and Debbie Harry by artist Alex Yost. Cocktails like the Blueprint (with Campari, sweet vermouth, and Old Overholt), the On the 6 (tequila, grapefruit, agave, and lime juice), and Notorious (gin, lemon juice, apple juice, aquafaba, and a Sangiovese floater) are named after albums, and live music programming is planned for the future. Of course theres fried chicken, drizzled with truffle honey and one of three savory dishes alongside cauliflower tempura and the throwback Shrimp B-Louie. This being Blue Ribbon, seafood arrives in towers, and caviar has a place of honor, served in its own curtained-off room, hearkening back to a time when the brothers used to buy cheap tins of Romanoff caviar at the A&P. We would mix it with a bowl of sour cream and put it on some crackers and serve it to our parents and our other brother and anyone who came over, Bruce says. That was us being really fancy. At Blue you can can have your fancy kaluga caviar in 30-gram or 100-gram portions, or order the Imperial, 100 grams served with six shots of Stoli Elit, for $400. And as for the future of the Brombergs in nightlife, Bruce explains, Its about hospitality, its about good food, its about mixing and mingling these things that we love together. So I think wherever theres an opportunity to create a cool new experience for people, Im 100 percent all for doing that. Blue, 220 West 44th St., nr. Seventh Ave.; 212-944-2474 The mezcal, aperol, and green chartreuse Sunset Park. Photo: Melissa Hom May all your seafood arrive in towers. Photo: Melissa Hom The space is decorated with paintings of New York musicians. Melissa Hom. The space is decorated with paintings of New York musicians. Melissa Hom. In his will, Balanchine was especially mindful of his last wife, Le Clercq, from whom he was divorced. A star ballerina who was stricken with polio and paralyzed in her 20s, she used a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Balanchine left her the U.S. rights for most of his ballets, including the lucrative Nutcracker, providing an income stream from licenses to American troupes. NYCB is the biggest of these, since Balanchines ballets form its core repertoire. Le Clercq, who died in 2000 and had no children, left these ballet rights to several friends who helped care for her over the years. She has a high, light jump and an easy freedom in her limbs, and she can nail an unassisted balance without looking frozen. These are the big gifts. The smaller ones are just as important: Barkmans attention to the harmonious curve of her lifted arm and wrist, framing her face as she turned. And the melting softness in her body when she bowed over her leg to Sarabias prince at the start of their wedding scene pas de deux. Barkmans princess, who has never capitulated to anyone, showed us humility and love in that brief gestural display. Yet she also is a true queen, newly awakened to her powers, as she made clear in the next beat, drawing herself up onto one leg, with Sarabias support (he was a prince of anyones dreams), finally unfolding into a balance she held freely, in unforced triumph. Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Shannon Horton, Denniss daughter, told me she and her mother, Sharon, decided in summer 2016 to revamp the petit manseng from a slightly sweet, off-dry version to a fully dry wine. We had tasted some dry PMs and were impressed with their complexity, she said. We wanted to embrace the acidity and make a complex wine. That years wine was fermented by their long-term winemaker, Mike Heny. After Heny left in early 2018, the wine was finished by his successor, Andy Reagan, who blended in 5 percent each of rkatsiteli, another unusual grape Dennis Horton pioneered in Virginia, and early-picked viognier. It was a true team effort, symbolic of the transition at one of Virginias iconic wineries. Next up was puppy preschool, where we watched a volunteer playing with a 4-week-old black lab with the goal of exposing the dog to both people and a host of distractions. She tossed it toys, had it walk on mats of various surfaces, opened an umbrella nearby and held different scents under its nose. Young explained that the bib the pup wore was to start getting it used to the feel of a guide harness or service vest. Before we left, the volunteer held the little one up to the window so we could feverishly wave like 5-year-olds at a parade and exclaim, Hello, puppy! Throughout his 28-year tenure on the council, Evans has engaged in outside legal and consulting work. In required disclosures, he has listed law firms for which he has worked but has not named his clients. D.C. ethics rules require him to identify clients only if they have contracts with the District or stand to benefit from pending legislation. Educational entrepreneur Chris Whittle, the schools chairman and chief executive, said the construction team is taking several steps to safeguard the children at BroadcastersChild Development Center. In a letter to the center, Whittle wrote that noise has been limited during afternoon naps and air quality is being monitored. Work hours, he wrote, will be curbed on the floor directly above the day-care center. As a goodwill gesture, he said the Whittle School was prepared to contribute $100,000 to the day-care center and offer financial incentives to accelerate the centers plans to relocate this year. Joseph Riley Curry, 29, who is from Canada but was living in Leesburg, was given the sentence last week for the drug-related incidents in 2016, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. That is a problem, Barnes said. In essence, she is saying that the delegates that were in the room are all liars. That is unacceptable . . . It is my goal that when she comes in on Monday morning, she will be able to look herself in the mirror and say, I must resign. He was in the agency when the Berlin Wall went up in 1961. He was in and out of Vietnam. He was at an airport in Congo in 1963, when a Belgian priest told him about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He always went by an assumed name and never lived in the same countries in which he worked. Chez Panisse opened in 1971. Photo: Gado Images/Getty Images This week, the San Francisco Chronicles new critic Soleil Ho introduced herself to her city by dropping not one but five reviews. (Not to mention a couple complimentary stories about anonymity and her personal banned word list!) Among the restaurants reviewed? Alice Waterss celebrated Chez Panisse in Berkeley, cradle of the farm-to-table movement and one of the Bay Areas most important cultural institutions. While Chez Panisse is nearly half a century old, its still actively discussed: Hos predecessor, Michael Bauer, reviewed it for the Chronicle in 2015. He also asked about the restaurants relevance, concluding that it was still a revelation about the joy of simple preparation and pristine ingredients. (That was back when Jerome Wang and Cal Peternell ran the show; now, Amy Dencler and Jennifer Sherman jointly hold the title of restaurant chef.) Hos review is decidedly more lukewarm than Bauers. While she writes that the cultural impact of Waters work is indisputable and impossible to quantify, Ho finds that the restaurants loyalty to the past has become almost too comfortable and that eating there is a mixed bag. Shes delighted by the weekday prix fixe but finds sadly uneven dishes and the presentation sort of thoughtless. Of the famous fruit bowl, she writes that it was the one thing that made me think maybe the whole thing wasnt just bulls***. On Chez Panisse. I'm blown away and tearing up again, because what comes through in everything I'm reading is a fundamental attribute that people of color tend to bring to everything we do and that is so missing from so much written by white men: respect. https://t.co/y7xrUzXgtv (@NickCho) February 28, 2019 The review has garnered some affirmations on Twitter, but its also caused some chefs to, well, circle the wagons! Benus Corey Lee came out strong writing on his Instagram that he thinks its asking the wrong questions. Many of the comments on his post are from other chefs who agree and express varying degrees of anger with one calling it so naive and others contributing to the yes chef chorus. One person on Twitter even called for the return of Bauer, which suggests at least some people want to stay in the past. How will the Bay Areas chefs, hyped up on all those beet and goat cheese salads theyve been eating, react? Will they all just start serving figs on a plate and nothing else until an apology for this affront is issued? Only time will tell. So @chezpanisse is stale and calling certain food addictive is offensive. Holy shit, @michaelbauer1 PLEASE COME BACK. Liz (@LizzyLuvzIt) March 1, 2019 The questions were and are important; no one can deny it, he said years later in an interview published in the volume For Women Only! Your Guide to Health Empowerment by Seaman and a co-author, Gary Null. The activists were women worried about the safety of the pill and had a right to be heard. They also had a right to be wary of the predominance of men on the committee and the fact that almost all of those giving expert testimony were also men. By 1989 the program was turning away more than 2,000 applicants a year, simply because there was no room for them, Dr. Shankman told The Washington Post. Its much easier to get drugs than it is to get treatment, he said. Addicts are used to instant gratification. ...When a person reaches out and you say no to him, that person is being condemned to a living hell. In November, a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl was charged as an adult in the killing of an infant, according to a report from the Associated Press. The girl was a foster child living at a home that also served as a day care. The girl dropped a baby who was at the day care and stomped on the crying childs head, the AP report said. City officials and D.C. Council members have said that these efforts have stabilized the response system but that far more work needs to be done to eliminate needless trips to hospitals, which siphon the availability of emergency resources. Before the creation of the nurse triage line, officials estimated that as many as 70 percent of medical dispatches from 911 calls involved patients with conditions that were not life-threatening emergencies. When the money dried up, Manafort falsified records and lied to banks to keep the cash flowing through loans. But his lawyers argue that there is no evidence that he purposely sought to inflict financial harm on the banks and that he failed to keep up with the loans only because the government froze his assets. Its Gibson time at Dante. Photo: Melissa Hom Every month in New York, there are a bewildering number of new dishes to eat, drinks to imbibe, and food-themed events to attend. Often, the hardest part is just figuring out whats really worth your limited time. So Grub kicks off each month with a curated selection of dishes, drinks, and events that should absolutely be on your agenda. Make your plans now. 1. Drink a whole menu of martinis at Dante. Dante is an elegant, fun place to drink, especially if youre obsessed with gin. For the last couple years, the bar has had a whole menu called the Negroni Sessions of variations on the classic bitter, red drink. (Granted, some without gin.) Now, bartender Naren Young has switched it up with the debut of the Martini Hour. The eight-drink, all-Martini menu features an Upside Down Dirty Gibson ($16) with pickled onion brine and wormwood, a Tuxedo No. 2 ($16) with dry vermouth and maraschino, and other cocktails. Dont go trying to drink all eight of them in one sitting, but if youve ever said to yourself, I just want to drink Martinis and Martini-esque cocktails all night, well, heres your chance! 2. Go to a festival thats all about food books and magazines. This weekend, the Food Book Fair returns to New York. The event this year will be thrown together with Egg and Smorgasburg and the Brooklyn Flea, plus new collaborators Riverhead Books and Queer Soup Night. The main event (RSVP here) takes place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, when publishers and magazines like Chronicle Books, Jarry, Kitchen Table, and Whetstone will gather at the Atlantic Center. On Sunday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Cmon Everybody, Queer Soup Night and Jarry will host (RSVP here) the Big Queer Chili Cook-off to benefit the RAPP Campaign. 3. Check out the new drinks at a great Greenpoint bar. Tucked away into the back of a Greenpoint ramen restaurant, the Hidden Pearl was one of the most exciting new bars to open last year. The offshoot of Williamsburg favorite Donna takes a tropical Japanese-ish approach to cocktails, and if youve been meaning to go back, youve got yourself a few new reasons: Head bartender Luke Evans has added four drinks to the list. His additions include Hasekura Goes to Spain ($15) which mixes Japanese whisky with amaro, Amontillado sherry, and Castilian bitters and a Hot and Buttered Rum to share ($30). The latter drink pairs overproof rum with Californian brandy, as well as Grand Marnier, spiced compound butter, Angostura bitters, and figgy pudding bitters. 4. Get at least a dozen King Cake doughnuts. Cant make it down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? The next best thing if you have a big sweet tooth anyway might be going to Underwest Donuts. The doughnut experts there will serve a King Cakeinspired creation ($3.75) on March 4 and 5. A vanilla-and-citrus-infused cake doughnut, it gets dipped in Bird Dog whiskey for a sweet, boozy touch that should cure at least a little of your FOMO. 886s new Taiwanese sausage rice. Photo: Ben Hon 5. Attend a party for a new food magazines launch. Tonight from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the wonderful Cobble Hill food bookstore LizzYoung Bookseller will host a party for a new food magazine. Brett Warnock, who founded comic-book publisher Top Shelf, is in town for the launch of his new food rag Kitchen Table. There will be copies of the magazine, which promises a strong visual element, along with wine, beer, and bites to eat. 6. Go to the East Village for a lunch of popcorn chicken and stir-fried Taiwanese sausage rice. Looking for a good lunch deal in the East Village? Taiwanese restaurant 886 now has you covered. For just $15, youll get a little bite, a stir-fry, a main dish, and a soft drink. Options include small bites like honey-glazed popcorn chicken, stir-fried tomato and egg, and mains like a stir of Taiwanese sausage rice with cured egg yolk. The deal is available Tuesdays through Fridays from noon to 3 p.m. 7. Then for dinner, go eat sticky rice pork meatballs. New Yorks Adam Platt deemed rice-noodle shop Hunan Slurp one of 2018s Best New Restaurants, noting that many of the non-noodle dishes are worth a special trip. The chef-owner Chao Wang keeps fiddling with his menu, and this week added lotus meatballs made with pork, water chestnuts, and cured duck yolk. And instead of bread crumbs, theyre coated with sticky rice. Why stop at these meatballs, though? While youre in the East Village, check out newer spots like cocktail bar Mister Paradise, Vietnamese barbecue spot Madame Vo BBQ, and grilled pizza specialist Violet. Or, comb our always updated list of New York Citys Thousand Best restaurants for other recommendations in the neighborhood. 8. And a bagel sandwich made in collaboration with a New Orleans favorite. A bagel collab? With a restaurant from outside New York, Americas bagel capital? It couldve been blasphemy, but the bagel-collab enthusiasts at Black Seed Bagels made the wise choice of teaming up with New Orleanss Turkey and the Wolf. A sandwich shop that was named a Bon Appetit Best New Restaurant in 2017, its bagel sandwich ($13) comes with griddled meat loaf (made with bagel crumbs), melted American cheese, pickled cherry peppers, slow-cooked tomato cream cheese, red onion, and basil. Its served on a fennel-seed bagel, and available at all locations. 9. Hang out with Talib Kweli while eating J.J. Johnsons food. Some big names are coming together for the second Brownsville NOW! Benefit on March 12. Talib Kweli and John Forte will be performing and J.J. Johnson will be cooking for the event, benefiting the Brownsville Community Culinary Center. (Ticket info here.) The night will be hosted by activist and actor Malik Yoba and Love City Church pastor Nelvern R. Samuel, and DJ Niara Sterling will be keeping the music going. If thats not enough, its going down at Brooklyn Bowl, which means, yes, bowling. 10. Pop by a charming new Bushwick taqueria. Theres no shortage of taquerias in Bushwick, but Tacos Molly (157 Central Avenue, near Suydam Street) offers customers a warm, neighborly experience. The space was last home to Seven Sushi Cafe, but the owner and his wife revamped the menu and changed themes to increase business year-round. The tortillas are made in-house and plated without pretense. Simple and delicious. They also serve aguas frescas like Jamaica, sweet, purply from the hibiscus. The owner, Brian, handmade the bar and tables from pallets, the light fixtures from industrial piping, and the benches from milk crates. If youre lucky, youll be served by his wife, Monica, with her 6-month-old, Aina, in a baby carrier. Mathew Silver 11. Get a lunch with a side of a charitable cause. Instead of a sad desk lunch, what about a charitable lunch? Starting this month, the Smile to Go in Dumbo will start selling chef collaborations to benefit No Kid Hungry. Ten percent of proceeds will go to the organization, and a different chef will introduce a different boxed lunch for $15. Kicking things off is former White House chef Sam Kass, who worked with the Smile to Go on the series. His menu includes a beer-braised pork-shoulder sandwich; a canned salad with white beans, artichokes, hearts of palm, and celery; deviled egg with chipotle lime aioli; and a mini coconut-cream pie. 12. Drop by a talk for a Bon Appetit editors cookbook. To celebrate the release of her cookbook Where Cooking Begins, Bon Appetit food director Carla Lalli Music will head to Books Are Magic. On March 20 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (RSVP here), shell talk with Bon Appetit video star Claire Saffitz about recipes for very busy people. 13. Go to a dinner at Racines celebrating Provence. Tribeca wine bar Racines has a bunch of events slated for this month, including a dinner on March 22 for the Gout de France or Good France festival. Celebrating the food of Provence, the dinner (tickets are $195 for four courses and ten wines) will feature chef Diego Moyas riffs on classic dishes and all Provencal wines. PG&E has acknowledged that that transmission line lost power right before the fire and was later found to be damaged. It also included the blaze among the more than $30 billion in potential wildfire liabilities it said it was facing when it announced plans to file for bankruptcy in January. Russian court rejects bail for U.S. investor: A Moscow court rejected an appeal by a U.S. investment manager and ordered that he remain in jail for at least the next month and a half in connection with an embezzlement probe. Michael Calvey, who co-founded the private equity firm Baring Vostok in 1994, was detained with five others in Moscow on suspicion of embezzling $37 million from Vostochny Bank, in which his firm has a controlling stake. Calvey denies the charges. The diplomatic disaster in Hanoi ought to make clear once and for all that the gambit wont work not even on the 35-year-old ruler of one of the worlds most isolated states. The only apparent effect of Trumps wooing of Kim was to make the dictator believe he could sell the president on a decidedly one-sided bargain that would have lifted most sanctions on North Korea while allowing it to keep its nuclear arsenal. News UAE Rulers witness the launch of new 50-dirham banknote as part of Golden Jubilee celebrations Sheikh Mansour added, "We see in this issuance that the UAE has entered a new phase in its history and a renewed pledge to continue the process of economic and social growth. This occasion also allowed us to express our appreciation and gratitude to our founding fathers, by issuing a new 50 dirham banknote to celebrate the passing of Fifty years since the establishment of the UAE. On Friday, the defense secretary released a legislative proposal at the presidents direction to establish the Space Force, within the Air Force, as the sixth branch of the armed forces. This legislation is the first step toward creating a new, separate military department for space in the future, and our administration will continue working closely with leaders in Congress on both sides of the aisle to get a bill that creates the Space Force to the presidents desk this year. This week in the House, Trumps former personal lawyer documented a web of deceit by Trump in personal and public matters and Republicans unflinchingly defended the president. At the same time in Hanoi, Trump accepted Kim Jong Uns word that he had nothing to do with American Otto Warmbiers death just as Trump accepted similar denials of crimes by the Saudi crown prince and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Then, on Thursday, a fresh economic report showed the economy falling short of Trumps forecasts, even though Trumps economic stimulus a tax cut and spending increases will add some $2 trillion to the deficit. Yet, rather than quietly step down himself or even step back a bit from the spotlight while the accusations were investigated Fairfax went on the offensive. In an impromptu speech on the floor of the Virginia legislature, he likened his experience to a lynching. Ive heard much about anti-lynching on the floor of this very Senate, he said , referencing recently passed bills that expressed remorse for the real lynchings that took place in the commonwealth of Virginia. And yet we stand here in a rush to judgment in nothing but accusations and no facts, and we are deciding we are willing to do the same thing. After 17 months, Warmbier was sent home in a coma, having suffered severe brain damage from possible multiple beatings, and he died a few days later. His brutal death was surely no accident, as Cindy and Fred Warmbier asserted in their statement rebuking Trump, nor was it likely unknown to Kim, whose supreme leadership doesnt leave much wiggle room for independent action. No one familiar with North Korea believes that Kim wasnt well aware of his American captive. How could he not have been after a year-and-a-half of international news coverage and outreach from the State Department? Thus, make no mistake, Warmbiers death was as much an assault on America as it was on this young American son. An exact accounting of the ethnic breakdown of the camp system is unavailable, and the diverging sets of available figures highlight the difficulties and competing interests in gleaning the full scope of what is happening to Kazakhs in Xinjiang. Atajurt Eriktileri, a grass-roots organization in Almaty helping families with missing relatives in Xinjiang, told me it has documented more than 10,000 cases of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China. The victims database headed by Bunin has collected nearly 3,000 testimonies in the past year, about half from ethnic Kazakhs, but that figure represents only a small fraction of the estimated total. The Kazakh government has spoken publicly only about the cases pertaining to its own citizens, saying that 29 have been detained in recent years in China, of whom 15 have been released, but it has framed the issue as a bureaucratic error rather than extrajudicial detention. For the thousands of ethnic Kazakhs sent to the camps who are Chinese nationals even those who were permanent residents of Kazakhstan there are few avenues for recourse, and cases like Otans and Auelkhankyzys are the exceptions. Communists reject democracy, of course, but other socialists have strongly supported it. In many parts of the world, including Europe, they were the most consistent advocates of democratization. Eduard Bernstein, for example, one of the fathers of social democracy, described democracy as both a means and an end. It is a weapon in the struggle for socialism and it is the form in which socialism will be realized. Conservatives, on the other hand, thought of democracy as despotism of the multitude, in Edmund Burkes phrase, and liberals like Alexis de Tocqueville and John Stuart Mill were resistant to expanding the franchise as well, because giving workers too much power would threaten the economic elites necessary for social stability. Only organizing and pressure from parties of the left broke liberal and conservative resistance to democracy in Europe. But there were also instances of soaring love. In the most powerful moment of the General Conference, a gay college student named J.J. Warren, who plans to become a pastor, spoke about sharing his faith at his secular campus: We have brought people to Jesus, because they say they have not heard this message before. They didnt know God could love them because their churches said God didnt. His address brought the room to applause and tears, compelling even the bishops, who were not supposed to show support one way or another, to break protocol by rising to their feet. Yet when the initial legislative council votes were taken Monday, on the second day of voting, the traditionalists revealed themselves to be unaffected. They had come to make their will known, not to listen and be swayed. Only the Traditional Plan moved forward into the final day, with 461 votes in favor and 359 against. But I was desperate to connect with him. Hed been a fussy baby and a mercurial kid, which I could handle, but my patience dwindled as his moodiness persisted into adolescence. I couldnt understand how someone so bright could be such an erratic student, and I couldnt accept that this creative and passionate young man was also impulsive and defiant. He resented my watchfulness and my attempts to fix him through appointments with tutors, therapists and psychiatrists, reserving special disapproval for our decision to put him on psychotropic medication, starting at age 10, for what doctors diagnosed only as a mood disorder not otherwise specified. I saw his point: Who doesnt suffer from a vague mood disorder at one time or another? Im a capitalist, ORourke said. I dont see how were able to meet any of the fundamental challenges that we have as a country without in part harnessing the power of the market. Climate change is the most immediate example of that. If youre going to bring the total innovation and ingenuity of this country to bear, our system as a country, our economy, is going to have to be part of that. Dr. Adelson is very involved, and in many respects even more political than he is, said one GOP operative who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private donor matters. I dont know what the impact would be. Shes very involved in all things politics. The president had sought to forge a bond with the family as part of an international pressure campaign on the Kim regime in 2017 and early 2018 that helped lead to the summits, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Trump called the family several times during that period, and Vice President Pence also maintained contact with the Warmbiers. The parents were among the guests of first lady Melania Trump at the 2018 State of the Union address, during which Trump cited Ottos death to highlight the cruelty of the Kim regime. Im not going to get into that other than to say that I think that dictatorships come to an end. Some last for a very long time, others a much shorter time, Abrams told reporters. This one in Venezuela will also come to an end. We hope that it comes to an end quickly and peacefully. The revelation that President Trump personally intervened to overrule White House security officials and the Intelligence Community to grant a Top Secret security clearance to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is the latest indicator of the Presidents utter disregard for our national security and for the men and women who sacrifice so much every day to keep us safe, Schiff said. There is no nepotism exception for background investigations. Rather than inflate the value of any information that he has brought forward to us in what he had to provide, Mr. Cohen has sought to tell us the truth, and that is of utmost value to us as we seek in our office to determine what in fact occurred, she said. The RNC refuses to return donations from former RNC Finance Chair Steve Wynn, and now they refuse to return donations from Republican donor John Childs even after a federal indictment that he solicited prostitution as part of a human trafficking ring, said spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa, in a statement to The Post. This is disgusting and unacceptable, and does not reflect the values of voters across the country. Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba (Photo/People's Daily Online) Despite the stock market slump and economic uncertainties, China is still home to the largest number of dollar billionaires and contributed the most new faces to the Hurun Global Rich List unveiled on Tuesday. A total of 658 Chinese billionaires made it onto the global rich list this year, dislodging the United States which saw 584 of its billionaires entering the list. The combined wealth of the Chinese billionaires came to $2 trillion, which was equal to 2.5 percent of the world's GDP last year. Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, was recorded as the richest Chinese person with personal wealth of $39 billion. China's other technology behemoth Tencent saw its chief executive officer Pony Ma became the second wealthiest in the country, with his net worth amounting to $38 billion. Xu Jiayin, chairman of the Shenzhen-based property developer Evergrande, assumed the third spot in China this year, down from his position as the richest Chinese person in 2017. China also contributed the most new faces, with a total of 52, accounting for one fourth of newcomers this year. Huang Zheng, founder of online discounter Pinduoduo, which was established in 2015, was the most affluent newcomer with a personal wealth of $14.9 billion. He has set a record by building his wealth above $10 billion within the shortest time, even faster than Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates. To Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun rich list, the new faces of Chinese billionaires on the list this year are strong proof of the "significant innovation" going on in the country. Despite the economic growth slowdown, Chinese entrepreneurs still enjoy the advantages of robust domestic demand and an active venture capital market, he said. Chinese entrepreneurs have faced difficulties for their businesses over the past 12 months given the slump of the A-share market and the 6 percent drop in the Chinese yuan against the US dollar. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 25 percent last year, according to Shanghai-based market tracker Wind Info. This has resulted in the fact that 212 Chinese billionaires dropped out of the global rich list this year, said Hoogewerf. However, the top three positions were all assumed by entrepreneurs from the United States. Jeff Bezos, president and CEO of online retailer Amazon, topped the global rich list this year with a personal wealth of $147 billion. Bill Gates was second with a net worth of $96 billion and the legendary investment guru Warren Buffett took third place as his wealth shrunk 14 percent to $88 billion this year. This is the eighth year in a row that the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute has released the list. A total of 2,470 billionaires from 1,931 companies in 67 countries and regions made in onto the list. Their total wealth came at $9.6 trillion, down 9 percent from a year earlier. Publicly and privately, Pelosi has urged members to treat the Republican motions as procedural feints that should be routinely ignored. Vote no just vote no, she told reporters Thursday, because the fact is, a vote yes is to give leverage to the other side. But Hoyer and Clyburn believe that is untenable when Republicans stand ready to use those votes as political cudgels against vulnerable Democrats. Whether we shrink to this challenge or rise to it is the vital question of our time, Inslee said at an event staged at a solar installation company in Seattle. We have one chance to defeat climate change, and it is right now. It is my belief when you have one chance in life, you take it. It was the first time the World Bank had worked together with the Development Research Center and the research was challenging, according to the preface to the report. It detailed how the team went back to government departments for input and revised the report in line with their comments. Still, amid the euphoria around Varthamans release, it is unclear whether such criticism will stick. Modi has reinforced his image as somebody who is not going to compromise as far as national security issues are concerned, said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a Modi biographer. It puts the entire opposition on the defensive. Now criticizing his handling of the crisis would be presented [by his party] as being anti-India. Experts and intelligence officials say they believe North Korea has other covert sites to enrich uranium in other parts of the country. Closing Yongbyon entirely would slow North Koreas ability to produce fissile material for bombs but not stop it entirely. To achieve that goal would require a complete declaration of all fissile material sites in the country, and the ability to conduct extensive and intrusive inspections at short notice. That is not something North Korea has ever agreed to. Taliban and U.S. negotiators in Qatar paused Friday after three days of discussions, which both sides described as positive. Zalmay Khalilzad, the special U.S. envoy for Afghan peace, said earlier this week that he expected the talks to be significant, in part because Taliban leaders had sent a key official, Abdul Ghani Baradar, to head their delegation. Qureshis answer was as telling as it was terse. It spoke to the broad popularity of the Kashmir cause and the triumphal mood of the moment. It also pointed to the historic reluctance of Pakistani courts to crack down on militancy. In recent years, a number of militant leaders have been arrested and charged with crimes, only to be released for lack of evidence or on technicalities. China claims Mengs arrest was political. Not long after she was arrested, two Canadians in China were arrested on vague security charges that are widely seen as retaliation. A Canadian convicted of drug smuggling was later resentenced to death in a hasty, one-day trial. That legal process could stretch for years. In the case of former prime minister Ehud Olmert, seven years passed after the initial announcement of his indictment on corruption charges before he exhausted his appeals and was jailed. Olmert, however, had stepped down as prime minister before the attorney general announced a decision to indict. House, who testified in exchange for immunity, said the grand jury was interested in his relationship with Assange. They wanted full insight into WikiLeaks, what its goals were and why I was associated with it, he said. They wanted explanations of why certain things occurred and how they occurred. . . . It was all related to disclosures around the war logs. Pompeos comments seek to reassure the Southeast Asian country at a time when China is building military outposts on artificial islands it has claimed for its own in the South China Sea. China says it has historic rights to the crucial waterway, where one-third of global trade flows, but its claims overlap with those of several other nations in the region, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Bouteflika has been incapacitated for most of his fourth term, according to a post this week by the Council on Foreign Relations. The president is so enfeebled that he was unable to announce his own candidacy. Algerians are angry that they had no voice in Bouteflikas decision to stand for office again. Tesla said on Thursday it would offer a $US35,000 ($49,300) version of its Model 3 sedan with a delivery time of two to four weeks, while closing many of its retail stores worldwide. The announcement comes nearly three years after chief executive Elon Musk promised the car at that price to appeal to the mass market. Tesla said its sales would now be online-only around the world and it would close many stores. "Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6 per cent on average, allowing us to achieve the $US35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected," Tesla said in a blog on its website. This is the third time this year that Tesla has lowered the price on the Model 3, which recently started at $US42,900. A US federal tax credit began phasing out for Tesla in January, effectively raising the price of cars by $US3,750. IKEA is an acronym that stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd IKEA is yet another acronym but its a little more complicated than CVS. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad's initials make up half of the company name. Credit:Glenn Hunt IK are the initials of the furniture companys founder, Ingvar Kamprad. The EA, on the other hand, represent Kamprads childhood Elmtaryd is the name of the farm on which he grew up, and Agunnaryd is the name of his village. Throw it all together, and youve got IKEA. And probably a good piece of furniture, too. H&M stands for Hennes & Mauritz, which is a nod to its Swedish origins. H&M opened in Sweden in 1946, and it was originally called Hennes, which means hers in Swedish. After the store started to gain some traction, it acquired Mauritz Widforss, a hunting and fishing apparel company. The fusion led to both mens and womens apparel being sold at the store, as well as a permanent name change: Hennes & Mauritz. The store is now commonly, if not exclusively, referred to as H&M. Target originated as a discounted, offshoot branch of Dayton-Hudson department stores. The first Target opened its doors in 1962 as a discount store, an offshoot of the Dayton Company (later known as Dayton-Hudson). According to Targets website, their iconic name and logo was a spur of the moment idea via the Dayton-Hudson PR team, who debated more than 200 possible names on a red-and-white whim, they came up with Target and immediately envisioned a classic bullseye logo with three rings. By 1968, Target had surpassed its parent company in popularity, leading revenue production to nearly $US1 billion ($1.4 billion). As a result, the first Target Greatland store which offered a wider array of merchandise opened its doors in 1990, and Dayton-Hudson officially changed its name to the Target Corporation in 2000. Starbucks is named after Captain Ahabs sidekick in Moby-Dick In a 2008 interview with The Seattle Times, Starbucks co-founder Gordon Bowker described the exhaustive process of figuring out a name for his now-iconic coffee chain. Starbucks is named after a character in Moby Dick. Credit:Tomohiro Ohsumi We were thinking of all kinds of names and came desperately close to calling it Cargo House, which would have been a terrible, terrible mistake. Terry Heckler [with whom I owned an advertising agency] mentioned in an offhand way that he thought words that begin with st were powerful words Somebody somehow came up with an old mining map of the Cascades and Mount Rainier, and there was an old mining town called Starbo. As soon as I saw Starbo, I, of course, jumped to Melvilles first mate [named Starbuck] in Moby-Dick. But Moby-Dick didnt have anything to do with Starbucks directly; it was only coincidental that the sound seemed to make sense. The founders of Applebees wanted to call it Applebys but the name was already taken When the original Applebees opened in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1980, it had a much longer name: T.J. Applebees Rx for Edibles & Elixirs, to be exact. According to Mental Floss, the original owners of the restaurant wanted to name it Applebys, but that particular spelling had been registered by someone else. So, they traded the y for two es and added the T.J. in front a nod to one of the founders, T.J. Palmer. The name was altered to the (much simpler) Applebees Neighbourhood Bar & Grill in 1986, and its popularity soon soared. Nowadays, we just call it Applebees. Gap is a reference to the generation gap The first Gap store opened in 1969, and the iconic name was chosen as a reference to the generation gap the differences in opinions and values between younger people and older people, per Merriam-Webster. CVS originally stood for Consumer Value Stores, but the acronym has also been interpreted in different ways Per Readers Digest, Consumer Value Stores aka CVS opened its doors in 1963. The stores sign featured both its full name and the now-famous acronym. But the companys past CEO, Tom Ryan, attributed a different meaning to the three letters: Convenience, Value, and Service. According to Encyclopedia.com, he said that this could also be an interpretation of CVS. In 1946, 7-Eleven was named after its extended hours of operation: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. Though 7-Elevens have been in existence since 1927, they didnt officially get their name until 1946. 7-Eleven was named after the store's opening hours. Credit:Bloomberg Previously known as the Southland Ice Company, the convenience stores reemerged after the Depression in the 30s and rebranded, calling themselves 7/11 or 7-Eleven to represent new, extended hours of operation. Though they were originally open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, 7-Elevens are now open 24/7. Banana Republic is a reference to the founders desire to dress people who loved safaris and expeditions When Banana Republic was founded in 1978 by husband and wife duo Mel and Patricia Ziegler, it also had an accompanying travelogue. According to the companys site, the store opened as a shop for people with passion for safari and expedition wear from faraway places. The store has since mellowed out, and pivoted to trendier, professional attire after being acquired by the Gap. Panera is an actual combination of the words pan and era Per Panera Breads Facebook page, the restaurants name has both Latin and Spanish roots. Pan refers to bread or bread basket, and era refers to the measure of time. Slap the two together, and there you have it: Panera. The number of Chinese students studying in Australia will decline over the next decade as a key competitor in the lucrative international education market - China - invests in itself, the vice-chancellor of a leading university has warned. The University of NSW's Professor Ian Jacobs, said the number of Chinese undergraduates travelling to Australia is dropping as China invests heavily in building universities and attracting research talent. Professor Ian Jacobs, vice-chancellor of the University of NSW. Credit:Ryan Stuart "They are getting more universities, and those are getting much better quality, very rapidly," said Professor Jacobs. "The Chinese government understands education is everything if they are going to be the high tech country they aspire to be." Numbers of Chinese students travelling to Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States will "gradually wane," he said, but the numbers could be made up by students from other countries amid a global "thirst for education". Emma Thompson is one of my heroines for her abundant talent, wit and manifest desire to maintain a keen moral compass. So I was intrigued by this week's news she had withdrawn from a film on learning she would be working under a creative head who'd been reported for sexual harassment. In her letter of resignation, she questioned Skydance Animation for their appointment: "If a man has been touching women inappropriately for decades, why would a woman want to work for him if the only reason he's not touching them inappropriately now is that it says in his contract he must behave 'professionally'?" Emma Thompson feels strongly enough about not working with someone with a history of harassment, she is willing to go without work on principle. It's easy to understand her frustration. MeToo was a cultural tsunami that swept away some of the landscape, while other elements stood firm or were quietly resurrected. Which in many people's eyes appears to be the case with John Lasseter, the former chief creative officer of Disney's Pixar Animation Studios who departed Pixar in mid-2018 after a six-month sabbatical following allegations of sexual misconduct. What Lasseter termed "missteps". At the start of this year Lasseter was announced as the new head of the animation branch of Skydance, another powerful Hollywood studio, to the disgruntlement of many female animators. EDITOR'S NOTE: The High Court overturned Cardinal George Pell's conviction for historic child sex offences in a judgment handed down April 7, 2020. In a unanimous decision all seven High Court judges found Victoria's Court of Appeal should not have upheld Pell's conviction. It found the evidence could not support a guilty verdict. There is water cooler talk, and then there's water cooler rage, and the emotions expressed by parents following the revelation Cardinal George Pell was convicted of five counts of child sexual abuse are firmly in the second category. At the school gate, on the sidelines at sport training and around workplace coffee machines, parents have bonded over the shock, pain and fury produced by the knowledge that someone in whom so much faith and trust was invested was found guilty of sexually molesting children. That is not to say only parents experienced these responses, but for many mothers and fathers to whom I have spoken and listened, the emotional clout of the verdict was unexpectedly sharp. In sentencing Rodney Johnson to 12-and-a-half years jail, Judge Tim Gartlemann agreed with those who witnessed the horror and consequent carnage the mentally ill truck driver caused in the main street of Singleton on the afternoon of October 11, 2017. "It's astonishing that no one was killed," Judge Gartlemann said. Rodney Johnson being escorted by police in 2017. Credit:Nine News Johnson, 31, who stole the prime mover from a truck stop at Murrurundi, led police on 100-kilometre, 90-minute pursuit described by the judge as a staggeringly dangerous course of driving. Footage from a pursuing police car showed the truck driving over a set of road spikes set near the railway overpass outside of Singleton. A teenage girl tried desperately to save her best friend after the stolen car they were driving crashed into a tree in a horror crash in Melbourne's north in the early hours of Friday morning. Police believe Haylee Glouftsis was driving a Holden Astra when it crashed into a tree on Cooper Street in Epping shortly after 1am. Haylee Glouftsis was behind the wheel of a Holden Astra that crashed into a tree in Epping on Friday morning. She died at the scene. Credit:Instagram Her only passenger was her best friend, a 16-year-old girl from Keilor, who pulled Haylee from the wreckage despite her own injuries. The 16-year-old tried desperately to save Haylee on the side of the road before emergency services arrived, but she died at the scene. The orphaned joey with its carer. After failing to hear back from the Shire of Harvey ranger, Chardei contacted WA Police about the incident. But she said she was told police were unable to help, and to try to contact her local ranger again. Chardei also reached out to the RSPCA, and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction. "This was all within the first week to week and a half of January," she said. "I heard nothing back ... so then a couple of weeks ago, I contacted Nola Marino's office in Bunbury and I told them what had gone on. They said because I'd contacted all the state departments, I'd need to contact the state member of parliament so I contacted their office and they marked it as urgent. The next day I heard back from DBCA. The woman from the department ... she said, 'in the video, you couldn't actually see them hitting a kangaroo. Did you see them hit a kangaroo?' And I said I can't say for certain that I did. I know they hit something and there were dead kangaroos out there, immediately after. But in the video footage [all] you could just see was the kangaroos running wild. Chardei said that was when the investigation seemed to stall. Then earlier this month, the kangaroos were targeted again. Four men were seen throwing rocks at kangaroos near the lakes on Braidwood, and its understood the incident was again reported to the Shire of Harvey ranger. And at the weekend, residents were forced to intervene when a group of children were seen throwing rocks at the animals and herding them towards a lake on the residential estate. Resident Gale* was outside watering her plants when she watched the group of children arrive early on Saturday morning. "They took their shirts off so they could try and blend in," she said. "They were saying to each other: 'Come on we're going after these kangaroos, let's go over here.' "So I said, 'no guys, stop. This is their home. They're our friends, just leave them alone'." According to Gale, the children left for a short period of time but came back to the estate around midday. Fellow resident Reily also saw the children arrive. "I was riding my bike with my boyfriend and dog around the estate, probably around [midday]," she said. "We saw three little girls just chasing the kangaroos. We didn't think much of it but then the older one ... threw quite a large brick of piece of concrete at this little kangaroo. We yelled out 'what are you doing?' so we went up to them to talk to them and they said they were ushering the kangaroos towards their older brothers at the river. Photos supplied to police. "I'm pretty sure it didn't get hit... but [the kangaroo] really wasnt very old. All the little kangaroos at the moment are probably knee-height so it easily could have gotten broken ribs or a jaw [if] it was hit." Gale said she then watched as the young boys assembled near the estates lake. "They were herding the kangaroos down towards the river where these other kids were waiting with these sticks and rocks," she said. "I had heard one shouting 'we're going to go for the one with the joey!' "There was a lot of yelling and screaming at each other and about the kangaroos about what to do." Reily said she called the ranger, but was told they were not interested. "He said it was nothing to do with him," she said. Reily phoned police, who arrived about 45 minutes after the children had left. The residents have not found any injured kangaroos from the weekend, but have called for better clarity on who to call to report future incidents. The RSPCA said it had been notified about Chardeis report regarding the 4WDs and had passed on the information to the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. "On 4 January 2019, RSPCA WA received a cruelty report detailing a disturbing incident in which several people were attempting to run down kangaroos with their cars in Australind," a spokeswoman said. "RSPCA WA is deeply concerned to hear about any instances of cruelty against vulnerable animals, but especially instances where the abuse is intentional and deliberate theres absolutely no excuse for it." WA Police also confirmed they had been notified about the 4WD incident, but it hadnt been referred to police to investigate. There doesn't seem to be any consequences. Gale, a local resident Australind police said they had not been notified about incidents on the estate since the January 2 case, but said they would continue to assist other agencies with investigations into animal cruelty when requested. Members of the community who see anyone acting in a way that may harm wildlife should call Police immediately on 131 444, a spokesman said. The Shire of Harvey confirmed it had been called to the most recent incident at the weekend, but the person who called had been referred to other agencies. A shire representative said the ranger had no authority to make arrests or prosecute and the weekend incident was considered a police matter. "There doesn't seem to be any consequence for anybody who think these kangaroos are just fair game for a bit of fun and nonsense," Gale said. Chardei agreed and said there needed to be stronger supervision of those responsible for terrorising the animals. One person has been taken to hospital after a house fire in Hamilton Hill which authorities believe is suspicious. A spokeswoman for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said firefighters were called to the home just after 6am on Friday. WA Police are now investigating the incident. The fire was extinguished about 7.30am. Also on Friday morning a home in Joondanna was gutted by fire, which was started by an electrical fault in an air conditioning unit. EDITOR'S NOTE: The High Court overturned Cardinal George Pell's conviction for historic child sex offences in a judgment handed down April 7, 2020. In a unanimous decision all seven High Court judges found Victoria's Court of Appeal should not have upheld Pell's conviction. It found the evidence could not support a guilty verdict. If you ever find yourself in Budapest, you really must visit the House of Terror museum. Its chilling because it occupies the very building that was the source of the atrocities it documents: this was once Nazi headquarters in Hungary before being taken over by the Communists' secret police. In it is a room devoted to Jozsef Mindszenty, who until very recently was the last Catholic Cardinal to have been sent to prison. Needless to say his story is very different to George Pells. Mindszenty ascends to his incarceration. Pell emphatically falls to his. Illustration: Andrew Dyson Credit: Both the Nazis and the Communists imprisoned Mindszenty, the latter on charges of treason and conspiracy. His main crime seems to have been his protest against the Communist states policy of confiscating Church property, and taking over Church schools. For the Communists, this amounted to a Church rebellion that had to be put down. Mindszenty was tortured, gave a bogus confession, and was then convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in a show trial. About seven years later he escaped in a popular uprising, but when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to re-establish Communist rule, he sought asylum in the US embassy where he stayed for 15 years. A kind of Cold War Julian Assange. Some of the ABC's most recognisable names have praised the appointment of Ita Buttrose as the public broadcaster's chair, welcoming her media experience and commitment to independence. While concerns persist about the government ignoring the shortlist put forward by an independent nomination panel, high-profile figures are positive about Ms Buttrose's credentials to steer the ABC after a tumultuous period. Ita Buttrose and Scott Morrison at the announcement on Thursday. Credit:Jessica Hromas Announcing the appointment on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Ms Buttrose was the government's pick because she could be trusted to lead the ABC with integrity and independence. Ms Buttrose promised to protect the broadcaster's independence and said her first priority would be restoring stability after the sudden departures last year of her predecessor Justin Milne and managing director Michelle Guthrie. But he said the US had made a further, unnamed demand. Many analysts - including the former US special representative on North Korea, Joseph Yun - believe Trump's unconventional "top-down" negotiating style is to blame for this failure to reach a deal. "Sometimes you just have to walk": Trump says goodbye to prospects of a deal with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi on Thursday. Credit:Bloomberg Trump prides himself on his skill as a dealmaker, and his personal approach to North Korea has yielded two summits in a year, in stark contrast to the conventional diplomacy of decades past. But the collapse of the Hanoi summit showed the "critical weaknesses" of this style, said the director of Dongguk University's Institute of North Korea, Koh Yu-hwan. "It's unprecedented. It's a failed summit," he said in Hanoi. Conventional diplomacy would have avoided the spectacle of a US president travelling halfway around the world, and a North Korean leader enduring a 60-hour train journey, for nothing. Negotiating teams would first nail down a deal, over many months and meetings, leaving the leaders to safely sign a predictable text. It's unprecedented. It's a failed summit. Koh Yu-hwan, director of Dongguk University's Institute of North Korea "Going back empty-handed - that's not good," said Yun, adding that Trump and Kim could have signed a deal to open liaison offices, or agreed to a declaration formally ending the Korean War. "There was a deal that we could have had. It would have been limited ... but kept the process alive," he said. Yun agreed that the failure in Hanoi showed the weakness of the top-down style of diplomacy. He said his successor as special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, had held only one meeting with the North Koreans before the summit, and that was not enough. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, centre, holds a midnight press conference after talks collapsed in Hanoi. Credit:AP High hopes and complicating factors Before Thursday, there was every indication that a deal had been prepared. Trump referred to documents being ready to go. South Korea had talked about the peace declaration that was likely to come from Hanoi. So what went wrong? This was no ordinary week for Trump. Between his first handshake and dinner with Kim on Wednesday evening and the working meeting the following day, his presidency was rocked by the stunning overnight testimony in Washington of his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen told the House Intelligence Committee - and a TV audience of millions - that Trump was a racist and a con man. He provided details of hush money paid to former mistresses by Trump and his delight in 2016 at learning that Julian Assange would release hacked emails to rock Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. A poster of Michael Cohen at his congressional hearing this week. Credit:AP Also as the summit was unfolding, international stability was shaken as Pakistan shot down fighter jets from neighbour India as they flew over its airspace, and the two nations exchanged fire on their border. Meanwhile the Trump administration's North Korea wild card - National Security Adviser John Bolton - unexpectedly turned up in Hanoi. Koh says the Cohen hearing might have contributed to the summit's collapse. When negotiations are led from the top, any fear of a domestic political backlash will derail talks, he said. The Cohen testimony may have made it difficult for Trump to be seen as relenting on North Korea. Trump said in the press conference that, had he signed a deal on Thursday, "people would have said, 'Oh, what a terrible deal'." Trump said he had watched Cohen's "shameful" performance and said it was a "terrible thing" for the congressional hearing to go ahead in the middle of "this important summit". Michael Cohen takes the oath ahead of his congressional testimony. Credit:Bloomberg But other analysts believe the domestic political situation in the US would have made Trump all the more eager for a foreign policy "win". Who to believe? Chief Executive of the Perth USAsia Centre Gordon Flake said he was not confident of Trump's account of what went wrong, and noted there was a long history of North Korean walkouts. He hypothesised that the Kim regime might have abandoned talks on Thursday if they believed that Trump was "unable to unilaterally deliver sanctions elimination". The sanctions, and steps to lift them, are stipulated under US law and the United Nations Security Council. "The US side had the PowerPoint template ready for the deal. Why would Trump go all the way over there and not get a deal? He deeply wanted a deal," Flake told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Flake said the most accurate read-out of the previous summit in Singapore had come from the North Koreans, not Trump, who was prone to hyperbole. Flake was waiting to see the North Korean media's reports on what had actually happened in Hanoi. Flake, a former Washington think-tank head who has spent three decades analysing North Korean diplomacy, said Trump had suggested in his press conference that it was Pompeo who had held the US line on what could be agreed. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's plane in the foreground, and Trump's Air Force One behind, take off from Hanoi after the unsuccessful summit. Credit:AP He said Cohen's testimony might have played into the result if it had sapped Trump's energy and focus. Another theory on what went wrong centres on Bolton, who has a history of taking a hard line on North Korea, and was once described as "human scum" by the regime's state media. The former South Korean unification minister Jeong Se-hyun has blamed Bolton for provoking the North Korean demand that all sanctions be lifted, by first demanding North Korea disclose the full range of their chemical and biological weapons, a South Korean media outlet has reported. The madman theory Director of the Nuclear Crisis Group and former Obama administration adviser Jon Wolfsthal said: Contrary to official statements issued in Hanoi, it appears President Trump at the urging of National Security Adviser John Bolton moved the goalposts and blew up the meeting with last-minute demands North Korea was not prepared to accept." Joel Wit, a former State Department official and founder of Korean affairs website 38North, said Trump believed in the "madman theory of foreign policy". This was a policy extolled by former president Richard Nixon, who tried to make the leaders of the Communist nations believe he was volatile, irrational and prone to extremes. In theory, they would fear provoking him because of what might be an extreme response. Wit, too, doubted Trump's account of what went wrong in Hanoi, and said if the US had started pushing in the meeting for more than what had been previously agreed, it would have been a "big mistake". "Yongbyon isn't insignificant," he said of Kim's original offer. In the Hanoi press conference, Pompeo said only that the US team wanted to make a "big step" at the summit and "we asked [Kim] to do more. He was unprepared to do that." Compared to the tightly-scripted handshake and upbeat words to the media on Wednesday evening as the summit opened with dinner at the Metropole, Thursday's performance by Trump and Kim seemed to be running off track from the outset. Kim Jong-un meets with Donald Trump on Thursday. Credit:AP Kim appeared to be in a hurry to strike a deal, but Trump said he was in no rush and a deal may not even happen in one or two days. Kim appeared irritated with Trump's pandering to the television cameras, urging him to spend less time with media questions that he felt were cutting into their private negotiating window. In a major break with North Korean protocol, Western media were able to throw questions to Kim - the first time he has interacted with reporters. Trump urged Kim to answer a reporter's question on whether the two nations would open representative offices - effectively opening diplomatic relations. Kim said such a development would be welcome. In the end, though, even that was not agreed. Trump phoned South Korean president Moon Jae-in from Hanoi after the summit had failed and asked him to mediate with North Korea. Disappointment in South Korea The failure of the Hanoi Summit to produce a deal will be sorely felt in the south of the peninsula, where the share market immediately fell, and the government had been rapidly moving ahead in its normalisation of intra-Korean relations. Initially, it wanted to restore rail and road links. "There were many people in South Korea who wanted this to be a success," said Kim Kwang-gil, a member of South Korea's presidential committee on economic cooperation with the North. Phone a friend: South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the phone to Donald Trump on Thursday. Credit:AP The tourism industry and companies that had anticipated the reopening of the joint Kaesong Industrial Zone - dependent on sanctions being lifted - would be disappointed, he said. But he noted that steps to lift the sanctions on North Korea were stipulated under US domestic law and through the UN, so Trump would have been limited in what he could promise in a bilateral meeting. South Korea's presidential office released a statement of regret that Trump and Kim "could not reach complete agreement", but added it appeared "they have clearly made more meaningful progress than at any time in the past". Daniel Davis, a retired lieutenant-colonel and senior fellow with the US think tank Defense Priorities, said Moon had been indispensable in getting the US and North Korea to the negotiating table over the past year. "I think we will see just how effective President Moon can be," he predicted of what comes next. In the meantime, the diplomatic stalemate does not mean there is an increased security threat to the US, he said. The missile tests have stopped and so have US joint military drills on the Korean Peninsula. Former US national security adviser Stephen Hadley said on Friday that the world should give some space for Trump's top-down, "unconventional" approach to North Korean negotiations to run. London: Former prime minister Tony Abbott has come in for another pasting from trade and economics experts, after accusing Britain of "losing its nerve" on Brexit by trying to avoid a 'no-deal' divorce from the European Union. Days after Theresa May changed her Brexit policy to lessen the likelihood of a dangerous no-deal Brexit, Abbott used a column in Spectator magazine to criticise the withdrawal deal May struck with the EU last year, saying to go through with it would "represent failure on an epic scale". Former prime minister Tony Abbott. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He downplayed the risks of no-deal as an alternative, saying the real problem was a "neurotic anxiety of the official political class about leaving the European project". "A disorderly Brexit would mean, at most, a few months of inconvenience," Abbott wrote. "Perhaps some modest transition costs. But these difficulties would quickly pass." Washington: The parents of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died after a stint in a North Korean prison, blasted Kim Jong-un's "evil regime" on Friday after US President Donald Trump said he believed the leader's claims not to have known how their son was treated. Warmbier's parents, who were guests of Trump's at the 2018 State of the Union, said they had held off commenting during this week's second summit between Trump and Kim, in Hanoi, which broke down on Thursday after the two sides failed to reach a deal for the reclusive communist nation to give up its nuclear weapons. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto," Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement released by their attorney. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that." Trump drew criticism after he praised Kim's leadership and said he accepted his claims not to have been aware of how Warmbier was treated. New York: Senior figures from across the political spectrum have blasted US President Donald Trump for absolving North Korean leader Kim Jong-un of responsibility for the death of an American college student after he was imprisoned in North Korea. The President's critics said Trump's remarks were the latest example of him siding with a repressive dictator in the face of contradictory evidence, including from his own intelligence agencies. Following nuclear weapons talks with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, which ended with no agreement, Trump was asked about University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, who was arrested in North Korea for taking a propaganda banner from a hotel while on a visit to Pyongyang in January 2016. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour but was released in 2017. When he returned to the US he was in a coma. He died days later. (HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today the entry of a final judgment against James S. Polese, a former investment adviser at a large financial institution who was charged with misappropriating client funds. On January 31, 2018, the Commission filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts charging Polese and his former colleague, Cornelius Peterson, with securities fraud for engaging in various schemes to defraud their clients, including fraudulently misappropriating $350,000 of one clients money, using $100,000 of those funds to make investments in their own names, and directing the remaining $250,000 to Poleses personal bank account. The Commissions complaint also alleged that Polese and Peterson invested $100,000 of another clients funds into an investment in which Peterson and Polese held a financial interest, without informing the client or disclosing their conflict of interest. The Court has now entered a final judgment against Polese based upon his consent to resolve all claims. Polese agreed to disgorge $307,300 in ill-gotten gains and pay prejudgment interest of $35,276. In addition to ordering this monetary relief, the final judgment enjoins Polese from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as well as aiding and abetting any investment advisers violations of the books and records provisions of Section 204 of the Investment Advisers Act and Rule 204-2 thereunder. The monetary judgment will be deemed satisfied by the $355,000 of restitution that Polese was ordered to pay in connection with a parallel criminal action brought by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts, in which Polese pleaded guilty to conspiracy, securities fraud, aggravated identity theft, and bank fraud, and was also sentenced to sixty months imprisonment. The Commission has also entered an order barring Polese from associating with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization, and from participating in any offering of a penny stock. The Parliament confirmed its earlier decision to reject the legislative revisions forwarded in the initiative on Wednesday. THE FINNISH PARLIAMENT has delivered the final nail in the coffin for the second most popular citizens initiative to date: the initiative to abolish the activation model for unemployment security. Almost 141,000 Finns had expressed their support for the initiative that demanded that the activation model, which imposes a set of activity criteria on unemployment benefit recipients, be abolished without delay. The sponsors of the initiative argued that the ability to satisfy the criteria by finding employment is not dependent on the actions of job seekers but on those of employers, concluding that it is therefore unreasonable to slash unemployment benefits for job seekers who fail to satisfy the criteria. The Parliaments Social Affairs and Health Committee recommended earlier that the initiative be rejected, reminding that the problems identified in the much-criticised model either have been or will be addressed and that the impacts of the model are still being investigated. The committee also attached no comments to its statement that would have allowed it to pursue the objectives of the initiative in other ways. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi (Photo/Courtesy of China National Space Administration) BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The rover and the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe have resumed work after "sleeping" during their second lunar night on the far side of the moon. The lander woke up at 7:52 a.m. Friday, and the rover, Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2), awoke at about 10:51 a.m. Thursday. Both of them are in normal condition, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration. China's Chang'e-4 probe, launched on Dec. 8 in 2018, made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3. A lunar day equals 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is the same length. The Chang'e-4 probe switched to a dormant mode during the lunar night due to the lack of solar power. As a result of the tidal locking effect, the moon's revolution cycle is the same as its rotation cycle, and it always faces Earth with the same side. The far side of the moon has unique features, and scientists expect Chang'e-4 could bring breakthrough findings. The scientific tasks of the Chang'e-4 mission include low-frequency radio astronomical observation, surveying the terrain and landforms, detecting the mineral composition and shallow lunar surface structure, and measuring neutron radiation and neutral atoms. The Chang'e-4 mission embodies China's hope to combine human wisdom in space exploration, with four payloads developed by the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. Please enter a valid keyword with 2 or more characters / numbers. Confirm by Dr. Donald M McCartney, DM Corruption in The Bahamas did not commence with the PLP or the FNM. However, there was corruption during the "Bay Street Boys" era and when they later became the UBP. Both the PLP or the FNM became the crafters of the art of corruption. The PLP and the FNM refined the practice of corruption and made it seem legitimate. The UBP, despite the fact that they governed the colony of The Bahamas, introduced corruption at many levels. However, the most notorious of their participation on corruption was the conduct of business with the government for which they were responsible. Another form of corruption during the UBP era of governance was the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure that power remained safely in its "hands." Another egregious act of corruption was having the elections conducted over a number of days so that owners of property and business could vote in many constituencies where they owned property and business. The practice rank corruption was the humiliating practice of having voters cast their vote in the open, thus forcing many to vote for the UBP even though they may have wanted to vote otherwise. The practice was outlawed circa 1944 with the passage of the Secret Ballot Act. However, stories were told about how the practice continued because the majority of voters were afraid to insist on casting their ballots in secret. Corruption, under the UBP continued under the UBP with the wholesale buying of votes in exchange for grits, flour, rice, last, cheap liquor, and money, particularly the famous 5.00 note. Many more instances of corruption in the colony of The Bahamas under the UBP could be mentioned. However, corruption under the UBP, does not excuse its wanton practices that were, refined into an art form and in re-introduced in modern Bahamian politics post the achievement of Majority Rule by both the PLP and the FNM. Sadly, much of the good that was accomplished by Black leadership, when the genuine political history of The Bahamas is told and written, will be forgotten...obliterated. The political history will and must, unfortunately, include a tragic footnote: The White UBP (Bay Street Boys) inflicted racism, economic, political, and social degradation on the masses, which was egregiously and painfully wrong. However, the greatest shame and tragedy is that the Black "liberators" and the Black "freedom fighters" inflicted a form of victimization, and introduced a form of corruption, upon those who placed them at the helm of leadership and unprecedented power, that was never given to any government prior to the achievement of Majority Rule. The leadership and power bestowed upon Black leadership was heretofore unknown. This will be their legacy and like the legacy of the UBP, it will never be forgotten. In modern times, corruption has been refined. It subtly takes the form of providing hams and turkeys at Christmas time, children's constituency parties, giving the impression that the government gives constituents low-cost homes, when in fact a mortgage has to be paid. The only difference between what happened during the UBP era was that what they tended to give was given at election time. These acts are corrupt in that they are indirectly buying votes, which is an illegal practice. In 1989, Wilbert Moss a sitting MP, sentenced to prison for attempting to bribe a magistrate on behalf of a constituent. Mr Moss was accused of offering a $10,000 advantage to the magistrate. In recent times, a sitting Minister was exposed for attempting to use his influence to obtain a contract, from the then owner of Bahamar, for his father. A semi-judicial Royal Commission of Inquiry, in 1984, reported that out-island policemen, Cabinet Ministers, and a Senior Public Servant were linked to extensive drug-related corruption and influence peddling. Sadly, no one was prosecuted. Fronting for politicians was and perhaps still is a form of corruption. Another form of corruption occurs when politicians obtain taxi plates by virtue their influence and rent those plates to taxi drivers at exorbitant rates. What has been mentioned here only scratches the surface of the ways in which political leaders in The Bahamas were involved in corruption. Two Examples Of Men Who Refused To Be Corrupted There were two notable example where politicians did the right thing and resigned their positions as a matter of conscience. These two instances are worthy of mention even though they did not involved corruption. Deputy Prime Minister the Honourable Arthur D. Hanna stated that as a result of the findings of the Commission of Inquiry he and the Prime Minister should step down as the leaders of the government. The Prime Minister did not step down, but Deputy Prime Minister Hanna resigned from his position in government. A second example of resigning as a matter of conscience occurred when the Honourable Carlton Francis resigned as a minister because he could not a matter of conscience support the government's position regarding gambling. Suggested Ways To Stop Corruption In The Bahamas There is no magic wand for ending corruption. There are many countries have made significant progress in curbing corruption In the fight to prevent corruption, genuine efforts by practitioners are being made to end this most egregious practice. Transparency International presents five ways that citizens and governments can make progress in the fight against corruption. The five ways are (1) end impunity, (2) reform public administration and finance management, (3) promote transparency and access to information, (4) empower citizens, and (5) close international loopholes. It would appear to me that The Bahamas may have made some attempts with regard to stopping corruption, but those efforts have not been maintained or sustained. Therefore, it is my view that sustained and genuine attention must be given to ALL of the aforementioned five ways to stop corruption. However, I strongly suggest the attention be given to (1) ending impunity, (2) promoting transparency and access to information, and (3) empowering citizens. This does not suggest that the remaining two areas are not important, but it follows that the aforementioned three areas can be successfully implemented, then putting the other two area into practice would easily accomplished. Let us take a look at the three recommended areas. (1) Ending Impunity. This calls for and requires a strong, committed, honest, and an appropriately led law enforcement unit to ensure that all corrupt persons, inclusive of the individuals who hold the highest to the lowest positions in The Bahamas, are held accountable for any and all corrupt activities of which they may be found guilty or culpable. Law enforcement, particularly those with "boots on the ground" must be supported by an equally strong, committed, and honest legal framework, that is made up of an independent and effective judiciary. Both of these groupings must have the support of the Government and Civil society. (2) The Promotion of Transparency and Access to Information. The success of stopping corruption is foundationed in the tradition of openness of the Executive and Legislative Branches ofgovernment. Inclusive of this openness is the government's encouragement of (a) the press, (b) openness in the function and work of government, and (c) laws that gives the citizens easy access to information except that which would render national security vulnerable, and (d) the responsiveness of all government agencies that allows for citizens to actively participate in the governance of the country. (3) The Empowerment of Citizens. At the very outset, let me state the promoting transparency and providing access to information are the real ingredients for the empowering of Citizens. The empowering of citizens strengthens their genuine and sustained participation in governance. The citizens participation in governance gives them the right and the tools to be able to hold government accountable for its handling the affairs of state. When citizens are empowered, mutual trust between the government and the governed is established. Informed citizens are the "watchdogs" for evidence (real or imagined) of corruption in all areas of governance. When one examines the three recommended areas and the other two areas that will fall into place once the recommended areas are implemented, The Bahamas can accomplish the eradication of corruption, but it has a long way to go. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the WeblogBahamas (which has no corporate view). Reasons Behind The Statistics Get A Look A recently posted article on Facebook from NBC Nebraska-Scottsbluff reported that poverty levels in the Panhandle and community of Kimball are relatively higher than in some other areas and the state as a whole. With that kind of information going around, questions started to rise and fingers began to point. According to Kelsey Irvine, community health planner for Panhandle Public Health District, county health rankings have shown some errors in data reporting in the past for counties with smaller populations like some in the Panhandle. However, even with the errors, some say the data can still be a helpful tool for general ideas to see what is happening throughout smaller communities. When it comes to looking at data for counties with small populations, the margin of error is rather large, Irvine said. This means that while the data calculated are as accurate as possible, they are never 100% accurate. The larger the population, the more accurate the calculation. Ivine said that the poverty rate for adults 18 and older in Kimball County is 11.9% compared to the state at 10.8% not a huge difference. You typically see higher rates of poverty in female headed households, which means single moms. In Kimball County, this rate is lower than that of the state and is actually one of the lowest three counties in our region. (See the chart on Page A3 for more detailed statistics.) Health conditions also factor in for those in poverty. Health starts in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and communities, Irvine said. We know that taking care of ourselves by eating well and staying active, not smoking, getting the recommended immunizations and screening tests, and seeing a doctor when we are sick all influence our health. Our health is also determined in part by access to social and economic opportunities; the resources and supports available in our homes, neighborhoods and communities; the quality of our schooling; the safety of our workplaces; the cleanliness of our water, food, and air; and the nature of our social interactions and relationships. The conditions in which we live explain in part why some Americans are healthier than others and why Americans more generally are not as healthy as they could be. As a region, the Panhandle creates a Community Health Improvement Plan every three years. Poverty was identified as a social determinant of health in the most recent cycle, and mitigating the negative impacts of living in poverty is in focus. Here are some areas of work that impact those living in poverty across the Panhandle: Physical Activity and Nutrition Many people in poverty lack their own transportation, so safe walking and biking routes for active transportation are helpful. Increasing access to healthy foods also can be addressed by working with convenience stores. Many people in poverty who dont have transportation have a difficult time getting groceries to/from the grocery store, so may rely on local convenience stores for food. Having fresh fruits and vegetables in those stores increases their access to healthy foods. Housing The Panhandle Area Development District eceives funding through the EPA Brownfields Program to assess, clean up and re-use abandoned or underutilized sites. In addition, legal aid can provide assistance to renters needing to resolve issues with their landlords, such as not keeping rental property up to code. Work also is being done to create consistent policies for lead poisoning screening and increased awareness about lead poisoning and prevention. Older housing that has lead paint is generally occupied in large part by low-income families, putting them at higher risk. Transportation Transportation assessments are being completed across the Panhandle to increase access to transportation for medical appointments and for elderly people. Education Peer support programs increase likelihood of high school graduation within four years and going on to college. Financial literacy programs through community resources, such as WNCC, increase knowledge of managing finances. Cultural Competency Many individuals in poverty are of minority races and may not speak English. Culturally competent materials through healthcare providers, such as translated flyers, increase access to healthcare. Stamford-based Q88 LLC is moving to Fairfield. The software provider is moving its Connecticut headquarters from Stamford to 1501 Kings Highway East. Q88 signed a long-term, multiyear lease for a 7,800-square-foot building near the Fairfield Metro Station, doubling its space in the process. The reason we are moving is to meet our future goals of expansion, said a Q88 spokesperson. The company declined to comment any further on the transaction. Q88 has been around since 2001, offering software solutions to clients in the global shipping industry. The company also has offices in London, Athens and Singapore, and caters to a client base of more than 11,000 users and 10,000 vessels. According to a news release from Westport-based brokerage HK Group, the company chose the building due to its immediate proximity to public transit and its look. The building is fully reconstructed with the modern industrial look that many companies modern and young companies are looking for, said Franco Fellah, executive vice president at HK Group, which represented landlord Powerscourt Westover LLC during the transaction. Q88 will occupy the entire building. Powerscourt bought the building in 2017 for $765,000 and renovated it. At the time, it was a 3,800-square-foot blighted building near the train station. Tom McLaughlin, owner of Powerscourt, transformed the vacant brick structure into a two-story modern, glass office building, about double the size of the original building. The commercial real estate company owns the building at 1525 Kings Highway East and had been leasing the site next door since 2011 to use its 28-space parking lot. Q88 is projected to move sometime during this summer; town officials said they are looking forward to the addition to the commercial base. Were pleased anytime a new business moves into Fairfield, said Mark Barnhart, director of economic development. Were certainly happy that Q88 stayed within Fairfield County and the region instead of moving out of state. We understand this is a competitive marketplace and were excited to have them apart of the Fairfield business community. Q88s new headquarters is located in an area that has seen ongoing activity and interest from developers over the past couple years with the introduction of the Fairfield Trademark Apartments and more. The second phase of the Fairfield Trademark construction has already begun even closer to the train station and is expected to bring a trove of apartments to the town. Its really an emerging area and a very active local market, Barnhart said. Editors note: An earlier version of this story included an image of the wrong building. Contributions from Keila Torres-Ocasio. Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com STAMFORD Chemicals and minerals maker Tronox reported this week growing returns for the past year, as it presses on with its protracted efforts to close the $1.7 billion acquisition of the titanium dioxide business of Saudi Arabian firm Cristal. For all of 2018, Stamford-based Tronox finished with about $1.8 billion in sales, up 7 percent over 2017. The company incurred a $7 million loss for the year, which reflected expenses of the same amount tied to the Cristal deal. Tronox officials said they are aiming for the Federal Trade Commissions approval of the Cristal transaction by the end of March. The FTC last year sued to block the purchase, arguing that it would reduce competition in the titanium dioxide market. Originally announced in February 2017, the deal focuses on a white pigment used in products, including paint, industrial coatings, plastic and paper. To help secure the FTCs backing, Tronox is proposing to sell Cristals titanium dioxide plant in Ashtabula, Ohio its largest such facility and one that accounts for 30 percent of its total production. The buyer wold be London-based chemicals firm INEOS Enterprises. Tronox had previously explored a sale of the Ohio property, for a possible price between $900 million and $1.1 billion, to titanium dioxide manufacturer Venator Materials. But the two firms could not agree to terms. Venator was also the buyer of Tronoxs Rotterdam, Netherlands-supplied paper-laminate line. That deal was completed earlier this year to secure the European Commissions support of the titanium dioxide acquisition. In addition to the ECs support, Tronox has received regulatory approvals in Australia, China, New Zealand, Turkey, South Korea, Colombia and Saudi Arabia. But securing FTC approval has proved much more challenging. The American context is very different where the two firms (Tronox and Cristal) are very major competitors, given the FTCs definition of the product and geographic market and the long history of (industrywide) tacit or express price fixing, Peter Carstensen, a professor emeritus of law at the University of Wisconsin, said in a recent interview. Tronox shares closed Thursday at $11.83, down 1.6 percent from their Wednesday finish. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott ANSONIA-The State Department of Education may have thrown a $50,000 wrench into the recently signed agreement that would end local school boards lawsuit against the city. City officials said they received a notice from the state Department of Education advising them that they cant provide $850,000 for their Board of Educations 2018-19 budget and then just $800,000 to the 2019-20 budget as the settlement reads. Instead they told the city that the state minimum budget requirement stipulates that the $850,000 be included in every future budget. This was unexpected, said Corporation Counsel John P. Marini. The parties had an agreement in place that was mediated and both sides worked hard on. Marini said the citys lawyers will be meeting with the Board of Education attorneys to determine how to handle this. If this is a change in the settlement terms we will have to figure out what we are going to do, he said. Fred Dorsey, one of the school boards lawyers, said there are only two routes to goback to the court and let the State Board of Educations investigation of the citys actions continue. The state Board of Education is expected to meet next week and discuss the situation. The city hoped the mediated settlement would end both. But Dorsey pointed out that the settlement agreement contains the stipulation that the dismissal or resolution of the state Board of Education investigation remains within the states discretion. The only thing before the state is the 2018-19 budget appropriation, Dorsey said. Anything involving 2019-20 cant be decided because the city has not determined the Board of Educations budget yet. And if the payment of the $850,000 for the current school year is held up, the Board of Education could run out of money. Its all about the timing, Dorsey said. We only have until midnight June 30 to spend it. Any money left over returns to the city. William Nimons, who chairs the local school board, said this all stems back to when the Board of Aldermen removed $600,000 from the 2017-18 school board budget because the state provided more funding that the Board of Education anticipated. The state has their own law as far as the minimum budget requirement is concerned and since it is the law we should follow it said Nimons said. A spokesman for the State Department of Education did not immediately return a call Friday afternoon. . BRIDGEPORT Local developer John Guedes plan to build 92 market-rate downtown apartments and ground-level retail space on currently city-owned property is just the beginning. My ultimate goal is to put together a minimum of 350 units, residential, Guedes told a pair of City Council committees Wednesday before members voted to approve the sale of the three parcels on Congress and Main streets. This is the first step of that vision. Councilwoman Jeanette Herron, a co chairman of the contracts committee, wondered whether the city was too focused on increasing the housing stock and not providing enough amenities, like a grocery store. Ripkas, the market and cafe that, when it opened in mid-2013, was heralded as a sign the downtown was thriving, closed at the end of that year. We need residential, Herron said. But how are we developing downtown with business? The market failed because there werent enough mouths, William Coleman, the citys deputy director of economic development, told the contracts and economic development committees. Downtown needs more residents, he said. We want the young professionals, the empty-nesters, Guedes added later. Youre not going to create commercial or retail areas without having people that will stay downtown. Tax-break trade-off Guedes family-operated, Noble Avenue-based company, Primrose, was selected last September by Mayor Joe Ganims administration to develop the lots at 192 and 199 Congress St. and 1269 Main St. Guedes had actually approached City Hall a few months earlier, prompting the decision to issue a request for proposals. Primrose and other firms responded, with Guedes $17 million plan winning out. It has been dubbed Congress Plaza Commons by the city. Coleman on Wednesday said some of the land in question has been owned by Bridgeport since 1975 and since 1975 they have produced zero in taxes, he told the council. Guedes is to pay $575,000, the appraised value of the three lots, and receive what Coleman called a very modest tax incentive. Under that deal, each of the 92 units is to be initially be taxed $1,500, rather than the full rate of $4,200. Primroses tax bill will be $23,583 for the first three years. It will then increase to $138,000 for four years, rise to $140,760 and $143,575, and by year 10, the developer must pay the full taxes $146,447. That decade worth of revenue, combined with $180,000 in building and permit fees, adds up to over $1.2 million. Compared to nothing, thats going on there, its an improvement, Coleman said. This is a pretty big (tax) break, said Councilman Kyle Langan. Who will build it? Guedes, who has recently been building in downtown Shelton, said Bridgeport needs to offer tax incentives because of the citys high tax rate, which is over 54 mills, combined with modest rents. The difference between developing in Shelton and Bridgeport is Shelton has a 21-mill rate (and) downtown Shelton is still 20 percent higher in rents than Bridgeport, Guedes said. I commend you guys because youre investing, Herron said. Thank you for that. Guedes tax breaks mark the second time the Ganim administration has brokered a deal since a divided council in late 2017 relinquished its authority to vote on those incentives. Councilman Ernie Newton was a critic of that decision, but on Wednesday said he was satisfied with having developers and city staff thoroughly explain the tax incentives. Asked if Congress Plaza Commons will be union built, Guedes said We need to bring these projects in at the best price we can. ... Union or nonunion, youre welcome to bid (on the subcontracting). That satisfied some council members like Newton who have been pressuring developers to hire local, minority-owned help. But Langan worried that non-union workers would receive less on-the-job protection and benefits. Councilman Michael DeFilippo told Langan builders have federal oversight. Its called OSHA, DeFilippo said, referring to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Downtown developer Phil Kuchma, who has revitalized much of Fairfield Avenue, was present Wednesday and urged the council to support Congress Plaza Commons. He said most recent downtown developments have been renovations of old structures, and that can actually hurt the perception of the area. There hasnt been a new building built in downtown in four years, Kuchma said. We need another new building built. BRIDGEPORT A bone found at Seaside Park Thursday afternoon was that of a pig, according to Police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald. The call came in at 3:43 p.m. The caller reported he believed he might have stumbled across a human bone at Seaside Park near the P.T. Barnum statue. STAMFORD When author Jason Reynolds was growing up in Oxon Hill, Maryland, his teachers were always trying to get him to read classic literature: Lord of the Flies, To Kill A Mockingbird, Moby Dick. But Reynolds wasnt interested. In fact, he didnt read a novel for the first time until he was 17, despite his teachers encouraging him to develop a relationship with literature. I know what it means to fight for my life, Reynolds said. I know what its like to watch my family fight for their lives. (These books), theyre going to get it wrong ... (the characters), they dont look like me. They dont walk like me. They dont talk like me. ... Why would I want a relationship with something that doesnt want a relationship with me? I didnt see myself in literature. Instead, Reynolds turned to rap music. The first rap tape he ever owned, Black Reign by Queen Latifah, inspired him to start writing his own poetry which he called his King Latifah poems. In them, he described losing friends to gun violence, gang violence and drunk driving. He wrote about his family members battling cancer, addiction and depression. All of this was when he was still a teenager. It wasnt until college that Reynolds began reading after discovering Black Boy by Richard Wright. From there, his love of literature and writing took off and he published his first book in 2008 after finishing college. He has gone on to write multiple novels and poetry collections for young adults and middle school students, including the Track series, Long Way Down, which is written in verse, and Miles Morales: Spider-Man, based off the Marvel Comics character. He is a Newberry Award honoree, an NAACP Image Award Winner and has won multiple Coretta Scott King honors and his book Ghost was a National Book Award Finalist for Young Peoples Literature. Reynolds told his story about how he went from disinterested reader to an award-winning young adult and middle grade writer to Dolan Middle School students via a Skype call Wednesday. He explained the process of finding his voice and writing literature based on his own life, breaking many writing rules along the way as he wrote the kind of stories he needed when he was young. I wrote about all of my friends, my family members, my neighborhood, he told students. All your life, youll have people who convince you youre not enough. ... Never forget everything that makes them mad are the things that make music. ... Your story, its the only thing you own. The call was a cap-off to the schools celebration of Black History Month. Much of Reynolds work, which is also noted for its unique style and voice, features young black characters, representing a version of himself he didnt see in literature growing up. Today marks a celebration of black history and literature, said Dolan Prinicpal Charmaine Tourse. Jason Reynolds is an example for a history maker for all races, cultures and religion. Reynolds Skype visit was made possible through DonorsChoose.org and the Dolan Parent-Teacher Organization. Media specialist Jenna Cinelli and support specialist Kristen Corbi-Miller were the ones who came up with the idea to have Reynolds speak to students. I am a huge fan of his work because it speaks to our students, Cinelli said. I really wanted our students to hear from him, listen to him and be inspired by him. Through fundraising, all English classes were given copies of some of Reynolds books and did related activities leading up to the conversation. After hearing Reynolds speak, many students were also given the opportunity to ask him about his favorite books, music and his writing process. We really are looking for ways to inspire our students to read and explore writing, Corbi-Miller said. We want them to be motivated by someone who has a similar story or whose writing looks different from other books in school. erin.kayata@stamfordadvocate.com; (203) 964-2265; @erin_kayata GREENWICH On the south and north islands of Bimini, every sandy, palm tree-lined road that Sacred Heart Greenwich senior Katie Miller took seemed to guide her toward crystalline blue waters. Biminites are connected to each other the way roads connect to the sea, Miller and four of her classmates learned during a trip to the islands last week to test their prototype of a shark-repellant wetsuit. Everyone on this island is like family everyone takes care of each other and watches out for one another, Roosta, who has lived in Bimini for more than 20 years, told the students as he drove them to the lab. Teaken Haggerty, Anna Snopkowski, Catherine Hamilton, Olivia Wise and Miller shared the story of their travels, but they could not talk about the wetsuit itself, because they are working with a lawyer on a patent. They have been developing the wetsuit since their sophomore year. The idea came to Haggerty, an avid surfer with a lifelong interest in sharks. Two years ago, she watched the rate of shark attacks worldwide spike, and wanted to design a suit that would protect swimmers and surfers safe. Beach workers have two ways of keeping sharks at bay: shark kits and nets. Once a shark is spotted, someone releases a capsule into the water that releases an odor, messing with the shark. In areas with large shark populations, nets are set up to protect swimmers. But foul-smelling capsules and nets impact the sharks and the ecosystem, Miller said. They wanted something preventative that would not harm the sharks or the ecosystem. Currently, swimmers can wear a shark band on their arm, but it does not provide enough coverage, Snopkowski said. The trials did not give Haggerty much confidence, either. While they worked occasionally, we did not find them to be consistent, she said. In doing research, Haggerty found a case in which a shark attacked someone wearing the band. The students studied shark physiology and past research studies, but after they conducted preliminary tests in the schools lab, they realized the next step was to work with the real deal, science research teacher Mary Musolino said. They sent out more than a dozen requests to work in aquariums locally, but were turned down due to liability issues. Some of the aquariums said it was a really cool idea, Hamilton said. They entered a few science competitions; they were semifinalists in the Conrad Challenge and placed 17th place in the worldwide Paradigm Challenge. The girls left the project, Musolino said, but regretted the decision. Wise sent one last research proposal to the Bimini Shark Lab, and finally had success: Researcher Clemency White invited them to the lab. This sequence of events led the students to realize it is always best to follow your passion and that anything is possible, Musolino said. Haggerty asked a tailor to make a prototype wetsuit, which they took to Bimini. The girls could not go into the pen with the sharks, but the wetsuit could. They set up two GoPros, one over the pen to see how close the shark got, and one underwater to see its reaction. After filming numerous 15-minute trials over four days, the students liked what they saw. The sharks seemed to move away and circle outside the pen when the suit was present, Snopkowski said. That is what we were hoping to see, she said. Its promising, but there are so many hours of footage to review to make it anything more than an anecdotal observation. When they were not in the water, the girls met with scientists studying sharks and stingrays. They put their stuff on hold to make room for girls, said Haley Sonneland, Sacred Hearts director of communications. Lab manager James Whicheloe was encouraging, reminding the girls that failure also contributes to further discovery. A lot of scientists there are looking to prove something but end up proving something is ineffective, Haggerty said. Thats just as valuable as finding a solution. You can rule out what the shark doesnt really care about. Over the four days, the girls got a taste of the lives the 20 researchers lead on the island, united by their work to protect the ocean, stingrays and sharks. For Miller, the community embodied what Roosta told her its like a family. jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com STAMFORD As the wait continues for a citywide study of parking supply and need the future puzzle for commuters seeking spots at the Stamford Transportation Center gets no clearer. At the crux of the puzzle is the state Department of Transportations $100 million, 960-spot commuter garage now slated to come on line in summer 2022 on South State Street. With the new garage comes the decommissioning of the old 727-spot structure along Station Place. That would appear to deliver a net gain of 233 spots. But as with most things having to do with the train station and parking, the equation is not that simple. The largest question mark stems from the fact that bulk of commuter parking around the station comes from private garages, giving city planners limited control. We are looking now at managing parking, said Transportation Bureau Chief Jim Travers. This is a really important opportunity to see how were working with our partners. The state this week offered an update on the new garage to the Zoning Board. In a somewhat cryptic presentation with 2017 data augmented by some 2019 numbers, state officials told the Zoning Board there is nothing to worry about. No matter the changes already taking shape, future supply will handle demand, said Jeff Parker, of CHA Consulting, the DOTs design firm. Simply put its more than existing demand, Parker said, adding (but) we also have to anticipate the loss of commuter parking in the area. The 727-spot garage is now in such disrepair it is down to around 200 spaces. A 2004 addition added 1,200 spaces to the equation, but several of those spaces will be off-line for repairs in the spring and summer. In all, the state now has some 1,500 operational spots, while private garages account for the rest some 2,500 spots around the Transportation Center in three other garages. Those spots cant be counted on, however. The Gateway Garage, owned by Harbor Point developer Building and Land Technology, accounts for more than 1,500 spots available for those who take the train. But those spots will be cut down to 500 at most once Gateway becomes home to Charter Communications new headquarters, which BLT is now building. Moreover, BLT and Charter have also requested the city let it buyout of those 500. The city will discuss and likely vote on the request next month. The citywide parking study will look at every part of the city, but many are most concerned with the future of parking at the train station. The Land Use and Transportation bureaus are now refining a request for proposals for a city-wide inventory of parking spots and the demand for them. The study will include a lot of research, Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing has said. We have to go really granular. barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton STAMFORD Westover Magnet Elementary School students and faculty will remain at the 1 Elmcroft Road location through the 2019-20 school year, according to the Mold Task Force. FAQ: What we know about the mold problem in Stamford schools The extent of the water intrusion issues at 412 Stillwater Ave. are proving as complicated as we suspected when we determined that students and faculty required relocation back in November, said Director of Administration and Task Force Member Michael Handler. The data and information received to date does not suggest that it is necessary to abandon the existing site; however, the experts working on the project agree that a renovation of the existing building is the appropriate course of action. The base rent on the space is due to rise in September, from $20 per rentable square foot to $30. The total rent for the 2019-20 school year will be $4,355,750, which includes electric, according to the lease. The fate of the old campus remains unclear. The Mold Task Force has scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday at 7 p.m., in the third floor auditorium at Westover Magnet School at 1 Elmcroft, to outline, in detail, the progress and strategy for the Stillwater property. According to a letter sent home to parents from Westover Principal Kathy Wunder, the renovation of the Stillwater campus is necessary and will require at extended period of time to complete. The letter also says Director of Operations Mark McGrath will be at the March 6 meeting to address concerns of student and public use of Kosciuszko Park. I am very excited that ... we will be able to remain in this beautiful building all together until the issues at Westover are resolved, Wunder said in the letter to families. In early November, the Mold Task Force announced they would be closing the Westover Stillwater campus indefinitely due to water intrusion issues and mold infestation. The school was originally closed on Oct. 30 due to the results of air quality testing done in the school after parents spoke out about its conditions. By mid-November, the district had moved the students to the 1 Elmcroft Road campus, which is owned by Building and Land Technology and previously served as the world headquarters of Pitney Bowes. A temporary lease for the building was signed in early November to occupy the property through the end of June. The total cost to do so was about $1.87 million, including utilities, with the option to rent the space for the next school year if needed. ekayata@hearstmediact.com. Connecticut Community Bank is hosting its first Power of Women event, featuring guest speaker Cindi Bigelow, on March 6 at the Norwalk Inn from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Bigelow will share words of wisdom as she discusses her professional experience of overcoming obstacles and embracing opportunities. The event will start with complimentary breakfast and networking, following by Bigelow sharing her story. Bigelow is the third-generation president and CEO of family-owned Bigelow Tea, headquartered in Fairfield. Bigelow Tea is the countrys leader in specialty teas, in business for almost 75 years. The event will be moderated by Amber Kendrick, from Procyon Partners. There is no fee for attending this event, however donations will be accepted and all proceeds will benefit Mid-Fairfield County Dress For Success. Register at www.ccbankonline.com/thepowerofwomen. Staples student earns Solidworks certificate Hannah Even, of Staples High Schools class of 2021, became the first Staples student to pass the Solidworks Associate Certification exam. Solidworks is the most widely used 3D CAD package in the world. It is is currently used by the majority of design and engineering firms throughout the world, including such companies as Disney Parks and Resorts. Even has been interested in 3D drawing ever since she took the middle school STEM course at Bedford Middle School, where she learned Google Sketchup. According to her former teacher Art Ellis, Even was a natural and it was clear from the beginning that she would excel in the high school 3D Design and Engineering class, which she took as a freshman. Hannah is not done yet with her SOLIDWORKS studies. Even has continued her studies independently and is currently preparing to take the Solidworks Finite Element Analysis certification exam some time in the spring. Such qualifications set Even apart from other students and open many opportunities for her as she continues her studies at Staples and beyond into engineering school and in the private sector. Tuesday Treasures at the historical society The Westport Historical Society is presenting highlights of the museums collection on March 5 from 6 to 7 p.m. Sstaff of the historical society will showcase objects not normally on public view. See and hear the stories behind some of the most unique, mysterious and impactful artifacts in the community. Registration is $8 for members, $12 for nonmembers. At the door: $10 for members, $15 for nonmembers. Students $5 with ID. No charge for children 5 and under. Reservations are recommended, register online at westporthistory.org or call 203-222-1424, ext. 5. Recruiter Q&A workshop March 4 Liz Kaufman presents Recruiter Q&A in 2019s Candidate-Driven Job Market to Mondays @ 7 Networking and Job Search Skills Group on March 4 at 8 a.m. at the United Methodist Church of Westport and Weston. Kaufman, staffing specialist and managing partner of HireResources LLC, a Fairfield County-based recruiting firm, will explain why 2019 is a candidate-driven job market and how one could capitalize on it. She will provide insight on best practices for working with recruiters, human resources professionals, and hiring managers. Kaufman will also discuss the process used to screen and qualify candidates as well as misconceptions that have surfaced with regard to the process. Meetings are free and open to the public. Animal Control Awareness Night at police deparment On March 5 at 7 p.m., Westport Animal Control will be hosting an Animal Control Awareness Night in the police departments second-floor classroom. The purpose of this event is to educate the public about the functions of Westports Animal Control Division and discuss multiple topics, including information regarding animal control laws and town ordinances, disaster preparedness for pets, living with coyotes, protection from rabies and what to do if you find injured wildlife. Dr. Sheldon Yessenow, the Connecticut Region 1 Emergency Support Function-Animal Protection (ESF-11) chairman and Region 1 Connecticut State Animal Response Team (CTSART) director, will be discussing disaster preparedness for pets. Yessenow is also a member of the National Veterinary Response Team and has responded to natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina. Peter Reid, associate director of Wildlife in Crisis and Assistant Animal Control Officer in Weston, will be discussing how to safely live with coyotes in Connecticut and coyote ecology. Refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public. Townwide music festival March 6 Over 350 choral students across Westport will come together March 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Staples High School gym for the 2019 Town-Wide Music Festival. Grades seven through 12 will feature the music as well as be conducted by composer, conductor and producer Jim Papoulis. Papoulis composes, orchestrates and conducts music for dance, film, ensembles and choirs. His compositions are known for exploring new modes of musical communication by honoring and connecting classical and traditional forms with non-Western sounds. For more information about the festival and Staples Music go to staplesmusic.org WESTON For the third year in a row, Larry Cruz and his son Ben will race up the stairs at Rockefeller Center in New York City this Sunday to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In addition to the experience of fundraising for a good cause, Larry considers it a blessing that Ben, who is on the autism spectrum, can help others in this way. We only run if its for a cause, because we want it to have meaning, said Larry, a Weston resident. Its a great way to raise awareness and donations for multiple sclerosis research and services, as well as awareness about productive things that autistic individuals can do to help others. Since 2010, Ben, now 15 years old, has run alongside his father in roughly 12 races a year for various charities throughout the Northeast. For the upcoming race, Larry and Ben set a $1,000 fundraising goal and have exceeded it by raising over $5,000 so far. The donations have come from family and friends, and with the help of the Weston community. Running is just something we do, Larry said. Sometimes for fun, Ben and Larry enjoy running through the woods in their neighborhood while listening to classic rock bands such as The Who, Steely Dan, Peter Gabriel and The Eagles, among others. Im looking forward to it, yes, said Ben, when his father asked about the upcoming event this weekend. The Cruzes will join the many other teams in New York this Sunday at 6 a.m. Thinking about the 1,215 stairs to the top of the Rockefeller Center would sound exhausting to many, but for serious runners Larry and Ben, this is a time to do it for a valuable cause. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, roughly 2.3 million people are affected by MS. However, this number could be higher, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not require physicians to report new cases and symptoms can be invisible. Reading about University of Connecticut alumna Leigh Kaplans battle with the disease inspired the Cruzes to get involved with the MS society. Kaplan was diagnosed with MS while physical therapy graduate student, which made the Rockefeller climb much more challenging, according to a story on UConns website. Currently, she has raised $20,510 for the upcoming event. For information on more races that the Cruzes will be participating in, or to donate to their team, visit www.pushingpastautism.org/?fbclid=IwAR0dtysLILoCkGWIan59XvbD_NjYyQWhI_ZRoZHrHMrAV-ez_0AiGL8mpDE or https://secure.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?team_id=569395&fr_id=30155&pg=team A recent study from anti-poverty group ACORN Canada found that the city of Toronto would be wise to alter its definition of affordable housing so that people with low income can afford to live in the city At present, Toronto defines affordable housing as at or below the average market rent (AMR), CBC News reported. For this year, that amounts to $1,202 covering a one-bedroom apartment and $1,426 for a two-bedroom. In the case of people who are moving and attempting to begin a new lease, it may cost hundreds of dollars more per month. "We are in a disaster; we are living a crisis," said Alejandra Ruiz Vargas, a member of ACORN Canada. The ACORN study revealed that from 2014-2017, nearly 40,000 new rental units were built, but only one in 40 were affordable housing. Only one in 400 new ownership units, on the other hand, were counted as affordable. Additionally, rent prices inched up by 20%, while median household income hiked by five percent from 2005 to 2015. Ruiz Vargas shared the story of Mari-Anne Spagnola, 63 years of age, and has a heart condition. She gets about $1,200 from her disability cheque, but her bachelor suite is priced almost $900 a month, which means she's had to sacrifice her medical needs. Situations like Spagnola's further motivated ACORN Canada to urge the city to change its definition of affordable rent to 30% of one's income before taxes the definition already used by the federal and provincial governments. The group wants the mayor and city council to increase the city's supply of what it calls deeply affordable units and also ensure the affordable housing definition serves low and moderate income tenants, according to CBC News. The director of the city's Affordable Housing Office agreed with the problem and called it "severe." "A lot of people are kind of feeling stuck within the housing system and that's not a good thing," said Sean Gadon. "They should have more choice; they should have more opportunity," He mentioned the Open Door initiative, which drives developers to build new affordable housing, and resulted to an addition of about 3,300 units over the past three years. However, such units are only considered "affordable" using the city's current definition, which ACORN Canada is aiming to change. Gadon said the city doesn't have enough returns to pay for programs that would allow for lower, subsidized rents. He hopes the upcoming federal housing strategy and possible initiatives from the new Ontario government will somehow address the housing cost issue. Related stories: Why homes are nearly unaffordable in Canada Bank activity drives local debt sales to record $63.8 billion 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. OTTAWA - Canada and Mexico may be united in wanting to bring closure to North America's unresolved trading future, but they are diametrically opposed on how to solve Venezuela's political and economic crisis. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido waves at the press as he arrives for a meeting with ambassadors and representatives from European Union, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. Canada and Mexico may be united in wanting to bring closure to North America's unresolved trading future, but they are diametrically opposed on how to solve Venezuela's political and economic crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Lucio Tavora OTTAWA - Canada and Mexico may be united in wanting to bring closure to North America's unresolved trading future, but they are diametrically opposed on how to solve Venezuela's political and economic crisis. The cleavage between Canada and Mexico over the upheaval enveloping their broader hemispheric neighbourhood the meltdown of once prosperous Venezuela that has spawned a three-million-plus refugee crisis was on full display this week as lawmakers from both countries met in Ottawa to discuss their shared interests. Mexico was a charter member of the Lima Group of countries when it formed in August 2017 before socialist firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was sworn in on Dec. 1 as Mexico's new president. Lopez Obrador's government has been conspicuously absent from the Lima Group's recent declarations recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim leader of Venezuela, and the group's calls for the military to switch allegiance to him from the country's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. "It's a very complex issue because we believe the new government believes strongly in not intervening in the internal affairs of other countries," Sen. Hector Vasconcelos, head of the Mexican senate's foreign affairs committee, said in an interview. Part of that complexity involves the other major North American country that was never in the Lima Group the United States. As Canadian officials routinely explain, not having the U.S. in the Lima Group coalition of more than a dozen Western Hemisphere countries is seen as effective. The reason is because it divorces calls for Maduro's ouster from the baggage of what is seen as past American meddling in Latin America. Many don't buy that rationale, pointing to the fact that the U.S. remains in lock-step with the Lima Group while the Trump administration refuses to rule out potential military action in Venezuela. "When you have a major international power trying to impose a solution to a political situation, to a political crisis anywhere in the world, not only in Latin America, the prospects for success are not very good," said Vasconcelos. He cited American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan in this century and Vietnam four decades ago as some U.S. failures. Mexico has offered to mediate between Guaido and Maduro to find a solution that's satisfactory to the Venezuelan people, Vasconcelos said. Canada, its Lima Group allies, the U.S. and dozens of other countries say international support for the opposition is intended to embolden Venezuelans, with the help of a military it wants to see switch loyalties, to take democratic control of their country. Vasconcelos said he's OK if the Venezuelan military switches sides and contributes to Maduro's peaceful ouster. "If the armed forces decide to stop supporting president Maduro, then that would be finding an internal solution," he said, stressing that doesn't mark a departure from the current Mexican position. "Believe me there are reasons for this. And I think that Mexico derives benefits from that position even today after 100 years of trying to follow that line." Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. A Liberal MP who took part in this week's parliamentary meetings with Mexico says Canada is trying to persuade Mexico to support the Lima Group. "Obviously, Canada has a difference of opinion. We think Mexico, as a serious player in the hemisphere, should be working with us. They haven't walked away from Lima necessarily, but they're being very cautious," said Bob Nault, the former head of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee. "My advice is to keep working with Mexico very quietly to convince them the policy of the past is not going to work in the scenario that's unfolding in Venezuela and other countries." Despite the difference on Venezuela, Vasconcelos and other members of the Lopez Obrador's governing Morena party see several broad areas of co-operation with Canada. In addition to ratifying the newly renegotiated North American free trade pact, these issues include trying to tackle the northward flood of migrants from Central America, and combating climate change without a willing partner in the United States. "Mexico and Canada agree on many things, but not the United States and that's an awful thing because the United States, their environmental impact is really big," said Mexican Sen. Antares Guadalupe, also a Morena member. "It is important to try and get the United States with us in these efforts." International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr rallied members of Manitobas heavy construction industry at a breakfast Friday morning in Winnipeg, urging them to join him in working to get federal funds flowing to Manitoba to get shovel-ready infrastructure projects built. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr rallied members of Manitobas heavy construction industry at a breakfast Friday morning in Winnipeg, urging them to join him in working to get federal funds "flowing to Manitoba" to get "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects built. "I cant do this alone, and I am asking for your help. Contact your councillors, and especially your MLAs, to let them know you want the provincial government to approve shovel-ready projects now," Manitobas lone federal cabinet minister told around 150 people. "It cannot be understated how vital these projects are to Manitoba. It is important that no federal dollars are left on the table." Carr is ratcheting up his tone amid concerns the province will lose out on the major funding planks Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government has used to justify running federal deficits. Premier Brian Pallister has rejected those concerns as Ottawas attempt to distract from the SNC-Lavalin affair. A combined $1.9 billion is sitting on the table for Manitoba for projects spanning the next decade, from the housing strategy to carbon retrofits to mental-health investments. More than half that cash falls under the so-called Phase 2 infrastructure program, which kicks off a decade of spending one month from now. Many of these projects require the province to contribute a significant chunk in order to receive federal funds. While Manitoba has either signed or consented to interim agreements for the combined $1.9 billion, some of the actual contracts, including the health accord, have yet to be signed. While other programs, such as conservation funding, have seen the province submit priority projects only this week. Carr told the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association it is "an essential partner" with the federal government in "shovel-ready projects that will create jobs and grow our economy" and the projects "just need the final approvals from the province to get underway." But Pallisters spokesman said Manitoba submitted a $160-million claim last June and is still waiting for a response, while another $9-million project was recently approved. "If Minister Carr really wants to be constructive he can talk to (Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe) Champagne, and accurately confirm the infrastructure funding situation in Manitoba," wrote David von Meyenfeldt. Earlier, during a question period that followed his speech, Carr said he is trying to facilitate important meetings with Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and Pallister, but suggested Pallister himself doesnt need to participate. "If the premier wants to send deputy premier (Heather) Stefanson to a meeting, thats good," Carr said. He also advised against "politicians bickering," a word he used to describe the Pallister government in December 2017 but had since avoided until now. These tensions came to a head Sunday, when Toronto MP Adam Vaughan singled out Manitoba during a phone-in radio show, saying the Pallister government was "refusing to take federal dollars to house people" due to a "clash of ideologies" over budgets and debt. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Pallisters office reiterated its demand Friday that Vaughan apologize for the comments. Carr said a better focus than pursuing apologies would be to get projects moving, noting with support from voices in the crowd that Manitoba construction season is only about six months long. That would also give Liberal MPs some ribbon-cutting announcements ahead of the October election. But bureaucrats say Ottawa also has limited room to approve or revise projects under election rules if Manitoba submits applications too close to the fall vote. Carr said "lost opportunity" is the danger Manitoba faces if the federal funding is left on the table. ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca For the first time ever, the province has signed a forestry-option licence with a First Nations group, giving them two years to set up a business plan that would lead to a forestry-management licence and the possibility of creating major new economic activity in the province. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. For the first time ever, the province has signed a forestry-option licence with a First Nations group, giving them two years to set up a business plan that would lead to a forestry-management licence and the possibility of creating major new economic activity in the province. The agreement, announced Thursday, is for about 5,000 square kilometres of land on the east side of Lake Winnipeg and northeast of the Winnipeg River, much of which was used for harvesting when Tembec ran the Pine Falls paper mill. But since that plant closed in late 2009, no forestry-industry activity has taken place there and the province has not issued any forestry-management licences on the east side of the province. A consortium of four First Nations Black River First Nation, Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Hollow Water First Nation and Sagkeeng First Nation now has two years to conduct an inventory to determine what sort of wood supply exists and create a business plan. At this point, Chief Sheldon Kent of Black River said there are all sorts of options as to what sort of industry might be created with the timber in the region. He said everything from a sawmill, oriented strand board plant, biodiesel production and cross-laminated timber plant are being considered. "Well do an inventory of the forest and see what kind of trees are there and that will determine what kind of business we will create," Kent said. While there is still a lot of work to do, Kent said the thinking is that over time, the enterprise could create as many as 1,000 jobs. Terry Brown, a consultant with Legacy Bowes who has been working with the First Nations on the project for almost five years, said what is being imagined will take anywhere from $150 million to $500 million of capital investment to build. The four First Nations initially met with the province almost two years ago. Kent said ever since the paper mill closed eliminating 300 full-time jobs and another 500 indirect jobs they have been looking at getting into the business. Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires said, "We are very excited to be developing forest-management plans with Indigenous partners. This is something that is an aspect of reconciliation in Manitoba giving them the autonomy to create economic-development opportunities in their traditional territory." The plan that the consortium will eventually submit for the forestry-management licence will have to include sustainable forestry-management practices like reforestation and show that there will be value for the province. The area involved does not include provincial park land or the Pimachiowin Aki world heritage site. Once the plan is submitted, it will then have to undergo an environmental assessment and other regulatory clearance processes. No trees will be harvested during the option period and the province would only start to earn revenue when the full licence is granted. Kent, as well as Larry Barker, chief of Hollow Water First Nation, said the Indigenous people in the area have plenty of history and expertise in the forestry sector. They have already met with industry players and said they may or may not bring on forestry-industry partners for the project. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities has been working with the First Nations on this initiative for three years, chairman Edmond LaBossiere said. "We are pleased to support this historic partnership and promote the economic development of a region in which the First Nations are providing outstanding leadership," he said. Three of the four bands are already partners in the South Beach Casino in Scanterbury (Sagkeeng is the exception) and Kent said they have come to understand that working together provides greater opportunity. "What we have learned as a collective is that we have more strength, more banking power," he said. "We can use our leverage with gaming revenue if we need to, but I dont think we will. The forestry licence itself will have a lot of value." martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca TORONTO - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is indicating that the country's three dominant wireless carriers may be required to provide smaller competitors with easier access to their national networks. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is indicating that the country's three dominant wireless carriers may be required to provide smaller competitors with easier access to their national networks. The CRTC's message this week comes just days after the Trudeau government signalled it will replace a 2006 policy that puts more emphasis on infrastructure investments and "market forces" than on regulation or consumer affordability. The Senate Committee on Transport and Communications hears from Ian Scott, Chairperson and CEO of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is indicating that the country's three dominant wireless carriers may be required to provide their smaller competitors with easier access to their national networks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick The federal telecom regulator said Thursday it has officially begun its long-promised review of Canada's mobile wireless market with the "preliminary view" that there should be more opportunity for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The CRTC which promised last year that it would begin a major review of wholesale wireless rates and access in 2019 is apparently suggesting that smaller operators need a guarantee they can connect with the bigger networks. Supporters of MVNOs which pay for wholesale access to wireless networks where they haven't installed their own facilities argue that consumer prices will fall if the large carriers face more competition. However, wholesale resellers whether offering wireless, internet or phone services have been at a disadvantage in Canada because of the regulatory emphasis on investments in networks and reliance on "market forces" to set prices. Smaller network operators have complained that when there are only three companies with national wireless networks and they are large enough to dictate prices it's too expensive for smaller companies to enter the competition. Matt Stein, chairman of the Canadian Network Operators Consortium of internet providers, said Friday that "we've . . . been prevented from offering mobile phone services because of the lack of regulation that enables us to do so." "I would say, with the events of this week behind us, that's clearly set to change." Stein said it would be feasible for an internet service provider like Distributel where he's CEO to move into the wireless business if the national carriers are required to provide wholesale access at a reasonable price. "With the mandating of MVNOs, what the CRTC would be doing is creating an environment where (smaller carriers) could become a mobile phone company without having to build towers all across the country," Stein said. However, given the slow pace of Canada's telecom regulator which takes months or years to make decisions after allowing interested parties to express and then refine their opinions a MVNO policy won't come until next year. Canadian carriers and interested persons have until May 15 to notify the commission that they want to take part in the proceedings. Further preliminary steps will continue through to Oct. 23 and a public hearing will begin Feb. 12, 2020. The CRTC said it's seeking public comment about whether MVNOs "should have mandated access to the networks of the national wireless providers (Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus) until they are able to establish themselves in the market." It's also looking at whether regulatory measures are needed to facilitate the deployment of 5G wireless networks, which are expected to become the next major advance in telecommunications over the next decade. CRTC chairman Ian Scott said in a statement on Thursday that "we want to ensure that all Canadians benefit from a robust and competitive mobile wireless market that provides a choice of affordable and innovative services." Scott's statement follows statements from Navdeep Bains, the minister responsible for telecommunications, who said Tuesday that he had begun a months-long process to give the CRTC a new policy directive. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Competition is already one of the CRTC's long-standing criteria, as are consumer interests and innovation. However, the current policy established under the Harper Conservative government while Maxime Bernier was the minister responsible for telecommunications sets a different order of priorities for the CRTC to meet. Under Bernier who split with the Conservatives last fall and now leads the People's Party of Canada the CRTC was instructed to "rely on market forces to the maximum extent feasible" and to interfere "to the minimum extent necessary." However, various studies and consumer anecdotes have said Canadians pay significantly higher prices for many telecommunications services compared with consumers in other countries. The new policy proposed by the Trudeau Liberals begins with "encourage all forms of competition" and includes "foster affordability and lower prices" and reduce barriers for new and small service providers. Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE, TSX:RCI.B, TSX:T) According to the Transport Institute at the University of Manitoba, half the useful season of the winter-road network in Manitoba has been lost since 1996, and its predicted to decline even more. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. According to the Transport Institute at the University of Manitoba, half the useful season of the winter-road network in Manitoba has been lost since 1996, and its predicted to decline even more. Despite this years very cold winter, the effect of climate change on the melting of the permafrost will have a long-term and significant impact on the transportation infrastructure in the north and be a growing threat for the people living in remote northern communities. On Saturday, the Transport Institute is holding a free, one-day conference, open to the public, called Climate Change and Transportation in the Canadian Shield. (Its being held at the Robert B. Schultz Theatre, at St. Johns College, at the U of Ms Fort Garry campus. Free parking and coffee will be available. The conference runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) Barry Prentice, the organizer of the event and a longtime transportation-logistics professor at the U of M, said, "I think northern transportation is an issue that does not get talked about enough." Prentice believes that because of the concentration of Manitobas population in the south, there is a Prairie-centric view when it comes to thinking about the provinces transportation network. "But three-quarters of the province is Canadian Shield, and the mentality in Winnipeg is that we dont think about it much," Prentice said. "The people in the north realize whats up there. The general public probably does not. We hear about it once a year when the ice roads have a problem, then its back to sleep." The conference will include presentations from academics and senior government and industry officials, with talks on air travel including drones and cargo airships and remarks from MLA Judy Klassen, who represents the provincial riding of Kewatinook. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The daylong conference will include a presentation from Danny Blair, a geography professor from the University of Winnipeg, on the consensus understanding from scientists as to where climate change is at and where its going. David Horbas, of Sasco Ltd., will talk about the realities of ice-road trucking, and Marolo Alfaro, a professor in the department of civil engineering at the U of M, will talk about building all-weather gravel roads in the Canadian Shield and the challenges presented by the melting permafrost (which is 50 per cent water). Prentice said holding the free conference on a Saturday was a way to reach out to the Winnipeg community to give them a reason to come to the U of M campus. "In my opinion, the university does not reach out to the public enough," he said. "Part of our effort is try to connect more with the public, and the best way to connect is to get people to come to the campus." martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca PARIS - The Dutch and French governments kicked off a four-month project Friday aimed at making Air France-KLM more competitive and at easing tensions between the two countries after the Dutch government's surprise purchase of a new stake in the airline alliance without informing Paris. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, right, prepares to shake hands with his Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra, right, after a joint press conference held at the Finance ministry in Paris, France, Friday, March 1, 2019. The Dutch and French governments sought to smooth over tensions over the future of Air France-KLM after the Dutch government suddenly expanded its stake in the alliance to increase its sway over the company's future. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) PARIS - The Dutch and French governments kicked off a four-month project Friday aimed at making Air France-KLM more competitive and at easing tensions between the two countries after the Dutch government's surprise purchase of a new stake in the airline alliance without informing Paris. The Netherlands' finance minister, Wopke Hoekstra, and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire held hurriedly-arranged talks Friday in Paris and afterward both ministers pledged to co-operate to strengthen the alliance. Le Maire, who described the discussions as "frank and clear," said the two countries would work together "to improve the competitiveness of the group Air France-KLM and to make Air France-KLM a big success." KLM has cut jobs and costs and is more profitable than Air France, which has faced extended labour disputes in recent years. The alliance as a whole is facing competitive pressure from low-cost airlines and growing Asian and Gulf carriers. The two governments announced four months of consultations led by French and Dutch finance ministry officials to study the company's ownership structure and management and how to protect the hubs at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport. In a statement Friday, they said the outcome of the discussions "must be a fair and balanced one for all sides." The company's shares rebounded after the announcement Friday, having sunk earlier this week amid concerns about the stability of the alliance. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Dutch government raised its share in the alliance this week to 14 per cent without telling the French, angering France's leadership. The French government also owns a 14-per cent stake in the company, but Le Maire called the secretive Dutch move "incomprehensible" and French President Emmanuel Macron demanded clarification. Hoekstra didn't explain why the Dutch government didn't discuss the purchase with French partners, saying only that the move had been discussed between KLM and the Dutch government. He said that the purchase showed his government's commitment to the business and its partnership with France. "We'll look at the future," he said. "We want to build a better company and we want to make sure the interests of both countries are taken into account." The two governments pledged support for Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith, who has worked to settle labour disputes with Air France pilots since taking over last year. ___ Corder reported from Amsterdam. Nicolas Garriga in Paris contributed. HALIFAX - A federal program aimed at attracting foreign workers to Atlantic Canada will be extended for another two years in a bid to grow the economy and address a shortage of skilled workers. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prince Edward Island Premier Wade MacLauchlan, center, talks with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball, right, during the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers on Monday, Aug. 13, 2018, in Stowe, Vt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Lisa Rathke HALIFAX - A federal program aimed at attracting foreign workers to Atlantic Canada will be extended for another two years in a bid to grow the economy and address a shortage of skilled workers. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program was supposed to end this year, but federal officials say it will be extended to the end of 2021. Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen made the announcement Friday in Halifax during a meeting of premiers and ministers concerning the Atlantic Growth Strategy. "We are on the right track," Hussen said, noting that more than 1,800 Atlantic employers are now participating in the pilot program. "We have approved applications for more than 2,500 permanent residents and their family members destined for the Atlantic region." Hussen said the program has created good middle-class jobs. "This will give the government of Canada and the Atlantic provinces more time to experiment with different approaches and to assess the program's medium and long-term impacts in this region," he said. Greg Thompson, New Brunswick's intergovernmental affairs minister, welcomed the news, saying his province needs to fill a shortage of skilled workers. "We could grow the economy in just about every village and town in New Brunswick if we had qualified workers," Thompson said. "So this is one of the key elements in moving ahead as a province." Navdeep Bains, the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, said the region continues to experience record levels of immigration, welcoming over 21,000 newcomers since July of 2016. The Halifax meeting included the premiers of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. New Brunswick was represented by Thompson. The group also announced plans to develop what they're calling a "clean power road map" for Atlantic Canada. An engineering study will look into improving power transmission connections throughout the region and with Quebec to allow for another 2,000 megawatts of electricity. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "I can't stress to you enough how critical this will be for the future economic success and stability of Atlantic Canada," said Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil. He said Canadians have made it clear they believe renewable energy resources need to be shared with all Canadians. "It is a leadership role for the Atlantic premiers and our federal colleagues to put together a plan that will not only benefit Atlantic Canadians but I think will set a tone for the country," he said. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball said access to more renewable power will help create jobs, and those jobs will create a demand for more power. The premiers said the study will inform governments on how to invest in electricity technologies, such as tidal energy and smart grids. By Kevin Bissett in Fredericton. Winnipeg and surrounding municipalities must stop competing against each other or investors will go elsewhere, municipal leaders were told on Wednesday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg and surrounding municipalities must stop competing against each other or investors will go elsewhere, municipal leaders were told on Wednesday. Fifteen municipalities including Edmonton have already formed a regional body called Edmonton Global that is working together on the international stage, Edmonton Global CEO Malcolm Bruce said. Edmonton Global CEO Malcolm Bruce And thats with a one-municipality, one-vote governance meaning Edmonton, with roughly a million people, agreed to have the same voting rights as a neighbouring town like Gibbons with 3,100 people. The alternative the surrounding communities and Edmonton trying to out-compete each other was only driving away investment, Bruce said. "We were confusing (the investors) and contradicting each other, and sometimes, municipalities were competing so hard against each other that they were driving business away," Bruce said. Bruce spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Winnipeg Metro Region (WMR), a loose group of 18 municipalities including Winnipeg in the capital region. However, the WMR is nowhere close to the stage of Edmonton Global in terms of working together to compete globally. "Were still in the very early stages of that," Colleen Sklar, WMR executive director, said in an interview following Bruces address. Whats happening is regional organizations like Toronto Global, Montreal International and Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul are competing for investment, while Winnipeg and its partners are on the sidelines, she said. "The status quo is not going to do us well on the global stage," Sklar said. "We have 18 partners now, but we dont have a sharing agreement. At this point, every single municipality competes on their own and were distracting the market." Sklar said the municipalities have to set aside issues like land use that bog down discussions and talk about a regional economic development strategy with industry and experts, and that the WMR must look at sharing models other regional agencies have adopted. "We have really good examples to follow," she said. That doesnt mean sharing existing tax bases, "but figuring out a sharing formula for new net growth," she said. "Most of the players who sit at the table of Team Canada are regional agencies," she said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The WMR luncheon was held at Fort Gibraltar and was sold out, attracting 90 government, business and industry leaders. Bruce said part of Edmonton Globals strategy is to boil its advantages down to four industries agriculture, energy, manufacturing and health and create sub-narratives for them on the physical and social landscape. All regions across Canada need to learn that "when one region wins, we all win," Bruce said. "We can collaborate to compete. We are greater than the sum of our parts." Bruce said the Canadian brand looks particularly good right now to the world. Political chaos in the United States and the Brexit impasse in Great Britain are driving investors to Canada as well as immigrants and international students. Bruce said Alberta is accustomed to the booms and busts of the energy cycle, but the current downturn has been particularly long and painful. The province has lost 150,000 jobs and average salaries and home prices have fallen, he said. bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca NEW YORK - Lyft is growing quickly ahead of its initial public offering but continues to bleed money and may struggle to turn a profit as it tries to catch up to Uber in the booming ride-hailing market, according to a federal filing. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this May 5, 2015, file photo, Lyft co-founder Logan Green speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt NY event, in New York. Ride-hailing giant Lyft is releasing financial details about the company in a federal filing before it begins selling its stock to the public. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) NEW YORK - Lyft is growing quickly ahead of its initial public offering but continues to bleed money and may struggle to turn a profit as it tries to catch up to Uber in the booming ride-hailing market, according to a federal filing. The company released its financial details for the first time on Friday, giving the public a glimpse into its performance before deciding whether to buy into a transportation trend that has changed the way tens of millions of people get around. The unveiling came nearly three months after the San Francisco company filed confidential documents for its initial public offering of stock. Lyft reported $2.2 billion in revenue last year more than double its $1.1 billion in revenue in 2017. That continued a growth trajectory that saw revenue more than triple in 2017 compared with 2016, when the company brought in $343.3 million. But Lyft is still losing money and its executives warned it may struggle to turn a profit, according to Friday's filing. The company lost $911 million last year, bringing its total losses to nearly $3 billion since 2012 while raking in $5.1 billion in venture capital. Its cash balance also is shrinking. Lyft had $517 million in cash and equivalents at the end of last year, about half of what it had at the end of 2017. The IPO will enable the company to raise more cash to finance its operations and expand while management tries to figure out way to turn a profit. The next step for Lyft will be to meet with potential investors during presentations known as a "road show" on Wall Street, then determine how much stock it will sell in the IPO and how much to demand for its shares. If all goes smoothly, Lyft's stock market debut will likely occur in late March or early April. Lyft has been in a race with Uber to be first to offer its stock to the public, and has positioned itself as the affable alternative to its larger and more ubiquitous rival. Uber, which struggled with public relations setbacks in the past, expects to file its IPO later this year. Together, the two could raise billions of dollars to fuel their expansions and give investors an opportunity to see how the companies plan to become sustainable. FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2015, file photo, Lyft co-founder John Zimmer displays his company's "glowstache" following a launch event in San Francisco. Ride-hailing giant Lyft is releasing financial details about the company in a federal filing before it begins selling its stock to the public. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File) Lyft's filing says that its co-founders CEO Logan Green, 35, and President John Zimmer, 34 will keep significant control of the company after it goes public and "will be able to significantly influence any action requiring the approval of our stockholders," including the election of board members, a merger, asset sales or other major corporate transactions. The company's share of the U.S. ride-hailing market was 39 per cent in December 2018, up from 22 per cent in December 2016, according to the filing, which cited growth from new drivers and riders as well as increased ride frequency. It reported 30.7 million riders and 1.9 million drivers in more than 300 cities in 2018, and has given more than 1 billion rides since its inception in 2012, according to the filing. Lyft's market-share gains in recent years came at a time when Uber was dogged by reports that drivers accosted passengers and that the company allowed rampant sexual harassment internally revelations that ultimately led its co-founder Travis Kalanick to resign. Uber has been working to repair its image under CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who tweeted congratulations to the Lyft team Friday, calling it "a big moment for ridesharing!" Lyft allowed customers to tip drivers earlier than Uber, building into its brand the sense that it treats drivers better than its main competitor. In its filing, Lyft said it will pay cash bonuses of $1,000 and $10,000 to drivers who meet certain criteria, and that drivers may use those bonuses to buy the company's shares. Bookings, a figure representing Lyft's fares after subtracting taxes, tolls and tips, have been rising dramatically a trend that the company intends to underscore in its presentation to potential investors. Lyft's bookings surpassed $8 billion last year, 76 per cent more than in 2017 and more than four times the number from 2016. The company's revenue of $2.2 billion last year represents Lyft's slice of the bookings. "We believe this is a key indicator of the utility of transportation solutions provided through our multimodal platform, as well as the scale and growth in our business," the company said in the filing. Lyft, known for the pink moustaches that used to adorn car grilles, was valued at just over $15 billion last year. In addition to ride-hailing, it offers shared car, bike and scooter rides. By being the first company in the ride-hailing category to go public, Lyft is likely to attract institutional investors who want to get in on the sector, said Rohit Kulkarni, senior vice-president of research at Forge. Based on the figures in the filing, and assuming steady revenue growth of more than 50 per cent in the next year, institutional investors are likely to value Lyft at $20 billion to $25 billion, he said. The next step is for Lyft managers to go on the road to woo investors, presenting details and fielding questions from potential buyers in hopes of drumming up interest. That will help the company determine the price of its shares when it goes public, likely in late March or early April. "Lyft has clearly demonstrated progress along its pathway to profitability ... but the key question is whether Lyft can accelerate its pathway to profitability," Kulkarni said. "On its upcoming roadshow, public equity investors would have a lot of tough questions for Lyft's management on this topic." In its risk assessments, Lyft outlined the difficulty of attracting and retaining drivers and riders "in a cost-effective manner," complying with laws and regulations, and being able to manage growth and expand beyond the U.S. and part of Canada. The company conceded that it has lost money since it started in mid-2012 and its expenses are increasing as it launches new services. "We have incurred net losses each year since our inception and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future," the company said. Lyft also said it faces intense competition and could lose market share to competitors. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The company acknowledged the importance of developing autonomous vehicle technology on its own or with partners. Uber as well as Waymo, General Motors and others is working on self-driving vehicles, which they expect to enter the ride-hailing business. If they are able to do that, and Lyft is still relying on drivers, its cost of giving rides likely would be far higher. Despite competing with Lyft, General Motors and Alphabet Waymo's parent company each own more than 5 per cent of Lyft's Class A common stock, according to the filing. ___ Krisher reported from Detroit and Liedtke reported from San Francisco. ___ This story has been corrected to read that Lyft's cash on hand in 2018 was $517 million, not $517,690. MONTREAL - In what is being described as a major defeat for the tobacco industry, the Quebec Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a landmark judgment ordering three companies to pay billions of dollars in damages to Quebec smokers. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Andre Lesperance, one of the class action lawyers, holds up a copy of the decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal's to uphold a Superior Court ruling in two class-action lawsuits against three tobacco companies, Friday, March 1, 2019 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz MONTREAL - In what is being described as a major defeat for the tobacco industry, the Quebec Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a landmark judgment ordering three companies to pay billions of dollars in damages to Quebec smokers. Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans-Benson & Hedges had appealed a ruling that found the companies chose profits over the health of their customers. In June 2015, Quebec Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan ordered the companies to make payments of more than $15-billion to smokers who either fell ill or were addicted. At the time, the ruling was believed to be the biggest class action award in Canadian history. Lise Blais, the widow of a man who died from smoking-related illness, said Friday she was sorry her husband couldn't be there to share the moment. Jean-Yves Blais, one of the case's original plaintiffs, died of lung cancer in September 2012 at the age of 68. "During the trial, the tobacco companies said it was the fault of the smokers, but for me it isn't. They played hide-and-seek with smokers," she said. She said her husband began smoking in the 1950s, when people weren't aware of the risks, and he was unable to quit despite trying three times. "They're liars," she said of the tobacco companies. She described Friday's decision as a victory, but noted it is unlikely to be the end of the road for victims, given the likelihood that the matter will end up before the Supreme Court of Canada. Philippe Trudel, a lawyer for smokers who brought the class action, called Friday's decision a complete victory. Trudel estimated that after the appeal ruling, the total damages owed by the companies would be more than $17-billion. "It is excellent news for victims who have been waiting for this day for a long time. We're very happy with the result, clearly," he said. Quebec's highest court, which began hearing the appeal in 2016, struck down almost all of the tobacco companies' grounds for appeal. The five-judge panel confirmed that the companies failed in their duty to inform their customers of the risks of smoking and failed to demonstrate that consumers were aware of the risk. The judges concluded that the companies understood that their marketing strategies would expose consumers to the risk of addiction or fatal disease. "In so doing, they certainly infringed in an illicit and intentional fashion the rights to life, to personal security and to inviolability" of the plaintiffs, the court ruled. The 422-page decision concluded that the tobacco companies failed to demonstrate errors of law in the lower court ruling, "except on certain minor points." Rothmans-Benson & Hedges denounced the judgment and said it would seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. "Todays decision by the Court of Appeal changes a fundamental principle of class action law and allows class-wide recovery of damages without proof from even a single class member," the firm's managing director, Peter Luongo, said in a statement. "We believe this unprecedented change in the law warrants review and reversal by the Supreme Court of Canada." Eric Gagnon, a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco, said the company was disappointed by Friday's decision. "We've shown that adult consumers have known the risks associated with tobacco for decades," he said. "We also know that it's the federal government that gives us the license to allow us to operate in this market, and we followed the laws and regulations," he told reporters. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. JTI-Macdonald Corp. issued a statement saying it "fundamentally disagrees" with the decision. JTI-Macdonald and Imperial indicated they are also considering appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court of Appeal did find the judge erred in several minor aspects, including how the interest was calculated. Trudel called the change a "technicality" that would have little effect on the overall damages. "Out of all the billions, I don't think they'll call it a victory," he said. "But we call it a total victory on all fronts." Friday's decision is the latest step in a case that has been before the courts for more than 20 years. The companies were targeted in two lawsuits heard at the same time, which were filed in 1998 and only argued in court in 2012. They covered roughly 100,000 smokers who took up the habit between 1950 and 1998. One lawsuit was started by people who were addicted to cigarettes and couldn't quit, and the second was brought by those who had suffered from cancer or emphysema. Some 76 witnesses testified at the Superior Court trial and nearly 43,000 documents were entered into evidence, including internal tobacco company documents that showed smokers didn't know or understand the risks associated with cigarettes. DALLAS - Southwest Airlines has raised the stakes in a showdown with its union of aircraft mechanics by filing a lawsuit over what it claims is an illegal work slowdown that is grounding planes and disrupting flights. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this July 17, 2018 file photograph, ramp workers prepare a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 for departure to Denver from Minneapolis International Airport in Minneapolis. Southwest is suing its mechanicsAo union over what it claims is an illegal work slowdown that is grounding planes and disrupting flights. The airline filed the lawsuit against the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association late Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 in federal district court in Dallas. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) DALLAS - Southwest Airlines has raised the stakes in a showdown with its union of aircraft mechanics by filing a lawsuit over what it claims is an illegal work slowdown that is grounding planes and disrupting flights. It is Southwest's second lawsuit in three years against the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association and the result of raw feelings on both sides after more than six years of fruitless contract negotiations. The airline filed the lawsuit late Thursday in federal district court in Dallas. Southwest charges that some workers are pulling planes out of service for minor mechanical items to gain leverage in contract talks. Union representatives did not respond to requests for comment late Thursday or Friday. In previous interviews, they have denied organizing a work slowdown, and have countered that Southwest maintenance supervisors have pressured mechanics to approve planes for flight, which they say is a safety hazard. Southwest said in the lawsuit that it normally has 14 planes out of service on an average day, but the number has spiked as high as 62 in recent days. The airline said the rising rate of mechanical issues began after a recent bargaining session between the company and the union. A federal mediator is trying to bring the sides together. Dallas-based Southwest sued the same union in February 2017, claiming that it was behind a refusal by mechanics to work overtime. That lawsuit is still pending. Southwest has struggled to respond effectively to the latest dispute with the union, known by its acronym, AMFA, which represents the carrier's 2,400 mechanics. Last month, Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven publicly apologized to customers for flight delays and cancellations, blaming them on mechanics who were grounding a high number of planes. The airline's chief legal officer, Mark Shaw, warned union leaders that they must stop "this unlawful job action" by union members. The airline imposed emergency procedures that included threatening to fire mechanics who didn't get a doctor's note after calling in sick or refused to work overtime. Vacation requests were put on hold. Some employees believed the emergency measure was retaliation for mechanics going to federal regulators and the media with their safety concerns. One of the union's lawyers said Southwest had provided no evidence of a work slowdown, and that mechanics were doing their jobs as required by federal safety regulations. The airline's CEO might have thought that some fence-mending was needed. In a Feb. 22 letter to all Southwest employees, CEO Gary Kelly called the mechanics "extraordinary" and said "they have been especially heroic in getting aircraft returned to service over the last two weeks." He said the mechanics deserve a new contract, and blamed all sides for the lack of one. Over the years, Southwest has prided itself on better labour relations than most airlines, even though it has the most heavily unionized workforce among major U.S. carriers. That spirit of working together has been strained in recent years, however, as pilots and other employees have picketed in protest of what they considered inadequate wages. There is a long history of public spats between airlines and their unions. Some of them were far more damaging than this one, including a strike that helped bring down Eastern Airlines in the 1980s. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "The airline industry is a special case. Airline workers have a lot of leverage because of their role connected with safety," said Lance Compa, a senior lecturer in labour law at Cornell University. Federal law prohibits airline union employees from job actions including strikes, and bans airlines from locking out union workers unless a federal mediation board declares an impasse in negotiations, which has not happened in this dispute. The same law, the Railway Labor Act, provides that contracts in the airline industry never expire; they are only renewed. Compa said that leads to drawn-out negotiations that can be frustrating. He sees little long-term risk to Southwest from the current fight. "These things," he said of airline contract disputes, "tend to work themselves out." ___ David Koenig can be reached at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter HONOLULU - On the political spectrum, Hawaii is among the bluest of states. Democrats control all the levers of power at the state and federal levels, and voters back Democratic presidential candidates over Republicans by some of the widest margins in the U.S. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/2/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. HONOLULU - On the political spectrum, Hawaii is among the bluest of states. Democrats control all the levers of power at the state and federal levels, and voters back Democratic presidential candidates over Republicans by some of the widest margins in the U.S. The state has committed to the Paris climate agreement that President Donald Trump rejected and was the first state to require people to be 21 to buy cigarettes. The tourist haven even banned certain types of sunscreen because they can harm coral reefs. FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2016 file photo, Democratic Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Honolulu. Hawaii is among the bluest of states; but when it comes to legalizing marijuana for adult use, the islands are out of step with fellow liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont. English has introduced legalization bills for the past 15 years. (AP Photo/Marina Riker, File) But when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana for adult use, the islands are out of step with liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont that have already done so, and other left-leaning states such as New York and New Jersey that are racing toward joining them. On Friday, a legalization bill that made it farther in the legislative process than previous efforts died when lawmakers failed to consider it in time for a deadline. Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English has introduced marijuana legalization bills for the past 15 years but Hawaii has a track record of moving slowly on social issues. For example, other states moved far more quickly to sanction gay marriage and medically assisted suicide. Half the Democrats in the state Senate co-sponsored English's measure, helping spur speculation this would be the year legalization becomes reality. But the effort fizzled as other leaders worried about contradicting federal law, which continues to classify marijuana as an illegal drug, and jeopardizing Hawaii's existing medical marijuana program. FILE - This June 6, 2017 file photo shows Aloha Green, a medical marijuana dispensary, in Honolulu. Hawaii is among the bluest of states; but when it comes to legalizing marijuana for adult use, the islands are out of step with fellow liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont. Hawaii was the first state to legislatively approve medical marijuana in 2000, but it took island lawmakers another 15 years to set up a dispensary system. (AP Photo/Cathy Bussewitz, File) To move forward, the bill had to pass the Senate Health Committee and Senate Ways and Means Committee by a Friday deadline so it could be considered by the full Senate. But the Health Committee did not schedule a meeting on Friday to consider any bills, effectively killing the marijuana legalization measure. Rep. Della Au Belatti, the House majority leader, said before the bill died that she believes Hawaii will legalize adult use marijuana at some point. But she said lawmakers will vet the issue carefully. "I also think that we have enough folks who are sitting around the table who are saying 'Let's do it right. Let's not just rush into things and let's do it right,'" she said. Belatti said lawmakers must closely study the experiences of states that have legalized marijuana. She also wants to have abuse prevention, treatment and education programs set up before legalization. Hawaii also will have to make sure legalized marijuana doesn't lead to more impaired driving, she said. For now, Belatti said she's just inclined toward decriminalizing marijuana, or reducing fines and criminal penalties for possession. Twelve states and the District of Columbia have recreational marijuana laws. All except Vermont did it by ballot initiative, an option not available in Hawaii. Sen. Karl Rhoads, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Hawaii residents are becoming more accepting of legalization now because it has happened elsewhere and "the world hasn't come to an end." There's also recognition that the status quo isn't working, he said, noting that juniors at a high school near his district tell him they can get pot whenever they want. "It's like Prohibition," he said. "We've been trying to squish it out, squeeze it out, by making it illegal. And it's just failed miserably." Rhoads' committee passed an amended version of English's bill last month, the first time a legalization measure has ever made it out of any committee. Health Committee Chairwoman Sen. Roz Baker said she did not want to do anything that would threaten Hawaii's nascent medical cannabis dispensary system. Dispensary sales began just two years ago. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Baker believes the federal government will leave medical marijuana alone but might take a more active approach to enforcing federal drug laws if Hawaii takes the next step. Democratic Gov. David Ige expressed similar concerns. Rep. Joy San Buenaventura said it did not make sense to push the measure through without Ige's support. San Buenaventura represents Puna, a mostly rural area on the Big Island long known for pot growing. Brian Goldstein, the founder and CEO of the medical marijuana dispensary Noa Botanicals, said it is inevitable Hawaii will eventually allow adult use. He acknowledged it may take a while. Hawaii's Legislature approved medical marijuana in 2000 four years after California became the first state with such a law but it took island lawmakers another 15 years to set up a dispensary system. Carl Bergquist, the executive director of the pro-legalization Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, said progress is being made even though the idea failed again this year. "It's a huge step ... just to have that conversation started," he said. HONOLULU - The Latest on marijuana legalization in Hawaii (all times local): Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. HONOLULU - The Latest on marijuana legalization in Hawaii (all times local): 9:45 a.m. Legislation that would legalize marijuana in Hawaii is dying. The measure must pass out of the Senate Health Committee and its Ways and Means Committee by the end of Friday to make it to the full Senate for consideration. But the Health Committee isn't scheduled to meet Friday. Hawaii is a liberal state, yet island legislators are hesitant to legalize marijuana the way other liberal states like California and Vermont have. Several leaders are worried about contradicting federal law and jeopardizing Hawaii's existing medical marijuana program. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. House Majority Leader Rep. Della Au Belatti believes recreational cannabis will come to Hawaii eventually but leaders don't want to rush into it. ____ 8 p.m. Thursday On the political spectrum, Hawaii is among the bluest of states. But when it comes to legalizing marijuana, Hawaii is out of step with liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont. A bill that would legalize marijuana in the islands faces significant obstacles from leaders worried about contradicting federal law and jeopardizing Hawaii's existing medical marijuana program. It faces a Friday deadline to pass committee. House Majority Leader Rep. Della Au Belatti says lawmakers will vet legalization carefully. She believes recreational cannabis will come to Hawaii eventually but leaders don't want to rush into it. While there have been hundreds of violent incidents reported at two Winnipeg hospitals over two years, there havent been provincial or national safety standards established for health-care facilities, something one local union and a Winnipeg MP are pushing for. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/2/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. While there have been hundreds of violent incidents reported at two Winnipeg hospitals over two years, there havent been provincial or national safety standards established for health-care facilities, something one local union and a Winnipeg MP are pushing for. From October 2016 to October 2018, there were 444 violent incidents reported at the Health Sciences Centre and 175 such cases at Grace Hospital, according to freedom of information results obtained by the Free Press. The statistics encompass incidents of verbal abuse and threats of violence, plus instances of physical aggression. Some incidents stem from deliberate acts, while others involve patients with dementia or those disoriented from a medical condition, who may have no control over their actions. A Winnipeg MP who spent years working as an emergency room physician is trying to draw attention to health-care violence nationally, tabling a petition Friday that asks Ottawa to tackle an issue in which he has first-hand experience. "It's a very serious problem; it's escalating," Doug Eyolfson, Liberal MP for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley, told the Free Press. He said assaults have always happened in health care, but the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act data suggests an increase in crystal meth use is fuelling more assaults. Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley MP Doug Eyolfson was assaulted in 2015 while working at HSC when a patient punched him in the face. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) Eyolfson was assaulted in spring 2015 while working at HSC, when a patient "with severe psychosis" tried escaping from the hospital and punched him in the face. Winnipeg hospital wait times rise The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority posted its emergency-room wait times for January Thursday, which showed longer median waits for most hospitals compared with the month prior. click to read more The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority posted its emergency-room wait times for January Thursday, which showed longer median waits for most hospitals compared with the month prior. Every facility save for the Victoria Hospital urgent care centre and Children's Hospital reported longer median waits for patients. Concordia Hospital had the longest median wait time at 2.35 hours, while Children's Hospital and the Victoria had 1.4-hour and 1.55-hour waits, respectively. Compared with January 2018, the wait times improved in three hospitals (Concordia, Grace, Children's) and grew at the four others (HSC, Seven Oaks, St. Boniface, Victoria). The WRHA also posts its 90th percentile waits, which represent a one in 10 minority of patients who wait longer than the average times. The longest 90th percentile wait last month was at Concordia, at 5.78 hours. The shortest times were at Children's and Victoria, with 3.47-hour and 3.95-hour waits each. The WRHA posts aggregated monthly wait-time results online on the last Thursday of every month. Jessica Botelho-Urbanski Close "I hit a wall and was concussed. I recovered quickly; I was more shaken up than traumatized, but it was a very sobering experience," said Eyolfson, who returned to work the next evening. "I was lucky, because all I had was a pair of broken glasses, a black eye and a bit of a headache." Eyolfson's petition calls on the federal health minister "to develop a pan-Canadian prevention strategy to address growing incidents of violence against health-care workers." The petition gathered 8,743 signatures, with some from every province and territory, over the course of four months. Eyolfson hopes a national strategy would look at everything from added security personnel in hospitals to possible criminal sanctions. He's particularly concerned about how often nurses are assaulted. "Part of it's a cultural shift. It was always just simply accepted that this was a 'part of the job,'" he said. "It took a long time for society, in general, to say that, 'No, this is not acceptable in the hospital workplace; this is not acceptable in any workplace." Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU), said the union met twice with representatives from the provincial government last summer to discuss beefing up hospital security across the province. Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said the union met twice with representatives from the provincial government last summer to discuss beefing up hospital security but haven't had any updates. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) She said they havent heard any updates since August. "Thats really disappointing. I was really hoping wed be able to get some work done on provincial standards," Jackson said. On Thursday, Health Minister Cameron Friesen hinted more safety measures are on the horizon. "As a new legislative session approaches, we will be introducing additional measures designed to ensure the safety and security of patients, visitors and staff at health-care facilities throughout the province," he said in a prepared statement. Jackson suggested there should be more security in hospitals and some ought to be given peace officer status, so they can legally use force if a situation turns volatile. "You need to go through a metal detector to get into a Jets game. You cant check a book out of the Millennium Library anymore without going through security. It would be really great if they paid the same consideration to protect health-care workers, families, patients, visitors in our health-care facilities. That would be such a plus," she said, adding later: From October 2016 to October 2018, there were 414 violent incidents reported at the Health Sciences Centre and 164 at the Grace Hospital. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press) "I dont know if there should be metal detectors, but there certainly should be some ramping up in the security issues in our facilities." Spokespeople from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and HSC sent statements outlining how seriously violent incidents are taken. HSC spokesperson Kat Fox noted the hospital has been making changes to enhance safety since October. New measures include restricting after-hours access to the hospital campus and limiting visiting hours from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., in force in all units as of last week. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. HSC also distributed personal panic alarms to all staff, physicians and volunteers, to use in case of emergencies. WRHA spokesperson Paul Turenne said the region implemented a provincial health-care violence prevention program in 2016, developed in collaboration with MNU. Its training modules were designed to "mitigate, eliminate or reduce all forms of violence in workplaces where health-care services are provided." "Throughout the WRHA, we are always working to find new and better solutions to reduce the risk of violent incidents occurring, and to mitigate the severity of those few incidents that unfortunately do occur," he said. With files from Dylan Robertson jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @_jessbu Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. There is no mistaking the early warning signs of the common cold. The sore throat. The runny nose. The sneezing. And, of course, the general feeling of misery. This is when you start to realize that you are "coming down with something." Its also about the time you start wondering what if anything you can do about it. To help answer this and other questions, the team here at Health Links-Info Sante has pulled together the following Q&A. How does one catch a cold? There are more than 200 viruses that can cause the common cold, with the rhinovirus being the most common. These viruses attach themselves to the lining of your nose or lungs, usually when you come into contact with one and touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Generally speaking, you can pick up a cold virus in one of three ways: through the air (when an infected person coughs or sneezes); by direct contact (when shaking hands with an infected person); or by touching a contaminated surface (viruses can live on surfaces like handrails or doorknobs for days). How many colds does the average person get in one year? The average adult can expect to get about two or three colds a year. Kids can get as many as 10 colds a year before they turn two years old. One reason colds are so common is that the body cannot build up immunity to all the viruses that cause colds. Do antibiotics work against the common cold? No. Antibiotics are helpful in combatting bacterial infections like whooping cough and strep throat. But the common cold is caused by a viral infection, which is impervious to antibiotics. What about natural remedies, like garlic? Although many people swear their cold was shortened by taking echinacea, garlic or some other herbal product, there is little scientific evidence to support this. Is there anything you can take for a cold? While there are no cures for the common cold, it is possible to treat the symptoms. Non-prescription medicines such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, throat lozenges and decongestants can help alleviate a runny nose or a headache. It is also a good idea to drink lots of fluids and get plenty of rest. Taking a teaspoon of honey, or giving one to a child over the age of one, may help quiet a cough. If you are taking prescription medicine, are pregnant or have heart disease, high blood pressure or kidney problems, check with your health-care provider to ensure it is safe to take cold medication. Some over-the-counter medications may negatively interact with commonly used prescription medications. In addition, some prescription medicine may include the same ingredients as your cold medication, providing you with a potential double dose. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Its also worth noting that Health Canada advises parents not to give over-the-counter cold remedies to children less than six years of age. In addition, parents should not use menthol rub on children because as well as being ineffective, it may cause poisoning or injury to the eyes. Never give acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) to anyone under 18 years of age because it can lead to brain and liver damage (Reyes syndrome). When are people with colds most infectious? Colds tend to last between seven and 10 days. People are most likely to spread the cold virus to others within the first two to four days of showing symptoms. What can I do to avoid spreading the cold virus? The obvious thing is to stay home during the first two to four days of your cold. If that isnt possible, try limiting your contact with other people, cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing in public and wash your hands often. How can I avoid catching a cold? During the winter months, you are bound to come into contact with someone who has a cold, particularly at work, school or home. But you can reduce your odds of catching a cold by avoiding close contact with anyone showing signs of being infected and washing your hands often, particularly after being around someone with a cold. Indeed, some studies estimate that handwashing can reduce your chances of getting a cold by as much as 20 per cent. Its also helpful to maintain your health by eating well, staying active and getting plenty of rest. Diana Doyle-Zebrun is clinical and quality initiatives co-ordinator at the Provincial Health Contact Centre at Misericordia Health Centre. If you have health questions, call Health Links-Info Sante at 204-788-8200 or toll-free 1-888-315-9257. NISICHAWAYASIHK Cree Nation has imposed a temporary alcohol ban, following a beating death being linked to an insidious practice of using youth as runners to deliver illegal drugs and alcohol. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/2/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. NISICHAWAYASIHK Cree Nation has imposed a temporary alcohol ban, following a beating death being linked to an insidious practice of using youth as runners to deliver illegal drugs and alcohol. The ban aims to give the northern Manitoba community, also known as Nelson House, a chance to absorb the trauma over the next two weeks without the violence associated with alcohol and drug abuse, Chief Marcel Moody said Thursday. Police are requesting the public's assistance in locating 27-year-old Waylon Alfred Mckay. (Police handout) For the last decade, the community has manned a permanent truck stop on the highway into the First Nation located about 660 kilometres north of Winnipeg. It limits the amount of alcohol brought in at one time to a bottle of wine, or a 26-ounce bottle of liquor, or 24 cans of beer. The stop will be manned 24-7 during the ban and all alcohol seized will be destroyed. Moody said the community is getting excellent co-operation from RCMP on the initiative. Under the federal Indian Act, which governs Canadas First Nations, elected chiefs and councils have the legal authority to ban and seize alcohol. Waylon Alfred Mckay from Nelson House being sought by police in connection to the Feb. 20 death of Marcus Spence. (Police handout) The chief said many in the community believe the recent homicide was related to 18-year-old Marcus Spences alleged role as a runner. "We think he was," Moody said, adding the lure to youngsters is "easy money" and drugs and alcohol. "They become dependent on that and its used for that purpose. "The sad thing about it is nobody wants to tell on each other. Thats the honour code." Spence was killed Feb. 20 at a local home. RCMP charged three local men with first-degree murder Wednesday, and they say theyre looking for a fourth suspect Waylon Alfred Mckay, 27, also from NCN on the same charge. The practice of booze and drug running isnt new, but this is thought to be the first death linked to it, Moody said, adding the community uproar is just as much about the exploitation as the slaying. "Maybe this is a wake-up call. This has got to stop. Its an epidemic, not only in this community but across the country," the chief said. "We can never totally stop it. People bring it (drugs and alcohol) in by the river, by Ski-doo. So its a balance between allowing people to consume responsibly and stopping the violence that comes from its abuse. Prohibition has never worked in this country, it just creates a black market." The alcohol ban appears to have followed a couple of community forums and an outpouring on social media about the impact of violence linked to substance abuse. At least one Facebook commentator openly called for the ban before it was imposed and social media has followed with posts to make sure the highway into the community is, indeed, being patrolled. An announcement Tuesday made the ban formal. "Out of respect for the late Marcus Spence and ongoing violence in the community, effective midnight tonight, there is a complete alcohol ban in the community until further notice," chief and council said in a statement. A community meeting is planned March 14 to strategize about more permanent measures to keep the peace. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca A former Tory Crown services minister has gone out of his way to compliment Polly Craik, the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries chairwoman who was ousted from her position by government a few weeks ago. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A former Tory Crown services minister has gone out of his way to compliment Polly Craik, the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries chairwoman who was ousted from her position by government a few weeks ago. After briefing the media Thursday about a looming Red River flood, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler was asked about the controversy surrounding Craiks dismissal. While serving as Crown services minister in Brian Pallisters cabinet until August 2017, Schuler had pledged not to interfere in the operations of Crown corporations. He was the minister when Craik was appointed to the MLL board. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "First of all, we made it very clear we would not politically interfere," he responded. "We did not ever want to be seen as trying to put some kind of political ideology on top of the Crown corporations. And I can assure Manitobans that this is the case today. There are differences of opinion (as to the nature of the dispute between Craik and the government) and I will allow the minister of Crown services (Colleen Mayer) to answer those questions." He then added: "Polly Craik is a very good friend of mine a dynamic individual (who) served this province well. And (I) wish her well in whatever else shes undertaking." Mayer has yet to comment on the Feb. 13 cabinet decision to punt Craik from the MLL board. Craik has disputed the premiers assertion that there was a dispute over the expansion of the Club Regent casino, which Pallister said he opposed while the government was conducting a gaming review. She said she was ousted after objecting to government officials bypassing her board and providing "financial direction" directly to MLL management. Larry Kusch Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler says it's his fault two untendered contracts worth millions of dollars were awarded last year for roadwork without proper government oversight. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/2/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler says it's his fault two untendered contracts worth millions of dollars were awarded last year for roadwork without proper government oversight. The Free Press has learned two road-repair contracts totalling $11.2 million were awarded to two Indigenous entities, with private partners, without approval of Treasury Board, a cabinet committee that reviews government expenditures. A March 15, 2018, "advisory note" prepared by Manitoba Infrastructure for Premier Brian Pallister said the department acknowledged its error and "has put in place measures to ensure future compliance" of proper protocols. "Those responsible have been advised of the error and received remedial training," says the note by a senior departmental official, which was obtained by the Free Press. In an interview late Wednesday, Schuler said the contracts were negotiated with the Indigenous groups by his department's staff. He wouldn't say who received "remedial training." "I'm not going to talk about human resource issues," he said. "I will take full responsibility for what took place in my department. We missed a step. It should have gone to Treasury Board." BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES In early March of last year, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced the Lake St. Martin channel road construction project. After the announcement, it became clear his department missed the step of going to the Treasury Board before awarding the contracts for the project. The missed step apparently went undetected until Schuler publicly announced March 6 work would soon commence on upgrades to existing roads to the proposed new, permanent Lake St. Martin outlet channel. This was preparatory work for what will eventually be a massive $540-million flood-prevention project to control water levels on both Lake St. Martin and Lake Manitoba. Over the next few days, it became clear the two road improvement contracts a $3.5-million deal with Lake St. Martin First Nation and Glen Hartman Construction, and a $7.7-million deal with Interlake Reserves Tribal Council and Sigfusson Northern Ltd. were untendered. The Manitoba Heavy Construction Association strenuously objected that the work was awarded without tender. It said the work could have been completed at far less cost, while still achieving the government's goal of employing Indigenous people who had been severely affected by flooding in 2011. When asked about it a year ago, Pallister was succinct. "If the minister made a mess, he'll clean it up, not the premier," he said referring to Schuler. However, what wasn't publicly known then is the multimillion-dollar contracts were not fully scrutinized by cabinet. The Pallister government is known for making a virtue of thoroughly inspecting all project spending, as it attempts to whittle down a massive operating deficit. Shortly before forming government, Pallister was critical of what he once described as an "epidemic" of untendered contracts by government departments and Crown corporations. The Tories cried foul after the provincial ombudsman found there was insufficient justification for the previous NDP government's aborted attempt to buy $5-million worth of flood-control tubes, known as Tiger Dams. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Preimer Brian Pallister and Schuler chat in legislature in 2016 shortly before the election in which the PCs would win and form government. The Tories cried foul over the then-governing NDP's aborted attempt to buy $5 million worth of Tiger Dams. Schuler said the awarding of the two untendered contracts had been discussed by the priorities and planning committee of cabinet, and should have then gone to Treasury Board for approval. Asked whose responsibility it was to make that happen, Schuler said: "I should have asked if it went to Treasury Board." Asked what the premier's reaction was, he said: "I think the premier realized that I was definitely wearing this one." He added systems were put in place to ensure similar issues do not happen again. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. NDP Leader Wab Kinew said he has questions about Schuler's explanation and the premier's apparent response to it. "The premier was definitely aware of the issue. He thought of it as 'a mess.' And the fact that he didnt shuffle the minister (out of the portfolio) shows that he was fine with the ministers actions. And it seems, then, that he was fine with the lack of oversight that was exercised over the contracts." Pallister's office was asked for clarification on a number of points. Late Thursday, it issued a statement which said, in part, the government stands by its decision to ensure local communities derive "some direct benefit from the project during the initial phase of road building." It added the total value of the untendered contracts represent about two per cent of total costs. "While the minister realized in hindsight an error occurred in failing to seek Treasury Board approval in advance, internal processes have now been corrected," the statement said. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca A protest today about the death of a man killed in a shooting incident with police on the weekend has highlighted racial divisions in the city and the need for better relations between police and people of colour. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A protest today about the death of a man killed in a shooting incident with police on the weekend has highlighted racial divisions in the city and the need for better relations between police and people of colour. Machuar Madut, a 43-year-old refugee who fled war-torn Sudan in the early 2000s with his wife and children, was shot dead by police during an emergency call about a man with a hammer who was causing a disturbance at a West Broadway apartment complex Saturday. Despite temperatures of -18C, about 100 people, mostly South Sudanese but also people who appeared to be Indigenous and Caucasian, stood in solidarity to protest the shooting during the 90-minute event. Half a dozen speakers took their turns at a megaphone, placards called for justice, the crowd chanted "Justice for Madut" and "Black Lives Matter" as uniformed police officers watched from inside the glassed-in lobby of the downtown police headquarters on Smith Street. Organizers with the Council of the South Sudanese Community Association called for an independent investigation --- the death is currently under scrutiny by the province's police watchdog agency, the Independent Investigation Unit. They also called for programs to help immigrants and people with mental illness but it was the call for an apology that stood out. The Sudanese community wants "an apology from WPS for portraying Machuar Madut as a criminal who was attempting a break in and enter when the fact was he lived in the building and was shot in his own apartment," according to a list of demands released after the rally. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Madut had difficulty with the English language and his fellow Sudanese community in the city have described him as a peaceful man who suffered from mental health issues. He had separated from his wife, who has moved to Vancouver with their three children. Several speakers drew parallels between the shooting here and American confrontations where black men have been shot dead by police. An Indigenous women who said her name was Black Turtle Woman said there's a need for police to wear digital cameras that can record incidents. "Body cams would clear up a whole lot of misunderstandings." Despite heated rhetoric, the event was peaceful. They crowd moved to let vehicles drive through. A cardboard box of coffee and stacks of cups sat on the sidewalk, next to another box filled with T-shirts with the slogan: "Machur Madut: A Mental Health Intervention Not a Bullet." Many in the crowd donned the shirts over their winter coats. Some held placards and photos. "We'll allow them to stand outside and say whatever it is they feel they need to say," Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Tammy Skrabek told reporters today. "We asked that they don't impede access to the building." alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca The compensation offer has arrived a bit late 96 years too late, to be exact. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The compensation offer has arrived a bit late 96 years too late, to be exact. The United Kingdom has offered payments worth about $34,000 to surviving British Home Children to compensate for its flawed policy of sending destitute children abroad as farm labourers and servants in the 1800s and 1900s. SUPPLIED PHOTO Art Wilding in military uniform. My grandfather was one of them. He died in 1923. Too bad Art Wilding missed out on the money he could have used it. As an adult, he worked as a fireman on passenger trains in southern Ontario. He died at age 39 of tuberculosis at the Toronto Free Hospital for the Consumptive Poor. He left a widow and six children. The youngest, my mother, was one month old. Art was a boy from South London sent to work on a farm in southern Ontario at age 10 in 1893. I dont know what hardships he may have endured, though at least one inspection report described him as "not thriving." For his descendants, the real tragedy of his being a Home Child is that his history was ignored, then lost, like the pasts of so many of the 100,000 such children sent to Canada. There are records from Fegan Homes, the agency that handled Art. But they dont tell much of a story. We dont know for certain why he ended up in Canada or even who his parents were. My mother once thought Art was an orphan. But that was a common mistake made about most of the Home Children. There are a few threads. Art can be traced to a household in Victorian London, showing up as a "nephew" sometime after Jane Foster, a young factory worker from Manchester, became a boarder there. Art returned to Britain as a soldier in the First World War. Jane came to Canada at the same time Art came home after the war. She lived with my grandfather and his family until her death a year later. The head of the London household was James Hampton, a married man, 29 years older than Jane. James later married Jane in 1890. Why did the married couple turn over young Art to Fegan Homes? It doesnt match with what is known about them. James was a charitable man. He founded a mission for the aged and infirm blind of London and was credited with helping 6,000 blind people over 30 years. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Maybe it was just poverty. Another clue is that Jane, widowed and age 60, was living in a workhouse in London in 1919 before coming to Canada. Whatever the story, there is no denying Art contributed to Canada, like all the British Home Children. More than 10 per cent of Canadians are descended from Home Children, though many dont even know it. The true story of these children has come to light only in recent years. A lot has been subsequently written and recorded about the subject. There has been some recognition of their role and what they endured. There is even an official national British Home Child Day, Sept. 28 each year. The British government now acknowledges this was a shameful episode in the countrys history. But much more can be done. The compensation offer wont help the 99.9 per cent of British Home Children who are long since departed. But recording their stories and giving them their proper place in Canadas history would be a good way to repay them. Bob Cox is the publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press. For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Wednesday was a disaster whose epic proportions will take a while to be fully understood. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/2/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Wednesday was a disaster whose epic proportions will take a while to be fully understood. If the testimony of former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould before the House of Commons justice committee is to be believed, what was laid bare Wednesday was a calculated and systematic attempt, by the prime minister and his most senior officials, to undermine judicial process for partisan political purposes and then to deceive the Canadian public about the nature and magnitude of the interference. Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press FILES Vancouver-Granville MP Jody Wilson-Raybould In nearly four hours of testimony that was meticulously prepared, deeply detailed, unflappably delivered and impenetrable to those who sought to challenge its substance, Ms. Wilson-Raybould succeeded in presenting herself as someone who should be believed. And in so doing, she essentially cast as opportunistic liars Mr. Trudeau and staffers in the Prime Ministers Office who had previously sought to declare their dealings with the former attorney general, in relation to the prosecution of the Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, as acceptable in both legal and ethical terms. Quite frankly, its difficult to imagine a way in which Wednesday could have unfolded more badly for Mr. Trudeau. The leader of the official Opposition has declared to the surprise of absolutely no one that the PM has lost the moral authority to govern and that he should resign, dissolve Parliament and call an immediate federal election. What is surprising is that a number of political commentators across the country have come to the same conclusion. When he swung his feet out of bed on Thursday morning, Mr. Trudeau found himself standing on decidedly shaky ground. The headlines were damning; the endless newspaper column inches dedicated to covering Wednesdays hearing described "a consistent and sustained effort" to pressure Ms. Wilson-Raybould "in an inappropriate effort to secure a deferred prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin," government officials who were "treading on dangerous ground" with their persistent demands, and "veiled threats" of consequences if she refused to comply with the PMOs wishes. Ms. Wilson-Raybould was, of course, subsequently demoted from her senior post and soon thereafter resigned from cabinet. Ms. Wilson-Rayboulds testimony detailed four months of meetings and phone conversations that included frequent inappropriate references to potential job losses in Quebec if SNC-Lavalin were to relocate to Britain, pressure created by a looming shareholders meeting in Montreal, and the possible effect the prosecution could have on Liberal fortunes in Quebecs provincial election. The only thing left for the PM to do in the aftermath was what he did at the outset of this controversy: deny and deflect. "I strongly maintain, as I have from the beginning, that I and my staff always acted appropriately and professionally," Mr. Trudeau said late Wednesday. "I therefore completely disagree with the former attorney generals characterization of events." Given the broader context of the days events, it was not a convincing declaration. And what many Canadians would rather hear the PM declare is whether his government stands for the rule of law or the protection of regional economic interests in an effort to maintain political power. Clearly, he will not accede to Mr. Scheers demand that he resign, but he should be concerned by the Opposition leaders request for the RCMP to launch a criminal investigation. And he owes Canadians more than the tepid observation that it will be up to the federal ethics commissioner to decide whos telling the truth. Its time for Mr. Trudeau to come clean. China becomes world's second largest country of organ donation and transplant (Photo/Xinhua) China has become the worlds second largest country of organ donation and transplant in 2018, Wuhan Evening News reported Thursday. By the end of 2018, China recorded 21,000 cases of posthumous organ donation and more than 60,000 transplant operations, with over 58,000 major organs donated, according to the countrys health authority. Further data from the China Organ Donation Administrative Center showed that more than 992,000 voluntary organ donors had registered across the country by the end of January this year. In 2018 alone, China saw more than 6,300 posthumous organ donation cases with 182 qualified hospitals conducting 20,201 organ transplant operations, an increase of 21 percent year on year. Huang Jiefu, director of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee, said that China would cover transplants of major organs such as kidney, liver and heart with health insurance before 2020. The UN Security Council is set to consider conflicting resolutions on the situation in Venezuela from the United States and Russia, diplomatic sources said here Wednesday. The US recognizes Juan Guaido, the leader of Venezuelas opposition-controlled National Assembly, as the oil-rich nations acting president, while Russia supports incumbent head of state Nicolas Maduro . Both texts have been circulated among the 15 members and the council is likely to take up the competing resolutions in a single session on Thursday, the sources said. The US draft, seen by EFE, calls for the start of a peaceful political process in Venezuela that leads to free, fair and credible presidential elections and urges UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to employ his good offices toward that end. Washington regards the May 2018 ballot that brought Maduro second term to be illegitimate. The document likewise insists on the need to avoid a worsening of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela and demands that the Maduro government allow the entry of US aid stockpiled in neighboring Brazil and Colombia. Russias draft warns against the use of force against the Maduro administration and emphasizes the principles of national sovereignty and non-interference in countries domestic affairs. The US is in the vanguard of the roughly 50 countries, including the major European powers except Italy, that have recognized Guaido since he proclaimed himself interim president on Jan. 23. Russia, a major ally of Venezuela, has stood by Maduro and denounced what Moscow describes as an attempt to impose regime change on the South American nation. To pass the Security Council, a resolution must secure nine votes, and the US draft appears capable of meeting that threshold. But each of the five Permanent Members - the US, Russia, China, France and Britain - has the power to veto a resolution and Moscow is sure to block Washingtons text. Tuesdays emergency Security Council session on Venezuela, requested by Washington, featured a sharp exchange between a US senior official and the Venezuelan foreign minister. We call on the members of the Security Council to join us in meeting the growing needs in Venezuela and the region. We call on member states to consider what resources and tools they have to contribute to Venezuelan democracy and to pressure the illegitimate Maduro regime to peacefully step down, the US special representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said. He said that the world should back Guaido and address the destabilizing results of Maduros corrupt, fraudulent and incompetent reign, which just this weekend brought instability and violence to the borders of Brazil and Colombia. Abrams was referring to clashes that occurred Saturday as Guaido supporters tried to force their way into Venezuela with US-donated aid rejected by Maduro as a stalking horse for military invention. Four people died on the Brazilian border and more than 200 others were injured in disturbances on the boundary with Colombia. In his remarks, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza asked the Security Council to pass a resolution rejecting the threat and the use of force against his country. Citing what he described as US preparations for war in Venezuela, he urged the council to exclude that option completely, after Abrams reiterated Washingtons all options are on the table position. The foreign minister said that the violence last weekend on the Colombian border was initiated by Guaido supporters who accompanied the trucks loaded with aid, emphasizing that most of the wounded were members of the Venezuelan security forces. That was the last chapter in the coup on Saturday, he said, before directly addressing Abrams in English: Read my lips - it failed. Now is the time for us to return to sanity. Challenging a decades-old custom, samba school Academicos do Sossego has selected a man instead of a woman to act as flag-bearer when the troupe parades through the Rio de Janeiro sambadrome for this years Carnival. Anderson Morango acknowledged to EFE that not everybody in the fiercely traditional world of the Rio Carnival is happy about Sossegos decision. Until the 1940s, the samba processions were a men-only affair, but in the modern era, only once before this year has there been a male flag-bearer. In 2014, famous choreographer Carlinhos de Jesus played the role in the guise of Ubaldo, thought to be the first-ever flag-bearer in the history of Brazilian Carnival. I faced a lot of things, a lot of discrimination, Morango told EFE, crediting his inner strength and encouragement from friends and supporters for preventing him from turning down the flag-bearer role. The tall, muscular Afro-Brazilian with a contagious smile says that he lives and breathes Carnival. Now 38, Morango has been involved with Carnival for two decades, initially as the protege of Giovanna Justos, now the flag-bearer for samba school Sao Clemente. He started by driving Justos to performances and assisting with her costumes and makeup. He was never apart from me, he was my right hand. A young man full of energy, she recalls. Over time, Morango went from being Justos assistant to being a performer, filling the part of the mestre-sala: the man who accompanies the flag-bearer at the head of the procession. Thats how I began. I didnt want just any role. Ive always wanted to participate in the parades in leading roles, he says. Destiny, along with Morangos grace, charisma and dancing prowess, has elevated him to the most important role. The president of Academicos do Sossego, Wallace Palhares, offered Morango the role of flag-bearer last August, after seeing him dance in a street parade. I said to him, Are youre crazy! Everyone in Sapucai (the avenue that hosts the sambadrome) is going to be against you. Youre going against an entire structure. The other flag-bearer wont accept me. To which he responded this is my school and Im the one in charge, Morango recounts. For the parade, the openly gay Morango will wear a costume based on the rainbow flag of the LGBT community. His mestre-sala, Wladimir Bulhoes, will be clad as a soldier. The Independent Investor: Veterans on Receiving End of Trump Administration In the 2019 fiscal budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs received more than $200 billion in spending. That's a 6 percent increase over last year and counts as the largest amount ever received by the VA. The money will go a long way in implementing an array of much-needed reforms. There will be $400 million earmarked for preventing opioid abuse. As you might imagine, veterans are a high-risk group since opioids are used extensively in treating wartime casualties. An additional $1.1 billion will jump-start the overhaul of the VA's electronic health records, while $1.75 billion will go to implementing the VA Mission Act. That money will revamp and re-write the veteran's community care programs, which allows for an entire array of new health care choices for the veteran. This will boost the vet's ability to access private health care at taxpayers' expenses. On the education front, the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act will help to right some past wrongs inflicted on Post-9/11 GI bill users. Last year, there was a series of technology glitches at the Department of Veterans Affairs that resulted in delayed and inaccurate payments for many thousands of vets attending college. In many cases, the government was not paying the tuition costs, or if they were, the payments were delayed. GI students were being hit from all sides. Schools were charging them late fees, preventing them from access to campus facilities, or were not allowing them to register for their next semester. As vets scrambled to pay the tuition shortfalls, money for mortgage and rents were in short supply causing even more late fees to accrue. Some schools were urging veterans to take out loans to cover future tuition costs. It was a mess. The new act puts an end to these practices and demands that schools cease and desist if they want to continue to enroll students who are using the GI Bill. As for the late payments the vets incurred, the new Forever GI Bill Housing Payment Fulfillment Act is holding the VA accountable for fixing these past payment snafus. The act creates a team of experts to oversee these reimbursements and report back to Congress on their progress every 90 days. There are many more initiatives, from helping homeless vets to finding jobs to transitioning returning soldiers into civilian life, but you get the point. As for me personally, until recently, I stayed well clear of the VA. The harrowing stories I read and heard about the bureaucracy, slovenly and overcrowded facilities and atrocious health-care services kept me far away from seeking their help. However, times are changing and so has my attitude of late. There is some talk of actually turning over the health care of veterans to the private sector if things don't improve within the VA. I decided to experiment and visit my local VA medical center for a physical. I was blown away by the level of competence and professionalism I encountered. From the doctor who examined me, Dr. John Hickey at the Pittsfield Outpatient Clinic, to the nurse who took my blood pressure, to the receptionist, and everyone in between, the service and care was equivalent to, if not better than anything I have experienced in the private sector. My appointments were sent via phone and messaging. My health records are securely stored, new information is automatically updated in their electronic systems and my next appointment scheduled and recorded. And it is not just the VA Medical Center. My local VA representative returns phone calls within a day and answers emails within hours. In my opinion, there is a new "can do" attitude from top to bottom in the VA. So, it is time to give credit where credit is due. Helping the veterans was one of the president's campaign promises. Bravo, Mr. President for a job well done. Keep up the good work. 9 hours ago Three Techs To Buy Before Santa Comes To Town These Tech IPOs Are A Buy Before Christmas This year has been a busy one for IPOs and the activity is staying strong right through the end of the year. Often times the best time to buy a newly IPOd stock is after the initial quiet period ends and that is no different with the three we have today. Read Article Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. researches, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes regenerative medicine products in the United States. Its products include Grafix and Stravix for treating chronic wounds of diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, arterial ulcers, and severe burns, as well as surgical and trauma wounds; BIO4 for bone repair and regeneration in spine, trauma, extremity, cranial, and foot and ankle surgeries; and Cartiform for treating articular cartilage lesions in the knee and other joints. The company also develops and markets Menvivo for the repair of meniscus; and TruSkin for treating chronic wounds. It markets and distributes its products directly to physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers, as well as through agents and distributors. Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), 2nd Road, ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Limited, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! 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Ltd., Cimation, Cirrus Connect Australia Pty Ltd, Cirrus Connect Limited, Cirruseo, Clarity Insights, Clearhead, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas Japan G.K., Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Limited, Cloudeasier SAS, Cloudpoint Limited, Cloudsherpas Inc, Cloudworks, Cloudworks Consulting Services Inc, Cloudworks Technology LLC, Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda, Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda, Context Information Security, Context Information Security LLC, Context Information Security Limited, CoreCompete LLC, CoreCompete Limited, CoreCompete Private Limited, Corliant Inc., Creative Drive LLC, Creative Drive US LLC, CreativeDrive, CreativeDrive Digital Content Services (Shenzhen) Co Ltd., CreativeDrive EMEA Limited, CreativeDrive Singapore Pte Ltd, CreativeDrive UK Group Limited, Cutting Edge Solutions Limited, Cygni AB, Cygni Norrsken AB, Cygni Stockholm AB, Cygni Syd AB, Cygni Vast AB, Cygni Ost AB, Cygni Ostersund AB, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Limited, DI Futures Corporation, Data Essential SARL, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings LLC, Decora Marketplace LLC, Decorado Marketplace Ltda-EPP, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digital Results Group LLC, Double Digit Limitada, Double Digit Pty SA, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Limited, Duck Creek Technologies, ESR Labs, ESR Labs AG, EdenOne Solutions Limited, Edenhouse ERP Holdings Limited, Edenhouse Solutions Limited, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting LP, End to End Analytics LLC, End-to-End Analytics, Endorphin Medici (M) Sdn Bhd, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Limited, EnergyQuote JHA, Enimbos, Enimbos Global Services S.L., Enkitec, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions LLC, 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, Enthusian Pty Ltd, Entropia, Entropia (M) Sdn Bhd, Entropia Holdings Pte Ltd, Entropia Intercraft Sdn Bhd, Epylon, Espedia S.r.l., Ethica Consulting Group, Ethica Consulting S.p.A., Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Experity, Exton Consulting, Exton Consulting Spain Strategy&Management S.L., Exton Germany GmbH, Exton International SAS, Exton Italia S.r.l., Exton SAS, FGM LLC, Fairway Technologies Inc, Farah BidCo Limited, Farah MidCo Limited, Farah Topco Limited, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Formicary, Fruendo S.r.l., FusionX, Future State Consulting LLC, FutureMove (Beijing) Automotive Technology Co. Ltd., FutureMove Automotive, FutureMove Automotive Co. Ltd., GRA Supply Chain Pty Ltd, Gagel Group S de R.L. de C.V., Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gevity, Gren utvikling AS, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hahntel Ltda, Halo Partners LLC, Hamilton Holding Company S.A, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Happen GP Limited, Happen Limited, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl A/S, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IBB Consulting, ICM.S S.r.l., IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INSITUM, IQSP Consulting LLC, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Icon Integration (NZ) Limited, Icon Integration Pty Ltd, Imagine Broadband (USA) Limited, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Imaginea Technologies LLC, Industrie IT (Hong Kong) Ltd, Industrie IT (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Industrie IT Group Pty Ltd, Industrie IT Pty Ltd, Industrie&Co, Infinity Works Consulting Limited, Infinity Works Holdings Limited, Infinity Works Management Limited, Infinity Works Midco Limited, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Innotec International EAD, Innotec International S.p. z.o.o., Innotec Marketing GmbH, Innotec Marketing International Ireland Limited, Innotec- Marketing Spain S.L, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., International Biometric Group LLC, International Biometric Group UK Limited, Intrepid, Intrepid Futureworks Sdn Bhd, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Technology Ltd, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, ItSafer Continuity Services S.L., JKD Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, K Comms Group Limited, KSC Studio LLC, 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 Limited, Kogentix Singapore Pte Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LINKBYNET Indian Ocean (L.I.O) Ltd, LabAnswer, Lexta GmbH, Lexta UK Limited, Lien par le reseau Inc, Lien par le reseau infrastructures Inc, Lin Bo (Shanghai) Network Technology Co. Ltd., Link By Net SAS, Link By Net SRL, Link By Net Vietnam Company Limited, Linkbynet East Asia Ltd, Linkbynet Singapore Pte Ltd., Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, Lumenup S.A., MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte Ltd, Mackevision UK Limited, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd, Maihiro, Matter, Maud Corp Pty Ltd, Maxamine International, Measuretek LLC, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing LLC, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mistral Wind Operations Servicos Empresariais Unipessoal Lda., MobGen, Mortgage Cadence LLC, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, Mudano Limited, Myrtle Consulting Group LLC, N3 (Dalian) Business Consulting Co. Ltd., N3 Brazil Consultoria em Marketing Ltda, N3 Germany GmbH, N3 LLC, N3 North America LLC, N3 Results Australia Pty Ltd, N3 Results Ireland Limited, N3 Results Japan G.K., N3 Results Limited, N3 Results Malaysia Sdn Bhd, N3 Results Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., N3 Results S.A.S., N3 Results Singapore Pte Ltd, N3 Results Unipessoal Lda, NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., Nell'Armonia Israel Ltd, Nell'Armonia SAS, Nell'Participation SAS, NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda, New Energy Group, News Imaging LLC, NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage Pte Ltd, Northstream, Novetta Holdings LLC, Novetta LLC, Novetta Solutions LLC, Novetta Topco LLC, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Olikka Pty Ltd, Openmind, Openmind S.r..l., Openminded, Openminded SAS, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium AG, Orbium Consulting Limited, Orbium Inc., Orbium Ltd, Orbium Pte Ltd, Orbium Pty Ltd, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PLM Systems S.r.l, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, PacificLink Group, Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production A/S, Pegasus Production K/S, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pollux Automation Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pollux Canada Inc, Pollux S.A.S., Pollux USA LLC, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Limited, Pramati Technologies Europe Limited, Pramati Technologies Private Limited, Presence of IT Workforce Management North America LLC, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Limited, Procurian Inc., Prof. Homburg GmbH, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co. Ltd., RBCP Fund 1-A Vapor Blocker LLC, RBCP Platform Vapor Blocker I LLC, REPL Consulting LLC, REPL Consulting Limited, REPL Digital Limited, REPL Group K.K., REPL Group Pty Ltd, REPL Group Worldwide Limited, REPL Pte Ltd, REPL Software Limited, REPL Technology Limited, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Root LLC, Rothco, Rothco Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SALT Solutions GmbH, SEC Servizi, SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Salt Solutions, Sandbox Studio LLC, Sapling Bidco Limited, Sapling Midco Limited, Sapling Topco Limited, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Search Technologies BPO Inc, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Securiview SAS, Sentelis, Sentor Managed Secuirty Services AB, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Seven Seas Business Ventures LLC, Shackleton, Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton S.L.U., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., SigInt Technologies LLC, Silveo, Silveo Consulting India Private Limited, Simian Pty Ltd, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, Sirvart S.A., Sistemes Consulting S.L., Skylink SAS, Soltians Limited, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Somers Ventures Ireland Limited, Somers Ventures LLC, Spacelink SAS, Storm Digital, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Synership LLC, Systor AG, TXF LLC, TargetST8, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Ltd, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Tquila, Trivadis, Trivadis Austria GmbH, Trivadis Denmark AS, Trivadis Germany GmbH, Trivadis Holding AG, Trivadis Partner AG, Trivadis Services AG, Trivadis Services SRL, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Vector Acquisition Company LLC, Vector Topco LLC, Verax Solutions, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd, Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, WaveStrike LLC, White Cliffs Consulting LLC, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wise Partners SAS, Wolox, Wolox Colombia S.A.S, Wolox LLC, Wolox Mexico S.R.L de C.V., Wolox S.A., Wolox SpA, Workforce Insight, Workforce Insight LLC, Yesler, Yesler LLC, Yesler Limited, Yesler Singapore Pte Ltd, Zag, Zag Australia Pty Ltd, Zag Limited, Zag USA LLC, Zebra Worldwide Australia Pty Ltd, Zebra Worldwide Group Limited, Zebra Worldwide Media Pty Ltd, Zenta, 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, solid-serVision.com GmbH, and umlaut. Wells Fargo & Co. is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance. It firm operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Wealth & Investment Management, and Other. The Community Banking segment offers complete line of diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses including checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and automobile, student, and small business lending. The Wholesale Banking segment provides financial solutions to businesses across the United States and globally. The Wealth and Investment Management segment includes personalized wealth management, investment and retirement products and services to clients across U.S. based businesses. The Other segment refers to the products of WIM customers served through community banking distribution channels. The company was founded by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo on March 18, 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Read More Associated British Foods plc operates as a diversified food, ingredients, and retail company worldwide. It operates through five segments: Grocery, Sugar, Agriculture, Ingredients, and Retail. The Grocery segment manufactures and sells grocery products, including hot beverages, sugar and sweeteners, vegetable oils, balsamic vinegars, bread and baked goods, cereals, ethnic foods, and meat products to retail, wholesale, and foodservice businesses. The Sugar segment is involved in growing, processing, and sale of sugar beet and sugar cane to industrial users. The Agriculture segment manufactures and sells animal feeds; and provides other products and services for the agriculture sector. The Ingredients segment manufactures bakers' yeast, bakery ingredients, enzymes, lipids, yeast extracts, and cereal specialties. The Retail segment is involved in buying and merchandising clothing and accessories through the Primark and Penneys retail chains, which offer womenswear, menswear, children's wear, footwear, accessories, homeware, and skincare products. The company was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Associated British Foods plc is a subsidiary of Wittington Investments Limited. Read More ConocoPhillips engages in the exploration, production, transportation and marketing of crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and liquefied natural gas on a worldwide basis. It operates through the following geographical segments: Alaska; Lower 48; Canada; Europe, Middle East and North Africa; Asia Pacific; and Other International. The Alaska segment primarily explores for produces, transports and markets crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The Lower 48 segment consists of operations in the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment is comprised of oil sands development in the Athabasca Region of northeastern Alberta and a liquids-rich unconventional play in western Canada. The Europe, Middle East and North Africa segment consists of operations and exploration activities in Norway, the United Kingdom and Libya. The Asia Pacific segment has explorations and product operations in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. The Other International segment handles exploration activities in Columbia and Argentina. The company was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Houston, TX. Read More Arconic Corporation manufactures and sells aluminum sheets, plates, extrusions, and architectural products in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia, and the United Kingdom. It operates through three segments: Rolled Products, Extrusions, and Building and Construction Systems. The Rolled Products segment provides a range of aluminum sheet and plate products for ground transportation, aerospace, industrial, and packaging markets; and roofing, architectural composite panels, ventilated facades and ceiling panels, spacers, culvert pipes, and gutters for building and construction markets. The Extrusions segment offers extruded products, including aerospace shapes, automotive shapes, seamless tubes, hollows, mortar fins, and high strength rods and bars for ground transportation, aerospace, and industrial markets. The Building and Construction Systems segment provides various products and building envelope solutions, such as entrances, curtain walls, windows, composite panels, and coil coated sheets for fabricators and glazing subcontractors under the Kawneer, Reynobond, and Reynolux brands. The company offers its products directly to customers, as well as through distributors. The company was formerly known as Arconic Rolled Products Corporation and changed its name to Arconic Corporation in Arpil 2020. Arconic Corporation was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read More Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions Read More Sarah Sutro uses Japanese ink pens to create highly detailed works of ink on paper, left, and Dorothea Osborn works across media to produce works reflecting nature and human relationship to nature. Biz Briefs: Tunnel City Coffee Hosts Art Show Coffee shop art Tunnel City Coffee in Mass MoCA hosts artists Sarah Sutro and Dorothea Osborn for a winter show of ink drawings and large scale paintings through March. Sutro's black and white drawings express spirituality, humor, ideas and nature with ink patterns created with handmade and Japanese ink pens. Osborn's work reflects microscopic biologic fragments in macro-scale brush strokes. All work is available for in-store purchase. Sutro works in detail, giving a fluid sense of order to tiny ink points, like flocks of birds swinging in unison. "My current black and white ink drawings express patterns and energies of the human and natural worlds, a symbiotic relationship that is always in a tenuous balance," Sutro said. She was a finalist for MA artist foundation grants and participated in a residency at the American Academy in Rome, among others. Osborn works across several media types netting, tape, feathers and wood provide accent and backdrop to paintings, drawings and sculpture. Her works can be worlds apart from each other but constant in their employment of captivating color. "Experiences in and with nature are at the forefront of my artistic practice," she said. "Everything from color, mark-making, layers, form, are a reflection on nature and our current relationship to it Through the duality of abstraction and representation, the work creates moments of intimacy and distance." New bank website Berkshire Bank has launched a new website, developed in collaboration with ZAG Interactive, aimed at improving the user experience by being more consumer-focused and easier to navigate. The new website is designed to help customers at every step from relevant resources on specific project pages to a solution finder that connects common customer needs with related products and services. The site also conforms to current ADA guidelines, making visitor usability a priority. Along with a refreshed design, the fully mobile-friendly site provides a seamless experience for customers to access their banking needs anytime, anywhere. Key benefits of the new site include: a fully mobile-friendly site that provides a seamless experience on a desktop, mobile device and tablet; improved user experience that is simple and easy to navigate, allowing customers to spend less time searching and more time learning about Berkshire Banks exciting products and services; and a new and improved look and feel offering a seamless experience interacting with the bank's "Life is exciting. Let us help" brand The new website embraces Berkshire Bank's colors and captures the bank's character through custom design elements. To create excitement and bring out the brand, the new website design uses relatable photography, iconography and subtle animation to position the bank as a leading financial institution committed to its local communities. The website was designed in coordination with ZAG Interactive, a full-service digital agency based in Glastonbury, Conn. Lab reaccreditation Members of the Laboratory team at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, a part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, gathered in celebration of their reaccreditation. Sitting, left to right, are Cherie Jacobs, Kim Lafontaine and Barb Faulkner. Standing, left to right, are Keith DeHaas, Tom Gallina, Erik Rhebb, Robin Lafountain, Karrie Taylor, Lisa Taber, Samantha Hartman, Terry Downey, Margaret Comar, Dr. Marianne Demarco, Pauline Violette, and Karen Bond. Members of the Laboratory team at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, a part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, gathered in celebration of their recent reaccreditation. The lab has two accrediting agencies, the New York State Department of Health and College of American Pathologists). Both agencies reaccredited the lab in late 2018 and early 2019. During the CAP accreditation process, which is designed to ensure the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients, inspectors examine laboratory records and quality control procedures for the preceding two years. CAP inspectors also examine laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and record, and overall management. The Lab and Pathology Departments of SVMC are located inside Southwestern Vermont Medical Center at 100 Hospital Drive in Bennington. The lab is open for patients to have blood drawn from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays. For information, call 802- 442-6361. Equity Builder Program participation The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank has been selected to participate in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's Equity Builder Program, which assists local homebuyers with down-payment and closing costs as well as homebuyer counseling and rehabilitation assistance. The $3.6 million program provides grants to financial institutions to assist households at or below 80 percent of the area median income. Borrowers are eligible to receive up to $15,000 in assistance on a first come, first serve basis. Buyers must also complete a homebuyer counseling program. The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank is eligible to receive up to $150,000 in 2019 through the Equity Builder Program depending on availability of funds. Since 2003, the Equity Builder Program has awarded more than $38.8 million in EBP funds assisting 3,512 income-eligible households to purchase a home. To learn more about applying for assistance, call 413-629-1610. 'Massachusetts Maple Month' Gov. Charles Baker on Friday declared March as "Massachusetts Maple Month," continuing the commonwealth's support of maple producers and encouraging Massachusetts residents to purchase locally produced maple products. To kick off Maple Month, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner John Lebeaux was joined by state Sen. Eric Lesser and agricultural officials at Ferrindino Maple in Hampden for a ceremonial sugar maple tree tapping. Massachusetts is home to approximately 300 maple syrup producers, including many who are open to the public throughout the sugaring season. Last year more than 72,000 gallons of maple syrup was produced, and Massachusetts maple producers sales each year contribute more than $6 million to the commonwealth's economy. The maple industry employs more than 1,000 workers and Massachusetts sugar makers steward more than 15,000 acres of woodland. Career and Internship Fair Southern Vermont College will host its annual Spring Career and Internship Fair on Thursday, March 7, from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Everett Mansions Burgdorff Gallery. The fair will be an opportunity for those seeking employment, career information, internship possibilities, and more. This free event is open to the general public, students from other area colleges, and current students and alumni from Southern Vermont College. Representatives from the following local and regional industries, law enforcement offices, state agencies, health sites, and nonprofit organizations will be available: Albany County Sheriff's Office; Bennington Rescue Squad; Berkshire Family and Individual Resources; Brattleboro Retreat; Nationwide; Scribe America; Seedlings After School Program; Sunrise Family Resource Center; Vermont Country Store; Vermont Department of Labor; and Warren, Washington and Albany ARC. Employers interested in participating or for more information, please contact Southern Vermont College Director of Career Development and Internships Betsy Dunham at 802-447-4631 or send an e-mail. Boot camp for nonprofits The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires is holding a one-day "Nonprofit Boot Camp" on Thursday, March 14, for new, young and small nonprofits in need of a tune-up. The event takes place at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge and covers the basics of nonprofit management including governance, fundraising, and best practices. Lead presenter Susan Nicholl addresses topics through a combination of facilitator-led instruction and interactive discussion. Local experts also lead sessions on topics such as legal and insurance best practices. Aimed at directors, board members, and volunteer leaders who want to build a solid foundation or address gaps, this day-long session presents an opportunity for staff and board to attend together. Attendees will leave with a binder containing templates, sample descriptions, articles, and other resources to guide them in the coming months. Attending organizations will also have a free hour of phone consultation with Nicholl, good anytime in 2019, to help their organization past any hurdles. Nicholl has served as a management consultant for the Institute for Nonprofit Development in Central Massachusetts and was instrumental in launching and establishing the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network as its first and sole staff member. She has served as the past chair of the MetroWest Nonprofit Network and as a former editor of massnonprofit.org. She has worked professionally with boards of directors at more than three dozen organizations, providing consultation focused on re-energizing and growing small organizations, as principal of The Governance Group. The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires helps nonprofits connect, learn and grow. Boot Camp attendance is $125 for the primary participant and $75 for each additional participant from a nonprofit organization. For more information or to register, go online. Panel discussion on hiring Berkshire Money Management, in partnership with the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, will host a panel discussion at the BMM offices in the Berkshires in Dalton on Thursday, April 11, at 4 p.m. Berkshire Money Management CEO Allen Harris will be joined by AIM HR Solutions Vice President of Business Development Beth Yohai, Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing CEO Shawn Kinney and Canyon Ranch General Manager Mindi Morin to discuss the challenges of hiring and keeping valuable employees in a tough marketplace. The panel will be moderated by longtime Berkshire media host John Krol and will be aired on Facebook Live on the "John Krol Show." "Finding the right talent is harder than ever. Given the tight labor market, talent acquisition and retention remains a top priority for HR departments," Yohai said. "According to the 2018-2019 AIM HR Practices Report, 42 percent of respondents are recruiting for more positions than the prior year." This event is free and open to business owners, industry leaders, decision makers, and the media. Registration is required online. Doors to the newly renovated offices at the Model Farm at 161 Main St., Dalton, will open at 3:30 p.m., and the hourlong panel will begin at 4 p.m. Attendees are invited to stay and network after the panel. 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. Equinox Gold Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral deposits. The company's principal properties include the Aurizona project covering a total land package of approximately 223,160 hectares located in Maranhao State, Brazil; and the Castle Mountain property situated in California, the United States. It primarily explores for gold, copper, and silver deposits. The company was formerly known as Trek Mining Inc. and changed its name to Equinox Gold Corp. in December 2017. Equinox Gold Corp. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Read More Everest Re Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of reinsurance and insurance services. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Reinsurance, International, Bermuda, and Insurance. The U.S. Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, including marine, aviation, surety, and accident and health business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies primarily within the U.S. The International segment offers foreign property and casualty reinsurance through Everest Re's branches in Canada and Singapore and through offices in Brazil, Miami, and New Jersey. The Bermuda segment comprises reinsurance and insurance to worldwide property and casualty markets through brokers and directly with ceding companies from its Bermuda office and reinsurance to the United Kingdom and European markets through its UK branch and Ireland Re. The Insurance segment writes property and casualty insurance directly and through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents within the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartere Read More Genworth Financial, Inc. is a financial services company, which engages in the provision of insurance, wealth management, investment and financial solutions. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Mortgage Insurance, Australia Mortgage Insurance, U.S. Life Insurance, and Runoff. The U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment offers mortgage insurance products predominantly insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans. The Australia Mortgage Insurance segment offers flow mortgage insurance and selectively provides bulk mortgage insurance that aids in the sale of mortgages to the capital markets and helps lenders manage capital and risk. The U.S. Life Insurance segment offers long-term care insurance products as well as service traditional life insurance and fixed annuity products in the United States. The Runoff segment includes the results of non-strategic products which are no longer actively sold but continue to service its existing blocks of business. Its non-strategic products primarily include variable annuity, variable life insurance, institutional, corporate-owned life insurance and other accident and health insurance products. The company was fo Read More GNC Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of health, wellness, and performance products. The company operates through three segments: U.S. and Canada, International, and Manufacturing/Wholesale. Its products include proteins, performance supplements, weight management supplements, vitamins, herbs and greens, wellness supplements, health and beauty products, food and drink products, and other general merchandise. The company also provides third-party contract manufacturing services. It sells its products under the GNC proprietary brands, as well as under third-party brands. As of December 31, 2018, the company had approximately 8,400 locations of which approximately 6,200 retail locations in the United States and franchise operations in approximately 50 countries. It sells its products through company-owned retail stores and its Website GNC.com, as well as third-party Websites; wholesale partnerships; and domestic and international franchise activities. GNC Holdings, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holding Co., Ltd. and International Vitamin Corporation. The company was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read More Bridgepoint Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides postsecondary education services in the United States. Its academic institutions, Ashford University and University of the Rockies, offer associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs in the disciplines of business, education, psychology, social sciences, and health sciences. The company offers its programs primarily through online; and at its campuses. As of December 31, 2017, its institutions offered approximately 1,200 courses and 80 degree programs; and had 45,730 students enrolled. The company was formerly known as TeleUniversity, Inc. and changed its name to Bridgepoint Education, Inc. in February 2004. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Diego, California. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Kroger: 84.51 HQ Building Company LLC, 84.51 LLC, Alpha Beta Company, Ansonborough Square Investors I LLC, Ansonborough Square Retail LLC, Ardrey Kell Investments LLC, Bay Area Warehouse Stores Inc., Beech Tree Holdings LLC, Bell Markets Inc., Bleecker Ventures LLC, Bluefield Beverage Company, Box Cutter Inc., Brier Creek Arbors Drive Retail LLC, CB&S Advertising Agency Inc., Cala Co., Cala Foods Inc., Cheeses of All Nations Inc., Country Oven Inc., Crawford Stores Inc., Creedmoor Retail LLC, Dillon Companies LLC, Dillon Real Estate Co. Inc., Dillons, Distribution Trucking Company, Dotto Inc., Edgewood Plaza Holdings LLC, Embassy International Inc., FM Inc., FMJ Inc., Farmacia Doral Inc., Food 4 Less GM Inc., Food 4 Less Holdings Inc., Food 4 Less Merchandising Inc., Food 4 Less of California Inc., Food 4 Less of Southern California Inc., Fred Meyer, Fred Meyer Inc., Fred Meyer Jewelers Inc., Fred Meyer Stores Inc., Glasswing Labs LLC, Glendale/Goodwin Realty I LLC, Grubstake Investments LLC, HT Fuel DE LLC, HT Fuel NC LLC, HT Fuel SC LLC, HT Fuel VA LLC, HTGBD LLC, HTP Bluffton LLC, HTP Plaza LLC, HTP Relo LLC, HTPS LLC, HTTAH LLC, Harris Teeter, Harris Teeter LLC, Henpil Inc., Home Chef, Hood-Clayton Logistics LLC, Hughes Markets Inc., Hughes Realty Inc., I.T.A. Inc., IRP LLC, ITAC 119 LLC, ITAC 265 LLC, Inter-American Foods Inc., Inter-American Products Inc., J.V. Distributing Inc., Jondex Corp., Jubilee Carolina LLC, KCDE 2012 LLC, KCDE 2013 LLC, KCDE-2 LLC, KCDE-3 LLC, KCDE-4 LLC, KCDE-5 LLC, KGO LLC, KPF LLC, KPS LLC, KRGP LLC, KRLP Inc., KV Anderson LLC, Kee Trans Inc., Kessel FP, Kiosk Medicine Kentucky LLC, Kirkpatrick West Retail LLC, Kroger Community Development Entity LLC, Kroger Dedicated Logistics Co., Kroger Fulfillment Network LLC, Kroger G.O. LLC, Kroger LM Real Estate Holdings LLC, Kroger Limited Partnership I, Kroger Limited Partnership II, Kroger MC Holdings LLC, Kroger MTL Management LLC, Kroger Management Co., Kroger Management Corryville LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Athens I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Champaign I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Champaign II LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Cincinnati I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Dallas I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Danville I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Logansport I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Missouri I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Oak Ridge I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Olney I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Omaha I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Portsmouth I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Starkville I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Topeka I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Warrenton I LLC, Kroger NMTC Fremont I LLC, Kroger OZ1 Inc., Kroger OZ1 LLC, Kroger OZ2 Inc., Kroger OZ2 LLC, Kroger OZ3 Inc., Kroger OZ3 LLC, Kroger Opportunity Fund I Inc., Kroger Prescription Plans Inc., Kroger Specialty Infusion AL LLC, Kroger Specialty Infusion CA LLC, Kroger Specialty Infusion Holdings Inc., Kroger Specialty Infusion TX LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy CA 2 LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy CA LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy FL 2 LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings 2 Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings 3 Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings I Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy LA LLC, Kroger Texas L.P., LCGP3 Home Cooking Inc., Latta Village LLC, Local Mkt LLC, Main & Vine LLC, Matthews Property 1 LLC, Mega Marts LLC, Michigan Dairy L.L.C., ModernHealth LTC, Murrays Cheese LLC, Murrays LIC LLC, Murrays Table LLC, Pace Dairy Foods Company, Paramount Logistics LLC, Pay Less Super Markets Inc., Peyton's-Southeastern Inc., Plum Labs LLC, Pontiac Foods Inc., Queen City Assurance Inc., RBF LLC, RGC Southeast Properties LLC, Ralphs Grocery Company, Relish Labs LLC, Rocket Newco Inc., Roundy's, Roundys Acquisition Corp., Roundys Illinois LLC, Roundys Inc., Roundys Supermarkets Inc., Second Story Inc., Shop-Rite LLC, Smiths Beverage of Wyoming Inc., Smiths Food & Drug Centers Inc., Southern Ice Cream Specialties Inc., Stallings Investors I LLC, Sunrise R&D Holdings LLC, Sunrise Technology LLC, TLC Corporate Services LLC, TLC Immunization Clinic LLC, TLC of Georgia LLC, The Kroger Co. of Michigan, The Little Clinic LLC, The Little Clinic Management Services LLC, The Little Clinic of Arizona LLC, The Little Clinic of Colorado LLC, The Little Clinic of IN LLC, The Little Clinic of Kansas LLC, The Little Clinic of Mississippi LLC, The Little Clinic of Ohio LLC, The Little Clinic of TX LLC, The Little Clinic of Tennessee LLC, The Little Clinic of VA LLC, Topvalco Inc., Ultimate Mart LLC, Ultra Mart Foods LLC, Vine Court Assurance Incorporated, Vitacost, Vitacost.com Inc., Woodmont Holdings LLC, and YOU Technology. Oasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, focuses on the acquisition and development of onshore unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through Exploration and Production(E&P), and Midstream segments. The E&P segment engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties. The Midstream segment offers midstream services, such as natural gas gathering, compression, processing and, gas lift supply; crude oil gathering, terminaling, and transportation; produced and flowback water gathering, and disposal; and water distribution. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 401,766 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin; and 24,396 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin, as well as approximately 152.2 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. The company sells its crude oil and natural gas to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to pipeline and rail facilities. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Johnson & Johnson: 3Dintegrated ApS, ALZA Corporation, AMO (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd., AMO ASIA LIMITED, AMO Australia Pty Limited, AMO Canada Company, AMO Denmark ApS, AMO Development LLC, AMO France, AMO Germany GmbH, AMO Groningen B.V., AMO International Holdings, AMO Ireland, AMO Ireland Finance Unlimited Company, AMO Italy SRL, AMO Japan K.K., AMO Manufacturing Spain S.L., AMO Manufacturing USA LLC, AMO Netherlands BV, AMO Nominee Holdings LLC, AMO Norway AS, AMO Puerto Rico Manufacturing Inc., AMO Sales and Service Inc., AMO Singapore Pte. Ltd., AMO Spain Holdings LLC, AMO Switzerland GmbH, AMO U.K. Holdings LLC, AMO US Holdings Inc., AMO USA LLC, AMO USA Sales Holdings Inc., AMO United Kingdom Ltd., AMO Uppsala AB, APSIS, AUB Holdings LLC, Abott Medical Optics, Acclarent Inc., Actelion Ltd, Actelion Manufacturing GmbH, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Australia Pty. Limited, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Korea Ltd., Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Mexico S.A. De C.V., Actelion Pharmaceuticals Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Actelion Pharmaceuticals UK Limited, Actelion Pharmaceuticals US Inc., Actelion Registration Limited, Actelion Treasury Unlimited Company, Akros Medical Inc., Albany Street LLC, Alios BioPharma, Alza Land Management Inc., Animas Diabetes Care LLC, Animas LLC, Animas Technologies LLC, AorTx Inc., Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Asia Pacific Holdings LLC, Atrionix Inc., Auris Health, Auris Health Inc., Backsvalan 2 Aktiebolag, Backsvalan 6 Handelsbolag, Beijing Dabao Cosmetics Co. Ltd., BeneVir BioPharm Inc., Berna Rhein B.V., BioMedical Enterprises Inc., Biosense Webster (Israel) Ltd., Biosense Webster Inc., C Consumer Products Denmark ApS, CNA Development GmbH, CSATS Inc., Calibra Medical LLC, Campus-Foyer Apotheke GmbH, Carlo Erba OTC S.r.l., Centocor Biologics LLC, Centocor Research & Development Inc., ChromaGenics B.V., Ci:Labo Customer Marketing Co. Ltd., Ci:z Holdings, Ci:z. Labo Co. Ltd., Cilag AG, Cilag GmbH International, Cilag Holding AG, Cilag Holding Treasury Unlimited Company, Cilag-Biotech S.L., CoTherix Inc., Codman & Shurtleff Inc., Coherex Medical Inc., ColBar LifeScience Ltd., Company Store.com Inc., Conor MedSystems, Cordis International Corporation, Cordis de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Corimmun GmbH, DR. CI:LABO COMPANY LIMITED, Darlain Trading S.A., DePuy France, DePuy Hellas SA, DePuy International Limited, DePuy Ireland Unlimited Company, DePuy Mexico S.A. de C.V., DePuy Mitek LLC, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., DePuy Products Inc., DePuy Spine LLC, DePuy Synthes Gorgan Limited, DePuy Synthes Inc., DePuy Synthes Institute LLC, DePuy Synthes Leto SARL, DePuy Synthes Products Inc., DePuy Synthes Sales Inc., Debs-Vogue Corporation (Proprietary) Limited, Dr. Ci:Labo Co. Ltd., Dutch Holding LLC, ECL7 LLC, EES Holdings de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EES S.A. de C.V., EIT Emerging Implant Technologies GmbH, Ethicon Biosurgery Ireland, Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Europe) GmbH, Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., Ethicon Endo-Surgery LLC, Ethicon Holding Sarl, Ethicon Inc., Ethicon Ireland Unlimited Company, Ethicon LLC, Ethicon PR Holdings Unlimited Company, Ethicon Sarl, Ethicon US LLC, Ethicon Women's Health & Urology Sarl, Ethnor (Proprietary) Limited, Ethnor Farmaceutica S.A., Ethnor Guatemala Sociedad Anomina, Ethnor del Istmo S.A., FMS Future Medical System SA, Finsbury (Development) Limited, Finsbury (Instruments) Limited, Finsbury Medical Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics International Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics Limited, GH Biotech Holdings Limited, GMED Healthcare BV, Global Investment Participation B.V., Guangzhou Bioseal Biotech Co. Ltd., Hansen Medical Deutschland GmbH, Hansen Medical Inc., Hansen Medical International Inc., Hansen Medical UK Limited, Healthcare Services (Shanghai) Ltd., I.D. Acquisition Corp., Innomedic Gesellschaft fur innovative Medizintechnik und Informatik mbH, Innovalens B.V., Innovative Surgical Solutions LLC, J & J Company West Africa Limited, J&J Pension Trustees Limited, J-C Health Care Ltd., J.C. General Services BV, JJ Surgical Vision Spain S.L., JJC Acquisition Company B.V., JJHC LLC, JJSV Belgium BV, JJSV Manufacturing Malaysia SDN. BHD., JJSV Norden AB, JJSV Produtos Oticos Ltda., JNJ Global Business Services s.r.o., JNJ Holding EMEA B.V., JNJ International Investment LLC, JNJ Irish Investments ULC, JOM Pharmaceutical Services Inc., Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy (Holding) Limited, Janssen BioPharma Inc., Janssen Biologics (Ireland) Limited, Janssen Biologics B.V., Janssen Biotech Inc., Janssen Cilag C.A., Janssen Cilag Farmaceutica S.A., Janssen Cilag S.p.A., Janssen Cilag SPA, Janssen Development Finance Unlimited Company, Janssen Diagnostics LLC, Janssen Egypt LLC, Janssen Farmaceutica Portugal Lda, Janssen Global Services LLC, Janssen Group Holdings Limited, Janssen Holding GmbH, Janssen Inc., Janssen Irish Finance Company UC, Janssen Korea Ltd., Janssen Oncology Inc., Janssen Ortho LLC, Janssen Pharmaceutica (Proprietary) Limited, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Janssen Pharmaceutica S.A., Janssen Pharmaceutical, Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Janssen Pharmaceutical Sciences Unlimited Company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Products LP, Janssen R&D Ireland, Janssen Research & Development LLC, Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company, Janssen Scientific Affairs LLC, Janssen Supply Group LLC, Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., Janssen Vaccines Corp., Janssen de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag, Janssen-Cilag (New Zealand) Limited, Janssen-Cilag A/S, Janssen-Cilag AG, Janssen-Cilag AS, Janssen-Cilag Aktiebolag, Janssen-Cilag B.V., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Lda., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Ltda., Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Janssen-Cilag International NV, Janssen-Cilag Kft., Janssen-Cilag Limited, Janssen-Cilag Manufacturing LLC, Janssen-Cilag NV, Janssen-Cilag OY, Janssen-Cilag Pharma GmbH, Janssen-Cilag Pharmaceutical S.A.C.I., Janssen-Cilag Polska Sp. z o.o., Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd, Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag s.r.o., Janssen-Pharma S.L., Jevco Holding Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson (Angola) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (Egypt) S.A.E., Johnson & Johnson (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Ireland) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Jamaica) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Kenya) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Mozambique) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (Namibia) (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (New Zealand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Philippines) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Thailand) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (Trinidad) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Vietnam) Co. Ltd, Johnson & Johnson - Societa' Per Azioni, Johnson & Johnson AB, Johnson & Johnson AG, Johnson & Johnson Belgium Finance Company BV, Johnson & Johnson Bulgaria EOOD, Johnson & Johnson China Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Thailand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer B.V., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Holdings France, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer NV, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Services EAME Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Del Paraguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson Dominicana S.A.S., Johnson & Johnson Enterprise Innovation Inc., Johnson & Johnson European Treasury Company, Johnson & Johnson Finance Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Finance Limited, Johnson & Johnson Financial Services GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Foundation Scotland (NON-PROFIT), Johnson & Johnson Gateway LLC, Johnson & Johnson Gesellschaft m.b.H., Johnson & Johnson GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Guatemala S.A., Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc., Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions Inc., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Commercial and Industrial S.A., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Consumer Products Commercial Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson Hemisferica S.A., Johnson & Johnson Holding GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Holdings K.K., Johnson & Johnson Inc., Johnson & Johnson Industrial Ltda., Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC Inc., Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Limited, Johnson & Johnson International, Johnson & Johnson International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson International Financial Services Company, Johnson & Johnson Japan Inc., Johnson & Johnson K.K., Johnson & Johnson Kft., Johnson & Johnson Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Korea Selling & Distribution LLC, Johnson & Johnson LLC, Johnson & Johnson Limitada, Johnson & Johnson Limited, Johnson & Johnson Luxembourg Finance Company Sarl, Johnson & Johnson Management Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical (China) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Proprietary) Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Suzhou) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical B.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group - Latin America L.L.C., Johnson & Johnson Medical GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical NV, Johnson & Johnson Medical Products GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Pty Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical S.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.C.S., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.p.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical SAS, Johnson & Johnson Medical Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Servicios Profesionales S. de R.L. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC, Johnson & Johnson Morocco Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB, Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pakistan (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Panama S.A., Johnson & Johnson Personal Care (Chile) S.A., Johnson & Johnson Poland Sp. z o.o., Johnson & Johnson Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Pty. Limited, Johnson & Johnson Research Pty Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Romania S.R.L., Johnson & Johnson S.A., Johnson & Johnson S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson S.E. Inc., Johnson & Johnson S.E. d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson SDN. BHD., Johnson & Johnson Sante Beaute France, Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Johnson & Johnson Servicios Corporativos S. de R.L. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision Inc., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision India Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson UK Treasury Company Limited, Johnson & Johnson Ukraine LLC, Johnson & Johnson Urban Renewal Associates, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Ireland Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson de Argentina S.A.C. e. I., Johnson & Johnson de Chile Limitada, Johnson & Johnson de Chile S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Colombia S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Costa Rica S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson de Uruguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Venezuela S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Ecuador S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Peru S.A., Johnson & Johnson do Brasil Industria E Comercio de Produtos Para Saude Ltda., Johnson & Johnson for Export and Import LLC, Johnson & Johnson s.r.o., Johnson and Johnson (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson and Johnson Sihhi Malzeme Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, La Concha Land Investment Corporation, Latam International Investment Company Unlimited Company, LifeScan, MDS Co. Ltd., McNEIL MMP LLC, McNeil AB, McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co., McNeil Denmark ApS, McNeil Healthcare (Ireland) Limited, McNeil Healthcare (UK) Limited, McNeil Healthcare LLC, McNeil Iberica S.L.U., McNeil LA LLC, McNeil Nutritionals LLC, McNeil Panama LLC, McNeil Products Limited, McNeil Sweden AB, Medical Device Business Services Inc., Medical Devices & Diagnostics Global Services LLC, Medical Devices International LLC, Medical Industrial do Brasil Ltda., Medos International Sarl, Medos Sarl, MegaDyne Medical Products Inc., Menlo Care De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Mentor B.V., Mentor Deutschland GmbH, Mentor Medical Systems B.V., Mentor Partnership Holding Company I LLC, Mentor Texas GP LLC, Mentor Texas L.P., Mentor Worldwide LLC, Micrus Endovascular LLC, Middlesex Assurance Company Limited, Momenta Ireland Limited, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., NeoStrata Company Inc., NeoStrata Company Inc., NeoStrata UG (haftungsbeschrankt), Netherlands Holding Company, NeuWave Medical Inc., Neuravi Inc., Neuravi Limited, Novira Therapeutics, Novira Therapeutics LLC, NuVera Medical Inc., OBTECH Medical Sarl, OGX Beauty AU Pty Ltd, OGX Beauty Limited, OMJ Holding GmbH, OMJ Ireland Unlimited Company, OMJ Pharmaceuticals Inc., Obtech Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals NV, Ortho Biologics LLC, Ortho Biotech Holding LLC, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC, Orthotaxy, Orthotaxy, PMC Holdings G.K., PT Integrated Healthcare Indonesia, PT. Johnson & Johnson Indonesia, Patriot Pharmaceuticals LLC, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals LLC, Penta Pty. Limited, Percivia LLC, Perouse Plastie, Pharmadirect Ltd., Pharmedica Laboratories (Proprietary) Limited, Princeton Laboratories Inc., Productos de Cuidado Personal y de La Salud de Bolivia S.R.L., Proleader S.A., Pulsar Vascular Inc., Regency Urban Renewal Associates, RespiVert Ltd., RoC International, Rutan Realty LLC, SYNTHES Medical Immobilien GmbH, Scios LLC, Sedona Enterprise Co. Ltd., Sedona Singapore International Pte. Ltd., Sedona Thai International Co. Ltd., Serhum S.A. de C.V., Shanghai Elsker For Mother & Baby Co. Ltd, Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Ltd., Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Sightbox LLC, Sodiac ESV, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Company, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Partnership, Spine Solutions GmbH, SterilMed, SterilMed Inc., Surgical Process Institute Deutschland GmbH, Synthes Costa Rica S.C.R. Limitada, Synthes GmbH, Synthes Holding AG, Synthes Holding Limited, Synthes Inc., Synthes Medical Surgical Equipment & Instruments Trading LLC, Synthes Produktions GmbH, Synthes Proprietary Limited, Synthes S.M.P. S. de R.L. de C.V., Synthes Tuttlingen GmbH, Synthes USA LLC, Synthes USA Products LLC, TARIS Biomedical, TARIS Biomedical LLC, TearScience Inc., The Anspach Effort LLC, The Vision Care Institute LLC, Tibotec LLC, Torax Medical Inc., TriStrata Incorporated, UAB "Johnson & Johnson", Vania Expansion, Verb Surgical, Verb Surgical Inc., Vision Care Finance Unlimited Company, Vogue International, Vogue International LLC, Vogue International Trading Inc., WH4110 Development Company L.L.C., XO1, XO1 Limited, Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd., Zarbee's Inc., and Zarbee's Naturals. Rogers Communications Inc. operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device and accessory financing, wireless home phone, device protection, text messaging, e-mail, global voice and data roaming, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device delivery services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands to approximately 10.9 million subscribers. It also provides Internet and WiFi services; smart home monitoring services, such as monitoring, security, automation, energy efficiency, and smart control through a smartphone app. In addition, the company offers local and network TV; on-demand television; cloud-based digital video recorders; voice-activated remote controls, and integrated apps; personal video recorders; linear and time-shifted programming; digital specialty channels; 4K television programming; and televised content on smartphones, tablets, and personal computers, as well as operates Ignite TV and Ignite TV app. Further, it provides residential and small business local telephony services; calling features, such as voicemail, call waiting, and long distance; voice, data networking, Internet protocol, and Ethernet services; private networking, Internet, IP voice, and cloud solutions; optical wave and multi-protocol label switching services; IT and network technologies; and cable access network services. The company also owns Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre event venue; and operates Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet World, Citytv, OMNI, FX (Canada), FXX (Canada), and OLN television networks, as well as 55 AM and FM radio stations. Rogers Communications Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More TAKKT AG operates as a B2B direct marketing company for business equipment in Germany, rest of Europe, and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Omnichannel Commerce and Web-Focused Commerce. The Omnichannel Commerce segment offers pallet lifting trucks, universal cabinets, desk chairs, environmental cabinets, and containers to hazardous materials for transport, plant, warehouse, and office equipment; transport packaging solutions, such as collapsible boxes, package padding, shipping pallets, and stretch films; desk chairs, desks, conference tables, and furniture for reception areas that are used in automotive suppliers, service and retail companies, public institutions, government agencies, health care sector, schools, and churches; and serving platters and food baskets, as well as kitchen stoves and freezers. The Web-Focused Commerce segment provides desks, shelves, and advertising banners; display stands, and mobile exhibition stands and displays; and office furniture, such as chairs and cabinets in its web shop. It offers its products through catalog, web shops, telephone, and telemarketing sales. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Stuttgart, Germany. TAKKT AG is a subsidiary of Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH. Read More Thomson Reuters Corporation provides business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments. The Corporates segment provides a suite of content-enabled technology solutions for legal, tax, regulatory, compliance, and IT professionals. The Tax & Accounting Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on tax offerings and automating tax workflows to tax, accounting, and audit professionals in accounting firms. The Reuters News segment provides business, financial, national, and international news to professionals through desktop terminals, media organizations, and industry events, as well as directly to consumers. The Global Print segment offers legal and tax information primarily in print format to legal and tax professionals, governments, law schools, and corporations. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Thomson Reuters Corporation is a subsidiary of The Woodbridge Company Limited. Read More Transcontinental Inc. engages in flexible packaging business in Canada, the United States, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates through three segments: Packaging, Printing, and Media. The Packaging segment engages in extrusion, lamination, printing, and converting activities, as well as offers flexible plastic and paper products, including rollstock, bags and pouches, coextruded films, shrink films and bags, and advanced coatings. This segment serves dairy, coffee, meat and poultry, pet food, agriculture, beverage, confectionery, industrial, and consumer product markets, as well as supermarkets. The Printing segment provides integrated services for retailers, including premedia services, flyer and in-store marketing product printing, and door-to-door distribution, as well as print solutions for newspapers, magazines, four-color books, and personalized and mass marketing products. The Media segment is involved in printing and digital publishing of newspapers, educational books, and specialized publications for professionals in French and English. Transcontinental Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Read More A day care worker in Missouri was charged Thursday with child abuse after she was captured on a surveillance video throwing a 3-year-old girl into furniture last month, police said. The North County Police Cooperative identified the former employee as Wilma Brown, 27. A felony warrant has been issued for Brown's arrest after the incident on February 1 at Brighter Day Care and Preschool in Pine Lawn, outside St. Louis, police said. Brown, who in the day care's surveillance video appears to grab the child, wrote that the child suffered a "bump on her head" after falling on the carpet, according to a copy of the unintentional injury form provided by the family's attorney, Jennifer Hansen. The toddler was treated at a hospital for a gash in the middle of her forehead and swelling in her face. She received seven stitches, then was readmitted two days later after the wound became infected, Hansen said. The toddler's family grew concerned that a fall had caused their daughter so much anguish and asked to see the day care's surveillance footage. On February 5, the family watched the footage with the day care's director, Hansen said. Brown was subsequently fired, according to Hansen and Timothy J. Smith, an attorney representing the day care. Brown could not be reached Thursday for comment. Smith did not say when she was terminated. North County Police Cooperative could not be reached Thursday. Surveillance video shows girl hurled into a cabinet The video shows the 3-year-old standing still at a desk before the employee approaches. The woman grabs the child by the arm, pulls her for several feet then appears to hurl her into a cabinet. A thud can be heard on the surveillance footage. A family member recorded the surveillance footage on a cell phone and the family's attorney gave that video to CNN. "Brighter Day Care and Preschool, Inc. will continue to follow guidelines and regulations to ensure the safety of the children," Smith said in a statement. Lawyer: Day care called it a fall but it was an assault Hansen said the 3-year-old's family "hopes that the release of the surveillance footage will result in justice for this child and ensure that other children are not harmed by the very people entrusted to keep them safe." "In no world did this family have any idea that what was called a fall was actually an assault until they came to see that video," Hansen told CNN affiliate KTVI. Hansen told the station: "The day care could've reviewed that footage at any time." "They didn't, and they allowed the day care worker who assaulted this little girl to continue to work at the facility for five additional days," Hansen said. The child's parents have requested that their names not be disclosed, but Hansen told CNN in an interview on Thursday they are willing to cooperate with any investigation into the incident. Mom wonders what she could have done differently Hansen said the 3-year-old's mother "feels terrible that this happened to her family." She is "strong for her daughter, but privately she is wondering what she could have done differently," Hansen said. Smith, the day care's attorney, said the day care's teachers and staff "are properly trained and extremely qualified." "Providing a quality education in a safe environment is of the utmost importance to our teachers and staff," he said in the statement. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement: "After seeing this horrific video and videos from multiple cases in recent weeks, I am committed to doing everything I can to protect our children and grandchildren." Hansen said the child is home from the hospital and her family is consulting with a plastic surgeon in the hopes of reducing the visibility of the scar on the child's forehead. "This sweet little girl is getting lots of love and support from her family while she heals from her injuries," Hansen said in the statement. UTICA,N.Y. -- The case involving an Albany police officer who shot and killed someone in Utica will take a little more time before heading to grand jury. Christofer Kitto was charged with patronizing a prostitute, but not murder, for what happened January 7 at a home on Lincoln Avenue. Utica police called it justifiable homicide because a knife was pulled on Kitto. That knife is what is holding up the case. The Oneida County district attorney says it was tested at the state police crime lab, and it shows multiple people touched the knife. It was sent this week, to a different lab that can look at multiple DNA. The DA says Kitto's DNA should not be on the knife if he's telling the truth, and that it is important information to have before the case goes to grand jury, likely sometime in April. WASHINGTON (AP) A wide-ranging bill that revives a popular conservation program, adds 1.3 million acres of new wilderness, expands several national parks and creates five new national monuments has won congressional approval. The measure is the largest public lands bill approved by Congress in more than a decade. The House passed the bill Tuesday, 363-62, sending it to the White House for the president's signature. The bill combines more than 100 separate bills that designate more than 350 miles of river as wild and scenic and create nearly 700,000 acres of new recreation and conservation areas. The bill also withdraws 370,000 acres in Montana and Washington state from mineral development. The bill would permanently reauthorize the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports conservation and outdoor recreation projects across the country. The program expired last fall after Congress could not agree on language to extend it. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the bill represents Congress at its best and "truly gives the American people something to be excited about." Grijalva called the bill as "a massive win" for conservation across the United States. "Everyone from inner cities to suburbs to rural communities wins when we work together to preserve the outdoors," he said. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, the committee's top Republican, also hailed the bill and said it will expand access to public lands, offering "wins for America's sportsmen, hunters and fishermen." The bill establishes national monuments "the right way," through congressional action rather than executive order, Bishop said, and "communicates a profound respect for local decision-making." The hodgepodge bill offered something for nearly everyone, with projects stretching across the country. Even so, it was derailed last year after Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected, saying he wanted to exempt his state from a law that allows the president to designate federal lands as a national monument protected from development. Lee's objection during a heated Senate debate in December forced lawmakers to start over in the new Congress, culminating in Tuesday's House vote. Environmental groups and lawmakers from both parties said they were especially proud the bill reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has supported more than 42,000 state and local projects throughout the U.S. since its creation in 1964. The program, one of the most popular and effective programs Congress has ever created, uses federal royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to fund conservation and recreation projects. "Public lands bring Americans together, and that's why Republicans and Democrats in the House voted overwhelmingly today for a bill that ensures the Land and Water Conservation Fund will be around for our kids and grandkids," said Diane Regas, president and CEO of the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. "Today's historic vote, following a 92-8 vote in the Senate, means that more people can have access to hiking trails, city parks and wild landscapes." "In an era when bipartisanship remains elusive, conservation is a rare issue that still brings Congress together," said Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. The bipartisan public lands package "represents a historic victory for our wildlife heritage and outdoor enthusiasts of every stripe," he said. The bill creates three new national monuments to be administered by the National Park Service and two others overseen by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, respectively. The new monuments are the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Mississippi; the Mill Springs and Camp Nelson national monuments in Kentucky; the former Saint Francis Dam site in Southern California; and the Jurassic National Monument in Utah. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Photo via Xinhua Chinas ethnic unity policy and governance experience in the countrys northwestern regions Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have been praised by international political party members after an on-site trip to learn about the region. Around 200 representatives of 50 political parties from nearly 30 countries attended a Wednesday meeting themed on Chinas ethnic policy in Xinjiang. Aizaz Asif, a senior member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said Chinas ethnic policy has brought people together to enjoy the benefit of the nations economic development. Aleksei Leskin, first secretary of the Samara Oblast Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), called Xinjiang an excellent example of ethnic unity, adding that both Russia and China share the important responsibility of realizing harmonious co-existence of all ethnic groups. Marwan Sudah, a Jordanian expert on China, told Peoples Daily that his trip to Xinjiang has helped him see with his own eyes the true reality in Xinjiang, dismissing some foreign media reports that discredited Xinjiang and Chinas ethnic policy. Sudah pointed out that he saw local residents in their ethnic costumes speak the languages of their own ethnic minority group. Development is a guarantee of stability and Xinjiangs current stability is based on the whole countrys development. With the strong support of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government, Xinjiang will further play an important role in opening-up to westward to further deepen exchanges and cooperation with the Middle East and North Africa, said Elsayed Mahmoud Elsherif, first deputy speaker of the Parliament of Egypt. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core has attached great importance to Xinjiang. Located in the core area of the ancient Silk Road, Xinjiang is an important node for the construction of the Belt and Road and an important channel for the economic and cultural integration between the East and the West. By the end of 2018, some 269 results of the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation had been transformed or converted to normalization work with the implementation rate at over 96.4%. In addition, 10 projects are currently under construction. Specifically, Egypt is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with Xinjiang in infrastructure, manufacturing, and other fields under the Belt and Road framework, and jointly promote the continuous development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Egypt and China, according to Elsherif. Fire Brigades Union (FBU) General Secretary Matt Wrack has said the governments inquiry in the Grenfell Tower fire is in danger of becoming a whitewash. He told the Guardian, The views I am expressing are being expressed more bluntly in fire stations, that this is in danger of turning into a stitch-up of firefighters the only thing they did on the night was turn up to put a fire out and yet they are the people that have come under most scrutiny so far. Wrack continued, The stark, staring obvious problem is how can you wrap a building in flammable material like that. Everyone asked that within hours and yet we wont even look at that in three years and before they [the inquiry] start to reach conclusions on it, it could quite easily be 2021. Addressing the two-phase structure of the inquiry headed by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, Wrack added, The order of business was wrong Before any 999 [emergency] call was made the building was already a death trap. All of the safety arrangements had been compromised, but how we got to that stage we still dont know. The first part of the inquiry opened in September 2017 and didnt end until last December, 13 months later. At its conclusion, Moore-Bick, the appointee of Prime Minister Theresa May, announced that the inquiry would be halted until at least the autumn of 2019, supposedly so that hundreds of thousands of documents could be scrutinized. The likelihood is that the second phase, dealing with the construction and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower and the circumstances and decisions leading up to the disaster, will not even begin to take evidence until 2020 and it could then last years. The stitch-up taking place confirms the assessment made by the Socialist Equality Party from the day that the inquiry was announced that it would be a fraud. The inquiry has proceeded along the lines predicted by the SEP. For well over a year, its sole focus was on the few hours from when the fire started. Everything was focused on the role of the London Fire Brigade (LFB). There wasnt any reference to events that led up to the fire, including the massive cuts imposed on Londons fire service that endangered the safety and lives of Londons population, including the firefighters. The SEP and the Grenfell Fire Forum explained that no inquiry set up by the Conservative government would ever bring justice for the victims of this atrocity. Its sole purpose has been to cover for the political parties and corporations whose decisions turned Grenfell into a death trap. Under the terms of the 2005 Inquires Act, established by the Blair Labour government, Moore-Bick has no power to prosecute anyone. Amnesty International stated as soon as it was legislated that any inquiry [under the Act] would be controlled by the executive which is empowered to block public scrutiny of state actions Moore-Bick was adamant that the inquiry would be limited to the cause, how it spread, and preventing a future blaze, and agreed with May that he would rule out any examination of issues of a social, economic and political nature. Wrack is a supporter of the pseudo-left Socialist Party. Under pressure from firefighters, he is now making correct points exposing the nature of the inquiry. However, like the Labour Party, the trade unions and various pseudo-left groups, he and the FBU supported it. This lent much needed legitimacy to the inquiry, politically disarming survivors, the families of victims and the entire working class and exposing his own members to the threat of victimisation. In October 2017, the FBU issued a statement to its members that it will participate as fully as possible in the public inquiry, having been granted core participant status. This support was granted despite Wrack stating just two months after the fire, How is it remotely possible to seriously examine the causes, spread and results of the fire without examining social, economic and political matters? Wracks comments were made ahead of a documentary aired February 18 by Channel Fours Dispatches, Grenfell: Did the Fire Brigade Fail? The 26-minute documentary accepts the basic premise of the inquiry that an informed judgment can be made based solely on an examination of what happened on the night of the fire. It concludes that people died in Grenfell because they got the wrong advice from the LFB. But this conceals the fact that all the main factors that ensured such a horrific loss of life had already happened long before June 14. 2017. In the opening sequences, after referring in passing to the cladding that ultimately led to the disastrous fire and deaths, the narrator intones, Over the last year a different scandal has been emerging Dispatches reveals new evidence suggesting systemic failures within the London Fire Brigade may have led to many people dying who could have survived. Dispatches contends that 55 out of the 72 deaths at Grenfell Tower were a result of the fire brigade advising people to stay in the building once the fire was out of control. But the stay put policy was long standing practice, based on the premise that high-rise buildings such as Grenfell Tower are built to be compartmentalizeda series of concrete boxes that if correctly constructed and maintained are isolated from each other, preventing the spread of fire. However, this principle had been fatally compromised in Grenfell because of the application of the highly flammable cladding on its exterioras part of a refurbishment. The cladding acted as a wick to spread the fire across multiple floors so that the building was rapidly engulfed. Grenfell was so dangerously compromised that a catastrophic event was only a matter of time, as the Grenfell Action Group warned the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council months in advance. With the entire building ablaze by 2 a.m., only around an hour after the fire started, the firefighters faced, as Wrack correctly states, an impossible situation. The situation was exacerbated by years of funding cuts under both Labour and Conservative administrations. From 2008 to 2016, Tory politician Boris Johnson was London mayor and in 2013 alone cut 29 million from its budget. It was no longer even policy to send, as routine, an aerial ladder to high-rise fires. It is because the inquiry is no threat to any of the political and corporate criminals whose actions were integral to turning Grenfell into a death trap that one of the main guilty parties, Arconic, felt emboldened on the last day of its first phase to tell Moore-Bick that it would take no responsibility. Arconics brief said the spread of the inferno was not the result of the flammable panels it manufactured, but the combination of materials used in the refurbishment, including plastic window frames and the insulation. It was impossible to argue that its cladding was non-compliant with building regulations. All the companies involved in the Grenfell inferno continue to trade as though it had never happened. The main firm in charge of the refurbishment, Rydon, reported within a year of the fire that its profits had soared by 50 percent to 19 million. The Metropolitan Police are essential to the cover-up, ensuring that to this day no one has been arrested in connection with the social murder at Grenfell. Proceeding along the same glacial pace as the inquiry, the Met announced as the first phase ended that it could take years to conclude its own investigation. What is taking place is class justice, in which the perpetrators of mass murder are walking free while firefighters are being targeted for blame. The only place that the documents still to be reviewed should be scrutinized is by lawyers as part of a criminal trial. The SEP and Grenfell Fire Forum urge workers and youth to demand the arrest and prosecution of all the political and corporate criminals responsible and that the cover-up and scapegoating of firefighters end immediately. For further information visit the Grenfell Fire Forum facebook page. After direct clashes between their air forces Wednesday, tensions between India and Pakistan remain on the boil, threatening the eruption of all-out war between South Asias two nuclear-armed powers. Addressing a joint session of parliament yesterday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan declared that his government had decided to release captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman today as a peace gesture. However, Khan warned that Pakistan will have to retaliate should the situation get out of hand. Varthaman was captured during Wednesdays clash between Indian and Pakistan Air Force jets, which erupted when Pakistani jets crossed into Indian-administered Kashmir in an apparent attempt to strike Indian military facilities. Although India thwarted the attack, Pakistani forces shot down an Indian MiG-21 and captured its pilot. The commanders of Indias three armed forces held a press conference late yesterday afternoon. While welcoming the release of the wing commander, they vowed to continue military strikes inside Pakistan. As long as Pakistan continues to harbour terrorists, we will continue to target the terror camps, declared Major General Surendra Singh Mahal. He denounced Pakistan for targeting Indian military installations, adding: [I]f they provoke us any further, we are prepared for exigencies. Pakistans military spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor, was no less belligerent, warning earlier in the day: Pakistan Army troops are at high alert along the Line of Control (LoC) to thwart any Indian aggression. The LoC separates Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. These threats demonstrate that the stand-off will not be resolved by Islamabad releasing a pilot and New Delhi welcoming the gesture. Locked in a reactionary military-strategic rivalry since the 1947 communal partition of South Asia, the capitalist elites of India and Pakistan have fought three declared wars and numerous border skirmishes, as they have jostled for advantage and used their antagonism as a means of diverting domestic social discontent. The latest conflict is bound up with mounting political crises in both countries, and Washingtons drive to transform India into a global strategic partner and frontline state in its confrontation with China. Indias Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seized on a February 14 attack at Pulwama in Kashmir by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), an Islamist terrorist group with bases in Pakistan, to ratchet up tensions with Islamabad. The attack claimed the lives of more than 40 Indian soldiers. New Delhi retaliated on Tuesday via an attack at Balakot, deep inside PakistanNew Delhis first air strike inside Pakistan since the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. Based on information provided by a top government official, the Indian media is asserting that the Balakot attack claimed between 200 and 300 lives. Modis government prepared the attack by imposing punishing economic measures on Pakistan, including cancelling its most-favoured nation trading status, and vowing to exercise its rights under the Indus Valley Water Treaty to reduce water flows into Pakistan that are needed for irrigation and power generation. Modis attempt to politically exploit the military conflict was underscored yesterday when he organised a meeting of BJP activists in 15,000 locations, dubbed the worlds largest video conference. Reports claimed that Modi interacted with 10 million people during the meeting. Modi vowed: India will fight, live, work and win as one and nobody can create hurdles in its march towards development. He added that the BJPs 2014 election victory was a mandate for fulfilling peoples necessities and the 2019 polls will be about fulfilling peoples aspirations. Seeking to incite war fever, Modi stated: We have complete faith in the capabilities of our defence forces. Hence, it is very crucial that nothing which affects their determination happens. In a thinly-veiled threat to Indias opposition parties, he denounced those who rejected a strong government. After coming to power in 2014, Modi, with the full backing of Indias super-rich elite, deepened New Delhis strategic partnership with US imperialism so as to advance Indias great power ambitions, above all at the expense of China and Pakistan. He is determined to hold onto power in the upcoming elections in April and May, after which he hopes to strengthen his autocratic rule to pursue Indias foreign policy interests more aggressively and enforce the ruling elites economic dictates by suppressing social opposition. Opposition party leaders, including Congress Party president Rahul Gandhi, accused Modi of politicising the crisis to boost his reelection campaign. However, they rushed to join an all-party meeting Tuesday called by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and endorsed the governments war drive against Pakistan in one voice. More generally, they have long backed the Modi governments positionrepeated by the prime minister again yesterdaythat New Delhi will not resume high-level contacts with Pakistan, let alone negotiations on a peace settlement, until it suppresses all logistical support from Pakistan for the separatist insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir. Many Indian media commentators are vociferously backing Indias anti-Pakistan campaign. The Times of India published an article Wednesday comparing the military arsenals of both sides, including the nuclear stockpiles. Although the articles ostensible purpose was to underline Indias military superiority, it confirmed that the ruling elites of both countries could unleash a nuclear holocaust that would exterminate millions of people in the region and beyond. According to the Times, India possesses between 140 and 150 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan has 130 to 140. Both countries have ballistic missiles capable of carrying the warheads, with Indias Agni-V able to travel 5,000 kilometres, compared to a 2,000-kilometre limit for Pakistans Shaheen missiles. Indias army of 1.2 million soldiers controls 336 armoured personnel carriers, 3,565 tanks, and 9,719 military guns, while Pakistan has 1,605 personnel carriers, 2,496 tanks, and 4,472 artillery pieces. The list goes on. Both New Delhi and Islamabad have spent lavishly to acquire such deadly military firepower, leaving millions of workers and poor peasants to go hungry and without access to basic social provisions. Indias 2018 defence budget was a massive $58.1 billion, or 2.1 percent of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP), while Pakistan spent $11 billion, or 3.6 percent of its GDP. Media reports confirm that in the lead-up to the Balakot air strike, the Indian government began preparations for all-out war. State-run oil companies were asked to increase their stores of jet fuel at northern airfields six days before the strike. In another expression of the virulently anti-Pakistan campaign whipped up by the media, right-wing geostrategist Brahma Chellaney wrote: Peace with Pakistan is a mirage, and the Indian Air Force (IAF) aptly employed its Mirage 2000 aircraft to bomb terrorists there. Chellaney also referred to the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, allegedly carried out by JeM, and criticised then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for not having quickly responded with punitive airstrikes. He continued: Balakot represents the first time a nuclear power carried out an airstrike inside another nuclear-armed state. India was busting Western academic theories about the inevitability of tit-for-tat actions rapidly triggering a serious nuclear crisis. In plain language, Chellaney urged New Delhi to use its firepower to eliminate terrorists in Pakistan, while dismissing the possibility that events could spiral out of control into a potential nuclear exchange. This underscores the recklessness of Indias ruling elite. In an editorial board statement entitled A socialist strategy to oppose war on the Indian subcontinent published on May 31, 2002, the World Socialist Web Site warned: It would be a dangerous folly for the working class to believe that the outbreak of a nuclear war is impossible. Indian defence analysts have sought to dampen public fears by speculating on the prospects of a limited war, confined to attacks on alleged terrorist training camps in the Pakistani-controlled region of Kashmir. Any clash, however, would have a military and political dynamic of its own. The balance of power in the region has shifted dramatically during the intervening 17 years. The India-Pakistan rivalry has become enmeshed with US imperialisms confrontation with China. In its determination to consolidate its hegemony in the Asia-Pacific, Washington has deepened its military ties with New Delhi. In response, Beijing has expanded its military and economic ties with Islamabad. Any war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan therefore has the real potential of precipitating US and Chinese intervention, triggering the eruption of a catastrophic third world war. The Trump administration, which publicly declared in advance its support for India punishing Pakistan for the February 14 Pulwama bombing, has called on both sides to exercise restraint and forego further military action. But even as it did so, Washington emphasised its partnership with India and demanded Islamabad dismantle terrorist havensthe better to strengthen its anti-China alliance with New Delhi. The Trump administration has dropped, at least for now, its threat to increase to 25 percent a tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, presently at 10 percent. The formal decision, following President Donald Trumps lifting of a March 1 deadline, came after US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had appeared before the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday to report on the US-China trade negotiations. The dropping of the threatened tariff hike is a further indication that Trump is anxious to make a deal of some sort with China. But if an agreement is reached, the question remains what exactly it will contain and whether it will be opposed by anti-China hawks, both within the administration and the political establishment more broadly. In both his written opening statement and in response to questions, Lighthizer made it clear the fundamental question is not to secure increased Chinese purchases of US goods to run down the trade imbalance, but structural reforms in the Chinese economy. I agree with those who see our large and growing trade deficit and their unfair trade practicesincluding technology transfer issues, failure to protect intellectual property, large subsidies, cyber theft of commercial secrets and other problemsas major threats to our economy, he said. In his opening statement, Lighthizer was at pains to emphasise the bipartisan character of the trade war measures. After referring to Trumps long-standing recognition of what he called an existential problem, he said prescience has been bipartisan. He praised Democrat House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi as an early, forceful, and foresighted leader on this issue. Lighthizer cited a Pelosi speech made in 2000, in the lead up to Chinas admission to the World Trade Organisation in 2001, in which she called for Congress to review US-China trade annually even if it entered the WTO. He concluded his opening remarks by thanking all members for your bipartisan approach, adding: I want to say that if this was not a bipartisan view we would not be having the success that we are having. Lighthizer gave few details of what had been agreed in the US-China discussions, saying much more still needs to be done both before an agreement is reached and, more importantly after it is reached, if one is reached. In response to questions, he insisted that any agreement had to have strong enforcement mechanisms and provided some information as to how they would operate. Complaints of violations would be discussed monthly by staffers, quarterly by vice ministers and twice-yearly by ministers of the two countries. The consultations would look at individual complaintson occasions brought anonymously by companiesand problems that appeared to be part of a pattern. After that, if no agreement were reached, the US would unilaterally impose tariff sanctions. Without that sort of thing then to me we dont have any real commitments, Lighthizer said. This means, in effect, that if any agreement were reached, China would operate under the perpetual threat of punitive sanctions being reimposed within a six-month deadline, a snapback mechanism. The Democrats have insisted that no deal should be made which involves only a Chinese agreement to purchase more US products. Richard Neal, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, laid out their basic position. The Trump administration tariffs have been sweeping, disruptive, controversial and painful, he said. The administrations promise is that its high-risk approach will yield high rewards. My concern is that we are about to see the administration use the same ineffective playbook it used in the past. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, echoed these views. I am concerned that we have some sort of agreement that results just in purchasing soybeans and airplanes, he said. Thats not sustainable. Lighthizer said he would not accept any soybean solution. He stated: This administration is pressing for significant structural changes that would allow for a more level playing field. We need new rules. The Senate Democratic Minority leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in. President Trump has already started promoting a signing summit at Mar-a-Lago before an agreement has even been inked, he said. I say to President Trump, it would be a momentous failure if you relent now and dont receive meaningful, enforceable and verifiable commitments on structural reforms to Chinas unfair trade policy. What the US deems to be unfair policies are state subsidies to boost key national industries and the use and then adaptation of technologies developed elsewhere. These are nothing more than the measures employed by other capitalist powers, including Japan, Korea and in an earlier period, the US, as they sought to advance their industrial development. However, in the present situation, in which the US no longer has the vast industrial and technological advantages it once commanded and is in relative decline vis a vis its rivals, the economic and technological rise of China, the worlds second largest economy, is viewed as an existential threat. These issues form the foundation of the bipartisan approach to the economic war against China, with the Democrats, in some cases even more openly and belligerent than the Republicans, articulating the views of the military and intelligence establishment. During his testimony, Lighthizer made reference to these over-arching geo-economic and geo-strategic issues. Speaking on the need for the enforceability of any agreement, he said the US had to have the capacity to take unilateral action. Tariffs he said were a blunt instrument but we dont have any other instrument. Lighthizer emphasised: Technology is whats going to determine who rules the future. It is the key. Asked about the longer term, as opposed to any short-term deal, he said: We have to be number one. We have to stay number one. At present this policy of America First or America Number One is being carried out though trade and economic warfare. But under conditions where the stakes are nothing less than the maintenance of US dominance, this policy, as has been demonstrated in history, has an inexorable logic, leading to military conflict. On Tuesday, three men were killed when two Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter trains struck their truck at a rail-crossing in Westbury, Nassau County, New York. The three men, Miguel Angel Jimenez Luna, Jesus Hernandez and Saul Martinez were workers at a Fine Foods Supermarket about half a mile away from the rail crossing. They were killed instantly. The truck was in the middle of the narrow double tracks when struck first by a westbound train that had just departed from Westbury station, and then moments later by an eastbound train travelling much faster from Hicksville. The truck had driven around the lowered railroad crossing gate, apparently to beat the train traffic. Often gates can be lowered when there are no trains in sight. Eyewitnesses said the men in the truck were driving away from a minor collision with another car at the shopping mall less than a mile away where they had spent the evening. The second driver in the accident had reportedly threatened to call the police. The first two cars of the second train that struck the truck derailed and slid into the Westbury station platform, slamming through part the concrete structure. The front train car, including the drivers seat, was cut into by the side of platform. All that remained of the truck the men had been driving was its engine. The two trains were carrying about 1,000 riders. Six passengers and the driver of the second train were injured. Remarkably, the driver-engineer was not killed by the trains collision with the station platform because he abandoned the drivers seat and ran into the first car, warning and shoving the only passenger in that car to protect him. He and the passenger were the most seriously injured of those on the train. On Wednesday morning, dozens of commuter trains were forced to pass on the single lane that was left open because the site of the crashed train had not been cleared, and delays continued into Thursday morning. This is the latest incident of infrastructural and safety failures on the LIRR, and more broadly of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) that manages the LIRR as well as the subway and bus systems in New York City, several bridges and tunnels, and the MetroNorth commuter rail that services suburbs north of the city. The track crossing on School Street in Westbury where the three men were killed Tuesday had been cited as one of seven dangerous crossings in Nassau County scheduled to be closed in 2020. This is part of a $2.5 billion renovation to the 20 mile stretch of rail where two commuter lines in Long Island converge into one. These track-crossings put tens of thousands of drivers and train riders very close to each other, with no more than a few meters of room between them, and are so dangerous that they should not have been operating. The LIRR has been the scene of serious accidents in past months. In August, a LIRR commuter train derailed between Woodside, Queens, and Penn Station, Manhattan, the last and second-to-last stops on the line. On December 31, a minor derailment caused delays at Penn Station, and in January two LIRR service trains derailed in train depots in Brooklyn and Queens, causing delays for dozens of trains that could not depart. In addition to derailments, in 2018 the LIRR experienced its worst on-time performance in 19 years, with around 90 percent of trains delayed. These derailments are not only reflective of the decay of mass transit in New York Citythe subway and bus systems are in equally disastrous statebut are systematic faults of a social system which is no longer able to respond properly to a crisis that affects millions of commuters daily. As one LIRR commuter told the WSWS in August, The Long Island Rail Road is just getting worse and worse. The renovation proposal that included the School Street crossing is part of the current MTA Fast Forward program. This latest proposal by the MTA to entirely renovate the transit system in the next 10 years has been presented as costing $40 billion, but has been estimated as requiring $60 billion. This amount has no prospect of being collected by the MTA in a fiscally responsible manner. Loans from the city and state governments together only amount to about $11 billion. Last month, the state Legislature, controlled by a super-majority of Democrats, tried to retract $7.3 billion in spending promised by Governor Andrew Cuomo to the MTA because the plans for improvements were too vague, which, in fact, they are. This is in the face of a vast decline of annual contributions to the MTA by both the state and city over the last 25 years. In 2017, for example, the city contributed $250 million dollars to the MTA budget, a quarter of its contribution in 1990. The enormous amount now being estimated to revitalize and maintain this system is the fault of the Democrats and Republicans who have set New York City and state budgets over this time period. Both Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, in office for five years, and Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, in office for eight years, routinely blame the state or the city for not contributing more to the MTAs budget. Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature, until recently almost even balanced between Democrats and Republicans, bear special responsibility for the decline of the MTA and the LIRR. Characteristic of top LIRR and MTA officials who seek to blame the often deadly shortcomings of New Yorks mass transit system on individuals, whether train or automobile drivers or commuters, LIRR president Philip Eng said, Why folks try to risk their lives and other peoples lives, perhaps to save a few minutes, is one I cant answer. Even more revealing was a suggestion by MTA board member Norman Brown, who proposed that owners or operators of the vehicles in train crashes be held financially liable. The expense here is huge, theres no reason it should be borne solely by the MTA. Maybe we could pass some legislation here that could put some of the weight on the operators of these vehicles. Both comments reflect an MTA leadership that is so cynical and demoralized by the advanced state of decay of the largest mass transit system in the US, that they can think of nothing better than to penalize the working-class victims of decades of their bosses budget cuts. The upcoming fare-hike on the system, which will pass the burden of raising revenue on to commuters, is another sign of this foul mixture of desperation and contempt by those who manage the MTA. Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced on Thursday his decision to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in connection with three separate cases on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, pending a hearing at which Netanyahu can challenge the charges. The indictment announcement, following three years of deliberations over recommendations to prosecute by numerous authorities, comes just 40 days before the general election set for April 9. It centers on Netanyahus dealings with businessmen to whom he allegedly granted regulatory concessions in return for lavish gifts or favorable news coverage. If the hearing, likely to be held after the election, rejects his challenge, Netanyahu, who has held the premiership since 2009 and before that from 1996 to 1999, will become the first sitting prime minister to be indicted. While being the subject of a criminal investigation does not require Netanyahu to resign, it puts him under pressure to do so and seems likely to alter the course of the election, in which his Likud Party had been expected to win the largest number of seats in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. The indictment announcement comes in the context of mounting tensions and divisions within the Israeli political establishment exacerbated by Netanyahus increasingly pronounced far-right orientation, including the cultivation of neo-fascist forces both within Israel and internationally. Facing an unexpectedly serious electoral challenge from former army chief Benny Gantz in the April 9 vote, Netanyahu last week engineered a deal to shore up his right-wing coalition by merging the fascist Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party with the more established right-wing party of religious Zionists, Jewish Home. This effectively legitimized an organization that traces its roots to the long-outlawed Kach party of Meir Kahane. That party was declared a terrorist organization by the United States. Like Kach, Otzma Yehudit encourages violence against Palestinians, calls for the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the occupied territories, and advocates a ban on intermarriage or sex between Jews and Arabs. With its merger with Jewish Home, this organization could win seats in the Knesset and possibly become part of the next government. The two leaders of Otzma Yehudit who could win parliamentary seatsMichael Ben Ari and Itamar Ben Gvirare cofounders of a group that was implicated in a 2014 arson attack on a school for Jewish and Arab children in Jerusalem. Ben Ari was denied a visa to the US in 2012 as a member of a terrorist organization. Ben Gvir has acknowledged having a picture in his home of Baruch Goldstein, the Kahane supporter who murdered 29 Palestinians at a mosque in Hebron in 1994. Netanyahus electoral alliance with outright fascists has sparked outrage and revulsion within Israel as well as among Jews in the United States. Even elements within the Israeli religious right are likening the politics of Otzma Yehudit to the Nazis Nuremberg Laws. Last week, influential sections of the Israel lobby in the US that have generally supported Netanyahu, including the American Jewish Committee and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), issued denunciations of Netanyahus inclusion of Otzma Yehudit in his electoral bloc. The decision to indict thus takes place under conditions of growing concerns within the Israeli ruling elite and state that the far-right policies of Netanyahu are alienating Jews outside the country and destabilizing the Zionist regime internally. Israel is among the most economically unequal advanced economies in the world and has the highest poverty rate of any country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It has seen a growing wave of working class strikes and protests. Last July, there were protests within Israel over the passage of the Nation-State Law, which enshrined Jewish supremacy as the legal foundation of the state. At the same time, Netanyahu has solidarized the Israeli government with far-right and neo-fascist forces and leaders around the world, including Viktor Orban of Hungary, Matteo Salvini of Italy, Sebastian Kurz of Austria, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and, of course, Donald Trump in the US. None of this, it should be noted, has deterred the corporate media and political establishment in Britain, France, Germany and other countries from prosecuting their fraudulent campaign against left-wing anti-Semitism, targeting those who criticize the Israeli states oppression of the Palestinians. Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi, where he was meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump declared his support for Netanyahu in advance of the Israeli attorney generals announcement, saying he has done a great job as prime minister. Netanyahu joins a long line of Israeli politicians who have faced corruption and other charges. His immediate predecessor, Ehud Olmert, received a six-year jail term for bribery offences when he was mayor of Jerusalem prior to becoming prime minister. Olmerts predecessor, Ariel Sharon, had the good fortune to become incapacitated before charges against him could be proved. Sharons predecessor, Ehud Barak, became extraordinarily rich after he left office in 2001. Netanyahus wife, Sara, is the defendant in a trial, stalled since last October, on charges of aggravated fraud and breach of trust for allowing staff at the prime ministers residence to order $100,000 worth of meals from restaurants between 2010 and 2013. Of the three cases for which Mandelbit is recommending that Netanyahu be indicted, the most important is the Bezeq affair, known as Case 4000, which relates to allegations that the telecom billionaire Shaul Elovitch gave Netanyahu flattering coverage on his Walla news website in exchange for regulatory favours. Speaking on television, Netanyahu denied the charges and said they would collapse like a house of cards. He boasted that he intended to continue as prime minister for many more years. Leading members of Likud, while publicly remaining supportive and calling the charges political persecution, have been lining up to put themselves in contest for the leadership position, with his long-time rival and former aide Gideon Saar coming third in the Likud primaries. According to a poll by the Times of Israel conducted before Mandelbits announcement, the decision to go ahead with a prosecution would have a major impact on the election, giving his chief rival, former Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Gantz, a decisive lead, with 44 seats in the 120-seat Knesset against Likuds 25. The indictment announcement also takes place in the immediate aftermath of the release of the report by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Israels actions against the Palestinians in Gaza during the protests that started on March 30, 2018. The panel declared: Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. United States President Donald Trump and North Korea Chairman Kim Jong-un held their second summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday. Talks collapsed on the second day with the two sides failing to produce any tangible results, highlighting the ongoing danger of a US-instigated war on the Korean Peninsula. Washington and Pyongyang disputed the reason for the summits abrupt ending. Trump claimed that the North agreed to dismantle its nuclear enrichment facilities at Yongbyon only if all sanctions were lifted. He stated, They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldnt give up all of the sanctions for that...We had to walk away from that. The US demanded that other aspects of Pyongyangs weapon programs be dismantled before any lifting of sanctions. North Koreas Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho disputed this account at a Friday press conference, saying, If the United States removes partial sanctions, mainly removes the articles of sanctions that hamper the civilian economy and the livelihood of our people in particular, we will permanently and completely dismantle all the nuclear material production facilities at Yongbyon, including plutonium and uranium, in the presence of US experts. Ri added that Pyongyang would put in writing a pledge to permanently halt nuclear and long-range missile testing, but added, Given the current level of trust between North Korea and the United States, this was the maximum step for denuclearization we could offer. Prior to the summit, Washington hinted it could ease demands for complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization before lifting any sanctions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on February 21, We wont release that pressure (from sanctions) until such time as were confident weve substantially reduced that risk (from North Korea). Despite the summits failure, Pompeo stated that he was still optimistic about negotiations in the near future, claiming they had not come to an end. In addition, South Korea stated that Trump spoke via phone to President Moon Jae-in after leaving Hanoi, asking Moon to actively perform the role of a mediator between Washington and Pyongyang. Negotiations came only as a result of Washingtons provocative and bellicose threats, made explicit by Trump in 2017 to totally destroy the North. Pyongyang is well aware that any deal it reaches to give up its nuclear program could still end in regime-change operations, as Washington has a long history of abrogating agreements it no longer finds politically useful. The reality is that North Koreas nuclear and weapon programs, as well as issues over human rights, have served as pretexts for Washington to place economic and military pressure on Pyongyang and ultimately force the Stalinist regime into the US orbit. This process, beginning after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, accelerated in recent years as part of the Obama administrations pivot to Asia and the Trump administrations even more dangerous preparations for war against China. In this regard, whether or not Pyongyang maintains some degree of weaponry or continues to suppress the democratic rights of North Korean workers and farmers is of little importance to Washington so long as Pyongyang can be counted as an ally in the war drive against Beijing. This was a major reason for the holding of the summit in Vietnam, with Trump tweeting a day before the summit, Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize. The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon - Very Interesting! What of course goes unmentioned is that Vietnam, after decades of war against French and US imperialism, used the restoration of capitalism in the 1980s to offer up its working class as a source of cheap labor in the interest of international capital. The Stalinist regime enriched itself while policing its workers and farmers to prevent any opposition to this exploitation. In addition, Vietnam has become an integral part of Washingtons war plans in the region, as military cooperation between the two continues to grow. The Stalinists in Pyongyang hope to replicate this turn in order to increase their own wealth at the expense of the North Korean working class, but are uneasy about the strain it would place on relations with China, the Norths largest and only significant economic backer. Behind the scenes, the Trump administration is undoubtedly pressing for Pyongyang to flip militarily, though historically it has maintained better relations with Beijing than Hanoi has. It is this that lies at the heart of Trumps engagement with Pyongyang and in fact underlines US policy in the Asia-Pacific. Whatever the immediate outcome of the summit and future negotiations, the world is increasingly resembling the period before the outbreak of World War II, with its sudden and rapid shifts in alliances between countries. The broader context, however, is the rapidly intensifying preparations by the United States for military conflict with its great power rivals, Russia and China. The finance aristocracy, in its mode of acquisition as well as in its pleasures, is nothing but the rebirth of the lumpenproletariat on the heights of bourgeois society.Karl Marx, The Class Struggles in France What Marx described, in his analysis of the corruption of the bourgeoisie in France leading up to the 1848 revolution, applies with even greater force to the United States of 2019, where the bourgeoisie faces its own rendezvous with social upheaval and explosive class battles. That is how a Marxist understands the spectacle of Wednesdays hearing before the House Oversight Committee, in which Michael Cohen, the former attorney and fixer for Donald Trump for more than a decade, testified for six hours about how he and his boss worked to defraud business partners and tax collectors, intimidate critics and suppress opposition to Trumps acitvities in real estate, casino gambling, reality television and, eventually, electoral politics. What Cohen described was a seedier version of an operation that most Americans would recognize from viewing films like The Godfather: Trump as the capo di tutti capi, the unquestioned authority who must be consulted on every decision; the children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, each now playing significant roles in the ongoing family criminal enterprise; Allen Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump Organization, the consigliere in charge of finance, mentioned by Cohen more than 20 times in the course of six hours of testimony as the man who facilitated Trumps schemes to evade taxes, deceive banks or stiff business partners. Cohen himself was an enforcer. By his own account, he threatened people on Trumps behalf at least 500 times in a ten-year period, including business associates, politicians, journalists and anyone seeking to file complaints or gain reimbursement after being defrauded by one or another Trump venture. The now-disbarred lawyer admitted to tape recording clientsincluding Trump among many othersmore than 100 times during this period. The incidents recounted by Cohen range from the farcical (Trump browbeating colleges and even his military prep school not to release his grades or test scores), to the shabby (Trump having his own charitable foundation buy a portrait of himself for $60,000), to the brazenly criminal (deliberately inflating the value of properties when applying for bank loans while deflating the value of the same properties as much as twenty-fold in order to evade taxation). One of the most remarkable revelations was Cohens flat assertion that Trump himself did not enter the presidential race with the expectation that he could win either the Republican nomination or the presidency. Instead, the billionaire reality television star regularly told his closest aides, the campaign would be the greatest infomercial in political history, good for promoting his brand and opening up business opportunities in previously closed markets. These unflattering details filled the pages of the daily newspapers Thursday and occupied many hours on the cable television news. But in all that vast volume of reporting and commentary, one would look in vain for any serious assessment of what it means, in terms of the historical development and future trajectory of American society, that a family like the Trumps now occupies the highest rung in the US political system. The World Socialist Web Site rejects efforts by the Democrats and the corporate media to dismiss Trump as an aberration, an accidental figure whose unexpected elevation to the presidency in 2016 will be corrected through impeachment, forced resignation or electoral defeat in 2020. We insist that the Trump administration is a manifestation of a protracted crisis and breakdown of American democracy, whose course can be traced back at least two decades to the failed impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998-99, followed by the stolen presidential election of 2000. The US political system, always dominated by the interests of the capitalist ruling class that controls both of the major parties, the Democrats as much as the Republicans, is breaking down under the burden of mounting social tensions, driven above all by skyrocketing economic inequality. It is impossible to sustain the pretense that elections at two-year and four-year intervals provide genuine popular influence over the functioning of a government so completely subordinated to the financial aristocracy. The figures are familiar but require restating: over the past three decades, virtually all the increase in wealth in American society has gone to a tiny layer at the top. Three mega-billionairesJeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Bill Gatesnow control more wealth than half the American population. This process of social polarization is global: according to the most recent Oxfam report, 26 billionaires control more wealth than the poorer half of the human race. These billionaires did not accumulate their riches by devising new technologies or making new scientific discoveries that increased the wealth and happiness of humanity as a whole. On the contrary, their enrichment has come at the expense of society. Bezos has become the worlds richest man through the emergence of Amazon as the greatest sweatshop enterprise in history, where every possible second of labor power is extracted from a brutally exploited workforce. The class of billionaires as a whole, having precipitated the global financial collapse of 2008 through reckless speculation and swindling in the sale of derivatives and other obscure financial products, was bailed out, first by the Republican Bush, then by the Democrat Obama, to the tune of trillions of dollars. Meanwhile, the jobs, living standards and social conditions for the great mass of working people sharply declined. As for Donald Trump, the real estate swindler, casino con man and reality television mogul is a living demonstration of the truth of Balzacs aphorism: Behind every great fortune is a great crime. Trump toyed with running for president on the ultra-right Reform Party ticket in 2000 after a long stint as a registered Democrat and donor to both capitalist parties. When he decided to run for president as a Republican in 2016, however, he had shifted drastically to the right. His candidacy marked the emergence of a distinctly fascistic movement, as he spewed anti-immigrant prejudice and racism more generally, while making a right-wing populist appeal to working people, particularly in de-industrialized areas in the Midwest and Appalachia, on the basis of economic nationalism. As World Socialist Web Site editorial board Chairman David North explained even before the 2016 elections: The Republican nominee for the presidency of the United States did not emerge from an American version of a Munich beer hall. Donald Trump is a billionaire, who made his money in Manhattan real estate swindles, the semi-criminal operations of casino gambling, and the bizarre world of reality television, which entertains and stupefies its audience by manufacturing absurd, disgusting and essentially fictional real life situations. The candidacy of Donald Trump could be described as the transfer of the techniques of reality television to politics. The main development in the two years since Trump entered the White House is the emergence of the American working class into major struggles, beginning with the wave of teachers strikes in 2018, initiated by the rank and file in defiance of the bureaucratic unions. The reaction in the American ruling elite is a panic-stricken turn to authoritarian methods of rule. The billionaire in the White House is now engaged in a systematic assault on the foundations of American democracy. He has declared a national emergency in order to bypass Congress, which holds the constitutional power of the purse, and divert funds from the military and other federal departments to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Whether or not he is immediately successful in this effort, it is clear that Trump is moving towards the establishment of an authoritarian regime, with or without the sanction of the ballot box. As Cohen observed in his closing statementin remarks generally downplayed by the media and ignored by the Democratshe is worried that if Trump loses the 2020 election, there will never be a peaceful transition of power. Trumps opposition in the Democratic Party is no less hostile to democratic rights. They have focused their anti-Trump campaign on bogus allegations that he is a Russian agent, while portraying the emergence of social divisions within the United States as the consequence of Russian meddling, not the crisis of capitalism, and pushing for across-the-board internet censorship. The defense of democratic rights and genuine resistance to Trumps drive toward authoritarian rule must come through the development of an independent political movement of the working class, directed against both big business parties, the Democrats as much as the Republicans, and against the profit system which they both defend. Melissa Latronica is a 30-year-old healthcare worker and single mother of three who lives in La Porte, Indiana, 65 miles southeast of Chicago. On February 11, Melissa was pulled over by police in a traffic stop. She was then arrested and jailed for three days over an unpaid ambulance bill. I was on my way to turn in some important paperwork that would let me keep my home, she told the World Socialist Web Site. She was heading to a county agency in nearby Valparaiso, Indiana. A block away from that office, I was stopped at an intersection by a police officer for forgetting to put my 2019 sticker on. Melissa handed the officer her license and apologized for not having affixed her vehicle sticker, which happens to many drivers in the beginning of the year. Ironically, the sticker happened to be inside her car. While the officer ran her license, Melissa waited inside her car for a long time and grew increasingly nervous. Another police car pulled up eventually. She had no idea what the problem was as she had no felonies on her record. The police officer returned to Melissas car and said to her complete astonishment, Maam I'm going to need you to step out of the vehicle. The officer told her that there was a warrant for her arrest. She had apparently failed to appear in court in a 2014 civil case concerning an unpaid ambulance bill. I was cuffed behind my van, my vehicle was impounded, and I pleaded to them just let me turn in this paperwork, so I didnt lose my home, she said. The office was just down the road. The officer did not look her in the eye and replied indifferently, Sorry, Maam. My kids need me to take them to school, she pleaded to the officer. I had no way to afford to get my van back on my own and I couldnt afford the $1,500 bond. He replied, You have three phone calls. Dehumanized in jail Melissa Latronica was terrified of being jailed. She was taken to Porter County Jail on February 11. I had never been in a jail cell, she recalled. All of my things were confiscated as my mugshot was taken after the next poor soul that wound up in there. Soon, I was in a cell fit for a murderer, she added. I would be there for three days until a snowstorm passed and my parents could afford to get me out. For the next three days, Melissa faced abominable and dehumanizing conditions. She recalled with anger, I slept on a concrete floor, in a tiny room with four concrete walls, on a disgusting ratty mat next to a musty water drain that was more like a sewer, while being treated like a dog by staff members, served food through a door hole and open showered with actual felons at midnight. There was no soap available to wash her hands after using the toilets, which anyone could watch as she openly shared it with her cell mate. I was treated like a felon, she said, when this was supposed be a civil case. There was no TV, no cards, no vending machinenothing to do but stare at four walls and listen to the catcalls from felons down the hall and vomiting from people going through drug withdrawals. It was a very unpleasant experience, she added. I really had a hard time coping with some of the officers treating me like I was subhuman. Being in an environment where you get treated like a caged animal is really degrading. All of this happened because I failed to pay off an ambulance bill from 2014. A heart condition In July 2014, Melissa Latronica was eight months pregnant and developed a heart problem. I was sitting on my bed and started to feel dizzy, she said. It didnt seem to be a big deal at first, but then I started to feel my heart pumping faster and faster, and soon I was gasping for air. She could not talk but mustered up the strength to walk. I had to dizzily enter the kitchen, she recalled, where my then-husband and children were watching TV, to try to say I needed an ambulance, but I didnt need to say it. I was gasping for air, for my survival, and soon found myself on the living room floor. Her husband at the time called 911 and emergency services. I couldnt tell time between when I hit the ground, she said, to when the paramedics were shoving oxygen masks on my face, saying Tachycardiaover 300hurry! to when I was looking at the ambulance ceiling, to when I was recovering with Benadryl and IVs on the emergency room bed. This is the beginning of how I wound up in jail five years later, she added with anger. Melissa recovered from her heart condition in 2014 but incurred a $3,000 ambulance bill. She never received these bills because they were likely sent to an older address. The unpaid bills were then sent to a collection agency which eventually took her unpaid debt to court. The court then sent notices to summon her to pay her debt. I dont know where the summons papers are, she said on why she did not appear in court. If I got them or if they were sent to my old address, she does not know. But I intend to find out what happened. I was blindsided by my arrest. Completely blindsided. Her failure to appear resulted in a bench warrant for her arrest. A bureaucratic nightmare Dawn Anderson tried to get her daughter Melissa out of jail immediately. Dawn was a registered nurse for 21 years and spent most of her life raising Melissa while dealing with a disabilityshe lost both of her legs to diabetes. Her life, like many workers who face crippling healthcare costs, has been one of constant struggle and medical debt from countless surgeries related to her own illnesses. When I found out my daughter was in jail, Dawn noted, I called the jail and found out through the automated system she was in jail for failure to appear and that her bond was $1,569. I called the Portage City Clerk, she added, and explained how Melissa was in jail for an ambulance bill from when she was pregnant and how silly and stupid. She was confounded that a working-class single mother of three children could be arrested and put into jail over an unpaid bill. She spoke to a clerk who found Melissas case, but not her ambulance bill. What followed next was a Kafkaesque nightmare for Dawn. She was transferred from the Clerks office to the Porter County Government building, and then to a tax collections department. The collections department told her that they did not deal with ambulance bills. After being bounced around, she was finally able to reach the collections office that was hunting her daughter for the unpaid bill. The woman at the office took some time to find the ambulance bill. After finally finding it, she told Dawn, Your daughter disregarded three notices to appear in court and a warrant was issued for her arrest back in Dec 2016. The operator told Dawn that if she paid $400, the court would release the bench warrant and she would be free. Dawn paid the $400 right away thinking her daughter would be released the very same day. Ten minutes later, the office called her back to let her know that the judge and the clerk had left but the release would happen first thing in the morning. In other words, Melissa had to spend a night in jail. I was furious, she said, but she told me it was out of her hands until the judge signed for release. The next day the court was delayed for more than two hours because of a snowstorm. Melissa would end up spending another night in jail. Finally, on the third day, Melissas dad, a construction worker, came to pick her up after even more delays. He had to take her to get her car from the impound lot and pay $246. Her father has seen his share of tragedy: he got hit by a semi-truck while working. He has used his workmans compensation to help Melissa with her costs. Dawn pleaded with the collections office to erase her debt. My daughter spent three days in jail without her kids over an ambulance bill, she said. Was this not enough to have her debt erased? Jail doesnt count, was their reply. The collections office told her that Melissa would still have to pay at least $1,200 of her outstanding debt. Dawn was told that her daughter would have to prove to the court that she could not pay her debt. Poverty in La Porte, Indiana The nightmare Melissa Latronica has endured reflects the horrific conditions workers face daily in the United States, with immense wealth accumulated at the top by billionaires and the financial aristocracy while millions endure poverty and hardship. The town of La Porte, Indiana, where Melissa lives is just a 40-minute drive east of the economically devastated city of Gary, Indiana. The Northwest Indiana region, including Gary, was once a national and international center of steel production and manufacturing. Steelworkers carried out fierce strikes, going back to 1919, against the major steel companies to fight for higher living standards. By the 1970s, like other parts of the industrial Rust Belt, the steel companies carried out thousands of layoffs and created depression-like conditions in cities across the country. Workers lives were destroyed, and the city remains ruined to this day. Conditions in nearby La Porte are not any better for workers. A 2018 United Way study called the Indiana ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report found that 55 percent of households in the city of nearly 22,000 residents are struggling just to meet basic needs. According to the study, more than 50 percent struggle to pay for housing, food, healthcare, childcare and transportation costs. Melissa makes a poverty wage of $10 an hour as a certified nurse assistant, one of the top ten most dangerous jobs in the United States, according to a Forbes report. The average median salary for a nursing assistant is around $25,000. Nursing assistants endure the stresses of understaffing, overtime, long shifts, exposure to dangerous illnesses, radiation and dangerous medical devices. As a healthcare worker, you are often exhausted from lifting and running around assisting patients for 12 to 16 hours on end, Melissa said. It takes a lot to get up in the morning after a shift like that, but as a mom, you do what you need to do for your kids. My ex-husband and I share joint custody, so Im not raising them entirely on my own like some mothers have to do. Throughout Indiana, more than 25 percent of households constitute ALICE households who struggle to make ends meet. More than 30 percent cannot meet basic needs and 75 percent of jobs pay less than $15 an hour. Conditions for healthcare workers, steel workers, autoworkers, logistics workers and others in the low-wage and temporary job sectors are increasingly intolerable and often devastating. Melissas arrest made life even more difficult for her family. Being jailed took time away from her children who were supposed to be with her on her custody days. My ex-husband had to scramble and find a way for my kids to get to school while he worked and had to take off work, she said. The criminalization of debt in America Melissa Latronicas arrest and her dehumanizing treatment in jail for a healthcare emergency bill highlights the increasing criminalization of poverty and the growth of the social crisis in the United States. The phenomenon of debtors prisons, once thought to be a Dickensian nightmare of the past that was officially outlawed by Congress in 1833, at least on paper, is again on the rise. Predatory collection agencies have colluded with the courts to punish the working class for their inability to pay onerous debts. A recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found that more than 77 million Americans have had their debts turned over to the private debt collection industry. The ACLU report is a damning indictment of conditions in more than 44 states in which the justice system criminalizes poverty. Judges, acting on the request of various collections agencies, have issued bench warrants for impoverished workers for various kinds of unpaid debtsincluding medical bills, student loans, lagging car payments, unpaid rent and utility bills and more. While the warrants issued are considered civil warrants, not criminal, the incarceration of workers cruelly turns their lives upside down and devastates numerous households who have unbearable levels of debt. The warrants do not cover unpaid debts but the failure to appear in court. Such civil warrants on a workers record can leave them vulnerable to arrest if they are targeted in a warrant sweep, including in traffic violations such as the one that Melissa faced. Tens of thousands of such warrants are issued every year, for amounts as small as $28, creating daily horrors in the lives of the working class. According to the ACLU, more than 6,000 private debt collection agencies operate in the United States collecting billions of dollars. They are hired by businesses and organizations of all sorts, including hospitals that collect unpaid medical debts. In turn, the debt collection companies have contracts with more than 200 district attorneys across the country to utilize prosecutors to demand payments. More than a million workers get letters every year that warn them they could face jail time if debts, for payments as low as $2, are not repaid. A portion of the fees processed by the debt collection companies are funneled back into the pockets of district attorneys. The debt collection agencies often file hundreds of lawsuits every day in small-claims courts without evidence that debts are actually owed. Those arrested face even more feesincluding pre-conviction fees, sentencing fees, incarceration fees, parole feesand enter into a downward spiral from jail and into greater poverty. According to the ACLU report, fewer than 2 percent of defendants have legal representation, effectively eviscerating due process for impoverished workers. Such practices are unconstitutional and violate the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that due process and equal protection under the law are fundamental rights. The failure of capitalism Growing up watching my mom get screwed with medical debt, having excessive college debt, and having a professional healthcare job that pays just over minimum wage, I truly feel we need to reform predatory capitalism into sustainable practices, Melissa said. Coercing people into paying a debt they had no choice in taking on is unethical, she added. This is what our healthcare system is fundamentally doing. Its taking advantage of sick people and milking their pockets. Healthcare should be a service available to all. Its truly sad that so many people wind up in an endless sea of debt due to circumstances out of their control. Putting a price tag on a humans life used to be referred to as slavery. I think capitalism has turned into a monster of sorts that has people trying to climb out of situations they had no choice to be in. The conditions workers like Melissa face are above all a daily reflection of the complete failure and breakdown of capitalism in the United States and globally. No worker should incur thousands of dollars in debt for healthcare emergencies, let alone face arrest for an inability to pay those bills. The predatory practices of debt collection companies and their collusion with the legal system points to a world turned upside downan unjust world that demands such a rotten system governed by private profit be replaced by one that meets social needs, that is a socialist society. Melissa's story has generated an outpouring of response from workers around the world. Contribute to her GoFundMe account here to help cover her ambulance bill and other other costs she has incurred. Teacher strikes continue to escalate against a brutal drive by big business for the privatization of education and the further plundering of the edu-market for profit-taking. American teachers are part of a growing global movement against government austerity and social inequality. Now in the seventh day of their strike, 3,000 teachers in Oakland, California are in the forefront. Crucially, educators there have formed a rank-and-file strike committee to assert the interests of teachers independent of the union and fight to broaden their strike by reaching out statewide and nationally to prepare a general strike against the bipartisan attack on public education. Thousands of teachers in Kentucky carried out a sickout and demonstration at the state capitol in Frankfort to defend pensions, resuming the protests which they carried out last March and April of last year. That job action led to the cancellation of classes for 168,000 students in some of the states two largest school districts, Jefferson (Louisville) and Fayette (Lexington), and six others. While the Kentucky Education Association sought to subordinate the protest to its maneuvers with state Republicans and Democrats to retain its influence on the state pension board, teachers are not only angered over the attack on their retirement benefits but the same issues driving educators into struggle everywhere: low pay, underfunded schools and over-crowded classes. In a statement posted on the KY 120 United Facebook Thursday morning, the group said, We show up every day in the classroom with a lot of passion, but sadly passion will not substitute for our pension or our paycheck. It has been crystal clear for over a year that public education, teachers, and our public pensions are under attack. Enough is enough. This isnt about just one bill but a series of events that have transpired over the past year." Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County teacher union, said his union did not support the call for a sickout. In 2018 nearly half a million US workers were on strike, the majority of which were teachers who rebelled against decades of union collusion in budget cuts and anti-teacher attacks. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA) and their state and local affiliates kept each struggle isolated and then signed deals that betrayed teachers interests. A year after the revolt in West Virginia, teachers across the US are coming into action again. Below is a summary of struggles in each state. West Virginia teachers returned to the picket lines on February 19 and 20th to fight the legislative threat to privatize schools and revisit their demands of last year for full funding of classrooms and a fix to their healthcare plan. In Oklahoma, teachers are talking about a renewed walkout. The union has called a day of advocacy for teachers to rally at the capitol on April 1 if the state does not provide $400 million to fund school workers raises. After the Oklahoma Education Association and American Federation of Teachers-Oklahoma City betrayed last years strike accepting a minimal pay increase, many teachers are still making only $36,000 a year. Moreover nothing has been done to address the systemic defunding of education in the state that has reduced 208 schools in 92 Oklahoma districts to four-day weeks and forced 30,000 teachers to leave the profession over the past six years in search of higher salaries. Arizona classrooms continued to be under-resourced and teachers underpaid, and teachers are threatening to resume their strike, which was abruptly ended by the union last May. Despite the promise of a 20% pay increase by 2020, Arizona public school teachers still rank at or near the bottom when it comes to salaries. In January it was announced that the school year had opened with 1,547 classrooms in Arizona without teachers, while another 663 teachers quit within the first month of school. Layoffs are now being imposed in many Washington state districts, including Seattle and Tacoma, in the aftermath of the union betrayal of last Augusts strikes in a dozen districts. Port Angeles will lay off teachers and staff at every level said the district superintendent last week. He predicted larger class sizes in elementary, middle schools and high schools, following a nearly 40 percent decrease in local levy funds. Tacoma Public Schools is imposing $30 million in cuts next year and has already cut 36 full-time employees. Vancouver Public Schools are cutting $14 million from staffing in the 2019-2020 school year. In the aftermath of the betrayal of the six-day strike of Los Angeles teachers, new struggles are emerging in California alongside the Oakland walkout. New strikes are looming in Sacramento and East Bay and earlier this week teachers in Fremont, south of San Francisco, carried out sickouts. Some teachers in Berkeley and San Francisco carried out sickouts in solidarity with Oakland strikers. In Alaska,overflow crowds of educators, students and Alaskan residents packed town hall meetings in Anchorage and Eagle River last week to denounce Republican Governor Mike Dunleavys budget proposal which would make sweeping cuts to the states education budget, slashing $310 million from the Department of Education and Early Development and an additional $134 million from the University of Alaska. Using words like draconian and morally bankrupt," the overflowing audience opposed the package of $1.6 billion in cuts which would also hit health care services. A protest is planned by Indiana teachers March 9 at the statehouse in Indianapolis over poverty pay scales and lack of adequate resources in the classrooms. Educators have faced decades of accountability schemes, the growth of vouchers and salaries that can be as low as $26,000 a year. The state diverted $153 million this year to vouchers, in the nations largest such scheme, to funnel taxpayer money into private school tuition. Im ready to walk today. Ive been ready to walk, Mundy, a high school English teacher, told Chalkbeat. When you demand more and more and more of teachers and are willing to give them less, and you make it very clear that what we do isnt respectedat that point, thats when Ive decided I think its time to walk. South Carolina's legislators are pushing an omnibus "education reform" bill that will provide teachers with up to a 5 percent raise in exchange for allowing the state to hand over to charter operators underperforming schools and allowing noncertified teachers to teach. During a five-hour hearing earlier this month, more than 400 teachers, parents, and students denounced the bill as "detrimental" and "ineffective." Many teachers said they were willing to strike if the bill advanced any further, reported Education Week. Demands are growing in Utah for increased K-12 spending, as a new report shows it is stuck at 50th in the nation. As a result of tax cuts implemented by then-governor Jon Huntsman over a decade ago, the rate for the highest tax brackets has declined from 7 percent to 5 percent, and public schools have been systematically defunded. For the school year that began in the fall of 2008, the total education budget was $9,601 per student; a decade later it was 2 percent less, just $9,473. Last year a massive tax cut for the wealthy and corporations was imposed in Idaho (raising taxes for low- and middle-income earners); this year, schools are being further short-changed. Idahos starting teacher salary of $33,743 puts it behind all but six states. The poverty wages in the state led 15 percent of teachers to quit after the first year and increasing numbers of educators are not fully trained but are emergency credentialed. In Texas, legislators are debating a possible $5,000 pay raise for teachers but are considering implementing a statewide pay-incentive program, or merit pay, which would provide a pay raise to the state's best-performing teachers. Republican Governor Greg Abbott said in his State of the State address this year that any pay raise teachers get will be outcomes based. In addition, Louisiana educators have called for a strike by the end of the school year if no action is taken on pay increases, and educators are demanding pay raises in Mississippi, Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and other states. There is no reason for any section of teachers to fight the powerful corporate and political forces arrayed against them alone. The WSWS Teacher Newsletter calls for the formation of rank-and-file strike committees in every school and community to mobilize the broadest support from students, parents and all workers for statewide and national action, including a political general strike in defense of education. Teachers must fight for what educators and their students need, not what big business politicians and union bureaucrats say is affordable. The securing of the funding necessary for a vast improvement of public education and teachers living standards will require a frontal assault on the power and personal fortunes of the super-rich. This means a fight for socialism so the wealth produced by the working class can be used for human needs, not private profit. Image Credit: UNI Attari, Mar 1 (IBNS): Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by the Pakistani Army two days ago and was supposed to be handed over to India earlier this afternoon, has not yet entered India through the Wagah border here, apparently due to "procedural delays", media reports said. A large crowd comprising wellwishers of the IAF pilot and media have been waiting for hours here awaiting the IAF Wing Commander's return. Media reports said Abhinandan was driven to the border in a military vehicle. The daily beating the retreat and band ceremony at the Wagah border was cancelled on Friday with captured Indian Air Force Pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. The elaborate ceremony draws hundreds of spectators every day on both sides of the border. Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon told media that Border Security Force (BSF) cancelled the ceremony due to security reasons and to avoid any untoward incident. Two days, ago the IAF Wing Commander was captured by the Pakistan Army two days ago after his aircraft crashed across the Line of Control. Media reports said Pakistan has rejected India's request to send him back in an IAF (Indian Air Force) plane and instead decided to send him through the border. Indian authorities have been formally informed of Pakistan's decision to release captured Indian Air Force officer, Wing Commander, sources within the Foreign Office told DawnNewsTV. Acting Indian High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia on Friday visited the Pakistan foreign office to fulfil formalities ahead of the Indian pilot's release, it said. Indian Air Attache Group Captain J.T. Krain has left for Lahore with travel documents of the pilot. He will escort the pilot back to India, sources added, said Dawn. Image Credit: UNI HOUSTON, Miss. (WTVA) - The Chickasaw County Sheriff's Department is searching for the driver of a vehicle who led them on a chase into Lee County. Sheriff James Meyers says a Houlka police cruiser was run off the road by that vehicle on Wednesday night. Deputies then chased that vehicle through Okolona and into Shannon where the driver crashed into a ditch and ran into the woods. Deputies searched the area for two hours before calling off the search. "Right now, we don't want to release his name, said Meyers. We are narrowing it down to make sure we are 100 percent sure we know who it is." WEST POINT, Miss. (WTVA) - Police in West Point have arrested a man facing burglary and grand larceny charges. Officers took Deanto Evans to the Clay County jail Thursday. He's not only in trouble with the law in West Point. Police say warrants were out from Clay County and the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He also faces charges in Monroe County. COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has told local officials the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is closed after the recent heavy rain. That rain is being blamed for creating shallow spots near Bay Springs Lake and near Aberdeen, according to Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority administrator Mitch Mays. He has been told it is so shallow that someone could wade across the waterway on foot. Mays says an emergency channel should be dug by the end of next week in Tishomingo County to allow barge traffic to move again. However, he adds it may take up to six weeks to do the same near Aberdeen. Moscow, Mar 1 (Sputnik/UNI) Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday that he would abstain from attending the two-day meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers, to protest OIC's decision to invite Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to this event amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. Qureshi said, at a session of the parliament, that Swaraj had been invited to the meeting, which started in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier in the day, even though India was neither a member nor an observer of the OIC. The minister stressed that the OIC had not withdrawn the invitation for his Indian counterpart, even though Islamabad had sent two letters of protests to the host country. "I have [therefore] decided not to attend OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi," Qureshi said. The diplomat voiced regret that the UAE, which had previously "always helped Pakistan in difficult times," took the side of India amid conflict between the two neighboring countries. A lower-level delegation from Pakistan will attend the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers session in order to present Islamabad's 19 resolutions, including those related to India's alleged human rights violations in the disputed Kashmir region, Qureshi added. This week, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated, as the two countries engaged in an air battle and lost jets in it. It followed an air strike by the Indian Air Force on what it said was a camp of the militant Jaish-e-Mohammad group, considered terrorist by India, which was located on the Pakistani soil across the so-called Line of Control (LoC) separating the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of the disputed Kashmir region. The strike came after a deadly attack by Jaish-e-Mohammad on the Indian paramilitary police force in Kashmir in mid-February. While India has accused Pakistan of supporting the militants and having a "direct hand" in the incident, Pakistan has rejected the allegations, accusing India, in turn, of being responsible for human rights violations taking place in Kashmir. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Home Search ICH Trump Sticks To Sanctions - U.S., North Korea Summit Fails By Moon Of Alabama February 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The second summit between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un of North Korea was held in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday and today. It failed. The meetings on the last day were cut short. Nothing was agreed upon and signed. No common statement was issued. Trump held a press conference and gave his side of the talks ( transcript ). The issue seems to have been the sequencing of abolishing sanctions by the U.S. side versus the destruction of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor complex on the North Korean side. The U.S. demanded the destruction of Yongbyon and of other complexes before any change in the sanction regime. North Korea insisted on following the sequencing that was agreed upon during the first summit. The joint statement by the two leaders signed in June 2018 defined four clearly sequenced steps: President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following: The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity. The United States and DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified. Eight month later new relations in form of the opening of embassies or a lifting of sanctions were not established. No peace treaty was signed. North Korea destroyed nuclear testing tunnels and a missile test stand. Some POW/MIA remains have been repatriated. But the U.S. side has taken no steps that could be seen as fulfilling its commitments. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Since the first summit Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. media have done their best to ignore the sequencing . North Korea on the other side has insisted on it again and again. It made absolutely clear that it would not budge on the issue. In his New Year speech the chairman emphasized: If the US responds to our proactive, prior efforts with trustworthy measures and corresponding practical actions , bilateral relations will develop wonderfully at a fast pace through the process of taking more definite and epochal measures. We have no intention to be obsessed with and keep up the unsavoury past relationship between the two countries, but are ready to fix it as early as possible and work to forge a new relationship in line with the aspirations of the two peoples and the requirements of the developing times. ... I am ready to meet the US president again anytime, and will make efforts to obtain without fail results which can be welcomed by the international community. But if the United States does not keep the promise it made in the eyes of the world , and out of miscalculation of our peoples patience, it attempts to unilaterally enforce something upon us and persists in imposing sanctions and pressure against our Republic, we may be compelled to find a new way for defending the sovereignty of the country and the supreme interests of the state and for achieving peace and stability of the Korean peninsula. The "corresponding measures" the U.S. promised will have to come first before North Korea gives up more of its nuclear infrastructure. As Trump tells it the U.S. insisted on nuclear dismantling first: Trump: Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldnt do that. They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldnt give up all of the sanctions for that, so well continue to work and well see. But we had to walk away from that particular suggestion. We had to walk away from that. Q: Will all the sanctions that are currently in existence remain, sir? Trump: Theyre in place. I was watching as a lot of you folks over the weeks have said, oh, weve given up -- we havent given up anything. And I think frankly well be good friends with chairman Kim and North Korea, and I think they have tremendous potential. Ive been telling everybody they have tremendous potential, unbelievable potential, and were going to see. But it was about sanctions. They wanted sanctions lifted but they werent willing to do an area we wanted. They were willing to give us areas but not the ones we wanted. That the sanctions stay in place is a great disappointment for South Korea. Its president Moon Jae-in had hoped to announce new economic agreements with North Korea. The U.S. will not allow him to proceed. That Trump came to the summit with the delusion that he could get more out of North Korea before lifting sanctions is a failure of the policy process in the State Department and the National Security Council. They held the preparatory talks and knew what North Korea demanded before it was willing to go any further. Trump says that even as he "walked away" the meeting ended in a friendly way and without bad words. North Korea, Trump says, will stay committed to the freeze of nuclear and missile testing while the U.S. will stay committed to the freeze of large scale maneuvers around North Korea. Both sides are open to further talks but no dates have been set for them. If Trump hopes that North Korea will come back and offer more he will be disappointed. Neither will North Korea sit just back and do nothing while the U.S. keeps sticking to its sanction regime. The New Year speech quoted above said that North Korea will "be compelled to find a new way for defending the sovereignty of the country" if the U.S. is unwilling to budge. History shows that North Korea has always gamed out such talks. It is always prepared to let them fail and it is ready to take the next step whenever that happens. The "new way" may well allure to some new weapon that North Korea is ready to test. Cruise missiles are a possible candidate. We do not know yet the North Korean view of the talks. Their version is usually published in the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper a day or two after such talks. It will likely contain hints of how North Korea is going to proceed. Kim Jong-un came to Vietnam by train. He will travel back through China and will likely coordinate the next steps with the Chinese government. When and how he will take his "new way" will probably depend on the trade talks between China and the United States. If those too fail then all bets are again off. This article was originally published by " Moon Of Alabama " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Former SK unification minister Chong Se-hyun suggests that summit was derailed by last minute attendance of Bolton, who added demands for NK to also report chemical/biological weapons, in response to which NKs increased their demand for sanctions relief https://t.co/d7IbkNtqxi Kevin Gray (@DrKevinGray) February 28, 2019 Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. Avalanche closes Teton Pass JACKSON (WNE) - An avalanche piled snow across Highway 22 on Wednesday, forcing the Wyoming Department of Transportation to shut down the road for most of the day. Foreman Bruce Daigle believes the avalanche released naturally at the road cut near the Twin Slides path. Some skiers witnessed the slide, but no one was caught or buried. Debris from the slide was estimated to be 5 to 8 feet deep and 100 feet wide. WYDOT crews have worked around the clock trying to keep Teton Pass and the Snake River and Hoback canyons safe for travel. But, Daigle said, stabilizing hillsides that keep getting hit with more and more snow is not an easy job. "It's a tricky situation up here," he said. "We'll come through here and cut the snow and more will drop in. It's never-ending." Wyoming Highway Patrol helped with traffic control Wednesday while WYDOT employees cleared the mess and did avalanche mitigation on Beaver Slide. Several skiers and snowmobilers were on Teton Pass when the avalanche covered the road. The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center rated avalanche danger as high Wednesday at all elevations and issued a rare avalanche warning. Another avalanche on Teton Pass early Wednesday morning near the truck arrestor partially covered the highway. It was cleared fast enough that not many people noticed. Daigle said his crews have also been keeping a close eye on the canyons. "Be alert because it hasn't slid yet, and it could," Daigle warned. "It's just a matter of time. It's not if, it's when." --- Legislature overrides two vetoes CHEYENNE (WNE) - The Legislature rejected two of Gov. Mark Gordon's 29 line-item vetoes from the state's supplemental budget Wednesday, but let much of what Gordon rejected stand as lawmakers worked late into the night Wednesday to finish up the session on time. The House voted overwhelmingly to override four of Gordon's vetoes, but the Senate was only concerned with two of those decisions - a footnote that was essentially a technical correction included in the budget, and the elimination of two positions in the Wyoming State Engineer's Office. Gordon had vetoed the elimination of the two positions on the grounds the office had already eliminated one position by not filling a vacancy. "I will not allow the State Engineer to use the empty position and plan to propose eliminating one position in the next budget," Gordon said in his letter to the Legislature. "I must, however, preserve the one filled position, otherwise there could be an unintended riff of an employee." The other two vetoes from the House with which the Senate didn't concur dealt with the Wyoming Business Council. One earmarked $100,000 to promote state products and goods in Asian markets, and another withheld several hundred thousand dollars in funding to the Business Council until a report on economic development efforts was submitted to the Legislature by November. The House's action to override those two vetoes was unable to gain even a majority of support in the Senate, let alone the two-thirds support necessary to sustain an override. --- Mild earthquake recorded near Green River GREEN RIVER (WNE) - A mild earthquake was recorded northwest of Green River on Feb. 22, according to records from University of Utah seismograph stations. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake took place at 2:55 p.m., Friday and registered a magnitude 3.1. The shallow earthquake occurred at a depth of 1.7 kilometers. The quake did not impact operations at Genesis Alkali. David Caplan, director of corporate communications for the facility, said the mine has emergency response plans for multiple scenarios, including seismic activity. However, the activity was so low it did not warrant a response under the emergency plan. Caplan said the mine has also cooperated with the University of Utah in monitoring seismic activity, saying the university installed an additional monitor within Genesis Alkali's mine permit boundary in 2018. According to information from the USGS website, eathquake.usgs.gov, few earthquakes are recoded east of the Intermountain Seismic Belt in the Uinta Mountains and nearby Wyoming Basin, with recorded earthquakes in the area tending to be small. The website also notes earthquakes associated with trona mining tend to be small as well, though an earthquake pamphlet from the University of Wyoming's Water Resources Data System and Wyoming State Climate Office notes an magnitude-5.3 earthquake was recorded Feb. 3, 1995 near Little America and associated with a mine collapse. The event occurred at the Solvay Chemicals mine, involving a 3,000-foot by 7,000-foot portion of the mine collapsing. One miner died during the incident. --- Laramie considers 'safe harbor' for Wyoming toad LARAMIE (WNE) - The Laramie City Council must decide whether to continue to allow conservation efforts for the endangered Wyoming toad on a property recently donated to the city. During its work session Tuesday, the council heard a brief history of the toad and background information about the safe harbor agreement currently in place on the property. Mindy Meade, field biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, explained the Wyoming toad is an endangered species found nowhere else in the world other than Albany County. Although it was declared extinct in the wild in the 1980s, Meade said recent efforts by many groups - including Wyoming Game and Fish, the Laramie Rivers Conservation District and various zoos and fish hatcheries around North America - have helped recover wild populations at various locations around Laramie. One of the toad release locations is on the Williamson donated property, 41 acres of land in the north west part of town that was donated to the city in 2017. "It is very different than the other properties because of its habitat and wetland quality," Meade said during the work session. Tony Hoch, director of the Laramie Rivers Conservation District, also said during the work session the agreement is important because the location is one of the "last places they were known to thrive." He added the safe harbor agreement is an exchange for actions contributing to the "recovery of listed species on non-federal lands." It has provisions to protect the city from potentially violating the Endangered Species Act, for example if one of the endangered toads were to be accidentally harmed on or around the property. The 20-year agreement would be a "low risk for the city," Hoch added during the work session. --- Campbell County man threatens police with sword GILLETTE (WNE) - A 58-year-old Campbell County man brandishing a sword was arrested on suspicion of three felony charges Tuesday night. Deputies were called to a home on the 100 block of Peaceful Valley Drive for a possible suicidal subject, said Campbell County Sheriff Scott Matheny. When deputies arrived, the man, Jay Loveday, came out of the house carrying a large sword. He walked toward the deputies, waving the sword around in "a threatening manner," Matheny said. The deputies stood behind their patrol car and told Loveday to stop. He refused, and when he got within 15 feet of the deputies one of them used a Taser on him. Loveday was arrested and taken to jail. He was charged with two counts of felony interference with a peace officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and domestic assault. He had been drinking that night and got into an argument with people at the home, Matheny said. He allegedly slapped a 20-year-old woman in the face and he also hit walls and objects. Then he reportedly grabbed the sword and hit items with the sword. That was when law enforcement officials were called. CHEYENNE A state of Wyoming veterans service officer from the Wyoming Veterans Commission will conduct community outreach services in Wyoming cities throughout March. Josh Schmidt is available to meet with veterans and their families to discuss state and federal veterans benefits, Department of Veterans Affairs claims, or VA healthcare. Schmidt can also help veterans and their families apply for benefits, file claims or request healthcare. His office is staffed in Cody, at 1026 Blackburn Ave., Suite 1, and he will also be available at the following locations: Powell: March 4 at the Powell VA Clinic, 777 Ave. H from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Worland: March 6 at the Worland Community Center, 1200 Culbertson Ave. from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Thermopolis: March 7 at the Hot Springs County Museum, 700 Broadway, from noon - 2 p.m., and March 14 at the Hot Springs County Senior Citizens Center, 206 Senior Ave., from 11 a.m. - 1p.m. Lovell: March 12 at North Big Horn County Senior Center 757 Great Western Ave. from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Greybull: March 13 at the Greybull Senior Center, 417 South 2nd St. from 11 a.m. - 1p.m. During periods of inclement weather, please check with the staff at the outreach locations to ensure the veterans service officer will be available. Please contact Schmidt at 307-250-3890 for more information, or to schedule an appointment. CHEYENNE Two bills that passed the Wyoming State Legislature are headed to the governors desk for approval, both of which would expand victims services and extend the time a victim would be eligible for benefits in the case of violent crimes. House Bill 45 extends the amount of time victims of crime can claim expenses for mental health treatment from 24 months to 36 months. Bob Vines, witness and victims coordinator with the Washakie County Attorneys Office, sees the move as a good one, since some cases can drag on beyond two years in the courts. What we find is that the wheels of justice moves slowly, so victim benefits often run out before trial, said Vines. This gives them the option to extend those benefits. Two years of counseling wont get them through their trial in many cases. Senate File 72 specifically reorganizes the way sexual assault evidence (rape kits) is handled by the state, and releases the financial burden from the victim. The bill effectively requires the state to keep and manage statistics related to sexual assault and report on lab analysis, prohibiting the destruction of evidence and requiring law enforcement to pay for sexual assault exams, where previously, the victim was expected to pay the bill for the exam. In Washakie County, victims have had to pay the bill for being tested for sexual assault. It should never have happened, said Vines, who attributed confusion to a large part of the problem. It was never clear how much the state would cover, or if insurance covered a sexual assault exam, so this should clear up a lot of that confusion, and make things easier for the hospitals, law enforcement and especially, the victims, said Vines. Another important aspect is the tracking and management of the rape kits. In other states, improper tracking has resulted in lost or disposed-of kits, which never make it to trial as evidence. As it stands we dont know how many untested kits we have in Wyoming, said Vines, but being able to link DNA results to perpetrators could save many future victims. February 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The US left makes celebrities of self-styled socialists that have no solidarity with real strugglers against imperialism in the world. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez make weak noises against military action while accepting the rationale of the aggression. The best evidence of the profound weakness of the left in the United States is that it is necessary to credit Bernie Sanders with making socialism a benign term in national political discourse. The price of socialisms admission to polite conversation here in the belly of the hegemonic capitalist beast is that it must always be chaperoned by the word democratic so as to distinguish it from supposedly authoritarian ideologies of the same name. The democratic modifier works wonders, magically enlarging the historical socialist camp to include President Franklin Roosevelt, a wealthy guy that never thought of himself as a socialist but whose 1944 Economic Bill of Rights is the verbatim source of Bernie Sanders brand of socialism. At the same time, almost all the actual socialist movements and governments in human history are demonized. Under this democratic form of socialism, the capitalist ruling class is never overthrown, but nevertheless acquiesces to reforms that grant working people basic economic and political rights. Seeing no necessity to overthrow the Lords of Capital at home, the Sandernista socialists have no principled objection to the military-political-economic structures of global capitalism -- a system most people in the world call imperialism. But American democratic socialists dont like that word because it tends to upset the U.S. ruling class. Moreover, Bernies brand of socialists carry around much the same list of enemy nations as their right-wing and centrist corporate comrades: Libya, Syria, and now Venezuela the authoritarian socialists. The Sandernista socialists have no principled objection to the military-political-economic structures of global capitalism -- a system most people in the world call imperialism. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Sanders socialism is devoid of solidarity -- except with those like-minded social democrats in white western Europe who long ago made peace with their own ruling classes and their predations in the colonized world, and who now accept the global domination of the U.S. war machine. V.I. Lenin put it succinctly in his 1917 volume, Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism. The leaders of the present-day, so-called, Social-Democratic Party of Germany are justly called social-imperialists , that is, socialists in words and imperialists in deeds. In current U.S. terms, social imperialists like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are weak on peace -- only slightly less warlike than their corporate Democratic Party colleagues. In the face of President Trumps blatant acts of war against Venezuela, including an ongoing attempted coup, savage economic sanctions, the outrageous theft of billions in economic assets, and threats of armed intervention, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez make weak noises against military action while accepting the rationale of the aggression. Neither has a word to say about international law, a subject that has been banished from polite discourse in the imperial headquarters country. Social imperialists like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are weak on peace. When it comes to Venezuela, Bernie lies like an imperialist, and so does his protege, Ocasio-Cortez. Venezuela is the champion nation of the hemisphere, and possibly the world, when it comes to holding free and fair elections under international observation. "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world," said former president Jimmy Carter , who is no socialist of any kind. During the 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders slandered the man who set this democratic and socialist process in motion, the late Hugo Chavez. Yesterday, one of Hillary Clintons most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously, Sanders wrote in a fundraising letter. They suggested Id be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator -- meaning Chavez, whose repeated re-elections were without blemish. In his CNN Town Hall this week, Sanders issued a scaled back lie against the socialist government of Venezuela. I think the evidence is pretty clear that the last election in Venezuela was not a free and fair election under international supervision, he said, parroting the coup-makers line with no justification in fact. Bernie Sanders slandered Hugo Chavez. Having thus delegitimized the government in Caracas and endorsed the rationale for the attempted coup and possible invasion, Sanders then pretends to be a peacemaker: As you know, the United States overthrew democratically elected governments in Chile, and in Brazil, and in Guatemala and in other countries around the world. So, as someone who fervently believes in human rights and democracy, we have got to do everything we can. But I think sometimes you have unintended consequences when a powerful nation goes in and tells people who their government will be. So my view is that, whether it is Saudi Arabia which is the despotic regime, or whether it is Venezuela we must do everything we can to create a democratic climate. But I do not believe in US military intervention in those countries. Ocasio-Cortez badmouthed Venezuela the night of Donald Trumps State of the Union address, framing the conflict as an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy -- thus encouraging the coup-makers who, if successful, would carry out their threats to exterminate socialism in Venezuela. Of the Democratic presidential contenders, only Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii anti-war congressperson who does not call herself a socialist, was emphatically anti-intervention. Gabbard tweeted: The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We dont want other countries to choose our leaders so we have to stop trying to choose theirs. Only Tulsi Gabbard, who does not call herself a socialist, was emphatically anti-intervention. The rest of the Democratic candidates are warmongering imperialist pigs. Sen. Kamala Harris: Whats happening in Venezuela is a crisis. The people who have fled Maduros dictatorial regime deserve safety and protection. As President, I would immediately extend TPS status to Venezuelans. Its the right thing to do. America must show moral leadership in this hemisphere. Kirsten Gillibrand is all-in for the coup. A spokesperson for the New York Senator told the Huffington Post : that Gillibrand supports working with our allies to recognize Juan Guaido -- who was legitimately elected -- as the interim president under the Constitution until Venezuela can hold new elections, And while she believes economic sanctions are the appropriate response to achieve this, she does not support sending troops to Venezuela. Elizabeth Warren regurgitated the imperial propaganda. The Venezuelan people deserve free and fair elections, an economy that works, and the ability to live without fear of violence from their own government, said the Massachusetts Senator. Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was already on record as having said, last year: Weve seen Nicolas Maduro undermine Venezuelan democracy and create a regional economic and humanitarian catastrophe. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was a lower-key warmonger: Maduro is alarming to me on many levels. Elizabeth Warren regurgitated the imperial propaganda. Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc Washingtons only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela ruled out military action against Venezuela. Africa, the Caribbean (except for The Bahamas) and most of the rest of the world oppose the lawless U.S. actions and threats. At last count 38 members of the U.S. House had signed on as co-sponsors of H.R 1004 , which would prohibit military action against Venezuela without permission of Congress. Among the co-sponsors is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the socialist who, like Bernie Sanders, is glad to validate the 20-year-long bipartisan destabilization campaign against Venezuela, but balks at the ultimate imperial logic of actual U.S. invasion. This is what passes for progressive and even socialist among a phony and incoherent left that is incapable of real solidarity with any social forces in the world that are not vouched for by the rulers and their media. They have not learned the first thing about socialism, which is that you cant be a socialist and an imperialist at the same time. N. Korea offered to halt nuclear, long-range rocket testing for partial relief of sanctions - FM By RT February 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - North Korea offered a realistic proposal to halt nuclear and missile tests in exchange for partial sanctions relief, Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told reporters in Hanoi after the failed Trump-Kim summit. North Korea demanded the partial lifting of sanctions that that hamper the civilian economy and the livelihood of our people, specifically parts of five UN resolutions from 2016 and 2017. There are 11 resolutions in total imposing sanctions on North Korea. In exchange for partial lifting of sanctions by the US, North Korea would permanently remove plutonium and uranium processing facilities and Yongbyon, in the presence of US experts, Ri said, adding that the " US was not ready to accept our proposal." The North Korean official said Washington demanded one more measure beyond dismantling Yongbyon, which went too far for Pyongyang. North Korea also offered written assurances of permanently desisting from nuclear and long-range missile testing. Ri explained that Pyongyang asked for sanctions relief because North Korea presumed the US was not ready to give security assurances just yet. Our proposal will never change although US proposes negotiations again in the future, said Ri, who then left without taking questions from the press. While Ri did not say what the one more US demand was, South Korean media have busily speculated that it might have included Pyongyangs biological and chemical weapons, reportedly at the urging of Trumps hardline national security adviser John Bolton. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Wednesdays summit in Hanoi began on a high note but ended early and without a deal. "It was about the sanctions basically, " US President Donald Trump told reporters after parting ways with Kim Jong-un. " They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that. Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times." Shown until 15 May. Budapest Photo Festival chose a classic genre as an inspiration for contemporary Hungarian photographers. This time, the organizers were looking for works that interpret or redefine the landscape genre, or continue along well-established, traditional lines. Pictures that fit into the broader concept of landscape photography were welcome for this years open call. The exhibition in Kiscelli Museum is compiled with our final selection of almost 50 photographers. They approached the contemporary interpretation of the landscape genre from the direction of the rich fine art traditions. Among the exhibited works one can find both the analysis of the all the more problematic relation between nature and humanity in the 21st century, the narrative pictures and the ones projecting outer (physical) and inner (spiritual) landscapes that transform non-existent scenes into tangibly real and personal images. Although the execution, the atmosphere and the message of the works is rich, colorful and diverse, just like the contemporary Hungarian photographic scene; the exhibition also showcases a strong metaphysical feature, an ontological urge that fits into the ever present need of self-expression. Still life exhibition is realized in the framework of Budapest Spring Festival and in the cooperation of Budapest Photo Festival and Kiscelli Museum. Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10.00-18.00 Venue: Kiscell Museum 1037 Budapest, Kiscelli utca 108. Source & picture: budapestphotofestival.hu Fox News host Laura Ingraham laced into CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on Thursday, mocking her network rival over his complaints about President Trumps handling of the press during his summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in Vietnam.Jim Acosta of CNN. Hes a nice person. He was complaining this morning on television I know thats not news he was complaining that President Trump didnt call on U.S. media at the summit presser and that he only called on the Russian and the Chinese journalists, Ingraham said during her speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday. Kind of interesting and kind of sad because hed probably get a better shake from the Chinese and Russian journalists.Ingraham added that she was later informed by an unnamed producer that in fact Trump called on a broad sampling of reporters, including representatives from ABC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Bloomberg and NPR. Indeed, a press spray with both leaders included a question from the Posts David Nakamura to Kim Jong-un himself.Also Read: Laura Ingraham: 'Hitler, Just Like Planned Parenthood, Practiced and Defended Mass Extermination'Reps for Acosta at CNN did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.The mention of Acostas name drew loud boos from the CPAC audience at Washingtons Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. The CNN reporter has become a regular punching bag for Trump and his supporters.Ingraham also loaded her speech up with typical red meat for her right-leaning fan base, inveighing against socialism and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whom she called by her initials.I take AOC seriously because she is the thought leader of the Democrat party right now, Ingraham said. She is setting the Democrat foreign policy table. I take that seriously and so should you.On the same day, Ingraham also got a boost from My Pillow inventor and CEO Mike Lindell who has stood by Ingraham and Fox News in the wake of an advertiser boycott which has led to dozens of sponsors dropping her program. (A similar boycott has also engulfed her primetime colleague Tucker Carlson)I dont boycott any station. I stand firm in what I believe in, Lindell told TheWrap shortly after his CPAC address. I think [boycotts are] the worst thing ever, he added. What it does is advertisers just go to other things, prices go up and the consumer ends up paying for it. Its absolutely horrific when they do boycotts. I dont boycott other stations.Fox News has vowed to stand behind both hosts and have said the boycotts against them are politically motivated.Read original story Laura Ingraham Needles CNNs Jim Acosta: Trump Gets Better Shake From Chinese and Russian Journalists At TheWrap Fox News host Laura Ingraham laced into CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on Thursday, mocking her network rival over his complaints about President Trumps handling of the press during his summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in Vietnam. Jim Acosta of CNN. Hes a nice person. He was complaining this morning on television I know thats not news he was complaining that President Trump didnt call on U.S. media at the summit presser and that he only called on the Russian and the Chinese journalists, Ingraham said during her speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday. Kind of interesting and kind of sad because hed probably get a better shake from the Chinese and Russian journalists. Ingraham added that she was later informed by an unnamed producer that in fact Trump called on a broad sampling of reporters, including representatives from ABC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Bloomberg and NPR. Indeed, a press spray with both leaders included a question from the Posts David Nakamura to Kim Jong-un himself. Also Read: Laura Ingraham: 'Hitler, Just Like Planned Parenthood, Practiced and Defended Mass Extermination' Reps for Acosta at CNN did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap. The mention of Acostas name drew loud boos from the CPAC audience at Washingtons Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. The CNN reporter has become a regular punching bag for Trump and his supporters. Ingraham also loaded her speech up with typical red meat for her right-leaning fan base, inveighing against socialism and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whom she called by her initials. I take AOC seriously because she is the thought leader of the Democrat party right now, Ingraham said. She is setting the Democrat foreign policy table. I take that seriously and so should you. On the same day, Ingraham also got a boost from My Pillow inventor and CEO Mike Lindell who has stood by Ingraham and Fox News in the wake of an advertiser boycott which has led to dozens of sponsors dropping her program. (A similar boycott has also engulfed her primetime colleague Tucker Carlson) Story continues I dont boycott any station. I stand firm in what I believe in, Lindell told TheWrap shortly after his CPAC address. I think [boycotts are] the worst thing ever, he added. What it does is advertisers just go to other things, prices go up and the consumer ends up paying for it. Its absolutely horrific when they do boycotts. I dont boycott other stations. Fox News has vowed to stand behind both hosts and have said the boycotts against them are politically motivated. Read original story Laura Ingraham Needles CNNs Jim Acosta: Trump Gets Better Shake From Chinese and Russian Journalists At TheWrap A Missouri teaching assistant accused of raping a then 7-year-old student allegedly plotted with another man to kill the child and his mother so the boy wouldnt testify, PEOPLE confirms. Deonte Taylor, 36, and Michael Johnson, 66, were each charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and two counts of tampering or attempting to tamper with a victim, a St. Louis Prosecuting Attorneys Office spokesperson tells PEOPLE. Taylor has entered a not guilty plea. The alleged crimes took place between Feb. 7 and Feb. 26, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE. During that time, Taylor and Johnson allegedly worked together to have someone murder the boy and his mother. In Nov. 2018, Taylor was charged with three counts of first-degree statutory sodomy with a child, according to court records. The documents allege Taylor asked someone identified only as C.I. to murder the boy and asked Johnson to pay C.I., which Johnson did. In 2015, Taylor was a teaching assistant at Lusher Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District, the St. Louis Dispatch, KSDK and KMOV4 report. Authorities allege Taylor took the then 7-year-old victim from his classroom and brought him to another classroom to sexually assault him. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Even though the child immediately reported the crime to authorities, police did not arrest Taylor until 2018, after the boy reported the initial incident again, according to KSDK. Childs Allegation Was Initially Declared Unsubstantiated At the time of his arrest, Taylor was teaching at another school, the Walnut Grove Elementary School in the Ferguson-Florissant District, KSDK reports. The school said in a statement that because Taylor was never arrested or charged following the 2015 incident, he passed a mandatory background check. Story continues The Hazelwood School District said in a statement to the station that Taylor was immediately put on leave following the original report and eventually fired. Taylor never returned to the school after the allegations. Although the District reported the allegations to DFS as required, the District received a notification from social services that the report was unsubstantiated. No further information was provided by the police, the statement said. The Hazelwood and Ferguson-Florissant Districts could not be reached for comment Thursday. Both men are behind bars without bail. It was unclear whether Taylor or Johnson have retained attorneys who can comment on their behalf. It was not immediately clear if either suspect has entered pleas to any of the charges against them. Photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI - Getty Images From Esquire I don't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily, but the following things are going on right now, at this very moment, around the world: India and Pakistan are shooting at each other's airplanes but have not yet decided to drop nuclear bombs on each other. A summit aimed at defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula collapsed before lunch in Hanoi. There is an Ebola outbreak in the Congo to which Doctors Without Borders has had to stop responding because there's also a civil war in the Congo. (One infected person from that area lands at Kennedy and Camp Runamuck goes to ClownCon 1.) And the foreign policy of the United States is not far removed from the days in which it was being run by crazy people. This astonishing-and frankly, terrifying-tale of the early days of this administration* appears in Politico, and it genuinely makes you wonder how we all happen still to be alive. What [Susan] Rice didnt - couldnt - tell these government employees was that the dawn of the Trump administration would be a time of extraordinary personal and professional torment for them; that theyd be asked to make ethically, and legally, dubious decisions while ignoring facts and evidence on basic issues to fit the presidents whims; that they would be vilified as Obama holdovers and treated like an enemy within, to the point where some of their lives were threatened; that theyd grow so paranoid they would seek safe spaces to speak to each other, use encrypted apps to talk to their mothers, and go on documentation sprees to protect themselves and inform history; that at least one career staffer would cry on the way home from work every night; and that another would call Trump a dumpster fire in a farewell message. When NSC employees today recall the events, they use words like crazy, nausea and fear. Some liken the experience to surviving a traumatic event. Talking to mom in code. Lovely. Photo credit: Win McNamee - Getty Images The story illustrates that the administration* came into office determined to "disrupt" the workings of the National Security Council, but with no earthly idea how to do it-or, for that matter, what the NSC was supposed to do in the first place. Security clearances were handed out like chocolate eggs at Easter. (Hi, Jared!) Michael Flynn was the primary agent of chaos, but there was a whole brigade of bungling elves behind him. Story continues Then there were the wild-card roles played by people such as Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and adviser, and chief White House strategist Steve Bannon, who early on was granted the privilege, unusual for a political adviser, of participating in Principals Committee meetings. Kushner, for his part, seemed to run his own show; he would, for instance, negotiate directly with Mexican officials without telling even senior NSC staff. (Kushner got better about coordinating over time, former NSC staffers noted. A White House official told POLITICO that Kushner has always meticulously followed protocols on interactions with foreign leaders.) One Trump appointee, conservative commentator Sebastian Gorka, would show up at random meetings, even though it was never clear whether he had the proper security clearance, and he would often raise unrelated points. One former White House official recalled Gorka saying such things as, If you look at what Napoleon did ... and wed all be like, I dont even know how to respond to that. (Asked for comment, Gorka told a POLITICO reporter, Take a long run off a short pier, you utter hack.) Gorka then returned to the crypt for a long, leisurely siesta in the soil of his native land. Photo credit: Alex Wong - Getty Images Are there apologists for this carnival of fools? You bet there are. The purpose of the NSC is not to make the president conform to the NSC, but to make the federal government enhance the way a president gets to good decisions, argued James Carafano, a foreign policy analyst with The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank friendly to Trump. The president is a very outcome-focused guy. He is not worried about winning pretty. Hes just worried about winning. Not only do I think he doesnt care about the process, he sees the process as potentially an impediment. Does the hypnosis ever wear off? An anxious nation yearns to know. According to two former NSC staffers, immediately after Trump took office, the NSC staff sent Flynn and his top deputies a detailed memo around 10 pages long that laid out the pros and cons of arming the Kurds, along with every document Trump needed to sign off on a decision. A few weeks passed, and a Flynn deputy told the staffers that what theyd sent up was too long and complicated - could they shorten it? Ten pages was too long and complicated for our outcome-focused president*. Photo credit: MANDEL NGAN - Getty Images So the staffers cut the memo in half. Days later, a new instruction: Could they cut it down further and turn much of it into graphics? The president preferred pictures. Five pages is too long and complicated for our outcome-focused president*. Plus there were too many words. What was next? Colorforms? So the NSC staffers, with aid from intelligence officials, devised a graphical version. The issue dragged on anyway; it wasnt until May that Trump decided to arm the Kurdish fighters. I repeat the question: how in the name of our bearded Lord are we all still alive? But by far, the most vivid look into how the administration did business is the long section regarding the executive orders signed by the president* in the early days of his administration, most notable of which was what became known as "the Muslim ban." The president* indeed did sign them, but all indications are that they were drafted by lemurs. The executive order episode badly rattled career staffers on several levels. For one thing, they - the nonpartisan experts - had not been consulted before the orders were drafted, and when they finally were, their advice was ignored. It also was the first real indication that some of Trumps most fiery campaign rhetoric, which many hoped hed abandon when in office, would translate into policy. Today, several former officials admit they saw the targeting of refugees in particular as malicious. But some also said that if Trump really wanted to bar refugees or citizens from specific countries, they would have helped him do it in a smarter way. Photo credit: Mark Wilson - Getty Images Ill never forget the morning I fell apart, one former staffer said. I was reading a New York Times article about a refugee named Mustafa. ... I just lost it. I was bawling. A few days later, I confessed Id given a bunch of money to some refugee agency. And everyone around me said, I did, too! We just wondered how many thousands of dollars had come from the NSC staff. The former staffer continued, head shaking in wonder: These [executive orders] were, like, written in crayon, like The Heritage Foundation intern just came up with them. They just werent very good. It wasnt just bad policy. It was bad policy poorly executed. I could have done it better. And, as an added bit of flavor, there was addle-brained, talk-radio paranoia from the administration*'s political appointees. One poor bastard got singled out by the apparatchiks, and the journalistic hacks that they fed, because he'd attended the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas. Read the whole thing. Nothing But The Best People is never not going to be funny. Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here. ('You Might Also Like',) Danielle Staub is walking down the aisle again! A week after her divorce from husband Marty Caffrey was finalized, PEOPLE can exclusively report the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 56, has a new fiance: 52-year-old Oliver Maier! The pair got engaged early Thursday morning while on a tropical getaway to the Cheval Blanc maison in St. Barth. Theyre planning on flying back to the states to pick up her ring at Van Cleef, and saying their I dos on Monday at a ceremony at the Justice of the Peace in New York City, surrounded by friends including Staubs pal and RHONJ costar Teresa Giudice. Im madly in love, Staub tells PEOPLE. Im feeling elated and excited for the next stage of my life. Im going to marry the man of my possible dreams and hopefully Ill spend the rest of my life in bliss. Maier, who is German and French, works as the managing director of Speyside Equity, a private equity firm based out of New York City. But he tells PEOPLE hes also the Duke of Provence, something Staub says she didnt know about until recently. Maier says his family owns 15 vineyards in the South of France as well as two castles. Their marriage would mean that Staub would become a duchess. Oliver Maier and Danielle Staub RELATED: RHONJs Danielle Staub Kisses Mystery Man 4 Days After Finalizing Divorce: We Fell in Love News of Staub and Maiers relationship broke Monday, when she shared a photo of them kissing on Nikki Beach in front of a rainbow. The two had met in October through a mutual friend whom Maier was dating at the time, though didnt start their romance until this month after sharing a passionate smooch at the Baccarat hotel. It was far from love at first sight for Staub. I quite frankly couldnt stand him when I first met him, Staub jokes, explaining that she took some time to get used to the blunt characteristics of Maiers personality. Hes so strong-willed, and at first, I read that as rude, and arrogant and entitled. It wasnt until I got to know him that I saw the other side. Story continues She says she wasnt looking for love, either, after her tumultuous, 10-month-long marriage to Caffrey. I wasnt open to it, she confesses. I was ready to just go out with my girlfriends in Manhattan. I didnt want this. That wasnt the case for Maier, though. He was determined and pursued Staub, attending dinners with her and her friends until he swept her off to St. Barths, where their romance blossomed. People dont like to take a risk, but I took a risk, he stresses. Danielles one of the smartest people Ive met. People have preconceived notions about her from reality TV, but shes a smart women. And I was instantly attracted to that. Though he pursued Staub for weeks, she remained coy. Her friends encouraged her to go for it, she says. Eventually, Maier went in for the kiss. In that moment I said, Wow, Staub recalls. I still tried to push it off, but as the weeks went on, he did not let off the throttle, and he pursued me adamantly. And he got what he wanted. We fell madly in love. As for his ex, Maier takes the blame for how their relationship ended. I didnt intend for it to happen that way, its my mistake. If you have to blame it on someone, blame it on me, not Danielle, he says. I care about Danielle. Shes phenomenal, comes from a good family and is beautiful beyond belief. Im happy were together. RELATED VIDEO: Danielle Staub on Fighting in Front of The Cameras: I Play The Broken Record This will be Maiers second marriage. He and his ex-wife share a 12-year-old child. Its Staubs fourth marriage and 21st engagement (Here we go again, she jokes to PEOPLE). She and Caffrey split in August, four months after their wedding. Staub and her third husband, businessman Thomas N. Staub, split after 14 years together before RHONJ began filming. They have two daughters together: Christine, 25, and Jillian, 20. Blending their families will come in time. Now, Staub and Maier are just looking forward to starting their lives together. The two plan on living in New York City, though Staub wants to purchase her home in New Jersey for her daughters. Most likely well be spending a lot of time in France, she gushes. Well be going to castles and all that, and living in Paris for a certain amount of months out of the year. Its going to be far different than Jersey, thats for sure, she says. Paris-based Mother Production, the company behind hit series Call My Agent!, now with Season 4 in development, is teaming with Silex (French Touch) and writer-creators Judith Havas and Noemie de Lapparent on Purple, a drama set at a 90s Paris lesbian nightclub. Pushing the envelope on French TVs treatment of gender issues, Purple was announced by title at least on Monday as one of the series to be presented at Series Manias Co-Pro Pitching Sessions on March 25. Related stories Adam Scott to Deliver Masterclass at Series Mania 'The Twilight Zone' Intl. Premiere Series Mania: 'Influence,' 'Gymnasts,' 'The Fortress' Set for Co-Pro Pitching Sessions Uma Thurman, Charlie Brooker to Headline at Series Mania An eight-part, 40 minute-episode series, Purple weaves the stories of five women who open a women-only club, Purple, in late 90s Paris. Among them are Diane, a young student, fashion model and ingenue who only realizes how little she knows about herself when she meets Manu, an ebullient but insecure nightlife entrepreneur; and Rebecca, Manus literature teacher, battling patriarchal conservatism at university. Further characters are Zoe, described by Mother Production in a statement as an ambitious but ambiguous D.J., and Samia, full of fear but soon very daring. Over Season 1, the club expands and flourishes, becoming a thrilling but sometimes dangerous place. Season 1 ends with the club opening up to men. Silexs Judith Nora and Priscilla Bertin will produce with Mother Productions Harold Valentin, Aurelien Larger and Simon Trouilloud. Purple now has a bible and a treatment of Ep. 1. Purple is about feminine emancipation through partying, music and love self discovery and the need to be part of a group to exist, Mother Productions Valentin said in a statement. The show is about how five women create a safe, free, and crazy space, in the heart of a world dominated by men the night in Paris, and convinced everyone, male and female, that it was the best place to be, Valentin observed. Story continues Its a show not so long before #MeToo! about how marginal people here lesbians can be at the root of change, he added. The drama is loosely inspired by Pulp, a legendary French lesbian club that closed in 2007 and which, said Mother Production, redefined the rules of the French dance-floor and the electronic music scene. Havas story and writing credits include 10 episodes of family comedy Fais pas ci, fais pas ca (Desperate Parents), which ran for nine seasons on France 2; two episodes of hospital dramedy Nina and Call My Agent! and an episode of Papa ou maman. Novelist Noemie de Lapparent collaborated on the screenplay of movie Snow, Aida Begics Cannes Critics Week Grand Prix winner. Pushing into scripted fiction which defies conservative gender casting, Mother Production is also developing for public broadcaster channel France 2 La Garconne, a Roaring Twenties Paris-set crime drama, In it, a young woman, falsely accused of murder, dresses as a man to enter the French police and find the guilty party. Investigating, she transforms into feisty flapper at night. Women were barred from the French police force until 1968, Valentin said. Also in development, Mother Production is adapting with French network TF1 La Tribu, a French reimagining of Swedish comedy-drama hit The Bonus Family, an early Netflix Swedish pick-up first broadcast on SVT, about the trails and tribulations of a young coupls, their exes, and respective children. We try to do shows that couldnt have been made 10 years ago, which anticipate upcoming trends forging the world of today and tomorrow, Valentin said. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The past becomes an eerie prophecy for the present in German director Christian Petzolds haunting new existentialist thriller, Transit. Based on a 1944 novel by Anna Seghers that chronicled the harrowing purgatory of being stateless and dispossessed during wartime, Petzolds mysterious waking nightmare of a film telegraphs its parallels to the current global refugee crisis by shifting the films setting to now or at least a time that looks and feels like a funhouse-mirror version of now. The movie opens in France, where the wail of police sirens is a constant background drone and civilians are routinely rounded up by heavily armed police officers. Were told, through fearful, whispered conversations, that the fascists are rolling in and anyone without the proper transit papers will be shipped off to camps, or worse. One of these doomed souls on the run is Georg (Franz Rogowski) an everyman straight out of a Kafka story who speaks in lisping German and has the face of a bruised angel. The fearful look in his eyes is both resigned and contagious as he desperately searches for a way out of a situation that he doesnt seem able to fully wrap his head around. After an acquaintance gives Georg a manuscript and the transit papers of a famous author of the resistance to take to Marseilles (which is still unoccupied for now), Georg hops a train south. But when the author winds up dead, Georg decides to assume his identity, thinking it cant be any worse than the no-win situation hes already in. Its certainly an understandable decision (and a familiar one to anyone whos seen Jack Nicholson in The Passenger), but it leads to a series of lies and deceptions that will have ripple effects on not just him but seemingly everyone he comes into contact with: a deaf and mute North African mother with a sickly young child; the desperate souls waiting in line at the Mexican consulate for their prayers of deliverance to be answered; and the dead authors in-the-dark wife (Paula Beer) who waits in vain for her husbands return. Its like Casablanca minus the swoony Old Hollywood glamor and with the way-station-of-the-damned paranoia dialed up as far as it will go. Story continues More movie reviews: Donald Trump spoke with Sean Hannity in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came to an abrupt end. Trump claimed that Kim asked for all sanctions on his country to be lifted in exchange for only partial denuclearization, while North Koreas foreign minister Ri Yong Ho disputed that claim, saying that Kim only asked for partial sanctions relief. Whatever the reason he and Kim couldnt reach an agreement, Trump said he remains hopeful, but admitted that a deal may not happen. Its a much tougher deal to make. Maybe it wont get made, but thats the deal that we should have, and you cant give up everything if you dont get that, Trump said. And we could have done large portions, but youre not getting that. So well see what happens. Trump made bold declarations about the denuclearization of North Korea following his first summit with Kim in Singapore last June, but this time around, with no deal or even tentative agreement reached, Trump struck a much different tone. In fact, Trump said he understands why he and Kim couldnt come to an understanding. I didnt want to give up the sanctions unless we had a real program, and theyre not ready for that, and I understand that fully. I really do, Trump said. I mean, they spent a lot of time building it. Hannity airs weeknights at 9 p.m. on Fox News. Watch Don Lemon call out congressman for racist act at the Cohen hearing: Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. The wife of embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has found herself in a scandal of her own after the mother of a local African-American student claimed the states first lady asked her daughter to hold raw cotton on a recent tour of the governors mansion. Leah Dozier Walker, a Virginia state employee, wrote in a letter to lawmakers that her eighth-grade daughter Alexandra took a Senate Page trip to the residence on Feb. 21, but the tour alongside the governor and Mrs. Northam left her upset and deeply offended. Walker who oversees the Office of Equity and Community Engagement at Virginias Education Department, according to The Washington Post said Mrs. Northam asked Alexandra and two of her fellow pages, the only black pages in the program, to hold cotton as they toured the Historic Kitchen of the Executive Mansion, a cottage that used to house the governors slaves. Mrs. Northam then asked these three pages if they could imagine what it must have been like to pick cotton all day, she wrote in the letter, which was published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. I can not (sic) for the life of me understand why the First Lady would single out the African American pages for this or why she would ask them such an insensitive question. An administration spokeswoman disputed Walkers claim that the black students were singled out, telling the Times-Dispatch that Mrs. Northam encouraged everyone to touch the cotton. The First Lady did not single anyone out; she invited all of the pages to touch agricultural products and artifacts displayed in the Historic Kitchen as part of an educational tour, the spokeswoman told the oulet. RELATED VIDEO: Controversy in Virginia- a Third Scandal Plagues the States Leadership Mrs. Northam apologized for the incident in a statement to the Dispatch. As First Lady, I have worked over the course of the last year to begin telling the full story of the Executive Mansion, which has mainly centered on Virginias governors, she said. The Historic Kitchen should be a feature of Executive Mansion tours, and I believe it does a disservice to Virginians to omit the stories of the enslaved people who lived and worked there thats why I have been engaged in an effort to thoughtfully and honestly share this important story since I arrived in Richmond. Story continues The first lady continued, I have provided the same educational tour to Executive Mansion visitors over the last few months and used a variety of artifacts and agricultural crops with the intention of illustrating a painful period of Virginia history. I regret that I have upset anyone. I am still committed to chronicling the important history of the Historic Kitchen, and will continue to engage historians and experts on the best way to do so in the future, Mrs. Northam concluded. RELATED: Virginia Gov. Responds to Backlash for Calling Slaves Indentured Servants: Im Still Learning Gov. Ralph Northam Another parent of a student present backed the spokespersons claim that Northam did not single out African-American students, according to the Post. The incident comes weeks after Gov. Northams page in Eastern Virginia Medical Schools 1984 yearbook resurfaced, showing a man in blackface and another man in a KKK robe. RELATED: Virginia Gov. Says He Knew Blackface Was Wrong But Amid Scandal, Reality Has Really Set In Gov. Northam, 59, initially apologized for the photo, saying, 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. However, he then reversed course amid calls for his resignation, claiming he was not either of the men in the photo. When I was confronted with the images yesterday, I was appalled that they appeared on my page, Northam said during a press conference on Feb. 2, but I believe then and now, that I am not either of the people in that photo. RELATED: Virginia Gov. Northam Claims Hes Not the Person in Racist Photo and Wont Resign Despite mounting pressures to step down, Northam has said he will remain the governor of Virginia and dedicate himself to regaining citizens trust. And there is a reason I believe that this happened, he told Gayle King on CBS This Morning earlier this month. That we are in a position to learn. I will focus on race and equity. Thats something that, for the next three years, is gonna be my commitment to Virginia. And I really think we can make impactful changes. They have asked that we not judge them by the horrific images associated with their past and trust that they do not still today find humor in the torture and suffering African Americans have endured in this country, wrote Walker in her letter about the tour incident involving her daughter. But the actions of Mrs. Northam, just last week, do not lead me to believe that this Governors office has taken seriously the harm and hurt they have caused African Americans in Virginia or that they are deserving of our forgiveness. By United Nations Human Rights Council February 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The Commission has reasonable grounds to believe that during the Great March of Return, Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity, and must be immediately investigated by Israel, said the Chair of the Commission, Santiago Canton of Argentina. The Commission was mandated by the Human Rights Council in May 2018 to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in the context of the large-scale protests that began in Gaza on 30 March 2018. The Commission comprises Santiago Canton of Argentina (Chair), Sara Hossain of Bangladesh and Betty Murungi of Kenya. More than 6,000 unarmed demonstrators were shot by military snipers, week after week at the protest sites by the separation fence. The Commission investigated every killing at the designated demonstration sites by the Gaza separation fence on official protest days. The investigation covered the period from the start of the protests until 31 December 2018. 189 Palestinians were killed during the demonstrations inside this period. The Commission found that Israeli Security Forces killed 183 of these protesters with live ammunition. Thirty-five of these fatalities were children, while three were clearly marked paramedics, and two were clearly marked journalists. According to the Commissions data analysis, the Israeli Security Forces injured 6,106 Palestinians with live ammunition at the protest sites during this period. Another 3,098 Palestinians were injured by bullet fragmentation, rubber-coated metal bullets or by hits from tear gas canisters. Four Israeli soldiers were injured at the demonstrations. Four Israeli soldiers were injured at the demonstrations. One Israeli soldier was killed on a protest day but outside the protest sites. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter There can be no justification for killing and injuring journalists, medics, and persons who pose no imminent threat of death or serious injury to those around them. Particularly alarming is the targeting of children and persons with disabilities, said Sara Hossain. Many young persons lives have been altered forever. 122 people have had a limb amputated since 30 March last year. Twenty of these amputees are children. The Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers shot at journalists, health workers, children and persons with disabilities, knowing they were clearly recognizable as such. Unless undertaken lawfully in self-defence, intentionally shooting a civilian not directly participating in hostilities is a war crime. The Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that individual members of the Israeli Security Forces, in the course of their response to the demonstrations, killed and injured civilians who were neither directly participating in hostilities, nor posing an imminent threat. These serious human rights and humanitarian law violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. The Commission took note of the Israeli claim that the protests by the separation fence masked terror activities by Palestinian armed groups. The Commission found however that the demonstrations were civilian in nature, with clearly stated political aims. Despite some acts of significant violence, the Commission found that the demonstrations did not constitute combat or military campaigns. The applicable legal framework was thus based in international human rights law. This assessment did not change even though the commissions investigation revealed that some demonstrators were members of organized armed groups. Others were members of political parties. International human rights law prohibits the use of force based solely on a persons actual or alleged affiliation to any group, rather than their conduct. The Commission found that some members of the Higher National Committee organising the protests, which includes Hamas representatives, encouraged or defended demonstrators use of indiscriminate incendiary kites and balloons, causing fear among civilians and significant damage to property in southern Israel. The Commission concluded that Hamas, as the de facto authority in Gaza, failed to prevent these acts. The Commission conducted 325 interviews with victims, witnesses and sources, and gathered more than 8,000 documents. An integral part of the investigation was comprehensive analysis of social media, and of vast amounts of audio-visual material showing incidents, including drone footage. The Commission was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to focus on accountability and identify those responsible for violations and alleged international crimes. The Commission will place the relevant information in a confidential file to be handed over to the High Commissioner of Human Rights, to provide access to this information to national and international justice mechanisms. The International Criminal Court is already concerned with this situation, said Betty Murungi. As the one-year anniversary of the Great March of Return on 30 March draws closer, the Commissioners urged all concerned to exercise restraint. The large-scale killing and maiming of 30 March last year, when 18 people were killed and over 700 people shot, and of 14 May, when 60 people were killed and over 1100 people shot, must not be repeated. The shooting must stop, said Sara Hossain. The onus is now on Israel to investigate every protest-related killing and injury, promptly, impartially and independently in accordance with international standards, to determine whether war crimes or crimes against humanity were committed, with a view to holding accountable those found responsible, said Santiago Canton. We also urge the organisers, the demonstrators, and the de facto authorities in Gaza, to ensure that the Great March of Return is entirely peaceful, as it is intended to be. The Commission finds that these protests were a call for help from a population in despair, Santiago Canton reminded. Not only Israel but also the de facto authorities led by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have responsibilities towards them. The Commission calls on Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza, and on all three duty bearers to comply with their responsibilities and improve the living situation in Gaza. The Israeli authorities did not respond to repeated requests by the Commission for information and access to Israel and to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. A fuller report, containing detailed factual and contextual information and legal analysis will be published and presented to the Human Rights Council on 18 March 2019 in Geneva. -ENDS To access the Commissions short report and for more information, visit the reports webpage. Media Contacts: Johan Eriksson: +41 76 691 10 82, mediacoioptprotests@ohchr.org Rolando Gomez: +41 22 917 97 11, rgomez@ohchr.org Cedric Sapey: +41 22 917 9845, csapey@ohchr.org Media interviews can be requested at number +41 22 917 81 82 B-roll for broadcasters can be downloaded here: Video 1 (Incident Compilation at Gaza separation fence during protests) Video 2 (Ahmad Abu Artema: the Reasons; The Voice from the Other Side of the Fence) [shotlist & storyline] Video 3 (Minors injured) [shotlist & storyline] More videos are also available on: www.youtube.com/c/UNHumanRightsCouncil The press conference will be carried live on http://webtv.un.org/ and live broadcast More broadcast material will be available at https://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/ Copy Kate Middleton's regal blue coat for less -- plus other amazing tour looks! originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Kate Middleton went on a two-day tour to Northern Ireland along with Prince William, and she has been showing off some amazing hard-to-miss looks. On the first day, she ended the evening in a sparkling green dress, and at the top of day two she stepped out in a great Cinderella-like blue coat. (MORE: Cheers! Kate Middleton pulled a pint on royal trip to Northern Ireland) Many of Middleton's looks are great staple pieces to have in your closet. Scroll ahead to shop a few budget-friendlier copies below. These products were curated by the "GMA" editorial team. "Good Morning America" has affiliate partnerships, so we will get a small share of the revenue from your purchases through these links. All product prices are determined by the retailer and subject to change. By visiting these websites, you will leave GoodMorningAmerica.com and any information you share with the retailer will be governed by its website's terms and conditions and privacy policies. Look 1 PHOTO: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrives for a visit to Windsor Park Stadium, home of the Irish Football Association, Feb. 27, 2019, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images) For day one of the Northern Ireland tour Middleton wore a well fitted bright apple red Carolina Herrera coat that works well over a little black dress. Get it Look 2 PHOTO: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visits the Empire Music Hall, Feb. 27, 2019, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images) During the evening of day one, Middleton slipped into this shimmery green dress by Missoni for a party in Belfast. Get it (MORE: 10 beauty and fashion services that will make getting ready easier) Look 3 PHOTO: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge engages in a walkabout in Ballymena town centre, Feb. 28, 2019, in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. (Stephen Lock/Getty Images) At the top of the second day of the tour, the Duchess of Cambridge started her day in stunning powder blue cape coat by Mulberry. Get it With a focus on climate change, Washington Gov. Inslee enters 2020 presidential race originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Washington's Democratic Governor, Jay Inslee, emphasizing the "existential threat" of climate change to the safety of the United States, officially announced his candidacy for president Friday morning, joining a field of Democrats that's already swelled to more than a dozen candidates. Inslee, who also represented Washington in Congress for more than 20 years, is the first governor to officially enter the 2020 race. "We went to the moon, and created technologies that have changed the world," Inslee said in his announcement video posted Friday. "Our country's next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change." VIDEO: This is our moment, our climate, our mission together, we can defeat climate change. That's why I'm running for president. Join #OurClimateMoment today https://t.co/zg8ILGyk0Z pic.twitter.com/pUZVxyzfc5 Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 Standing before a crowd of a few hundred supporters Friday morning at a solar energy company just south of downtown Seattle, Inslee officially announced that he has joined the Democratic race for president. "I am announcing today that I am a candidate for President of the United States," Inslee told the crowd at A&R Solar. Inslee is making combatting climate change the singular issue of his campaign, hoping his focus on the issue will propel him from a little-known governor to a top-tier Democratic contender in an already crowded race. "We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last generation that can do something about it," Inslee said. Story continues "This is the 11th hour to defeat climate change," he added. The governor connected the issue of climate change to every other major policy challenge facing the United States, calling it a matter of national security, and a way to rebuild the American economy and help lift communities of color out of poverty. "If given this high honor I will make fighting climate change the number one priority of the United States of America," Inslee said. Inslee also ticked off the policy priorities that he has focused on as governor, including expanding green jobs in Washington State, passing education reforms that expanded access to early childhood education, and raising the minimum wage. Announcing 2020 bid, Jay Inslee touts record as governor of Washington. "I'm proud to have been the first governor to have stood up to Donald Trump's Muslim ban." https://t.co/bjrjIEZXGK pic.twitter.com/ruFLKEUvDK ABC News (@ABC) March 1, 2019 E He also called on the United States to legalize marijuana nationwide, something voters in Washington State passed in 2012. "If America wants to see a Washington that works, look west to Washington State," Inslee told the crowd. Inslee also laid out his strategy for breaking through in a crowded Democratic field, and what he believes is the best way to counter-message against President Donald Trump. Inslee said that his state is prepared to sue Trump over his national emergency declaration at the U.S.-Mexico border, and that he relishes the chance to go one-on-one with him if he wins the nomination. "I can think of no higher pleasure than to take on Donald Trump on a big stage. Ive done it in White House. Im the governor who went to the White House and told him he needed to quit tweeting and start listening to Americans. I feel very comfortable in that confrontation," Inslee told ABC News in an interview following his campaign launch, "Im happy that I was the first governor to call him out on his Muslim ban. Weve sued him successfully now something like 16 times, and well do it again on his emergency action on his vanity project on the wall, at the right moment." In a brief press gaggle with reporters after his announcement, Inslee called on Republicans in Congress to block Trump's national emergency declaration, saying his state may sue if the White House attempts to use funds appropriated to Washington State. "It is my hope that Republicans will stand up on their hind legs and finally honor the U.S. Constitution, rather than their oath to Donald Trump. If that happens we will stop it. If that does not happen, and he takes one dollar out of Washington, we will sue him to stop this illegal act," Inslee told reporters. Inslee was also asked if he would commit to declaring a national emergency over climate change if elected to office, considering he has called Trump's declaration "illegal," and "unconstitutional." "Under the existing circumstances I would not commit to declaration a declaration of a national emergency today," Inslee said, "The reason is, the best way to do this is to work with Congress to develop a national consensus about how to build a clean energy economy." When asked by ABC News why he would make a good figurehead for a Democratic Party that is getting younger and more diverse, Inslee again pivoted to his singular issue -- climate change. "Look my ideas are as fresh as anybody and I would argue fresher. The young people of America get climate change big time. They understand their lives are at risk, they understand the science, and they demand action by climate change, they got an ally in me," Inslee said. Despite his optimism, the Washington governor remains relatively known nationally but says that's a challenge he's faced before and overcome. "We won a state basketball championship 50 years ago, and we were underdogs then, and Im an underdog now, but I love winning, and we got a good chance to do just that," Inslee said. But the Seattle native, who's held elected office since 1989, is betting the growing threat of climate change will be a top-of-mind issue for Democratic voters. PHOTO: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee poses for a photo at his home in Bainbridge Island, Wash, July 23, 2018. (Ted S. Warren/AP, FILE) "This is a moment. This is the 11th hour to defeat climate change. It is a moment of great urgency, but it is also this incredible opportunity to seize for job creation," Inslee said in an interview with ABC News last week at the National Governor's Association Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. "Mother Nature is making it break through, not me. Because Mother Nature, aggravated by climate change and carbon pollution, has burned down Paradise, California, drowned Houston, and is now drowning Miami Beach," Inslee added. "This wake-up call is being delivered, and people are responding to it." Inslee will officially kick off his campaign with an event Friday afternoon in Seattle at a solar energy company, touting his work as governor growing his state's clean energy industry. The governor also will appear on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopolous," on Sunday, and will make his first trip to Iowa as a candidate on Tuesday, followed by campaign trips to Nevada and California later this month. (MORE: Money, moderates and marijuana: Here's the weekly roundup on the 2020 field) Should Inslee confront President Donald Trump in 2020, it won't be the first time. During an event last year at the White House, Inslee called out the president over a proposal to arm teachers in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. "I just suggest we need a little less tweeting here, a little more listening," Inslee said at the time. Senators seek to halt Trump's border emergency originally appeared on abcnews.go.com President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to build the border wall is on the cusp of being terminated by Congress as a number of Republicans on Capitol Hill are growing increasingly uneasy with the move. At least a dozen Republicans have signaled they are unhappy with the president's decision to go the route of a national emergency. Many Republicans have expressed their concerns about the presidents ability, under the declaration, to move funds that have already been appropriated by Congress. They've also said they are concerned about the precedent it could send should a Democrat become president. And now the Senate will soon consider a resolution of disapproval to terminate the declaration. PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2019. (Jorge Silva/Reuters) A group of bipartisan senators Susan Collins of Maine, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Tom Udall of New Mexico introduced the Senates version of the legislation Thursday on the Senate floor. Let me be clear: the question before us is not whether to support or oppose the wall. It is not whether to support or oppose President Trump. Rather it is this: do we want the executive branch now or in the future to hold the power that the founders deliberately entrusted to Congress? Collins said on the Senate floor. (MORE: House votes to terminate Trump's national emergency declaration for border wall funding) Collins, who is up for re-election in 2020 and has bucked Trump in the past, joins Murkowski and GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina in supporting the resolution. All 47 Democrats are expected to support the resolution. PHOTO: Senator Susan Collins speaks to reporters as she arrives for the weekly Republican Party caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 26, 2019. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Tennessee's Lamar Alexander, another Republican, signaled on Thursday he is likely to back the resolution. I support what the president wants to do on border security, but not the way he has been advised to do it. https://t.co/Gy2hIP72PR Sen. Lamar Alexander (@SenAlexander) February 28, 2019 Should he become the fourth Republican to support the resolution, the Senate will have a simple majority 51 senators to send the resolution to the president's desk in an astonishing rebuke to the president. Story continues Alexander said that already has congressional funding authority to build the wall he wants on the southern border without resorting to a dangerous national emergency precedent. In an address on the Senate floor, he urged the president to ask his lawyers to take a second look at existing funding authorities that dont require a national emergency. I support what the president wants to do on border security, but not the way he has been advised to do it. It is unnecessary and unwise to turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis about separation of powers when the president already has congressional funding authority to build the 234 miles of border wall that he requested in his January 6 letter to the Senate, Alexander said. PHOTO: A photo released by the Customs and Border Protection shows a vehicle barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border near Santa Teresa, N.M., Jan. 18, 2018. (CBP, FILE) Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border on Feb. 15, taking executive action to obtain billions of dollars for his border wall on top of $1.4 billion Congress sent him earlier this month for border fencing. "We do have an emergency," Trump told a gathering of governors at the White House on Monday. "We have an emergency of people pouring into our country that we don't want -- criminals, smugglers. We have drugs pouring into our country. We can't have it." The House passed its version of the resolution earlier this week. The bill passed 245-182, with just 13 Republicans joining 232 Democrats to approve the measure. The Senate is expected the considered the measure in the coming weeks, setting up another showdown with Trump. The president has made clear he will veto the resolution and it is highly unlikely Congress has the votes to override his veto. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday became the first major candidate in history to officially launch a White House bid centered entirely on combating climate change, entering a crowded field of Democrats vying to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020. In a video that opens with shots of storm clouds gathering over the Seattle skyline, Inslee, 68, vowed to transition the nation to 100 percent renewable electricity and generate millions of good paying jobs in every community across America. Were the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, Inslee said over images of the charred rubble Californias unprecedented wildfires left behind last year. And were the last that can do something about it. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has decided to make a longshot bid for the White House in 2020 and he's campaigning on a platform to combat climate change. (Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS) Its a remarkable, if longshot, bid that says as much about the rapidly changing nature of American climate politics as it does about the two-term governors political ambitions. Not a single question about human-caused global warming came up during the 2016 presidential debates. Scientists warned that emissions from fossil fuels could increase average global temperatures more than a century ago. NASA researcher James Hansen first testified that global warming had begun in 1988. Yet decades of misinformation financed primarily by oil and gas companies stoked partisan divides over the very reality of climate change, and no serious effort to scale back emissions ever took form. Yet the Trump administrations all-out assault on the meager suite of federal regulations President Barack Obama put in place generated a new focus on the issue. Then, in 2017, a series of catastrophic wildfires and hurricanes that scientists said offered a glimpse of life in a warmer world made the climate crisis tangible to many Americans for the first time. By 2018, a new movement, championed by a cadre of left-wing populists like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), began calling for a Green New Deal, a sweeping plan to dramatically cut emissions and provide secure, union-wage clean energy jobs to any American who wants one. Story continues The issue surged from near the bottom of Democratic primary voters priorities to the No. 2 concern behind health care in a poll released last month. A Yale University survey published this week found 85 percent of registered voters including 95 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of Republicans support requiring utilities in their states to produce 100 percent of their electricity from clean sources by 2050. About half said they were more likely to vote for a candidate who supports that policy. Inslee is by no means the only contender seeking to woo those voters. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spent the last three years proposing clean energy legislation and making climate change a key issue for his devoted base of activists. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) refashioned her trademark rhetoric attacking corporate power to demand an end to the roughly $20 billion the United States dishes out in fossil fuel subsidies each year. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) along with nearly every other 2020 contender endorsed the Green New Deal. Inslee hopes his singular focus will set him apart. Im running for president because Im the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nations No. 1 priority, he said in the video. Inslees record on the issue stretches back to 2006, when, serving as one of Washingtons then-nine U.S. representatives, he led an effort to set a renewable portfolio standard in the Evergreen State. The next year, he co-authored a book called Apollos Fire: Igniting Americas Clean Energy Economy, which, as the title implies, laid out a vision for bolstering the renewable-energy and electric-vehicle industries. In 2009, Inslee helped start the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition in the House of Representatives. Later that year, he co-sponsored the failed federal cap-and-trade bill known as Waxman-Markey, the last major federal effort to cut planet-warming emissions. In 2016, Inslee became the first governor to issue an executive order capping carbon dioxide emissions. A year later, he founded the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan interstate club aimed at maintaining the countrys climate negotiations with other countries after Trump announced the United States plan to withdraw from the Paris climate accords. A glowing profile published in January in The Atlantic described Inslees array of state-level policies as arguably the most progressive and greenest agenda in the country, with fields of solar panels, fleets of electric buses and massive job growth to show for it. That same month, Inslee pledged to reject donations from the fossil fuel industry, though this week his allies announced the formation of a super PAC, Act Now On Climate, to support his bid. The group is led by former Democratic Governors Association political director Corey Platt. Inslee took firm stances against major fossil fuel infrastructure projects. In January 2018, he personally intervened to reject permits to build what would have been the countrys largest oil-by-rail facility at the Port of Vancouver. He signed a bill last March putting a new tax on pipelines, requiring the operators to fund a state program to safeguard against oil spills. In May, he blocked construction of a $680 million coal-export terminal on the Columbia River. But his signature climate effort a plan to put a price on carbon emissions failed three times in Washington. The most recent attempt, a proposal called Initiative 1631 and widely considered a state-level version of a Green New Deal, lost in a November referendum after the oil industry spent a record $31 million pressuring Evergreen State voters to reject the ballot measure. E&E News in January dubbed the vote the latest in a series of spectacular failures while achieving just a few minor victories. Inslee has faced some climate critics, too. In February 2018, 13 young people in Washington, aged 7 to 17, sued the state, alleging Inslee and his agencies violated their constitutional rights to a safe climate by failing to curb emissions. One plaintiff Jamie Margolin, a 17-year-old activist in Seattle who founded the youth climate group Zero Hour railed against Inslee in a series of tweets last week accusing the governor of fighting tooth & nail against the lawsuit, which a state judge tossed in August. As evidence, she pointed to the continued fight over a liquified natural gas terminal in Tacoma, Washington, which the Puyallup Tribe and leaders from 14 other Northwest tribes pleaded with Inslee to reject. In January, Inslee told HuffPost he couldnt comment on ongoing state negotiations, but his spokesman warned that the project doesnt have final permitting yet. Climate wont be Inslees only issue. Last week, the governor became the first likely 2020 candidate to promise to end the filibuster, which is seen as a likely impediment to enacting sweeping Green New Deal legislation. This is the 11th hour, Inslee told HuffPost in January. But it should be our hour to shine. This story was updated to clarify how many representatives Washington had in 2006. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. For a political newcomer whom even some Democratic pundits think of as a "self-perpetuating legend" unworthy of the "hype," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is proving to be quite good at her joband not just, as her critics contend, at Twitter. During Michael Cohen's testimony in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday, the congresswoman cleverly helped lay the groundwork for a potentially wide-ranging investigation into the president's well-documented but still not fully understood history of financial wrongdoing and criminality. She didn't even need all five of her allotted minutes. In about four minutes and 17 seconds, Ocasio-Cortez cruised through a rapid-fire questioning of Donald Trump's former attorney and fixer, homing in on the goods. First, Ocasio-Cortez delved into the infamous "treasure trove" of stories stockpiled by AMI, the National Enquirer's parent company. They were part of a catch-and-kill operation designed by Cohen and AMI to shield the president from future embarrassing Stormy Danielsesque revelations. When Cohen replied that he could no longer be sure of the whereabouts of these documents, Ocasio-Cortezinstead of pressing him for lurid details about their contentssimply asked who might be able to tell the House Oversight Committee more about them. Cohen, under oath, named names: David Pecker, Barry Levine, and Dylan Howard. Pecker, who is AMI's chairman and CEO, already struck an immunity deal with federal prosecutors in conjunction with his involvement in hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign. But this agreement would not preclude Pecker (or Levine or Howard) from testifying about the matter before Congress, whether on a voluntary basis or pursuant to a subpoena. Should committee chair Elijah Cummings elect to exercise this power in the near future, the responses Ocasio-Cortez elicited provide him with ample justification for doing so. Story continues Next, she turned to a pair of strategies that Trump purportedly employed before ascending to the White House in an effort to preserve his wealth: inflating the value of his assets when dealing with insurance companies, in order to obtain favorable coverage terms, and then deflating the value of his assets when dealing with local government officials, in order to reduce his property-tax liability. Cohen confirmed his general familiarity with these practices, but also disclosed the limits of his knowledge; he couldn't, for example, speak directly to alleged shell-game maneuvers that took place in the 1990s, before his tenure with the Trump Organization began. In response, Ocasio-Cortez suggested a logical alternative source of the information she sought. "Where would the committee find more information on this?" she asked, referring to the insurance issue. "Do you think we need to review his financial statements and tax returns in order to compare them?" And again, with respect to asset deflation: "Would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?" Both times, he replied in the affirmative. And both times, he suggested a handful of individuals who might have that knowledge: longtime Trump Organization officials Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman, and Matthew Calamari. A condition that has long afflicted Washington lawmakerson a bipartisan basis!is the urge to say something big and splashy during high-profile hearings, since doing so might earn them a segment on the evening news or a mention in the morning paper back home. Because there are 435 members of the House jockeying for the scare resource of media attention, on-camera time provides them all with a valuable opportunity to star in a retweetable video clip. These dynamics often result in committee members, when given the chance to interrogate a key witness about an issue of national importance, instead choosing to deliver a miniature stump speech that may or may not require the witness' actual participation. (Looking at you, Cory Booker.) Ocasio-Cortez, who at this point is one of the most famous American politicians not named Donald Trump, does not need to do much these days in order to go viral. (For God's sake, the woman can literally make news by cooking ramen and talking politics on Instagram.) But she knows Democrats will have to win a messy, protracted political battle if they ever want to expose the president's financial malfeasance. By choosing to eschew theatrics in favor of asking substantive, straightforward questions, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez provided party leadership with the strongest justification yet for using the subpoena power to get the president's tax returns. Now, if only more senior members could follow her lead. NAOWARAT/Shutterstock Fingernails seem like a pretty uneventful body part. They grow. You cut them. Maybe paint them. And thats about it. But in reality, your nails can give you a glimpse into your overall health. If something is going on in your body, your nails could start to change, sometimes developing ridges. Depending on what the ridges in fingernails look like, you might want to schedule a visit to the doctor. Vertical ridges Lines running from the bottom of the nail to the tip are the most common form of ridges in fingernails, affecting about 20 percent of adults. In the vast majority of cases, its just a sign of aging, says Ivy Lee, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in Pasadena, California. Fingernails are made mostly of keratin, a protein also found in the hair and outer layer of skin. In the same ways that the skin gets drier and the hair feels rougher, the nails also change with age because the body has a harder time retaining moisture. But if you see other changes in the nails, like splitting or a color change, you might want to consult a doctor, says Dr. Lee. In rare cases, ridges in fingernails could be a sign of anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, or cardiovascular problems. A single ridge in the middle of the nail, for instance, could be a sign of a nutrient deficiency like protein or folic acid. Keep an eye out for these other 11 health secrets your hands are trying to tell you. Horizontal ridges Ridges in fingernails that run side to side are less common and might give you more pause. Also known as Beaus lines, they could signal disease or just be a remnant of an old injury, says Dr. Lee. They arise because there is a temporary stop in nail growth in the proximal nail matrix, where the fingernail is made, she says. They are most often benign and due to mechanical trauma: manicures, jamming your finger in the door, etc. Sometimes, though, they point to a skin disease like eczema, psoriasis, or chronic paronychia (an infection of the nail folds that makes the skin swollen and red), so inspect your skin and fingertips for signs of redness and rash. Your dermatologist might be able to offer a treatment option. While you're at it, look into these things your nails can reveal about your health. But its not all about the skinridges in nails can also be a sign of other systemic problems. For instance, an over- or underactive thyroid can affect the hormones in charge of nail, skin, and hair growth, resulting in ridged nails in some cases. If all 20 finger- and toenails develop Beaus lines at the same time, it could even be an infection like pneumonia, mumps, or syphilis, or even a problem with the heart, liver, or kidneys. Particularly if your ridged nails have also become thinner, split, discolored, or misshapen, schedule a visit with your dermatologist pronto to get to the bottom of the problem, says Dr. Lee. In the meantime, read up on 42 other strange symptoms that can signal a serious disease. Photo credit: Nancy Brown - Getty Images From Country Living As Lent, a time of self-examination, comes to an end, many Christians observe Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. Its typically a day for quiet reflection and preparation for the celebration of the resurrection, says professor and Jesuit priest Bruce Morrill, PhD, Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville. Some faiths, such as Roman Catholic and Orthodox, hold evening services, which are the most important of the church year. Photo credit: Anadolu Agency - Getty Images Over the centuries in various regions of Christianity throughout the world, different names for Holy Saturday have evolved. For example, the Orthodox Churches call it Great and Holy Saturday, depicting Jesuss descent into Hell to release the captives there, starting with Adam and Eve. This is often referred to as the Harrowing of Hell. How do people commemorate Holy Saturday? During the day, families prepare for Easter day celebrations. For example, families with a Polish heritage fill a basket containing eggs, ham, bread, sweet breads, horseradish, and lamb cakes or butter lambs. Theyre brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. On the island of Corfu in Greece, people toss clay pots out of windows. In some parts of Latin America, an effigy of Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, is burned. Not eating meat and fasting (eating only one meal during the day) are optional but encouraged on Holy Saturday for some faith traditions. These devotions are an act of penitence to raise awareness of Jesuss self-sacrifice and love, says Morrill. Photo credit: The Washington Post - Getty Images In the evening, some faiths hold a vigil service an hour after sundown. Its a nocturnal watch that retains ancient roots in expectation and waiting for the resurrection. Some Orthodox traditions have celebrants exit the church, then circle it three times before re-entering. In the Roman Catholic faith, the vigil begins with an outdoor fire, lighting up the night to disperse the darkness. The fire is used to light a very large candle, a symbol of Jesus as the light of the world. The faithful then light tapers of their own from this candle. Story continues During the Roman Catholic service, Bible passages are read, including from the Books of Genesis, Exodus, and an account of the resurrection from the Books of Matthew, Mark or Luke. People who have prepared to become part of the church are baptized and partake in communion for the first time. The practice recalls the adult conversions that occurred in the 4th century church as Christianity was beginning to spread, says Morrill. People who have already been baptized renew their vows as well. Some Protestant faith traditions also hold large baptism services on Holy Saturday. While most dont hold a night vigil, they may meet for sunrise services at dawn on Easter. The idea parallels the notion of vigil-keeping and waiting for the light to dispel the darkness, says Morrill. ('You Might Also Like',) Can Hood By Air...save New York fashion? Can Hood By Air Save New York?! CAN HOOD BY AIR SAVE US?! In an interview with SSENSE, and a separate interview with Kanye West (casual), Shayne Oliver announced that he is reviving his brand Hood By Air. We dont yet know when exactly it will return, and whether it will even show clothing at fashion week, but the brand that held the fashion worlds attention rapt, even during periods of hiatus, for six or seven years is on its way back. Though Olivers collections were challenging and impenetrable at the time, looking back at what he did just a few years ago makes it clear how ubiquitous his influence has become. He propelled streetwearnot T-shirts and graphics but garments and ideas and people and attitudes from his life in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyninto high fashion. He started with menswear, foreshadowing the energy around that sect of the industry. He covered everything in a clean, telegraphic, charged logoputting the collective brand identity before the personal one. He showed super wild runway fashion but made a T-shirt anyone could wear. He shunned investors or corporate support (except PornHubalso oddly prescient!). What can Oliver bring to fashion now? All of the things listed above are now practically the playbook for fashion brands, and yet his many imitators are missing essential elements of his work: the aggression, the sexuality (he would often refer to the ideas he put on the runway as what turned him on), and the masculinity. When Oliver is putting shirtless queer men in dental guards and unitards on the runway, a Louis Vuitton harness doesnt look so controversial and a Raf Simons taffeta coat seems a little fussy. Why is everyonefreaking out about tiny bags? The hunky young French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus loves to make tiny bags and giant hats, but he took things to a new level of minutiae in Paris this week with the new Mini Le Chiquito, an even smaller version of the Le Chiquito, a previous tiny Jacquemus bag. Its so small that models carried it in the crook of their...fingers. Story continues Nay- and yeasayers alike are contemplating the impracticality of this bag, which underscores a significant point: when have fashion bags ever been for carrying things? Miss me with your fanny packs, pragmatic nerds! (And hold my phone.) But why are these bags so small? In part, this is another example of fashions ongoing entanglement with meme culture: make something outrageous that inspires the Twitterati to claim that everyone in Soho will really start dressing like an absolute unit (or whatever). And the easiest way to do this is to make something totally huge (Demnacore) or totally tiny (Jacquemuscore). Pick your poison, fashion fanboys! Tabis are making a comeback...thanks to guys? As predicted on this very website, Tabis are now all over the place and selling like hotcakes. And this isnt just one of those things were fashion heads say everyone is wearing pompom pants and its just us and one guy wearing pompom pants: SSENSE (wow, they are all over the SSCENE today) says their first delivery of mens Tabis sold out within days. Many consider it a Margiela collectible. Somebody let this guy know the revolution has just begun. In December 2017, Starbucks opened what was helmed to be the largest Starbucks in the world in Shanghaia 30,000-square-foot Reserve Roastery with two floors, including everything from a Pairing Bar to a gift shop. And while it sounds massive, the new Reserve Roastery opening in Tokyos Nakameguro neighborhood this week is about to dwarf it (just barely). Debuting Thursday, the Tokyo Roastery is 32,000 square feet and four stories, officially taking the crown as the largest Starbucks in the worldand it has plenty of other impressive accolades, too. The Tokyo Roastery was built from the ground up, in collaboration with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma; the coffee cask is the largest Starbucks Roastery cask ever, at 55 feet tall. Take a glimpse inside the space in the photos below. The Roasterys design was inspired by the cherry blossom trees on the Meguro Riveryou can see said trees from the building, thanks to glass walls, or go out onto a terrace and enjoy them outside. The coffee cask is covered in hand-crafted cherry blossoms made from copper. The ceiling, on the other hand, is wood-tiled, and inspired by origami. There are 60 different coffee and tea beverages unique to the Tokyo location, which you can find at the main coffee bar, Teavana Bar (the largest of all Roastery Teavana Bars), and Arriviamo Bar, which serves signature cocktails (with coffee and tea in them, naturally). Some of the new drinks include a Teavana Cream Soda Matcha (pictured below) and a barrel-aged cold brew made with coffee beans aged in whiskey barrelall combined with a barrel-aged vanilla syrup (yes, please). The Golden-sky Black Tea Latte also sounds tasty, spiced with turmeric and cardamom and topped with turmeric cotton candy. On the fourth floor, you'll find a loungeThe AMU Inspiration Loungewhich will be a space used to host change-makers and creative thinkers from across Japan to foster conversations about social impact. AMU means to knit together in Japanese, so its a fitting namethe first event is scheduled to take place in April, and will celebrate the role of women leaders in Japan. Cant make it to Tokyo or Shanghai? There are also Reserve Roasteries in New York, Seattle, and Milanwith a Chicago Roastery also on the horizon. If youre curious about what its like to be in one of these chic, massive coffeehouses, one of our editors visited the Shanghai outpost last October and took us on a guided tourcheck out the full story here. Sao Paulo (AFP) - Brazil's jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday was granted leave from prison to attend the weekend funeral of his young grandson, who died at the age of seven. A federal court decided that Lula, who is serving two concurrent 12-year sentences for corruption, can attend Saturday's services in Sao Paulo for Arthur Araujo Lula da Silva, who succumbed to meningitis. "Lula has been authorized to take part in the funeral; to protect his family's privacy, and to guarantee public safety and his own, details on the transfer will remain secret," justice officials in Parana state said in a statement. Federal prosecutors had earlier issued a statement saying they supported Lula's request. Lula "is very sad -- no one expects news like this," the head of his Workers Party, Gleisi Hoffmann, said after visiting him in prison. "He said no father should ever have to bury a son, no grandfather should bury his grandson." Arthur was the son of Sandro Luiz Lula da Silva, one of the former president's five sons. The boy had twice visited his grandfather in prison in the southern city of Curitiba, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) from Sao Paulo, the country's southeastern business hub. Lula's lawyers argued that by law, the former president -- who served two terms and became a global icon of the left -- was entitled to leave on compassionate grounds, having lost a close family member. But Lula missed the funeral of his 79-year-old brother Vava in late January, when he died of cancer. His request was initially denied by a lower court judge and by the time a Supreme Court justice approved it, his brother's funeral had already taken place. "They didn't let me say my goodbyes to Vava out of pure spite," the president said afterwards, quoted in a party statement. Police have spoken out against releasing the high-profile inmate, arguing they lacked the manpower to keep the highly divisive figure safe. Story continues Last April, Lula, 73, began serving a 12-year sentence for taking a bribe in the form of a seaside apartment and for money laundering. Last month, he received a separate sentence of almost 13 years for accepting renovation work by two construction companies on a farmhouse in exchange for ensuring they won contracts with the state-run oil company Petrobras. Petrobras is at the center of a massive corruption scandal that has devastated the country's political and business elite. Regime Change Is Urgently Needed In Washington By Andre Vltchek February 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - I am surprised that no one else is saying it, writing it, shouting it at each and every corner: It is not Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Iran that are in dire and crucial need of regime change. It is the United States of America, it is the entire European Union; in fact, the entire West. And the situation is urgent. The West has gone mad; it has gone so to speak, bananas; mental. And people there are too scared to even say it, to write about it. One country after another is falling, being destroyed, antagonized, humiliated, impoverished. Entire continents are treated as if they were inhabited by irresponsible toddlers, who are being chased and disciplined by sadistic adults, with rulers and belts in their hands yelling with maniacal expressions on their faces: Behave, do as we say, or else! It all would be truly comical, if it werent so depressing. But nobody is laughing. People are shaking, sweating, crying, begging, puking, but they are not chuckling. I see it everywhere where I work: in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. But why? It is because North American and European countries are actually seriously delivering their ultimatum: you either obey us, and prostrate yourself in front of us, or we will break you, violate you, and if everything else fails, we will kill your leaders and all of those who are standing in our way. This is not really funny, is it? Especially considering that it is being done to almost all the countries in what is called Latin America, to many African and Middle Eastern nations, and to various states on the Asian continent. And it is all done professionally, with great sadistic craftsmanship and rituals. No one has yet withstood regime change tactics, not even the once mighty Soviet Union, nor tremendous China, or proud and determined Afghanistan. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Cuba, Venezuela, DPRK and Syria may be the only countries that are still standing. They resisted and mobilized all their resources in order to survive; and they have survived, but at a tremendous price. The victims keep crying. A few independent countries keep expressing their outrage. But so far, there is no grand coalition, which would be ready to fight and defend each other: one for all, all for one. Until the recent rebellion at the UN, no one has been openly and seriously suggesting that international law should apply to all nations of the world, equally. People talk about peace. Many are begging the brigands to to stop, to have mercy, to show some compassion. But, neither Europe nor North America has ever shown any compassion, for long, terrible centuries. Look at the map of the beginning of the 20th century, for instance: the entire world was colonized, plundered and subjugated. Now it is all moving in the same direction. If the West is not stopped, our planet may not survive at all. And let us be realistic: begging, logical arguments and goodwill will not stop Washington, Paris or London from plundering and enslaving. Anyone who has at least some basic knowledge of world history knows that. So why is the world still not forging some true resistance? Is Venezuela going to be the last straw? And if not Venezuela, that is if Venezuela is allowed to fall, is it going to be Nicaragua, Cuba or Iran next? Is anything going to propel people into action? Are we all just going to look passively how, the socialist Venezuela, a country which has already given so much to the world, Venezuela which managed to create beautiful visions and concepts for our humanity, is going to be burned to ashes, and then robbed of all of its dreams, its resources and of its freedom? Are we all such cowards? Is this what we human beings have actually become; been reduced to? Cowards and cattle, selfish and submissive beings; slaves? All this, simply because people are too scared to confront the empire? Because they prefer to hide and to pretend that what is so obvious, is actually not taking place? Therefore, let me pronounce it, so at least my readers do not have that luxury of claiming that they were not told: This world is being brutalized and controlled by the fascist clique of Western nations. There is no democracy left in this world, as there is near zero respect for international law in North American and European capitals. Colonialism has returned in full force. Western imperialism is now almost fully controlling the world. And begging, trust me begging and talking of peace is not going to help. During WWII, fascism had to be stopped. If not, it was going to devour the entire planet. In the past, tens of millions have already died fighting for freedom and for our mankind. Yes, some nations tried to compromise and negotiate with Nazi Germany, but we all know where it all ended. Now, the situation is the same. Or worse, perhaps much worse, because the West has nukes and a tremendous propaganda apparatus: it controls human brains all over the world with mass media, and education. And because the citizens of the West are now much more brainwashed than the Germans and Italians were in the late 1930s and early 1940s; more brainwashed, more scared, submissive and more disciplined. Look, seriously: are the people who are now writing those peace essays, in which they argue with the Western regime about who is right and who is wrong, seriously thinking that they are going to move people like Donald Trump, or Pompeo, or Abrams, or Rubio? Do they believe that Washington is going to stop murdering millions of people all over the world? Or that the neo-colonialist plunder would stop, after the US Congress and Senate suddenly understands that it has been at the wrong side of history? This is not some rhetorical question. I am serious: I demand answers! Does peace movement thinks that by amassing arguments it could stop Western expansionism? Yes or no? Do they believe that Pompeo or Trump will suddenly hit their foreheads and exclaim: You people are correct! We did not see this! And call their troops, their thugs and mercenaries back? If not, if this is not what peace movements believe would be done by North American and European leaders, then why all those thousands of wasted pages? Would you go near a crocodile that is ready to devour an innocent child, and try to reason with it? Would you, seriously? Do you think it would stop, drop a few tears, wag its tail and leave? Sometimes I tend to believe that peace movements in the West are making things worse. They create false hopes, and they behave as if the empire is some entity that has a soul, and understands logic. They grossly underestimate the threat; the danger. And they tend to analyze the Western threat from a Western perspective, using Western logic. It somehow gets lost in interpretation that fascism, terror, and bestiality have to be confronted and fought. One cannot negotiate with a group of countries which are already bathed in the blood of some 80% of the planet. If it was to happen, it would just be a mockery and it would simply humiliate everyone that is sincerely trying to stop the assassins. Right now, Venezuela needs solidarity. It requires direct help, actions; not words. And so do many other countries. Instead, it gets an endless avalanche of best wishes, as well as premature obituaries. The Bolivarian Revolution has gotten plenty of colorful words. But what it urgently needs is volunteers, money, and internationalist brigades! I know that billions of people all over the world are now cheering from their armchairs; in fact, doing absolutely nothing, while also spending zero. Their love for Venezuela is platonic. I have just left Syria, where I was covering the Idlib war zone. There was not one single foreigner near me, during those days. Eva Bartlett and Vanessa Beeley usually work all over the toughest areas in Syria, but how many others do? And most of the time we work with near zero backing, just because we feel that it is our moral obligation to inform humanity. I am wondering, how many foreigners are fighting for Venezuela, right now? Who is going to face the Western spooks implanted into the Caracas and the Venezuelan borders with Colombia and Brazil? A few RT and TeleSur reporters, those true heroes, yes, but who else? Only direct action can save Venezuela, and the world. This is no time for debates. This is worse, much worse than the late 1930s. The proverbial crocodile is here; its enormous ugly mouth open, ready to devour yet one more brilliant, proud country. It is time to stick a big metal rod into its mouth. Now, immediately; before it gets too late. Let us shout LONG LIVE VENEZUELA! But with our hands, muscles and purses, not just with our mouths. And let us not be scared to declare: if anywhere, it is Washington where regime change is truly and urgently needed! Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Four of his latest books are China and Ecological Civilization with John B. Cobb, Jr., Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism, a revolutionary novel Aurora and a bestselling work of political non-fiction: Exposing Lies Of The Empire. View his other books here. Watch Rwanda Gambit, his groundbreaking documentary about Rwanda and DRCongo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky On Western Terrorism. Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and the Middle East, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website and his Twitter. Just over a year ago, President Trump stood before Congress and told the story of Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector who suffered at the hands of that brutal Communist regime. This week, the president stood next to North Koreas ruler and refused to address Kim Jong-uns abysmal record on human rights. His silence in Hanoi was a strategic error at a time when authoritarianism is on the rise in East Asia. It encourages nations that believe they can terrorize their citizens and perhaps their neighbors without fear of American condemnation. Both the future of liberty and American leadership in Asia depend on President Trump once more drawing attention to the true nature of North Korea. Initially, President Trump spoke accurately and eloquently about North Koreas utter disregard for human rights, avoiding the topic only once the summits began. Those early statements focused the worlds attention on Pyongyangs inhumanity, putting renewed pressure on Kim to come to the table. The criticisms still hold true, because North Korea is more concentration camp than country. The facts should be repeated as often as possible. The Kim regime operates a gulag system that would make its old Soviet founders proud. Recent estimates put the number of prisoners at up to 120,000 in the four largest camps alone. Few ever escape, but those who do remember widespread torture, public executions, and mothers forced to drown their newborn infants. Outside the gulags, life is usually less violent, but no more free. Like all Communist regimes, North Koreas bill of rights is a worthless document ignored by the state. In daily life, there is no freedom of speech or assembly, no right to privacy or protest, and no respect for conscience or religion especially Christianity, for which the Kim regime holds special hatred. Only those citizens whose families show absolute loyalty are allowed to live in major cities, although a single misstep can cast them back into the countryside to a life of poverty, malnutrition, and even death. Story continues North Koreas oppression at home is tied to its aggression abroad. Nations that tyrannize their own citizens rarely have qualms about attacking their neighbors, which is precisely why human rights must be part of the denuclearization discussion. You cannot divide foreign and domestic policy in Communist thought. They are two halves of the same tumor; you can cut one half away, but it will grow back given time. And that is why the silence on the nature of the evil is so concerning. By drawing attention to North Koreas oppression, the President would have put Kim Jong-un on his back foot. The focus would have expanded beyond the regimes nuclear program its greatest strength to include its tyranny, which is North Koreas greatest weakness. Indeed, the president would have made Pyongyangs Communist ideology a central question, just as Ronald Reagan did with the Soviet Union in his day. There is no debate that Kim wants less; there is no debate the people of North Korea need more. But the need also extends far beyond the Korean Peninsula. With the rise of China and its aggressive, authoritarian version of Communism, all of Asia needs reassurance that the United States stands for freedom, democracy, and human rights. The Trump administration has a more consistent record of criticizing Chinas Communist Party, but Beijing and our other adversaries as well as our allies are watching for any sign of wavering. Pro-freedom advocates across Asia have already told my organization that U.S. silence on human rights in North Korea is disheartening and even dangerous. The Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky once said that when Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire, it electrified him and his fellow inmates in the Siberian gulag. That was the moment, he remembers, that really marked the end for the Soviet Union and the beginning for us. Building on this sentiment, Sharansky told my organization on the centennial of the Bolshevik Revolution that freedom and human rights are asymmetrical weapons for which Communists, and all authoritarians, have no defense. The Trump administration has fielded those weapons before. It was a show of strength that delivered results. For the sake of our national interests, and the spread of our most cherished ideals, its time to deploy that arsenal again. More from National Review Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's justice department on Friday began the process of extraditing Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to the United States to face criminal charges related to alleged Iran sanctions violations. The Huawei chief financial officer was arrested at Washington's request on December 1 as she changed planes in Vancouver. "Today, Department of Justice Canada officials issued an Authority to Proceed, formally commencing an extradition process in the case of Ms. Meng Wanzhou," said a statement. The decision, it said, "follows a thorough and diligent review of the evidence in this case," which was found to be "sufficient" to warrant putting the matter before an extradition judge to decide. Meng is expected to appear in court on March 6 when prosecutors will present the evidence against her and lay out "detailed arguments" for her extradition. At the end of the process, if a judge orders an extradition, the attorney general would have the final say on whether or not to hand her over to US authorities. The Hague (AFP) - The world's chemical weapons watchdog said Friday that chlorine was used against the rebel-held Syrian town of Douma in 2018, in a long-awaited final report on the deadly attack. The report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was based on a visit by inspectors to the site of the attack which witnesses said killed 43 people. Western powers led by the United States blamed the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the incident and unleashed air strikes on military installations in response. The Hague-based watchdog said two cylinders likely containing chlorine smashed into a housing block in the town. The OPCW report said that there were "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place on 7 April 2018. This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine." It said however that it found no evidence of the use of nerve agents in Douma, which had been previously alleged by some parties in the conflict. The findings confirmed an interim OPCW report released last July saying that traces of chlorine were found. The report does not place blame because it was not in the OPCW's remit at the time, although the watchdog has since been given powers to investigate responsibility for all chemical attacks in Syria back to 2014. - 'Staged provocation' - Russia, which backs Assad, rejected the report and said the attack was "staged" by Syrian rescue volunteers known as the White Helmets. "In spite of all the evidence presented by Russia, Syria, and even British journalists that the Douma incident is no more than 'White helmets' staged provocation, Technical Secretariat of OPCW states in today's report that chlorine was used in Douma as a chemical weapon," the Russian Embassy in The Hague tweeted. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt however said Syria should now honour its 2013 vow to destroy all its chemical weapons, made after 1,400 people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in what the UN said was an attack using the nerve agent sarin. Story continues "Confirmed today by @OPCW - chemical weapons WERE used in Douma, Syria in April 2018. The Assad regime must cease, declare and destroy its chemical weapon programme. We remain committed to seeking justice for the victims," Hunt tweeted. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian echoed the comments, calling for "the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime to end and for the perpetrators of such acts to be punished". A team of OPCW inspectors took more than 100 samples from seven sites in Douma when they gained access to the town after being denied access for several weeks. The OPCW said it reached its conclusions based on "witnesses' testimonies, environmental and biomedical samples analysis results, toxicological and ballistic analyses from experts". The report said "two yellow industrial cylinders dedicated for pressurised gas" were found, one of which had landed on top of the housing block and crashed through it. It said it was "possible that the cylinders were the source of the substances containing reactive chlorine." - 'Strewn on the floor' - The OPCW said witnesses told the team there were "43 decedents related to the alleged chemical incident, most of whom were seen in videos and photos strewn on the floor of multiple levels of an apartment building and in front of the same building." The videos "indicate exposure to an inhalational irritant or toxic substance" and show burns to the eyes and foaming from the mouth, although it could not directly link those to any specific substance. The watchdog also rejected claims by the Syrian regime that the gas came from an alleged rebel chemical weapons facility and storehouse in the area. "From the analysis of the information gathered during the on-site visits to the warehouse and facility suspected of producing chemical weapons, there was no indication of either facility being involved in their manufacture," it said. The report will now go to the UN Security Council. The OPCW has been at the forefront of investigating chemical attacks during the eight-year Syrian civil war, with investigators previously confirming the use of "chlorine, sulphur mustard, and sarin as chemical weapons" in other incidents. But the watchdog is now riven by political divisions between Russia and the West, particularly over its new powers to attribute blame. A nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy in the English city of Salisbury in 2018, which the West blamed on Moscow, has further poisoned relations. BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) A prosecutor with Colombia's special peace tribunal was caught red handed accepting cash in exchange for swaying a controversial ruling over a top rebel's extradition to the U.S. on drug charges, authorities said Friday. The chief prosecutor's office announced that Carlos Bermeo, along with a former senator and two other suspects, were detained "in the moment" they were taking a $500,000 bribe at two hotels north of capital city Bogota. In a brief statement, officials said the suspects were expected to influence a still-pending decision over whether or not to extradite Seuxis Hernandez, a top rebel peace negotiator best known by his alias Jesus Santrich. No further details were released. The accusations are sure to mark one more blow to efforts by Colombia's special peace tribunal to gain the trust of a skeptical public. Many in Colombia believe the court's terms are far too lenient against former rebels who participated in war crimes. Those who fully confess are unlikely to serve any time behind bars. A spokesman for the peace tribunal said Bermeo works in an investigations unit that has no role in weighting extradition requests. Santrich is detained in Colombia on a U.S. drug warrant accusing him of conspiring with three others to smuggle several tons of cocaine with a wholesale value of $15 million in April 2018. The special peace court has been debating the decision for months amid delayed requests to obtain evidence from U.S. authorities. At issue is whether the alleged crimes were committed before or after the signing of Colombia's 2016 peace accord to end over five decades of civil conflict. The case is considered an important test of the nascent peace court, which is still in the early stages of opening investigations against former rebels and military officials suspected in human rights violations and has not yet issued any rulings. The chief prosecutor's office and the special peace tribunal have sparred repeatedly over access to case files and jurisdiction on sensitive topics. Speaking from Medellin on Friday, President Ivan Duque, who was elected to the presidency after Santrich's arrest on a platform criticizing aspects of the accord, called the case "extremely grave." "This is an unfortunate case of corruption," he said. "It needs to be clarified and pursued until all consequences are enforced." Sen. Cory Booker introduced a bill on Thursday to legalize marijuana nationwide as he mounts his 2020 presidential campaign. Co-sponsors include fellow 2020 contenders Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand. The bill comes as increasing numbers of states are legalizing marijuana on the local level and public opinion has shifted in favor of legalization. Sen. Cory Booker introduced a bill on Thursday to legalize marijuana nationwide as he mounts his presidential campaign. Co-sponsors of the bill, known as the Marijuana Justice Act, include fellow 2020 contenders Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand. Booker first introduced the bill in 2017, but it was not taken up for a vote. The bill comes as increasing numbers of states are legalizing marijuana on the local level and public opinion has shifted in favor of legalization. Currently 10 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana, and leaders in New York and Booker's native New Jersey have signaled their intentions to legalize. Local governments cite the racial disparities in criminal sentences for drug offenders, which tend to disproportionately affect blacks and Hispanics, as well as increased tax revenues as reasons for legalization. Earlier in the week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to revitalize the city's aging subway system partially funded by tax revenue from legal marijuana. However, cannabis is still illegal on the federal level. Booker's bill would remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances, while also providing financial incentives to states to loosen their marijuana laws. The bill also aims to reverse the damage done to those who were prosecuted for marijuana use by expunging federal crimes and allowing offenders to petition courts for shorter sentences. The sentencing reforms mirror those included in the landmark criminal justice bill that passed last December, known as the First Step Act , which Booker also sponsored. The federal bill eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and gained unprecedented bipartisan support including from President Donald Trump. Story continues "Black people are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white peers even though they use marijuana at similar rates," Booker tweeted. "If we truly want to be a fair and just nation we need to correct for this disparate treatment of enforcement practices." The bill would also invest funds into job training and other social services in "areas hardest hit by the failed drug war," Booker tweeted. tweet Despite growing support for marijuana legalization in Washington, the bill is likely to face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate, overseen by majority leader Mitch McConnell. Booker and McConnell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Cannabis One Holdings (CSE:CBIS) is one of the latest new listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange, having previously traded on the TSX Venture Exchange as Metropolitan Energy Corp., prior to a reverse takeover. For more information, please view the InvestmentPitch Media "video" which provides additional information on the company. If this link is not enabled, please visit www.InvestmentPitch.com and enter "Cannabis One" in the search box. Cannot view this video? Visit: http://www.investmentpitch.com/video/0_shq0vj10/Cannabis-One-Holdings-CSECBIS-New-Listing Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Cannabis One, a professional management corporation, services the fast-growing, legal cannabis industry through real estate development and lease-back equipment financing, operating lines of credit, consultation, and intellectual property and brand management within U.S. state-legal markets. The company provides experienced personnel to licensed producers, for all the vertically-integrated divisions from cultivation, processing, manufacturing, to marketing, sales and distribution. Additionally, licensing of the company's intellectual property and sales of device packaging to licensed cannabis businesses is a component of the overall business objective. Current brands in the company's portfolio of IP assets include Cannabis, which is licensed to commercial-scale cannabis cultivators, The Joint by Cannabis, which is licensed to an award-winning dispensary operation, and INDVR and INDVR Fire, a hardware and packaging line of fashionable and discreet vaporizers. The company is headed by Jeffery Mascio, who holds the positions of Chairman, President and CEO. Jeffery brings an extensive background from the financial sector having previously founded and acted as CEO of Meridian Capital Advisors, a Registered Investment Advisory firm. He also managed in excess of $100 million in assets for private clients at several firms including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney. Story continues For more information, please visit the company's website www.cannabisone.life, call 720-399-0599 or email info@cannabisone.life. About InvestmentPitch Media InvestmentPitch Media leverages the power of video, which together with its extensive distribution, positions a company's story ahead of the 1,000's of companies seeking awareness and funding from the financial community. The company specializes in producing short videos based on significant news releases, research reports and other content of interest to investors. CONTACT: InvestmentPitch Media Barry Morgan, CFO bmorgan@investmentpitch.com Corporate Logo To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43153 By David Shepardson and Tracy Rucinski WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American Airlines was fined $1 million and Delta Air Lines Inc $750,000 for violating federal rules barring lengthy tarmac delays at U.S. airports, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Thursday. Under most circumstances, airlines are prohibited from allowing domestic flights to remain on the tarmac for longer than three hours, and international flights for more than four hours, without giving passengers an opportunity to deplane. Of the fine assessed to American, $450,000 was credited to the airline for compensating passengers. The Transportation Department cited 13 tarmac delays since December 2015 at American Airlines and blamed "gate mismanagement" for two delayed flights. Delta was credited with $450,000 for compensating customers and establishing a backup data center and an automated aircraft-parking guidance and jet-bridge positioning system, the department said. The airlines agreed to pay the resulting fines as part of consent orders. Delta said it provided customers with substantial compensation for the delays, including cash reimbursements, SkyMiles and future travel vouchers. "Delta has spent millions to invest in new technologies to increase efficiency of aircraft movement during irregular operations and additional deicing capacity at its Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport hub," the company added. American Airlines spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said the delays were the result of "exceptional weather events dating as far back as 2015." The company disputed that gate mismanagement was to blame for two delays. She said the airline had "put procedures in place to help better accommodate our customers when inclement weather occurs." American Airlines told the department it has invested more than $5 million in additional capital investments like vans, air stairs and lavatory trucks to address tarmac delays. The Transportation Department cited about a dozen tarmac delays at Delta since 2017 and said passengers on seven flights at Atlanta were not allowed to deplane for hours even though there was "no safety, security or Air Traffic Control reason for not doing so." Story continues Delta said the "delays were the direct result of an extraordinary, unanticipated, and unpredictable system outage in the data center at Delta's Atlanta hub." Delta has invested more than $250 million to set up a new data center to back up essential applications in case of problems at the primary data center, the company said. Delta has also spent $12.4 million on an automated aircraft-parking guidance and jet-bridge positioning system and is purchasing 20 additional deicing trucks and planning additional deicing pads at Atlanta. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Bernadette Baum and Richard Chang) WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: A female hunter has been condemned online for posting images on social media of a mountain lion she killed, her hands covered in blood. The hunter from the US state of Colorado was called out by a local non-profit organisation that seeks to protect wildlife. Franchesca Esplin took to her Facebook page to post video and photos from a recent hunt where she targeted and killed a mountain lion. According to the post, which featured images of the dead animal and her own bloody hands and clothing, the hunt has been at the top of [Esplins] bucket list and put the hunter on cloud nine. Now Prairie Protection Colorado is calling this behaviour a trophy kill, which they believe should be illegal. Franchesca Esplin was shamed for bragging about her latest trophy kill. Source: Facebook/Prairie Protection Colorado According to Deanna Meyer, executive director of Prairie Protection Colorado, trophy kills are characterised by the complete glee and elation [expressed by hunters] at the kills that theyve performed, and go against the ethical means of hunting, which should be for survival and food. I do not find anything wrong at all with ethical hunting, Ms Meyer said, explaining that shes lived off of wild food for 25 years. To me, that doesnt include selfies of the dead animal with laughing and elation. When the pictures illustrating Ms Esplins excitement over her own kill were reposted onto Prairie Protection Colorados Facebook page, Ms Meyer explained that most of her organisations followers agreed. People said Ms Esplin was a sick witch and she displayed pure psychopathic evil. However, Ms Meyer assured the photos werent posted to target Ms Esplin Ms Meyer hadnt even identified the hunter but instead to make a bigger point. Franchesca Esplin was labelled a sick witch online for posting selfies with a dead mountain lion. Source: Facebook/Prairie Protection Colorado Its not Franchesca that Im after, although I think that her behaviour and mentality is deplorable. But its not her. Its the whole mentality that goes behind hunters, Ms Meyers said. Our goal is to educate people and then hopefully go through the long process of changing legislation, and to try to protect what we have left of our predator species. Story continues Ms Meyers organisation currently has a petition with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to make the hunting of bobcats and mountain lions illegal. Although there hasnt been much progress yet, she hopes that images like Ms Esplins spur a societal change of attitude. Ms Esplin didnt respond to Yahoos request for comment. By Katharine Jackson (Reuters) - Low-lying communities along the rain-engorged Russian River in Northern California wine country were largely cut off by flooding on Thursday, even as waters began receding and sunny skies returned after days of nonstop showers. The flooding this week isolated the towns of Rio Nido, Guerneville, Monte Rio and Cazadero, inundating roads around those communities, according to the Sonoma County emergency operations center. With floodwaters receding more slowly than anticipated because of high tides, and many roads still impassable, Sonoma County authorities said evacuation orders and "shelter-in-place" advisories remained in effect for thousands of residents. Officials said they hoped to allow displaced residents to return home on Friday, once inspectors had a chance to check the safety of bridges and remove hazards such as downed power lines. "The river is on its way down" and expected to drop below flood stage by 3 a.m. local time on Friday, Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Spencer Andreis told an afternoon news conference. County officials had ordered some 3,600 people evacuated on Tuesday as the Russian River overran its banks, sending floodwaters to the rooftops of homes and submerging cars in and around the town of Guerneville, about 70 miles (112 km) north of San Francisco. About 3,000 properties were damaged by flooding, according to local officials. An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 residents were left stranded in communities isolated by high water, county officials said. Many of those staying behind used kayaks to traverse flooded streets. National Guard troops, along with state and local emergency teams, rescued dozens of people using helicopters, boats and high-clearance vehicles, officials said. Those rescues included two women found drifting in a boat with no paddles and a newspaper delivery driver whose truck ran off the road into 10 feet (3 m) of water, county Sheriff Mark Essick told reporters. Story continues There were no reports of deaths, serious injuries or people missing in Sonoma County, Essick said. About 200 miles (320 km) north, a man drowned in a separate flood on Wednesday in the Northern California town of Ferndale, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration on Thursday for five Northern California counties to help them recover from the flooding. The state is experiencing one of its wettest winters in decades. More rain was forecast for late on Friday but was not expected to cause further flooding. (Reporting by Katharine Jackson in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Peter Cooney) Daimler (DAI-DE) and the BMW Group (BMW-DE) are to work together on automated driving technologies. In an announcement on Thursday, the auto giants said their initial focus would be on the development of "next-generation technologies" for automated driving on highways, driver assistance systems and parking features. BMW and Daimler said that their collaboration would focus on Levels 3 and 4 of SAE International's levels of driving automation. Five "levels" of driving automation have been defined by SAE International, a global association of over 128,000 engineers. At Level 5, automated driving features can drive a vehicle under all conditions. At Levels 3 and 4, automated driving features allow technology to drive a vehicle under certain, limited conditions. The two companies said they viewed their partnership as being a "long-term, strategic cooperation", adding that they were aiming to make "next-level technologies widely available" by the middle of the 2020s. Thursday's announcement comes a week after BMW and Daimler announced a new one billion euro mobility partnership. Earlier this week, the CEO of Arm Holdings told CNBC that it would be "a while" before self-driving cars become mainstream. "It is a phenomenally hard problem to anticipate what a car could do under absolutely any set of circumstances," Simon Segars, who was speaking with CNBC's Karen Tso at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, said earlier this week. "I think you're going to start to see early services, in quite a constrained way, quite soon over the next couple of years," he added, explaining that there was "some way to come" before the technology was "completely mainstream." Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. The partnership agreement, signed in September 2018 between the Peking University International Hospital (PUIH) of China and the Muhimbili Orthopaedic and Neurological Institute (MOI) of the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, will enable the latter to become the best neurosurgery facility in all of Africa. This message came from the MOI Executive Director, Dr. Respicious Boniface, at the State House in Dar es Salaam on Feb. 26, 2019, when a team led by Head of the Department of Brain and Nerve Surgery from PUIH in China, Prof. Zhao Yuanli, met the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Dr. John Pombe Magufuli. Many other officials attended the talks, including the Chinese Ambassador in Tanzania, His Excellency Wang Ke; the Tanzania Minister for Health, Social Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms. Ummy Mwalimu, and the MNH Director-General, Prof. Lawrence Mujungu Museru. PUIH is a non-profit hospital affiliated with Peking University. It is a combination of medicare, teaching and research, in line with international practices, that provides medical services for patients covered by Beijing social medical insurance, commercial insurance, public medicare and foreign insurance schemes. For its part, MOI is an autonomous institute established to provide healthcare services in the fields of Orthopaedics, Traumatology and Neurosurgery in Tanzania. Revealing that Tanzania aims to receive a number of top-notch brain surgeons and arthritis specialists through this partnership, Dr. Boniface told guests, "Apart from the successful surgery on one patient yesterday (Feb. 25), two other patients will be undergoing surgery today (Feb. 26). This partnership will enable MOI to become the best brain and nerve surgery institution in Africa." President Magufuli has already had fruitful discussions with Prof. Zhao and his team of professionals, and has agreed that PUIH will work closely with the Tanzanian Institute for Orthopedic Surgery, the Muhimbili Brain Surgery and Therapeutic Surgery (MOI). Commenting on this development, Health Minister Ms. Ummy Mwalimu said, "Tanzanians should be grateful that such services will henceforth be readily available in the country, and there will no longer be the need to travel abroad for treatment. We are thankful for President Magufulis vision. He noted that doctors were able to provide treatment for patients who otherwise had to undergo complicated operations overseas." During the event, Prof. Zhao Yuanli, the PUIH Head of the Department of Brain and Nerve Surgery, commended the President Magufuli Government for its considerable investment in the countrys health sector. Prof. Zhao stressed that Dr. Magufuli had made significant efforts to ensure that MOI is reinforced by investment in infrastructure, and also took the opportunity to assure Tanzania that PUIH will ensure that the agreement signed last year between MOI and PUIH is fully implemented. "There are over 50 million Tanzanians; and among them, there are people with brain disorders headaches, brain tumors, and arthritis who need the right treatment in good time, and within their country. However, I'm told that there are only ten professionals in this crucial healthcare area. That's why we are here, to see how to help increase the specialized healthcare capacity," Prof. Zhao said. President Magufuli thanked the Peking University International Hospital for accepting his request to establish a partnership with the MOI Hospital. The president assured Prof. Zhao that the Government of Tanzania is able, willing and ready to closely cooperate with all stakeholders in enabling MOI to enhance its ability, capability, and capacity to provide brain and cardiovascular services to Tanzanians who have no access to these services, or the high costs of accessing treatment overseas. The Witchfinders are now Ready to Burn Corbyn By Jonathan Cook February 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - McCarthyism is a word thrown around a lot nowadays, and in the process its true meaning and horror has been increasingly obscured. McCarthyism is not just the hounding of someone because their views are unpopular. It is the creation by the powerful of a perfect, self-rationalising system of incrimination denying the victim a voice, even in their own defence. It presents the accused as an enemy so dangerous, their ideas so corrupting, that they must be silenced from the outset. Their only chance of rehabilitation is prostration before their accusers and utter repentance. McCarthyism, in other words, is the modern political parallel of the witch hunt. In an earlier era, the guilt of women accused of witchcraft was tested through the ducking stool. If a woman drowned, she was innocent; if she survived, she was guilty and burnt at the stake. A foolproof system that created an endless supply of the wicked, justifying the status and salaries of the men charged with hunting down ever more of these diabolical women. And that is the Medieval equivalent of where the British Labour party has arrived, with the suspension of MP Chris Williamson for anti-semitism. Revenge of the Blairites Williamson, it should be noted, is widely seen as a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn, a democratic socialist who was propelled unexpectedly into the Labour leadership nearly four years ago by its members. His elevation infuriated most of the partys MPs, who hanker for the return of the New Labour era under Tony Blair, when the party firmly occupied the political centre. Corbyns success has also outraged vocal supporters of Israel both in the Labour party some 80 MPs are stalwart members of Labour Friends of Israel and in the UK media. Corbyn is the first British party leader in sight of power to prefer the Palestinians right to justice over Israels continuing oppression of the Palestinians. For these reasons, the Blairite MPs have been trying to oust Corbyn any way they can. First through a failed re-run of the leadership contest and then by assisting the corporate media which is equally opposed to Corbyn in smearing him variously as a shambles, a misogynist, a sympathiser with terrorists, a Russian asset, and finally as an enabler of anti-semitism. This last accusation has proved the most fruitful after the Israel lobby began to expand the definition of anti-semitism to include not just hatred of Jews but also criticism of Israel. Labour was eventually forced to accept a redefinition, formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, that conflates anti-Zionism opposition to Israels violent creation on the Palestinians homeland with anti-semitism. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Guilt by association Once the mud stuck through repetition, a vocal group of Labour MPs began denouncing the party for being institutionally anti-semitic, endemically anti-semitic and a cesspit of anti-semitism. The slurs continued relentlessly, even as statistics proved the accusation to be groundless. The figures show that anti-semitism exists only in the margins of the party, as racism does in all walks of life. Meanwhile, the smears overshadowed the very provable fact that anti-semitism and other forms of racism are rearing their head dangerously on the political right. But the witchfinders were never interested in the political reality. They wanted a never-ending war a policy of zero tolerance to root out an evil in their midst, a supposed hard left given succour by Corbyn and his acolytes. This is the context for understanding Williamsons crime. Despite the best efforts of our modern witchfinder generals to prove otherwise, Williamson has not been shown to have expressed hatred towards Jews, or even to have made a comment that could be interpreted as anti-semitic. One of the most experienced of the witchfinders, Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, indulged familiar McCarthyite tactics yesterday in trying to prove Williamsons anti-semitism by association. The MP was what Freedland termed a Jew baiter because he has associated with people whom the witchfinders decree to be anti-semites. Too apologetic Shortly before he found himself formally shunned by media commentators and his own parliamentary party, Williamson twice confirmed his guilt to the inquisitors. First, he dared to challenge the authority of the witchfinders. He suggested that some of those being hounded out of Labour may not in fact be witches. Or more specifically, in the context of constant claims of a Labour anti-semitism crisis, he argued that the party had been too apologetic in dealing with the bad-faith efforts of those seeking to damage a Corbyn-led party. In other words, Williamson suggested that Labour ought to be doing more proactively to promote the abundant evidence that it was dealing with what he called the scourge of anti-semitism, and thereby demonstrate to the British public that Labour wasnt institutionally anti-semitic. He believed Labour members ought not to be forced to keep quiet as they were being endlessly slandered. As Jewish Voice for Labour, a Jewish group supportive of Corbyn, noted : The flood of exaggerated claims of antisemitism make it harder to deal with any real instances of antisemitism. The credibility of well-founded allegations is undermined by the less credible ones and real perpetrators are more likely not to be held to account. Crying wolf is dangerous when there are real wolves around the corner. This was the reality that Chris Williamson was drawing attention to. As with all inquisitions, however, the witchfinders were not interested in what Williamson actually said, but the threat he posed to the narrative they had created to destroy their enemy, Corbynism, and reassert their power. So his words were ripped from their context and presented as proof that he did indeed support witches. He was denounced for saying what he had not: that Labour should not apologise for its anti-semitism. In this dishonest reformulation of Williamsons statement, the witchfinders claimed to show that he had supported anti-semitism, that he consorted with witches. No screening for documentary Second, Williamson compounded his crime by publicly helping just such a readymade witch: a black Jewish woman named Jackie Walker. He had booked a room in the British parliament building the seat of our supposed democracy so that audiences could see a new documentary on an earlier Labour witch hunt. More than two years ago the party suspended Walker over anti-semitism claims. The screening was to inform Labour party members of the facts of her case in the run-up to a hearing in which, given the current atmosphere, it is likely she will be expelled. The screening was sponsored by Jewish Voice for Labour, which has also warned repeatedly that anti-semitism is being used malevolently to silence criticism of Israel and weaken Corbyn. Walker was seen as a pivotal figure by those opposed to Corbyn. She was a co-founder of Momentum, the grassroots organisation established to support Corbyn after his election to the leadership and deal with the inevitable fallout from the Blairite wing of MPs. Momentum expected a rough ride from this dominant faction, and they were not disappointed. The Blairites still held on to the party machinery and they had an ally in Tom Watson, who became Corbyns deputy. Walker was one of the early victims of the confected claims of an Labour anti-semitism crisis. But she was not ready to roll over and accept her status as witch. She fought back. From lynching to witch hunt First, she produced a one-woman show about her treatment at the hands of the Labour party bureaucracy framed in the context of decades of racist treatment of black people in the west called The Lynching . And then her story was turned into a documentary film, fittingly called Witch Hunt . It sets out very clearly the machinations of the Blairite wing of MPs, and Labours closely allied Israel lobby, in defaming Walker as part of their efforts to regain power over the party. For people so ostensibly concerned about racism towards Jews, these witchfinders show little self-awareness about how obvious their own racism is in relation to some of the witches they have hunted down. But that racism can only be understood if people have the chance to hear from Walker and other victims of the anti-semitism smears. Which is precisely why Williamson, who was trying to organise the screening of Witch Hunt, had to be dealt with too. Party in disrepute Walker is not the only prominent black anti-racism activist targeted. Marc Wadsworth, another longtime ally of Corbyns, and founder of the Anti-Racist Alliance, was outed last year in another confected anti-semitism scandal. The allegations of anti-semitism were impossible to stand up publicly, so finally he was booted out on a catch-all claim that he had brought the party into disrepute. Jews who criticise Israel and support Corbyns solidarity with Palestinians have been picked off by the witchfinders too, cheered on by media commentators who claim this is being done in the service of a zero tolerance policy towards racism. As well as Walker, the targets have included Tony Greenstein, Moshe Machover, Martin Odoni, Glyn Secker and Cyril Chilson. But as the battle in Labour has intensified to redefine anti-Zionism as anti-semitism, the deeper issues at stake have come to the fore. Jon Lansman, another founder of Momentum, recently stated : I dont want any Jewish member in the party to be leaving. We are absolutely committed to making Labour a safe space. But there are a set of very obvious problems with that position, and they have gone entirely unexamined by those promoting the institutional anti-semitism and zero tolerance narratives. Lobbys covert actions exposed First, it is impossible to be a home to all Jews in Labour, when the partys Jewish members are themselves deeply split over key issues like whether Corbyn is a force for good and whether meaningful criticism of Israel should be allowed. A fanatically pro-Israel organisation like the Jewish Labour Movement will never tolerate a Corbyn-led Labour party reaching power and supporting the Palestinian cause. To pretend otherwise is simple naivety or deception. That fact was demonstrably proven two years ago in the Al Jazeera undercover documentary The Lobby into covert efforts by Israel and its UK lobbyists to undermine Corbyn from within his own party through groups like the JLM and MPs in Labour Friends of Israel. It was telling that the party machine, along with the corporate media, did its best to keep the documentary out of public view. The MPs loudest about institutional anti-semitism in Labour were among those abandoning the party to join the Independent Group this month, preferring to ally with renegade Conservative MPs in an apparent attempt to frustrate a Corbyn-led party winning power. Institutional racism on Palestinians Further, if a proportion of Jewish Labour party members have such a heavy personal investment in Israel that they refuse to countenance any meaningful curbs on Israels abuses of Palestinians and that has been underscored repeatedly by public comments from the JLM and Labour Friends of Israel then keeping them inside the party will require cracking down on all but the flimsiest criticism of Israel. It will tie the partys hands on supporting Palestinian rights. In the name of protecting the Israel right or wrong crowd from what they consider to be anti-semitic abuse, Labour will have to provide institutional support for Israels racism towards Palestinians. In doing so, it will in fact simply be returning to the status quo in the party before Corbyn, when Labour turned a blind eye over many decades to the Palestinians dispossession by European Zionists who created an ugly anachronistic state where rights accrue based on ones ethnicity and religion rather than citizenship. Those in Labour who reject Britains continuing complicity in such crimes ones the UK set in motion with the Balfour Declaration will find, as a result, that it is they who have no home in Labour. That includes significant numbers of anti-Zionist Jews, Palestinians, Muslims and Palestinian solidarity activists. Safe space for whom? If the creation of a safe space for Jews in the Labour party is code, as it appears to be, for a safe space for hardline Zionist Jews, it will inevitably require that the party become a hostile environment for those engaged in other anti-racism battles. Stripped bare, what Lansman and the witchfinders are saying is that Zionist Jewish sensitivities in the party are the only ones that count, that anything and everything must be done to indulge them, even if it means abusing non-Zionist Jewish members, black members, Palestinian and Muslim members, and those expressing solidarity with Palestinians. This is precisely the political black hole into which simplistic, kneejerk identity politics inevitably gets sucked. Right now, the establishment represented by Richard Dearlove, a former head of the MI6 is maliciously trying to frame Corbyns main adviser, Seumas Milne, as a Kremlin asset. While the witchfinders claim to have unearthed a pattern of behaviour in Williamsons efforts to expose their smears, in fact the real pattern of behaviour is there for all to see: a concerted McCarthyite campaign to destroy Corbyn before he can reach No 10. Corbyns allies are being picked off one by one, from grassroots activists like Walker and Wadsworth to higher-placed supporters like Williamson and Milne. Soon Corbyn will stand alone, exposed before the inquisition that has been prepared for him. Then Labour can be restored to the Blairites, the members silenced until they leave and any hope of offering a political alternative to the establishment safely shelved. Ordinary people will again be made passive spectators as the rich carry on playing with their lives and their futures as though Britain was simply a rigged game of Monopoly. If parliamentary politics returns to business as usual for the wealthy, taking to the streets looks increasingly like the only option. Maybe its time to dust off a Yellow Vest. BERLIN (Reuters) - The German cabinet gave the green light on Wednesday for Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann to serve a second eight-year term, a move that keeps him in the mix as a possible successor to ECB chief Mario Draghi later this year. The ECB's top job will become available from November and while Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau is seen as the frontrunner, the selection process has yet to start and several names remain in the frame. A monetary policy hawk, Weidmann has often challenged the ECB's ultra-easy monetary policy, criticising decision sometimes within hours of policy meetings, irking fellow policymakers in the process. His first Bundesbank term expires at the end of April. Before he took over the post in 2011, Weidmann advised Chancellor Angela Merkel on economic policy. The prospect of Weidmann, 50, succeeding Draghi is controversial among the 19 members of the euro zone, with some southern European countries traditionally opposed to the idea of having a German in the job. Others, including Austria, however, openly back him. Still, despite earlier conflicts, Italy's economy minister kept the door open last month to Weidmann's candidacy, saying that past disagreements should not weigh on the decision. Draghi's successor is likely to be named only after elections for the European Parliament in May. The decision feeds into a package of posts that includes heads of the European Commission and Council. It is commonly accepted that Germany could only win one of these positions and Merkel is expected to seek the Commission Presidency for Germany. However, Die Zeit weekly reported that Berlin believed the chances of Weidmann succeeding Draghi at the ECB were growing, suggesting that Merkel may still opt for the central banking job. Asked about the report, a spokeswoman for the German government declined to comment on Draghi's possible successor, saying the matter would be decided later in the year. Story continues She said Weidmann had carried out his duties as Bundesbank President effectively so it would be good if he continued. Die Zeit said senior members of the government were looking at the possible effects of such a move by Weidmann as doubts were growing that German conservative Manfred Weber would succeed in a bid to become president of the European Commission. Weber is head of the conservative European People's Party (EPP) grouping in the European parliament which has faced criticism from some European liberals and Social Democrats for its links to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. "If Weber fails, then Weidmann becomes current again from a German point of view," reported Die Zeit without identifying any sources or exactly where this view came from. A government source told Reuters that it was far too early to judge who has the best chances of getting the ECB job. (Reporting by Holger Hansen, Markus Wacket; Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Michelle Martin and Madeline Chambers; Editing by Toby Chopra) BANGKOK (Reuters) - Anutin Charnvirakul thinks he has hit on a winning issue for Thailand's election next month - promoting cannabis farming now that the Southeast Asia nation has legalized medical marijuana. Campaign posters for his Bhumjaithai (Proud to Be Thai) party, the first major party to advocate its recreational use, feature an oversized green marijuana leaf. "We know that marijuana doesn't have any negative effects when somebody consumes it, apart from getting sleepy," the billionaire-turned-politican told Reuters. "When we weigh the pros and cons of freeing up this product, we decided to give full support," Anutin said. Thailand in December approved marijuana for medical use and research, the first country to do so in a region with some of the world's toughest drug laws. Bhumjaithai is one of several small parties vying for attention ahead of March 24, the first general election since a 2014 coup. The party, which draws its support from the rural northeast, won 34 of parliament's 500 seats in the last poll. The election's main contest is expected to be between populist parties loyal to ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-establishment parties seeking to extend military rule through the ballot, but complex electoral rules mean smaller parties will likely play a role in any coalition government. Bhumjaithai, which also backs a four-day work week and legalizing ride-share taxi services, details its pro-pot policies on a campaign website that includes images of happy farmers and marijuana plants sprouting gold coins. Anutin likes the California model where growers are registered and six marijuana plants are permitted per household. The sale and distribution of pot products would be regulated similar to tobacco in Thailand, with farmers selling their harvest through a government agency, the party says. "Marijuana will be able to generate additional income to farmers because overseas the price is as high as 70,000 baht ($2,230) per kg," according to the party's website. TABOO STATUS Anutin said it would be "a win-win situation for the Thai people because they will grow the plant and it will benefit the economy". Marijuana enthusiasts say cannabis farming will take time to develop in Thailand. "It's not that easy," said Chokwan Kitty Chopaka, spokeswoman for Highland Network, a Thai group that promotes knowledge about cannabis. She said Thai cannabis would be competing with products grown in some U.S. states and Canada where it is already legal for recreational use. "There's already a market out there and they are a lot better at it than we are," she said. Thais used marijuana in traditional medicine and in cooking for centuries before it was banned in 1934. Further criminalization of cannabis in the past few decades has given the plant a taboo status in Thailand. Somchai Sawangkarn, chairman of the parliamentary committee that drafted the December cannabis bill, said the goal was to help patients manage the pain of cancer and other illnesses, and lower a reliance on imported medicines. Relaxing the law further would require more study, he said, and although he understood Anutin's arguments, "it's all a little bit too fast". (Reporting by Bangkok bureau; editing by Kay Johnson and Darren Schuettler) Shanghai (AFP) - Chinese telecom giant Huawei has issued an unusual invitation to foreign media outlets to visit its facilities and meet staff as the company pushes back against global pressure arising from US accusations that it spies for Beijing. Huawei on Thursday purchased full-page adverts in major US newspapers including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post to invite US media to visit its Shenzhen headquarters in southern China next week, extending a similar welcome to AFP on Friday. Bearing the headline "Don't believe everything you hear", the advert was attributed to Huawei board director Catherine Chen. "I am writing to you in the hopes that we can come to understand each other better," it said. "In recent years, the US government has developed some misunderstandings about us. We would like to draw your attention to the facts." US President Donald Trump's administration has in recent months ramped up efforts to block Huawei, the leader in 5G technology, by urging allies to avoid the Chinese powerhouse, claiming that national security interests are at stake. Huawei has responded in recent weeks by coming out in public to state its case with a directness unusual for a major Chinese company. Its 74-year-old founder Ren Zhengfei, who previously rarely spoke to foreign media, has granted repeated interviews since the start of the year to deny that Huawei is a mole for China's Communist government. Other Huawei officials have hit back by highlighting US government eavesdropping that was exposed by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Huawei's chairman Guo Ping forcefully pushed back at the US accusations this week in a keynote address at the mobile industrys biggest annual global event in Barcelona. "The US security accusation against our 5G has no evidence. Nothing," he said. The issue has escalated with the arrest in Canada in December of Ren's daughter, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is accused of violating US sanctions against Iran and faces an extradition hearing this month. Story continues Two Huawei affiliates also have been charged in the United States with trade theft for stealing robotics technology from T-Mobile and offering financial rewards to staff who stole secrets from rivals. The open letter avoided those issues, focusing instead on how the huge company's systems have contributed to global connectivity. It invited media outlets to visit its facilities. "On behalf of Huawei, I would like to invite members of the US media to visit our campuses and meet our employees," it said, providing an email address for arranging visits. "Don't believe everything you hear. Come and see us. We look forward to meeting you." HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies and South Korea's Samsung Electronics have agreed to settle a two-year old patent dispute in the United States, court documents show. The two companies filed a joint motion to a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday to pause court proceedings over their intellectual property disputes because they have entered into a settlement agreement on February 25. The world's two largest makers of Android smartphones have been fighting in courts in the United States and in China since 2016, with Huawei alleging that Samsung had used its cellular communications technology without authorization and has unreasonably delayed entering into a licensing agreement. Samsung had denied the allegations and accused Huawei of seeking "grossly" inflated licensing fees, countersuing Huawei in the United States. The joint filing on Tuesday did not give a reason for their intended settlement. It asked for a 30-day stay after which the two companies expect to finalize a settlement where Huawei would drop an appeal request. The case was originally set to go to trial in September. Huawei and Samsung did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In January 2018, a Shenzhen court outpaced a federal court in San Francisco, ruling for Huawei and issuing an order blocking Samsungs Chinese affiliates from manufacturing and selling 4G LTE smartphones in China. A judge hearing the parallel U.S. case in April ordered Huawei not to enforce the Shenzhen courts ban. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang; Additional reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengalaru) Thousands of air travellers worldwide were left stranded on Thursday after Pakistan closed its airspace in response to escalating tensions with India. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it would keep airspace shut until at least 1.00pm on Friday local time (0800 GMT), disrupting major routes between Europe and South East Asia. Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. "All THAI flights from Bangkok to Europe departing near midnight of 27 FEB through early 28 FEB and from Europe to Bangkok departing on 27 FEB have been cancelled due to Pakistan airspace closure," the airline wrote on its Twitter page. The decision affected services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo, but the airline said at around 0530 GMT that it was resuming normal operations to Europe. Singapore Airlines was also forced to divert Europe-bound flights to Mumbai and Dubai to refuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. The crisis between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India had raised fears of an all-out war. But Pakistan said it would release a captured Indian pilot on Friday, in an overture towards New Delhi. India earlier said its forces had also shot down a Pakistani fighter jet as Pakistan suddenly closed its airspace early Wednesday. Pakistan's civil aviation authorities said they had allowed some flights to depart on Thursday. They were an Emirates service from Peshawar to Dubai, an Air Arabia flight from Peshawar to Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE and a Qatar Airways flight from Peshawar to Doha. - Atmosphere 'not good' - Emirates was earlier forced to cancel 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan. Saudi Airlines also suspended all flights to Pakistan "until further notice". In Russia, two flights from Moscow to Vietnam and Saint Petersburg to Thailand had to turn back while a Bangkok-bound flight was forced to land in Uzbekistan. Story continues Air Canada suspended flights to Mumbai and New Delhi, diverting an India-bound flight back to Toronto, while seven services from Istanbul to Pakistan were cancelled. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also cancelled services to and from Britain, Spain, Italy and Canada as the airspace closure was extended into Friday. Thai Airways flights to Scandinavia and a PIA flight to Copenhagen were also affected, with local television station TV2 television reporting that 25 Danish students were stuck at Bangkok airport. "The atmosphere is not very good right now. We try to keep up the morale, but it's difficult," said student Sara Bjerregaard Larsen, adding that many were in tears. Thai Airways struggled to find new routes to Europe with Iran "rejecting" a request to travel over its airspace, according to a spokesperson for the carrier. But a few hours later China gave "permission to Thai Airways... to bypass Pakistani airspace," according to Pratana Patanasiri, Thai Airways Vice President, allowing Thursday night's flights to Europe to resume. Frustration meanwhile mounted Thursday at Bangkok's main airport. "We have waited here for 11 or 12 hours already," said Gerda Heinzel 55, a German tourist returning to Munich after a holiday in Phuket. "We have not been given anything to eat, anywhere to stay. There are no German-speaking staff to help us." The airline said in a Facebook statement that refreshments were available and that it would "take care of expenses incurred". "Passengers who were booked to travel on the affected routes may change their itineraries without any fees and charges, and conditions apply," it added. Jerusalem (AFP) - Like other Holocaust survivors who left France for Israel, Samy Gryn has watched with a sorrow a resurgence of anti-Semitism in the country where he was born. "The situation in France reminds me of the 1930s. I'm really worried," says Gryn, 78, one of the few survivors of a notorious roundup of Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris. Anti-Semitic acts in France rose by 74 percent in 2018, according to government data. The country "seems to be facing a resurgence of anti-Semitism unseen since World War II," French President Emmanuel Macron said last month. The trend is continuing in 2019, with the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in the northeast of France, swastikas scrawled in areas around Paris and Jewish academic Alain Finkielkraut verbally abused in the street after the philosopher ran into "yellow vest" demonstrators. Macron and his government have linked the appearance of swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti on artworks, shopfronts and headstones to far-right and far-left elements within the yellow vest protest movement. Gryn was two years old when he was seized with his mother and sister, in the Vel d'Hiv roundup of Jews in July 1942 by French authorities acting on German orders. Thousands were deported to concentration camps and only a few dozen ever returned. His father, of whom he has no memory or photograph, was gassed in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, in occupied Poland. Young Gryn escaped deportation and was hidden by a Christian family until the end of the war. His mother and sister also survived. "I was saved. I still do not know why," he says. - 'Dirty Jew' - Gryn has been living in the Jewish state for almost 50 years. He says he made the decision to leave France when his young son was called "dirty Jew" at school. But, he adds, the events there still strike an emotional chord. Other Jewish Holocaust survivors who have immigrated to Israel from France spoke to AFP of their indifference to events in a country from which they have broken ties or of their anger at what they see as its failure to learn the lessons of the past. Story continues Their concerns are fuelled by the 2006 murder of Ilan Halimi, a young Jewish man who was tortured to death near Paris, and the 2011 fatal shooting of a rabbi and three children in front of a Jewish school in Toulouse. Then in 2015, an extremist claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group killed four people at a kosher supermarket in Paris, while last year an 85-year-old Jewish woman was stabbed in her home and her body set alight in a crime believed motivated at least partly by anti-Semitism. Such incidents stoke the feeling in Israel, a state born in the aftermath of the Holocaust, that Jews are in jeopardy in the country which is home to Europe's biggest Jewish community. "History is not repeating itself but we are going in the wrong direction, that's for sure," said Gryn. "The Jews of France do not see the danger coming." - 'Again and again' - Shlomo Balsam is president of Israel's Aloumim association of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust in France in hiding and is a guide at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. "The increase of anti-Semitic acts in France brings back many things to the survivors," he says. "They are very, very sensitive to what is happening. "For some of our members, the yellow vests evoke the yellow star ... each incident brings them back to their past. "It comes back again and again," he says. "An old Jewish lady was killed because she was Jewish, again our cemeteries are vandalised, today's images are superimposed on those of the past." A volunteer at Yad Vashem for more than 20 years, 87-year-old Berthe Badehi tells her story several times a week in Hebrew, English or French to visitors to the memorial. "My parents, of Polish origin, were both in the Communist resistance and in 1941 they packed a small suitcase for me and sent me to a non-Jewish family," in France's Savoy region. "I have no anger towards the French. I owe them my life," she said, showing pictures of her "French family", the descendants of Marie Massonnat, who hid her. She was 12 years old when her father came to fetch her in September 1944. At Yad Vashem there is an image of the "Red poster" propaganda that the German occupiers put up across France showing members of the Communist resistance condemned to death. Her parents "could have been on this poster," she says. One of their friends, Boria Lerner, was shot in 1943. Making her home in Israel since 1956 Badehi says she is "disappointed to see the hate returning, hatred of Jews, like during my childhood." "I am worried but I do not think that what happened during the war can happen again," she adds. Israel is playing a big role in Indias escalating conflict with Pakistan Signing up to the war on terror especially Islamist terror may seem natural for two states built on colonial partition whose security is threatened by Muslim neighbours By Robert Fisk February 28, 2019 " Information Clearing House " -When I heard the first news report, I assumed it was an Israeli air raid on Gaza . Or Syria . Airstrikes on a terrorist camp were the first words. A command and control centre destroyed, many terrorists killed. The military was retaliating for a terrorist attack on its troops, we were told. An Islamist jihadi base had been eliminated. Then I heard the name Balakot and realised that it was neither in Gaza, nor in Syria not even in Lebanon but in Pakistan . Strange thing, that. How could anyone mix up Israel and India? Well, dont let the idea fade away. Two thousand five hundred miles separate the Israeli ministry of defence in Tel Aviv from the Indian ministry of defence in New Delhi, but theres a reason why the usual cliche-stricken agency dispatches sound so similar. For months, Israel has been assiduously lining itself up alongside Indias nationalist BJP government in an unspoken and politically dangerous anti-Islamist coalition, an unofficial, unacknowledged alliance, while India itself has now become the largest weapons market for the Israeli arms trade . Not by chance, therefore, has the Indian press just trumpeted the fact that Israeli-made Rafael Spice-2000 smart bombs were used by the Indian air force in its strike against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists inside Pakistan. Like many Israeli boasts of hitting similar targets, the Indian adventure into Pakistan might owe more to the imagination than military success. The 300-400 terrorists supposedly eliminated by the Israeli-manufactured and Israeli-supplied GPS-guided bombs may turn out to be little more than rocks and trees. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter But there was nothing unreal about the savage ambush of Indian troops in Kashmir on 14 February which the JeM claimed, and which left 40 Indian soldiers dead. Nor the shooting down of at least one Indian jet this week. India was Israels largest arms client in 2017, paying 530m for Israeli air defence, radar systems and ammunition, including air-to-ground missiles most of them tested during Israels military offensives against Palestinians and targets in Syria. Israel itself is trying to explain away its continued sales of tanks, weapons and boats to the Myanmar military dictatorship while western nations impose sanctions on the government which has attempted to destroy its minority and largely Muslim Rohingya people. But Israels arms trade with India is legal, above-board and much advertised by both sides. The Israelis have filmed joint exercises between their own special commando units and those sent by India to be trained in the Negev desert, again with all the expertise supposedly learned by Israel in Gaza and other civilian-thronged battlefronts. At least 16 Indian Garud commandos part of a 45-strong Indian military delegation were for a time based at the Nevatim and Palmachim air bases in Israel. In his first visit to India last year preceded by a trip to Israel by nationalist Indian prime minister Narendra Modi , Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu recalled the 2008 Islamist attacks on Mumbai in which almost 170 civilians were killed. Indians and Israelis know too well the pain of terrorist attacks, he told Modi . We remember the horrific savagery of Mumbai. We grit our teeth, we fight back, we never give in. This was also BJP-speak. Several Indian commentators, however, have warned that right-wing Zionism and right-wing nationalism under Modi should not become the foundation stone of the relationship between the two countries, both of which in rather different ways fought the British empire. Brussels researcher Shairee Malhotra, whose work has appeared in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , has pointed out that India has the worlds third largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan upward of 180 million people. The India-Israel relationship is also commonly being framed in terms of a natural convergence of ideas between their ruling BJP and Likud parties, she wrote last year . Hindu nationalists had constructed a narrative of Hindus as historically victims at the hands of Muslims, an attractive idea to those Hindus who recall partition and the continuing turbulent relationship with Pakistan. In fact, as Malhotra pointed out in Haaretz, Israels biggest fans in India appear to be the internet Hindus who primarily love Israel for how it deals with Palestine and fights Muslims. Malhotra has condemned Carleton University professor Vivek Dehejia for demanding a tripartite alliance between India, Israel and the US since they have all suffered from the scourge of Islamic terrorism. In fact, by the end of 2016, only 23 men from India had left to fight for Isis in the Arab world, although Belgium, with a population of only half a million Muslims, produced nearly 500 fighters. Malhotras argument is that the Indian-Israeli relationship should be pragmatic rather than ideological. But it is difficult to see how Zionist nationalism will not leach into Hindu nationalism when Israel is supplying so many weapons to India the latest of which India, which has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992, has already used against Islamists inside Pakistan. Signing up to the war on terror especially Islamist terror may seem natural for two states built on colonial partition whose security is threatened by Muslim neighbours. In both cases, their struggle is over the right to own or occupy territory. Israel, India and Pakistan all possess nuclear weapons. Another good reason not to let Palestine and Kashmir get tangled up together. And to leave Indias 180 million Muslims alone. This article was originally published by " The Independent " - Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli police rounded up 60 "suspects" in Jerusalem overnight and promised more arrests Friday, after what a spokesman said were calls for unrest at the city's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP the detainees were "Arabs", a term that could refer to Palestinians or to Arab citizens of Israel. Israeli public radio said that all were residents of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, occupied by the Jewish state in the 1967 Six Day war. Rosenfeld said the crackdown followed "calls for public disturbances" at Muslim Friday prayers. "As part of the police preparations based on intelligence, police arrested 60 suspects involved in incitement to violence," he said. "Police will continue to make arrests." An official statement said police numbers in and around the Al Aqsa compound -- in east Jerusalem's walled Old City -- had been beefed up. The site is the third-holiest in Islam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for statehood. It is also the location of Judaism's most holy spot and a frequent scene of conflict between the two sides. Muslim worshippers' access to Al Aqsa and the adjoining Dome of the Rock is controlled by Israeli security forces. Any Israeli move seen by Palestinians as seeking to increase Israel's presence there is liable to ignite Muslim anger. There have been scuffles there for the past few days after Israeli authorities padlocked a door, known as the Golden Gate or Gate of Mercy in Arabic, to disused offices. The offices were closed by an Israeli court order in 2003, police say, but video posted on social media showed Muslim officials praying there last week in defiance of the court ban. Police said they arrested five people on Monday and 19 on Tuesday over the scuffles. Kandahar (Afghanistan) (AFP) - At least 23 Afghan security forces were killed in a Taliban attack on a joint US-Afghan base in southwestern Afghanistan, officials said Friday, as fighting continued during a pause in peace talks between the insurgents and American negotiators. Details of the heavy toll from the hours-long assault on Shorab military base -- one of the largest military installations in the country -- followed earlier claims by local and US officials that Afghan forces had successfully repelled the attack, killing four militants. The pre-dawn assault, claimed by the Taliban, saw militants enter the base in Helmand province and engage in firefights with Afghan forces. Hours later, Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed, a spokesman with the Ministry of Defence, said: "The operation is over -- 23 security forces killed, 15 injured and 20 insurgents killed." Omar Zwak -- a spokesman for the provincial governor -- also confirmed the toll, saying the Taliban deployed at least seven suicide bombers who were killed during the fighting. A US official told AFP that no Americans were killed or wounded in the attack. The Taliban control or contest more than half of Helmand's districts and regularly deliver sharp blows to Afghan forces, who have been struggling to hold off insurgents across the war-torn country since taking the lead from NATO forces in late 2014. The assault on Shorab comes as US and Taliban negotiators in Doha have temporarily halted peace talks, which are set to restart over the weekend. US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad earlier this week called the latest meetings in the months-long diplomatic push "productive", saying the two sides "will take the next two days for internal deliberations, with plans to regroup on Saturday". - Fighting season approaches - Negotiations are believed to be progressing after high-level talks last month ended with a "draft framework" on the potential withdrawal of US troops and a pact to prevent Afghanistan from harbouring terrorists. Story continues A New York Times report published Thursday hinted that US forces could leave Afghanistan within five years under a Pentagon plan offered as part of a potential deal with the Taliban to end the nearly 18-year war. The US has also pushed for a ceasefire and the opening of a dialogue between the Taliban and the Kabul government -- demands that have been repeatedly rejected by the insurgents. The Taliban were quick to dismiss the existence of the plan, saying they were unaware of any such proposals made during the negotiations. "No talks have been held in the meetings regarding an interim government and elections, nor has the US side proposed anything regarding staying in Afghanistan for four or five more years," the insurgents said in a statement Friday. The Afghan government and civil society groups have voiced repeated concerns that an abrupt US withdrawal could spark an even bloodier civil war or a return to hardline Taliban rule. Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a sharp reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country's south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season. Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table. Afghan forces, however, claim to be taking the fight to the insurgents, with the Ministry of Defence saying more than 100 "terrorists" have been killed in recent days in various operations across the country. The US has also intensified its air campaign against the Taliban and the Islamic State group, dropping twice as many munitions on insurgent positions in 2018 compared to the previous year. JERUSALEM (AP) Israel's attorney general recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust on Thursday in a series of corruption scandals that have dogged his recent years in office and overshadowed his current re-election campaign. The scandals have engulfed Netanyahu's family and his inner circle, with at least three former close confidants turning state's evidence and testifying as a witness against him. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit says he has sufficient evidence to press charges against Netanyahu in three separate cases, pending a pre-indictment hearing where Netanyahu will be given the opportunity to defend himself. His political opponents, and indeed the entire country, have been eagerly awaiting the decision of Mandelblit a Netanyahu appointee with the April 9 election day fast approaching. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, have long been saddled with a penchant for expensive tastes and questionable use of public funds. Mrs. Netanyahu has been indicted for graft, fraud and breach of trust for allegedly overspending more than $100,000 in public funds on private meals at their official residence. However, polls have consistently shown Netanyahu to still be the public's preferred candidate to be prime minister and he remains deadlocked in the polls, 40 days before Israelis go to vote. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as a media-orchestrated witch hunt aimed at removing him from office. With the indictment, however, and the prospect of a sitting prime minister standing trial, the election has become a referendum on Netanyahu as he seeks to become the longest serving premier in Israeli history. Here's a look at the current cases facing the longtime Israeli leader: TELECOM TRADE-OFF The most damaging case involves an influence-peddling scandal in which two of Netanyahu's closest aides are testifying against him on suspicion of promoting regulation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel's Bezeq telecom company. In return, Bezeq's popular news site, Walla, allegedly provided favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his family. Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu family spokesman, and Shlomo Filber, the former director of the Communications Ministry under Netanyahu, cut deals with prosecutors after they were arrested along with Bezeq's controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch, his wife, son and other top Bezeq executives. Former journalists at the Walla news site have attested to being pressured to refrain from negative reporting of Netanyahu. Mandelblit said he recommends charging Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Story continues LAVISH GIFTS Police recommended indicting Netanyahu over accepting nearly $300,000 in gifts from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. Police say that in return for lavish gifts that included jewelry, expensive cigars and champagne, Netanyahu had operated on Milchan's behalf on U.S. visa matters, tried to legislate a generous tax break for him and sought to promote his interests in the Israeli media market. Police have not commented on what Packer, who reportedly sought Israeli residency status for tax purposes, may have received, and Netanyahu has said everything he received were gifts from friends. Longtime aide Ari Harow is a state witness in this case. Mandelblit recommends charging Netanyahu with fraud and breach of trust. MEDIA MEDDLING Police have also recommended indicting Netanyahu for supposedly offering a newspaper publisher legislation that would weaken his paper's main rival in return for more favorable coverage. Netanyahu reportedly was recorded asking Arnon Mozes, the publisher of the Yediot Ahronot daily, for positive coverage in exchange for helping to weaken Israel Hayom, a free pro-Netanyahu newspaper that had cut into Yediot's business. Israel Hayom is financed by Netanyahu's American billionaire friend Sheldon Adelson and largely serves as the prime minister's mouthpiece. Netanyahu has noted that a proposed law to weaken Israel Hayom never passed and that he had even dissolved his coalition and called a new election in 2015 because of his opposition to the proposal. Harow is a state witness in this case, too. Mandelblit recommends charging Netanyahu with fraud and breach of trust. GERMAN SUBMARINES Netanyahu was questioned, but not named as a suspect, in a probe related to a possible conflict of interest involving a $2 billion purchase of German submarines that implicated some of his closest associates. Netanyahu's personal attorney, who is also his cousin, represented the German firm involved and is suspected of using his influence over the prime minister in return for a hefty cut of the deal. Israel's Supreme Court rejected a final appeal Thursday to question the prime minister under warning, saying there was no basis for suspecting Netanyahu in the scandal. ____ Follow Heller at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) Chaos erupted outside Texas' death chamber when the son of the condemned inmate pounded on the chamber windows, shouted obscenities and threw fists after his father spoke his final words. Billie Wayne Coble, a Vietnam War veteran who killed his estranged wife's parents and brother and threatened to do the same to her in 1989, told five witnesses that he selected to attend his Thursday night execution that he loved them. Coble then nodded as they watched from a witness room, saying: "Take care." When he finished speaking, his son, grandson and daughter-in-law became emotional, and the men swung and kicked at others in the death chamber witness area. Officers stepped in but said the men continued to resist and were eventually moved to a courtyard, where both were handcuffed and arrested. "Why are you doing this?" the woman asked. "They just killed his daddy." As the men were being subdued outside, a single dose of pentobarbital was injected into Coble. He gasped several times and began snoring as the lethal dose of drug was being administered inside the death chamber at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later, at 6:24 p.m. His son and grandson, later identified as Gordon Wayne Coble, 45, and Dalton Coble, 21, were arrested on charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Both have been released on $1,000 bond each. The 70-year-old Billie Wayne Coble was the oldest inmate executed by Texas since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982. He was convicted nearly three decades ago for the August 1989 shooting deaths of Robert and Zelda Vicha, and their son, Bobby Vicha. The victims were killed at separate homes in Axtell, northeast of Waco. A prosecutor once described Coble as having "a heart full of scorpions." Coble, distraught over his pending divorce, kidnapped his wife, Karen Vicha. He was arrested and later freed on bond. Nine days after the kidnapping, Coble went to her home, where he handcuffed and tied up her three daughters and nephew, J.R. Vicha, according to investigators. Story continues Coble then went to the homes of Robert and Zelda Vicha, 64 and 60 respectively, and Bobby Vicha, 39, who lived nearby, and fatally shot them. After Karen Vicha returned home, Coble abducted her. He drove away, assaulted her and threatened to rape and kill her. He was arrested after wrecking the vehicle in neighboring Bosque County following a police chase. Coble was convicted of capital murder in 1990. An appeals court ordered a new trial on punishment in 2007, but a second jury also sentenced him to death. Other appeals were also denied. J.R. Vicha, Bobby Vicha's son, was 11 when he was tied up and threatened by Coble during the killings. Coble's execution would be a relief knowing the execution finally took place, said Vicha, who eventually became a prosecutor in part because of his father. "Still, the way they do it is more humane than what he did to my family. It's not what he deserves, but it will be good to know we got as much justice as allowed by the law," he said ahead of the execution. "This is not a happy night," added McLennan County District Attorney Barry Johnson. "This is the end of a horror story for the Vicha family." On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down Coble's request to delay his execution. His attorneys had argued that Coble's original trial lawyers were negligent for conceding his guilt by failing to present an insanity defense. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also turned down his request for a commutation. Coble's attorney, A. Richard Ellis, told the courts that Coble suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his time as a Marine during the Vietnam War. Ellis argued that Coble was convicted in part because of misleading testimony from two prosecution expert witnesses on whether he would be a future danger. Coble was the third inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the second in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. J.R. Vicha, 40, still lives in the Waco area. His father was a police sergeant in Waco when he was killed, while his grandfather was a retired plumber and his grandmother worked for a foot doctor. Vicha is working to get a portion of a highway near his home renamed in honor of his father. "Every time I run into somebody that knew (his father and grandparents), it's a good feeling. And when I hear stories about them, it still makes it feel like they're kinda still here," Vicha said. ___ Lozano reported from Houston. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70 SheKnows Heidi Klum does it again! Shes kicking off the week with her latest nearly nude photo thats also a throwback from a magazine shoot she did when she was 36 years old. It doesnt matter that almost 12 years have passed since this image was taken, she looks just as fabulous in 2021. The black-and-white [] Meghan Markle stunned the world with her understated-yet-photo ready look on her wedding day last May, but the secret behind her iconic au natural visage is that it was, in fact, one and done. The Duchess of Sussexs longtime makeup artist, Daniel Martin, told Harpers Bazaar in a recent interview that because of their busy schedules, he and Markle werent able to meet for a customary makeup trial before her big day, so they had to rely on their decade-long friendship instead. I was in New York and she was in London and there was no time because of my crazy schedule to be able to go there, he said. I knew exactly what she wanted and the day of the wedding was just us getting together and doing her makeup like usual. I knew she just wanted to be radiant, glowy, and polished with nothing too done. WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM MAY 19: Meghan Markle stands at the altar during her wedding in St Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Jonathan Brady WPA Pool/Getty Images) The pair had texted a few thoughts back and forth prior to May 19, he said. There was so much structure in the dress that I believe if she had any more makeup on, you wouldnt even look at the dress, and that wasnt the intention, he added. I feel like every bride, their red carpet moment is their wedding and this was more about her than the spectacle, even though the wedding was the spectacle. In thinking about Markles wedding-day makeup, Martin had to consider a whole host of things, especially the different lighting situations that she and Prince Harry would be under throughout the day. If you look at pictures sequentially from her riding in the car with her mother, getting to the church, to outside in the precession, her makeup looks completely different because of several different lighting situations, which is something I had to think about, Martin said. I also had to think about precise pictures and it being televised. You get to a point where you have to create makeup that fits in those lighting situations without compromising one or the other. If I started heavier and she got into the church, her makeup wouldve looked a lot darker than when you see her in natural light. It was also noon, when the light is at its highest. Story continues For the Duchesss second look, a slinky Stella McCartney gown that showed off her toned shoulders and svelte figure, Martin went a little heavier on the makeup to transform her look from daytime to evening glam. WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM MAY 19: Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Steve Parsons WPA Pool/Getty Images) I took it a bit darker just because it was the evening and I did more definition on the eyes, making them darker and smokier, he said. In addition to Markle, Martin has worked with numerous A-listers on the red carpet and beyond, including Jessica Alba, Gemma Chan, and Olivia Palermo. Secure your ideal wedding vision by starting with The Knots Style Quiz, here. Related Articles By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There's a new cartoon up on the wall in John Bolton's West Wing office, one that depicts U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser shaking maracas and dreaming of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro behind bars in an orange jumpsuit. Until now, the trophy wall has been dominated by mementos associated with Bolton's signature foreign policy fight: Iran. One cartoon features an ayatollah hearing about Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The new addition is a sign of how Bolton's hawkish focus has zeroed in on a new target - getting Maduro to leave Venezuela. It's a battle he has waged on Twitter, where his acid-tongued trolling of the socialist leader has made him one of the Trump administration's fiercest voices on the issue. Since January, Bolton has fired off more than 130 withering missives directed at Maduro, accounting for three quarters of all his Twitter activity in that time and more than a third of all his tweets since Trump named him national security adviser in March 2018. A spokesman for Bolton declined comment on the strategy. The United States has led an international effort to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, considering Maduro's 2018 re-election a sham. More than a month later, Maduro clings to power, with the support of his military. Bolton, a veteran neoconservative who critics call a warmonger, has tweeted far more about Venezuela in his time as national security adviser than any other topic, including Iran (34 tweets) or the Middle East and Syria (29 tweets). It was Bolton's most viral Venezuela tweet that was the genesis for the cartoon from Miami newspaper Diario Las Americas that now graces his office. "I wish Nicolas Maduro and his top advisors a long, quiet retirement, living on a nice beach somewhere far from Venezuela," Bolton said, a zing that has since been retweeted 19,000 times and liked 39,000 times. The next day, Bolton talked about the tweet with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, and added a threat: "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 said. In Caracas, cartoonist Fernando Pinilla heard about Bolton's warning and was inspired. "Guantanamero ... Maduro Guantanamero ...," Bolton sings in the caricature - a play on both the well-known Cuban song, and the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay. "It was easy to imagine that it would be the soundtrack of that arrest, which is our dream," said Pinilla, who said he was surprised and honored when he learned from Reuters that his work was hanging on Bolton's wall. 'I DREAM OF BOLTON' Bolton's war of words has rankled his targets. Earlier this month, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza held up his phone at a United Nations press conference, brandishing a Bolton tweet warning countries and companies against buying oil and gold from Maduro's government. "What hes trying to do here is give orders," Arreaza complained to reporters. Arreaza follows Bolton on Twitter. Bolton does not follow him back. "Bolton's gangster-style language and threats are proof of the most sublime diplomatic practice. How regrettable that US foreign policy has fallen into the hands of such a gang," Arreaza tweeted last week. While Bolton has far fewer followers than Maduro - 543,000 to Maduro's 3.5 million - Bolton has stronger stats on "engagement," a measurement of how readers connect with a message, noted Matthias Luefkens, who produces an annual "Twiplomacy" study on how world leaders use Twitter. "His language is very bold, very daring, direct. It's not diplomatic language that he uses," said Luefkens, who works for the public relations firm BCW Global in Geneva. The strategy bypasses the time-sucking layers of approvals needed to release a traditional White House statement and also side-steps the media. "It's the Trump formula of avoiding the gatekeepers," said Philip Seib, who writes about diplomacy and social media at the University of Southern California's School for Communication and Journalism. Bolton's brash style won fans in Caracas among supporters of opposition leader Guaido, like Martha Anez. She gushed about the mustachioed Trump adviser as she welcomed her friends to a crochet circle in her home in a well-to-do district earlier this month. "I dream of Bolton!" Anez quipped. "The first thing I do in the morning, even before my coffee, is check whether or not the gringos have said they will intervene. Here we need a square in honor of Bolton! Because he has helped us," she said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; additional reporting by Sarah Marsh and Shaylim Valderrama in Caracas and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool) Lagos (AFP) - He was welcomed as the "Messiah", a skilled former military man and anti-corruption champion who would tackle the insecurity and graft that have blighted Nigeria for decades. But four years after he was first elected, there was no repeat of the fireworks and dancing in the streets to mark confirmation of Muhammadu Buhari's second term as president. Some blamed the fact that most people were sleeping when the result was confirmed on Wednesday morning. Even several hours later, though, the celebrations were muted. In Lagos, Nigeria's bustling commercial centre, where Buhari won a tightly fought contest, the daily hustle carried on as normal. "Look at the faces of the people, look," said 63-year-old Ade Monday, from his perch on a bench overlooking the teeming markets of Obalende in the south of the city. In 2015, celebrations in the area were joyous, he said. "Last time people thought he was like the Messiah coming but now look, the Messiah has failed us." Buhari himself warned when he was first elected that the weight of expectation was unrealistic, whatever the dissatisfaction of people with the outgoing government. - Lower key celebrations - In many respects, last Saturday's election was a referendum on his first term -- and the reception to his win a sobering dose of reality. During his first term there was a 15-month recession caused in part by falling global crude prices that led to millions of job losses. Almost half of the country are unemployed and under-employed (43 per cent), reliant on barely manageable daily wages. Some 87 million people -- nearly half the country -- live in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day, reflecting the gulf between a monied minority and almost everyone else. Insecurity is widespread, not just the Boko Haram Islamists Buhari pledged to eradicate. Bribery and corruption remains a part of daily life. In Kano, a city in the heart of Buhari's support base in northwest Nigeria, celebrations were also more subdued compared to last time round. Story continues "In 2015 there were celebrations as soon as Buhari was declared the winner because the announcement was made in the afternoon," said shopkeeper Yusuf Abdulaziz Baba. "I didn't sleep until after the declaration, I was listening to the radio all night long," said Yusuf Abdulaziz Baba, a young shop owner in the old part of the city. He and a dozen other young men quietly tidied outside the campaign office of Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) party before afternoon celebrations. Eventually, crowds took to the streets, waving wicker brooms -- the APC symbol -- and shouting "Sai Baba!" (Only Buhari), his Hausa-language campaign slogan, and "Four more years!" - Change takes time - In the southern city of Port Harcourt -- a stronghold of the beaten Peoples Democratic Party -- locals gathered around newspaper stands to discuss the result. Most reflected the PDP position that Buhari and the ruling party had manipulated the outcome. "The APC has used the security forces to rig the election in favour of Buhari," said Stephen Woju, a 56-year-old trader. "There's no way Buhari would have won if the elections had been free and fair." Chukwudi Anozie, an industrial engineer, backed PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar's legal challenge to the result but Festus Goodwill called for calm. "Atiku should concede defeat in the interest of peace," said the 25-year-old unemployed graduate. Despite impatience with the pace of Buhari's promised change in 2015, and the tough economic conditions since, many see Buhari as someone serious about tackling corruption. There was also sympathy with his task of providing prosperity for all, in a country of 190 million with an exploding population. "Changing the country takes time, that's what people need to understand," said one supporter in Lagos, brandishing a maroon hat with Buhari's "Next Level" campaign slogan. As congratulatory messages continue to flow in from different world powers, the United States of America has also joined the moving train by congratulating President Muhammad Buhari on his victory. The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in a statement released on Friday, March 1, 2019, congratulated President Buhari and other candidates who contested in the election. Managua (AFP) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's leftist government and the opposition met Thursday for a second day of talks aimed at resolving 10 months of crisis sparked by a deadly crackdown on dissent in which hundreds of people were killed. A first session on Wednesday yielded broad agreement on a "roadmap" for the talks, but both sides remained deadlocked over opposition demands that international guarantors be allowed to participate. "The presence of international guarantors continues to be a requirement of the opposition," Carlos Tunnerman, head of the opposition Civic Alliance, told reporters. The government has refused to allow representatives of the Organization of American States to attend the so-called National Dialogue talks. The Catholic Church is mediating the discussions, being held behind closed doors at a business campus outside the capital. The Vatican's representative in Nicaragua, Stanislaw Waldemar Sommertag, told reporters the first meeting was devoted to defining a "roadmap" for the talks. "On 12 points (raised), agreement was found on nine," he said. Previous Catholic Church-brokered peace talks broke down last June after the president rejected opposition demands to step down and bring forward presidential elections. The government released around 100 imprisoned opponents of Ortega ahead of the talks, but no major opposition leaders were among them. Protests in April sparked by the government's now-abandoned pension reform were met with a deadly crackdown from the ruling Sandinista party, leaving 325 people dead and more than 750 arrested amid calls for Ortega to step down. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States, France, Britain and six other countries on the UN Security Council have called for a meeting on Myanmar that is expected to face opposition from China, diplomats said Wednesday. The meeting requested for next week would be to hear a report from UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener who last month paid a 12-day visit to Myanmar to discuss the plight of Rohingya refugees. Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has agreed to take back some of the refugees in a deal reached with Bangladesh, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has criticized as "too slow" Myanmar's efforts to address the Rohingya crisis and described the lack of progress as a source of "enormous frustration." Schraner Burgener, a Swiss diplomat, has made four visits to Myanmar since her appointment in April but appears to have returned empty-handed each time. Belgium, Germany, Poland, Kuwait, Peru and the Dominican Republic joined the three veto-holding powers to push the council to turn its attention to Myanmar. Diplomats said China was expected to raise objections but it remained unclear whether it would seek to block the meeting with a procedural vote. Nine votes are required in the 15-member council to hold a meeting, and vetoes do not apply. The Chinese mission at the United Nations did not respond to a request from AFP for comment. In October, China failed to win enough support at the council to block a report from the head of UN fact-finding mission in Myanmar. China, which has close ties with Myanmar's military, has argued that the crisis in Rakhine is linked to poverty and has opposed any step to put pressure on the authorities. Myanmar's military has denied any wrongdoing in Rakhine and argues that its operations were justified to root out Rohingya insurgents following attacks on police posts. Sydney (AFP) - Cardinal George Pell's sex crime conviction is expected to unleash a flood of lawsuits by abuse victims who fear they were cheated by a compensation scheme set up by the disgraced cleric himself, lawyers said. The most senior Catholic clergyman found guilty of child sex abuse, Pell is behind bars awaiting sentencing for assaulting two choirboys in 1996-97, shortly after he was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne. Around the same time, Pell set up the "Melbourne Response" -- a redress plan to compensate victims of clerical abuse in Australia's Victoria state. The plan required sex abuse victims to waive their right to future claims and capped compensation payments at Aus$50,000 (US$35,700), a figure later raised to Aus$75,000. The scheme has long been criticised for helping the Church limit its financial liability, and the announcement this week that its architect had himself been convicted of child sex abuse heightened the mistrust. "Anything that Pell designs loses credibility" with his conviction, lawyer Ingrid Irwin from Pell's hometown of Ballarat in Victoria told AFP. Irwin has represented clients who alleged they were abused by Pell. "At a time when he is sexually assaulting young boys in Melbourne, he is designing a compensation scheme to get out of it. So it is completely inappropriate," she said. Irwin predicted victims could receive more than Aus$500,000 in compensation if they challenged their earlier awards through the justice system. "Now, in terms of compensation, the sky's the limit if they were to sue in the County Court," she said. - Settlement schemes 'void' - Western Australia and Queensland states already allow courts to set aside victims' settlements with the Church if they were found to be unjust or unreasonable. Victoria said Thursday it was exploring similar legislation. "We are looking at a range of options to ensure survivors of institutional child sex abuse are not left worse off as a result of their participation in institutional forums such as the Melbourne Response," Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said. Story continues Action on the issue would come soon, she added. Lawyers in Victoria confirmed they planned to challenge victims' settlements with the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. "We believe there is a strong argument that settlements orchestrated by Pell's Melbourne Response are void on the basis they were not negotiated in good faith," lawyer Kim Price told Melbourne's The Age newspaper. "We urge the Victorian government to grant powers to the courts, as other states have, to set aside settlements made" through such schemes, he said. The current Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, said Wednesday he was reviewing the Melbourne Response but defended it, adding that not everyone who sought compensation with the Church had been disappointed. News of Pell's December conviction, which was kept secret by a gag order until Tuesday, is expected to encourage more sex abuse victims to come forward. Comensoli said several people in his archdiocese reported alleged abuse by clergy within hours of Pell's conviction being announced. In the United States, archdioceses have paid millions of dollars to settle child sex abuse claims. MINSK, Belarus (AP) The president of Belarus on Friday strongly rejected the possibility that Russia could incorporate his nation, as the two former Soviet republics discuss how to more closely integrate their economies, including a possible joint currency. Speaking at a news conference that lasted more than eight hours with a single 15-minute break, President Alexander Lukashenko said the two neighbors are discussing ways to further deepen their close ties, but that Russia's absorption of Belarus isn't on the agenda. "Belarusians want to be with Russia, but they want to live in their own apartment," Lukashenko said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the countries, which already have close economic, military and political ties, should integrate even more closely so that Belarus can benefit from lower prices for Russian natural gas. The 64-year-old Lukashenko, who has led the ex-Soviet nation of 10 million people for nearly a quarter century, recently criticized increases in the price of Russian energy supplies as part of Moscow's efforts to persuade his country to abandon its independence. During his leadership, Belarus has relied on Russia's loans and cheap energy to keep its Soviet-style economy afloat. In Belarus, many have voiced fears that the Kremlin could be hatching plans to incorporate the country. Such concerns have been fueled by Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and its support for separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Lukashenko acknowledged Friday that the two countries should deepen their integration and said he would accept a plan to have a joint currency. He noted that it shouldn't be the Russian ruble, but a new shared currency. He added that he would agree to have the single printing center in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. The statement lacked specifics and didn't seem to mark a breakthrough in the joint currency discussions that have been going on for years with little progress. Russia and Belarus signed a union treaty in 1997 that envisaged close ties but stopped short of forming a single state. There is speculation that the Kremlin may now contemplate a full merger as a way of keeping Putin in power beyond the constitutional limit when his current six-year term expires in 2024. During Friday's news conference, the Belarusian leader said he plans to run for a sixth straight five-year term in 2020. President Donald Trump has hastily cut short his two-day summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, ending the talks early and leaving empty handed as he prepares to return to Washington and a tsunami of scrutiny over Michaels Cohens testimony to Congress. In a press conference in the Vietnamese capital, Trump downplayed the summit setback, calling the meeting productive. Trump said the talks broke down over Kims demand that the United States lift all sanctions on North Korea. They wanted the sanctions lifted in entirety, and we couldnt do that, the president said. We had to walk away from that. Trump suggested that Kim had been willing to completely dismantle the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in exchange for sanctions being lifted. However, that ultimately wasnt satisfactory to the Americans because North Korea has other nuclear weapons and missile facilities. I could have done a deal today, Trump repeated multiple times. Prior to Trumps trip, the White House tried to tamp down expectations for the second summit with the reclusive dictator. However, Trump said in Hanoi that he and Kim have a great relationship. Before talks ended on Thursday, Kim took the rare step of answering a question from a foreign journalist, saying, Its too early to tell, but I wouldnt say Im pessimistic. For what I feel right now, I do have a feeling that good results will come out. Trump landed in Hanoi early this week eager for a victory as drama was unfolding in Washington over reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to issue his final report. On Wednesday, in the middle of the night Vietnam time, the Presidents former lawyer Michael Cohen derided his former boss as a racist and a conman live on national television during his five-hour testimony before Congress. Republican lawmakers sought to discredit the disgraced attorney, who pleaded guilty in August to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and making false financial statements. Story continues Asked about Cohens testimony, Trump said he tried to watch it from Vietnam. I didnt watch too much because Ive been busy, Trump said. Trump called Cohens claims incorrect and said he was a liar, but did not directly address the allegations he raised in his testimony. However, Trump conceded, He didnt lie about one thing, he said no collusion. On the other side of the world, North Koreans awoke Thursday to state-owned newspapers splashed with color photographs of Trump and Kim smiling and shaking hands before their nations flags. In Vietnam, the front page of an English-language newspaper read: Give Peace a Chance. Trump and Kims two-day summit was the second such meeting after their historic handshake in Singapore last June made them the first sitting leaders of the U.S. and North Korea ever to meet face to face. The encounter culminated with a vague document that raised more questions than it answered about how and when Kim would eliminate his nuclear arsenal and what the U.S. promised in return. In Hanoi, Trump and Kim were widely expected to sign a declaration of peace on the peninsula, a symbolic gesture that would have paved the way toward a formal treaty to end the Korean War. The 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice, not an accord, and the bitterly divided peninsula has since lived under a fragile truce protected by a U.S.-led U.N. Command of troops stationed mostly in South Korea and Japan. By Maria Vasilyeva MOSCOW (Reuters) - In pre-war Syria, Safaa Al-Kurdi sold wedding dresses. Fed up with the conflict, the mother-of-three fled Damascus four years ago and sought asylum in Moscow. Now, Russia is saying she must go home. Safaa is one of thousands of Syrian refugees that Russia, an ally of President Bashar al-Assad, is urging to return. Large parts of Syria are safe, Russian officials say, and there is no reason for asylum seekers like Safaa, 55, to remain. The Russian stance is creating problems for Syrians here who are seeing their asylum requests rejected. Banned from working, they face the threat of arrest and deportation. "Since my children are there and Syria is my country, I would naturally like to return," Safaa, whose two eldest sons were drafted into the Syrian army, said through tears. "But it's not possible for anyone to return in this situation. People know that there is poverty, that people are dying of cold or from hunger, or from bombing." According to the U.N. refugee agency, nearly 5.5 million Syrians have fled a war that has raged over seven years. In 2015, when Moscow launched a military operation in Syria, Russia granted temporary asylum to 1,924 Syrians. That number has fallen every year since, according to statistics agency Rosstat, hitting a low of 823 asylum applications in 2018. The Civil Assistance Committee, an NGO working with refugees, says Russia wants the Syrians out. "DON'T COME BACK" "Most of them get rejected, and the ones that don't are told: We warn you, this is the last time we will extend your documents, next year don't come back," said Yevgeny Yastrebov, a co-ordinator with the committee. Some Syrians have already left, he said, adding that others are forced to bribe the police to stay. "It's a constant game of hide-and-seek you have to play with the government, which is not a fun thing to do if you have kids and you need to feed them," he said. When Safaa left Damascus in 2015, she had a little money from selling her garments workshop. Her youngest son, Al-Amir, 23, followed her to Russia afterwards. Their asylum applications have been repeatedly rejected and so far their appeals have also been refused. With her savings gone, Safaa makes ends meet by selling jewelry at a Moscow market. Her son declines to talk about his employment situation for fear of official reprisals. Their joint income is just enough to rent a small apartment in a village some 50 km (31 miles) east of Moscow. "I want to stay for a while before returning, I want to try to save a little bit of money to be able to open a little venture, to be able to live off of it in Syria," said Safaa. When her asylum appeal process is exhausted, she says she will return home, but wants her son to stay away from Syria. "Life is not possible there. It's like the war is over but it's not over at the same time." (Additional reporting by Ahmad El-Katib in Moscow; Editing by Andrew Osborn and William Maclean) Moscow (AFP) - Russia on Friday vowed to maintain support for the embattled regime of its Venezuelan "friend" President Nicolas Maduro, including with humanitarian aid supplies. During talks with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin expressed "support and solidarity for his colleague and friend" Maduro in the country's political standoff with the opposition. "Russia will continue to assist the Venezuelan authorities in resolving social and economic problems, including through the provision of legitimate humanitarian aid," Lavrov told a joint news conference with Rodriguez afterwards. Battered by an economic meltdown, Venezuela descended into political crisis when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January and asserted that Maduro was no longer legitimate. Maduro and his allies -- including Russia -- have accused Washington of attempting to carry out a coup against his government. The United States has recognised Guaido and led a diplomatic campaign in support of his leadership. Lavrov said Russia had recently sent to Venezuela 7.5 tonnes of medical supplies and received a request for more shipments. "We are currently considering it," he said. He added that Russia was also sending "mass supplies" of wheat to Venezuela, claiming those shipments helped normalise the humanitarian situation in the country, which is crisis-ridden despite its oil wealth. Russia's agriculture ministry told local media on Friday that Moscow sent 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Venezuela in January. Lavrov renewed warnings to the United States not to intervene militarily in Venezuela and reiterated Russia's claim that Washington is planning to buy small arms, mortar launchers, and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles known as MANPADS from an "Eastern European country" and station them "close to Venezuela." Story continues The weapons will be flown out by an airline of an ex-Soviet country loyal to Washington, Lavrov claimed without providing further details. - 'Hotheads in Washington' - "Of course we see these intentions," he said, calling on Venezuela's neighbours Colombia and Brazil to resist any possible US intervention plans. He expressed the hope that the fact that most countries did not want to see a military scenario would "cool hotheads in Washington, even though there are some there who nothing can stop." Lavrov said the two countries would continue to coordinate on foreign affairs. "We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps in the international arena," he said. "This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs." Rodriguez said her government would move the European offices of Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA from Portugal to Moscow. "President Maduro has instructed that the office of the Venezuelan oil company in Europe, which is located in Lisbon, be moved and transferred to Moscow," she said. Portugal was one of the many EU countries that last month recognised US-backed opposition leader Guaido as Venezuelas interim leader. Rodriguez thanked Putin and "the Russian people" for all their support for "the constitutional and legitimate government." "We have come here with a very good programme to deepen the strategic relationship we have with our sister Russia," she added. "Venezuela does not need a military intervention, our continent does not need a military intervention, neither from the United States nor from anyone else. We need peace, stability and tranquillity." At a later meeting with the speaker of the Russian parliament Vyacheslav Volodin, Rodriguez said Russia has "everything Venezuela needs." "Venezuela, for its part, can give Russia the oil it needs," she said. By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - A separatist leader from south Yemen said a U.N.-mediated peace deal that fails to address the souths wish for self-determination would be "dangerous" and could trigger a new conflict. In the war between the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and Yemen's internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, southern forces form part of a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis. As such, the south - where many long wanted to secede from the north - is not included in peace talks mediated by U.N. negotiator Martin Griffiths as a party in its own right. Ahmed Omar bin Fareed, a senior member of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the southern separatist movement's political body, told Reuters the south needed to be included in the peace process to avoid further conflict if a deal does not satisfy their demand for self-determination. "They will not accept this. And they will fight again," Bin Fareed said. "So you have two choices: start another war against them to start another crisis, or to understand the aspirations of the people, and to avoid any political crisis or unrest in the region. They will likely defend their interests if they feel their interests are marginalized in the diplomatic process." The STC has met Griffiths three times and he understands their aspirations, Bin Fareed said. "He promised us that we will be at the table. But when?" Excluding the STC while talks progress on a new constitution, a national government and preparation for national elections would be "a difficult scenario for us". Griffiths' biggest breakthrough to date is a deal reached in December for a ceasefire and troop withdrawals from the main port city of Hodeidah. But this has suffered numerous setbacks and the warring parties have not yet left the port. Yemens internal splits have festered for years. North and south Yemen united into a single state in 1990, but when separatists tried to secede from the pro-union north in 1994, their forces were swiftly beaten, and more power and resources flowed to the northern capital of Sanaa, angering many. "Our forces are under the coalition command. We're not under the leadership of Hadi, but under the leadership of the coalition," he said. Bin Fareed, the STC's chairman in the European Union, said the southern resistance had initially not been organized, but that many civilians took up arms to fight the Houthis, and were later formed with help from the coalition into "security belt" forces and "elite" forces. The elite forces in the south number at least 30,000-35,000, while other military forces are still engaged in the battle against the Houthis in Hodeidah and in al-Anad, he said. "The southern forces are maybe 60,000 when you factor in tribal forces and other militias," Bin Fareed said. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) DALLAS (AP) The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it has granted Southwest Airlines approval to begin flights between California and Hawaii, capping the airline's effort to extend its reach 2,400 miles (3,800 kilometers) across the Pacific. The Dallas-based airline's chief operating officer, Mike Van de Ven, said Southwest will announce timing for selling tickets and beginning flights in the coming days. The FAA will increase oversight of Southwest for the first six months, an agency spokesman said, adding that the additional monitoring is standard practice. Southwest plans to launch flights to four of the Hawaiian islands, including Oahu, where Honolulu is located. It will fly from four cities in California: San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego. CEO Gary Kelly has left open the option of adding flights between islands, which would encroach on markets dominated by Hawaiian Airlines. Southwest needed FAA certification of its ability to operate long, over-water flights with twin-engine jets where the options for emergency landings are few. In recent weeks Southwest has operated several test flights with FAA personnel on board to monitor such things as navigation and communications. Southwest hoped to begin selling Hawaii tickets last year, but that had slipped even before the 35-day partial government shutdown, which began in late December and resulted in the furlough of thousands of FAA employees. SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) NATO's secretary-general warned Friday that Russia's violation of a key Cold War-era treaty is one of the most pressing security challenges for the alliance. Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which has been the cornerstone for arm control for decades. Last month, the U.S. formally suspended its obligations under the 1987 INF treaty that bans all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles), setting the stage for the treaty to terminate in six months. Russia, which has denied any breaches, has followed suit. "NATO does not want a new cold war, we don't want a new arms race and we call on Russia to come back into compliance with the INF Treaty," Stoltenberg said after talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in Sofia. "These new Russian missiles are nuclear capable, they can reach European cities, they are hard to detect, and they have little warning time so they reduce the threshold for any potential use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict and therefore it's important that we continue to call on Russia to come back into compliance," Stoltenberg said. He added that at the same time NATO needs to be prepared for a world without the INF Treaty and with more Russian missiles. The intermediate-range weapons were seen as particularly destabilizing as they take shorter time to reach their targets compared to the intercontinental ballistic missiles. That would leave practically no time for decision-makers, raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning. Russian President Vladimir Putin sternly warned the U.S. against deploying new missiles in Europe, saying in his state-of-the-nation speech last month that Moscow will retaliate by fielding new weapons that will take just as little time to reach their targets. Story continues Stoltenberg, who is in Bulgaria for the 15th anniversary of the country joining NATO, thanked the Balkan country for being "a committed and highly valued ally in the alliance." He outpointed Bulgaria's strategic role in the Black Sea region, and the country's contribution to NATO missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq. ___ Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report. Bangladesh commandos stormed a passenger jet in the country's southeast Sunday and shot dead an armed man who allegedly tried to hijack the Dubai-bound flight, an army official said. The suspect, described by officials as a Bangladeshi man in his mid 20s, was shot as special forces rushed the Boeing 737-800 plane after it landed safely in Chittagong. The 134 passengers and 14 crew aboard the Bangladesh Biman flight BG147 were all rescued unharmed, officials said. But the suspected hijacker -- identified by the name "Mahadi" and described as being 25 or 26 years old -- was injured and died shortly after being arrested, said army spokesman Major General Motiur Rahman. "Our commando team asked the hijacker to surrender, but he rejected it by being aggressive, and was shot," Rahman told reporters. "Later on we learnt he had died... We found a pistol from him and nothing else." The airport was sealed off by Army, Navy and elite police after landing to collect more passengers from Dhaka on its journey to Dubai. "Just ten minutes after the plane took off (from Dhaka) he fired twice," one passenger told reporters in Chittagong. Air Vice Marshall Mofid, who goes by one name, said he kept the accused man busy talking on the phone while special forces units prepared for the dramatic raid. "He demanded to speak to our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina)," Mofid said. "He claimed he had a pistol, but we are not sure yet whether it is an actual gun or a fake." An unnamed member of the crew said the man was carrying a bomb-like object. "(He) said, 'I'll hijack this plane... If you dont open the cockpit, I will blow up the plane,'" the crew member told Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo. Other crew members said passengers were evacuated through four emergency gates of the plane. The hijacker also held a flight steward hostage. - 'Psychologically deranged' - The operation took less than 10 minutes and the plane has been searched and declared worthy to fly again, Rahman said. Story continues The country's civil aviation chief, Nayeem Hasan, earlier said the suspect had claimed to have a bomb aboard the flight. "From the talks and dialogue we have with him, it seems he is psychologically deranged," Hasan said after the man was arrested. Another army spokesman, Abdullah Ibne Zaid, said Chittagong's Shah Amanat International Airport was "very much under control of the Bangladesh Army". "The army's special forces conducted the operation and the armed man has been neutralised," he said. Rahman said an investigation would be conducted into how the man "passed airport security details with a gun". "It will take some time," he said. Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 165 million, has struggled to grapple with homegrown extremism in recent years, including the murder of atheist bloggers and progressive activists by Islamist outfits. In a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group in 2016, militants killed 22 people including 18 foreigners at an upmarket cafe in Dhaka popular with Westerners. That attack prompted a swift crackdown by Prime Minister Hasina, with hundreds of suspected militants and their sympathisers arrested or killed in raids across the country. Lanny Davis Productions. That should have been the credit on this weeks big Michael Cohen drama. Its a better fit than House Oversight Committee. Knowledge may be power, but electoral victory is subpoena power. Thats of more practical use when the objective, under all the chatter about collusion and impeachment, is to render Donald Trump unelectable. Expect another 18 months of this. The Democrats are entitled to the spectacle orchestrated Wednesday by Chairman Elijah Cummings and Cohen lawyer (and, not coincidentally, sharp Democratic strategist) Lanny Davis. They won the midterm elections, not just fair and square but going away. The spoils that go to the victor include the authority to compel the appearance of witnesses who will support the 2020 narrative: Trump as racist, conman, and cheat, the theme of Cohens opening statement which we may suspect the rough-edged, ambulance-chaser-turned-wannabe-Trump-bullyboy had just a tad of Lannys help writing. Chairman Scorsese, um, I mean Cummings, gave Cohen an extraordinary half hour to read it to America without interruption. Republicans are not nearly as good at this stuff, mainly for reasons beyond their control. While in the House majority, they tried their best to put the Obama-legacy Justice Department and FBI under the microscope for politicization and abuses of power in the investigations that bore on the 2016 election. But the anti-Trump press didnt care, which meant the public never heard much about it. Then theres the dirty little secret the GOP never mentions: The president could at any time have ordered investigative documents disclosed. He shrank from doing so, notwithstanding claims he and House Republicans made about how devastating the documents are. That obviously suggests one or more of the following: (a) the documents are not devastating evidence of misconduct; (b) revelation of the documents would be as unflattering to Trump as to the investigators (think about it: the FBI and DOJ were proceeding on the theory that a compromised Trump could be blackmailed by Putin, so what do you figure they wrote in their classified reports and FISA applications?); or (c) there is in place an understanding, perhaps tacit: Mueller will not find criminal collusion (even if his report is damning on the matter of Trumps judgment), the president will not disclose documents (which could damage relationships with foreign intelligence services that abetted the Trump-Russia probe), and everyone will call a truce and lick their wounds (while House Democrats use their subpoena power to keep the narrative chugging with corruption substituted for collusion). Story continues As Democrats are showing, oversight is fun when the press is the breeze at your back. In this instance, it was irresponsible fun. The president was conducting important diplomacy in Vietnam. Now, I happen to think the North Korea gambit is a farce; every national-security-minded conservative would be rebuking it, the way we rebuked Obamas dangerous Iran deal, if it were a Democratic president granting the prestige of a visit to a barbaric, anti-American, tin-pot dictator. That said, Trump is president and he was trying, however unrealistically, to get Rocket Man to denuclearize. Didnt Congress owe him a couple of days of quiet support to try to strike a deal? Instead, subordinating the national interest to their political strategy to render Trump unelectable, Democrats gratuitously created a scandalous distraction: a hearing about the presidents character, starring a scoundrel the presidents own scoundrel, to be sure who has recently pled guilty to lying to Congress. As Rich Lowry and I discussed on the McCarthy Report podcast, this hearing could have been held at any time. In fact, it had already been postponed more than once. Yet Democrats insisted it had to be Wednesday. No president, of either party, should be unnecessarily undermined when he is overseas pursuing what the country overwhelmingly agrees is a vital American interest (as a non-nuclear NoKo would be). Trump is not going to be president forever. Democrats will regret shredding norms of good governance in their zeal to be rid of him. In any event, here are my takeaways from the Cohen hearing. 1. Nothing New Anything that sounded incriminating but that you hadnt heard before is irrelevant. Remember, Cohen has been extensively debriefed by two sets of highly skilled prosecutors and FBI agents. If he said something new and inculpatory at the hearing, something you had never seen mentioned in an indictment from either the Mueller probe or the Southern District of New York (SDNY) investigation, that means the investigators either didnt believe Cohen or couldnt verify what he said. With Cohen, corroboration is essential in light of his galactic credibility problems, which though I would not have thought this possible have actually gotten worse since Wednesdays hearing. 2. The Stone-WikiLeaks Tale Point 1, above, goes double for Cohens breathless tale about Roger Stone calling the president a few days before the Democratic convention. With Cohen listening in, Stone supposedly reported that he had personally spoken with Julian Assange and that WikiLeaks was about to leak the hacked DNC emails. Put aside that, even if this story were true, it would indicate Trump had no knowledge or participation in the Russians hacking of the DNC servers and transmission of the emails to WikiLeaks (i.e., there would be no criminal conspiracy). The story is almost certainly not true. It is not just that Mueller did not include it in his indictment of Roger Stone (even though prosecutors were manifestly straining to tie Stone to Assange). Muellers narrative in the Stone indictment cannot be squared with Cohens account. According to Mueller, days after the DNC emails began being published, Stone reached out to Jerome Corsi to urge him to figure out a way to contact Assange; he wanted Corsi to find out whether WikiLeaks had a tranche of stolen Clinton Foundation emails ready for release. If, as Cohen claims, Stone already had both a direct line of communication with Assange and foreknowledge of what WikiLeaks was in a position to publish, why would he have needed to implore Corsi, of all people, to try to make contact with Assange? If Assange was already telling Stone what WikiLeaks had, why would Stone have been scratching his head about whether Assange had Clinton Foundation documents? (WikiLeaks apparently did not have such documents or at least never released them.) Despite the imposition of a judicial gag order in his case, Stone released a brief statement claiming Cohens account was false. Maybe Lanny can stage a debate on MSNBC: Cohen v. Stone! Weve come a long way from Lincoln and Douglas, no? 3. Is Cohen Cooperating in an Undisclosed SDNY Investigation of Trump? If he is telling the truth, Cohen is still working with SDNY prosecutors on an investigation of Trump for an undisclosed crime. When asked if he was aware of any criminal activity by the president that he had not already publicized, Cohen said yes, but refused to elaborate, citing an ongoing SDNY investigation he claimed to be helping. This is intriguing for more than the obvious whats the crime? reason. In their sentencing memorandum in Cohens case, the SDNY was emphatic that Cohen was not a cooperating witness. Prosecutors said he had withheld information (and was still lying about and minimizing his tax and bank fraud offenses), and that he deserved to go to jail. So has that changed? We dont know. Committee Republicans spent hours tendentiously pressing Cohen on whether he had a book or movie contract, but no one bothered to ask him whether he has a contract with the government i.e., a formal cooperation agreement with the SDNY. Would have been nice to know. Cohen seems to think he will get a second bite at the cooperation apple. Under federal criminal-procedure rules, prosecutors have up to a year after a person is sentenced to file a motion for reduction of that sentence based on substantial assistance to an investigation or prosecution. Recently, the SDNY quietly agreed to a two-month postponement (to May 6) of Cohens date to begin serving the three-year sentence imposed in December. Publicly, the delay was rationalized as a routine granting of Cohens request to complete a course of physical therapy following recent shoulder surgery. Is more than that going on here? 4. SDNY Obstruction Investigation? While Cohen did not disclose the mystery crime he says the SDNY is investigating, he implied that it could involve obstruction. He refused to say for sure, claiming to be protecting the integrity of the SDNYs investigation. Specifically, he declined to describe conversations he had with the president after the FBI executed search warrants at Cohens office and residences. There is nothing necessarily sinister about such conversations . . . unless people are trying to concoct false exculpatory stories about any incriminating evidence seized. But without more information, we can only guess. 5. Trumps $35,000 Check Payable to Cohen There was a stir in the hearing room when Cohen revealed his copy of a $35,000 check that President Trump signed and gave to him in partial reimbursement of the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment. Cohen also displayed a second check for the same purpose, which he says was co-signed by Don Trump Jr. and another Trump-organization executive. At this late stage, this is more of a political than a legal problem for the president. Remember Point 1, above: The prosecutors know all this information already. The SDNY undoubtedly acquired copies of the checks (there are said to be eleven of them) months ago. The payment arrangement is key evidence regarding the campaign-finance charges to which Cohen has pled guilty charges that could eventually be brought against the president. This is not new information: Investigators know that Cohen paid Daniels, then Trump and his company disguised the reimbursement to make it look like monthly payments on a lawyers retainer, paid out over a year. Politically, however, the check Trump signed is new damage for the president because he publicly insisted that he did not know anything about Cohens payment to Daniels. I doubt it is too terribly damaging, since (a) Trump says lots of things that are not, shall we say, well, accurate, and (b) I dont know anyone who believed Trump did not know about the CohenStormy payoff. (I dont mean to imply that the tawdry behavior these shenanigans were meant to conceal is inconsequential that damage is real, the sort of thing that turns off all but Trumps most ardent supporters.) 6. Did Trump File a False 2017 Financial-Disclosure Form? The way it was structured, the reimbursement of Cohen creates other legal peril for the president as well. The question is whether he filed a false public financial-disclosure form. The 2017 form Trump submitted before Cohen was fully repaid does not disclose the debt although the presidents 2018 form obliquely records that the debt was repaid. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) has referred the matter to the Justice Department. OGEs website notes that the Justice Department has discretion to prosecute criminally or file a civil action against an official who knowingly and willfully fails to report required information. 7. Knowledge of, and Failure to Correct, Cohens Perjured Testimony Cohens claims at the hearing potentially turn up the heat not only on the president but on two of his children, Don Jr. and Ivanka, as well as their lawyers. Cohen claims that he consulted with the president and his very fine attorney, Jay Sekulow, before his August 2017 congressional testimony about Trump Tower Moscow the testimony over which Cohen has pled guilty to perjury. Cohen does not claim the president instructed him to lie . . . at least directly. He says the president uses code. Lest you think cryptanalysis is one of Cohens many, er, talents, the code is of the familiar Henry II Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? variety i.e., Trump riffs that there is no Russia, no collusion, no whatever, and his subordinates are said to take that as their cue to deny, deny, deny. More thorny is the letter that Cohen submitted in conjunction with the August 2017 testimony. Cohen says that before submitting it to the committees, he reviewed it with Sekulow and Abbe Lowell, a terrific criminal-defense lawyer who represents Don Jr. and Ivanka. This consultation apparently took place under the auspices of a common interest or joint defense agreement. These arrangements enable people who are under investigation to pool information with all their lawyers, with all the communications protected by attorney-client privilege. What piqued many peoples interest was Cohens claim that his testimony was edited by the lawyers, which Sekulow vehemently denies. Sometimes a transcript does not do a hearing justice you have to see and hear the exchanges. Yes, the word edited was used, and it can have a sinister connotation in this context; but having watched the hearing, I did not think it was a big deal at the time. I did not take Cohen to be alleging that the lawyers significantly altered his letter, that they changed its substance in any meaningful way. It sounded, instead, like the lawyers did what lawyers do: a tweak here or there, not to distort the clients account but to protect the client from inadvertent error. Admittedly, I am not impartial. I am confident neither Sekulow nor Lowell would suborn perjury. In any event, though, I believe that by focusing on the word edited, commentators are missing what actually is significant about the letter. Cohen falsely asserted in the letter that negotiations over Trump Tower Moscow ended in January 2016. When he pled guilty to perjury, he conceded that the negotiations went on long after that, and that he had reported on the negotiations to candidate Trump and his family members many times over many months. Presumably, family members refers to the adult Trump children, who are executives of the Trump organization. The two lawyers who reviewed the letter were aware that Cohen claimed the negotiations ended in January. The lawyers, of course, are agents of their clients President Trump, Don Jr., and Ivanka. Therefore, at least implicitly, all three Trumps knew, through their lawyers, that Cohen told Congress the negotiations ended in January. (Again, pooling information is the main reason to have a common interest agreement.) If the three Trumps knew that, it is reasonable to infer that they knew Cohens Trump Tower Moscow testimony was false. Cohen now says President Trump, Don Jr., and Ivanka are well aware that the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations continued for several months after January. On this, Im inclined to believe Cohen. In the criminal information Mueller filed against Cohen, prosecutors allege that there were many post-January discussions about the project among Trump-company executives. The prosecutors would not have done that unless they had corroborated Cohen, so there must be a corporate paper trail. Plus, the presidents legal team has admitted that the Trump companys deliberations over Trump Tower Moscow went on well into the 2016 campaign. If the president and his two adult children knew that Cohen testified falsely, that is a problem: Until Cohen pled guilty in November 2018, no one ever took steps to correct the record Congress was misled for over a year. 8. Prague Meeting, and the Criminal Collusion Narrative, Debunked On the positive side of this dreary day for Trump world, Cohen was adamant that he never traveled to Prague on Donald Trumps behalf to meet with Russians (he says he has never even been in the Czech Republic). Cohens phantom Prague trip is a central allegation in the Steele dossiers faux intelligence reporting about an espionage conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Clearly, we already knew that there was no Prague meeting, notwithstanding a media frisson some months back over a rumor that Mueller had found evidence that it had happened. Had Mueller been able to prove the Prague allegation, that would have been seen as solid corroboration of the Steele dossier. The trajectory of the investigation would have been completely different: The special counsel would be revved up, not winding down. 9. Cohen a Lose-Lose for Republicans Alas, this elucidated the impossible challenge for committee Republicans at Wednesdays hearing. They did not feel confident enough to defend the president on the substance of Cohens claims they dont know what will turn out to be true, so they dont want to go out on that limb. They played it safe: Cohen is an inveterate liar who has pled guilty to nine counts of fraud and perjury, including lying to Congress; therefore, nothing he says can be believed. But of course, Cohen actually said a number of things that were exculpatory of Trump, especially in discrediting the collusion narrative. So . . . which is it, GOP? You cant believe anything he says, or You cant believe him except when he says things that help the president? There is no way to square this circle. When Cohen portrayed the president as a roue, it directly hurt Trump. When Republicans landed blows establishing that Cohen is a five-alarm fraudster with a thuggy extortionate streak, it reminded everyone that Trump chose Cohen to be his fixer, and, finding his skill set useful, kept him on for a decade. Hat tip to Lanny . . . he knows a cant-miss script when he sees one. More from National Review Shanghai (AFP) - Chinese gaming giant Tencent on Friday announced new curbs on underage video-game playing as part of a government crackdown on youth gaming addiction that has cast a cloud over the company's biggest revenue source. Tencent said it had imposed a digital lock on some games that requires players under 13 years to ask their guardians to open. The new restriction will be piloted for the Chinese versions of the two hit games "Honor of Kings" and "PUBG Mobile". The government last year announced new controls on the number of games that can be played online, limited new releases, and imposed rules on underage players to reduce their screen time. The government justified the new curbs as a way to counter worsening near-sightedness among minors, shortly after President Xi Jinping called for greater national attention on optical health. Tencent already has launched a real-name identification system for "Honour of Kings" to enforce playtime restrictions on youths. China is the world's biggest video game market and Tencent the planet's biggest game company. Thousands of travellers were stranded in Bangkok on Thursday when Thai Airways cancelled all flights over Pakistan after Islamabad closed its airspace in response to soaring tensions with India. Nearly thirty flights -- the majority to and from European routes -- were initially affected, the airline said, with three aircraft forced to return to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport and others cancelled or set to be re-routed. The travel disruption spun out across the region, with Singapore Airlines' usually direct flights to Europe forced to re-fuel on Wednesday, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. The disruption follows a snowballing crisis between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India, which has raised fears of an all-out war. Pakistan claimed it shot down two Indian Air Force planes in its airspace, although it later clarified only one Indian pilot had been captured. India said its forces had also shot down a Pakistani fighter jet as Pakistan suddenly closed its airspace. Thai Airways said nearly 5,000 passengers had been caught up in the drama, as it struggled to find new routes to Europe with Iran "rejecting" a request to travel over its airspace, according to a spokesperson for the carrier. But a few hours later China gave "permission to Thai Airways ... to bypass Pakistani airspace," according to Pratana Patanasiri, Thai Airways Vice President, allowing Thursday night's flights to Europe to resume. But frustration mounted Thursday at Bangkok's main airport at the sudden delays. "We have waited here for 11 or 12 hours already," Gerda Heinzel 55, a German tourist flying back to Munich after a holiday in Phuket. "We have not been given anything to eat, anywhere to stay. There are no German-speaking staff to help us." Widely followed analyst Adam Jonas took some guesses at what the big announcement from Tesla (TSLA) will be on Thursday afternoon. Jonas believes it could just be a convertible bond repayment, but also said it could be an announcement of the rumored "Model Y" or the unveiling of a pickup truck. The Morgan Stanley analyst also said it could be a strategic partnership. "The all-new midsized crossover/SUV is Tesla's chance to take the learnings from the Model S, X, and 3 in design and manufacturing to offer a product in a far larger and faster growing global segment," Jonas said Wednesday in a note, referring to the Model Y. "The key downside to providing too much information about the Model Y and its enhanced capabilities in software and hardware is that it could steal the thunder of the still-ramping Model 3 just as it's getting introduced into key international markets." Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday changed his Twitter display name to "Elon Tusk" and promised his electric car maker would have "news" at 5 p.m. ET Thursday. The company is due to repay a $920 million convertible bond on Friday as Tesla keeps piling up debt while ramping up production of its popular Model 3 sedan. An analyst report on Thursday said Tesla is lining up about $2 billion in loans to build its factory in Shanghai. Jonas said Tesla "may be fundamentally overvalued," but he kept his equal-weight rating and noted that the stock is trading just above his $238 target. Shares of Tesla are up 0.6 percent in midday trading Thursday. If the announcement is about a strategic partnership, Jonas said, it could "help share the burden of future expenses, improve access to capital, and potentially 'attach' Tesla's network of data capturing machines to a mega-platform/software layer." With reporting by Michael Bloom . Donald Trump said his former fixer Michael Cohen lied a lot in his depiction of the president as a racist and con artist during dramatic testimony before a House committee. Trump also assailed House Democrats for holding the Wednesday hearing as he was in Hanoi for his second face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Having a fake hearing like that and having it in the middle of a very important summit like this is sort of incredible, Trump told reporters at a news conference in Hanoi on Thursday, after his talks with Kim had ended without an agreement. Yet Trumps disparagement of his former lawyer, who had spent much of Wednesday laying out a litany of damning allegations against him, was somewhat subdued, and he even offered faint praise of Cohen at one point. The nationally televised hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee was the most dramatic public inquiry into Trumps personal and business affairs since Democrats won control of the House in the November election. He is a racist. He is a con man. He is a cheat, Cohen said of Trump. Republicans on the panel used every opportunity to attack the credibility of Cohen, who has pleaded guilty to nine felonies including lying to Congress and is scheduled to report to prison on May 6. Cohen touched on numerous instances that could raise legal risks for the president, including hush money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election and allegations that Trump overstated his net worth for loans, insurance and tax purposes. Cohen also said that he is in actively cooperating with U.S. prosecutors for the Southern District of New York about other cases involving Trump. Cohen also described a culture at the Trump Organization where employees were expected to lie. Everybodys job at the Trump Organization is to protect Mr. Trump, he said. Every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him on something. And that became the norm, and thats exactly whats happening right now in this country. Story continues Cohen also claimed he witnessed a July 2016 phone call where longtime adviser Roger Stone told Trump about WikiLeaks plans to release stolen Democratic emails. American intelligence agencies have found the hack was executed by Russia as part of an effort to hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and ultimately help Trump win the election. Cohen acknowledged he had no direct evidence of Trump colluding with Russia, a central question in Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe of Russian election interference. He said only: I have my suspicions. Trump said at the press conference in Hanoi that Cohen lied through most of his testimony but that he told the truth when he said he saw no collusion with Russia in the 2016 campaign. He lied a lot but he didnt lie about one thing, the president said. I was actually impressed that Cohen said there was no collusion. President Donald Trump defended North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on Thursday, saying that Kim was not at fault for the death of American student Otto Warmbier, who died in June 2017 after being returned to the U.S. in a coma from North Korean imprisonment. I really dont think it was in [Kims] interest at all, Trump said in a press conference on Thursday, adding that he did speak to the dictator about Warmbier. What happened is horrible. I really believe something very bad happened to him and I dont think that the top leadership knew about it. I dont believe that [Kim] would have allowed that to happen, Trump continued. It just wasnt to his advantage to allow that to happen. Those prisons are rough. Theyre rough places. And bad things happened. But I really dont believe that he was I dont believe he knew about it. He felt badly about it, the president added. He knew the case very well, but he knew it later. Youve got a lot of people. Big country, a lot of people. And in those prisons and those camps, you have a lot of people. And some really bad things happened to Otto, some really, really bad things. But [Kim] tells me he didnt know about it and I will take him at his word, Trump finished. The president was in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a summit with the North Korean dictator. Trump left Vietnam abruptly on Thursday after failing to make a deal with Kim regarding the countrys nuclear weapons program, CNN reported. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump RELATED VIDEO: Otto Warmbiers Parents Say He Was Howling, Jerking Violently After North Korea Release: They Destroyed Him Warmbier died on June 19, 2017 at age 22. The University of Virginia student who was a native of the Cincinnati, Ohio, area was sentenced to 15 years of prison and hard labor for allegedly stealing a political propaganda poster from his Pyongyang hotel. He was in North Korea with a tour group and was arrested on Jan. 2, 2016, while trying to board a plane back to the U.S. Story continues After being detained for more than 17 months, Warmbier was released to the U.S. on June 13, 2017, in a coma. He died days later. Otto Warmbier It would be easy at a moment like this to focus on all that we lost future time that wont be spent with a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and enthusiasm for life knew no bounds, a statement from Warmbiers parents read at the time. But we choose to focus on the time we were given to be with this remarkable person. You can tell from the outpouring of emotion from the communities that he touched that the love for Otto went well beyond his immediate family. RELATED: Everything to Know About Otto Warmbier, the U.S. College Student Who Was Imprisoned by North Korea At the time, President Trump said in a statement: Melania and I offer our deepest condolences to the family of Otto Warmbier on his untimely passing. There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ottos family and friends, and all who loved him. And in his 2018 State of the Union address, Trump condemned Kims regime while speaking to Warmbiers parents. You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength inspires us all, Trump said, according to CNN. Tonight, we pledge to honor Ottos memory with American resolve. We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and our allies, he said in the same speech. President Donald Trump received bipartisan praise from members of Congress for walking out of his summit with Kim Jong Un after the two couldnt reach a deal because of North Koreas refusal to give up its nuclear weapons program. President Trump did the right thing by walking away and not cutting a poor deal for the sake of a photo op, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was smart for Trump to meet Kim in Singapore and Vietnam to expose the North Korean delegation to the kind of economic prosperity that could be possible if he were to choose a new path. McConnell of Kentucky commended the president for walking away when a deal on denuclearization couldnt be reached. Kim Jong Un now has a long train ride home, and hell have time to reflect on the future that is still within North Koreas grasp, he said. The North Korean leader had offered to dismantle its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon in exchange for the U.S. dropping sanctions, but the U.S. presented Kim with evidence of additional secret nuclear sites, surprising the North Koreans, according to Trump. Inadequate Offer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters, Its good that the president did not give him anything for the little he was proposing. She added, diplomacy is important; we all support it, but that she had thought the prospects for an agreement were dim. Schumer said that just like the president, I want a deal with North Korea that would bring an end to the conflict and change the course of the region. However, Ive always been concerned about the possibility of a bad deal, especially with the other pressures currently on the president. The minority leader urged Trump to use the same strategy in trade talks with China: hold out because he has the upper hand, until we get China to do the right thing. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said on Twitter that talking is never a bad idea and If outcome is that both missile test moratorium and our sanctions continue, and we keep dialogue going, thats not a bad outcome. Story continues Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally, said in a statement, There is only one good deal: the complete denuclearization of North Korea in return for security guarantees and economic assistance. Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio said on Twitter, Thankfully @POTUS didnt fall for a deal involving meaningless #NorthKorea measures in exchange for meaningful U.S. concessions. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia agreed, saying, if theres no deal, youve got to walk away from the table. However, Pelosi, Kaine and other lawmakers criticized Trump for saying he takes Kim at his word that he wasnt aware of North Koreas imprisonment and torture of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who was detained for more than 17 months and died from injuries inflicted while in custody after he was returned to the U.S. Pelosi said it was strange for Trump to have made such a comment. She compared it to Trump believing Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies. Kaine said, I have no idea why this president continues to be the defense lawyer for dictators who do horrible things. HANOI, Vietnam (AP) The moment was meant to be a grand diplomatic triumph, a headline-dominating spectacle that could lead to the disarmament of a dangerous nation while delivering a vital political victory. Instead, President Donald Trump's high-stakes summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Wednesday was in danger of being upstaged by a monumental betrayal unfolding half a world away in Washington. Hours after Trump sat face-to-face with Kim in Vietnam, his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, sat before Congress and testified that his longtime boss was a "conman" and a "racist" who lied about having advanced knowledge of Wikileaks plans to release an opponent's stolen emails. The spectacle was proof the Trump presidency has not yet exhausted its ability to surprise. As the president staged a historic summit abroad, a former confidante delivered testimony, both detailed and taunting, that threatened to humiliate the president and undermine his foreign policy goals. The drama drew Trump's attention even amid sensitive denuclearization talks. Even before the hearing began, the president unleashed an attack on his former fixer, who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and campaign finance violations and has been sentenced to three years. In a tweet, Trump downplayed Cohen's influence and claimed he was "lying in order to reduce his prison time." Later, as he sat for a photo with Kim, Trump bristled at reporters' questions about Cohen. After the event, the White House took the extraordinary step of barring four U.S. reporters, including one from The Associated Press, from Trump's dinner with Kim, citing the "sensitivities" of the meeting. Democrats consider Cohen their star witness as they kick off investigations into Trump's business practices, presidential campaign and embattled charitable foundation, including any payments relating to efforts to influence the 2016 election. He was initially due on Capitol Hill earlier this month, but his appearance was delayed. The president's son Donald Jr. accused Democrats of timing the hearing to interfere with Trump's trip abroad. Story continues Cohen's testimony appeared designed to get under Trump's skin. Reading from his prepared remarks, Cohen said Trump instructed him to threaten schools that Trump attended to prevent release of his grades or SAT scores. Cohen also described discussing the Vietnam War with his former boss, who didn't serve because he received a medical deferment for bone spurs. But Cohen says Trump could not provide any medical records and said: "You think I'm stupid, I wasn't going to Vietnam." Added Cohen, addressing the president thousands of miles away: "I find it ironic, President Trump, that you are in Vietnam right now." The hearing began just before midnight in Hanoi. It was not clear whether Trump stayed up late to watch. The president did spend some of the downtime at his hotel before his dinner with Kim watching the coverage of Cohen's prepared testimony, which was released the evening before his Capitol Hill appearance. In the written testimony released in advance of the appearance, the president's former lawyer and fixer acknowledged he organized a cover up of potentially damaging allegations of infidelity, which Trump denies, and listened to Trump's racist remarks. Cohen claimed Trump was told by an associate, Roger Stone, that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's campaign and planned to release them. Trump has previously denied knowing anything about Stone's communications with WikiLeaks. Cohen's testimony on the very day Trump met with Kim is a particularly acute moment of domestic humiliation for a president engaged in foreign diplomacy, but it wasn't the first, said Princeton University history professor Julian Zelizer. Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, all endured trouble at home that hampered their foreign policy aims. Zelizer noted that Clinton ordered air strikes on Iraq in 1998 as an impeachment vote loomed in the House of Representatives. In that case, critics accused Clinton of staging a distraction a concern that has been raised regarding Trump's moves with North Korea. "The presidency doesn't stop, even when scandal hits," said Zelizer. "The one thing that's different is that he's tweeting. In '98 the president said, 'I'm focused on foreign policy,' and he tried to act presidential." Added Zelizer of Trump: "I think he is going to connect the stories himself." The president's two-day summit with Kim in Hanoi began with a highly choreographed greeting and photo-op, followed by a dinner, while the serious negotiating was set for Thursday. But Cohen shadow's reached across the Pacific, as Trump was asked at the summit by an Associated Press reporter if he had any response to Cohen's testimony. The president shook his head and scowled. And a short time later, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders approached the press and said that no reporters would be allowed into the dinner. That was an abrupt change from the initial plan issued by the White House, which had said that access would be granted to the usual 13-person group of reporters, known as the traveling press pool, who follow the president to every event. Hours after Trump's day ended, Cohen remained present. Several White House staffers, including chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, retired to the hotel lobby for a drink. But on the TVs behind them, Cohen's testimony beamed in from thousands of miles away. ___ Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Friday sought to quell a firestorm sparked by his comments on the case of an American student tortured and left in a coma in North Korea, saying his words had been "misinterpreted." Trump sparked widespread criticism when he told reporters at this week's summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam that he believed the North Korean leader's claim that he didn't know what happened to Otto Warmbier during his detention. The 22-year-old Warmbier died days after being sent back to the United States in 2017. After a stern rebuke from Warmbier's parents, Trump took to Twitter, insisting he held North Korea responsible for the student's death -- but without directly blaming Kim or even mentioning him. "I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family," Trump said. "Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death. "Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future." Earlier Friday, Warmbier's parents Fred and Cindy condemned the US leader's "lavish praise" of Kim this week following their summit in Hanoi. "We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out," they said in a statement. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity," they said. "No excuses or lavish praise can change that." In his response, Trump noted: "I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch." He concluded: "I love Otto and think of him often!" - Firestorm over Trump praise - Warmbier, an Ohio native who studied at the University of Virginia, had traveled to North Korea on a tour. Story continues He was pulled away at the Pyongyang airport and charged with crimes against the state for allegedly taking down a propaganda poster in his hotel. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. After lengthy negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, Warmbier was released but died a few days later on American soil. After the Hanoi summit, Trump said of Kim: "He knew the case very well, but he knew it later." Kim "tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word," Trump said. - 'Tortured beyond belief' - Washington politicians reminded the president that in 2017, he took credit for obtaining Warmbier's release. "Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea," Trump said at the time. That year, he also labelled Kim Jong Un a "madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people." Warmbier's parents were then invited to attend Trump's State of the Union address in Congress in January 2018 and were hailed as "incredible people" in his speech. In a tweet earlier Friday, before the Warmbier statement, Trump sought to put a good spin on his abortive nuclear talks with Kim. "Great to be back from Vietnam, an amazing place. We had very substantive negotiations with Kim Jong Un - we know what they want and they know what we must have. Relationship very good, lets see what happens!" After Warmbier's death, the US government supported his parents in a lawsuit against Pyongyang. On December 24, a US judge ordered North Korea to pay $501 million over Warmbier's death from apparent torture. A judge said that Warmbier had been used "as a pawn in that totalitarian state's global shenanigans and face-off with the United States." MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that he has spoken with the leaders of India and Pakistan amid tensions between the two countries and has urged them to avoid "any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk." India and Pakistan have struck each other with retaliatory airstrikes following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police officers in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14. Pompeo was speaking to reporters on his plane as he flew from Vietnam to the Philippines. (Reporting by Susan Heavey and David Brunnstrom; Writing by Makini Brice) Kiev (AFP) - With Ukraine's presidential election just weeks away, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Friday turned up the heat on a top rival accusing incumbent Petro Poroshenko's campaign of fraud. Tymoshenko told journalists at the interior ministry building in Kiev that she was providing "evidence, testimony, that today preparation for large-scale bribery and falsification is really taking place," "Today there is systemic bribery all over Ukraine," she said, accusing a pro-Poroshenko lawmaker of managing a structure that plans to "distribute money to people" in exchange for votes. Presidential polls are scheduled in Ukraine for March 31. Police confirmed to AFP that they have opened an investigation but said it is just one among "dozens" of probes into "election law violations" that could have been committed by various presidential candidates. It was not clear whether Tymoshenko on Friday submitted any specific facts against Poroshenko. Ukraine law permits the police to formally open a case based on a complaint. Poroshenko's re-election campaign "categorically" denied all allegations immediately. "There are no facts that would prove attempts by Poroshenko's team to bribe the voters," campaign spokesman Oleg Medvedev told reporters. Ukraine's SBU security service said last month it conducted over 30 searches as part of its election meddling investigation, without specifying the candidate in the probe. A lawmaker from Tymoshenko's party said members of her campaign were searched. Mutual accusations of bribery and fraud are common during national election campaigns in post-Soviet Ukraine. An opinion poll on the presidential race published by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology this week put Poroshenko in second place with 18 percent, while Tymoshenko came third with more than 13 percent. The current frontrunner is comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky, with more than 26 percent respondents saying they would vote for the 41-year-old. Washington (AFP) - The United States imposed sanctions Friday on six Venezuelan security officials for obstructing aid that Washington had tried to force in as part of its effort to support the country's opposition leader against President Nicolas Maduro. "We are sanctioning members of Maduro's security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The six include Major General Richard Jesus Lopez Vargas, the commander of the Venezuelan National Guard, and Jesus Maria Mantilla Oliveros, commander of a unit tasked by Maduro with reinforcing security on the Brazilian border, the Treasury Department said. The sanctions freeze any assets in the United States by the six security officials as well as US financial dealings with them. The United States, backed by Colombia and Brazil, last weekend tried to push badly needed aid into the crisis-torn country in coordination with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington has recognized as interim president. Venezuelan forces blocked the operation, fearing it was a precursor to an invasion as President Donald Trump has not ruled out the use of force to depose Maduro. Four people were killed in the ensuing melee and Guaido was stuck outside Venezuela, although he has vowed to return. "The United States strongly supports the efforts of Interim President Juan Guaido, and Treasury will continue to target Maduro loyalists prolonging the suffering of the victims of this man-made humanitarian crisis," Mnuchin said. Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a US and European-backed resolution at the United Nations that would have called for new presidential elections in Venezuela and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian aid. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, receiving Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow on Friday, said that Russia was stepping up shipments of wheat into Venezuela and was considering more shipments of medical supplies after sending 7.5 tonnes worth. Story continues "We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps in the international arena," Lavrov said. "This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs," he said. Guaido has said that 300,000 people could die without an influx of aid into Venezuela, where Maduro's leftist government presides over a crumbling economy in a crisis that according to the United Nations has caused 2.7 million people to flee since 2015. The Trump administration has rejected Maduro's appeals for direct talks, saying there is nothing to negotiate so long as he stays in power. (Updates throughout) NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co said on Wednesday that it entered preliminary settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission over previously disclosed probes into its sales practices. In an annual regulatory filing, the bank said it raised the maximum figure it could exceed its legal reserves by as much as $2.7 billion, an increase of $500 million since it last reported the number in November. The bank said it raised the figure, which is called a reasonable possible loss and is separate from the bank's legal reserves, because of several legal matters, including ones related to its sales practices. Wells Fargo has faced a long list of penalties related to a sales scandal beginning in 2015 which initially related to employees in the consumer bank opening millions of accounts in customers' names without their permission. It has since spread to other bank businesses, from mortgage banking to auto lending. To date the bank has paid out over $4 billion in settlements and fines related to the scandal and has faced probes from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Los Angeles city attorney and the New York attorney general. Lingering investigations by the SEC, the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor represent the largest open questions hanging over the bank's head. (Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sonya Hepinstall) By Alasdair Pal and James Mackenzie NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Indian military officials said on Thursday they welcomed Pakistan's planned return of a captured pilot, but refused to confirm they would de-escalate a conflict between the two nuclear powers. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan, became the human face of the flare-up over the contested region of Kashmir following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody. "We are happy our pilot is being released," said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, at a joint news conference of India's three armed forces on Thursday evening. He did not say when asked by reporters if India considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said the pilot would be released on Friday, to the relief of many Indians, even as his military reported that four Pakistani civilians had been killed by India firing across the disputed border in Kashmir. "As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow," Khan told Pakistan's parliament on Thursday afternoon. Lawmakers thumped their desks in response. "We will celebrate his release tomorrow," said Vinay Bhardwaj, 34, a plumber in Nawshera, a border town in Indian-controlled Kashmir. "People are very happy about that here." The United States, China, European Union and other powers have urged restraint from the two nations, as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14. The Muslim-majority Himalayan region has been at the heart of more than 70 years of animosity, since the partition of the British colony of India into the separate countries of Muslim Pakistan and majority Hindu India. It is divided between India, which rules the Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which controls a wedge of territory in the west, and China, which holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north. On Tuesday, India said it hit a training camp for a Pakistan-based group who claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, and a senior government source told reporters that 300 militants had been killed. Pakistan denies this, saying the attack was a failure and no one died, with bombs dropped on a largely empty hillside. It denies any militant camp was in the area. Local people said they had seen no sign of major casualties or significant damage, with only one man known to have been slightly hurt by the bombs. Asked about the damage caused by Indian warplanes in Tuesday's air strike, Kapoor said it was premature to provide details about casualties. But they said they had "credible" evidence of the damage inflicted on the camp by the air strikes. "Whatever we intended to destroy, we did," he said. INTERNATIONAL CONCERN Tuesday's escalation marked the latest deterioration in relations between the two countries. As recently as November, Khan had spoken of "mending ties" with India. Khan's decision to release the pilot came after several countries offered diplomatic assistance to mediate between two countries, that have gone to war three times since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after Khan's announcement that he had spoken to the leaders of both countries and urged them to avoid "any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk". Earlier, U.S. President Trump said he expected "reasonably decent news" regarding the conflict between India and Pakistan, adding that the United States was trying to mediate. "They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop," Trump said in Hanoi, where he was attending a summit with North Korea's leader. "We have been in the middle trying to help them both out." Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also offered to facilitate talks between the two sides. Khan's office said the prime minister had spoken to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan and that both had appreciated his willingness to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Khan has already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a "miscalculation" between their militaries. Earlier on Thursday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies. "The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn't do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us," he said, in his first remarks since the downing of planes on Wednesday. The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, spoke by telephone with Pakistan's foreign minister and expressed "deep concern". The United States, Britain and France proposed the United Nations Security Council blacklist Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group that claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack. China is likely to be oppose the move. As a precaution amid the increased military activity, Pakistan has shut its airspace, forcing commercial airlines to reroute. Thai Airways International announced on Thursday that it had canceled flights to Pakistan and Europe, which left thousands of passengers stranded in Bangkok. FIRING CONTINUES Both countries said they downed enemy jets on Wednesday, though each disputed the claims of the other side, and each accused the other of breaching cease fire agreements. Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire along the contested border in Kashmir on at least three occasions on Thursday, with the firing instigated by Pakistan every time, according to New Delhi. Pakistan said the ceasefire violations were by India. Pakistan's military said four civilians had been killed and two wounded in what it called a "deliberate" attack by India during the past 48 hours. A civilian on the Indian side of the border was killed in the firing on Thursday, an Indian official said. Troops from India and Pakistan first exchanged fire on Thursday in the Poonch district for over an hour at 6 a.m., according to a statement from the Indian army. Pakistan said the firing began overnight. Aijaz Ahmad, a resident in the Indian-controlled portion of the district, said he could hear heavy firing on Thursday afternoon. "Loud sounds of mortar shells are being heard from a distance. Shops ... are open but there is a lot of tension," he said. India is building more than 14,000 bunkers for families in Jammu and Kashmir state living close to the border, hoping to keep them safe near their homes rather than evacuate them. With a general election due in India by May, a surge in nationalism from any conflict with Pakistan could become a key factor, potentially favoring Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "This has brought a pro-Modi wave all through the country," B.S. Yeddyurappa, a BJP leader in the southern state of Karnataka, told reporters. "The effect of this will be seen in the elections." (This story has been refiled to fix typo in headline, no change to text) (Reporting by Alasdair Pal, James Mackenzie, Fayaz Bukhari, Drazen Jorgic, Aditya Kalra, Krishna Das, Asif Shahzad, Saad Sayeed, Sanjeev Miglani, Neha Dasgupta and Abu Arqam Naqash; additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Michelle Nicholls; Editing by Michael Perry, Simon Cameron-Moore and Alison Williams) You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Senator Ben Bruce has said that it is not over for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, after it lost the 2019 presidential election. The PDP would have a quick return to power after losing it, in 2019 to the then opposition party, All Progressives Congress, APC. However, things didnt go as planned for the opposition party, who would have to continue to play opposition for the next four years. Ben Bruce in his response to those who may think that PDP has finally lost it chance to ever control Nigeria, said only those with no understanding, will think so. Bruce, who will not be returning to the 9th senate, after he voluntarily stepped down to honour a rotational agreement in my zone, though power is sweet, it is not to the point that one cant walk away from it. His words: Power is sweet. But not so sweet that one cant do without it of walk away from it. I walked away from it. I voluntarily stepped down to honour a rotational agreement in my zone. I am saying this because those who think the PDP is finished do not understand power. 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. Israeli and Palestinians students recently participated in the largest-ever congress to negotiate trust-building measures and solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at Haifa Universitys Leon Charney Resolution Center. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The congressheld in cooperation with the university and a non-governmental organization called Minds of Peaceunited 100 university students and 50 high school pupils from all over Israel and the West Bank. sraeli and Palestinian students engage in mock peace talks at Haifa University The Palestinian negotiators were required to obtain permits and pass through security checkpoints to attend the event. Alaa Amro, a 23-year-old university student from Hebron, told The Media Line that for her getting to Haifa was difficult. Considering my age, I have only two ways of getting a permit: either for medical reasons and (through work) with NGOs, she said, explaining that it took five years to get the permission via the latter path. To kick off the event, students formed smaller units which engaged in round-table discussions. At the end of the conference, each group was required to present two agreements, after hashing out their differences beforehand. One ground rule for the negotiations included a prohibition on entering into historical debate about the origins of the conflict or contentious issues of the past, as the focus was on improving present conditions. The stated point of the congress is to motivate political leaders on both sides of the divide to engage in peacemaking efforts with an eye on practical results. Tzili Charney founded the center in her husbands honor. The late Leon Charney was a prominent lawyer who helped forge the 1978-79 Camp David Peace Accords. It is obvious that we want to create a platform for the two sides to discuss, maintain dialogue, come up with ideas and try to bring not even solutions, but an understanding, she said. I dont know that Israelis are really aware of the tough everyday life of the Palestinian side, and I dont know also that Palestinians know how different it is for the Israelis, or how much they want to know. I think the younger the participants are the easier it is to work with both sides. They have less fixed ideas and are less emotionally loaded, Charney added. It will be interesting to speak with the same kids when they grow older and see where they go with their opinions, and if they close in or open up, she said. When asked what has failed and what could potentially broker a peace agreement, Amro, the student from Hebron, mentioned the Palestinian intifadas or uprisings and previous peace deals, particularly the Olso Accords, which she contends have not resolved anything. Once we both agree that you got to live peacefullyeither in two separated nationalities or in one countrythis peace could be the only solution for this conflict, she said. Once we raise awareness on both sides of a culture against violence, the awareness of trust building between two peoples, which is done through education can we then facilitate the bigger issues, Amro added. Commenting on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement which seeks to apply economic pressure on Israel toward a peace agreement, she said support for it is widespread in her community. But in her view BDS is not working. We (Palestinians) are coming here, in Israel, to work, which is also something that we dont have to deny somehow. So, we are still using the things that have been produced in Israel. Siyona Adranly, a 15-year-old Israeli Arab from Jerusalem, said that her experience at the event was revelatory. The Israeli responses to questions was particularly surprising, she said. I always thought that Arabs were the only ones who lived in fear, but it makes sense that Israelis also live in fear because now they often expect to be hated. Adranly believes that what could bring about peace is more understanding, communication and more gatherings like this one. Yoav Bushmits, 16, a student from Binyamina, related about a strange fact he learned at the event. Palestinians see and are educated to regard Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel, not Jerusalem. This was a shock for me, he said. He spoke about a heated dispute that took place at his round-table discussion. The disagreement was basically nothing. It was a misunderstanding between the two sides. It started with the Palestinians saying they should have human rights after someone accidentally said they shouldnt have these rights. Furthermore, Bushmits added, there was also a lot of talk about the Gaza Strip and what should be done with it, but others were adamant that there should be separate solutions for the coastal enclave and the West Bank. Dr. Sapir Hadelman, who facilitated negotiations and founded Minds of Peace, told The Media Line that usually in past congresses Israelis and Palestinians are all the time reaching peace agreements. But during this conference, he added, there was one table that couldnt. I am sure that if we had more days, we could do so. Nevertheless, he added, these events are important because they involve people and press policymakers. Because if we are going to wait for the leadership it is not going to work, he said. Leon Charney When asked about the difficulty of avoiding historical debate, he responded that there is an Israeli and Palestinian narrative that cannot be easily bridged. The potential for disagreement in this regard would therefore be endless. For example, you can talk about the (Palestinian) refugees as a problem that has to be solved instead of fighting over if we (Israelis) deported them or they ran away. You cannot find a solution to this. So, try to focus on a problem and try to solve it. Prof. Ron Robin, president of the Haifa University, told The Media Line that he found something unexpected about the congress. And that is the level of depth that students who know not that much about the past are able to bring to this type of conversation. It has been quite amazing to see how sophisticated some of these conversations have been given the fact that most people here were born after the most traumatic events relating to the conflict, he said. Prof. Robin took a slightly contrasting line from Dr. Hadelman when it comes to historical debate. You may know that Im a historian by trade and so I find that type of directive a little bit problematic personally. I can see why that came out because the historical facts are not known by everyone and we are looking toward the future, not the past. Shortly after the attorney general published his recommendations to indict Benjamin Netanyahu for fraud, bribery and breach of trust , most of the prime minister's coalition partners issued messages of support that were consistent in their theme. Not only did these parties back Netanyahu, but after the April 9 elections, they would recommend to the president that he be the one to form the next government. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The only exception was Kulanu, an offshoot of Netanyahu's Likud led by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, which at the time of writing had yet to issue a statement. Senior officials in Likud said the fact that the legal process is being conducted during the election campaign has led Netanyahu to strategize every move and every quote made to the media, with the main goal being to prevent the leak of votes from the right-wing bloc. Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Reuters) Netanyahu also made a point of repeating the messages already heard in the campaign, and stood in front of an election poster with the slogan "Netanyahu, a strong right." A senior Likud official told Ynet that, "Netanyahu is mainly concerned with ending this campaign with an election victory, and besides that he is working on how to form the next coalition. He understands that there is plenty of time until the (pre-indictment) hearing, but the clock is already ticking until the polls open." The right wing parties realize that their electorate expects them to support the prime minister and have already begun to toe the party line. "As we have said from the start, the prime minister has a presumption of innocence like any other citizen in the country," said Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett's New Right party. "We respect the attorney general's decision, but as the attorney general said in his own words that he will come to the hearing with 'an open heart and a willing soul,' so will we wait for the end of the hearing." Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu, was also quick to declare that his party would have no problem sitting with Netanyahu in the next coalition. "In the State of Israel, the only body authorized to determine whether a person is guilty or acquitted is the court," Lieberman said. "The presumption of innocence is reserved for every person, including the prime minister. Filing an indictment subject to a hearing is not a final judgment. Therefore, as far as we are concerned, the prime minister is entitled to run in the Knesset elections like any other candidate." Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) The ultra-Orthodox parties also repeated the messages of the past few days. Shas has made it clear that there is no other candidate it supports but Netanyahu, and not only will they recommend him to the president but also back him during his term of office, for as long as the law permits it. In United Torah Judaism, too, the message was similar: "We support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who enjoys the presumption of innocence, and as long as the law allows, we will continue to support him, especially during this sensitive period." Nonetheless, political sources believe that due to the legal complications he now faces, Netanyahu will find the task of forming a government more onerous, and it is possible that in view of his demands of loyalty, he will be expected to pay a higher price next time, if he does indeed find himself in that position. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasted Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, after Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit recommended charging the prime minister, pending a hearing, in three corruption cases. "First embracing right-wing extremism. Now manipulating a free press, accepting bribes, and trading government favors. The allegations against Prime Minister Netanyahu are serious and cut to the heart of a functioning democracy. "Corruption threatens democracy," she tweeted. Vanguard Following heightened fears and possible attack on non-indigenes in Lagos, All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and a chieftain of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Musiliu Ayinde Akinsanya, popularly called MC Oluomo, yesterday, met with the leadership of Igbo at different fora to assure them of safety in the state. Thisday The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has said the ruling party is looking forward to meeting the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in court over the outcome of last Saturdays presidential election won by its candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari. The Sun Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has boasted that his closest rival in the just concluded Imo west senatorial election, Jones Onyeriri of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), is never his match for the contest. Daily Times The National Chairman, Sustainable National Party (SNP), Kayode Michael Arimoro, has called for optical mark reading machines in place of the smart card readers adopted for the 2019 general elections. Leadership As part of activities to checkmate the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the country, the federal government said it has concluded plans to commence free registration of migrants residing in the country. Daily Trust The National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Africas richest man Aliko Dangote have congratulated Governor Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State. The Nation The legal team of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council yesterday told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, that it is fully prepared to defend the Presidents victory in court. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority said airspace closed this week amid tensions with neighboring India would reopen for commercial flights from 4 pm local time (1100 GMT) on Friday. "We have got instructions that Pakistan is going to reopen airspace for all commercial flights," a CAA spokeswoman said. "Flight operations are due to start from 4 pm today." Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, mixing calls for combating climate change and highlights of his liberal record with an aggressive critique of President Donald Trump. The 68-year-old governor is launching his bid Friday in Seattle, following recent visits to the first primary state of New Hampshire and the early caucus state of Nevada. "We went to the moon and created technologies that have changed the world -- our country's next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change," Inslee says in a video announcement ahead of a public announcement later Friday in Seattle. Yuval Kahan, the former principal of the Bnei Zion pre-military academy, who will be charged with manslaughter after ten teenagers were killed in a flash flood during a trip organized by his school in April, 2018 expressed his support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday called for Netanyahu to face charges in all three of the open corruption investigations into his activities. "I heard Netanyahu's speech after (the attorney general released his recommendations). In the past, his speech would have less influence on me. Today I felt a little bit of sympathy (for Netanyahu). We've become a bunch of executioners," he wrote on Facebook. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mocked US President Donald Trump on Friday over the collapse of a summit on North Korean denuclearisation, vowing Washington would not get a better Iran nuclear deal than the one it exited last year. A second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed on Thursday over sanctions, and the two sides gave conflicting accounts of exactly what happened, raising questions about the future of their denuclearization talks. "President Trump should've now realized that pageantries, photo-ops & flip-flops don't make for serious diplomacy," Zarif said on Twitter. By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] Hurley Former Hurley mayor Joe Pinardi is facing charges in Iron County Court in connection to an existing case involving former fire chief Darrell Petrusha. Pinardi, 69, is charged with being a party to the crime of unauthorized use of an entitys identifying information or documents, misdemeanor false swearing and obstructing an officer. The first is a felony, while the other two counts are misdemeanors. The charges primarily stem from statements Pinardi allegedly made regarding Petrushas case, according to the criminal complaint filed Monday. Pinardi declined to comment beyond saying he was innocent of the charges Thursday, citing the ongoing legal case. Petrusha is charged with one count of unauthorized use of an entitys identifying information or documents. Both cases center on a Hurley Fire Department credit card, which Petrusha allegedly used for personal purchases between 2013 and 2016 while he was fire chief. The department decided to get the card in March 2007, according to court documents, to make it easier to obtain hotels rooms when traveling for department business. At the time, there was no city or internal policy regarding credit cards, according to Mondays complaint. The city council did not approve the receipt of the credit card, nor were they required to do so, the complaint reads. According to the complaint, both Petrusha and Pinardi used their Social Security numbers to apply for the cards. The complaint alleges the city of Hurleys Employee Identification Number was used when applying as the department didnt have its own. Hurley Clerk Stacey Wiercinski learned of the card in January 2018, according to the complaint, when she tried to obtain a card for the police department and was denied because the fire department card had a delinquent balance of $7,800. This led to the Wisconsin Department of Justice-Division of Criminal Investigation opening an investigation in March 2018. According to the complaint, Pinardi spoke with city attorney Bill Nordean about Petrushas debt in February 2018 and he said Nordean indicated he did not think it was a crime for Petrusha to use the city credit card for personal purchases, but thought Petrusha should pay what he owed. Potentially complicating the issue of repayment, according to the complaint, was Pinardis 2016 bankruptcy. According to the complaint, Wiercinski learned the debt was discharged during the proceedings as it was associated with Pinardis Social Security number. Pinardi said the card had to be reactivated for the debt to be paid, according to the complaint, but the bankruptcy proceedings prevented its reactivation. As part of the investigation, Special Agent Loreen Glaman interviewed Pinardi on March 29 and March 30. According to the complaint, Pinardi told Glaman he didnt know Petrusha had been using the card for personal purchases until January 2018. Pinardi said he didnt talk with Petrusha about using it for personal purchasing, neither giving him permission or telling him not to use it for that purpose. Pinardi told Special Agent Glaman that he didnt think it was a problem for Petrusha to use the card for personal purchases and make payments on the purchases, the complaint reads. The complaint alleges Pinardi later said Petrusha told him several years ago he was using the card for personal items and would make the payments. The complaint also alleges Pinardi swore in a July 2018 affidavit that he, on advice of his bankruptcy attorney, listed the credit card debt in the proceedings as the card had been issued to him personally. The complaint alleges Glaman didnt find the debt among those listed in the proceedings and Pinardi indicated he had no codebitors. In Petrushas case, Judge Patrick Madden rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charge against him for lack of probable cause at a hearing Monday. Along with the criminal cases, the credit card usage is at the center of a lawsuit Pinardi and Petrusha filed against the city of Hurley and U.S. Bancorp several weeks ago. The lawsuit contends Pinardi obtained the business credit card through Gogebic Range Bank, an institution the city wasnt authorized to conduct business with. The bank was selected because one of the firefighters, Mike Sejbl, worked there. Pursuant to (state law), it would have been a violation of Wisconsin law for the city to have an account with the GR Bank because the GR Bank was located in Michigan and the GR Bank did not have a branch office in Wisconsin, the lawsuit reads. Also, in 2007, the city had not designated GR Bank as the citys depository or the financial institution it did business with, or that otherwise handled the citys business financial accounts. The banks credit card business was later acquired by Elan Financial Services, according to the lawsuit, a division of U.S. Bank National Association a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp. Both Petrusha and Pinardi had cards with their respective names and Hurley Fire Department on them, according to the suit, and Pinardi was listed as the account holder with both listed as authorized users. The lawsuit claims Petrusha or Pinardi were acting in a personal, rather than professional, capacity when obtaining the cards. The suit asks the court to find Pinardi the sole account holder and the city of Hurley wasnt an account holder. It continues that, if Pinardi is the sole account holder, Then there is no basis to claim that Petrusha engaged in unauthorized use of the citys identifying information as alleged in (the criminal case) because the city is not the holder on that account. Iron County District Attorney Matt Tingstad said even if Pinardi, who is chairman of the Iron County Board of Supervisors, and Petrusha win their lawsuit, the criminal cases can continue, in part because, there are different burdens of proof in criminal and civil cases. Pinardi is scheduled to next appear in court March 25, according to court records, while Petrushas next scheduled appearance is March 26. No future court date has been set in the civil case. By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD Downtown businesses are preparing for a Craft Your North theme to celebrate Ironwoods First Friday event this evening. Manager of Contrast Coffee Co. Becky Bogaczyk, said the shop will offer their signature hand crafted Sisu drinks from 5 to 7 p.m. The store will also have a pop-up shop offering crafts and home decor items. We are just really excited for this First Friday because it is Craft Your North and we are a coffee crafting shop, she said. It should be fun. Other downtown business are participating in the event... Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has threatened to go to court, to contest the outcome of the February 23rd, elections. Atiku,who has described the outcome of the presidential election as the worst in the history of the country, gave some reasons why he believes his mandate was stolen by the incumbent president. According to Atiku, one of his main reasons being the high turnout of voters in states ravaged by insecurity. Atiku queried why election winner, President Muhammadu Buhari will score high votes in states like Yobe and Borno, were security challenge is the order of the day, than in states like Lagos and Kano, which enjoy relative peace. Meanwhile, prior to the election, the former vice president had taken to Twitter on February 6th, to thank Borno people for coming out an masse for his campaign in his state, despite security challenge. Thank you Borno State. Despite the security challenges, you came out to support PDP. On February 16, a vote for PDP is a vote for a more effective strategy against Boko Haram and better life for all residents of Borno State. Come out, vote and protect your vote. #PDPBornoRally pic.twitter.com/5k22m36byb Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 6, 2019 Nigerians are wondering, why Atiku thinks Borno people can beat security challenges to attend campaign rallies but cant do so, to vote on election day. Living Section Wellton, Arizona - Have you read a good book lately that other readers might enjoy? On Friday, March 8th, the Wellton Library will host Book Sharing at 10:00 a.m. Bring a favorite book (or at least the title and author) and be ready to share a brief review. Youll also get the chance to hear recommendations from other readers. There is no charge to attend. The Wellton Library is located at 28790 San Jose Avenue in Wellton, AZ. For more information, call (928) 785-9575. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - Last night, just before 11:30 pm an apartment was reported to be on fire in the 2800 block of South 1st Avenue. Arriving Yuma Fire Department personnel found smoke coming from the roof of an apartment at 2830 South 1st Avenue. The apartment was one of a group of four connected apartments at that address. Flames were seen coming from a bathroom and it was found that the fire had already spread into the attic area. Firefighters were able to contain and extinguish the fire before it could spread from the attic areas already burning and into the living spaces of the other apartments. The fire was found to have originated in the area of the bathroom exhaust/ventilation fan and spread from there into the attic area, dropping burning debris into the bathroom. Fire damage in the living spaces of the apartment was contained to the bathroom but significant damage was done to the attic areas of this and an adjoining apartment. All residents were able to safely evacuate and there were no injuries. Power to all 4 apartments was shut down and the American Red Cross was called to assist two families with lodging. This was the second bathroom fan fire yesterday. Fortunately in the earlier fire it was discovered early and damage was just to the immediate area of the fan. Bathroom exhaust/ventilation fans are a common cause of residential fires. Ensure your exhaust/ventilation fans are cleaned frequently to avoid lint buildup, and always remember to turn the switch off when you leave the bathroom, with continuous long term use a fan can overheat. If your fan is showing signs of malfunction (for example, unusual noises like buzzing or humming, inconsistent operation, or fails to turn on), turn it off and do not turn back on until it can be repaired or replaced. Today More clouds than sun. High 73F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Mostly cloudy. Low 56F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 73F. Winds light and variable. Governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha has said that Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has big plans to destroy the party. This was in reaction to his suspension by the national working committee (NWC) of the party on Friday. Okorocha was suspended alongside his Ogun state counterpart, Ibikunle Amosun, after being of anti-party activities. It is common knowledge that the governors though formally in the ruling party, are backing candidates of other parties for the March 9, governorship election. In a statement on his suspension on Friday, signed by Sam Onwuemeodo, his spokesman, the Imo state governor said: Adams Oshiomhole was determined right from the outset to destroy APC in the south-east and unknown to party chieftains from the zone who had genuinely supported his chairmanship. He is playing the politics of 2023 in 2019 and in playing it he has thrown caution to the wind. In all the south-east states, there are crises and all arising from the fraudulent manner he conducted the primaries. In 2015, Governor Okorocha had joined the merger that gave birth to APC at the risk of his second tenure and was called all sorts of unprintable names. Yet, he won the governorship election, delivered 24 out of the 27 members of the House of Assembly for APC, two House of Representatives members and one Senator. In 2019, Oshiomhole felt that such a man should be treated with disdain. He handed over the governorship ticket of the Party to Hope Uzodinma who has never resigned his membership of the PDP on the floor of the Senate like others did and giving all kinds of flimsy excuses. And if Oshiomhole had meant well for APC and Imo people in particular, would he have given the ticket of the Party to a man facing five corruption charges and having travel ban slammed on him, to be the partys Candidate? In the February 23, 2019 Presidential and National Assembly election, Governor Okorocha won in ten, out of the twelve local government areas in Orlu zone to emerge winner for Imo West Senatorial District, he said. He also delivered four House of Representatives Candidates on the platforms of APC and AA respectively, with one Senate Seat and two House of Representatives Seats outstanding. And when the APC members across the nation are still celebrating the success of the party in the Presidential and National Assembly elections, Oshiomhole in his wisdom or lack of it, felt that the best action in the circumstance was to suspend two governors who did well in the election, even when he played safe in 2015 and 2019 in Edo State without any known pressure. Again, Oshiomhole coming with the purported expulsion this time was only acting out of the fear that God in his infinite Mercy could give Governor Okorocha a role to play in the Senate, in the overall interest of the nation. The truth is that Oshiomhole is only labouring in vain to play his own part of the deal that warranted his giving out the tickets of the party to non-deserving elements like in the case of Imo. Finally, APC especially in the Southeast and in Imo in particular will outlive Oshiomhole. Outlook 2019 As part of our 2019 Outlooks series, we take a forward look at Global Sovereigns. Common themes that have driven sovereign ratings in the last few years will dominate again in 2019. New Delhi: The United States asked the world community to act against UN-designated Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and its leadership immediately. It further added that America will cut resources to the group. JeM has claimed the responsibility behind suicide bombing attack in Pulwama on February 14 that killed over 40 jawans. JeM is also responsible for Indian Parliament attack in 2001, Pathankot and Uri terror attack in 2016. "We call on other countries to follow our lead and we call on the international community as a whole to follow our lead in designating the organisation and its leadership," said US State dept's Coordinator for Counterterrorism Nathan A. Sales in a reply to a question. The US has already designated JeM and its leadership under its domestic laws. "US has designated JeM and its leadership...to cut of the flow of money and deprive them of the resources they need to commit attack like the one we witnessed a couple of weeks ago," added Sales. Urging the world community to "amplify those unilateral efforts", US is "taking under our own laws with multilateral efforts." The US, France and UK on Thursday proposed to list JeM Chief Masood Azhar under the 1267 committee of the United Nations Security Council. India has been proposing listing of Azhar since 2016. However, China continues to oppose this move and previously prevented the Security Council`s Islamic State and al Qaeda sanctions committee from sanctioning JeM leader Masood Azhar in 2016 and 2017. Meanwhile, Pakistani foreign minister SM Qureshi speaking to a western media outlet earlier today said Azhar is in Pakistan but very unwell. Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Eliot L. Engel said Washington "remain extremely concerned about ongoing Pakistani support for terrorist groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammad" and "to avoid the kind of miscalculation Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan rightly fears, Pakistani leaders must take demonstrable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and the terrorist infrastructure on Pakistans soil." U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner and John Cornyn co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate India Caucus also reacted and said, "For too long Pakistan has harbored terrorist groups that have threatened stability in Asia and around the world." The doves are at it again. They want to talk peace. Social Media and other media are full of discussions propagating the idea of talking peace. They are aggressively lobbying for peace initiatives. At whose behest? The nation seeks an answer. All too familiar Let us get one thing clear. It appears a familiar ploy. One of our brave Indian Air Force personnel, in the process of retaliating and repulsing the intrusion into Indian air space by the Pakistani Air Force, landed himself in Pakistani territory. He was caught by the Pakistani forces. The design appeared to be familiar. The Pakistani establishment wanted him to be used as a candy to negotiate peace. But Indian diplomatic efforts and an unrelenting Indian government forced Pakistan to accept the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. They were constrained by aggressive Indian effort both diplomatically and strategically. Nationalist family fails peaceniks When he was in the custody of Pakistan, the doves started their efforts with hashtags and other campaign that said "give peace a chance" and so on and so forth. They were posturing as if they were pursuing the welfare of the Wing Commander. But in this case they failed to assess one thing. This Wing Commander hailed from a family of illustrious officers of the defence forces. His father is a retired Air Marshal. Reportedly, his spouse also is said to be a retired Squadron Leader. His own upbringing had been so geared to become illustrious in the defence forces, having gone to Sainik School, etc. Hence, these peaceniks got their first shock. The family will not will play into their evil plan of talking peace. Hence, the peaceniks failed to create a situation a la IC-814 or Rubiyaa Saeed. The family knew two things, given their background. Firstly, it takes a lot of effort to reach the position of strategic advantage in which the nation found itself. Secondly, the very day their family members sign in to sign the defence forces, this type of situation is one of the possibilities. Hence, it must have been frustrating to Pakistan and their peacenik agents in India to leverage the situation to talk peace. The efforts behind the return of Abhinandan In the meanwhile, the unexpected happened as far as these peaceniks are concerned. So far, a diplomatic corps presented to the country wrongly as a weak one, was given a free hand to counter this campaign for peace. Here it is appropriate to state that the diplomatic corps or defence forces are only as good as they are allowed to be in an democratic, Westminsterial environment, as the decisive call vests with the political leadership in power. The political leadership was clear. They had the national interest in mind. They allowed these two vital organisations to handle the situation in a professional manner. Now, we see the result. Pakistan is forced to accept the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan. It is a great success. But Pakistan would not credit you with this. They made a grandstanding virtue of this situation by saying that they are releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan to ensure larger peace in the region. There could no bigger lie than this in recent times. I would like to take you to certain events on record which will betray the pattern of Pakistan wherein peace talks means more attacks. Bleeding during currency of peace talks Whenever talks or a summit or any such endeavour is in progress, Pakistan bleeds us. This is etched in history. Presently, while the grandstanding in favour of peace is going on, there are repeated ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC) as well as International Border with Pakistan. There are currently several instances of air space violations going on. Surely, this is the biggest giveaway of the current set of lies. But history has also been witness to more such instances. Recall the case of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. It is a matter of record that the Indian internal security establishment had gone to talk peace in Islamabad. The agenda for the talks were counterterrorism and anti-drug trafficking. By deceit, the talks which were scheduled for 25/11/2008 were left with an unfinished agenda and taken over to the next day. What happened on 26/11 is there for everyone to see. But what is more salient is that internal security leadership was stuck in Pakistan, in a place near Islamabad known as Murree, which at the extant time had little in terms of network services. Now, I recall another instance for these peaceniks. At the peace talks held on counterterrorism and anti-drug trafficking on May 30-31, 2006, in Islamabad, the Indian delegation was to return on June 1. But before that there was an attack on the RSS headquarters in Nagpur. Besides these two instances, when talks were hosted by the Indian government in New Delhi, in the first week of July 2007, the delegation, which was not keen on any serious talks, went back early with the agenda left unfinished, citing the Lal Masjid attack in Islamabad as a ruse. Attempted after 26/11 also Now, to those who wanted to use the custody of Abhinandan as a ruse for peace talks. Let it be brought before the public that even in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks, such a situation was sought to be created. I have explained in my book as to how the Indian Navy could have averted this attack, but due to lack of political will, they couldn't. Rely on P Chidambaram's statement in Lok Sabha December 11, 2008. But a situation like Abhinandan was also sought to be created. I was on the chopping board. There was an attempt to kidnap this writer to trade off with Ajmal Kasab. I have detailed it with evidence in my book. It failed. But, I know for one thing, had this succeeded my parents and my wife would have surely put the nation above my life, although there is not much of a defence background in my family. Integrity of these peaceniks Now, the integrity of the these peaceniks. There are certain important facts which need to be exposed. Perhaps people may know of a former Constitutional dignitary (second citizen of India) or a former Cabinet Minister hosting a former Pakistani Foreign Minister, in which a former Prime Minister was a participant. However, these faces are known as peaceniks who speak Pakistan's language. There are lawyers and media persons who have remained anonymous. But it is time expose them. Constrained counter ops after 26/11 Even as 26/11 unfolded, we know that a certain TV channel aired the counter-operations live, which was being watched by Pakistani handlers in Karachi, who give instructions recalibrating the terrorists over Thrurya sat phones. Besides, there are film personalities whose family members assisted David Coleman Headley, and these people still talk of peace. Not much may be known that there were executives from finance and shipping industry in Mumbai also. Helped conspirators in other ways Please corroborate the records. There were people from the shipping industry with whom Headley had consulted to learn about the ecosystem of the Indian west coast, about congestion, time of least congestion, lead time and several other non-navigational contours. Similarly, people in financial institutions had also enabled him to move the finances seamless by their advice. These people might have tendered their advice nonchalantly, without any idea of the intent of the listener. Hence, it is important that we do not impute motives to them and believe they are innocent. But what is disturbing is that from persons from the same fraternity later join the peaceniks and vociferously bat for peace talks in this situation, constrains use to think otherwise. It is a different matter that they joined political parties in the later stage of their lives and are pioneering this peace. Is it a betrayal of sorts. A thorough investigation would help us reach a conclusion. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) New Delhi: The 'King of Monologues' Kartik Aaryan is all set to entertain us yet again in an Imtiaz Ali film. The hunk of an actor confirmed the same to Mumbai Mirror and said, Yes, I am doing Imtiaz sirs next film. He is one of my favourite filmmakers and I have always wanted to work with him. I am glad its finally happening. Now that's something to chew upon for all the Kartik fans out there. Furthermore, Mirror reports that the film is the sequel to 2009 super-hit 'Love Aaj Kal' and that the female lead will be played by none other than, Sara Ali Khan. Actor Randeep Hooda is also a part of the film, the report suggests. A Source informed Mirror that the film is going on floors soon and will be shot largely in Delhi and Punjab. Fans have been wanting to see Sara and Kartik star in a film together ever since the former expressed her fondness for the latter in Karan Johar's famous chat show. Earlier, it was being said that Sara's father, Saif Ali Khan will be playing a pivotal role in the film but the actor refuted these rumours. Excited to see Sara and Kartik share screen space? We are as well! New Delhi: The Union Cabinet has cleared an FDI proposal of telecom giant Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) ahead of its proposed up to Rs 25,000 crore rights issue. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the FDI Proposalfor Foreign Direct Investment of more than Rs 5000 crore and up to Rs 25000 crore in M/s Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) as part of a proposed equity fund raise by way of a Rights issue of equity shares and/or other equity linked securities to eligible shareholders of the company, an official release said. It also approved to take on record the proposed changes in the indirect foreign investment in the subsidiaries of VIL, which will take place on account of non-residents subscribing to the equity shares in the Fund Raise. British telecom major Vodafone holds 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group controls 26 percent and Idea shareholders own 28.9 percent. The approval will also result in the change in the indirect foreign investment in the subsidiaries of VIL which will take place on account of non-residents subscribing to the equity shares in the Fund Raise. Last month, the board of directors of VIL had approved Rs 25,000 crore fundraising plan by way of rights issue to the existing eligible equity shareholders. FDI up to 100 percent is allowed in Telecom Services Sector wherein 49 percent under automatic route and beyond 49 percent through government route subject to observance of licensing and security conditions by the licensee as well as investors as notified by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) from time to time. Further, the 100 percent FDI has been approved in the Company. However, in consideration of the extant FDI Policy and procedure, it is necessary to take the Government approval for FDI beyond Rs. 5000 crore even if there is no change in the percentage of foreign/ NRI equity already approved. New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved proposal to provide soft loan of up to Rs 10,540 crore to the sugar industry to help mills clear mounting arrears to cane growers. The CCEA approved the proposal to provide soft loans to the extent of about Rs 7900-10540 crore to the sugar industry, an official release said. Government will bear the interest subvention cost between 7 10 percent to the extent of Rs 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year. To ensure that farmers are paid their dues expeditiously, the Government has mandated that banks will obtain from the sugar mill, the list of farmers with bank account details to the extent cane dues are to be paid, so that the same are directly paid into the accounts of the farmers on behalf of the sugar mills. Subsequent balance if any, will then be credited into the mills account. Furthermore, in order to incentivize the mills to clear their dues, CCEA has also decided that the approved soft loans will be provided to those units which have already cleared at least 25 percent of their outstanding dues in the sugar season 2018-19. Surplus sugar production over domestic consumption requirement during the last sugar season 2017-18 (October, 2017 to September, 2018) has adversely affected the liquidity position of the sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers which reached to an alarming level of Rs 23232 crores in May, 2018. New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired has given 'in principle' approval for strategic disinvestment of 100 percent government equity shares in Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) to Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) in a single stage process. Presently, the government and Chennai Port Trust hold 67 percent and 33 percent of shares respectively in Kamarajar Port Limited. The methods of valuation, to be used shall include discounted cash flow, assets valuation and relative valuation as recommended by NITI Aayog. This would help to avoid duplication of capacity creation in the ports. Better human resource management in between the two ports will increase the efficiency of both Ports, an official release said. The strategic disinvestment of KPL shall be undertaken after conducting due diligence exercise by both the entities with the help of Advisors to be appointed for the transaction. The approval is in the backdrop that ChPT and KPL will be able to evolve a clear policy on focus areas by devising optimum business strategy and defining dedicated cargo profile, the release said. New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday addressed regulator Sebi's board members and senior officials and took stock of recent developments in the Indian securities market. Jaitley appreciated various initiatives taken by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the regulator said in a statement. Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi apprised Jaitley of the recent developments in the Indian capital market after the finance minister's customary post-Union Budget address here to the board of the regulatory authority. Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Atanu Chakraborty and Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian also attended the meeting. Besides, the meeting was attended by Department of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Anand Mohan Bajaj and Corporate Affairs Ministry Joint Secretary K V R Murty. Senior officials from Sebi who attended the meeting, besides Chairman Tyagi, included Whole Time Members G Mahalingam, Madhabi Puri Buch, S K Mohanty and Ananta Barua. Executive directors and other senior officials of Sebi were also present. Dan Culhane, president of the Ames Chamber of Commerce, said that the ties Iowa State has to the Ames and Central Iowa community economies is important. Shimla: If you are heading to Himachal Pradesh this weekend, be alert: the weatherman on Friday predicted widespread rains and snowfall in the next two days. The government has warned tourists not to venture to high hills as chances of roads snapping owing to rain and snow are more. Motorists are being told to be cautious while driving in the interiors as chances of road cave-ins and landslides are high. "There are chances of widespread rainfall and snow on March 2-3 with the active western disturbances. Thereafter, the weather will be dry," an India Meteorological Department official told IANS. He said chances of snow in tourist resorts Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Kalpa, Manali and Dalhousie were high. The minimum temperature in Shimla was recorded at 1.2 degrees Celsius while it was minus 3.8 degrees in Manali. Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state where the minimum temperature was 11.2 degrees Celsius below freezing level. Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius while it was minus 0.5 degree Celsius in Dalhousie and 4.6 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala. the abode of the Dalai Lama. New Delhi: As India awaits return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh wholeheartedly welcomed the IAF wing commander back home while choosing to stay away from the Attari-Wagah border. The Punjab CM said he took the decision to ensure that the defence protocol that is usually followed in such cases, is not violated in any way. On Thursday evening, Amarinder had appealed to the Narendra Modi government that he would like to receive the IAF pilot upon his return from Pakistan, where he was held being captive, at the Wagah border on Friday. In a tweet, the Punjab CM wrote, "Dear @narendramodi ji , I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. (sic)" Dear @narendramodi ji , Im touring the border areas of Punjab & Im presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) February 28, 2019 However, after his offer to the Prime Minister last evening, CM Amarinder said he thought it over and came to the conclusion that it might contravene the protocols laid out for such cases. When any PoW from the 1965 or 1971 war came back, he was first sent for medical examination, followed by a debriefing, which was likely to be the case with Wing Commander Abhinandan too, he noted. In the circumstances, it would be more proper for him not to go to the Wagah border to receive the officer, said the CM, who has been camping in the border areas for the past three days as part of the confidence-building exercise undertaken by him in the wake of the tensions prevailing at the LoC following the IAF surgical strikes in the aftermath of the deadly Pulwama terror attack. But the Chief Minister extended a very warm welcome to Abhinandan, saying the whole nation was proud of the way he stood up to questioning by the Pak armed forces during his captivity. "It was top-class and I congratulate him and welcome him back home," Captain Amarinder added. New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how can India trust him. Speaking at a TV Channel Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence. Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. Questioning Khan's silence on the Pulwama attack, he said, "The Pakistan PM should have criticised the Pulwama attacks at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service". 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. The BJP President also said that the return of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was a diplomatic victory. "Creating situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory," he said. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Coming down hard on opposition parties which alleged the government was "politicising" the sacrifices of the armed forces, Shah said their joint resolution post the air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan."The opposition's accusation against the BJP that it was politicising the sacrifices of our forces has given happiness to Pakistan," Shah said. "The message has gone that now it is the Modi govt at the helm which is resolute in implementing its policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and has the political will to act," he added. Criticising former PM Manmohan Singh's call for restraint to India and Pakistan, Shah asked how he could compare a country, which has been sponsoring terrorism, with India. He also criticised Singh for his government's "lack of response" after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. "Now with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists Modi government has been able to create fear in the minds of those behind terrorism that they will face grave consequences for their actions. NEW DELHI: Minutes after the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to the Indian authorities, the Indian Army on Friday tweeted a famous poem which says that a soldier never quits whatever may be the circumstances. The ADGPI, the official Twitter handle of the Indian Army, quoted a few lines from a famous poem penned by noted poet Shivmangal Singh 'Suman' to celebrate the homecoming of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Shivmangal Singh 'Suman' was a noted Hindi poet and academician. He was born on August 5, 1915, at Jhagarpur, Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh. He was a leading Hindi writer and poet. He earned a M.A. and Ph.D. in Hindi from Benaras Hindu University. The university also honoured him with a D.Litt. in 1950. Suman worked as the Vice Chancellor of Vikram University (Ujjain) during 1968-78; the Vice-President of Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Lucknow; Press and Cultural Attache, Indian Embassy, Kathmandu (Nepal) during 1956-61; and the President, Association of Indian Universities (New Delhi) during 1977-78. He also served as the Executive President, Kalidas Academy, Ujjain, until he died of heart attack on 27 November 2002. Upon his death, the then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee said, "Dr Shiv Mangal Singh Suman was not only a powerful signature in the field of Hindi poetry, but he was also the custodian of the collective consciousness of his time. Earlier, after the IAF carried out air strikes at a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot, the Army had paid a glowing tribute to the armed forces for carrying out the daring operation. A poem in Hindi was tweeted by ADGPI from its official handle lauding the bravery and valour of the Indian forces. The poem says the Indian borders are safe because of its brave soldiers, who keep rewriting the history with their sacrifices. The IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, returned to India on Friday night. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, he was received by senior Border Security Force officers at 9.21 p.m. at Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. While one BSF officer shook his hand, another put his arm around the pilot to escort him back into India. "I am happy to be back home," Abhinandan said in his first reaction after stepping into India, according to Amritsar Deputy Commissioner, Shivdular Singh Dhillon, who received the IAF pilot along with senior IAF and Border Security Force (BSF) officers. Abhinandan was accompanied from Pakistan side by Group Captain JD Kurian. He was surrounded by armed troopers of the Pakistan Rangers up to the border gate. The Wing Commander was in Pakistani captivity for over 60 hours before he walked back home through the Zero Line at the Wagah-Attari joint check-post and received by senior IAF and security officers. Pakistani authorities kept delaying his actual return to India through the day on Friday for unexplained reasons. He was whisked from the Attari joint check post (JCP) complex under tight security cover. Air Vice Marshall RGK Kapoor told the media that the Wing Commander was "handed to us as per the standard operating procedure of the Indian Air Force". "He will now be taken for a detailed medical check-up. The check-up is mandated particularly because the officer has had to eject from an aeroplane which would have put his entire body under great stress," Kapoor said. Earlier, Abhinandan was formally handed over to officials of the Indian High Commission at Wagah (in Pakistan) led by Group Captain JD Kurian. He was captured in Pakistan on Wednesday (Feb 27) after his MIG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during an aerial dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC). Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the captured pilot will be freed as a "goodwill gesture" after New Delhi demanded his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release. Even as the nation awaits the safe return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday, India continued to mount pressure on Pakistan to act against Jaish-e-Mohammad. Indian intelligence agencies have now prepared a comprehensive dossier, listing JeM's and its terror activities as evidence, which will be handed over to Pakistan. The dossier presents documents collected from several open source magazines and write-ups. Enclosed are a set of activities that Jaish e Mohammed and Azhar Masood undertake in Pakistan, under the nose of the Pakistan establishment. These are available on open source, on blogs, websites, Facebook accounts and Twitter accounts. Many of them openly declare association of Jaish with terror attacks, writes India. Qureshi's interview was widely covered by Pakistani media. When asked why Pakistan hasn't yet arrested Azhar who caused so much tension between the two neighbour nations, Qureshi said Pakistan wants evidence so that it can stand in a court of law and follow a legal process. India has time and again presented several credible against JeM's terror activities. On February 14, over 2000 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel travelling in a convoy of 78 vehicles on Jammu-Srinagar highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district. The attack resulted in the death of at least 40 CRPF personnel and injured many others. The attack was later claimed by JeM and Kashmiri local Adil Ahmad Dar was identified as the suicide bomber. Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft bomb terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp killing "a very large number" of terrorists and their trainers in a pre-dawn, ''pre-emptive and non-military'' operation in the wee hours. The IAF's action comes exactly 11 days after a JeM suicide bomber killed at least 40 CRPF troopers in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. Azhar later confirmed that the air strikes indeed took place at the terror camp of JeM at Balakot. He, however, tried to save Pakistan's face by claiming that air strikes didn't cause any damage to his cadre or family members. Kolkata: BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "doubting" the success of the strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at training camps of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed at Balakot in Pakistan. BJP's state president Dilip Ghosh also criticised her saying it is "condemnable" that an Indian politician, and not a Pakistani one, is demanding evidence of the success of the air strike. "It is a matter of shame that just for the sake of politics, a chief minister is doubting our armed forces, when the entire country stands by the armed forces. We condemn such statements," Vijayvargiya told reporters on the sidelines of a party meeting here. Banerjee Thursday said the nation has a right to know what actually happened at Balakot in Pakistan following the IAF's air strike there, as several foreign media had reported that not much damage was done by the air strike. She had said, "We have the right to know, people of this country want to know how many were killed. Where was the bomb actually dropped? Was it dropped on the target?" Government officials had said on Tuesday that in a pre-dawn strike, the IAF bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp at Balakot in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, killing over 350 terrorists, trainers and senior commanders. Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility of the Pulwama terror attack that left over 40 CRPF jawans dead on February 14. It was up to the political leadership to decide when and how to release evidence of the Balakot strike's success, Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, assistant chief of Air Staff, said Thursday on the scepticism in some quarters about whether IAF fighters had hit the intended targets. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh too slammed Banerjee, also Trinamool Congress supremo, for asking for evidence of the success of the air strike. "Had a Pakistani politician asked such a question, we would have understood it. But it is shameful and condemnable that a politician from India, and that too a chief minister, has been raising such questions," Ghosh said. Vijayvergiya also claimed that the return of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from the custody of Pakistan is a diplomatic victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It is a diplomatic victory of Narendra Modiji that for last two days Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been wishing to talk to our prime minister. But our PM said first Pakistan has to release our pilot and stop exporting terrorism. This is our diplomatic victory," Vijayvergiya said. Pakistan held Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Wednesday after fighter jets of both the nations engaged in an air battle following an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes. The pilot is scheduled to return via Attari border Friday. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday announced in a joint session of Pakistani Parliament that the pilot would be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. Chandigarh: The Border Security Force (BSF) in Ferozepur on Friday arrested an Indian national from near the border outpost and seized a mobile phone with Pakistani SIM card, in use, from his possession. The 21-year-old man has been identified as Mohammed Shahrukh, son of Muhammad Farooq, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad. The contact number of the sim card seized from Shahrukh's possession is added to eight Pakistani groups. Six other Pakistan phone numbers have also been retrieved from him. Shahrukh is now in the custody of the Mumdot Police, who are interrogating him. This comes on a day when IAF's Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who is is Pakistan's captivity, is expected to be released. The 35-year-old Wing Commander has been in Pakistan since Wednesday after his MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out during a dogfight to repel an attack by the neighbouring country. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman received a rapturous welcome at the Attari border as the IAF pilot in Pakistan's custody was handed back after Islamabad's needless delaying tactics. "Good to be back in my own country. I am fine." These were Abhinandan's first words after crossing the border, according to an IAF official present here. Just as the IAF pilot crossed over, he received a hug from Indian security officials in scenes which were emotional and highly-charged. Chants of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' echoed in the night sky over the border. The wait at the border for the hero to come back home lasted several hours and well into Friday night. It is reported that Pakistan delayed the paperwork for the official release of the IAF personnel with the suspicion that authorities there wanted maximum international spotlight on their 'goodwill gesture.' Ironically, there was no goodwill in keeping an entire country waiting to welcome its hero back home - one whose release was made possible due to India's firm position and strong message to Imran Khan. Hundreds of people had gathered at the Attari-Wagah border on Friday to catch a glimpse of Abhinandan. This included several politicians, top-ranking Indian Air Force officials and - most importantly - his family. Crackers were burst, the tricolour waved and patriotic slogans raised with unending zeal. The time of Abhinandan's handover, meanwhile, was changed twice by Pakistan. This despite Indian authorities keeping their side of paperwork at the ready. Eventually, the valiant air warrior officially crossed over to India after clearing customs, immigration and medical checks. The scenes of celebration were not just at the border. The entire country united in hailing a hero's comeback. Abhinandan had been captured by Pakistani forces in PoK on Wednesday after he chased off a Pakistan Air Force F16 which had violated Indian airspace. In the ensuing air duel, Abhinandan managed to down the F16 but his Mig-21 Bison also crashed. The pilot ejected but landed in PoK. India made it clear almost immediately to Pakistan that it expects its pilot to be returned immediately and safely - as per Geneva Convention. India also made it clear it won't strike any deals for his return. Cornered, Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the pilot would be released. He called it Pakistan's 'goodwill gesture' although he once again maintained a stony silence on terrorist organisations in his country that have compelled India to take a firm position. In a historic moment on Friday, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj addressed the Inaugural Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as Guest of Honour, a first by India. Speaking at the event, she said that the OIC members constitute more than one fourth of the members of the United Nations, and nearly a quarter of humanity. "It is an organisation, that has a key role in shaping our world," she said. She also laid focus on the rise of terrorism. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," she said. Her statement comes amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack where 40 CRPF personnel were killed. As Sushma emphasised on the perils of terrorism, the Pakistan chair at the plenary session remained empty. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said that he will not be attending the foreign ministers' meeting of the OIC amid ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. Qureshi had said that he will not be attending the meet as a 'matter of principle' since Sushma Swaraj is the 'Guest of Honour' at the meeting. Here is the full text of Sushma Swaraj's statement: Your Highness, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, newly elected Chair and Foreign Minister of UAE, Your Excellency Dr AK Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Your Excellency Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, Secretary General, OIC, Foreign Ministers Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen I am honoured to join my colleagues from nations, that represent a great religion and ancient civilisations. I stand here as a representative ofa land, that has been for ages a fountain of knowledge, a beacon of peace, a source of faiths and traditions, and home to religions from the world and now, one of the major economies of the world. I carry the greetings of my Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modiji and 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India. They speak Tamil and Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi, Bangla and Bhojpuri or any of the numerous languages of India. They have diverse culinary tastes, myriad choices of traditional attire, and they maintainstrong cultural and linguistic heritage of the regions they loved and have lived for generations. They practice their respective beliefs and live in harmony with each other and with their non-Muslim brethren. It is this appreciation of diversity and co-existence, that has ensured that very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies. Your Highness and Excellencies, 2019 is indeed a very special year. In this year (i) The OIC is celebrating its Golden Jubilee. (ii) The United Arab Emirates is celebrating Year of Tolerance, and (iii) India is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a global symbol of Truth and Non-violence. It istherefore a matter of pride for me,and for India, to be invited in this special year, to be your Guest of Honour, and to be extended a hand of friendship. I convey my deep appreciation to Foreign Minister His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed for his sagacious leadership and for his invitation. Thank youyour Highness. Your Highness and Excellencies, In the past four years, few relationships have seen as much engagement as Indias relationship with UAE and indeed, with the entire Gulf and West Asia Region. It is a return of history. UAE has shown, how a nation can power its progress, (i) with a grand vision, (ii) with the openness of the world, (iii) with an embrace of technology, (iii) with investment in human resources and (iv) with an environment, that nurtures talent and cultures from around the world. We also express our special gratitude to Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh andothers friends,for their strong support for,hearing Indias voice in this forum. Your Highness and Excellencies, The OIC members constitute more thanone fourth of the members of the United Nations, and nearly a quarter of the humanity. It is an organisation, that has a key role in shaping our world. It brings together nations, on the foundation of a common faith, but also by a shared desire for a better future for their people. (i) From Southeast Asia to the shores of Latin America; (ii) from the steppes of Central Asia to the vast expanse of the African continent; (iii) from South Asia to the great arc of West Asia and North Africa, the nations represented here, also reflect a magnificent diversity of language and literature, customs and culture, history and heritage. Your Highness, Excellencies, India shares much with you. Many of us have experienced the dark days of colonialism.Many of us saw, the light of freedom andthe bright ray of hope at the same time. We have stood together in solidarity,in our quest for justice, dignity and equality of all people, regardless of race and religion. We have worked together, to fashion global institutions, into representative platforms, defined not by the interest of a few, but the voice of all sections of humanity. We have together struggled for a world, where access to resources, markets and opportunities is fair and balanced.And, with so many nations here, India has forged deep bonds of friendship and close partnerships. As Indias economy has grown and become more integrated with the world,these partnerships have become stronger. We have excellent political ties, marked by warmth, respect and goodwill. With many,we have expanding defence and security cooperation. Our economic engagement is robust and growing rapidly. Our digital partnerships are shaping the course of our future. And, our ties have the warm glow of deepening human and cultural links. Nations to our east, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are important pillars of Indias Act East Policy, and of our broader engagement in the Indo Pacific Region. In our neighbourhood, with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Maldives we have ties, forged in (i) our shared struggles and sacrifices, (ii) in the immeasurable warmth of our hearts, and (iii) in our unwavering commitment to the security and prosperity of our people and region. In Central Asia, where human aspirations linked us across the mightiest mountains since ancient times, we are rebuilding our relationship along new routes of possibilities. We do this, especially with and through Iran, a country, with which we not only share civilizational and culturallinks, but a partnership, that is vital for stability and prosperity in our region. In West Asia, our solidarity with the aspirations of the Palestinian peoplehave remained unwavering. Our international journey was often pursued in close partnership with Egypt. Iraq and India have stood together in our triumphs and trials. We have with great admiration supported Jordans efforts in strengthening the voices of moderationandbuilding bridges of understanding between faiths. Further to the West, with nations like Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria we work for a shared desire for a more inclusive world. With Turkey, a nation, with which, we have many strands of connected history, we are imparting new momentum to our ties.Our many friends from Africa are here. It is a friendship of deep emotional bond that comes fromshared struggle for freedom, and for a voice and a place in the world. Today, on the foundations of that extraordinary heritage, India and Africa have launched a new partnership of prosperity in the dynamic African continent. Here in our neighbourhood of the Gulf Region, our relationships are as old as time. The tides of Arabian Seas have carried forth,our timeless links of trade, culture and religions. Presently, the Gulf Region is our largest market,supplier of energy and source of remittances. More than 8 million Indians living in the region, are the 8 million vibrant threads of this partnership.But now our relationship is much more than that, thanks to the extraordinary effort and attention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of the region. It is an indispensable strategic and security partnership, and a natural economic partnership, of immense value, to our nations, and for our shared region. Your Highness and Excellencies, Today, we all live in a world of sweeping changes, and multiple challenges, thathappen, but rarely in history.We see global shifts in power. The centre of gravity of the global economy is moving to Asia. The international order we are familiarwith, is changing. Freedom, opportunities, connectivity, health, education and prosperity are more widespread than ever before. The time it takes nations to lift people out of poverty, is getting shorter. Digital revolution has created unprecedented opportunities to empower people and transform our economies. We have affordable and accessible technologies that give us hope, for a sustainable energy future.Yet, we also live on the edge of uncertainty.Tensions, turbulence, disputes, violence, dislocation, displacement are also at a high. Conflicts, within and between societies are rising. We are also seeing the human and economic costs of climate change. And, we are witnessing the terrible daily destruction, in senseless terrorist violence. It is destroying lives, destabilising regions, and putting the world at great peril. The reach of terror is growing, Its lethality is increasing and The toll it istaking, is rising. In the rich diversity of Southeast Asia, In West Asia, and the Gulf, In North Africa, and Sahel region, In Europe, and North America, In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and, India, We see the terrible face of terror; Excellencies and your Highness Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels.It uses diverse causes.But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed.The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be.Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood. It is a verse in the Holy Koran which says La Ikrahfiddeen - Let there be no compulsion in religion And Sura Al Hujurat says "O Mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know one another, not that you may despise one another. The founder Guru ofSikkhism Guru Nanak dev, gave the similar message to the mankind and I quote, awwal allah noor upaaya, kudarat ke sab bande ek noor te sab jag upjeya, kaun bhale kaun mande This means: "First, Allah created light; then, by his creative power, he made all mortalbeingsFrom that one light, the entire world came into being, So, who is good, and who is bad? Your Highness and Excellencies, India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text "The Rig Veda and I quote , which means "God is Onebut learned men describe Him in many ways. Our great philosopher Swami Vivekananda,said that this phrase from the Rig Veda has "given the theme to all subsequent thoughts in India, and one, that will be the theme of the whole world of religions. Your Highness and Excellencies, This is not a clash of civilisations or cultures, but a contest of ideas and ideals.As Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has often said, it is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity. If we want to save the humanity then we must tell the states whoprovides shelter and funding to the terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to the terror organisations, based in that country. At the same time I would like to say that this menace could not be fought, only through military, intelligence or diplomatic means. It is also a battle, that must be won through the strengths of our values, and the real message of religions. This is a task that states, societies, sages, scholars, spiritual leaders, and families must pursue, through personal contacts and on social media. And, for this - Faiths must speak to faiths. - Cultures mustengage cultures. - Communities must build bridges, not erect walls. - The youth must shape the future, not destroy lives. I am particularly pleased to participate in a conference, whose theme is a road map for prosperity and development. However, I may enter a caveat: the young are not going to be content, with only road maps. They want roads as well. They also want them to be built fast. It must be our common objective to ensure, that we leave them a world, that is infinitely better in terms of equitable economic growth and socialjustice, than the one, we inherited. That is the mission, which has brought us together in Abu Dhabi, a city that has matured into a landmark of Asia and the world. Your Highness and Excellencies, India is the worldsthird largest economy on Purchasing Power Parity; and, is the fastest growing one. We are prepared to share our market, resources, opportunities, and skills with our partners. We will do what we can within our capacity to ensure that the path to development remains open to all and the global trade regime is open, stable and fair. Your Highness and Excellencies, At 50,Organisation of Islamic States is making a new beginning. The choices you make, the direction you set, will have a profound impact on humanity. The OIC has a huge responsibility and a great opportunity to lift humanity to a higher level of peace and prosperity, and to make this planet a better place, not just for your people, but for rest of the world. And, we will work with you to (i) spread the true meaning and mission of all religions; (ii) promote respect for and between faiths; (iii) counter the language of hate with the message of harmony; (iv) advocate moderation over extremism and pluralism over exclusion; (v) inspire youth to the path of service,than of destruction; (vi) buildbridge of understanding and reduce barriers across cultures and religions. Your Highness and Excellencies, The late President of India Dr APJ AbdulKalam, popularly referred to as the Peoples President, said and I quote, "Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world. Your Highness and Excellencies, I come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi, where every prayer ends with the call for Shanti or Peace for all. I convey our best wishes, our support and our solidarity in your quest for stability, peace, harmony, economic growth and prosperity for your people and the world. Thank you. Shukran Several Pakistani media outlets and journalists were caught ducking for cover after they falsely reported that Indian Air Force's Air Marshal Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar had been sacked for the capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. The IAF on Friday issued a release on social media in which it said the veteran had retired. Jumping the gun without verifying facts, Pakistan's The News International was one of the first to report that the Air Marshal had been sacked. The headline of its article read 'India removes senior IAF officer after Pakistan shoots down jets.' Quick to join the false news bandwagon was former Dawn journalist Omar R Quraishi. "Two days after it lost 2 jets to the Pakistan Air Force and after one its pilots was captured by Pakistan, the Govt of India has sacked Air Marshal C H Kumar, the Air Office Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command - all ops in along India's border with Pak come under him," he tweeted. Journalist Mehreen Zahra-Malik at least added a 'reportedly' when she tweeted the false information that the senior air officer had been removed after the capture of Abhinandan. In its official reply, the IAF said that Air Marshal Hari Kumar had retired on February 28 after an illustrious career spanning 39 years. Here's the full statement issued by IAF: Air Marshal Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command Indian Air Force retired on 28 February 2019 after an illustrious career spanning over 39 yrs. The Air Marshal was commissioned in Flying Branch of Indian Air Force in the year 1979. He was a Qualified Flying Instructor and a Fighter Combat Leader having more than 3300 hours of flying to his credit. He was a graduate of Defence Services Staff College and National Defence college. During his meritorious service to the nation, he had done instructional tenures at Fighter Training Wing, Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) and College of Air Warfare. He has commanded a MiG-21 Sqn, TACDE and a frontline fighter base. His staff appointments included Ops 1A, Air-1 at Headquarter Western Air Command and Deputy Director Air Staff Inspection, Director Operations (Joint Planning), Assistant Chief of the Air Staff Operations (Offensive) at Air HQ and Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarter South Western Air Command. The Air Marshal was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Air Command prior to his appointment as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command. For his distinguished service to the Nation, he was awarded Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vayu Sena Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal and appointed Honorary Air Force ADC to President of India on 01 Jan 2017. (Photo/Xinhua) A popular narrative in the West is that the world would be a much better place if all countries just look and act more like the Western world. Indeed, the West has enjoyed great wealth and growth over the years. But growing instability in the Western world has also raised doubts about the Western-style of democratic governance. In fact, there is a tendency to put Western-style democracy on a pedestal; but by doing so, we overlook its faults and even potential dangers. From the never-ending gridlock in Washington, to chaos in the House of Commons of United Kingdom over the Brexit mess, to people rioting on the streets of Paris, more and more people are calling into question the effectiveness of Western-style democracy. Brexit, for some at least, encapsulates the perils and pitfalls of this style of democracy. In June 2016, the people of the UK voted to leave the European Union and, for now at least, the UK will leave the EU by March 29 this year, with or without a plan in place. The irrational jump into the unknown and the chaos that followed has created a troubling situation for the country, as well as other parts of the world, raising serious questions about the effectiveness and legitimacy of UK-style democracy. Whether to leave or stay in the EU is a complicated issue that requires careful study and rational decisions from knowledgeable, well-informed people. It is irresponsible to just drag people off the streets for a vote on a major policy issue like Brexit. For example, days after the UK voted to leave the EU, a commentary on TIMEs website wrote that the referendum was not a triumph of democracy, but an ugly populist fiasco. Thus, there is good reason why more and more people feel like Western-style democracy has become a big joke. In the UK, the people voted to take back control of their countrybut without a plan. In the United States, politics has become a soap opera and the system is pitting Americans against Americans, splitting the country further apart. In fact, the US government has become so divided and dysfunctional that it recently broke the record for the longest shutdown in US history, which forced many government employees to turn to food banks to feed their families. Yet, a very different story is unfolding in Asia. During the more than month-long government shutdown in the United States, China made history, tooby landing the Change-4 spacecraft on the far side of the moon. As a US senator pointed out during the shutdown, China has quadrupled its GDP since 2001, but the United States cannot even keep the government up and running. He called the situation in the United States ludicrous. Clearly, Western-style democracy is not the end of history, as some have predicted and hoped for. This is not to say that the Western system is a failure or that Chinas system is superior to Western-style democracy, but it is fair to say that Chinas own system is a good fit for the country and it achieves the best results for the Chinese people. For example, China has built the largest, most advanced high-speed train network in the world. It is the envy for many in the world, even for many Americans, including former President Barack Obama, who, nearly a decade ago, unveiled a plan for a national network of high-speed passenger rail lines that was envisioned to transform travel in America. The plan, like many others, turned out to be an American Dream that never came true. Just recently in California, for example, the states new governor killed the high-speed rail program that would link Los Angeles to San Franciscoa project beloved by the just-retired four-term Governor Jerry Brown. And then there is US President Donald Trumps ambitious plan to Rebuild America, which he has been unable to deliver. Stuck in an endless battle with Democrats over funding for the border wall, Trump declared a national emergency to fulfill his pledge to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border. His decision reflects a difference between the two countries models. Whereas the Chinese model is people-centered, the American model is vote-centered. With regard to the security and humanitarian crisis on the countrys southern border, the people are asking, where is the crisis? And herein lies the dilemma: Decisions, like Trumps decision to declare a national emergency, are essentially political stunts for votes. The Western model reduces people to a source of votes, essentially turning democracy into a game of likes. This kind of decision-making is in stark contrast to the decision-making process in China, which makes annual, five-year, and long-term plans to guide the country forward and conducts extensive consultations to reach a broad consensus on major issues. A clear advantage of the Chinese system is that it is constantly exploring ways to adapt to the changing times, including large-scale reform of Party and government institutions to adapt to internal and external changes. Perhaps there was a time when one could argue that the Western model produced the best results, but that is no longer the case. What we are seeing now is that it is increasingly difficult for Western countries to reach a consensus on major issues and to form a strategic plan. Western-style of democracy has become too rigid and Western democratic institutions are in a state of degradation, making it next to impossible to carry out any substantial reform. This can be seen in the fact that democracy in the Western world has increasingly become a fight for money and a game of manipulating people for votes. In Chinas socialist democracy, there is a strong and stable political force that represents the interests of the great majority of the Chinese people. The Chinese government takes a people-centered approach to politics and good governance ensures that results can be delivered. It should be no wonder, then, that the Western model is barreling toward a cliff, while China is making great progress in various aspects, including the nations ambitious plan to eradicate poverty by 2020. In a world of turmoil, there is reason for China and the Chinese people to be confident in its path. Scarlett Eagle, now-senior in genetics, gives a speech during Rare Disease Day Feb. 28, 2018, in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union. Eagle spoke about her experience getting diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, hypermobility type and urged for an increase in awareness about rare diseases. New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who is expected to be released by Pakistan on Friday, will be received by a delegation of the Indian Air Force at the Wagah border. The 35-year-old Wing Commander has been in Pakistan's captivity since Wednesday after his MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out during a dogfight to repel an attack by the neighbouring country. Reports suggest that Pakistani authorities are likely to bring Varthaman from Rawalpindi to Lahore and then hand him over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention before taking him to the JCP between 12 noon and 2 pm to return home. Varthaman's return was announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, calling it a peace gesture. The IAF, however, claimed that the move was 'no goodwill gesture, but in consonance with the Geneva Conventions'. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has offered to receive Wing Commander Varthaman at the Attari border. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Dear @narendramodi ji, I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be an honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumni of the NDA as I am." (With inputs from PTI and IANS) New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, reached India on Friday, two days after he was captured by Pakistani authorities. India vs Pakistan: Catch the latest updates on Live TV Live Updates: IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returns from Pakistan today, India still on high alert - Day 4 Varthaman was captured by Pakistan after his Mig-21 Bison was shot down by a Pakistani jet during a fierce dogfight on Wednesday. The Indian defence establishment was also mulling sending a special aircraft to Pakistan, the sources said. The IAF pilot's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during the dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Friday that every Indian was "proud that the brave" Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was taken captive by Pakistan hails from Tamil Nadu. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is back in India after spending over two days in Pakistan. He was brought to Wagah border from where he moved on to Attari border on the Indian side. He was greeted with cheers and sloganeering from people who were waiting for his arrival with bated breath while holding the Indian flag in their hands. He was received by a delegation of top IAF officials. He is being accompanied by defence attache and Pakistan diplomats. Pakistan: Visuals from Wagah in Lahore; IAF Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border pic.twitter.com/xEPghVgNzi ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 The 35-year-old Wing Commander was in Pakistan's captivity since Wednesday after his MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out during a dogfight to repel an attack by the neighbouring country. The Wing Commander's return was announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, calling it a peace gesture. The IAF, however, claimed that the move was 'no goodwill gesture, but in consonance with the Geneva Conventions'. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. NEW DELHI: The rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack and the Indian airstrikes and thereafter are unlikely to have an impact on the discussions over the Kartarpur corridor, sources said on Friday. India has confirmed that officials from both the countries are meeting to decide on the modalities of Kartarpur corridor. "It concerns the sentiments of a community, we welcome Pakistani delegation for the talks," sources told Zee media. The talks will be taking place on 14 March. While India has shared the crossing point for the corridor, Pakistan has suggested an alternate crossing point. India has issued a notification for building the highway and an integrated check post for the corridor on the Indian side. Dera Baba Nanak Land Check Post in Gurdaspur district in Punjab is the authorised Immigration checkpost for entry into/exit from India for the Kartarpur corridor. India and Pakistan had in November 2018 approved the building of Kartarpur Corridor for pilgrims to visit the Holy Gurudwara, where the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak lived for 18 years. This year marks the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. While Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria termed the Kartarpur corridor as a "corridor of faith" that will build trust between the two countries, Pakistan High Commissioner to New Delhi Sohail Mahmood has said Kartarpur Initiative can be instrumental in "facilitating and fortifying" people-to-people bonds. New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will be briefed on the current Indo-Pak relations by the foreign affairs ministry on Friday. The committee headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will meet in Parliament House this afternoon. The briefing will be on the present Indo-Pak relations in the light of the recent strain in the relationship after the Pulwama attack and an air strike by India, officials said. The committee will also be briefed on the "new regime" in Pakistan led by Prime Minister Imran Khan and its relationship with India in light of the recent developments, they said. "The parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will receive a briefing from the MEA on the current situation with Pakistan..." Tharoor tweeted earlier. Meanwhile, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan after his jet went down following a strike by an enemy missile, will be coming back to India on Friday. His MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. The Pakistan Prime Minister had announced in Parliament on Thursday that Wing Commander Abhinandan would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after he was handed over by Pakistan to the Indian authorities at the Wagah Border check post on Friday. Welcoming the IAF braveheart, the PM said in a tweet that the entire nation is proud of his exemplary courage. The PM also lauded the country's armed forces and called them ''an inspiration for 130 crore Indians.'' Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2019 Meanwhile, commenting on Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's safe return to India from Pakistan's custody, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the nation was proud of the brave officer. "Proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram," Sitharaman tweeted. Proud of you Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 1, 2019 Varthaman was captured by the Pakistan Army on February 27 after his MiG 21 Bison was shot down during a dogfight and he ejected. He landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir across the Line of Control (LoC) where he was manhandled by local villagers. He was later rescued and taken into custody by the Pakistan Army. On February 28, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament that Varthaman would be handed over to India on Friday. The fighter pilot was handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah-Atari border in Punjab on Friday night. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, he was received by senior Border Security Force officers at 9.21 PM. at the Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. NEW DELHI: The Beating the Retreat ceremony that is held daily at the at Attari-Wagah Border will not be held on Friday as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is expected to be back around 4-5 pm. "The Beating the Retreat ceremony (at Attari-Wagah Border) will not be held today. Senior team of the Indian Air Force will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman," Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon said in Amritsar. The martial ceremony has been called off due to administrative requirements in the wake of the IAF Wing Commander's release at the frontier. The public will not be allowed in the ceremony area that is located in the Attari of Punjab along the Indo-Pak border. Officials said the decision has been taken in view of "military requirements" where Wing Commander Varthaman will be handed over to senior Indian Air Force officials. Wing Commander Varthaman will be received by a delegation of the Indian Air Force at the Wagah border. The 35-year-old Wing Commander has been in Pakistan's captivity since Wednesday after his MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out during a dogfight to repel an attack by the neighbouring country. He is likely to be brought from Rawalpindi to Lahore and will then be handed over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention before taking him to the JCP between 12 noon and 2 pm to return home. NEW DELHI: Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday reiterated that his is not in the race for the post of Prime Minister and called himself as a "pure RSS" man for whom the nation is supreme. The Maharashtra-BJP leader expressed confidence that his party would get an absolute majority in the upcoming elections and the country would go ahead on the path of development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi while "we are standing behind him." Rejecting speculations that in case of a fractured mandate, Gadkari would be the BJP's consensus Prime Ministerial candidate, the Minister said it is like "Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne" (day-dreaming). "I have nothing to do with it. I am not in the race. Modi ji is the PM and will become Prime Minister again. I am from RSS. Our mission is to work for the nation. The country is progressing in terms of development and growth under Modiji's leadership. We are standing behind him. Where does the question arise of my becoming the PM," he said in reply to a related query,'' Gadkari said. The Union Minister made these remarks while attending an event organised by a leading TV news channel. Asserting that he was not ''calculated politician", Gadkari said that BJP would return to power with an absolute majority and added that this time he was going to get 5 lakh votes against 3.5 lakh in the last elections. "I have a bad habit ... I tell before 10 lakh Muslims that I am a pure RSS man vote me if you want otherwise do not regret. I have the conviction to say this. I am not a calculated politician. I am a good BJP worker. Country is supreme for me. I work for it. It should be happy, prosperous, strong and become the world's economic power," Gadkari said. Replying to a question as to why he was favourite among the opposition leaders, Gadkari said he was a workaholic and believes in hardwork. "Whoever comes to me, my thinking remains positive. I tell my officials that he has come to me that means he has some problems so keep a positive approach and solve it. Receive (them) nicely and if not possible tell the problems and why it cannot be done. I do not behave as per political calculation. This is my natural behaviour and that is why opponents also becomes my friends," he said. When asked to comment he too believes in "Congress Mukta Bharat" jargon, Gadkari evaded a direct reply and said the ideologies of both the parties are different and "we are not enemies of each other. ''Difference of opinion can be there... It is our tradition. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru and even Modiji welcomes the opposition party," the Minister said. To a question of job creation, the Minister said it is more in the "private-public sector" than the government and entrepreneurship should be promoted. ''There is a difference between Job and employment,'' he said adding that, "I tell the youth to become one who can give jobs not seek. Increase entrepreneurship". On projects with Delhi government, he said in 13 projects work was on worth Rs 4,500 crore besides the work on the Yamuna, Ramnadi, Kali Ganga and 40 tributaries. Talking about highways, the Minister said by March, the construction of highways was likely to reach 34 km a day against 28 km a day last year. He said his Ministry alone has worked for projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore. (With PTI inputs) Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday admitted that Masood Azhar, founder of banned terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad, is indeed in Pakistan. Speaking to CNN, Qureshi said, "He is in Pakistan. According to my information. he's very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house." Qureshi's interview was widely covered by Pakistani media. When asked why Pakistan hasn't yet arrested Azhar who caused so much tension between the two neighbour nations, Qureshi said Pakistan wants evidence so that it can stand in a court of law and follow a legal process. India has time and again presented several credible against JeM's terror activities. On February 14, over 2000 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel travelling in a convoy of 78 vehicles on Jammu-Srinagar highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district. The attack resulted in the death of at least 40 CRPF personnel and injured many others. The attack was later claimed by JeM and Kashmiri local Adil Ahmad Dar was identified as the suicide bomber. Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft bomb terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp killing "a very large number" of terrorists and their trainers in a pre-dawn, ''pre-emptive and non-military'' operation in the wee hours. The IAF's action comes exactly 11 days after a JeM suicide bomber killed at least 40 CRPF troopers in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. Azhar later confirmed that the air strikes indeed took place at the terror camp of JeM at Balakot. He, however, tried to save Pakistan's face by claiming that air strikes didn't cause any damage to his cadre or family members. In the televised interview, Qureshi adds the country has a new government with a new mindset and wants to see peace. "This a new government with a new mindset. We want to live in peace and concentrate on fixing the economy.... We want to put an end to the 17-year old war going on in Afghanistan," says, adding that Pakistan wants to initiate dialogue. In a big win for India, the United States, Britain and France proposed on Wednesday that the United Nations Security Council blacklist the head of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). However, the move is likely to be opposed by China, which previously prevented the Security Council`s Islamic State and al Qaeda sanctions committee from sanctioning JeM leader Masood Azhar in 2016 and 2017. ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing it of "eco-terrorism" over air strikes that damaged pine trees and brought the nuclear-armed nations to blows, a government minister said on Friday. India and Pakistan are amidst their biggest stand-off in many years, with the United States and other global powers mediating to de-escalate tensions between arch-foes who have fought three wars since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947. Indian warplanes on Tuesday bombed a hilly forest area near the northern Pakistani town of Balakot, about 40 km (25 miles) from Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi said it had destroyed a militant training camp and killed hundreds of "terrorists". Pakistan denied there were any such camps in the area and locals said only one elderly villager was hurt. Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam said Indian jets bombed a "forest reserve" and the government was undertaking an environmental impact assessment, which will be the basis of a complaint at the United Nations and other forums. "What happened over there is environmental terrorism," Aslam told Reuters, adding that dozens of pine trees had been felled. "There has been serious environmental damage." Two Reuters reporters who visited the site of the bombings, where four large craters could be seen, said up to 15 pine trees had been brought down by the blasts. Villagers dismissed Indian claims that hundreds of militants were killed. The United Nations states that "destruction of the environment, not justified by military necessity and carried out wantonly, is clearly contrary to existing international law", according to the UN General Assembly resolution 47/37. India and Pakistan are also engaged in a diplomatic tussle, with New Delhi vowing to isolate Pakistan over its alleged links to terrorist groups. Islamabad is currently putting pressure on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to uninvite India`s foreign minister from their next meeting. Comcasts MVNO service, Xfinity Mobile, launched to the public in early 2017. Almost two years later and a bit of bad news has surfaced. The Washington Post has a quick report that covers several different topics. However, the most interesting one is a customers account of Xfinity Mobile security. Or an overall lack thereof, to be specific. One Xfinity Mobile customer, Larry Whitted out of California, had his phone number hijacked by someone else. According to Whitted, Xfinity Mobile doesnt require customers to set up a unique PIN on their accounts. Xfinity Mobile inputs a default PIN of 0000 because it doesnt require customers to change it. As a result of that, the person who hijacked Whitteds phone number was able to port it to a different account, and then commit fraud. They were even able to use Whitteds credit card through Samsung Pay and buy a computer from Apple. Heres how Comcast describes it: We dont require you to create an account PIN, so you dont need to provide that information to your new carrier. Obtaining additional sensitive information from someone, all based around a stolen phone number, is an easy feat. Especially when a phone number can be all that some folks utilize for a security measure. As for Comcasts Xfinity Mobile? The company says that it has already started working on a PIN-based fix for the issue. And it has also implemented new changes behind-the-scenes to make stealing phone numbers more difficult. That being said, its ridiculous that this wasnt already implemented right out of the gate, and the fact that the company used 0000 as the default for all customers is outrageous. [via The Washington Post Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday greeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his birthday, referring to him as "my friend" and praising him for pulling the state "out of the shadows of years of misrule". Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who also heads the JD(U), an NDA ally, turned 68 on Friday. "Greetings to my friend and Bihar's hardworking Chief Minister @NitishKumar ji. Nitish ji's persistence ensured Bihar emerged out of the shadows of years of misrule. His pro-people governance has touched the lives of many. I pray for Nitish ji's long and healthy life," Modi tweeted. Modi will on Friday unveil various rail-road development projects in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. Modi will flag off the Tejas Express between Madurai-Chennai through video conference facility. This will provide faster connectivity between the two cities. New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy called Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan a 'tape recorder' of its military and suggested the Indian government to better hold it with the Army General of Pakistan than with him. "Imran Khan is the tape recorder of the military. He will only say what the military will tell him. There is no point in holding peace discussions with him, rather it would be better to hold talks with their Army General," Swamy told news agency ANI. On Pakistan's decision to release Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Swamy said, "Islamabad is not doing it as a goodwill gesture. They are doing it as Saudi Arabia has mounted pressure on them. Our pilot fell on their land with an Indian jet, so in accordance with the United Nation they are supposed to release him." The veteran party leader added that BJP leaders should ask people to vote for them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections by promising that if given the mandate, the Centre will teach a lesson to Pakistan. "In front of the public, we should roll out a proposal that if voted to power again, the government will make sure that Pakistan is divided in four parts," he said. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday laid focus on the rise of terrorism during her address at the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting of the foreign ministers' meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," she said. Sushma Swaraj is the 'Guest of Honour' at the meeting. Her statement comes amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack where 40 CRPF personnel were killed. "The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood," she said. Abu Dhabi: Empty Pakistani chair at OIC as Guest of Honour Sushma Swaraj gives her speech. pic.twitter.com/wzbmCg0CSz ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 While Sushma emphasised on the perils of terrorism, the Pakistan chair at the plenary session remained empty. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said that he will not be attending the foreign ministers' meeting of the OIC amid ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. Qureshi had said that he will not be attending the meet as a 'matter of principle' since Sushma Swaraj is the 'Guest of Honour' at the meeting. Qureshi had on Friday said: "I wrote to the OIC to take back the invitation to India and told them that if they won't be able to do this, I won't be able to participate. I have decided that I won't be going to OIC. We have 19 resolutions there which also includes Kashmir issue, therefore our lower level officials will be present to defend Pakistan's resolution. In short, if someone tries to give India an observer status we can oppose it." Pakistan had tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the OIC meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. However, it has not conceded to Pakistan's reported demands this time. In 1969, the OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. Attari/New Delhi: Pakistan made India wait for almost the whole of Friday before releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The captured IAF pilot was to be released during the day but was only allowed to cross over at 2120hrs. The reason, as per what highly-placed BSF sources told Zee News, showcases how petty authorities in Pakistan made the entire issue of handing Abhinandan - an act that was necessitated by India's firm position and the Geneva Convention rulebook. Zee News has learnt that Pakistan Rangers had contacted BSF officials at the Attari-Wagah border early on Friday to say that they have been informed of handing over of an IAF official. They however said that they had been given no time of the handover by authorities back in Islamabad. The Rangers subsequently got in touch to inform that Abhinandan would be handed over at 1700hrs. It is reported that Pakistan wanted maximum media attention during the handover due to India's Beating Retreat ceremony at the time. When India cancelled the Beating Retreat ceremony of the day, Pakistan grouped-in and eventually decided to delay the handover deliberately. Sources say it was a revenge strategy on Pakistan's part against India's decision to cancel the Beating Retreat ceremony. Even when Abhinandan was about to be handed over to Indian authorities, Pakistan indulged in a brazen and shallow display of propaganda. The country released a video in which Abhinandan speaks about his two days in Pakistan. It is amply clear from the manner in which the IAF personnel is speaking, and the shoddy and several cuts during shabby video editing, that the credibility of it is highly suspect. Returning Abhinandan was meant to be a goodwill gesture, as put by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. In the end, it turned out to be just another display of Pakistan's vulgarities and hollow attempts at acting noble. NEW DELHI: As the entire country welcomes IAF braveheart Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by the Pakistani forces and handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah-Attari Border check post in Amritsar on Friday, here's is a detailed account of how he shot down a Pakistan F-16 fighter aircraft during an areal dogfight on Wednesday morning, dealt with his captors and finally emerged as a national hero. According to media reports, the brave fighter pilot was part of an IAF patrol mission which chased Pakistani fighter jets who had crossed into the Indian airspace on Wednesday morning around 9.30 AM in the Ponch-Rajouri sector. IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman returns home from Pakistan: READ The IAF pilot downed an F-16 fighter jet of Pakistan Air Force by firing an R-73 air-to-air missile before his MiG-21 Bison was hit during a fierce dogfight on Wednesday With his aircraft being hit, Abhinandan ejected from the MiG-21 Bison aircraft he was flying and landed on the other side of the Line of Control in the Lam area in PoK. He was captured by locals in PoK before being finally taken into custody by the Pakistan Army personnel. Later, videos of his capture surfaced showing Pakistani army soldiers and officers intervening forcefully to save him from a crowd of angry citizens. As per Pakistan's leading daily Dawn, a local in Horra'n village (which is very close to the LoC) in Bhimber district of PoK heard a commotion in the air and realised two fighter jets had caught fire. While one of them sped across the LoC, the other burst into flames and came down swiftly. The local saw a parachute descending on the ground and a pilot emerging out of it. Upon seeing the pilot, the local called other people out from his village, asking them to get hold of the pilot until the army personnel arrived. The IAF pilot, who was equipped with a pistol, asked the villagers whether it was India or Pakistan, to which one of them falsely replied that it was India. Hearing this, the pilot then shouted pro-India slogans and sought to know which place was it exactly in India to which some said it was Qilla'n. The pilot also reportedly asked the villagers for some water to drink as his "back was broken". His shouting of pro-India slogan offended one of the locals who could not hold his emotions and started shouting "Pakistan Army Zindabad". On this, the IAF pilot fired shots in the air while the locals picked up stones in their hands. The officer then ran nearly half a kilometre in backward direction keeping his pistol pointed towards the locals who started trailing him. While running, he tried to scare the villagers away by firing some more gunshots in the air but to no avail, the local said. In order to save himself, the pilot then jumped into a small pond where he hurriedly took out some documents and maps from his pockets and tried to swallow some of them and soaking others in the water. The locals asked him to drop his weapon and one of them shot at his leg, according to a villager. The pilot finally came out and asked the villagers not to kill him. The locals then caught him from both his arms while some of them manhandled him, beat him up, others tried to stop them. Meanwhile, the army personnel reached the spot and took the IAF officer in their custody while shielding him from the angry mob, said the Dawn report. The pilot was then taken in a convoy of military vehicles to a Pakistani army installation in Bhimber. Wing Commander, who is a member of the SKAT - Surya Kiran Acrobatic Team - which means he's a skilled pilot, was interrogated by the Pakistani Army officials. The pilot didn't panic or lose his mind even after being captured by the Pakistani forces and refused to divulge vital details regarding his mission and identity. As the events unfolded, the government said that one of its pilots was "missing in action" after shooting down a Pakistani aircraft that was targeting Indian military installations. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) later confirmed that the missing officer is in Pakistan's custody and demanded his immediate and safe return to India. MEA issued the statement after it summoned the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan to lodge "a strong protest at the unprovoked act of aggression by Pakistan against India." Pakistan initially claimed it had two Indian pilots, but amended later that "there is only one pilot" and he is being treated "as per norms of military ethics". In various videos circulated by Pakistani accounts, the pilot was seen blindfolded and wounded, his arms tied behind his back, being interrogated. The videos were taken off as Pakistan faced allegations of violating the Geneva Convention for prisoners. Later, a video showed the pilot sipping tea, saying that "officers of the Pakistani army have looked after me well". Amid mounting international pressure, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a joint Parliament session on Thursday, announced that the IAF pilot will be released as a ''peace gesture.'' New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman came back home from Pakistan to a hero's welcome at the Attari border on Friday. The entire country united in welcoming the hero who had been held captive after his MiG-21 Bison fighter jet had crashed in LoC while chasing back a Pakistan Air Force F16. And while Imran Khan has said returning the IAF personnel is a goodwill gesture, India has maintained that there can be no compromise on dismantling terror infrastructure across the border. Even after it was confirmed that Abhinandan was indeed in Pakistan's captivity, India had maintained a strong stance. Refusing any deals and negotiations for the pilot, India had demanded that he be handed back immediately and safely. In the same breath, India also maintained that there would be no deviation from its objective of hitting Pakistan-based terrorist organisations that have, time and again, targeted Indian civilians and security forces. Pakistan, meanwhile, has urged for peace while not recognising the need for the terrorists it has bred to be throttled. Groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba have been given shelter and support in the country - especially by its army and secret services agency. Under such circumstances, India has made it absolutely clear that for any peace talks to happen, there needs to first be effective action on terrorists and terror groups which have an anti-India agenda. NEW DELHI: As the entire country on Friday celebrated the homecoming of IAF braveheart Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by the Pakistani forces after an areal dogfight on Wednesday morning, many sought to know as to what forced Islamabad to return him to India after keeping him in captivity for nearly 59 hours. While a section of countrymen attributed it to the dynamic and decisive leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some others credited the effective use of all diplomatic channels by the government. There were many who said that India's successful display of its areal firepower actually forced Pakistan to come down to its knees. Whatever one may say but the fact is that a ''cornered'' Pakistan, which is being increasingly isolated by India at the global fronts over its covert support to terror operators, had no choice but to return the IAF braveheart who has now emerged as a national hero by demonstrating his indomitable spirit, courage and love for his motherland. It may be recalled that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah-Attari Border check post in Amritsar after much delay on Friday night. For a majority of Indians, who prayed for the captured IAF pilot's safe return, his homecoming is a thumping victory for the country's political leadership which has demonstrated its will stick to its policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism. Whether things will change after this or the ''Naya Pakistan'' envisioned by Imran Khan will act to dismantle the terror infrastructure in the country or not, the Narendra Modi government's go-ahead to IAF to raid the biggest terror camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the dastardly Pulwama suicide attack on a CRPF convoy on February 14, has indeed send a firm message that India will no more tolerate terror. It may be recalled that the Modi government had said a firm no to any deal on captured IAF pilot and instead pressed for his immediate, safe and unconditional release. Delhi had told Pakistan in clear terms that there will not be a repeat of the Kandahar incident and the action that was taken on Feb 26 by the IAF was in response to the Pulwama attack in which lives of 40 CRPF personnel were lost. New Delhi had made it clear to Pakistanis that the captured IAF pilot cannot be used as a bargaining chip with India and that not returning him would amount to a violation of the Geneva Convention. With the Indian diplomacy at work, Pakistan soon found itself alienated as the international community exerted tremendous pressure on Islamabad to release the captured IAF pilot. India had told the diplomatic community in New Delhi as well as the UN level that what was targeted were the terror camps and proxies and not targeting any military installation and dense areas. Apparently under huge international pressure and left with no choice, Prime Minister Imran Khan, while addressing a joint session of National Assembly, announced that Wing Commander Abhinnadan Varthaman will be released on Friday. The reality is that Pakistan has time and again denied the presence of terrorists like Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin, who continue to roam freely in the country and execute their nefarious designs of targeting India. So, India is not going to trust Pakistan unless it gives ample proof that it has dismantled the terror network flourishing on its soil. Outlining the sequence of events that unfolded on Wednesday, reports said that around 9.45 AM, a Pakistan Air Force jets violated the Indian airspace, crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and launched some laser-guided bombs targeting military installations but they missed narrowly because they could not come closer and were chased away by the IAF fighters . Before IAF's MiG-21 Bison flown by Wing Commander Varthaman was hit, he had managed to lock on one PAF's F-16s and had fired an R-73 air-to-air missile to bring it down. The PAF planes had crossed the Line of Control (LoC). This, the sources said, happened against the backdrop of Imran Khan's claim that Pakistan wanted to show its strength but it was false because their actual targets were military installations. According to Pakistani sources, Islamabad's action was intended to convey that if India can come into Pakistan, then it could do the same. Several hours later, Pakistan handed over the captured IAF pilot to the Indian officials in what signalled the easing of confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbours, at least temporarily, after much delay. Wing Commander Abhinandan crossed into the Indian side of the border around 9 PM at the Wagah Border accompanied by the Indian officials, who confirmed that he had been returned and said he would be taken for medical checks. Abhinandan was given a rousing welcome by thousands of Indians who had waited for his return at the Wagah Border. Attari-Wagah border: A sea of people gathered at the Attari border since morning on Friday, waiting to catch a glimpse of the IAF braveheart who was scheduled to come back from Pakistan. Their wait finally got over when Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed back to the Indian Air Force. And with it, an entire country united in saluting the return of a hero. Abhinandan had been captured by Pakistani forces on Wednesday after the brave pilot ejected from his MiG-21 bison while chasing a Pakistani F16 jet across the LoC. He was beaten and images of him with a bloodied face and swollen eyes began doing the rounds on social media. Showing exemplary courage, however, Abhinandan refused to answer most of the questions that the Pakistani force asked him. With India mounting pressure on Pakistan for his return, Imran Khan announced the IAF pilot would be handed back. Patriotic slogans. Crackers. The tricolour. Scenes at the Attari-Wagah border were of absolute jubilation People hailed a hero who was held captive by enemy forces and one who remained brave in the face of adversity. At the border, there were hundreds who had gathered to greet Abhinandan - from politicians to people at large. The biggest smile here, however, was on the faces of Abhinandan's parents who heaved a massive sigh of relief. Earlier in the day, Abhinandan's parents received a standing ovation in a Delhi-bound flight that they had boarded to be at the border. Later in the day, it was not just Abhinandan who received a standing ovation from fellow countrymen but every armed forces personnel who received a massive salute for their valour and sacrifices. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be handed over to India at Wagah border between 3 pm to 4 pm, Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told Zee Media. According to the latest update, High Commission of India, Islamabad, has completed the IAF pilot's travel documentation, sources told Zee Media. "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will cross the border today, can't tell you exact time since there are certain formalities. A senior Indian Air force team from Delhi is here, they will be the ones to receive him," Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar, told ANI. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday announced that Varthaman will be released as a gesture of peace. The 'goodwill gesture' came largely due to the position India took throughout the day to bring its pilot back home and maintained no deals would be made with Pakistan. India also slammed the neighbour nation for violating terms of the Geneva Convention by displaying vulgar images of the injured IAF personnel. Pakistan detained the IAF personnel Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two nations along the Line of Control. Varthaman downed a F-16 fighter jet of Pakistan Air Force by firing an R-73 air-to-air missile before his jet, a MiG 21 bison, was hit by an enemy missile, the sources said. Srinagar: Six Jamaat-e-Islami activists were on Friday detained by the Jammu and Kashmir Police during fresh raids in various villages of Tral in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. The arrests were made from Laribal, Pinglish, Dardsara, Panner, Mandoora and Lurgam villages of Tral subdivision. Following the arrests, security forces said that the crackdown on Jammat activists still continues. Meanwhile, restrictions have been imposed in the downtown area of Srinagar and the internet services have also been suspended. On Thursday, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre imposed a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir and declared it as an 'unlawful association' under Section 3 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Separatist group Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir was banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged anti-national and subversive activities, PTI quoted government officials as saying. Disney is ready to jump into the streaming service game later this year in the United States. However, in Japan, the company is ready to open the floodgates this month. According to a report on Friday from The Hollywood Reporter, Disney is teaming up with Japans leading mobile wireless carrier, Docomo, to launch a streaming service. This new platform will be an exclusive partnership with the carrier. It will also offer content from all four of Disneys major studios. That means Docomo customers will get movies from Pixar, Walt Disney Studios, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm (Star Wars). That means Disney is going right after Netflix in Japan, too: Docomo has around 45 percent market share in Japan with more than 70 million subscribers. The next largest carrier, KDDis au service, linked with Netflix last year, offering a special data plan with unlimited access to the streaming platform. Third-largest carrier SoftBank has offered Netflix subscriptions to its 40 million subscribers since the streamer launched in Japan in 2015. The report indicates that the push from Disney is not only to get partnered up with the biggest wireless carrier in Japan, but also to welcome in 5G service. That should help boost streaming. Its also worth noting that Docomo and Disney go back a ways, with the wireless carrier offering various devices with Disney themes over the last handful of years or so. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Disney+ is a looming presence in the streaming market for many companies. That certainly includes Netflix, which has been bolstering its original content slate for years. Even as it faces the inevitable removal of Disney-owned content from the platform this year. And lets not forget Apple, which is jumping on the bandwagon later this year. We should get a first-look at that service at an event on March 25. [via THR SRINAGAR: Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with combined security forces on Friday. An encounter ensued between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district. The firing has now stopped and a search operation is underway. Bodies of the two terrorists were recovered from the area. The encounter broke out in the early hours of Friday in Babagund and Kralgund areas of Kupwara. A cordon and search operation by laid by the joint troops of CRPF, Army and Jammu and Kashmir police about 1 am. No reports of casualties have emerged so far. Internet services have been suspended in the area. In a major operation, the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircrafts struck inside Pakistan, destroying the biggest terrorist training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). On Wednesday, two terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed, including one from Pakistan, were killed in an encounter in Memander area of Shopian district on Wednesday Shopian encounter has completed. On specific information, this operation was launched. Two terrorists were killed. These terrorists belonged to proscribed terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad," confirmed Kashmirs Inspector General of Police SP Pani. He added, "Arms and ammunition have been recovered. From the material we have recovered, it is ascertained that one terrorist belonged to Pakistan, and the other is from a local area. New Delhi: Two policemen, two CRPF men and a civilian lost their lives in an encounter in Handwara in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. At least eight terrorists are also said to have been injured in the gunbattle that lasted several hours. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Babagund area of Kupwara following information about presence of militants there, the officials said. During the searches, the militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated, they said. "The terrorists, believed to be hiding in the debris of damaged houses, came out and opened indiscriminate fire upon the security personnel, during a combing operation in Handwara," said an ANI report. There was lull in firing several times during the day but the militants would resume firing as soon as the security forces advanced towards the house where the ultras were hiding, the officials said. Clashes between a group of youngsters and security personnel took place near the encounter site, leaving four persons injured, the officials. News agency ANI said that the exchange of fire started between terrorists and security forces began in the wee hours on Friday in Babagund village of Langate area of Handwara. Two terrorists have so far been killed in the operation while 2-3 terrorists are still believed to be holed up in the house. In the meantime, heavy shelling has been reported in Balakote sector of Poonch district by the Pakistani army. The Indian Army is strongly and effectively retaliating to it. Srinagar: Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, amid prevailing tensions between India and the neighbouring country. The ceasefire violation, which was reported on Thursday, left a civilian injured. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing towards Indian posts and villages in Kamalkote area of Uri in Baramulla district on Thursday evening, the officials said. They added that the intermittent firing continued throughout the night. The Indian Army has retaliated efficiently to the Pakistani firing, the officials said. The ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops comes amid prevailing tensions between India and Pakistan which escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. India's non-military, pre-emptive airstrikes came 11 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. Notably, the year 2018 had witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations - 2,936 - by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the Indo-Pak border. (With inputs from PTI) New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday approved an order for giving reservation benefits to economically weaker sections and for promotion in government jobs to SCs and STs in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision has been taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said at a press conference. The cabinet "approved the proposal of Jammu & Kashmir Government regarding amendment to the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 1954 by way of the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019," according to an official release. "It will serve the purpose of application of relevant provisions of the Constitution of India, as amended through the Constitution (Seventy-Seventh Amendment) Act, 1995 and Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 for Jammu and Kashmir, by issuing the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019 by the President under clause (1) of Article 370," it said. The Constitution (Seventy-Seventh Amendment) Act, 1995 provides for reservation in promotion for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, while the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 provides for 10 per cent reservation in education and government jobs to economically weaker sections. The government had enacted a law last month to provide 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education for the general category poor. The Union Cabinet also decided to promulgate an ordinance -- The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 -- to give reservation benefits to the people living along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, who often face shelling from across the border. "It provides for amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 to bring persons residing in the areas adjoining International Border within the ambit of reservation at par with persons living in areas adjoining Actual Line of Control (LoC)," Jaitley said. This facility was so far available to the people living along the Actual Line of Control in the state who also face similar living condition. This proposal was moved by the Jammu and Kashmir government, which is under the President's rule. New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan returned to India to a hero's welcome after he was held captive by Pakistani Army for three days. The nation waited with bated breath to catch a glimpse of the braveheart who maintained his composure at the face of adversity and refused to divulge any details about his mission without fearing the consequences. From politicians to Bollywood celebs, people from all walks of life celebrated the arrival of the real hero, who made India proud. Taking to Twitter, Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt wrote Our hero is back. While Shahid Kapoor shared a widely-circulated sketch of IAF pilot and wrote, "What real heroes look like. #jaihind." Varun Dhawan wrote, "Welcome back home #WelcomeBackAbinandan a true hero. These humane actions give hope that all humanity is not lost. Bharat mata ki Jai." Shilpa Shetty wrote, "Welcome HOME Wing Commander #Abhinandan. This is how a REAL #Hero looks. Saashtang Dandvat Pranam Salute to our defence team & IAF on the successful surgical strike. So proud as an Indian to know our country is well equipped to hit back hard. #Respect to our PM @narendramodi ji for his VISION & PROMPT TOUGH stand. Its NEVER about WAR, but OUR fight AGAINST TERRORISM #peace #IAF #goals #JaiHind #Gratitude #salute #bravery #makepeacenotwar #welcomehome." Dia Mirza wrote, "There is no place like home. Love, respect and gratitude Wing Commander Abhinandan #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan #Peace #UnitedForPeace." Anil Kapoor wrote, "India unites to welcome the braveheart back to his homeland! With pride in our hearts & a smile on our faces, #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan!" Kartik Aryan wrote, "You are a True Hero and Nations Pride Wing Commander Abhinandan !#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan !! Jai Hind." The 35-year-old Wing Commander was held captive by Pakistan since Wednesday after his MiG 21 crashed during air-to-air combat with a Pakistani F-16 and he fell into Pakistani territory. On February 28, the Wing Commander's return was announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, calling it a 'peace gesture'. The IAF, however, claimed that the move was 'no goodwill gesture, but in consonance with the Geneva Conventions'. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. New Delhi: Soon after the Prime Minister of Pakistan announced the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan, Hashtag #WelcomeBackAbhinandan and #WelcomeBackHero began trending on Twitter in no time. From Bollywood celebs to politicians, people from all walks of life expressed their happiness and welcomed the brave IAF pilot Abhinandan. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has once played the role of an IAF pilot in a cross-border romance drama Veer Zaara, welcomed Abhinandan and expressed his gratitude towards him. Taking to Twitter, Shah Rukh wrote, "There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan." There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/NFTRINu6Mw Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 1, 2019 The 35-year-old Wing Commander was held captive by Pakistan since Wednesday after his MiG 21 crashed during air-to-air combat with a Pakistani F-16 and he fell into Pakistani territory. On February 28, the Wing Commander's return was announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, calling it a 'peace gesture'. The IAF, however, claimed that the move was 'no goodwill gesture, but in consonance with the Geneva Conventions'. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday urged Pakistan to admit to, and release the Prisoners of War (POWs) still in its captivity from the 1971 war. In an informal chat with media persons as part of his tour of the border areas in the wake of the escalating tensions at the LoC, the Chief Minister also urged the Indian government to take up the issue with Islamabad. Expressing happiness that talks to further thrash out the modalities for Kartarpur corridor were on track despite the tensions, Captain Amarinder requested the Central government to allow 5,000-10,000 pilgrims to cross through every day once the corridor becomes operational. He recalled his own family's close connection with the Kartarpur Gurdwara, which his grandfather Bhupinder Singh had helped to rebuild after the 1928 floods. On the compensation to the people whose land was being acquired for the corridor, Captain Amarinder said: "The state government will thrash out the matter with the Indian government." He hoped that tensions along the border are resolved soon and Sikhs across the globe get the opportunity to have 'Khule Darshan Deedar' of the historic Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara with the fast completion of the corridor. The Chief Minister, who went around Haruwal village in Gurdaspur district as part of his tour of the border villages to instill confidence among the residents, said he would be the first one to cross the border to pay his obeisance at the historic Gurdwara. The Chief Minister assured the residents that there was no need for panic or fear as the armed forces were fully prepared to deal with the situation. He urged the people not to worry and assured them of his government's full support. Addressing a gathering at Dera Baba Nanak, the Chief Minister said he was in constant touch with the central government and the state government was well prepared for any eventuality. Amid loud cheers and slogans of Jai Hind, the Chief Minister said that even when he had come here as a serving military officer, what struck him the most was the indomitable courage and enthusiasm of the people. During his tour, the Chief Minister shared a cup of tea with BSF personnel at the BSF border observation post in Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur (10 Battalion BSF sector HQ BSF Gurdaspur). He also interacted with Indian Army officers and men at an army camp in the border district of Gurdaspur to boost their morale and appreciated their courage in these stressful times. Earlier, on arrival in Gurdaspur, the Chief Minister took stock of the situation and was briefed by DIG Border Range and Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur regarding the steps taken for the safety and security of the residents. The Chief Minister asked the Civil and Public administration to keep up the preparedness level and further intensify dissemination of information useful to the public to ensure their safety and security at all costs. Akash Puri, son of Puri Jagannadh is busy shooting for Romantic, which will mark his second film as an actor. Here we have update about the film and it is that the actor and the team of Romantic have completed shooting for the Hyderabad schedule which was on till Wednesday. Producer Charmme Kaur released a video and said that they will be announcing the release date very soon. She looked pretty excited and happy to be sharing the news. Young and budding starlet Akash Puri made a decent debut as a full-fledged hero with Mehbooba and was appreciated by the critics too. The film was launched by hero Nandamuri Kalyan Ram and senior actress Rama Prabha recently. Looks like the team is working at a brisk pace and thats the reason they managed to finish the first schedule in a very short span of time. Hero Kalyan Ram clapped the sound board for the first scene. Debutant Anil Paduri is directing this romantic, beautiful love story. Akash will be seen in a new and stylish look. It will be a different love story from director Puri Jagannadh. Apart from providing the script, Puri is also taking care of the screenplay and penning the dialogues. Puri along with Charmme Kaur is producing Romantic under Puri Jagannadh Touring Talkies and Puri Connects banners. More details of the film will be out soon. In the backdrop of Pakistan's intrusion into the Indian air space on Wednesday, the Indian Army will move the XVII Mountain Strike Corps to its designated headquarters Panagarh in West Bengal to keep a close watch on China and the 4,057-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Mountain Strike Corps' flag was raised in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi on January 1, 2014, by Major General Raymond Joseph Noronha, the first commander of the force. The Mountain Strike Corps, also known as the Brahmastra Corps, is a China-specific Strike Corps as it is located in close proximity to China. On Wednesday, the Eastern Army Commander General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Lieutenant General MM Naravane visited Panagarh and met the General Officer Commanding (Brahmastra Corps) Lt Gen PN Rao. He assessed the operational preparedness and took stock of the situation at Panagarh. "Eastern Command Army commander visited Panagarh Military Station on Wednesday. He was received by Lieutenant General PN Rao, GOC, Brahmastra Corps. The Corps which was raised at Ranchi will shortly be shifting to Panagarh. The Army Commander reviewed the security situation and operational preparedness of the formation. He emphasised on the need for remaining ready at all times to meet the emerging security challenges. The GOC-in-C also interacted with the troops and appreciated their continued efforts in developing the military station," said a statement from the Eastern Command. The country's first Mountain Strike Corps has several infantry and armoured battalions, artillery and aviation wing. The unit at Panagarh has a team of Special Forces skilled in para dropping and operating behind enemy lines. They can be deployed in a war-like situation in the dark without the enemy getting to know of it. The creation of the Corps was cleared by the Cabinet Committee of Security in 2013 and was to have a deployment of close to 90,000 troops. But, the work to raise the Mountain Strike Corps has been slow due to fund constraints. Significantly, the Panagarh Air Force Station houses the second squadron of the C-130J Super Hercules after the Hindon Air Base. It would take less than 60 minutes to reach the Chinese border or the LAC when airborne from the Panagarh AFS. The C-130J can land on unpaved surfaces, short airstrips, advanced landing grounds (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh like Tuting, Mechuka, Ziro, Aalo, Pasighat, Walong, Tawang and Vijaynagar closer to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with troops and materials. It can also para-drop special forces - known for their speed and stealth - and move faster with equipment and good and return to the base quickly to dispatch the next team. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday welcomed IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman back in the country after being in the custody of Pakistan for two days. "Welcome home #AbhinandanVarthaman Welcome home sweet home," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle. Pakistan held Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Wednesday after fighter jets of both the nations engaged in an air battle following an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes. The pilot is scheduled to be handed over to India at the Attari border Friday. The slowdown in iPhone sales has forced Foxconn Apples largest vendor to cut down the salaries and other benefits to the employees working in its iPhone factories. The report from South China Morning Post paints a dreary picture of Foxconns Zhengzhou factory and how the company is cutting back on small perks to its employees. Foxconn has had to cancel shuttle bus services from its Zhengzhou factory which has forced employees to walk as much as 40 minutes to get to the rooms where they stay. Usually, shuttle bus services are suspended around the Lunar New Year holiday but it resumes after that. However, due to the slowdown in iPhone sales, Foxconn has decided to not resume the shuttle services. It has also stopped offering free laundry services to factory workers and now charges them $1 for washing a load of laundry. In an unprecedented move, Foxconn has also cut the salaries of employees working in its factories at the end of last year. While peak iPhone season usually lasts for around four to five months, it only lasted for around 20 days. As per a Foxconn worker, his salary was reduced from 4,000 yuan in October the peak iPhone production season to 3,000 yuan in November. In September, our line supervisor told us that Apple added a new order for three million iPhone 8 Plus [units]. It only took us about 20 days to finish the production because we worked 18 hours a day in two shifts, including weekends. The peak season didnt last long at all, he said. The report highlights that Henan mobile exports where the factory is located have declined by 23.7 percent in January YoY. Apart from iPhones, Foxconn also produces smartphones for a number of other companies. However, just like Apple, other OEMs are also seeing a slowdown in their smartphone sales. A report from earlier this year had claimed that Apple had to remove around 50,000 seasonal contract workers from its payroll earlier than usual due to the low iPhone demand. It simply did not renew the contracts of such employees once it expired. It even sent some employees on an extended vacation until March. Our Take Foxconn and other vendors will have to reduce their workforce and cut down on their expenses as global smartphone shipments decline. The smartphone market has matured and all smartphone OEMs now need to realign themselves accordingly. [Via SCMP As Pakistan airspace continues to be closed due to mounting tensions with India, China has opened a part of its airspace for foreign airlines to reroute, the Global Times reported. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) launched an emergency plan under which it has notified domestic flight companies and asked them to cooperate with the air force to ensure the safety of flights and implement temporary flight plans. The direction came after the Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday. Thousands of air travellers have been stranded worldwide due to Pakistan closing its airspace. However on Thursday, Pakistan partially opened the airspace and assured that it would be fully reopened by Friday. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had on Thursday temporarily restored Pakistani airspace for commercial aviation, allowing some flights to depart. At least three commercial flights departed from Pakistan on Thursday. The three flights included Emirates flight number EK637 from Peshawar to Dubai, Air Arabia G9825 from Peshawar to Ras Al Khaimah, and Qatar Airways QR601 from Peshawar to Doha. The CAA in its latest Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said the airspace would remain closed until 1 PM Pakistan Standard Time on Friday. The closure of Pakistan's airspace disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia. Various airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines had on Wednesday announced they were rerouting their flights as Pakistan closed its airspace. Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. The decision affected its services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo. Singapore Airlines' was forced to direct flights to Europe to re-fuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Emirates also cancelled 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan. NEW DELHI: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will not be attending the foreign ministers' meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states amid ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. Qureshi said that he will not be attending it as a 'matter of principle' since External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj is the 'Guest of Honour' of the meeting. The organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states is an influential grouping of 57 countries. "I wrote to the OIC to take back the invitation to India and told them that if they won't be able to do this, I won't be able to participate. I have decided that I won't be going to OIC. We have 19 resolutions there which also includes Kashmir issue, therefore our lower level officials will be present to defend Pakistan's resolution. In short, if someone tries to give India an observer status we can oppose it," Qureshi said. Swaraj is in Abu Dhabi to attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting which will be held on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting as the guest of honour. Pakistan had tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the OIC meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. However, it has not conceded to Pakistan's reported demands this time. In 1969, the OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. A defeated and isolated Pakistan's refusal to attend the inaugural session of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) did not go well with home politicians and Opposition parties. Former Pakistan President Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) president Asif Ali Zardari slammed fellow politician and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for failing to attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Not attending the meeting is not the solution, Zardari said in the joint session of Pakistan Parliament, as reported by Geo News. I suggest the foreign minister attend the OIC meeting. He should go there and talk. We should work on making our economy stronger, added Zardari. Later PPP chairman and son of late Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also called Qureshi's decision unfortunate. Zardari's statement came hours after Qureshi announced his decision to boycott the session in protest against the OIC's decision to invite Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj as the 'Guest of Honor'. "I wrote to the OIC to take back the invitation to India and told them that if they won't be able to do this, I won't be able to participate. I have decided that I won't be going to OIC. We have 19 resolutions there which also includes Kashmir issue, therefore our lower level officials will be present to defend Pakistan's resolution. In short, if someone tries to give India an observer status we can oppose it," Qureshi announced. Amid rising tension between India and Pakistan, Swaraj on Friday laid focus on the rise of terrorism during her address at the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting of the foreign ministers' meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," she said. While Sushma emphasised on the perils of terrorism, the Pakistan chair at the plenary session remained empty. It looks like the AirPods 2 will indeed go on sale from March 29. As per Applesfera, March 28 is the last day of the life cycle of the original AirPods. The information was provided to the publication by someone who is well versed with the internal operations of the Asia-Pacific suppliers. Theres an accompanying screenshot which further adds credence to the report of the original AirPods reaching the end of their life cycle on March 28. On March 29, they will be replaced by a new model which will be the AirPods 2. There are rumors of Apple holding a media event on March 25 where apart from its news subscription service, it will be unveiling the AirPods 2, AirPower, iPad mini 5, and the 7th gen iPad. All these products will then go for sale on March 29. Rumors indicate the AirPods 2 will come with a new surface coating for improved grip. They will also feature a new wireless chip presumably the W2 for improved Bluetooth connectivity. Lastly, they will also feature always-on Hey Siri functionality and come with a new Qi-compatible carrying case. A recent rumor also claimed the new AirPods will be available in black, though given that it has not been verified from other sources, it is best to take it with a pinch of salt right now. Given the sheer number of rumors and leaks pointing to an imminent AirPods 2 launch, theres definitely a high probability that we will see Apple hold a media event on March 25 and then put the AirPods 2 along with other new hardware on sale from March 29. [Via Applesfera While there are new iPads rumored to be launching soon, and attention is always paid to new iPhones landing near the end of the year, Apple has much more in the works. For example, we have the subscription wave about to crash. Apple is working on launching a news subscription service, along with a TV and film streaming service for good measure. Both of those services are expected to be unveiled on March 25. AirPods 2 are in the works, too, with Hey Siri support. All that being said, it sounds like Apple has even more coming down the pike. At least, thats the general gist from Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Cook spoke to investors earlier today and, in typical fashion, was excited to discuss whats happened and whats still to come. Cook says the company is rolling the dice on new products that will blow you away. For instance, while Cook is teasing all this, he referenced AirPods and the Apple Watch, saying, fantastic products are on the way. Cook says the company is also working on reducing the cost of the MacBook Air Retina, which was initially launched last year. Right now the thin laptop starts at $1,200, but there is no word on how much lower Apple is aiming. As for the companys Services division? Well, things are looking good: Speaking at the companys annual general meeting in Cupertino, California, Cook reiterated that the iPhone maker is still on track to double revenue from services in 2020 from the nearly $25 billion in 2016. Referencing speaking notes on an iPad, Cook touched on several of the companys product categories. As far as the rumor mill is concerned, there is quite a bit to be excited about. Apples continuing to work on Augmented Reality glasses. And Project Titan may see the launch of an electric van. 2019 seems like it is going to be an exciting year for Apple. Even just dropping the cost of the MacBook Air Retina would be a pretty big step in the right direction. What are you looking forward to the most this year from Apple? [via Bloomberg Claudia Jordan is spilling the tea about herexit. The former Celebrity Apprentice contestant reveals the real reason why she didn't return to the Bravo hit reality series after appearing on Season 7.Jordan, who shared a #FlashbackFriday photo of her time on RHOA, she spilled the tea in the comment section as to why she decided to not to return.Jordan claims it was to protect her then relationship, since she didn't want to expose that part of her life on the show."[I] didnt wanna come back as a friend of the show and that was my only option if i wasnt going to share my relationship on the show. At the time and the guy I was seeing had too much to lose going on there (super successful and known but i kept it very private like usual) and good thing we didnt go public on the show-turns out he was not the most honest! I woulda been humiliated! #DodgedABullet," she shared.Jordan who seems relieved that she didn't share her then relationship on RHOA added; "it woulda been a disaster! I rarely go public with my relationships. I let people push that narrative that I cant get a man (how ridiculous is that?) meanwhile Im enjoying my relationships with no interference. But THAT one even spoke to producers and everything!"Do you miss Claudia on RHOA? Sound off in the comments below!Photo Credit: Bravo Three dates mark the history of A. Lange & Sohne in the history of Germany. On the last day of the war in 1945, the historical factory buildings of Lange, which was established in Glashutte in 1845, were partly destroyed in a bombing raid. Three years later, with the company in East Germanys Soviet zone, the company was expropriated and its name was forgotten. In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Walter Lange, the great-grandson of the founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange, finally had chance to realise the dream that the war had nearly destroyed: to continue producing high-quality timepieces like the pocket watches produced by his great-grandfather, at the same time adding his own innovations as part of an incessant quest for precision, aesthetics and legibility. And revive A. Lange & Sohne. Another date: 24th October 1994. Walter Lange and his associate, the watch crazy entrepreneur Gunter Blumlein, present the first four wristwatches developed by the company since its revival. It is the start of the second life of the Lange family business, which will see the brand established as one of the key prestigious names in high-end watchmaking. To this day, the brand has developed 63 in-house movements. In 2001 the return to a reconstructed historic factory marked another milestone in the companys history. Dresden, 1994, presentation of the first four Lange watches after the comeback. Far left, the Lange 1. A. Lange & Sohne Among the new watches presented on 24th October 1994 was the aptly-named Lange 1, for which A. Lange & Sohne celebrates the 25th anniversary this year with a huge operation: 10 limited editions of a model from the Lange 1 collection will be produced this year and unveiled on 24th of each month from January to October 2019. After the Lange 1 25th Anniversary seen at the SIHH in January, A. Lange & Sohne has just unveiled the second piece in this anniversary series, the Grande Lange 1 Moon Phase 25th Anniversary. Grande Lange 1 Moon Phase 25th Anniversary A. Lange & Sohne The Grand Lange is 2.5mm larger than the Lange 1 and shows off an enlarged moon phase display that is on the main dial along with the hours and minutes (rather than on the small seconds sub-dial like on the Lange 1). On the Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase 25th anniversary, A. Lange & Sohne presents for the first time this astronomical moon phase (it only needs adjusting every 122.6 years) with a moon disc in hand-engraved solid white gold. Six stars and a constellation of small dots form the celestial backdrop for the moon phase. The white gold, hand-engraved moon disc A. Lange & Sohne The 41mm case is in white gold and the solid-silver dial shows off the blue colour. The numerals, hour markers, hands, large date all the indications are in blue, with the exception of two tiny red triangles that indicate that the 72-hour power reserve is almost up. The alligator strap naturally conforms to the same rule. The L095.3 calibre also has a hand engraved blue 25 on the balance-cock that can be viewed through the sapphire crystal case back. In the same font as that used for the big date (which was inspired by the clock in Dresdens opera house), it reminds us that the Lange 1 was the first wristwatch produced in series to feature a big date display, 25 years ago. The 25 is surrounded by a floral motif that is also hand engraved and filled with blue. On the circumference of the case back, the engraved number confirms that the Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase 25th Anniversary is a limited edition of just 25 pieces. My aims for March Ahh a bit of summer dreaming coming your way today! I never had the chance to share these photos from Mauritius after my trip back in January, but it seemed like the perfect time to post them now as part of my monthly update especially as Im jetting off again this month (more on that below!) I feel like things start to pick up again at this time of year, as does my mood! The first two months of the year feel like they go so slowly and then before we know it, the year flies by. March is set to be a good one, Im excited for whats to come and Im looking forward to warmer weather and a few fun updates to be finished in our flat! 01. This month Jordan and I are off on our first trip away together since our honeymoon to Bali last September, and I cannot wait! Were going to Venice, I booked cheap flights on a whim forever ago Jordan has always said how much he wants to go back, hes been a few times now I think but itll be my first visit. Ive been trying to get a little itinerary on the go but I havent actually added all that much to my list just yet, so heres hoping you guys can provide me with a few places to check out. We love good food, good sights and even better coffee hit me with some sweet, sweet recommendations please! 02. Ive got lots of exciting work projects on at the moment so Im feeling very thankful for that, I love that its my job to create beautiful imagery for brands, and to share my life with you guys while Im at it! Im working on an event with Origins here in Glasgow as part of my ambassadorship with them (which Im still pinching myself about!), so if youre local keep your eyes peeled for that! I want it to be super casual with a chance to get to know everyone so Im hoping we can do a couple of sessions in the coffee shop. Ill share the details on Stories when I have more news. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Susan Kootnekoff is a lawyer with Inspire Law. Phone: 250-764-7710. Email: info@inspirelaw.ca. On the web: inspirelaw.ca. The content of this article is intended to provide general thoughts and general information, not to provide legal advice. This column appears Fridays. The deputy head of the transport committee in Egypts parliament has said that a train driver involved in a fatal crash at a Cairo station on Wednesday had been suspended from work for six months due to drug use at some point in the past. Mohamed Zain spoke by phone on a television show hosted by Said Hasasin, also an Egyptian MP, on an Iraqi channel based in Cairo. The accident at Ramses station in central Cairo occurred on Wednesday morning; a train driver got out of the cab to speak to the driver of another train he had collided with and his train moved away without him, hitting a barrier at high speed and causing a huge blaze. Twenty-two people have died as a result of the accident. Zain said he learned the information from the chairman of the National Railways Authority. In addition, a delegation from the transport committee held a closed session with Deputy Transport Minister Omar Saad and the head of the National Railways Authority Ashraf Shaalan on Thursday to discuss the a report on the crash. Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek ordered the detention of six people for four days pending investigation of their involvement in the crash. Those detained include the drivers and drivers assistants of the two trains involved in the crash, as well as a worker tasked with switching junctions and a manoeuvring operator on one of the trains. Prosecutors have ordered the driver who abandoned his vehicle be drug tested. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly accepted the resignation of Transport Minister Hisham Arafat on Wednesday. A train collision in August 2017 in Alexandria killed 43 people, while seven people were killed in a train collision in Beheira in February last year. Search Keywords: Short link: Hong Kong: Funding boost for Hospital Authority The Government will set aside funding for the Hospital Authority in case of emergencies, Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan said today. Speaking at a press conference on initiatives in the 2019-20 Budget, Prof Chan said the Government will earmark $10 billion to set up a public healthcare stabilisation fund to prepare for any additional expenditure which may be incurred by the authority due to unexpected circumstances. She said: We have been increasing our funding for the Hospital Authority throughout the past few years, especially with this new funding model, the three-year cycle funding model, that would allow the Hospital Authority to better plan their services in terms of the change in demographics and also the ageing population, and also, if there are any changes in the population numbers. So really, this is to set aside just in case for emergency. The Government will provide a total of $69.9 billion in funding for the authority in the 2019-20 financial year, an increase of 8.5% compared to the 2018-19 figure, Prof Chan said. Additionally, the authority was asked to prepare a medium to long-term manpower plan outlining the resources they need, for example, the number of doctors and nurses required for the next 10 to 20 years. Prof Chan also said the number of applications for limited registration contracts has increased following the commencement of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, which extends the validity of such contracts from one year to three years. With more promotion and publicity in Hong Kong and overseas, the Government hopes this number will further increase, she added. This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Countries trying to avoid taking back Islamic State fighters and putting them on trial may be undermining the war against terrorism If Allah wants, it will come back tomorrow. If Allah wants, it will be a little longer. It is just a matter of time, boasted a defiant German recruit of the Islamic State (IS) terror group. If it belongs to Sharia [Islamic law], then there is nothing to complain about, she said, defending the beheadings and other atrocities committed by the group in Iraq and Syria in an interview with the UK newspaper the Daily Mail on Saturday. If there is war, there is killing, she insisted. As Iraq and Syria continue to battle IS after the terrorist group lost control of its final footholds in the two countries, questions remain about whether the world is doing enough to punish the groups remnants and especially returning fighters. Fear of de facto impunity being granted to the fighters has been highlighted in recent weeks after the United States, Europe and countries across the world have demonstrated an unwillingness to accept returning IS militants and prosecute them in the courts. Reports of IS women and children trapped in prisons in Iraq and camps in Syria facing an uncertain future have also brought to the fore the debate over what to do with former IS fighters. Large numbers of IS fighters in Iraq and Syria have been either killed or captured, but thousands are believed to have gone underground or to have fled the two countries. The phenomenon has given way to a pressing question: what the world should do with foreign IS fighters to make sure that it pulls its weight in the war on terrorism. Already, the United States and European countries have showed little political will to allow former IS fighters to return. The two decided last week to bar two IS mothers from returning to their countries of origin, saying they posed a risk to national security. The debate took a sharp twist after US President Donald Trump asked Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 IS fighters that US troops had captured in Syria and to put them on trial. Trump warned that the only other option would be to release the fighters, allowing them to seep back into Europe and pose a security threat to the continent. A July 2018 study by the International Centre for the study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at Kings College London concluded that 41,490 people from 80 countries were affiliated with IS. ICSR research based on official, academic and other data found that at least 7,366 foreigners affiliated with IS had travelled back to their own countries, including 256 women and up to 1,180 children. By June 2018, 3,906 people had returned to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, 1,765 to Western Europe, 784 to Eastern Europe, 338 to Central Asia, 308 to Southeast Asia, 156 to Southern Asia, 97 to the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, and 12 to Sub-Saharan Africa, it said. There has been no word thus far on trials or investigations of these returnees, and governments have remained largely silent on plans to deal with the problem. Some European governments have made it clear that they are not ready to take back their nationals who they believe might create a danger to their national security. The UK has found a way to circumvent the issue, at least as far as dual nationals are concerned, by revoking the citizenship of more than 100 people who have been stripped of their British passports. The United States, meanwhile, has decided to ban Hoda Muthana, a woman from Alabama who left to join IS in 2014, from returning to the country by claiming that she had no right to US citizenship in the first place. France, Germany and other European countries have been reluctant to accept the repatriation of their nationals who are among the foreign jihadi fighters and may pose a threat to them. Only a small number of nations, including Indonesia, Lebanon, Morocco, Russia, Sudan and Tunisia, have allowed IS followers to return from Iraq and Syria, though it is not clear how many have been investigated or have faced legal action. Millions of Iraqis and Syrians who suffered from IS brutality when the terrorist group controlled vast chunks of their territory for some four years have seen little or no action on the ground to bring justice to the victims of crimes committed by IS terrorists. The group is still pursuing its campaign of terror in many parts of Iraq. Attacks and bombings continue to occur throughout the country, and remnants of IS still hold territory in remote and rural areas. On Saturday, five fishermen were slaughtered in the Thirthar Lake district west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad by IS terrorist two days after the group killed six men who were trekking in the desert during the mushroom-picking season. In both attacks the victims were Shia Muslims who were specifically targeted as part of a renewed IS tactic to reignite the sectarian tensions in Iraq that killed hundreds of thousands of people in the civil struggle that erupted after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Despite efforts by the Iraqi government to crack down on the group and prosecute its members, more than two years after Baghdad declared victory over IS many of its former supporters are believed to be free, and many Iraqis fear they might attempt a comeback. Security experts have also warned that a resurgent IS could target European cities for terror attacks using returning militants to carry out the assaults. Any impunity for IS terrorists for their crimes and abuses is a serious problem for justice and accountability in Iraq and Syria and for broader efforts at combatting international terrorism. Though some governments claim they are exploring ways to retrieve their nationals and probe their cases, their efforts are falling short of providing concrete and practical measures to punish the perpetrators of crimes and provide justice for IS victims. Some of these countries consider travelling to IS-held territory not to be a crime in itself, saying that it is not illegal to marry an IS fighter either. They also claim that finding evidence for serious crimes perpetrated by terrorists can be difficult. In order to confront the array of legal, political, diplomatic and security issues that are hampering efforts to deal with the seriousness of these crimes, the world should unite to deal with the problem as a global crisis. The answer to this question will determine the future of global counter-terrorism strategies in view of conflicting national priorities in the aftermath of the military successes to drive IS from key cities in Iraq and Syria. The controversy over the IS fighters has triggered concerns that the parties to the international war against IS lack a coherent strategy to track returning militants and bring them to justice. Without cooperation from states to build cases using both international and national laws to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, efforts to prosecute terrorists will surely suffer. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in September 2017 to set up a team to investigate the massacre of the Yazidi minority and other atrocities by militants in Iraq. The resolution provides an international mechanism to bring those responsible for IS war crimes to justice. Yet, the attempt may be being stymied by a lack of cooperation by various parties because of international politics and national interests. The UN investigation team formed under the resolution to collect evidence of acts by IS that may be war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide has been focusing on administrative and technical details to lay the groundwork for its probe. However, recent media reports about IS women returnees have put a spotlight on the future of the foreign fighters even if they were originally intended to be sympathetic to the womens ordeal. They underscored the need to end the indecision and to take bold initiatives to deal with the crisis. Iraqi President Barham Salih announcement on Monday that Baghdad is seeking IS militants who have engaged in crimes against Iraq to put them on trial in Iraqi courts seems to be rather a political statement than a legal commitment. At the heart of the problem, however, is the absence of strict and well-defined security and judicial mechanisms on both the national and international levels to address the problem. Many sceptics now fear that providing justice for IS victims will not take place and the dark side of recruiting and transferring thousands of would-be terrorists from around the world to Iraq and Syria might never come to light. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 February, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Stop impunity for IS terrorists Search Keywords: Short link: By Ko Dong-hwan Four years after its last Korean concert in Daegu, Maroon 5 rocked a crowd of about 30,000 in Seoul. As part of a world tour with its sixth studio album "Red Pill Blues" released in 2017, the American band performed at the packed Gocheok Sky Dome in the city's Guro-gu district on Feb. 27. The openers were "What Lovers Do," "Payphone" and "This Love" followed by 15 tracks throughout the nearly two-hour show. Adam Levine, the band's vocalist and leading figure, is one of the most popular foreign rock stars in Korea thanks to the 2013 domestic hit movie "Begin Again," in which he featured, and its original sound track "Lost Stars." After the first 14 songs, the mass chanted "encore" waving their phones torches switched on above their heads. Levine responded with "Girls Like You," "Lost Stars," "She Will Be Loved" and ended with "Sugar." At the end of the show, the musician and actor, 39, promised he would be back. Before the concert, some skeptical Korean reports had questioned how the band would attract a crowd after more than 860,000 "disliked" its , as against just 120,000 "likes." "Despite the previous critical reviews, Korean fans unchangingly welcomed Maroon 5," said Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo, referencing the 2018 concerts at the same venue by Sam Smith and Kate Perry, who each drew 20,000 and 15,000. The Wednesday concert was the 10th Korean gig for the seven-piece group since its first concert at the Olympic Park's Olympic Gymnastic Arena in Seoul's Songpa-gu district in 2008. The recipient of three Grammy awards, three People's Choice Awards, four Billboard Music Awards and five Teen Choice Awards began its Red Pill Blues tour in Ecuador in March 2018. The tour will end in Paris in June this year. Korea's exports fell more than 11 percent last month from a year earlier. Korea Times file South Korea's exports moved down 11.1 percent in February from a year earlier, government data showed Friday, due to the falling global prices of chips coupled with the slowing Chinese economy. Outbound shipments came to US$39.56 billion for last month, down from the $44.52 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports decreased 12.6 percent over the cited period to reach $36.4 billion, the ministry added. South Korea's trade surplus came to $3.1 billion in February, marking 85 straight months in which the country's exports have exceeded imports. Considering the average monthly trade surplus came to $5.9 billion in 2018, the latest tally represents a noticeable drop. Last month marked the third consecutive month that exports backtracked, which is a first since July 2016. The industry ministry said the decrease was attributable to the falling price of chips, the country's mainstay export product, along with the slowing Chinese economy, the biggest trading partner for South Korea. The Lunar New Year Holiday, which resulted in fewer operation days, also led to the decrease, the ministry added. In contrast to chips and petrochemical products, numbers for cars, machineries and steel products maintained their growth, with newly emerging products, such as bio-health and agricultural goods, gaining traction. The ministry said while the on-year drop for February was sharper than January's 5.9 percent decline, it is hasty to say the country's trade environment sharply deteriorated, considering the lower number of business days. South Korea's exports of chips came to US$6.7 billion in February, a plunge of 24.8 percent from a year earlier. Along with the falling price, the ministry said the global demand for smartphones also slowed, while major tech firms delayed their investment in data centers. Exports of petrochemical products came to $3.48 billion, down 14.8 percent on-year, as their price decreased despite the rising global oil price due to the rise in supply from the United States. Exports of machineries gained ground due to the rising demand from China and India, with that of cars rising on the back of the release of new SUVs. Steel gained ground on the back of demand from the United States and Japan. By region, South Korea's exports to China nose-dived 17.4 percent to US$9.5 billion, falling on-year for the fourth consecutive month. Exports to the European Union also shed 8.5 percent to stand at $4 billion following the region's slowing economy. The deliveries to the U.S., on the other hand, gained ground for the fifth consecutive month to $5.43 billion on the back of automobiles, mobile devices and petrochemical goods. The ministry said it has been making governmentwide efforts to support the country's exports. Seoul plans to announce a set of measures to revitalize exports next week. For the remainder of 2019, the ministry said the price of chips should stabilize, particularly toward the second half of the year. (Yonhap) Incoming KEB Hana Bank CEO Ji Sung-kyoo By Jhoo Dong-chan Hana Financial Group appears to have bowed to pressure from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) as it has decided to dump the current head of its flagship banking unit who has a thorny relationship with the regulator. The group nominated KEB Hana Bank Vice President Ji Sung-kyoo as the bank's new CEO, Thursday, after the incumbent, Ham Young-joo, who has been accused of overlooking alleged hiring irregularities at the bank, decided not to run for a third term. Market observers said Ham was likely to serve consecutive terms as he successfully led the bank's business after the integration of Hana and the Korea Exchange Bank in September 2015. However, he faced a tall hurdle as the FSS recently expressed its concerns about him in a meeting with three outside directors of Hana Financial Group, Tuesday. During the meeting, FSS officials talked about the "negative impact" Ham's situation would have on the bank's financial stability and credibility. Incumbent KEB Hana Bank CEO Ham Young-joo National Pension Service CEO Kim Sung-joo By Jhoo Dong-chan The National Pension Service (NPS) is facing growing criticism for its disappointing fund management in 2018. Critics claim the state pension agency concentrated too much on introducing a stewardship code while neglecting its earnings in fund management. According to the NPS, it posted a 5.9 trillion won ($5.24 billion) net loss last year, suffering a 16.8 percent loss in its investment in the nation's stock market. The agency's entire yearly earnings rate was also negative at 0.92 percent. This was the first loss in 10 years since the NPS recorded one loss in 2008 during the global financial crisis. Finance ministry hit for being too easy on global tech giants By Lee Kyung-min The Ministry of Economy and Finance has been slammed for not holding global tech giants to the same taxation standards Korean firms are subject to. The backlash came after the finance ministry announced Feb. 14 that it has no immediate plans to revise the corporate tax code to impose heavier taxes on IT giants, such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. The passive stance came amid fierce criticism against the ministry after earlier media reports that Apple's French operation reached a deal with France to pay an undeclared amount of back tax. French media estimated the amount at around 500 million euros (636 billion won). The incident was widely seen as a victory for the French governments against one of the tech multinationals in requiring it pay a fair share in the local market. "The ministry is simply helpless," said Ahn Jeong-sang, a policy adviser for the National Assembly Science ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. "Given that the finance ministry is repeating the same thing over and over, 'coward' is a word that could best characterize the ministry's response. It simply shows how unwilling the ministry is to require global IT giants pay the due amount of tax." The ministry's announcement also came despite mounting calls to revise the tax code to recognize the Korean branches of global tech giants as permanent establishments. Permanent establishments, or fixed places of business, give rise to income or value-added tax liability in a particular jurisdiction. Under the current permanent establishment-based tax code, the tech giant practically exists in the virtual world, which cannot be identified as an entity subject to a rate of 25 percent in corporate tax here. This is a reason why many multinational IT giants set up servers in low-tax jurisdictions in a move to legally avoid the high corporate tax where their services are provided. The ministry, instead, only reiterated its earlier opinion that Korea will continue to join a global wave of efforts to tackle base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). Under the initiative led by the OECD, over 100 countries are trying to fight BEPS, a series of tax avoidance strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules through artificially shifting profits to low- or no-tax locations. It added that it will continue to review the issue with "great caution." Ahn said that the ministry's stance is considered "unfair" and "arbitrary," given how often it revises tax codes that affect domestic entities. "Korean businesses are in constant fear. It is about fear of uncertainty, because they have to pay higher taxes with no room for negotiation whatsoever when the government revises a law. It is the height of unfairness. The ministry essentially bullying whom they can instead of whom they should stand against." In response, a ministry official said the situation has no room for improvement any time soon. "It is true that the tax code gets revised every year. So do international tax laws, but they have to be revised with international treaties taken into consideration. This is not easy because there are many parties with varying, conflicting interests," the ministry's international tax division head Kim Jung-hong said. Ahn added the global tech giants should be willing to assume greater social responsibility by paying a due amount of tax corresponding to their lucrative business here. "There must be tax where there is income. If global tech giants such as Google fail to uphold such a basic moral principle, it only proves that it is nothing but a profit-seeking, irresponsible, opportunistic entity blinded by short-term moneymaking. And the ministry is the principle enabler of the continuation of such morally bankrupt behavior." By Park Hyong-ki Some chiefs of local financial groups are considering joining executives of nonfinancial companies for a trip to Southeast Asian countries, including Cambodia and Malaysia in mid-March, according to industry sources. Details of the travel itinerary have not been fully disclosed yet. However, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) are organizing the Southeast Asian trip for business delegates, according to the two organizations. Hana Financial Chairman Kim Jung-tai The executives are planning to hold business forums and meetings in those countries, which are expected to be held on the sidelines of President Moon Jae-in's Southeast Asian state visit from March 10 to 16. The heads of KB Financial, Woori Financial, Hana Financial, NongHyup Financial and the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) are considering traveling to the countries with the KCCI and KITA. "Hana Chairman Kim Jung-tai is getting ready for the trip," said a Hana executive. A spokesman for Woori Financial said Chairman Sohn Tae-seung is also currently "coordinating" his Southeast Asia travel plan with the Korea Federation of Banks. Woori Financial has a considerable presence in Cambodia's micro-financing and mutual savings after it made two deals there. Woori Financial Chairman Sohn Tae-seung Descendants of freedom fighters pose in this Aug.4 , 2015 file photo. / Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soon By Kang Hyun-kyung In the summer of 2017, Bae Jung-hun, producer of SBS TV's popular investigative program "Curious to Know," posted a combined image of two houses one was a luxurious mansion surrounded by a stone wall and leafy green trees and the other a shanty house in an unnamed rustic neighborhood on his Twitter account. "The one on the left is the house of a descendant of a man who served the Japanese authorities during the colonial period, and the one on the right is that of a descendant of a freedom fighter," he wrote. "What a contrast! I'm struggling to figure out how such a deep gap between the two families was formed and what produced their current polarizing economic status." His Twitter message went viral as it came days before the anniversary of Korea's liberation from the Japanese colonial rule on Aug. 15, 2017. Independence fighters have been lauded for their heroics, and their role in Korea's independence from Japan's occupation in 1945 has been revisited every year when major anniversaries, such as Liberation Day or the anniversary of the nationwide independence uprising on March 1 approach. While their proud parents and grandparents were depicted as heroes, many of their descendants are struggling to make ends meet. According to weekly magazine "Sisa In," six out of every 10 descendants of freedom fighters who were recognized as patriots by the Ministry of Patriots and Veteran Affairs were jobless. The magazine conducted a survey of 6, 300 people in 2008. Among the 40 percent who were "fortunate" to be employed, it found only 10 percent had stable jobs, while the remaining 30 percent were in precarious employment. The circumstances for children and grandchildren of high-profile freedom fighters are better than those of unsung heroes who sacrificed themselves to gain Korea's independence but whose roles were forgotten. Some offspring say they didn't know their ancestors were such great people until some media outlets discovered them and ran their stories. In a media interview, Kwon Hyun, a board member of Liberation Association, a non-profit group aiming to strengthen solidarity and fraternity among descendants of patriots, said only a handful of members of the organization lead decent lives. "Children and grandchildren of high-profile freedom fighters are recognized by the community and receive due treatment, but the vast majority of others have no such treatment. They struggle to make ends meet," Kwon said. Kwon said freedom fighters' descendants also carry additional pressure because of their well-known ancestors. "Even though they are poor, they don't speak openly about their economic situations because if so, they're afraid their proud ancestors' legacy could be tarnished. So they stay silent about their situations." An unnamed niece of famous independence fighter Yu Gwan-sun (1902-1920) reportedly didn't mention that she has family ties with the female freedom fighter. Yu was arrested by the Japanese police in the midwestern city of Cheonan while spearheading protests on March 1, 1919 and put behind bars. She was tortured to death a year later. Yu's niece, who is in her 70s now, is known to work as a cleaner and earns 800,000 to 1 million won (less than $1,000) per month. She remains anonymous because she didn't want to taint her aunt's legacy. Some children or grandchildren of freedom fighters suffered during their entire life after their parents or grandparents who fought for Korea's independence were falsely accused of having sided with Communist North Korea. In the 1970s, there was a practice prohibiting government offices and private companies from hiring children or family members of people who were convicted of espionage. Discrimination based on family ties caused them to remain jobless or forced them to take on unstable jobs throughout their lives. North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un listens during a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) at the second U.S.-North Korea summit at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on Feb. 28. AFP North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plans to head back home from Hanoi on Saturday morning, earlier than initially scheduled, a diplomatic source said, amid speculation about whether the decision is linked to his unsuccessful summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Kim plans to leave for a border train station in Dong Dang at around 10 a.m. Saturday, wrapping up his two-day official visit to Vietnam, according to the source. Vietnam's foreign ministry had earlier said Kim would head back to Pyongyang on Saturday afternoon. It has not been confirmed yet whether Kim's return schedule change is related to the outcome of the summit with Trump earlier this week. They finished the session abruptly around noon Thursday without issuing a joint statement. Kim has stayed at his luxury hotel without issuing any public message in person since the summit. The country's foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, instead held a sudden late-night press conference and said his regime demanded partial sanctions relief for its dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear complex in the negotiations. He was countering Trump's statement that Pyongyang had called for the lifting of all sanctions against it, a price he wouldn't pay for the Yongbyon facilities alone. The two sides, however, reaffirmed a commitment to continued dialogue. Kim is scheduled to hold summit talks with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong on Friday afternoon after inspecting an honor guard in front of the presidential palace, the source said. He will also meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, followed by a banquet. Another source said Kim may visit the Vietnam-DPRK Friendship Kindergarten in Hanoi earlier in the day. DPRK is the initialism of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Before departure on Saturday morning, Kim plans a brief visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which commemorates the former leader of the Southeast Asian nation. Kim is the first North Korean leader in 55 years to make a bilateral visit to Vietnam. His late grandfather, Kim Il-sung, who founded North Korea, traveled to the country in 1958 and 1964. Kim is expected to focus on strengthening relations between Pyongyang and Hanoi during the rest of his stay. Vietnam is said to be a potential model for his impoverished communist nation that's in a desperate but troubled pursuit of economic growth. He's apparently taking a similar trip back to his 66-hour journey to Hanoi. There's a possibility that he will stop in Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping. (Yonhap) Thousands of Algerians gathered in the capital on Friday to protest against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's plan to extend his 20-year rule by seeking a fifth term in the April elections, witnesses said. Assembling in the city centre after Friday prayers, protesters chanted "Bye, bye Bouteflika" and "peaceful, peaceful". Riot police were at the scene. Since last Friday thousands have taken part in rarely seen anti-government protests. Bouteflika, 81, suffered a stroke in 2013, has been seen in public only a few times since and has given no known speeches in years. Many Algerians for years avoided politics in public fearing trouble from the omnipresent security services or disillusioned as the country has been run by the same group of veterans since the 1954-1962 independence war with France. Search Keywords: Short link: By Oh Young-jin After his no-deal Hanoi summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, one question worth pondering, however implausible it may sound in the immediate and confusing aftermath, is: would Kim Jong-un, the youthful North Korean leader, be able to hang on to power? Kim was reportedly ditching some of his remaining itinerary to go home early after splitting from Trump without having lunch together in the Vietnamese capital Thursday. But it would not soften the reality that he is going home empty-handed. The failed mission may pose an existential threat to Kim, who has inherited fear-based rule from his father Kim Jong-il and his grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung. The problem is that the young Kim lacks the charisma of his granddad, who was appointed to lead a Soviet puppet regime and solidified power by an incessant series of purges, or the long apprenticeship his father had as heir apparent. Judging from the events leading to his ascension, the young Kim was hurriedly chosen by his father during his dying days. So Kim owes his status to his blue lineage, but that is where his legitimacy ends. That means he can scarcely afford to look weak or otherwise have his supposed image of ideological immaculacy tarnished. The Hanoi affair could do that damage to him. A contrast with Trump can be striking. The U.S. president, being called in public a "racist, liar and conman" by his once close lieutenant Michael Cohen while he was meeting Kim, has had his reputation damaged so much so that another failure will not make much difference. Rather, Trump received praise from his colleagues for not agreeing to any deal with the North. Before the summit, across the political spectrum in the U.S., calls for no deal rather than bad deal with the North prevailed. For Trump, the worst would be an impeachment if the Muller probe confirms Russians helped in his 2016 presidential election. He could pull the Nixon act in the Watergate scandal resigning before the Senate vote and get his successor, Vice President Mike Pence, to pardon him. But for Kim, it would be a different story. If it was intended to counter Trump's early solo meeting with the media, the wee-hour news conference by the North's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui lacked punch. It appeared that the North Koreans including Kim genuinely felt more than disappointed. In its first reaction after the failed summit, the North's state media meekly stated that the two countries had agreed to continue their productive path of dialogue. The absence of its usual vitriolic tempts one to believe the North is becoming a normal state. A potential clue about the North's state of mind pertains to its revelation that the North did not demand the sanctions [sic] be lifted "in its entirety' as Trump said, but asked on a selective basis for the easing of those directly affecting its people's livelihoods. This signifies and confirms that the international sanctions are affecting the North, including its elite and the military. Kim's hold on power depends on the loyalty of the two pillars. The continued sanctions will test their already-strained patience further. The military is obviously unhappy to think that its leader with no military experience is willing to bargain away its "treasure sword" of nuclear weapons for what uncertain benefits the isolated country would get by opening up. So with Kim's negotiating efforts failing and the outlook for a prolonged deadlock, how would Kim keep the hounds at bay? Kim showed toughness by machine-gunning his uncle and having assassins poison his elder half brother to consolidate his power and performed a constant rotation of promotion and demotion among power circles to keep them on their toes. But doubt is growing about the strength of his grip on power. When he travelled to Hanoi, he was imitating his grandfather's 1964 train ride to Vietnam; and he still relies on his younger sister for up close and personal protocols. Kim still enjoys being coiffed like his grandfather and has built up an overly generous girth for his age in an obvious effort to acquire what precious little legitimacy he has as the ruler. In Hanoi, he was caught in moments that revealed he was just a kid, more appropriate for a young man fitting his age, when he stepped outside his train and appeared with a swollen face and glazed eyes from a mixture of anxiety and tiredness. Maybe he is showing the limits of a person with a modern Western education in ruling a secluded, international pariah state. In White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders' Instagram photo showing Kim parting with Trump, Kim is smiling broadly, but he is looking at the camera, not at Trump. Maybe Kim could not bear all honorifics and respectful gestures Trump poured on him, concluding that the U.S. President was merely trying to look fatherly and was being condescending. Whether Trump intended it or not, the no-deal summit the U.S. president got what he had sought: an edge over Kim. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Trump can stay on the job long enough without distractions to use this edge or what consequences might ensue if Kim tries to break the spell if he can. Oh Young-jin ( , foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr) is digital managing editor of The Korea Times. U.S. President Donald Trump pumps his fist at members of the U.S. military as he arrives to address them after his summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam during a refueling stop at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., Feb. 28. Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced hope that a nuclear deal with North Korea will be reached in the future. Trump held his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, but they failed to bridge their gaps on the issue of dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program and removing sanctions on the regime. "I wasn't satisfied and perhaps he wasn't satisfied," Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday. "Good relationship, but I decided that this wasn't the right time to sign something." Trump said it wouldn't have been good for the U.S. and "frankly, he can look at it the same way." The two sides have given conflicting accounts, with Trump telling a news conference that the North demanded the removal of all sanctions and the North countering that it asked for partial sanctions relief in exchange for the complete dismantlement of its main nuclear facility. "They wanted to denuke certain areas, and I wanted everything," Trump said. "I didn't want to give up the sanctions unless we had a real program. They're not ready for that, and I understand that fully, I really do. They spent a lot of time building it." It's a "much tougher deal" to satisfy the U.S. goal of complete and fully verified denuclearization, Trump said, and maybe "it won't get made," but "that's the deal that we should have." "I have a feeling something down the line will happen. And it will happen, it will be good," he said. "We'll get something worked out eventually." The U.S. president again expressed his affection for the North Korean leader, saying they like each other and get along well. "He's a character. He's a real personality. He's very smart. He's sharp as you can be. And he's a real leader, and he's pretty mercurial. I don't say that necessarily in a bad way, but he's a pretty mercurial guy," Trump said. (Yonhap) Hyundai Asan employees watch TV news covering the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the company's headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap By Nam Hyun-woo The breakdown of the summit between the United States and North Korea came as a shock to Hyundai Group and other firms having high hopes for inter-Korean economic cooperation, according to company officials, Friday. However, some analysts said the shock will soon dissipate as businesses return to normalcy and wait for something that may break the current impasse in inter-Korean relations, as they have over the past decade. "As construction firms' shares underperformed due to the shocking ending to the summit, uncertainty is clouding their outlook for next week too," Hana Financial Investment analyst Chae Sang-wook said. "From a broader prospective, however, they don't need to get off a running horse. The two parties' will attempt to have another summit within this year, and other negotiations are believed to be ongoing." A day earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended their talks in Vietnam earlier than expected after Trump refused to lift sanctions as requested by Kim. This came as a huge disappointment to the Hyundai Group, which has multiple business licenses in North Korea, including seven social overhead capital projects and the operation of tours to Mount Geumgang. The group said it has yet to receive an official statement about the no-deal summit, but added that it will "not lose expectations and hope for inter-Korean economic cooperation, and will continue preparations." Before the summit, the group had been busy readying itself to jumpstart its businesses in the North. To fund its North Korea projects, Hyundai Asan, the group's business unit in charge of them, conducted a 50 billion won ($44.48 million) rights offering and earmarked 35 billion won of that for refurbishing facilities in the North. Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun has already visited North Korea three times this year, stressing the group's members must fulfill their "responsibilities in contributing to inter-Korean cooperation and coexistence." Hyundai Asan CEO Bae Kook-hwan and other executives even celebrated the 20th anniversary of the company's North Korean businesses at Mount Geumgang earlier this month. Hyundai Asan's tour program taking South Koreans to Mount Geumgang started in 1998, but was halted in 2008 after a tourist was shot and killed by a North Korean guard. After the summit abruptly ended, the share price of Hyundai Elevator plunged 18.55 percent to close at 95,300 won Thursday. Hyundai Elevator has a 70 percent stake in Hyundai Asan and participated in its rights issue. According to Pstock, a domestic over-the-counter market tracker, Hyundai Asan shares fell 10.53 percent the same day. Not only Hyundai Group but also other companies related with businesses opportunities in North Korea saw drops in their share prices. Hyundai Steel, which makes train rails, edged down 2.25 percent to 1,150 won, as the imminent project of rejoining inter-Korean railways became uncertain after the talks. Hyundai Steel is a Hyundai Motor Group company. Construction facility and machinery firms saw their stock prices shedding previous gains on weakened expectations. Doosan Infracore, which makes excavators and other heavy machinery, dipped 2.81 percent from the session earlier to close at 7,610 won. Hyundai Construction Equipment, which has a similar portfolio, declined 4.27 percent to 53,800 won. "Though the summit result came as a disappointment for companies who had put hopes on business opportunities in North Korea, their current business activities were not directly hit, because it has been years that such companies have been holding on to the slim chance of the sanctions being lifted," a conglomerate official said. "Since the no-deal summit does not rule out the possibility of future talks, companies have to hunker down for another uncertain period and prepare themselves for future possibilities." President Moon Jae-in speaks at an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul, Friday. Yonhap President stresses cooperation with Japan for peace By Kim Bo-eun President Moon Jae-in pledged to play a crucial role in North Korea and the U.S. reaching a deal on the former's denuclearization, a day after the second summit between the two countries failed to produce any agreement. "I believe this is part of a process to reach a higher level of agreement," he said in a speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Friday. "Now our role has become even more important. My administration will closely communicate and cooperate with North Korea and the U.S. to help their talks reach a complete settlement." Moon said the process of achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula will involve difficulties. He added that the discussions in Hanoi were meaningful in that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spoke about the issue of setting up a U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang, "an important step toward the normalization of bilateral ties." In addition, Moon highly evaluated Trump's commitment to continuing talks with the North. The president made hopeful remarks despite the result of the Hanoi summit, something Moon had eagerly been pushing for. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, right, speaks as vice-minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui looks on during a press conference at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi early Friday, following the abrupt end of the U.S.-North Korea summit Thursday. The North Korean official said that contrary to the claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier the same day, Pyongyang had offered to dismantle its Yongbyon nuclear plant in exchange for partial sanctions relief at the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump. / AFP-Yonhap Two sides present conflicting accounts of critical negotiations By Park Ji-won Following an abrupt end to the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Thursday, it will likely be some time before further negotiations between the two will resume, experts said Friday. The summit ended without a written document after the two leaders failed to narrow their differences over Pyongyang's denuclearization. "It appears that North Korea and the U.S. have large differences on the range of denuclearization, its procedures and corresponding measures. Sadly, it seems that it will take quite some time before the next talks between the two countries are held," Shin Beom-chul, a senior director of the research unit at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies told YTN during a talk show. "In the negotiations, it seems that Trump presented satellite images to show the North's hidden nuclear facilities, and asked for them to be dismantled. Trump later said the North was surprised by the U.S. revelation. Based on that, the U.S. leader may have thought that the North did not have serious intentions to denuclearize," Shin said. Citing Stephen Biegun, the special representative for North Korea who said that Kim had promised to dismantle all such facilities, not just the regime's well-known Yongbyon site, Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy told YTN, "Even though the North was willing to dismantle its Yongbyon site and do something more, it appears the U.S. had no intention to lift the sanctions that the North wanted, meaning the two had and have big differences over their terms of reference." After the summit, North Korean and U.S. officials continue to exchange conflicting accounts about the negotiations on sanctions lifting as corresponding measures for the North's nuclear disarmament. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed what Trump said earlier, saying North Korea had "basically asked for full sanctions relief" during the summit. "They were pretty expansive with respect to what they are prepared to do at Yongbyon but there was still not complete clarity with respect to the full scope of what it is they were prepared to offer," Pompeo told a news conference during a short stop in Manila. He said the U.S. was "anxious to get back to the table to continue that conversation." His remarks came after North Korean officials held a rare press conference Friday to rebut what Trump said about the failure of the summit. They emphasized that Kim didn't call for a full removal of sanctions, as Trump has claimed, but for partial relief in exchange for shutting the regime's main nuclear complex. According to the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho held a press conference in the middle of the night at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, and unilaterally read a prepared statement saying the North did not ask for the complete lifting of sanctions, just a few out of the 11 U.N. rulings. "We offered to permanently dismantle all nuclear material production facilities in Yongbyon, including plutonium and uranium, with the attendance of American experts and through joint operations of the two countries' technicians, if the U.S. lifted a portion of the U.N. sanctions, in other words, those disrupting the private economy and ordinary people's lives," Ri said. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui who was also present at the press conference answered reporters' inquiries and questioned Washington's attitude to the negotiations, saying, "I, someone who watched the summit right next to Kim, thought our leader didn't seem to understand the U.S.'s way of calculating the deal. Even though we proposed an unprecedented deal of dismantling the entire Yongbyon facility, the U.S. response was that it is difficult to lift sanctions on the private economy. I thought that Kim would lose his passion for a deal between North Korea and the U.S." Meanwhile, North Korea state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported the summit results immediately Friday, and stressed the two countries had deepened their "mutual respect and trust," while expressing hopes over future talks with the U.S. It added that the two leaders agreed on the importance of transforming hostile relations between the two countries which have lasted for decades, into something else. However, it did not mention that Kim and Trump failed to sign an agreement. It also didn't state that the two leaders canceled their planned lunch, Thursday. The Rodong Sinmun echoed the KCNA's view and said the two leaders promised to continue to talk to improve on the discussions in Hanoi and work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Dancers at Vietnam-DPRK Friendship Kindergarten in Hanoi rehearse ahead of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's scheduled visit, Friday. / Yonhap By Yi Whan-woo North Korean leader Kim Jong-un went ahead with his first official visit to Vietnam, Friday, despite the collapse of talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Thursday. But Kim has rescheduled his program and plans to head home Saturday morning, instead of the evening as initially planned, according to diplomatic sources. His two-day official visit to Vietnam is part of a five-day journey to the country, including the summit with Trump on Wednesday and Thursday. The abrupt end to the summit in the Vietnamese capital had fueled speculation that a discouraged Kim might change his schedule, which is partly aimed at benchmarking Vietnam's economic reform model. This handout satellite image taken on Feb. 21 and released to AFP by Pleiades, Cnes 2019, Distribution Airbus DS on Feb. 28 shows the 5 MWe reactor at North Korea's Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center showing no signs of activity. / AFP-Yonhap By Park Ji-won Speculation is circulating over North Korea's secret nuclear facilities U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned amid rumors that one of the areas is a uranium enrichment facility called Kangson located near Pyongyang. After failing to reach an agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump held a press conference and said the U.S. told the North that it had found some hidden nuclear facilities, including a uranium enrichment plant, which likely surprised Kim. "We had to have more than that because there are other things that you haven't talked about, that you haven't written about, that we found. And we have to have that was done a long time ago, but the people didn't know about," Trump said few hours after the summit was abruptly canceled without notice. "And we brought many, many points up that I think they were surprised that we knew." It appears that Trump asked the North to give up more than it was prepared to, including hidden facilities such as Kangson, adding these its Yongbyon facility if it wanted sanctions to be lifted. This was one of the main reasons for both sides to fail to narrow their differences during the summit. "There are also timing and sequencing issues that were associated with that as well, which we didn't quite get across the finish line as well. But remember, too, even that facility, even the Yongbyon facility and all of its scope which is important, for sure still leaves missiles, still leaves warheads and weapons systems. So there's a lot of other elements that we just couldn't get to," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added during the press conference. It is widely believed that there are several other nuclear sites while Yongbyon is the only facility that North Korea has declared. In 2018, open-source research identified a probable nuclear facility near Kangson. In the middle of June, last year, many U.S. news outlets went all-out to report the existence of the uranium processing site, citing U.S. intelligence agency's reports made since 2010. On Jan. 22, Japan's Asahi Shimbun also reported that a former senior officer at the South Korean presidential office who has dealt with North Korean nuclear issues and North-U.S. relations, told the media that when he was at the office, the U.S. authorities considered there were about 300 nuclear facilities in North Korea. According to the officer, the North has up to 10 uranium enrichment facilities, most of them underground near Pyongyang. When asked what the facility that Trump mentioned was, Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Dongguk University answered during a radio interview Friday, "We can think of two. One is an ICBM related facility, not the Yongbyon site. The other is a facility for highly enriched uranium (HEU)." Woo Jung-yeop, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute in Seoul was quoted as saying to the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, Thursday that the "uranium-related facility was easily hidden." "Considering the fact that the North was surprised by Trump's revelation, we can reasonably assume that there are many nuclear facilities across the country apart from Kangson." Members of conservative civic groups hold the Korean national flag and march toward Gwanghwamun Square from Seoul Station, Friday, to protest the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. Korea Times photo by Hong In-kee Lee Jong-rak, a pastor of Jusarang Community Church, has been taking care of abandoned babies through baby box since 2009, saving more than 1,500 newborns. Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung By Jung Hae-myoung Lee Jong-rak, the pastor of Jusarang Community Church, received a desperate phone call at 3:20 a.m. in April 2007. "Over the phone, a woman kept apologizing and saying she left her baby in front of the church door," Lee said. When he went outside, a cat jumped from a fish box in front of the door. Inside the box was a baby with a cold body. Lee said she died when he hugged her to his chest. "Until 2009, many babies were abandoned in places like garbage boxes, bathrooms and subway station lockers," Lee said. "One day I saw a news article that the Czech Republic has a baby box for discarded babies." Lee immediately adopted the idea and became the first to establish a baby box in Korea. He started in 2009 and has been running it for over 10 years so that parents who cannot afford to raise a child can put babies in a safe place as a last resort. "It was to save just one more life," he said. Baby box offers a space with heat for newborns to stay warm when they are abandoned, and a bell for the mothers to ring when they leave the child. / Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung Norwegian Ambassador to Korea Frode Solberg speaks with The Korea Times during a recent interview on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, at his embassy in Sogong-dong, Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Norway-Korea ties date back to Korean War By Yi Whan-woo It was during the dark days of the 1950-53 Korean War that Norway extended a helping hand to the war-torn country in the form of the Norwegian Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (NORMASH). From those small beginnings, Korean ties with the Scandinavian country have strengthened considerably and Korea has rapidly grown into an economic powerhouse. Marking their 60 years of diplomatic cooperation, Korea and Norway still have more to collaborate on, as Korea seeks to shift away from a competition-oriented society to emulate the Scandinavian lifestyle for work-life balance, healthy living and wellness in general. "That was a very important and meaningful beginning of the close ties we enjoy today and I think it's very fascinating and interesting that those ties are still there," Norwegian Ambassador to Korea Frode Solberg told The Korea Times during a recent interview at his embassy in Seoul. He said that Norway's NORMASH, Denmark's Jutlandia hospital ship and Sweden's Red Cross hospital during the war inspired the establishment of the National Medical Center in October 1958. The three Scandinavian countries separately established diplomatic treaties with Korea a year later. Their relationships with Korea have prospered since, with Seoul transforming from rags into riches. "Even though we're far apart, we have worked closely in politics, commerce and many other areas," Solberg said. "Our bilateral ties are so close that we're very happy to use 60 years of celebration as a marker (for our friendship)." Denmark, Norway and Sweden have planned celebrations for the 60th anniversary both unilaterally and jointly. The calendar of events organized by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Seoul includes a reading of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's "Brand" in Seoul, in cooperation with Professor Kim Myi-he and the Korean Playwright Association (January); a visit by Norwegian students of K-pop (April); Norway Days, including a national day reception, seafood promotion and campaign against marine littering, all in Seoul (May); a literary salon with two Norwegian writers at the Seoul International Book Fair (June); participation by the Performing Arts Hub Norway at the Performing Arts Market in Seoul as well as a performance of the Norwegian Dance Company Tony Tran during Seoul International Dance Festival, a Norwegian Week in Busan in connection with KORMARINE (October); and a concert by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in Seoul (November). An exhibition related to NORMASH also is being planned. Lifestyle Solberg, who took office in July 2018, said he has become more aware of Koreans' interest in a greater work-life balance and, accordingly, a move toward the Scandinavian countries' lifestyle best associated with well-being. Denmark, Norway and Sweden are on the top tier of the global happiness index. Although difficult to compare, the envoy defined the Norwegian lifestyle as "ga pa tur" in comparison to Denmark's "hygge" and Sweden's "lagom." Translated as "go for a walk," "ga pa tur" characterizes Norwegians' love of nature and outdoor activities. This is important for many Norwegians, as nature is available for all. Thus, the many elevated plateaus, deep forested valleys and the remaining ice-age glaciers are popular destinations. "That is a very typical Norwegian expression," Solberg said. "I think it's a good way to describe our happy, positive and nice lifestyle, because we do hiking and other outdoor activities a lot." He also said the term can apply to Koreans, considering many regularly go hiking in the mountains that make up over two-thirds of the country. "That's one of many areas where Norwegians and Koreans meet each other in a nice way," Solberg said. He partly attributed the Norwegian lifestyle to the country's well-established welfare system and workplace environment. "Many benefits are free in our society, and everyone is given relatively equal possibilities, an issue we have kept high on the political agenda," Solberg said. "In workplaces, gender equality and working hours are very important topics. Maternity leave is very generous and you don't have to stay late in the office just to wait for the boss to leave." But he noted that the benefits do not come free of charge, saying "we're used to relatively high taxes in Norway." "It is up to every country to find that mixture. Norway has found it's generally accepted that we have a country with relatively high taxes, but with comprehensive general welfare issues and systems, when it comes to maternity leave, health insurance, education and so on." Trade Trade, according to Solberg, remains "a very important pillar" for Oslo-Seoul ties. Korea was Norway's fifth-largest trading partner in 2017 and the second-largest market in Asia after China. Their trade volume stood at 23.7 billion Norwegian krone ($2.7 billion) in 2018. "The volume of trade between our countries is very important in many areas, like the maritime industry, seafood, energy, information and communications technology (ICT) and cars," the envoy said. Solberg said the maritime sector has been the most important in bilateral trade terms, while noting seafood exports to Korea grew rapidly and accounted for the largest sales item in 2018, amounting to 2.7 billion Norwegian krone. "Almost all Norwegian companies within the maritime area are at present in Korea in one way or another," he said. The companies include Equinor, DNV GL, EUKOR Car Carriers, Hoegh Autoliners, , Kongsberg Maritime Korea, Odfjell Terminals, Chokwang Jotun, Scana Korea Hydraulics, Marine Harvest, Norway Susan and Rolls-Royce Marine. They specialize in a range of equipment related to data, control systems and other areas associated with the maritime industry. Most companies are concentrated in the southeastern port cities of Busan, Ulsan and Geoje the homes of major Korean shipyards to optimize cooperation with Korean clients, namely Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. "You have excellence in shipbuilding and we have many Norwegian companies supporting the ship industry," Solberg said. "I think it's a very good example of close cooperation where different competence and different expertise can come together." Solberg said this is why the Norwegian embassy has been celebrating its national day not only in Seoul but also in Busan for years. When asked about ways to deepen cooperation in other areas, the envoy speculated on sustainable development using Norway's expertise in renewable energy to "create a big leap forward." Thanks to more than 300 waterfalls the most in Europe hydropower represents about 99 percent of Norway's electricity production. At 120 terawatt hours (TWh) a year, it is the highest in Europe. Sweden and France follow with about 65 TWh a year. Regarding natural gas, Norway is the world's third-largest exporter, with production of 227 million standard cubic meters in 2018. It supplies about 25 percent of the European Union's demand. "This is absolutely one key area for Norway and Korea to cooperate in the years to come," Solberg said. He said it would be timely, considering President Moon Jae-in's energy transition policy. In particular, he viewed offshore wind energy as a possibility, if associated with Korea's shipbuilding know-how. Norway is home to only one offshore wind turbine farm, the Hywind Demo 2.3-megawatt floating wind project by Equinor, a multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. "We have competence, expertise and history and I think Norwegian companies will be able to cooperate closely with Korean companies to transfer more energy in Korea to renewable," Solberg said. "We especially have large opportunities when it comes to offshore wind energy because Korean shipyards can build relevant equipment." He said Norway's push for smart cities and green technologies put it among countries with the highest density of electric cars, which could provide more opportunities for Korean automakers. According to the ambassador, Korean electric cars like the Hyundai Kona, the Kia Niro and the Kia Soul have been very successful in Norway and there is a two-year waiting list for these cars. To bolster tourism, he cited the need for year-round direct flights between the two countries. Today, only charter flights operated by Korean Air and Asiana are available in summer. Norway offers beautiful scenery and is a great destination for tourists, and the envoy underscored that Norway, because of the Gulf Stream that flows through the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico, is not at all as cold as people think. Among the must-see Norwegian tourist destinations are more than 1,000 fjords, waterfalls, sharp, snow-capped mountains that tower above the water and the Midnight Sun in summer and the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in winter. Koreans who visit Norway to get a peek of the Norwegian lifestyle of "ga pa tur" will say the country's nature is "even more dramatic" than one can imagine, Solberg said. A career diplomat, Solberg joined the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1995. Korea is his fifth posting and his first as ambassador. Opposition protesters waved black flags outside Benjamin Netanyahu's residence on Friday, sensing vulnerability in the Israeli prime minister weeks before an election where he will face the shadow of corruption charges as well as a surging new rival. Aiming for a fifth term on April 9 that would make him Israel's longest-serving premier, Netanyahu is already playing catch-up. A poll issued on Friday gave his right-wing Likud party 29 seats, behind the 38 predicted for Blue and White, a new centrist alliance led by the charismatic former general Benny Gantz. That survey was taken before Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit announced on Thursday that he planned to indict Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz told Israeli radio he was "confident that Netanyahu will continue being able to contend with pressure of whatever kind", noting that the previous Likud leader, Ariel Sharon, had won an election in 2003 despite a graft scandal. But one of the Labour party flag-wavers, Alon Visser, said: "It is a black day for the citizens of Israel. We are all ashamed of our prime minister and we are calling him with one big voice: Please resign from your office." Netanyahu is suspected of wrongfully accepting $264,000-worth of gifts from tycoons, and dispensing favours in an attempt to secure positive coverage in a newspaper and on a website. He denies any wrongdoing, but could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery. However, charges cannot be filed until Netanyahu has been given a chance to address a hearing - which is unlikely to happen before the election. In the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, social worker Coral Kala, 24, said she had not been surprised by Mandelblit's announcement: "I think everyone was expecting this to happen." But others echoed the position of Netanyahu, widely known as Bibi, that the political and media elites are against him. "I think that Bibi did a wonderful job," said Tzipi Amit, 44, from Petah Tikva. "All the news and reporters want to hurt him and they are not fair to him ... All of us are people, all of us make mistakes." Search Keywords: Short link: By Lee Suh-yoonWith just days before the new spring semester, the Ministry of Education has distributed a new manual on how to deal with gender-based violence to schools and educational institutions.The 80-page manual detailing common cases of sexual harassment on campus as well as how to report and investigate them is being given out after the ministry came under heavy fire for its inadequate response to the outburst of #MeToo claims at middle and high schools last year.The ministry's inaction and failure to protect victims who spoke out prompted two young activists to take their cases to the United Nations directly last month. Following their visit, Korea's #SchoolMeToo movement of a scale and organization unseen in any other country was included as one of the main agenda topics for this year's conference run by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.In the opening section, sexual harassment is described as "any form of verbal, psychological or physical abuse that encroaches on the sexual self-determination of others," citing commonly reported cases by female students such as male teachers lifting their skirts too check its length or making inappropriate sexual jokes. Dating violence and online grooming were also categorized as forms of sexual violence female students are subjected to at school.The manual also includes hotlines for relevant government agencies."This manual was made to better protect victims on campus and set up a more systematic response to such cases," Jung In-sun, a ministry official charged with school innovation policies, said in a press statement Thursday. "We hope that through this manual, a culture of mutual respect and better gender sensitivity can take root between members of the school community." The Russian freighter Seagrand damaged a yacht and then crashed into a bridge in Busan. Screen capture from YouTube By Ko Dong-hwan Coast guards apprehended the drunken captain of a Russian freighter after it crashed into a bridge in Busan and then tried to sail away. Video footage from Feb. 28 shows the 5,998-ton Seagrand slowly making contact with Gwangan Bridge spanning 7.4 kilometers between the port city's Nam-gu and Haeundae-gu districts. The ship crashed into the bridge at about 4:23 p.m. The loaded vessel, departing Yongho Wharf for Vladivostok, Russia, had sailed in the opposite direction it was supposed to take. Forty minutes after it hit a yacht at Yongho Wharf in Busan on Feb. 28, the Russian freighter Seagrand crashed into Gwangan Bridge. Screen capture from YouTube The incident damaged the ship's deck, according to the clips. One video also showed a hole five meters long on the bridge. In another video, vehicles on Gwangan Bridge slow or stop as the ship nears the structure. Forty minutes before crashing into the bridge, the ship damaged a yacht. Another video shows the ship inching toward several yachts, scraping one of them. The Russian freighter left a hole five meters long in Gwangan Bridge in Busan. Screen capture from YouTube By Jung Min-ho A Chinese man has been sentenced to four years in prison for selling thousands of fake Nike sneakers in Korea. The Seoul Central District Court said Friday that it convicted the man, 36, surnamed Kim, of selling more than 8,000 counterfeit brand shoes 7,300 Nike and 670 Converse between May 2017 and April 2018. In doing so, he made about 744 million won ($660,000). The court imposed him to pay all that money in restitution for the crimes. Rejecting his claims that victims knew the shoes were counterfeit, the judges said a heavy sentence was necessary because the man had denied his crimes, which had caused harm to many consumers and damaged the brands' reputation. By Kim Yoo-chul, Lee Min-hyung HANOI Washington is ready to help Pyongyang develop its economy, U.S. President Donald Trump told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when they met Wednesday at the start of their two-day summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. "I think that your country has tremendous economic potential, unbelievable, unlimited," Trump said. "And I think that you will have a tremendous future with your country, a great leader. I look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen. And we will help it to happen." Asked by a reporter if the two sides might formally end the Korean War, Trump said, "We will see." Kim said he was sure they would produce a "great outcome which everyone welcomes" in Hanoi. The leaders then had a one-on-one meeting for 20 minutes before dining together. They will have extended summit talks today and possibly adopt a joint statement that may include a roadmap for the North's denuclearization. Prior to this, Kim and Trump shook hands and posed in front of each of their national flags smiling as journalists took photos. Trump said he looked forward to a very successful summit. "We had a very successful first summit. Some people wanted to see it go quicker but I was very happy with how we are doing," he said. Kim said, "There's a look of distrust and misunderstanding which hindered our journey to the destination. Hostile things tried to block the pathway that we want to go further. But we have been able to overcome all such obstacles and we meet again in Hanoi." In this image from video, U.S. President Donald Trump has dinner with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday night. AP-Yonhap Amid high intrigue, the two leaders arrived at dusk at the hotel in separate motorcades. At around 8:20 p.m., Trump's motorcade and Vietnamese police passed through hundreds of citizens and journalists crowded near the hotel waiting the start of the summit. The Vietnamese government installed steel barriers around the hotel to control traffic, with local police marshaling the crowd to keep them from getting in the way of Trump's route to the venue for the meeting with Kim. After briefly chatting, the two leaders huddled in a room in their first face-to-face meeting since their summit in Singapore eight months ago. Only interpreters were present. The dinner started at 8:40 p.m. and lasted for two hours. Trump was accompanied by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Kim was accompanied by his chief of staff Kim Yong-chol and Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho. The latest encounter comes after the two embarked on another round of high-stakes nuclear diplomacy. "We're going to have a very busy day on February 28. Our relationship is a very special relationship," Trump joked during the dinner with Kim as a limited pool of photographers took pictures. The motorcade of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump during the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 27, 2019. Reuters-Yonhap Before his departure to attend the dinner, the North Korean leader stayed in the presidential suite on the 22nd floor of the Hanoi Melia Hotel. Senior North Korean officials returned to the hotel late Wednesday after traveling to the northern industrial city of Haiphong and UNESCO-listed Ha Long Bay. The North's state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) did not detail Kim's travel route before his dinner with Trump. But it did say that Kim would make an official "friendly visit" to Vietnam for two days from Friday, a day after he wraps up the two-day summit with Trump. Taking into account his days-long post-summit itinerary, Kim intentionally didn't have any plans for Wednesday, according to sources. The KCNA said the North Korean leader received reports at his hotel from the regime's working-level pre-summit delegation, Tuesday. A Vietnamese traffic police salutes at a motorcade transporting US President Donald Trump leaving the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on February 27, 2019, after a dinner with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. AFP-Yonhap President Moon Jae-in speaks at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Friday. Yonhap South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Friday portrayed this week's fruitless summit between the United States and North Korea as part of a process for a "higher level" agreement and stressed the importance of Seoul's role of mediating between the two sides. During his speech marking the centennial anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule, Moon also put a positive spin on the Hanoi summit held Wednesday and Thursday, saying it produced "meaningful" progress. "Importantly, they even discussed the issue of installing liaison offices, an important step toward the normalization of bilateral ties. I have high regard for President Trump, who has expressed his commitment to continuing talks and optimistic views," he said. "Now our role has become even more important. My administration will closely communicate and cooperate with the United States and North Korea so as to help their talks reach a complete settlement by any means," he said. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un walked away from their highly anticipated summit Thursday after they failed to meet halfway over Washington's sanctions relief and the scope of Pyongyang's denuclearization. It came as a surprise as many expected them to produce a deal that would at least shut down or freeze the North's mainstay Yongbyon nuclear complex in return for the U.S.' concessions, such as partial sanctions relief. Trump has left open the possibility of future negotiations, sparking speculation that his withdrawal from the summit may be part of his negotiation strategy to throw his partner off balance and wring concessions out of him or her. For more than a year, Moon has been a key driver of efforts to facilitate the Trump-Kim summit, inter-Korean cooperation and shape a "new order" of enduring peace on the divided peninsula. During the speech, Moon appeared to have refrained from directly criticizing Japan's wartime misdeeds in a gesture to keep Seoul's drive for a "future-oriented partnership" and move past a set of historical spats stemming from Tokyo's 1910-45 colonization. Seoul-Tokyo relations have recently chilled due to a military spat involving Japanese military aircraft's menacing low-altitude flybys close to South Korean warships and diplomatic tension over South Korean court rulings last year against Japanese firms for wartime forced labor. His apparent olive branch to Tokyo appears intended to encourage the neighboring country to play a constructive role in the process of denuclearizing the peninsula and fostering a lasting peace regime here, observers said. Moon, however, stressed the long-overdue tasks of "wiping out the vestige of pro-Japanese collaborators in a forward-looking manner" and "setting history right." "Only when we contemplate past wrongdoings can we move toward the future together. The task of setting history right is what is needed to help our future generations stand tall. Firmly upholding the national spirit is the state's responsibility and duty," he said. "What we intend is neither to instigate divisiveness by reopening old wounds now nor to create issues for diplomatic conflicts with a neighboring country. Neither of these is desirable." (Yonhap) President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement in central Seoul, Friday. Yonhap The following is an unofficial translation of President Moon Jae-in's address marking the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement: Fellow Koreans and compatriots abroad, One hundred years ago today, we were united as one. At noon on March 1, students passed out the Declaration of Korean Independence. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the national representatives held a ceremony to declare Korea's independence at Taehwagwan in Seoul, and some 5,000 people read the Declaration aloud together at Tapgol Park. The protagonists of the March First Independence Movement were ordinary people such as laborers, farmers, women, soldiers, rickshaw pullers, gisaeng, butchers, serfs, street merchants, students and monks. These people also participated in a nationwide campaign to repay the national debt to Japan by quitting smoking to save, donating ornamental hairpins and rings made of gold and silver, and even selling locks of hair. On that day, we were reborn as citizens of a republic; we were no longer subjects of a dynasty or a colony of Imperial Japan. The great journey toward a democratic republic began at that time looking beyond independence and liberation. One hundred years ago today, there was no South and North Korea. From Seoul and Pyeongyang to Jinnampo, Anju, Seoncheon, Uiju and Wonsan, loud chants of manse erupted on the same day, and these calls for independence spread like a wildfire to every corner of the country. For two months from March 1, manse protests took place in 211 out of the total 220 cities and counties across the country regardless of the region ? whether they belonged to what is now a part of South or North Korea. The chorus of people shouting manse continued into May. Just over two million people, about 10 percent of the total living on the Korean Peninsula at the time, joined the manse demonstrations. Some 7,500 Koreans were murdered with 16,000 injured. The number of people arrested and detained reached as many as 46,000. The most horrible tragedy occurred in Maengsan, Pyeongannam Province. On March 10, 54 local residents descended on a military police outpost to call for the release of detained teachers; they were massacred inside the building. Another act of brutality followed in Jeam-ri of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. A total of 29 villagers, with even children among them, were massacred after they were locked in a church that was later set on fire. In contrast, however, not a single Japanese civilian was killed due to attacks by Koreans. We Koreans were also united as one in Yongjeong, China, across the border in what was North Gando; in Vladivostok in the Maritime Province of the Russian Far East; in Hawaii; and in Philadelphia. Anyone and everyone who felt a part of the Korean nation organized and took part in a rally. We all together aspired to independence and dreamed of popular sovereignty. Those who harbored the chants of the March First Independence Movement in their hearts began to realize that common people like themselves were the main drivers of the independence movement and the rightful owners of the country. That awareness prompted the participation of ever more people and empowered them to shout their chants every single day. The first fruition was the Provisional Republic of Korea Government, the root of a democratic republic. The Provisional Government stipulated "a democratic republic" in Article 1 of its Charter, upholding the spirit of the March First Independence Movement. It was the first case in world history of a democratic republic expressly set forth in a constitution. Fellow Koreans, Wiping out the vestiges of pro-Japanese collaborators is a long-overdue undertaking. Only when we contemplate past wrongdoings can we move toward the future together. The task of setting history right is what is needed to help our future generations stand tall. Firmly upholding the national spirit is the state's responsibility and duty. What we intend is neither to instigate divisiveness by reopening old wounds now nor to create issues for diplomatic conflicts with a neighboring country. Neither of these is desirable. Wiping out the vestiges of pro-Japanese collaborators, just as with diplomacy, should be done in a forward-looking manner. Shedding these vestiges is all about reaffirming the most basic values: Acts of pro-Japanese collaborators are what should be repented, and the independence movement is what should be honored and respected. This simple truth is justice, and upholding justice is the beginning of creating an equitable country. The Japanese imperialists labeled independence armies as bandits and independence activists as thought offenders to justify their crackdowns. The word "Reds" originated from them. Terms like "thought offenders" and "Reds" were not applied exclusively to actual communists. These words were used to stigmatize all independence activists ranging from nationalists to anarchists. Hostility between the left and the right and ideological stigmas were tools used by Japanese imperialists to drive a wedge between us. Even after liberation, they served as tools to impede efforts to remove the vestiges of pro-Japanese collaborators. They were also used to brand the public as enemies when it came to massacres of civilians, spurious accusations of spying for North Korea and the student pro-democracy movement. Even in the liberated homeland, those who used to serve as police officers during Japanese colonial rule painted independence activists as Reds and tortured them. Many people were labeled Reds and thus sacrificed. Their relatives and bereaved families had to live ill-fated lives under social stigmas. Still now in our society, the word "Reds" is being used as a tool to vilify and attack political rivals, and a different kind of "Red Scare" is running rampant. These are typical vestiges left by pro-Japanese collaborators, which we should eliminate as soon as possible. The 38th parallel drawn through our minds will disappear all together once the ideological hostility that caused internal rifts are removed. When we discard feelings of aversion and hatred toward others, our internal liberation will be completed. Only then will a new century be able to begin in a genuine sense. My fellow Koreans, Over the past century, we have continued our journey toward a fair and just nation that envisions peace and freedom for all of humanity. Overcoming colonial rule, war, poverty and dictatorship, we have accomplished miraculous economic growth. Through the April 19 Revolution, the Busan-Masan Democratic Protests, the May 18 Democratization Movement, the June 10 Struggle and the candlelight revolution, ordinary people have striven by their own initiative and means to build a democratic republic for all of us. The spirit of the March First Independence Movement has been revived whenever our democracy faced a crisis. This new 100 years is the century for completing a true country of the people. It is a new 100 years to achieve unity through novel ideas and mindsets, without being pulled around by past ideologies. We have courageously taken on the challenge of creating a peaceful Korean Peninsula. Undaunted by change, we have taken a new path. This new 100 years is the century to ensure that this challenge leads to success. By Kim Bo-eun Jang Ha-sung Nam Gwan-pyo The Green Climate Fund (GCF), the South Korea-based United Nations climate fund aimed at helping poor nations fight global warming, has approved US$440 million in funding for new projects and programs, according to Seoul's finance ministry Friday. The GCF's board held a three-day meeting in Incheon, west of Seoul, starting Monday, to discuss new funding and accreditation proposals. Launched in late 2010, the GCF aims to channel money from industrialized nations to developing countries to help them tackle climate change-related problems. The GCF now has a portfolio of 97 projects amounting to over $5 billion of GCF resources. It approved 42 new projects and mobilized $8.1 million in climate financing, including co-financing, in 2018. (Yonhap) By Eugene Lee The old-time saying "If you don't know your history, you don't know your future" stands true today more than ever. Especially, if it refers to the history of your own country. In few days South Korea is set to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement and the establishment of Korea's provisional government in Shanghai in 1919. But, if one is to ask millennials what does independence mean to them, way too few will be able understand the question, let alone answer it. In to my second decade of living in Korea, I myself had to grasp with the quandaries of not knowing the "truths" and "non-truths" of Korea's history of struggles for independence. But finding out more and more about what had actually happened in the last and before the last century through interviews with a few historical figures, talking to people who teach and research, and ultimately looking at documents, my major predicament today is that of to understand why people do not know and what I can do about it. Obviously, as it is in any country, some people would always have a vested interest in changing history. Many leaders in history have done so, and each regime in the contemporary history of Korea is no exception. During colonial time governor-generals did their best to simply erase the history completely and strip any importance of Korean national identity off the population on the peninsula for the period of forty years. The next colonizer, the U.S., in the setting of the larger geopolitical gamble, didn't want to leave any chance to any unpredictability and instead of acknowledging and accepting provisional government in Shanghai, put Syngman Rhee as the first president of the Korean republic at the helm of the country. He, in his turn, tried to frame himself and people around him as "true" fighters for the national independence and as result many activists who were active during colonial time, either perished, were silenced or purged to remote and underdeveloped parts of the country. Fast-forward to Park Chung-hee's era, the story almost repeats itself. The idea of independence was strongly aligned with development, as with many voices were muted or even erased, as the relationship with Japan, one of the biggest financial donors, were portrayed as good and important. Jump into the last decade and we find ourselves, yet again, in a fierce battle for "whitewashing" Korea's history. As Lee Myung-bak's government attempted to plaster a common history book with Japan and later the Park Geun hye government's attempts to take control over history book writing were strongly criticized for giving "legitimacy to pre-democratic, authoritarian, conservative governments." Today, maybe yet again, when the government can be easily tempted to "review" history, it is us, ordinary citizens, who need to take a careful look at history and even try to make our own small input. "How?" you'd ask. First, it is through talking to the elderly in our communities and recording these talks. Many facts from recent history simply pass away with the people. And if we don't record them they either can get misinterpreted or simply vanish when people die. Second, we must recognize the people in the history. For example, when I learned about independence fighters, one thing I uncovered, that it wasn't just for any of those individuals, but their families, who made great sacrifices in order to build a foundation for future national sovereignty. It was sad for me to hear that a family of famous female fighter Ryu Gwan-sun just only recently received proper government recognition for their sacrifice. Another fact that I have learned was that there wasn't just one independence movement, but many. Social groups, movements and unions, all fighting for Korea's future abounded at any given period of history, as it is today, socially and politically very diverse. There you have it. Let's celebrate Korea's independence and let's not forget that we don't know everything yet. This milestone should become a starting point for us to document, make it all public and recognized all efforts that have built Korea of today. And when archives will open and when normalization with North Korea will open a flood of new facts about what happened in the past, we must be ready to verify scrupulously, but humbly, any knowledge and beliefs that we all may have. Eugene Lee (mreulee@gmail.com) is a professor of international studies at the Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyungwan University. By Michael P. Downey On Friday, Korea will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement. In 1919 Korea was suffering through the dark night of Japanese occupation. Thirty-three civic leaders, intellectuals, religious leaders, and patriots joined together to draft a document declaring that Korea was an independent nation and not a Japanese colony. In downtown Seoul on March 1, they joined together to proclaim the document and they raised their hands and shouted "manse," a traditional cheer meaning 10,000 years of independence for Korea. As the news of their declaration spread around Korea, it struck a chord with the people who were longing to be free Koreans. They went out into the streets and also shouted manse in support of the declaration of independence from Japan. It was one of the first nonviolent demonstrations on a national scale in the world. As might be predicted, the Japanese overlords were not happy and reacted in anything but a nonviolent way. They called out the army to crush the movement, arresting, beating and shooting many people. Before the Japanese finally suppressed the movement 12 months later, approximately 2 million Koreans had participated in the more than 1,500 demonstrations. About 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese police and soldiers, and 16,000 were wounded; 715 private houses, 47 churches, and two school buildings were destroyed by fire. Approximately 46,000 people were arrested, of whom some 10,000 were tried and convicted. Most famous is the iconic middle school girl, Yu Gwan-sun who was arrested, tortured, and died in jail for participating in the demonstrations shouting manse. Although the movement failed to dislodge the Japanese, it did create a mindset among the Korean people that they were indeed Koreans and not part of Japan's East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. At the end of World War II, Korea was liberated by the surrender of Japan but Korea's troubles were not over. The USSR accepted the Japanese surrender north of the 38th parallel, while the U.S. accepted the surrender south of the line creating two zones. After repeated failed attempts to come to an agreement on how to unify the peninsula, the U.S. presented the case to the United Nations in 1947. The U.N. ordered a peninsula-wide election to choose a national government. Kim Il-sung, who considered himself the only legitimate leader of all Koreans, refused to hold a joint election. With the backing of the Soviets he held his own elections in the north and guess who won? Although the Chondogyo movement had originated in the extreme southern part of Korea as the Donghak Movement, the preponderance of its membership was in northern Korea by 1945, when the country was liberated from Japanese rule. As a religious body, Chondogyo was divided with about 2 million members in the north and 600,000 in the south. In North Korea, it was permitted to exist and, as the only non-Communist religious-political avenue open, attracted large numbers of anti-Communist nationalist leaders who were not adherents of the religion but approved of its nationalist, humanist, non-Communist traditions. Chondogyo in North Korea had remained true to its spiritual and nationalist principles despite strong, continuing Communist pressures. When the U.N. Commission was denied access to North Korea, faithful Chondogyo members in the north, who maintained contact with their general headquarters in Seoul, requested permission to stage some sort of demonstration to dramatize their opposition to a permanent division of the nation and their insistence on national unification. After a brief period of hesitation, Chondogyo leaders in Seoul met on Jan. 20, 1948, to plan a mass popular independence rally in North Korea, with Chondogyo members as its nucleus. The objectives were:(a) establishment of a unified government of all Korea;(b) welcoming the U.N. Commission to North Korea; and (c) disbanding of the U.S. and Russian military governments. The event, modeled after that of 1919, was planned to include the following declaration of purposes and three-point pledge: We are a homogenous nation backed with nearly 5,000 years of history. The complete independence of our motherland depends on: (1) the establishment of a unified government through a self-managed general election; and (2) overcoming the handicap of the 38th parallel division and establishing a unified government. We therefore declare that we are initiating a national self- determination movement and make the following pledges: (1) We aim to achieve complete independence by national self-determination; (2) we will not give up this movement until we have established a unified government; and (3) we will carry out this program with nonviolence and nonresistance. The planners of the demonstration in Seoul decided to accept the offers of two dedicated women to serve as emissaries of the Chondogyo headquarters in Seoul to carry the documents to North Korean Chondogyo leaders. Mrs. Pak Hyon-hwa and Mrs. Yu Un-dok set off from Seoul for North Korea on Feb. 7. Mrs. Yu, whose husband had carefully written her message in small writing on Korean paper and hidden it in the lining of her undergarments, suffered frostbite in the mountains just above the 38th parallel. She was picked up by the North Korean authorities and reportedly executed. Mrs. Pak succeeded in reaching Pyongyang and transmitting the directive to Chondogyo leaders.The leaders and their fellows in the top leadership of Chondogyo in the north resolved, after careful consideration, to follow the directions from Seoul and hold a mass rally on March 1st. Unfortunately their plans were betrayed to the Communist security police. The Chondogyo leaders then changed their tactics, burning all copies of the directives from Seoul and turning the planning over to their underground organization known as the Samjae-dang. They instructed the Samjae-dang leaders to circulate instructions concerning the demonstration through their cellular organizational structure. This underground apparatus did its work thoroughly and quickly, so that all prospective participants were notified and all preparations made well in advance of March 1. About four days before the target date, however, the security police cracked down and as a result, some 10,000 Chondogyo leaders and members were arrested. All except 87 people were later released. Five of the 87 were sentenced to death and the remaining 82 given sentences of hard labor ranging from seven years to "life." Despite the disastrous outcome in Pyongyang and other urban centers, the demonstration plans were carried out in a number of remote sections of North Korea. In order to protect participants still living in the north, these events were not reported in the South Korean press for 10 years. It was only in 1958 that a story appeared in a South Korean newspaper detailing these events. The reporter pieced together the story from reports of Chondogyo officials in Seoul and confirmed them by talking with Mrs. Pak Hyon-hwa who had returned from the north alive. Since learning of these events, I've asked many Korean friends about this second independence movement but have only gotten surprised and blank stares. To say that these things are not widely known would be a huge understatement. Like the first Korean independence movement, which failed to overthrow the Japanese colonial rule, this second movement also did not reach its objective of achieving an independent, united Korean nation. Yet the first movement in 1919 did motivate large numbers of Koreans to, at the risk of life and limb, stand up and declare that they were Koreans and not Japanese. This national self-identity runs strong in all Koreans until today. The intangible results of the second movement are less obvious but I believe they must be real. Among the North Korean people there must be a remnant of this desire for independence and unification as expressed in the declaration and pledge that the second movement was based on. It just needs to be resurrected from the tomb of repression that it has been buried under. The reunification of the Korean Peninsula will not come from the promises of leaders shaking hands and having their pictures taken together but instead when all the people stand up together and shout manse. I believe that the winds of change are now blowing through North Korea based on the free markets established by the people in order to survive the famines of the 1990s. Once people began buying and selling on their own they broke the chains of dependence on the government and the party. The changes are accelerating and we are going to see the power of a free thinking people unlock that prison door. It is important now for world leaders not to impede this process. They should focus their efforts on the people of North Korea and not on the entrenched, ideologically, and self-centered motivated leaders. Only then will real lasting peace and unification come to this land of destiny. ) is an author and teacher living in South Korea. In his free time he is a human rights activist primarily working with refugees from North Korea. As a volunteer English teacher and speech coach (with Teach North Korean Refugees) he is endeavoring to give them a voice by assisting them in telling their stories. Michael P. Downey ( mpdowney308@gmail.com France called on the Vatican Friday to take action after sex abuse charges were filed against its envoy to Paris, suggesting his diplomatic immunity should be lifted. French judicial sources said in mid-February that they were investigating 74-year-old nuncio Luigi Ventura for allegedly molesting an official at the Paris mayor's office. Ventura, who earlier served in Canada, is also being investigated for alleged sexual assault there, the Holy See's embassy in Ottawa said Thursday. "I am waiting for the Holy See to assume its responsibilities," French European Minister Nathalie Loiseau told CNEWS television when asked if Ventura should see his diplomatic immunity lifted. "At this stage he (Ventura) has diplomatic immunity, but the Holy See obviously knows about the serious charges against the nuncio, and I have no doubt the Vatican will take the right decision," Loiseau said. Pope Francis has vowed the Catholic church will no longer ignore abuse allegations, and he removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle late last year after they were tainted by paedophile scandals. Search Keywords: Short link: By John Jojin The recently concluded visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Seoul on Feb. 21 and 22 was the latest in a row of many high-profile exchanges between India and Korea. President Moon Jae-in visited Delhi in July 2018, followed by first lady Kim Jung-sook in November. Korean defense and foreign ministers also traveled to India in September and December 2018 respectively to meet their counterparts. Prime Minister Modi's visit itself shows the importance of Korea for New Delhi, as it came in the middle of a busy political season in India with a general election expected to happen in two or three months. Modi also broke the pattern of a once a term leadership visit between the two countries. During his previous visit in May 2015, the bilateral relationship was upgraded to a "Special Strategic Partnership." During the summit, Prime Minister Modi and President Moon agreed to strengthen the military and defense ties and inked six MOUs including an agreement to set up a Korea Startup Hub in India. The highlight of the visit has been public events of the prime minister, including the award ceremony of the Seoul Peace Prize, which was conferred on Modi last October, a ceremony unveiling the bust of Mahatma Gandhi and a meeting with the mayor of Gimhae, reflecting an emphasis on the social and cultural dimension of the relationship. Of late efforts have been made by both countries in reaching out through various means including high-level visits, cultural and public diplomacy initiatives to improve their visibility and in spreading knowledge of India-Korea ties. Well-crafted social media intervention of Prime Minister Modi and President Moon has produced a positive impact in this direction. The visit of the Korean first lady last year on the occasion of Deepotsva celebrations in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, appealed to a large number of Indians, who are otherwise not familiar with either Korea or India-Korea relations. Her visit popularized the Korean myth of a nuptial connection between a Korean king and an Indian princess dating back two millennia, which was hitherto not well known in India. As a result of many such efforts the optics of India-Korea relations have never been better. Over the last decade, India-Korea relations have emerged to become a comprehensive and multi-dimensional partnership. Among other things leadership also played an important role. After coming to power in 2014, Modi declared Korea a "crucial partner in India's economic modernization" and an "indispensable partner" in India's "Act East Policy" (AEP). President Moon in 2017, announcing the New Southern Policy (NSP), a strategy to strengthen Seoul's relations with India complemented Modi's approach. A new dynamism in bilateral relations, facilitated by the convergence of interests in AEP and NSP, was witnessed during President Moon's visit to India last year. The joint vision document adopted at the July 2018 summit demonstrated a strong will and determination of the top leadership to advance bilateral relations, with a focus on three pillars, namely, people, prosperity and peace. Recently Korea has become an important partner in Prime Minister Modi's development projects including Make in India, Smart City and Sagarmala, marking the emergence of a "developmental partnership" between the two countries. An example of this is the Korean financial support of $10 billion for three mega infrastructure projects in the state of Maharashtra. Under the Special Strategic Partnership, trade and economic relations have also improved. Bilateral trade has crossed $21 billion compared to $20 billion in 2017 and $15.7 billion in 2016. To further liberalize trade, New Delhi and Seoul are currently negotiating to upgrade the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which was signed in 2009. An interim agreement of an "Early Harvest Package" was announced during the visit of President Moon and also set the goal of achieving $50 billion bilateral trade by 2030. As far as investment relations are concerned, Korea is the 13th-largest source of FDI in India with an estimated investment of $3.2 billion. Of late Korean investment in India is witnessing an upward trend with announcements of new projects including Hyundai Motors' $1 billion in Chennai, Kia Motor's $2 billion in Andhra Pradesh and Samsung's expansion of its Noida plant. Defense production has recently emerged to become an important sector for bilateral relations, with India looking at Korea as a promising partner for diversifying its defense supplies and modernizing its defense industry, while Korea sees India as a potential defense market. A major highlight of the defense production cooperation is the partnership between India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Korea's Samsung-Techwin to produce K-9 Vajra howitzers for the Indian Army. Recently Indian military selected Korean built Biho self-propelled anti-aircraft defense system as the only candidate qualified for acquisition. In a context where India and Korea find greater convergence of interest through the meeting of the Act East Policy and the New Southern Policy, the visit of Prime Minister Modi provided an excellent opportunity to consolidate the bilateral relations. The author (johnjojin@gmail.com) is a research fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi. he coordinates India-Korea track 1.5 Dialogue. The views expressed are the author's own and not of the council. By Trudy Rubin Here is the most glaring takeaway from the collapse of the North Korea summit in Hanoi: You can't negotiate with a wily dictator as if he were a real-estate mogul in New York. President Donald Trump has famously touted his personal relationships with autocrats as the prelude to great deals. "We fell in love," he said of the half-dozen or so "beautiful letters" he received from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Clearly, love was insufficient. The president and his team appeared blindsided by the gap between the U.S. and North Korean positions at his second summit with Kim. Trump stated at a news conference that Kim wanted all sanctions removed against his country in return for dismantling a key nuclear complex at Yongbyon. But that deal would have left North Korea's nuclear arsenal, missiles, and other production facilities still standing. North Korea's foreign minister later claimed that North Korea only sought partial sanctions relief, but the gap was still clearly unbridgeable. With all or most sanctions lifted, U.S. leverage to eliminate Pyongyang's arsenal would have shrunk. So, no matter how much Trump may have wanted to distract attention from the Michael Cohen hearings in Washington, he had no choice but "to walk" away from Kim's offer. The gulf between him and the North Korean leader was wider than the 6,800 miles that separate Washington and Pyongyang. How could Trump have gotten his expectations so wrong? The answer clearly revolves around Trump's deep belief that his personal relationships and "brilliance" are sufficient to outwit tough autocrats. The president was reportedly warned about Kim's insistence on major sanctions relief, but believed he could persuade the dictator to shift positions. "This entire diplomatic process is distinctive because of President Trump and North Korea's decision-making at the top level," says Scott Snyder, the Council on Foreign Relations expert on North Korea. "The North Koreans (hoped) to go to the top and get what they want from Trump." As the Hanoi debacle displayed with such drama, personal diplomacy couldn't budge the North Korean. Less clear is whether Trump grasps the need to revamp his negotiating approach. That approach had already proved lacking at Trump's first summit with Kim, in Singapore in June 2018. Despite the hoopla, that summit failed to produce any concrete results on or road map toward denuclearization. The two sides have not even agreed yet on the meaning of that term, or whether it requires the elimination of all of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons. As recently as the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, Vice President Mike Pence claimed that Kim had committed to complete denuclearization of North Korea. That statement was false. Yet, even with lowered expectations for the Hanoi summit, the White House assumed some kind of deal would be reached. The U.S. side had already scheduled a goodbye lunch and signing ceremony. (Both were canceled.) U.S. officials had leaked reports to the media that Pyongyang would pledge to close the Yongbyon complex in return for a modest relaxation of some economic sanctions and the signing of a peace declaration between the U.S. and North Korea. Even that deal would have involved large concessions to Kim, since a peace declaration would have relaxed pressure on Pyongyang to make further moves toward denuclearization. However, in Hanoi, Kim's demand for lifting of all or most sanctions in return for inadequate concessions revealed that the two sides were operating in totally different worlds. Under any previous presidency, a U.S. negotiating team would at least have worked out a basic framework before a president traveled all the way to Asia. But Trump devalues experts and detailed preparation. As he's said, "I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain can ever tell me." The limits to that approach became painfully clear in Hanoi. Perhaps the North Korean leader thought Trump's yen for a deal would impel him to accept a wildly insufficient offer. Kim made clear he preferred dealing with Trump than meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Moreover, Trump's chief North Korea negotiator, Stephen Biegun, is a businessman who had no prior experience with complex North Korea dealings. The North Koreans, on the other hand, have been running rings around U.S. leaders for years. The question now is whether Trump will revise his approach, broaden his team, and recognize the difference between geopolitical deals and real-estate manipulations. The president's effusive praise of Kim has already lowered global pressure on Pyongyang for nuclear concessions. Having expended enormous political capital on two summits, the president now faces a long slog of U.S.-North Korea talks that may never lead to full denuclearization of that country. His personal relationship with Kim may help keep those talks alive. But unless he realizes the limits of personal diplomacy, he will continue to get played. Trudy Rubin (trubin@phillynews.com) is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her commentary was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. By Andrew Hammond With significant uncertainty over the outcome of their Vietnam summit, it is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, rather than U.S. President Donald Trump, who so far appears the much bigger winner from the engagement process. To date, Kim has made few concrete concessions to the United States with Trump touting last week as evidence of his diplomatic success with Pyongyang the recent absence of missile and nuclear testing. At the same time, the U.S. president has called off joint military exercises between U.S. and South Korean forces; exchanged effusive letters of praise with Kim; held out the prospect of an easing of sanctions on Pyongyang if it does "something meaningful" on denuclearization; said that he is in no rush to conclude the negotiation process; and already declared that he will meet again with the North Korean leader after Vietnam. This underlines how much Kim has already received from Trump in exchange for his ambiguous pledges to "denuclearize." And this in a context too where there is also reported evidence that North Korea is continuing uranium enrichment and has stepped up missile production. On a personal level, for instance, the young head of state has assumed significantly higher political importance on the international stage, from erstwhile allies and previous foes alike. Before and after last year's Singapore summit with Trump, other major powers with a stake in the question of the future of the Korean Peninsula, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, began jockeying for position as the region's military and strategic landscapes are potentially recast in what South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said is the real end of the "Cold War," more than a quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet Union. One of the most spectacular features of this, at least to date, has been the remarkable pivot of key powers toward greater engagement with Kim and the Pyongyang regime. All key parties sense significant new political and economic opportunities, and potential risks, opening up under future sanctions relief. Here, it is no coincidence that Xi has invited Kim for multiple trips to Beijing in 2018 and 2019, his first foreign tours since he assumed power in 2011. Moreover, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has met Kim in Pyongyang, has invited the North Korean leader to visit Vladimir Putin in Russia. The contrast between this feting of Kim, and the situation in 2017 when the Trump team was debating a pre-emptive strike against North Korea is striking. The turnaround in spiraling tensions on the peninsula since then has been as potentially important as it was unexpected by many. The shifting geopolitical tectonic plates around Korea since the rapprochement have not just positively impacted the North, but also the South too. For instance, Moon is promoting a "New Northern Policy" which, alongside peace talks with Kim, is a key foreign relations policy driver under which his administration is seeking to improve its ties with key Eurasian neighbors. Last year, for instance, Moon made a landmark trip to Russia, the first by a sitting South Korean president since 1999. His visit underlined that at the same time Kim is being courted by Washington, Beijing, and Moscow, the three have also been clear to consolidate ties with Seoul too. Last May, Moon met with Trump at the White House, while Xi also saw him that same month with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the first trilateral talks between the three nations since 2015. In this context of change in the region, and with significant expectations surrounding the Trump-Kim Vietnam event this week, what remains unclear is how big the potential downside risks (as well as opportunities) are in play. This includes the outside possibility of tensions rising again on the peninsula should the U.S.-Koreas peace dialogue break down. While Trump currently appears keen to have a sustained strategic dialogue with Kim, especially in advance of his potential 2020 re-election campaign, both of these two leaders' personal and political volatility cannot be underestimated. And if Kim ultimately reneges on any key pledges in the U.S. president's eyes, the political pressure will be on Trump again to ratchet up his position against Pyongyang, despite the warm words of 2018 and early 2019. In this scenario, Trump would potentially be under political pressure again in the United States on this issue having drawn a political "red line" as president over Pyongyang having nuclear weapons capable of striking the U.S. homeland. And here he is well aware that missile tests in 2017 showed that Kim is close to developing a nuclear warhead capable of being fitted on to an intercontinental ballistic missile that can strike the U.S. mainland. Taken overall, the Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam and wider grand diplomacy on the peninsula involving Washington, Beijing and Moscow following the Singapore summit underlines that the geopolitical tectonic plates are moving on the Korean Peninsula. However, while historic change could yet be in the air, significant downside risks remain if the South-North dialogue ultimately proves a mirage, with warming of relationships potentially going into reverse. Andrew Hammond ( ) is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. Kim should prove his intension of giving up nukes U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will kick off their two-day second summit in Hanoi, Wednesday. But it is still uncertain if and how the two leaders can make real progress in nuclear disarmament talks. This explains why it is hard to shake off skepticism over Kim's commitment to "complete denuclearization" at their historic summit in Singapore last June. For this reason, it would be better not to have too high expectations for the Hanoi summit. President Trump is well aware that skepticism has persisted both in Washington and Seoul since the Kim regime has continued to drag its feet in delivering on his promise to abandon its nuclear arsenal. So he seems to caution against too high hopes for a big deal. In this regard it can be inferred that Trump is taking a realistic approach. He said Sunday he was in no rush to strike a nuclear deal with Kim, adding he would be happy as long as the North maintains its pause on nuclear and missile testing. However, he did not miss a chance to strike an optimistic note by saying he and Kim had developed "a very, very good relationship." Therefore it is safe to say the Kim-Trump summit is more likely to end up in a "small deal" than a big one. Even if it were a small or limited deal, this should not necessarily be seen as a failure as long as the two leaders manage to narrow their differences and agree to meaningful and substantive steps toward the North's denuclearization. In this sense, it is important for Trump not to make the same mistake as he did in the Singapore summit by agreeing on too broad and too vague terms: the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This time in the Vietnamese capital, Trump should focus on how to make a clear and concrete deal with Kim although such a deal fails to call for an immediate dismantlement of all nukes and ICBMs the North now possesses. We have to admit it is unrealistic to achieve complete and verifiable denuclearization by a single stroke of the pen at the end of the summit. Nuclear negotiations are usually time-consuming and denuclearization is a far more complex and long-drawn-out process. Besides, it takes two to tango. The success of the Hanoi summit will depend on how Trump and Kim can find a middle ground between their positions. So it would be better for the North to present a detailed denuclearization timetable and roadmap in return for the U.S. declaring a formal end to the Korean War and giving security guarantees for the Kim regime. The deal should be based on a give-and-take formula, not a unilateral imposition of undue demands. But it should be more than a freeze of weapons testing if the two leaders want to make a real success. The North needs to agree on the dismantling of its Yongbyon nuclear complex and other plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities before it calls for sanctions relief. It also must allow international inspections and verification. The Trump administration needs to take a flexible attitude toward an easing of sanctions if the North takes genuine steps toward denuclearization. Time to bring peace, prosperity to Korean Peninsula The country marked the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule Friday. This year's celebration carries special meaning as the nation seeks to overcome the legacy of the shameful past and move toward peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. In this regard, President Moon Jae-in's address at the centennial ceremony drew much attention. He presented his vision for a "new Korean Peninsula regime" aimed at turning the peninsula into a new community of peace and cooperation. He wants to end confrontation and conflict not only on the peninsula but also in Northeast Asia. As the President pointed out, the country should first sweep away the remnants of Japanese colonialism and imperialism. To that end, we have to advocate the spirit of the independence movement which was based on national self-determination, peace, coexistence and co-prosperity. Moon cited ideological conflicts between the right and the left and red-baiting as a legacy of the oppressive 1910-45 Japanese rule. In a broad sense, national division, the Korean War and dictatorship could be seen as resulting from the colonial past. He stressed true liberation will come after we discard aversion and hatred toward others, and only then the country can begin a new century. It is also worth noting that Moon has promised to strengthen cooperation with Japan. Seoul-Tokyo ties have recently deteriorated following rows over victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery and forced labor as well as a millitary radar lock-on dispute. Needless to say, improving relations with the former colonial power is imperative. The two neighbors need to solve historical matters and other pending issues through dialogue and compromise. Without doing so Korea and Japan can never forge a future-oriented partnership. The March 1 celebration came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un failed to reach any denuclearization agreement at their second summit in Hanoi. In relation to the failed talks, President Moon has pledged to play a more active role to prod the North to denuclearize without fail. It is apparent that Moon has floated the idea of creating the new Korean Peninsula regime as part of his efforts to break the deadlock in the U.S.-North Korea nuclear negotiations. A community of peace and cooperation on the peninsula cannot be established without the North's complete and verifiable denuclearization. However, it would not be impossible to translate his ideas into action if the two Koreas revive the spirit of the March 1 movement. We urge the Kim regime to return to dialogue with the U.S. as soon as possible to resolve the nuclear showdown. More importantly, Seoul and Pyongyang should work together to create a community of peace and economic cooperation which can be extended to East Asia and the Eurasian region. Genuine liberation can be achieved when we overcome national division. U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during a news conference after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hanoi, Feb. 28. Reuters By Emanuel Pastreich Models demonstrate LG Uplus' 5G-connected smart factory system at the LG exhibition hall during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Monday. / Courtesy of LG Uplus By Jun Ji-hye LG Uplus unveiled its smart factory system available through fifth-generation (5G) network services in cooperation with LG Electronics and LG CNS at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 in Barcelona, Monday. The Korean telecom company said its smart factory system has been created through synergy between its 5G networks, LG Electronics' experiences in constructing factories and LG CNS' platform technologies. At the MWC, the world's largest mobile show that runs until Thursday, the mobile carrier demonstrated the smart factory system by connecting the MWC site in real time to an LG factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. By Baek Byung-yeul Samsung Electronics' foldable smartphone and LG Electronics' rollable TV featured at a ceremony in Seoul, Friday, to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1919 March 1 Independence Movement. President Moon Jae-in, politicians including National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, and around 10,000 citizens attended the ceremony in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. The March 1 Independence Movement, a non-violent protest against Japanese colonial rule, started March 1, 1919. More than 2 million people took part in the movement, which became a spiritual foundation for Koreans' struggle for independence. During the ceremony, Korea Liberation Association Chairman Park Yu-cheol read out the Declaration of Independence a statement declared by 33 representative figures on March 1, 1919 from a script running on LG's rollable TV. Six high school students read out the names of the activists from Samsung's Galaxy Fold foldable. Although the two products are not on sale yet, Samsung and LG reportedly showcased them at the government's request. LG introduced the first rollable TV, called the Signature OLED TV R, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. Using a fully flexible and ultra-thin display, the TV screen can be rolled up and stored. Samsung unwrapped its Galaxy Fold smartphone in San Francisco, Feb. 20. When folded, the Galaxy Fold displays a 4.6-inch screen on the front, which becomes a tablet with a 7.3-inch display when unfolded. Samsung said it took about eight years to develop. The phone is scheduled to go on sale April 26. An IT industry source, who asked for anonymity, said, "The event featuring superb products from the two companies showed Korea has become an IT powerhouse, edging out Japan." The ceremony, held at 14 locations across the country, was streamed live on fifth-generation (5G) networks via SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that the controversial relocation of a US military base in Okinawa will not be delayed despite a referendum that saw voters reject the move. "It has been 20 years since Japan and the US agreed" to relocate the Futenma base, Abe said. "We cannot delay this any further." His comments came after voters in Okinawa rejected the relocation plan in a non-binding referendum over the weekend. Some 72 percent voted against the move, with 19 percent in favour in a vote that drew 52 percent of eligible voters, officials said. Abe said he accepted the outcome "sincerely" and would seek "understanding" from Okinawa residents on his decision to move forward with the relocation. "We have spent many years holding dialogue with people in the prefecture. We will continue our dialogue so that we can gain their understanding," Abe said. "Reducing the burden of Okinawa is a major responsibility for the central government... we will continue our utmost efforts towards a reduction of the burden related to hosting bases." Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but it reluctantly hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel. The heavy US military presence has frustrated local residents with problems ranging from noise and military accidents to crime involving base residents. To ease tensions, the United States and Japan agreed in 1996 to move Futenma from its current heavily populated location to a remote coastal site being built partly through land reclamation. Opponents of the move want to see the base relocated outside of Okinawa, arguing responsibility for hosting US troops should be more evenly spread across Japan. Okinawa residents have elected governors opposed to the move, including incumbent Denny Tamaki, who came into office last year. But Abe's government has shown no sign of willingness to reconsider. (AFP) Police stand guard before the arrival of an Indian Air Force pilot, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, near Wagah border, on the outskirts of the northern city of Amritsar, India, March 1. Reuters Pakistan prepared to hand over a captured Indian pilot Friday while blistering cross-border attacks across the disputed Himalayan Kashmir region continued for a fourth straight day, even as the two nuclear-armed neighbors seek to defuse the most serious confrontation in two decades. Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the disputed border known as the Line of Control in one of the world most volatile regions. Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide attack in Indian Kashmir that killed more than 40 troops. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft and capturing a pilot. World leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent. President Donald trump in Hanoi on Thursday said he had been involved in seeking to de-escalate the conflict. ''I think hopefully that's going to be coming to an end,'' Trump said, without elaborating. ''It's been going on for a long time _ decades and decades. There's a lot of dislike, unfortunately, so we've been in the middle trying to help them both out, see if we can get some organization and some peace, and I think probably that's going to be happening.'' On Friday, Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, is expected in Islamabad with an urgent message from the kingdom's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told lawmakers on Thursday, ''We are releasing the Indian pilot as a goodwill gesture tomorrow.'' But India made it clear that the latest escalation has changed their strategy and going forward they will strike, including inside Pakistan, if they get information of an attack in the planning. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier Thursday warned ''India's enemies are conspiring to create instability in the country through terror attacks.'' Khan also said that he had feared Wednesday night that India might launch a missile attack, but the situation was later defused. He did not elaborate. ''Pakistan wants peace, but it should not be treated as our weakness,'' Khan said. ''The region will prosper if there is peace and stability. It is good for both sides.'' Meanwhile, Pakistan's air space remained closed Friday to most air traffic, although some domestic flights were allowed on Thursday. The air space is expected to re-open by 6 p.m., according to an official government notice. Residents of the Pakistani border town of Chikhoti reported heavy shelling overnight and Friday morning. More than 200 people had fled to a military organized camp about 20 kilometers (16 miles) away from the border. Kashmir has been divided but claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after the two countries' creation in 1947. They have fought three wars, two directly dealing with the disputed region. Authorities in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir closed all schools and educational institutions in the region and continue to urge parents to keep their children at home amid mounting tensions. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal acknowledged his country received a ''dossier'' from India about the Feb. 14 attack. He refused to provide details about the information that New Delhi has shared. Modi, in his first remarks since the pilot's capture, gave a rallying speech ahead of elections in the coming months. ''Our defense forces are serving gallantly at the border,'' he told tens of thousands gathered across the country to listen to him in a videoconference from New Delhi. ''The country is facing challenging times and it will fight, live, work and win unitedly.'' Just weeks before general elections are due in India, the head of Modi's party in India's Karnataka state, B.S. Yeddyurappa, said India's pre-dawn airstrikes in Pakistan on Tuesday would help the party at the polls. The violence this week marked the most serious escalation of the long-simmering conflict since 1999, when Pakistan's military sent a ground force into Indian-controlled Kashmir at Kargil. That year also saw an Indian fighter jet shoot down a Pakistani naval aircraft, killing all 16 on board. This latest wave of tensions between the two rivals first began after the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing on Indian paramilitary forces. India long has accused Pakistan of cultivating such militant groups to attack it. Pakistan has said it was not involved in that attack and was ready to help New Delhi in the investigation. (AP) Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr met with the CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation Hany Salem Sonbol on Friday, to discuss efforts to increase ITFC support for the private sector through investment projects. The ministry has been working on increasing the volume of direct foreign investment and paving the way for increasing private sector investment in Egypt, Nasr said according to a ministry statement. The minister praised the role ITFC played in providing basic commodities for citizens through a $3 billion agreement signed last year. Sonbol said the total funds from his group to Egypt reached $8 billion dollars last month, which contributed to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. Search Keywords: Short link: Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019. AP In 1818, Mary Shelley created popular cultures first and most enduring monster in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Since then, women have always been the most important part of monster movies, as Mallory OMeara states in The Lady From the Black Lagoon, her engaging and compelling, if uneven, book about artist Milicent Patrick, the unsung designer of another iconic monster. As a teenager, indie horror filmmaker OMeara became captivated by Universal Pictures 1954 Creature From the Black Lagoon. Its eponymous amphibian star a scaled, humanoid figure fondly known to generations of sci-fi geeks as the Gill-man was the last of Universals classic monsters, joining the studios pantheon alongside Dracula, the Frankenstein monster and his Bride, and the Wolfman, among others. The Gill-man was also, as OMeara learned to her delighted amazement, the first and at the time, only movie monster to have been designed by a woman. Yet as she researches her new creative crush, OMearas delight swiftly turns to bewilderment and anger. Patricks design for the creature had for decades been credited to Universal makeup artist Bud Westmore, who fired her rather than have her role in its success become known. Milicents incredible life should have earned her an honored place in film history, OMeara fumes, and with good reason. But few even recognize her name. The Lady From the Black Lagoon sets out to right that wrong, as OMeara goes in search of this mostly unknown, if perhaps ultimately unknowable, artist. Advertisement American actors Ben Chapman as Gill-man and Julie Adams as Kay Lawrence in a promotional still for 1954s Creature From the Black Lagoon, directed by Jack Arnold. (Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images) Born Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi in 1915, the woman who later became Milicent Patrick was the middle child of three. When she was 6, her father, Camille Charles Rossi, a structural engineer, was hired to work on William Randolph Hearsts vast California Central Coast retreat, La Cuesta Encantada, better known as Hearst Castle. Rossi soon became the projects construction superintendent, reporting to Julia Morgan, Californias first licensed woman architect and the castles designer. Like other children whose parents labored there, Mildred frequently visited this dreamland, with its 2,000-acre private zoo and constantly shifting human menagerie of celebrity guests. But her father seems to have navigated Hearsts kingdom uneasily, fighting nonstop with Morgan, and was dismissed after a decade. In her diary, Morgan called him unduly revengeful, and the superintendent of Hearsts ranch said that Rossi seemed to glory in human misery. He was, perhaps, the first monster in his daughters life. A gifted artist, Mildred received three scholarships to Chouinard Art Institute, which served as an artist/animator incubator for nearby Walt Disney Studios. The school later became CalArts. In early 1939, she was tapped to work for Disneys storied ink and paint department. Staffed entirely by women, it was housed in a separate building on the Disney studio campus, where the so-called Ink and Paint Girls reproduced tens of thousands of animators drawings onto celluloid, a mind-bogglingly laborious process. As Patricia Zohn wrote in a 2010 Vanity Fair article, their job was to make what the men did look good at an average of 8 to 10 cels an hour, 100 girls could only, in theory, turn out less than one minute of screen time by the end of the day. At Disney, Mildred worked as a color animator (then considered a special effects technique) on Fantasia, contributing to four sequences, including the legendary Night on Bald Mountain, where she created gorgeous color pastel animation for the demonic Chernabog the most magical Disney character for OMeara and generations of monster lovers. Mildred left Disney in the wake of the 1941 animators walkout, a strike that irrevocably changed the way the studio functioned. But Mildred wasnt among the strikers. At some point, she had embarked upon an affair with another Disney animator, Paul Fitzpatrick. His pregnant wife found out and killed herself and their unborn child. The tragedy left Mildred and Fitzpatrick free to marry, and also estranged Mildred from her family. When, after a few years, she and Fitzpatrick divorced, she took on the name Mil Patrick. At some point she refined this to Milicent Patrick. She claimed to be Disneys first female animator probably not true, but close enough and further embroidered her background by saying she was an Italian baroness. Milicent Patrick, the subject of Mallory OMearas book, The Lady From the Black Lagoon. (From the authors personal collection) She certainly looked the part, as one can see in a promotional film and photos from her time at Disney strikingly beautiful, with long black hair and a regal air that not even Ink and Paints utilitarian smocks could diminish. She continued to create art, including illustrations for a collection of off-color jokes, but mostly seems to have worked as a model. Then, in 1947, she met William Hawks, brother of filmmaker Howard Hawks and also a producer. She began to get uncredited bit parts as an extra water nymph, flashy woman, tavern wench in mostly forgettable films. She became involved with actor Frank L. Graham, best known for voicing the lascivious Wolf in Tex Averys cartoon short Red Hot Riding Hood. A few months into their relationship, in September 1950, Graham committed suicide. His will contained a note that read, To Mildred, I leave nothing except the pleasure she will have knowing that now she wont have to decide whether I am good enough for her or not. Also, a postscript: Gee, I wish Mildred had called me back yesterday morning. By this point nearly halfway through OMearas book readers may be thinking, Gee, I wish wed get to the Creature. Ben Chapman in costume, except for the head piece, for the title character in The Creature From the Black Lagoon. (Ken Rohrer) This is the heart of OMearas story, and its a good, if infuriating, one. OMeara writes that, in 1952, while working as an extra on the Universal lot, Patrick met the head of the studios makeup department, Bud Westmore. (I recently came across a 1948 publicity photo online of Patrick holding the monsters mask from the film from the same year Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, with a handwritten note saying that she helped make the mask and also did its fine detail painting.) Westmore oversaw makeup for that earlier film, so its possible that Patrick met him at that time, and that Westmore was already familiar with her work when, in 1952, she was hired as makeup designer for the B picture that became Creature From the Black Lagoon. Unfortunately, none of her preliminary or finished sketches seemed to survive. Milicent Patrick wearing one of the masks she designed for Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. (Family Collection) But others familiar with the movie (including Chris Mueller, who sculpted the Gill-mans mask) state unequivocally that Patrick designed the creature, a graceful, elegant and surprisingly sexy monster whose influence extends to Guillermo del Toros 2017 Oscar-winning homage, The Shape of Water. During previews, it became clear that Universals new monster flick was going to be a hit, its audience reactions fueled, no doubt, by an underwater pas de deux between the Gill-man and his female, human prey that still retains an erotic charge. The studio decided to capitalize on Patricks involvement and send her on a publicity tour with the tagline, The Beauty Who Created the Beast. Westmore, known to be difficult and controlling with underlings, hit the roof. OMeara summarizes memos from the publicity team (they can be read in Tom Weavers in-depth The Creature Chronicles, one of OMearas sources) detailing their battles with the makeup chief. The upshot: Patrick was sent out with masks of several Universal monsters, including the Creature, and was renamed The Beauty Who Lives With the Beasts. Even this wasnt enough for Westmore. He struck Patricks name from the credits, replaced it with his own and, when she returned from her successful, nearly monthlong tour, had her fired. At one point, OMeara rages, Several [people] expressed doubt that [Patricks] story could be more than an article, let alone fill an entire book. The truth is, much of the book is padding, and it often reads as though it were written for a young audience, with long passages and footnotes explaining who Hearst was, what a scream queen is, and so on. If Patrick left any diaries, journals, letters or the like, theyre not quoted from here, though OMeara does speak with others intrigued by her history (including Mindy Johnson, whose 2017 Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disneys Animation, delves deeply into the role of women in the studios early years). But many specific details of her life as a working artist remain scarce. Mallory OMeara, author of The Lady From the Black Lagoon. (Allan Amato) OMeara even visits the artists niece, who talks to her for hours about her aunt, and gives the author access to Tupperware filled with Patricks papers and ephemera. The answers to almost all of my questions about Milicent were in these boxes, OMeara states, but she shares nothing of what she learns, except in the vaguest terms. We learn that Patrick is a friendly and warm person, with a warm personality, well-spoken, friendly and charming. Socializing was easy for Milicent, and Grahams suicide caused her to lean harder than ever on her friends. There are no interviews with friends, and no citations for quotes, including comments like [Milicent] loved looking glamorous. It made her happy or, How marvelous that she refused to try to fit into the boys club [sic], that she was unapologetically herself, or, later, that she was beset by loneliness. OMeara, unsurprisingly, identifies with her subject. Like Patrick and many other women, OMeara has her own experiences of being harassed, abused and treated contemptuously by men in the film industry. Still, her book could use less of the authors own rage and occasional fangirl gushing, however well deserved, and more about its subject, a woman whose father was said to glory in human misery, who knew firsthand the devastating effect of suicide, and who submitted a memo totting up the damage to her wardrobe for the Universal tour (amounting to nearly $4,000 in todays money). One cocktail dresscompletely ruined. One cocktail dressbeading broken and lost. One gabardine suitshrunk and cant be repaired. One lace coatburned, torn, and shrunkruined beyond repair. One afternoon dresstorn but repairable. One pair of earringscut in half by pub. man and stones lost. One velvet blousetorn, can be repaired. All of which makes one wonder if Patrick was accompanied on tour not just by masks but by the monsters themselves. A book jacket for Mallory OMearas The Lady From the Black Lagoon. (Erin Craig / Hanover Square Press) Women are the most important part of horror because, by and large, women are the ones the horror happens to, OMeara writes. Women have to endure it, fight it, survive it in the movies and in real life. Horror films help explore these fears and imagine what it would be like to conquer them. Women need to see themselves fighting monsters. Thats part of how we figure out our stories. But we also need to see ourselves behind-the-scenes, creating and writing and directing. We need to tell our stories, too. Patrick died in 1998, at age 82, largely forgotten except for a coterie of devoted fans. OMeara has seen to it that she wont be forgotten again. Her book is a fierce and often very funny guide to the distaff side of geekdom and reproduces photos and examples of Patricks work, many previously unpublished. That alone would be worth the price of admission to the world of this complex, brilliant artist. :: The Lady From the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick Mallory OMeara Hanover Square Press, 351 pp, $26.99 Hands novel, Curious Toys, will be published this fall. There was a fair amount of perplexity at the California Air Resources Board on Feb. 21, when the Trump administration abruptly announced that it had decided to discontinue discussions with the states air quality regulator over the administrations proposal to gut federal auto emissions standards. The general reaction at CARBs Sacramento office was: What discussions? Thats not to say that CARB officials had never met with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which were the frontline agencies in the proposed rollback. Only that it was plain from the first that the government was not going to budge. At no time, in any meetings, did the EPA or NHTSA or the White House suggest there was anything in the proposals they would bend on at all. Mary Nichols, California Air Resources Board Advertisement Thats the view of CARB Chairwoman Mary Nichols, who participated in the meetings. At no time, in any meetings, did the EPA or NHTSA or the White House suggest there was anything in the proposals they would bend on at all, Nichols told me. It didnt help matters that the Trump administration had stated forthrightly that it aimed to revoke the long-standing federal waiver allowing California to set its own auto emissions rules, which was written into the federal Clean Air Act in the 1970s. Federal officials, of course, have a different view of the process. We came to the table to figure out a workable path forward, says Amanda Gunasekara, who was a clean air official at the EPA until a few weeks ago, when she left to form a nonprofit devoted to informing the public about the environmental and economic gains made under the Trump administration. Time and again, Gunasekara told me, the California team was dismissive and never prepared to engage in the type of conversation you would need to get to that point. (We sought official comment from EPA and NHTSA, but neither provided a response.) On the surface, this looks like what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, though its not clear which side is which. Deeper down, however, theres much more at stake. Trumps proposed rollback of auto emissions standards is part of an ideology-driven resistance to climate change science; the states resistance reflects the scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions are a mortal threat to the environment, and that in California some 40% of those emissions come from auto and truck tailpipes. For decades, the state has been in the forefront of the battle to reduce those emissions. Whats at issue are auto mileage and emissions goals established by NHTSA and EPA in 2012, covering model years 2017 and beyond, in effect for 2017 through 2025. At that point, average vehicular efficiency must be 54.5 miles per gallon. Sounds like a great meeting based on the WH press release. Too bad it's not the one we attended To quote the President on cancelling his planned summit with Kim Jong-un, "If and when (@USDOT & @EPA) choose to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am ready"#cleanercars pic.twitter.com/Rph24nTgkm Mary Nichols (@MaryNicholsCA) May 24, 2018 The rules were scheduled for a midterm evaluation in 2018. The automakers hoped for at least a modest loosening of the standards, based on their claim that American consumers were so hooked on SUVs and resistant to hybrid and full-electric cars that they couldnt conceivably meet the 2025 goals. But then Trump got elected. The Obama-era EPA rushed the midterm review to completion, issuing a final judgment the week before Trumps inauguration stating that there was no reason to reduce the standards. CARB came to the same conclusion. The 2012 rule was based on the expectation that U.S. vehicle ownership would be composed of two-thirds cars and one-third SUVs and other light trucks, says Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Its the opposite now, she says. Soon after taking office, Trump revoked the midterm review. Then, on Aug. 24, 2018, the administration proposed to freeze the auto mileage standard at the 2020 level, which is 36.9 mpg. The proposal challenged California to compromise on an alternative. Yet what has never been clear is why California should engage with this process at all. Its waiver authority has been in place for nearly half a century, and already has passed muster with federal courts. Its emissions standards are effectively written into state law, are followed by 11 other states making up 40% of the U.S. auto market, are based on solid science, and are crucial elements in a program to cut greenhouse gases. California offered to compromise on the slope of the curve, Nichols says, say by giving automakers a bit more time to meet the most stringent goals, in exchange for a commitment to meet them by the ultimate deadline. But the feds wanted more. Possibly aware that a case couldnt be made for rolling back the standards on the basis of climate science or clean air rules, the administration cast its proposal almost entirely as an auto safety initiative, even dubbing it the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule, or SAFE. Its not exactly news that the administrations published backup for its proposed rule change is a mess indeed, some of its assertions are so wacky theyve made the entire package into a nationwide laughingstock. Fundamentally, the proposal claims that the rule change would reduce auto fatalities because (a) the more stringent mileage rules would prompt manufacturers to make lighter cars, which are more dangerous; (b) the better mileage would prompt car owners to drive more, which is more dangerous; and (c) higher-mileage cars would be more expensive, so people would stick with their older cars, which are more dangerous. The most comprehensive debunking came from 11 experts at leading universities, including UC, USC, Yale and MIT, published in Science in December. They reported that the analysis supporting the rollback had fundamental flaws and inconsistencies, is at odds with basic economic theory [and] is misleading. Among other things, they observed that the proposal vastly overstated the rebound effect how much more driving motorists do when the price per mile falls, thanks to higher mileage efficiency and inexplicably argued that U.S. auto ownership would shrink by 6 million vehicles even though the rollback would make cars more affordable. Their conclusion evoked physicist Wolfgang Paulis classic put-down that a colleagues paper was so incompetent it was not even wrong. But they werent alone. American Honda issued a blistering comment in October. Honda said that the proposal invites litigation and regulatory uncertainty, stalls long-term strategic industry planning, puts at risk American global competitiveness, exacerbates climate-related environmental impacts, and slows industry readiness for a widely acknowledged transition to vehicle electrification. Like other critics, the company took issue with the administrations claim on automotive safety. If the government used the proper math, Honda said, it would be clear that the original plan was safer than the new proposal. Gunasekara defended the filing: What the agencies put out was a well-thought-out, well-substantiated document, she says. Some folks have brought to the table some criticisms, but we want people to take a look at the document thats part of the regulatory process. Some of the data may be adjusted in response to the critiques, she indicated, but that wont be known until the administration issues a final rule, expected later this spring or summer. The message oozing from between the lines of Hondas analysis was that the auto industry opposed the administrations obstinate approach. The automakers had been hoping for some sort of compromise between California and the feds, easing the path toward the one national program that would allow them to build cars complying with a single standard nationwide. Even more important, the industry hankered after a standard that would be durable that is, not so extreme a rollback that it would provoke challenges in the courts and prompt a future administration to overturn the Trump rule. That would be a nightmare for companies trying to make design and manufacturing decisions that would hold for the next decade or more. A ham-handed effort to preempt California would have precisely the opposite effect, Honda observed. Its clear that the administration is on one path and California is on another, Bergquist says. Nichols says that was the states impression from the start. She says federal officials, including former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, always made clear that his intention was to revoke Californias waiver. She met with Pruitt only once, at an official event in San Francisco, before he was ousted in July 2018 over ethics issues. Pruitt seemed ever eager to issue joint news releases stating that the state and federal government were making progress, but Nichols refused. We werent willing to have it appear that we were agreeing to things we didnt agree with, she told me. At one point in May, when Pruitt and NHTSA issued a joint statement calling a meeting with CARB productive, Nichols responded with a tweet: Sounds like a great meeting based on the WH press release. Too bad its not the one we attended. Pruitts successor, Andrew Wheeler, has a more accommodating demeanor, Nichols says, but hasnt backed off from any of the administrations goals. In any case, the rollback appears to be driven mostly by NHTSA, an arm of the Department of Transportation that is led by Heidi King, who has been criticized for placing a commitment to deregulation ahead of safety and environmental issues that should be the agencys top priorities. The auto industrys fears that the Trump White Houses ideological fixation on rolling back the standards will result in fragmenting national standards and more uncertainty are well taken. If the Trump White House really tries to revoke Californias waiver it will have a legal fight on its hands, and California is confident that it will win. Theres no question that there will be litigation, Nichols says. Theres some question of who sues who, but well be in court. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. You can think of it as a prizefight in the publishing super-heavyweight class. In this corner, the University of California, one of the worlds leading sources of scientific and technical research. In that corner, the company formerly known as Reed Elsevier, the worlds leading publisher of academic journals. As weve reported, the two have been locked in battle during the last year over UCs contract for subscriptions to 2,500 Elsevier academic journals, including some of the most important publications in the world. Unless Elsevier demonstrates a sincere willingness and commitment to meet the conditions UC insists on, theres not much point in talking. Jeff MacKie-Mason, University of California Advertisement On Thursday, the university announced the talks had reached an impasse and terminated its Elsevier subscriptions. The move made official a situation that had been percolating since Dec. 31, when UCs most recent subscription contract with Elsevier expired; the deadline had been extended informally while the two sides continued to talk. Despite months of contract negotiations, the university announced, Elsevier was unwilling to meet UCs key goal: securing universal open access to UC research. Put simply, the university wants 100% of the papers written by its faculty and students to be made available to all readers, for free, permanently. In the world of academic publishing, UCs action is tantamount to a nuclear shot. UC claims to generate nearly 10% of all published research in the United States. The university also has been a significant partner of Elsevier, which has published about 18% of all UC output and collected more than 25% of the universitys $40-million overall subscription budget. But the open access issue is the reason their battle has drawn the attention of academics all over the world. UCs goal is a direct challenge to the business model of academic publishing that earns Elsevier more than $1 billion in operating profit per year. Heres a brief primer. In the prevailing model of academic publishing, which originated in the 1960s, scientific and technical journals are subscription-based. The journals dont pay researchers for their papers, since the prestige of their work appearing in a high-profile publication is assumed to be payment enough. University subscriptions make the journals accessible to faculty and students and on-campus visitors. Subscription prices have been soaring, placing an ever-larger burden on university budgets. The prices of scientific journals now are so high that not a single university in the U.S. not the University of California, not Harvard, no institution can afford to subscribe to them all, Jeffrey MacKie-Mason, the UC librarian and co-chair of UCs negotiation team, said in the statement issued Thursday by the university. That has underscored the basic absurdity of the subscription model. Research often funded by government grants that is, taxpayers is provided for free to publishers, who then make it available only to readers paying for a subscription. The research undergirding the published papers often is wholly or partially funded via public grants that is, by taxpayers, who must pay again to read the results. Taxpayers get soaked coming and going. For the publishers, this has been an enviably profitable model. Scientific, technical and medical publishing accounted for 34% of revenue at Elseviers parent Relx, a Netherlands-based conglomerate formerly known as Reed Elsevier, in 2018 and provided a lush operating profit of $1.25 billion on the journal segments revenue of nearly $3.8 billion a 37% operating margin. But that system is gradually giving way to the open access model, in which researchers pay publication fees to the journals but retain their copyrights so their work can be read by anyone, without a subscription. Open access advocates say thats not only a more logical system for research funded by the public, but a much better way of disseminating scientific discovery. UC has been in the forefront of the open access trend. Its Academic Senate adopted the policy in 2013. UC authors are required to deposit versions of their papers or links in the universitys eScholarship online repository, which currently holds more than 200,000 items available to the public for free. UC saw the renewal talks as a way to force Elsevier, to which the university paid roughly $12 million in subscription and publication fees in 2018, to change its business model. From the inception, says Ivy Anderson, associate executive director of UCs California Digital Library and co-chair of its negotiation team, our goal has been to convert our subscription fees to open access fees to lower our costs and to change what were paying for from subscriptions to open access. Anderson and MacKie-Mason say Elsevier initially was unwilling to change to 100% open access. It would support only the transition of subscription payments to open access fees in a very modest direction, Anderson told me. Elseviers final offer would have layered publication fees on top of subscriptions, the UC negotiators say. The offer would have increased UC costs by about $30 million over the three-year term of the contract, they calculated an 80% increase, assuming that all UC authors moved to open access publication. Elsevier disputes that. We dont recognize that number, says Gemma Hersh, Elseviers vice president for global policy. But she acknowledged that open access publishing will cost [the university] far more in an open access world than subscribing to content costs them today. She added that the universitys asking Elsevier to provide open access publishing for its own authors and the same access to journals it receives today by subscription, while spending less than it pays for subscriptions alone, is extremely unrealistic. Elsevier also observes that a transition to 100% open access for UC authors would be a dramatic change, since only 6% to 7% of UC papers appearing in Elsevier publications today are open access. The publisher has said all along that its willing to accommodate the open access model, but maintains that its popularity among researchers is overstated many still prefer the subscription model because it suits their financial needs better than open access. Yet UC is not the only source of pressure for change. A consortium of 11 national funding agencies in Europe last year decreed that, as of 2020, every paper they fund will have to be published on the open access model, a system dubbed Plan S. As for UC, we are at an impasse in negotiations, MacKie-Mason says. Unless Elsevier demonstrates a sincere willingness and commitment to meet the conditions UC insists on, theres not much point in talking. The ball is in their court at this point to be willing to talk about something that satisfies the university. Those conditions included a reduction in overall costs, open access as a default publishing mode for UC researchers, and a contract that integrates payments for reading with payments for publishing. The practical effect of the impasse remained murky Friday. Elsevier says it has not yet terminated online access to its publications for UC. If the publisher does take that step, MacKie-Mason acknowledges it will cause some inconvenience to some faculty and students, but probably not enough to create pressure to reach a deal. The university has perpetual rights to about 85% of content published prior to Jan. 1, since thats already been paid for. When it comes to subsequently published material, MacKie-Mason says, the main inconvenience will be time. About half of all content is available for free in some non-Elsevier form via the Google Scholar database. Researchers can email authors to receive papers directly, or ask the UC library to obtain a paper via interlibrary loan. Scholars in Germany and Sweden, who were shut off from access to Elsevier last July in an open access dispute, are having little trouble finding the works they need. The university libraries are not experiencing any significant pressure to cave in to Elsevier, MacKie-Mason told me. We do hope someday to reach an agreement with Elsevier, MacKie-Mason says. We very much would like to see them join us as partners in helping to transform the industry, and act as leaders rather than followers. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. A former employee of lender Energy Efficient Equity alleges in a lawsuit that the company fired him after he raised concerns it was approving potentially fraudulent loans. Energy Efficient Equity, which was included in a recent Los Angeles Times article that examined the misuse of Property Assessed Clean Energy home improvement loans, was sued last year in San Diego County Superior Court by former employee Peter Stone. In his lawsuit, Stone said he expressed concerns to supervisors several times regarding other salespersons selling projects that were not eligible under PACE programs, which are intended to fund environmentally friendly projects such as solar panels, low-water-use toilets and efficient lighting. Consumer attorneys allege home improvement contractors too often try to use funds for ineligible work, or mislead consumers over how they will pay back the loans. Advertisement In addition to wrongful termination, Stone alleged Energy Efficient Equity, or E3, failed to pay him overtime and committed other wage violations. E3, in a court filing, said Stone was exempt from overtime laws and was paid all required wages. The Los Angeles company did not directly respond to Stones allegations over questionable projects or retaliation in the form of a November 2017 firing but said that Stone failed to comply with employee obligations and pertinent duties. The case is now on hold pending arbitration. An attorney representing E3 did not respond to requests for comment. The companys chief operating officer declined to comment other than to confirm Stone was at one time an employee. Stone declined to comment, and his attorney did not return multiple requests for comment. In the lawsuit, the former employee stated that although he fulfilled all requirements of his position he also refused to process projects that could not qualify. The complaint says E3 approved loans for projects Stone believed overcharged for energy efficient items and then were under-charging homeowners for non-PACE-eligible items like kitchen remodels. Among the examples the lawsuit says Stone brought to his superiors: roofing for $40,000, an HVAC system for more than $24,000 and lighting for $1,000 per bulb. Anything that says $1,000 per bulb should raise a red flag with anybody, said Stephanie Carroll, an attorney with consumer law firm Public Counsel, which is not involved in the case. At the very least, they should be picking up the phone and getting an explanation ... from the contractor why this is appropriate. PACE programs launched last decade with the lofty goal of combating climate change by allowing more people to fund energy efficiency improvements. The programs are established by government bodies, most of which contract with private lenders to run and fund them. Lenders, in turn, rely on home improvement contractors to market loans and sign up consumers, who borrow against their homes equity and pay it back through their property taxes. Under California law, PACE loans can be used only for items that generate renewable energy, save energy or water, charge an electric car, or protect against earthquakes or wildfires, according to the state Department of Business Oversight. San Bernardino County slams the brakes on big solar projects But five homeowners previously told The Times that home improvement contractor Green Nation Direct signed them up for PACE loans through E3 and other companies to fund questionable projects that included ineligible work to convert garages into granny flats, otherwise known as accessory dwelling units. According to multiple government bodies with PACE programs, its possible to use the loans for some items homeowners might want or need in a garage conversion say, a low-water-use toilet or energy efficient windows. But PACE cant fund the entire conversion, except in a rare case in which the only work needed would be eligible improvements. Four homeowners told The Times that Green Nation Direct said Pace would cover all of their garage conversion, while another said he was promised PACE would cover nearly all his garage conversion and primary home remodel. To make the financing go through, homeowners said, the contractor coaxed or pressured them into providing false information to lenders, including E3. One homeowner, Jorge Hernandez, had told The Times that Camilo Uribe, listed as Green Nation Directs chief executive in state filings, assured him that lenders know contractors put in for energy efficient items but use money for other work. Uribe had declined to comment by email after The Times sent him a detailed list of questions. He did not respond to emails this week seeking further comment. E3 previously told The Times it had recently mandated a third-party inspection before funding is released to ensure its financing is used only for eligible items. It also said its willing to cancel loans for people who hired Green Nation Direct, but it had declined to say whether it knew Green Nation Direct was using PACE loans for ineligible items. Green Nation Direct declared bankruptcy in November, and homeowners with PACE loans say construction workers have abandoned garage conversions midway or never even started. Some who counted on rental income to help pay back the loans fear foreclosure over financing they never should have obtained in the first place. Stones lawsuit does not mention Green Nation Direct or any other home improvement contractor by name. E3 is the private lender for the California Municipal Finance Authoritys PACE program, which the city of Los Angeles opted into several years ago. Lee McCormick, a finance advisor for the agency, which needs to sign off on each PACE assessment, declined to comment on Stones lawsuit. Casey Dailey of the Western Riverside Council of Governments, which oversees the states largest PACE program and does not work with E3, said he couldnt say for certain whether his agency would have approved the items listed in Stones complaint, including the charges of more than $24,000 for the HVAC system and $1,000 per lightbulb. But he added that the pricing of the individual items do appear high across the board. Times researcher Scott Wilson contributed to this report. andrew.khouri@latimes.com Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter For a long time, Gap Inc.s struggling namesake stores and its Banana Republic chain have been riding the coattails of Old Navy, their healthier sister retailer. Now the beleaguered brands have to figure out how to go it alone. Gap announced Thursday that it would split into two public companies. One will consist only of Old Navy and will be helmed by the brands current leader, Sonia Syngal. The other, which has yet to be named, will consist of Gaps other properties, including smaller stores such as Athleta and Intermix. The entity will be run by Gaps current chief executive, Art Peck, who has led the parent company since 2015. At this point, the separation probably makes sense. Executives had for some time been managing Gap and Banana Republic as mature brands rather than high-growth ones. Old Navy, meanwhile, still shows plenty of opportunity for expansion. Perhaps Peck and his team can be more focused on healing the troubled labels when it is their sole mission. Meanwhile, Old Navy has always courted a value-oriented customer; perhaps it can better sharpen its overtures to that group when it is no longer part of a company thats also trying to appeal to more affluent shoppers. As it announced the separation, the San Francisco company also said it would shut 230 Gap stores over the coming two years, a move it says will result in an annualized sales loss of about $625 million. This is a drastic and prudent move. I wrote earlier this year that Gap badly needed to adopt an aggressive store-closure program, and this fits the bill. Advertisement All in all, the split-up of Gap is a fine idea given the current conditions at this business. But I cant help feeling that its something of a failure for things to end up this way. Old Navy is doing so many things right, from its stylish assortment to its well-chosen store locations. It seems like this competence should have permeated the broader Gap organization, that they shouldve cross-pollinated talent and best practices in a way that helped the Gap and Banana Republic brands return to relevance. These businesses seem like they should all be complementary. With that in mind, Im a bit puzzled about why Art Peck will continue to lead the non-Old Navy business. Peck has been leading Gap for about four years now. And although a number of other now-departed senior leaders have been blamed for the retailers struggles in recent years including Jeff Kirwan, former head of the Gap brand, and Marissa Webb, former creative director of Banana Republic Peck ultimately bears responsibility for the mess. The companys fourth-quarter results, also released Thursday, underscore how bleak things are. Comparable-store sales fell 5% from a year earlier at the Gap chain and 1% at Banana Republic. What gives the board confidence Peck can fix it now? This has the potential to be an important turning point in Gaps long fight to restore its luster. For better or for worse, its up to Peck to make it so. Halzack is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. Californias largest county has banned the construction of large solar and wind farms on more than 1 million acres of private land, bending to the will of residents who say they dont want renewable energy projects industrializing their rural desert communities northeast of Los Angeles. Thursdays 4-1 vote by San Bernardino Countys Board of Supervisors highlighted a challenge California could face as it seeks to eliminate the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels. State lawmakers passed a bill last year requiring utility companies to get 60% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and 100% from climate-friendly sources by 2045. But achieving those goals will require cooperation from local governments and big solar and wind farms, like many infrastructure projects, are often unpopular at the local level. Representatives of national solar developers including First Solar and Clearway Energy urged the supervisors to consider the economic benefits of solar projects, including jobs and tax revenues. They were joined by union members, who told the supervisors that solar farms create hundreds of high-paying construction jobs. Advertisement Theyre temporary construction jobs, but thats what we make our livelihood off of. And to put language in there that strictly prohibits these projects from going forward would be irresponsible, said Justin Lanford, president of the San Bernardino County chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Get up to speed: Why Californias biggest county is severely restricting solar energy projects Dozens of local residents spoke in support of the proposed ban, known as Renewable Energy Policy 4.10. They came from high desert communities such as Daggett, Joshua Tree and Lucerne Valley, where existing solar projects are seen by many as eyesores that destroy desert ecosystems and fuel larger dust storms. Sara Fairchild, a resident of Pioneertown, said shes been working with a group trying to get California Highway 247, which runs from Yucca Valley to Barstow, designated as a state scenic highway. Supporters say the designation would draw tourists and boost local economies. But Fairchild is worried that several solar projects proposed along or near the highway would ruin the pristine desert landscapes that make the area so attractive. These vast open areas are precious for their natural, historical and recreational qualities. But they are fragile, and no amount of mitigation can counter the damage that industrial-scale renewable energy projects would cause, Fairchild told the supervisors. Once destroyed, these landscapes can never be brought back. A view of Lucerne Dry Lake in Californias San Bernardino County, where a large solar project has been proposed. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The policy approved by the supervisors prohibits utility-oriented renewable energy projects defined as projects that would mostly serve out-of-town utility customers, rather than local power needs within the boundaries of Community Plans that have been adopted by more than a dozen unincorporated towns. Construction of utility-oriented solar and wind farms would also be banned in so-called Rural Living zones. Solar projects that are already going through the permitting process would still be allowed to proceed. Supervisor Robert Lovingood said residents spoke clearly about what they want to see. If we dont adopt this, thats just spitting in their face, he said, adding that the county has already designated several smaller areas where renewable energy projects could be approved. Curt Hagman was the only supervisor to vote against the restrictions. He said he doesnt want to preclude new renewable energy technologies that might have less of an impact on rural areas, while still bringing economic benefits to the county. And he said the supervisors already have the ability to reject bad projects. V. John White, a Sacramento lobbyist who leads the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, said before Thursdays vote that theres still a lot of land where solar and wind projects can be built in California, including retired farmland in the Central Valley and Imperial County. But the backlash against big solar projects in San Bernardino County, he said, shows that state officials will have to involve local governments more directly than what weve done up through now as they work to achieve higher renewable energy targets. sammy.roth@latimes.com @Sammy_Roth The second phase of rationalising Egypts database of ration-card beneficiaries will take place in March, Minister of Supplies and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi said earlier this week There are six criteria that could lead to cardholders losing their right to subsidised food items based on consumption habits that could indicate they are not in need of subsidised items. Families that send a child to an international school costing more than LE30,000 per year or own a car produced after 2014 will be eliminated from the system, according to the criteria. Individuals owning 10 feddans or more of agricultural land will also be removed. If the monthly electricity consumption of a family is over 650 KW or if it has a mobile-phone bill of over LE800 per month, cardholders will no longer be eligible to stay enrolled. However, Moselhi said that individuals who are excluded but that can prove their right to subsidised food can ask for their case to be looked at by one of the ministrys offices. Two years ago, the government started to update Egypts ration-card system in order to target it better towards alleviating the economic burdens on needy families and achieving social justice. The revision removed dead persons from the database and people who had gone abroad, and it eliminated repeated names in the system. The ministry then excluded households consuming more than 1,000 KW of electricity per month and having mobile-phone bills of more than LE1,000 a month from the ration-card system. It has thus far revised the data of some 20 million cards serving around 70 million people. Ahmed Kamal, a spokesman for the Ministry of Supplies and Internal Trade, told the media that the ministry would add adopted children to foster families ration-cards immediately after the elimination of non-eligible beneficiaries. A ration-card holder is entitled to foodstuffs to the value of LE50 free of charge each month from government cooperatives in addition to five loaves of subsidised bread a day at LE0.5 per loaf. The food-subsidy system is part of the governments commitment to promoting social justice and is a major component of the social safety net for the poor since it provides them with affordable staples. However, experts agree that the systems costs can be reduced and its efficiency improved by better targeting the needy. * A version of this article appears in print in the 28 February, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Egypt rationalising food subsidies Search Keywords: Short link: Until 2011, NASA relied on a single, versatile design to both ferry astronauts to space and transport enormous scientific instruments. It was known as the space shuttle, but in operation, it was more like a space pickup truck. Late Friday night, Pacific time, a new generation of astronaut transporters will lift off with a far more specialized purpose. When SpaceX launches its Crew Dragon capsule without humans for its first test mission, it will signify a major shift in the way NASA does business. The launch again sets NASA on a path toward craft designed not to be a jack of all trades but a master of one. And it marks the beginning of new partnerships with commercial firms that will design, build and own the vessels that take the agencys astronauts to space. Advertisement We are now able to take advantage of commercial industry in a way that used to not even be available to us, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during an interview in mid-February. Where risk has been retired and markets develop, we want to be a customer. Then we can use our money to do what were intended to do, which is explore and make discoveries and do science. Since its start, NASAs human spaceflight programs revolved around craft owned by the agency. Though contractors built the Apollo capsule and the space shuttles, NASA oversaw every aspect of development and the vehicles were tested, launched and operated under the agencys oversight. When the decades-old shuttle program ended amid rising costs and growing safety concerns, NASA started relying on commercial companies to take supplies to the space station. In 2008, the agency first awarded $1.6 billion to Hawthorne-based SpaceX for 12 resupply flights and $1.9 billion for eight flights to Orbital ATK, which was acquired by Northrop Grumman Corp. last year. Additional awards followed. A NASA audit released in April on the uncrewed commercial resupply services program found that continued reliance on commercial operators to provide this vital service could play a major role in NASAs future plans as it searches for cheaper and more efficient methods to explore space. NASAs embrace of commercial firms for closer-to-home missions is indicative of whats happened in other industries, analysts said. Just look at the internet, which was originally developed by a U.S. military technology development agency, but became fertile ground for commercial companies, said Phil Larson, a former senior advisor for space and innovation in the Obama administration who previously worked at SpaceX. Once the government has done it, then it makes sense to push it over into the marketplace, said Carissa Christensen, chief executive of analytics and consulting firm Bryce Space and Technology. That happens all the time for all kinds of technologies This is just a very dramatic one. In 2014, SpaceX and Boeing won NASA contracts worth a combined total of $6.8 billion to develop crew capsules. Under whats called the Commercial Crew program, NASA released a broad set of requirements needed to ensure crew safety, the agency said. The companies were free to come up with their own designs to meet those conditions. Once selected, NASAs engineers and specialists work closely with the firms to offer expertise and available resources, as well as to get substantial insight into the capsules development, NASA said. If SpaceXs uncrewed test flight is successful, the next step will be another test flight as early as this summer, with NASA astronauts aboard. Boeings spacecraft are also set for upcoming test flights. In a way, the Boeing and SpaceX capsule designs are a throwback to the gumdrop-shaped Mercury and Apollo-era spacecraft that first took Americans into space and eventually, to the moon. The reliance on this tried-and-true shape is intentional. I dont see it as a step back in time so much as a version of something we know works, said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut who flew on four space flights, including three shuttle missions. The space shuttle was incredibly complicated to make a vehicle that was able to launch like a rocket, be in orbit like a laboratory and land like an airplane. The capsules specific mission can also indicate that space activity is becoming normal and doesnt require one system that accomplishes everything, Christensen said. You build different targeted systems that meet certain parts of demand, she said. The capsules are also coming at a time when transporting large amounts of payload are less necessary, though NASA is developing a massive rocket called the Space Launch System, or SLS, thats intended to take bigger payloads further into space, Bridenstine said. Some commercial space companies are also considering designs that could carry larger loads. The International Space Station is now complete, so we dont have the requirement to put as much mass into low-Earth orbit as we used to, he said. The simpler design [of the capsule] actually makes it a lot safer, and thats really what were going for for transport back and forth to the ISS. But inside that less complex exterior are key interior technological upgrades. Boeings CST-100 Starliner capsule has three redundant flight computers, as well as the latest radiation-hardened electronics, to ensure safe docking with the space station, Peter McGrath, Boeing director of global sales and marketing for space exploration, said during an interview in January. And both SpaceX and Boeings capsules are designed to be flown and dock autonomously. Beyond technological advancements, the industry experts say the commercial nature of these vehicles indicates industry growth, as well as human spaceflight advancements. McGrath said Boeing is looking at potentially flying space tourists on future NASA flights to the space station. I see these new commercial crew vehicles and cargo vehicles as really expanding Americas space fleet, Larson said. If you want to do more in space, you need more capabilities, and thats what these vehicles offer. SpaceXs Crew Dragon launch is set for 2:49 a.m. Saturday EST (11:49 p.m. Friday PST) from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. samantha.masunaga@latimes.com Twitter: @smasunaga Wells Fargo & Co. will receive $240 million from insurers that will settle several lawsuits by shareholders in connection with the unauthorized-accounts scandal that rocked the San Francisco financial institution. The payments will be made on behalf of 20 bank officials, including Timothy Sloan, the current chief executive, John Stumpf, the former CEO who resigned because of the controversy, and Carrie Toldstedt, the former head of Wells Fargos community banking division, according to a filing Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. For the record: An earlier version of this article stated that a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wells Fargo will be on March 7. The hearing is scheduled for March 12. Also among the officials named as defendants in the suit were current and former members of the banks board of directors, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who served on the board from 2011 to 2017. In the wake of the accounts scandal, shareholders sued the executives on behalf of Wells Fargo. The so-called shareholder derivative suits, some of which were consolidated by the court, alleged the bank officials knew or consciously disregarded that company employees were creating accounts without customer authorization, the settlement said. Advertisement The suits sought to hold the bank officials accountable for a scandal that has significantly damaged one of Americas largest financial institutions. Lawyers for the shareholders said the settlement was the largest insurance-funded cash settlement of any derivative lawsuit. A Wells Fargo spokesman declined to comment. The bank acknowledged the settlement in a securities filing on Wednesday. The filing also said Wells Fargo could be required to pay as much as $2.7 billion more than it had set aside as of the end of December to resolve legal cases. Additionally, the bank said in the filing that it was in early talks with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve investigations into its sales practices. Thursdays settlement is one of several so far related to the controversy that The Times first reported in 2013. The bank acknowledged in 2016 that it had created perhaps millions of accounts without customers authorization. Other consumer abuses have come to light since then. Stumpf and Tolstedt left the bank in the wake of the controversy, and Wells Fargo has overhauled its practices. Still, the Federal Reserve last year imposed growth restrictions on the bank, including a cap on its assets. Fed officials said they would not lift the restrictions until they judge the banks consumer practices have improved. The restrictions are expected to remain in place through the end of this year. The controversies have made Wells Fargo the poster child for bad behavior by giant banks. Sloan is expected to testify at a March 12 hearing by the House Financial Services Committee titled Holding Megabanks Accountable: An Examination of Wells Fargos Pattern of Consumer Abuses. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 presidential candidate, has called for Sloan to be fired because he was at the company at the time of the scandals. Wells stock rose 0.3% to $50.03 on Friday. Meridith Baer spent her childhood at San Quentin State Prison, the daughter of the associate warden. It was boring and bland, she said, but taught her how to make something out of nothing. The colors of the buildings are the ugliest you can imagine, so you just kind of want things to be prettier, said Baer, who has moved on from her institutional beginnings to create a home-staging and design empire. In 1998, she had styled her Brentwood rental so well, the owner decided to capitalize on the look and sell. Baer needed a place to relocate her furniture and 250 potted plants. Fortunately, a friend was desperately trying to market her house, so Baer decorated the space with her belongings to save money on storage and to help potential buyers imagine what it would be like to live there. You sell a house but you buy a home, said Baer, 71. Advertisement In a couple of days, her friend sold for $500,000 over asking price. Now 20 years later, Baer has traded in her 250 plants for a team of 250 employees including 30 designers and 20 moving trucks to create Meridith Baer Home, one of the nations premier home-staging companies, primping and prepping about 175 listings a month. A sort of fairy godmother of home staging, Baer caters to clients who are often too busy to decorate, or lack the vision. If youre a dentist or a brain surgeon, you might not know how to arrange furniture. We give them an idea of what it could look like, and answer the questions before they ask them, said Baer, whos also worked with Julia Roberts, Madonna and Elon Musk, among others. MBH offers a variety of other services, including luxury furniture leasing and traditional interior design. Theres also the Instant Home designed and installed in a couple of weeks for those lacking the time or temperament to agonize over swatches. Recently, Baer said, her interests have shifted to a lot of giving back. As part of an affordable-housing project called ARCspace, shes furnishing 10-foot-tall shipping containers, turning them into really hip permanent homes for the homeless in downtown L.A. Meridith Baer is creator of Meridith Baer Home, one of the nations premier home-staging companies. You have over 300,000 square feet of warehouse space across the U.S. Were in the process of getting a bigger warehouse on the East Coast, too we work in Manhattan, the Hamptons, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and all over Florida. We also have a warehouse in Northern California. What kinds of items would we find inside? We have everything from African masks, anything you can imagine for a kitchen, great stuffed animals for kids rooms and antique primitive pitchforks. The accessory department is particularly fun, a lot of unexpected stuff. When a designer goes in, they start from scratch each day. They get an idea in their head and load up the truck, all in a couple of days. Whats a timeless piece you cant go without? A white sofa. I find them to make the design very flexible, and you can change your style and colors as you feel like it. I dont see design like, Ive done my house and thats how Im going to live for the next 50 years. Tell me about some of your projects. I did a really tiny, cute house in the Palisades where there was the challenge of finding the right sized furniture, as the ceiling was low. Then I did a $50-million house; it was like taking Versailles and making it warm. I have a lot of fun doing kids rooms. We like to make it sort of for the mom, so instead of having hundreds of toys in every color everywhere, we have a couple of cute, cute toys. I love it when we come back and the toys have been thrown around the room because it means we did our job. hotproperty@latimes.com Call it navel-gazing or, if youre feeling poetic, peering into the souls very depths. At L.A.s small theaters this weekend, Tolstoys Anna Karenina does it. So too, in her way, does inquisitive Mamma Mia! bride-to-be Sophie. Also the characters in Nicky Silvers showbiz dramedy Too Much Sun and the Miranda July stories of How Were Different From Animals. Mamma Mia! at Cupcake Studios The essentials: Sophie, whos been raised by her single mom on a Greek island, is determined to figure out who her father is before her imminent marriage. Having found her mothers old diary, she secretly invites three possible dads to the oh, for heavens sake, you already know the plot and, besides, youre at Mamma Mia! mostly to hear its catalog of ABBA songs. Why this? This jukebox musical is held together (barely) by one of the silliest plots ever concocted, but nobody seems to care. What makes Michael Pettenatos staging so appealing is that it doesnt care, either. Its fully aware of the ludicrousness, at times even drawing attention to it, so it just plays the situations for laughs and speeds along to the next song which its exuberant cast sings the heck out of. Pettenatos Cupcake Studios is itself something of a trip. Its called that because before being a theater impresario he was a king of cupcakes in Atlanta, featured on Cupcake Wars. His devotion to recent musicals has won lots of fans the craziest audiences in L.A., he exclaimed as he fired up the crowd before a recent performance. Details: Cupcake Studios, 11020 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday; ends Sunday. $39-$79. (323) 391-3416, cupcaketheater.com Advertisement Anna Karenina at Actors Co-op The essentials: Sure, Anna Karenina gets her name embedded in the title of Tolstoys novel, but theres another story in there, that of Konstantin Levin, and in many ways its a mirror image. Anna, shunned for an extramarital affair, gets shut out by society and veers into addiction and despair. Levin spends much of his life discontented and unhappy but begins to find satisfaction. Why this? In the novel Anna and Levin meet just once, but in Helen Edmundsons adaptation they mingle in an otherworldly way that lets them witness and comment on each others lives. Its about two people fighting hard in a world thats difficult, says director Heather Chesley, whose insightful L.A. stage work includes Occupant last winter at the Garry Marshall Theatre. Both Levin and Anna are trying to find their purpose and live truthfully, Chesley says, but Annas choices, as a woman held to a different moral code than men, are constricted. A cast of eight plays the multitudinous ensemble of Tolstoys epic. Details: Actors Co-op, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays; scattered other times; ends March 23. $25-$35. (323) 462-8460, actorsco-op.org Eva Abramian as Anna Karenina with Joseph Barone as Levin at Actors Co-op. (Larry Sandez) Too Much Sun by Indie Chi Productions The essentials: Sometimes life just gets to be too much. For celebrated actress Audrey Langham, the breaking point is a Chicago production of Medea. Fleeing it, she heads, unannounced, to her daughter and son-in-laws Cape Cod getaway cottage, which, in turn, pushes the daughter over the edge yet another rotation in her mothers cycle of neediness and neglect. Why this? Nicky Silver captures bad behavior like nobody else, as demonstrated in such plays as The Lyons, seen at the Road a couple of years ago. In Too Much Sun he combines a couple of enduring tropes: high-strung showbiz types wreaking havoc (think: The Man Who Came to Dinner) and folks who head to the restorative countryside, only to experience extravagant breakdowns (a Chekhov specialty). Busy L.A. director Bart DeLorenzo, whos staging the show, sees a lot of resonance in the idea of rehearsal. The play begins with a disastrous one for Audrey and moves on to another kind: So many of our relationships are rehearsals for later relationships, he says. Were able to try different things out, with different possibilities. A side note: DeLorenzo has two plays running in the same venue at the same time: this one, for Indie Chi Productions, and the Odysseys in-house presentation of Hir. Details: Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Opens Saturday. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends April 21. $32-$37. (310) 477-2055, Ext. 2, odysseytheatre.com Diane Cary, left, and Autumn Reeser are in for some drama in Too Much Sun. (Adam Bucci) How Were Different From Animals by Elan Ensemble The essentials: In four mini-plays adapted from the Miranda July short-story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You, loneliness yawns open, sending people whether coupled, widowed or single in search of connection. Their rummaging, though sometimes unconventional, sweeps through emotions that unite us all. Why this? Presented as How Were Different From Animals, the program was collectively created by Elan Ensemble, a group of USC graduates whose physical approach to performance arose from their studies. Julys short stories resonated with them, and with permission from the filmmaker-author (Me and You and Everyone We Know), theyve been exploring the material with director Jonathan Munoz-Proulx, whose immersive staging of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest made a strong impression last spring. Two pieces in the groups introductory performances are driven by movement, the other two by puppeteering of objects, augmenting the spoken text. Munoz-Proulx calls it hyper-theatrical, movement-based, magical-realistic storytelling. Details: Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays; ends March 24. $25. (310) 990-2023, elanensemble.com Tarah Pollock and Julian Juaquin in How Were Different From Animals. (Meredith Adelaide) The 99-Seat Beat appears every Friday. Our reviewers shortlist offerings with an emphasis on smaller venues. Some recommendations are shows weve seen; others are based on the track record of the company, playwright, director or cast. Support our coverage of local artists and the local arts scene by becoming a digital subscriber. See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts. Once on This Island, the underdog Tony Award winner last year for best musical revival, will lend some Caribbean sunshine to the 2019-20 Ahmanson Theatre season to be announced Friday by Center Theatre Group, which also is highlighting the return of Matthew Bournes Swan Lake and comedian Mike Birbiglias solo show The New One. Three additional shows round off the announcement: Sting in The Last Ship, John Leguizamo in Latin History for Morons and the return to L.A. of The Book of Mormon. A seventh show has yet to be announced. Once on This Island was a surprise winner at the Tonys, beating out critically acclaimed revivals of My Fair Lady and Carousel. The musical, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, originally opened on Broadway in 1990 and was revived at the Circle in the Square Theatre in 2017, a vibrant crowd pleaser complete with cameo appearances by a live chicken and a goat. It takes place in the French Antilles in the Caribbean and tells the story of a peasant girl in search of true love. L.A. Operas 2019-20 season brings Koskys new Boheme, Aucoins Eurydice and Du Yun Advertisement The Ahmanson production is directed by Michael Arden, who was nominated for a Tony for Once on This Island as well as his earlier revival of Spring Awakening, and its choreographed by Camille A. Brown (NBCs Jesus Christ Superstar Live). Twenty-two years have passed since Matthew Bournes version of Swan Lake staged its American premiere at the Ahmanson in a production that introduced the acclaimed British choreographer to the city. He is now a fixture at the Music Center, with his production of Cinderella running at the Ahmanson through March 10, following the U.S. premiere of The Red Shoes in 2017. When Swan Lake arrived in Los Angeles in 1997, it was considered a groundbreaking work of art, with critic Lewis Segal writing in The Times: Bournes secret weapon is intensity, and in its first three minutes alone his uniquely audacious and unforgettable reinterpretation delivers more of it than most traditional stagings generate in their whole first hour. Hollywood Bowl 2019 lineup: John Legend, Hugh Jackman, Cyndi Lauper and, yes, Harry Potter Mike Birbiglia is perhaps best known for his contributions to This American Life and The Moth, as well as for his reoccurring role in the Netflix prison comedy Orange Is the New Black. Birbiglia has written and performed in three plays (all nominated for best solo show at the Lucille Lortel Awards for off-Broadway productions, with My Girlfriends Boyfriend taking the prize in 2011). His fourth play, The New One, about how the birth of his daughter changed his life, was Birbiglias Broadway debut. Latin History for Morons marks John Leguizamos return to Southern California with his Tony-nominated one-man show after an early version of the play ran at La Jolla Playhouse in 2016. A later version of the show, which was inspired by Leguizamos dismay at the lack of Latinos in his sons American history books, premiered at the Public Theater in 2017 and moved to Studio 54. The Oscars may be over at the Dolby Theatre, but The Bands Visit and Mean Girls are coming Los Angeles has hosted The Book of Mormon before, but never at the Ahmanson. The comedy with music and lyrics by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Frozen and Coco songwriter Robert Lopez, premiered on Broadway in 2011 and went on to win nine Tony Awards including best musical, book and original score. The Last Ship is an original musical with music and lyrics by former Police frontman Sting. The show was inspired by his 1991 solo album, The Soul Cages, and it deals with his childhood growing up near the Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend, England. It premiered on Broadway in 2014. Heres the Ahmanson schedule in chronological order: Latin History for Morons Written and performed by John Leguizamo, directed by Tony Taccone Sept. 5-Oct. 20 The New One Written and performed by Mike Birbiglia, directed by Seth Barrish Oct. 23-Nov. 24 Matthew Bournes Swan Lake Music by Tchaikovsky, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne Dec. 3-Jan. 5, 2020 The Last Ship New book by Lorne Campbell, original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey, music and lyrics by Sting, directed by Campbell Jan. 14, 2020-Feb. 16, 2020 The Book of Mormon Book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone, choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, directed by Nicholaw and Parker Feb. 18, 2020-March 29, 2020 Once on This Island Book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, choreographed by Camille A. Brown, directed by Michael Arden April 7, 2020-May 10, 2020 When Andre Previn died Thursday, tributes may have poured forth recalling his remarkable life as an internationally renowned orchestra conductor and four-time Academy Award-winning composer, but one detail in his obituary no doubt raised a question for many: Why, exactly, in the 1990s did Previn vow never to step foot in Los Angeles again? The events surrounding Previns resignation as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1989 proved so troubling for the conductor that he, indeed, did not enter city limits for decades, refusing to even change planes at LAX. OBITUARY: Andre Previn, former L.A. Phil music director and celebrated composer, dies at 89 Long-brewing trouble came to a head in summer 1988, when the L.A. Phils notoriously gruff executive director, Ernest Fleischmann, announced that a young Finnish conductor named Esa-Pekka Salonen would become the orchestras principal guest conductor. Advertisement According to Previn, Fleischmann never consulted Previn about the appointment. That fact so rankled Previn that he managed to kibosh the deal, and the offer to Salonen was rescinded. Previn couldnt forgive Fleischmann for what he viewed as an overstepping of bounds, and the already sour relationship between the two men began to curdle. The Times music critic at the time, Martin Bernheimer, laid out his central hypothesis behind Previns resignation in an April 26, 1989, piece that had the headline Previn Wanted to Run the Philharmonic So Does Fleischmann. Unlike two former L.A. Phil music directors, Zubin Mehta and Carlo Maria Giulini, Previn was extremely hands-on in the day-to-day running of the orchestra, Bernheimer wrote. Fleischmann had become accustomed to shaping the trajectory of the L.A. Phil and had a hard time handing over the reins to Previn, especially when the latters personal taste seemed to attract a smaller audience. His problem was simple, Bernheimer wrote of Previn. He seldom excited the crowd at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The crowd, moreover, was often small when he was in charge. Kurt Sanderling, a beloved old-school guest, attracted full houses and won standing ovations for his interpretations of the Germanic romantics. Young Esa-Pekka Salonen stirred the masses in more gregarious challenges. Meanwhile, Previn was in danger of becoming good old reliable Andre. Fleischmann, hardly a self-effacing, behind-the-scenes operator, obviously found this a difficult situation to accept. He is aggressive, demanding, autocratic, egocentric and, under the right circumstances, very good at his job. A clash was inevitable. That clash spilled into public view with Previns curt letter of resignation from his $500,000-a-year-plus position, which stated: I have decided that, in the current structure of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, it has become obvious to me there is no room for a music director. Andre Previn, photographed in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 2004. (Urs Flueeler / EPA-EFE / REX) THE LAST INTERVIEW: Previns last major interview with The Times Previn packed up his West Los Angeles home and moved to Bedford, N.Y., where he threw himself into work: a conductor laureate position with the London Symphony Orchestra, a chamber music series at Lincoln Center and an East Coast tour with the Dresden orchestra. Dates in Los Angeles were noticeably absent from his calendar. The first reference in The Times archives of Previns hesitance to return to Los Angeles came in a 1992 interview that Bernheimer conducted in Previns Bedford home. Salonen had been named music director, a post he would hold until 2009. No, no, no. Theyre not standing at the city limits with a gun, Previn said of his inclination to become a prodigal son. That was my choice. I didnt feel like coming back during Esa-Pekkas opening season, to be absolutely blunt about it. In fact, I was trying to be nice. I would not have enjoyed having Zubin around during my first season. I want to let Esa-Pekka do his thing. He then added: I could never rule out a major city like Los Angeles. But he did, telling current Times music critic Mark Swed in 2015 an anecdote about changing planes in Orange County to avoid LAX. The year before, Previn even declined to visit L.A. for the Los Angeles opening of his opera A Streetcar Named Desire, mentioning in an interview that two decades had passed since he was last in the city. Time healed some wounds. Previn eventually accepted a commission for the L.A. Phils centennial celebration. His work was scheduled to be performed in October, but representatives for the orchestra said Thursday they didnt yet know the status of the composition. Previn may have forgiven the L.A. Phil, but he appeared not to have forgiven Fleischmann. I have, by now, a lunatic hatred of Ernest Fleischmann, he said in a 2017 interview with Tim Page for the book Past/Forward: The LA Phil at 100. I dont want to talk about that because its over, and he couldnt help being the way he was. When Frank Gehry turned 80, Los Angeles threw a celebration worthy of one of the regions most illustrious residents, to say nothing of the worlds most celebrated living architect. A bash filled the Gehry-designed Geffen Contemporary at MOCA with art stars, Hollywood celebrities, politicians, cultural dignitaries and the odd captain of industry or two. Thursday night Gehry reached a new milestone: 90. Again, there was a bash, this time in Berlin, and once more a goodly number of people showed up. Only they werent art stars. Most were average Berlin concertgoers who filled a modest 680-seat chamber music venue, the Pierre Boulez Saal. Ticket prices began around $17, and none was above $100. Daniel Barenboim, who had enticed Gehry to design the hall, wanted to present a special birthday concert, and that is the way the birthday boy wanted it as well. The occasion was meant to give thanks for the gift Gehry had given Berlin, even though the city didnt think it wanted or needed such a gift before the hall opened two years ago. Now Berliners cant imagine cultural life without it. But even more important for Barenboim, the concert served to pay tribute to Gehrys gift to music. Advertisement In remarks to the audience at the end of the program, the conductor and pianist said that at the Pierre Boulez Saal, there is a special feeling that is different from every other hall in the world. Given the grand scale of many of Gehrys projects, Barenboims claim for his modest hall was seemingly absurd. The $40-million facility is housed inside a nondescript building that is home to the Barenboim-Said Akademie and Barenboims West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, made up of Israeli and Arab musicians. If there werent a sign (also modest), you wouldnt know it is there. In contrast, Gehry is busy physically transforming Southern California with a 50-mile Los Angeles River project that could well turn out to be one of the most expansive and imaginative public works projects of our time, along with massive developments downtown, on the Sunset Strip and in Santa Monica. Hes putting up a skyscraper in Toronto, his hometown. Everyone these days wants a piece of this nonagenarian. Yet Gehry spent a good deal of the last decade complaining that despite Disneys great acclaim, no one wanted a major concert hall from him, and thats what he most wanted to build. Just last year, to his dismay, he lost a competition for a new concert hall for the London Symphony. There is a very good reason for that. Gehry doesnt build conventional concert halls. He builds spaces for music that stimulate and challenge musicians to go beyond convention. If you are not up to that, it is best to steer clear of Gehry. That the Los Angeles Philharmonic became the worlds most progressive orchestra in Disney Hall is no coincidence. The hall wouldnt allow for anything less. The story has been the same in Berlin. The second you enter this charmed circular space, with its hung oval two-row balcony floating overhead, you cannot help but sense something special. The audience Thursday night had snapped up the tickets the minute they went on sale, without any advance word of the program. That was meant to be kept secret as a surprise to Gehry, although he apparently got word that Martha Argerich would be a special guest and that Boulezs music would be featured. Barenboims son, Michael, played Anthemes II for solo violin and live electronics. His father conducted Sur Incises for three pianos, three harps and three percussionists, featuring young players from the Akademie and Barenboims Staatskapelle. In between, Barenboim and Argerich performed Schumanns Andante and Variations for two pianos, two cellos and horn. Most of the musicians were drawn from the Akademie and the West-Eastern Divan. Because the audience was in the round, everyone could see everyone else, including Gehry. Beatific is not a word that normally is associated with the architect. Beatific is never a word associated with Barenboim, who is under attack in Berlin press reports saying a few musicians have complained that he isnt warm and fuzzy in rehearsals. Yet beatific they were. Beatific was the crowd, which included a number of L.A. Phil patrons and U.S. arts administrators. Beatific was Argerich, who went onstage after the concert and started fooling around with steel drums used in Sur Incises. It is hard to describe exactly what happens in the Boulez Saal, but Barenboim came close in remarks by explaining that musicians and audience become one in this space. This is not so much a communication of one to the other as a shared experience. In the Boulez works, the sonorities are remarkable, and with the assistance of Yasuhisa Toyotas acoustics, you are inside the violin in Anthemes, and the metallic ringing of Sur Incises has the intensity of a religious experience. No skyscraper, however majestic and thrilling, can do that. The success of the Boulez Saal, which has inspired the Akademie to take great strides in programming, has not gone unnoticed. Im told that thanks to the programming and the inexpensive tickets, some Berliners treat this as a second home and come almost nightly. It may have taken Gehry the length of his long career, but at 90 he is finally getting his wish for more concert halls, and for nearly all of them, the Boulez Saal is the revelatory model. That will be especially true with the 1,100-seat theater for the Colburn School downtown and the L.A. Phils YOLA Center in Inglewood for Gustavo Dudamels youth orchestra project. In Paris, Gehry will get his next full-size concert hall as part of the Fondation Louis Vuitton. There is talk of a Gehry hall in London, at Wimbledon. It might be, as in Berlin, housed inside an existing structure. Meanwhile Gehry continues to inspire musicians. At a lunchtime tribute to the architect sponsored by the Colburn School early in February, Esa-Pekka Salonen premiered an exhilarating new chamber piece, Fog, dedicated to Gehry and inspired by the first time they tried out the Disney acoustics. Next week the L.A. Phil will announce the establishment of a multimillion-dollar Frank Gehry Fund for Creativity that will support collaborative projects. A simple act of kindness, returning a handbag found on a New York City subway, sets off a rapidly escalating series of events in the new psychological thriller Greta. Its the latest from Irish director Neil Jordan and opens with a young woman named Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz) who recently lost her mother. She meets a lonely woman named Greta (Isabelle Huppert), and an emotional bond and unlikely friendship forms. That is, until the story becomes an over-the-top table-flipping, gum-spitting, dream-within-a-dream, locked-in-a-box grotesquery of a fairy tale. When the film had its world premiere last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, the audience didnt know whether to laugh or scream or both, eventually unraveling into hysterics as the movie builds and builds to wickedly delightful heights. With Greta, Jordan has enabled Huppert and Moretz to lean fully into the ridiculous aspects of the story, creating something that has its roots in genre storytelling but isnt a straightforward fright-fest. Advertisement It was fun. Id never done anything quite so simple before, Jordan said in a recent phone interview from Dublin, Ireland, where he lives. Sometimes, simple genre pieces can be a very solid bedrock on which to ring all series of psychological changes. I could relate to somebody who was so lonely their isolation drives them insane. Out of that comes this huge pathology. Neil Jordan I also liked the fact that there was something kind of real behind it, Jordan said. I could relate to somebody who was so lonely their isolation drives them insane. Out of that comes this huge pathology. I could relate to the way in which [Greta] wanted a friend. It was about something simple, a human relationship, even though it goes into these extreme stalker-slasher areas in the movie. Jordan is best known for his 90s films, such as The Crying Game and Interview With the Vampire, and has more recently been crafting smaller, fable-like stories such as Ondine and Byzantium as well as creating the television series The Borgias and Riviera. Greta began with an original script written by Ray Wright. Jordan revised the screenplay, re-envisioning the character of Greta and substantially reconfiguring the last third or so of the story, most significantly adding a detective character that would end up being played by Jordans longtime collaborator Stephen Rea. Actresses Maika Monroe, director Neil Jordan, actress Isabelle Huppert and actress Chloe Grace Moretz from Greta. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) For Moretz, the film continues a strand of genre revisionism in her work, from appearing in Luca Guadagninos recent remake of Suspiria to her roles in Kimberly Peirces Carrie, Matthew Vaughns Kick-Ass and Matt Reeves Let Me In. Moretz noted that when she read the script for Greta it reminded her of thrillers of the 80s and 90s, such as Fatal Attraction and Single White Female. Those are stories that I grew up with that I loved so much, Moretz said. And especially with someone like Neil Jordan directing, with [a costar] like Isabelle Huppert and making this story about two women of differing ages, it was really an exciting opportunity to subvert a genre. Huppert has become known for her zesty, haughty characters, from her collaborations with Claude Chabrol and Michael Haneke to her Oscar-nominated performance in Paul Verhoevens Elle. On the phone from New York City during a break in rehearsals for the off-Broadway production of Florian Zellers play The Mother, Huppert said she was drawn to working with Jordan and his description of the character. Review: Greta gets a boost from Isabelle Hupperts freaky, funny performance He said, Shes a horrible person, so thats kind of a quite juicy thing to do. Shes a portrait of a psychopath all the way down the line, Huppert said. And I knew that with Neil it was going to be very singular. But maybe I did not expect how far he wouldve gone in this direction taking this film between something really horrible and something really funny sometimes. And also a little bit of emotion. A lot of ingredients in this film. In the films centerpiece scene, as Hupperts character of Greta becomes more and more obsessed with Moretzs Frances and holding onto their relationship, she books a table at the restaurant where Frances is a server. Their confrontation escalates and Greta literally flips over a table. Moretzs vulnerability and Hupperts storming ferocity give the scene an exciting tension. It was wild, Moretz said of the scene, shot on an elaborately constructed set in Dublin (one of three locations for filming, including New York and Toronto). We rehearsed that purposefully where the extras in the room were very unaware of what was about to go down. And so we brought them all in, and they did not know that tiny Isabelle was going to flip the table and try to attack me in the way that she did. It was brilliant on Neils part to do that because he got the most naturalistic reactions from the room. People seemed genuinely shocked by the situation, she added, For me, it was definitely very creepy, but knowing Isabelle, it also made us giggle. Isabelle Huppert in a scene from Greta. (Patrick Redmond/Focus Features) For Huppert, moments like that restaurant scene, or when she spits chewing gum into Moretzs hair, are both fun to play and also a vital part of storytelling. Thats why we need books and movies and plays so we dont have to behave like that in real life, Huppert said. Unfortunately we still do it in real life; thats the problem One of the pleasures of Greta is simply seeing how much fun Huppert seems to be having with the part, such as a madcap, twirling dance she does in a scene opposite Rea. She believes that its OK for the audience to see her peeking out from behind her character. I think I do a lot of winking in most of my work, by the way, Huppert said. To me thats the key to a great character and to a great film, to always leave space for a certain amount of humor and irony, to allow for a distance to make the character even more mysterious. It doesnt necessarily take the emotion out of it. In most of my recent movies, whether its in Elle or even in The Piano Teacher, there is always a moment where you can have this, Huppert said. And its not like winking to the audience, its more like almost winking to yourself. Chloe Grace Moretz stars as Frances in Greta. (Shane Mahood / Focus Features) Even at 22, Moretz is an industry veteran, having appeared in dozens of movies since she was very young. And yet she admits she still has a lot to learn from someone like Huppert, not the least of which is to keep learning. Her essence when she walks into a room shes 5-foot-2 or 5-foot-3 and she feels as if shes 6-foot-4. She is one of the most powerful beings that youll meet, Moretz said of Huppert. And yet Isabelle is someone that is a learner, and thats why shes so brilliant, Moretz said. Thats why she has not just sustained a career over this many years, but she is continuing to be revolutionary in her craft because she never stops learning and she never will be stagnant. Jordan is next working on an adaptation of Simon Sebag Montefiores Jerusalem for television and an adaptation of his own novel The Drowned Detective as a feature film. Acknowledging the struggles of being an independent filmmaker in the current media landscape, Jordan isnt averse to making the kind of big-budget branded-content that Hollywood studios are interested in. But as much as possible it would still have to be on his terms. Id love to make a Disney fairy tale. I would actually, Id love to get my hands on Snow White or Pinocchio, Jordan said. But it probably wouldnt be the version that Disney would ever want. SIGN UP for the free Indie Focus movies newsletter Mark.Olsen@latimes.com Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocus The charred habanero salsa at Chaak Kitchen, a Yucatecan restaurant in Tustin, is a fairly alarming thing to behold as far as condiments go a thick, darkly mysterious sludge that resembles, more or less, a small vat of spent motor oil. The salsa arrives at your table at the start of the meal, dispensed with a cautionary spiel: Its very good, a server tells you, but very spicy. You swipe some on your tongue and it has the texture of fine volcanic silt. Its earthy, intensely smoky and less bitter than you expect, its burnt vegetable notes mellowed and rounded out by garlic, olive oil and the vaguely fruity undertones of the habanero itself. Then comes the talked-about heat, a delayed slow burn that roils your palate in soft, successive waves. Its an enigmatic burn, and youll end up smearing the inky stuff on everything: the corn empanadas glutted with molten hot Oaxacan cheese and epazote; on the sturdy Yucatecan black-bean-stuffed tortillas called panuchos; and maybe even the delicately flavored, wood-fired branzino marinated in sour orange draped elegantly over a slippery mat of banana leaves. Advertisement The black-ash habanero salsa at Chaak, a Yucatecan kitchen in Old Town Tustin. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) The charred salsa is an apt introduction to Chaak, a restaurant that celebrates smoke and spice, two pillars of Yucatecan cooking. Nearly everything about Chaak (the name is a reference to the Maya water god) is an homage to the Yucatan Peninsula, including the restaurants swank, light-filled dining room. The space is tricked out with a custom retractable roof (the Maya were accomplished astronomers), tasteful wall displays of imported Yucatecan textiles, and unique design features that subtly invoke Mayan culture note the steel rings that anchor the restaurants hanging light fixtures, a nod to the Mesoamerican ball court at Chichen Itza. Theres also a glittering L-shaped bar dispensing Mexican wines by the glass and mezcal cocktails made with tamarind paste and mole bitters. The general mood is what you might call nouveau suburban California: polite, informal, quietly affluent. Chaak is the second restaurant from Gabbi Patrick, a prominent Orange County chef and restaurateur whose first effort, Gabbis Mexican Kitchen in downtown Orange, has earned steady acclaim over the years for its haute renditions of classic Mexican regional dishes. At Chaak, Patrick, whose family has roots in the Yucatan capital of Merida, dives deeper into Yucatecan cooking, a culinary landscape where European, Caribbean and ancestral Mayan traditions and ingredients boldly intersect in ways you wont find elsewhere on Earth. Working closely with executive chef Vincent Espinoza, Patrick reveals herself to be an ambitious and astute interpreter of modern Yucatecan cuisine. Much of Chaaks design is inspired by chef Gabbi Patricks Yucatecan roots. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Start your meal with sikil pak, a traditional pumpkin seed dip that is more or less the Yucatecan analog to hummus: habanero peppers, tomatoes and toasted pumpkin seeds, pulverized into an exquisite pastiche of earthy, fruity, spicy notes. Eat it with slices of cucumbers and ribbons of blue corn totopos, or tortilla strips. Patrick flirts with recados, the thick spice pastes at the heart of traditional Yucatecan cooking, prominent in dishes like cochinita pibil. Chaaks rendition is first-rate: Banana-leaf-wrapped pork, rubbed in a peppery, citrusy achiote paste is smoked for 11 hours over red oak, rendering it an intensely succulent and savory muddle of pork buoyed by bursts of sweetness. There is a lovely pavo en recado negro, braised turkey slicked in pungent blackened chile paste, served with a flourish of pickled red onions and the puffed corn tortillas called salbutes. The earthy recado negro makes a reappearance in a garlicky seafood dish of expertly grilled tiger prawn, plated over a Pollock-worthy splatter of drippy, inky blackened chile sauce. The salbutes with pavo en recado negro are piled with braised turkey and blackened chile sauce. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Youll want to travel deeply into the Chaak masa oeuvre, which includes thin, crisp blue corn huaraches overlaid with melted Oaxacan cheese, chorizo and ribbons of scallions; sturdy corn panuchos bulging with black bean paste and topped with slivers of slightly sweet cherry-wood-smoked chicken; and plump, cleanly fried empanadas whose smooth yellow corn shells are as tempting as the welter of hot cheese bubbling inside of them. Theres also a wonderful rendition of Yucatans famous tamal colado, corn masa strained into a pudding-like cake and smothered with a rich mushroom gravy. Fresh ceviche is a pillar of Yucatecan cooking, and Chaaks version is magnificent: The seafood, a mix of octopus and striped bass, is cut into hunks that melt into the intensely citrusy leche de tigre marinade. A dish of campeche pulpo al guajillo is equally persuasive, the spicy grilled octopus served over a creamy swipe of chickpea puree with hunks of slightly sweet chayote squash. Patrick doesnt always hew to tradition. A dish of carne cruda is a take on tartare that reveals the nuances of a modern California chef shaped by the culinary school crucible: the classic chopped raw meat dish is dusted in black charred pepper dust and garnished with sil gochu, the fine, orange-red chile strands used most often in Korean cooking. Its a fine dish, although probably not what you expect to find at a Yucatecan restaurant. But Chaak is good even when it strays from tradition: a serious Yucatecan kitchen rooted in the ways of the old Mayan Riviera and thriving in Orange County, of all places. Chaak Kitchen Start your meal at Chaak with sikil pak, a traditional Yucatecan pumpkin seed dip. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Chef and restaurateur Gabbi Patrick interprets Yucatecan cuisine in Old Town Tustin. Location: 215 El Camino Real, Tustin, (657) 699-3019, chaakkitchen.com Prices: Appetizers $8-$16; panuchos $16; salbutes $16; entrees $27-$95 Details: Credit cards accepted. Full bar. Street parking. Recommended dishes: Skil pak; tamal colado; ceviche; salbutes; cochinita pibil. In a battle of academic behemoths, the University of California has canceled its subscription to the worlds largest scientific publisher in order to keep publicly funded research free to the public. After months of fruitless negotiation, UC officials said Thursday they could not agree with Holland-based Elseviers proposal to charge authors large publishing fees in addition to the universitys multimillion-dollar subscription. Such terms would greatly increase the university systems costs and limit public access, officials said. The UC systems 10 campuses produce 10% of all research published in the United States and aim to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery by ensuring that research would be immediately available to the world, without cost to the reader, the university said in a statement. I fully support our faculty, staff and students in breaking down paywalls that hinder the sharing of groundbreaking research, UC President Janet Napolitano said in a statement. This issue does not just impact UC, but also countless scholars, researchers and scientists across the globe and we stand with them in their push for full, unfettered access. Advertisement Elsevier, in a tweet Thursday, said UC had mischaracterized its position and that the universitys decision was disappointing. Elsevier's response to the University of California's announcement today. pic.twitter.com/NYOabQJO98 Elsevier (@ElsevierConnect) February 28, 2019 Graduates Namuna Tefera, standing at left, and Bilen Teclemariam celebrate at UC Riverside. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times) More black California students preparing for college Californians of African descent are making educational progress but still face barriers in college, according to a new report by the Campaign for College Opportunity. Among 19-year-old black students, about nine in 10 had a high school diploma in 2016-17, up slightly from 2010-11. More than a third of those high school graduates had completed courses required for college admission, compared with 27% in 2010-11. But nearly half of black students who entered college left without a degree, and their graduation rates were lower than those for white students across the University of California and California State University systems, the report found. Our state and college leaders need to do more than speak about the importance of diversity and equality; they need to urgently act to eliminate the barriers that stand in the way of our black students ability to access, afford and complete college, Michele Siqueiros, the nonprofits president, said in a statement. Stanford University is redoubling efforts to tackle high-risk drinking among students. (TNS / Fotolia) Stanford warns students about high-risk drinking Stanford University has released its first reports on student alcohol consumption as part of a broad effort to tackle the persistent campus problem of high-risk drinking. About two-thirds of freshmen Stanford surveyed in each of the last six school years drank alcohol, according to the reports. More than half of those students had binged on four or five drinks in a row in the previous two weeks. Risky behaviors, such as doing shots, choosing drinks with more alcohol and pregaming getting drunk before socializing have increased since 2011-12. And in the 2017-18 school year, an average of one student each week 65 in total was sent to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning or related problems. Research has shown that youthful binge drinking negatively affects brain development. To me, this is a sign that too many of our students are drinking at levels well beyond normal recreational use, Susie Brubaker-Cole, vice provost for student affairs, wrote in a letter to students Thursday. I am concerned about the impacts on students safety, well-being, and academic success. Stanford has formed an Alcohol Solutions Group. The university also is looking for ways to reinvigorate campus social life, which Brubaker-Cole said could be contributing to the problem. You can read the Stanford reports here, here and here. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe For the first time, the Chinese authorities have allowed some media representatives to enter the re-education centres set up in the Xinjiang region for some Uyghur Muslims. This follows reports in the Western media and criticism from human rights organisations which described them as internment camps. Ahram Online was among the media delegation that visited the camps in Xinjiang and speak to several of the residents. Claims of oppression are incorrect The Western organisations described these centres as internment camps for Muslims. This view is rejected by China which views this criticism as in line with the calls that encourage the regions cession. Chinese authorities have said that they wont allow Western media to enter these centres and accused them of having preconceived ideas and not wanting to see the truth. Xinjiang, which is an autonomous region, is the home of the Uyghur Muslims and lies in north-western China. Xinjiang borders Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Xinjiangs total area is 1.6 million square kilometres and it has a population of 20 million people, the majority of whom are Uyghur Muslims, followed by the Han then the Kazakhs, the Hui and the Kyrgyz. It suffered from a number of terrorist attacks between 2009 and 2017. In order to confront the terrorist attacks, the Chinese authorities imprisoned anyone who was been implicated in terrorist activities and decided to re-educate those who sympathised, and set up 12 re-education centres for them in the region. These centres have a special educational system. One of the conditions that permit the trainee to finish his education is that he must learn 3,000 Chinese characters so as to be fluent in this language. Our trip began with meeting Jiang Jianguo, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, who said that China had faced the issue of achieving co-existence between different ethnicities and religions for many years. The Communist Party has applied a national policy which was right and successful in this respect, asserting that China is the most secure and stable country in the world where 56 nationalities live in harmony. Another official, Lu Guangjin, secretary general of China Society for Human Rights Studies in the Communist Party, explained that the Chinese government approached the terrorism and extremism problem through two steps. The first step was issuing imprisonment verdicts against those who had committed terrorist crimes. The second step was exerting efforts with others in order to save them from extremist ideas via re-educating and rehabilitating them and then making them return to their ordinary life. This was done within the re-educating and vocational centres, where they are taught the Chinese language and the Chinese constitution so as to be good and law-abiding citizens. They also learn vocational skills. The proof of these centres effectiveness is that there hasnt been a single terrorist attacks in Xinjiang for 26 months. Our next stop was Kashgar in Xinjiang. It was founded in 1952 and its population is more than 4.5 million. Islam is the most prominent religion in Kashgar and it has newspapers in both the Chinese and Uyghur languages and 8 TV channels serving the local nationalities, including the Uyghur. The media delegation visited one of the re-education centres in Shula. The ages of the trainees range between 18 and 45 years old. They receive six lectures on a daily basis. The trainees can visit their relatives once a week and those who finish their re-education programme successfully are nominated to work in companies and factories. The tour began inside the centre with a Chinese language class. One official said that after finishing the language courses they can watch films on TV and read newspapers. In the class on the Chinese constitution and law, the trainees get to know different laws on combating terrorism and other materials. Lectures are also given on local arts such as dancing and playing different musical instruments. There is also a computer class where trainees are taught e-commerce skills via the internet. The delegation members listened to several trainees opinions which reflected their contentment at being in these centres, how much they benefitted from them, and their appreciation towards the Chinese government for providing them the opportunity to be trained there. In addition, they rejected claims that they had received any harsh treatment in the centres, where they are allowed to practise sports. Moreover, they advised youth to stay away from extremist ideas and lead a normal life. In Kashgar, there is a free trade zone which lies on the Silk Road and has contributed effectively in improving employment opportunities. There is also the Id Kah Mosque, one of the largest mosques in China. It lies in the city centre and was built in 1462. Chinese authorities allocated about 11 million yuan to restore the ancient mosque, which was included as part of Chinas national heritage in 2001. Ma Mati Toma, the Id Kah Mosques imam, asserted that since the 2014 terrorist attack, which his father was a victim of, the Chinese government has paid great attention to the mosque, including putting surveillance cameras inside and outside. Our second station in Xinjiang was Hotan, which is 96 percent Uyghur Muslim. We visited a kindergarten where the Chinese and Uyghur languages are taught for free. We met a farmer who graduated from one the re-education centres in September 2018 and used to embrace extremist views. He said that his life has changed totally after being in the centre for nine months. One of the most important attractions is the Jama Mosque, built in 1848, where legitimate religious activities are allowed, one Chinese official stated. The delegation paid a visit to yet another re-education centre in Hotan, where trainees are taught traditional Chinese oil painting. There is a library and a room for teaching dance. The centre also comprises arts and cooking buildings where trainees learn to cook Chinese food and e-commerce. There is a room devoted for girls to learn to be house maids. In Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, we went to see the Terrorist Attacks Museum which documents the series of the terrorist attacks that the region has suffered. One of these attacks, shown through video footage and images, occurred on 5 July 2009 and resulted in the death of many innocent people. It is considered the most dangerous terrorist attack since the founding of modern China regarding the number of victims and material losses. In another section of the museum, Chinese and foreign weapons used by terrorists in executing their attacks, including pistols and rifles, were displayed. There were also weapons hand-made by the terrorists. The guide said that the museum was built as a message to showcase that Chinese efforts in combating terrorism are part of the international efforts in this respect. The delegation went afterwards to meet Sheikh Abdel-Raqeeb, the Islamic Institute Director in Urumqi and deputy head of the Political Advisory Conference of the Chinese People in Xinjiang. The institute was established 32 years ago and has trained more than 2,300 imams since 2017. Halt in terror attacks Answering a question on whether Uyghur Muslims are maltreated in the re-education centres, Sheikh Abdel-Raqeeb asserted that terrorist groups promoted extremist ideas, sowing discord between nationalities and encouraging the believers to commit violent acts against the government and the people. Those groups called for jihad, claimed that the houses built by the government are uninhabitable, prohibited all government certificates such as ID cards and marriage certificates, and prohibited singing and dancing, describing them as satanic activities. They say the aim of these activities is to make the believers not subject to the governments authority. They also wanted to drag the Uyghur nationality down a wrong path through the idea of the cession of Xinjiang from China. The institutes director said that in the light of this situation, the government decided to establish re-education and vocational centres in order to realign those influenced with the extremist ideas to the normal path and eliminate those ideas from their minds. Not a single terrorist attack had occurred in Xinjiang in the last 26 months, he said. Sheikh Abdel-Raqeeb rejected Western news reports that said there is compulsory marriage between different nationalities and also denied that there was any policy for making a certain nationality dominant over others. He stated that the USA is the source of these claims and that it considers itself the worlds policeman and refuses to believe the huge economic development China has achieved and that all the nationalities are living in unity and peaceful co-existence. He added that all these accusations are trivial, incorrect and biased. Search Keywords: Short link: The president and several deans of Claremont McKenna College were meeting with the parents of a student who, a week earlier, had been found dead in his dorm room when the call came. There was another emergency in the dorms. By the time Sharon Basso, the colleges dean of students, arrived at the dormitory, it was surrounded by police, paramedics and other first responders. Basso told parents Thursday: A student was dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In one week, two students at this elite liberal arts school part of a seven-college consortium in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains had died on campus. Jeremy Peterson was found dead in his bed the morning of Feb. 19, after his parents who had not heard from their son in several days asked administrators to check on him. The Los Angeles County coroners office has not determined a cause of death. A college spokesman said theres no indication of foul play. Advertisement Eric Cramer died by suicide in his dorm room Tuesday afternoon, according to the coroners office. Basso said firearms were not allowed on campus and that administrators had no knowledge Cramer had one before his death. Both Peterson and Cramer were 22. Peterson was from Princeton, N.J. Cramer was from San Diego. Although they both enrolled at Claremont McKenna with the class of 2018, they had not finished their degrees and were taking classes when they died. Peterson was studying economics and psychology; Cramer, biophysics and French. Their deaths shook the small college and its student body of just 1,318. Hiram Chodosh, president of the college, said the school was deeply shocked and saddened by the deaths of two students within a week. Though the deaths reverberated sharply among such a tightknit student body, that closeness would also prove its strength, Basso said. We have the advantage of being a very small community of people who are very invested in that community, she said. At a vigil Wednesday night, Chodosh remembered Peterson as the chess player and adventurer who talked his father a Claremont McKenna graduate himself into skydiving; Cramer as the Bach-loving scientist who wrote his college essay about a bench and the opportunities it affords, both for self-reflection and the chance to meet someone new. I wont play chess again without thinking about Jeremy in a Trenton Boys and Girls Club, Chodosh said, according to notes of his remarks. I wont sit on a bench without thinking about Erics three directives: Know someone new, know someone better, know yourself better. The college did not allow a Times reporter to speak with students on campus Thursday. College counseling centers have reported increases in the number of students who say theyve considered suicide or have attempted suicide, according to the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Penn State University, which compiled data from counseling centers at 152 colleges and universities in the 2017-18 school year. More than 1 in 3 college students who sought help at a counseling center said they had seriously considered attempting suicide, according to the Penn State center, and 10% of students who sought counseling said they had made a suicide attempt. For those needing help, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: (800) 273-8255. Lewis Nyarecha was found unresponsive on a top bunk at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles by a fellow inmate. He had missed dinner the night before and breakfast that day. Two L.A. County sheriffs deputies began to haul the 25-year-old Nyarecha off the bunk, only to drop him, slamming the back of his head on a metal desk and sending blood gushing. Though he received CPR, Nyarecha would be declared dead on a June morning last year. The county coroner found the cause of his death was quetiapine toxicity; he was given the drug because he was schizophrenic. Seeking answers and change, Nyarechas family filed suit Thursday against the L.A. County Sheriffs Department, alleging negligence in his death and battery over the incident that caused the head wound. Nyarecha had struggled with his mental illness and was arrested on suspicion of trespassing. Advertisement At the time of his death he had a lethal dose of prescription medication in his body. We believe the Sheriffs Department was responsible for Mr. Nyarechas death, said Jovan Blacknell, an attorney for the family. I would like to see some change to how the mentally ill are treated in the jail, said the inmates brother Leon Nyarecha. He is no stranger to the justice system, working inside the district attorneys office making videos that sometimes feature Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey. He said his brother, a gifted musician who was educated at a Swiss college, struggled with mental illness. The day he died was the worst day of my life, Leon Nyarecha said, speaking alongside the attorneys at a news conference in a Culver City law office. Sheriffs Department homicide detectives investigated, but the coroners autopsy determined that Lewis Nyarecha died by suicide. But Blacknell and fellow attorney Anthony Willoughby said that when Nyarecha entered the jail system, records show, he was not eligible for self-medication and his safety criteria included assignment to a lower bunk. The lawsuit alleges that Sheriffs Department officials allowed the man to self-medicate and gave him a top bunk. The Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images) The Sheriffs Department declined to answers questions about the lawsuit. We reserve comment on pending litigation, Capt. Darren Harris said. According to jail records included in the lawsuit, the Sheriffs Department repeatedly increased Nyarechas medication. On April 23, 2018, records show, medical staff increased his dose of the antipsychotic medication, and a day later, he fell down in his cell and was hospitalized. Nyarecha fell again May 5 when he was suddenly overcome with dizziness and collapsed, cutting open his head, according to the lawsuit. Sheriffs Department officials, according to the suit, did not tell L.A. County-USC Medical Center about the medication, and the cause of his collapse was attributed to dehydration or meningitis. The lawsuit claims that on May 22, medical staffers increased Nyarechas dosage of quetiapine to 600 milligrams a 300% increase from his initial amount to be taken in a single dose before sleep. Blacknell said those doses were not meant to be self-administered. Given Nyarechas condition, Blacknell said, he should have been subject to regular safety checks, not left unattended for 18 hours. The suit says that according to jail records, Nyarecha was not checked on from 4 p.m. June 5 until after 11 a.m. June 6, when an inmate trustee found him lying on his back, unresponsive, with colored mucus coming from his nose and mouth and vomit around him. According to the lawsuit, investigators found approximately 10 medication cups in his cell, several of which contained unused medication. The coroners autopsy revealed mild coronary artery disease but, more important, elevated levels of quetiapine in Nyarechas blood. At high levels it can cause sudden death, wrote Dr. Odey Ukpo, senior deputy medical examiner. A private autopsy conducted for Nyarechas family agreed that the cause of his death was high levels of the medication, not the head injury. The familys attorneys said his death came despite repeated oversight efforts by the courts and the federal government over the countys jail system. The county has been under a court order as far taking care of the inmates and individuals with mental illness. They totally failed in that regard. They failed to take care of this individual. They overmedicated him, Willoughby said. That is why we are seeking compensation for the family. The attorneys said Leon Nyarecha was ostracized inside the district attorneys office and his role reduced when he raised concerns about his brothers death. Leon Nyarecha has also sued Lacey alleging work discrimination and said that after his brothers death, the district attorney called him into her office and said he should delay taking any action until he knew all the facts. The suit claims he was subsequently ostracized in the office. richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @lacrimes Los Angeles earthquake early warning app has won buzz in recent weeks, as its the first public app of its kind in the United States that aims to warn people seconds before shaking arrives from an earthquake. It hasnt been truly tested yet: There has been no significant earthquake in the Los Angeles region since the app was published New Years Eve. But lots of people are interested ShakeAlertLA has been downloaded more than 400,000 times: 327,000 on iOS and 96,000 on Android. But among users who commented on the app, some are concerned about privacy and crashes and expressed concerns that the app was rushed out too early. So far, the app has received 2.5 out of 5 stars on Apples App Store and 3.6 out of 5 stars in the Google Play Store. Some are frustrated that the app works only for users physically present in Los Angeles County. Advertisement Others have celebrated ShakeAlertLA, saying they believe earthquake warnings will save lives, giving people time to act and take cover before shaking arrives. When he introduced the app, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti acknowledged that it wasnt perfect and that there were still bugs in the software. The citys app, built under a contract with AT&T, gets information from a separate earthquake early warning system operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS system, called ShakeAlert, is still in its early phases, and lots of testing still needs to happen. Garcetti wanted to make good on an earlier pledge he made to get the app in the hands of Angelenos by the end of 2018. He has said it was important to get the app out there publicly sooner rather than later, even if it meant the early version of the app was less than perfect. Heres a rundown of the complaints and flaws about the app, and the response from the city: Q: Why does the app require the city to constantly know the location of the phone? A: By design, the app needs to know where a user is to warn how intense the shaking will be before it arrives; for example, an earthquake that begins off the coast of Newport Beach would produce far stronger shaking in Long Beach than it would in the San Fernando Valley. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, a magnitude 6.7 temblor, people in Northridge felt violent shaking of intensity 9 on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, meaning damage was severe. Anaheim got intensity 6 shaking, which would generally produce only slight damage. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti explains how to use the new ShakeAlertLA app, available for Android and iOS devices. Q: Does the city store the data of all app users? A: The city receives information about a users whereabouts and assigns the device to a broader geographical hexagon, which has about a 5-mile radius. Phones in that area will receive an alert based on that location. The city does not keep historical records of a devices location, which are erased once a user moves outside that polygon. Users are not asked to provide their phone number or name to use the app. Q: Some users reported crashes soon after the app was made available in early January. What gives? A: Early versions contained a programming error for iOS users outside Los Angeles County that caused a crash as soon as the app was opened. The flaw has been fixed. Q: Any other problems? A: A college student voiced some concerns with portions of test code related to ShakeAlertLA that had been posted weeks earlier. Q: What did he find? A: Alex Garcia, a UC San Diego senior in computer programming and native of Whittier, found some password information that accompanied portions of test code erroneously uploaded to GitHub and made public. GitHub is an online repository where computer programs are stored, and users of the site are invited to review code and provide feedback to find bugs and offer authors advice. Q: Was it problematic? A: There were a couple of accidental disclosures when the test code was erroneously uploaded and published. First, a password was published that provided internal access to USGS notifications about an earthquakes occurrence and location. The USGS was alerted, and the compromised account was suspended. Another problem was the disclosure of a password that offered access to a city test server that showed the whereabouts of roughly 120,000 imaginary devices conjured up by programmers for a test. No user data was compromised, but there was an acknowledgment that human errors were made, and officials are making efforts to avoid mistaken releases of passwords. Q: What was the USGS reaction to the citys mistake? USGS scientist Robert de Groot said in a statement that the compromised account was a read-only account, meaning the city could only read the alerts pushed out from a USGS server but not create false data or maliciously send out a fake earthquake warning through the federal governments system. The USGS system employs the highest security standards, including secure public-facing servers and encrypted data streams, De Groot said. The USGS provides ongoing guidance to optimize the performance of ShakeAlert delivery products that are developed by others, like mass-alerting mobile apps. However, it is the responsibility of the partner to develop and maintain those products. (Los Angeles Times) Q: Does the ShakeAlertLA app offer an estimate of how many seconds will elapse before shaking arrives? A: Not in its current version. Theres concern that shaking could arrive earlier or later than the computers estimate. Given the uncertainty, the countdown feature is not now available. Q: How many people have deleted the app after downloading it? A: Of the 96,000 times the app has been downloaded on the Android system, it has been deleted from 15,000 devices. (Similar data for iOS devices arent available.) That means the deletion rate is about 16%. The overall deletion rate for an app after 30 days is 28%, according to AppsFlyer, a San Francisco mobile marketing company. Q: Why does the app only work inside Los Angeles County? A: ShakeAlertLA was created by the city to ensure that City Hall, not just private companies, could control how earthquake warnings are distributed to the public. It was funded with $43,000 from a nonprofit established by Garcetti, called the Mayors Fund for Los Angeles, and $260,000 from the nonprofit Annenberg Foundation. So its ambitions were set early on to focus on the L.A. area. Q: Will apps be made available for other parts of California? A: Itll just be a matter of time. A private company, Santa Monica-based Early Warning Labs, has its own QuakeAlert app in development, and plans to soon offer it to 100,000 test users, who may include people outside L.A. County. Other officials have sought more information about Los Angeles app, including authorities in Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties; San Francisco; Seattle; the state of Washington; the water and electricity utility of Eugene, Ore.; and the California Governors Office of Emergency Services. Q: Why not make the app available to everyone? A: Adding too many people to receive alerts could suddenly slow down the delivery of the messages, and its important for researchers to identify problems and fix them. Q: Why not make the app available to all cellphone users through Amber Alert-style text messages? A: State officials will soon conduct a test to see whether Amber Alert-style text messages are quick enough to be useful for earthquake early warnings. A test warning is scheduled to be sent March 27 by text message to Oaklands Lakeside neighborhood, which has a daytime population of 40,000 people and includes government employees. The California Governors Office of Emergency Services will be asking those in the area to fill out a survey on exactly when they receive the alert. Theyll be asked to look at a precise clock on a computer screen while they wait for the text message. If the test shows it might be useful for some users, state officials might explore sending quake warnings through text messages. It has long been thought that the current U.S. cellphone network is probably too slow to make earthquake warnings useful through text message. A recent National Wireless Emergency Alert System test showed that the average delay in users receiving a text message was about 22 seconds. A rollout of fifth-generation, or 5G, cellular technology could help, but that could take years. Q: Whats the current delay between the time an alert is issued and when it arrives on a cellphone? A: In simulations, theres a delay of less than two seconds between the time an alert is issued and when it arrives on a ShakeAlertLA-equipped cellphone. Q: The mayor said ShakeAlertLAs computer programming code will be open source, meaning the code will be made public for other cities to use and for other programmers to scour for bugs and suggest improvements. Its not public right now. Will it be? A: Yes, there are plans for the city to release that. Before thats done, AT&T and the city will have cybersecurity teams do an extra check to ensure they dont mistakenly release private information. Q: Theres a page on the app that says, View recent earthquakes, but nothing shows up. Is it working? A: The interface is a bit confusing right now the key suggests that there would be a list of earthquakes of all magnitudes, but the system right now is set up to only list earthquakes of at least magnitude 5 in the Greater L.A. region. None have occurred since New Years Eve. A future version of the app will show earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in the United States for either the previous 30 days or the last 300 seismic events exceeding that threshold. Q: Why does the map on viewing recent earthquakes sometimes default to a view focusing on Western Europe instead of L.A.? A: The glitch should be resolved in a future version. Q: When I click on earthquake alert map, all I see is my location. A: The display is a bit confusing when theres no active earthquake alert. The city is working on making the interface clearer, which would offer users an example of what an alert would look like. Q: Why is the find a shelter page blank? A: The city isnt pre-publishing shelter sites, as they will depend on the earthquake. Shaking more tightly focused on the San Fernando Valley, for instance, may not require shelters to open in San Pedro. ron.lin@latimes.com @ronlin Capt. Ryan Mitchell had just finished three punishing weeks of firefighting. He had deployed to fires far from home, then returned only to dash out to another one. Mitchells parents and 16-month-old son came to visit him at the station. He didnt look good. He was tired, he was thin, his eyes were shallow. He wasnt his usual self, Mitchells father, Will, recalled. Advertisement Two days later, Mitchell reported to Cal Fires San Diego unit headquarters in El Cajon for his regular 72-hour shift. After he finished, on Nov. 5, 2017, he drove east to the Pine Valley Creek Bridge, among the highest in the U.S. He parked his car, walked to the edge of the bridge and jumped. Mitchell, 35, was one of at least 115 firefighters and emergency medical service workers in the U.S. who died by suicide in 2017, according to data compiled by the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, which tracks such figures nationwide. The figure, probably an undercount, is a startling one, and one that many worry portends an epidemic as ever-lengthening fire seasons, more frequent mass casualty events and increased strain on emergency personnel take their toll. The suicide rate among such workers has been estimated at 18 per 100,000 people, exceeding the rate in the general population of 13 per 100,000, according to a report by the Ruderman Family Foundation and federal data. Documented suicides have been rising since around 2005 and exceeded 100 each year from 2014 to 2017, according to the behavioral health alliance. More firefighters took their own lives than died on the job over that span, though line-of-duty deaths often eclipse suicides in the media and public consciousness. A small but dedicated group of people in California and across the country is working to change that. In the last few years these advocates have sought to increase awareness about firefighters mental health, pushed departments to offer more firefighter-appropriate help and stepped in as counselors themselves. In Los Angeles County, Supervisor Kathryn Barger last year ordered the fire chief, sheriff and other first-response departments to review the behavioral health services offered to employees. These brave men and women are faced with grueling situations each and every day, Barger said at a Board of Supervisors meeting. They sacrifice so much to save the lives of others, she said. Its time that we pay them the same respect, and save theirs. In Mitchells case, there were no glaring signs of struggle. Division Chief Daryll Pina, one of Mitchells mentors at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the two had an hourlong conversation a couple of weeks before Mitchell died. Mitchell, who had been a firefighter for more than 12 years, talked about the demands of being a captain, Pina said. He was thinking of applying for a transfer to work on a helicopter. And he had separated from his wife. But I never felt like he was at this point in his life, that he was struggling with thoughts of suicide, Pina said. Mitchell loved his job, his father said. A former U.S. Forest Service hotshot and an avid surfer, he was in great physical condition, too. Ryan wasnt clinically diagnosed, was not regularly reaching out and asking for help, was not on drugs, Will Mitchell said. Its just, something snapped. A family photo of Cal Fire Capt. Ryan Mitchell and his wife, Denelle. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Firefighters and emergency medical services workers, like members of the military, routinely witness horrific, traumatic events a daily reality not always understood by the public, psychologists say. Its chronic, repeated exposure to everyones worst day, said Sara Jahnke, director of the Center for Fire, Rescue and EMS Health Research at National Development and Research Institutes Inc., a nonprofit health research group. On any given shift, that could mean a child drowning, a family killed in a car accident or an active shooter. And it all is happening in their backyard not uncommonly to people that they know, Jahnke said. The nature of shift work can make things worse, as firefighters may be scheduled or recalled to work on holidays and birthdays, putting stress on family relationships. The culture and expectations surrounding firefighters dont help. When people call 911 they want someone there whos going to be brave and heroic and handle the situation, said Jeff Dill, a retired fire captain in Illinois who is a licensed counselor and founder of the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance. Any time the stresses of the job get to be too much, Dill said, we bury it. Secreting those stresses away, time and time again, eventually takes its toll. Studies have shown that the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, binge drinking behaviors and depression each of which is associated with a greater likelihood of suicidal thoughts is higher among firefighters than the general population. Anxiety and sleep disturbances are also common, said Marc Kruse, clinical psychologist with the Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services in Texas. The issues are often intertwined. You can certainly imagine where difficulties within the job, perhaps not having effective coping strategies would lead to post-traumatic stress or depression, which might result in alcohol use, which could lead to the end of a relationship or loss of a job, Kruse said. If it cycles down, [that] could lead to someone attempting suicide, he said. According to one national survey of more than 1,000 firefighters, nearly half reported having suicidal thoughts. One in five reported planning a suicide. In California and across the country, fire chiefs, labor leaders and counselors have committed new resources to support firefighters before they get to that point. On a warm November afternoon, a white mobile trailer labeled Woolsey Peer Support was parked next to the briefing area at the Woolsey fire command post in Camarillo. Lauren Dale, an ocean lifeguard specialist for the L.A. County Fire Department, walked the grounds approaching firefighters with a blank birthday card. Do you guys mind signing this? she asked a group that had come from Texas to help fight the fire. Its for a captain whos going to miss her kids birthday. Filling the card was just one task Dale had undertaken in her role as a lead peer counselor at the Woolsey fire. Her main responsibility was providing firefighters with informal, confidential, peer-to-peer counseling. A lot of it is just validating their emotions and trying to be empathetic, Dale said. Many of those fighting the Woolsey fire had responded to the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting in Thousand Oaks just 12 hours earlier. Some of their own families had to evacuate from the fires path, and several lost homes. The firefighters recovered bodies, saw pets that had been trapped in pens and now walked family after family through the wreckage of their former homes. Peer support helps firefighters cope. Weve been there, said Capt. Scott Ross, also a peer counselor. Weve been away from home as long as they have. Weve seen devastation. Were a trusted friend and co-worker that understands what theyre going through, and thats a big part of it. Sometimes peer supporters refer firefighters to professional counselors. When they do, its crucial that those professionals understand the job, firefighters say. Firefighters report they go into a counseling session and they start telling their story, and the counselor starts to cry because theyre unprepared for the level of traumatic experience that the firefighter has, said Capt. Frank Leto, deputy director of counseling at the Fire Department of New York. New York and Austin hire and train staff counselors like Kruse, but L.A. County relies on contract clinicians who have participated in ride-alongs and in-station briefings to learn about firefighters everyday experiences. In San Diego and elsewhere in the state, Cal Fire has worked to beef up peer support and reduce the stigma around using it. Cal Fire firefighter Jason McMillan, left, returns to work in San Diego after a trauma retreat. McMillan fought fires alongside Capt. Ryan Mitchell, who died by suicide in 2017. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) Jason McMillan, a San Diego-based Cal Fire firefighter and member of the honor guard, fought fires alongside Mitchell and engineer Cory Iverson, who died in the Thomas fire of 2017. He recalled standing watch as Ashley Iverson bade goodbye to her husband. It was beyond emotional. And I knew there was nothing I could do or say to help her, McMillan said. There is no way really to deal with it. McMillan, 35, had extreme anxiety and was depressed. He had already been wrestling with his ex-wifes miscarriage, their divorce and fear that he would never measure up as a firefighter. The deaths of Mitchell, Iverson and other firefighters he knew personally put him over the edge. It was too close to home, he said. I would try to almost dodge going on fires or going on calls because of being terrified. He got assigned a desk job but was paralyzed by the thought of returning to an engine. At one point he found himself sitting on his bed with a gun in his hand and thoughts of suicide running through his head. I could see myself sitting there doing it, but I wouldnt do it, he said. In July, he told his chief he couldnt return to work. A peer supporter reached out and connected McMillan to a trauma retreat. After McMillan returned, he posted a note on Facebook about his experiences. Will Mitchell responded, telling McMillan he was proud of him and glad another family wouldnt go through tragedy like his did. That really hit home, McMillan said. Will Mitchell, left, whose firefighter son Ryan took his own life in 2017, hugs Jason McMillan, who fought fires alongside Ryan Mitchell and recently took part in a trauma retreat to deal with his anxiety and depression. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) The two are now joined in their mission to make firefighters more aware of behavioral health and to remove the shame associated with seeking help. Will became a volunteer fire chaplain so he could offer help to firefighters in his sons unit. McMillan, who returned to work in the fall, has made a habit of simply talking with his crew about the calls they go on. In November, McMillan was sent to the Woolsey fire. One of his first assignments was to protect a nursery and avocado grove. The year before, Iversons strike team had been working near an avocado orchard when he became trapped. I heard avocados and in my head was like, Nope, Im not doing that, McMillan said. But this time he didnt run or panic. He knew he could do the job. nina.agrawal@latimes.com Twitter: @AgrawalNina A sunfish that lives south of the equator recently washed up on a Santa Barbara County beach, and scientists are at a loss as to how the giant creature got so off-course. The massive 7-foot-long and 7-foot-wide fish a hoodwinker was discovered Feb. 19 at Sands Beach in Goleta at UC Santa Barbaras Coal Oil Point Reserve. Researchers say its the first time the fish has been seen in the U.S. There are rare finds, and then there are those out-of-nowhere, first-ever discoveries that send scientists heart aflutter, said Shelly Leachman, a spokeswoman for the university. Advertisement Local researchers worked with experts across the Pacific to determine the fish was an elusive Mola tecta, a species discovered only two years ago. The fishs name comes from the Latin word tectus, meaning hidden, according to a National Geographic article about the discovery of the species. The Santa Barbara discovery is remarkable, researchers said, given the fishs furtive nature and because it was found so far from its normal habitat the waters of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Snakes, tiny crabs and other creatures: Why the ocean sends us unusual visitors Part of the Molidae family, the hoodwinker has a wide body that comes to an end just behind its dorsal and anal fins, giving it an almost flat appearance or that of half a fish. Its funny-looking pointy fins plopped on it like a bird make the fish nearly as wide as it is long, said Thomas Turner, who helped confirm the fish is a hoodwinker. Its a big, flat oval-shaped fish with a constantly surprised look, said Turner, an associate professor in UC Santa Barbaras department of ecology, evolution and marine biology. Its the weirdest-looking thing youve ever seen. The fish was first spotted in shallow water by Jessica Nielsen, a conservation specialist at the universitys Coal Oil Point Reserve who was doing research on the beach. Later, an intern found the fish dead on the shore. The reserve posted photographs of the animal on Facebook, and because it appeared to be a Mola mola an ocean sunfish common in the Santa Barbara Channel researchers left the giant fish on the beach, to be recycled naturally. The Mola mola species is an open-water fish that swims in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. It floats up to the waters surface to bask in the sun hence its sunfish name. Despite its flat shape, the Molidae are not like flounder, which wiggle along the ocean floor. Instead, the Mola mola the heaviest fish in the ocean, with some weighing more than 5,000 pounds swims slowly in the deep ocean. The Mola tecta is genetically different from the Mola mola, but the physical differences are subtle. The hoodwinker is more slender and has a flap instead of a tail with bony structures along the end of it. The scales are also more like sandpaper, unlike the smooth scales of the Mola mola. The Mola mola has been found south of the equator, but its more rare there than in its common swimming grounds in the Santa Barbara Channel. Researcher Thomas Turner took his son, Wren, to inspect a hoodwinker sunfish washed up on the beach in Santa Barbara County. (Thomas Turner) Turner saw the fishs photo on the reserves Facebook post and wanted to see the odd-looking animal for himself. So after work, he drove his wife and 4-year-old son, Wren, to the beach to check out the sea creature. The boy was impressed with the animals scales, which have small pointy spikes all over them, and its toothless, beak-like mouth. Turner then posted photographs on iNaturalist, a social media site for amateurs and professionals interested in learning about different animal species, which caught the eye of Marianne Nyegaard, a researcher in Australias Murdoch University. She saw the species for the first time in 2015 in New Zealand and called it the hoodwinker because of its tendency to blend in with other sunfish species and hide in plain sight. The fish had previously been spotted more than 100 years ago in Holland in 1889, far from its normal warm climes. But it was mis-identified as a Mola mola until Nyegaard officially described it in 2017 in an academic journal. It was the first species added to the Mola genus in 125 years. When a fellow scientist alerted Nyegaard that the California researchers might have a hoodwinker on their hands, she said she couldnt believe it. I was super skeptical, she said. I thought, It would be so cool if it was one. Nyegaard suspected the Santa Barbara fish was the new Mola tecta species but was reluctant to make a final determination because the animal was found so far away from its natural habitat. She advised Turner and the other researchers to examine the fish further and gave them specific instructions on what photographs she would need in order to determine its species. Nyegaard said she cautioned herself not to get too excited, but when the additional images were sent, she said there was no doubt about the type of fish. I yelled out, Its a hoodwinker! I just fell off my chair. Turner said so little is known about the Mola tecta that researchers dont really know how rare it is. Either the sunfish is actually common in more northern Pacific waters and simply hasnt been seen until now, or the hoodwinker made a long trek to the West Coast, he said. Regardless, its odd the fish ended up stranded on the beach, scientists said, adding that Nyegaards research will help determine what went wrong. Researchers said the fish had no signs of injury and wasnt obviously in distress. Its possible, Turner said, that ocean warming caused the animal to veer off-course. Watch as tiny red crabs cover the beaches of Orange County The ocean has been unusually warm for years now, causing species to move farther north from their normal habitats, said Elliott Hazen, an ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who specializes in water temperatures impact on wildlife. Just this week, a dead humpback whale ended up in Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon River. Researchers suspected the mammal was lost at sea and died of an unknown cause. And this isnt the first time out-of-place sea creatures have washed up on Southern California beaches. In January 2018, a rare venomous sea snake more common to the coasts of Africa, Asia and Central America, was discovered on the shore in Newport Beach. And a giant oarfish, normally found at ocean depths around 3,000 feet, washed ashore on Catalina Island in August 2015. Hazen suspects these rare occurrences have to do with fluctuations in ocean temperatures. Changes in weather patterns such as an El Nino or La Nina event can either warm or cool the waters around the equator, allowing species to cross that normal barrier. Extreme changes in water temperatures can also lead to sickness in sea creatures. The equator acts as a barrier to migration for fish species, Hazen said. [Species] like marlin, they will swim right up to the equator and just kind of bounce back. But when theres warming or changes in ocean currents that are not normally seen, you can get these species that cross that barrier when they normally wouldnt. Large species, such as the humpback whale found in the Amazon, have very good navigational skills, he said. But when they get sick, they can lose that sense of direction. alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Twitter: @r_valejandra The family of a housekeeper whose body was discovered along with her employers inside a Newport Beach home last month filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday against the estate of the couple, who police say were killed by their son. Authorities say that Richard and Kim Nicholsons adult son, Camden, killed housekeeper Maria Morse as well as his parents inside the familys home. Their bodies were found by police on Feb. 13. Morse, 62, had visited the Nicholson family home on a weekly basis to clean for more than 12 years, her family said. The lawsuit indicates the Nicholsons knew their son was violent, aggressive and unstable and should have taken steps to protect Morse. The family is seeking an unspecified amount in damages. Camden Nicholson, 27, has been charged with three counts of murder in connection with the deaths. He has not entered a plea and is being held without bail in Orange County Jail. Advertisement Nicholson lived with his parents throughout much of 2018 before he left in mid-December without notice. While he lived with them, he threatened his parents, grew marijuana and used needles to inject himself with steroids, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit says Camden Nicholson repeatedly told Kim Nicholson that he wanted to kill his father, called him evil and expressed a desire to gut him. His mother was so frightened, the lawsuit says, that she briefly moved out of the home. Nicholsons parents had recently cut him off financially, according to court records. In the days prior to the killings, Nicholson sent his parents text messages and emails threatening to harm them, the lawsuit states. The family has described their son as having uncontrollable roid rage and violent and delusional behavior, said attorney Edward Susolik, who is representing Morses family. Days before their deaths, Nicholsons parents apparently hired a private investigator, Michael Youssef, to locate their son. Youssef told the Los Angeles Times last month that he was asked to find evidence that Nicholson was mentally incompetent so they could obtain a conservatorship in court. Youssef said that during his five-day investigation he found that Nicholson smoked excessive amounts of marijuana, took steroids and was addicted to pornography. The private eye said he scoured laptop and phone records as well as other materials but never located Nicholson during that time. At the time of the slayings, Youssef was preparing to publish missing posts with pictures of Nicholson in the hope the public could help find the man, he said. During the seven years Nicholson lived in the gated community with his parents, he acted erratically, claimed he had seizures and was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a developmental disorder that affects an individuals ability to socialize, Youssef said. Youssef said he found that Nicholson had used a credit card belonging to his father during a hotel stay where he charged excessive tips and spent $15,000 in one transaction. It is clear that the Nicholson family knew that Camden was spiraling out of control and a danger to others, yet they continued inviting Maria to come on a weekly basis to clean their house while taking no steps to protect her safety, Susolik said. Times staff writer Alejandra Reyes-Velarde contributed to this report. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @Hannahnfry A judge ruled Thursday that the Orange County Sheriffs Department must publicly disclose records from shootings, use of force and some misconduct by its deputies regardless of when the incidents occurred. Orange County Superior Court Judge Nathan Scott denied a preliminary injunction request by the union that represents rank-and-file deputies, which sought to block the department from disclosing records from incidents that took place before Jan. 1, when a new statewide transparency law went into effect. The decision is the latest victory for media outlets and open government organizations that have opposed similar legal requests by law enforcement unions around the state. Last week, a Los Angeles County judge denied a restraining order sought by police unions representing Los Angeles Police Department officers and L.A. County sheriffs deputies. The Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs filed an appeal earlier this week but the Los Angeles Police Protective League announced it would not, saying in a statement that we believe all police agencies should fully comply with the eligible requests for records. Our concern was strictly limited to protecting the privacy rights of officers for records created prior to the effective date of [Senate Bill] 1421. Advertisement Until the Legislature approved SB 1421 last year, California had the nations strictest laws on disclosing police personnel records. The states powerful law enforcement unions had repeatedly blocked attempts to make any disciplinary records public, but lawmakers approved the transparency law amid a heightened debate over how officers use force and interact with communities of color. The law covers records of shootings by officers, severe uses of force and confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying by officers. Proponents of the measure say restricting its reach to records of incidents after Jan. 1 would severely limit the laws impact and shield misconduct by some officers who remain on the job. Like other police unions, the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs argued that applying SB 1421 retroactively would violate longstanding legal protections for officer personnel files. But Scott rejected that in his ruling Thursday. Nothing in the plain language of the statute suggests the Legislature intended to exclude records relating to pre-2019 incidents, the judge wrote. If the Legislature intended to make the records available for public inspection but not if they mentioned anything before 2019 the Legislature would have said so. The Times, along with Voice of OC and Southern California Public Radio, argued the disclosure law applied to all records. Scotts previous order preventing release of the records remains in effect until March 15 to give the union time to appeal. An Anaheim man was arrested this week on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he met on the Tinder dating app last year, police said. The girl told police she had posed as a 19-year-old woman on the app when she began talking to Sean Rickard, 21, roughly eight months ago. A few weeks ago, she told police she admitted to him that she was only 12. Santa Ana police say that didnt dissuade Rickard from meeting her, though. Rickard picked up the girl on Monday and took her to a parking lot in Santa Ana, where she was sexually assaulted, police said. The preteen reported the attack two days later. Advertisement After they learned that Rickard used Snapchat to communicate with the girl, detectives posed as her and began chatting with him through the app. Authorities said Rickard thought he was communicating with the girl and unknowingly sent a video to detectives of him masturbating. He also made plans to meet the girl later that night for the purposes of engaging in sexual activity, authorities wrote in a news release. Detectives set up a sting operation at a clothing store in Anaheim and arrested Rickard after he pulled into the parking lot. Rickard is being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. Prosecutors have not filed charges against him. He is expected to appear in court Friday, according to Orange County Superior Court and jail records. Santa Ana police are looking for other possible victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Nick Vega at (714) 245-8368 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @Hannahnfry Advocates for the homeless this week sued five Orange County cities and the county for failing to provide more housing for people living on the streets. Officials at the Orange County Catholic Worker and the Elder Law and Disability Rights Center, nonprofits supporting the homeless, singled out the South Orange County cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano in a lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of three homeless individuals. Other plaintiffs include Housing Is a Human Right Orange County and the Emergency Shelter Coalition. Litigation is needed for results, said Carol Sobel, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. Clearly, these South County cities had a chance to act but they refused, she said. They must help to absorb the population of the homeless spreading everywhere in O.C. and expand their services. Many of them say, Oh no, we dont have homeless people. Or they say, There is no place in our city for a shelter. Yet they dont give us another location that is a legitimate place where people can get help. Advertisement The lawsuit is the latest in a series of recent legal tussles aimed at making the county shoulder more of the burden of the statewide homelessness crisis. Last year, the removal of a tent city from the riverbed near Angel Stadium in Anaheim sparked a federal lawsuit against the cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Tustin. But angry demonstrations by homeowners in Irvine dissuaded the Orange County Board of Supervisors from trying to open a temporary shelter there, and residents of two other upscale communities, Huntington Beach and Laguna Niguel, also have mounted fierce opposition to planned shelters. The new lawsuit identifies the county as having one of the largest homeless populations in the state, with nearly half of that total lacking even temporary shelter. In 2017, data from a Point in Time count, a federally mandated survey conducted every two years, documented 4,792 homeless people in Orange County. Though officials believe it was an undercount, thats nearly an 8% jump compared with 2015. The needs are exploding, Sobel said. Some of these cities have no problem building high-end developments, but when it comes to a shelter, the answer is always Its not appropriate around here. Well, then, where? Last year, South County leaders initially suggested two locations for new shelters: a former elementary school in unincorporated Silverado and an old juvenile detention center in the Cleveland National Forest both far from potential employers, markets, doctors and treatment centers, according to advocates. They amounted to a lockdown facility, and what were seeking is not to hide people or isolate them. Under the law, the county and cities are obligated to provide health and housing services for the homeless, working with them to integrate them back into society, Sobel added. City officials were hesitant to offer solutions Thursday. Jacob Green, an assistant city manager in San Juan Capistrano, said that, while the city is aware of the lawsuit filed by Orange County Catholic Worker and other parties against multiple defendants, we have not yet been served with the lawsuit. We anticipate providing a comment at a later time pending a full review of the allegations. Irvine spokesman Craig Reem declined comment on pending litigation. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, presiding over the 2018 lawsuit against the county and three north O.C. cities, demanded that the riverbed evictions be handled with compassion. He and plaintiff attorneys worked with the multiple parties involved and succeeded in pushing county officials to offer motel vouchers to more than 700 people who were removed from the encampment early last year. Some those displaced received temporary housing in Anaheim and Santa Ana last summer. Before years end and during 2019, new shelters opened or will open in Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and Tustin in response to the civil rights case. Advocates and defendants were close to a settlement of the civil rights case in October. But a vote to approve it was delayed when the Board of Supervisors placed a condition on the plaintiffs, requiring them to bring in the South O.C. cities via another lawsuit, in order to force their hand in housing, according to lawyers. Were responding to that condition now, Sobel said. Supporters said that aid is urgent. As temperatures have dipped and heavy rains have fallen across Southern California this winter, the homeless have been more imperiled. Many have been forced to migrate to other communities with homeless problems of their own. We have shown leadership and now its time for other cities to step up, and especially in South County, said Michele Martinez, a former Santa Ana councilwoman. She cited the increasing numbers of homeless deaths, which rose between 2010 and 2017, with at least one homeless person dying in nearly all of Orange Countys 28 cities. All we are asking for is for everyone to do their fair share, Martinez said. How can you go against that? Ben Brazil, a staff writer for Times OC, contributed to this report. anh.do@latimes.com Twitter: @newsterrier A woman who pleaded no contest to severely beating an elderly man with a brick in Willowbrook last year was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in state prison. The plea by Laquisha Jones, 30, of Los Angeles to a count of elder abuse was part of a deal with prosecutors in December. She also admitted to allegations of using a deadly and dangerous weapon the brick in the attack and that she inflicted great bodily injury on the man. Jones had been charged with attempted murder, but that count was dropped as part of the plea deal, according to prosecutors and Los Angeles County Superior Court records. Prosecutors said Jones attacked the man, who is now 92 years old, without provocation July 4 near 118th and Robin streets. Family members said the man, whom they identified as Rodolfo Rodriguez, was out on his daily walk around the neighborhood when he came across a woman and a girl on the sidewalk. The family members told KTLA that the woman confronted Rodriguez after he bumped into the child. Advertisement Authorities said he was struck with the brick from behind and was left unconscious on the sidewalk, his face bloodied and bruised. He was later treated at a hospital for a broken cheekbone, his family said. After the attack, police searched for multiple suspects and arrested Jones on July 10. Misbel Borjas, who lives near Rodriguez, said she was passing by in a car when she saw Rodriguez walking and trying to pass the woman and girl. Then, Borjas said, she saw the woman push Rodriguez and start to hit him. She was yelling at him, Go back to your country, or Go back to Mexico, Borjas told The Times in July. It was racist. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @Hannahnfry The parents of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who died after being detained for 17 months in North Korea, on Friday directly blamed leader Kim Jong Un for their sons death a day after President Trump said he believed Kims account that he was not responsible. We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out, Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuse or lavish praise can change that. Trump said at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, that Kim felt very badly about Otto Warmbiers death in 2017, several days after being released in a coma from captivity in North Korea. He tells me that he didnt know about it, and I will take him at his word, Trump said, responding to a question from a Washington Post reporter. Advertisement Trump says he still trusts Kim, but needed to walk away from a bad nuclear deal In December, the Warmbier family won a $500-million judgment in federal court against North Korea, with a judge ruling that the Kim regime was responsible for the torture and extrajudicial killing of Otto Warmbier. Warmbier, who was 21, had been detained in Pyongyang after taking part in an organized tour of North Korea. He was accused of taking a propaganda poster. Trump had railed against the Kim regime for its treatment of Warmbier and he invited Warmbiers parents to attend the 2018 State of the Union address as guests of the first lady. I really believe something horrible happened to him, and I really dont think the top leadership knew about it, Trump said in Hanoi this week. I dont believe he would have allowed that to happen. It just wasnt to his advantage to allow that to happen. During their two-day nuclear summit in Hanoi, Trump referred to Kim as my friend in a tweet and praised their relationship. The summit ended early, however, when talks broke down without a deal. Nakamura writes for the Washington Post. Since 2016, the Trump resistance has suggested a number of ways to keep another Donald J. Trump from winning a presidential election. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, for example, argues that Democrats should embrace stronger populist economic policies to inoculate the public against Trumps appeal to unhappy working-class voters. Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen takes another tack; he has introduced more than one bill that would eliminate the electoral college, thereby preventing another candidate from winning the election while losing the popular vote. These arent bad ideas, but theres a simpler and more certain way to reduce the likelihood of a future President Trump: Require candidates to disclose their taxes. Under such a rule, candidates like Trump who, according to Michael Cohen, ran for president to make his brand great, not to make this country great will be much less likely to enter the race. Since Richard Nixon, all presidential candidates except Trump have disclosed their tax returns voluntarily. At first, the president claimed he would release his returns after an audit was completed. Now he says he will fight to keep the returns private even if they are subpoenaed by the Democratic House. Advertisement Forcing public disclosure of taxes for candidates is theoretically easy. There are lots of things that make Trump a bad president. He appeals openly to racism and bigotry. He lies constantly. He hasnt even attempted to learn his job. But the thing that is perhaps most Trumpian about Trump is the apparent corruption. Most presidents put their assets in a blind trust when they assume office to prevent the appearance, or actuality, of self-dealing. Trump refused. After he was elected, Trump doubled the membership fee to $200,000 at his Florida Mar-a-Lago Club; wealthy people who join now know theyll have unique access to the president. A recent lawsuit based on the Constitutions emoluments clause alleges that the president is profiting illegally when foreign dignitaries, who may be trying to curry favor with the government, stay at his hotels. (Trumps financial records have been subpoenaed in the case.) Releasing Trumps taxes would probably embarrass him, and it would clearly irritate him, but it might also threaten him. His latest returns could reveal conflicts of interest and whether he has taken advantage of them. We could discover that he evaded taxes; wed see the limits of his charitable giving. Cohen told Congress Trump worries that he might end up being forced to pay penalties if his taxes are scrutinized. Worst of all from Trumps perspective, we might find out hes not a billionaire. Forcing public disclosure of taxes for candidates is theoretically easy. Congress could pass a law requiring nominees for the presidency to make their tax returns public. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has introduced just such legislation as part of a suite of anti-corruption measures. It would require not only presidential candidates but congressional candidates as well to release years of back tax returns. Warrens bill will never get a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate, and this kind of puritan campaign reform may be hard to push through any Congress. But we dont need to wait on Washington to act in order to require tax returns of presidential candidates. State governments could try to force the issue by making the release of tax returns a prerequisite for candidates to participate in primary elections. New Jersey and California legislatures, among others, have considered such measures, though its unclear whether they could withstand court challenges. Opponents argue that states dont have the ability to impose requirements on federal candidates. Another option would be for the Democratic and Republican parties to take action. Parties have broad discretion in how to handle their nominating process. They already disallow candidates from primary debates who fall below certain polling thresholds, for example. Theres nothing to stop them from requiring candidates to release their tax returns if they want to participate in those face-offs. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute Of course, its difficult to imagine Republicans requiring candidates to release tax returns anytime soon. The presidents popularity with GOP voters means party officials wouldnt challenge Trump in this way. At some point, though, Republicans might well be looking for a way to take their nomination process back from people who are less interested in what they can do for their country than in what campaign exposure can do for their bottom line. The GOP has been particularly beset by those who seem to get into presidential politics for reasons other than public service. Mike Huckabee, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2008 and 2016, has generated income from his celebrity no doubt bolstered by his presidential bids by maintaining an email list, and then selling the contact information of those who sign up for it. Ben Carsons 2016 campaign spent an exorbitant amount of money on direct mail, which led some observers to suspect that Carson or others in the campaign might have had financial ties to the mailers. Forcing candidates to release their taxes puts up a barrier for entry, especially for candidates with a history of tangled and quasi-legal business dealings. Anyone with shady financial endeavors would want to avoid the kind of scrutiny that could follow from disclosing tax documents. By breaking the norm of disclosure, Trump has opened the door for grifters to run for president. We should close it again by making disclosure not just a norm, but also a requirement. Noah Berlatsky is the author of Corruption: American Political Films. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Give credit where it is due: President Trump walked away from a bad deal with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi. He refused to end all U.S. sanctions in exchange for the closure of a single North Korean nuclear facility. But lets not go overboard. His actions were not on a par, as some have suggested, with President Reagans decision to end arms-deal discussions with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev at the Reykjavik summit in 1986, a move that hastened the end of the Cold War. Even in the midst of high-stakes negotiations, Reagan regularly criticized the Soviet Unions egregious record on human rights and its communist ideology, demonstrating a moral leadership that cut to Moscows core. By contrast, since opening a dialogue with Kim, Trump has avoided reference to North Koreas oppression of its people or its totalitarian roots, giving Pyongyangs tyranny a free pass on the world stage. Where Reagan undermined the foundations of Americas greatest enemy in his day, Trump has risked propping up a dangerous adversary, at least rhetorically and other adversaries will take note. Advertisement Where Reagan undermined the foundations of Americas greatest enemy in his day, Trump has risked propping up a dangerous adversary. This administration wasnt always silent on North Koreas true nature. During his first year in office, Trump traveled to South Korea to address the National Assembly, where he spoke of Kims tyranny, fascism and oppression. Similarly, he used his first State of the Union to highlight the depraved character of the North Korean regime. He told the American people about Ji Seong-Ho, a North Korean defector who had been tortured by the authorities, and the young Otto Warmbier, an American citizen who died from his treatment in a North Korean prison. But then the summits began and Trumps honesty ended. Since then, he has avoided mentioning the North Korean regimes brutality or communist dictatorship. Compare this silence to the Reagan administrations frequent and strident criticism of the Soviet Union. Americas 40th president understood that we were locked in a struggle that involved more than terrifying weapons; it was a contest between liberty and tyranny. He also knew that a nations authoritarianism at home was directly linked to its aggression abroad. For Reagan, the defense of freedom was therefore inextricably linked to arms control and peace. This is why Reagan described the Soviet Union as an evil empire and why he went to Moscow itself to call for freedom of thought, freedom of information, freedom of communication. Tellingly, Reagan didnt water down his message while negotiating with Soviet leaders. He knew he could walk away from the table without a deal because his adversary was still on the ideological defensive. North Korea feels no such pressure from Trump today. Even worse, Trumps silence in this moment is a gift to other authoritarian regimes. It gives Russia and China reason to suspect that the United States will walk back its criticism of their domestic oppression and international aggression so long as we need something from them. The consequences will be felt far from the Korean peninsula. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute The failure of the Hanoi summit should rouse the Trump administration to renew its call for freedom and democracy in North Korea. The president must return to the language that he used this time last year. By refocusing attention on Pyongyangs cruel ideology and oppression, he will put renewed pressure on Kim Jong Un and bring new inspiration to the cause of freedom, not just in North Korea, but across Asia and the world. The Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky once said that when Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire, it electrified him and his fellow inmates in the Siberian gulag. That was the moment, he remembered, that really marked the end for them, and the beginning for us. Building on this sentiment, Sharansky told my organization in 2017 that freedom and human rights are asymmetrical weapons for which communists, and all authoritarians, have no defense. The leader of the free world must deploy that arsenal once again. If he does, the comparison between Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan might one day be accurate and earned. Marion Smith is the executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington. To the editor: I highly doubt that President Trump will ever succeed in convincing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear program. Consider another terribly evil dictator, the late Moammar Kadafi. (Sometimes you have to walk: Trumps summit with Kim Jong Un ends without a deal, Feb. 28) President George W. Bush talked Kadafi into eliminating Libyas nuclear weapons program in 2003. Eight years later, under President Obama, the United States and other allied nations attacked Kadafis fleeing vehicle convoy. When Kadafi tried to flee on foot, he was captured and killed by rebel forces. If Kadafi had possessed nuclear arms in October 2011, the U.S. would not have helped overthrow his regime. You can be sure that North Koreas Kim is very aware of this history. From his perspective, it would be a very bad move to surrender the protection his nuclear capability affords him. Who knows what the next U.S. president might do? Advertisement James Willis, Oxnard .. To the editor: What, Trump and Kim cut short their ballyhooed peace talks, dashing hopes of favorable press coverage, if not the Nobel Peace Prize? Not to worry, its just a petty lovers quarrel. Soon enough theyll be back to exchanging beautiful letters that reconfirm how deeply they fell in love last year, as Trump has put it. Dont expect two narcissists to write each other off, not when they both relish the limelight that indulgent media so reliably provide for them. Sarah S. Williams, Santa Barbara Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Darrell Bricker and John Ibbetson state that the United Nations Population Divisions prediction of 11.2 billion people at the end of this century would trigger a crisis that would lead to famine, war and environmental devastation. They counter this dire prediction with data that suggest the global population will stabilize between 8 and 9 billion by 2050 and then start to decline. They seem to believe that the real problem will be how the U.S. and other countries can find a way to replace their missing babies in order to sustain economic growth. The current world population of more than 7 billion has already led to environmental devastation, famines and wars. By focusing on consumption, the authors ignore the additional resources necessary to support 2 billion more people and how obtaining those resources will affect the quality of the air, water and land necessary for all life on our planet. Consumption is not the only meaningful measure of an economy. If a downward fertility trend is truly the future of the world, then wont the countries that can transition first to an economic model that doesnt require population growth be better situated? Advertisement Kim Lewis, Manhattan Beach .. To the editor: Between polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs and the U.N. Population Division, I trust the United Nations, which predicts that 11.2 billion people will burden the Earth at the end of the century, almost 4 billion more than we have today. Bricker and Ibbitson say that this would trigger an overpopulation crisis that could lead to famine, war and environmental devastation. What exactly do we have now? Ipsos interviewed a bunch of people who want smaller families. Saying and doing are two different things, especially with a worldwide shortage of family planning commodities among the poorest of the poor, and with the influence of pernicious religious beliefs and general machismo everywhere. I myself have a vision of perhaps 4 billion educated, healthy, happy people making their own choices on an Earth in balance with nature. Jane Roberts, Redlands The writer is founder of the group 34 Million Friends of the United Nations Population Fund. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: David Lazarus makes some good points about obesity, a major health issue that affects a significant percentage of Americans. Are sugary sodas part of the cause? Absolutely. However, proposals in California to tax them or limit their serving size single out one culprit without addressing others. What about candy, doughnuts, or many drinks at Starbucks? What about other high-calorie foods and all you can eat restaurants? Calories are consumed in many foods and drinks, not just soda. When I was growing up in the 1950s, it seemed no child was obese. There were also no sugar-free versions of sodas, and there were not many low-calorie food alternatives. Advertisement What was the difference then? Kids walked, took physical education classes and were active after school. Today, too many children and adults get virtually no exercise. More taxes are not the answer; more physical activity is. David Powell, Encino .. To the editor: Lazarus column about the Republicans response to proposed soda taxes gets to the heart of the issue. Soda consumption is a pressing public health concern, and taxes are governments best tool to protect the public from greedy beverage corporations. Soda taxes are a matter of health justice. Lazarus correctly notes that obesity rates are higher among African Americans and Latinos, but he doesnt say why. Like Big Tobacco, Big Soda targets low-income neighborhoods and communities of color with predatory advertising. Big Soda should take responsibility for the harms and injustices generated by their products and marketing practices. But since beverage corporations will never put human health ahead of profits, soda taxes are the best solution that our society has on hand. The tax revenue generated must be reinvested in the communities that are targeted by beverage companies. Funding childcare, preschool and access to healthy food in under-served communities are the best ways to counteract regressive taxation. Marice Ashe, Oakland The writer is founder and chief executive of ChangeLab Solutions, a public health advocacy group. .. To the editor: Thanks to Lazarus for his excellent article. Consuming beverages and food and added sugars can lead to a number of health problems, including dental cavities, obesity, diabetes, some cancers and heart disease. A 32-ouce soda contains about 23 teaspoons of sugar. Geeta Sikand, Irvine The writer, a registered dietitian, is the director of nutrition at the UC Irvine Preventive Cardiology Program. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Marcus Scott is looking for a Democratic presidential candidate who will be rude to Donald Trump. Kara LaMarche wants an upbeat, positive approach. Ben Dion wants a nominee with experience and gravitas. Linds Jakows has had it with older white men in power. Those voters, like fellow Democrats across the country, seek very different things in the big and growing presidential candidate field. But they share one top priority: Picking a nominee who will beat President Trump in 2020. For the record: This article states the year then-Vice President Joe Biden debated then-Rep. Paul Ryan as 2016. The debate was in 2012. A year from now, on March 3, 2020, candidates will be competing for primary votes in California and eight other states in the first day of multistate voting. By then, the candidates will have been tested in the four early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, where Democrats already have a curbside seat for the parade of candidates campaigning there. Between now and then, much of the debate seems certain to focus on the elusive quality labeled electability. Advertisement Parties always want to win, of course, but Democratic loathing of Trump has pushed finding a winner way up the priority scale this year, recent polls show. Democratic voters say theyd prefer a candidate who can beat Trump to one who agrees with their position on any particular issue. 2020 candidates: Whos in and whos on the fence? Voters, however, have widely varying views about what electable means in 2020. To some, it is code for a safe, cautious choice a centrist white male who presumably can speak to swing voters. To other Democrats, thats a recipe for killing off excitement within the partys young, diverse, progressive base, which needs to be mobilized to win in 2020. The contrasting ideas about electability will come sharply into focus in the coming weeks if two late entrants to the 2020 race come off the sidelines. If former Rep. Beto ORourke jumps in, the 46-year-old Texan will represent a bid for generational change that could mobilize new voters in a way supporters compare to Barack Obama. If Vice President Joe Biden runs, he will likely lean heavily on the case that his long experience makes the 76-year-old the partys safest bet to win the White House. I believe he is the only person who could take on Trump and beat him, said Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina state senator and longtime Biden backer. Were going to need someone who can motivate the middle-of-the-road voter. Other Democrats believe the party must put up a candidate better equipped than the former vice president to speak to and harness the energy of the younger generation of voters that helped deliver victory to the party in the 2018 midterm elections. I truly believe this great nation is ready for change, said Robyn Joppy, a business consultant who heard Biden speak at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Washington, D.C. I love him. But I think his time has come and gone. How many candidates will be in the field by the time actual voting starts is anybodys guess. For now, 13 have joined the field or formed an exploratory committee. Half are senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. More candidates may soon get in the race, including former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, as well as Biden and ORourke. The candidates are now pouring most of their effort into the four earliest-voting states. They face a daunting challenge when attention turns to California, because its large size gives a leg up to candidates who can afford television advertising. Harris, Sanders and Biden, if he runs, could have an edge because they are already well known in the state. But because Democratic Party rules require all states to distribute their delegates proportionately, no candidate is likely to walk away with a lions share of Californias more than 400 convention delegates, the largest group from any state. Most Democrats are highly confident of their ability to beat Trump in 2020, because of his low approval ratings and the high level of energy in their own ranks. But a recent poll by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican firm, provides a warning against overconfidence on the part of Democrats. Nationally the poll found just 45% of respondents approved of the job Trump was doing. But he fared better 50% approved of him in 12 swing states important to his reelection (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin). Some Democrats are skeptical about assessing candidates electability. Emily Cain, executive director of Emilys List a group that supports female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights notes that detractors called Obama unelectable when he launched his upstart run to become the nations first black president. This is a subjective measure that comes back to, This is a candidate who is not like what I previously experienced, she said. Republicans experience in the 2016 primary was another cautionary tale against forecasting who is electable: Trumps GOP rivals argued vociferously against him on grounds that he would surely lead the party to defeat in the general election. Ive always found that voters generally think that the candidate I agree with most on the issues is the most electable, said Neil Newhouse, a pollster at Public Opinion Strategies who advised Mitt Romneys 2012 presidential campaign. With Democratic activists now focused on electability as a key quality, candidates are trying to hone their arguments. Backers of Sanders and Warren, the two major candidates furthest to the left in the field, for example, believe they can galvanize the partys progressive base while appealing to disaffected voters with their populist message. Sanders, in a CNN town hall interview, said his agenda of guaranteed healthcare, minimum wage increases, and improved education and childcare is a message that will resonate in many of the states that Trump won. Gillibrand, Klobuchar and, if he runs, Brown point to their successes winning rural, red counties in their 2018 Senate re-election campaigns. Ive been able to bring our state together in a way where I bring the red and purple, blue places together, Gillibrand said at a recent New Hampshire campaign event. Harris alludes to her law enforcement background in making the case that she is best suited to taking on Trump: Were going to need a fighter, and were going to need somebody who knows how to prosecute the case against this president, she told supporters in Iowa recently. Interviews with a sampling of voters as multiple candidates campaigned in New Hampshire recently showed Democrats approaching their choice with a wide array of theories about what it will take to beat Trump. Marcus Scott, a lawyer in Nashua, N.H., thinks Democrats will have to fight fire with fire to beat the combative president. You have to be rude to Donald Trump. You have to go down to the street level, he said. He liked the fighting spirit Biden showed when he debated Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2016 an exchange that was widely seen as a win for Biden. Kara LaMarche, a painter from Bedford, N.H., is looking for a younger, more optimistic candidate. She said she was drawn to the positivity of Booker who argues that Democrats should not make the campaign all about attacking Trump and put off by the angry tone she perceives in Warren. I like what she says, but I dont like the way she says it, LaMarche said. She could sing Happy Birthday, and it would sound negative. Some Democrats are drawn to candidates like Biden or ORourke because they seem more likely to reach across party lines. We need a candidate who understands the huge divide we have right now, said Ben Dion, a high school teacher in Manchester, N.H. We need a candidate who can represent everyone and act presidential. But Linds Jakows, a Sanders supporter in 2016, is looking for a candidate more progressive than Biden, but not Sanders this time around. I dont think Biden is a progressive at all, said Jakows, also of Manchester. Bernie needs to let more women and people of color have a chance to make their voices heard. Still other Democrats have a touch of nostalgia for the charisma and inspiration they saw in the last Democrat in the White House. Andrea Carroll, a retired teacher from Salisbury, Mass., who traveled to Portsmouth to see Harris, said the California senator was her No. 1 choice: She reminds me of President Obama. CALIFORNIA COUNTDOWN How Californias early primary illustrates the states political inferiority complex Californias presidential primary: Heres what you need to know In Kamala Harris, a sequel to Ronald Reagan? The latest from Washington A failed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, coupled with blistering testimony by his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, added up to a miserable week for President Trump. What they dont add up to is the kind of silver bullet that many Democratic voters keep wishing for a single blow that would cause Trumps support to suddenly collapse. Indeed, a defining characteristic of Trumps public standing has been stability: Trump entered office as a historically unpopular president and has remained unpopular, but the support he does have has remained tenacious. History suggests that shouldnt surprise us. Advertisement Sign up for the Essential Politics newsletter THE NIXON PRECEDENT The Watergate break-in took place on June 17, 1972. Despite extensive reporting in the Washington Post and elsewhere about links between the burglars and White House aides, President Nixon won reelection in a landslide that November. The five burglars and two accomplices went on trial in January 1973, leading to five guilty pleas and two convictions. Even after the convictions and extensive press coverage of the widening scandal, Nixons public approval remained solid, says professor Charles Franklin of Marquette University in Milwaukee, who directs the schools widely respected polling operations and has extensively studied the survey data on Nixon. Only after two weeks of highly charged testimony on live TV before the Senate Watergate committee in May 1973 did Nixons standing begin to drop. Even then, it declined only to about where Trump has sat for most of the past year approval in the low 40% range. Franklins research highlights another key aspect of Nixons standing: After that initial decline, his approval ratings stayed fairly stable. Dramatic events, including the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox and the resignation of Atty. Gen. Elliot Richardson the so-called Saturday Night Massacre in October 1973 did not cause significant change. Only at the very end, with the release of the smoking gun White House tape on Aug. 5, 1974, did support for Nixon plummet below 30% in some polls. He resigned on Aug. 8, after congressional Republican leaders went to the White House to tell him that he faced all-but certain removal from office. The lesson from that history is that public opinion about presidents generally doesnt shift suddenly, Franklin says. In part, that stability results from the fact that the people who pay the most attention to news and public affairs tend to have the most deeply entrenched views. And thats likely to be even more true now than in the 1970s because of the hyper-polarization that marks our political era. THE COHEN TESTIMONY Trumps former lawyer painted a darkly negative picture of his former boss, calling him a racist and a con man and describing a culture of criminality surrounding him, as Chris Megerian, Del Quentin Wilber and Jennifer Haberkorn wrote. In his testimony to the House Oversight Committee, Cohen cleared up a number of major questions about his role in matters such as negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. This was the opening shot in whats likely to be a yearlong series of public hearings delving into possible corruption and conflicts of interest surrounding Trump. As Megerian wrote, Cohen dropped a trail of bread crumbs for Democrats to follow in delving further into the business dealings of Trump and the people around him. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was particularly effective in using her question time to prompt Cohen to name other current and former Trump associates who could shed light on the topics under investigation. After the hearing, the committee chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), made clear that many of those named likely will soon be summoned to testify. If you missed the hearing, you can catch up on all the highlights with our summary of the live coverage. LITTLE REPUBLICAN DEFENSE During the public hearing, Republicans hammered away at Cohens credibility, as Haberkorn wrote. What they notably did not do was make much effort to defend Trumps character. One Republican member of the committee, Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, did try to rebut the charge of racism, summoning a longtime Trump family retainer, Lynne Patton, who is black, to stand behind him in mute testimony as he insisted that Trump wasnt racist. Other than that, however, the Republicans said little to directly rebut Cohens accusations. BOMBING IN HANOI Trump, in Vietnam to meet with North Koreas Kim, told reporters that he had stayed awake to watch at least part of Cohens testimony despite the 12-hour time difference, and he complained bitterly about the hearing taking place during what he had hoped would be a diplomatic triumph. Just a week ago, Trump was bragging that he should be getting the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. That ceremony will have to wait. The two sides disagree about what, exactly, happened and whos to blame for the summits abrupt end and lack of agreement. As Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, I just dont think maybe either of us were ready. That, of course, is exactly what critics have said for months that Trumps approach of not working out agreements at a lower level, and, instead, trying to conduct high-level negotiations personally, almost guaranteed failure. As Noah Bierman wrote, Trumps I alone can fix it approach has now backfired both internationally and domestically. Some of the same problems that afflicted his summitry especially his refusal to allow others to negotiate for him also contributed to his defeat in the government shutdown fight in December and January. Those same problems also have complicated the administrations trade negotiations with China, in which Trump increasingly appears to be at odds with his top trade official, Robert Lighthizer, as Don Lee wrote. Advocates for a tough stand toward China worry that Trump, increasingly anxious to have a deal to tout after coming up empty with Kim, will give up too much when he meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. That meeting likely will take place at Mar-a-Lago later this month, Trump said Sunday when he announced he was extending his deadline for imposing new tariffs on China. Other major elements of Trumps foreign policy, such as his effort to forge a peace agreement in the Mideast, dont appear to be making much progress, either, Tracy Wilkinson wrote. BULLDOZERS IDLE AT THE BORDER The House passed a resolution Tuesday overturning Trumps emergency declaration to divert funds to build a border wall. As Sarah Wire wrote, the House action was a foregone conclusion given the Democratic majority in the chamber. The real question is whether the Senate will follow suit. So far, three Republican senators have said theyll vote to overturn the emergency order. Assuming all the Democrats stick together, theyd need one more GOP vote for the resolution to pass. On Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee warned Trump to reconsider his order, strongly suggesting he might provide the needed fourth vote when the matter comes to the Senate floor later this month. Of course, Trump has said hell veto the resolution if it passes, and theres little prospect of Congress overturning a veto. But having to cast his first veto would be a defeat for Trump. As David Cloud and Molly OToole wrote, Patrick Shanahan, the acting secretary of Defense, plans to issue the formal certification soon that would allow military money to be used for border fencing. The issue has put Shanahan in a tough spot, since he wants Trump to nominate him for the top Pentagon job, but he also doesnt want to alienate senators who would have to vote to confirm him. Meanwhile, however, as OToole and Molly Hennessey-Fiske reported, all the rhetoric in Washington stands in sharp contrast to the picture on the ground in Texas, where legal confusion over Trumps emergency has stalled any new construction. Were just waiting to hear from Washington, the head of the Border Patrols wall team in the Rio Grande Valley said. Theres nothing going on right now. THE DEMOCRATIC FIELD KEEPS GROWING Jay Inslee is betting he can ride climate change to the White House, Evan Halper wrote. Inslee, the governor of Washington, formally joined the presidential race on Friday. Joe Biden, meantime, inched closer to a launch announcement, saying during an interview in Delaware that his family supported the idea of his running, Janet Hook reported. Several more candidates, including former Rep. Beto ORourke of Texas, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and former Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, are expected to make announcements this month. Facing that big field, a lot of Democrats ask: Who is most electable over Trump? But as Hook wrote, electability means different things to different voters. This weekend marks the start of the one-year countdown to the California primary on March 3, 2020. Mark Barabak looked at Kamala Harris and Ronald Reagan bookend symbols of the changing nature of the Golden State and its politics. Haberkorn looked at how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell uses his control of the chambers agenda to put pressure on the potential Democratic candidates. And Doyle McManus examined Trumps Republican challengers: Theyre in it, but maybe not to win it, he wrote. A CROSS TO BEAR The Supreme Court this week dived back into an issue that has divided the justices and confused lower courts for years: What sort of religious symbols does the 1st Amendment allow on public property? The symbol at issue this time, David Savage wrote, is a large cross erected as a war memorial years ago in Maryland. At oral arguments, a clear majority of the justices seemed ready to allow the Peace Cross to stand. They remained divided on whether to issue a broad ruling that might allow many more religious symbols to be erected in the future. LOGISTICS That wraps up this week. Until next time, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics. Send your comments, suggestions and news tips to politics@latimes.com. If you like this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up. David.lauter@latimes.com @davidlauter Its an anxious loyalty test for acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, whose future at the Pentagon is anything but certain. Sometime in the next few days, Shanahan plans to endorse President Trumps declaration of a national emergency along the southern border, according to people familiar with his thinking. That will free up $3.6 billion in the Pentagon budget for building new sections of border wall and other projects. It likely will also prove costly to Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who hopes Trump will nominate him as a permanent replacement for former Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who quit in December. Failing to go along with Trump could lead the president to nominate someone else. At the same time, Senate Democrats and even some Republicans oppose Trumps efforts to go around Congress to secure money for border barriers. Defense hawks are particularly incensed that he wants to raid military construction money to do so. That could jeopardize Shanahans hopes of taking over the Pentagon permanently. Advertisement Hes in a tough position, said Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which handles Pentagon nominations. Some Democrats say Shanahans willingness to go along with the emergency funding could determine whether they will support him if Trump nominates him for the job. How he approaches this should be very much a part of whether he becomes permanent in that role, said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), one of two Armed Services members representing a southern border state. Whether he is going to be a down-the-line professional secretary of Defense, or if he sees his job to get the president reelected and appeal to his base. Several key senators have said theyre uncomfortable with the precedent Trump is setting by bypassing Congress constitutional power of the purse and using the military to do it. Inhofe, for example, says the situation at the border is a crisis requiring the military, but he doesnt agree that expanding the wall is for the militarys benefit. Shanahan has few qualms about using Pentagon funds along the border, viewing it as legitimate national security mission, according to a person familiar with his thinking who agreed to speak about Shanahans view in return for anonymity. On a visit to the border last Friday, Shanahan tried out a gun used by Border Patrol agents that shoots nonlethal pepper balls an eyebrow-raising display of firepower by a civilian official. He later deployed an additional 1,000 troops to the border, bringing the total, including active-duty and National Guard, to roughly 6,000. Trump called Shanahan a pleasure to work with during a Cabinet meeting last month, noting that he had done a really fantastic job on the border. But Trump has also been considering other candidates for the Defense secretary job. Shanahan has taken his time in announcing that the Pentagon intends to tap military construction funds designated for other projects in order to build the border wall. The deliberate process is meant to reassure lawmakers and head off lawsuits challenging the administration plan. Trump hopes to tap about $6.7 billion for border construction by diverting money from other government accounts. Of that, as much as $3.6 billion would come from military construction, with much of the rest coming from Defense Department counter-drug funds. Pentagon officials have put together an extensive list of planned military construction projects that could be delayed. Most are routine renovations and upgrades to military installations that could be put off without harming military readiness and without upsetting Congress, an official familiar with the list said. The only legal requirement to shift the money is that it must improve troops effectiveness, leaving that call entirely to Shanahans discretion. Pentagon officials have said that a lengthened wall would make troops at the border more effective at halting illegal border crossings and drug-smuggling. But some current and former Pentagon and Homeland Security officials say the president and his acting Defense secretary are on questionable legal ground. The lawyers realize theyre on thin ice here, said Brian McKeon, a Pentagon and National Security Council official under President Obama, and previously a Senate counsel. Theyre using the armed forces and [have] already sent them out there as the predicate to say, See, we need to use this authority, he said. Its not for the purpose of building this wall to protect the soldiers. To delay legal challenges, the White House is planning to exhaust $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds appropriated for counter-drug operations before spending military construction dollars. Military construction projects will not be cancelled, only delayed, and the construction funds will be replenished, administration officials say but that, of course, requires Congress to vote for additional funds. On Tuesday, the Democratic-controlled House passed a resolution, 245 to 182, to override Trumps emergency declaration. The vote in the Senate, which is required next month, is likely to be close.Three Republican senators -- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have said theyll back the resolution. If all of the Senates Democrats vote for it, as expected, only one more GOP defection would send the measure to Trumps desk. Trump, however, has said he would veto the measure if it passes Congress, and the 182 Republicans in the House who already voted against the measure would be more than enough to sustain his veto. Shanahan is planning to brief lawmakers in the coming days about what military construction projects would have to be delayed and how the money would be spent. He has reminded aides and Pentagon officials in private meetings that it is their job to carry out Trumps orders at the border a pointed contrast with Mattis, who seemed unenthusiastic about the operation and many other Trump priorities. Hes said, The president gave us the mission. Were carrying out the mission, and the country doesnt want it any other way, an official said of Shanahan. He doesnt look askance at it. He alone cant fix it: Twice in as many months, at home and now abroad, President Trump has gambled on his self-touted negotiating prowess and lost. The presidents walkout Thursday from his summit in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was in keeping with his abrupt departure from a pivotal meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in January on border security. That earlier impasse didnt end well for him. Congress ultimately rejected his demand for billions to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, his signature campaign promise. Trump suffered in both instances by insisting on his I alone can fix it approach to the nations and the worlds problems. He raised expectations of success in each case and personalized the negotiations, all but dismissing the typical groundwork of advisors both to persuade Kim to halt North Koreas nuclear weapons program and to force Pelosis agreement to a border wall. Trump framed the border wall dispute as a battle of wills between him and Pelosi (D-Calif.), rather than a legislative clash between the administration and Congress over domestic priorities. And instead of giving his negotiators time to hammer out a complex nuclear pact with their counterparts in Pyongyang, or just to tee up preliminary agreements, Trump insisted on having a hastily planned second summit with Kim based on a relationship that he continued to call very strong and very warm even after their talks broke down. Advertisement The president now risks a similar scenario with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In recent days, Trump has all but promised a U.S.-China summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in March, retreating from his tariff threats and raising expectations for a trade deal. While claiming progress in staff-level negotiations, he has told reporters that only he and Xi can settle final issues of intellectual property, technology transfers and market access knotty disputes that have lingered for decades. The failure in Hanoi was just one setback in a brutal week for the president. While Trump relishes televised pomp and ceremony, his summit with Kim was overshadowed when his personal attorney for a decade, Michael Cohen, testified in Congress on Wednesday to new details depicting Trump as a racist, a con man, and a cheat. In a dramatic reveal, Cohen produced a check that he said was reimbursement to him for pre-election hush money to a stripper who alleged a tryst with Trump a check the president wrote after he took office. Cohen also hinted at other legal problems for the president. As Trump flew home from Hanoi on Thursday, new data undercut his repeated boasts that the economy would grow by at least 3% and as much as 6% because of tax and regulation cuts. Government figures showed growth for 2018 stuck at 2.9%, the same rate achieved in President Obamas best year. Like the Kim summit, the developments demonstrated the risks of Trumps go-it-alone dealmaking style and boastful rhetoric. In business, he often operated by intimidating his foes, engaging in brinkmanship to force concessions and then moving on to the next project if things unraveled. In governing, he has found that harder to do. Trumps effort to personalize deals has raised the stakes to levels widely seen as unrealistic. Often, he cant simply walk away; certain legislation, including government spending bills and a pending measure to raise the nations borrowing limit, must be passed into law. And Trumps adversaries have shown a greater willingness to call him on his bluffs both Democrats newly empowered by the House majority they won in November, and foreign leaders no longer so cowed by him. Pelosi, despite a 35-day partial government shutdown that Trump provoked, refused to give him the $5.7 billion he wanted for a border wall. Next he declared a national emergency to circumvent Congress and get the money, trying his luck that federal courts and Republicans in Congress would back him. With some Senate Republicans threatening to join Democrats in opposing the declaration as executive overreach, Trump threatened Thursday in a Fox News interview that they would put themselves at great jeopardy if they cross him. Trumps setbacks lately have been magnified by his own salesmanship. After the presidents first summit with Kim last year in Singapore, he quickly insisted in a memorable tweet, and repeated at political rallies, that the nuclear threat from North Korea was over. He has praised Kim as a strong and effective leader and mused openly about getting a Nobel Peace Prize. Yet just weeks before his second summit, Trumps intelligence officials testified before Congress that North Korea remained actively involved in building its weapons program and was unlikely to relinquish it. He rejected their findings, and proceeded with his summitry. Robert L. Gallucci, a former envoy who led U.S. talks with North Korea in the 1990s, said there were many bad days when he negotiated with his counterparts from the notoriously wily adversary. But they happened largely outside the public glare, at the staff level. For Trump, the breakdown was all his, and Kims, with thousands of reporters from around the world bearing witness. Its not the way were used to doing it, Gallucci said. You dont start with summits. You finish with a summit, and you make sure that all the prep work is done. And then the two big guys presumably come together and sign something. With Thursdays breakdown, Trump said the two countries negotiators will likely return to the table. The problem here, though, is that negotiators for President Trump can reach deals, and then he doesnt approve them, said Joel Wit, another veteran of negotiations with North Korea. He added: Thats a little bit disconcerting, to have that kind of situation. Some foreign policy experts had worried that Trump would strike a bad deal in Hanoi given his eagerness for an achievement. Many, including Galluci, expressed relief when Trump walked away on Thursday. No deal is better than a bad deal, said Sue Mi Terry, who handled Korea issues for the CIA under President George W. Bush. Terry wondered whether Trump, distracted by the Cohen hearing, simply lacked the patience to sit down with Kim for the hours it would take for such a complex negotiation. Others also questioned whether the North Koreans overplayed their hand, perhaps because they read Trumps effusive appeals to Kims greatness as signs of weakness. Privately, they think What can we get out of this guy? said Christopher R. Hill, who led the American side in talks with North Korea in the 2000s. It sure doesnt make them think that they have to make a concession or anything. Quite to the contrary. Times staff writer Eli Stokols in Hanoi contributed to this report. The California Department of Justice paid more than $1.1 million to settle claims with employees who alleged they were sexually harassed or retaliated against by co-workers during the tenure of then-state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris from 2011 to 2017, according to documents obtained by The Times. The cases, which were disclosed this week in response to a California Public Records Act request, come weeks after Harris launched her presidential bid, bringing new scrutiny to her record. The incidents included allegations that DOJ employees sexually harassed and retaliated against co-workers, including claims involving inappropriate touching and cases in which workers felt uncomfortable with the comments and actions of others. Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 2016, did not know about the cases settled by the DOJ until they were brought to her attention by The Times, said her spokesman, Chris Harris. The senator said she takes responsibility for what happened in her office when she was Californias top cop. Advertisement As the chief executive of a department of nearly 5,000 employees, the buck stopped with me, Harris said in a statement. No one should face harassment or intimidation in the workplace, and victims of sexual misconduct should be listened to, believed and protected. Harris said that since her election to the Senate she has made it clear to her staff that she will be involved whenever there is an allegation of misconduct by an employee. In my Senate office, if a harassment complaint is made, it immediately comes to me, Harris said Thursday. No office is immune to misconduct, and there is much more work to do to ensure all are protected. As attorney general, Harris increased the investigative staff of the DOJs Equal Employment Rights and Resolution Office to speed up reviews of worker misconduct complaints, her representative said. Settlements were handled by administrators under Harris who were expected to follow strict policies against harassment, and training was required for all employees. Government experts including former state Finance Director Mike Genest said it is common practice in large agencies for claims to be investigated and settled by managers below the head of the agency. Claims against higher-level managers might be brought to the department heads attention, depending on how he or she wants to be kept informed, he said. If a director wasnt told about it, I would not be suspicious that that was an issue, said Genest, who spent 24 years as a manager in state agencies, including serving as finance director under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of the number of sexual harassment cases, Genest said that any allegations should be a concern but that statistically, that does not seem like a big number. In her first term in the Senate, Harris has been a leading advocate for the #MeToo movement, objecting to President Trumps appointment of Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court on grounds that included allegations of sexual misconduct. Her proposals include the Empower Act, which aims to reduce barriers preventing victims of harassment from speaking out by prohibiting nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses in legal settlements. The financial settlements paid by the state on claims filed during Harris tenure include a previously reported $400,000 payment to settle a 2016 lawsuit involving Larry Wallace, a longtime top aide to Harris who resigned from her Senate staff in December after media reports about the payment. Danielle Hartley, an executive assistant who worked for Wallace, alleged in the suit that he engaged in gender harassment and discriminated against her. A spokeswoman for Harris said in December that the senator was unaware of the allegations against Wallace. Mr. Wallace offered his resignation to the senator and she accepted it, the representative said. The resignation has intensified the focus on Harris time in state and local office. Wallace had been one of Harris closest aides for 14 years, starting in the San Francisco district attorneys office and later in roles at the state DOJ and U.S. Senate, but many of the settlements disclosed were paid out to rank-and-file employees in the DOJs sprawling organization. The largest settlement from Harris time as state attorney general was a $649,500 payment in 2013 to James Rodriguez, who was then a special agent with the DOJ. He claimed that the agency harassed and retaliated against him and failed to take corrective action when he filed complaints about the alleged treatment. Rodriguez said in a lawsuit that he was transferred from coveted jobs, denied pay for out-of-class assignments and faced a meritless internal affairs complaint, and that the department encouraged co-workers to file frivolous complaints against him. Jill Telfer, an attorney who represented Rodriguez, as well as Hartley in the separate case against Wallace, said Harris should have known about the issues. The Division of Law Enforcement for the AGs office always felt they were above the law and may have kept a lid on things, Telfer said. There has been a culture of retaliation against employees who raise concerns of discrimination or harassment. The settlement in the Rodriguez case notes that the DOJ denied all material allegations in the lawsuit, which included any alleged discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and that in resolving the case none of the Parties admit any wrongdoing, liability or fault. Rodriguezs complaints of mistreatment and retaliation date to 2006, when former Gov. Jerry Brown was attorney general. In 2010, before Harris tenure, Rodriguez won $560,709 in damages after a jury determined that the DOJ had failed to take reasonable steps to prevent retaliation or harassment against him. He filed the second lawsuit in 2013, claiming that the DOJ continued to mistreat and retaliate against him for having won the jury award. The following year, office assistant Anacleto Alviar filed a lawsuit claiming he had been sexually harassed at work by a co-worker, legal assistant Dennis Asher. Asher allegedly pulled Alviar into an office in June 2013 and asked him if he was gay. When Alviar said yes, the lawsuit said, Asher allegedly blocked him from leaving, pulled down his pants and placed his penis on Alviars arm and shoulder, asking him to perform sex acts. Alviar said he refused. Alviar alleged in his lawsuit that the agency knew Asher had a propensity to and would engage in tortious behavior, such as sexual harassment but failed to take adequate, preventative action. After he reported the incident months later, Alviar said in the lawsuit, the DOJ told him not to work on holidays or weekends when others were not present and did not separate him from Asher in the workplace. In a November 2014 response to the lawsuit, the agency said that Alviar did not report the incident to anyone at DOJ until some three months after and asserted that an employer is not liable for a single incident of sexual harassment by a nonsupervisory employee. The state Department of Justice agreed to settle with Alviar for $90,000 in November 2015. Neither the agency nor Asher admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement. Asher resigned voluntarily in August 2014 under unfavorable circumstances, according to a letter from the attorney generals office that was included in the settlement documents. The letter noted that Asher had been notified of disciplinary action related to, among other things, unlawful discrimination, including harassment. In January 2015, Asher received a $65,000 settlement after appealing a disciplinary action against him. An attorney who represented Asher in the settlement agreement declined to comment. Alviar is still employed by the DOJ. In 2016, office technician Charlene Corral filed a lawsuit claiming that she was subjected to unwanted touching, sexual comments and other advances by her supervisor, James Biscailuz, between May and July of 2014. Corral alleged that after she complained in August of that year, Biscailuz continued to intimidate her even after she transferred to another bureau at the DOJ. In March 2015, then-Deputy Atty. Gen. Nathan Barankin notified Corral that her allegations were founded and referred the matter to a human resources manager and Wallace, then director of the DOJs Division of Law Enforcement, for appropriate personnel action. The 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit against Wallace indicates that Hartley complained to one of her managers about Wallaces alleged discrimination of her before Corrals claims were forwarded to Wallace for review. Wallace could not be reached by The Times for comment. Barankin, who later became Harris chief of staff in the Senate and left in December to serve as a senior advisor for a political action committee supporting her presidential bid, did not respond to a request for comment. Hartleys lawsuit against Wallace included an allegation that he placed his office printer on the floor under his desk and ordered Hartley to replace the paper or ink frequently, forcing her to get down on her knees while wearing dresses and skirts. The lawsuit was settled after Harris was sworn in to the U.S. Senate and Wallace joined her district staff in Sacramento. Corral received a $7,500 settlement payment in 2017. She and Biscailuz still work for the DOJ in separate bureaus. Biscailuz and the DOJ denied any wrongdoing. Other settlements disclosed by the Department of Justice included $5,000 paid out to an employee who appealed a decision in a workplace issue and $13,650 paid to another person who made wage-related claims. Political experts say that in an era of increased attention to sexual harassment and misconduct, candidates for president will be put under a microscope over the issue, and any questions about handling complaints could become a political liability. So far, the allegations involving Wallace have not proved to be a major stumbling block for Harris, whose campaign rollout has been marked by packed rallies and robust media coverage. Democratic voters in the presidential race are likely to be primarily concerned with finding the candidate best able to unseat President Trump, said Charles Anthony Smith, political science professor at UC Irvine. If I am a voter, I may come to the conclusion that large organizations have people that do bad things in them and the best you can do is try to solve it once you are aware of it, and if you are not doing the bad behavior we may not hold you responsible for it, Smith said. Bacon and eggs were served Wednesday morning with a slice of sobriety and a dash of hope during this years State of the Schools Breakfast, sponsored by the Burbank Educational Foundation at the Castaway restaurant. Burbank Unified Supt. Matt Hill spent a healthy portion of the get-together outlining the districts financial status and options to be considered in the wake of a $3.5-million structural deficit. Rising pension costs, the defeat of the districts proposed parcel tax known as Measure QS among voters in November, low state funding, and a qualified budget certification filed in December stating the district might not be able to meet its financial obligations for the 2020-21 school year led Hill and district staff to propose several cuts in January. Some reductions included district staff and teacher layoffs, including three elementary school music instructors. The feedback we received from Measure QS was a lot of people didnt understand our budget situation, Hill said. Today, I felt it was important to be direct and simple about This is where we are, and this how we got here, he added. Some of the financial solutions Hill called for were the maximization of restricted funds and state grants, another proposed parcel tax to go before voters in 2020 and cutbacks that will hopefully be tempered by community donations. Burbank Unified Supt. Matt Hill told an audience at Wednesday mornings Burbank Educational Foundation breakfast at Castaway restaurant that we make a $500 donation if he saw at least five hands raised from people also agreeing to make a charitable Roberta Reynolds, school board president, also called on the Burbank community to visit the website ed100.org to learn more about state funding. We must continue to expand and overcome the underinvestment in public education, Reynolds said. We must also recruit new partners to join. It is simply not acceptable for California to be ranked 41st out of all states in per-student spending, she added. While the main message centered on educational needs, there was also a celebration of the districts career-technical training, a surprise performance by Burbank High Schools band, drumline and cheerleaders and a $10,000 matching grant from Warner Bros. Some of the most robust applause came after Ana Connell, the foundations vice president, announced the organizations fundraising campaign, called Partnering for Success All in for Burbank, had raised $82,000 since its inception in November. Cheerleaders made an appearance at the breakfast. Those are primarily small donors, so this has been a huge, huge commitment from our community, and were continuing to ask, Connell said. That total, along with a $100,000 grant made Feb. 13 by the Burbank Arts for All Foundation, led Hill to announce he will not eliminate two of the three music positions under consideration for layoffs. We need about $90,000 more to be able to restore that last music teacher, Hill said. On top of that, if we raise another $50,000, we dont have to reduce two to three college and career courses. The foundations fundraising total came with a bonus, as Connell announced Warner Bros. committed to give a $10,000 contribution by matching donations from individuals. Donations can be made at befgives.org. Burbank Highs band made an appearance at the breakfast. Hill wasted no time to personally offer a $500 donation, though he said he wouldnt make that commitment unless at least five breakfast attendees also made a charitable contribution. Between eight and nine people raised their hands to meet Hills challenge and make donations. Hill also noted that financially strong districts dont just produce better students but provide more help for teachers. The superintendent said hes fought against feedback that teachers were overpaid or only worked 10 months a year, which also drew a rebuttal from Diana Abasta, president of the Burbank Teachers Assn. The truth of the matter is if you dont work in the summer, you dont get paid, Abasta said of teachers. Were not eligible for employment benefits, so most teachers, including myself, work every summer. Rent is quite high in Burbank, and Im not driving a fancy car. You can find my 2004 [Chevy] Malibu in the parking lot, she added. andrew.campa@latimes.com Twitter @campadresports A special election to fill a recently vacated seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors has led to six-figure spending by campaigns and political action committees, election records show. Seven candidates have qualified for the March 12 ballot to replace former Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who was elected district attorney in November, but three candidates have generated the most interest from donors: Irvine Mayor Don Wagner, former U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez and Anaheim City Councilwoman Kris Murray. Although county seats are non-partisan, the individuals or organizations spending money to support a candidate signal their legislative agendas. Wagner, for example, is supported by Engage OC, a political action committee. On Feb.14, Engage OC received a $49,000 contribution from Friends of the Great Park PAC. Public records show that Five Point Holdings LLC, the parent company for the Orange County Great Parks developer, contributed $150,000 late last year to the Friends of the Great Park PAC. Engage OC has spent more than $55,000 on cable advertising, mailers and digital content to help elect Wagner. I am very happy to have a lot of support from a lot of people around the county for my vision of limited, effective government and local control that Ive articulated throughout the campaign, Wagner, a Republican, wrote in a statement. Engage OC Treasurer Kelly Lawler said Wednesday she would forward a request for comment to committee chairman Bill Christiansen, vice president of government relations for the Apartment Asn. of Orange County, but the call was not returned. Christiansen didnt respond to call to his office Thursday. Fred Smoller, an associate professor of political science at Chapman University, said Five Point Holdings indirect investment in Wagners candidacy via the Friends of the Great Park PAC speaks volumes about the companys desire to have a friend on the five-person panel that controls development on unincorporated land. They very much want him on the Board of Supervisors, Smoller said. In a statement, Sanchez, a Democrat, shared her frustration that thousands of dollars are being independently spent through a labyrinth of political action committees to defeat her. Its a shame to see wealthy special interests bankroll candidates like Don Wagner, she wrote. My hope is to see every candidate more accountable to the working people of Orange County. After an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2016, Sanchez is seeking a return to public office and is seeing more money spent in support of her than any other candidate. The Orange County Employees Assn. Independent Expenditure Committee, controlled by the largest public employee union in Orange County, has spent more than $120,000 to help elect Sanchez. After serving Orange County as our congresswoman, Loretta is the only candidate with more than 20 years of experience fighting to increase access to health care and mental health services, job retraining programs and affordable college education, OCEA General Manager Charles Barfield said. The Orange County Attorneys Assn. PAC, which represents district attorneys and public defenders, has also spent $52,000 on mailers to support Sanchez. The association did not respond to a request for comment. I am proud to have the support of organizations like the Orange County Employees Assn., which represents working, everyday people in Orange County, Sanchez wrote in a statement. North Orange County voters narrowly elected Doug Chaffee to the Board of Supervisors in November, making him the first Democrat on the panel in 12 years. The prospect of a second Democratic supervisor is further evidence that the once-red county is turning purple, Smoller said. In 1990, Orange County Republicans had a 22 point registration advantage over the Democrats, but that advantage is now 0.5%, Smoller said. But Wagners base appears to be digging in to fight for every vote. According to his election committees filings, donors have given at least $36,750 to his war chest in the last week. Murray has also picked up contributions from the influential Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Orange County Business Councils Biz Pac, the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, and the California Real Estate PAC. Shes also taken donations from several local construction trade unions. According to public records, Murray raised about $20,000 in February. Murray wrote in a statement that shes focused on the needs and issues most important to residents of the 3rd Supervisorial District. I am not financed or tethered to either political party or special interests, she said. My campaign is financed by hundreds of individual donations by residents, small businesses and county stakeholders. I am proud to have a coalition that includes business, labor, housing and the oldest neighborhood associations it shows the breadth and diversity of my support in this race. Newport Beach philanthropist Howard Ahmanson Jr., who is known for supporting Christian conservative causes, has also independently spent more than $50,000 on web and print advertising to defeat Murray. Unlike her opponents, Murray has not benefited from any independent expenditures during her campaign. The other candidates for supervisor include attorney Katie Hoang Bayliss, former county employee Larry Bales, former Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly and small businesswoman Katherine Daigle. As of Thursday, none of them have been as financially competitive as the three frontrunners. Special elections favor older, more conservative voters who tend to vote for Republicans, Smoller said. But with a population and budget larger than some states, Orange Countys supervisor races are hugely consequential. Its a very small group so it matters, Smoller said. I dont think youll ever see something like five people governing 3.1 million people. That makes any race of the Board of Supervisors very, very important. Daniel Langhorne is a contributor to Times Community News. A Corona del Mar husband and wife and two doctors face insurance fraud charges on allegations of misleading insurers and illegally paying intermediaries to recruit patients at a Costa Mesa medical clinic, the Orange County district attorneys office said Friday. The four are accused of trying to defraud multiple insurance providers of nearly $3 million, according to the district attorneys office. Ronald Lee Martin, 68, and Veronica Martin, 63, Jeffrey Scott Catanzarite, 59, of Irvine and Max Humberto Matos, 78, of Long Beach were charged with 34 felony counts each of committing and conspiring to commit insurance fraud as well as three additional felony counts and one misdemeanor related to referrals of patients for compensation, court records show. All the charges relate to alleged crimes between March 2012 and December 2014, court records show. The defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts Feb. 19, according to court records. Catanzarite, a licensed chiropractor, owned and operated the medical group Center for Better Health, which had a Costa Mesa location called Southland Spine and Rehabilitation Center, where Matos, an orthopedist, was the treating physician, according to the district attorneys office. Prosecutors say the four defendants contracted cappers to obtain patients, at one point paying a rate of $1,000 per referral per week, according to court documents. Between 2011 and 2017, Catanzarite employed Veronica and Ronald Martin through their company, Priority OneHealth Resources, to do marketing for the medical group, which also operated a clinic in Riverside, according to court documents. Prosecutors say Catanzarite and the Martins contracted companies that they would compensate to provide patients for which the medical group would bill insurers. The three tracked and confirmed each referral as well as the billing status of referrals through emails and spreadsheets, according to court documents. Catanzarite submitted claims to workers compensation insurance carriers and failed to disclose his unlawful procurement of patients, the district attorneys office said in its complaint. As of Friday, Catanzarites and Matos medical licenses remained in good standing, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs. If convicted, each defendant could face a maximum sentence of 43 years and eight months in state prison, according to the district attorneys office. All defendants are free on $200,000 bail and are scheduled back in court May 21. After two years of research, a panel led by a UC Irvine professor released recommendations Thursday that it said could reduce childhood poverty in the United States by up to half in 10 years. The 598-page report, requested by Congress in December 2015, focuses on the causes of childhood poverty as opposed to the result of it. It details four potential packages the committee said would likely lower the percentage of children in poverty. Each package focuses on different combinations of individual and collective programs drafted by the panel. The programs focus on factors in alleviating poverty, such as employment, expansion of tax credits and expansion of food-purchasing assistance and other government programs. Two options the work-oriented package and the work and universal support package missed the 50% reduction goal. [The work-oriented package] reduced poverty by about 19% instead of the full 50%, although at the same time, cost relatively little [about $8.7 billion annually], said Greg Duncan, a UCI professor of education who chaired the committee appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. But the answer to whether we can achieve dramatic reductions in child poverty using only work-oriented programs appears to be no. The work and universal support package would add to that by combining expansions of the earned income and child care tax credit with a $2,000 allowance meant to replace the latter. It would achieve a 36% reduction in poverty and 41% in deep poverty and cost about $44.5 billion a year, the panel said. The remaining two programs the means-tested supports and work package and the universal supports and work package would meet the 50% poverty reduction rate and cost an estimated $90.7 billion and $108.8 billion a year, respectively, the group said. The means-tested supports and work package would expand on the tax credits in the first two programs in addition to expanding food-purchasing benefits and housing vouchers. Along with reaching the poverty goal, it is projected to increase the number of low-income working adults by about 400,000. The universal supports and work package similarly expands the two tax credits but adds the child allowance, a child support assurance program, an increased minimum wage and elimination of eligibility restrictions on welfare programs for legal immigrants. It is projected to boost employment by more than 600,000. Cost estimates for the packages were calculated using a simulation based on a representative sample of about 100,000 U.S. households, Duncan said. The simulation tests policy proposals by identifying households that are eligible for the additional benefits, then calculating whether the benefits would push them above the poverty line. The simulation also calculates the amount of benefits received and adds up the collective cost. The panel didnt recommend any package in particular, Duncan said. It was tasked principally with providing ideas on how to approach poverty. Details such as how to fund and implement each proposal are up to policy makers, Duncan said. Weve developed a road map a set of options for policy makers and the public they serve to review, analyze and decide what kind of legislation they want to enact, Duncan said. Acting on this reports conclusions and recommendations will not only accomplish dramatic reductions in child poverty but also build a healthier and more prosperous nation. The National Center for Children in Poverty says that about 41% of American children lived in low-income households in 2016 and an estimated 19% were considered poor. In Orange County, an estimated 24.3% of children live in or near poverty, according to a report last year by the Public Policy Institute of California. Gregory Scott, president of the Community Action Partnership of Orange County, a nonprofit that works to prevent and eliminate poverty, said he believes the panel and its recommendations are on the right track because they acknowledge that multiple factors contribute to poverty rather than focusing on single components like low wages or food disparity. When youre in poverty as a child, just the lack of basic necessities food, affordable healthcare, living in substandard housing all those things contribute to a cycle of poverty, Scott said. If you dont begin to deal with all three generations [of a family], then that cycle will continue. Estimates of the cost of childhood poverty to the nation range from $800 billion to $1.1 trillion annually, which Duncan said are derived from factors such as a reduced labor market, higher healthcare expenses and increased interaction with the justice system. All those things cost money, he said. Thinking about the $8.7 billion to the $108.8 billion, you have to keep in mind how much poverty is costing the nation every year. A Colorado man will be transferred to Orange County to face charges in connection with the 1973 slaying of 11-year-old Linda Ann OKeefe of Newport Beach. James Alan Neal, 72, will face accusations that he sexually assaulted and strangled Linda, who disappeared July 6, 1973, as she walked home from summer school at what was then Lincoln Intermediate now Lincoln Elementary in Corona del Mar. Her body was found the next day in Newport Beachs Back Bay. Neal, of Monument, Colo., waived his right to an extradition hearing Thursday in the El Paso County courthouse in Colorado Springs, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported. Linda Ann OKeefe, 11, disappeared July 6, 1973, while walking home from summer school in Corona del Mar. Her body was found a day later in Newport Beachs Back Bay, police said. (File Photo) At the time of the killing, Neal lived in Orange County under the name James Albert Layton Jr. After the slaying he moved to Florida and changed his name after an incident there, authorities said. Records indicate he moved to Monument in 2016 with his wife and her daughters family, the Gazette reported. Authorities used the genealogical website FamilyTreeDNA to link Neal to DNA evidence found on Lindas body. Daily Pilot staff contributed to this report. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District is committed to excellence in our schools. We are clearly cognizant of current California legislation that supports the establishment of charter schools. As a board, we are aligned in our commitment that all schools in our district must be outstanding schools. We are open to the idea of adding a charter school in our district, but only an excellent charter. Charter schools work best when they serve a need that is not being met in a school district or where local schools are failing. This is not the case in Newport-Mesa. Even in areas with high concentrations of English-language learners, our schools have targeted programs in place to meet the needs of these students; and we are experiencing gains in academic achievement. In September 2018, the International School for Science and Culture (ISAAC) petitioned to be an approved charter in our district. This charter did not come from within the Newport-Mesa community, but instead was initiated by an outside group. This outside group had already presented the same charter (with a different name) that had been denied three times in another district. In October, a public hearing was held in our board room that demonstrated virtually no local interest in or support for ISAAC. After much evaluation and review, our board determined that this charter is not consistent with sound educational practices, based on factual findings. Among others, these findings include that the charter makes faulty assumptions, presents an unsound educational program for pupils to be enrolled, is highly unlikely to successfully implement the program set forth, and presents unrealistic and unsustainable budgetary projections. In December, ISAAC appealed the NMUSD denial to the Orange County Board of Education (OCBE). On Feb. 13, the OCBE agreed to an extension for ISAAC to address the countys perceived weaknesses, which are numerous. Unfortunately, it became clear to those of us in attendance at this meeting that the Orange County school board is unwilling to look closely at the quality of ISAAC. Two of the board members present at the February meeting wanted to approve the charter that day as presented, even with the flaws pointed out by their own county staff. These pro-charter board members are openly vocal about approving any charter school that comes their way. One of the most unfortunate situations of the day was that the OCBE was unwilling to allow comments from any Newport-Mesa concerned citizens. Approval of an unsuccessful charter will put our district and our students at risk, as well as our taxpayers who fund our local schools. If this charter is approved on March 6, the OCBE will indemnify the county so as not to be financially liable. It is NMUSD that will be left to foot the bill. We should all be alarmed at this academically and financially flawed charter being approved. A failed charter would most likely put future charter applications at risk. The Orange County Board of Education should be encouraged to make the right decision for our community, and not be driven by politically and ideologically motivated reasons. We are elected guardians of taxpayer dollars and take that responsibility seriously. We hope the OCBE will take its responsibility seriously when they make a decision impacting our local community and our local taxpayer dollars. Ashley Anderson, Michelle Barto, Dana Black, Martha Fluor, Charlene Metoyer, Vicki Snell and Karen Yelsey are members of the Newport-Mesa school board. Wearing a Make America Great Again cap that was perhaps the same one he donned while visiting President Trump, welterweight Colby Covington stormed a fighters public workout Thursday and demanded a title shot. Covington, who was bypassed for a welterweight-title shot against champion Tyron Woodley by Kamaru Usman for UFC 235, threatened that if he isnt assigned to fight Saturdays winner for the title, hell ask for his release and join a different mixed martial arts company. I better be next or Im going somewhere else. Its title next, or Im out of the UFC, Covington said. He estimated 80% of the fans wanted me to fight. They didnt want to see Usman. This is corruption from the UFC, the Clovis, Calif.-born Covington, 31, told reporters after being escorted away from Usmans workout at the MGM Grand by UFC security guards. Advertisement The top-ranked welterweight contender, Covington (14-1) said he was informed by UFC leadership that since he didnt take a title shot against Woodley in September after undergoing nasal surgery for a deviated septum I couldnt breathe, he explained he wasnt eligible to fight Woodley on Saturday. When opportunities pop up, take em, answer the door, UFC President Dana White told MMA Junkie last month in regard to Covington. Sign up for our daily sports newsletter Covington alleges that the move was orchestrated by Usmans manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who represents lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt. I couldve been ready for December, I couldve been ready in November. Im ready now, Covington told the Los Angeles Times. All of a sudden, I get switched with Usman? This is all [about] Ali and the pull he has with Khabib. Its corruption. Theres corruption with the UFC. It all has to do with Ali having Usman and leverage with Khabib. lance.pugmire@latimes.com Twitter: @latimespugmire The Dodgers tie the Colorado Rockies 7-7 on Thursday. They are 4-1 in Cactus League games. AT THE PLATE: A.J. Pollock led off the first inning with a single to center field and took third on Justin Turners double to right. Max Muncy drove in Pollock and advanced Turner to third with a groundout to first, and Cody Bellinger followed with a sacrifice fly to center. Turner added a single in the third and is five for six (.833) in the spring. Bellinger, slowed earlier in camp by a sore back, hit a towering two-run homer to center to tie the score 5-5 in the fifth. Matt Beatys sacrifice fly in the eighth tied the score 7-7. ON THE MOUND: Rich Hill gave up two unearned runs and two hits in 2 1/3 innings, striking out two and walking none, and he was pleased with his fastball and curve. Overall, the left-hander said, it was a really good day. Reliever Joe Kelly had a rocky spring debut, giving up one run and one hit, walking two and throwing two wild pitches in the fourth inning. Left-hander Tony Cingrani gave up one hit and struck out two in a scoreless sixth, and right-hander Josh Fields struck out one in a hitless seventh. J.T. Chargois gave up a two-run homer to Colton Welker in the eighth. EXTRA BASES: The Dodgers executed two perfect cutoff-and-relay plays, with first baseman David Freese cutting Bellingers throw from right and throwing out Ian Desmond at second in the first inning and third baseman Turner cutting Paulo Orlandos throw from left and throwing out Brendan Rodgers at second in the third. Those little things keep runners at bay and keep the double play in order, manager Dave Roberts said. Were stressing that and to the credit of our players, they understand the importance of it. After throwing live batting practice on Thursday, closer Kenley Jansen said he will pitch in his first spring game Sunday. Advertisement UP NEXT: The Dodgers will play San Diego at Camelback Ranch and Cleveland at Goodyear Park in split-squad games at 6 p.m. PST on Friday. Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu is scheduled to start against the Padres. Right-hander Ross Stripling is scheduled to start against the Indians. TV: SportsNet LA (vs. San Diego). Sign up for our daily sports newsletter mike.digiovanna@latimes.com @MikeDiGiovanna The window for travel on this fare to Rome precedes Holy Week and Easter. Still, to see the Eternal City in spring or any time for this fare is rare. Note that these are nonstop. Fare: From LAX to Rome, $380 round trip, including all taxes and fees, on Norwegian Restrictions: Subject to availability. For travel March 26-April 8. You may have one carry-on that weighs no more than 22 pounds. The next fare tier includes checked and carry-on bags, seat selection and meals for a round-trip price of $560. Info: Norwegian, (800) 357-4159 Advertisement Source: Airfarewatchdog travel@latimes.com @latimestravel The landmark Hotel del Coronado in Coronado on San Diego Bay will be getting spiffed up over the next few years. The Victorian gem that turned 130 last year will gain a conference center, more than 140 new rooms, upgraded dining areas and reimagined outdoor areas. Construction has started on the $200-million upgrade, which is expected to be completed in 2021. An artists rendering of the new conference center, which will hold 800 to 1,000 guests. (Hotel del Coronado) The hotel plans to add a conference center and 142 rooms on the south side of the resort, each room offering ocean, bay or pool views. Suites with adjoining rooms will feature kitchens and indoor-outdoor gathering spaces. (These will be sold as condominiums.) In addition, existing Cabana rooms will be redesigned, and fire pits and cabanas will be added. Advertisement The additions bring the total number of rooms to 898. New dining options will include Serea, featuring Mediterranean-style seafood and meats developed by executive chef JoJo Ruiz, who heads up Lionfish at the Pendry San Diego. Its set to open this summer. The hotels Sun Deck will feature a new 360-degree bar and kitchen, connected to a new main pool with cabanas and daybeds. Upgraded cabana areas of the Hotel del Coroando. (artists rendering) (Hotel del Coronado) Other changes include putting most of the parking underground and restoring a front entry and porch with two sets of stairs at the main entrance. What a restored entrance to the Hotel del Coronado will look like (artists rendering). (Hotel del Coronado) The Hotel Del also plans to restore some of its oldest buildings, including the Ice House, which will become a gallery that tells the hotels history. This isnt the first time the grand hotel has created more luxury rooms. In 2007, it added Beach Village at the Del, a collection of 97 beach-side lodgings that range from one- to two-bedrooms. Each has a fireplace, marble bathroom, and patio or balcony. travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Pakistani officials handed over a captured Indian pilot to a border crossing with India on Friday in a gesture of peace promised by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan amid a dramatic escalation with the countrys archrival over the disputed region of Kashmir. The pilot, identified as Wing Cmdr. Abhinandan Varthaman, was taken in a convoy that set out from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the border crossing at Wagah earlier in the day, escorted by military vehicles with soldiers, their weapons drawn. The Pakistani military has said his plane was downed on the Pakistani-held side of Kashmir on Wednesday. Varthaman was accompanied to the border by the International Committee of the Red Cross. His handover took several hours as a roster of procedures were completed including a medical checkup to verify his health and condition before being handed over to his countrymen. Advertisement In a video message aired on Pakistani television channels, Varthaman was seen in his green flight suit saying he was rescued by two Pakistani military personnel when he ejected and found himself in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir surrounded by a small mob of seemingly angry residents. It wasnt clear when he recorded this statement, but it was clearly while he was in the custody of the Pakistan military. On the Indian side of the border Indian policemen and military personnel greeted Varthaman, who was dressed in civilian clothes, wearing a blue blazer and gray dress pants. How WhatsApp is battling misinformation in India, where fake news is part of our culture Earlier in the day the road on the Indian side of the border was lined with well-wishers. But by the time Varthaman crossed around 9 p.m. local time, most people had dispersed. The handover came against the backdrop of blistering cross-border attacks across the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that continued for a fourth straight day, even as the two nuclear-armed neighbors sought to defuse their most serious confrontation in two decades. Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the Kashmir boundary known as the Line of Control, in one of the worlds most volatile regions. Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday carrying out what India called a preemptive strike against militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft Wednesday and capturing the pilot. Since the escalation, world leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent. President Trump in Hanoi on Thursday said he had been involved in seeking to de-escalate the conflict. Khan, the Pakistani premier, told lawmakers on Thursday, We are releasing the Indian pilot as a goodwill gesture tomorrow. But India made it clear that the latest escalation has changed its strategy and that going forward it will strike, including inside Pakistan, if it receives intelligence of an attack in the planning. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier Thursday warned that Indias enemies are conspiring to create instability in the country through terror attacks. Also Friday, Pakistans civil aviation authority partially reopened the countrys airspace, allowing travel to four major cities, another sign tensions with archrival India were de-escalating. The agency issued a statement saying all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. It said other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, will remain closed until March 4. Islamabad closed its air space on Wednesday after saying that Pakistans military shot down two Indian warplanes and captured the Indian pilot. The closures snarled air traffic. Residents of the Pakistani border town of Chikhoti reported heavy shelling overnight and Friday morning. More than 200 people had fled to a military-organized camp about 16 miles away from the border. Police in the Indian-controlled Kashmir said one man was wounded and at least two civilian homes were damaged in the cross-border shelling. Kashmir has been divided but claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after the two countries creation in 1947. They have fought three wars, two directly over the disputed region. At least 25 people were killed after a massive explosion rocked Somalias capital of Mogadishu on Thursday, a police officer told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Police were among the victims, officer Ali Hassan Kulmiye said, adding that a truck bomb had gone off in the evening near an upmarket hotel frequented by government officials. A second blast was heard about an hour after the first, and police said the death toll could rise. SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant activity, said the Islamist group Shabab had claimed responsibility. Advertisement We are still trying to establish more about this large-scale attack, Somali police officer Ahmed Bashane said. But I think the militants were targeting popular hotels in the area. The situation is very chaotic, he added. We suspect there are other cars laden with explosive devices hiding in the area. Hours after the attack, gunfire could still be heard, and Bashane said some militants were still in the area. The explosion in Somalias capital caused destruction to businesses around the busy Maka al Mukarama road, with some of them on fire. Sporadic gunfire could be heard in the area following the blast. The explosion was so large that it could be felt about five miles away, according to a Deutsche Presse-Agentur reporter in Mogadishu. Vehicles were destroyed and debris struck power lines, setting off electrical explosions and shattering windows of nearby buildings, the reporter said. Shabab, a group affiliated with the Al Qaeda terrorist network, launches regular attacks against government officials, foreigners, hotels and restaurants in the volatile Horn of Africa nation. In 2017, more than 500 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives in Mogadishu in the groups deadliest attack. Vietnam had less than three weeks to prepare to host a major summit, one involving two of the worlds most unpredictable heads of state, thousands of foreign journalists, road closures in the heart of a pell-mell capital and millions of dollars in costs. Even though President Trumps second meeting with Kim Jong Un ended without an agreement on curbing North Koreas nuclear program or even a handshake for the cameras, the consensus in Hanoi was clear. It was totally worth it. The summit broke down, but there was at least one big winner, which is Vietnam, said Alexander Vuving, an associate professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. Advertisement It provided a great opportunity for the Hanoi government to put forth Vietnam as a country, to advertise its beauty and hospitality, and to validate their economic reform model and foreign policy direction, Vuving said. For a one-party, Communist-led republic less than half a century removed from a bitter war with the U.S., hosting the summit placed Vietnam back in the global spotlight this time as an emerging, capitalist-oriented economy and member in good standing of the community of nations. Its charmingly preserved colonial heritage provided an elegant backdrop to the high-stakes diplomacy. Hanois most famous hotel, the whitewashed Metropole, with its Parisian-style boutiques and polished hardwood, was the venue where Trump and Kim met, dined and posed for photos but ultimately walked away from each other. And its modernizing economy, epitomized by the gleaming new five-star hotels that housed the Trump and Kim delegations, was held up by the U.S. as a model for what North Korea could become if it abandoned its nuclear program and ended its international isolation. We both felt very good about having this very important summit in Vietnam because you really are an example of what can happen with good thinking, Trump told Vietnamese leaders before he sat down with Kim on Wednesday. Whereas Singapore, which hosted the first Trump-Kim summit last June, is a rigidly controlled island state known for ruthless efficiency, Vietnams authoritarian tendencies are challenged by its hectic urban life. In Hanoi, a city of 8 million, cars and scooters swerve around pedestrians while cafe patrons spill onto sidewalks, slurping noodles or sipping beer from low plastic stools. Yet the summit went off with few logistical headaches and mostly unobtrusive security measures. Green-clad police officers politely guarded the metal barricades on the street leading to Kims hotel. Vietnamese posed for selfies with armored personnel carriers parked outside the infamous Hoa Lo prison, dubbed the Hanoi Hilton, where John McCain was tortured as a prisoner of war. Within a short time, we have organized the summit with absolute security and safety, and welcomed leaders of the two countries and international reporters warmly, Mai Tien Dung, a senior government official, said Friday. Diplomats in Hanoi estimated that Vietnam spent more than $10 million to host the summit, and probably picked up the tab for housing Kims delegation at the five-star Melia hotel. But officials were not sweating the bill. Dung told reporters that while the total costs are yet to be compiled, I believe it was not much. Experts said the summit would bolster Vietnams stature as it prepares to hold the rotating chair of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations in 2020 and bids for a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. When Vietnam has hosted other high-profile diplomatic meetings, such as the World Economic Forum last year, discussions of human rights have sometimes become awkward. Vietnam has no opposition political parties, dissidents are routinely jailed, and a 2017 State Department human rights report cited torture, arbitrary arrests and restrictions on speech as persistent problems. Unlike President Obama, who prodded Vietnam to expand democratic freedoms when he visited Hanoi in 2016, Trump made no mention of human rights. His primary announcement in meeting Vietnamese leaders was the sale of dozens of U.S.-made jets that he said would reduce Vietnams trade surplus, one of the main sources of tension in an otherwise blossoming relationship. The Vietnamese government is happy with the new approach by the Trump administration, which downplays a little bit the human rights issues and the democracy issue, Vuving said. Still, it was slightly discordant to see Trump waving the red communist flag of Vietnam in a photo op with schoolchildren on Wednesday, and to see his likeness printed on T-shirts for sale in Hanois old quarter alongside those of Vladimir Lenin and the revolutionary Ho Chi Minh. Such images were a sign that the Vietnam and U.S. relationship has been fully normalized, said Huong Le Thu, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Theres no longer an awkwardness of the meeting of two different systems. Its now a trusted place for negotiations with a third party. The summit presented other striking ironies, too. Vietnam has no independent domestic press, but it welcomed reporters from some 40 countries. It boasts a socialist ethos, but small businesses sought to capitalize on the summit by hawking Trump-Kim T-shirts, paintings, haircuts modeled on the distinctive dos of the two leaders even a specialty beer at one bar that was dubbed Kim Jong Ale. Vietnam is open for anything, said Nguyen Thanh Ha, a 40-year-old employee in the nonprofit sector, sipping a beer at an outdoor cafe hours after the summit broke down. We hoped Hanoi would become famous and have its name on a peace agreement. But we showed the world that this is a safe and friendly country. Business Competitive Scenario: Global TV Transmitter Market SWOT Analysis, Business Overview & Forecast 2026 | Soukacatv.com Dual HD Input Modulator With ISDB-T And DVB-T Modulation 01.03.2019 07:30:02 - Televisions have transformed with the emergence of digital technologies and the internet. Though the online TV sector is growing, traditional TV still accounts for a larger share of the TV market. (live-PR.com) - Televisions have transformed with the emergence of digital technologies and the internet. Though the online TV sector is growing, traditional TV still accounts for a larger share of the TV market. With digital terrestrial transmission, the number of TV channels available in the average home has increased. These days, broadcasters are aiming to transmit to the widest audience in their - Televisions have transformed with the emergence of digital technologies and the internet. Though the online TV sector is growing, traditional TV still accounts for a larger share of the TV market. With digital terrestrial transmission, the number of TV channels available in the average home has increased. These days, broadcasters are aiming to transmit to the widest audience in their markets. HDMI Encoder Modulator,16in1 Digital Headend,HD RF Modulator at Soukacatv.com A television transmitter broadcasts an electromagnetic signal to the television receivers. A television transmitter consists of video modulator and an audio modulator. Television transmitters emit television signal containing video and audio information. The video signal is generated by a television camera whereas the audio signal is produced by microphone.Terrestrial TV services need a network of transmitter towers. These transmitters broadcast the TV signal through either UHF (ultra high frequency) or VHF (very high frequency) transmission. 4 In 1 Agile TV Modulator For Cable TV System Large numbers of transmitter towers are required to ensure that a particular area has complete transmission coverage, as geographical structures such as mountains, hills, or large buildings can block TV signals. Hence, the TV transmitter market has experienced exponential growth in the last decade to fulfill this increasing demand. There are a number of standards to comply with in the TV broadcasting industry. In the TV transmitter market, ITU (International Telecommunication Union) defines standards used in the broadcasting industry. TV broadcasting standards include European standard DVB T, North American standard ATSC, Japanese standard ISDB T, DTMB/CMMB etc. Vendors are focusing on incorporating key features in their Dual HD Input Modulator With ISDB-T And DVB-T Modulation Single HD To RF MEPG2 ATSC/QAM Modulator TV transmitters such as compliance with multi digital broadcasting standards, high efficiency, easy maintenance, installation and operation, flexible system configuration, and reliability.UHF TV transmitters are increasingly preferred in the market as there are a greater range of frequencies for transmitting. With technological improvement, the range of usable frequencies has effectively expanded in the market. To reduce wasted spectrum and transmission costs, digital terrestrial (DTT) services have replaced analogue terrestrial TV services across the world. In 2006, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) proposed a plan for the global migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television between 2015 and 2020. With technological migrations, the TV transmitters market is expected to experience huge growth over the forecast period. The global TV transmitter market can be segmented based on component, distribution channel, application, and region. In terms of component, the TV transmitter market can be classified into transmitter type and professional services. Transmitter type segment is bifurcated into UHF TV transmitter and VHF TV transmitter. UHF transmitter segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. UHF TV transmitter segment is further classified into high power, medium power, and low power. VHF TV transmitter segment is classified into medium power and low power. Based on distribution channel, the TV transmitter market can be bifurcated into company owned and third party. Based on application, the TV transmitter market can be categorized into small TV station and large TV station. Based on region, the global TV transmitter market can be categorized into North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, South America, and Europe. Asia Pacific dominates the TV transmitter market and is expected to continue contributing the largest share over the forecast period as well. Key players operating in the global TV transmitter market include Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG., 8BTSI Corp., NEC Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Egatel S.L. BBEF Electronics Group Co., Ltd., Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., GatesAir, Inc., Plisch GmbH, Gospell Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Gigamega Technology Co., Ltd. and SY.E.S.S.r.l. The market is fragmented and established companies are focusing on enhancing their product portfolio with efficiency, minimal operating costs, and through compact design. The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications. The study is a source of reliable data on: Market segments and sub-segments Market trends and dynamics Supply and demand Market size Current trends/opportunities/challenges Competitive landscape Technological breakthroughs Value chain and stakeholder analysis The regional analysis covers: North America (U.S. and Canada) Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others) Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg) Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia) Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand) Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa) The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain. A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period. Highlights of the report: A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market Important changes in market dynamics Market segmentation up to the second or third level Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments Market shares and strategies of key players Emerging niche segments and regional markets An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market The main aim of the report is to: Enable key stakeholders in the market bet right on it Understand the opportunities and pitfalls awaiting them Assess the overall growth scope in the near term Strategize effectively with respect to production and distribution Established in 2000, the Soukacatv.com main products are modulators both in analog and digital ones, amplifier and combiner. We are the very first one in manufacturing the headend system in China. Our 16 in 1 and 24 in 1 now are the most popular products all over the world. For more, please access to CONTACT US Company:Dingshengwei Electronics Co., Ltd Address : BldgA,the first industry park of Guanlong,Xili Town,Nanshan,Shenzhen,Guangdong,China Tel : +86 0755 26909863 Fax : +86 0755 26984949 Mobile : 13410066011 Email : Website: Source: ourcryptojournal markets.HDMI Encoder Modulator,16in1 Digital Headend,HD RF Modulator at Soukacatv.comA television transmitter broadcasts an electromagnetic signal to the television receivers. A television transmitter consists of video modulator and an audio modulator. Television transmitters emit television signal containing video and audio information. The video signal is generated by a television camera whereas the audio signal is produced by microphone.Terrestrial TV services need a network of transmitter towers. These transmitters broadcast the TV signal through either UHF (ultra high frequency) or VHF (very high frequency) transmission.4 In 1 Agile TV Modulator For Cable TV SystemLarge numbers of transmitter towers are required to ensure that a particular area has complete transmission coverage, as geographical structures such as mountains, hills, or large buildings can block TV signals. Hence, the TV transmitter market has experienced exponential growth in the last decade to fulfill this increasing demand. There are a number of standards to comply with in the TV broadcasting industry. In the TV transmitter market, ITU (International Telecommunication Union) defines standards used in the broadcasting industry. TV broadcasting standards include European standard DVB T, North American standard ATSC, Japanese standard ISDB T, DTMB/CMMB etc. Vendors are focusing on incorporating key features in theirDual HD Input Modulator With ISDB-T And DVB-T ModulationSingle HD To RF MEPG2 ATSC/QAM ModulatorTV transmitters such as compliance with multi digital broadcasting standards, high efficiency, easy maintenance, installation and operation, flexible system configuration, and reliability.UHF TV transmitters are increasingly preferred in the market as there are a greater range of frequencies for transmitting. With technological improvement, the range of usable frequencies has effectively expanded in the market. To reduce wasted spectrum and transmission costs, digital terrestrial (DTT) services have replaced analogue terrestrial TV services across the world. In 2006, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) proposed a plan for the global migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television between 2015 and 2020. With technological migrations, the TV transmitters market is expected to experience huge growth over the forecast period.The global TV transmitter market can be segmented based on component, distribution channel, application, and region. In terms of component, the TV transmitter market can be classified into transmitter type and professional services. Transmitter type segment is bifurcated into UHF TV transmitter and VHF TV transmitter. UHF transmitter segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. UHF TV transmitter segment is further classified into high power, medium power, and low power. VHF TV transmitter segment is classified into medium power and low power. Based on distribution channel, the TV transmitter market can be bifurcated into company owned and third party. Based on application, the TV transmitter market can be categorized into small TV station and large TV station.Based on region, the global TV transmitter market can be categorized into North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, South America, and Europe. Asia Pacific dominates the TV transmitter market and is expected to continue contributing the largest share over the forecast period as well.Key players operating in the global TV transmitter market include Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG., 8BTSI Corp., NEC Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Egatel S.L. BBEF Electronics Group Co., Ltd., Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., GatesAir, Inc., Plisch GmbH, Gospell Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Gigamega Technology Co., Ltd. and SY.E.S.S.r.l. The market is fragmented and established companies are focusing on enhancing their product portfolio with efficiency, minimal operating costs, and through compact design.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on: Market segments and sub-segments Market trends and dynamics Supply and demand Market size Current trends/opportunities/challenges Competitive landscape Technological breakthroughs Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers: North America (U.S. and Canada) Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others) Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg) Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia) Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand) Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report: A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market Important changes in market dynamics Market segmentation up to the second or third level Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments Market shares and strategies of key players Emerging niche segments and regional markets An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketThe main aim of the report is to: Enable key stakeholders in the market bet right on it Understand the opportunities and pitfalls awaiting them Assess the overall growth scope in the near term Strategize effectively with respect to production and distributionEstablished in 2000, the Soukacatv.com main products are modulators both in analog and digital ones, amplifier and combiner. We are the very first one in manufacturing the headend system in China. Our 16 in 1 and 24 in 1 now are the most popular products all over the world.For more, please access to www.soukacatv.com CONTACT USCompany:Dingshengwei Electronics Co., LtdAddress : BldgA,the first industry park of Guanlong,Xili Town,Nanshan,Shenzhen,Guangdong,ChinaTel : +86 0755 26909863Fax : +86 0755 26984949Mobile : 13410066011Email : ken@soukacatv.com Website: www.soukacatv.com Source: ourcryptojournal Press Information: Dingshengwei Electronics Co., Ltd BldgA,the first industry park of Guanlong,Xili Town,Nanshan,Shenzhen,Guangdong,China Contact Person: Phone: +86 0755 26909863 eMail: eMail Web: http://https://www.soukacatv.com 01.03.2019 07:30:02 - Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party. On June 28 2018 the Zimbabwean authorities published a document entitled the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Policy and Implementation Strategy. For those who have witnessed the economic decline of Zimbabwe, the document is almost plaintive. It acknowledges that Zimbabwe is in "dire need of a National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy." It puts extraordinary faith in intellectual property. According to the document, IP will "turn around the economic fortunes of the country" and "transform Zimbabwe from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy." The policy will create a country with "high levels of IP awareness, IP consciousness and IP literacy." It will create a country that has a "culture of creativity, innovation and inventiveness." It will ensure that there are "reliable IP laws and enforcement measures." Zimbabwe is not the first country to publish an official IP policy. In 2016, Ghana published its National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy (NIPPS). This document recognises that "globalization and technological advancement are changing the landscape of the world economy." It recognises that "trade in high-value added and intensive goods and services has become central to many economies." It recognises that "knowledge-based industries are becoming the drivers of economies." It shows ambition too. The policy will bring Ghana's IP system in line with "international best practices." It will place Ghana "amongst the leading countries in the utilization of IP as a tool for rapid national development." It will allow Ghana to achieve the status of "an advanced human society with a better quality of life reflected in all aspects of socio-economic and environmental conditions." The IP policy that really made the headlines was the one in South Africa, first introduced in 2013. Unlike the two described above, this one had a far stronger developing world flavour to it, with suggestions that South Africa should follow developments in "similar economies such as Brazil, India and Egypt". This issue attracted criticism from a leading IP judge, who suggested that this would do little to "engender confidence and attract investment." He also suggested that some joined-up thinking was in order, alleging that the Department of Science and Technology was pro-IP, whereas the Department of Health and the Department of Education were anti-IP. Much water has flowed under the bridge and now one of the central pillars of that policy, patent examination, an issue strongly linked to concerns about evergreening of pharmaceutical patents, is seemingly imminent. In February 2018, three trainee patent searchers employed by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), published an article in a South African legal magazine. In it, they confirmed that South Africa would be phasing in patent examination, starting with certain sectors as well as local applications. They said that this would lead to an increase in costs, but promised that "the quality of the patents granted by the CIPC will increase as well." It is quite clear that a number of African governments now take IP very seriously. Margaret Le Galle 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 Africa House, Castle StreetSt Helier, Jersey JE4 9TWChannel IslandsTel: +44 1534 838000Fax: +44 1534 838001 info@spoor.co.uk www.spoor.com South Africa: Ad Hoc Committee on land expropriation has mammoth task The Ad Hoc Committee appointed to amend Section 25 of the Constitution has a huge task ahead, Former Environment and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa has told the Members of Parliament appointed to oversee this process. He said with the Bill of Rights section of the Constitution being changed for the first time in 25 years, Members of Parliament need to carefully consider the process they will undertake. He said they will be setting a precedence for how future generations will amend the Constitution. Moosa said this in his capacity as one of the experts that briefed the Ad Hoc Committee in the National Assembly on Friday. He spent nine years of his career doing work related to the Constitution firstly, in the drafting stages and later in the implementation phase. I think you need to think about [the fact that] you have to invent a process to amend the Bill of Rights he said, adding that they need to balance between the legitimacy of the amendment to address past imbalances against nation building. He said the committee has the enormous and most weighty responsibility with the role they are playing in the amendment of the Constitution. The Members of Parliament, led by National Assembly house chair Thoko Didiza, needed to carefully consider the process carefully. Ahead of the presentations from experts, Parliamentary legal advisor Nathi Njenxane told members of the committee that a recent court interdict by Afriforum had no bearing on the work of the Ad Hoc Committee. This comes after Afriforum mounted a two-part court challenge. The first was an urgent interdict to prevent Members of Parliament from adopting a report of the Joint Constitutional Review Committees first report into the expropriation of land without compensation in the National Assembly. The second challenge, Njenxane said, was Afriforum asking the Western Cape High Court to review the report and to set it aside on the grounds that the proposed amendment was, according to the organisation, not constitutional. In November last year, the court dismissed Afriforums urgent interdict application and paved the way for the Joint-Constitutional Review Committee to adopt its report before sending it to the National Assembly, which in turn adopted the report after a debate in the House. Njenxane said ever since the dismissal of the urgent interdict, there is a view that the court challenge had no bearing on the work of the Ad Hoc Committee. There is a view from our senior counsel in court that the Afriforum matter is actually moot, he said, adding that the court challenge has since been overtaken by other events. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Pursuant to Rule 71(3) of the European Patent Convention (EPC), towards the termination of the examination proceedings, the Examining Division of the European Patent Office (EPO) shall inform the applicant of the text in which it intends to grant the European patent. Following Rule 71(5) EPC, if the applicant subsequently pays the grant and publishing fees and files the required translations of the claims, he shall be deemed to have approved the text intended for grant. In examination proceedings pertaining to EP 2 396 848, in the communication under Rule 71(3) EPC, the Examining Division made reference to the claims submitted by the applicant in the list of documents intended for grant. However, the EPO had left out parts of the claims from the text intended for grant itself. The applicant apparently overlooked the flaw and proceeded by complying with the provisions of Rule 71 EPC, and the patent was subsequently granted in a form from which parts of the claims were missing. Following the issue of the printed patent, the B1 publication, the applicant requested correction under either one of Rules 139 or 140 EPC, correction of a purported printing error, or that the decision to grant the patent be considered null and void. Neither the Examining Division nor the Board of Appeal allowed either of these requests. In its decision T 506/16, the Board of Appeal notes that: Rule 140 EPC is not available for correcting patents in accordance with Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G 1/10. Rule 139 EPC is only applicable to documents filed with the EPO, i.e. not to documents produced by the EPO. The obligation to check the text in which the patent will be granted lies with the applicant. The decision to grant did not infringe the principle of good faith and the protection of the legitimate expectations of the users of the EPO. The applicant's attempt to reinstate the missing parts of the claims did not thus succeed, despite the fact that it was the EPO's Examining Division that included an incomplete set of claims in the text intended for grant. Jakob Pade Frederiksen 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 Kogle Alle 2DK-2970 HoersholmCopenhagen, DenmarkTel: +45 7070 2422Fax: +45 7070 2423 info@inspicos.com www.inspicos.com Islamabad : Pakistan is set to release the captured IAF pilot on Friday as a "first step" to open negotiations with India. Pakistan detained the IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. India Wednesday summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan and demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot who was detained by Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of the parliament on Thursday announced that Pakistan will release the pilot. A delegation of IAF team will on Friday receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat, at the Wagah border, official sources said. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and nearly went to a brink of a fourth one during 2001 Parliament attack. The diplomatic relations and equations between the two of Asia's historic rivals has taken a dangerous turn with the latest cascade of events. Tensions were running high since February 14, triggered by a suicide bombing at Pulwama in Kashmir which killed 40 paramilitary troops, in a worst attack on Indian forces. India and Pakistan, the nuclear rivals is facing their worst tension in years, with Islamabad saying they had shot down two Indian warplanes on Wednesday and captured an Indian pilot. The confrontation actions from the neighbouring country came a day after India launched an airstrike on the Pakistani territory on early Tuesday in a non-military and per - emptive action against the militant camps in Pakistan. Analysts say that it's for the first time Indian military aircraft has flown over the border since the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Ceasefire violation and heavy shelling continued for the seventh consecutive day along the Line of Control in sectors including Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, and Nowshera sectors on Friday. Pakistan closed its airspace and all International and domestic commercial flights in and out of Pakistan were canceled till further notice. Though India closed its nine airports on Tuesday, the decision was revoked later. Pakistani authorities also suspended the Samjhauta Express train service between Pakistan and India until further notice. The Indian Government also confirmed that after intercepting a Pakistani aircraft, one MiG21 jet was lost and a pilot was missing, who was later identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Hours after the MiG 21 crashed across the Line of Control, he was taken into the Pak custody. Pakistan is obligated by the Geneva Conventions, to which Islamabad is a signatory to treat a combat prisoner with dignity and return to India within eight days. As per the clauses of the Geneva Conventions, Pakistan must give him medical care and protection. The Article 13 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War specially deals with such a situation. Meanwhile, the White House condemned the intensifying conflict and urged both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation. Global leaders have also urged both the nations to take meaningful steps for mutual engagement. Offering an olive branch, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan also made a veiled attempt to invite India for peace in a video call. Even after the Pakistan said that they are willing to release the captured Indian pilot, as a 'peace gesture' for the first step to open negotiations, India made it clear that they wont budge from their stand against terror, until Pakistan chose to act against terrorism in their soil. Despite the Pak PM's attempts, Indian government issued a demarche to acting Pakistan High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah, fueling the prospects of escalating tensions between the nuclear armed nations. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and nearly went to a brink of a fourth one during 2001 Parliament attack. READ: Pompeo visit to make US understand PH policy US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has likened President, the Palace said Friday. During a courtesy call by Pompeo at the Palace, Duterte shared stories about the controversies he stirred up since assuming the office in 2016, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said. He [Pompeo] is very fond of the President and I remember when the President was talking about what he is doing for this country, including his controversial policies and even the cursing, the secretary of state said, Youre just like our President. We all laughed, Panelo said during a press briefing. With their harsh rhetoric, Trump and Duterte have made international headlines, highlighting their unconventional style of leadership. Both leaders have also expressed their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Duterte called the Russian leader his idol, while Trump said Putin was a better leader than his predecessor, former US President Barack Obama. Panelo said the President has not yet accepted an invitation to visit the United States. He did not say anything because the problem with the President is he cannot stand the temperature in the US. Its very cold. He would have a difficult time and its too far. He doesnt like long haul trips, Panelo said. On Thursday evening, the President met with Pompeo at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City where they reaffirmed the strength of Philippines-US alliance. The President highlighted prospects of stronger and more meaningful ties with the United States, particularly on defense and security, peace and order, regional stability, as well as the rule of law in the conduct of activities in the West Philippine Sea to prevent escalation of tensions among countries involved, Panelo said in a statement. Pompeo, on the other hand, expressed confidence in the strength of the Philippine-US ties. He [Pompeo] also reaffirmed their countrys commitment to strengthen cooperation and deepen engagement with the Philippines on matters of mutual interest and common concern at the regional and global arena, including the rule of law and need for a rules-based regime in the West Philippine Sea, Panelo added. The President also discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in countering terrorism and violent extremism. Two weeks ago, the Palace announced that the US government will provide P300-million intelligence support to the Philippines to boost the countrys capabilities in fending off terrorism. Panelo said the support shows the country is on good terms with the United States. Duterte also relayed his gratitude to the US for the return of Balanginga bells. In December 2018, the US Department of Defense returned the historic Balangiga bells to the country as a sign of healing and closure between the two countries.US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Friday warned the Philippines and other nations against using technology from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei amid allegations that the company could be used by the Chinese government for spying. Globe Telecom plans to roll out with Huawei commercial 5G services this year, while the Duterte administration last year signed an $400-million deal for Huawei to install closed-circuit television cameras in two Philippine cities to deter crime. US officials suspect that Beijing could use the Shenzhen-based Huaweis products to spy on Western governments, and Philippine lawmakers have expressed similar concerns. The company denies the allegations. On Friday, Pompeo said using Huawei technology carried risks. We want to make sure that the world has their eyes wide open as to the risks of having that technology be part of the infrastructure or backbone or networks, Pompeo said. READ: PH-US defense pact likely item in Pompeo visit We believe that competition, whether its in 5G or some other technology, ought to be open, free, transparent and we worry that Huawei is not that. Pompeo also said American companies were the best partners in developing a digital economy because they were transparent and adhered to the rule of law. The same can not be said for Chinese state-run or state-backed enterprises, he said. America may not be able to operate in certain environments if there is Huawei technology adjacent to that, he said. Our task has been to share with the world the risks associated with that technology, the risks to the Philippine people, [and] the risks to Philippine security, he said. The US Constitution Myth One reason for the failure of the modern conservative and libertarian movements to scale back, in even a miniscule way, the now gargantuan US welfare/warfare state has been the misinterpretation of the US Constitution. Many conservatives have a slavish devotion to the document, placing it on a par with the Ten Commandments and New Testament. A typical misunderstanding of the Constitutions history and content appeared in this recent op-ed: The Constitution was intended to limit 1) the power of government over the citizenry 2) the power of each branch of government and 3) the power of political/financial elites over the government and the citizenry, as the Founders recognized the intrinsic risks of an all-powerful state, an all-powerful state dominated by one branch of government and the risks of a financial elite corrupting the state to serve the interests above those of the citizenry.* The author, like so many Constitution enthusiasts has also been hostile to the Medieval era, denigrating its institutions and social constructs feudalism, aristocracy, crusading when, in fact, the Middle Ages, in many respects, were far freer with less government than the present epoch. ** When the founding fathers decided to meet in Philadelphia in 1787, they did so at first to amend the Articles of Confederation which had guided the young country through some perilous times. While the Articles had some defects (some libertarians even contend that they were too statist***), the delegates, at first, did not want it scrapped, however, it was the leading lights of the convention which connived to completely do away with it. By superior political maneuvering, the pro-Constitution forces were able to ramrod their plan through despite being in the minority. Not only were the majority of the delegates initially against scrapping the Articles, but most Americans were opposed to the creation of a new central government. Despite this, the Constitution was ruthlessly pushed through and, as its opponents feared, America would be saddled with a highly centralized national government, the loss of considerable state sovereignty, and the eventual erosion of individual liberties even with the inclusion of a Bill of Rights. A brief examination of the document reveals that its implicit and explicit language grants wide latitude for the expansion of state power. In its Preamble, the ambiguous clause to promote the general welfare can and has led to all sorts of destructive social engineering schemes. More ominously, for anyone that is under the illusion that America is governed by a federal system, they should reread Article VI which in part says This Constitution, and the Laws of the United his Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land. [emphasis added] An all-powerful central state went against much of Western history after the fall of the Roman Empire and the idea was always feared by philosophers. Basic political theory and practical experience showed that a multitude of sovereign states were preferable not only for the protection of personal liberty, but for economic growth. Numerous states and jurisdictions were a far greater check on government than the much celebrated separation of powers concept of constitutional government. Under the Articles of Confederation, each individual state was autonomous while the national government had to rely on the states for most of its support. Unfortunately, it will never be known what would have happened if the country remained as a confederacy of states, it is likely however, that there would have been less bloodshed, greater economic growth, and more personal freedom under a decentralized regime. It is curious, therefore, why so many on the Right continue to revere the Constitution as some great bulwark against state power. Much of it probably stems from ignorance or personal bias against the political conditions which existed prior to the late 18th century. Much of European history was under the sway of monarchial and aristocratic rule and the integral presence of the Catholic Church in society with a diffusion of power among kings, princes, dukes and Churchmen. While far from perfect, the social order which existed under Christendom may not have been as materially or technologically advanced as contemporary times, but in regard to morality, justice, and individual freedom, there is no comparison. The Christian age saw nothing of the social depravity, war making with its mass murder, the trampling of individual rights, and the existence of totalitarian government as witnessed in the supposedly enlightened modern age. Decentralized Europe of 1300 Until it is realized that the Constitution is an impediment to rolling back the American Leviathan, there will be little progress in the fight for individual liberty and economic progress. *Charles Hugh Smith, Lets Face It: The U.S. Constitution Has Failed. Zero Hedge. 20 February 2019. **One example, Charles Hugh Smith, Americas Neo-Feudal System is Both False & Precarious. Zero Hedge 19 December 2018. ***David Gordon, ed., Strictly Confidential: The Private Volker Fund Memos of Murray N. Rothbard, Auburn, AL.: The Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2015, pp. 96-98. Antonius Aquinas@antoniusaquinas By Antonius Aquinas http://antoniusaquinas.com 2019 Copyright Antonius Aquinas - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Market Forecasting You Just Cant Beat! Chris Vermeulen walks you through the financial markets every morning before the opening bell so you know how to trade it and manage your positions. 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. US House of Representatives Hits A New Low Perhaps against better judgment, I just cant keep silent about the Michael Cohens in da House show performed on February 27. I was watching it and increasingly fearing for the future of America. We had all been able to read his prepared statement before he opened the party with it, and therefore we all knew there was nothing there. So why did this thing take place, and why were all the cameras and reporters there? Do we live in split realities these days? Both before and after the gruelling -for the viewer- session, words like explosive and bombshell were all over, so I thought Id watch, since I might have missed something, but no, there was nothing, there wasnt even a there there. Apparently, US House members are by now immune to being revealed as nutcases frantically phishing for evidence of accusations they formerly made but could never prove. A phishing expedition with a willing whale in the center who sort of volunteered to be harpooned, and still came up with absolutely nothing but blubber. And then like 4 hours of that. Theres never been a more convincing picture of what US politics and media have become. But theyre all entirely impervious to it. Theyre discussing nothing for hours on end with millions watching, and they see it as normal. Now, Ive been following the decay of the American press ever since Trump entered politics stage right, and Ive written a hundred thousand words about it, but it really hit home during the Cohen session. Tellingly, the Republican House members were exclusively focusing on Cohen credibility, since he had been caught lying to Congress before, and the Supreme Court just days ago disbarred him. But this was not about the mans credibility, and sure, I felt sorry for him too, it was about the fact that he had nothing at all to say, but Republicans had nothing on that. They instead joined the Dems in questioning him about nothing, pretending it was big and explosive and stuff. If anything has ever resembled the Emperors new clothes, it was that charade there yesterday. If you insist, we can walk through a few of the topics. A nice example that was not in the prepared statement was that Cohen claimed he had never wanted a White House job, but even the CNN pundits were saying he had wanted one for a long time, and was very insulted when he didnt get it. Poof! went the last shred of his credibility. Well, not for the House members, they have shorter memories even than CNN talking heads. Second, the issue of a Trump Tower in Moscow, about which Cohen allegedly lied earlier on, in that the plans were shelved later than he had claimed. But the only thing that really interests the House, because even they understand that wanting to build a hotel in the city is not some criminal thing, is Russiagate, invented out of thin air but still popular stateside. The one thing related to this that collusion experts emphasize time and again, and it came up again in the Cohen thing, is that Trump supposedly planned to gift a penthouse apartment in a potential Trump hotel on Red Square to Vladimir Putin. Conveniently, not a single American appears to have wondered whether Putin would be interested in such a gift. And I can assure you he wouldnt. Putin can get -just about- any piece of real estate he wants on Red Square, besides he already has the Kremlin, and he can get anything built there which he might desire. Accepting a free dwelling from a US builder makes no sense. Why should he? Still, this is one of the main items Russiagaters keep coming up with. It makes no sense, and thats fitting, because neither do they. Second, pornstar pay-offs. Male politicians worldwide and through the ages have had affairs, and in modern times (re: JFK) theres been an understanding that the media leave these things alone. On the one hand, its proof of virility, something voters like in their candidates, and on the other it shows infidelity, something they dont. A battle no-one can win, hence the understanding. In France, this all plays out a bit more openly, though never in the open, but in the US you can break the pact if you want. And since the initial story was that campaign funds had been used to pay Stormy Daniels, there was a potential criminal angle. But we now know that that angle was fake, so no there there either. Trump paid so it (true or not) didnt become a big campaign story, and that he did so just before an election is irrelevant, because the whole topic is irrelevant. Unless you want to exhume JFK. Third and what pisses me off more than anything, is that Cohen both volunteered, and was coaxed into, talking about Roger Stones alleged contacts with Julian Assange. Cohen talked about a conversation between Stone and Trump on July 18-19 2016, in which Stone allegedly said he had talked to Assange who told him WikiLeaks was going to release a big batch of Hillary-related mails. The DNC convention was July 25-28, the WikiLeaks release July 22. Looks like a slam-dunk collusion story, right? Except that Assange had said 5 weeks earlier, on June 12 2016, that such a batch would be released. So even if Stone had talked to him, there was no news there. Moreover, both Assange and WikiLeaks have repeatedly denied the conversation ever took place. And of course Assange cant defend himself against anything anyone says anymore. And we can keep going: the assertion that the DNC mails were hacked has been refuted many times, and if they were stolen it was by someone inside the DNC. No story, no collusion, no there there. Only hour after tedious hour of Michael Cohen House testimony about nothing at all. It felt a lot like a new low point in US political history, but you need to be careful with such classifications these days, since competitions stiff and still picking up. I liked the following lines from an article in the Guardian this morning to appropriately describe the goings-on: Trumps former fixer cautioned that he could not prove the collusion with Moscow that the president vehemently denies. Still there was, Cohen said, something odd about the affectionate back-and-forth Trump had with Vladimir Putin in public remarks over the years. Heres the best thing Cohen could do in the entire time wasted on the topic: There are just so many dots that seem to lead in the same direction, he said. How does that not make you want to scream? No collusion, only something odd, and so many dots. A thorough analysis out of the mouth of an at least questionable character who worked closely with Trump for a decade. Thats all the US House of Representatives had to show for the show it put on. And thats a really big problem, but theres no-one in sight to address, let alone rectify, it. There are a thousand things wrong with Donald Trump, but even though that would not necessarily disqualify him for the presidency, the Democrats and the mainstream press have opted to go all-in on the Russia collusion theme, which even two years and change of Mueller hasnt been able to prove. Whether this will be the winning ticket for the Democrats in a next election is very doubtful, and what the press hope to get other than a few more readers and viewers addicted to scandals is anyones guess. But more importantly: why do they do it? Why focus on all the made-up stories instead of going out and finding the real ones? Even if the Cohen show not constitute a new low, it was certainly scraping the gutter of American political reality, and someone better do something, or entirely new and thus far unimaginable lows will be attained. Not a single national political system can survive on entirely trumped-up accusations for long, let alone that of the globes most powerful nation. Does anyone ever wonder what the Dems will do if Trump wins again in 2020? Where can they flee to? Ill leave you with a few Twitter voices who also see no there there. Note: the first one is dated July 7 2016, some two weeks before Stone -unverifiably- said he talked to Assange (who always denied it, but it wouldnt matter even if he had) : By Raul Ilargi Meijer Website: http://theautomaticearth.com (provides unique analysis of economics, finance, politics and social dynamics in the context of Complexity Theory) 2019 Copyright Raul I Meijer - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Raul Ilargi Meijer Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. View From The Brextanic Longtime Automatic Earth friend Alexander Aston talks about finding himself at Oxford at a point in time when the British themselves appear overcome by a combo of utter confusion and deadly lethargy, and one can only imagine what it must be like for foreigners residing in Albion, who face large potential changes to their lives and know theres not a thing they can do about it, not even vote. I like the observation that the entire British political system, the place where decisions are made, is the size of a small village. Thats a visual we can all relate to. Its a physical limit as well as a mental one. Im all for sovereignty and self-determination, but hows that going to work if you cant even see the boundaries of your own territory? Guys, its 4 weeks to D-Day today. How about we call off the landing, get a few pints instead, and talk? First rounds on me. Heres Alexander: Alexander Aston: I arrived in the UK in 2015 to undertake interdisciplinary research at the University of Oxford. I am a child of the Empire, a cultural product of Britannias oldest colonies in the British Isles, her most important colony now turned empire as well as one of her youngest, Zimbabwe. The UK is both an intimately familiar society and yet one that is also strangely alien for me, like a wealthy, often charming and deeply abusive parent that sparks both self-recognition and rejection. The leave referendum occurred close to a year after I arrived in the UK and is one of the few political events over the past few years that surprised me. I suppose that I assumed, given the power and wealth afforded to UK elites by the EU, that those who benefited so greatly from the status quo would do anything to manipulate or fudge the results. Nonetheless, history decided to swerve, and over the past four years, I have watched the inhabitants of this island stumble into an profound identity crisis. Having spent a good portion of my life in Greece, I do not have particularly warm and cuddly feelings toward the European Union and was never a natural remainer. The single markets and the long peace are significant achievements, and the ability for Europeans to move freely and form new discourses, relationships and endeavours has value that is impossible to quantify. The EU is technocratic, unaccountable and enthralled to a neoliberal ideology that knows only how to extract wealth from the most vulnerable and concentrate it in the hands of the most powerful. I have lived in Athens, I have family in Greece, I have seen well enough the true costs of EU membership. What strikes me most in my experiences of the United Kingdom are the incredible levels of cognitive dissonance demanded by its media, politics and economics in order for the society to function. I live in one of the most expensive and unequal cities in the entire country. I am surrounded by the grandeur of powerful and wealthy institutions that are older than the Aztec empire and filled with some of the most powerful and elite humans on the planet and their heirs in waiting. Every time that I enter a building, go to a lecture, meet with a colleague, or sit for some grand meal in one of the colleges I must walk past dozens of human beings that are cold, hungry and occasionally dying on the streets. This is in a country that provides social housing and millions in basic income to a single family, where it is accepted that the most vulnerable people are relentlessly bullied into poverty through cuts, inspections and ever increasing demands of performance. In a country where the Beatles and J.K. Rowling all started their careers on the dole. I dont know the answers to our predicaments, but the conversation is extremely lopsided and blind to the real misery it is creating. Every time I walk through Oxford, I am filled with a profound sense of guilt and remorse, I marvel and benefit from the treasures surrounding me and I wonder is this the best we can do? Are these the limits of our social imagination and creativity? Shortly after I arrived, Jeremy Corbyn was elected to the leadership of the labour party. It was an early prefiguration of the political disruptions that were about to sweep the world. The neoliberal managerialism of New Labour had lost control, and its partisans wage an increasingly desperate guerrilla war with no small amount of aid from the establishment media. Long before Brexit was a reality I became aware of the repetitious delirium of innuendo, slander and fear-mongering through which the media managed the perspective and narrative in the country, much like the American system but with its own uniquely British aesthetics and sense of authority. This somnambulant fever has only grown as the country has tripped and stumbled through the unexpected circumstances and self-engineered traps of austerity, political deadlock, and delusions of grandeur. Day in and day out we are subjected to a litany of failure by one of the most incompetent governments in history while the media clucks, puffs and turns a path of ruin into mere spectacle. Yet, day after day we find ourselves in a state of inertia, nothing seems to change as the country hurtles towards historical rupture. The dissonance created between a seizing political system, PR firms masquerading as journalists and a dysfunctional economy requires that the people of the United Kingdom smooth over, ignore or forget the increasing contradictions of their lived experience. Anthropologically speaking, the nuance of British culture that has perhaps had the most profound impact upon me is the detail to which the English are able to infer region, class and schooling through the voices of their fellow citizens. The subtle encoding of social hierarchies into the dialects and accents of the United Kingdom to degrees that I have never experienced in the rest of the Anglophone world. Despite my ignorance about many intricacies of British linguistics, one thing I do feel relatively confident about is that even though the English have the vast majority of the wealth and power in the United Kingdom, the Celts have received the warmer sense of humour. For me, one of the few truly positive possible outcomes of Brexit is the potential for Irish reunification and even the chance of an emerging Celtic sphere to provide a new counterbalance in the British Isles. The partition of Ireland stems from one of the deepest and oldest wounds inflicted by the British Empire. It is an ironic twist of fate that the Tories now find themselves dependent upon the Unionist partisans and descendants that they so eagerly fostered to maintain dominance over Ireland. The United Kingdoms mythology of itself has run headlong into the contradictions at the heart of its empire. The country that is partitioning itself from Europe finds its politics paralysed by an older act of partition. The contradictions of Brexit have riven the political parties and the governing process has ground to a halt. It is an intractable predicament, the interests of the Unionists, Capitalist Utopianists, Neoliberal reactionaries, Political Elites, Nationalists, Independents and Socialists are all pulling in different directions. Consensus is only achieved in moments of near universal rejection, yet with no ability to pass any meaningful legislation the Tories only coalesce in obstinate refusal to change the situation. Meanwhile the ship of state drifts towards a political, economic and moral abyss. What I can say from my time at Oxford is that the political masters of this country are indoctrinated with an imperial hubris in a political system that operates like a small village. The institutions of power here produce all too many children with no experience of the daily struggles of common people, that are all together convinced as to their entitlement to rule over millions with a PPE degree in hand. The country is in an intractable prisoners dilemma, the logic of which makes a no-deal outcome highly possible. My fear with a no deal is that this would result in a bond shock, and with economic disruptions in Ireland, the Benelux, a France mired in a political crisis and the financial precarity of Italy all create excellent conditions for an absolutely roaring debt calamity. Yet, the UK blithely dithers on as Theresa May puts on her best performance of Neville Chamberlain and tries, tries again. The fact is that the government has lost all political legitimacy and Parliament is an omnishambles. Those that lead us are so committed to their own narratives, so convinced of their acumen and power, so insulated by their privilege that they will sacrifice the health and prosperity of this nation in the absolute conviction that they are right and that all their problems are the fault of stupid people that dont listen and do what they are told. The folks in the ERG think they only need sit on their hands and they can, they will, find themselves in a libertarian Aristocracy sea steading off the shores of Europe. The London centric remainers think that they can paper over the past four years with a second referendum and that all can go back to normal and Brexit can be safely tucked away as a terrifying aberration. I am reminded of the H.L. Mencken quote that for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong. The only pathway I can see to restoring political legitimacy at this point is a general election. Only after an extension of article 50 and a new government has negotiated an alternative deal is it really feasible to begin speaking about holding further referendums that wont cause great harm to democratic society. Citizen assemblies would need to be formed and plans for three referenda drawn up, a choice between Mays and the Alternative deal followed by a decision between the winning deal and a no-deal option which would culminate in a final choice between a popularly demanded type of Brexit and remaining within the European Union. I, as the rest of us, have no idea where our current moment in history will lead. However, there are a few things that I feel confident are occurring. The long twentieth century that began in 1914 is at the end of its cycle. Whatever comes next will be something new, a difficult and demanding opportunity for profound creativity and the chance to step out of the long shadow of our past. In all ecosystems, diversity generates resilience. It is the reason and the strength of building consensus. Yet we cannot build consensus if we refuse, alienate and straw man the voices of others and refuse to examine and discuss the contradictory predicaments in which we find ourselves. Those that lead us are blind, they are blind because they are true believers and they lack either the wit or compassion to imagine something different beyond more wealth extraction and violence. We have seen Neoliberalisms Capitalist Utopia and it has failed. Only open and honest discourse coupled with pragmatic action will allow us to navigate to a new shore. I feel strongly about these things, that and that no matter what ones political persuasion, voting for the Tories should be beneath anyones dignity at this point. To be awake from this collective dissonance we must approach our predicament with humility and honesty. Without a democratic commitment to an open and honest discussion, pragmatic decision making processes and a functioning political system capable of mitigating the worst damage, this country will become a mere serfdom ruled by Lilliputian lords. For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed Alexander Aston is a doctoral candidate in archaeology at the University of Oxford and is on the board of directors with the Centre for Cognitive Archaeology at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. He has prior degrees in philosophy and history. His work lays at the intersection of Cognitive Archaeology, Deep History and Natural Philosophy, examining the relationship between ecology, material culture and social cognition. Alexander grew up between Zimbabwe, Greece and the United States. He has worked as a stone mason, community organiser and collaborative artist focused on issues of sustainability, alternative education and economic justice for nearly two decades. He has helped to establish community collectives, free schools, participatory art projects, sustainability and education programs in several international projects. By Raul Ilargi Meijer Website: http://theautomaticearth.com (provides unique analysis of economics, finance, politics and social dynamics in the context of Complexity Theory) 2019 Copyright Raul I Meijer - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Raul Ilargi Meijer Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used. This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. 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We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. TruMark Financial Credit Union recently donated tote bags filled with snacks to five local non-profit organizations that offer educational programs and social services to families experiencing difficult times as they transition back into the economic mainstream. TruMark Financial employees visited... Pennsylvania Horticulture Societys Harvest program ends season with almost 19,000 pounds of produce donated and $30K raised to fight food insecurity University Board of Trustees approves expenditures for planning and design of H-STEM Complex. At its regular meeting in Houghton today, the Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees approved expenditures to complete planning and design for what is currently being referred to as the H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex (or H-STEM Complex). Expenditures for planning and design are not to exceed $3.1 million. In late 2018, the Michigan Legislature granted planning authorization for the H-STEM Complex, a $44.7 million capital outlay project that will comprise to-be-constructed shared and flexible lab spaces co-located with renovated classrooms and learning spaces in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building. The project request included a proposed $29.7 million in State support, with $15 million in matching funds. Connecting with Communities Associate Professor Richelle Winkler presented the Board with an overview of her solar-related research in two Upper Peninsula towns. Winkler, her colleagues and students, and local community members have been investigating the feasibility of establishing a community solar project in LAnse and Baraga. Community investors would own the solar panels, sell energy to the grid and earn money in the form of credits on their energy bills. "This project uses a community engaged, participatory research approach to bring together expertise from across the University, in collaboration with communities and industry, to address an important sustainability issue in our region." Richelle Winkler, associate professor of sociology and demography Winkler described their success thus far LAnse issued a request for proposals and is currently pre-selling solar panels and noted that the project has far-reaching outcomes. It equips students with practical experience in an emerging industry; provides community members in LAnse and Baraga with access to affordable, renewable, local energy; engages the University with local communities; and strengthens Michigan Techs reputation as a leader in transdisciplinary energy research. Community solar has the potential to make positive impacts environmentally, economically and for local community development," Winkler said. "It has been particularly rewarding to see Michigan Tech students engaging with diverse community members and getting practice applying their skills to meet community needs. In other business, the Board: Welcomed new Board members John U. Bacon and Jeffrey C. Littmann Recognized Roberta Dessellier and Donald Wareham for their many years of service to the University Approved a resolution that excludes Trustees from having access to classified information unless they are members of the Executive Committee Approved a revision to Board Policy regarding building and property rules and regulations Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, the University offers more than 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure. MERIDEN MidState Medical Center has filed an application with the state Office of Health Strategy for a $26.2 million expansion to add operating room space. The addition would add three operating rooms in anticipation of an increased need for orthopedic and other surgeries. MidState, which is a part of the Hartford Healthcare network, has seen orthopedic-related surgeries rise sharply over the past few years, from 1,327 in 2016 to a projected 4,163 this year. The increase is the result of recruiting 37 new orthopaedic surgeons, many of whom came on board in 2017, when MidState established the Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute. In its application, filed last week with the Office of Health Strategy, MidState argues that the aging population and obesity trends will lead to more orthopaedic surgeries. In addition to orthopedic surgeons, 27 other surgeons have joined the staff, significantly increasing the demand for available operating room capacity, according to the state filing, called a certificate of need. Given the hospitals recent and expected growth in surgical cases, the hospital now seeks approval to add three operating rooms at its main campus so that it may appropriately accommodate the current and expected surgical volume, according to the filing. The project will include a major renovation of the main operating room corridor. Portable trailers are now used as surgical offices and storage areas. MidState has undergone significant expansions since opening 20 years ago. As recently as last fall officials said a planned 10,000 square-foot expansion wont be enough for a campus that is at critical mass. "Capacity has become quite the issue," said Gary Havican, central region president for Hartford HealthCare. "We need to continue to grow and our doctors need to provide services for our patients." If approved, the expansion and new equipment will be paid for through operating costs, according to the filing. The certificate of need process begins with a letter of intent. The commission has 90 days to review and decide on the application. In most cases, a public hearing on the application is held halfway through the 90-day certificate of need application process. Commission staff prepare an issues paper, which defines the main areas for discussion at the public hearing. mgodin@record-journal.com 203-317-2255 Twitter: @Cconnbiz January single-family home sales statewide saw the largest year-over-year decline since January 2009, according to the latest report from The Warren Group, publisher of the Commercial Record. However, local realtors and appraisers say the numbers dont equate with activity in central Connecticut. January single-family home sales statewide totaled 1,835 transactions, a 14.5 percent decrease from January 2018 when there were 2,145 transactions. This marked the largest year-over year decline for the month of January since 2009 when sales fell 35.3 percent on the same basis at the start of the recession. Meanwhile, the median price of a single-family home fell 0.4 percent on a year-over-year basis to $235,000, compared with $236,000 in January 2018. Last year the number of home sales fell in nine of 12 months and for the entire year sales fell by 1.9 percent, said Timothy Warren, chief executive officer of The Warren Group. However, no month in 2018 had a decline approaching the 14.5 percent decline that we saw last month. Homeowners and prospective buyers are standing fast with their current living quarters. Condominium sales in Connecticut also experienced a notable decline, falling 17.6 percent on a year-over-year basis with 519 transactions. On the same basis, the median sale price for condos increased 2 percent to $153,000, the highest price for the month of January since 2015. This is the first uptick weve seen in the January condo price since 2015, Warren said. Despite the increase, the median sale price is still well below the peak price of $191,000 seen in January 2006. Jonathon Carbutti, of Carbutti & Co. Realtors, said the local market does not reflect all of the Commercial Record findings. My experience has been very different, Carbutti said. Im coming off a holiday in January. I listed 33 properties in January and sold 38. Were getting multiple offers off the asking price. Carbutti said he had a recent sale in Meriden that was $25,000 over the asking price. Meriden appraiser and real estate agent Rob Clermont said that there is pent up buyer demand and less inventory in the local market that is keeping prices and sales numbers up. Homes under $300,000 are selling the quickest in Wallingford and Meriden and the spring market is predicted to be one of the busiest in years, Clermont said. Condos are also selling close to the listing prices. Ive been in the business for 21 years, and this is the busiest Ive been in January and February in the past three years, he said. Clermont said homes in foreclosure or distress and homes in need of remodeling are going quickly in Meriden. People are starting to see that Meridens value is its a place where you can buy a house and get a bang for your buck, Clermont said. The market is very hot right now, normally we have 130 to 140 homes coming to the spring market, now there are only 93 homes. As an appraiser, Clermont looks at supply and demand when recommending price. The low-end and foreclosure market is seeing brisk activity with investors competing against each other to bid on distressed properties. And there is considerable interest is in flipped homes. He points to a house at 19 Silver St. Meriden on the market for $189,900 that had seven to eight showing requests and received an offer in less than 24 hours. It had sold for $100,000 in November and was recently remodeled. A sale is pending. The tight inventory has helped boost local prices, he said. According to Clermont, in the last 365 days, there were 555 single-family home sales in Meriden, ranging in price from $25,000 to $375, 000. The average price was $169,817 and the homes stayed on the market for 54 days. Many sold for small percentages within their lowest selling price. In 2017 to 2018, there were 616 single family homes that sold in the city ranging from $15,000 to $375,000, with an average price of $158,409. Most stayed on the market an average of 51 days and sold for 98 percent of lowest list price. mgodin@record-journal.com 203-317-2255 Twitter: @Cconnbiz On Feb. 8 of last year, around 5 a.m., a police SWAT team raided a Meriden familys apartment based on a search warrant for an unrelated drug suspect. Police found no drugs in the apartment and made no arrests. Turned out the occupants were not the wanted individuals. The family is suing the city, the Meriden Police Department and the chief of police, claiming psychological trauma and physical injuries. On Feb. 5 of this year, around 5 a.m., New Britain and Southington police raided a Southington motel, based in part on information from Facebook, using a dog and an armored car and looking for a fugitive murder suspect. A man with the same name as the fugitive was staying there with his wife and two minor children. A detective later realized that they had the wrong man; the real suspect remained at large. The family has filed an intent to sue the Southington and New Britain police departments. Welcome to the information age with a few qualifications. First: Police work takes time, and there can always be a delay between the time a warrant is issued and the time of a raid, putting into question who is actually living in an apartment or house. Likewise, information gained through social media can send police in the wrong direction. Second: The public generally (and for obvious reasons) has no idea what their police are up to and where they get their leads. And when something goes wrong, as in the cases above, police departments are often very reluctant to release much information. Thus it can take months even years before a request under the Freedom of Information Act uncovers the truth. Third: And yet, the idea of any kind of civilian police review board seems to be anathema to police brass, here and elsewhere. Generally, only larger cities have them. (I could find none in Connecticut.) But what other profession with life-or-death responsibilities is left to regulate itself? Even hairdressers and tattoo artists have to be licensed, and the state has an investigations unit for complaints about health care practitioners, who are licensed to help people. What about cops, who are authorized, if necessary, to shoot people? Why should they be supervised only by other cops? What if just for instance a Meriden police officer whose father happened to be the chief pushed a suspect unnecessarily, which led to a severe head injury and an excessive-force lawsuit (the terms of which were kept secret), and an expensive investigation commissioned by the city, and an FBI investigation, which led to a 14-month federal sentence for said officer? Should that have been handled in-house? Or might a civilian review board have done it fairly but quicker, and maybe cheaper? And what if a Cheshire officer had been under special instructions by his chief to stay away from a certain civilian employee in the same department, and was even ordered to keep his body camera on if it became necessary for him to interact with her? And what if this situation had been allowed to continue for years and was only revealed through an FOIA request? Isnt there a better way to handle such things? As the Roman poet Juvenal asked, about 2,000 years ago, Who will guard the guardians? Reach Glenn Richter at grichter@record-journal.com. National Delhi Congress rejects AAP alliance after meeting NEW DELHI, Mar 1 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 3/1/2019 12:17:01 PM IST Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on Friday turned down a proposal to tie-up with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The decision was taken after a meeting between Dikshit, who took over as party chief in the capital in January, and senior Delhi Congress leaders at her residence, news agency ANI reported. On Thursday, Dikshit had conveyed the central leaderships inclination to partner the AAP to take on the BJP together, ANI said. After this, a meeting was held with party workers at her residence on Friday. After two hours of deliberation, they turned down the idea of aligning with AAP for general elections,Dikshit told ANI. Top leaders of Congress held discussion over the issue of a tie-up with AAP in Delhi but most of the leaders are not in favour of an alliance with AAP. We will convey our decision to party high command, she added. At a public meeting last week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said he was tired of trying to persuade the Congress to agree to an alliance with his AAP. A day later, Dikshit retorted, When did AAP ever come to us? If Arvind wants an alliance, then he should directly speak to me. Just weeks before that, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi both attended a meeting of opposition leaders at Maharashtra politician Sharad Pawars home in Delhi. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also participated in the discussions, told reporters that AAP and Congress had been urged to consider tying up in Delhi. Kejriwals party was born out of the anti-corruption movement against the Congress over the demand of an anti-corruption body. In 2013, the Congress helped AAP take power in Delhi, but Mr Kejriwal quit after a 49-day stint over the anti-corruption Lokpal bill, adding to the acrimony. Two years later, AAP returned to power with a spectacular mandate and the Congress was wiped out. The Congress, say sources, believes AAP rode to power by eating into its vote-base. National India, Pakistan armies trade fire in Poonch, Rajouri People shift a civilian for treatments after he received injuries during firing and mortar shelling by the Pakistani Army along the LoC in Poonch district of J & K, Thursday. (PTI) Jammu, Feb 28 (IANS): | Publish Date: 3/1/2019 12:00:00 AM IST Indian and Pakistani troops traded heavy mortar and small arms fire on Thursday on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch and Rajouri districts amid India-Pakistan tensions. After heavy firing in Poonch district that started in the morning, the Pakistan Army violated the bilateral ceasefire at four places in neighbouring Rajouri district. Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt Colonel Devender Anand said: Continuing its nefarious designs, the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in Sunderbani, Mankote, Khari Karmara and Degwar sectors of LoC. After ceasefire violation first at 6 a.m. and then at 1 p.m. in Poonch, the Pakistanis used mortar shells and small arms to target Indian positions in these four sectors in Rajouri. The ceasefire violation started at 3 p.m. and is still going on. The Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively, the spokesperson said. Indian and Pakistani armies earlier traded mortar shells and small arms fire in Poonch district in two spells on Thursday. Authorities have shut all educational institutions within a 5-kilometre of the LoC and the International Border in Rajouri, Poonch and Samba districts. India-Pakistan tensions have steeply mounted ever since a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF troopers in Kashmir. India bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammeds training camp at Balakot in Pakistan on Tuesday and Pakistani jets intruded into Indian air space the next day. Regional Manipur police arrest on for firing gun at a govt hospital Correspondent IMPHAL, Mar 1 | Publish Date: 3/1/2019 12:14:57 PM IST A visitor to a government hospital in Imphal sustained bullet injuries after another visitor fired a shot from his license gun following a heated argument with the security guard of the hospital. A quick response to the complaint lodged by the hospital authority, the police arrested the accused offender who fled the hospital soon after the firing his gun late Thursday night, police said Friday. The incident occurred late last night at the Gynea ward of RIMS hospital, Imphal where the alleged accused had confronted with a security guard personnel on duty at the entrance of the ward last night, around 9.30 pm. The accused, identified as Thokchom Romesh (43) of Imphals Soibam Leikai was arrested by the police from north AOC, Imphal, in front of Classic Hotel around 11.30 pm. A .22 revolver loaded with seven live rounds and one empty case along with the gun license was recovered from the possession of the alleged offender, police said. The accused Romesh allegedly fired the gun to the security guard who refused him to enter into the ward citing that no male is allowed to enter during the night. The accused was coming to visit one of his female relatives under medical care at the Gynea ward of the hospital. The shot fired at the security guard missed but hit to a visitor who was nearby the security guard. The injured Thoudam Chinglen Mangang (25) of Heibongpokpi of Imphal West who received a bullet on his left hand was rushed to the casualty ward of the same hospital. When the incident was tabled in the house of Manipur Assembly in its ongoing budget session by the opposition, chief minister N Biren Singh claimed that a quick response of the concerned police station has able to arrest the offender. The Netherlands Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and Thales are developing the Above Water Warfare System (AWWS) for the Royal Netherlands Navy, the first implementation of which will take place on the next generation of its multi-purpose frigates. The M-frigates will be replaced in cooperation with the Belgian Navy. AWWS will protect the Navy against evolving future threats. Vice-Admiral Arie-Jan de Waard, Director of DMO and Gerben Edelijn, CEO of Thales Nederland B.V., are proud of this important step in their cooperation for the future of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The Netherlands Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and Thales are developing the Above Water Warfare System (AWWS) for the Royal Netherlands Navy, the first implementation of which will take place on the next generation of its multi-purpose frigates. The M-frigates will be replaced in cooperation with the Belgian Navy. AWWS will protect the Navy against evolving future threats. Vice-Admiral Arie-Jan de Waard, Director of DMO and Gerben Edelijn, CEO of Thales Nederland B.V., are proud of this important step in their cooperation for the future of the Royal Netherlands Navy. An artist impression of the M-frigate (Picture source : Thales Group) The current multi-purpose frigates in service of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Belgian Navy are reaching the end of their lifecycle. The next generation will replace these two Dutch and two Belgian M-frigates as of 2024. Although their primary role will be anti-submarine warfare, the new frigates must be able to independently defend themselves as well as nearby units against air and surface threats. For this purpose, they will be equipped with a state-of-the-art surface warfare fire control system, called AWWS. The development of AWWS has become necessary because above-water threats are growing exponentially in terms of complexity, coordination and speed. Missiles go up to three times faster than the speed of sound, and possibly even up to five times faster in 2020. Currently used technologies are insufficient to make use of all the new sensor and weapon systems to counter these threats in the future. This new system continuously generates the best solution to counter any incoming threats, whatever the environmental conditions or threat complexity. The system will support the operator in making the right decision at every decisive moment. When faced with scenarios of several different threats arriving simultaneously and employing complex behaviours, such as very high speed, a human operator will no longer be able to schedule and plan the right defensive priorities effectively and efficiently. However, AWWS will offer the operator information to make the right decisions within seconds, so the ship can protect itself successfully and continue on its mission. AWWS will consist of a new generation of sensors, coupled with intelligent software that continuously calculates which actions are best suited to tackle each threat detected by radar and other sensors in the right manner. This maximizes the chance of survival, while the crew stays in control. This system uses the latest sensor technology from Thales to detect and monitor all abovewater threats, including the next-generation, fully digital dual-band X/S radar suite: an integral combination of Active Phased Array Radar (APAR) and Sea Master 400 radar technologies. Prior to the AWWS contract, the Dutch Ministry of Defence initiated advanced research into this technology with DMO, TNO and Thales more than ten years ago. This resulted in an agreement for a technology demonstrator. The technology demonstrator will eventually be installed at a shore-based test site for tests and trials. As a reminder, in December 2016, defence Ministers from Belgium & the Netherlands Signed an MoU for the Common Procurement of Vessels: It was then agreed that for the replacement of the so-called M-class frigates Netherlands would take the lead while Belgium would be leading the MCMV program. The Dutch Defense organization requested a bid (without competition) from local shipyard Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding and Thales Netherlands. In 2018, Belgium and the Netherlands formally launched the joint procurement for the four frigates. By Iris Hentze Military spouses often struggle to find and maintain employment due to frequent moves, making them some of the most mobile workers in the labor market and leaving them particularly vulnerable to licensing requirements that often vary greatly from state to state. The roughly 500,000 military spouses in the U.S. make up a diverse group of highly educated individuals with 84 percent having at least a college education. Despite this, military spouses experience an underemployment rate of nearly 33 percent and roughly 38 percent earn less than their civilian counterparts. Military spouses find some of the barriers individuals often face when pursuing a license particularly difficult to overcome. Military families move an average of once every three years. Frequent moves across state lines mean military spouses must bear the cost of obtaining a new license more frequently than many other licensees. Interstate variation in licensing also proves difficult as military spouses may have to take additional education courses, gain additional experience and meet other criteria before meeting licensure requirements in a new state. Licensure by endorsement, temporary licensure and expedited review represent some of the solutions state legislatures consider to address the challenges military spouses face. Temporary or provisional licensure, which allows a military spouse to practice his or her profession while fulfilling the necessary requirements to qualify for permanent licensure in a new state, have been popular in some states. In Arkansas, for example, the legislature in 2017 passed HB 1184, which required state boards and commissions to promulgate rules for temporary licensure, certification or permitting of spouses of active duty service members. Also, the Texas Legislature passed HB 1934 in 2017, allowing for temporary certification of military spouses with teaching credentials in another state so they can work as an educator while pursuing licensure in Texas. Some states are taking things a step further and considering legislation to exempt military spouses from licensure, under certain conditions. In 2018, Utah passed SB 227, which allows active duty service members and spouses to practice a number of professions or occupations in the state without requiring a distinct license in Utah, as long as they hold a current license in good standing in another state and pay all applicable fees. Arizona lawmakers are currently considering similar legislation with HB 2569. The bill would allow individuals licensed and in good standing in another state to freely practice in Arizona, provided they pay the required fees in the state. The language specifically limits the provisions in the bill to individuals who either establish residence in the state or are married to an active duty service member and accompanying their spouse on their official change of station to Arizona. Licensed military spouses would need to hold their credential in another state for at least one year and have never had a license previously revoked in any other state or country to qualify. The legislation has successfully passed the Arizona House, with consideration by the Senate to take place next. For more occupational licensing resources, visit www.ncsl.org/stateslicense. Iris Hentze is a policy associate in NCSLs Employment, Labor and Retirement Program. Email Iris Anuradha Shukla By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Now, Brazil has joined hands with Australia in requesting the World Trade Organisation to start a consultation on Indias sugar industry subsidies, accusing that it is distorting global trade. According to estimates of the Brazilian government, Indias increased supplies could lead to a drop of 25.5 per cent in global sugar prices in 2018-19 season and cause losses of up to $1.3 billion for Brazilian exporters alone. Australia has also formalised a similar consultation request challenging the subsidies extended by Indian government to farmers, according to a joint statement from Brazils foreign relations and agriculture ministries. Last year, we saw around $1 billion of additional subsidies to Indian sugar farmers. We understand that there are many pressures on the Indian sugar farming industry and we understand their desire to support their farmers, Australian media quoted its trade minister Simon Birmingham as saying. Both the countries have argued that Indian subsidies have caused significant impacts on the world sugar market and breach WTO rules. India produced record 32.8 million tonne (MT) sugar last year. This year, though the production is seen slightly lower at 30.7 MT, the overall surplus is likely at a new high due to a large carryover from last year. India is predicted to export 4 MT sugar this year, which will keep the global price rise of sugar in check, claimed these two countries. These WTO-inconsistent practices are really hurting our farmers and those elsewhere around the world, and that is why we are going down this path, Birmingham said, adding that Australia has voiced its concerns to India to no avail. Meanwhile, the Indian commerce ministry officials have played it down. We are aware of the issue. There is no need to blow it out of proportion. We will take up this matter as and when the situation demands, a senior commerce ministry official told TNIE. By IANS NEW DELHI: Punjab National Bank (PNB), the victim of India's biggest banking scandal last year, has been ranked first among the public sector banks (PSBs) in implementing banking reforms, according to a report released on Thursday. The trend of rising Gross NPAs, or bad loans, in the system has been reversed with the non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio on the decline for the last three quarters, said the Boston Consulting Group (BCG)-Indian Banks' Association (IBA) report. The report -- EASE Reforms for Public Sector Banks - said GNPAs lowered by Rs 31,168 crore in this period, GNPA ratio has started declining after peaking in March 2018 and has declined for three successive quarters since then. In its ranking on the criterion of implementing banking reforms, PNB was followed by Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India (SBI). The report measures the performance of each PSB on 140 objective metrics across 6 themes, including customer responsiveness, credit offtake and digitalisation. PNB with a score of 78.4 out of 100 was ranked first in the EASE (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) index, followed by Bank of Baroda (77.8), SBI (74.6), Oriental Bank of Commerce (69), Canara Bank (67.5) and Syndicate Bank (67.1). PNB, which reported a nearly Rs 14,000-crore fraud committed by absconding jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, showed "strong performance" in parameters like customer responsiveness, responsible banking, credit offtake and financial inclusion. After posting losses in three previous quarters, PNB returned to the black in the third quarter ending December with a net profit rise of 7.12 per cent at Rs 247 crore on speedier recoveries and a drop in bad loans. Noting that banks are effectively addressing the NPA problem, the report said the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (IBC) process has led to large-scale NPA resolution and recovery. The PSBs have recovered Rs 2.87 lakh crore from April 2015 till December 2018, including a record recovery of Rs 98,498 crore in the current fiscal till December. "Over the last decade, PSBs witnessed excessive build-up of stress in their loan portfolio. Much of the stress remained hidden in the form of Standard Restructured Assets (SRA) as a result of RBI guidelines. With the recognition of the stress since 2015, the adverse impact of the hidden stress on key financials became manifest," the report said. The six state-run banks, which continue to remain under the RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework for high level of NPAs, have been ranked in the report. These are Indian Overseas Bank (66.7), UCO Bank (64.1), United Bank of India (60.8), IDBI Bank (60.2), Central Bank of India (55.7) and Dena Bank (53.8). By Express News Service BENGALURU: Health department officials on Thursday cautioned the public about H1N1 or swine flu cases in the city. According to the data released by the District Health Family Welfare office, 39 cases of swine flu were confirmed in the city as of Thursday. Addressing the media, Dr Sunanda, surveillance officer, said of the 39 cases, 21 are from East Bengaluru. At least 70 per cent of the confirmed cases and suspected cases are from East Bengaluru. Most of the migratory population, especially labourers who come from Odisha, Bihar and Maharashtra to work in garment factories and construction sites, are based in East Bengaluru. Of the 21 cases, two are children, she said. Department officials have been doing surveillance and awareness activities to ensure that the disease is contained. At least 3,000 houses have been surveyed. The highest number of suspected cases were reported between September and December. Also, Tamiflu tablets have been distributed. People can take these in case they show symptoms, Dr Sunanda said. Pinto Deepak By Express News Service HYDERABAD: In matters of law, every argument is required to be thorough down to the tiniest of details. And since all the material evidence which form the basis of these arguments in the courts first reach the police station, the responsibility of investigating officials (IO) in a case becomes paramount. However, of late, lapses at the investigation level in the Telangana police are being exposed more than ever. Over and above, the courts have pointed out the lapses in investigations which have led to the acquittal of convicted criminals for lack of evidence. For instance, in a 2007 murder case registered with the Uppal police saw the conviction of the deceaseds wife and her paramour for his murder. The wife was sentenced to life imprisonment after found guilty to have poisoned the husband. However, when the case was taken before the high court the division bench pointed out that the prosecution had failed to prove how the wife had procured the poison used to kill the man. It asked for a better examination of the plastic bottle containing the insecticide used to kill the man by the IOs as well as the prosecution. A month ago, the wife was acquitted of all charges. Negligence on behalf of the IOs not only prevents from justice reaching the victims and their families, but it also allows the acquittal of criminals, threatening law and order in the society. In the sensational murder of AP-based gangster Maddelacheruvu Suri, alias Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy, the city court in December 2018 acquitted four persons who were charged under the Arms Act and for conspiracy. The court pointed out that in order for a person to be convicted under the Arms Act, there was a prior government sanction to be taken, which in the said case was ignored by the IOs for unknown reasons. The concerned IOs were also fired for not submitting the bullet lodged in Suris body to the forensic laboratory for examination. While the police said they had forwarded the bullet, the team at Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) denied the same. Two persons were convicted for Suris murder in December 2018. While three others were found to have contacted the accused on the day of the murder. There were call records and messages found as proof but were not investigated by the IOs for analysis of the content of the calls. After all, a person cannot be convicted for just contacting a murderer unless details of their conversation are specific to the crime. This even if the contact was made on the day of the crime. Major lapses In a murder case registered by the SR Nagar police station, whose judgement was delivered in 2017, the weapon used to kill the deceased was initially assumed to be a sword. However, the investigating officials (IOs) later the weapon used was, in fact, a stone. In its 2017 judgement, the court found that the said stone was not submitted to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). It is considered to be a major lapse committed by the IOs in the investigation since the stone (used in the murder) was bound to have incriminating materials like blood or tissues of the murderer, noted the court. Fewer convictions Even the portion of the total number of criminal cases under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which reached conviction stages saw a meagre two percent increase between 2017 & 2018. By Express News Service KOCHI: With the plastic menace at Brahmapuram remaining a ticking time bomb both for the Kochi Corporation and residents alike, the civic body has finally decided to ban the use of plastic carry bags below 50 microns. According to the Corporation, a blanket ban will be imposed on the plastic carry bags below 50 microns from March 1 as their move towards implementing a ban on plastic carry bags from August 15. As per the move, the Corporation would conduct surprise inspections in all the shops in the city. The move to implement the ban came after both the ruling and Opposition councillors came down against the Corporations lethargic attitude towards implementing the ban on plastic carry bags. The use of plastic carry bags in the city is causing lots of issues. This is high time the Corporation came up with stringent measures. Though there is a ban on plastic carry bags below 50 microns in the state, the Corporation has done nothing to prevent it. Still, it is widely available in the market. Who is restricting the Corporation from buying plastic gauge metre? The Mayor should answer it, said V P Chandran, Opposition councillor, while bringing up the plastic waste issue during the council. Meanwhile, C K Peter who reached the council hall with cloth carry bags as an alternative solution to the plastic bag asked the Mayor to implement the ban before August 15, the date which the Corporation announced in their recent budget. The Corporation has several times announced a ban on the plastic carry bags, but the Health Department failed to implement it. Though they have carried an inspection for one or two days, they failed to continue it. Plastic Handling Rule 2016 should be implemented strictly, said Peter. However, the Corporations move did not come as a surprise for several councillors as they have announced it several times. Even the hologram project to demotivate the use of plastic also failed to take off. We have taken several measures to reduce the use of plastic usage in the city. There was a lack of sufficient gauge metres to check the plastic carry bags but the Corporation has purchased nearly 10 such metres. I have directed the Health Supervisor to carry out surprise inspections in shops. Stringent action will be followed if we find the banned plastic carry bags, said the Mayor. Jose Joy By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Every good artist has strong philosophical values about her/his practice. Bengaluru-based tattoo artist Raja S (Instagram @mettleink) vouches that certain ideas have even influenced his style of inking. A lot of people want tattoos to be a memory of overcoming something in life. Instead of just an idea, I sit with them and listen to their story. A good design doesnt happen when you remember an instance or a place, but when you can connect the dots and make a cohesive tale, says Raja. Sticking to this process has brought some character into his work which has an illustrative strain to it, reminiscent of graphic novels. We speak to this 27-year-oldwho has recently returned from participating at Thailand-based Chiangmai Tattoo Festabout his evolution as a tattooer. Finding a way Raja was introduced to inking while he was pursuing BFA in painting at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. Signing up with the popular Bengaluru-based studio Skin Deep in 2012, he was mentored by artist Senthil Govind Raj. Since 2013, hes also been visiting festivals like Nepal Tattoo Convention to get perspectives on the international circuit. Everyone in this field has struggled to come up and expect the same from upcoming artists. So, initially, you have to watch, assimilate practices and then develop your own, says the tattooer, who has won accolades at festivals like Nepal Inked and collaborated with big names like John Ma and Bimal Rai. Leaving behind the idea of commercialised tattoo shops, he currently works from a personal studio in Bengaluru and while touring the country. He is currently branching out into new areas like painting and graffiti to support himself and keep away from being a sell-out. Appointments available in Kochi from March 5 - 12. By PTI LOS ANGELES: Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, whose "Roma" missed out on Best Picture Oscar to "Green Book", says people may have been sceptical initially about Netflix's involvement but the conversation has changed because it connected with people the way "usually only mainstream films do". "Roma" was the clear front-runner in the race and bagged three Oscars -- Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director nods -- but stopped short of claiming the top prize, which went to Peter Farrelly's racial drama "Green Book". The choice by the Academy members drew sharp reactions both from the film fraternity and in the media, with critics pointing out at Hollywood's hostility towards Netflix, which is being seen as a market disrupter. When asked to comment about the perception that Netflix's involvement may have cost the film its Best Picture Oscar by Variety, Cuaron had a carefully-worded answer. "In the beginning, when I started this process, I felt that. I had friends and other filmmakers say, 'What are you doing?' It was almost as if I was betraying something. But I think the conversation has changed. I think most people are recognising that this film is reaching audiences worldwide in a way that usually only mainstream films do," the 57-year-old director replied. ALSO READ | 'Roma' creates history as first Mexican feature to win best foreign film Oscar Cuaron said the debate around watching films on streaming services and in theatres is "super important" to him but he also believes that theatrical experience is largely focused on tentpole cinema. "For me the conversation about theatrical is super important. I'm a filmmaker. I believe in the theatrical experience. But there has to be diversity. The multiplex theatrical experience is a very gentrified experience. You have one kind of product with few variations. It's hard to see art-house films. It's hard to see foreign films. Most theatres play big Hollywood movies," he added. The Oscar winner also said that the distribution model also needs to be tweaked keeping in mind the type of film that is being presented to the audiences. "You cannot impose the release strategy of a tentpole film on a smaller film. You may need fewer theatres and longer runs or models in which the so-called window is shorter. We're thinking in one single paradigm. It's a moment to start opening up paradigms. Right now it's a confrontation between economic models. It's not like one model benefits cinema, and the other does not," he added. New affiliation to advance therapies for rare diseases Oxford, UK and Cleveland, Ohio, USA - 28 February 2019 - The University of Oxford and University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, today announced a multi-year affiliation to establish a global center for rare diseases. The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre will bring together the capabilities, resources and expertise of both institutions to deliver new treatments for rare diseases, for which therapeutic options are lacking. More than 350 million people worldwide are living with a rare disease, and approximately 50 percent are children. There are about 7,000 known rare diseases, with new diseases being discovered every day. A rare disease affects one in 10 Americans, or 10 percent of the US population. Similarly, Europe has approximately 30 million people who suffer from a rare disease. The majority of all rare diseases are genetic in origin, which means they are present throughout a person's life. Only five percent of rare diseases have a treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar estimates have been made for treatments approved by the European Medicine Agency (EMA). Therefore, someone with a rare disease today faces a lifelong, often life-threatening, condition with little hope for a cure, or even an effective treatment option. In this partnership, the University of Oxford and Harrington Discovery Institute commit to addressing unmet need in rare disease. Through their combined resources, the new Centre will set the science and innovation agenda to support cutting-edge breakthroughs across the UK and US with the greatest chance for clinical impact. The University of Oxford is a world-renowned academic institution with more than 250 Principal Investigator scientists working on over 350 rare diseases. The Oxford Rare Disease Initiative, established in 2012, is a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Oxford University Hospitals Trust, which provides the opportunity to combine pre-clinical and clinical expertise in areas such as neurology, inflammation and immunology, hematology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and has created an extensive rare disease network. Since its founding in 2012, Harrington Discovery Institute - part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development - has supported more than 100 drugs-in-the-making across disease areas and academic institutions, with a concentration in diseases where unmet need is greatest. The Harrington Project was established to advance scientific discoveries over the 'Valley of Death' - the stage in the drug development process when a new discovery is seen as promising, but is insufficiently validated to attract the funding necessary for clinical trials. Harrington Discovery Institute advances these promising discoveries towards the clinic by aligning, through mission and structure, scientific and drug discovery expertise into a new model for drug development. "Our partnership with Harrington Discovery Institute recognizes the combined experience needed in world-class science and drug development if we are to change the rare disease landscape in a meaningful way - and Oxford is committed to doing so through this unique, open model supporting the most impactful innovation throughout the UK," said Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford. "Advancing breakthroughs in rare diseases will require bold, new approaches that can overcome scientific challenges and create new medicines. This affiliation represents a commitment to patients first and a tremendous opportunity to improve the health and outcomes of those living with a rare disease," said Jonathan S. Stamler, MD, President, Harrington Discovery Institute and Reitman Family Distinguished Chair of Cardiovascular Innovation at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre has been several years in planning through efforts of Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, and with the help of David U'Prichard, ex-Global Head of Pharma R&D and Advisor to The Harrington Project. The Centre will be headquartered both in Oxford, under the leadership of Professor Georg Hollander and Professor Matthew Wood, and in Cleveland within the Harrington Discovery Institute, and managed by its leadership. The Centre will be leveraged by researchers worldwide, and raise awareness for rare diseases. "Our family is thrilled to see the incredible evolution of the Harrington Project in only 7 years. Our US program has generated interest from disease foundations to biotech and pharma, and we are so pleased to see it extend to the UK. We are honored and privileged to be collaborating with perhaps the most illustrious university in the world, and we welcome them as true partners in our efforts to cure disease," said Ronald G. Harrington, whose family co-founded the Harrington Project with Dr. Stamler at University Hospitals. "Our Centre promises to advance the best scientific breakthroughs not only at Oxford but also across the UK. This is a unique feature of our commitment to science and patients and one I am most proud of," said Georg Hollander, Head of the Department of Paediatrics. Matthew Wood, Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Centre remarked, "The enormous challenge of bringing new medicines into the rare disease space requires not only scientific excellence but also mechanisms to share knowledge and ambitious approaches to translate this successfully into new drugs for patients. We are thrilled that the new Centre will partner with Harrington Discovery Institute and benefit directly from their extraordinary track record in new drug development and commitment to patients." "This is a wonderful example of the synergy in science and innovation that is needed to move discovery forward, and it is gratifying to see our institutions in Cleveland and Oxford combine their strengths to this end," said University Hospitals CEO Thomas F. Zenty III. The Centre is supported in part by a grant from the Cleveland Foundation. "This is a phenomenal opportunity for Cleveland to further distinguish itself as a leader in biomedical innovation," said Cleveland Foundation President and CEO Ronn Richard. "We are excited by the capabilities of Harrington Discovery Institute, which will support medical breakthroughs across the US and UK through its affiliation with one of the world's premier medical institutions." ### University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division Oxford University's Medical Sciences Division is one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe, with over 2,500 people involved in research and more than 2,800 students. The University is rated the best in the world for medicine and life sciences, and it is home to the UK's top-ranked medical school. It has one of the largest clinical trial portfolios in the UK and great expertise in taking discoveries from the lab into the clinic. Partnerships with the local NHS Trusts enable patients to benefit from close links between medical research and healthcare delivery. Harrington Discovery Institute The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH -- part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development -- aims to advance medicine and society by enabling our nation's most inventive scientists to turn their discoveries into medicines that improve human health. The institute was created in 2012 with a $50 million founding gift from the Harrington family and instantiates the commitment they share with University Hospitals to a Vision for a 'Better World'. The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development (The Harrington Project), founded in 2012 by the Harrington Family and University Hospitals of Cleveland, is a $300 million national initiative built to bridge the translational valley of death. It includes the Harrington Discovery Institute and BioMotiv, a for-profit, mission-aligned drug development company that accelerates early discovery into pharma pipelines. For more information about The Harrington Project and the Harrington Discovery Institute, visit: HarringtonDiscovery.org. University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system's flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located in Cleveland's University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, a high-volume national referral center for complex cardiovascular procedures; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including "America's Best Hospitals" from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals - part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with 28,000 physicians and employees. Advancing the Science of Health and the Art of Compassion is UH's vision for benefitting its patients into the future, and the organization's unwavering mission is To Heal. To Teach. To Discover. Follow UH on Facebook @UniversityHospitals and Twitter @UHhospitals. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org. Media contacts: For University of Oxford: Chris McIntyre christopher.mcintyre@admin.ox.ac.uk For University Hospitals: George Stamatis george.stamatis@uhhospitals.org 216-844-3667 This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. By Zong Jianming and Fu Xiaotao U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam. US President Donald Trump signed the Space Policy Directive-4 (SPD-4) on February 19. The new memorandum set the basic principles for establishing the US Space Force. Trump also asked the US Department of Defense to draft relevant bills and submit them for congressional approval. As the US latest move to form the Space Force, the directive was the stage result of the discussion between various parties in the country and blueprinted the plan of the US Space Force. However, the new directive only signifies the attitude of the US government and President Trump. Its implementation still faces many constraints. Firstly, it remains to be seen whether the bill will be passed. The establishment of the Space Force must be approved by the Congress. Considering the fact that a number of objections from Congressmen in the early stage, and that the House of Representatives is currently controlled by Democrats, it is still unknown whether the bill can be successfully passed though it is a product of a compromise. If the bill fails to be approved, everything discussed at this stage will not be implemented. Secondly, there are still a lot of questions about creating an entirely separate and individual branch of the US military. In the US, the traditional space military force has been led by the Air Force for many years, and the concept of integrated air and space capability has been deeply rooted. Once the Space Force is established, all the organization, leadership, and regulatory system need to be reframed. The demarcation and running-in with the Air Force is also a major problem. American research institutions have published articles listing the shortcomings of the creation of the Space Force, including undermining the existing military balance, creating new obstacles to the integration of joint forces, the inevitability of redundant construction, and the emergence of new bureaucracies. Therefore, if formation of the Space Force in the future does not achieve expected results, the possibility of being revoked cannot be ruled out, which is not uncommon in the history of the US military. Finally, such a movement has solicited a lot of opposition among the international community. Most countries advocate the peaceful use of outer space, oppose the weaponization of space and arms race in space, as well as the use of space as a new battlefield. Whether the US will deploy weapons of mass destruction in space in the future will be an important indicator for further enhancement of capabilities in space operations. This kind of unilateral strengthening of space military strength by the United States may arouse the worries and uneasiness of other countries and even lead to a new space arms race. (The article was published on the PLA Daily on March 1, 2019.) By Express News Service Anshuman Jha has bagged the role of a serial killer in the ongoing ZEE5 web-series Abhay. The actor shot for his portions in Lucknow and Kanpur. The character is inspired by real-life criminal Udayan Das, who allegedly killed his parents and later his girlfriend in a much-publicized triple murder case. Anshuman, who has mostly played protagonist characters in films like Love Sex Aur Dokha, Yeh Hai Bakrapur and Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain, spoke about the experience of playing a villain. As an actor, you look for challenges. And a character based on such a notorious person is a challenge. Purely from a craft point of view, I look for good stories and parts which have many shades. Being a good guy on screen all the time can get monotonous, he said, adding, This man is dark.I have done a film called Midnight Delhi where my character is based on Delhis Blademan. This guy is violent and dark. WATCH TEASER HERE Abhay stars Kunal Khemu in the lead role of a troubled cop trailing down complicated cases. The eight-episode crime thriller started streaming on February 7. By Express News Service Modern day Japan is a wondrous combination of advanced technology and ancient traditions. These wonders can also be tasted in the contemporary flavours from the country. If you are looking for such flavours and ambience in the city, weve got a spot for you. Kampai in Aerocity is a beautifully decorated restaurant that takes on the traditional concept of Japanese pub Izakaya. Izakaya is a shop where people sit with alcohol. The idea is to keep ordering dishes along with alcohol and have a great time. What better name for an Izakaya theme restaurant but Kampai, which translates to cheers in English. On our recent visit to the restaurant, we were greeted with their cocktails Japanese Slippers, a vodka based drink with citrus and melon flavours and Wasabi Martini, which is a take on the classic gin based drink. For the wasabi lovers, this martini is a perfect choice. Next we tried the Miso Shitake and Edamame. While the traditional salted Edamame is available, the restaurant has added an Indian twist with its chilli garlic flavour. The shitake maintains its original flavours and is the most pleasurable as its meant to be. From the appetisers we tried Tori No Kara-Age, the Karage style fried chicken. It is better than anything a chicken lover can ask for in the fried category as the popular big names. But what took the prize in appetisers was Yaki Buta Baraniku, braised belgian pork belly with honey and soy jam. The sweetness from the honey and jam combined with the beautiful texture of pork belly made it irresistible. We were barely able to keep my chopsticks away from this dish. We were almost done with our drinks and there came another round, keeping up with the theme. A take on Whiskey sour, Yuzu Sansho Sour introduces a twist with Sansopepper and Yuzu puree. Chu Hai packes a good punch with ginger and vodka. We paired this round with Unagi, Salmon skin roll, California roll, and Spider roll. Salmon skin roll has the crunch and softness. For those looking to try a variety of sea food, this is a great option. We decided to end the meal with some comfort food. We ordered ramen and beer. The Tantan men Ramen was everything one would love to order on a lazy weekend. While it was hard for us to leave the place after all that loveliness, we went back home with smiles and a promise to come back again. By Online Desk It was 'Abhinandan' for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, released by Pakistan late on Friday at the Wagah-Attari joint check-post (JCP), sixty hours after he was captured. Wearing a white shirt, blue blazer and grey pants and sporting some scars on his face, a smiling Abhinandan walked back into India around 9.20 pm. He was then taken to Amritsar in a Toyota Innova car. "Wing Commander Abhinandan has been handed over. As per standard procedure, he will be taken for a detailed medical check-up as he had to eject from a plane, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said. Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon said, "As he crossed over, Abhinandan was smiling. He said it was good to be back home. He has been taken away by the senior officials of the air force and he will be flown to Delhi after medical examination." "We were earlier given to understand that he will be handed over to us at 6 PM but there was a delay by the Pakistani authorities. We have not asked Pakistan why. We are happy to have him. As a special case, the border was opened and he crossed the zero line into India," said Dhillon. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In a reprieve to more than 11 lakh forest dwellers and tribals in 16 states, the Supreme Court on Thursday suspended its order that could have resulted in their forcible eviction from their habitations. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra put the February 13 order in abeyance after which the Ministry of Tribal Affairs pleaded for a stay of the judicial order in the interest of the forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDSTs) and other traditional forest dwellers (OTFDs) across states. The court had ordered eviction of the families that have not been able to prove their rights over the land they lived on and were tagged as illegal residents by the states. The bench rapped Solicitor General Tushar Mehta saying, Go in a slumber, let the court pass its order and then come back for modification. It, however, agreed to examine whether the due process under the Forest Rights Act was followed by the states in deciding claims of forest dwellers and the process of adjudicating appeals before final rejection. The bench wondered, Are these people all tribals or normal people living there. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for NGO Wildlife First, submitted that bona fide forest dwellers will not be affected and those who have been granted deeds will remain untouched. The SC gave four months to the states to collate data and file detailed affidavits with regard to the processes followed in grant of deeds. It told the states to apprise it on the category of dwellers presently occupying forest areas, along with a timeline to evict those who are not entitled. The next hearing was slated for July 10. By PTI SRINAGAR: A suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant, who was allegedly involved in a weapon-snatching case, was arrested here on Friday, police said. Acting on a tip-off, a special team of the Srinagar police apprehended a person near Bone and Joint Hospital at Barzulla, a police spokesperson said. The accused has been identified as Showket Ahmed Khan alias Aumer Bhai, a resident of central Kashmir's Budgam district. He is associated with the LeT outfit, the spokesperson said. Khan is involved in a weapon-snatching case, the spokesperson said, adding that further investigation was on. By PTI NEW DELHI: BJP President Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and said how could India trust him. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence. A maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. Shah questioned the Pakistan Prime Minister's silence on the Pulwama attack. "The Pakistan PM should have at least criticised the Pulwama attacks, at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service," he said. 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said Assam would soon become a major centre of world trading in the export of petroleum products to the South East Asian countries. Under Act East Policy, Assam will become an important centre of world trading as it will send petrol and diesel to Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the South East Asian countries, he said in Guwahati after dedicating eight projects in the sector to the nation. Pradhan insisted on the extraction of more oil in the next five years saying it would augment Assams economy. Stating that the Northeast has a huge deposit of gas, he said the development of infrastructure is required to be able to tap it. Assam is rich in natural resources. We need infrastructure if we want to increase gas production. The oil companies have been asked to contribute to the development of infrastructure, he said. The eight projects Pradhan dedicated to the nation were upgradation of pump stations of Naharkatiya-Barauni crude oil pipeline, Greenfield, rail fed POL storage terminal at Digboi, capacity augmentation of LPG bottling plant in Silchar, GGS Borhola to Jorhat CTF crude oil trunk pipeline replacement, capacity augmentation of LPG bottling plant in North Guwahati, effluent treatment plant-cum-water injection plant at Lakhmani, mounded LPG storage at Numaligarh Refinery and Swargadeo Chaolung Siu-Ka-Pha Multi Speciality Hospital in Assams Sivasagar. He also announced the commencement of work of the KB Malaviya National Oil Museum at Guwahati. With five galleries, 3-D theatre, outdoor signs etc, it will showcase the rich history and heritage of the petroleum industry in India. The Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 outlines steps to leverage the hydrocarbon sector for social and economic development of the Northeast. It aims to prepare a roadmap to increase the production of oil and gas in the region and outline the necessary investment in the hydrocarbon sector to increase exploration activities, expand the piped natural gas network and ensure availability of petroleum products in the remotest corners of the region. The Northeast plays an important role in achieving this target as it is endowed with huge untapped natural resources and is acknowledged as the Eastern Gateway of Indias Act East Policy. By IANS LUCKNOW: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Friday said the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan will have no bearing on the upcoming general election in April-May. Arora was responding to a query on whether there were any chances of the polls being postponed in the wake of the situation that has arisen following the February 14 Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir and the subsequent Indian Air Force strike on a non-military Pakistan location to destroy Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps. Talking to reporters at the Yojana Bhawan here in the Uttar Pradesh capital, the top-ranking poll panel official said: "Elections will be held on time." When asked about the possible notification of the Lok Sabha poll dates, Arora said the media and the country would come to know of it through the "usual press conference", as is the norm. By PTI NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to de-escalate tensions with Pakistan and diffuse the crisis situation in the Kashmir Valley while trying to win hearts and minds of the people. Speaking at the India Today conclave here, he said Modi and BJP leaders and ministers should not try to take credit for the act of the Indian Air Force, which the opposition and the country have lauded. "Going forward, Mr Modi either by his inner counsel or by consulting the opposition parties, adopt a strategy that will diffuse tensions with Pakistan and bring some kind of reassurance to the people of the Kashmir valley. These are two separate objectives that have to be addressed," he said. "Calm the people of the Kashmir valley and reassure them that their interests will be protected," he said. The former Union minister said the Congress was among the first to congratulate the IAF for the air strikes and after that it and other parties behaved in an exemplary manner. "We did not go out and hold rallies, public meeting and address party workers, and in fact we cancelled the CWC and other meetings scheduled yesterday. "On the other hand, we have not only the prime minister, we have the party president, home minister and other ministers fanning out all over the country addressing purely political meetings, party workers and booth workers meetings and claiming credit for what the IAF did. "The IAF does not belong to the BJP, the IAF belongs to the country. So if the IAF did a good job, the whole country is proud, why should one political party while appealing to all other parties to observe restraint, try to exploit to the situation and try to gain political advantage," he asked. Chidambaram said when the prime minister is live on television channels, "I don't think it is right for the leader of a political party which is the ruling party, to claim credit for what the IAF did. That is politicisation." He said that was not the occasion for claiming credit for which the Air Force did and suggested that he should have convened a joint session of Parliament and made a speech there and the opposition also would have joined in to praise the Indian Air Force. The Congress leader said "only time will tell, whether it is a right move or not so right move." "But I sincerely hope that this move will not push India into one direction, namely the solution to the K issue is through a war or a limited war." On questions being raised by the opposition about extensive damage in the Indian Air Force strikes, he said while the IAF adopted restraint in its statement, the External Affairs Ministry said there were no civilian or military casualties in the operation. But, it is the political party behind the government which claimed heavy casualties of terrorists, he said. "I am prepared to believe my government. But over the last few days international media have made contrary claims." "I am prepared the world cannot be asked to suspend disbelief. If somebody is perhaps raised questions, that is perhaps Mamata Banerjee has referred to," he said. About criticism of the previous UPA government by some that it did not allow such action after the 26/11 terror attacks, he said a former general has said that and it is not true. "26.11. 2008 was clearly a terror attack, origins of which was clearly Pakistan. After that till May 2014, there was no terror attack in India which had its origins in Pakistan. We have had three such attacks during this government that took place in Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama, that were linked to Pakistan." "This time, when aircraft have moved into Pakistan and bombed a site in Pakistan, which I think is a bold move. We have praised the IAF. We are not taking away the credit from the Indian Air Force," he said. By PTI NEW DELHI: Procedural delays and issues relating to documentation held up the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to Indian authorities by Pakistan for several hours Friday, official sources said. Initially, the Indian authorities indicated that Wing Commander Varthaman would be handed over to India at around 4 PM and later they suggested that he would be released at around 6:30 PM. However, he finally emerged at 9.10 pm Indian time at the Wagah check-post on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. The sources said Pakistan postponed the time of his release twice. Varthaman was captured by Pakistani authorities on February 27 after an air combat between the air forces of the two countries, a day after New Delhi had conducted counter-terror operations in Pakistan's Balakot. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday announced his release as a "peace gesture". However, India has been maintaining that Pakistan's decision is in consonance with the Geneva Convention. The Pakistani government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. By Xue Chengqing, Jian Rili, Yin Zhenzhou, and Gu Yagen GULF OF ADEN, March 1(ChinaMil)-- The Comprehensive supply ship Luomahu (Hull 964) of the 31st Chinese naval escort taskforce successfully rescued sick fisherman Huang Shunzu of a Fujian-based fishing vessel at 10:20 a.m. on February 27, local time (3:20 p.m. Beijing Time). This was the third time that the ship has helped Chinese citizens in the deep ocean since it assumed escort mission. Comprehensive supply ship Luomahu, which was providing maritime replenishment for the amphibious dock landing ship Kunlunshan (Hull 998), received the rescue order from the superior at around 3 p.m. on February 25, local time. The Luomahu suspended its replenishing task and headed to the designated area immediately. The hull number of the fishing vessel was Fuyuanyu 853. It was fishing in the Arabian Sea when crew member Huang Shunzu suffered from abdominal pain, suddenly fell on the floor and started to vomit. Guo Bizhuan, the captain of the medical team on Luomahu, began to monitor patient's situation through maritime satellite phone. According to the nature of the patient's work, Guo initially judged that the patient might be suffering from bladder stones, but he could not rule out more complex and dangerous symptoms such as acute appendicitis, gastric perforation, or cardiogenic abdominal pain. At that time, the distance between the fishing vessel and Luomahu was nearly 900 nautical miles, or more than 1,600km. Luomahu kept communication with the fishing vessel and guided it to sail toward it, adopting a mobility plan to move closer and rendezvous quicker in order to win valuable time for treatment. After 33 hours of high-speed navigation, two ships met smoothly at 1 a.m. on February 27, local time. However, it was difficult to see one nautical mile out of the dark sea. The only sound was the rushing waves hitting the ship. Such conditions were beyond the condition for safe operation of the dinghy. Being asked about the status of the patient, fishing vessel Captain Zhang Wenying replied, "He is stable now, with no vomiting or pain," which brought relief to the officers and soldiers onboard the Luomahu. After thorough consideration, Luomahu decided to board the fishing vessel till the next day. After one peaceful night, the rescue operations were carried out smoothly and well organized at dawn. Two small boats carrying medical personnel, equipment, medicine, and nutriment quickly moved toward the fishing vessel. The medical rescue team boarded the fishing vessel and quickly carried out physical examination for the patient. Initial diagnosis indicated stones combined with the possibility of appendicitis, which was not life-threatening. Medical team then carried out emergency treatment, including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antispasmodic methods. After communicating with the captain of the fishing vessel, Guo Bizhuan, captain of the medical team on Luomahu, learned that the fishing vessel would dock at the Port of Salalah in Oman. Considering that the patient's condition had improved and kept stable, Captain Zhang and the patient decided to voyage to the port for follow-up treatment. In order to create better conditions and win time for land treatment, the medical team of Luomahu left enough medicine for the patient and explained the precautions. During the treatment, the medical team also carried out water quality testing and environmental disinfection for the fishing vessel and provided physical examination for other 15 Chinese crew members. The examination also confirmed that three fishermen had bladder stones and three fishermen had ECG abnormalities. The medical rescue team also left enough medicine for them. Captain Zhang Wenying of the fishing vessel was very emotional, "Many thanks for our motherland. It is because of our strong motherland and strong navy that our officers and soldiers can travel from far away to help us!" Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan, four security personnel, including a CRPF inspector, were killed and 10 others, including a CRPF commandant, injured in a major gunfight with militants at Langate, Handwara, in the border district of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. A civilian was also killed and five others injured as security forces fired at protestors near the encounter site. A police officer said acting on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants, a joint party of army, CRPF and state police laid siege around Babagund, Langate, in Handwara. As a search operation was launched, militants hiding in a residential house opened fire on the troops. After a brief exchange of fire, there was a lull and firing from the militant side stopped, the officer said. Sources said security officials believed that the holed-up militants were dead and a team of police and CRPF men went inside the house to retrieve the bodies. But, the militants opened fire at the security men from close range. In the militant firing two policemen and a CRPF Inspector were killed and 10 others including CRPF commandant injured, a police officer said. Sources said the injured security men were evacuated to the army hospital in Srinagar, where one of the critically injured CRPF man succumbed. They said doctors have termed condition of injured CRPF commandant as critical. After the gunfight, additional troops were rushed to take on the militants and prevent them from fleeing. The operation was going on when report last poured in, a police officer said. Protester shot dead While the gunfight was on, a group of protesters attempted to march towards the site. Police opened fire to disperse them. The 21-year-old Waseem Ahmad Mir was shot and died while being shifted to hospital. Six others were injured. By PTI ABU DHABI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in Abu Dhabi to attend the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states where she is expected to raise the issue of terrorism, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. ALSO READ | JeM chief Masood Azhar in Pakistan, very unwell: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour. India's engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The ties strained further after Indian fighter jets bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid on Wednesday. "EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in #AbuDhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of @OIC_OCI. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Recognising Indias engagement with the Islamic world EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in #AbuDhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of @OIC_OCI. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'. pic.twitter.com/wzQbVOGczN Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 28, 2019 Pakistan, a member of the OIC, tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is also attending the meeting. Earlier he had said that he would boycott the meeting if Swaraj participates. Qureshi on Thursday said the OIC is "our home" so he will go there but will not hold talks with Swaraj. The OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Forty CRPF soldiers were killed in the attack. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: As tension escalates between India and Pakistan and war clouds hover, people in Kashmir are praying for peace and appealed to both the leadership of both the countries to show statesmanship, de-escalate tension and engage in dialogue. Irshad Ahmad, a resident of Silikote village the last village along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector said the border residents are the first casualty of any hostility between India and Pakistan. We have suffered in the past... We know how disastrous a war is. We are praying for peace and hope that the two countries dont go to war, he said. A young political analyst, Aadil Ahmad, said now that both countries have scored a point each by conducting strikes, it is time to de-escalate. The Indian Air Force struck deep inside Pakistan while Pakistan shot an Indian fighter jet and captured its pilot. Both countries have shared a point each. India should positively respond to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans announcement about release of captured IAF pilot and call for de-escalation, he said. Abdul Gaffar, 62, a former teacher, said both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed and should avoid war at all costs. It is easy to start a war but nobody knows where it will take and where it will end. A war will cause enormous bloodshed on both sides. As we have been the victims of violence since last 30 years, we are praying for peace. The Indian and Pakistani leaders should rise to the occasion, he said. A youth, Zaheer Ahmad, said if the two countries go to war, it would lead to large scale fatalities on both sides. The two countries should resume the peace process to resolve all issues, including Kashmir, for return of peace and stability in South Asia, he said. Abdul Khaliq, the sarpanch of Silikote village along the LoC in Uri sector, said the border residents are worried about the situation. We appeal to the leaders of the two countries to show statesmanship, to avoid war and hold talks resolve the issues, he said. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: A woman was killed and two persons, including an off-duty soldier, injured in Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Defence spokesman in Jammu, Lt Colonel Devender Anand, said the Pakistani troops breached border ceasefire and resorted to firing and mortar shelling on army positions and civilian areas along LoC in Balakote, Mankote, Naushera, Mendhar, Sunderbani, Khari Karmara and Degwar sectors in Poonch and Rajouri districts. The Pakistani troops also targeted army posts in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch from around 1 pm, he said, adding that the Indian army effectively returned the fire and targeted the Pakistani posts. Some of the mortar shells fired by the Pakistani troops landed in civilian areas in Chajjla area of Mendhar in Poonch. A woman, Amina Akhtar, sustained critical splinter injuries after the mortar shell exploded in the compound of her house in Chajjla. She was evacuated to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival. An off-duty soldier Lance Naik Zakir Hussain also sustained injuries after his house was hit by mortar shells in Mankote area of Mendhar. Hussain is posted in JAKLI unit in Kupwara. Another woman was injured in mortar shelling in Nar, Mankote. An army official said for the past few days, Pakistani troops had been resorting to firing and mortar shelling in the evening. Today they changed their tactics and breached the border ceasefire in the day to cause damage on our side. However, our men were alert gave a befitting response, he said. In view of the tension along the LoC, the administration has ordered closure of educational institutions located within five km of the LoC and the IB in Rajouri and Poonch. By PTI NEW DELHI: BJP president Amit Shah said Friday that creating a situation for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan in such a short span of time was a diplomatic victory. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Speaking at the India Today Conclave here, Shah said, "The air-strikes after the Pulwama terror attack has now isolated Pakistan globally, this is a victory of our diplomacy. Creating situation for the return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 personnel of the paramilitary force. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. "We are happy that our pilot, who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan, is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, told a news conference Thursday. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi assured minimum income and jobs to the youth if the party is voted to power in the ensuing general elections. He also came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for politicising the air strikes on Pakistan and threw a challenge to show one promise of Modi which has been fulfilled till date, as he spoke at his first poll campaign rally in the state on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed a public rally in Dhule on February 16. Gandhi chose the same town to launch his campaign in the state. He attacked Modi while accusing him of doling out 15 industrialists of the country of the loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore and promised youth the same money could have been used to give assured income for them. The Congress shall bring in a scheme to give assured minimum income to all youth in the country if voted to power, he told the people and added, If they can distribute Rs 3.5 lakh crore to just 15 industrialists, we can certainly run the scheme that assures minimum income and jobs to the youth. The Congress president also tried to draw a parallel between him and Modi on the issue of the air strikes that took place on February 26. I had instructed the Congress workers and leaders not to level any allegation against the government in wake of the air strikes. I had said that India should stand united. Was I right? However, PM Narendra Modi levelled allegations against the Opposition at a function at the India Gate. He cant live for even five minutes without his public relation exercise. This is the difference between them and us, Gandhi said. He accused Modi of not keeping even a single promise made to the countrymen. I am in politics since 2004. Show me a single false promise I have made in all these years. On the contrary, show me a single promise that was kept by Modi ji. It is my challenge. Anyone can show me a video clip to establish that Modi ji has kept his promise, he said. Apart from reiterating his allegations that Modi government had been working for betterment of a handful of industrialists several times during his about half-an-hour-long speech, Gandhi also accused the Modi government of trying to grab the land from tribals and rural people. He also stated that his party that forced the government to go back on its earlier plan and forced it to give four times more compensation. He also criticised the Union governments scheme of transferring Rs 6,000 annually into the bank account of a farmer family. They should be ashamed of announcing Rs 17 per month to a farmer family. There are two Hindustans. One is of the farmers and the poor and the other is of Modi, Anil Ambani and the industrialists. If we come to power there will be only one Hindustan. That will lead to everyones development. He also accused the BJP of spreading hatred everywhere and said that people of Maharashtra would vote for Congress since its ideology of love and harmony is into their DNA. This country belongs to everyone. There are different religions, languages and castes. Wherever the BJP goes it spreads hatred whereas the Congress spreads loves. You (Congress workers) are working for uniting India in spite of you get canes from the police, he said. State Congress in-charge Mallikarjun Kharge, state president Ashok Chavan and Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil too were present at the meeting. By PTI NEW DELHI: Leaders cutting across party lines welcomed the return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from captivity in Pakistan on Friday and lauded him for his poise and courage and for making the country proud. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the IAF Wing Commander, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. He said the country's armed forces are an inspiration for the 130 crore Indians. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram," he tweeted. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted, "Proud of you Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. Jai Hind." Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad too lauded the pilot for his bravery and welcomed him back to the country. "Welcome home. The entire nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan," Singh, the Minister for Home Affairs, tweeted. Prasad tweeted, "Proud of your courage Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back home. Abhinandan to you. Jai Hind. Bharat Mata Ki Jai." BJP president Amit Shah said Friday that the entire nation is proud of the courage and valour of the pilot and that India is glad to have him back. "Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future," Shah said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan said his dignity, poise and bravery have made all in India proud. "Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love," he said on Twitter. Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. Union minister Smriti Irani Friday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "parakram" (valour) for Varthaman's return from Pakistan within two days of his capture. "Sangh (RSS) today can be proud of the fact that a son of India is returning to India in 48 hours due to the 'parakram' of a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer)," she said in an apparent reference to Modi. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Welcome home Abhinandan Varthaman Welcome home sweet home". Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a series of tweet, called the pilot an inspiration for the nation. "Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan. I salute your bravery and the courage of your family. "India is proud of you. The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us," he tweeted. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, "Very happy to see the safe return of IAF wing commander Abhinandan. AP salutes the brave and spirited patriot." Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Welcome home Wing Commander. It's great to have you back." Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted, "Relieved and glad that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is back home. I welcome him on Indian soil and salute his valour. The nation is proud of its armed forces." The Congress also put up a picture of Abhinandan on its Twitter handle and tweeted, "Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan. We are happy to have you back. You have been a true hero to all of us. Salute. Jai Hind." RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, "India Salutes you Wing Commander Abhinanand! Welcome Back! You are the real hero." Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said, "Join the nation in warmly welcoming back our hero Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman! Your resoluteness and poise in the face of adversity makes me proud as an Indian and former soldier. Welcome back son! Jai Hind." Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "The nation salutes you Wing Commander. Welcome home!" CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, "Home, finally, Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back." Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also tweeted, "Abhinandan' Bharat ! Our Abhinandan is back with us!" Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said, "Extremely happy that Our Hero #IAF pilot Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman is back. The grace, grit, and commitment he showed during the toughest time is really admirable. We are proud of him. The nation salutes his bravery. Welcome Home Abhinandan." Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Even as he extended a warm welcome to IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on his return home, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday urged Pakistan to admit to, and release, the Prisoners of War (PoWs) still in its captivity from the 1971 war. In an informal chat with mediapersons as part of his tour of the border areas in the wake of the escalating tensions at the LoC, Amarinder also urged the Union Government to take up the issue with Islamabad. Expressing happiness that talks to further thrash out the modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor were on track despite the tensions, Amarinder requested the central government to allow 5,000 to 10,000 pilgrims to cross through every day once the corridor becomes operational. On the compensation to the people whose land was being acquired for the Corridor, Amarinder said the state government will thrash out the matter with the central government. He hoped that tensions along the border are resolved soon and Sikhs across the globe get the opportunity to have Khule Darshan Deedar of the historic Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara with the fast completion of the Corridor. Interacted with Army & BSF jawans at the Border Post in Dera Baba Nanak. Such an amazing feeling to be where my heart belongs. We all stand by our soldiers at this time & are prepared to do all that is required in service to the nation. #Border #Punjab pic.twitter.com/cXviLJNfCy Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) March 1, 2019 The Chief Minister, who went around Haruwal village in Gurdaspur district as part of his tour of the border villages to instill confidence among the residents, said he would be the first one to cross the border to pay his obeisance at the historic Gurdwara. He assured the residents that there was no need for panic or fear as the armed forces were fully prepared to deal with the situation. He urged the people not to worry and assured them of his governments full support. He nostalgically recalled his visit to the area as the ADC of General Harbaksh Singh back in 1965, and assured the people, If anything happens, Ill be there with you too. By IANS AGARTALA: Security has been heightened along the country's borders with Bangladesh in Tripura and Myanmar in Mizoram, although there were no immediate reports of any disturbances, a paramilitary official said here on Friday. "There is no input or reports of any possible disturbances and negativity along the India-Bangladesh border. However, in view of the development in the western frontiers, BSF battalions deployed have been asked to remain alert round-the-clock," a Border Security Force official told IANS in Agartala on the condition of anonymity. "Our senior officials and battalion commandants are closely monitoring the situation." Mizoram Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said on Friday that Assam Rifles troopers accompanied by Army personnel were carrying out "professional exercises" along the state's border with Myanmar. Media reports said that the Chief Secretary on behalf of the Mizoram government, in separate letters to the Defence and Home Ministries complained that the "deployment of additional forces in the border villages adjoining India-Myanmar border in the pretext of routine exercises without informing the state government and this is against the standard practice". Meanwhile, the People's Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram (PRISM), an anti-corruption NGO watchdog, also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Human Rights Commission seeking a clarification on the present military build-up in Lawngtlai district, which shares a 318 km border with Bangladesh and a 510 km border with Myanmar. The northeastern states shares a total 9926.7 km border (including riverine frontiers) with Bangladesh (4096.7 km), China (3,488 km), Myanmar (1,643 km) and Bhutan (699 km). By PTI "BU DHABI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday raised the issue of terrorism at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting and said the menace is caused by "distortion of religion" and "misguided belief". Swaraj, who attended the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting here as the guest of honour, said the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. "It cannot be," she said. History is made! EAM @SushmaSwaraj concluded her address at the Inaugural Session as Guest of Honour at Council of Foreign Ministers of @OIC_OCI - first time by India : I come from land of Mahatma Gandhi, where every prayer ends with the call for Shanti or Peace for all. pic.twitter.com/ntyC32y5Fa Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 1, 2019 Swaraj's did not name Pakistan in the address. "Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion, and brotherhood," Swaraj told the 57-member powerful grouping. She concluded by saying: "I come from land of Mahatma Gandhi, where every prayer ends with the call for Shanti or Peace for all." ALSO READ | OIC summit: Pakistan FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi protests India's presence, boycotts meet Her remarks came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the February 14 terror attack on Pulwama by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed that left 40 CRPF personnel dead. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi did not attend the meeting over the failure of the grouping to rescind the invitation to Swaraj. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," she told the leaders of the major Muslim countries. BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China called on all parties concerned to take a constructive attitude and play an active role in resolving the Korean Peninsula issue together, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Friday. In responding to a question about the fact that no agreement was reached during the second summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam, between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States, Lu Kang, the spokesperson, said at a daily news briefing that it is a positive sign that both sides showed their willingness to maintain contact and continue dialogue. It represents the general trend as well as the wide aspiration and consensus of the international community to realize the denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, Lu said. "Thanks to concerted efforts of all parties concerned, seeking a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue has been recognized as a general direction, which is to realize the denuclearization and establish a peace mechanism on the peninsula," Lu noted. "We hope the DPRK and the United States will continue talks, meet each other halfway, accommodate each other's legitimate concerns on the basis of mutual respect and advance the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue." China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in the process, the spokesperson stressed. On early Friday morning, DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told a news conference in Hanoi that his country only asked for a partial lifting of sanctions that may impede the livelihood of its people at the meeting with the United States, not what the U.S. side said the DPRK asked for -- lifting sanctions against Pyongyang "in their entirety." In commenting on that, Lu said although the two countries had contradictions on the issue, both of them agreed the lifting of sanctions represented an important part of realizing the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. China has always proposed that the Security Council of the United Nations needs to consider modifying sanctions based on the positive development of the Korean Peninsula situation, Lu said. By PTI MUMBAI: For the Varthamans, flying the MiG-21 fighter aircraft is a sort of family tradition. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman downed a Pakistani F-16 plane before his MiG-21 Bison was hit during a dogfight. His father Air Marshal (retd) Simhakutty Varthaman also flew the MiG-21s and was an IAF test pilot, who retired five years ago, a family friend said here Friday. Abhinandan's grandfather was also in the IAF, he said. In an interview to PTI, Wing Commander (retd) Prakash Navale, who was a course-mate of Abhinandan's father at the National Defence Academy (NDA) during 1969-72, said the first time he saw the young pilot, held captive by Pakistan, was when he was a three-year-old toddler. "Myself and his father were then posted at the fighter training wing at Hakimpet, Hyderabad," said Navale, 66, who retired from the IAF in 1994 and now lives in Navi Mumbai. "Initially, I also passed out (from Air Force Academy) as a fighter pilot but later switched to helicopters. Myself and Air Marshal (retd) Varthaman were flying instructors for some time," he said. Like Navale, Air Marshal Varthaman is also a Sainik School alumnus. While Navale studied at Sainik School Satara, Air Mashal Varthaman is from Sainik School Amaravathinagar in Tamil Nadu. Navale said Air Marshal Varthaman was staying at Tambaram when he was doing the flying instructor's course there. "The Varthamans are very simple people and we have enjoyed many a hearty meal at their house," he said. "Air Marshal Varthaman is a thorough gentleman. His wife Shobha, a doctor, is a great lady. When my wife Aruna was pregnant, she used to visit us regularly and administer injections to her. We were blessed with our daughter Pooja due to Shobha's medical care," Navale said. Abhinandan's sister Aditi lives in France and has married a French national, he said. In 1982, Navale, then Flight Lieutenant, was awarded the 'Shaurya Chakra' for saving the life of then Odisha chief minister J B Patnaik from mob fury in Gopalpur. The award citation read: In this action, Flight Lieutenant Prakash Navale displayed determination, courage and presence of mind. Had he not flown out the VIP at that critical time, the situation could have taken a grave turn and could have resulted in serious consequences to the VIP and further break-down in the law and order situation. By PTI MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court Friday asked fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya when would he return to India and face the ongoing legal proceedings against him. A division bench of Justices Indrajit Mahanty and Sarang Kotwal was hearing a petition filed by Mallya against a city court's January 5 order declaring him as 'fugitive' under the newly-enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA). Mallya's lawyer Amit Desai said declaring him a fugitive and thereby permitting his assets to be confiscated would only harm the interests of his lenders. Mallya had volunteered to repay the loans of thousands of crores of rupees which he had taken from banks, he said. Desai called the FEOA Act "draconian". "Prima facie this (the fugitive tag) is unconstitutional this allows the Centre to confiscate everything, irrespective of whether a property has been bought from the proceeds of crime or not," the lawyer said. At this, the judges said, "But this tag will go away as soon as your client comes back and faces the proceedings. The property too will be released. So, when is that happening?" Desai said Mallya wants to return, but a British court has prohibited him from leaving the UK without its permission. The bench pointed out that it was only a protective order as Mallya had challenged his extradition proceedings. "You can volunteer to return. Have you ever gone to this English court and said you want to return (to India) and face pending proceedings?" the judges asked. Mallya was declared as fugitive following a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the special FEOA court. The next hearing on ED's application before the special court, seeking permission to start confiscation proceedings, is scheduled for March 13. Desai said most of Mallya's properties were already attached by "some agency or another", and the confiscation "will only mean no proceeds from such properties can be used to pay off the lenders and banks". The bench directed ED lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar to file a reply to Mallya's plea by March 8. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: It was 'Abhinandan' for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, released by Pakistan late on Friday at the Wagah-Attari joint check-post (JCP), sixty hours after he was captured. Wearing a white shirt, blue blazer and grey pants and sporting some scars on his face, a smiling Abhinandan walked back into India around 9.20 pm. He was then taken to Amritsar in a Toyota Innova car. "Wing Commander Abhinandan has been handed over. As per standard procedure, he will be taken for a detailed medical check-up as he had to eject from a plane, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said. Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon said, "As he crossed over, Abhinandan was smiling. He said it was good to be back home. He has been taken away by the senior officials of the air force and he will be flown to Delhi after medical examination." "We were earlier given to understand that he will be handed over to us at 6 PM but there was a delay by the Pakistani authorities. We have not asked Pakistan why. We are happy to have him. As a special case, the border was opened and he crossed the zero line into India," said Dhillon. ALSO READ | Every Indian is proud that Wing Commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu: PM Modi It is learnt that there was some problem in the documentation that led to the delay. The time of Abhinandan's release was changed twice, said sources. He was brought by Pakistani authorities from Rawalpindi to Lahore and then taken from there to the Batapur barracks of the Pakistani army, a few kilometres from the Wagah border. After the paperwork got over, he was finally allowed to walk to the JCP at the Wagah-Attari border, said sources. Senior IAF, Army, BSF, Punjab Government and Punjab Police officials were waiting for Abhinandan from the afternoon. Since morning patriotic fervour prevailed at the Attari border, with the public singing songs, beating drums and carrying the tricolour in their hands. Hundreds of people waving the tricolour flocked to Attari to catch a glimpse of the pilot. ALSO READ | Imran Khan was in Lahore to ensure 'smooth' handing over of Wing Comander Abhinandan: Sources Barely one km away from the Indo-Pak border, people sang patriotic songs and raised slogans like "Bharat Mata ki Jai". A youth from a nearby village was seen carrying a huge garland, while an elderly man was seen beating a dhol. Senior Deputy Mayor of Amritsar Raman Bakshi, who was also earlier present, too sang patriotic songs. A group of youth sang, "Is desh ke yaaron kya kehna, yeh desh hai veer jawanoon ka". Earlier a youth carrying a garland of the airman said, "If permitted, I want to welcome the Wing Commander with this garland." Others in the crowd said Pakistan should stop aiding and abetting terror or else be prepared to face the consequences. By 6.30 PM, many people left as the wait was growing longer. It was raining and only the Punjab Police, BSF, Army and Air Force officers were there apart from a handful of people with candles in their hands. Earlier Pakistan had reportedly turned down a request by India to send back Abhinandan by air. The IAF pilot's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during the dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. By Online Desk ATTARI: Scores of people assembled at the Attari Joint Check Post (JCP) here on Friday to receive Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who is likely to be released by Pakistani authorities later in the day. How will Abhinandan Varthaman's release happen Abhinandan, who is in the cantonment town of Rawalpindi, is expected to be taken by air to Lahore From Lahore he will be taken by road to the Wagah border. Sources said that the pilot is likely to be handed over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention Abhinandan will then be brought to the Attari Joint Check Post on Friday afternoon where he would be allowed to cross over to India. The IAF pilot will be debriefed by defence and security officials after his return Abhinandan will then be taken to New Delhi from the Amritsar airport. Abhinandan's parents, Air Marshal S. Varthaman (Retired) and mother Shobha Varthaman, who is a doctor, were cheered by passengers when they boarded a flight from Chennai to New Delhi on Thursday evening. They are expected to be in Attari to welcome their son back home. ALSO READ | Wing commander Abhinandan coming home, but it isnt closure People started arriving in Attari, around 30 km from the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, since 6 a.m. Their numbers swelled by 9 a.m. "We have come here to welcome our country's hero back home. We will give him a grand welcome. He showed a lot of bravery in the air combat and even after being captured by the Pakistanis," Jitender, a resident of Amritsar, who arrived here with his friends, said. The 35-year-old Wing Commander was captured on Wednesday by Pakistan after his MiG-21 Bison fighter jet was hit by Pakistan Air Force jets near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The Border Security Force (BSF), which mans the JCP and the 553-km long International Border with Pakistan in Punjab at high alert, Punjab Police and other security agencies stationed additional personnel since early Friday morning. "Many celebrities and other important people come to Attari border on different occasions. But today, a real hero is coming back. We will give him a a big and warm welcome with dhol and bhangra," Manjit Singh, who was carrying a dhol, said. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the captured IAF pilot will be freed as a "goodwill gesture" after New Delhi sought his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release. (With IANS inputs) Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday said that despite the escalated tensions at Indo-Pak border, the Lok Sabha election in the country would be held on time without any delay. While Addressing the media persons in Lucknow, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said that the commission was fully prepared and that there were sufficient forces to ensure free and fair polls in the next couple of months. Arora said that the election notification and schedule would be announced soon. The CEC made the announcement to this effect amid speculations over the schedule of elections and possible delay owing to tension at the borders. Meanwhile, the CEC also sought to allay all the doubts over the electronic voting machines (EVMs) being raised by the opposition time and again. The CEC also confirmed that any doubt over the EVMs could not be in consonance with to the outcome of the polls. The Supreme Court of India has ruled out the possibility of returning to ballot papers. The results of 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2015 Delhi Assembly elections were different. Therefore, one should not say that EVMs are properly functioning when the result is X and level accusations of their being tampered when the result is different, said the CEC. He added that EVMs were in use for more than two decades without any questions being raised. Cautioning the candidates intending to contest upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the CEC said all the candidates would be required to provide details of the earnings of their entire family of the last five years besides revealing the assets in the country and abroad if any. The CEC made it amply clear that the information furnished by candidates would be handed over to the Income Tax department for verification and in case of any discrepancy, strict punishment would be handed out to the candidate aspiring for a term on the lower house. Arora said that VVPAT machines will be used in all 1.63 lakh polling centres across 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP. The machines will be displayed at public places to make the voters aware of their way of functioning. ECI will also ensure webcasting of polling at all sensitive and hypersensitive centres, he said. The CEC had been heading an ECI team which was in UP for the last three days during which he held meetings with government, police officials and representatives of political parties. The EC reviewed the suggestions of political parties, including a review of poll expenditure and linking of voter list with Aadhaar. Some political parties demanded that polling time to be extended by an hour. By PTI JAMMU: Three members of a family were killed and two others injured as Pakistani forces heavily shelled areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Friday, officials said. Pakistani forces targeted civilian areas with mortar bombs and heavy guns, including Howitzer 105 mm, they said, adding that Indian forces retaliated effectively. In the heavy shelling, three members of a family were killed and another was injured in Salotri in Poonch district, where shells hit several houses, they said. Twenty-four-year-old Rubana Kosar and her son Fazan (5) and nine-month-old daughter Shabnam were killed in the shelling. Rubana's husband Mohd Yunis was injured, they said. Earlier in the day, a woman, identified as Naseem Akhtar, was injured in the firing by Pakistani forces in the Mankote area of Poonch, officials said. Besides Salotri and Mankote, shelling also took place in Krishnagati and Balakote areas in Poonch district. In violation of the ceasefire agreement with India, Pakistani forces have been shelling areas along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts for eight consecutive days. On Thursday, a woman was killed and a jawan was injured when Pakistani Army heavily shelled civilian areas and forward posts in six sectors along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army. The Pakistan Army has violated the ceasefire for over 60 times during the last one week by targeting over 70 civilian and forward areas along the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir, in which one woman was killed and 9 persons were injured. In view of the prevailing situation, authorities have ordered temporary closure of educational institutions in a 5-km radius along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts. They have asked all border dwellers to remain inside their homes. Amid high tension along the LoC, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh accompanied by the White Knight Corps Commander, Lt Gen Paramjit Singh visited forward posts in Rajouri Sector to review the operational preparedness on Thursday. The year 2018 had witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violation, numbering 2,936 by Pakistani troops, in the last 15 years. Pakistan continues to violate the 2003 ceasefire agreement with India despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence to the pact during flag meetings between the two sides. By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA/VISAKHAPATNAM: Amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Visakhapatnam on Friday to address a public meeting in the evening at Railway Exhibition Grounds at New Colony. He will reach Port City at around 6.30 pm. As many as 2,300 police personnel have been deployed as part of elaborate security arrangements for the PMs visit. City Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha said peaceful protests will be allowed only at the designated place, Dharna Chowk, and they will not allow any protests at the meeting venue. Meanwhile, Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who earlier asked his party cadre to register their protest against PMs visit by wearing black shirts and releasing black balloons, shot off a four-page letter to Modi seeking answers to 17 issues pertaining to the State. Outlining the injustice meted out to the State, Naidu termed the announcement of South Coast Railway Zone by Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal as a revenge of the Centre towards AP. The scrapping of 172-year-old Waltair division and causing a revenue loss of Rs 6.500 crore to AP reveals the vengeful attitude of the Centre towards AP, Naidu said and added that the BJP-led NDA government once again deceived the State by diverting freight revenue to Rayagada division and leaving the new South Coast zone with meagre passenger revenue. The Central government once again hurt the sentiments of North Andhra people by hurriedly announcing SCoR zone without any mention about Railway Recruitment Board, Naidu said. Meanwhile, in Visakhapatnam, inspite of the announcement of railway zone, dharnas and rallies were held on Thursday to register protest against Modis visit to the city. Hoardings have come up at several junctions in the city with slogans Go back Modi and demanding special category status to Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, left parties and TDP are gearing up to hold black flag demonstrations in various parts of the city on Friday morning. The indefinite hunger strike by Pratyeka Hoda and Vibhajana Hameela Sadhana Samiti JAC in association with employees association at the Gandhi statue near GVMC office entered the third day. Speaking at the hunger strike camp, Sadhana Samiti president Chalasani Srinivas said that the Centre was again trying to deceive people. He demanded inclusion of Waltair division in the new zone. He said the BJP government had conceded the demand for zone with an eye on elections. TDP workers sat on a relay fast at the Dharna Chowk. Speaking on the occasion, MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar said they would hold a dharna with 5,000 people as part of the Modi Go Back stir on Friday. He demanded that the Centre reconsider its proposal to scrap the Waltair division. Activists of CPI, CPM and Jana Sena will also take out a rally from GVMC office to the railway station. CPM State secretary Madhu and CPI State secretary Ramakrishna will join the rally. Reconsider Waltair decision: Parties Uttarandhra Rakshana Vedika conducted an all-party meeting to discuss emerging situation following announcement of a new railway zone. The round table urged the Centre to reconsider the proposal to merge part of Waltair division with Vijayawada. He said 125-year-old division should be retained at least with north Andhra areas and be included in the new division. If Srikakulam and Vizanagaram are not included in the new zone it will be a gross injustice to the people of two backward districts. The round table decided to write to the Railway Minister and the Prime Minister in this regard. Vedika convener SS Shiva Sankar said the move would deprive the backward areas of the benefits. CPI leader JV Satyanarayana Murthy demanded that the Centre review its decision on Waltair division. Rashmi Patil By Express News Service Meet Mohan Kumar, a government school teacher from Raichur district who has been working tirelessly to improve the standards of Government Higher Primary School. His several initiatives like setting up a computer lab, making sure there is a steady supply of electricity and water, planting saplings and building huts in the school ensured that it looks no less than a private school. A point to note is that unlike other government schools in Karnataka, this school didn't lack students, but it did lack facilities like drinking water and clean toilets. Hence, children skipped classes regularly. Mohan felt it was necessary for him to find a solution to this problem. What drew Mohan to take up the various initiatives listed above is a sweet and interesting story by itself. Mohan's wife, who is also a government school teacher, was transferred to Raichur a few years ago. Before working in Koravi, Mohan used to work in a government higher primary school in Periyapatna, near Mysuru district. He says, "Mysuru is very far from Raichur and we couldn't afford to travel often to see each other. Therefore, I took a transfer and moved to Koravi in 2013. After coming here and seeing the condition of the school, I felt that I should try and make a difference in the lives of these children." Mohan's first initiative was to get computers to the higher primary school by pooling in funds from MNCs. But in order to make the computers work, he had to ensure that there was electricity in the school. It has not been an easy task for him as it took over two years to bring in electricity. "We had two different buildings belonging to the same school. While the primary school was inside the village, the higher primary school was on the outskirts. The primary school had all facilities including water and electricity which the higher primary school lacked. In 2016, I wrote several letters to politicians, the Block Education Officer and other government officials. When I approached the Karnataka Electricity Board for the provision of electricity, they said that they have to install eight electric poles to provide power to the school which is in the outskirts. They even told me that with their fund limitations, they can provide only three electric poles. I decided to spend my own money to fund five other poles and get other necessary equipment as well. Thus, we brought a smile on our children's face by bringing in an electricity connection to the school. Even the parents and villagers were happy as they finally had functional street lights on a particular road," Mohan says happily. The last challenge that Mohan had ahead of him was to provide clean drinking water and clean toilets during the school hours. "If children wanted to eat mid-day meals, use toilets or even drink water, they had to either go to back to their home or walk all the way to a primary school which is almost one kilometre away. During the summers, the situation worsens as children feel tired and thirsty. I had to write several letters to various government offices to get their approval for digging a borewell near the school. After months of struggle, I got approval from the concerned officials for it. When we started digging, we failed six times. I didn't lose hope and tried digging the seventh time. Fortunately, we came across ample amount of water. Now, its not just the school that uses water from this borewell, even the villagers use it. In order to make sure that there is no shortage of water during the summers, we dug another borewell, but its water is still being tested," he explains. In order to add more greenery to the surroundings of the school, Mohan inspired children to plant saplings and water them every day. Apart from this, the primary school was shifted to the same building as the higher primary school. Mohan says, "The primary school was in a very old building inside the village premises. It would be easier for us to supervise the classes and track the students' attendance if they are in the same building. Therefore, we shifted it to one building." The next task which features on Mohan's list is to lay more emphasis on English language teaching and learning among the school staff and children. "When children move on to larger platforms, especially for their higher studies, they need to know how to speak, read and write in English. Apart from the English syllabus prescribed by the government, I have thought of including some extra grammar lessons for them. This will be helpful when they compete with other students," he concludes. (This article was originally published on EdexLive) By Express News Service HASSAN: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Thursday suggested that India should talk to Pakistan to de-escalate the tension between the two countries. Leaders shouldnt blame each other over sensitive defence issues and come to a consensus to tackle the situation. The Centre has to make sincere efforts to deal with the situation through bilateral talks, he said while speaking to media persons in Hassan. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for often targeting opposition leaders, Gowda said attacking opposition leaders will not help find solutions. The need of the hour is to take opposition leaders into confidence and not blame them for the present situation, he said, adding that Pakistan may try to take advantage of the political crisis within the country. People have not given the mandate for the NDA to blame the opposition. Is Modi not aware of the constitutional crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, which witnessed three chief ministers and governors rule, in four years? Whom should people blame for this situation? an angry Gowda asked. To a question, Gowda said the NDA cannot take political advantage of the situation as the entire credit should go to soldiers. He, however, lauded External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for her attempts to resolve the crisis. He said the country would face another crisis if the Centre tried to revoke Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Gowda contest from Hassan? Gowda said he is still undecided on contesting the parliamentary polls, but hinted that JD(S) may not field his grandson Prajwal from Hassan constituency. Gowda had earlier claimed that he will not contest election this time. His change of stand comes amid talks of him contesting from Hassan, a constituency he currently represents in the Lok Sabha. By Express News Service KOCHI: In view of the rising tension between India and Pakistan, the Fisheries Department has been told to keep tight vigil along the Kerala coast. The Navy has asked us to keep tight vigil along the coast and we have initiated steps to keep a tight watch on the marine activities. The Marine Enforcement boats are patrolling the coastal sea and we are closely monitoring the activities at the fishing harbours. All boats returning from the sea will be checked, said Fisheries Deputy Director S Mahesh. The Navy spokesperson did not deny the information. The Fisheries Department was told to keep tab on the activities along the coastline as part of the coastal safety exercise much before the present developments, he said. The 16th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of China, Russia and India was held in Wuzhen, an ancient town of east China's Zhejiang Province, on February 26 and 27. The meeting comes at a time when tensions in Kashmir have flared up between Pakistan and India. Pakistan claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets inside Pakistani airspace, which India disputes. Since both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed nations, the situation is worrisome, according to Xu Qinduo, a senior fellow from the Pangoal Institution. It depends on both countries' willingness to de-escalate the conflicts after showcasing their determination and capability to safeguard territory. The incident comes a day after India launched air strikes in Pakistani territory in the first such incursion by the India Air Force since the India-Pakistan war of 1971. However, the stakes are even higher for the Indian side as the incident also comes as they are scheduled to hold national elections at the end of May. China has urged restraint from both sides. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang has said to the press that, China hopes India and Pakistan will keep restraint, take measures to promote dialogue, and make joint efforts to protect long-term peace and stability in South Asia. Srikanth Kondapalli, professor in Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, focuses more on what the two countries can achieve together. He emphasizes the principles and efforts that have been made since President Xi Jinping's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last April in Wuhan, central China, especially the joint counter terrorism exercises. A lot has been built up between the two countries on cooperation and coordination of counter-terrorism related issues, Kondapalli added. As India and Pakistan's common friend, China's position is quite delicate. John Gong, a professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics, says China traditionally has been a very good friend of Pakistan and has a huge investment in the country; on the other hand, the relationship between China and India has become closer since the two leaders' meeting in Wuhan. China's stake here is very high to make sure there is no further escalation of tension, Professor Gong commented. Madhumitha Viswanath By Express News Service CHENNAI: Krishna Water, one of the primary sources meeting the drinking water needs of Chennai, is proving to be unreliable once again. The supply from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh will most likely be stopped in four days. Though Andhra officials promised to release 1 tmcft water starting February till March first week, the Poondi reservoir has received only 370 mcft. Chennai is unlikely to get the remaining 630 mcft, PWD officials told Express. This is because the Kandaleru reservoir has reached its dead storage level. It has only 7.5 tmcft of water against a total capacity of 68. On Thursday, Poondi received only 85 cusecs of water, compared to 420 cusecs last Thursday. AP government released 4 tmcft water last month to meet its irrigation needs. But Chennais share of 4 tmcft, to be released between January and April as per the Telugu Ganga Project, has not reached the city once again, the official added. However, officials are confident that existing 370 mcft in Poondi will take care of Chennais drinking needs till March-end. The four reservoirs together hold 1.07 tmcft water and Veeranam has 1.02 tmcft. This should cover us for three months, they said. Four Tmcft of Krishna Water was released by the AP government last month for their irrigation needs said officials. But Chennais share of four Tmcft of water as per the Telugu Ganga Project between January to April hasnt reached the city once again. This makes the impending water shortage in the summer an unavoidable situation. According to Chennai Metro Water website, Poondi reservoir stored 474 Mcft of Krishna Water as of Thursday which will be directed to Red Hills reservoir also. Krishna water and Cauvery water have boosted the water levels in citys four reservoirs which was below one Tmcft last month. The city is currently being supplied with 480-550 MLD on alternate days against the usual supply of 850 MLD while the actual requirement is close to 1200 MLD. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Several political parties and individual politicians have drawn flak for continuing with their preparations and programmes for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, despite the escalating of tension between India and Pakistan. And quite rightly so, especially since the Indian Air Forces Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman being held captive in Pakistan. However, there is one exception - the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The pink party leaders took a different stand and decided to postpone crucial meetings the leadership planned ahead of the elections. On Thursday, TRS working president KT Rama Rao tweeted informing that the meetings scheduled from March 1 to 12 and to be held with the party workers of different Parliamentary constituencies, will be postponed. He said that the nation comes first and that the decision was taken after consultation with the TRS president and Chief Minister, K Chandrashekar Rao. With the current situation at the border, after consulting Sri KCR Garu, we have decided to postpone our preparatory parliamentary constituency workers meetings that were scheduled from 1st to 12th March We pray for safe return of #WingCommanderAbhinandan #NationFirst https://t.co/dXrxms3WVN KTR (@KTRTRS) February 28, 2019 The TRS working president also took aim at the war-mongering by some TV channels, saying that while the wounded IAF officer maintained his calm and refused to divulge any information, petty politicking and TRP wars are being played out by the media in India. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The Additional Secretary to the Department of Fertilisers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Dharm Pal directed the State government officials to sell the fertilisers to farmers only through e-Pos (electronic point of sale) machines. He asked the officials to send the e-Pos machines to any district where they are required and the District Collectors to monitor the direct benefit system (DBT) for giving fertiliser subsidy to farmers. Dharm Pal held a meeting with Chief Secretary SK Joshi at the Secretariat on Thursday on fertiliser DBT. He wanted the officials to educate the farmers to take the receipt after purchasing the fertilisers through e-Pos machines. Dharm Pal said that. The DBT for fertilisers was being used from January 1, 2018 and so far 541.46 lakh tonnes of fertilisers were sold through e-Pos machines in the country, Pal said. He wanted the officials to oversee that all the farmers get the required quantity of fertilisers. Chief Secretary SK Joshi informed Dharm Pal that the Telangana government appointed 5,000 agriculture extension officers (AEOs). Each AEO would cover as much as 5,000 acres of farm and provide services to around 2,000 farmers. Joshi said that once the system gets implemented, the fertilisers would be sold to farmers only through e-Pos machines. He said that sufficient stocks of fertilisers were available in the State. Finance Principal Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao and Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Special Chief Secretary B Rajasekhar were present on the occasion. Nation already equipped with e-Pos machines According to the available statistics, around 2.22 lakh e-Pos machines are being used across the country. The respective authorities have been providing training to as many as 8,000 staff for operating and maintaining these machines By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Though, the Guntur district police put nine conditions to give permission to the proposed Yadava Garjna Sabha to be held on March 3 on Guntur-Vijayawada Inner Ring Road, Telangana Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav said that he would attend the meeting at any cost. Srinivas Yadav demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government should accord permission to Yadava Garjana, lest they would take permission from the court. Talasani has decided to call upon the backward class people in AP to defeat the ruling TDP in the next elections. Talasanis decision to attend the meeting, which is to be conducted by Yadavas in AP, assumes significance in the wake of forthcoming Assembly elections in the neighbouring State. The TRS has friendly relations with the YSRCP, the main Opposition party in AP. In this background, the Guntur Urban South Division police sought information on nine points to accord permission for the meeting. For the sake of BCs The Guntur police also sought information about the persons addressing the gathering. Reacting to these conditions, Srinivas Yadav told reporters on Thursday at the Secretariat here that the AP government is creating obstacles in their path. The meeting will be conducted at a place which belongs to a private person. Despite this, the AP government is registering false cases. We never saw such conditions when we have conducted meetings in the past. Are we in India or Pakistan? Talasani wondered. Talasani demanded that the AP government should change its attitude. The performance of TDP government is not satisfactory and the people are angry with the government. There is no leadership for BCs. We are holding the meeting to create awareness among BCs in AP, Talasani said. He said that they would give a call to the BCs in AP to defeat the ruling TDP. He alleged that though the AP Budget was a deficit, the government was spending crores of rupees on advertisements and misusing public funds. He told the AP police officials that one party would not rule the State permanently. Later, in an informal chat, Talasani said that the TDP would be defeated in the Assembly elections and YSRCP would come to power in AP. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday called Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and appreciated his announcement to release captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a gesture of peace. In a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Khan said Thursday that Indian Air Force pilot Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace and will be the "first step" to open negotiations with India. The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that Erdogan congratulated the Prime Minister on his speech in the Parliament and "his statesman-like offers to India for de-escalating the situation and working towards peace". ALSO READ | Indo-Pak standoff HIGHLIGHTS | UAE Crown Prince calls up PM Modi, Imran Khan "President Erdogan appreciated the announcement by the Prime Minister to release the captured Indian Air Force pilot. He pointed out that this gesture was a sign of strength," the statement said. Prime Minister Khan briefed Erdogan on the situation as it evolved over the past few days and the efforts he made to de-escalate the crisis, it said. He also apprised the Turkish leader about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Khan underscored that "Pakistan is the one country that will always stand by Turkey". Pakistan detained Wing Commander Varthaman Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. Pakistan's Foreign Office (FO) said that the Indian Air Force pilot was safe and sound. India Wednesday summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan and demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot who was detained by Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. Prime Minister Khan also received a telephone call from UAE Crown Prince H H Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan. The Crown Prince congratulated the Prime Minister on his speech in the Parliament. "He appreciated Prime Minister Khan's willingness to resolve all issues in a peaceful manner," according to statement. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). India carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested a pilot. By PTI UNITED NATIONS: Bangladesh told the UN Security Council on Thursday that it will no longer be able to take in refugees from Myanmar. Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a council meeting that the crisis over the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from "bad to worse" and urged the council to take "decisive" action. ALSO READ | Bangladesh rescues 43 'abducted' Malaysia-bound Rohingya Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. "Here, I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar," said Haque. Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighbouring country?" asked the foreign secretary. After five trips to Myanmar, UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener reported "slow progress" in efforts to help hundreds of thousands of Rohingya return home and warned that Myanmar's elections next year could worsen the crisis. The Swiss diplomat, who was appointed in April as UN envoy for Myanmar, said UN agencies had been given "insufficient" access to help prepare the return of the Rohingya. Myanmar's Ambassador Hau Do Suan insisted his government was taking steps and appealed for patience. He spoke of "huge physical as well as psychological barriers" in the way of allowing the refugees' return and stressed that "it takes time and patience as well as courage to build trust and confidence among different communities in Rakhine. " China, which has close ties with Myanmar's former military junta, insisted that development aid could help ease tensions in Rakhine and made clear the council should not get involved in addressing the refugee crisis. "It is up to the two countries to work out a solution," said Chinese Deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao. In December, Britain circulated a draft resolution that would have forced Myanmar to roll out a strategy for addressing the Rohingya crisis, but China threatened to veto the measure, according to diplomats. "We are very disappointed that there hasn't been more progress on getting the refugees back," said British Ambassador Karen Pierce. "The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far," said Pierce. The UN envoy warned that the election campaign "could add to the domestic complexities" in Myanmar, which is still struggling with a democratic transition after 50 years of military rule. Myanmar's de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticised for failing to speak out to defend the Rohingya, is seeking to consolidate her position ahead of the 2020 vote. Myanmar's military dominates the Buddhist-majority nation, holding a quarter of seats in parliament and controlling three ministries, making their grip on power firm despite political reforms which began in 2011. By PTI LONDON: Shamima Begum, the Jihadi bride of Bangladeshi origin who fled London to join the Islamic State (ISIS) four years ago before resurfacing in Syria recently, has been moved out of her refugee camp over "safety concerns", according to her family's lawyer in the UK. Tasnime Akunjee said the 19-year-old and her new-born son were removed from the Al-Hol camp in the north of Syria due to alleged threats and moved to a camp closer to the Iraqi border. "I can confirm that it is our understanding that Shamima has been moved from Al-Hol due to safety concerns around her and her baby," he said. "We further understand that indeed she and her child had been threatened by others at the al-Hol camp," he said. The Sun newspaper reported on Friday that Begum had received death threats since speaking out about her plight and urging for her return to the UK during media interviews last month. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid had reacted by stripping Begum of her British citizenship, a decision her family has confirmed it would be mounting a legal challenge against. The family's lawyer also confirmed plans to fly out to the region to begin the legal process against the UK Home Office decision. "She needs a lawyer and we need her to sign these forms so that we can begin the appeals process. We know she is in a camp but not her exact location so we are trying to find this out at the moment from people on the ground," Akunjee said. In an appearance before the UK Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee earlier this week, Javid had told MPs that the UK government may be open to the idea of allowing Begum's baby Jerah back as a British citizen. "If it is possible for a British child to be brought to a place where there is British consular presence -- the closest place might be Turkey -- then in those circumstances it's potentially possible to arrange some sort of help with the consent of the parent," Javid said. The Pakistani-origin minister also stressed that he had followed the letter of the law in revoking Begum's British citizenship, denying it was on the basis she might be entitled to Bangladeshi nationality -- which would be illegal -- but that she already had it. "I have not deployed the power on the basis that someone could have citizenship to a second country, he told the committee. "I've always applied it on the strict advice (of lawyers) that when the power is deployed with respect to that individual they already have more than one citizenship," he said. Citing his own Pakistani Muslim heritage, Javid said many people had contacted him and colleagues "of similar heritage of mine" had supported his decision to strip Begum of her citizenship. Begum, who was 15 years old when she fled from Bethnal Green in east London in February 2015 and married a Dutch Muslim convert as a so-called ISIS "jihadi bride" in Syria, can challenge the decision of the UK Home Office to revoke her British citizenship at the UK's Special Immigration Appeals Commission. The Bangladesh government has since intervened to deny that Begum is a dual national of its country or that she could be allowed entry into that country. By ANI LAHORE: Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is very unwell, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has confirmed. He (Masood Azhar) is in Pakistan. According to my information, he is very unwell. He's unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house because he is really unwell. So, that's the information I have, Qureshi told CNN in an interview. Qureshi added that Pakistan will take action against Azhar if India provides solid, inalienable evidence against him. If they give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan after all we will have to justify they will go to the court. If they have solid, inalienable evidence, share it with us so that we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan, he said. ALSO READ | Wing Commander Abhinandan to be released on Friday, scores assembly at Attari to welcome IAF pilot Talking about the decision made by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday where he announced that Islamabad will release Indian Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan as a peace gesture, Qureshi said, This was a goodwill gesture and we feel this should be an expression of Pakistans willingness to deescalate. We are willing to hand him over as soon as possible. Abhinandan, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir yesterday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was taken to the custody by Pakistani Army. He further thanked US President Donald Trump for taking an interest to deescalate tensions between the two Asian nations. He (US President Trump) can play a significant role. United States can play a significant role. US and Pakistan have had good relations for decades. We have been close allies and today we have a shared objective to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan. I have had a telephonic conversation with United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo in which we discussed this evolving situation. I am happy that they have taken note of this rising tension and they want to play a constructive role to deescalate. This is a very welcomed development, Qureshi said. ALSO READ | Wing commander Abhinandan coming home, but it isnt closure When Pompeo came to Islamabad when had a very constructive and engaging meeting. He invited me to Washington DC and (there) we had another positive meeting, he added. During the interview with CNN, Qureshi stated that he could not envision an all-out war between India and Pakistan. I hope not Pakistan never wants to escalate. Pakistan never wants to be in a hostile position. From day one when this government came to power, (Pakistan) Prime Minister Imran Khan said if you take one step towards peace, we will take two. He wrote to the Indian Prime Minister to let the two Foreign Minister meet on the sidelines in New York so that they can chart a way forward, he claimed. When this Pulwama tragic incident took place, the Prime Minister placed a very balanced and reasonable offer. This is a new government with a new mindset (in Pakistan). We want to live in peace. We have a people-centric agenda. We want to concentrate on fixing the economy. We want to improve governance in Pakistan. We want to eradicate corruption in Pakistan. Thats the mandate given to us by the people of Pakistan. We want to see peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Western front is consuming us. We do not want an Eastern front. We want to put an end to the 17-year-old war thats going on in Afghanistan, he added. ALSO READ | US, UK and France ask UN Security Council to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar in fresh proposal Qureshi said that the Pakistani government is open to any step that leads to de-escalation. If they have good solid evidence, please sit and talk. Please initiate a dialogue and we will show reasonableness, he said. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's former premier Nawaz Sharif, who is currently serving a seven-year jail term in Lahore for corruption, Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the dismissal of his bail plea by a high court. In the petition filed through his counsel Khawaja Haris in the apex court, Sharif said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected the application despite the fact that he needed immediate medical attention due to his deteriorating health conditions. A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justices Aamer Farooq and Mohsin Akhtar Kayani rejected his bail plea on medical grounds on February 25. In its decision, the court said that Sharif, 69, could not be given bail on health grounds as he was already being treated at a hospital. ALSO READ | Pakistan HC reserves verdict on Nawaz Sharif's plea for suspension of sentence on medical grounds Sharif asked the court to declare the high court's dismissal orders as null and void. The high court bench in a nine-page judgment had said: "In fact the reports of Board of Doctors and various Teams constituted, are indicative of the fact that the petitioner is receiving best possible medical treatment available to any individual in Pakistan." It said that facts highlighted by the medical reports cannot be regarded as an "extraordinary situation" and/or case of "extreme hardship" to give bail to the petitioner. Three corruption cases - Avenfield properties, Flagship investment and Al-Azizia steel mills - were registered against the Sharif family by the NAB in 2017 following a judgment by the Supreme Court that disqualified Sharif in the Panama Papers case in 2017. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Avenfiled case in July 2018 which was related to his properties in London. Later he was given bail in September. In December, the accountability court convicted him in the Al-Azizia case but acquitted him in the Flagship reference Currently, he is kept in the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. Though he was shifted to hospital many times for medical care. By Online Desk Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday that he would not participate in the Council of Foreign Ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi, citing India's presence at the same. "I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for (them) having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj," Shah Mahmood Qureshi was quoted as saying while addressing a joint session of parliament, adding that lower-ranking officials would attend to represent the nation's interests. The delegation will also staunchly oppose any move to grant observer status to India at the OIC. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi: I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/eRIiSVkox7 ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 Reiterating his protest against the OIC's decision to invite to Swaraj to attend the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi, Qureshi said he will not attend the session due to the inter-governmental organisation's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart. Mentioning that the "UAE has always helped Pakistan in difficult times", Qureshi noted with regret that despite Pakistan's protest, the OIC's invitation to Swaraj was not rescinded. "There was no consultation over the OIC invitation to Indian foreign minister. India is neither a member nor an observer of the OIC," Qureshi pointed out, adding that he sent two letters - the latest by Friday - to the UAE calling upon the body to withdraw its invitation to the Indian foreign minister. Qureshi informed Parliament that he requested the OIC to either rescind the invitation or postpone the session in view of the prevailing situation, neither of which was done. "I have [therefore] decided not to attend OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi," the foreign minister announced. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, the Guest of Honour, has reached Abu Dhabi to attend the meet where she is expected to raise the issue of terrorism. This follows a de-escalation in tension between India and Pakistan after Pakistan declared that they would release IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a peace gesture. Recognising Indias engagement with the Islamic world EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in #AbuDhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of @OIC_OCI. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'. pic.twitter.com/wzQbVOGczN Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 28, 2019 Pakistan, a member of the OIC, had tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Earlier Qureshi had said that he would boycott the meeting if Swaraj participates. But, on Thursday, he said the OIC is "our home" so he will go there, but will not hold talks with Swaraj. ALSO READ | Jaish chief Masood Azhar in Pakistan, admits Qureshi, says he is 'really unwell' The OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. (With PTI inputs) By Online Desk On the day Pakistan handed back IAF fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to India at Wagah, news has emerged that the Pakistan F-16 pilot Wing Commander Shahaz-ud-Din, downed on Wednesday, ended up being lynched by a mob in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) after being mistaken for an Indian. According to journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, the pilot of the crashed PAF F-16 was Wing Commander Shahzaz-ud-Din of the No 19 Squadron (sherdils). Russian TV channel RT news also quoted another journalist Ajay Jandyal confirming that the pilot was Shahzaz . The news of the Pakistan F-16 crashing was first reported by London-based lawyer Khalid Umar. Firstpost's Praveen Swami now claims that Umar was told by relatives of Shahaz-ud-Din of the sad fate that befell him. ALSO READ: Pakistan returns IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India; describes him as 'POW' Umar says that after parachuting out of his aircraft, Shahaz landed in the Laam valley that stretches westward from Naushehra to PoK. He was attacked by an angry mob who mistook him for an IAF pilot and ended up lynching him. The Wing Commander flew for the crack 19 Squadron of the Pakistan Air Force and was the son of an Air Marshal, who had flown both the F-16 and the Mirage 2000. ALSO READ: Those baying for war should fight it themselves, says widow of Squadron Leader Pakistani military spokesperson Major-General Asif Ghafoor had on Wednesday asserted that two Indian jets were shot down and two Indian pilots were captured. He had tweeted that while one of these pilots was in Pakistan armed forces' custody, the other had been admitted to the hospital. Swami quoted an Indian source as saying that the second 'Indian' pilot whom Ghafoor had initially spoken about might have been Shahaz. "There was probably miscommunication up the chain of command, the military source explained. By PTI ISLAMABAD/LONDON: Thousands of air travellers stranded worldwide heaved a sigh of relief as Pakistan announced that its airspace will be fully re-opened by Friday, as the aviation authorities allowed some flights to operate Thursday a day after closing the air traffic over the country in view of escalating tensions with India. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday temporarily restored Pakistani airspace for commercial aviation, allowing some flights to depart. At least three commercial flights departed from Pakistan on Thursday. The three flights included Emirates flight number EK637 from Peshawar to Dubai, Air Arabia G9825 from Peshawar to Ras Al Khaimah, and Qatar Airways QR601 from Peshawar to Doha. ALSO READ | JeM chief Masood Azhar in Pakistan, very unwell: Shah Mahmood Qureshi The CAA in its latest Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said the airspace would remain closed until 1 PM Pakistan Standard Time on Friday. Following the announcement, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announce that its flights to Jeddah, Dubai, Madina, and Dammam will be departing this evening. "After the decision to temporarily open Pakistan's airspace, PIA has taken the decision to fly their UAE and Saudi Arabia bound flights," PIA tweeted. The closure of Pakistan's airspace in response to escalating tensions with India disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia and left thousands of air travellers worldwide stranded. Various airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines Wednesday announced they were rerouting their flights as Pakistan closed its airspace. Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. "All THAI flights from Bangkok to Europe departing near midnight of 27 FEB through early 28 FEB and from Europe to Bangkok departing on 27 FEB have been cancelled due to Pakistan airspace closure," the airline wrote on its Twitter page. The decision affected its services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo. Singapore Airlines' was forced to direct flights to Europe to re-fuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Emirates also cancelled 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Multan. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has said that due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, air traffic was significantly heavy over the Mumbai region on Wednesday night. By AFP WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday offered a USD 1 million reward for information on a son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, seeing him as an emerging face of extremism. The location of Hamza bin Laden sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria or under house arrest in Iran. "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise," a State Department statement said, referring to Al-Qaeda. The State Department said that it would offer USD 1 million for information leading to his location in any country. Hamza, who according to the United States is around 30, has threatened attacks against the United States to avenge the 2011 killing of his father, who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, by US special forces. US intelligence agencies increasingly see the younger bin Laden as a successor to his father for the mantle of global jihad, especially as the even more extreme Islamic State group is down to its last sliver of land in Syria. In 2015, bin Laden released an audio message urging jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to "liberating Palestine." And in a message a year later, following in the footsteps of his father, he urged the overthrow of the leadership in their native Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden's three surviving wives and his children were quietly allowed to return to Saudi Arabia after his killing. But Hamza bin Laden's whereabouts have been a matter of dispute. He is believed to have spent years along with his mother in Iran, despite Al-Qaeda's strident denunciations of the Shiite branch of Islam that dominates the country. Observers say that the clerical regime in Tehran kept him under house arrest as a way to maintain pressure on rival Saudi Arabia as well as on Al-Qaeda, dissuading the Sunni militants from attacking Iran. One of Hamza bin Laden's half-brothers told The Guardian last year that Hamza's whereabouts were unknown but that he may be in Afghanistan. He also said that Hamza bin Laden married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed some 3,000 people and sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan. By PTI BEIJING: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi made an "urgent" phone call to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to update him about the tensions between Pakistan and India, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. During the phone call, Wang briefed Qureshi on China's efforts to promote peace talks and reiterated his hope that Pakistan and India would exercise restraint and "earnestly fulfil" their commitment to prevent the escalation of the situation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Qureshi's phone call came as tensions between India and Pakistan rose Wednesday after Pakistan claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested a pilot in response to Indian counter-terrorism in Balakot. ALSO READ | JeM chief Masood Azhar in Pakistan, very unwell: Shah Mahmood Qureshi "Late at night on February 27, 2019, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi made an urgent call to State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to update him on the situation between Pakistan and India," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Qureshi made the phone call after Wang held extensive talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in the Chinese city of Wuzhen. Swaraj forcefully raised the terror strike issue with her Chinese counterpart and said the Pulwama attack is the direct result of the "impunity and cover" provided to the Jaish-e-Muhammed terror group by Pakistan. Swaraj's meeting with Wang came a day after India destroyed a major Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) terror training camp in Pakistan. China, a close ally of Pakistan has repeatedly foiled India's attempts to brand JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN. The JeM, founded by Azhar, has already been in the UN's list of banned terror outfits. Wang told Qureshi that China will continue to play a "constructive role" in easing the current tension. He expressed deep concern over the escalation of tension between Pakistan and India and briefed Qureshi on China's efforts to promote peace talks and reiterated his hope that Pakistan and India would exercise restraint and earnestly fulfil their commitment to prevent the escalation of the situation, the statement said. "Wang also stressed that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be truly respected. China does not want to see any behaviour that goes against the norms governing international relations," it said. ALSO READ | Pakistan's airspace closure leaves thousands of passengers stranded worldwide At the RIC Ministers meeting, India won the support of China and Russia in the fight against terrorism as China and Russia agreed to step up policy coordination. Briefing the media after the RIC Ministers talks, Wang said, "We agreed to jointly combat all forms terrorism through closer policy coordination and practical cooperation. Especially important is to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism." But at the same Wang tried to cautiously tread a fine line, highlighting that Pakistan, which is its close ally, is also opposed to terrorism. "China, Russia, and India have reaffirmed our strong opposition to terrorism in various forms and manifestations. At the same time, we believe that Pakistan has always been opposed to terrorism," he said at the joint press conference with Swaraj and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Elaborating on China's stand, Wang said, "on the recent developments between India and Pakistan, China appreciates the statements from Indian and Pakistani friends saying that they will exercise and avoid escalation of the situation." He said China for its part is playing a "constructive role as a mutual friend." "As a mutual friend to both India and Pakistan, we do hope that they can conduct dialogue to establish facts through investigation to keep things under control, maintain peace and stability in the region. In this process, China is playing a constructive role not the opposite," he said. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Huawei pleaded not guilty on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle on fraud, trade secrets conspiracy and other charges, the Justice Department said. The units of China's Huawei Technologies were arraigned and Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez set trial for March 2, 2020. The two companies were charged in an indictment unsealed last month that they conspired to steal T-Mobile US Inc trade secrets. T-Mobile had accused Huawei of stealing the technology, called "Tappy," which mimicked human fingers and was used to test smartphones. Huawei has said the two companies settled their disputes in 2017. The adoption of a European Union money-laundering blacklist, which includes Saudi Arabia as well as Puerto Rico and three other U.S. territories, could be blocked by EU governments under a procedure launched on Thursday, two EU diplomats told Reuters. At a meeting on Thursday, some national envoys opposed adopting the list, triggering a process that could lead to it being delayed or withdrawn, the diplomats said. The move came after Saudi Arabia's King Salman sent letters to all 28 EU leaders urging them to reconsider the inclusion of Riyadh on the list, one of the letters seen by Reuters showed. The listing of the Saudi Kingdom "will damage its reputation on the one hand and it will create difficulties in trade and investment flows between the Kingdom and the European Union on the other," the King wrote. One diplomat said Washington has also pressured EU countries to scrap the list. Get the news faster. Tap to install our app. Access Newser even faster. Click here to install our app on your desktop. X North Korea is disputing President Donald Trump's account of why the summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un collapsed, saying the North demanded only partial sanctions relief in exchange for shutting down its main nuclear complex. Trump, who was on his way back to Washington on Thursday, said before leaving Hanoi that the talks broke down because Kim insisted that all the punishing sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Pyongyang be lifted without the North committing to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho commented during an abruptly scheduled middle-of-the-night news conference. Earlier on Thursday, Trump told reporters the North had demanded a full removal of sanctions in exchange for shutting the Yongbyon nuclear facility. Ri said the North was also ready to offer in writing a permanent halt of the country's nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests and that Washington wasted an opportunity that "may not come again." He said the North's position wouldn't change even if the United States offered to resume the dialogue. Trump had said in Hanoi that there was a proposed agreement "ready to be signed." However, he said after the summit was cut short, "Sometimes you have to walk." Asked about the North Koreans' claim that they had demanded only partial sanctions relief in exchange for shutting down their main nuclear facility, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said: "I'll refer you back to the president and Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo's remarks at the press conference" in Hanoi. North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho (second right) talks during a press conference at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam on Feb. 28, 2019. /AP No Lunch, No Ceremony Mere hours after both nations had seemed hopeful of a deal, the two leaders' motorcades roared away from the downtown Hanoi summit site within minutes of each other, their lunch canceled and a signing ceremony scuttled. The president's closing news conference was hurriedly moved up, and he departed for Washington more than two hours ahead of schedule. The disintegration of talks came after Trump and Kim had appeared to be ready to inch toward normalizing relations between their still technically warring nations and as the American leader dampened expectations that their negotiations would yield an agreement by North Korea to take concrete steps toward ending a nuclear program that Pyongyang likely sees as its strongest security guarantee. In something of a role reversal, Trump had deliberately ratcheted down some of the pressure on North Korea, abandoning his fiery rhetoric and declaring that he wanted the "right deal" rather than a rushed agreement. For his part, Kim, when asked whether he was ready to denuclearize, had said, "If I'm not willing to do that I won't be here right now." The breakdown denied Trump a much-needed triumph amid growing domestic turmoil back home, including congressional testimony this week by his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who called Trump a "racist" and "con man" and claimed the then-presidential candidate had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks would release e-mails that would damage Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016. Trump insisted his relations with Kim remained warm, but he did not commit to having a third summit with the North Korean leader, saying a possible next meeting "may not be for a long time." Though both he and Pompeo said significant progress had been made in Hanoi, the two sides appeared to be galaxies apart on an agreement that would live up to stated U.S. goals. "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that," Trump told reporters. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the U.S. military after his summit meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-un in Vietnam, during a refueling stop at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska on Feb. 28, 2019. /Reuters Weapons Would Be Left Kim, he explained, appeared willing to close his country's main nuclear facility, the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, if the sanctions were lifted. But that would leave him with missiles, warheads and weapon systems, Pompeo said. There are also suspected hidden nuclear fuel production sites around the country. "We couldn't quite get there today," Pompeo said, minimizing what seemed to be a chasm between the two sides. Long-standing U.S. policy has insisted that U.S. sanctions on North Korea would not be lifted until that country committed to, if not concluded, complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization. Trump declined to restate that goal Thursday, insisting he wanted flexibility in talks with Kim. "I don't want to put myself in that position from the standpoint of negotiation," he said. White House aides stressed that Trump stood strong. The failure in Hanoi laid bare a risk in Trump's unpredictable negotiating style: Preferring one-on-one meetings with his foreign counterparts, his administration often eschews the staff-level work done in advance to assure a deal and envisions summits more as messaging opportunities than venues for hard-line negotiation. There was disappointment and alarm in South Korea, whose liberal leader has been a leading orchestrator of the nuclear diplomacy and who needs a breakthrough to restart lucrative engagement projects with the impoverished North. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said that the clock on the Korean Peninsula's security situation has "turned back to zero" and diplomacy is now "at a crossroads." Liaison Office The two leaders had seemed to find a point of agreement when Kim, who fielded questions from American journalists for the first time, was asked if the U.S. may open a liaison office in North Korea. Trump declared it "not a bad idea," and Kim called it "welcomable." Such an office would mark the first U.S. presence in North Korea and a significant grant to a country that has long been deliberately starved of international recognition. There had long been skepticism that Kim would be willing to give away the weapons his nation had spent decades developing and that Pyongyang felt ensured its survival. But even after the summit ended, Trump praised Kim's commitment to continue a moratorium on missile testing. If the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore last year gave the reclusive nation's leader an entrance onto the international stage, the second appeared to grant him the legitimacy his family has long desired. Kim, for the first time, affably parried with the international press without having to account for his regime's long history of oppression. He secured Trump's support for the opening of a liaison office in Pyongyang, without offering any concessions of his own. Even without an agreement, Trump's backing for the step toward normalization provided the sort of recognition the international community has long denied Kim's regime. Experts worried that the darker side of Kim's leadership was being brushed aside in the rush to address the North's nuclear weapons program: the charges of massive human rights abuses; the prison camps filled with dissidents; a near complete absence of media, religious and speech freedoms; the famine in the 1990s that killed hundreds of thousands; and the executions of a slew of government and military officials, including his uncle and the alleged assassination order of his half brother in a Malaysian airport. (Newser) Small theaters around the US are canceling their productions of To Kill a Mockingbird after being threatened with legal action by a Broadway producer. Scott Rudin is notifying theaters that they're not permitted to stage the play, the New York Times reports, because there's a new adaptation, which opened on Broadway in December. The estate of Harper Lee, the novel's author, supports Rudin. Many of the threatened theaters were putting on community or student productions, using an adaptation that's been staged for decades; Rudin's version was written by Aaron Sorkin and stars Jeff Daniels. "I truly dont understand why this is a problem for them," said the artistic director of the Kavinoky Theater in Buffalo, which received a shutdown letter two weeks before opening night. story continues below The threat is based on a 1969 contract between Lee and Dramatic Publishing Co., which sells the rights to stage the play. The contract prohibits Mockingbird productions within 25 miles of decent-sized cities if a "first-class dramatic" version is on tour or playing in New York. The Times counts eight cancellations out of more than 25 planned productions across the country so far. The Dayton Playhouse canceled after receiving a letter from Rudin's lawyers, and the chairman told WDTN that when he told the cast and crew: "There were tears. There was anger in the room." In Massachusetts, the Mugford Street Players found a way for the show to go on. They're moving the production from their theater 16 miles outside Boston to a spot in Gloucester, about 40 miles from the city. (Read more To Kill A Mockingbird stories.) (Newser) A 59-year-old Army veteran shot a doctor in the neck Wednesday at a VA hospital in Florida, just before he was to undergo a mental health evaluation. The wounded doctor helped subdue the veteran, the FBI said, per USA Today. "It was very brave," an agent said. "He's doing well, and he did a heroic thing today." Another employee was grazed by a shot. The FBI identified the veteran as Larry Ray Bon of Michigan, a double amputee who uses a wheelchair. His personal physician had admitted him for the mental health exam at the West Palm Beach medical center, WPLG reports, citing a criminal complaint. The FBI said it doesn't know of Bon having any combat-related mental conditions. His mother told WPLG that his mental health deteriorated after a bout with spinal meningitis as a child. He was honorably discharged from the Army, she said. (Read more veterans stories.) (Newser) President Donald Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, says he will be returning to Capitol Hill on March 6 for another round of questioning with lawmakers, the AP reports. Cohen spent Thursday behind closed doors with members of the House Intelligence Committee. It was the last of three appearances before Congress this week for Cohen, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to Congress. Cohen told reporters, "I'm committed to telling the truth and I'll be back on March 6 to finish up." House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff called the closed-door session with Cohen productive and said lawmakers were able to "drill down in great detail" on issues they are investigating. Meanwhile, two of President Trump's closest allies on the House Oversight Committee have called on the Justice Department to investigate Cohen for perjury over aspects of his public testimony Wednesday, CNN reports. (Read more Michael Cohen stories.) (Newser) Those who back the legalization of marijuana should be cheered by this development: A major candidate for president just introduced a bill to make the drug legal on the federal leveland several of his fellow candidates are on board. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker introduced the Marijuana Justice Act, which would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances, reports CNBC. Fellow senators/candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand signed on as co-sponsors. A companion bill was introduced in the House by California Reps. Ro Khanna and Barbara Lee, reports the Hill. story continues below In a series of tweets, Booker said part of his rationale is to correct what he sees as the injustice of marijuana convictions. Such a conviction "is often a life sentencepeople cant get jobs or many business licenses, and they cant get food assistance like SNAP or public housing if it's a felony," he wrote. The bill would expunge previous federal convictions. Booker actually introduced the measure previously, in 2017, but it was never taken up for a vote. It's not clear whether things will be different this time around, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last May he had no plans to back legalization. (Read more Cory Booker stories.) (Newser) The Los Angeles Rams weren't the only Super Bowl losers. A 60-year-old New York man was arrested Wednesday over what police say was a fake abduction tied to a Super Bowl betting scheme. The Buffalo News reports Robert Brandel of North Tonawanda was discovered bound in the back seat of his Ford F-150 in a parking lot in Newfane on Wednesday. He claimed to have picked up two participants in the pool two days prior, who he claimed had a gun and took $16,000 in pool money from him. He says they then forced him to drive around the western part of the state until Tuesday night, at which point they bound him with duct tape, attached a rope to his neck and a headrest, and left him in his truck. Not so, say authorities. story continues below They allege Brandel found himself in deep water over that pool, which they claim was itself a scam. Brandel allegedly created a $50,000 Super Bowl squares pool but put fictional names on some of the squares, hoping he'd walk with the bulk of the winnings. That didn't happen, and he ended up unable to pay out most of the $50,000 he owed. NY State Trooper James O'Callaghan tells WKBW one thing that tipped them off: "We're on the third day when we find him, but he's pretty clean shaved around his beard." Brandel faces a felony charge of first-degree scheme to defraud, as well as a misdemeanor false-report charge. (Read more weird crimes stories.) Huge growth potential seen in nation's private hospitals From:ChinaDaily | 2019-03-01 10:20 Investment in healthcare institutions set to rise amid ongoing medical reform China's private hospitals, as a beneficial supplement to the country's public hospitals, should target market segments and offer high-value service to get market approval, experts said. "Private hospitals are facing huge growth potential. They should position themselves correctly, serve customers well, and offer good service," said Zhang Chengyu, president of Shanghai United Family Pudong Hospital, a private hospital in Shanghai. "Before restructuring in 2000, the annual revenue of Beijing Jiangong Hospital was 40 million yuan ($5.90 million), but in 2017, it reached 650 million yuan, a sixteen-fold increase, which demonstrates the effect of restructuring," said Cheng Libing, president of CR Medical, the parent company of the hospital. According to Sun Baishun, deputy director of Beijing Jiangong Hospital, in 2017, total visits to the hospital reached 880,000, and there were 8,000 operations performed to treat lung cancer. "Our hospital is a perfect supplement to public hospitals," Sun said. Beijing Jiangong Hospital was once an enterprise-owned hospital. In 2000, it was transformed into a subsidiary of China Resources. Statistics from Beijing-headquartered think tank iyiou.com revealed that by last September, there were a total of 20,011 private hospitals in China, accounting for nearly half of the country's medical institutions. According to Hao Deming, executive vice-president and secretary-general of the Chinese Nongovernment Medical Institutions Association, starting from 2013, the number of China's private hospitals has grown at an annual rate of 15 percent. Capital also favors private hospitals. "The number of private hospitals in China accounts for half of the total, and is growing at a much higher rate than the number of public hospitals. The investment from the capital market into the sector is an unprecedented blockbuster expansion," said Xia Xiaoyan, a partner and managing director of Boston Consulting Group, during an interview with pppod.net. The report from BCG showed that since 2012, investment in medical institutions has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 80 percent, realizing a fiftyfold increase from 2012 to 2018. Between 2015 and 2016 a record number of deals took place. From the beginning of 2017 to May 2018, China's private healthcare institutions had attracted roughly 11 billion yuan of investment, and each deal surpassed 200 million yuan, according to the report issued by iyiou.com. In 2018, the government introduced several policies to offer more support to private hospitals. According to the policies, private hospitals will have the same assessment system as public hospitals, the government will not limit the opening of general clinics, third-party medical institutions will have their own standards, and internet hospitals will be encouraged. Judging from the policies, opening up the incremental market will continue to be an important direction for medical reform in the next few years. At the same time, the government will also tighten the supervision of private hospitals, in the hope of forming a diversified system with public hospitals being the main body, supplemented by private institutions. On Nov 5 2018, President Xi Jinping gave a speech during the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo, stating that China is steadily expanding the opening-up of the financial sector, and will loosen limitations on foreign investment in the medical field. Market insiders said that this is a positive signal for China's medical sector to attract foreign investment. According to the notice issued by the government in 2000, foreign capital can contribute up to a 70 percent share of China's medical institutions. (Newser) A snow-covered tent has been the only possible sign of two climbers missing on the world's ninth-highest mountain since Sunday. A flash of reddish-orange fabric amid a sea of white was spotted Thursday during a helicopter search of Pakistan's 26,660-foot Nanga Parbat, which also turned up evidence of heavy snowfall or possibly an avalanche, reports Rock and Ice. Brit Tom Ballard, 30, and Italian Daniele Nardi, 42, are last known to have reached 20,670 feet, or more than 3,000 feet above the tent's position. The experienced mountaineers set out in January hoping to be the first to scale Mummery Rib, the steep western face of the peak dubbed Killer Mountain. They persisted through poor weather and heavy snow, even as two Pakistani team members abandoned their efforts, per Outside. story continues below Two cooks and a Pakistani military officer remaining at base camp heard from Ballard and Nardi on Sunday, as the climbers were between Camps 3 and 4. But radio silence followed bad weather, which obscured the mountain from view. As conditions cleared Wednesday, the climbers appeared to have vanished. Helicopters and rescuers were allowed to arrive Thursday, though airspace had been closed amid a dispute between Pakistan and India. No trace of the climbers was found, per the New York Times. This was Nardi's fifth visit to Nanga Parbat. Ballardwhose mother died on K2 in 1995, a few months after she became the first woman to scale Mount Everest without an oxygen supplyis the first person to solo climb all six major north faces of the Alps in a single season. (A climber died on Nanga Parbat last year.) (Newser) Earlier this week, former Attorney General Eric Holder called for the abolition of the electoral college because it is "undemocratic" and "forces candidates to ignore majority of the voters and campaign in a small number of states." In a New York Times op-ed, columnist Jamelle Bouie echoes all of the above and hopes that Holder's argument becomes a main topic among Democrats running for president. "The Electoral College routinely threatens or produces perverse outcomes, where the will of the voters is thwarted by an ill-considered 18th-century electoral device," writes Bouie. "It has no place in a democracy that strives for a standard of 'one person, one vote.'" It's also the reason Donald Trump is president instead of Hillary Clinton, he writes, and the reason Trump might win again in 2020. story continues below Bouie runs through the historical origins of the electoral college, along with the failed attempts to replace it over the years with a system based on popular vote. Opponents of the electoral college have nowhere near the support necessary to get an amendment ratified abolishing it, he notes. "The inertia behind the Electoral College is strong, which is why it needs vocal opponents making their case as loudly and often as possible." However, he writes that the movement has, in fact, been gaining ground, with the governor of Colorado promising to join the National Popular Vote interstate compact, and Maine's legislature considering the same move. Click to read the full column, in which Bouie argues that the current system is a "glaring flaw" in our democracy. (Read more electoral college stories.) (Newser) The man who helped bring Game of Thrones to the small screen is out at HBO. "Hard as it is to think about leaving the company I love, and the people I love in it, it is the right time for me to do so," Chairman and CEO Richard Plepler wrote in a letter to staff on Thursday. Plepler has been at the company for almost three decades, and has led it since 2013. The Wall Street Journal therefore describes his resignation as "a seismic event within HBO." To the Atlantic, it represents "the end of an era for an industry that has become less about quality control and more about tremendous scale." story continues below CNBC reports Plepler would have had less autonomy as a result of AT&T's takeover of HBO parent company Time Warner, now dubbed WarnerMedia, amid an effort to scale up to compete with streaming giants like Netflix. HBO isn't the only media asset acquired by AT&T expecting a shakeup, however. David Levy, president of CNN parent company Turner, is to step down, too, reports the Journal. Plepler's departure, meanwhile, "will make HBO less of what it's always been and more of something else, yet to be defined," per the Hollywood Reporter. (Read more HBO stories.) (Newser) One of the nation's largest neo-Nazi groups appears to have an unlikely new leader: a black civil rights activist who has vowed to dismantle it. Court documents filed Thursday suggest James Hart Stern wants to use his new position as director and president of the National Socialist Movement to undermine the Detroit-based group's defense against a lawsuit. The NSM is one of several extremist groups sued over bloodshed at the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Stern's filing asks a federal court in Virginia to issue a judgment against the group before one of the lawsuits goes to trial, the AP reports. Stern replaced Jeff Schoep as the group's leader in January, according to Michigan corporate records. But those records and court documents say nothing about how or why Stern got the position. story continues below "I think it's kind of a sad obit for one of the longest-running white nationalist organizations," said leading white nationalist figure Matthew Heimbach, who estimates it had about 40 active, dues-paying members last year. It appears that Stern has been trying for at least two years to disrupt the group, and his feat invited comparisons to the recent Spike Lee movie BlacKkKlansman in which a black police officer infiltrates a branch of the Ku Klux Klan. A message posted on his website said he would be meeting with Schoep in February 2017 "to sign a proclamation acknowledging the NSM denouncing being a white supremacist group." "I have personally targeted eradicating the (Ku Klux Klan) and the National Socialist Movement, which are two organizations here in this country which have all too long been given privileges they don't deserve," Stern said. (Read more Neo-Nazi stories.) (Newser) The search for a woman who vanished after leaving a Boston nightclub Saturday came to a tragic end Thursday when her body was found in the trunk of a suspect's car. Police say 32-year-old Louis Coleman, who was seen on surveillance video with Jassy Correia, has been arrested in connection with her disappearance, NBC reports. Correia, who had been out celebrating her 23rd birthday with friends, was the mother of a 2-year-old girl. Police say Coleman was taken into custody along Interstate 95 in Delaware. Relatives say Correia's body was found in the trunk of his vehicle. story continues below "The cause and manner of death are pending," Boston police said in a statement. "This remains an active and ongoing, multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional investigation." Relatives thanked the community for their support and called for justice, WCVB reports. "She did not deserve this," cousin Katia DePina told reporters. "She went out to celebrate her birthday and never returned home. We want justice for her death." A family friend added: "Women should have a right to go to any nightclub and wear whatever they want to, and not worry about being kidnapped and murdered at the end of (the) night." (Newser) Thirty years ago, a sobering dry spell in Iceland's history came to an end. On Friday, the country celebrates the anniversary of the lifting of a decades-long ban on beer withwhat else?a nationwide Beer Day. The drink was outlawed in Iceland for 74 years, while all other booze was completely legal. The alcoholic anomaly finally ended on March 1, 1989. The beer ban was a leftover from the country's prohibition era, which started in 1915 when the population voted in a referendum to outlaw all alcoholic drinks, the AP reports. The ban was partially lifted seven years later out of economic necessitySpain refused to buy Iceland's main export, fish, unless Iceland bought Spanish wines. story continues below Prohibition was repealed in a 1933 referendum. But the vote was tight and to appease a powerful temperance movement, lawmakers decided beer would remain illegal. Historian Stefan Palsson says that at the time Icelanders didn't miss it. "They drank in order to become drunk and beer wasn't really efficient for that," he says. A thirst for change began in the 1970s when Icelanders increasingly started vacationing in beach resorts and developed a taste for a cooling beer. When the ban finally ended, all four bars in Reykjavik at the time were packed with drinkers toasting their newfound freedom while the country's population of 260,000 celebrated by buying more than 340,000 cans of beer at overcrowded Vinbudin monopoly stores. (In 2015, Iceland legalized blasphemy.) (Read more Iceland stories.) (Newser) Thursday's headlines revolved around Virginia's first lady asking African-American students to imagine being slaves; Friday's headlines center on asking students to imagine they were the slave owners themselves. Per the Tennessean, that ask came via an 8th-grade homework assignment at Sunset Middle School in Williamson County, Tenn., in which students were instructed Wednesday to contemplate and report back on this directive: "Your family owns slaves. Create a list of expectations for your family's slaves." The handwritten assignment, which touched on immigration and child labor as well, also included instructions to "create a PSA informing citizens of hazards living in urban areas" and "create a political cartoon depicting immigrant labor in the United States." story continues below Fox News describes family members of some students as being "flabbergasted" at the homework at the mostly white school, per the state's education department. Dan Fountain showed a picture of his sister's homework sheet on Twitter, telling the Tennessean that the way many of the questions were worded "doesn't benefit anyone." He says some questions "essentially [let] children run wild with their conscious or unconscious bias of other people." The principal and district superintendent have offered their apologies for the assignment (WTVF has the superintendent's letter in its entirety), as have Susan Hooper and Kim Best, the two teachers who handed it out. "The assignment was insensitive, and it did not promote Sunset Middle's goal of an inclusive environment," the pair said, adding they'd be personally apologizing to their students. (This isn't the first time slavery assignments have gone wrong.) (Newser) Rohingya people fleeing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar will no longer be accepted as refugees in Bangladesh, the country's foreign secretary says. Shahidul Haque has informed the United Nations Security Council that Bangladesh will stop accepting Rohingya Muslim refugees because Myanmar has made "hollow promises" during discussions on returning some of the more than 1 million already in the country, the BBC reports. He urged the UN to set up "safe zones" inside Myanmar instead. Most of the refugees fled to Bangladesh in 2016 and 2017 amid military crackdowns and reports of widespread atrocities in Buddhist-majority Myanmar's Rakhine province, including massacres, rape, and the burning of villages. Around 16,000 crossed the border last year. story continues below Envoys from countries including the US and UK also slammed Myanmar for failing to take steps that would allow refugees to return, the Guardian reports. The Myanmar government has failed to promise that Rohingya would be safe from violence or would be allowed to return to their original homesor even that the minority would have a chance to regain the citizenship they were stripped of in 1974. "Not a single Rohingya has volunteered to return to Rakhine due to the absence of conducive environment there," Haque told the Security Council. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?" He also blamed the international community for failing to work to resolve the crisis. (Last year, Amnesty International stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of the honor it had bestowed on her.) (Newser) If President Trump truly believes Kim Jong Un was unaware of the "really really bad things" that happened to Otto Warmbier in North Korea, then he's been sold a massive lie, according to Bill Richardson. "It is inconceivable that [with] such a high-profile American prisoner like Otto Warmbier, that Kim Jong Un would not know," the former US Ambassador to the UN told CNBC on Thursday, per NBC News. "It is totally impossible." Warmbier, 22, was imprisoned in North Korea in 2016 on accusations that he stole a poster. He died within days of his release into US custody some 17 months later. "Some really bad things happened to Otto," but "I don't believe [Kim] knew about it He tells me that he didn't know about it," Trump said at a Thursday press conference, per CBS News, adding it "wasn't to his advantage to let that happen." story continues below An apparent rebuke came hours later from Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who represents Warmbier's home state of Ohio. "We should never let North Korea off the hook for what they did to him," he said, per the Hill. "The blood of Otto Warmbier is on the hands of Kim Jong Un. There is no doubt in my mind that he knew about it, he allowed it to happen," added Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, per NBC. On CNN, Richardson said Trump's decision to take Kim at his word is "almost a human rights violation. The president "should know better. And what should happen is a full accounting," he said. But Victor Cha, former director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, isn't so sure Kim is lying. "It is possible that low-level guys could have done something to [Warmbier], and they were afraid to send the information up," he said, per NBC. (Read more Otto Warmbier stories.) (Newser) A person who visited a Chicago airport and hospital last week had the measles, the Illinois Department of Public Health saysmeaning those who were in the same locations at the same time could possibly be infected. The Chicago Tribune reports that the unidentified Illinois resident came in to Midway International Airport's Concourse B on Friday, Feb. 22, and that passengers who were in the airport between 9pm and midnight on that date may have been exposed. The unvaccinated patient then visited the ER at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva a couple of days later; health officials say anyone in that facility's ER on Feb. 24 between 11:45am and 2:15pm, or in the hospital overall that day from 4pm to 6:15pm, as well as the next day from 10am to 1pm, should be on alert. story continues below "These are the only known public locations in Illinois where exposures occurred," health officials said in a statement, per CNN. USA Today notes that individuals who were possibly infected may not even see symptomswhich include fever, dry cough, a runny nose, and the telltale blotchy skin rashuntil after St. Patrick's Day, as they can often take weeks to manifest. If anyone does suspect they were exposed, health officials recommend calling a health provider before heading in for testing, so as not to expose others. The health department notes that those who regularly got their measles shots as kids are "not at high risk," and that it's "most concerned" about the unvaccinated, per NBC News. (A visiting 5-year-old boy returned measles to a country.) (Newser) Imran Khan has kept his promise. On Thursday, Pakistan's prime minister vowed to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who'd been captured after his MiG-21 jet was shot down Wednesday by a Pakistani fighter over the disputed Kashmir territory. And on Friday, Khan made good, with video showing the 38-year-old fighter pilot walking over the border near the Pakistani town of Wagah, per Reuters. The Washington Post notes Varthaman was dressed in a "sharp suit" as he crossed back into India with lots of security nearby and hundreds of cheering Indians waiting to greet him. story continues below "It is good to be back in my country," were his reported first words, an official told the media, per NDTV. Even though Pakistan and India have long been fighting over Kashmir, Varthaman's plane was the first to be shot down in such an "aerial dogfight" between the two countries in nearly a half-century, the Post notes. The pilot was said to have chewed and swallowed some of the maps and other sensitive papers in his possession after his plane crashed to keep them out of the wrong hands. Many hope that the pilot's release will tamp down the India-Pakistan tensions that've been escalating over the past couple of weeks. Varthaman will be debriefed and checked out by doctors, Indian officials say. (Read more Pakistan stories.) (Newser) Riverdale and 90210 fans are still in shock over the news of actor Luke Perry's stroke, which he suffered in his California home on Wednesday morning, and some of his co-stars are sending out their support online. BuzzFeed and USA Today note the big names from both shows who are rallying behind the 52-year-old actor. Molly Ringwald, who plays Perry's former wife on Riverdale, posted on Twitter a simple "Sending my love" to her onscreen ex, with co-stars Skeet Ulrich, Lili Reinhart, Madchen Amick, and Cole Sprouse adding their own messages. On the 90210 side, Ian Ziering posted a photo of himself giving a smooch to Perry, who played Dylan McKay on the show, while Shannen Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh, one of Dylan's loves, posted a pic of them embracing, with the message: "My friend. Holding you tight and giving you my strength. You got this." story continues below EW.com rounds up words of encouragement from other celebrities, including Billy Baldwin, Rosanna Arquette, and Kristy Swanson. More support came from another star who's actually been where Perry is now: Sharon Stone, who survived a stroke in 2001, per People. "I wish him all the best, because you can come all the way back even from the edge, from the worst things, I'm here to tell you," the 60-year-old actress told Extra Thursday night at a charity event. Perry is still in the hospital, his rep told People, but there's been no update on his condition. (Read more Luke Perry stories.) South Africa: Black business people must support each other: Ndabeni-Abrahams Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has called on black business people to support each other if they want to see economic transformation. Its time for black professionals to rise up and be heard, the Minister said. Speaking at the Black Business Council Summit in Midrand, Gauteng, on Friday, Ndabeni-Abrahams emphasised the need for businesspeople to understand how government and the systems works. The purpose of the summit is to consolidate a concept document that will steer the mandate and vision of the Black Business Council through the advocacy of economic transformation. The business sector needs to understand how government and the systems works. Government is willing to support black business, Ndabeni-Abrahams said. She called on business to avoid fronting, as this does not reflect well on black business. Real economic transformation can only happen by supporting black business. If you believe in yourselves, it is possible, Ndabeni-Abrahams said. The two-day summit, which commenced on Thursday, is an interaction between government, labour, civil society and business on matters relating to the countrys economy. Among other issues, the summit is also expected to discuss land reform, South Africas readiness for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), comprehensive socio-economic transformation as well as mechanisms to increase the number of new entrants into the economy, thus creating much-needed jobs and reducing unemployment. The advancement of 4IR has increased curiosity on the subjects of inclusive growth, transformation and job creation. The summit takes the form of various plenary sessions featuring captains of industry, academics, professionals, economists and thought leaders, who will engage to share their expert knowledge on various predetermined topics that will steer conversation on the state of the economy. President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the BBC summit dinner at Gallagher Convention Centre later today. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Thousands of passengers were left stranded all around the globe yesterday after Islamabad suddenly closed its airspace in response to soaring tensions with India. Pakistans Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it would keep airspace shut until 11.59pm local time (1859 GMT), disrupting major routes between Europe and South East Asia. According to reports, about 800 flights a day use the India-Pakistan air corridor, making the situation extremely critical. Though some of the airlines adjusted by rerouting flights, travel chaos hit several airports in GCC and around the world with several of the airlines including Emirates, Etihad, flydubai SriLankan Airlines, Qatar Airways, Bahrains Gulf Air, Air Canada and Thai Airways suspending flights to and from Pakistan until further notice. Flight tracking portals showed Singapore Airlines, British Airways and others were forced to reroute flights as operations across major airports, including in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have been suspended. Airlines flying over India and Pakistan to Europe, the Middle East and Asia were disrupted and some flights were routed through Mumbai on Indias western coast, so they could head further south and avoid Pakistan air space, an Indian government official said. You cant overfly China, so you have to overfly Pakistan and India and go to Southeast Asia and Australia. Most of the traffic destined for Bangkok and Singapore will have to fly over Iran and then possibly take a detour, Mark Martin, founder and chief executive at Martin Consulting India told Reuters. Dubais Emirates confirmed that flights to Pakistan yesterday were cancelled. Due to the closure of Pakistani and Afghanistan airspace, a number of Emirates flights to from Pakistan and Afghanistan on 27 and 28 February have been cancelled, a spokesperson said. In Bahrain, Gulf Air confirmed that all flights to and from Pakistan have been cancelled due to the closure of air space. On 27 February, flights to/ from Lahore, Multan and Islamabad are cancelled and all passengers will be transferred to next available flights when the airspace is open again, it said in a statement. Low-cost carrier flydubai said it is reviewing its schedule. In a statement, Abu Dhabi Airports also announced that all flights from Abu Dhabi International Airport and Al Ain International Airport, on all operating airlines to Pakistan, are on hold until further notice. Etihad said flights EY233 and EY243, both due to depart from Abu Dhabi to Islamabad and Lahore, have been grounded until further notice. Emirates was earlier forced to cancel 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan. Saudi Airlines also suspended all flights to Pakistan until further notice. Meanwhile, pictures have emerged showing hundreds of passengers stranded at Thailands Suvarnabhumi Airport following cancellations. Twenty-seven flights, the majority to and from European routes, have been cancelled, the Thai flag carrier said, with three passenger jets forced to return to Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi airport on Thursday. Thai Airways said nearly 5,000 passengers had been caught up in the cancellations. There are 4,000 from European flights and 700 to 800 from flights to Pakistan, a Thai Airways spokesperson said. Thai Airways struggled to find new routes to Europe with Iran rejecting a request to travel over its airspace, according to a spokesperson for the carrier. But a few hours later China gave permission to Thai Airways ... to bypass Pakistani airspace, according to Pratana Patanasiri, Thai Airways Vice President, allowing Thursday nights flights to Europe to resume. With the tensions further rising with Islamabad, domestic operations in India and Pakistan were also disrupted with airports in certain parts of India including also Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Pathankot, Amritsar and Shimla also temporarily suspended flights on Wednesday, officials said. ArtBAB, the regions youngest and most promising art fair will open doors from 7 to 10 March 2019 at the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre. The fair will be held under the patronage of HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of His Majesty the King of Bahrain and President of the Supreme Council for Women. The fair will see 16 international galleries from Buenos Aires, Paris, Antwerp, Greece, Bulgaria and many more showcase their works alongside local artists. This year there are 17 artist stands and a BAAB Pavilion of Bahraini contemporary art show tasking 30 artists. Gallery view Fairs & Programme Director Kaneka Subberwal said, Through this exciting fair we are building our legacy for the future. By collaborating with such a wealth of artisanal design talents and bringing knowledge of artificial intelligence to the arts, we can welcome a host of fascinating artists and galleries to this exciting fourth edition of the fair. Bahrain continues to push boundaries in the arts and I hope these new initiatives demonstrate this. TAG Fine Arts will present a specially curated contemporary cartographic display, featuring beautiful and highly creative maps of Bahrain and the surrounding area by seven international artists. Ewan David Easons impressive Mappa Mundi Bahrain is inspired by his series of continents, countries and cities, and draws on his stunning use of gold leaf. Justine Smith integrates mapping and banknotes in her powerful Money Maps of the World series to explore the role of money in peoples lives and to illustrate key aspects of history and culture. Making an exciting return to ArtBAB this year is Bulgarian Art Agency Ltd with incredible artworks by Zurab Tsereteli, the renowned Georgian-Russian artist and architect. Tsereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Arts, has been at the forefront of Georgian and Russian art for over forty years with works including the 1997 Moscow landmark statue Peter the Great, and the re-design of the outstanding Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on the Moscow River. A leading modern and contemporary art gallery from Paris, Galerie Bruno Massa will exhibit artworks by emerging German painter Ursula Schregel and Jordanian artist and photographer Wedad Alnasser, and striking blown glass sculptures by Rudolf Breda. In addition, NK Gallery will travel from Antwerp to display works by acclaimed Belgian artist Didier Mahieu whose works in multiple mediums from painting to film earned him the 1993 Princess Grace International Prize in Contemporary Art. Core Art Gallery from Greece and Buenos Airesbased contemporary art gallery Quimera Galeria will contribute to the impressive international line up along with Art Lounge, which aims to spread the work of international artists throughout Portugal. Cosmic Heart Gallery brings Natasha Lalla and Shailan Parkers creative and abstract artistic creations from Mumbai. Participating from the Middle East is the Baghdad Art Gallery who can be seen alongside leading Dubai galleries Fann A Porter and Sconci Art Gallery. ArtBAB 2019 will also feature Zu_Cace, the innovative gallery from Zayed Universitys College of Arts and Creative Enterprises. Style quotient The pioneering Artisans Across Borders project that seeks to renew the ancient crafts of Bahrain will showcase finished collectables and a limited edition range of products in a design room. The products have been designed under the directorship of well-renowned Indian fashion design guru and luxury fashion icon, JJ Valaya assisted by Ameena Khan. Many regional firsts ArtBABs speakers programme will also launch a world premiere on Art & Islamic Finance, as a debate between Deloitte Art & Finance Luxembourg and Deloitte Islamic Finance and Knowledge Centre (IFKC) Bahrain. Other featured elements will include a VR tour of world-renowned art collections which is a regional first, predicting trends through blockchain, Game-changing VR and AI art in the art movement and a shared talk space for 40 cultural and tech leaders from 20 countries. The High Criminal Court yesterday issued a life sentence to a Bahraini convicted of possessing contraband weapons and ammunition for terrorist purposes and abetting fugitives who had committed crimes punishable by death or incarceration. The court also fined him BD500 and ordered to revoke his nationality, said Terror Crime Chief Procecutor Ahmed Al Hammadi. Investigators found that the defendant concealed several fugitives who were members of an armed terrorist group that killed a policeman and facilitated the escape of inmates in the Jau reformatorys jailbreak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Indians yesterday to stand as a wall with anger boiling over Pakistans capture of a pilot as a crisis escalates between the nuclear-armed rivals. In his first remarks since India and Pakistan both claimed to have shot down each others fighter planes near the disputed border of Kashmir, the prime minister urged his countrymen to unite as the enemy seeks to destabilise India. In the face of their objective, every Indian should stand as a wall, as a rock, Modi said. The entire country is one today and standing with our soldiers. The world is looking at our collective will and we have faith in our forces capacity. India will live as one. India will work as one. India will grow as one. India will fight as one. India will win as one. Modi did not mention Pakistan by name during the address to party workers. New Delhi said it lost one fighter jet and a pilot was missing in action, later confirming he was in Pakistani custody. India also downed a Pakistani jet, the foreign ministry said. Pakistan claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and denied it lost any aircraft in the dogfight. Islamabad said its incursion across the heavily militarised border was in response to Indian warplanes bombing Balakot, well inside its territory, on February 26. New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack, and hit what it called a training camp for the militants in its aerial raid 12 days later. Escalating crisis Footage of the airman identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman being beaten and interrogated has gone viral in India and Pakistan, and humanised an escalating crisis between the nuclear-armed foes. Abhinandans experience -- broadcast in a series of graphic videos on social media -- was condemned as vulgar by New Delhi and provoked prayers and appeals from Bollywood stars for his safe return. But it was well received in Pakistan, with citizens praising soldiers for rescuing him from angry civilians and then treating him humanely and with courtesy. One video purports to show the pilot being dragged and beaten by what appears to be a group of men as Pakistani soldiers intervene, shouting Stop! Stop! Later, a separate shaky clip showed the bloodied and blindfolded pilot being interrogated by his captors, with the camera focussing on his name ABHI underneath winged insignia on his shoulder. But it was his later appearance sipping tea, his face swollen and sporting bruises but otherwise collected and calm, that was most seized upon in both India and Pakistan. In it, he thanks the thorough gentlemen who rescued him from the mob and compliments the tea as fantastic. This is what I would expect my army to behave as, and Im very impressed by the Pakistani army, he said, his eye visibly swollen above an impressive handle bar moustache. It was unclear if he had been coerced to speak. Calm and resilience That video was widely shown on Pakistani television channels, with still images from it used on the front page of many newspapers. But none of the footage was broadcast on Indian media, with the Times of India saying it was making a conscious decision not to use the images. On social media however, #GivebackAbhinandan and #Abhinandanmyhero wa s quickly trending on Twitter where his stoic performance elevated him to national hero status. His polite refusal to proffer more details than necessary -- I am sorry Major, I am not supposed to tell you this -- evoked particular commendation. Such calm and resilience in the face of adversity. Prayers for our brave pilot #AbhinandanVarthaman, tweeted Bollywood celebrity Emraan Hashmi. The Board of Directors of APM Terminals Bahrain proposed distribution of final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2018 to the Ordinary Equity Shareholders of approximately 109 per cent of the Companys capital. This is equivalent to approximately 109 fils per share, amounting to a total dividend of approximately BD 9.8 million. This achieves a Dividend Yield of approximately 16.5pc on the initial offer price of 660 fils. Speaking on the occasion of the inaugural Board meeting, Chairman, David Skov, commented: Our strong financial performance coupled with the recommendation of distribution of a dividend and last years highly successful IPO, is a testament to the progress we have made in recent years. Members of the newly constituted Board of APM Terminals Bahrain are David Skov Chairman, Fawzi Ahmed Kanoo Vice Chairman, Soren Sjostrand Jakobsen - Executive Director, Jesper Kjaedegaard Non-Executive Director, Mohamed Bin Ebrahim Juma Alshoorgi Independent Director and Nadhem Saleh Al-Saleh - Independent Director. Abu Dhabis state oil firm said Wednesday it has signed a $1.2 billion deal to build a storage facility on the Arabian Sea, as it seeks to bypass waters Iran has threatened to close. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) said it had awarded a contract to South Koreas SK Engineering to build the underground facility which will hold up to 42 million barrels of oil in Fujairah emirate, in the east of the United Arab Emirates. The project will enhance the UAEs energy security, ADNOCs CEO Sultan al-Jaber said in a statement. Fujairahs coast is located on the Gulf of Oman, at the entrance to the Arabian Sea -- beyond the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery for regional oil shipments that Iran has repeatedly threatened to block due to tensions with Gulf nations. Abu Dhabi is the westernmost of the UAEs seven emirates and holds more than 90 percent of the federations estimated 98 billion barrels of oil reserves. ADNOCs confirmation of the deal came as Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed visited Seoul and work has been underway for some months. The firm said Sheikh Mohammed and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the signing ceremony for the $1.2bn (1.05 billion euro) project, which is slated for completion in 2022. To enter the London store of celebrated Egyptian jeweller Azza Fahmy is to pass into a world of opulence, glamor and, lets face it, wealth. The glitter of the gems, the gleam of the gold This is a whole other level of bling. Azza Fahmy has been showcasing Middle Eastern style to the world for almost 50 years. Fans of her creations include Middle Eastern celebrities such as Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abirached and international stars Rihanna and Joss Stone. There are 17 Azza Fahmy shops in Egypt, Jordan and Dubai. Her first outside the Middle East opened last year in London. What is clear is that this is a business conceived, run and driven by women. There is Azza herself, now 74, but still chairman and creative director. Her elder daughter, Fatma, 38, is managing director, and younger daughter Amina, 35, is head of design. However, Fahmy is the first to acknowledge the debt she owes to the master craftsmen of Kham El Khalili, Cairos old jewellery quarter. Making jewellery was not her first choice of career, she reveals. After studying interior design she designed textiles and ceramics and illustrated childrens books. But it didnt fulfil me, she says. I would get bored. If you love something, you dont get bored. In the late 1960s, Cairo hosted its first international book fair. In the German section, Fahmy found the book that would change her life. It was a book on medieval jewellery and I opened it on a page that showed earrings shaped like donkeys made using a technique called granulation, which is lots of little balls soldered together. My heart was beating really fast and I knew: This is what I want to do. At the time I was working for the government, doing political illustrations, and my monthly salary was 19 Egyptian pounds. The book cost 17 pounds, but I bought it because I believed it was going to change my life. She had found her purpose, but now she needed the skills. And she realized the people who could teach her what she needed were not in the classroom but in the souk. Back in the late 1960s, a woman requesting to be apprenticed to a silver- or goldsmith was highly unusual. It still is, says Fahmy. But they accepted me right away. They were very happy that someone like me, a person with a university degree, appreciated and respected their skill. She trained while working full time. After only a month, she sold her first five rings for 45 pounds (a fortune). She rented a little showroom once a week to display her wares. One of her best customers was the head of the British Council, who arranged for her to study at the Cass School of Art (now part of London Metropolitan University) in London. Fahmy completed the twoyear course in six months, studying nine different disciplines. Useful is too small a word. It was transformative, she says. With a loan of 15,000 Egyptian pounds, Azza opened her first gallery in 1983. The rest, as they say, is history. She finds inspiration in her countrys rich history. When I started, the Europeans were the elite, but in Egypt we have the legacy of ancient Rome, ancient Greece, the Graeco-Romans, the Copts and then the Islamic period. Why look abroad? The London outlet has proved popular with Middle Eastern visitors, but shop manager Kris Betlem tells of four ladies from Texas who flew in to London for a rock concert that was cancelled at the last minute. So they went shopping instead and spent over $50,000 in 40 minutes. Fahmy now produces five collections a year, consisting of anything from six pieces to 20. The label also accepts bespoke commissions. Each gemstone is personally selected by Amina. Traditionally, jewellery in the Middle East not only denoted social standing but was also a way of keeping ones wealth in portable form. People bought jewellery by weight, not for the design. Thats why women wore lots of gold bangles, Amina explains. We have shifted perceptions by charging for the expertise and craftsmanship, but people still ask how many grams of gold in a piece. Fahmy has continued studying with craftsmen in Florence and has no intention of retiring. And she wonders why shes tired, says Fatma.She never stops. Fahmy will have none of it: To this day I am hungry for education, she says. I will never stop learning. Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested the grandson of a martial arts legend over the alleged possession of marijuana in Shinjuku Ward, reports Fuji News Network At around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, an officer arrested Akira Oyama, 21, and two other passengers of a vehicle stopped on a road in the Okubo area after the discovery of a fragment of marijuana. Oyama and one other suspect deny the allegations. "It is not mine," Oyama was quoted by police. The third suspect admits to the charges. Prior to the discovery, a patrol car passed the vehicle. Noticing something suspicious about the behavior of Oyama, who was in the passenger seat, the officer began questioning the passengers. It was at this time that the marijuana was found in a can. Subsequent analyses of the urine of all three suspects gave a positive result for marijuana, police said. Last month, a court handed Oyama a suspended prison term over a violation of the Stimulants Control Law. The suspect is the grandson of Masutatsu Oyama, who founded the stand-up style of karate known as Kyokushin in 1964. - tokyoreporter.com Prime Minister Shinzo Abe afullya supports the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to walk away from talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, a move that resulted in the summit meeting ending abruptly Thursday without a deal. Abe and Trump spoke for about 10 minutes by telephone Thursday evening while the U.S. president was returning to the United States. Trump briefed Abe on the developments of the second U.S.-North Korea summit. Later that evening, Abe said to reporters at his official residence, aI fully support President Trumpas decision not to make concessions easily and, at the same time, to continue constructive talks to urge North Korea to take concrete steps [toward denuclearization].a Abe and Trump reaffirmed they would continue cooperating closely. During Trumpas one-on-one talks with Kim on Wednesday, Trump raised the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, and conveyed Abeas views on the issue to Kim. Trump and Kim reportedly aseriously discusseda the abduction issue during a formal dinner that evening. Abe also expressed determination to resolve the abduction issue through direct dialogue with Kim. aI am determined that I must be the next to deal with Chairman Kim,a Abe said. During their talks over the telephone on February 20, Abe had asked Trump to raise the abduction issue during his meeting with Kim. The Japanese government has applauded Trump for not coughing up easy concessions in the drive to denuclearize North Korea. The government plans to continue working closely with the United States as it works toward resolving the abduction issue. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Plateau, has rejected the National Assembly results announced by INEC in respect of Plateau Centr... The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Plateau, has rejected the National Assembly results announced by INEC in respect of Plateau Central Senatorial Zone. Mr Benedict Shiknungul, the chairman of the party in the zone, made its position known in a press conference on Friday in Jos. Shiknungul, who accused INEC of trying to subvert the wish of the people, alleged that the electoral body had connived with the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), to manipulate the process. The chairman explained that his party won elections in four, out of the five local government areas in the zone, adding that results for the four were collated and dully documented by INEC officials, while results from Kanam were declared inconclusive due to irregularities. Following that declaration, PDP, on Tuesday, Feb 26, met with Malam Halilu Pai, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, who promised to resolve the matter in Pankshin, the Zonal headquarters. But to our greatest dismay, upon arrival at Pankshin, the venue was surrounded by armed security personnel and we were told by the returning officer that the meeting was for the results to be declared. We acknowledge that the elections were relatively peaceful in four, out of the five local governments that make up the central zone, but on election day, we experienced insecurity and threat to lives of our party agents in Kanam Local Government. Our agents there were harassed, intimidated and chased away by armed thugs. Similarly, there was a mass failure of smart card readers during accreditation, there were also cases of over voting, delayed submission of results sheets from Kanam, and many other cases. We raised our concerns at the collation centre, and there was a review of the results from Kanam where a number of electoral irregularities, including irreconcilable figures, were observed. Because of the weight of the irregularities, Prof Joseph Mangut, the returning officer, declared the results from Kanam, and, indeed, the whole result of the elections, inconclusive. We are still in shock at the rumours we later heard in respect of the declaration, because it is the same officer that declared the results inconclusive with all parties signing a document to attest to that. On this note, we want to tell the whole world that INEC, which is supposed to be an independent and neutral body, has compromised. We, therefore, demand that INEC should stand by its declaration on the results from Kanam because we will not accept anything short of standing by the document earlier signed by the returning officer, Shiknungul said. The official, however, urged PDP supporters in the state to remain calm and be law abiding, as the party was ready to take up the matter to its logical conclusion using legal and civilised means. Efforts to speak with Pai proved abortive while other INEC officials did not pick persistent calls to their lines. The Police on Friday said that they have arrested Hon. Sunny Adi, the mastermind and ringleader of the irresponsible, unprovoked and unw... The Police on Friday said that they have arrested Hon. Sunny Adi, the mastermind and ringleader of the irresponsible, unprovoked and unwarranted attack on a Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Kola Okunola in Twon, Brass, Bayelsa State, on Sunday, February 24, 2019. They also said that two other persons arrested in connection with the incident are: (i) Tamarapreye Victor, m 34yrs and Azi Newton m 34yrs. Hon. Sunny Adi, a candidate of one of the major political parties in the House of Representatives Elections in Brass Constituency, Bayelsa State, was arrested in his hideout somewhere in Abuja this morning, 1st March 2019 in a well-coordinated covert operation. The arrest according to Police Spokesman ACP Frank Mba is in line with the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Ag. IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni for the immediate arrest, comprehensive investigation and diligent prosecution of all persons involved in the Sunday, 24th February 2019 attack on the DCP in Twon, Brass, Bayelsa State. The Police image maker in a statement alleged that while leading the team providing protection for INEC officials, voters and materials, DCP Kola Okunola was brutally attacked and molested by thugs led by Hon. Sunny Adi. Meanwhile, an effort is ongoing by the Police to apprehend other members of the gang involved in the unwholesome attack on the officer. On Saturday, Senate President Bukola Saraki lost in his bid to return to the Senate. In the National Assembly elections held in Kwar... On Saturday, Senate President Bukola Saraki lost in his bid to return to the Senate. In the National Assembly elections held in Kwara Central Senatorial District, Mr Saraki, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost to Ibrahim Oloriegbe of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The returning officer, Olawole Obiyemi, a professor of human kinetics education at the University of Ilorin, said Mr Saraki polled 68,994 votes while Mr Oloriegbe poled 123, 808 votes. Mr Oloriegbe was thereafter declared the senator-elect in Kwara Central Senatorial District. Aside from losing his bid, the Senate president lost all four of the local governments in his senatorial district and could not deliver his local government and state to PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Tsunami Similarly, Mr Sarakis numerous allies and anointed candidates lost in all of the seats contested in the state as the APC won all three senatorial positions and all of the House of Representatives seats across the state. Analysts opine that the development puts an end to Mr Sarakis hegemonic influence in Kwara politics, which began effectively in 2011 after he displaced his late father, Olusola Saraki. A number of factors helped the opposition displace the Senate President and his party, the PDP, in the state. This newspaper hereby highlights the factors that triggered his fall in Kwara politics. 1. Unpaid Salaries By far the most potent weapon the opposition used against the Senate president and his party was the issue of unpaid salaries. People affected include teachers, local government officials and pensioners, among others. The Kwara State Government has for long had protracted battles with workers in the state over unpaid salaries. There have been a series of protests in the past over the issue. In 2017, an advocacy group, Kwara Must Change, claimed that the rate of suicides among Kwara civil servant was high because of unpaid salary arrears. Last September, teachers In the state threatened to embark on strike over welfare issues. While Mr Saraki is not the current state governor, having served in that position between 2003 and 2011, residents of the state hardly separate the Abdulfatah Ahmed-led state governments performance from the Senate president. In effect, he is widely seen as immensely influential in the decision-making process of the Kwara government. Due to the harsh economic conditions thrown up by the unpaid salary controversies, it was all but easy for the opposition to ride on this wave and convince affected people to vote out the PDP. 2. Kwara South opposition/Oke-Ero bye-election Offa, a major town in Kwara South, is considered the home of opposition in Kwara politics. From the second republic through the third and the current dispensation, the town is known for standing shoulder high against the Saraki dynasty. Politicians from the town, notably Sunday Olawoyin, a leading disciple of the late Obafemi Awolowo, were known to have stood in the progressive camp, standing as the nemesis of the Saraki establishment. The struggle that resulted in Mr Sarakis fall on Saturday is said to have its root in Offa and other parts of Kwara South, beginning with the Ekiti/Irepodun/Isin/Oke-Ero Federal constituency bye-election which the APC won in 2018. But shortly before the bye-election, the anti-Saraki sentiment in the town was however intensified by the Offa robbery debacle of April 2018. 3. Offa Robbery Debacle In April 2018, police officers, residents and bank customers were murdered in a robbery operation that lasted for over an hour in Offa, Kwara State. The robbers blew up entrances into the banks with dynamite, before carting away money from about five banks, then killing scores of people. By June, suspects arrested by the police allegedly implicated Mr Saraki in their confessional statements, Jimoh Moshood, Force Public Relations Officer, said. A slew of controversial developments, including evidence presented by police, would later raise public concern about Mr Saraki and the Kwara State Governors involvement in the debacle. Offa, Omu-Aran, Erin-Ile and other adjoining communities have for years been at the mercy of bank robbers, especially during Yuletide periods. Although the Senate president denied all allegations, it did little to address the negative opinion formed against him by the people, which the opposition latched on. A resident said on the eve of the election that, based on the developments, the people are not convinced the Senate president (and Kwara State Government) had no connection with the suspects. 4. Defection to PDP In July, Senate President Bukola Saraki defected to the PDP, alongside Kwara Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. Mr Ahmed, like Mr Saraki, said he defected having realised that the All Progressive Congress (APC) can longer serve as a platform for achieving the aspirations and expectations of his people. Mr Saraki joined the APC on January 29, 2014, after falling out with the then PDP government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan. Shortly after his defection, a huge number of PDP chieftains in the state defected into the APC en masse. Mr Sarakis defection to PDP, analysts said, made him vulnerable in the hands of the opposition APC, which controlled the government at the centre. 5. Federal Might In all of the Saraki dynastys electoral battles since 2003, it never worked against the government at the centre, except in 2015. In 2003, the late Olusola Saraki supported his son, Bukola, on the platform of the then ruling PDP. The younger Saraki sought re-election in 2007 and installed his candidate, Mr Ahmed, in 2011on the platform of same ruling party. In 2015, although Mr Sarakis political camp worked against the Jonathan-led PDP government, it was widely believed that the people also embraced the APC. In last Saturdays election, the absence of federal support exposed the weaknesses of the Saraki camp, especially in Asa Local Government and other places rumoured to be its rigging stronghold, which the opposition exploited. 6. Ilorins allied forces For decades, one of the reasons why anti-Saraki dynasty electoral battles in Kwara State have always been lost is that they were most often championed by people outside of Ilorin, the state capital. From John Dara through Lai Mohammed to Simeon Ajibola, people outside of Ilorin rarely pull the crowd for reasons analysts opine may be cultural and ethno-religious solidarity. In the last election, however, many of those considered the backbone of the Saraki winning machinery in the heart of Ilorin were recruited into what the APC called the struggle to liberate Kwara. With Lai Mohammed and APC governorship aspirant, Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman leading the pack, Sarakis ex-loyalists including Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Yinka Aluko, Moshood Mustapha, Cook Olododo and others like Yahaya Seriki, Abdulyekeen Alajagusi were on the ground in the emirate city to deliver for APC. 7. Religious propaganda Although its use always raises questions, propaganda plays a key role in elections in Nigeria. In Kwara, one tactic used against the Senate president was to question his Islamic faith. People think he is not a Muslim but only deceives Ilorin with that identity. Some of our people now call him Gideon, a voter who declined to have his name in print said in Post Office area of the city days before the election. Ilorin is a deeply religious society and some of the people connected with it and spread the claim, without confirming its veracity. On the other hand, the APC also appealed to the Christian population, using its O to ge mantra. Shortly after the election was postponed, Kayode Alabi, APC deputy governorship candidate visited churches in Ilorin to canvass for support wherein he recited Bible verses containing the o to ge mantra. There are also allegations of being arrogant, aloof and other character flaws levelled against the Senate president which the opposition amplified. 8 Kwara North revolt Kwara north is generally considered to be the most underdeveloped part of Kwara State. Besides, the region considers itself the most politically marginalised part of the state in its struggle to produce the state governor. In the buildup to the election, youth in the region were reported to be violent toward the Saraki dynasty. In Kaiama, Ilesa-Baruba and other parts of Kwara North, random videos showed how the people rejected the PDP in its campaign across communities in the district. Troubled by the rejection the party witnessed across the region, reports said Mr Saraki promised to zone the governorship position to the region in 2023. The moves, however, did little to sway voters decision as results from the region showed that the people embraced the APC and rejected the PDP. The party swept all legislative seats with wide margin and residents voted massively for APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. 9. Influence of local media When the history of the fall of Mr Saraki and the PDP in the state is documented, local media especially those owned by opposition politicians would get a mention. Abu Abdullahi, a member of the APC in the state, revealed that affairs of the state have largely been kept in secrecy for years until the opposition had alternative media to air their grievances. They (PDP/Saraki) controlled state-owned media houses in the past and people had no access to information that affect them, Mr Abdullahi said in Yoruba. He added, however, that with the emergence of independent radio stations, the people were informed about the various excesses of the PDP government, unlike in the past. In Ilorin, Sobi FM remains one popular private radio station considered the peoples favourite, especially because of its newspaper review programme Feli-feli. The station, owned by APC guber aspirant, Lukman Mustapha, has had to shake off allegations of partisanship. The opposition didnt have access to the state government-owned Radio Kwara so they started with Harmony FM, but with many other stations now available, the people are better informed, Mr Abdullahi added. 10. O to ge The APC revolutionary campaign mantra As far as the 2019 general election is concerned, the Kwara APC O to ge! mantra would go down as the most potent campaign mantra. O ne unique aspect of the O to ge campaign is the revolutionary tone it took, with most politically conscious Kwarans seeing the movement as one meant for liberation. ne unique aspect of the O to ge campaign is the revolutionary tone it took, with most politically conscious Kwarans seeing the movement as one meant for liberation. The campaign was so infectious that residents in the state expressed it in different forms, with motorcycle riders and cab drivers popularly using the horn of their cars and motorcycles to make the sound in the city centre. Although the Kwara APC was careful about labelling the Saraki family largely because of the involvement of Gbemisola Saraki in their campaign, the subtle campaign narrative that appealed to the people centered on the revolutionary need to end the Saraki hegemony in the state. PDPs O tun ya response did little to dilute the potency of the mantra. On Saturday, immediately after Mr Saraki was declared to have lost out in the election, those present at the INEC office ended the session with solidarity songs typical of student revolutionary struggles. 11. Corruption Allegations In August, the APC listed what it called Mr Sarakis long list of corruption cases. Among the cases listed were allegations of fraud which led to the collapse of Societe Generale Bank; alleged illegal receipt of salary from Kwara State treasury after leaving office; misappropriation of Kwara State funds; the various revelations in the Panama and Paradise Papers investigations, among others. Mr Sarakis political career has been defined largely by allegations of corrupt practices. Although the concerns could be waved away as inconsequential, random interviews with residents of Ilorin before and after the election showed that some of the people were worried about the allegations and they indeed affected voters decision. Workers who have not been paid salaries hear of billions and millions allegedly looted by Saraki in the news and you expect them not to be worried? Something will give in, said Abdulhakeem Adeyemi, a resident. The APC also intensified its campaign using these allegations as a bulwark. It eventually succeeded in deepening the anti-Saraki feeling across the state. 12 The secret tape Another factor that arguably contributed to the dent on Mr Sarakis image in Kwara was the release of a November 2018 secret tape. In the tape, Mr Saraki was heard attributing his major grouse with President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to the alleged suffering of Kwara State indigenes due to the absence of federal appointments despite committing resources to the presidents electoral success in 2015. Although the Senate president made the statements to appeal to pity and calm fraying nerves, claims that he paid money for election in 30 states did not go down well with some Kwarans. Some collected N300 million, while some collected N400 million, some collected N200 million, Mr Saraki was heard saying. In the midst of unpaid salaries and grinding poverty, some residents said, such news items had domino effect on peoples perception. That was in addition to his numerous battles with Mr Buhari, whom a significant percentage of the people in the state still consider honest and pro-poor. 13. Obscene pension arrangement and alleged Illegal salaries In May 2016, reports said the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) sitting in Abuja was informed of how Senate President Bukola Saraki continued to get paid his salary by the Kwara State Government after he had stepped down as the governor of the state on May 29, 2011. Details were also laid bare on the numerous lodgments and transfers made by Mr Saraki and his aide during his tenure as governor of the state, with some occurring several times in one day. Michael Wetkas, an EFCC detective, claimed that Mr Saraki received monthly salaries from June 2011, when he left office as governor of the state, to August 2015 when he served as a senator. There were also reports of obscene pension entitlements accruing to the Senate president. All of these were amplified in local media via their newspaper review programmes, often broadcast in Yoruba across radio stations in Kwara. Prominent among the programmes at the time was PDP Gbode, aired on Harmony FM, Idofian. When he defected into the PDP and earstwhile members of the party defected en masse into APC, the same programme philosophy was extended to Sobi FMs prime-time programme, O to ge! Mr Sarakis perception troubles were compounded by these reports, even as Kwara battle with unpaid salaries. A building allegedly owned by the Senate president around the Government House area, GRA, was often pointed at by residents as proceeds of the obscene acquisitions. By the time the dust would settle, the people had made up their mind to send him and his loyalists packing. His moves to offset salary arrears owed workers and local chiefs did little to address the concern. culled: PremiumTimes The Presidency has cautioned followers of President Muhammadu Buhari against inciting the opposition to anger as they celebrate the vict... The Presidency has cautioned followers of President Muhammadu Buhari against inciting the opposition to anger as they celebrate the victory of the president. Buharis Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang issued the warning while addressing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja after meeting with the President. Enang, while congratulating the President and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said those celebrating the success should be modest so as not to anger the opposition. He said, Let me, first of all, congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the victory as president and vice president on the Next Level and the All Progressives Congress (APC). What we as a government and a people should do is to ensure that our statements, our actions, our celebrations and our reaction to those who lost should be tempered, temperate, measured, humble and such that are not capable of inciting the other party to anger. Enang also called on those who won as senators and members of the House of Representatives to talk to their followers to speak less and work more to bring about unity and integration of those who have lost. He said: The real winners in this election are the Nigerian voters; and we are conscious that about 11 million people voted for the other party while 15 million voted for our party. For the incoming members of the National Assembly, first, for the members who have been re-elected; first as Senators and members of the House of Representatives is to congratulate them; for those who are elected new and are coming in, we congratulate and welcome them. We are praying that their actions should also be conciliatory. In the next election we are going in on March 9, next week, we should look at as a party and as a government, the areas and the pitfalls and address them so that there would be peaceful election. I will advise that all those who are going for the election, campaigning, the governorship candidates and the House of Assembly candidates who are going in for the elections, they should also measure their campaign words and they should maintain peace better than was maintained in the presidential and National Assembly elections. . 1 2021 . , - , . , ... The Appeal Court in Port Harcourt has struck out the appeal of Tonye Cole challenging the judgment of the Federal HighCourt that delis... The Appeal Court in Port Harcourt has struck out the appeal of Tonye Cole challenging the judgment of the Federal HighCourt that delisted the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the ballot and barred them from participating in the 2019 general elections in Rivers State. The panel led by Justice Isaiah Akeju in a unanimous judgement struck out the appeal for lack of merit. The Appeal Court said they align with several judgments and decisions of other courts in the matter and abide with the consequential orders of the Courts. The judges in the main suit also held that it will be an academic exercise if the court goes into other details of the suit. The judges further said their reliance on several comments on the matter is to avoid causing confusion on well-decided matters. In the same vein, the Appeal Court also struck out the matter filed by the APC in Rivers State challenging the Federal High Court judgment that ordered the removal of APC Logo from the ballot. The Judgment delivered by Justice Isaiah Akeju relied on other decisions and judgment of the Supreme court on the same matter. The senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Dino Melaye, has dismissed the insinuation that he was planning to lea... The senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Dino Melaye, has dismissed the insinuation that he was planning to leave the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) for the All Progressive Congress, (APC), saying I remain in PDP, PDP is my home, PDP is my home. Melaye who was elected in last Saturdays election for the second time, said he would have ordinarily ignored the rumour adding that, it does not make sense that a man who went into an election as an opposition yet for the love and support of the good people of Kogi West defeated the state might. In a statement signed by his Media Assistant, Gideon Ayodele, on Friday, the Kogi West Senator said it is laughable that he would join a government that has for three and a half years impoverished the people of Kogi State, which he noted has led to several loss of lives. The statement reads, We want to simply state that there is no relationship between light and darkness. Distinguished Senator Dino Melaye stands for light and the APC led government in Kogi state represents darkness. It is laughable to imagine that Senator Dino will join a government that has for the past 3 years and half impoverished the good people of Kogi state which has led to several loss of lives. However, their rumour has further shown how relevant Senator Dino Melaye is the kogi state political stage and Nigeria at large. We want our teaming supporters to know that it is the making of the APC supporters and its a wish that cannot be realised. Uche Secondus, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) says international observers declared the presidential electio... Uche Secondus, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) says international observers declared the presidential election free and fair out of fear of being killed. He said the observers said the election was transparent after being threatened with the body bag comment made by Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the PDP national chairman insisted the election was rigged to the detriment of the opposition party. The PDPs Atiku Abubakar lost to President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with over three million votes. Atiku as well as his party rejected the result of the election, insisting they have the real figures and would present such in court. Secondus said the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) agreed on how to take over southern states which he said are PDP strongholds with the help of the military. They (the international observers) are not correct. Evidence from across the countries show there was to the suppression of voters in our stronghold, he said. We are not going to be approaching the court based on the comment of observers that were threatened. They were threatened. So, what do you expect them to say? They have to go home with their lives. They were threatened and cant talk. We have the facts and we will show them to the world when we get to court. We have enough evidence to approach the court. Secondus accused the military of interfering with election matters. According to him, while the military was suppressing voters in the PDP strongholds, a different abracadabra was going on in the northern states especially in Kano, Yobe, Borno and Zamfara states which recorded high voter turnouts. He also said the high incident of votes cancellation about one million of them was designed to suppress the margin of victory in PDP controlled states. If the same thing is repeated, it means that democracy has completely failed in Nigeria and it is a full military rule, he added. The fugitive former pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina, has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election. Mr Maina, who... The fugitive former pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina, has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election. Mr Maina, who has been on the run for years, said he would continue to give Mr Buharis administration necessary support. On behalf of myself and my family, I wish to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on their victory in the just concluded 2019 historic Presidential election. This goes a long way to show the unalloyed support and trust that the generality of Nigerians have on your persons and administration. We shall continue to give you and your administration the necessary support while you continue making Nigeria great again and taking us to the next level, the advert reads. On the run Mr Maina was in 2012 accused of leading a massive pension fraud scheme amounting to more than N100 billion. Ironically, he was drafted by the then Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 to sanitise a corrupt pension system. The Senate Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishment and State and Local Government Administration, which investigated the allegations, indicted Mr Maina and issued a warrant of arrest against Mr Maina. Mr Maina sued the Senate and the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, and thereafter went into hiding after being declared wanted by the police. He was dismissed from the civil service for allegedly absconding from duty and attempting to evade arrest and charged to court. He was on July 21, 2015 charged by the EFCC, alongside former head of service Stephen Oronsaye and two others with fraud. While Mr Oronsaye and the two other accused were in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge, Mr. Maina remained at large. Since absconding, nothing was heard of Mr Maina until shortly after the emergence of President Buhari in 2015 when members of his defunct Presidential Task Team on Pension Reforms offered to work with the then incoming administration. The team, which addressed a press conference in Abuja, said its work would be easier under Mr Buhari, known for his anti-corruption stand. It was discovered in October 2017 that the new government had secretly reinstated and promoted Mr Maina. Amid natiowide outrage, President Buhari ordered immediate sack of Mr Maina. It later became clear Mr Maina was reinstated with the knowledge of the minister of interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami. The head of service, Winifred Oyo-Ita, said the decision was taken without her approval. Mrs Oyo-Ita in a leaked memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, said she warned Mr Buhari against the reinstatement. Mr Maina himself said his reinstatement was ordered by President Buhari. In October 2017, Mr Maina was provided guards by the State Security Service (SSS). It was alleged that a safe house in Maitama, allegedly belonging to the SSS, was also provided for his use. It was also found out that Mr Mainas controversial $2 million house in Jabi, Abuja, was guarded by the police. However, the SSS did not react to the publication. The role of the SSS in bringing back Mr Maina was confirmed by a representative of his family, Aliyu Maina, who told journalists few days later that the fugitive was working with the SSS, also known as DSS. Despite declaring him wanted and securing an arrest warrant against the former pension boss, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has failed to track him down for about one and half years ago. Fridays advert featured photographs of both Mr Buhari and Mr Maina. It was signed by the fugitive ex-civil servant on behalf of himself and family. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the victory of his party, the APC in Saturdays election w... The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the victory of his party, the APC in Saturdays election was for the ordinary Nigerians. The Ministry held a victory celebration event in honour of the Minister on Thursday, to congratulate him and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, for winning Saturdays polls in Kwara State. Recall that President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki lost his seat at the National Assembly to the candidate of the APC in Kwara. that President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki lost his seat at the National Assembly to the candidate of the APC in Kwara. Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, Mohammed said the credit for the liberation of Kwara goes to the good people of state. A simple slogan, O To Ge (enough is enough), captured the determination of the people to vote out those who have held them down for decades. And that is precisely what they did, Mohammed said. Permit me to also thank all Nigerians, most sincerely, for re-electing President Muhammadu Buhari. I must say that I have no doubt at all that Nigerians will re-elect the President. I said that over and over again before the election. Overall, this government is doing more with less and is restoring decency and integrity to governance. Like the New York Times said, the re-election of President Buhari is a referendum on honesty. There is no better way to put it. Last weekends election is a direct contest between ordinary Nigerians and the elites, most of whom are rent seekers. Of course, the ordinary Nigerians have won. Speaking earlier at the event, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Grace Gekpe, said, Today we are here this morning on behalf of the entire staff of the Ministry of Information and culture to congratulate you and celebrate with you on the victory you obtained in Kwara State. Officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) have arrested one Goodluck Nwadike in Kano for storin... Officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) have arrested one Goodluck Nwadike in Kano for storing falsified and substandard Tetanus Vaccines. According to the agencys Director-General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, Nwadike was arrested at No. 2, Mallam Kato Market, Sabon Gari, Kano. She said that the culprit was found with Tetanus vaccines like Absorb Dano and IP. Based on information received, NAFDAC officials stormed the shop and arrested the culprit on discovery of the drugs. The vaccines were found stored under poor storage conditions, in drawers in the shop. They were meant to be stored in temperatures between two degrees centigrade and eight degrees centigrade. The culprit confessed that he gets his supplies from Bridge Head Market, Onitsha, Anambra, Adeyeye said in a statement. Adeyeye said that the drugs were valued at N1.5 million, adding that the case was still ongoing as the drugs were being mopped up. It was gathered that the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Mr Wakil Muhammed, had earlier handed over intercepted fake Azithronmycin tablets and Ampiclox antibiotics caplets to the Kano NAFDAC Coordinator, Mr Shaba Mohammed. The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, has lambasted his All Progressives Congress co... The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, has lambasted his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for giving rice gifts to civil servants on the premises of the government secretariat ahead of next Saturdays governorship election. A stampede occurred during the struggle for rice at the government secretariat on Thursday shortly after Sanwo-Olu and other APC leaders met with civil servants. In a statement by his Director, Media and Publicity, Felix Oboagwina, the PDP candidate said Sanwo-Olus gesture was appalling. Agbaje described Sanwo-Olus meeting with civil servants at the government secretariat as an abuse of privilege and an attempt to manipulate the civil service which ought to be apolitical. He said, We find the invitation and the rice gift appalling, opportunistic and illegal. In a political contest of the nature in which Sanwo-Olu and the rest of us are involved, he has been offered an undue advantage. An uneven playing field has been created. And this is condemnable and contemptible. The gesture goes against Nigerias bureaucratic statutes that forbid civil servants from romancing politics. For crying out loud, there are still regulations preventing civil servants from involvement in politics. That invitation and the rice gifts are a violation of those extant rules. Agbaje said the APC designed Sanwo-Olus rice gift to bury 20 years in which Lagos officials had been treated like trash and subjected to sordid conditions like nepotism, over-taxation, denial of promotion, delayed promotions and deprivation of leave and end-of-year bonuses. He alleged that civil servants who maintained neutrality and refused to show up for the meeting stood the grave danger of being marked down for discrimination and intimidation. According to him, it was to maintain neutrality and decorum that soldiers and Police were similarly barred from involvement in politics, and politicians prevented from campaigning in uniformed personnels barracks and formations. It is a shame to see civil servants struggling and hurting themselves just to get a small bag of Sanwo-Olu rice, but it is even more shameful to subject the crop of Nigerias middle-class to such an indignity, Agbaje said. The PDP candidate also berated the APC for sending police and thugs to bar a Free Lagos Press Conference slated for the Lagos Airport Hotel in Ikeja. It is the mother of all ironies that, on the same day that APC organised an illegal meeting for its candidate, it was sending a combined team of cops and hoodlums to dislodge an event organised by bona fide Nigerian citizens, Agbaje noted. On Police and thugs aborting the event organised by the Orange Movement for a Free Lagos State, Agbaje said the cancellation violated the fundamental rights of the citizens to associate and hold opinions, as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution. The event ran under the theme, Setting Lagos Free from Bourdillon Bondage, #OtogeLagos. The statement read in part, It is an assault on freedom of speech. And every day, we witness the frontiers of Nigerians freedom being eroded by a privileged minority that takes special delight in subjecting citizens to impunity and corruption. The APC further assaulted our collective freedom by Thursdays order to Police to bar an event where Nigerians wanted to legitimately express themselves. Ahead of the March 9 Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections, voters in Bauchi have urged INEC to ensure that its smart c... Ahead of the March 9 Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections, voters in Bauchi have urged INEC to ensure that its smart card readers function effectively. They made the call in interviews with the newsmen on Thursday against the backdrop of several incidents when the card readers malfunctioned in polling stations across the country. A voter, Malam Aliyu Manga, decried the failure of the gadget in the just concluded presidential and national assembly polls when it was his turn to get accredited at a polling unit. He also witnessed similar situations in Misau at a polling station. I witnessed many cases that posed set back during the election where the card reader had rejected fingerprints, and consequently delayed the entire process, he said. He urged INEC to tackle the challenges of card readers before the next elections to ensure a free and fair election. A politician, Alhaji Yusuf Garba, said cases of malfunctioning of card readers were worrisome during the last elections, stressing that such a device needed to guarantee the credibility of the exercise. He said that manual verification of voters could pave the way for electoral fraud, leading to compromise of results. Nigeria should have gone beyond cases of failed card readers to achieve credible elections process. Voters are concerned that the card readers are not working; that might cause delay and unpalatable voting process in the country, he said. Malam Hashimu Mohammed, a public commentator, said the card readers were meant to be configured for specific polling units. He said that no two polling units would have the same card reader during an election for the purpose of credibility. That means PVCs could not be used in multiple polling units. Besides that, INEC officials and ad-hoc staff had issues in some of the poling Units, which is too bad for the system. In Polling Unit I visited as an observer at the last elections, voting did not begin until 11:10 a.m as a result of smart card readers failure, Mohammed said. Another voter, Hajiya Lami Gambo, recalled her experience in the just concluded presidential and national assembly elections. We started voting at our polling unit by 11.55 a.m. due to a faulty card reader which delayed voting in the area. I came out by 7:30 a.m to vote but the card reader was not functioning; so, I went back to my house and came out by 11:00 a.m. to vote, she said. She, however, appealed to INEC to sort out the hitches before the next Governorship and Houses of Assembly elections. It was reported that the card reader was initiated as an anti-electoral fraud device and was introduced to enhance the integrity of the voting process and dissuade multiple voting. Abdulsalami Abubakar, chairman of the National Peace Committee, says his group has presented the grievances of Atiku Abubakar, preside... Abdulsalami Abubakar, chairman of the National Peace Committee, says his group has presented the grievances of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to President Muhammadu Buhari. Abubakar, who met with Atiku and some opposition leaders on Thursday, disclosed this to state house correspondents after he and some members of the committee met with Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja. Atiku, who had disagreed with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Buhari won the election and subsequently vowed to seek redress in court, reportedly listed his grievances with the APC government before the committee. He was said to have demanded: unfreezing of bank accounts belonging to opposition politicians; demilitarisation of subsequent elections; accreditation of voters before voting in subsequent elections; access to the backend server of INEC by all parties who partook in the election. The meeting started at the presidents office around 3pm and ended at 4pm. Matthew Kukah, bishop of Sokoto diocese and John Onaiyekan, bishop of the Catholic archdiocese of Abuja, were in attendance. South Africa: Unique computer lab gives hope to dyslexic learners Learners with dyslexia from Tlhokomelo Special School in Meadowlands, in Soweto, have been given a chance in their academic life with the launch of the countrys first-of-its-kind multimedia centre on Friday. The 22-seater centre, which was built by the Department of Social Development in conjunction with cellular network provider MTN Foundation and technology giant Samsung, was launched by Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu. It is anticipated that the facility will close the gap between traditional teaching methods and children with learning styles that dont fall within the parameters of these methods. Dyslexia, which affects 10% of the population is a language-based learning problem that makes writing, reading, spelling and even the pronunciation of words difficult. Speaking at the event, the Deputy Minister said the innovation would bring much change to the lives of the learners at the school living with the learning disability. The centre will give them a chance in life. There will be a lot of change, she said. A lot of children will no longer be called stupid, uyivila (lazy) or [be accused of] not wanting to learn. Platforms like these help us to raise the levels of awareness. People with dyslexia will now be able to compete with all of us without us making them feel that they always have to depend on us, she said. The centre is equipped with a modern and secure computer lab and a smartboard. Weve made sure that the lab talks more than it types. It also has pictures and graphics so that they can look at the picture and know without reading that it says start. It has coloured keyboards [which] are colour-coded because different colours mean something else for people with dyslexia. It has a spell corrector that will assist them. It has screen reader software so that they dont have to beg anyone to read their favourite books, they can come to the computer lab, put it under the pal camera, and the camera will start reading it, she said. Gauteng MEC for Social Development Nandi Mayathula-Khoza commended the innovation, saying she was hopeful similar partnerships would spread across other parts of the country where it was needed. She said these spaces will allow the beneficiaries to pursue whichever careers they desired or become businesspeople and create much-needed jobs. We want to congratulate the Deputy Minister and I hope that these partnerships will continue to work with you and our government. The Deputy Minister didnt just sit down and say there are no resources, she got out and sought assistance, she said. We want to say thank you because we believe that this technology has many benefits for our learners. Our learners have a right to information, communication and technology skills so that they can be empowered. Like all learners, they want to stay in touch with world news, their friends and families through all forms of media. Samsung Africa chief executive officer and President, Sun Yoon, said the company joined the initiative because it believes in the upliftment of the people living with disabilities. There are many technologies we can use for those who live with disabilities so they can grow and live as normal people. We are pleased to have joined forces with government and be part of this schools uplifting story - a story of hope and achievement, he said. MTN Foundation General Manager Kusile Mthunzi-Hairwadzi said the country could not afford to neglect children living with disabilities because they were important for the country. Technology can enable them to be more effective in their communication in everything they do and their understanding of the wold, she said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. We may take it for granted that the earliest writing systems developed with the Sumerians around 3400 B.C.E. The archaeological evidence so far supports the theory. But it may also be possible that the earliest writing systems predate 5000-year-old cuneiform tablets by several thousand years. And whats more, it may be possible, suggests paleoanthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger, that those prehistoric forms of writing, which include the earliest known hashtag marks, consisted of symbols nearly as universal as emoji. The study of symbols carved into cave walls all over the worldincluding penniforms (feather shapes), claviforms (key shapes), and hand stencilscould eventually push us to abandon the powerful narrative, writes Frank Jacobs at Big Think, of history as total darkness until the Sumerians flip the switch. Though the symbols may never be truly decipherable, their purposes obscured by thousands of years of separation in time, they clearly show humans undimming the light many millennia earlier. While burrowing deep underground to make cave paintings of animals, early humans as far back as 40,000 years ago also developed a system of signs that is remarkably consistent across and between continents. Von Petzinger spent years cataloguing these symbols in Europe, visiting 52 caves, reports New Scientists Alison George, in France, Span, Italy and Portugal. The symbols she found ranged from dots, lines, triangles, squares and zigzags to more complex forms like ladder shapes, hand stencils, something called a tectiform that looks a bit like a post with a roof, and feather shapes called penniforms. She discovered 32 signs found all over the continent, carved and painted over a very long period of time. For tens of thousands of years, Jacobs points out, our ancestors seem to have been curiously consistent with the symbols they used. Von Petzinger sees this system as a carryover from modern humans migration into Europe from Africa. This does not look like the start-up phase of a brand-new invention, she writes in her book The First Signs: Unlocking the mysteries of the worlds oldest symbols. In her TED Talk at the top, von Petzinger describes this early system of communication through abstract signs as a precursor to the global network of information exchange in the modern world. Weve been building on the mental achievements of those who came before us for so long, she says, that its easy to forget that certain abilities havent already existed, long before the formal written records we recognize. These symbols traveled: they arent only found in caves, but also etched into deer teeth strung together in an ancient necklace. Von Petzinger believes, writes George, that the simple shapes represent a fundamental shift in our ancestors mental skills, toward using abstract symbols to communicate. Not everyone agrees with her. As the Bradshaw Foundation notes, when it comes to the European symbols, eminent prehistorian Jean Clottes argues the signs in the caves are always (or nearly always) associated with animal figures and thus cannot be said to be the first steps toward symbolism. Of course, its also possible that both the signs and the animals were meant to convey ideas just as a written language does. So argues MIT linguist Cora Lesure and her co-authors in a paper published in Frontiers in Psychology last year. Cave art might show early humans converting acoustic sounds into drawings, notes Sarah Gibbens at National Geographic. Lesure says her research suggests that the cognitive mechanisms necessary for the development of cave and rock art are likely to be analogous to those employed in the expression of the symbolic thinking required for language. In other words, under her theory, cave and rock [art] would represent a modality of linguistic expression. And the symbols surrounding that art might represent an elaboration on the theme. The very first system of writing, shared by early humans all over the world for tens of thousands of years. via Big Think Related Content: Was a 32,000-Year-Old Cave Painting the Earliest Form of Cinema? How to Write in Cuneiform, the Oldest Writing System in the World: A Short, Charming Introduction Discover the Oldest Beer Recipe in History From Ancient Sumeria, 1800 B.C. Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness 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. Whoa! Whoa! Wait a Second, AOC By Dustin Rowles | Politics | March 1, 2019 | Look, if I had my druthers, the three women in this picture would be running the whole damn country, even if that might mean I succumb to a massive face conflagration. The photographer burst into flame moments after taking this, RIP pic.twitter.com/9x8o04iGgG andi zeisler (@andizeisler) February 28, 2019 I love their politics; I love their approach to politics; and I love their attitude about politics. And they are f**king doing it for their constituents and the country and not out of some desire to enrich themselves or amass power. They are the future of the party, and I am stoked about that. With that said, this from The Washington Post is a little concerning: House Democrats exploded in recriminations Thursday over moderates bucking the party, with liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez threatening to put those voting with Republicans on a list for a primary challenge. I know that Petr and many others will disagree with me see, e.g. Centrism will be the death of us all but I also think its important to be pragmatic, at least in 2019 - 2020. The Democrats overwhelmingly took back the House last year because of progressives and because a lot of moderate Democrats won very close elections in Republican territory, owing in part to the unpopularity of Donald Trump and the ability of those moderates to win Republican votes. Remember how many of those House races werent decided for days, because the margins of victory were so small? I dont want to give those seats up. Ever. I would love for progressives to win those seats ultimately, but being primaried by a progressive candidate is the surest way to hand those seats back to Republicans as states are making decisions about redistricting. All things equal, Id rather have a moderate Democrat in those districts than a Republican, and if those moderate Democrats need to occasionally cross the aisle to keep their seats, I think those are the blows we have to swallow until the current danger the Trump White House passes. Ultimately, I am all for a three-party system, and I envision a future where moderates from both sides peel off into their own party as they seem to be doing in the UK and vote in coalitions, but that time is not now. We gotta keep everyone together because we have a President who legitimately may try to either steal an election in 2020 or refuse to give up his office. Thats the danger of all these potential indictments against Trump. Right now, the office of the Presidency is the only thing that may be keeping Donald Trump from the inside of a prison cell. A guy like that is dangerous as hell, and hes going to cling to the office with both hands and both feet, because the alternative may be prison. You know, theres a legitimate scenario where Trump loses the election in November 2020 and resigns in December, giving Mike Pence enough time to pardon him before a Democratic successor takes over. The fact that the Southern District of New York is working up indictments on Trump, however, may take away that ability to pardon Trump, which means well be stuck with the decisions of a 74-year-old man with absolutely nothing to lose and access to the button. However, the threat of Trump refusing to give up his office only works if hes got a large enough party behind him to prop up false allegations of election fraud. Thats why moderates and progressives have to stick together. We need the numbers, not only to stop Trump from winning in a three-way race (f**k off, Howard Schultz), but to amass a big enough wall of support to keep Trump from refusing a peaceful transition of power. And if that threat sounds alarmist to you, you clearly havent been paying attention these last two years. This is a man who claimed that hundreds of thousands of people in Massachusetts poured over the border to New Hampshire to vote for Hillary Clinton, and he managed to get his entire party to go along with that. On the other hand, Im impressed that, less than two full months in office, AOC is already making lists, and from the looks of it, Nancy Pelosi is taking AOCs side. This Could Literally Be the Cover of an Issue of AARP Magazine | Donald Trump Ordered Jared Kushner's Security Clearance Over Numerous Objections Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. Header Image Source: Getty Images Despite the fact that Billy McFarland once asked Andy King, his "wonderful gay leader," to give a blowjob to save his doomed Fyre Fest and that their time working together left him with severe PTSD King is still taking McFarland's calls. In an interview with Sirius XM's Andy Cohen, King revealed that he's shockingly still in touch with McFarland, who's currently serving a six-year prison sentence for fraud and other crimes. He reached out last week from jail," King said "His girlfriend wants to take me up to see him." King has "mixed emotions" about a visit, but isn't opposed to the possibility. He's the forgiving type, you see: "I see the best in everybody, it's just who I am." "That's why the world is embracing me, but that can get you into trouble every once in a while, I.E. Fyre" he explained, aptly pointing out that his unwaveringly optimism and self-destructive loyalty to McFarland is what the internet loved about him in the first place. Visiting McFarland in prison would be poignantly on-brand for King. King feels for McFarland: "When I watch the documentary, first of all the PTSD was enough to kill me, and then secondly to see him launching into another scam broke my heart." Perhaps King wants to see McFarland so he can thank him. After all King said in a TMZ interview earlier this month, that he's grateful the world knows his story, which has since landed him TV offers and movie cameos. When fashion designers Jin Kay, Dylan Cao, and Huy Luong met two years ago, they were all getting different commissions for work at various brands. After winning the prestigious Kering Prize at Parsons, Kay had put in time at Gucci in Rome and Narciso Rodriguez in New York; Cao was an alumnus of 3.1 Phillip Lim and the denim label R13. When the three found that they shared a visual language, they decided to commission their own work. "It was time to commission something for ourselves," said Luong. "For our culture." And so they created the label Commission, a brand that feels flawless in nearly every respect except for the fact that it's nearly un-Googleable (Luong described the name as a "cheeky" nod to freelance work in fashion). Commission, which currently sells exclusively on Net-A-Porter, traffics in sharp, unfussy clothing born of the specific sort of late '80s and '90s nostalgia that feels so very 2019: leather trousers and Neo coats, zebra print turtlenecks, a cobalt skirt suit. They're the sort of clothes that, depending on the styling, you could see on either Miranda Hobbes or Adriana La Cerva. Gallery workers should take note. When I showed the brand to art-world friends who spend their days searching for the perfect leather blazer in Upper East Side consignment shops, there were audible gasps of joy. Kay, Cao, and Luong work from a highly personal point of inspiration: their mothers. Kay grew up in Korea, while Cao and Luong hail from Vietnam. "We're first-generation immigrants to the US," said Cao. "So around the time that we started there was this conversation we wanted to have, about Asian, especially East Asian, culture and representation in the visual world, and especially in the fashion industry. And for a long time we found it really limiting, and really literal." When looking at family photos, all three designers realized that their mothers styled themselves in a similar manner to go to work in the late '80s and early '90s, dressing with the same "visual code," as Cao put it. "The '80s and '90s, that's sort of a period when not a lot of people talk about Asia, because there's less to romanticize [than ancient artworks and clothing ]" he continued. "By then there were a lot of Western influences in the way people dressed in Asia. Growing up we'd see our parents go to work and tweak the Western-style codes in their own way. And just looking at our moms and the way they dressed the big suits, the shoulder pads, the pants but adding their own personal flares to the way they styled the clothes, that's what kind of connected us." "The '80s and '90s, that's sort of a period when not a lot of people talk about Asia, because there's less to romanticize." He concluded, "Not a lot of brands have spoken about that period of time. It's really personal to us, so I think that was a good, pivotal point to start a brand from." Details on Commission garments speak to that specific inspiration. Skirts and dresses are ruched at the sides to evoke a commute via motorbike in Vietnam; pencil skirts evoke the outfits Kay's mother, a physician, would wear under a lab coat. "For spring we wanted to focus more on a silhouette that was our moms' going to work hiked up skirts and dresses for riding motorcycles," said Kay. "For the fall collection, it's more about after work. The silhouettes became a little more feminine, and the fabrication became more fluid. Silhouettes are elongated, and jackets are more shrunken." Cao added, "The overall mood is sort of darker [for fall]. We're thinking about the mom after hours. She picked up her kids, put them to bed, and now she's having her own time and going out. It's very much still that office, corporate-looking mom, but done in a more humorous and spicy way." Commission, at first blush, looks clean, crisp, and flattering (their signature shirt is even constructed with elastic detail on the back, to give the wearer a cinched waist). But as Kay put it, the designers are "injecting humor and modern details" in vintage-inspired clothing. "The sense of nostalgia in our collection is a really common thing that a lot of cultures share," said Cao. "A lot of people we meet who grew up in places like India or Eastern Europe see it and get it in their own way." As the saying goes, the most personal is also the most universal. The crowd standing outside the VW Dome at MoMA PS1 in anticipation of Hayden Dunham's 7 Sisters was perplexing. There were art-types, museum members, PC Music fans, friends and family of performers, and one woman who said that the space was "great for meditation." It is not unusual, though, for Dunham's work to attract such a stratified crowd; her work is revered by contemporary artists and art fans alike and her presence is felt in both Los Angeles and New York galleries and exhibitions, as well as Paris, London, Ireland, and China. Most of all, though, her reach is beyond that of any particular artistic discourse. Dunham achieved nearly mainstream fame online in 2014 through her work as QT, an entity which served only, until recently, to market a self-made energy drink and perform a catchy jingle. Produced by the then-elusive hyper-pop pioneers, SOPHIE and A.G. Cook, "Hey QT" immediately caught fire; the song was considered a genre defining moment for a pop generation and cemented Dunham's name as a permanent fixture in a network far vaster than any singular art world: the Internet. Having been trained at one of the foremost international hubs of multidisciplinary conversations, New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Dunham would go on to create with other mediums and materials to spur new conversations. She would always, though, remain in conversation with the same type of invasiveness that the QT project represented. 7 Sisters by Hayden Dunham presented as part of VW Sunday Sessions on February 10, 2019 at MoMA PS1, New York. Image courtesy MoMA PS1. Photo by Maria Baranova. So, as the lights dimmed inside the dome, a palpable curiosity flowed through the crowd. How would Dunham attempt to connect the individuals from these extra-specific worlds, all for a performance concerning "the changing states and cultural resonance of oil through an internal nexus of empowerment and activation?" Bang. Projected onto the convex ceiling of the dome, a car spun out in a roundabout on what seemed like an infinite loop. A buzzing score, composed by the boundary-edging Finn Keane, began to drone off of the walls. Other music played throughout was composed by umru, SOPHIE, and Cecile Believe. Performers slowly emerged: some sat perched on platforms, while another circled the room, singing in Spanish about a resolve to live. One character, portrayed by Meriem Bennani, followed up the singing by thrashing around on a stage to an aggressive, yelping drop, which one could only assume was produced by experimental pop royalty, SOPHIE, two spotlights in-hand. The company took turns telling stories through movement, the spoken word, or both. While the company never explicitly addressed oil in these segments, their poems and motions expressed a larger consciousness of the five senses: Sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. 7 Sisters by Hayden Dunham presented as part of VW Sunday Sessions on February 10, 2019 at MoMA PS1, New York. Image courtesy MoMA PS1. Photo by Maria Baranova. Two performers, outfitted in wings, stood firmly at opposing ends of the scene, watching over the other characters. Acting powerhouse Bobbi Salvor Menuez, who appeared in Amazon Originals' Transparent and I Love Dick, stood rigid against the dome, a backdrop of multi-colored film filling the negative space behind them. Menuez moved slowly toward the center of the dome towards a pool of water contained in a foiled basin before washing their face. Dunham emerged at one point in a long red wig, balanced out only by another performer who pulled at a rope around her waist before she fell forward into darkness. More projections appeared throughout the performance most noticeably being a series of tense clips showing Dunham interacting with a slick black substance, cut with whispers of a poem. These moments, spliced together with darkness and a vibrating backing track, were perhaps the most intense and sinister moments of the 45-minute performance. The structure of the piece was only broken by the conclusion, in which Dunham sat facing the audience in a folding chair, surrounded by the metallic pool, and asked, "Does anybody have any questions?" A mic'd voice then asked a series of questions about the Seven Sisters, which Dunham explained in a reserved, skeptical character is a reference to the pact between seven global petroleum companies, the star cluster, and the seven Pleiades sisters in Greek mythology. She stated that a star burns out, that it has a "finite amount of energy," just like oil. 7 Sisters by Hayden Dunham presented as part of VW Sunday Sessions on February 10, 2019 at MoMA PS1, New York. Image courtesy MoMA PS1. Photo by Maria Baranova. Only in the exploratory stages of understanding performance and movement-based art, I found myself a bit confused when trying to think about how all of the pieces of Dunham's performance intersected. It turned out that this confusion caused by overthinking was natural, mainly because the majority of the moments weren't meant to be thought about at all. "In darkness the audience is invited to focus on feeling. Feeling in their body," Dunham writes to me, "not thinking. The information that comes through by resting in darkness." 7 Sisters was a performance that existed mostly in darkness, even in moments where light was reflected off the center pool and whirled on the dome. Rather than observe the piece in a stationary sense, the audience was invited to observe through sound and feeling; the only thinking should have occurred with the arrival of light. "When light is united with darkness, lines begin to surface. Objects begin separating into different containers." The light only arrived at the end of the piece, Dunham explains. "The spot lights turned on and the person inside the pool began answering linear questions about why they are doing what they are doing. And quickly all of the information exchanged in the parts before were put into these containers to deliver information." Related | Umru Is Getting Results Each characterization in 7 Sisters was just as fixed; each cast member represented either the light, the ocean, fire, the sky, oil, a human, or darkness. They interacted carefully, but they all had something to say to one another since each form was connected through the Seven Sisters metaphor. "For example, when fire is united with oil it changes forms," Dunham writes, "When the Pleiades star constellation surfaces, sailors know they can't be on the water because it is too rough. In Greek mythology the Seven Sisters lived as water nymphs who eventually died and became stars." 7 Sisters by Hayden Dunham presented as part of VW Sunday Sessions on February 10, 2019 at MoMA PS1, New York. Image courtesy MoMA PS1. Photo by Maria Baranova. Rather than be consumed by the looming societal implications of having opposing entities be so responsive to one another, she took these forces, in their most basic forms, and lent them an open ear. Of course 7 Sisters was focused on making a statement, but it was not the statement that became most important when one considered that it had been conceived based on feeling. "All of this information is to say that we now need to be in a place of listening," Dunham writes to me after describing her intent. I would argue that the conversation proposed by 7 Sisters was indeed about listening, but it was also about control, both of objects and of humans. The performance had been in the works for the last three years, throughout which Dunham had created other works that differed wildly in composition, but all came back to some new statement about control. "All of this information is to say that we now need to be in a place of listening." W Magazine editor Fan Zhong described Dunham's work as being obsessed with "outside influences on our bodies, especially those that are unseen or unrecognized." These influences on the body can be extrapolated to understand a larger obsession with influence as a cause and effect relationship, one with a nuanced conception of control and consent. For example, the Seven Sisters' cartel-like control of oil was a means to control price, extended to control human life; this same control can be followed down to a control of fossil fuel combustion's effects on the atmosphere and Earth's bodies of water, and then back to a control of the human body by way of climate justice. Some of Dunham's more literal iterations of this control can be found in her work for EVERYTHINGS, shown in 2015. She created a substance called GEL which traveled through the air vents of Andrea Rosen Gallery, thus modifying the composition of the gallery's air, entering into observers, and taking unseen control of the space. 7 Sisters by Hayden Dunham presented as part of VW Sunday Sessions on February 10, 2019 at MoMA PS1, New York. Image courtesy MoMA PS1. Photo by Maria Baranova. "There is this idea that my body is separate from your body. That we are all disconnected from each other," Dunham writes after speaking about lines, or in this case, a "catalyst," surfacing out of the darkness because of light. Ultimately, it seems that 7 Sisters was a way to address this divide: there isn't much separation when between bodies, objects, and ideas, and we're all being modified by the actions of another, the properties and "materiality" of objects. We're constantly at odds with such an idea when, in order to enact change, we must illuminate it even further. Such an abstraction of the base material can get a bit headache-inducing, and as Dunham reminded Fan Zhong in 2016, "Language is really limited, you know?" Intrigued fans need not rely on language, though; 7 Sisters is a series, and it has only just begun. "This is the first of seven performances," she writes. "Each one will take place at a different location and can be thought of as one act of seven acts." The remaining six "acts" will be announced in the future and will be performed in various locations, including Los Angeles and London. Collaborators for 7 Sisters include: Meriem Bennani, Aaron Chan, Kai de la Cruz, Patrick Dunham, Bobbi Salvor Menuez, Lydia Okrent, Antonio Santini, Darrelle Vary, Marty Windahl, Sky Murray, and Chloe Morris. Follow Hayden Dunham on Instagram (@haydendunham). Iran's Soleimani Mocks 'JCPOA2', Rules Out Negotiation With U.S. 03/01/19 Source: Radio Farda The commander of Iran's Qods force Qassem Soleimani has said that "enemies" of the Islamic Republic want to renegotiate JCPOA or the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran in order to uproot Islamic movements. He called the attempt "JCPOA2". Major general Qassem Soleimani (photo by Mehr News Agency) Islamic movements is a term used by Iranian officials for Islamist groups in the region and beyond who are loyal to Shiite Iran. Soleimani added that "From the very beginning the enemy saw JCPOA as a three-pronged objective, not just one, and the other two were more important than the first". Mehr news agency quotes Soleimani as saying, "Obama wanted to reach the other two goals slowly, but Trump wants to traverse this road quickly and this road will lead to JCPOA3". The Islamic Revolution Guards commander did not give any further explanation about JCPOA 2 and 3. The term "JCPOA2" was first used by President Hassan Rouhani three years ago when parliamentary elections led to the overwhelming victory of reformists and moderates. He called that developments the beginning of JCPOA2. Following the Majles elections in March 2016 Rouhani was not only certain that he would win the 2017 presidential election, but he was reassured that his alliance with Majles Speaker Ali Larijani would give him the upper hand against hardliners and he could go further to make yet another deal with America. He had said in his first speech after the JCPOA was agreed upon, that if the U.S. stood by its promises and if Iran benefited from the JCPOA, the road would be paved for talking on other matters, meaning negotiations on the Middle East and Iran's missile program. These were part of U.S. demands in 2014 when talks had started, but Iranians insisted at the time that they would not negotiate on anything except the nuclear issue. Within hours of Rouhani's remarks in March 2016, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a speech in Mashad criticized the idea of JCPOA 2 and without referring to Rouhani said some people have pinned their hopes on negotiations with America to solve Iran's problems. Subsequently, hardliners close to Khamenei started attacking the idea of further negotiations with the United States. By JCPOA 2, Rouhani also meant to introduce a set of reforms including transparency in the country's financial affairs. He is still furthering that idea not necessarily in the interest of sheer transparency, but with the intention of putting pressure on unaccountable financial institutions under the aegis of Khamenei's office, such as the holy shrine in Mashad and for-profit businesses run by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. These entities benefitting from non-transparent economic advantages not only stifle healthy economic competition in Iran but are also unsupervised organizations feeding corruption and enriching hardliners who then stand against reforms and normalization of relations with the West. At this point in time, Rouhani's second term in office is quickly coming to an end and he needs at least to be in a position as good as when he started the second term in 2017, to ensure a decent future beyond his presidency. The economic failure that escalated during 2018 has tarnished his image as a man who promised prudence and hope. To regain his former status, he needs to achieve a few reforms to help normalize the country's economy, for instance by having the four anti-money laundering bills demanded by the international financial watchdog FATF. But hardliners in the Guardian Council, Expediency Council, and probably Khamenei's headquarters are standing on his way. The United States left the JCPOA (nuclear agreement with Iran) in May 2018, demanding a broader agreement with Iran over its role in the region and its ballistic missile programs. In the meantime, the US re-imposed back-breaking sanctions on Tehran. Soleimani's comments, were also his way of balancing his statements following Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's resignation in which he supported Zarif as someone who is praised by Khamenei. Soleimani did not want the gesture to be taken as his support for the idea of opening up to America, which is what hardliners believe Rouhani and Zarif are doing. An artwork showing Javad Zarif (L) and Qassem Soleimani (by Bozorgmehr Hosseinpur) Beyond factional disputes and constant infighting between various political groups, Soleimani's statement banning talks with America is yet another indication of the military's intervention in the affairs of the state, and against the underlying principle emphasized both in the Iranian constitution and even in the teachings of Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini who founded the Islamic Republic. IRAN: Illegal Villa Of Former Minister's Daughter To Be Demolished 03/01/19 Source: Radio Farda A villa owned by the daughter of a former member of President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet will be soon demolished, the state-run Mehr News Agency (Mehr News Agency) cited the mayor of the city of Lavasan as saying on Thursday, February 28. Days earlier, Friday Prayer Imam of the city, Saeid Lavasani had disclosed that three officials affiliated with the Endowment Organization of Tehran and Shemiranat have been arrested and charged with land-grabbing, abusing their authority. Lavasan is an opulent town in Shemiranat County, Tehran Province, situated eleven kilometers (roughly seven miles) northeast of the capital Tehran. The effluent city is known for its pleasant weather and the luxurious villas and home to many upper-class and wealthy families. Many Iranians call it the Beverly Hills or Switzerland of Tehran. A tweet that says these villas belong to the sons of the elite and even the Shah could not imagine it. #_ ! pic.twitter.com/BR6IplMrVt Cinasn (@cinasn) February 20, 2019 Land-grabbing and speculation have recently placed the area under the magnifying glass of local news outlets in recent months. Furthermore, social media is loaded with images of unbelievably luxurious mansions in the city, while tens of thousands of Iranians live in cardboard boxes, and even in newly dug graves. The name of Rouhani's former minister has not yet officially been revealed, but the daughter of his former minister of Industry, Mohammad Reza Ne'matzadeh, has recently been accused of illegally owning a plot in Lavasan and building a mansion on the usurped spot. Former minister's young daughter, Shabnam Nematzadeh is the owner and Managing Director of Rasa Pharmed, a company that dominates a big chunk of Iran's medicine business. Shabnam Nematzadeh's mansion, if demolished, will be the second of its kind. Late November last year, another villa built on the mountainside in a neighboring posh area, Oushan, was also demolished. There are other similar cases under investigation, local media report. Some of the mansions built by wealthy and influential families in posh areas near Tehran are even more majestic than the modest palaces of the former king of Iran, Shah Mohammad Pahlavi, who left the country after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Pictures of the former king's palace in Tehran are circulated on social media side by side the magnificent new mansions as a comparison. Beryl Ofori-Asamoah was ecstatic when the University of Ghana offered her admission to study nursing, her dream job. She thought nursing would provide her an opportunity to achieve what she calls monumental goals in life. Today she has the degree, but no job. Government has failed to post her and her colleagues to health facilities, some which could use a lot of hands. Like Beryl, the nurses who completed their education in May 2016, have had to still depend on family and friends for financial support. They have been promised posting by government, but it is taking forever. The message they get from the Ministry of Health has remained the same: you have not been given financial clearance, which means they could not be employed. The situation has left the nurses stranded, as their dream of practicing their profession now rests on hope. Dorcas Boateng, 26, another nursing graduate who completed the University of Ghana in May 2016 described her having to stay home without a job as depressing, frustrating, and a waste of her youthful vigour. Aside the burden on my parents, for me as an individual it is so much depressing and frustrating. As if you are just wasting your life. Now, we have to rely on hope. If I could turn back the time, I would never have chosen nursing. The nursing course is very demanding. You dont even have vacations and at the end see where we are. So, for some of us, if we really could turn back the hand of time, we wouldnt have chosen it, she told the B&FT. Another nurse, Stella Asiedu, whose father is on retirement, described the situation as depressing, saying she has regretted ever choosing to nurse. It is heartbreaking to still depend on your parents after they spent so much on your education. I feel very disappointed and sorry for myself for choosing this programme and not rather going to the training college. I would have been employed two years ago if I went to the training college. I have regretted and I advise my friends never to make this mistake we made that has left us home, she said. For Godsway Deku, after unsuccessfully applying for jobs in private health care facilities, he has turned his attention to doing something totally unrelated to nursing just to survive. He would rather do that than wait for a posting that only God knows when it will come. Ironically, though, it is estimated that Ghana needs about 40,000 nurses and midwives to fill a huge nurse/patient gap. Meanwhile, thousands of graduate nurses are still at home after graduating from school. For the graduate nurses, all they want to hear from government is when they will also receive financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance like their colleagues bonded nurses who have received theirs and are starting work in April this year. A press release signed by Chief Director for the Ministry of Health, Nana Kwabena Adjei-Mensah on February 22, 2019, indicates that the ministry, in September 2018, received financial clearance to employ 14,254 nurse assistants who have commenced work by February 1, 2019. In addition to this number, the ministry has further received clearance for 5,787 bonded nurses and midwives who have completed their national service. Their financial clearance takes effect from April 1, 2019. No mention was made of the graduate nurses as to when they will receive financial clearance to start work. Source: B&FT 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 General Secretary of the Convention Peoples Party [CPP], Yaw Asani Tano, says he perfectly agrees with the Teacher Unions who are against governments move to public-privatize Ghanas educational system. According to him, he is very worried as to why this country can never pin-point to what it has used our God-blessed resources for without seeking foreign assistance. Our attitude of borrowing before something is done . . . is an action I always feel very disgraced about as a citizen, he said on UTVs Adekye Nsroma programme. Our educational system needs reforms, but not from outside intervention which is to borrow from the World Bank as government is embarking on, because we have all the resources in this country to buffer our educational structure, he said. He further explained that the leaders of this country should be tired of borrowing to get something done in this country when most of them benefited from free education years ago when Ghana had not developed to where it is today. Dont they sit for a second to analyze the future of this country, before taking a final decision? he asked. The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) Ghana and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (Tewu), are the four Teacher Unions who have accused government of allowing a public-private partnership into education, a move they think is risky for the country. They claim government has for the past two years engaged an international private agency and secured $150 million to be invested into education. They said government must ditch any such decision or risk their massive resistance. Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Pilot project for the installation of Hospital Information Management Systems (HIMS) to keep records of patients electronically, has been launched at the Ghana Police Hospital in Accra. The pilot project is being undertaken by the Golden Dragon Company Ltd at its own cost of about US$ 100, 000.00 . The CEO of Golden Dragon Company Ltd Mr Ohene Fianko speaking at the launch of the project at the Ghana Police Hospital said, as part of the project, some personnel of the hospital have been sent to China for training on how to handle the HIMS installed at the hospital. He said the system will help shorten waiting time at the hospital snd save space for keeping records , thereby enhancing efficiency of service at the hospital . Mr Ohene Fianko added that the project will be replicated in other public hospitals in the country in future to promote healthcare . The Medical Director of the Ghana Police Hospital DCOP Dr Mrs Marian Tetteh-Korboe lauded the project . She described the Electronic Hospital Information Management System as very significant as the hospital has the challenge of space to keep paper records . She also expressed delight about the fact that the system will help shorten waiting time of patients at the hospital . She therefore thanked Golden Dragon Company Ltd for its support to the hospital. Source: Emmanuel Akorli/ Peace FM Parliamentary Correspondent 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 President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made a reshuffle in his government. In a statement issued by the Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin and copied to Peacefmonline.com; the Minister of Tourism, Catherine Afeku has been reshuffled and now assigned to the office of the Senior Minister as a Minister of State at the Office of the President. The Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni-Valley and former Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Barbara Oteng Gyasi will replace Catherine Afeku as Minister-designate for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts. Other names that were mentioned by the President were Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North and former Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Gifty Twum Ampofo who has been appointed as Deputy Minister for Education, and Hon. Freda Prempeh, former Deputy Works and Housing Minister is now the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection among others. Find the full list below 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 President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that his second term in office will be tough. President Buhari who was reelected as Nigerias president in the just concluded presidential and parliamentary election in the country said that Nigerians are very forgetful, especially with the fact that he spoke about his governments cardinal agenda to them during campaigns. President Buhari made the statement when members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) paid him a congratulatory visit today. Among those present at the meeting were the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF) Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno and over 20 ministers. According to him, My last lap of four years, I think is going to be tough. People are very forgetful and thats why during the campaign, I spoke about our cardinal agenda. Recall that President Buhari was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Wednesday after he polled 15,191,847 to thrash his major challenger, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who polled 11,262,978 votes. Source: Vanguard 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 Brigadier General (Dr) Emmanuel Wekem Kotia, the Commander of the Western Sector in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), spoke with UN News about his decades-long service, which includes participation in the Organizations ground-breaking transitional operation in Cambodia a launch pad for key UN peacekeeping activities such as disarmament and reintegration, and electoral support component and the post-electoral security landscape in the DRC. UN News: How would you characterize the current situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Brig. Gen. Kotia: The situation remains calm. The President is continuing the transition by nominating his prime minister and other key ministers. Security wise, there Western sector remains relatively calm, except for a few ethnic problems within the Yumbi area and the Kasai regions. However, on the Eastern front, there continue to be a number of activities by armed elements. MONUSCO, jointly with the armed forces of the DRC [known by the French acronym FARDC], are continuing to monitor the situation [there]. Also, one must not discount the issue of human rights abuses sporadically being perpetrated in various parts of the country. In addition, the continuing increase [in the number of cases] of the Ebola virus disease in the eastern part of the country, specifically Butembo (in North Kivu) and the other areas in the east, is cause for concern. So far, more than 700 Ebola cases have been identified. However, MONUSCO, humanitarian and other UN agencies, and the local authorities, are continuing to work very hard to contain the situation. The relationship between the [ FARDC]and MONUSCO has been very cordial. Even in the Eastern sector where we have the armed elements who are fighting against the Government. MONUSCO personnel are jointly working out plans and fighting alongside the FARADC against the rebel groups in those areas. However, it must be noted that the Congolese Government may need to enact a host of measures to be able to facilitate the operational capability of the FARDC, as well as provide logistic facilities or resources for the civilian police to be able to undertake their duties within local communities. It is also very important for the Government to take ownership of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process for all the rebel factions that are turning in their weapons or voluntarily disarming themselves, especially in the areas around the Kasais. UN News: What are some of the highlights and some of the challenges you have encountered while serving with a UN mission? Brig. Gen. Kotia:My participation in UN missions began when [they] were based on the traditional concepts. Now, from those traditional concepts, the UN moved to integrated operations from dependence purely on a military force, towards a greater level of mixing the police, military and the civilians. The UN then moved ahead to a more international dimension, by which, in addition to these components that I've mentioned, the issues of human rights and humanitarian support were introduced as part of its missions. The UN has sustained itself very well in such multidimensional operations for some time. However, as a result of the report issued by the high-level panel that was set up by the former UN Secretary-General and the realities on the ground, in contemporary UN peacekeeping, we have moved from a combination of multidimensional to high risk peacekeeping operations a situation that is now very dynamic and fluid. Using MONUSCO as an example, we have the core MONUSCO troops who are working or maintaining peace by protection through projection. However, we also have a Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) that has a mandate to undertake offensive operations to protect civilians due to the [activities] of various armed elements in the region that have attacked MONUSCO, as well as other civilians. To protect civilians in the DRC and elsewhere, it is important to underline that higher risk peacekeeping missions must move towards more offensive operations. Indeed, the FIB in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could serve as a template for setting up similar capacities in Mali and the Central African Republic, or other high-risk areas that we are might have peacekeeping operations. One key issue is that in most conflict areas, we operate in very difficult environments, and that is a very big challenge. Peacekeepers come from different countries and they need to get accustomed to these environments. Another challenge has to do with the background of conflicts. Most conflicts, especially those in Africa, are not well-understood by peacekeepers before they are deployed. Since the concepts of operation are not specific, peacekeepers most often must adjust their activities to deal with on-the-ground challenges. Additionally, we sometimes have inadequate numbers of peacekeepers to fulfill a mandate that is very big and that has a very wide scope. UN News: What are the factors that have helped troops succeed in missions you have participated in? Brig. Gen. Kotia:There are various factors. First, one must understand that peacekeeping mandates are set [as a matter of] international law. So, adherence to that mandate and policy guidelines and directives are among the key things that have helped troops succeed. Another area that has helped peacekeepers to succeed, and my troops specifically, is that we've had a very intensive pre-operational training before deployment. This training prepares [the troops] through, among others, a simulation of the areas concerned. You get to have a feel for it before you are deployed and so the conditions [on the ground] dont look so different from what you might have seen in training. Moreover, training continuous training and in-mission training is key. In addition, ensuring that troops have equipment to match the mandate of a specific mission is also key to success. Apart from that, sharing the experience of Ghanaian troops, especially in other UN missions, has also helped, and has reiterated the success of our troops in peacekeeping missions. UN News: What is an essential element in maintaining professionalism in peacekeeping? Brig. Gen. Kotia:First, peacekeepers must understand the dynamics of conflicts. Without an analytical understanding of the conflict, one might not be able to come up with plans or strategies in which to be able to succeed in a peacekeeping mission. So that is very key. Respect for the culture of local communities is also vital. Lets remember that we are helping to stabilize an area or to create a secure environment for the people. We are not there to dictate to them what we want. We are there to support them or to assist them. So, we must first, understand their culture so that well be able to operate within the country and assist them to achieve peace. Now another aspect that has helped with professionalism is the deployment of more women. In MONUSCO for instance, the introduction of the female engagement team has been very successful. In my sector, especially, when female engagement teams are sent in to assist people in deprived communities, they are very well received. These teams interact with children and other women to help them understand the essence of why peacekeepers have been deployed. UN News: Can you share with us anything specific that has stuck with you throughout your time in the field? Brig. Gen. Kotia:If I were to select one special instance or peacekeeping mission to talk about it would be the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, which I consider one of my biggest stories. The Cambodia mission was the first transitional authority mission set up in the history of UN peacekeeping operations. The mandate of that mission set the stage for several groundbreaking policies. First, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) was first introduced in Cambodia, and it took place in my battalion. So, for Ghana to be one or the first countries to experience the integration of a DDR programme was quite interesting. In addition, the UN operation in Cambodia was the first time an electoral component was established as part of a UN mission. That was very useful, and I have been able to share that experience at other missions in which I served. It was also the first time a mission was set up to begin and end within a specific timeframe in this case, the mission wrapped up within the time set out by the first mandate. UN News: What advice or information would you give to men and women in Ghana who are considering serving in a UN Mission? Brig. Gen. Kotia:I would tell them that it is noble opportunity to serve humanity. It gives you a chance to assist people in need to have a safe environment. One must consider [it] an opportunity to work in the service of global peace. It means that you are an ambassador from your country working for peace. UN News: How would you describe Ghanas contribution to UN peacekeeping? Brig. Gen. Kotia:Ghanas contribution to UN peacekeeping is quite interesting. Incidentally, it started in the Congo. Ghana was the first country to deploy in the then Congo now DRC, in 1960, with a brigade of troops. After President Patrice Lumumba was killed, the Ghana battalion was redeployed to the Kasais. Since then, Ghana has become one of leading contributors of peacekeeping in the world. Weve seen Ghana deployed in 1973 in the Sinai, and then later with a battalion deployed to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Ghana also found itself serving in, among others, Cambodia, Rwanda, Chad, Liberia, and Bosnia. Ghanas participation has been very tremendous so far as global peace is concerned. Our country has served as a mentor to other countries in this field. We have gone on to establish the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, which serves as a global training center for various aspects of peacekeeping. Ghana is considered as a mentoring country. Source: news.un.org 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 Sammy Gyamfi A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has launched a scathing verbal attack on journalists; particularly political show hosts, for airing the damning leaked tape of the opposition party's National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, on their various shows. National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, singled out ace broadcaster, Kwami Sefa Kayi and other journalists at Multimedia, for his verbal blitzkrieg, describing them as a "bunch of hypocrites". He accused them for their "open-bias" and "selectivity", relative to the airing of leaked tapes involving political actors. According to Sammy Gyamfi, the host of 'Kokrokoo' on Peace FM, Kwami Sefa Kayi, on several occasions has blatantly refused to give mileage to leaked tapes that has the possibility of exposing and disgracing members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on his morning show platforms. But surprisingly, he added, he (Sefa Kayi) did not bat an eyelid in playing the infamous Ofosu-Ampofo leaked tape. The NDC Communications Officer then turned his blazing guns on Joy FM, castigating the station for its decision to not only air the leaked tape, but to transcribe its contents verbatim as well, on its online portal. These bunch of hypocrite journalists will never play leaked tapes on their shows so far as they have negative repercussions on the NPP. However, they are quick to play leaked tapes that involve the NDC like we are seeing today, he said. Leaked Tape Policy Interestingly, Peacefmonline.com checks with Producers of the 'Kokrokoo' programme and host of the show, Kwami Sefa Kayi indicates that the said tape has not even been played on the show. Thus, they are at a loss what could have informed the young politician's verbal attack. According to the Chairman-General, as Sefa Kayi is affectionately called, he has a timed-honoured policy of not playing leaked tapes on his show, as such Ofosu-Ampofo's tape is of no exception. "I don't play leaked tapes and will not play this one too," was his response to our enquiries. CID Invites NDC Chair In a related development, the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, has invited the Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress over the circulating leaked tape. In the leaked recording of an alleged meeting of the partys communicators, a voice believed to be that of Samuel Ofosu -Ampofo, reveals militia groups (Azorka boys and Hawks) were brought to the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election by the NDC. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, who could be heard speaking to some party members without equivocation, noted the NDC will target lives of NPP members in 2020 since state security cannot protect them. According to him, another delicate aspect to win the 2020 election is targeting the EC Chairperson, Madam Jean Mensa. We must wage a relentless war on this EC Chair, me she doesnt want to see my face . . . he told the party gathering. We will go after them, but we will not go after them face-to-face. We have to use tactical operation to make life very uncomfortable for them. We will target some people and we will let the people know that their lives are in danger, Ofosu-Ampofo allegedly said. 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 Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has proposed that the National Peace Council be appointed as the mediator for the meeting with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to disband militia groups. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the leadership of the two main leading political parties, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to help find a lasting solution the menace of political vigilantism in Ghana. According to the President, citizens and future generations would not forgive the current leaders, if they sit aloof for the countrys peace to be undermined by politically related violence. President Akufo-Addo made the call when he presented the 2019 State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday, February 21, 2019. The time has come for us to put to end political-related violence, he said, adding that Our children and grandchildren will not forgive us if the countrys peace and security is undermined. In a letter signed by the partys National Chairman, Mr. Ofosu-Ampofo and addressed to President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, argued that such a meeting due to recurrent mistrust and suspicion between the two parties should have a credible national mediator. He noted that the move must be widened to cover all political parties as well as civil society organisations, the media, the police, the military and other relevant stakeholders. "Your Excellency, I believe that with these as mediator and facilitators, we can look forward to a robust interaction that can only culminate in a successful resolution of the matter," a part of the letter read. Read Full Statement Below; H.E. The President Jubilee House, Kanda I write this as a formal response to the call you made in the Sessional Address you delivered on February 21, 2019, to our respective parties for a meeting to discuss the way forward toward the disbandment of political vigilantism in Ghana. Your Excellency, in view of the gradual development of this phenomenon in recent years, and the dangerous escalation in which it was manifested at the recent by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon, we cannot but agree with you in principle that a serious national effort should be made to address this problem once and for all. We will, therefore, avail ourselves of the opportunity whenever at the pleasure of Your Excellency and at a venue convenient for the purpose. In agreeing to be part of this effort, may I kindly set out the position of the NDC in direct reference to the nature and thrust of your request in order that you may better appreciate the spirit in which we approach this all-important national issue. Your Excellency may be aware that in the recent past, several civil society organizations, religious and faith-based organizations, political parties and their leaders and even the media, have expressed a worrying and deep-seated concern about this phenomenon. And as the phenomenon has appeared to take some root in the fabric of our politics, it is only prudent that the call for a disbandment is extended to not only the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party but all political parties, civil society organisations, representatives of the media, representatives of the military, police and other security agencies, as well as any other relevant stakeholders. In addition, in view of the often recurrent mistrust and suspicion that characterize such interactions by political parties, and the pain and suffering that vigilantism may have created especially in the recent past, it is of the utmost importance that a mediator with national credibility be appointed to drive the entire process in that regard, my party, the NDC, propose that the National Peace Council be appointed as the mediator for such a meeting. We also think that the peace council will require as collaborators, institutions that may have unimpeachable knowledge and expertise in providing support for such efforts. And in this regard the NDC propose that the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) join the Peace Council to facilitate the process. Your Excellency, I believe that with these as mediator and facilitators, we can look forward to a robust interaction that can only culminate in a successful resolution of the matter. I wish to make another observation in order to properly situate the intended interaction between our respective parties in the proper perspective. Your Excellency has already set in motion a Commission of Inquiry into the incident that characterized the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. My partys understanding of the remit of the commission includes the possibility that it will set out a road map for the resolution of this phenomenon. If this assumption is correct, do we allow the commission to conclude with its report before we engage in our discussion on the same matter, or we proceed regardless of the recommendations of the Commission? Secondly, we are aware that the revelations at the Commission establish clearly that elements of the vigilante groups apparently sponsored by your party have already been absorbed into the security system, a development that dramatically changes the normal character of vigilantes as we have come to know it, and gives it a real potential for instability as the Ayawaso Bye Election amply demonstrated. In view of these observations, therefore, may I humbly reiterate the issues set out in a statement my party February 22, 2019, in which we stated that: a. The government takes immediate steps to disband and disarm the illegal Armed Force being maintained by the National Security Council b. That the government abandons its plans and rather instructs its agents in the regions to stop the state~sanctioned recruitment of political party thugs for the purpose of the 2020 general election l conclude this by sending to you my highest regards. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo National Chairman 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 Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide says government will not expend beyond its budget on newly appointed Ministers who are already lawmakers. According to him, despite the swell of Ministers in the Nana Addo-led government Most them will not paid as Ministers. He described President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos choice to appoint MPs as Ministers as smart decision. One thing people are not aware of is that, if you are a Member of Parliament [MP] and also appointed as Minster by the President, you will only be paid as a Member of Parliament by government. No one will take double salary, he said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie. The number of ministers serving under the Nana Akufo-Addo government has now jumped from 110 to 123 ministers. This follows the announcement on Thursday, the appointment of Ministers and deputy Ministers to the six newly created regions. In that announcement, 13 more names were added as ministers-designate and deputy ministers-designates for the new regions. The current administration now has 35 ministers more than its predecessor led by John Mahama which had 88 Ministers. The NPP then in opposition criticised the number of persons serving as Ministers in the Mahama government. They argued that the number could be reduced to 20 if the NDC administration was bold about cutting down spending and saving the national purse. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007 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 Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa, K.T Hammond has defended governments holidays Amendment Bill saying "we will never never accept that Kwame Nkrumah was the founder of Ghana". Tempers flared on Thursday as Parliamentarians debated proposed changes to Ghanas statutory holidays. The Minority in Parliament staged a walkout to express their disapproval for the holiday Amendment Bill currently before the House which seeks to scrap Republic and AU days as public holidays and introduce August 4 as Founders Day and January 7 as Constitution Day leaving September 21 as a commemorative day. However, K.T. Hammond says the minority caucus has no case. According to him, history makes it 'clear that Kwame Nkrumah is not the only founder of Ghana. He further indicated that nobody is saying Kwame Nkrumah should not be recognised; that is not the argument at alllets get history right; how can you say that there is only one founder in this country? "If they come to power and change it, we will come back and change itwe will never never accept that Kwame Nkrumah was the founder of Ghana," he said while speaking in an interview on Citi Eyewitness news, Thursday, Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has debunked news making rounds on social media that they have boycotted programmes at some selected media houses. According to him, the statement is fake and therefore must be considered as one of the NPP's diabolic agenda. "The diabolic agenda of NPP will not hold," he stressed. A statement purported to be released and signed by the NDC's Communications Officer, Sammy Gyemfi instructing NDC's communication team members said that "inform all members of the NDC communication team to stop attending to the following media houses to communicate and propagate the idealogy and believe of our dear party. (1)Peace fm (2)Adom tv (3)Citi tv (4)Okay fm (5)Angel tv (6)Kasapa fm (7)Asempa fm (8)Obuoba fm (9)Rivers fm (10)Unique fm This notice takes effect from 1/3/2019. Signed Samuel Gyamfi. Communication Officer, NDC Reacting to the letter on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he maintained that the media is their friend and there is no way NDC can boycott their programmes. "I am saying it emphatically that the statement is fake therefore must not be taken serious . . . the media is our friend and we will continue to work with you," he stressed. 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 Ghanaian gospel artiste, Gifty Osei, also known as Empress One, has disclosed that she nearly committed suicide after her first marriage failed. According to the gospel artiste, sharing her marital issues with people she thought were her friends nearly pushed her into ending her own life, after those people betrayed her. She told Nana Romeo on Ayekoo Ayekoo on Accra 100.5FM on Tuesday 27 February 2019 that: Yes, it is true. [I nearly committed suicide]. I realised that the same people with whom I shared my problem with, and thought were my friends and family in the gospel industry, contributed to the collapse of my marriage and I felt so sorry for myself when I eventually found out. I knew I had betrayed myself because after each conversation, those people I shared my problems with, added their own version to the conversation and presented it to others elsewhere, she recalled. Empress One also revealed that she could not go to church because the very people she trusted made a mockery of her situation and jubilated over it. The people around me were laughing at me, so, at that point, I didnt know whom to go to and whom to trust again. I was not even trusting myself. Why should I share my problems with someone and they will sit at home discussing it and laughing at me? People I trusted were saying that: Her husband has left her and we will see how she will survive. These were things I heard and even the pastor I thought could help me in my difficulty, rejected me, as well as my friends to the point that I found it difficult to even go to the salon. It was so difficult for me to go to church. She noted that whatever happened in her first marriage was her fault because she was talking to people about her marriage, adding that praying to God was what saved her from committing suicide. I had to realise that I was at fault. I had betrayed myself, so, why don't I go to God and talk to Him? He has the right to judge, not human beings. I told God that I am Gifty. God, remember the covenant you have with me and restore my glory. So, what I saw on 29 December was the glory of God. The gospel songstress got married to the New Patriotic Partys Hopeson Adorye at a private location in Tema, Accra. She was previously married to Prophet Prince Elisha for ten years. Source: Classfmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido waves at the press as he arrives for a meeting with ambassadors and representatives from European Union, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. Canada and Mexico may be united in wanting to bring closure to North America's unresolved trading future, but they are diametrically opposed on how to solve Venezuela's political and economic crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Lucio Tavora Parks Canada is worried spilled grain from a derailed train in Banff National Park will attract hungry grizzly bears to the tracks as they emerge from hibernation in the coming weeks. A Canadian Pacific freight train travels around Morant's Curve near Baker Creek, Alta. on Monday December 1, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn Pig genetics company Glenmarshal Sires has entered into a co-operation agreement with Danish Genetics and Roslin Technology. This is the first arrangement of its kind to be entered into between the newly established Danish company, and an Irish pig breeding operation. Roslin Technologies, which oversees the Danish companys breeding programme, is one of the worlds most innovative institutions within animal genetics. The new agreement struck between Glenmarshal and its Danish counterpart is an exciting development for the Irish pig industry. It will enable Irish farmers, for the first time, to have access to the very best quality genetics available from Denmark, one of the worlds elite centres of pig breeding. Fifty boars, classified as having the highest genetic merit for use in Ireland, were recently imported from Denmark by Glenmarshal and have just been released from isolation after completing their quarantine period and veterinary tests. Semen from these boars is now available for distribution throughout Ireland. These boars are animals of the highest genetic merit ever imported into Ireland from Denmark, said Glenmarshals managing director Trevor Shields. The Duroc consignment is, on average, 20-35 index points higher than those standing in stud anywhere in the UK or Ireland while the Landrace and Large White boars are 20-30 index points higher. Danish research has confirmed that 8-11 index points represent one years genetic improvement. Mr Shields added: The boars recently imported from Denmark represent a genetic advantage of over three years when compared to existing Danish boars available in Ireland. Research carried out in 2017 confirmed that one years genetic gain is worth 1.74 or 2.00 per pig. Get Our E-Newsletter - Pig World's best stories in your in-box twice a week See e-newsletter example Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy While the 2020 election seems distance, local politicians still welcomed a chance to meet and mingle with constituents Feb. 13 while enjoying the ambiance of Dearborns recently launched Merci Cafe. Sponsored by the Dearborn and Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters, the evening event, held at the cafe, 3371 Greenfield, hosted about 45 people, a third of whom were local politicians. The public servants present included Dearborn Heights City Councilmen Ray Muscat and Bill Bazzi, as well as 20th District Court Judge Mark Plawecki. Dearborn elected officials in attendance included City Councilman Robert Abraham; 13th District Wayne County Commissioner Sam Baydoun; City Council President Susan Dabaja; City Clerk George Darany; City Councilwoman Leslie Herrick; 19th District Court Judge Gene Hunt; School Board Members and Henry Ford College Trustees Roxanne McDonald and Mary Petlichoff; State Senator for District 3 Sylvia Santana; City Councilman Michael Sareini; 19th District Court Judge Mark Somers (who left early); and School Board Member and HFC Trustee James Thorpe. In attendance also was Inkster City Councilwoman Connie Mitchell. Merci Cafe owner Tina Marie Mangone said she was pleased with the turnout. I didnt expect so many people because of the snow and cold this morning, so I am happy that everybody came, she said. Mary Jo Durivage of the Dearborn Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters said she was also pleased by the large turnout of both elected officials and constituents. The idea is for people like us to feel comfortable in contacting their legislators about issues, Durivage said. That was the whole aim, and I hope that happened. Dearborn City Council president Susan Dabaja said she is always open to communication, whether it is by phone, email or in person. I have been the council president since 2014, Dabaja said. I really enjoy the position that I served in, and I hope to continue to serve all my residents here in the city of Dearborn. Dearborn City Clerk George T. Darany, who served on the city council and as a state representative in the past, joked about not being able to keep a job, before mentioning that the next big election cycle in 2020 may see some new precincts and boundary changes for the current precincts. If you have any questions about taxes, DONT contact me, Darany said amid laughter. It isnt my job, but I get that question almost every day. Dearborn City Councilwoman Leslie Herrick reminded those in attendance that all city council meetings are open to the public. All of our meetings are published online, on our website, and we welcome suggestions to be sent to us, or give us a call, Herrick said. Our doors are open and our phones are available to you, so please, if you have suggestions or questions, let me know. Judge Gene Hunt of the 19th District Court followed, and after introducing himself said, amid laughter, that he hopes residents never have to call him, implying that if they do, they are likely dealing with a stressful situation. Dearborn School Board and Henry Ford College Trustee Roxanne McDonald said she wants residents to know that the district serves not just parents, but everyone, because the entire community has a stake in the education of its children. Children are our future and it makes our city a better place, McDonald said. Mary Petlichkoff, president of the school board and HFC trustees, quipped to those assembled that they are the reason their taxes are high. I will take the blame and the credit, Petlichkoff said. That being said, everyone is a vested person when it comes to education. I am also the President of the Federation of Neighborhood Associations here in Dearborn, and the strength of any city is based on the strength of your school community, and we can see that when we look at places like Detroit, who struggle because their school district isnt working. We are the third largest district in the state, we have award-winning programs, and we continue to do great things. Dearborn City Councilman Michael Sareini said they are doing everything they can to keep taxes lower. We do have a higher tax rate because we give superior services, Sareini said. We want you to stay in Dearborn. But it is a challenge to keep the promises that were made before us. Dearborn School Board and HFC trustee Jim Thorpe said the Dearborn School District has many beautiful old buildings, which consequently have a lot of old problems. He said snow days are one of the most controversial topics they face, saying predictions cannot be made the night before for planning purposes. We are trying to do what is in the best interest of everyone, and I hope you all know that we will never please everybody, Thorpe said. Dearborn Heights Councilman Ray Muscat said he was serving as a first term councilman, and will serve a second term if he is lucky. He said the council is trying to do the best that it can with the tools that they have. My biggest goal is to get the city of Dearborn Heights back to work five days a week, Muscat said. It is imperative that we do that. Dearborn Heights 20th District Court Judge Mark Plawecki introduced himself, followed by Dearborn Heights City Councilman Bill Bazzi, who concurred with Muscats assertion that the council has a lot of issues with which it must deal. Also speaking were Dearborn City Council member Robert Abraham, who arrived later than his other Dearborn council colleagues. He was followed by State Senator for District 3 Sylvia Santana. For more information about the Dearborn and Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters, call 313-278-6476 or go to lwvddh.org. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here NEWSALERT-RUSSIA-CAPITAL-SHOOTING Moscow authorities say a gunman opened fire in a customer service center, killing two people in Russia's capital. (AP)Moscow authorities say a gunman opened fire in a customer service center, killing two people in Russia's capital. (AP) Hong Kong: Deception cases increase Secretary for Security John Lee said the Police will step up publicity against scams as deception cases rose 18% year-on-year to 8,372 in 2018. Speaking to the press after todays Fight Crime Committee meeting, Mr Lee said there was an uptick in social media, e-mail and investment scams. Social media deception cases rose 94% to 2,064, involving a loss of $500 million. There were 212 cases of investment scam for the year, involving $1.77 billion, he said. Reviewing the crime situation in 2018, Hong Kongs overall crime was down 3.2% from 2017, with 54,225 cases recorded. Falls were recorded in the categories of shop theft, arson, burglary, serious drugs offences and robbery, while the year saw a rise in homicide cases. This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Houston, TX -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/01/2019 --It is hard to say when life can throw a nasty surprise at anyone. One moment one might be a free man, while on the other moment, the person can be behind bars charged with misdemeanor crimes. It does not matter how petty the charges are, what matters is that the person is counted to be the culprit in the eyes of the law and put in jail. This is a tough situation not only for the person facing the charges but also for the family members. In such circumstances, what is much needed is arranging for a bail bond. That is where companies like All About Bail Bonds come to one's help. All About Bail Bonds has some of the best and experienced bail bondsman in Liberty TX and Sugar Land Texas and they can help get a bail bond arranged in no time. The best thing about them is that they are available 24/7 and just a phone call away. When one is charged for a misdemeanor crime, All About Bail Bonds can help that person get out of jail quickly. The person can be accused of any misdemeanor crime like Traffic Violations, Drug Possession, Domestic Violence, Disorderly Conduct, Loitering & Trespassing, Petty Theft & Shoplifting, and stalking. Whichever charge it is, the experienced bail bondsman will be able to get the bond which can give the accused the freedom until it is time for a follow-up court appearance. The accused must, however, show up for the next court date; otherwise, the discounted bail will be revoked, and the person will be responsible for paying the entire fee. There is another advantage of letting All About Bail Bonds assist in the matter of arranging for bail, and that is one does have to scramble for money that one might not have on the day that bail is due. Their convenient payment plans allow them to proceed with setting the loved one free. Get in touch with them today for felony bail bonds, traffic bail bonds and misdemeanor bail in Harris County and Liberty Texas. Call 713-676-2227 for immediate assistance. About All About Bail Bonds All About Bail Bonds is a bail bonds company that is available 24/7 to assist their clients in arranging for quick bail bonds in Harris County, Sugar Land TX and Liberty Texas. Hong Kong, China -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/28/2019 --PubHTML5, a leading provider of digital publishing software, has publicly released its acclaimed flipping book tool for Mac. Beginning now, Apple users will be able to generate visually stunning digital flipping books using PubHTML5 flipping book tool for Mac. After an immensely successful web-based version and a Windows desktop application, the industry-leading tool has now been made available across devices running macOS, namely products from Apple's MacBook and the iMac family. PubHTML5 empowers publishers to create bespoke digital experiences that mimic the turning of a book page. The resulting digital flipping book for Mac features realistic page flip transitions, and can be shared on websites and embedded within webviews in hybrid mobile applications. When contacted, Jason Chen, Chief Technology Officer at PubHTML5 emphasized, "Apple's products have been successful in garnering wide-spread acceptance from designers and publishers. Their operating system (macOS) continues to be the platform of choice for creatives around the world. Launch of PubHTML5 provides Apple enthusiasts with a powerful application for crafting amazing digital flipping books. It is a one-stop software solution that encompasses all aspects ranging from conversion to publishing in a user-friendly environment." PubHTML5 flipping book for Mac supports a plethora of formats for conversion into digital HTML5 flipping books including the familiar PDF file as well as MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel and the lesser-known Open Document Type. The tool also imports image files for creating immersive digital photo albums. There are plenty of pre-designed resources to choose from. PubHTML5 flipping book tool for Mac also comes with in-built page and animation editors, offering the designer full control over the appearance and transition associated with each individual page. The ability to insert rich multimedia content makes the resulting digital flipping book highly immersive and enjoyable. PubHTML5 is also equipped with a highly sought-after feature that automatically generates table of contents containing structural overview of the flipping book along with clickable page thumbnails. The CTO further added, "While most features of the app are free to try, PubHTML5 offers an affordable pricing model for unlocking premium features. The pricing structure suits organizations of all types and sizes, empowering digital publishers to create spectacular experiences that inspire and mesmerize the target audience." About PubHTML5 Headquartered in Hong Kong, PubHTML5 is a software development company that is committed to providing users with the most user-friendly flipping book tool for Mac. PubHTML5 takes the pain out of creating captivating digital flipping books by a simplified one-click process. The resulting digital flipping books can be readily shared on social media platforms, hosted on webpages, and emailed to subscribers. Learn more about the best-in-line flipping book tool for Mac by visiting the product page here. Share Tweet Pin 69 shares Note all articles are independently researched and written by myself. However, if you buy via one of the links it may be an affiliate and I may earn a small commission. The return of rattan and the 1970s for the bedroom. That pretty much sums up the Ria furniture range at Urban Outfitters. Thats right, Urban Outfitters, which seems to be getting back into the furniture business in the UK after drifting off a little over the last year or so. In the US, the UO store is packed full of furnishings in its apartment section, but the UK doesnt quite have the same depth of stock. Maybe things are changing? With the Ria range, its definitely changing for the better. This is the kind of furnishings you would find in a 1970s flat or apartment of some hip young thing during that era and not really since. Some aspects of the 1970s have come back, but rattan and wicker havent quite made it back to the mainstream. Shame as it looks quite stylish done well. It certainly stands out, thats for sure. The range here is mainly for the bedroom, with the rattan bed, a six-drawer dresser and a nightstand, along with a bookshelf thats a little more versatile and a coffee table and stool that are probably more living room, but again will work in a different part of the house as well. You can see all the designs here, which will give you an idea of whether they will work in your home, either singularly or together. As for price, the range starts at 89 for the stool, gradually working up to 899 for the dresser, with everything else somewhere in the middle. Find out more at the Urban Outfitters website By SA Commercial Prop News South African retailer Woolworths Holdings has announced a joint venture in Tanzania and Uganda, adding more stores to its growing African portfolio. South African retailer Woolworths Holdings has announced a joint venture in Tanzania and Uganda, adding more stores to its growing African portfolio. The company said on Friday that it would add another store in Uganda and another two in Tanzania by the end of the year, while plans were already under way for stores in Nigeria, Rwanda and Angola. "It is the right time to invest in Africa. It represents a huge opportunity for all retailers in SA," Woolworths head of franchise, John Fraser, said on Friday. The company plans to open 16 new stores in the 2012 financial year, bringing its total African footprint to 60. Retail space will increase by 42% next year and by an estimated 145% over the next three years, it said. Mr Fraser said that the company had changed its business model from a franchise model to joint ventures. "We acted as a wholesaler selling to individuals and left the retailing side up to the franchisees in the past. But we are serious about expansion into Africa and realised a joint venture gives us the best of both worlds. We can bring our extensive retailing experience and expertise, and work with partners who understand the local environment and customer." In Uganda and Tanzania the local partner would be Ali Mufuruki, who had been a franchise owner before. "Mr Mufuruki has helped establish the Woolworths brand in Tanzania and has a great understanding of how we do business," Mr Fraser said. "We are confident that by working with our local partners and focusing on supply chains we can bring the price of goods down. "We will provide a bigger offering and choice. At the moment childrens wear, menswear and lingerie are performing well." The company will not be serving its food offering to the broader African market yet, although some of SAs neighbouring countries have food stores. Sourcing in Africa remained a challenge, Mr Fraser said. Woolworths CEO Ian Moir said last month that Africa represented a real opportunity. "Where there are aspirant customers in Africa our brand will be appealing. The biggest issue is getting goods into countries and not paying double duty. "Nigeria is a rapidly expanding market. In three or four years things will change dramatically and there will be a few malls, and we need to be in there at the start." The African operation made up 3% of business but in future would become a big part of it, he said. Absa Investments analyst Chris Gilmour said oil-producing nations would be lucrative for Woolworths. "There isnt much competition and they should be able to sell their clothing at a premium. It is a whole new arena but the money is there and it is important to be one of the companies that are first off the mark." By SA Commercial Prop News Darren Winterstein, Managing Director of Aucor. Africa's leading auction house, Aucor today announced that it has acquired a 50% stake in The High St Auction Co, South Africa's fastest growing property auction house. The balance remains vested with the current shareholders. The agreement between the two companies will see the property division of Aucor and The High St Auction Co merge, with each company holding an equal 50% share of the new entity. The merger brings together two complementary businesses, leveraging the strengths of both parties to create the dominant and preeminent player in the property auction market, comments Darren Winterstein, Managing Director of Aucor. The decision to combine the different strengths of these two companies was made to ensure the long term commercial sustainability and profit of the business in this sector. Our strategy internally has been focussed on finding and securing leading industry specialists who have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the sectors in which we work, explains Winterstein. This is now extending and will bring companies with specialised industry knowledge into the Aucor fold. Since inception in 1968, Aucor, with its broad African footprint, has organically built a diverse and successful auction business disposing of both loose and immovable assets. This has positioned it is as arguably the most well established name in the auction industry. However, following the purchase of a majority stake by a BEE consortium earlier this year, Aucor took the decision to adopt a new merger and acquisition-driven growth strategy, aimed at cementing its market leading position. The High St Auction Co was identified as a leading industry player, making it an ideal partner to initiate this expansion strategy with. The High St Auction Co was launched in October 2010 and has rapidly become one of the leading marketers and sellers of commercial, industrial, retail, agricultural and residential properties on auction, especially as prevailing market conditions have made auctions a more popular, effective and efficient way to sell properties. We saw great synergies between the two companies and liked what The High St Auction Co has been doing in the property auction market, continues Winterstein. We were also very keen to secure the considerable human capital and intellectual property contained within The High St Auction Co, as the management team boasts a wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry. We are very excited about the merger, as it is uncommon for such a young, growing company to attract the interest of such a well established industry player, comments Lance Chalwin-Milton, director at The High St Auction Co The strong fundamentals that underpin our business and the success we have enjoyed in the market of late has obviously resonated with Aucor, in what is becoming an increasingly competitive marketplace. Chalwin-Milton explains that the deal brings distinct benefits to both parties, as it will not only bolster Aucor's business, but it will also give High St. a major boost in the property auction market. Apart from increasing the value of our company enormously, Aucors market position and strength, together with the integration of its property infrastructure into High St., to create a new business model, will deliver greater market share. This will all be underpinned by The High St Auction Cos experienced and skilled Business Development team. Aucor's established national and African footprint will also be a major boon for The High St Auction Co, giving the business easy access to new markets. The acquisition allows us to rapidly expand our business without the operational limitations and restrictions commonly associated with organic growth, continues Chalwin-Milton. It will enable us to leverage off of Aucor's good name, customer base and regional experience. It will also open up new channels to secure stock that we previously didn't have access to, such as distressed properties typically held by banks. This will further stimulate growth by assisting us to drive volume, capture market share and increase revenue. Thanks to the substantial expertise and experience that both parties bring, we envisage this venture bringing a powerhouse to the auction market that will take property auctions to heights never seen before, concludes Chalwin-Milton. Masood Azhar (file photo) Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has admitted that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is "very unwell", adding that Islamabad is open to "any step" that will lead to a de-escalation of tensions with India. Qureshi's remarks during an exclusive CNN interview on Thursday came after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the captured Indian Air Force pilot, will be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". "Prime Minister Khan made the statement (about Varthaman's release) while addressing a joint session of Parliament (on Thursday) and this is a goodwill gesture. This is an expression of Pakistan's willingness to de-escalate," the Minister told CNN. When asked if Azhar was in Pakistan and if authorities would go after him in the wake of the escalation of tensions, Qureshi replied: "Well he is in Pakistan. "According to my information, he is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house." Queried about why has Pakistan not arrested Azhar, despite the fact that the JeM has been labelled a terrorist organisation which causes "incredible tension between the two highly armed neighbours", the Minister said: "If they (India) give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan... If they have solid, inalienable proof, share it with us so that we can convince the people and the independent judiciary of Pakistan." Following the February 14 attack by a JeM suicide bomber on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama causing the death of 40 troopers, the Pakistan Prime Minister had asked India to provide evidence to Islamabad to take necessary action. Qureshi said that Pakistan follows a "legal process" and will have to "satisfy that legal process" for the country to take any action against Azhar and his group. The Minister told CNN that an all out war between India and Pakistan would be "mutual suicide". "When I learned about the tragic Pulwama attack, I condemned it and made a very balanced and sincere offer (to India). If you have evidence, share it with us, we will honestly and sincerely investigate." He said that the new Imran Khan government has a "new mindset". "After a very long time there is a government in Pakistan which supports the Pakistan Armed Forces. The civil and political leadership is on the same page. "The policy of this government is that we will not allow our soil to be used by any organisation or individual for terrorism against anyone and that includes India," Qureshi told CNN. The Minister thanked US President Donald Trump "for taking an interest to de-escalate the situation", adding that the "US can play a significant role". "The US and Pakistan have had good relations for decades. We have been allies. I am happy that they have taken notice of the situation... This is a very welcomed development." The hearing into an application to transfer a motion to quash charges against 20 church ministers and stay of proceeding to the Supreme Court commenced yesterday. The matter which is before the District Court was presided by Judge Leota Raymond Schuster. The application was filed by defense lawyer Alex Sua and Tui Faasili last week. Each of the 20 Congregational Christian Church of Samoa Ministers is facing two counts of failure to withhold tax and failure to file wage tax returns. Lawyers Avila Ah Leong and Alesana Tumua, who represented the Ministry of Revenue, strongly opposed the application. In her submission, Ms. Ah Leong accused the church ministers of using the application as a delay tactic to deflect the cause of justice. She argued the application should be dismissed and the matter should proceed without further delay. Also in our own tax administration is to ensure that every tax payer comes before the Court, regardless of age, gender, religion, professional background is treated equally, she said. This application of the defendant seeks to condone the continuous non-compliance of the defendant of the law that has already been enforced and complied with by Ministers of other religion including even those from the very church the defendant represents. This application is intentional attempt to deflect and frustrate the cause of justiceBy filing this application the defense is attempting to legitimize what otherwise could be illegal and this could not be condoned in due administration of justice. Looking back prior to the amendment of the tax legislation being passed, Ms. Ah Leong said it went through various consultation and through all denomination. People particularly from other denominations have accepted, have accepted pay necessary tax, and accepted contribution their members submitted them are taxable. Ms. Ah Leong also made reference to the affidavits of the defendants, where they admit they are not compliant, because of their church resolution to all reverends to not comply with their tax obligation. This is the very foundation of their non-compliance and core reasons of these delay tactics. Not because of uncertainty of law or constitutional issues that needs clarity. Furthermore, Ms. Ah Leong maintained that the District Court has the jurisdiction to deal with the matter, and does not warrant being transferred to the Supreme Court. She added the Constitution articles raised by the defense counsel claiming to be infringed by the Tax Administration and Income Tax Act are not relevant to the criminal charges. Defense lawyer Sua responded to submission from Ms. Ah Leong claiming the application was not a delay tactic. He reminded the Court that the application is an avenue that is available for the defendant. I ask this honour Court to not place weight on this argument, said Sua. These are available to the defendant under the Criminal Procedure Act and the defendants are resorting to those avenues available. In response to claims that the Constitution Article 1 and Article 5 are irrelevant, Sua disagreed. My learned friend submitted that the Constitutional articles are irrelevant to the main issue of this court, which is violation of section 70 and 71 of the Tax Administration Act. We respectfully submit they relate directly to the articles. The relation is the fact the recent amendment of Constitution, which states that the State of Samoa is founded on the Trinity. If we go in to what is given or what is given freely and voluntarily to ministers of religion are non taxable, and that is relevant to the argument of Article 1. It is the same with Article 15, it relates directly as how it discriminate of the very aspect that the ministers of religion are taxable by the income, that is given voluntarily or freely by the congregation. This law (Tax Administration) in unconstitutional. Sua questioned what constitutes contribution of money (alofa) to church ministers as a taxable income. It is very uncertain hence our argument. There is an argumentative interpretation that the contribution, which is given by the congregation, does not constitute contribution its a gift. They are given to the minister voluntarily and freely, as opposed to a contribution, there is connotation of an application when contribution you are bound to expect something in return. I think that is the very essence of complexity and why the defendants are challenging the sections (70 and 71 of Tax Administration Act). Sua explained in his submission that Section 70 and 71 of the Tax Administration Act does not apply to the church ministers and the legislation lacks details. The Tax Administration Act 2012 Section 70 outlines Offence for failure to file a tax return and Section 71 talks about Offence for failure to withhold tax return. In support of their application to transfer the matter to the Supreme Court, Sua said it will save both parties money if the matter is appealed. He further pointed because of the complexity of the issue and interpretation of section 70 and 71 church ministers are uncertain if it applies to them or not. Because of the urgency of the matter, Judge Schuster said he will make his decision available sometime next week. The twenty church ministers involved include; Tautiaga Senara, Tunumoso Iosia, Faasalafa Vitaoa, Faaiuga Matautia, Faraimo TiitiI, Fili Matalavea, Fuaao Fuimaono, Iese Uele, Ioane Petaia, Lavilavi Soloi, Amosa Reupena, Elefatu Lesa, Poasa Toiaivao, Petaia Leavai, Pita Toleafoa, Siaosi Salesulu, Seilala Luamanuvae, Semikueva Faatoafa, Taise Ioapo and Tavita Anesone. The Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) has filed misconduct charges against the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration, Papalii John Taimalelagi. A confidential P.S.C. letter dated February 26, 2019 and signed by the P.S.C. Chairman Aiono Mose Sua which was addressed to the Chief Executive officer/Registrar of the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration confirmed that the charges were served on the C.E.O. February 25, 2019. The letter does not give details of the misconduct charges against the C.E.O. Repeated attempts by the Samoa Observer to get a comment from Papalii have been unsuccessful. In the letter, Aiono advised that the Commission decided to decline his request for 21 days, to prepare his response to the misconduct charges. The Commission considered your request and decided to decline the extension of 21 days. Instead, the Commission has approved an additional seven days, which gives you 14 days to prepare your response to the charges. Under the normal P.S.C. process, officers are given seven days to admit or deny the charges. Aiono said in the event the charges were denied, a full investigation would commence. At the completion of the investigation, the Commission Delegate is required to provide you with the full evidence for your response. You will be then given 14 days to respond to the full evidence. Upon receipt of your response on the full evidence, the Commission will consider your response and the full evidence gathered to determine if the charges have been proven or not. Given that the maximum number of days under the process is 14 days, the Commission cannot exceed the timeframe of 14 days for any responses under the process, Aiono wrote in his letter. The P.S.C. chairman added that the deadline for the charges are now 5.00pm March 12, 2019. Cabinet has approved the appointment of Silimanai Ueta Banse Jr. Solomona as the new General Manager of the Samoa Airport Authority (S.A.A.). He brings 26 years of experience in the aviation industry including 12 years in management level posts with the SAA. Prior to his appointment and from 2012, Silimanai was SAAs Assistant General Manager for Operations and Aerodromes where he was tasked, amongst other duties and responsibilities, as the Aerodromes Specialist to complete project funding papers for the: - terminal expansion with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This was later replaced with the Shanghai Construction Group terminal upgrade project. - preliminary scoping and conduct of initial studies (Environment & Social Management Plans) of the World Bank-funded Samoa Aviation Investment Project (SAIP) to project approval in August 2014. To date, he is the SAA representative on the Terminal Upgrade projects, to complete these vital projects for the enhancement of airport operations. His initial training was conducted at the Singapore Aviation Academy and the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji Air Traffic Training College. He obtained his initial ratings as a Traffic Controller (Aerodrome and Approach Control) in July 1996 with the SAA through the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority testing regime. In March 2000, he moved to Fiji on contract with Strategic Air Services Limited at their Nausori Airport Facility before he was transferred in 2004 to Nadi where he obtained further training and qualified as an Area/Oceanic Controller. Subsequent trainings were conducted in several countries New Zealand (Air Traffic Services Examiner and Risk Assessment and Mitigation), Korea (Air Navigation Policy), and Malaysia (Airport Economics). A total of 12 applications were received for the General Manager post with Silimanai shortlisted alongside three other candidates. Samoan born, the 45-year old Silimanai completed his primary, secondary and tertiary education in Suva, Fiji and is a graduate of the University of the South Pacific Foundation Program. I am deeply humbled for the trust placed on me by the Government and SAA Board and Management. I look forward to continue the work by my predecessor to further improve the future of Samoas civil aviation industry, said Silimanai. The position of pro-vice chancellor for the University of the South Pacific Alafua Campus could be abolished, says vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia. Prof. Pal said there is progress in selecting a pro-vice chancellor but there is also a possibility that there could just be a campus director appointed. The position of pro-vice chancellor has been vacant for over a decade, and Mohammed Umar was appointed to take on the role of Campus Director and Head of School since 2007. My team and I are rethinking what is most appropriate for our regional campuses, what the most appropriate governance structure would be, he said to the Weekend Observer. Or there is a very strong possibility that we say that the pro-vice chancellor position does not work for us, and that we try a completely different structure, which might be that we put a very good campus director in place with a good academic record. There needs to be checks and balances between the school and the campuses, it is not right for the same person to occupy all the positions. So I would be looking at a structure which will give better governance for the campus, and you know these are public resources we are dealing with, and make sure that the resources are adequately protected. Prof. Pal said his primary concern is that the students of USP get the best education possible. And we have a lot of plans for this campus, we want to see it flourish, we want our students doing a lot better, and we want to see a lot more programmes coming here. One of the programmes I am very keen on is to do with marine science, so ultimately our university has very strong ambitions to make sure Samoans are given more opportunity to study in Samoa. He said the university does not intend to compete with the national university. But at the same time we want to make sure that we are providing courses that will be of value to the nation. European Union (EU) commissioner Neven Mimica has appealed to Samoa and the world to unite in the fight against climate change. The EU senior official made the appeal during a recent visit to the Fuluasou Substation at Tuanaimato, where he added that Samoa continues to lead by example both in the region and globally in its efforts to meet the objectives of the Paris Climate Change agreement. Speaking about renewable energy, there is little doubt that it will be at the heart of our global efforts for cleaner, more sustainable and less carbon intensive future. This is all the more important in Samoa, where you experience first-hand the devastating effects of climate change through drought, sea level rise, cyclones and floods you know these all too well he said, he said. Mr. Mimica said the country continues to show its a world leader in sustainable energy, as the drop in its reliance on fossil fuels has translated to more access to renewable energy. Speaking on climate change, he added: It is a problem for Samoans, for Europeans, and a problem for each and every one of us. At the last COP in Poland, the motto was changing together - these words could not ring more true. Individually, we can make a difference, but collectively we can change course. And today, our collective efforts boil down to one very real and tangible success this near completed hydropower plant in Fuluasou. He also stressed that equally important is how the plant will help Samoa in its transition to a low-carbon economy. Replacing diesel generated power by clean power means less diesel, less emissions and less pollution. And I am happy that the EU through our contribution to this plant is playing its part in helping Samoa reach its ambitious target of 100 per cent electricity generation from renewables by 2025. Bluesky Samoa customers will benefit from a new mobile phone product called non-stop combo packs. The launch was conducted at the Bluesky Maluafou headquarters and the new product services began to be rolled out yesterday. The Bluesky Samoa Chief Executive Officer, Toleafoa Douglas, said the initiative targeting their prepaid customers will be of benefit to them and entails a new modern service. The non-stop combo pack will allow customers to utilize mobile data, voice calling and texting with long validity up to 90 days, with benefits refreshed every day. You only pay once and choose the duration of the package you require, and be able to enjoy the benefits for up to 90 days and data one gigabyte normal and one gigabyte for Facebook but no rollover of unused daily balance, he said. Toleafoa also stated that the benefits are given to customers automatically after mid-night every day during the entire validity period. The existing balance and validity for any active package remains and does not overwrite any older benefits which the customers may already have. Customers can purchase the bundles by topping up the exact price and bundle will automatically be activated, or dial *888# and selecting the product under Non-stop Combo, or go into MyBluesky app and select the Non-stop Combo, he added. He also emphasized that if the data plan ran before midnight, customers can purchase any other bundles for data already existing. For example, the $5 for one gigabyte data is valid for two days. Another new benefit is the 50 minutes free to text and call Digicel numbers that comes with the package. At the moment we only have four choices of plans, the first is $9.00 valid for 24 hours, with benefits of mobile data worth two gigabyte comprised of one gigabyte normal and one gigabyte for Facebook, 50 free minutes and texts to both Bluesky and Digicel. For those that wish to purchase a higher amount will benefit from the $49.00 valid for seven days, $199 valid for 30 days and the 699 valid for 90 days all with the same benefits as the $9.00. A group of survivors of gender-based violence have started a campaign called Positive Movement, which is focused on eliminating violence against women and girls. The group known as Sisters of Hope come under the umbrella of Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) and is led by International Childrens Peace Prize 2018 finalist, Leilua Lino. The campaign will aim to encourage people to support victims of physical and sexual abuse, and encourage them to speak out and say no to violence. According to the SVSG president, Siliniu Lina Chang, it is the belief of the SVSG that change starts in the minds and voices of a community. Siliniu said that a community should give hope to those who are without support. A community should not leave each other behind, and the Positive Movement is the platform to hear your voices for change, she said. SVSG is taking the movement to villages, churches, schools and the local community at large. We will spread the Positive Movement further to our Pacific region and beyond to the outside world through the social media. Join us in the Positive Movement, where together, we will say no to violence, past troubles, past hurts, and scream out Yes to lives of positivity. Be the change that you want someone else to see. Lift your voice and join us in the Positive Movement because the Sisters of Hope believe that if we can, you can too, said SVSG. The group has advocated for the rights of the most vulnerable in the local Samoan community for over 14 years, and have become the voice for the voiceless, in the hope that vulnerable communities would be heard. In situations where brave and courageous girls had once lost their voices, the message is now loud and clear if we can, you can too. Have you overcome something in life that used to keep you silent? Have you made some positive changes in your life that would give hope to others? Have you got a message that you want to share? If this is you, then join us. The outpouring of support from locals including many business owners towards a Chinese business couple who were attacked during a robbery last week is heartwarming. It shows the best of Samoa, which is what we want to see more of. Indeed, coming at a time when we sense there is strong resentment from some sections of the community about the recent influx of Asians and Asian-owned businesses in this country, the strong condemnation of thugs who deliberately target Chinese businesses or other non Samoans - is reassuring. The truth is no one in this country deserves to be victimised whether its through a robbery or being attacked on the streets based on their ethnicity. What we need to remember is that whether they are Chinese, Indians, English or whatever race, these people are guests of our country. We should feel duty bound to look after them. Think of thousands of Samoans who are also being treated as guests of many other foreign countries. What were to happen if those countries treated them badly? How would we feel? Besides, this is a politically independent country that welcomes everyone as long as they are here legally and for legitimate purposes including setting up businesses, which in return help the economy and provide much-needed jobs. Sadly in Samoa today, weve witnessed a disturbing trend where more and more Asians are being targeted by criminals and thugs. It wasnt that long ago when a young man walked into a store at Falelauniu, punched an Asian woman in the face and took off with her money. That came on the back of other similar attacks involving Asian-owned and run businesses throughout the country. Last year, the Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiavaasue Falefatu Sapolu, expressed his concerns about the issue. Criminal offences which involve Chinese nationals as victims have been at an alarming increase in the recent past, particularly burglary and theft, he said. But there have also been other kinds of offences. This is becoming of serious concern The Chinese are contributing in a significant and substantial way to the development of Samoa, but people like the accused with their actions are likely to undermine the good relationship that the rest of Samoa has with the Chinese. Now last week, the owners of the One-on-One supermarket at Vailoa became the latest victims. Since the story emerged, many Samoan business owners have expressed support for the Chinese-run businesses and condemned the cowardly attacks. Not all Samoans are like those criminals. Theyre just a bunch of uneducated and lost kids who have nothing better to do. The Chinese had been very helpful to our economy and we feel sorry for them, said 50-year-old Tali Mamona, of Malie. Another local businessman, Viane Leilua Ulugia, said Samoans need to do a better job protecting Chinese businesses. In those days, the Samoans suffered from misery with the expensiveness of the goods and products from overseas, and I know that all Samoans will believe this when I say that its only the Chinese products that are the cheapest, he said. Two other Samoan business owners, Helen Frost and Maria Stowers, also expressed similar sentiments. At the grassroots level, Ruth Uelese, who is an employee of the Chinese-owned Coin Save, is grateful just to have found employment. I have been struggling in trying to find a job to provide for my family, and although its not a decent job, but at least the Chinese respond when we look for jobs, she said. Shes correct and for these jobs we are extremely grateful. But here is the point, as Samoans, this is our country. And while some things appear concerning especially with foreigners taking over businesses and arriving in huge numbers, here are a couple of factors to consider. Firstly, these people wouldnt be here if there was no need for them to be here. This Government opened the door because they need their businesses so they can stimulate the economy and provide our people with much-needed jobs. Secondly, if you step back a little to look at the global picture, the influx of Asians is not just happening in Samoa. It is taking place all over the world. The worry is that in some countries not too far away from us, their people did not react well to it. All you have to do is look at what happened to Nukualofa a few years ago. It was a very sad day. We dont want that to happen in this country. We are better than that. This is why its important that we have locals being vocal about the protection of Chinese people or any other nationalities - for that matter. Have a wonderful Friday Samoa, God bless! A consultant contract directly awarded to former Chief Executive Officer of the Land, Transport Authority (L.T.A.), Leasi Vainalepa Galuvao, will still be honoured despite the contract not going through the proper procurement process. This is according to the Minister of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Papalii Niko Lee Hang, who is also the responsible Minister for L.T.A. During an interview with the Samoa Observer yesterday, Papalii said while the procurement process was bypassed, it is difficult to cancel the contract since it has already been signed. The Minister said he was not aware of the decision which had only been brought to his attention after it was signed. The Prime Minister questioned me about it and I had to explain to Cabinet that I was not aware of it it was a decision made by the current C.E.O, said Papalii. So the Prime Minister wanted me to ask the Attorney General of a way to have it cancelled but to me it is already signed and both parties have agreed. It would be another civil case at Court for us. The six months contract in question is worth $121,000 for road works and major projects such as the reconstruction of the Vaisigano Bridge and upgrading of the west coast road. According to the Minister, the decision made by L.T.A. C.E.O. Galumalemana Taatialeoitiiti Tutuvanu-Schwalger and Board Chairperson to award Leasi the contract was on grounds that the procurement of such personnel was within their jurisdiction. The Board has the discretion to hire people in their authority with that (procurement) amount of less than $200,000, he said. Any amount above whether its procurement or equipment it has to come through Tenders Board. But the problem was they made a direct appointment of Leasi first of all without my knowledge and should have discussed with me the need of this consultant. Because if she (C.E.O) discussed this with me, I would have told them to tender it and go through the procurement process even if its under their jurisdiction to hire a person but the government process should be followed. There are a lot of other civil engineers that wished to apply and we can evaluate from the tender who is cheaper and go from there. Papalii pointed out there are a lot of civil engineers in Samoa that run private businesses and they are all eligible yet the appointment was made directly. While the Minister said he does not have any grudges against Leasi, to be fair on other engineers, the contract should have been tendered. The Minister does not accept claims from C.E.O. Galumalemana that the awarding of the contract was because of the urgency of works. Yes we need civil engineers (for work) but we also cannot bypass the procurement process and no Ministry or government agency is exempt from this, he said. It doesnt mean we dont have engineers and we cannot do any work. L.T.A have their own engineers. They blamed the works for Pacific Games and other road works and saw the need to make the urgent decision to appoint Leasi but that is the problem it did not follow procurement and that is an oversight by the C.E.O. and Chairperson. When L.T.A. C.E.O, was contacted for a comment last week she said the decision to award Leasi the contract was due to a significant number of urgent road works that the Authority is implementing. Attorney General, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, has confirmed that the Police have launched an investigation into the conduct of former Electoral Commissioner, Papalii Malietau Malietoa. The investigation is focusing on what led to Cabinets decision to terminate his services three years ago. Asked about the timing of the investigation given that Papalii was let go following an investigation by the Public Service Commission in 2015, Lemalu said the investigation has merits. All P.S.C. files referred to us and that are with our office are being given a full review as part of an updating of our files, explained the Attorney General. Lemalu added that there is P.S.C. evidence, which calls for a referral to the Police. Where the evidence supports it, referrals will be made to the Police for their views and recommendations, said Lemalu. He did not elaborate. Commissioner of Police, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil has yet to respond to questions from the Samoa Observer on the status of their investigation. On Wednesday, Papalii Malietau said he was shocked when contacted for a comment. I was not informed of an investigation and only heard it first from you, he said. Natural justice dictates that I be informed of an investigation being undertaken and the scope of that investigation. He added that the timing is unusual. It was 2015 I was terminated, he said. I will defend myself via the lawful process. I would not be surprised given my vocal opposition against the dam being built in Alaoa. Immigration has refused to consider a proposal to allow international travellers to carry controlled drugs - if they are legally prescribed by an authorised person - from their home countries. We have to come up with a better plan than this, Assistant Chief Immigration Officer, Siaopo Pese, told the Samoa Observer. Anyone can provide a doctors note indicating they are on medicinal marijuana. We already have a drug problem in Samoa, this will open another door and I will not have it. The proposal came from the Samoa Law Reform Commission (S.L.R.C.). It was contained in their Drug Reform report, released in December 2017. This week, key Government officials met to discuss the matter. We met with the Attorney General, Commissioner of Police and Acting Director General of the Hospital to address the issues around medicinal marijuana for overseas travellers, Siaopo said. I am against this proposal. And I have my reasons. There should be strict procedures for a traveller, aside from showing a certificate authorizing such person to carry such drugs, from their home country. Samoa is a small place and problems will arise as a result of this. We are trying to curb drugs entering our borders and if this is allowed, it will not end well for us. There should be guidelines to follow and with it should be approved by all interested parties in order for us to entertain the request for the travelling population who have this special need. The S.L.R.C. report said Samoa does not have a provision under Samoas Narcotics Act exempting travellers who are authorised by their home countries to carry drugs for treatment services to another country. Currently, any illegal drug discovered at the border by Customs are seized and detained. However, there are situations where an international traveller who is found to be in possession of such drugs can be exempted from liability on the condition that there is a certificate authorizing such person to carry such drugs i.e. a prescription. According to the S.L.R.C. report, in the 1990s there was a case where an Australian passenger was travelling to Samoa carrying illegal drugs. This person was allowed to carry such drugs into Samoa on the basis that it was authorised by his doctor back in Australia. The Commission sought submissions on whether the new drugs framework should contain such a provision regarding international traveller exemption from carrying illegal drugs. The common view was that Samoa should allow international travellers to carry controlled drugs if legally prescribed by an authorised person in their home countries. One submitter expressed the view that cannabis for instance, is now known to have good uses for cancer, and that the world may be heading this way particularly with the rise of cancer cases globally. Therefore, more and more people are relying on these illegal drugs for treatment and take it with them while travelling. It was suggested that the N.Z. approach could be used as guidance because it is reasonable. However it was strongly emphasised that there should also be strict guidelines and conditions in place to effectively regulate such cases, said the S.L.R.C. in their report. A section of the Savalalo flea markets roof was blown off again by strong winds just over a week after it was repaired by the Samoa Land Corporation staff. The street vendors stalls were empty and wet from the bad weather on Wednesday. Vendors, who were selling pork-buns nearby and refused to identify themselves, told the Samoa Observer that the vendors vowed not to return until the damaged roof is fixed. The Samoa Observer reported on the concerns of the vendors a fortnight ago, after the roof was initially damaged by strong winds. According to the Samoa Land Corporation, which manages the Savalalo flea market, vendors cannot pay rent during the damage period and a row of vendors next to the affected area explained the same policy applied to them. When the Samoa Observer followed up on the vendors at the Market again yesterday, Steve Leuatogi, a representative of the vendors said theyre thankful that the roof is now fixed. John Jay became a successful lawyer and later the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the highest judge in the land. William Wirt was barely 20-years-old when he passed his law exams in Virginia. He later became the United States Attorney General. Remember, one of these famous lawyers was a law school dropout. Roger Taney started as a lawyer and worked his way up to become the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and then the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Daniel Webster became a lawyer in Boston where he built a great legal record and reputation. He then became a highly respected Senator and was later appointed Secretary of State. Salmon Chase became well known as a defense attorney helping slaves. Later he became a U.S. Senator and then the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, actually started as a lawyer, which helped prepare him for his exceptionally wise and diplomatic leadership that kept the States of America united through its terribly divisive and devastating Civil War. Clarence Darrow became possibly the most famous lawyer of all, particularly for his case of the Scopes or so-called Monkey trial of 1925. Of these seven successful and famous lawyers, which one do you think was the law school dropout? It was Clarence Darrow: the one name which is so often associated with the practice of law. Clarence Darrow attended law school for only one year and then dropped out to study law on his own. But what is more amazing is those other six successful lawyers could not drop out because they never even went to law school! They all studied law on their own. Actually, for every one of us the school of life is always in session. We are designed never to stop learning our Creators laws and ways of life. In fact, the word disciple means a lifelong learner or lifetime student of Jesus, the Maker and Master of life. Once and for all, wont you ask Him to become the Maker and Master Teacher of your completely new life with Him today? Just think a minute When her parents asked Amanda Walker if shed like try an experimental treatment for her rare bone disease, the girl was terrified. As they had been counseled, Amandas parents, Alicia and Robert Walker, dropped the matter for the time being. But a few days later, Amanda herself began asking about the clinical trial for her disease, called MHE. Appealing to Amandas interest in science and desire to help others, her parents got her permission. So Amanda, who gave her age as 8 3/4, began taking what may be a drug to treat MHE, or a placebo. Advertisement The Walkers story underscores that medical research is more than science its about meeting human needs. That linkage of science to people was the theme of Thursdays Rare Disease Day symposium at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) in La Jolla. Now in its 10th year, the symposium is one of the few events specifically intended to bring together everyone with an interest in rare diseases. The event featured mainly scientific and medical talks. The Walker family traveled from their Culver City home for the symposium. Also present: SBPs Dr. Yu Yamaguchi and Dr. Maurizio Pacifici of Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, whose research led to development of the drug. The event was sponsored by a patient advocacy group, the MHE Research Foundation; and Clementia Pharmaceuticals. Amanda is taking part in the drugs clinical trial at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. It is being tested by Montreal drugmaker Clementia Pharmaceuticals. (On Tuesday, drug company Ipsen said it would buy Clementia for $1.3 billion, largely for its rare disease drug portfolio.) MHE, or Multiple Hereditary Exostoses, is a genetic disease that causes abnormal bone growths. These vary in severity from mild to crippling. Until the clinical trial started, the only treatments available were surgery and pain management. Amandas condition is mild. She has an overgrowth on her right knee, but its painless and doesnt limit her movement. Her parents are more worried about the future: Some children get worse when they enter adolescence. The Walkers said Amandas symptoms were subtle, such as movement that produced painless but abnormal clicks. Because there was no disability, Amandas diagnosing specialist said to ignore it. He was very jovial and just said, if I were you, I would stay in denial and, just enjoy her childhood, Alicia Walker said. That wasnt acceptable, so the Walkers, especially Robert, continued to look for information online. Through a patient support group, Robert eventually discovered the clinical trial, which provides treatment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where Amanda goes. Because treatment means missing school days, Amandas parents began telling friends and relatives of her condition. Previously, only a few of the closest relatives had been told. The drug, palovarotine, has shown indications of effectiveness in clinical testing against another bone disease, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive (FOP). After discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Clementia said last October that it plans to ask approval of the drug for FOP in the second half of 2019. Getting Amanda to assent to the trial required some preparation. She had been reading the Little House on the Prairie books about American pioneers. Her mother discussed that approach with a counselor. I said, what if we position it like that theres all sorts of different pioneers, and shes going to be a medical pioneer, Alicia Walker said. And since Amanda is being raised as Jewish Alicia is Jewish, Robert is not they appealed to Amandas spiritual side. Theres a word, mitzvah, doing good deeds, her mother said. And Amanda loves helping people. Amanda understands that she may be be getting a placebo, and thats OK with her, her mother said. I said to her, the placebo group is just as important as the group with the medicine because without the placebo group, you cant bring a drug to market. Amanda said: The reason Im missing so many days of school is because Im helping other kids who have this weird disease. For more information on palovarotene, go to j.mp/palovarotene. bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1020 A stink is being raised over a $120 million court settlement from the nations largest-known natural gas leak and its not about money, but cow manure. Environmental groups have criticized a plan to put more than a fifth of the settlement toward capturing climate-changing methane from dairy farms in the states farm belt more than 100 miles from where the blowout occurred on the edge of Los Angeles. Criticism of the dairy component of the deal struck between Southern California Gas Co. and the state and city of Los Angeles is wide-ranging, but groups complained the utility is getting full credit for projects partly funded by state money. They get to count methane reduction that was already happening on the public dime, said attorney Nina Robertson of Earthjustice. A court hearing is scheduled Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court to consider whether to give final approval of the settlement. Part of the agreement addresses mitigation of the 109,000 metric tons of methane released after a well blowout in the Aliso Canyon storage field in October 2015 that took nearly four months to stop. The incident sent a sulfurous stench over the community of Porter Ranch, where residents complained of headaches, nausea, nose bleeds and other symptoms. The company, owned by San Diego-based Sempra, has spent more than $1 billion related to the blowout with the majority of that going to temporarily relocate 8,000 families, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . The utility still faces more than 385 lawsuits on behalf of 48,000 people. Under the settlement, the utility agreed to pay up to $25 million to study long-term health consequences; reimburse city, county and state governments for responding to the incident; and monitor chemicals in the air near the facility for eight years. Costs of the settlement cant be passed along to ratepayers. The mitigation part of the deal calls for the utility to pay $26.5 million toward technology that captures methane from lagoons of cow manure and pipes it into the natural gas supply chain to be used to fuel trucks that run on compressed natural gas. A coalition of environmental groups criticized that decision as an inefficient way to absorb the methane and said it would lead to larger and more concentrated dairies and lead to smoggier air in the already heavily polluted San Joaquin Valley while also creating more natural gas infrastructure at a time when cleaner alternatives are needed. They joined the chorus of residents directly affected by the blowout in calling for mitigation in the Los Angeles area where there are plenty of sources where methane could be reduced. Fix what you broke where you broke it, said Phoebe Seaton of the Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability. Representatives from the attorney generals office and the California Air Resources Board would not comment in advance of the hearing, but the air board defended the settlement in a response to public comments filed in the court case. The state said dairies, which contribute 20 percent of the states methane, were the optimal place to mitigate the methane and would provide a win-win controlling methane emissions on farms and providing energy used to fuel trucks that will eliminate pollution otherwise created by diesel big-rigs. Earthjustice criticized the deal because SoCalGas will receive full credit even though public funds are being used. It also said theres not enough information to determine what percentage of a project the gas company will fund. If SoCalGas contributes 10 percent of the funding to a dairy where 5,000 tons of methane is captured, it should only get credit for mitigating 500 tons not the full amount, Robertson said. Without such an adjustment, the mitigation agreement grossly overstates SoCalGas contribution in achieving methane reductions and fails to constitute full mitigation for the Aliso disaster, Robertson wrote. The air board did not respond directly to that criticism, but rejected the idea the utility was getting a subsidy toward mitigation. Chris Gilbride, a spokesman for SoCalGas, did not comment on the criticism but said the settlement is consistent with the utilitys commitment to mitigate the leak. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Falls have a notorious snowball effect on an older persons health. A broken hip, for example, can lead to a hospital stay that could then spiral into multiple complications. The statistics are grim. Falls are the leading cause of injury death for those 65 or older, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 40 percent of those who need to be hospitalized from a fall wont be able to live independently again; most cant even return home. Two elderly people die from fall-related injuries every day in California, on average. How at risk are you? See the checklist from the San Diego Elder Law Center. Common causes for falls: Frailty and weakness Medications that cause lightheadedness or dizziness; drug combinations; taking medications at the wrong time Tripping hazards such as throw rugs, clutter and electrical cords Poor lighting; diminished eyesight Bad balance; lack of exercise; atrophied muscles Poor nutrition; dehydration Inner ear issues; impaired depth perception Fear of falling; taking tentative steps The San Diego Fall Prevention Task Force recommends: Eat well and drink lots of water; track all medications and take them when prescribed. And keep active to improve not just your overall health but strength, flexibility and balance. Advertisement Prevent falls at home Most fixes arent complicated and they are free or relatively inexpensive: Clear out the clutter and keep passageways open Remove throw rugs and errant power cords Install grab bars in the shower and near the toilet Install handrails on both sides of stairways. Raise the toilet seat a few inches with an elevated seat, preferably one with arms. They are available at most medical supply and drug stores. Use night lights. Pay particular attention to the homes key hazard zones: the bathroom and kitchen. Geriatric physician Dr. Daniel Sewell says enhanced lighting is one of the most important changes to make. Older people, people with cataracts or diabetes, their visual acuity is diminished, Sewell said. If the light isnt bright enough, they can become sedentary because theyre scared to get up. Atrophy and loss of balance can be the result. Sewell is medical director of the Senior Behavioral Health Program at UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center. Its such a simple fix, illuminating a space, he said. At home the idea would be as much natural light as possible. Think larger windows, sky lights, cathedral lighting, floor and table lamps, even lighter paint color choices. The floor matters, too Floor surfaces should be softer tile is hard and unforgiving and carpet can be too restricting for someone who uses a wheelchair or walker. Vinyl floors are a happy medium but can also be unexpectedly perilous, Sewell said, because they can be shiny. High gloss can be slippery, and even if its not, its perceived as slippery. It changes how (people) walk. They walk like theyre on ice, which leads to falls. Who can help? If you live in central San Diego, or South or East County, contact Jewish Family Service for free minor home modifications, such as grab bar installation, as part of its Fix-it program. (858) 637-3040. In North County, caregivers should call Interfaith Community Services at (760) 489-6380 ext. 204. Learn more The county office on Aging & Independence Services San Diego Fall Prevention Task Force offers a comprehensive guide on avoiding falls, including a helpful video called Dont Fall For It. Find more information at stopfalls.org. michele.parente@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @sdeditgirl To chip away at its structural deficit, the Coronado Unified School District may remove kindergarten classes from a multimillion-dollar facility and turn the space into a revenue-generating enterprise. Under the proposal, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students would move to classrooms on the Village Elementary School campus a few blocks away. The school district originally held kindergarten classes on that campus before it opened the $6.6 million stand-alone facility in 2006. I wish we werent having this conversation, Superintended Karl Mueller recently told the school board. But that being said, our reality is our reality. Coronado Unified will hold a public hearing on the proposal on March 7 at 4 p.m. at its district offices on 201 Sixth St. Advertisement The school district faces a structural budget deficit meaning its expenses exceed its revenues. That deficit is expected to grow from $1 million in the 2018-19 fiscal year to $4.1 million by 2026-27, according to the districts budget projections. Relocating transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students from the stand-alone facility, known as ECDC, on Coronado Avenue and Sixth Street to the main elementary school campus would result in about $450,000 in savings a year. Part of those savings include eliminating seven full-time staff positions. Because of already-scheduled retirements and resignations, the district believes staff wont be laid off. The district could also generate revenue by leasing the empty facility to preschool or childcare operators, or expanding its own preschool program. Benefits of the relocation proposal include expanding peer-mentoring and buddy programs, tracking student development more easily, having administrators always on site, and facilitating the transition from kindergarten to first grade, Mueller said. Additionally, parents with students at the two locations would be able to drop off and pick up their children in the same place without having to make two trips. I believe this is a concept worthy of exploration and worthy of consideration for the reasons that Ive outlined, understanding that this will come with some bumps in the road, Mueller told the school board. But I believe if we can recognize the potential savings that weve identified and potentially generate revenue for our district, were making decisions in the best interest of our staff and our students. Parents and several teachers say the move will have a negative impact on Coronados littlest learners. They argue the facilities at the elementary school campus are not as nice as the ones in the stand-alone complex. Therefore, the relocation is a downgrade. I think were compromising the childrens education, said teacher Eileen Farrell. And I understand money and I understand you are trying to pay for good teachers, I get that. But I have grandkids coming and they are not getting the same facilities that our kids were raised with. One parent, a mother of twins in the transitional kindergarten program, said she moved to Coronado specifically because they have separate kindergarten facilities. She said having a small and intimate space made her kids introduction to the public school system a smooth transition. The relocation idea is merely a proposal at this stage. The school board has not agreed to carry it out, but has instructed school district staff to study the feasibility and logistics of the move. Staff will review what impact the proposed relocation would have on traffic during drop-off and pick-up times and whether the elementary school can handle the influx of kindergartners. The city of Coronado would have to conduct its own traffic study of the potential impact of the relocation. Coronado Unified is currently balancing its budget by pulling money out of its reserve fund. At this rate, the reserve fund will dry up in the 2024-25 fiscal year. The district has not identified a funding source to balance future budgets once the reserve fund is unavailable. However, it is exploring multiple options and has said cutting school programs is a last resort. Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter The La Jolla Music Society has appointed veteran arts administrator Ted DeDee as its new CEO and president, effective April 1, only four days before the opening of the nonprofit arts organizations $80 million Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center. DeDees appointment, which will officially be announced later today, comes after he was unanimously selected Thursday night by the societys 34-member board of directors. He was one of five finalists interviewed by the board, which received 91 applications from across the nation. He has signed a three-year contract, with options to renew. His salary has not been disclosed. Significantly, DeDee was the only contender whose resume includes having led seven performing arts centers across the United States. A partial list of those centers includes the Eastman School of Musics Eastman Theatre in Rochester, N. Y.; the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, both in Nashville; and Wisconsins $205 million Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, where Dedee was CEO and president from 2012 to 2018. Ted stood out very much through his proven capacity, over the past 45 years, as both as a visionary impresario and as a business leader, said Katherine Chapin, the board chair of the society, now in its 50th year. Advertisement Hes demonstrated that he has a significant history of time and energy operating performing arts centers which he has done seven times and also in donor cultivation and stewardship as a seasoned executive, she said. I was particularly impressed that he has the stature, presence and personality to represent La Jolla Music Society to the city, the region and the nation. Ted brings the experience and facility to ensure we will be able to operate our new $80 million performing arts center profitably, Chapin added, and also draw new audiences and help us grow the depth and breadth of what La Jolla Music Society is known for and yet to be known for. DeDee retired last May from leading the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, where he currently resides. He will be in San Diego this weekend to meet with society board members and plans to move here in March. DeDee will also be on hand for the April 5-7 grand opening weekend of the new performing arts center, which is informally known as The Conrad. The opening weekends lineup will feature, among others, Seal, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jake Shimabukuro, Inon Barnatan the new music director of the societys annual SummerFest and former SummerFest music directors Cho-Liang Lin, Wu Han, David Finckel and Heiichiro Ohyama. The La Jolla Music Society did indeed lure me out of retirement! DeDee said Friday morning by phone from his home in Madison. Ive opened a few new arts centers in my career and that always excites me. Its been one of my hallmarks as a career professional, especially because I enjoy watching the growth of the arts that comes about with the opening of a brand new building. That the society has been in business as long as it has is impressive enough to make me want to work with the organization. To find donors to help support a brand new building as they have done is a major undertaking, and I am duly impressed with everything thats taken place. DeDee, who declined to state his age, will be the societys third CEO and president since January of 2018, when Kristin Lancino abruptly resigned, barely two years after coming on board in La Jolla. Lancinos replacement, Florida Grand Opera Executive Director Susan T. Danis, was announced last July. However, last September before Danis had even started her new job here the society announced she would instead return to her position in Miami with Florida Grand Opera, where a disgruntled former employee had falsely defamed her. Quite frankly, (what happened) doesnt concern me much, DeDee said. I know there have been a lot of hopes and dreams behind getting The Conrad opened. And I know the board felt they needed to make sure they chose the right person, and I feel very qualified. Board chair Chapin readily agreed. Ted is tailor-made for us, especially at the juncture we are now at, because he has an ability to lead us at a time of both risk and growth, she said. We are opening a brand new performing arts center, which certainly has its potential pitfalls, and we feel extremely confident in Teds hands. When we spoke to him (Thursday night by phone), I said: Ted, I bet there is nothing that could potentially surprise you about our center opening in April that you havent dealt with before. I very much commend our board of directors for refusing to compromise on our standards and who we were looking for as a leader, Chapin said. We were willing to wait until we found the right person who could not only lead into exciting future, with our centers opening, but also lead us into the long-term future. Were very lucky to get Ted. Twitter @georgevarga george.varga@sduniontribune.com As one of the most Instagrammable spots in San Diego, Holy Matcha in North Park has been serving customers with an array of matcha delights until they are tickled pink. With its signature decor and specialties including matcha latte, matcha lemonade and matcha soft serve, green tea fans are in superfood heaven at Holy Matcha. Opening on Friday is a second newly designed location at Park 12 The Collection in the East Village near Petco Park. The new development will house four residential buildings and a semicircular public plaza surrounded by shops and restaurants, with Holy Matcha will occupying a space alongside Carmelitas Mexican eatery, F45 Training fitness studio, and Creamistry liquid nitrogen ice cream parlor. Fresh on the new menu will be specialty drinks exclusive to the location, as well as classics and various green tea bites. Geraldine Ridaura, owner of Holy Matcha. (Amber Thrane/Dulcet Creative) Advertisement Ahead of Holy Matchas opening, PACIFIC chatted with owner and USD grad Geraldine Ridaura about her new venture in the up-and-coming East Village. PACIFIC: Whats something youve learned from Holy Matcha North Park that you take with you to the East Village? GERALDINE RIDAURA: Gosh, thats a tough one as Ive learned an entire novel since opening Holy Matcha two years ago (in North Park). The biggest lesson would have to be dedication, baby. You give it 200% and you will get results. What will the new location look like? Will it be similar to the North Park location? The North Park location will always be my baby, which is why the thought of replicating it felt like cheating! I was lucky enough to travel to Japan and Paris last year, where the sleek, modern designs inspired me to take the aesthetic for the new location in a different direction. As I evolve, Holy Matcha evolves, as well. Matcha. (Sergey Kolivayko) What do you expect will be the same or different in terms of customers in a new neighborhood? Located in the fastest growing neighborhood in S.D., I imagine the new downtown East Village location will attract tourists fresh from the airport or Petco Park with a weekday flow of corporate professionals and local residents. Holy Matcha loyalists will make special trips for the East Village neighborhood exclusives and photo-worthy atmosphere. Matcha has been celebrated as a superfood. What do you see as its biggest benefit? Matcha is life, girl, life! Shoot ... why do you do this to me?! Matcha is an amazing energy boost. Its loaded with antioxidants, which are great for your skin and health. Ive experienced great benefits from matcha, especially in reducing inflammation as it is jam-packed with amino acids. Personally, I believe matcha is good for both your inner- and outer-being. We hear there will be exclusive neighborhood menu items at the new location. Can you drop any hints on what those will be to entice readers? Mushrooms galore, baby. The health benefits of adaptogenic mushrooms are endless: blood sugar regulation, weight reduction, increase in digestive health, anti-inflammatory, and more. Holy Matcha in East Village. (Courtesy photo) For someone whos never been to a Holy Matcha, whats a must try on their first trip? Depends how open you are to trying something new. If youre willing to go all the way, my Ceremonial is served warm in a traditional Japanese chawan. If youre not ready to tackle that, you can try my signature and award-winning Matcha Horchata. Its a delicious treat, rich in vanilla and cinnamon. I know its hard, but personal favorite menu item? Easy! Beverage: Ceremonial Food: Avocado toast with extra chili flakes Whats one tidbit about you or Holy Matcha we dont know? I rarely share this, but one of the biggest impacts matcha has had on me was when I had knee surgery three years ago, prior to Holy Matchas existence. For someone like myself thats constantly on the go and always, always standing, my knees get extremely swollen, but I have to power through. Matcha has truly been an aid in helping me fight the inflammation and discomfort. Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach is offering half off all suites for stays from March 13 through Dec. 19 but youll have to book between 11 a.m. (PST) on March 6 and 8 p.m. on March 13. It means guests will pay just $223 a night for a junior suite, which includes a roomy relaxation area and a balcony or lanai. One-bedroom corner suites in the Tapa Tower, normally $610 a night, will go for $305 nightly; youll get a separate bedroom with an ocean/resort view, plus a large parlor and a pair of balconies. Celebrating a special occasion? Consider splurging on one of the resorts specialty suites: For half the usual $1,810, get a night in the 14th floor Presidential Suite in the Alii Tower, best known as the King Suite, because its where Elvis used to stay. The Hawaiian Village complex includes 2,860 rooms in five towers. It has five pools and 18 restaurants/bars. Be forewarned that theres a $45 nightly resort fee; it covers a menu of cultural activities and outdoor exercise classes and provides discounts on a range of beach activities. Savvy travelers know to avoid renting a car; parking costs $45 a night and they know to book stays including Friday nights: The resort has been presenting weekly Friday night fireworks shows since 1988. Book online at www.hiltonhawaiianvillage.com/SDSuiteSale or phone (800) 445-8667. Santa Barbara is celebrating its 37th annual Vintners Festival on May 4. The festival is actually staged at the Rancho Sisquoc Winery in the Santa Maria Valley, and several Santa Maria hotels are offering deals for stays during the long weekend that starts May 2. The Radisson Hotel Santa Maria has a $150-per-night special that includes accommodations, a daily breakfast buffet for two, two coupons for a glass of wine at the festival and two Santa Maria Valley Vintners Visas valid for wine tasting at six Santa Maria wineries. (Visas are valued at $25 each.) Book the package online using the code SBWINE at www.radisson.com/santa-maria-hotel-ca-93455/camaria or book by phone at (805) 928-8000. The Historic Santa Maria Inn has a Vintners Festival package starting at $139 a night, including a breakfast buffet for two and two Santa Maria Vintners Visas. Check out the inn online at www.santamariainn.com, but this deal must be booked by phone: (800) 462-4276. Both hotels offer free Wi-Fi and parking, and neither has a resort fee; the Santa Maria Inn has a free airport shuttle. Be forewarned that neither package includes admission to the Vintners Festival; tickets cost $75. Learn more about the festival at www.sbvintnersweekend.com. A little farther north, Californias Bay Area wine country is stunning at this time of year. Visitors can expect lush green hillsides speckled with wildflowers and, especially midweek, none of the crowds that descend in summer. An added attraction: Its prime time for lodging values. The Sonoma Uncorked deal at the Sonoma Creek Inn, for example, has rooms starting at $89 a night, Sundays through Thursdays, through May 23, with free parking and Wi-Fi and no resort fee. (Book online at www.sonomacreekinn.com.) At the Silverado Resort & Spa in the Napa Valley, the Cabernet package offers 25 percent off best available rates, plus a $50-per-stay resort credit and a two-for-the-price-of-one tasting coupon valid at a Napa winery. With the discount, rates start at about $140 a night; theres a $25 nightly resort fee. The deal is valid through April and requires a two-night minimum stay. (Check out the resort at www.silveradoresort.com, but book by phone at 800-532-0500.) Find more Napa Valley deals at www.visitnapavalley.com/hotels/special-offers. Need a Disneyland fix? The park is back with its SoCal Visitor discount. Through May 20, pay $179 for a three-day, one-park-per-day pass. The ticket, which usually costs $300, is valid through May 23, except April 14-19. To qualify for the discount, youll need ID that proves residency within ZIP codes 90000-93599. Northern Baja residents within ZIP codes 21000-22999 also are eligible. Learn more at disneyland.disney.go.com/offers-discounts/southern-california-tickets. Advertisement Forest Suites Resort at South Lake Tahoes Heavenly Village has a sweet deal to go with this years super snowfall. Get half off Sunday through Thursday night stays through April with the resorts Powder to the People package. It means that a room for two with a fully equipped kitchen starts at $105 this month, $90 in April. The deal includes a hot breakfast buffet for two. Theres a $20-per-night resort fee, which covers parking and Wi-Fi. The resorts two pools are closed in winter, but its two whirlpool spas are open year-round. Best of all for skiers, the Heavenly Ski Gondola is less than 100 yards from the resorts front door. Learn more and book online at forestsuites.com or phone (530) 541-6655. If you fly in to Reno-Tahoe International Airport, be sure to save your airline boarding pass. Use it (and a valid ID) to get a free same-day lift ticket at Sierra-at-Tahoe (12 miles west of South Lake Tahoe). The offer is valid Sundays through Fridays only. Learn more at www.sierraattahoe.com/real-deals. DaRosa is a freelance travel writer. Find more of her articles at www.AlisonDaRosa.com. Prices quoted here are subject to change. Restrictions and blackout dates may apply, and all deals are subject to availability. A man died in a suspicious fire that ripped through a Rosemead townhome where drug activity was occurring, authorities said. Los Angeles County Sheriffs Sgt. Richard Biddle said investigators are treating the Thursday incident as a homicide, noting that a large amount of marijuana was in the home and no one has come forward to say they lived there. Firefighters were called to the two-story home in the 8300 block of Rush Street shortly before 5 p.m. When they arrived, the first floor where the burned body was discovered was engulfed in flames, Biddle said. The second floor was damaged by smoke. It appeared as though someone had been living in each of the four bedrooms in the home, but Biddle said investigators have not identified the residents or the victim. As of shortly before 10 p.m., they were waiting for a search warrant to go inside. Advertisement Anyone with information about the deadly blaze is asked to call sheriffs homicide investigators at (323) 890-5500. alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Twitter: @AleneTchek San Diegans increasingly are told they need to do more and pay more to help the homeless, increase the housing stock, and expand street and trolley systems. Clearly, a lot of them dont like it. Its not that they dont want to get people off the street, reduce the cost of homes and have a better, more environmentally friendly way to get around. They just dont want it to change their neighborhoods, diminish their quality of life or raise their taxes. That may seem selfish and in some respects it probably is. But while people may feel theyre being put-upon for having to make room for others and help fund ways to do it, San Diego County residents historically have been wary of governments ability to manage growth and tax revenue. There are reasons for this. Advertisement Local officials are moving forward aggressively and, in a general sense, with consensus to address a crisis of affordable housing and one looming for transportation. The homeless situation in San Diego has already proved catastrophic with the deadly 2017 hepatitis outbreak. Ill-conceived government actions in each of those areas have left some people suspicious of emerging plans. The latest conflict between a disputed policy and impacted residents surfaced this week when the San Diego City Council voted to repeal a law banning people from sleeping in cars a growing last-resort for those without shelter. Council members said their hand was forced by a judge, who had declared the 35-year-old law too vague. Beach-area residents expressed outrage, contending the number of people living in cars in their neighborhoods has grown since the city stopped enforcing the law months ago, according to the Union-Tribunes David Garrick. If you allow people to sleep in their vehicles, you will eventually have open camping all along our view corridors, such as Sunset Cliffs, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla, Glen Volk told the council Monday. We have witnessed people urinating and defecating in our streets, alleys and city parks. The city and nonprofit agencies have been making some parking lots available for people to sleep in their cars overnight. Still, fueling the frustrations in the beach areas and elsewhere is governments inability to find a comprehensive solution for homelessness after years of trying. Meanwhile, proposed low-income housing projects in some areas have run into neighborhood opposition. So has Mayor Kevin Faulconers proposal to not only dramatically increase housing density along transit lines including lifting height restrictions but do away with parking requirements under certain circumstances. He contends both would help ease housing prices. Faulconers moves were lauded as bold by supporters, but triggered a firestorm of criticism among some neighborhood groups. Just say yes to urban ghettos, Wally Wulfeck of the Scripps Ranch Community Planning Group said at a City Hall meeting in January. Transit has to come first density first gives you slums, not quality of life. Most of the residents around me, if they wanted to live in Manhattan, they would. The suspicion that adequate infrastructure wont accompany development is rooted in San Diegos past. As the flight to suburbia gained steam decades ago, thousands of homes were built in Mira Mesa in the late 1960s. But public facilities like parks and fire stations werent provided to support them. That gained San Diego national attention for poor planning. The situation was so bad that in the early 1970s, newly elected Mayor Pete Wilson convinced the City Council to approve a building moratorium until there was a better plan for financing facilities. Though not on the scale of the Mira Mesa debacle, residents in subsequent years often complained that public facilities had not kept up with the need. To make increased housing and development changes envisioned by Faulconer and others work, transportation systems will have to expand dramatically. Thats going to cost a lot of money. A recent attempt to raise the sales tax for transportation 2016s countywide Measure A sponsored by the San Diego Association of Governments failed badly. Among other things, there was disagreement over road vs. transit spending, splitting SANDAGs board and various political, labor and business groups. It also turned out that the ballot measure was largely a ruse. It promised to raise $18 billion over 40 years, but people inside SANDAG knew well before the election that figure was overblown. Meanwhile, the agency also knew that revenue from a previous tax increase would fall well short of funding other transportation improvements. That meant Measure A would have been used to backfill on those projects and not go entirely to new ones. SANDAG sought to hide all this, but it became public thanks to an expose by the Voice of San Diegos Andrew Keatts. SANDAG is looking at another tax measure to finance a vast and futuristic transportation system in the coming decades, but will have to overcome understandable public skepticism. Let me get this straight: SANDAG cant afford to complete the list of projects promised to the voters from the last sales tax increase, yet it likely would want to increase taxes yet again, promising a state-of-the-art transportation system, Vickie Wolf of Oceanside wrote in a recent letter to the Union-Tribune. That wasnt the first time voters had reason to be suspicious of the rationale behind a tax increase. In 2010, the city of San Diego proposed a hike in the sales tax and insisted that without it hundreds of firefighters and police officers would be laid off. The sales tax was defeated and none of that happened. Before that, San Diego was embroiled in a pension underfunding scandal that nearly bankrupted the city. Now huge sums of general fund taxpayer dollars are needed to prop up the retirement system money that could go to strained services and infrastructure that needs updating. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the city of San Diego is a low-tax city compared with its peers. For example, San Diego has a 10.5 percent hotel-room tax, compared with 14 percent in San Francisco. The citys sales tax is 7.75 percent, while in Los Angeles its 9.5 percent. Thats a difference of hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. Such comparisons are used to buttress the argument to raise taxes here. As one wag long ago looked at it: People get a break on taxes here, but you get what you pay for. michael.smolens@sduniontribune.com Twitter:@michaelsmolens (619) 293-1256 A 16-year-old boy testified Thursday that he shot his father five times, killing him, at their Scripps Ranch condo last year after putting up with abuse. He said he didnt plan it, but fired once in reaction when his father lunged at him, then the boy fired the other four rounds. I had my eyes closed when I fired the rest of the shots, the teen said during his trial before a judge rather than a jury. I just saw him shot and I knew he had passed. The boy is being tried as a juvenile in San Diego Superior Court, so Judge Louis Hanoian ordered that the teens name not be published. Advertisement He is charged with murder in the death of his father, Thanh Pham, 46, two counts of attempted murder for firing into a bedroom where his mother and brother were, and allegations that he used a firearm. Defense attorney Mary Ellen Attridge said her client was 15 when he fired the gun in self-defense on April 29 because he had been hit on the head many times by his father, a strict disciplinarian. Attridge called the boy to the stand Thursday as her first witness in the bench trial. Closing arguments on expected on Tuesday. The slight-built teen, with a short haircut and wearing an olive green pullover sweater over a collared shirt, spoke so softly at times the attorneys had to ask him to repeat himself. He said his father would often turn off the homes internet connection to keep him from playing video games. The father also hit, kicked and sexually abused him, he said. Under questioning by his attorney and by Deputy District Attorney Mary Loeb, the teen said that minutes before the shooting, his father had just hit him across the right side of his head. He said he didnt recall what they had said to each other. He said he decided to run away. My plan was to stay on the streets for the night and to protect myself with the firearm, he testified. Loeb asked incredulously whether he had feared gun violence on the streets of Scripps Ranch a middle-class neighborhood with a fairly low rate of violent crime. I dont know, the boy answered. He said he sneaked his fathers Glock semi-automatic out of its hiding place in a filing cabinet in his parents bedroom. He was standing in the master bathroom when his father walked in. Indoor security camera footage shown in court captured the sound of the five gunshots from the master bedroom. His mother, sitting on a sofa, can be seen turning around quickly after the shots. She begins to shout. She looks into the bedroom, then runs across the living room to her other sons bedroom, off-camera. The footage shows the teen cross the living room, raise the gun and fire a round into his brothers closed bedroom door. The teen testified that he didnt mean to shoot his mother, only scare her so he could leave the house. She could be heard screaming her husbands name repeatedly. In the video, the teen slips on a pair of shoes and walks out the front door about 8:40 p.m. His brother, who is expected to testify next week, called 911. On Wednesday, an NBC 7 employee testified that he was nearby when he heard about the shooting over his police scanner. He saw the teen, who fit the shooters description, walking on Scripps Highland Drive, according to an NBC 7 news report. The employee called San Diego police and the teen was arrested. pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @pdrepard More than 30 people stood outside the federal building in downtown San Diego in a prayer-filled demonstration to call on immigration officials to spare from deportation a Congolese father who lost his asylum case. Constantin Bakala, 48, could be deported as soon as Friday, when an emergency order issued by the 11th Circuit Court temporarily keeping him in the country will expire. Attorneys have filed other motions in his case but have yet to hear back from the court, and they are running out of time. We believe if Constantin is deported tomorrow, hell be murdered, said Rev. Colin Mathewson. It is a matter of life and death to us. Most of the demonstrators have never met Bakala, who has spent most of the time since he asked the U.S. for protection in November 2017 in an immigration detention center in Georgia. They feel connected to him through his wife and seven children who live in southeast San Diego and have become active participants in St. Lukes Episcopal Church in North Park, where Mathewson is a pastor. Advertisement Bakala, along with his family, asked the U.S. for protection at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after fleeing the Democratic Republic of Congo because of political persecution. As was common practice at the time, officials separated him from the rest of his family and sent him to an immigration detention center. He lost his case after trying to represent himself in immigration court. His familys case is still pending. Were here today because their family is our family and what happens to one of us happens to all of us, Mathewson said. They thought they had finally reached a threshold of relief but instead found their nightmare has continued. He along with other church members worked to gather signatures to submit a petition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ask the agency not to deport Bakala. By the time they walked the petition into the federal building, it had 488 signatures. Bakalas wife Annie Bwetu Kapongo said she had no idea so many people would come forward to help her. I feel at ease when I see you helping and supporting me, she said in French. Without them, I would still be sad at the house. JD Ouellette, who signed the petition, said she also planned to contact members of Congress about the case. She said the U.S. should support people like Bakala who were persecuted after pushing for greater democracy in their home countries. Its personal, said Don Gullans, a South Park resident and St. Lukes church member who came to support the family. We need to stand with our fellow church members when theyre in trouble. He said hearing Bakalas story was like a blow to [his] heart. This is so wrong. This is so painful, said Gullans, who held an American flag during the demonstration. Why arent we bigger than this? As they stood stoically on the first row of the demonstrators, Bakalas sons held signs that read, We need your help to support my dad, and I love you dad. Their oldest sister, Marie Louise, 17, cried as she addressed the reporters gathered to hear the family speak. I feel very sad. We miss my dad a lot, she said. He was the only one helping me with my homework. Now I feel like I have to do everything by myself. Bakala was transferred to a detention facility in Virginia. His supporters believe that was to bring him closer to Dulles International Airport, where many deportees take commercial flights back to countries in Africa. Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter On this day in 1925, Ryan Airlines began operating daily passenger flights between San Diego and Los Angeles. From The San Diego Union, Monday, March 2, 1925: FIRST INTERCITY AERIAL SERVICE IS ESTABLISHED Cabin Planes Operated in San Diego-L.A. Line Bring Movie Stars Here. Three fast flying cabin planes bearing a group of moving picture stars settled on the Ryan flying field at Dutch Flats yesterday afternoon and completed the first voyage of the first regularly established intercity passenger-carrying aviation service on the Pacific coast. The project, which apparently is destined to set a precedent for civil aircraft development in the west, was developed and realized in San Diego, the work of a group of young San Diego men headed by T. C. Ryan and B. Franklin Mahoney. A large crowd was on hand at the Ryan field before noon to see the flight an to get a glimpse of the moving picture stars who were the first passengers on the initial flight of the air service. The crowd got its thrills, for the planes came in flying in perfect formation escorted by two navy planes and one army plane, the flock of six big passenger-carrying birds making an impressive appearance. Advertisement When the planes landed, the passengers disembarked to be greeted by the chamber of commerce aviation committee, and to have their faces recorded on the flickering celluloid by the San Diego Cinema corporation. Everybody reported a wonderful time, a fine and comfortable flight and a marvelous view of the country from the 1500-foot elevation, which the planes held most of the way down. The committee of welcome escorted the visitors to the U.S. Grant hotel, where a celebratory luncheon was held and brief congratulatory speeches were made. STARS MAKE TRIP The passengers who made the initial trip from Los Angeles were Robert Vignola, Belle Bennett, Vera Reynolds, Pauline Garon, Shannon Day, Jane Post, Creighton Hale, Frank Wheaton, Fred Windermere, Mrs. B.F. Mahoney, Mr. Miller and Mr. MacFarland. The planes were piloted by T.C. Ryan, Boyd P. Monteith and Charles R. Bowmann. Lieut. B.F. Wyatt, noted naval flier, added interest to the occasion when he took a navy DeHaviland plane to Los Angeles and escorted them back to this city. Just before the departure from Los Angeles, the party liberated two navy carrier pigeons, one of which reached his North Island loft before the planes reached the local flying field. L.D. Webber, presiding at the luncheon in the U.S. Grant hotel offered his congratulations to the men who conceived and initiated the new air service and welcomed to San Diego the first passengers to make the flight. Mr. Mahoney, one of the sponsors for the service, spoke briefly on civil aviation. March 2, 1925 (The San Diego Union) Historical photos and articles from The San Diego Union-Tribune archives are compiled by merrie.monteagudo@sduniontribune.com. Search the U-T historic archives at NewsLibrary.com/sites/sdub. An 11-year-old girl has been charged in Maryland with first-degree child abuse resulting in death after she allegedly assaulted a 1-year-old she was left to care for, police said. Prince Georges County police are not naming the girl who was arrested because she is being charged as a juvenile, but they said the victim was Paxton Davis of Washington. The girl charged is being held at a juvenile detention facility, police said. The mother of the boy had left him in the care of adult members of the 11-year-olds family at their Suitland, Maryland, home on Feb. 23, county police said. The family was friendly with Paxtons family and he had been to the home before, police said. Advertisement He spent the night supervised correctly with adults in the home, said Maj. Brian Reilly, commander of the Criminal Investigation Division for the Prince Georges County police. The next morning, the girls mother left the house to run an errand and left Paxton alone in the care of her young daughter, Reilly said. That is when the assault occurred, police said. It was an innocent friendly agreement to watch the child, that obviously turned absolutely tragic, Reilly said. Relatives of the 11-year-old returned home and found Paxton injured and called 911. He was rushed to Childrens National Medical Center in Washington. County police detectives responded to the hospital around 3:25 p.m. on Sunday for a report of an injured baby. The baby was suffering from severe upper body trauma and died on Thursday from the injuries, police said. The 11-year-old girl has admitted to assaulting the boy during that period, but police declined to say if a weapon was used. I dont know what motive there would be in a situation like this for an 11-year-old to assault a 1-year-old, Reilly said. Theres no words. Theres no reason for this to take place. Citing the ongoing probe, Reilly would not say how long the 11-year-old was left alone with Paxton other than that it was very brief. Reilly said veteran detectives with Prince Georges do not recall anyone as young as the suspect being charged out of the homicide unit with such a serious offense. Were really trying to deal with a very unique situation involving a juvenile, Reilly said. In Maryland, children must be at least 13 years old to babysit another child without an adult. Reilly said the 11-year-old had not taken care of Paxton previously In November, a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl was charged as an adult in the killing of an infant, according to a report from The Associated Press. The girl was a foster child living at a home that also served as a day care. The girl dropped a baby who was at the day care and stomped on the crying childs head, the AP report said. In 2010, an 11-year-old girl in Georgia was charged with murder after a 2-year-old in her care died, according to local news reports. The child charged in that case was the daughter of a co-worker with whom the victims mother had entrusted her toddler, news reports said. The Washington Posts Justin Jouvenal contributed to this report. This story was first published by the Washington Post. Two weeks ago, a Massachusetts woman and Brazilian national was arrested for accosting a man wearing a Make America Great Again hat while he ate at a Mexican restaurant. Rosiane Santos, 41, was recorded on video swatting the hat off the mans head and later told police she didnt believe he should be allowed inside a Mexican establishment while wearing President Donald Trumps MAGA refrain, according to a report from the Falmouth Police Department. Santos, who was intoxicated, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and simple assault and battery both misdemeanors and was escorted from the restaurant. On the way out, she hit the man a final time and swatted at his hat. Santos bail was set at $40 and she was released. She later plead not guilty. Now, Santos who is living in the U.S. without legal documentation also faces possible deportation. Advertisement Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officers from the departments Fugitive Operations Team detained Santos on Tuesday, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement. The woman was released from ICE custody and entered into removal proceedings in federal immigration court, the official said. She is expected to appear in court at a future date. Its not clear how ICE learned of Santos case. The Falmouth Police Department told The Washington Post that it did not know of her immigration status at the time of her arrest and did not notify ICE. Its possible, a police representative said, that a notification to ICE was triggered when Santos name was entered into its systems. ICE does not publicly discuss intelligence and research tools and methods that our agents and officers may use in their work, John Mohan, an ICE spokesman for the New England region, told The Washington Post. Santos lawyer, Katarina Kozakova, told Boston.com that Santos is married to a U.S. citizen and is waiting for her green card to be approved. ICEs involvement in her case means her green-card application now will be reviewed by an immigration judge, rather than U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Kozakova told Boston.com. That is the only change this arrest has cost Rosiane in terms of her immigration, Kozakova said. Kozakova did not immediately respond to an interview request from The Post. Bryton Turner identified himself as the victim of the assault in an statement to NBC News. He is also listed on the police report. Turner told NBC that Santos began harassing me verbally as soon as he walked into the restaurant. All I said was I can wear this hat wherever I want; this is America, Turner told NBC News. He said he began taking video of the incident so she would stop, NBC reported. I didnt think it would blow up like this. The video, which was posted to Facebook but later taken down, shows Turner sitting at what looks like a bar and filming his own face as Santos walks behind him. See this right here, this is the problem, Turner says in the video. Ignorant people like this. Im just trying to sit here and eat a nice meal, and look at this. You see this? Turner says as Santos approaches him from behind, pushes his MAGA hat over his eyes and says expletives. People like that, thats the problem, Turner says. Thats the problem with our America these days. People are just ignorant, they want to lash out on people that are educated. In the police report, officers said Santos used an expletive to characterize how she felt about the mans support of Trump. The officers wrote that her speech was slurred and she was clearly intoxicated. As one officer tried to escort her from the restaurant, the police report said, Santos began walking but stopped behind the male wearing the red hat, grabbed his hat and moved it around in a circular motion while violently pushing his head down toward the bar. Turner did not respond to an interview request from The Post. The Massachusetts incident is one example of the way Trumps signature phrase Make America Great Again has become a flash point in American daily life. This week, a 19-year-old man in New Jersey was arrested and charged with assault and harassment after authorities say he tried to grab a MAGA hat off the head of an 81-year-old man outside a grocery store. The teen threw the older man to the ground and tipped over his shopping cart, police said. A California high school student was banned from wearing her MAGA hat on campus and is now challenging her school district in court, alleging that the decision violates her First Amendment rights. Most notably, the red MAGA symbol was part of a national debate about a confrontation at the National Mall in Washington between a Native American man and a Kentucky high school student who was wearing such a hat. First published by The Washington Post Pakistani officials handed over a captured Indian pilot to a border crossing with India on Friday in a gesture of peace promised by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan amid a dramatic escalation with the countrys archrival over the disputed region of Kashmir. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was taken in a convoy that set out from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the border crossing at Wagah earlier in the day, escorted by military vehicles with soldiers, their weapons drawn. The Pakistani military has said his plane was downed on the Pakistani-held side of Kashmir on Wednesday. Varthaman was accompanied to the border by the International Committee of the Red Cross. His handover took several hours as a roster of procedures were completed including a medical checkup to verify his health and condition before being handed over to his countrymen. Advertisement In a video message aired on Pakistani television channels, Varthaman was seen in his green flight suit saying he was rescued by two Pakistani military personnel when he ejected and found himself in Pakistani controlled Kashmir surrounded by a small mob of seemingly angry residents. It wasnt clear when he recorded this statement, but it was clearly while he was in the custody of the Pakistan military. On the Indian side of the border, Indian policemen and military personnel greeted Varthaman who was dressed in civilian clothes, wearing a blue blazer and gray dress pants. Earlier in the day the road on the Indian side of the border was lined with well-wishers. But by the time Varthaman crossed around 9 p.m. local time most people had dispersed. Indian security forces pose with pictures of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman during an event to pray for his return at Kalikambal temple in Chennai on March 1, 2019. (Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images) The handover came against the backdrop of blistering cross-border attacks across the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that continued for a fourth straight day, even as the two nuclear-armed neighbors sought to defuse their most serious confrontation in two decades. Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the Kashmir boundary known as the Line of Control, in one of the worlds most volatile regions. Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft Wednesday and capturing the pilot. Since the escalation, world leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent. President Donald Trump in Hanoi on Thursday said he had been involved in seeking to de-escalate the conflict. Khan, the Pakistani premier, told lawmakers on Thursday, We are releasing the Indian pilot as a goodwill gesture tomorrow. But India made it clear that the latest escalation has changed its strategy and that going forward, it will strike, including inside Pakistan, if they receive intelligence of an attack in the planning. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier Thursday warned Indias enemies are conspiring to create instability in the country through terror attacks. Also Friday, Pakistans civil aviation authority partially re-opened the countrys airspace, allowing travel to four major cities, another sign tensions with archrival India were de-escalating. The agency issued a statement saying all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. It said other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, will remain closed until March 4. Islamabad closed its air space on Wednesday after saying that Pakistans military shot down two Indian warplanes and captured the Indian pilot. The closures snarled air traffic. Residents of the Pakistani border town of Chikhoti reported heavy shelling overnight and Friday morning. More than 200 people had fled to a military organized camp about 20 kilometers (16 miles) away from the border. Police in the Indian-controlled Kashmir said one man was wounded and at least two civilian homes were damaged in the cross-border shelling. Kashmir has been divided but claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after the two countries creation in 1947. They have fought three wars, two directly over the disputed region. Associated Press writers Kathy Gannon and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Roshan Mughal in Muzafarabad, Pakistan, Aijaz Hussain in Srinigar, India, and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, India, contributed to this report. San Diegos popular smartphone tipster app Get it Done! has boosted abandoned vehicle reports the city receives to more than 3,000 a month, making it harder for parking enforcement officers to quickly handle them. While city officials hail Get it Done! for making it easier to report abandoned cars and other nuisances, they say it puts greater pressure on city resources by increasing the number of complaints in every category. City Councilman Chris Ward is proposing that San Diego increase its parking code compliance officers from five to eight to better handle the larger workload. Ward, whose district includes neighborhoods like Hillcrest and North Park, where parking scarcity is a problem, said the app could allow the city to more quickly and efficiently write tickets for abandoned vehicles. Advertisement State law prohibits leaving a vehicle parked in the same spot for more than 72 hours, but the citys enforcement methods essentially allow such vehicles to remain in place for at least 144 hours before a citation is issued. Thats because a resident cant complain of an abandoned vehicle until it has been in place for 72 hours, which is followed by enforcement officers issuing a warning ticket and then returning 72 hours later to see if the car is still there. Ward wants San Diego police, and possibly attorneys for the city, to research whether the initial app report by the resident, which includes a smartphone picture of the vehicle and a time and date, could serve as the starting time for the 72 hours. This might take a little bit of study, but Id like to see the Get it Done! report itself serve as the starting point for the 72 hours, Ward said. The photo shows the positioning of the car as it exists at that point in time on a Tuesday, so by Friday an officer who goes out should have everything they need to issue a 72-hour ticket. Before the app was launched in May 2016, people could report abandoned cars on the citys website, by calling (619) 531-2000 or by notifying the office of the council member representing their neighborhood. The city had been receiving about 2,400 reports per month. Now the city gets about 3,000 reports per month on the app, in addition to reports received by the old methods. As more people have become aware of the Get it Done app, its become much easier to report, said Henish Pulickal, chairman of the Pacific Beach Community Planning Group. It takes 30 seconds to take a picture of an abandoned vehicle and get it uploaded, versus trying to figure out how to report it, which was the case before. In February, abandoned cars resulted in 3,100 reports, second only to 5,300 reports of potholes. Last year, Ward said he was told by city officials that it sometimes takes as long as 21 days for the city to handle an abandoned vehicle report. Adding three parking code compliance officers would cost about $153,000 a year, Ward said in a budget request. Though thats a relatively small amount in a $3 billion annual budget, the city is facing projected deficits in coming years. There are clearly higher priorities for the city but Ward said he thinks its appropriate to address this problem. Parking is definitely a premium, especially in the urban core, he said. We all need to be playing by the same rules. People parking cars and leaving them for an extended period is a lost opportunity for somebody else who is coming and going on a daily basis and needs access to neighborhood businesses or residents. Hes also concerned about a recent problem that popped up in Bankers Hill, a mostly residential neighborhood just east of San Diego International Airport. People have begun parking their cars in the neighborhood and taking ride-booking services like Uber or Lyft to the airport. They are enjoying an $8 Uber ride instead of a much more expensive one from farther away from places like Rancho Bernardo, or paying about $12 a day to park at the airport, he said. A neighborhood shouldnt have to sacrifice its supply of limited on-street parking because of the changing landscape of new technologies. Pulickal, the Pacific Beach community leader, said lax enforcement of the 72-hour rule isnt a significant problem in his neighborhood because parking meters and street sweeping restrictions keep parking enforcement relatively vigilant. Also, the word abandoned is a bit misleading, he said. You dont see a lot of cases where someone is leaving their crappy car on the street because it doesnt run, he said. Its usually more about someone being on vacation and not having a parking spot where they can leave their car. Leo Wilson, chairman of the Uptown Planning Group that covers Hillcrest, Bankers Hill and nearby areas, said he hasnt noticed significant enforcement delays since Get it Done! In the past it already used to take some time, so I havent noticed a difference, he said. It takes a little bit of time, but I still think its fairly reasonable. The city sometimes receives complaints that vehicle owners only move their vehicle a few feet to avoid citations under the 72-hour rule, but the citys website says a vehicle must be moved at least one-tenth of a mile to avoid a citation. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick San Diego will learn March 18 whether the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the citys last legal attempt to keep its six-year-old pension cutbacks in place. The court has scheduled March 15 closed-door deliberations on whether to take the citys case. The case is a federal appeal seeking to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling in August that the pension cuts were not legally placed on the ballot in 2012. The U.S. Supreme Courts website, in a post that appeared Wednesday, says the court will announce on March 18 whether it has decided to take the case, a lawsuit filed against the city six years ago by its labor unions. The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to take only a small fraction of the cases presented to it. Advertisement Federal court briefs show that the city plans to argue the state Supreme Court ruling ignored the free speech rights of former Mayor Jerry Sanders. That ruling said Sanders violated state collective bargaining law by not negotiating with labor unions before pursuing the pension cuts, which voters approved as Proposition B in June 2012. The ruling said Proposition B wasnt a true citizens initiative because Sanders used his power and influence as mayor to support it, making him also obligated to meet with city union leaders before placing it on the ballot. Attorneys for the city say such an obligation violates the free speech rights of Sanders under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state Supreme Court ruling could force San Diego to pay millions in compensation to roughly 4,000 employees hired since voters approved Proposition B. The measure, approved by 65 percent of voters, replaced guaranteed pensions with 401(k)-style retirement plans for all new hires except police officers. The state ruling did not include a proposed solution. Instead it sent the case back to Californias Fourth District Court of Appeal to determine an appropriate judicial remedy. The appeals court is scheduled to begin discussing that in an open session March 11 in downtown San Diego. Attorneys for the citys labor unions say the only appropriate remedy would be to invalidate the ballot measure and nullify the pension cuts. The state Supreme Court ruling overturned a 2017 ruling by the appeals court in favor of the city. That ruling said Proposition B was properly placed on the ballot in 2012. The appeals court ruling had overturned a 2015 ruling by the state labor board that the measure was illegally placed on the ballot and that the city must compensate employees affected by it. The state labor board ruling was the first in the case, which the unions filed in 2012. San Diego is the only city in California to discontinue traditional pensions for new hires. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick An El Cajon group home resident torched some clothes in his room and escaped out a window Thursday night, leaving 10 other residents displaced from their smoke-filled rooms, officials said. It is the same independent living facility where one resident killed another with a frying pan last year, according to police The fire was set about 7 p.m. at a Living Solutions, Naranca Avenue group home for low-income clients with mental or physical disabilities. It took firefighters about five minutes to douse the flames, which did not spread beyond the bedroom, Heartland Fire Capt. Sonny Saghera said. Advertisement He said the resident had barricaded himself into the room before setting clothes on fire and fleeing through the window. Another resident suffered minor cuts as he, too, escaped the fire through a window. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, Saghera said. The Red Cross assisted the 10 residents displaced by the fire and smoke. On Dec. 20, police arrested Brad Masaru Payton, 24, on suspicion of beating Matthew McCarthy to death with a frying pan at the home early that morning. Both men lived there, police said. Officers went to the group home to investigate a report of a fight. They found McCarthy in a bedroom, bleeding from head wounds. He later died at a hospital. Payton has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder. His preliminary hearing, to determine whether there is enough evidence to hold him for trial, is set for May 8. pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @pdrepard Authorities on Thursday sought help from the public and offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the mysterious homicide of a 22-year-old man Sunday night in Lincoln Park. Gregory Izik Ruffin Jr. was found gravely injured suffering from apparent trauma to his upper body about 11:10 p.m. Sunday, San Diego police homicide Lt. Anthony Dupree said in a statement. Ruffin was discovered on a sidewalk on 47th Street near Castana Street in Lincoln Park, where he died despite emergency medical treatment from paramedics, Dupree said. Police received no calls of any fights or other incidents in the area. Advertisement We do know there were people in the area at the time, homicide Lt. Matt Dobbs said earlier this week. We are asking them to come forward with whatever information they could provide. Homicide detectives investigating the incident are trying to determine the circumstances which led to Ruffins death, Dupree said. San Diego County Crime Stoppers offered a $1,000 reward Thursday for information leading to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information about a suspect or suspects was asked to call the Police Departments homicide unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com A gunman robbed an 18-year-old San Diego State University student near the southern outskirts of the college early Thursday in what the schools police department said was the third robbery on or near the campus in the past eight days. Police have no reason to believe Thursdays armed robbery is connected to the other recent crimes, SDSU Police Chief Josh Mays said in a video posted on twitter Thursday afternoon. But Thursdays holdup follows similar armed robberies on Feb. 20 and Feb. 23, and a Feb. 17 burglary on the campus that prompted police to release surveillance footage of the suspects and ask for the communitys help to identify the men. Advertisement In Thursdays armed robbery, which happened around 12:45 a.m., the victim was walking on Montezuma Road near 55th Street when he was confronted by the robber, according to campus police. The bandit took a wallet from the victim, who was uninjured. The robber then fled to a waiting white Toyota Prius and was driven out of the area by an accomplice. The gunman was described as a thin, roughly 5-foot-10-inch black man in his late teens or early 20s, wearing black pants and a white shirt. No description of the getaway driver was available. Investigators were reviewing surveillance-camera images of the crime, according to the campus police department. Last Saturday, at least two suspects stole a cellphone from a student just off campus, on Faber Way near Montezuma Road. And on Feb. 20, a student walking in an alley off Montezuma Road not far from Thursdays robbery was held up at gunpoint. Mays said detectives have recovered a gun and identified possible suspects in the Feb. 20 holdup. The police chief also said that detectives, after releasing surveillance footage and seeking public help, have identified possible suspects in a Feb. 17 burglary on the campus, thanks to tips from the public. Mays said his department will deploy extra patrols to areas of concern around campus, but reminded students to take safety precautions like walking in groups when possible, eliminating distractions, using well-lit streets and avoiding alleys, vacant lots and construction sites. Anyone with information about the unresolved robberies, or who witnesses suspicious behavior on campus, was asked to call SDSU Police at (619) 594-1991. City News Service contributed to this report. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com The Trump administrations proposed Space Force, which faces an uncertain fate in Congress, would be the smallest military service by far. Details of the Pentagons proposal released Friday show the new service would have about 15,000 personnel, including an unspecified number of civilians, but would begin in 2020 as only a headquarters of about 200. The proposal was submitted Wednesday to Congress, which must authorize the new service. Space Force would be the first new military service since an independent Air Force was established in 1947 as part of a broad reorganization of the governments military and intelligence agencies. Space Force would reside within the Department of the Air Force, similar to how the Marine Corps exists within the Department of the Navy. It would have its own chief of staff, a four-star general who would answer to the secretary of the Air Force, currently Heather Wilson. Advertisement Currently the smallest branch of the armed forces is the Coast Guard, which has about 40,000 active-duty members in uniform and is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The second-smallest service, the Marine Corps, has 186,000. The biggest military service is the Army, with 487,500 active-duty members. President Donald Trump has pushed the Pentagon to create a Space Force that is separate but equal to the other military services. His first defense secretary, Jim Mattis, initially was cool to the idea, arguing against adding expensive new layers of bureaucracy. Critics have questioned the need to create a Space Force as a separate military service, noting that there are relatively small numbers of people required to carry out space-related missions. The Pentagon argues that a separate service will give space issues a stronger voice within the military and create a special space culture and expertise. The plan submitted to Congress calls for phasing in a Space Force over five years beginning with the 2020 budget year. This would add an estimated $2 billion in costs beyond what is spent on existing military space activities. Many details of the new service have yet to be worked out, including whether it would have its own boot camp for recruits and whether it would have its own uniform design. Not all space-related government activities would fall under the Space Force. It would not include the Pentagons Missile Defense Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the National Reconnaissance Office, which builds and maintains intelligence satellites in space. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan issued a written statement Friday calling the proposal an historic moment for our nation, ensuring the U.S. can compete, deter and, if needed, win in a complex domain. He credited Trump with a bold vision for space. While many in Congress support organizational changes to improve U.S. space defense capabilities, some key members question the wisdom of creating a separate military service. Among the doubters are Sen. James Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the committees ranking Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island. The new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, also has questioned the need for a separate service. In Michael Cohens historic testimony Wednesday, there was a moment when the long-lost spines of President Trumps political enablers, probably heaped in a clattering pile somewhere, must have felt a chill. It was when Cohen looked at his Republican inquisitors and foretold their future. I did the same thing you are doing now for 10 years, Cohen said, sounding like an Old Testament prophet. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years. ... And I can only warn [that] people that follow Mr. Trump as I did, blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that Im suffering. ... Look at whats happened to me. I had a wonderful life. I have a beautiful wife. I have two amazing children. I achieved financial success by the age of 39. I didnt go to work for Mr. Trump because I had to. I went to work for him because I wanted to. And I have lost it all. Cohens warning was ignored by those present. But his revelations advanced the inevitable day of reckoning for Trump, his family and his party. Early in his opening statement before the House Oversight Committee, Cohen gave a description of Trump that will go down in the annals of congressional testimony: He is a racist, he is a con man and he is a cheat. Incredibly, none of the Republicans on the panel even tried to refute the claim that the president of the United States is, in his essence, an unscrupulous grifter. Advertisement One of them, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, did make a clueless and embarrassing attempt to defend Trump against the charge of racism. He brought out Lynne Patton an African-American friend of the Trump family who, with utterly no relevant qualifications or experience, was given a high-ranking job in the Department of Housing and Urban Development as evidence that Trump is not a racist. Patton stood silently in the background, like an artifact on exhibit. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, was absolutely right to slam Meadows for using a black woman as a prop. For the record, its entirely possible to have a black friend and still be a racist. If you cant or wont understand that fact, you may be a racist yourself. But I digress. Another Republican made a weak attempt to challenge Cohen on one of his more sensational claims that Trump never expected to win the presidency and instead saw his campaign as the greatest infomercial in political history. But there was no real effort to dispute Cohens many specific charges against Trump or even to question his shocking portrait of the man he once idolized. Instead, the GOP strategy was to follow the old courtroom adage: If the facts are against you, pound the law. If the law is against you, pound the facts. And if both are against you, pound the table. Oh, the table-pounding! Republicans found it outrageous that Cohen, whose admitted crimes include having once lied to Congress, was being allowed to sit there and testify, rather than, I dont know, being dragged down to the basement and horsewhipped. How could anyone ever believe anything he had to say? Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was so overwrought that I feared he might pull a muscle when he briefly thought hed caught Cohen in a lie on a boilerplate witness form. It turned out that Jordan was wrong Cohen filled in the form correctly and all the congressman injured was his pride. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, the committees chairman, did a masterful job of presiding over the circus. He saved his best for last, ending the hearing with a closing statement that appealed to the better angels of our nature, wherever they might be hiding. Were better than this, he thundered. And I so hope hes right. But I fear there will be darkness before the dawn. Thanks largely to clever, substantive questioning by junior Democrats New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being perhaps the cleverest there are new leads to follow. Cohen spoke of a whispered exchange between Trump and his son Donald Jr. that suggests, but does not prove, that Trump colluded with the Russians. Cohen said the Trump Organization committed insurance fraud and was involved in other unspecified criminal activity. He gave the House Democratic majority ample reason to subpoena Trumps income taxes. But the Trump he described was even more ruthless, selfish, amoral, dishonest and insecure more unfit to be president than we could have imagined. Getting him out of office is an urgent task for our democracy. We must be up to it. Robinson is on Twitter, @Eugene_Robinson. For other views on Cohens testimony, read columns from The Washington Posts Marc A. Thiessen and David Ignatius in, respectively, Fridays and Sundays opinion sections. I am a scientist at Illumina, and I get to do amazing things. Last year, I was on a team that produced the first Atlantic bottlenose dolphin DNA sequence, findings that could support conservation. I love my work, but getting here wasnt easy, and I couldnt have done it alone. I needed my many families to help me through. I was raised in City Heights, in central San Diego, and am the oldest of five children. My parents were teens when they had me. They arent well-educated, but wanted their kids to have a better life. My mom, in particular, always encouraged me to do well in school and be an example for my brother and sisters. Growing up in City Heights is like living in a little bubble. I didnt see many people with professional jobs or even understand what college was about. Though my mom was incredibly supportive, she didnt really have the experience to help me down that path. Things changed when an organization called Aquatic Adventures (now Ocean Discovery Institute) came to my school. They shared their mission to help people like me succeed, and it instantly resonated. Id always loved the water and the idea of learning to snorkel, and exploring the ocean firsthand I was in. Advertisement It would be underselling it to say Ocean Discovery Institute changed my life. I dont know where Id be without them. I was given the opportunity to conduct research in Mexico and, for the first time, I knew I was going to college. I was accepted at UC Santa Cruz, but unfortunately it fell through. I was devastated, but didnt give up. I went to plan B, City College. It took a while to get my feet back under me, but I eventually thrived at school, got my first lab job at Illumina, and was accepted to San Diego State University. Around that time, I got married and had a baby (my little scientist). It made for a challenging first year at SDSU, but I made it, and I graduate in May. Leaving the City Heights bubble has been a culture shock. Throughout my community, in high school, and even at City College, there were lots of people who looked like me. But glancing around the science classes at SDSU and the labs at Illumina, I had to ask: Where are the Latinas? They should be here with me, sharing these great experiences. And I realized, theyre waiting in City Heights, or some other neighborhood, for someone like me to tell them that college and science are paths they can take. Ocean Discovery opened its Living Lab in City Heights, and asked alums to come home and empower the kids. I share my story and tell them about all the free resources, like the San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering, that can help them learn and grow. I get to be a mentor, and show these young women what I do in the lab and answer their questions. I get to share the chills I felt when I saw my name on that dolphin research paper. I tell them they can do this. Theres just no valid reason they cant. Sometimes people use diversity as a buzzword and nobody is sure what it means. To me, its like having a billion dollars in the bank. We could leave it there, where its less productive, or we could pull it out and do a lot of good in the world. When we have better representation in science, its like opening up that bank account. The kids I meet in City Heights and elsewhere, theyre smart and driven, have unique life experiences and bring a lot to the table. They belong in labs and C suites and boardrooms. We need to do more as a society to make sure these kids get that message. It never occurred to me I could go to college until somebody told me I should. Thats why Ocean Discovery and the San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering and similar organizations in our local community are so important they are like extended families that show kids how big their worlds can be. Rivera is a first-generation American and a student at San Diego State University completing a bachelors degree in Environmental Science. She is also a research associate at Illumina, a biotech company. The idea the federal government and the richest, most populous state should have a healthy, mutually productive relationship is obvious. But given that the office of state Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced his 47th lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday and that at President Donald Trumps behest, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced it may try to force California to refund $2.5 billion in federal funds for its troubled bullet-train project the likelihood any relationship would thrive is low, especially considering their politics and rhetorical flourishes. Nonetheless, it was good to see Gov. Gavin Newsoms diplomatic, pragmatic response this week to a journalist from The New York Times about whether he could get along and work with the president and his administration. I hope so. I dont know, Newsom said after going to a White House dinner that Trump hosted for visiting governors. But Im pursuing that because its just its too damn important. And the risks are too great to bear. This was illustrated by Newsoms meeting Sunday with acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Peter Gaynor to discuss FEMAs efforts to help California recover from brutal wildfires last fall in Northern California and northwest of Los Angeles. He couldnt have been more gracious, Newsom told the Los Angeles Times. The president has said and done some offensive things, as many Californians agree. But as governor, Newsom needs a nuanced approach to the White House. His awareness of this reflects well on him. Advertisement Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Its the second-largest Protestant denomination in America and its general conference the decision making body that usually meets every four years decided to uphold its ban on same-sex marriages and LGBTQ clergy. RELATED: Methodists in San Diego and elsewhere face tough questions about LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings The vote among delegates from all over the world was a close one 438 to 384 and the losing plan would have left these decisions up to regional and local congregations and clergy. Now there are concerns that those who disagree could leave the church or split off from the denomination. Advertisement Theres still much to discuss and decide among Methodists on this issue so we wanted to talk to someone who is wrestling with this decision in our community. Bob Rhodes is the lead pastor at Pacific Beach United Methodist Church. I have been angry, I have been hurt, Rhodes said of hearing about the decision. I cant believe this church that I know and that I love has made a choice to, what I think is, to do harm. To do spiritual violence to people who are created in the image of God just like anybody else. The church shared on social media that it has welcomed the queer community for more than 25 years and dont have any plans to change. What does that look like now? What does the fallout from this decision look like? We asked him those questions and asked him to share what led to this point in his church and in the United Methodist tradition. Tune into the episode here or at the top of the page. Subscribe to The Conversation podcast The Conversation with Abby & Luis is a podcast that slows down the news cycle to make sense of issues and stories that matter to listeners in San Diego and beyond. We talk to news makers, experts and others to offer interesting, in-depth conversations that will keep you up to date and informed. Check out some of our most recent episodes below, or subscribe on Apple or Stitcher. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin Once upon a time, in a sunny seaside town filled with beaches, craft breweries and great Mexican food, a man and a woman agreed to be set up on a blind date for PACIFIC magazine. They agreed to do so in the hopes of finding their one true love, or at the very least, having a fun night out on the town. Both daters were ready to head into the date with open hearts and open minds, hoping that the person they were being set up with might be the one to break their single streak and take them off the market. So what are the odds that this pair of star-crossed lovers already knew each other, albeit unknowingly? Well, if youre 28-year-old Ashley or 37-year-old Omid, the odds were in their favor. Blind Daters Omid and Ashley began their evening at WhipHand American Brasserie + Beer Bank. (David Brooks ) For the first time ever, according to PACIFICs matchmaker, the two daters that were selected to go on the PACIFIC blind date had already been introduced (via text), only days prior. And in an even more stunning twist of fate, these two daters had their second date planned before they even went on their first. Talk about meant to be. Before the daters have their moment of serendipity in an Epic limousine, lets meet them, via their pre-date interviews. Where are you from and where do you live now? ASHLEY: I am from Silverdale, Wash., and I currently live in San Diego. OMID: I grew up in Los Angeles, but moved to San Diego in 1999 and have been here since. Currently reside in north Pacific Beach. What do you do for a living? ASHLEY: I run an online branding and consulting company. I help brands amplify their web presence so they can make more money and impact. OMID: I am a partner at Five Marketing & Management, a nightlife-based company providing a variety of services to nightclubs, bars, restaurants and hotels. We also curate experiential-based small festivals like Horizon, Barks N Brews and Bayked. Whats your Instagram handle? ASHLEY: @ashley.hann OMID:@omidsabet Currently, what dating apps can be found on your phone? ASHLEY: (Laughs) All of them and I use none of them. My friends told me to try them, so I created profiles and then forgot about them. Whoops. OMID: Bumble. Where can you be found on the weekends? ASHLEY: Mostly my house. Im a bit of a homebody. Otherwise, you can find me at the beach or pool; if its nice out, the park with my dog, the gym or out enjoying a nice dinner with friends. OMID: I try to be active with a hike, bike ride or workout. I definitely try to get some uncle time in with my 1-year-old nephew. I also usually go out one night with dinner, drinks and wherever the night takes me. Blind Dater Ashley at WhipHand American Brasserie + Beer Bank. (David Brooks ) What are you best at? ASHLEY: Always elevating and growing. Also, Im really great at always figuring things out. Im super resourceful and I believe there is always a solution to anything and everything. OMID: Im a great listener, (Im) understanding and like to think I give good advice. What do you suck at? ASHLEY: Singing. But I will 100% do it anyway. Karaoke is one of my favorite things. OMID: Long-term commitment, but Im working on it. What are you looking for in a date, physical or otherwise? ASHLEY: Physically, Id like them to be taller than me and have a nice, kind smile. I tend to prefer dark features, however, I wouldnt say I have a solid physical type. What I am really looking for in a date is someone who is respectful, honest, genuine, open, loving, emotionally intelligent, highly conscious and playful. OMID: Physical attraction definitely grabs the attention, but depth of conversation keeps it. If youre into yourself too much, Im good! A strong go-getter personality is a plus. Why do you think youll be a good date? ASHLEY: Im authentic, confident, genuine and Im great at creating connection, fun and playfulness! Im also a total goofball. OMID: I dont think Ive ever been a bad date. Describe your special brand of sex appeal in a Tweet. ASHLEY: Sweet and silly with a side of spice! OMID: (Aladdin voice) Hop on my carpet and I can show you the world. Rate yourself on a scale from one to 10 for looks. ASHLEY: Nine. OMID: 8.12756. Rate yourself on a scale from one to 10 for personality. ASHLEY: 10. OMID: 7.49 sarcasm problems. Blind Daters Omid and Ashley at WhipHand American Brasserie + Beer Bank. (David Brooks ) Whats your cocktail of choice? ASHLEY: A nice glass of wine. OMID: Dirty (vodka) martini on the rocks. Whats a total deal-breaker on a date? ASHLEY: Being rude to myself or other people, negativity, complaining or gossiping. OMID: A girl that lights up a cigarette. How many people have you slept with? ASHLEY: I am currently abstinent. OMID: Nice try. Fill in the blanks: I want my date to be blank and blank. ASHLEY: Authentic and fun. OMID: I want my date to be easygoing and ready to have some fun! Will the night end with a kiss, something more or something less? ASHLEY: Probably something less. I typically do not kiss on first dates. OMID: No expectations at all. Itll end how it should. Ashley and Omid appear to have a lot in common. Omid says that having a go-getter personality is a plus in his book, while Ashley appears to be ambitious and, yes, a go-getter. Theyve both dabbled in dating apps, but havent been lucky in love. There are, however, some key differences: While Ashley claims shes an abstinent homebody, Omid is a nightlife veteran who likes to hit the town and struggles with long-term commitment. Blind Dater Ashley enjoying Corona Premier on their way to WhipHand American Brasserie + Beer Bank. (David Brooks / ) As it turns out, PACIFICs matchmaker Jessica wasnt the only person (or the only Jessica) who thought Omid and Ashley should meet. See, Ashley and Omid have a lot of mutual friends, and completely separate of this blind date, they were set up by another friend (also named Jessica) and already had plans to meet up for a coffee date. Imagine Ashleys surprise when, upon arriving at her blind dates house, the limo driver called and Omid showed up. Lets see if this crazy coincidence alone can get Ashley to break her no kissing on the first date rule. Whip it real good Ashley and Omid take in dinner, then take center stage Ashley and Omid are dropped off for dinner at WhipHand American Brasserie + Beer Bank, a hip spot that recently opened in East Village. The trendy eatery is the latest from Grind + Prosper Hospitality, the team behind other notable hotspots such as Park 101 and Miss Bs Coconut Club. It appears that Ashley and Omid are getting along famously, with the conversation (and the drinks) flowing naturally. They dig into a menu filled with elevated comfort foods like Short Rib Fondue and Zucchini Truffle Fries, and before long, its time to head to Mission Hills for an improv show at the famed National Comedy Theatre. Blind Daters Omid and Ashley at the National Comedy Theatre in Mission Hills. (David Brooks / ) An improv show differs from a standard comedy show in that the performers, plotline and characters are made up on the spot, with suggestions taken from the audience to keep the show fresh, off-the-cuff and entertaining (think Whose Line Is It Anyway?). Many of the biggest names in comedy (like Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and Keegan Michael-Key) got their start in improv comedy. Ashley and Omid are given priority seating at the show, and are eventually pulled up on stage to participate in several improv games with the cast. They are teamed up against each other in a game that requires them to do slow-motion activities like laundry, as other cast members commentate. The daters are earning their improv stripes, but has Omid earned that kiss? During intermission, the daters are separated for their mid-date debriefing. Hows it going so far? ASHLEY: Its going amazing, Im having so much fun. OMID: So far, so good. At first glance, would you swipe right or left on your date? ASHLEY: Wait, whats the good one? Right, I would have swiped right. The good one. OMID: Definitely right. Is this the type of person youd normally date? ASHLEY: I dont know how to answer that. I dont have a normal type, to be honest. I love that hes open and weve had really deep conversations, as opposed to being surface. So, yeah, I wouldnt say hes the typical guy, I would say hes his own guy and Im enjoying getting to know him. OMID: Yes. How was your experience at WhipHand American Brasserie + Beer Bank? ASHLEY: The atmosphere was casual, nice and intimate. We had good food, great conversation and the drinks tasted really good as well. OMID: We tried the zucchini fries, the short ribs and the lobster. All of it was delicious. Zucchini Truffle Fries from Whiphand American Brasserie + Beer Bank. (David Brooks / ) How was your experience at National Comedy Theatre? ASHLEY: That was really fun. I had a great time, I had fun with it. I was trying my best not to laugh while I was up there, but I was definitely cracking up. OMID: I think I tweaked my neck (on stage), trying too hard to be funny. I think it was fun. Whats the most attractive thing your date has done so far? ASHLEY: I would say opening up. Opening up and being willing to talk about deeper stuff. OMID: Her smile is pretty attractive. Whats the least attractive thing your date has done so far? ASHLEY: Im trying to think of something hes done thats not attractive. Honestly, nothing that I can think of right now, but I might come back to it. OMID: Cant think of anything. Rate your date on a scale from one to 10 for looks. ASHLEY: Hes a nine or a 10 for me. OMID: 10. And for personality? ASHLEY: An eight or a nine. OMID: 10. Lobster Roll from Whiphand American Brasserie + Beer Bank. (David Brooks / ) Did you have a chance to social stalk them? ASHLEY: No. OMID: Nope. Should I? Whats your dates most attractive physical quality? ASHLEY: His skin. I really like his skin. OMID: Shes in great shape. Whats your dates least attractive physical quality? ASHLEY: I dont have anything thats really sticking out as unattractive. OMID: Pass. Do you want to kiss your date right now? ASHLEY: I dont kiss on the first date. Hes very attractive. OMID: Sure. Does your date want to kiss you? ASHLEY: I dont know. OMID: Probably. Is this someone youd take home to mom, or just take home? ASHLEY: He could definitely be someone Id take home to mom. Hes got good values and hes a family man. From what I know about him so far, hes a good guy. OMID: Id take her home to mom. How and when will the date end? ASHLEY: I think its going to end great. Im having an awesome time. (Laughs) And he already has my number, so I was going to say, Ill give him my number, but he already has it. OMID: After a couple more drinks and a little more conversation. Blind Daters Omid and Ashley take the stage at a live performance at the National Comedy Theatre in Mission Hills. (David Brooks / ) These two seem to really be vibing with each other. They have a natural chemistry, and its easy to see why more than one person thought to set them up. Neither can name anything unattractive the other has done, or name a least-attractive physical quality about the other. Both claim that this is the type of person theyd definitely bring home to mom. And, as Ashley pointed out, theyve already exchanged phone numbers. This seems like a match made in heaven. After the comedy show wraps up and Omid and Ashley make their final curtain call, the PACIFIC crew leaves the daters to see where the night takes them. Manifest destiny Already dreaming of the future to come If ever there were pair of daters who seem like they could go the distance, its Ashley and Omid. Everything about the date seemed, well, as Ashley would say, serendipitous. Its almost as if these two were destined to meet, one way or another. And after the PACIFIC crew left, Ashley and Omid spent more time together, having deep conversations and getting more comfortable with each other. Comfortable enough for Omid to score that kiss? Lets find out. Blind Dater Ashley at the National Comedy Theatre in Mission Hills. (David Brooks / ) How did everything go? ASHLEY: Everything went really well. I really enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the conversation and I really loved the comedy show. That was a lot of fun. OMID: Everything went really good. Where did you go and what did you do for the rest of the evening after the improv show? ASHLEY: We went to Herb & Wood, and we just had a bite to eat there and a glass of wine and just continued our conversations and got to go a little deeper, which was cool, and connect further. And then I went home and he went home. OMID: We went and grabbed a drink and some bites in Little Italy. Did you guys exchange numbers? ASHLEY: We actually already had each others numbers. Its super serendipitous and really crazy, but basically, we have a mutual friend, a different Jessica, not Jessica (PACIFICs matchmaker), (who) put (Omid and me) in a group chat. So we ended up scheduling a coffee date. I put it in my calendar and I kind of just forgot about it, you know? Then Jessica (PACIFICs matchmaker) calls me and sets me up on the blind date. Were driving over to go pick him up and we arrive at his place, and the driver calls him and says, Hi, Omid, were here. And when I heard that name, I was like, Wait. Why does that name sound so familiar? Theres not many Omids. And so he walks out to the car, and initial impression, I thought he was very handsome. And he gets in and we hug and I go, Are you friends with Jessica? And he knew right away. What are the odds that we were set up on two different blind dates by two different Jessicas in the same week? It was super serendipitous and really bizarre. Both Jessicas do not know each other and had no idea. He texted me the next day, after our date, and said something like, if youre up for it, Id like to upgrade our date to a dinner. OMID: We had exchanged phone numbers the week before our blind date. You cant make that up at all. We literally have had one text conversation, and we had set a time and date. We only knew each others names and phone numbers. Someone had given me a hint beforehand, because we have a mutual friend who was like, Hey, I hear youre going on a blind date, I hear (Ashley) is going on a blind date, so like an hour before, I had a hint. But she didnt know until the driver called me and said my name. Blind Daters Omid and Ashley before taking the stage at a live performance at the National Comedy Theatre in Mission Hills. (David Brooks / ) Hook up? ASHLEY: No. I mean, we kissed. Which, by the way, Im not a first-date kisser, at all. I never kiss on first dates. So rare. It was an innocent kiss. We didnt make out or anything. It was a nice, end-of-the-night kiss, right when I was being dropped off. He was a gentleman. OMID: We had an end-of-the-night kiss. Ill leave it at that. Whats the funniest thing that happened during the date? ASHLEY: Thats hard, because the funniest thing initially was obviously the small-world, crazy serendipitous thing, but also the comedy show. We were both cracking up. I manifested it. I kept saying to myself, I really want to go to a comedy show. Another serendipitous thing that we ended up going to a comedy show, because Id been saying I wanted to go. OMID: Well, besides the initial encounter where we realized we were supposed to meet, we hopped on stage at the improv show and each had to perform a little piece. That was pretty funny. What was the best part of the date and why? ASHLEY: Our conversation, overall. Starting from when he first got in the car. We had so much to talk about. We have a lot of mutual friends, so it was easy conversation. OMID: I think the whole thing was great. The vibe and the conversation was super free-flowing. There was no awkwardness at all. And it seemed very effortless. What was the worst part of the date and why? ASHLEY: Nothing off the top of my head really. OMID: The worst part of the date was being rushed through our dinner. I mean, you made me choose a worst part, so I had to give you one. Do you follow each other on Instagram? ASHLEY: Now we do, yeah. OMID: Sure do. Will there be a second date? Why or why not? ASHLEY: Yeah, definitely a second date. We already had one scheduled, and its now upgraded to a dinner date. OMID: I think there will definitely be a second date. Do you have any dating tips for your date? ASHLEY: He told me that hes not usually as open as he was when we were on our date, so my advice would be to keep being open because that works. When youre open, that paves the way for connection. So staying open. OMID: No, (just) do her. She dressed amazing. Had a great attitude. And shes really fun to be around. Any final thoughts, parting words, shout-outs or anything else to add? ASHLEY: Shout out to the National Comedy Theatre for putting on an amazing, fun and entertaining show. I had a great time there and would definitely go back. OMID: I was very apprehensive going into the date and Jess [PACIFICs matchmaker] told me not to worry and she was right. She nailed it on the match. I guess my parting words would be sometimes, go outside of your comfort zone. Blind Daters Omid and Ashley. (David Brooks / ) And that, dear readers, is what they call destiny. Or coincidence. Or happenstance. Or, of course, serendipity. Whatever you call it, like Omid said, you really cant make this stuff up. Ashley and Omid certainly make a cute couple. And this whole thing makes for a great story. We can just see Ashley and Omid sitting around one day, 50 years from now, telling their grandkids the story of how they met: they were set up, two different times, by two different Jessicas, in the same week. And their first date was featured in a magazine, recorded for posterity and as a testament to the fact that, if you keep an open mind, are willing to step out of your comfort zone, or if you at least trust in the way the universe works, you could wind up meeting the person you were destined to be with. And, by the way, if Ashley and Omid do end up living happily ever after, PACIFIC expects an invite to the wedding. EDITORS NOTE: Daters answers may have been edited for length and clarity. SPECIAL THANKS TO AND PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATION FROM: Epic Limo 858.270.LIMO (5466), epiclimo.com WhipHand American Brasserie + Beer Bank 619.450.5515, whiphandsd.com National Comedy Theatre 619.295.4999, nationalcomedy.com Matchmaker Jessica Pelligra matchandmagic.com Status update Checking in with last months blind daters Dedicated PACIFIC readers might remember blind daters Ian and Katrina (February 2019 issue), who spent a busy day learning about bees but by dates end, they were not calling each other honey. February Blind Daters Katrina and Ian. (David Brooks / ) We checked in with our not-so-sweet-on-each-other duo to see whats happened since being featured in PACIFIC magazine. Heres what they had to say about their current status. What were the reactions of your friends/family after you went on the date? KATRINA: Most of my close friends knew I was going on the blind date ahead of time. There definitely were several who reached out to me once they saw it in print. Everyone thought it was funny and that I was a great candidate for going on a blind date. IAN: They said that shes not my type. I agreed. Has your opinion of the date changed since you went on it? KATRINA: My opinion of our date has not changed, Ian is a very nice guy and I wish him the best in his search for love. IAN: No. What did you learn? KATRINA: That I can go on a nine-hour blind date and enjoy myself knowing from the beginning there was no love interest. IAN: Katrina is a good person and enjoyable to be around. And everyone has their moments, but if someone cant accept you for the person that you are, even when wearing a lab coat for the purpose of the activity, then she is not for you. Anyone slide into your DMs since the blind date went to print? KATRINA: No one has slid into my DMs since the date printed. IAN: No. But I contacted Katrina on Instagram about the article on our date just to clarify a few things about what she said about me because I believe PACIFIC embellished on her responses about me from some of the questions that were asked. Would you ever go on another blind date, either in a magazine or otherwise? KATRINA: I would definitely go on another blind date. I am open to finding love. IAN: I would go on another blind date (for) a magazine or other source as long as they abide and honor how Ive described what I am seeking for my ideal girl. In case you are wondering, Im into Latina women with curves that are brunette because they have special powers that they cast magical spells on me. And I like it. So if I get an opportunity, I promise not to wear a lab coat, unless there is chemistry. Alexander Kunz moved to San Diego County from Germany in October 2010. He quickly became spoiled by Southern California weather. I remember hiking in February in shorts and sweating, Kunz said. Not this year. Kunz ran his heater at his home in Rancho Bernardo more in February than ever, sometimes day and night. Frost blackened the leaves of the bougainvillea in the front yard, and hail gathered in patches one day in his backyard. Advertisement On Feb. 22, Kunz, a professional photographer, drove out to Lake Henshaw to shoot one of his favorite scenes in the county. I went out wearing two pairs of pants, he said. And he shivered. It was 26 degrees. Fe-burrrr-ary For much of San Diego city, it was a throwback February a return to the chilly winter weather that hadnt been seen in years but used to occur fairly regularly. San Diego ended the month 2.2 degrees cooler than normal, with both nights and days chillier than usual. But you only have to go back to 2008 to find a February just as cold. Inland, however, February was bone-chilling and record-breaking cold. Final numbers arent in yet, but even with a slight warmup the last few days of the month, it appears Ramona had its coldest February on record, and Palomar Mountain, Vista and Campo all had their second coldest. Greg Bowerman, who has lived in Pine Valley since 2001, can confirm. His personal weather station showed temperatures dropping into the teens six days during February. Normally, he said, he sees one or two days that cold in an entire year. Im going through firewood like never before, he said. It was a kind of hybrid February, with a combination of weather elements rarely seen. Besides the cold, there was plenty of rain (most places received at least 150 percent of normal), low-elevation snow, a couple of very moist atmospheric rivers and a little bit of El Nino. Add them up and you get an odd kind of perfect storm that was hard to foresee and decipher. Two things stand out, said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Services Rancho Bernardo office. We had those atmospheric rivers, which typically dont affect temperatures. They usually keep us mild. Then we had four outbreaks of our version of the polar vortex over Southern California. Cold storms with origins in Alaska or Canada usually descend on Southern California four or fives times an entire winter, Tardy said. Some winters dont deliver any. San Diego County got four in one month. Frost was widespread around the county Feb. 6 and 7, then again over several days between Feb. 18 and 23. San Diego had 14 days with lows in the 40s, and only one day topped 70 degrees all month. Many winters, the county will get no atmospheric rivers, let alone two in one month. The rivers are long plumes of moisture a couple of hundred miles wide that can stretch out into the Pacific for a thousand miles or more. They can dump huge quantities of rain over a region. Although neither river took direct aim at San Diego, the river on Valentines Day drew a bead on Palomar Mountain, which set its all-time, single-day rainfall record with 10.1 inches. A week later, Palomar Mountain was blanketed in snow. That snow cover helped keep temperatures down on the mountain both day and night, Tardy said. But in Vista, Ramona and Campo, snow cover had nothing to do with the chill. The months many storms were remarkably cold, and for the most part, they cleared out at night and left cold air behind. To get those really cold night temperatures, you have to have clear skies, Tardy said. Then theres El Nino, the periodic atmospheric phenomenon that alters storm patterns around the globe and often delivers extra rain to Southern California. The Climate Prediction Center had been touting El Nnos emergence for months, but it didnt officially arrive until the middle of February. I think theres been a mild influence of El Nino, at best, said Dan Cayan, a climate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The precipitation pattern is sort of the classic El Nino signature, with lots of rain in California and drier in the Northwest. But the circulation pattern doesnt really look like El Nino. And El Ninos have tended to be warmer in the West. Breaking the trend The cold in February came after an unusually long stretch of warm weather. Since October 2013, a span of 63 months, San Diego had only one month cooler than normal: May of last year. And that month was just 0.5 of degree below normal. During that five-plus-year stretch, San Diego had its two hottest years on record and many months that set all-time heat records. What changed in February, the first month to be more than 2 degrees cooler than normal since August of 2011? All of the sudden weve had this abrupt shift in the circulation, Cayan said. High pressure had dominated along the West Coast most of the last several years. Now a trough of low pressure rules the region, and that has allowed influxes of cold air from the north. Also, ocean temperatures along the West Coast that had been much warmer than normal returned to closer to their historic averages. Cayan notes that its not as if cold has descended everywhere. Theres been a kind of redeployment of the air masses, Cayan said. If you charted the area of cold air masses and warm air masses, youd find an equal amount of warm as cold. Now unusual warmth can be found up in Alaska and the Southeast. Whats next? The stormy local pattern, which actually goes back to early December, is not going away soon. Rain is expected over the weekend, and two more storms are forecast for next week. No heat waves are on the horizon. Bowerman out in Pine Valley says the creek that flows under his driveway has already reached the highest level hes seen since hes lived there. Around the county, streams are flowing, vernal pools have filled and hillsides have greened up. The desert and backcountry appear primed for a delayed but prolific bloom season. We have not had a winter with this combination of cold and wet in a long time, the weather services Tardy said. We should see very good native plant growth this spring and summer. It should be one of the best springs weve had in a long time. rob.krier@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2241 Twitter: @sdutKrier 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. Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The 3D cell culture market revenues surpassed US$ 778 million in 2018, as per a new FMI study. The market is estimated to grow at 7.8% y-o-y in 2019; key factors responsible for the projected market growth include, A steady rise in global research and development expenditure Efforts to leverage the potential of 3D cell culture to replace animal model testing Increasing demand for biosimilar products Extensive application of stem cell research and a growing emphasis on regenerative medicine To Get Sample Copy of Report visit at: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2843 "While 2D cell culture revolutionized the research efforts in stem cells, tissue engineering and molecular biology, 3D cell culture has pushed the boundaries of traditional 2D cell culture technique with functional superiority. As the R&D efforts continue to rise in a bid to investigate the cause of different diseases and improve human health, 3D cell culture is set to remain a highly sought-after technique in the coming years," says FMI. The FMI study finds that scaffold-based 3D cell culture techniques are highly preferred over scaffold free 3D cell culture. Owing to a significant adoption of scaffold-based 3D cell culture, study finds that this techniques garnered over 81% of the global market revenues. Scaffold based 3D cell culture techniques deliver researchers with additional functional operations in terms of material natural or synthetic and different mechanical properties. The technique uses either hydrogel-based support or polymeric hard material based support. Both types of supports find equivalent penetration in terms of application, however revenues garnered from polymeric hard material based support are higher. According to the study, revenues of polymeric hard material based support held over half the scaffold-based 3D cell culture technique revenues in 2018 and the trend is expected to continue in the future. Application of 3D Cell Culture in Cancer Research Prominent The FMI study estimates that 3D cell culture application in cancer research accounted for over 31% of the 3D cell culture market revenues in 2018. Cell culture is an integral part of cancer drug discovery practices. Greater strides are underway in the field to precisely characterize the diseases and develop advanced tumor cell lines using 3D cell culture techniques. 2D culture lines are considered as a standard for in vitro pre-clinical cancer treatment screening. However, more recently, the field is turning to 3D cell culture techniques to implement an ideal experimental model that mimics the human body environment to its best. Need more information about Report Methodology ? @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-2843 Stem cell technology is another lucrative field for 3D cell culture market. According to the FMI study, application in stem cell technology accounted for over one-fourth of the 3D cell culture market revenues in 2018. While 2D cell culture posed challenges of scalability in stem cell technology, apart from few challenges, 3D cell culture has provided greater density and multi-fold expansion of the culture system in stem cell technology. Other fields that utilize 3D cell culture techniques are tissue regeneration, regenerative medicine and drug discovery. Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries - Prominent End-Users The study reveals that the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries were accounted for over one-fifth of the global 3D cell culture market revenues in 2018. Buoyancy in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries can be profitable for the 3D cell culture market in the coming years and over 9% growth is projected in 2019 over 2019. Academic research institutes are the second prominent end-users of 3D cell cultures wherein they accounted for over one-fourth of the global 3d cell culture revenues in 2018. Government funding in cancer research projects carried out at academic institutes and organizations has increased significantly, thereby supporting the investments in advanced technologies including 3D cell culture techniques. Revenues in North America Continue to Surge North America continued to spearhead the revenues of 3D cell culture market during the historical period and the status-quo is likely to continue in the future. In 2018, North America accounted for over two-fifth of the global 3D cell culture market revenues. The study estimates that regional revenues are expected to grow at 8% in 2019 over 2018. Funding in research and development, especially in cancer research remains higher in the United States as compared to other developed countries. Europe also presents significant funding in R&D activities. The FMI study finds that over one-fourth of the 3D cell culture market revenues were accounted for the Europe region in 2018, of which a bulk of revenues come from Western European countries such as Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain. Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Nearly 75 thousand 5G testers were sold in 2018. According to a recent intelligence report presented by Future Market Insights, the sales volume of 5G tester will thrive impressively at around 14% in 2019. The report envisages more than 40% of the total demand from telecom providers. Demand growth of 5G tester is likely to gain more prominence in the automotive industry over the course of next few years. In line with businesses seeking networks delivering faster connectivity at lower latency, telecommunication service providers, mobile device companies, and network equipment manufacturers are prioritizing 5G adoption. Complementing the increasing priority of businesses for data transmission over private networks, global industrial giants are accelerating their move towards owning private 5G networks. While Audi is pioneering the trend of private 5G network ownership in collaboration with Ericsson, Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagen are most likely to follow the trend, thereby fueling demand for 5G testers in the years to come. Companies such as Verizon, AT&T, and others, are rapidly switching to 5G networks, which continues to raise demand for 5G testers. Network analyzers and signal analyzers remain the most sought after types of 5G testers in market, as indicated by the report. Network analyzers alone account for over 45% share in the 5G tester sales volume, whereas signal generators will witness healthy growth in sales in the years to come. Oscilloscopes have been positioned as highly lucrative in 5G tester market. Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8988 Rapid Upsurge in 5G Trials to Propel 5G Tester Sales The number of trials for effective 5G implementation has been on a constant rise in the recent past, particularly in the US, South Korea, Japan, the UK, and a few other countries. The report cites 5G trials as the key booster to demand growth of 5G tester in the global market. Developed regional markets will however showcase greater potential for 5G tester market growth owing to high capital investment associated with adoption of 5G testers. Vodafone UK has already announced to have completed the 5G spectrum test trials across their existing network. The West of England Combined Authority recently hosted an event as a part of the 5G Smart Tourism Project. The project has been launched in partnership with 25 partners, which also include Aardman, BBC, and Bristol City Council among others. This and more such projects underway are projected to create a favorable growth scenario for the 5G tester market in years to come. More recently, Bristol's M Shed Museum also hosted a set of trials of new 5G technology enabled applications. While these trials are eventually intended to create enhanced visitor experience, 5G tester market will witness a heap of opportunities arising from such initiatives in the near future. 5G Tester Manufacturers Facing a Host of Challenges FMI's report has profiled some of the most prominent players operating in 5G tester market, including Keysight Technologies, Anritsu, VIAVI Solutions Inc., Spirent Communications, LitePoint, and Rohde & Schwarz among others. In tandem with 5G introduction, manufacturers of 5G tester are eyeing the emerging opportunities to develop end use-specific equipment. 5G technology implementation is in sight over the next few years. However, telecom industry veterans opine that the 5G technology evolution will bring along a set of accompanying challenges related to measurement and test in terms of design, validation, and manufacturing. This according to the report will be the key demand determinant for 5G tester. If You Have Any Query, Ask The Analyst @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-the-analyst/rep-gb-8988 Moreover, the focus of 5G technology developers on mmWave for mobile access is most likely to introduce a new set of testing challenges in the market, which prompts at growing necessitation of a new testing infrastructure in the near future. This will extend strong support to the growth of 5G tester market, according to FMI's analysis. With several network operators rolling out implementation of early 5G trials for their networks, the industry behemoth Rohde & Schwarz has launched the first-ever commercially available effective solution to network measurement - 5G NR (New Radio). Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Aerosols are primarily used in paints, perfumes, room fresheners, medical products deodorants in order to hold liquid droplets in pressurized form. Moreover, increasing demand for household and personal care products is expected to fuel the demand for aerosols during forecast period. The market has been segmented by application type into household products, personal care products, medical products and paint among others. The global aerosol market is expected to witness positive growth over the forecast period due to growing application of aerosols in paints, medical products, food, adhesives and automotive. Rising demand for air care products along with personal care products such as shaving and depilatories, hair care products, skin care products and deodorants are expected to create positive impact on the market for aerosols. Read Report Overview @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/aerosol-market.html Personal care is the largest application segment of aerosols globally, followed by household application segment. Increasing disposable income along with rising standard of living is fueling the usage of personal care and household products for better living. Increasing demand for household and personal care products is expected to have a positive impact on the aerosols market. Furthermore, another application area of aerosol as spray paints in construction and automobile industry. Moreover, asthma inhalers are one of the application areas for aerosols, but the presence of fluorocarbons named hydrofluoroalkanes (HFA) is expected to restrain the demand. Europe dominated the aerosols market in 2014 in terms of volume followed by North America and Asia Pacific. Growing demand for personal care products is expected to contribute in the growing popularity of aerosols in UK, Germany, Spain and France across Europe. U.S. is leading the aerosols market in North America. Furthermore, Asia pacific is the fastest growing market for aerosols. Lenient regulatory scenario coupled with growing demand for personal and household products are driving the market for aerosols across Asia Pacific. Growing consciousness towards personal care and hygiene, aerosol market is expected to witness positive growth over the forecast period in China and India. Furthermore, stringent environmental rules and regulations by European Commission and Environmental Protection Agency towards restricting the application of HCFC, CFC and HFC components is one of the prime reasons behind the anticipated reduction in market share of Europe and North America by 2021. Increasing automobile production in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Germany and China is expected to create a positive impact on the demand for aerosol. Urbanization coupled with technological development is boosting the use of aerosol in household and personal care products across Middle East. Request Report Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9527 Some of the major players of aerosol market invest in research and development for better product quality. Furthermore, manufacturers focus on innovation and products development in the household and personal care product segments. Some of the key players operating in the aerosol market are Proctor & Gamble, Unilever PLC, Henkel AG, Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Thymes, LLC, Crabtree & Evelyn, Ltd. and AkzoNobel N.V. among others. Mergers and acquisitions are also one of the business strategies of major companies in order to strengthen their foothold in the industry. This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include North America Asia Pacific Hong Kong: Report to explain group ban The report to be submitted to the Central People's Government on the prohibition order against the Hong Kong National Party will outline the legal procedures and facts involved in the matter. Speaking to the media today, Secretary for Security John Lee said the report will contain details on the whole process regarding how the order was issued and dealt with. When the Chief Executive met the press to inform the public about the request of the Central People's Government for her to submit a report on the matter relating to the prohibition order regarding the Hong Kong National Party, she has indicated that the report would likely contain the whole process regarding how the prohibition order was issued and dealt with in accordance with the Societies Ordinance, the legal procedures and also the facts involved in the matter. She has also indicated that she would prefer to make her report public subject to legal advice." On the proposal to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance, Mr Lee said the amendments seek to plug a loophole. The proposal is aiming at one single standard applicable to all places around the world, based on the case merits, without considering all other factors except the safeguards that have long been laid down in the present Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- Researchmoz added most up-to-date research on "Global Aluminum-Nickel Catalyst Market (By Type, By End-Use Industry, By Region, By Country): Opportunities and Forecasts (2016-2021) - (By Type - Activated, Non-Activated; By End-User Industry - Refinery, Chemical, Others; By Region - North America, Europe, APAC, ROW; By Country - U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, France, Netherlands, India, China, Japan, Brazil)" to its huge collection of research reports. Global Aluminum Nickel Catalyst Market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 4.34% during 2016-2021. The strong growth of aluminum nickel catalyst market is attributed to the increased demand by the refinery industry, chemicals as well as the polymers industry. The aluminum nickel catalyst market is expected to register a substantial growth in the near future. Rising prominence of Green Chemistry, increased demand for advanced catalytic technologies as well as reactivation of spent raney nickel catalyst are some of the emerging trends in the global aluminum nickel catalyst market Get Free Sample PDF for Professional Insights: https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=906619 Scope of the Aluminum Nickel Catalyst Market Report: The report provides coverage by Type, by End-Users, by Region and by Country: Aluminum Nickel Catalyst Market By Type Activated Non-Activated Aluminum Nickel Catalyst Market By End-Users Refinery Industry Chemical Industry Others According to Azoth Analytics research report, Global Aluminum-Nickel Catalyst Market By Type, By End-Use Industry, By Region, By Country: Opportunities and Forecasts (2016-2021) (By Type Activated, Non-Activated; By End-User Industry Refinery, Chemical, Others; By Region - North America, Europe, APAC, ROW; By Country U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, France, Netherlands, India, China, Japan, Brazil) Get Assistance on Aluminum-Nickel Catalyst Market report at: https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=906619 (*Fill the form and our sales representative will get back to you for assistance) Aluminum Nickel Catalyst Market Report Highlights: 1. Primary Research: Interviews conducted with key management people to gain quality responses and deeper insights. 2. Secondary Research: Data and insights from industry associations, annual reports, company presentations, premium journals and internal database. 3. Actual Period: Historical and current market sizing (2012-2015) 4. Forecast Period: Projected market sizing (2016E-2021F) 5. Companies Covered: BASF SE, Hangzhou Jiali metal Technology Co.,Ltd., Evonik In-dustries AG, Vineeth Chemicals, Johnson Matthey, Haldor Topsoe A/S, W. R. Grace & Co., Axens, Sigma Aldrich, Alfa-Aesar 6. Strategic Recommendations And Many Other. Get Complete TOC of Aluminum-Nickel Catalyst Market with Tables and Figures at: https://www.researchmoz.us/global-aluminum-nickel-catalyst-market-report.html/toc About ResearchMoz ResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators. Contact Us: Mr. Nachiket Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free) Email: sales@researchmoz.us Browse More Industry Reports: https://bit.ly/2Sepby2 Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- HTF MI recently introduced Global and Chinese Authentication Services study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status. The market Study is segmented by key regions, which is accelerating the marketization. At present, the market is developing its presence and some of the key players from the complete study are Bell Canada, Gemalto, Tata Communications, Verizon, Wipro, Entrust Datacard, GCI Channel Solutions, GCX, Interoute, Trustwave. Request Sample of Global and Chinese Authentication Services Industry, 2018 Market Research Report @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1506759-global-and-chinese-authentication-services-industry-2018-market The research covers the current market size of the Authentication Services market and its growth rates based on 5 year history data along with company profile of key players/manufacturers. This report is an essential reference for who looks for detailed information on Global and Chinese Authentication Services market. The report covers data on regional markets including historical and future trends for supply, market size, prices, trading, competition and value chain as well as China major vendors' information. In addition to the data part, the report also provides overview of Global and Chinese Authentication Services market, including classification, application, manufacturing technology, industry chain analysis and latest market dynamics. Finally, a customization report in order to meet user's requirements is also available. Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1506759-global-and-chinese-authentication-services-industry-2018-market Report Scope: The depth industry chain include analysis value chain analysis, porter five forces model analysis and cost structure analysis The report covers regional market of Authentication Services It describes present situation, historical background and future forecast Comprehensive data showing Global and Chinese Authentication Services sale, consumption, trade statistics, and prices in the recent years are provided The report indicates a wealth of information on Authentication Services vendors Regional market overview covers the following information: sale and consumption of Global and Chinese Authentication Services in Northeast China, North China, Central China, Northern China, Western China and South China Global and Chinese Authentication Services market forecast for next five years, including market volumes and prices is also provided Raw Material Supply and Downstream Consumer Information is also included Any other user's requirements which is feasible for us contact executive now at sales@htfmarketreport.com What this Research Study Offers: Authentication Services Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments Market share analysis of the top industry players Strategic recommendations for the new entrants Market forecasts for a minimum of 5 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Buy this research report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1506759 Chapter One Global and Chinese Authentication Services Overview 1.1 Global and Chinese Authentication Services Outline 1.2 Classification and Application 1.3 Manufacturing Technology Chapter Two Industry Chain Analysis 2.1 Value Chain Analysis 2.2 Porter Five Forces Model Analysis 2.3 Cost Structure Analysis Chapter Three Market Key Players of Authentication Services Industry 3.1 Company Name 3.1.1 Company Profile 3.1.2 Product Information 3.1.3 2013-2018 Production Information 3.1.4 Contact Information Chapter Four Market Dynamics of Authentication Services Industry 4.1 Latest News and Policy 4.2 Market Drivers 4.3 Market Challenges Chapter Five Market Forecast of Authentication Services Industry Global and Chinese Authentication Services Capacity, Production, and Production Value Authentication Services Industry Cost and Profit Estimation Authentication Services Market Share Authentication Services Supply and Consumption Authentication Services import and Export ....Continued Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1506759-global-and-chinese-authentication-services-industry-2018-market Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia. Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Acumen Research and Consulting, a global provider of market research studies, in a recently published report titled "Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Market (Application: Security and Surveillance, Vehicle Parking, Traffic Management, Toll Enforcement; End-user: Government, Commercial) Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Opportunities and Forecast, 2013-2023", estimates that the global automatic number plate recognition market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 13% during the period from 2015 to 2023 and generate a revenue of over $1.4 billion by 2023. Major factors responsible for driving the growth of this market include increasing adoption of ANPR systems in traffic enforcement and management, growing need for enhanced security in public sector, and increasing spending by governments in emerging economies on internal security. However, linguistic barriers and non-uniformity in the design of number plate are some major complications in designing the ANPR systems and posing a challenge for manufacturers. Adoption of ANPR in parking management and toll collection application could be a potential market area for manufacturers to target on. Download Sample Pages at https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/396 Europe is the largest market for automatic number plate recognition systems owing to the early adoption of this technology in the region. Stringent government regulations for speed enforcement and red light control in countries such as UK, Germany, France, and Italy have encouraged the adoption of ANPR systems, thus driving the market growth in the region. Presence of large number of ANPS manufacturers in the region such as ARH Inc., Q-Free ASA, and NDI Recognition Systems Inc. among others has further spurred the market growth and promoted consumer awareness. Presently, most countries in Europe have deployed ANPR technology, and as a result, the market for ANPR is increasing in Europe. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market for ANPR and the technology is deployed in countries such as China, India, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and Australia. ANPR technology has been deployed in Japan for the past 10 years and is used for the purpose of calculating journey time. The market is in nascent stage in India; however, it is expected to grow considerably in coming years as state traffic department and highway authorities have initiated the process of deployment of ANPR systems. These systems are presently installed in Cities such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Ludhiana among others for security and surveillance purpose. The market for ANPR in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to experience significant growth in the next few years, at a CAGR of more than 15% from 2015 to 2023 to reach an estimated value of over $350 million in 2023. View Detail Report With Table Of Content, List of Table and Figure at https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/automatic-number-plate-recognition-anpr-market The major applications of automatic number plate recognition include security and surveillance, traffic management, vehicle parking, and toll enforcement among others. Security and surveillance represents the largest application segment of ANPR market and are installed for safety and security at public places. ANPR cameras installed on streets or on police department vehicles capture images of vehicles and helps in real-time investigation of crime. The ANPR systems are also used for surveillance activities and enables matching, rapid recovery, identification and tracking of vehicles in real-time. The development of advanced information technologies has brought surveillance to a completely new and extended level of operation. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report at https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/inquiry-before-buying/396 The player profiled in the report include Bosch Security Systems, Inc., Q-Free ASA, ELSAG North America LLC, ARH, Inc., Genetec, Inc., PIPS Technology Ltd., Siemens AG, Tattile S.r.l., Vigilant Solutions, NDI Recognition Systems LLC, and Digital Recognition Systems, Ltd. among others. Mergers and acquisitions for innovation and new product development and partnership for enhancing product quality are some of the key strategies implemented by players operating in this market. Buy this premium research report at https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/396 Would like to place an order or any question, please feel free to contact: sales@acumenresearchandconsulting.com About Acumen Research and Consulting Acumen Research and Consulting (ARC) is a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services to information technology, investment, telecommunication, manufacturing, and consumer technology markets. ARC helps investment communities, IT professionals, and business executives to make fact based decisions on technology purchases and develop firm growth strategies to sustain market competition. With the team size of 100+ Analysts and collective industry experience of more than 200 years, Acumen Research and Consulting assures to deliver a combination of industry knowledge along with global and country level expertise. Contact: Frank Wilson Sales Manager | Acumen Research and Consulting Email: frank@acumenresearchandconsulting.com Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Ongoing reforms toward the replacement of conventional generating technologies with sustainable energy sources across developed economies will drive the transfer switch market. The industry has witnessed a significant turnaround in the recent years owing to the upsurge in investments toward large scale renewable capacity integration. The technology has appreciably been perked subject to the renewable energy targets pledged by the nations during the UN Climate Change Conference in 2015. In 2016, the European Union (EU) revised its renewable energy directive 2009/28/EC. The amendment lays binding norms of 27% final energy consumption from sustainable energy sources by 2030 across the region. Rising infrastructural spending subject to pervasive commercial and residential establishments across developing economies will stimulate the transfer switch market. Refurbishment of conventional grid infrastructure along with rapid adoption of advanced monitoring and control units will further augment the industry outlook. In 2017, East spring Investments in Hong Kong, has signed a deal to invest USD 500 million across the emerging economies infrastructure debt, parallel to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Transfer Switch market will exceed USD 1.8 billion by 2024, as reported in the latest study by Global Market Insights, Inc. Request for a sample of research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2037 Paradigm shift in context to energy conservation along with rising security of supply concerns will embellish the transfer switch market potential. Increasing focus towards energy efficiency favored by briskly expanding smart grid networks will further complement the business outlook. In 2017, Western European countries including Sweden, UK, France, Germany, and Italy have entered a smart grid agreement. The agreement lays investment targets worth USD 133.7 billion subject to the expansion of smart grid networks across the region. Rapid commercialization and residential establishments across developing economies coupled with increasing concerns pertaining to energy security will fuel the manual transfer switch market share. Rising investments across the real estate sector favoured by increasing refurbishment demand of existing conventional infrastructure across developed economies will foster the business outlook. In 2017, Blackstone supported by the Saudi Arabian government has proposed investments worth USD 40 billion across the U.S. infrastructure sector. The U.S. transfer switch market will witness strong growth owing to rising investments toward the upgradation of conventional grid infrastructure along with the integration of advance control and monitoring technologies. Expeditious advancements across the rail-road infrastructure propositions endorsed by the peninsula corridor electrification program will embellish the industry share. In 2017, Federal Transit Administration provisioned an investment worth USD 100 million towards the expansion of electrical infrastructure across the California's rail networks. Germany transfer switch market is set to reach over 150 '000 units of annual installations by 2024. Rapid industrialization coupled with volant expansion of off-grid networks across the nation will boost the product demand. Ongoing diversification of manufacturing units favored by new establishments will further foster the industry growth. In 2017, Germany announced state funding of over USD 120 billion to support German based suppliers and automakers. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2037 Favorable government policies pertaining to rural electrification across the Asian and African sub-continent supported by rising investments from private and publicly held financial institutions will embellish the transfer switch market growth. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), and International Finance Corporation (IFC) across the years have continually funded rural electrification campaigns across the regions. Growing demand for electricity coupled with rapid expansion of isolated grid networks will further thrust the product penetration. Eminent players across the transfer switch market include GE, Vertiv, Generac Power Systems, DynaGen Technologies, Briggs & Stratton, Eaton, Schneider Electric, ABB, Siemens & Russelectric Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- The Global Enterprise Time Management Software reports provide information on the types, applications, countries, major manufacturers, cost analysis, industry chains, sourcing strategies, downstream buyers, marketing strategy analysis, retailers / distributors, it provides market size, share, outline, and other critical information for key insights. The Enterprise Time Management Software Market Report includes a brief introduction to the industry with a periodic expansion of the established research objectives and reports (total number of years considered). The study also includes a brief description of market research methodologies, taking into account the economic indicators of the region, not to mention the opportunities offered in this business space. Get sample copy of this report @ https://www.qyreports.com/request-sample?report-id=106346 Top Key Players Are Including in This Report: Replicon, Flapps, ClickTime, Toggl, TSheets, Workday, OpenProject, Tempo, TimeCamp, Chronos Software, Time Doctor, Planview, ExakTime, Orangescrum, NetSuite, AgileCraft, Journyx, DATABASICS, Easy Time Tracking, Time Management Systems, Pivotal Tracker, WFS Australia, OfficeTimer, Clockify, Zendesk, SAP, Pacific Timesheet etc. The key questions answered in the report: - What will be the market size and growth rate in the 2026? - What are the key factors driving the global Enterprise Time Management Software market? - What are the risks and challenges in front of the market? - Who are the key vendors in the global Enterprise Time Management Software market? - Trending factors influencing the market shares of Enterprise Time Management Software - What are the key outcomes of Porter's five forces model? - Which are the global opportunities for expanding the Enterprise Time Management Software market? Market size is estimated in terms of market share and total available market. This study provides market size for specific regions as well as combined revenues. Market size is given based on product, technology and local constraints. Get discount copy of this report @ https://www.qyreports.com/ask-for-discount?report-id=106346 Geographically, this report focuses on key regions that focus on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunities in North America (US, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) An in-depth survey of key players covered various organizational goals such as profiling, product overview, raw materials and production. Factors such as growth opportunities, challenges, limitations, risks and key factors provided in the report allow new entrants and well-established market professionals to understand what is happening in the industry. We also analyze industry trends and marketing channels. It considers the average production and consumption of the product and the demand of the market. If you have any query, Ask our experts: https://qyreports.com/enquiry-before-buying?report-id=106346 Major Factors: - Global Enterprise Time Management Software Market Overview - Economic Impact on Market - Market Competition - Global Enterprise Time Management Software Market Analysis by Application - Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers - Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders - Global Enterprise Time Management Software Market Effect, Factors, Analysis - Global Enterprise Time Management Software Market Forecast Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The Biotechnology Market to exceed USD 775 billion by 2024 as per a new research report. Favorable government initiative and growing demand for synthetic biology will drive the biotechnology industry growth over the forecast timeframe. Also rising demand for agro-based products should fuel global biotechnology market growth. Decreasing cost of DNA sequencing from last couple of decades owing to the advances in the field of genomics will stimulate the global biotechnology market. Furthermore, increasing scarcity of natural resources across the globe should propel the industry growth. However, the risk of food allergy and increased toxicity associated with the genetically modified organism and crops will limit the market growth over the forecast timeframe. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/784 Bio-agriculture segment will show the significant growth due to the inadequacy of the natural resources to meet the requirement of increasing global population. Increased crop yield as well as profitability are some of the advantages of genetically modified plants owing to which the segment is predicated to show significant growth in near future. Bio-industrial segment will show growth as improved micro-organisms and enzymes are showing wide range of applications in chemical industry. Increasing demand for biofuels due to high price of natural oil and environmental concerns associated with the traditional fuels will further boost the biotechnology market. The tissue engineering focus on developing the cure for different chronic diseases. Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases is expected to drive the demand for tissue engineering and regeneration segment. Increasing cost of organ transplant and organ shortage will further boost the market growth as biotechnology provides better alternatives through tissue engineering technology. PCR technology plays a key role in the DNA and genomics related research aimed at developing the better treatment for chronic diseases such as heart diseases and cancer. Increasing application of PCR in the field of diagnostics and several other fields such as archeology will boost the growth of the segment. Indian biotechnology market will witness robust growth over the forecast period due to the increased investment and infrastructure developments in the biotechnology sector. For instance, in 2017 Telangana state government's event BioAsia 2017 gathered investment of around USD 507.3 million. The Japanese biotechnology market is highly developed evident by the high number of patents in the biotechnology market. Presence of government authorities such as Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are expected to contribute positively to the development of biotechnology sector in Japan. Increased R&D spending and favorable government regulation will further boost the biotechnology industry in Japan. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/784 Germany witnessed increased R&D spending and investment in both private and public biotechnology companies. Increased demand for early disease detection and personalized medicines will further fuel the growth of German biotechnology market. Key industry players are Abbott Laboratories, Amgen Inc, Amgen Inc, Celgene, Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Lonza Group, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Gilead Sciences, Sanofi Aventis, and Biogen Idec Inc. Industry participants are consolidating their market position by increasing their focus on research activities. Harrisburg, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- GLOBAL BRAKE SHOE MARKET INSIGHTS, FORECAST TO 2025 This Report proposes compelling details of Brake Shoe market size, market share, contemporary trends, upcoming investment opportunities, and other primary segments. The Brake Shoe analysis centers over numerous vital elements that influences global Brake Shoe industry along with the international economy. Historic overview, present market status, and futuristic projections of Brake Shoe industry are discussed in this study report. The report presents the market competitive landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/key players in the market. Top Companies in the Global Brake Shoe Market: - Bosch, Ford, Continental, Federal-Mogul, TRW, Delphi, Akebono, ACDelco, Meritor Inc., MAT Holdings, Nsshnbo, MK KASHIYAMA, Dura International, FBK Corporation, Brembo, ICER, Mando, Sangsin, Henan Wanxiang and Others. Click the link to get a free Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/02261113249/global-brake-shoe-market-insights-forecast-to-2025/inquiry?source=releasewire&Mode=18 GLOBAL BRAKE SHOE MARKET SEGMENT BY TYPE:- Semimetal Brake Shoe Asbestos Brake Shoe Ceramic Brake Shoe Other GLOBAL BRAKE SHOE MARKET SEGMENT BY APPLICATIONS:- Passenger Car Commercial Vehicle MARKET SEGMENT BY REGIONS:- For comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, the Global Brake Shoe Market is analyzed across key geographies namely: United States, China, Europe, Japan, South-east Asia, India and others. Each of these regions is analyzed on basis of market findings across major countries in these regions for a macro-level understanding of the market. Avail Exclusive Discount on This Report: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/02261113249/global-brake-shoe-market-insights-forecast-to-2025/discount?source=releasewire&mode=18 THERE ARE 15 CHAPTERS TO DEEPLY DISPLAY THE GLOBAL BRAKE SHOE MARKET. Chapter 1: to describe Brake Shoe Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force; Chapter 2: to analyze the top manufacturers of Brake Shoe, with sales, revenue, and price of Brake Shoe, in 2017 and 2018; Chapter 3: to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2017 and 2018; Chapter 4: to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Brake Shoe, for each region, from 2014 to 2018; Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions; Chapter 10 and 11: to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2014 to 2018; Chapter 12: Brake Shoe market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2019 to 2025; Chapter 13, 14 and 15: to describe Brake Shoe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix and Data source. The report has 150 tables and figures browse the report description and TOC: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/02261113249/global-brake-shoe-market-insights-forecast-to-2025?source=releasewire&Mode=18 INFLUENCE OF THE BRAKE SHOE MARKET REPORT: -Comprehensive assessment of all opportunities and risk in the Brake Shoe market. -Brake Shoe market recent innovations and major events. -Detailed study of business strategies for growth of the Brake Shoe market-leading players. -Conclusive study about the growth plot of Brake Shoe market for forthcoming years. -In-depth understanding of Brake Shoe market-particular drivers, constraints and major micro markets. -Favourable impression inside vital technological and market latest trends striking the Brake Shoe market. About MarketInsightsReports MarketInsightsReports provides syndicated market research on industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. MarketInsightsReports provides global and regional market intelligence coverage, a 360-degree market view which includes statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations. Contact US: Irfan Tamboli (Head of Sales) Market Insights Reports Phone: + 1704 266 3234 Mob: +91-750-707-8687 sales@marketinsightsreports.com irfan@marketinsightsreports.com New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- Researchers eyeing the business landscape aim at uncovering vital statistics about the actual composition of the target market and where the new opportunities lie. Data on the ever-changing trends and gaps in the market forms an important part of the study. The environment research further covers facts associated with government regulations, demographics, market trends and size as well as different marketing channels. The research further holds ample information to enable stakeholders in their decision-making process, especially associated with problem identification, finding the best solutions as well as opportunities in the Capecitabine market for the forecast period, 2018 to 2026. The study further document marketing benchmarks that a business owner is expected to complete in order to sustain in the highly saturated market. Besides, the marketing efforts and constant improvements introduced to the marketing strategy by major vendors' forms an important part of the study. To get Free Sample Report Copy click here @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/27607 The major manufacturers covered in this report: - Roche - Teva - Mylan - Hikma - Hengrui Medicine - Cipla - Reliance Group - Hetero The Capecitabine market research is carried out at the different stages of the business lifecycle from the production of a product, cost, launch, application, consumption volume and sale. The research offers valuable insights into the marketplace from the beginning including some sound business plans chalked out by prominent market leaders to establish a strong foothold and expand their products into one that's better than others. Market split by Type, can be divided into: - 500 mg - 150 mg Market split by Application, can be divided into: - Breast Cancer - Colorectal Cancer - Stomach Cancer Market split by Sales Channel, can be divided into: - Direct Channel - Distribution Channel To Purchase this Report click here @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/27607 For those who want to learn how certain drivers are influencing the overall objectives of business owners will have plenty of data to scan through in the Capecitabine market report. A quick run over the external factor influencing the business worldwide will help product owners to know their customers better. The research not only monitors the effectiveness of the product sales but also talks about the quality of services offered by the competitors. Besides, there is a section on the distribution channels and growth strategies adopted by the prominent leaders operating in the Capecitabine market. Market segment by Region/Country including: - North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) - Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.) - Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.) - South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc. - Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.) In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Capecitabine are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year: 2018 to 2026 The study objectives of this report are: - To analyse and study the global Capecitabine capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2026); - Focuses on the key Capecitabine manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future. - Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyse the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. - To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. - To analyse the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. - To analyse the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. - To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyse their growth strategies. Key Points from TOC: Chapter 1 Capecitabine Market Overview 1.1 Capecitabine Definition 1.2 Global Capecitabine Market Size Status and Outlook (2013-2026) 1.3 Global Capecitabine Market Size Comparison by Region (2013-2026) 1.4 Global Capecitabine Market Size Comparison by Type (2013-2026) 1.5 Global Capecitabine Market Size Comparison by Application (2013-2026) 1.6 Global Capecitabine Market Size Comparison by Sales Channel (2013-2026) 1.7 Capecitabine Market Dynamics 1.7.1 Market Drivers/Opportunities 1.7.2 Market Challenges/Risks 1.7.3 Market News (Mergers/Acquisitions/ Expansion) Chapter 2 Capecitabine Market Segment Analysis by Player 2.1 Global Capecitabine Sales and Market Share by Player 2.2 Global Capecitabine Revenue and Market Share by Player 2.3 Global Capecitabine Average Price by Player 2.4 Players Competition Situation & Trends 2.5 Conclusion of Segment by Player Chapter 7 Profile of Leading Capecitabine Players 7.1 Roche 7.1.1 Company Snapshot 7.1.2 Product/Business Offered 7.1.3 Business Performance (Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share) 7.1.4 Strategy and SWOT Analysis Continue Read more @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/capecitabine-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com News: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Cardiac reader systems are also known as Cardiac marker analyzers. Cardiac reader systems are used to determine the levels of proteins and enzymes released from heart muscle when it is damaged. Doctors use cardiac Reader systems in two ways to evaluate a risk of a cardiovascular event taking place or to diagnose a cardiac event in a hospital emergency room or within the hospital. Cardiac reader system delivers high point of care testing results utilized for diagnosis of heart diseases for example, myocardial infarction and other cardiac related diseases. Furthermore, Cardiac reader system monitors all the cardiac tests such as cardiac troponin and myoglobin tests, through immunochromatographic analyses. Also, cardiac reader systems are important for the prevention of the misdiagnosis of cardiac problems. Cardiovascular diseases such as angina pectoris and myocardial infarction, are increasing and becoming a severe ongoing struggle. According to the World Health Organization, 17.6 million people die each year because of cardiovascular diseases, which is estimated to be 33% of the deaths across the globe. Due to increase in prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, there is increasing demand for cardiac reader system for the early detection of diseases. Therefore, the growing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is expected to significantly fuel the growth of the global cardiac reader system market during the forecast period. Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8681 Need for Accurate Diagnostic Results and Innovative Applications Boosting Market Growth Additionally, growth in innovative application of the product such as provision of accurate diagnostic results and less time-consuming practices. Research and development in the field of surgical equipment is expected to make new opportunities throughout the forecast period all over the globe. These parameters are efficiently driving the cardiac reader system market. From past few decades, Obesity has become a global health challenge. The increasing obese population, which is at a high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, is estimated to boost the demand for cardiac reader system. On the other hand, the high cost associated with the cardiac reader system is hampering the growth of the cardiac reader system market across the globe. Cardiac Reader System Market: Segmentation The Cardiac Reader System Market has been segmented on the basis of marker type, product type, application type, end use, and region. Segmentation on the basis of marker type: Lactate Dehydrogenase Creatine Kinase Myoglobin Troponin Others Segmentation on the basis of product type: Enzyme Immunoassay Analyzers Radioimmunoassay Analyzers Chemiluminiscenece Immunoassay Analyzers Magnetic Immuno-Chromatographic Assay Analyzers Immuno-Fluorescence Analyzers Segmentation on the basis of end use: Hospitals and Clinics Laboratories Ambulatory Surgical Centers Cardiac Reader System Market: Competitive Landscape Some of the prominent key players in the cardiac reader system market are Abbott Laboratories, Boditech, CardioGenics Inc., Getein Biotechnology, LifeSign, LSI Medience Corporation, Alere, Beckman-Coulter Inc., Response Biomedical, Roche Diagnostics International Ltd, Siemens Healthcare, Trinity Biotech, Radiometer Medical APS, Mitsubishi Chemical Europe GmbH., and Quidel Corporation. Request to Browse Full Table of Content, figure and Tables @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-8681 Cardiac Reader System Market: Regional Overview On the basis of geography, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan is capturing the significant market share in the Cardiac Reader System market. Along with that, the countries in the Asia Pacific Excluding Japan such as, China and India accounts for the largest number of hospitals in the world. Thus, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan is expected to witness high growth in the field of the Cardiac Reader System market. In North America, the countries such as Canada and US are expected to witness high adoption of Cardiac Reader System due to the technological advancements and the innovations in the field of Cardiac Reader System. In Middle East Africa, the growth rate of Cardiac Reader System market is moderate as compared to other regions due to increasing number of hospitals in the region. These features are efficiently fuelling the growth of Cardiac Reader System market across the globe. Denver, CO -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Ellie is excited to be able to announce the launch of her new website, https://ChocolatesForAllReasons.com. This unique website offers customers a wide range of top-quality chocolates from local chocolatiers. Customers that crave the delicious taste of hand-made chocolates can enjoy buying from local chocolatiers from the comfort of their own home. The website currently hosts the renown Cacao Chemistry, where chocolate lovers can shop for assorted truffles, hot chocolate, cookies, chocolate bark and more. This local chocolate shop, started by professional chocolatiers, offers hand-crafted, fair-trade chocolates in the fresh mountain air of Colorado Springs. In the future, the website will host about 10 of the local chocolatiers in the local area, becoming a one-stop hub for customers to browse fine chocolate and to learn about the fascinating history of chocolate and chocolatiers. ChocolatesForAllReasons.com was launched in December 2018 with a vision of creating one central marketplace where Ellie can help to promote the rich culture of chocolate in Colorado. Everyone that has tried quality Colorado chocolate knows that these small-batch chocolates are superior in every way to commercial chocolate, and Ellie is excited to share the chocolate of Colorado with the nation. As ChocolatesForAllReasons.com grows as a gateway into the incredible world of Colorado chocolates, Ellie looks forward to adding even more chocolate-loving chocolatiers to her growing list of associated vendors. This unique website will bring together a wide range of chocolatiers that are dedicated to improving their craft, creating delicious treats and helping their customers have an unforgettable experience. For more information about the website, customers are encouraged to visit Ellie's blog AllSeasonsForAllReasonsBlog.com. The blog will offer exciting updates, helpful chocolate reviews and much more. About ChocolatesForAllReasons.com ChocolatesForAllReasons.com is a division of All Seasons For All Reasons, LLC, and is owned and operated by Ellie, a chocolate lover and entrepreneur. Ellie Vaughter https://ChocolatesForAllReasons.com Harrisburg, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- GLOBAL CITRIC ACID (CAS 77-92-9) MARKET INSIGHTS, FORECAST TO 2025 This Report proposes compelling details of Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market size, market share, contemporary trends, upcoming investment opportunities, and other primary segments. The Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) analysis centers over numerous vital elements that influences global Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) industry along with the international economy. Historic overview, present market status, and futuristic projections of Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) industry are discussed in this study report. The report presents the market competitive landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/key players in the market. Top Companies in the Global Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) Market: - Jungbunzlauer, GBi Israel, COFCO Biochemical (AnHui), Laiwu Taihe Biochemistry, RZBC Group, Tate & Lyle, Sucroal, Cargill, ADM, TTCA, Weifang Ensign Industry, Xinghua Biochemical, Natural Bilogical Group, Dongting Citric Acid Chemicals, Guoxin Union Energy, Hongde Citric Acid, Cambodia Wangkang Biochemicao, Xuzhou Foodphos, Xinyang Chemical, Penglai Marine and Others. Click the link to get a free Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/02261113302/global-citric-acid-cas-77-92-9-market-insights-forecast-to-2025/inquiry?source=releasewire&Mode=18 GLOBAL CITRIC ACID (CAS 77-92-9) MARKET SEGMENT BY TYPE:- Citric Acid Monohydrate Citric Acid Anhydrous GLOBAL CITRIC ACID (CAS 77-92-9) MARKET SEGMENT BY APPLICATIONS:- Food & Beverage Cosmetics Medical Others MARKET SEGMENT BY REGIONS:- For comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, the Global Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) Market is analyzed across key geographies namely: United States, China, Europe, Japan, South-east Asia, India and others. Each of these regions is analyzed on basis of market findings across major countries in these regions for a macro-level understanding of the market. Avail Exclusive Discount on This Report: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/02261113302/global-citric-acid-cas-77-92-9-market-insights-forecast-to-2025/discount?source=releasewire&mode=18 THERE ARE 15 CHAPTERS TO DEEPLY DISPLAY THE GLOBAL CITRIC ACID (CAS 77-92-9) MARKET. Chapter 1: to describe Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force; Chapter 2: to analyze the top manufacturers of Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9), with sales, revenue, and price of Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9), in 2017 and 2018; Chapter 3: to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2017 and 2018; Chapter 4: to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9), for each region, from 2014 to 2018; Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions; Chapter 10 and 11: to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2014 to 2018; Chapter 12: Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2025; Chapter 13, 14 and 15: to describe Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix and Data source. The report has 150 tables and figures browse the report description and TOC: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/02261113302/global-citric-acid-cas-77-92-9-market-insights-forecast-to-2025?source=releasewire&Mode=18 INFLUENCE OF THE CITRIC ACID (CAS 77-92-9) MARKET REPORT: -Comprehensive assessment of all opportunities and risk in the Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market. -Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market recent innovations and major events. -Detailed study of business strategies for growth of the Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market-leading players. -Conclusive study about the growth plot of Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market for forthcoming years. -In-depth understanding of Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market-particular drivers, constraints and major micro markets. -Favourable impression inside vital technological and market latest trends striking the Citric Acid (CAS 77-92-9) market. About MarketInsightsReports MarketInsightsReports provides syndicated market research on industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. MarketInsightsReports provides global and regional market intelligence coverage, a 360-degree market view which includes statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations. Contact US: Irfan Tamboli (Head of Sales) Market Insights Reports Phone: + 1704 266 3234 Mob: +91-750-707-8687 sales@marketinsightsreports.com irfan@marketinsightsreports.com Selbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Energy drinks are a beverage designed to increase mental alertness and physical performances for consumers by the addition of caffeine and typically other additives, such as vitamins, taurine, herbal supplements, creatine, sugars, and guarana. They often contain high levels of caffeine in combination with other ingredients such as taurine, guarana, and B vitamins. These products include: Rockstar, Red Bull, Monster, NOS, and many others. Request a sample of this premium report on Energy Drinks market at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1475990/?utm_source=Releasewire.com-AN Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, Pepsico, Big Red, Arizona, National Beverage, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Living Essentials Marketing, Vital Pharmaceuticals This report focuses on the Energy Drinks 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. In the United States market, energy drinks manufacturers scatter distribution. The production market share of America West and America South is about 38%, 30%, respectively, and the sales share of America South is 30.8% in 2014. The key companies in energy drink market include Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, Pepsico, Big Red, Arizona, and National Beverage. Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1475990/ Energy Drinks Market Report Quick Rundown: Market Segment by Type, covers - General Energy Drinks - Energy Shots Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into - Personal - Athlete - Other With an objective to help understand the development plans and policies, manufacturing processes, cost structures of Energy Drinks market, this report lists and profiles leading players with top level information on them. Wherever applicable, it also focuses on the details like supply chain, market statistics, product images, development plan outlook, consumption (where available), growth rates, contact details and much more. Sub-segments of the Energy Drinks market are expansively analyzed covering industry dynamics, help on a feasibility study, vendor strategies, growth prospects and market share of the industry. Growth projections for next few years form an important aspect of this 2018 Energy Drinks report. Apart from whatever is already offered in this Energy Drinks market research, the report can be customized to meet your needs be it additional company coverage or country coverage or anything specific that you need. More Details on this Report At: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-energy-drinks-market-2019-by-manufacturers-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2024 Table OF Content: 3 Global Energy Drinks Sales, Revenue, Market Share and Competition by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.1 Global Energy Drinks Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.2 Global Energy Drinks Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.3 Market Concentration Rate 3.3.1 Top 3 Energy Drinks Manufacturer Market Share in 2017 3.3.2 Top 6 Energy Drinks Manufacturer Market Share in 2017 3.4 Market Competition Trend 4 Global Energy Drinks Market Analysis by Regions 4.1 Global Energy Drinks Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Regions 4.1.1 Global Energy Drinks Sales and Market Share by Regions (2013-2018) 4.1.2 Global Energy Drinks Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2013-2018) 4.2 North America Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.3 Europe Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.4 Asia-Pacific Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.5 South America Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.6 Middle East and Africa Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5 North America Energy Drinks by Countries 5.1 North America Energy Drinks Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 5.1.1 North America Energy Drinks Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 5.1.2 North America Energy Drinks Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 5.2 United States Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5.3 Canada Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5.4 Mexico Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6 Europe Energy Drinks by Countries 6.1 Europe Energy Drinks Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 6.1.1 Europe Energy Drinks Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 6.1.2 Europe Energy Drinks Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 6.2 Germany Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.3 UK Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.4 France Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.5 Russia Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.6 Italy Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7 Asia-Pacific Energy Drinks by Countries 7.1 Asia-Pacific Energy Drinks Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 7.1.1 Asia-Pacific Energy Drinks Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 7.1.2 Asia-Pacific Energy Drinks Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 7.2 China Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.3 Japan Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.4 Korea Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.5 India Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.6 Southeast Asia Energy Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) Related Report: Global Energy Drinks Market Growth 2019-2024 Energy drinks are a beverage designed to increase mental alertness and physical performances for consumers by the addition of caffeine and typically other additives, such as vitamins, taurine, herbal supplements, creatine, sugars, and guarana. https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-energy-drinks-market-growth-2019-2024 About Market Study Report 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 LLC 4 North Main Street, Selbyville, Delaware 19975 USA Phone: 1-302-273-0910 US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: sales@marketstudyreport.com Website: https://www.marketstudyreport.com Blog: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog Edison , NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- Advance Market Analytics published a new research publication on "Global Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market Insights, to 2025" with 189 pages and enriched with self-explained Tables and charts in presentable format. In the Study you will find new evolving Trends, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities generated by targeting market stakeholders. The growth of the Dental CAD/CAM Systems market is mainly driven by the increasing R&D spending across the world. Some of the key players profiled in the study are Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (United States), Nobel Biocare Holdings AG (Switzerland), Straumann (Switzerland), Dentsply International (United States), 3M ESPE (United States), Ivoclar Vivadent AG (Schaan), Danaher Corporation (United States), Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (United States), Biomet 3i LLC (United States), BioHorizons, Inc. (United States) and DeguDent GmbH (Germany). Scope of the Report of Dental CAD/CAM Systems Get Free Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Research @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/5310-global-dental-cadcam-systems-market According to AMA, the market for Dental CAD/CAM Systems is expected to register a CAGR of 9.2% during the forecast period to 2023. Market Trend - Rise in Demand for Dental Cosmetic Procedures Market Drivers - Increasing Prevalence of Dental Disorders Challenges - High Maintenance cost associated to CAD/CAM system Opportunities - Technological Advancement in Dental CAD/CAM System The Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, geography segment, end use/application segment and competitor segment and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international major industry players in detail. According to the Regional Segmentation the Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market provides the Information covers following regions: *North America *South America *Asia & Pacific *Europe *MEA (Middle East and Africa) The key countries in each region are taken into consideration as well, such as United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Russia, France, Poland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand etc. Have Any Questions Regarding Global Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market Report, Ask Our Experts@ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/5310-global-dental-cadcam-systems-market The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below: The Study Explore the Product Types of Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market: Laboratory Dental CAD/CAM Systems (Complete Systems, Scanners), Chairside Dental CAD/CAM Systems (Complete Systems, Intraoral Scanners) Key Applications/end-users of Global Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market: Dental Clinic, Dental Lab, Others Materials: Glass Ceramics, Alumina-Based Ceramics, Lithium Disilicate, Zirconia Prosthodontic: Inlays and Onlays, Veneers, Crowns and Bridges, Fixed Partial Denture, Implant Abutment, Full Mouth Reconstruction Software: CEREC, Delcam, Worknc Dental, Renishaw Plc Top Players in the Market are: Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (United States), Nobel Biocare Holdings AG (Switzerland), Straumann (Switzerland), Dentsply International (United States), 3M ESPE (United States), Ivoclar Vivadent AG (Schaan), Danaher Corporation (United States), Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (United States), Biomet 3i LLC (United States), BioHorizons, Inc. (United States) and DeguDent GmbH (Germany) List of players also available in Coverage: Align Technology (United States) , Planmeca (Finland) , Duplimat SRL (Argentina) Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/5310-global-dental-cadcam-systems-market Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market: Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Dental CAD/CAM Systems market Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary the basic information of the Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market. Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges of the Dental CAD/CAM Systems Chapter 4: Presenting the Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market Factor Analysis Porters Five Forces, Supply/Value Chain, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent/Trademark Analysis. Chapter 5: Displaying the by Type, End User and Region 2013-2018 Chapter 6: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the Dental CAD/CAM Systems market which consists of its Competitive Landscape, Peer Group Analysis, BCG Matrix & Company Profile Chapter 7: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regions. Chapter 8 & 9: Displaying the Appendix, Methodology and Data Source Finally, Dental CAD/CAM Systems Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies. Research Methodology: - The top-down and bottom-up approaches are used to estimate and validate the size of the global Dental CAD/CAM Systems market. - In order to reach an exhaustive list of functional and relevant players who offer Dental CAD/CAM Systems various industry classification standards are closely followed such as NAICS, ICB, SIC to penetrate deep in important geographies. - Thereafter, a thorough validation test is conducted to reach most relevant players specifically having product line i.e. Dental CAD/CAM Systems. - In order to make priority list sorting is done based on revenue generation as per latest reporting with the help of paid databases such as Factiva, Bloomberg etc. - Finally the questionnaire is set and specifically designed to address all the necessities for primary data collection after getting prior appointment. This helps us to gather the data for the players' revenue, profit, products, growth etc. - Almost 80% of data is collected through primary medium and further validation is done through various secondary sources that includes Regulators, World Bank, Association, Company Website, Annual reports, press releases etc. Buy the Latest Detailed Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/buy-now?format=1&report=5310 Key questions answered - Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Dental CAD/CAM Systems market? - What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Dental CAD/CAM Systems market? - What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Dental CAD/CAM Systems market? - What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors? Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The latest research report on the Disperse Dyes market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026 is involved in screening the business environment and the companies operating in the Disperse Dyes industry. Importantly, the research sheds a lot of light on their winning strategies to help stakeholders, business owners, and field marketing executives stay ahead in the competition. Besides, the industry is thoroughly weighed upon on the basis of the total revenue generated as well as the output/volume produced year after year. Other aspects including but not limited to the market drivers, key opportunities and probable restraints are thoroughly assessed during the study. Scope Of Report: The study finds that how on certain account threats and challenges can act as a roadblock for the business. A thorough evaluation of the Disperse Dyes market in the light of macro-environment such as social, political, economical as well as technological environment add granularity to the overall research. In addition, the study produces real-time data on vital aspects including sales, profits, gross margin and growth prospects to show how going forward the business will witness a substantial upswing. Request for free sample report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/29610 In market segmentation by manufacturers, the report covers the following companies- Dystar, Huntsman, Clariant, Yorkshire, BASF, Archroma, Varshney Chemicals, Akik Dye Chem, Lonsen, Runtu, Jihua, Yabang, Anoky Most important types of Disperse Dyes products covered in this report are: - Azo Type - Anthraquinones Type - Others On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, including: - Textile - Plastics - Printing Ink - Others Understanding the market size The size of the Disperse Dyes market is viewed in terms of the Share of Market, Total Available Market as well as Served Available Market. Not only does the study present the combined revenue for a particular market but also the market size for a specific geographic region. Analysis of percentage or the size of the Total Available Market based on the type of product, technology, regional constraints and others form an important part of the Disperse Dyes report. Purchase Full report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/29610 Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers in these key regions: - North America - Europe - China - Japan - Southeast Asia - India We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: North America, United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe, Central & South America, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Middle East & Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Rest of Middle East & Africa Ask for discount on this report for better value @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/discount-enquiry-form/29610 In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of automotive genuine leather are as follows: Historical data : 2014-2017 Base Year: 2018 Estimated Year: 2019 Forecast Year 2019 to 2026 The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the anticipated growth rate of the Disperse Dyes market? What will be the size and share of the industry for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? - What are key market drivers expected to transform the competitive landscape of the Disperse Dyes industry? - Who are major vendors dominating the Disperse Dyes industry across different regions? What are their winning strategies to stay ahead in the competition? - What are the major trends expected to transform the complete trajectory of the Disperse Dyes market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? - What are the challenges business owners are likely to encounter during the estimated period? - What are the type of opportunities business owners can bank on during the estimated period? Key elements from table of content: 7 Profile of Leading Disperse Dyes Players 7.1 Dystar 7.1.1 Company Snapshot 7.1.2 Product/Business Offered 7.1.3 Business Performance (Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share) 7.1.4 Strategy and SWOT Analysis 7.2 Huntsman 7.3 Clariant 7.4 Yorkshire 7.5 BASF 7.6 Archroma 7.7 Varshney Chemicals 7.8 Akik Dye Chem 7.9 Lonsen 7.10 Runtu 7.11 Jihua 7.12 Yabang 7.13 Anoky Continue. Browse complete report description @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/disperse-dyes-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com News: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- Adequate government funding coupled with substantial resource allocation from the private sector towards healthcare service development in Saudi Arabia are likely to reflect favorably towards the growth of in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, significant spike in disease burden in Saudi Arabia and corresponding adoption of diagnostic tests for precise therapeutics are also accounted to slate substantial growth in Saudi Arabia in- vitro diagnostics (IVD) market. These aforementioned market highlights are in line with Market Research Hub's (MRH) recent report addition titled, 'Saudi Arabia In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market, by Techniques Applications, and End User, Companies' included in its fast expanding online data archive. Burgeoning instances of chronic maladies such as oncology, diabetes, and cardiovascular ailments have necessitated adoption of in-vitro diagnostics as apt non-invasive method to aid disease prognosis and subsequent medication. In contrast to conventional diagnostic means, patient pools across Saudi Arabia have demonstrated significant preferences for non-invasive mechanisms for superlative clinical outcome. Rise in variation and severity of infectious diseases owing to emergence of new viruses has also augmented growth in in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market in Saudi Arabia in the recent years. Click here for Free Sample Report@ https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=2097341 Roche Strengthens In-Vitro Diagnostics in Saudi Arabia with SAGIA Agreement Saudi Arabia is keen on laying favorable conditions to diversify in-vitro diagnostics across the country, besides improvising holistic healthcare infrastructure. In a recent development, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority has granted investment licenses to several companies to commence operations in the region. Diagnostic veteran Roche is therefore all set to commence its operations in Saudi Arabia following the aforementioned agreement. The development is expected to meet several unmet medical conditions across Saudi Arabia thereby also expending growth prospective of in-vitro diagnostics in the region. View Full Report with TOC@ https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/saudi-arabia-in-vitro-diagnostics-ivd-market-by-techniques-immunochemistry-clinical-chemistry-hematology-hemostasis-microbiology-smbg-poct-applications-infectious-cardiovascular-diseases-end-user-companies-report.html Research Scope: Saudi Arabia In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market Elaborate research postulates documented in the report allow readers to gain insightful details on potential factors that stimulate growth in in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market in Saudi Arabia. The report opens with a detailed executive summary followed by an elaborate market overview section encompassing market definition, micro and macroeconomic factors, coupled with market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, threats, and challenges that shape growth in in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market. The report subsequently entails crucial understanding on market segments such as technique, application, and end-user that direct growth trajectory of in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market in Saudi Arabia. By technique the market is broadly segregated into hematology, immunochemistry, clinical chemistry, and microbiology amongst others. By disease type in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market in Saudi Arabia is splintered into oncology, diabetes, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases. Public and private labs and hospitals are accounted as core end-user segments in in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market in Saudi Arabia. Competition Deep-Dive: Saudi Arabia In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market Thorough research elements postulated in the trailing sections of the report offer readers with ample decisive insights on potential forerunners in in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) space. Each of the profiled companies has been thoroughly assessed and evaluated to offer report readers with actionable insights on the efficacy of marketing strategies implemented by market players in garnering favorable consumer response. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- The latest market intelligence study on the EV Traction Motor market applies the best of both primary and secondary research techniques to bring to light the growth rate of the EV Traction Motor market for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026. The comprehensive study covers hard to find facts about the market landscape as well as its growth prospects in the years to come. Most importantly, the research report includes vital statistics about the major vendors occupying a strong foothold in this industry. Besides this, in order to calculate the market share, the study takes a closer look at the selling price of the product across different regions. Request for Sample Copy of EV Traction Motor Market Report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/14044 Scope of the Report: The researcher assessing the EV Traction Motor market dive deep to unearth intangible facts related to the key restraints, opportunities, and threats expected to shape the progress of the industry during the forecast period, 2018 - 2026. Significant evaluation of other factors such as demand and supply status, import and export, distribution channel, consumption volume, and production capability play a vital role in offering business owners, stakeholders and field marketing personnel a competitive edge over others operating in the same space. All important data are presented in self-explanatory charts, tables and graphic images that can be incorporated into any business presentation. Market Segment on the basis of manufacturers, the report covers: BYD, Nissan, ZF, Continental AG, Meidensha, Broad-Ocean, Jing-Jin Electric Technologies, BMW, FUKUTA, Dajun Tech, Hitachi Automotive Systems, Remy International, Magna, BOSCH, Deyang Electrics, Greatland Electrics Market split by Type, can be divided into: - AC Induction Motor - Permanent Magnet Motor - Other Types Market split by Application, can be divided into: - BEV - PHEV Major Regions play vital role in EV Traction Motor market are: - North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) - Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.) - Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.) - South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.) - Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.) Buy EV Traction Motor Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/14044 The study explores in details about the recent trend fast gaining momentum in the EV Traction Motor industry due to factors including but not limited to growing customer preference and a sudden rise in their spending capacity. Aspects attributed to the gross margin, profit, supply chain management and product value and their considerable impact on the development of the EV Traction Motor market during the forecast period, 2018 - 2026 is carefully scrutinized during the research. Understanding the market size: The size of the EV Traction Motor market is viewed in terms of the Share of Market, Total Available Market as well as Served Available Market. Not only does the study present the combined revenue for a particular market but also the market size for a specific geographic region. Analysis of percentage or the size of the Total Available Market based on the type of product, technology, regional constraints and others form an important part of the EV Traction Motor report. Market share: The report discovers market's total sale that is generated by a particular firms over a time period. Industry experts calculate share by taking into account the product sales over a period and then dividing it by the overall sales of the EV Traction Motor industry over a defined period. Subject matter experts further use this metric to offer a general idea of the share and size of a firm and its immediate rivals. By providing an in-depth knowledge of the position a company as well as an entrepreneur holds in the EV Traction Motor market The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the estimated size of the EV Traction Motor market for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026? What will be the growth rate of the industry during the estimated period? - What are the prominent driving forces likely to impact the progress of the industry across different regions? - Who are the major market players occupying a strong foothold in the EV Traction Motor market? What are the winning strategies adopted by them to stay ahead in the competition? - What are the potential opportunities for the EV Traction Motor market for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026? There are 10 Chapters to deeply display the global EV Traction Motor market. Chapter 1 covers the EV Traction Motor Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force; Chapter 2 talks about the top manufacturers and analyses their sales, revenue and pricing decisions for the duration 2018 and 2026; Chapter 3 displays the competitive nature of the market by discussing the competition among the top manufacturers. It dissects the market using sales, revenue and market share data for 2018 and 2026; Chapter 4, shows the global market by regions and the proportionate size of each market region based on sales, revenue and market share of EV Traction Motor, for the period 2018- 2026; Continue Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/ev-traction-motor-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com News: https://www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- 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 period Request 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 beer's 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 Table Of Content @ 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 Portland, OR -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Good Life Market is an Oregon based zero-waste lifestyle store that is first of its kind in Portland. It is the first packaging free grocery store and market in the city of Portland and the creators of this store have recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds and support for this project. The goal of this recently launched fundraising campaign on Kickstarter is to raise a sum of $45,000, and everyone is being welcomed to support this eco friendly and community sustaining Kickstarter campaign. "Good Life Market will be the first grocery store in Portland to sell all products unpackaged or if in packaging, compostable and reusable, which means that almost everything in the shop will be compostable or reusable." Said Jenni Lippold, while introducing it to the Kickstarter community. "We need to raise 45K to both solidify our location and prove to our investors that the community desires this new way to shop, and we need your support to make it happen." The Kickstarter Campaign is located on the web at: www.kickstarter.com/projects/goodlifemarket/good-life-market and backers worldwide can become a part of this inspiring initiative by making generous pledges and donations on Kickstarter. Eco conscious consumers and those who wish to shop healthy and see a cost savings in weekly grocery budgets are particularly encouraged to support this campaign, and each backer will receive a great zero waste themed reward for the contributions. Furthermore, this inspiring initiative is already gaining a phenomenal response and more details are available on the Kickstarter campaign page of the project. About Good Life Market Good Life Market is an emerging grocery store and market based in Portland, Oregon, and it is the first of its kind in the area. This packaging free grocery store and market, which includes a cafe, is supporting a zero waste lifestyle and will make its' contribution in promoting eco conscious shopping as well as educating the community through workshops and classes. Contact: Contact Person: Jenni Lippold Company: Good Life Market City: Portland State: Oregon Country: United States Phone: 5039317272 Email: jennilippold@gmail.com Kickstarter Website: www.kickstarter.com/projects/goodlifemarket/good-life-market Business Website: www.goodlifemarket.net Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market in its published report titled "Global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market Forecast, Global Industry Analysis, 2012-2018, and Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2027." In terms of revenue, the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period owing to numerous factors about which FMI offers insights and forecasts in this report. The Asia Pacific cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market is expected to remain in the leading position during the forecast period. In this report, the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market has been segmented on the basis of material, product type, application and region. On the basis of material, the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market has been segmented into plastic, wood and metal. Plastic packaging is a cost-effective alternative to metal cosmetic pencil & pen packaging. Plastic components are often subject to UV coating or metallisation to impart a metal finish look, and this technique is widely used by the manufacturers of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging to attract high-end customers. The leading cosmetic pencil & pen packaging companies across the globe are strategically focused on the localisation of cosmetic products. Following the industry leaders, several tier-II cosmetic pencil & pen packaging companies also replicated a similar strategy to achieve success in the local market, consequently transforming the dynamics of the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market. Furthermore, these companies of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging also leverage the local benefits of the local market, which is largely characterised by economic production and quick integration with the existing supply chain. Multinational cosmetic pencil & pen packaging companies have outsourced their production to local and regional players, thus ensuring technical know-how and industry expertise. Over the past three years, more than ten European cosmetic pencil & pen packaging brands entered the high-potential Asian market, mostly the countries in South and Southeast Asia. The trend is likely to continue as several tier-II companies are also planning to foray into cosmetic pencil & pen packaging markets. In addition, local cosmetic pencil & pen packaging brands are challenging the global brands by selling their products at highly competitive prices, thus paving the way for way for more competition in the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market. The growth of the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging can be mainly attributed to the contributions of emerging economies such as countries in the APEJ region, which include India & China. China is expected to be at the forefront, spearheading the growth of the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market during the forecast period. According to the research by Future Market Insights, the China cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market has witnessed rapid growth in the past couple of decades. Ask a question to Analyst @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-the-analyst/rep-gb-2565 The manufacturers of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging are likely to eye the lucrative regions of Asia Pacific as well as Middle East & African countries in the coming years. Some of the key drivers of the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market include the positive impact of Internet/E-commerce retailing, demand from commercial setups and the easy-to-apply nature of these cosmetics. These factors are propelling the demand for global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging. The Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market is expected to create the highest incremental $ opportunity during the forecast period. Some of the key competitors in the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market include Intercos S.p.A; Swallowfield PLC; A.W. Faber-Castell Cosmetics GmbH; Schwan-STABILO Cosmetic GmbH & Co. KG; Alkos Cosmetiques SAS; Oxygen Development LLC; JOVI S.A; Confalonieri Matite S.R.L; Columbia Cosmetics Manufacturing Inc.; Quadpack Spain SL; Ningbo Beautiful Daily Cosmetic Packaging Co., Ltd.; Eugeng International Trade Co., Ltd. and The Packaging Company. These key players of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging are constantly focusing on product innovation and geographical expansions to sustain their market presence and increase revenue generation by delivering various types of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging as well as outstanding offerings to several end users. Ask a question to Analyst @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-the-analyst/rep-gb-2565 New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- The latest report Liquid Biopsy Products Market discusses everything a business owner needs to know about the Liquid Biopsy Products market for the forecast period, 2018 to 2026. The document offers an insight into what the target customer's needs and wants. Industry experts have extracted data from various sources on size, share, growth rate, production volume, production capacity, import and export status, distribution channels and more and have analysed it thoroughly. By properly assessing the competitors and their offerings the study aims at empowering business owners to step ahead. Request for Sample Copy of Liquid Biopsy Products Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/10409 Scope of the Report: The research methodologies used for evaluating the Liquid Biopsy Products market are inventive and also provides enough evidence on the demand and supply status, production capability, import and export, supply chain management and investment feasibility. The investigative approach applied for the extensive analysis of the sale, gross margin and profit generated by the industry are presented through resources including tables, charts, and graphic images. Importantly, these resources can be easily integrated or used for preparing business or corporate presentations. Major Players in Liquid Biopsy Products market are: RainDanceTechnologies, Biocartis, Qiagen, Guardant Health, MDxHealth, Pathway Genomics, NeoGenomics Laboraories, Sysmex Inostics, Cynvenio, Menarini Silicon Biosystems, Adaptive Biotechnologies, Biocept, Angle plc Market split by Type, can be divided into: - CTC - ctDNA - Exosomes Market split by Application, can be divided into: - Blood Sample - Urine Sample - Other Bio Fluids Market segment by Region/Country including: - North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) - Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.) - Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.) - South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.) - Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.) Buy Liquid Biopsy Products Market Research Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/10409 Estimating the potential size of the Liquid Biopsy Products industry: Industry experts conducting the study further estimate the potential of the Liquid Biopsy Products industry. Such information is important for firms looking to launch an innovative service or product on the market. Industry experts have measured the total volume of the given market. Researchers have calculated the industry in terms of sales by the competitors and end-user customers. Data on the entire size of the Liquid Biopsy Products market for a particular product or a service for the forecast period, 2018 to 2026 covered in the report makes it valuable. This information reveals the upper limit of the Liquid Biopsy Products industry for a specific product or service. Attracting the target audience: First, the comprehensive report finds out why customers need a certain product or service. The study focuses on what problems a certain product and service can solve. Apart from target demographics industry experts weigh up on the factors including audience type, as well as others vital attributes about the target customer segment. The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the estimated growth rate of the Liquid Biopsy Products market for the forecast period 2018 - 2026? What will be the market share and size of the industry during the estimated period? - What are prime factors expected to drive the Liquid Biopsy Products industry for the estimated period? - What are the major market leaders and what has been their winning strategy for success so far? - What are the significant trends shaping the growth prospects of the Liquid Biopsy Products market? - What are the key challenges expected to restrict the progress of the industry for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026? - What the opportunities product owners can bank on to generate high profits? There are 10 Chapters to deeply display the global Liquid Biopsy Products market. - 1 Liquid Biopsy Products Market Overview - 2 Global Liquid Biopsy Products Market Competition by Manufacturers - 3 Global Liquid Biopsy Products Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018) - 4 Global Liquid Biopsy Products Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018) - 5 Global Liquid Biopsy Products Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type - 6 Global Liquid Biopsy Products Market Analysis by Application - Continue Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/liquid-biopsy-products-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com News: https://www.marketexpertz.com/market-news New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The latest market intelligence study on the Medical Laser Imager market applies the best of both primary and secondary research techniques to bring to light the growth rate of the Medical Laser Imager market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. The comprehensive study covers hard to find facts about the market landscape as well as its growth prospects in the years to come. Most importantly, the research report includes vital statistics about the major vendors occupying a strong foothold in this industry. Besides this, in order to calculate the market share, the study takes a closer look at the selling price of the product across different regions. Scope of the Medical Laser Imager market The researcher assessing the Medical Laser Imager market dive deep to unearth intangible facts related to the key restraints, opportunities, and threats expected to shape the progress of the industry during the forecast period, 2018 - 2026. Significant evaluation of other factors such as demand and supply status, import and export, distribution channel, consumption volume, and production capability play a vital role in offering business owners, stakeholders and field marketing personnel a competitive edge over others operating in the same space. All important data are presented in self-explanatory charts, tables and graphic images that can be incorporated into any business presentation. Request Sample copy of this report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/31384 Leading players of Medical Laser Imager including: - Carestream - Fujifilm - Agfa - KONICA MINOLTA Medical Laser Imager Market split by Type, can be divided into: - Traditional Medical Laser Imager - Self-help Medical Laser Imager Medical Laser Imager Market split by Application, can be divided into: - Computed Radiography - Digital Radiography - Computed Tomography - Magnetic Resonance - Other Medical Laser Imager Market segment by Region/Country including: - North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) - Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.) - Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.) - South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.) - Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.) Apart from this, the valuable document weighs upon the performance of the Medical Laser Imager industry on the basis of a product service, end-use, geography and end customer The latest market intelligence study on the Medical Laser Imager market covers the performance of both the key vendors and new entrants for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. Estimated value, profits, gross margin, spending power and consumption volume form an important part of the study that aims at offering the business owners, stakeholders, and marketing personnel a competitive edge over others. Importantly, the study discusses a lot about, the product application, classification and performance across different regions. The industry assessment report weighs upon the top performers and also the winning strategies that have enabled them to occupy a strong foothold in the Medical Laser Imager market. Region wise performance of the Medical Laser Imager industry The latest report on the Medical Laser Imager market offers detailed information about the industry based on the total revenue generated for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. The comprehensive study performs an in-depth analysis of the Medical Laser Imager industry and lays immense emphasis on the major driving forces and restraints expected to govern the overall business for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. Most importantly, researchers assessing the business environment take a closer look at the past and present trends as well as the future prospect to offer business owners, stakeholders and field marketing executives an intellectual understanding of the winning strategies. Market Share: The MEDICAL LASER IMAGER market is further segmented in terms of applications, end-user, end-use, geographic presence, by-products as well as services. In addition, the subject matter experts evaluating the industry provide an all-inclusive category-specific industry outlook. A comprehensive collection of data on major companies occupying a strong foothold in the industry adds immense value to the overall research. The assessment of the wining strategies followed by these companies can help business owners not only strategize but also execute business operations by referring the statistics about competitor analysis. Careful assessment of the industry analysis across different regions along with vital information on the market size, share and growth rate makes this report a wonderful resource for business evangelists. Buy Medical Laser Imager market report and avail 15% free customization on the report at https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/31384 In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of MEDICAL LASER IMAGER are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2019 Forecast Year 2019 to 2026 The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the anticipated growth rate of the Medical Laser Imager market? What will be the size and share of the industry for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026? - What are key market drivers expected to transform the competitive landscape of the Medical Laser Imager industry? - Who are major vendors dominating the Medical Laser Imager industry across different regions? What are their winning strategies to stay ahead in the competition? - What are the major trends expected to transform the complete trajectory of the Medical Laser Imager market for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026? - What are the challenges business owners are likely to encounter during the estimated period? - What are the types of opportunities business owners can bank on during the estimated period? Browse complete report description and visit our website@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/medical-laser-imager-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com News: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The market report, MEMBRANE OXYGENATOR market uses qualitative and quantitative research techniques to showcase competitive landscape for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026.Besides this, the report further blends in primary and secondary research techniques to assess, interpret, the segment as well as forecast the total revenue generated by the industry across various regions. Business owners/stakeholders can chalk-out expansion plan by leveraging statistics on market share, size, sale volume, growth rate and return over-invest discussed in the study. Scope of the Membrane Oxygenator market Based on the Membrane Oxygenator industrial chain, this report mainly elaborate the definition, types, applications and major players of Membrane Oxygenator market in details. Deep analysis about market status (2019-2026), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise Products, industry development trends (2019-2026), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also be included. From raw materials to downstream buyers of this industry will be analyzed scientifically, the feature of product circulation and sales channel will be presented as well. In a word, this report will help you to establish a panorama of industrial development and characteristics of the Membrane Oxygenator market. Request Sample copy of this report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/31379 Major Players in Membrane Oxygenatorr market are: - Medos - Sorin - Kewei (Microport) - WEGO - Xijian Medical - Shanghai Medical Instruments - Lawton - Hu-Friedy - Xinhua Surgical - Towne Brothers - Teleflex Medical - Delacroix Chevalier - YDM Global Membrane Oxygenator Market: Type Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume, Average Price, Revenue, Market Share and Trend 2013-2026): - Flat Sheet Membrane Oxygenator - Hollow Fibre Membrane Oxygenator Global Membrane Oxygenator Market: Application Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume and Market Share 2013-2026; Downstream Customers and Market Analysis) - Respiratory - Cardiac - Extra-Corporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR) MEMBRANE OXYGENATOR Market segment by Region/Country including: - North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) - Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.) - Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.) - South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.) - Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.) Competitive Landscape: The study is a professional probe into the revenue generated and capacity estimates for the MEMBRANE OXYGENATOR market for the forecast period 2019 - 2026 empower the business owners to maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The research further examines and provides data on the market by type, application and geography interspersed with illustrations and other graphical representations. The market analysis not only determines the attractiveness of the industry but also the evolving challenges and opportunities and their association with the weaknesses and strengths of prominent market leaders. Other factors taken into consideration when studying the industry include profitability, manufacturing capability, distribution channels and industry cost structure and major success factors. Regional Analysis: This study takes the closer look at different growth trends, futures prospects, Industrial revenue performance, market shares and regulations that will standardize the industry in near future; this would help business owners to strategically evaluate their micro-markets. Researchers behind the study have included some Key market players and assessed their industry shares, milestones achieved as well core competencies. Resource charts, tables and graphical images are included to make decisive statistics self-explanatory. Downstream Analysis: The market intelligence report blends in the best of both the primary and secondary research techniques to evaluate the project size of the MEMBRANE OXYGENATOR industry across different countries. Besides, examining the share occupied by the market leaders the study assesses the sub segments dependent on the primary segments. Apart from this, the study applies qualitative and quantitative study methods to identify the major outcomes of technology upgrades, joint ventures, collaborations, product launches and mergers and acquisitions worldwide. Researchers have used self-explanatory tables, graphs and info graphics to present data on customer preference, consumption volume, production capability, distribution channel and supply chain management. Buy Membrane Oxygenator market report and avail 15% free customization on the report at https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/31379 In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of MEMBRANE OXYGENATOR are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2019 Forecast Year 2019 to 2026 The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the estimated size of the Membrane Oxygenator market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? What will be the growth rate of the industry during the estimated period? - What are the prominent driving forces likely to impact the progress of the industry across different regions? - Who are the major market players occupying a strong foothold in the Membrane Oxygenator market? What are the winning strategies adopted by them to stay ahead in the competition? - What are the potential opportunities for the Membrane Oxygenator market for the forecast period, 2019- 2026? - What are the key trends expected to shape the development of the industry over the coming years? - What are the key restraints and challenges likely to hinder the growth of the Membrane Oxygenator market worldwide? Get Access to Full summary of this report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/membrane-oxygenator-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com News: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- Increase in technological penetration in healthcare sector is anticipated to boost the growth of the global mhealth market. Also, increased patient engagement and connectivity due to growing penetration of (IoT) Internet of Things is foreseen to boot the market over the forthcoming years. Rising in acceptance of advance and improvised the healthcare devices and apps are the other reason for the growth of the global mhealth market. Apart from this increasing smart phone and internet users are another factor triggering the market growth. Further surge in the need for better healthcare facility is projected to shoot the need for healthcare related app and devices. Increasing awareness regarding the digitalization in healthcare sector is estimated to surge the mhealth industry growth. Awareness regarding the benefits of connected systems over the traditional systems is also anticipated to drive the mhealth market growth across the globe over the coming years. Apart from this, increase in demand for patient care centeric model is another factor driving the mhealth market growth during the forthcoming years. Get the Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/918 The global mhealth market is segmented into four major segment named services, participants, and region. On the basis of services the mhealth market is segmented into monitoring services, diagnosis services, healthcare systems strengthening services and others. These monitoring services are further bifurcated into independent aging solutions and chronic disease management and post-acute care services. On the basis of the participants the global mhealth market is segmented into mobile operators, device vendors, content players, and healthcare providers. On the basis of region the global mhealth market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. Europe captures the largest revenue share at 35.0% and will continue to retain its dominance position over the forthcoming years. Rapid adoption of healthcare apps and technologies and high per capita healthcare expenditure are expected to rise the demand for mhealth market in the respective region.High price of developing the apps is anticipated to be the one of the considerable factor in hindering the market growth in emerging regions such as MEA, APAC and Latin America. However, with the increasing numeral of market entrants the app prices are anticipated to fall over time; this will backing the market growth in emerging such countries such as India and China. In 2018, Europe was the generating highest revenue in the global mhealth market. Rising acceptance of mHealth in European nations for instance U.K. and France. Growingnumeral of research initiatives are the other key parameter strengthening the expansion of the regional market. Escalating geriatric population and accordinglygrowing chronic diseases burden in this region are also enhancing the growth of the mhealth market. Also, rising research initiatives, for instance, the Europe funded a project named MyCyFAPP. This project is a digital health tool for supporting cystic fibrosis patients and their families to relief compute optimal enzyme dosage, are also expectantly prompting the market. Likewise, in this MyCyFAPP, a game was developed by researchers for children to assistance them understand the implication of good nutrition. Enquiry Before Buying: https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/inquiry-before-buying/918 Asia Pacific is anticipated to showcase the highest CAGR of 27.0% over the forthcoming years. Emerging acceptance of digital technologies, developing alertness regarding connected care, growing acceptance of remote monitoring tools, and unmet healthcare demand are subsidising the growth of the mhealth market in the respective region. Growing geriatric populace in nations for instance, China and growingnumber of chronic conditions among patients are inspiring the need for mHealth in illness monitoring and diagnosis. The key players operating in the global mhealth market are Vodafone Group, AllScripts Healthcare Solutions, Apple Inc., AirStrip Technologies, Qualcomm Inc., mQure, Softserve, Telefonica, Orange, Google Inc., Samsung Electronics, and AT&T. These key players are spendingvast wealth to transform the product line as the opposition in the market is increasing with rapid speed. Likewise, with capricious technology the need for better and efficient healthcare infrastructures are developing, so cater the need of the customers, these players are constantlydeveloping new products. Request to Buy This Premium Report From Here @ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/918 Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The global microscopy devices market is growing at a rapid pace owing to emerging new and advanced technologies and rise in demand for pharmaceutical and cell biology research. Increase in development of new integrated microscopes and surge in demand for microscopes in the fast-growing life sciences industry are the other factors driving the global market. However, high cost of microscopes and low budget for R&D in the life science industry are the major restraints of the global microscopy devices market. Asia Pacific and North America are projected to dominate the global microscopy devices market in the next few years owing to increase in manufacturer focus for business expansion in these regions. Players are developing advanced microscopy devices for research operations and entering into distribution agreements to strengthen their presence in Asia Pacific and North America. Rise in adoption of technologically advanced products manufactured by local manufacturers, such as Optomic, is likely to drive the microscopy devices market in Europe. The market in Europe is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8% from 2017 to 2025. Request A Sample: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=226 Optical Microscopy Dominates the Market, Followed by Electron Microscopy The report offers detailed segmentation of the global microscopy devices market based on product type, application, and end-user. In terms of product type, the market has been classified into optical microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy, and microscopy accessories. The optical microscopy segment is poised to account for the leading share of the global market during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. Factors attributed to the higher share of the segment include increase in demand for different types of optical microscopes and low cost of stereo and phase contrast microscopes. The scanning probe microscopy segment is likely to register comparatively higher growth rate in terms of revenue during the forecast period owing to continuous innovations in the product technologies by major players. Cell and Molecular Biology and Biomedical Engineering: Top Two Application Areas of Microscopy Devices The cell and molecular biology segment is projected to account for significant share of the global microscopy devices market during the forecast period. The neuroscience segment is likely to expand at a high CAGR from 2017 to 2025. Dominance of the segment is attributed to increased research activities in neuroscience, benefits of using microscopes in the field, and wide product portfolio of major as well as local manufacturers. In August 2017, Thermo Fisher Scientific launched an advanced electron microscopy device, Cryo-EM, which enables scientists to examine samples at low temperature. Continuous new product launches and exponentially rise in patient base in developed as well as developing countries are likely to propel the segment between 2017 and 2025. The pharmacology and toxicology segment is projected to expand at a CAGR of 8% during the forecast period. The clinical pathology and diagnostics and surgery segments accounted for combined market share of 25.0% of the global microscopy devices market in terms of revenue in 2016. Request Brochure of Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=226 Growth of the Asia Pacific Microscopy Devices Market Likely To Be Hinged At Japan, China In terms of revenue, Asia Pacific was the leading market for microscopy devices in 2016. High growth in the pharmaceutical industry, increase in R&D expenditure, and high adoption of electron and scanning probe microscopes in countries such as China, Japan, and India contribute to the high share of the region. However, high cost of advanced microscopes, and significant customs duty and excise tax are likely to hamper the market in Asia Pacific. Increased research spending in the life science and pharmaceutical industries in countries such as the U.K. and France fuels the growth of the microscopy devices market in Europe. Economic recovery in markets in Latin America such as Brazil is augmenting health care and research expenditure driven by rise in private health insurance, entry of international drug manufacturers, and health care providers. This is likely to propel the microscopy devices market in Latin America at a CAGR of 7% from 2017 to 2025. Highly Consolidated Market, with Top Players Holding Major Share The report also provides profiles of leading players operating in the global microscopy devices market. Olympus Corporation, Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, and Nikon Corporation, among others are the major players operating in the market. Expansion of microscopy devices product portfolio through partnerships to improve efficacy, accuracy, and quality of microscope is a growing trend in the global microscopy devices market. For instance, on January 2018, Thermo Fisher Scientific completed the acquisition of Phenom-World, a Netherlands-based electron microscopy manufacturing company. In February 2018, SemiConductor Devices (SCD), a manufacturer of cooled and uncooled infrared detectors, announced the acquisition of Quantum Imaging. Other prominent players in the global microscopy devices market include Shimadzu Corporation, Leica Microsystems, Bruker Corporation, FEI Company, JOEL Ltd., and Cameca SAS. About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMR's global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations. Contact us: Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Asia Pacific PLC Software Market is anticipated to witness a significant growth during the forecast timeline. The growth can be accredited to the increasing demand for such solutions across the ever-growing industrial sector in the region. These software systems provide a number of advantages such as offering system flexibility and reporting in detail for process optimization, resulting in greater productivity. Facilitating easy integration of network systems for simple communication is among the other benefits offered by the PLC software systems. The accelerated economic growth in India and China has been led by increased manufacturing activities in these countries. Initiatives, such as Make in India and Make in China by the Indian and Chinese governments, are boosting the regional industrialization activities, further contributing to the PLC software market growth. Furthermore, increasing demand for factory automation across these economies is driving the industry demand. Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/2469 Advancements and innovations, such as enhanced communication and data sharing techniques between PLCs, improved communication of PLCs with Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), enhanced processing speeds, and expanded memory, are some of the key factors propelling the PLC software market growth. Latest innovations in PLCs have helped the manufacturers to reduce the size of PLCs and minimize the power consumption. These advanced PLCs find applications for picking & placing of objects in industries, robotic control to automate the industrial processes, and reduce the human involvement, thereby reducing time consumption. Rising demand for automation across various industrial sectors is anticipated to drive the PLC software market growth. The demand for automating several business operations is on the rise to reduce human errors, enhancing the efficiency. With the entry of several software providers offering solutions, which can be easily utilized by operators & technicians, the PLC software market is set to witness a significant growth over the forecast timeline. In addition, the introduction of new & advanced features by the software providers and their integration into the industrial systems are helping the business to increase the operational efficiency, positively impacting the PLC software market growth. Request for customization @ https://www.gminsights.com/roc/2469 PLC software market is segmented on the basis of product and region. Based on the product, the industry is classified into ladder logic and functional block diagrams. Ladder logic diagrams are gaining popularity across various sectors owing to the ease of use offered by such products. Despite the availability of various other languages, ladder logic is considered to be the most popular language utilized for programming PLCs. For replacement of relay circuits, less-complex control systems, and sequential control, the ladder logic is widely utilized. Other advantages of such products include intuitive and self-documenting, efficient representation for discrete logic, modern debugging tools. Major companies in the PLC software market include Siemens AG, Schneider Electric SE, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Rockwell Automation, Inc., ABB Group, Robert Bosch GmbH, General Electric, Hitachi Ltd., Yokogawa Electric, Omron Automation, IDEC Corporation, and Honeywell International, Inc. 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. Selbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Polyurethane (PUR and PU) is a polymer composed of a chain of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. While most polyurethanes are thermosetting polymers that do not melt when heated, thermoplastic polyurethanes are also available. Polyurethane is a resilient, flexible and durable manufactured material that can take the place of paint, cotton, rubber, metal or wood in thousands of applications across virtually all fields. It can be hard like fiberglass, squishy like upholstery foam, protective like varnish, bouncy like rubber or sticky like glue. Since its invention during the 1940s, polyurethane has been used in a wide range of items, from baby toys to airplane wings, and it continues to be adapted for contemporary technology. Request a sample of this premium report on Polyurethane market at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1475870/?utm_source=Releasewire.com-AN Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Bayer, BASF, Dow, Huntsman, NPU, MITSUI, Huafon, Wanhua, COATING This report focuses on the Polyurethane in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application. As international economic situation is complicated, in the next few years there will be many uncertainties although. Due to the government? policy and the high production of polyurethane in the international market, the current demand for polyurethane product is relatively high in the mature market, such as EU, US and China. EU, US, Japan and China are major consumption regions in polyurethane market. Of all theses places, China is the largest producer and consumer. Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1475870/ Polyurethane Market Report Quick Rundown: Market Segment by Type, covers - Polyurethane Foam - Polyurethane Elastomer - Other Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into - Automotive - Construction - Other With an objective to help understand the development plans and policies, manufacturing processes, cost structures of Polyurethane market, this report lists and profiles leading players with top level information on them. Wherever applicable, it also focuses on the details like supply chain, market statistics, product images, development plan outlook, consumption (where available), growth rates, contact details and much more. Sub-segments of the Polyurethane market are expansively analyzed covering industry dynamics, help on a feasibility study, vendor strategies, growth prospects and market share of the industry. Growth projections for next few years form an important aspect of this 2018 Polyurethane report. Apart from whatever is already offered in this Polyurethane market research, the report can be customized to meet your needs be it additional company coverage or country coverage or anything specific that you need. More Details on this Report At: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-polyurethane-market-2019-by-manufacturers-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2024 Table OF Content: 3 Global Polyurethane Sales, Revenue, Market Share and Competition by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.1 Global Polyurethane Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.2 Global Polyurethane Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.3 Market Concentration Rate 3.3.1 Top 3 Polyurethane Manufacturer Market Share in 2017 3.3.2 Top 6 Polyurethane Manufacturer Market Share in 2017 3.4 Market Competition Trend 4 Global Polyurethane Market Analysis by Regions 4.1 Global Polyurethane Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Regions 4.1.1 Global Polyurethane Sales and Market Share by Regions (2013-2018) 4.1.2 Global Polyurethane Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2013-2018) 4.2 North America Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.3 Europe Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.4 Asia-Pacific Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.5 South America Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.6 Middle East and Africa Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5 North America Polyurethane by Countries 5.1 North America Polyurethane Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 5.1.1 North America Polyurethane Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 5.1.2 North America Polyurethane Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 5.2 United States Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5.3 Canada Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5.4 Mexico Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6 Europe Polyurethane by Countries 6.1 Europe Polyurethane Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 6.1.1 Europe Polyurethane Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 6.1.2 Europe Polyurethane Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 6.2 Germany Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.3 UK Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.4 France Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.5 Russia Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.6 Italy Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7 Asia-Pacific Polyurethane by Countries 7.1 Asia-Pacific Polyurethane Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 7.1.1 Asia-Pacific Polyurethane Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 7.1.2 Asia-Pacific Polyurethane Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 7.2 China Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.3 Japan Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.4 Korea Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.5 India Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.6 Southeast Asia Polyurethane Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) Related Report: Global Waterborne Polyurethane Coatings Market Insights, Forecast to 2025 Global Waterborne Polyurethane Coatings market size will increase to Million US$ by 2025, from Million US$ in 2018, at a CAGR of during the forecast period. In this study, 2018 has been considered as the base year and 2019 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Waterborne Polyurethane Coatings. https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-waterborne-polyurethane-coatings-market-insights-forecast-to-2025 About Market Study Report 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 LLC 4 North Main Street, Selbyville, Delaware 19975 USA Phone: 1-302-273-0910 US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: sales@marketstudyreport.com Website: https://www.marketstudyreport.com New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Demand for pressure relief devices is on a surge in developing economies including Asia Pacific (APAC) and Middle East & Africa (MEA). With the advent of medical tourism in various APAC countries such as Vietnam Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Philippines, the market in this region is expected to witness considerable growth. Provision of after sales will be the key focus area of the global pressure relief devices market. Various global players have signed strategic partnerships & collaborations with regional players for offering sales and aftersales services in developing markets. Persistence Market Research (PMR), in its report, projects the global pressure relief devices market to register 5.3% CAGR during the forecast period 2017 to 2025. In 2016, the market was evaluated at revenues worth US$ 2,280.4 Mn; by 2025 this number is estimated to reach nearly US$ 3,600 Mn. To know key findings Request Sample Report @: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/2826 Growing Number of Patients with Hospital-acquired Ulcer Poised to drive Market Growth in North America According to a study by Hill-Rom, growing number of patients with hospital-acquired pressure ulcer has led to a robust adoption of pressure ulcer devices in North America. In addition, rising prevalence of obesity and growing geriatric population has also driven the demand for pressure ulcer devices. These factors are expected to drive growth of the market in this region. However, reimbursement stands as a critical factor, considering the fact that products are highly priced. Private insurers in North America are adopting reimbursement restrictions for pressure ulcer treatment, which in turn will restrain market growth in this region. Increasing out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure is current trend in both developed and developing countries of APAC. This is expected fuel demand for medical devices including pressure relief devices in this region. In addition, provision of government initiatives is expected to offer better healthcare facilities across developing economies, which is further expected to fuel demand for pressure relief devices in APAC. In contrast, affordability of purchasing new pressure relief devices is a major challenge for large number of population across this region. This is because of limited support from government policies covering pressure ulcer treatment in developing economies, and lack of health insurance. These factors are expected to impede market growth in Asia Pacific. Sales of Pressure Relief Devices to Long-term Care Centers to Reach Nearly US$ 1,700 Mn by 2025-End Long-term care centres will continue to remain most lucrative end-users of pressure relief devices, with revenues estimated to reach nearly US$ 1,700 Mn by 2025. Demand for pressure relief devices from long-term care centres is expected to witness expansion at 6% CAGR through 2025. In addition, hospitals are estimated to be second largest end-users of pressure relief devices. Revenue garnered by demand for pressure relief devices from hospitals is expected to surpass US$ 800 Mn in 2017. By product type, specialty beds will remain sought-after in the market. Sales of specialty beds is expected to exhibit 5.8% CAGR through 2025. Specialty beds are expected to account for over 50% market share by 2025-end. In addition, sales of pressure relief mattress is projected to reach nearly US$ 600 Mn in 2017. In contrast, mattress overlays are expected to witness a comparatively low CAGR in the market. North America to Remain the Largest Market for Pressure Relief Devices North America will remain the largest market for pressure relief devices. Sales of pressure relief devices in this region will reach nearly US$ 800 Mn in 2017; by 2025 this number is estimated to surpass US$ 1,000 Mn. In addition, APAC is expected to witness fastest growth in the market. Sales of pressure relief devices in APAC is projected to expand at 6% CAGR through 2025. In contrast, MEA is expected to exhibit sluggish expansion in the market during the forecast period. Request for Report Methodology @: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/2826 Key players identified in PMR's report include Arjohuntleigh AB, Hill-Rom Global Holdings B.V., INVACARE CORP, PARAMOUNT BED CO., LTD., Talley Group Limited, STRYKER CORPORATION, SIDHIL LIMITED, MEDTRONIC PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY, SMITH & NEPHEW PLC, Apex Medical Corp, Proma Reha, s. r. o., Besco Medical Co., Ltd., Hirtz & Co. KG, GF Health Products, Inc., ADL GmbH., Linet spol. s r.o. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The second half of the past century has been a relatively peaceful duration for the humanity and populations have prospered across developed and emerging economies. As a result, geriatrics are now constituting for a prominent chunk of the world's population. And with that the healthcare industry is flourishing, as geriatrics are prone to several bodily disorders, especially arthritis, chronic low-back pain, and joint pain. The advent of radiofrequency ablation devices has paved a minimally invasive surgical procedure that can adequately serve pain management, and the market for the same is primed to excel in the near future. Report Overview: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/radiofrequency-ablation-devices.html According to the findings of this business intelligence report, the demand in the global radiofrequency ablation devices market for pain management will expand at an impressive CAGR of 12.9% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024. Revenue-wise, the vendors of pain management market will generate a demand for RF ablation devices worth of US$1,114.5 million by the end of 2024, substantially more than the market's evaluated worth of US$477.3 million as of 2017. Apart from the increasing population of geriatrics and strong prevalence of chronic pain, increased investments by multinational medical device companies to harness the concept of minimally invasive surgeries and recent approvals and launches of technological advanced devices are expected to drive the demand for radiofrequency ablation devices. On the other hand, regulatory hurdles and availability of other low-cost therapeutics for pain management are a few restraints obstructing this market from attaining greater profitability. Nevertheless, the analyst of the report foresees the emerging economies of China, India, and Brazil to open vast new opportunities in the near future. On the basis of product type, the market for RF ablation devices market for pain management has been segmented into RF generators, reusable products including electrodes and probes, and disposable products, which have been further bifurcated into needles, cannulas, and single-use probes and electrodes. As of 2017, the sub-segments of disposable products generated the most prominent chunk of demand, which was worth US$204.5 million. Benefits of disposable cannulas and probes include reduction in sterilization costs. Additionally, connector cables provided for single use probes are long enough to stay out of the sterile field, thus preventing infection. Obtain Sample of Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=985 On the other hand, the RF generators segment is poised to expand at an above-average CAGR of 13.1% during the period of 2017 to 2024. Technological advancement such as cooled radiofrequency technology platforms which allow creation of larger lesions without excessive heating at the electrode fuels the growth of the segment. By the end of 2024, the pain management market is expected to produce a demand for RF generators worth of US$401.1 million. The report has also evaluated the demand potential from the end users: hospitals, specialty clinics, and ambulatory surgical centers, with the former poised to provide for a demand worth of US$538.4 million by 2024, which will represent nearly half of the overall demand. North America is projected to continue to dominate the market, accounting for 38.3% share by 2024. The segment is anticipated to reach value of US$426.4 million by 2024. The U.S. dominated the market in North America due to the existence large population base, higher awareness, significant health care spending in overall national budgets, early availability of advanced technologies, and higher penetration of health care services across the country. Europe, on the other hand, is estimated to offer 33.5% of the overall demand by the end of the aforementioned forecast period. Request Brochure of Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=985 St. Jude Medical, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, and Halyard Health, Inc. have been identified as the three companies currently dominating the RF ablation devices market for pain management. The report profiles these and several other companies in its featured section on competitive landscape. About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports. Tokyo, Japan -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- A report added to the vast data repository of Report Consultant, titled "Global Reverse Logistics Market Size, Status and Forecast 2026", offers a 360-degree review of the overall market. Estimations with respect to the market esteem over the gauge time frame depend on in-depth research and information accumulated through both essential and auxiliary sources. The authentic processes took after to extend different parts of the market make the information more reliable. Reverse logistics is associated with the reuse of products/merchandise. It includes the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the cost-effective, efficient flow of raw materials, inventory, final goods, or reducing the energy and pollution from transportation. Reverse logistics strategy is gaining friction point in the supply chain management owing to the rise in mobile and online commerce. Get Sample Copy of this report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=4741 Top Key Vendors: C.H. Robinson, DB Schenker, The Deutsche Post, FedEx, United Parcel Service (UPS), Kintetsu World Express, Core Logistic, Deliveryontime Logistics, Delcart, Yusen Logistics, Safexpress Reverse logistics play an important role in the retail and consumer electronics in order to let retailers deal with returns and process them efficiently. Retailers seek ways to offer hassle free multichannel returns to minimize fraud and abuse, as the process of moving goods from customers' location to return centers, face number of challenges. The reverse logistics market is anticipated to expand at a considerable pace due to the introduction of blockchain technology in logistics industry. Some of the major key players in the global Reverse Logistics market are frequently prospering for the betterment of their services and offer augmented and innovative products to their patrons. In addition to this, these companies are inclined to strategic business activities which includes partnerships, joint venture and acquisitions. Likewise, the companies are now using newer technologies and are blending towards it to attract more customers. This study is a source of reliable data on: - Global competitive landscape - Economic global impact - Business profiling of leading key players - Global market forecast - Elaboration of dynamic aspects - Demand and supply chain analysis - Market size and market shares - Technological advancements Ask For Discount: https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=4741 There are 9 Chapters To display the global Reverse Logistics market. Chapter 1 Industry Overview of Reverse Logistics Chapter 2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Reverse Logistics Chapter 3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Reverse Logistics Chapter 4 Global Reverse Logistics Overall Market Overview Chapter 5 Reverse Logistics Regional Market Analysis Chapter 6 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Reverse Logistics Chapter 7 Development Trend of Analysis of Reverse Logistics Market Chapter 8 Reverse Logistics Marketing Type Analysis Chapter 9 Conclusion of the Global Reverse Logistics Market Professional Survey Report 2019 For More Information: https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=4741 Tokyo, Japan -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- The global Direct Marketing Market is valued at 5220 million USD in 2018 and is expected to reach 5830 million USD by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of +2% between 2019 and 2025. Direct marketing is a form of advertising where organizations communicate directly to customers through a variety of media including cell phone text messaging, email, websites, online adverts, database marketing, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, targeted television, newspapers, magazine advertisements, and outdoor advertising. Among practitioners, it is also known as direct response marketing. Request Sample Copy of this Report@: https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=5805 The Top Key Players included in this Market: Rapp, Epsilon, Wunderman, FCB, Acxiom, Harte-Hanks Direct, OgilvyOne, Merkle, Harland Clarke Corp, MRM//McCann, DigitasLBi, Aimia, SourceLink, BBDO, SapientNitro, Leo Burnett The global analysis of Direct Marketing Market and its future prospects have been presented clearly. This analytical report has been employed by using data exploratory techniques such as primary and secondary research analysis. This research document has been aggregated on the basis of different terminologies such as market shares, type, prices, end-users, and applications. This report provides volume and value market share around actor, region, product type, consumer and price change details. This is a detailed analytical report that covers all the details of the analysis and opinion of the Direct Marketing Market. Companies that use direct marketing can focus their limited resources on target promotion, so they can personalize their marketing messages. This report analyzes the market by type of Direct marketing Market, including historical data and forecasts, from 2019 to 2025. This report provides a direct marketing marketplace for global and key regions in terms of stakeholders, Investigate current status and prospects. Product type and final industry. This report analyzes the best players in the world market and divides the market by product type and application / end-industry. Get Reasonable Discount on this Premium Report @: https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=5805 This report covers following regions: North America South America Asia & Pacific Europe MEA (Middle East and Africa) The key countries in each region are taken into consideration as well, such as United States, China, Japan, India, Korea, ASEAN, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, CIS, and Brazil etc. Major Factors: - Global Direct Marketing Market Overview - Economic Impact on Industry - Market Competition by Manufacturers - Production, Revenue (Value) by Region - Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions - Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type - Market Analysis by Application - Manufacturing Cost Analysis - Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers - Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders - Market Effect Factors Analysis - Global Direct Marketing Market Forecast For More information: https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=5805 Reasons for Buying this Report This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics It provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth It provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segments Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Hoses are one of the key components of drinking water installations especially for outdoor sites. However, these hoses are only employed if they fulfil the strict conditions of the drinking water ordinance. To protect the public health for long term, test procedure for the drinking water approval are made tougher. Drink Hoses are the ideal quality of hoses for the utilization in beverages, brewing and liquor industry. Drink Hoses are primarily utilized for the transportation of drinking water at carnivals, outdoor exhibitions, food and beverage industries etc. Further, Drink Hoses can also be used for conveying water in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, where the quality of water must be at high level. Drink Hoses are designed to meet the most demanding application which features ultra-smooth and plasticiser free linings that do not transfers taste or odour. Drink Hoses are available in reinforced as well as premium forms. Both premium and reinforced Drink Hoses are widely adopted in various industries owing to their various features which include safe for drinking water, complies with the 2014 federal state drinking water act, UV stabilized for prolonged life, no taste of plastic leached into the drinking water, etc. Request Free Sample Report@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2837 Global Drink Hoses Market: Segmentation The global Drink Hoses market can be segmented on the basis of material type, end-use industry and application Based on the material type, the global Drink Hoses market can be segmented into Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Rubber Based on the end-use industry, the global Drink Hoses market can be segmented into Food & Beverages Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Based on the application, the global Drink Hoses market can be segmented into Milk Water Other Beverages Global Drink Hoses Market: Dynamics Increasing demand for reliable & safe products the effective transportation of beverages and foodstuffs is expected to assist the demand for the Drink Hoses and in turn driving the global Drink Hoses market. Hose manufacturers primarily build hose used for plants watering or car washing, etc. and they are made without paying proper attention to be used for the drinking purpose. Thus, Drink Hoses must be produced with utmost care while adhering to stringent environmental regulations. The aforementioned reasons are found to be the key challenges identified in the Drink Hoses market. Key manufacturers of Drink Hoses are focusing on development of modern production facilities, special production processes, and top quality raw materials in order to meet the stringent hygiene regulations. Introduction of hose for drinking water, developed in accordance with the UBA Elastomer Guidelines is one of the key trends identified in the global Drink Hoses market Request/View TOC@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2837 Global Drink Hoses Market: Regional Outlook Considering regions, the global Drink Hoses market is expected to be led by North America region owing to the introduction of various environmental regulations in the United State and Canada. North America is anticipated to be followed by Europe in the global Drink Hoses market throughout the forecast year. Asia-Pacific spearheaded by China is expected to grow at significant CAGR in the global Drink Hoses market over the near future, supported by rising utilization of the product in various applications. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are anticipated to grow at below average rate in the global Drink Hoses market over the forecast years. Global Drink Hoses Market: Market Participants Some of the key players involved in the Drink Hoses market include ContiTech AG, REHAU, Lantech Solutions, Manifattura Tubi Gomma S.p.A., Eaton Corporation Plc, PARKER HANNIFIN CORP, Sealtite Ltd., Gates Corporation, Semperflex, Terraflex Industries Ltd., Ace Hose and Rubber Company, and others Key manufacturers of Drink Hoses are found to be involved in the development of safe Drink Hoses in order to gain the significant share in market across the globe. The global Drink Hoses market is expected to be partially fragmented in nature. Global players are expected to hold small share in the global Drink Hoses market. There is a significant growth opportunity for small and local regional players in the global Drink Hoses 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, application, and industry. The report covers exhaustive analysis on: Market Segments Market Dynamics Market Size Supply & Demand Current Trends/Issues/Challenges Competition & Companies involved Technology Value Chain Regional analysis includes: North America (U.S., Canada) Latin America (Mexico, Brazil) Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain) Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia) Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand) Japan Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, S. Africa, Northern Africa) The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. Report Highlights: Detailed overview of parent market Changing market dynamics in the industry In-depth market segmentation Historical, current, and projected market size in terms of volume and value Recent industry trends and developments Competitive landscape Strategies of key players and products offered Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth A neutral perspective on market performance Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint Grow Your Business From Expert Advice: https://www.factmr.com/report/2837/drink-hoses-market NOTE - All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in reports are those of the respective analysts. They do not necessarily reflect formal positions or views of Fact.MR 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 Us Rohit Bhisey Fact.MR 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United States Email: sales@factmr.com Web: https://www.factmr.com/ Blog: https://factmrblog.com/ Read Industry News at - http://theguardiantribune.com Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Retinal biologics market value surpassed US$ 14.6 billion in 2018 and projected to grow at 10.7% y-o-y in 2019, as per a new FMI study. The projected growth of the market can be attributed to, Increasing prevalence of diabetic eye diseases and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) Significant R&D investments engaged in developing biologics for infectious and non-infectious retinal diseases Growing application of specific biologic molecules as a promising drug target Development of gene therapy as retinal biologics in the wake of large number of monogenic retinal disorders "Higher specificity of retinal biologics as compared to other traditional therapies has escalated R&D efforts in the retinal drug delivery field. Rising burden of diseases as well as treatment on the back of ageing population and spread of diabetes epidemic have increased efforts in finding the cure of untreatable diseases. Greater strides to develop long-acting therapeutics in a bid to reduce disease burden is set to augur well for the retinal biologics market and generation of US$ 16.2 billion market value is projected in 2019," says FMI report. To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8663 Promising Treatment of VEGF-A Antagonist Drug Translates to Hefty Revenue Generation The FMI study estimates that adoption of VEGF-A antagonist class of drugs remains higher as compared to TNF-? inhibitor. In 2018, VEGF-A antagonist drugs witnessed significant penetration while accounting for a hefty 93% revenues of the retinal biologics market. Significant advances in developing biologics for VEGF-A antagonist therapy and their delivery to posterior ocular tissues are underway. Ubiquitous acceptance of VEGF-A antagonist therapy has led manufacturers to invest in the development of retinal biologics in a similar area. For instance, Eylea by Regeneron and Lucentis by Roche are VEGF-A antagonist drugs available in the market. The study finds that despite lower revenues, penetration of TNF-? inhibitor drugs is likely to increase at a rapid pace in the coming years. In 2019, annual revenues of TNF-? inhibitor drug class is expected to grow at an impressive rate of 11.6%. Retinal Biologics Find Prominent Use in Macular Degeneration Treatment The study opines that over 35% of the retinal biologics revenues were consolidated in the treatment of macular degeneration. Highest revenue growth of 12.3% is also expected in macular degeneration as compared to other indications where retinal biologics are used in 2019. Macular degeneration (MD) remains the leading cause of vision loss wherein it affects over 10 million Americans, the prevalence is higher than the combined incidences of cataract and glaucoma, as per the American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF). As macular degeneration mainly affect people of age 50 years or more, with the ageing population, the prevalence of MD continues to rise despite improved treatment options. Diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema treatments also significantly include retinal biologics in therapy. FMI shows that collectively both the disorders accounted for over 43% of the retinal biologics market revenues in 2018. Annual revenue growth in these two disorders is estimated to remain above 10% in 2019. Increasing incidences of diabetes complications on the back of growing epidemic of diabetes will continue to increase cases of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema, thereby generating demand for retinal biologics in the coming years. Retinal Biologics Distribution in Specialty Clinics and Hospitals Prominent Manufacturers in the retinal biologics market distribute the products through institutional and retail distribution channels. The FMI study finds that institutional sales will garner higher revenues in the retinal biologics market wherein retinal biologics are distributed in specialty clinics and hospitals. Sales in hospitals accounted for over 35% of the market revenues in 2018. The study estimates that retail sales of retinal biologics will garner similar revenues as that of hospitals and grow at 11.9% in 2019. Retail distribution occurs through retail pharmacies and mail order pharmacies of which retail pharmacies will register higher revenues as compared to its counterparts in the coming years. Request Methodology of this Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-8663 Penetration in North America Higher, APEJ's Attractiveness to Increase North America continues to hold leading revenues in the retinal biologics market. According to FMI valuation, North America held over 46% of the global retinal biologics market revenues in 2018. Revenues in North America are expected to grow at 10.4% y-o-y in 2019 on the back of increasing prevalence of retinal disorders, steady growth of the healthcare infrastructure and favorable reimbursement scenario. Europe garnered nearly one-fourth revenues in the retinal biologics market, wherein a bulk of demand penetration was observed in Western European countries such as Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and others. The attractiveness of the APEJ retinal biologics market is expected to rise at the rate of 11% in 2019, wherein China and India remain the most lucrative markets. Herndon, VA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Royal Egyptian Bedding is known across the U.S. for its premium-quality Egyptian-cotton bed sheets, duvets, down comforters, pillows, and luxury Bed in a Bag sets. The manufacturer crafts its sheets to perfection with the finest-quality 43 Grade long staple Giza cotton grown in the lush Nile Valley. The single-ply weave and a variety of thread counts make its sheets soft and subtle. Each sheet set includes a flat sheet and a fitted sheet, as well as a pair of pillowcases. At a recent industry conference, the spokesperson of Royal Egyptian Bedding informed, "We also provide elegant and luxurious 1200 thread count Egyptian-cotton sheet sets. The softness, luxury, and comfort of these sheets are something that our customers cherish. Exceptionally designed for the rich and the elite, our linen sets are like those found in the most luxurious hotels around the world. The fabric is soft yet durable, with a subtle finish. The fabric only gets better with every wash." Royal Egyptian Bedding offers 1200 thread count sheet sets for Full, Queen, King, and Cal King sizes, as well as for Twin and Twin Extra Long sizes respectively. The manufacturer provides sheets made of ultra-fine yards of cotton. With elastic fitted all around, these are 18-inch deep pocket-fitted sheets. The users can easily machine wash these sheets in cold water with like colors and touch up with iron if required. The 1200 thread count sheets are available in solid style. Customers can have these in many different colors. The spokesperson additionally stated, "We have 1200 thread count sheets in the color range that goes from beige and black to blue, burgundy, chocolate, lavender, navy, sage, and taupe. Our customers can also get sheets in white, ivory, and gold colors. Our marvelous long staple sheet sets are available to fit every customer's needs and budget. The Egyptian-cotton fibers or staples are substantially longer than regular cotton. Due to its length, the yarn created from this uninterrupted fiber ensures that the fabric is much stronger than ordinary cotton fabric." Along with the high-quality 1200 count sheets, Royal Egyptian Bedding offers the best Egyptian duvet cover sets. A duvet cover reduces the complexity of making a bed, as it is a single covering instead of a combination of bed sheets, blankets, and quilts or other bed covers. The duvet itself fits into the specially made cotton duvet cover. The duvet cannot be washed, as the water would ruin its stuffing. However, a duvet cover can be removed and laundered as often as the bottom sheet and pillowcases. About Royal Egyptian Bedding Launched in the year 2001, Royal Egyptian Bedding is a renowned manufacturer and provider of the best long staple Egyptian cotton sheets. The manufacturer bypasses the middlemen and manufactures its bedding in-house by procuring the raw materials directly from the farmers in Egypt. This helps Royal Egyptian Bedding to reduce its costs and offer its products at considerably lower prices. The manufacturer also supplies luxurious duvet cover sets that are changeable. Thus, they can change the feel of the room without having to completely redecorate it. Contact Information: Company : Royal Egyptian Bedding Address: 478 Elden Street # 116 Herndon, VA 20170 Phone: +1 877-567-4578 Email: sales@royalegyptianbedding.com Website: https://www.royalegyptianbedding.com/ New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Belgium will continue to be the largest exporter of organic fertilizers, with total exports totalling 1.15 million tonnes in 2015. Netherlands and the U.S. will be the other two key exporters. In terms of imports, France continues to be the largest market globally. Global organic fertilizer demand was pegged at 17 million tonnes in 2016. In terms of value, the market was valued at US$ 5.57 billion. Persistence Market Research projects the market to grow at 7% CAGR through 2025 and reach US$ 10.23 billion. Request for Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11950 Key Drivers Government initiatives and subsidies promoting the use of organic fertilizers. For instance, in the EU, government is promoting organic sector via conversion subsidies and large subsidies on agricultural inputs. Rising awareness among consumers about organically produced food will continue to provide growth opportunities. From a US$ 15 billion market in 1999, the global organic food and drink market has grown to become a US$ 80 billion market in 2014.Organic fertilizers don't cause the same level of damage to the environment as conventional fertilizers. This is promoting their adoption among end-users.While Persistence Market Research maintains a positive outlook on the global organic fertilizer market, premium prices for organic fertilizers are a key impediment to adoption. Organic Fertilizer Market Trends Integrated nutrient supply system (INSS) is being adopted by farm owners, as the lower nutrient content alone is insufficient to supplement the demand for nutrients in plant growth.Considering the fragmented nature of organic fertilizers market, leading players are focusing on strengthening their distribution partnerships in local markets.Manufacturers in Europe are focusing on expanding their customer base in high-growth regions, including Latin America and North America.Non-profit organizations are playing a key role in promoting the use of organic fertilizers. According to Persistence Market Research's analysis, demand for animal-based organic fertilizers is higher than plant-based variants. While 6.84 million tonnes of plant-origin organic fertilizers were sold in 2016, animal-origin organic fertilizer volume was pegged at 10.15 million tonnes. Use of organic fertilizers remains highest in the farming of cereals and crops. This application segment accounted for over 70% revenue share of the market in 2016. By volume, demand from cereals and crops was estimated at 12.53 million tonnes in 2016. Historically, solid organic fertilizers have remained sought-after, and the trend is expected to remain unchanged during the forecast period 2017-2025. While solid organic fertilizers are projected to grow at 6.2% CAGR, liquid organic fertilizers' growth rate is estimated to be 5.1%. Europe & Asia Pacific Collectively Account for over 60% Revenue Share Europe is the largest market for organic fertilizers, followed by Asia Pacific. While Europe will continue to be the largest market for organic fertilizers, it will lose 2.3% revenue share to APAC during the forecast period. North America, the third largest market for organic fertilizers, is expected to account for 21.8% revenue share of the market by 2025-end. Request for Report Table of Content (TOC) @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/11950 In its report, Persistence has profile key players in the organic fertilizers market, including Italpollina SpA, ILSA S.p.A, BioStar Renewables, Sustane Natural Fertilizer Inc., True Organic Products Inc., California Organic Fertilizers Inc., The Fertell Company, Purely Organics LLC, Pupuk Kaltim, and Qingdao Sonef Chemical Co., Ltd. Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Asia Pacific will depict fastest CAGR of over 5.5% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2024. India, China, and Thailand are observing large government and private investments in infrastructure development including roadways, bridges, industries, hospitals, educational institutes, and hotels. For instance, Thailand is undergoing for heavy investment in hotel infrastructure as the travel and tourism industry is major contributor China's. Rising noise pollution level owing to increasing infrastructure development instigating soundproof curtains demand. Travel & tourism industry growth has led to increasing count of hotel chain creating a potential scope for soundproof curtains. Developing countries observe high infrastructural investments in sectors including hotels, industries, roadways and educational institutes. Selected regions with large religious structure including churches, temples, and mosques observe switch towards soundproof curtains. Request for a sample copy of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2660 European Soundproof Curtains Market accounted for over 45% market share in 2017. Rising noise pollution due to expanding transportation and tourism sector will result in increased product demand. For instance, France, Spain, UK, and Germany have an established travel & tourism industry with a substantial total contribution of more than 9% to GDP of Europe in 2016, hence the region is witnessing increasing hotel infrastructure investment creating demand for soundproof curtains. Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: Acoustical Surfaces, Inc. Quiet Curtains HOFA GLT Products Flexshield Moondream Acoustic Curtains Kinetics Noise Control, Inc. Sound Seal Steel Guard Safety Corp. Lantal Textiles Amcraft Manufacturing Haining Duletai New Material eNoise Control SGF Ecotone Systems Pvt. Ltd. Envirotech Systems Pvt. Ltd. PES (UK) Residential Acoustics Rite-Hite Robert Soper Limited Sound Control Services ZAK Acoustics Make an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2660 Regulatory authorities associated with noise pollution are keen to the implementation of new environmental policies, which will result in higher product adoption. Higher investment in new and existing hotels due to improved tourism sector will drive industry growth. Growing industrial sector along with increasing health awareness among employees on effects of sound pollution will enhance soundproof curtains market growth. Regions with higher growth in automotive sector observing increasing effect of sound pollution resulting in mandatory need for soundproof curtains in commercial sector. Upsurge in GDP per capita with increased consumer spending in selected regions will drive growth in residential sector. Focus to enhance the employee productivity will result in increased demand for the product in the industrial sector. Plastic foam is expected to witness growth over 4.5% from 2018 to 2024. It provides effective sound absorption with a minimum thickness to control noise, echoes, and vibration. Controlling reverberation sound and sound enhancement are the key drivers propelling demand for plastic foam-based products. They are largely manufactured in wedge and pyramid shapes with their applicability varying with respect to the shape. Browse Report Summery @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/soundproof-curtains-market Mineral wool will generate over USD 375 million revenue by 2024. These materials find application in industrial and commercial sectors owing to their high fire-resistant and water-resistance property. Comparatively higher R-value than fiber glass to provide better sound blocking will push the demand for mineral wool based soundproof curtains. Key industry players are Acoustical Surfaces, Amcraft Manufacturing, Acoustic Curtains, Residential Acoustics, Sound Control Services, Robert Soper Limited, ZAK Acoustics, Rite-Hite, Flexshield, GLT Products, Kinetic Noise Control, and Moondream. Other prominent industry participants are Steel Guard Safety Corporation, Sound Seal, Lantal Textiles, HOFA, SGF, eNoise Control, Ecotone Systems Private Limited, PES (UK), Quiet Curtains, Envirotech Systems Private Limited. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- A surge of shutdowns may be observed in the future for most of the ageing nuclear reactors in the world. These reactors which have supplied power to millions of homes in the past have always faced hurdles in terms of public acceptance. With most nuclear plant owners unwilling to dish out extra millions for renovation of their old plants, gradual shutdowns are imminent. With the Fukishima disaster in Japan involving an old boiling water reactor built in the 70's, the public sentiment towards the old nuclear plants is likely to deteriorate. The major issue closely linked with decommissioning these old nuclear power plants is the efficient and safe disposal of nuclear waste. Decommissioning costs of nuclear plants are extremely high, going up to nearly a billion dollars for larger plants. Efficient storage of nuclear waste will occupy a majority portion of these costs. Radioactive half life of wastes ranges up to 16 million years while they remain hazardous for much longer. Storage of such nuclear spent fuel (NSF) will ultimately spark the demand for dry storage casks. Read Report Overview @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/snf-dry-storage-casks.html Dry storage casks are generally the most viable method of storing high level nuclear waste which has been cooled down to manageable levels. Cooling of spent fuel requires over a year and sometimes nearly 8 years bringing down to manageable temperatures. Concrete or steel are the major materials used for making these casks, which are able to withstand the harshest of temperature and weather conditions without damage. Not only do inert gases surround and insulate the spent fuel rods in these containers, concrete layers are also present to provide additional radiation shielding to waste handling personnel. These NSF dry storage casks should be transportable as well, a feature which is incorporated into them during manufacturing. With a majority of the old nuclear power reactors going for decommissioning, thus approaching their wet pool storage limit for NSF, dry cask demand is likely to increase significantly in the future. Request Report Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2437 The market for these NSF dry cask storages is likely to be driven by certain countries. Japan with its decision to decommission existing nuclear reactors and move towards a renewable oriented generation mix can be a potential market. While other countries have not decided yet to walk on Japan's path, long lasting effects of the Fukishima disaster are imminent. Decommissioning of old reactors might be the general public and regulatory sentiment in many countries, to be replaced by newer and more efficient power plants. A major requirement of such dry storage casks may be observed from the North American region, with both the U.S. and Canada deciding to shut down and replace a number of their old reactors. In the European market, Germany and Russia are likely to be strong demand drivers for such dry storage casks. Strong R&D is likely to be required by the manufacturers of these casks to ensure leak free storage of such wastes in nuclear storage repositories. As the requirement for newer and safer repositories increase to dispose of the nuclear wastes, quality improvements in the casks will become necessary. Major emerging markets are likely to be observed in the North American and Asia Pacific regions. Some of the market players involved in the business of manufacturing SNF dry storage casks are Skoda JS A.S., NAC International, Holtec International and Areva among others. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/28/2019 -- Various research techniques are applied to produce data on competitors' strategies; past, present and future sales and purchasing trends. Business owners planning on surveying the present customers and reaching the target audience will benefit from the demographic data from different regions, to infer dynamic market shifts. Perspectives on different disruptive forces that are believed to have a transformative influence on the future sales make the document valuable. Insights on where the Stainless Steel Sink Market should be heading during the forecast period, 2018 to 2026 and how major vendors are transforming the business today are also explored when drafting the report. The research further holds ample information to enable stakeholders in their decision-making process, especially associated with problem identification, finding the best solutions as well as opportunities in the Stainless Steel Sink market for the forecast period, 2018 to 2026. The study further document marketing benchmarks that a business owner is expected to complete in order to sustain in the highly saturated market. Besides, the marketing efforts and constant improvements introduced to the marketing strategy by major vendors' forms an important part of the study. To get Free Sample Report Copy click here @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/14957 The major manufacturers covered in this report: Franke, Elkay, Moen, Kohler, Reginox, Teka Group, Blanco, Dongpeng Holding, Sonata, Delta, Da long, Conlin, Oulin, Dongyuan, Primy, Mor-ning, Codesn, Ouert Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering - North America - Europe - China - Japan - Southeast Asia - India Most importantly, the research familiarizes product owners with whom the immediate competitors are and what buyers expect and what are the effective business strategies adopted by prominent leaders. To help both established companies and new entrants not only see the disruption but also see opportunities. In-depth exploration of how the industry behaves, including assessment of government bodies, financial organization and other regulatory bodies. Market split by Type, can be divided into: - 304# Stainless Steel Sink - 202# Stainless Steel Sink - 201# Stainless Steel Sink Market split by Application, can be divided into: - Residential Kitchens - Commercial Kitchens Market split by Sales Channel, can be divided into: - Direct Channel - Distribution Channel To Purchase this Report click here @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/14957 Besides, helping the audience uncover and understand the potential challenges and problems the report includes the reactions of the buyers about new products or services. This information can enlighten all further development desired to suit the target market. In addition, the statistics on prominent Stainless Steel Sink market players shows how to measure up against established competitors and then take necessary action. Business owners can find the information they need to decide whether to take an action or not. It makes it obvious if a new product planned by the manufacturers meets the customer needs. In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Stainless Steel Sink are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year: 2018 to 2026 The study objectives of this report are: - To analyse and study the global Stainless Steel Sink capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2026); - Focuses on the key Stainless Steel Sink manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future. - Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyse the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. - To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. - To analyse the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. - To analyse the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. - To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyse their growth strategies. Key Points from TOC: Chapter 1 Stainless Steel Sink Market Overview 1.1 Stainless Steel Sink Definition 1.2 Global Stainless Steel Sink Market Size Status and Outlook (2013-2026) 1.3 Global Stainless Steel Sink Market Size Comparison by Region (2013-2026) 1.4 Global Stainless Steel Sink Market Size Comparison by Type (2013-2026) 1.5 Global Stainless Steel Sink Market Size Comparison by Application (2013-2026) 1.6 Global Stainless Steel Sink Market Size Comparison by Sales Channel (2013-2026) 1.7 Stainless Steel Sink Market Dynamics 1.7.1 Market Drivers/Opportunities 1.7.2 Market Challenges/Risks 1.7.3 Market News (Mergers/Acquisitions/ Expansion) Chapter 2 Stainless Steel Sink Market Segment Analysis by Player 2.1 Global Stainless Steel Sink Sales and Market Share by Player (2016-2018) 2.2 Global Stainless Steel Sink Revenue and Market Share by Player (2016-2018) 2.3 Global Stainless Steel Sink Average Price by Player (2016-2018) 2.4 Players Competition Situation & Trends 2.5 Conclusion of Segment by Player Chapter 7 Profile of Leading Stainless Steel Sink Players 7.1 Franke 7.1.1 Company Snapshot 7.1.2 Product/Business Offered 7.1.3 Business Performance (Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share) 7.1.4 Strategy and SWOT Analysis Continue Read more @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/stainless-steel-sink-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com News: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Atlanta, GA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- The Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson are offering their legal representation services to foodservice industry workers in the Atlanta, GA region who have suffered an injury on the job. Those who fit this description may require the services of a workers' compensation lawyer in Atlanta and are encouraged to reach out to the team at the Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson to schedule a free consultation. While workers' comp applies to any type of employee living in Georgia, foodservice workers often have a difficult time maximizing their claim without professional aid due to the common misconception that their line of work isn't as risky as other industries. Anyone who has ever worked in the foodservice industry knows that a workday can go from slow and boring to fast-paced and hectic in just a few minutes. This sudden rush puts employees at a higher risk of suffering an injury while they aim to prepare, cook, and serve in a timely fashion. Typical injuries that are seen in the foodservice industry include slip and falls, burns, and cuts. If the injury is serious enough that it prevents the employee from working properly, then they are entitled to compensation under state law. Even if they think that they understand the law, foodservice workers often find difficulty maximizing their workers' compensation settlements. The workman comp attorneys in Atlanta at the Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson can assist injured workers in attaining the compensation they deserve. Anybody that has suffered a serious injury while working in not just the foodservice industry, but any line of work, is advised to call the Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson for assistance. Dial 404-692-6482 to schedule a free consultation. About The Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson The Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson provide legal defense for individuals all throughout the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. He provides effective legal defense for individuals unjustly injured while at the workplace and gets them the compensation they need. Clients of Darwin F. Johnson don't pay unless he delivers compensation. Reach the Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson today by phone at 404-692-6482. For more information, please visit http://www.darwinfjohnson.com. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- "White Spirits Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Forecast (2017-2025)," a new report published by Persistence Market Research, tracks the performance of the global white spirits market for a projected period of eight years, i.e. between 2017 and 2025. According to this report, in terms of value, the global white spirits market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.2% during the assessed period. This market is estimated to be valued at US$ 5,832.3 Mn by 2017 end and reach US$ 8,103.2 Mn by the end of 2025. The steady growth is anticipated in terms of demand from various applications, such as paints thinner and cleaning & degreasing solvents which is expected to drive the growth of the white spirits market during forecast period. Global White Spirits Market: Key Regulations Need: In the recent past, regulatory bodies have begun implementing regulations mandating the reduction of VOC emissions due to rising environmental concerns and deteriorating air quality across the globe Request for Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4544 Regulations: Directive 2004/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on the limitation of emissions of VOCs due to the use of organic solvents in certain paints and varnishes and vehicle refinishing products and amending Directive 1999/13/EC Paints based on white spirits, intended to be used by the general public, are restricted in Denmark for indoor use on ceilings and walls. In 2007, the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits proposed the following value as recommended occupational limit value for white spirits: 20 ppm (116 mg/m) as 8 h average level, 50 ppm (290 mg/m) as 15 min short-term exposure limit level. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for white spirits exposure in the workplace as 500 ppm (2,900 mg/m3) over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has set a recommended exposure limit of 350 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday and 1,800 mg/m3 over 15 minutes. Description: The "VOC" directive that aims to reduce ozone formation potential of VOCs in connection with photochemical reactions in ambient air, defines 12 sub-categories for coating products applied to buildings and five subcategories for vehicle refinishing products for which limits are set with regard to VOC content. The maximum permissible VOC content range is 30840 g/l, depending on the product. Effect on the White Spirits Market: Owing to regulations related to VOC emissions, there is increasing demand for low aromatic white spirits globally, which hinders demand for conventional white spirits. Major manufacturers are shifting focus towards marketing of white spirits with low aromatic content so as to comply with regulations. Global White Spirits Market: Forecast by Application On the basis of application, this market is segmented into paint thinner, cleaning solvent, degreasing solvent, fuel, disinfectant and others. In terms of application, the paint thinner segment is expected to witness healthy growth owing to increase in demand from industrial and architectural/decorative coatings during the forecast period. Building & Construction segment is expected to register nearly 1.3X growth between 2017 and 2025. The Paint Thinner segment is anticipated to witness sound growth. It is expected to grow with a CAGR of 4.9% over the forecast period. Global White Spirits Market: Forecast by Grade Type Grade type segment consists of low flash grade, regular flash grade and high flash grade. Regular flash grade segment is projected to expand at a relatively higher CAGR over the forecast period. The regular flash grade segment is estimated to account for a 60.9% revenue share in the global white spirits market in 2025, followed by high flash grade and low flash grade segments respectively. Global White Spirits Market: Forecast by Product Type Product type segment includes type 1, type 2 and type 3 segments. In terms of value, the type 1 segment has been estimated to account for a 46.1% share by 2025 end. This is projected to grow 1.4X during the forecast period to be valued at US$ 3,778.4 Mn in 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 4.3% Global White Spirits Market: Forecast by Region APAC is the key market that accounts for a major share in the global white spirits market. The market in APAC is expected to register high CAGR over the forecast period and provide significant opportunities in the global white spirits market owing to the growing paints & coatings, automotive, packaging and building & construction industry in this region as well as shifting of manufacturing industries to China, India and ASEAN Countries. APAC is estimated to account for around 41.4% share in terms of value in the global white spirits market in 2017. Request for Report Table of Content (TOC) @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/4544 Global White Spirits Market: Key Players ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total S.A., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Neste Oyj, Haltermann Carless Deutschland GmbH, DHC Solvent Chemie GmbH, GSB Chemical Co. Pty. Ltd., and Al Sanea Chemical Products are some of the key companies operating in the global white spirits market. Selbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/01/2019 -- Smart building is a solution that transforms an automated building into an intelligent building. It integrates building management systems (BMS) with business systems and provides data analytical tools to all standalone systems to enable the control systems capabilities of making decisions. Smart buildings have automated seamless integration of all the standalone system backed by building Internet of things (BIoT) to make each device intelligent to understand the environment beyond the provided controls and work. Smart buildings can generate analytical reports with the help of analytical tools of cloud or big data to help managers understand the trends and how optimization can be achieved further. Request a sample of this premium report on Smart Buildings market at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1476148/?utm_source=Releasewire.com-AN Market Segment by Companies, this report covers Honeywell, Siemens, Schneider Electric, Johnson Controls, United Technologies, Bosch Security Systems, ABB, Advantech, Cisco, Control4, Emerson, IBM, Panasonic The Building management system (BMS) segment held the maximum market shares during 2017. The segment is expected to retain its market domIinance due to the increasing industrial development, commercialization, and awareness of the effective utilization of energy and building optimization in regions such as EMEA and APAC. Furthermore, the technological innovations such as the Internet of things (IoT), analytics, and cloud computing for effective monitoring, controlling, and operating building facilities will also propel the adoption of BMS. During 2017, the software segment accounted for the major shares of the smart buildings market. The increasing demand from end-users to make the buildings efficient and cost-effective will contribute to the growth of this market segment in the coming years. The rapid growth in commercial places such as hotels, resorts, airports, and amusement parks will also drive the revenues for the software solutions segment. The global Smart Buildings market is valued at xx million USD in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million USD by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2017 and 2023. The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions. North America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of Smart Buildings. Europe also play important roles in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2017 and will be xx million USD in 2023, with a CAGR of xx%. Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1476148/ Smart Buildings Market Report Quick Rundown: Market Segment by Type, covers - Building Management System (BMS) - Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) - Lighting Control - Security and Access Control - Emergency Alarm and Evacuation System - Audio and Visual Effects - Otehr Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into - Residential - Commercial - Otehr With an objective to help understand the development plans and policies, manufacturing processes, cost structures of Smart Buildings market, this report lists and profiles leading players with top level information on them. Wherever applicable, it also focuses on the details like supply chain, market statistics, product images, development plan outlook, consumption (where available), growth rates, contact details and much more. Sub-segments of the Smart Buildings market are expansively analyzed covering industry dynamics, help on a feasibility study, vendor strategies, growth prospects and market share of the industry. Growth projections for next few years form an important aspect of this 2018 Smart Buildings report. Apart from whatever is already offered in this Smart Buildings market research, the report can be customized to meet your needs be it additional company coverage or country coverage or anything specific that you need. More Details on this Report At: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-smart-buildings-market-2019-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2024 Table OF Content: 3 Global Smart Buildings Sales, Revenue, Market Share and Competition by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.1 Global Smart Buildings Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.2 Global Smart Buildings Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017) 3.3 Market Concentration Rate 3.3.1 Top 3 Smart Buildings Manufacturer Market Share in 2017 3.3.2 Top 6 Smart Buildings Manufacturer Market Share in 2017 3.4 Market Competition Trend 4 Global Smart Buildings Market Analysis by Regions 4.1 Global Smart Buildings Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Regions 4.1.1 Global Smart Buildings Sales and Market Share by Regions (2013-2018) 4.1.2 Global Smart Buildings Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2013-2018) 4.2 North America Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.3 Europe Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.4 Asia-Pacific Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.5 South America Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 4.6 Middle East and Africa Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5 North America Smart Buildings by Countries 5.1 North America Smart Buildings Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 5.1.1 North America Smart Buildings Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 5.1.2 North America Smart Buildings Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 5.2 United States Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5.3 Canada Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 5.4 Mexico Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6 Europe Smart Buildings by Countries 6.1 Europe Smart Buildings Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 6.1.1 Europe Smart Buildings Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 6.1.2 Europe Smart Buildings Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 6.2 Germany Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.3 UK Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.4 France Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.5 Russia Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 6.6 Italy Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7 Asia-Pacific Smart Buildings by Countries 7.1 Asia-Pacific Smart Buildings Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries 7.1.1 Asia-Pacific Smart Buildings Sales and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 7.1.2 Asia-Pacific Smart Buildings Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2013-2018) 7.2 China Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.3 Japan Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.4 Korea Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.5 India Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) 7.6 Southeast Asia Smart Buildings Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018) Related Report: Global Smart Buildings Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025 This report focuses on the global Smart Buildings status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Smart Buildings development in United States, Europe and China. https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-smart-buildings-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025 About Market Study Report 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 LLC 4 North Main Street, Selbyville, Delaware 19975 USA Phone: 1-302-273-0910 US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: sales@marketstudyreport.com Website: https://www.marketstudyreport.com Blog: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog The remarkably complete fossil skeleton of a sea cow with large incisor tusks that lived approximately 20 million years ago (Miocene epoch) has been discovered in Panama. The newly-discovered sea cow, named Culebratherium alemani, is a tusked seagrass-grazing relative of modern dugongs. While only one species of dugong is alive today a second, Stellers sea cow, was hunted to extinction within 27 years of its discovery about 30 species have been recovered in the fossil record, said Dr. Jorge Velez-Juarbe, a paleontologist in the Department of Mammalogy at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the Department of Paleobiology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. The group originated in the West Atlantic and Caribbean and dispersed westward through Panama, whose seaway did not close until a few million years ago, and south to Brazil. The fossil skull, vertebrae, ribs and other bones of Culebratherium alemani were recovered from marine deposits of the Culebra Cut of the Panama Canal. About 15 feet (4.6 m) long, this individual was not done growing, Dr. Velez-Juarbe said. Its tusks had only begun to protrude and its newest molars showed little wear, indicating it was not yet an adult. But it was a powerful eater. Dr. Velez-Juarbe and his colleague, Dr. Aaron Wood from Iowa State University and the Florida Museum of Natural History, propose that Culebratherium alemanis thick neck muscles, tusks and downward-pointing snout were adaptations for digging pits in the ocean floor to get to the underground stems of seagrass, the plants most nutritional parts. Finding Culebratherium alemani is pretty good evidence that there was seagrass in this region 20 million years ago, Dr. Velez-Juarbe said. This particular group of sirenians are seagrass specialists. The discovery is described in a paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. _____ Jorge Velez-Juarbe & Aaron R. Wood. An early Miocene dugongine (Sirenia: Dugongidae) from Panama. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online February 15, 2019; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1511799 The company will operate its first turnaround in Cairns for a repositioning voyage to Singapore via Indonesia. Azamara Quest made seven local cruises, including inaugural departures from Fremantle and Melbourne and maiden visits to Nelson, Kaikoura and Stewart Island in New Zealand. A highlight was being berthed at White Bay on New Years Eve to view Sydneys renowned annual fireworks. Quest to be replaced Thursday nights sailing is also Quests farewell to Sydney. The companys fifth season Down Under will be operated by sister ship Azamara Journey which arrives in Australian waters on February 1, 2020, for five local cruises. Azamara Club Cruises newest ship, Azamara Pursuit , will arrive in Fremantle on December 20, 2020. Minister of Maritime Affairs Jorge Barakat Pitty, together with deputy minister Alejandro Agustin Moreno and general director of Ports and Auxiliary Maritime Industries Guimara Tunon received the delegation. First phase: Two berths for large ships In its $165m first phase, the Panama Cruise Terminal will have the capacity to simultaneously handle two large cruise ships with a total of 10,000 passengers. The first ship calls are expected before year's end. Future phases could add up to three more berths. Homeport aspiration Panama aims to develop a homeporting business on the Pacific, and is working with the government of Chile to promote and develop a new South Pacific route that would also touch Ecuador and Peru. Other Central America, Mexico and Caribbean itineraries are in development, too. FCCA president Michele Paige and SVP Adam Ceserano led the cruise industry delegation, which included Steve Moeller, VP commercial development, Norwegian Cruise Line; Andre Pousada, VP government relations, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and Leon Sutcliffe, director of government relations, Carnival Cruise Line. Augusto Terracina, general director of T & T Tourism Plus, was also on hand. Barakat highlighted the importance that homeporting will have for Panama's economy. Paige congratulated the Panamanian authority for its initiative, and offered the FCCA's support and feedback on the Panama Cruise Terminal development. The jv will focus on the investment and construction of two 50,000,000-tonnes per annum specialised coal terminals at Caofeidian Port, with total designed annual handling capacity of 100m tonnes. The total registered capital of the jv will be RMB3bn. Qinhuangdao Port, Datong Coal Mine Group and Caofeidian Port Group will contribute RMB1.77bn, RMB1.2bn and RMB30m separately, representing 59%, 40% and 1%. The terminals will have 10 specialised coal berths, including one 50,000-tonne berth, two 70,000-tonne berths and two 100,000-tonne berths for phase six and phase seven respectively. The planned terminal project is located at the eastern coastline of Caofeidian Port, Hebei province. The inspirational concept that led to the creation of King Abdullah Port was the visionary realization that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia needed a world class port capable of receiving todays mega cargo ships in order to handle the increasing number of imports to fulfill the growing needs of the young and fast growing population, while also facilitating increased exports to global markets. Today, the far-sighted concept of King Abdullah Port is completely aligned with the governments Vision 2030 for an economy that is non-dependent on oil, and boosting the Kingdoms competitive role. King Abdullah Port is located at the middle of Saudi Arabias Red Sea coastline, within King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), 90 km to the north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabias second largest city. Occupying a total area of 17 km2, King Abdullah Port is a key element in the extensive transportation network that enables the distribution of goods to a market of more than 400 million consumers throughout the entire Middle East. King Abdullah Port is strategically located on one of the worlds busiest maritime trade routes and in close proximity to KAECs Industrial Valley and its Bonded & Re-Export Zone. KAEC has a major station of the Haramain high speed railway that links King Abdullah Port and KAEC with the Holy Cities of Makkah and Al Madinah, in addition to Jeddah, the main trade center in the Kingdom. Additionally, King Abdullah Port is in close proximity to the industrial city of Yanbu, which is enjoying remarkable trade in the petrochemical industry. The groundbreaking for King Abdullah Port, the Kingdoms first privately owned, developed and operated seaport, and one of the largest private infrastructure projects in the Middle East, took place in 2010. Since its inception, King Abdullah Port has made steady progress toward meeting its goal of becoming a main hub and a vital contributor to the Kingdoms regional and global role in trade, logistics and shipping. It initiated transshipment operations in September 2013, and full operations, including import and export, in January 2014. Today, with enhanced capabilities, King Abdullah Port is achieving key milestones in term of overall project development and operations. By the end of 2017, King Abdullah Port achieved a 21% increase in its annual throughput compared to 2016, reaching 1,695,322 TEU, and becoming the second largest port in the Kingdom in terms of container handling. According to the latest figures, King Abdullah port achieved a new record of 50.5% increase in container handling in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017. Additionally, King Abdullah Port has the worlds deepest 18-meter water berths, which will apply to all 30 berths, equipped with state of the art cranes that are among the most sophisticated in the world, providing a major boost to operations. As a result, King Abdullah Port has been able to partner with eight of the largest container shipping companies, including three of the worlds biggest: Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM. King Abdullah Port was ranked by far the fastest growing port in 2015, according to Container Management magazine. It also joined the club of the worlds top 100 container ports in 2016, according to Alphaliner and Lloyds, the leading global authorities in ranking maritime transport facilities and ports. In 2018, King Abdullah Port moved up to 69th place among the worlds 100 largest container ports, according to Alphaliner, after ranking 87th in 2017. Additionally, King Abdullah Port landed the eighth spot among the worlds fastest growing ports for 2017. The presence of the food and pharmaceuticals sector at King Abdullah Port is also expanding. Enormous reefer racks along with controlled-temperature storage facilities have been installed and the Saudi Food & Drug Authority has established facilities at the port along with more than another 17 governmental entities. Moreover, Almarai, the regions leading dairy manufacturer, has opted to make King Abdullah Port its base of operations for Saudi Arabia and the region. The decision of this regional powerhouse is another significant vote of confidence in King Abdullah Port and bodes well for attracting more local and regional companies to establish a presence at the port in the near future. King Abdullah Port is carefully proceeding with the implementation of its roll-on/roll-off (RORO) plans, which include the construction of five RORO berths. Once these berths are fully operational, they will provide a total capacity of 1.5 million CEU per year, making King Abdullah Port the regional leader in RORO cargo. When fully built, King Abdullah Port will be able to handle 20 million TEU (its current capacity is three million TEU), 1.5 million cars and 15 million t of clean bulk cargo every year. In this regard, operation of the first bulk and general cargo terminal berth in the port began in the last quarter of 2017, well ahead of the pre-scheduled date in the second quarter of 2018, which is a clear indication of the ports speed of completion and achievement of tangible results. On the business enhancement level, the continually developing Port Community System, a computerized information system present at King Abdullah Port, provides easy access to information that enables the efficient operation of business. To further facilitate efficiency, Saudi Customs is also establishing a large presence, which contributes to eliminating any unnecessary delays in processing cargo. The dwell time of incoming containers at King Abdullah Port has been reduced to 3.7 days, and work is underway to be reduced to three days only. In addition, King Abdullah Port became a pioneer in activating a 24-hour container inspection initiative and was the first to implement this initiative in Saudi Arabia. As further enhancement to reducing dwell time, the implementation of the Smart Gate system facilitates the process of cargo entry and exit automatically, in addition to pre-booking services for delivering and receiving goods, contributing to the effective operations. King Abdullah Port has a distinguished track record of attracting the most talented competencies, and focuses on professional development, personal progress and job satisfaction of its staff through its intensive and continuous training programs, which contribute to enhancing its ability to provide high quality services. Empowerment of females is a priority and to that end, King Abdullah Port already employs more than 80 women in its operations center, administration, IT and engineering, all working to optimum efficiency in a unique dedicated environment. Looking ahead to a thriving and prosperous future, King Abdullah Port is well on the way to establishing itself as a prime hub on the main East-West shipping route between Europe and Asia, given that more than 13% of all global trade passes through the Red Sea. Press Release March 1, 2019 De Lima overwhelmed by outpouring of support on her 2nd year in unjust detention Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima today welcomed the outpouring of support from various local and international groups and individuals who are pushing for her immediate release on her second year of unjust detention. De Lima, the first prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime, said she is overwhelmed by the trust she gets from her fellow rights defenders despite the ridiculous lies and incredulous accusations brought up against her by the present administration. "Truth is indeed more powerful than any lies, and it is palpable from the unwavering support I get from individuals from different parts of the world, who, despite the outright and repeated lies thrown against me by the wicked Duterte regime, continue to believe in my innocence and fight for my right to a fair trial," she said. "I am beyond grateful for the overwhelming support I am receiving from them during these times when we are all reminded that truth, justice, rule of law, and democracy are under serious attack," she added. Various international organizations, human rights advocates, and colleagues have issued separate statements of condemnation on the continued political persecution of De Lima by the government even as they called for her immediate release. In her recent statement before her fellow legislators in the House of Commons of Canada, Canadian Parliamentarian Anita Vandenbeld urged her colleagues to join her in pressing the Philippine government to release De Lima. "Today, I am speaking out about the arbitrary detention of Senator Leila de Lima of the Philippines who was jailed two years ago Mr. Speaker, I ask members to join me in calling for the immediate release of Senator De Lima," Vandenbeld said. Prior to Vandenbeld's call, the Australian Parliament approved the motion of influential member of the Australian Parliament Chris Hayes pressing its government to use all diplomatic means to urge the Duterte administration to release De Lima. Likewise, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Parliamentarians for Global Action, International Union of Socialist Youth World Council, and FORUM-ASIA issued a joint statement urging the Duterte administration to drop the politically-motivated charges against De Lima whom they labelled as "a prominent critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's abusive 'war on drugs.'" The organizations maintained that De Lima's arbitrary detention is representative of the worsening situation for all human rights defenders in the country. Aside from calling for an end to all the politically-motivated charges against De Lima, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights welcomed De Lima as its newest member, saying that her "continued imprisonment undermines both democracy and the rule of law in the Philippines." Crossing partylines, 18 members of the European Parliament have also urged the European Commission's Vice President Federica Mogherini to issue an official statement calling for De Lima's immediate release. "We therefore urge you and the EEAS to issue a statement for her release, since a fair trial in today's Philippines is impossible, and to reinforce pressure on the Philippine authorities," wrote Mogherini, who is also the High Representative for the Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in their letter dated last Feb. 24. In separate statements, Representatives from the Women's Caucus of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, notably, Emily Lau of the Democratic Party of Hongkong and Jayanthi Devi Balaguru of the International Network of Liberal Women, called on the international community to speak out for De Lima and urge Mr. Duterte to free her. Lau considered it as an "utter disgrace that a courageous and formidable politician had been locked up for two years on trumped-up charges" while Balaguru said that every day that the Senator spends in jail "is a travesty of justice." Liberal International Vice President Kiat Sittheeamorn, meanwhile, said that De Lima should be released from detention so she could fulfil her quest for justice and help more victims of extrajudicial killings and their families. Other groups and personalities who expressed their solidarity to De Lima include Amnesty Australia, Human Rights Watch's Asia Division Deputy Director Phelim Kine, Vice President Leni Robredo, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Liberal Party President and Senator Francis Pangilinan, Sen. Bam Aquino, former Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, senatorial candidates Jose Manuel Diokno, Florin Hilbay, Samira Gutoc and Magdalo Partylist Rep. Gary Alejano, among others. De Lima, the staunchest critic of the administration's war on drugs, was illegally detained last Feb. 24, 2017 based on bizarre charges that were all based primarily on perjured testimonies of convicted criminals and manufactured evidence. Press Release March 1, 2019 Dispatch from Crame No. 477: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Duterte threatening to do more killings 3/1/19 Apparently, it takes only a mirror to get Duterte off his rockers. After a video documenting his abuses and excesses circulated online and went viral, Duterte yet again engaged in another rantfest, this time before the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. Reminded of the killings committed during his watch, rather than act as a human being and show remorse for the atrocities, he doubled down and threatened more killings. If only these threats were just harmless blabberings from an old man. They're not. In clear attempts to rid their dear President of accountability, his spokesperson and other defenders have twisted themselves silly trying to misinterpret or misrepresent his words; calling them as just products of his Visayan culture upbringing, mere hyperboles, retaliations, or even jokes. What is clear though is that when the old man say "kill", more people die. No amount of spinning or sugarcoating will cover up that reality. He does not even need to put the order in writing. As soon as the media reports his threat to kill more people, more people end up dead. No person in his or her right mind would consider it a coincidence that the trail of deaths that would follow his words are from the hands of the police, who reports directly to him. The police do not fear accountability for these deaths as well. Early on, Duterte has guaranteed that he will protect them from going to jail for following his orders. It was just reported that Duterte sycophant and incumbent Solicitor General Calida continues to refuse to release the documents relating to the War on Drugs, for investigation, inspite of a clear order from the Supreme Court to do so. We have not seen such a brazen contempt on our country's justice system since the time of their idol Ferdinand Marcos. I call on my fellow public servants, from the judiciary, to the Cabinet secretaries, to my colleagues in Congress, to the men and women in uniformed services, to those serving in the barangays. Let us restore the rule of law. For the sake of our future generation, let us stop this insanity. We are a great nation inspite of him, not because of him. Let us restore the checks and balances, protect our democracy, and prevent our country from yet again falling into the dark shadows of tyranny. Never again. Vital Healthcare Property Trust's management fees jumped to $22.1 million in the six months ended December, up nearly 75 percent from a year earlier, at the same time as net distributable income fell 18.7 percent. Canada-based NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns Vitals manager, is charging it A$8.2 million as an acquisition fee relating to its proposed participation in the purchase of A$1.26 billion worth of property currently owned by Australian-listed Healthscope. Although Vital has lent its manager A$81 million to help facilitate the deal, Vital isnt yet party to the transaction, which is contingent on property giant Brookfields succeeding in its takeover of Healthscope. Healthscope's board is backing the takeover via a scheme of arrangement, so it's likely to succeed. Notes to Vitals accounts show only A$5.2 million of that fee will be refundable if Vital doesnt become a party to the transaction. That fee is on top of the $6.9 million base management fee Vital paid NorthWest for the six months ended December and the $5.1 million in incentive fees Vital has paid in addition to the base fee. Thats partly why net profit attributable to Vitals investors fell 11.5 percent to $46.8 million for the six months through December, with net distributable income falling 18.7 percent to $18.5 million. Nevertheless, NorthWest, which owns almost 25 percent of Vitals units, has decided Vital will pay a first-half distribution of 4.38 cents per unit, or 104 percent of distributable income per unit. The previous first-half distribution of 4 cents per unit represented 81 percent of distributable income. Vitals portfolio of hospitals and other health-related properties performed well in the six months with net rental income rising 13.2 percent to $48.8 million. Management company chair Claire Higgins says she and the other independent directors see participating in the Healthscope purchase as potentially an attractive opportunity and are optimistic they will be able to agree terms with NorthWest that sees Vital participate in the Healthscope transaction to the benefit of unitholders. NorthWests management and incentive fees are based on the gross value of Vitals portfolio which rose to $1.77 billion at Dec. 31, up 2 percent from a year earlier. Discussions with NorthWest remain ongoing and a non-binding term sheet is well advanced. However, there can be no guarantee that an agreement will be able to be reached, Higgins says in a statement. The management companys board has two other independent directors and two NorthWest directors. Since it is owned by NorthWest and Vital itself has no officers or directors, NorthWest is essentially negotiating with itself. While Vitals trust deed gives NorthWest the right to fire the independent directors at will, it has suspended this right while the entire board conducts a review of the management fees thats contrary to the boards charter which says such a review should be carried out by the independent directors only. Higgins says the board expects to announce both the outcome of the fee review and the Healthscope negotiations by March 31. But Vitals latest accounts make it clear Vital would need to raise more capital to participate in the Healthscope transaction. Its gearing under its bank covenant rose to 43.7 percent at Dec. 31 from 38.7 percent at June 30. NorthWest has already committed Vital to spending $223 million on developments within its existing portfolio over the next three years, including $80 million before June 30. (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: Delegat Group Limited (NZX: DGL) $333 million syndicated bank facilities 7th December 2021 Morning Report Sky Network Television Limited (NZX: SKY) Transformation accelerates - Sky raises FY22 guidance PGG Wrightson Limited (NZX: PGW) FY22 Operating EBITDA forecast to better last year Vulcan Steel Limited (NZX: VSL) Trading Update & Earnings Upgrade 6th December 2021 Morning Report Synlait Milk Limited (NZX: SML) Partnership to enhance soil health; test regen ag practices Property for Industry Limited (NZX: PFI) Strong Valuation Outcome, Penrose Acquisition 3rd December 2021 Morning Report Fonterra Shareholders Fund (NZX: FSF) Fonterra provides Milk Price, earnings and Q1 update New Zealand shares rose, buoyed by firmer Asian markets, as investors sought out stocks with strong dividends due. The S&P/NZX 50 index increased 26.65 points, or 0.3 percent, to 9,351.68. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 22 fell, and five were unchanged. Turnover was $198.04 million. Asian markets rallied after a February manufacturing index in China the worlds second-biggest economy and New Zealands largest trading partner was stronger than expected. The Caixin/Market Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index came in at 49.9 signalling a third month of contraction but better than the 48.5 expected in a Reuters poll of analysts and up from 48.3 in January. Peter McIntyre, an investment advisor at Craigs Investment Partners, said the market started weaker and then caught up with Asian markets on the back of the China data. It did well, given the earnings season largely wrapped up yesterday. Fletcher Building, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Meridian Energy, particularly stood out today, with yield stocks among many of the gainers. Just about every stock that is higher today is carrying a dividend, McIntyre said. Fletcher Building may also be benefiting from some of the turmoil in the construction industry on both sides of the Tasman. With Arrow International the latest local firm to enter voluntary liquidation who is left to do it? Its probably been a bit of bargain-buying in Fletcher, just on speculation they are likely to have a turn around in their earnings over the next 12 to 18 months. F&P Healthcare led the market, gaining 2.5 percent at $15.06, its highest close in almost five months. Almost 1.5 million shares changed hands, compared with average the past three months of 694,000. The medical equipment maker has gained almost 13 percent in the week since it said it had concluded years of costly patent litigation with rival Resmed without payment or admission of liability by either party. Fletcher Building rose 2 percent to $4.99 and was the second-biggest contributor the benchmarks gain. It will pay an 8 cent dividend on March 22. Meridian Energy rose 1.4 percent to $3.74. It will pay 8.14 cents in dividends next month. Spark New Zealand was again the most heavily traded stock, with a volume of 19.7 million shares changing hands, compared to its 4.3 million average. It rose 0.4 percent to $3.745. Precinct Properties rose 0.3 percent to $1.505 with 3.3 million shares traded more than three-times its average the past three months. Kiwi Property Group rose 0.7 percent to $1.42, with almost 2.3 million shares traded, almost twice the average. Among other stocks trading more than a million shares, Air New Zealand rose 0.2 percent to $2.475, its first gain in four days. The stock reached a 23-month low yesterday after reporting a 35 percent drop in first-half earnings. The 1.8 million shares traded was roughly twice the average. Trade Me Group rose 0.2 percent to $6.40, the 1.4 million shares traded being close to average. A2 Milk was unchanged at $14.31. The 1.3 million shares traded was a little ahead of its 1.1 million average the past three months. Outside the benchmark index, fleet tracking specialist Eroad rose 13.8 percent to $2.39 after announcing a major US contract for about 4,900 of its EHUBO 2 units, most of which will be installed in the 2020 financial year. The company said its North American business will grow 30 percent this year and is now cashflow positive on a monthly basis. NZ King Salmon rose 8.1 percent to $2.40. McIntyre said the investors were encouraged that the firm maintained its full-year earnings guidance yesterday. Jeweller Michael Hill International rose 7.7 percent to 70 cents, its highest close in more than three months. Despite tough conditions in the September quarter, the firm raised its half-year margins in New Zealand and largely held them in Australia and Canada. (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: Delegat Group Limited (NZX: DGL) $333 million syndicated bank facilities 7th December 2021 Morning Report Sky Network Television Limited (NZX: SKY) Transformation accelerates - Sky raises FY22 guidance PGG Wrightson Limited (NZX: PGW) FY22 Operating EBITDA forecast to better last year Vulcan Steel Limited (NZX: VSL) Trading Update & Earnings Upgrade 6th December 2021 Morning Report Synlait Milk Limited (NZX: SML) Partnership to enhance soil health; test regen ag practices Property for Industry Limited (NZX: PFI) Strong Valuation Outcome, Penrose Acquisition 3rd December 2021 Morning Report Fonterra Shareholders Fund (NZX: FSF) Fonterra provides Milk Price, earnings and Q1 update New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved an expenditure of Rs 1,450 crore for purchase of the Reserve Bank of India-held shares in the National Housing Bank (NHB), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced following a Cabinet meeting here. The RBI currently holds 100 per cent stake in the NHB. Thiruvananthapuram: After accusing the Central government of a "scam" in the tender for operating five international airports, including Thiruvananthapuram, to Adani Enterprises, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the airport here not be handed over to Adani. In the letter, Vijayan demanded Modi's immediate intervention to see that the state-owned Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd-led company, formed especially for operating the airport, be given the running of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport. "If this new company is handed over the running of the airport, then the interests of both the state and the Centre would be protected. It's surprising how come a private company has bagged the right to run the airport even when this particular company has no experience in running airports. In Kerala, two airports (Kochi and Kannur) are run by specially formed companies under the Kerala government and are doing well," he said. Vijayan noted that for the airport here, Kerala government had taken over 635 acres of land and handed it for free, while in 2005, another 23.57 acres was again given free for the airport. "There is a clause in the agreement that, if in future, the airport is handed over to a private company, then the value of the land given for free for the airport by the state government should be converted into equity of the state government," he said in the letter. Vijayan also pointed out that the KSIDC has already approached the Kerala High Court over the handing-over and it has ruled that any decision on finalizing the tender should take place after the court's ruling come. In the financial bid opened on Monday, Adani had quoted the highest rate for a passenger for the Thiruvananthapuram airport at Rs 168, against the KSIDC's Rs 135 and the GMR's Rs 63. The other airports that Adani have won in the tender are Mangaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Jaipur. "There are various models that could be looked at. There could be a merger of 5-6 pan-India banks with regional reach, like the Bank of Baroda. The second option is to combine 12-15 banks. The other option is merger of regional banks on the basis of their strengths," sources said. New Delhi: The government is studying various models of PSU banks consolidation though a concrete decision will be taken only after the success of three-way merger of Bank of Baroda (BoB), Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, official sources said on Thursday. "The success of the merger happening right now (BoB-Dena Bank-Vijaya Bank) will be looked at closely before deciding on a future course," said a source. The merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda is underway to create the third biggest public sector bank (PSB) after the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Punjab National Bank (PNB). The merger will be effective from April 1. The merged entity will also be the third in terms of assets after the SBI and the ICICI Bank. The government is looking at the possibility of merging PSBs to create healthy large banks which could compete globally. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has on several occasions stressed the need to have stronger consolidated banks, which could have economies of scale and operational efficiencies. After April 1, the number of PSBs will come down from 21 to 18 following the amalgamation of three banks. PSBs have been hit hard by around Rs 8 lakh crore bad loans. Many of them have weak balance sheets and are under the Reserve Bank of India's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework due to bad asset quality. 26th Feb 2019: Indians woke up to the news of Indian Air Force having attacked the training camps of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti. Based on intelligence inputs received and plans prepared, Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 fighter jets crossed the LoC and dropped six bombs at the JeM camps. It is estimated that at least 300 terrorists including Jaish chief Masood Azhars brother in law Yousuf Azhar have been killed in this strike. There was no casualty among the Indian forces. In line with Indias ethos of being a peaceful nation, one that does not attack unprovoked, intelligence and technology were deployed to ensure that only terrorist camps were attacked. There was no damage to any military installation or civilian areas. This was also reiterated by Ms. Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs, at the 16th Russia-India-China meet when she said that, "In the light of continuing refusal of Pakistan to acknowledge and act against terror groups on its territory, and based on credible information that JeM was planning other attacks in parts of India, the Government of India decided to take pre-emptive action and the target was selected in order to avoid civilian casualtiesIndia does not wish to see further escalation of the situation. India will continue to act with responsibility and restraint." Given the spontaneous celebrations that erupted across the country on 26th Feb 2019, it was obvious that most of us took pride in the fact that our IAF have been able to decimate the JeM camps. We cannot bring the Pulwama martyrs back, but IAF did ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain. In a nation that is often divided by religion, caste, sub-caste, languagehere was a rare display of solidarity. The entire nation erupted in cheers of victory, lauding the bravery of the nameless, faceless fighter pilots who risked their lives in this daring mission. People also appreciated the strategic planning by the senior Defence personnel, the work done by the intelligence agencies, the flawless coordination and execution, and the decisive leadership of Narendra Modi. This includes the fighter pilots of the Mirage 2000, the ones at the helm of Sukhoi 30 jets, IL76 and AWACS all of whom were part of the Surgical Strike 2.0. The IAF heroes include test pilots like Squadron Leader Abrol and Squadron Leader Negi who died while testing a Mirage 2000 at HAL. The heroes include the pilots who intercepted the Pakistan F16 fighter planes when they intruded into the Indian air space on Feb 27th. While all the facts of the Feb 27th dogfight are not known, what is obvious is that our neighbouring state a far smaller state has far superior machines. We expect our young, our best and our brave to fight a war or a proxy war in poorly maintained obsolete machines that have been certified to be fly worthy by an inefficient public sector undertaking without any sense of responsibility and accountability. As per Maj. Gen. Mrinal Suman, Indias foremost defence procurement expert, All militaries in the world seek the best equipment they can afford. But even the richest countries cannot afford to have an inventory full of the latest and best. Rather, militaries always seek to maintain a well-balanced equipment profile. Perhaps, a mix of 30 per cent modern, 40 per cent matured and 30 per cent obsolescent equipment. Disconcertingly, in our case, as much as 85 per cent of the equipment with the Indian military today is decades-old and need to be replaced/upgraded. Yet, due to several impediments including corruption in military procurement and attempts to curb it by blacklisting arms manufacturers the pace of modernisation has been lagging by more than 10 years. Despite all Defence experts, including veterans crying out loudly about the need for modernization, nothing much was done till a few years back. The tenders for the fighter jets were floated in 2007, and yet in 2019 a brave young pilot was taken in Pakistan custody because he was engaged in an unequal dogfight him in his MiG 21 Bison, vs. the enemy in F16. The F-16 is universally acknowledged as being a more agile fighter than the MiG 21. It has an edge in engine power, situation awareness and range making it far more suited to a close dog fight. It is a testimony to the training that the IAF imparts, the discipline and the determination of the pilot that despite flying a MiG 21, he could take on a significantly superior flying machine (F16). Who is to blame for the fact that we send out our pilots to fight a war in these flying coffins? Let us also be cognizant of the fact that when it is announced that the MiGs have been upgraded, often it is with parts and fitments from other ageing planes. A MiG 21 (outfitted/ upgraded/ certified by HALall of this is semantics) is simply no match for a F-16. The blame must lie with our politico-bureaucracy nexus which refused or derailed any Defence modernization proposal either because they did not get their share of the spoils, or because inaction is often easier than action. Ask any senior Defence personnel and they will have horror stories to share of how they and their men operate in the valley, along the LoC, in counter insurgency (CI) operationswith the brave spirits, high josh, strong patriotism and outdated equipment. The IAF needs modern fighter planes and it needs them NOW! The Rafale deal was a much needed one for India. Unlike the previous Governments, the Modi Government took bold steps to finalise a deal and induct the fleet into the IAF. But Rahul Gandhi made the Rafale deal into a political matter. Ideally Defence matters should be kept outside of politics that is a hallmark of a mature nation-loving leader. But possibly Rahul Gandhi is neither mature nor nation loving. General elections will be happening soon, and Modi government has been marked by the absence of scams. So, obviously Rahul Gandhi needs to create an issue and a Defence deal is a good one given the complexity of the deal, it is easy to obfuscate facts and figures and insinuate wrong doing. Sections of the media have also done damage by choosing to selectively highlight facts about Rafale either through ignorance or through wilfulness (in which case, it could be a case of being anti-national). However, the CAG report has clearly indicated that the deal is above board and in fact the deal negotiated is far more favourable than what UPA was discussing. The matter should have rested here. But, the matter doesnt rest here. Despite all rules and processes being followed, disgruntled people have filed a PIL in the Supreme Court against it. I would like to question Mr. Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, Prashant Bhushan (all eminent people, well read and well respected)- that what did they get by filing the PIL? Does it make them feel good to know that one of our pilots is in Pakistani custody now, because we expected him to fight our war in an outdated machine? As politicians, one expects them to score brownie points and exploit issues to settle a perceived slight (not getting a cabinet ministry, maybe?) But political games should not and must not be played at the cost of national security and lives of the people responsible for keeping us safe. Responsibility and restrain- the words Ms. Swaraj spoke today at the RIC never rang truer. If only our politicians had some responsibility and exercised some restraint on where they will play their petty gamesour #lost pilots would have been alive today, one of ours would not have been in enemy custody today. Is it too much to expect that when we send our people to fight our wars, we also send them equipped with the best? Are we not to blame that we sent out pilots- men who are sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, friends in outdated machines and expect them to fight with the latest equipment? Rahul Gandhi, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, Prashant Bhushan do you feel responsible now for derailing a much-needed purchase? Does the fact of an officer being taken PoW rest on your conscience or is it of no consequence to you? Aditi Kumaria Hingu is a marketing graduate from IIM Calcutta. Currently she works in the corporate sector. She comes from an army background. Note: The views expressed in the article are of the author's and not of Sify.com. Read More by the Author: Uri was not the last, neither will Pulwama be What Hindu gods teach us: Ganpati and acceptance India: A schizophrenic nation that worships the dead and kills the living From cash lovers to Modi-baiters: Reactions to demonetisation Is India doomed? Actors, failed politicians let down our soldiers The Table for One: Eternal wait for soldiers who never returned Let's blame Narendra Modi for all of India's ills! India and OROP: The hypocrisy of 15th August Five observations on 'Ek Saal, Modi Sarkar' Siachen: 31 years later, the agony continues Dear India, soldiers are human beings too Hong Kong: CE welcomes bay area measures Chief Executive Carrie Lam welcomed the eight policy measures introduced by the Central Government for taking forward the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Areas development. Speaking to the media after attending the second plenary meeting of the Leading Group for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area today, Mrs Lam said the measures will benefit Hong Kong and Macau residents. I am very pleased that at the second plenary meeting this afternoon, the leading group under the chairmanship of Vice Premier of the State Council Han Zheng has endorsed a total of eight very concrete measures, and these are the first batch of measures that we are ready to announce. I can assure you that in the year 2019 there will be other measures that will be announced with the same objective in mind. One of the measures is the method for calculating "183 days" for paying individual income tax on the Mainland. Any stay of less than 24 hours on the Mainland will not count as a day of presence. Another measure provides tax relief by municipal governments to non-Mainland (including Hong Kong) high-end talents and talents in short supply by offsetting the tax differential between the two places. Other measures include supporting the open recruitment of Hong Kong and Macau residents by public institutions in the bay area; encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the nine Mainland cities of the bay area by the youth of Hong Kong and Macau; and supporting higher education institutions and scientific research institutes from Hong Kong and Macau to participate in projects under Guangdong technology programmes. There are also measures to introduce immigration facilitation reform pilot schemes in the bay area, facilitate vehicles from Hong Kong and Macau entering and exiting Mainland ports, and expand the implementation scope of the connection with the Speedy Customs Clearance between customs administrations. Mrs Lam said such measures could facilitate Hong Kong residents to develop, work and reside in the Mainland cities of the bay area, as well as strengthen the convenient flow of people and goods. The measures cover a wide range of areas raised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the Chief Executive said, adding the HKSAR Government will follow up with relevant ministries and the Guangdong Provincial Government to implement the related policies. This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Some travel experiences are big almost life changing moments some are small flashes that were brief but sparked so much joy in your heart that youll remember them forever. These experiences are different for everyone but I thought Id tell you about some of the my travel moments that have sparked joy for me and that I would recommend incorporating into a honeymoon. 1. Go on Safari The best thing Ive ever done! Ive actually done it twice in South Africa and in Kenya, both are actually very different so do your research into what you actually want for the big moon. 2. Go to Wine Tasting and Stay in a Vineyard I love wine tasting and staying in a wine region at a luxury hotel that is also a vineyard is the perfect honeymoon experience. I stayed in the Napa Valley for mine but I highly recommend the South African wine lands, Mendoza in Argentina, Chianti in Tuscany and the Yarra Valley in Melbourne. 3. Stay in an Overwater villa in The Maldives or Bora Bora Nothing says romance like a secluded over water villa for two! Of course the Maldives is well known for being THE place for over water villas but also consider Bora Bora (where I stayed on honeymoon) for some of the worlds most beautiful scenery. 4. Visit the Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast is the most beautiful place on earth just trust me it is that being said go there on honeymoon, you will not be disappointed. 5. Chase Waterfalls in Iceland Fancy love in a cold climate? Take a dip in thermal springs and chase spectacular waterfalls in Iceland. Dont miss the luxury experience at the Blue Lagoon either. 6. Stay at Giraffe Manor Eat breakfast and afternoon tea with giraffes plus grab a cheeky kiss at Giraffe Manor in Kenya. 7. Have Dinner in the Eiffel Tower Have dinner in the most romantic city in the world, in the most iconic building. It has a Michelin star too! 8. Watch the Sunset in Santorini Was this island actually built for honeymoons and romance? Its certainly one of the most stunning places Ive ever been! Take in one of the worlds most famous sunsets, though you may want to do it from a hotel as the public view points get very crowded. 9. Ride a Horse through the Atacama Desert and then Go Star-Gazing One of my all time pinch-myself moments was riding a horse through the dunes of the Atacama desert. That night we went star-gazing too and Ive never seen so many stars in my life! 10. Go on a Road Trip Plan in advance to avoid arguments but theres nothing quite like hitting the open road together and stopping off along the way as you find beautiful and romantic spots! Mr S and I drove the Pacific Coast Highway in California for our but I also recommend Chapmans Peak in South Africa and the Great Ocean Road in Australia. 11. Eat Sushi in Tokyo If youre a sushi lover like me, the visit to the home of sushi is the perfect choice for a honeymoon eat in Michelin star restaurants or try the Tsukiji Market for an authentic slice of life. 12. Have lunch at Altitude Snowy views are oh so romantic and Le Panoramic in Courchevel and ice Q in Solden are two of the most beautiful restaurants Ive ever been to. Perfect honeymoon fodder. 13. Stay on a Private Island Perhaps the ultimate in luxury is your own private paradise shared with just a handful of others. Choose Mnemba Island in Zanzibar or Petit St Vincent in the Caribbean. 14. Fly in a Seaplane over Sydney This is actually how Mr S proposed to me! A great way to see the famous monuments of the Australian city. You can also visit the gorgeous Jonahs on Whale Beach for a meal or an overnight stay. 15. Go Island Hopping in your own Boat See the Greek island, the great rocks of Thailand or take a visit to Capri in your own private boat! Alternatively, lots of hotels offer sunset cruises sometimes shared with other guests which is a more cost effective way to enjoy a boat trip together. 16. Stay in St Lucia in a hotel room with only three walls Jade Mountain is one of the most beautiful and unique hotels that Ive ever stayed in. The three walls, infinity pool and view of the pitons make this hotel one of the worlds most romantic. 17. Enjoy Fine Dining in New York I love the dining scene in London but the number of incredible restaurants in New York is simply overwhelming! I recommend Le Bernadin or Per Se for an incredible three Michelin star meal and Beauty and Essex, Tao and Catch for a more fun and lively night out. 18. Have an Out of Africa Picnic Experience Fine dining isnt everything a simple picnic in a secluded spot with an incredible view of the Maasai Mara was one of my favourite pinch me moments. 19. Stay in a Ryokan in Hakone, Japan Experience what its like to stay in a traditional Japanese hotel in a luxury ryokan with your own private onsen, the chance to wear a yukata and a private kaiseki dinner in your room served by your butler. 20. Have Cocktails in the Middle of the Sea Have your drinks in total privacy in the Kawayan bar at Amanpulo in The Philippines. 21. Drink Bellinis in Venice Some say its Paris, some says its Rome but I think Venice is the most beautiful and romantic place in the world. Sip on a bellini whilst you watch the gondolas glide up and down the canal. 22. Watch the Tango or Dance it Yourself in Buenos Aires It takes two to tango so where better to enjoy a honeymoon tango show than in the city where it was invented. 23. Cruise the Fjords in Norway Taking in the scenery and the freshest of fresh air on a Fjord Cruise. 24. Go (Super luxury) Glamping! Much more luxurious than it sounds Ive stayed in some incredible tented accommodation including Sasaab in Kenya, Four Seasons Golden Triangle and Longitude 131 in Ayers Rock. 25. Swim with a View of the Atlas Mountains Its no wonder Sir Richard Branson fell in love with beautiful Kasbah Tamadot in the Atlas mountains and chose to add it to his property portfolio. 26. Cruise Lake Como Lake Como is a place that you will simply fall in love with, a boat trip on the lake would make an unforgettable honeymoon experience. 27. Enjoy the Serenity in Cornwall Theres no place like home, and as much as I enjoy exploring foreign climes the cliffs of Cornwall can be every bit a beautiful as the ragged rocks of California. I recommend enjoying for them from a cliff top hot tub at the Scarlet Hotel. 28. Drink Champagne in Champagne Experience the romance of drinking the worlds most luxurious drink, right at the source. 29. Island Hop in Thailand Experience some of the worlds most luxurious hotels, best hospitality and cuisine in Thailand and take the chance to island hop in the Andaman Sea. Make the super luxury hotel, Trisara your base. 30. Take a Walk Around the Canals of Amsterdam It may not always make those worlds most romantic cities list, but personally I find the city of Amsterdam breathtaking. I could spend all day exploring the network of canals and popping into quirky cafes. 31. Drinks on High in Hong Kong A vast network of tall buildings, you wont struggle to find a bar at high altitude in Hong Kong. Ozone at the Ritz Carlton is on the 118th floor and one of the highest bars in world. I would also personally recommend the ultra chic Cafe Grey at the Upper House Hotel. 32. Stay on an English Farm Going back to nature but with luxury accommodation theres a few places in the UK where you can enjoy all the fun of the farm but still wear a nice dress and stilettos. I recommend Soho Farmhouse or The Pig Hotels for the perfect mini moon staycation. 33. Fly First Class I dont think anything could spark more joy than the idea of a long haul flight spent in total comfort and luxury. With soft bedding, good quality food, champagne and most importantly, plenty of space! 34. Stay in a Tree House in Forest Not for the faint of heart but an amazing experience for honeymooners if youre happy to endure a creep crawly or two! Ive stayed at Silky Oaks in the Daintree Rainforest in Australia and Tsala Treetop Lodge in Plettenberg Bay in South Africa. 35. Get a Balinese Couples Massage No one quite does spa treatments like the Balinese! Opt for a double room and experience the wonders on a Balinese massage in tandem. Stay at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay, The Bulgari or Alila Villas Uluwatu in South Bali and The Viceroy in Ubud. 36. Have Dinner in the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas It sounds mad but I enjoyed having dinner in the fake Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas almost as much as the real Eiffel Tower! Make sure to get a seat with a fountain view. 37. Visit the Trevi Fountain But go at sunrise you might hate the early morning wake up call but youll avoid the crowds. 38. Dine in the Worlds Best Restaurants I always consult the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants when making bookings and Ive managed to tick a fair few of my list. Highlights have been El Celler de Can Roca (twice ranked best in the world), The French Laundry, Test Kitchen, Steirereck, Alain Ducasse Au Plaza Athenee and Le Bernadin. 39. Stay in the Blue Mountains in Australia Staying at Wolgan Valley in the Blue Mountains in Australia was one of my greatest travel experiences. I even got to see kangeroos bounding around everywhere! 40. View Icebergs in Patagonia Visit the end of the world and see real icebergs in Chilean Patagonia whilst staying in comfort at Awasi Patagonia. These are my top 40 honeymoon experiences. What travel experiences have sparked joy for you? Did you have them on honeymoon? PIN FOR LATER: Inlinkz Link Party Page Content On Thursday February 28th 2019, the Council of Ministers approved the signing of a loan agreement of 15 million US dollars for the airport with the Netherlands. This bridge loan will be made available by the Minister of Finance to Princess Juliana International Airport to ensure that the airport can continue to pay salaries and fulfil its other operational obligations in the coming months. The airport urgently requested this financial assistance in advance of the 100 million US dollars that the Council of Ministers has secured for the reconstruction of the airport through the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. During the meeting, the Council of Ministers also took note of an approved resolution of the supervisory board of the Princess Juliana International Airport Exploitatiemaatschappij, dated February 25th 2019, accepting the financial assistance of the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin applauded the decision of the supervisory board and expressed her appreciation to all stakeholders including State Secretary Raymond Knops, the Council of Ministers, the National Recovery Program Bureau, PJIAH, PJIAE and the airports management for their cooperation on this extremely important matter. State Secretary Knops informed the Council of Ministers that the Netherlands has approved Sint Maartens request for a bridge loan of 15 million US dollars for the airport based on Article 25(2) of the Rijkswet Financieel Toezicht. Under this provision, Prime Minister Mark Rutte as Chair of the Kingdom Council of Ministers can in emergency situations approve a loan without a formal decision of the Kingdom Council of Ministers. Im pleased that the Kingdom Council of Ministers recognizes the urgency of the situation and that all parties are coming together in finding a way forward that is in the benefit of our country and airport, Prime Minister Romeo-Marlin stated. The 15 million US dollars will be made available to the airport in several tranches as a zero interest percent loan. Meanwhile, the National Recovery Program Bureau, as the responsible entity for Trust Fund projects, will continue to coordinate the preparation of the airport terminal reconstruction project. This project serves to finance essential works for the reconstruction of the airport terminal and will help to ensure the continuation of the airport operations in a sustainable manner. Page Content On Wednesday February 27th representatives from KPSM met with representatives of the Health Department to discuss the strengthening of the working relation between both departments in connection with the upcoming Heineken Regatta and the 2019 Carnival Season which are expected to attract very large crowds. The main focus of this meeting was to come together and discuss the setting up of multi disciplinary teams to tackle the control on general hygiene. The meeting was very informative and parties are planning to meet in the coming weeks to further working out this working relation. 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29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe5bff900)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5aeb2b0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe5bff900)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5aeb2b0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe5c211a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5aeb2b0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5aeb2b0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fca3d6b80)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe5c26d00)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe5c26d00)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe5c3f820)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5ad8598)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe5c3f820)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5ad8598)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe5c82e60)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5ad8598)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5ad8598)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fca3d6b80)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe5c3fc10)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe5c3fc10)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Trump sides with Kim on tortured American, sparking firestorm Washington, Feb 28 (AFP) Feb 28, 2019 Donald Trump took Kim Jong Un's word that he knew nothing of the torture of an American college student while in North Korean custody, an about-face that sparked a bipartisan backlash back home on Thursday. The US president appeared to side with the reclusive leader about the 2017 case of Otto Warmbier, drawing outrage from incredulous Democrats who accused Trump of repeatedly aligning with tyrants. The 22-year-old Ohio native was returned to the United States in a coma and died shortly afterwards. A US judge concluded Warmbier was tortured by North Korean authorities. At the conclusion of his Hanoi summit with Kim, Trump told reporters he talked with Kim about the "horrible" Warmbier case. "He knew the case very well, but he knew it later," Trump said, adding that "some really bad things" happened to Warmbier while he was detained. Kim "tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word." Trump took credit for the release of Warmbier and other US hostages in 2017, saying at the time that "Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea." At his January 2018 State of the Union address, the president praised Warmbier and spoke directly from the podium to the young man's parents seated in the audience. "You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength truly inspires us all," Trump said, as lawmakers gave them a standing ovation. But as Trump presses for Korean denuclearization, betting heavily on his relationship with Kim, the hard line he signaled that night in Congress has largely evaporated, prompting angry reactions across the political spectrum. "I do not see the leader of North Korea as somebody who's a friend. We know what happened to Otto, we know what this country has done," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the most senior Republican to break with Trump on the issue. "I support the president's effort to denuclearize them, but I do not have a misbelief of who this leader is." - 'Detestable' - Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, snapped about Warmbier's brutal treatment. "Of course Kim knew about it," he tweeted. "Apparently, the President of the United States is the only one who believes this obvious lie." An angry House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff branded Trump's acceptance of Kim's denial "detestable," while Senator Chris Van Hollen said the United States "cannot give Kim Jong Un a free pass for torturing and murdering one of our own." Senator Rob Portman, from Warmbier's home city of Cincinnati, delivered a five-minute floor speech highlighting his "unforgiveable" treatment and the "brutal" nature of the regime, though he made no mention of the president's reversal. And Trump's former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, a Republican Party luminary, said that "Americans know the cruelty that was placed on Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime." But she too stopped short of criticizing Trump. Several Democrats took the president's position as just his latest embrace of autocratic leaders. They pointed to his acceptance of President Vladimir Putin's 2018 insistence that Russia did not meddle in the US election, and Trump refusing to accept CIA conclusions that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she thought there was "something wrong" with Trump choosing to believe "thugs" like Putin and Kim over the US intelligence community. "Why does he keep sticking up for dictators over his own people??" Senator Tim Kaine asked. US Navy's version of F-35 jet 'ready for combat' Washington, Feb 28 (AFP) Feb 28, 2019 The US Navy's version of the F-35 stealth fighter jet is "ready for combat," officials said Thursday, marking another milestone in the development of the most expensive weapons program ever. "The F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win," Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller, who commands Naval Air Forces, said in a statement. "We are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force." The F-35 "C" variant has been developed for the Navy and is capable of taking off and landing from an aircraft carrier. Its wingtips can fold up to create more room on the huge ships. In August 2017, the Air Force announced initial operational capability for their version, the F-35A. The F-35B, used by the Marine Corps, is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, and flew its first combat missions last year over Afghanistan. Launched in the early 1990s, the F-35 program is considered the most expensive weapons system in US history, with an estimated cost of some $400 billion and a goal to produce 2,500 aircraft in the coming years. CORRECTED: The India-Pakistan crisis: What we know New Delhi, Feb 28 (AFP) Feb 28, 2019 A string of violent escalations have pushed India and Pakistan to the brink of conflict, sparking global alarm and calls for restraint between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Here is an explanation of the events so far, and the possible next steps: - What triggered the crisis? - On February 14, 40 paramilitaries were killed in a suicide bomb attack in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, igniting outrage. It was the deadliest militant attack there in three decades, and was claimed by Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Kashmir has been a major flashpoint since the end of British rule in the subcontinent in 1947. A ceasefire line divides it between India and Pakistan, but both claim the Himalayan region in its entirety. Kashmir has seen hostilities during three India-Pakistan wars, as well as a limited conflict in 1999. India has 500,000 troops stationed in the region to counter an armed insurgency by separatists seeking either independence or a merger with Pakistan. - How did India react? - Prime Minister Narendra Modi threatened a "jaw-breaking" response after the bombing. New Delhi demanded action from Islamabad, which it accuses of using militant groups as proxies to fuel unrest in Kashmir and carry out terror attacks in India. On February 26, Indian warplanes crossed the Kashmir ceasefire line into Pakistani airspace, dropping bombs on what New Delhi described as a large JeM camp where militants were preparing to stage more attacks in India. Islamabad confirmed the incursion and the dropping of payloads in undisputed Pakistani territory, a few kilometres outside the part of Kashmir it controls. But it said New Delhi's claim of killing scores of militants was "self-serving, reckless and fictitious". - What was Pakistan's response? - An infuriated Islamabad vowed retaliation after the raid, India's first use of air power on Pakistani soil since the two fought a war in 1971 -- when neither had nuclear weapons. On February 27, Pakistani jets flew across the Kashmir ceasefire line in what Islamabad described as a show of strength, hitting open spaces after locking on to military targets. But there was a dramatic escalation when the Pakistani planes were chased by Indian fighters. In the ensuing fight, both sides claimed to have shot down each other's warplanes. Pakistan said it downed two Indian jets, and detained one of their pilots. New Delhi confirmed the loss of one of its planes, and said a Pakistani jet was shot down -- which Islamabad denied. India has demanded the "immediate and safe return" of the pilot. As tensions reached a level not seen in years, Pakistan closed its airspace completely. - What happens next? - The crisis has sparked alarm across the world, with major powers urging the two nuclear-armed rivals to act with restraint. Both sides have sought to play down the threat of war -- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj have said they do not want to escalate further. A lot rests on how India reacts to the Pakistani retaliation and the capture of its pilot, analysts said. "If India were to... retaliate again, that could really take things to another level," Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center told Bloomberg TV. But the fact that Pakistan has one of its pilots "may limit its options and may make it a bit more cautious". And given limited communication between the two, "there is increased scope for misunderstanding and miscalculation", wrote Rahul Roy-Chaudhury of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. While there is international pressure to avoid a plunge into full-blown war, there may be pressure within India to not let Pakistan have the last word. "India is led by a government that's very conservative, and has been very tough on Pakistan. There's an election coming up in a few weeks in India... I find it hard to believe that India would be ready to de-escalate," Kugelman said. "I don't know if we've seen the last of these fireworks on the sub-continent, unfortunately." burs-qan/sls/mtp/jah Yongbyon: North Korean nuclear complex and one of the sticking points in Hanoi Hanoi, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 The future of North Korea's decades-old Yongbyon nuclear complex was one of the sticking points that sparked deadlock between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump at their second summit in Hanoi. Pyongyang offered to "completely dismantle" its nuclear production facilities in the presence of US experts if Washington lifted some sanctions "that hamper the civilian economy and the livelihood of our people", the North's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in a surprise late-night briefing. Yongbyon has long been at the heart of Pyongyang's atomic development programme, but remains shrouded in secrecy. Here is what we know about it: - What is it? - About 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, Yongbyon is made up of dozens of buildings related to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. In the aftermath of the summit, a State Department official described it as: "A sprawling three square-mile site, with more than 300 different separate facilities located on it, all of which are dedicated to supporting the nuclear weapons programme in North Korea." Opened in 1986, it is home to the country's first nuclear reactor, with a five megawatt capacity, and is the only known source of plutonium for the North's weapons programme. It also produces other key fuels for nuclear bombs -- highly enriched uranium and tritium -- and according to a 2019 report by the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation has been expanding even amid the recent diplomatic thaw. The report by leading nuclear researcher Siegfried Hecker, who has visited Yongbyon four times, said the complex produced enough fissile material for five to seven atomic bombs in 2018. - How important is it? - Yongbyon is not believed to be the North's only uranium enrichment facility and closing it down would not in and of itself signal an end to the country's atomic programme. US intelligence believes Pyongyang has at least two more uranium plants -- one near Kangson, just outside Pyongyang, and another at an undisclosed location. A Yongbyon closure "may *slow* the growth of North Korea's fissile material stockpile, but it would not *cap* it", tweeted Jeffrey Lewis, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Critics also note that North Korea has already produced a stockpile of fissile material with which to build more bombs. "It is important to be precise about what a shut-down accomplishes and what it does not," Lewis added. Given the size of the complex, the State Department official said it was important to be "very precise" about what the North Koreans were offering to dismantle. "The North Koreans struggled to give us a precise definition of what that was," said the official. - What does the North want in exchange? - When South Korean President Moon Jae-in went to Pyongyang for a summit with Kim in September, the North offered Yongbyon's "permanent destruction", but only if the US took "corresponding actions". The qualification goes to the heart of one of the disagreements between Washington and Pyongyang -- the North wants the US to make concessions step-by-step along the way, particularly sanctions relief, while Washington has insisted the restrictions must remain in place until denuclearisation is completed. - Have we been here before? - Pyongyang has agreed to mothball Yongbyon in the past. The main reactor was shut down in 1994 under an agreement with Washington, only to be restarted in 2003 after the deal was derailed. Another agreement to shut down the reactor was signed in 2007, and the North blew up a cooling tower as a token of its commitment. But that deal also fell apart when relations soured and Pyongyang reactivated the reactor, using river water to cool it. Experts say previous broken promises show that simple deactivation will not be enough. "This demonstrates the need for (1) verification by trusted inspectors, (2) acceptance that somethings can be reversed, (3) the ability to reverse economic inducements," tweeted Melissa Hanham, a researcher at the One Earth Future foundation. - How could it be checked? - In the past North Korea has allowed in UN nuclear inspectors in exchange for concessions. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials carried out checks from 1994 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2009. But Pyongyang expelled them in 2009 ahead of the second of its six nuclear tests and has since refused to allow international inspections on its territory. And the IAEA has said its representatives were never given full access to the complex, including the uranium enrichment facilities. North Korea offers more talks after nuclear no-deal in Hanoi Hanoi, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 North Korea on Friday promised further negotiations with the US, as both sides sought to hold open the door while staking out their positions after their Hanoi summit spectacularly failed to produce a nuclear deal. The meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump broke up in disarray Thursday, with a signing ceremony cancelled and no joint communique issued. Each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock, with Trump saying that Pyongyang wanted the lifting of all sanctions imposed on it over its banned weapons programmes. In a rare late-night press briefing, the North's foreign minister said it had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its offer to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was the best deal it could ever offer. But the North's official KCNA news agency reported Friday that the two leaders had had a "constructive and candid exchange". Relations between the two countries -- on opposite sides of the technically still unfinished Korean War -- had been "characterised by mistrust and antagonism" for decades, it said, and there were "inevitable hardships and difficulties" on the way to forging a new relationship. It described the Hanoi meeting as "successful" and said Kim had promised Trump another encounter. Similarly Trump said before leaving the Vietnamese capital that he hoped to meet Kim again. "Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times," an unusually downbeat Trump told reporters. "I'd much rather do it right than do it fast," he said, while reaffirming his "close relationship" with Kim. "There's a warmth that we have and I hope that stays, I think it will." - 'Billions of dollars' - The outcome in Hanoi fell far short of the pre-meeting expectations and hopes, after critics said their initial historic meeting in Singapore -- which produced only a vague commitment from Kim to work "toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" -- was more style over substance. According to senior US officials, in the week leading up to the Hanoi summit the North Koreans had demanded the lifting of effectively all the UN Security Council economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang since March 2016. Before that date, the measures were largely focused on preventing technology transfers, but more recent restrictions were imposed on several valuable industries in an effort to force concessions from Pyongyang, including coal and iron ore exports, seafood, and textile trade. "It was basically all the sanctions except for armaments," a senior US official told reporters. "It tallies up to the tune of many, many billions of dollars." In return they were only offering to close a "a portion of the Yongbyon complex", a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- and the North is believed to have other uranium enrichment plants. Trump had urged Kim to go "all in" to secure a deal, the official said, adding Washington was willing to do so. "The weapons themselves need to be on the table," he said, pointing to both Pyongyang's existing stock of atomic bombs and the ICBMs with which it can reach the whole of the US mainland. But the process was continuing and Washington was "encouraged by the opportunities ahead of us", the official said. "There's still ample opportunity to talk." - 'Rollercoaster ride' - Analysts say the failure to reach a deal in Hanoi does not mean the end of negotiations. "I don't think it's a disaster and it doesn't end the dialogue process," said Chris Green of the International Crisis Group. Trump could not afford to do "a quote-unquote 'bad deal'" in Hanoi, he added. "I think it benefits him to look tough, to string this out." But others have pointed to a lack of preparation ahead of the meeting, with the two sides far apart and unable to bridge the gaps between them in time. Scott Seaman of the Eurasia Group consultancy said both leaders would have to return home and rethink their strategies. "Trump's challenge will be to dampen speculation and criticism that his unique approach is itself the problem and may well have set the US back in its efforts to end the North Korean threat," he wrote in a note. Joel Wit and Jenny Town of the respected Washington-based 38 North project said that while there had been fears beforehand that Trump "was going to give away the store, he did just the opposite, holding out for a better deal". "The two leaders are heavily invested in the process so hopefully, this failed summit will just be one more chapter in the rollercoaster ride that is the Trump presidency," they wrote. But if the North Korean process stalls and Trump's domestic troubles mount, they warned, North Korea may slip down his priority list. S. Korea's Moon says 'meaningful progress' despite no-deal summit Seoul, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 South Korean President Moon Jae-in insisted Friday the Hanoi summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump had made a "meaningful progress", despite it breaking up without a nuclear deal. "The two leaders had conversations at length, enhanced mutual understanding and built more trust," Moon said in a speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Movement against Japanese colonial rule. Both North and South Korea are united in their shared resentment of Japan's brutal 1910-45 colonial rule over the peninsula. The no deal outcome from Hanoi will have been a huge disappointment for the South Korean president, who brokered the talks process and had touted the summit as a "remarkable breakthrough" for peace negotiations on the Korean peninsula. Moon had been set to unveil details of new economic cooperation between the two Koreas this week, and now faces major questions over his dovish approach, but signalled he would not change track. Seoul would consult with the US on ways to resume South Korean tourism to the North's Mount Kumgang and operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where Southern firms used to be staffed by Northern workers, he said. Moon has been pushing for the resumption of both projects as he seeks to engage Pyongyang, but doing so would fall foul of sanctions imposed on the North since they were suspended. A joint North-South economic committee would be set up to benefit both sides "when there is progress in denuclearisation", he added, and said unification of the two Koreas "need not be far away". But after 70 years of division the two are now radically different societies and the South is far wealthier than the North. Despite Moon's optimism, some in South Korea said they did not foresee any more US-North Korea summits. "It seems like there isn't much left to talk about," said Kim Seong-min, president of Free North Korea Radio, a private broadcaster led by North Korean defectors in Seoul. "Unless Kim changes his mind and really decides to give up all nuclear weapons and facilities, not just Yongbyon. But that's unlikely." Pakistan set to release Indian pilot as 'peace gesture' Islamabad, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 Pakistan was set to free a captured Indian pilot Friday in a "peace gesture" aimed at lowering temperatures with its nuclear arch-rival, after rare aerial raids ignited fears of a dangerous conflict in South Asia. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who has become the face of the crisis between Islamabad and New Delhi, will be handed back to Indian officials at the Wagah border crossing on Friday afternoon, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said. In New Delhi the announcement of his release was seen as a diplomatic victory, with Indian leaders welcoming the pilot's return but announcing they would remain on "heightened" military alert, showing little sign of de-escalating the rivalry. Abhinandan was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday, after a dogfight in the skies over the disputed Himalayan region which sent tensions between India and Pakistan to their highest levels in years and alarmed world powers, who issued calls for restraint. "As the prime minister has said, as a peace gesture and to de-escalate matters, the Indian pilot will be released. So today, this afternoon, he will be released at Wagah," Qureshi told a joint session of parliament Friday. A diplomatic source told AFP the handover was expected between 3-4pm Pakistani time (1000-1100 GMT). The Wagah crossing gate is famed for hosting an elaborate daily ceremony by Indian and Pakistani soldiers at sundown. Thousands of people had already gathered on the Indian side early Friday to welcome the pilot home, an AFP journalist said. The pilot's parents travelled to Amritsar, near Wagah, via Delhi late last night and were applauded by all the passengers on the plane they travelled on, TV footage showed. Media on the Pakistani side were being stopped by authorities around 1.5 kilometres (a mile) from the border. The surging tensions had prompted Pakistan to close down its airspace, disrupting major routes between Europe and South Asia and grounding thousands of travellers worldwide. On Friday morning the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced a decision would be taken on re-opening airspace "shortly". Earlier it had said flights would remain grounded until at least 1.00 pm Friday local time (0800 GMT). - #WelcomeBackAbhi - The latest confrontation between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947, erupted after a suicide bombing in Indian-held Kashmir killed 40 Indian troops on February 14, with the attack claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group. Twelve days later Indian warplanes launched a strike inside undisputed Pakistani territory, claiming to have hit a militant camp. It was the first such aerial raid since their last war in 1971 -- before either country had nuclear weapons. An infuriated Islamabad denied casualties or damage, but a day later launched its own incursion across the Line of Control, the de facto Kashmir border. That sparked the dogfight that ended in both countries claiming they had shot down each other's warplanes, and Abhinandan's capture. Residents on either side of the LoC also reported heavy shelling, which continued into the early hours Friday. Analysts said the pilot could prove to be Islamabad's trump card, but Prime Minister Imran Khan unexpectedly announced Thursday that he would be released a day later in the first sign of a potential thaw. Khan alluded to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war and called for talks, even as he warned India should not take the announcement as a sign of weakness. With the pilot attaining hero status and the hashtag #WelcomeBackAbhi swiftly trending on social media, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on his citizens to "stand as a wall" in the face of an enemy that "seeks to destabilise India". The last time an Indian pilot was captured by Pakistan, in 1999, the handover was facilitated by the Red Cross (ICRC), who met Flight Lieutenant K. Nachiketa at the Pakistani foreign office in Islamabad before escorting him to the Indian high commission overnight. He left for India that same day. On Friday a Red Cross spokesman told AFP the aid organisation is "ready to provide any assistance necessary", but so far "is not involved" in Abhinandan's return. Kashmir is ruled in part but claimed in full by both India and Pakistan. Two of their three wars have been fought over the territory. burs-st/fox N. Korea, US vow to keep talking after Hanoi summit collapse Hanoi, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 North Korea on Friday promised further negotiations with the US despite a spectacular failure to strike a nuclear deal at their Hanoi summit, with both sides keeping the door of diplomacy open. The high-stakes second meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump broke up in disarray Thursday, without even a joint statement. In the aftermath, each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock. Trump insisted Pyongyang wanted all sanctions imposed on it over its banned weapons programmes lifted, and this was a bridge too far. But in a rare late-night press briefing, the North Korean foreign minister said Pyongyang had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its proposal to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was its best and final offer. Despite the stalemate, the North's official KCNA news agency reported Friday that the two leaders had had a "constructive and candid exchange." Relations between the two countries -- on opposite sides of the technically still-unfinished Korean War -- had been "characterised by mistrust and antagonism" for decades, it said. Despite "inevitable hardships and difficulties" on the way to forging a new relationship, KNCA described the Hanoi summit as "successful" and said Kim had promised Trump another encounter. An unusually downcast Trump told reporters on Thursday that he would "rather do it right than do it fast," adding: "Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times." - 'Billions of dollars' - The outcome in Hanoi fell far short of the pre-meeting expectations and hopes, after critics said their initial historic meeting in Singapore -- which produced only a vague commitment from Kim to work "toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" -- was more style over substance. According to senior US officials, in the week leading up to the Hanoi summit the North Koreans had demanded the lifting of effectively all the UN Security Council economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang since March 2016. Before that date, the measures were largely focused on preventing technology transfers but more recent restrictions apply to several lucrative industries -- coal and iron ore, seafood and textiles, among others -- in an effort to force concessions from Pyongyang. "It was basically all the sanctions except for armaments," a senior US official told reporters. "It tallies up to the tune of many, many billions of dollars." In return, Pyongyang was only offering to close "a portion of the Yongbyon complex", a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- and the North is believed to have other uranium enrichment plants. Trump had urged Kim to go "all in" to secure a deal, the official said, adding Washington was willing to do so. "The weapons themselves need to be on the table," he added, pointing to both Pyongyang's existing stock of atomic bombs and the ICBMs which can reach the whole of the US mainland. But the process was continuing and Washington was "encouraged by the opportunities ahead of us", the official said. "There's still ample opportunity to talk." Kim began a two-day official visit to Vietnam Friday, while in Manila, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters: "We are anxious to get back to the table so we can continue that conversation that will ultimately lead to peace and stability." - 'Rollercoaster ride' - Analysts said the failure to reach a deal in Hanoi did not herald the end of negotiations. "I don't think it's a disaster and it doesn't end the dialogue process," said Chris Green of the International Crisis Group. Trump could not afford to do "a quote-unquote 'bad deal'" in Hanoi, he added. "I think it benefits him to look tough, to string this out." But others pointed to a lack of preparation ahead of the meeting, with the two sides unable to bridge the gaps between them in time. Former US ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said the impasse "highlighted the importance of working-level talks but simultaneously narrowed the range of options". Kim put "more emphasis" on sanctions relief than most observers predicted, she said, and mutual liaison offices and an end-of-war statement proved insufficient to persuade him to go further with denuclearisation. Joel Wit and Jenny Town of the respected Washington-based 38 North project said that while there had been fears beforehand that Trump "was going to give away the store, he did just the opposite, holding out for a better deal". "The two leaders are heavily invested in the process so hopefully, this failed summit will just be one more chapter in the rollercoaster ride that is the Trump presidency," they wrote. NATO chief says bloc preparing for more Russian missiles Sofia, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the military alliance needs to be ready for a world with more Russian missiles, after a UN warning that the global arms control system is collapsing. "NATO does not want a new Cold war, we don't want a new arms race. And therefore we call on Russia to come back into compliance with the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) treaty," Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to the Bulgarian capital Sofia. "At the same time we need to be prepared for a world without the INF treaty and with more Russian missiles," he added. The US began the process of exiting the key missile treaty last month in response to Moscow's deployment of a new missile -- the 9M729 -- that NATO says breaches the pact. In response, Russia announced its own withdrawal from the cornerstone treaty signed in 1987, which banned ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres. The crisis has sparked fears of a new arms race in Europe. Earlier this week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that "key components of the international arms control architecture are collapsing". "These new Russian missiles are nuclear capable, they can reach European cities, they are hard to detect and they have little warning time so they reduce the threshold for any potential use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict," Stoltenberg said on Friday. Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who will host his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, added that he had agreed "to use to the maximum the strength of diplomacy, our bilateral ties (...) to prevent an arms race with these monstrous missiles." Bulgaria -- an EU and NATO member -- has also preserved close economic and energy cooperation with Russia, reflecting deep historical and cultural ties between the two countries. But Borisov reiterated on Friday his country's loyalty to NATO. "Bulgaria is not Russia's Trojan horse in NATO - on the contrary, Bulgaria is among NATO's most disciplined and most loyal members," Borisov said. US strike kills 26 Shabaab fighters in Somalia Washington, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 The US military has stepped up its air campaign against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia in recent days, with officials on Friday saying another 26 "terrorists" had been killed. The latest air strike, which occurred in the Hiran region of central Somalia on Thursday, came as violence in the capital Mogadishu flared. According to US Africa Command (AFRICOM), the strike killed 26 "terrorists." It did not provide further detail but such strikes are usually conducted by drones. The strike brings the toll of Shabaab militants killed in recent days to 81, with 20 killed on February 25, and another 35 killed a day earlier. Such strikes "maintain pressure on al-Shabaab and disrupt its planning cycle and degrade its ability to mass forces and coordinate attacks against the Somali people," AFRICOM's deputy intelligence director Brigadier General Gregory Hadfield said in a statement. But on Thursday in Mogadishu, a Shabaab car bomb exploded, killing at least 19 people. Shabaab fighters were pushed out of Somalia's capital in 2011, and subsequently from other towns and cities, by African Union troops. The Al-Qaeda-linked group still holds sway in large parts of the countryside even though the US military is supporting local partner forces fight the jihadists. Shabaab launches regular gun and bomb attacks on government, military and civilian targets in Mogadishu, as well as ambushes on military convoys and outposts. In one strike in January, AFRICOM said it killed 52 Somali militants. Africa Command head General Thomas Waldhauser recently told US lawmakers that air strikes alone would not stop Shabaab, and he called on Somalia's army to take more responsibility in the fight. Anticancer salicylamide derivatives Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in the frequency range 4000-400 cm-1 has been used to discern the possible geometrical shapes of sulfonamide derivatives with a salicylamide core that might be linked to unique activity of these molecules in cancer cells. Alaaeldin M.F. Galal, DiaaAtta, Ahmed Abouelsayed, Medhat A. Ibrahim, and Atef G. Hanna of the National Research Centre, in Giza, Egypt discuss how they have used FTIR spectroscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy in the frequency range 190-1100 nm to determine the configuration and molecular structure of 5-chloro-N-(4-sulfamoylbenzyl) salicylamide derivatives in the journal Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. They show how their molecular modelling calculations corroborate the FTIR data revealing that the hydrogen bonds between the O-H, C=O, N-H, and/or CH groups vary from one compound to the next depending on number and bond length. This offers an explanation of the degree of biological activity seen in the series of compounds examined. Well-studied N-Substituted salicylamide derivatives have been studied for many years as antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal agents. Other members of the class are anthelmintic drugs used to eradicate intestinal parasitic worms, for instance. More recently, however, studies have hinted that these same compounds might also have anticancer and antitumour activity. Largely, their activity is manifest in their ability to trigger programmed cell death, apoptosis, which is a well-studied concept in the medicinal chemistry of anticancer pharmaceuticals. The present team has used drug design to develop a series of sulfonamide derivatives any one of which might have useful anticancer properties. They synthesized a novel compounds using the reaction of 5-chloro-2- methoxybenzoic acid with aniline. Then, on the basis of its almost planar structure and steric restriction due to the delocalization of both of pi and n electrons all over the molecule, they designed and synthesized a new structure. Laboratory tests against four types of human cancer cell lines showed efficacy that might be extended further. Experimental and theoretical The spectroscopic and molecular modeling studies provide the experimental and theoretical underpinning to allow further rational modifications to the derivatives to be made that might open up a new route to effective anticancer drugs based on this skeleton. "The good agreement between theoretical molecular modeling calculations and the FTIR experimental results strongly evaluates the relation between the chemical structure of the studied compounds and biological activities," the team concludes. Related Links Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2019, online: "Configuration and molecular structure of 5-chloro-N-(4-sulfamoylbenzyl) salicylamide derivatives" Article by David Bradley Read more about David and our other columnists >>> The views represented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. Follow us on Twitter! Author(s) David Bradley Interview with EPP Lead Candidate Manfred Weber 'Viktor Orban Is Following the Wrong Political Path' Manfred Weber, lead candidate for the conservative European People's Party in the upcoming European election, sees the right-wing populists as a significant threat as the campaign begins. But in Viktor Orban, he has a populist firebrand in his own ranks. Ivan Rogers on Brexit "What Surprises Me Is the Extent of the Mess" As the UK ambassador to the European Union, Ivan Rogers had a front-row seat as Brexit negotiations got underway. In an interview, he speaks with DER SPIEGEL about the mistakes made in London and the huge challenges that remain. As it happened in India, if Sri Lanka too had gained independence through a genuine independence struggle, the narrative of the subsequent history of the country might have been very much different from what we witness today. by Victor Ivan The independence movement of Sri Lanka cannot be regarded as a genuine independence movement initiated for liberating Sri Lanka from British dominance. The freedom it gained for Sri Lanka also cannot be considered a realistic freedom. The Indian independence movement had a clear understanding and a vision on the true meaning of liberating India from British domination. But the independence movement of Sri Lanka did not have a pragmatic approach as to how it should be accomplished and how it intended to use powers and privileges of new status. Independence India and Sri Lanka The Indian leaders had realised correctly the need for uniting the entire nation and mobilising people for a non-violent struggle against the foreign domination if they were to free India from the British supremacy. They had also realised that independence would not be complete by merely freeing India from British rule. They had correctly apprehended the need for rebuilding the nation and recreating the State to suit the conditions of the independent India. Also, they knew that the building of Indian nation is not a thing that would occur spontaneously, but a thing to be initiated and achieved. They also knew that the official recognition of differences based on race, caste and religion were to be abolished and everyone should be guaranteed equal respect and rights. Unlike in India, the independence movement in Sri Lanka did not have an intellectual foundation. The elite who decided and led politics of the time perceived independence as a thing to be attained through close association and friendly negotiations with the British rulers rather than through a people-based social movement. An element of trickery also attached to it. They did not have faith in the public. It was by and large an elitist effort that was completely alienated from the ordinary people of the country. They even opposed universal suffrage. The independence movement did not have a clear understanding on the need for nation building or the recreation of the state after gaining independence. All the leaders of the independence movement were influenced by the differences of race, caste or religion. They were not enlightened men enriched with pluralistic and equality concepts. All those who had joined and those aspired to join the Indian independence movement had to return the prestigious titles they had received from the British Government. But, in Sri Lanka, the situation was different. The prominent leaders of independence movement in Sri Lanka were not only greedy for imperial titles but were keen in exhibiting them. All the leaders of the Indian independence movement abandoned the use of European clothes and the Western lifestyle. They all wore clothes made of khadar, locally manufactured fabric at cottage level by themselves. But, in Sri Lanka, almost all prominent leaders except Tamil leaders had adopted a Western dress code and a Western lifestyle. Even D.S. Senanayake, though, in essence, was legendarily a rural peasant by nature and spirit had a professed penchant for the top hat and the tailcoat. Politically and socially he liked to be identified with the Westernised elite S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and J.R. Jayewardene, who wore the national dress in public, were used to wear pyjamas at home. Failure to reform society The Indian leaders did not restrict their struggle only to free India from British domination. Instead, they made it an opportunity to reform the old feudalistic society and transform it into a modern society. To achieve this aim, they strived hard to eliminate the recognition accorded to caste, ethnic and religious differences and build the nation and promote social integration. They launched a powerful ideological struggle against the caste system and untouchability, the socio-religious practice of segregating people from the mainstream of society. They conducted massive sathyagraha movements, blockading kovils to eliminate the rules that prevented the low caste people entering sacred sites. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist youth as a result of this ideological struggle that he initiated and fostered against racism. The independence movement in Sri Lanka did not do anything to transform the feudal social system of the country. As I had already pointed out quoting Bryce Ryan, the bitter societal conflicts that prevailed in Sri Lanka prior to 1925 had been between and among the castes rather than the ethnic and religious groups. Educating high caste children along with those of low castes under one roof in American Missionary Schools in Jaffna came under vehement protest of Arumuga Navalar, a prominent Tamil leader of the independence movement. A similar situation though not so hard had prevailed even in the south. Bryce Ryan, in his book, Caste in Modern Ceylon, the Sinhalese System in Transition refers to a clash that occurred at Tangalle, between parents of high caste (Goyigama) children and those of a so-called lower caste (Nakathi) over an issue of the low caste children attending school wearing banians, a sleeveless undershirt covering their upper body. This came under severe protest of high caste people. In the assault which followed, some of them had the banians torn from their backs. Bryce Ryan has described this incident as a battle of the banian. The caste factor had a significant (negative) impact on the leaders of the Buddhist Revival Movement. An account of a series of harsh debates carried out through anonymous pamphlets by eminent persons who gave leadership to the anti-Christian debate, over caste differences during the period when the famous Panadura Wadaya was held, is included in the book titled The Revolt in the Temple, a book authored and published by me. In this debate, Venerable Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero gave leadership to the Goyigama faction while Weligama Sumangala Thero led the non-Goyigama faction. The irony of this event is that both of them were prominent leaders of the Buddhist revivalist movement in Sri Lanka. Caste and politics The election held in 1911, which can be called the first election held under a limited voting system to select the representatives of the educated Ceylonese to the Legislative Council proved to be a vigorous competition between the Goyigama caste and the non-Goyigama caste community. Dr. Marcus Fernando, an eminent physician and plantation owner was fielded by the Karava caste. He was the son-in-law of Charles de Soyza, the most affluent Ceylonese of the day. According to Michel Roberts, the Karava caste had become the wealthiest among all the other castes by making optimum use of business opportunities available during the British rule. The Karava also can be considered the only caste which posed a challenge to the priority status enjoyed by the Goyigama caste. At that time, the right to vote was decided on English education and property ownership. Consequently, only a limited number of 2,938 Ceylonese were eligible to vote of which 1,659 were Sinhalese and 1,072 were Tamil. A segment of the affluent Goyigama caste did not like to see a candidate from the Karava caste being selected to this high post. As the majority of Sinhalese eligible to vote belonged to three coastal communities i.e. the Karava, Salagama and Durava castes, the Goyigama rich were afraid to field a candidate of their own. In this context, Walter Jayewardene, a brother of the father of J.R. Jayewardene, introduced a scheme to defeat the Karava candidate. His scheme was to bring Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, who at the time was living in India after retirement, into the forefront of this contest as the other candidate. Walter Jayewardenes intention was to defeat Dr. Marcus Fernando with the support of the voters of Tamil Vellala caste and the Sinhala Goyigama caste. Walter Jayawardena, in addition to bearing the cost of election campaign of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan in Sinhala areas, assumed the role of the keynote speaker of the political campaign in Sinhala areas. K.M. de Silva, the author of the biography of J.R. Jayewardene, has indicated that Walter Jayewardene during the election campaign had made derogatory remarks about the Karava caste stating that they (Karava caste) should be kept in the darkness which they had inherited from their birth itself. Ramanathan had an easy victory in this election as he was able to secure the support of the voters of the Tamil Vellala caste, in addition to the support of the voters of Sinhala Goyigama caste. However, this incident resulted in the Karava elite adopting an anti-Tamil stand. During this period caste had a decisive impact on politics and elections. Caste impacted on both the victory and the defeat of certain individuals. It led to the removal of some important people from the national stream of politics. D.J. Wimalasurendra, founder of the Lakshapana project, is one of the best examples of this phenomenon. He contested the Ratnapura electorate in 1931 election and was elected to the State Council. It was the significant role he had played as an engineer and not his caste that the people of Ratnapura recognised in this election. But in 1936 the situation changed. The voters of Ratnapura elected Jayaweera Kuruppu, a mediocre person, defeating Wimalasurendra. In this election, the people of Ratnapura were more concerned with the caste of the latter. Jayaweera Kuruppu was able to win the seat using caste as a powerful weapon against Wimalasurendra. Following is another example which illustrates the crudity of the manner in which the caste factor had impacted the elections held at that time. D.S. Senanayake sponsored Dudley, his son, who can be treated as a young man used to a cheerful life after overseas education, to contest the Dedigama electorate in 1936 election. D.S. Senanayake wished to see him elected uncontested. But, shattering his wish, N.H. Keerthirathna, an eminent personality of the Bathgama caste, tendered nomination for the Dedigama seat. It was the first time a candidate from the Bathgama caste had contested an election for a seat in the State Council of Ceylon. The Senanayakes perceived Keerthirathnas candidacy as being in contempt of their family. On the day of the election, hooligans had been employed to prevent the voters of certain villages of the Bathgama caste coming to the polling booth to cast their vote while the Keerthirathnas house was attacked with faeces following Dudleys victory. Ethnicity and politics As pointed out by Bryce Aryan, since the end of the 19th century till about 1925, violent conflicts in Sri Lanka had occurred between different groups of castes and not between ethnic groups. It was much later that ethnic conflicts developed, gradually subordinating caste conflicts. Thus, ethnic conflicts became prominent in later years. But the caste divisions did not disappear completely. Following independence, both caste and ethnicity caused havoc in the country. After defeating the JVP rebellion in 1971, the Government was compelled to explore into the caste background of youth under custody as it felt there was a close interconnection between the rebellion and the caste of the youth involved in it. Similarly, following the defeat of the second JVP insurrection, President Ranasinghe Premadasa had to appoint a presidential commission to examine the causes of youth unrest that led to the insurrection. One of the main observations of the commission was that the caste had become an important factor of the two JVP insurrections launched by the Sinhala youth in the south as well as the insurrection of the Tamil youth in the north. As it happened in India, if Sri Lanka too had gained independence through a genuine independence struggle, the narrative of the subsequent history of the country might have been very much different from what we witness today. If Sri Lanka had followed the course of Indian leaders, perhaps, in addition to achieving the common object of defeating the British dominance, it might have been possible to mobilise the entire society in a positive direction of promoting national integration irrespective of all parochial social divisions and force the leaders of the independence movement to adopt a completely a different approach that would nullify the recognition given for caste, ethnic and religious differences and grant everyone equal rights and respect which they deserved as human beings. If that had happened, Sri Lankan society would certainly have acquired a significant level of maturity whilst at the same time producing matured leaders capable of steering the country and the people in right direction. Serious limitations inherent in the independence gained by Sri Lanka constitute a major factor that had impacted on the failure of the country. Factors like caste and religion have had a serious impact on the violent clashes that occurred during the post-independence period and the great damage caused to life and property in consequence. The damage caused to the country and the loss resulted thereof due to assassination of many people by the rebels as well as by the security forces and many people leaving Sri Lanka, being unable to endure the violent situation that prevailed in the country, was immense. Most of those who were killed and those who left the country could have become a potential strength to the countrys progress. The exodus commenced with the people of the Burgher community leaving the country. Being convinced that they would not have a future in independent Sri Lanka and observing the way things were happening, they began to leave the country in large numbers shortly before it gained independence. The Burghers constituted the mainstay of Sri Lankas public service during the period prior to independence. They occupied an important place in Sri Lankan social and economic life. Sir Henry Ward, the British Governor of Ceylon from 1855-1860, described the Burgher community as the brazen wheels which, hidden from sight, kept the golden hands of Government in motion. They can be considered the only community that lived in Sri Lanka that had achieved a very high level of intellectual fame. Richard Morgan (1821-76) and Charles Lorenz were two intellectuals who had tried to enlighten Sri Lanka on liberal philosophies. It was they who introduced the concept of nation building to Sri Lanka. The benefits they could have accrued to Sri Lanka were immense if they had not left the country. The Burgher intelligentsia was immersed in literary and cultural activities and would have enriched Sri Lanka in terms of intellectual issues and in the spheres of art and literature had they continued to live in Sri Lanka. Moreover, Sri Lankan society would have achieved significant progress in the use of English language. But we looked down upon them with contempt. We used to call them Karapothu Lanseen, the Cockroach Burghers. Though a proper assessment had not been made so far, the loss the country had suffered due to the large-scale exodus of Tamils is immense. The migration of the Tamil community commenced in 1956 and not after 1913. Deprivation of Tamils of their reasonable right to use their mother tongue in administration prompted a considerable number of them to leave the country without sitting for the Sinhala proficiency test. They considered Sri Lanka a country not congenial for them to live. The Tamil exodus became a large-scale process after Black July 83 which opened the gates for them to migrate to Europe. Most of the Tamils who had the capacity made it an opportunity to leave the country. There was much talent among those who left the country. Some countries identified their talents and got them to settle down in their soil. Tale of Two Countries, a book written by Kanakasundaram, gives an interesting account on how Singapore had employed the Tamils disenchanted with Sri Lanka to achieve its present progress. It is an interesting book to be read by everyone interested in understanding the crisis of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had gained proficiency only to oppress and kill people. It does not know how to use the talents of people regardless of their race, caste and religion. Sri Lanka would be able to overcome the present miserable situation of the country only if it is ready to atone for the serious mistakes done in the past and amend the shortcomings of both the manner in which independence was gained and the subsequent negative developments associated therewith, whilst at the same time rebuilding the disintegrated nation and recreating the State which now stands in a putrid state of degeneration, ruin and rampant corruption. The present circumstances have rendered it an indispensable condition to make a new constitution for Sri Lanka. In this context, the best course of action to pull the country out of the present predicament would be to direct the country towards adopting a peoples constitution deviating from the old model of constitution making by the Legislative Council only. It will certainly augur well for the country and make a profound and far-reaching change not only in the constitution but also in the entire socio-political system. With the ascendency of President Maithripala Sirisena in 2015, the country got an unprecedented chance to fulfill many of our dreams that have eluded us for decades. by Mangala Samaraweera Thirty years ago this month, when I first entered Parliament, my head was full of dreams; dreams for my beloved country, dreams for our people and also dreams for myself. A war was raging on in the north and an equally tragic youth insurrection was engulfing the south. I dreamt mostly of peace where all Sri Lankans, in spite of their caste, class, race or religion, could live in harmony and dignity. The incredible economic advances of the early JR Jayawardena years were being squandered away in the name of a separate state in the North and a Marxist dystopia in the south; thousands of valuable lives were being lost, almost daily. Like most young people, I thought I could make a difference. I guess I have always been a dreamer from a very early age; in fact one of my earliest dreams was to become a racing driver but I have never driven in my life. Later, I dreamt of being a designer taking London and Paris by storm as a student at Central St. Martins. However, I decided to pursue my career here at home after witnessing the remarkable changes taking place in Sri Lanka in 1980. Gone were the queues and the scarcities. Sri Lanka was a country full of hope and promise as the new decade dawned which inspired me to return home in 81 to pursue my dream of being a successful designer. I met Chandra Thneuwera, the iconic textile designer who invited me to join her at the University of Aesthetic studies as a visiting lecturer while promoting Sri Lankan textiles as a Consultant at the Ministry of Textile Industries under the stewardship of the Minister then, the late Hon. Wijeyapala Mendis. My father, Mahanama, was also a dreamer. Named Dom Morton at birth and educated at St. Josephs College in Colombo, later changed his name to Mahanama in anticipation of a successful political career which he embarked upon as a young lawyer. He was a Communist in his youth like many other young men of that era. As a lawyer he made his name appearing free for cases in relation to Police brutality and caste related violence. He entered Parliament in 1952 and as the Deputy Minister of Justice in the SWRD government; my father in 1956 presented the Bill in Parliament that would abolish the Death Penalty. This is the legacy along with his reputation for being honest and straight talking which made my entry into the Political arena possible nearly 23 years after his death. My mother, Khema, on the other hand was not a dreamer but a practical, earthy and compassionate person. If the people of Matara respected my father, they loved my mother. She was one of the first women to enter local Government politics in Sri Lanka when she was elected as a member of the Matara UC in the 50s. However, she did not serve her full term as she felt that her new role was too restrictive and formal. She was a peoples person and I like to think that some of my better qualities were inherited from her. My mother was not judgmental; I remember writing to her from London at 19, grandly announcing that I was madly in love and a week later I get a reply; whoever makes you happy will always make me happy. She was non communal. At a time when mixed marriages were frowned upon, my Aunt Manel married Kumar Anandan, a Tamil lawyer and a Guinness book record holder for swimming across the Pack Strait at 18. My mother was the first member of the family to welcome the newly married couple with open arms. When I first visited party activists in Matara, my home town, as, the newly appointed SLFP organizer in 1988, many of them introduced me to others as Khemas boy and told me that, if I needed their support, I should come back with my mother. Even today, there are still people who refer to me as Khemas boy, and I am always proud to be called so. Thirty years later, I still remain a dreamer. Many of the dreams I dreamt for my country still are unfulfilled but I feel that I may have been able to make a little difference along the way thanks to some of the very special people whom I had the privilege of associating. Mrs.Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Anura Bandaranaike must have seen the politician in me, through my Bohemian camoflage, for it was they who first invited me to become the SLFP organizer for Matara in 1988. At the very first meeting I attended at the Darley Rd., HQ of the SLFP, it was Mahinda Rajapakse who first welcomed me to the fold by introducing me to other organizers there. We went on to form the Mothers Front movement at my home in Matara where we were elected Co-convenors and formed a friendship that I thought then would last forever. I was not to know then that my best political friend of that time was to be the reason for my departure from the SLFP many years later. Today, despite much water flowing under the bridge and us, standing in the opposing ends of the political spectrum, I still consider President Mahinda Rajapakse a friend and I am very happy that he is here with us now. The game changer in my political life, Ladies and Gentleman, was Chandrika Kumaratunge who brought hope and change to a moribund political party still espousing Soviet style socialism, extreme Sinhala nationalism and closed economic policies. Chandrika Kumaratumge perhaps, was the first politician to dare talk about a federal solution for the ongoing ethnic conflict and win a landslide in the exclusively Sinhala Buddhist electorates of the deep South in the Provincial elections of 93. President Kumaratunge embraced the market economy [with a human face, of course] and revived the reformist agenda for Sri Lanka which slowed down after the war started in 1983. The privatization of Sri Lanka Telecommunications in 1997 is still considered as a text book example of a privatization in a developing country. I am also happy to have been given the opportunity by President Kumaratunge to beautify and redevelop Colombo. The re-greening of Galle Face, Developing Beira Lake and commencing the shanty redevelopment with Sahaspura flats in Maligawatte along with other beautification projects which followed, has today paved the way to Colombo finally transforming itself into one of the most beautiful and livable cities in Asia. When Eelam War 3 broke out in 1995, at President Kuamaratunges request, the Sudu Nelum movement was launched as a grass root campaign in the Sinhala villages about the need of a political settlement if a lasting and durable peace is to be achieved. The high point of this campaign was the book and brick project to rebuild the Jaffna Library, and it still remains a source of personal pride for me that the Library was completely restored by a committee co-chaired by Lakshman Kadirgamar and me. After a period of not daring to dream, it was in 2010 that I entered the UNP. Despite having said some pretty rude things about its leader over the years, Mr. Ranil Wickramesinghe welcomed me graciously and warmly to the grand old party. This made me feel that I had come home at last! In the UNP, I have found an inspiring leader and a team who share many of my political beliefs and values; in the UNP I have also found a party where I could dare to dream again. With the ascendency of President Maithripala Sirisena in 2015, the country got an unprecedented chance to fulfill many of our dreams that have eluded us for decades. During the last four years, Sri Lanka has restored its democratic credentials, established the rule of law, and elevated the reconciliation process to the top most priority. Despite setbacks from time to time, Sri Lanka continues to build a new future for her people based on the fundamentals of Democracy, Reconciliation and Development; albeit festina lente! The recent 51 day constitutional crisis also demonstrated to the country and the world the independence of our Legislature and Judiciary and that Sri Lanka has now become a mature, stable Democracy. After 30 years in Parliament, I would be lying if I say that I have no regrets and disappointments. It is natural human nature to feel disappointed, but it is also important not to lose hope; not to become cynical; not to stop dreaming of a better, brighter future and always to remain resolute in achieving progress. All of us, politicians and non politicians alike, have a responsibility to make our nation a better place to live in and to keep working with determination to ensure the realization of our dreams for our nation - a peaceful, stable, reconciled and prosperous Sri Lanka for all, where the dignity of each and every individual is upheld. Last but not least, let me say thank you to the people of Matara, who for 30 long years have put their trust and hopes on me to be their representative in Parliament. Their support, strength and inspiration have made me who I am. Finally, a big hug to my Aunt Manel for her vigorous activism and to my dearest Sister, Jayanthi for her enormous strength and support - still doing her utmost to nurture Khemas boy. Rights Attorney, Family Members Go Missing After his Scheduled Release ZHENGZHOU, HENAN, China, Mar. 1, 2019 / Standard Newswire / -- A human rights attorney and two of his family members went missing after he was scheduled to be released from prison yesterday, according to BBC News Photo: Missing Chinese human rights attorney Jiang Tianyong. Initially, authorities told the family of imprisoned human rights attorney Jiang Tianyong, who just finished a two-year prison sentence on a trumped-up subversion of state power charge, he would be relocated to Zhengzhou after his release and not allowed to return home. Some of his supporters traveled to the jail on the day of his scheduled release, expecting to pick him up, but the officials told them he had already been moved to another, unknown location. They did not disclose who had moved him. Since then, his wife, Jin Bianlingwho fled to the United Stateshas not been able to contact him. A public security bureau officer told Wang Qiaoling, the wife of persecuted human rights attorney Li Heping, that Jiang being "relocated to somewhere other than his hometown" is legal since he was sentenced to two years in prison with three years' of political rights deprivation. However, this is a violation of Chinese law. In addition, his father and sister's phones have been shut off, and no one has been able to reach them. Both of his missing family members planned to meet him outside the prison. Jiang was initially taken into police custody while returning home to Beijing after visiting the wife of Xie Yang, another human rights attorney who was imprisoned for his work, in November 2016. He stood trial in August 2017. In the past, Jiang advocated for the rights of people groups commonly suppressed by the Chinese government, including religious minorities and lawyers caught up in China's 2015 crackdown on legal professionals who defend people imprisoned for their beliefs. His activism has landed him in jail multiple times, according to TIME Magazine , and he reported suffering torture. TIME also cited human rights scholars from the United Nations, who "expressed fear for Jiang's alleged ailing health, saying that he suffered memory loss and was possibly drugged while in detention." These claims match testimonies from other released human rights lawyers, who say they were forced to take unknown medication during their time behind bars. ChinaAid calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Jiang and his father and sister, since their arbitrary detention and forced disappearance are unequivocal violations of international human rights legislation and China's own laws. In addition, those who enacted this abuse must be held accountable as violators of Chinese law and the international human rights agreements of which China is a signatory. For more information on Jiang Tianyong's story, please click here Our people have faced centuries of anti-Semitism and expulsions. For example, in 1290, we were expelled from England. In 1349, the Black Death pushed us out of Germany. In 1492, the Spanish Inquisition drove more than 200,000 Jews out of Spain. It is surprising then, that many of our culinary traditions from those eras continued to thrive in those countries. Indeed, often even the original Jewish names for those foods remain the names of those foods. In Extremadura, Spain, Medieval Jews created Torta del Casar, a cheese thickened with thistle rather than rennet. Because it is an animal product, making this cheese with rennet would not have been in keeping with the laws of Kashrut. This cheese, which is aromatic and made during the spring, is unique in that it is spooned from a hole cut from the top of the rind. And today it remains a favorite of that region. A popular ingredient for Spanish Jews was pumpkin, a squash regarded as peasant food by non-Jews. A recipe for Cabello de Angel, pumpkin puree, originated in the city of Murcia in what was once the Jewish quarter of Lorca. Today, this same puree is used throughout Spain as a filling for tarts and cookies. Other pumpkin dishes traveled with Jews who settled in Syria during the Diaspora. There, pumpkin pancakes, kibbet yatkeen, and pumpkin-filled borekas remain popular with the predominantly non-Jewish population. The Jews would also carry their love of pumpkin to Italy, where it is used as a popular filling for raviolis and tortellini. Jews not only introduced Italians to the culinary potential of pumpkin; they also created Carciofi alla Guidia (Jewish-style artichokes), which are double-fried, crisp and uniquely delicious. Once found only in the Jewish ghetto of Rome, this distinctly Jewish delicacy is now available at Romes finer restaurants. Another Jewish Roman classic, suppli, a deep-fried rice ball filled with stringy cheese and tomato sauce, has become almost as popular as the Sicilian rice ball known as arancini. In addition to finding suppli on restaurant menus in the Jewish quarter, they are sold by street vendors throughout Rome. The Jews of Greece, before their communities were decimated during the Holocaust, had rich culinary traditions. A popular restaurant in Ann Arbor, Mich., Zingermans Roadhouse, pays tribute to a Greek bean salad called fassolia piaz, a salad created by Greek Jews. Made with large white beans known as gigante or butter beans, lots of lemon juice and fresh herbs, the salad is popular as part of a meze (small plates) meal in Greece. The Jews of East London in the late 1800s adopted the classic British food salt beef but served it on fresh bagels. Today in East London, you can see lines of customers gathered at bakeries to purchase what has become a classic British dish: Salt Beef Bagels. In France, the popular flatbread fougasse, sold at bakeries throughout Provence, originated in the Jewish community. According to Joan Nathan in her cookbook about Jewish culinary traditions in France, Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous, this flatbread dough was prepared at home and then brought to communal ovens to be baked for Jewish holidays. I have been baking this beautiful flatbread, formed in the shape of a ladder or a leaf, for years but never knew of its Jewishorigins. In Poland, where Jewish cuisine included assorted sweet and sour dishes, many believe that the popular stuffed cabbage rolls originated with the Jews of the shtetls. Though cabbage rolls in Poland today are filled with a combination of pork and beef, or just pork, the Jewish community that inspired those rolls filled them with beef and rice, which was in accordance with the laws of kashrut. Furthermore, the popular Polish potato pancakes likely originated in the Jewish community. On a recent trip through Portugal, my husband, Mike, and I were hoping to find evidence of the once thriving Jewish communities in both Lisbon and Porto, where Jews once made up more than 20 percent of the population. Jewish life in Portugal would sadly come to an end in 1536, when the Portuguese Inquisition began. Portuguese Jews were forced to convert, many were murdered, and many moved to Amsterdam and parts of South America. Their communities and synagogues were destroyed. It wasnt until 1821 that the government formally ended its war against the Jews. In 1904, the first synagogue was built in Lisbon, and in 1938, in Porto. Since 2014, when Portugal instituted the Jewish Law of Return granting citizenship to Jews with proven Portuguese ancestry, passports have been issued to more than 700 Sephardic Jews, primarily from Turkey and France. These Jews are trying to reclaim their rich Portuguese heritage. One thing they wont need to reclaim, however, is a brilliant and delicious culinary invention: alheira. Known around Portugal even today as the Jewish sausage, alheira was designated in 2011 as one of the seven Maravilhas da Gastronomia (Wonders of Portuguese Gastronomy). Mike and I discovered this Jewish culinary marvel purely by chance. We had booked a food tour in Porto, and the second stop on our tour was at the oldest deli in Porto: Comer e Chorar Por Mais. Our lovely guide, Andreas, gave us a brief history of the Portuguese Inquisition. And because this was a food tour, she went on to tell us about alheira, a beloved sausage, and a product of Jewish culinary genius. As she explained, many Portuguese Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism. Although they obediently went through the ceremony, many still secretly practiced Judaism. Their neighbors were skeptical of the genuineness of their conversions. Because pork sausages were, and still are, central to Portuguese cuisine, Portuguese Jews realized that one way to convince their Christian neighbors that they were no longer Jews was by eating traditional Portuguese sausages. The only problem: They were still Jews and the sausages were not kosher. To deal with that dilemma, they created a Jewish sausage. They filled their sausages with poultry, duck, various kosher game meats, bread and spices, and stuffed the filling into beef casings rather than pork casings. They smoked the sausages, and hung them inside their windows, just as their Christian neighbors did. Today, those Jewish sausages are still being made and enjoyed by the non-Jewish gourmands in Portugal. Guess what? Those sausages, flavored with garlic and just a bit of hot pepper, are delicious. And kosher. To honor a Jewish culinary heritage that has continued to flourish around the world in countries that had expelled our people even centuries ago, I decided to create one of those dishes. I confess I was not up to grinding and seasoning various meats and stuffing the mixture into sausage casings (the beef intestine variety) as our Portuguese ancestors did back in the 1500s. But that Greek bean salad seemed enticing and easy to put together. Gigante, also known as butter beans or large lima beans, are mild and creamy and are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, protein, fiber, antioxidants and iron. You can purchase the beans dried, canned or frozen at many groceries. I prefer using the dry variety. I find that they more fully absorb added flavors. However, you can substitute canned or frozen beans in my recipe below. Though dry beans must be presoaked, you can do so the night before. Put the beans into a medium bowl and add enough cold water to cover the beans by 4 inches. Cover the bowl with wax paper and leave the beans to soak overnight at room temperature. The next day, rinse the beans in a strainer under cold water and then proceed with the recipe below. If you have forgotten to soak the beans, here is another alternative. Put the beans in a medium saucepan, fill the pan with enough cold water to cover the beans by 4 inches. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and then cover the pan let simmer for two minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand covered for one hour. Rinse the beans in a strainer under cold water and then proceed with the recipe above. Margi Lenga Kahn is the mother of five and grandmother of five. A cooking instructor at the Kitchen Conservatory, she is working on a project to preserve the stories and recipes of heritage cooks. She welcomes your comments and suggestions at [email protected] Recipe: Greek Gigante Bean Salad Ingredients: 2 c. dried large lima beans, soaked overnight or by quick-soak method described in article 1 dried bay leaf 1 tbsp. finely minced shallot (from 1 small shallot) 1 tbsp. finely minced Italian flat leaf parsley, plus more for garnishing 1 tsp. finely minced fresh oregano leaves (or to tsp. dried oregano) c. freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste c. extra virgin olive oil tsp. coarse kosher salt, plus more as needed Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional) DIRECTIONS: Place soaked beans in a medium pot. Add enough cold water to cover beans by 4 inches. Stir in bay leaf and bring mixture to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer beans uncovered for 1 -2 hours, or until they are tender to the bite. Add more water, as needed. While beans are cooking, make lemon vinaigrette. Whisk together remaining ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. When beans are tender, drain them and transfer them to a medium bowl. Let the beans cool for five minutes, and then gently fold in the reserved lemon vinaigrette. Taste, adding more salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed. Garnish with some freshly chopped parsley just before serving. Makes 4-6 servings. Note: The finished salad can be made in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. It can be enjoyed cold or at room temperature. Dr. Steven Teitelbaum likes to use words like fortunate or lucky to describe the accolades hes earned in his career. It was a lot of good luck, he said. But the reality is that the most recent winner of the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine didnt accumulate his honors through happenstance. The work hes participated in on bone health during a half-century as a professor at Washington University School of Medicine has been groundbreaking, leading to therapies for everything from osteoporosis to rheumatoid arthritis. Still, Teitelbaum, 80, who will share the Faisal Prize with Harvards Bjorn Reino Olsen, is modest about the achievement, saying the focus shouldnt be on him but rather on the potential of the research to help others. In fact, Teitelbaum, winner of the Peter H. Raven Lifetime Achievement Award as well as honors from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, continues to be modest about his life story, insisting that his career was just a way he found to make a living. I grew up in Brooklyn. You either became a doctor, a lawyer or you went to jail, he said with a chuckle. Teitelbaums long association with Washington University began when he attended its medical school. After a brief return to New York, he came back to St. Louis in 1968 and has been here ever since. Like anybody who has been in this business long enough, you get a lot of offers, but this institution is very unique, he said of his alma mater. No medical school is as collaborative as this place, and my sense is that it really made my career. What does your research focus on? My career has been spent looking into bone and bone diseases such as osteoporosis and diseases in children who have what is called brittle bone disease. We try to figure out what are the causes, particularly focusing on a cell that is needed to break bone down and reabsorb it. People dont realize this but for a normal skeleton, you have to have cells that make bone and break it down. Thats how you replace old bone with new. My career has been focused on the latter, looking at cells that break them down, figuring out how they work. The result of this has been that weve contributed to the development of drugs that have markedly reduced the incidents of osteoporosis and have also had an effect on cancer metastasis, particularly breast cancer metastasis to bone. Why did you choose this career? What appealed to you about being a doctor? The reason I initially went into medicine was to make a living, to do something that was respected in the neighborhood. My original goal was to become a doctor, go back and take care of the neighbors in Brooklyn. It never crossed my mind that Id be a scientist. That really came later. When I went to medical school, when I started realizing that the great thrill of all of this was taking care of people, helping them and teaching young people how to do the job. Why did you decide to specialize in bone issues? Again, it was good fortune. When I finished my medical training, I took a job at Jewish Hospital, met my mentor there, a guy named Lou Avioli. He convinced me that doing research was a lot of fun. He had been brought to Washington University to start a program in bone diseases. So whats the payoff of this type of research? I think certainly the most important payoff is can we help society and help people who have medical problems. There is also a very important intellectual payoff. I think it is important that we explore questions because the exploration of unknown questions is very important. Developing the intellectual environment we have here at Washington University is very important. But number one, of course, is patient care. What kinds of illnesses do you study? The hallmark disease that we work on is osteoporosis. If a woman is 65, she has a 50 percent chance of developing a fracture due to osteoporosis. We also do a lot here on rare diseases because rare diseases teach us about common diseases. I got into this area of research because I was involved early on in my career in the first cure of a fatal bone disease. It was a 3-month-old little girl who had this disease that was incurable, and we had an idea of how to cure her by bone marrow transplantation. It is now standard therapy for this. I think curing rare diseases in many ways is as important as curing common diseases. What do you want the general public to know about bone health? I think it is important that people understand that we have a problem with osteoporosis because women are reluctant to take therapy for it. We want them to understand that there are very good therapies for it now, and theyll be getting better. 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. A couple times each week well post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of buy, hold, or sell. Made at the TABSA (Tobaccos Valle de Jalapa) factory in Nicaragua using Aganorsa tobacco, El Gueguensealso known as The Wise Manis the first blend from Foundation Cigar Co., which was launched in 2015 by former Drew Estate employee Nicholas Melillo. The Nicaraguan puro has a beautiful Corojo 99 wrapper from Jalapa thats described as rosado rosado cafe. My favorite El Gueguense vitola is the Corona Gorda (5.6 x 46). It boasts a medium-bodied profile with well-balanced flavors of cedar, honey, melon, and subtle sweetness. With excellent combustion properties, ample complexity, and a sub-$10 price tag, Id revisit this cigar if you havent had it in awhile. Verdict = Buy. Patrick A photo credit: Stogie Guys Embryos' signaling proteins go with the flow HOUSTON - (March 1, 2019) - How cells in developing embryos communicate depends a great deal on context, according to scientists at Rice University. They found that a protein signaling pathway known as WNT and its interactions are far more dynamic than once thought as the response of different cell types to the same signals is dramatically different. Researchers already knew that WNT, which carries messages across the cell membrane, is central to the early development of organisms and later helps stabilize cells in adults. Now they're gaining a more complete picture of the pathway's function. Near the start of life, WNT signals provide key developmental cues from outside the cell, according to Rice bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash and graduate student and lead author Joseph Massey. These extracellular WNT signals help direct cell differentiation by triggering beta-catenin proteins that affect gene expression in the cell's nucleus. They found the WNT pathway not only listens for signals from a wider range of triggers than previously known but that while it is influencing the identities of new cell types during embryonic development, those new cell types are themselves beginning to change how they interpret WNT signals. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We know that cells in development become all the different types of cells in the body," Massey said. "To do that in the right place and at the right time, they have to have some kind of positional timing cues, and share information with each other," he said. "While we've known the identity of some of the proteins involved, we haven't had the tools to understand them. "In this work, we used modern gene-editing tools to visualize some of these transducer proteins, those in the WNT signaling pathway," he said. Warmflash said researchers previously focused on more mature cells. "They said, 'Oh well, the WNT pathway is probably the same in every cell, so let's just take the easiest cell to study.' "We found that's totally wrong," he said. "The WNT pathway is different in stem cells and differentiated cells. Cells probably tune the dynamics of the WNT pathway to make it perform different functions in different contexts." The lab used cell-culture techniques developed by Warmflash and live imaging of single human pluripotent stem cells to view and collect data on changes in embryonic cultures to a fine degree. To track the changes, they used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to tag beta-catenin with green fluorescent proteins and see them accumulate in the nucleus. "We found that the signaling dynamics -- how the cells respond to signaling cues -- in pluripotent cells is very different from what happens in some of the other cell types we looked at," Massey said. "Not only that, whenever pluripotent cells begin to differentiate to a type of cells called the primitive streak, the response to the signal is also very different." The primitive streak is a structure that forms early in the development of an embryo, establishes the organism's bilateral symmetry and serves as the focal point of gastrulation, where multiple layers of differentiation begin. "Our research highlights for the first time for this signaling pathway that the dynamics, the way the cells interpret these signals, is very much context-dependent," Massey said. The researchers investigated some of the causes of these changing dynamics. They found that by altering levels of activin and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), both members of the TGF beta "superfamily" of growth factor proteins, they were able to change the dynamics of beta-catenin signaling. As TGFb factors are also involved in cellular differentiation, this is a possible cause of the changing dynamics of WNT signaling during development, Warmflash said. The experiments demonstrated one way that beta-catenin signaling in stem cells adapts to a constantly changing environment. "What's interesting is that all of these developmental pathways are, throughout the course of an organism's development, recycled for different roles," Massey said. "At the beginning, the WNT signaling pathway is perhaps specifying different tissues to become the right type of tissue in the right place. Later on, it's maintaining homeostasis or other processes in the adult. "Really, the WNT pathway does all sorts of things," he said. "It may turn out that how the signal is interpreted has something to do with the context the pathway's in and what that pathway's actually doing. But before we developed these tools it was very difficult to go about asking these questions." Since mutations to the pathways are frequently found in human cancers, understanding the mechanism is important in more ways than one, Warmflash said. "What natural pathways do is much more intricate and complex than anything people have been able to build," he said. "If you can understand it, you can use it." "We still only understand a fraction of how early development works," Massey said. "Eventually we will be able to explain these developing systems with increasingly predictive models, and to get there we must make specific quantitative measurements. Hopefully as we better understand how cells use pathways to communicate, clinicians might someday exploit these dynamics to treat diseases." ### Co-authors of the paper are Rice alumna and research technician Yida Liu and undergraduate Omar Alvarenga, former Rice technician Teresa Saez, now at Cambridge University, and alumnus Matthew Schmerer, now at the Centers for Disease Control. Warmflash is an assistant professor of biosciences and bioengineering. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and the Simons Foundation supported the research. David Ruth 713-348-6327 david@rice.edu Mike Williams 713-348-6728 mikewilliams@rice.edu Read the abstract at https:/ / www. pnas. org/ content/ early/ 2019/ 02/ 26/ 1815363116 A pre-peer review version is available to read at bioRxiv: https:/ / www. biorxiv. org/ content/ 10. 1101/ 406306v2 This news release can be found online at https:/ / news. rice. edu/ 2019/ 02/ 28/ embryos-signaling-proteins-go-with-the-flow-2/ Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews Video: https:/ / youtu. be/ Ohv2SEljv0M A time-lapse, fluorescent microscopy video shows three aspects of the same human embryonic stem cells responding to the application of WNT3A, a protein that activates the WNT signaling pathway. In the videos, beta-catenin is shown in green and the cells' nuclei are in magenta. The graph at bottom right shows the average amount of beta-catenin in hundreds of stem cells' nuclei. Levels rise dramatically when WNT3A is introduced, but fall off over time. The nuclei were identified using custom software written by Rice University researchers Joseph Massey and Aryeh Warmflash. (Credit: Warmflash Lab/Rice University) Related materials: Fed grant will help unlock embryonic secrets: http://news. rice. edu/ 2018/ 01/ 12/ fed-grant-will-help-unlock-embryonic-secrets-2/ Aryeh Warmflash wins NSF CAREER Award: http://news. rice. edu/ 2015/ 12/ 21/ aryeh-warmflash-wins-nsf-career-award/ Warmflash lab: https:/ / stemcell. rice. edu Rice Department of BioSciences: https:/ / biosciences. rice. edu/ faculty/ tenure-track Wiess School of Natural Sciences: https:/ / naturalsciences. rice. edu Images for download: https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2019/ 02/ 0304_WNT-1-web-15ie00g. jpg Rice University graduate student Joseph Massey sets up an experiment to study the WNT signaling pathway in developing cell lines. The pathway plays a central role in cell differentiation as organisms develop. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2019/ 02/ 0304_WNT-2-web-pu536d. jpg Rice University graduate student Joseph Massey, lead author of a new study on the complexity of signaling pathways in the cells of developing organisms, looks at cells under a lab scope. Massey and Rice bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash led a team that determined protein signaling in embryos is far more complex than previously thought, as pathways take cues from many other players. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2019/ 02/ 0304_WNT-3-web-w9egpn. jpg Rice University graduate student Joseph Massey, left, and bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash led a study that determined protein signaling in embryos is far more complex than previously thought, as cells depend a great deal on context to determine their fate. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Officers from Gibraltar's Special Branch arrested two Albanians at the airport on 20 February, following suspicions over flights which had been booked to the UK. They were detained before boarding a flight to Manchester. One of the men, aged 50, was using a falsified Greek ID document and the other, aged 24, had a fake French passport. As citizens of a country for which a visa is required to enter Gibraltar, they were detained for being there without valid authority, in contravention of the Immigration, Asylum & Refugee Act, and were later charged with possessing fake documents and immigration offences. Spanish police also arrested two men from La Linea for facilitating illegal immigration. World Trade Center Gibraltar and Regus have raised over 300 as they held their first ever charity padel tournament in aid of Childline. The event demonstrated fantastic community spirit, with 32 players participating from different companies in the WTC building. The exciting competition was won by Regus. The Welsh communities of the Costa del Sol, along with those in the rest of the world, will be celebrating their annual feast day to mark the death of Saint David on Friday (today). Along with the singing of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau - the country's national anthem- the Welsh flag, with the distinctive red dragon on a white and green background, will be raised with pride in honour of the sixth-century bishop who became the patron saint of Wales. The Welsh Society - Costa del Sol is joining in with the celebrations, organising the traditional St David's day knees-up in CJ's Bar (today) and a special concert at the Moonlight Lounge Bar in Benalmadena on Saturday 2 March. St David, leeks and daffodils; national symbols of Wales St David's date of birth is unknown, although it is believed he was born around the beginning of the 6th century. Legend claims he was the son of the King of Ceredigion and a nun called Nonnita, although this has been dismissed by Welsh historians, who say he descended from royalty. He died on 1 March 589. The national emblem of Wales is the leek, which is said to have evolved from a battle between the Welsh and the Saxons. Folklore says that, at the suggestion of St David, the Welsh soldiers put leeks in their helmets to easily distinguish the enemy. Sometimes referred to as St Peter's leek, the daffodil was adopted as the national flower worn on St David's Day during the 19th century. Since its formation in 2011, the Welsh Society has organised a St David's Day celebration, which has become the biggest annual gathering of Welsh people in the province of Malaga. The Welsh Society - Costa del Sol was started by a small group of ex-pat musicians and entertainers who came together after continuously being asked to perform at other countries' international days. The group decided that there was a need for a St David's Day celebration, so a society was formed with the goal of raising funds for local and international charities, while also promoting Welsh identity. "The society began with a group of like-minded people that wanted to explain what it is to be Welsh, and what being Welsh means to us, as well as encouraging the younger members of the society to participate in all things Welsh," Gary Benham, the organisations spokesperson, explains to SUR in English. Supporting charity Since 2011, The Welsh Society has supported the Downs Syndrome Associations in Spain and in Wales, the Premature Baby Unit in Malaga, the Lions Diabetic Association, Age Care, Positively Pink and Blue, the Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer and the Ty Olwen Hospice in Swansea. This year, the organisation, which has so far raised over 12,000 euros, will be supporting FAMA, and the Last Chance Animal Rescue, two local animal charities. "We hold an annual St David's Day celebration on 1 March each year and, as many of our members are entertainers, we manage to have a great deal of fun while raising funds for our chosen charity," Gary says. One of the entertainers is Cath John, owner of the oldest Welsh bar in Benalmadena and president of the Welsh Society. Cath, along with secretary Debbie Benham, are very proud of their Welsh heritage and both are active in the promotion of their culture here on the Costa del Sol. "Welsh people are very patriotic, although we tend to make less noise about our saint's day. A few years ago, we recognised the need to address the large Welsh population that lives on the coast," Debbie says. The Welsh community makes up a large percentage of the British expats living on the Costa del Sol, although they are often labelled as 'ingleses'. However, although this annoys some Welsh people, Gary claims it is not really a huge problem for most. "I know some people find it irritating that the Spanish often label us as English, but I don't think it's a big issue: it depends on the level of your patriotism," he says. The Welsh Society is currently appealing for new members. Along with St David's Day, the society participates in local fayres and events, promoting Welsh customs and culture and traditional gastronomy. "When people think of Wales they generally think of rugby and singing, but there is much more to our culture and history. It gives us great pleasure to be able to share this with others, while helping those in need," Gary concludes. Turkish Airlines, the only operator connecting Malaga with Asia all year round, has announced that it will increase seat numbers on its flights to Istanbul by 30 per cent, with two flights a day. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways flights from the Costa del Sol to Doha will, between 29 May and 29 September, boast the exclusive 'Business' QSuite service in which passengers can travel in double beds or with private suites for up to four people. The annual World Mobile Congress, seen as the most important mobile communications conference in the world, has been taking place this week in Barcelona, where it has been held since 2006. Among the gleaming technology in the Catalan capital's large exhibition centre on Monday was the now-familiar scenario of the pro-independence head of Catalonia avoiding public contact with King Felipe during the opening celebrations. As last year, Quim Torra didn't take part in the official greeting for the king the previous evening, instead shaking hands with the monarch behind closed doors and away from the cameras after the dinner. This year the routine was further complicated as the prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, had also travelled from Madrid for the opening. The next day, Torra joined the official royal party as it began to tour the exhibition halls. However commentators noted that the Catalan regional president was absent by the time it came to a photo opportunity in front of the Spanish stand. Catalan officials said Torra had already told organisers that he had another meeting to go to. Away from politics, media highlighted displays of foldable screens and 5G technology at the international trade fair. The House of Commons has passed the amendment to the UK Withdrawal Agreement that seeks to ringfence rights for Britons living in the EU and EU citizens living in the UK, regardless of the circumstances under which the exit eventually occurs. The amendment was tabled on Wednesday morning by MP for South Leicestershire, Alberto Costa, whose resignation from his position as Parliamentary Private Secretary that same morning caused confusion. While early reports suggested Costa had been sacked, it later emerged that a parliament convention expects any MP with a parliamentary title to resign from their post in order to table an amendment to any bill. Speaking in the House of Commons after his amendment had been passed, the anti-Brexit MP, who is the son of Italian immigrants, said that citizens "should never have been used as a bargaining chip" and that "ringfencing" their rights "should have been done at the outset" of Brexit negotiations. His amendment, which calls for the part of the withdrawal agreement that includes citizens' rights to be implemented at "the earliest opportunity", regardless of the outcome of negotiations, gained cross-party support. Costa thanked the umbrella group British in Europe, which represents Britons living in other EU countries, as well as UK-based lobby The Three Million, representing EU citizens living in the UK, for campaigning to protect people's rights. Costa concluded his four-minute speech by saying, "Citizens' rights are not about party politics but about people." There were calls from politicians across the political spectrum for Costa to be offered back his role as PPS to the Scotland Minister, David Mundell; MP Caroline Lucas described the convention as "an ass" and said that Costa "should be back in his job". Theresa May will now have to take the amendment back to Brussels, to try to seek agreement on the issue. Spain's Brexit contingency plans were approved at the government's Cabinet meeting on Friday, 1 March, as announced by prime minister Pedro Sanchez earlier in the week. The package of measures is aimed at covering all eventualities that could arise from a disorderly Brexit, in other words if the UK leaves the EU on 29 March without a deal. The contingency plans, which will have to be ratified by Congreso in two weeks' time, have been drawn up to preserve the rights and interests of Spaniards in the UK and British residents in Spain, as well as to protect commercial relations. British citizens already residing in Spain, says the government in its Brexit section on its website, will be considered legal residents in this country under the contingency plan and the necessary measures will be adopted to guarantee existing rights, such as social security, healthcare and recognition of qualifications, among others. As far as commercial relations are concerned, the plans are designed to ease the flow of goods between the UK and the EU, taking into account the new obligations in terms of customs and health and safety checks, among others. The plans will only come into force at midnight on 29 March if the UK leaves with no deal. The measures will be temporary with the aim of "facilitating the transition" until more permanent arrangements are agreed. Brexit delay With regard to the possibility of the UK asking for a last-minute extension to its Brexit deadline, Sanchez said on Wednesday that the Spanish government "would not oppose a delay". He stated, however, that the extension would need to come with "a real chance of a solution" because it is not reasonable nor desirable to "prolong the uncertainty". A delay would be acceptable, he said, if there were a real chance of it being used to get the withdrawal agreement passed by the British parliament, or if the parliament deciding to stay in the customs union or to hold a second referendum. With an early general election due in two months' time, Spain's major political parties are reminding voters of what they stand for. Under the leadership of Pablo Casado, the Popular Party (PP) is being especially vocal. Driven by a fear of losing voters to Vox, the centre right party has been declaring its position on everything from Catalan independence to bullfighting; and although the economic implications of these policies aren't explicit, they can easily be deduced. We're thus led to realise that a coalition government led by - or largely comprised of - the PP would be almost diametrically opposed to that which currently holds office (if only nominally, as often seems the case). On April 28th, Spain's main parties, whether on the left or right, are likely to succeed or fail depending on their line on Catalonia. Accordingly, the PP has reiterated its fierce opposition to the Catalan independence project, with Casado recently vowing to protect the "historical continuity of constitutional Spain" and denouncing, yet again, Pedro Sanchez's attempts to reason with separatists. A PP-led government would not only close the recently opened telephone line to Barcelona, though; it would probably also keep public investment in the region to current levels. Contrast this with the approach of Sanchez's administration, which proposes a substantial increase in public funds to be received by Catalonia in 2019. The PP has also differentiated itself from the current government on the complex topic of immigration (as indeed has its potential and problematic ally, Vox). Amidst typical right wing scaremongering on the subject, one can make out a key policy - namely, limiting the extent to which undocumented migrants could access public healthcare in Spain. This will appeal to voters concerned about the unspecified cost of an announcement made by Sanchez last summer, to the effect that migrants arriving in Spain would have unlimited access to public health services from day one (which was, in itself, a reversal of PP policy under Mariano Rajoy). Core features of Spanish cultural patrimony - of varying degrees of popularity - would also receive more investment from a PP-dominated administration. Casado recently said of the Sanchez government that "its ministers' personal tastes end up being the law. If a minister doesn't like hunting, let's ban it. If she doesn't like bullfighting, let's ban it" - a carefully worded reference to beloved hobbies of the party's core demographic (the PP has always been a generous supporter of bullfighting, pouring funds into academies that train "toreros"). In an even more dramatic lurch to the right, the PP's secretary general has also criticised Sanchez's choice of April 28th for the election, as campaigning will coincide with Semana Santa celebrations. It's hard to think of a more emphatic reminder of just how different - both politically and economically - a Casado-led government would be from the one presently in office. The annual carnival celebrations are coming to a climax in Andalucia, but there is still chance to catch a few of the remaining colourful galas and parades. This weekend, Malaga will host the annual Drag Queen Gala, a flamboyant and extremely visual competition where dozens of outrageously-attired drag queens compete for the title of Carnival Drag Queen 2019. The event takes place in the Plaza de la Constitucion at 9pm on Friday (today). INFORMATION Malaga. Carnival Drag Queen Gala: Plaza de la Constitucion, Friday 1 March, 9pm. Parade of the Gods: Plaza de la Constitucion, Saturday 2 March, 6pm. Battle of the Flowers: Calle Larios, Saturday 2 March, 7.30pm. Gran Boquerona: Playa Malagueta, Sunday 3 March, 8pm. Benalmadena. Carnival Drag Queen Gala: Plaza de la Mezquita, Arroyo de la Miel, Friday 8 March, 9.30pm. Torremolinos. Gran Gala: Principe de Asturias auditorium, Saturday 9 March, 9pm. Marbella. Parade of Humour, Sunday 3 March. Leaves Plaza Santo Cristo at midday. Gran Gala del Carnival: Palacio de Congresos, Saturday 9 March, 9pm. Estepona. Carnaval de Estepona. Parque El Calvario and Playa La Rada. Saturday 2 March from midday. The fun continues on Saturday, one of the busiest days of the Malaga carnival celebrations. The Parade of the Gods will set off from the Plaza de la Constitucion at 6pm, while the Battle of the Flowers, a brightly-coloured procession with confetti, streamers and hundreds of thousands of flower petals, sets off from Calle Larios at 7.30 pm. The Malaga carnival will come to a tragic end on Sunday 3 March, with the Gran Boquerona. Visitors will enjoy fried anchovies in the Plaza de la Constitucion at 1pm, before the burning of the huge anchovy on La Malagueta beach at around 8pm. The carnival fun will continue in Benalmadena on Friday 8 March, with the Drag Queen Gala, which is held in the Plaza Mezquita from 9.30pm. This colourful event will be judged by the current Mr and Miss Spain. Celebrations in Torremolinos will finish on Saturday 9 March, with the Gran Gala, held in the Principe de Asturias auditorium. Marbella will enjoy the Parade of Humour at midday on Sunday 3 March, followed by the Gran Gala in the Palacio de Congresos at 9pm on Saturday 9 March. The carnival in Estepona is held in the Parque El Calvario on Saturday 2 March. Events include a children's party, live shows and the burning of the sardine, which takes place on La Rada Beach at 5.30pm. Key Points: 24-hole geotechnical drilling program set for completion by mid-March 2019. Feasibility Study progressing well with work underway on updated Mineral Resource, mine design and maiden Ore Reserve; Feasibility Study targeted for completion by mid-year. Draft EIS expected for public comment during March 2019. Black Butte Copper Hard Rock Mining Impact Plan finalized and approved by Meagher County Commissioners. WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, Mont., Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sandfire Resources America Inc. (Sandfire America or the Company) is pleased to advise that it continues to make positive progress on a number of fronts with activities related to its underground Black Butte Copper Project. The Company is on track to complete its 24-hole 2018-2019 Autumn/Winter drill program by mid-March 2019. This drilling program was designed to gather further geotechnical and hydrogeological data to support the Feasibility Study and to increase the level of geological confidence in the projected initial mining zones. The drilling contractor, Ruen Drilling, has now reduced from three drill rigs to a single rig as the program nears completion and moves into the data analysis and modelling phase. Initial work on the Black Butte Feasibility Study commenced in October 2018 and is progressing well with completion targeted for mid-2019. The Feasibility team includes GR Engineering Services as the lead consultant, with SRK Consulting overseeing the Mineral Resource preparation and Mining Plus conducting mine design and Mineral Reserve preparation. The Company also continues to lay the groundwork for start-up construction of the decline portal pad and contact water pond upon receipt of a Mine Operating Permit from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MT DEQ). The MT DEQ and third-party contractor, ERM, have now progressed into the final stages of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the Company expects the MT DEQ to present a draft EIS for public comment during March of 2019. A public comment period follows, after which, the MT DEQ can issue a Record of Decision (ROD) and Mine Operating Permit, potentially as early as the Q2 of 2019. Following the ROD and completion of the feasibility study, The Company will make a construction decision with production potentially commencing late 2021. As part of the permitting process, Sandfire America has completed the Black Butte Copper Hard Rock Mining Impact Plan, which has been finalized and approved by the Meagher County Commissioners. This unique Montana statute requires the Company to address all social and economic needs of the local community prior to mine start-up. The Company has provided the plan to the Hard Rock Mining Impact Planning Board, which is appointed by the Governor for implementation of the plan. The Company continues to engage positively with local communities and stakeholders throughout Montana. Monthly tours will recommence in May and run through October. The Meagher County Stewardship Council, developed as a stakeholder oversight entity for the community and facilitated through the neutral third-party help of One Montana, has been commissioned and now meets each month with the Company. The Company continues its practices of proactive local community involvement and development in the belief that these are an important cornerstone of responsible corporate citizenship. CEO and VP of Project Development Rob Scargill stated: The opportunity to build a showcase underground mine at the Black Butte Copper Project is now right around the corner. Sandfire America is gearing up for the projects construction phase and we will be ready to responsibly push the project forward as soon as all approvals have been received. This state-of-the-art project will bring tangible benefits to our local Meagher County Community, our surrounding neighbors in Montana and to our supportive and patient shareholders, while at the same time demonstrating how modern mining companies like Sandfire America can develop and operate environmentally responsible projects. Contact Information: Sandfire Resources America Inc. Nancy Schlepp, VP of Communications Mobile: 406-224-8180 Office: 406-547-3466 Email: nschlepp@sandfireamerica.com CAUTIONARY NOTE Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this document constitute forward looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the completion of the Feasibility Study, permitting timelines and the Companys plans for advancing the Black Butte Copper Project and expected outcomes. In making these forward-looking statements, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable, including that the Company will receive required regulatory approvals, that the Company will continue to be able to access sufficient funding to execute its plans, and that the results of exploration and development activities will be consistent with managements expectations. However, the forward-looking statements in this document are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors, including factors relating to the Companys operation as a mineral exploration and development company and the Black Butte Copper Project, that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, including that results of exploration and development activities will not be consistent with managements expectations, delays in obtaining or inability to obtain required government or other regulatory approvals or financing, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, the risk of accidents, labor disputes, inclement or hazardous weather conditions, unusual or unexpected geological conditions, ground control problems, earthquakes, flooding and all of the other risks generally associated with the development of mining facilities. 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. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This page no longer exists or may have been moved.If you believe this is a mistake please email LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The latest report added to a rich database of QY Research titled, "Global Hemp Fiber Sales Market Report 2018," for the forecasted period of 6-years i.e., between 2019 and 2025. The report is highly informative and provides a 360 view of the market associated with the significant segments and elements of the global hemp fiber market. This may impact the future and current growth scenarios of the market over the predicted period. According to the new report by QY Research, the Hemp Fiber market was valued at US$ 210 Mn in the year 2017 and is likely to reach at US$ 330 Mn by the end of 2025. The global hemp fiber market is growing with a healthy CAGR of 5.9% throughout the projected period. Global Hemp Fiber Market: Drivers and Restraints The global market for hemp fiber is witnessing a significant growth over the forecasted period. Manufacturers in the market are operating for fiber treatment technology such as fire retardant, super soft, absorptive, and fibers water repellant. These factors are likely to anticipate the growth of the market in the near future. Increasing per capita income and rising population is likely to create a positive impact on the market. Rising new genetic crops to attain high yield and improved quality of the product is one of the major driver that propels the growth of the market. Growing research and development activities to improve perfect agronomy is further expected to fuel the growth of the market. However, difficulties in the transportation of goods in highly regulated markets, low yield availability and lack of harvesting innovations are some of the factors that restraint the growth of the market over the assessment period. Request Sample Report and Full Report TOC@ https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/54916/global-hemp-fiber-sales-market Global Hemp Fiber Market: Geographical Outlook China is the leading producer and exporter of hemp fiber and hemp textiles market across the globe. Europe is also a leading market for hemp fiber mainly in the countries like UK, France, and Germany due to its main usage in composite materials and paper & pulp. Ukraine and Russia are also the main producers of hemp fiber products and hemp textiles in the market. To cater the need of US consumers, Canada hemp fiber manufacturers supplies the hemp products in the market. Global Hemp Fiber Market: Key Players Some of the Major players in the hemp fiber market are Tianyouhemp, Hemp Flax, Shenyangbeijiang, Cavac Biomateriaux, YAK Technology, BaFa, Shanxi Greenland Textile, Hemp Planet, CaVVaS, Dunagro, OOO , American Hemp, Hemp Inc, and Hempline. Global Hemp Fiber Market: Segmental Analysis The global hemp fiber market is segmented into product type and applications. Based on the applications, the market is segmented into Composite Materials, Textiles, and Pulp & Paper. On the basis of product type, the hemp fiber market is further segmented into Short (core) Fibers and Long (bast) Fibers. Global Hemp Fiber Market Now, Report delivery time within 24 hours @ https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/35fd61d1b479f36c2d94d665bbd67454,0,1,Global%20Hemp%20Fiber%20Sales%20Market%20Report%202018 , For Any Special Requirement and Discount Request @ https://www.qyresearch.com/request-discount/form/54916/global-hemp-fiber-sales-market Sales Contact: USA Registered Office: QY Research, INC. 17890 Castleton, Suite 218, City of industry, CA - 91748 USA: +1 6262 952 442 Emails enquiry@qyresearch.com Pakistan to lodge 'eco-terrorism' complaint against India over airstrikes Islamabad, March 1 (AFP) Mar 01, 2019 Pakistan plans to lodge a complaint of "eco-terrorism" against India after airstrikes by New Delhi in Pakistani territory this week damaged dozens of trees, its climate change minister told AFP Friday. "Eco-terrorism is exactly what happened," Malik Amin Aslam told AFP, adding that environmental assessments were under way. "We will explore all appropriate international bodies including UN to raise the issue and lodge the protest," he said, adding that it was "not a joke". Aslam spoke after India claimed to have killed "a very large number" of militants in an air strike carried out near Balakot in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday. Pakistan rejected the claim as "self serving, reckless and fictitious". Residents of the area reported hearing explosions in the night, but said only one person was injured, and that no infrastructure had been destroyed. An AFP reporter visited the site where residents and the military said the strike hit, and saw a crater, two trees snapped in half, and three mud houses, one of which had a collapsed wall. Aslam said the only damage was done to the so-called Billion Tree Tsunami, a massive reforestation project launched in 2014. He said "dozens" of trees had been killed, including mature ones and newly regenerated ones. New Delhi has long accused Islamabad of backing militant groups, including the one which claimed the suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir on February 14 that ignited a fresh crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Afghanistan, the US and Iran also accuse Pakistan of various levels of support for militant groups, including the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan vehemently denies the claims, and says there are no militant safe havens left on its soil. The February 26 strikes led to heightened tensions, with Islamabad launching its own incursion a day later across the Line of Control, the de-facto Kashmir border. That sparked the dogfight that ended in both countries claiming they had shot down each other's warplanes, and led to the capture of an Indian pilot, who was handed back to India on Friday in a "peace gesture" by Islamabad. BENSALEM, Pa., Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors of the March 12, 2019 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors that purchased Markel Corporation (Markel or the Company) (NYSE: MKL ) securities between July 26, 2017 and December 6, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period). Investors suffering losses on their Markel investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com . On December 6, 2018, the Company disclosed that after having been contacted on November 30, 2018, it is fully cooperating with inquiries by US and Bermuda authorities into loss reserves recorded in late 2017 and early 2018 at Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd and its subsidiaries. On this news, the Companys share price fell $99.70 per share, more than 8%, to close at $1048.23 per share on December 7, 2018, on unusually high trading volume, thereby injuring investors. The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that the Companys subsidiaries did not appropriately record loss reserves; (2) that, as a result, the loss reserves would need to be adjusted and/or restated; (3) that these misleading accounting practices would lead to regulatory scrutiny and financial loss to investors; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. If you purchased shares of Markel during the Class Period you may move the Court no later than March 12, 2019 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff if you meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the Class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the Class. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com , or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com . This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATES OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lund Enterprises Corp. (TSXV: LEN), (the "Company" or "Lund") is pleased to announce that, further to its news releases dated November 7, 2018 and December 7, 2018, it has entered into a definitive share exchange agreement (the Definitive Agreement) with 1163631 B.C. Ltd. ("116") and each of the shareholders of 116 (the 116 Shareholders). Pursuant to the Definitive Agreement, Lund will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of 116 from the 116 Shareholders (the Proposed Transaction). In connection with, and as a condition to, completing the Proposed Transaction, 116, a non-reporting British Columbia company, will complete a restructuring with a group of related companies ("Reconnaissance"), the effect of which will be that 116 will indirectly own the equity interest of Reconnaissance Energy Namibia Pty Ltd ("REN"). REN currently holds a 90% interest in the exploration licence (the "Licence") granted by the Government of the Republic of Namibia and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) covering approximately 6.3 million acres of oil & gas exploration properties in Blocks 1719, 1720, 1721, 1819, 1820 and 1821 in the Kavango Basin of northern Namibia, subject to a 10% carried interest in favour of NAMCOR. The Proposed Transaction is an arms length transaction and will constitute a reverse-takeover of Lund by 116 pursuant the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). Proposed Transaction Under the terms of the Definitive Agreement, the 116 Shareholders will exchange all of their common shares of 116 (the 116 Shares) for common shares of Lund (the Lund Shares) on the basis of one Lund Share for each 116 Share, resulting in 116 becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lund. Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, Lund will change its name to Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. (the "Resulting Issuer") or such other name as is approved by 116 and is acceptable to the TSXV. It is anticipated that after completion of the Proposed Transaction the Resulting Issuer will carry on the business of Reconnaissance as a Tier 2 Oil & Gas issuer pursuant to the requirements of the TSXV. Prior to the effective time of the Proposed Transaction, Lund will complete a consolidation of its issued and outstanding common shares on the basis of one common share for each then outstanding two common shares (the "Consolidation"). The Definitive Agreement also contemplates that, following the Consolidation and in conjunction with the Proposed Transaction, Lund shall complete a non-brokered private placement (the Concurrent Financing) of units (the "Units") at a price of $0.20 per Unit (based on Lunds closing price of $0.13 per common share on November 6, 2018 and taking into account the proposed Consolidation) for aggregate gross proceeds of a minimum amount of $3,300,000 (rather than $3,000,000 as previously disclosed in Lunds press release dated November 7, 2018). Each Unit shall consist of one Resulting Issuer common share and one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a Warrant), rather than one-half of one Warrant as previously announced in Lunds press release dated November 7, 2018. Each Warrant shall be exercisable into one common share of the Resulting Issuer at an exercise price of $0.50 for a period of 60 months (rather than 24 months as previously announced in Lunds press release dated November 7, 2018) following completion of the Proposed Transaction and Concurrent Financing. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of the Resulting Issuers common shares on the TSXV, or such other Canadian stock exchange on which the Resulting Issuers common shares are then principally traded, is equal to or exceeds $1.00 per share for a period of five consecutive trading days, the Resulting Issuer may, at its option, accelerate the expiry of the Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof. Upon the delivery of such notice, the holders of the Warrants will have 30 calendar days to exercise the Warrants, failing which the Warrants will automatically expire. In connection with the Concurrent Financing, Lund may pay finders fees to certain arms length finders consisting of: (i) a cash fee of up to 6% of the gross proceeds raised; and (ii) broker warrants (Broker Warrants) entitling the holders thereof to acquire such number of common shares of the Resulting Issuer up to 6% of the number of Units sold. Each Broker Warrant will be exercisable into one common share of the Resulting Issuer at an exercise price of $0.20 per common share for a period of 24 months from the date of completion of the Proposed Transaction and Concurrent Financing. The proceeds of the Concurrent Financing are expected to be used towards the exploration of the properties under the Licence and for general corporate purposes of the Resulting Issuer. The shares issued by Lund pursuant to the Concurrent Financing will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the closing date of the Concurrent Financing. Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction and the Concurrent Financing (assuming minimum gross proceeds of $3.3 million), and after giving effect to the Consolidation, it is anticipated that there will be approximately 60,784,237 common shares of the Resulting Issuer issued and outstanding and the shareholders of 116 will hold approximately 64% of the outstanding common shares of the Resulting Issuer. On a fully diluted basis, assuming all of the Warrants and Broker Warrants are exercised, it is anticipated that there would be approximately 78,274,237 common shares of the Resulting Issuer issued and outstanding and the shareholders of 116 would hold approximately 49% of the outstanding common shares of the Resulting Issuer. In addition to shareholder approvals, the Proposed Transaction is subject to the receipt of certain regulatory and stock exchange approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions customary for transactions of this nature. Trading of the common shares of the Company has been halted and will remain halted in accordance with TSXV policies until all required documentation with respect to the Proposed Transaction has been received and the TSXV and securities regulatory authorities are otherwise satisfied that the halt should be lifted. None of the securities to be issued have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and any securities issued in the Proposed Transaction and Concurrent Financing are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon the exemption from such registration requirements provided by Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. For additional information about the Resulting Issuer, please refer to the Companys press release dated November 7, 2018. Conditions of Completion The conditions to completion of the Proposed Transaction include, but are not limited to: The satisfaction of obligations under the Definitive Agreement relating to each of the parties, including the delivery by each of the parties of standard closing documents; The approval by Lund shareholders of the Proposed Transaction and the Consolidation and such other matters to be more fully described in the management information circular (the Circular ) to be prepared in connection with the Proposed Transaction; ) to be prepared in connection with the Proposed Transaction; Receipt of all requisite regulatory, corporate and third party approvals, including the approval and acceptance of the TSXV; Completion of the Concurrent Financing; Completion of the 116 restructuring transactions with Reconnaissance; Completion of the Consolidation; Lund shall change its name to Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. or such other name acceptable to the TSXV; Absence of any material adverse change of Lund or the Reconnaissance group; and The Resulting Issuer being in compliance with the initial listing requirements of the TSXV. About the Parties Lund Lund is a junior exploration company established in 1978 focussed on the search for gold and base metal deposits in highly prospective mineral districts of Canada. Lund owns a 100% interest in the Black Fox Property within the Schreiber-Hemlo Greenstone Belt in the Province of Ontario, host to the world-class Hemlo gold deposits. In connection with the Proposed Transaction, Lund is endeavouring to divest its interest in the Black Fox Property such that it is expected upon completion of the Proposed Transaction the business of Lund will become that of Reconnaissance. 116 / Reconnaissance 116 is a privately-held British Columbia incorporated company. In connection with the Proposed Transaction, 116 will become the sole shareholder of Reconnaissance, and will indirectly have a 90% interest in the Licence (with the remaining 10% held by NAMCOR, the state oil company of Namibia). The Licence covers certain oil & gas exploration properties in Blocks 1719, 1720, 1721, 1819, 1820 and 1821 in the newly identified Kavango Basin of northern Namibia with a total area of approximately 6.3 million acres and entitles Reconnaissance to a twenty-five year production licence upon successful discovery. Arms Length Transaction Lund is at arms length with 116 and the Reconnaissance companies, and no director, officer or insider of Lund beneficially owns, or controls or directs, directly or indirectly, any common shares of 116. At this time to the knowledge of the prospective directors and executive officers of the Resulting Issuer, upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, Concurrent Financing and Consolidation, no person or company beneficially will own, or control or direct, directly or indirectly, common shares of the Resulting Issuer carrying in excess of 10% of the voting rights attached to all outstanding common shares of the Resulting Issuer (on an undiluted basis) other than Craig Steinke who is expected to beneficially own, directly and indirectly, 16.9% of the outstanding common shares of the Resulting Issuer (on an undiluted basis). Sponsorship The TSXV has granted Lund with a waiver from the sponsorship requirement in connection with the Proposed Transaction in accordance with TSXV policies. Mailing of Circular Full details of the Proposed Transaction and Concurrent Financing will be included in the Circular to be filed with regulatory authorities and mailed to Lund shareholders in accordance with applicable securities laws. The TSXV has granted Lund with conditional approval to proceed with mailing and dissemination of the Circular. Lund expects to file a copy of the Circular under its profile on SEDAR on February 28, 2019. All material agreements, including a copy of the Definitive Agreement, will be filed on the SEDAR profile of Lund at www.sedar.com. Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and requisite shareholder approval. The Proposed Transaction cannot close until the requisite shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed, or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Circular to be prepared in connection with the Proposed Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Proposed Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Lund should be considered highly speculative and will remain halted until further notice. The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information contact: Lund Enterprises Corp. Chet Idziszek President and Chief Executive Officer Tel: 604-331-8772 Cautionary Statements Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Lund's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the Proposed Transaction, obtaining the requisite approval of the TSXV, the Concurrent Financing, the Consolidation and the sale or option of Lund's current mineral assets and the timing for mailing the Information Circular. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to Lund. The material factors and assumptions include the parties to the Proposed Transaction being able to obtain the necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals; TSXV policies not changing; and completion of satisfactory due diligence. Risk factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking information include, among other things: conditions imposed by the TSXV, the failure to obtain any required shareholders' approval to the Proposed Transaction; changes in tax laws, general economic and business conditions; and changes in the regulatory regulation. Lund cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and Lund undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES PERTH, Australia, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX/TSX: PRU) advises that the attached letter has been sent to holders of Perseus unlisted warrants exercisable at $0.44 by April 19, 2019 to notify warrant holders of the expiry of their warrants on April 19, 2019. For further information, please contact: Company Secretary: Martijn Bosboom at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email martijn.bosboom@perseusmining.com General Manager BD & IR: Andrew Grove at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email andrew.grove@perseusmining.com Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information: This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Edikan Gold Mine and the Sissingue Gold Mine without any major disruption, development of a mine at Yaoure, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. By Catherine Sas Q.C., Special to The Post On February 23, 2019, Canadas Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Ahmed Hussen announced that he would be launching two new 5-year Caregiver immigration pilot programs along with a new interim program for permanent residence for caregivers currently in Canada. This is welcome news for both aspiring caregivers abroad as well as for those currently in Canada. Canadas caregiver program can only be described as utterly confusing over the past five years. This announcement, while welcome, does not provide the much-needed clarity that our caregivers deserve. Lets try and understand the significance of these announcements and what it means for caregivers currently in Canada. First a bit of background: for many years, and up to November of 2014, Canada had the Live-in Caregiver program where caregivers would come to Canada to provide live-in care to families, whether for children or elderly family members. Prospective caregivers needed to have a minimum of one year of previous work experience as a caregiver or completion of a 6 month caregiver course, have the equivalent of a Canadian high school education and basic language proficiency (which was undefined) in order to qualify for a work permit under the program. Upon arrival in Canada, they were required to live in the homes of their employers and needed to complete a minimum of two years of full-time work as a caregiver before they could apply for both permanent residence from within Canada along with an open work permit. Once a caregiver obtained an open work permit, they were no longer required to reside with their employer. While this program worked well for many, there were notable incidents of abuse particularly because of the requirement that the caregiver live in the residence of their employer. In November of 2014 this program was terminated and two new 5-year pilots were introduced - the Caring for Children and the Caring for People with high medical needs pilot programs. These programs increased the both the educational and language requirements for obtaining permanent residence from within Canada after obtaining two years of work experience. They also terminated the need for caregivers to reside with their employers to be able to qualify for this program. However, overseas applicants for work permits were not assessed upon their ability to meet these new residency criteria and came to Canada on the work permits that they were issued thinking that, as in the past, after working in Canada for two years, they would be eligible to apply for permanent residence. Sadly, that was not the case and after working in Canada for two years, or often more, and being away from their families abroad, they were to learn that they were not eligible to apply for permanent residence. Recognizing the confusion about the two caregiver programs and the disconnect between the issuance of the work permit without assessment of the criteria for permanent residence, Minister Hussen has announced an interim pathway for caregivers currently in Canada with significantly reduced eligibility requirements. To be eligible for the Interim Pathway for Caregivers you must demonstrate the following: 12 months of Canadian work experience as a home childcare provider or home support worker or a mix of both obtained after November 30, 2014. Experience as a house keeper or foster parent doesnt count. Your work experience must have been gained while working on a work permit issued pursuant to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). (This means that you were issued a work permit abroad as a caregiver. It is not eligible to persons who may be in Canada on other types of work permits such as post graduation work permit). You must have either a Canadian high school diploma or a foreign education that is the equivalent of a Canadian high school diploma. (You must obtain an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to demonstrate this). You must demonstrate language proficiency in either English or French at a proficiency level of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 for each of the four proficiencies - reading, writing, speaking and listening. (You will need to have an approved language test to confirm your proficiency). The Interim Pathway for Caregivers Program is only in effect for a short time - March 4, 2019 to June 4, 2019. Prospective applicants need to act fast! Obtaining an ECA and an approved language test can take up to two or three months so you need to take immediate action if you intend to access this program! For information on how to obtain an ECA or an approved language test please see the following links: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/caregivers/interim-pathway/education-assessed.html https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/caregivers/interim-pathway/language-testing.html As for the two new 5 year pilot programs for future caregivers to Canada, you will need to stay tuned as the Minister has not provided the full details of these as of yet. His initial announcements indicate that his new pilot programs will replace the former programs and that they will allow caregivers to come to Canada with their families and with a path to permanent residence - both welcome improvements to the program. Hopefully Minister Hussen will provide the details of these new programs soon and with the necessary clarity that Canadas caregiver program deserves. Catherine Sas, Q.C. has over 25 years of legal experience. She provides a full range of immigration services and is a leading immigration practitioner (Lexpert, Whos Who Legal, Best Lawyers in Canada). Go to canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email [email protected]. English French MONTREAL, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier Inc. (Bombardier or the Corporation) today announced that it has successfully priced its previously announced offering of US$1,000 million aggregate principal amount, which has been upsized to US$2,000 million aggregate principal amount of new Senior Notes due April 15, 2027. The new Senior Notes will carry a coupon of 7.875% per annum and will be sold at 99.246% of par (the Notes). The issuance is expected to close on or about March 7, 2019, subject to customary closing conditions. The net proceeds of the offering are expected to be used to finance Bombardiers tender offers for (i) all of its outstanding 7 % Senior Notes due 2020 (2020 Notes), of which there is US$850 million aggregate principal amount outstanding on the date hereof, and (ii) for up to US$975 million aggregate purchase price of its outstanding 6% Senior Notes due 2021(the 6 Notes), of which there is 780 million aggregate principal amount outstanding on the date hereof, and 8.750% Senior Notes due 2021 (the 8.750 Notes, together with the 6 Notes, the 2021 Notes), of which there is US$1,400 million aggregate principal amount outstanding on the date hereof (collectively, the Tender Offers) and to pay related fees and expenses. To the extent that less than US$850 million aggregate principal amount of the 2020 Notes is tendered in the tender offer for the 2020 Notes, Bombardier intends to redeem all of its remaining outstanding 2020 Notes, using a portion of the net proceeds of the offering of Notes. Following such Tender Offers and redemption, and if less than US$975 million aggregate purchase price is tendered in the tender offer for the 2021 Notes, Bombardier intends to use the remaining net proceeds from the offering of Notes, if any, for general corporate purposes, including the repayment and/or retirement of other outstanding debt. Consummation of the offering of the Notes and the Tender Offers is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance that Bombardier will be able to successfully complete these transactions on the terms described above, or at all. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or buy or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, sale or purchase of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation, sale or purchase would be unlawful. The Notes mentioned herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, any state securities laws or the laws of any other jurisdiction, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The Notes mentioned herein may be offered and sold in the United States only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act and outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. The Notes mentioned herein have not been and will not be qualified for distribution to the public under applicable Canadian securities laws and, accordingly, any offer and sale of the securities in Canada will be made on a basis which is exempt from the prospectus requirements of such securities laws. The Notes will be offered and sold in Canada on a private placement basis only to accredited investors pursuant to certain prospectus exemptions. The Tender Offers mentioned herein will be conducted in accordance with the separate Offers to Purchase relating thereto. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements based on current expectations. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to important known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. For information Film career aside, what has really made Lupita capture our hearts is her impeccable sense of style. Red carpet after red carpet, Lupita never gets it wrong. Working alongside stylist Micaela Erlanger (who also styles Constance Wu, Shailene Woodley and Meryl Streep) Lupita has shown a fun and experimental side to fashion at some of the worlds biggest award ceremonies. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr View this post on Instagram A post shared by Micaela Erlanger (@micaela) on Feb 26, 2018 at 7:09am PST best-supporting actress View this post on Instagram A post shared by Micaela Erlanger (@micaela) on Jan 4, 2018 at 4:59pm PST View this post on Instagram A post shared by Micaela Erlanger (@micaela) on Feb 15, 2019 at 4:19pm PST View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on May 13, 2015 at 10:53am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on Sep 21, 2016 at 1:45pm PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on Jan 29, 2018 at 9:10pm PST View this post on Instagram A post shared by Micaela Erlanger (@micaela) on Mar 4, 2018 at 5:45pm PST View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on May 11, 2018 at 3:25pm PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Micaela Erlanger (@micaela) on Jan 6, 2019 at 5:52pm PST View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on Feb 24, 2019 at 6:45pm PST Image Credit: Paul Hudson via Flickr woah viel zu The duo enlisted the help of Matthew Molner, the producer behind Sunflower Beans debut album Human Ceremony in the making of these new tracks. In Zu Spat we fluctuate between yesterdays heyday and todays indifference, the lyrics expressing frustration at not being able to get it together and exasperation at the belated pleas of the tracks antagonist. In My Heads punk spirit still bursts through in patches, such as in the shouted ! before the song changes gear halfway through and in the distorted backing vocals accompanying the concluding chant of Alles! Alles! Alles! Allesspat (all too late). Overall, however, the duo leans in on the despondency that was latent in their debut to create an impression that rings in the ears long after one listen. Cardiff University has been criticised during an inquest for allegedly having a severely short-staffed counselling service and poor support for students with mental health issues, Wales Online reports. Two members of an LGBT group took their own lives in 2018, one of the students was Jack Liam May, aged 20, who died on 25 October. Photo: University of Cardiff by Jeremy Segrott CC BY 2.0 At his inquest on Wednesday 27 February, Mr May's friend Tomos Evans talked about the lack of help given by Cardiff Universitys counselling and wellbeing services. He said: "It's severely short-staffed and they don't have enough resources to accommodate students who have long-term mental health needs. "Some students have had to wait four hours to see someone, which is far too long." Mr Evans said he received his "main support" following Mr Mays death from the Students' Union. During the inquest at Pontypridd Coroners' Court, Assistant coroner Rachel Knight asked Mr Evans about the amount of contact time students have with their personal tutors. He said: "It's a minimum number of times. I think it's twice a term. Ms Knight also asked Mr Evans if he thought students identifying as LGBT were at higher risk of suffering from a mental illness. "I definitely think LGBT students are at a much higher risk of suffering depression and having mental health concerns, which is a by-product of having to come out and having to go through school being bullied," he said. Photo: LGBT+ flag by Peter Hershey via Unsplash.com After hearing evidence Ms Knight recorded a conclusion of suicide and in doing so she said: "Jack was clearly a loved son and friend to many. "It sounds like he was a lot of fun and was at the beginning of his adult life when he was tragically killed." Another Cardiff student also took their own life last year, Jacob Whelan, 20, was found dead in his bedroom not long after starting a gender transition. At his inquest Mr Whelan's friends noted his frustration at the wait time for appointments. The year before Mr Whelan's death, in 2017, transgender student Marty Draganova took his own life following a caffeine overdose. Responding to Mr May's inquest and death, Cardiff University spokesman told Wales Online: We were deeply saddened by this tragic event and our immediate thoughts and sympathies are with Jacks family and friends at this extremely difficult and emotionally challenging time. The wellbeing of our students is an absolute priority for the university and we do everything we can to ensure that we provide the best support for everyone. We offer a wide range of professional and confidential support through our counselling and wellbeing services to help students with emotional or psychological difficulties that they may be experiencing. This includes wellbeing and counselling appointments, interactive workshops, courses and groups. The university also maintains strong relationships with external third sector organisations and local NHS provision. All our students are allocated a personal tutor at the beginning of their programme and advised to meet regularly to discuss any difficulties that they may be experiencing. Personal tutors are able to listen, provide academic advice, and direct students to appropriate support and wellbeing services. Last summer Student Minds UK launched a research report which provided evidence to universities on the things they could do to improve support for LGBT+ students. Since that time we have worked in partnership with our LGBT+ students to use that evidence to change what we do. We have an active LGBT+ Society and the LGBT+ Association who work with the Students Union to improve the university experience of LGBT+ students. Cardiff University is a Stonewall Diversity Champion and was recently ranked 11th in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2019 the highest ranked university in the top 100. We are not complacent and continue to look at new ways in which we can improve our services and provide the best support for all our students. Chris Pine was an exchange student at the University of Leeds in 2001 and now theyre using his famous face to recruit new students. Most British universities have been around for over one hundred years or far longer, meaning theyve been home to thousands upon thousands of students. But have you ever stopped and wondered who else has sat in the same dusty lecture theatres as you or danced the night away at your SU? Photo: Empty lecture theatre by pexels It turns out theres a fair few celebs who probably have including American actor Chris Pine who surprisingly flew across for an exchange year at the University of Leeds in the early 00s. Even though he was only a student from 2001 to 2002 Leeds havent forgotten about him, in fact University bosses have decided to use his famous face to lure prospective students in. A flag bearing Chris face was spotted on campus last month by current Leeds student Holly Weaver. Alongside a red carpet photo of him, it lists Chris as a Leeds alumni "starring on the big screen" and details how he's "best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in the hit film Star Trek". Chris Pine came to my uni for 1 year as an exchange student and they are 100% capitalising on it I have to laugh pic.twitter.com/40n5VpLAwK holly weaver (@drivermiller) February 22, 2019 Speaking to The National Student, Holly said: Ive honestly always thought it was really cool that Chris Pine came to my uni, even though it was only for a year! "Surprising too, because I would assume that most Americans would want to flock to London, and obviously were pretty far up north here. I dont blame my uni for making the flag considering how hes probably the most famous name on the alumni list. Photo of Parkinson Building at University of Leeds by Chemical Engineer CC BY 4.0 According to the Yorkshire Post, Chris immersed himself in British uni culture, going to the SU bar for drinks after lectures, becoming acquainted with rollies and drinking Tetleys bitter. He's basically an honoury Yorkshireman now. Photo: Tetley's Bitter by Reedy CC SA 3.0 He also developed a new found love for the humble pasty - which is hardly surprising given Leeds is overrun with dozens of bakery chains from national favourite Greggs to Yorkshires pride and joy Cooplands. "I lived on late-night pasties. I still really don't understand bangers and mash for the life of me. But Tetley's bitter? Oh my God. I gained 10 pounds," Chris told the Yorkshire Post in 2009. "I was studying English Literature at Berkeley, California. You guys take the gap year, we study abroad in our junior year. I decided to go to England and ended up at Leeds. I lived at 79 Brudenell Road and had a wonderful time. I loved it. I loved it. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: Home Page TEL-AVIV, Israel, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gazit Globe (NYSE1/TASE: GZT), a leading global real estate company focused on the ownership, management and development of retail and mixed use properties in urban markets, announced today that Gazit Globe and its wholly-owned subsidiary ("Gazit" or the Company), entered into agreements related to its stake in First Capital Realty (TSX: FCR) ("FCR"), which are subject to certain conditions including the approval of the majority of FCRs shareholders excluding Gazit, to sell 58 million shares of FCR at a price of CAD $ 20.60 per share for aggregate consideration of approximately CAD $1.2 billion (approximately NIS 3.3 billion). If completed, Gazits ownership interest in FCR would be reduced from approximately 31.3% currently to approximately 9.9%. The prospective sales will be carried out via two, parallel transactions: (i) a direct buy-back by FCR of 36 million of the FCR shares held by Gazit; and (ii) a fully underwritten, bought, secondary offering in which an additional 22 million FCR shares held by Gazit will be offered to Canadian investors in a syndication led by RBC Capital Markets. Chaim Katzman, Founder and CEO Commented: This transaction is yet another important step in implementing Gazit Globes strategy, announced more than two years ago, to decrease our stake in mature public equity investments, reduce the companys leverage, and increase our direct real estate holdings while focusing on dominant assets in major urban markets where we can create value through proactive management. Following the sale, which is subject to certain conditions, including the approval by a majority of FCRs shareholders, excluding Gazit, the companys direct real estate holdings as a percentage of its total investments (based on September 30, 2018 results) is expected to reach 44%, compared to 20%2 at December 31, 2016, while the companys leverage (expanded solo) is expected to be reduced to below 45%. Following this sale, Gazit Globe will have completed two major strategic transactions in the last two years, in which the company will have divested of public equity investments for an aggregate consideration of approximately NIS 8 billion in cash with an annual levered IRR of approximately 20% in each. We are determined to continue to advance our strategy to increase our direct real estate holdings and are focused on North America, where we have decades of experience, a deep management team, and a thorough understanding of the real estate market. Simultaneously, we will continue our efforts to improve the quality of our direct investments in Brazil, and both improve the quality of and increase our direct investments in Israel. In Europe, meanwhile, our strategy will be to continue to enhance the quality of our assets through proactive management as well as through other initiatives. From Gazit's perspective, it is clear that this transaction, upon approval, will be a major milestone in the companys evolution, and is really a game changer for us. I'm convinced that once completed, Gazit will be successfully back to its roots as a direct real estate investor dedicated to acquiring irreplaceable assets, supported by a strong balance sheet with high liquidity, and led by a best in class, dedicated management team committed to creating value and delivering outsized returns for its investors." __________________________ 1 In February 13, 2019 Gazit Globe announced planned NYSE Delisting. 2 IRR calculation is based on management analysis of Gazits levered return on its investment. Buy-Back by FCR FCR will purchase from Gazit approximately 36 million shares (constituting 14.1% of FCRs issued and outstanding share capital) for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $742 million. The closing of the buy back under the buy-back transaction agreement is subject to certain conditions, including (i) the approval of the buy-back by a majority of FCRs shareholders, excluding Gazit, and (ii) the consummation of the pre-bought, underwritten offering (as described below). At the time of the signing of the buy-back agreement, FCR will pay Gazit CAD $3.0 million. This amount will be credited to the payment of the buy-back purchase price and will be retained by Gazit if the buy-back transaction is terminated in certain circumstances, including if FCR shareholders do not approve the buy-back transaction. Upon the closing of the buy-back transaction and for as long as the Company holds at least 5% of FCR's issued and outstanding share capital, Gazit will be entitled to nominate one director to FCRs board of directors as outlined in the transaction agreement. Bought, Fully Underwritten Offering Gazit has entered into an agreement to sell 22 million FCR shares, representing approximately 8.6% of FCRs issued and outstanding share capital, on a "bought deal" basis to a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets for gross proceeds to Gazit of approximately CAD $453 million. (The Bought Deal Consideration). The closing of the bought deal under the bought deal transaction agreement is subject to certain conditions, including the approval of the buy-back transaction by a majority of FCRs shareholders, excluding Gazit. The Bought Deal Consideration will be paid to the Company in two, equal installments, the first of which will be paid into escrow with a custodian upon the closing of the bought deal transaction (with release to Gazit upon closing of the buy-back transaction) and the second of which will be paid 12 months following the closing. All of the bought deal shares will be held by a custodian and will be registered in the name of the purchasers only upon the payment of the second installment. At closing, the shares will be pledged to Gazit to secure payment of the second installment. If the second installment is not fully paid to the Company, the bought deal shares of beneficial holders who fail to pay the final installment may (subject to certain restrictions) be returned to the Company, without refund by the Company of the first installment already paid for those shares in full satisfaction of the holders obligations or sold on behalf of Gazit, in which case such holder will be liable to Gazit to the extent the net proceeds of such sale are less than the outstanding second installment. Following the signing of the bought deal transaction, the Company will not be entitled to dividends with respect to the bought deal shares nor, following closing of the buy-back transaction, to voting rights with respect to the bought deal shares. FCR will pay half of RBC's underwriting commission for the bought deal. The bought deal transaction will be carried out under a prospectus to be filed by FCR with the closing expected to occur on or about April 11, 2019, subject to regulatory approvals. Additional Details of Transactions Following the buy back and the bought deal transaction, Gazit will own approximately 21.6 million common shares of FCR ("Remaining Shares"), which will represent approximately 9.9% of FCR's outstanding share capital and voting rights. The remaining FCR shares to be held by the Company following the transactions will be presented in the Companys financial statements as a financial asset, beginning as of the closing of the transactions. The Company and its subsidiary have undertaken that for a period of one year from the closing of the bought deal transaction, they will not enter into any sale transactions in respect of their holdings in FCR, subject to certain exceptions, without the approval of FCR and the underwriters during the first six months following such closing and without the approval of FCR during the second six months following such closing. In addition, FCR and FCRs directors have undertaken that for a period of 180 days from the bought deal transaction, they will not enter into any sale transactions in respect of their holdings in FCR, subject to certain exceptions, without the approval of the underwriters. Gazit acquired a controlling interest in FCR in 2000. Through proactive management, acquisitions, divestments and M&A deals, FCR became one of the largest owners, developers and operators of necessity-based real estate located in Canadas most densely populated urban centres, with a portfolio value of approximately CAD $10.5 billion and market capitalization of approximately CAD $5.5 billion. Upon completion on the transaction, Gazit Globe will have achieved an annual leveraged IRR3 of approximately 20% on its investment in FCR, which illustrates the value Gazit has generated for its investors over a period of almost two decades. Upon completion of the transaction, Gazit's leverage ratio (expanded solo) after expenses is expected to decrease to below 45%. Upon the closing of both transactions, the Company is expected to recognize a reduction in its shareholders equity by approximately NIS 510 million, which includes an expense of CAD $95 million (approximately NIS 264 million) for taxes (including a deferred tax liability of approximately CAD $26 million for Gazits remaining FCR shares) and CAD $88 million (approximately NIS 246 million) of transaction costs, including the offering discount to FCR and third parties, and offset from the realization of currency translation reserves of approximately NIS 90 million, which reduces the net loss to approximately NIS 420 million. Lazard acted as Gazit's financial advisor and McCarthy Tetrault LLP acted as Gazits legal advisor in the transaction. Chaim Katzman, Founder and CEO Added: Together with my partner, Dori Segal, we entered the Canadian market in the year 1998, acquiring our first asset for CAD $15 million. Today FCR is one of the largest owners, developers and operators of necessity-based urban real estate in Canada with asset value of more than CAD $10 billion led by high quality management team headed by Adam Paul. Over the last 19 years, FCR has delivered exceptional returns to all of its shareholders and we wish FCR and its management great success in the future." About Gazit Globe Gazit Globe is a leading global real estate company focused on the ownership, management and development of retail and mixed-use properties in North America, Brazil, Israel, northern, central and Eastern Europe, located in urban growth markets. Gazit Globe is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: GZT) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: GZT) and is included in the TA-35 index in Israel. As of September 30, 2018, Gazit Globe owns and operates 101 properties, with a gross leasable area of approximately 2.5 million square meters and a total value of approximately NIS 38.6 billion. _____________________ 3 IRR calculation is based on management analysis of Gazits levered return on its investment in FCR in NIS. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION A comprehensive copy of the Companys financial report is available on Gazit Globe website at www.gazitglobe.com Investors Contact: IR@gazitgroup.com , Media Contact: PR@gazitgroup.com Gazit Globe Headquarters, Tel-Aviv, Israel, Tel: +972 3 6948000 Cautionary Note Re: Forward-Looking Statements: This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements herein include those statements regarding Gazits ability to execute its operating plan and future financial performance and any other statements that are not statements of historical fact. These statements may be identified, without limitation, by the use of forward-looking terminology such as anticipates, expects, will or comparable terms or the negative thereof. Such statements are based on managements current estimates, assumptions that management believes to be reasonable, and currently available competitive, financial, and economic data as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of events, factors and conditions, many of which are beyond the control of Gazit and not all of which are known to Gazit, including, without limitation, Gazits ability to realize anticipated cost savings from its delisting and deregistration, its ability to timely and effectively implement its delisting and deregistration, adverse effects on share price and liquidity following Gazits deregistration, as well as more general business and financial risks such as those risk factors described from time to time in Gazits reports filed with or furnished to the SEC, ISA and TASE. Investors should keep in mind that Gazits financial results in any particular period may not be indicative of future results. Gazit is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise, except as required by law. Woodhaven officials have tried to address the problem of delayed traffic due to trains blocking the Van Horn intersection for years. Now that a special election will be held May 7 asking residents to approve a millage to construct an overpass at the Van Horn railroad crossing, city officials want to start providing residents with as much information as possible. The overpass would be on Van Horn, between I-75 and just went of Allen. The following are questions and answers provided by city officials to help give insight into the overpass and proposal. Q: Has the city of Woodhaven attempted to secure funding elsewhere before coming to the voters? A: Yes. The city has applied for four grants from the federal government. We have also asked for funds from the state of Michigan, as well as Wayne County, to help assist in completing the project. We have worked with the railroad and secured $500,000 in funding. We currently have a grant in the amount of $9 million earmarked for this project that will expire in September if the funds are not applied. Q: Has the city reached out to the local communities to assist in the funding of the overpass? A: Yes. It is not a viable option, but it is certainly one that has been explored multiple times. Q: Why is this proposal being placed on the ballot now? A: Should we not secure the funding for this project this year, we could lose the $9.8 million in grant money that has been earmarked for the grade separation. These monies could be allocated to another project in the Metropolitan Detroit area. Q: Will all property owners in the city pay the millage increase? A: Yes. Residents, commercial and industrial property owners will pay the millage increase. Q: When would this project start? A: The project would start in the spring of 2020. Q: If approved, when will the first increase take effect? Will the increase be placed on the summer or winter tax bill? A: The first increase would appear in the summer of 2020. The city charter requires that the increase be placed on the summer tax bill. Q: What guarantee do I have that these funds will be used for the railroad overpass on Van Horn Road? A: By federal and state laws, the millage funds must be dedicated and utilized specifically to the scope of the project, as defined in the ballot question. The funds are also required to be recorded in a separate construction fund. The citys auditors, as part of the citys annual audit, will verify and report on the use of these funds. Q: Why was Van Horn Road chosen for the overpass? A: We looked at placing a grade separation on Allen Road. It was determined that an overpass would not be an option due to having businesses located where the overpass would be built. The cost to buy out these businesses would be cost prohibited. We then looked at an overpass at Allen Road. Due to a large amount underground utilities, including a water main that supplies seven communities south of Woodhaven, the cost would be approximately $35 million. RTHK: US vows to defend Philippines in China-claimed sea US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against "armed attack" in the disputed South China Sea in Washington's starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's building of artificial islands in waters also claimed by Manila and other neighbours were potential threats to the two allies. "China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States," he said at a joint news conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack of Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty." Pompeo's comments marked the first time any US official had publicly stated Washington's intent to defend its ally in the flashpoint sea. Senior Duterte officials have called for a review of the mutual defence pact with the US because they were unsure whether it applied to the South China Sea row. Philippine troops, as well as fishermen, have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces around some of the islands and reefs occupied by Filipino troops. The Philippines was previously one of the staunchest critics to China's island-building and militarisation of the islands. But Duterte put the dispute on the back burner when he was elected president in 2016 in favour of chasing Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore". Relations are being rebuilt under US President Donald Trump, who has hailed Duterte's actions including a drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives as a sign of toughness. Foreign Secretary Locsin on Friday downplayed his government's suggestions for a review of the US defence pact, saying in its "vagueness lies the best deterrence". "They (US forces) will respond depending on the circumstances but we are very assured, we are very confident that United States has, in the words of Secretary Pompeo and words of President Trump to our president: we have your back," Locsin said. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Immigrant Asian American women may be at higher risk for breast cancer Overall, breast cancer rates in the United States have stabilized since the 2000s. But according to the results of a new study led by a researcher from the University of California, Riverside, a subset of women living in the U.S. may be at higher risk for breast cancer than previously observed. The study, published earlier this month in the medical journal Preventing Chronic Disease, identified differences in how Asian American women experience breast cancer risk. More specifically, it found that Asian American women who had immigrated had significantly higher risk for breast cancer than their U.S.-born counterparts. Brittany N. Morey, a postdoctoral fellow in UC Riverside's School of Public Policy and one of the study's co-authors, said the findings are surprising because they run counter to established research that associated lower breast cancer risk with racial/ethnic minority populations born outside the U.S., including Asian American women. According to the researchers, immigration patterns could have something to do with the phenomenon. The U.S.'s current immigration climate favors highly skilled Asian immigrants "who perhaps have a higher socioeconomic status than previous immigrant groups" arriving in the country, the researchers wrote. Prior research, meanwhile, has linked high socioeconomic status with increased risk for breast cancer in numerous populations; thus, the higher-socioeconomic-status Asian Americans who have immigrated to the U.S. in recent years could be arriving "with higher risk for latent breast cancer than previous immigrant cohorts," the researchers explained. To tease out some of the nuances surrounding breast cancer risk and nativity, Morey and her co-authors collected data from 570 Asian American women living in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to the highest concentration of Asian Americans in the U.S. outside Hawai'i. From that 570-person set, 132 women had breast cancer and 438 did not. The researchers separated the women in their sample into three groups: U.S.-born, immigrants who had lived 50 percent or more of their lives in the U.S., and immigrants who had lived less than 50 percent of their lives in the U.S. After comparing the women's cancer rates, Morey and her co-authors discovered that both categories of Asian American women who had immigrated had noticeably higher risk for breast cancer than their U.S.-born counterparts. In particular, immigrant Asian American women who had lived in the U.S. for more than 50 percent of their lives were three times as likely to have breast cancer. Those who had lived in the U.S. for less than 50 percent of their lives were only slightly less likely -- 2.46 times, to be exact. "Other findings in our study coincide with previous findings on breast cancer among Asian American women," the researchers wrote. For example, they observed higher risk for breast cancer among women of higher socioeconomic status; among women who had given birth to a first child over the age of 35; and among women who had a family history of breast cancer. Morey said the study should be viewed as preliminary evidence of breast cancer's greater risk to immigrant Asian American women, although further research is needed to clarify its results. It also underscores the need for clinicians who serve immigrant Asian American women to be especially prepared to address their higher breast cancer risk through preventative interventions, among other forms of treatment. "With groups as diverse as Asian Americans, it is important for future research to examine the differences in breast cancer risk that exist by nativity and national origin," Morey said. "Furthermore, this diversity means that clinicians who detect and treat breast cancer should be prepared to offer in-language services and culturally sensitive care to their Asian American patients, especially as breast cancer risk in this group is on the rise." ### In addition to Morey, the study's co-authors include Gilbert C. Gee and Ondine S. von Ehrenstein of UCLA; Salma Shariff-Marco, Alison J. Canchola, Juan Yang, Laura Allen, and Scarlett Lin Gomez of UCSF and the Cancer Prevention Institute of California; Sandra S-J. Lee of Stanford University; Roxanna Bautista of Rise Up Solutions; Trish La Chica of the Hawai'i Public Health Institute; Winston Tseng of UC Berkeley; and Pancho Chang of Ravenswood Family Health Center. This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. 1 March 2019: Borregaard ASA ("Borregaard", OSE ticker: BRG) Borregaard intends to repurchase up to 300,000 shares of its outstanding common stock. The shares will be used for employee incentive programmes. Borregaard's Board of Directors was given authority by the shareholders at the Ordinary General Meeting held on 12 April 2018 to repurchase up to ten percent of the outstanding shares. According to the proxy, the highest price to be paid is NOK 250.00 per share. The repurchase of shares will be conducted in a period from 4th March up to and including 2nd April 2019 at the latest. The maximum daily volume to be purchased during the above-mentioned period is 32,000 shares. This limit corresponds to 25% of the average daily turnover in February 2019. All shares will be purchased in a regulated market. Borregaard has appointed ABG Sundal Collier to carry out the repurchase programme according to the rules and regulations of Oslo Brs (see Circular No. 2/2008). Contact: Lotte Kvinlaug, Investor Relations Officer, +47 922 86 909 By Tommy ODonnell odonnel@grinnell.edu Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach is providing free tax preparation assistance for low- to moderate-income families in Poweshiek County next month. The program, run by IRS-certified volunteers, helps families to file both federal and state tax returns. [Professor Emeritus] Emily Moore, [math], helps us with our volunteers. We have nine volunteers of all different backgrounds that help us, so that is what helps us a lot with this program, said Catherine Lents, Executive Director of the Poweshiek County Extension. Since the program is in place to support families who cannot afford the costs of conventional tax preparation services, qualifying families must have a household income below $55,000. Its to help those people so they dont have to pay a big expense to a tax preparer, said Lents. They dont have to pay that cost of the tax preparer and we have very qualified people because that can cost over $100 for some people so we are cutting the cost right there. By keeping the service free, low- to moderate-income families are not only benefitting from cutting out the costs of a tax preparer, but are also often receiving large tax returns that they would not have been able to receive without the tax assistance program. Certain returns, such as farm and rental income, cannot be filed by the assistance program. However, Lents is happy to point those people in the right direction. If were not able to do their tax preparation we try to send them to the right person to help them. So we do give some input in helping those families. The program had formerly been run by MICA (Mid-Iowa Community Action), but after being dropped for a year, the ISU extension picked it up. It has now been running for three years, funded through a generous grant from the IRS and continues to be a popular resource across the State. Its very popular. In Des Moines and Iowa City they go a longer period of time. We go six weeks just because of our volunteer base, I dont want to burn them out but its very, very popular all over, said Lents. For anyone interested in learning more about the tax assistance program, Lents added, they can contact myself or Emily [Moore]; shes really accessible as shes with the College They could just make a phone call or email one of us. Wed be glad to help them. The tax assistance program runs at Drake Community Library every Saturday 9:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. until March 9, and every Wednesday 4:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. until March 13. By Zoe Fruchter & Eva Hill fruchter@grinnell.edu & hilleva@grinnell.edu In 1990, Grinnell College student Guy Potter 92 and his fellow residents of Green House, an environmental co-op house on East Street, dressed up for a party. They covered their bodies in green body paint and wore green clothing. They also took several photos to commemorate the event, which ended up in the 1992 Cyclone yearbook. In the pictures, the young Grinnellians mug for the camera with big smiles and long hair reflective of the early 90s. However, the Cyclone was printed in black and white and, as a result, the Green House photo looks a lot like blackface. It had my friends in it thats the one I chose to submit to the yearbook, said Potter, now a psychiatrist at Duke University. In an email to The S&B, Potter wrote, I am profoundly sorry that the photo exists in the yearbook, regardless of context or intent, and I apologize to anyone who has seen it and been hurt by the perception that it represents blackface. I had no thoughts when I submitted the photo of how it might appear post-production, and it would be right to assert that even this freedom from the need to recognize or foresee is a form of privilege that needs to change, Potter wrote. The photo recently garnered attention when Ellen McCally, a member of Green House, posted the photo in Everyday Class Notes, a Facebook page for Grinnell Alumni to share college memories. Recently, yearbook photos of students in blackface have featured prominently in national news. First Ralph Northam, governor of Virginia, and then State Attorney General Mark Herring, also of Virginia, admitted to wearing blackface at college events. Following these admissions, many similar photos from various institutions yearbooks began surfacing in social and news media, and Grinnell College was no different. One photo printed in the 1993 Cyclone depicts a Halloween party at the Harris Center, captioned The Three Bucks: Buck Wheat, Buck Naked and Buck Rogers, and shows a white student in blackface and overalls, likely impersonating Eddie Murphys Saturday Night Live caricature of the as-named character in the 1930s Little Rascals short films. However, as has been seen in the past month, photos of this type may do harm to public figures reputations, but they have not caused a legitimate reckoning of the structural racism that persists in our country. Northam shows no sign of stepping down from his post as governor since his yearbook photo surfaced on the first day of February, Black History Month. The publication of these photos in the ultimate form of institutional memorabilia clearly shows the form of insidious, passive racism that continues to exist. The S&B reached out to the editors of the 1992 and 1993 yearbooks for comment, but has received no response as yet. Jen Jacobsen 95, director of wellness and prevention at the College, was a student at Grinnell at the time the Three Bucks photo was taken. Of the Facebook posts unearthing blackface in Cyclone yearbooks, she said, Many of white students commenting on the photo seem to have realized that Grinnell was no better than anywhere else. Grinnell College prides itself on its strong commitment to social justice and inclusivity, but racism has always been an issue on campus. Because of the generosity of classmates and other alumni of color who commented on the thread, I think many of us white alumni have a newer realization about how many of our classmates of color felt gaslighted about expressing concerns about racism while they were at Grinnell and how this event was only one very visible instance of daily racism they faced, Jacobsen said. College alumna Rhonda Stuart 86 remembered a campus with 60 Black students out of 1,200 and an office of diversity that she characterized as always in transition. There was nobody to complain to when there were problems, said Stuart. I remember one of my professors would always come up to me and ask me where the other Black students were in class, like we all knew each other, and they didnt seem to think anything was wrong with it. I knew people who graduated who couldnt get any advisor to write them a recommendation, I know the Black English majors I knew felt like the department was openly hostile to them. Jacobsen, on changes in responses to bias-motivated incidents on campus, said that not only does racism still exist on campus, but that our students of color feel it goes unseen by white students, staff, and faculty. She said that she has seen a positive change in priorities of the college and staffing of our Chief Diversity Officer position since her time as a student at Grinnell. Erik Henderson 19 researched the history black student life at Grinnell as a part of his summer job at the College Librarys Archives and Special Collections. He said that while student life is portrayed differently in yearbooks than in other forms of institutional memorabilia, he doesnt think that such a photo would appear in yearbooks today. Especially at Grinnell, I think we have a collective understanding that were at a certain point, and we dont want people to be disrespected, and we have a collective mindset that we wont tolerate that [blackface] here. Elsewhere in the country, you may come across that not even may, you definitely will come across that. Henderson said that the Black Cultural Center archives contain Concerned Black Student (CBS) yearbooks, which contain records of activities of the organization and its members throughout the years a different institutional memory. By Daniel Rosenbloom rosenblo@grinnell.edu In a campus memo dated Feb. 14, the Grinnell College board of trustees announced it will renew President Raynard Kingtons contract for another three years. Patricia Finkelman 80, chair of the board of trustees, said that the board has been overwhelmingly pleased with his performance and that they never considered seeking out someone else. Finkelman said that Kingtons achievements during his tenure were too numerous to mention, but pointed to improvements in the Careers, Life, and Service Center, the creation of the Global Learning Program and the nearly $140 million investment in campus renewal as major positive changes which occurred under his leadership. In recounting his experience as president, Kington said that he wasnt sure he would be here for the full nine years. I didnt do anything by myself, he said. However, he stated that he believed that he has helped the College regarding diversity and achieving the Colleges mission. Kington also said that the College has more clearly fleshed out its vision of where it stands in relation to the community. He stated that Grinnells unique location offers an opportunity to bridge the gap between the two worlds of academia and rural America. Theres never been a more important time for colleges like Grinnell to be where they are, Kington said. Although Kington is proud of the progress that has been made, he remains concerned about a number of issues facing the college. He suggested that a lot more could be done to create a level playing field for underprivileged students coming into Grinnell. He also expressed concern that the campus environment sometimes fails to embrace diverse views. He said that while colleges have an obligation to make students feel comfortable enough to learn, an environment where students are never faced with uncomfortable circumstances inhibits their ability to grow. Kington also said the way that social justice is currently discussed at the College as problematic. He said that as part of a general trend occurring in colleges across the country, the campus environment has fallen victim to a mindset that prioritizes seeking conflict with those who are deemed to be unjust over introspection. He suggested that the line between good and evil is less clear than we make it out to be and advocated for social justice of a more conciliatory nature. Kington also said that higher education must confront the issues of rising tuition costs, as well as a K-12 education system that is largely failing underprivileged students who face an uphill battle when they matriculate to schools that are wholly unprepared to accept them and help them make the transition. On an administrative level, Kington said that he has played a role in guiding the College towards progress on many of these problems. He cited the admission of last years class, which was the most diverse in College history, and mentioned efforts to create an environment where the College is able to more readily accept underprivileged students. Kington also stated that he believes that college presidents can do more beyond the administrative level in working towards confronting these issues. He describes a paradigm shift where college presidents, formerly seen as public intellectuals that engaged in public discourse, have every incentive not to say anything of meaning ever in the context of a heavily polarized society. Kington, who has developed a reputation for being outspoken, sees himself as a member of the small group of presidents still willing to engage with society. Over the next three years, Kington intends to focus on completing the humanities and social sciences building, strengthening financial and other critical services for students and consolidating investments towards diversity. He said that he hopes that the impact he leaves on the college when he departs his position has been felt not in a sense of buildings and endowments, although that is important, but in how the College influences peoples lives. By Elizabeth Wong wongeliz@grinnell.edu Charlotte Richardson-Deppe 19s new Smith Gallery exhibit, Attachments, features metal and fiber structures that hang from the walls and ceiling of the Gallery. The structures are composed of red and white cloth stretched to join the metal frames by hand stitching. Nothing touches the floor. The south wall of the gallery contains text summarizing the exhibition: a representation on the nature of attachments and their implications. Richardson-Deppe explores the relationships between different kinds of attachments through a language of metal and cloth she made herself. Everything is interconnected. Without the metal, the cloth wouldnt have any form. Without the cloth, the metal wouldnt have any color They need to be attached to one another to survive and exist, said Richardson-Deppe. The three main inspirations for Richardson-Deppes exhibit are Lauren Berlants 2011 book Cruel Optimism about unachievable desires, artist Sara Cwynars video collages and Maggie Nelsons 2015 genre-defying memoir, The Argonauts. Together, these texts helped Richardson-Deppe arrive not at a concept, but at a form. Attachments is a formal composition that Richardson-Deppe created not through planning, but by letting the work develop naturally. I let the material and the process guild me. I made the sculptures before I thought about the concept these theories are what fed the concept behind [Attachments], Richardson-Deppe said. Richardson said that, according to Berlant, all attachments are optimistic: Whenever you attach on to something, you project your own desires and needs onto the thing youre attaching to. Through different material attachments represented in the gallery, Richardson-Deppe explores relationships between different kinds of attachments, the inevitability of attachments and what makes attachments good or bad. Attachments are not necessarily bad if what youre projecting onto them matches what they can give you, Richardson-Deppe said. [And] according to Maggie Nelson, no one can be independent. The thing that makes independence possible is actually reliance [your attachments] are what make you able to have autonomy. To create the show, Richardson-Deppe drew out the rectangular frames and planned their placement. Then, she made the rectangles out of one-eighth of an inch to one-half of an inch of steel and covered the shapes with cloth. All objects must abide by her system of attachments. In my language, everything is as close to a right angle as it can be. Everything is only red and white. Everything is only rectangles. Everything is hung, Richardson-Deppe said. Attachments is Richardson-Deppes first solo show at the College. As a junior, she created a joint show, Shelf Life, with Anne Rogers 19. Before college, she didnt make any visual art and thought she would study English or GWSS in college and, even as a studio art major, Richard-Deppe said she is still discovering new dimensions to her artistic practice. Metalworking was introduced to her through an art class in her third year. After interning at a weaving studio and holding residency at a museum in New York city last summer, Richardson-Deppe hopes to go back east and apply for residencies, internships and jobs in the art world. She is also considering applying for a ninth semester in the art department at the College or getting a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture. But even though the future might be uncertain, a constant is that art will feature prominently. By Jackson Schulte schultej@grinnell.edu On Feb. 28, three novelists, Lan Samantha Chang, Christopher Castellani and Margot Livesey, gave roundtable discussions and lectures at the College on the topic of the craft of fiction. At the roundtable, the writers spoke in depth about their writing process and recent work. The roundtable took a unique format in which Dean Bakopoulos, English, hosted a recorded live panel that will be turned into a podcast in the coming weeks. The writers discussed the most frequent advice they give their creative writing students. Castellani discussed the merit he has found in writing without hesitating or going back to revise, at least at first. Livesy related an anecdote involving a Ph.D. student in rhetoric who studied her fiction writing process. his student noticed that she had been fixing small mistakes rather than developing the narrative. The discussion also evaluated the use of historical research in fiction, which Castellani had to do extensively in order to write his new novel, Leading Men. Castellanis novel is a fictionalized account of Tennessee Williams and his partner of fifteen years, Frank Merlot. Castellanis initial interest was due to his identification with Merlot, as both men come from working class Italian-American families on the East Coast. Writers are notoriously scavengers. Well take inspiration from whatever we can and apply it to our purposes, Castellani said. Part of it is recognizing what youre inspired by and taking it for your own work. Chang described how historical fiction, for her, serves as an escape. She wrote a book called Inheritance, about the secret lives of her Chinese immigrant parents. Livesy said writing what she knows, didnt seem as exciting. I didnt know that much, she said, and I loved doing research. When the discussion opened up to audience members, the first questioner asked the authors how they know when their work is bad. Sometimes I look at [my work] and think, This is pretentious drivel, said Chang. Castellani said he feels that his work is bad every single day. Regardless of this feeling, however, he keeps going: The thing that keeps pulling me back is the one that should be written. Im always looking at that place in between my private interests and what could be publicly interesting, Livesy said. Castellani also offered his own insight on the nature of authorship in writing historical fiction. In the phrase historical fiction, the noun always trumps the adjective, Castellani said. The fiction is always the most important part. Its ultimately an interpretation. You should be judged on the coherence, the originality, the uniqueness, the vividness of that portrayal. By Ingrid Meulemann meuleman@grinnell.edu Reflecting upon how her career as an academic affected her style, Professor Katya Gibel-Mevorach, anthropology, likened teaching to being an entertainer. Having been a student and a young person, I am fully aware of the fact that when we stand in front of a classroom we are being looked at. I am aware that when I come to campus, I am going to be the subject of scrutiny. Not only with what I say and how I say it, but also with how Im packaged that day, she said. In an effort to expel the superficial, many people tend to associate the rejection of a persons appearance with moral superiority. As a result, an interest in style or clothing is often dismissed as vanity or frivolity. Theres this notion that fashion shouldnt matter in the context of Grinnell, said Professor Fredo Rivera, art history. While exterior appearance should not be used as a judgment of a person, the dismissal and rejection of fashion can deny personal style the right to be a legitimate form of self-expression or an interest separate from the world of academia and other serious intellectual work. Professor Johanna Meehan, philosophy, admitted that she was hesitant to participate in an article that would focus on her physical appearance. She worried of harming her academic reputation by talking about or revealing interest in something so often seen as inconsequential. If you spend a lot of time in your life fighting to be taken seriously, then doing something that you think might undermine that doesnt seem like a good idea, she said. Gibel-Mevorach, Rivera and Meehan all said that the physical double standards that surround minority groups in both social settings and the workplace. In many ways, fashion is about performance and expression. How you put yourself out there can have an impact in how people read you. I think this is particularly significant for people of color, lower income people and women, especially in academia, Rivera said. Meehan said that her subject of expertise, philosophy, also separates the ideas of fashion and appearance from knowledge or achievement. When I teach Plato, he has a whole rant about clothing and jewelry and particularly sandals, and I have to present this to my students as sort of a rejection of the body, a rejection of subjectivity. There is not just a social association of fashion with the superficial but a long tradition of the philosophical rejection of the body and the realm of appearance that one must turn ones back on to enjoy the pleasure of clothing, she said. However, intellect and style do not necessarily need to be thought of as unconnected entities. Rivera reflected upon the existence of fashion as it relates to personal notions of expression and individuality. Theres ways you could sort of think about fashion in relation to the decisions we make as consumers in a capitalist society, but you could also think beyond the context of capitalism as forms of personal expression that mean different things to different people, he said. Additionally, within the context of creating a sense of identity, or at least a tangible expression of identity, through clothing, the potential for deeper questions regarding social justice arise. Theres also way you can approach fashion with a more serious approach that brings up questions of social justice drag as a form of politics, or queer expression as a form of fashion. I think theres a need for fashion to remain sort of playful and maybe to some extent subversive. You can think of it in a serious academic way and you can think of it in a playful way. Theyre not mutually exclusive, Rivera said. To strike this balance, Rivera gravitates to clothing and jewelry that not only bring him joy but also are meaningful to him. He describes his style as tropical exuberance and draws inspiration from the colors of his hometown, Miami, as well as his travels. My fashion is as much inspired by where Im from as where Ive been, he said. Gibel-Mevorach, who teaches an anthropology course exploring the cultural politics of fashion, summarized her personal fashion style simply. Everything I wear is black, she said. For Meehan, style is something equally personal. Meehan described her style as something not necessarily based on fashion but driven by a desire to wear clothing that I find beautiful in some way. Meehan said her mother inspires her fashion sense. My mother was a very serious person, very dedicated to social justice. She was a criminal defense lawyer, but she was very interested in fashion. My sense of the importance of fashion definitely comes very much from her, she said. Wherever they fall on the line between fashion and frivolity, though, all these professors view personal style as a powerful way to express themselves. I certainly take great pleasure in clothing that I think is beautiful, so thats certainly an element of it. But years ago, when I was in college, a friend and I decided that you should look your best on your worst days because you cant control all the bad things that are likely to happen on any given day, but being put together is kind of an armor in the face of it all, Meehan said. Dublin, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The 2019 Web Globalization Report Card" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Web and mobile globalization is complicated. You must navigate countries, cultures, content and, in many cases, must coordinate among central and remote offices to ensure everything works smoothly. For more than 15 years, The Web Globalization Report Card has been the "secret weapon" for global organizations, answering questions such as: What languages must we support? What languages are most popular on the internet? What emerging trends in localization should we be aware of? What do we need to know about China compliance and our website? Why are flags such a danger to use on websites? Who is doing the best job of localizing models? How do we build a truly user-friendly global gateway? How is our global website doing compared with our competitors-and why? What common mistakes are companies making with their websites? How do we design a website to best manage diverse brands and diverse locales? Learn best practices and emerging trends This report, now in its 15th edition, answers these questions and many more. You'll learn which companies have improved their global and mobile websites - and why. Through website profiles, loaded with screenshots, you'll learn which practices to emulate and, of equal importance, which to avoid. More than a dozen industry sectors are profiled, with key web localization developments and best practices highlighted with visuals. 150 global websites benchmarked This year, like years before, the publisher benchmarked 150 websites across more than a dozen industry categories. These websites comprise 80% of the companies on the Interbrand Best Global Brands 2018 list and more than 30% of the Fortune 100, ensuring a broad reach of the leading global brands and businesses. How to use the Web Globalization Report Card Never before have companies been expected to support so much content across so many languages and across so many devices. And while this continues to be a very exciting time to be involved in web globalization, it's also quite challenging. This report serves two purposes. First, it calls attention to those websites that have excelled in the practice of web globalization. The companies that have made the top 25 did not get there by chance. The people who have helped raise their websites onto the top 25 list deserve recognition for helping their companies communicate effectively with the world, regardless of language, culture, or geography. Second, this report identifies emerging trends (both positive and negative) to help you avoid the painful missteps that others have already taken. This report is designed to help you guide your web, marketing, content, mobile and local teams to positive, efficient action. The Top 25 Global Websites Joining Wikipedia on the list of the top 25 websites are regulars such as Google, NIVEA, Adobe, and Philips. New to the list this year are Uber, Volvo, and Emirates. The teams behind the websites featured in the top 25 all deserve a round of virtual applause. The researchers know how difficult it can be to build the case for supporting languages -- and how one must continually battle to support usability for all users, not just those who speak the dominant languages of the executive team. A few key findings from the report: Actions speak louder than words. Despite all the talk of walls and Brexit, companies continue to expand their global reach. The average number of languages supported by the leading global brands is now 32 languages-more than double the number of languages from a decade ago. There's a good reason Google ran an ad for Google Translate during the Super Bowl. The internet may connect computers but language connects people. Google Translate supports more than 100 languages and acts as a linguistic front end for many websites. Uber is on a language-expansion streak. It added 11 languages over the past two years and now supports 46 languages. Volvo finished as the highest-scoring automotive website. The average number of languages supported by the companies on this list exceeds 60. Topics Covered Web globalization marches on The top 25 global websites Part I: Notable Trends & Best Practices The website is alive and well Notable website redesigns Holistic localization Scenario-based localization The ideal global gateway location: Header or footer? For more than a billion people, this is a limited resource Thinking lite The early leader in the India localization race China compliance tips Of regions and countries What do desktop websites get that mobile websites lack? Global gateway tips The problem with infinite scroll designs The problem with luxury websites Voice UI: Speaking in tongues when going global Don't put your foot in it Localizing your website, one photograph at a time The ultimate global icon Geolocation best practices Local payment platforms The problem with social platform home pages Part II: Language Leaders and Trends The average number of languages your website should support The 100-language club Language leaders Language expansion: 2008 to today Website globalization is a journey without end Websites gaining languages Language totals for all websites Most popular languages What are the global languages? Part III: The Websites and How They Were Scored How websites were selected The websites Scoring methodology Global Reach Global Navigation Global/Mobile Architecture Localization & Social Methodology FAQ What do the scores mean? Part IV: Website Scores All website scores Global navigation leaders Most global companies use country codes Why you should use the globe icon It's time to stop using flags Geolocation is a proven web localization solution Geolocation Leaders in global consistency Part V: Website Highlights by Industry Industry leaders Automotive Consumer Goods Consumer Technology Diversified Enterprise Technology Financial Services Luxury Media Nonprofit/Community Professional Services Retail Travel & Hospitality Web Services Conclusion Globalization Terminology Companies Mentioned 3M ABB Accenture Adidas Adobe Airbnb Alibaba Allianz Amazon American Airlines American Express Apple Audi Autodesk Avis Avon Axa Bayer BBC BMW Booking.com British Airways Burberry Canon Capgemini Cartier Caterpillar Chevrolet Cisco Systems Citibank Coca-Cola Costco Dell Deloitte Delta DHL Disney Dyson eBay Eli Lilly Emirates Enterprise Ernst & Young Expedia Facebook FedEx Ford Four Seasons GE Gillette GoDaddy Goldman Sachs Google Gucci H&M Heineken Herms Hertz Hilton Hitachi Honda Honeywell Hotels.com HP HP Enterprise HSBC Huawei Hyatt Hyundai IBM IKEA Intel InterContinental Hotels J&J Jack Daniel's Jehovah's Witnesses John Deere Kayak KLM KPMG Land Rover LEGO Lenovo Lexus LG Loral Louis Vuitton LUSH Marriott MasterCard McDonald's Mercedes Merck Michelin Microsoft Mini Mitsubishi Electric Mont Blanc MUJI Nestl Netflix Nike Nikon Nintendo Nissan NIVEA Oracle Pampers Panasonic PayPal Pepsi Pfizer Philips Procter & Gamble PWC Roku Rolex Royal Caribbean Salesforce Samsung Sanofi SAP Siemens Sony Spotify Starbucks Steelcase Subaru Tesla Texas Instruments The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Thomson Reuters Tiffany Toshiba Toyota TripAdvisor Trivago Twitter Uber United Airlines UPS Visa Volkswagen Volvo Cars Walmart Western Union Wikipedia Xerox Xiaomi Zara For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f8lf7d/the_2019_web?w=12 By Katherine Moody moodykat@grinnell.edu On Feb. 1, Denvers Elections Division announced that the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Decriminalization Initiative had garnered enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot on May 7, 2019. Denver voters will get to decide whether to make personal use and personal possession of psilocybin mushrooms by persons twenty-one (21) years of age and older the citys lowest law-enforcement priority. The initiative would still leave delivery of psilocybin a crime. Psilocybin, a hallucinogen found in certain types of mushrooms, is currently classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. This means the federal government views the drug as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. While Denver could be the first U.S city to decriminalize psilocybin, there are organizations in other cities and states with similar ambitions, most notably the 2020 Psilocybin Service Initiative in Oregon. In contrast to Denvers initiative, the Oregon initiative would establish a regulatory framework that would allow licensed providers to administer psilocybin to individuals of at least 21 years of age who have obtained medical clearance from a doctor. While the two initiatives are different in application and scope, activists in Oregon and Denver point to the same research to make their case that psilocybin is safe and has therapeutic benefits. While research on the safety and therapeutic potential of psilocybin does exist, and is indeed very promising, advocates for psilocybin legalization tend to speak about the body of evidence as larger than it is. A 2017 article published in The Mental Health Clinician reviewed existing studies and noted that while a large-population study found no evidence of a connection between psychedelic use and mental health problems, most studies demonstrating the efficacy of psilocybin as a therapeutic treatment have had smaller sample sizes. The article notes that the lack of research results from the adoption of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, which prevented researchers from studying hallucinogens until 1992, when the National Institute on Drug Abuse partnered with an advisory committee from the Food and Drug Administration to allow new research of psychedelics. In October 2018, COMPASS Pathways announced in a press release that it had been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for its psilocybin therapy for treatment resistant depression. The company explained that the Food and Drug Administration designates a drug as a Breakthrough Therapy if preliminary clinical evidence shows that it may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapy. According to the FDAs website, a Breakthrough Therapy designation is intended to expedite the development and review of drugs for serious and life-threatening conditions. A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins recently announced that if psilocybin is approved as a medicine, evidence suggests it should be moved to Schedule IV of the CSA. So does this preliminary evidence serve as adequate justification for decriminalization or legalization of psilocybin? Advocates believe so, but I think both the Denver initiative and the proposed Oregon initiative have issues, which their proponents have not effectively addressed. Advocates in Denver maintain that decriminalizing personal use of psilocybin will allow people struggling with issues like addiction, anxiety and depression to treat themselves. But self-medication is always a risky business, and as Dr. George Greer, president of the Heffter Research Institute, points out in a recent CNN article, the problem with the mushroom when used for treatment is that the dose can vary widely and unpredictably. The integrated therapeutic model of the Oregon initiative would address these concerns. However, it seems fair to assume that the scope and regulatory framework of the initiative increases the likelihood of federal interference. Under current federal law, many participants in the initiatives proposed framework could be charged with federal drug trafficking crimes. Ultimately, while Im excited by the prospect of psilocybin as a therapeutic treatment, I question the efficacy of using local or state initiatives to accomplish this goal. Without definitive research and any indication from the federal government that it will allow states to regulate psilocybin use without interference, the fight to legalize psilocybin is a fight to be had in couple of years. The FDA is already moving on psilocybin, and at some point in the near future, there is a real possibility that psilocybin will be approved as a medicine and rescheduled. Changes at the federal level would give psilocybin advocates greater leverage in their fight to legalize its use at the local and state levels. MBABANE Government will be reviewing Eswatinis visa regime to launch e-visa and visa-on-arrival for tourists. Wikipedia, online search engine, explains that e-visa is an electronic visa also called online visa. E-visa procedure is very easy and convenient. If you will go for offline visa it might be possible that you need to go to their place, but with an e-visa you just need to fill an online form, online details and submit and get your e-visa in your inbox. Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg, in the annual budget for the 2019/20 financial year, announced that tourism had been identified as a priority sector that has potential to catalyse economic growth across the economy. Sector He said the sector had proven to be resilient and a fundamental contributor to economic activity in the country by generating foreign currency and creating jobs. Government continued to create awareness of the country and to promote it in various international and regional platforms. Government would like to thank our cooperating partners and the SADC Trade-Related Facility, for funding the formulation of the National Tourism Bill, said Rijkenberg. The minister explained that the proposed legislation sought to effectively regulate the tourism sector through active participation of all stakeholders. In 2018, the country experienced a 5.1 per cent decline in tourist arrivals, an issue which needs to be addressed urgently. Eswatini tourism experienced a 5.1 per cent overall decline in foreign visitor arrivals in 2018. Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA) Research and Statistics Officer Sebenzile Ginindza disclosed that foreign visitor arrivals to the Kingdom of Eswatini in 2018 recorded a total 1.277 million, reflecting a decline of 5.1 per cent when compared to 2017. Figures She explained that the lacklustre performance in visitor figures was mainly attributed to dampened demand for leisure travel as consumers reprioritised household expenditures for varying reasons, which include lowered disposable household income, cyclical nature of leisure travel preferences and economic uncertainties within source markets. Eswatinis key markets; South Africa (-2.2 per cent), Mozambique (-9.3 per cent), Germany (-6.0 per cent), Netherlands (-25.1 per cent), France (-25.4 per cent), United Kingdom (-15.7 per cent) and United States of America (-14.5 per cent) all registered significant declines during the period in review. Globally, 2018 was depicted by economic uncertainties, political tensions and lowered household disposable incomes, which when combined had adverse effects on travel and tourism. She said Eswatini was no exception as well. The ETA officer pointed out that neighbouring South Africa and Mozambique had historically remained Eswatinis main source markets with both accounting for an annual average 77 per cent of total arrivals. MBABANE - The Law Society of Swaziland (LSS) has filed an urgent application for the removal of two acting judges of the Supreme Court. These are former Deputy Attorney General Sabelo Matsebula and senior lawyer Judith Currie. LSS wants the court to declare that the appointment of the duo as acting judges of the Supreme Court, was inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the country. The LSS is further seeking an order interdicting Matsebula and Currie from performing any functions as acting judges of the Supreme Court pending the final determination of its application. Respondents in the matter are the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the attorney general. appointed LSS Secretary General, Thulani Maseko informed the court that Currie and Matsebula did not qualify to be appointed acting judges of the Supreme Court. They were appointed through Legal Notice No.145 dated August 7, 2018, issued by His Majesty in terms of Section 153. These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose veracity is still to be tested in court and the respondents are to file their papers. Maseko stated that the duos appointment was extended on October 16, 2018 by His Majesty. He submitted that the duos appointment as justices of the Supreme Court was further extended with effect from February 8, 2019, supposedly by His Majesty. I point out that the applicant is not challenging the decision of His Majesty but the advice given to him, which has led to an incorrect and constitutionally invalid appointment, Maseko submitted. He contended that the Legal Notices appointing the two as acting judges were incorrect, improper and unlawful. Maseko informed the court that in terms of Section 153 of the Constitution, His Majesty should appoint a judge of the superior court on the advice of the JSC. He highlighted that the term of office of the commission was determined in terms of Section 159 of the Constitution, read together with Section 173. consist Section 159 stipulates that; There shall be an independent JSC, which shall consist of the chief justice, two legal practitioners of not less than seven years practice in good professional standing, to be appointed by the King; chairman of the Civil Service Commission and two persons to be appointed by the King. The section further provides that a member appointed should hold office for a period not exceeding four years. Maseko averred that the current office of the JSC was vacant as its term of office expired on May 6, 2018. The Legal Notices issued thereafter by His Majesty were unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of Section 159 of the Constitution, he argued. He submitted that the office of the JSC remained vacant and as such, no appointment of any justices or any judicial officer could be made until such time that the office of the commission had been completed constitutionally. Maseko asserted that any appointment by the JSC was therefore null and void and of no force and effect constitutionally. contended He contended that the appointments of Matsebula and Currie as acting judges of the Supreme Court were made unconstitutionally and ought to be set aside. He further contended that their appointments were not transparent. According to Maseko, the regulations required the declaration of any vacant position to be published . LSS maintains that no vacancies were declared for the said positions, nor were the appointments made transparent, and furthermore it was a direct violation and contravention of the Constitution, submitted Maseko. He contended that the manner in which the duo was appointed did not meet any of the criteria as provided for in law, and if it was done in terms of the process provided for, it was not open and transparent. Maseko alleged that the issue regarding the appointment of judicial officers were discussed during a meeting between the executive of LSS and the chief justice. incumbent He told the court that it was incumbent for the LSS to raise concerns where it would appear that judicial appointments were not in accordance with the Constitution. It is respectfully submitted that for a proper administration of justice, it is fundamental to defend the Constitution, said Maseko. He averred that if the two acting judges were permitted to continue to sit and determine matters, their decisions would be unlawful and unconstitutional. He said the matter was urgent as the continued sitting of the two acting judges violated the Constitution and was allegedly unlawful. He claimed that any decision made by them (two acting judges of the Supreme Court) was null and void, and would lead to chaos in the administration of justice. This, according to Maseko, would be to the detriment of litigants who were being exposed to violation. MBABANE The Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, has attempted to justify his tax-heavy budget. The budget, which he presented on Wednesday, was viewed as one with minimum cuts and more taxes. Rijkenberg conceded that the taxes would hit hard on the poor and in the same breath justified that in the long-term, it would benefit most of the unemployed, low income earners and the elderly. This, he said, would have ripple effects on the civil servants who are currently aggrieved for not getting their cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA). Awarded The minister said despite that civil servants were not awarded CoLA, their burden of catering for those in the lower bracket of the economy would fall off. In his explanation, Rijkenberg said the fuel tax and VAT on electricity would hit hard on the poor but government had devised means to compensate them. He said the minimum wage, which is soon to be introduced, would put something into the pockets of the low income earners. It is anticipated that the minimum wage would be around E1 500, though the minister did not wish to commit on any figures. He could only state that it would be a substantial improvement to the E861 which is currently the minimum wage. Rijkenberg said the introduction of a minimum wage meant that those in the lower ranks of the economy would have something extra to spend. This will allow what they get to circulate at least three or four times in the economy and government will get tax in that way. Dublin, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market By Type (Production Optimization, Asset Management, Data Management and Others), By Application (Onshore and Offshore), By Region, By Company, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global oil and gas production monitoring software market is anticipated to register significant growth during the forecast period. Anticipated market growth can be primarily attributed to real-time monitoring, control and intervention services to improve production and to maintain the production line to deliver on time process in less duration. Moreover, to connect workers, suppliers and customers, a digital platform is needed to simplify production process, improve efficiency, thus driving the oil and gas production monitoring software market, globally, over the course of next five years. In terms of usage, global oil and gas production monitoring software market is categorized into production optimization, asset management, data management and others. The production optimization category accounted for a significant portion of the market in 2018 and is anticipated to grow during the forecast period, backed by its increasing production activities in onshore regions around the world. Furthermore, based on application, the global oil and gas production monitoring software market is categorized into onshore and offshore. Onshore accounted for majority of the global market in 2018 and is also expected to register a healthy growth rate during the forecast period. Regionally, Asia-Pacific oil and gas production monitoring software market accounted for a significant share of the global market in 2018 and is expected to continue witnessing growth during the forecast period as well. Asia-Pacific oil and gas production monitoring software market size is majorly backed by the presence of large number of offshore rigs in the region. China is the largest market for oil and gas production monitoring software in the region. The global oil and gas production monitoring software market is dominated by major players. Few of the major companies operating in the market for oil and gas production monitoring software are AP SE, Petroleum Experts Ltd., Infosys Limited, Schlumberger Limited, Siemens AG, Honeywell International Inc. among others. Years considered for this report: Historical Years: 2014-2017 Base Year: 2018 Estimated Year: 2019 Forecast Period: 2020-2024 Objective of the Study To analyze and forecast the global oil and gas production monitoring software market size, in terms of value. To forecast the global oil and gas production monitoring software market based on type, application and regional distribution. To identify drivers and challenges for the global oil and gas production monitoring software market. To examine competitive developments such as expansions, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, etc., in global oil and gas production monitoring software market. To conduct the pricing analysis for global oil and gas production monitoring software market. To identify and analyze the profile of leading players operating in the global oil and gas production monitoring software market. Topics Covered 1. Product Overview 2. Research Methodology 3. Executive Summary 4. Voice of Customer 4.1. Brand Awareness 4.2. Brand Recall 4.3. Brand Satisfaction 4.4. Factors Influencing Purchase Decision 4.5. Challenges/Issues Faced Post Purchase 4.6. Unmet Needs 5. Global Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market Overview 6. Global Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market Outlook 6.1. Market Size & Forecast 6.2. Market Share & Forecast 6.3. Market Attractiveness Index 7. Asia-Pacific Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market Outlook 7.1. Market Size & Forecast 7.2. Market Share & Forecast 7.3. Asia-Pacific: Country Analysis 8. Europe & CIS Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market Outlook 8.1. Market Size & Forecast 8.2. Market Share & Forecast 8.3. Europe & CIS: Country Analysis 9. North America Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market Outlook 9.1. Market Size & Forecast 9.2. Market Share & Forecast 9.3. North America: Country Analysis 10. South America Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market Outlook 10.1. Market Size & Forecast 10.2. Market Share & Forecast 10.3. South America: Country Analysis 11. Middle East and Africa Oil and Gas Production Monitoring Software Market Outlook 11.1. Market Size & Forecast 11.2. Market Share & Forecast 11.3. MEA: Country Analysis 12. Market Dynamics 12.1. Drivers 12.2. Challenges 13. Market Trends & Developments 14. Competitive Landscape 14.1. Competition Outlook 14.2. Company Profiles 14.2.1. Basic Details 14.2.2. Financials (As reported) 14.2.3. Supply Chain Analysis 14.2.4. Key Market Focus and Geographical Presence 14.2.5. Planned Investments 14.2.6. Pricing of Target Products 14.2.7. Market positioning 14.3. Global Players Profiled (Leading Companies) 15.3.1 SAP SE 15.3.2 Petroleum Experts Ltd. 15.3.3 Infosys Limited 15.3.4 Schlumberger Limited 15.3.5 Siemens AG 15.3.6 Honeywell International Inc. 15.3.7 P2 Energy Solutions 15.3.8 Bentley Systems 15.3.9 Weatherford International 15.3.10 Petex 15. Strategic Recommendations For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nwr8l8/2019_oil_and_gas?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. A man who led Titusville Police on a chase at the end of January was apprehended Tuesday. U.S. Marshals, working with Corry-based State Police, searched for the man in town on Feb. 20, but were unable to locate him. Italy-based Maire Tecnimont said that its subsidiary has been awarded a $65 million EPC contract for the reinstatement of the existing polypropylene plant located in Yanbu Industrial City on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The subsidiary, Tecnimont S.p.A., through its affiliate Tecnimont Arabia, won the reimbursable contract from National Petrochemical Industrial Company (NATPET). The project scope of work entails engineering and procurement services, material supply, construction supervision services and construction works. The project has an estimated execution schedule of about seven months, up to Ready for Start Up. Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont chief executive officer, commented: With this award we further consolidate our industrial footprint in Saudi Arabia leveraging our strong capabilities in carrying out revamping projects, as part of our business strategy. We are honoured to put our technological know-how at the service of a prestigious client such as NATPET.- TradeArabia News Service Viva Bahrain, a leading telecom provider in the Kingdom, has signed a nationwide 5G service launch agreement with Huawei, a leading global provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices. Signed at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, this agreement compliments the successful completion of the 5G readiness project located in key areas across Bahrain that was announced recently. Viva Bahrain will upgrade their existing infrastructure based on non-standalone 5G core and 4/5G dual mode radio unit and high capacity backhauling technologies that will enable Viva customers to access 5G services across Bahrain by June 2019. Moreover, transmission networks high capacity ready hardware will allow them to rapidly scale up their networks to meet capacity requirements in the near future. Mohammad Al Khushail, CEO (A) of Viva Bahrain and An Jian, president of Huawei ME CNBG, signed the nationwide 5G service agreement Al Khushail said: We at Viva Bahrain understand the rapid demand for 5G coverage and devices to breakout in Bahrain, therefore we made the decision to be a pioneer in launching this technology that will position Bahrain among the first to adopt the 5G network globally. Signing the MoU with Huawei who is a long-standing partner of Viva Bahrain, is considered to be another milestone for us given our aim to innovate to better serve our customers and improve the quality of life for all in Bahrain. We continue our commitment to accelerate digitization in Bahrain and ultimately support our leaderships vision to become a diversified, knowledge-based economy. An Jian, president of Middle East Carrier Network Business Group of Huawei, said: We are proud to be part of Vivas growth and expansion plans adopting our 5G products and solutions. Additionally, for consumers, we will be launching our recent 5G-compliant CPE and cellphone with Viva to complete the offering for consumers in Bahrain, and we look forward to working together to bring 5G to Bahrain and support the country in becoming a diversified, knowledge-based economy through digital transformation. Vivas 5G mobile and wireless fixed services will ultimately enable Viva customers to enjoy not only gaming VR services and 3D 8K video but will also provide a platform for smart businesses and homes, ultimate VR and AR applications, AI and smart cars. TradeArabia News Service Commercial flight operations of all airports in Pakistan and some northern Indian airports were temporarily suspended amid escalating tensions between the two countries, reports said. Pakistani airspace has officially been closed for commercial flights, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced on Wednesday. The aviation authority made the announcement on Twitter after the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, the military's media arm, acknowledged the closure of Pakistan's airspace due to the prevailing security situation, said a Dawn newspaper report. Affected airports include Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Islamabad. A total of nine airports in India have stopped all flight operations after the IAF carried out strikes on terror bases in Pakistan, said a report in The Indian Express. Flight operations have been suspended at Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Pathankot, Amritsar, Shimla, Kangra, Kullu Manali and Pithoragarh in India Airports at Chandigarh, Pathankot, Halwara and Bathinda have been put on high alert, it said. Meanwhile, Bahrain-based Gulf Air has confirmed that all flights to/from Pakistan are suspended with immediate effect due to the closure of Pakistani airspace. All passengers flying to/from Pakistan are advised to contact Gulf Airs Worldwide Contact Centre on 00973 17373737 before proceeding to the airport. On February 27, flights to/from Lahore, Multan and Islamabad are cancelled and all passengers will be transferred to the next available flights when the airspace is open again. The airline will reassess the situation at 3 pm Bahrain time (12 pm GMT) and will update passengers regarding flights operating on February 28, the airline said in a statement. - TradeArabia News Service Dublin, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Dental Bone Graft Substitutes and Other Biomaterials Market - China - 2018-2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Chinese population generally suffers from poor oral health levels, especially the older generation. Tooth loss has been a common problem in China; however, dental implant procedures were commonly avoided and regarded as unnecessary. Government investment led to increased awareness of the advantages offered by dental implant treatments. Furthermore, the growing elderly demographic has broadened the patient base for these procedures in China. As a result, the dental implant market in China has demonstrated significant growth in recent years. The growing number of implant procedures has led to rising demand for DBGS procedures, which, in turn, has also spurred growth in the dental barrier membrane market. The full report suite on the Chinese market for dental bone grafts and other biomaterials includes dental bone graft substitutes and dental barrier membranes. Key Topics Covered: 1 Executive Summary Chinese Dental Bone Graft Substitutes And Other Biomaterials Market Overview Competitive Analysis Market Trends Market Developments Markets Included Key Report Updates Version History Research Methodology 2 Disease Overview 3 Product Assessment 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Product Portfolios 3.3 Fda Recalls 3.4 Clinical Trials 4 Chinese Dental Bone Graft Substitutes And Other Biomaterials Market Overview 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Currency Exchange Rate 4.3 Market Overview 4.4 Trend Analysis By Segment 4.5 Market Penetration 4.6 Drivers And Limiters 4.6.1 Market Drivers 4.6.2 Market Limiters 4.7 Competitive Market Share Analysis 4.8 Mergers And Acquisitions 4.9 Company Profiles 4.10 Swot Analysis 5 Dental Bone Graft Substitute Market 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Overview 5.3 Market Analysis And Forecast 5.3.1 Total Dental Bone Graft Substitute Market 5.3.2 Allograft Market 5.3.2.1 Mineralized Allograft Market 5.3.2.2 Demineralized Bone Matrix Market 5.3.3 Xenograft Market 5.3.4 Synthetic Market 5.4 Drivers And Limiters 5.4.1 Market Drivers 5.4.2 Market Limiters 5.5 Competitive Market Share Analysis 6 Dental Growth Factor Market 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Market Overview 6.3 Market Analysis And Forecast 6.3.1 Emdogain Market 6.3.2 Gem 21S Market 6.3.3 Infuse Market 6.3.4 Osteocel Market 6.4 Drivers And Limiters 6.4.1 Market Drivers 6.4.2 Market Limiters 6.5 Competitive Market Share Analysis 7 Dental Barrier Membrane Market 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Market Overview 7.3 Market Analysis And Forecast 7.3.1 Total Dental Barrier Membrane Market 7.3.2 Resorbable Dental Barrier Membrane Market 7.3.3 Non-Resorbable Dental Barrier Membrane Market 7.4 Market Penetration 7.5 Drivers And Limiters 7.5.1 Market Drivers 7.5.2 Market Limiters 7.6 Competitive Market Share Analysis 8 Abbreviations 9 Appendix: Company Press Releases Companies Mentioned Geistlich Shanxi OsteoRad Genoss Tissue Banks Osteogenics Straumann For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qlx4v9/china_dental_bone?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. This Zero Discrimination Day, UNAIDS, in line with the recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, is highlighting the need to take urgent action against discriminatory laws. The Commissions research covering 140 countries shows, that bad laws fuel the spread of HIV and block effective responses to HIV. Public resources are wasted on laws that criminalize HIV transmission, dehumanize those at risk, and deprive people of services and medicines. Discrimination doesnt just hurt individuals; it perpetuates harm in communities more broadly. According to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, discrimination against the most marginalized people in our societies fundamentally undermines the response to the HIV epidemic. Given that populations, such as gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people and prisoners, accounted for 47 percent of new infections in 2017, turning the tide against HIV requires a much more inclusive approach. In many places these groups are under attack by those who are obliged to protect them. They commonly face stigma, discrimination and violence that stop them getting prevention, care and treatment. According to the latest report of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, civil society organizations who are on the frontlines are faced with increasingly repressive laws and policies. Between 2012 and 2015, 60 countries passed 120 laws restricting the activities of non-governmental organizations, with more than one third of those laws related to foreign funding of NGOs. Yet there are also progressive trends. Good laws and practices exist that protect human rights. Many countries are legislating for greater acceptance of marginalized people living with HIV. Since 2012, the UNDP has worked with 89 countries to help revise their laws and policies to protect peoples health and rights. Opportunities for change This year there are several opportunities for change. Firstly, in 2015 at the United Nations 193 countries pledged to leave no one behind. The 2019 High-Level Political Forum will review progress on SDG 10 reducing inequalities within and between countries. This will be an important opportunity to step up leadership for reducing the inequalities that are driving HIV infections, especially in marginalized groups. Secondly, the World Health Organization and other global health organizations, including UNDP, are pushing even harder to make health services accessible to everyone, everywhere, under the banner of Universal Health Coverage. It is vital that governments heed this call to action and extend the promise of health for all to those that are being left behind in the HIV response. Finally, the global fight against HIV should get fresh impetus this year, as leaders meet in France to replenish the Global Fund-a key source of finance for tackling the virus and removing human rights barriers. It is a chance to get more governments, philanthropists and international organizations to commit to advancing the health and rights of marginalized groups. To create societies that are just, fair and healthy, we must do more to tackle stigma and discrimination. Repealing regressive laws, and enforcing laws which protect and promote human dignity, is one of the best ways of tackling stigma and discrimination. Getting to zero new HIV infections will only be achieved if we invest in zero discrimination, especially for those left farthest behind. EIL signs MOU with Mongolian govt firm Mumbai, Feb 11(UNI) Engineers India Ltd (EIL) said that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mongol Refinery State Owned LLC of Government of Mongolia. As per MOU, EIL shall provide Project Management Consultancy Services to Mongol Refinery for setting up of an Oil Refinery in Mongolia for which terms and conditions are being discussed and will be mutually settled in the form of a contract agreement, company said in a filing with BSE. UNI JS RSU 1259 Danish English Company announcement no 05-19 1 March 2019 As announced in company announcement no 02-19, North Media has launched a share buy-back programme with Danske Bank as lead manager. This programme will expire no later than 30 September 2019. North Media intends to regularly disclose the status of the share buy-back programme, and this announcement is the first one. In continuation thereof, North Media states that Danske Bank has provided information that, at 28 February 2019, Danske Bank has acquired 222,000 shares in North Media at an average share price of DKK 39.08 per share and a total price of DKK 8,675,667. The acquisition by Danske Bank is equivalent to 1.11% of the North Medias share capital. Consequently, North Medias holding of treasury shares at 28 February 2019 accounts for 6.59% of the share capital. This document is an unofficial translation of the Danish original. In the event of any inconsistencies, the Danish version shall apply. American History 1. Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization a. Diversity of Native American Groups b. The Anasazi c. The Algonkian Tribes d. The Iroquois Tribes 2. Britain in the New World a. Early Ventures Fail b. Joint-Stock Companies c. Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade e. War and Peace with Powhatan's People f. The House of Burgesses 3. The New England Colonies a. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony b. William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving c. Massachusetts Bay "The City Upon a Hill" d. Puritan Life e. Dissent in Massachusetts Bay f. Reaching to Connecticut g. Witchcraft in Salem 4. The Middle Colonies a. New Netherland to New York b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey c. City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin 5. The Southern Colonies a. Maryland The Catholic Experiment b. Indentured Servants c. Creating the Carolinas d. Debtors in Georgia e. Life in the Plantation South 6. African Americans in the British New World a. West African Society at the Point of European Contact b. "The Middle Passage" c. The Growth of Slavery d. Slave Life on the Farm and in the Town e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era f. "Slave Codes" g. A New African-American Culture 7. The Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking a. The Impact of Enlightenment in Europe b. The Great Awakening c. The Trial of John Peter Zenger d. Smuggling e. A Tradition of Rebellion f. "What Is the American?" 8. America's Place in the Global Struggle a. New France b. The French and Indian War c. George Washington's Background and Experience d. The Treaty of Paris (1763) and Its Impact 9. The Events Leading to Independence a. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 b. The Stamp Act Controversy c. The Boston Patriots d. The Townshend Acts e. The Boston Massacre f. The Tea Act and Tea Parties g. The Intolerable Acts 10. E Pluribus Unum a. Stamp Act Congress b. Sons and Daughters of Liberty c. Committees of Correspondence d. First Continental Congress e. Second Continental Congress f. Thomas Paine's Common Sense g. The Declaration of Independence 11. The American Revolution a. American and British Strengths and Weaknesses b. Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots c. Lexington and Concord d. Bunker Hill e. The Revolution on the Home Front f. Washington at Valley Forge g. The Battle of Saratoga h. The French Alliance i. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris 12. Societal Impacts of the American Revolution a. The Impact of Slavery b. A Revolution in Social Law c. Political Experience d. "Republican Motherhood" 13. When Does the Revolution End? a. The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy b. The War Experience: Soldiers, Officers, and Civilians c. The Loyalists d. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery e. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women f. Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans g. Revolutionary Achievement: Yeomen and Artisans h. The Age of Atlantic Revolutions 14. Making Rules a. State Constitutions b. Articles of Confederation c. Evaluating the Congress d. The Economic Crisis of the 1780s 15. Drafting the Constitution a. Shays' Rebellion b. A Cast of National Superstars c. The Tough Issues d. Constitution Through Compromise 16. Ratifying the Constitution a. Federalists b. Antifederalists c. The Ratification Process: State by State d. After the Fact: Virginia, New York, and "The Federalist Papers" e. The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat 17. George Washington a. Growing up in Colonial Virginia b. The Force of Personality and Military Command c. The First Administration d. Farewell Address e. Mount Vernon and the Dilemma of a Revolutionary Slave Holder 18. Unsettled Domestic Issues a. The Bill of Rights b. Hamilton's Financial Plan c. Growing Opposition d. U.S. Military Defeat; Indian Victory in the West e. Native American Resilience and Violence in the West 19. Politics in Transition: Public Conflict in the 1790s a. Trans-Atlantic Crisis: The French Revolution b. Negotiating with the Superpowers c. Two Parties Emerge d. The Adams Presidency e. The Alien and Sedition Acts f. The Life and Times of John Adams 20. Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution? a. The Election of 1800 b. Jeffersonian Ideology c. Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase d. A New National Capital: Washington, D.C. e. A Federalist Stronghold: John Marshall's Supreme Court f. Gabriel's Rebellion: Another View of Virginia in 1800 21. The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812 a. The Importance of the West b. Exploration: Lewis and Clark c. Diplomatic Challenges in an Age of European War d. Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West e. The Second War for American Independence f. Claiming Victory from Defeat 22. Social Change and National Development a. Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution b. Cotton and African-American Life c. Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening d. Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire e. New Roles for White Women f. Early National Arts and Cultural Independence 23. Politics and the New Nation a. The Era of Good Feelings and the Two-Party System b. The Expansion of the Vote: A White Man's Democracy c. The Missouri Compromise d. The 1824 Election and the "Corrupt Bargain" e. John Quincy Adams f. Jacksonian Democracy and Modern America 24. The Age of Jackson a. The Rise of the Common Man b. A Strong Presidency c. The South Carolina Nullification Controversy d. The War Against the Bank e. Jackson vs. Clay and Calhoun f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals 25. The Rise of American Industry a. The Canal Era b. Early American Railroads c. Inventors and Inventions d. The First American Factories e. The Emergence of "Women's Sphere" f. Irish and German Immigration 26. An Explosion of New Thought a. Religious Revival b. Experiments with Utopia c. Women's Rights d. Prison and Asylum Reform e. Hudson River School Artists f. Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy 27. The Peculiar Institution a. The Crowning of King Cotton b. Slave Life and Slave Codes c. The Plantation & Chivalry d. Free(?) African-Americans e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation f. The Southern Argument for Slavery 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows a. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator b. African-American Abolitionists c. The Underground Railroad d. Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 29. Manifest Destiny a. The Lone Star Republic b. 54 40' or Fight c. "American Blood on American Soil" d. The Mexican-American War e. Gold in California 30. An Uneasy Peace a. Wilmot's Proviso b. Popular Sovereignty c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster d. The Compromise of 1850 31. "Bloody Kansas" a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act b. Border Ruffians c. The Sack of Lawrence d. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre e. Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner 32. From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict a. The Dred Scott Decision b. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates c. John Brown's Raid d. The Election of 1860 e. The South Secedes 33. A House Divided a. Fort Sumter b. Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South c. First Blood and Its Aftermath d. Sacred Beliefs e. Bloody Antietam f. Of Generals and Soldiers g. Gettysburg: High Watermark of the Confederacy h. Northern Plans to End the War i. The Road to Appomattox 34. The War Behind the Lines a. The Emancipation Proclamation b. Wartime Diplomacy c. The Northern Homefront d. The Southern Homefront e. The Election of 1864 f. The Assassination of the President 35. Reconstruction a. Presidential Reconstruction b. Radical Reconstruction c. A President Impeached d. Rebuilding the Old Order 36. The Gilded Age a. Binding the Nation by Rail b. The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie d. The New Tycoons: J. Pierpont Morgan e. New Attitudes Toward Wealth f. Politics of the Gilded Age 37. Organized Labor a. The Great Upheaval b. Labor vs. Management c. Early National Organizations d. American Federation of Labor e. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism 38. From the Countryside to the City a. The Glamour of American Cities b. The Underside of Urban Life c. The Rush of Immigrants d. Corruption Runs Wild e. Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel" f. Artistic and Literary Trends 39. New Dimensions in Everyday Life a. Education b. Sports and Leisure c. Women in the Gilded Age d. Victorian Values in a New Age e. The Print Revolution 40. Closing the Frontier a. The Massacre at Sand Creek b. Custer's Last Stand c. The End of Resistance d. Life on the Reservations e. The Wounded Knee Massacre 41. Western Folkways a. The Mining Boom b. The Ways of the Cowboy c. Life on the Farm d. The Growth of Populism e. The Election of 1896 42. Progressivism Sweeps the Nation a. Roots of the Movement b. Muckrakers c. Women's Suffrage at Last d. Booker T. Washington e. W. E. B. DuBois 43. Progressives in the White House a. Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House b. The Trust Buster c. A Helping Hand for Labor d. Preserving the Wilderness e. Passing the Torch f. The Election of 1912 g. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom 44. Seeking Empire a. Early Stirrings b. Hawaiian Annexation c. "Remember the Maine!" d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences e. The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America f. Reaching to Asia g. The Panama Canal 45. America in the First World War a. Farewell to Isolation b. Over There c. Over Here d. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations 46. The Decade That Roared a. The Age of the Automobile b. The Fight Against "Demon Rum" c. The Invention of the Teenager d. Flappers e. The Harlem Renaissance f. A Consumer Economy g. Radio Fever h. Fads and Heroes 47. Old Values vs. New Values a. The Red Scare b. The Monkey Trial c. Intolerance d. Books and Movies e. Domestic and International Politics 48. The Great Depression a. The Market Crashes b. Sinking Deeper and Deeper: 1929-33 c. The Bonus March d. Hoover's Last Stand e. Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression 49. The New Deal a. A Bank Holiday b. Putting People Back to Work c. The Farming Problem d. Social Security e. FDR's Alphabet Soup f. Roosevelt's Critics g. An Evaluation of the New Deal 50. The Road to Pearl Harbor a. 1930s Isolationism b. Reactions to a Troubled World c. War Breaks Out d. The Arsenal of Democracy e. Pearl Harbor 51. America in the Second World War a. Wartime Strategy b. The American Homefront c. D-Day and the German Surrender d. War in the Pacific e. Japanese-American Internment f. The Manhattan Project g. The Decision to Drop the Bomb 52. Postwar Challenges a. The Cold War Erupts b. The United Nations c. Containment and the Marshall Plan d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO e. The Korean War f. Domestic Challenges 53. The 1950s: Happy Days a. McCarthyism b. Suburban Growth c. Land of Television d. America Rocks and Rolls e. The Cold War Continues f. Voices against Conformity 54. A New Civil Rights Movement a. Separate No Longer? b. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott c. Showdown in Little Rock d. The Sit-In Movement e. Gains and Pains f. Martin Luther King Jr. g. The Long, Hot Summers h. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam i. Black Power 55. The Vietnam War a. Early Involvement b. Years of Escalation: 1965-68 c. The Tet Offensive d. The Antiwar Movement e. Years of Withdrawal 56. Politics from Camelot to Watergate a. The Election of 1960 b. Kennedy's New Frontier c. Kennedy's Global Challenges d. Kennedy Assassination e. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" f. 1968: Year of Unraveling g. Triangular Diplomacy: U.S., USSR, and China 57. Shaping a New America a. Modern Feminism b. The Fight for Reproductive Rights c. The Equal Rights Amendment d. Roe v. Wade and Its Impact e. Environmental Reform f. Others Demand Equality g. Student Activism h. Flower Power 58. A Time of Malaise a. Undoing a President b. The Sickened Economy c. Foreign Woes d. Finding Oneself e. The New Right 59. The Reagan Years a. "Morning in America" b. Reaganomics c. Foreign and Domestic Entanglements d. Life in the 1980s e. The End of the Cold War 60. Toward a New Millennium a. Operation Desert Storm b. A Baby Boomer in the White House c. Republicans vs. Democrats d. Living in the Information Age e. The End of the American Century 21e. The Second War for American Independence This engraving, The Taking of the City of Washington in America, illustrates British forces storming Washington D.C. in 1814 and burning several significant structures including the White House and the Library of Congress. This engraving,illustrates British forces storming Washington D.C. in 1814 and burning several significant structures including the White House and the Library of Congress. In the War of 1812 the United States once again fought against the British and their Indian allies. Some historians see the conflict as a Second War for American Independence. Furthermore, the three-year war marks a traditional boundary between the early republic and early national periods. The former period had strong ties to the more hierarchical colonial world of the 18th century, while post-war developments would move in dynamic new directions that contributed to a more autonomous American society and culture. Although the War of 1812 serves as an important turning point in the development of an independent United States, the war itself was mostly a political and military disaster for the country. The U.S. Congress was far from unanimous in its declaration of war. America's initial invasion of Canada (then ruled by England) in the summer of 1812 was repulsed by Tecumseh and the British. Although Tecumseh would be killed in battle the following fall, the U.S. was unable to mount a major invasion of Canada because of significant domestic discord over war policy. Most importantly, the governors of most New England states refused to allow their state militias to join a campaign beyond state boundaries. Similarly, a promising young Congressman from New Hampshire, Daniel Webster, actually discouraged enlistment in the U.S. army. Fort McHenry is considered the "Home of the National Anthem" because it was here, during a battle in the War of 1812, that Francis Scott Key was inspired to write his famous poem. Fort McHenry is considered the "Home of the National Anthem" because it was here, during a battle in the War of 1812, that Francis Scott Key was inspired to write his famous poem. British military dominance was even clearer in the Atlantic and this naval superiority allowed it to deliver a shaming blow to the fragile United States in the summer of 1814. With Napoleon's French forces failing in Europe, Britain committed more of its resources to the American war and in August sailed up the Potomac River to occupy Washington D.C. and burn the White House. On the edge of national bankruptcy and with the capital largely in ashes, total American disaster was averted when the British failed to capture Ft. McHenry that protected nearby Baltimore. Watching the failed attack on Ft. McHenry as a prisoner of the British, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem later called "The Star-Spangled Banner" which was set to the tune of an English drinking song. It became the official national anthem of the United States of America in 1931. The most critical moment of the War of 1812, however, may not have been a battle, but rather a political meeting called by the Massachusetts legislature. Beginning in December 1814, 26 Federalists representing New England states met at the Hartford Convention to discuss how to reverse the decline of their party and the region. Although manufacturing was booming and contraband trade brought riches to the region, "Mr. Madison's War" and its expenses proved hard to swallow for New Englanders. Holding this meeting during the war was deeply controversial. Although more moderate leaders voted down extremists who called for New England to secede from the United States, most Republicans believed that the Hartford Convention was an act of treason. State militia in New England refused to go into national service during the War of 1812. State militia in New England refused to go into national service during the War of 1812. Federalist New England's opposition to national policies had been demonstrated in numerous ways from circumventing trade restrictions as early as 1807, to voting against the initial declaration of war in 1812, refusing to contribute state militia to the national army, and now its representatives were moving on a dangerous course of semi-autonomy during war time. If a peace treaty ending the War of 1812 had not been signed while the Hartford Convention was still meeting, New England may have seriously debated seceeding from the Union. American History 1. Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization a. Diversity of Native American Groups b. The Anasazi c. The Algonkian Tribes d. The Iroquois Tribes 2. Britain in the New World a. Early Ventures Fail b. Joint-Stock Companies c. Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade e. War and Peace with Powhatan's People f. The House of Burgesses 3. The New England Colonies a. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony b. William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving c. Massachusetts Bay "The City Upon a Hill" d. Puritan Life e. Dissent in Massachusetts Bay f. Reaching to Connecticut g. Witchcraft in Salem 4. The Middle Colonies a. New Netherland to New York b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey c. City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin 5. The Southern Colonies a. Maryland The Catholic Experiment b. Indentured Servants c. Creating the Carolinas d. Debtors in Georgia e. Life in the Plantation South 6. African Americans in the British New World a. West African Society at the Point of European Contact b. "The Middle Passage" c. The Growth of Slavery d. Slave Life on the Farm and in the Town e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era f. "Slave Codes" g. A New African-American Culture 7. The Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking a. The Impact of Enlightenment in Europe b. The Great Awakening c. The Trial of John Peter Zenger d. Smuggling e. A Tradition of Rebellion f. "What Is the American?" 8. America's Place in the Global Struggle a. New France b. The French and Indian War c. George Washington's Background and Experience d. The Treaty of Paris (1763) and Its Impact 9. The Events Leading to Independence a. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 b. The Stamp Act Controversy c. The Boston Patriots d. The Townshend Acts e. The Boston Massacre f. The Tea Act and Tea Parties g. The Intolerable Acts 10. E Pluribus Unum a. Stamp Act Congress b. Sons and Daughters of Liberty c. Committees of Correspondence d. First Continental Congress e. Second Continental Congress f. Thomas Paine's Common Sense g. The Declaration of Independence 11. The American Revolution a. American and British Strengths and Weaknesses b. Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots c. Lexington and Concord d. Bunker Hill e. The Revolution on the Home Front f. Washington at Valley Forge g. The Battle of Saratoga h. The French Alliance i. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris 12. Societal Impacts of the American Revolution a. The Impact of Slavery b. A Revolution in Social Law c. Political Experience d. "Republican Motherhood" 13. When Does the Revolution End? a. The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy b. The War Experience: Soldiers, Officers, and Civilians c. The Loyalists d. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery e. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women f. Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans g. Revolutionary Achievement: Yeomen and Artisans h. The Age of Atlantic Revolutions 14. Making Rules a. State Constitutions b. Articles of Confederation c. Evaluating the Congress d. The Economic Crisis of the 1780s 15. Drafting the Constitution a. Shays' Rebellion b. A Cast of National Superstars c. The Tough Issues d. Constitution Through Compromise 16. Ratifying the Constitution a. Federalists b. Antifederalists c. The Ratification Process: State by State d. After the Fact: Virginia, New York, and "The Federalist Papers" e. The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat 17. George Washington a. Growing up in Colonial Virginia b. The Force of Personality and Military Command c. The First Administration d. Farewell Address e. Mount Vernon and the Dilemma of a Revolutionary Slave Holder 18. Unsettled Domestic Issues a. The Bill of Rights b. Hamilton's Financial Plan c. Growing Opposition d. U.S. Military Defeat; Indian Victory in the West e. Native American Resilience and Violence in the West 19. Politics in Transition: Public Conflict in the 1790s a. Trans-Atlantic Crisis: The French Revolution b. Negotiating with the Superpowers c. Two Parties Emerge d. The Adams Presidency e. The Alien and Sedition Acts f. The Life and Times of John Adams 20. Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution? a. The Election of 1800 b. Jeffersonian Ideology c. Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase d. A New National Capital: Washington, D.C. e. A Federalist Stronghold: John Marshall's Supreme Court f. Gabriel's Rebellion: Another View of Virginia in 1800 21. The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812 a. The Importance of the West b. Exploration: Lewis and Clark c. Diplomatic Challenges in an Age of European War d. Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West e. The Second War for American Independence f. Claiming Victory from Defeat 22. Social Change and National Development a. Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution b. Cotton and African-American Life c. Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening d. Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire e. New Roles for White Women f. Early National Arts and Cultural Independence 23. Politics and the New Nation a. The Era of Good Feelings and the Two-Party System b. The Expansion of the Vote: A White Man's Democracy c. The Missouri Compromise d. The 1824 Election and the "Corrupt Bargain" e. John Quincy Adams f. Jacksonian Democracy and Modern America 24. The Age of Jackson a. The Rise of the Common Man b. A Strong Presidency c. The South Carolina Nullification Controversy d. The War Against the Bank e. Jackson vs. Clay and Calhoun f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals 25. The Rise of American Industry a. The Canal Era b. Early American Railroads c. Inventors and Inventions d. The First American Factories e. The Emergence of "Women's Sphere" f. Irish and German Immigration 26. An Explosion of New Thought a. Religious Revival b. Experiments with Utopia c. Women's Rights d. Prison and Asylum Reform e. Hudson River School Artists f. Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy 27. The Peculiar Institution a. The Crowning of King Cotton b. Slave Life and Slave Codes c. The Plantation & Chivalry d. Free(?) African-Americans e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation f. The Southern Argument for Slavery 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows a. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator b. African-American Abolitionists c. The Underground Railroad d. Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 29. Manifest Destiny a. The Lone Star Republic b. 54 40' or Fight c. "American Blood on American Soil" d. The Mexican-American War e. Gold in California 30. An Uneasy Peace a. Wilmot's Proviso b. Popular Sovereignty c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster d. The Compromise of 1850 31. "Bloody Kansas" a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act b. Border Ruffians c. The Sack of Lawrence d. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre e. Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner 32. From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict a. The Dred Scott Decision b. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates c. John Brown's Raid d. The Election of 1860 e. The South Secedes 33. A House Divided a. Fort Sumter b. Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South c. First Blood and Its Aftermath d. Sacred Beliefs e. Bloody Antietam f. Of Generals and Soldiers g. Gettysburg: High Watermark of the Confederacy h. Northern Plans to End the War i. The Road to Appomattox 34. The War Behind the Lines a. The Emancipation Proclamation b. Wartime Diplomacy c. The Northern Homefront d. The Southern Homefront e. The Election of 1864 f. The Assassination of the President 35. Reconstruction a. Presidential Reconstruction b. Radical Reconstruction c. A President Impeached d. Rebuilding the Old Order 36. The Gilded Age a. Binding the Nation by Rail b. The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie d. The New Tycoons: J. Pierpont Morgan e. New Attitudes Toward Wealth f. Politics of the Gilded Age 37. Organized Labor a. The Great Upheaval b. Labor vs. Management c. Early National Organizations d. American Federation of Labor e. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism 38. From the Countryside to the City a. The Glamour of American Cities b. The Underside of Urban Life c. The Rush of Immigrants d. Corruption Runs Wild e. Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel" f. Artistic and Literary Trends 39. New Dimensions in Everyday Life a. Education b. Sports and Leisure c. Women in the Gilded Age d. Victorian Values in a New Age e. The Print Revolution 40. Closing the Frontier a. The Massacre at Sand Creek b. Custer's Last Stand c. The End of Resistance d. Life on the Reservations e. The Wounded Knee Massacre 41. Western Folkways a. The Mining Boom b. The Ways of the Cowboy c. Life on the Farm d. The Growth of Populism e. The Election of 1896 42. Progressivism Sweeps the Nation a. Roots of the Movement b. Muckrakers c. Women's Suffrage at Last d. Booker T. Washington e. W. E. B. DuBois 43. Progressives in the White House a. Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House b. The Trust Buster c. A Helping Hand for Labor d. Preserving the Wilderness e. Passing the Torch f. The Election of 1912 g. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom 44. Seeking Empire a. Early Stirrings b. Hawaiian Annexation c. "Remember the Maine!" d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences e. The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America f. Reaching to Asia g. The Panama Canal 45. America in the First World War a. Farewell to Isolation b. Over There c. Over Here d. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations 46. The Decade That Roared a. The Age of the Automobile b. The Fight Against "Demon Rum" c. The Invention of the Teenager d. Flappers e. The Harlem Renaissance f. A Consumer Economy g. Radio Fever h. Fads and Heroes 47. Old Values vs. New Values a. The Red Scare b. The Monkey Trial c. Intolerance d. Books and Movies e. Domestic and International Politics 48. The Great Depression a. The Market Crashes b. Sinking Deeper and Deeper: 1929-33 c. The Bonus March d. Hoover's Last Stand e. Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression 49. The New Deal a. A Bank Holiday b. Putting People Back to Work c. The Farming Problem d. Social Security e. FDR's Alphabet Soup f. Roosevelt's Critics g. An Evaluation of the New Deal 50. The Road to Pearl Harbor a. 1930s Isolationism b. Reactions to a Troubled World c. War Breaks Out d. The Arsenal of Democracy e. Pearl Harbor 51. America in the Second World War a. Wartime Strategy b. The American Homefront c. D-Day and the German Surrender d. War in the Pacific e. Japanese-American Internment f. The Manhattan Project g. The Decision to Drop the Bomb 52. Postwar Challenges a. The Cold War Erupts b. The United Nations c. Containment and the Marshall Plan d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO e. The Korean War f. Domestic Challenges 53. The 1950s: Happy Days a. McCarthyism b. Suburban Growth c. Land of Television d. America Rocks and Rolls e. The Cold War Continues f. Voices against Conformity 54. A New Civil Rights Movement a. Separate No Longer? b. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott c. Showdown in Little Rock d. The Sit-In Movement e. Gains and Pains f. Martin Luther King Jr. g. The Long, Hot Summers h. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam i. Black Power 55. The Vietnam War a. Early Involvement b. Years of Escalation: 1965-68 c. The Tet Offensive d. The Antiwar Movement e. Years of Withdrawal 56. Politics from Camelot to Watergate a. The Election of 1960 b. Kennedy's New Frontier c. Kennedy's Global Challenges d. Kennedy Assassination e. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" f. 1968: Year of Unraveling g. Triangular Diplomacy: U.S., USSR, and China 57. Shaping a New America a. Modern Feminism b. The Fight for Reproductive Rights c. The Equal Rights Amendment d. Roe v. Wade and Its Impact e. Environmental Reform f. Others Demand Equality g. Student Activism h. Flower Power 58. A Time of Malaise a. Undoing a President b. The Sickened Economy c. Foreign Woes d. Finding Oneself e. The New Right 59. The Reagan Years a. "Morning in America" b. Reaganomics c. Foreign and Domestic Entanglements d. Life in the 1980s e. The End of the Cold War 60. Toward a New Millennium a. Operation Desert Storm b. A Baby Boomer in the White House c. Republicans vs. Democrats d. Living in the Information Age e. The End of the American Century 24f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals Over 20,000 Cherokees were forced to march westward along the Trail of Tears. About a quarter of them died along the way. Over 20,000 Cherokees were forced to march westward along the Trail of Tears. About a quarter of them died along the way. Not everyone was included in the new Jacksonian Democracy. There was no initiative from Jacksonian Democrats to include women in political life or to combat slavery. But, it was the Native American who suffered most from Andrew Jackson's vision of America. Jackson, both as a military leader and as President, pursued a policy of removing Indian tribes from their ancestral lands. This relocation would make room for settlers and often for speculators who made large profits from the purchase and sale of land. According to legend, a Cherokee rose, the state flower of Georgia, grew in every spot a tear fell on the Trail of Tears. Today the flowers grow along many of the trails that the Native Americans took West. According to legend, a Cherokee rose, the state flower of Georgia, grew in every spot a tear fell on the Trail of Tears. Today the flowers grow along many of the trails that the Native Americans took West. Indian policy caused the President little political trouble because his primary supporters were from the southern and western states and generally favored a plan to remove all the Indian tribes to lands west of the Mississippi River. While Jackson and other politicians put a very positive and favorable spin on Indian removal in their speeches, the removals were in fact often brutal. There was little the Indians could do to defend themselves. In 1832, a group of about a thousand Sac and Fox Indians led by Chief Black Hawk returned to Illinois, but militia members easily drove them back across the Mississippi. The Seminole resistance in Florida was more formidable, resulting in a war that began under Chief Osceola and lasted into the 1840s. ngeorgia.com Sequoyah, the child of a Native American woman and a white settler, came up with the first Cherokee alphabet in the early 1800s. By 1821 the Cherokee Nation had officially recognized this form of writing and thousands of Cherokee became literate. Sequoyah, the child of a Native American woman and a white settler, came up with the first Cherokee alphabet in the early 1800s. By 1821 the Cherokee Nation had officially recognized this form of writing and thousands of Cherokee became literate. The Cherokees of Georgia, on the other hand, used legal action to resist. The Cherokee people were by no means frontier savages. By the 1830s they developed their own written language, printed newspapers and elected leaders to representative government. When the government of Georgia refused to recognize their autonomy and threatened to seize their lands, the Cherokees took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court and won a favorable decision. John Marshall's opinion for the Court majority in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia was essentially that Georgia had no jurisdiction over the Cherokees and no claim to their lands. But Georgia officials simply ignored the decision, and President Jackson refused to enforce it. Jackson was furious and personally affronted by the Marshall ruling, stating, "Mr. Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it!" Finally, federal troops came to Georgia to remove the tribes forcibly. As early as 1831, the army began to push the Choctaws off their lands to march to Oklahoma. In 1835, some Cherokee leaders agreed to accept western land and payment in exchange for relocation. With this agreement, the Treaty of New Echota, Jackson had the green light to order Cherokee removal. Other Cherokees, under the leadership of Chief John Ross, resisted until the bitter end. About 20,000 Cherokees were marched westward at gunpoint on the infamous Trail of Tears. Nearly a quarter perished on the way, with the remainder left to seek survival in a completely foreign land. The tribe became hopelessly divided as the followers of Ross murdered those who signed the Treaty of New Echota. The Trail of Tears is the most sorrowful legacy of the Jacksonian Era. American History 1. Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization a. Diversity of Native American Groups b. The Anasazi c. The Algonkian Tribes d. The Iroquois Tribes 2. Britain in the New World a. Early Ventures Fail b. Joint-Stock Companies c. Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade e. War and Peace with Powhatan's People f. The House of Burgesses 3. The New England Colonies a. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony b. William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving c. Massachusetts Bay "The City Upon a Hill" d. Puritan Life e. Dissent in Massachusetts Bay f. Reaching to Connecticut g. Witchcraft in Salem 4. The Middle Colonies a. New Netherland to New York b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey c. City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin 5. The Southern Colonies a. Maryland The Catholic Experiment b. Indentured Servants c. Creating the Carolinas d. Debtors in Georgia e. Life in the Plantation South 6. African Americans in the British New World a. West African Society at the Point of European Contact b. "The Middle Passage" c. The Growth of Slavery d. Slave Life on the Farm and in the Town e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era f. "Slave Codes" g. A New African-American Culture 7. The Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking a. The Impact of Enlightenment in Europe b. The Great Awakening c. The Trial of John Peter Zenger d. Smuggling e. A Tradition of Rebellion f. "What Is the American?" 8. America's Place in the Global Struggle a. New France b. The French and Indian War c. George Washington's Background and Experience d. The Treaty of Paris (1763) and Its Impact 9. The Events Leading to Independence a. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 b. The Stamp Act Controversy c. The Boston Patriots d. The Townshend Acts e. The Boston Massacre f. The Tea Act and Tea Parties g. The Intolerable Acts 10. E Pluribus Unum a. Stamp Act Congress b. Sons and Daughters of Liberty c. Committees of Correspondence d. First Continental Congress e. Second Continental Congress f. Thomas Paine's Common Sense g. The Declaration of Independence 11. The American Revolution a. American and British Strengths and Weaknesses b. Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots c. Lexington and Concord d. Bunker Hill e. The Revolution on the Home Front f. Washington at Valley Forge g. The Battle of Saratoga h. The French Alliance i. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris 12. Societal Impacts of the American Revolution a. The Impact of Slavery b. A Revolution in Social Law c. Political Experience d. "Republican Motherhood" 13. When Does the Revolution End? a. The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy b. The War Experience: Soldiers, Officers, and Civilians c. The Loyalists d. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery e. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women f. Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans g. Revolutionary Achievement: Yeomen and Artisans h. The Age of Atlantic Revolutions 14. Making Rules a. State Constitutions b. Articles of Confederation c. Evaluating the Congress d. The Economic Crisis of the 1780s 15. Drafting the Constitution a. Shays' Rebellion b. A Cast of National Superstars c. The Tough Issues d. Constitution Through Compromise 16. Ratifying the Constitution a. Federalists b. Antifederalists c. The Ratification Process: State by State d. After the Fact: Virginia, New York, and "The Federalist Papers" e. The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat 17. George Washington a. Growing up in Colonial Virginia b. The Force of Personality and Military Command c. The First Administration d. Farewell Address e. Mount Vernon and the Dilemma of a Revolutionary Slave Holder 18. Unsettled Domestic Issues a. The Bill of Rights b. Hamilton's Financial Plan c. Growing Opposition d. U.S. Military Defeat; Indian Victory in the West e. Native American Resilience and Violence in the West 19. Politics in Transition: Public Conflict in the 1790s a. Trans-Atlantic Crisis: The French Revolution b. Negotiating with the Superpowers c. Two Parties Emerge d. The Adams Presidency e. The Alien and Sedition Acts f. The Life and Times of John Adams 20. Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution? a. The Election of 1800 b. Jeffersonian Ideology c. Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase d. A New National Capital: Washington, D.C. e. A Federalist Stronghold: John Marshall's Supreme Court f. Gabriel's Rebellion: Another View of Virginia in 1800 21. The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812 a. The Importance of the West b. Exploration: Lewis and Clark c. Diplomatic Challenges in an Age of European War d. Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West e. The Second War for American Independence f. Claiming Victory from Defeat 22. Social Change and National Development a. Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution b. Cotton and African-American Life c. Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening d. Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire e. New Roles for White Women f. Early National Arts and Cultural Independence 23. Politics and the New Nation a. The Era of Good Feelings and the Two-Party System b. The Expansion of the Vote: A White Man's Democracy c. The Missouri Compromise d. The 1824 Election and the "Corrupt Bargain" e. John Quincy Adams f. Jacksonian Democracy and Modern America 24. The Age of Jackson a. The Rise of the Common Man b. A Strong Presidency c. The South Carolina Nullification Controversy d. The War Against the Bank e. Jackson vs. Clay and Calhoun f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals 25. The Rise of American Industry a. The Canal Era b. Early American Railroads c. Inventors and Inventions d. The First American Factories e. The Emergence of "Women's Sphere" f. Irish and German Immigration 26. An Explosion of New Thought a. Religious Revival b. Experiments with Utopia c. Women's Rights d. Prison and Asylum Reform e. Hudson River School Artists f. Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy 27. The Peculiar Institution a. The Crowning of King Cotton b. Slave Life and Slave Codes c. The Plantation & Chivalry d. Free(?) African-Americans e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation f. The Southern Argument for Slavery 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows a. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator b. African-American Abolitionists c. The Underground Railroad d. Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 29. Manifest Destiny a. The Lone Star Republic b. 54 40' or Fight c. "American Blood on American Soil" d. The Mexican-American War e. Gold in California 30. An Uneasy Peace a. Wilmot's Proviso b. Popular Sovereignty c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster d. The Compromise of 1850 31. "Bloody Kansas" a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act b. Border Ruffians c. The Sack of Lawrence d. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre e. Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner 32. From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict a. The Dred Scott Decision b. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates c. John Brown's Raid d. The Election of 1860 e. The South Secedes 33. A House Divided a. Fort Sumter b. Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South c. First Blood and Its Aftermath d. Sacred Beliefs e. Bloody Antietam f. Of Generals and Soldiers g. Gettysburg: High Watermark of the Confederacy h. Northern Plans to End the War i. The Road to Appomattox 34. The War Behind the Lines a. The Emancipation Proclamation b. Wartime Diplomacy c. The Northern Homefront d. The Southern Homefront e. The Election of 1864 f. The Assassination of the President 35. Reconstruction a. Presidential Reconstruction b. Radical Reconstruction c. A President Impeached d. Rebuilding the Old Order 36. The Gilded Age a. Binding the Nation by Rail b. The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie d. The New Tycoons: J. Pierpont Morgan e. New Attitudes Toward Wealth f. Politics of the Gilded Age 37. Organized Labor a. The Great Upheaval b. Labor vs. Management c. Early National Organizations d. American Federation of Labor e. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism 38. From the Countryside to the City a. The Glamour of American Cities b. The Underside of Urban Life c. The Rush of Immigrants d. Corruption Runs Wild e. Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel" f. Artistic and Literary Trends 39. New Dimensions in Everyday Life a. Education b. Sports and Leisure c. Women in the Gilded Age d. Victorian Values in a New Age e. The Print Revolution 40. Closing the Frontier a. The Massacre at Sand Creek b. Custer's Last Stand c. The End of Resistance d. Life on the Reservations e. The Wounded Knee Massacre 41. Western Folkways a. The Mining Boom b. The Ways of the Cowboy c. Life on the Farm d. The Growth of Populism e. The Election of 1896 42. Progressivism Sweeps the Nation a. Roots of the Movement b. Muckrakers c. Women's Suffrage at Last d. Booker T. Washington e. W. E. B. DuBois 43. Progressives in the White House a. Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House b. The Trust Buster c. A Helping Hand for Labor d. Preserving the Wilderness e. Passing the Torch f. The Election of 1912 g. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom 44. Seeking Empire a. Early Stirrings b. Hawaiian Annexation c. "Remember the Maine!" d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences e. The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America f. Reaching to Asia g. The Panama Canal 45. America in the First World War a. Farewell to Isolation b. Over There c. Over Here d. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations 46. The Decade That Roared a. The Age of the Automobile b. The Fight Against "Demon Rum" c. The Invention of the Teenager d. Flappers e. The Harlem Renaissance f. A Consumer Economy g. Radio Fever h. Fads and Heroes 47. Old Values vs. New Values a. The Red Scare b. The Monkey Trial c. Intolerance d. Books and Movies e. Domestic and International Politics 48. The Great Depression a. The Market Crashes b. Sinking Deeper and Deeper: 1929-33 c. The Bonus March d. Hoover's Last Stand e. Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression 49. The New Deal a. A Bank Holiday b. Putting People Back to Work c. The Farming Problem d. Social Security e. FDR's Alphabet Soup f. Roosevelt's Critics g. An Evaluation of the New Deal 50. The Road to Pearl Harbor a. 1930s Isolationism b. Reactions to a Troubled World c. War Breaks Out d. The Arsenal of Democracy e. Pearl Harbor 51. America in the Second World War a. Wartime Strategy b. The American Homefront c. D-Day and the German Surrender d. War in the Pacific e. Japanese-American Internment f. The Manhattan Project g. The Decision to Drop the Bomb 52. Postwar Challenges a. The Cold War Erupts b. The United Nations c. Containment and the Marshall Plan d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO e. The Korean War f. Domestic Challenges 53. The 1950s: Happy Days a. McCarthyism b. Suburban Growth c. Land of Television d. America Rocks and Rolls e. The Cold War Continues f. Voices against Conformity 54. A New Civil Rights Movement a. Separate No Longer? b. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott c. Showdown in Little Rock d. The Sit-In Movement e. Gains and Pains f. Martin Luther King Jr. g. The Long, Hot Summers h. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam i. Black Power 55. The Vietnam War a. Early Involvement b. Years of Escalation: 1965-68 c. The Tet Offensive d. The Antiwar Movement e. Years of Withdrawal 56. Politics from Camelot to Watergate a. The Election of 1960 b. Kennedy's New Frontier c. Kennedy's Global Challenges d. Kennedy Assassination e. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" f. 1968: Year of Unraveling g. Triangular Diplomacy: U.S., USSR, and China 57. Shaping a New America a. Modern Feminism b. The Fight for Reproductive Rights c. The Equal Rights Amendment d. Roe v. Wade and Its Impact e. Environmental Reform f. Others Demand Equality g. Student Activism h. Flower Power 58. A Time of Malaise a. Undoing a President b. The Sickened Economy c. Foreign Woes d. Finding Oneself e. The New Right 59. The Reagan Years a. "Morning in America" b. Reaganomics c. Foreign and Domestic Entanglements d. Life in the 1980s e. The End of the Cold War 60. Toward a New Millennium a. Operation Desert Storm b. A Baby Boomer in the White House c. Republicans vs. Democrats d. Living in the Information Age e. The End of the American Century 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows Most of the African American characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin are transported to Africa at the end of the novel, causing controversy amongst abolitionists and free African Americans. Most of the African American characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novelare transported to Africa at the end of the novel, causing controversy amongst abolitionists and free African Americans. As the cotton industry took hold and slavery became more and more entrenched across the American south, the opposition to the Peculiar Institution began to grow. The first widely accepted solution to the slavery question in the 1820s was colonization. In effect, supporters of colonization wanted to transplant the slave population back to Africa. Their philosophy was simple: slaves were brought to America involuntarily. Why not give them a chance to enjoy life as though such a forced migration had never taken place? Funds were raised to transport freed African-Americans across the Atlantic in the opposite direction. The nation of Liberia was created as a haven for former American slaves. But most African-Americans opposed this practice. The vast majority had never set foot on African soil. Many African-Americans rightly believed that they had helped build this country and deserved to live as free citizens of America. By the end of the decade, a full-blown Abolitionist movement was born. Library of congress Abolitionist Wendell Phillips spoke on behalf of fugitive slave Thomas Sims, and against the Fugitive Slave Law in 1851. Sims was later returned to Savannah where he was publicly whipped. Abolitionist Wendell Phillips spoke on behalf of fugitive slave Thomas Sims, and against the Fugitive Slave Law in 1851. Sims was later returned to Savannah where he was publicly whipped. These new Abolitionists were different from their forebears. Anti-slavery societies had existed in America since 1775, but these activists were more radical. Early Abolitionists called for a gradual end to slavery. They supported compensation to owners of slaves for their loss of property. They raised money for the purchase of slaves to grant freedom to selected individuals. Many runaway slaves died on their way to freedom on the Underground Railroad. This stone marking the grave of a four-year-old fugitive slave orphan is in Oberlin, Ohio, a town noted for helping slaves escape. Many runaway slaves died on their way to freedom on the Underground Railroad. This stone marking the grave of a four-year-old fugitive slave orphan is in Oberlin, Ohio, a town noted for helping slaves escape. The new Abolitionists thought differently. They saw slavery as a blight on America. It must be brought to an end immediately and without compensation to the owners. They sent petitions to Congress and the states, campaigned for office, and flooded the south with inflammatory literature. Needless to say, eyebrows were raised throughout the north and the south. Soon the battle lines were drawn. President Andrew Jackson banned the post office from delivering Abolitionist literature in the south. A "gag rule" was passed on the floor of the House of Representatives forbidding the discussion of bills that restricted slavery. Abolitionists were physically attacked because of their outspoken anti-slavery views. While northern churches rallied to the Abolitionist cause, the churches of the south used the Bible to defend slavery. Abolitionists were always a minority, even on the eve of the Civil War. Their dogged determination to end human bondage was a struggle that persisted for decades. While mostly peaceful at first, as each side became more and more firmly rooted, pens were exchanged for swords. Another seed of sectional conflict had been deeply planted. American History 1. Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization a. Diversity of Native American Groups b. The Anasazi c. The Algonkian Tribes d. The Iroquois Tribes 2. Britain in the New World a. Early Ventures Fail b. Joint-Stock Companies c. Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade e. War and Peace with Powhatan's People f. The House of Burgesses 3. The New England Colonies a. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony b. William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving c. Massachusetts Bay "The City Upon a Hill" d. Puritan Life e. Dissent in Massachusetts Bay f. Reaching to Connecticut g. Witchcraft in Salem 4. The Middle Colonies a. New Netherland to New York b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey c. City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin 5. The Southern Colonies a. Maryland The Catholic Experiment b. Indentured Servants c. Creating the Carolinas d. Debtors in Georgia e. Life in the Plantation South 6. African Americans in the British New World a. West African Society at the Point of European Contact b. "The Middle Passage" c. The Growth of Slavery d. Slave Life on the Farm and in the Town e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era f. "Slave Codes" g. A New African-American Culture 7. The Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking a. The Impact of Enlightenment in Europe b. The Great Awakening c. The Trial of John Peter Zenger d. Smuggling e. A Tradition of Rebellion f. "What Is the American?" 8. America's Place in the Global Struggle a. New France b. The French and Indian War c. George Washington's Background and Experience d. The Treaty of Paris (1763) and Its Impact 9. The Events Leading to Independence a. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 b. The Stamp Act Controversy c. The Boston Patriots d. The Townshend Acts e. The Boston Massacre f. The Tea Act and Tea Parties g. The Intolerable Acts 10. E Pluribus Unum a. Stamp Act Congress b. Sons and Daughters of Liberty c. Committees of Correspondence d. First Continental Congress e. Second Continental Congress f. Thomas Paine's Common Sense g. The Declaration of Independence 11. The American Revolution a. American and British Strengths and Weaknesses b. Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots c. Lexington and Concord d. Bunker Hill e. The Revolution on the Home Front f. Washington at Valley Forge g. The Battle of Saratoga h. The French Alliance i. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris 12. Societal Impacts of the American Revolution a. The Impact of Slavery b. A Revolution in Social Law c. Political Experience d. "Republican Motherhood" 13. When Does the Revolution End? a. The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy b. The War Experience: Soldiers, Officers, and Civilians c. The Loyalists d. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery e. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women f. Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans g. Revolutionary Achievement: Yeomen and Artisans h. The Age of Atlantic Revolutions 14. Making Rules a. State Constitutions b. Articles of Confederation c. Evaluating the Congress d. The Economic Crisis of the 1780s 15. Drafting the Constitution a. Shays' Rebellion b. A Cast of National Superstars c. The Tough Issues d. Constitution Through Compromise 16. Ratifying the Constitution a. Federalists b. Antifederalists c. The Ratification Process: State by State d. After the Fact: Virginia, New York, and "The Federalist Papers" e. The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat 17. George Washington a. Growing up in Colonial Virginia b. The Force of Personality and Military Command c. The First Administration d. Farewell Address e. Mount Vernon and the Dilemma of a Revolutionary Slave Holder 18. Unsettled Domestic Issues a. The Bill of Rights b. Hamilton's Financial Plan c. Growing Opposition d. U.S. Military Defeat; Indian Victory in the West e. Native American Resilience and Violence in the West 19. Politics in Transition: Public Conflict in the 1790s a. Trans-Atlantic Crisis: The French Revolution b. Negotiating with the Superpowers c. Two Parties Emerge d. The Adams Presidency e. The Alien and Sedition Acts f. The Life and Times of John Adams 20. Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution? a. The Election of 1800 b. Jeffersonian Ideology c. Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase d. A New National Capital: Washington, D.C. e. A Federalist Stronghold: John Marshall's Supreme Court f. Gabriel's Rebellion: Another View of Virginia in 1800 21. The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812 a. The Importance of the West b. Exploration: Lewis and Clark c. Diplomatic Challenges in an Age of European War d. Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West e. The Second War for American Independence f. Claiming Victory from Defeat 22. Social Change and National Development a. Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution b. Cotton and African-American Life c. Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening d. Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire e. New Roles for White Women f. Early National Arts and Cultural Independence 23. Politics and the New Nation a. The Era of Good Feelings and the Two-Party System b. The Expansion of the Vote: A White Man's Democracy c. The Missouri Compromise d. The 1824 Election and the "Corrupt Bargain" e. John Quincy Adams f. Jacksonian Democracy and Modern America 24. The Age of Jackson a. The Rise of the Common Man b. A Strong Presidency c. The South Carolina Nullification Controversy d. The War Against the Bank e. Jackson vs. Clay and Calhoun f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals 25. The Rise of American Industry a. The Canal Era b. Early American Railroads c. Inventors and Inventions d. The First American Factories e. The Emergence of "Women's Sphere" f. Irish and German Immigration 26. An Explosion of New Thought a. Religious Revival b. Experiments with Utopia c. Women's Rights d. Prison and Asylum Reform e. Hudson River School Artists f. Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy 27. The Peculiar Institution a. The Crowning of King Cotton b. Slave Life and Slave Codes c. The Plantation & Chivalry d. Free(?) African-Americans e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation f. The Southern Argument for Slavery 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows a. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator b. African-American Abolitionists c. The Underground Railroad d. Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 29. Manifest Destiny a. The Lone Star Republic b. 54 40' or Fight c. "American Blood on American Soil" d. The Mexican-American War e. Gold in California 30. An Uneasy Peace a. Wilmot's Proviso b. Popular Sovereignty c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster d. The Compromise of 1850 31. "Bloody Kansas" a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act b. Border Ruffians c. The Sack of Lawrence d. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre e. Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner 32. From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict a. The Dred Scott Decision b. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates c. John Brown's Raid d. The Election of 1860 e. The South Secedes 33. A House Divided a. Fort Sumter b. Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South c. First Blood and Its Aftermath d. Sacred Beliefs e. Bloody Antietam f. Of Generals and Soldiers g. Gettysburg: High Watermark of the Confederacy h. Northern Plans to End the War i. The Road to Appomattox 34. The War Behind the Lines a. The Emancipation Proclamation b. Wartime Diplomacy c. The Northern Homefront d. The Southern Homefront e. The Election of 1864 f. The Assassination of the President 35. Reconstruction a. Presidential Reconstruction b. Radical Reconstruction c. A President Impeached d. Rebuilding the Old Order 36. The Gilded Age a. Binding the Nation by Rail b. The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie d. The New Tycoons: J. Pierpont Morgan e. New Attitudes Toward Wealth f. Politics of the Gilded Age 37. Organized Labor a. The Great Upheaval b. Labor vs. Management c. Early National Organizations d. American Federation of Labor e. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism 38. From the Countryside to the City a. The Glamour of American Cities b. The Underside of Urban Life c. The Rush of Immigrants d. Corruption Runs Wild e. Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel" f. Artistic and Literary Trends 39. New Dimensions in Everyday Life a. Education b. Sports and Leisure c. Women in the Gilded Age d. Victorian Values in a New Age e. The Print Revolution 40. Closing the Frontier a. The Massacre at Sand Creek b. Custer's Last Stand c. The End of Resistance d. Life on the Reservations e. The Wounded Knee Massacre 41. Western Folkways a. The Mining Boom b. The Ways of the Cowboy c. Life on the Farm d. The Growth of Populism e. The Election of 1896 42. Progressivism Sweeps the Nation a. Roots of the Movement b. Muckrakers c. Women's Suffrage at Last d. Booker T. Washington e. W. E. B. DuBois 43. Progressives in the White House a. Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House b. The Trust Buster c. A Helping Hand for Labor d. Preserving the Wilderness e. Passing the Torch f. The Election of 1912 g. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom 44. Seeking Empire a. Early Stirrings b. Hawaiian Annexation c. "Remember the Maine!" d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences e. The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America f. Reaching to Asia g. The Panama Canal 45. America in the First World War a. Farewell to Isolation b. Over There c. Over Here d. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations 46. The Decade That Roared a. The Age of the Automobile b. The Fight Against "Demon Rum" c. The Invention of the Teenager d. Flappers e. The Harlem Renaissance f. A Consumer Economy g. Radio Fever h. Fads and Heroes 47. Old Values vs. New Values a. The Red Scare b. The Monkey Trial c. Intolerance d. Books and Movies e. Domestic and International Politics 48. The Great Depression a. The Market Crashes b. Sinking Deeper and Deeper: 1929-33 c. The Bonus March d. Hoover's Last Stand e. Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression 49. The New Deal a. A Bank Holiday b. Putting People Back to Work c. The Farming Problem d. Social Security e. FDR's Alphabet Soup f. Roosevelt's Critics g. An Evaluation of the New Deal 50. The Road to Pearl Harbor a. 1930s Isolationism b. Reactions to a Troubled World c. War Breaks Out d. The Arsenal of Democracy e. Pearl Harbor 51. America in the Second World War a. Wartime Strategy b. The American Homefront c. D-Day and the German Surrender d. War in the Pacific e. Japanese-American Internment f. The Manhattan Project g. The Decision to Drop the Bomb 52. Postwar Challenges a. The Cold War Erupts b. The United Nations c. Containment and the Marshall Plan d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO e. The Korean War f. Domestic Challenges 53. The 1950s: Happy Days a. McCarthyism b. Suburban Growth c. Land of Television d. America Rocks and Rolls e. The Cold War Continues f. Voices against Conformity 54. A New Civil Rights Movement a. Separate No Longer? b. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott c. Showdown in Little Rock d. The Sit-In Movement e. Gains and Pains f. Martin Luther King Jr. g. The Long, Hot Summers h. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam i. Black Power 55. The Vietnam War a. Early Involvement b. Years of Escalation: 1965-68 c. The Tet Offensive d. The Antiwar Movement e. Years of Withdrawal 56. Politics from Camelot to Watergate a. The Election of 1960 b. Kennedy's New Frontier c. Kennedy's Global Challenges d. Kennedy Assassination e. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" f. 1968: Year of Unraveling g. Triangular Diplomacy: U.S., USSR, and China 57. Shaping a New America a. Modern Feminism b. The Fight for Reproductive Rights c. The Equal Rights Amendment d. Roe v. Wade and Its Impact e. Environmental Reform f. Others Demand Equality g. Student Activism h. Flower Power 58. A Time of Malaise a. Undoing a President b. The Sickened Economy c. Foreign Woes d. Finding Oneself e. The New Right 59. The Reagan Years a. "Morning in America" b. Reaganomics c. Foreign and Domestic Entanglements d. Life in the 1980s e. The End of the Cold War 60. Toward a New Millennium a. Operation Desert Storm b. A Baby Boomer in the White House c. Republicans vs. Democrats d. Living in the Information Age e. The End of the American Century 30c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster Dartmouth College Daniel Webster's Daniel Webster's "Seventh of March" speech urged Senators from all regions of the nation to compromise their positions in order to save the Union. Henry Clay of Kentucky, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts dominated national politics from the end of the War of 1812 until their deaths in the early 1850s. Although none would ever be President, the collective impact they created in Congress was far greater than any President of the era, with the exception of Andrew Jackson. There was one issue that loomed over the nation throughout their time in power slavery. They were continuously successful in keeping peace in America by forging a series of compromises. The next generation's leaders were not. The Gold Rush led to the rapid settlement of California which resulted in its imminent admission as the 31st state. Southerners recognized that there were few slaves in California because Mexico had prohibited slavery. Immediate admission would surely mean California would be the 16th free state, giving the non-slave-holding states an edge in the Senate. Already holding the House of Representatives, the free states could then dominate legislation. Texas was claiming land that was part of New Mexico. As a slave state, any expansion of the boundaries of Texas would be opening new land to slavery. northerners were opposed. The north was also appalled at the ongoing practice of slavery in the nation's capital a practice the south was not willing to let go. The lines were drawn as the three Senatorial giants took the stage for the last critical time. Henry Clay had brokered compromises before. When the Congress was divided in 1820 over the issue of slavery in the Louisiana Territory, Clay set forth the Missouri Compromise. When South Carolina nullified the tariff in 1832, Clay saved the day with the Compromise Tariff of 1833. After 30 years in Congress and three unsuccessful attempts at the Presidency, Clay wanted badly to make good with yet another nation-saving deal. He put forth a set of eight proposals that he hoped would pass muster with his colleagues. John Calhoun once said of Henry Clay (shown above), "I don't like Clay. He is a bad man, an imposter, a creator of wicked schemes. I wouldn't speak to him, but, by God, I love him!" John Calhoun once said of Henry Clay (shown above), "I don't like Clay. He is a bad man, an imposter, a creator of wicked schemes. I wouldn't speak to him, but, by God, I love him!" John C. Calhoun took to the floor next. Although sick and dying with consumption, he sat sternly in the Senate chamber, as his speech was read. The compromises would betray the south, he claimed. Northerners would have to agree to federal protection of slavery for the south to feel comfortable remaining in the Union. His words foreshadowed the very doom to the Union that would come within the decade. Daniel Webster spoke three days after Calhoun's speech. With the nation's fate in the balance, he pleaded with northerners to accept southern demands, for the sake of Union. Withdrawing his former support for the Wilmot Proviso, he hoped to persuade enough of his colleagues to move closer to Clay's proposals. Although there was no immediate deal, his words echoed in the minds of the Congressmen as they debated into that hot summer. By 1852, Clay, Calhoun, and Webster had all passed away. They left a rich legacy behind them. Clay of the West, Calhoun of the South, and Webster of the North loved and served their country greatly. The generation that followed produced no leader that could unite the country without the force of arms. American History 1. Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization a. Diversity of Native American Groups b. The Anasazi c. The Algonkian Tribes d. The Iroquois Tribes 2. Britain in the New World a. Early Ventures Fail b. Joint-Stock Companies c. Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade e. War and Peace with Powhatan's People f. The House of Burgesses 3. The New England Colonies a. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony b. William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving c. Massachusetts Bay "The City Upon a Hill" d. Puritan Life e. Dissent in Massachusetts Bay f. Reaching to Connecticut g. Witchcraft in Salem 4. The Middle Colonies a. New Netherland to New York b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey c. City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin 5. The Southern Colonies a. Maryland The Catholic Experiment b. Indentured Servants c. Creating the Carolinas d. Debtors in Georgia e. Life in the Plantation South 6. African Americans in the British New World a. West African Society at the Point of European Contact b. "The Middle Passage" c. The Growth of Slavery d. Slave Life on the Farm and in the Town e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era f. "Slave Codes" g. A New African-American Culture 7. The Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking a. The Impact of Enlightenment in Europe b. The Great Awakening c. The Trial of John Peter Zenger d. Smuggling e. A Tradition of Rebellion f. "What Is the American?" 8. America's Place in the Global Struggle a. New France b. The French and Indian War c. George Washington's Background and Experience d. The Treaty of Paris (1763) and Its Impact 9. The Events Leading to Independence a. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 b. The Stamp Act Controversy c. The Boston Patriots d. The Townshend Acts e. The Boston Massacre f. The Tea Act and Tea Parties g. The Intolerable Acts 10. E Pluribus Unum a. Stamp Act Congress b. Sons and Daughters of Liberty c. Committees of Correspondence d. First Continental Congress e. Second Continental Congress f. Thomas Paine's Common Sense g. The Declaration of Independence 11. The American Revolution a. American and British Strengths and Weaknesses b. Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots c. Lexington and Concord d. Bunker Hill e. The Revolution on the Home Front f. Washington at Valley Forge g. The Battle of Saratoga h. The French Alliance i. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris 12. Societal Impacts of the American Revolution a. The Impact of Slavery b. A Revolution in Social Law c. Political Experience d. "Republican Motherhood" 13. When Does the Revolution End? a. The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy b. The War Experience: Soldiers, Officers, and Civilians c. The Loyalists d. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery e. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women f. Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans g. Revolutionary Achievement: Yeomen and Artisans h. The Age of Atlantic Revolutions 14. Making Rules a. State Constitutions b. Articles of Confederation c. Evaluating the Congress d. The Economic Crisis of the 1780s 15. Drafting the Constitution a. Shays' Rebellion b. A Cast of National Superstars c. The Tough Issues d. Constitution Through Compromise 16. Ratifying the Constitution a. Federalists b. Antifederalists c. The Ratification Process: State by State d. After the Fact: Virginia, New York, and "The Federalist Papers" e. The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat 17. George Washington a. Growing up in Colonial Virginia b. The Force of Personality and Military Command c. The First Administration d. Farewell Address e. Mount Vernon and the Dilemma of a Revolutionary Slave Holder 18. Unsettled Domestic Issues a. The Bill of Rights b. Hamilton's Financial Plan c. Growing Opposition d. U.S. Military Defeat; Indian Victory in the West e. Native American Resilience and Violence in the West 19. Politics in Transition: Public Conflict in the 1790s a. Trans-Atlantic Crisis: The French Revolution b. Negotiating with the Superpowers c. Two Parties Emerge d. The Adams Presidency e. The Alien and Sedition Acts f. The Life and Times of John Adams 20. Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution? a. The Election of 1800 b. Jeffersonian Ideology c. Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase d. A New National Capital: Washington, D.C. e. A Federalist Stronghold: John Marshall's Supreme Court f. Gabriel's Rebellion: Another View of Virginia in 1800 21. The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812 a. The Importance of the West b. Exploration: Lewis and Clark c. Diplomatic Challenges in an Age of European War d. Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West e. The Second War for American Independence f. Claiming Victory from Defeat 22. Social Change and National Development a. Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution b. Cotton and African-American Life c. Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening d. Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire e. New Roles for White Women f. Early National Arts and Cultural Independence 23. Politics and the New Nation a. The Era of Good Feelings and the Two-Party System b. The Expansion of the Vote: A White Man's Democracy c. The Missouri Compromise d. The 1824 Election and the "Corrupt Bargain" e. John Quincy Adams f. Jacksonian Democracy and Modern America 24. The Age of Jackson a. The Rise of the Common Man b. A Strong Presidency c. The South Carolina Nullification Controversy d. The War Against the Bank e. Jackson vs. Clay and Calhoun f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals 25. The Rise of American Industry a. The Canal Era b. Early American Railroads c. Inventors and Inventions d. The First American Factories e. The Emergence of "Women's Sphere" f. Irish and German Immigration 26. An Explosion of New Thought a. Religious Revival b. Experiments with Utopia c. Women's Rights d. Prison and Asylum Reform e. Hudson River School Artists f. Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy 27. The Peculiar Institution a. The Crowning of King Cotton b. Slave Life and Slave Codes c. The Plantation & Chivalry d. Free(?) African-Americans e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation f. The Southern Argument for Slavery 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows a. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator b. African-American Abolitionists c. The Underground Railroad d. Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 29. Manifest Destiny a. The Lone Star Republic b. 54 40' or Fight c. "American Blood on American Soil" d. The Mexican-American War e. Gold in California 30. An Uneasy Peace a. Wilmot's Proviso b. Popular Sovereignty c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster d. The Compromise of 1850 31. "Bloody Kansas" a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act b. Border Ruffians c. The Sack of Lawrence d. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre e. Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner 32. From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict a. The Dred Scott Decision b. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates c. John Brown's Raid d. The Election of 1860 e. The South Secedes 33. A House Divided a. Fort Sumter b. Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South c. First Blood and Its Aftermath d. Sacred Beliefs e. Bloody Antietam f. Of Generals and Soldiers g. Gettysburg: High Watermark of the Confederacy h. Northern Plans to End the War i. The Road to Appomattox 34. The War Behind the Lines a. The Emancipation Proclamation b. Wartime Diplomacy c. The Northern Homefront d. The Southern Homefront e. The Election of 1864 f. The Assassination of the President 35. Reconstruction a. Presidential Reconstruction b. Radical Reconstruction c. A President Impeached d. Rebuilding the Old Order 36. The Gilded Age a. Binding the Nation by Rail b. The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie d. The New Tycoons: J. Pierpont Morgan e. New Attitudes Toward Wealth f. Politics of the Gilded Age 37. Organized Labor a. The Great Upheaval b. Labor vs. Management c. Early National Organizations d. American Federation of Labor e. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism 38. From the Countryside to the City a. The Glamour of American Cities b. The Underside of Urban Life c. The Rush of Immigrants d. Corruption Runs Wild e. Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel" f. Artistic and Literary Trends 39. New Dimensions in Everyday Life a. Education b. Sports and Leisure c. Women in the Gilded Age d. Victorian Values in a New Age e. The Print Revolution 40. Closing the Frontier a. The Massacre at Sand Creek b. Custer's Last Stand c. The End of Resistance d. Life on the Reservations e. The Wounded Knee Massacre 41. Western Folkways a. The Mining Boom b. The Ways of the Cowboy c. Life on the Farm d. The Growth of Populism e. The Election of 1896 42. Progressivism Sweeps the Nation a. Roots of the Movement b. Muckrakers c. Women's Suffrage at Last d. Booker T. Washington e. W. E. B. DuBois 43. Progressives in the White House a. Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House b. The Trust Buster c. A Helping Hand for Labor d. Preserving the Wilderness e. Passing the Torch f. The Election of 1912 g. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom 44. Seeking Empire a. Early Stirrings b. Hawaiian Annexation c. "Remember the Maine!" d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences e. The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America f. Reaching to Asia g. The Panama Canal 45. America in the First World War a. Farewell to Isolation b. Over There c. Over Here d. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations 46. The Decade That Roared a. The Age of the Automobile b. The Fight Against "Demon Rum" c. The Invention of the Teenager d. Flappers e. The Harlem Renaissance f. A Consumer Economy g. Radio Fever h. Fads and Heroes 47. Old Values vs. New Values a. The Red Scare b. The Monkey Trial c. Intolerance d. Books and Movies e. Domestic and International Politics 48. The Great Depression a. The Market Crashes b. Sinking Deeper and Deeper: 1929-33 c. The Bonus March d. Hoover's Last Stand e. Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression 49. The New Deal a. A Bank Holiday b. Putting People Back to Work c. The Farming Problem d. Social Security e. FDR's Alphabet Soup f. Roosevelt's Critics g. An Evaluation of the New Deal 50. The Road to Pearl Harbor a. 1930s Isolationism b. Reactions to a Troubled World c. War Breaks Out d. The Arsenal of Democracy e. Pearl Harbor 51. America in the Second World War a. Wartime Strategy b. The American Homefront c. D-Day and the German Surrender d. War in the Pacific e. Japanese-American Internment f. The Manhattan Project g. The Decision to Drop the Bomb 52. Postwar Challenges a. The Cold War Erupts b. The United Nations c. Containment and the Marshall Plan d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO e. The Korean War f. Domestic Challenges 53. The 1950s: Happy Days a. McCarthyism b. Suburban Growth c. Land of Television d. America Rocks and Rolls e. The Cold War Continues f. Voices against Conformity 54. A New Civil Rights Movement a. Separate No Longer? b. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott c. Showdown in Little Rock d. The Sit-In Movement e. Gains and Pains f. Martin Luther King Jr. g. The Long, Hot Summers h. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam i. Black Power 55. The Vietnam War a. Early Involvement b. Years of Escalation: 1965-68 c. The Tet Offensive d. The Antiwar Movement e. Years of Withdrawal 56. Politics from Camelot to Watergate a. The Election of 1960 b. Kennedy's New Frontier c. Kennedy's Global Challenges d. Kennedy Assassination e. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" f. 1968: Year of Unraveling g. Triangular Diplomacy: U.S., USSR, and China 57. Shaping a New America a. Modern Feminism b. The Fight for Reproductive Rights c. The Equal Rights Amendment d. Roe v. Wade and Its Impact e. Environmental Reform f. Others Demand Equality g. Student Activism h. Flower Power 58. A Time of Malaise a. Undoing a President b. The Sickened Economy c. Foreign Woes d. Finding Oneself e. The New Right 59. The Reagan Years a. "Morning in America" b. Reaganomics c. Foreign and Domestic Entanglements d. Life in the 1980s e. The End of the Cold War 60. Toward a New Millennium a. Operation Desert Storm b. A Baby Boomer in the White House c. Republicans vs. Democrats d. Living in the Information Age e. The End of the American Century 44. Seeking Empire Small Planet Pro-war, yellow journalist newspapers such as "The World" incited passion in the U.S. Pro-war, yellow journalist newspapers such as "The World" incited passion in the U.S. Since the early days of Jamestown colony, Americans were constantly stretching their boundaries to encompass more territory. When the United States government was formed, the practice continued. The first half of the 19th century was spent defining the nation's borders through negotiation and war, and the second half was spent populating the fruits of the labor. As the 20th century dawned, many believed that the expansion should continue. Many different groups pushed for American expansion overseas. Industrialists sought new markets for their products and sources for cheaper resources. Nationalists claimed that colonies were a hallmark of national prestige. The European powers had already claimed much of the globe; America would have to compete or perish. Missionaries continually preached to spread their messages of faith. Social Darwinists such as Josiah Strong believed that American civilization was superior to others and that it was an American's duty to diffuse its benefits. Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote an influential thesis declaring that throughout history, those that controlled the seas controlled the world. Acquiring naval bases at strategic points around the world was imperative. U.S. Deptartment of Treasury This check for $7.2 million was issued August 1, 1868, and made payable to the Russian Minister to the United States, Edouard de Stoeckl. This check for $7.2 million was issued August 1, 1868, and made payable to the Russian Minister to the United States, Edouard de Stoeckl. Before 1890, American lands consisted of little more than the contiguous states and Alaska. By the end of World War I, America could boast a global empire. American Samoa and Hawaii were added in the 1890s by force. The Spanish-American War brought Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines under the American flag. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine declared the entire western hemisphere an American sphere of influence. Through initial negotiation and eventual intimidation, the United States secured the rights to build and operate an isthmathian canal in Panama. The German naval threat in World War I prompted the purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917. The country that had once fought to throw off imperial shackles was now itself an empire. With the economic and strategic benefits came the expected difficulties. Filipinos fought a bloody struggle for independence. America became entangled with distant conflicts to defend the new claims. Regardless of the nobility or self-interest of the intent, the United States was now poised to claim its role as a world power in the 20th century. American History 1. Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization a. Diversity of Native American Groups b. The Anasazi c. The Algonkian Tribes d. The Iroquois Tribes 2. Britain in the New World a. Early Ventures Fail b. Joint-Stock Companies c. Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade e. War and Peace with Powhatan's People f. The House of Burgesses 3. The New England Colonies a. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony b. William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving c. Massachusetts Bay "The City Upon a Hill" d. Puritan Life e. Dissent in Massachusetts Bay f. Reaching to Connecticut g. Witchcraft in Salem 4. The Middle Colonies a. New Netherland to New York b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey c. City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin 5. The Southern Colonies a. Maryland The Catholic Experiment b. Indentured Servants c. Creating the Carolinas d. Debtors in Georgia e. Life in the Plantation South 6. African Americans in the British New World a. West African Society at the Point of European Contact b. "The Middle Passage" c. The Growth of Slavery d. Slave Life on the Farm and in the Town e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era f. "Slave Codes" g. A New African-American Culture 7. The Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking a. The Impact of Enlightenment in Europe b. The Great Awakening c. The Trial of John Peter Zenger d. Smuggling e. A Tradition of Rebellion f. "What Is the American?" 8. America's Place in the Global Struggle a. New France b. The French and Indian War c. George Washington's Background and Experience d. The Treaty of Paris (1763) and Its Impact 9. The Events Leading to Independence a. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 b. The Stamp Act Controversy c. The Boston Patriots d. The Townshend Acts e. The Boston Massacre f. The Tea Act and Tea Parties g. The Intolerable Acts 10. E Pluribus Unum a. Stamp Act Congress b. Sons and Daughters of Liberty c. Committees of Correspondence d. First Continental Congress e. Second Continental Congress f. Thomas Paine's Common Sense g. The Declaration of Independence 11. The American Revolution a. American and British Strengths and Weaknesses b. Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots c. Lexington and Concord d. Bunker Hill e. The Revolution on the Home Front f. Washington at Valley Forge g. The Battle of Saratoga h. The French Alliance i. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris 12. Societal Impacts of the American Revolution a. The Impact of Slavery b. A Revolution in Social Law c. Political Experience d. "Republican Motherhood" 13. When Does the Revolution End? a. The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy b. The War Experience: Soldiers, Officers, and Civilians c. The Loyalists d. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery e. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women f. Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans g. Revolutionary Achievement: Yeomen and Artisans h. The Age of Atlantic Revolutions 14. Making Rules a. State Constitutions b. Articles of Confederation c. Evaluating the Congress d. The Economic Crisis of the 1780s 15. Drafting the Constitution a. Shays' Rebellion b. A Cast of National Superstars c. The Tough Issues d. Constitution Through Compromise 16. Ratifying the Constitution a. Federalists b. Antifederalists c. The Ratification Process: State by State d. After the Fact: Virginia, New York, and "The Federalist Papers" e. The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat 17. George Washington a. Growing up in Colonial Virginia b. The Force of Personality and Military Command c. The First Administration d. Farewell Address e. Mount Vernon and the Dilemma of a Revolutionary Slave Holder 18. Unsettled Domestic Issues a. The Bill of Rights b. Hamilton's Financial Plan c. Growing Opposition d. U.S. Military Defeat; Indian Victory in the West e. Native American Resilience and Violence in the West 19. Politics in Transition: Public Conflict in the 1790s a. Trans-Atlantic Crisis: The French Revolution b. Negotiating with the Superpowers c. Two Parties Emerge d. The Adams Presidency e. The Alien and Sedition Acts f. The Life and Times of John Adams 20. Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution? a. The Election of 1800 b. Jeffersonian Ideology c. Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase d. A New National Capital: Washington, D.C. e. A Federalist Stronghold: John Marshall's Supreme Court f. Gabriel's Rebellion: Another View of Virginia in 1800 21. The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812 a. The Importance of the West b. Exploration: Lewis and Clark c. Diplomatic Challenges in an Age of European War d. Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West e. The Second War for American Independence f. Claiming Victory from Defeat 22. Social Change and National Development a. Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution b. Cotton and African-American Life c. Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening d. Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire e. New Roles for White Women f. Early National Arts and Cultural Independence 23. Politics and the New Nation a. The Era of Good Feelings and the Two-Party System b. The Expansion of the Vote: A White Man's Democracy c. The Missouri Compromise d. The 1824 Election and the "Corrupt Bargain" e. John Quincy Adams f. Jacksonian Democracy and Modern America 24. The Age of Jackson a. The Rise of the Common Man b. A Strong Presidency c. The South Carolina Nullification Controversy d. The War Against the Bank e. Jackson vs. Clay and Calhoun f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals 25. The Rise of American Industry a. The Canal Era b. Early American Railroads c. Inventors and Inventions d. The First American Factories e. The Emergence of "Women's Sphere" f. Irish and German Immigration 26. An Explosion of New Thought a. Religious Revival b. Experiments with Utopia c. Women's Rights d. Prison and Asylum Reform e. Hudson River School Artists f. Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy 27. The Peculiar Institution a. The Crowning of King Cotton b. Slave Life and Slave Codes c. The Plantation & Chivalry d. Free(?) African-Americans e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation f. The Southern Argument for Slavery 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows a. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator b. African-American Abolitionists c. The Underground Railroad d. Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 29. Manifest Destiny a. The Lone Star Republic b. 54 40' or Fight c. "American Blood on American Soil" d. The Mexican-American War e. Gold in California 30. An Uneasy Peace a. Wilmot's Proviso b. Popular Sovereignty c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster d. The Compromise of 1850 31. "Bloody Kansas" a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act b. Border Ruffians c. The Sack of Lawrence d. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre e. Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner 32. From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict a. The Dred Scott Decision b. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates c. John Brown's Raid d. The Election of 1860 e. The South Secedes 33. A House Divided a. Fort Sumter b. Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South c. First Blood and Its Aftermath d. Sacred Beliefs e. Bloody Antietam f. Of Generals and Soldiers g. Gettysburg: High Watermark of the Confederacy h. Northern Plans to End the War i. The Road to Appomattox 34. The War Behind the Lines a. The Emancipation Proclamation b. Wartime Diplomacy c. The Northern Homefront d. The Southern Homefront e. The Election of 1864 f. The Assassination of the President 35. Reconstruction a. Presidential Reconstruction b. Radical Reconstruction c. A President Impeached d. Rebuilding the Old Order 36. The Gilded Age a. Binding the Nation by Rail b. The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie d. The New Tycoons: J. Pierpont Morgan e. New Attitudes Toward Wealth f. Politics of the Gilded Age 37. Organized Labor a. The Great Upheaval b. Labor vs. Management c. Early National Organizations d. American Federation of Labor e. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism 38. From the Countryside to the City a. The Glamour of American Cities b. The Underside of Urban Life c. The Rush of Immigrants d. Corruption Runs Wild e. Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel" f. Artistic and Literary Trends 39. New Dimensions in Everyday Life a. Education b. Sports and Leisure c. Women in the Gilded Age d. Victorian Values in a New Age e. The Print Revolution 40. Closing the Frontier a. The Massacre at Sand Creek b. Custer's Last Stand c. The End of Resistance d. Life on the Reservations e. The Wounded Knee Massacre 41. Western Folkways a. The Mining Boom b. The Ways of the Cowboy c. Life on the Farm d. The Growth of Populism e. The Election of 1896 42. Progressivism Sweeps the Nation a. Roots of the Movement b. Muckrakers c. Women's Suffrage at Last d. Booker T. Washington e. W. E. B. DuBois 43. Progressives in the White House a. Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House b. The Trust Buster c. A Helping Hand for Labor d. Preserving the Wilderness e. Passing the Torch f. The Election of 1912 g. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom 44. Seeking Empire a. Early Stirrings b. Hawaiian Annexation c. "Remember the Maine!" d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences e. The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America f. Reaching to Asia g. The Panama Canal 45. America in the First World War a. Farewell to Isolation b. Over There c. Over Here d. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations 46. The Decade That Roared a. The Age of the Automobile b. The Fight Against "Demon Rum" c. The Invention of the Teenager d. Flappers e. The Harlem Renaissance f. A Consumer Economy g. Radio Fever h. Fads and Heroes 47. Old Values vs. New Values a. The Red Scare b. The Monkey Trial c. Intolerance d. Books and Movies e. Domestic and International Politics 48. The Great Depression a. The Market Crashes b. Sinking Deeper and Deeper: 1929-33 c. The Bonus March d. Hoover's Last Stand e. Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression 49. The New Deal a. A Bank Holiday b. Putting People Back to Work c. The Farming Problem d. Social Security e. FDR's Alphabet Soup f. Roosevelt's Critics g. An Evaluation of the New Deal 50. The Road to Pearl Harbor a. 1930s Isolationism b. Reactions to a Troubled World c. War Breaks Out d. The Arsenal of Democracy e. Pearl Harbor 51. America in the Second World War a. Wartime Strategy b. The American Homefront c. D-Day and the German Surrender d. War in the Pacific e. Japanese-American Internment f. The Manhattan Project g. The Decision to Drop the Bomb 52. Postwar Challenges a. The Cold War Erupts b. The United Nations c. Containment and the Marshall Plan d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO e. The Korean War f. Domestic Challenges 53. The 1950s: Happy Days a. McCarthyism b. Suburban Growth c. Land of Television d. America Rocks and Rolls e. The Cold War Continues f. Voices against Conformity 54. A New Civil Rights Movement a. Separate No Longer? b. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott c. Showdown in Little Rock d. The Sit-In Movement e. Gains and Pains f. Martin Luther King Jr. g. The Long, Hot Summers h. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam i. Black Power 55. The Vietnam War a. Early Involvement b. Years of Escalation: 1965-68 c. The Tet Offensive d. The Antiwar Movement e. Years of Withdrawal 56. Politics from Camelot to Watergate a. The Election of 1960 b. Kennedy's New Frontier c. Kennedy's Global Challenges d. Kennedy Assassination e. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" f. 1968: Year of Unraveling g. Triangular Diplomacy: U.S., USSR, and China 57. Shaping a New America a. Modern Feminism b. The Fight for Reproductive Rights c. The Equal Rights Amendment d. Roe v. Wade and Its Impact e. Environmental Reform f. Others Demand Equality g. Student Activism h. Flower Power 58. A Time of Malaise a. Undoing a President b. The Sickened Economy c. Foreign Woes d. Finding Oneself e. The New Right 59. The Reagan Years a. "Morning in America" b. Reaganomics c. Foreign and Domestic Entanglements d. Life in the 1980s e. The End of the Cold War 60. Toward a New Millennium a. Operation Desert Storm b. A Baby Boomer in the White House c. Republicans vs. Democrats d. Living in the Information Age e. The End of the American Century 44f. Reaching to Asia Marine and sailors with Colt machine gun, Boxer Rebellion, 1900 Marine and sailors with Colt machine gun, Boxer Rebellion, 1900 The United States could not ignore the largest continent on earth forever. Since Commodore Matthew Perry "opened" Japan in 1854, trade with Asia was a reality, earning millions for American merchants and manufacturers. Slowly but surely the United States acquired holdings in the region, making the ties even stronger. Already Alaska, Hawaii, and American Samoa flew the American flag. The Spanish-American War brought Guam and the Philippines as well. These territories needed supply routes and defense, so ports of trade and naval bases became crucial. Open Door Policy The most populous nation on earth was already divided between encroaching European empires. China still had an emperor and system of government, but the foreign powers were truly in control. Although the Chinese Empire was not carved into colonies such as Africa, Europe did establish quasi-colonial entities called spheres of influence after 1894. Those enjoying special privileges in this fashion included Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and Japan. Secretary of State John Hay feared that if these nations established trade practices that excluded other nations, American trade would suffer. Britain agreed and Hay devised a strategy to preserve open trade. He circulated letters among all the powers called Open Door Notes, requesting that all nations agree to free trade in China. While Britain agreed, all the other powers declined in private responses. Hay, however, lied to the world and declared that all had accepted. The imperial powers, faced with having to admit publicly to greedy designs in China, remained silent and the Open Door went into effect. The Boxer Rebellion In 1900, foreign occupation of China resulted in disaster. A group of Chinese nationalists called the Fists of Righteous Harmony attacked Western property. The Boxers, as they were known in the West, continued to wreak havoc until a multinational force invaded to stop the uprising. The Boxer Rebellion marked the first time United States armed forces invaded another continent without aiming to acquire the territory. The rebels were subdued, and China was forced to pay an indemnity of $330 million to the United States. Nobel Peace Prize for Roosevelt Japan was also a concern for the new imperial America. In 1904, war broke out between Russia and Japan. The war was going poorly for the Russians. Theodore Roosevelt offered to mediate the peace process as the war dragged on. The two sides met with Roosevelt in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and before long, a treaty was arranged. Despite agreeing to its terms, the Japanese public felt that Japan should have been awarded more concessions. Anti-American rioting swept the island. Meanwhile, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. This marked the first time an American President received such an offer. Relations with Japan remained icy. In California, Japanese immigrants to America were faced with harsh discrimination, including segregated schooling. In the informal Gentleman's Agreement of 1907, the United States agreed to end the practice of separate schooling in exchange for a promise to end Japanese immigration. That same year, Roosevelt decided to display his "big stick," the new American navy. He sent the flotilla, known around the world as the Great White Fleet, on a worldwide tour. Although it was meant to intimidate potential aggressors, particularly Japan, the results of the journey were uncertain. Finally, in 1908, Japan and the United States agreed to respect each other's holdings on the Pacific Rim in the Root-Takahira Agreement. Sending troops overseas, mediating international conflicts, and risking trouble to maintain free trade, the United States began to rapidly shed its isolationist past. Dublin, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "KOL Perspectives: Perceptions of recent & upcoming data for key HBV pipeline agents" drug pipelines has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This KOL Insight briefing focuses on KOLs views of recent & upcoming data for key HBV pipeline agents. Questions topics Further Phase I data required for Roche's capsid inhibitor RO7049389 Replicor's US trial plans and transition from IV to subcutaneous REP 2139 Efficacy of Spring Bank's inarigivir at 100mg in the Phase II ACHIEVE trial Expected role for inarigivir in HBV Efficacy of Arbutus's Q2W IV ARB-1467 ARB-1467, TDF + Peg-IFN trial design, potential for functional cure, & regimen acceptability Future development of Arbutus's next-generation RNAi therapeutic AB-729For internal use only Key Highlights Divided views on most relevant Phase I data required to differentiate RO7049389 from JNJ-6379 & ABI-H0731, with most concluding that Phase I data is insufficien KOLs agree Replicor is making positive steps towards REP 2139's development, but similar efficacy & safety must be demonstrated in the US trials and for the SC formulation Disagreement between US and EU KOLs over the improvement in efficacy of inarigivir at the 100mg dose. Scope The insight briefing is based on Sociable Pharma's analysis of primary research with our HBV key opinion leaders (KOLs). In total, we conducted interviews with 10 KOLs - 5 Europe-based & 5 N. America-based Interviews performed during Sept 2018 KOL data is analyzed to produce Charts summarizing KOL opinions Chart call-outs of key information & details KOL quotes Summary of KOL reporting trends Insight from Sociable Pharma's analysts Reasons to Buy Combines Qualitative & semi-quantitative insight from key opinion leaders on "recent & upcoming data for key HBV pipeline agents" Includes insight & recommendations from our disease-specific healthcare analysts Utilizes independent expert viewpoints to validate the impact of new clinical data & emerging trends on management of HBV Provides cost-effective support for your advisory boards, with topics acting as a catalyst for further expert discussion. Key Topics Covered: Executive Summary Background Research Panel Composition Results & Implications Appendix Companies Mentioned Roche Replicor Spring Bank Arbutus For more information about this drug pipelines report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/szj9tz/key_opinion?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. American History 1. Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization a. Diversity of Native American Groups b. The Anasazi c. The Algonkian Tribes d. The Iroquois Tribes 2. Britain in the New World a. Early Ventures Fail b. Joint-Stock Companies c. Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" d. The Growth of the Tobacco Trade e. War and Peace with Powhatan's People f. The House of Burgesses 3. The New England Colonies a. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony b. William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving c. Massachusetts Bay "The City Upon a Hill" d. Puritan Life e. Dissent in Massachusetts Bay f. Reaching to Connecticut g. Witchcraft in Salem 4. The Middle Colonies a. New Netherland to New York b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey c. City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin 5. The Southern Colonies a. Maryland The Catholic Experiment b. Indentured Servants c. Creating the Carolinas d. Debtors in Georgia e. Life in the Plantation South 6. African Americans in the British New World a. West African Society at the Point of European Contact b. "The Middle Passage" c. The Growth of Slavery d. Slave Life on the Farm and in the Town e. Free African Americans in the Colonial Era f. "Slave Codes" g. A New African-American Culture 7. The Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking a. The Impact of Enlightenment in Europe b. The Great Awakening c. The Trial of John Peter Zenger d. Smuggling e. A Tradition of Rebellion f. "What Is the American?" 8. America's Place in the Global Struggle a. New France b. The French and Indian War c. George Washington's Background and Experience d. The Treaty of Paris (1763) and Its Impact 9. The Events Leading to Independence a. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 b. The Stamp Act Controversy c. The Boston Patriots d. The Townshend Acts e. The Boston Massacre f. The Tea Act and Tea Parties g. The Intolerable Acts 10. E Pluribus Unum a. Stamp Act Congress b. Sons and Daughters of Liberty c. Committees of Correspondence d. First Continental Congress e. Second Continental Congress f. Thomas Paine's Common Sense g. The Declaration of Independence 11. The American Revolution a. American and British Strengths and Weaknesses b. Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots c. Lexington and Concord d. Bunker Hill e. The Revolution on the Home Front f. Washington at Valley Forge g. The Battle of Saratoga h. The French Alliance i. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris 12. Societal Impacts of the American Revolution a. The Impact of Slavery b. A Revolution in Social Law c. Political Experience d. "Republican Motherhood" 13. When Does the Revolution End? a. The Declaration of Independence and Its Legacy b. The War Experience: Soldiers, Officers, and Civilians c. The Loyalists d. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery e. Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women f. Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans g. Revolutionary Achievement: Yeomen and Artisans h. The Age of Atlantic Revolutions 14. Making Rules a. State Constitutions b. Articles of Confederation c. Evaluating the Congress d. The Economic Crisis of the 1780s 15. Drafting the Constitution a. Shays' Rebellion b. A Cast of National Superstars c. The Tough Issues d. Constitution Through Compromise 16. Ratifying the Constitution a. Federalists b. Antifederalists c. The Ratification Process: State by State d. After the Fact: Virginia, New York, and "The Federalist Papers" e. The Antifederalists' Victory in Defeat 17. George Washington a. Growing up in Colonial Virginia b. The Force of Personality and Military Command c. The First Administration d. Farewell Address e. Mount Vernon and the Dilemma of a Revolutionary Slave Holder 18. Unsettled Domestic Issues a. The Bill of Rights b. Hamilton's Financial Plan c. Growing Opposition d. U.S. Military Defeat; Indian Victory in the West e. Native American Resilience and Violence in the West 19. Politics in Transition: Public Conflict in the 1790s a. Trans-Atlantic Crisis: The French Revolution b. Negotiating with the Superpowers c. Two Parties Emerge d. The Adams Presidency e. The Alien and Sedition Acts f. The Life and Times of John Adams 20. Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution? a. The Election of 1800 b. Jeffersonian Ideology c. Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase d. A New National Capital: Washington, D.C. e. A Federalist Stronghold: John Marshall's Supreme Court f. Gabriel's Rebellion: Another View of Virginia in 1800 21. The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812 a. The Importance of the West b. Exploration: Lewis and Clark c. Diplomatic Challenges in an Age of European War d. Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West e. The Second War for American Independence f. Claiming Victory from Defeat 22. Social Change and National Development a. Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution b. Cotton and African-American Life c. Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening d. Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire e. New Roles for White Women f. Early National Arts and Cultural Independence 23. Politics and the New Nation a. The Era of Good Feelings and the Two-Party System b. The Expansion of the Vote: A White Man's Democracy c. The Missouri Compromise d. The 1824 Election and the "Corrupt Bargain" e. John Quincy Adams f. Jacksonian Democracy and Modern America 24. The Age of Jackson a. The Rise of the Common Man b. A Strong Presidency c. The South Carolina Nullification Controversy d. The War Against the Bank e. Jackson vs. Clay and Calhoun f. The Trail of Tears The Indian Removals 25. The Rise of American Industry a. The Canal Era b. Early American Railroads c. Inventors and Inventions d. The First American Factories e. The Emergence of "Women's Sphere" f. Irish and German Immigration 26. An Explosion of New Thought a. Religious Revival b. Experiments with Utopia c. Women's Rights d. Prison and Asylum Reform e. Hudson River School Artists f. Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy 27. The Peculiar Institution a. The Crowning of King Cotton b. Slave Life and Slave Codes c. The Plantation & Chivalry d. Free(?) African-Americans e. Rebellions on and off the Plantation f. The Southern Argument for Slavery 28. Abolitionist Sentiment Grows a. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator b. African-American Abolitionists c. The Underground Railroad d. Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 29. Manifest Destiny a. The Lone Star Republic b. 54 40' or Fight c. "American Blood on American Soil" d. The Mexican-American War e. Gold in California 30. An Uneasy Peace a. Wilmot's Proviso b. Popular Sovereignty c. Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster d. The Compromise of 1850 31. "Bloody Kansas" a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act b. Border Ruffians c. The Sack of Lawrence d. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre e. Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner 32. From Uneasy Peace to Bitter Conflict a. The Dred Scott Decision b. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates c. John Brown's Raid d. The Election of 1860 e. The South Secedes 33. A House Divided a. Fort Sumter b. Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South c. First Blood and Its Aftermath d. Sacred Beliefs e. Bloody Antietam f. Of Generals and Soldiers g. Gettysburg: High Watermark of the Confederacy h. Northern Plans to End the War i. The Road to Appomattox 34. The War Behind the Lines a. The Emancipation Proclamation b. Wartime Diplomacy c. The Northern Homefront d. The Southern Homefront e. The Election of 1864 f. The Assassination of the President 35. Reconstruction a. Presidential Reconstruction b. Radical Reconstruction c. A President Impeached d. Rebuilding the Old Order 36. The Gilded Age a. Binding the Nation by Rail b. The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie d. The New Tycoons: J. Pierpont Morgan e. New Attitudes Toward Wealth f. Politics of the Gilded Age 37. Organized Labor a. The Great Upheaval b. Labor vs. Management c. Early National Organizations d. American Federation of Labor e. Eugene V. Debs and American Socialism 38. From the Countryside to the City a. The Glamour of American Cities b. The Underside of Urban Life c. The Rush of Immigrants d. Corruption Runs Wild e. Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel" f. Artistic and Literary Trends 39. New Dimensions in Everyday Life a. Education b. Sports and Leisure c. Women in the Gilded Age d. Victorian Values in a New Age e. The Print Revolution 40. Closing the Frontier a. The Massacre at Sand Creek b. Custer's Last Stand c. The End of Resistance d. Life on the Reservations e. The Wounded Knee Massacre 41. Western Folkways a. The Mining Boom b. The Ways of the Cowboy c. Life on the Farm d. The Growth of Populism e. The Election of 1896 42. Progressivism Sweeps the Nation a. Roots of the Movement b. Muckrakers c. Women's Suffrage at Last d. Booker T. Washington e. W. E. B. DuBois 43. Progressives in the White House a. Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House b. The Trust Buster c. A Helping Hand for Labor d. Preserving the Wilderness e. Passing the Torch f. The Election of 1912 g. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom 44. Seeking Empire a. Early Stirrings b. Hawaiian Annexation c. "Remember the Maine!" d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences e. The Roosevelt Corollary and Latin America f. Reaching to Asia g. The Panama Canal 45. America in the First World War a. Farewell to Isolation b. Over There c. Over Here d. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations 46. The Decade That Roared a. The Age of the Automobile b. The Fight Against "Demon Rum" c. The Invention of the Teenager d. Flappers e. The Harlem Renaissance f. A Consumer Economy g. Radio Fever h. Fads and Heroes 47. Old Values vs. New Values a. The Red Scare b. The Monkey Trial c. Intolerance d. Books and Movies e. Domestic and International Politics 48. The Great Depression a. The Market Crashes b. Sinking Deeper and Deeper: 1929-33 c. The Bonus March d. Hoover's Last Stand e. Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression 49. The New Deal a. A Bank Holiday b. Putting People Back to Work c. The Farming Problem d. Social Security e. FDR's Alphabet Soup f. Roosevelt's Critics g. An Evaluation of the New Deal 50. The Road to Pearl Harbor a. 1930s Isolationism b. Reactions to a Troubled World c. War Breaks Out d. The Arsenal of Democracy e. Pearl Harbor 51. America in the Second World War a. Wartime Strategy b. The American Homefront c. D-Day and the German Surrender d. War in the Pacific e. Japanese-American Internment f. The Manhattan Project g. The Decision to Drop the Bomb 52. Postwar Challenges a. The Cold War Erupts b. The United Nations c. Containment and the Marshall Plan d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO e. The Korean War f. Domestic Challenges 53. The 1950s: Happy Days a. McCarthyism b. Suburban Growth c. Land of Television d. America Rocks and Rolls e. The Cold War Continues f. Voices against Conformity 54. A New Civil Rights Movement a. Separate No Longer? b. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott c. Showdown in Little Rock d. The Sit-In Movement e. Gains and Pains f. Martin Luther King Jr. g. The Long, Hot Summers h. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam i. Black Power 55. The Vietnam War a. Early Involvement b. Years of Escalation: 1965-68 c. The Tet Offensive d. The Antiwar Movement e. Years of Withdrawal 56. Politics from Camelot to Watergate a. The Election of 1960 b. Kennedy's New Frontier c. Kennedy's Global Challenges d. Kennedy Assassination e. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" f. 1968: Year of Unraveling g. Triangular Diplomacy: U.S., USSR, and China 57. Shaping a New America a. Modern Feminism b. The Fight for Reproductive Rights c. The Equal Rights Amendment d. Roe v. Wade and Its Impact e. Environmental Reform f. Others Demand Equality g. Student Activism h. Flower Power 58. A Time of Malaise a. Undoing a President b. The Sickened Economy c. Foreign Woes d. Finding Oneself e. The New Right 59. The Reagan Years a. "Morning in America" b. Reaganomics c. Foreign and Domestic Entanglements d. Life in the 1980s e. The End of the Cold War 60. Toward a New Millennium a. Operation Desert Storm b. A Baby Boomer in the White House c. Republicans vs. Democrats d. Living in the Information Age e. The End of the American Century 52d. The Berlin Airlift and NATO Many gather to watch a C-54 loaded with supplies land at Tempelhof airfield in the U.S. sector of Berlin. Over the 11 month course of the Airlift, nearly 4000 tons of goods were delivered every day. Many gather to watch a C-54 loaded with supplies land at Tempelhof airfield in the U.S. sector of Berlin. Over the 11 month course of the Airlift, nearly 4000 tons of goods were delivered every day. Berlin, Germany's wartime capital was the prickliest of all issues that separated the United States and Soviet Union during the late 1940s. The city was divided into four zones of occupation like the rest of Germany. However, the entire city lay within the Soviet zone of occupation. Once the nation of East Germany was established, the Allied sections of the capital known as West Berlin became an island of democracy and capitalism behind the Iron Curtain. In June 1948, tensions within Berlin touched off a crisis. The Soviets decided to seal all land routes going into West Berlin. Stalin gambled that the Western powers were not willing to risk another war to protect half of Berlin. The Allies were tired, and their populations were unlikely to support a new war. A withdrawal by the United States would eliminate this democratic enclave in the Soviet zone. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization celebrated an important milestone in 1999. For over 50 years now, NATO has existed as a symbol of the solidarity of Western nations. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization celebrated an important milestone in 1999. For over 50 years now, NATO has existed as a symbol of the solidarity of Western nations. Truman was faced with tough choices. Relinquishing Berlin to the Soviets would seriously undermine the new doctrine of containment. Any negotiated settlement would suggest that the USSR could engineer a crisis at any time to exact concessions. If Berlin were compromised, the whole of West Germany might question the American commitment to German democracy. To Harry Truman, there was no question. "We are going to stay, period, " he declared. Together, with Britain, the United States began moving massive amounts of food and supplies into West Berlin by the only path still open the air. Flying from occupied Germany and landing a supply plane in Berlin at the rate of one every 3 minutes, the Berlin Airlift managed to supply the city with the materials needed for survival. Flying from occupied Germany and landing a supply plane in Berlin at the rate of one every 3 minutes, the Berlin Airlift managed to supply the city with the materials needed for survival. Truman had thrown the gauntlet at Stalin's feet. The USSR had to now choose between war and peace. He refused to give the order to shoot down the American planes. Over the next eleven months, British and American planes flew over 4000 tons of supplies daily into West Berlin. As the American public cheered "Operation Vittles," Stalin began to look bad in the eyes of the world. He was clearly willing to use innocent civilians as pawns to quench his expansionist thirst. In May 1949, the Soviets ended the blockade. The United States and Britain had flown over 250,000-supply missions. Stalin miscalculated when he estimated the strength of western unity. To cement the cooperation that the western allies had shown during the war and immediate postwar years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in April 1949. The pact operated on the basis of collective security. If any one of the member states were attacked, all would retaliate together. The original NATO included Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and the United States. NATO was the very sort of permanent alliance George Washington warned against in his Farewell Address, and represented the first such agreement since the Franco-American Alliance that helped secure victory in the American Revolution. The United States formally shed its isolationist past and thrust itself forward as a determined superpower fighting its new rival. Wyoming Business Tips for March 4-10 A weekly look at issues facing Wyoming business owners and entrepreneurs from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming. By Bruce Morse, regional director, Wyoming SBDC Network There are a number of things that small-business owners have to be concerned about these days: cybersecurity, social media marketing, finding employees, competing with the big box stores, and the list goes on. It can seem a bit overwhelming, for sure. While these things are all important, I believe there are a couple of fundamental issues that, if we don't get them right, the rest of these concerns ultimately won't matter. I'm referring to taking care of customers and paying attention to the financial aspects of the business. It seems that customer service is something we can all do better. But, in this era of so many choices -- both brick-and-mortar and online -- we need to stand out in some way, and outstanding customer service by our staff is one way to do that. Most of the business owners I talk to believe that their folks provide outstanding service, or at least they say that in their marketing materials. The reality is that some do, but most do not. With social media and online review sites like Google, Yelp and TripAdvisor, it is very easy for someone who doesn't have a good experience to post about it in a way that has a negative impact on your business. Changing this starts with you, the owner. Set expectations and an example by providing good service yourself. The second item, not paying attention to the financial aspects of the business, is the biggest reason for business struggles or failures. I get it that you likely didn't go into business to be a bookkeeper. But, as an owner, you never get to take off the financial hat. Even though you may delegate the recordkeeping duties, you still need to obtain accurate and timely financial information, and use it to make sound business decisions. By financial information, I mean both a profit and loss statement, and a balance sheet. If you don't know what either of these are, we need to talk. Training yourself and your staff on these two topics will be well worth the time and any monetary investment. For many Wyoming businesses, now is a great time to do that before the summer tourism season hits. The Wyoming SBDC Network provides no-cost, confidential services such as one-on-one guidance, online or face-to-face classes, and access to other training possibilities. To get in touch with your local adviser, visit www.wyomingsbdc.org. The Wyoming SBDC Network offers business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by UW with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3922, Laramie, WY, 82071-3922. Award-Winning Author Dave Barry to Speak at UW April 18 Dave Barry Acclaimed humorist and award-winning author Dave Barry will speak Thursday, April 18, at the University of Wyoming. His presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be at 1:30 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. The University Store will host a book signing following the talk. No audio or video recordings or flash photography will be permitted during the event. Barrys presentation, part of the UW Libraries Development Boards annual author event, is funded by the McMurry-Spieles Endowment for Library Excellence. Members of the development board will host a luncheon with Barry at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 17. To make a reservation, go to uw.uwyo.edu/davebarry2019 by Wednesday, April 3. Those attending the afternoon talk are encouraged to arrive early to allow time for parking and seating. UW Transit and Parking Services will provide complimentary parking in A spaces in the Wyo Hall and McWhinnie Hall parking lots from noon-4 p.m. Metered parking also will be available at the regular fee, and day permits may be purchased at the Wyoming Union information desk. In addition, attendees can use the free shuttle service. For more information about campus parking and shuttle services, visit www.uwyo.edu/tps. Barry is a professional humorist who has written more than 30 books, including Big Trouble, Lunatics, Tricky Business and Best. State. Ever. Best. State. Ever. explores his home state of Florida and answers the ever-elusive question that people always have about his state: How can you live there? Topics include the 2000 presidential election, Key West, larger-than-life insects and retirement communities. His latest book, Lessons from Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog, explores the hurdles and trials of life after middle age. He turns to his dog, Lucy, for assistance and creates a self-help book that leans on lessons learned from his best friend. The book will be released April 2. His first novel, Big Trouble, was adapted into a motion picture that was released in 2002. Two of Barrys books were the basis for the CBS sitcom Daves World, which starred Harry Anderson and aired from 1993-97. Barry also has written several young adult novels -- including a series about Peter Pan, and another one about Neverland. His recent titles are The Worst Class Trip Ever and The Worst Night Ever. In addition to writing books, Barry wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the Miami Herald. His articles have appeared in more than 500 newspapers. Barry won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988, and he was awarded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2005. He also is a member of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock n roll band of published writers. Other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, Matt Groening and Mitch Albom. Barry earned a bachelors degree in English from Haverford College in 1969. He lives in Miami with his family. For more information about Barrys presentation, call UW Libraries at (307) 766-3641, email mhayes6@uwyo.edu, or visit www.uwyo.edu/libraries. Dublin, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market By Product, By Application, By Region, By Company, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global vibration energy harvesting systems market is anticipated to reach $183 million by 2024, on account of increasing demand for power-efficient and durable systems that require minimum or no maintenance. Extensive implementation of IoT devices in automation and energy harvesting technology in building and home automation, in addition to increasing focus on green energy and favorable government initiatives, are expected to positively influence the global vibration energy harvesting systems market in coming years. Field of vibration energy harvesting has intrigued noteworthy significance for low power and portable energy sources, credited to fast advancement and mass utilization of portable electronic gadgets. Such energy harvesting systems are registering massive growth, on account of growing desire to create portable and wireless electronic gadgets with extended lifetime. Vibration energy harvesting is an inexhaustible and clean energy scavenging source that is dynamically gaining traction across the world. Such systems are utilized in areas of independent low power microsystems, self-powered wireless sensor systems, portable energy sources, distributed computing and others to renew or supplant traditional power sources, for example, battery. Advancements in vibration energy harvesting systems enable to capture, store and deal with specific measures of motion energy, converting them into electrical energy to supply low-power gadgets or store it for later use. In terms of application, the global vibration energy harvesting systems market has been categorized into consumer electronics, building & home automation, industrial, transportation and security. The consumer electronics category accounted for major share of the global vibration energy harvesting systems market in 2018. The growth of the consumer electronics category is being majorly driven by rising demand for wireless sensing devices and low-power portable electronics without external power supply. Presence of vibration energy harvesting systems in the healthcare sector is marginal; however, it is expected to witness a healthy growth during the forecast period. Vibration energy harvesting innovations present important social advantages when applied to the healthcare sector. Many associations are as of now currently working with developing an automated pacemaker that will convert kinetic energy from the pulsating of the human heart into electrical energy. The gadget would empower self-charging systems by the body's vibration. North America vibration energy harvesting systems market accounted for a major share of the global market in 2018, owing to high penetration of vibration energy harvesting systems in industrial sectors such as healthcare, transportation, consumer electronics, security and others. The European market for vibration energy harvesting systems emerged as the second largest in the world in 2018, on account of favorable government policies across various countries in the region. Moreover, the European Commission is promoting the industry with incentives and investments in R&D of energy harvesting and storage devices, thereby driving the market growth in the region. Global vibration energy harvesting systems market is highly competitive in nature. Most of the market players are focusing on technological advancements of the product to specialize in unequivocal application zones. Various players and new businesses are anticipated to penetrate the market notwithstanding the substantial investments required to enter the market, due to the appealing growth opportunities. Some of the major players operating in the global vibration energy harvesting systems market are STMicroelectronics N.V., Honeywell International Inc., Fujitsu Ltd. and Convergence Wireless Inc. Years considered for this report: Historical Years: 2014-2017 Base Year: 2018 Estimated Year: 2019 Forecast Period: 2020-2024 Objective of the Study: To analyze and forecast the global vibration energy harvesting systems market size. To forecast the global vibration energy harvesting systems market based on product, application and regional distribution. To identify drivers and challenges for the global vibration energy harvesting systems market. To examine competitive developments such as expansions, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, etc., in the global vibration energy harvesting systems market. To conduct the pricing analysis for the global vibration energy harvesting systems market. To identify and analyze the profile of leading players operating in the global vibration energy harvesting systems market. Topics Covered 1. Product Overview 2. Research Methodology 3. Executive Summary 4. Voice of Customer 4.1. Brand Awareness 4.2. Brand Recall 4.3. Brand Satisfaction 4.4. Factors Influencing Purchase Decision 4.5. Challenges/Issues Faced Post Purchase 4.6. Unmet Needs 5. Global Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 5.1. Market Size & Forecast 5.1.1. By Value 5.2. Market Share & Forecast 5.2.1. By Product (Linear Systems, Non-linear Systems, Rotational Systems) 5.2.2. By Application (Consumer Electronics, Building & Home Automation, Industrial, Transportation, Healthcare, Others) 5.2.3. By Company 5.2.4. By Region 5.3. Market Attractiveness Index 6. Asia-Pacific Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 6.1. Market Size & Forecast 6.1.1. By Value 6.2. Market Share & Forecast 6.2.1. By Product 6.2.2. By Application 6.2.3. By Country 6.3. Market Attractiveness Index 6.4. Asia-Pacific: Country Analysis 6.4.1. China Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 6.4.2. India Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 6.4.3. Japan Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 7. Europe Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 7.1. Market Size & Forecast 7.1.1. By Value 7.2. Market Share & Forecast 7.2.1. By Product 7.2.2. By Application 7.2.3. By Country 7.3. Market Attractiveness Index 7.4. Europe: Country Analysis 7.4.1. France Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 7.4.2. Germany Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 7.4.3. United Kingdom Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 8. North America Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 8.1. Market Size & Forecast 8.1.1. By Value 8.2. Market Share & Forecast 8.2.1. By Product 8.2.2. By Application 8.2.3. By Country 8.3. Market Attractiveness Index 8.4. North America: Country Analysis 8.4.1. United States Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 9. South America Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 9.1. Market Size & Forecast 9.1.1. By Value 9.2. Market Share & Forecast 9.2.1. By Product 9.2.2. By Application 9.2.3. By Country 9.3. Market Attractiveness Index 9.4. South America: Country Analysis 9.4.1. Brazil Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems Market Outlook 10. Pricing Analysis 11. Market Dynamics 11.1. Drivers 11.2. Challenges 12. Market Trends & Developments 13. Competitive Landscape 13.1. Competition Outlook 13.2. Company Profiles 13.2.1. Basic Details 13.2.2. Financials (As Reported) 13.2.3. Supply Chain Analysis 13.2.4. Key Market Focus and Geographical Presence 13.2.5. Planned Investments 13.2.6. Pricing of Target Products 13.2.7. Market Positioning 13.3. Global Players Profiled (Leading Companies) 15.3.1 Cymbet Corporation 15.3.2 STMicroelectronics N.V. 15.3.3 Microchip Technology Inc. 15.3.4 EnOcean GmbH 15.3.5 ABB Ltd. 15.3.6 Texas Instruments Inc. 15.3.7 Honeywell International Inc. 15.3.8 Fujitsu Ltd. 15.3.9 Convergence Wireless Inc. 15.3.10 Powercast Corporation 14. Strategic Recommendations For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/klwsw7/the_global_market?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. 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. Newport Beach, Calif., March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DPW Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: DPW) a diversified holding company (DPW or the Company) announced the United States District Court for the Central District of California (the Court) granted dismissal of the claims as filed in the lawsuit initiated and pled by Ethan Young and Greg Young, as represented by the law firm, Faruqi and Faruqi (collectively, the Plaintiffs), derivatively on behalf of DPW, as the nominal defendant (Case No. 2:18-cv-6587 (SJO)). The Court granted the motion by DPW to dismiss all claims asserted by the plaintiffs, which include unjust enrichment and gross mismanagement holding, inter alia, that the purported breach of duty of loyalty claims were too broadly alleged and not specific enough to each director. The Court, however, provided Plaintiff with 14 days to file an amended complaint so plaintiff may have opportunity to add specific allegations in its complaint. The plaintiffs were given 14 days to refile the case before the dismissal becomes final. Mr. Milton C. Ault, III, the Companys Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, said, The Company, its management and its Board of Directors welcome this decision. All the members of the Board take seriously their roles as Directors, especially our independent members. We look forward to being able to fully focus on moving the Company and its subsidiaries forward. We thank our law firm for doing a job well done for our management, our directors and our stockholders. DPW remains confident in its position that the claims made by the Plaintiffs will ultimately be determined to be of no merit. About DPW Holdings, Inc. DPW Holdings, Inc. is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies that hold global potential. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, the Company provides mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including defense/aerospace, industrial, telecommunications, medical, crypto-mining, and textiles. In addition, the Company owns a select portfolio of commercial hospitality properties and extends credit to select entrepreneurial businesses through a licensed lending subsidiary. DPWs headquarters are located at 201 Shipyard Way, Suite E, Newport Beach, CA 92663; www.DPWHoldings.com . Forward-Looking Statements Marine City has joined the growing list of Michigan communities that have opted out of allowing marijuana businesses under the states legalization measure. The city commission passed an ordinance prohibiting marijuana businesses at its Feb. 21 meeting, after repeated discussions of how the city should move forward under the new law. Despite the financial incentives for allowing marijuana businesses, local governments in St. Clair County have shown little interest in welcoming the newly legal businesses. Concerns about the impact on crime and skepticism about how sizable the tax benefit to localities will be have driven many area communities to pass prohibition measures. In Marine City, where several residents have spoken at city commission meetings in support of embracing the new law, while others have urged prohibition, much of the debate has centered on unanswered questions about its implementation. Is there an opportunity to increase revenue for the city? Marine City resident Joe Moran asked. Thats kind of an unknown yet at this point, as to how much the city might gain for participating in marijuana sales, growth or cultivation. But that needs to be weighed against the cost of policing those activities. Some city leaders expressed a willingness to reconsider the issue when more facts about the recreational marijuana industry become available. All were doing here is preventing it at this point until we see more structure, rules, regulations formulated before we can move forward, Commissioner Lisa Hendrick said. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has until the end of the year to finalize rules for issuing permits to marijuana businesses. The first marijuana retail licenses are not expected to be issued until 2020. You can always repeal your prohibition in favor of moving forward with the planning commission to develop some criteria and locations for these establishments, City Attorney Robert Davis said. You cant do the opposite. You cant allow it and then pull the allowance. Most St. Clair County communities have taken a similar posture, passing prohibition ordinances to ensure decisions of whether or how to allow marijuana businesses remain under local control. Algonac, St. Clair and the surrounding townships passed ordinances in December and January. While communities have the right to prohibit marijuana businesses, they cannot opt out of the legalization of marijuana possession or cultivation for personal use. With retail sales not yet authorized, however, there is no legal way for users who do not have a medicinal marijuana card to purchase pot. Colleen Kowalewski is a staff writer for The Voice. She can be contacted at 586-273-6197 or ckowalewski@medianewsgroup.com. The city of New Baltimore is on its way to becoming a certified Redevelopment Ready Community. The Redevelopment Ready Communities program is a no-cost certification program available to communities across the state through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. It is designed to empower communities to shape their future by establishing a solid foundation that retains and attracts business investment and talent. We focus on building a community from the grassroots up and helping the community be vibrant, Brett Hanlon, an RRC planner, told New Baltimore City Council members during a presentation at their Feb. 25 meeting. We primarily focus on the compact, mixed-use, walkable, pedestrian-friendly areas. We focus on quality of life because we know its those types of cities and communities that are able to attract talented workers and business investment. The program helps communities improve, update and streamline their plans and policies to help developments be successful. Its a self-help program; we were not going to be able to complete a lot of the tasks for you, but we have a lot of the resources, Hanlon said. Resources offered through the program include technical assistance match funding, which could be used to market redevelopment sites. Certified communities are able to work with a redevelopment services team and could also receive funding for certain work at publicly owned properties. Communities must meet best practice criteria to achieve certification. The program covers a range of areas, including long-range plans, zoning regulations, economic development strategies and staff training. If an applicant or a developer can enter into a community and understand whats going to be required of them, how long its going to take, theyre going to enter into that community with confidence that their projects and their investments are going to be successful, Hanlon said. So were big on predictability, clarity and consistency. Hanlon presented a baseline report to the council showing the city is meeting 38 percent of the best practice criteria and in the process of completing an additional 58 percent. So this is a very good scorecard way better than average, he said. Hanlon said the city has a strong zoning code that meets the criteria, but could benefit from offering more information to potential developers online. An opportunity for improvement was site plan review, he added. The RRC best practices call for permitted uses to be approved administratively or by the planning commission. Right now, you guys have permitted uses and special uses going to the planning commission and city council. Communities are able to work on meeting the RRC criteria at their own pace and are provided quarterly progress reports. Hanlon said 31 of the 250 communities working with the RRC program have achieved certification. We look forward to being certified as a Redevelopment Ready Community, Mayor John Dupray said. Katelyn Larese is a Local News Editor at The Voice. She can be contacted at 586-273-6196 or klarese@medianewsgroup.com. HOUSTON, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sanchez Energy Corporation (OTC Pink: SNEC) today reported financial and operating results for fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 and provided its outlook for 2019. A summary of the report follows: Fourth-quarter 2018 production of 79,946 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d), or 7.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe), an increase of six percent compared to third-quarter 2018; Year-end proved reserves of 380 MMBoe, an increase of approximately five percent over the prior years record reserves of 363 MMBoe, which represents a reserve replacement ratio of 148 percent; Brought 44 wells online during fourth-quarter 2018 for a total of 217 wells brought online during full-year 2018; Fourth-quarter 2018 net income of $119.4 million, compared to net income of $5.6 million in third-quarter 2018 and a net loss of $61.4 million in fourth-quarter 2017; Fourth-quarter 2018 Adjusted EBITDAX (a non-GAAP financial measure) of $111.3 million, compared to $123.9 million in third-quarter 2018 and $137.4 million in fourth-quarter 2017; Set preliminary 2019 capital budget at a range of $100 million to $150 million; and Suspending dividends on Series A Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock and Series B Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock beginning with the three-month period ending March 31, 2019. MANAGEMENT COMMENTS We worked diligently throughout 2018 to manage production declines and improve our understanding of the large and complex Comanche asset, said Tony Sanchez, III, president and chief executive officer of Sanchez Energy. As we incorporated the results of our initial testing, early last year we reverted to a more conservative choke strategy, implemented a completion optimization strategy, and increased artificial lift conversion and workover activity across the entire asset base. These initiatives began to show signs of positive impact late in the year, with fourth-quarter 2018 production coming in six percent higher than the prior quarter. Sanchez Energy has assembled a quality asset base, which affords us a high degree of flexibility when developing the companys drilling, capital and strategic plans. Throughout much of last year, we were focused on long-term organic growth in the context of rising commodity prices. However, given the sharp downturn in oil and natural gas prices that began late last year, we are taking the prudent step of significantly reducing our drilling activity to focus on capital preservation and maximize our liquidity position, while we work to improve the balance sheet. To that end, we have set the companys preliminary 2019 capital budget at a range of $100 million to $150 million. Despite the substantial reduction from 2018 levels, this lower budget for 2019 still meets all of the companys drilling and development commitments at Catarina and Comanche for the 12-month periods that extend into this year, and is designed to improve our capital efficiency by focusing on lower risk projects and optimization opportunities. OPERATIONS UPDATE During fourth-quarter 2018, the company spud 33 gross (25 net) wells, completed 40 gross (23 net) wells and brought 44 wells online, for a total of 217 wells brought online during full-year 2018. Of the 44 wells brought online during the quarter, 26 wells were at Comanche and 18 wells were at Catarina. Drilling activity was concentrated in Areas 3 and 5 of Comanche and the South Central and Northwest areas of Catarina. With a heightened focus on lowering costs through a reduction in drilling time, the company drilled several wells during the quarter at a record spud-to-rig release time of less than six days. At Comanche, completions activity was split between Area 3 and Area 5, with a majority of wells targeting the Lower Eagle Ford A or B formations. The company is currently conducting trials involving wider well spacing while continuing with larger frac designs of 2,000 pounds of proppant and 50 barrels of fluid per foot of lateral length. At Catarina, the company conducted trials during the quarter involving pre-loading as a strategy for mitigating frac interference on six parent wells. Early results from the trials show promise, with parent wells returning to pre-frac oil and natural gas flow rates upon cleanup of water from the reservoir. The company is evaluating further enhancements to its pre-loading strategy as part of a continuing focus on minimizing the impact of new well completions on existing production. Consistent with the focus on improving capital efficiency, the company increased its workover activity during fourth-quarter 2018 with encouraging results. The additional workover activity is expected to continue throughout 2019 with a primary focus on gas lift redesign. As of Dec. 31, 2018, the company had 2,398 gross (981 net) producing wells with 39 gross wells in various stages of completion, as detailed in the following table: Area Gross Producing Wells Gross Wells Awaiting/ Undergoing Completion Comanche 1,742 18 Catarina 460 16 Palmetto 82 5 Maverick 68 TMS / Other 46 Total 2,398 39 DRILLING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITMENTS As of June 30, 2018, the company achieved a 26-well drilling bank at Catarina that can be applied toward its current annual drilling commitment for the period that extends from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. The company drilled an additional 36 wells between July 1, 2018 and Dec. 31, 2018 at Catarina, resulting in a total of 62 wells toward the current annual drilling commitment of 50 wells. Accordingly, the company has met its annual drilling commitment for the period July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 and has achieved a bank of 12 wells toward the next annual drilling commitment period, which begins on July 1, 2019. As of Aug. 31, 2018, the company achieved a 30-well bank at Comanche that can be applied toward its current annual development commitment for the period that extends from Sept. 1, 2018 to Aug. 31, 2019. The company completed and equipped an additional 27 wells at Comanche between Sept. 1, 2018 and Dec. 31, 2018, resulting in a total of 57 wells toward the current annual development commitment of 60 wells. The companys 2019 capital budget includes the additional activity needed to meet the annual development commitment at Comanche for the period Sept. 1, 2018 to Aug. 31, 2019. RESERVES UPDATE Proved reserves increased to 380 MMBoe at year-end 2018, which is approximately five percent higher than the prior years record reserves of 363 MMBoe and represents a reserve replacement ratio of 148 percent. PRODUCTION MIX, REVENUES AND COMMODITY PRICE REALIZATIONS The companys production mix during fourth-quarter 2018 consisted of approximately 33 percent oil, 35 percent natural gas liquids (NGLs) and 32 percent natural gas. By asset area, Catarina, Comanche and Maverick/Palmetto/TMS/Other comprised approximately 56 percent, 39 percent and five percent, respectively, of the companys total fourth-quarter 2018 production volumes. Fourth-quarter 2018 revenues of approximately $268.7 million were three percent lower when compared to $277.7 million for third-quarter 2018 and nine percent higher when compared to $246.0 million for fourth-quarter 2017. Adjusted Revenues, which include a $25.4 million loss on hedge settlements, were $243.3 million during fourth-quarter 2018, which is one percent lower when compared to $245.9 million for third-quarter 2018 and less than one percent lower when compared to $244.3 million for fourth-quarter 2017. Adjusted Revenues is a non-GAAP financial measure that is defined and reconciled in the tables included with this press release. Commodity price realizations, which include the impact of hedge settlements, were $55.76 per Bbl of oil, $21.87 per Bbl of NGLs, and $2.95 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) of natural gas for fourth-quarter 2018. CAPITAL EXPENDITURES Capital expenditures incurred during full-year 2018 totaled approximately $593 million, of which approximately 99 percent was allocated to drilling, completion and infrastructure and one percent was allocated to leasing and business development activities. FINANCIAL RESULTS The company reported net income of $119.4 million for fourth-quarter 2018, which includes $140.0 million in non-cash mark-to-market gains related to commodity derivatives and a $10.1 million non-cash impairment charge. This compares to reported net income of $5.6 million for third-quarter 2018 and a reported net loss of $61.4 million for fourth-quarter 2017. The companys Adjusted Loss for fourth-quarter 2018 was $29.2 million, which compares to an Adjusted Loss of $12.7 million for third-quarter 2018 and Adjusted Earnings of $23.3 million for fourth-quarter 2017. The companys fourth-quarter 2018 Adjusted EBITDAX of approximately $111.3 million was approximately 10 percent lower when compared to $123.9 million for third-quarter 2018 and 19 percent lower when compared to $137.4 million for fourth-quarter 2017. The company reported net income of $85.2 million for full-year 2018, which includes $75.4 million in non-cash mark-to-market gains related to commodity derivatives and a $14.4 million non-cash impairment charge. This compares to the companys reported net income of $43.2 million for full-year 2017. The companys Adjusted Loss for full-year 2018 was $67.1 million, which compares to an Adjusted Loss of $27.5 million for full-year 2017. For full-year 2018, the company reported Adjusted EBITDAX of $460.8 million, which is approximately 24 percent higher when compared to $372.0 million for full-year 2017. Adjusted EBITDAX and Adjusted Earnings (Loss) are non-GAAP financial measures that are defined and reconciled in the tables included with this press release. GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES The company reported general and administrative (G&A) expenses of $24.8 million in fourth-quarter 2018. G&A expenses were positively impacted during the quarter by changes in the value of non-cash equity compensation and phantom units that vest periodically in accordance with the terms of the companys equity-based incentive awards. Adjusted for these items, Base G&A Expense during fourth-quarter 2018 was approximately $30.1 million. Base G&A Expense is a non-GAAP financial measure that is defined and reconciled in the tables included with this press release. HEDGING UPDATE As a result of the higher commodity prices during 2018, the company paid approximately $25.4 million during fourth-quarter 2018 and $103.2 million for full-year 2018 in connection with the settlement of commodity derivatives. On a consolidated basis, the company has hedged approximately 3,149,000 Bbls of its 2019 oil production, 17,644,000 million British thermal units (MMBtu) of its 2019 natural gas production, 1,055,560 Bbls of its 2020 oil production, and 6,893,150 MMBtu of its 2020 natural gas production. Additional information on Sanchez Energys hedge positions can be found in the companys documents on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at www.sec.gov. LIQUIDITY AND CREDIT FACILITIES As of Dec. 31, 2018, the companys liquidity was approximately $370.1 million, which consisted of $197.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and $172.5 million of combined borrowing capacity under two credit facilities: the $25 million parent-level credit facility, which was undrawn at year-end, and the SN EF UnSub, LP (UnSub) revolving credit facility, which had a borrowing base and commitment amount of $315 million and $147.5 million of available borrowing capacity. In January 2019, the company issued a letter of credit in the amount of approximately $17.1 million under the parent-level credit facility. In February 2019, the company repaid $2.5 million of principal under the UnSub revolving credit facility. SHARE COUNT As of Dec. 31, 2018, the company had approximately 87.3 million common shares outstanding. Assuming all Series A Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock and Series B Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock were converted, total outstanding common shares would have been approximately 99.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2018. For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2018, the weighted average number of unrestricted common shares used to calculate the net income attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted, which are determined in accordance with GAAP, was 82.3 million and 94.8 million, respectively. 2019 OUTLOOK The company has set its preliminary 2019 capital budget at a range of $100 million to $150 million, which at the midpoint represents a reduction of approximately 79 percent when compared to 2018 capital expenditures of approximately $593 million. As a result of delisting proceedings initiated by the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 20, 2019, the companys common stock began trading on the OTC Pink Marketplace operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. ("OTC Pink") under ticker symbol "SNEC" upon the opening of trading on Feb. 21, 2019. The company remains committed to strengthening its balance sheet and is evaluating strategies to maximize its liquidity and reduce financial leverage. As the company considers its strategic alternatives, the board of directors has elected to suspend the dividend on Sanchez Energys Series A Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock and Series B Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, beginning with the three-month period ending March 31, 2019. ABOUT SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION Sanchez Energy Corporation (OTC Pink: SNEC) is an independent exploration and production company focused on the acquisition and development of oil and natural gas resources in the onshore United States, with a current focus on the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. For more information about Sanchez Energy Corporation, please visit our website: www.sanchezenergycorp.com . FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains, and our officers and representatives may from time to time make, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that Sanchez Energy expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements, including statements relating to future financial and operating results and returns, our strategy and plans, including future drilling plans and economic drilling zones, our ability to increase reserves and production and generate income or cash flows, service our debt and other obligations and repay or otherwise refinance such obligations when due or at maturity, our ability to keep well costs down, the benefits related to the Comanche transaction and the companys anticipated ability to fund capital expenditures or reduce its leverage. These statements are based on certain assumptions made by the company based on management's experience, perception of historical trends and technical analyses, current conditions, anticipated future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate and reasonable by management. When used in this press release, the words "will," "potential," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "expect," "may," "should," "anticipate," "could," "plan," "predict," "project," budget, forecast, guidance, "profile," "model," "strategy," "future," or their negatives, other similar expressions or the statements that include those words or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Sanchez Energy, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to the timing and extent of changes in prices of, and demand for, crude oil and condensate, natural gas liquids, natural gas and related commodities; our ability to successfully execute our business and financial strategies; our ability to comply with the financial and other covenants in our debt instruments, to repay our debt, and to address our liquidity needs; the extent to which we are able to engage in successful strategic alternatives to improve our balance sheet and satisfy our obligations under our debt instruments; the extent to which our drilling plans are successful in maintaining and economically developing our acreage, producing and replacing reserves and achieving anticipated production levels; our ability to replace the reserves we produce through drilling and property acquisitions; our ability to successfully integrate our various acquired assets into our operations and realize the benefits of the those acquisitions, to fully identify existing and potential issues or liabilities and to accurately estimate reserves, production and costs with respect to such assets; our ability to access the credit and capital markets to obtain financing on terms we deem acceptable, if at all, and to otherwise satisfy our capital expenditure, debt service and other funding requirements through internally generated cash flows, asset sales and other activities; the extent to which an active market, if any, develops in the trading of our common stock in the over-the-counter markets; the effect of the anticipated delisting of our common stock from the New York Stock Exchange; our ability to utilize the services, personnel and other assets of Sanchez Oil & Gas Corporation pursuant to an existing services agreement; Sanchez Oil & Gas Corporations ability to retain personnel and other resources to perform its obligations under the existing services agreement; the realized benefits of our partnerships and joint ventures, including our transactions with Sanchez Midstream Partners LP and our partnership with affiliates of The Blackstone Group, L.P.; the accuracy of reserve estimates; our ability to successfully execute our hedging strategy and the resulting realized prices therefrom; our ability to maintain the financial risks where we share with more than one party the cost of drilling, equipping, completing and operating wells, including with respect to the Comanche Acquisition; and other factors described in Sanchez Energy's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any updates to those risk factors set forth in Sanchez Energy's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. Further information on such assumptions, risks and uncertainties is available in Sanchez Energy's filings with the SEC. Sanchez Energy's filings with the SEC are available on our website at www.sanchezenergycorp.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov . In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events anticipated by Sanchez Energy's forward-looking statements may not occur, and, if any of such events do occur, Sanchez Energy may not have correctly anticipated the timing of their occurrence or the extent of their impact on its actual results. Accordingly, you should not place any undue reliance on any of Sanchez Energy's forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and Sanchez Energy undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. COMPANY CONTACTS: Cameron W. George Interim Chief Financial Officer Cham J. King Director, Finance & Investor Contact (877) 847-0009 ir@sanchezenergycorp.com General Inquiries: (713) 783-8000 www.sanchezenergycorp.com SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION KEY OPERATING STATISTICS Three Months Ended Year Ended December 31, December 31, 2018 2017 2018 2017 Net Production: Oil (MBbls) 2,457 2,559 9,655 8,217 Natural gas liquids (MBbls) 2,572 2,552 9,936 8,342 Natural gas (MMcf) 13,957 14,585 55,330 54,651 Total oil equivalent (MBoe)(1) 7,355 7,542 28,813 25,667 Average Sales Price Excluding Derivatives(2): Oil ($ per Bbl) $ 61.38 $ 56.32 $ 64.63 $ 48.69 Natural gas liquids ($ per Bbl) $ 21.87 $ 22.81 $ 23.36 $ 20.52 Natural gas ($ per Mcf) $ 3.78 $ 2.99 $ 3.16 $ 3.10 Oil equivalent ($ per Boe) $ 35.33 $ 32.62 $ 35.79 $ 28.84 Average Sales Price Including Derivatives(3): Oil ($ per Bbl) $ 55.76 $ 54.51 $ 54.26 $ 50.12 Natural gas liquids ($ per Bbl) $ 21.87 $ 22.81 $ 23.36 $ 20.52 Natural gas ($ per Mcf) $ 2.95 $ 3.20 $ 3.11 $ 3.12 Oil equivalent ($ per Boe) $ 31.88 $ 32.40 $ 32.21 $ 29.36 Average unit costs per Boe: Oil and natural gas production expenses(4) $ 10.92 $ 9.81 $ 10.60 $ 9.52 Production and ad valorem taxes $ 1.84 $ 1.32 $ 1.96 $ 1.43 Depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion $ 9.92 $ 8.27 $ 9.11 $ 6.90 Impairment of oil and natural gas properties $ 1.38 $ 4.91 $ 0.50 $ 1.54 (1) Includes production associated with UnSub of approximately 2,129 MBoe and 2,417 MBoe for the three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and 8,971 MBoe and 8,247 MBoe for the year ended December 31, 2018 and ten months ended December 31, 2017, respectively. (2) Excludes the impact of derivative instrument settlements. (3) Includes the impact of derivative instrument settlements. (4) Includes a $5.9 million non-cash gain for the three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, and a $23.7 million non-cash gain for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 from the amortization of the deferred gain on Western Catarina Midstream divestiture. SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA (unaudited) (in thousands, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended Year Ended December 31, December 31, 2018 2017 2018 2017 REVENUES: Oil sales $ 150,821 $ 144,133 $ 623,999 $ 400,045 Natural gas liquid sales 56,252 58,217 232,085 171,139 Natural gas sales 52,787 43,628 175,117 169,147 Sales and marketing revenues 8,803 25,713 Total revenues 268,663 245,978 1,056,914 740,331 OPERATING COSTS AND EXPENSES: Oil and natural gas production expenses 80,330 74,012 305,515 244,461 Exploration expenses 48 3,295 5,755 Sales and marketing expenses 7,334 23,832 Production and ad valorem taxes 13,564 9,946 56,462 36,615 Depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion 72,965 62,372 262,481 177,078 Impairment of oil and natural gas properties 10,127 37,018 14,386 39,574 General and administrative expenses (1) 24,803 32,557 98,002 144,401 Total operating costs and expenses 209,171 215,905 763,973 647,884 Operating income 59,492 30,073 292,941 92,447 Other income (expense): Interest income 951 166 4,351 836 Other income (expense) (10,468 ) 5,648 (8,001 ) 11,102 Gain on sale of oil and natural gas properties 1,528 81,955 Interest expense (45,194 ) (35,491 ) (177,858 ) (140,163 ) Earnings from equity investments 779 Net gains (losses) on commodity derivatives 114,628 (62,877 ) (27,756 ) (6,100 ) Total other income (expense) 59,917 (92,554 ) (207,736 ) (51,591 ) Income (loss) before income taxes 119,409 (62,481 ) 85,205 40,856 Income tax benefit 1,128 2,336 Net income (loss) 119,409 (61,353 ) 85,205 43,192 Less: Preferred stock dividends (3,987 ) (3,986 ) (15,948 ) (15,948 ) Preferred unit dividends and distributions (12,500 ) (8,497 ) (47,408 ) (44,259 ) Preferred unit amortization (6,739 ) (5,530 ) (25,316 ) (18,039 ) Net income allocable to participating securities (2)(3) (6,190 ) Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ 89,993 $ (79,366 ) $ (3,467 ) $ (35,054 ) Net income (loss) per common share - basic $ 1.09 $ (1.01 ) $ (0.04 ) $ (0.46 ) Weighted average number of shares used to calculate net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders - basic 82,257 78,804 81,764 75,608 Net income (loss) per common share - diluted $ 0.99 $ (1.01 ) $ (0.04 ) $ (0.46 ) Weighted average number of shares used to calculate net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders - diluted (4)(5)(6) 94,777 78,804 81,764 75,608 (1) Inclusive of non-cash stock-based compensation benefit of $2.1 million and expense of $5.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively and expense of $0.8 million and $22.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. (2) The companys restricted shares of common stock are participating securities. (3) For the years ended December 31, 2018, and 2017 and for the three months ended December 31, 2017, no losses were allocated to participating restricted stock because such securities do not have a contractual obligation to share in the companys losses. (4) The three months ended December 31, 2017 excludes 988,096 shares of weighted average restricted stock and 12,520,179 shares of common stock resulting from an assumed conversion of the Company's Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock from the calculation of the denominator for diluted loss per common share as these shares were anti-dilutive. (5) The year ended December 31, 2018 excludes 2,540,922 shares, respectively, of weighted average restricted stock and 12,520,179 shares of common stock resulting from an assumed conversion of the Company's Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock from the calculation of the denominator for diluted loss per common share as these shares were anti-dilutive. (6) The year ended December 31, 2017 excludes 2,755,893 shares of weighted average restricted stock and 12,520,179 shares of common stock resulting from an assumed conversion of the Company's Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock and 100,000 contingently issuable shares from the calculation of the denominator for diluted loss per common share as these shares were anti-dilutive. (7) The three months ended December 31, 2018 excludes 1,919,847 shares of weighted average restricted stock from the calculation of the denominator for diluted net income per common share as these shares were anti-dilutive. SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (unaudited) (in thousands, except per share amounts) December 31, 2018 2017 ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 197,613 $ 184,434 Oil and natural gas receivables 87,222 101,396 Joint interest billings receivables 33,263 22,569 Accounts receivable - related entities 6,099 4,491 Fair value of derivative instruments 15,714 16,430 Other current assets 33,070 21,478 Total current assets 372,981 350,798 Oil and natural gas properties, on the basis of successful efforts accounting: Proved oil and natural gas properties 3,792,431 3,130,407 Unproved oil and natural gas properties 328,643 398,605 Total oil and natural gas properties 4,121,074 3,529,012 Less: Accumulated depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment (1,761,949 ) (1,501,553 ) Total oil and natural gas properties, net 2,359,125 2,027,459 Other assets: Fair value of derivative instruments 12,102 1,428 Investments (Investment in SNMP measured at fair value of $3.9 million and $25.2 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively) 16,664 38,462 Other assets 59,088 52,488 Total assets $ 2,819,960 $ 2,470,635 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 32,382 $ 14,994 Other payables 74,628 81,970 Accrued liabilities: Capital expenditures 61,970 85,340 Other 102,728 84,794 Fair value of derivative instruments 706 56,190 Short term debt 304 23,996 Other current liabilities 75,581 115,244 Total current liabilities 348,299 462,528 Long term debt, net of premium, discount and debt issuance costs 2,395,408 1,930,683 Asset retirement obligations 46,175 36,098 Fair value of derivative instruments 366 17,474 Other liabilities 21,407 65,480 Total liabilities 2,811,655 2,512,263 Commitments and contingencies Mezzanine equity: Preferred units ($1,000 liquidation preference, 500,000 units authorized; 500,000 units issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively) 452,828 427,512 Stockholders' equity: Preferred stock ($0.01 par value, 15,000,000 shares authorized; 1,838,985 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 of 4.875% Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A; 3,527,830 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 of 6.500% Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series B, respectively) 53 53 Common stock ($0.01 par value, 300,000,000 shares authorized; 87,328,424 and 83,984,827 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively) 881 845 Additional paid-in capital 1,367,427 1,362,118 Accumulated deficit (1,812,884 ) (1,832,156 ) Total stockholders' deficit (444,523 ) (469,140 ) Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit $ 2,819,960 $ 2,470,635 SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION Non-GAAP Reconciliation Adjusted EBITDAX (in thousands) Adjusted EBITDAX is a nonGAAP financial measure that is used as a supplemental financial measure by our management and by external users of our financial statements, such as investors, commercial banks and others, to assess our operating performance as compared to that of other companies in our industry, without regard to financing methods, capital structure or historical costs basis. It is also used to assess our ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures. Our Adjusted EBITDAX should not be considered an alternative to net income (loss), operating income (loss), cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our Adjusted EBITDAX may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of another company because all companies may not calculate Adjusted EBITDAX in the same manner. The following table presents a reconciliation of our net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDAX: Three Months Ended December 31, Three Months Ended September 30, Year Ended December 31, 2018 2017 2018 2018 2017 Net income (loss) $ 119,409 $ (61,353 ) $ 5,598 $ 85,205 $ 43,192 Adjusted by: Interest expense 45,194 35,491 44,154 177,858 140,163 Net (gains) losses on commodity derivative contracts (114,628 ) 62,877 28,286 27,756 6,100 Net settlements received (paid) on commodity derivative contracts (25,350 ) (1,659 ) (31,784 ) (103,205 ) 13,141 Exploration expense 48 2,698 3,295 5,755 Depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion 72,965 62,372 67,944 262,481 177,078 Impairment of oil and natural gas properties 10,127 37,018 3,117 14,386 39,574 Non-cash stock-based compensation (benefit) expense (2,086 ) 5,572 (1,399 ) 792 22,909 Acquisition and divestiture costs included in general and administrative 35 1,834 778 30,527 Income tax benefit (1,128 ) (2,336 ) Gains on sale of oil and natural gas properties (1,528 ) (81,955 ) (Gains) losses on other derivatives (5,963 ) 3,603 736 (700 ) 1,551 (Gains) losses on investments 18,437 (1,099 ) 11,657 21,798 871 Amortization of deferred gain on Western Catarina Midstream Divestiture (5,930 ) (5,929 ) (5,930 ) (23,720 ) (23,720 ) Interest income (951 ) (166 ) (1,130 ) (4,351 ) (836 ) Adjusted EBITDAX(1) $ 111,307 $ 137,433 $ 123,947 $ 460,845 $ 372,014 (1) UnSub component of Adjusted EBITDAX was approximately 31 percent, 30 percent, and 32 percent respectively, for the three months ended December 31, 2018, and 2017 and September 30, 2018 and 35 percent and 33 percent, respectively, for year ended December 31, 2018 and ten months ended December 31, 2017. SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION Non-GAAP Reconciliation Adjusted Earnings (Loss) (in thousands, except share data) We present Adjusted Earnings (Loss) and Adjusted Earnings (Loss) attributable to common stockholders, non-GAAP financial measures, in addition to our reported net income (loss) in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This information is provided because management believes exclusion of the impact of the items included in our definition of Adjusted Earnings (Loss) below will help investors compare results between periods, identify operating trends that could otherwise be masked by these items and highlight the impact that commodity price volatility has on our results. Adjusted Earnings (Loss) is not intended to represent cash flows for the period, nor is it presented as a substitute for net income (loss), operating income (loss), cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our Adjusted Earnings (Loss) may not be comparable to similarly title measures of another company because all companies may not calculate Adjusted Earnings (Loss) in the same manner. The following table presents a reconciliation of our net income (loss) to Adjusted Earnings (Loss): Three Months Ended December 31, Three Months Ended, September 30 Year Ended December 31, 2018 2017 2018 2018 2017 Net income (loss) $ 119,409 $ (61,353 ) $ 5,598 $ 85,205 $ 43,192 Less: Preferred stock dividends (3,987 ) (3,986 ) (3,987 ) (15,948 ) (15,948 ) Preferred unit dividends and distributions (12,500 ) (8,497 ) (12,500 ) (47,408 ) (44,259 ) Preferred unit amortization (6,739 ) (5,530 ) (6,458 ) (25,316 ) (18,039 ) Net income (loss) attributable to common shares and participating securities 96,183 (79,366 ) (17,347 ) (3,467 ) (35,054 ) Plus: Net (gains) losses on commodity derivatives contracts (114,628 ) 62,877 28,286 27,756 6,100 Net settlements received (paid) on commodity derivative contracts (25,350 ) (1,659 ) (31,784 ) (103,205 ) 13,141 Impairment of oil and natural gas properties 10,127 37,018 3,117 14,386 39,574 Non-cash stock-based compensation (benefit) expense (2,086 ) 5,572 (1,399 ) 792 22,909 Acquisition and divestiture costs included in general and administrative 35 1,834 778 30,527 Gains on sale of oil and natural gas properties (1,528 ) (81,955 ) (Gains) losses on other derivatives (5,963 ) 3,603 736 (700 ) 1,551 (Gains) losses on investments 18,437 (1,099 ) 11,657 21,798 871 Amortization of deferred gain on Western Catarina Midstream Divestiture (5,930 ) (5,929 ) (5,930 ) (23,720 ) (23,720 ) Tax impact of adjustments to net loss (1) 413 (1,490 ) Adjusted Earnings (Loss) (29,175 ) 23,264 (12,664 ) (67,110 ) (27,546 ) Adjusted Loss allocable to participating securities (2) (1,453 ) Adjusted Earnings (Loss) attributable to common stockholders $ (29,175 ) $ 21,811 $ (12,664 ) $ (67,110 ) $ (27,546 ) Weighted average number of shares used to calculate net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders - basic and diluted 82,257 78,804 77,453 81,764 75,608 (1) The tax impact is computed by utilizing the Companys effective tax rate on the adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to Adjusted Loss. (2) The Company's restricted shares of common stock are participating securities. SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION Non-GAAP Reconciliation Adjusted Revenues (in thousands) We present Adjusted Revenues, a non-GAAP financial measure, in addition to our reported revenues in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We define Adjusted Revenues as total revenues plus net settlements received (paid) on commodity derivatives. The company believes Adjusted Revenues provides investors with helpful information with respect to the performance of the company's operations and management uses Adjusted Revenues to evaluate its ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. Our Adjusted Revenues may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of another company because all companies may not calculate Adjusted Revenues in the same manner. The following table presents a reconciliation of our total revenues to Adjusted Revenues: Three Months Ended December 31, Three Months Ended September 30, Year Ended December 31, 2018 2017 2018 2018 2017 Total Revenues $ 268,663 $ 245,978 $ 277,710 $ 1,056,914 $ 740,331 Net settlements received (paid) on commodity derivatives (25,350 ) (1,659 ) (31,784 ) (103,205 ) 13,141 Adjusted Revenues $ 243,313 $ 244,319 $ 245,926 $ 953,709 $ 753,472 SANCHEZ ENERGY CORPORATION Non-GAAP Reconciliation Base G&A Expense (in thousands) We present Base G&A Expense, a non-GAAP financial measure, in addition to reported general and administrative expenses in accordance with GAAP. We define Base G&A Expense as general and administrative expenses less non-cash and non-recurring items (as detailed below). The company has included Base G&A Expense in this press release because this measure is commonly used by management, analysts and investors as an indicator of cost management and operating efficiency on a comparable basis from period to period. Our Base G&A may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of another company because all companies may not calculate Base G&A in the same manner. The following table presents a reconciliation of our general and administrative expenses to Base G&A Expense: Three Months Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31, 2018 2017 2018 2017 Total general and administrative expenses $ 24,803 $ 32,557 $ 98,002 $ 144,401 Less: Stock-based compensation (non-cash) - restricted stock benefit (expense) 2,086 (5,572 ) (792 ) (22,909 ) Stock-based compensation - phantom units benefit (expense) 3,222 (3,632 ) 1,756 (17,388 ) Acquisition and divestiture costs included in general and administrative expenses (35 ) (1,834 ) (778 ) (30,527 ) Base G&A Expense $ 30,076 $ 21,519 $ 98,188 $ 73,577 At the invitation of the Director General of Macau Customs, Mr. Alex Vong, and the Commissioner of Hong Kong Customs, Mr. Hermes Tang, Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya visited both Customs Administrations of the two Special Administrative Regions of the Peoples Republic of China on 26 and 27 February 2019. On 1 March 2019 he also visited Hong Kong Customs College, which serves as a WCO Regional Training Centre (RTC). In Macau, the Secretary General met with Director General Vong and his management team before visiting the newly created passenger processing post built to facilitate the movement of passengers along the Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macau Bridge, a 55 kilometre bridge-tunnel system which opened in October 2018. This new transport route is expected to boost Macaus tourism and leisure industry. The Secretary General then crossed the Bridge to Hong Kong, which can now be reached by land from Macau and Zhuhai within an hour. In the past, Macau was only connected to Hong Kong by ferry. On the Hong Kong side of the bridge, Dr. Mikuriya visited the new facilities built to process passengers and cargo. These serve as a very good illustration of how the SMART Customs concept, the WCOs theme for 2019, translates into reality. The opening of the bridge, together with the inauguration in September 2018 of a railway station for high-speed trains linking Hong Kong and Beijing via Guangzhou and Shenzhen, is expected to further strengthen Hong Kongs position as a financial and transportation hub. The development of these new transport infrastructures is part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area project, bringing together the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau and nine municipalities in Guangdong Province to form an economic development zone in South China. After the visit, the Secretary General met with Commissioner Tang and his management team in Hong Kong to discuss the impact of these developments and opportunities as well as the challenges lying ahead in terms of Customs operations. Dr. Mikuriya took the opportunity to pay a visit to Hong Kong Customs College, which also serves as a WCO RTC. Formerly known as the Customs and Excise Training School, it was renamed on 1 January 2019 after its curriculum was recognized as offering the equivalent of a Bachelors degree by the Hong Kong authorities. The Secretary General expressed his appreciation for the Colleges contribution to the development of the Customs communitys knowledge and for its commitment to instilling a taste for excellence in Customs officers. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit By WestKyStar & WKCTC Staff Feb. 28, 2019 | 08:57 PM | PADUCAH WKCTC's Read Across America is part of the National Endowment for the Arts annual awareness project to motivate and encourage every child across the country to celebrate reading and to observe the March 2 birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. "We want to bring together local kids, teenagers and adults to promote reading and literacy. It's important for us to have this event to encourage attendees to become lifelong readers," said Megan Dotson, WKCTC reading program coordinator. Participants can enjoy refreshments, listen to stories, play games, and make crafts during the free event. Each child will also receive a goodie bag. For more information about the Read Across America event on the WKCTC campus, contact Megan Dotson at 270-534-3354 or megan.dotson@kctcs.edu. West Kentucky Community and Technical College is hosting Read Across America March 4 from 6-7:30 pm in Matheson Library. The event is free and open to the public. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 01, 2019 | PADUCAH By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 01, 2019 | 01:24 PM | PADUCAH The long-time manager of Barkley Regional Airport is retiring. The Barkley Regional Airport Authority, which oversees the operation of the Paducah Airport, announced Friday that Richard Roof will retire on September 30. He has served the airport and community for 45 years. The BRAA Board was notified of Roof's upcoming retirement at their regular meeting earlier this week. Board Chairman George Bray said, Richard is a local legend within both the FAA community and our own community. It will be impossible to replace his experience and knowledge. Roof has seen many changes in airlines and destinations from Paducah over his years, but a press release says his dedication to the Paducah Airport has remained constant. I will dearly miss it all. I love the fact that we fly to Chicago OHare, including recently adding new daily flights. Paducah folks can easily connect to anywhere in the world with no hassles. A search committee for Roofs replacement is being formed by the board. It will be comprised of the HR Committee of the Board, augmented by a few community leaders. We thought it important to add some non-BRAA people in the selection process to allow for input from local leaders and acknowledge the true community spirit of the Airport Manager, added Bray. The board expects to have a replacement on staff before Roofs retirement date. By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 01, 2019 | 01:37 PM | PADUCAH Authorities have dismissed official misconduct charges against two McCracken County Schools officials.In a statement released Friday, McCracken County Attorney Sam Clymer said he has filed to dismiss second-degree official misconduct charges against McCracken County High School Principal Michael Ceglinski and Director of Pupil Personnel Brian Bowland. Those charges came as part of an investigation into alleged sexual abuse at McCracken County High School.Bowland is no longer facing any charges in the case, but Ceglinski is still charged with failure to report child dependency, abuse or neglect.Clymer explained in his statement that after doing extensive research his interpretation of the statute had changed. He said the statute does not prohibit school personnel from conducting internal investigations when they receive reports of abuse, but it does bar school personnel from conducting only an internal investigation into the allegation instead of reporting it to the proper authorities.The charges against Bowland and Ceglinski came as a result of recent reports of sexual abuse at the school, which have led to charges against several school employees and one student.Here is Clymer's full statement: On the Net: HARTSVILLE, S.C., March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoco (NYSE: SON), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, today announced that Julie Albrecht has assumed responsibilities as the Companys Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective today. Albrecht was named the Companys CFO-elect in December 2018, and is replacing Barry Saunders, Senior Vice President and most recent CFO, who is retiring on April 1. Albrecht reports to Rob Tiede, President and Chief Executive Officer, and is a member of the Companys Executive Committee. Were proud of our strong financial position, and trust Julie to continue building on our 120-year foundation, Tiede said. During her time at Sonoco, she has been instrumental in driving significant improvement in cash flow, while handling the financing for several strategic acquisitions totaling approximately $700 million. Albrecht, 51, joined Sonoco in 2017 and has served as Vice President, Treasurer and Assistant CFO, responsible for the Companys treasury, tax and risk management functions. During that time, she managed the Companys relationships with credit rating agencies and commercial banks, and has been responsible for investment and risk management of the Companys retirement benefit plans. Before joining Sonoco, she held senior finance roles for several public companies. A photo of Albrecht can be found here . In addition, Albrecht announced that Harold (Hal) G. Cummings, III, has been promoted to Staff Vice President, Corporate Treasurer, reporting to her, effective today. Previously, Cummings was Staff Vice President, Business Unit Finance, and in total he has 26 years of service to Sonoco working in a variety of financial planning and accounting roles. He is a member of Sonocos Management Committee. Hals broad experience across our Consumer and Industrial businesses and his strong financial acumen give him a solid background for his new position on our finance team, said Albrecht. About Sonoco Founded in 1899, Sonoco (NYSE: SON) is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately $5.4 billion, the Company has 23,000 employees working in approximately 300 operations in 36 countries, serving some of the worlds best known brands in some 85 nations. Sonoco is committed to creating sustainable products, services and programs for our customers, employees and communities that support our corporate purpose of Better Packaging. Better Life. The Company ranked first in the Packaging sector on Fortunes Worlds Most Admired Companies for 2019. For more information, visit www.sonoco.com . Photos accompanying this announcement are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/adbe5fef-8290-4d09-b934-44030ffed1b8 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9b21d63b-e1f3-4d6a-ba37-9c349f215cbb Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 28, 2019 | PADUCAH By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 28, 2019 | 06:29 PM | PADUCAH The Paducah Police Department is warning residents of a telephone scam. A woman told police Thursday morning she got a call from a Washington, D.C., telephone number. The caller, who had a foreign accent, identified himself as Johnny Wells, an agent for the Social Security administration. The caller told the woman her Social Security number had been flagged for criminal activity and needed to be changed. He said her bank accounts were going to be frozen due to unlawful transactions in Mexico. The caller told the woman to go to her bank and withdraw all her money, then go to a local grocery store and buy a security receipt. When an officer spoke to the caller, he identified himself as Kevin Huse with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and claimed to have a warrant for the womans arrest. After the woman hung up on the caller, she said she started getting calls that appeared to be from the phone number for the Paducah Police Department. Police say the scammer is spoofing his phone's caller ID so the number appears legitimate. Police remind everyone that neither the Social Security Administration nor the DEA would ask residents for money or personal information on the phone. Tips lead to drug charges for two in Paducah Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 28, 2019 | SMITHLAND By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 28, 2019 | 01:28 PM | SMITHLAND Some residents of Smithland are being told it's in their best interests to evacuate, but there is no mandatory evacuation order in place. Social media has been buzzing with shared information about evacuation orders, and a person at the Livingston County Sheriff's Department told West Kentucky Star there is an evacuation order for anyone on the riverfront side of US Highway 60. However, Brent Stringer and Daniel Newcomb with Livingston County Emergency Management said there is no mandatory order, but residents are being cautioned of the immediate danger in the event of a breach. While there are no current problems with the levee, residents were told that if a breach occurred, rescue efforts would be very difficult. Stringer said this is the same kind of advisory that was given in 2011, so residents living in that area would be aware and would have all of the necessary information in their decision making process. Newcomb said if a breach happens, Emergency Management would activate sirens to notify everyone to evacuate. The varying terms used by agencies have created a bit of confusion among residents and on social media. West Kentucky Star is working to make sure everyone has correct information from official agencies. By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 01, 2019 | 10:48 AM | MAYFIELD A Mayfield woman charged in a deadly 2018 hit-and-run accident has pleaded not guilty. Jasmine Rupcke was arraigned this week in Graves County, where she entered a not guilty plea to all charges. Rupcke was appointed a public defender, and her case was set for a preliminary hearing March 20, at 1:00 pm. According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, Rupcke was driving the van that struck and killed a pedestrian, Amanda Czerwien of Mayfield, on Dec. 17. The collision happened around 6:00 pm on US 45 North, as Czerwien had just finished work at Pilgrim's Pride and was walking home. After the collision, Rupcke allegedly drove to a friend's home and called police, telling them she had hit a deer on US 45 North and needed to make a report. Troopers went to the friend's home and determined that Rupcke's vehicle had struck Czerwien. Rupcke was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident/failure to render aid/assist with death/serious physical injury, failure to produce an insurance card, failure to register transfer of motor vehicle and no operator's license. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Amazon(NEW YORK) -- Lawmakers and business leaders are begging Amazon to reconsider aborting its plan to build a major hub in New York City. In an open letter addressed to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, politicians and leaders of companies including Mastercard, JetBlue and Goldman Sachs wrote, in part, "We urge you to reconsider, so that we can move forward together." The letter was published online Thursday and is scheduled to appear in Friday's edition of The New York Times. "New Yorkers do not want to give up on the 25,000 permanent jobs, 11,000 union construction and maintenance jobs, and $28 billion in new tax revenues that Amazon was prepared to bring to our state," the letter states. The Seattle-based tech firm, which said in November it would be building new headquarters in northern Virginia as well as in the Long Island City portion of Queens, abandoned the latter plan after some lawmakers, politicians, community leaders and residents protested. Amazon, which at the end of trading on Thursday had a market cap of more than $805 billion, was promised billions of dollars in incentives. "Signatories argued that the majority of New Yorkers are eager to see Amazon and other tech companies invest and create jobs in the state join Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio in the commitment to support Amazon and the tech industry more generally as a valued contributor to the statewide economy," the letter said. The group also acknowledged public opposition to the plan, noting that the public's response was "rough and not very welcoming," but it vowed to make the project work. "We know the public debate that followed the announcement of the Long Island City project was rough and not very welcoming," the letter said. "Opinions are strong in New York -- sometimes strident. We consider it part of the New York charm! But when we commit to a project as important as this, we figure out how to get it done in a way that works for everyone." U.S. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Carolyn Maloney and Gregory Meeks, as well as the presidents of New York University and the United Federation of Labor, were among the signatories. "I've had many conversations with Amazon. I hope that they reconsider," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters on Thursday. "Up until now, we haven't seen any change in their position. It would be helpful if the state Senate said that they would approve it. That would be helpful. But in the meantime, I haven't heard any changes." Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Charlottesville, Virginia, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SafeGuard Cyber, the leading end-to-end platform for social media and digital risk protection, responding to the defensive needs of government and corporate customers, today launched a new detection capability that adds real-time cross-channel analysis to proactive scans across the digital landscape, including deep web sites, the dark web, and the social internet. The new capabilities provide security professionals with a holistic view of actionable threat intelligence to digital channels, an area of expanding risks and priority for security teams. Todays cyber threats are growing in complexity, and hackers don't operate in silos. Bad actors can pull account credentials from the dark web, deploy botnets, and launch multi-pronged attacks from many social channels, noted SafeGuard Cyber CTO and Co-Founder Otavio Freire. The new Discover capability gives our clients enhanced visibility into critical channels, helps them prioritize risks, and helps them easily and quickly respond to multi-vector threats. The new Discover capability is enhanced by Threat Cortex, SafeGuard Cybers proprietary decision engine, which is powered by machine learning. Threat Cortex was designed to give CISOs SOC teams a simple way to receive actionable threat intelligence. As risk event information is gathered, Threat Cortex prioritizes the most critical risks for the SOC team to focus on. The technology continually assesses security teams subsequent responses to learn and adapt to the most relevant and evolving threats, giving companies a digital risk protection solution customized to their unique needs. Discover, together with Threat Cortex, reaffirms our commitment to making the CISOs job easier. Most CISOs we speak to are overwhelmed with data. This new technology empowers our clients to translate alarm bells into action against digital risks efficiently and at scale, said SafeGuard Cyber CEO and Co-Founder Jim Zuffoletti. For more information about Discover and Threat Cortex, visit SafeGuard Cyber at the RSA Conference 2019, booth #3111 or at https://www.safeguardcyber.com/ About SafeGuard Cyber SafeGuard Cyber is a Charlottesville, Virginia-based company that offers a cloud-based platform to detect, prevent, and defend against cyber threats, including data loss, brand damage, phishing attacks, insider threats, VIP exposure, and compliance risks. The platform offers comprehensive channel coverage, integrating with more than 50 social media and digital channels, including the dark web. Customers and partners include Johnson & Johnson, McAfee and other leading brands across 18 industries, 25 countries and over 50 languages. For more information, visit www.safeguardcyber.com. ### English French Mithra Reports 2018 Annual Results Strong revenue growth (+42%) with significantly improved EBITDA (record level of EUR 38.3 M vs. EUR -18.4 M in 2017) and cash position (EUR 119 M vs. EUR 36.2 M in 2017) thanks to increased business development activities Strengthening Mithra's international deployment through key partnerships with women's health leaders Clinical milestones successfully achieved for highly promising portfolio E4 (Estetrol)-based pipeline, including the 5 th generation contraceptive pill Estelle and next-generation menopause therapy Donesta Additional potential E4-based blockbuster for the underserved perimenopause market with PeriNesta in development (which brings Mithras late clinical stage pipeline to a total of 3) Liege, Belgium, 01 March 2019 7 :30 CET Mithra (Euronext Brussels: MITRA), a company dedicated to Womens Health, today announces its results for the year ended 31 December 2018, prepared in accordance with IFRS. Financial highlights Revenues increased by over 42% to EUR 65.5 million (from EUR 46.3 million in 2017), mainly due to licensing revenues recognized for partnership agreements with leaders in Womens Health such as Gedeon Richter for EUR 40 million. EBITDA 1 significantly improved to EUR 38.3 million in 2018 compared to EUR -18.4 million in 2017 increase by 308 %. significantly improved to EUR 38.3 million in 2018 compared to EUR -18.4 million in 2017 increase by 308 %. The company raised EUR 77.5 million in gross proceeds in May 2018 with a capital increase by means of a private placement of 2,672,414 new shares to fund clinical development of its key assets. Increase of EUR 18.5 million of non-recurring income in 2018 due to the gain on sale of disposal of Ceres Pharma realized in July 2018. Cash at December 31 2018 was EUR 119 million (EUR 36.2 million in 2017); with the cash generated from operating and investment activities strengthened by the private placement in May 2018. R&D spend decreases to EUR 35.7 million (from EUR 48.2 million in 2017), reflecting the completion of the Phase III Estelle and Phase II Donesta programs. Key Highlights (including post-period end) Positive top-line results of Estelle Phase III oral contraceptive study ("E4 Freedom") in both Europe/Russia and the United States/Canada. These results confirm the unique safety profile of Mithra's innovative contraceptive, as well as the previous data from the Estelle Phase II study on hemostasis and ovarian function. Mithra intends to file with European and American regulatory agencies by the end of 2019. Positive top-line results of the Donesta Phase II study ("E4 Relief") for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms, in particular hot flushes relief, in postmenopausal women. Phase III studies are expected to launch in the second half of 2019, pending approvals. Expansion of the E4 development program with a third late stage clinical product candidate, PeriNesta, for the underserved perimenopausal market. PeriNesta has the potential to offer women an improved benefit/risk contraceptive solution while addressing the challenge of hot flushes. Commercialization agreements signed for Estelle in key international markets including Europe and Russia (Gedeon Richter), Canada (Searchlight Pharma), South Africa (Adcock Ingram), South Korea (Hyundai Pharm) and, post-period end MENA region2 (ITROM). Commercialization agreements for Myring signed with Alvogen (Russia), Orifarm (Denmark), Laboratorio Pasteur (Chile), Neo Health (Australia/New Zealand) and ITROM (MENA region). First marketing authorization (MA) received for Myring in Europe (United Kingdom), followed by MAs in seven other Eastern European countries (Hungary, Latvia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia). Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) accepted for filling by the FDA for the U.S. commercialization of Myring. The production of test batches for the additional bioequivalence data requested by the FDA in a Complete Response Letter (CRL) received by Mithras U.S partner Mayne Pharma will be finalized in the first half of 2019. Launch of the manufacturing process of Myring at Mithra CDMO3 facility in Belgium, with the production of first commercial batches for the European market. Investment in new state-of-the-art equipment allowing Mithra CDMO to triple its production capacity to meet the expected international market demands. Strategic divestment of Belgian and Luxembourg activities to Ceres Pharma worth up to EUR 40 million. Francois Fornieri, CEO Mithra Womens Health, commented: 2018 was a very successful year from all points of view. Revenue growth in 2018 was significantly boosted by down payments and milestones from our strategic partnerships and divestment of non-strategic activities, increasing 42% to EUR 65.5 million in 2018 from 46.3 million in 2017. EBITDA also improved significantly to EUR 38.3 million, as did our cash position, which reached a record level of EUR 119 million. In 2019 and beyond, we expect further significant revenue growth based on the potential for further E4 partnerships in the U.S. and other international markets. Our key clinical programs have successfully completed significant milestones, bringing our three potential blockbusters closer to the market. The positive top-line results of the Estelle Phase III study in both Europe/Russia and the U.S./Canada confirmed the novel efficacy and safety profile and great potential of Estelle, a true 5th generation oral contraceptive, which will offer women a unique innovative therapeutic solution. We intend to file for approval with regulatory agencies by the end of 2019 and will continue negotiations for commercial partners for Estelle in the United States as well as in other leading markets. We are also continuing to progress our novel candidate for menopausal symptoms, Donesta. The results of the Phase II study of Donesta for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women confirmed its unique potential with an improved benefit/risk profile. Following these positive results, we are accelerating Phase III study plans and intend to start in the second half of 2019, pending approvals. Mithra has also entered a major new and untapped commercial market, perimenopause. Our third potential blockbuster, PeriNesta, has the potential to become the first product on the market for perimenopausal women, offering an improved benefit/risk contraceptive solution while addressing the first menopausal symptoms. Pending approvals, Mithra is targeting a marketing authorization for both Donesta and PeriNesta product candidates in 2023. With our three innovative products, Mithra has the potential to provide the right therapeutic option for women at each stage of their entire hormonal cycle. Our successful partnering strategy continued to develop in 2018, with major commercial contracts including Gedeon Richter for Estelle in Europe and Russia and Alvogen for Myring in Russia. The continuing expansion of our international partnerships demonstrates Mithras growing reputation as a leading innovator in Womens Health. In order to meet the expected international market demands, our Mithra CDMO will strengthen its activities in both the R&D and production. Thanks to its new state-of-the-art equipment and proven expertise, we have tripled our production capacity to deliver the next commercial batches of the vaginal ring Myring in the second half of 2019. OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW 1. Estetrol (E4) Program Estelle - The combined oral contraceptive (COC) product candidate, composed of 15 mg Estetrol (E4) and 3 mg Drospirenone (DRSP) Phase III study ( E4 Freedom ) Positive top-line results for the Phase III studies in Europe/Russia and U.S./Canada were announced in August 2018 and, post-period end, in January 2019, respectively. A total of 3,725 women were included in the studies and these positive results confirm the outstanding safety profile of Estelle as a novel, next-generation combined oral contraceptive. In March 2018, Mithra announced positive results from its Phase II hemostasis study of Estelle at the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology Conference (ISGE) in Florence. The aim of the study was to determine the risk profile of Estelle for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. As required by the regulatory agencies, LNG (levonogestrel) was included as a comparator. Mithra elected to include Yaz (DRSP COC, benchmark for Estelle) as an additional comparative arm, given the well-documented elevated DVT risk for current DRSP-based COCs relative to LNG-based products. These results corroborate earlier findings, delineate the unique safety profile and contribute to the potential of Estelle as a fifth generation pill, combining the quality of life offered by DRSP with a safer hemostatic profile compared to other DRSP COCs. Based on these positive data, Mithra applied for an additional patent relating to the E4 synthesis process and E4 as a potential new emergency option to further strengthen and extend the existing Estelle and E4 intellectual property estate. In April 2018, Mithra announced it had signed a binding Heads of Terms agreement with Searchlight Pharma, for an exclusive license to commercialize Estelle in Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, Mithra is eligible to receive up to EUR 15 million in upfront payments and sales-related income. Mithra will also manufacture Estelle for Searchlight at its CDMO facility and will receive guaranteed annual recurring revenues based on Minimum Annual Quantities (MAQ). Mithra forecasts the agreement could achieve sales-related revenues of at least EUR 50 million for Mithra, based on market assumptions. The license and supply agreement was finalized with Searchlight Pharma in May 2018. In June 2018, Mithra announced it had signed a binding Heads of Terms agreement with Hyundai Pharm, for an exclusive license to commercialize Estelle in South Korea. Under the terms of the agreement, finalized in September, Mithra is eligible to receive milestone payments, MAQ and further sales-related royalties. Mithra will also produce Estelle for the South Korean market at its CDMO facility for the South Korean contraceptive market, which is worth approximately EUR 36 million a year, with Combined Oral Contraceptives (COCs) 4 accounting for EUR 27 million. accounting for EUR 27 million. In August 2018, Mithra announced positive top-line results for the Phase III Estelle study in Europe and Russia. The study successfully met its primary endpoint and achieved key secondary endpoints including outstanding bleeding profile, cycle control, quality of life and safety and tolerability. The primary endpoint was contraceptive efficacy measured by the number of pregnancies per 100 women per 12 months of exposure (Pearl Index; PI). The PI indicates a 99.5% efficacy rate over one year of use, exceeding the efficacy goals of the study. In September 2018, Mithra signed an exclusive license and supply agreement with Gedeon Richter to commercialize Estelle in Europe/Russia, a key market that is valued at more than a fifth of the global oral contraception market (EUR 5.2 billion) [5] . Upon signature of the contract, Richter made an upfront payment of EUR 35 million. Additional milestone payments amounting to EUR 20 million will be made depending on the progress of the regulatory process of the product. Further sales-related milestones and royalties will be payable to Mithra subsequent to the launch of the product. Moreover, Mithra will receive guaranteed annual recurring revenues based on MAQ in addition to tiered royalties on net sales. . Upon signature of the contract, Richter made an upfront payment of EUR 35 million. Additional milestone payments amounting to EUR 20 million will be made depending on the progress of the regulatory process of the product. Further sales-related milestones and royalties will be payable to Mithra subsequent to the launch of the product. Moreover, Mithra will receive guaranteed annual recurring revenues based on MAQ in addition to tiered royalties on net sales. In October 2018, Mithra announced an exclusive licence and supply agreement with Adcock Ingram for the commercialization of Estelle in South Africa. Mithra is eligible to receive a downpayment of EUR 1.5 million. Mithra will also be eligible to receive additional commercialization milestone payments, further sales-related royalties, guaranteed annual recurring revenues based on MAQ, single digit tiered royalties on net sales and additional high double digit royalties on sales exceeding forecasts. Moreover, Mithra will produce Estelle for Southern Africa at its CDMO facility in Belgium. Post-period end, in January 2019, Mithra announced positive topline results of Estelle Phase III study in U.S./Canada. Primary efficacy endpoint indicates excellent contraceptive efficacy, with a Pearl Index (PI) of 2.41 6 per 100 women (98% efficacy rate), in line with expectations and similar to a recently FDA approved combined hormonal contraceptive (Annovera 7 ) and one of the best-selling Combined Oral Contraceptives (COC) in the U.S. (Lo-loestrin 8 ) with USD 527.7 million sales (15% yoy growth 9 ). Key secondary endpoints (same as the one for the EU/RU study) were also achieved. per 100 women (98% efficacy rate), in line with expectations and similar to a recently FDA approved combined hormonal contraceptive (Annovera ) and one of the best-selling Combined Oral Contraceptives (COC) in the U.S. (Lo-loestrin ) with USD 527.7 million sales (15% yoy growth ). Key secondary endpoints (same as the one for the EU/RU study) were also achieved. Post-period end, Mithra signed a partnership agreement with ITROM for commercialization of Estelle in the Middle East. Under the terms of the agreement, ITROM will distribute Estelle in MENA territories where the COC market is estimated at EUR 30 million a year10. This agreement represents a deal worth up to EUR 55 million over the period. Donesta next-generation hormone therapy (HT) product candidate with oral administration of Estetrol Menopause Phase II study ( E4 Relief ) The results of the Phase II study of Donesta for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms (VMS) in postmenopausal women confirmed the potential of Donesta as a new generation hormonal therapy with a better benefit/risk profile. In April 2018, Mithra announced the first positive results of this Phase II study of Donesta. The results showed that 15mg E4 significantly reduces the frequency and severity of hot flushes, as well as secondary menopausal symptoms such as vulvo-vaginal atrophy (VVA), while confirming a promising safety profile. Based on these positive results, Mithra applied for an additional patent to further strengthen and extend the existing Donesta intellectual property estate. In June 2018, Mithra presented the Phase IIb study results for Donesta at the 16 th World Congress on Menopause in Vancouver, Canada (these results were also presented at the North American Menopause Society in October 2018). These data reinforced the previously announced positive Phase IIb study results and also demonstrated an encouraging cardiovascular safety profile and lower bone turnover versus placebo 11 . The promising safety profile at both haemostatic and metabolic levels is consistent with the findings obtained during Phase II of Estelle contraceptive. World Congress on Menopause in Vancouver, Canada (these results were also presented at the North American Menopause Society in October 2018). These data reinforced the previously announced positive Phase IIb study results and also demonstrated an encouraging cardiovascular safety profile and lower bone turnover versus placebo . The promising safety profile at both haemostatic and metabolic levels is consistent with the findings obtained during Phase II of Estelle contraceptive. These promising results move Mithra's blockbuster potential to the next stage of clinical development: the Donesta Phase III study, a worldwide randomized, multicenter, double-blind, partial, placebo-controlled, multicenter Phase III trial. This study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of E4 for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women. The start of patient recruitment for this phase III with E4 monotherapy is planned for the second half of 2019 pending approvals, with a marketing authorization expected as early as 2023. The global menopause market currently stands at USD 8.6 billion and is expected to grow to approximately USD 16 billion by 202512. PeriNesta the candidate treatment for perimenopause (15 mg E4/3 mg DRSP + vitamin) - About to start Phase III study Post-period end, Mithra announced the expansion of its E4 development program with a third product candidate, PeriNesta, for the underserved perimenopausal market. This affects women between late reproductive and menopausal age. PeriNesta ((E4 15 mg/DRSP 3 mg/Vit) has the potential to be the first product on the market to meet the needs of women during this life phase. It would offer women experiencing perimenopause an improved benefit-risk contraceptive solution and address the first menopausal symptoms. This third E4-based product candidate will be the subject of a limited safety study with a comparable formulation to E4 15mg/DRSP 3 mg in women aged around 50 years with vasomotor symptoms. The cost of the study will be low thanks to the extensive clinical data available. Mithra has also filed an additional patent application based on the existing data generated in previous clinical studies. This patent would strengthen and extend the E4 intellectual property estate for menopause and perimenopause until 2039. This new blockbuster potential represents a significant new business opportunity while requiring limited additional investment. This addressable and underserved market is estimated up to 35 million patients each year in the U.S. and three major European markets13. This represents a multi billion EUR market value with no existing approved product on the market addressing the dual need of contraception and hot flushes relief and other menopausal symptoms during perimenopause. Pending regulatory agency approvals, Mithra should be in a position to target market authorizations in 2023. 2. Portofolio of complex therapeutic solutions Myring - hormonal contraceptive vaginal ring made of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA) To date, Mithra has licensed Myring to industry leaders in eight international markets, including the United States, Austria, the Czech Republic, Russia, Denmark, Chile, MENA region, Australia and New Zealand. All contracts provide for the production of vaginal contraceptives at the Mithra CDMO facility in Belgium, which has tripled its production capacity to meet orders placed and the expected market increase. In March 2018, Mithra announced it had granted an exclusive license and supply agreement to Alvogen for the commercialization of Myring in Russia, a market worth approximately EUR 13 million 14 . . Also In March, Mithra announced that the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for its vaginal contraceptive ring, Myring, had been accepted for filing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The ANDA was submitted by Mithras partner for the U.S. commercialization of the vaginal ring, Mayne Pharma (ASX:MYX). For this contract, Mithra received a EUR 2.4 million down payment and is eligible to receive further milestones of at least EUR 7.6 million from approval by the U.S. FDA through to commercial launch of the product. Following the FDA's request in December 2018, new test batches will be produced at the Mithra CDMO facility in Belgium during the first half of 2019. According to the latest commercial information, Mayne Pharma is still one of the best positioned players to launch the first generic version of Merck's NuvaRing in the U.S. market, which represents over 75% of NuvaRing's annual global revenues 15 . . In June 2018, Mithra announced an exclusive license and supply agreement with Orifarm for the commercialization of Myring in Denmark, a market worth approximately EUR 0.75 million 16 . . In July 2018, Mithra received its first Marketing Authorization (MA) for Myring in the United Kingdom, following approval by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency). The UK market is worth approximately EUR 1.2 million 17 with no generic competition on the market yet. Under the same decentralized procedure, MAs for seven other countries (Latvia, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) were also granted. with no generic competition on the market yet. Under the same decentralized procedure, MAs for seven other countries (Latvia, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) were also granted. In September 2018, an exclusive license and supply agreement for the commercialization of Myring in Chile was signed with Laboratorio Pasteur. The Chilean market for contraceptive rings accounts for 5.8 million and is fast-growing, with an 18% increase between 2016 and 2017 18 . . In November 2018, Mithra signed an exclusive license and supply agreement with Neo Health for Myring in Australia and New Zealand. An important area where the contraceptive market represents about 107 million euros with a growing demand for products such as the vaginal contraceptive ring 19 . . Post-period end, Mithra signed an exclusive license and supply agreement with ITROM for Myring in MENA region, where the hormonal contraceptive market is estimated at EUR 37.5 million20. Tibelia generic version of tibolone (Livial) for use in Hormone Therapy (HT) To date, Mithra has granted about ten Tibelia licenses. In July 2018, Mithra signed an exclusive license and supply agreement with Mediner for the commercialization of Tibelia in Hungary, a market worth approximately EUR 0.6 million 21 . . In September 2018, Mithra and Pei Li Pharm entered into an exclusive licensing and supply agreement for the commercialization of Tibelia in Taiwan, which has a menopause market worth approximately EUR 4.1 million 22 . . In December 2018, Mithra signed a licensing agreement with UAE-based company ITROM for Tibelia and Daphne Continu (contraceptive pill 21 +7). Combined, the products will generate at least 8 million of value for Mithra. ITROM will distribute the products in the Middle East and North Africa region (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, Lebanon and Jordan). The hormonal contraceptive market in the MENA region represented a potential of EUR 37.5 million in 2017, while the overall hormonal menopause market was worth EUR 2.65 million23. Zoreline generic version of goserelin (Zoladex) for prostate & breast cancer and benign gynecological conditions subcutaneous implant 1&3 month In February 2018, Mithra received positive results of its one-month pilot pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) study for Zoreline. The safety profile of the 1-month implant (3.6 mg) is similar to the branded Zoladex implant (AstraZeneca) and therefore meets regulatory requirements. In December 2018, Mithra announced positive results for the three-month formulation of Zoreline, enabling it to initiate the final clinical studies. The pivotal studies on 3-month and 1-month formulations are intended to take place in the first and second half of 2019, respectively. Following the results of these studies, Mithra plans to file for marketing authorization via partners. Zoreline represents a significant business opportunity, with total sales of Zoladex worldwide of USD 693 million in 201724. No generic version of Zoladex has been approved to date, except for a few Eastern European countries. The one-month implant accounts for over 55% of the sales volume25. Sterile Injectables In May 2018, Mithra announced it had closed a contract with Midas Pharma for the development of a sterile injectable product at Mithras CDMO in Belgium. Mithra CDMO Mithra CDMO, Mithras Research, Development and Manufacturing Platform strengthened its environmental policy in 2018 with the creation of an internal committee aiming to implement various measures to reduce its environmental footprint. With the installation of 1800 solar panels, the Mithra CDMO is aiming to secure approximately 50% of its electricity consumption through a renewable energy source. This green source allows Mithra to reduce its carbon footprint and reduce a major cost driver. Opened in 2016, Mithras technological platform incorporates strict environmental considerations in terms of air treatment, containment measures, modern solutions for energy monitoring and choice of reusable consumables. In December 2018, Mithra CDMO acquired new manufacturing equipment to triple its production capacity. The upgraded equipment will be used to sustain commercial demand thanks to commercial agreements and expected market increase. Post-period end, Mithra CDMO started the commercial manufacturing process of the vaginal contraceptive ring Myring with a first batch for the European market (Czech Republic). The Mithra CDMO development and production center plans to start manufacturing further commercial batches for the European market (Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) in the second half of 2019, as scheduled. Post-period end, Mithra announced it signed a contract with CEVA Animal Health, leading global veterinary pharmaceutical group. With this first veterinarian project in development, Mithra will develop a hormonal device for the fertility market. This new polymer-based device would be a real innovation and bring an additional competitive edge to our partner while expanding Mithras polymer based technology expertise Belgium and Luxembourg Business In July 2018, Mithra announced that it had signed a comprehensive partnership in Belgium and Luxembourg worth up to EUR 40 million with Ceres Pharma, a Belgian-based company focused on over-the-counter (OTC) and specialist healthcare. The agreement covers the sale of the womens health branded generics business in Belgium and Luxembourg as well as non-exclusive license and supply agreements for a number of Mithras products and product candidates developed in-house, including licenses for the commercialization in Belgium and Luxembourg of Tibelia, Myring and Estelle. For Mithra, the sale of the branded generics business realized the value of the divestment of a non-core asset, as the Company continues to become an innovative biopharma company fully-focused on its innovative E4 based asset portfolio and its Complex Therapeutics development know-how. Following the successful private placement in May 2018, the cash inflow realized through the agreement with Ceres Pharma will further strengthen Mithras financial position and investments in its potential blockbusters. 5. Outlook Building on the progress made in 2018, Mithra is looking forward to continued progress in 2019, which will further strengthen its position as a leading innovative international Womens Health company. Following the positive top-line Phase III results for Estelle in Europe/Russia and U.S./Canada, Mithra is entering the final stages of clinical development for its oral combined contraceptive candidate and intends to file for market authorization in Europe and the U.S. by the end of 2019. Mithra will also continue its partnering discussions for the exclusive license and commercialization rights in the U.S., as well as in other key international markets. Mithra will also continue to prepare for Phase III studies of Donesta and PeriNesta, its second and third potential blockbuster candidates, which could begin in H2 2019. With a strong cash position, a backlog of contracts with regulatory milestones to be collected in the near term, and a very promising out-licensing activity, Mithra is able to fund both trials and complete the development of both the perimenopause and menopause programs itself. Depending on regulatory approvals, Mithra believes it could achieve marketing authorization for both candidates in 2023. Ongoing patent applications would protect Donesta and PeriNesta intellectual property rights until 2039. Furthermore, Mithra remains focused on establishing the best commercial partnerships for these product candidates and to further accelerate commercial licensing agreements in menopause and in perimenopause in the U.S. and in the main European markets. Mithra also continues to explore further additional indications for E4, in particular in pediatric neuroprotection, to treat hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The Mithra CDMO in Belgium will reinforce the Companys R&D and commercial production activities. With state-of-the-art equipment and know how, the company is preparing to triple its production capacity to deliver the next commercial batches of Mithras vaginal ring Myring during H2 2019. Mithra also anticipates that its U.S.-partner Mayne Pharma should receive FDA approval for the commercialization of Myring in the U.S. from 2020. In terms of R&D, Mithra will launch pivotal studies for Zoreline in 2019 as well as undertake additional research projects. In 2019 and beyond, we expect further significant revenue growth based on the potential for further E4 partnerships in the U.S. and other international markets. FINANCIAL RESULTS Consolidated income statement GROUP TOTAL Year ended 31 December Thousands of Euro 2018 2017 Revenues 65,465 46,252 Gross Profit 60,211 37,158 Operating Profit / (Loss) 35,457 (21,081 ) Financial income 237 377 Change in fair value26 (46,550 ) (25,455 ) Cost of debt (5,375 ) (267 ) Financial result (51,689 ) (25,345 ) Profit / (Loss) before taxes (16,232 ) (46,426 ) Income taxes 3,869 11,421 Net Profit / (Loss) for the year (12,363 ) (35,006 ) Attributable to Owners of the parent (12,363 ) (35,006 ) Non-controlling interest - - CONTINUING OPERATIONS Year ended 31 December Thousands of Euro () 2018 2017 Revenues 57,876 32,042 Cost of sales (1,571 ) (2,595 ) Gross profit 56,306 29,447 Research and development expenses (35,713 ) (48,185 ) General and administrative expenses (8,979 ) (8,697 ) Selling expenses (1,977 ) (1,734 ) Other operating income 4,552 3,007 Total operating expenses (42,118 ) (55,609 ) Operating profit / (loss) 14,188 (26,162 ) Financial income 237 377 Change in fair value27 (46,550 ) (25,455 ) Cost of debt (5,365 ) (267 ) Financial result (51,679 ) (25,345 ) Loss before taxes (37,491 ) (51,507 ) Income taxes 9,885 13,148 Net loss of the year (27,606 ) (38,360 ) DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS Year ended 31 December Thousands of Euro 2018 2017 Revenues 7,589 14,211 Cost of sales (3,684 ) (6,499 ) Gross profit 3,905 7,711 Selling expenses (1,989 ) (2,961 ) Other operating income 876 330 Gain on sale of disposal 18,477 - Total operating expenses 17,363 (2,630 ) Operating Profit / (Loss) 21,269 5,081 Financial result (10 ) - Profit / (Loss) before taxes 21,258 5,081 Income taxes (6,016 ) (1,727 ) Net Profit / (Loss) for the period 15,242 3,354 Consolidated Statement of financial position As at 31 December Thousands of Euro () 2018 2017 ASSETS Property, plant and equipment 84,396 59,519 Goodwill 5,233 5,233 Other Intangible assets 81,907 80,385 Deferred income tax assets 27,045 22,718 Other non-current assets 3,435 2,644 Non-current assets 202,017 170,500 Inventories 10,945 4,141 Trade & other receivables 23,773 33,881 Cash & cash equivalents 118,949 36,190 Current assets 153,667 74,212 TOTAL ASSETS 355,684 244,712 As at 31 December Thousands of Euro () 2018 2017 EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Equity Share capital 26,925 25,036 Share premium 221,587 148,279 Retained earnings (97,557 ) (86,374 ) Translation differences (62 ) (59 ) Equity attributable to equity holders 150,893 86,882 Subordinated loans 14,222 11,158 Bank borrowings 52,702 37,578 Refundable government advances 10,252 7,785 Other financial liabilities 89,066 46,727 Provisions 266 266 Deferred tax liabilities 2,202 2,099 Non-current liabilities 168,710 105,612 Current portion of financial loan 172 167 Short term financial debts 20,081 16,070 Trade payables and other current liabilities 14,624 24,174 Corporate tax payable 335 (4 ) Accrued charges & Deferred income 868 11,811 Current liabilities 36,082 52,217 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 355,684 244,712 Consolidated statement of cash flows GROUP TOTAL (INCLUDING DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS) Year ended 31 December Thousands of Euro () 2018 2017 Cash Flow from operating activities Operating result 35,457 (21,081 ) Depreciation and amortisation 2,851 2,156 Gain on disposal of asset (18,477 ) - Tax credit (739 ) (2,406 ) Share based payments 1,181 1,021 Taxes paid - (85 ) Subtotal 20,273 (20,395 ) Changes in working capital Increase/(decrease) in Trade payables and other current liabilities (9,050 ) 8,493 (Increase)/decrease in Trade receivables and other receivables 10,108 (25,925 ) (Increase)/ decrease in Inventories (7,604 ) 29 Increase/(decrease) in deferred revenue and others (10,185 ) 6,739 Net cash provided by/ (used in) operating activities 3,542 (31,061 ) Cash Flow from investing activities Payment for acquisition of tangible fixed assets (10,009 ) (14,803 ) Payment for acquisition of intangible fixed assets (90 ) (1,255 ) Disposal of assets 19,353 312 Contingent liabilities payments (3,690 ) - Net cash provided by/ (used in) investing activities 5,564 (15,746 ) Cash Flow from financing activities Payments on financial loan & government advances (1,365 ) (574 ) Proceeds from financial loan & government advances 3,282 11,204 Interest paid (3,460 ) (1,271 ) Proceeds from issuance of shares (net of issue costs) 75,196 27,887 Net cash provided by/ (used in) financing activities 73,653 37,246 Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 82,760 (9,561 ) Cash & cash equivalents at beginning of the year 36,190 45,750 Cash & cash equivalents at end of the year 118,949 36,190 DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS Thousands of Euro Year ended 31 December 2018 2017 Cash flow from operating activities 2,791 5,081 Cash flow from investing activities 18,477 - Cash flow from financing activities - - Cash flow from discontinued operations 21,269 5,081 Profit and Loss Net sales encompass revenue recognized resulting from transferring control of products sold to customers. In addition, during the year, the Group has entered into a number of contracts through which it has out-licensed to customers the IP it developed related to drugs that have not yet received regulatory approval. Revenue recognized during the year under these arrangements include: upfront fees when the license is distinct from other performance obligations in the contract, if any, as the license provides the customer the right to use the IP as it then exists; and milestone payments for specific clinical or other development-based outcomes when the Groups related performance obligation has been satisfied and management has determined that it is highly probable that there will not be a significant reversal of cumulative revenue recognized in future periods. Mithras revenues increased 42% from EUR 46.3 million to EUR 65.5 million. The main reasons for the increase in out-licensing revenue were the Estelle deals with Gedeon Richter for EUR 40 million, Ceres Pharma for EUR 1.4 million (for the out-licensing part of the deal), Adcock Ingram for EUR 0.7 million, and Searchlight Pharma for EUR 1 million. Additional milestones related to licensing agreements already signed during previous years for which recognition was deferred at the prior year-end have been also recognized, including EUR 6.75 million from Fuji Pharma and EUR 5 million from Libbs. In total, and including additional smaller deals and product sales revenue from discontinued operations, Mithra recognized EUR 56.3 million revenue from licensing agreements in 2018, compared to EUR 29.4 million in 2017. Additional payments were received related to licensing agreements for which revenue recognition was deferred to future periods (refer to Statement of financial position section below). With regard to the Belux business, which was sold to Ceres in July 2018, Mithras revenues were EUR 7.6 million in 2018, compared to 14 million in 2017. These revenues have been recognized over 7 months. Since August 2018, Mithra is considered an Agent, so that sales have been netted with COGS. Indeed, Mithra is still selling some products on behalf of Ceres during a transition period, until all market authorizations will be formally transferred. Gross profit for 2018 at Group level increased by EUR 23 million to EUR 60.2 million in 2018 from EUR 37.2 million in 2017. The increase of 62% is due to the increase of licensing agreement deals referred to above. The gross margin on the Belux business was EUR 3.9 million in 2018 ( 7 months as principal and 5 months as agent without gross margin), compared to EUR 7.7 million in 2017 (12 months as principal). R&D expenses decreased by EUR 12.5 million from EUR 48.2 million in 2017 to EUR 35.7 million in 2018. This is mainly related to the end of Phase III of Estelle (EUR 12.7 million in 2018 compared to EUR 23.7 million in 2017) and the Phase II of Donesta (EUR 2.8 million in 2018 compared to EUR 5.5 million in 2017). R&D expenses for Myring , Zoreline and Tibelia amounted to EUR 1.7 million. The remainder of the R&D expenses relate to payroll and consultancy expenses, and more specifically to expenses at the level of the CDMO facility in Belgium. , Zoreline and Tibelia amounted to EUR 1.7 million. The remainder of the R&D expenses relate to payroll and consultancy expenses, and more specifically to expenses at the level of the CDMO facility in Belgium. G&A expenses are well controlled and have slightly increased to EUR 9 million in 2018 from EUR 8.7 million in 2017, on a consolidated basis. Selling expenses have decreased in 2018, mainly due to the disposal of the Belux operations to Ceres. As a result, selling expenses came to EUR 3.9 million at 31 December 2018, down from EUR 4.7 million, on a consolidated basis. In the discontinued income statement at operating income level, a realized gain on the sale of the Belux business to Ceres of EUR 18.5 million has been booked, since the Belux Business is no longer part of the operational business of Mithra. EBITDA 28 amounts EUR 38.3 million in 2018 compared to EUR -18.4 million in 2017 (refer to section Alternative performance measure). amounts EUR 38.3 million in 2018 compared to EUR -18.4 million in 2017 (refer to section Alternative performance measure). The net financial result for 2018 amounts to EUR -51.7 million and is driven by changes in the fair value of contingent liabilities (earn outs) for EUR -46.6 million and by changes in amortized costs of refundable government advances for EUR -2.2 million (reported in the consolidated income statement under Cost of debt), which are non-cash elements. Regarding the contingent liabilities, this reflects managements higher estimate for future sales revenues, including the new estimate about the generic market development. The remaining part of the Cost of debt is related to the interests paid for EUR -3.2 million. With the fair value impact over 2018 of EUR 46.6 million, the Group ends with a loss before taxes for the period amounting to EUR 16.2 million, which thanks to the strong increase of EBITDA is a significant improvement of EUR 30.2 million compared to a loss before taxes of EUR 46.4 million in 2017, on a consolidated basis. The Group recorded a tax income of EUR 3.9 million for the year that results from an increase of the deferred tax asset from the prior year-end which is to be offset against taxable income in the future. Taking this tax income into consideration, the net loss for 2018 was EUR 12.4 million (loss of EUR 35 million for 2017), on a consolidated basis. Statement of Financial position As of 31 December 2018, the Statement of financial position shows a total of EUR 202 million in non-current assets, the majority of which are Other intangible assets (EUR 81.9 million) and Property, plant and equipment (EUR 84.4 million). These Other intangible assets are the result of acquired assets as part of former business combinations. Note that Donesta qualified as an asset deal, for EUR 8 million. The book value mainly relates to Estelle for an amount of EUR 30.6 million, to Zoreline for an amount of EUR 24.4 million, and to Myring for an amount of EUR 11.4 million. Other intangible assets consist mainly of a portfolio of acquired product rights and market access rights. Over 2018, EUR 1.5 million has been added to the Other intangible assets as a result of a capitalization of development costs incurred for the development of the API E4. In the non-current assets, the Group recorded EUR 24.9 million additional net book value of tangible fixed assets (EUR 84.4 million at the end of 2018 vs. EUR 59.5 million in 2017). The increase relates mainly to the construction of the second phase of the new production facility for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products (Mithra CDMO), where Mithra is preparing the production of Myring . Over 2018, EUR 6.6 million have also been added to the Property, plant and equipment as a result of a capitalization of development costs incurred for the development of the production zone of Myring . . Over 2018, EUR 6.6 million have also been added to the Property, plant and equipment as a result of a capitalization of development costs incurred for the development of the production zone of Myring . Current assets at the end of 2018 represent a value of EUR 153.7 million. The cash position accounts for EUR 119 million of cash and cash equivalents on 31 December 2018 and Trade & other receivables for EUR 23.7 million. The Trade & other receivables balance takes into account unbilled revenue for EUR 15.3 million related to out-licensing revenue, among which EUR 5 million milestones related to Gedeon Richter, EUR 7.6 million related to Mayne Pharma and EUR 2.3 million milestones related to Fuji Pharma. Finally, Trade & other receivables comprises EUR 1.6 million of recoverable VAT that relates to the recognition of tangible fixed assets by Mithra CDMO. Inventories have significantly increased from EUR 4.1 million in 2017 to EUR 10.9 million in 2018. It is mainly explained by the increase of API stock from EUR 1 million in 2017 to EUR 7.4 million in 2018 which has been constituted in order to be ready for the production of Myring. The cash & cash equivalents balance mainly increased thanks to the EUR 77.5 million gross proceeds of the capital increase by means of private placement and to the many out-licensing contracts signed during 2018. The equity position at the end of the year has increased to EUR 150.9 million in 2018 from EUR 86.9 million in 2017. The increase is the net result of EUR 77.5 million in gross proceeds by means of a private placement as well as the net result of the period. Non-current liabilities increased to EUR 168.7 million at the end of 2018, compared to EUR 105.6 million in 2017, primarily due to the leases (EUR +14 million) and Subordinated financing (EUR + 3 million) for the CDMO facility, as well as due to an increase of the fair values of the contingent considerations payables (EUR + 42.4 million) which are reported under Other financial liabilities. The current liabilities decreased to EUR 36 million at the end of 2018, compared to EUR 52.2 million in 2017. The decrease of the current liabilities is the net result of a decrease in the Trade payables and other current liabilities (EUR -9.5 million), in the Accrued charges & deferred income (EUR -10.9 million) and an increase of the short term financial debts which includes the current portion of the contingent considerations. The decrease of the Trade payables is closely related to the reduction of R&D expenses. The decrease in Deferred income is the result of the recognition of the following revenues in 2018 : Estelle deal with Libbs for EUR 5 million and Estelle deal with FUJI for EUR 5.5 million. Cash Flow Full year cash flow of the group amounted to EUR +82.8 million including cash flows from discontinued operations for EUR +21.3 million, which is comprised of: Operating cash flow: The cash used for operating activities amounts to EUR +3.5 million for the full year 2018, including cash flows from discontinued operations (EUR + 2.8 million). The EBIT of EUR +35.5 million has been adjusted for the non-cash items amounting in net to EUR +3.3 million. In order to report the gain on sale of disposal for EUR 18.5 million (refer to discontinued operations cash flow) under net cash provided by investing activities, as it is a cash item, we remove it from the EBIT in operating activities. Working capital is also impacting the cash used for operating activities as a result of a decrease in Trade & other receivables (EUR -10.1 million), in Trade & other Payables (EUR -9 million) and in Deferred revenue (EUR -10.2 million). The global decrease is partially offset by an increase of inventories (EUR +7.6 million). Investing cash flows: EUR +5.6 million. Disposal of assets for EUR 19.4 million relates mainly to the gain on sale of disposal reported in the cash flows from discontinued operations for EUR 18.5 million (see above). The purchase of tangible assets relates predominately to property, plant & equipment acquired at the Mithra CDMO facility (EUR 1.9 million) self- financed with the Group treasury (excluding lease financed assets) and to development costs capitalization (EUR 8 million). Indeed, the assets financed by a leasing are netted together. It reports also contingent liabilities payments (EUR 3.7 million). Financing cash flows: EUR +73.7 million relates entirely to cash flows from continuing operations. Proceeds from financing refer to subordinated loans granted to Mithra CDMO to launch phase 2 of the construction. Proceeds from issuance of shares refer to the net amount (gross amount less transaction costs) of a capital increase by means of a private placement of EUR 75.2 million closed on 31 May 2018, which strengthened Mithras financial profile. Alternative performance measure Mithra decided to use some alternative performance measures (APMs) that are not defined in IFRS but that provide helpful additional information to better assess how the business has performed over the period. Mithra decided to use REBITDA and EBITDA in order to provide information on recurring items, but those measures should not be viewed in isolation or as an alternative to the measures presented in accordance with IFRS. REBITDA is an alternative performance measure calculated by excluding the non-recurring items and the depreciation & amortisation from EBIT (operating loss) from the consolidated statement of income prepared in accordance with IFRS. The Group considers one-off items, share-based payments and all discontinued operations results as non-recurring items. EBITDA is an alternative performance measure calculated by excluding the depreciation & amortisation from EBIT (operating loss) from the consolidated statement of income prepared in accordance with IFRS. Year ended 31 December Thousands of Euro () 2018 2017 Operational profit (from continuing activities) 14,188 (26,534 ) Depreciation 2,851 2,655 Exceptional results - 372 Share-based payments 1,181 1,020 REBITDA 18,221 (22,487 ) Discontinued EBITDA 21,269 5,081 Share-based payments (1,181 ) (1,020 ) EBITDA 38,308 (18,426 ) ******** For more information, please contact: Alexandra Deschner (IRO) : +32 490 58 35 23 - investorrelations@mithra.com Maud Vanderthommen (Press) : +32 473 58 61 04 press@mithra.com Consilium Strategic Communications Susan Stuart, Olivia Manser, Melissa Gardiner mithra@consilium-comms.com +44 2 037 095 700 Financial Calendar 8 April 2019 : Annual Report 2018 16 May 2019 : Annual General Shareholders Meeting 19 September 2019 : Interim Report 2019 About Mithra Mithra (Euronext: MITRA) is dedicated to providing innovation and choice in Womens Health, with a particular focus on contraception and menopause. Mithras goal is to develop new and improved products that meet womens needs for better safety and convenience. Its three lead development candidates a fifth generation oral contraceptive Estelle and next-generation hormone therapy Donesta - are built on Mithras unique native estrogen platform, E4 (Estetrol). Mithra also develops, manufactures and markets complex therapeutics and offers partners a complete spectrum of research, development and specialist manufacturing at its CDMO. Mithra was founded in 1999 as a spin-off from the University of Liege by Mr. Francois Fornieri and Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Foidart. Mithra is headquartered in Liege, Belgium. Further information can be found at: www.mithra.com Important Information The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words "believes", "estimates," "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", "plans", "continue", "ongoing", "potential", "predict", "project", "target", "seek" or "should", and include statements the Company makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law. 1 EBITDA is an alternative performance measure calculated by excluding the depreciations & amortisations from EBIT (operating loss) from the consolidated statement of income prepared in accordance with IFRS 2 Middle East and North Africa 3 Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization 4 IQVIA Q3 2017; CAGR +9% (2013-2017) 5 IQVIA Analytics Link Q3/2017 6 European definition 7 Registered trademark of Therapeutics MD 8 Registered trademark of Allergan Plc 9 Allergan plc 2018 full year earnings release 10 IQVIA Q3 2017: KSA, UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait 11 As measured by a decrease in both the CTX-1 and osteocalcin markers with E4 use vs placebo. The effect is most pronounced for the 15 mg dose (near-significant for CTX-1 and significant at p < 0.05 for osteocalcin) 12 Transparency Market Research 2017 13 IQVIA 2019 market analysis (US, France, UK, Germany) 14 NuvaRing (Merck) sales IMS Analytics Q3 2017 15 IQVIA as provided by Mayne Pharma 16 Estimation provided by Orifarm 17 CAGR (2013-2017): +6.6% 18 IQVIA Q3 2017 ; CAGR+ 4 % (2013-2017) 19 IQVIA Q3 2017 CAGR 3% (2016-2017) 20 IQVIA Q32017excluding Bahrain, Qatar and Oman 21 IQVIA 2017. CAGR in volume (2013-2017) : +5% 22 IQVIA 2017 23 IQVIA Q3 2017, excluding Bahrain, Qatar and Oman 24 IQVIA Q3 2017 25 IQVIA Q3 2015 26 Fair values are computed on the contingent considerations payables which are reported under Other financial loans 27 Refer to footnote 26 28 EBITDA is an alternative performance measure calculated by excluding the depreciations & amortisations from EBIT (operating loss) from the consolidated statement of income prepared in accordance with IFRS Alumni in the news Wits graduates making news in August 2019 Womens month was an opportunity to acknowledge some of the many Wits women who are leading in their fields. Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe (MBBCh 1987) is the new Chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Mariam Cassim, chief officer of Vodacoms financial services, was named Standard Bank Top Woman Achiever. Nonkululeko Dlamini was chosen as public sector CFO of the year. Angela Mhlanga, Ann Leepile and Melanie de Nysschen were among the Mail & Guardians selection of women in banking and finance. Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, Kwanele Asante, Sebasti Badenhorst, Nonhlanhla Vilakazi and Gaokgatlhe Tawane were in the M&Gs list of women in STEM. Elizabeth Sidiropoulos was named in the education selection. Michele Ramsay was chosen as the 2019 South African Woman in Science in the category of distinguished researchers in natural and engineering sciences. Linda Mateza was appointed CE of the Eskom pension and provident fund. Ellen Vuyiswa Blekie told The Weekly about her memories of the Womens March, when she was a medical student. Sheena Geness spoke to The Post about empowering women. Terry Kurgans book Everyone is Present is on the Alan Paton award short list. Moziak called Ninel Musson one of the most influential young South Africans operating in the urban entertainment space on the continent. Huge turnout for Wrexhams St Davids Day Parade This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 1st, 2019 The streets of town were full of celebration this afternoon with hundreds turning out to take part in the annual St Davids Day Parade. People of all ages turned out to take part in the event, which was led through the town by the Cambria Band. Starting from outside the Guildhall at 1pm, the parade weaved through Queens Square, Lord Street, Regent Street, High Street and Chester Street. Unlike previous years the parade finished at Ty Pawb rather than Queens Square, with the celebrations continuing inside with the crowds taking part in a rendition of the Welsh national anthem. Earlier today various other towns in Wales had their first ever parades, with Wrexhams being cited as a now well established event. Commenting on the St Davids Day celebrations taking place today worldwide, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: Its great to see the events taking place in the UK and beyond to celebrate St Davids Day and promote Wales across the globe. Its important we make the most of the opportunity St Davids Day presents to tell Wales story to the world we are a progressive, open and welcoming country, a nation alive with creativity and innovation, and supportive of businesses and people. As a country we have so much to offer and we will continue to work hard to sustain and develop that reputation in Europe and beyond. You can view some videos of todays parade below: Queens Sq filling up with parade due to start in a few minutes pic.twitter.com/KQqIzeJziM Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 1, 2019 Parade leaves Queens Sq for the route around the town centre pic.twitter.com/kVVXx31tJu Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 1, 2019 Parade very well attended and lots of onlookers too pic.twitter.com/ygLuHnq8Lg Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 1, 2019 Parade ends at Ty Pawb to a round of applause outside pic.twitter.com/TsDdtmaQK2 Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 1, 2019 Festivities continue inside great rendition of the anthem pic.twitter.com/hDBRM1hIjH Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 1, 2019 (Click for large) Wrexham producers show off Welsh food and drink to the world This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 1st, 2019 Food and drink producers from Wrexham are set to join UK and international buyers, journalists, dignitaries and industry leaders for Waless largest international food and drink event. Organised by the Welsh Government, BlasCymru/TasteWales takes place at the Celtic Manor resort on 20-21 March and will bring the entire industry under one roof to showcase the best of our nations growing food and drink offer. Over 100 of Waless top producers will be exhibiting their products, including Wrexham producers Jones Village Bakery, Sabor de Amor and Wrexham Lager. Dr Beatriz Albo of Sabor de Amor said: It is really exciting to be involved and taking part in this showcase event. It is a great chance to develop business partnerships and build success. Its rare to have so many senior buyers from retailers and wholesalers together under one roof and I am very much looking forward to the opportunities it will bring. Confirmed delegates at the event include buyers and representatives from across Europe, the USA, Australia, Middle East and as far afield as Japan, affirming Waless place at the forefront of high quality food and drink production. Hosting the event will be the Welsh Governments Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, who said: Consumers are always looking for good quality and thats why national and international buyers are increasingly turning to Wales. This was shown quite clearly following last years event, with the 14m generated for our producers exceeding all our initial expectations. We are rightly proud of our produce and we know that the future success of the industry relies on getting them into as many new markets as possible, which is why BlasCymru/TasteWales is so important to its future success. Capacity is limited with tickets available on a first come first served basis from www.tastewales.com. (Click for large) In its simplest form, something happens (the cause) that creates or motivates an action or reaction (the effect). MORE ON WRITING AND BOOK MARKETING As an author its your job to create an engaging, compelling, suspenseful, intriguing, romantic, or other type of story content that will lure readers in and keep them turning the pages. But the key word for a successful story is engaging.Engagement, according to Merriman-Webster.com, means to have an emotional involvement or commitment. Based on this, no matter what genre you write in the story must hold or engage the reader.In an article in the Writer's Digest January 2011 issue, Steven James takes a look at aspects of great storytelling.to a successful story is, according to James, cause and effect. In childrens writing this is the same as an obstacle and its solution - there must be a circumstance that leads the protagonist to an action in an effort to find a solution. I do like the wording James uses though, because its more in line with multiple writing genres.James goes on to explain that along with cause and effect, the order in which an event unfolds or how its written will also make a difference between keeping a reader engaged and allowing for disengagement.As a fiction writer, you want your reader to always be emotionally present in the story, explains James. If the sequence of an event causes the reader to stop and wonder why something is happening, even if just for a moment, youve left room for disengagement.As an example, suppose you write:She fell to her knees, dropped her head, and wept uncontrollably. Her husband was dead.While in just eight words, the reader learns why the woman is crying, it could very well leave enough time for her to pause and wonder: Why did she fall to her knees?This can lead to disengagement.To create a cause and effect scenario that keeps the reader in the loop, you might write:Her husband was dead; the words echoed through the room. She fell to her knees, dropped her head, and wept uncontrollably.of writing James touches upon is creating and maintaining a believable story. Even if writing a fantasy or science fiction, consistency is needed, along with believable actions, reactions, observations, conclusions, and so on within the boundaries of the story.A basic example of this might be if you write about a character with brown eyes, then somewhere within the story you accidently mention the eyes are blue. This little slip creates a believability gap.Any gap in the believability of the story or its characters has the potential to cause the reader to pause, question, and very possibly become disengaged.is an award-winning children's author and childrens ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. You can find out more about writing for children and her services at: Karen Cioffi Writing for Children Check out the DIY Page And, get your copy of Walking Through Walls (a middle-grade fantasy adventure set in 16th century China. Honored with the Childrens Literary Classics Silver Award). TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) The man arrested in connection to a fatal shooting at Cafe Shisha on Feb. 10 will not be charged with murder under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law. The Tallahassee Police Department says they have determined that 24-year-old Darrel Wyche, Jr. was the suspected gunman in a Feb. 10 shooting at Cafe Shisha in the 2600 block of West Tennessee Street. As a result of the shooting, one person died while the other was hospitalized for their injuries. "After consultation with the State Attorneys Office, the investigative findings determined Darrel Wyche Jr. was acting in self-defense, under Floridas Stand Your Ground Law," police say. While justified in the shooting, the State Attorneys Office approved the probable cause to charge Wyche with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is currently in the Leon County Detention Facility. ------ If you witnessed a fatal shooting on West Tennessee Street on Feb. 10, investigators want to talk to you. The Tallahassee Police Department says they are continuing to investigate a shooting in the 2600 block of West Tennessee Street that happened on Feb. 10 around 1:38 a.m. Police say two people were injured, with one person dying from their injuries. "Since that time, investigators with the Violent Crimes Unit have been working to find the suspect and find out why this senseless act was done," police wrote in a press release. Investigators say they are aware that many people were in the area at the time of the shooting. As the investigation continues, they are asking anyone with information about this case to please call them at (850) 891-4200. If you wish to remain anonymous, please call Crime Stoppers at (850) 574-TIPS. ------ One dead, one injured after overnight shooting in Tallahassee The Tallahassee Police Department is investigating following a fatal shooting on West Tennessee Street early Sunday morning. Police say the shooting happened around 1:38 a.m. Sunday in the 2600 block of West Tennessee Street. Arriving officers and emergency personnel immediately provided medical attention to two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were taken to the hospital. One of the victims died from their injuries. No additional information has been released about the victims. TPD is now interviewing all known witnesses and processing the scene. Investigators are asking anyone with information to call them at 850-891-4200 or Crime Stoppers at 850-574-TIPS. This is an active investigation. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) A man who was on the run after a victim was found dead inside a car in Tallahassee back in November has been arrested in Las Vegas. The Leon County Sheriff's Office says that on Friday, November 23, 2018, deputies on patrol in the area behind the Woodville Ball Park found a car with 38-year-old Dewayne Nelson dead inside. As a result of an investigation, detectives connected 38-year-old Damon Gilbert to the homicide. On Wednesday, Gilbert approached a police officer in Las Vegas, Nevada and told the officer that he was wanted for murder. The officer took Gilbert into custody. He is currently in the Clark County Detention Center, awaiting extradition. Gilbert has been charged with first degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, shooting at, within or into an occupied vehicle, and carrying a concealed firearm. GRAND BAIE, Mauritius, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alphamin Resources Corp. (AFM: TSXV, Alphamin, or the Company) is pleased to announce an update to the development status of its flagship tin project in the DRC. The processing plant front-end crushing circuit commissioning has been completed and has run at nameplate capacity of sixty tonnes per hour. To date, some six thousand, five hundred tons of ore has been crushed and stockpiled for feeding into the gravity separation circuit. Cold commissioning on the gravity concentration section has also commenced and is progressing well. In connection with the previously announced change of mining method to a cut and fill method, a detailed mine schedule for 2019 and 2020 has been received. Production of ore from the cut and fill stoping operation has now commenced. A life of mine schedule is expected during Q2 2019 following which the Company plans to update its NI 43-101 and announce updated project economics. Initial analysis indicates the unit costs per ton will be higher in 2019 and 2020 than had been anticipated in the Companys most recent feasibility study. Full commissioning and ramp up is scheduled to occur during Q2 2019. Production at planned through put is planned to commence in Q3, 2019. The Company has reviewed the working capital requirements to achieve planned production volumes . The current cashflow projections indicate a likely short term working capital shortfall. Factors impacting the projected working capital shortfall include a delayed response to a request to partially export concentrates by airfreight, requiring the company to truck all export material, which has impacted delivery times and related revenue receipts; a delay in VAT refunds and the delayed manufacture and delivery of certain components to finalise plant commisioning. In addition to this, the change in the mining method has resulted in a slower ramp up of material to the ROM stockpile. The Company estimates that up to $9m may be required to bridge this expected working capital deficit and enables the Company to acquire certain sustaining capital and critical spares. Management considers it prudent to seek a working capital facility of up to US$12m, which exceeds the projected shortfall of $9m but provides a buffer for any additional unforseen events or challenges. The Company is in discussion with its lenders to provide this facility. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Boris Kamstra Chief Executive Officer Alphamin Resources Corp. Tel: +230 269 4166 E-mail: boris.kamstra@alphaminresources.com Grand Baie, Mauritius CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation, statements relating to the terms and intended completion of the Private Placement, the anticipated use of funds from the Private Placement, the anticipated additional debt drawdown, the participation of the IDC and other stakeholders, costs of production, success of mining operations, the ranking of the project in terms of cash cost and production, economic return estimates, social, community and environmental impacts, and continued positive discussions and relationships with local communities and stakeholders. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Alphamin has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: Alphamins ability to secure sufficient financing to advance and complete the Project, uncertainties associated with Alphamins resource and reserve estimates, uncertainties regarding global supply and demand for tin and market and sales prices, uncertainties associated with securing off-take agreements and customer contracts, uncertainties with respect to social, community and environmental impacts, adverse political events, uncertainties with respect to optimization opportunities for the Project, as well as those risk factors set out in the Companys Management Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com . Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Alphamin disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by 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 news release. VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) The third annual South Georgia Film Festival announced its 2019 lineup of films, with 113 total films to be screened over a three day period. According to Valdosta State University officials, the festival will be held March 1 through March 3. The festival has also expanded this year with two screening locations on the Valdosta State University campus, as well as more feature films and more international films. Festival screenings will take place at the VSU Student Union Theater at the corner of Baytree and North Oak Street. "Our number one goal is to bring people to Valdosta," said Jason Brown, South Georgia Film Festival director. "We want to provide a venue where filmmakers want to show their work here. While they're here, we want to show them why they should make their next film here." Officials say passes to this years festival are currently available. The All Access VIP pass, which includes a t-shirt and access to the upcoming Georgia Production Partnership event costs $100. The Festival Pass which offers access to all screenings, panels and daily events are $40. Day Passes are $15. Tickets are available through the SouthGeorgiaFilm.com website. For a complete list of films include in this years festival visit: http://southgeorgiafilm.com/2019/02/11/sgff-announces-2019-film-lineup/ [southgeorgiafilm.com] For more information on the South Georgia Film Festival, visit SouthGeorgiaFilm.com or contact Prof. Jason Brown at 229-219-1298 or jasonebrown@valdosta.edu. MIAMI, Fla. (WTXL) The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning for people intending to travel to the Bahamas. WPLG reports a release issued this week warns visitors to exercise extreme caution in the islands due to crime. Officials said the majority of the crime occurs on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama. According to WPLG, U.S. government personnel are not allowed to visit the Sand Trap area in Nassau. The State Department also warns of the hazards of recreational excursions, stating that "watercraft are often not maintained, and many companies do not have safety certifications to operate in The Bahamas." They also warn of the hazards of jet-ski operators, who officials say have been known to commit sexual assaults against tourists. The State Department offers the following advise to those who still wish to travel to the Bahamas: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) Local college students are getting career experience in the areas that interest them, at nearly 40 Tallahassee businesses. It's all part of the Eagle Shadow program that applies classroom learning to real life. Thursday was Tallahassee Community College's 2019 Eagle Shadow Day about 50 students participated in the new job shadowing program that allows students to get a sneak peek into their future career field. "We want them to take advantage of this opportunity to network, possibly get an internship, maybe a future job and maybe just make professional connections," said Katie Goodman, Director of the Career Center at TCC. Goodman says it's one thing to learn in the classroom, but it's a different thing to experience your chosen field firsthand. Inspired Technologies was one of the businesses taking part. "We educate students on what's available in Tallahassee. If they don't know we exist, they will go find a job somewhere else they'll move. They will leave this area, but if we can give them a taste and make them understand that these jobs exist, they are in your backyard, and we are here to educate you about them now," said Zack Dunlap, Director of Business Development for Inspired Technologies. A participant says the Eagle Shadow program is important. "A lot of the networking opportunities that can arise from this are really important," said TCC student Sean Norton. Another participant says he'd never thought about staying in Tallahassee for his career until Thursday. "Tallahassee has always been a passerby town. You come here you go to college and you move and you go get a job," said TCC student Connor Warren. "But with a place like Inspire, I could easily see me staying here and getting a job and that's crazy to hear me say honestly." The Eagle Shadow Program needs more local employers to register as hosts. so they can see just how much talent TCC has to offer. If your company is interested just visit tcc.fl.edu/eagleshadow to sign up. The next Eagle Shadow Program is this fall. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-28 19:30:08|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close TASHKENT, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan is making firm progress implementing challenging economic reforms to support growth and developing opportunities for citizens, said Cyril Muller, the World Bank vice president for Europe and central Asia, on Thursday. Muller, in Uzbekistan on Tuesday and Wednesday, met with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and other senior government and parliamentary officials to discuss the ongoing efforts to build a successful market economy, reform state institutions, expand citizen engagement, improve health and education, and modernize the country's large agriculture sector. "Broad economic reforms are helping promote greater transparency and accountability, leading to better public services for citizens," said Muller during his visit. "Continued reforms in the business environment, the banking, financial and energy sectors, land and agriculture and especially health and education will boost private sector investments, create jobs -- especially for young people -- and help the country achieve sustainable economic growth," he added. The World Bank is supporting Uzbekistan through the implementation of 19 projects, totaling over 3.32 billion U.S. dollars. These projects contribute to the implementation of macroeconomic reforms, the improvement of agriculture and water resources management, energy, transport, healthcare, education, urban development, water supply and sanitation services, and support the country's economic growth. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-28 19:50:16|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close COLOMBO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Health Ministry will introduce e-health cards by the end of this year, which will uplift the country's free state health sector, local media reported Thursday. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the e-cards will include all the health information of an individual citizen which will make free health care easier at the state hospitals. Under the project, a complete medical report of a citizen which includes the blood group, medical history and details of the three last visits to the doctor or hospital, weight and body mass index and other bio metric data will be stored in the e-card. "Any doctor, in Sri Lanka or overseas, can immediately provide treatment to a patient with the help of the e-card in case of an emergency or if the patient is unconscious," Senaratne said. "We strongly advise all citizens to have the e-health card with them all the time to prevent any risk to their lives in the event of an accident or serious ailment," he added. The e-health card project will be implemented at a cost of 65 million euros (74 million U.S. dollars) and it has already been lunched as a pilot project in Beruwala, in southern Sri Lanka and Kalutara and Bandaragama, in western Sri Lanka. Further, all state hospitals will be equipped with the necessary technology to access all the health information of an individual citizen through the e-card. "I hope with the introduction of the e-health card this year, our free health care delivery system will be revolutionized in par with that of any developed country," the minister said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-28 22:36:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close KAMPALA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese training institute in Uganda on Thursday trained legislators on the oil and gas industry as the east African country gears up for commercial production. Sunmaker Oil and Gas Training Institute trained about 25 members of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, introducing them to the legal components of the sector. The legislators were also given a lecture on the introduction of the oil and gas sector, comparing the industry to others across the world. "This helps us so much as a committee in terms of engaging with the different players. This is more than an eye opener," Thomas Tayebwa, one of the legislators told Xinhua. "We need to do it for all the parliament and some government officials who are in decision making." "We are going to push government to give us more training because we are the ones who decide on the laws, policies, the budget regarding this sector but we are ill equipped in terms of doing our oversight role," Tayebwa added. Jerry Bo Ma, executive director of the institute, told the legislators that although there are renewable energy sources, the oil sector still plays a critical role in the development of countries. He said the institution continues to train more Ugandans in the sector. Uganda is expected to start commercial production of oil by 2022. The country plans to build a crude oil pipeline to the Tanzania seaport of Tanga and also a refinery in the oil wells in the Albertine Graben in western Uganda. Ministry of energy and mineral development statistics show that Uganda has so far discovered about 6.5 billion barrels of oil. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-28 22:41:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Tanzania's Zanzibar archipelago on Thursday warned people on the eastern African Islands to stop harassing tourists. "Harassment of tourists visiting the beaches is tarnishing the good image of the Zanzibar government across the world," said Seif Idd, the First Vice-President of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar when adjourning the House of Representative session. The Zanzibar Commission for Tourism (ZCT) said the number of tourists rose to 376,000 in the 2016/2017 fiscal year from 162,242 recorded in the previous year. ZCT Marketing Director, Miraji Ussi Ukuti, attributed the achievements to the prevailing peace and tranquility on the Islands. Ukuti outlined strategies that ZCT has devised to boost the tourism sector by attracting more tourists from the Asian continent that boasts of large population. The Zanzibar government targets 500,000 tourists visiting the Islands each year by 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-28 22:56:27|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) meets with Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, in Athens, Greece, on Feb. 28, 2019. Pierre Moscovici met with Alexis Tsipras in Athens on Thursday morning to discuss the results of the Commission report issued on Feb. 27 which showed Greece had fallen behind in reforms required to receive almost 1 billion euros in aid. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Greece's economy stays on track and the upcoming Eurogroup meeting on March 11 is expected to send a positive signal to the international markets, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici, said here on Thursday. Moscovici is on a two-day visit to Greece for talks on the country's progress after its exit from the 8-year bailout era last August. "I believe that we are on a good track. I believe that the reforms that we did in the previous time now are in a position to show the results, and that's why now we have an over-performance of Greek economy and these very good signals," Tsipras said in a statement broadcast by Greek state television ERT. "I also believe that the Greek economy is clearly in a recovery. I think that now we are in a new phase," Moscovici said. The commissioner said he expects that there will be a positive decision by the Eurogroup on March 11 that will lead to the disbursement of one billion euros (1.14 billion U.S. dollars), which would be a signal to the markets that this is "a credible Greece on its way". On Wednesday, the European Commission announced that Greece had made further progress in reforms during the first months of the post-bailout period, but more needed to be done in the coming weeks before the release of data on profits from Greek state bonds held by eurozone central banks. Greece struck a debt relief deal with eurozone creditors last June to continue various reforms even after its third bailout program ended in August. The European Commission is tasked with monitoring the progress of reforms. TORONTO, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CB2 Insights (CB2 or the Company), a leading provider of predictive analytics tools, data-driven software and services across the cannabis value chain, today announced that it has completed its reverse take-over transaction with MVC Technologies Inc. On February 26th the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) issued its conditional listing approval for the listing of the Companys common shares. The common shares are expected to commence trading on March 6th, 2019 under the ticker CBII. As is key to any industry, the ancillary market poses some of the most exciting growth opportunities in the cannabis market, said Prad Sekar, CEO of CB2 Insights. As we continue to strengthen our clinical arm in the United States and drive a new level of real-world evidence related to the efficacy of medical cannabis treatment, we are proud to have a solid financial foundation to drive a new level of insights to uncover the place that medical cannabis has in the traditional healthcare market. CB2 Insights works to help mainstream cannabis into traditional healthcare through objective, real-world evidence driven from its wholly-owned clinical arm. With more than 300,000 patient interactions to-date, the company is able to apply standard data collection protocols and track the efficacy of cannabis treatments in a way currently not available within the cannabis industry today. The Company owns and operates the largest and longest-running, multi-state medical cannabis evaluation and education center serving 12 states across the US. The Company has an aggressive medical cannabis clinic consolidation strategy and anticipates further announcements in this regard in the coming quarters. Sekar continued, As the market turns its focus to investments in ancillary cannabis services, we are committed to our growth strategies across the US and assessing international markets. In addition, we are focused on the development of new predictive analytics tools that the industry urgently needs to bring about a greater maturation of insights to producers, retailers, clinicians, patients, consumers, educational institutions and regulatory bodies. I sincerely appreciate our international team for their dedication and outstanding execution that has helped CB2 Insights reach this milestone. About CB2 Insights CB2 Insights has a mission to mainstream medical cannabis into traditional healthcare. We do so by gathering data and creating objective real-world evidence through our proprietary software and clinical service brands. Using clinical management and data collection software at the point-of-care, CB2 Insights and its group of sub-brands has become a leading force behind bringing traditional healthcare protocols to the rapidly evolving global cannabis industry. To date, the Company has collected data from more than 300,000 patient interactions. For more information please visit www.cb2insights.com. Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in CB2s filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the opportunity to provide services and software to the U.S. cannabis industry. Although CB2 has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are subject to inconsistent legislation and regulation; change in laws; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and recreational-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. CB2 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and CB2 does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. No securities regulator or exchange has reviewed, approved, or disapproved the content of this news release. For Investor Inquiries: Gareth Tingling +1.647.362.8286 investors@cb2insights.com Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-28 23:16:33|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Students hold placards as they attend a climate march in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 28, 2019. A new climate march by schoolchildren and college students was organized across Belgium on Thursday with the participation of Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng) BRUSSELS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A new climate march by schoolchildren and college students was organized across Belgium on Thursday with the participation of Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg. Some 3,000 young people gathered in Antwerp, the second most populous city in Belgium, to demand concrete political measures against global warming. Anuna De Wever and Kyra Gantois, initiators of the Youth For Climate movement, led the procession, accompanied by Greta Thunberg. "Our message to politicians today is: you can continue to say that we have to go back to school ... or you can get to work," said Anuna De Wever. Greta Thunberg spoke forcefully, recalling that "the politicians and the people in power have been doing for far too long without doing anything to fight against global warming". The 16-year-old Swede will also take part in a march in Hamburg in Germany on Friday. "We are being told that we are exaggerating, but what I find exaggerated is a three-degree increase in global warming that we are experiencing under the current policy," continued the representative of Youth for Climate's local branch, Warre Germis. "A transition is needed towards a greener society", he concluded. The march in capital Brussels gathered 1,500 participants, police said on Twitter. The initiative was launched by a local delegation of Youth for Climate and Students for Climate. Nearly 5,000 students from primary and secondary schools in Huy, a French-speaking town in Belgium in the Walloon Region, roamed the streets of their city in protest on Thursday morning, local police said. On the Grand-Place in Mechelen, 30 km north of Brussels, more than 1,000 young people gathered for a first walk for the climate in the city, organized by a local branch of Youth for Climate. The next "Thursday for the climate" march in Belgium is expected to take place in the university city of Louvain-la-Neuve on March 7, announced Youth for Climate representatives. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 02:02:22|Editor: yan Video Player Close SANAA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least five children were killed in a projectile attack in Yemen's embattled port city of Hodeidah on Thursday, Saudi-backed government forces said in a statement, blaming the attack on Houthi rebels. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 02:12:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters in his Jerusalem office, on Feb. 28, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blasted the decision by the attorney general to charge him with corruption as a left-wing "conspiracy." (Xinhua/JINI) JERUSALEM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israel's attorney general said on Thursday he intends to indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption-related allegations in three different criminal cases, pending a final hearing. Netanyahu would be charged with receiving bribes and breach of trust, said Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in a statement sent to Netanyahu's lawyers. In the 57-page document, Mandelblit described the allegations attributed to Netanyahu and some of his associates. In a case dubbed by the police "Case 4000," Netanyahu allegedly took bribes from Shaul Elovitch, a former control-holder of Bezeq, Israel's largest telecom company, by giving Bezeq financial and regulatory benefits. During the alleged offenses, Netanyahu was then communication minister in addition to his capacity as prime minister. He had intervened with regulators to assist Bezeq, the statement said. In exchange, Elovitch, a close friend of Netanyahu, allegedly required Walla, a news site controlled by Elovitch, to provide favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his wife Sara. Elovitch and his wife would be indicted with giving bribes, the statement said, adding that Sara will not be charged. Mandelblit decided to indict Netanyahu with breach of trust in two other cases, dubbed "Case 1000" and "Case 2000." In "Case 1000," Netanyahu and his family allegedly received expensive cigars, champagne, and jewelry worth about 1 million new shekels (about 275,928 U.S. dollars) from Arnon Milchan, an Israeli businessman and Hollywood tycoon, between 2007 and 2016. In "Case 2000," according to the police, Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, the publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel's largest newspapers, held talks over an "exchange deal," in which Netanyahu would receive favorable coverage in Yedioth Ahronoth. Mozes would be charged with giving bribes. Mandelblit said Netanyahu will be summoned for a hearing before the final decision on the indictment. A date for the hearing has yet to be scheduled. The decision concluded more than two years of intense investigations and deliberations. Minutes before the publication of the decision, the Likud, Netanyahu's party, filed a petition to the Supreme Court, asking the court to issue a cease order to prevent Mandelblit from publishing his decision. The decision was published after the court rejected the petition. Netanyahu landed in Israel early on Thursday morning, cutting short an official visit to Moscow. His office said he will give a statement to press later on Thursday evening, but no questions would be allowed. On Wednesday, he dismissed the allegations as "a house of cards will soon collapse." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 02:27:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close BRATISLAVA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Presidents from nine central and eastern European countries, or the so-called Bucharest Nine countries (B9), are meeting in Kosice, a city in eastern Slovakia, on Thursday to discuss the current security situation in Europe and its neighborhood. Launched at the initiative of Romania and Poland in 2016, B9, which consists of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, aims to create a platform of dialogue and cooperation between NATO's eastern flank countries. Prior to this summit, Slovak President Andrej Kiska met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "We spoke about the need to explain to the public how important it is to invest in our defence. Defending its citizens is the basic role of the state," said Kiska following the meeting. According to Kiska, Stoltenberg praised the fact that Slovakia is ready to meet all the commitments stemming from its NATO membership. After the meeting, Kiska stressed that there's a need to speak about defence even in peacetime. He pointed to the fact that there was a threat of war in Ukraine five years ago and that the conflict would have taken place only slightly over 100 kilometers east of Kosice. The B9 presidents will meet Stoltenberg later. They will also discuss the spreading of disinformation and defence against cyber threats. The B9 presidents will commemorate the 70th anniversary of NATO's founding and the anniversaries of the B9 countries joining the alliance. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 02:42:31|Editor: yan Video Player Close HELSINKI, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish gross domestic product grew in 2018 by 2.2 percent, Statistics Finland reported on Thursday. Commentators noted that even though the growth was less than in some predictions, the Finnish GDP growth continued at a satisfactory level in comparison with the rest of the EU. From October to December, GDP grew by 0.7 percent from the previous quarter. According to preliminary data compiled by Eurostat, GDP in the whole EU area grew by 0.3 percent in the last quarter of 2018 compared with the previous quarter. The volume of exports grew by 1.5 percent and that of imports by 4.2 percent in Q4 year-on-year. Gross fixed capital formation, or investments, grew by 3.2 percent. Private consumption increased by 1.4 percent and public consumption by 0.3 percent from 12 months back. Besides growth in consumption, demand was boosted by increases in construction investments, but due to growing imports, the effect of net exports clearly depressed demand, Statistics Finland noted. According to Statistics Finland's Labor Force Survey, the unemployment rate was 6.0 percent in Q4. The level was 1.6 percentage points less than in the same period in 2017. Timo Vesala, the chief economist of the Savings Bank Group, described the figures as a relief. Commenting to the business daily Kauppalehti, he noted particularly the growth in demand towards the end of the year after a mid-year period of slowdown. "This is good for 2019. But the cyclical problems of the euro zone have shown to be more serious than earlier predicted and now there are symptoms of a slowdown of growth also in the U.S.", Vesala said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 02:47:32|Editor: yan Video Player Close SANAA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least two women were killed in a Saudi-led airstrike on a farm in Yemen's northern province of Amran on Thursday, the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported. The attack targeted the farm in Majza'ah area of Kaflat Adhir district, about 50 km north of the capital Sanaa, killing the two women, said the report. Earlier this week, another Saudi-led airstrike killed a mother and two of her daughters in Nehm district, some 30 km north of Sanaa, according to local residents and medics. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including Sanaa. The four-year-long civil war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 04:27:52|Editor: WX Video Player Close Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (L) and Michel Barnier, EU chief negotiator for Brexit, attend a news conference in Vienna, Austria, Feb. 28, 2019. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said here on Thursday a hard Brexit should be avoided while an orderly Brexit is still the goal. (Xinhua/Liu Xiang) VIENNA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz here on Thursday a hard Brexit should be avoided while an orderly Brexit is still the goal. "We are in a very challenging phase, with the United Kingdom still unable to find a majority for the negotiated deal, but we still hope that an orderly exit will be achieved," Kurz said at a press conference after meeting with Michel Barnier, EU chief negotiator for Brexit. Brexit, if happens, should happen before the elections of the European Parliament, because it would be "absurd" for a country seeking to leave EU to vote for its legislature, he noted. If Britain needs more time for an orderly Brexit, then it is open for an extension of time, but the goals of the British would have to be clearly defined in advance, said Kurz. Austria is well prepared in the event of a tough Brexit, and passed the so-called Brexit bill Wednesday in Parliament, said Gernot Blumel, Federal Minister within the Federal Chancellery for the EU, Arts, Culture and Media, at the news conference. "We also discussed these preparations with the European Commission. What was possible, we did, but we still hope for a good outcome," he explained. For his part, Barnier repeated that London needs to make a decision on its withdrawal deal rather than trying to delay the exit date. "Today, we need above all a decision. It's more important than extra time," he told the news conference, adding that this was a "grave moment" for the process of Brexit. He reiterated that the withdrawal agreement negotiated between the EU and Britain could not be changed. "We have finished work! This text is the result of considerable effort that we have made with the British, not against them," he said, referring to the stack of paper in front of him. Barnier also commented on the border situation between Ireland and Northern Ireland, saying that a permanent solution without borders on the island was the goal. Britain is due to leave EU on march 29, but its parliament has rejected the government's deal so far, raising the specter of a chaotic no deal Brexit. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 04:47:56|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Wu Haitao, Chinese deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York Feb. 28, 2019. Wu said Thursday that efforts must be made to prevent the resurgence of terrorist organizations from undermining the hard-won security situation in Syria. Wu highlighted the importance of the unity of the Security Council, noting that the UN Security Council members should "speak with one voice to create conditions for a political solution to the Syrian issue." (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Thursday that efforts must be made to prevent the resurgence of terrorist organizations from undermining the hard-won security situation in Syria. "The international community should strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation, harmonize standards, crack down on all terrorist groups listed by the Security Council and prevent the resurgence of terrorist organizations from undermining the hard-won security situation," Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said at a Security Council meeting on the political situation in Syria. He warned that "there is a tendency for terrorist groups in Idlib to raise their heads, which threatens Syrian security and stability and hinders reconstruction and the return of refugees." China welcomes the fact that leaders from Russia, Turkey and Iran met in Sochi on Feb. 14 to discuss the Syrian issue and made a joint statement, reaffirming the continued effort to crack down on the terrorist groups and individuals listed by the Security Council and their commitment to the Syrian political process, said the Chinese envoy. The international community should focus on promoting work in such areas as continuing "to advance the process of political settlement in Syria," Wu noted. The United Nations should strengthen coordination with the Syrian government, promote the expeditious formation of a representative Syrian constitutional committee acceptable to all, which accommodates the legitimate concerns of the Syrian government and all other parties with a view to launching a sustained and effective Syrian political process, Wu added. "The United Nations should continue to intensify its efforts and play its role as the main channel of mediation," said the ambassador. Wu highlighted the importance of unity of the Security Council, noting that council members should "speak with one voice to create conditions for a political solution to the Syrian issue." The parties concerned on the Syrian issue should, in accordance with the spirit of the UN Security Council's Resolution 2254, on the basis of respect for Syrian sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and in line with the principle of a Syrian-owned and Syrian-led process, promote the adoption of an inclusive political process by all Syrian parties and "seek a solution acceptable to all," the ambassador noted. "China is consistently committed to a political solution in Syria," Wu noted, adding that "we stand ready to enhance communication and coordination with the UN and all other relevant parties, and play an active and constructive role in advancing the political settlement in Syria." Geir Pedersen, special envoy of the UN secretary-general for Syria, who assumed his position on Jan. 7, provided his first briefing to the Security Council on the political situation in Syria. The meeting took place two weeks before the eighth anniversary of the start of the Syrian conflict. Pedersen briefed the council on his consultations with key actors on Syria, including the government in Damascus and the opposition's Syrian Negotiation Commission in Riyadh. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 04:47:56|Editor: yan Video Player Close ROME, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Italy's rightwing-populist coalition government may not last beyond European Parliament elections to be held at the end of May, some analysts have warned. The ruling coalition is made up of the populist Five Star Movement led by Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, which won almost 33 percent of the national vote in March 2018 elections, and the rightwing League party of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, which garnered around 17 percent of the vote. Since then, Salvni's party has almost doubled its consensus to around 30 percent while the Five Star Movement plummeted to around 24 percent, according to polls released on Thursday. The Five Star Movement, whose electoral base is concentrated in Italy's chronically impoverished and under-developed southern regions, favors the redistribution of wealth through generous welfare measures, champions the public over the private sector, and sees infrastructure projects as wasteful and damaging to the environment. The League, which is traditionally based in Italy's wealthier, industrialized northern regions, supports private enterprise and infrastructure investments and favors lowering taxes to stoke growth and create jobs as opposed to funding welfare for the poor and the unemployed. While both parties are euro-skeptic and present themselves as new forces of change bent on eradicating the old power structures, their differences outweigh their similarities and this could lead the ruling coalition to fall apart sometime this year, according to analysts at Fitch ratings agency. "The large ideological differences between the Five Star Movement and the League are likely to put an increasing strain on the coalition, and we consider the League would be minded to trigger a new election and return to the previous agreement on the right with (Silvio Berlusconi's) Forza Italia and (the small, far-right) Brothers of Italy if it calculates they would win a majority of seats," Fitch analysts wrote in a Feb. 22 report in which it affirmed its Italian sovereign debt rating at 'BBB', but with a negative outlook. Indeed, recent elections in the Abruzzo and Sardinia regions saw the Five Star Movement defeated by wide margins amid resounding victories by the League in coalition with Forza Italia and Brothers of Italy, prompting Five Star chief Di Maio to call for a reorganization of the Movement and a possible alteration of one of its key tenets -- the two-term limit for its elected candidates. "Policy tensions in the coalition government and the potential for early elections add to uncertainty over fiscal and economic policy," Fitch analysts wrote. "We do not expect this government to see out a full term, and see an increasing possibility of an early election from the second half of this year." However, some observers disagree with this analysis. For historian Christian Blasberg, a lecturer in comparative political systems at the private LUISS University based in Rome, much depends on the outcome of the European Parliament elections. "Everyone is foreseeing a sharp increase in votes for the League, and if this comes about then of course it would have a completely different position than it did last year when the government was formed," Blasberg told Xinhua. "If the League thinks strategically, then it will try to keep up this government but with a new assessment of the strength of the various partners, putting itself clearly ahead as the major force," Blasberg said, positing a possible cabinet reshuffle with Salvini as prime minister. He added that Salvini's party "needs the Five Star Movement as a useful junior partner" because the League is much better organized, cohesive, and united behind a strong leader, while Di Maio's movement is beset by internal tensions between right- and left-leaning factions, and its leadership is under fire from the rank and file after capitulating on a number of key issues, including infrastructure and immigration. "Faced with the responsibility of government, the Five Star Movement has to choose what it really wants, and this makes it the more unstable element," Blasberg said. "Their best choice right now is to keep up the coalition with the League in hopes of recovering some of their credibility." Professor Roberto Biorcio, who teaches political science at Milano-Bicocca, a public university in Milan, agreed that a government crisis is unlikely because this would not be in the interests of either of the two coalition partners. "The idea (of the government falling apart) is a bit bizarre," Biorcio told Xinhua. "They had ideological differences even before forming the government." Biorcio said that the balance of power between the two has shifted since last year's elections: the Five Star Movement lost consensus because part of its voter base did not approve of the alliance with the League and has yet to see the benefits of reform, while the League has attracted the center-right electorate that used to support Forza Italia, while also drawing discontented voters who weren't necessarily rightwing, but who wanted change. "However, neither wants the government to fall," Biorcio said. "Salvini knows he would lose a lot of votes if he returned to his old center-right allies, while for Di Maio, it depends on whether or not he manages to realize his objectives -- if he doesn't, he risks disappointing his voters." The Five Star Movement has been weakened by its alliance with the League, but "I believe it is in their interests to continue to govern as long as possible," Biorcio said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 05:13:02|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters in his Jerusalem office, on Feb. 28, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blasted the decision by the attorney general to charge him with corruption as a left-wing "conspiracy." (Xinhua/JINI) JERUSALEM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blasted the decision by the attorney general to charge him with corruption as a left-wing "conspiracy." In a televised speech, Netanyahu started an all-out war against Israel's justice system, including the State Prosecutor's office and the police. The charges of bribery and breach of trust announced by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit are based on "absurd and evil plots," he said. He also accused the left-wing of "carrying out the political witch-hunt" in order to topple the right-wing government and "put in power the left-wing party of Lapid and Benny." The allegations are "baseless" as Mandelblit was under "heavy pressures" to indict, the Israeli prime minister highlighted. Benny Gantz, Israel's former Chief of the General Staff, and Yair Lapid, former Israeli finance minister, co-lead the centrist party of Blue and White in a tight race against Netanyahu's ruling coalition for the April 9 elections. Meanwhile, Gantz called on Netanyahu to resign. "I won't sit in a coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu," he told a press conference in Tel Aviv. "Benjamin Netanyahu, I appeal to you from here tonight: Show national responsibility, and resign from your position" as "you chose your own benefit over the country," Gantz said. He called the announcement of the possible indictment, which marks the first time an incumbent prime minister in Israel might face charges, a "sad day" for Israel. Earlier in the day, Mandelblit announced his intention to indict Netanyahu for taking bribery on three counts of breach of trust in three separate criminal cases. Netanyahu will be summoned for a hearing before the final decision on the indictment, he said, adding that a date for the hearing has yet to be scheduled. The decision, published at the peak of Israel's election campaign as Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term, concluded more than two years of intense investigations and deliberations. Netanyahu's Likud party fears the potential indictment might cost it 2 to 5 mandates, which are much needed in its close race against Gantz. MONTREAL, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maya Gold & Silver Inc. (Maya or the Corporation) (TSX: MYA) is pleased to inform its shareholders of several aspects of its work and development at Azegour. Keeping in line with the Corporations growth plans, with the ramp-up of the Zgounder Silver mine, the near completion of its PEA at Boumadine, Au, Ag, Zn & Ge, after years of modern exploration, Maya is now initiating efforts to explore and develop its Azegour Mine where Copper, Molybdenum, Tungsten and Uranium have been mined in the past. The company is enlarging its exploration team at Azegour in order to fast track the exploration and development of the asset. It was in dormant state. Field work is now scheduled to start in March aiming at completion of a NI 43-101 independent PEA by the end of this year or beginning of next depending on the exploration findings and speeds of laboratory and metallurgical testing delays. The work contemplated involves computerization, surface exploration, underground exploration at already accessible levels, surveying, geophysical survey, surface diamond drilling, underground percussion drilling, metallurgical testing with sampling of historical tailings and rock piles as well the cleaning of the legacy. The Corporation has hired GoldMinds Geoservices Inc. to guide and assist the Maya technical team at Azegour to ensure that work and procedures are well aligned with standard best practice with these commodities with the intent to use the findings in the preparation of an independent NI 43-101 technical report. In 2017, Goldminds took samples which were sent to a laboratory in Canada (AGAT Laboratories Ontario, Canada). + The sample taken from the historical copper ore pile underground gave: sample #10363: Cu 18.6%, Co 905 ppm, Ag 51ppm, Mo 409ppm and Zn 4410 ppm + The sample taken from the historical surface Molybdenum ore pile gave: sample#10362: Mo 3.5% PDAC Convention Maya Gold & Silver will be present at the 2019 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention, which will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Center from March 3 to March 6, 2019. Come by and see us on the Investors Exchange floor at Booth 2450. About Azegour The Azegour property is located in the Tizguine-Amizmiz-Azegour area, High Atlas Occidental, Province of Marrakech, Kingdom of Morocco. The property is situated 54 km NNE from the town of Marrakech and 7.2 km WSW from the town of Amizmiz. The Exploitation Licence (PE 183208) covers an area of 16 km2 (4 km x 4 km) (Figure 1). The center of the property is situated at 8 18 14 West Longitude and 31 09 33 North Latitude, or at coordinates: Easting= 222924, Northing= 66813 (Nord Maroc, Merchich) reaching an elevation of 1597 m ASL. The boundary stone (Point de Pivot) for permit no. PE 183208 is established at coordinates Easting= 221291 and Northing= 71511 (Nord Maroc, Merchich). The Exploitation Permit entitles the holder to work the deposit and dispose of the substances, herein Mo, W, Cu, Pb and Zn and provides legal access to the property. It is valid for a period of four years and was renewed in July 2015 until July 16, 2019. Under the terms of an agreement dated March 2, 2011 between Maya Gold and Silver Inc. and Ouiselsat Mines, Maya acquired 100% interest of the Exploitation Permit 183208 and all the outstanding data for a total consideration of 20 million Dirhams (approximately $2.5 million) and the issuance of 500,000 common shares of the Company in favor of Ouiselsat (the Purchase Price) as follows: 1) an initial cash payment of 10 million Dirhams (approximately $1.25 million) and the issuance of 250,000 common shares of the Company at the signing of the agreement, 2) a second payment of 5 million Dirhams (approximately $625,000) and issuance of 125,000 common shares of the Company after 6 months following the signing of the agreement and 3), a final payment of 5 million Dirhams (approximately $625,000) and issuance of 125,000 common shares of Maya Gold and Silver Inc. after 12 months following the signing of the agreement. Ouiselsat will also retain a 2.5% royalty on sales of metal. The share issuances and payments were completed as scheduled. Historical production From 1926 to 1956, the Azegour mine yielded 1,331 t of (MoS2), 5,646 t of chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), 27 t of scheelite (CaWO4) and 1.55 t of U3O8*. In 1984, an historical resource* was established at 1M t @ 0.34 to 0.40 wt. % MoS2, 100,000 t @ 1.90 wt. % Cu and 2M t at 0.40 to 0.35 wt. % WO3*. (Lehmann, 1979; Japan International Agency Company, 1984). *The estimates presented above are treated as historical information and have not been verified or relied upon for economic evaluation by the Issuer or the writer. These historical mineral resources do not refer to any category of the NI-43-101 Instrument. The explanation lies in the inability by the author to verify the data. The Issuer has not done sufficient work yet to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Therefore, the Issuer is in the opinion that the above quoted resources for the Azegour deposit cannot be relied upon. ABOUT MAYA Maya Gold & Silver Inc. is a publicly-traded Canadian company focused on the operation, exploration and development of gold and silver deposits in Morocco. Maya is currently operating mining and milling operations at its Zgounder Mine, an 85%-15% split ownership between its subsidiary, ZMSM, and the ONHYM of the Kingdom of Morocco. Its portfolio also contains the Boumadine polymetallic deposit located in the Anti-Atlas Mountains of Eastern Morocco. The property is a joint venture with ONHYM whereby Maya retains an 85% ownership. Mayas portfolio also includes the Amizmiz and Azegour properties, both being 100% owned, with gold, tungsten, molybdenum and copper deposits covering over 100 square kilometres in a historical mining district. Forward-looking statements This news release contains statements about future events or future performance and reflects managements current expectations and assumptions. These are forward-looking because we have used what we know and expect today to make a statement about the future. Forward-looking statements usually include words such as may, intend, plan, expect, anticipate, and believe or other similar words. We believe the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable. However, actual events and results could be substantially different because of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business or events that happen after the date of this news release. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. As a general policy, we do not update forward-looking statements except as required by securities laws and regulations. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in the Corporations filings with SEDAR. On behalf of the Board: Noureddine Mokaddem Founder, President & CEO +1 514-978-6111/+212 661-196-111 nmokaddem@mayagoldsilver.com CONTACT INFORMATION Maya Gold & Silver Inc.: Sophy Cesar Investor Relations 1-514-866-2008 scesar@mayagoldsilver.com www.mayagoldsilver.com Four photos accompanying this announcement are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2e03f2ee-4dca-417b-8a3a-281882866a47 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5d2b5bfa-bf10-48ba-885c-92d6c8da9034 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4ee9a119-e24c-46a5-9b4a-3321804039c4 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2119445e-7d4c-4195-8d5a-711dc3c00bce Reporters watch a TV live broadcast about talks between top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu) WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday held phone conversations with leaders of South Korea and Japan over the Hanoi summit during his flight en route to Washington, according to the White House. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told the press that Trump had updated South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his meeting with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Trump told the two leaders that his administration would "continue the conversations" with Kim and continue to coordinate closely with the allies, Sanders said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was on his trip to Manila, told reporters that Washington had not set a date for next working-level meeting with Pyongyang, adding that the two sides "need to regroup a little bit." Trump and Kim ended their second summit in Hanoi on Thursday without reaching an agreement. Trump said at a press conference that there was "a gap" in what the DPRK and the United States were pursuing. Kim demanded relief from sanctions against Pyongyang "in their entirety" in exchange for denuclearizing a "large portion" of the DPRK's nuclear program, something the United States could not agree to, according to Trump. However, DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said at a separate news conference in Hanoi early Friday local time that "what we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but they are partial removal," adding that the DPRK only asked those sanctions impeding the livelihood of its people to be removed first. "It is regrettable that President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un were unable to reach complete agreement," Kim Eui-keum, spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told a press briefing. The Blue House spokesman, however, noted that it seemed clear that the two leaders have made "more meaningful progress" than ever as they expanded the scope and depth of their understanding of each other's positions through the two-day summit in the Vietnamese capital. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 05:58:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as the manager of English Premier League side Fulham, the south London club announced here on Thursday. Club chairman Shahid Khan has named Scott Parker as their caretaker Manager. Khan said in a statement, "Following our discussion this afternoon, Claudio Ranieri agreed to my decision that a change was in the best interest of everyone. No surprise to me, Claudio was a perfect gentleman, as always. Claudio's tenure at Fulham didn't produce the outcome we anticipated and needed when I appointed him as manager in November, but be assured he is not solely to blame for the position we are in today." He said that he is "grateful" for the Ranieri Italian's effort, although the Italian won only three of his 17 games as manager. The 67-year-old's last game was Wednesday's 2-0 defeat by Southampton, which left the Cottagers 19th in the Premier League, 10 points from safety with 10 games left. Ranieri was quoted as saying in the statement, "I am obviously disappointed with the recent results and that we could not build on the good start we made following my appointment. Finally, I would like to thank the club, the players and the fans for the support they have given me during my time at the club." A Pakistani soldier stands guard in the area where Indian warplanes released payload, in Balakot, Pakistan, on Feb. 27, 2019. (Xinhua) MOSCOW, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a phone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he hopes the current crisis between India and Pakistan will be settled soon, the Kremlin said Thursday. "While discussing the crisis in relations between India and Pakistan, Putin expressed hope for a prompt settlement," a Kremlin statement said. According to the Kremlin, Putin once again expressed condolences to the Indian people over a terrorist attack against Indian military on Feb. 14, which killed more than 300 paramilitary security personnel and injured over 40 others. In this context, Putin and Modi condemned international terrorism and any form of its support, stressing the need to step up the uncompromising fight against the terrorist threat. Meanwhile, the two leaders discussed bilateral issues and expressed their willingness to further enhance cooperation in all areas including military-technical ties. Putin invited Modi to participate in the Eastern Economic Forum to be held in Vladivostok in September 2019 as a main guest, the Kremlin said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 06:33:19|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as the manager of English Premier League side Fulham, the south London club announced here on Thursday. Club chairman Shahid Khan has named Scott Parker as their caretaker Manager. Khan said in a statement, "Following our discussion this afternoon, Claudio Ranieri agreed to my decision that a change was in the best interest of everyone. No surprise to me, Claudio was a perfect gentleman, as always. Claudio's tenure at Fulham didn't produce the outcome we anticipated and needed when I appointed him as manager in November, but be assured he is not solely to blame for the position we are in today." He said that he is "grateful" for the Ranieri Italian's effort, although the Italian won only three of his 17 games as manager and has lost seven of his last 8 matches in charge. The 67-year-old's last game was Wednesday's 2-0 defeat by Southampton, which left the Cottagers 19th in the Premier League, 10 points from safety with 10 games left. Ranieri was quoted as saying in the statement, "I am obviously disappointed with the recent results and that we could not build on the good start we made following my appointment. Finally, I would like to thank the club, the players and the fans for the support they have given me during my time at the club." After leading Leicester City to perhaps the greatest ever surprise Premier League title in 2016, Ranieri arrived at Fulham in November after the club sacked Slavisa Jokanovic, when they were bottom of the table. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 06:33:20|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Ri Yong Ho (3rd, L) attends an activity in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 1, 2019. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) only proposed that the United States partially remove its sanctions against Pyongyang, said the country's foreign minister here early Friday. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) HANOI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) only proposed that the United States partially remove its sanctions against Pyongyang, said the country's foreign minister here early Friday. "What we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but they are partial removal," said Ri Yong Ho at a press conference, adding the DPRK only asked for those sanctions impeding the livelihood of its people to be removed first. If the United States agrees to the proposal, the DPRK "will permanently and completely dismantle all the nuclear production facilities in Yongbyon area, including plutonium and uranium in the presence of U.S. experts and by the joint work of technicians of both countries," Ri said. "This proposal was the biggest denuclearization measures we can take at the present stage in relation to the current level of confidence between the U.S. and DPRK," he added. Ri said that during the bilateral meeting, the DPRK expressed intent to make commitment on permanent halt of the nuclear testing and long-range rocket launch test in written form in order to address the concern of the United States. "However, during the meeting, the United States insisted we should take one more step besides the dismantlement of nuclear facilities in Yongbyon area. Therefore, it's crystal clear that the United States was not ready to accept our proposal," he said. He stressed that the DPRK's principle stand will remain unchanged if the United States proposes negotiations again in the future. DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump held their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam on Wednesday and Thursday, which ended without a deal. "Basically they (DPRK) want the sanctions lifted, in their entirety, and we couldn't do that," Trump said at a press conference after the summit. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 06:48:21|Editor: yan Video Player Close KHARTOUM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese police said illegal gatherings in the capital Khartoum and other areas were dealt with according to the law on Thursday. Cases have been opened against a number of those who illegally gathered, said Hashim Abdel-Rahim, Sudanese police spokesman, in a statement. On Feb. 25, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir issued an emergency order, which bans "unlicensed" public gatherings, marches, strikes and sabotage of public facilities, including closing public roads and crippling traffic. It also bans diminishing the sovereignty of the state or any of its symbols, organs or employees by any means. On Feb. 22, al-Bashir declared the state of emergency all over Sudan for one year in the wake of popular protests which the country has been witnessing since Dec. 19 last year over the deteriorating economic conditions and price hikes of basic commodities. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 07:03:25|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters in his Jerusalem office, on Feb. 28, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blasted the decision by the attorney general to charge him with corruption as a left-wing "conspiracy." (Xinhua/JINI) by Keren Setton JERUSALEM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Attorney General announced on Thursday that he decided to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for corruption. The announcement came weeks before Israelis head to a general election in which Netanyahu is running for re-election. According to the decision of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, the Israeli prime minister will be entitled to a hearing before the final decision. It is the first time a sitting prime minister in the country will be indicted. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned before being indicted for corruption charges. Olmert was found guilty and served a prison sentence for over a year. The announcement on Netanyahu came two years after the launch of the investigations and is expected to add fuel to an already tumultuous election period. Israeli police already recommended months ago that Netanyahu be indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three different cases, before he categorically denied the allegations. Netanyahu, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term as Israel's prime minister, said the decision is a result of pressure on Mandelblit from his political opponents. So far, the Likud party led by Netanyahu has steadily led the polls. Many political analysts have speculated that no major effect will be expected on the polls and Netanyahu's road to victory is secure. Still, chances of the indictment being quashed are minimal, as the indictment decision is made based on months of police investigations and legal examinations. "I intend to serve you as prime minister for many more years," Netanyahu said in a televised statement, hours after the decision was announced. "I will refute every single allegation," he added. According to Israeli law, Netanyahu is not required to resign until a final verdict, which may take years, is reached. Meanwhile, leaders of right-wing political parties immediately released statements of support for Netanyahu. "This might motivate more Netanyahu supporters to come to the polls," said Yonatan Freeman of the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "The fact that he has explained the situation as an attack by the left ... might motivate people who believe someone is out to oust Netanyahu not through the polls," he added. One of Netanyahu's main rivals, former Israeli Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, said "Israel cannot have a part-time prime minister," urging him to step down immediately. With this uphill battle, Netanyahu is now finding himself in the middle of his most critical political battle which will determine the fate of his premiership. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 07:18:29|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close INDIANAPOLIS, the United States, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United States announced the repatriation of 361 pieces of Chinese relics and artifacts to China at a ceremony here on Thursday. Senior officials of the two countries celebrated the repatriation at the event held in the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, capital city of the U.S. state of Indiana. The repatriation will bring back to China the largest batch of relics and artifacts from the United States since 2009, when the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation in this regard, accoriding to Chinese officials. Hu Bing, deputy director of China's National Cultural Heritage Administration, said at the ceremony that China appreciates U.S. efforts in relics repatriation, and expects further cooperation with the U.S. side on relics preservation and information sharing, as well as in people-to-people exchanges. Minister Li Kexin, the Chinese Embassy in the United States, also hailed the U.S. commitment, saying that "you have shown the best virtue of integrity of the American people." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 07:28:31|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close CHICAGO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures settled lower on Thursday, despite upbeat export sales data. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday released its weekly export sales report for the period Feb. 15-21, confirming 2018/19 marketing year sales of 1,239,900 metric tons of corn, 476,400 metric tons of wheat, and 2,196,000 metric tons of soybeans. All the export sales were within or even above market expectations. Also on Thursday, private exporters reported to the USDA new corn sales for delivery to Mexico and South Korea, totaling 301,000 metric tons. Despite the strong export data, selling pressure from funds continued to drag down CBOT futures. Traders estimated that funds sold 2,500 contracts of corn, 2,200 contracts of wheat while being flat in soybeans. CBOT wheat posted significant losses in the past four sessions, due to fierce international competition. However, Terry Roggensack, a market analyst with The Hightower Report, argued that the wheat was "extremely oversold." As for soybeans, U.S. traders and farmers are anxious for more big orders from China, the world's top buyer. At the end of the session, the most active soybean contract for May delivery was down 6.5 cents, or 0.71 percent to close at 9.1025 dollars per bushel. May wheat was down 7.25 cents, or 1.55 percent, to settle at 4.595 dollars per bushel. May corn went down 3 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at 3.7075 dollars per bushel. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 07:38:34|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Venezuelan affairs should be decided by the Venezuelan people, a Chinese envoy said Thursday after the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a U.S.-drafted resolution on Venezuela. The U.S. draft received nine votes in favor, three against, and three abstentions. China and Russia, as well as South Africa, vetoed the resolution. "China pays close attention to the situation in Venezuela and supports the Venezuelan government in its efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty, independence and stability," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, at a Security Council emergency meeting on Venezuela. "At the Security Council, on the Venezuelan issue, our starting point is to uphold the spirit of the UN Charter and the basic principles governing international relations, promote a peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan issue and maintain long-term peace, stability and development in Latin America," the Chinese ambassador said. China opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela internal affairs and opposes military intervention in Venezuela, he stressed. "It is regrettable that the draft resolution before us is seriously inconsistent with the Chinese principal position as stated above," Wu said, adding that "China had to vote against it." "China calls upon the Venezuelan government and opposition parties to seek a political solution through dialogue and consultation within the constitutional and legal framework," the ambassador added. VAL-DOR, Quebec,, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Golden Valley Mines Ltd. (Golden Valley or the Company) (TSX-V: GZZ) is pleased to announce an update of the Companys activities, at its joint ventures and related entities including Abitibi Royalties Inc., International Prospect Ventures Ltd. and Val-dOr Mining Corporation. Related Entities Abitibi Royalties (RZZ-TSXV): Golden Valley holds an approximate 44.9% interest (5,605,246 shares) in Abitibi Royalties Inc. (Abitibi Royalties). During the past year, Abitibi Royalties acquired a 1.5% net smelter royalty (NSR) on the Midway Project (subject to a 1% buyback for USD$1 million) and a 15% net profit interest (NPI) on the Radium Property, which are all operated and located at the Canadian Malartic Mine. Production commenced at the end of Q4-2018 in the area covered by Abitibi Royalties 3% net smelter royalty (NSR) at the Canadian Malartic Mine. The operators of the Canadian Malartic Mine, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (Agnico Eagle) and Yamana Gold Inc. (Yamana), recently announced updated resource estimates for the East Malartic and Odyssey Projects. Updated Resource Estimate for East Malartic & Odyssey Project During 2018, a total of 66,396 metres was drilled at East Malartic and 54,825 metres at the Odyssey Project. The updated resource estimate for East Malartic includes Indicated mineral resources of 722,000 ounces of gold (10.5 million tonnes grading 2.13 g/t gold) and Inferred mineral resources of 2,806,000 ounces of gold (44.0 million tonnes grading 1.98 g/t). The updated resource estimate for the Odyssey Project includes Indicated mineral resources of 136,000 ounces of gold (2.0 million tonnes grading 2.11 g/t) and Inferred mineral resources of 1,618,000 ounces of gold (23.0 million tonnes grading 2.19 g/t). Agnico Eagle stated that it expects the size of the resource to grow further. For the portion of the East Malartic and Odyssey resources covered by Abitibi Royalties 3% NSR as of December 31, 2017, please see Abitibi Royalties news release dated March 19th, 2018. Abitibi Royalties anticipates receiving an updated resource estimate for areas covered by its 3% NSR at East Malartic and Odyssey in late Q1 or early Q2-2019 based on updated resource estimates above. Update on Barnat Extension Project Abitibi Royalties has been advised that work on the Barnat Extension project is proceeding on budget and on schedule. Work is primarily focused on the highway 117 road deviation, overburden stripping and tailings expansion. The highway deviation is expected to be completed in late 2019. Abitibi Royalties announced on January 16th, 2019 that production had commenced at the end of Q4-2018 in the area covered by the Abitibi Royalties 3% NSR. Abitibi Royalties expects to receive from the mine owners, and subsequently release, an updated 3-year production schedule for its royalties at the Jeffrey and Barnat Extension areas in late Q1 or early Q2-2019. Possible Production 2021-2023 Agnico Eagle states that it is evaluating several potential opportunities (which have not been approved) at a number of existing operations to build further value and enhance its gold production profile in 2021 and beyond. Odyssey and East Malartic were identified as possible opportunities for potential underground mining from surface to a depth of 600 metres in 2021-2023 and then potentially deeper beyond 2023. Agnico Eagle further stated that these deposits could provide higher-grade tonnes that could potentially supplement the open pit production at Canadian Malartic. Agnico Eagle also stated that Canadian Malartic will be moving forward with the underground ramp, which as last reported, will provide access for underground drilling and collection of a bulk sample. For further information, including technical information, regarding Abitibi Royalties interests at the Canadian Malartic Mine, please see its press release dated February 19, 2019. International Prospect Ventures Inc. (IZZ-TSXV): Golden Valley holds an approximate 16.5% interest (4,470,910 shares) in International Prospect Ventures Inc. (International Prospect). International Prospect now holds 100% ownership of eight properties in the eastern Pilbara of Western Australia, southeast of Karratha, covering a total area of approximately 1026.10 square kilometres. Granting of the exploration licences for the eight properties was completed as of January 9, 2019. The strategic locations of the claims were determined on the basis of a review of known geology and historical exploration results, and a focus on coarse-grained conglomerate host rocks at, or in proximity to, a prominent and well-documented geological unconformity. Porcupine Miracle Prospect: The property is located approximately 30 km southeast of South Porcupine (Timmins, Ontario) and is comprised of 9 mining claim cells (64 ha) within Langmuir Township. International Prospect has completed a Phase I property-scale ground magnetic, induced polarization (IP) and Horizontal Loop Electromagnetic (HLEM) geophysical surveying. A follow-up Phase II program of prospecting, mapping, bedrock stripping, sampling and diamond drill is recommended. The property is available for option and International Prospect is actively seeking joint venture partners. Val-dOr Mining Corporation (VZZ-TSXV): Golden Valley holds an approximate 32.5% interest (13,187,443 shares) in Val-dOr Mining Corporation (Val-dOr Mining). In 2017, Val-dOr Mining signed a Mining Option Agreement ("Option") with Golden Valley, to acquire a 100% interest in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt Prospect consisting of 61 grassroots properties. Pursuant to the terms of the Option, Val-dOr Mining must incur $4,000,000 of expenditures with respect to exploration and other mining operations on the properties before December 31, 2021 (with $500,000 to be incurred on or before December 31, 2018, $750,000 to be incurred on or before the December 31, 2019, $1,000,000 to be incurred on or before December 31, 2020, and $1,750,000 to be incurred on or before December 31, 2021). As consideration for the Option, Val-dOr Mining will issue 16,666,668 common shares to Golden Valley at a deemed price of $0.12 per share for an aggregate deemed value of $2,000,000 (issuable as to 4,166,667 common shares on or before each of December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021). In addition, Val-dOr Mining has granted Golden Valley a royalty equal to 1.25% of the net smelter returns ("NSRs") from the 61 properties on the terms set out in the option agreement of which 1% may be bought back by Val-dOr Mining by paying Golden Valley $5,000,000, at Val-dOr Mining option, in cash or shares at a deemed price per share equal to the market price of Val-dOr Mining's shares at the time of such election. If Val-dOr Mining has issued the common shares and incurred the expenditures provided for in the option agreement, it may exercise the option on or before December 31, 2021. Val-dOr Mining has exceeded its obligation to incur $500,000 of expenditures on or before December 31, 2018 as required under the Option. Val-dOr Mining intends to continue the earn-in process and it has therefore issued, subsequent to year end, a total of 4,166,667 of its common shares, valued at $416,667, to Golden Valley. Val-dOr Minings primary focus for the 2019 exploration program are on two prospective gold targets, the Oregon Prospect and Magoma Prospect. They are both located in the Abibiti Greenstone Belt in northwestern Quebec, and within close proximity to the mining and exploration center of Val-dOr Quebec. The Oregon Prospect covers an elongated granodiorite intrusion that dips to the northeast and lies along a northwest southeast axis. The granodiorite part of the property hosts the historic Oregon Showing (Corps Mineralise 32/C05-0011. MRNF SIGEOM). This mineral occurrence occurs within a fracture zone that hosts a series of parallel quartz stringers mineralized with pyrite. It has been traced out by previous exploration programs over a strike length of one hundred and twenty metres. The primary metallogenic target at the Oregon Prospect is an intrusive-hosted, bulk tonnage gold deposit. The Magoma Prospect overlies the felsic volcanic rocks of the Hunter Mine Group and is situated midway between the Rouyn-Noranda and Normetal mining camps. The Magoma gold showing occurs within an extensive network of quartz veins controlled by intense shearing that cuts through tuffacaeous and porphyritic units of rhyolite. This geological setting is proximal to a fault splay from the regional gold bearing Macamic Deformation Corridor that passes through the northeast part of the property. The primary metallogenic target at the Magoma Prospect is an orogenic gold deposit spatially related to a deformation zone hosted in altered and mineralized metavolcanic rocks. Diamond drilling activities are expected to commence on the two properties following completion of a short, follow-up program of geological mapping, prospecting and sampling. The objective of this work is two-fold: 1) ground-truthing of defined geophysical anomalies from the 2018 surveys completed by Val-dOr Mining, and 2) complete detailed mapping and characterization of the historical mineralization, to assist with drill target selection. Additional exploration activities have been completed or are also planned by Val-dOr Mining on other optioned properties in order to advance them towards drill-ready status either internally or through a joint venture. NSR Updates and Longer-Term Catalysts Sirios Resources Inc. (Sirios) - Cheechoo Gold Prospect James Bay, Quebec The Company currently owns approximately 3% of Sirios and holds an NSR on the Cheechoo Project, which ranges from 2.5% - 4.0% depending on commodity prices. Sirios completed fifty-five (55) NQ drillholes and three (3) PQ drillholes in 2018 totalling 15,720 metres, bringing the cumulative total on the property to 198 drillholes for 50,743 metres. Exploration plans for the property for 2019 include: 1) to produce a maiden gold resource estimate as well as metallurgical testing and, 2) forty (40) drillholes for a minimum of 10,000 metres, utilizing three (3) drill rigs. For additional details with respect to the exploration and field work completed to date on the Cheechoo gold project, as well as for the details on the expenditures made to date by Sirios on the project, please refer to Sirios continuous disclosure documents available for viewing by the public through the internet at the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) by accessing Sirios issuer profile. Other NSRs and Free-Carried Interests The Company holds 61 (sixty-one) 1.25% NSRs, via its option/joint venture with Val-DOr Mining as well as several NSRs and free-carried interests (FCI) via its active joint ventures with Sirios Resources, Bonterra Resources Ltd. and other joint venture partners. All of these NSRs and FCIs are in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. Near-Term Catalysts Joint Ventures (Partner-Funded) Alexandria Minerals Corporation (Alexandria) Centremaque Gold Prospect Gold Project, Val-dOr, Quebec Alexandria may earn an 80% interest in the Centremaque gold project by issuing treasury shares of Alexandria to Golden Valley over a four-year period from date of signing with a total value of $250,000, and by conducting exploration activities totaling $4 million over the same four-year period, of which $250,000 is to be spent in the first year of the option agreement. The price of the shares, and therefore the number of shares to be issued, is determined by reference to the market price at the time each tranche is due. A total of seven (7) drillholes totaling 3,348 metres were completed on the Centremaque Prospect. Three (3) new gold-bearing zones have been intersected, located approximately 2 kilometres west of the Bulldog Zone (area west of the Orenada open pit). Drillholes CAX-18-001 and CAX-18-003) intersected gold bearing hosted in brecciated, biotite and chlorite altered ultramafic volcanic rocks north of the Cadillac Break. Drillhole CAX-18-006 intersected a gold bearing zone associated with strongly altered shear zones hosted within the Pontiac sediments located south of the Cadillac Break. Presently the Company continues planning for a 2,500 metre Winter drill program to include the Centremaque Prospect. For additional details with respect to the exploration and fieldwork programs completed to date on the Centremaque Prospect, as well as for the details on the expenditures made to date by Alexandria on the project, please refer to Alexandrias continuous disclosure documents available for viewing by the public through the internet at the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) by accessing Alexandrias issuer profile. Bonterra Resources Inc. (Bonterra) Lac Barry Prospect Gold Project southwest of the Gladiator deposit (Bonterra) & south of Osisko Minings Windfall Lake Gold Project Golden Valley granted an option to Bonterra to acquire an 85% interest in the Lac Barry Prospect. In accordance with the option agreement, Bonterra issued to Golden Valley Mines 519,480 common shares in the capital of Bonterra having an aggregate value of $200,000, and Bonterra must incur expenditures in an aggregate amount of $2,000,000 over a three-year period on the Lac Barry Prospect. Bonterra has met the option agreement expenditure requirements for the third anniversary date of $2,000,000. Golden Valley now retains a 15% free carried interest in the Lac Barry Prospect and a 3% net smelter royalty (NSR), with 1% of the NSR being subject to a buyback in favour of Bonterra for $1 million payable by Bonterra to Golden Valley. Bonterra completed till sampling (101 samples in 2016 and 26 in 2017), prospecting, grid establishment (79 km in 2016, 26 km in 2017, 53 km in 2018), permanent and drill trail construction (13.8 km), geophysical surveying (74-line km of IP and 310 km of ground and airborne magnetic), LiDAR survey and two phases of diamond drilling programs totalling 19,936.7 metres in fifty-five (55) holes. The results of this exploration activities lead to a new discovery of a gold and silver bearing horizon termed the Temica Gold Zone, with grades up to 2.7 metres at 4.7 g/t Au as reported by Bonterra. For additional details with respect to the exploration and fieldwork programs completed to date on the Lac Barry Prospect, as well as for the details on the expenditures made to date by Bonterra on the project, please refer to Bonterras continuous disclosure documents available for viewing by the public through the internet at the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) by accessing Bonterras issuer profile. Battery Mineral Resources Limited (BMR) Island 27 Prospect Cobalt-Silver-Nickel project between Kirkland Lake-Matachewan, Ontario. Golden Valley entered into mining option agreement with BMR pursuant to which the Company will grant to BMR an option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the Island 27 Property, in consideration for which the Company will receive $500,000 in cash payments and Battery Minerals will incur $5,000,000 in expenditures over a 4-year period. Once the option is exercised, Golden Valley will have a 20% free carried interest in the property and a 1% NSR, and is the project operator during the earn-in phase A 12-hole, 2,119.5 metre diamond drilling program was completed on the property. The primary objective of the drill program is to test the geometry and grade distribution of the mineralization discovered by Golden Valley Mines in 2008 (DDH GIS-08-04) grading 4.18% Co, 0.38% Ni and 12.1 g/t Ag over 4.0 from 110.0-114.0 m: Selective assay intervals for GIS-08-04 are shown below: Sample From To Width (m)* Co Ni Ag 311708 110.00 111.00 1.0 1.785% 0.131% 3.0 g/t 311709 111.00 111.90 0.9 4.36% 0.364% 7.0 g/t 311710 111.90 112.30 0.4 1.305% 0.107% 4.0 g/t 311711 112.30 114.00 1.7 6.33% 0.607% 22.0 g/t *True widths have not yet been established In addition, a number of untested induced polarization anomalies are to be tested for possible extensions of the mineralized corridor and/or additional zones of Co-Ag-Ni mineralization. Although no economic grade Co-Ag-Ni was intersected, a number of anomalous multi-element mineralized zones were intersected and are associated with similar fracturing and alteration observed in the original discovery hole intersection. Following completion of the diamond drill hole database, 3D modeling and a proposed follow-up drill program, a structural geological review was undertaken on the historical and 2018 drill core (SRK Senior Consultant - Structural Geology). The objective of SRKs work was to constrain the structural framework of cobalt mineralization and support exploration targeting. It is now understood that cobalt mineralization is hosted within breccia veins locally developed as dilational jogs along regional faults or shear zones. These breccia veins and dilational jogs will be targeted by the next drill programs. In addition, Golden Valley and BMR ground staked 12 new claims in 2017 and 73 mining cells in 2018. The Island 27 Prospect is now comprised of 233 mining cells covering an area of 4,641 hectares. The Island 27 Prospect is located at the northern margin of the Cobalt Embayment and is underlain by early Proterozoic rocks which rest unconformable on Archean intrusive and metavolcanics rocks of the Superior Province. Eldorado Gold Corporation (Eldorado) Abitibi Greenstone Belt Joint Venture Bogside Gold Prospect Cadillac, Quebec A program of line cutting and magnetic surveying was completed over a prospective section of recently acquired ground following the claim to cell conversion process completed by the Ministere de lEnergie et des Ressources naturelles (MERN). The property lies immediately southwest of the Larder Lake-Cadillac Break, underlain by wacke and mudstone rocks of the Pontiac Group. In the extreme northeast corner of the property, Piche Group volcanic rocks (komatiite, basalt and andesite) have been previously mapped in contact with the Pontiac Group rocks immediately to the northeast. The western part of the property is dominated by the Heva Lake Granite that intruded the surrounding Pontiac Group strata. Previous diamond drilling (4 DDHs) was completed on the property by Camflo Mines Ltd. (MERN documentation technique GM 38093) in 1980-81. Erratic gold values up to 0.23 oz/t gold over 4 feet were intersected (referred to as Hamel West showing area) at the granite-greywacke contact or within granitic dikes associated with silicification and quartz veining. The current work program encompasses the southern extension of this area of historic drilling activities. The primary metallogenic target on the property is a large-tonnage, low grade Archean gold system, consisting of a widespread shell of disseminated gold-bearing pyrite mineralization hosted by porphyritic felsic to intermediate intrusions and altered metasediments, similar to the Canadian Malartic Mine (Agnico Eagle 50% and Yamana 50%). Proven and probable mineral reserves total 2,780 million ounces of gold (78,829,000 million tonnes at 1.10 grams/tonnes gold) on a 50% basis, as of December 31, 2018 (Agnico Eagle Website). The Bogside Prospect is subject to a 2% NSR agreement with Abitibi Royalties. In addition, the joint venture completed a property-scale remote sensing study over the Claw Lake Prospect (NE Ontario Shiningtree area) with the objectives of interpreting historical exploration results and defining targets for a follow-up ground prospecting and sampling program during the summer 2019 field season. The joint venture is also planning an exploration program over selective parts of the Cook Lake Prospect (NE Ontario Kirkland Lake Gold Camp) targeting the historical Scott-Kirkland Gold Mines Shaft #1 where historical sampling yield results of 2.63 oz/t Au over 3 feet (Reid, A., 1929). The Bogside, Claw Lake and Cook Lake prospects are held under a 70:30 Joint Venture agreement between Golden Valley and Eldorado, with the latter having acquired their interest through the acquisition of Integra Gold Corporation. Summary of Activity: Golden Valley Mines remains active through both its related entities (Abitibi Royalties, International Prospect Ventures and Val-DOr Mining) and arms length joint ventures. Exploration activity is expected to continue with the focus on both the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and Western Australia, as noted above. The Company has relied on publicly available information from the other public companies and has not attempted to independently verify the information in this press release. Glenn J. Mullan P. Geo., the President and Chief Executive Officer of Val-dOr Mining, and Michael P. Rosatelli M.Sc., P.Geo., the Vice-President Exploration of Val-dOr Mining, are the Qualified Persons (as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) who approved the technical disclosure included in this news release. About Golden Valley Mines Ltd.: The Company typically tests initial grassroots targets while owning a 100% interest therein and then seeks partners to continue exploration funding. This allows the Company to carry on its generative programs and systematic exploration efforts at other majority-owned grassroots projects. For additional information please contact: Glenn J. Mullan Chairman, President, and CEO Golden Valley Mines Ltd. 152, chemin de la Mine Ecole Val-dOr, Quebec J9P 7B6 Telephone: 819.824.2808 ext. 204 Email: glenn.mullan@goldenvalleymines.com Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, potential and similar expressions, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could or should occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Companys management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 07:48:37|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close YAOUNDE, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A four-day international agro-pastoral summit organized by the Cameroonian government in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) opened in the capital, Yaounde, on Thursday. The opening ceremony was attended by local and foreign government officials and agricultural investors. "We need to trust the land, to trust agriculture. And importantly, employment is now possible with agriculture," Cameroon's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Gabriel Mbairobe who chaired the opening ceremony told reporters. According to the ministry of agriculture, 500 participants from 35 countries are attending the summit which runs from Thursday to Sunday. "We expect this summit to be a game changer especially for young people in Africa. Africa can lead the world in agriculture if we have the needed support from our governments," Rose Bole, a 35-year-old participant from Nigeria, told Xinhua. "We hope to share experiences and create a veritable synergy for the promotion of agriculture the world over during this summit," Emmanuel Kofi, a participant from Ghana, told Xinhua. Cameroon hopes to tap into its agriculture potential in a bid to attract investors during the summit, Mbairobe said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 08:03:40|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close OTTAWA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday that Canada will be a partner in a U.S. space agency NASA-led lunar project that will see humans return to the moon and set the stage for further exploration to Mars, said a a press release from the official website of the prime minister. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to build a new Lunar Gateway, a small space station in the moon's orbit around 2026. Trudeau said Canada will develop and contribute a smart robotic system -- Canadarm3 -- that will repair and maintain the gateway, adding the Canadian partnership in the Lunar Gateway will be part of a new Canadian space strategy. "With the Lunar Gateway, Canada will play a major role in one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken," Trudeau said. He said Canada will invest 2.05 billion Canadian dollars (about 1.56 billion U.S. dollars) over 24 years, and the investment will create hundreds of well-paying jobs and contribute 100 million Canadian dollars (about 76 million U.S. dollars) annually to Canada's gross domestic product. The gateway is a moon outpost that will provide living space for astronauts, a docking station for visiting spacecraft, and laboratories for research. U.S. ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft said in a statement that Trudeau's announcement marks "the beginning of a new era of U.S.-Canada space co-operation." Canada's space sector employs 10,000 highly skilled workers and generated 2.3 billion Canadian dollars (some 1.75 billion U.S. dollars) for Canada's economy in 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 08:23:42|Editor: zh Video Player Close Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari (top R) attends a Security Council meeting on Venezuela, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2019. The UN Security Council on Thursday failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on Venezuela, sponsored by the United States and Russia respectively. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on Venezuela, sponsored by the United States and Russia respectively. The U.S. draft received nine votes in favor, three against, and three abstentions in the 15-member council. Russia and China, as well as South Africa, vetoed the resolution. Minutes later, the Security Council voted on the Russian draft, which received four votes in favor, seven against and four abstentions. The U.S. draft stresses the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela and to facilitate unhindered access and delivery of assistance to all in need in the entirety of the territory of Venezuela in accordance with humanitarian principles. The Russian draft, on the contrary, calls that international assistance should be provided with the consent of, and on the basis of an appeal by, the government of Venezuela. It also urges the settlement of the current situation through peaceful means and supports all initiatives aimed at reaching a political solution among Venezuelans. Thursday's Security Council meeting is the third on the situation in Venezuela in just over a month due to the escalation of political tension facing the Latin American country. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, said that the meeting "may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real, not humanitarian, intervention," adding that it may cause the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela. "At the Security Council, on the Venezuelan issue, our starting point is to uphold the spirit of the UN Charter and the basic principles governing international relations, promote a peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan issue and maintain long-term peace, stability and development in Latin America," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN. China opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela internal affairs and opposes military intervention in Venezuela, he stressed. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since Jan. 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. A U.S.-backed drive to deliver "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela through border crossings on Feb. 23 met strong resistance from the Venezuelan government as President Nicolas Maduro believed the aid, mainly from the United States, is a smokescreen for a military invasion. The Venezuelan government has closed borders with Brazil and Colombia and some air and sea routes. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 10:34:12|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Guests cut the ribbon during the launching ceremony for the project for the digitalization of the Lao National TV (LNTV) Channel 3 in Vientiane, capital of Laos, on Feb. 28, 2019. China is helping the LNTV's digitalization with a grant for its upgrade project. (Xinhua/Zhang Jianhua) VIENTIANE, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China is helping Lao National TV (LNTV)'s digitalization with a grant for its upgrade project. The launching ceremony for the project for the digitalization of the LNTV Channel 3 was held in Lao capital Vientiane on Thursday with the presence of Director General of Lao National Television, Bounchao Phichit, and Counselor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Laos, Wang Qihui. The project will include the comprehensive replacement of the existing standard definition equipment for producing, broadcasting and editing programs and the studio equipment at LNTV Channel 3 with high-definition (HD) technologies. The Chinese government will also provide the channel with mobile broadcasting vehicles equipped with HD technologies. The upgrade project has been undertaken in three phases. The first phase began in 2009, the second in 2017 and the third this year. "I would like to thank the Chinese government for helping us with both funding and technical support. It will help greatly to develop television in Laos, especially allowing LNTV Channel 3 to reach regional and international quality and standards," Bounchao said. "In addition, the assistance is an important contribution to enhancing cooperation between Laos and China," he added. The project will improve the TV station's production capacity and the quality of its programs, increase the coverage of television channels in Laos, and meet state-run television policy goals, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 10:50:47|Editor: zh Video Player Close Zhang Xinyi, 26, diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta, poses for a portrait in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 26, 2019. Zhang fell in love with music by coincidence in 2015 and then joined a band named "8772," which consists of rare disease patients in 2017. "Rare Hug," a Chinese drama on rare diseases, was staged at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center Wednesday evening to mark the 12th Rare Disease Day, which falls on Feb. 28, 2019 under the theme "Bridging Health and Social Care." The drama was played by rare disease patients in collaboration with their relatives. Assisted by two volunteer directors, the cast took part in a three-day workshop as well as rehearsals that lasted for two days, before presenting their real-life stories to the audience. Chen Meiping, one of the directors, has devoted herself to the public theatre and related arts since 2005. In late 2018, she worked with Yi'ou Wang, secretary-general of Illness Challenge Foundation, to come up with the idea of telling stories of rare disease patients with a collaborative drama. Before meeting the rare disease patients who volunteered to act in her drama, Chen was not so confident in the final result because they had only limited time for proper training. Chen was later surprised by the collaborating patients' readiness to perform and their desire to share their stories with others. "I am reassured by that desire," said Chen. "It is as if they can act themselves out immediately after they are up on the stage." The other director, Liang Wanyun, had been worried that the patients were amateurs who had not ever performed in a real drama and not sure whether they could go through the acting training in just three days. Yin Yuanyue, a 29-year-old volunteer actress in the drama who is diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, called for increased social awareness of the rare disease patient group. "What I am seeking is a sort of presence, as an actress for instance, that can act as encouragement for fellow patients who are still too afraid to reach for the outside world," she said. "It is particularly rare for a rare disease patient to rise to the stage and speak out for ourselves," said Pan Longfei, a 30-year-old volunteer actor who is diagnosed with Kallmann Syndrome. Subject to long-time isolation and misunderstanding by those around him, Pan hopes his performance could call on fellow patients to be conscious of their true selves and accept life as it is. Although rare diseases are found in a very small number of patients, most of them are incurable. Only five percent of rare diseases can be treated with medicine. About 80 percent of the 6,000 to 8,000 rare diseases known to us are gene-related, with more than 50 percent of them appearing in early childhood. According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, rare diseases affect a population of about 400 million worldwide, which means that for every 15 people there is one rare disease patient. Whereas in China, the number of people suffering from rare diseases is estimated to top 20 million. There are more than 100 rare disease patient support groups set up in accordance with disease categories in the country. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 10:39:14|Editor: WX Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United States would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan over the next three to five years under a new Pentagon plan, U.S. media reported on Thursday. The plan, which was supposed to help talks between the United States and Afghan Taliban, also called for cutting by half the 14,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan in coming months, according to a report of The New York Times. The plan, which has reportedly received broad acceptance in Washington and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels, stipulates that the 8,600 European and other international troops stationed in the country would focus on training the Afghan military, shifting U.S. forces' task to counterterrorism operations. Pentagon spokesman Kone Faulkner told The New York Times that no decisions have been made as peace talks continue, and the Pentagon "is considering all options of force numbers and disposition." The fifth round of talks between the U.S. delegation and the Taliban representatives began in Qatar's capital Doha on Monday. U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said on Thursday that negotiations with Taliban were "productive," and would resume on Saturday after internal deliberations. The Pentagon has reportedly stepped up airstrikes and special raid operations in Afghanistan to the highest levels since 2014, aiming to give negotiators leverage in peace talks with the Taliban. There are about 14,000 U.S. troops currently deployed in Afghanistan. The death toll of U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan has surpassed 2,400 since the United States invaded the Asian country in 2001. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 10:44:16|Editor: zh Video Player Close SHENYANG, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Police in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, apprehended 56 drug dealers and seized 44.72 kg of methamphetamine. Meanwhile, a total of 1.3 million yuan (195,000 U.S. dollars) and seven vehicles used for drug trafficking were confiscated, the public security department in Shenyang said on Thursday. In September 2017, a man with a large amount of drugs in Shenyang caught the attention of local police. An investigation showed that the man was associated with a drug trafficking gang, which had smuggled drugs from southern Guangdong Province to Shenyang. Police said the busting of the gang had successfully cut off the drug trafficking route from Guangdong to Liaoning and further to the wider northeastern region. According to the police, of the 56 suspects who were seized between April and May 2018, 37 have been arrested officially and are awaiting further sentencing, while the other 19 received administrative penalties. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 10:49:17|Editor: WX Video Player Close LA PAZ, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales on Thursday warned the international community that attempts re-emerge to "fragment Latin American and Caribbean unity." "From Bolivia, we denounce and warn the international community that there is, once again, an attempt ... to fragment our Latin American and Caribbean unity," Morales said during the opening of the extraordinary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly in the city of Santa Cruz. "During past few weeks, we have seen the severe damage caused by the drums of war. We condemn all forms of armed violence on our territories," he said. "We reject the aggression by the United States against our people, who only wish to live free from all threats." The Bolivian president made the remarks in the context of the difficult political situation in Venezuela. It began on Jan. 23 when National Assembly President and opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself "interim president" and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Morales said there exist "new forms of intervention and interference," which affect the peaceful coexistence between peoples. War has never resolved a single problem; on the contrary, it has only generated pain, injustice and desolation of many for the benefit of a few, he said, adding that problems can only be solved by integration and collaboration among all nations. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 10:59:19|Editor: WX Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's position before the UN Security Council regarding Venezuela will be the same as the one it pushes via the Montevideo Mechanism, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday. Mexico's position and the Montevideo Mechanism "are based on the search for a peaceful and democratic solution, but it's up to the Venezuelans and excludes the use of force," he said during a press conference. "Whatever is compatible with this position, we'll support it," the foreign minister added. The Montevideo Mechanism is a four-step plan proposed on Feb. 6 by Uruguay and Mexico advocating a negotiated solution to the current Venezuelan political standoff. The UN Security Council on Thursday failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on Venezuela, sponsored by the United States and Russia respectively. Also on Thursday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reiterated Mexico's position of non-intervention in Venezuela's internal affairs. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since Jan. 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself "interim president" and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 11:04:20|Editor: WX Video Player Close QUITO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A group of 155 juvenile giant turtles, native to the Galapagos Islands, were released after being held in captivity as part of a breeding program, the Environment Ministry of Ecuador said Thursday. Before being released Oon Santa Fe Island which lies in the center of the Galapagos archipelago, the turtles of the "Chelonoidis hoodensis" species underwent a rigorous quarantine process, the ministry said in a statement. The release is as part of an ecological restoration of the island. The restoration effort was made through the repopulation with turtles of a species similar to the original, which has been extinct for more than 150 years. The initiative is being undertaken by the Galapagos National Park, which administers the archipelago located some 970 km off the coast of Ecuador, and the Galapagos Conservancy. Jorge Carrion, director of the Galapagos National Park, said all the released turtles are microchipped that makes future monitoring easier. "The turtle is the archipelago's largest herbivore, and its release on Santa Fe has a goal of fulfilling its role as an ecosystem engineer, and contribute to the spread of the species such as the Opuntia cactus," he said. The recovery plan includes the annual release of young turtles on the island till 2026. "The first turtles released in 2015 are currently between 10 and 12 years old, so they are expected to start reproduce in the next five to seven years," said Washington Tapia, director of the ecological restoration initiative. The newly released turtles join the 394 released in previous years. The Galapagos archipelago was declared a World Heritage Site in 1978 by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Located at the confluence of three ocean currents, the archipelago is a "melting pot" of diverse species, which inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution following his visit in 1835. TORONTO, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) is extremely alarmed by a government memo to school boards, recommending that boards stop hiring teachers and other staff, including hiring needed to fill vacancies for retirements and leaves, pending further announcements on education funding. The memo uses vague language like prudence in hiring, says Liz Stuart, President of OECTA, but the message is clear: the government is asking schools to do more with less. This will have a negative impact on student achievement and the learning environment. More concerning are indications that the government plans to make additional cuts, including failing to maintain funding negotiated as part of OECTAs collective agreement that provides additional supports for students with special education needs. It would be egregious enough to disregard collective agreements that were negotiated in good faith, and that benefit Ontario students, says Stuart. But to implement more cuts that hurt students with special education needs is unconscionable. We all understand this governments desire to reduce expenditures, but that cannot come at the expense of student learning and well-being. This direction is the latest in a series of troubling announcements by Premier Doug Fords government, which signals drastic cuts to the education sector, and specifically target vulnerable youth. It follows dramatic reductions to autism supports, as well as cuts to specialized education programs for at-risk students, and the loss of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth. - 30 OECTA represents the 45,000 passionate and qualified teachers in Ontarios publicly funded English Catholic schools, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 11:09:21|Editor: zh Video Player Close Minister of the Chinese Embassy to the United States Li Kexin (R) speaks during a repatriation event held in the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis, capital city of state of Indiana, the United States, on Feb. 28, 2019. The United States announced the repatriation of 361 pieces of Chinese relics and artifacts to China at a ceremony on Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) INDIANAPOLIS, the United States, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- In another sign of increasing cultural exchange, the United States announced the repatriation of 361 pieces of Chinese relics and artifacts to China at a ceremony here on Thursday. Senior officials of the two countries celebrated the repatriation at an event held in the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, capital city of the U.S. state of Indiana, where 20 pieces of relics and artifacts were on display, attracting some 100 visitors. The repatriation will bring back to China the largest batch of relics and artifacts from the United States since 2009, when the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in this regard, according to Chinese officials. Also at the event, officials from China's National Cultural Heritage Administration and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) signed and exchanged Certificate of Transfer, which formalizes the transfer of custody from the United States to China regarding these cultural relics and artifacts. Hu Bing, deputy administrator of China's National Cultural Heritage Administration, said at the ceremony that these relics and artifacts are an inseparable part of China's cultural heritage. Hu said that the repatriation is the fruit of the long-term cooperation between the United States and China, and will further enhance the trust and understanding between the two peoples, as the two nations celebrate the 40th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties. The Chinese senior official added that the repatriation will also set a great example for global relics preservation efforts as it represents respect for international rules as well as for native nations' culture and history. China appreciates U.S. efforts in relics repatriation, and expects further cooperation with the U.S. side on relics preservation and information sharing, law enforcement against looting and smuggling, as well as people-to-people exchange, so as to help promote more fair international practices and facilitate global cultural exchanges, he added. Minister of the Chinese Embassy in the United States Li Kexin also hailed the U.S. commitment, extending "special appreciation" to the FBI and the U.S. State Department for their cooperation with China and hard work to repatriate the relics and artifacts to their native country. "You have shown the best virtue of integrity of the American people," he said, adding "I believe this must have been done with tremendous efforts, for its scale and complexity." "This repatriation is a good example and a gift to the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and the United States. I believe it will resonate very positively in China," he added. The Chinese officials told Xinhua that these repatriated relics and artifacts, found by the FBI's Indianapolis office in April 2014, were allowed to be sent back to China thanks to the five-year cooperation among the U.S. State Department, the FBI, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration and Embassy in the United States. The repatriation is the first of its kind since the two countries re-signed the MoU in January this year, and the third-time effort since China and the United States first signed the document in 2009. In recent years, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration has worked and secured the return of over 4,000 pieces of relics through diplomatic, judicial and consultation channels, among others. The repatriation of China's relics and artifacts marks the U.S.-China win-win collaboration in this regard, U.S. officials, including U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Policy Aleisha Woodward and chief of FBI's Transnational Organized Crime Section, Kristi Johnson, said at the ceremony. The U.S. side will continue its partnership with China in accordance with the MoU, so as to contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage shared by all human beings, they added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 11:14:24|Editor: WX Video Player Close PYONGYANG, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States had "constructive and candid" talks in Hanoi Thursday and will "continue productive dialogues" to address issues of mutual concern, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday. "They had a constructive and candid exchange of their opinions over the practical issues arising in opening up a new era of the improvement of the DPRK-U.S. relations on the basis of the progress," the KCNA report said. The Hanoi summit "offered an important occasion for deepening mutual respect and trust and putting the relations between the two countries on a new stage," it added. Despite "antagonism and confrontation" deriving from seven-decade-long hostile relations and "inevitable hardships and difficulties" ahead, both sides could "create a significant advance in the DPRK-U.S. relations as desired by the peoples of the two countries if they firmly join hands to overcome hardships and difficulties with wisdom and patience," it said. "They agreed to keep in close touch with each other for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the epochal development of the DPRK-U.S. relations in the future, too, and continue productive dialogues for settling the issues discussed at the Hanoi Summit," the report said. DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cut short their two-day summit Thursday without signing an agreement as planned previously. Trump said Thursday afternoon in Hanoi at a press briefing that the main impediment to a deal was Kim's requirement that the United States lift sanctions against Pyongyang "in their entirety" in exchange for denuclearizing a "large portion" of the DPRK's nuclear program, which was not acceptable by the United States. However, DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told a news conference early Friday morning that his country only asked for a partial lifting of sanctions at the meeting with Trump, contradicting what Trump said earlier. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 11:19:25|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Hau Do Suan (front), Myanmar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting on the situation in Myanmar, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2019. A newly-launched response plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis needs urgent funding, the UN envoy for Myanmar said here Thursday. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A newly-launched response plan for the Rohingya crisis needs urgent funding, the UN envoy for Myanmar said here Thursday. Christine Schraner Burgener, UN secretary-general's special representative for Myanmar, told the Security Council that the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living in "extremely challenging" conditions in Cox's Bazar of southeastern Bangladesh. UN figures showed that more than 745,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar's Rakhine State to Bangladesh since August 2017, escaping violence in Myanmar and joining roughly 200,000 others already displaced in the Cox's Bazar area by previous cycles of violence. "While Bangladesh and host communities have been very generous, we cannot expect this to continue indefinitely," the envoy said, stressing the 2019 Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, which benefits both refugees and host communities, needs urgent funding. In mid-February, various UN agencies and their partner NGOs launched the joint response plan, aiming to raise 920 million U.S. dollars to help more than 1.2 million people. On the Rohingya refugees' return, the envoy expressed concern that heavy fighting with the ethnic militant group Arakan Army will further impact efforts toward their "dignified, voluntary and safe return." She noted the presence of the United Nations and its partners at their places of return will be a positive incentive for them to go back. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 11:19:26|Editor: WX Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The South African cabinet on Thursday said the people of Venezuela should be afforded the opportunity to decide their own future. "Drawing from our own experience in South Africa, we believe that a permanent solution can only be achieved from internal and inclusive political dialogue involving all affected parties in that country," the cabinet said after a fortnightly meeting in Cape Town. Acting cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams said the South African cabinet is concerned about the unfolding situation in Venezuela, especially the humanitarian challenges that "require urgent attention." South Africa commends efforts by the United Nations to provide humanitarian support to the Venezuelan people, Williams said. Since beginning its one-year tenure as a non-permanent member at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Jan. 1, South Africa has called on "some countries and regional groups" not to interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela. South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation has made it clear that its stance on Venezuela is premised on support for inclusive political dialogue to resolve the political crisis in the country, and that it is supportive of any legitimate efforts to provide humanitarian support to the Venezuelan people. Venezuela has seen rising political tensions since Jan. 23 when National Assembly President and opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. A U.S.-backed drive to deliver "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela through border crossings on Feb. 23 met strong resistance from the Venezuelan government as President Nicolas Maduro believed the aid, mainly from the United States, is a smokescreen for a military invasion. The Venezuelan government has closed borders with Brazil and Colombia and some air and sea routes. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened that all options remain open to resolve the Venezuelan issue, including a military one. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 11:34:30|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close SEOUL, March 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export fell for three straight months through February, posting a double-digit decline last month on weak demand for locally-made semiconductor, a government report showed on Friday. Export, which account for about half of the economy, declined 11.7 percent over the year to 39.56 billion U.S. dollars in February, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The downward trend continued, after sliding 1.2 percent in December last year and 5.8 percent in January. It marked the first time since July 2016 that the outbound shipment kept falling for three months in a row. The daily average export stood at 2.08 billion U.S. dollars in February, up from 1.93 billion U.S. dollars in January. Import shrank 12.6 percent to 36.47 billion U.S. dollars, sending the trade surplus in February to 3.09 billion U.S. dollars. The trade balance stayed in black for 85 straight months, but last month's surplus was below a monthly average of 5.9 billion U.S. dollars tallied in 2018. The double-digit fall in export stemmed from soft demand for locally-made chip, of which shipment tumbled 24.8 percent in February from a year earlier. Price for DRAM memory chip, the country's major export item, plunged 36.8 percent last month, with the price for NAND flash memory chip dropping 25.2 percent. Exports for oil product and petrochemicals logged a double-digit reduction last month as supply glut pulled down product prices. Machinery export rose for two straight months on demand from China and India, with car shipment gaining for the third consecutive month on demand for new SUV models and environmentally-friendly vehicles. Steel export grew for two months through February on demand from the United States and Japan, but export for display panel declined on lower product price. Shipment for telecommunication devices, such as smartphone, kept sliding by a double digit on lower product price and an increased production in overseas factories. Among the new growth engine products, biopharmaceutical product export advanced 24.5 percent last month on demand for biosimilars and medical devices. Shipment for secondary batteries recorded a double-digit increase on demand from the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries. The OLED export rose for the fourth consecutive month thanks to strong demand for premium TVs, while electric vehicle shipment surged 92.4 percent as tight environment regulations strengthened demand for environmentally-friendly vehicles. By country, export to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, sank 17.4 percent in February from a year earlier on reduced demand for chip, petrochemical, oil product and steel. Shipment to the EU declined last month, but the country's export to the United States gained for five months in a row on demand for automobile and telecommunication devices. Export to India kept an upward trend for the sixth consecutive month, but shipment to Southeast Asian countries fell on soft demand for smartphone and oil product. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 11:59:34|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close YANGON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Two policemen have been killed in a mine attack launched by insurgent, Arakan Army (AA), in Ponnagyun township, Rakhine state, according to the Myanmar Police Force on Friday. The AA insurgents attacked with land mines on four vehicles of the police force which was en-route from Thandwe to Sittway on Wednesday evening. The police vehicles were shot by the insurgents near mile-post 165 on Yangon-Sittway road between Pannila and Kyangin villages in the township. The police force charged the AA insurgent group with committing destructive acts attacking vehicles not related with any operation on the public road, warning of action to be taken against the AA in accordance with law. Meanwhile, the Myanmar armed forces overran a training camp site of AA in Rakhine state on Feb. 20 following several engagements with them. During the engagements, the government forces suffered some casualties, while four bodies of AA, some assorted arms and several rounds of ammunition were seized. The military vowed to continue security operations to ensure rule of law and regional stability in the state. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 12:44:43|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close China's Huawei presents 5G devices at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2019) in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 26, 2019. The four-day MWC 2019 presents the newest 5G products of the high-tech giants from around the world. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda) BARCELONA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- From automated cars to remote surgeries, futuristic scenarios have been pictured here in the 2019 Mobile World Congress (MWC) where 5G technology is in the spotlight. To make changes happen, digital infrastructure, namely 5G network construction in the next phase, is essential to enable a super fast Internet that connects everything from everywhere. In the construction process, fair competition as well as robust cooperation among mobile operators worldwide are critical to making the vision into reality, experts said. COMPETITION DRIVES INNOVATION By 2025, mobile operators are expected to invest between 300 billion and 500 billion euros (341.67 billion and 569.46 billion U.S. dollars) on the rollout of 5G across Europe, and as an industry will create over 4 percent of the entire economic output, according to GSMA, an organization representing over 750 operators and generating the MWC. "Actions that disrupt the equipment supply for the various segments of the network (access, transport and core) will increase costs to European operators, businesses and citizens; delay 5G deployment by years across Europe," said GSMA in a statement shortly before the MWC. In essence, GSMA is calling for more, not fewer, industry players to be allowed in the bidding process and help build infrastructure. "Competition amongst equipment vendors has been a major driver of innovation; limiting or stalling the deployment of 5G or requiring changes to existing 4G infrastructure, risks leaving European consumers and businesses behind; and investment and innovation will move to those countries where 5G is happening first and fastest, impacting jobs and growth," it said. China's Huawei, Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia are the three biggest suppliers of telecommunications equipment, while China's ZTE and South Korea's Samsung have smaller market share, according to research firm Dell'Oro Group. "If we concentrate it down to two players, I think that's an unhealthy position not just for us as an industry but also for national infrastructure in the country," said Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone, one of the world's largest mobile operators. NO EVIDENCE OF WRONGDOING Discussions on inclusive competition are highlighted here because of the recent U.S. attempts to drive Huawei, a leading privately held company in 5G network construction, out of the market, despite the lack of evidence of Huawei's alleged wrongdoing to its customers. "Like everyone else in the industry, I'm monitoring the findings of those investigations. Many service providers have told me several times they have never found anything wrong," Stephane Teral, executive director of research and analysis and an advisor for Mobile Infrastructure and Carrier Economics at IHS Markit, told Xinhua while attending the MWC. Earlier this month, Robert Hannigan, former head of Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, wrote in the Financial Times that "assertions that any Chinese technology in any part of a 5G network represents an unacceptable risk are nonsense." On Feb. 20, Ciaran Martin, head of Britain's National Cyber Security Center, said in Brussels that oversight of Huawei is functioning and even problems identified with Huawei do not indicate any hostility. "As we said then, and repeat today, these problems are about standard of cyber security; they are not indicators of hostile activity by China," Martin said. "The apparent decision by the UK to proceed with Huawei, if confirmed, is a very, very big deal," Jeffrey D. Sachs, a world-renowned economist at Columbia University, told Xinhua. "It would have an enormous effect around the world in pushing back against the U.S. attempt to isolate Huawei," Sachs said. COOPERATION BENEFICIAL Back in China, Ericsson and Nokia, Huawei's two largest foreign competitors, have maintained cooperation with Chinese companies. On Tuesday, Ericsson announced a 5G smart harbor at the Port of Qingdao with China Unicom, one of China's major mobile operator. The company is particularly strong in mobile communications in China, with nearly half the market for mobile systems. In November 2018, Nokia announced three separate frame agreements worth a combined value of more than 2 billion euros (2.28 billion dollars) with China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, all state-owned companies. A multi-partner presence is also a valued approach for the city of Moscow, Andrey Belozerov, a senior advisor to the Chief Information Officer of Moscow City Government, told Xinhua. "We work with different companies, including Huawei. We do not have any fear in relation to one company or another. When selecting partners, we evaluate quality and reliability of the products they produce and services they provide," Belozerov said. "We believe that international cooperation in the sphere of developing new expensive technologies is necessary and extremely beneficial," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 13:04:45|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close KABUL, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Casualties were feared after Taliban militants stormed an Afghan national army's main base in southern province of Helmand early Friday, reported local media. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 13:39:53|Editor: zh Video Player Close BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China will train more lawyers to handle foreign-related matters, the Ministry of Justice said Thursday. Xiong Xuanguo, vice justice minister, said at a meeting that the move is aimed at safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese institutions and nationals abroad. "The task of safeguarding state economic security and development interests and strengthening the protection of rights and interests of Chinese businesses and citizens has become increasingly onerous as China continuously pushes forward opening-up on all fronts and further implements national strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative," Xiong said. He said the ministry will support Chinese lawyers to play bigger roles in the country's major foreign-related economic and trade activities and increase their international competitiveness. He also vowed to improve supporting policies for Chinese lawyers to "go global." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 14:15:02|Editor: WX Video Player Close LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Several Afghan soldiers and militants were killed and injured after Taliban militants stormed a national army's main base in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand early Friday, a local source said. "The armed militants made their way inside the Corps 215 Maywand in Shorab area of Helmand at early hours of Friday. We have causalities and fatalities but we still cannot provide details on causalities," an army source told Xinhua anonymously. More details would be made public later in the day as a cleanup operation is underway and sporadic clashes are still ongoing, the source added. Local media Tolo News TV reported that at least 21 assailants were involved in the attack. "Three suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts and six militants were shot dead by army soldiers," the report said, adding three army troops were also wounded during the clashes which started roughly at 3:00 a.m. local time. Further details about the incident are forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement. Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. English French TORONTO, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) today filed its submission responding to the Ontario Securities Commissions (OSC) Staff Notice 11-784 Burden Reduction. IFIC is pleased to support the work of the OSC Burden Reduction Task Force by identifying steps that can be taken to enhance competitiveness for Ontario businesses by saving time and money for issuers, registrants, investors and other market participants while maintaining strong investor protection. Regulation imposes costs to the regulatory agency to administer the requirements, costs to firms to comply, and costs to the economy from reduced efficiency and lost opportunities, said Paul Bourque, President and CEO, IFIC. All of these costs are ultimately borne by the investor, so it is critical to seek ways to control them. IFICs submission offers specific and actionable suggestions for reducing the regulatory burden in four key areas: improvements to the rule-making process; changes to current rules; improvements to the OSCs operations; and improvements to the Canadian Securities Administrators information technology systems. To review the IFIC submission , please visit IFIC.ca. About IFIC The Investment Funds Institute of Canada is the voice of Canadas investment funds industry. IFIC brings together 150 organizations, including fund managers, distributors and industry service organizations, to foster a strong, stable investment sector where investors can realize their financial goals. By connecting Canadas savers to Canadas economy, our industry contributes significantly to Canadian economic growth and job creation. To learn more about IFIC, please visit IFIC.ca . For more information please contact: Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 14:20:03|Editor: WX Video Player Close CANBERRA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison has announced further assistance measures for drought-affected farmers in Queensland. Morrison on Friday announced the establishment of the North Queensland Livestock Industry Recovery Agency (NQLIA) to help rebuild the agriculture industry in the state. The agency, which will report directly to the PM, has been charged with developing a long-term plan to rebuild the industry and design program to fix farm and water infrastructure. It comes after Morrison spent the first week of November 2018 touring rural Queensland and meeting graziers hit hard by the drought, which is among the worst in Australian history. "This is not about compensation, it's about rebuilding and reconstruction," Morrison told reporters on Friday. In addition to the new agency, Morrison also announced that his government is working with banks to deliver cheap loans for farmers. Under the loan scheme, the government would lend Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) about 2 billion Australian dollars (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) in low-interest loans which they would be required to pass on to eligible farmers. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 15:10:14|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MUMBAI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Fusion of dragon and lion dance performance, coupled with Indian classical performance and along with Bollywood based music performance, reminisced the audience assembled for the Spring Festival celebration here on late Thursday evening. Most members of the audience, who were witnessing the live performance of the dragon and lion dance for the first time, were enthralled by the performance. "The team coordination, enthusiasm and strength were breathtaking! I noticed how the red colored lion used to flicker his eyes. It seemed so real at times! I really adored both the lion and dragon performance. Chinese art is amazing," Priya Pandey, who attended the evening event, told Xinhua. Chinese Consul General in Mumbai Tang Guocai said that spring is the beginning of every good thing and "we will have more and more such exchanges in the years to come." Sumit Mullick, Chief Information Commissioner of Maharashtra state said it is very befitting that the two great civilizations get together and celebrate each other's festivals together and "that is what bring two major peoples together." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 15:45:24|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TEHRAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed in a passenger bus accident near Iran's capital Tehran on Friday morning, Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported. The accident happened as the bus, moving from Iran's central Kerman city, turned over on Tehran-Qom highway, according to the report. In the accident, 36 other passengers were injured. The accident was probably caused by the sleeping driver, the Chief of Commandment and Traffic Center of the Police Nader Rahmani told ISNA. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 16:05:28|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. government report released Wednesday found that Confucius Institutes (CI) in U.S. campuses largely played positive roles and assertions that they interfered with U.S. academic freedom were unfounded. The report, released by the Government Accountability Office, cited interviews of officials from universities that host CIs as saying in many cases CIs were perceived as a positive influence. "Officials from over half of the case study schools that were part of our review stated that establishing a CI offered benefits that aligned with the school's strategic plans to forge international connections and to expand the global reach of the campus," the report said. "Case study school officials also stated that CIs provide valuable resources and opportunities to increase knowledge of and exposure to China and Chinese culture within the school and in the broader community," according to the report. The report found that despite assertions from critics that CIs would bring "undue Chinese influence" to U.S. campuses, school officials did not raise alarms that such instances took place. "Officials from multiple case study schools noted that U.S. school faculty members make all decisions regarding conference themes, guest speakers, and topics for events at their institute," the report said, adding that "multiple school officials stated that Hanban has never rejected a proposal for an event at Confucius Institute based on the topic." Hanban is a public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education that also serves as CI headquarters. In some cases, CIs had sponsored events that addressed topics that could be considered critical of China, the report found. Some of the officials that were interviewed for the study defended CIs from criticisms, saying that the lack of understanding may have contributed to a negative opinion of CIs. "Some case study school officials noted that they did not think concerns and criticisms about Confucius Institutes applied to their institute because each institute is unique to the school at which it operates," the report said. "Several of these school officials told us that they believed such criticisms were not backed by evidence or based on specific incidents, but instead were rooted in a lack of understanding about Confucius Institutes." "Officials at one case study school stated they are not planning to take the recent public scrutiny into consideration," for the reason that they regard it as "another form of outside influence," according to the report. The report nevertheless registered the concerns of some school officials that hosting a CI on campus would "limit events or activities critical of China," but did not offer any evidence that a CI had interfered with a school event on political basis. While the report painted an overall positive image for CIs in the United States, it included some suggestions for CIs to improve its operation, including standardizing and further disclosing the terms of cooperation between CIs and U.S. universities. The report said of the 100 or so U.S. universities that host CIs, 10 cases were studied. CIs in the United States have come under scrutiny in recent years, with some voicing concerns that the organization was "interfering with U.S. academic freedom." Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying denied such allegations, calling on relevant sides to "abandon prejudice" against CIs. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 16:20:30|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close OTTAWA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Canada is facing "an unprecedented crisis" that "cuts to the very heart of the independence" of the country's judicial system, said opposition members of parliament (MPs) during an emergency debate on Thursday evening. The debate was held in the House of Commons a day after the country's former Justice Minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould alleged that she was pressured to drop a criminal prosecution against Montreal-based construction and engineering company SNC-Lavalin. SNC-Lavalin was charged with fraud and corruption four years ago over allegations that it paid nearly 36 million U.S. dollars in bribes to officials in the government of toppled former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and defrauded Libyan organizations of an estimated 98 million dollars between 2001 and 2011. In the testimony before the justice committee of the House on Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould alleged that 11 senior government officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's top two staff members, repeatedly urged her to consider offering SNC-Lavalin a deferred prosecution agreement that would allow the company to pay a fine rather than face a criminal trial. Wilson-Raybould, who resigned from Trudeau's cabinet in early February, also mentioned that last September, Trudeau warned her that there would be dire economic and political consequences in the French-speaking province of Quebec where SNC-Lavalin is headquartered if the criminal prosecution against it proceeded. On Thursday, the prime minister continued to disagree with his former attorney general's version of events that she characterized as political interference "in the exercise of [her] prosecutorial discretion," and said that the justice committee and Canada's ethics commissioner, who is investigating the matter, "will make a determination on what actually happened." However, Conservative MPs repeated their calls for the prime minister to resign, as their leader Andrew Scheer formally requested that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police launch a criminal investigation into possible obstruction of justice in the SNC-Lavalin scandal. "Canadians cannot have a prime minister who is willing to commit a crime to protect his political interests," said Scheer, who serves as Canada's official opposition leader. The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper in Canada, broke the story in early February about alleged political interference in the SNC-Lavalin case. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 16:30:33|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close by Chen Wenxian JERUSALEM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Israel Post's largest sorting center, located in the outskirts of Israeli central city of Modi'in, is busy dealing with cross-border online packages every day, about half of which are originated from China's AliExpress. As more and more Israelis are fond of cross-border online shopping, packages arriving in Israel are rising rapidly. Statistics from the Israel Post shows that about 65 million cross-border e-commerce packages were delivered in Israel in 2018, and around half of which were orders from AliExpress, which is owned and operated by Alibaba Group in China. The Modi'in sorting center, put into operation in April 2017, has a total acreage of 13,000 square meters and is about 10 kilometers away from the Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport. The center now is the biggest site in Israel being responsible for sorting cross-border online packages, most of which are of 2 kilograms or less in weight. AliExpress is one of the most popular cross-border online shopping platforms for Israelis, said Noy Kedem, vice president of Communication and Public Affairs in Israel Post. The Israelis like China's Singles' Day and they could make about 4 million orders in one day, while Israel has only more than 8 million population, Kedem told Xinhua. "This is the most exciting day and it is like an Israeli holiday." China's Singles' Day refers to November 11 and the day is repurposed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba as the "November 11 Global Shopping Festival." Currently, it has become the world's largest online shopping event. For Israeli orders, the leading categories include clothing and footwear, housewares, kitchen accessories, gadgets, electronics and computers, vitamins and cosmetics. In the Modi'in sorting center, packages of different sizes with the tags of "China Post" are seen everywhere. According to Kedem, packages originating from China's AliExpress are not delivered directly from China to Israel and these packages are sent via airports mainly in Europe instead. That is why Israelis have to wait for at least two or three weeks and even longer, said Kedem, adding that it is worthy waiting because goods from China are cheaper and high quality and the delivery is free. There are 14 gates in the Modi'in sorting center. After packages arrive at the center, they will be carried by automotive transmission belts and then be scanned and sorted according to cities and districts. The whole process now usually takes two to three hours, said Amos Ben-Atia, director of the Israel Post Sorting Center at Modi'in. Employees in the center are working from 7am to 8:30 pm in two shifts, but the trucks are working 6 days a week, 20 hours a day. With the rapid increase of cross-border online packages, the center will put robots into operation to further improve productivity in the future. "I love shopping from AliExpress, the same to my children," said Aaron Mor, an employee of the center, told Xinhua. He said he just ordered a welding mask from China. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 16:45:38|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Bai Xu, Yue Dongxing and Pan Xiangyue CANBERRA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy is shifting toward more sustainable and high-quality growth, Jane Golley, associate professor at the Australian National University and acting director of the Australian Center on China in the World, said. Inevitable economic slowdown is actually positive for the Chinese economy, shifting it toward a more sustainable and high-quality growth, Golley told Xinhua in an interview. "Six percent or even 5 percent of growth is ... not only acceptable, but places China as one of the highest growing countries in the world," she said. Golley also gave positive comments on the economic measures taken by the Chinese government, like the supply-side reform. "If the supply-side reform means improving the quality of labor and capital inputs, along with updating technology and improving regulations, then lots of positive things can come from it," she said. "As an example, efforts to slow down the growth of credit to state enterprises and local governments will help to reduce China's debt problems. That will be great for the Chinese economy and for the rest of the world as well," she added. Golley also noted that promoting and expanding green economy would be compatible with China's domestic goals of reducing its emissions, which would also be fantastic for the global environment. Talking about the structural transformation and industrial upgrading, she viewed it as a natural consequence of economic growth and development. "Rising income in China boosts their demand for imports from the rest of the world, including tourism and education in Australia, two of our biggest exports to China apart from agricultural and mining sectors. So there are lots of benefits of industry upgrading, both within China and abroad," Golley said. Last year marked the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. "These four decades have been the most dramatic transition that any economy has experienced in modern history," Golley said. "It has so many win-win stories to tell." However, she recognized nowadays as a difficult time, with "a lot more tension in the global economy, and also significant internal challenges in China." "So it's a really pivotal time for the Chinese government to implement policies and find ways to make the most of global economy and to continue to ensure win-win outcomes in the future as well," she said. Golley hoped that China could still "be committed to a global trading system and to the principles of free trade that have underpinned China's and the rest of the world's prosperity in the past." In order to enhance connectivity among countries and regions, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, which "has potential to transform the global economic landscape not only in China's favor, but also in favor of the regions where Chinese-led infrastructure development creates new access to new markets and potentially triggers sustainable growth into the future," Golley said. Last year Victoria became the first Australian state to sign a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative with China. And the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement was fully implemented on Jan. 1 this year, which means that key exports from Australia including wine, fruit and vegetables, seafood and some dairy products would no longer cop a tariff in China, making Australian products more attractive for Chinese consumers. China's national legislature is expected to review a draft law on facilitation and protection of foreign investment at its annual session later this month. The new law, pledging to better protect foreign investors, presents a win-win situation and is likely to attract more foreign investment, Golley said. "That's an example of an excellent supply-side reform," she said. Golley also suggested that China should "stay on the course to allow slower but higher quality, greener and more equitable growth." "That is going to be the best thing possible for the Chinese people," she said. "It's still going to benefit the rest of the world if we can find ways to cooperate and to compromise with each other as we move ahead into a new global future." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 16:45:40|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CHICAGO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chief Judge James Shadid of U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois on Thursday signed an order, ruling the trial of missing Chinese visiting scholar Zhang Yingying's case will begin on June 3 and the court will begin mailing summonses to potential jurors on March 4. By dedlaying the trial date originally scheduled for April, Judge Shadid has accommodated the interests of both the defense and the prosecution. For the defense, the continuance has mitigated any potential prejudice to Defendant Brendt Christensen stemming from his counsel's mistakes; for the prosecution, it has allowed Attorney Nelson to attend to another capital case set to begin on Oct. 1. Nelson, a trial attorney with the Justice Department's Capital Case Section, is one of the leading prosecutors in Zhang's case. Moreover, a long continuance of the matter would not accommodate the interests of the victim's family, as they have already been inconvenienced by the change of venue. Shadid granted an intra-district transfer of the trial of Zhang's case from the Urbana Division to the Peoria Division for further proceedings in December 2018. Being aware of the victim's family's preference for a trial date prior to the two-year anniversary of Zhang's kidnapping, fixing the trial date on June 3, 2019 may be a small consolation to the victim's family, and reduce the time between the guilt and penalty phase, thus further reducing inconvenience to the victim's family, the order said. Wang Zhidong, legal advisor to Zhang's family, told Xinhua that though there is a probability that the trial of the case will be further extended, this should be the last time. Zhang's family was indignant at the continuance of the trial, but felt certain relief over the judge's consideration for them, Wang said. They hope justice will be done. Zhang, 26, went missing on June 9, 2017, after getting into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease. Brendt Christensen was arrested on June 30, 2017, after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor. On July 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that Christensen remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 16:55:45|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close LONDON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Confidence in the Chinese economy remains strong although its slowdown has given rise to some worries, businessmen who have kept observing China's economic development for long have said. "Sometimes a growth slowdown is healthy. Look at the history of the U.S., especially before 2009, we grew quickly until the point we have a consumer deposit crisis," said Chris Riebold, president of ParianBlack and former Chief Credit & Risk officer of Cisco Systems Capital from America. Last year, China's economy grew 6.6 percent year-on-year despite global challenges. It was lower than the 6.8-percent growth registered in 2017, but was still above the official target of around 6.5 percent. Riebold has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in over 100 countries including China. He urged rationality in understanding China's economic growth, saying that China's economy develops with a higher level of consumption. "A lot of people are looking at China's growth rate. It may have caused some anxiety to them," Farid Haque, co-founder and chief operating officer of AssetVault, a start-up company in London. "But look at that number, it's still huge compared to that of other countries," he said. According to Riebold, the slowdown in China's economic growth was mainly due to the fact that it is in a period of transition. "China moved from supplying the world with low-value goods 20 years ago to providing high-value goods, service and technology both in China and to other parts of the world," he said. "China is doing the right thing" in transforming its economy into a greener, innovative and sustainable one, he said. "China has a comparative advantage in AI (artificial intelligence), deep learning and big data to boost its economy in the future," Riebold said, adding that five yeas from now, there is a good chance for China to lead in these fields since it has more resources to leverage these technologies. Riebold recalled the time when he visited China, he saw wind farms and a lot of green energy the government is putting in place. "Things are happening" in China, he said. "I can see people have incentive to do things that are better for the environment in China," Haque echoed, stressing that he was impressed by "China's leadership and ambition to grow sustainably" and it's exciting to see "there is opportunity to change things more sustainably." Both Haque and Riebold voiced confidence in the future development of China's economy, believing that there will be a fair trade agreement between China and the United States. "There is no question that China is dependent on U.S. and U.S. is dependent on China ... so if the trade discussions go well, both countries will benefit. The two countries have to come to a good fair deal for going forward. We have to work together," Riebold said. He added that the Chinese government is capable of making decisions very quickly and can plan in advance than many other governments in the world. "The Chinese government reacts more quickly to catch up with the fast change of the market than any other governments do," he said. Haque added that the strength of the Chinese economy also lies in a vast group of Chinese enterprises striving for innovation and an enormous domestic market. "The government has an important role to play, but people and enterprises have an important role to play in job creation and in stimulating innovation too." "There are so many opportunities to explore," Haque added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 17:00:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday that he would not attend the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in protest of the participation of Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj. The United Arab Emirate (UAE), which is hosting the meeting in Abu Dhabi, had invited Indian foreign minister as a guest to the two-day meet scheduled to begin Friday. Pakistan is a founding member of the 57-member organization. Reports suggested the Indian minister arrived in Abu Dhabi Friday morning to take part in the inaugural plenary. Qureshi, speaking at the joint session of the parliament in the capital Islamabad, said he would not join the OIC meeting. However, a lower level Pakistani delegation will attend in order to present Pakistan's resolutions. Qureshi told the parliament that the Pakistani delegation at the OIC meeting would also staunchly oppose any move to grant observer status to India at the OIC. "India is neither a member of OIC, nor it has any observer status to the group," the Pakistani foreign minister informed the lawmakers. The joint session of the parliament was summoned to review the ongoing tension with India. Qureshi said he contacted twice the OIC after the Pulwama incident to urge it to withdraw the invitation to India's foreign minister. Tensions between the two neighbors have been running high after the Feb. 14 suicide attack in Pulwama in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which killed over 40 Indian paramilitary troopers. New Dehli pointed finger at Islamabad for the attack, but the latter had denied the allegations. On Tuesday Indian air force aircraft crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed area of Kashmir and claimed to have carried out airstrikes at militant camps. In response, Pakistan said Wednesday that its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets inside Pakistani airspace and ground troops arrested a pilot of the destroyed aircraft. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that Pakistan will release the detained Indian pilot on Friday for the sake of peace and de-escalation of tensions between the two neighbors. Icelandic English Skeljungur hf.s Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday March 26, 2019 at 16:00 pm at Hilton Reykjavik Nordica hotel, Suurlandsbraut 2, 108 Reykjavik in meeting room D. Enclosed is the meeting announcement, proposals for the meeting and the Nomination Committee s report. All documents for the AGM can be found on the companys website: https://www.skeljungur.is/annualgeneralmeeting2019 For further information please contact Hendrik Egholm, CEO, investors@skeljungur.is , tel: +354-444-3000 / +354-840-3002. * * * Skeljungur is an energy company with operations in Iceland and in the Faroe Islands. Skeljungur sells fuel and oil to consumers and businesses in fisheries, agriculture, transportation, aviation and construction under the brands Skeljungur, Orkan and OrkanX. The company also sells fertilizer and other chemical products. In Iceland the Company runs 65 gas stations and 4 oil depots. Magn P/F, Skeljungurs subsidiary in the Faroe Islands, runs 11 retail and gas-stations and 2 oil depots. Magn also serves and sells oils for house heating to individuals and companies in the Faroe Islands. Skeljungurs goal is to serve the energy needs of consumers and businesses in an efficient and safe way and in harmony with the environment. www.skeljungur.is Please find us on Linkedin . Attachments Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 17:36:09|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close NAIROBI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya announced that it plans film exports to China in a bid to expand the local creative sector, a senior government official said on Thursday evening. Joe Mucheru, cabinet secretary of the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology, told journalists in Nairobi that Kenya is exploring co-production opportunities with the Chinese film sector in order to develop films that will appeal to Chinese audiences. "We have put in place structures that will help Kenya's film sector grow by developing high quality films that will reach the massive Chinese market," Mucheru said during the launch of the jury for the National Scriptwriting Competition. Mucheru also said Kenya hopes to showcase local films during the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in China in April this year. The government official revealed that showing Kenyan films abroad will help promote the country as a tourist destination. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 18:21:21|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close WINDHOEK, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Implementation of the outcomes of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has already started in different parts of the African continent, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Namibia said on Thursday. Speaking at the fourth annual Theo Ben-Gurirab lecture series at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, Yang Jun said China is driving a win-win engagement with Africa hinged on sectors including infrastructure development, health, education, and tourism development. "China pledged to support Africa in infrastructure development through partnership with all African countries. China is also keen on people-to-people exchange through interaction on different platforms," he said. Yang emphasized that China views Namibia and Africa in general as equal partners in fostering development and combating terrorism. He added that the Belt and the Road Initiative proposed by China will go a long way in improving cooperation and relations between China and Africa. "The initiatives of Namibia to attain Harambee Prosperity Plan are in line with China's drive to grow the China-Namibia cooperation," he said. He added that China has provided a total of 2.8 billion Namibian dollars (about 200 million U.S. dollars) to drive developmental projects to Namibia in the past few years through partnership on road, rail, harbor, agriculture, education, health care and other projects. "The year 2018 signaled the growth of trade between Namibia and China," he said, adding that in 2018, China exceeded South Africa as an export destination for Namibia, with Namibia's exports to China reaching about 500 million U.S. dollars. He said China-Namibia cooperation is people-centered and hinges on a strong background built over many years when China helped Namibia fight colonialism against imperialist. Speaking at the same event Namibia's Deputy Prime Minister and International Relations minister, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah applauded China as an all-weather friend. She said the corporation between China and Namibia is hinged on principles of a win-win cooperation. "The engagement with China through FOCAC allows African countries to engage on principles that re-affirm our key developmental plans," she said. Nandi-Ndaitwah added that key implementation of projects driven by the two countries is essential for growing the relations between the two countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 18:26:24|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's job market remained active after the Chinese New Year holiday as the economy showed signs of picking up. Unique visitors on domestic online marketplace 58.com's mobile recruitment platform reported a 45-percent growth for Feb. 11-20 period year on year, according to a report released by the country's largest classified advertisements platform. The report also showed growing interest in changing jobs, as resume applications also rose nearly 40 percent year on year during this period. Data from 58.com revealed that Beijing had the strongest demand for workers after the Spring Festival holiday, followed by Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Hefei, an eastern Chinese city, posted the fastest growth in recruitment thanks to its pro-employment policies released at the end of 2018. Ordinary workers and technicians were the most wanted professions, indicating recovery of the manufacturing sector, the report showed. Salespeople came the second in recruitment demand, reflecting growing business expansion plans of many firms. Official data showed Thursday that market demand in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors is gaining momentum, with rising February sub-indices for new orders and production and operation expectations. 58.com, also known as China's Craigslist, raked in 13.13 billion yuan (about 1.9142 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue last year, up 30.5 percent year on year, the company announced Friday. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 18:56:30|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Death toll from Thursday evening's deadly car bombing attack at Somali capital has risen to 36 while the injured stood at 60 people, officials said on Friday. Police officer Hussein Ali told Xinhua said most of the deceased are civilians. Some of the victim's bodies were trapped in debris; others died in the hospital where they had been rushed for treatment. "The latest reports we are getting from the car bomb attack at Maka Al-Mukarama road is that it left 36 people dead and 60 others injured, we are still looking for the missing ones," Ali said. The police officer added that the attackers had been subdued as the government forces on Friday managed to end the siege on Hotel Makkah Al-Mukaramah which was the scene of gun battle between the militants and Somali troops. The massive blast which could be felt in various parts of the city took place near the Hotel Makkah Al-Mukaramah at the busy road of Maka Al-Mukarama. Police said the truck loaded with explosives went off, destroying several buildings along the road. "Many security forces are at the scene and we could hear gunfire at the hotel of Makkah Al-Mukaramah," a witness, Asad Jayte, told Xinhua. The attack began with explosives, causing massive destruction of the buildings nearby and burning of business centers around the hotel. The al-Qaida linked group al-Shabab claimed the responsibility for the attack, saying that it targeted the Hotel Makkah Al-Mukaramah which is popular with politicians and government officials along with high profile businessmen. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 19:06:34|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close GUIYANG, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The spring job-hunting season may have begun, but Liu Xiaoqing is in no hurry to find a job. "It is useless to worry, and we must take our time," said Liu, an undergraduate at Southwest Minzu University in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. In 2019, China expects a record 8.34 million college graduates, 140,000 more than last year and 26 percent higher than a decade ago, data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) showed. However, an increasing number of Chinese graduates are embracing diverse job choices. Only 45.89 percent of this year's new graduates have participated in more than two on-campus recruiting events, while 70 percent of undergraduates said they have been preparing for the postgraduate admission test, according to the latest survey conducted by Yingjiesheng.com, a leading job recruitment platform for new graduates. Jiang Qing'an, a graduate student from the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, is one of the calm ones. "I need to consider payment, welfare, career development and personal interest, so I don't expect to find a dream job very soon," said Jiang. Liu Wenjun, a post-graduate at Anhui University, is also in no hurry to find a job. She has just given up an offer to be a college teacher. "The salary (of the college teacher position) was not satisfactory, and I plan to keep looking for a job while taking the doctoral examination after finishing my graduation thesis," Liu said. A total of 2.9 million people have applied for the national entrance examinations for postgraduate studies of 2019, a record high and about 520,000 more than last year, official data showed. "Most of the graduating students are the only child in their families," said Chen Yi, an instructor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law. "They have good financial conditions and pay more attention to how they feel rather than being pressured to find jobs." "The situation reflects the fact that more diverse choices are available to the post-1995 generation," Chen said. Meanwhile, choices of whether to work in first-tier cities or second- and third-tier cities are becoming increasingly difficult to make among the new graduates. "I used to think that working in my hometown would be much less stressful, but now I face the same fierce competition," said Chen Xiaoli at Sichuan University. Chen hails from the southwestern province of Guizhou, a landlocked area long suffering from talent outflows. But local authorities are attracting job seekers with increasingly improving infrastructure and industrial upgrades. Many graduates find favorable policies launched by non-first-tier cities very attractive. The policies include home subsidies and the hukou, or resident permits. Meanwhile, first-tier cities offer more opportunities and better career development. Shang Jiaojiao, a graduate student from the Southwest University of Political Science and Law, is struggling to make a decision about her future workplace. While finding the talent-attracting policies quite tempting, she still believes that first-tier cities have obvious advantages. "There are more opportunities in first-tier cities, which is better for long-term development," she said. China will carry out a series of plans to direct more graduates to less developed areas, Qiu Xiaoping, the MHRSS's vice minister, said in January. "It's hard for our society to provide enough jobs as we would like to," said Cheng De'an, a professor with Southwest University of Political Science and Law, adding that various statistics show that it would not be easy for graduates to find jobs with a smile in 2019. Cheng believes that graduates should find the right self-positioning. "Graduates should have a comprehensive judgment of their interests and abilities to enhance their competitiveness in finding jobs," he said. "Finding a job does not happen overnight, and the process is an opportunity for job hunters to reset their mind," Cheng added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 19:11:35|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close NANCHANG, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in east China's Jiangxi Province have called for prudent investment in automobile projects amid a weak auto market. More efforts will be made to avoid blind investment and misconduct in new auto facilities, particularly in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector, according to a circular issued by the provincial development and reform commission. The circular ordered local governments not to roll out preferential tax, funding and land policies for auto investment projects, as it went against the rules of the market economy and affected market competition. Local governments also are forbidden to help win approvals for new auto investment projects using misconduct, including investment split-offs, information cover-ups and false application information. The auto industry in Jiangxi has seen good growth in recent years, triggering high enthusiasm for auto investment, particularly in the NEV sector, it said. China's auto sales, however, dropped last year as a slowdown in the economy dent consumer spending. China sold 28.08 million autos last year, down 2.76 percent year on year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The NEV industry was a bright spot, with annual NEV sales surging 61.74 percent year-on-year to 1.26 million units last year. Despite strong growth spurred by government policy support in recent years, there are worries that overheated investment in the NEV sector could trigger excess capacity in the future. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 19:11:35|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close MACAO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The number of Macao's Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition (MICE) events went up by 46 year-on-year to 1,427 in 2018, as participants and attendees reached 2.12 million, up by 11.6 percent, the special administrative region (SAR)'s statistic service said on Friday. The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the participants of meetings and conferences totalled 296,000, up by 20.5 percent year-on-year. The average duration of the meetings and conferences went down by 0.2 day year-on-year to 1.4 days, whereas total floor area used expanded by 40.5 percent to 1,698,000 square meters. The number of exhibition attendees rose by 10.0 percent year-on-year to 1,769,000 in 2018, with 1,486,000 attendees recorded in the 53 exhibitions organized by non-government organizations. The average duration of the exhibitions remained the same year-on-year, at 3.4 days, and the floor area increased by 15.2 percent to 347,000 square meters. The incentives attracted 56,000 participants, an increase of 17.7 percent year-on-year. Their average duration dropped by 0.5 day to 2.6 days, whereas total floor area used rose by 13.5 percent to 388,000 square meters. In 2018, there were 5,618 exhibitors participating in the exhibitions, with 25.4 percent of them coming from the mainland and 39.6 percent from Macao. Professional visitors totaled 98,000 and 54.1 percent of them were local visitors. As regards the exhibitions organized by non-government organizations, there were 3,204 exhibitors and the majority of them were from Macao SAR (46.3 percent) and Hong Kong SAR (27.9 percent). These exhibitions attracted 77,000 professional visitors, most of whom were from Macao (58.7 percent). According to the information provided by the 2,612 interviewed exhibitors, 97.7 percent of their revenue were generated from sales of products. Meanwhile, rental paid for exhibition booths, decoration and construction constituted 55.5 percent and 29.7 percent of their expenditure respectively. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 19:16:36|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the Mogadishu bombings on Thursday evening has risen to 17 while 60 others sustained injuries, a policeman said. Police officer Aden Afrah told Xinhua on Friday morning that the blast occurred near the Hotel Makkah Al-Mukaramah at the Somali capital's busy road of Maka Al-Mukarama, where al-Shabab detonated a truck laden with explosives, engaging the hotel's security guards in a gunfight. "More bodies were found under the rubble and the death toll is 17 people. We are making efforts to help those missing," the officer said. Afrah added that a number of gunmen gained entry into a building near the hotel, and security forces were still exchanging gunfire early Friday with suspected al-Shabab militants to subdue them. Pictures from the site showed massive destruction with vehicles burning as the busy Maka Al-Mukarama street turned into a horror scene. Security forces worked round the clock to rescue several civilians who were trapped inside the building where the al-Shabab is still holed up. Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance Service, said that the rescue is ongoing but there are some people still under the collapsed building, including women and children. "We increased the number of our rescue teams and ambulances operating on the scene to respond quickly to calls from the injured civilians at Maka Al-Mukarama road in Mogadishu," said Abdirahman. A witness told Xinhua the explosion ripped through nearby structures and the reverberation could be felt from a distance. "This was one of the most powerful explosions in Mogadishu. Several structures were destroyed around the street," said Salad Sheikh, who witnessed the incident. The massive blast which could be felt in various parts of the city happened at around 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Thursday. Police said the truck loaded with explosives detonated, destroying several buildings along the road. The al-Qaida affiliated group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the latest attack, saying that it targeted the Hotel Makkah Al-Mukaramah, which is popular with politicians and government officials as well as high-profile businessmen. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 19:27:03|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Kong Wenqing rings the bell to signal beginning of class in Huashan Village, Yiyang County, central China's Henan Province, on Feb. 28, 2019. In recent years, as villagers gradually move out of the mountain area, there are only one teacher and three students left in Huashan Village by the new semester of 2019. Kong Wenqing, who has been engaged in teaching career for 36 years here, is in charge of almost all affairs including administration, accounting, cooking and cleaning in the school. The teacher gave up the opportunity to be a headmaster in another school in 2006 and chose to continue teaching in Huashan Village because he believes students here need him more. Though only a small number of students are left, Kong Wenqing just spares no effort to tutor them. He has reached the age of retirement, but he intends to be re-hired and continue teaching as long as there are still school-age children at school. (Xinhua/Li Jianan) Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 19:46:43|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen (R, front) and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian (L, front) attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital in Tboung Khmum province, Cambodia, on March 1, 2019. Cambodia on Friday broke ground for the construction of Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital here. Speaking at the event, Hun Sen expressed his profound gratitude to China for providing grant aid to Cambodia for the project, saying that it is crucial to improve wellbeing for rural Cambodian people. (Xinhua/Li Lay) TBOUNG KHMUM, Cambodia, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday broke ground for the construction of Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital here. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian presided over the ceremony held in Tboung Khmum district in Tboung Khmum province. Speaking at the event, Hun Sen expressed his profound gratitude to China for providing grant aid to Cambodia for the project, saying that it is crucial to improve wellbeing for rural Cambodian people. "This is a large hospital, which is a new achievement in Tboung Khmum province," Hun Sen said, adding that "China's aid is very important to support the Cambodian government's social protection policy in providing free medical services, especially for pregnant women." Meanwhile, Wang said when the construction of the hospital is completed, China will also send doctors to help train their Cambodian counterparts so as to provide a more efficient treatment for patients. "We hope that this hospital will become a bridge connecting the friendship between China and Cambodia," he said. Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng said the 300-bed hospital, to be built on the land area of 24,300 square meters, will be equipped with high-technology medical equipment. "It will become a regional hospital that will also provide medical services to people in neighboring Kratie, Rattanakiri, Stung Treng and Mondulkiri provinces," he said. EASTPHARMA LTD. London, 1 March 2019 - EastPharma (EAST LI) informs that it will be releasing its audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018 and a review of its main subsidiary DEVA Holding's audited financial statements for the related period on 8 March 2019. A conference call to review the financial performance for the year ended 31 December 2018 will be hosted by the management of EastPharma at 12:00-noon London time on 11 March 2019 (08:00am New York time / 01:00-pm Zurich time / 03:00pm Istanbul time). The dial-in details are provided below. Conference call: Dial-in Number (UK): +44 (0) 2071 928501 Dial-in Number (US): 19177200181 Dial-in Number (Switzerland): 0445806085 Dial-in Number (Germany): 030221533116 Conference ID: 4677714 For further information, please contact: Investor Relations: email: ir@eastpharma.com EastPharma Ltd - a company active in the manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products in Turkey and in other regional markets; for further information please visit www.eastpharma.com. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 19:56:46|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING/GUANGZHOU, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The world's attention is on China as the country is to open its most important annual political meetings next week, known as the "two sessions." Foreign business leaders, observers and China watchers have expressed high hopes of seeing a more open China during the meetings and look forward to greater opportunities its development will bring to the world. Harley Seyedin, president of American Chamber of Commerce in South China, said foreign businesses in China would keep a close eye on the discussion of the draft of foreign investment law, as it will "create a level playing field where everyone can participate," once it is adopted and enforced. "It will help China open up more," Seyedin said. A draft of China's foreign investment law will be submitted to the upcoming plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC), which is scheduled to open on March 5. Seyedin noted that foreign businesses in China have already sensed a positive signal last year, with the shortened negative list, and have confidence investing in China, fueled by the country's efforts to protect intellectual property rights. Mizumoto Shinji, president of Hitachi Elevator (China), said the anticipated adoption of the foreign investment law will help build a more law-based business environment in China. "China's business environment has greatly improved in recent years," said Mizumoto. "We hope that China will further ease its management of foreign capital, so as to create a more stable, transparent and predictable investment environment." Once adopted, the unified foreign investment law will become a basic law in the field, replacing three existing laws on Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, non-equity joint ventures (or contractual joint ventures) and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. Pablo Rovetta Dubinsky, general manager of Spanish firm Tecnicas Reunidas's China branch, said the law would help dispel misgivings among some foreign businesses over China's determination to open up further. "The foreign investment law to be discussed at the annual legislative session will mark a new beginning in China's opening-up to the world," Rovetta said. "It is a clear demonstration of China's resolve to open up." In an interview with Xinhua ahead of the "two sessions," Argentine ambassador to China Diego Ramiro Guelar hailed China's spirit of cooperation as the country has been expanding its presence in commerce and investment across the globe. "Compared to some western countries, China has a much more open attitude toward sharing and transferring its technology, which, in my opinion, is the core spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative," Guelar said. The ambassador added that as a region, Latin America had established a close association and mutual trust with China, and was keen to maintain the robust cooperation. Khalifa Mohammed Alkhorafi, the consul-general of the State of Kuwait in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, expressed hope that the upcoming "two sessions" would send more positive signals on the Chinese economy. He added that Kuwait, which is strategically situated in the Persian Gulf region, would provide a lot of business opportunities for Chinese companies. "There is a very strong relationship between China and Kuwait. There will be many big projects coming soon," he said. Lusa news agency reporter Joao Pimenta said that China's economic achievements and its efforts on poverty alleviation had impressed the world. "More and more Chinese families are enjoying a relatively comfortable life. China has also made remarkable achievements in poverty reduction in the process of reform and opening-up," Pimenta said. Diego Garcia, a Brazilian expert with China Radio International, believes that the international community is paying more attention to China's diplomacy in global affairs. "China is playing a constructive role on international issues, especially those concerning developing countries," Garcia said. "In particular, the Belt and Road Initiative and the China International Import Expo have served the interests of many developing countries." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 20:01:49|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The first phase of Hengyi Industries' oil refinery and petrochemical plant at Brunei's Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) will be put into operation by the end of this year, Haji Mat Suny, the country's minister of energy, manpower and industry has said. The 3.4-billion-U.S.-dollar refinery was 78 percent complete and is expected to contribute 1.33 billion U.S. dollars to Brunei's GDP in the first year, the minister said in his welcoming remarks to Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and senior minister at the prime minister's office during his visit to PMB on Thursday. Hengyi Industries is a joint venture between China's Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Damai Holdings, a subsidiary under Brunei government's Strategic Development Capital Fund, owning 70 percent and 30 percent respectively. Hengyi's investment into PMB is the largest foreign direct investment into Brunei from China in recent years, which is expected to help Brunei upgrade its industries and alleviate its dependency on oil export, as well as to boost economic and trade cooperation between Brunei and China. "The refinery project will create 1,665 jobs once operational, with at least 50 percent reserved for local job seekers, which will eventually increase to 90 percent in the future," the minister said. Hengyi plans to move forward with the second phase of the project by 2022, worth another 10 billion U.S. dollars in investment, Chen Liancai, chief executive officer of Hengyi Industries told Xinhua on Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 20:21:53|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday congratulated Macky Sall on his re-election as president of Senegal. "China and Senegal are good friends and partners," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a press conference, adding that China believes that Senegal will make new achievements in national development under the leadership of President Sall. Noting that China and Senegal are co-chairs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Lu said both countries shoulder the important responsibility to push forward the development of the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation. He said China stands ready to work closely with the new government of Senegal, seizing the opportunity of implementing the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, to further promote the development of China-Senegal and China-Africa friendly cooperation, and bring benefits to the peoples. Senegal's National Commission for the Census of Votes announced Thursday that the incumbent president Macky Sall was re-elected as president of the West African country, earning 58.27 percent of the vote in the presidential election held on Feb. 24. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 21:22:23|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close CHONGQING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- When assigned the New Year task from the U.S. headquarters a decade ago, Yang Jin, president of T.Y.LIN International China Engineering and Consulting Co., Ltd (T.Y.Lin China), a top engineering services branch based in the municipality of Chongqing, considered it "completely unrealistic." As far as Yang knew, the total business volume of T.Y.Lin's Chinese subsidiary in 2009 barely reached 100 million yuan (about 14.9 million U.S. dollars), but the U.S. headquarters expected the number to reach one billion yuan by 2019. In a surprise twist, T.Y.Lin China's business volume snowballed to over 2 billion yuan by 2018 with new branches in 16 provinces in addition to its Chongqing base. "Now it seems an easy target rather than just a dream, but most people would call that mission impossible 10 years ago," Yang said. The once-insignificant Chinese subsidiary has now become a major contributor to the group's global business, with an annual growth rate of more than 30 percent in the past three years. T.Y.Lin China's impressive growth was largely due to the country's continued efforts to reform and open up, especially since the central government announced its "Go West" campaign in 1999, said Yang, also a member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Yang said the company eyed the huge demand for bridges and infrastructure in China and chose Chongqing, an economic center of the upstream Yangtze River, to start the business in China. This year, Yang has high hopes for the foreign investment law scheduled for deliberation during the "two sessions," the annual sessions of China's national legislature and political advisory body in March. Yang believes the law will deliver the central government's pledge to further open up to foreign investors. Lower industry and regional barriers, as well measures to widen the market access are topics Yang pays much attention to. T.Y.Lin China and many other foreign businesses across the country have experienced blockbuster returns from China's huge market and robust growth since the reform and opening-up drive in the late 1970s. According to the American Chamber of Commerce in South China's annual white paper on China's business environment and a special report on the state of business in southern China, 240 surveyed companies, mostly foreign-funded multinational companies, have increased their 2019 China reinvestment budgets from profits by a whopping average of 37.9 percent over 2018. WIN-WIN OUTCOME Analysts say the foreign investment law, once adopted, will underpin China's economy in 2019, further creating abundant opportunities for global investors who are prepared to secure a place in the world's second largest economy. The unified law is expected to replace three existing laws on Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, non-equity joint ventures (or contractual joint ventures) and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. By the end of October 2018, nearly 950,000 foreign-funded companies had registered in China, bringing in an accumulated investment of over 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars and serving as an important driving force in China's economic and social development. However, the existing laws could hardly catch up with the changing requirements in building a new system of open economy, as noted in the eighth session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) during the second reading of the foreign investment law. The law will adopt a model of pre-establishment national treatment with a negative list, encourage equal participation in government procurement and strengthen protection of property rights of companies with foreign investment, said Zhou Mi, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. The foreign investment law would be highly significant for China to be consistent with the international practices, protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors and ensure fair competition, said Loh Jen Yuh, president of China & Investment Management of CapitaLand Group, one of Asia's largest real estate companies. "The law will reassure the foreign companies in China as policy-makers in Beijing ramp up efforts to build a better business environment for them," said Loh. BETTER BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Amid a global economic downturn and rising protectionist sentiments overseas, China remained a strong recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2018. Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show a record FDI of 885.61 billion yuan (132.27 billion U.S. dollars) flowed into China last year. In south China's Guangdong Province, a coastal region that contributes approximately over 10 percent of the country's economic output, LG Display, a major OLED display producer, built its biggest overseas factory in the provincial capital of Guangzhou last July. According to LG Display, its Guangdong factory and two other production bases in east China's Shandong and Jiangsu provinces now play a pivotal role in the global supply chain of OLED displays. "The LG group entered China as early as 1993, and has witnessed the improvement of China's investment environment over the years," said Yu Qinjiang, head of LG Display in China. China has taken a string of measures in increasing imports, reducing tax and fees, easing market access and improving business environment. "Foreign businesses in China have seen remarkable improvement of efficiency in securing permits and licenses, custom clearance and taxation. China has also enhanced its protection over intellectual property rights," Yu added. Starting from the Shanghai free trade zone (FTZ) in 2013, China has built 12 pilot zones nationwide, serving as test fields for reforms and high-level opening-up. Formerly restricted sectors such as financial services, information technology and motor vehicle manufacturing are now opening their doors to foreign firms. On Jan. 7, U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Inc. broke new ground with its Shanghai factory, becoming the first to benefit from a new policy allowing foreign carmakers to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries in China. "In the context of rising trade protectionism and economic nationalism, China's move to enact a unified foreign investment law shows its commitment to fulfilling its pledge to further opening up and to protecting the rights of foreign investors," said Xiao Yaofei, a professor with Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. "It is a clear proof of China's firm stance to support economic globalization," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:12:43|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIRUT, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Lebanon Christina Lassen said Friday that the EU is highly committed to support the security sector in Lebanon, local media reported. "We are proud to help Lebanon in fighting against terrorism while strengthening security all over the country," Lassen was quoted as saying by the National News Agency. Her remarks came during her meeting with Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab to follow up the steps that were taken within the Rome conference held last year. The two parties also highlighted the cooperation between the EU and the Lebanese Army in boosting security on the borders, improving aviation security in addition to supporting demining activities in Aarsal, Baalbek. Bou Saab and Lassen also discussed the latest developments on Lebanese southern borders, praising the role of United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in preserving security in the area. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:17:45|Editor: WX Video Player Close Palestinian medics carry a wounded man during clashes with Israeli troops on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on March 1, 2019. Dozens of Palestinian demonstrators were injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, medics said. (Xinhua/Yasser Qudih) GAZA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Palestinians joined on Friday the weekly anti-Israel rallies, better known as the Marches of Return, and clashed with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, eyewitnesses said. The Palestinian protesters gathered from all over the Gaza Strip and marches towards the border with Israel. They waved Palestinian flags, chanted slogans against Israel, burned tires and threw stones at the soldiers stationed on the border. The soldiers fired tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and live gunshots at the protesters, said the eyewitnesses. Paramedics in the area said that dozens were injured and most of them were treated in the field. The 49th week's protest in the Gaza Strip, which has been going on since March 30 last year, was organized upon the calls of the Highest Commission of the Marches of Return and Breaking the Israeli Siege. The protests on Friday were organized one day after a United Nations investigation report accused Israel of committing "war crimes" in the Gaza Strip during the weekly marches of return. The Israeli army shot and killed 260 Palestinians since last March, including 48 children and six women, and wounded more than 26,000 others, most of them were injured by live gunshots and tear gas, according to Gaza Health Ministry. Hazem Qassem, the Islamic Hamas movement's spokesman in Gaza, said in an emailed press statement that the Palestinians' insistence to carry on the protests and rallies show that "the people won't give up their demand of ending the siege." The Hamas movement is part of the highest commission of the marches of return. Its activists on Friday called on the populations through loudspeakers in the mosques to join the weekly rallies in eastern Gaza Strip. In 2007, when Hamas movement violently seized control of the coastal enclave and routed the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip. "On the coming March 30, the Palestinians will mark one year for the Marches of Return," said Qassem. He went on saying that "the Palestinian people are creative and smart enough to create new methods and means that boost their determination to achieve their goals of freedom and independence." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:22:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian police have detained three people suspected of being members of a secret cell plotting terrorist attacks in the Siberian Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district, the Interior Ministry said Friday. An investigation found that the cell members held meetings in rented apartments, where they discussed plans for attacking government and law enforcement institutions, as well as planting bombs in crowded places. Two persons detained on Feb. 15 carried with them a hand grenade and an improvised explosive device. At their apartment, police seized fuses, explosives, bomb components and a complete home-made bomb. Later, the third suspect was detained carrying with him a handgun and a picture of a local senior police officer, which indicated that an attempt on his life could have been planned. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:32:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close NANJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The four-month fishing ban, aiming to protect aquatic resources and biodiversity in China's rivers, started Friday. The annual ban, from March 1 to June 30, will cover the main streams, tributaries and lakes along major rivers including the Yangtze, Pearl and Minjiang rivers. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of east China's Jiangsu Province, working with relevant departments, launched a series of enforcement actions Friday. Nearly 30 vessels will inspect Jiangsu's main streams for at least 10 days. Zhang Jianjun, deputy director-general of the provincial agriculture and rural affairs department said that over 60,000-meter-long illegal netting tools have been cleared up, and 405 people violating fishing regulations have been penalized over the past three years. Ni Zhimin, a fisherman in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang Province, sells the fresh fish he catches in the Qiantang River every day. Ni fished for the last time on Thursday and will wait for four months, like other fishermen, until the ban is over. The Qiantang River is the largest river in Zhejiang and is known for having the world's largest tidal bore. It accommodates over 85 percent of the freshwater fish species in the province. However, fish species in the river declined from 149 in the 1970s to 122 in 2019. From Friday, the entire river basin of the Qiantang River has imposed the fishing ban for the first time. During this period, all forms of fishing activities are banned, except recreational fishing. The agricultural department and procuratorates in Fujian Province launched a series of fishing ban promotional activities in fishing villages across the province earlier on Feb. 22. The provincial department of ocean and fisheries said a fishing ban has been imposed on the Minjiang River, a major river in Fujian. Fishing activities for research purposes must be approved by local fishery departments. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:32:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close ACCRA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday congratulated Macky Sall on his re-election as President of Senegal. Senegal's National Commission for the Census of Votes announced Thursday that the incumbent president Macky Sall was re-elected as president of the West African country, earning 58.27 percent of the vote in the presidential election held on Feb. 24. "It is well-deserved, and a vindication of the trust and confidence reposed in him, and in his program of economic transformation, by the Senegalese people," Akufo-Addo said in a statement. He said Senegal had in recent years recorded strong economic growth rates and rapid infrastructural development. He expressed the hope that under Sall's leadership, Senegal will continue to reinforce its position as one of the champions of progress and prosperity in West Africa and on the African continent. "I look forward to working closely with him to enhance Ghanaian-Senegalese relations, improve the living conditions of our two peoples, advance their mutual interests, and promote the wider interests of the African peoples." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:37:52|Editor: yan Video Player Close by Xinhua Writers Wang Wen, Liu Yanan NEW YORK, March 1 (Xinhua) -- As the weight of China A-shares increases on a major global index, a step forward has been made allowing foreign investors to increase exposure to China's capital market and share in its growth dividends. Global index compiler MSCI announced Thursday it will increase the inclusion factor of China A-Shares from 5 percent to 20 percent in three steps. Upon the completion of the plan, there will be 253 large cap and 168 mid cap China A-shares, including 27 ChiNext shares, on a pro forma basis in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, representing a weight of 3.3 percent in the pro forma index. WIDER ACCESS Analysts noted the move reflected global investors' increasing recognition of China's financial market development and openness, and their urgent need to gain wider access to the mainland stock market. "The decision by MSCI is a very positive development. The benchmark provider could no longer ignore such a large equity market as the zap share market," said Jorge O. Mariscal, chief investment officer for the Emerging Markets with UBS Wealth Management. MSCI's decision marks a significant milestone for China, said Brendan Ahern, chief investment officer of the U.S. Krane Funds Advisors. He said that while China is the second largest economy globally, there has been a significant underinvestment in China from global investors. "Today's decision will rectify that underinvestment in the years to come," he said, adding that the China Securities Regulatory Commission should be congratulated for their efforts working with MSCI to make Thursday's historic decision feasible. Noting that there have been concerns about restrictions on capital flows into and out of China, Albert J. Brenner, director of assets allocation strategy with People's United Bank Wealth Management, said MSCI seems to have grown comfortable with the fact that whatever restrictions are in place right now will not prevent global investors from buying Chinese equities. The index compiler wants the composition of its index to reflect as much as possible the opportunities investors have, said Brenner, adding that whether the opportunities are good or poor based on valuations makes little difference. Allen Tjiong, President and CEO of BOC International (USA) Inc., said MSCI's decision is largely due to support from institutional investors and the progress made by China's regulators to improve market access. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said the proposal to increase the weighting had overwhelming support from investors. "The strong commitment by the Chinese regulators to continue to improve market accessibility, evidenced by, among other things, the significant reduction in trading suspensions in recent months, is another critical factor that has won the support of international institutional investors," the statement said. Thursday's announcement came after an initial inclusion of China A-shares in mid-2018. LARGE INFLOW Analysts expected the decision to be an opportunity for both global investors and China's equities market. In the next few months, the market will see a large inflow of foreign capital. Investors will gradually increase exposure to A-shares in anticipation of the staged changes in the benchmark weights over the next months, said Mariscal. "Some of this has been already anticipated, but not all of it. Thus, the announcement should provide additional support for the rally to continue in the A-share market," he said. He added that the new weight of A-Shares in MSCI Emerging Markets Index means that "more than ever, investing in Emerging Markets means investing in China." Tjiong said index or passive funds will need to invest right away as a result of the decision. The decision is expected to lead to additional 3 billion U.S. dollars in inflows to A-shares. Active funds may remain cautious on increasing investments in China until there is a resolution to the U.S.-China trade tensions and signs that economic growth is improving, said Tjiong. China's stock market will be under pressure to conform to international standards in terms of market entry, listing procedures, and corporate disclosure, among others, because its performance will directly impact global investors, said Henry Huang, associate professor of accounting at Yeshiva University. Looking forward, he said increasing international exposure of China's equities market may result in more foreign companies seeking to be listed in China. As for the investors, the inclusion of small and mid cap securities in MSCI indices will provide a more representative investment opportunity that reflects China's economic evolution, said Ahern. MSCI included 226 China large-cap A-shares on its MSCI Emerging Markets Index in June last year. Def JamOver a year after its announcement, 2 Chainz has finally gifted fans with his fifth studio album, Rap or Go to the League. The highly-anticipated record spans 14 tracks and features guest spots from Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, Chance the Rapper, and more. The effort also includes the previously released "Girls Best Friend" with Ty Dolla Sign as well as an Arianna Grande collaboration titled "Rule The World." The project serves as a follow up to 2017's Pretty Girls Like Trap Music, which earned 2 Chainz much critical acclaim and influenced the construction of his renowned pink trap house. Ahead of the album's release, early last month, the Atlanta lyricist shared a brief clip in which he elaborated the significance of the project's title as well as the social-political themes it would address. "With the height of racial tensions across America I felt I should do my part in explaining some of the brain washing formulas used in my community," he captioned the video. As previously reported, ROGTTL was a collaborative effort with LeBron James, who helped 2 Chainz select which songs made the final cut. The project is apparently the first album to be A&R'd by a professional athlete. Rap or Go to the League is now available on all streaming services. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. OAKVILLE, Ontario, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For those who take the risk of driving after consuming alcohol, cannabis and/or other drugs, there could well be no tomorrow. That is the hard-hitting and emotional message delivered in a new School Assembly Program from MADD Canada and generously supported by the PEI Liquor Control Commission (PEILCC). The program, titled No Tomorrow, educates students in Grades 7 12 about the risks and consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol, cannabis or other drugs. No Tomorrows tour of Prince Edward Island schools is being highlighted with a special screening at East Wiltshire Intermediate School on March 5. PEILCC generously sponsors 19 presentations to students and school around the province. Media are welcome to attend the screening and speak with special guests, students and staff. Date: Tuesday, March 5 at 9 a.m. Location: East Wiltshire Intermediate School, 100 Kingston Road, Cornwall, PE, C0A 1H8 Guests: The Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister responsible for the PEILCC The Honourable Jordan Brown, Minister of Education, Early Learning and Culture Dawn Regan, MADD Canada Chief Operating Officer No Tomorrow tells the story of bandmates Marcus, Corey, Trevor and Lee. After winning a contest to record a demo, they get an incredible chance to audition for a music school. Before their audition, Trevor has a few drinks. He is affected more than he thinks, and makes mistakes during the audition. Marcus is offered a spot at the school right away, and Corey and Lee are given an opportunity to re-apply next year. But Trevor, who was obviously impaired during the audition, is not offered a spot or chance to re-apply. The school has a zero tolerance policy for alcohol or drugs. Trevor storms off to the car. Marcus tries unsuccessfully to take the keys. Realizing he cant stop Trevor from driving away, Marcus jumps in the car. What happens next changes all of their lives forever. This fictional story is followed by powerful interviews with real-life victims who talk about their loved ones who were killed or seriously and permanently injured in impaired driving crashes. For more information, or to check out a clip from No Tomorrow, please visit https://madd.ca/pages/programs/youth-services/school-programs/no-tomorrow/ . To RSVP for the event or to arrange an interview with a MADD Canada spokesperson, contact: Deb Kelly, MADD Canada Communications Manager, 1-800-665-6233, ext. 240 or dkelly@madd.ca. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:37:52|Editor: yan Video Player Close MANILA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday that it has found probable cause to indict former Heath Secretary Janette Garin and several others in connection with the deaths of eight children that availed of Dengvaxia dengue vaccine. The DOJ said in a statement that prosecutors found Garin and the other respondents "exhibited 'inexcusable lack of precaution and foresight' when they facilitated, with undue haste, 'the registration and purchase of Dengvaxia' and used the vaccine in implementing a school-based dengue mass immunization program." It said the panel of prosecutors, who conducted the preliminary investigation on the deaths of children allegedly linked to the administration of the Dengvaxia vaccine, has found probable cause to indict Garin and nine other officials from the Department of Health, along with officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines and French drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur, for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide. "The panel found sufficient evidence that Garin and the other respondents circumvented various regulations in the purchase of 3.5 billion pesos worth of Dengvaxia vaccine which constituted proof of their reckless imprudence," the statement read. According to the DOJ, the panel further found that clinical trials for Dengvaxia were not yet completed when it was purchased and rolled out for use in the mass immunization program. But despite ongoing clinical trials, it said the FDA approved the vaccine's registration. If convicted, the DOJ said Garin and the other respondents face a penalty of, among others, up to six years imprisonment for each count. Dengvaxia was the first promising vaccine for dengue. The Philippine government launched a mass government-back immunization program in 2016 for public school children under then-health secretary Janette Garin and over 830,000 Philippine students got Dengvaxia. In November 2017, the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur issued an advisory warning of the risk posed by its Dengue vaccine to those without prior infection. Sanofi Pasteur said in the latest finding, the Dengue vaccine called Dengvaxia can cause a more severe dengue infection among individuals who had not been previously infected with the dengue virus. Philippine media then reported several children died due to the Dengue vaccine. Philippine lawmakers, government officials and the public blamed that the key health officials during the former administration should be responsible for the mess. China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Wu Haitao speaks after the UN Security Council failed to adopt a Russia-drafted resolution on Venezuela, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Venezuelan affairs should be decided by the Venezuelan people, a Chinese envoy said Thursday after the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a U.S.-drafted resolution on Venezuela. The U.S. draft received nine votes in favor, three against, and three abstentions. China and Russia, as well as South Africa, vetoed the resolution. "China pays close attention to the situation in Venezuela and supports the Venezuelan government in its efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty, independence and stability," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, at a Security Council emergency meeting on Venezuela. "At the Security Council, on the Venezuelan issue, our starting point is to uphold the spirit of the UN Charter and the basic principles governing international relations, promote a peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan issue and maintain long-term peace, stability and development in Latin America," the Chinese ambassador said. China opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela internal affairs and opposes military intervention in Venezuela, he stressed. "It is regrettable that the draft resolution before us is seriously inconsistent with the Chinese principal position as stated above," Wu said, adding that "China had to vote against it." "China calls upon the Venezuelan government and opposition parties to seek a political solution through dialogue and consultation within the constitutional and legal framework," the ambassador added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:57:57|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIROBI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Friday put up for sale a 25-year Treasury bond worth 50 billion shillings (about 500 million U.S. dollars) as the country seeks to raise money for infrastructure projects. The paper, whose yield is set at 12.2 percent, will be sold until March 20 and the secondary trading commences at the Nairobi Securities Exchange on March 26, the Central Bank of Kenya said on Friday. It added the yield on the paper would be tax free as the government seeks to encourage uptake of the paper. The Treasury bond is floated at a time when there is high demand for the long-term government securities, with the last offer in February worth the same value attracting a subscription of 156 percent. Kenya plans to borrow some 2.7 billion dollars from the domestic market this fiscal year to meet a budget deficit arising from depressed revenue collection, according to the central bank. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 22:58:00|Editor: yan Video Player Close OTTAWA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet Friday morning and filled the vacancy left by Jody Wilson-Raybould, who resigned as minister of veterans affairs last month over the SNC-Lavalin controversy, local media reported. Trudeau moved three ministers in the shuffle. Photo taken on Feb. 28, 2019 shows relics during a repatriation event held in the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis, capital city of state of Indiana, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) INDIANAPOLIS, the United States, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- In another sign of increasing cultural exchange, the United States announced the repatriation of 361 pieces of Chinese relics and artifacts to China at a ceremony here on Thursday. Senior officials of the two countries celebrated the repatriation at an event held in the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, capital city of the U.S. state of Indiana, where 20 pieces of relics and artifacts were on display, attracting some 100 visitors. The repatriation will bring back to China the largest batch of relics and artifacts from the United States since 2009, when the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in this regard, according to Chinese officials. Also at the event, officials from China's National Cultural Heritage Administration and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) signed and exchanged Certificate of Transfer, which formalizes the transfer of custody from the United States to China regarding these cultural relics and artifacts. Hu Bing, deputy administrator of China's National Cultural Heritage Administration, said at the ceremony that these relics and artifacts are an inseparable part of China's cultural heritage. Hu said that the repatriation is the fruit of the long-term cooperation between the United States and China, and will further enhance the trust and understanding between the two peoples, as the two nations celebrate the 40th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties. Photo taken on Feb. 28, 2019 shows relics during a repatriation event held in the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis, capital city of state of Indiana, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The Chinese senior official added that the repatriation will also set a great example for global relics preservation efforts as it represents respect for international rules as well as for native nations' culture and history. China appreciates U.S. efforts in relics repatriation, and expects further cooperation with the U.S. side on relics preservation and information sharing, law enforcement against looting and smuggling, as well as people-to-people exchange, so as to help promote more fair international practices and facilitate global cultural exchanges, he added. Minister of the Chinese Embassy in the United States Li Kexin also hailed the U.S. commitment, extending "special appreciation" to the FBI and the U.S. State Department for their cooperation with China and hard work to repatriate the relics and artifacts to their native country. "You have shown the best virtue of integrity of the American people," he said, adding "I believe this must have been done with tremendous efforts, for its scale and complexity." "This repatriation is a good example and a gift to the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and the United States. I believe it will resonate very positively in China," he added. Deputy Administrator of China's National Cultural Heritage Administration Hu Bing (2nd L), Minister of the Chinese Embassy to the United States Li Kexin (1st R), Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Aleisha Woodward (1st L) view relics on display during a repatriation event held in the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis, capital of state of Indiana, the United States, on Feb. 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The Chinese officials told Xinhua that these repatriated relics and artifacts, found by the FBI's Indianapolis office in April 2014, were allowed to be sent back to China thanks to the five-year cooperation among the U.S. State Department, the FBI, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration and Embassy in the United States. The repatriation is the first of its kind since the two countries re-signed the MoU in January this year, and the third-time effort since China and the United States first signed the document in 2009. In recent years, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration has worked and secured the return of over 4,000 pieces of relics through diplomatic, judicial and consultation channels, among others. The repatriation of China's relics and artifacts marks the U.S.-China win-win collaboration in this regard, U.S. officials, including U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Policy Aleisha Woodward and chief of FBI's Transnational Organized Crime Section, Kristi Johnson, said at the ceremony. The U.S. side will continue its partnership with China in accordance with the MoU, so as to contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage shared by all human beings, they added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:08:04|Editor: zh Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Front R) meets with Christian Braun, a co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on UN Security Council reform, also permanent representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations, in Beijing, capital of China, March 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on Friday with Christian Braun, a co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on UN Security Council reform. Wang said that currently, unilateralism is on the rise and the multilateral mechanism is under attack, and therefore people should strongly support the United Nations to play its due role. Noting that it is necessary for the United Nations to keep pace with the times, promote reforms and improve efficiency, Wang said reform of the UN Security Council should aim to increase the representation and voice of developing countries and small and medium-sized countries, truly reflecting international fairness and justice. Wang expected all parties to conduct democratic consultations to realize comprehensive consensus, to help ensure that the reform of the UN Security Council conforms to the purposes of the UN Charter and the common interests of all UN members. Braun, also permanent representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations, said he agreed that the reform of the UN Security Council should be a gradual process with inclusiveness and transparency and should be advanced on the right track in line with the common aspirations of UN members. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:08:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supports his "friend," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who faces immense pressure to step down as the country's leader. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov conveyed President Vladimir Putin's words of support for and solidarity with Maduro Friday during talks with visiting Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. "Venezuela is a strategic partner of Russia ... We work very closely with your state and coordinate actions in the international arena," Lavrov told Rodriguez. Venezuela is undergoing "a frontal offensive and a shameless interference" in its internal affairs, and Russia categorically opposes such attempts and upholds the ideals, norms and principles of the UN Charter, Lavrov said. "We support the steps of the government of President Nicolas Maduro aimed at solving social and economic issues," the Russian top diplomat said. At a joint press conference following their talks, Rodriguez said Venezuela will continue to strengthen relations with Russia and expand bilateral cooperation. She said both countries expect to sign new deals on top of the existing 264 agreements at a meeting of the Russian-Venezuelan intergovernmental commission in April. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the day that Putin did not plan to meet Rodriguez due to his tight schedule. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:08:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday urged Australia to abandon ideological bias and provide an environment of fair competition for Chinese companies. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a routine press briefing when asked to comment on media reports that Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne had reiterated keeping Chinese telecoms giant Huawei out of Australia's 5G network infrastructure even if the United States softens its stance on Huawei. China expressed grave concern over this statement, Lu said. He said the Chinese government has consistently encouraged Chinese companies to carry out economic cooperation overseas in accordance with international rules and local laws, and had never supported any enterprises to engage in activities that harm national security of other countries. Instead of setting obstacles under various pretexts and taking discriminatory practices, the Australian side should facilitate cooperation between enterprises from both countries, he said. When asked whether a test on imported coal taken by China was related with recent tension between China and Australia due to issues including 5G infrastructure, Lu said it was "completely normal" for China to take such a test. "Chinese customs have carried out inspection and analysis on risks of the imported coal and taken appropriate operations according to laws and regulations," said Lu, adding that it was the Chinese government's duty to maintain the safety and interests of the Chinese people. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:13:06|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIROBI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's affordable housing program is set to inject 2.6 trillion shillings (26 billion U.S. dollars) into the economy by 2022, a senior government official. James Macharia, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, told journalists in Nairobi that the housing program will also double the contribution of real estate and construction to gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 7 percent to 14 percent in the next four years. "Investment in housing and related infrastructure and services has a multiplier effect of seven times on the national income, triggered by forward and backward linkages through additional investments in building materials production, transportation and marketing," Macharia said during a forum in Nairobi. In the last quarter of 2018, the ministry released a framework of guidelines on the implementation of the affordable housing scheme in Kenya that outlines the housing project's financing, cost and design, quality and affordability as well as a clear road map for public and private-sector involvement. Macharia said that housing is one of the principal sectors that can revitalize economic growth and a key driver of development. He also emphasized that for the government to meet the target of delivering 500,000 affordable and social housing within the stipulated time, adequate financing is required. "This calls for concerted efforts from all actors in the housing sector to collaborate in the provision of housing in the country to meet the current deficit of 1.85 million housing units," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:43:20|Editor: yan Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, makes a statement during the opening ceremony of a training program of young and middle-aged officials at the Party School of CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance) in Beijing, capital of China, March 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Friday said training and selecting outstanding young officials is vital to the fate of the Party, state and Chinese nation, and to the people's wellbeing, calling it an important task for generations to come. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the statement during the opening ceremony of a training program of young and middle-aged officials at the Party School of CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance). Xi told the officials to stay loyal to the Party, remain grateful to the people, be motivated at work and hold law and Party discipline in high regard. Party officials should be faithful, loyal, competent and disciplined, he said. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, attended the ceremony. Xi said it is necessary to arm officials and cadres with Marxist theory in their development. He also called for efforts in learning the thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, saying that it is necessary to fully grasp its significance for the time, the theory, the practices and the world. He noted that whether an official is loyal to the Party is a key gauge of whether they have ideals and convictions. "Loyalty always comes first," he said. He also called on officials and cadres to place the people at the top in their hearts, saying that to weather through with the people, keep close bonds and share the same future with them is the fundamental guarantee for the Party to overcome all difficulties and risks. He asked the officials to maintain a strong sense of love, care and willingness to work for benefits of the people. He told the officials to enhance self-cultivation, self-discipline and self-reform. Officials should be determined to make great achievements, rather than to seek personal promotion, in serving the Party and the people, Xi said. Xi instructed officials to maintain integrity in their personal lives and cultivate a good taste for life, and asked them not to indulge in empty talk but be a man of action. Officials who take responsibility for their actions demonstrate their commitment to Party principles and their integrity, he stressed. LONDON, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Horizonte Minerals Plc, (AIM: HZM, TSX: HZM) (Horizonte or the Company), the nickel development company focused in Brazil, notes the movement in its share price today and confirms that it is not aware of any corporate developments that support such movement. The Company remains well funded for its current work plans, with approximately 6.2m of cash available as at 31 January 2019. For further information visit www.horizonteminerals.com or contact: Horizonte Minerals plc Jeremy Martin (CEO) +44 (0) 203 356 2901 Numis Securities Ltd (NOMAD & Joint Broker) John Prior Paul Gillam +44 (0) 207 260 1000 Shard Capital (Joint Broker) Damon Heath Erik Woolgar +44 (0) 20 186 9952 Tavistock (Financial PR) Gareth Tredway Annabel de Morgan +44 (0) 207 920 3150 About Horizonte Minerals: Horizonte Minerals plc is an AIM and TSX-listed nickel development company focused in Brazil. The Company is developing the Araguaia project, as the next major ferronickel mine in Brazil, and the Vermelho nickel-cobalt project, with the aim of being able to supply nickel and cobalt to the EV battery market. Both projects are 100% owned. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the ability of the Company to complete the Acquisition as described herein, statements with respect to the potential of the Company's current or future property mineral projects; the success of exploration and mining activities; cost and timing of future exploration, production and development; the estimation of mineral resources and reserves and the ability of the Company to achieve its goals in respect of growing its mineral resources; the ability of the Company to complete the Placing as described herein, and the realization of mineral resource and reserve estimates. 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 statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to risks related to: the inability of the Company to complete the Acquisition as described herein, exploration and mining risks, competition from competitors with greater capital; the Company's lack of experience with respect to development-stage mining operations; fluctuations in metal prices; uninsured risks; environmental and other regulatory requirements; exploration, mining and other licences; the Company's future payment obligations; potential disputes with respect to the Company's title to, and the area of, its mining concessions; the Company's dependence on its ability to obtain sufficient financing in the future; the Company's dependence on its relationships with third parties; the Company's joint ventures; the potential of currency fluctuations and political or economic instability in countries in which the Company operates; currency exchange fluctuations; the Company's ability to manage its growth effectively; the trading market for the ordinary shares of the Company; uncertainty with respect to the Company's plans to continue to develop its operations and new projects; the Company's dependence on key personnel; possible conflicts of interest of directors and officers of the Company, the inability of the Company to complete the Placing on the terms as described herein, and various risks associated with the legal and regulatory framework within which the Company operates. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:53:22|Editor: yan Video Player Close NANJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The four-month fishing ban, aiming to protect aquatic resources and biodiversity in China's rivers, started Friday. The annual ban, from March 1 to June 30, will cover the main streams, tributaries and lakes along major rivers including the Yangtze and Pearl rivers. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of east China's Jiangsu Province, working with relevant departments, launched a series of enforcement actions Friday. Nearly 30 vessels will inspect Jiangsu's main streams for at least 10 days. Zhang Jianjun, deputy director-general of the provincial agriculture and rural affairs department said that over 60,000-meter-long illegal netting tools have been cleared up, and 405 people violating fishing regulations have been penalized over the past three years. Ni Zhimin, a fisherman in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang Province, sells the fresh fish he catches in the Qiantang River every day. Ni fished for the last time on Thursday and will wait for four months, like other fishermen, until the ban is over. The Qiantang River is the largest river in Zhejiang and is known for having the world's largest tidal bore. It accommodates over 85 percent of the freshwater fish species in the province. However, fish species in the river declined from 149 in the 1970s to 122 in 2019. From Friday, the entire river basin of the Qiantang River has imposed the fishing ban for the first time. During this period, all forms of fishing activities are banned, except recreational fishing. The agricultural department and procuratorates in Fujian Province launched a series of fishing ban promotional activities in fishing villages across the province earlier on Feb. 22. The provincial department of ocean and fisheries said a fishing ban has been imposed on the Minjiang River, a major river in Fujian. Fishing activities for research purposes must be approved by local fishery departments. Fishery authorities of southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said Friday that around 15,000 fishing boats and 30,000 fishermen in the region would be affected by the fishing ban this year. On the first day of the ban, more than 300 people and over 50 vessels were dispatched to participate in a law enforcement campaign on rivers in Guangxi. So far, an unlicensed fishing boat has been captured, and illegal netting and cages have also been discovered. For those whose livelihood will be affected by the fishing ban, the local government is planning to provide subsidies for them, according to Dong Xiaogang, a local fishery department official. In eastern Anhui Province, fishery departments are trying to turn local fishermen into protectors of aquatic resources during the fishing ban period, encouraging them to play an important role in the protection of the ecological environment along the Yangtze River and help ease the problem of law enforcement officer shortage. In Chaohu Lake -- one of China's five largest freshwater lakes -- mostly situated in the city of Hefei, capital of Anhui, the fishing ban was imposed one month earlier on Feb. 1 due to different fish life cycles, according to Anhui's fishery authorities. A total of 26,000 kg of fish fry and 7,500 kg of young crabs were poured in Poyang Lake on Friday. Poyang Lake, located in east China's Jiangxi Province, is China's largest freshwater lake. To further improve the ecological environment, all aquatic life conservation areas in Jiangxi banned fishing this year, and the section of the Yangtze River in the province and Poyang Lake will ban fishing all year starting in 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:58:23|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed on Friday when a suicide bomber detonated himself in Syria's northwestern city of Idlib, activists reported. The suicide bomber set himself off in a restaurant in the city after opening fire randomly, the reports said. No further details were given but the blast is the latest in a string of explosions targeting Idlib. It's worth noting that Idlib is controlled by the HTS, the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria and the Syrian government stressed that it will restore Idlib from the HTS. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-01 23:58:23|Editor: zh Video Player Close HANGZHOU, March 1 (Xinhua) -- East China's Zhejiang Province plans to increase its trade volume with Africa to 40 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2022 to account for at least 20 percent of the total Sino-Africa trade. Zhejiang's department of commerce issued an action plan revealing the details on Friday as China's first provincial-level plan on economic cooperation with African countries. The 40-billion-dollar target will mark a significant rise from the 30.1-billion-dollar trade between Africa and Zhejiang, home to many of China's most successful private businesses, in 2018. The plan also promises to increase investments in Africa's industries of textiles, garments, chemicals, equipment manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to meet the continent's development needs. The province, however, will bar investments that are polluting and highly energy-consuming from going to Africa, said the plan, which also calls for more agricultural investments and cooperation. The document also said the province would expand goods imports from Africa, especially in the non-resources category. According to China Customs, China's foreign trade with Africa reached 204.19 billion dollars in 2018, up 19.7 percent year-on-year and 7.1 percentage points higher than the growth of China's overall foreign trade during the same period. Specifically, the country's exports to Africa rose 10.8 percent to 104.91 billion dollars in 2018, while its imports from Africa surged 30.8 percent to reach 99.28 billion dollars. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:03:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close RIYADH, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia revoked the nationality of Hamza bin Laden, son of late al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Al Arabiya TV reported on Friday. The Saudi Interior Ministry announced the issuance of a royal decree, granting approval of stripping the nationality of Hamza. The United States offered a 1-million-U.S.-dollar reward for information on Hamza, seeing him as an emerging face of extremism. He is believed to have spent years with his mother in Iran, where his wedding is thought to take place, and he is suspected to still live there. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:03:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's agricultural experts said Friday that the situation of African swine fever is under control in the country. The country has reported 111 outbreaks in 28 provincial regions since the first outbreak was discovered in August. The government's efforts to control the outbreaks have proved effective and the situation has been kept under control, Chen Huanchun, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and agricultural expert, said at a press conference. African swine fever is a highly contagious, viral disease that infects pigs. It does not affect humans or other animal species. Yang Hanchun, a professor at China Agricultural University, said compared with the second half of 2018, further spread of the disease has been contained. Supplies of pork, the country's staple meat, have remained sufficient, while prices remained stable, Yang said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:08:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday visited Ethiopia's flagship Hawassa Industrial Park. The trip to the Chinese-built industrial park, 275 km south of the capital Addis Ababa, came as part of Kenyatta's state visit to Ethiopia. The two leaders visited some of the 22 textile and apparel manufacturers operating in the industry zone, according to the Office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister's Office. The industry park, currently employing more than 25,000 locals, is considered as Ethiopia's flagship industry zone featuring sector specialization, export-orientation, vertical integration, sustainability and skills development. The Ethiopian government considers the industrial park as a model for the construction of other industrial zones across the country. Inaugurated in July 2016, Hawassa Industrial Park has hosted many African leaders during their visit to Ethiopia. Recently visitors included Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. According to the Ethiopian government, African leaders' visit to the Hawassa industrial park and other infrastructure sites across the country is mainly aimed at sharing Ethiopia's positive experience. Built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the Hawassa industrial park was completed in only nine months. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:08:25|Editor: WX Video Player Close A participant flies a kite during the 24th Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival in Pasir Gudang, state of Johor, Malaysia, March 1, 2019. Participants from over 40 countries and regions took part in the kite competitions and the show during the five-day festival. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Colorful and unique kites from all around the world filled the skies over Pasir Gudang in Malaysia's southern state of Johor late on Friday as the 24th edition of the World Kite Festival kicks off. The five-day festival will see the participation of hundreds of kite enthusiasts. Among the highlights at the opening ceremony was a demonstration by a Chinese kite flying team who demonstrated an LED equipped stunt kite. Participants from around the world will participate in kite exhibitions and workshops, a traditional kite making competition, Malay kite-fighting competition as well as cultural shows and performances by local artists. Tan Xinbo, who led the Chinese team, said China had sent some of its best kite flyers to Malaysia, and will compete in various events during the festival. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:08:25|Editor: WX Video Player Close A convoy transferring Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman arrives at Attari border in India, March 1, 2019. An Indian pilot released by Pakistan went back to India Friday night, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. (Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, March 1 (Xinhua) -- An Indian pilot released by Pakistan entered India Friday night through Wagah border crossing near Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, Pakistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs said. Earlier, Pakistani authorities handed over the pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, to Indian authorities after completing the required procedure. The Pakistani government said the pilot was released as a goodwill gesture to de-escalate tensions between the two neighbors. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:13:26|Editor: zh Video Player Close Wang Yang (C, front), chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, presides over the closing meeting of the fifth session of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, March 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese political advisors have been asked to convey real thoughts and appeals of the public during the upcoming second annual session of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee. Wang Yang, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, said Friday that the national committee members should align their thoughts and actions with the scientific judgments on major circumstances and decisions on major issues made by the Communist Party of the China Central Committee. The political advisors should also pool good experiences and practices of the people in order to better serve the work of the Party and the state, Wang said at a two-day meeting of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee that closed Friday. The meeting approved the agenda and schedule of the annual session, a work report of the CPPCC National Committee's Standing Committee and a report on how the Standing Committee has handled proposals put forward by political advisors. Relevant drafts and reports will be submitted to the session for deliberation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:23:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Former Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Lowassa on Friday quit the country's leading opposition party and rejoined the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) in a move that tilted the east African nation's political landscape. Lowassa, 65, rejoined CCM at an event witnessed by CCM national chairman President John Magufuli at the party's sub-headquarters in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. "Lowassa has made a decision to return home and we are ready to welcome him," said CCM Secretary General Ally Bashiru. Lowassa quit the CCM in July 2015 and joined opposition Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), vowing to fight poverty should he get the opportunity to become president under the opposition ticket. He defended his move to defect to the opposition on grounds that his new party's struggle against poverty was in line with his prophesied resolve. Lowassa, who served as prime minister from 2005 to 2008 under President Jakaya Kikwete, was the first premier to have been forced to resign by a fraud scandal in the history of Tanzania. After the ruling CCM failed to select Lowassa as its candidate for the October 2015 presidential election, he left the party and stood instead as an opposition candidate. He was defeated in the election by then CCM candidate Magufuli. TORONTO, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rogers Media is deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our friend and colleague, Sandra Faire. Sandra was a highly respected contributor to the Canadian production community, whose creativity and passion set the standard. A trailblazer for women, she was a driving force and had a special place in the industry. I had the pleasure of working with Sandra for many years, and she will be deeply missed, said Rick Brace, President of Rogers Media. With a heavy heart, Rogers Media offers its condolences to Sandras husband Ivan Fecan, family, friends and colleagues. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 00:43:34|Editor: yan Video Player Close CHENGDU, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Four aircraft produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Vulcanair arrived in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, by a China-Europe freight train Friday, local authorities said. The aircraft were purchased by Sichuan Tuofeng General Aviation Co., LTD, general agency of Vulcanair in China. The company has agreed to buy a total of 100 aircraft from Vulcanair. The aircraft were transported by trucks to Lodz, one of the largest cities in Poland, from Italy, and carried by a China-Europe freight train departing from Lodz to China on Feb. 13. They finally arrived in Chengdu on Feb. 26 and completed all procedures, including customs clearance, on Friday. "Compared with traditional sea transportation which usually takes around 45 days, it only spent 14 days on a China-European train," said Che Tianfa, chairman of the board of Tuofeng. The aircraft will be used for pilot training, sightseeing, photograph and short-distance shipment. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 01:08:39|Editor: WX Video Player Close Photo released by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on March 1, 2019 shows captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman standing at Wagah border crossing during a handover ceremony in eastern Pakistan's Lahore. Pakistan handed over a captured Indian pilot to Indian authorities Friday afternoon as a goodwill gesture to de-escalate tensions between the two neighbors, local media reported. (Xinhua/ISPR) ISLAMBAD/NEW DELHI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- An Indian pilot released by Pakistan went back to India Friday night through Wagah border crossing near Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Earlier, Pakistani authorities handed over the pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, to Indian authorities after completing the required procedure. The foreign ministry said in a statement that "the captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India today," adding that he was arrested when his MIG-21 military jet crashed in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir after being shot down by Pakistan Air Force for violating Pakistani airspace on Feb. 27. "While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law," the statement added. India confirmed the return of the released pilot on Friday. The Indian Air Force officer pilot entered into the Indian territory through the Wagah-Attari Border in the northern state of Punjab. According to Indian defence sources, the Indian pilot's fighter jet was shot down by Pakistani ground forces on Feb. 27 amid heightened tensions between the two countries over the past few days. Following the release of the pilot, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the media that Pakistan freed the Indian pilot without setting any condition to give a message that Pakistan is a peace-loving country and a good neighbor. "We have done what we could. We hope that India will reciprocate our peace attempt. There are many people who love peace in India, we hope they'll cooperate with us to give peace a chance," said Qureshi. Tensions between the two neighbors have been running high after the Feb. 14 suicide attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which killed over 40 Indian paramilitary troopers. India blamed Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a militant group which has been banned in Pakistan in 2002, for the deadly attack. People and Indian army troops gather near the wreckage of an Indian aircraft after it crashed about 34 kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 27, 2019. (Xinhua) MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that Moscow is ready to help reduce Pakistan-India tensions and there is no alternative to political and diplomatic means in settling the differences. During a phone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Lavrov underlined the need for all countries to comply with the universal counter-terrorism conventions and cooperate in their implementation. According to a foreign ministry press release, Lavrov noted the possibility of using the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Regional Anti-terrorist Structure for this purpose. Moscow has repeatedly called for restraint after Pakistan said Wednesday that its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets inside its airspace and captured an Indian pilot in Kashmir. Earlier on Friday, Pakistan handed over the pilot to India after completing the required procedure. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 03:59:07|Editor: yan Video Player Close DOHA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Friday discussed with Jared Kushner, senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, about the Middle East peace process. The Qatari foreign minister met with Kushner, U.S. peace envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt and U.S. special envoy for Iran Brian Hook, according to the state-run Qatar news agency. The two sides discussed developments in the Middle East region, efforts to revive the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and means to boost bilateral relations. Kushner, Trump's son in law, is currently on a Middle East visit to five countries to discuss the future of peace in the region. Washington is expected to announce its peace plan, which is called "Deal of the Century," after the general election in Israel scheduled on April 9. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 04:04:09|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUJUMBURA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government on Friday handed over a China-aided satellite television project to the Burundian government, which will benefit 300 villages in the central African country. The project is one of the fruits of the 2015 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in South Africa, in which the Chinese government pledged to provide satellite television to 10,000 villages in 25 African countries. The project will have positive effects on different areas of Burundi and will promote cooperation between China and Burundi, said Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin in Bujumbura, commercial capital of Burundi, before signing a handover document with Burundian Communication and Media Minister Frederic Nahimana. The project has social value as it will directly help local people access information concerning domestic and global events, said Li. China is Burundi's reliable partner and it also contributes to other development projects of Burundi in areas of infrastructure, health, education and human resources development, said the envoy. Nahimana thanked China for including Burundian villages in the project. "This project will help less fortunate households to have access to TV, information, national and international programs," the minister said. Nahimana also awarded Chinese digital TV service provider StarTimes a certificate for successfully implementing the project. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 05:39:34|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Turkey-U.S. Joint Working Group to coordinate the U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria concluded a two-day meeting in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The bilateral meeting focused on the U.S. pullout from Syria's Manbij and the area east of the Euphrates River. This is the second meeting of its kind following the initial one held in Washington on Feb. 6. The group meeting in Ankara is operating as a sub-unit of the Syria Working Group established in February 2018 between Turkey and the United States. The United States currently has more than 2,000 troops deployed in Syria. Turkey concerns over the possible power vacuum in the area after the U.S. pullout. If the U.S. troop withdrawal happens before a mutual agreement is reached in line with Turkey's security concerns, Ankara would reserve its right to self defense, Anadolu Agency said citing Turkish officials. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 05:54:38|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUCHAREST, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Cyber Security Competence Center is a very important file that Romania will try to significantly advance or actually conclude it in its presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), Communication Minister Alexandru Petrescu said on Friday. According to Petrescu, the Cyber Security Competence Center will play an important role in the transition of the EU cyber security from a diagnosed one to a preventive one. "I wish that at the end of the six-month presidency we can say that we have a significant advance and evolution, if not a finalization of this file," Petrescu told the two-day Informal Meeting of EU Telecommunications Ministers that ended on Friday. "We discussed about the Digital Single Market after 2020 and about how we can shape Europe's digital future," said the minister. The current Digital Single Market Strategy (DSM Strategy), presented by the European Commission in 2015, is to reduce barriers and provide more opportunities to do business across the EU in a legal, secure and accessible way, allowing Member States, businesses and citizens to innovate and take advantage of digitization. According to Petrescu, artificial intelligence was also among the topics of discussion at the meeting, with political, strategic and economic importance for Europe. "The artificial intelligence field must be more often found on the European agenda," he stressed. In his turn, Vice President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip also said at the meeting that investments in artificial intelligence should increase at the EU level in order to dream of a leading position at global level. "We invested in Europe into AI three to four billion U.S. dollars .... We set an aim, to reach 20 billion annually in the year 2020. And it means all the member states have to set up their own national plans and also to provide finance to reach those aims," said the European commissioner. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 06:09:44|Editor: yan Video Player Close RABAT, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The 10th annual meeting of the Morocco-European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was held on Friday in capital Rabat. Co-chaired by Abderrahim Atmoun of the Moroccan parliament and Ines Ayala Sender of the European Parliament, the meeting focused on means to counter extremism and reviewing achievements of the JPC. Speaking at this occasion, Sender commended the innovative efforts made by Morocco to reform the religious field. For his part, Atmoun said that the meeting took stock of the achievements of this body, which has become essential for political cooperation between Morocco and the EU. He added that the committee served as "a real laboratory for exchange and a key tool in parliamentary diplomacy." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 06:24:47|Editor: zh Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China is capable of building world-class electric vehicles thanks to the proactive engagement on the part of its tech companies, an auto industry expert has said. "I do see the possibility for China to build world-class (electric) vehicles because of the entrance of these really smart tech companies," said Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZo Go, a Hong Kong-based global auto advisory firm with expertise in China and auto tech, in a recent interview with Xinhua in Silicon Valley. The tech companies he referred to include Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, the three Chinese internet giants collectively known as BAT in the tech industry, which have invested heavily in developing autonomous driving technologies. Dunne reaffirms the industry expectation that the first wave of Chinese cars is expected to hit the U.S. roads in 2020. "It's not low-end, affordable and small cars like Japanese or Korean cars. It's high-end, premium cars," said Dunne. He cited the NIO ES8, what he called "China's 65,000-U.S. dollar Tesla," as an example. "It's very much like the Tesla I drive," he said. The smart voice assistance system also enables the driver to turn on air conditioning or open sunroof, he said. Founded in 2014, the Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO is building a "sophisticated, connected, world-class" car, said Dunne, who has worked at General Motors to run its Indonesian operations. "The dynamic is changed," said Dunne, noting that Chinese government, welcoming electric vehicles as a more environmentally-friendly option, encourages these tech companies to engage in auto tech innovation. "It's the first time that NIO, Byton and others, which are pure tech ... and privately-owned, moving very fast with ambition," said Dunne. At the same time, he cautioned that Chinese auto companies need to overcome some challenges in order to be successful in the United States. The Chinese companies should first have good communication with local governments and officials, he said. "We want to be a good citizen, we want to be visible, we want to communicate openly," he said. Secondly, they need to work hard to win over the American consumers who have many choices, said Dunne. "The American consumers are spoiled," he said. Dunne added: "I think the U.S. automakers are aware of how powerful the Chinese automakers can be and they would prepare accordingly. They have an eye on that: how do we compete with the Chinese when they come to the U.S.?" Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-02 06:44:53|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned "the deadly terrorist attacks" that took place in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. In a statement, the UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Guterres "trusts that Somalis will not be deterred by such violence from pursuing a peaceful and prosperous future." The secretary-general reiterated the support and solidarity of the United Nations with the people and federal government of Somalia in this endeavour. At least 30 people were killed when a powerful car bomb blasted outside a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday night. The al-Qaida linked group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted the hotel which is popular with politicians and government officials along with high profile businessmen. The Iconic Cadbury Commercial is Looking to Add a New Face This Season HERSHEY, Pa., March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the first time ever, Cadbury, one of Americas top Easter brands, is giving one lucky pet the chance to star in its iconic Clucking Bunny commercial . For over 35 years, the Cadbury brand has been running the iconic ad where animals try out to be the next Cadbury bunny. For Easter 2019, the Cadbury team is inviting pets nationwide to participate in the Bunny Tryouts by simply snapping a photo of themselves wearing a pair of bunny ears. The Cadbury brand has officially opened its Bunny Tryouts, offering proud pet owners a chance to have their pet appear in the brands iconic Clucking Bunny commercial. To cast the newest star, the Cadbury brand enlisted the help of insta-famous star Doug the Pug . Doug the Pug (and his owner) will serve as an honorary judge to help select the next pet who will star alongside the Cadbury bunny himself in this years commercial. You cant go a day without seeing adorable pets flood your social media channels. The pride that pet moms and dads have for their fur babies is undeniable, said Katrina Vatter, Marketing Team Member, Cadbury US brand. For years weve seen sweet photos of their animals donning the famous Cadbury bunny ears and now we want to give pet owners the chance to show off their pets in our iconic ad. From dogs and cats to pigs and more, animal lovers nationwide can enter their pets in Cadburys Bunny Tryouts through March 6, 2019 by submitting a photo of their pet wearing bunny ears on bunnytryouts.cadburyusa.com. On March 7, 2019, twenty semi-finalists will be selected to submit videos of their pet to be featured on the brands social channels, and one lucky semi-finalists pet will be selected as the winner and featured in the 2019 Easter commercial and will also receive $5,000. In addition, Cadbury brand will be donating $10,000 to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the longest-standing animal welfare organization in North America which serves as the nations leading voice for animals. Follow along to see the cuteness overload from Americas sweetest pets and to get the latest information from Cadbury US: https://www.facebook.com/CadburyUSA/ https://twitter.com/CadburyUSA https://www.instagram.com/cadburyusa/ Contest Rules NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to legal residents of the United States residing in the 50 United States or District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older at time of entry. Void where prohibited. Contest begins with a Photo Submission Phase from 12:00:01 PM ET on 2/13/19 through 11:59:59 PM ET on 3/6/19. The Photo Submission Phase is followed by a Judging Phase that begins on 3/7/19 at 12:00:01 AM ET and ends 3/7/19 at 11:59:59 PM ET, a Video Submission Phase that begins 3/8/19 at 12:00:01 AM ET and ends 3/10/19 at 11:59:59 PM ET, and a Winner Determination Phase that begins 3/11/19 at 12:00:01 AM ET and ends 3/11/19 at 11:59:59 PM ET. Visit https://bunnytryouts.cadburyusa.com for full Official Rules and complete details, including entry method, entry requirements (including Photo and Video Submission guidelines and requirements), judging criteria and process, winner selection, and prize description and conditions. To win the prize, winning pet featured in Photo Submission and Video Submission must be able to perform for camera and remain reasonably stationary while wearing bunny ears. Sponsor: The Hershey Company, 100 Crystal A Drive, Hershey, PA. About The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pa., is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.5 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hersheys, Reeses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers and SkinnyPop. The Hershey Company sells Cadbury products under license from Cadbury UK Ltd. For more than 120 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed. To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com. To learn more - Visit: www.thehersheycompany.com Follow: http://www.twitter.com/hersheycompany https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hershey-company?trk=top_nav_home http://www.facebook.com/hersheycompany http://www.youtube.com/hersheycompany http://www.instagram.com/hersheycompany Contact: Anna Lingeris Phone: 717-649-7214 Alingeris@hersheys.com Nirmala Singh/Zeno Phone: 917-244-1089 Nirmala.Singh@zenogroup.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5879de2e-d104-451f-ad20-83b29989bd86 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/92ce3a12-df19-41ed-b8bb-851a01fee1ad Cum iti poti deschide un cont la Orange Money. Ghid simplu si rapid Cum iti poti deschide un cont la Orange Money. Orange vine in ajutorul clientilor care isi doresc un cont la Orange Money. Iata cel mai simplu ghid care te invata cum isi poti deschide un astfel de cont. Exista doua posibilitati pentru a-ti deschide un cont [citeste mai departe] Icelandic English Candidacies to the Board of Directors of Icelandair Group at the AGM on 08 March 2019 Gumundur Hafsteinsson; id. no. 290875-3319 Guny Hansdottir; id. no. 300167-3579 Heirun Jonsdottir; id. no. 090769-4649 Omar Benediktsson; id.no. 221059- 4689 Svafa Gronfeldt; id. no. 290365-3769 Ulfar Steindorsson; id. no. 030756-2829 orunn Reynisdottir; id.no.120560-5149 Gumundur Hafsteinsson Gumundur leads product development for Google Assistant at Google. He joined Google in 2014 subsequent to the Merger of Google and Emu, a chat based virtual assistant start-up he founded in 2012. Prior to the founding of Emu, he was VP Product at Siri, and stayed on after the acquisition by Apple through the launch of Siri on iPhone 4S. Prior to Siri/Apple, Gumundur was a Senior Product Manager at Google, where he managed the initial launches of Google Maps for mobiles and Google Voice Search. Gumundur holds an MBA degree from MIT and a B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iceland. Gumundur has been a member of the Board of Directors of Icelandair Group since 2018. Guny Hansdottir Guny was the VP for Human Resources at Innnes from 2014-2018 and the Human resources director at Skeljungur from 2009-2014. Previously she was the Foreign Marketing coordinator at Penninn Officeday, the VP for Human Resources at Air Atlanta and Director of Cabin Crew at Icelandair. Guny has served on the Board of Directors of Parlogis and Mjoll Frigg and is a member of the Board of Directors of Frumherji. Guny holds a B.Sc degree as well as an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology. Heirun Jonsdottir Heirun Jonsdottir is an attorney. Heirun Jonsdottir is an attorney. Heirun is a member of the Board of Directors at Islandsbanki and the Vice Chairman of the Icelandic Bar Association. Heirun is the former chairman of the Board of Directors at Gildi Pension Fund, Norlenska and Islensk Verbref. She is a former member of the board of Siminn hf. and Istak. Heirun was the public relations officer of Landssiminn hf from 2001-2003, Managing Director and Partner at Lex Legal Services from 2003-2005. From 2006 until 2012 she was the Vice President of legal affairs and public relations at Hf. Eimskipafelag Islands. Heirun has a law degree from the University of Iceland, is a District Court Attorney and has finished an Advanced Management Program from IESE Business School in Barcelona. Omar Benediktsson Omar Benediktsson is the CEO of Farice ehf. He is a Board Member of Landsnet hf. and Husafell Resort ehf. Omar has held various management positions in the tourist and aviation industry in the past 30 years, among others being the CEO of Island Tours, Islandsflug, Air Atlanta and SmartLynx airlines as well as being a Board Member on various boards in the industry. Omar has a Cand.Oecon degree from the University of Iceland. Omar has been a member of the Board of Directors of Icelandair Group since 2017. Ulfar Steindorsson Ulfar Steindorsson was born in 1956 and is the CEO of Toyota in Iceland. He was the CEO of Primex ehf in Siglufjordur from 2002-2004, and the CEO of the New Business Venture Fund from 1999-2002. Ulfar has held various board positions in the Icelandic business environment in the past years. Ulfar holds a Cand.Oecon from the University of Iceland and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He joined the Board on 15 September 2010. Svafa Gronfeldt Svafa Gronfeldt is a founding member of MITs innovation accelerator DesignX, and a co-founder of the MET fund, a Cambridge based seed investment fund. Svafa is a member of the Board of Directors at Ossur since 2008. Previous positions include Chief Organizational Development Officer of Alvogen, President of Reykjavik University, deputy to the CEO of Actavis Group. Svafa holds a PhD in Industrial Relations from London School of Economics. orunn Reynisdottir orunn Reynisdottir is the CEO of FI Travel. She was an advisor at Isavia from 2014-15 and VP for Sales and Marketing at Iceland Express from 2011 to 2012. Previously orunn held various management positions in tourism in the past 30 years. orunn studied Business and operations at EHI. Candidacies to the Nomination Committee Helga Arnadottir; id.no.120371-3479 Hjorleifur Palsson; id.no 281163-4269 The Board of Directors of Icelandair Group considers all of the candidates to be independent from the company. The deadline to request a multiplication vote is Sunday 03 March 2019 at 16:00 For further information: New York, NY, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Weyland Tech Inc. (WEYL) (Weyland or the Company) will host a conference call to discuss the general overview of the business and recent updates on strategic and corporate initiatives as well as an update on its eWallet business. Weyland will host the call at 12:00 pm. Eastern Time (11:00 pm. Central Time) on Thursday, March 7, 2019. To participate investors may dial-in on 1 (701) 801-1211 and enter the access code: 873-908-258. The conference call will also be made available for replay at 1 (701) 801-1218 with the access code: 873-908-258. The Company will be answering questions provided in advance by shareholders and requests that those be sent by email to: cc@weyland-tech.com. Additionally, callers are asked to join the call promptly at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. About Weyland Tech Inc. Weyland Tech is a global provider of mobile business applications. The Company operates a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) software used on mobile smartphones. The PaaS platform offers a mobile presence to Small-to-Medium-Sized- Businesses (SMBs) in emerging markets, with partnerships on 3 continents and growing. The PaaS platform, offered in 14 languages with over 70 integrated modules, enables SMBs to create native mobile applications (apps) for Apples iOS and Google Android without technical knowledge or background, empowering SMBs to increase sales, reach more customers and promote their products and services in an easy, affordable and efficient manner. In May 2018, the Company expanded its portfolio to fintech applications with the launch of its AtoZPay mobile payments platform. The mobile wallet launched in the worlds 4th most populous country, Indonesia, and is already experiencing rapid growth in transactions taking place on the platform. Safe Harbor Statement This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements including statements regarding: the continued growth of the e-commerce segment and the ability of the Company to continue its expansion into that segment; the ability of the Company to attract customers and partners and generate revenues; the ability of the Company to successfully execute its business plan; the business strategy, plans, and objectives of the Company; and any other statements of non-historical information. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as believes, expects or similar expressions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Companys actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Companys periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume any duty to update these forward-looking statements. The access control operations of people and vehicles will take place from 7:00 am up to 18:30 pm daily All checkpoints at the boundary line in Donbas switch to the spring work schedule from March 1 and the new schedule is established as the press service of the Joint Forces Operation reported. We report that according to the order of the Commander of the Joint Forces Operation, all checkpoints at the boundary line in the zone of the Joint Forces Operation switch to the spring work schedule from March 1. The access control operations of people and vehicles will take place from 7:00 a.m. up to 18:30 p.m. daily, the message said. Besides, the Command of the Joint Forces Operation appealed to the citizens with the request to consider this information during the planning of the trips. As was reported February 23, a minibus with civilians hit a mine 50 meters away from the Olenivka checkpoint in the Donbas conflict zone. February 21, the drone of the OSCE mission recorded four jet military airplanes above the village of Lastochkine. This settlement is controlled by Ukraine and is located near the demarcation line, according to the website of the mission. Today our fighters shot the enemys UAV, which was pointing out where to shoot the artillery fire Open source On March 1, the Russian militants attacked the Armed Forces of Ukraine three times, they also used the Minsk-banned weaponry twice and as a result, one Ukrainian serviceman was wounded in Donbas conflict zone. The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) HQ reported this on Facebook. In the East operational group action zone, the enemy fired with the 82 mm mortar near Pisky settlement. In the North group area, the enemy attacked our positions twice with 120 mm mortar near Novoluhanske village and with grenade launchers of various system and small arms near Shymy settlement. As a result of the todays attack, one serviceman of the Joint Forces operation was wounded. The attacked subdivisions were stopping the fire by opening fire as well. In particular, the enemys UAV was flying near one of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our servicemen shot the drone with the help of small arms, which was pointing out where to shoot the artillery fire, - the report said. The Russian casualties are still have been checking. As we reported earlier, The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk began the monitoring surveillance flight on the East of Ukraine. The drone belongs to the United States Air Force and is located on the airbase in Italy, on the Sigonella Island. The drone left the airbase at 4:00 AM. Around 7:00 AM after flying through Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania, the drone entered the Ukrainian territories in Chernivtsi region. It continues to fulfill its mission in the Donbas conflict zone. Sergiy Nayev, Joint Forces Commander, assured that the staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will make a choice in compliance with the electoral vote on March 31 Open source Ukrainian servicemen who fight in Joint Forces Operation zone will have an opportunity to vote in presidential elections in Ukraine on March 31, as Sergiy Nayev, Joint Forces Commander, said in the interview for Tyzhden. According to him, Armed Forces will have an opportunity to use their constitutional right for voting in the presidential elections. Special polling stations are being set on the territory of the military units for the servicemen. They will vote in compliance with their electoral right as the citizens of Ukraine. The commanders of all the levels and their deputies will provide them an opportunity to do their civic duty without restriction. Therefore, all the servicemen who are, for instance, not involved in the staff of the duty forces or high alert in the morning, will vote in the morning, the rest after noon, Nayev explained. He specified that the preparation to the elections in the Joint Forces Operation units has been conducted for over a month. Cooperation with local and state authorities has been established. The places where the soldiers will vote, are determined, he added. At the same time, the Joint Forces Commander stated that no special agitation for the servicemen is provided. Our soldiers are well-educated, they are not children, they are able to make their choice, Nayev said. Earlier, The Joint Forces Commander said that the situation in the Joint Forces Operation zone in Donbas got worse under the initiative by the militants in 2010. Yet, the Armed Forces of Ukraine has brand new weapons to react to provocations. Sergiy Nayev, the Joint Forces Commander Kyiv Post The situation in the Joint Forces Operation zone in Donbas got worse under the initiative of the militants in 2019. Yet, the Armed Forces of Ukraine has brand new weapons to react to provocations, as Sergiy Nayev, the Joint Forces Commander, said in the interview for Tyzhden magazine. According to him, today the Armed Forces are successfully implementing the strategy of rearmament of the mechanized and infantry brigades so that each of them could have modern anti-tank missile systems. He stressed that the brand new arms possessed by Ukrainian servicemen are the arguments for early completion of the combat actions. Yet it should be noted that the situation in the Joint Forces Operation zone got worse. It happened under the initiative of the enemy, who started the massive use of anti-tank missile systems and mortars since the beginning of 2019. A few days ago the enemy used 2K25 Krasnopol (a Soviet 152/155 mm cannon-launched, artillery weapon system, - ed.) which is being produced in Russia only. The Russian occupants want to destabilize the situation in Joint Forces Operation zone and show their ability to dictate their terms, the Joint Forces Commander said. However, the Joint Forces have brand new arms, anti-tank missile systems, which eliminated the enemys targets that posed threat to our soldiers. You could make conclusions about the effectiveness of the Ukrainian weapons: our anti-tank missile systems have performed four launches, four targets were eliminated in the result. So, are these arms effective or not? he added. It should be noted that over the past 24 hours the militants performed 13 attacks on the Ukrainian servicemen in Donbas. Related video: The IMF representatives will visit Ukraine for the discussion of the events in the economic sphere The technical mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Ukraine on March 5-13 as Goesta Ljungman, the IMF representative to Ukraine reported. The technical team consisting of a few IMF specialists will visit Kyiv on March 5-13 to discuss the events in the economic sphere and progress in the implementation of the reforms provided by the stand-by program with Ukraine, Ljungman said. He did not report other details. As we reported, Ukraine expects two tranches from the IMF in 2019 under the stand-by program opened in December last year. Previously, in October 2018, Ukraine and the IMF agreed to implement the stand-by program; Ukraine received the first loan in December 2018. Besides, the IMF emphasized that Ukraine should be focusing on conducting land reform and privatization, in order to attract foreign investments. It was added that the reform of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine begins now, and this should improve the business environment. In December 2018, the IMF Directors Board approved the new 14-months-long program of cooperation with Ukraine within the stand-by mechanism. The overall volume of the program makes 3.9 billion U.S. dollars. Ukraine already received the first tranche under this program in December 2018. Ukraine has increased the import of anthracite coal from Belarus, which is not mined there Belarus has increased the supplies of the hard coal to Ukraine almost by 1,000 times amid the two-fold increase of the import of such fuel from Russia, as naviny.by reported. It is stated that Belarus mostly purchase the coal from Kiyzaysky opencast mine owned by Russian company VostokUgol. Belarusian trades, who purchase coal from Russia, do not exclude that the product from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk Republics come to Belarus along with the Russian one. Is it Russian or Donetsk coal - nobody knows how Russians prepare documents for it. Everybody knows that surely it is taken from Donetsk to Rostov, dealt there and taken further. But it is the issue of the Russians along with Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. According to the documents, it is Russian coal, one of the company-traders said. Tekhnova (Chernihiv thermal power station) and Euro-Reconstruction (Darnytsia thermal power station in Kyiv) purchased coal in Ukraine. Both of companies enter Ukrteploenergo owned by ex-MP Anatoliy Shkryblyak (of 5th convocation; member of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party). Coal was also supplied for Podilsky Tsement Plant, which enters Irish Holding Company CRH and for Slovyansk thermal power station owned by Donbasenergo. Maksym Yefimov, the MP from Petro Poroshenkos Party, purchased the company from the son of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych in 2018. Ukrainian trader Ami Trade, which sales fuel in the villages, also purchased coal from Belarus. According to the data of the Ukrainian customs statistics, four Belarusian companies dealt with the supplies of coal: Business-Alliance (80,260 tons) and Trans-Coal (46,290 tons) from Gomel and Ecoil Chemical (27,070 tons) from Polotsky region, and EcolineSystems (20,110 tons) from Minsk. The companies with small investment funds were registered in 2014-2018. Business-Alliance is completely owned by Andrey Baido. The businessman said that he does not supply coal to Ukraine anymore as it is not profitable. We have not been dealing with it for a few months. It was profitable to take it through Belarus, we took through Belarus. Now, we are not interested in it. The prices decreased and it is difficult to work with the Ukrainians. There are the 90s. We do not like such practice, Baido said. According to him, he does not use the illegal schemes in his work and he did not supply coal from occupied Luhansk and Donetsk under the guise of the Russian. You cannot take Zaporozhets under the guise of Mercedes. Coal strongly differs by its characteristics. The labs issue certificates. They will not forge them. It is impossible. We are not interested in the illegal schemes, Baido emphasized. Co-owner and Head of EcolineSystems Eduard Bogdanchuk reported that he supplies coal to Ukraine because it is profitable, but, according to him, it will come to the end soon. Nobody deals with grey schemes definitely. Everything is legal. We work in such a way now, because it is quite profitable. It is even better for Belarus. Everyone earns on it. But more people want to earn on it day by day, so, it will come to the end soon. There is no politics, Bogdanchuk said. As we reported, Ukraine spent $2.693 billion for the purchase of the coal, anthracite and gas coal from January until November 2018. There are 14 thermal power plants in Ukraine; six of them work on the anthracite coal and others use gas coal. It is planned to switch some of the plants for the use of the gas coal extracted at the territories controlled by Ukraine. Almost 40 workers of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, who used their authority for the criminal intents were detained within the criminal proceedings in 2018 as the service reported. It is noted that the majority of the offenses took place directly on the border. 21 officers were exposed in the assistance in the transfer of the tobacco products and consumer goods. It is reported that 425 crimes were spotted by the detachment of the inner security. 273 of them are of the corruption nature. 50 criminal cases were spotted this year. As we reported Ukrainian border guards reinforced the on-duty units protecting the sections of Ukraine-Russia border in Sumy, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions. Besides, the border guards did not allow 1,650 citizens of Russia to enter Ukraine during the action of martial law in ten regions from November 26 till December 26. Moreover, over 800 Russian citizens failed to enter Ukraine after the martial law ended on December 26, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. Spokesperson of the border service Oleg Slobodyan stated that 160 Russians were refused to enter Ukraine during the New Year holidays. Driving from the standstill the dead end with negotiations on the peaceful settlement of Donbas crisis makes little sense, - political expert believes Political expert Mykhailo Pohrebinsky 112 Agency Political expert Mykhailo Pohrebinsky havent yet heard a single comprehensible plan of overcoming the crisis in Ukraines East. Driving from the standstill the dead end with negotiations on the peaceful settlement of Donbas crisis makes little sense. We can study the offers by presidential candidates, but the real attempt to change anything will be possible after we get to know who gets the office on Bankova street (address of the Presidents Administration office, - ed.), Mykhailo Pohrebinsky said on air of 112 Ukraine TV channel on February 27. As we reported earlier, the representatives of Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin and Luhansk Peoples Republic (LPR) Leonid Pasechnik agreed on the direct negotiations with Kyiv on the plan proposed by Head of Political Council of Party Opposition platform For life Viktor Medvedchuk, facilitated by the European partners on settlement of Donbas Conflict. Viktor Medvedchuk, the politician and the head of 'Ukrainsky Vybir' (Ukrainian Choice) political party faces prosecution in Ukraine. Ukraines Prosecutor General's Office opened the case against him in state treason and encroachment on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The basis for the criminal proceeding is an application of the Ukrainian MP from the Peoples Front political party. The criminal case opened against the politician for his proposals on settlement of the military conflict in Donbas by granting the region with autonomy and capturing that in the Constitution of Ukraine. Medvedchuk voiced the proposals at the All-Ukrainian Congress of the party on January 29. Members of the European Parliament condemned the criminal proceeding against Viktor Medvedchuk, the representative of the "Opposition Platform - For Life" political party. The politician pointed out that his goal is to win the parliamentary and local elections Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovy Open source Andriy Sadovyi, the leader of Ukrainian Union Self Reliance, and Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the leader of the Civil Position party, agreed on supporting the last candidate as the only presidential candidate. Sadovyi stated this during the session in Kyiv on March 1. I decided to withdraw my candidature from the presidential elections, I declare my support to the candidate of the presidential election Anatoliy Hrytsenko, - Sadovyi said. According to Sadovyi, it is not unconditional support. At the beginning of the next week, the politicians will sign the treaty, where will be stated the principles concerning defense and safety of the country, and the fight against corruption. The politician pointed out that his goal is to win the parliamentary and local elections. As we reported earlier, Lviv Mayor Andry Sadovy does not execute his duties as he sees himself as the candidate for the presidency Ukrainian Union Self Reliance has officially nominated Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy for president of Ukraine on the elections in 2019. Besides, the leader of the party Democratic Alliance Vasyl Gastko and Glukhiv Mayor Michel Tereshchenko participated in the conference. Some police units will not be on duty, but they will react to the violations of the public order and electoral process Ukraine elections on March 31 Open source The representatives of the National Police Department will be on duty at the polling stations from March 21. Serhiy Kniaziev, the Head of National Police of Ukraine, stated this, as the press service of the Ministry of Interior Affairs reports. According to the Head of the National Police of Ukraine, from March 21, the workers of all the units of the National Police will be on duty for securing the public order, guarding the polling stations and the ballot papers. The fighters of the riot police units and tactical and operational patrol police units will not be on duty at the polling stations. They will work only as a part of the mobile reserve and will react to the violations of the public order and violations connected with the electoral process. Olexandr Fatsevych, the Deputy of the Head of National Police of Ukraine, added this. As we reported earlier, 101 polling stations to be opened abroad for the elections of the Ukrainian president. The voting will begin on March 30 at the polling station of the Embassy of Ukraine to Australia and will end on April 1 at Kyiv time in Consulate-General in San Francisco. Ukraines Security Service informed about prevention of a large-scale cyber attack at the website of the Central Election Commission. Earlier we reported that Russia intends to involve all present arsenal, including the cyber means, to influence the upcoming elections in Ukraine. The election campaign has officially started on December 31, 2018. Registration of the candidates was closed on February 4, 2019, and on February 9, the final list of presidential candidates is expected to appear. The candidates would be able to withdraw their candidacy until March 7, 2019. NEW YORK, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DailyOTC.com News Commentary -The rapid expansion of treating pets with alternative medicine made with CBD is fueling interest, desire, and conversations amongst pet parents and the veterinary community. In 2017, sales of cannabis products marketed for pets at medical and adult-use cannabis dispensaries was nearly $7 million in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, according to BDS Analytics. In Colorado, sales of pet products grew 49 per cent in 2017, versus growth across all product categories at 15 per cent, it said. Greg Shoenfeld, vice president of operations for BDS Analytics, based in Colorado said: "Being able to develop a presence with the pet loving consumer could be a point of strength." The CBD Industry has shown exciting promise in terms of opportunities for investors looking to the space. If you're looking for ways to gain exposure to the CBD Pet Market, Link Reservations, Inc. (OTC: LRSV), a publicly traded company based in United Kingdom who already has one foot in the CBD pet industry, could be the right choice for both short and long term investors. Wednesday, Linkreservations Inc, a provider of cannabidiol (CBD) products specifically tailored for pets, announced the acquisition of an e-commerce website called www.LinkResPet.com We are thrilled to add this site to our portfolio as it is the first step in a growth plan that will see Linkreservations Inc. consolidate distribution channels within the CBD space with a specific focus on CBD products for pets, explained Rene Lauritsen, CEO at Linkreservations inc. We are currently seeing an increase in demand for CBD pet-specific products, with more people seeking alternative treatments and health boosts for their pets. We expect the market to boom in the near short term with Europe and the US in particular becoming more active in this area, as new legislation develops. Linkreservations Inc (OTC: LRSV) is CBD Petcare provider dedicated to improving the health and life conditions of pets worldwide. Developing and marketing hemp-based CBD products for cats, dogs and horses, the Company is currently present in Europe and in the US. A pioneer in the area, Linkreservations Inc products can be found under its brand LinkResPets ( www.linkrespet.com ). The health benefits of CBD for pets is much like the benefits offered to humans, being in the treatment of current conditions and well as in a preventative capacity. As pets suffer similar conditions to humans among them, anxiety, dermatitis, cancer CBD has become a powerful way to help ensure their health, while minimizing nasty side effects. Luckily, CBD has been shown in multiple studies to suppress and even interrupt the pain signals in your pets brain, which can relieve both acute and chronic pain problems from any number of conditions. Recent research has shown that CBD has incredible medicinal potential that can help animals and people alike deal with a broad range of conditions, symptoms and concerns. When CBD enters the body, its effects are mitigated by the endocannabinoid system, a physiological system that occurs naturally in all mammals, made up of various receptors and neurological pathways. The World Health Organization has concluded that CBD is effective and beneficial in treating a variety of conditions and problems, such as pain, anxiety, nausea, inflammatory diseases, arthritis and even cancer symptoms, including specific human diseased like multiple sclerosis, Alzheimers and Huntingtons disease, among others. Contents published in this website contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually or projected. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a companys annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and Otcinsider undertakes no obligation to update such statements. You should not rely on the information presented; you should do independent research to form your own opinion and decision. Information contained in our disseminated emails does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice upon which you should rely. The purchase of high-risk securities may result in the loss of your entire investment. Advertisements received by you are not a solicitation or recommendation to buy securities of the advertised company. The sum of the compensation will be reported soon Hague Tribunal made a positive decision in the case of Naftogaz against Russia for the lost assets due to Crimeas annexation, as the press office of the company reported. It was noted that the sum the company would receive remains unknown; it will be reported any time soon. Naftogaz demanded Russia to compensate $5 billion and the interest. This is a very important victory which allows bringing the aggressor to justice for the stolen assets. Thanks to the actions of the international community and Ukraine, the price for Russias occupation of Crimea will be increasing. The decision of the Tribunal is an important step on this path, Andriy Kobolyev, Naftogaz CEO stated. It should be noted that after Crimean peninsula was annexed, Naftogaz lost infrastructure for gas and oil supply, including drilling rigs on the shelf of the Black Sea, compressor and other stations. The authority of the annexed Crimea nationalized all this property after the occupation. Russia occupied the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2014. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially proclaimed February 20, 2014, the day of the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. The main international organizations, including the UN General Assembly, condemned actions of Russia, called the annexation and occupation of Crimea illegal. Sanctions have been imposed against the Russian Federation. Arbitral tribunal at the Hague in May of 2018 ruled that the Russian Federation has to compensate a number of Ukranian companies for the annexation of Crimea. 18 Ukrainian companies and one individual sued Russia. The man was detained during the meeting with a Russian diplomat in Stockholm Open source The employee of the technology company was arrested in Sweden under on suspicion of espionage for Russia, as the press office of Swedens Security Service reported. This individual is suspected of having been recruited as an agent by a Russian intelligence officer who was working under diplomatic cover in Sweden," the message says. It is noted that the arrested man worked in a high-tech sector in Sweden. The Service has been carrying out intensive intelligence and investigative work in this matter for a long time: it is suspected that the criminal activities have been going on since 2017, the message reads. Daniel Stenling, Head of Counter-Intelligence at the Swedish Security Service, commented on this: The threat to Sweden is greater than it has been for several years. Technological developments have made state actors efforts to gather intelligence in cyberspace more sophisticated. At the same time, the more traditional intelligence-gathering approach, using recruited agents to collect information, is still being used. This combination enables state actors to broaden and deepen their collection of classified information. The airport has been shut down since 2014 The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at the session of Kirovograd Council of regional development in Kropyvnytsky, February 28, 2019 Twitter Petro Poroshenko The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko instructed to work on the issue of launching Mariupol airport in Donetsk region. Petro Poroshenko emphasized during his participation in the Donetsk Regional Development Council, as Novyny Donbas reports. I instruct the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Infrastructure and the RSA Head to work on the issue of launching the airport of the city of Mariupol, - the President said. I see I am right, - Poroshenko added answering on laud applause. The Mariupol airport stopped to have a regular flight in 2009 and in 2014 was shut down due to the beginning of the war. Earlier, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko called for to stop attacking the Ukrainian army. Poroshenko stated this while commenting on the Ukrbonprom scandal, at the fortified tactical locality of the 79th separate assault brigade in Pryazovia, located 1800 meters from the enemy trenches. "If there are facts - to the prison. No facts - stop destabilizing the situation both in the army and in the state," Petro Poroshenko emphasized. In addition to existing visa-free access mutual trips of the citizens of Ukraine and Georgia on the basis of inner ID-cards are implemented today The renewed agreement between Ukrainian and Georgian governments on the mutual cancelation of the visa demands, which allows the Ukrainians to travel to Georgia on inner ID-cards, which contain contactless electronic carrier will come into force on March 1, 2019, as Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reported. "On March 1, 2019, the renewed agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and Georgian government on the mutual cancelation of the visa demands, in addition to the current visa-free regime, the mutual trips of the citizens of Ukraine and Georgia on the basis of the inner passports in the form of ID-cards which contain contactless electronic carrier will come into force," the message said. As we reported, Ukraine intends to agree on the mutual cancelation of visa with Uruguay. Thus, the government approved the draft agreement with Uruguay on the mutual cancelation of visa demands and authorized ambassador to Argentina and concurrently to Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay Yuriy Dyudin to sign it. The surveillance drone started its flight from the airbase in the Sigonella Island The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk Open source The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk began the monitoring surveillance flight on the East of Ukraine. Ukrainian military portal reports this. According to the report, the flight of the drone on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine was launched today, on March 1, at 9:00 AM. The drone belongs to the United States Air Force and is located on the airbase in Italy, on the Sigonella Island. The drone left the airbase at 4:00 AM. Around 7:00 AM after flying through Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania, the drone entered the Ukrainian territories in Chernivtsi region. It continues to fulfill its mission in the Donbas conflict zone. RQ-4 Global Hawk is the strategic surveillance aircraft, which was first used on the United States Air Force airbase in California on February 29, 1998. The first drone was passed to the US army and started to fulfill military missions in 2006. As we reported earlier, the pro-Russian militants fired at the OSCE SMM drone, with the help of which observers monitored the snow removal at the T-0504 road in Luhansk region. According to the Ukrainian side, the provocative actions of the militants are connected with the intentions to hide their firing activity in the direction of the Ukrainian troops. "With such armed attacks, the occupiers are trying to intimidate representatives of the OSCE mission and force them to cease their work in the Luhansk area," the report said. It will be impossible to restore these investigations due to the decision of the Constitutional Court to repeal the article on illicit enrichment About 30 MPs could have become involvants in the investigations of illicit enrichment, but it is impossible now as the Constitutional Court repealed the relevant article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as the Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAP) Nazar Kholodnytsky said on air of 1+1 TV channel. Over the working period of SAP and NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau, - ed.) 106 proceedings under the article on illicit enrichment were opened, 65 of them are being investigated, 37 were closed, four were passed to the court with incitements, he stated. Kholodnytsky noted that first proceedings under this article were sent to the court in April 2016. This was the case against former military prosecutor of the Anti-Terrorist Operation forces. The court has been considering this case for three years now, but only three hearings were held last year. The last proceeding was sent to the court last week. The case was opened against the Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan. There is also a case against the Head of State Audit Service and the case on the judge of one of Luhank courts, who manage to buy two elite apartments - on his salary, as he put it. Besides, the anti-corruption agencies were ready to end the investigation of the case against ex-Head of State Fiscal Service Myroslav Prodan. Ministers, their deputies and heads of regional state administrations were supposed to be the involvants in the cases on illicit enrichment. Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled unconstitutional an article of a Criminal Code on the illicit enrichment of public officials upon the pretext that the provisions of the article violate the presumption of innocence. The Constitutional Court said that the legislative structure of Article 368-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine "permits accusations based on assumptions." In addition, it includes the provisions regulating the process of evidence, although this is related to the criminal procedure law. In addition, the Constitutional Court said that the legislative definition of "illegal enrichment" as a crime makes it possible to shift this responsibility from the prosecution to the defense. Later President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed the new draft law on the article on the illicit enrichment and later it was registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Related article: The Spokesperson of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe urged to vote for the bill No.6240 Open source Ukraines authorities have to provide the right for internally displaced people from uncontrolled Donbas regions and occupied Donbas to participate in the elections, EU Integration reported. The Congress reporters urge the Ukrainian authorities to take necessary legislative measures, in particular in terms of the next local elections in 2020, to provide the right to vote for the IDPs, the news agency wrote, referring to the press service of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. It was noted that Ukraines Parliament should pass the law No.6240 in order "to remove the existing barriers for IDPs' full participation in the elections in compliance with international standards. The long-awaited adoption of this draft law would make it easier for the voters to register, it would let all the Ukrainians register for voting at their actual place of residence, the news agency cites the Congress reporters. In addition, there is a need to provide better voter education and information for IDPs ensuring, qualified voters lists and preparation of the electoral bodies. The Polish leader wants to show his readiness to defend the country from a potential aggressor Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland Bild.de The President of Poland Andrzej Duda stated that NATO has to enhance its presence in the Black Sea area, as Ukrinform reported. It is necessary to show our readiness to defend this region (the Black Sea, - ed.), Duda stated and added that the North Atlantic Alliance has to consider this issue as an urgent one. He stated it at the meeting of the leaders of the Bucharest Nine in the Slovak city of Kosice. Bucharest Nine (Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovakia) was created in 2015 under the initiative of Romania and Poland. Duda stressed that at the meeting the officials discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, the situation in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea regions. We agreed that, indeed, the most urgent problem today is the restoration of imperial ambitions of Russia. This is the fact we have to react to, Duda said. One of the involvants is on the run in the Dominican Republic, according to Ukraine's State Security Service Ukrainian MP Anton Herashchenko Open source Eight people were served with charges in the case of Kateryna Handziuks murder, as the Ukrainian MP Anton Herashchenko said on air of 112 Ukraine. As any Ukrainian citizen, I would like all the involvants in the crimes to be punished. For today, charges were served on eight people involved in the case of murder of Kateryna Handziuk, one of them is Manger (the Head of Kherson Regional Council, - ed.). Five direct executors were indicted, one person is on the run near the Dominican Republic, according to SBU (Security Service of Ukraine, - ed.). Sooner or later, he will be found, he stated. Herashchenko also said that an objective inquiry is rather important. It is very important that people whose guilt is based on facts and evidence are brought to justice, as the experience of the Prosecutor General Lutsenko shows that when Yanukovych was in power, he was arrested and convicted without any evidence, the MP stated. Kateryna Handziuk was known for her activity in fighting corruption in the local government in Kherson. On November 4, it became known that she deceased at age of 34. She was doused with sulphuric acid in July 2018. According to preliminary information, her death was caused by blood clot's detachment, multiple organ failure, and chemical burns. In February, the investigation into Handziuk's death led to a possible organizer of the murder. The suspect is Vladyslav Manger, the head of Kherson regional council. On February 11, Manger was served with charge papers in Handziuks murder. In his turn, Manger said that he would not escape from the country due to suspicion of organizing the murder of Handziuk. Donbas conflict, annexation of Crimea, scandal at Ukrainian selection of Eurovision, etc. Read highlights! 1. Donbas Conflict 2. 5th anniversary of annexation of Crimea 3. Scandal in Ukraines Defense complex 4. Eurovision 2019 without Ukraine 5. Deadly car accident in Kharkiv: verdict delivered 6. Illicit enrichment 7. Political prisoners Donbas Conflict This week one Ukrainian soldier died in Donbas conflict zone - Ihor Dzhyhrynyuk from 95th Detached Air Assault Brigade, a paratrooper passed away in Zhytomyr Military Hospital. On February 26, Ukrainian servicemen eliminated enemys snipers in Donbas conflict zone. The Ukrainian guardsmen were rewarded for their professionalism. Russian occupation troops continue violating ceasefire having performed ten attacks on February 28. On March 1, National Guard officers have downed Russian drone in Joint Forces Operation zone. President Poroshenko claimed the realness of full-scale aggression by the Russian Federation and named the preparation stages. It was reported that all checkpoints at the boundary line in Donbas have switched to spring work schedule. Serhiy Nayev, Joint Forces Commander, gave an interview this week and assured that Ukrainian soldiers will have an opportunity to make their choice during the presidential elections in Ukraine in compliance with the electoral right. *** 5th anniversary of annexation of Crimea This day 5 years ago Russia began the armed aggression against Ukraine in Crimea. Over 100 militants in military unmarked uniform seized the building of parliament and the government of the autonomous republic of Crimea, they blocked the exits and raised the Russian flags. It was also reported that children in Russia and occupied Crimea are being taught how to hunt enemy and disperse protests. *** Scandal in Ukraines Defense complex Journalists investigation exposed embezzlement in Ukraine's army. Oleg Gladkovsky together with his son Ihor Gladkovsky organized corrupt practices to receive kickbacks from purchases of the spares to the military equipment through straw companies for the countrys defence enterprises at an over-inflated price back in 2015. Ukrainian presidential candidate Tymoshenko has initiated impeachment proceedings against Poroshenko, as his own company was involved in these corruption schemes as a straw company. *** Eurovision-2019 without Ukraine A scandal hit Ukrainian national Vidbir of Eurovision - Maruv won the Ukrainian national selection for Eurovision and was supposed to perform with her Siren Song in Israel. However, the organizer, the National Television Company of Ukraine, ruled out to forbid Maruv her tours in the Russian Federation. Thus Maruv refused to sign a contract and represent Ukraine. Then winner #2 refused, and winner #3 refused, and winners #4 also refused even before they got this proposition. Maruvs comments here, the he National TV Companys comments are here, the comments by Ruslanas director are here. Thus, no one is representing Ukraine and Ukrainians wont be able to vote at Eurovision 2019. *** Deadly car accident in Kharkiv: verdict delivered To cut the story short Zaitseva and Dronov are both sentenced to 10 years in prison for the deadly car accident in Kharkiv, which resulted in the death of six people back in 2017. *** Illicit enrichment Ukraine's Constitutional Court recognized article on illicit enrichment unconstitutional. Ukraines President signed the bill and the parliament registered the bill already. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau believes that the decision of the Constitutional Court, which ruled unconstitutional the article of the Criminal Code on illicit enrichment, gives the officials an opportunity to abuse. *** Political prisoners This week, Ukraines Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova stated that Ukrainian political prisoners undertake violent treatment in occupied Donbas and Crimea. One of them, Volodymyr Balukh, arrested on December 8, 2016, was sent to a colony in Tver region, Russia where prisoners undertake violent treatment. The reason for the transfer remains unknown, we will get information when Balukh arrives. Or, this information might be based on assumptions: Kerch colony wanted to get rid of uncomfortable prisoner and transferred him to another colony, Denisova explained. *** BOISE, Idaho, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PCS Edventures!, Inc., (PCSV) a leading provider of K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education programs and drone products, today delivered an update on the Companys reporting status under the Alternative Reporting Standard. PCS has completed the process of filing its Disclosure Statements and Attorney Letter under the Alternative Reporting Standard and has achieved a status of Current Information by OTC Markets, indicating full reporting compliance. Company information and reports can be found at https://www.otcmarkets.com/ . OTC Markets Group offers the Alternative Reporting Standard for companies who choose to make material information publicly available to investors. Companies trading on the OTC Pink Market that do not report to the SEC, such as PCS, may publish disclosure in accordance with the OTC Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines. These requirements are designed to give investors the basic information a broker-dealer must maintain under Exchange Act Rule 15c2-11 in order to initiate a quote in a security on the Pink markets. Michael Bledsoe, President, commented, By achieving the Current Information status, we have reached another milestone in our endeavor to increase liquidity in our stock and provide investors with current information. Our longer-term plans include becoming an SEC reporting company again, with audited financial statements, provided that we maintain the trend in profitability that we established in 2018. For more information about PCS Edventures!, Inc., visit our website. About PCS Edventures!, Inc. PCS Edventures!, Inc. (OTCPK: PCSV) is a Boise, Idaho company that designs and delivers technology-rich products and services for the K-12 market that develop 21st-century skills. PCS programs emphasize experiential learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM). https://www.edventures.com . This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934; actual results could differ materially from such statements. Contact Catch a Colores! double feature exploring New Mexican culture. Sleeping Monsters, Sacred Fires: Volcanoes of New Mexico - Look in any direction in New Mexico and you can find mountains that have blown their tops, rare maar volcanoes, cinder cones, lava flows and our very own super volcanoes. New Mexicos volcanoes have been decorating New Mexicos landscape for millions of years. In this COLORES! we see and learn about breathtaking examples of volcanism that span the state. But volcanoes have created more than stunning terrain. Over time, they planted the seeds of civilization and shaped the identity of New Mexico and its people. In this documentary we meet Native Americans who share their views of New Mexico's volcanoes and we meet the experts who help us better understand these geological marvels. Experts also consider the big question, when will these sleeping monsters come to life again? Welcome to the volcano state. High Desert Trout - New Mexico PBS visits with noted fly-fishing expert, Bob Gerding as he unravels the mystique fly-fishing in New Mexico. Bob is joined by author John Nichols who takes us to his favorite fishing holes along the Rio Grande Gorge. Ti Piper, author of Fly-Fishing in New Mexico, describes the spirit behind his search for the wild trout of the Pecos. And, Abe and Tim Chavez guide us along the world famous San Juan River to experience the thrill of fly-fishing for giant rainbow and brown trout. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Regulus Resources Inc. (Regulus or the Company) (TSX.V REG) is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Greening to the position of Vice President, Corporate Development, subject to regulatory approvals. Mr. Greening will be joining Regulus from Yamana Gold Inc. where he played a key role in that companys evaluation and completion of several successful acquisitions and sales. He is a professional geologist with over 12 years experience in the mining industry having also worked with Goldcorp and MPH Consulting as a geologist. Mr. Greening has a B.Sc. (Honors) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. John, Black, CEO of Regulus, commented as follows: We are very excited to have Adam join our management team where he will play a key role in identifying opportunities to maximize shareholder value. The Company has granted options to Mr. Greening to purchase 200,000 shares at $1.78 per share for a period of 5 years, in accordance with the Companys Stock Option Plan. The Company also advises that Gordon P. Leask has stepped down as a non-executive director of the Company. Gordon has been a director of the Company since 2012 and the Board thanks him for his valuable contributions over the years. Gordon will be staying on as a director of Aldebaran Resources Inc. The Company is reviewing potential candidates to replace him on the Board. For Further Information, please contact: Regulus Resources Inc. John E. Black, CEO / Director Phone: +1 303 618-7797 mobile +1 720 514-9036 office Email: john.black@regulusresources.com About Regulus Resources Inc. Regulus Resources Inc. is an international mineral exploration company run by an experienced technical and management team, with a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration properties located in North and South America. For further information on Regulus Resources Inc., please consult our website at www.regulusresources.com . Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. All statements in this discussion, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities, anticipated metal production, internal rate of return, estimated ore grades, commencement of production estimates and projected exploration and capital expenditures (including costs and other estimates upon which such projections are based) and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include metal prices, exploration success, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Boise, Idaho, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For Immediate Release: Boise Cascade closes on previously announced sale to Southern Veneer Boise Cascade Company (Boise Cascade) (NYSE: BCC) entered into an agreement with Southern Veneer on January 28 to sell its plywood facility in Moncure, NC. The sale officially closed on February 28, 2019. The company would like to thank the Boise Cascade employees who have transferred to the Southern Veneer operation. About Boise Cascade Boise Cascade is one of the largest producers of engineered wood products and plywood in North America and a leading U.S. wholesale distributor of building products. For more information, please visit our website at www.bc.com. ABC/Paula LoboThe lineups for Warped Tour's 25th anniversary celebrations have been revealed. The events take place June 8 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; June 29-30 at Atlantic City Beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and July 20-21 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Among the bands playing include Blink-182, The Offspring, A Day to Remember, 311, The All-American Rejects, Good Charlotte, Andy Black, Bad Religion, Dirty Heads, Simple Plan, Sum 41, Sleeping with Sirens, Thrice, Atreyu and Taking Back Sunday. Not every band will play each event -- for example, Blink is only on the Atlantic City lineup. For the individual lineups and ticket info, visit VansWarpedTour.com. Founded in 1995, Warped Tour made its final cross-country run summer 2018. By the time it ended, it had become North America's longest-running touring music festival. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aldebaran Resources Inc. (Aldebaran or the Company) (TSX.V ALDE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Greening to the position of Vice President, Corporate Development, subject to regulatory approvals. Mr. Greening will be joining Regulus from Yamana Gold Inc. where he played a key role in that companys evaluation and completion of several successful acquisitions and sales. He is a professional geologist with over 12 years experience in the mining industry having also worked with Goldcorp and MPH Consulting as a geologist. Mr. Greening has a B.Sc. (Honors) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. John Black, CEO of Regulus, commented as follows: We are very excited to have Adam join our management team where he will play a key role in developing strategy and evaluating business opportunities, including identifying and reviewing potential acquisitions, dispositions and strategic alliances. In addition, the Company announces that Laura Brangwin has been engaged to provide investor relations services to the Company. Laura currently also provides her services to Regulus Resources Inc. and previously worked in media as a project director leading marketing campaigns for executives in the mining sector across the Americas and Africa with Global Business Reports (GBR). Laura graduated from the University of Manchester in the UK with a First-Class BA Honours in Spanish and Distinction in Portuguese. Ms. Brangwin will be paid USD$2,500 per month and will be granted 50,000 stock options of the Company within 90 days of the date of the investors relations agreement (the Agreement), under the terms and conditions of the Companys Stock Option Plan. The Agreement and the grant of options are subject to regulatory approval. The Company has been advised that Ms. Brangwin does not own any shares of Aldebaran. For further information on Aldebaran Resources, please consult our website at www.aldebaranresources.com or contact: Aldebaran Resources Inc. John E. Black, CEO / Director Phone: +1 303 618-7797 mobile +1 720 514-9036 office Email: info@aldebaranresources.com About Aldebaran Resources Inc. Aldebaran is a recently formed mineral exploration company that was spun out of Regulus Resources Inc. and has the same core management team. Aldebaran acquired the Rio Grande copper-gold project located in Salta Province, Argentina from Regulus along with several other earlier stage projects in Argentina. Aldebaran also has the right to earn up to an 80% interest in the Altar copper-gold project in San Juan Province, Argentina from Sibanye-Stillwater. Altar hosts a large porphyry copper-gold system with mineralization currently defined in three distinct zones. Aldebarans primary focus will be on the Altar project with a view to discovering new zones with higher-grade mineralization. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. All statements in this discussion, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities, anticipated metal production, internal rate of return, estimated ore grades, commencement of production estimates and projected exploration and capital expenditures (including costs and other estimates upon which such projections are based) and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include metal prices, exploration success, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada Carbon Inc. (the Company) (TSX-V: CCB) announces that on February 28th, 2019, the Company's lawyers appeared before a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec as part of advancing the Court's judicial review proceedings. The purpose of this hearing was as follows: 1) Debate the legality of certain conclusions covered by the judicial review, seeking, among other things, to order the Commission for the Protection of Agricultural Lands of Quebec ("CPTAQ") to complete the analysis of the Company's application and to render a decision within a reasonable time, and; 2) To discuss the length of the upcoming trial and set a date. On the first point, the Company is asking the Superior Court to declare that its application to the CPTAQ for the Miller Project is not only admissible but also that the CPTAQ be ordered to complete its analysis and render its decision within a reasonable time. The CPTAQ asked the Court to bar any conclusions against it on the premise that they encroached on the exclusive jurisdiction of the CPTAQ. The Court rejected the arguments of the CPTAQ and concluded that the matters were reviewable by the Court. On the second point, the attorneys for the Company did not agree with the Municipality on the possible duration of the upcoming trial. The Court asked the attorneys for both parties to come to an agreement on submissions that could shorten the length of the hearing. Once this exercise has been completed, counsel for both parties will appear before the Court to set the date of the trial on the judicial review. In addition, Canada Carbon welcomes the fact that Judge Georges Massol of the Quebec court decided last week, at the request of the Company, to suspend the request for appeal proceedings that are currently pending before the Quebec Court in the wake of a decision made several months ago by the Tribunal administratif du Quebec ("TAQ") which concluded that the company's application to the CPTAQ is "inadmissible". Counsel for GSLR and one intervener objected to the suspension request and insisted that this case should proceed. Mr. Justice Massol rejected their arguments and concluded that there is a significant risk of conflicting judgments on the issues raised in the appeal and similar issues that are already before the Quebec Superior Court in the above-mentioned judicial review proceedings. CANADA CARBON INC. R. Bruce Duncan CEO and Director Contact Information E-mail inquiries: info@canadacarbon.com P: (604) 685-6375 F: (604) 909-1163 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. PHILADELPHIA, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Philadelphia Foundation today announced a series of community engagement initiatives to celebrate its Centennial Year. The Philadelphia Foundations planned programming will focus on fulfilling its three key service roles as a connector, activator and accelerator to enhance quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia region. Were approaching our second century of service to this community with ambitious goals, fresh optimism and continued resolve to support the vitality of our region, said Pedro A. Ramos, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Foundation. By bringing together our regions nonprofit organizations, businesses and Greater Philadelphians of all ages across the seven counties, we believe we can accelerate positive change in the community and improve quality of life in the region. Connecting Greater Philadelphians to Philanthropy Through Our Key to Community Grantmaking Program In honor of its Centennial Year, the Philadelphia Foundation will unveil a $1 million grantmaking program in which members of the public will be invited to vote for the programs grantees. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative for the Philadelphia Foundation, in which esteemed selection committees will determine a set of finalists to be put forth for public voting. Nine winners will be provided with grants of varying amounts. These special grants are in addition to the Philadelphia Foundations ongoing grantmaking including Fund for Children grants and support for nonprofits serving high poverty and vulnerable populations. Later this spring, the Philadelphia Foundation will issue a call for area nonprofits to apply for Key to Community Grants across three categories: Economic Prosperity, which is co-presented by Wells Fargo The Opportunity Divide, which is co-presented by Comcast NBCUniversal Community and Civic Engagement, presented by the Philadelphia Foundation At Comcast NBCUniversal, we know that success starts with opportunity, and today we celebrate the Philadelphia Foundation for helping to open more opportunities and drive positive change across the Philadelphia region, said Dalila Wilson-Scott, Senior Vice President for Community Impact at Comcast and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. Key to Community grant applications will be made available later this spring to nonprofit organizations on philafound.org . The Philadelphia Foundations critical role as a catalyst for civic engagement and positive social change has been essential to the revitalization of Philadelphias neighborhoods and enhanced quality of life for residents, said Aldustus Jordan, Senior Vice President of Community Relations for Wells Fargo. Our company is proud of our partnership spanning one hundred years and shared commitment to developing effective public and private partnerships to address our regions most pressing challenges. Fidelity Trust, which later became part of Wells Fargo, was the Philadelphia Foundations initial banking partner and the relationship continues through today. Leadership from the nine finalist organizations will be invited to a Leadership Institute, delivered in partnership with Eisenhower Fellowships and Bank of America. Further details about the Institute will be announced later this year. Activating Skills-Based Volunteering With Nonprofits The Philadelphia Foundation will expand the scope and outcomes of its partnership with Catchafire, a national skills-based volunteer matching organization. Currently, the Philadelphia Foundation provides its grantees with free access to Catchafires volunteers who specialize in a variety of areas, from marketing to finance. In 2019, the Philadelphia Foundation has committed to delivering more than $2 million of pro bono support to area nonprofits through this partnership doubling its 2018 support. Engaging Communities in Civic Conversation Now in its 3rd year, On the Table Philly brings residents together to share a meal and discuss issues critical to the region. The civic engagement forum is organized by the Philadelphia Foundation with support from the Knight Foundation. In 2018, more than 5,000 people gathered around more than 400 tables in homes, jobs, libraries, YMCAs, coffee shops and community centers throughout 109 zip codes in the region. This year, the Philadelphia Foundation will continue to use key learnings from On the Table Philly to guide programming and grantmaking in its second century. Philadelphia Foundations Mural Arts Mural In addition to these initiatives, the Philadelphia Foundation will partner with Mural Arts to create a community-painted mural that will honor the past, present and future of our region. The Philadelphia Foundation will also launch a series of programs to activate the next generation of philanthropists in Philadelphia through partnerships with local organizations. Engaging the Region with a Refreshed Brand Identity To bring its mission and these programs to life, the Philadelphia Foundation is refreshing its brand identity, which as of today is now anchored by a vibrant color palette and bold, upbeat imagery that captures the essence of the Philadelphia Foundations positive impact on the community. It features a unique key mark which reinforces the role the Philadelphia Foundation plays in advancing progress in the Greater Philadelphia region. The new brand identity will be featured in a year-long advertising campaign including print, digital and out-of-home placements. Comcast NBCUniversal will also sponsor a series of local PSAs on the Philadelphia Foundations mission in its second century. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of the various ways Philadelphians can support the region through effective philanthropy. The Philadelphia Foundations new branded website at philafound.org contains extensive content tailored for: Current donors seeking information about their funds and custom giving strategies. Prospective donors seeking information about how to make a lasting philanthropic impact through the Philadelphia Foundation. Local nonprofits seeking information about the Philadelphia Foundations many grantmaking programs. Local students seeking information about the Philadelphia Foundations 120+ available scholarships. Professional advisors seeking strategic partnerships. Community members seeking information about the Philadelphia Foundations Centennial Year and volunteer opportunities with local nonprofits. Centennial Corporate Partners The Philadelphia Foundations Centennial initiatives are made possible through the financial support of generous sponsors, including Comcast NBCUniversal, Wells Fargo, Karma Agency, Bank of America, EY, Wawa, Fitler Club, Independence Blue Cross, Colonial Consulting, Cozen OConnor, Morgan Lewis, Braithwaite Communications, VisitPhilly and more. See the full list of Centennial sponsors at philafound.org . ABOUT THE PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION Founded in 1918, the Philadelphia Foundation strengthens the economic, social and civic vitality of Greater Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Foundation grows effective philanthropic investment, connects individuals and institutions across sectors and geography, and advances civic initiatives through partnerships and collaboration. A publicly supported foundation, the Philadelphia Foundation manages more than 900 charitable funds established by its donors and makes over 1,000 grants and scholarship awards each year. To learn more, visit philafound.org . Media Contact Betsy Anderson Director of Communications banderson@philafound.org (215) 863-8109 Aurora, CO, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The entrepreneurial spirit is alive at the Community College of Aurora. Jugbeh Doe-Smith, who recently completed CCAs new Entrepreneurship program and currently works as an accountant in the colleges Fiscal Affairs department, was recently named the winner of the statewide Leading Edge Best Creative Business Plan competition. Doe-Smith received the prestigious award at the Leading Edge graduation ceremony at the Governors Mansion on Feb. 21. Born and raised in Liberia, Doe-Smith immigrated to Aurora in search of a new life, leaving behind many of her friends and family. She earned an associates degree from CCA in 2013 and a bachelors degree from the University of Colorado Denver four years later. During her schooling, Doe-Smith often visited her homeland and it was during one of these trips that she felt compelled to make a difference. She found children in the marketplaces selling crafts, trinkets and household staples in an effort to earn some extra money for their families. Doe-Smith knew dozens of women who were industrious, hardworking, creative and willing but needed a helping hand to create better lives for themselves in Liberia. This experience, paired with her love for fashion, helped give rise to her business idea. Doe-Smith purchases handmade clothing and other textiles from these Liberian craftswomen at fair prices, then imports and sells the goods in the U.S. at market prices to generate a profit. She went into CCAs Entrepreneurship program with a number of business ideas but settled on this one because she wanted to make a difference in the world. Jugbeh is charismatic, bold and thoughtful, and the Entrepreneurship program here at CCA is so much better for having her as an alumna, said Neil Pollard, a business instructor at CCA. I can't think of a person more deserving of this recognition and I hope that the awareness that comes to her business as a result helps her to continue to serve her home country. The Entrepreneurship program at CCA is designed to give students the business knowledge, skills and resources needed to plan and start their own business. While going through the two-semester program, students receive step-by-step business guidance from professors and local entrepreneurs, spend time generating revenue for their business in the colleges on-site business incubator and receive seed and acceleration funding if needed. The program launched in 2017. That year, five new businesses were started as part of the program and those businesses generated $145,000 in revenue. This is a great program because you learn by doing, Doe-Smith said. Students go through the program in cohorts, so theres friendly competition and tons of shared knowledge among the aspiring entrepreneurs. To learn more about the program, visit ccaurora.edu/enp. ### About the Community College of Aurora (CCA) The Community College of Aurora (CCA) provides high-quality instruction and student support services to Aurora and Denver, Colorado. The college offers courses on two campuses, online and through its high school concurrent-enrollment program, helping students prepare for employment or transfer to a four-year institution. For more information, visit www.ccaurora.edu. Attachments VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On February 25, 2019, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed its Fiscal 2020 to Fiscal 2021 Revenue Requirements Application (Rate Application) seeking a reduction of the Deferral Account Rate Rider (DARR) from 5 to 0 percent, and a rate increase of 6.85%, resulting in an average net bill increase of 1.76% beginning April 1, 2019, as well as a 0.72% rate increase beginning April 1, 2020. By Order G-45-19, the BCUC has established a public proceeding that includes an opportunity for public comment and participation. There are a number of ways to participate in the review process, outlined below. Request intervener status by Thursday, March 21, 2019: Persons who are directly or sufficiently affected by the BCUCs decision or have relevant information or expertise, and who wish to actively participate in the proceeding, can request intervener status by submitting a completed Request to Intervene Form online . Persons who are directly or sufficiently affected by the BCUCs decision or have relevant information or expertise, and who wish to actively participate in the proceeding, can request intervener status by submitting a completed Request to Intervene Form . Submit a letter of comment: Members of the public can submit a letter of comment online . Letters of comment are intended to provide for any member of the public to contribute views, opinions, and impact or potential impact, with respect to a matter before the BCUC, to the public record. Members of the public can submit a letter of comment . Letters of comment are intended to provide for any member of the public to contribute views, opinions, and impact or potential impact, with respect to a matter before the BCUC, to the public record. Register as an interested party: Interested parties can register online to receive updates on the proceeding. Interested parties can register to receive updates on the proceeding. Attend the BC Hydro Workshop: A BC Hydro led workshop will be held on Friday, March 15, 2019, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in the BCUC Hearing Room on the 12th Floor at 1125 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC. Parties who wish to attend must register with BC Hydro at bchydroregulatorygroup@bchydro.com before 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 14, 2019. A BC Hydro led workshop will be held on Friday, March 15, 2019, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in the BCUC Hearing Room on the 12th Floor at 1125 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC. Parties who wish to attend must register with BC Hydro at before 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 14, 2019. Attend the Procedural Conference: A procedural conference will be held on Monday, June 24, 2019, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in the BCUC Hearing Room on the 12th Floor at 1125 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC, to determine any further necessary process. Parties who wish to attend must register with the Commission Secretary by email to commission.secretary@bcuc.com no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 2019. A procedural conference will be held on Monday, June 24, 2019, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in the BCUC Hearing Room on the 12th Floor at 1125 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC, to determine any further necessary process. Parties who wish to attend must register with the Commission Secretary by email to no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 2019. Community Input Sessions: The BCUC will host a series of Community Input Sessions around the province. Details such as dates and locations will be published by the BCUC at a later date. For more information on this application, please see the BC Hydro application here . Per BC Hydros request, the BCUC Panel has approved an interim rate increase of 6.85% effective April 1, 2019 as well as the DARR reduction from 5 to 0 percent. Any difference between approved interim rates and permanent rates will be refunded or adjusted with interest from BC Hydro customers at the time that the Panel makes its final decision on the application. About the BCUC The BCUC is a regulatory agency responsible for the oversight of energy utilities and compulsory auto insurance in British Columbia. It is the BCUCs role to balance the interests of customers with the interests of the businesses it regulates. The BCUC carries out fair and transparent reviews of matters within its jurisdiction and considers public input where public interest is impacted. CONTACT INFORMATION: MIAMI, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- Miami-based United American Corp ("UnitedCorp"), (OTC: UAMA) is pleased to announce that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the CRTC), in a decision released on February 28, 2019, has determined that TNW Wireless Inc. is eligible to operate as a wireless carrier in Canada and has access to tariffed services for wholesale mobile roaming on Bell and TELUS networks. The CRTC further confirmed that TNW may begin offering mobile wireless services once it demonstrates that it has complied with all applicable 9-1-1 service obligations. However in the same decision, the Commission determined that the company's proprietary Smartphone-over-IP iPCS technology service does not comply with the Commission's current framework for mandated wholesale roaming, therefore the company is not eligible to access wholesale roaming tariffs in relation to the provision of this specific type of service at this time. The decision was released at the same time that the CRTC announced plans for a deep review of the Canadian wireless industry and it gave notice that the Commission will hold hearings to determine further requirements by incumbents to provide access to their national networks outside of traditional roaming services for licensed carriers. "For over two years, we have been waiting for a decision on our eligibility to operate a global wireless service with access to mandated roaming services, which to date Bell and Telus had refused to provide," stated Lawry Trevor-Deutsch, President of TNW Wireless. "We look forward to putting aside any past disputes and being able to execute our business plan and operate our network, which will provide Canada-wide roaming services to our new subscribers." In November 2018 TNW Wireless received approval for a licence transfer request from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) following change of control to Investel Capital Corporation Canada, a related party to UnitedCorp. As a result of yesterday's developments, UnitedCorp is currently negotiating the final terms with TNW financial stakeholders for the acquisition of TNW as previously announced. The acquisition would be subject to final regulatory approval. In the meantime, UnitedCorp will continue to assist in the operation and maintenance of TNW Wireless's network in compliance with its Conditions of Licence. TNW Wireless is planning to upgrade its infrastructure to 4G in preparation for the upcoming 5G NR Radio Access Network. TNW Wireless licensed spectrum covers the first 1,800 KM of the Alaska Highway corridor beginning from the US border and encompasses areas that are not covered by Bell, Telus or other operators due to lack of tower facility infrastructure. TNW has developed a deployment plan which uses specially designed telecom shelter-towers on the governmental rights-of-way. TNW expects to also focus efforts on the deployment of more comprehensive services in Haida Gwaii and will be aiming to provide coverage of the island and along the northern West Coast area. The CRTC Telecom decision 2019-56 and all submissions of TNW, Bell, Telus and other intervenors are available at www.tnwwireless.com/crtc or on the CRTC web site. About TNW Wireless Inc. TNW Wireless is a licensed wireless operator for wholesale and retail services in Canada and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Investel Capital Corporation Canada pending the acquisition by UnitedCorp. The company currently holds 25MHz bandwidth tier-2 850 MHz licences and is a registered wireless carrier. It is licensed to provide communication services to the Northwest region of Canada and can provide global communication services through its proprietary iPCS Smartphone-over-IP technology. About United American Corp Established in 1992, United American Corp is a Florida-based development and management company focusing on telecommunications and information technologies. The company currently holds the rights to manage a portfolio of patents and proprietary technology in telecommunications, social media, and Blockchain technology. It also owns and operates several BlockchainDomes which are designed to provide heat for agricultural operations generated by computer equipment in naturally cooled data center operations where efficiency and low-cost operations are a priority. This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors that may be beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances in management's expectations or opinions change. Source: United American Corp TNW Wireless Inc. Lawry Trevor-Deutsch Contact: Jenna Trevor-Deutsch, Director Public Relations Email: jenna.trevor-deutsch@tnwcorp.com MALTA, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via CryptoCurrencyWire -- CrypticCoin Foundation today announces new updates and enhancements implemented for CrypticCoin (CRYP), a community-focused (global) decentralized open-source cryptocurrency that combines the best privacy and anonymity practices with lightning-fast transactions (InstantCRYP). CrypticCoin has finalized integration of InfinityNodes the CrypticCoin Ultra-Secure Enhanced Masternodes into the CrypticCoin network. While Bitcoins (BTC) incredibly slow transaction times and high fees took many of the headlines recently, CrypticCoin aims to improve upon BTC, creating a global remittance system that is private, lightning-fast and even more secure. Some of the primary enhancements in CRYPs new upcoming network hard fork planned for March 15th, 2019 include: Censorship and 51% attack resistance, InstantCRYP transactions with only 5-10 seconds needed to confirm, all transactions are secured against double spending in one commitment (one block confirmation), the ZCash (ZEC) Sapling integration, and CrypticCoins very own Delegated Proof Of Stake (dPoS) Masternodes which are called the CrypticCoin InfinityNodes. The CrypticCoin InfinityNodes will function as a two-tier network, providing the ecosystem enhanced security and performance. CrypticCoin is more resistant to 51% attacks because dPoS InfinityNodes, working in tandem with traditional blockchain mining (PoW), will enhance the security of the CrypticCoin ecosystem and blockchain while providing for incredibly fast transactions. The CrypticCoin InfinityNodes owners, and optional operators, are rewarded by the network for these services. Owners must stake a minimum of 1,000,000 CrypticCoin (CRYP), which resides in their own wallet. This condition might be different if one uses a masternode hosting and sharing service. The collateral is required to prevent sybil attacks. Technical users can also host their own CrypticCoin InfinityNodes on hardware that meets certain minimum requirements: static IP address, 2x CPU, 4BG RAM, 40GB SSD disk, 1TB bandwidth. CrypticCoin InfinityNodes can also look to be hosted on virtual private servers (VPS) by providers such as Digital Ocean, Cantabo, Vultr; or by using a masternode hosting service or a masternode sharing service as an example. A docker image will be provided for CrypticCoin InfinityNode installation; Linux is preferred, however, docker images can be run on other operating systems. Having a network of independent CrypticCoin InfinityNodes will provide robust, decentralized security for the network and enable lightning-fast payments (InstantCRYP). CrypticCoin will look to appeal to a larger global community because the block reward is split 50:50 between CrypticCoin Miners and CrypticCoin InfinityNodes. To learn more about CrypticCoin InfinityNodes, visit the CrypticCoin website at http://crypticcoin.io or join the CrypticCoin Telegram at http://t.me/CrypticCoinVIP ABOUT CRYPTICCOIN CrypticCoin (CRYP) is a blockchain and cryptocurrency that focuses on privacy, security and lightning-fast transaction speeds (InstantCRYP). Please visit https://crypticcoin.io and download the non-technical white paper or the technical white paper for more information. Additional CrypticCoin links include: Telegram (VIP): http://t.me/CrypticCoinVIP Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CrypticCoin_io Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crypticcoin/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/crypticcoin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrypticCoin.io/ Github: https://github.com/crypticcoinvip Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/crypticcoin/ BitcoinTalk: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3455300.0 This release is for informational purpose only. BOSTON, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CyberX , the IIoT and industrial control system (ICS) security company, today announced that it has been invited to share its insights on the state of Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity at AGC Partners 2019 Information Security & Broader Technology Growth Conference . The session will address a rapidly growing imperative for industrial and critical infrastructure organizations. On one hand, digital transformation and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are unlocking new levels of productivity, helping organizations improve safety, increase output, and maximize revenue. At the same time, digitalization is driving deployment of billions of IIoT devices and increased connectivity between IT and OT networks, increasing the attack surface and risk of costly downtime and dangerous cyber-physical safety incidents. CyberX was recently recognized by Gartner in a report titled Competitive Landscape: Operational Technology Security.1 In the report, Gartner predicts that OT security spending will grow at a CAGR of 45.7 percent through 2022, with the highest annual growth percentage occurring in 2019 and 2020. Founded in 2013 by military cyber experts with a proven track record of defending critical infrastructure from nation-state attacks, CyberX is the only industrial cybersecurity company to have been awarded a patent for its innovative, ICS-aware threat detection analytics and machine learning technology . Purpose-built for the specialized protocols and devices of OT environments, CyberXs agentless platform enables organizations to continuously auto-discover unmanaged IIoT devices and monitor their OT networks for destructive cyberattacks such as WannaCry, NotPetya, and TRITON. Additionally, by integrating with customers existing IT security stacks (Splunk, IBM Security, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, RSA NetWitness, ServiceNow, etc.), CyberX enables organizations to more effectively manage OT risk and leverage scarce security personnel across both IT and OT. At the AGC conference, CyberX will discuss the evolution of the market and the rapid growth in adoption of its technology, including by some of the worlds largest and most demanding industrial enterprises. WHAT: Critical Infrastructure Panel on OT Cybersecurity and IT/OT Convergence, moderated by Joseph Dews, Partner, AGC Partners WHEN: Monday, March 4th from 8:15am-9:00am PST WHERE: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Ballroom Level WHO: Phil Neray, CyberX VP of Industrial Cybersecurity. Prior to joining CyberX in 2016, Mr. Neray held executive roles in enterprise security firms including IBM Security/Q1 Labs, Guardium, Veracode, and Symantec. About CyberX CyberX delivers the only industrial cybersecurity platform built by blue-team experts with a track record of defending critical national infrastructure. That difference is the foundation for the most widely deployed platform for continuously reducing ICS and IIoT risk and preventing costly production outages, safety failures, environmental incidents, and theft of sensitive intellectual property. Notable CyberX customers include 2 of the top 5 US energy providers; a top 5 global pharmaceutical company; a top 5 US chemical company; and national electric and gas utilities across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Strategic partners include industry leaders such as Palo Alto Networks, IBM Security, Splunk, Optiv Security, McAfee, DXC Technology, and Deutsche-Telekom/T-Systems. For more information visit CyberX.io or follow @CyberX_Labs. Media Contact Deb Montner Montner Tech PR 203-984-7861 dmontner@montner.com 1 Gartner, Competitive Landscape: Operational Technology Security, by Ruggero Contu, 29 October 2018 NEW YORK, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Markel Corporation (Markel or the Company) (NYSE: MKL) and certain of its officers and directors. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and indexed under 19-cv-01947, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who acquired Markel securities between July 26, 2017 and December 6, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act). If you are a shareholder who purchased Markel securities between July 26, 2017, and December 6, 2018, you have until March 12, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Markel is a holding company that purports to market and underwrite specialty insurance products and programs. Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd. (MCIM), the Companys wholly-owned subsidiary, is purportedly an insurance-linked securities investment fund manager and reinsurance manager that manages diversified, collateralized retrocession and reinsurance portfolios covering global property catastrophe risks. The Company is the sole investor in one of the funds managed by MCIM, the Markel Diversified Fund, and consolidates that fund as its primary beneficiary. MCIM also manages CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd. (CROF), a closed-end fund in which the Company holds an investment. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) that the Companys subsidiaries did not appropriately record loss reserves; (ii) that, as a result, the loss reserves would need to be adjusted and/or restated; (iii) that these misleading accounting practices would lead to regulatory scrutiny and financial loss to investors; and (iv) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. On December 6, 2018, the Company disclosed that it had been contacted by the US and Bermuda authorities on November 30, 2018 regarding loss reserves recorded in late 2017 and early 2018 at Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd and its subsidiaries. On this news, the Companys share price fell $99.70 per share, more than 8%, to close at $1048.23 per share on December 7, 2018, on unusually high trading volume. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 MONTREAL, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dynacor (TSX: DNG) reports that it has received positive geophysical results which coincide with the surface gold anomalies previously discovered at the Tumipampa project in Peru. Upon receipt of the drilling permit from the Peruvian MEM, (Ministry of Energy and Mines) Dynacor will immediately commence drilling. GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY RESULTS: (see figures 1 & 2) The decision to survey was taken in March 2018 and was conducted by Valdor Sudamerica SAC. An IP (induced Polarization) geophysics survey was outlined to cover the disseminated zone which includes the Breccia Sumac, the Oro Baritina grid, and other mineralized quartzites zones of Tumipampa. The IP survey area: 102.45 km (kilometres) 74.10 km on the Breccia Sumac grid (disseminated zone) 28.35 km on the Oro Baritina grid (located in the new claims south of the Breccia Sumac) The geophysical team began surveys on May 15, 2018, completing the Breccia Sumac grid on October 5, 2018, and the Oro Baritina grid on October 26, 2018. The IP on the Breccia Sumac Grid outlined positive geophysical results associated with both high chargeability and resistivity anomalies. Chargeability: Line L500W to line L0E with possible extension to line L400E A 500-900 m (meter) strike length of anomalies 100-300 m wide with depths of 200-300 m The chargeability anomalies coincide with the previous surface channel sample anomalies returning values of 1.00 g/t Au to 35.58 g/t Au. (see news release February 27, 2015) PLANNED DRILLING The first phase of twelve (12) holes: Totalling 4410 meters Priority 1 targets to be 2910 m (8 holes) Priority 2 targets to be 1500 m (4 holes) Priority 1 Targets (Disseminated Zone) Breccia Sumac: The positive geophysical and surface channel results have defined six (6) shallow high priority drill targets on the Breccia Sumac. The drill targets are plotted to intersect with the highest value geophysical readings and surface channel location reporting high anomaly of gold results collected in the past. The Breccia Sumac drill targets: To drill chargeability anomalies near the surface Down to 300 m on the lines L0, L200W, L300W, L525W and L400E Esperanza Fault: One (1) high-priority drill target due to the positive geophysical result related to the extension of the Esperanza Fault. To drill chargeability and resistivity anomalies near the surface Down to 200 m on the line L0E Diana Fault: One (1) additional high priority drill target is defined in the Diana Fault which may be related to the Breccia Sumac anomalies. To drill chargeability and resistivity anomalies near the surface Down to 300 m on the line L400E Priority 2 Targets Four additional (4) drill targets totalling 1500 m will test other high geophysical anomalies along the sections L400E, L700E, L800E and L1100E. The planning of the phase two drilling program will commence after the reception of the assay results from the first phase. PERUVIAN MEM DRILL PERMIT UPDATE In the first quarter of 2018, the Corporation applied for an exploration permit covering an extension of the Tumipampa property. Due to last years regulation changes, all exploration projects in the Peruvian mining sector are delayed. To date, all studies and required data, have been submitted to the Peruvian MEM. Upon receipt of the permit, Dynacor will immediately begin drilling on the Breccia Sumac, disseminated and mineralized quartzites. Alonso Sanchez, Dynacors Chief Geologist, stated, Independent reports from large scale miners in the last couple of years indicate interest in these two zones. Supporting this theory is the recent geophysical results which add an extra layer of confidence to our drill targets set before the survey. We are anxious to drill test both the Breccia Sumac and Disseminated Quartzites zones as soon as we receive the permit. We plan to drill 3-4 holes per month and expect to release the first batch of results to the market approximately 50-60 days after the drilling begins. MINING TUMIPAMPAS UNDERGROUND MANTO DORADO VEIN SYSTEM (see figure 4) Dynacor is nearing the completion of an agreement with well-organized artisanal mining team from the community of Pachaconas to start extracting gold mineralized material from the high-grade underground vein system developed at Tumipampa. In December 2017, the Pachaconas community granted Dynacor a right-of-way agreement to access the disseminated mineralized zone with diamond drill rigs. During these discussions, a working plan was reached by both parties. The artisanal miners will be allowed to extract mineralized material from a 71-meter long raise averaging 21.109 g/t Au directly above the Manto Dorado. (see figure 4) As part of the working plan , Dynacor will purchase the mineralized material from the artisanal miners which will then be processed at its Veta Dorada plant in Chala, in Peru. Upon final approval by both parties, Dynacor will publish a news release. 2019 PRODUCTION OUTLOOK Dynacors production outlook in 2019 reflects stable gold production with an increase to 82-92,000 ounces from 2018s production of 81,314 ounces. In Q4 2018, the Veta Dorada plant in Peru operated at 94% of its full capacity. Steady production levels and continuous plant improvements in cost optimization should positively impact cash flows from operations for Dynacor. As the Corporation nears its first stage of full capacity (300 TPD), management will not be providing monthly production updates in 2019. We, therefore, will report quarterly production updates as per the industry standard. ABOUT DYNACOR Dynacor is a dividend-growth gold production corporation headquartered in Montreal, Canada. The corporation is engaged in production through its ore processing operations. At present, Dynacor produces and explores in Peru where its management team has decades of experience and expertise. In 2018, Dynacor produced 81,314 ounces of gold, a yearly best and 1.8% increase as compared with 2017 (79,897 ounces). Dynacor trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (DNG) and the OTC in the United States under the symbol (DNGDF). FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION Certain statements in the foregoing may constitute forward-looking statements, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Dynacor, or industry results, to be materially different from any future result, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance as of the date of this news release. Dynacor. (TSX: DNG) Website: http://www.dynacor.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/DynacorGold For more information, please contact: Dynacor Dale Nejmeldeen Director, Shareholder Relations Dynacor T: 604.492.0099 | M: 604.562.1348 E: nejmeldeen@dynacor.com Dynacor Symbol: DNG Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) OTC: DNGDF Shares outstanding: 39 292 213 Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 accompanying this announcement are available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c52c0fe1-be21-4e60-83d6-c4b8f77b0b36 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/44523df7-ebb9-4b1d-b3f3-b12abcf57536 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0e8f4c1f-5f22-4868-8a24-b329ecb421da http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/45fc91ef-2475-4b90-a997-341d9ce77118 Brill/ullstein bild via Getty ImagesIt's a three dollar show, y'all. Limp Bizkit has announced a surprise show at the Troubador in Los Angels on Tuesday, March 5. The show will only cost $3, an apparent reference to the title of the band's 1997 debut album, Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$. According to Limp Bizkit's Instagram, the show will feature the band's "original lineup," presumably referring to vocalist Fred Durst, guitarist Wes Borland, bassist Sam Rivers, drummer John Otto and turntablist DJ Lethal. DJ Lethal returned to the band in 2018 after leaving in 2012, while Rivers had been on hiatus from the group since 2015. While on its face the show might sound like a hoax, like when a Facebook post advertising a fake Bizkit show at a gas station in Dayton, Ohio went viral in 2016, this one does appear to be legit. It's being advertised on LB's verified Instagram, and is listed on the Troubadour's website. In case this sounds like something you'd want to attend, tickets go on sale today, Friday, at 3 p.m. PT via Ticketfly. Meanwhile, Limp Bizkit has been working on a new album, their first since 2011's Gold Cobra. It's unclear whether the material will be for the much-fabled Stampede of the Disco Elephants record, or for a new project. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Saturday, the Joint Venture of Canada Lands Company (CLC) and Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh (MST) Partnership, with the City of Vancouver, will co-host the official launch of the Jericho Lands policy planning program. The event will begin at 12:00 p.m. with a ceremonial celebration and speeches, and will be followed by a public open house. Date: March 2, 2019 Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Ceremonial Welcome and Celebration Location: Jericho Hill Centre, Pool & Gymnasium, 4180 West 4th Ave. The Jericho Lands policy planning program is the start of a process to create a policy statement which, if approved by City Council, will set out a comprehensive plan for the full 90 acres of the Jericho Lands (52 acres owned by a joint venture of CLC and the MST Partnership, and 38 acres owned by the MST Partnership). The Joint Venture Partnership is excited to launch the process to Inspire Jericho: Hearts and minds together planning a great neighbourhood. Please note that members of Canada Lands Company and the MST Partnership will be available to media for questions following the welcome and ceremonial launch. Media Contact: Caillin Katnich 604-788-9049 English French OTTAWA, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Royal Canadian Legion welcomes Canadas new Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay. We look forward to working directly with Minister MacAulay at the first available opportunity, says Dominion President Thomas D. Irvine. Knowing his vast experience in government including as a past Secretary of State for Veterans and his understanding of seniors issues, this appears to be a very positive appointment. The Legion hopes to explore a range of issues with Minister MacAulay as soon as possible, including sharing concerns about the new Pension for Life program set to be released on April 1, and advocating for an improved transition system for Veterans leaving military life. About The Royal Canadian Legion Founded in 1925, the Legion is Canadas largest Veteran support and community service organization. We are a non-profit organization with a national reach across Canada as well as branches in the U.S., Europe and Mexico. With close to 260,000 members, many of whom volunteer an extraordinary amount of time to their branches, our strength is in our numbers. LEXINGTON, S.C., March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avtec Inc., the leading independent provider of technology and services to help clients orchestrate their missions, and Motorola Solutions, a global leader in mission-critical communications products, services and solutions, demonstrated their joint commitment to open standards by successfully completing wireline connectivity testing between Avtecs Scout console subsystem and the Motorola Astro 25 digital trunked radio system. The testing was completed on Feb. 20, 2019, at the Motorola Test Laboratory in Schaumburg, Ill. Among the features verified were AES encryption; group, unit, and emergency calls; unit alerts; and console over subscriber priority. The testing results are available from the PTIG website: http://www.project25.org . Avtec is the first vendor to complete the Project 25 Technology Interest Group (PTIG) Inter RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI)/Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI) Non-Compliance Assessment Program (CAP) interoperability test. Developed as a suite of standards for digital communications, the P25 standard promotes interoperable communications between Land Mobile Radio (LMR) vendors and facilitates mission orchestration between jurisdictions and agencies. The success of the CSSI testing demonstrates Avtecs ongoing commitment to the open standards that allow thousands of LMR subscribers nationwide to orchestrate their missions and make informed decisions when responding to emergency situations, said Avtecs Senior Director of Product Management John Locatelli. Mission orchestrators need to feel confident that their dispatch communications will be clear and reliablewhether they are working from their main command center or from a mobile unit rolling into a neighboring locality. Through their commercial partnership, Avtec and Motorola Solutions will continue to provide clients the proven solutions that meet the demands of mission-critical environments now and in the future. Representatives from Avtec and PTIG will be participating in panel discussions and technology sessions during the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) that will be held in Las Vegas March 4 -March 8, 2019. Visit Avtec booth #1761 and PTIG booth #2761 for additional information. About Avtec, Inc. Avtecs technology and services help public safety, business, energy, transportation, and government organizations orchestrate their missions. Dispatchers at major airlines, utilities, railroads, and public safety agencies have been using Avtec products and services to orchestrate their critical missions since 1979, with thousands of systems installed. Visit www.avtecinc.com to learn more. About PTIG The purpose of the Project 25 Technology Interest Group (PTIG) is to promote the success of Project 25 and educate interested parties on the benefits that the standard offers. PTIGs mission is to advance the design, manufacture, evolution, and effective use of technologies defined in the P25 standardization process. Contact: Tiffany Rushton, Director of Marketing Communications Email: Media@avtecinc.com Phone: (803) 358-3435 New York Citys luxury real estate market has a crazy list of loopholes for the wealthy: a tax abatement for affordable housing that somehow managed to benefit those living on Billionaires' Row; buyers who are permitted to mask their identities and potentially nefarious deeds behind anonymous LLCs; builders who have supersized skyscrapers through devious and bizarre designs, and as pointed out by a story in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, owners who manage to pay relatively minuscule amounts of property tax. A Central Park South penthouse that was recently purchased by billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin for $238 million is worth only $9.4 million in the eyes of city tax assessors. The report underscores the citys convoluted and inequitable property tax system, which, among other oddities, elects to assess co-ops and condos as if they were rental properties. That means assessors base their estimate of the value of the 23,000-square foot apartment at 220 Central Park South on rental income generated by nearby apartments. As a result, Griffin will have an annual tax bill that works out roughly $516,500. That is based on an effective tax rate, which is considered the best measure of tax liability, of 0.22 percent. The rate is lower than that of most outer borough homeowners. For example, homeowners in Staten Island can pay an effective tax rate as high as 1.0 percent. Griffins tax liability even bests that of an unidentified buyer who bought a full-floor penthouse for $50.9 million in 2015. That person paid an effective tax rate of 0.42 percent, according to The Real Deal. To put it another way, Griffin will pay the same effective tax rate paid by Mayor Bill de Blasio for his two homes in Park Slope, both valued at under $2 million. According to a policy 2016 brief by the Citizens Budget Commission, co-ops and condos in New York City have an average effective tax rate of 0.86 percent. It is a crazy system, Martha Stark, a former city finance commissioner who is now the policy director of Tax Equity Now, told the WSJ. The true market value bears no relation to sales price, and nowhere is that truer than among high-value coops and condos. Tax Equity Now is suing the city over its property tax system, alleging that it unfairly works against renters and low-income and minority property owners. The city is currently undergoing an effort to evaluate and come up with proposals to reform its property tax system. Last year, the de Blasio administration announced the creation of a Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform which will set out a list of recommendations to be implemented at both the city and state level. In the meantime, public furor over Griffin's exorbitant purchase is being leveraged to enact an previously floated policy. On Monday, the City Council revived its calls for pied-a-terre tax. Originally sponsored by State Senator Brad Hoylman in 2014, the state bill would levy annual fees on second homes worth $5 million and up. Under the proposed tax, Griffin could be asked to cough up $8,890,000 a year to the city. On Tuesday, Brooklyn City Council Member Jumaane Williams won the special election for NYC Public Advocate, beating out 16 other candidates in a largely overlooked race for the city's second highest-ranking position. It was a decisive ending to an odd, unwieldy contest: Williams captured a third of the vote, beating out his next closest opponent, Republican Councilmember Eric Ulrich, by a 14-point margin. In an emotional victory speech, the former tenant organizer and longtime Flatbush council member wept, clutching his mother as he discussed his struggles with mental health growing up. "I got something to say to that young man that I think about very often," he said. "My name is Jumaane Williams and I'm the Public Advocate of New York City." Now, as he gets settled into his new office, Williams will have a certain amount of leeway in deciding how to use the limited powers ascribed to the public advocate. Aside from being second in line to the mayor, the public advocate can introduce and co-sponsor legislation in the City Council, review systemic problems within city agencies, and investigate New Yorkers' complaints about municipal services. Past public advocates have also used the position to file lawsuits though it's up for debate whether the office has the right to do so and Williams has vowed to pass a law giving him subpoena power of city agencies' records. While the watchdog's authority may be nebulous, the public advocate has historically served as a sort of ombudsman for city residents, pressuring lawmakers and shining a light on issues that might not otherwise get attention. On Thursday morning we spoke with Williams about the issues he's most passionate about, and what he realistically hopes to accomplish on behalf of New Yorkers. This is now your second day in office. As you begin mapping your agenda between now and the general election in November, what are some concrete goals you have that you see as within the scope of your office? Well, first we have to hire a staff that looks as diverse as the city. Probably immediately after that we'll begin supporting people who are pushing for stronger rent laws in the state, because that's up in June. I'm thankful that, because of the [lieutenant governor] race we ran last year, we're also in connection with people across the state who want to see strengthened laws. We might be able to be the connective tissue in putting that pressure together. We want to look at what's called mandatory inclusionary housing. It's the underpinning of all the rezonings that people have heard about unfortunately those rezonings haven't produced the type of affordable, income-targeted housing we want to see. I've called for a moratorium on most rezoning until we fix that. I also want to see a racial impact study before zonings occur and we'll be pushing that as well. We also want to set up the borough-based deputy public advocates with the satellite offices in the way we discussed in the campaign. We think that's a few good things to work on in the next 10 months or so, and we know that there are going to be other issues that come up as we're setting up. I wanted to ask about your victory speech, which a lot of people found very moving. Directly addressing young black men, you spoke candidly about crying yourself to sleep as a child and missing your father, and more recently entering therapy. Can you tell us a little bit more about that moment? It's something I've actually been talking about for a while I've just never had that many cameras pointed at me at one time. I've been trying to speak about my experience with therapy, and how it has been impactful in my life. There are so many communities where it's just not talked about. It's taboo in black and brown communities, many immigrant communities. I think everyone is going through something and trying to figure it out. We talk openly about going for a checkup to the doctor or the dentist. I want to make it just as easy to talk about mental health. Our city's current mental health initiative an $850 million multi-pronged effort overseen by First Lady Chirlane McCray has come under scrutiny this week for its opaque budget and lack of demonstrated results. Do you think that program is doing enough to provide underserved communities with the mental health support they need? I don't know all the particulars yet, but it was disappointing to hear what I did. I do know the first lady has championed this issue, and I was very happy to see her do it. It's an important initiative, and it's important that someone with her platform is pushing it. If the money's not being spent the way it should be, we definitely have to put a check on it. I'm going to, in my new role, take a look at it and make sure it's as effective as possible. As public advocate, one of your duties is to service complaints of city agencies sometimes overseeing investigations, other times directing those complaints to the Department of Investigations. What are some agencies you plan on bringing further oversight to? We talk about the transparency and accountability in the NYPD, looking at disciplinary records, how discipline is being meted out. With the Department of Education, we would like some more information on some of the large contracts that are happening we just had some changes with the Renewal Schools program. Is there a particular system that can help us to not spend that much money in a program before it's not working? When you look at [the Housing and Preservation Department], I was disappointed to see that HPD wasn't following up with some of the bad landlords who said they made repairs, but didn't. When we look at Administration for Child Services, we want to look at people particularly black and brown women who are losing their children to the city based on issues of poverty, not necessarily neglect. Those are a few of the agencies we're thinking about in terms of how best to get the information to address issues and concerns that have been brought to us. You've been a vocal critic of the NYPD, and have long argued that the department isn't transparent enough. Is there anything the public advocate can do, from day one, to actually begin forcing the NYPD to be more transparent? I was happy to see that as this race has gone on, [Police Commissioner James O'Neill] has agreed to take on the recommendations of a panel that was put together to deal with transparency. These are things that people have been recommending for quite some time, as others have pretended that there was more transparency and accountability than there actually is. So we're going to take some time to look at those recommendations and make sure there's a real plan in place to follow them. We're proud that [NYC's first public advocate] Mark Green endorsed the campaign. He did a lot of good work in the Giuliani years to make sure the police department was giving up information that they otherwise wouldn't if there wasn't pressure. We're looking forward to having conversations about how best this office can do the same thing. You said on the FAQ podcast earlier this week that the NYPD should be investigated for leaking your sealed arrest record to the Daily News a day before the election. Is that something you plan to make a priority? I do want to understand how the records got out because obviously they shouldn't have. It's not the first time that something like this has happened. I want to separate that from the issue itself. Once the information was out, we understood that people had a right to ask questions about it particularly of someone who's running for citywide office. So we did our best to be transparent and provide clarity about what happened and what we learned from it. But separate from that, those records are supposed to be sealed. I think some of them are supposed to be destroyed. That didn't happen. That's a problem. We'll try to put in some work to see what exactly happened and hopefully someone can provide some answers. In 2015, you voted to approve a budget that included 1,300 new NYPD officers. Can you explain why you thought that was the right thing to do, and if crime continues to fall in NYC, should the NYPD keep expanding? There are a few things there. At that time, [City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito] made that a priority of the council, which I thought was unfortunate. There were a lot of conversations. It was the first time I've ever seen someone start at a number which I think was 1,000 and then actually end up getting more. When I did the math, I think New York City, was sixth in the nation for police officers per person. We are the largest police force in the country, I think it's the 7th largest army in the world [Editor's note: It is not]. Per person, we were about sixth, and probably even lower if you count the tourists that were here on any other day. So I said, the issues with the police department transparency, accountability, even over-policing and police force probably are not going to change if you add 1,300 more. It probably won't get better if you take away 1,300. These issues are systemic and deeply-seated. So while it wasn't a priority of mine, and unfortunately the speaker made it one of her first priorities, I did have to figure out and balance if I wanted to vote against this entire budget, or do I want to make my concerns clear. I decided on the latter. Moving on to transit, plenty of others have pointed out that your driving record is, frankly, terrible. You have a slew of school zone speeding tickets and bus lane violations. You also recently opposed the creation of a bus lane for the B82. How can you assure New Yorkers that you are taking problems of congestion and street safety seriously? Because I always have. Any time those issues have come up in the council, I always take them seriously. I have voted and supported increased speed cameras, actually asked for some additional ones in my district. Even before the story came out, I was on Brad Lander's bill that said if you have a certain amount of speeding tickets you should have your license revoked. So I've always been very supportive of those kind of issues. I supported most I would say 95 percent of Vision Zero. The issue with bus lanes is that there are small things that can be done with communities, and there are times they just ignore the communities' concerns. I've supported bus lanes in places more than I haven't, but when you come into a community and the community is saying, 'A bus lane is probably better here, but not here,' and you refuse to listen to what the community is saying even when they're trying to help, that's unfortunate. In terms of the tickets themselves, I immediately just accepted what was presented. It was a bad behavior that needed to be changed. It was actually surprising to me when I saw the amount of tickets. I think they covered maybe a four or five year period. Sometimes you get them and you pay them, but you're not looking at the aggregate number. That aggregate number was very shocking to me and it jolted me to say this is a problem and we have to change it. So I did a few things. I introduced a bill saying that said we should send some information to drivers periodically telling them how many tickets they've gotten over a certain timespan. Secondly, even though Brad Lander's bill was not law, I decided to take the course myself, which I found very impactful. I decided we're going to have a change in behavior, and we have. When Governor Cuomo was asked earlier today if he had any hard feelings toward you for challenging Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, he responded: "I don't really know Mr. Williams. But there are no hard feelings at all." To what extent do you have a relationship with the governor and with the state legislature? Oh, really? [laughs]. I don't know if I have a particular relationship with the governor. I do see the impacts of some of the things he does and how it affects New York City. And I have a pretty good relationship with many of the legislators that are up in Albany. Lastly, if you're serious about not running for mayor, what do you see as your next step after being public advocate? Well I'm definitely not running for mayor in 2021. We'll see what happens after that, I guess. But I don't even see it happening in 2025. It's not really something I'm thinking about. My desire is to continue to do work as the public advocate, and we'll see how long we'll be in the political arena, but there's a lot of different things that can be done to be effective in dealing with equity and justice issues in the city. I'm excited about this opportunity the city is giving me now, and kind of just focused on that. John Mulaney is hosting Saturday Night Live for the second time ever this weekend (he was a writer on the show for many years, although that alleged fact is now in dispute), and he's been doing a lot of very fun press this week to gear up for it (and also to promote the excellent new season of Documentary Now!, which you should watch this weekend). And while most of that involved playing silly games with Jimmy Fallon, he also appeared on an upcoming episode of Late Night Podcast (coming out Monday) in which he talked about the unmade Stefon movie, and offered some amusing details about what could have been. "The only thing I wanted to have happen in that movie, and maybe it was Bills idea, was that I wanted, in the first scene, to agree to go out with Stefon," Meyers said in the preview clip below. "And then a superfast cut of us at all the clubs. And then I was then zipped into a bodybag...then it would pan up to Stefon saying, 'Hes dead.' And that would be it." That was their solution to write Meyers out so the film could have a different love interest. But Mulaney added, "I had no problem violating your real life as an individual who was engaged and married, and you had a girlfriend and fiancee, and we paid no mind to that," he said. "I believe in the movie you would fully end up together." Stefon, who was created by Hader and Mulaney, appeared on SNL over 20 times in the last decade; Mulaney appeared last season as Stefon's personal attorney, Shy. Hader revealed in an interview with Fast Company that they had been approached by Paramount about adapting the character into a film (ala MacGruber, Wayne's World, Superstar and other SNL spinoff films): "John and I pretty quickly said no. Because in our mind, it never worked as a sketch. It was a nice thing that lived on Weekend Update, and it should probably only live on SNL and thats that." How was @SethMeyers written out of the never-produced Stefon movie? That story and more with @Mulaney on the Late Night Podcast on Monday subscribe for free wherever you listen to podcasts pic.twitter.com/bB1AvfEA4q Late Night with Seth Meyers (@LateNightSeth) March 1, 2019 As for the highlights of the rest of Mulaney's charm offensive in the press, Fallon played a clip from the first SNL sketch Mulaney appeared in... where he completely blew his cue. As seems to be contractually obliged at this point, Mulaney brought Pete Davidson with him to discuss their current comedy tour together, getting into the time they swapped clothes for a day. Fallon, Mulaney & Davidson also played a rousing game of "True Confessions" (did Davidson really go to Jamaica with Lorne Michaels for New Year's?): And here's the very amusing SNL promo for his episode: And a few other funny behind-the-scenes photos he's been tweeting out this week: Everyone from Lorne Michaels to @sethmeyers to Emma Stone to the entire crew: everyone looks annoyed with me in this photo. November 2011. Hosting this week. pic.twitter.com/H37z4ibcuD John Mulaney (@mulaney) March 1, 2019 Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary rehearsal with @JerrySeinfeld & Larry David. JERRY: Larry, you goin to the after party? LARRY: No. February 15, 2015 pic.twitter.com/ZOSEV3i1M4 John Mulaney (@mulaney) March 1, 2019 Ava DuVernay's upcoming Netflix series on the Central Park Five now has an official name: When They See Us. DuVernay announced the name today and released the first teaser for the four-part miniseries, which will be released on May 31st. "In 1989, five black and brown teen boys were wrongly accused of a crime they did not commit and branded The Central Park Five, a moniker that has followed them since that time. In 2019, our series gives the five men a platform to finally raise their voices and tell their full stories," DuVernay said in a release. "In doing so, Korey, Antron, Raymond, Kevin and Yusef also tell the story of many young people of color unjustly ensnared in the criminal justice system. We wanted to reflect this perspective in our title, embracing the humanity of the men and not their politicized moniker." Not thugs. Not wilding. Not criminals. Not even the Central Park Five. They are Korey, Antron, Raymond, Yusef, Kevin. They are millions of young people of color who are blamed, judged and accused on sight. May 31. A film in four parts about who they really are. WHEN THEY SEE US. pic.twitter.com/QQBVqo4TYM Ava DuVernay (@ava) March 1, 2019 The series will follow the story of the five menAntron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wisefrom 1989, the year they were falsely convicted by the media and the courts for the rape of a jogger in Central Park, up until 2014, the year their convictions were overturned and their names cleared. In a previous statement, DuVernay noted, "In their journey, we witness five innocent young men of color who were met with injustice at every turnfrom coerced confessions to unjust incarceration to public calls for their execution by the man who would go on to be the President of the United States." In 1989, Trump repeatedly condemned the innocent teenagers and even took out full page newspaper ads in 1989 calling for the death penalty to be reinstated in New York. Jovan Adepo, Jharrel Jerome, Chris Chalk, Justin Cunningham, and Freddy Miyares will portray the Central Park Five. The rest of the cast includes Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Niecy Nash, Kylie Bunbury, Felicity Huffman, Adepero Oduye, Storm Reid, Blair Underwood, and Famke Janssen. Did you think Governor Andrew Cuomo was going to take this Amazon decision lying down? That he was just going to let as many as 40,000 tech jobs (tech jobs!) and billions in tax revenue drive on down the road like white-knuckled truckers defying a blizzard-induced travel ban? They call him Amazon Cuomo because he's the King of the New York jungle, and the lion is definitely not sleeping tonighthe's pacing around Westchester calling Jeff 'Pinata' Bezos. According to the New York Times, Cuomo has spent the last two weeks working "furiously" to make a "personal pitch" to Amazon to come back. From the Times: The governor has had multiple phone conversations with Amazon executives, including Mr. Bezos, over the past two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the efforts. In those calls, Mr. Cuomo said he would navigate the company through the byzantine governmental process. Mr. Cuomo did not offer a new location but rather guarantees of support for the project, one person said. Amazon executives gave no sense that it would reconsider. Cuomo has angrily and repeatedly blamed Senate Democrats for opposing the deal, offering the fierce Amazon critic Senator Michael Gianaris for an appointment to the Public Authorities Control Board, and scaring Amazon away. Last week he called it the "greatest tragedy that I have seen since I have been in government." But couldn't he have called Bezos earlier, before the company backed out? In a statement released on Thursday night, Cuomo spokesperson Dani Lever said that the governor was now going to "take control" of the situation, and that 75 percent of New Yorkers supported the deal. (Lever later clarified that she meant 70 percent, which refers to a poll that Amazon commissioned. The most recent poll released earlier this month showed that 58 percent of New York City residents supported the project. Lever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) "The State Senate made a terrible blundereveryone, including their members, knows itand 70% of New Yorkers affirmed it," Lever said in a statement. "The Governor will take over the process and can comfortably assure Amazon the approval will get done." Given that the Amazon deal was largely negotiated by Governor Cuomo's Empire State Development Corporation, the state's commercial development engine, it's strange that the governor would just now be "taking control." Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who initially appointed Senator Gianaris to the PACB, pulled his appointment once Cuomo made it clear he wouldn't approve it, and appointed Senator Leroy Comrie instead, said she would be open to Amazon moving forward. I have always been clear that I support job creation and was disappointed with Amazons decision and hoped they would reconsider," Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. "I have also repeatedly indicated my willingness to work with Amazon in the best interests of our state and affected communities. It is clear that this process exposed serious flaws in our economic development programs that need to be reformed for future projects. The Governor will take over the process. Smh, what a tyrant https://t.co/HMehQo7h4t Julia Salazar (@JuliaCarmel__) March 1, 2019 On Friday, the Partnership for New York City, a group of the city's largest private sector employers and business leaders, published an open letter to Amazon in the New York Times, lamenting how "rough and not very welcoming" the debate was around the Long Island City campus, and asking the company to reconsider. The letter is signed by small business owners, union leaders, and a few members of Congress. Kathryn Wylde, the president and CEO of the Partnership, told Gothamist that the effort to get Amazon to reconsider their decision reminded her of "the end of the '70s the early '80s, when everybody was moving out of the city and we lost half our Fortune 500 companies." "For those of us who were around then, we realize how fragile the city is. We've done well the last 15, 20 years, but that does not mean that continued progress is inevitable," Wylde said. Asked how much of the blame should be on Amazon for the loss of the Long Island City campus, given that they pulled out so early in the process, before any of the actual planning started, Wylde responded, "If you're participating in a process and you don't like it, and you don't like how you're being treated, and you decide to leave, yeah, they can be blamed but what good does that do us? We want the project." Wylde added, "I think the politics of New York were shocking to them, surprising to them. No employer likes to see their executives put through the ringer. Did you see the people bashing a pinata with Jeff Bezos' head on it?" Amazon did not respond to a request for comment. Opponents of the Amazon deal respond to Cuomos efforts to lure back the company with their own letter: We defeated them recently and we will do it again. pic.twitter.com/4KzpnqH3fg J. David Goodman (@jdavidgoodman) March 1, 2019 [UPDATE 11:18 a.m.] Speaking to WNYC's Brian Lehrer this morning, Governor Cuomo refused to confirm or deny that he had spoken directly to Jeff Bezos. "I have had private conversations with Amazon executives," Cuomo said, refusing to elaborate. "They're private conversations." "They have given no indication that they would reconsider," the governor continued. "I have no reason to believe that Amazon is reconsidering. Would I like them to? Certainly. But I have no reason to believe that. We want all businesses nationwide to know, that this was an oddity." Gothamist has filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the governor's office, asking for all records and logs of communication between Jeff Bezos and other agents and surrogates of Amazon. Robert Freeman, the executive director of the State Committee on Open Government, and an expert on the state's FOIL law, said that logs of telephone calls between Amazon and the Governor are a matter of public record. "My question is, whether there is indeed a record," Freeman said. In 2012, the Daily News reported that Governor Cuomo used BlackBerry messaging to avoid leaving a paper trail. " " A mother golden snub-nosed monkey is seen here suckling two infants from the same social unit. Zuofu Xiang When it comes to feeding their offspring, there's no snubbing in the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) family. In fact, researchers in the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve observed females engaging in what's called allomaternal nursing. That means they witnessed infant monkeys being nursed by females other than their mothers. The findings from the study, which were published on Feb. 20 in the journal Science Advances, are especially interesting because this behavior was thought to be rare to nonexistent in Old World monkeys like the snub-nosed, which are, by the way, considered endangered. Allomaternal nursing exists in other species of mammals, as well as some prosimians, New World monkeys and even humans. But this was the first time it had been documented in golden snub-nosed monkeys. Advertisement During the research period, which was conducted over the course of five birth seasons, scientists observed 40 out of 46 infants allonursing from "non-mothers." Additionally, 22 out of 46 nursed from at least two additional females. The allonursing occurred largely between relatives in the group grandmothers and aunts, for instance and it lasted for about the first three months of the infants' lives. Researchers say the behavior was apparently reciprocal. Around 90 percent of mothers nursed another female's baby if that female had previously nursed their own, the study says. The research was led by Zuofu Xiang, a professor of zoology at Central South University of Forestry and Technology in Changsha, Hunan, China. This is the first time the behavior has been seen widespread in any group of Old World monkeys, which are native to Asia and Africa, and include baboons, macaques and langurs. New World monkeys, on the other hand, comprise five families of monkeys that inhabit Mexico, Central America and South America. "Although there are many primates that live in social groups, the majority of species do not nurse each other's young," Kirsty MacLeod, a behavioral and evolutionary ecologist at Lund University in Sweden, told National Geographic, "so this report of allonursing in golden snub-nosed monkeys is significant and interesting." Golden snub-nosed monkeys native to southern China and northern Myanmar inhabit mountain forests with elevations of more than 13,000 feet (4,000 meters). They face harsh winters lasting some five months and, consequently, lower food availability during that time. One theory on why they share nursing: The extra nourishment could help offspring develop more quickly to ready for the coming winter. "Infant mortality in wild snub-nosed monkeys during their first winter can be very high (more than 55 percent)," the study said. "If infants have not reached a threshold level of development before the onset of winter, then they may be unlikely to survive winter." During the observations, four of the six infants who were not nursed by another female died during winter, compared to just six of the 40 infants who were allonursed. The researchers mention other theories for the behavior, also, including misdirected maternal care, in which "lactating females lack the capacity to discriminate against nursing others' offspring" and parenting skills, where females improve their maternal skills through nursing others' offspring. " " A female golden snub-nose monkey is seen here with two young monkeys. Zuofu Xiang Now That's Interesting The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) was discovered in 2010 in the forests of northern Myanmar. It has a short, turned up nose and when it rains, water gets in its nostrils causing the little monkeys to sneeze. YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Conference entitled Armenophobia: Historical and Present-Day Resurgence will be held in the European Parliament on March 6. The conference has been organized by the initiative of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) and the Tufenkian Foundation. The event is hosted by MEP, head of the EU-Armenia friendship group Eleni Theocharous. Harut Shirinian, Public Relations and Communications Officer at EAFJD, told Armenpress that the main speakers of the conference are Turkish intellectual, human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu, Ombudsman of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan, former Ombudsman of Artsakh Ruben Melikyan, blogger Alexander Lapshin and Polish expert on Armenian studies Jakub Osiecki. During the conference various manifestations of Armenophobia and inter-related issues will be discussed. In other words reports, discussions will provide a comprehensive overview on Armenophobia. We know that there are Armenophobia manifestations in Azerbaijan and Turkey. This means that this policy has not been left in the historical past, we face the same problem also nowadays. And this conference is a good chance to raise the issues relating to Armenophobia in this European structure and discuss the ways of fighting them, he said. The conference will also be attended by MEPs, public figures and Armenian community representatives. Harut Shirinian is confident that a broad circle of the international community should be informed about the anti-Armenian policy of Azerbaijan and Turkey. Lets not forget that the manifestations of Armenophobia we are witnessing, take place by the guidance of the Azerbaijani and Turkish authorities. Hatred against Armenians is being spread in schools and kindergartens of Azerbaijan for years: recently Turkish flags on some Armenian schools of Los Angeles, anti-Armenian notes containing hate speech on the walls of the Armenian church in Istanbul have appeared and etc. This list is endless. Our goal is to raise this issue in international structures so that they are informed what the talk is about, understand what this can lead to in case of continuation, and finally their judgments are based on right information, Harut Shirinian said. Artsakh Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told Armenpress that during the conference he and Ruben Melikyan will present information which is fully based on facts. The conference participants will have an opportunity to get acquainted with the content of the report on Armenophobia released by the Artsakh Ombudsman in September 2018. In addition, the anti-Armenian manifestations demonstrated during the April war will be presented. All facts are collected and included in the reports. The conference participants will be introduced on the policy run by Azerbaijan, for instance the anti-Armenian propaganda in its schools and kindergartens. The following thesis is pushed forward all Armenians are enemies, killing an Armenian is a heroic deed, Artak Beglaryan said. According to him, the 2016 April events, the atrocities of the Azerbaijani servicemen, beheading cases, tortures of civilians and targeting the Armenian schools are a vivid example of Armenophobia. In addition to the facts, we are also going to present the grounds of the Armenophobic policy, its consequences and potential threats. Such discussions are very important, the European partners must see with facts what policy Azerbaijan carries out. During the internal talks they also attach importance to the preparation and release of such reports, Artak Beglaryan stated. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenia condemns the verdict of the Azerbaijani court concerning citizen Karen Ghazaryan, ruled in a vivid violation of the international humanitarian law, while the real author of that verdict is the leadership of Azerbaijan, Anna Naghdalyan spokesperson of the foreign ministry, said in a statement, reports Armenpress. Sadly, the Azerbaijani authorities, unsatisfied with initiating farce-like court case against Karen Ghazaryan who appeared in the Azerbaijans territory under unknown circumstances, went even further and, by conducting the trial in an accelerated manner, ruled a sentence of 20 years in prison against our citizen who has apparent health issues. We condemn the verdict of the Azerbaijani court, ruled in a vivid violation of the international humanitarian law, while the real author of that verdict is the leadership of Azerbaijan. The real reason behind the state-orchestrated capture of Karen Ghazaryan is not a secret. However, those efforts will not succeed. The rights of the people living in the conflict zone and the international humanitarian law constitute a priority for both the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh. Moreover, the recently-issued decision of the authorities of Artsakh to free the Azerbaijani serviceman, who had served his proportionate court sentence, attests to the supremacy of the rule of law and the adherence of the Armenian side to the international humanitarian law. Nevertheless, the murder of a minor on the grounds of ethnic hatred is on a different legal as well as moral plane, moreover when we still have a fresh memory of the state-wide glorification of such crimes and their perpetrators. The impunity of the murderer glorified for the crime committed under exactly the same pretext 15 years ago is a daily reminder that such new heroes are needed by neither our region nor by the international community, the statement said. The MFA spokeswoman added that Armenia will undertake consistent efforts towards defending the rights of its citizen and his freedom. YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. The UN Security Council rejected the draft resolution put forward by Russia concerning the settlement of the Venezuelan crisis during a voting, TASS reported. The Russian resolution was supported by four countries (Russia, China, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa), Seven nations, such as the United States and several European nations, voted against. Four UN Security Council members, including Indonesia and Kuwait, abstained. The resolution, authored by Moscow, contains a call to peaceful settlement of the crisis on the basis of dialogue, including the mechanism created by a group of nations in Montevideo. Earlier another resolution on Venezuela put forward by the US has also been rejected. The draft resolution called for "the start of a peaceful political process leading to free, fair, and credible presidential elections," and stresses "the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela and to facilitate unhindered access and delivery of assistance to all in need in the entirety of the territory of Venezuela in accordance with humanitarian principles." Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has addressed the nation on the occasion of the March 1, 2008 events. In a televised speech, the prime minister said that today, 11 years since the events, it is extremely important to give a political assessment to what happened. He said that in 2008, the actions of the then-ruling elite were not at all aimed against an individual power, a group or an individual, but the main and perhaps the only targets of this violence and illegal actions were the citizen of the Republic of Armenia: their rights, their dignity and freedom. On behalf of the state, Pashinyan apologized to all victims of March 1, 2008, to all victims of political murders that took place in Armenia since independence, to all citizens and political forces who have been subjected to political persecutions. Below is the full transcript of the PMs address: Dear people, proud citizens of the Republic of Armenia, Proud citizens of the Republic of Artsakh, Proud Armenians of the Diaspora, 11 years ago on this day, on March 1, 2008, blood was shed in downtown Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The then-government used unlawful force against peaceful protesters, which resulted in eight citizens of the Republic of Armenia being killed, another two died later from injuries suffered on that day. Five of the victims suffered gunshot wounds, three people died from the use of Cheryomukha 7 special device, one died from shrapnel wounds, another died from blunt force trauma. 11 years after these events it is extremely important to give a political assessment to what happened. And now I find it important to say for the record that in 2008 the actions of the then ruling elite werent at all aimed against an individual power, group or person, but the main and perhaps the only targets of this violence and unlawful actions were the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, their rights, dignity and freedom. The victims of March 1 arent only Gor Kliyan, Armen Farmanyan, Tigran Khachatryan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Davit Petrosyan, Zakar Hovhannisyan, Grigor Gevorgyan, Samvel Harutyunyan, Hamlet Tadevosyan and Tigran Abgaryan, but also every citizen of the Republic of Armenia, every protester fighting for their rights, because the murderer, for example, when gunning down Davit Petrosyan, did not know that this is Davit Petrosyan, born April 16th 1974 in Yerevan. The murderer did not know that he was shooting at Davit Petrosyan, but did definitely know that he is shooting at a citizen of the Republic of Armenia. Therefore, each gunshot fired at every victim of March 1 is a gunshot fired at each of us. March 1 of 2008 however, wasnt simply an occurrence that emerged in the morning of that day, but a concentrated eruption of unlawfulness, electoral fraud, political murders, persecutions and impunity that has depressed Armenia and its people for many years. These inadmissible occurrences emerged painfully rapidly in our lives since the declaration of the Third Republics independence, when it seemed that democracy had won irreversibly. And due to bad memories today too concerns and fears are often voiced that Armenia after the 2018 non violent, velvet, peoples revolution and victory of democracy might fall into the same chapter that it fell shortly after gaining independence. And today, on March 1, 2019, I would like to clearly record that there cannot be a return to the morals and relationships of the past. Armenia will not return to the times of corruption, political persecutions, political violence, violation of rights, impunity and obscenity. Also to record our universal commitment to the values of the non violent, velvet, peoples revolution that took place in spring of 2018, as leader of the Republic of Armenia, on behalf of the state I apologize to all victims of March 1, 2008, all victims of political murders that took place in Armenia since independence, all citizens and political powers that were subjected to political persecutions. I also apologize for all election riggings, unlawfulness coordinated and organized by the government elite, corruption, political murders noting that the chapter of solving issues through violence is closed in Armenia, and this is how I perceive the vote of confidence that the citizens have gave us. Our joint mission is to make Armenia a country of rights and justice, truth and values, and we will not deviate from this mission not for a single millimeter. This doesnt mean that today there arent cases of illicit actions, violation of rights, even corruption and violence in Armenia. Unfortunately, such cases still exist, and can happen. But every citizen must be 100% sure that the government, the prime minister are not the sponsors and coordinators of any unlawfulness, but are rather the adversary and antagonists of it. In the issue of combating unlawfulness, violation of rights and misconduct, and discovery of crimes committed by the government elite, we will inevitably win, because the people and the government are united, and this kind of a unity is invincible and resolute. And in order to express our this very unity, our joint dedication to justice, lawfulness, democracy, protection of rights, today, at 18:30, I am inviting you all to conduct a procession from the Yerevan Freedom Square to the Myasnikyan statue. With this procession we will pay homage to victims of March 1, victims of all political murders and we will say our decisive no to violence, injustice, unlawfulness, corruption, electoral fraud and violation of rights. And so, long live freedom, long live the Republic of Armenia, long live the Republic of Artsakh, long live we and our children, who live and will live in a Free and Happy Armenia. Dear countrymen, Today is spring. It is you who brought this spring to Armenia. The March 1 events colloquially refer to the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan, when clashes between security forces and protesters left 10 people, including two security officers dead. The unrest spanned from late February until late March. The events are known simply as March First because it was on this day when police troops violently dispersed protesters in downtown Yerevan. The protests were led by First President of Armenia Levon-Ter Petrosyan, who according to official results of the election lost to Serzh Sargsyan. Ter-Petrosyan's supporters believed the election was rigged. Robert Kocharyan was the outgoing president at the time. Incumbent PM Nikol Pashinyan was a senior member of Levon Ter-Petrosyans political party at the time and was coordinating the protests. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. The opposition Lusavor Hayastan (Luminous Armenia) party paid tribute to the victims of the March 1, 2008 events today at the A. Myasnikyan statue in Yerevan. The area nearby the statue was one of the main gathering points of the 2008 post-election protests, where clashes took place. MP Edmon Marukyan, President of Lusavor Hayastan, told reporters today that since 2008 the first day of spring has become a day of mourning for them. As politicians, we are doing everything in order for a March 1 not to be repeated, and for this we must built such a state governance system so that never again a government will come to power with such violence, so that impunity doesnt exist. Now we have a situation when this all is becoming subject to scrutiny, and we are closely following for those who committed the murders of the 10 victims to be revealed, the circumstances of these crimes, meaning this all must be raised completely, he said. He expressed hope that the March 1 case will be completely revealed. The government claims that the March 1 case is revealed. I hope that we will see the organizers, murderers and circumstances also in court, and the society will go for reconciliation, he said. An active criminal investigation is currently underway into the case. The March 1 events colloquially refer to the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan, when clashes between security forces and protesters left 10 people, including two security officers dead. The unrest spanned from late February until late March. The events are known simply as March First because it was on this day when police troops violently dispersed protesters in downtown Yerevan. The protests were led by First President of Armenia Levon-Ter Petrosyan, who according to official results of the election lost to Serzh Sargsyan. Ter-Petrosyan's supporters believed the election was rigged. Robert Kocharyan was the outgoing president at the time. He is currently jailed pending trial. Incumbent PM Nikol Pashinyan was a senior member of Levon Ter-Petrosyans political party at the time and was coordinating the protests. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Armed Forces is currently considering new options of service dress uniforms for military officers and corporals. Then the issue will be discussed with the leadership of the Defense Ministry. After a joint and final decision the staff will be issued the new uniform, the Ministry of Defense said in a news release. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. There is a page called National Security Service of Armenia on Facebook which is an initiative of an unknown citizen and has nothing to do with the NSS of Armenia, the NSS said in a statement, reports Armenpress. If the information posted there had not been in spotlight until recently, today information has been posted which has nothing to do with the reality and is aimed at some confusion. We officially announce that the National Security Service of Armenia is not registered in social networks. Information about the NSS is available on its official website, the statement said. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan On a recent morning in February, 9-year-old Zayne Cowie sat in front of a fence that encircles City Hall, in downtown Manhattan, behind a handmade rainbow-lettered sign that says Climate Strike. It was a windy day and Zayne shivered in his winter parka, while his mother searched his backpack for gloves. To keep warm, Zayne started running in circles, weaving around people walking down this busy stretch of Broadway. Every Friday, this Brooklyn fourth-grader skips school to raise awareness of the climate crisis, inspired by Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old activist who has been protesting in front of the Swedish Parliament since last August and encouraged kids around the world to strike as well. Climate change is happening faster than we can react, he said. Well, we could react fast enough but nobody cares. Zayne comes here, the seat of New York City government, hoping to draw the attention of his local lawmakers. This is his Week 10. Mostly I just sit here, said Zayne, when I asked him what it means to strike. But sometimes people do stop to chat. Mark Chambers, the director of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability has come by, as well as staffers with city councilmembers Brad Lander and Costa Constantinides. Alexandria Villasenor (Jenn Hsu) For 13-year-old Alexandria Villasenor, deciding to strike came after visiting family in California. I was there when the Paradise Fire broke out, said Alexandria, on a recent Friday. I was close by to that and the smoke was suffocating. It was a scary experience. She took it as a wake-up call that climate change was probably the most important thing she should be learning. The reality is terrifying: A report released by the U.N.s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October warned that nations need to take unprecedented actions to cut their carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2030 to prevent the worst consequences of climate change. Those consequences are already being felt in places like Bangladesh and Australia, and as the global average temperature rises, scientists predict all the coral reefs will die, wildfires will grow more severe, drought and famine and poverty will be more widespread, and the ensuing chaos could bring civilization to the brink of collapse. Meanwhile emissions hit a record high last year. Alexandria Villasenor rides the train with her mother. (Jenn Hsu / Gothamist) When Alexandria began her Friday strike last Decembersitting on a bench, with plastic-covered protest signs, in front of the headquarters of the United Nationsshe was one of the very few kids in the U.S. to take Gretas call to action. On protest days, Alexandria skips school and commutes from the Upper West Side to the U.N. with her mother, who leaves once they arrive. It has to be an act without any family member because people will say my mom is pushing me into it, Alexandria said. I dont want to give the climate deniers anything they can use. "I asked if i could sit on the bench next to her," Alexandria's mother, Kristin Hogue, said. "And she said, 'Like, no' " Early on, Alexandria posted photos to Instagram and tweeted to Gretas #FridaysforFuture and #SchoolStrike4Climate movement, connecting with like-minded kids around the world who feel an urgency and frustration that leadersadultsare not doing enough to combat the climate crisis. People who are older probably wont be around to see the effects of climate change, said 12-year-old Aya Gilad-Muth, striking outside the United Nations. They probably are less inclined to care than us. When Alexandria first decided to sit down and strike, said Hogue. She just thought shed be striking. The 13-year-old never expected that within mere weeks activists, climate researchers and environmental groups around the world would be listening to her. Whoa @HillaryClinton!! "Perhaps soon?" You are about 10 weeks late to #ClimateStrike in America, led entirely by us young women! We are already here! @climatestrikeUShttps://t.co/9ZvwYZF1s0 https://t.co/SWjnO87Xv0 Alexandria Villasenor (@AlexandriaV2005) February 12, 2019 Nowadays, there are reportedly 70,000 students skipping school on Fridays to protest, in hundreds of cities around the worldwith momentum building here in the U.S., thanks to Alexandria. Thousands of kids have already pledged to join the National Youth Climate Strike on Friday, March 15th, that she and two student activists in Minnesota and Colorado have planned. There are events set in more than 30 states, and support from major environmental groups and youth leaders. Update: it's on March 15th follow @climatestrikeUS for more info. https://t.co/Z87E5GCRpW David Hogg (@davidhogg111) February 18, 2019 A national conversation around climate change is gaining traction, with the Green New Deal, an ambitious piece of climate change legislation championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that calls for the U.S. to run on 100 percent renewable energy within 10 years, making waves in Congress. Last week a group of school kids, ages 7 to 16, from the youth activist group Sunrise Movement approached Sen. Dianne Feinstein to ask for her support of the Green New Deal. After the 85-year-old California Democrat resisted, telling the students there was no hope of the legislation passing the Republican-controlled Senate, news of the confrontation went viral. This is only the beginning, said Alexandria. Its the start of a huge movement here. YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. My Step faction of the Armenian Parliament considers a historical imperative to hold the guilty ones accountable based on the comprehensive, full and objective investigation of the 2008 March 1 events, reports Armenpres. The faction issued a statement on the 11th anniversary of the 2008 March 1 events. My Step faction highlighted the need to guarantee the exercise of right of holding peaceful rallies in Armenia, valued the establishment of public solidarity, strongly condemned the actions of the authorities in 2008 aimed at repressing the peaceful demonstration of the citizens which was connected with the distrust towards the presidential election during which according to the official data 10 people have been killed, hundreds of citizens were injured, the statement said. The faction stated that making the guilty ones responsible will be a message to all leaderships of Armenia to rule out the repetition of one of the black pages in the countrys new history, restore justice and solidarity, as well as strengthen democracy. The faction also attached importance to providing fair compensation to the injured and victims successors, and considered the protection of the right to life the key duty of the state. The March 1 events colloquially refer to the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan, when clashes between security forces and protesters left 10 people, including two security officers dead. The unrest spanned from late February until late March. The events are known simply as March First because it was on this day when police troops violently dispersed protesters in downtown Yerevan. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. At the directive of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the government has set up a special commission that will organize the celebration of late Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyans 60th anniversary of birth that will be marked on March 5. Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan was assassinated by gunmen during the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting. 7 other government officials were also killed in the attack. The commission that will organize the anniversary events will be led by PM Nikol Pashinyan himself. The commission in composed of Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan, Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan, Territorial Administration and Development Minister Suren Papikyan, Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan, Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan, Police Chief of Armenia Valery Osipyan and acting Minister of Culture Nazeni Gharibyan. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Pakistans civil aviation authorities announced on March 1 that the countrys airspace will remain closed until March 4, reports TASS. It states that the airspace would be closed to all flights, except for those from and to the international airports of Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad and Quetta. Pakistans authorities on Wednesday closed its airspace against the backdrop of an aggravation of relations with India. On Tuesday, India declared it had delivered an airstrike against a camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. Pakistans Air Force on Wednesday said in response that it had rocketed military facilities in Indias northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi and Islamabad added that each others fighter planes had been shot down. YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. High-level discussion dedicated to the organizational works of the World Congress on Information Technology 2019 was held in the Armenian government led by deputy prime minister Tigran Avinyan. An inter-agency working group will be formed based on the discussion, the deputy PMs Office told Armenpress. During the meeting Tigran Avinyan said the WCIT 2019, which will be held in Yerevan, is an important event because the Congress is being held every two years, and in the past 10 years it will take place in Europe, that is in Armenia, for the first time. The event provides a great opportunity to position Armenia in the list of countries with a developed and viable ecosystem. The deputy PM said over 2000 figures from public and private sector are invited to attend the Congress. The topics of the Congress are artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital decentralization, national digital agendas, smart cities and etc. Already hundreds of companies have been registered for participation in the Congress. Avinyan said the government and the Congress organizational team should work jointly aimed at holding the event at the highest level. The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) is the largest and the most reputable international event among worldwide IT leaders. It brings together high-level officials from different countries, heads of multinational organizations, universities and scientific research centers, non-governmental organizations' representatives and many more. The event includes discussions of legal, political and economic trends affecting IT business processes, presentations of innovative solutions, B2B meetings and so on. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Ethnic Armenian MPs of the Romanian Parliament Varuzhan Voskanyan, Varuzhan Pambukchyan and Luchian Simon, issued a statement on the 31st anniversary of the massacres of the Armenian population carried out in Sumgait, the Armenian Embassy in Romania said on Facebook, reports Armenpress. 31 years have passed since the tragic events that took place in Soviet Azerbaijan where nearly half a million Armenians were living. The massacre against the Armenian population has been committed in three major cities Sumgait, Kirovabad and capital Baku, the MPs said, reminding that after being violently attached to the Azerbaijani Republic for 70 years, the people of Artsakh have made a decision to peacefully and legally express their will to self-determination and live freely. At this stage its important for the international community to understand the authenticity of what has been carried out in Sumgait, in order to lead to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict because the anti-Armenian propaganda continues also today. Like previously, the Azerbaijani leadership regularly violates the ceasefire regime and brings threats for resuming the military operations, the statement added. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have accepted the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices around the NK issue, Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) said in a statement. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on 20 February and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on 21 February to discuss preparations for a meeting of the leaders in the near future, including possible topics for discussion. The Co-Chairs also held discussions with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in their respective capitals. The Co-Chairs were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk. During the meetings in the region, the leaders briefed the Co-Chairs on their recent conversation on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The leaders and the Co-Chairs discussed the situation on the ground and their expectations for next steps. The Co-Chairs assessed positively the continuing lack of casualties on the line of contact. They also welcomed the developing discussions in the region about preparing populations for peace. The leaders accepted the Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices. Following their visit to the region, the Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office travelled to Vienna and Bratislava from 28 February to 1 March to brief the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs said in a statement. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received the members of the Public Council led by Chairman Vazgen Manukyan, the PMs Office told Armenpress. Welcoming the guests, the PM first of all touched upon his message addressed today on the occasion of the 2008 March 1 events. I am happy to see you and discuss with you issues relating to the activity of the Public Council. Earlier today I have addressed a message on the 2008 March 1 events and as the PM apologized on behalf of the state for all the electoral frauds, political persecutions that have taken place in the history of the Third Republic. This message, the apology words are directed to all political forces, politicians and citizens who have been subjected to political persecution during the Third Republic. I want to state that this message is also directed to you, Mr. Manukyan, as the leader of an opposition political force and a political force that became the victim of the electoral frauds, as a politician. Mrs. Bakhshyan, you have also carried out an opposition political activity in Armenia for many years and your political force has also become a victim of electoral frauds, persecutions and political violence. Mr. Safaryan, you have also conducted an opposition political activity. I attach great importance to this message and expression of the position at the state level because we need to have strength and say that the problems in Armenia, if not by 100%, but at least by 90%, emerged from the point when the political will of its people has been distorted. Unfortunately, in the history of the Third Republic, besides perhaps the first presidential election and one can make reservations over the 1999 parliamentary elections, although their results have been disputed in the Constitutional Court, for the remaining cases my political assessment is that the results of the elections were either falsified, or no opportunities have been created for the expression of the peoples free will, or more precisely, everything has been done to distort the free expression of will of the people. I want to note and I hope that we have a public consent, according to which the page of electoral frauds, political persecutions, corruption, illegalities, arbitrariness, obscenity, human rights violation is closed, and there will be no return to these phenomena. In any case, I consider this the most important mission of our government and mine as the Prime Minister of Armenia. I am confident that we will remain very determined and committed within the service of this mission no matter what will be the rating of our force at any election and what percent of the citizens will vote in favor of our political force. This is just an introduction, but I know that our meeting is not linked with these problems, I suppose today we will have a discussion on a number of related issues. Thank you, the PM said. In his turn Vazgen Manukyan stated: Thank you Mr. Prime Minister. We really need to talk about the Public Council, I would like to refer to what you have said. It would be desirable if March 1 becomes a symbol, a solidarity day, rather than a day of fighting against each other. A page has been closed by those events, and from now we must remember March 1 not as a day of fighting against one another, but a day where we have learned a lesson from our history and have made it a solidarity day for all our people. All those who have certain guilt, a criminal crime, must be punished, thats not the matter, but I perceive March 1 as a day of solidarity, unity and learning a lesson. As for the Public Council, I think that its a very important structure, its not a coincidence that similar bodies also exist in 70 countries. And now there are new opportunities because it has become a constitutional body. The Public Council has an interesting staff with a very useful people who in some sense stand above politics and are devoted to the state, do not represent any political party, do not have political ambitions, but have ambitions to develop the country, to create and become an important link ensuring the constant communication between the society and the leadership. During the meeting Vazgen Manukyan introduced the PM on the works carried out for the formation of the Public Council and the expected steps for the Councils future activities. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Members of the US Congress Judy Chu and Terrance John Cox have made statements condemning the Armenian massacres in Sumgait 31 years ago, reports Armenpress. As the lines of the Soviet Union were fading, the people of Nagorno Karabakh were united in a call for a say in their own futures and greater independence from Azerbaijan. This peaceful movement for self-determination and freedom was followed by premeditated and government-sponsored attacks. Over the next two years, the Armenian population in the territory of Artsakh was repeatedly victim to brutal and racially motivated pogroms, darkly reminiscent of the days of the Armenian Genocide. Hundreds were murdered, thousands were displaced, and the Armenian community both in Artsakh and in exile - continues to bear the scars from the brutal attacks in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku, the Congresswoman said in the statement. As we commemorate the somber anniversary marking the struggle of the Nagorno Karabakh people, we wish for the peaceful resolution of this conflict and hope that its citizens will be free to determine their own future, she added. Congressman Terrance John Cox in his statement emphasized that now more than ever these acts of murder must be condemned. During these horrific pogroms, hundreds of Armenians were wounded and murdered. To date, the government of Azerbaijan has never been held accountable for these atrocities. Now more than ever these acts of murder must be condemned. We must learn from this mistake in history and continue to advocate for the protection of human rights for the Armenian people, and for all, Congressman TJ Cox said. YEREVAN, 1 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 1 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.46 drams to 490.18 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.09 drams to 556.75 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 7.44 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 2.68 drams to 648.75 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 38.75 drams to 20789.34 drams. Silver price down by 0.47 drams to 249.24 drams. Platinum price up by 60.12 drams to 13726.66 drams. YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met at the Presidential Palace on March 1. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President's Office, President Sarkissian said, 'Mr. Prime Minister, I am glad to meet you again. Our traditional meetings continue. Before starting the conversation, I wish to congratulate you, because I have heard that your visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran was very successful. I would be glad to be informed on the details of that meeting. In general, the reactions from the friends in Armenia and outside were positive. PM Pashinyan said, 'I am thankful, Mr. President. Yes, we have regular working meetings and it's very important that we share the information we generate during our meetings and working visits, and of course, discuss our future steps. Yes, I asses the visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran very important and very successful. I also plan to pay an official visit to Brussels on Monday to discuss future steps with our partners from the EU. We have an abundant foreign policy agenda for the near future. We are also the chairing country of the Eurasian Economic Union and one of the sessions will take place in Yerevan. One of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meetings will also take place in Yerevan. It's important that we use all this foreign policy agenda for the goals of our economic revolution. I know that you also have had some meetings during this period that can be placed in this logic. And it's also important to combine our information in order to make the future process of agreements more effective. 'I also have much to tell you, Mr. Prime Minister. Of course, you already know, but I would like to provide some extra details particularly over my last 2 visits. The 1st one was to France, where the 90th plenary session of the Armenian General Benevolent Union took place, and I attended it. During that session some structural changes occurred in the organization. The Benevolent Union is one of our most important national organizations of the Diaspora. During this period I held a number of meetings in Paris in line with our previous discussions for the assistance of Armenia's economic development and new technologies. I held meetings with major French companies Thales, Dassault and so on. My next visit was to Munich, the Security Conference, in the sidelines of which there were a number of political meetings. In addition, I held meetings at Heidelberg University, Munich Technical University, Max Planck Institute. Those meetings were also aimed at transforming Armenia into a modern technological country and foster the rapid economic growth of our country. So we have a lot to discuss', Armen Sarkissian added. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan Last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration announced it would support granting drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants. Alphonso David, Cuomos counsel, said on a panel the governor would sign a bill if it makes it out of the state legislature. Immigrant advocates rejoiced. GREAT NEWS! the influential immigrant rights group, Make the Road NY, tweeted in November. Activists had been hopeful that the State Senate, now in Democratic hands for the first time in a decade, would take up the push with the governors full support. This week, Eric Gonzalez, the Brooklyn district attorney, said he will back giving drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants as well. While Cuomo remains publicly supportive of the legislation to provide drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants, he is privately working against the bill, according to three sources with knowledge of the communications who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution from the governor's office. Over the past month, Cuomo has called the six Democratic state senators who represent areas of Nassau and Suffolk Countyall six defeated Republicans in competitive elections to take their seatsto tell them that they should not support the Drivers License Access and Privacy Act, the bill that would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue licenses to non-citizens and could affect as many as 265,000 people statewide, according to advocates. A state Democratic source familiar with the phone calls to the senators told Gothamist that Cuomos message was clear: supporting such legislation would do damage to them politically. While Cuomo did not directly say he wouldn't sign the legislation if it came to his desk, he told the moderate Democrats that they should not back the bill granting drivers licenses for the undocumented, implying he was not eager to see the legislation make it out of the legislature. A high-ranking source in state immigration advocacy work, as well as a Democratic staffer, confirmed the nature of these phone calls. Cuomo and the six senatorsJohn Brooks, Todd Kaminsky, Anna Kaplan, Kevin Thomas, James Gaughran and Monica Martinezdid not return multiple requests for comment. I wonder, with the whole Amazon deal falling apart and the progressives taking the credit for that victory, if this is his way of saying, Well, you progressives got me here, this is another critical issue for you. Youre not going to get me on this one, said Eli Valentin, a Democratic strategist and political analyst on Univision NY. State law must be changed to allow the DMV to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses. Though Cuomos nominee to lead the DMV, Mark Schroeder, said he would support issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants, the issue has long been a fraught one in state politics. Former Governor Eliot Spitzer attempted to change the state law over a decade ago but met resistance from the Republican-controlled State Senate and county clerks of both parties, including Kathy Hochul, who is now Cuomos lieutenant governor. Hillary Clinton, then a New York senator, did not support Spitzers proposal either, though she later backed the policy when she ran for president in 2016. Twelve states plus the District of Columbia already allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses. Unlike the DREAM Act, which grants tuition assistance to undocumented immigrants and is something Cuomo championed, the governors public backing of the controversial change to DMV rules has been much more muted. In his first two terms, he never prioritized the legislation or spoke about it with any frequency. None of the six Long Island Democrats have co-sponsored the legislation to change the state drivers license law. The bills prime co-sponsor is Democrat Luis Sepulveda of the Bronx. There are 18 co-sponsors in total. The only non-New York City members to sign onto the bill are Shelley Mayer of Westchester, Rachel May of Syracuse, and Pete Harckham, a Hudson Valley lawmaker. Sepulveda told Gothamist he was not aware of Cuomo lobbying against his legislation. While he would not guarantee that it would pass this session, he said he was glad support had grown with Democrats taking control of the Senate. I think were in a good environment, Sepulveda said, adding that the full Democratic conference hasnt sat down yet to hash out the details of the bill. The governor understands, when you look at this from an economic standpoint, its an excellent bill its going to spur the economy in isolated areas where undocumented immigrants live. Cuomo has at times resisted the prospects of a united Senate Democratic conference, tacitly blessing a now defunct group of renegade Democrats, the Independent Democratic Conference, who once helped keep Republicans in the majority. Many of the newly elected Democrats, particularly in New York City, are outwardly progressive and willing to publicly clash with Cuomo. The same is not true for the six Long Island Democrats, who Cuomo vigorously campaigned for and has sought, at times, to pit against the city lawmakers. Cuomos quiet opposition to drivers licenses for the undocumented comes as his poll numbers slide and immigration, especially on Long Island, remains a hot button issue. Traditionally a stronghold for whiter, more conservative voters, Long Island is still home to Republicans like Lee Zeldin and Peter King, members of Congress who strongly support President Donald Trumps campaign against the threat of unchecked immigration and the local presence of MS-13, an international criminal gang. Republicans hoping to reclaim State Senate seats in 2020 are already hunting for lines of attack. After the collapse of the Amazon deal, Senate Republicans paid for digital ads criticizing Democrats on Long Island for helping to kill Cuomos push to bring a second Amazon headquarters to Queens, despite the fact that none of those Democrats were opposed. Cuomo publicly criticized the dean of the Long Island Democratic delegation, Kaminsky, for not fighting harder to save the Amazon deal. (Cuomo was hoping the six senators could more publicly oppose their New York City colleagues, who were far more hostile to Amazon.) Immigration, Republicans hope, can be another key wedge issue, especially with Trump on the ballot in November 2020 and many of his most fervent backers rushing to the polls. John Flanagan, the Republican minority leader and an opponent of issuing drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants, has said the rights and benefits that are paid for by our taxpayers must be reserved for those who live here legally. There are definitely anti-immigrant folks out there. Whether those are actually voters available to Democrats, that is an open question, said Doug Forand, a Democratic consultant who has worked on numerous Long Island races. Forand said Cuomo was less eager to embrace the fight for drivers license for undocumented immigrants because there is a ready-made opposition from various right-leaning county clerks and the political payoff may not be as great as when he legalized same-sex marriage or supported the DREAM Act. He feels its a fight he wont necessarily win and even if he does, he doesnt get much benefit, Forand said. You dont have the raw public support like with marriage equality, where you were going into that fight and winning every day of the week. [UPDATE 1:27 p.m.] After this story was published, Cuomo spokesperson Tyrone Stevens sent us this statement, calling the idea that the governor would make these phone calls "black helicopter theories." Governor Cuomo has supported providing drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants since 2007. He is a tireless champion for immigrant communities hurt by the federal governments inhumane policies, and issued an executive order to prohibit ICE arrests in all executive agencies and state buildings without a warrant, which he is now proposing to codify into law. We will continue to work with the legislature on these issues. Your unnamed source couldnt be more wrong so well leave the black helicopter theories to others. Ross Barkan is a political journalist who recently tried his hand at politics: last year he lost the Democratic primary for State Senate in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Read more about his run here. YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. The rally was organized by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan dedicated to the victims of March 1 deadly events in 2008 is over. The PM's wife Anna Hakobyan and his two daughters, Speaker of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan and his wife, Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan, MPs, Cabinet Members and many citizens participated in the rally. ARMENPRESS reports the rally kicked off from the Freedom Square and ended at Myasnikyan statue. PM Pashinyan laid a wreath at Myasnikyan statue and paid tribute to the memory of all the victims. Earlier, Pashinyan had said in his address, 'With this rally we will honor the victims of March 1 and all other political killings and will say our resolute 'no' to violance, injustice, illegalites, corruption, electoral frauds and violation of rights'. Photos by Gevorg Perkuperkyan, Tatev Duryan Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. The Special Investigation Service (SIS) of Armenia does not comment on the information on interrogating Police Chief Valery Osipyan over March 1 case, SIS spokesperson Marina Ohanjanyan told ARMENPRESS. 'We do not comment on information over interrogations', she said. Information has been spread in media that Police Chief of Armenia Valery Osipyan has been interrogated over March 1 case. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan received on March 1 newly appointed Ambassador of the USA to Armenia Lynne Tracy who delivered the copies of her credentials. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, Minister Mnatsakanyan congratulated Lynne Tracy on assuming the responsible mission and hoped that the newly appointed Ambassador will have an important contribution to the further development of multi-layered relations between Armenia and the USA. The sides referred to a broad scope of issues related to the Armenian-U.S. partnership. The Armenian FM presented to Ambassador Tracy the recent domestic political developments in Armenia and the Government-led reform process based on the broad mandate of the people, highlighting the continuous cooperation with international partners. Minister Mnatsakanyan and Ambassador Lynne Tracy exchanged views on international and regional urgent issues. The Armenian FM presented to the U.S. Ambassador the approaches and position of Armenia on the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. The Guardian has published an article headlined ''Monumental loss: Azerbaijan and 'the worst cultural genocide of the 21st century'' about the demolishment of Armenian cross-stones in Azerbaijan. ARMENPRESS reports the periodical writes that the the greatest cultural diaster taking place at the moment might be taking place not in Syria, but in Caucasus, meaning the demolishment of Armenian cross-stones in Azerbaijan. ' According to a lengthy report published in the art journal Hyperallergic in February, the Azerbaijani government has, over the past 30 years, been engaging in a systematic erasure of the countrys historic Armenian heritage. This official, albeit covert, destruction of cultural and religious artefacts exceeds Islamic States self-promotional dynamiting of Palmyra, The Guardian writes. The periodical reminds that on 15 December 2005, the prelate of northern Irans Armenian church, Bishop Nshan Topouzian, filmed from across the river in Iran the Azerbaijani military methodically laying waste with sledgehammers to all that remained of Djulfa. The soldiers loaded the debris on to truck beds and dumped it into the Araxes. 'The footage can be found in a 2006 film entitled The New Tears of Araxes posted on YouTube, edited by Maghakyan and scripted by Pickman. It is chilling. Satellite research shows that, in 2003, the uneven, textured landscape was dotted with multiple small structures. By 2009, it is flattened and empty', writes the periodical, adding that the Azerbaijani government has repeatedly refused international inspectors' entry to the site. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle and sovereign military vehicle industrial capability offered Rheinmetall is pleased to announce the company has today lodged a bid in response to the Australian Armys LAND 400 Phase 3 - Mounted Close Combat Capability Request For Tender (RFT). Rheinmetall's system requires only two Lynx base vehicle configurations to achieve the nine roles sought under the Australian Armys RFT (Picture source: Rheinmetall) Under the tender, the Australian Army is offered the Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) with the Lance turret, Lynx Manoeuvre Support Vehicle (MSV), an established and growing network of suppliers across Australia, continued use of the Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Queensland, and a comprehensive support and training system. The Lynx IFV and the Lynx MSV have been designed and tested to meet the demanding requirements of the Australian Army, NATO and NATO allies. Lynx establishes a vehicle system with unmatched levels of survivability, mobility, lethality, knowledge, and growth that will excel in close combat operations. The modular architecture of the Lynx also delivers significant cost benefits by drawing on Rheinmetalls expertise and extensive development of contemporary combat vehicles. This results in a system that requires only two Lynx base vehicle configurations to achieve the nine roles sought under the Australian Armys RFT. The modular system architecture also covers the four additional roles sought in the Australia Armys Request for Information, including a mortar variant, a logistics variant, and a protected amphibious Lynx. Lynx provides protection against the full spectrum of threats including blast, IED, direct and indirect fire, cluster munitions, and anti-tank guided missiles. With enhanced lethality and the mobility of a main battle tank, Lynx will enable Army to cope with the complex nature of warfighting in diverse environments and against a range of adaptive threats. (Picture source: Rheinmetall) Rheinmetalls Global Head of Vehicle Systems, Ben Hudson said, the significant protected volume within the Lynx vehicle is unmatched in this class, and ensures the three crew and a minimum of six dismounts can conduct effective close combat operations while providing unrivalled growth and flexibility for the future. The Australian Army deserves an Infantry Fighting Vehicle that will ensure their soldiers can fight, survive and win on the modern battlefield, Mr Hudson said. If selected for LAND 400 Phase 3, the Lynx will provide the Australian Army with a future-proof vehicle solution that can rapidly transition into service and be easily supported through life. The Rheinmetall Lance turret is contracted to be delivered to the Australian Army under LAND 400 Phase 2, and will be manufactured in Brisbane for the local and export markets. The digital Lance turret provides the crew with sensor systems, advanced automatic tracking and targeting capabilities, and weapon integrated battle management all in a connected and digitally enabled platform. This common electronic architecture provides enhanced combat effectiveness for the crew, generating a range of scalable and precise effects to deal with threats on the current and future battlefield. The KF-41 Lynx at Eurosatory 2018 (Picture source: Army Recognition) Rheinmetall is creating an enduring Australian capability with the construction of the Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) near Brisbane. By the time LAND 400 Phase 3 is contracted, the MILVEHCOE and its supporting national military vehicle industry network of Australian suppliers will be qualified for all of the common systems and components required for the Rheinmetall Lynx and Lance solution. Rheinmetall Defence Australias Managing Director, Gary Stewart said, the Australian Army will benefit from the Lynx IFV that will be designed, built and supported from the MILVEHCOE, with an expanded Australia-wide military vehicle industrial network. This national approach will directly reduce the total cost of ownership for Defence, create long term highly skilled regional jobs, and deliver enduring economic benefit through a strong sovereign military vehicle industry, Mr Stewart said. Components and designs already incorporated into the Lynx platform are supplied from companies located around Australia like Supashock in Adelaide, Cablex in Melbourne, Bisalloy Steels in Wollongong, and Milspec Manufacturing in Albury. Ongoing investment by Rheinmetall in research and product development directly contributes to Australian Lynx and Lance designs and foundation technologies. Coupled with targeted global opportunities, this creates new export orders for Australian industry. I was catching up on Sub-District affairs, working from the office in Kieta, as well as spending at least two or three days each week at Barapina with Dagge and his small detachment of police. THE CHRONICLE CONTINUES My senior officer, Assistant Director Tom Aitchison, was back in Port Moresby from Bougainville and Patrol Officer John Dagge and I had negotiated with landowners for CRA to install two new drills at Kokorei. I had secured the posting of Inspector of Police Clem Henney (Footnote 1) in Kieta by making my house available and moving up to Max Denehys house on the point. A uniformed officer was required to manage the increasing numbers of police deployed to the Kieta Hotel on weekends. Many of the 500-strong CRA workforce flocked to the bar around midday each Saturday and there they stayed: black Bougainvilleans, redskins (other Papua New Guineans, mainly Highlanders) and whites and brindles from all corners of the globe. All were single men and on their time off they had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do except get drunk and brawl, mostly across their racial groups. Each weekend the skirmishes seemed the same. The Bougainvilleans heavily outnumbered were generally the first to withdraw but fighting continued between the redskins until the coastal elements pulled out. Late in the evening the Highlanders were still at it, the battles now between Chimbus and Hagens and all the other lines. The New Year of 1967 had brought other changes. John (JE) Wakeford was transferred from the Sepik to take over as District Commissioner, Bougainville, while in Port Moresby, former diplomat David Hay was replacing Brigadier Sir Donald Cleland as Administrator of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea ((Footnote 2). CRA had been revamped the previous year when the Bougainville prospect was made a stand-alone operation under Melbourne-based Frank (FF) Espie ((Footnote 3). He was supported in Melbourne by Project Manager Don (DC) Vernon and accountant and financial planner Paul Quodling. Meanwhile, Colin Bishop remained in Bougainville as Area Manager. Frank Espie Tensions, and our wariness, were taken to a higher level by a series of Wardens Court hearings in January. I avoided the two hearings on the west coast - at Boku and Torokina - that related to limestone and construction materials and were unlikely to create contention. But I needed to be present for the hearings at Kieta, Daratui, Pakia and Barapina that concerned the mining of copper. At the Barapina hearing on 15 January 1967, the people from Moroni village told Mining Warden Hec McKenzie that they implacably opposed CRAs plans to build an accommodation complex on their land to the north of Barapina Creek. They were even more opposed to drilling anywhere on the right bank of the Kawerong River. Two old men, Dua Bouwaru and Dotanum Bakamori, said they would have to be killed before CRA could work on their land. The people listened quietly as McKenzie provided his opening explanation. He would write down each persons evidence in the words they used and send them to Port Moresby where the Administrator of Papua and New Guinea would determine the outcome. To Dagge and I, it seemed part of a logical process. We knew the Mining Advisory Board would consider the evidence given before McKenzie in the Wardens Court, and the Board would make recommendations to the Administrator. We did not know, however, that David Hay, the new Administrator, would consult with Warwick Smith, Secretary for Territories in Canberra, before making his decision. He did so by telex on 1 February 1967: Mining Advisory Board has recommended extension of Prospecting Authority N07 covering 110 square miles [285 square kilometres] for term of two years. Minutes of meeting and text of Wardens Court hearings forwarded by memorandum. My intention is to determine the matter by accepting the recommendations of the Mining Advisory Board. Subject to your views, I would informally advise the Administrators Council to this effect on 4 February and would refrain from signing the determination until the Council had been so advised. One particular paragraph of the Secretarys response, telexed to the Administrator the following day, revealed Canberras attempt at spin: Suggest that if not already doing so and if legally possible you might consider adding to the conditions recommended by the Mining Board which would be helpful for presentational purposes such as obliging the Company to respect customs and traditional practices of the landowners and the people of the area to the fullest extent practicable consistent with carrying out programme of prospecting operations and requiring prior notice to, and agreement of, Administration to operations involving disturbance of people or land. Kieta Harbour Amidst the increasing tension, Assistant Director Aitchison made another brief visit to Kieta at the end of January but on this occasion he was not interested in visiting the Marists. He wanted to speak to Dagge and me, and also CRA. I went with him to Barapina to meet up with Dagge and Aitchison told us of a new instruction from Canberra that we should observe immediately and meticulously. He said the documentation would arrive in due course: Each move to a new area is to be preceded by patient and persevering attempts by Administration officials over several weeks if necessary, to explain what is involved [and] the benefits. The actual commencement of operations in a new area will be preceded if necessary, by a formal attempt to explain the forgoing in writing, by loud speaker, and by word of mouth. If after these steps have been taken there is reason to think that new mining operations are likely to result in violence, a final effort [should be made] by a top-level group (e.g. the Director of Lands, the Secretary for Law, and one or both the Assistant Administrators) to go through the procedures of explanation, advice and consultation again. The possibility is not ruled out of the Administrator himself visiting the area with such a group. We wondered what we had been doing for the past eight months and whether time would stand still while we called for, and awaited the arrival of, the top level group? Much later, we found out that the instruction had been formulated in our Departments headquarters in Port Moresby (probably at Aitchisons behest) then forwarded to Canberra. Warwick Smith, the Secretary for Territories, had made minor modifications, given it a tick and presto, the instruction had become Ministerial command. On 15 February 1967, Canberras rehash of Aitchisons handiwork was rebirthed as Circular Instruction (Footnote 4) No 2 of J.1-58 with the title, Instructions and Advice to Officers involved in duties relating to prospecting, mining, and associated matters in Central Bougainville, and circulated to all District Commissioners over Director J K McCarthys signature. Dagge and I were gobsmacked. We had a Circular Instruction that seemed to apply only to us, a novel circumstance. We were not as surprised, though, by some of the gobbledegook that served as more spin and window dressing: The intention of the Administration is that the lawful operations under the Mining Ordinances should proceed without obstruction. In the rare cases where this purpose is not secured our objective is to ensure that the Territory Law is upheld and that lawful operations proceed. In order to avoid unnecessary delays in the lawful operations of the Company, Administration officers shall use their initiative in seeking agreement on the spot. Much depends on their assessment as to the likelihood of group violence. Where it is the officers assessment that such resistance is not likely and where consequently he authorises a move by company personnel to a new area he should, in the event of unexpected opposition, give such police support as is necessary to ensure that the operation proceeds. I was soon being chastised for failing to obey the requirement that I radio a weekly situation report to reach DDA headquarters by Thursday evening each week. I soon learnt that nothing to report or no change since last report was unacceptable. My bosses in Port Moresby had to have news to pass on to Canberra. A couple of sentences in Aitchisons report to Canberra about his brief, end-of-January visit to Kieta were also of concern: From discussions with DDC Brown and PO Dagge it appears that the situation is being held and there is no more than usual activity in the mining area. CRAS Vernon and Bishop were advised of the [new] instructions given to Administration officers involved in mining prospecting development and associated activities. Information given to press by government officers will be of a factual nature [and] only in relation to the work they are actually performing and personal opinions not to be expressed. Prior to these discussion CRA had been providing facilities to a pressman but Brown informed me that these facilities had been withdrawn by Bishop on Vernons instruction. I knew that an article by the journalist in question was about to be published in the Territorys daily newspaper, South Pacific Post, and I suspected it might contain some of those forbidden personal comments. A three-page spread appeared on 15 February 1967 did indeed include a rendition of my words, preceded by the introductory, This how Mr Brown sums up todays situation on Bougainville: The people of Bougainville are proud and independent. They dont see eventual self-government as the creation of Papua New Guinea, but a creation of an independent Bougainville. Some of them would like to have an alliance with the British Solomon Islands where there are already some ethnic ties. The Bougainville Islanders differ in skin colour to all other Papuans and New Guineans who they call redskins. Their isolation complex and their deep but understandable preoccupation with their land has created a situation where they refuse to believe anything, we tell them, or in fact anything which another Papuan or New Guinean tells them. All we can do as government officers is to talk with them, listen to them, and keep them informed. Crown Prince Range and Kawerong Valley Those brief remarks would not win me any accolades. The bureaucrats in Canberra and the new Administrator in Port Moresby would be upset by the mention of an independent Bougainville. But this was to be the least of my worries. More than one month had elapsed since the Warden had kicked off the first of the renewal hearings in Kieta on 14 January 1967. Each adjournment, the first to Barapina on 15 January then to a series of different villages, although well-intentioned had only increased the peoples ire. They did not like be told, again and again, how CRA intended to prospect (or, in their eyes, invade) their land. The animosity to CRAs expansion and increasing demands was at boiling point on 17 February 1967, the final hearing day for the renewal of Prospecting Authorities 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 another 332 square kilometres. McKenzie wanted the proceedings to be held on the flat land in front of Mushroom Castle, the house at Barapina, so the people could gather and hear what was going on. Dagge and I had other ideas. We located his table and chair about 60 metres from the house where we would be close enough to keep an eye on the proceedings but far enough away not to be swamped by the crowd if there was any trouble. After all, we were responsible for the Wardens safety and well-being. For the first and only time in Bougainville, I issued live ammunition. But I gave one clip of five rounds to one person only, Senior Constable Yimbin, together with precise instructions: to load all the bullets into the magazine of his rifle. If trouble flared up, and if I gave the command, he was to fire one shot well over the heads of the crowd and into the escarpment on the opposite bank of the Kawerong. If one shot did not stop the fracas, I would run forward with Dagge accompanied by the remaining 12 constables who carried unloaded rifles. He, Yimbin, was to fire over our heads as we ran. It was a precarious plan without any fallback. The CRA team (Area Manager Colin Bishop and mining engineer Frank Paholski) stood in front of the table and gave their evidence. Port Moresby solicitor Cyril (CP) McCubbery assisted them as did Don Barrett, a Member of the House of Assembly, who CRA had employed to act as their interpreter. Bishop and Paholski droned on for about 90 minutes reciting the companys good intentions and achievements. At the same time, the people crowded round shouting their opposition to CRAs intrusion. They yelled their repudiation of the mining law, and they disparaged and rejected the authority of the House of Assembly and of the Australian Government. On several occasions Warden McKenzie suspended proceedings and threatened to abandon them. Speaking later about the event, Chris Rangatin, an ABC radio reporter based in Port Moresby but originally from Lemankot Village, New Ireland, said: Things became a bit heated. Some of the young men began moving towards Barrett asking him who he was what right he had [to be] at the court. Had he come to help the Government tell more lies and take their land? One man walked close to Barrett and shook his fist in his face. I edged back out of the crowd. I was worried. Some of the men had bush knives. Journalist David Whites description of the event in the Sydney Morning Herald was more explicit: As McKenzie walked up to the Barapina patrol post he saw about 200 Nasioi people [from Guava, Irang, Kokorei, Moroni, Musinau and Pakia villages] gathered for the hearings. He also noticed an ominous sign: There were no children and very few women present. He knew that this generally meant that the villagers were expecting trouble or thinking of making some. It would not be an easy hearing. The Nasioi crowded in under a canvas lean-to and clustered around the table at which McKenzie sat. The formalities necessary at the opening of the hearing were barely over when the Nasioi displayed their first flash of anger. Two young men stepped forward and denounced the hearing. We are the owners of this land one of them, Anthony Ampe from Guava village said in pidgin. You do not belong here. CRA must go. . McKenzie quickly called for order, There will be no interruptions of this Court. I will hear the applicant first then [I will] hear you, he said firmly. This was one of several tense moments at the hearing. Three CRA officials gave evidence for the first 90 minutes. But the crowd appeared unmoved by their recital of past and future accomplishments. Then a young man, Damian Damen of Irang stepped forward and he clearly was to be main spokesman for the opposition. His impatience to state his case was shown when he was asked to swear on the Bible that he would tell the truth. Not understanding initially, he put his hand on the Bible and made an oath that CRA must leave the area immediately. Then reading from an obviously carefully prepared list, Damien gave seven reasons why the Company should leave. For an hour after Damien finished evidence, seven other Nasioi people spoke and all except one were resolutely opposed to the presence of CRA. Gregory Korpa particularly spoke with great heat and even called on the mining warden to hold a vote at the hearing to decide whether CRA. should go or stay. He was told it was for the Administration (sic), not the mining warden, and certainly not those at the hearing, to decide the fate of the CRA application. The Mining Advisory Board considered the evidence presented to the Warden and made recommendations to the Administrator. The Administrator renewed CRAs Prospecting Authorities 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 for a further two years. Once again the people had been asked to give their views; once again they had been ignored. Barrett commented on the hearing when he called on Administrator David Hay in Port Moresby on 24 February 1967: The people in the area objected to seeing strange faces, for example Mr McCubberys presence was not welcome. There were some signs that the people of Panguna are prepared to see the minerals mined. The fact that they agreed to give evidence was important. The Company had not known of the use of local women by Company officers. The complaint had been made to the DDC. The Company should have been notified immediately. I thought his comments fatuous. I was not the custodian of public morals and I did not report to the company. And I was surprised that he did not seem to realise how close we had come to violence. Only McKenzie, Dagge and I seemed to realise how knife-edged that hearing had been. Senior Constable Yimbin was more phlegmatic, asking how could we expect otherwise. We were essentially battling two adversaries: not only the landowners but also CRA. Footnotes (1) I assume that 34-year old Inspector Clem (CI) Henney was specially selected to fill the spot left vacant by Sub-Inspector Alan Craig's removal five months earlier. Henney was noted not only for his acumen and ability, but he was also understanding but firm. Clem's wife, Myee Elliott-Smith in her single days, had worked in the District Office in Wewak in 1955 when her father was District Commissioner (2) The Territory of Papua and New Guinea was renamed as the Territory of Papua New Guinea on 1 July 1971 with an emblem and a new flag to match the new name (3) I first met Frank (FF) Espie in July 1966. He was roaming on his own on Guava ridge above Panguna. I met him many times, but even on that first occasion he was ideas were different: he was interested in what was right not who was right. In September 1966, Espie told Canberra that Administrations proposal to muzzle debate in the House of Assembly on Lapun's amendments to mining legislation was the wrong way to go. It would be better to discuss them fully and openly. We seeking to set up a democratic government and its wrong to emphasise Australian views too strong on questions like this when the people have other ideas of their own. Espie was born in 1917 in Burma, when it was still part of the Indian Empire, and enlisted while a student at Adelaide University. He served as a Captain in the Middle East and New Guinea in World War II. Espie was appointed Director of BCL in 1969 and Chairman of BCL in 1979. He was awarded an OBE in 1971 and appointed Knight Bachelor in 1979 (4) Circular Instructions were the Departments policy directives and formed a section of its corporate memory. Circular Instruction No 1 dated 7 January 1946 laid out the Departments filing system, Circular Instruction No 2 dated 16 February 1946 decreed that Resident Magistrates in Papua were renamed District Officers and Divisions would be known as Districts. The first bound volume of Instructions ended with No 192, published 9 December 1953 Notes on images [Map] CRAs Prospecting Authorities, Central Bougainville, 1967 [1] Frank (FF) Espie [2] Looking south-west from the Assistant District Commissioners house across Kieta Harbour and the passage between Tautsina (Pok Pok) on the left and the mainland (St Michaels Marists Mission, Tubiana) on the right (Bill Brown) [3] The Crown Prince Range and Kawerong Valley (Bill Brown) ANTHONY KAYBING BUKA - The dates for Bougainvilles referendum on its political future cannot be set without processes agreed by both the Papua New Guinea Government and Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) says the man responsible for conducting the vote. Chairman of the Bougainville Referendum Commission and former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern, pictured here with President John Momis, said there must be a certainty of funding and constitutional regulations must be in place before further progress is made. The referendum had been scheduled for 15 June but now it is unlikely this date will be achieved. Mr Ahern he is conscious of the position of both governments and urged them to work together to achieve the referendum. What is needed is a pragmatic and intellectual approach that will meet the expectations of the people as well as acting within the legal aspects of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, he said. The two governments must work together for a better future for Bougainville and work out the issues that pertain to the overall process. What do people think when their loved ones die from curable diseases because there is no medicine, or when the cost of living becomes unbearable in urban areas. Elected leaders must be aware when they are putting a lot of strain on the lives of the ordinary people. Leaders need to exercise caution and conduct public affairs in a transparent manner, especially in this this land of a thousand tribes. WABAG - Leaders must not shout prosperity and secretly involve themselves in corrupt deals as a result of which their constituents suffer from want of basic services. Are leaders not aware that the people become angrier every time a million kina corrupt deal like the Paladin saga is exposed? According to a study, when negative emotions take the form of anger they are most likely to lead to acts of crime and violence. Papua New Guinea has already seen the rise of angry young men like bank robber William Kapris, Black Jesus Steven Tari and Robin Hood Tommy Barker, whose gang is currently being pursued in once peaceful Milne Bay Province. Is it not possible angry revolutionaries are being bred in an environment of deep rooted corruption, bad governance, nepotism and other vices so prevalent in successive governments since independence. Let me relate a story from the pages of history in the hope it can instill some sense in the ruling class. On 6September 1901, William McKinley became the third president of the United States to be assassinated. He was shot by shy 28-year old former steel worker Leon Czolgosz inside the Temple of Music during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Welcome President McKinley, Chief of our Nation and Our Empire, were the welcoming words at the expo. But anarchist Leon Czolgosz had planned to kill McKinley, who was six months into his second term. Czolgosz had arrived in Buffalo a few days earlier and purchased a .32 calibre Iver Johnson revolver - the same type of weapon that another anarchist had used to assassinate Italian King Umberto I the previous summer. He waited in the front line with other people inside the Temple of Music to meet and shake the presidents hand. When McKinley reached out to shake his hands, Czolgosz shot him twice, the revolver wrapped in a white handkerchief. It was in my heart; there was no escape for me, Czolgosz later said. All those people seemed bowing to the great ruler. I made up my mind to kill that ruler. On 29 October 1901, Czolgosz was executed in the electric chair at New Yorks Auburn Prison. I killed the president for the good of the labouring people, the good people, he said in the moments before the sentence was carried out. I am not sorry for my crime. What is the significance of this story in todays PNG where so called die hard supporters who hide behind fake names heap praise on certain leaders by giving them all sorts of uncanny titles like King, Queen, Chief, Leader, One and Only ..? The rural masses may be ignorant but the educated few living in the cities can no longer be fooled. Our leaders must not shout prosperity and water down important issues while they are secretly involved in corrupt deals to enrich themselves and their cronies. Who can dare say history cannot repeat itself? Duty free at Dubai Airport. (Photo: Getty) Arriving in Sydney International Airport after flying in a tin can overnight is an exercise in fatigue. Then trying to negotiate through the crowds to buy duty free is a sure way to turn frustration into anger. But now there is a hack, using an app, to bypass the duty free checkout queues and get clean away before the immigration exits get too clogged with the walking bleary and weary. Simply buy online before you fly at any point in your journey, and collect on your way through when you travel. SkyBuys was created at the Stone & Chalk fintech hub by AlecKemmery, who could fly before he could drive, and has a Masters (Science & Technology) with an aviation major from the University of NSW. And Sydney International Airport is the first airport where passengers can use the service. Youre the first SkyBuys customer in Sydney, in fact in the world, said the man at the pickup counter of global duty free retailer Heinemann, just to the right as you exit immigration at departures, handing over a bottle of Australian sparkling wine (Chandon) to ease into a weekend in Auckland. The way is then clear to head straight to the business lounge using a Qantas Club card. No need to hunt the shelves for the right bottle. The ordering, done over coffee at home in the morning, worked just as well in reverse. The app ordered two bottles of whiskey (Glenmorangie, Laphroaig), to be picked up after the Auckland flight arrive in Sydney at the collection desk just before going through duty free on the way to immigration, bag pickup and customs. At the moment, SkyBuys orders goods which are then paid for at the pickup counter. Soon, the whole transaction will be through the app with only a quick pick up required after showing passport and boarding pass. It will also be available in other airports so you can use the app regardless of destination or airline. The global duty free market is worth about $US75 billion a year and in double digit growth but its an industry that hasnt changed for decades when it comes to some aspects of shopping. Story continues You can order a coffee on an app from your phone and pick it up within two minutes, says AlecKemmery. You cant do that in Duty Free. Until now. It needs to change to stay relevant, and we want to help grow the market and add to the passenger experience he says. Outside of aeronautical revenues, retail (including duty free) is the biggest earner for the airport. And many airlines have stopped selling duty free onboard because the extra weight carried between 100-300+kgs just doesnt generate enough income. Each kilogram costs in aviation fuel, and there are costs associated with stocking items onboard as well as servicing passengers Our first partner is Heinemann and this is the live launch of SkyBuys, says Kemmery. From here, when Heinemann is comfortable, we will look to scale up and take this to other airports. The app and ordering are simple compared to the logistical challenges of fulfillment. As an example, Heinemann has seven duty free outlets across the airport, and they need to be able to service a customer in any one of these at any given time. And this is just one airport. For SkyBuys the revenue model includes advertising in-app, license fees and commissions and also earning fees by providing deeper data on duty free sales. SkyBuys last year was selected for the global aerospace accelerator program Airbus BizLab in Germany, and more recently was a finalist in an aviation technology challenge sponsored by SAP and Lufthansa also in Germany. Chris Pash Make your money work with Yahoo Finances daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news. Now read: FREE 5G PHONE: Telstra will swap your old Samsung with a new one Now read: PICTURES: Samsungs new $2,400 smartphone Now read: PICTURES: Samsung just showed off its FOLDABLE smartphone (Bloomberg) -- SAP SE has been accused of improper conduct linked to state contracts in Kenya and Tanzania, a claim that could plunge the German software giant into a second African corruption scandal in as many years. The graft allegations, which are being investigated by U.S. authorities, relate to deals in 2014 and 2015, the Walldorf-based company said in an emailed statement on Thursday. SAP and Twenty Third Century Systems, a partner across Africa and the Middle East, have since made management changes and strengthened compliance, SAP said. The news comes a year after SAP said it paid 128.6 million rand ($9.2 million) to companies linked to South Africas Gupta family, who are accused of numerous cases of state-related corruption. The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the company in relation to those deals as well. Our policy is, and always will be, to carry out all company activities in accordance with the letter and spirit of applicable laws, SAP said. The fresh allegations were first reported by South African website TechCentral, which said TTCS allegedly bribed officials at the Tanzania Ports Authority with $800,000 to win a $6.6 million contract. The claims were made by a whistleblower and lodged in the U.S., according to the website. Earlier Troubles SAPs partner, TTCS, is 49 percent owned by EOH Holdings Ltd., a Johannesburg-based IT firm thats already embroiled in allegations of corruption regarding South African government contracts. The latest claims relate to a time before its investment in TTCS, and EOH was unaware of them when agreeing to the deal, an EOH spokeswoman said. It was before our time and we have provided SAP with any information we have on the matter, she said. In 2015, another South African company, Standard Bank Group Ltd., ran into trouble in Tanzania when U.K.-based unit ICBC Standard Bank Plc was asked to pay about $33 million to resolve an investigation into bribery at its former Tanzanian unit. The deferred prosecution agreement related to a $6 million payment by former sister company of Standard Bank, Stanbic Bank Tanzania, in March 2013. The payment was intended to encourage Tanzanias government to favor the bank in a private placement. Story continues SAP shares rose 0.2 percent at 94.47 euros in early Friday trading in Frankfurt, valuing the company at 115 billion euros. EOH declined 8.5 percent to 14.81 rand, with the stock having dropped 49 percent this year, making it the second-worst performing share on Johannesburgs benchmark index since the start of January. (Updates with SAP share price.) --With assistance from Loni Prinsloo. To contact the reporter on this story: John Bowker in Johannesburg at jbowker2@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Andre Janse van Vuuren For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said that he is not interested in taking advice from Hillary Clinton on his presidential bid Friday on ABC's The View. "Hillary and I have fundamental differences," Sanders said. Hillary... she has not called me, When asked if he would ask Hillary Clinton for advice, Sen. @BernieSanders says I think not: "Hillary and I have fundamental differences." https://t.co/f8u2wc159S pic.twitter.com/PPlh0sKr7D The View (@TheView) March 1, 2019 The Vermont senator's comments come days before he is scheduled to appear in Selma at a Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast during which the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee will be honored and is expected to attend. The Sunday breakfast is set to commemorate the civil rights march, dubbed "Bloody Sunday" when civil-rights demonstrators were beaten and tear-gassed by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Two other presidential candidates, Sen. Sherrod Brown and former U.S. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, will also be in attendance at the King Unity Breakfast. Sanders also spoke about creating an unprecedented grassroots campaign and that he already has 1 million volunteers ready to help his campaign. Sanders raised $6 million in donations just 24 hours after announcing his 2020 presidential bid earlier this month. "It'll be stronger, it will be involving more people, it will be more diverse," Sanders said. Sanders slammed President Donald Trump in his interview with ABC's The View saying that he is the "most dangerous president in modern American history." He also attacked Trump on his stance on climate change and said that he is embarrassed that the President won't acknowledge the issue. Sanders said the time is now to immediately grasp the magnitude of climate change and transform the energy system in the United States. "You can't go too far on the issue of climate change," Sanders said. "The future of the planet is at stake." In late-January, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed Sanders finishing third with 4 percent, behind Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. The poll asked an open-ended query for Democrats about their 2020 support, without a response-prompting candidate list. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A man begs as he passes graffiti painted during an anti-war campaign on February 21, 2019 in Sanaa, Yemen. Image: Getty Its a crisis of staggering proportions. More than 14 million people in Yemen are on the brink of starvation in what could be the worst famine in living memory. Half the population are in urgent need with 3.2 million requiring treatment for severe malnutrition, including two million children and one million pregnant and lactating women. A civil war which has ravaged the country over the last 4 years has left about 20 million people across the West Asian country without reliable access to food, at least 17,700 civilians have died and 3.3 million misplaced. Simply put: Yemen remains the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, said UN relief chief, Mark Lowcock. Now, the UN has launched its largest-ever humanitarian appeal, with a summit in Geneva hoping to raise a record US$4.2 billion (AU$5.9 billion) for the war-torn nation. Its the largest appeal ever lodged by the UN for a single nation. However pledges of US$2.6 billion have fallen far short of the goal, aid agencies have condemned. Why? The famine stems from a civil war which has plagued the country for the last 4 years. The conflict has been centred around the major port city of Hudaydah, and therefore has blocked shipments from coming in. Despite conflicting forces set to vacate the city, the need for aid is urgent as fighting and famine continues, the UNs Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, told the UN Security council. MARIB, YEMEN DECEMBER 13 : A woman holds her baby, who is suffering from severe malnutrition, in Marib, Yemen on December 13, 2018. Many children are affected by the famine as a consequence of ongoing war and conflicts in Yemen. Refugees try to make their way to a hospital in Marib in the central Yemen for their children to receive treatment. (Photo by Said Ibicioglu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) In Yemen today, nearly 1.2 million children continue to live in 31 active conflict zones including Hudaydah, Taizz, Hajjah and Sada in areas witnessing heavy, war-related violence, said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. The impact of the conflict in Yemen runs deep and has not spared a single child, the official told UN News. Mind-boggling violence is tearing apart its social fabric. Mind-boggling violence over the past four years, high levels of poverty, and decades of conflicts, neglect and deprivation, are putting a heavy strain on Yemeni society, tearing apart its social fabric fundamental for any society and especially for children. Story continues The United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, is also asking for US$542 million (AU$754.6 million) in aid to ease suffering in Yemen. How did it come to this? Most (80 per cent) of Yemens imports flow through from the port in Hudaydah. But the fighting has blocked shipments coming in. So to ease the famine, the fighting must stop. The roots of the conflict are in the 2011 Arab Spring. During this, longtime authoritarian president Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. The transition was supposed to bring political stability to Yemen, but that didnt happen. Hadis presidency was plagued by attacks by jihadists and a separatist movement in the south as well as food insecurity and corruption. At the same time, the Houthi movement which supports Yemens Shia Muslim minority took over the northern Saada province before attempting to take over the entire country. This forced Hadi to flee in 2015 and the conflict escalated. At this point, Saudi Arabia (a mostly Sunni Arab state) began an air campaign against Yemen to restore Hadis government and fight the Houthi forces. Saudi Arabia predicted the conflict would be over within weeks. This is when the conflict escalated. Image: Getty Saudi Arabia, and another eight majority-Sunni Arab states received help from the UK, US and France. Saudi Arabia was concerned success by the Houthi forces would give Shia-state, Iran, a foothold in Yemen. There were also concerns that the Houthi forces were an Iranian proxy. Iran still denies it is, or has been backing Houthi forces. However, the conflict has continued in the years since then, increasing in scale and devastation. Since the outbreak of conflict, Yemens health system has nearly collapsed with the country beset by a cholera epidemic killing thousands. Conflicted donors While countries including the US and Canada, and regions like the EU have pledged millions in aid, Doctors Without Borders has this week raised the alarm over aid donors also fuelling the crisis as warring parties. In fact, more than half of the US$2.6 billion pledged has been by countries involved in the conflict. The United States is a main supporter of the Saudi and Emirati-led Coalition fighting Houthi (Ansar Allah) forces in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while primary parties to the conflict, are also among the top donors of aid to Yemen, the group said on Tuesday. Ultimately, Yemens humanitarian crisis can only be resolved when donor governments end their involvement in the war and hold the warring parties accountable for their atrocious conduct, endangering the lives of millions. Doctors Without Borders said parties to the conflict have prevented the fair distribution of aid based on humanitarian need, with restrictions on imports, visas and permits. At the same time, ongoing fighting also proves to be a stubborn and obvious barrier to the delivery of aid. Donor governments pledging funds must work to resolve the obstacles that are preventing aid from reaching the people who need it, and to ensure that the aid delivered responds to the actual needs. Make your money work with Yahoo Finances daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news. Now read: Systemic exploitation: The real cost of Australias $23 billion fashion industry Now read: Muffin Break GM slammed on social media for criticism of millennials who wont work without pay Now read: Venice introduces day-tripper tax A French court on Friday jailed two Iraqis and one Iranian man for organising illegal migrant boat journeys across the English Channel. The 32-year-old Iraqi, considered the group leader, received an 18-month sentence from the court in Boulogne, on the northern French coast. His two accomplices, a 30-year-old Iranian and a 39-year-old Iraqi, were each jailed for a year and all three men were banned from French territory. French border police were first alerted when the manager of a boat supply store contacted them in December over suspect sales of inflatable dinghies, a vessel of choice for people smugglers transporting migrants and refugees from France to Britain. The subsequent enquiry implicated the three suspects in the organisation of migrant boat runs from several northern French ports including Calais and Sangatte. Some 500 people -- most of them over the last two months of 2018 -- attempted to cross the Channel to Britain last year, compared with just 13 known attempts in 2017. London in December dispatched a navy ship to help coastguard boats watch over the 21 miles (33 kilometres) of sea that separate France and Britain at its narrowest point. France also responded by announcing broader surveillance measures in early January. The number of Channel crossings was just a tiny fraction of the 55,756 successful attempts made across the Mediterranean to Spain that were recorded by the UN's refugee agency in 2018. Some 500 people attempted to cross the English Channel to Britain in 2018, compared with just 13 known attempts in 2017 Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Friday condemned Britain's decision to outlaw its political wing, describing the move as an "insult" to the Lebanese people. Britain said Monday it would seek to make membership of the Shiite movement or inviting support for it a crime. The decision follows outrage last year over the display of the Hezbollah flag, which features a Kalashnikov assault rifle, at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London. "The British government has insulted the sentiments and the will of the Lebanese people by adopting this decision," the group said in a statement. "The Lebanese consider Hezbollah to be a big political and popular force and they have granted it wide representation in parliament and government," it said. Beyond Lebanon, the group warned Britain the move would "invite hostility from the people of the region," and would harm its role in the Middle East. Hezbollah was established in 1982 during Lebanon's civil war and is now a major political party in the country, holding three cabinet posts. But British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement on Monday any distinction between its military and political wings "does not exist". "This (decision) does not change our ongoing commitment to Lebanon, with whom we have a broad and strong relationship," he added. Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said senior British officials had agreed the issue should not "impact on bilateral relationships between Lebanon and Britain". Bassil, whose Free Patriotic Movement party is allied with Hezbollah in government, added it "will not have direct negative consequences on Lebanon because we are already used to this situation with other countries". The move earned swift praise from the United States and Israel. A 2018 general election confirmed Shiite militant group Hezbollah as a major political force in Lebanon but Britain has decided to ban it following an outcry over the display of its flag, which features a Kalashnikov assault rifle, at London rallies North Korea on Friday promised further negotiations with the US despite a spectacular failure to strike a nuclear deal at their Hanoi summit, with both sides keeping the door of diplomacy open. The high-stakes second meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump broke up in disarray Thursday, without even a joint statement. In the aftermath, each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock. Trump insisted Pyongyang wanted all sanctions imposed on it over its banned weapons programmes lifted, and this was a bridge too far. But in a rare late-night press briefing, the North Korean foreign minister said Pyongyang had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its proposal to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was its best and final offer. Despite the stalemate, the North's official KCNA news agency reported Friday that the two leaders had had a "constructive and candid exchange." Relations between the two countries -- on opposite sides of the technically still-unfinished Korean War -- had been "characterised by mistrust and antagonism" for decades, it said. Despite "inevitable hardships and difficulties" on the way to forging a new relationship, KNCA described the Hanoi summit as "successful" and said Kim had promised Trump another encounter. An unusually downcast Trump told reporters on Thursday that he would "rather do it right than do it fast," adding: "Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times." After returning to Washington, the US president tweeted Friday that his relations with Kim were "very good". "We had very substantive negotiations with Kim Jong Un - we know what they want and they know what we must have," he wrote. - 'Billions of dollars' - The outcome in Hanoi fell far short of the pre-meeting expectations and hopes, after critics said their initial historic meeting in Singapore -- which produced only a vague commitment from Kim to work "toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" -- was more style over substance. According to senior US officials, in the week leading up to the Hanoi summit the North Koreans had demanded the lifting of effectively all the UN Security Council economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang since March 2016. Before that date, the measures were largely focused on preventing technology transfers but more recent restrictions apply to several lucrative industries -- coal and iron ore, seafood and textiles, among others -- in an effort to force concessions from Pyongyang. "It was basically all the sanctions except for armaments," a senior US official told reporters. "It tallies up to the tune of many, many billions of dollars." In return, Pyongyang was only offering to close "a portion of the Yongbyon complex", a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- and the North is believed to have other uranium enrichment plants. Trump had urged Kim to go "all in" to secure a deal, the official said, adding Washington was willing to do so. "The weapons themselves need to be on the table," he added, pointing to both Pyongyang's existing stock of atomic bombs and the ICBMs which can reach the whole of the US mainland. But the process was continuing and Washington was "encouraged by the opportunities ahead of us", the official said. "There's still ample opportunity to talk." Kim began a two-day official visit to Vietnam Friday, while in Manila, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters: "We are anxious to get back to the table so we can continue that conversation that will ultimately lead to peace and stability." - 'Rollercoaster ride' - Analysts said the failure to reach a deal in Hanoi did not herald the end of negotiations. "I don't think it's a disaster and it doesn't end the dialogue process," said Chris Green of the International Crisis Group. Trump could not afford to do "a quote-unquote 'bad deal'" in Hanoi, he added. "I think it benefits him to look tough, to string this out." But others pointed to a lack of preparation ahead of the meeting, with the two sides unable to bridge the gaps between them in time. Former US ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said the impasse "highlighted the importance of working-level talks but simultaneously narrowed the range of options". Kim put "more emphasis" on sanctions relief than most observers predicted, she said, and mutual liaison offices and an end-of-war statement proved insufficient to persuade him to go further with denuclearisation. Joel Wit and Jenny Town of the respected Washington-based 38 North project said that while there had been fears beforehand that Trump "was going to give away the store, he did just the opposite, holding out for a better deal". "The two leaders are heavily invested in the process so hopefully, this failed summit will just be one more chapter in the rollercoaster ride that is the Trump presidency," they wrote. North Korean students read newspaper coverage of Kim Jong Un's summit with US President Donald Trump North Korean students read newspaper coverage of Kim Jong Un's summit with US President Donald Trump The outcome of the Hanoi meeting fell far short of expectations Analysts say the failure to reach a deal in Hanoi does not herald the end of negotiations The Trump-Kim summit was held under tight security in Hanoi Russia on Friday vowed to maintain support for the embattled regime of its Venezuelan "friend" President Nicolas Maduro, including with humanitarian aid supplies. During talks with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin expressed "support and solidarity for his colleague and friend" Maduro in the country's political standoff with the opposition. "Russia will continue to assist the Venezuelan authorities in resolving social and economic problems, including through the provision of legitimate humanitarian aid," Lavrov told a joint news conference with Rodriguez afterwards. Battered by an economic meltdown, Venezuela descended into political crisis when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January and asserted that Maduro was no longer legitimate. Maduro and his allies -- including Russia -- have accused Washington of attempting to carry out a coup against his government. The United States has recognised Guaido and led a diplomatic campaign in support of his leadership. Lavrov said Russia had recently sent to Venezuela 7.5 tonnes of medical supplies and received a request for more shipments. "We are currently considering it," he said. He added that Russia was also sending "mass supplies" of wheat to Venezuela, claiming those shipments helped normalise the humanitarian situation in the country, which is crisis-ridden despite its oil wealth. Russia's agriculture ministry told local media on Friday that Moscow sent 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Venezuela in January. Lavrov renewed warnings to the United States not to intervene militarily in Venezuela and reiterated Russia's claim that Washington is planning to buy small arms, mortar launchers, and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles known as MANPADS from an "Eastern European country" and station them "close to Venezuela." The weapons will be flown out by an airline of an ex-Soviet country loyal to Washington, Lavrov claimed without providing further details. - 'Hotheads in Washington' - "Of course we see these intentions," he said, calling on Venezuela's neighbours Colombia and Brazil to resist any possible US intervention plans. He expressed the hope that the fact that most countries did not want to see a military scenario would "cool hotheads in Washington, even though there are some there who nothing can stop." Lavrov said the two countries would continue to coordinate on foreign affairs. "We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps in the international arena," he said. "This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs." Rodriguez said her government would move the European offices of Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA from Portugal to Moscow. "President Maduro has instructed that the office of the Venezuelan oil company in Europe, which is located in Lisbon, be moved and transferred to Moscow," she said. Portugal was one of the many EU countries that last month recognised US-backed opposition leader Guaido as Venezuela?s interim leader. Rodriguez thanked Putin and "the Russian people" for all their support for "the constitutional and legitimate government." "We have come here with a very good programme to deepen the strategic relationship we have with our sister Russia," she added. "Venezuela does not need a military intervention, our continent does not need a military intervention, neither from the United States nor from anyone else. We need peace, stability and tranquillity." At a later meeting with the speaker of the Russian parliament Vyacheslav Volodin, Rodriguez said Russia has "everything Venezuela needs." "Venezuela, for its part, can give Russia the oil it needs," she said. Lavrov held talks with Rodriguez in Moscow Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has handed his powers as chief of the country's ruling party to his newly appointed deputy, the party said late Thursday, weeks into protests against Bashir's rule. The move came after Bashir last week imposed a year-long state of emergency and dissolved the government in a bid to quell demonstrations and deadly clashes that have rocked the country since December. "President Omar al-Bashir has transferred his authority as chief of the party to Ahmed Harun," the ruling National Congress Party said in a statement. "Harun will serve as the acting chief of NCP until the party's next general convention, where a new president of the party will be elected." Announcing the changes last Friday, he said he was now adopting a neutral stance towards all parties, but did not categorically say he would quit as NCP chief. An analyst said the NCP statement was vague. "There's no explicit indication that he is actually stepping down as party chief," said Murithi Mutiga of Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group (ICG). "This is a further demonstration of the division within the top ranks of the ruling party," he added. "There are voices within the ruling party that recognise that there is a major crisis and it will not be enough to suppress the uprising with repression." - Top level changes - Bashir appointed Harun, wanted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the conflict in Darfur, as his deputy party chief last week as part of a top-level reshuffle in the face of ongoing protests. Bashir himself is wanted by the ICC for alleged genocide and war crimes in Darfur, charges he denies. The NCP has an overwhelming majority in parliament, and according to its charter, the chief of the party becomes its candidate in presidential elections. The next presidential election in Sudan is scheduled for 2020. The NCP was formed a few years after Bashir swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, and he has been party chief ever since. But protestors have staged regular demonstrations across Sudan since December, accusing the administration of mismanaging the economy and calling on Bashir to step down. He declared a year-long state of emergency across the country last week after an initial crackdown failed to suppress the protests. Bashir also dissolved the federal and provincial governments, appointing 16 officers from the army and two from the feared National Intelligence and Security Service as governors of the country's 18 provinces. He has pushed on with top-level changes to his administration, including sacking his long-time ally and first vice president Bakri Hassen Saleh, who was replaced by General Awad Ibnouf. Bashir also ordered the creation of special emergency courts to investigate violations during the state of emergency. On Thursday, eight protesters were sentenced to jail by emergency courts in Khartoum for participating in unauthorised rallies earlier in the day, the tribunals' first such rulings. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence so far, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed. Protests first erupted over a government decision to triple the price of bread, but swiftly escalated into demonstrations against Bashir's rule. Ahmed Harun, pictured here in 2012, was previously governor of Sudan's troubled South Kordofan state The United Nations on Friday stressed that refugees fleeing conflict should be granted safe haven after Bangladesh declared that it would no longer take in Myanmar's Rohingya. Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told the Security Council on Thursday that the refugee crisis had gone from "bad to worse" and deplored the fact that none of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had returned home. "Bangladesh has been amazingly generous in the support they have given the Rohingya refugees," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "It is important that people fleeing conflict are able to find safe haven wherever they go." Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. Haque told a council meeting on Myanmar that "Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar", suggesting that his government was ready to close the border to refugees. Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?" asked the foreign secretary. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is conducting an internal review of the world body's operations in Myanmar following accusations that UN officials in the country ignored warning signs of the attacks against the Rohingya. The UN spokesman said the review led by Guatemalan diplomat Gert Rosenthal was to provide "possible lessons learned for the future" and advise on the way forward. Britain's Guardian newspaper first reported on the inquiry on Tuesday that will focus on the UN's failure to prevent the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. Some of the criticism has focussed on allegations that the UN resident coordinator, Renata Lok-Dessallien, downplayed concerns about worsening abuses against the Rohingya and sought to prioritize economic development at the expense of human rights. The UN has denied those claims. Bangladesh is sheltering hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar in camps set up in Cox's Bazar US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against "armed attack" in the disputed South China Sea, in Washington's starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's actions in waters also claimed by the Southeast Asian nation and other neighbours were a threat. "China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States," he said. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty." Pompeo's comments mark the first time a US official has publicly stated Washington's commitment to defending its poorly-armed ally in the flashpoint sea. A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defence treaty committed Manila and its former colonial master to come to each other's aid in case of "armed attack in the Pacific area". Philippine troops and fishermen have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces. Reacting to Pompeo, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing was committed to keeping peace and stability in the region. He added that for countries outside the region "such as the United States... it is not necessary to be deliberately provocative, or stir up trouble." The United States has said it is not taking sides in the dispute over waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. The Philippines used to be a staunch critic of China's claims over the sea. But after his election in 2016 Duterte put the dispute on the back burner in favour of courting Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then President Barack Obama a "son of a whore", but relations are being rebuilt under President Donald Trump. Senior Duterte officials have called for clarification on whether the US defence pact applies to the maritime row. But Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said Friday that Manila was "very confident" in US backing. - Huawei - Pompeo also warned the Philippines and other nations against using technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The Philippines' Globe Telecom plans to roll out Huawei commercial 5G services this year, while the Duterte government signed a $400 million deal for Huawei to install closed-circuit television cameras in two Philippine cities to deter crime. US officials suspect Beijing could use Huawei's products to spy on foreign governments. The company denies the allegations. On Friday, Pompeo said using Huawei technology carried risks. "We want to make sure that the world has their eyes wide open as to the risks of having that technology be part of the infrastructure or backbone or networks," Pompeo said. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman replied: "The government and people of any country probably know better what is good for their country than anyone else". US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference in the Philippines on Friday Map showing disputed claims in the South China Sea New York's U.S. senators are urging the International Joint Commission to prevent a repeat of flooding that occurred in 2017 along the Lake Ontario shoreline. In a letter to IJC U.S. section chair Lana Pollack, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on the commission to maximize outflows at the Moses-Saunders Dam due to rising Lake Ontario water levels. The Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, which was established by the IJC to implement the Plan 2014 water management strategy, reported Thursday that the lake level is now at 246.06 feet, which is slightly higher than last week's level of 246.03 feet. As of Thursday, the lake was 14.6 inches above its average level for this time of year. In a Facebook post, the board explained that outflows "remain very high and they continue to be gradually increased as conditions allow." Gillibrand and Schumer are concerned that high water levels could affect communities still recovering from flooding in 2017. The floods that year led to President Donald Trump issuing a major disaster declaration for counties along the lake, including Cayuga County. "That's why today I'm urging the IJC and the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board of Control to expediently take all actions possible to mitigate the risk of future flooding in these communities," Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "With the risk of future flooding rising, we must act now to prevent a repeat of 2017." State officials raised the possibility of flooding last week in a letter to Gillibrand, Schumer and U.S. Rep. John Katko, who represents Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne counties along the lake. Wayne County is preparing to declare a state of emergency if water levels reach 246.5 feet. Gillibrand and Schumer cited a provision in Plan 2014 that allows the board to act if lake levels reach a "trigger threshold." While the senators acknowledged outflows may have a limited impact due to other factors, such as high precipitation, they believe maximizing outflows at the dam could have some benefit. "Two years ago, we saw just how devastating flooding from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River can be to the homes, businesses and infrastructure along the lake's and river's shoreline. Communities need to be protected against this type of severe flooding," Gillibrand said. "With water levels in Lake Ontario reaching such high levels at this time of the year, we need to do everything we can to mitigate future flood risk ahead of time." Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 ELBRIDGE At a brunch to launch National Agriculture Month Friday, the New York Farm Bureau honored former state Assemblyman Bill Magee for his service as the longtime chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee. The brunch held at Bailiwick Market & Cafe in Elbridge featured New York Farm Bureau members, including President David Fisher, and other dignitaries and farmers from across the state. Magee didn't attend the event due to his health, but he received praise from those at the brunch for his contributions to the state's agriculture industry. A state assemblyman for nearly three decades, Magee chaired the Assembly Agriculture Committee for most of his tenure. He was named chair of the panel in 1999 and held the position until the end of 2018, when he lost his re-election bid. Fisher described Magee, a Democrat who represented Madison County and portions of Oneida and Otsego counties in the Assembly, as an "amazing person" for farm bureau members to meet with about agriculture issues. "Anything that farm bureau asked for almost he would work for and would work tirelessly," Fisher said. Magee's contributions weren't limited to legislation and policy. As an auctioneer, he manned the "Big Cheese" auction during Dairy Day at the New York State Fair. He also established relationships with downstate lawmakers, especially those in New York City, to build support for the state's agriculture industry. Fisher noted the importance of these relationships because of the makeup of the Democratic-controlled Assembly and the disparity between downstate members and upstate representatives. While the connections helped during budget season and when pro-agriculture bills came before the Assembly, Fisher explained that it also benefited farmers when proposals that could be viewed as hostile to agriculture were under consideration. "(Magee) probably did more to stop things that weren't good for agriculture with those relationships than most of us will ever be able to express or imagine," Fisher added. One of Magee's former legislative colleagues attended the event. Ex-state Sen. David Valesky, who is now deputy commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, appeared on behalf of state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball. With Ball in Washington for a conference, Valesky relayed Ball's appreciation for Magee's career. He also shared remarks from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has known Magee for many years. When Magee was elected to the state Assembly, Cuomo's father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, was in office. In the letter from Cuomo that Valesky read to the audience, the governor lauded Magee for his efforts to bolster New York agriculture. "Bill's decades of leadership and tireless work have not only helped the industry reach new and unprecedented heights, but have also played an important part in strengthening and unifying New York state," Cuomo wrote. Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Every Friday, The Citizen features a pet available for adoption from the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York. This week, we spotlight Joey. Q: Who is your best friend? A: There is absolutely no doubt who my BFFs are! They would be the two shelter people who found me (and my brother Franco) in really dire straits and brought us here to safety. Yes, they are actually quite brave because it was a risky undercover operation. No details, please. Just take my word for it. They are my heroes besides my BFFs. Q: What has been your worst experience? A: I know you have to ask this question, but it's not easy. So, maybe one of the many worst experiences I have had is that no one knows my real name. I wish I could talk so I could tell them. My shelter people finally gave me a name. They call me Joey. That's who I am now. Q: If you could describe yourself, what would you say? A: Well, for looks, I'm kind of odd! But odd in a cute way. My shelter people think I probably have some Corgi in me, but it would be a wild guess about what else might be in my genes. I am short and wouldn't take up much room in my new family's home. I am also energetic and I can't wait to make the great escape out of a kennel. I'm a quick study, so my new family will need to give me a lot of learning opportunities. Unfortunately, no one has ever paid much attention to me. Overall, I would describe myself as your best buddy. Q: If you could visit any place in the world, where would that be? A: Well, I'm told that part of my breed heritage is corgi. And, as any corgi-loving person knows, that part of me originated in Wales. There is the Pembroke Welch corgi and the Cardigan Welch corgi. I'm not sure which one is part of me, but perhaps my new family could do a DNA test. That would be a fun thing to do! Oh, and I would like to visit Wales! Q: Do you have an interesting fact to share? A: I do. The name "Corgi" derives from the Welsh language. "Cor" means dwarf and "gi" means dog. So, "corgi" is another name for "dwarf dog." Some say that the corgi is an "enchanted dog" favored by fairies and elves. The legend goes that at night, the magical creatures would use Corgis to pull their carriages and be their steeds in battle. Also, and according to legend, the markings on a corgi's coat suggest the faint outline of a saddle and harness. These are interesting facts! Q: If you could meet someone famous, who would that be? A: I would love to meet the queen. There is only one queen, and that would be Queen Elizabeth II. She has had a lifelong love of corgis. I believe I read that she has owned about 30 of them in her long and royal life. I would love to meet her highness! Q: Do you have any advice for our good Citizen readers? A: I do, so listen up! I think my shelter people are planning another cat adoption special something about lucky charms on St. Patrick's Day. More details coming soon. And please come to meet me and my brother Franco! We need to go home. Thank you and love, Joey and friends. The Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York is a New York state-registered shelter/rescue, registration No. RR-181. Pursuant to Article 26-A, Section 408 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, the registrant is authorized to operate as a registered pet rescue, in compliance with such law. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Since forming last December, the Auburn Correctional Facility Community Guardians, a group of correctional officers who have banded together in support of good causes, have raised thousands of dollars' worth of donations and supplies for local charities. While they always planned for their efforts to be continuous, co-founder Scott Thomas said, the officers weren't initially sure what direction they would take. As soon as they made their first deliveries of more than $1,000 and 70 toys for the Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency at Christmas, that changed. "Just the elation and joy on their faces hit me," Thomas said. "And I said, 'This is the way we'll go, we've got to keep doing this.'" Co-founded by Thomas and Rob Tedesco, the Community Guardians is also made up of several volunteers, including Brian Hooper, B.J. Shaw, Ed Lauckern Jr., Brian Schroeder and Spencer Restey. Although the core group is small, Hooper is quick to point out that its success the group has raised more than $2,000 and gathered thousands of items for local charities relies on the entire Auburn Correctional Facility staff. "They are the reason we're successful," Hooper said. Most of the donations the Community Guardians collect comes from fellow correctional officers and the civilian and administrative staff at the prison. The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the Employee Assistance Program, the Veterans Committee and individual staff members all contributed to each of the Guardians' fundraisers and donation drives so far, Hooper said. The support from fellow staff members wasn't exactly a surprise, Tedesco said, given the close bonds between staff encouraged by the nature of the work, but it was still welcomed. "It's good to know you have probably 800 people behind you," he said. Hooper added, "As correctional officers, we tend to band together." Part of the reasoning behind starting the Guardians, Hooper said, was to try and extend that sense of community that exists between the prison staff out to the Auburn community as a whole. Watching as other agencies or businesses announced successful fundraisers or charity drives, Tedesco said he felt, as one of the area's largest employers, there was more the prison staff could do to support the community. "That's our main goal: to give back to the community, to create a positive relationship ... We really want to spearhead that relationship," Hooper said. Following their Christmas toy fundraiser, the Guardians collected more than $1,000 again, this time to go toward patient wish lists at Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital in Syracuse. Most recently, the Guardians once more partnered with the Action Agency to take part in a toiletry drive for the agency's domestic violence shelter in Auburn. Over eight days and with the help of fellow staff members, as well as friends and family, the Guardians purchased children's clothing, baby formula, more than 1,000 diapers, and other immediately needed items. "The look of gratitude, the expression of absolute joy is just nearly indescribable and just priceless," Tedesco said. Staff writer Ryan Franklin can be reached at (315) 282-2252 or ryan.franklin@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @RyanNYFranklin. Love 5 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Post Realty, a real estate business in Auburn for more than 25 years, announced Thursday it has affiliated with the nationwide Century 21 System, and will now be known as Century 21 Post Realty. Under owner Todd Post, Post Realty will continue to provide its full real estate services, now with the added help of "world-class marketing and technology tools" gained from affiliating with Century 21, according to a release. "This was the perfect time to join forces with Century 21 Real Estate," Post said in a release. "We're excited to see how the affiliation brings value and visibility to our brand in the local market, and we completely embrace the Century 21 mission to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences for our clients." Century 21 CEO and President Mike Miedler said Post Realty is a team of seasoned professionals, and that he was excited to help them reach new heights in Central New York. "Todd has been relentless in his efforts to build Century 21 Post Realty into the regional powerhouse it is today," Miedler said. In business since 1994, Post was featured in 2016 on HGTV's "Lakefront Bargain Hunt." where he presented the Finger Lakes Region to a national audience while helping a family find a home in Cayuga County. With the help of the new affiliation, he once again has national visibility to help support the business. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 3 The downtown Auburn location of Pawn King is moving a few minutes away. As of Friday afternoon, the pawn shop had emptied its inventory at 39 Genesee St. to move into the Kinney Drugs plaza at 62 Owasco St. Kate Fernandez, Pawn King's operations manager, said the new location will be open Saturday. But it'll be a few weeks before the shop is up to the chain's standards, she added. One of 10 Pawn Kings in central New York, the Auburn location opened in the early 2010s. The shop was originally located in one of the storefronts in the former Nolan's Shoes building before moving to the former Nolan's Sporting Goods down the block a few years later. However, Fernandez said, the bigger space had insufficient heating and air-conditioning. The latter forced the store to close for eight days last summer because the heat was so unsafe, she said. Fernandez also said the parking on Genesee Street was inconvenient for Pawn King's customers. So she believes the shop's new Auburn location will provide them a better experience. It's slightly smaller than the Genesee Street space, which was one of the chain's biggest, but the shop didn't need all the room, she added. The owner of 39 Genesee St., J&J Limousine Service owner Joseph Catalfano, said Pawn King's decision to leave the building was mutual. Along with J&J, the building is also home to the Arc of Seneca Cayuga's Spot Light Studio and Year of the Dragon Tattoo. The Good Shepherds Brewing Co. left its space in the building last spring. Catalfano added that he has a replacement lined up for the former Pawn King space, but he won't be ready to comment further for a few weeks. Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox. Love 1 Funny 9 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. City Darlene Marie Holmes, 52, 1320 Lavanna Road, Watkins, was charged Feb. 25 with petit larceny. Merritt Fitzgerald Fletcher, IV, 28, 97 Steel St., Apt. 3, Auburn, was charged Feb. 25 with second-degree strangulation. Anthony Shawn Elliott, 30, 110 Janet St., Apt. 1, Auburn, was charged Feb. 25 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Steven R. Mayer, 40, of 30 Westlake Ave., Auburn, was charged Feb. 26 with third-degree criminal sale of marijuana and fourth-degree possession of marijuana. Christopher M. Liddle, 31, of 5126 Route 34, Fleming, was charged Feb. 26 with menacing a police officer, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence and second-degree obstructing government administration. Jamielyn Spaulding, 37, of 227 Genesee St., Auburn, was charged Feb. 26 with petit larceny. Brent L. M. Tanner, 31, 8 James St., Auburn, was charged Feb. 27 with violating parole and possession of a hypodermic instrument. Justin M. McDeid, 28, 44 Wallace Ave., Auburn, was picked up on a bench warrant Feb. 27. Joshua M. Vroman, 24, Auburn transient, was charged Feb. 27 with violating parole. Gene C. Edwards, 58, 61 East Drive, Auburn, was picked up on a bench warrant Feb. 26. Adam L. Delaney, 29, of 26 N. Fulton St., Apt. 1, Auburn, was picked up on a bench warrant Feb. 26. Harold J. Wallace Jr., 30, 75 North Division St., Auburn, was charged Feb. 27 with petit larceny and false personation. John V. Zhovkliy, 21, 2775 Warners Road, Warners, was picked up on a bench warrant Feb. 28. Cody M. Christoff, 20, 53 Barber St., Auburn, was picked up Feb. 28 with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Marc A. Rescignano, 22, 102 West Manlius St., Apt. 2, East Syracuse, was picked up on a indictment warrant Feb. 28 and charged with fourth-degree conspiracy, two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Robert L. Rogers, 49, 69 Chapman Ave., Auburn, was charged Feb. 28 with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia. State Ethan A. Salisbury, 28, Elbridge, was charged Feb. 25 with second-degree obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest. Robert J. Henderson, 63, Sterling, was charged Feb. 25 with operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08 of one percent. Darshell L. Stroud, 50, of Syracuse, was charged Feb. 26 with petit larceny and sixth-degree conspiracy. Love 4 Funny 11 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 HIT: Some families of Auburn elementary school students are participating in a free program that gives them access to special thermometers that might be a great help to parents and schools. The thermometers can sync to smartphones and give caregivers not only an accurate temperature but offer recommendations about whether medical care should be sought for a child. Parents and guardians can also join private groups for their schools so that trends among illnesses in particular classrooms can be identified more quickly. MISS: A man with a history of trouble-making is now accused of challenging police officers while armed with a knife. Auburn police were investigating a domestic disturbance recently in which a woman was reported to have been stomped, pushed and punched by a man. The man was gone by the time officers arrived and when he was located a short time later, police said that he initially tried to run away before charging at two officers while holding a knife. The officers were able to take the man into custody, and he was subsequently charged with several offenses, including criminal possession of a weapon and menacing a police officer, which are both felonies. A year ago, the same man had been charged with assault and later led officers on an extended foot chase before being taken into custody. MISS: The emerald ash borer beetle is killing trees at such an alarming rate that some loggers are harvesting them as quickly as they can. The invasive bug has been spreading in the United States for decades, and upstate New York has been particularly hard hit. Female ash borers lay eggs on bark and larval beetles bore into the trees, slowly killing them. Experts say ash trees won't be wiped out entirely, but there will certainly be fewer of them in the future. The Citizen editorial board includes publisher Rob Forcey, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Your article of Feb. 19 regarding a sustainability lecture at Wells College by Rachel Partington described New York's "State Energy Plan" (NYSEP) as critical to save New York. The Democrats now control the state Senate and Assembly; Governor Cuomo and the New York state Democrats are committed to implementing the NYSEP. It is expected the NYSEP is now on a clear highway for ultimate implementation. A strong and compelling case can be made for declaring the NYSEP as the wrong plan to address man-made global warming, now called "climate change". For example, here are just two major concerns: 1. computerized climate models have proven incorrect over decades, and 2. climate models do not include natural climate change. The NYSEP is also wrong because of the disparity between all the cost expended and the benefits obtained. I believe it is critical that the news media, including The Citizen, take on the responsibility of informing the public of the total ramifications of the NYSEP. Joe Fitzgerald Canandaigua Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Regarding Lisa Backus recent letter to the editor, Democratic women were disgraceful: I would like to make a suggestion to the writer to understand the history of our community to garner a historical perspective of women wearing white. Howland Stone Museum in Sherwood would be a great start by viewing their collection of womens suffrage posters from that era as well as learning about the tenacity of women fighting for a right to vote, a vote that WE cast today as a result. Or, just go to the Equal Rights Heritage Center to be enlightened by central New Yorks role in the equal rights and suffrage movements. Rather than challenge a response from a college professor, try a local grade school student. A look at New York state fourth-grade history curriculum outlines the struggle for rights and equal freedoms by different groups, such as women, not having the same rights as men in the United States. Students investigate people who took action to bring about change such as Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Elizabeth Blackwell. Students will explore what happened at the convention of Seneca Falls. (https://www.ixl.com/standards/new-york/social-studies/grade-4) The writer has a disparaging regard for an individual if they are democratic. The polarization of our society and the willingness by citizens to fall into an authoritarian government was amplified in her letter. Lisa did not want congresswomen to wear white representing the suffragettes, be physically/spiritually unattractive to men, seek medical attention from a doctor if it does not agree with her platform, and have the audacity to think Barack Obama was intellectually superior to Donald Trump in any way. There was a great deal of strife packed in her words. We all need to take a moment to pause and question the foundations of our beliefs. Lisa does not represent my voice. Patricia Elkovitch Skaneateles Love 3 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CARSON CITY, NVRebekah Charleston, a former prostitute turned "anti-trafficking activist" who now lives in Texas, has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Nevada seeking to have the state's legal brothels declared "unconstitutional." It also seeks an injunction to have the state criminalize the practice of prostitution in the nine counties where it is already legal, and to have the state create a $2 million fund to help sex workers transition out of that industry. The suit names, as defendants, the state itself, the entire state legislature, and Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak. Notably, there is nothing in either the U.S. Constitution, whose Tenth Amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," nor in the Constitution of the State of Nevada which has anything to say about the practice of prostitution, though seven counties have passed local ordinances outlawing the brothel industry there. In the suit, the text of which was not available in readable form on PACER, Charleston reportedly claims to have been sexually trafficked for 10 years by two pimps, and that for a one- or two-month period somewhere within that time frameshe guessed it may have been in 2004 or 2005one of her pimps required her to work at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch and the Love Ranch North, both in Lyon County and both owned by the late Dennis Hof. Charleston also reportedly claims that "while prostitution may be legal under state law, it encourages the illegal transportation of sex slaves to Nevada in violation of the Mann Act." According to an article in the conservative Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Her suit alleges that her pimp sent her to the brothels as a 'form of punishment' and that she was 'not permitted to turn down a sex buyer.'" (How the pimp would know whether she turned down a customer was not revealed, though the only people who would have been present at the brothel during working hours would have been brothel employees, prostitutes and customers.) Moreover, between 2002 and 2009, cable channel HBO was intermittently on the Bunny Ranch premises filming for the series Cathouse, and if any of that filming overlapped Charleston's presence at the brothel, she could have reached out to that film crew as well. Of course, before being allowed to practice the profession of prostitution in Nevada, those who wish to work in a brothel are required to submit an application to the state and go through a background check for possible criminal records in Nevada or elsewhere. At any point in this process, Charleston could have informed a state official that she was being forced to perform sex acts for money, but Charleston never did so. "Every single worker at the Mustang Ranch is required to undergo an FBI fingerprint and criminal database background check every single year," Mustang Ranch owner Lance Gilman told Reno's KOLO-TV. "In over 4,000 work card applications filed over the last 20 years by working professionals and employees at the Mustang, not one has turned up to be a victim of trafficking." Furthermore, Hof was well-known to have been very careful in his hiring practices, and anyone he suspected of not working at his brothels voluntarily would have been asked to leave. Interestingly, Charleston's attorney for the lawsuit is Jason Guinasso, one of two Lyon County officials who worked to get an anti-brothel initiative on the ballot. That initiative was soundly defeated, 80 percent to 20 percent, in the 2018 election. The phrase "Swedish erotica" might resonate with older porn viewers who remember back when the sexually liberated Nordic country exported its erotica to the world. Now there's a new Nordic feature, but this time it's courtesy of Finland. According to a press release, the adult retailer Huippukiva is distributing a new movie from Finnish producer Mr. Sunny and the team behind such Swedish films such as Jane Bomb and The Riding School. Titled Sexy Weekend, the new movie follows Finnish chick-lit author Emanuelle (Cindy Sun) while she is working on her new book. Her publisher has arranged for her to travel to a remote villa in Denmark. She assumes that this will be a long, quiet weekend that will allow her to think about some ideas for the plot of her book. Although the weekend doesnt turn out to be a quiet one, it does provide her with plenty of inspirationalong with attractive people and hot sex. The movie claims to hark back to the golden age of porn and erotica, to a time when strong storylines support a seamless blend of pure joy, lustful sex and hardcore pornography. It also bears the distinction of having a production team that includes a certified sexologist who ensures that the twists in the story are as natural as can be. Featured in the cast with Cindy Sun are Jolee Love, Lena Nitro, Darla Delovely, Puma Moore, Jens XP, Jacob Gren and Mr Martini. The movie can be purchased as a download or streaming video at SexyWeekend.net. For North American sales and inquiries, email [email protected]. BROOMFIELD, Colo.Award-winning distributor Eldorado Trading Co. has scheduled its next episode in their sexual health and wellness education series, Eldorado Presents, for noon MT Thursday, March 7. Eldorado has partnered with Doc Johnson for the March Facebook event which will discuss the power of social media and how retailers can utilize social media to connect with new and existing customers. Kristen Denton, a Doc Johnson account manager, will host this live social media event, which is open to the public, but geared toward adult retailers. Doc Johnson has been a driving force in the adult novelty business for more than 40 years. Their hand-crafted, American made products are known for quality, innovation, and value. This event will focus on the Doc Johnsons Girls of Social Media Main Squeeze line of hard-case strokers. This product line benefits from the considerable popularity of each social media star associated with this line. Their worldwide fame has provided a massive social media following that attracts a wide mainstream demographic. Denton will offer recommendation that retailers can use to leverage social media trends and impact sales. Participating adult retailers are encouraged to engage throughout the live stream event for the opportunity to win Doc Johnson products. For more information about this event, visit the Eldorado Facebook event page. In recent years, weve seen the emergence of new social crises across Americas middle and working classes, from the opioid epidemic to declines in marriage and family stability to the dilution of social capital. In response, many have been quick to point their fingers at the economic disruption caused by trade and technology. Yet according to Tim Carney, author of the new book, Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse, the data tell a different story about the transformative effects of religious communities (or a lack thereof). (Carney will be offering a lecture on his book at Actons forthcoming On Tap event on April 3 in Grand Rapids, MI.) Before and beyond any economic forces or factors, Carney argues, individual behavior appears to be closely tied to participation in religious communitiesor a lack thereof. And in an age when church attendance is rapidly declining, few are paying attention to the social and economic ripple effects. In middle-class and working-class America, the more religious counties do better, and the least religious counties do worse, Carney writes in The New York Post. There are piles of data on thisAs politicians and social leaders try to pinpoint the root cause of American woe, they should start by looking at the closing churches and the ones that are bustling. Carney uses Sioux County, Iowa, as one example. With the states highest levels of both evangelicals and mainline Protestants, the county also happens to boast the second-lowest portion of residents on disability in Iowa and the lowest drug-overdose rate in the state. Meanwhile, counties at the bottom of ARDAs religiosity rankings in Iowahave (per capita) the most overdoses, the most violent crimes, and the most disability claims, Carney explains. This is not unique to Iowa, of courseor the Midwest, or the Rust Belt, or anywhere else. We see these same trends and connections across the country, spanning the full range of challenges we are bound to encounter in social life: Men who go to church regularly are, according to various studies, more likely to get married, and less likely to cheat on their wives or girlfriends, to abuse them, or to get divorced. Its the same for kids. Churchgoing kids abuse drugs less and have better relationships with their parents, according to Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Families that attend church, synagogue or mosque every week are more likely to eat dinner together every day and go on regular family outings, according to the American Family Survey conducted by the Deseret News and BYU. The General Social Survey finds that 50 percent of Americans who go to church more than once a week call themselves very happy. That number drops as church attendance drops, down to only 25 percent for those who go once a year or less. As Carney makes clear, it is not necessarily religious belief, but rather consistent participation in religious communities that appears to be the key. It goes beyond head-knowledge and heart-transformation; its about how the embodied change is applied and takes shape through human relationships and the emergence of moral communities. Belonging to a church is a crucial element of living a good, happy, healthy life, Carney explains. And this phenomenon ripples out from the individuals into the community. Places like Sioux Center, or like Salt Lake City, with full vibrant churches, are places with more upward mobility, more marriage, and more family formation. In a statement before the Joint Economic Committee, Charles Murray, author of Coming Apart, recently affirmed this same reality. Though a self-described agnostic, Murray recognizes that communities of faith are essential for equipping and empowering individuals for the rest of life. They are particularly important, he argues, when moments of relational or economic crises hit: With regard to religion, I am making an assertion about a resource that can lead people, adolescents and adults alike, to do the right thing even when the enticements to do the wrong thing are strong: a belief that God commands them to do the right thing, Murray explains. For its active members, a church is far more than a place that they go to worship once a week. It is a form of community that socializes the children growing up in it in all sorts of informal ways, just as a family socializes children. Unfortunately, while there are distinct clusters like Sioux County or Salt Lake City that have thriving religious subcultures, the vast majority of American cities and communities are experiencing a decline in church participation. Just from 2007 to 2014, the portion of people attending every week dropped from 40 percent to 36 percent, according to the Pew Research Center, carney writes. Going back further, to the mid-1950s, the number of Americans attending a house of worship was as high as 49 percent, Gallup reported. The void is apparent, and yet the solution is not prone to quick-and-fast policy grabs or coercive social engineering. To revive our communities, it will require a renewed focus on what truly matters, as well as corresponding renewal and bottom-up cultural witness across all spheres of society, but especially in our religious communities. Image: Country Church in North Central Iowa, PaulAdamsPhotography (CC BY 2.0) Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVIs resignation. I was living in Rome when it was announced, and of course it was a memorable event to be part of. Standing on the roof of our college in the rays of setting sun, we could see the helicopter which brought the departing pope from the Vatican to Castel Gandolfo outside the city, where his reign officially ended. In his book-length interview with Peter Seewald, Last Testament, the pontiff emeritus described some reactions to his announcement. Friends, people, were stopped in their tracks at my news. For them it was serious and groundbreaking; at the moment they were really distressed and felt forsaken. I wouldnt say I felt forsaken, but there was certainly a tinge of sadness as the helicopter faded to a speck in the distance and left the city behind. Even aside from his tenure as pope, Benedict was a man of tremendous accomplishments, perhaps the greatest theological mindand one of the greatest minds, periodof our time. The depth of his thought in matters of religion, culture, spirituality, and more is endlessly rewarding to read. His Opera Omnia, still in the process of compilation and publication, will number 15 volumes. But this is the Acton Institute blog, after all, and I cant leave out some thoughts on the mission of promoting a free and virtuous society. Benedict XVI, of course, has an endless variety of teachings on this, but here I want to include one of the first that came to my minda passage from his September 2011 speech to the German Bundestag, in which Benedict spoke of the ecology of man: The importance of ecology is no longer disputed. We must listen to the language of nature and we must answer accordingly. Yet I would like to underline a point that seems to me to be neglected, today as in the past: there is also an ecology of man. Man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will. Man is not merely self-creating freedom. Man does not create himself. He is intellect and will, but he is also nature, and his will is rightly ordered if he respects his nature, listens to it and accepts himself for who he is, as one who did not create himself. In this way, and in no other, is true human freedom fulfilled. It is indeed ironic that today, as environmental concerns have become a priority of governments, companies, and the culture at large, society has become increasingly willing to accept that mans nature is whatever we say it is. It is undeniably true that as stewards of creation we cannot simply do to the world whatever we like. By this same token, then, what right do we have to become like gods who can manipulate ourselves at will? As Benedict pointed out, we have not created ourselves, and we cannot recreate ourselves in whatever image we wish. Any efforts to improve society that dont take this basic nature of man into account are doomed to fail. We would do well to keep the Pope Emerituss words in mind. A few days before the end of Benedict XVIs papacy, I had the great fortune to attend his last public Mass, the Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peters Basilica. Of course any Mass with the Pope in St. Peters is memorable, but this one was historically so. At the end of Mass, the crowd in the basilica broke into over two full minutes of sustained applause for this simple and humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. Simple and humble though he may have been, the congregations tribute was well deserved. (Homepage photo credit: Rvin88, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 3.0.) By Kavitha Cardoza I was in El Paso to cover a teach-in organized by Teachers Against Child Detention. Its a group started by Mandy Manning, the 2018 National Teacher of the Year, who said she was appalled by the Trump administrations practice of separating and detaining children for months away from their parents. She organized this event in west Texas, and hundreds of teachers from all over the country showed up in support, including a contingent that traveled from Alaska 3,000 miles away. John King, former U.S. secretary of education, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, spoke out in support. So did several state teachers of the year. Heres what 10 of these award-winning teachers had to say: Mandy Manning Teaches high school English-learners 2018 National Teacher of the Year (and Washington Teacher of the Year) Child detention is not new. We did it to Native Americans, to Africans, we enslaved them, we did this to the Japanese. This is not something new, but its time we learn this lesson and stopped doing this. How we are dealing with immigration right now is abusive. Were taking children and we are putting them into facilities and incarcerating them, simply because they were born outside the United States. Thats a form of abuse and its time for educators to stand up and demand that these kids not be in cages, but in our classrooms. Teaches high school social studies Virginia Teacher of the Year I have a number of students who have spent time in detention centers and so mostly I am here for them today so that they know that there are good people in this country that believe that they deserve the same access to education and human rights and to be with their families, just as any other child, no matter where they were born. Jinni Forcucci Teaches high school English Delaware Teacher of the Year I feel like a lot of times when teachers stand up for this, there are other people in our communities, even other staff who judge and even outwardly ridicule. And to be at an event like this where everyone has a common goal to love children, its refreshing and it gives me hope. Some of my immigrant students have been taught to not share their stories, so they internalize their trauma. Theyre taught to not tell their white teachers what theyre going through. I teach creative writing, and a lot of times after working really hard to develop relationships of trust, my students will tell their stories. Im a better human because of my students. Josh Meibos Teaches elementary school physical education Arizona Teacher of the Year Right now, what were really focusing on is training teachers to have the tools to recognize the trauma that these students are having, but then giving us the resources and tools to help them. Teaching these kids how to articulate and have a language to understand what theyre feeling and the emotions and then how to deal with that. One of the biggest takeaways for me is that Im learning that there are resources out there. Sometimes it can be a little lonesome in the classroom, when its just you and those four walls, and you dont realize there are organizations out there to support you. Teaches high school Spanish New Mexico Teacher of the Year Im from Mexico. I actually came to the United States when I was 12 years old, undocumented. Because of [the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program], I was able to work as a teacher. I am now the 2018 New Mexico Teacher of the Year. When we have these policies of incarcerating children, we are taking away that potential. We are taking away that future that they can have. Education is so much more than content. We are teaching children to be productive citizens of the world, especially now that we are so closely connected. So it cant just be about content anymore. It has to be about all the relevant things that are going on in the world right now. Ben Walker Teaches middle school science Alaska Teacher of the Year Alaska is a very conservative state, but we have a lot of people that support this cause. I dont think this is a liberal-conservative issue, its just a human issue. Im more than willing to stand up for these kids. Michael Soskil Teaches elementary school science and math Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year What happens in one area of the country impacts us all. Even though in my rural community, I may not necessarily see these problems manifest, they still belong to us as Americans. As an American teacher, its my job to protect children. I am a mandated reporter of child abuse. I cannot sit by and not use my voice when I see children are suffering. Sarahi Monterrey Teaches high school English learners Wisconsin Teacher of the Year I can tell when students are sad. They might say they have a headache or feel anxious. Theres a lot of fear. I tell students all the time, Let me know if I need to get you water, if you need a break. And its very hard because even as an educator, its hard to find the right words of what to say because sometimes I do feel helpless. Tara Bordeaux Teaches high school cinema and media arts Texas Teacher of the Year This is very personal to my students. Its personal to me. As a teacher, its my job to see that I support them, every student, no matter who they are or where they come from. My viewpoints arent exactly what the rest of the state see, but I also hope that by being someone who is able to walk into a room and listen and respect the voice of conservative teachers who are working around me, they can listen to me as well and we can find common ground. Paul Howard Teaches middle school history District of Columbia Teacher of the Year I teach a large population of immigrant students. And they do not have a voice and the power to advocate for themselves. And its my duty to them to try and use my platform to advocate for their rights. New Mexico Bail Reform Appeal Goes Bad for Challengers, Worse for Lawyer When New Mexico decided to reform the state's bail system, it basically destroyed the bail bond industry in the state. Unfortunately for the industry challengers that filed a proposed class action, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed with the federal district court that their challenge lacks merit and that all but one plaintiff, an individual who was denied cash-bail, lacked standing (though also had not stated a claim). Escalating matters for the challengers, one of their attorneys was sanctioned for instituting frivolous proceedings as to the clearly immune defendants. Reformed Bail Over the last few years, bail has become a focus for many states looking to reform their criminal justice practices to prevent socioeconomic discrimination. Effectively, eliminating cash bail and bail bondsmen in place of evidentiary hearings to evaluate whether a defendant is a flight risk, or is unlikely to appear. The challengers, who were comprised of individuals in the bail industry, an industry association, and an individual defendant denied cash bail, were told that each of the defendants were immune either under sovereign immunity, judicial immunity, or legislative immunity. The court explained that the nearly $15K in sanctions were related to adding the legislator defendants to the action full well knowing immunity would apply. The ABA Journal reported that the sanctioned attorney is considering requesting an en banc review, particularly as to the Rule 11 sanctions that were issued against him. Related Resources: This is my favorite Baby Shark remix by default. I do like it a lot tho. Pretty active driving song. Rollingstone: You'd think a song that is everywhere on the Internet exploding on music charts, racking up billions of streams and downloads and YouTube plays, and even making it into the celebrity zeitgeist as it did this week on Cardi B's Instagram would be making its creator filthy rich. But "Baby Shark," the viral children's song that's taken 2019 by storm, isn't paying out piles of cash to anyone, because no single songwriter has been able to claim ownership over it. The tune first started bubbling up among U.S. music fans on YouTube a few years ago, when Pinkfong, a South Korean educational band, posted it in 2015 and then remixed it with an absurdly catchy new beat and melody in 2016. But the core song in both versions the second of which was quickly popularized by K-pop stars and an American social media challenge, and has now been adapted into more than 100 versions in 11 different languages, according to SmartStudy, the company behind Pinkfong stems from an old singalong chant that seems to date back dozens of years to multiple sources. A number of parties are currently embroiled in copyright disputes, in court or otherwise, over who first created the song. Johnny Only, a kids' musician who uploaded the song to his YouTube channel in 2011, filed a complaint in a Seoul court saying that the latest version of the Pinkfong song is too close to his own. Pinkfong, though, says it got the song from an old nursery rhyme, not from any other artist. Then there's the existence of "Kleiner Hai," a German dance version of "Baby Shark" that became popular in 2007. "Kleiner Hai" composer Alexandra Muller, told Vulture that she has been singing that song for nearly two decades: "It's a popular children's song in Germany. We never found out where it came from. We checked the rights and it was public law, like a Christmas song, so there were no royalties," she said. Recording rights for specific tracks are one thing, but as far as songwriting goes, the origin of "Baby Shark" seems more mysterious than that of "Happy Birthday." Elsevier (previously) is one of the titans of academic and scientific publishing, a wildly profitable and politically potent corporation whose market dominance has allowed it to extract ever-larger sums from the universities whose researchers provide the vast majority of the material it publishes material it does not have to pay for, and in some cases, material it charges money to publish. The University of California system is one of Elsevier's biggest customers, and after eight months of unsuccessful negotiations over its subscription deals with the publisher, it has walked away and announced an indefinite boycott of the publisher, making it the largest Elsevier customer to do so. The sticking point was the university's insistence on a single price that covered both subscription fees for closed-access journals, and the fees that university personnel are expected to pay when they submit their work for publication in open access journals while Elsevier insisted on its right to "double-dip" from the system: charging it for submissions of papers and then again for access to its journals. The boycott will cost Elsevier $11m/year and about 10,000 papers that UC researchers will publish elsewhere. The move comes amidst a global uprising over the closed-access publishing model, which New Scientist called "more profitable than oil" and "indefensible." Europe's largest scientific funders have announced that they will only support research that is made free to read at the moment of publication. The stand by UC, which followed eight months of negotiations, could have significant impacts on scientific communication and the direction of the so-called open access movement, in the United States and beyond. The 10-campus system accounts for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. publishing output and is among the first American institutions, and by far the largest, to boycott Elsevier over costs. Many administrators and librarians at American universities and elsewhere have complained about what they view as excessively high journal subscription fees charged by commercial publishers. "It's hard to overstate how big [UC's move] is for us here in the U.S.," says Heather Joseph, executive director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, a Washington D.C.-based group that advocates for open access. "This gives institutions that are on the fence about taking this kind of action a blueprint." Indeed, UC's move could ratchet up pressure on additional negotiations facing Elsevier and other commercial publishers; consortia of universities and labs in Germany and Sweden had already reached an impasse last year with Elsevier in their efforts to lower subscription fees. University of California boycotts publishing giant Elsevier over journal costs and open access [Alex Fox an Jeffrey Brainard/Science] (via Webshit Weekly) NASA and SpaceX have completed thousands of hours of tests to prepare for this unmanned test flight to the International Space Station. The Washington Post's Christian Davenport is among journalists who are gathering at Kennedy Space Center's launchpad 39A in Florida to witness a planned SpaceX test launch that is destined for the International Space Station. The launch of an unmanned craft brings NASA closer to having astronauts depart U.S. soil for space, for the first time in almost eight years. A lot is riding on this launch, particularly as the long-held fraternal relationship between America and Russia on space matters seems newly frayed. From Davenport's Washington Post dispatch: Although the Dragon spacecraft won't be carrying astronauts only a mannequin named "Ripley" with sensors and about 400 pounds of cargo the flight will mark a significant step toward the restoration of human spaceflight from U.S. soil since the space shuttle was retired nearly eight years ago. The heat isn't just on SpaceX and Musk, who has drawn scrutiny from the SEC over his leadership of his electric car company, Tesla, but on NASA, as well. Years ago, it placed a bold bet on the private sector and outsourced human spaceflight to the International Space Station to two companies: SpaceX and Boeing. The companies won the contracts, worth a combined $6.8 billion, in 2014. Since then, both companies have faced setbacks and delays as they struggled to meet NASA's rigorous safety requirements. But now NASA says they are poised at long last to make their first flights with humans this year a timeline many in the industry believe may be optimistic given the immense challenge. Since the space shuttle retired in 2011, NASA has had to purchase seats on a Russia spacecraft, the Soyuz. Those seats runs out by the end of this year, so if SpaceX and Boeing's spacecraft are not ready, NASA would have to purchase additional seats or face the prospect of not having an American astronaut on board the space station, in which the United States has invested about $100 billion. All systems and weather are go ahead of Crew Dragon's first test flight tomorrow morning at 2:49 a.m. EST, 7:49 UTC https://t.co/gtC39uTdw9 pic.twitter.com/eSAiI9ZyJ2 SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 1, 2019 Ulrich Kelber is the German Data Privacy Commissioner, and also a computer scientist, and as such, he is uniquely qualified to comment on the potential consequences of the proposed new EU Copyright Directive, which will be voted on at the end of this month, and whose Article 13 requires that all online communities, platforms and services block their users from committing copyright infringement, even if the infringing materials are speedily removed after they are posted. In a new official statement on the Directive (English translation), Kelber has warned that Article 13 will inevitably lead to the use of automated filters, because there is no conceivable way that the organisations that run online services could examine everything their users post and determine whether each message, photo, video, or audio clip is a copyright violation. Kelber goes on to warn that this will exacerbate the already dire problem of market concentration in the tech sector, and expose Europeans to particular risk of online surveillance and manipulation. That's because the smaller companies, based in the European Union, are required to block all infringement, even if they are very small and specialised (the Directive gives an online community three years' grace period before it acquires this obligation, less time if the service grosses 5m/year). These small- and medium-sized European services will not be able to afford to license the entire catalogues of the big movie, music, and book publishers, and will have to rely on filters to block all that material they can't license. But these small companies also can't afford to build filters Google's Content ID for Youtube cost a reported 100 million to build and run, and it only does a fraction of the blocking required under Article 13 and that means that they'll have to buy filtering services from third parties. The most likely third parties to provide these filtering services are the US Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook, who, after all, will have to build and run filters anyway, and could recoup the cost of doing so by renting access to these filters to smaller competitors. Another possible source of filtering services is companies that sell copyright enforcement tools like Audible Magic, who have spent lavishly to lobby in favour of filters (along with their competitors). As Kelber explains, this means that Europeans who use European services in the EU will nevertheless likely have every public communication they make channeled into offshore tech companies' servers for analysis. These European services will likewise have to channel a potentially enormous slice of their revenues to the big US tech companies or specialist filter vendors. Article 13, then, will guarantee these giant companies a permanent share of all small EU companies' revenues and access to an incredibly valuable data-stream generated by all European discourse, conversation, and expression. These companies will be able to capitalise on the data and revenue to enhance their dominance, giving them even more leverage over their European competitors. Kelber says that this is the inevitable consequence of filters, and has called on the EU to explain how Article 13's requirements could be satisfied without filters. He's called for "a thoughtful overhaul" of the bill based on "data privacy considerations," describing the market concentration as a "clear and present danger." "Even though upload filters are not explicitly mandated by the bill, they will be employed as a practical effect. Especially smaller platform operators and service providers will not be in a position to conclude license agreements with all [copy]right holders. Nor will they be able to make the software develoment effort to create upload filters of their own," Kelber writes. "Instead, they will utilize offerings by large IT companies just the way it is already happening, for one example, in the field of analytics tools, where the relevant components created by Facebook, Amazon and Google are used by many apps, websites, and services." German Data Privacy Commissioner Sounds Alarm Over 'Upload Filter Oligopoly [Andy/Torrentfreak] It appears as though their effort to partially pay people screwed things up and they are still getting their act together. Anonymous TSA official who spoke to CNN UPDATE: A TSA spokesperson writes Boing Boing, To help support our employee's during the 35 days of the lapse in funding, TSA processed partial payments to its frontline employees. Coincidentally, the payment was processed on the very same day the partial shutdown ended. Of the 60,000 employees, unfortunately, 2% have experienced pay discrepancies. This partial payment was complicated by a payroll process that goes from TSA to the National Finance Center (NFC). TSA leadership assumed this risk and made the best decision given the circumstances and information at the time. TSA has contacted employees with known issues to ensure they are resolved. Original post follows. The Transportation Safety Administration gave workers partial paychecks while Donald Trump's federal government shutdown was in effect. Weeks after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, over 1,000 TSA employees are still waiting for pay owed. When his shutdown over a non-existent border wall crisis finally ended, Trump said his first priority would be getting federal employees paid up in full on all their back pay owed. That hasn't happened. The Office of Management of Budget instructed agencies to prioritize repaying its employees, CNN reports, but TSA now says the number of employees who have not been paid in full is about 1,000. From CNN: "Of TSA's 60,000 employees, approximately 1,000 throughout the country require some sort of pay correction," the agency's statement read. The agency says it continues to process those corrections, which mostly affect one pay period. The median TSA salary is less than $41,000, according to 2017 data and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A TSA official who is "frustrated with the situation" said the delay in pay is a self-inflicted wound. The official, who spoke anonymously because they are not authorized to speak to the media, blames it on Pekoske's actions during the shutdown. "The problems are with pay period 26," the official said, referring to the final two-week pay period of 2018 that was partially paid as an incentive to try to keep workers who were calling out on the job. TSA said at the time that one week of back pay was paid out. "It appears as though their effort to partially pay people screwed things up and they are still getting their act together," the source said. More than 1,000 TSA employees still owed back pay from shutdown [cnn.com] 2019 has seen a string of bold and successful teachers' strikes that built on last years' #RedForEd strikes: the new wave of strikes goes beyond paychecks and funding, though, and takes aim at charter schools as a system for the stealth privatization of public education. The issue, long considered too complex and contentious for teachers' unions, has turned out to be a winner. First the LA teachers overcame some of the largest dark-money spenders and billionaire backers in the country's second-largest school district; then came Denver; and now teachers in West Virginia (who won legendary victories in 2018 in fights over pay and funding) have won another victory in a strike that targeted charter schools and privatization, to widespread public support. The West Virginia teachers only had to walk out for two days to score total, decisive victory. The next strike to watch is Oakland, a city where public activism has already struck pioneering blows for transparency and accountability by public officials, overcoming massive spending by private interests. Oakland is also a city on the front lines of racial discrimination, displacement, gentrification and inequality, and the city's schools are the front lines of these battles. 30% of Oakland's pupils are in charter schools, thanks to a cycle that underfunds and under-resources public schools, leaving parents with little choice but to send their kids to privatized, publicly funded charters, siphoning even more public money out of public schools, making their situation even worse. There are unique challenges in the Oakland strike many working class parents see the charters as the only schools that offered their kids a fair chance at a decent education but Oakland teachers get to build on the victory of the LA teachers, whose strike prompted state action on charter transparency and oversight. As soon as the walkout in West Virginia resolved, a teacher strike in Oakland, California, quickly flamed up. That strike resembles the strike in Los Angeles in which teachers demanded better pay, smaller class sizes, more nurses, counselors and other support staff, as well as an end to the spread of charter schools. But the negative impact of charter schools is likely even worse in Oakland, where the charters enroll 30 percent of the students in the district and siphon over $57 million from the public schools. To further accommodate the charters, the district has announced plans to close 24 public schools. As of this writing, Oakland teachers are still on strike, declaring in their latest press release, "When 19 out of every 20 teachers [are] walking the picket line joined by parents, when our rallies attract thousands, when 97 percent of our students stay homeit's clear that this community wants what [the teachers' union] demands." The Rapid Victory of the West Virginia Teacher Strike Shows What Happens When Progressives Join the Fight Against School Privatization [Independent Media Institute/Common Dreams] (via Naked Capitalism) (Image: Oakland Education Association) After taking over Whole Foods, Amazon is now launching a new, more mainstream chain of grocery stores, according to Business Insider. And it makes me wonder why, when they haven't yet mastered the managing of Whole Foods. At least not when it comes to keeping their markets stocked. In fact, it's incredible how consistently empty their shelves are. Ever since Amazon took over the "natural" food grocery store, I started noticing walls of shelves with gaping holes where food should be, and oftentimes even entirely without food. It was so surprising that I took photos several times throughout the year to text to friends. I do like the fact that they've lowered their prices, which has seduced me into coming into the store in the first place (I used to avoid the market for their astronomical prices), but it's frustrating to go in with the idea of buying some eggs only to find there aren't any uncracked ones left. So what's the problem? Via Business Insider: Business Insider spoke with seven Whole Foods employees, from cashiers to department managers, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. Order-to-shelf, or OTS, is a tightly controlled system designed to streamline and track product purchases, displays, storage, and sales. Under OTS, employees largely bypass stock rooms and carry products directly from delivery trucks to store shelves. It is meant to help Whole Foods cut costs, better manage inventory, reduce waste, and clear out storage. But its strict procedures are leading to storewide stocking issues, according to several employees. Angry responses from customers are crushing morale, they say. (Many of the photographs in this story were provided to Business Insider by customers.) "At my store, we are constantly running out of products in every department, including mine," an assistant department manager of an Illinois Whole Foods told Business Insider. "Regional and upper store management know about this. We all know we are losing sales and pissing off customers. It's not that we don't care we do. But our hands are tied." Interestingly, Business Insider says Amazon's new stores, which "may or may not carry the Amazon name," plan to carry bigger brands so that they can compete with stores like Target and Walmart. They also plan to carry a larger variety of food (well, that's not saying much, given the dearth of stock they currently keep). They plan to open their first store in Los Angeles by the end of the year. Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Thembi Seete is taking over Botswana, serving looks to die for. She took to her social media to post a little black dress that had her followers' jaws on the floor. PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed! The beautiful outfit was to attend an event at the Stanbic Molapo Piazza in Botswana. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app The media personality landed in Botswana earlier this week, Briefly.co.za learnt. She posted a snap looking comfortably dressed for travel in a leather jacket, tracksuit pants and sneakers. She dropped some glam to the look in a pair of over sized shades and an iconic Louis Vuitton handbag. Source: Instagram/ThembiSeete Source: Instagram READ ALSO: Thokoza Gogo! Lerato Sengadi answers her ancestral calling Thembi is usually very private about her life, so she did not post who she was travelling with or who took the picture. But she looked stunning as always. Yaas girl. Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news! Source: Briefly.co.za Index funds Since its all-time high set in January of 2018, Dollarama Inc (TSX:DOL) stock has fallen 39%, giving up the entirety of its gains since 2017. This is great news for opportunistic investors. Since its founding in 1992, Dollarama has grown into one of the largest bargain shops in Canada, with more than 1,200 stores spanning coast to coast. All of its stores are fully-owned by the company. Its value proposition to customers is simple: sell everyday products at low, fixed price points up to $4. While shares have been under pressure recently, theres reason to believe that current headwinds are temporary. Plus, the market seems to be missing two hidden growth opportunities. Lets take a look at why the recent dip could represent an ideal buying opportunity. The story is changing The past decade has catapulted Dollarama into Canadian investing legend. In 2009, the companys stock stood at just $3.25 per share. Even after the recent dip of nearly 40%, its price today still exceeds $35 per share, representing a 1,000% increase in just 10 years. With more than 1,200 stores across nearly every Canadian metro area, including a large list of smaller towns, Dollarama is pushing up against its growth limit. There is, after all, a finite number of Canadians to purchase discounted goods. In the third quarter, Dollarama opened 11 new stores. Based on recent quarterly results and its planned store pipeline, management expects to open 60 to 70 net new stores in the current fiscal year, which would represent growth of around 5%. Thats not too shabby, but far from its aggressive historical pace. Still, same-store sales grew by 3.1% last quarter, meaning that its existing stores arent having trouble growing. The problem is simple: there arent enough places to grow. Two factors that the market is missing Slowing top-line growth has caused the market to re-rate shares, but dont be fooled, as plenty of growth opportunities remain. For example, while the company operates more than 1,200 locations, there are still millions of Canadians who dont live within driving distance of the companys stores. In fact, they may not live within a few hours of any store, which is why the company is opening a new online store to service this under-served population. While it may not add materially to revenues this year, it further strengthens the companys scale in its primary geographies. Story continues More exciting, however, is the companys opportunities beyond Canada. In 2013, it entered into an agreement with Dollar City to share business expertise and sourcing services essentially at cost, meaning that little to no profit will be made. Whats in it for Dollarama? Critically, the company has the option of acquiring a 50.1% interest in Dollar City starting in 2020. The market may have forgotten about this potential growth driver, but you shouldnt. Dollar City has aggressively opened new stores in recent months, and now operates 150 locations throughout Latin America, including 42 in El Salvador, 47 in Guatemala, and 61 in Colombia. One year ago, the company operated just 107 stores. On its latest conference call, Dollarama management said that it was pleased by the pace at which Dollar City has been able to open stores, especially in Colombia, a key market in Latin America. Patience should be rewarded Starting in 2020, Dollarama may gain access to a similar business model with a significant amount of growth potential. Over the next decade, the company could replicate its success in Canada across underserved, rapidly growing economies in Central America. Investors are overly concerned with near-term struggles, but if youre patient, investors have a great chance at winning big in 2020 and beyond. More reading Fool contributor Ryan Vanzo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2019 SNC-Lavalins headquarters is based in Montreal (AFP Photo/Julien BESSET) After Jody Wilson-Rayboulds explosive testimony before the House of Commons justice committee, it doesnt look like the SNC-Lavalin scandal plaguing the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) will be going away anytime soon. As the scandal evolves every day, more questions are being raised about the conduct of the PMO and what happens next in the saga involving SNC-Lavalin. So what is the company at the heart of this scandal? SNC-Lavalin has a checkered past, but its critical role in the Canadian economy makes Ottawas alleged extraordinary measures to protect it from prosecution plausible. WHAT IS SNC-LAVALIN? SNC-Lavalin is one of the worlds largest engineering firms, responsible for major infrastructure and construction projects globally. Founded in 1911, the company has offices in 50 countries, with its headquarters based in Montreal. It began as engineering firm SNC which expanded into oil and gas, mining and metallurgy and infrastructure projects. In 1991, it merged with engineering giant Lavalin, creating SNC-Lavalin, Canadas largest engineering and construction company at the time. The company has been responsible for many major Canadian infrastructure projects, including the James Bay Hydroelectric Development in northern Quebec, the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, and the Canada Line in British Colombia that runs from Vancouver to Richmond. WHY IS THE COMPANY SO IMPORTANT? SNC-Lavalin employs more than 50,000 people around the world, including nearly 9,000 jobs in Canada. Its among the top 100 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange by market capitalization, and a major global company that is a driver of jobs and economic growth, particularly in Quebec notably, a province that can decide the winner or loser of a federal election. The company is undoubtedly important in Quebec. When Quebec Premier Francois Legaults government drew up a list of 10 strategically important companies that the province would work to prevent from being acquired, one of them was SNC-Lavalin. Corporate head-office flight is a sensitive issue in Quebec after foreign buyers acquired locally-based companies such as aluminum maker Alcan Inc. and home improvement retailer Rona Inc. in recent years. Story continues A day after bombshell claims by Canadas former attorney general, the Quebec premier expressed concern about potential job losses and the provinces political class hesitated to take sides. (The Canadian Press) WHAT HAPPENED TO START THIS CONTROVERSY? In 2015, the RCMP brought corruption and fraud charges against SNC-Lavalin over allegations that it bribed government officials in Libya to land lucrative contracts. Police alleged that between 2001 and 2011 SNC-Lavalin paid $47.7 million to public officials in Libya to influence government decisions. SNC-Lavalin says the charges are without merit and stem from alleged reprehensible deeds by former employees who left the company long ago. WAIT, LIBYA? Yes, the same country that was run by brutal former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. In fact, a report from La Presse this week showed that SNC-Lavalin and security firm Garda World were involved in outlandish spending to spoil the son of the Libyan dictator, Saadi Gaddafi, during a 2008 visit to Canada. According to a preliminary inquiry into bribery charges against a former SNC-Lavalin executive, the cost of the trip reached $1.95 million, and included a range of expenses including box seat rentals for a Raptors Game and Spice Girls concert, and escort services. Muammar Gaddafis son, Saadi. (Getty) WHAT DO THESE CHARGES MEAN FOR SNC-LAVALIN? A conviction for these charges would be absolutely devastating for the company, as it would prevent SNC-Lavalin from bidding on Canadian government business for a decade. SO WHAT DID SNC-LAVALIN WANT FROM THE GOVERNMENT? SNC-Lavalin has been lobbying the government to convince Ottawa to introduce remediation agreements into law. Common in the United States (where they are known as deferred prosecution agreements or DPAs), remediation agreements are plea bargain-like deals that hold organizations accountable while avoiding the consequences that come with a criminal conviction. The Liberal government held public consultations about remediation agreements in the fall of 2017. Months later, an amendment bringing remediation agreements into law was quietly included in the governments omnibus budget legislation. SNC-Lavalin was hoping to be the first company to receive such a remediation agreement. DID SNC-LAVALIN GET THAT REMEDIATION AGREEMENT? No, but it wasnt for a lack of effort on the governments part, according to former Attorney General Wilson-Raybould. As reported by the Globe and Mail in early February, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus office attempted to press the former attorney general to overturn the decision to not negotiate a remediation agreement. This week, Wilson-Raybould outlined the specific ways she felt pressured by the PMO to reverse the decision. She said there were at least 10 phone calls and 10 different meetings, not to mention several text messages, about the SNC-Lavalin case between her or senior members of her staff and people in the PMO. WHAT DID WILSON-RAYBOULD SAY ABOUT SNC-LAVALIN? During her bombshell testimony, Wilson-Raybould described a meeting she had with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sept. 17. According to the former attorney general, the topics of SNC-Lavalin and remediation agreements were raised by Trudeau immediately, even though the meeting was not about the case. The Prime Minister asked me to help out to find a solution here for SNC, citing that if there is no DPA, there would be many jobs lost and that SNC would move from Montreal, Wilson-Raybould said. I told him that I had done my due diligence and had made up my mind on SNC and that I was not going to interfere with the decision of the director. Wilson-Raybould said Trudeau continued reiterating his concerns about potential job losses and SNC leaving Quebec. Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, who was also in attendance, then made the case for why a a remediation agreement was necessary. They will likely be moving to London if this happens and theres an election in Quebec soon, Wernick said, according to Wilson-Raybould. The prime minister also jumped in, stressing the upcoming election, and that he was an MP in Quebec. I was quite taken aback, Wilson-Raybould said. My response, and I vividly remember this as well, was to ask the prime minister a direct question while looking him in the eye. I asked, are you politically interfering with my role, my decision as the attorney general? I would strongly advise against it.' Justin Trudeau crisis: Canada PM facing calls to resign over corruption case WHY WAS THE PRIME MINISTER SO CONCERNED ABOUT SNC-LAVALIN MOVING? For any company, its headquarters comes with many jobs and typically a boost to the local economy. (Just look at how eagerly cities across North America were lobbying Amazon for its second headquarters.) Moving SNC-Lavalins headquarters from Montreal, Que. to London, England could results in job losses in Canada., something the Trudeau government was allegedly not keen on letting happen. The day after Wilson-Rayboulds explosive testimony, Trudeau reassured Canadians that the government was doing its job in a way that respected its institutions. Canadians expect their government to look for ways to protect jobs, to grow the economy, and thats exactly what weve done every step of the way, Trudeau said. IS THIS THE FIRST TIME SNC-LAVALIN HAS GOTTEN INTO TROUBLE? This is certainly not the first time SNC-Lavalin has been embroiled in controversy, or facing charges of bribery and financial fraud. In 2013, the company was barred by World Bank-financed projects for 10 years because of misconduct in not one but two separate projects, including one in Bangladesh and another in Cambodia. According to the World Bank, SNC-Lavalins misconduct involved a conspiracy to pay bribes and misrepresentations when bidding for Bank-financed contracts in violation of procurement guidelines. With files from Bloomberg News and the Canadian Press. (Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges of trade-secret theft, a day before the company learns if Canada will start extradition proceedings for its chief financial officer in a pivotal week that could see diplomatic tensions flare. Chinas biggest smartphone maker and its U.S. affiliate appeared in federal court in Seattle this morning to answer to charges that they engaged in a scheme to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile US Inc. and also committed wire fraud and obstruction of justice. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez and a trial was scheduled for March 2, 2020. The arraignment comes just a day before Canadas deadline to decide whether to officially order the start of extradition hearings against Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the U.S. on fraud charges. In a separate indictment filed in Brooklyn, U.S. prosecutors allege she lied to banks to trick them into processing transactions for Huawei that potentially violated Iran trade sanctions. The two cases have intensified the spotlight on Huawei, which has come to symbolize Chinas economic rise and challenge to the U.S.s status as the worlds top superpower. In particular, the decision to prosecute Meng -- daughter of billionaire Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei -- has sparked an unprecedented diplomatic dispute, with Canada trapped in the middle. How Huawei Arrest Extends Troubled History With U.S.: QuickTake If history is any guide, Canada will probably start extradition proceedings, which will set in motion a process that promises to be long and politically explosive. China has demanded that Canada release Meng and, since her December arrest in Vancouver, has detained two Canadians on national security grounds and sentenced a third with a death sentence for drug trafficking in China. Meng is next scheduled to appear in court on March 6. If extradition proceedings begin, the process is likely to drag on for months, possibly years. However long they take, shes likely to be extradited in the end. Story continues Huaweis Worst-Case Survival Guide for U.S. Criminal Crackdown In the trade-secrets case, prosecutors said in a January indictment that from 2012 to 2014 Huawei stole information from T-Mobiles Bellevue, Washington, headquarters contained in Tappy, a robotic phone-testing system. The U.S. says it uncovered Huawei email messages showing it offered bonuses to employees for information stolen from companies worldwide. Huawei faces fines of more than $5 million, or three times the value of T-Mobiles secrets, according to the government. The company has denied any wrongdoing and said it expects to be found innocent in court. Judge Martinez reviewed the 10 counts of the indictment aloud, while prosecutors explained the penalties the company faces. Robert H. Westinghouse, James F. Hibey and Brian M. Heberlig are representing Huawei. Lawyers for both sides declined to comment after the hearing. Prosecutor Todd Greenberg told Martinez that the government proposed the 2020 trial date because this is a complex case, more complex than many cases that come before the court. Greenberg said he expects significant pretrial information sharing. The cases are U.S. v. Huawei Device Co., 19-cr-00010, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (Seattle) and U.S. v. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, 18-cr-457, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn); Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the U.S. v. Wanzhou Meng, Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver Registry Court File: 27761. To contact the reporters on this story: Natalie Obiko Pearson in Vancouver at npearson7@bloomberg.net;Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, ;David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. A Bank of Ireland branch in the centre of Dublin. Pic: PA In its push to compete with newer digitally oriented competitors, Irelands largest bank this week said that it would be removing several traditional ATM services, as it works on a new version of its mobile app. Bank of Ireland said in an email to customers on Wednesday that they would no longer be able to top-up their mobile phones, pay bills, or request bank statements at ATMs. The bank said it would provide different ways for customers to access these services. It will also be cancelling some ATM-only bank cards, it said in the email. New entrants to the banking industry, such as Revolut and Germanys N26, threaten the more-established players, many of which have been slow to innovate and develop their mobile applications. Just last month, N26 became Europes most valuable fin-tech start-up when it raised $300m (230m) to fund its global expansion. Irish banks have recognised the threat and have made moves to update their digital offerings. We are working on a new Bank of Ireland App which will have more features and better security, the email to customers said. Statistics published alongside in its annual report, which said that technology was critical to Bank of Irelands growth strategy, showed that the banks existing app had more than 10 million monthly engagements in 2018, a 25% increase on 2017. It described almost 80% of its current account users as digitally active. We are replacing our core banking systems to improve efficiency and to enhance customer experience, the report said. A Calgary couple found guilty two years ago of killing their diabetic teenage son have lost their appeals to have their convictions overturned. Emil and Rodica Radita were challenging their first-degree murder convictions in the 2013 death of 15-year-old Alexandru. Both their appeals were dismissed. The three-judge panel of the Alberta Court of Appeal issued the decision Thursday morning, writing that they have rejected all three grounds of appeal filed on behalf of Emil and Rodica Radita. In 2017, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Karen Horner convicted the Raditas and sentenced them to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. The Raditas filed separate notices of appeal the following month. "The appellants have not demonstrated any reviewable errors in the trial judge's analysis of intent," says the decision from Justice Patricia Rowbotham, Justice Barbara Lea Veldhuis and Justice Dawn Pentelechuk. The three appeal court judges went on to dismiss the appellants' claim that Justice Horner's analysis under section 231 (5)(e) of the Criminal Code which elevates second-degree murder to first was flawed. The appellants also argued that the judge showed bias by crying during the trial. "I am not guilty of murdering my son, and the judge finding that I am shows that she did not look at all of the evidence," Rodica Radita said in a handwritten note when she filed her appeal. The Court of Appeal ruling dismissed this argument, saying there are no grounds to believe the trial judge failed to conduct a dispassionate investigation of the facts. "An informed person, viewing the matter realistically and practically, and having thought the matter through, would not conclude that the trial was unfair," the decision says. Witnesses at their trial testified the boy was so neglected that he weighed 37 pounds and was covered in 44 ulcers and wounds when he died in 2013 of complications from untreated diabetes and starvation. Story continues When Horner handed down her verdict, she said the couple was in gross denial of Alex's disease. "Children in Canada rarely die from diabetes, but proper treatment requires due diligence," the trial judge said. Horner said it appeared that Alexandru had not received proper care for years, even though the Raditas were fully trained in how to look after him. Witnesses testified during the trial that the boy would have suffered immensely leading up to his death. The Raditas had a long history of refusing to properly treat Alexandru's condition. Alex nearly died when he was five and was seized from his parents until a judge in British Columbia returned the boy to his family. Around 2009, the family moved to Alberta, where Alex was never taken to see a doctor and never attended school. When paramedics were called to the Radita home in May 2013, they found Alex's near-skeletal body on his bed. He was so badly emaciated, the medical examiner testified the boy was in the 0.1 percentile for 15-year-olds based on his weight and height. Calgary criminal defence law expert Andre Ouelette says the Court of Appeal agreed with the trial judge's conclusion that the actions of the parents in mismanaging his medical situation went beyond recklessness the benchmark for a lesser conviction of manslaughter. "And together with the fact there was almost a form of confinement in his room, that amounted to an imputed intention," he said. "And on that basis, I think, the judge analyzed it, convicted them [of first-degree murder] and the Court of Appeal of Alberta agreed with that." The appellants can now make an application to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but since the Alberta Court of Appeal decision was unanimous, they have no automatic right to be heard by Canada's top court, he said. "I think, likely, this may be the end of the road," he said. Rumble Welcome back to The Ultimate Tech Hub. On today's episode we will install a LCD Screen protector for our camera. We will install the Glass Protector from Expert Shield onto our Sony A7iii. This is a very simple process that many people find intimidating. If you have any questions about this video please leave them in the comments down below. Thank you for being a part of The Ultimate Tech Hub Team and if you haven't Subscribed yet please do its free. And if you like this video give a thumbs up and share it. Thanks again for watching the Ultimate Tech Hub Channel! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualified purchases. 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Thank you! https://www.patreon.com/UltimateTechHub Ultimate Tech Hub on Rumble: Please Subscribe! https://rumble.com/c/UltimateTechHub If you want the Ultimate Tech Hub to promote your product(s) or service(s) or you want to send us something for review or testing please email us below to request a media kit. Ultimatetechhub.lv@gmail.com 0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:29 Expert Shield LCD Screen Protector 0:01:33 Expert Shield LCD Install Guide Music Provided By: www.epidemicsound.com https://ultimatetechhub.com/ An Edmonton business association that lost its legal challenge of three safe injection sites says it won't appeal the ruling as its concerns are repeatedly ignored. "We've been dismissed and ignored at every point. We feel it's pointless," said Dr. Holly Mah, chair of the Chinatown and Area Business Association. "We feel our request was not unreasonable ... that three drug injection sites within six blocks in Chinatown could be amalgamated into one to minimize the impact on our community." The supervised consumption sites opened in the Central McDougall and McCauley neighbourhoods, after a coalition of community, academic and health groups was granted an exemption under a federal drug statute to operate them. The sites have been visited almost 40,000 time since the first one opened last March, and more than 420 overdoses have been reversed, says Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services Edmonton (AMSISE) the group that advocated for the sites' opening. Marliss Taylor, program manager at the safe consumption site at Boyle Street Community Services, says she was pleased by the court's decision as the sites are saving lives. Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press "I'm really clear that they have been running pretty quietly and pretty easily for almost a year now. I don't think ... people would have noticed much of a change. And so that's a very good thing," Taylor said. "We are going to continue to do the things we've been doing over the past year to try and address any concerns that people may have, and to help the community be a safe and healthy as possible." Federal court case In the decision released Tuesday, Justice Richard Mosley found the federal Ministry of Health met its duties to the Chinatown business association. "Justice Mosley found that concerned neighbours are entitled to only a minimal level of procedural fairness in the context of these decisions," said Nathan Whitling, the lawyer representing AMSISE. Story continues "The court found they were treated fairly and there was no breach of their rights to be treated fairly." In its court filings, the business association argued the country's first safe injection site in Vancouver had only one location when it opened, although the opioid epidemic was more severe and concentrated in that city. But, Mosley found this precedent "does not prevent other cities from adopting other models." The business association had also argued it was not properly consulted. While the judge found that Health Canada did not provide a direct response to the association's concerns, "there is a difference ... between Health Canada being unconvinced by certain arguments and ignoring them." Looking to the future Taylor said the injection sites do not appear to be drawing new opioid users to the community. Before the sites opened, the organization talked to substance users who said they would not travel far to use the service. "Who we are getting in the services is who we should be getting which are local folks who are using opioids in a way that puts their health at risk." CBC As part of their federal conditions, the organizations that run the sites must monitor and report their impact on the community to Health Canada as their re-approval depends on it in part. But Mah, from the Chinatown Business Association, says self-monitoring is not reliable. The community hopes the process is changed in the future. "We hope this doesn't happen to any other community, that communities will be properly consulted and that concerns are taken into consideration," she said. By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google, Facebook and Twitter have fallen short of their pledges to combat fake news, three months before key European elections, the European Commission said on Thursday. The tech companies and trade bodies representing the advertising industry signed up to a voluntary code of conduct in October to tackle the spread of fake news, aiming to stave off more heavy-handed legislation. Brussels is keen to address the threat of fake news or foreign interference during campaigning for the European Parliament elections in May and also for national elections in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine in the coming months. Europe's Security Commissioner Julian King criticized the lack of progress on cracking down on fake news made by the three companies based on their monthly reports. "Sadly they have fallen further behind. They need to live up to the standards we are asking of them, and that they signed up to," King said in a tweet. Facebook has not provided details of its actions against political ads in January nor the number of fake accounts deleted due to malicious activities targeting the European Union, the Commission said. The Commission also found that Google's measures on political ads were not specific enough nor did the company clarify the extent to which its actions were taken to address fake news or other reasons. It did not provide concrete evidence to show that it had carried out its policies in January, the Commission said. The EU executive also criticized Twitter for failing to provide benchmarks to measure its progress on monitoring political ads. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee. Editing by Jane Merriman) Olga Perlmutter was in her mid-20s when the Nazi regime captured her family, killed her siblings and forced her into slave labour at Auschwitz. Yet, looking back over the past century, she sees a life full of blessings. "All my life, I have had miracles," she said, surrounded by her devoted friends who all survived the same concentration camp and now visit her Cote Saint-Luc condo to play cards four times a week. "First of all, it's a miracle I am here." Isaac Olson/CBC Perlmutter turns 100 on Saturday and, though she still wakes up in the night terrified that the Germans are coming, she says she is grateful for all that she has today two sons, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and friends as close as family. "My life story is very long and I don't know the beginning or the end," said Perlmutter, her brown eyes twinkling as she smiled warmly. "It wasn't easy, but I didn't give up. Everything I did, I did for my children." Perlmutter was born on March 2, 1919, in the Hungarian town of Sarospatak. She and her seven siblings were raised by Jewish parents in a time when anti-Semitism was rampant. Knowing the Nazis were coming, she had the opportunity to escape to go underground with her brother, Joseph Taub but she refused to leave the rest of her family behind. Deported, tattooed and forced into labour Those who stayed were deported by train to the Auschwitz concentration camp and Perlmutter was branded as prisoner A21364. Though the ink of that tattooed Nazi identification has faded with time, the memories have not. Submitted by Joseph Perlmutter Her younger brother and sister were executed in front of her and the rest of her family was led off to the gas chambers. Only two of her siblings would survive, one forced into labour and the other on the run. She can describe in detail her two years in the camp, from catching typhoid fever to the enamoured guard who once secretly passed her a loaf of bread. She recalls the guard giving her a "piece of the whole bread and said, 'that is for my beautiful girl.'" Story continues Isaac Olson/CBC Once freed, she returned to her hometown alone. She met and married a fellow survivor, becoming Olga Taub Danczinger. Illness struck and she was widowed a short time later, leaving her alone with two boys, aged six and two. Struggling under Hungary's iron-fisted government, she fled to Austria, to Rome and eventually Israel. She cared for her sons by day and worked in an asbestos factory by night. "We were alone in a shack," said Joseph Perlmutter, now a Californian real-estate investor who still remembers those nights alone. "It was a dirt shack with rats. She put us near a window in a crib and I would wake up early, looking out the window, waiting for her to bicycle home." Building a life in Canada Olga Perlmutter got word that her brother, Joseph, had made it to Montreal. She immigrated to Canada in 1951 and settled in an apartment on Montreal's St-Joseph Boulevard with three other families. Hedvig Landau, now 93, still remembers how her lifelong friend worked tirelessly for a catering company by day and tended to house chores by night, never stopping and hardly sleeping as she made sure everybody was well taken care of. "She worked like a horse every day. She was a very hard working woman all her life," Landau said. Submitted by Joseph Perlmutter Olga Taub Danczinger met and married a fellow Hungarian survivor in Montreal, becoming Olga Taub Perlmutter. Her husband, Max Perlmutter, adopted her boys and, together, they bought a duplex. She opened a hair salon with her cousin on Parc Avenue and her business prospered in the decades that followed. All these years later, she now keeps herself busy with her friends. They play cards sometimes five hours a day and Olga Perlmutter always has lunch waiting for them when they arrive in the early afternoon. She still loves to cook and bake, regularly whipping up a variety of foods and desserts. Isaac Olson/CBC Olga Perlmutter and her friends have a life mantra: keep busy and enjoy every minute. "My mother has indomitable will," said her son, Tom Perlmutter, a documentary filmmaker and former chair of the National Film Board of Canada. "I have never met anyone else with that kind of will. It is iron." He accompanied his mother on a medical visit years ago and he remembers her asking if she would live to see 100. It was always her goal to reach her 100th birthday and, though doctors told her it wasn't likely, once her mind is made up, she always achieves her goal, he said. Isaac Olson/CBC To this day, he said, his mother is a fighter who doesn't back down. "She has again and again shown that ability to persevere and adapt. They tried to eliminate us, but we go on. We continue." Auschwitz still haunts his mother's dreams and she tears up as she talks of those she lost. But her eyes go hard as stone when she thinks back on what the Nazis did to her family. "I never, never forgave them for what they did to us," the centenarian said. "And I never will." For the second time in less than a year the P.E.I. government is providing a loan to the P.E.I. Brewing Company to fund an expansion. Company president Jeff Squires said the expansion will allow the P.E.I. Brewing Company to meet a growing demand for its products. "The increasing demand for P.E.I. beer products across the country is another example of the increasingly excellent reputation of the food and drink produced right here on Prince Edward Island," said Squires in a news release. The province is providing a loan of $746,366 to the company. The money will go to new brewing and packaging equipment. Last summer the province participated in a joint funding arrangement with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency for Phase 1 of the expansion. It provided a $754,132 loan, along with a $500,000 loan from ACOA. "P.E.I. Brewing Company is a significant exporter of craft brew here on the Island," said Economic Development Minister Chris Palmer in the release. Submitted by P.E.I. Brewing Co. The expansion will allow the company's products to reach an even wider audience across the country, he said. More P.E.I news By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won the public support on Thursday of a top political ally, indicating there was no immediate pressure inside his Liberal Party to oust him over a deepening political scandal. Trudeau, rejecting an opposition call for his resignation, disputed allegations on Wednesday by his former justice minister that government officials inappropriately pressured her to help the SNC-Lavalin construction firm avoid a corruption trial. The testimony from Jody Wilson-Raybould threatens to badly damage the Liberals just months ahead of what polls suggest will be a hard-fought election. In an unusual move, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp to say she fully backed Trudeau. "Of course I support the prime minister 100 percent ... I am very clearly of the view that the prime minister would never apply improper pressure," she said. Freeland, one of the most prominent members of the Cabinet, is seen by some observers as a possible successor to Trudeau. Andrew Scheer, leader of the official opposition Conservative Party, who on Wednesday called on Trudeau to quit, formally asked the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to probe the matter. Scheer said in a letter that it was illegal "to attempt to obstruct or defeat the course of justice." Wilson-Raybould, who complained about pressure from Gerald Butts, Trudeau's then-principal secretary, said she did not consider the officials had broken any laws. Trudeau said the police had not contacted anyone in his office. Butts, who quit earlier this month while proclaiming his innocence, asked on Thursday to speak to the justice committee to address Wilson-Raybould's remarks. One top Liberal official said there was no talk for now of a challenge to Trudeau's leadership. In the Canadian political system, party leaders are elected at formal conventions and cannot be deposed by a simple vote of legislators, which means any move to push out Trudeau would be lengthy. But another senior Liberal Party member said there was growing unhappiness among legislators about how Trudeau's team had handled the SNC-Lavalin matter and that the prime minister needed to replace some of his staff. "The level of concern over what has happened over the last few hours is unprecedented," said the Liberal, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation. MAJOR EMPLOYER SNC-Lavalin is a major employer in the province of Quebec, where the Liberals have said they need to pick up seats to stand a chance of retaining a majority government. Liberal officials said media coverage of the affair in Quebec had been generally favorable. Trudeau told reporters on Thursday that "Canadians expect their government to look for ways to protect jobs, to grow the economy and that's exactly what we have done ... we've also done it in a way that has respected our laws". Wilson-Raybould said she had confronted Trudeau in September over what she said were persistent efforts by officials to help SNC-Lavalin evade trial on charges of bribing Libyan officials. Wilson-Raybould said she made clear she was not prepared to help the company avoid a trial, which is now pending. Wilson-Raybould said staff working for Finance Minister Bill Morneau had continued to press her to help the firm even after she asked them to stop. Morneau told reporters that his officials had not behaved inappropriately and like Trudeau, stressed the importance of protecting jobs. Wilson-Raybould was unexpectedly given a less prominent job in January and resigned from the Cabinet this month. She said she was convinced her refusal to give way on the SNC-Lavalin case had prompted her demotion. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney) The onus is now on Israel to investigate every protest-related killing and injury, promptly, impartially and independently in accordance with international standards, to determine whether war crimes or crimes against humanity were committed, with a view to holding accountable those found responsible, said Santiago Canton. We also urge the organisers, the demonstrators, and the de facto authorities in Gaza, to ensure that the Great March of Return is entirely peaceful, as it is intended to be. The Commission finds that these protests were a call for help from a population in despair, Santiago Canton reminded. 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. . ..28 February '19..The UN Human Rights Council has issued a report about Israel's conduct during the weekly riots in Gaza. Unsurprisingly, it cherry picks facts and assumes the lies of terrorist supporters are the truth.The bias and lack of fact checking can be seen in the press release about the report:The very title "Great March of Return" shows that the reason for the riots is the destruction of Israel by flooding it with hostile enemies, and any mention of the blockade of Gaza is peripheral at best to the events there. Most of the population that shows up stays far away from the border and they treat this as a social event, as Hamas buses them there. But the ones who approach the border are generally doing so at the behest of Hamas with the specific aim of generating "martyrs" and injuries for public relations purposes.Of course none of hundreds of people interviewed by the UN - as we have seen in the past, often with Hamas members watching - will admit that Hamas bears any responsibility for the deaths. Palestinians sought an end to the economic blockade that has been choking off Gaza for more than a decade. They also wanted refugees and their descendants to be allowed to reclaim property in Israel, 70 years after thousands of Palestinians were displaced. Israel opposes their return, arguing that the influx of millions of Palestinians into the State of Israel would threaten the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, obliterating its basic identity as the homeland of the Jewish people and a refuge for persecuted Jews worldwide. Eight of the dead, the army said, were armed Hamas militants in civilian clothes who tried to storm the fence in northern Gaza and attacked Israeli forces with grenades and pipe bombs before being killed in a shootout. A photograph showed what the military said was an Israeli battalion commanders armored vehicle pockmarked with Kalashnikov fire. Another three militants were killed while laying an explosive device in the south, the army said. 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..28 February '19..In his story about an anti-Israel report commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council,correspondent Nick Cumming-Bruce substantively misleads readers about Palestinian demands for a right of return, ignores widespread international criticism of the UNHRCs anti-Israel bias, and conceals accounts of gunfire and explosives used by rioters.When describing the purpose of Palestinian riots and protests on Gazas border with Israel, the states thatThe border demonstrations were organized and held under the banner of the The Great March of Return, and the centrality of that demand has repeatedly been reiterated by Palestinian demonstrators and leaders. But thecasts the return demand as secondary.Its worth recalling astory last April, by Jerusalem bureau chief David Halbfinger, that had completely ignored the primary purpose (and title) of the demonstrations, casting them as merely a mass protest against Israels decades-long blockade of Gaza. Only after CAMERA contacted the newspaper was the article was updated to acknowledge the Palestinian claims of a right of return.Even when pointing out the Palestinian demand for a so-called return, the current article makes it appear innocuous. The goal is just to reclaim property, the newspaper tells readers. But even the anti-Israel UNHCR report acknowledges there is a much more sinister side to the to the demand for return. Per the report,This is clearly relevant. And of course, it isnt only Israel that understands the demand that way. While serving as president of Egypt, Gamal Nasser openly acknowledged the purpose of return : If the Arabs return to Israel, Israel will cease to exist. Or as Barack Obama put it much more recently, The right of return would extinguish Israel as a Jewish state, and thats not an option.Theessentially hides that the the Gaza riots were part of a call to eliminate Jewish national self-determination and wipe Israel off the map. Readers deserve to know this, and cant properly understand the story otherwise.The author does point out that Israel, in response to the report, charged the UNHRC with bias. But he fails to to note the wider context of criticism of the Council by prominent officials worldwide, leaving readers with the false impression that only a self-serving Israel charges the UN with bias.This isnt the first time the paper has concealed criticism of the Human Rights Council. Again, its worth recalling an earlier article, this one published last June, in which Times correspondent Gardiner Harris cherry picked criticism to make the half-true claim that conservatives have been complaining about the council since its inception in 2006. Even when CAMERA informed editors that critics of the UN bodys anti-Israel bias included three Obama-appointed ambassadors (Susan Rice, Samatha Power, and Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe), two UN Secretaries General (Ban ki-Moon and Kofi Annan), Democratic members of Congress (including Jeff Merkley, Bill Nelson, and Nita Lowey), officials from Human Rights Watch (Peggy Hicks and Tom Malinowski) and even theeditorial board (!), the newspaper refused to budge on its characterization.In todays article, it isnt even conservatives who are said to have called out the Councils anti-Israel tilt. Only Israel. Clearly, the UNHRCs tendency to beat up on Israel a 2006 editorial called it a shameful pattern is relevant to the story. But readers are left in the dark, and Israeli concerns about the Councils integrity are made to appear cynical and unwarranted.The article downplays the degree of violence at the riots when stating only that some demonstrators attempted to storm the fence while others rolled burning tires, pulled away razor wire, released flaming kites or threw rocks. Even the UNHRC report admits that a Palestinian militant fired a rifle towards the Israeli side of the separation fence. And thehas previously reported on accounts of explosives and grenades being used against Israelis:The articles substantive errors of omission tilt the scales to promote the idea of Israeli guilt and Palestinian innocence. The use of guns and explosives, the ultimate goal of demands for a right of return, and the UN Human Rights Councils history of bias all matter. That, apparently, is why thedidnt include them in its report. CAMEROUN :: Cameroon authorities accused of decapitating opposition MRC party MRC leader Maurice Kamto was arrested in the countrys economic capital Douala on Tuesday. Cameroons main opposition MRC on Tuesday accused authorities of trying to decapitate the party after its leader Maurice Kamto was arrested in the countrys economic capital Douala. Kamto, who came second in last years presidential election which he claims was fixed, was detained on Monday at the home of another politician, prompting some 300 people to protest outside. The Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) strongly condemns these unjustified and announced political arrests, whose hidden aim is to decapitate the MRC and Maurice Kamtos winning coalition, the partys vice president Emmanuel Simh said in a statement. MRCs treasurer Alain Fogue was arrested in the capital Yaounde on Monday night, according to the statement. Cameroons veteran leader Paul Biya, in power for 36 years, won a seventh consecutive term in last Octobers presidential election but Kamto has repeatedly claimed he was the rightful winner. Biya, 85, has ruled the West African country with support from the army, government administrations and the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (RDPC) party that he created in 1985. He was declared winner of last years election with 71 percent of the vote, which repeatedly faced allegations of fraud. Kamto received 14 percent in the election, according to the official figures, but his party has held sporadic protests since to dispute the result. Communication Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi has accused Kamto and his supporters of attempted destabilisation of the government. On Saturday 117 people were arrested during protest marches in several towns. Kamtos former election campaign head Paul-Eric Kingue and rapper Valsero were among those detained over the weekend. The MRC on Tuesday called on its supporters to remain calm and affirmed its commitment to respect the law. EVERY DEEP DESIRE. Previously I wrote two blog posts about the history of the Fianna ( here and here ), the semi-mythical group of Irish warriors who inspired one of the villains in my contemporary romantic suspense Deadly Force series and introduced in my debut novel Sharon Wray is a librarian who once studied dress design in the couture houses of Paris and now writes about the men in her Deadly Force romantic suspense series where ex-Green Berets meet their match in smart, sexy heroines who teach these alpha males that Grace always defeats Reckoning . ONE DARK WISH, the second book in the Deadly Force Series is now available for preorder: the second book in the Deadly Force Series is now available for preorder: Amazon Sharon's acclaimed debut book EVERY DEEP DESIRE, a sexy, action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet, is about an ex-Green Beret determined to regain his honor, his freedom, and his wife. EVERY DEEP DESIRE is available on: Barnes and Noble | iBooks | IndieBound | Kobo | Google And adding it to your Goodreads TBR list is also always appreciated! is available on: Amazon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The heroes in the series, all sexy ex-Green Berets, are desperate to redeem their honor and reclaim their lives. Yet in order to do so, they must defeat two enemies, one of whom is the leader of the secretive and brutal current-day Fianna army.Since it's March (and almost St. Patrick's Day), I thought I'd give you a brief background on the mythic Gaelic warrior who led the Fianna long, long ago. Before Rome even invaded Britain. This warrior's name is Fionn MacCumhaill.Fionn was the son of Cumhaill, the leader of the Fianna. The Fianna, a rogue group of young mercenary noblemen didn't own lands and lived on the edges of Irish civilization. They were nomadic warriors who traveled the country, often giving generously to those who had less than they did. Historians also suggest the Fianna knew the entrances to the Otherworld where the Faeries lived.Fionn was born into violence. His father Cumhaill wanted to marry his mother Muirne who was a Druid. When her father refused, Cumhaill kidnapped Muirne. The High King of the time (Conn of the Hundred Battles) raised a huge army to save Muirne from the Fianna army. After many battles, a warrior named Goll MacMorna killed Cumhaill and took control of the Fianna.Muirne, who'd given birth to Fionn, left her son in the care of the Fianna warrior Liath Luachra. She instructed Liath to care for Fionn and instruct him in the ways of the Fianna and warfare. She expected Fionn to grow up and take over control of the Fianna. After kissing her son goodbye, Muirne disappeared and was never heard from again.As Fionn grew, he had a tutor named Finnegas. Finnegas was a Druid poet who'd searched the world for wisdom that he believed could only be found in the "Salmon of Knowledge." One day, while teaching Fionn to fish, Finnegas caught the magical salmon. But as Fionn cooked it, Fionn touched his fingers to his lips and was imbued with the knowledge Finnegas had spent his life searching for. Finnegas was not happy and curses followed.Now armed with the wisdom of the world, Fionn was ready to fight Goll MacMorna and take over command of the Fianna. But first the Faeries who ruled the Gaelic Otherworld had to put Fionn through many tests. So Fionn traveled to Tara, the High Seat of the Kings of Ireland. There, he met a fierce female faery named Aillen. For 23 years, on every Samhain, Aillen scorched the earth and killed all of Tara's guards. Aillen lured the guards with drink and her singing voice until they slept. Then she'd destroy everything around her.One of Fionn's tasks was to stop Aillen. Instead of listening to her voice, he pricked his hand with his sword, using the pain to keep himself awake and alert. When the guards fell asleep, and Aillen began to burn things, Fionn attacked and defeated her.After this huge victory, Fionn returned to the Fianna and challenged Goll MacMorna. Goll knew that only a true noble--the true son of Cumhaill--could defeat Aillen and he stepped aside. Goll even returned Cumhaill's castle (the Hill of Almu) to Fionn.Fionn and his Fianna army had many adventures, most of which included saving Ireland from invaders such as the Romans, the Picts, and the Vikings. They returned tax monies to the poor, and also demanded protection monies from the nobles. The Fianna army was loved, feared, and hated.But (not surprisingly) most of the recorded stories are about Fionn's love life. His first love, Sadbh, argued with a Druid priest who turned her into a deer. Years later, while Fianna and his hounds were hunting, the dogs recognized the deer. In return for not killing the deer, she transformed back into his wife Sadbh and bore him a son named Oisin.(After Fionn's death, Oisin would become an even more famous Fianna warrior.)Unfortunately, the Druid priest learned that his spell had been broken and returned. He turned Sadbh back into a deer and she disappeared forever.Fionn had little luck with women. Years later he was supposed to marry the daughter of a High King except she eloped with one of Fionn's Fianna warriors. Fionn found the lovers and allowed them to live. Yet, when the warrior was wounded by a boar, Fionn refused to use his healing powers and let the warrior die. Fionn had forgiven but not forgotten the insult.The lives of Fionn and his son Oison were originally told in themost of which is narrated from Oisin's POV. One of my favorite translations isby William Butler Yeats. (Yes,Yeats!)Fionn's death is still unexplained and many poets believe that he was buried near Dublin and is waiting to rise again to save Ireland from any enemies who may invade.Regardless of whether or not one believes Fionn MacCumhaill was real, his tales are fun to read. Especially in March when one's thoughts might turn to leprechauns and faeries! franckreporter/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- A Soviet-born businessman who was featured prominently in plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow will testify in an open session on March 14 before the House Intelligence Committee, the panels chairman announced Thursday. Felix Sater, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, could shed light on his ill-fated collaboration with the presidents former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to build a Trump Tower in the Russian capital. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, announced plans to host Sater after a lengthy closed-door interview with Cohen, who negotiated the proposed Trump Tower-Moscow deal on behalf of the Trump Organization. The timing of the Trump Tower-Moscow project has become a source of controversy amid the ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Cohen pleaded guilty in November to charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller of lying to Congress about whether the Trump Organization had pursued the Moscow real estate project while Trump was securing the GOP nomination in 2016. On Wednesday, in a public session before the House Oversight Committee, Cohen corrected his previous testimony about the timeline of the Moscow project. I lied to Congress about when Mr. Trump stopped negotiating the Moscow Tower project in Russia, Cohen said in an opening statement. I stated that we stopped negotiating in Jan. 2016. That was false -- our negotiations continued for months later during the campaign. Cohen not only admitted to lying about the timing of the project, but detailed Trumps alleged involvement and interest in executing the deal -- even after he won the Republican party nomination. After each communication that I had [about the Trump Tower Moscow project], I would report back to [Trump] and our goal was to get this project, Cohen said. We were interested in building what would have been the largest building in all of Europe. Sater met with Senate investigators in April of 2018 about his involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow project. Sater promised to get all of Putin's team to buy in on the proposed Moscow plan, according to emails he wrote to Cohen first published by The Washington Post and The New York Times. I know how to play it, and we will get this done, Sater wrote in the emails. Buddy, our boy can become president of the USA, and we can engineer it. In an interview with ABC News in March of 2018, Sater -- who says that for the past two decades he has served as a high-level intelligence asset for the Defense Intelligence Agency, CIA and the FBI -- sought to recast himself as an unheralded protector of the United States. I am a patriot, he said. Having the opportunity to serve my country and do anything in its defense was a no brainer. It was, Where do I sign up? The president sought to distance himself from Sater during the 2016 campaign, even though the Russian emigre played a role in a number of high-profile Trump-branded projects across the country and even carried a business card boasting a title of senior adviser to Trump. If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn't know what he looked like, Trump testified in a video deposition for a civil lawsuit two years ago. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size Today we look at the Joya Red Box Pressed Toro (Dew Estate Lounge Exclusive) by Joya de Nicaragua. This is a cigar line we have assessed several times in the past, most recently back in November 2014 in the Robusto size. Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Country of Origin: Nicaragua Factory: Fabrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua, S.A. Box-Pressed Toro: 6 x 50 When Drew Estate launched its program for its branded lounges, it also made available a series of exclusive cigars for its partner lounges. As a part of the program, Joya de Nicaragua was also invited to participate. Drew Estate has long handled distribution for Joya de Nicaragua, but over the years its more than just a distribution agreement as the companies have developed a close relationship. As a result, it makes sense for Joya de Nicaragua to play a role in the Drew Estate Lounge program. Today we take a look at one of the Joya contributions, the Joya Red Box-Pressed Toro. The following is a complete list of the Drew Estate Lounge Cigars: Herrera Esteli Box Pressed Toro Liga Privada No. 9 Box Pressed Toro Undercrown Box Pressed Toro Larutan/Natural Soft Press Toro Tabak Especial Dulce Soft Press Toro Tabak Especial Negra Soft Press Toro Joya Red Box Pressed Toro Joya de Nicaragua Antano Box Pressed Toro Joya de Nicaragua Cuatro Cinco Box Pressed Toro The Joya Red made its debut in 2014. It was the first release under Joya de Nicaraguas Joya line. The Joya line was meant to bridge Joya de Nicaraguas rich history with the modern contemporary cigar enthusiast in mind. The Joya Red features 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos highlighted by a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper. It is a line where the regular production cigars are all rounded, but the Drew Estate Lounge Edition is a box-pressed Toro measuring 6 x 50. In somewhat of an interesting move, the Drew Estate name appears on the packaging and a secondary band. The Joya Red Box Pressed Toro started out with a combination of earth, black pepper, cherry, and natural tobacco. Early on there was more in the way of the cherry sweetness. As the cigar experience progressed, the natural tobacco notes moved into more of the forefront and took over. While there was a richness to the natural tobacco, there was some bitterness that developed on the notes. Toward the end, there was a little more black pepper, but it never became overpowering. Throughout the cigar experience, the Joya Red Box Pressed Toro delivered a medium strength, medium-bodied cigar experience. OVERALL ASSESSMENT PE Group Buys Majority Stake in P4Q Published: 01 March 2019 by Mike Buetow by Mike Buetow ALONSOTEGI, SPAIN A private equity fund has taken a majority position in EMS provider P4Q Electronics. Talde Private Equity will retain the founding management team, who continue to be shareholders in the company. The new capital infusion will assist P4Q in its global expansion strategy. It recently opened a plant in Kunshan, China, and plans to expand in Spain and the US as well. P4Q Electronics designs custom hardware and software for the renewable energy and automotive sectors. Its products are aimed at top-tier customers that operate in sectors with high technical requirements like the solar, automotive and rail sectors and others in the industrial area. It has annual revenues of about 41 million euros ($47 million). In this new stage that begins with the incorporation of Talde in its shareholder structure, it is intended to consolidate the companys leadership in the solar sector through the increase in its productive capacity and the update of its production facilities in Alonsotegi, and to boost its development in other businesses with important growth perspectives as, for instance, the automotive sector, the company said. Talde focuses on helping private Spanish small to medium-sized enterprises grow through international expansion or market consolidation. Movie Producer, Director and Actor, Mani Nasry joins us to discuss the Ottawa screening of his now movie, We. Hour 2: with Espoir, discussing Ontario's University There are no tracks in this playlist. FRIDAY, March 1, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Women who get pregnant within a year of stillbirth have no higher risk of another stillbirth or other complications than those who wait at least two years, a new study says. The World Health Organization recommends women wait at least two years after a live birth and at least six months after a miscarriage (loss of fetus before 20 weeks of pregnancy) or induced abortion before getting pregnant again. But there is no recommendation for how long to wait after a stillbirth, due to a lack of evidence. For this study, researchers analyzed nearly 14,500 single births between 1980 and 2016 among women who had a stillbirth (defined by the researchers as a loss after 22 weeks of gestation) in their previous pregnancy. The women were from Australia, Finland and Norway. Of births analyzed, 98 percent were live; 18 percent were preterm, and 9 percent were small-for-gestational-age births. Of the 2 percent of pregnancies that ended in stillbirth, 88 percent were preterm and 12 percent were full-term. Waiting less than 12 months to conceive after a stillbirth brought no added risk of subsequent stillbirth, preterm birth or small-for-gestational-age birth, compared with waiting 24 to 59 months to get pregnant again, the study found. The median length of time between stillbirth and getting pregnant again was shorter -- nine months, compared with 25 months after a live birth. Among women who had a stillbirth, 63 percent got pregnant again within a year, and 37 percent did within six months, according to the study published Feb. 28 in The Lancet medical journal. "Approximately 3.5 in every 1,000 births in high-income countries are stillborn, and there is limited guidance available for planning future pregnancies," said study author Annette Regan, a research fellow at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. "We hope that our findings can provide reassurance to women who wish to become pregnant or unexpectedly become pregnant shortly after a stillbirth," Regan said in a journal news release. Dr. Mark Klebanoff is principal investigator at the Center for Perinatal Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote an editorial that accompanied the study. The time between pregnancies appears to be less important than assumed, at least for women in high-income regions of the world, according to Klebanoff. "Rather than adhering to hard and fast rules, clinical recommendations should consider a woman's current health status, her current age in conjunction with her desires regarding child spacing and ultimate family size, and particularly following a loss, her emotional readiness to become pregnant again," he wrote. More information The March of Dimes has more on stillbirth. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Nairobi, March 1, 2019Authorities in Tanzania should lift a seven-day publication ban on the privately owned newspaper The Citizen and allow journalists to report on matters of public interest freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Information Services Department, which oversees newspaper licenses, temporarily suspended the publication license of The Citizen on February 27, on accusations that it published reports that were false, misleading, and seditious, according to media reports. The suspension order relates to an article on the state of Tanzanian democracy, published in July, and an article on the countrys currency, published last month, according to a report by The Citizens sister publication, Mwananchi. The order extends to the newspapers online publications. As of today, CPJ was unable access The Citizens website and its Twitter account had been deactivated. Reuters reported that The Citizen did not appear on newsstands on [February 28]. Tanzania is sending a troubling message that public debate on critical matters is a punishable offense. Unfortunately, media shutdowns have become all-too familiar as President John Magufulis government relentlessly tries to silence the free press, said CPJs Sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. Authorities should immediately lift the suspension on The Citizen and allow journalists to operate freely and independently. The suspension order said that a February 23 article that reported the Tanzanian shilling had depreciated against the U.S. dollar was false and misleading because only the Bank of Tanzania can release information on currency rates, according to media reports. The article cited data from bureaus in the major city of Dar es Salaam and local commercial banks, according to an archived version of it reviewed by CPJ. A February 28 screenshot of The Citizen website shows a message telling readers the outlet is temporarily off line. (CPJ) The suspension order also cited a July 22 article on a statement to the U.S. Congress by U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, which called for stronger U.S. efforts to support civil liberties in Tanzania amid erosion of democracy there. Tanzanian authorities alleged the article contained falsehoods and had seditious intent as defined in Article 52 of Tanzanias Media Services Act, according to a document seen by CPJ and media reports. Authorities said that The Citizens reporting incited public mistrust and discontent with the government, according to the document seen by CPJ. Hassan Abbas, the director of the Information Services Department, did not respond to phone calls and a text message from CPJ yesterday or today. Information Minister Harrison Mwakyembe did not respond to a text message from CPJ. Conditions for the press have deteriorated drastically in Tanzania in recent years. At least four newspapers have been shut down in the past two years, according to media reports. Journalist Azory Gwanda has been missing since 2017, according to CPJ research. CPJ has documented the use of hefty fines, restrictive regulations, and at least one arbitrary arrest to silence the press. Authorities detained two CPJ staffers during a mission to the country in November. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram RSF Turkey representative in court Erol Onderoglu, the Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was in court in Istanbul on February 25 alongside Sebnem Korur Fincanc, a columnist for the leftist daily Evrensel and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, and Ahmet Nesin, a writer and a columnist for the news website Art Gercek, for an ongoing trial over their participation in a solidarity campaign with the daily Ozgur Gundem, the independent news website Bianet reported. During the campaign each participant acted as the symbolic chief editor of the now-shuttered pro-Kurdish daily for a day. Onderoglu, Fincanc, and Nesin were briefly imprisoned in 2016. Several journalists and activists have been charged with participating in the campaign, CPJ has found. At the February 25 hearing, the prosecution asked that all three defendants be punished for making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization, provoking [the people] into committing crimes and praising a crime and criminal. The next hearing is scheduled for April 15, according to the report. Zehra Dogan free after serving sentence Zehra Dogan, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish, all-women Jin News Agency (JINHA), was released from prison on February 24 after completing her sentence, the leftist news website Art Gercek reported. A Mardin court in March 2017 convicted Dogan of being a member of a [terrorist] organization and propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization, according to news reports. She was taken into custody on June 12, 2017, after an appeals court upheld the verdict, CPJ documented at the time. A Diyarbakr Court on February 26 ordered Rojhat Dogru, a journalist formerly with the northern Iraq outlet Gali Kurdistan TV, to be released pending the outcome of his trial, the news website Gazete Karnca reported. Dogru was taken into custody on December 5, CPJ documented at the time. He is on trial for disrupting the unity of the country and state and deliberately injuring [someone]. Dogru, who attended the hearing via teleconference, was released on probation and under a foreign travel ban, the report said. Coinbase Crisis Escalates: #DeleteCoinbase Gains Traction It seems that, following a number of unfortunate events, major crypto company Coinbase might be getting into a major crisis. Source: Instagram Currently, the hashtag #DeleteCoinbase is becoming more popular by the minute, ranging from users showing proof that theyve deleted their Coinbase account, over warning against staying there, to one instance of people even paying others for closing their accounts. All of this for a simple reason: the community believes that Coinbase has lost their moral compass after their acquisition of a startup called Neutrino. It was founded by three former employees of Hacking Team, a controversial Italian surveillance vendor that was caught several times selling spyware to governments with dubious human rights records, such as Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan. It saddens me to see what they've done to their platform. Count me out, writes Twitter user @21isenough. This is a sentiment echoed by many in Crypto Twitter. User @lartdetre writes, Closing Coinbase account help avoid tons of headaches. They went so over the top that it's totally insecure to stay there now. Call me crazy but I commend this community for the whole #DeleteCoinbase movement. Im interested to see how & if Coinbase will listen to its users & the users they have lost. I wont hold my breath though, commented user @ashrugg. Until now, the company has only responded that Coinbase does not condone nor will it defend the actions of Hacking Team, but it was important for Coinbase to bring this function in-house to fully control and protect our customers data and Neutrinos technology was the best we encountered in the space to achieve this goal. Its currently hard to tell how many users have left Coinbase, let alone if that makes a difference to them. The company has not responded to a request for comment. Coinbase investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, DFJ Venture Capital and others, also remain silent on the issues that the company has been facing. Cryptonews.com contacted them, as well as Intercontinental Exchange, Ribbit Capital, Funders Club and others for comment, but none of them have yet replied. As for how to handle such a growing crisis, Samantha Yap, founder and director of international PR firm with a focus on fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency startups YAP Global, told Cryptonews.com: When a communication crisis arises, it is essential for the company to take control of the conversation in the media rather than stay silent and enable misguided assumptions to spread." Moreover, there is another challenge the company faces. "Influencers in the cryptocurrency sphere on social media platforms such as Twitter and Reddit have the power to sway public opinion about the company. As a result, the recently launched #deletecoinbase social media campaign is spreading fast with influencers like Whale Panda, who has 213,000 followers on Twitter, drawing attention to the hashtag," Yap said. "However, to Coinbase's defence, I understand why, as a large company, they would opt to issue one formal official statement for the time being, because it can't individually address everyone's concerns. Once you respond to one journalist or writer, you must give an interview to everyone," she added. As someone who has worked with thousands of technology companies and hundreds of crypto ones, I can tell you that in any sort of communication crisis the best thing to do is take responsibility for your mistakes, Ayelet Noff, founder and co-CEO of global PR agency Blonde 2.0, tells Cryptonews.com. Do not try to hide them or justify them. Listen to your community and post comments where they are speaking, showing that you are listening and taking control of the conversation. In addition it is a great idea to post a blog post discussing the situation, showing that you are taking responsibility for your actions and explaining how you plan to solve the current situation. In the meantime, Coinbase users are continuing deleting their accounts. One person, under the Twitter handle @JpintoPedro, is further incentivizing the movement: Everyone deleting their #Coinbase account and making proof of it will receive 1000 [satoshis]. respond to this post with the proof of deletion and rejoice sending an invoice for 1000 sats! The person is using tippin.me, a Twitter crypto tipping app that uses Lightning Network to send small transactions between users. CEO of competing cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, Jesse Powell, commented on the case on his own Twitter account: Personally, I support any company which has the guts to roll out a transitional workforce development program. If you're giving an honest paycheck and a second chance to a guy who used to have to sell out journalists to fascist governments to make ends meet, you're ok by me. Other users have had to drop in to explain that he is being sarcastic, due to immediate outlash from some. However, the Coinbase team seems to be making the issue even more difficult, as multiple users complain they cannot close their accounts. Apparently, after completing everything the exchange needs them to, they simply receive a message that says, You cannot complete the account closure quite yet. User @won13three had contacted the company: Same thing. I called customer support and they have an account specialist on the case now. One reason for this might be so-called dust: tiny amounts of cryptocurrency are reportedly preventing some users from leaving Coinbase, because they were too small to transfer out, but the exchange supposedly doesnt allow the closing of accounts with remaining balances, news outlet BreakerMag reports. Developer and Bitcoin enthusiast Udi Wertheimer developed a solution to that, called the #DeleteCoinbaseTrustChain: because Coinbase allows free transfers between existing accounts, users could simply transfer their dust to another Coinbase user, then close their account. Perhaps expectedly, part of the crypto community has taken this as the perfect chance to make memes out of the situation. Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) concluded a three-day Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019 as a part of confidence-building measures between the two border guards. Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019 The exercise was named after Mainamati hill range situated 8 km west of Comilla Township in Bangladesh, which is home to an ancient Buddhist archaeological site in the region. The exercise was held in areas near Srimantapur in Sipahijala district, bordering Comilla district of The objective of Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019 was to plan and conduct anti-smuggling and anti-criminal activity related operations with an aim to achieve better joint operational efficiency and border management in the area. The exercise involved joint patrolling, anti-smuggling drills, simulated raids on suspected places in both the countries and checking of goods and identity at international check posts. After the Standoff between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) around 31 Rohingya people who were found crossing the international border into Bangladesh in January, series of joint exercises and exchanges are being held in the Tripura-Bangla frontier as part of the confidence-building measure. Question: Regarding my posts about the terrible perversion of Torah and halacha that Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky has engineered with his prod... lt is clear that no one in the world has the authority to establish guilt anyone without both [the accuser and accused] coming ... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59138213 In the US, people can justify their use of deadly force against another when it reasona... Important!! email - yadmoshe@gmail.com Centuries from Jeet Raval and Tom Latham put New Zealandin control on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Hamilton.In a great session of batting, Raval scored his first Test hundred off 163 balls just before lunch and Latham reached his ton with four sixes and 17 boundaries.After bowling the tourists for 234 on day one, the Black Caps resumed on 86-0 and piled on the runs to reach 451 for four at stumps, building a 217-run lead.Raval and Latham claimed the plaudits with a 254-run opening partnership and kicked off a comfortable day at Seddon Park.It was not until midway through the first session that Bangladesh claimed their first scalp, as captain Mahmudullah sent Raval back to the pavilion on 132.Latham was joined by Kane Williamson and surpassed the 150 mark for the fourth time in his Test career but was eventually caught off the bowling of Soumya Sarkar for an impressive 161.Ross Taylor only added four runs before an lbw call off Soumya Sarkar, but Henry Nicholls joined the heroics with a half century before being bowled late in the day for 53.Captain Williamson reached an unbeaten 93 and will resume the innings in a commanding position alongside Wagner Neil Wagner (one) on day three. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan says his country will release an Indian pilot captured earlier this week as a 'peace gesture' toward India.Khan made this announcement on Thursday while addressing lawmakers in both chambers of parliament, convened to discuss the latest situation amid rising tensions with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.Khan says he tried to reach his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Wednesday with a message that he wants to de-escalate tension.Khan did not say how India responded to his initiative.He also reiterated his offer for talks to New Delhi, saying this is the only way to solve all issues.It comes as the two countries exchanged gunfire through the night into Thursday morning in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a day after Islamabad said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured the pilot.There were no immediate reports of casualties, though jetfighters roared overhead through the mountainous region as villagers along the so-called Line of Control fled to safety.Meanwhile, members of Modi's Bharitiya Janata Party called for more military action, suggesting the conflict still could worsen. Modi himself held a teleconference rally on Thursday ahead of national elections, warning that 'India's enemies are conspiring to create instability in the country through terror attacks.'Khan had called for talks between the two nuclear-armed rivals in a televised address Wednesday, saying: 'Considering the nature of the weapons that both of us have, can we afford any miscalculation?'World powers have called on the nations to de-escalate the tensions gripping the contested region since a February 14 suicide car bombing killed over 40 Indian paramilitary personnel.India responded with an airstrike Tuesday inside Pakistan, the first such raid since the two nations' 1971 war over territory that later became Bangladesh.The situation escalated with Wednesday's aerial skirmish, which saw Pakistan say it shot down two Indian aircraft, one of which crashed in Pakistan-held part of Kashmir and the other in India-controlled Kashmir.India acknowledged one of its MiG-21s, a Soviet-era fighter jet, was 'lost' in skirmishes with Pakistan. India's Ministry of External Affairs said late Wednesday it 'strongly objected to Pakistan's vulgar display of an injured personnel of the Indian Air Force,' and that it expects his immediate and safe return.India also said it shot down a Pakistani warplane, something Islamabad denied.Pakistan's military later circulated a video of a man with a mustache who identified himself as the Indian pilot, sipping tea and responding to questions, mostly by saying, 'You know I can't answer that.' He appeared in good health as he was questioned about his hometown, his aircraft and his mission.Kashmir has been claimed by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after their creation in 1947. The countries have fought three wars against each other, two directly dealing with the disputed region.Both Indian and Pakistani officials reported small-arms fire and shelling along the Kashmir region into Thursday. Government buildings in Muzafarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-controlled section of Kashmir, were used to provide shelter to those who fled from border towns.Indian army spokesman Lt. Col. Devender Anand described the intensity of the firing as 'lesser' than previous nights.Authorities in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir closed all schools and educational institutions in the region and are urged parents to keep their children at home amid mounting tension with neighboring India. Pakistan's airspace remained closed for a second day Thursday, snarling air traffic.World leaders weighing in on the tension included President Donald Trump, who began remarks at a news conference Thursday in Vietnam after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by focusing on India and Pakistan.'I think hopefully that's going to be coming to an end,' Trump said, without elaborating. 'It's been going on for a long time decades and decades. There's a lot of dislike, unfortunately, so we've been in the middle trying to help them both out, see if we can get some organisation and some peace, and I think probably that's going to be happening.'Modi, in his first remarks since the pilot's capture, gave a rallying speech ahead of elections in the coming months.'Our defense forces are serving gallantly at the border,' he told tens of thousands gathered across the country to listen to him in a videoconference from New Delhi. 'The country is facing challenging times and it will fight, live, work and win unitedly.'Meanwhile, India's finance minister, Arun Jaitley, suggested at a news conference Wednesday that Indian special forces carry out secret missions to capture terrorist leaders in Pakistan, invoking the 2011 US Navy Seal operation to kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.'I remember when U.S. Navy Seals went to Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden, then why can't India?' he asked. 'This used to be only an imagination, a wish, a frustration and disappointment. But it's possible today.'Just weeks before general elections are due in India, the head of Modi's party in India's Karnataka state, B.S. Yeddyurappa, said India's pre-dawn airstrikes in Pakistan on Tuesday would help the party at the polls.The violence Wednesday marked the most serious escalation of the long-simmering conflict since 1999, when Pakistan's military sent a ground force into Indian-controlled Kashmir at Kargil. That year also saw an Indian fighter jet shoot down a Pakistani naval aircraft, killing all 16 on board.This latest wave of tension between the two rivals first began after the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing on Indian paramilitary forces on the Indian side of Kashmir that killed more than 40 troops.India long has accused Pakistan of cultivating such militant groups to attack it. Pakistan has said it was not involved in that attack and was ready to help New Delhi in the investigation. Some 6,500 people had to be evacuated from the security zone of an airport in western Germany after a passenger had set off an alarm by going through an emergency door.Police said initial investigations showed that a man opened the door at Dusseldorf airport by mistake on Friday morning and was followed by two passengers.Travellers who had already gone through the security checks had to return to the public area of the airport, and some even had to leave their planes after boarding, according to an airport spokesman.After two hours the gates could be reopened, although long queues formed at the security gates, he added.Nobody was arrested in relation to the incident, a police spokeswoman said.The door appears to have been opened unwittingly.Dusseldorf airport is the third largest in Germany. Some 75,000 passengers were expected to travel on 634 flights on Friday.The airport has yet to say exactly how many flights were affected.Several were delayed and some were cancelled, though it was initially unclear whether the clearance of the gates was the reason for this. Toni Kroos has fired back after being called a 'diesel tractor' by former Real Madridmanager Bernd Schuster.Kroos' fellow countryman criticised his performance in the Copa del Rey second leg defeat to Barcelona at the Bernabeu.The midfielder acknowledged Schuster's comments on Twitterby asking who the 59-year-old was.The former West Germany international led Los Blancos to their 31st La Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup in the 2007/08 season, but stepped down as manager in December 2008 as a result of acrimonious disputes with the Spanish media.After Real to a bitterly disappointing 3-0 defeat to their arch rivals on Wednesday night, Schuster lambasted the club's current crop of players on El Transistorradio.He said: 'That midfield couldn't even win against Girona's. Kroos is now a diesel tractor.'Schuster also suggested the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus has had a detrimental impact on Real Madrid's season.'Madrid are missing goals. They lost the best scorer in their history this season.'Raphael Varane was also on the receiving end of Schuster's damning words after the defender scored an own goal in the Clasico defeat.'He's a shadow of what he was, He was always badly positioned.' By any metric it's been a bad week for the US President.Donald Trump walked away from his signature achievement in foreign policy, watched on as his former fixer hurled allegations about the Trump family to Congress and 13 members of his party side with the Democrats in a vote to overturn the emergency declaration on the southern border.But touching back down on American soil overnight the President was still smiling.'We're coming in and we're landing and I said you know I have a choice,' President Trump told gathered troops in Alaska where Air Force One was refuelling.'I can stay on the plane and relax or I said how good are they out there?'They said you're the best At ease, we'll have a little fun.'The past week has been anything but.For all the carefully staged photo opportunities, the much-lauded second summit with Kim Jong Un, will be remembered for the image of the North Koreans dictator's motorcade leaving talks far earlier than was planned.A working lunch was cancelled and the joint agreement went unsigned.'Sometimes you have to walk,' Mr Trump said.The President still heaped praise on Kim Jong Un, calling their relationship 'very special' before siding with the dictator over the torture and murder of US citizen Otto Warmbier in 2017.'Some really bad things happened to Otto some really, really bad things,' the President said in Hanoi.'But he (Kim Jong Un) tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word.'Twenty-two-year-old Otto Warmbier was arrested in 2016 for stealing a poster in a North Korean Hotel and sentenced to 15 years of hard labour.North Korea agreed to release him in 2017, but he returned blind, deaf and convulsing regularly and died soon after.Mr Trump comments drew a blistering response from Otto's parents Fred and Cindy Warmbier'We have been respectful during this summit process,' the Warmbier's statement began.'Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto.'Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity.'No excuses or lavish praise can change that.'The President's statement will make life even more difficult for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a week after the pair gave conflicting answers on whether North Korea was a nuclear threat.Even old allies appeared to distance themselves from President Trump.'Americans know the cruelty that was placed on Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime,' former UN Ambassador and Trump cabinet member Nikki Haley tweeted.'Our hearts are with the Warmbier family for their strength and courage.'We will never forget Otto.'As things were breaking down in Vietnam, another former Trump ally was taking aim in Washington.The President's former lawyer, fixer and friend Michael Cohen spent three days testifying in front of congressional committees, the same committees he has been convicted of lying to.'Your heads will spin when you see the lies, misrepresentations and contradictions against his Thursday testimony,' the President tweeted.'He is totally discredited!'As a convicted liar, Cohen was an easy target for Republicans on the committee, but he also named several members of the Trump family and Trump organisation that will now be targets for Democrats.Michael Cohen's testimony certainly didn't provide the smoking gun some Democrats were hoping for, but it did implicate the President in crimes and it did ensure these hearings will continue for the remainder of this presidential term.The President's former lawyer also sent a message to Republicans in on the committee and in the Congress.'I did the same thing that you're doing now for 10 years,' Michael Cohen said.'I protected Mr Trump for 10 years.'I pray the country does not make the same mistakes I have made.'But the President will be heartened by the protection he has received so far from congressional Republicans, it is protection his presidency may depend on in the near future.On Tuesday, 13 Republicans sided with the Democrats in the House of Representatives in a vote to overturn Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency on the southern border.On the surface this is a blow to the President, but the number was not overwhelming and shows the vast majority of House Republicans willing to stand by the President.The emergency override will now go to the Senate, where Democrats will need four Republicans to pass the bill.If they do, it will go to the President's desk where he has vowed to veto.The Democrats could override the veto, but that requires two-thirds of both houses of Congress and the numbers from this week suggest that's not going to happen.This is where Republicans can protect the President.It will also be a litmus test for what's to come.In the coming weeks, Robert Mueller is expected to hand down his report into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Democrats have been eying this for months.If and this remains a big if the report identifies criminality or wrong doings from the President and his campaign, Democrats will likely use this as grounds to remove the President through impeachment.If Democrats pass a motion of impeachment in the House of Representatives, the President will rely on that same protection from Senate Republicans. And it seems Republicans are holding strong.It's one of the reasons the President was still smiling in Alaska.Donald Trump had finished a one-on-one with Fox News host Sean Hannity just before departure.Mr Hannity, who often appears at Trump rallies, compared the President's Vietnam summit to Ronald Reagan walking out on Mikhail Gorbachev.He also predicted the real battle was with Democrats.'It's a year's long political war,' Mr Hannity said in the opening of his show.After this week, the President will be hoping everyone has already picked their side. Assam: Fish export from Assam can boost economy: Sarbananda Sonowal March 01,2019 | Source: The Sentinel Assam must become self-reliant in fish production. Fishery sector has immense potential and we must vigorously engage in it for deriving maximum benefits. Assam is blessed with abundant water resources and we have the capacity to become the biggest producer and exporter of fish in the country. But for that, we must adopt the latest scientific technologies for augmenting our production. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said while taking part in the programme to distribute appointment letters to 35 Fishery Development Officers under Fisheries Department at the conference hall of Chief Ministers Secretariat, Janata Bhawan on Thursday. Calling on the new appointees to strive hard to enable the fishermen and producers of the state a life of dignity, Sonowal directed the Fishery Department to prepare a roadmap for the development of fishery sector to fulfil the fish requirement of state without resorting to imports. Hoping that the newly appointed officers would be able to make positive change in the department by infusing fresh thoughts and knowledge, the chief minister urged them to dedicate themselves to the cause of making the state a top fish exporter in near future. Urging the fish producers of the state to go for value addition of the fish produced in the state to cater to the international markets, the chief minister appreciated the fishery department for increasing the fish production to the tune of 20000 metric tonne in 2017-18 and he directed the department to work for increasing production even further so that fish import can be stopped. He also said that if the newly appointed officers of the department cannot help the fish farmers to increase production than their degrees in fishery sciences would be of little value. The infinite potential of Brahmaputra and Barak rivers must be harnessed to achieve fast paced development of state and vast presence of natural water-bodies must be properly utilised for growing the fishery sector, the chief minister said. He also called upon the new appointees to stay away from corruption and work for the development of fishery sector with all sincerity. Minister for Fishery Department Parimal Suklabaidya, Media Adviser to the Chief Minister Hrishikesh Goswami, Legal Adviser to the Chief Minister Shanatanu Bharali, Cice Chairman of ATDC Nabadeep Kalita were also present in the programme among others. Tamil Nadu: Govt for fisherfolk building resilience with help of technology, director of fisheries says March 01,2019 | Source: The Times of India M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) on Wednesday organised a state-level stakeholder consultation on how to evolve the fisher friend mobile application (FFMA). The idea was to evolve suitable strategies of upscaling and also to explore collaborative opportunities in consultation with key stakeholders on the Android-based application which is available in nine regional languages of coastal India. Speaking on the occasion, G S Sameeran, director of fisheries, government of Tamil Nadu, said, Its high time we shared traditional knowledge with other fisherfolk across the country. Tamil Nadu is going ahead with the idea of supporting the fisherfolk on how to build resilience with the help of technology. Referring the FFMA as an original model, with the help of the FFMA technical team at MSSRF the Tamil Nadu fisheries department has also developed a mobile application named Thoondil for supporting the fisherfolk that would co-exist with FFMA. As a three-tier system, the Android application may be used by fisherfolk when they travel within five nautical miles of the shore , then the VHF sets for the next 50 nautical miles and satellite phone for more than 50 nautical miles. Funds are allotted by the state government to provide the sets to the fisherfolk in Chennai and Nagapatinam, he said. The FFMA provides crucial information and knowledge in the fields of ocean state forecasting (OSF), potential fishing zone (PFZ), market and GPS, weather and government schemes for appropriate decision making. It received great response from fishing communities since its launch in 2016. The mobile application is currently available in nine languages, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Odiya, Bangla and English covering seven coastal states namely Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal and Karnataka. Maharashtra: Court gives relief to fishermen along city coast March 01,2019 | Source: Asian Age The Bombay high court has given relief to fishermen along the Mumbai coast. The court directed the state government not to stop them from installing nets along the coast. The direction came after the fishermen approached the high court alleging that the police was removing nets from shallow waters due to which the fishermen could not carry on with their regular fishing business. A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N.M. Jamdar was hearing a petition filed by Worli Koliwada Nakhva and other organisations. According to the petition, due to the coastal road project, the business of fishermen from Kandivali to Marine Lines would be impacted. The petition also alleged that the requisite environmental and CRZ permissions were not being taken by the state and that the proposals were still pending with the central government. According to them, the state government had not conducted any study on what would be the impact on the fishermens livelihood before sanctioning the coastal road project. BMC counsel informed the court that in the year 2017, fishermens organisations had given a no objection certificate to the state government despite the fishermen opposing now. The petitioners argued that they were not the organisation that signed the NoC and further said that the fishermen were not against the coastal road but due to the project, their livelihood was going to be impacted. Bangladesh: Hilsa fishing banned in Laxmipur for 2 months March 01,2019 | Source: UNB The government has imposed a two-month ban on catching, selling, hoarding and transporting of Hilsa from March 1 to April 30 to protect the mother fish and jatka. The ban is effective on a 100km stretch of Meghna River from Ramgatis Char Alexander to Shatnol. From March to June, some 42,000 registered fishermen will receive 40 kilograms of food aid each. District Fisheries Officer Md HM Mohib Ullah said the area sees an abundance of jatka during this period. Regular drives will be conducted by fisheries office and district taskforce, police, and Coast Guard to prevent Hilsa fishing. Those who will violate the ban will face legal action, the fisheries official said. The First High Criminal Court yesterday sentenced two defendants to death after finding them guilty of smuggling 68 kilograms of hashish from Iran through the sea. Without revealing further information on the defendants age or nationalities, Muharraq Governorate Chief Prosecutor Adnan Mattar confirmed that three individuals were involved in the case. He explained in a statement issued here yesterday that the court ordered to impose the capital punishment on two of the defendants and to fine them BD10,000 each, while the third defendant was fined BD13,000. The details of the incident were initiated when the Public Prosecution received a report from the Anti-Narcotics Department in Interior Ministry, informing that a network that smuggles and promotes narcotic substances in the country, with the purpose of selling, was detected, Mr Mattar said in the statement. He explained further: The department was also informed that the network is working to bring in further quantities of narcotic substances in co-ordination with an Iranian citizen, who supplies them at the borders of the territorial waters of the Kingdom. The official said the defendants were caught in the middle of the sea as a result of co-ordination between Interior Ministrys Police Aviation and Coast Guard Command. Sixty-eight one-kilo blocks of hashish were detected in the possession of the defendants. The Public Prosecution had earlier accused the defendants of smuggling drugs with the intention of selling and referred the case to the First Criminal Court, which announced its sentence yesterday. Drug smugglers are frequently detected in Bahrains territorial waters while coming from Iran. On February 19 this year, the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of five drug traffickers who were attempting to traffic more than BD1.6 million worth of Hashish, Marijuana and Shabu from Iran through sea. | 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 Frances Minister of Justice has announced that the government will intervene should French Islamic State members be sentenced to death in Iraq for their activities. Le Parisien reports. Thirteen French Islamic State fighters face trial in Iraq after being captured in Syria and under Iraqi law, the penalty for anyone caught providing material aid to Islamic State or other extremist organisations is death, Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said that the French would allow the Iraqis to judge the foreign fighters but would insist on imposing a limit which would not allow the use of the death penalty. "There are French adults who have knowingly gone on the battlefield, it is not illogical that they are responsible for their actions where they committed them," Belloubet said. We are on the one hand ensuring that the rights of defence are ensured and on the other hand the French who are entitled to consular protection. We, therefore, will ensure the minimum of respect for the right to a fair trial, she added. The upcoming trials are just the latest of foreign fighters from Europe. During the trial, the 27-year-olds lawyers complained that the French government had worked proactively to stop her and other jihadists from returning to France. Earlier this month, authorities revealed that France could be looking at hundreds of possible returning Islamic State members with the state services estimating there could be as many as 300 men, 300 women, and 500 children waiting to be repatriated. Germanys Linda Wenzel was also put on trial for joining the Islamic State by Iraqi authorities and was sentenced to six years in prison for various charges including entering the country illegally to join the terror group. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com 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 Several top European politicians backed Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Thursday after he told Arab leaders he was gay and could be condemned to death in some of their countries, reportedly prompting an "icy silence" from some of those present at an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt. Bettel told Arab attendees at the two-day summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that "he was married to a man" and would face capital punishment in many of their countries, according to a German journalist. There was "an icy silence from some, a silent joy for others," according to the account. Responding to the story, Bettel later tweeted: "Saying nothing was not an option for me." Centre-right politician Bettel became the first European Union leader to enter into a same-sex union after he married his partner Gauthier Destenay, a Belgian architect, in 2015. "Man of honour. Thank you, Xavier Bettel," tweeted German European Affairs Minister Michael Roth on Thursday. "Great respect to @Xavier_Bettel for his courage to speak openly about gay rights at the EU-Arab Summit," tweeted Danish Finance Minister Kristian Jensen. Several Middle Eastern countries still sentence people to the death penalty for homosexuality, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Some 40 EU and Arab leaders attended the summit, which ended on Monday and was the first official gathering between the EU and Arab League. As it ended, host Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi highlighted common security and economic interests between the EU and Arab countries but also shrugged off European criticism of human rights in his country. "You are not going to teach us about our humanity, our values and our morality," Sisi said during the closing news conference. "Respect our humanity and our morality as we respect yours." Bettel Takes Arab Leaders to Task on Gay Rights at Summit Xavier Bettel says his same-sex marriage would condemn him to death in some countries. Luxembourgs prime minister, Xavier Bettel, has confronted Arab leaders over the repression of gay rights, telling them his same-sex marriage would condemn him to death in some of their countries. The conference room at a summit of EU and Arab states fell silent when Bettel made his statement, according to a German TV journalist. Retweeting this account, Bettel wrote: Saying nothing was not an option for me. The tweet was signed with his initials. Bettel, the first EU leader to be married to a same-sex partner, had planned to make the intervention before arriving at the summit, which was the first gathering between the EU and Arab League. Homosexuality is punishable by death under sharia law in Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. Other countries in the region prohibit same-sex acts, including Algeria, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Syria, Kuwait and some of the United Arab Emirates. Syria, which is currently suspended from the Arab League, was not represented at the summit. Bettels point is underscored by the treatment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Egypt, the country that hosted the summit. Homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, but LGBT people are frequently detained on euphemistic charges such as debauchery. After the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, came to power in a coup in 2013, he appeared to embrace persecution of gays and trans people as a political strategy according to a report by Human Rights Watch. EU leaders said they raised human rights with their Arab counterparts. I insisted that our summit declaration should include our common commitment to the upholding of all aspects of internal human rights law, Donald Tusk, the European council president, told journalists after the summit. The EU had to acquiesce, however, to Arab demands to drop a reference to freedom of expression in the summit communique in favour of more general wording on upholding international human rights law. The European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, defended the blocs decision to hold the summit. If I only talked to flawless democrats, then I would end my week already by Tuesday, he said. Standing alongside Tusk and Juncker at the final press conference, Sisi defended the death penalty and dismissed criticism of his human rights record. We are two different cultures Our priority is preserving our countries and stopping them from collapse, destruction and ruin, as you see in many surrounding states. These remarks were followed by enthusiastic applause from Arab officials and journalists. Tusk, a former journalist who was jailed for his political activities in communist Poland, said: I really appreciate how enthusiastic your media is. Its impossible in Europe to have such a reaction. Congratulations. EU sources said the remarks were clearly sarcastic. EU officials see the summit as a success, partly because of the guest list. Most EU presidents and prime ministers took part, while the most controversial Arab leaders stayed away, including the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, who is accused of war crimes, and Saudi Arabias crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman. | 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 I am a retired newspaperman. I live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 44 years, Lou Ann. I grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com new Granite State poll from the University of New Hampshire of likely Democratic primary voters shows that when voters are asked an open-ended question about whom they will vote for in the primary, Bernie is mentioned most frequently by far (28%). Status Quo Joe Biden (8%), Kamala Harris (6%), Amy Klobuchar (3%), Elizabeth Warren (2%), or Cory Booker (2%) are mentioned by far fewer likely voters (above). 42% of respondents were undecided. But when asked to pick between names provided to the pollsters, it was only Bernie, Status Quo Joe, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Beto who have 5% of more. 14% were undecided. The chart below shows which candidate these voters think is the most progressive. No one gets anywhere near Bernie on that axis. Some of the more conservative Democratic candidates-- both presidential and congressional-- are hoping that voters confuse anti-Trump with progressive. They're not necessarily related. Plenty of conservative Democrats have realized that posturing against Trump is popular with the activist Democratic base. Even more popular with the activist Democratic base, however, is Medicare-For-All. The new Medicare For All Act (H.R. 1384) was introduced this week by Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) with 106 co-sponsors -- from full-on progressives like AOC (D-NY), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ro Khanna (D-CA) to members normally thought of as part of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party like Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY), Adam Schiff (New Dem-CA), Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX) and Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ). A couple of months ago, Jake Johnson wrote that "Confronting the question most commonly asked of the growing number of Americans who support replacing Americas uniquely inefficient and immoral for-profit healthcare system with Medicare for All-- 'How do we pay for it?'-- a new paper released Friday by researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) shows that financing a single-payer system would actually be quite simple, given that it would cost significantly less than the status quo. 'Its easy to pay for something that costs less,' Robert Pollin, economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and lead author of the new analysis, declared during a panel discussion at The Sanders Institute Gathering in Burlingon, Vermont, where Pollin unveiled the paper for the first time." According to the 200-page analysis of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Medicare for All Act of 2017, the researchers found that based on 2017 US healthcare expenditure figures, the cumulative savings for the first decade operating under Medicare for All would be $5.1 trillion, equal to 2.1 percent of cumulative GDP, without accounting for broader macroeconomic benefits such as increased productivity, greater income equality, and net job creation through lower operating costs for small- and medium-sized businesses. The most significant sources of savings from Medicare for All, the researchers found, would come in the areas of pharmaceutical drug costs and administration. In a statement, Pollin said his research makes abundantly clear that the moral imperative of guaranteeing decent healthcare for all does not at all conflict with the goal of providing cost-effective care. The most fundamental goals of Medicare for All are to significantly improve healthcare outcomes for everyone living in the United States while also establishing effective cost controls throughout the healthcare system, Pollin said. These two purposes are both achievable. As Michael Lighty, a Sanders Institute fellow former director of public policy for National Nurses United, put it during the Gathering on Friday, We really can get more and pay less. ...Medicare for All promises a system that is fairer, more efficient, and vastly less expensive than Americas bloated, monopolized, over-priced and under-performing private health insurance system, [Columbia University professor Jeffrey] Sachs said. America spends far more on healthcare and gets far less for its money than any other high-income country. Josh Harder ran for Congress in a northern portion of the Central Valley, CA-10, which runs from Turlock to Modesto and north to Riverbank, Ripon, Manteca and Tracy. The district has been trending blue and he ousted Republican incumbent, Jeff Denham. Obama beat his two GOP opponents by 3 points each and Hillary beat Trump by 3 points. Harder beat Denham more thoroughly last year-- 115,945 (52.3%) to 105,955 (47.7%), winning in both Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. All 7 of the California freshmen campaigned on a version of single payer, but only 4 of them-- Mike Levin, Katie Porter, Katie Hill (New Dem) and Harder (New Dem)-- have signed on as co-sponsors of Jayapal's Medicare-For-All legislation. McClatchy reporter Kate Irby noted that Harder ran and was elected on Medicare-for-All and wrote Harder's sponsorship "will be a test of whether districts outside of the solidly Democratic will support the bold effort at health care overhaul as it takes steps towards becoming law-- which Republican groups have painted as a socialist dream." A strong majority elected him because of-- at least in part-- Medicare-for-All. Most people in the establishment don't understand that kind of common sense popularity for something so helpful in people's lives. The key piece Ive heard again and again and again ... is please keep the promise to work for Medicare for all, Harder said, citing constituent concerns he heard during a listening tour on health care hes been holding in his district. People want to see major progress on the No. 1 issue they care about, he added. ...Members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a moderate [poor Irby doesn't understand the difference between the word "moderate" and the word "conservative... maybe some day, but I doubt it] group of 27 Democrats focused on fiscal responsibility, have said they would not support such a proposal without a clear way to pay for it. Its unclear how that would be done, and most are unwilling to consider a tax increase or furthering the countrys debt. I think its important to have the conversation, except without talking about how youre going to pay for it, its a hollow promise, said Blue Dog Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno. It puts us in a position of further increasing Americans debt, which we all loathe. A slight majority of Americans favor a health care plan where everyone gets government-supplied health care, especially when they feel it will eliminate costs and guarantee coverage... Harder said hes confident this is what the people of his district want and need, despite large price tags. Though hes not an author of the legislation, he said hes had frequent conversations with Jayapal over the past two years to make sure the bill addressed the needs of districts like his own, such as guaranteeing coverage and improving quality of care. People already pay way too much for health care, Harder said. We need a system that drives down costs and improves patient outcomes. Health care is a significant issue in Harders San Joaquin Valley district, where unemployment is consistently higher than the national average and air and water quality problems worsen the issue of pre-existing conditions. Harder and Democratic groups repeatedly spotlighted his Republican opponents votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act in a campaign Harder ultimately won by about 10,000 votes. There are over 350,000 uninsured individuals in the Central Valley, according to Harders office, one of the highest proportions of uninsured people in the state. Most of those who are uninsured in California are Latino and a quarter are millennials, and a third earn less than $25,000 per year. It's a winning issue for people-- even if establishment politicians and corporate journalists don't understand that yet. The Democratic Party establishment should embrace the progressive agenda; its base has. And by the way, a new poll of Democratic primary voters in California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina shows that addressing the climate crisis is a top tier issue for Democratic primary voters, shared only with universal healthcare coverage. So Medicare-For-All and The Green New Deal, the two most popular issues among Democratic voters-- and both totally unembraced and sabotaged by the party's congressional leadership which is too doddering to understand either. The 2019 MEADFA Conference will take place in Muscat, Oman. The event, a key gathering for representatives of the duty free and travel retail industry in the Middle East, Africa and beyond, will run from November 25/26. Managed by TFWA and hosted by Muscat Duty Free, the organisers say the 18th MEADFA conference will provide a learning and networking opportunity for those already operating in, or looking to do business in, one of duty free and travel retails most dynamic regions. There is a cocktail party on November 24 and the Muscat Duty Free will sponsor the gala dinner on November 25. MEADFA president Haitham Al Majali said: After our very successful event in Beirut last year, we are delighted to bring the MEADFA conference to Muscat, where delegates will have the opportunity to visit one of the regions best new airports. At MEADFA we are committed to promoting the business potential and reputation of the duty free and travel retail industry in the Middle East and Africa, and this event will help us continue to deliver on that commitment, said Al Majali. The last MEADFA Conference, hosted in Beirut in November last year, welcomed 442 delegates from 35 countries. Details on how to attend will be announced on the TFWA and MEADFA websites soon. The full MEADFA 2018 review is available on the TFWA website at the following link: https://www.tfwa.com/the-meadfa-conference. North Korea Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Nguyen Phu Trong shake hands before a conference in Hanoi on Friday. Photo by Giang Huy President chief and State President Nguyen Phu Trong hosted a welcome ceremony Friday for North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un in Hanoi. Kim was greeted with a warm hug before the two leaders attended a flag-raising ceremony and reviewed the Guard of Honor at the Presidential Palace, following which they joined a conference with top officials of both sides. Later in the day, the North Korean leader is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. President Nguyen Phu Trong introduces Chairman Kim Jong-un to senior Vietnamese officials. Photo by Giang Huy This is the first visit by a North Korean leader to Vietnam in 55 years since Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-uns grandfather, visited in 1964. In 1950 North Korea became one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, after China and the Soviet Union. Kim Jong-un arrived in Vietnam Tuesday morning after traveling for more than 60 hours in an armored train from Pyongyang. He met with U.S. President Trump for the next two days, but the second summit between the two leaders ended without a deal, following disagreements over lifting of the sanctions imposed on North Korea. Chairman Kim will leave Vietnam on Saturday. Dang Le Nguyen Vu, founder and chairman of the coffee giant Trung Nguyen. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nguyen A HCMC court Friday suspended the divorce of Vietnams coffee King and Queen pending evaluation of their assets. Dang Le Nguyen Vu, founder and chairman of the coffee giant Trung Nguyen, and his estranged wife Le Hoang Diep Thao, have been engaged in a prolonged divorce case as well as a battle over the assets of the company, her position in it as well as the divorce settlement. The court said it needed more evidence on Vus lawyers statement about shared assets of over VND2.1 trillion ($90.6 million) kept in three banks. Vus lawyer said that the assets had been verified last year. She added: "If Thao has withdrawn the money since then, only she knows." The court will resume hearing the case on March 27. Le Hoang Diep Thao filed for divorce in 2015. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nguyen HCMC prosecutors on Monday proposed that the couple get divorced and divide their 13 shared properties equally. However, the prosecutors did not give a final suggestion on how the asset of VND2.1 trillion should be divided. For Trung Nguyen shares, Vu had previously proposed that the companys shares held jointly with his wife be divided 70:30 in his favor, but Thao insisted on a 50:50 split because of her contributions to the company. Vu and Thao married 1998 and have four children. They started to have conflicts in 2013, and Thao filed for divorce in 2015. In 2006 Thao was appointed Trung Nguyen's deputy general director. She claims that under her management its charter capital had increased from VND150 billion ($6.5 million) to VND2.5 trillion ($108.7 million) and both its revenues and profits had grown tremendously. Thao alleged that in July 2014, Vu dismissed her without the board of directors' approval. He also instructed his employees to demolish her office and block her from entering the company's headquarters, she claimed. Last September, the court reinstated her as deputy general director, co-owner and co-founder of Trung Nguyen Group, but the very next day Vu dismissed her for a second time, accusing her of threatening his partners. Last December, Thao accused Trung Nguyen Group of forging signatures to remove her from the Trung Nguyen Instant Coffee Corporation (Trung Nguyen IC) and replace her with her husband. Trung Nguyen Group is Vietnams leading coffee firm in Vietnam. It earned revenues of VND3.95 trillion ($170.5 million) and pretax profits of VND681 billion ($29.4 million) in 2017. The Vietnam Food Association has sought central bank assistance to buy surplus stock as rice exports plunge. In the first two months of the year, Vietnam exported 788,000 tons of the grain worth worth $355 million, down 4.9 percent and 17.5 percent year-on-year, respectively, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Rice exports to China, Vietnams biggest buyer, went down; and in a double blow for exporters, prices also fell sharply. Currently export prices are at VND4,300 - 5,000 ($0.19 - $0.22) per kilogram depending on the variety, VND800 - 1,000 lower than a year ago. The ministry said importing countries were sourcing their rice from more suppliers, and the resultant competition has pushed prices down. Besides, many countries have been seeking to increase rice production, increasing global supply, making it a buyers market. At a recent conference on rice production held in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, the association called on the State Bank of Vietnam to provide credit to help businesses buy surplus rice. This would allow farmers to sell their produce and prepare for the upcoming summer-autumn crop, it said. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam is the third biggest rice exporter in the world behind India and Thailand, selling the grain to some 150 countries and territories. In 2018, rice exports grew 5.1 percent in volume (6.1 million tons) and 16.3 percent ($3.08 billion) in value year-on-year. Liz Mitchell, Boney M's vocalist, performed with the band in Hanoi in 2016. Photo acquired by VnExpress A music feast awaits Vietnamese fans of legendary disco bands Boney M and Joy, who will perform in Hanoi on March 8. The concert, called The Boney M & Joy Live in Concert, will feature the bands hits performed during their prime time decades ago. Boney M will perform tracks from their album Boney M 79 and some songs by world-renowned divas like Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. The band has not unveiled the detailed line-up since they want to surprise the audience. Liz Mitchell, the main vocalist for Boney M, recalled the first time she performed in Hanoi in 2016. "The audience kept dancing and singing along, I was so emotional." Mitchell also referred to her plans to try Vietnamese cuisine. "Last time, I did not have enough time to enjoy the Vietnamese delicacies. This time I want to eat many delicious dishes and visit the Obama Bun cha (rice noodles with grilled pork) stall in Hanoi," she said. She also regretted holding the show after the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month. "Many fans told us that Boney Ms music is played everywhere during the Lunar New Year holiday. I wish I could enjoy that atmosphere. It is a sweet present for every artist." According to the organizing committee, the concert crew includes 50 people. Lighting and sound system will be regulated by British experts. Boney Ms first visit to Vietnam was in 2016, when the band performed with Chris Norman, former leader of the Smokie band. Last year, they performed live in central coastal town of Nha Trang. Over more than 40 years, the Boney M cast has changed several times, but main vocalist Mitchell has stayed put. The band continues to tour the world. Boney M is a German disco band with four members that enjoyed peak popularity in the mid-1970s, with dozens of their songs ranking high on European charts. In Vietnam, their songs are loved by millions, especially those born in the 1960s and 1970s. Particular favorites include Rivers of Babylon, Daddy Cool, Ma Baker; and Christmas songs like Jingle Bells, Marys Boy Child, Petit Papa Noel. Joy is a famous Australian disco band established in 1984 with three members: Freddy Jaklisch, Manfred Temmel and Andy Schweitzer. Their songs like Touch by Touch, Hello, Valerie, Japanese Girl are still popular in Vietnam. Hien Phuoc and Thanh Hoa wowed thousands with an extraordinary performance at the Golden Elephant circus festival in Spain. Their feat, called "Moments of Love," won Phuoc and Hoa one of four silver medals at the 8th Golden Elephant International Circus Festival (Festival del Circ) recently held in Girona, Spain. Vietnamese duo performs the 8th Festival del Circ, Spain. Photo courtesy of Festival del Circ. "This is the third time that the Golden Elephant had artists from the circus company of the second most important city in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City," festival spokesperson Paula Pairo, told VnExpress International. "The harmonic coordination of movements, the elegance of lines and the precision of the gesture accompanied with exercises require extraordinary strength," Pairo wrote in an email, relaying judges comments. It was "a perfect harmony between the two members," the judges said. A prestigious international event that draws the participation of leading troupes from around the world, every year, the Golden Elephant International Circus Festival attracts about 30,000 spectators. The Vietnamese duo told VnExpress International that their training and preparation started in 2016, but prior to their performance in Spain, the duo rehearsed relentlessly for five months. "This is our first international award for this act, as well as our debut at an international circus festival," Phuoc said. Hoa said it was an "honor and happiness" to get the award. "It helps us continue to have faith in our profession," she said. Phuoc also said that he saw this achievement as a confidence boost for the future. The event is among the top five international circus festivals and one of the biggest spectacles in Europe. This year's festival saw more than 30 acts by nearly 100 performers. Kim Jong-un greets Vietnamese officials and residents at Dong Dang railway station in Vietnam's Lang Son Province as he arrives on February 26, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy North Korea Chairman Kim Jong-un has begun a two-day official visit to Vietnam after his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. This is the first visit by a North Korean leader to Vietnam in 55 years since Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-uns grandfather, visited in 1964. Kim is scheduled to hold talks with Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on Friday afternoon, visit and lay wreaths at the Monument to War Heroes and Martyrs and visit the Mausoleum of President Ho Chi Minh. He will leave on Saturday. Kim arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday morning after a more than 60-hour train journey from Pyongyang. His second summit with U.S. President Trump ended in Hanoi Thursday without any deal being signed because of disagreements over lifting of the sanctions imposed on North Korea. In 1950 North Korea became one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam after only China and the Soviet Union. It dispatched hundreds of military pilots to Vietnam to support the country during the Vietnam War, trained hundreds of students in the 1960s and 1970s, and also supported Vietnam with cement, steel, fabrics, medicines, and fertilizers. Between 1994 and 2012 Vietnam donated rice and cash several times to North Korea for relief. The two countries established and cemented relations at the highest level. In 1957 President Ho Chi Minh visited North Korea before Kim Il-sung made a reciprocal visit to Vietnam. In 1961 then Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong visited North Korea, and in November 1964 Kim made another visit. During Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh's visit to North Korea last month, his hosts thanked Vietnam's stance and efforts to push talks to achieve peace, security, cooperation, and development on the Korean Peninsula. North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un met with the heads of Vietnamese Party, executive and legislative branches Friday. Kim (R) was accorded the ceremonial welcome given to a head of state at the Presidential Palace. Photo by VnExpress Kim was accorded the ceremonial welcome given to a head of state at the Presidential Palace. He then had official talks with Party chief and State President Nguyen Phu Trong. This was the first visit by a North Korean leader to Vietnam in 55 years since Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-uns grandfather, visited in 1964. Chairman Kim and President Trong shook hands at the Presidential Palace before starting their talks. Trong said that Kims visit was an important milestone in the history of the two countries. Chairman Kim later met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R). Photo by VnExpress Chairman Kim later met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. They went to see a photo exhibition on the relationship between North Korea and Vietnam. In 1950 North Korea became one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam after China and the Soviet Union. Chairman Kim also met with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R). Photo by VnExpress Chairman Kim also met with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. Prior to the official visit, Chairman Kim had arrived in Vietnam Tuesday morning after a train journey of more than 60 hours from Pyongyang. He arrived in Hanoi for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. The summit ended Thursday without any deal being signed because of disagreements over lifting of the sanctions imposed on North Korea. Chairman Kim will leave Vietnam on Saturday. North Korean convoy carrying Kim Jong-un runs on the National Highway 1 between Lang Son Province and Hanoi on February 26, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Le Anh Tu All vehicles will be banned on a 170km (106 miles) segment of National Highway 1 from Hanoi to China border Saturday. Hanoi officials said the National Highway 1 segment from Hanoi to Dong Dang Town in the northern province of Lang Son, near China border, will be closed to all vehicles from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Trucks weighing over 10 tons and passengers vehicles with nine seats and above would be barred earlier, from 1 a.m. onwards. These vehicles will also be banned from the National Highway 18 segment from the intersection with National Highway 1 to the intersection with Hanois Vo Nguyen Giap Street from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. A similar ban was enforced last Tuesday morning as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his convoy traveled from the Dong Dang Railway Station in Lang Son to Hanoi for the second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Kim reached Dong Dang after a more than 60-hour journey on his armored train from Pyongyang. His second summit with Trump ended Thursday without any deals signed, due to disagreements over the removal of sanctions on North Korea. Trump left Vietnam soon after the summit ended while Kim is staying for an official visit. He will leave on Saturday. There is an authentic North Korean restaurant in Hanoi, with even its waitstaff coming from that country. Pyongyang restaurant is located amid dozens of Korean restaurants on Nguyen Thi Dinh Street in Cau Giay District. Inside, customers are often surprised to see all the staff are North Korean but speak Vietnamese. "I have been in Vietnam for two years and taught myself Vietnamese," one employee says. There are around 10 women employees all in their early twenties and divided into two groups: one in red dresses serving the food and the other brown taking orders at tables. The restaurant has several floors, with the first floor meant for serving drinks and thus quiet. The dining rooms above are crowded and bustling. The restaurant has four chefs. "In recent days customers have to make a reservation in advance," an employee says. "There are many people who do not reserve and come at noon but have to leave [because there is no table]." The employee adds that every month ingredients including spices are imported from North Korea. Vegetables, fruits and meat are bought at the market daily. When a patron sits at a table, a bowl of kim chi soup, two small cups of ginseng and shredded kim chi and a cup of dipping sauce are served. Kim chi is a famous traditional side dish made from salted and fermented vegetables, most commonly napa cabbage and Korean radishes, with a variety of seasonings. The menu is divided into kim chi dishes, cold dishes, hot dishes, hot pots, various types of pancakes, cold noodles, side dishes, and nearly 20 different types of drinks. The most expensive dish is a seafood hotpot costing VND750,000 ($32) Some common dishes like stirred fried kim chi pork, grilled flax fish, grilled clam, steamed pork, and seaweed salad cost VND150,000-250,000 ($6.4 10.7). North Korean food is very spicy and contains lots of kim chi. The spoon served at the restaurant has carvings on the handle. The head does is not oval but instead has a protrusion in the middle. Stir-fried pork mixed with kim chi is a favorite with many patrons. Like in most North Korean restaurants around the world, Pyongyang dishes are priced higher than those from other parts of the country. Taedonggang, a famous North Korean beer, costs VND250,000 ($10.7). The restaurant has simple interiors with wooden tables and chairs and North Korean music playing the background. On a small stage are a red curtain and red and blue lights, which resembles the stage decoration style in Vietnam in the 1990s. At 7:30 pm every night is an hour-long live music performance. But sometimes the restaurant cancels it without notice. Curiously, visitors can take pictures of the restaurant but not of the staff. North Korea offers more talks after nuclear no-deal in Hanoi This picture from North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken on February 28, 2019 and released on March 1, 2019 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump shaking hands at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi. Photo by KCNA via AFP The meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump broke up in disarray Thursday, with a signing ceremony cancelled and no joint communique issued. Each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock, with Trump saying that Pyongyang wanted the lifting of all sanctions imposed on it over its banned weapons programmes. In a rare late-night press briefing, the North's foreign minister said it had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its offer to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was the best deal it could ever offer. But the North's official KCNA news agency reported Friday that the two leaders had had a "constructive and candid exchange." Relations between the two countries -- on opposite sides of the technically still unfinished Korean War -- had been "characterised by mistrust and antagonism" for decades, it said, and there were "inevitable hardships and difficulties" on the way to forging a new relationship. It described the Hanoi meeting as "successful" and said Kim had promised Trump another encounter. Similarly Trump said before leaving the Vietnamese capital that he hoped to meet Kim again. "Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times," an unusually downbeat Trump told reporters. "I'd much rather do it right than do it fast," he said, while reaffirming his "close relationship" with Kim. "There's a warmth that we have and I hope that stays, I think it will." 'Billions of dollars' The outcome in Hanoi fell far short of the pre-meeting expectations and hopes, after critics said their initial historic meeting in Singapore -- which produced only a vague commitment from Kim to work "toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" -- was more style over substance. According to senior U.S. officials, in the week leading up to the Hanoi summit the North Koreans had demanded the lifting of effectively all the U.N. Security Council economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang since March 2016. Before that date, the measures were largely focused on preventing technology transfers, but more recent restrictions were imposed on several valuable industries in an effort to force concessions from Pyongyang, including coal and iron ore exports, seafood, and textile trade. "It was basically all the sanctions except for armaments," a senior U.S. official told reporters. "It tallies up to the tune of many, many billions of dollars." In return they were only offering to close a "a portion of the Yongbyon complex", a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- and the North is believed to have other uranium enrichment plants. Trump had urged Kim to go "all in" to secure a deal, the official said, adding Washington was willing to do so. "The weapons themselves need to be on the table," he said, pointing to both Pyongyang's existing stock of atomic bombs and the ICBMs with which it can reach the whole of the U.S. mainland. But the process was continuing and Washington was "encouraged by the opportunities ahead of us", the official said. "There's still ample opportunity to talk." 'Rollercoaster ride' Analysts say the failure to reach a deal in Hanoi does not mean the end of negotiations. "I don't think it's a disaster and it doesn't end the dialogue process," said Chris Green of the International Crisis Group. Trump could not afford to do "a quote-unquote 'bad deal'" in Hanoi, he added. "I think it benefits him to look tough, to string this out." But others have pointed to a lack of preparation ahead of the meeting, with the two sides far apart and unable to bridge the gaps between them in time. Scott Seaman of the Eurasia Group consultancy said both leaders would have to return home and rethink their strategies. "Trump's challenge will be to dampen speculation and criticism that his unique approach is itself the problem and may well have set the US back in its efforts to end the North Korean threat," he wrote in a note. Joel Wit and Jenny Town of the respected Washington-based 38 North project said that while there had been fears beforehand that Trump "was going to give away the store, he did just the opposite, holding out for a better deal". "The two leaders are heavily invested in the process so hopefully, this failed summit will just be one more chapter in the rollercoaster ride that is the Trump presidency," they wrote. But if the North Korean process stalls and Trump's domestic troubles mount, they warned, North Korea may slip down his priority list. Reuters Some sighs of relief in Washington as Trump returns empty handed from Kim summit U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to continue his return to Washington from his summit meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-un in Vietnam after a refueling stop at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., February 28, 2019. Photo by Reuters/Leah Millis Trump said he walked away from a deal because of Kims demands to lift all U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea in return for the denuclearization of its Yongbyon atomic complex but not others that the United States knows about. In contrast, North Koreas foreign minister said Pyongyang offered to dismantle Yongbyon in return for a partial lifting of sanctions as a step toward better relations between the nations, technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Before the summit, there were hints Washington was open to declaring an end to the war, some sanctions relief, and opening of liaison offices, a first step toward diplomatic ties, if the North reined in its nuclear program. The fear of many in the U.S. national security establishment was that Trump would give up too much in return for too little and they were pleased that did not happen. There was still concern in Washington, however, about what the summits collapse would mean for future nuclear diplomacy with North Korea. Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the summits failure had eased fears that Trump, anxious to claim a foreign policy success, might have made an agreement that dispelled the North Korean nuclear-armed missile threat to the continental United States, but not the threat of its shorter-range missiles to U.S. regional allies, such as Japan. "The general feeling was that all President Trump wants is a scalp to hang on the wall, like he did with calling the Singapore nothing-burger a great victory," said Armitage, referring to Trumps first summit with Kim in June 2018. That produced a vague statement of Kims pledge to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula but little progress followed. Trumps defenders have long said he had no intention of giving ground to Kim at their second meeting in Hanoi this week without major North Korean concessions. They said Trump planned to use the rapport he claims with Kim and negotiating skills honed as a real estate developer to secure the best possible deal despite skepticism from critics who question whether he is up to speed on the main issues. Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank rejected criticism that Trump came up empty, tweeting: "Actually walking away from a bad proposed deal is exactly what wed expect from a competent deal-maker." It had appeared Trump was moving toward offering Pyongyang concessions on a peace deal, sanctions and liaison offices in return for "promises to make promises to move toward (nuclear) disablement and dismantlement," a congressional aide said on condition of anonymity. "There is a certain sigh of relief in that respect." Nuclear analysts estimate North Korea may have a nuclear arsenal of 20 to 60 weapons which, if mated with intercontinental ballistic missiles it has developed, could threaten the U.S. mainland. The collapse of the summit leaves Kim in possession of that arsenal though Trump said the North Korean leader had agreed to maintain his moratorium on nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The United States has long resisted offering the North a formal end to the war regarding this as a concession that should not be made until Pyongyang abandoned its nuclear arms. U.S. intelligence officials have said there is no sign North Korea would ever give up its entire arsenal of nuclear weapons, which Kims ruling family sees as vital to its survival. An end to the war could also have spurred demands from North Korea for the United States to withdraw some of its 28,500 troops from South Korea, where they serve as a trip wire to deter a North Korean invasion. Trump, who has questioned the value of keeping the troops there, made clear before the summit that removing them was off the table, another source of relief for those who believe their withdrawal could embolden the North and endanger the South. One of the ironies that experts pointed out was that in failure, Trump may actually have had a success. It may also have been a victory for hawkish White House national security adviser John Bolton, who has pressed for Washington to maintain its "maximum pressure" sanctions campaign intact while demanding Pyongyangs full denuclearization. Even Adam Schiff, the Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee and is one of Trumps main critics in Congress, offered qualified praise. "President Trumps decision to walk away from the summit with North Korea without an agreement was preferable to making a bad deal," he said. Reuters Tour bookings to North Korea surges post-summit Daily life in North Korea through the lens of a Vietnamese tourist. Photo by VnExpress/Ngo Quang Minh. Vietravel expects 1,000 Vietnamese tourists to travel to North Korea between March and November this year. HanoiRedtours said North Korea tours in March are sold out and it expects the number of visitors to double after the summit. HCMC-based Saigontourist said it would organize one tour each from HCMC and Hanoi every month with 15-20 visitors on each trip. "Trips will be organized regularly until the end of this summer. The price of a five-day, four-night tour is VND29.9 million ($1,284) from Hanoi and VND32.99 million ($1,417) from Ho Chi Minh City." A spokesperson for another Hanoi travel company said the company is researching the possibility of launching tours to North Korea by train, similar to Kim Jong-un's visit to Vietnam. "Currently, you can only fly to Pyongyang by Air China, and the number of seats is limited. If train routes are used, visitors will have more choices, and the number of tourists will increase significantly." According to North Korean government regulations, all tourists are required to buy a tour and cannot travel on their own. A Saigontourist spokesperson said interest in tours to North Korea has spiked as a result of the Trump-Kim summit. The company used to offer a North Korea tour for VND50 million ($2,146), but suspended it due to safety issues and high prices. However, many other companies are offering tours at half that price. Some companies launched promotions before the summit on February 27-28 with discounts of VND3-6 million ($128 - $257). Others organized contests on American and North Korean cultures, with prizes being discount vouchers and free trips to North Korea. One company waived service charges for obtaining U.S. and North Korean visas between February 22 and 28. The North Korean-U.S. summit was held in Hanoi from February 2728. Khuong Nha Vietnam wants US and North Korea to keep talking U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had affirmed that the summit in Hanoi was an important step in the bilateral dialogue. Photo by Reuters They should also keep up the talks to promote relations between the two countries, Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Thursday. It said Vietnam and the international community have closely followed the second North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi over the past two days. "Vietnam's consistent position is to support the peace process and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula," the statement said. It noted that both U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had affirmed that the summit in Hanoi was an important step in the bilateral dialogue. The leaders of the two countries have made many positive and constructive efforts, and exchanged views on many important issues related to peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. "As the host country, Vietnam made great efforts and prepared carefully in all aspects, ensuring absolute security and safety for the summit, demonstrating the nations current foreign policy principles of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, and being a responsible member of the international community," the ministry statement said. It said that the preparations taken by Vietnam as the host country organizing the event have been highly appreciated by leaders of the U.S. and North Korea, as well as the international community. "Vietnam is ready to continue playing a coordinating role to promote the peace process on the Korean Peninsula," the statement said. U.S. President Donald Trump left Hanoi Thursday afternoon, almost three hours ahead of schedule, looking sadder than when he'd arrived in the city Tuesday for the much-awaited summit with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un. Despite the optimism that preceded the second summit, the two leaders were unable to sign a joint statement as initially scheduled and the talks ended in a deadlock. Vietnam wants US and North Korea to keep talking Trump-Kim Summit starts high, ends low Huyen Le Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Gazprom's debt before Naftogaz grows by US$200 mln Assets of Russia's gas giant have been frozen by court rulings in a number of states, and work is underway to involve other countries in recovering Gazprom's debts. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine's Finance Ministry creates Ukrenergo corporatization commission The company's corporatization will allow the authorities to effectively introduce new legislation on the electricity market in Ukraine. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine's State Property Fund to terminate privatization of Turboatom Ukraine's government has recently excluded the enterprise from the list of large-scale facilities that are subject to privatization in 2019. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine getting closer to EU standards: Rada passes bill on AEO institution The document is designed to introduce the authorized economic operator institution similar to that operating in the European Union. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine's Rada ratifies convention on combating tax evasion The document was backed by 231 MPs with the required minimum of 226 votes. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Naftogaz expects more trials to be launched to collect debt from Gazprom In late May, Naftogaz began the process of forcing a $2.6 billion debt from the Russian energy giant in foreign courts. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter An edgelord is somebody who is attempting to gain popularity in a particular online community by expressing a certain kind of set of extreme opinions in a game of one-up-man-ship with other people who are also expressing extreme opinions, said Steven Vrooman, Ph.D. and chair of the department of communication, cultures English and world languages for Texas Lutheran University. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION by Mikala Compton. DTE Energy announced today (2/28) it spent $1.7 billion with Michigan businesses in 2018, creating and sustaining more than 8,000 jobs across the state and exceeding its in-state spending goal by $800,000. Since 2010, DTE spent more than $9.2 billion with Michigan-based suppliers of goods and services, creating 24,000 jobs. "We prioritize partnerships with in-state suppliers, and we encourage others to do the same," said DTE Chief Procurement Officer Tony Tomczak. "DTE's commitment gives Michigan's hard-working business owners new opportunities to succeed, expands the local economy and builds stronger communities." Below are highlights of DTE's partnership with Michigan-based vendors, including dollars spent, number of businesses, and total jobs positively impacted: Southeast Michigan and Metro Detroit : DTE bought $1.3 billion in goods and services from 1,261 companies, generating and supporting more than 6,000 jobs. Forty percent of this spending - $512 million - was sourced from companies based in Detroit . DTE bought in goods and services from 1,261 companies, generating and supporting more than 6,000 jobs. Forty percent of this spending - - was sourced from companies based in . West Michigan : DTE spent $66 million with 215 companies, creating and sustaining more than 300 jobs. DTE spent with 215 companies, creating and sustaining more than 300 jobs. Northeast and Northwest Michigan : DTE invested $38 million with 176 companies, positively impacting nearly 180 jobs. DTE invested with 176 companies, positively impacting nearly 180 jobs. South Michigan : DTE partnered with more than 450 companies, spending $182 million and adding or maintaining nearly 850 jobs. DTE partnered with more than 450 companies, spending and adding or maintaining nearly 850 jobs. Central Michigan : DTE invested $41 million with more than 150 companies, creating and sustaining 190 jobs. DTE invested with more than 150 companies, creating and sustaining 190 jobs. Thumb Region: DTE spent $93 million with 250 companies, positively impacting more than 400 jobs. DTE spent with 250 companies, positively impacting more than 400 jobs. Upper Peninsula: DTE partnered with 53 businesses, spending $12 million generating and supporting nearly 60 jobs. DTE is a founding member of Pure Michigan Business Connect, a public-private initiative that encourages companies to buy from Michigan vendors and connects local companies with in-state business opportunities. "We do this without sacrificing quality and affordability, which demonstrates the competitiveness of our state's economy," Tomczak said. For W-3 Construction, a Detroit construction services company, DTE's focus on Michigan businesses translates into increased revenue and additional jobs. W-3 helps DTE build new substations to provide more reliable electric power for its customers. "We've been in Detroit for more than 30 years and established a track record of delivering high-quality, cost-competitive services to DTE," said Linda Turner, client relations manager for W-3. "The increased business from DTE has fueled our growth, allowing us to bring on additional full-time Michigan workers and hire more local skilled laborers for projects." DTE is also committed to developing a more inclusive supply base. Last year, the company spent $472 million with certified diverse suppliers and captured 11 industry-wide supplier diversity achievement awards. DTE's innovative approach to supplier diversity is based on outreach and mentoring. "We seek out Michigan companies to ensure they're aware of upcoming bid opportunities and are ready to partner with us, or with our largest suppliers," Tomczak added. "We meet local business owners where they are and connect them with new business opportunities." About DTE Energy DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric company serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan. The DTE portfolio includes energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, renewable natural gas, natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage, and energy marketing and trading. As an environmental leader, DTE will reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050 to produce cleaner energy while keeping it safe, reliable and affordable. DTE is committed to being a force for good in the communities where it serves through volunteerism, education and employment initiatives, philanthropy and economic progress. Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com, empoweringmichigan.com, twitter.com/dte_energy and facebook.com. "Saratoga is serving MGE customers with cost-effective, clean electricity while adding new, more efficient wind technology to our energy supply mix," Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Keebler said. "MGE remains committed to driving carbon out of our energy supply mix and to reaching our carbon reduction goals. Saratoga - and our other proposed renewable energy projects - are steps in our ongoing transition toward a more sustainable energy future." Consisting of 33 wind turbines, the Saratoga Wind Farm is located about 200 miles west of Madison near Saratoga in Howard County, Iowa. This site was chosen for its strong winds and proximity to existing transmission infrastructure. Saratoga's turbines reach nearly 500 feet high, which makes them more efficient. Their height allows them to take advantage of greater wind speeds and produce more energy per turbine. Saratoga is capable of generating enough emissions-free energy to power approximately 47,000 households. Visit MGE's renewable energy channel, Green View, for a look inside one of Saratoga's wind turbines. Deep decarbonization: 80% by 2050 Under its Energy 2030 framework, MGE has pledged to supply 30% of electric sales with renewable resources by 2030. MGE also is on a trajectory to reduce carbon emissions at least 40% from 2005 levels by 2030. This is consistent with the U.S. emissions targets for the 2030 timeframe established under the Paris Agreement on climate change. Beyond 2030, MGE is targeting at least an 80% reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2050. This also is an internationally recognized benchmark. "We have said since establishing these goals that if we can go further faster by working with our customers, we will," Keebler said. MGE continues to actively evaluate other potential wind and solar generation sites as part of its ongoing transition toward greater use of renewable resources. The company is seeking regulatory approval to add 100 megawatts of solar energy to its energy mix. To reach its carbon reduction goals, MGE is pursuing the following key strategies: Reducing carbon intensity in electricity generation through the addition of cost-effective renewable resources. Electrifying the transportation sector by growing the use of electric vehicles and facilitating charging. Working with stakeholders to increase energy efficiency. To learn more about how MGE is pursuing these key strategies, visit energy2030together.com. About MGE MGE generates and distributes electricity to 153,000 customers in Dane County, Wis., and purchases and distributes natural gas to 161,000 customers in seven south-central and western Wisconsin counties. MGE's parent company is MGE Energy, Inc. The company's roots in the Madison area date back more than 150 years. People walk by Gibraltar's airport. Jon Nazca (REUTERS) The Spanish government will work to make things easier for British residents in Spain, even those without permanent residency status, in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Madrid is planning to offer new residency papers to around 400,000 UK nationals if their country crashes out of the European Union without an agreement on the future relationship. British residents in Spain will have to apply for a foreigner identity card before January 2021 This is one of the most salient measures contained in a contingency plan slated for approval by the Spanish Cabinet later today. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) made the announcement on Wednesday during the last plenary session of Congress before the political term ends and a general election is held on April 28. The decree extends all benefits to Gibraltar, although it underscores that Spain will have veto rights over the situation of the British Overseas Territory in any future agreement between London and Brussels. All decisions that prolong the current status enjoyed by British citizens and businesses in Spain are made on condition that the UK will reciprocate with similar measures for Spanish residents in Britain. After getting greenlighted by the Cabinet, the decree will be immediately sent to parliament for approval. While it goes into great detail about less controversial measures such as citizen rights, the text of the decree only makes a broad mention of more complex issues, such as what will happen with Iberia flights between EU cities if the Spanish airlines parent company, IAG, is no longer considered a European business. The government is concerned about the approximately 9,000 Spanish workers who live in Campo de Gibraltar and cross over to The Rock every day As for British residents in Spain, they will have to apply for a foreigner identity card before January 2021 to prove their legal residency status. For those who already have permanent residency, the process will be nearly automatic. For the others, there will be additional steps to take. The government estimates that around 400,000 people will receive new documents, on top of the 300,000 or so who are already registered. The decree also stresses the need to guarantee the rights of British people working in Spain. The government hopes that the same will hold for the approximately 9,000 Spanish workers who live in Campo de Gibraltar and cross over to The Rock every day for their jobs. The executive says that any benefits for British workers in Spain are subject to an equivalent treatment for Spanish cross-border workers. British civil servants who obtained a Spanish government job while their country was part of the EU will be allowed to keep their jobs. On the trade front, some new customs rules may be introduced a few days before the UKs exit date to prevent a sudden accumulation of work if there is no deal and British products automatically become third-country goods subject to duties and paperwork. English version by Susana Urra. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman and Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis in Kyiv on Thursday discussed conditions of the second tranche of the IV cooperation program with the European Union in the amount of EUR 500 million. "I've met with Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis. We solve all issues on an on-going basis. We last met in December. At the same time, we received the first EUR 500 million of the IV cooperation program with the EU. Now we are discussing the terms of the second tranche at EUR 500 million," Groysman wrote on Twitter account on Thursday afternoon. According to the Ukrainian premier, a separate topic of negotiations with Dombrovskis was Azov Sea region. "Tomorrow Valdis Dombrovskis will visit Berdiansk. He will familiarize himself with the situation and determine what kind of support and assistance programs the EU can offer. Industrial and infrastructure development of the region ports, railway, highway service are important for us," Groysman added. It is possible to create a common currency that will be "a common ruble," not Russian ruble in the Union State, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said. "They are now offering currency to us. He [Russian President Vladimir Putin] tells me rhetorically that it will of course be the ruble. I am saying of course it will be the ruble. You have rubles and we have rubles. Why do we need thalers? That's not the issue. It will not be the Russian or Belarusian ruble, it will be our common ruble, if it is," Lukashenko said at a meeting with public and media in Minsk on Friday. The Ukrainian authorities must fully ensure the right of internally displaced persons from temporarily uncontrolled regions of Donbas and occupied Crimea to take part in the elections, the European Pravda newspaper has reported. "The Congress rapporteurs call on the Ukrainian authorities to take the necessary legislative measures, in particular in view of the next local election in 2020, to make IDPs' participation in the electoral process a reality," the European Pravda website said on Thursday evening referring to the press service of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. It says that as a first concrete step, the Parliament of Ukraine should pass the draft Law No. 6240 in order "to remove the existing barriers for IDPs' full participation in elections, in line with international standards." "The long-awaited adoption of this draft law would simplify voter registration procedures and enable all Ukrainian citizens to register to vote at their actual place of residence," the European Pravda quoted one of the Congress rapporteurs. He also added that there is a need for better voter education and information for IDPs, ensuring quality voters' lists and providing training for electoral authorities. Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has discussed the course of reforms and the progress in the implementation of the fourth macrofinancial assistance (MFA) program of the European Union (EU) with European Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis. The press service of the Finance Ministry reported on Thursday that during the meeting, Markarova said that the Ukrainian government has fulfilled more than half of the commitments required for the provision of Ukraine with the second tranche of EUR 500 million, and another five out of 12 conditions stipulated by the program are at different stages of implementation. In particular, the minister said that in the coming days, the results of the selection of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine will be announced, and on February 28, the Verkhovna Rada ratified the a multilateral convention to implement tax treaty related measures to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (Multilateral Instrument or MLI), and also adopted at first reading a bill on the introduction of the institution of an authorized economic operator. "Now our task is to do everything possible so that in the coming weeks the Verkhovna Rada will adopt a bill on preventing and combating money laundering, which is one of the key obligations of Ukraine to the EU, and introduce the institution of an authorized economic operator," the minister said. In addition, she focused on a number of measures that the government is taking to reduce the proportion of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banks of the public sector, and said that today the Finance Ministry published a first report on the status of working with NPL and will report about it every quarter. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on Friday intends to visit the contact line in Donbas and meet with the Ukrainian military. "Let me now, when I am leaving with a regional trip to meet at the front, at the contact line, to convey greetings from all of us to our soldiers, because for them what they defend is our family," the president said during a speech at the All-Ukrainian Family Forum in Kyiv on Friday morning. The Black Sea will never belong to Russia, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said. "The Black Sea will never belong to Russia. In fact, it will become a Bermuda Triangle for Russia," he said during the 'The Odesa Debate: Uniting Ukraine, the Black Sea Region and the Transatlantic Partners' conference held in Odesa on Friday. According to him, the only option is to oppose Russia from many sides. "We will definitely return Crimea. To do this, we must be strong from the economic point of view and in terms of security ... There is only a comprehensive response to handle Russia We must do it all together," he said. "Russia blocks our freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov. It attacks our ships, captures our sailors. Everything we do and must do should be focused on freeing our prisoners of war, as well as political prisoners and hostages." Interfax-Ukraine to host press conference 'Open Dialogue on Forest. Part One. Ukrainian Forest to Hew down or Not?' On Monday, March 4, at 16.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a roundtable talk titled "Open Dialogue on Forest. Part One. Ukrainian Forest to Hew down or Not?" Participants include Director General of the State Enterprise Ukrainian Forestry Innovation and Analytical State Centre Viktor Melnychenko; Woodworking Committee Coordinator of European Business Association Yevhen Kuzmenko; representatives of the developer of the WEM system - Austrian company Latschbacher GmbH Volodymyr Molochko, Andriy Vorony; expert of BRDO Office of Effective Regulation, Agriculture Sector, Iryna Gruzynska, and National Police representatives (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. By Florence Tan SINGAPORE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Asia's crude oil imports from Iran dipped in January to the lowest in two months after top buyers China and India slowed down purchases and as Japan recorded zero imports for a third month, government and trade data showed. Asia's top four buyers of Iranian crude - China, India, Japan and South Korea - imported a total 710,699 barrels per day of crude from Iran in January, 49 percent lower than the same month in 2018, the data collated by Thomson Reuters showed. U.S. sanctions on Iran that took effect last November have severely reduced its exports to Asia even though Washington gave waivers to eight countries allowing them to import lower volumes of Iranian oil for six months. Buyers had to overcome shipping and payment issues which delayed the resumption of Iranian oil imports in Japan and South Korea. Iran is the fourth-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. In January, Japan lifted its first Iranian oil cargo since the sanctions and the shipment is expected to arrive in February. South Korea resumed imports of Iranian oil in January after a four-month hiatus, but its shipments were down 75 percent from the same month last year, data from the Korea National Oil Corp showed. The third-largest buyer of Iranian oil in Asia has restricted its purchases to only condensate, an ultra light oil used in producing naphtha for petrochemical production. Imports by Japan and South Korea are set to pick up in the months up to May as buyers maximize the volume of oil they can lift during the waiver, trade sources said. February imports into Asia are expected to nearly double to 1.38 million bpd, Refinitiv data showed. Iran's biggest customer China imported 377,038 bpd in January, down from more than 500,000 bpd in December. Still China's January imports remained above the 360,000 bpd that Beijing can import under the waiver. India also scaled back imports in January to 270,500 bpd, below the 300,000 bpd that Iran's second largest client is allowed to import. The former Argentine judge who led the probe into the deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires was jailed for his role in a cover-up Thursday, but the country's former president Carlos Menem was acquitted. Juan Jose Galeano -- who for a decade led the initial investigation into Argentina's worst terror attack -- was jailed for six years for concealment and violation of evidence. Former intelligence chief Hugo Anzorreguy was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for his role in obstructing the probe of the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) center, which killed 85 people and injured 300 others. They were among 13 defendants facing a slew of corruption and obstruction of justice charges in a trial that lasted four years. "I am at peace. We wanted the truth and they are going to pay for what they did," said Jorge Burstein, a member of an association for the AMIA victims. But he added that the "investigation must continue." No one has ever been convicted of the bombing, though Argentina -- and Israel -- have long pointed the finger at Iran. They suspect a Lebanese Hezbollah operative of carrying out the suicide bombing on Tehran's orders. But decades of investigation in Argentina have been roiled by political interference and allegations of high-level corruption. Shady dealings On Thursday -- nearly 25 years after the bombing -- the court sentenced Carlos Telledin, a used car dealer who sold the van that contained the bomb, to three-and-a-half years in jail. Prosecutors said Galeano paid Telledin -- who was also a police informant -- $400,000 to implicate a group of police officers early on in the probe. Galeano however denied prosecutors' assertions that he had acted on the orders of Menem, who is now 88. Prosecutors had called for a four-year jail sentence for Menem, Argentina's president from 1989-1999, on grounds that he ordered the cover-up. The aging statesman gave little away in his testimony to the court, keeping mum on what his lawyer said were state secrets that could affect Argentina's "peaceful coexistence with other nations." As he left the court Thursday, Menem's lawyer Omar Daer described the former president as "relieved," adding that the court had shown "that there never was an order on his part to stop the investigation." Menem was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2013 for violating an international arms embargo in a weapons deal. Again, in 2015, he received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for bribing officials. But his status as a member of the Argentine senate means that he has benefited from immunity from imprisonment. Buried leads Decades of obstructed investigation meant a key line of enquiry in the case, the so-called Syrian track, was abandoned -- a lapse lamented by prosecutor Miguel Yivoff during the trial. That track led to Syrian businessman Alberto Kanoore Edul, a boyhood friend of Menem. The prosecutor said that on the day of the attack, the businessman had spoken with Telledin. Galeano, the ex-judge, said during the trial that the investigation was flawed by problems within the Argentine secret services. He was accused of acting on Menem's orders to drop the Syrian track of the investigation implicating Edul and other businessmen linked to the purchase of the bomb materials. In addition to Galeano and the intelligence chief, two police officers and two former prosecutors in the case were also sentenced to jail time. However, a former Jewish community leader, Ruben Beraja, as well as a lawyer and two former members of the intelligence services, were acquitted. Prosecutors separately indicted ex-president Cristina Kirchner in 2017 for whitewashing Iran's alleged role in the attack. Kirchner had the Argentine Congress's backing for a 2012 political deal with Iran to allow Iranian suspects to be questioned in their own country by Argentine prosecutors. The deal was never ratified by Tehran, but prosecutors investigating Kirchner for corruption say the deal was effectively a cover-up to absolve Iran in return for lucrative trade deals with her government. Tehran has always refused to hand over Iranian diplomats suspected of having participated in the planning of the attack. A villa owned by the daughter of a former member of President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet will be soon demolished, the state-run Mehr News Agency (MNA) cited the mayor of the city of Lavasan as saying on Thursday, February 28. Days earlier, Friday Prayer Imam of the city, Saeid Lavasani had disclosed that three officials affiliated with the Endowment Organization of Tehran and Shemiranat have been arrested and charged with land-grabbing, abusing their authority. Lavasan is an opulent town in Shemiranat County, Tehran Province, situated eleven kilometers (roughly seven miles) northeast of the capital Tehran. The effluent city is known for its pleasant weather and the luxurious villas and home to many upper-class and wealthy families. Many Iranians call it the Beverly Hills or Switzerland of Tehran. A tweet that says these villas belong to the sons of the elite and even the Shah could not imagine it. Land-grabbing and speculation have recently placed the area under the magnifying glass of local news outlets in recent months. Furthermore, social media is loaded with images of unbelievably luxurious mansions in the city, while tens of thousands of Iranians live in cardboard boxes, and even in newly dug graves. The name of Rouhani's former minister has not yet officially been revealed, but the daughter of his former minister of Industry, Mohammad Reza Ne'matzadeh, has recently been accused of illegally owning a plot in Lavasan and building a mansion on the usurped spot. Former minister's young daughter, Shabnam Nematzadeh is the owner and Managing Director of Rasa Pharmed, a company that dominates a big chunk of Iran's medicine business. Shabnam Nematzadeh's mansion, if demolished, will be the second of its kind. Late November last year, another villa built on the mountainside in a neighboring posh area, Oushan, was also demolished. There are other similar cases under investigation, local media report. Some of the mansions built by wealthy and influential families in posh areas near Tehran are even more majestic than the modest palaces of the former king of Iran, Shah Mohammad Pahlavi, who left the country after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Pictures of the former king's palace in Tehran are circulated on social media side by side the magnificent new mansions as a comparison. After an influential politician close to Irans Supreme Leader said February 28 that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not expressed any view on financial legislation demanded by an international watchdog, signs emerged that the top leader has indeed created a new hurdle for the passage of two bills. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has long demanded that Iran should strengthen its legal framework to guard against money laundering and financing terrorism. The Iranian parliament passed four bills to satisfy FATFs demands, but a constitutional watchdog blocked two of these bills, which were then referred to an arbitration body, the Expediency Discernment Council (EDC). Both the constitutional watchdog that rejected the bills and EDC are controlled by hardliners loyal to Khamenei. The approval has dragged on and now two members of EDC say the Supreme Leader has given guidance that the approval of the remaining two bills would need two-thirds majority, according to IRNA and Tasnim news agencies. There is no precedence of asking for two-thirds majority in such a case. Legally, such a majority is only needed for declaring the president of the country unfit to perform his duties. The FATF had given Iran a February deadline, which passed without Irans compliance, but the international watchdog extended the deadline to June. Eventually, if Iran fails to meet FATFs requirement, it will be listed once again in the FATFs black list, making it even harder for Iran to run its international financial affairs including repatriating its oil revenues. In the meantime, members of the parliament and the Expediency Council who have openly supported the ratification of the bills have received death threats from unknown senders, presumably hardliners. The commander of Irans Qods force Qassem Soleimani has said that enemies of the Islamic Republic want to renegotiate JCPOA or the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran in order to uproot Islamic movements. He called the attempt JCPOA2. Islamic movements is a term used by Iranian officials for Islamist groups in the region and beyond who are loyal to Shiite Iran. Soleimani added that From the very beginning the enemy saw JCPOA as a three-pronged objective, not just one, and the other two were more important than the first. Mehr news agency quotes Soleimani as saying, Obama wanted to reach the other two goals slowly, but Trump wants to traverse this road quickly and this road will lead to JCPOA3. The Islamic Revolution Guards commander did not give any further explanation about JCPOA 2 and 3. The term JCPOA2 was first used by President Hassan Rouhani three years ago when parliamentary elections led to the overwhelming victory of reformists and moderates. He called that developments the beginning of JCPOA2. Following the Majles elections in March 2016 Rouhani was not only certain that he would win the 2017 presidential election, but he was reassured that his alliance with Majles Speaker Ali Larijani would give him the upper hand against hardliners and he could go further to make yet another deal with America. He had said in his first speech after the JCPOA was agreed upon, that if the U.S. stood by its promises and if Iran benefited from the JCPOA, the road would be paved for talking on other matters, meaning negotiations on the Middle East and Iran's missile program. These were part of U.S. demands in 2014 when talks had started, but Iranians insisted at the time that they would not negotiate on anything except the nuclear issue. Within hours of Rouhanis remarks in March 2016, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a speech in Mashad criticized the idea of JCPOA 2 and without referring to Rouhani said some people have pinned their hopes on negotiations with America to solve Iran's problems. Subsequently, hardliners close to Khamenei started attacking the idea of further negotiations with the United States. By JCPOA 2, Rouhani also meant to introduce a set of reforms including transparency in the country's financial affairs. He is still furthering that idea not necessarily in the interest of sheer transparency, but with the intention of putting pressure on unaccountable financial institutions under the aegis of Khamenei's office, such as the holy shrine in Mashad and for-profit businesses run by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. These entities benefitting from non-transparent economic advantages not only stifle healthy economic competition in Iran but are also unsupervised organizations feeding corruption and enriching hardliners who then stand against reforms and normalization of relations with the West. At this point in time, Rouhani's second term in office is quickly coming to an end and he needs at least to be in a position as good as when he started the second term in 2017, to ensure a decent future beyond his presidency. The economic failure that escalated during 2018 has tarnished his image as a man who promised prudence and hope. To regain his former status, he needs to achieve a few reforms to help normalize the country's economy, for instance by having the four anti-money laundering bills demanded by the international financial watchdog FATF. But hardliners in the Guardian Council, Expediency Council, and probably Khamenei's headquarters are standing on his way. The United States left the JCPOA (nuclear agreement with Iran) in May 2018, demanding a broader agreement with Iran over its role in the region and its ballistic missile programs. In the meantime, the US re-imposed back-breaking sanctions on Tehran. Soleimani's comments, were also his way of balancing his statements following Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's resignation in which he supported Zarif as someone who is praised by Khamenei. Soleimani did not want the gesture to be taken as his support for the idea of opening up to America, which is what hardliners believe Rouhani and Zarif are doing. Beyond factional disputes and constant infighting between various political groups, Soleimani's statement banning talks with America is yet another indication of the military's intervention in the affairs of the state, and against the underlying principle emphasized both in the Iranian constitution and even in the teachings of Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini who founded the Islamic Republic. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 26 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said March 1, Trend reports. The Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: Chairman of Italy-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, member of Italys ruling Five Star Movement (M5S) party Senator Stefano Lucidi expressed hope for new initiatives to maintain dialogue between the parties to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports with reference to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Lucidi was delivering speech at a plenary session in the Italian parliament. The senator stressed that for more than 20 years, Armenia has been keeping the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent districts under military occupation. Lucidi added that while speaking of this conflict, it is important to emphasize the four UN Security Council resolutions adopted in 1993, demanding the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and which havent been implemented yet, and it is also important to recall the resolution of the European Parliament dated Oct. 23, 2013. He also expressed hope that new initiatives will be launched to maintain a dialogue between the parties, and the conflict that lasts for a long time will be resolved. Video footage of the speech is available below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7sAYOm2SVc 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. During the Karabakh war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia accepted the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices, Trend reports March 1 with reference to the statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the US) met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan Feb. 20 and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku Feb. 21 to discuss preparations for a meeting of the leaders in the near future, including possible topics for discussion, according to the statement. The Co-Chairs also held discussions with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in their respective capitals, reads the statement. The Co-Chairs were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. During the meetings in the region, the leaders briefed the Co-Chairs on their recent conversation on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The leaders and the Co-Chairs discussed the situation on the ground and their expectations for next steps. The Co-Chairs assessed positively the continuing lack of casualties on the line of contact. They also welcomed the developing discussions in the region about preparing populations for peace. The leaders accepted the Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices, says the statement. Following their visit to the region, the Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office travelled to Vienna and Bratislava from Feb. 28 to March 1 to brief the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, according to the statement. 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: The OSCE Minsk Group is the real international tool that can contribute to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov told Trend. He said that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are consistently working in this direction. I believe that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are actively working towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, they are making every effort to do this, the ambassador noted. Earlier, James Warlick, former US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, in an interview with the "Voice of America" (VOA) radio station voiced his opinion regarding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Warlick said that the current new situation opens up new opportunities for resolving the conflict. Speaking about the "new situation", the ex-co-chair added that he was referring to new opportunities which have appeared with the change of power in Armenia. 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, March 1 Trend: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan reacted to the statements made by Artur Vanetsyan, director of the National Security Service of Armenia, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Foreign Ministry. The Ministry noted that the fact that a high-ranking Armenian official spoke in this vein is a blatant attack against a years-long negotiating process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, contrary to its essence and logic, especially in light of the results of the last meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in Paris. In essence, what we have here is an audacious attempt to undermine the negotiation process and challenge the activities of the co-chairs. On the other hand, this statement is another clear evidence of Armenias direct involvement in the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and a desire to somehow "justify" its plans of annexing these lands, including via an illegal immigration policy, which fundamentally contradicts the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols to them." "In connection with this, we would like to remind the aggressor country that it is precisely Armenia who is responsible for all possible negative consequences of such provocative statements. Azerbaijan, for its part, will raise this issue at the leading international organizations, including the UN, the OSCE, etc. At the same time, we urge the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to make a decisive statement principally condemning such steps by the representatives of the senior political leadership of Armenia," the Foreign Ministry said. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: An event dedicated to the 27th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide was held in the US Congress, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani embassy in the US on March 1. The members and staff of the Congress, representatives of Azerbaijani community and other communities in the US, as well as a witness of the Khojaly tragedy Anar Usubov attended the event. Azerbaijani ambassador Elin Suleymanov told the participants of the event about the Khojaly tragedy, stressing that this is a genocide committed against the Azerbaijanis. Anar Usubov, a resident of Khojaly, who presently lives in the US, shared memories of his hometown and childhood in Khojaly, as well as bitter memories associated with the tragedy in Khojaly. The Khojaly genocide is a bloody page of the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide being carried out by Armenian invaders against the Azerbaijani people for over 200 years. 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. During the Karabakh war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Details added (first version posted on Feb. 27 at 11:55) Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 27 Trend: Following the official welcome ceremony, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili have held a one-on-one meeting. The presidents made speeches at the meeting. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said: - Dear Madam President, let me sincerely welcome you to Azerbaijan welcome to our country! First of all, I would like to congratulate you on winning the recent presidential election and to wish you every success. I am sure that your visit will be a very important step for the development of Georgian-Azerbaijani friendly relations. I am confident that our discussions will once again confirm that Georgia and Azerbaijan are countries very close to each other and our joint work is producing great results. We successfully cooperate in all areas, and this cooperation is deepening with every passing day. There are excellent results in the political, economic, cultural, transport and energy sectors. In fact, it is difficult to find an area where we would not cooperate. Of course, we have very clear thoughts on further cooperation. I am sure that during the visit we will discuss areas of future cooperation. Again, you are welcome! Details added (first version posted at 14:00) Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have today met with a group of culture and art figures. The head of state made a speech at the event. Speakers at the event included Chairman of the Union of Azerbaijani Writers, People`s Writer Anar, Chairperson of Azerbaijan's Composers Union, People`s Artist Firangiz Alizade, People's Artist Arif Babayev, People's Artist of Azerbaijan and the USSR, MP Zeynab Khanlarova, rector of Baku Music Academy named after Uzeyir Hajibayli, Peoples Artist Farhad Badalbayli, and People`s Artist of Azerbaijan and the USSR Tahir Salahov. President Ilham Aliyev then gave relevant instructions to address the important issues raised. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: Switzerland is ready to support the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ambassador of Switzerland to Azerbaijan Philipp Stalder said March 1 at a press conference, Trend reports. Stalder noted that three important meetings between the heads of state of Azerbaijan and Armenia took place namely in Switzerland. He said that if the parties express the corresponding desire, Switzerland is ready to provide this kind of support. 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, March 1 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Next week, Swiss ambassadors to 5 regional countries will gather in the Azerbaijani capital. Swiss ambassadors to Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus and Armenia will come to Baku, which is a very good opportunity to demonstrate the country's tourism potential, Philipp Stalder, Ambassador of Switzerland to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, said this during a press conference, Trend reports. The ambassador said that political, economic and cultural ties are developing between Switzerland and Azerbaijan, and noted that there is a good potential for developing ties between the two countries. Recalling the meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Switzerland in Davos in January 2019, the ambassador noted that political consultations will be held in Baku at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the two countries next week. The diplomat added that this year also marks 20 years of technical cooperation between Switzerland and Azerbaijan: "Over the years, cooperation has been carried out in various sectors of the economy. There is also a fruitful cooperation in the energy sector between Switzerland and Azerbaijan. Thus, in terms of energy security, the Southern Gas Corridor is of great importance, and a Swiss company owns a stake in the project." Minsk, Belarus, March 1 By Emin Aliyev Trend: The relationship between Azerbaijan and Belarus is a model of relationship between a Christian state and a Muslim one, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said on March 1 answering a question from Trend at a meeting with representatives of public and expert community, Belarusian and foreign media. Lukashenko noted that there are no problems between the two countries. One phone call from Ilham Heydarovich to me, one phone call from me to him and all the issues are solved, said the head of the Belarusian state. Lukashenko further spoke about his good, friendly relations with the national leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. I was a young president, while he was venerable, experienced. When I was delivering lectures, I cited Heydar Aliyev as an example. He was the most honest of the leaders of the Soviet Union. And we somehow formed very friendly relations, said the president. Ilham Aliyev and I have absolutely no problems, although he was in GUAM. He had obligations when the EU and America imposed sanctions on us. We were under sanctions. He did not keep silent anywhere and defended Belarus, supporting exactly like Georgias Saakashvili. I dont know if you like it or not, but he was downright battling for Belarus. He persuaded everyone in the EU, in America: You dont know Belarus; you dont know the president of Belarus. Why do you put pressure on them, roll them, and so on and so forth. Well, such are our relations on diplomatic, political issues, he said. As for the economy, Lukashenko expressed regret that Belarus cannot buy oil from Azerbaijan, as there is no corresponding logistics. "But Azerbaijan has something to trade with us. Azerbaijan is a very rich country," he added. Lukashenko noted that Belarus is creating a joint production in Azerbaijan, helping the country in petrochemistry and oil refining. The Belarus president also added that the two countries are cooperating in the military-industrial complex, despite criticism from Armenia. "I know the attitude of Azerbaijanis towards Belarusians. Cant ask for anything better. Our relations will live on as such, God willing. They treat us like brothers, even though we are Orthodox Christians and you are Muslims. It doesnt bother us. This is a model of a relationship between a Christian state and a Muslim one. And, generally speaking, I consider myself lucky: Muslims treat both me and Belarus all over the world as very, very dear people, and help very often," Lukashenko concluded. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) hosted a meeting of BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov and Director of TT-Gate company Turgay Turhan. It was also attended by representatives of management from both organizations. Opening the gathering, Elmar Gasimov provided detailed information about the Higher School. In his words, BHOS is distinguished from other national universities by close cooperation with transnational companies and direct integration in the industry. This strategic business partnership can be exemplified in the modern training laboratories set up and equipped by a number of companies including ABB, Emerson and Schneider Electric, said the rector. Director of TT-Gate company Turgay Turhan highly praised the Higher School achievements and expressed interest in developing bilateral cooperation. In his words, TT-Gate can organize training and professional development courses for the teachers of the Process Automation department as well as practical lessons and workshops for the students to be conducted by the company experts. In addition, TT-Gate is ready to invite the BHOS students to participate in the company internship program, said Turgay Turhan. It was also agreed that TT-Gate would provide the Higher School with advanced technologies and latest software to be used in the educational process. TT-Gate company, which operates in Azerbaijan as a representative office of Innovera company, provides high technology equipment and services. Innovera is a leading IT security and consulting company in Turkey. It provides services to a portfolio of enterprise customers including banking, telecommunications and government agencies. The company also facilitates the teaching process of educational institutions through a wide range of products and services. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Matanat Nasibova - Trend: The changes envisaged in the customs system of Azerbaijan are aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but the Agency for Development of SMEs isnt satisfied with the level of use of the mechanism of these changes by entrepreneurs, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Agency for Development of SMEs Natig Hasanov told Trend. He was responding to a question about the problems that SMEs can face when working with customs authorities. He said that there are no difficulties in the process of working with customs authorities in the field of small and medium business. The customs authorities are actively involved in the reforming process, which aims to support SMEs, he noted. The problem is that entrepreneurs are very poorly informed about the changes in the customs system implemented in order to support them. Therefore, we consider it important to strengthen the information platform, including with the direct participation of the customs authorities. The Agency for the Development of SMEs of Azerbaijan was established on the basis of the decree on improvement of management in the field of SMEs signed by President Ilham Aliyev in December 2017. The task of the agency is to ensure the consistency of reforms, as well as the improvement of the business regulation system and the application of effective coordination, enhancing the role and competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses in the countrys economy, and the compliance of the management system of this sphere with modern requirements. As a single structure with special powers, through the Houses of SMEs, the agency will organize, coordinate, evaluate and regulate the services rendered by state agencies and organizations in this area. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova Tehran, Iran, March 1 By Sara Riazi - Trend: Iran is to host the 7th coordination council and the North South Corridor ministerial meeting on March 4 -5 in Tehran. "The meeting is to be hosted by Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. Representatives of 13 member countries of International North South Corridor (INSTC) have been invited," Amin Tarafo the head of commercialization department at the Ministry, told Trend. The official indicated the aim of the meeting is to facilitate the transportation procedures in the INSTC. "Considering the coincidence of QazvinRasht railway inauguration with the meeting, it is a good event for both domestic and international transportation," he said. "The secretariat of the international corridor has been transferred to the deputy department of Ministry of Roads and Urban Development to follow the activities more coherently," Tarafo added. He also noted that the secretariat has established a mechanism to follow past and new agendas by cooperating with the member countries. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Rashid Shirinov Trend: China is interested to import of agricultural and food products from Kazakhstan, Trend reports via Kazakh media. The remarks were made by the representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce at a meeting in Beijing with a delegation of the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry headed by Vice Minister Gulmira Isaeva. During the meeting, the parties agreed to cooperate in a number of areas, including the organization of import orders from Kazakhstan to China with the support of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, organization of the second forum of interregional cooperation in Kazakhstan this spring, as well as promotion of Kazakh agricultural products to the Chinese market through electronic trading platforms. In addition, the parties agreed to implement a pilot project to create a veterinary and phytosanitary laboratory and an electronic trading platform at the Khorgos International Center for Cross-Border Cooperation, as well as a project to create a joint veterinary laboratory in the East Kazakhstan region. Earlier this month, the former Industry and Infrastructure Development Minister of Kazakhstan Zhenis Kassymbek said that it is planned to provide Kazakh exporters with a simplified access to the markets of China by inviting inspection commissions from the country to visit the exporters' enterprises. He noted that 500 billion tenge was allocated in Kazakhstan to strengthen measures to support exporters in 2019-2021, including 470 billion tenge for financial measures and 30 billion tenge for non-financial measures. (377.26 KZT = 1 USD on Feb. 28) --- Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashid Several cultures have gods or goddesses of wealth, for example Pluto and Fortuna (Roman), Lakshmi (Hindu), Renenet (Egyptian), and Teutates (Celtic). The Chinese god of wealth is Caishen (). To some extent, Caishen is the Chinese version of Santa Claus, because, like him, he is a generous, jolly man in red who dishes out good stuff (in the form of luck and prosperity) and is tremendously loved by billions of people. He is normally depicted wearing a traditional civil officials red robe and a ministers hat and carrying auspicious objects such as gold ingots, a ruyi sceptre , or scrolls with propitious words. Ancient Caishen, cartoon Caishen, and... miaow Last month, an interesting case related to Caishen was heard by the Beijing IP Court: can Caishen be registered as a trade mark?* Background On 3 May 2017, the applicant, Societe Des Produits Nestle S.A. (Nestle) filed a trade mark application (No 23913607) with the China Trade Mark Office. As shown below, the sign is a jolly man holding a gold ingot with the words (adding prosperity) on it. The Trade Mark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB), which was terminated on 18 February 2019 by means of Notice No 295 of the National IP Administration due to institutional integration, rejected the application as the sign, namely the figure of Caishen the folk deity, involved feudal superstition and thus fell within the scope of other adverse effect, which is prohibited by Article 10.1.8 of Chinas Trade Mark Law (2014). In response to this, Nestle filed an administrative lawsuit before the Beijing IP Court (the court), claiming that there was no direct connection between Caishen and the trade mark applied for and that, even if there was, it would not have an adverse effect on society. The courts decision The court affirmed the rejection of the trade mark application, though on different grounds. No adverse effect First, the court opined that the sign at issue contained enough features to be perceived as Caishen the Chinese god of wealth, eg, including: the hat with the ancient copper coins, the gold ingots in his hand, and the manifest wealth-related wish of adding prosperity -- a direct resemblance was certain. Nestle's trade mark application Second, the court pointed out that traditional culture did not equate to feudal superstition. The reasons why Chinese devotees worship Caishen were more because of a positive longing for a happy and prosperous life. The court further clarified that the purpose of Article 10.1.8 of Chinas Trade Mark Law (2014) is to prevent the uses of signs that would be detrimental to public interest and public order or to universally accepted morals and ethical norms. In other words, adverse effect merely refers to signs that could have a negative impact on Chinas political, economic, cultural, religious, ethical, or other public interests and public order. In summary, TRABs classification of the sign at issue as feudal superstition was overly harsh; thus, the court corrected this part of TRABs decision. Lack of distinctiveness As our learned readers might have guessed by now, the trade mark application would not be approved anyway as it would be contrary to Article 11.1.3 of Chinas Trade Mark Law (2014), which relates to distinctiveness. And this is what actually happened. Even with the supplementary evidence, the court still found that the sign at issue failed to fulfil the basic function of a trade mark, which is to identify the commercial origin of goods and services: Caishen has already been integrated into the life of the Chinese for a long time and has become a key symbol of the representation and the inheritance of the Chinese traditional culture. In conclusion, the court dismissed Nestles claims and upheld TRABs decision to reject the trade mark application in discussion. Comment Article 10 of the Chinas Trade Mark Law (2014) stipulates the absolute grounds for the refusal of registration of a sign as a trade mark. These silver bullets are deserving of attention because they can be used by any person as the reason for filing a request of trade mark invalidation or opposition and they are not subject to the five-year limitation period normally imposed on such requests. Furthermore, it is worth noting that when it comes to trade mark applications, China seems to adopt a relatively high social-morality standard. For instance, all the trade mark applications below have been rejected in China due to adverse effects: (foodie street) (duck shop) (eat your tofu) (goblin) UBER Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 1 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Head of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) William Thompson met with Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan Batyr Bazarov in Ashgabat and discussed further expansion of cooperation in the trade and economic sphere, Trend reports with reference to Turkmen Foreign Ministry. The parties also drew attention to the importance of increasing the countrys export potential and developing projects to attract international investments in state agencies, the report said. The OECD was formed in 1961 at the initiative of the US on the basis of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation. Turkmenistan holds one of the key positions in the region in terms of the supply of natural gas - China and Iran are importers. At the same time, Russia, the traditional buyer, which stopped buying Turkmen gas in 2016, is holding talks to resume purchases. Ashgabat has set a course for diversification of the economy, the industries of textiles and petroleum products have made a progress, the oil- and gas-chemical industries, as well as the industry for production of construction materials are actively developing. Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1 Trend: Azerbaijan is developing a local development plan for economic regions, as well as municipalities, Trend reports. The "Support to Local and Regional Development in Ganja Gazakh Economic Region (SLRD)" project, headed by the Ministry of Economy, is being implemented by the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH) on behalf of the EU and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany. As part of the project plans for Gadabay, Dashkasan and Tovuz districts have already been developed. The first stage for the preparation of a development plan for the city of Ganja, along with Gazakh and Goygol districts, has also been completed. This is to be followed by a development plan for other administrative regions of the Ganja-Gazakh economic region. Plans for the local development of municipalities are being developed on the basis of a methodology leaning both on the local legislation and international experience. Work on development plans is divided into two main stages. The first stage consists of conducting a socio-economic study of cities and districts. Then, based on the results obtained, a development plan is formed at the second stage. A special research group is formed for conducting a socio-economic study of each city and district. The methods of diagnostic analysis applied in forming a plan for the development of cities and districts are applied on the basis of a methodology approved by the Ministry of Economy. In addition, all the steps to be taken during the stages of the development plan are calculated, and the final document reflects the quality of work and the results obtained with the disclosure of specific real budgets for the expenditures to be made. This helps the government to evaluate the proposals received for each district, from local governments, and select priorities. According to Fariz Garayev, regional coordinator of the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH, a study was conducted in Ganja during the first stage. "The citys socio-economic and environmental issues were discussed here, with the participation of relevant structures of the district executive authorities, other enterprises, and organizations located and operating in the city. At the end of this stage, based on data from various sources and participants of the seminar, a socio-economic diagnostic report is being formed," Garayev added. The regional coordinator said that two documents were prepared as a result: a socio-economic diagnostics report and a city development plan. "Both documents are consistent with the Ministry of Economy and relevant executive authorities," said Garayev. According to him, after the approval of the pilot plans by the Ministry of Economy, development plans will be developed for all administrative cities and districts of the Ganja-Gazakh economic region, and the issues reflected in them will be included in the "State Program on socio-economic development of regions for 2019-2023. In addition, the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH, in 2014, in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Justice, in accordance with legislation and international practice, developed a methodology for the preparation of a development plan for municipalities, and for several years it has been applied in municipalities. Local development plans were drawn up for 43 municipalities. Moreover, in 2014, in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Justice, the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH developed (in line with the legislation and international practice) a methodology for preparing a development plan for municipalities, which has been used in municipalities for several years. Local development plans were drawn up for 43 municipalities. Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has once again signed a revolutionary decree aimed at improving the well-being of the people, Azerbaijani expert Zaur Mammadov told Trend. Recently, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on additional measures for addressing the issue of problem loans of natural persons. According to Mammadov, this decree is an important element of the social package, as solving the problem of loan debts of the population will significantly ease the financial burden, as well as restore confidence in the banking sector. "Problem loans were one of the most important issues that concerned citizens, as they made up a serious amount of about 1.6 billion manats - and the decree made by the head of state fundamentally solves this problem. This will positively impact the activities of banks, as the decree will largely restore public confidence in the banking sector," the analyst said. Mammadov said that the presidential decree, aimed at taking additional measures for addressing problem loans of natural persons in Azerbaijan, showed that the government keeps this serious problem in the center of attention, and is an important part of the reforms carried out in the social sphere. The decree provides for the payment of compensation for citizens whose loan burden increased due to the devaluation of the Azerbaijani manat in February and December 2015. The decree also creates opportunities for the restructurization of concessional terms of both dollar and manat loans with a delay of more than 360 days. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia will discuss expansion of cooperation in the field of energy, agriculture and the IT sector, Azerbaijans Finance Ministry told Trend March 1. These issues will be included in the agenda of the meeting of the fifth joint intergovernmental commission of the two countries to be held March 4. The sides will also discuss the development of trade relations and the increase in trade turnover, expansion of cooperation in food safety, labor and employment, healthcare, culture, tourism, education, youth and sports, religion, security, air communications, land reclamation and water management, the regulatory framework and other issues. The joint commission is co-chaired by Azerbaijans Finance Minister Samir Sharifov and Governor at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al Omar. During the meeting, the parties will also discuss the current state of economic cooperation, the work done after the fourth meeting of the intergovernmental commission and the prospects for expanding ties. Following the event, a final protocol will be signed and a round table meeting will be held with the participation of business circles of the two countries. Azerbaijans trade turnover with Saudi Arabia amounted to 30.9 million manats in 2018, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. About 24.3 million manats accounted for the import of Saudi products in Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend: The 24th meeting of Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council (UBTIC) is being held in Tashkent these days, Trend reports via Uzbek media. The annual session of UBTIC brought together entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan and the UK in order to provide an opportunity for both parties to learn more about the business opportunities available in both countries. This year more than 110 businessmen representing over 60 British companies took part in the event. This event attracts the largest number of participants in the history of UBTIC. The plenary session was chaired by Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Elyor Ganiyev and Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, the co-chair from the British side. Our country is confidently advancing along the path of cardinal reforms, the number of new investors in our market is increasing, but we understand that many foreign companies are still waiting for the moment - they look what will happen next. Once again, on behalf of the government, I want to firmly state that reforms in Uzbekistan are irreversible. They will continue on very confidently and efficiently, Elyor Ganiyev said. During the plenary session, the parties discussed practical measures for the development of trade and investment between the UK and Uzbekistan, cooperation in the field of health, education and tourism. Moreover, bilateral documents were signed on the creation of presidential schools in Uzbekistan that meet the international standards of a higher educational institution, as well as the construction of a complex of processing of agricultural products in the Kashkadarya region and multidisciplinary London Clinic. Following the first day of Uzbek-British Council for Trade and Industry, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by both parties. UBTIC is a trade promotion body, which was established in accordance with a bilateral agreement in 1994. This is an annual forum for promoting the development of trade and investment relations between Uzbekistan and UK. UBTIC provides support and assistance to British companies currently operating in the country or wanting to invest in Uzbekistan. Meetings are held alternately in Tashkent and London. --- Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: An export mission of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs will visit Warsaw, Poland, on March 6-10, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan. The export mission will include manufacturers of wine and other alcoholic beverages, foodstuff and cosmetic products. Azerbaijani businessmen will hold talks with Polish colleagues and discuss opportunities for expanding exports. According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Poland in 2018 amounted to 104 million manats, of which almost 8 million manats accounted for the exports of Azerbaijani products to Poland. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR is preparing for the implementation of Mayak project at Oil Rocks, Public Relations Head at SOCAR Ibrahim Ahmadov told Trend. Mayak project is aimed at increasing productivity in the oil and gas production sphere. "Currently, we continue to work out new initiative proposals within 28 May and Absheronneft oil and gas extraction departments and are preparing for the implementation of this project at Oil Rocks," he said. Ahmadov noted that in general, it is possible to implement this project in all oil and gas, as well as gas and condensate fields, developed under the direct operational management of SOCAR. Mayak project is implemented within Azneft production union of SOCAR in collaboration with McKinsey&Company. The projects pilot part was implemented by 28 May oil and gas extraction department of Azneft. Oil Rocks is the oldest field in Azerbaijan. Its development began in 1949. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Elnur Baghishov Trend: Iran is set to open 2 bank accounts for getting back the money from its gas and electricity exports to Iraq, Hamid Hosseini, Secretary General of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, told ISNA, Trend reports. Hosseini said that Iran has already made a decision on this issue, adding that Iraq will pay for electricity and gas in euros if it can, and in Iraqi dinars if not. "The Iraqi side has openly stated to the US that it is impossible to stop gas imports from Iran," he said. Noting that Iran is insistent on the gas debt to be paid in euros and the electricity debt in dollars, Hosseini added that, according to the deal between the Central Bank of Iran and the Iraqi side, the debt will be paid either in euros or in dinars. The withdrawal of the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) in May 2018, as well as the new sanctions against Iran in place since November, have affected the Iranian-Iraqi gas deals. The US forbade Iraq continuing importing gas from Iran a matter which left Iraq facing a dilemma, as there is no other country to supply Iraq with gas at least for the next few years. It is therefore that Iraq has been exempted from the sanctions for gas imports from Iran. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Italian Cassa depositi e prestiti (CDP) and Snam have signed a preliminary agreement aimed at promoting energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives in Italy, Trend reports citing a message from Snam. Reportedly, under the agreement, CDP and Snam will jointly promote public administration projects aimed at accelerating the energy efficiency of public real estate assets. As part of the collaboration, Snam will bring its industrial, technical and commercial expertise, while CDP will provide its financial knowledge as well as its ability to manage relations with the public administrations and competent institutions, reads the message. Internal and external energy efficiency is one of the cornerstones of our new Snamtec project for sustainability, energy transition and innovation, with a total investment of 850 million euro by 2022. We have already started training activities with various workshops and we are developing new projects for about 200 condominiums throughout Italy. This marks an opportunity for Snam to enter into a new market, said Snam CEO Marco Alvera. Snam is Europes leading gas utility. It has been building and managing sustainable and technologically advanced infrastructure guaranteeing energy security for over 75 years. Snam operates in Italy and, through subsidiaries, Austria (TAG and GCA), France (Terega) and the United Kingdom (Interconnector UK). It is one of the main shareholders of TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) and is the company most involved in projects for the creation of the Energy Union. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: Russia and Azerbaijan are actively building up the potential in bilateral trade and economic cooperation, in military cooperation, as well as in cultural, humanitarian and political areas. Mikhail Bocharnikov, Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan, shared his opinions on bilateral cooperation, the barriers impeding the effective development of relations, and other issues of international importance in an exclusive interview with Trend. On barriers in bilateral trade The simplification of mutual trade between Azerbaijan and Russia could be facilitated by the removal of unnecessary barriers impeding trade perhaps some heavy, customs-related, bureaucratic barriers, and even infrastructural ones. The parties are currently working to this end. One such example may be the bilateral efforts made for the soon completion of the construction of an automobile bridge over the Samur River on the Azerbaijan-Russia border. The new bridge may contribute to a freer movement of cargo flow, as well as the possibility of opening additional checkpoints in the same place, next to the existing bridge thanks to which it would be possible to set various other trade flows. Let us say, to direct cars through one point, trucks through another, buses through the third one, thereby expanding the capacity of border crossing points. Why am I talking about this? Because quite recently, the construction of this bridge was inspected jointly by the Azerbaijani and Russian ministers of economy, both of whom also happen to be the co-chairmen of our intergovernmental commission. It was thus decided to accelerate work in this direction. Digitalization as a mega trend in Russia and Azerbaijan Azerbaijan and Russia can use the digitalization process to expand bilateral economic relations. In terms of joint actions for the development of priority areas of economic cooperation, there are several roadmaps, one of which is dedicated specifically to digitalization. It is about the possibility of using mutual experience in digitalization. For example, in taxation, customs payments, electronic tracking of goods passing through certain trade corridors between our countries this will significantly reduce the time of transportation of such goods. As such, work is currently underway in this direction, and this issue is a subject of serious discussions and studies on both sides. Benefits of humanitarian cooperation As part of the expansion of humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, the opening of branches of three more Russian universities in Baku is expected. These are branches of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, the Higher School of Economics, and the Moscow State University of Humanities and Economics. By the end of 2019, it is planned to open a branch of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in Baku, and presently this issue is being worked out in detail. Advantages of economic interaction Russia and Azerbaijan aim to open joint ventures, and this is also in the center of attention of the state policy of our countries. As an example of this, I can mention the recent groundbreaking ceremony to open an enterprise for the production of Gazel cars of the Russian factory Gaz together with an Azerbaijani partner. The ceremony took place in Hajigabul, and I took part in the ceremony together with the ministers of economy of both countries. Russian interest in SGC Russia is considering the possibility of connecting to the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) for the supply of Russian gas to Europe. Recently, statements were made by the Russian Ministry of Energy that, if agreements are reached, it is possible to send gas from Russia through the final stage of the SGC. Presently, this idea is being worked out by the Russian side. On the benefits of the Caspian Convention The signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea by the five Caspian states opens up broad opportunities for the rational use of the resources available in the sea. The convention opens up the broadest opportunities because the five Caspian countries get the opportunity to establish direct economic relations within a single basin, to make decisions that would regulate the rules of conduct in the Caspian Sea in nature conservation, fishing and tourism. If we talk about the benefits of this document, then the development of tourism is important for the citizens of Azerbaijan and Russia, and, by the way, such goals are set, and they are being realized. Particular attention is paid to the development of sea tourism in the Caspian; work is underway on the concept of the Caspian Sea tourism and cruise communication. Today, sections of the Caspian Sea are more or less defined where states can carry out their economic activities, although, of course, some issues are still not fully resolved. And today a high-level working group deals with these issues, the first meeting of which was recently held in Baku. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova Mat Hayward/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Washington's Democratic Governor, Jay Inslee, emphasizing the "existential threat" of climate change to the safety of the United States, officially announced his candidacy for president Friday morning, joining a field of Democrats that's already swelled to more than a dozen candidates. Inslee, who also represented Washington in Congress for more than 20 years, is the first governor to officially enter the 2020 race. "We went to the moon, and created technologies that have changed the world," Inslee said in his announcement video posted Friday. "Our country's next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change." Standing before a crowd of a few hundred supporters Friday morning at a solar energy company just south of downtown Seattle, Inslee officially announced that he has joined the Democratic race for president. "I am announcing today that I am a candidate for President of the United States," Inslee told the crowd at A&R Solar. Inslee is making combatting climate change the singular issue of his campaign, hoping his focus on the issue will propel him from a little-known governor to a top-tier Democratic contender in an already crowded race. "We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last generation that can do something about it," Inslee said. "This is the 11th hour to defeat climate change," he added. The governor connected the issue of climate change to every other major policy challenge facing the United States, calling it a matter of national security, and a way to rebuild the American economy and help lift communities of color out of poverty. "If given this high honor I will make fighting climate change the number one priority of the United States of America," Inslee said. Inslee also ticked off the policy priorities that he has focused on as governor, including expanding green jobs in Washington State, passing education reforms that expanded access to early childhood education, and raising the minimum wage. He also called on the United States to legalize marijuana nationwide, something voters in Washington State passed in 2012. "If America wants to see a Washington that works, look west to Washington State," Inslee told the crowd. Inslee also laid out his strategy for breaking through in a crowded Democratic field, and what he believes is the best way to counter-message against President Donald Trump. Inslee said that his state is prepared to sue Trump over his national emergency declaration at the U.S.-Mexico border, and that he relishes the chance to go one-on-one with him if he wins the nomination. "I can think of no higher pleasure than to take on Donald Trump on a big stage. Ive done it in White House. Im the governor who went to the White House and told him he needed to quit tweeting and start listening to Americans. I feel very comfortable in that confrontation," Inslee told ABC News in an interview following his campaign launch, "Im happy that I was the first governor to call him out on his Muslim ban. Weve sued him successfully now something like 16 times, and well do it again on his emergency action on his vanity project on the wall, at the right moment." In a brief press gaggle with reporters after his announcement, Inslee called on Republicans in Congress to block Trump's national emergency declaration, saying his state may sue if the White House attempts to use funds appropriated to Washington State. "It is my hope that Republicans will stand up on their hind legs and finally honor the U.S. Constitution, rather than their oath to Donald Trump. If that happens we will stop it. If that does not happen, and he takes one dollar out of Washington, we will sue him to stop this illegal act," Inslee told reporters. Inslee was also asked if he would commit to declaring a national emergency over climate change if elected to office, considering he has called Trump's declaration "illegal," and "unconstitutional." "Under the existing circumstances I would not commit to declaration a declaration of a national emergency today," Inslee said, "The reason is, the best way to do this is to work with Congress to develop a national consensus about how to build a clean energy economy." When asked by ABC News why he would make a good figurehead for a Democratic Party that is getting younger and more diverse, Inslee again pivoted to his singular issue -- climate change. "Look my ideas are as fresh as anybody and I would argue fresher. The young people of America get climate change big time. They understand their lives are at risk, they understand the science, and they demand action by climate change, they got an ally in me," Inslee said. Despite his optimism, the Washington governor remains relatively known nationally but says that's a challenge he's faced before and overcome. "We won a state basketball championship 50 years ago, and we were underdogs then, and Im an underdog now, but I love winning, and we got a good chance to do just that," Inslee said. But the Seattle native, who's held elected office since 1989, is betting the growing threat of climate change will be a top-of-mind issue for Democratic voters. "This is a moment. This is the 11th hour to defeat climate change. It is a moment of great urgency, but it is also this incredible opportunity to seize for job creation," Inslee said in an interview with ABC News last week at the National Governor's Association Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. "Mother Nature is making it break through, not me. Because Mother Nature, aggravated by climate change and carbon pollution, has burned down Paradise, California, drowned Houston, and is now drowning Miami Beach," Inslee added. "This wake-up call is being delivered, and people are responding to it." Inslee will officially kick off his campaign with an event Friday afternoon in Seattle at a solar energy company, touting his work as governor growing his state's clean energy industry. The governor also will appear on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopolous," on Sunday, and will make his first trip to Iowa as a candidate on Tuesday, followed by campaign trips to Nevada and California later this month. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice. Details added (first version posted on 18:14) Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 28 By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend: Presidential decree on additional measures to address the problem loans in Azerbaijan will cover 800,000 people, Vusal Gasimli, Director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications, said at a briefing organized for journalists on Feb. 28. Gasimli said the state will allocate over 700 million manats to this end. Speaking about the mechanism of compensation, he noted that a loan of $10,000, taken until Feb. 21, 2015, amounted to 7,800 manats. After the devaluation, it became equal to 10,500 manats, and the state will pay the difference of 2,700 manats as compensation to individuals, he said. The same refers to the loans taken before the second devaluation until Dec. 21, 2015, he noted. In this case, a loan of $10,000 after the devaluation amounted to 15,500 manats, he said. It turns out that the difference between a loan amount before the first devaluation (in February 2015) and after the second devaluation was 7,700 manats, he added. The decree also provides for paying this difference from public funds, he noted. There is one unchangeable rule relating both to the first part of the decree and to its second part the maximum amount of compensation will be $5,000, he noted. The second part of the decree concerns loans of up to $10,000 or 17,000 manats overdue for more than a year, he said. These loans will be restructured by the state, he noted. For these purposes, the state will allocate 682 million manats to banks as soft loans, he added. According to preliminary calculations, about 400,000 persons fall within the second part of the decree, he said. The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA) and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) are instructed to determine the exact figures, Gasimli noted. Restructuring is an optimal opportunity for Azerbaijans banking sector, since banks wont lose anything from it, on the contrary, they will be able to receive funds in a manat equivalent for a long period on favorable terms, he said. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 Trend: With the decree of President Ilham Aliyev on additional measures for addressing problem loans of natural persons in Azerbaijan, questions arose among citizens about the application of benefits and the compensation mechanism, along with a number of other aspects. Economist Vugar Bayramov brought some clarity to a number of issues, Trend reports. 1. Will the compensation be provided to the citizens who took loans before the devaluation and paid them off without delays? The compensations are meant to be provided for exemplary borrowers. For example, a citizen took out a $10,000 loan before February 21, 2015 and, despite two devaluations, could not repay the loan. According to the decree, the resulting difference will be calculated in accordance with the approved mechanism, and this amount will be paid to the person who has already repaid their loan. 2. Are the persons currently paying a loan on a monthly basis obliged to continue their payments? Once the decree is passed, loan payments will also be calculated and a compensation will be provided. From this point of view, there are no problems in continuing the payment of loans: citizens will receive compensation for these funds. 3. Do the benefits apply only to loans taken in US dollars? Benefits apply to loans taken both in dollars and in manats, the national currency. A citizen of Azerbaijan who has taken a loan of up to 17,000 manats will also be able to enjoy this benefit. 4. If the amount of compensation paid on a loan is several times larger than the size of the loan after devaluation, how will a citizen be compensated? In this case, a bank account will be opened for the citizen, and funds will be transferred to the account, from which the citizen will be able to withdraw their money. 5. In which cases will the funds be paid to the bank, and in which cases to the citizen? The compensation will be calculated, and additional funds remaining after the repayment of the debt will be paid to the citizen. For example, the compensation that will be paid to a citizen after the assessment of the debt is $4,000. The citizen has a debt in the amount of $1,000. In this case, $3,000 are paid out of the citizens bank account, and the citizen is to repay their loan with the remaining $1,000. 6. Will the benefits apply to loans taken in euros or rubles? Benefits will apply to any foreign currency in an amount not exceeding $10,000. Thus, persons who have taken a loan in rubles will be able to enjoy the benefit as well. 7. Will compensation be paid to citizens of Azerbaijan who have taken a loan from non-bank credit organizations? Citizens of Azerbaijan who receive loans from all types of credit institutions will be able to enjoy these benefits. 8. Will persons with remaining credit debts be able to repay them after payment of compensation? For example, the balance on a citizens loan after the assessment is $6,000, and the compensation is $4,000. In this case, the remaining loan debt is $2,000. This debt is changed to manats - in this case, the remaining debt amounts to 3,400 manats. An interest-free loan for 1 year is provided to the citizen for the payment of this debt, along with another loan for 5 years at a 1 percent rate. A new payment schedule is drawn up, and monthly payments are significantly reduced. This basically means that the interest on the remaining debt is not calculated, and the loan period is extended so that the citizen can make the payment. 9. What is the time frame for preparing a list of citizens and defining the size of compensations? According to the decree, the list of natural persons and the amount of funds provided, which will be paid to each natural person, will be defined within 45 days. This means that all citizens will be informed of the amount of compensations they receive by late April at most. 10. When will citizens be able to get compensations? According to the decree, the latest date for payment of compensations is May 28. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: The number of Chinese tourists who will come to Azerbaijan in the coming years may reach 200,000 people, Chairman of Azerbaijans State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev said, Trend reports March 1. The expected growth is envisaged by the Memorandum of Understanding on the simplification of group tours of Chinese tourists to Azerbaijan between Azerbaijans State Tourism Agency and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, he noted. He said that in 2018, an increase of 50 percent was observed in this direction. We can say that several times more tourists will arrive from China to Azerbaijan, he noted. China has been chosen as one of the main priority markets to attract tourists to Azerbaijan. There are 12 target destinations in total, including the post-Soviet space, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Azerbaijans official travel agencies are already operating in six countries, including China. In the near future, their representative offices will open in four more countries. Nagiyev added that on the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, participants in the emerging tourism industry should ensure the double growth in the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan. Along with this, tourists should be satisfied with the services provided, he said. As part of the seventh meeting of the Azerbaijan-China Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation held February 27-March 1, a Memorandum of Understanding on the simplification of group tours of Chinese tourists to Azerbaijan between Azerbaijans State Tourism Agency and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China was signed March 1 in Beijing. From the Azerbaijani side, the Memorandum was signed by Chairman of Azerbaijans State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev, and from the Chinese side by Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of China Zhang Xu. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 1 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Construction of the artificial lake Altyn Asyr, which is in the center of the Karakum desert, will allow Turkmenistan to create an emergency supply of water, Trend reports via newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan". It is expected that due to natural filtration and various know-how, the reservoir can be used for the development of new lands, expansion of pastures, irrigation of green spaces, technical needs. Lake Altyn Asyr is intended for collecting drainage water from irrigated lands and diverting them to the giant natural hollou Garashor in north-western Turkmenistan. The capacity of the reservoir will be 132 cubic meters. The length of the lake is 103 kilometers, the width - 18.6 kilometers, the average depth - 70 meters. The total length of all drainage collectors included in the system of the lake is 2,659 kilometers. The volume of the Ak Yayla reservoir, where the water is collected, which is then discharged into the lake, is 970 million cubic meters. The creation of a large artificial reservoir in the Karakum has made it possible to radically improve the ameliorative condition of irrigated lands in all regions, to solve many problems associated with soil salinization, waterlogging and drought, the report said. The project is included in the Action Program for the Improvement of the Ecological and Socio-Economic Situation in the Aral Sea Basin, which is being carried out as part of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). Special equipment made by Komatsu (Japan) and Caterpillar (USA) was purchased for the construction of the lake. The total amount of investments allocated from the state budget for the implementation of the project, currently amounts to $553.378 million. "Neutral Turkmenistan" notes that the impetus in the region was given to animal husbandry, also by expanding the area of pastures in by 8.640 million hectares of land. This made it possible to have additional 4.6 million heads of small cattle and 60,000 camels. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 1 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: At the meeting of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov with representatives of international organizations accredited in the country, Charge dAffaires of the EU Liaison Office in Turkmenistan Lubomir Frebort expressed gratitude for supporting the development of relations with the EU, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmenistan State News Agency. The representative of Brussels also expressed appreciation for the initiatives taken by Turkmenistan on universal energy security and the ongoing policy of diversifying energy supplies, adding that Europe can become one of the directions for diversifying energy supplies with the implementation of a promising project to lay a gas pipeline across the Caspian Sea. The EU and Turkmenistan are committed to implementing a project designed to bring Turkmen hydrocarbon energy carriers to European markets. The negotiations have been underway since 2011. The project of laying a 300-kilometer gas pipeline along the bottom of the Caspian Sea to the shores of Azerbaijan is optimal for the delivery of Turkmen gas to the European market. Further, the Turkmen gas can be delivered to Turkey, which borders with European countries. At the German-Turkmen business forum held recently in Berlin, the issue of the prospects for Turkmen gas to enter the EU markets was raised. Head of the Turkmengaz State Concern Myrat Archayev said that the East-West gas pipeline that was commissioned in 2015 connected the gas-rich eastern regions of Turkmenistan with the west of the country and the Caspian coast. In addition, oil and gas resources are being developed in the Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea at accelerated pace, he said. With the participation of foreign investors, four projects are being implemented offshore and three onshore, he added. We are fully prepared to sell Turkmen gas in the European markets, only left to find the interested consumers, he said. Tehran,Iran, March 1 Trend: The director general of Chabahar customs Azizollah Shams has announced that the 3-month deadline for releasing 3,000 containers with imported car parts is over, and 1,000 of these containers will be released in 20 days. Previously, Shams said that of the 10,000 containers of imported spare parts, some 3,000 of them are held up at the Chabahar customs, and they belong to SAIPA and Iran Khodro carmakers. "Iran Khodro Khorasan branch and other auto branches have implemented the necessary efforts to claim the containers that are ready to be released," he said, Trend reports citing IRNA. He went on to add that the remaining containers at the customs aren't being released not because they were seized, bu the because the importers have not completed the necessary procedures to obtain the release documents. "The value of imported cargoes has not been declared to the customs yet," he said previously. "The customs is providing facilities for the importers to store cargoes, and they can release up to 70-80 percent of the imported goods, the rest would remain as bail." "Since two major auto companies announced that bank problems is the reason for delay in releasing the containers, the customs have offered a one month extension, however if the spare parts are not released in this period, the imported items would be considered abandoned goods," he explained. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus on Thursday called on India and Pakistan to refrain from using military force, Trend repoirts citing Xinhua. Belarus is deeply concerned over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the press service of the ministry said. The ministry calls on the two countries "to show prudence and restraint, and use all possible means to remove tensions through negotiations and consultations, without resorting to military force." Belarus consistently pursues a peaceful foreign policy and strongly advocates the resolution of any disputes exclusively by peaceful means, the ministry said. Belarus also resolutely condemns any forms and manifestations of terrorism, regardless of the origin and motives of terrorists, the ministrIndia and Pakistany added. Two of the three terminals at the airport of the West German city of Duesseldorf have been reopened after a security incident while the third terminal is expected to open shortly, a spokeswoman for the airport said on Friday, Trend reports referring to Reuters. Police on Friday cleared all gates at the airport after three unauthorised individuals entered the security perimeter, a police spokeswoman said. She said the police was interrogating two of the three individuals, while it was still searching for the third person, adding that the reasons for the incident were yet unknown. The German government will extend the halt on arms exports - due to run until March 9 - to Saudi Arabia by two weeks, magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday, without citing its sources, Trend reports referring to Reuters. It said Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who is also vice chancellor, had agreed on that. Germany said last November it would reject future arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It has not formally banned previously approved deals but has urged industry to refrain from such shipments for now. Thousands of students in the German port city of Hamburg marched out of school on Friday led by teenage Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg to call for more action on climate change, Trend reports referring to Reuters. The protest is part of a global movement known as School Strike 4 Climate or Fridays For Future launched last August when Thunberg began protesting outside the Swedish parliament on school days. About 3,000 students marched through the streets of the port city chanting: We are here, we are loud, because you are stealing our future. Thunberg said the school strikes would go on until politicians took firmer action against climate change. For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis. But we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer, she said. The Hamburg demonstrators also demanded an end to coal-fired energy. Germany is planning to phase out coal by 2038 and has imposed higher emission standards on cars, but higher costs for cleaner vehicles and power are concerns for the government and the industry. Last month the 16-year-old Thunberg joined protests in Belgium, where she won a European Union pledge to spend billions of euros combating climate change during the next decade. The youth initiative has called for nationwide strikes on March 15 as part of an international day of action by students in which more than 40 countries are expected to participate. German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said on Twitter the protests were impressive. But Ties Rabe, education senator for Hamburg state, said that although he supported the young peoples attempts to make the world a better place: No one improves the world by skipping school. 90 percent work on Muglin bridge complete; set to open on Nepali New Year Ninety percent work has been completed on the new arch bridge over Trishuli River, which links Muglin Bazaar and Anbu Khaireni along the Prithvi Highway, according to officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he intended to win the upcoming parliamentary election and to remain in office for many years despite looming corruption charges against him, Trend reported citing Sputnik. Israeli Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit announced earlier in the day his intention to file three corruption charges against Netanyahu, including bribery, fraud and breach of trust. According to local media, Mandelblit will give Netanyahu the opportunity to argue against the indictment during pretrial hearings. "I intend to keep working at my post I am going to serve as prime minister for many more years. But it all depends on you, citizens of the State of Israel," Netanyahu said during his address to voters. Israel's Top Cop Plans to Indict Netanyahu on Bribery, Breach of Trust, Fraud Charges Pending Hearing - Reports According to the prime minister, he has fallen victim of "witch hunt" aimed at affecting results of the elections. Netanyahu stands accused of lobbying for Israel's telecom giant Bezeq and promising one of the largest newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth, to deal with its rival in return for favorable coverage, as well as receiving gifts worth nearly $300,000 from businessmen. The indictment comes more than a month ahead of the general election on 9 April. Netanyahu is seeking a fourth straight term and his fifth overall. He has denied the allegations. His defense team has unsuccessfully tried to prevent all announcements on the cases due to a possible impact on the outcome of the vote. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed hope that bilateral relations with Israel would stay on track, as Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced his intention to charge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three probes, pending a hearing, Trend reports referring to The Times of Israel. Putin told journalists in Moscow that Netanyahu was personally overseeing the consistent progress in diplomatic relations between the two countries. We hope that despite internal political events, the pre-election situation, no matter how it unfolds, continuity will be preserved in the development of Russian-Israeli relations, Putin said, according to a statement from the Russian embassy in Israel. As for the development of our bilateral relations, there has been quite consistent progress. We must acknowledge the Israeli leaderships efforts: Prime Minister Netanyahu is working on this personally, he said. Putins remarks came a day after he met Netanyahu in Moscow to discuss military cooperation in Syria, where Israel is waging an airstrike campaign against Iranian military targets. Relations between Israel and Russia have strained since September, when Syrias air defense systems shot down a Russian plane by mistake during an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian military installation. The resultant deaths of 15 Russian troops caused serious tensions between Israel and Russia. Netanyahu and Putin have spoken several times since the incident, and had a brief encounter in Paris in November. Prior to his Moscow visit, Netanyahu said he and Putin would focus on Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and discuss how to coordinate and avoid military clashes on Syrian territory. Netanyahu rushed back to Israel after Wednesdays meetings to prepare for Mandelblits indictment announcement. Meanwhile, Mandelblit has said he intended to charge the premier pending a hearing, where Netanyahu would be given a chance to defend himself before charges are filed. The announcement comes ahead of April 9 elections in which Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from a centrist political alliance headed by a respected former IDF chief of staff, Benny Gantz. Speaking in a televised statement a couple of hours after the attorney generals announcement, Netanyahu called the corruption allegations a witch hunt meant to topple him. Netanyahu, who rejects all the charges against him, opened his remarks by thanking Putin and US President Donald Trump for backing his strong leadership style. This special connection with the leaders of the world powers isnt something to be taken for granted, he said. Ive built it up for years, and it helps me ensure our security and future and defend our country. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that the alliances enlargement to the east was not a provocation against Russia, dismissing such assessments as the concept of spheres of influence that should be left behind, Trend reports citing Sputnik. The statement was made at the GLOBSEC public event in Slovakia, which hosted talks of the Bucharest Nine group the countries of NATO's eastern flank earlier in the day. "It is up for the 29 allies and an applicant country to decide if and when to join. No one else has a say because often I hear If Ukraine joins, If North Macedonia joins, if Georgia joins, that is a provocation against Russia, it is an aggressive action against Russia This concept is totally wrong because I strongly believe every nation has the right to decide its own path, and NATO totally respects that regardless whether they work for membership in NATO or they say we are neutral," Stoltenberg said. As an example, he referred to Finland, Sweden and Austria, which are non-members but are still NATOs close partners. "We respect that 100 percent. No problem. If they want to be neutral, be neutral," he added. Stoltenberg reiterated that the NATO enlargement is "not the provocation against the neighbor." "[If we are in the concept] of a sphere of influence that big powers can decide what small neighbors do than we are in a very, very dangerous world, that is the world we try to leave behind," he said. The NATO chief also added that he was "very glad" that, when his home country, Norway, decided to join NATO in 1949, the United States, the United Kingdom and other allies said: "Norway is a small country. They want to join. Welcome." According to Stoltenberg, it happened despite the fact that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin "did not like it." Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that Moscow considers NATO's policy of enlargement in Europe a relic of the Cold War, an erroneous and destructive military and political strategy. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, commenting on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's signing the law on the countrys intention to join NATO last week, called it a provocation aimed at disrupting the Minsk agreements. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Pakistan will not participate in the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member-states, to be held in Abu Dhabi on March 1, Trend reports referring to the Arabic media. Reportedly, the reason for Pakistans refusal is the UAEs official invitation of India to attend the meeting as an honored guest. The meeting of foreign ministers will be held on March 1-2, 2019 in Abu Dhabi and will be the 46th meeting in a row. On Feb. 26 morning, Indian Air Force fighter jets attacked a big training camp of the Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistani part of Kashmir. As a result of the air raid, many militants were eliminated, their vehicles, weapons and ammunition were completely destroyed. Indian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vijay Gokhale said that a preemptive strike was "absolutely necessary" because the group was preparing suicide attacks in various parts of India. Moreover, according to New Delhis opinion, Pakistan has not yet taken any practical steps to eliminate the infrastructure of terrorists on its territory. The crisis in relations between India and Pakistan sharply worsened after Feb. 14, when a suicide bomber blew himself up near paramilitary policemen in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. Forty-five people were killed as a result of the attack. According to New Delhi, responsibility for the attack was claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed. India accused Pakistan of supporting terrorist groups. Islamabad dismissed the allegations as unsubstantiated, suggesting New Delhi to conduct joint investigation into the incident. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Indias cabinet has approved a scheme to spend $1.4 billion to subsidize sales of electric and hybrid vehicles as part of efforts to curb pollution and reduce dependency on fossil fuels, Trend reports referring to Reuters. Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that the government could approve the scheme, known as Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME), as early as this week. Under the scheme, subsidies would be offered based on the battery capacity of the vehicle, ranging from buses and cars to three-wheelers and motorbikes, a government statement said. The incentives would be applicable only on vehicles costing less than 1.5 million Indian rupees ($21,177). The benefits of the incentives will be extended to only those vehicles fitted with advanced batteries using lithium ion or other new technologies, the government said. India, one of the worlds fastest-growing car markets, still has negligible sales of electric vehicles (EVs). The government had set a target in 2017 for all new vehicles to be electric by 2030, but critics said the high cost of batteries and a lack of charging points were major obstacles. Carmakers also said the target was too ambitious. The transport ministry later scaled back that target to EVs making up 15 percent of vehicle sales in five years. India will spend 100 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) over three years on incentives, the government said. A source had earlier told Reuters that subsidies would amount to 10,000 rupees for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of battery capacity in a vehicle, amounting to about 50 percent of the battery cost. The average price of an electric car in India is now about 1 million rupees. Cars typically have a battery up to 20 kWh, so the discount under the new scheme would be 200,000 rupees. Automakers Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors both produce electric cars in India. Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Motor Co build hybrid cars. Maruti, controlled by Japans Suzuki Motor Corp, last year said it would start testing 50 electric vehicle prototypes. It plans to launch EVs in India around 2020, in cooperation with Toyota. ($1 = 70.8300 Indian rupees) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned "the deadly terrorist attacks" that took place in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, Trend reported citing Xinhua. In a statement, the UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Guterres "trusts that Somalis will not be deterred by such violence from pursuing a peaceful and prosperous future." The secretary-general reiterated the support and solidarity of the United Nations with the people and federal government of Somalia in this endeavour. At least 30 people were killed when a powerful car bomb blasted outside a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday night. The al-Qaida linked group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted the hotel which is popular with politicians and government officials along with high profile businessmen. Russian-Japanese consultations between deputy foreign ministers will be held in Moscow on March 5, Kyodo News reported on Friday, citing the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affair, Trend reports referring to TASS. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori will take part in the consultations, Kyodo News reported. They are expected to share their positions on the development of the peace treaty between the two states. On February 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono agreed at a meeting in Moscow that their deputies Igor Morgulov and Takeo Mori will hold consultations on the peace treaty in the coming weeks. A round of strategic dialogue between the first deputy ministers is scheduled for April 2. Russia and Japan have been negotiating since the middle of the past century to develop a peace treaty on World War II results. In November 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to galvanize this process based on the bilateral Joint Declaration as of October 19, 1956, which states the end of war between the two states and the restoration of their diplomatic and consular relations. The Soviet government also agreed to give to Japan Shikotan Island and some small uninhabited islands of Lesser Kuril Chain under the condition that they will be transferred under Tokyos control after the signing of the peace treaty. The declaration was ratified by the two states parliaments on December 8, 1956. A new sniper system being developed in Russia under the experimental design work codenamed Ugolyok will be ready in four years, Chief Designer for the Ratnik Soldier Gear at the TsNIITochMash defense contractor Oleg Nekrasov said on Friday, Trend reports referring to TASS. The new rifle will be chambered for Russian rounds, although it will have NATO calibers: .308 Winchester (7.62x51 mm) and the more powerful .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70 mm). "The Institute [TsNIITochMash] is carrying out work on new sniper systems under a technical assignment from the Defense Ministry," the chief designer said. "It will be necessary to develop new rifles, new sights and new cartridges in the NATO calibers: .308 Winchester and .338 Lapua Magnum, new gunpowder and new detonators. The work is planned to be completed in four years," Nekrasov said. The new bi-caliber sniper rifle and its ammunition load will be created using solely domestic materials and components, the chief designer stressed. As TsNIITochMash Deputy CEO Mikhail Levshunov explained, six different rifle prototypes are currently undergoing tests as part of this experimental design work. "Two rifles of different ammunition suites from the TsKIB (the Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Guns, a branch of the Shipunov Instrument Design Bureau), two rifles from the Kalashnikov Group and our two rifles," Levshunov stressed. The rifles developed by Lobaev Arms are not involved in the tests as they do not meet the Defense Ministrys requirements for domestic components and cannot comply with all the state standards, TsNIITochMash specified. Hi-tech firm developing new sniper rifle for Russian troops Russias TsNIITochMash defense contractor (part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) is developing a new semi-automatic sniper rifle codenamed Ugolyok and chambered for .308 and .338 Lapua Magnum rounds, TsNIITochMash CEO Albert Bakov told Izvestia daily on Thursday. "Work is underway on the Ugolyok project. It relates to developing sniper systems for the Defense Ministry - two semi-automatic sniper rifles. We are developing rifles for the .308 and .338 Lapua Magnum rounds," Bakov said. TsNIITochMash earlier carried out similar experimental design work for special services but the requirements set by the Defense Ministry are tighter, he pointed out. "They [the special services] employ a somewhat different approach towards complete sets than the Defense Ministry, which has set tight conditions for us: no imported components," the TsNIITochMash chief executive explained. The Ugolyok is being developed not as a replacement for the Dragunov sniper rifle, he emphasized. "One can spend several billions [billions of rubles] [on developing a weapon] for the distances, to which the Dragunov sniper rifle operates, and achieve nothing. The Dragunov has been brought to its perfection," the chief executive said, adding, however, that in some cases, rifles operational at larger distances are needed." Now the basic task for developers is to create new rounds, he said. The first models are ready and are undergoing trials and they are being finalized based on the comments that have been made. The rounds are an integral part of the sniper system that includes the rifle and the detachable equipment, the TsNIITochMash chief executive said. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Twenty one people were detained for organizing gambling games in Turkeys Ankara and 13 other cities, Trend reports referring to the Turkish media on March 1. Among the detainees are journalists, as well as a TV presenter, whose names have not yet been disclosed. As part of the operation, 106 million Turkish liras were confiscated. A ban on a number of gambling games has been imposed in Turkey since 1996. Earlier, the police of Turkeys Adana province carried out a big operation in 11 districts of the city against the organizers and participants of illegal gambling games. More than 500 people were detained. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: The shipping channel in Istanbul is a project aimed at Turkeys national security, former speaker of the Turkish parliament Binali Yildirim said, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish media. He said that every year, 12,000 vessels pass through the Bosphorus, transporting over 140 million tons of oil. In case of collision of ships in the Bosphorus, serious environmental catastrophe may occur, he noted. The shipping channel in Istanbul is an alternative sea route. The intention to implement the project of construction of the Istanbul shipping channel was announced for the first time in 2011 by the current President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The length of the shipping channel in Istanbul will be 43 kilometers, and in the framework of the construction project, a special authority will also be created in order to control the operation of the channel after its commissioning. The purpose of the construction of the Istanbul channel is to reduce the burden of shipping on the Bosphorus Strait, as well as to prevent the threat of environmental and man-made disasters on one of the most intense sea routes in the world. The width of the Istanbul channel, according to plans, will be 400 meters, and its depth - 25 meters. The channel will be able to let pass 150-160 vessels per day. The Bosphorus is used by an average of 150 vessels per day, of which about 30 are oil tankers. Annually about 150 million tons of oil and oil products are transported through the Black Sea Straits, while the throughput capacity of the Bosphorus is estimated at 200 million tons. The Istanbul channel will run parallel to the Bosphorus and will actually make the European part of Istanbul an island and finally separate it from Europe. The channel will pass from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea through the Kucukcekmece Lake. On the banks of the artificial channel, it is planned to build new residential complexes, which will be connected with other areas of the 15 million metropolis thanks to modern transport infrastructure, including metro and high-speed trains, as well as with the third airport in Istanbul. As part of this project, the construction of a new port is also expected. It will be possible to use tankers with a length of 275 meters, a width of 48 meters and a capacity of 14,500 DWT on the Istanbul shipping channel, which is being built as part of the governments Vision 2023 plan. The construction of the navigable channel will continue for five years and the minimum service life of the canal will be 100 years. The official exchange rate for March 1 is 5.2183 TRY/USD. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Consumers stock up on gas as commission row persists Consumers are rushing to stock up on cooking gas fearing a possible shortage with Nepal Oil Corporation and gas bottlers still locked in battle over the commission rate. Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: In 2018, 160 shipwrecks were reported in Turkey, leading to the deaths of 17 people, the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure told Trend. According to the information, 602 people were rescued and 22 people went missing during the shipwrecks in Turkey recorded in this period. It is noted that no cases of maritime crimes were reported in Turkey for 2018. According to the Turkish Ministry, 14 aviation-related accidents were recorded in Turkey in 2018, during which 26 people were killed and 7 were rescued. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Seven members of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization were detained in Ankara, Trend reports via Turkish media. Reports noted that five of the detained terrorists are citizens of Turkey, and two are citizens of Iraq. All the detainees took an active part in the gang formations in Syria and Iraq, as well as spread the ideas of the IS, the creation of a global "caliphate" in Turkey. On Nov. 5, a major operation was carried out against members of the "Islamic State" in 11 provinces of Turkey. Some 24 people, who were engaged in raising funds for terrorists in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Libya, were arrested. Also, cash money of more than $500,000 and more than two million Turkish liras were confiscated during the operation. The names and nationalities of the detainees were not disclosed. Meanwhile, 33 members of IS were detained in Istanbul in July. As part of special operations in May 2018, the Istanbul police detained 51 members of the IS terrorist organization. Syrian citizen Riad Haji Osman, one of the IS executioners, was detained during a special operation in Turkeys Adana Province on Apr. 13. Kifah Bashir Hussein, the so-called minister of health of IS, was detained in Sanliurfa in southeastern Turkey on Jan. 24. On Jan. 12, the Turkish police detained the so-called minister of agriculture of IS, Tarik Ahmet. In December 2017, a 28-year-old terrorist nicknamed Mahmud, one of the IS executioners, was detained in Turkeys Hatay Province on the border with Syria. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Three family members, including one man and two women, were killed and a 17-year-old boy was seriously injured in a deadly crash on an interstate highway in Oakland, Northern California early Thursday morning, authorities said, Trend reports referring to Xinhua. California Highway Patrol (CHP) Spokesman Herman Baza told Oakland-based KTVU news outlet that the victims were family members, whose vehicle slammed into a big-rig trailer that was parking on the shoulder in the curve of Interstate Highway 80 (I-80) in Emeryville, Oakland, northeast of San Francisco. The boy is now being treated in a hospital for serious conditions, according to Baza. The family was believed to be traveling toward San Francisco. CHP said the driver of the trailer was not injured and he was sleeping in the cabin of the truck at the time of the accident. Baza said several factors may have contributed to the crash, but wet roads from recent stormy weather and speed were the most likely reasons why the driver of the ill-fated vehicle lost control. During their latest meeting in Vietnams capital Hanoi, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to keep negotiating on ways to improve bilateral relations, North Koreas state-run news agency KCNA said on Friday, Trend reports referring to TASS. On the second day of the summit, Kim Jong Un met again with US President Donald Trump at Metropole Hotel in Hanoi one-on-one, before having extended talks with their aides attending. The agencys detailed report of the meeting says the two leaders began the talks with appreciating "a remarkable progress", which "has been made in the historic course of implementing the Singapore joint statement." The two leaders held "a constructive and candid exchange of their opinions over the practical issues arising in opening up a new era of the improvement of the DPRK-U.S. relations on the basis of the progress." "At the talks they shared the common understanding that the efforts made by the two sides and proactive measures taken by them to defuse tensions and preserve peace on the Korean peninsula and completely denuclearize it were of great significance in building mutual trust and making a fundamental turn in the decades-long bilateral relations characterized by mistrust and antagonism," KCNA said. Besides, Kim Jong Un and Trump "listened to each other's views on the issues to be resolved without fail at the present phase in order to carry out the joint goals specified in the Singapore joint statement, and had an in-depth discussion of the ways to do so." According to KCNA, the two leaders "appreciated that the second meeting in Hanoi offered an important occasion for deepening mutual respect and trust and putting the relations between the two countries on a new stage" and "agreed to keep in close touch with each other for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the epochal development of the DPRK-U.S. relations in the future, too, and continue productive dialogues for settling the issues discussed at the Hanoi Summit." The agency said that Kim Jong Un and Trump agreed to hold another meeting in order to continue fruitful negotiations. However, the agency made no mention of the fact that contrary to initial plans, the Hanoi summit produced no joint declaration. Following several meetings in Hanoi, Kim Jong Un and Trump chose not to sign a bilateral document, agreeing to continue the dialogue instead. Commenting on the results of the summit, Trump told reporters that the North Korean side was seeking the cancellation of all sanctions in exchange for dismantling the nuclear facility in Yongbyon. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, in his turn, said that Pyongyang had requested Washington partially remove sanctions, particularly those affecting civilian industries and common people, but not all of them as the US leader had stated. The first summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump took place in Singapore on June 12, 2018. The parties signed a joint document, in which Pyongyang committed to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula in return for US security guarantees. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Friday that his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi had been substantive, adding, We know what they want and they know what we must have., Trend reports referring to Reuters. The second summit between Trump and Kim collapsed in Vietnam on Thursday without any agreement or immediate plan for a third meeting between the two leaders or their delegations. The two sides gave different reasons for the abrupt end in talks about denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Trump told reporters on Thursday that North Korea wanted all of the sanctions lifted in their entirety. But the North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho disputed that claim during a midnight news conference, saying North Korea had asked only for a partial lifting of the sanctions in exchange for dismantling its main nuclear site at Yongbyon. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has actively supported the talks, said South Korea will work with the United States and North Korea to ensure an agreement on denuclearization. US Naval and Marine Corps commanders declared that the Navys F-35 variant, the F-35C Lightning II, is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win, Trend reported citing Sputnik. The F-35C has officially reached Initial Operational Capability (IOC), the Navy said in a press release. This means the squadron is staffed, trained and equipped for missions supporting the Navy fleet, the service explained, including all software upgrades, spare parts, tools and accoutrements and a working Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS), the jet's advanced computing system. It also means the carrier that will support the 10-jet squadron is certified and prepared to host them. "The F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win," Naval Air Forces Commander Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller said in the statement. "We are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force." Two fully vaccinated persons, who returned from abroad last month, have tested positive for the new Omicron strain of coronavirus in Mumbai on Monday taking India's tally to 23. Dark clouds of conflict The ongoing tension between India and Pakistan is taking a dangerous turn The Indian air force crossed Pakistani airspace and carried out strikes against alleged terrorist training camps within Pakistan-administered territory, followed by Pakistans own airstrike. Gandaki Medical College students warn of moving court against steep fees Despite the government fixing the fee for MBBS course at Rs4.24 million for medical schools outside the Valley, Gandaki Medical College is found to have been charging students more. It is worth mentioning here that in violence between India and Pakistan border, Pakistan airspace continues to be closed due to mounting tensions with India; China has opened a part of its airspace for foreign airlines to reroute. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) launched an emergency plan under which it has notified domestic flight companies and asked them to cooperate with the air force to ensure the safety of flights and implement temporary flight plans. The direction came after the Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday. However, thousands of air travellers have been stranded worldwide due to Pakistan closing its airspace. However on Thursday, Pakistan partially opened the airspace and assured that it would be fully reopened by Friday. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had on Thursday temporarily restored Pakistani airspace for commercial aviation, allowing some flights to depart. also read JeM chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan but unwell, Pakistan Foreign Minister admits On Thursday, at least three commercial flights departed from Pakistan. The three flights included Emirates flight number EK637 from Peshawar to Dubai, Air Arabia G9825 from Peshawar to Ras Al Khaimah, and Qatar Airways QR601 from Peshawar to Doha. The CAA in its latest Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said the airspace would remain closed until 1 PM Pakistan Standard Time on Friday. However, the closure of Pakistan's airspace disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia. Various airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines had on Wednesday announced they were rerouting their flights as Pakistan closed its airspace. Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. The decision affected its services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo. also read Grand daughter of former Pakistan PM seeks Release Of IAF Pilot Captured By Pak Singapore Airlines' was forced to direct flights to Europe to re-fuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Emirates also cancelled 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan. NEW DELHI: In a recent announcement, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will not be attending the foreign ministers' meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states amid ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. Qureshi said that he will not be attending it as a 'matter of principle' since External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj is the 'Guest of Honour' of the meeting. The organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states is an influential grouping of 57 countries. also read Government bans Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for anti-national activities Qureshi said "I wrote to the OIC to take back the invitation to India and told them that if they won't be able to do this, I won't be able to participate. I have decided that I won't be going to OIC. We have 19 resolutions there which also includes Kashmir issue, therefore our lower level officials will be present to defend Pakistan's resolution. In short, if someone tries to give India an observer status we can oppose it,". On Friday, Swaraj is in Abu Dhabi to attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting which will be held. It is for the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting as the guest of honour. While Pakistan had tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the OIC meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. However, it has not conceded to Pakistan's reported demands this time. In 1969, the OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. also read Finally, Sara Ali Khan to romance Kartik Aaryan in Imtiaz Ali's next However, The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. Headmaster gets five-year jail term for sexually abusing students The Parbat District Court has sentenced a school headmaster to five years in prison on the conviction of sexually abusing female students. Indian government approves proposal to build transmission line in Nepal The Indian government has approved an investment proposal to build the transmission line in eastern Nepal to export the electricity generated by Arun-3 Hydropower Project being developed by an Indian state-owned company. Leprosy cases on the rise in Rautahat The District Public Health Office (DPHO) in Rautahat has plans to mobilise volunteers to search for leprosy patients in the district after the number of patients suffering from the disease is seen to be increasing. Local governments working to improve quality in community schools Exercising their constitutional rights, various local units in Province 1 are working to improve the quality of education in community schools. Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong welcomes DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Mar 1, 2019 Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong welcomes DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un Chairman Kim Jong-uns convoy leaves Melia Hotel at 3:20 p.m to Presidential Palace where a welcome ceremony takes place DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un and General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong inspect the guard of honour No blanket amnesty for serious rights violations, Gyawali says in Geneva Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali has reiterated that there will be no blanket amnesty in the cases of serious human rights violations committed during the decade-long Maoist peoples war. Conceiving within a year of stillbirth is common and is not associated with increased risk of stillbirth, preterm birth, or small-for-gestational-age birth in the following pregnancy, compared with an interpregnancy interval of at least two years. Conceiving within a year of stillbirth is common and is not associated with increased risk of stillbirth, preterm birth, or small-for-gestational-age birth in the following pregnancy, compared with an interpregnancy interval of at least two years. The results are from the first large-scale observational study to investigate the interval between stillbirth and subsequent pregnancy, including almost 14,500 births in women from Australia, Finland and Norway who had a stillbirth in their previous pregnancy. The findings are published in The Lancet. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women wait at least two years after a livebirth and at least 6 months after a miscarriage or induced abortion before conceiving again, but there is no guidance for the optimal interval after a stillbirth because there is limited evidence in this area. "Our results consistently showed that an interpregnancy interval of less than one year was not associated with increased risk of adverse birth outcomes in the next pregnancy, compared with an interval of at least two years. Our findings provide valuable evidence for recommended pregnancy spacing after a stillbirth," says study author Dr Annette Regan, Curtin University, Australia. "Approximately 3.5 in every 1,000 births in high-income countries are stillborn, and there is limited guidance available for planning future pregnancies. We hope that our findings can provide reassurance to women who wish to become pregnant or unexpectedly become pregnant shortly after a stillbirth." [1] The study used birth records spanning 37 years (1980-2016) from Finland, Norway, and Australia to investigate intervals between pregnancies and the risk of subsequent stillbirth, preterm birth, and small-for-gestational-age birth [2]. The authors note that these countries have access to universal health care and free antenatal care, and the populations are primarily white, so the findings might not be generalisable to low- or middle-income countries, countries without access to universal health care, or ethnic minority groups. The study included singleton births only, and stillbirths following 22 or more weeks' gestation. The interpregnancy interval was calculated from the delivery date of the past birth or stillbirth and the start of the next pregnancy (delivery date of next pregnancy minus gestational age at birth), and was categorised as less than 6 months, 6-11 months, 12-23 months, 24-59 months, and more than 59 months. Overall, the study included 14,452 births among mothers who had a stillbirth in their previous pregnancy (4,170 in Finland, 6,761 in Norway, and 3,521 in Australia). Results were compared with 1,654,289 births following a previous livebirth from the three countries (536,392 in Finland, 854,999 in Norway, and 262,898 in Australia). Of the 14,452 births in women whose previous pregnancy ended in stillbirth, 14,224 (98%) were livebirths, 2,532 (18%) were preterm births, and 1,284 (9%) were small-for-gestational-age births. Of the 228 stillbirths (2% of the total births), 201 (88%) were preterm and 27 (12%) were stillborn at term. For women who had experienced stillbirth in their last pregnancy, intervals shorter than 12 months were not associated with increased risk of subsequent stillbirth, preterm birth, or small-for-gestational-age birth, compared with an interpregnancy interval of 24-59 months. This trend remained the same when adjusted for maternal age, number of previous births, and decade of delivery. The authors also noted no difference in the association between interpregnancy interval and birth outcomes based on the gestational length of the previous stillbirth. Short interpregnancy intervals were more common after stillbirth than after livebirth - the median interpregnancy interval after a stillbirth was 9 months, compared with 25 months after a livebirth. After stillbirth, 9,109 (63%) women conceived their next child within 12 months, with 5,393 of those (37% of all births) conceived within 6 months. The authors note the difference in optimal intervals following livebirth and stillbirth. Dr Regan explains: "Although the mechanism linking interpregnancy interval and perinatal health is unclear, previous research offers several hypotheses, including depleted nutrition from past pregnancy, cervical insufficiency, and breastfeeding-pregnancy overlap in closely spaced pregnancies. Without sufficient time to recover from a previous pregnancy, women may be at increased risk of entering a reproductive cycle with poor nutritional status, which has been linked to increased risk of foetal growth restriction and birth defects. Such nutritional depletion might not occur to the same extent after a pregnancy loss, and this may affect the optimal interpregnancy interval, explaining why it may be different after stillbirth and livebirth." [1] The authors note that other factors that they could not study (such as maternal chronic medical conditions, pregnancy intention, use of assisted reproductive technology, cause of previous stillbirth, or socioeconomic status) may have affected their findings. They also add that women who conceive soon after a previous pregnancy might be healthier and more fertile than women who conceive later and therefore could be less prone to adverse birth outcomes. Within the study, information on miscarriages or induced abortions was not available, which could have led to overestimation of interpregnancy interval in some women. Lastly, the authors note that although this is largest study of its kind, only 228 women had recurrent stillbirths, which means the analyses for this group are limited due to small numbers. Replication of the study in a larger group would be informative. Writing in a linked Comment, Mark A Klebanoff, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, USA, says: "The results of this study, in conjunction with results of studies of pregnancy interval after early loss and with findings of studies using new approaches to study interval after a livebirth, suggest that interpregnancy interval might be less important than previously assumed, at least in women in high-income regions. Rather than adhering to hard and fast rules, clinical recommendations should consider a woman's current health status, her current age in conjunction with her desires regarding child spacing and ultimate family size, and particularly following a loss, her emotional readiness to become pregnant again." ### Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People NOTES TO EDITORS This study was funded by National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), and the Research Council of Norway. It was conducted by researchers from Curtin University, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland, Karolinska Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol Medical School, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, University of Sydney, University of Western Australia. The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE.pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com [1] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article. [2] A stillbirth was defined as a foetal death at 22 weeks' gestation or more. A preterm birth was any birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Small-for-gestational-age infants were those born weighing less than the 10th percentile for a completed gestational age (in weeks) by sex, on the basis of national distributions in each country. IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE AT THE TIME THE EMBARGO LIFTS: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32266-9/fulltext Bielefeld University coordinates the "Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences" (CALAS), headquartered at the University of Guadalajara, a strategic partner university of Bielefeld. Since 2017, German and Latin American universities have been setting up the structures for the international Center for Advanced Studies in Guadalajara under the coordination of Bielefeld University. It is the most comprehensive research project on Latin America sponsored with funds from Germany. In the main phase that has now begun, international fellows - visiting scholars - are exploring six aspects of crisis management in and for Latin America. The concept of the international research college is based on the idea of Bielefeld Center's for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF). From March onwards, Bielefeld University's Professor Dr Olaf Kaltmeier will continue coordinating the project, in which the universities of Kassel, Hanover and Jena will also be participating on the German side. In Latin America, in addition to the Mexican partner university Guadalajara, the regional campuses San Jose (Costa Rica), Quito (Ecuador) and Buenos Aires (Argentina) are also involved. "After the two-year preliminary phase, we are now bringing together up to 25 international fellows alternately at the Center for Advanced Studies in formats designed for dialogue and exchange. The researchers come from different regions, various disciplines of the humanities and social sciences and are at different career levels. This is what makes interdisciplinary teamwork so attractive," says historian Olaf Kaltmeier, adding: "The premise of the project remains the same: we do research with our colleagues from Latin America, not over their heads." Three examples showing the work of the CALAS project in its main phase: - In May, the Laboratory of Knowledge, which investigates transitions between violence and peace in Latin America, will be launched. The project leaders are Professor Dr Joachim Michael (Bielefeld University), Professor Dr Christine Hatzky (University of Hanover), and Professor Dr David Diaz and Professor Dr Werner Mackenbach (University of Costa Rica). - How do Latin American countries deal with environmental crises? A group led by Professor Dr Olaf Kaltmeier and Professor Dr Eleonora Rohland, also from Bielefeld University is investigating this. - In the preliminary phase of the project, a Spanish-language essay series and a publishing network of Latin American partners were established under Bielefeld's direction in cooperation with Bielefeld University Press. Both will be continued and further developed in the main phase. The idea for the project in the form of a research college goes back to the working methods of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research, which is regarded as the nucleus of the university. International researchers from various disciplines come together here in working and research groups to investigate a particular question. "We are now taking this concept as a model for the CALAS main phase and adapting it - in dialogue with our partners - to the Latin American context," says Olaf Kaltmeier. CALAS was approved within the BMBF funding line "Maria Sibylla Merian Centres" and will now be continued in the main phase. With these research colleges, the BMBF aims to advance the internationalisation of the humanities, cultural sciences and social sciences in Germany through close bilateral and multilateral collaborative projects at locations outside Germany. CALAS was approved in 2017 as the second centre ever in Germany within this funding line. ### More information http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/cias/forschung/CALAS.html http://www.calas.lat There is a significant association between the rise of populism across Europe and the level of mistrust around vaccines, according to a study by Queen Mary University of London. Lead author Dr Jonathan Kennedy from Queen Mary University of London said: "It seems likely that scientific populism is driven by similar feelings to political populism, for example, a profound distrust of elites and experts by disenfranchised and marginalised parts of the population. "Even where programmes objectively improve the health of targeted populations, they can be viewed with suspicion by communities that do not trust elites and experts. In the case of vaccine hesitancy, distrust is focused on public health experts and pharmaceutical companies that advocate vaccines." The study, published in the European Journal of Public Health, looked at national-level data from 14 European countries. This data included the percentage of people in a country who voted for populist parties in the 2014 European Parliament elections, and the percentage of people in a country who believe that vaccines are not important, safe and/or effective, according to data from the 2015 Vaccine Confidence Project. The analysis found a highly significant positive association between the percentage of people in a country who voted for populist parties and the percentage who believe that vaccines are not important and not effective. Professor Sophie Harman, an expert on global health politics from Queen Mary's School of Politics and International Relations, who was not involved in the research, commented: "Like restrictions on reproductive rights, anti-vaccination rhetoric has long been the canary in the coal mine for populism." In the research article, Dr Kennedy writes that modern vaccine hesitancy is usually traced to Andrew Wakefield's now discredited 1998 Lancet article, which claimed a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. MMR vaccination rates in the UK fell from 92 per cent in 1995 to a low of 79 per cent in 2003, well below the 95 per cent rate needed to achieve herd immunity. Confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales rose from 56 in 1998 to 1370 in 2008. Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register and the Lancet study retracted. Nevertheless, his ideas remain influential and are cited as a reason why measles cases have increased in Europe over the past few years. There is additional anecdotal evidence suggesting a connection between the rise of populist politicians and political movements in Western Europe and increasing levels of vaccine hesitancy, Kennedy writes. The most prominent example is Italy. The Five Star Movement (5SM) have raised concerns about vaccine safety and the link between MMR and autism. It is argued that these concerns caused MMR vaccination coverage to fall from 90 per cent in 2013 to 85 per cent in 2016, and resulted in an increase in measles cases from 840 in 2016 to 5000 in 2017. Despite this, the upper house of the Italian Parliament--bolstered by newly elected representatives from 5SM and League--recently passed a law to repeal legislation that makes vaccines compulsory for children enrolling in state schools. In France, the right-wing Front National have also raised concerns about vaccine safety and laws that make childhood vaccinations mandatory. And in Greece, the left-wing SYRIZA government proposed that parents should be able to opt out of vaccinating their children. While UKIP has not expressed similar concerns, a poll conducted by Mori showed UKIP voters were almost five times more likely than the general population to believe that MMR was unsafe. Further afield in the US, Donald Trump has met well-known anti-vaccination campaigners, including Wakefield, and expressed sympathy with their ideas. For example, in 2014 he tweeted: 'Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn't feel good and changes--AUTISM. Many such cases!' Dr Kennedy adds: "Vaccine hesitancy will be difficult to resolve unless its underlying causes of populism--an iniquitous economic system and unrepresentative political system--are addressed." ### For more information, please contact: Joel Winston Public Relations Manager (School of Medicine and Dentistry) Queen Mary University of London j.winston@qmul.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 7943 / +44 (0)7968 267 064 Notes to the editor Research paper: 'Populist politics and vaccine hesitancy in Western Europe: an analysis of national-level data' by Jonathan Kennedy. European Journal of Public Health. DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckz004 Available here: https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurpub/ckz004/5364298 About Queen Mary University of London At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable. In 1785, Sir William Blizard established England's first medical school, The London Hospital Medical College, to improve the health of east London's inhabitants. Together with St Bartholomew's Medical College, founded by John Abernethy in 1843 to help those living in the City of London, these two historic institutions are the bedrock of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Today, Barts and The London continues to uphold this commitment to pioneering medical education and research. Being firmly embedded within our east London community, and with an approach that is driven by the specific health needs of our diverse population, is what makes Barts and The London truly distinctive. Our local community offer to us a window to the world, ensuring that our ground-breaking research in cancer, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and population health not only dramatically improves the outcomes for patients in London, but also has a far-reaching global impact. This is just one of the many ways in which Queen Mary is continuing to push the boundaries of teaching, research and clinical practice, and helping us to achieve the previously unthinkable. HOUSTON - (March 1, 2019) - How cells in developing embryos communicate depends a great deal on context, according to scientists at Rice University. They found that a protein signaling pathway known as WNT and its interactions are far more dynamic than once thought as the response of different cell types to the same signals is dramatically different. Researchers already knew that WNT, which carries messages across the cell membrane, is central to the early development of organisms and later helps stabilize cells in adults. Now they're gaining a more complete picture of the pathway's function. Near the start of life, WNT signals provide key developmental cues from outside the cell, according to Rice bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash and graduate student and lead author Joseph Massey. These extracellular WNT signals help direct cell differentiation by triggering beta-catenin proteins that affect gene expression in the cell's nucleus. They found the WNT pathway not only listens for signals from a wider range of triggers than previously known but that while it is influencing the identities of new cell types during embryonic development, those new cell types are themselves beginning to change how they interpret WNT signals. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We know that cells in development become all the different types of cells in the body," Massey said. "To do that in the right place and at the right time, they have to have some kind of positional timing cues, and share information with each other," he said. "While we've known the identity of some of the proteins involved, we haven't had the tools to understand them. "In this work, we used modern gene-editing tools to visualize some of these transducer proteins, those in the WNT signaling pathway," he said. Warmflash said researchers previously focused on more mature cells. "They said, 'Oh well, the WNT pathway is probably the same in every cell, so let's just take the easiest cell to study.' "We found that's totally wrong," he said. "The WNT pathway is different in stem cells and differentiated cells. Cells probably tune the dynamics of the WNT pathway to make it perform different functions in different contexts." The lab used cell-culture techniques developed by Warmflash and live imaging of single human pluripotent stem cells to view and collect data on changes in embryonic cultures to a fine degree. To track the changes, they used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to tag beta-catenin with green fluorescent proteins and see them accumulate in the nucleus. "We found that the signaling dynamics -- how the cells respond to signaling cues -- in pluripotent cells is very different from what happens in some of the other cell types we looked at," Massey said. "Not only that, whenever pluripotent cells begin to differentiate to a type of cells called the primitive streak, the response to the signal is also very different." The primitive streak is a structure that forms early in the development of an embryo, establishes the organism's bilateral symmetry and serves as the focal point of gastrulation, where multiple layers of differentiation begin. "Our research highlights for the first time for this signaling pathway that the dynamics, the way the cells interpret these signals, is very much context-dependent," Massey said. The researchers investigated some of the causes of these changing dynamics. They found that by altering levels of activin and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), both members of the TGF beta "superfamily" of growth factor proteins, they were able to change the dynamics of beta-catenin signaling. As TGFb factors are also involved in cellular differentiation, this is a possible cause of the changing dynamics of WNT signaling during development, Warmflash said. The experiments demonstrated one way that beta-catenin signaling in stem cells adapts to a constantly changing environment. "What's interesting is that all of these developmental pathways are, throughout the course of an organism's development, recycled for different roles," Massey said. "At the beginning, the WNT signaling pathway is perhaps specifying different tissues to become the right type of tissue in the right place. Later on, it's maintaining homeostasis or other processes in the adult. "Really, the WNT pathway does all sorts of things," he said. "It may turn out that how the signal is interpreted has something to do with the context the pathway's in and what that pathway's actually doing. But before we developed these tools it was very difficult to go about asking these questions." Since mutations to the pathways are frequently found in human cancers, understanding the mechanism is important in more ways than one, Warmflash said. "What natural pathways do is much more intricate and complex than anything people have been able to build," he said. "If you can understand it, you can use it." "We still only understand a fraction of how early development works," Massey said. "Eventually we will be able to explain these developing systems with increasingly predictive models, and to get there we must make specific quantitative measurements. Hopefully as we better understand how cells use pathways to communicate, clinicians might someday exploit these dynamics to treat diseases." ### Co-authors of the paper are Rice alumna and research technician Yida Liu and undergraduate Omar Alvarenga, former Rice technician Teresa Saez, now at Cambridge University, and alumnus Matthew Schmerer, now at the Centers for Disease Control. Warmflash is an assistant professor of biosciences and bioengineering. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and the Simons Foundation supported the research. David Ruth 713-348-6327 david@rice.edu Mike Williams 713-348-6728 mikewilliams@rice.edu Read the abstract at https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/02/26/1815363116 A pre-peer review version is available to read at bioRxiv: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/406306v2 This news release can be found online at https://news.rice.edu/2019/02/28/embryos-signaling-proteins-go-with-the-flow-2/ Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews Video: https://youtu.be/Ohv2SEljv0M A time-lapse, fluorescent microscopy video shows three aspects of the same human embryonic stem cells responding to the application of WNT3A, a protein that activates the WNT signaling pathway. In the videos, beta-catenin is shown in green and the cells' nuclei are in magenta. The graph at bottom right shows the average amount of beta-catenin in hundreds of stem cells' nuclei. Levels rise dramatically when WNT3A is introduced, but fall off over time. The nuclei were identified using custom software written by Rice University researchers Joseph Massey and Aryeh Warmflash. (Credit: Warmflash Lab/Rice University) Related materials: Fed grant will help unlock embryonic secrets: http://news.rice.edu/2018/01/12/fed-grant-will-help-unlock-embryonic-secrets-2/ Aryeh Warmflash wins NSF CAREER Award: http://news.rice.edu/2015/12/21/aryeh-warmflash-wins-nsf-career-award/ Warmflash lab: https://stemcell.rice.edu Rice Department of BioSciences: https://biosciences.rice.edu/faculty/tenure-track Wiess School of Natural Sciences: https://naturalsciences.rice.edu Images for download: https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2019/02/0304_WNT-1-web-15ie00g.jpg Rice University graduate student Joseph Massey sets up an experiment to study the WNT signaling pathway in developing cell lines. The pathway plays a central role in cell differentiation as organisms develop. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2019/02/0304_WNT-2-web-pu536d.jpg Rice University graduate student Joseph Massey, lead author of a new study on the complexity of signaling pathways in the cells of developing organisms, looks at cells under a lab scope. Massey and Rice bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash led a team that determined protein signaling in embryos is far more complex than previously thought, as pathways take cues from many other players. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2019/02/0304_WNT-3-web-w9egpn.jpg Rice University graduate student Joseph Massey, left, and bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash led a study that determined protein signaling in embryos is far more complex than previously thought, as cells depend a great deal on context to determine their fate. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. A new study by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville will examine how the intersection of being both LGBT and a caregiver may elevate a person's risk of having overall poor health. As many as 45 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults ages 50 and older are caregivers of a loved one with a chronic illness, while themselves experiencing a higher prevalence of chronic disease, disability, and poorer physical and mental health than non-LGBT populations, according to Joel Anderson, associate professor in the College of Nursing and co-chair of the Chancellor's Commission for LGBT People at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Anderson and his research team recently received a $151,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging to study LGBT caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, or ADRD. "LGBT older adults and caregivers often suffer from years of overlapping stigma related to lifetime victimization and discrimination, as well as a lack of health care access, which have negative impacts on health and well-being," Anderson said. The project will run for two years and includes faculty from UT's College of Nursing and Department of Public Health as well as consultants from Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, San Francisco. The main goal of the research will be to collect comprehensive critical data regarding the LGBT ADRD caregiving experience. The findings will support the development and testing of interventions for those caregivers. "As the population continues to age and diagnoses of ADRD increase, it is imperative that we understand the unique challenges and needs of vulnerable caregiving populations such as sexual and gender minority caregivers," said Anderson. Grant notice: The research reported here is being supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R03AG058528. The study's content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. ### Vietnam News Agency/Handout/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The parents of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old student who died after 18 months of imprisonment in North Korea, spoke out Friday against President Donald Trump's defense of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in their son's death. "We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that," Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement. Several hours later, on Friday afternoon, Trump tweeted that he had been "misinterpreted" and that "Of course I hold North Korea responsible ... for Otto's mistreatment and death." But notably, he didn't mention Kim by name. ....for Ottos mistreatment and death. Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future. I love Otto and think of him often! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019 The University of Virginia student had been on a tour when he was arrested for tearing down a poster.On Thursday in Hanoi, despite having publicly supported the Warmbier family previously, Trump said he believed the dictator who runs North Korea's ruthless regime when he said he didn't know Warmbier was being tortured."I don't believe that he would have allowed that to happen," Trump said of Kim Jong Un. The president relayed what he said Kim had told him -- that he "didn't know about it" -- and said he would "take [Kim] at his word.""He felt badly about it," the president said at a post-summit news conference. He knew the case very well, but he knew it later," Trump added. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway furthered the president's comments Friday on Fox News and responded to the Warmbiers' statement. "The president agrees with the Warmbier family and holds North Korea responsible for Otto Warmbier's death. He's said that time and again," Conway said. "What the president is saying is that there is no indication Chairman Kim knew what happened to Otto Warmbier when it happened. It was after he was returned here to the United States that we all learned of his very sad and frankly unforgivable state." Conway's comments, like the president's, separate Kim from what happened under his regime despite the show trial Otto was subjected to in a North Korean courtroom which was then used as a propaganda tool for the regime. His appearance in that courtroom would be the last time the Warmbiers saw their son before he was flown back to the U.S. in a coma. The Warmbiers sued the North Korean government for more than a $1 billion late last year, saying U.S. officials had publicly confirmed that North Korea tortured their 22-year-old son. As proof, the family cited a tweet from Trump in response to an interview they did with Fox News. "Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea," Trump tweeted in September of 2017. Otto, who died just six days after being brought back to the U.S., returned to his home state of Ohio blind, deaf and "jerking violently and howling," according to the lawsuit. Otto's lower teeth looked as if they'd been rearranged by a pair of pliers, the court documents said. When the Warmbier's testified in federal court in December, it was about six months after Trump's first summit with North Korea's Kim. The family had, at that point, established a close relationship with the president, who was adamant that Otto "did not die in vain." About a month later, Otto's parents Cindy and Fred attended Trump's 2018 State of the Union address and stood, rife with grief, to a standing ovation as the president denounced North Korea's brutal treatment of their son. "You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength inspires us all. Tonight, we pledge to honor Ottos memory with American resolve," Trump said during his speech. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. President, Prime Minister offer tributes to chopper crash victims President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli offered tributes to the seven victims of Wednesdays helicopter crash, including Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari. Dec. 8-10, 6-8 p.m. Holiday Happenings, Children's Corner Illinois Times scored an exclusive interview with Santa Claus just in time for his upcoming virtual appearance at The Muni, and boy, did we get the scoop on the old guy. Did you know that, although he says he feels pretty lucky with his job of flying around the world delivering cheer, his first job was shoveling snow at the North Pole? Well, someone had to do it, Santa said. In his spare time, he likes to listen to Adele and he also likes to read. He said the last book he read was Around the World in 80 Days, Description Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern at the Three Village Inn, one of Newsdays 2018 100 Best Restaurants on LI, hosts Tasting Fridays every week, featuring a special seven-course tasting menu crafted by Executive Chef Guy Reuge. Every Friday, Chef Guy prepares a menu based on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. Cost is $75 per person, $125 with wine pairings, plus tax and gratuity. This weeks menu, subject to change, includes: Boston Lettuce, strawberry salad Asparagus, potato sauce, Loma specks Shrimp Tempura, soy dressing, seared scallops Seared Branzino, peas, pea shoots, pearl onions, onion soubise Honey Glazed Duck Breast, parsnip flan, kumquat in syrup, star anise sauce American Artisan Cheeses, toasted raisin-pecan bread Chocolate Pot de Creme, hazelnut brittle Passengers pass their time after Thai Airway cancelled all the flights to and from Europe at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun By Chayut Setboonsarng BANGKOK (Reuters) - About 2,000 travellers were still stranded in the Thai capital Bangkok on Friday and it will take a few more days to get them home after flights were disrupted by the latest conflict between Pakistan and India, airline officials said. Thai Airways International canceled more than a dozen flights to European cities -- including London, Paris, Milan, Zurich and Frankfurt -- after Pakistan closed its airspace on Wednesday amid rising tensions with India. "There are still about 2,000 passengers," Thai Airways President Sumeth Damrongchaitham told reporters at a briefing to announce the company's financial results. The backlog would be cleared over the next two or three days, he said. Nearly 5,000 passengers - most of them flying on Thai Airways and Taiwan's EVA Airways - scrambled to find alternative flights from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport after Pakistan closed its airspace on Wednesday. World powers urged restraint as tensions escalated following a suicide attack that killed at least 40 Indian police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14, triggering tit-for-tat air strikes by both countries. Pakistan said its airspace would re-open to commercial flights at 4 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) on Friday. Thailand is among the world's most popular tourist destinations, drawing more than 38 million visitors last year, about 6.8 million of them from Europe. Rival carriers like Singapore Airlines re-routed their European flights to avoid the affected airspace, but Thai Airways did not have routes over Iranian or Turkish airspace, Sumeth said. Thailand's national carrier eventually gained permission from China to use its airspace and resumed flights to Europe on Thursday evening. The financial cost of the flight disruptions was still being assessed and could be covered by insurance, Sumeth said. Investors pushed Thai Airways stock down over 3 percent on Friday after the state-owned airline reported a wider loss of 11.6 billion baht ($367.2 million) in 2018 due to higher fuel expenses. ($1 = 31.5900 baht) (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; editing by Darren Schuettler) In recent years, plaintiff class actions lawyers have shifted their focus in cybersecurity cases from pleading federal claims to asserting claims under state law of residents of all 50 states. However, this potentially raises class certification issues that make these claims difficult for plaintiff to succeed on. How should one prosecute them? How should one defend them? How could one plead and prove that the plaintiffs were injured because of the breach? All these questions were debated strongly, litigated in various courts on a one-off basis, and were the result of several court opinions on their potential merits. The recoveries were slim. The plaintiffs chances for success? Mediocre at best even for the big ones. Things have significantly changed over the years, especially for defendants. For instance, Statutory Article III standing, once a big issue, is now less of an issue in some courts. Cybersecurity class actions have now graduated elementary school, beginning November 2017 with one of the first national cybersecurity class actions brought by residents of all 50 states. The complaint is an ambitious 322-page document that names plaintiffs from every state and the District of Columbia who claim to have been injured to varying degrees by the Equifax security breach. See Tara Swaminatha, Equifax now hit with a rare 50-state class-action lawsuit, CSO Online (Nov. 22, 2017). Today, there are others. Are nationwide federal court, cybersecurity class actions here to stay? One may posit they are, until the U.S. Supreme Court or a Circuit Court says they are not viable or makes them too difficult for a plaintiffs counsel to proceed in an economically rational fashion. But that raises the second question: How can you defend against them? Though this area of the law is very new, here are some suggestions on how to potentially defeat this sort of nationwide class actionespecially when it comes to the issue of predominance. Story continues Standing The case or controversy requirement of Article III, 2 generally requires that a plaintiff establish standing, i.e., an injury-in-fact that is concrete and particularized and actual or imminent and not mere conjecture. In early cases, the actual or imminent harm requirement spelled doom to plaintiffs in data breach class actions. Though data may have been lost or stolen, plaintiffs sometimes could not show or plead it was misused and that they resultantly suffered a loss. Historically, however, courts have tended to either have broad views or narrow views of what constituted true loss. In Spokeo v. Robins, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision of the Ninth Circuit, holding that the Article III injury that must be plead must be both concrete and particularized. However, the holding was more complicated than that. The Supreme Court noted that though concrete suggested real harm, concrete did not mean the harm needed to be tangible as well. Indeed, intangible harm if not risk of harm can satisfy as concrete harm under Article III. The court concluded, however, that mere violation of a statutory or procedural right alone was not enough. The violation of the right must also cause the plaintiff to suffer some sort of real world harm. Another Supreme Court case, Clapper v. Amnesty Intl USA, 133 S.Ct 1138 (2013) did nothing to lower the standing bar for plaintiffs. In Clapper, the question was whether the allegation by a plaintiff of future injury could confer standing. The Supreme Court held that the plaintiff would have to demonstrate that injury is certainly impending. Courts have diverged in their application of the concrete harm pleading requirement. Some courts (e.g., Second, Fourth and Eighth Circuits) have held that there is no Article III standing where there is no actual identity theft or fraud that occurs as a result of the breach. In one case, Beck v. McDonald, 848 F.3d 262 (4th Cir. 2017), the Fourth Circuit held that under existing precedent, the risk of identity theft is too speculative to confer standing. See also In re SuperValu, 870 F.3d 763 (8th Cir. 2017) (mere future risk of injury was not enough to confer standing); Whalen v. Michaels Stores, (2d. Cir. 2017) (plaintiff had not suffered a particularized and concrete injury because any resulting fraudulent charges had been reimbursed). The Third, Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits diverge away from decisions such as Beck v. SuperValu and take a less onerous view of what constitutes injury. For instance, in Galaria v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, No. 15-3386, (6th Cir. 2016), where there was a theft of insurance information of more than one million customers, the court found that, even though it was not literally certain that the data breach would cause harm to customers, there was a sufficiently substantial risk of injury, noting that when hackers specially target personal information, it is a reasonable inference that the data will be used for fraudulent purposes. See also Attias v. Carefirst, 865 F.3d 620 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (reversing the district courts dismissal for lack of standing, finding that a substantial risk of harm exists already, simply by virtue of the hack and the nature of the data that the plaintiffs allege was taken); see generally Ian C. Ballon, Defending Security Breach Class Action Litigation, Ch. 27, E-Commerce and Internet Law: A Legal Treatise With Forms, Second Edition (Thomson/West Publishing 2018) (noting differences among the circuits on standing in cybersecurity class actions). Conflicts of Laws and Rule 23(b)(3)s Predominance Requirement If a plaintiff can get over the Article III standing issue by pleading harm by showing injury or a substantial risk of injury, then what other issues are present which could derail his or her case? Well, it would be the basics of Rule 23. The most common prong of contention is Rule 23(b)(3), which states: (b) Types of Class Actions. A class action may be maintained if: (3) the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy. The words common and predominate spell out the problem with 50-state cybersecurity class actions: Who is involved? How were they injured (if at all)? And what law applies to their claims? Justice Antonin Scalias majority U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Comcast v. Behrend, 569 U.S. 27 (2013) reaffirmed the basics of the courts Rule 23 analysis: that the class action is an exception to the usual rule that litigation is conducted by and on behalf of the individual named parties only To come within the exception, a party seeking to maintain a class action must affirmatively demonstrate his compliance with Rule 23. To determine whether this requirement is met, it may be necessary for the court to probe behind the pleadings by engaging in a rigorous analysis that may overlap with the merits of the plaintiffs underlying claim. The court applied these principles to the analysis of Rule 23(b), concluding that if anything, Rule 23(b)(3)s predominance criterion is even more demanding than Rule 23(a). State laws could vary when you consider that at some point all 50 states data breach laws might be at issue. That was the point of two recent decisions. Thought it is not a cybersecurity breach case, In re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litigation is instructive. The case involved a discussion of the predominance aspects of Rule 23(b)(3) in the context of the settlement of a nationwide class action dealing with allegations of fuel economy of certain models of the defendants cars. Though the District Court certified a proposed settlement of the class, certain plaintiffs (most notably the Virginia plaintiffs) objected to the settlement on the grounds that the District Court did not analyze differences in the 20 state consumer protection laws at issue. The Ninth Circuit reversed and vacated, noting that the failure to ascertain differences in state law was in error (in the settlement context), as differences in state law could swamp any common issues and defeat Rule 23s predominance requirement. This holding makes sense. What if, for example, the laws of one state (State 1) provide for a damages standard and standard of liability far less onerous that the laws of other states (e.g., States 2, 3 and 4)? But the numbers of citizens in States 2, 3 and 4 dwarf State 1, and the laws of States 2, 3 and 4 put far more hurdles upon a plaintiff seeking to recover. How would a federal court deal with such varying individual state laws? Should all these claims be litigated together as a class? That was the point of Hyundai and Kia, and that is the point of Rule 23. This case is now back to the Ninth Circuit on an en banc appeal. The facts in Langan v. Johnson & Johnson, No. 17-1605 (2d Cir. 2018), a consumer class action, were a little different (the case was not in settlement mode), but the results were the same. The court held that plaintiffs in a class action have the burden to demonstrate that variations in state laws do not predominate over the similarities. In a 50-state cybersecurity class action, there could indeed be variations in many states' cyber laws, creating the same underlying problem in Hyundai and Langan. Conclusion Though standing remains an obstacle to the nationwide cybersecurity class action, its effect has been both good and bad to plaintiffs and defendants. The predominance of the cybersecurity laws that apply to the class action now appears to be the new game in town. We will see who wins. Paul Ferrillo is a shareholder in Greenberg Traurigs cybersecurity, privacy and crisis management practice in New York City. He focuses his practice on cybersecurity corporate governance issues, complex securities and business litigation, and internal investigations. Bad news, Amazon Prime addicts: the company is no longer selling its Dash buttons. As of today, the company will no longer sell the magical plastic buttons that let you summon refills of laundry detergent, paper towels, and Trojan condoms at will. The company will, however, continue to support existing buttons. SEE ALSO: Amazon patents delivery robot that docks at your house If you're bummed about that, it appears that Alexa may be largely to blame for Amazon's decision. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said "we've seen customers increasingly using programs like Alexa Shopping, which provides a hands free shopping experience, and Subscribe & Save, which lets customers automatically receive their favorite items every month. "With this in mind, weve decided to shift the Dash program focusas of February 28, Dash Button devices are no longer available for purchase on Amazon globally. Existing Dash Button customers can continue to use their Dash Button devices." Amazon will also continue to offer its virtual Dash buttons, digital versions of Dash buttons available on devices with displays, like the Echo Show, as well Amazon's app and website. Though shopping with Alexa may be more popular now, the reality is Amazon's Dash buttons always seemed like more of a gimmick than something that was actually useful. When the company first introduced the product, it seemed so bizarre the company actually had to clarify that the whole thing was not, in fact, in April Fools' day joke. Still, the gadget was successful enough the company eventually expanded Dash buttons to dozens of different products. But, in a major blow to the product, Dash buttons were ruled illegal in Germany, the company's second-largest market after the United States. German courts said last month that the buttons ran afoul of the country's consumer protections laws because they don't provide enough information about the products people were purchasing. Story continues Current Dashers can still use their buttons, but it looks like the rest of the world is now out of luck. Suzanne Wachsstock will join Walmart as its new chief antitrust counsel. Walmart Inc. has named an in-house antitrust veteran to fill its newly created chief antitrust counsel position, about a month after StarKist Co. agreed to a $20.5 million settlement with the big box retailer to resolve antitrust claims stemming from a price-fixing conspiracy. Suzanne Wachsstock will join Walmart on March 4 from American Express Co., where she built the companys global antitrust and trade association compliance program during her nearly 12-year tenure as vice president and antitrust counsel there, according to her LinkedIn profile and an email from a Walmart spokesperson. In her new role, Wachsstock, who will be based in Walmarts Washington, D.C., office, will lead all of its antitrust matters globally, the email said, adding that, as Walmarts business continues to evolve, we are always evaluating where we can acquire talent to support the business. In a notice distributed to the companys global governance team, Karen Roberts, Walmarts executive vice president and general counsel, said: Suzannes prior experience leading global antitrust counseling and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, investigations, and strategy, makes her a perfect fit for this role. During her time at American Express, Wachsstock also was a member of its general counsel organizations digital leadership team, focusing on legal issues related to digital payments, data and artificial intelligence, Roberts' note said. Wachsstock could not be reached for comment about her new position but said in a statement that she is excited to help drive antitrust policy and strategy as Walmart transforms to better serve customers in a digital world." I look forward to learning Walmarts diverse, multifaceted business while diving in to issues that are on the cutting edge of competition law, she said. A 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School, Wachsstock started her legal career as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell for nearly three years, LinkedIn said. She then was an associate at Finn Dixon & Herling for a little more than a year and a partner at Wiggin and Dana in Stamford, Connecticut, for nine years before joining American Express in October 2007, it added. A leading expert on antitrust law, Wachsstock currently and has previously held various leadership roles within the antitrust law section of the American Bar Association. Seeking change Sexual and reproductive rights comprise of rights and fundamental freedoms about our bodiesthe most personal realm each one of us possesses. Amongst these rights, a womans right to safe abortion remains the most heavily contested and the most frequently limited rightacross nations, cultures, and religions. MELBOURNE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Australia's Cardinal George Pell, a former top adviser to Pope Francis, was remanded into custody on Wednesday after a sentence plea hearing on his conviction for sexually abusing two choir boys more than two decades ago. Pell will be formally sentenced on March 13. Pell faces a maximum of 10 years in jail for each of five child sex offences, which included indecent assault and one charge of sexual penetration. His lawyers have lodged an appeal against his conviction. Pell was found guilty of child sex abuse in December. The guilty verdict was revealed on Tuesday after a court suppression order was dropped. Judge Peter Kidd revoked Pell's bail on Wednesday, granted for medical treatment after his 2018 trial, and he was immediately taken into custody at the end of the plea hearing. Pell, the Vatican's former treasurer, is the most senior Catholic clergyman in the world to be convicted for child sex offences, an outcome that shocked the church and his supporters. "This offending warrants immediate imprisonment," prosecutor Mark Gibson told the court on Wednesday. "It involved two vulnerable boys, given their age, 13." Pell's lawyer Robert Richter argued for a lenient sentence. Ten character references submitted for Pell describe him as a man of great passion, with a great sense of humour who could relate to everyone from prime ministers to street beggars, Richter told the court. "None of them believe he is capable of this," Richter said. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Michael Perry) As a small-cap bank stock with a market capitalisation of US$3.4b, Bank of Hawaii Corporations (NYSE:BOH) risk and profitability are largely determined by the underlying economic growth of the US regions in which it operates. Since a bank profits from reinvesting its clients deposits in the form of loans, negative economic growth may lower deposit levels and demand for loan, adversely impacting its cash flow. After the GFC, a set of reforms called Basel III was imposed in order to strengthen regulation, supervision and risk management in the banking sector. These reforms target bank level regulation and aims to improve the banking sectors ability to absorb shocks arising from economic stress which could expose financial institutions to vulnerabilities. Unpredictable macro events such as political instability could weaken its financial position which is why it is important to understand how well the bank manages its risk levels. Low levels of leverage coupled with sufficient liquidity may place Bank of Hawaii in a safe position in the face of adverse headwinds. We can measure this risk exposure by analysing three metrics for leverage and liquidity which I will take you through today. Check out our latest analysis for Bank of Hawaii NYSE:BOH Historical Debt, February 28th 2019 Is BOHs Leverage Level Appropriate? Banks with low leverage are better positioned to weather adverse headwinds as they have less debt to pay off. A banks leverage may be thought of as the level of assets it owns compared to its own shareholders equity. Financial institutions are required to have a certain level of buffer to meet capital adequacy levels. Bank of Hawaiis leverage level of 13.52x is significantly below the appropriate ceiling of 20x. With assets 13.52 times equity, the banks has maintained a prudent level of its own fund relative to borrowed fund which places it in a strong position to pay back its debt in times of adverse events. Should the bank need to increase its debt levels to meet capital requirements, it will have abundant headroom to do so. Story continues How Should We Measure BOHs Liquidity? Handing Money Transparent As I eluded to above, loans are relatively illiquid. Its helpful to understand how much of this illiquid asset makes up the banks total asset. Generally, they should make up less than 70% of total assets, which is consistent with Bank of Hawaiis state given its ratio of 60%. At this level of loan, the bank has preserved a sensible level between maintaining liquidity and generating interest income from the loan. What is BOHs Liquidity Discrepancy? BOH profits by lending out its customers deposits as loans and charge an interest on the principle. Loans are generally fixed term which means they cannot be readily realized, yet customer deposits on the liability side must be paid on-demand and in short notice. The disparity between the immediacy of deposits compared to the illiquid nature of loans puts pressure on the banks financial position if an adverse event requires the bank to repay its depositors. Since Bank of Hawaiis loan to deposit ratio of 69% is well-below than the appropriate maximum of 90%, this means the bank is lending out less than its total level of deposits and positions the bank cautiously in terms of liquidity as it has not disproportionately lent out its deposits and has retained an apt level of deposits. There is opportunity for the bank to increase its interest income by lending out more loans. Next Steps: Bank of Hawaii meets all of our liquidity and leverage criteria, exhibiting operational prudency. The operational risk side of a bank is an important fundamental often overlooked by investors. High liquidity and low leverage places the bank in an ideal position to repay financial liabilities in case of adverse headwinds. Keep in mind that a stock investment requires research on more than just its operational side. Below, Ive compiled three pertinent aspects you should further research: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for BOHs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for BOHs outlook. Valuation: What is BOH worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether BOH is currently mispriced by the market. 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. (Bloomberg) -- Free Fire is a world unto itself. More than 40 million players log on each day to find weapons and battle it out till one characters left standing. Its Sea Ltd.s marquee hit, a virtual landscape housing more people than the American population and the prime reason Chinese-born founder Forrest Li is climbing the real worlds wealth rankings. The 41-year-old entrepreneur owns 13.8 percent of Singapore-based Sea, a stake now worth roughly $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Shares in Southeast Asias biggest gaming service surged 35 percent on Wednesday -- the most since its 2017 initial public offering -- after reporting a doubling in sales and robust growth at e-commerce unit Shopee. Free Fire played a mega role: with more than 350 million registered users from Brazil to Indonesia, it was the worlds fourth most-downloaded game on the Apple and Google app stores in 2018. Even though last years net loss widened to $961 million, investors are betting that Seas costly expansion into e-commerce will complement its gaming arm and create a regional internet-services heavyweight in the mold of backer Tencent Holdings Ltd. Sea this week forecast 2019 annual adjusted revenue at gaming arm Garena and mobile shopping unit Shopee will double or more. Read a profile of Sea CEO Forrest Li Li, who is now a Singaporean citizen, joins Tim Sweeney in the e-gaming billionaire stakes. Sweeney created Fortnite, another last-character-standing Battle Royale sensation. Neither has to look far for advice on how to manage their wealth. Tencent is a shareholder in both Sea and Fortnite-developer Epic Games Inc. and the Chinese gaming titans founder Pony Ma is worth $34.4 billion, according to Bloomberg wealth rankings. Born and raised in the port city of Tianjin by state-company lifers, Li attended a Shanghai university in his teens, arriving in a metropolis teeming with urbanites who spoke an alien dialect. He spent most nights playing games at an internet cafe till dawn. Li adopted his English name after identifying with Tom Hanks Oscar-winning portrayal of the fictional character Forrest Gump. Story continues After graduation, he worked at Motorola Solutions Inc. and Corning Inc. in China. But he saw a limited future as a white-collar manager and enrolled in Stanfords MBA program. It was when he attended his then-girlfriends graduation ceremony -- the same one where the late Steve Jobs gave his now-famous commencement speech -- that things clicked for him. In an interview with Bloomberg in 2016, Li said he replayed the oration daily for months on YouTube before deciding to strike out on his own. It gave me the courage to do what I am doing now, he said at the time. Li founded his company, then known only as Garena, in Singapore in 2009, starting out as an online gaming service. Since going public in October 2017, Sea has struggled to keep its footing amid widening losses. The company invested heavily to expand beyond games and into e-commerce, where it faces entrenched competition from the likes of Lazada, owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., as well as a number of well-funded homegrown players. Its U.S.-listed stock traded at $13 on average in 2018, below the IPO price of $15. It closed at $21.50 Thursday in New York, down 1.7 percent. --With assistance from Yoojung Lee and Pei Yi Mak. To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Metcalf in London at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.net;Yoolim Lee in Singapore at yoolim@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, ;Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum, Edwin Chan For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has won a second term in office after a contentious Nigerian election. A period of uncertainty and unrest is expected to follow. That could impact the OPEC member's oil production, according to RBC Capital Markets' Global Head of Commodity Strategy Helima Croft. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has won a second term in office after a contentious Nigerian election this weekend, but the opposition are refusing to accept the outcome and a period of uncertainty and unrest is expected to follow. That could impact the OPEC member's oil production, according to RBC Capital Markets' Global Head of Commodity Strategy Helima Croft. "With the opposition alleging fraud and refusing to the accept the outcome, the risk of further unrest remains high in the weeks ahead, especially in the restive oil region, which was the scene of some of the worst Election Day unrest," Croft said in a note Wednesday co-authored with RBC analysts Christopher Louney, Michael Tran and strategist Megan Schippmann. "If this election does bring a return to militancy in Nigeria's oil region and major infrastructure attacks, it would be a very material event for the oil market, with two OPEC countries (Venezuela and Iran) under U.S. sanctions and Saudi Arabia continuing to cut production," they noted. "Given the premium that the American president places on low oil prices , he will need to hope that Nigeria does not revert to past practice." Nigeria's election last weekend did not run smoothly and was marred by delays, logistical problems, outbreaks of violence and deaths , and allegations of vote rigging. Buhari, who leads the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the election with almost 15.2 million votes (or 57 percent), the country's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Tuesday evening. Buhari's nearest rival, Atiku Abubakar, who heads the People's Democratic Party (PDP), received around 11.2 million votes, or 42 percent. Story continues INEC, which made the decision to postpone the election for a week due to operation and logistical challenges, said that it had been made aware of irregularities prior to the election although it has itself been the target of accusations from both the main parties, accusing it of trying to influence the result in favor of the other. Tweet: Niger Delta unrest Nigeria is a significant oil and gas producer the largest in Africa and has the highest output among OPEC's African members, producing almost 1.8 million barrels a day (mb/d) in January, according to the latest data from OPEC. Nigeria is seen as one of the "fragile five" members of OPEC, however (along with Iran, Iraq, Libya and Venezuela) because its oil-rich Niger Delta region in the south of the country has been plagued with long-running unrest and disruption to, and sabotage of, its oil production from militant groups. There are a handful of militant groups operating in the region, including the Niger Delta Avengers, Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force and the "Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta," or MEND. They say that their region's oil wealth and environment is being exploited by foreign oil companies and the Nigerian government. What's more, the Niger Delta region is a stronghold for the opposition PDP and violence in the region ahead of the election was pronounced with several deaths, including that of one of the electoral commission's staff who was reportedly shot on election day. Any disruption to its oil sector could have an impact on wider oil markets and price volatility, especially with output lower from Venezuela and Iran. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized OPEC and its allies for oil price rises. Benchmark Brent crude futures were trading at $65.58 per barrel Wednesday while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures stood at $55.92. High risk of 'further bloodshed' With the PDP rejecting the results and continuing questions about the credibility of the polls, RBC's Croft and her team said they believe there is a high risk of further bloodshed in the coming weeks, especially in Nigeria's oil region. "This time, we will be closely watching what transpires in the Niger Delta given the problems that occurred there on Saturday as well as the historical role that elections have played in giving rise to armed groups that have sabotaged the energy infrastructure and caused large-scale supply disruptions," they said. "The Niger Delta Avengers had vowed to cripple the Nigerian economy if Buhari were re-elected, and previous election cycles have been accompanied by the rise of armed groups that attacked the energy infrastructure and shut in 800,000 b/d to 1 million b/d for varying periods." State elections scheduled for March 9 could further add to the volatility in the oil region, experts note, and political uncertainty should be expected as the opposition PDP is likely to challenge the election result. "While the opposition is highly likely to challenge the results in court, alleging massive voter fraud, the potential for violence to erupt in the immediate aftermath of the vote remains limited. However, there is potential for violence, including in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, in the context of the upcoming state-level elections on 9 March," Malte Liewerscheidt, West Africa analyst at risk consultancy Teneo Intelligence, said in a note Tuesday. More From CNBC * Buhari wins 56 percent to Atiku's 41 * Atiku rejects results, to mount court challenge * Death toll from election day violence rises to 47 * Election turnout slumps to 35 pct from 44 pct in 2015 By Paul Carsten and Alexis Akwagyiram ABUJA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has won a second term at the helm of Africa's most populous state and top oil producer, the electoral commission chairman said on Wednesday, following an election marred by delays, logistical glitches and violence. Buhari took 56 percent of votes against 41 for his main rival, businessman and former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). But hours after Buhari was declared the victor, Atiku rejected the result and vowed to challenge it in court. Buhari has a daunting to-do list, including reviving an economy still struggling to recover from a 2016 recession and quelling a decade-old Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands in the northeast, many of them civilians. He told supporters at the campaign headquarters of his All Progressive Congress (APC) party in the capital Abuja: "The new administration will intensify its efforts in security, restructuring the economy and fighting corruption." The president garnered 15.2 million to Atiku's 11.3 million. The turnout was 35.6 percent, the electoral commission said, compared with 44 percent in 2015. Buhari urged his supporters not to gloat, or "humiliate" the opposition. But Atiku issued a statement saying: "It is clear that there were manifest and premeditated malpractices in many states which negate the results announced ... "I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019, sham election and will be challenging it in court." TROUBLED HISTORY The APC had said the opposition was trying to discredit the returns from Saturday's election. The accusations have ratcheted up tensions in a country whose six decades of independence have been marked by long periods of military rule, coups and secessionist wars. Story continues Observers from the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and the United Nations appealed to all parties to await the official results, expected later this week, before filing complaints. The candidate with the most votes nationwide is declared the winner as long as they have at least one-quarter of the vote in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states and the capital, Abuja. Otherwise there is a run-off. Buhari secured enough votes to meet both requirements, a remarkable turnaround after analysts forecast a close race. Buhari, 76, campaigned on pledges to fight corruption and overhaul Nigeria's creaking road and rail network. His supporters gathered at APC headquarters to celebrate. "As a youth of Nigeria, I believe this is the way forward for this country and for my generation, and that is why we choose to bring him back for the second time," said one of them, Juwarat Abubakar. Atiku, 72, had said he would aim to double the size of the economy to $900 billion by 2025, privatise the state oil company and expand the role of the private sector. DELAY Voting had been delayed by a week after the election commission said it had been unable to get ballots and results sheets to all parts of the country. The event - Africa's largest democratic exercise - was also marred by violence. At least 47 people were killed during voting and its aftermath, according to the Situation Room, a monitoring organisation linking various civil society groups. Some deaths resulted from clashes between groups allied to the leading parties and the police over the theft of ballot boxes and allegations of vote fraud. Police have not yet provided official casualty figures. In his address, Buhari said he was saddened by the loss of lives and commended the security agencies for their work, "as severely overstretched as they are". More than 260 people have been killed since the start of the election campaign in October. The toll so far is lower than in earlier elections, but in the past, the worst violence has occurred only after results were announced. The vote was also affected by problems with smart-card readers that authenticate voters' fingerprints. That meant voting in a small number of precincts was put off to Sunday. U.S. observers said the week-long delay in holding the election had probably reduced turnout, while the European Union bemoaned "serious operational shortcomings". (Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh and Felix Onuah; writing by James Macharia and Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Kevin Liffey) * Cardinal Pell's bail revoked, taken into custody * Prosecutor argues for immediate imprisonment * Pell convicted in December of abusing two 13-year old boys * Pell will be sentenced on March 13 * Lawyers for Pell launch appeal against conviction (Updates with Pell's lawyer quote, prime minister's comments) By Sonali Paul MELBOURNE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will spend his first night behind bars on Wednesday after he was remanded into custody pending sentencing for sexually abusing two choir boys in Australia two decades ago. Pell, a former top adviser to Pope Francis and the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted for child sex offences, was found guilty in December of five charges related to the abuse of the 13-year-old boys while he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. Pell's guilty verdict was revealed in Australia on Tuesday after a court suppression order was dropped. The 77-year-old Pell was back in court on Wednesday for his sentence plea hearing, where his bail was revoked and he was taken into custody ahead of his final sentence being determined. Pell will be sentenced on March 13. Each of the five offences of which Pell was found guilty carries a maximum 10 years imprisonment, and the judge outlined they were serious charges. "This offending warrants immediate imprisonment," prosecutor Mark Gibson told a packed courtroom, which was crowded to overflowing with journalists, lawyers and members of the public. "It involved two vulnerable boys." Two victim impact statements were tendered in the hearing; one from the victim who testified in Pell's trial and one from the father of the other victim who died in 2014, but they were not made public. Lawyers representing Pell argued for a lenient sentence, presenting Judge Peter Kidd with 10 character references, including one from former prime minister John Howard. Robert Richter, a lawyer representing Pell, tried to argue that Pell's offences were at the low-end of the scale, at one point saying it was "no more than a plain vanilla sexual penetration case" where the child did not willingly take part, an argument quickly dismissed by the judge. During the trial one victim described how Pell had exposed himself to them, fondled their genitals and masturbated and forced one boy to perform a sex act on him. Story continues "I see this as a serious example of this kind of offending," Kidd told the Melbourne County Court. "There was an element of brutality to this assault." HECKLED Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who led a national apology in parliament in 2018 to victims of institutional sexual abuse, told reporters his thoughts were with the victims, and he wouldn't comment on calls to strip Pell of his Order of Australia honour. "We do have the law in this country and that law requires a process now to be followed, so I don't intend to engage in that other than to say to all of you out there who have been victims of child sexual abuse, know that we're thinking of you." Pell was heckled as he arrived at court and sat in the dock flanked by police officers. His conviction dominated media for a second day, with banner headlines in Australian newspapers such as "CARDINAL SIN", "CARDINAL TO CONVICTION" and "GUILTY". Pell's lawyers have appealed his conviction. Pell has maintained his innocence. His defence team withdrew an application for a bail hearing at a separate court on Wednesday afternoon, aimed at keeping him free until his appeal was heard. The conviction of such a senior Vatican official has brought the Catholic church's growing sexual abuse crisis, which has also seen scandals in the United States, Chile and Germany, to the heart of the papal administration. CHURCH FUTURE UNCLEAR On Tuesday, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti told reporters the conviction was "painful" for many but that the cardinal had proclaimed his innocence and had the right to "defend himself until last level" of judicial process. Gisotti also said Pell's five-year term as Vatican economy minister had expired on Feb 24, and later tweeted that he was "no longer the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy". The pope ended a conference on sexual abuse on Sunday, calling for an "all out battle" against a crime that should be "erased from the face of the earth". Pell's future in the Catholic church remains unclear while his appeal plays out. Former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was expelled from the priesthood after he was found guilty of sexual crimes against minors and adults, the Vatican said in February. The 88-year-old became the first Roman Catholic prelate in nearly 100 years to lose the title of cardinal last July and is the highest profile church figure to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times. (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Michael Perry) By Aislinn Laing SANTIAGO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Chilean supermarket chains Cencosud, SMU and the local unit of Walmart Inc were fined $12.1 million on Thursday for participating in a scheme to fix the price of fresh chicken, according to court documents. The companies, which have a combined market share of more than 90 percent, said they would appeal to Chile's supreme court. Antitrust court TDLC found that the scheme took place between 2008 and 2011, the documents seen by Reuters showed. The TDLC fined Censosud $5.14 million, Wal-Mart Chile $4.1 million, and SMU $3 million. Antitrust regulator the FNE brought the case in 2016 after Chilean paper manufacturer CMPC and a division of Sweden's SCA were fined and ordered to compensate consumers for colluding for a decade to fix toilet paper prices. The FNE had called for fines of up to $22.9 million for each supermarket chain, while Chile's Christian Democrat Party demanded jail time. (Reporting by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Richard Chang) (Bloomberg) -- Dianrong, a Chinese peer-to-peer lender backed by Tiger Global Management and Standard Chartered Plc, is cutting thousands of staff and closing stores, according to people familiar with the matter, as it tries to reduce costs and comply with authorities efforts to shrink the industry. Shanghai-based Dianrong plans to lay off as many as 2,000 employees and is shutting about 60 of its 90 brick-and-mortar outlets, which helped verify borrowers identities and qualifications, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Disgruntled current and former employees have in recent days taken to social media to demand compensation. The moves show that even the biggest players in Chinas online lending industry havent been spared in the government crackdown on financial risk. Authorities stepped up their efforts to shrink the market as many platforms failed, causing financial woes for thousands of individuals. The P2P sector, once one of the fastest-growing areas of the shadow banking system, is now estimated to be worth $114 billion, according to data compiled by Shanghai-based Yingcan Group, from a peak of about $200 billion. Regulators now want P2Ps to cut loan balance, reduce number of investors and borrowers and, in some areas, force them to close down physical shops, said Yexia Zhang, director of WDZJ Research Center in Shanghai. The aftershock of the P2P shakeout continues. Dianrong said in an email that it continues to optimize its structure in response to regulatory policies and industry changes. The company has now settled with unhappy former employees, it said. Earlier this month Chinese officials said they had frozen about 10 billion yuan ($1.49 billion) of assets of more than 380 P2P lenders in an escalated investigation into illicit financing. The operation spanned 16 countries and regions and had led to the arrests of 62 suspects implicated in P2P frauds since June. Story continues Founded in 2012, Dianrong has raised funds from investors including from Tiger Global, Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte, Standard Chartered and Orix Corp. The firm was valued at $1.2 billion at the last round of financing, and at one stage the online lender was considering an initial public offering. Dianrong started shrinking its business about 10 months ago, partly in response to regulatory pressure, one of the people said. The number of Chinese peer-to-peer lenders may drop by 70 percent this year to as few as 300, according to a Yingcan Group estimate. Only about 50 firms will survive, analysts at Citigroup Inc. predicted. (Updates with quote in fourth paragraph.) To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Jun Luo in Shanghai at jluo6@bloomberg.net;Alfred Liu in Hong Kong at aliu226@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Mamudi at smamudi@bloomberg.net, Jeanette Rodrigues For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. MIDLAND, Texas, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG) (Diamondback or the Company) today announced a series of leadership appointments and promotions, effective March 1, 2019, that will allow the Company to continue to execute on its capital efficient growth and best in class operations on a now significantly larger asset base. Kaes Vant Hof, currently Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Business Development for Diamondback. Tracy Dick will assume the role of Chief Accounting Officer and Executive Vice President for Diamondback, and will remain Chief Financial Officer of Viper Energy Partners LP (Viper). Mr. Vant Hof will also remain in his current role as President of Viper. Matt Zmigrosky will assume the role of Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, replacing Randall Holder, who will be retiring at the end of the first quarter of 2019 after having worked at Diamondback since November 2011, prior to the Companys initial public offering (IPO). Prior to joining Diamondback, Mr. Zmigrosky was in the private practice of law for over 15 years, most recently as a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where he worked extensively with Diamondback and its subsidiaries. Russell Pantermuehl, currently Executive Vice President of Reservoir Engineering, will assume the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Engineer. Jennifer Soliman, currently Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Thomas Hawkins, currently Senior Vice President of Land, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Land. Paul Molnar, currently Executive Vice President of Exploration and Business Development, will be retiring at the end of the first quarter of 2019 after having worked at Diamondback since August 2011, prior to the Companys IPO. Story continues I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Paul and Randy for their significant contributions to Diamondback over the past seven plus years. Both gentlemen are founders of the Company and have been instrumental to the success and growth of Diamondback from a small cap producer of less than 3,000 barrels per day at the time of our IPO in 2012 to the large cap Permian producer we are today. Their daily contributions to Diamondback will be missed, stated Travis Stice, Chief Executive Officer of Diamondback. Diamondback today also announced the promotion of five current Vice Presidents to Senior Vice President as well as the addition of two Vice Presidents and the promotion of one Director to Vice President. Promoted Senior Vice Presidents: Daniel Wesson has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations from Vice President of Operations David Cannon has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Geoscience and Technology from Vice President of Geoscience Joe Niederhofer has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Midstream Operations from Vice President of Midstream Operations. Joe recently joined Diamondback from Energen Corporation (Energen), where he was the Vice President of Permian Basin Operations Kara Blubaugh-Few has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Accounting and Controller from Vice President of Accounting and Controller Marc Dingler has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Deputy General Counsel from Vice President of Legal and Deputy General Counsel New Vice Presidents: Adam Lawlis has been promoted to Vice President of Investor Relations from Director of Investor Relations Al Barkmann recently joined Diamondback as the Vice President of Reservoir Engineering. Al joined Diamondback from Energen, where he was the Reservoir Engineering Manager Yong Cho was promoted to Vice President of Drilling in August 2018 after joining Diamondback as Drilling Manager of the Delaware Basin in 2017 Mr. Stice continued, The appointments and promotions announced today only emphasize the strength and depth of our management team at Diamondback. As we grow in size and scale, these next level leaders are pivotal to the continued success of the Company to execute on our core philosophy of best in class execution, low cost operations and transparency. About Diamondback Energy, Inc. Diamondback is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. For more information, please visit www.diamondbackenergy.com. Investor Contact: Adam Lawlis +1 432.221.7467 alawlis@diamondbackenergy.com Digital Realty Trust, Inc. DLR announced that it has achieved "five nines" of uptime, surpassing 99.999% availability throughout 2018, for the 12th consecutive year. This reflects the data-center REITs efficiency in developing and delivering data-center solutions, which can be relied upon by customers. This operational excellence has been achieved despite growth of the companys portfolio over the years, which has expanded from 74 data-center suites at the beginning of 2007 to more than 800 by the end of 2018. Moreover, recently, the company exceeded 2.1 billion operating minutes across its 214 data-center properties. These properties included around 30 million square feet in 35 metropolitan areas internationally. With growth in cloud computing, Internet of Things and big data, and an increasing number of companies opting for third-party IT infrastructure, data-center REITs are experiencing a boom market. Also, the estimated growth rates for the artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicle and virtual/augmented reality markets will remain robust over the next five to eight years. In fact, demand is outpacing supply in top-tier data center markets and despite enjoying high occupancy, these markets are absorbing new construction at a faster pace. Amid these, accretive acquisitions and development efforts are expected to boost top-line growth for Digital Realty. The company recently announced the expansion of its Singapore-connected campus with a new facility. Further, during the Dec-end quarter, it completed the previously-announced acquisition of Ascenty, a data-center provider in Brazil, in a transaction worth nearly $1.8 billion. The company also completed the acquisition of 424 acres of undeveloped land in Loudoun County, VA, for $236.5 million. It is situated near the Washington Dulles International Airport, and positioned near bulk transmission lines and a major fiber path. Earlier in September 2017, Digital Realty announced the completion of a merger with DuPont Fabros in an all-stock deal, for an enterprise value of about $7.8 billion. This move enhanced the companys portfolio in the top U.S. data-center metro areas across Northern Virginia, Chicago and Silicon Valley. It helped Digital Realty enhance hyper-scale product offering and grow its blue-chip customer base. The company is also focused on expanding its footprint in Europe and Australia. However, given the solid growth potential of the data-center real estate market, competition is expected to intensify in the upcoming period from existing as well as new players. Amid all these, an aggressive pricing pressure is anticipated in the data-center market. Digital Realty has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The stock has gained 4.4% in the past month, while the industry inched up 0.2%. Story continues Stocks Worth a Look A few better-ranked stocks from the same industry are Boston Properties, Inc. BXP, Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. PDM and Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. REXR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Boston Properties Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 FFO per share has been revised 0.9% upward to $6.90 over the past month. Piedmont Office Realty Trusts FFO per share estimates for the current year inched up 1.1% to $1.78 in a months time. Rexford Industrial Realtys FFO per share estimates for 2019 have been revised approximately 1.7% upward to $1.18 over the past month. Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (PDM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (REXR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research An Air France Airbus A321 airplane lands at Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy, near Paris, France, May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/Files By Toby Sterling and Tim Hepher AMSTERDAM/PARIS (Reuters) - When Air France's new Canadian chief executive met Dutch politicians in The Hague on Feb. 15, he unknowingly set in motion a new chapter in European aviation nationalism. Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra had summoned Ben Smith to secure assurances that Air France would keep key routes open at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and KLM would retain the partial independence it has enjoyed since the airlines merged in 2004. Smith, who has told investors he planned to improve integration and cut costs at Air France-KLM, kept his answers brief and non-committal, beating a quick retreat, a person familiar with the matter said. When the Dutch government felt its demands were not being addressed, it chose to act, the person familiar with the matter and another source said, leading to Tuesday's announcement that it was buying a stake in Air France-KLM to match the French state and boost its influence over a group which has seen KLM profits dwarf those of Air France. "Buying this stake ensures we have a seat at the table," Hoekstra said, adding his government paid 680 million euros to buy 12.7 percent "to defend Dutch national interests." The government later said it had reached 14 percent, almost matching France's 14.3 percent holding. It was a stunning change of tack, 15 years after Air France and KLM became the first European national airlines to merge. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called the move "incomprehensible" and a French ministry official said the Netherlands had acted like "a corporate raider." Investors slashed 12 percent from Air France-KLM's value, fearing a stalemate between state shareholders. Tuesday's lurch toward government intervention marks a radical shift in the aviation policy of the Netherlands, which was the first country to sign a liberalizing Open Skies deal with the United States in 1992. Story continues "I don't recall anything like this. If anything governments have been selling stakes in airlines, or at least not investing, to the point where airlines have been going bust," said veteran airlines watcher James Halstead, a partner at Aviation Strategy. Air France-KLM declined to comment on the closed talks. But the company said in a statement it had been ready to reaffirm commitments to strengthen KLM and its Schiphol hub. FLYING THE FLAG Fifteen years after the airlines merged, the shaky foundations of one of the industry's landmark mergers highlight the difficulty of carrying out cross-border tie-ups in an industry riven with national pride, politics and protectionism. "Airlines are unique. It is perhaps the only case where the national flag has real relevance to the point of being displayed on the tails," said Giovanni Bisignani, former head of the global industry group International Air Transport Association. However, the dramatic share-market swoop came as less of a surprise to political analysts who have tracked Dutch centre-right governments since the 2008 financial crisis: the takeover of a major national company like KLM is unthinkable under their watch and the 2004 airline merger grates with ministers now. Attempts by foreign firms to buy telecommunications company KPN in 2013, postal carrier PostNL in 2016, and paint-maker Akzo Nobel in 2017 all foundered in part on opposition from Prime Minister Mark Rutte's governments. The Dutch cabinet is preparing a law which would allow any Dutch corporate board to freeze any takeover bid for 250 days. It is also creating a panel to require government vetting for takeovers in "sensitive" sectors, echoing U.S. practice. "The public interest must go first," said Lodewijk Asscher, leader of the opposition Labour party, echoing reaction across the Dutch political spectrum. He said the centre-right government's move was right for the nation's "economics, employment, and sustainability." France has itself in the past drawn criticism for ambushing the stock market, notably in 2015 when then economy minister Emmanuel Macron ordered a surprise government stake increase in Renault.. CONTROL WORRIES On top of political sensitivities, analysts say cross-border mergers are particularly tricky because most airlines are also subject to ownership restrictions and international rules tying traffic rights to individual countries. Setting off a wave of consolidation in 2004, Air France and KLM sought to skirt those problems and pacify powerful French unions by granting significant freedom and separate balance sheets for the two carriers. But they left multiple layers of management and chronic labour disputes among French pilots. The model led to mounting frustration on the Dutch side that KLM was being dragged down financially without real control over the group, which was largely driven by the French, sources said. In 2018, Air France made operating earnings of 266 million euros, against KLM's 1.07 billion. A later merger that brought together British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus involved a more powerful holding company, IAG, combined with a leaner structure, Halstead said. The industry has learned from that approach but cultural differences also haunted the Franco-Dutch union from the start, even as Dutch bosses abandoned buttermilk for wine in meetings. "The Dutch would come out of a meeting and say that this or that issue has been decided," said Halstead, who closely follows the group. "The French would say it had only been considered." (Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Laurence Frost in Paris; Editing by Edmund Blair) 1. Yes. The Schlueter Group has extensive experience and contacts. Its a good investment. 2. Yes. The firms namesake has a background as a legislator and knows Killeen well. 3. No. The expenditure is a waste of money. Our lawmakers should be doing that work. 4. No. The contract should be shorter, incentivized and based on performance benchmarks. 5. Unsure. Its not always easy to quantify the outcomes of lobbying efforts. Vote View Results (Recasts throughout, updates prices, adds market strategist's quote) March 1 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks fell on Friday, posting their biggest weekly loss of the year to date, pressured by lower oil prices and economic worries, while currencies slipped against a strong dollar. MSCI's index for Latin American stocks fell over 1.5 percent for the day, as conflicting trade signals between the United States and China aided by muted earnings for big companies in the region snapped risk sentiment. Brazil's Bovespa which has been one of the strongest performing indexes this year, fell over 1 percent in a week marked by weak economic data and anxiety over the passage of an overhaul to the pension system. Investors worried about reports that President Jair Bolsonaro make amendments to his proposed changes to the social security system. "The government is now signaling the possibility to recalibrate some parameters to make it more palatable for politicians," wrote Mauricio Oreng, senior Brazil strategist, Rabobank in a note. State-run oil company Petrobras was one of the biggest losers for the week, down about 1.6 percent tracking lower oil prices. Traders trimmed positions on the real ahead of market holidays next week. Brazil markets are shut Monday and Tuesday for the Carnival holidays, with trade resuming late on Ash Wednesday. Stocks in Mexico registered their biggest weekly loss since November 2018, with Fresnillo, the world's biggest silver producer, shedding over 17 percent on a weekly basis on lower Q4 profit and muted 2019 outlook. The peso rose marginally on the day but was set to end lower for the week amid worries over risk of rating downgrades to the country and state-run oil firm Pemex. Chile's peso fell for a third straight day tracking the price of copper, the country's top export. Stocks on the IPSA index slipped over 1 percent. The local stock index has been pressured by lithium producer Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, which reported a disappointing fourth-quarter profit. Argentina's stocks fell to a six-week low led be declines in shares of Banco Macro, while the country's peso clocked weekly losses for a fifth consecutive week. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2130 GMT Stock indexes Latest Daily pct change MSCI Emerging Markets 1,051.54 0.06 MSCI LatAm 2,775.81 -1.61 Brazil Bovespa 94,603.75 -1.03 Mexico IPC 42,620.34 -0.48 Chile IPSA 5,274.66 -0.24 Argentina MerVal 33,834.86 -1.89 Colombia IGBC 12,304.91 0.68 Currencies Latest Daily pct change Brazil real 3.7781 -0.64 Mexico peso 19.2781 0.02 Chile peso 659.4 -0.60 Colombia peso 3,094.65 -0.47 Peru sol 3.308 -0.30 Argentina peso (interbank) 39.8100 -1.58 (Reporting by Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio) In this article: BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS -- Private equity firm The Carlyle Group to acquire aviation services company StandardAero from buyout firm Veritas Capital (approved Feb. 27) NEW LISTINGS None EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES -- U.S. aircraft parts maker Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc to acquire EU-based supplier Asco Industries NV (notified Jan. 30/deadline extended to March 20 from March 6 after Spirit offered concessions) -- Steel company Aperam to acquire Netherlands producer of materials from nickel and nickel alloy VDM Metals Holding (notified Oct. 23/deadline April 16/withdrawn Dec. 21) FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE FEB 28 -- Energy investment holding company LetterOne Holdings and chemical sector stock corporation BASF to create joint venture combining oil and gas activities (notified Jan. 24/deadline Feb. 28) MARCH 7 -- German energy company E.ON to acquire German peer Innogy's retail and network activities (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7) -- Cayman Island-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund X, L.P. to acquire sole control from investment vehicle Cheadle Developments Ltd. over Jersey-based FH Investments Ltd. through a share purchase (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7/simplified) MARCH 8 -- Energy producer and provider Total Holdings USA to acquire sole control over oil and natural gas production company Chevron Denmark (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8) -- Insurer Marsh & McLennan Companies to acquire share capital of British peer Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8) MARCH 11 -- Global aerospace producer, designer and supplier TransDigm Group to acquire sole control over manufacturing company Esterline Technologies (notified Feb. 4/deadline March 11) -- DA Agravis Machinery Holding and Danish Agro Machinery Holding to acquire Kesko Group's agrimachinery activities in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from Finnish subsidiary Konekesko Oy (notified Feb. 4/deadline March 11) Story continues MARCH 12 -- UK-based asset manager Intermediate Capital Group to acquire control of Grupo Konectanet, S.L. and Konecta Activos Immobiliarios, S.L. and companies controlled by them (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12/simplified) -- Swedish investment company Nalka Invest AB to acquire sole control of medical supply distributor OneMed AB (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12/simplified) -- On-street parking company Saba Portugal and road infrastructure operator Egis Portugal to acquire joint control of Viseu Car Park Assets (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12/simplified) MARCH 13 -- Norway's Kongsberg Gruppen to acquire British aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce's commercial marine business (notified Feb. 6/deadline March 13/simplified) -- Mitsubishi Corp. and Franz Haniel & Cie. subsidiary ELG Haniel GmbH to acquire joint control over ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd. by way of purchase of shares (notified Feb. 6/deadline March 13/simplified) MARCH 15 -- French construction company Vinci to acquire Britain's Gatwick Airport (notified Feb. 8/deadline March 15/simplified) -- Investindustrial VI L.P.'s investment subsidiary World Confectionery Group S.a r.l to acquire sole control of Spain's chocolate company Natra S.A. (notified Feb. 8/deadline March 15/simplified) -- U.S. private equity firm American Securities to acquire property restoration company Belfor Holdings (notified Feb. 8/deadline March 15/simplified) MARCH 20 -- U.S. private equity firm KKR to acquire Spanish food-food restaurant chain Telepizza (notified Feb. 13/deadline March 20/simplified) MARCH 21 -- German insurer Allianz, Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board and U.S.-based Greystar Real Estate Partners to acquire joint control over London-based student accommodation property Paul Street East through a share purchase agreement (notified Feb. 14/deadline March 21/simplified) MARCH 25 -- U.S. aluminum company Novelis, which is a unit of India's Hindalco Industries Ltd, to acquire aluminum processor Aleris (notified Feb. 18/deadline March 25) -- Luxembourg's LetterOne Investment Holdings to acquire supermarket operator DIA (notified Feb. 18/deadline March 25/simplified) MARCH 26 -- France's Moma Places and Unibal-Rodamco to set up a joint commercial catering venture (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 26/simplified) MARCH 27 -- Swiss chemicals company Sika to acquire French rival Parex from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners (notified Feb. 20/deadline March 27) -- Japan's CK Holdings Co to acquire Italian car parts maker Magneti Marelli from Italian auto maker Fiat Chrysler Automotives (notified Feb. 20/deadline March 27/simplified) MARCH 28 -- ArcelorMittal and Italy's CLN Group to acquire joint control over two Italian steel service centers of the Ilva Group (notified Feb. 21/deadline March 28) -- German conglomerate JAB Holding to increase its stake in Coty Inc to 60 percent from 40 percent (notified Feb. 21/deadline March 28/simplified) -- Japanese telecoms provider KDDI Corp and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co Ltd to jointly acquire Japanese online broker Kabu.com (notified Feb. 21/deadline March 28/simplified) -- Apollo Management to acquire plastic product maker RPC Group (notified Feb. 21/deadline March 28/simplified) MARCH 29 -- Financial services company Great-West Lifeco's Irish Life and Clyde Property Fund and UK property developer Hammerson to jointly acquire a shopping centre in Dublin, Ireland (notified Feb. 22/deadline March 29) -- Carlyle U.S. Equity Opportunity Fund and TA Associates LP to acquire joint control over WU Holdco, Inc. (notified Feb. 22/deadline March 29/simplified) APRIL 1 -- UK asset management company Segro and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board to jointly acquire a logistics site in Poland (notified Feb. 25/deadline April 1/simplified) -- UK asset management company Segro and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board to jointly acquire a logistics site in France (notified Feb. 25/deadline April 1/simplified) -- Mitsubishi's trust and banking corporation to acquire sole control of First State Investments through a share acquisition (notified Feb. 25/deadline April 1/simplified) APRIL 29 --- Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Tata Steel to set up a steel joint venture (notified Sept. 25/deadline April 29) MAY 20 -- Electronic and motor manufacturing company Nidec to acquire sole control of U.S. white goods maker Whirlpool Corp's compressor subsidiary Embraco (notified Oct. 8/deadline extended to May 20 from May 13) JUNE 3 -- UK mobile telephony provider Vodafone to acquire U.S. Liberty Global's telecommunications business in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Romania (notified Oct. 19/deadline June 3) GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company's proposed remedies or an EU member state's request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days. SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Clare Roth;) Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM recently announced the discovery of natural gas in Glaucus-1 well, located off the coast of Cyprus. After drilling the well safely to 13,780 feet in Block 10, the company found 436 feet of gas-bearing reservoir. ExxonMobil added that the initial interpretation of well data suggests that the new discovery may comprise 5 trillion to 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resource. However, the largest publicly-traded integrated energy firm will carry on further analysis to confirm the potential of the resource. It is to be noted that ExxonMobil is the operator of block 10, spreading across 2,572 square kilometers, with 60% ownership stake. The remaining 40% interest is owned by Qatar Petroleum International Upstream O.P.C. ExxonMobil will carry out further evaluation to find that the new discovery could be a major source of clean energy to the global market. In a separate release, ExxonMobil announced that through 2018 it made an addition of 4.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels of proved oil and gas reserves. Thus, the company was able to replace 313% of production through 2018. As of Dec 31, 2018, ExxonMobil recorded its reserves at 24.3 billion oil-equivalent barrels, representing an increase of 23% year over year, thanks to several offshore Guyana discoveries, acquisition of high-quality Brazilian resources and contributions from the prolific Permian basin. According to ExxonMobils estimation, the huge addition to reserves in 2018 has expanded the life of its reserves to 17 years, considering the current rate of production. Headquartered in Irving, TX, ExxonMobil currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Meanwhile, better-ranked players in the energy space include Jones Energy Inc. JONE, Golar LNG Partners LP GMLP and Sunoco LP SUN. All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Jones Energy expects 2019 earnings growth of 19% year over year. Story continues Golar LNG delivered average positive earnings surprise of 92.8% in the preceding four quarters. Sunoco LP has average positive earnings surprise of 18.39% for the trailing four quarters. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Golar LNG Partners LP (GMLP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sunoco LP (SUN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Jones Energy, Inc. (JONE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research As Facebook FB continues to announce stellar results quarter after quarter, regulators around the world are taking note of where those numbers are coming from, i.e. how much user data the company is lapping up, with how much disclosure it is operating and with what degree of regard for teens and tweens. Theres also a bit of concern in some countries about whether it is paying taxes commensurate with the income it is generating- U.S. Regulators Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action against Facebook on the basis of a complaint by consumer groups alleging fraud on children. It appears from the complaint that while the company has dedicated resources to process refund requests related to unauthorized purchases by children, it also uses deceptive practices to lure them into making those extensive unauthorized in-game purchases in the first place. Whats more, the larger spenders are referred to as whales internally, a casino term to describe high-spending gamblers. The details were uncovered last month when the Center for Investigative Reporting requested the unsealing of court documents related to a case settled in 2016. Separately, New York state authorities have decided to investigate Facebook after a report from the WSJ about its harvesting of sensitive personal data through apps built for the platform. The WSJ found on investigation that 11 popular apps with millions of users between them have been sharing sensitive personal data with Facebook through the software development kit it provides them. Facebook doesnt solicit such data but uses it when app makers tell it to for targeted advertising, according to the company. Moreover, its terms of service for app makers specify that such data shouldnt be shared without consent, and on occasion, it causes that data to be deleted from its records. The data collection is required by app makers to track how their apps are being used and learn more about user behavior, especially as regards what gives rise to an event such as the purchase of an item. Story continues UK Regulation A non-binding report by a committee of senior lawmakers in the UK recommends that the government pass laws that are up to speed with the Internet age. The targeted technology companies include not just Facebook, but also other dominant platforms although Facebook was specifically mentioned for bullying the smaller technology companies and developers who rely on this platform to reach their customers. As a result of a year-long study of the situation, the report identified some key considerations before lawmakers, including Facebooks willingness to override its users privacy settings so a number of app developers could access their data, Facebook executives deliberate misleading of lawmakers/omission to mention Russian interference in foreign elections during the investigation, and strong evidence suggesting foreign state interference in the 2016 Brexit vote. It suggests that the election regulator in the UK should have more power to fine social media companies based on the revenue they generate. Facebooks response was that it is "open to meaningful regulation" and supports "the committees recommendation for electoral law reform." EU Regulation Representatives from a majority of EU countries backed new copyright regulation that seeks to impose restrictions on the way copyrighted materials are shared online. The EU Council approval was tweeted by the current president, Romania. The new rules will require companies like Facebook and Alphabet GOOGL to pay publishers for news snippets, enter into specific agreements with copyright holders like publishers, broadcasters and artists, and build upload filters so users are unable to upload copyrighted material. The goal is to protect the bloc's cultural heritage, but some dissenting countries (Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland) and two other abstaining ones feel that the agreement hinder innovation and hurt the bloc's competitiveness: "We regret that the Directive does not strike the right balance between the protection of right holders and the interests of EU citizens and companies. A committee of lawmakers will vote on the issue next week, followed by a parliamentary vote in March or April when it will be signed into law. Indian Regulators After summoning Twitter TWTR officials in the prior week, the parliamentary committee investigating Indian citizens rights on social media has summoned Facebook representatives including those from its sister concerns WhatsApp and Instagram. The committee will hear what Facebook representatives have to say on the issue on Mar 6. The urgency of handling important issues at this time is presumably tied to the national elections in May where Modi is seeking a second term. This is particularly true because fake news circulation, terrorist recruitment, foreign meddling in elections etc. typically assume greater importance when a country is headed to elections. Facebooks handling of election concerns isnt ideal but there has been some improvement of late. New Zealand Regulators Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand has said that there are considerable unfair differences in the way domestic and foreign multinational digital companies are taxed. She is therefore seeking to add a 2-3% tax on the revenue these companies generate in New Zealand, in line with other countries attempting the same thing. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash said that while it would continue to work with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD to determine an international solution, the proceedings could take time. The proposed tax will likely go into effect next year. New Privacy Controls Facebook is rolling out a new tool that will help Android users turn off location tracking, something Facebook has unabashedly resorted to, even when you werent using the app. Apples AAPL iOS already offers tools so users can allow or partially allow or totally disallow tracking. The new tool applies to people who had turned on location history in the first place perhaps as a part of turning on the location tagging feature. Meanwhile, location tracking on Instagram has reportedly allowed Facebook to develop artificial intelligence that can predict a users next destination. But not all people are equally concerned about data sharing. So to deal with those more concerned, the founder CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview with Harvard Law Professor Jonathan Zittrain that he was mulling a decentralized, blockchain-based approach to access, store and manage private data. With the elimination of the intermediary that is the cornerstone of blockchain technology, individuals could be dramatically empowered. The company recently invested in a blockchain focused startup, which could be an indication that Zuck is true to his word. The Onavo VPN app for Android that was lapping up data shared by teens to support an internal research program is also on its way out. Facebook has stopped recruiting people for the research program and will reportedly close down the app entirely once users have found replacements. 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Zacks Investment Research Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 28, 2019) - IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX: IMG) ("IAMGOLD" or the "Company") deeply regrets to report the death of a contractor's employee due to an equipment fire at its Essakane Mine in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The incident occurred at the end of the night shift and during the operation of the contractor haul truck on site. Essakane's Emergency Response Team was immediately activated. The appropriate government authorities have been notified. An investigation into the incident has been initiated by the Company and we are working with our contractor, and the local authorities to determine the cause. Our thoughts are with the family, friends and co-workers of our colleague, and we are offering support at this difficult time. About IAMGOLD IAMGOLD (www.iamgold.com) is a mid-tier mining company with four operating gold mines on three continents. A solid base of strategic assets in North and South America and West Africa is complemented by development and exploration projects and continued assessment of accretive acquisition opportunities. IAMGOLD is in a strong financial position with extensive management and operational expertise. For further information please contact : Indi Gopinathan, Investor Relations Lead, IAMGOLD Corporation Tel: (416) 360-4743 Mobile: (416) 388-6883 Martin Dumont, Senior Analyst Investor Relations, IAMGOLD Corporation Tel: (416) 933-5783 Mobile: (647) 967-9942 IAMGOLD Corporation Toll-free: 1 888 464-9999 info@iamgold.com Please note: This entire news release may be accessed via fax, e-mail, IAMGOLD's website at www.iamgold.com and through Newsfile's website at www.newsfilecorp.com. All material information on IAMGOLD can be found at www.sedar.com or at www.sec.gov. Si vous desirez obtenir la version francaise de ce communique, veuillez consulter le http://www.iamgold.com/French/accueil/default.aspx. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43130 Florida Supreme Court. Photo: royalty free Prior to Novembers midterm election, much was made of the new form the Florida Supreme Court would take once the ballots were counted. With the mandatory retirements of Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince looming, it would be up to the new Florida governor to fill their slots from a roster given to them by the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission. As replacing half of a high court is wont to do, the governors choices stood poised to affect the direction of Florida for years, and likely decades, to come. But a little less than two months into Gov. Ron DeSantis tenure and with all seats on the Florida Supreme Court now filled, its still unclear just how the new justices Barbara Lagoa, Robert Luck and Carlos Muniz will wield their power in the states judicial branch alongside Chief Justice Charles Canady and justices Ricky Polston, Jorge Labarga and Alan Lawson. Although not all were prepared to comment on the record, the Daily Business Review spoke with several legal figures on what the Florida Supreme Courts new composition forecasts for the states future. And although each of them agreed significant changes were in store, none were prepared to say for sure how the court will swing. Even in its early days, the court has already signaled a change in the matters it will review. A glimpse at the Florida Supreme Courts docket shows that several cases the court had agreed to hear have since been dismissed. Notably, this included City of Miami Beach vs. Florida Retail Federation, handing a victory to businesses whod bristled at Miami Beachs 2016 ordinance to raise the minimum wage. Read the dismissal: The only two dissents in the dismissal came courtesy of two of the new justices, Luck and Lagoa. As a longtime South Florida litigator, appellate attorney Bruce Rogow who recently made news by joining Roger Stones legal team is familiar with Luck and Lagoa. He said it would be a mistake to presume the new justices would blindly adhere to a new conservative jurisprudence, especially in light of their respective backgrounds. In a state like Florida the personal histories of judges are of much greater variety than they might be in other states, and I think thats what makes it an interesting court, Rogow said. He asserted even in a court made up entirely of ostensibly conservative justices, the diversity of Florida inevitably produces differences in judicial philosophy. Two new justices, Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck, come from South Florida and I think that that has an effect on ones perception of the world, Rogow said. Were a more liberal community and they have lived and practiced in this community. Fort Walton Beach and Miami Beach are not the same places, and I think that people are an outgrowth of their experience. Even if the justices all hail from different places, activist Damien Flier points out they all run within the same circles. Flier, the communications director for Progress Florida, noted justices Lagoa, Luck and Muniz are all members of the Federalist Society, a self-described conservative and libertarian intellectual network that extends to all levels of the legal community. I would like to give this new court the benefit of the doubt and hope that it will function the way it has in recent years when it was a more balanced court, Flier said. During the Rick Scott administration there were a number of times with bills that came up where the court played the role and served the function as it was intended, as a check and balance on other branches. Flier and several attorneys said the courts treatment of controversial bills proposed by the state legislature will be one of the strongest litmus tests for determining how the court will conduct itself moving forward. The political makeup of this legislature and new governor are such that its likely one or more of these attempts to restrict abortion in Florida will pass, and if it does happen I think itll be challenged in court, Flier said. This may be the policy area where we will most likely be able to compare and contrast the makeup of this new Florida Supreme Court with what its been in recent years. Along with abortion access, Flier mentioned legislation on school vouchers and union busting both issues championed by the conservative movement may very well end up before the court following legal challenges. Conflicts concerning corporate liberty versus individual protections were widely cited as an area likely to change under the current court. Pariente, Lewis and Quince often made up the majority in rulings favoring plaintiffs or individual litigants in medical malpractice and insurance claim cases. With all three gone, future rulings could begin benefiting corporate defendants. The more conservative philosophy is probably not plaintiff-friendly in those kinds of cases, and if I were a personal injury or medical malpractice lawyer, I might be concerned the change in the court would have some impact on the legal issues that arise, Rogow said. But even with the concerns raised and issues at stake, no one was prepared to definitively state how they foresee the new Florida Supreme Court behaving. Former appellate judge Philip Padovano observed even the most philosophically rigid of justices are keenly aware of the power of precedent both legally and in the public eye. Most of these folks are in their 40s or 50s, and they have a lifetime of ideas. Theyre not blank slates, Padovano said. But still I think they try to make decisions that are faithful to the constitution they are interpreting. Obviously things are going to be different. Theres no question about that. For all intents and purposes its a different court. But I dont think the changes are going to be as radical as some people think. Related stories: GC Carlos Muniz Rises to Florida Supreme Court, as Some Cite Lack of Judicial Experience DeSantis New Justices Could Refuel Workers Compensation Fight Who is Robert Luck? Walking Encyclopedia, Terrible Golfer, Supreme Court Justice By Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany faces the risk of steep U.S. tariffs on cars and a no-deal Brexit, a double whammy which could bring a golden decade of growth in Europe's powerhouse economy to an end. Chancellor Angela Merkel and her ministers are working behind the scenes to mitigate the impact should the worst-case scenario come to pass. A stagnating German economy or even a recession would hold back the euro zone as a whole and cast uncertainty over the European Central Bank's planned exit from its loose monetary policy. The Berlin government is already facing a budget shortfall of up to 25 billion euros by 2023 as the economic slowdown means tax revenues will come in below previous estimates, according to a finance ministry document. Nonetheless, faced with the threat of a recession, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is prepared to bend Germany's strict debt rules, a senior government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "If the double whammy should materialize, we want to pull something out of the hat," the official said, suggesting that the government is working on a fiscal stimulus package. "This will be a test to our policy of no new debt and Germany's debt brake," the official added. The finance ministry declined to comment on this. Germany, which barely avoided a recession last year, is especially vulnerable to both the risks of U.S. tariffs of up to 25 percent on cars and Britain sliding out of the EU on March 29 without a deal to govern future trade relations with the bloc. Exports make up nearly half of its economic output and cars are by far its main export with annual sales worth 230 billion euros ($263 billion), data from the Federal Statistics Office showed. The most important export destination for German cars last year was the United States with revenues of 27.2 billion euros, followed by China with 24.7 billion euros and Britain with 22.5 billion euros, the data showed. Story continues In terms of the number of exported cars, Britain tops the list with 666,000 and the United States is second with 470,000, according to data from the VDA industry association. U.S. President Donald Trump, pursuing an "America First" agenda, has repeatedly criticized Germany's bumper trade surplus and warned that Washington will impose tariffs on European cars if it is unable to reach a trade deal with the European Union. A confidential report by the U.S. Commerce Department sent to Trump in mid-February is widely expected to pave the way to impose duties on imported autos and auto parts by designating them a threat to American national security. Trump had 90 days to decide whether to act upon the recommendations, until mid-May. A no-deal Brexit, meanwhile, would see Britain falling back to the status of a third country under the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This would push up British import tariffs for German cars to roughly 10 percent. For trucks and pick-ups, tariffs of up to 22 percent would apply. Customs inspections at ports and borders are likely to disrupt just-in-time delivery chains. "A no-deal scenario would be serious and entail significant risks for companies and employees in the EU-27," a VDA spokesman said. "Massive impairments in logistics and high customs costs would be the result." VICIOUS CYCLE If both scenarios become reality, the combined impact could chop off up to 0.7 percentage points from Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the long term, separate estimates from Commerzbank and the Ifo institute show. The German government already expects GDP growth to slow to 1 percent this year from 1.4 percent in 2018. But this forecast is built on the assumption that an escalation of the U.S. trade dispute and a no-deal Brexit can be avoided. "In case of a disorderly Brexit, there will be short-term negative effects such as increased uncertainty and adjustment processes, though these are hard to quantify," an economy ministry spokesman said. However, studies estimate that a no-deal Brexit would cost Germany 0.2 percentage points of growth a year in the long term, the spokesman added. He declined to quantify the expected damage of higher U.S. tariffs for German cars. "The goal of the EU and the German government is to seal a trade deal with the U.S. that lowers tariffs for industrial goods on both sides," the spokesman said. Volkswagen's Chief Executive Herbert Diess said in a Financial Times interview last week that higher U.S. tariffs could cost the automaker up to 2.5 billion euros a year. This would be roughly 13 percent of VW's expected earnings in 2019. German car exports to the United States could fall by almost 50 percent in the long term if Trump was to impose car tariffs of 25 percent, the Ifo institute has estimated. "This would reduce German GDP growth by roughly 0.5 percentage points," Commerzbank economist Joerg Kraemer said. For the German economy as a whole, higher U.S. tariffs and a no-deal Brexit together would also hit business sentiment and consumer morale which could throw the economy into a vicious cycle, economists say. Household spending, the most important pillar of the domestic economy, could falter if uncertainty about the economy spilled over onto the labor market, Rolf Buerkl from the GfK research group warned. "If employees get the impression during the course of the year that their jobs are no longer secure, this would have a direct negative effect on the consumer mood," Buerkl said. Less growth also means less tax revenues which limits the government's ability to put together a huge fiscal stimulus package which could pull the economy out of a downward spiral. Scholz is currently working on a draft law that aims to support companies investing in research and development with 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) in tax incentives over four years, coalition sources told Reuters on Thursday. The plan will be financed through the expected budget surplus, narrowing the room for any additional measures. "If the government wants to present new fiscal measures to counter a recession, then it only has two options: either hiking taxes or taking on new debt," a lawmaker in Merkel's ruling coalition said on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Pravin Char) (Adds details of proposal) BERLIN, Feb 28 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is asking federal government and the country's 16 states to support companies investing in research and development with 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) in tax incentives, coalition sources said on Thursday. As Europe's largest economy shifts into a lower gear, the government faces calls to boost fiscal stimulus and help companies that are struggling with weaker foreign demand, rising trade tensions and increased competition from abroad. Scholz suggested that the tax incentives should be granted over four years, starting from 2020, and that the Finance Ministry would make available 2.5 billion euros of the total overall, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. A government document seen by Reuters showed Scholz wants to limit the R&D tax incentives that a single company can get to a maximum of 500,000 euros per year. The tax incentives should be available to all companies and not limited to small and medium-sized enterprises. The Finance Ministry is discussing the proposal with the chancellery and other ministries, aiming for cabinet to pass a law before the Easter holiday in April, the sources said. The BDI industry association welcomed the proposal as the right instrument to boost private investments in R&D. "This brings the federal government an important step closer to achieving the goal of investing 3.5 percent of GDP in R&D," BDI Managing Director Joachim Lang said. But Kerstin Andreae, deputy parliamentary leader of the opposition Greens, criticised Scholz's proposal, saying it would be better to limit the tax incentives to small and medium-sized firms and aim for a longer period instead. "This instrument needs time to have the desired effect," Andreae said. ($1 = 0.8761 euros) (Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Holger Hansen; Editing by Michelle Martin and Alexander Smith) (Bloomberg) -- Global Switch, the U.K. data center operator controlled by Chinese investors, has chosen arrangers for a proposed Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise more than $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. The London-based company picked CLSA Ltd., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to lead the deal, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. Morgan Stanley is also among banks that were chosen to work on the share sale, which could take place as soon as this year, the people said. Global Switch is opting to list in Hong Kong after British brothers David and Simon Reuben sold control of the firm to Asian investors including Chinese steelmaker Shagang Group and China Citic Bank International. The billionaire siblings sold a 49 percent stake in 2016, followed by a divestment of another 25 percent holding last year. Hong Kong has been attracting some of the worlds biggest listings, including last years $5.4 billion IPO from smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp., after a push from the exchange to court more technology companies. First-time share sales in the city have raised $139.6 billion over the past five years, compared with $83 billion in the U.K. during the same period, data compiled by Bloomberg show. A representative for Shagang Group said she couldnt immediately comment. Global Switch didnt immediately respond to emailed queries outside regular business hours in London. Spokeswomen for CLSA, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Global Switch, founded in 1998, owns and operates 11 data centers totaling 340,000 square meters (3.7 million square feet) across Europe and Asia Pacific, according to its website. (Updates with IPO data for Hong Kong and U.K. in fourth paragraph.) To contact the reporters on this story: Crystal Tse in Hong Kong at ctse44@bloomberg.net;Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Vinicy Chan in Hong Kong at vchan91@bloomberg.net Story continues To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Photo: Jenna McLaughlin/Yahoo News Abu DhabiAs weapons sales to Gulf countries soar, defense companies flocked to last months bi-annual International Defense Exhibition in Abu Dhabi. But amid the usual displays of machine guns, helicopters, and tanks, in the quieter corners of the showroom floor, purveyors of intelligence and surveillance products also hawked their wares to governments and law enforcement agencies worldwide. At one display, multiple companies banded together and debuted a one-stop shop for intelligence solutions branded Intellexa. Their booth displayed a massive long range mission intelligence vehicle sold by WiSpear, a company founded by former Israeli military intelligence official Tal Dilian registered in Southern Cyprus. Cyprus, according to documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, is a hub for British and American internet monitoring in the Middle East. One click and we can take control of your phone, said a representative at the booth working for Advanced Systems, an intelligence company based in Dubai which advertises a full range of intelligence solutions to help governments to effectively fight against terrorism, malicious acts, or civil unrest. The Middle East has long been home to autocratic governments seeking for ways to assure domestic stability. But what has changed, particularly after the wave of Arab Spring protests in 2011, is how they are seeking to prevent what they perceive to be threatening dissent. Countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and others are buying up increasingly sophisticated computer equipment and expertise to help monitor and control the flow of information in their societies. Photo: Jenna McLaughlin/Yahoo News Theres a reason were all out here, one U.S. industry source told Yahoo News. In the Gulf, the source said, companies can sell surveillance technology that might not be acceptable in other regions because of concerns over civil liberties. Yet in the case of Intellexa, it was not even clear which countries were behind the company. The official press release did not list Advanced Systems as a member company, but materials at the booth noted their involvement with Intellexa. The representative asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with the press. Story continues Theres very good interest among the intelligence agencies in the Middle East, the representative said, adding that Europe and even the U.S. had also inquired about the technology. While Western governments oftenthough not alwaysuse surveillance technology to monitor threats abroad, in the Middle East, the focus is typically internal. These are societies that have embedded terror threatsand governments, especially in the Gulf, have a very low threshold for opposition before they feel it has to be stamped out, said Jon Alterman, the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former State Department official during an interview. One of the serious questions is, he said, whats a legitimate threat to track? The companies typically dont talk about the targetsjust just the capabilities. And Intellexa, according to materials available at the show, offers a wide range of capabilities from intercepting communications and target profiling services, to long-range WiFi hacking solutions and geotracking, and open source intelligence. The surveillance vehicle on display revealed displays of phones and the WiFi each was connected to, and whether or not the network was locked with a password. Within 200-300 meters, the user can infect the target phone, the representative told Yahoo News. The consortium was offering monitoring products that can be attached to drones, or carried in a backpack. Advanced Systems unified intelligence systemwhich creates a dossier on each target mapping out their location, phone calls, social media, and moreis called Cerebro, reminiscent of a fictional device in X-Men where powerful telepaths can use their abilities to find anyone, anywhere in the world. Photo: Jenna McLaughlin/Yahoo News A pamphlet from Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a state owned defense company with a large display at IDEX, advertised a desire to purchase and develop more tools of cyber warfare. The idea of Gulf countries buying drones that can hack your cell phone may sound shocking, but to Chris Rock, a security researcher currently acting CEO of SIEMonster, a monitoring software company, says none of this is surprising. I always refer to the Middle East as the Wild West, Rock, who has worked for many years in the Middle East for various foreign governments, including the Kuwaitis, told Yahoo News during a phone interview. No one thinks twice about hiring a hacker to do something. Those jobs, he says, range from investigating a possible business deal to surveilling their own people. Gulf leaders have been known at times to send text messages to their entire population at once, he told Yahoo News. What they wanted over there, we wouldnt consider legal, he said. What government in the region often want is to have the means to monitor all internal communication. In one case for example, Kuwaiti officials in the fall of 2014 met with multiple U.S. companies and consultants in the Washington, DC area to discuss ways they could monitor social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, for negative comments about the monarchy, according to an independent consultant present at the meeting. One of the participants in the meeting was A10 Networks, an American company that provides products that monitor, steer, and analyze Internet traffic. The company didnt ultimately sign on to help the Kuwaitis, according to the person present at the meeting. I didnt have any desire to be a part of that, the person told Yahoo News. These behaviors continue to make people see them as authoritarian. Karin Gilles, a spokesperson for A10 Networks, did not respond to questions about the meeting, but said that the companys product doesnt touch user data. The Kuwaitis request was unsurprising to one former social media executive who spoke with Yahoo News. A lot of these requests come in through anti-terrorism government organizations. Photo: Jenna McLaughlin/Yahoo News At IDEX this year, companies and government agencies displayed a number of surveillance technologies are already in use. The bright green and black booth hosted by the Dubai Police, crowded with large military vehicles, included an active facial recognition display, showing example photos of Emirati men in robesas well as a live stream of photos of faces passing by the booth. The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority also had a booth where it was showing off its spectrum monitoring solutions, used to ensure reliability of mobile communication but can also be used for intelligence gathering. While the Gulf counties have long turned to Western countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, for intelligence services and technology, influence from China and others is beginning to creep in. A lot of the current surveillance technology is being pioneered in Israel and China; and its targeted at counterterrorism; and it may be applied to a bigger definition of counterterrorism than Americans are comfortable with, said Alterman of CSIS. Kara Frederick, an associate fellow at the Center for a New American Security who is currently studying the export of Chinese surveillance tools abroad, argues for controlling the spread of what she calls digitally-enabled authoritarianism to the Gulf. Its no secret Beijing is exporting its authoritarian toolkit to like-minded countries, Frederick told Yahoo News. This relationship could begin to look like the enduring exchange of best practices for illiberal regimes. Yet the UAE is also focused on developing its own indigenous capabilities. For example, DarkMatter, a government-owned UAE cybersecurity company, has engaged in offensive hacking and surveillance both domestically and overseas. The company, which has recruited Westerners, including former National Security Agency employees, is currently under investigation by the FBI. Facing increasing legal and press scrutiny in the United States, DarkMatter may soon shut down in its current form, according to two sources directly familiar with matter working in security and industry. The security services it provides to the Emirati government will likely transition into new companies or entities under separate names. That decision demonstrates a growing understanding of the need to be covert. The offensive side is being shut down or hollowed out, said one security expert familiar with the matter. They burned the namethey are learning. Photo: Jenna McLaughlin/Yahoo News Intelligence gathering and targeting in the Middle East may also be growing harder to keep track of, says Bill Marczak, a senior research fellow at Citizen Lab who has tracked spyware and surveillance in the region for many years. More Middle Eastern governments are essentially doing whatever they can to monitor everything going on in their countries, Marczak said. A lot of the new types of surveillance tools and techniques he worries are not as visible to researchers because theyre collecting things passively behind the scenes, for instance social media surveillance. Bruce Riedel, the director of the Brookings Institutes Intelligence Project and a former long-serving CIA official, in an email to Yahoo News, says the Gulf countries focus on social media is not surprising. The Saudis and Emiratis are emulating the Chinese path to create police states that control all social media via high tech surveillance, he wrote in an email. Of course, he added, the Trump administration is not discouraging them. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: SINGAPORE (Reuters) - India is likely to import up to 1 million tonnes of corn this year as lower production and growing domestic poultry consumption boosts demand for overseas purchases, two traders estimated on Thursday. Below-normal monsoon rains and an infestation of the fall armyworm, which devastated African corn crops in 2017, have slashed India's corn output and boosted prices, increasing the chances the government will grant duty-free corn imports for the first time since 2016. "India is expected to buy anything between 500,000 tonnes and 1 million tonnes as local crop is lower," said one of the traders while on the sidelines of a grain industry conference in Singapore. "It will be mainly Ukrainian corn as India imports only non-genetically modified corn." The traders did not want to be quoted as they were not authorised to speak to media. A third trader said imports are expected to total around 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes. The shift to imports in the world's seventh-largest corn producer, which typically exports to Asia, highlights the breadth of the crop losses due to the drought and armyworm. For the summer crop in the 2017/18 crop year ending in June, India harvested 20.24 million tonnes, according data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. However, between the lower-than-normal monsoon rainfall and the armyworm infestation, summer crop output for 2018/19 crop year is forecast to drop to less than 16 million tonnes. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Christian Schmollinger) KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The University of Missouri system is suing a pharmacy professor at its Kansas City campus over allegations he stole and sold a student's research, claiming that the school is the rightful owner of the work it believes could be used to make a billion-dollar drug. The university filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Ashim Mitra improperly made $1.5 million from selling former graduate student Kishore Cholkar's research, the Kansas City Star reported. Mitra could earn $10 million more in royalties over the next five years, according to the lawsuit. The university called Cholkar's work using nanotechnology to deliver drugs to the eye "ground-breaking," claiming that Mitra defrauded the school out of millions of dollars from the sale. The lawsuit argues that the money belongs to the university because Cholkar developed his research while employed as a graduate research assistant at the Kansas City campus. Mitra's wife, Ranjana, is also accused in the lawsuit of being involved in the alleged conspiracy. Mitra, who announced his resignation from the university last month, denies the accusations. "All of the alleged wrongdoing on the part of myself and my wife can be proven to be false," he said. Cholkar didn't respond for comment on the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Mitra sold Cholkar's research to Auven Therapeutics Management, a pharmaceutical development company based in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Auven then resold the work for $40 million, plus ongoing royalties, to Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, a company based in India. Sun Pharmaceutical received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in August to market the patented formulation in a dry-eye drug called Cequa. The university accused Auven and Sun Pharmaceutical of avoiding contact in order to dodge having to share profits. Mitra also faced allegations last year that he had coerced graduate students from India into performing personal favors, such as cleaning his basement, walking his dog and watering his plants. Some of the doctoral students told the newspaper that they feared they could lose their visas should Mitra force them out of the university. Cholkar was among the students interviewed by the Kansas City Star at the time. He said he witnessed the behavior but he wasn't involved. Story continues He said he felt abused by Mitra in other ways, including not getting recognition for his work on a research project when it went to market. "That was my product, I worked day and night and yet my name was not included," Cholkar said last year. "I was the only student who worked on that product. I put all my efforts into that product. I was cheated." ___ Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com Benjamin Widlanski of Kozyak, Tropin & Throckmorton in Miami. Courtesy photo. Before plaintiffs lawyer Benjamin J. Widlanski was a partner at Kozyak, Tropin & Throckmorton or a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, he had a different mission. As a captain in the U.S. Army's Judge Advocate General, or JAG, corps, Widlanski's work day wasn't exactly predictable. "Theres no one particular task. The needs of the Army take over," he said. "Youre a lawyer, yes, but you're also a soldier. So when your commander says, 'I want to do X,' you sort of have a responsibility to accomplish that goal." If a soldier or their family needed help writing a will, adopting a child, getting divorced or resolving a landlord-tenant dispute, or if commanders had questions about the law of armed conflict, Widlanski was their guy. Widlanski was initially stationed in Hawaii, where he met his wife and served as a legal assistant, environmental lawyer, then trial counsel military speak for prosecutor. As trial counsel, he advised commanders on discipline and legal action against soldiers charged with anything from bar fights and DUIs to sexual assault and espionage, then prosecuted cases through court-martial. Three years in, Widlanski served in Afghanistan on the Rule of Law Task Force. The goal? To help the country develop a stable political body. He'd meet with the Afghan National Army, police, border patrol, prosecutors, government leaders and tribal elders in an effort to help them flourish in their roles. According to Widlanski, it was unusual for a JAG to be stationed in an infantry unit an on-foot combat team rather than larger tactical units like brigades or divisions, but there he was. "I was just sort of hanging out with all these war fighters, and I think for a while they didnt really know what to make of me," Widlanski said. Story continues Lawyering in Kunar Province Widlanski wasn't in a big city like Kabul, which has a fairly robust police force and prosecutors. He was in Kunar Province an area the U.S. Army calls "kinetic," as a euphemism for violent. One of Widlanski's tasks was to create a radio show centered around law and order, designed to demonstrate the benefits of Western-style leadership. "I would write out a script and then my Afghan translators would essentially read it into the radio and it would be broadcast as a radio drama," Widlanski said. Storylines would vary, but featured crimes that were relevant to listeners. One character might steal another's goat, for example, or farm on land that wasn't theirs, and an imaginary government would respond. Kunar Province consists of various tribes, according to Widlanski, and they typically looked to their elders or religious leader to respond to a crime. "What we were trying to encourage them to do was to use the mechanisms of government," Widlanski said. "Go to the police station. Go to the local provincial governor and say that this has happened." Widlanski even helped conduct a landmark trial. "We dont know if they had criminal trials before the Russian invasion in the 1980s, but as far as we knew it was the first criminal trial in the history of Kunar Province," Widlanski said. "We flew in a prosecutor, a defense attorney and a judge, and we built the courtroom for them." The defendant was found guilty of murder. 'The great survivors' It's hard to tell how deeply the Army's message resonated, according to Widlanski, who pointed out that Afghanistan is no ordinary country, having essentially been thrown together by European powers throughout history. "They drew a line on a map and said, 'This is Afghanistan.' So the people that live in Afghanistan have no national identity. They have a lot of different tribal and ethnic identities." But one powerful factor unifies them, in Widlanski's view. "The Afghan people are some of the great survivors in the world," Widlanski said. "They have been through stuff that Westerners can't really comprehend. Theyve had, essentially, a nonstop occupation and continuous war since the '80s. First it was the Russians, then it was the Taliban, then it was us. It's been war, after war, after war, yet they're still around and they're still surviving." For that reason, it's not easy to help when you're entering Afghanistan from the platform of yet another foreign invader. "Its a very delicate balance," Widlanski said. "You have to find people that are willing to work with you and, frankly, you dont always find that and its hard." It was Widlanski's curiosity and love of "the big questions" that saw him study philosophy and religion before he gravitated to litigation which is after all "philosophy made practical" in his view. After serving for more than four years and collating various honors, including a Bronze Star Medal, Widlanski moved on to became assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He prosecuted former Miami firefighter Alexander Rousseau, imprisoned for possession of child pornography, and brought charges against Agustin Mendez-Vazquez and his son, locked up for running a modern-day slavery operation at a Homestead tomato farm. Widlanski also volunteers with the Miami-Dade Veterans Treatment Court, mentoring vets who've been arrested. "Im not there as a lawyer," he said. "I'm there as a friend." And he's still pondering the big questions, this time for plaintiffs at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, which he joined in 2018 to represent fraud victims who've lost savings to Ponzi schemes. "It was hard to leave the U.S. Attorney's Office because its such a great office and the work they do is so amazing," Widlanski said. "Its also hard to be a career government servant in Miami, and I wanted to make sure that I was taking care of my family as well." Above all, Widlanski's new job provides a happy medium for him to help those in need and to succeed financially. "In a very real way its similar to what I was doing at the U.S. Attorney's Office," he said. "Im trying to get justice for victims. Its put me in a place where I can both do well and do good." Benjamin J. Widlanski Born: June 1982, New York Education: Columbia Law School, J.D., 2007; Columbia University, B.A., 2004 Experience: Partner, Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, 2018-present; Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, 2013-2018; Captain, United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, 2008-2013; Associate, Boies Schiller Flexner, 2007-2008 More attorney profiles: There's No Business Like Show Biz Law: James Sammataro Pulls Back the Curtain Art, Cars, Parrots and Other Spoils of Miami Fraud Lawyer Edward H. Davis 'Star Trek' and Separations: Attorney Cynthia Greene's Bold Journey Into Family Law Maduro, Venezuela Gold Eight tons of gold has been taken out of the vaults of Venezuelas central bank as tightening sanctions push President Nicolas Maduro to take extraordinary measures to remain solvent. Per opposition legislator Angel Alvarado and anonymous government sources, the gold was removed from the central bank vaults last week. Alvarado told Reuters that the gold will likely find a market outside the country. He did not reveal the exact destination of the gold, though only saying they plan to sell it abroad illegally. At roughly $42,640 per kilogram of gold, the gold is worth over $340 million. Read the full story on CCN.com. Martha Stewart is moving into a new industry, after announcing a partnership with Canada-based Canopy Growth, one of the largest marijuana producers in the world. Stewart will partner with the company to develop a line of CBD (also known as cannabidiol) products. Canopy and Stewart announced the partnership on Thursday. The company, with Stewarts help, plans to launch a line of products it says will focus on improving the lives of people and animals, CNBC reports. Clinical trials are currently underway. I am delighted to establish this partnership with Canopy Growth and share with them the knowledge I have gained after years of experience in the subject of living, Stewart said in a statement. Im especially looking forward to our first collaboration together, which will offer sensible products for peoples beloved pets. While the substance has become all the rage in the U.S. in recent years as companies develop all sorts of products ranging from coffee and ice cream to body lotion, marijuana itself has been used for medical purposes for thousands of years. CBD is a non-addictive substance found in the cannabis flower. It doesnt cause a high for the user, as is the case with THC, and is often used to treat medical conditions, such as body pain and inflammation, and anxiety, among others. CBD has also been used as a therapeutic, anti-anxiety supplement for pets. Bruce Linton, Canopy Growths chairman and co-CEO said in a statement reported by USA Today that he is excited to work with Stewart. As soon as you hear the name Martha, you know exactly who were talking about, Linton said. Martha is one of a kind and I am so excited to be able to work alongside this icon to sharpen our CBD product offerings across categories from human to animal. For many American workers, commuting is not only a big part of the lives -- but also their paychecks. While suburbs outside of New York City and San Francisco typically get a bad rap for high costs and long hours, commuters within 65 miles of Washington D.C. apparently have it the worst. According to Bloomberg analysis of U.S. Census data, seven out of the top ten most expensive commutes were from metro areas outside of Washington D.C. Workers from Charles County, in Southern Maryland, topped the list, spending more than 388 hours and over $14,600 traveling to and from work in 2017. Two other D.C. countries followed rounding out the top three. Residents in Fauquier County and Stafford County in Virginia spent around $13,813 (352 hours) and $12,400 (330 hours) in 2017, respectively. Contra Costa, California outside of San Francisco came in fourth spending 326 hours and $15,269 on commuting. To determine the list, Bloomberg calculated a county "resident's opportunity cost by converting hours spent commuting into a dollar amount based on the average annual income of a full-time worker." It studied more than 800 counties around the country. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP Here are the top 10 counties with the highest commuting costs, according to Bloomberg. 1. Charles, Maryland Metro: Washington, DC Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 388 % of Income: 19.4 percent Money Equivalent: $14,612 2. Fauquier, Virginia Metro: Washington, DC Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 352 % of Income: 17.6 percent Money Equivalent:$13,813 3. Stafford, Virginia Metro: Washington, DC Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 330 % of Income: 16.5 percent Money Equivalent: $12,400 4. Contra Costa, California Metro: San Francisco, California Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 326 % of Income: 1.63 percent Money Equivalent: $15,269 5. Calvert, Maryland Metro: Washington, DC Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 332 % of Income: 16.6 percent Money Equivalent: $11,842 6. Prince William, Virginia Story continues Metro: Washington, DC Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 338 % of Income: 16.9 percent Money Equivalent: $12,415 7. Spotsylvania, Virginia Metro: Washington, DC Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 326 % of Income: 16.3 percent Money Equivalent: $11,192 8. Frederick, Maryland Metro: Washington, DC Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 304 % of Income: 15.2 percent Money Equivalent: $11,647 9. Carroll, Maryland Metro: Baltimore, Maryland Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 293 % of Income: 14.6 percent Money Equivalent: $10,976 10. Sussex, New Jersey Metro: New York, NY Total Hours Commuting pre-6am: 310 % of Income: 15.5 percent Money Equivalent: $11,585 Related Articles U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the District of Columbia, during the court's Reentry Court Inauguration Ceremony on June 6, 2016. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell of the District of Columbia has released 71 pages of court orders and opinions in an ongoing grand jury subpoena fight that involves an unidentified foreign-owned company and the special counsel's prosecution team. The company, owned by a foreign state, has resisted for months compliance with a subpoena from Special Counsel Robert Mueller III. Howell, in September, declared the company in civil contempt and imposed a $50,000 daily fine. The company is represented by a team from Alston & Bird. The company's lawyers have lost several rulings in recent months, compelling the legal team to take the dispute to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices are weighing whether to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that said the company must comply with the subpoena. Courts have unsealed some pleadings and orders along the way, providing clues to the contours of the dispute, if not the names of the actual parties involved. Here are several things revealed in the newly unsealed court filings: >> Alston & Bird lawyers wanted to make a public statement, but Mueller's prosecutors resisted the request. Their reasoning was redacted in Howell's orders. "REDACTED counsel informed the court that attorneys and employees at their law firm have received threatening messages," Howell wrote, in reference to a Jan. 10 hearing. That hearing came a day after CNN identified Alston & Bird as the law firm representing the unidentified foreign company. Howell ordered the lawyers in the case not to make any public statements beyond the "public information" about the case as presented in D.C. Circuit filings. >> Howell noted in one order that the special counsel is "investigating foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion in those efforts by American citizens. The Special Counsel's Office has identified certain REDACTED as relevant to the investigation and, on July 11, 2018, the grand jury issued a subpoena to REDACTED, which is REDACTED by Country A, to produce by July 27, 2018, any such records held REDACTED in the United States or abroad." The information that's being sought did not originate in the United States. "The materials sought are important to the grand jury's investigation and the failure to secure the materials would undermine important interests of the United States," Howell wrote. >> Mueller's office proposed a $10,000 daily fine, but Howell increased it to $50,000. By Jan. 24, the fine had reached more than $500,000. Here's what Howell said about why she boosted the fine: "In imposing $50,000 per day, the court balances, on the one hand, a due regard for REDACTED status as an entity of a foreign sovereign deserving of international comity and, on the other hand, both the government's need for prosecutorial expedience in a matter of great concern in the United States and in consideration of the sanction needed to coerce REDACTED compliance." >> Federal prosecutors haven't yetas of last monthattempted to enforce Howell's contempt order. The dispute is still pending at the Supreme Court, which could give prosecutors some cause to hold off seizing property as a mean to enforce the penalty. Howell rejected an effort from the company's lawyers to have her declare her contempt order to be unenforceable. You can read the unsealed filings here: falcon-embed src="embed_1" Read more: DC Circuit Upholds Muellers Special Counsel Appointment Foreign-Owned Company Warns Justices of Potential 'Havoc' in Subpoena Feud Justices Restore Contempt Order Against Corporation Defying Mueller Subpoena DC Circuit Secrecy Keeps Apparent Mueller Grand Jury Fight Under Wraps By Ritah Kemigisa. The Ministry of Health has today signed Result based Financing (RBF) grant agreements worth 165 M Dollar with 51 districts under the phase two of the Uganda Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health Services Improvement Project Speaking at the signing workshop, the Health Minster Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said the main objective of the project is to improve utilization of Health services with a focus on Reproductive Maternal Newborn care and adolescents health in target districts. The primary project beneficiaries are women of child bearing age, adolescents and children under five who should benefit from a package of high quality and cost-effective interventions The estimated annual budget for the RBF payments for the 51 districts is bout UGX 36billion. According to the project coordinator at the health ministry John Ssengendo, startup grants amounting to Shs 2 billion have been transferred to 322 health facilities in Kampala City Council Authority, 27 local governments and nine municipalities. North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho disputed President Donald Trumps claim that Kim Jong Un demanded a complete removal of all economic sanctions, insisting that his nation had offered a realistic proposal to the U.S. to begin the process of denuclearization. During a rare news conference for North Korean officials, Ri said following the Trump-Kim summit that North Korea had asked for only a partial removal of sanctions in exchange for closing several nuclear facilities. We conducted a serious meeting and offered a realistic proposal to the U.S., Ri told reporters at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi early Friday, speaking through an interpreter. In his own news conference right after the meeting ended, Trump said Kim wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldnt do that. In exchange, the North Korean leader had offered to dismantle its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon. Trump is now traveling back to the U.S. The summits collapse sent global stocks sliding as the future of U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks remained uncertain. While Trump said the meeting ended amicably with a handshake, he hasnt committed to another summit with Kim. MOU signed to build strong partnership in Asia SALT LAKE CITY, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Overstock.com, Inc. (OSTK) has released the following statement from company CEO and founder and tZERO Executive Chairman Patrick M. Byrne on the status of an equity investment from GSR Capital and Makara Capital: The previously-announced GSR equity investment in Overstock and tZERO has not been completed. However, we remain in discussions with GSR Capital and Makara Capital, a key partner of GSR Capital, regarding a potential transaction. Both have recently signed an MOU with tZERO outlining a transaction in which Makara and GSR would co-lead an investment of up to $100 million in tZERO common stock and close the transaction in April subject to due diligence, negotiation of binding contracts and regulatory approval. The investors would also assist with tZEROs expansion in Asia and other regions of the world and link them with other key partners from their portfolios. Following the recent successful launch of tZEROs new security token trading technology, we are excited by the emerging partnerships and business opportunities in front of us. More information on Overstocks retail and blockchain properties will be shared within our upcoming 2018 FY Earnings reporting. I urge you to join us for that discussion of our business at a time and date to be announced soon. Until then, I remain, Your humble servant, Patrick M. Byrne About Overstock.com Overstock.com, Inc Common Shares (OSTK) / Series A Preferred (Medici Ventures tZERO platform: OSTKP) / Series B Preferred (OSTBP) is an online retailer and technology company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its leading e-commerce website sells a broad range of new products at low prices, including furniture , decor , rugs , bedding , home improvement , and more. The online shopping site, which is visited by nearly 40 million customers a month, also features a marketplace providing customers access to millions of products from third-party sellers. Overstock was the first major retailer to accept cryptocurrency in 2014, and in the same year founded Medici Ventures, its wholly-owned subsidiary developing and accelerating blockchain technologies to democratize capital, eliminate middlemen, and re-humanize commerce. Overstock regularly posts information about the company and other related matters on the Newsroom and Investor Relations pages on its website, Overstock.com . Story continues O, Overstock.com, O.com, Club O, Main Street Revolution, and Worldstock are registered trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. O.biz and Space Shift are also trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. Other service marks, trademarks and trade names which may be referred to herein are the property of their respective owners. This press release contains certain 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, including statements relating to tZEROs business. Such forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact, including words such as anticipate, may, believe, could, should, estimate, expect, intend, plan, predict, potential, forecasts, project, and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are made based upon managements current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on tZERO. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Various factors could affect tZEROs actual results and could cause such results to differ materially from estimates or expectations reflected in forward-looking statements, including factors relating to legal and regulatory developments, applications and/or interpretations of existing legal and regulatory requirements, technological developments and/or difficulties, general economic conditions, conditions in the capital markets and cryptocurrency markets, changes in investor confidence regarding tZEROs ability to successfully operate its business and develop a trading system for security tokens, and other important factors. tZERO expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in its expectation with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based. This press release is neither an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additional information regarding factors that could materially affect results and the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained herein may be found in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, which was filed with the SEC on November 9, 2018, and any subsequent filings with the SEC. tZERO is not a registered broker-dealer, funding portal, investment adviser or investment manager and does not provide any brokerage services. tZERO takes no part in the negotiation or execution of secondary market transactions for the purchase or sale of securities and at no time has possession of investor funds or securities in connection with such transactions. Secondary market trades will be executed by PRO Securities, LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC, through the PRO ATS. More information about PRO Securities may be found at www.finra.org. Media Contact: pr@overstock.com Investor Contact: ir@overstock.com SOURCE: Overstock.com, Inc. Feb 28 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it received a request for documents as part of a U.S. investigation related to quality issues involving the manufacture of auto-injectors at its Meridian Medical Technologies site. Pfizer, in a regulatory filing, said it would be producing records in response to the civil investigative demand from the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Meridian, a unit of Pfizer that manufactures EpiPen injectors used to deliver an emergency allergy antidote, has been hit by a series of manufacturing problems in recent years. Mylan NV, which markets EpiPens, has recalled tens of thousands of the devices after complaints that some had failed to activate. In 2017, Meridian had received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said Meridian had failed to thoroughly investigate product failures, including EpiPen products that were associated with patient deaths and severe illnesses. It said the company failed to take corrective actions until FDA's inspection. Meridian produces all EpiPens sold globally at a single plant near St. Louis, Missouri. EpiPen auto-injectors deliver a dose of epinephrine in the event of severe allergic reaction, such as to bee stings or exposure to peanuts. (Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreejay Sinha) PASCAGOULA, Miss., Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today that Denise Jones was in the top 10 of the Mississippi Business Journals Top 50 Businesswomen of 2018. Jones, a talent management director at HIIs Ingalls Shipbuilding division, was honored at an awards luncheon held at the Olde Capital Inn in Jackson. We are delighted to see Denise receive the recognition she deserves for her many accomplishments, said Edmond Hughes, Ingalls vice president of human resources and administration. Since joining the Ingalls family in 1979, she has continuously dedicated her career to creating a positive impact both on the job and in her community. Denise is an invaluable asset to her team, and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments. A photo of Jones is available at: https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=5c783b2c2cfac2582d7d1115 . Jones started her career at Ingalls as a word processor in the graphic arts group and later became the supervisor of the team. She then transferred to the learning and development function and served as director of learning, development and diversity for eight years. In 2013, she increased her role to include workforce training and development, which includes new hire technical/craft training, skill assessments, apprenticeship programs and partnerships with community colleges across the Gulf Coast. Currently, she is responsible for more than 700 registered apprentices participating in 15 trade-skills development programs. Each year, the Mississippi Business Journal selects a new class of 50 senior decision-makers who are the most powerful, influential women business leaders in the state. More than an awards program, the Top 50 Businesswomen is a development and networking organization that encompasses training opportunities for the honorees to grow together as business leaders. Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Mission Driven Innovative Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 40,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: Story continues HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries Contact: Bill Glenn william.glenn@hii-co.com 228-935-1323 By Moses Kyeyune. The tension surrounding the disputed Apaa land boundary has taken a new twist with MPs from Acholi Community rejecting government proposal to compensate locals with 10 million shillings each. The protracted conflict involves clashes along the boundary stretch between Adjumani and Amuru. This has often resulted into counter clashes between Acholi locals in Amuru and the Madi community of Adjumani, with each claiming ancestral ownership of Apaa land. As a stop gap measure, government has proposed a 10 million package for resettling people in the disputed area to pave way for government take over. However, addressing the media at Parliament in Kampala, MPs including Kilak South Mp Gilbert Olanya, Amuru Woman MP Lucy Akello and Lyandro Komakech of Gulu Municipality have vowed to fight on and fail the deal, so as the residents remain on their land. By Anna Koper WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland should form a consortium of private and state companies to develop 5G network infrastructure to ensure lower costs and better protection from security threats, the chief executive of Poland's state-owned telecom group Exatel said. Along with other European countries Poland is rushing to keep pace with the installation of 5G services offering far faster data downloads, yet some implementation plans are being complicated by security doubts around Chinese equipment vendor Huawei. "The problems of Chinese equipment manufacturers certainly increase awareness that the state should maintain a certain degree of control over the telecommunications infrastructure," Exatel CEO Nikodem Boncza Tomaszewski told Reuters. "And this is guaranteed by the 5G wholesale operator model proposed by Exatel," Boncza Tomaszewski said, arguing Exatel should have more say in how the likes of Orange Polska, Polkomtel (a unit of Cyfrowy Polsat), T-Mobile and Play Communications develop 5G networks in Poland. Poland's government is considering a ban on Huawei products following concerns over potential cybersecurity threats. "The best organizational formula ... would be to establish the company by Exatel (with) private mobile operators, possibly other state companies with telecommunications needs such as energy and railway companies," Boncza Tomaszewski said. The Exatel chief said initial meetings had been held with operators last year but the approaches had not yet led to any formal offers. Orange Polska told Reuters it did not see the need for a wholesale operator to be launched for the 5G network as the current model of building mobile networks by major operators had worked well. "However, we do not rule out cooperation between operators for the 700 MHz band on the basis of voluntary decisions of individual operators," it said in an e-mailed statement. Poland's other leading telecom operators - T-Mobile, Polkomtel and Play - did not respond to requests for comment. Cyfrowy's main shareholder Zygmunt Solorz was quoted as saying earlier this month by Rzeczpospolita daily that Poland should consider building one 5G network in order to implement it fast and effectively. Boncza Tomaszewski said the consortium should oversee 5G network construction in Poland for the 700 MHz band, which is meant to cover the entire country, unlike other bands that will be available regionally. (Reporting by Anna Koper; Editing by David Holmes) Oil giant Shell will be prosecuted by the Dutch Public Prosecutors Office over an allegedly corrupt deal in Nigeria. Shell and Italian firm Eni stand accused of bribery over payments made to secure an exploration licence for a Nigerian oil block. Shell has also been summoned by Dutch prosecutors over an explosion at its Moerdijk facility in 2014, as well as accusations it exceeded ethylene oxide emissions limits between 2015 and 2016. Shell RDSA-NL will be prosecuted for criminal charges relating to a $1.3 billion settlement for an oil exploration licence in Nigeria, and has also been summoned by prosecutors to face charges over chemical emissions and an explosion. The Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office (DPP) informed Shell it is nearing the conclusion of an investigation into the case and is preparing to prosecute the oil giant, the company said in a statement on its website Friday. Shell and Italian oil firm Eni were accused of bribery in 2017 over a $1.3 billion payment that secured an exploration licence for an oil block, known as OPL 245, in 2011. It was alleged that although the funds were paid to the Nigerian government, the money actually went to Malabu Oil and Gas a company linked to former oil minister Dan Etete. Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and four ex-Shell managers are also facing charges of international corruption in Italy, where prosecutors allege they were aware that payments would be pocketed by individuals rather than the Nigerian government. Shell and Eni have both denied any wrongdoing. In an emailed statement, the DPP told CNBC Friday: "On the basis of the ongoing criminal investigation, the Public Prosecution Service concluded that there are prosecutable offenses. We are not yet able to make any announcements about the further course of the case." In November, a report from campaign group Global Witness said that Nigeria would lose $6 billion in oil revenue because of the terms of the allegedly corrupt deal. Story continues Shell declined to comment when contacted by CNBC about the DPP's decision to prosecute. Responding to the prosecution announcement, an Eni spokesperson told CNBC via email that the company had no involvement in the proceedings brought by Dutch prosecutors. "Eni confirms, once again and as based on the current outcomes in the ongoing trial in Milan, the correctness and compliance of every aspect of the transaction in respect of OPL 245 concluded in 2011, both with applicable laws and global industry practice," the spokesperson said. "Eni continues to reject any allegation of impropriety or irregularity in connection with its conduct." A spokesperson the Federal Government of Nigeria was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. More legal woes The DPP also confirmed to CNBC on Friday that it had summoned Shell in proceedings relating to an explosion at its Moerdijk facility in 2014, as well as charges relating to the company exceeding ethylene oxide emissions limits between 2015 and 2016. The case is scheduled to be heard at a court in the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch on May 14 and 16. A spokesperson for Shell was not immediately available to comment on the additional proceedings when contacted by CNBC. Shell's shares were trading 0.4 percent lower on Friday afternoon. More From CNBC Acquisition Expands Companys Presence in Kentucky EDINBURG, Va., Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) (SHEN) announces that it has closed a transaction to acquire the assets of Big Sandy Broadband, Inc (Big Sandy), the leading provider of cable television, telephone and high speed internet services in Eastern Kentucky. Big Sandy, which has served Johnson and Floyd counties for 56 years, will add approximately 4,700 revenue generating units (RGUs) to Shentels cable segment, including more than 2,200 broadband RGUs. Executive Vice President and COO Dave Heimbach commented, "Were pleased to have this opportunity to add Big Sandys solid network and customer base to our cable operations. This acquisition furthers our strategy to expand our footprint with the addition of quality networks in contiguous markets and we look forward to enhancing our coverage and service capabilities with an increased presence in Kentucky. B. Riley FBR, Inc. was financial advisor to Big Sandy Broadband, Inc. for this transaction. About Shenandoah Telecommunications Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) provides a broad range of diversified communications services through its high speed, state-of-the-art network to customers in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The Companys services include: wireless voice and data; cable video, internet and digital voice; fiber network and services; and regulated local and long distance telephone. Shentel is the exclusive personal communications service (PCS) Affiliate of Sprint in a multi-state area covering large portions of central and western Virginia, south-central Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and portions of Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio. For more information, please visit www.shentel.com. This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of unforeseen factors. A discussion of factors that may cause actual results to differ from management's projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations is available in the Companys filings with the SEC. Those factors may include changes in general economic conditions, increases in costs, changes in regulation and other competitive factors. Story continues CONTACTS: Shenandoah Telecommunications, Inc. James F. Woodward Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer 540-984-5990 James.Woodward@emp.shentel.com Or John Nesbett/Jennifer Belodeau IMS Investor Relations 203-972-9200 jnesbett@institutionalms.com By Damali Mukhaye. The government is set to introduce a special career guidance program to encourage more female students to enroll for science subjects across the country. This is after 2018 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education exam results released yesterday revealed that less than 10% of female candidates offered sciences and mathematics at A Level. According to the state minister for higher education John Chrysostom Muyingo, girls need to be given special guidance to realise that they can get more opportunities in doing sciences as opposed to arts subjects they have been opting for previously. Meanwhile, Muyingo also advised heads of schools to work against malpractice in their respective schools since it compromises the education sector. Related Stories. Wakiso and Kampala districts top in UACE as rural schools perform poorly 2018 UACE results: Performance improves, over 1000 fail FILE PHOTO: A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo By Aradhana Aravindan and John Geddie SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore plans to buy an initial four F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin Corp, with an option to purchase eight more, as it looks to replace its ageing F-16 fleet, the city-state's defence minister said on Friday. Ng Eng Hen said in parliament that the ministry of defence will issue a letter of request (LOR) to the United States for the purchase, which must be approved by the U.S. Congress. With Southeast Asia's largest defence budget, the wealthy city-state is a key prize for global arms companies as it looks to invest in new technology and upgrade its equipment. "Our LOR will request an initial acquisition of four F-35s, with the option of a subsequent eight if we decide to proceed," Ng said. "Singapore has the endorsement of both the U.S. Administration and the Department of Defense for our proposed purchase of F-35s, but the Congress must still approve it." Ng added it was an "opportune time" for Singapore to put in the request because the price of F-35s - which ranges from $90 million to $115 million - has been steadily falling amid high demand from the United States and ten other countries, including Britain, Italy, Australia, Japan and South Korea. A Lockheed executive told Reuters a year earlier that talks with Singapore had centered on the F-35B version short take-off and landing variant that is "a nice fit for a smaller land-constrained environment". Lockheed did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Singapore's fleet of around 60 F-16 jets, which first entered service in 1998, will be retired soon after 2030. (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and John Geddie, additional reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Himani Sarkar) In a surprise to the international community, nuclear talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended without an agreement on Thursday. For South Korea, that development could hurt President Moon Jae-in's approval ratings and dim prospects of re-starting some inter-Korean projects, said Alison Evans, deputy head of Asia Pacific country risk at consultancy IHS Markit. South Korea and its President Moon Jae-in may be the biggest losers after a summit between United States President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un ended without a deal, analysts said. Trump and Kim met in Hanoi, Vietnam for a two-day meeting that ended Thursday. The summit was cut short on the final day after both sides failed to agree on denuclearizing North Korea and lifting economic sanctions on Pyongyang. "South Korea loses the most from the Hanoi summit ending without agreement," according to Alison Evans, deputy head of Asia Pacific country risk at consultancy IHS Markit. For Seoul, Thursday's developments dimmed prospects of re-starting inter-Korean projects that have been stalled by sanctions, Evans wrote in a Thursday note. Political support for Moon could also fall further, she added. "Importantly, Moon's support rating has fallen steadily ... Without progress on North Korea, Moon's domestic agenda becomes his only metric of success for voters, who have already criticised his administration for failing to deliver on economic metrics such as unemployment," she added. Since taking office in 2017, Moon has largely counted on his push for improved relations with North Korea to shore up political support. The South Korean president met with Kim three times last year their meeting in April was the first in more than a decade that leaders from both sides talked face-to-face . Moon also played a major role in brokering the meetings between Trump and Kim in Singapore and Vietnam. Story continues In a Friday speech, Moon attempted to put a positive spin to the failed talks in Vietnam. "I believe this is part of a process to reach a higher level of agreement. Now our role has become even more important," he said. "My administration will closely communicate and cooperate with the United States and North Korea so as to help their talks reach a complete settlement by any means." Critics have hit out at the South Korean president, saying that his focus on their northern neighbor has sidelined more pressing economic issues at home. After Thursday's breakdown in talks between Trump and Kim, criticisms of Moon will likely grow louder, according to analysts from consultancy Eurasia Group. "South Korean President Moon Jae-in will face even stronger criticism from conservatives at home who have long argued that he is too soft on Kim and too optimistic about Kim's willingness to denuclearize," the analysts wrote in a Thursday note. "Disappointing news about the summit will likely further darken business, investor, and consumer sentiment in South Korea," they added. South Korean markets fell on Thursday after the White House announced that the summit between Trump and Kim was cut short. The markets were closed on Friday for a holiday. Reuters contributed to this report. More From CNBC MIRAMAR, Fla., Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just in time for a spring break getaway, Spirit Airlines is kicking off more service from Orlando International Airport (MCO). Beginning today, Spirit Airlines (SAVE) will operate nonstop flights between Orlando and Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Starting tomorrow, March 1, Spirit will also begin nonstop service between Orlando and Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) in Kingston, Jamaica. These new routes begin as Spirit continues to increase international and domestic service from Orlando International Airport. Floridas Hometown Airline begins new, nonstop service from Orlando and Denver International Airport (DEN) today. Orlando to Indianapolis, IN (IND) on March 14, Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU) on May 2, and Charlotte, NC on June 20. These new routes join Spirits growing list of destinations from the economically diverse Central Florida region. It comes just after, the airline began major international expansion last October, when the airline added 14 new international and domestic routes. We are pleased to bring the best value in the sky with more flights from Orlando International Airport with nonstop service to the beautiful island of Jamaica, said John Kirby, Spirit Airlines Vice President of Network Planning. With the most nonstop destinations from Orlando to the Caribbean and Latin America, Spirit enables Guests to experience incredible beaches, culture, hospitality and the opportunity to visit family and friends. Spirits decision to serve Kingston, Jamaica from Orlando International Airport presents year-round travel opportunities between these two great destinations for the first time in over a decade, said Phil Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. Spirits continued support of this market with additions like Montego Bay, Denver and Kingston has helped make them our fastest growing airline. Story continues Jamaica welcomes Spirit Airlines and the additional flights presented to our travelers, said Francine Carter Henry, Manager of Tour Operators of Jamaica Tourist Board. We are constantly looking to expand gateways serving the destination and Spirit Airlines provide very good options to support a constantly growing appetite for travel from the USA to both Kingston and Montego Bay airports. Recent Orlando expansion: Orlando to/from: Starts: Frequency: Austin, Texas (AUS) February 14, 2019 Daily, year-round Denver, Colorado (DEN) February 28, 2019 Daily Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) February 28, 2019 4x weekly Kingston, Jamaica (KIN) March 1, 2019 3x weekly Indianapolis, Indiana (IND) March 14, 2019 Daily, year-round Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (RDU) May 2, 2019 Daily, year-round Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT) June 20, 2019 Daily In addition to Spirits network growth, Orlando recently became the home to a new Spirit Airlines crew base. Since December of 2018, more than 300 Flight Attendants and Pilots joined Spirits Orlando team, with hundreds more crew and airport jobs expected by this summer. In 2019, Spirit Airlines will operate more than 50 departures per day from Orlando International Airport, which is nearly a 100 percent increase from only two years ago. Spirit will now offer the Orlando area nonstop service to 44 destinations with over 50 daily flights across the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. Orlando will also serve as the site of Spirits fleet-wide Wi-Fi installation. Spirits state-of-the-art, high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity will start to roll out this year, providing Guests the ability to watch, stream, surf and text in flight. About Spirit Airlines: Spirit Airlines (SAVE) is committed to delivering the best value in the sky. We are the leader in providing customizable travel options starting with an unbundled fare. This allows every Guest to pay only for the options they choose like bags, seat assignments and refreshments something we call A La Smarte. We make it possible for our Guests to venture further and discover more than ever before. Our Fit Fleet is one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient in the U.S. We offer more than 600 daily flights to 73 destinations in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean, and are dedicated to giving back and improving the communities we serve. Come save with us at spirit.com. At Spirit Airlines, we go. We go for you. Michael B. Jordan is best known for his role as Erik Killmonger in "Black Panther," but he's also a self-professed "rum guy." Jordan, 32, has various business projects besides acting, and one that's close to his heart is his role as an investor in a New York City rum lounge called Las' Lap . His involvement is sentimental. "I used to help my grandmother make rum cakes," Jordan tells CNBC Make It. "And so rum cakes is very big in my family, it's big in my childhood." Jordan, who grew up in Newark, New Jersey, vividly remembers helping his grandma carry groceries home to make the cakes, he told BET.com , and the haul included two gallons of Bacardi Gold rum a company with which he now has a partnership . "So now that I'm older, I invested in a rum bar with my best friends," he tells CNBC Make It. The bar and restaurant on Manhattan's Lower East Side specializes in rum drinks and has Caribbean-inspired food like jerk chicken spring rolls. Family is important to Jordan his parents, Michael A. and Donna Jordan, and his younger brother Khalid , live with him in his Sherman Oaks, California home , and he took his mom to the Oscars on Feb. 24, where "Black Panther" was nominated for several awards, including Best Picture. According to Vanity Fair , Jordan's parents "remain deeply engaged in his career and life. When he holds business meetings at the house, his father will come in with a plate of sandwiches." When it comes to business, Jordan makes sure to spend his time and money on people and projects that are meaningful to him, he tells CNBC Make It. But just because your heart is involved doesn't mean you shouldn't use your head too, he says. "I think you've got to kind of balance it out: You definitely have to make sure your heart is in the right place, but at the same time, you have to make business sense and smart business decisions also," he says. Story continues Besides Las' Lap, Jordan has production company Outlier Society Productions, a marketing and consulting start-up and several partnerships with brands. But he says, "You can't do everything. You have to be selective. You want to build your brand in a very prestigious way, that's what I'm going for." Don't miss: 'Black Panther' star Michael B. Jordan on success: 'You're defined by what you say no to' Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube! More From CNBC By Moses Kyeyune. The government of Rwanda has dismissed reports that it has closed its Gatuna border point to Uganda, saying that he restricted activity has been occasioned by the need to upgrade the one-stop-border point. The communication by Rwanda Revenue Authority comes amidst public outcry that has gone viral on social media, with travellers complaining of losses and uneasiness caused. Cargo trucks from Uganda crossing to Rwanda have largely remained unattended due to the mishap, which critics attribute to rumored poor diplomatic relations between Uganda and Rwanda. The Rwandan tax body however in a letter dated February 27, 2019 by addressed to the Commissioner for Customs Uganda Revenue Authority indicates that heavy trucks should use alternative border points with effect from today. Adam Jonas believes it could just be the convertible bond repayment, but also says it could be an announcement of the rumored "Model Y" or the unveiling of a pickup truck. Elon Musk 's renewed feud with the Securities and Exchange Commission after another errant tweet raises concern over the Tesla board's ability to control the electric car maker's strong-willed and unpredictable CEO. "His board has to act," said Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. "They seem to be incapable of acting, which is very disappointing." The board's independence and ability to restrain Musk have been frequently called into question. Several board members have close ties to Musk either through family or business. Board members include his brother Kimbal Musk, a restaurateur and Tesla (TSLA) investor, and Antonio Gracias, a long-time investor who also sits on the boards of Musk's companies Solar City and SpaceX. Tesla declined to comment for this article. The SEC accused Musk on Monday of violating his Sept. 29 agreement with the agency, which settled securities fraud charges for allegedly misleading investors with a series of inaccurate tweets last summer saying he had secured the funds necessary to take Tesla private at $420 a share. Musk agreed to pay fine of $20 million, step down as chairman for three years and refrain from tweeting material information about the company's operations and finances without company review and approval. Tesla also had to pay $20 million. Tweets on Feb. 19 have Musk in the SEC's crosshair again and pushing for contempt charges. He has until March 11 to explain to a federal judge in New York why he shouldn't be held in contempt after tweeting production numbers for 2019 that were inaccurate and that Musk corrected later that day. The SEC said Musk sent the tweets without submitting them for review or getting company approval. Under the deal, Tesla was also required to add two independent directors to the board. Software mogul Larry Ellison, chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle (ORCL), and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, global chief human resources officer of pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), joined the board in December. Story continues It also promoted Australia telecom executive Robyn Denholm, who joined Tesla's board in 2014, to replace Musk as chair in early November. But it is unclear how much power she actually has over Musk, Kelley Blue Book editor Matt DeLorenzo said Tuesday on CNBC's " Power Lunch ." "There was this agreement to bring in Robyn Denholm as the chairman, and the real question here is: Is that window dressing? I mean the question is, "Who is sort of Elon's boss and how is this issue going to be addressed?'" DeLorenzo said. After the SEC's filed its most recent complaint, Musk took to twitter again to criticize the agency, saying "Something is broken with SEC oversight." Even with the new additions, Musk seems to control the board, including who is appointed and removed, Elson said. Any attempt to rein him in results potentially in their replacement. "And they value, I guess, being on the board more than acting as normal board members would in such a situation," Elson said. "In most companies, they would be gone." In its complaint, the SEC cited an interview Musk gave with CBS' "60 Minutes" in December when he said the company doesn't need to review his tweets. Asked how the company would know if he is planning to send a potentially stock-moving tweet without being able to read it, Musk told the news show, "Well, I guess we might make mistakes. Who knows?" Turnover in Tesla's executive ranks have also raised red flags, especially the sudden departure of former General Counsel Dane Butswinkas, who left after just two months on the job. Tesla has lost more than 40 executives since 2016. "That should be a signal of something," Elson said. Former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt told CNBC that Musk should be held in contempt for his comments. Although Pitt said he does not know why Butswinkas left, he thinks many recently departed executives may feel Musk doesn't listen to them. "For somebody who's a high-powered, very capable lawyer as he was and is, that has to be incredibly frustrating," Pitt said Tuesday on " Squawk Box ." "I think the same problem exists in a lot of areas, and unless the board steps up its oversight, we will continue to see this huge amount of turnover." WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump believes North Korea is responsible for Otto Warmbier's death but said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had told him he did not know how the American college student was treated in detention, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Friday. Conway said she had just spoken to Trump about the issue. "The president agrees with the Warmbier family and holds North Korea responsible for Otto Warmbier's death," Conway said in an interview with Fox News. "The president was talking about, that Chairman Kim did not know what happened to Otto at the time when it happened." (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama ) President Donald Trump probably isnt the only one sweating over the testimony from his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Three top executives of the Trump Organization were implicated by Cohen on Wednesday, suggesting they may face scrutiny by federal prosecutors. The chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was involved with Cohen in paying hush money to an adult film actress in the days before the election with Trumps blessing, Cohen said. Weisselberg and two other executives, Matthew Calamari and Ron Lieberman, knew that Trump inflated the value of his assets to an unidentified insurance company, he added. Cohen also took aim at a fellow personal lawyer for Trump. He said the attorney, Jay Sekulow, previewed Cohens testimony before his appearance on the Hill in 2017 regarding plans to build a Trump building in Moscow. Cohen later pleaded guilty to lying to Congress during that testimony. Directed Fire Trumps longtime fixer directed most of his fire at his old boss. Cohen testified that Trump was aware of the infamous 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer who had been billed as possessing dirt on his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Cohen has already met seven times with Special Prosecutor Robert Muellers prosecutors as part of the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election. Following his aborted summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump told reporters Thursday in Vietnam that Cohen lied a lot in his depiction of the president as a racist and con artist and assailed House Democrats for holding the hearing as he was abroad. Having a fake hearing like that and having it in the middle of a very important summit like this is sort of incredible, Trump told reporters at a news conference in Hanoi, after his talks with Kim ended without an agreement. But the tantalizing clues that Cohen offered about ongoing investigations that appear to involve Trump and his associates loom ominously. Story continues Cohens disclosure that hes cooperating with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York on matters he said he couldnt discuss publicly spurred a grave tweet from Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and U.S. prosecutor: The words that he said today that would send a chill up my spine at the White House would be, I am in constant contact with the Southern District. Pressure on top figures in Trumps business could force them and others to cooperate in hopes of gaining leniency, much as some pivotal figures from Trumps campaign, including Michael Flynn and Rick Gates, ultimately agreed to assist investigators. A representative for the Trump Organization didnt respond to requests for comment from the company and its executives. Sekulow, counsel to the president, said in a statement, Todays testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the president edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false. The White House and many Republicans have cast Cohen, 52, as an opportunistic liar. He was sentenced to three years in prison last year for lying to Congress and making false statements to banks, as well as tax evasion and campaign finance violations. Insider Testimony Cohens often-explosive allegations Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee suggest that Trump and some of his associates may have been involved in white-collar crimes. Such criminal cases are often difficult for prosecutors to build given their complexity, typically requiring documentation and testimony from insiders like Cohen. His testimony shed new light on how he was reimbursed for paying $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who said she had sex with Trump. In pleading guilty, Cohen has admitted he violated campaign laws by making the payment, which he said he made at Trumps direction. On Wednesday, he said Weisselberg decided that reimbursement payments to Cohen should be spread over 12 months so they would look like a retainer agreement, rather than a one-time payment. When Cohen was asked if Trump knew about the reimbursement method, he testified: He knew about everything. Yes. There is potentially another Trump Organization associate, described as executive no. 2, who was forwarded the Cohen invoice, according to prosecutors who handled the Cohen case in New York. When asked about that person publicly, Cohen said he believed it was the presidents son. Others have cast doubt on that, suggesting it was a different executive at the company. Its not clear how much Cohen would know about the paper trail at Trumps business. Pathways for Prosecutors Cohen also traced out some of the pathways federal prosecutors could pursue toward potential bank fraud or insurance fraud by Trumps business or its executives. Trump lowballed the value of his assets for tax purposes while inflating them for other audiences, Cohen testified, brandishing three years worth of skeletal financial summaries from 2011, 2012 and 2013 that he said has been given to banks and journalists. Trump provided an inflated picture of his assets to Deutsche Bank when preparing to make a bid for the NFLs Buffalo Bills, Cohen said. And on at least one occasion, Trump provided an inflated valuation of his assets to an insurer, Cohen said. That would make his business seem less risky and lead to lower premiums and, if true, could constitute insurance fraud. Asked Wednesday who else knew about Trump providing inflated assets to an insurance company, Cohen said, Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman and Matthew Calamari. He didnt elaborate. Lawyer Review At the start of his testimony, Cohen apologized to lying to Congress in 2017. He said he did it to protect Trump and suggested he wasnt alone in that impulse. In the 2017 testimony, Cohen had told lawmakers that a proposed Trump real estate project in Moscow was dead by January 2016, before the Republican primaries had begun. That matched Trumps campaign-trail insistence that he had no pending business with or commercial ties to Russia. He said that before his testimony, his prepared comments were shared among lawyers who were part of a joint defense agreement, including Sekulow. Theres no indication that Sekulow was aware at the time that talks might have continued. However, in his guilty plea, Cohen admitted that the project continued at least until June 2016 and possibly longer. Pressed on Wednesday to explain why the misleading testimony wouldnt raise a protest among those lawyers, Cohen said the edits were in keeping with a party line. The goal was to stay on message, which is limit the relationship, whatsoever, with Russia, Cohen testified. It was short. Theres not Russian contact. Theres no Russian collusion, theres no Russian deals. Thats thats the message. March 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air force said on Friday it had stopped accepting Boeing Co's KC-46 tankers since Feb. 20 and is working with the company to resolve the issue of foreign object debris (FOD) that were found in the aircraft. "No aircraft have been accepted since then, and will not restart until the production aircraft are cleared of FOD, and the Air Force and DCMA have approved a corrective action plan by Boeing that will prevent FOD in the future," U.S. Air Force spokesperson Hope Cronin said in a statement. The Seattle Times first reported the grounding of the KC-46 tankers on Thursday, citing internal company memos. (https://bit.ly/2VuzFLG) An Air Force official told Reuters that the issue was not with the aircraft itself, but with the process in place for building the aircraft. Boeing has offered to inspect all the aircraft that have been accepted by the Air Force, the official said, adding that a couple of airplanes were nearing acceptance in the coming days but that will not happen. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Rachit Vats in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva) Moving to a new city can be full of anxiety and excitement. When you feel scared, you cant enjoy the... Most real estate agents have an obligation to market their business to potential clients. You have to make sure that... Were sure you already know, but lets repeat: Burlington is a city located in the Halton, Ontario area. It is... A personal injury occurs when a person's body, mind, or emotions are injured due to the negligence, carelessness, or wrongful... I Agree This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy By Juliet Nalwooga. Rwandan ambassador in Uganda, Frank Mugambagye is set to meet Ugandan officials this afternoon to discuss pertaining the closed border point at Gatuna. Addressing journalist at the Uganda media center in Kampala, the government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said Mugambagye will brief the officials about the current standoff at the border where Rwandan nationals have been denied entry in Uganda and the fate of the people and a total of 129 trucks stuck at the border. Opondo meanwhile dismissed reports of witch hunt against Rwandans in Uganda. By yesterday, only 12 trucks were allowed entry through the Katuna Border point and 5 trucks were allowed entry through the Kyanika boarder point Luigi Gubitosi talks during a news conference at the Alitalia headquarters at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, Italy May 10, 2017. REUTERS/Remo Casilli By Alberto Sisto ROME (Reuters) - The United States' ambassador to Italy, Lewis Eisenberg, met Telecom Italia (TIM)'s CEO Luigi Gubitosi on Wednesday, the U.S. embassy said. The U.S embassy and Telecom Italia declined to comment when asked if the visit was related to U.S. demands that its European allies do not use technology supplied by China's Huawei International. Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces international scrutiny over its ties with the Chinese government and suspicion Beijing could use its technology for spying -- something the company has denied. Eisenberg saw TIM's chief "as part of (his) ongoing outreach with Italian and U.S private sector leaders," the U.S. embassy said on Twitter, adding that the meeting had been "pleasant". Eisenberg made no comment to Reuters at the end of his visit at the TIM's headquarters in Rome, which lasted some 30 minutes. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned European allies on Monday against deploying equipment from Huawei on their soil, saying it would make it more difficult for Washington to "partner alongside them". However, there are signs some European governments are reluctant to heed Washington's call. The head of Britain's National Cyber Security Centre said on Wednesday Britain is able to manage the security risks of using Huawei equipment in national telecoms networks and has not seen any evidence of malicious activity by the company. German's economy minister said earlier this week the government is still in talks on whether Huawei will be allowed to participate in building the country's high-speed internet infrastructure. Italy's industry ministry meanwhile has denied press reports it was ready to ban Huawei and ZTE Corp from playing a role in building its fifth-generation mobile phone network under U.S. pressure. TIM has said it will keep working with Huawei until told otherwise by the government. TIM and Fastweb are part of a consortium with Huawei to test 5G infrastructure in the southern towns of Bari and Matera. Huawei has partnered with Vodafone in developing an ultrafast network in Milan. (Reporting by Steve Scherer; Writing by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Crispian Balmer and David Evans) (Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies Inc. is in advanced discussions to buy its Dubai-based rival Careem Networks FZ, a deal that would expand the ride-hailing giants operations in the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies may announce a cash-and-shares transaction that values Careem at about $3 billion in the coming weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. Negotiations are ongoing and no final agreements have been reached, the people said. Representatives for the companies declined to comment. San Francisco-based Uber is emphasizing growth, investing aggressively in food delivery, logistics, electric bikes and self-driving cars, as it prepares for a potential initial public offering this year. Uber and Careem held preliminary talks in July to combine their Middle Eastern ride-hailing services, hoping to resolve a costly rivalry in the region, people familiar with the matter said at the time. Careem, whose backers include Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talals investment firm and Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc., was valued at about $1 billion in a 2016 funding round, making it one of the most valuable technology startups in the Middle East. The company has more than a million drivers and operates in more than 100 cities in the Middle East, according to its website. Acquiring a rival would be a departure in strategy for Uber. The company has traditionally used such deals to offload costly overseas operations and take stakes in competitors, as it did in China, Russia and Southeast Asia. A deal would signal Ubers commitment to the Middle East, where one of its biggest investors, a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund overseen by the divisive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is based. It would also form an alliance with the biggest backers of its main competitor at home, Lyft Inc. Rakuten holds more than 10 percent of Lyft, which is expected to hold its own IPO in the coming months. Story continues (Updates with context in the penultimate paragraph.) To contact the reporters on this story: Dinesh Nair in London at dnair5@bloomberg.net;Giles Turner in London at gturner35@bloomberg.net;Eric Newcomer in San Francisco at enewcomer@bloomberg.net;Matthew Martin in Dubai at mmartin128@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Amy Thomson, Matthew Monks For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. In this article: The following factors are likely to influence Malaysian palm oil futures and other vegetable oil markets. FUNDAMENTALS * Malaysian palm oil futures recorded a fifth straight day of losses on Thursday, hitting their lowest in two months, as exports weakened and inventories remained high. * U.S. soybean prices fell on Thursday despite stronger-than-expected export sales as investors worried that an eagerly awaited trade deal between Washington and Beijing remained elusive. * Brent oil fell while U.S. crude futures steadied on Thursday as U.S.-China trade tensions persisted, both Chinese and Indian economies showed signs of slowing and news of surging U.S. production undermined OPEC-led output curbs. MARKET NEWS * Global equities markets fell on Thursday as weak Chinese economic data and mixed messages on the progress of trade talks between China and the United States weighed on investor sentiment. RELATED > U.S. wins WTO ruling on Chinese grains; decision also affect India > USDAs outlook for U.S. soybeans might be too hopeful -Braun > Strikes costing French oilseed group Saipol half a million euros a day > Singapore's Olam says to expand 'crown jewel' cocoa business, Q4 profit drops > Brent eases as trade talks drag, China's economy shows weakness DATA/EVENTS > Cargo surveyor AmSpec releases Malaysia's Mar 1-10 palm oil export data on Mar 11. > Cargo surveyor SGS releases Malaysia's Mar 1-10 palm oil export data on Mar 11. > Cargo surveyor ITS releases Malaysia's Mar 1-10 palm oil export data on Mar 11. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0034 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL MAR9 0 +0.00 0 0 0 MY PALM OIL APR9 0 +0.00 0 0 0 MY PALM OIL MAY9 0 +0.00 0 0 0 CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY9 4564 +12.00 4534 4588 237138 CHINA SOYOIL MAY9 5710 +34.00 5662 5750 254670 CBOT SOY OIL MAR9 29.96 +0.00 0 0 0 INDIA PALM OIL MAR9 551.60 +0.30 547.20 554 2025 INDIA SOYOIL MAR9 756 -0.85 751.2 759.2 17290 NYMEX CRUDE APR9 57.31 +0.09 57.15 57.34 3673 Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne Story continues India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel * For a table on Malaysian physical palm oil prices, including refined oil, Reuters Terminal users can double click on or type. * To view freight rates from Peninsula Malaysia/Sumatra to China, India, Pakistan and Rotterdam, please key in and press enter, or double click between the brackets. * Reuters Terminal users can see cash and futures edible oil prices by double clicking on the codes in the brackets: To go to the next page in the same chain, hit F12. To go back, hit F11. Vegetable oils -- Malaysian palm oil exports -- CBOT soyoil futures -- CBOT soybean futures -- Indian solvent -- Weekly Indian vegetable oils -- Dalian Commodity Exchange -- Dalian soyoil futures -- Dalian refined palm oil futures -- Zhengzhou rapeseed oil -- European edible oil prices/trades -- (Reporting by KL newsroom) Feb 28 (Reuters) - Williams Cos Inc's long-delayed Constitution natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York got another possible lifeline towards being approved after a U.S. court on Thursday allowed federal energy regulators to give the project another look. Constitution has been stuck in a nationwide battle between energy companies - who want more gas pipelines to fuel power plants and heat homes - and environmental groups and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who want greater reliance on energy efficiency and renewables. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved construction of Constitution in December 2014 pending other regulatory approval, including water quality certification from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Williams applied for certification in August 2013 but withdrew and resubmitted that application twice, both times at the DEC's request. The DEC ultimately denied Constitution's application in April 2016. Williams has argued to FERC and in federal courts all the way to the Supreme Court that the state waived its right to decide on the certificate by failing to act in a reasonable amount of time. In other cases, FERC and the courts have ruled that a state must decide on a certificate within a year but have said that because Williams voluntarily withdrew its application, that one-year period did not count. That was before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in January 2019 ruled in another case, Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC, the state must still act within a reasonable amount of time even though the parties agreed to withdraw and resubmit an application. After the court's decision in the Hoopa case, FERC asked the D.C. Circuit to remand the Constitution case back to FERC for further proceedings. The court granted that request on Thursday. Officials at the DEC were not immediately available for comment. In addition to FERC, there may be another path to get Constitution built. Story continues President Donald Trump's administration, which wants more pipelines built to create jobs and boost economic growth, has warned that the federal government could overturn state decisions that block projects, citing national security reasons. When Williams proposed Constitution in 2013, it estimated the project would cost about $683 million and enter service in 2016. Delays, however, have boosted that estimate to as high as $875 million, according to local newspapers. Constitution is owned by subsidiaries of Williams, Cabot Oil & Gas, Duke Energy and AltaGas Ltd. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Bernadette Baum) Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has a long list of issues to tackle as the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, including drug prices and trade. Grassley sat down with Yahoo Finance to talk about some of the biggest issues facing the committee this year. On USMCA: You've got to get rid of these tariffs. Lawmakers are gearing up to consider the renegotiated NAFTA, called the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The House will consider the deal first, but Grassley told Yahoo Finance he expects to have Senate Finance Committee meetings on the deal before the House takes action. Grassley said he needs to work with Democratic lawmakers on three main areas: enforcement, environment and labor. Grassley also called on President Trump to lift the steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He put these tariffs on, if you recall, to force negotiation. So he successfully negotiated. He says he has a good agreement. Then what's this business that maybe we still have the tariffs on? said Grassley. The senator from Iowa says the steel and aluminum tariffs and retaliatory tariffs are hurting farmers in his state. The tariffs also dont encourage Canada or Mexico to approve the deal. So whether it's Mexico or Canada or the United States. All three countries are saying to the president of the United States, you've got to get rid of these tariffs. And I'm of that same opinion, said Grassley. Grassley said he has not talked directly to President Trump about lifting the tariffs, but hes spoken to administration officials. I would tell him [Trump], like I'm telling you, and I would say it from a standpoint of intellectual honesty: You said to these countries, these tariffs are gonna be on till you negotiate. The negotiation's over. You ought to do your end of the bargain, pull back the tariffs, said Grassley. On lowering drug prices: I'm pessimistic. But we don't give up just because of that. After grilling pharmaceutical executives on Capitol Hill this week, Grassley admits he has some skepticism Congress will pass legislation to lower prescription drug prices. Story continues Throughout the hearing, several executives talked about the need for rebate reform. The Trump administration has proposed a rule to curb rebates given to pharmacy benefit managers in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Grassley said he supports the administrations proposal, but the hearing showed him that more needs to be done. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, arrives for a hearing with drug company CEOs on drug prices, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) I learned from them [pharmaceutical executives] that that isn't going to be enough to reduce the list price. That you have to get to the non-Medicare people that use prescription drugs in order to do it, said Grassley. The senator noted while the executives could have just been making excuses, he knows lawmakers have to legislate in that area anyway. Grassley and ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) have also opened an investigation into the price of insulin. The senators recently wrote letters to the leading insulin manufacturers Eli LIlly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi asking for more information about their pricing. Grassley said hell wait to decide if hell call on those CEOs to testify until they respond to the letters. I would hope that we're going to embarrass [the insulin manufacturers] to some extent like we embarrassed Mylan on Epi-Pen, if you remember. To maybe be a little more common sense in their approach of prices, particularly when you got a drug that's 80 years old, or maybe been on the market longer now, said Grassley. Despite the broad bipartisan support for tackling the issue, Grassley acknowledged it will be difficult to send a bill to the presidents desk. He has several bipartisan bills aimed at lowering costs. Just common sense legislation that we're trying to get passed to reduce prescription drugs. And you know, it just drags on and on and on. That's why I'm pessimistic, he said But we don't give up just because of that. We have great bipartisan support because you see even on the Republican side, where maybe you think there might be more support for Big Pharma, [there] seems to be a lot of Republicans raising the same questions I'm raising. On tax refund backlash: Its a big lie that a lower refund means higher taxes Grassley also weighed in on the recent tax refund controversy. On Thursday (shortly after our interview with Grassley), the Treasury Department said the average tax refund is up 19% from last week and is now slightly higher than last year. But throughout February, there were complaints about lower refunds which brought about renewed criticism of the Trump tax cuts that were passed at the end of 2017. People shouldnt focus on their refunds to determine how much they paid overall in taxes, he said. Its stupid to think [if] you got a bigger or lesser refund that your taxes have gone up or down. It's got nothing to do with it, said Grassley. Grassley has said hes frustrated with Democratic politicians who are using lower refunds as a way to attack the GOP tax bill. It's just a big lie to lead people to believe that if you get less refund than you got last year, your taxes have gone up. No, the common sense approach and the only honest answer is look at the bottom line of what you filed [in] 2019 with what you filed in 2018, and if it's less in 2019, then you got a tax decrease, said Grassley. The Treasury Department notes refund data will continue to fluctuate over the coming weeks. We caution against drawing broad conclusions on refunds overall this early in the filing season, the Treasury Department said in a statement. Jessica Smith is a reporter for Yahoo Finance based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter at @JessicaASmith8. Read more: Lighthizer: US wants 'measurable and enforceable' deal with China Senators grill pharma execs over drug pricing President Trump on auto tariffs: 'Well do the tariffs' if no trade deal with EU Ahn Hyun-jung, the new general manager of the Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel / Courtesy of Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel By Kim Jae-heun Ahn Hyun-jung was named the new general manager of The Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel, operated by the Marriott International, Monday. She has been working as an hotelier for 25 years, and is the first female general manager at a five-star hotel here. Ahn became interested in the hotel business when she first experienced luxury accommodation as a volunteer during the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988. After the world sporting event, Ahn went to Switzerland to study hotel management at a university there and started her work as an hotelier. She started from the bottom greeting guests at the front desk and managing the housekeeping team at a Swiss hotel. When she returned home in May 1992, Ahn joined the sales team at the country's oldest hotel, the Westin Chosun Hotel in central Seoul. From there, she built her career mainly in sales and marketing. She achieved a remarkable accomplishment by introducing the very first designer flower shop by Britain's Jane Parker while branding the hotel as one of the luxury hotels in the country. Ahn worked at Lotte Hotel Seoul as a director of international marketing from 2005 to 2006 and took the area director position at a local branch of global workplace provider Regus Korea for five-and-a-half years until 2011. In May 2013, Ahn moved to the Sheraton Grand Incheon as director of sales and marketing for about six years accomplishing the best revenue per available room (RevPAR) at the hotel. It is her goal to build the Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel into one of the city's landmarks and attract young couples with children, as its location boasts the best culture complexes around where people can enjoy shopping, movies and musicals. Ahn plans to utilize digital platforms owned by Marriott International to offer promotions to customers. "The importance of digital marketing is growing with a diversifying structure of sales and marketing these days," the general manager said. "We want to attract young couples and families with children to enjoy their leisure time here. "We will offer a number of promotions not only on our hotel rooms, but also with restaurants and bars we have to actively attract guests and become a landmark of the city," Ahn said. The general manager promised to communicate openly with her staff and keep the work efficiency high under her management while making the workplace fun and happy. "I'd also like to give staff opportunities to develop themselves here," Ahn said. The Taliban never managed to capture the mountainous northeastern province of Badakhshan when they swept Afghanistan in the 1990s. Today, they control large parts of the remote region bordering Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China, and the hard-line Islamist movement has revived its harsh rule there. Now billing themselves as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formal name of the Taliban, the movement still focuses on curtailing individual freedoms, imposing gender segregation, strict rules, and punishments in the name of Islamic Sharia law. As the United States attempts to negotiate peace with the Taliban, many Afghans see the insurgents worldview as largely unchanged after a quarter-century of fighting. Minagul Osmani, a 24-year-old Afghan woman, first fled Taliban rule when the insurgents overran her village in Badakhshans Warduj district in 2015. Now living in neighboring Baharak district, she told Radio Free Afghanistan that the Talibans first major change was to impose harsh rules for women. They do not allow women to step outside without a male guardian, she said. Compared with the Afghan government, Osmani noted, the Taliban are unable to provide key services. They closed the school and health clinic, she said. After the elders intervened, they reopened the school, but the clinic remains closed, which really affects pregnant women and mothers with young children. A farmer living in Warduj says he has seen the Taliban dole out harsh Islamic punishments. The Taliban follow a strict criminal code called Hudood, which ordains punishments such as amputating limbs for theft, stoning for adultery, and lashes for alcohol consumption. I have seen people stoned to death, hands amputated, and people flogged, he told Radio Free Afghanistan, requesting his name be withheld due to possible Taliban reprisals. Women are flogged if they go out without male guardians. The farmer says he has been beaten by the Taliban many times. He says the arrival of the Taliban has increased poverty in the region, where most people depend on subsistence farming and animal husbandry. There is a shortage of food, and people can often be seen begging at mosques, he said. Despite this, Taliban fighters often force people to feed them. He says he longs for a return to government control. It was much easier to talk to government officials. They sometimes listened, he said. The Taliban only expect us only to obey. In an apparent effort to appeal to more Afghans, the Taliban have tried to show flexibility on some of their harshest policies, stating that the movement is not seeking a monopoly over power and is open to compromise. The movement recently announced it is committed to all rights of women. But the commitment comes with some major caveats. Islam and then Afghan tradition [are] two major values of the Afghan Mujahid nation, so Islamic Emirate is also committed to all rights of women within this framework, the February 5 Taliban statement noted. The policy of the Islamic Emirate is to protect the rights of women in a way that neither their legitimate rights are violated, nor their human dignity and Afghan values are threatened. A closer reading reveals that the primary aim is still to create a state and society that the movement considers Islamic, which is why it wants to replace the current Afghan Constitution, which incorporates international human rights conventions. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers it necessary that constitution must be based on principles of Islamic religion, national interests, historical achievements and social justice, the Taliban statement said. It should be committed to human dignity, national values and human rights, and could guarantee territorial integrity of the country and all rights of all the citizens. Ashley Jackson, a research associate with the Overseas Development Institute in London, has studied Taliban governance in rural Afghan regions. She told RFE/RLs Gandhara website that the Taliban leadership has learned from the movements mistakes and the challenges it faced while in government. She says theres a sense of continuity despite the Taliban embracing some pragmatism while fighting a complicated insurgency since losing power in late 2001. The degree to which their fighters on the ground have changed in outlook and ideology is questionable, she said. At their core, they remain a highly conservative, rural-based movement that is seeking to restore a pure form of Islamic government -- which entails many familiar elements from the 1990s. According to the Afghan Analyst Network (AAN), some Badakhshan clerics and locals have been part of the Taliban since the 1990s. Apart from one major battle in 1998, control of Jamiat-e Islami, a predominantly Tajik Islamist party, was never challenged in Badakhshan. With the help of local Tajik commanders, most of whom were educated at Pakistani religious schools, the Taliban ramped up its recruitment drive in 2004. In 2012, they increased military activities and the recruitment of graduates from madrasahs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many fighters hail from strategically located Warduj, and the region provides the bulk of local Taliban leaders and cadres in Badakhshan, according to AAN. After overrunning Warduj in October 2015, the Taliban took over neighboring Baharak. Out of the 28 Badakhshan districts, they have also sporadically controlled or made incursions into Yumgan, Jurm, Raghistan, and Kohistan. While the government reclaimed several lost territories, the Taliban still control Warduj and Yumgan, although the violence has turned Badakhshan into a contested territory. Mohammad Daulat Khawar, district governor of Warduj, operates out of Baharak. He says the 1,300 families who fled the Talibans capture of Warduj now live in dire conditions in Baharak. Khawar told Radio Free Afghanistan that some of the 19 schools in Warduj have reopened after two years. The eight girls schools in the district are allowed to offer elementary and middle grades. Overall, the standard of living has taken a turn for the worse, he said. They have lost services, projects, and any prospects of work. Poverty is rampant. Mawlawi Abdul Wahab Majdi, 38, a former teacher at Warduj's womens teacher-training college, says the college remains shut since the Taliban takeover. He says its more than 100 female students have been deprived of their education. However, he sees some change in the Talibans behavior. The first two years after they took over was a reign of terror, he noted. But since last year they have changed and are now more cautious in their dealings with people. Rahmuddin, 49, who goes by one name only, hopes to return to Warduj with his 12 family members if peace returns. He supports the ongoing efforts to make peace with the Taliban but expects protection. We support a peace where the rights of all people are protected, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. Otherwise our misery will not end, and there will be no peace. Political scientist Asfandyar Mir has studied security affairs in South Asia for years. Now a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, Mir explains the latest developments, old conflicts, and potential conflagrations in the ongoing crisis between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. RFE/RL: Where do you see the military situation moving after India and Pakistan engaged in what appears to be retaliatory air strikes and cross-border shelling? Asfandyar Mir: The current stand-off between India and Pakistan hasn't fully de-escalated, but it isn't as tense as it was some days ago. After Pakistan retaliated with air strikes against India on February 27, the crisis intensified -- it appeared the Indian government was considering a follow-on retaliation. In that backdrop, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's gesture of returning the Indian Air Force pilot, captured by Pakistan after his plane was shot down, lowered the political temperature, eased the situation somewhat. That said, military forces on both sides remain mobilized in large numbers, and the Indian government still hasnt given a clear-cut signal of wanting to de-escalate. RFE/RL: Do you see the current leadership in India and Pakistan as capable of deescalating given the domestic pressures they currently face? Mir: The leadership of the two countries has different political incentives. On the Indian side, Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi still has incentives to re-escalate. He is going into a national election. His governments economic performance has been weak, so he appears to be relying more on foreign policy issues like confronting Pakistan -- an issue the Indian electorate cares about. Pakistans shooting down of the Indian aircraft and capturing of the air force pilot also deeply embarrassed him and his political party, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). On the Pakistan side, two leaders matter: Prime Minister Imran Khan and chief of the country's powerful army, General Qamar Bajwa. After the first Indian military raid, both were left embarrassed before their key domestic audiences: Khan in front of his voter base and Bajwa in front of his officer corps. However, Pakistan's retaliatory strikes not only reversed that damage but enhanced their domestic political standing. Now both the leaders want a deescalation. Khan has made his first move to deescalate. He is also insisting with a dialogue offer to India on terrorism on India's terms. What he hasnt done and could do to defuse the situation is a crackdown against the group behind the February 14 terror attack, Jaish-e-Muhammed. Khan, however, would need Bajwas support for such a crackdown. It remains unclear whether Bajwa would agree. The Pakistani military hasnt acted against Pakistan-based jihadis operating in Kashmir. Instead, it has seen them as valuable allies in confronting India in Kashmir. RFE/RL: What happens to the Kashmir issue now? Mir: We remain very far from any meaningful progress on the dispute over Kashmir. In recent years, India has intensified its crackdown in Kashmir against violent and non-violent separatist groups. India also employs a heavy-handed counterinsurgency strategy, which frequently targets the civilian population. As a result, resentment in the Kashmiri population toward the Indian state remains very high. The Indian government continues to see a coercive approach instead of a political approach involving concessions as the way forward in the disputed region. Pakistan also remains firm in its territorial claim over Kashmir. Given Indias unwillingness to make concessions and the deep alienation in the region toward the Indian state, Pakistan is likely to continue political and military support for the insurgency in Kashmir. RFE/RL: What dangers do jihadi groups present to Pakistan? Mir: It is commonly assumed that jihadi groups operating against India in Kashmir pose a direct threat to Pakistan. This was true a decade ago, when factions of Kashmir-focused jihadi groups defected toward transnational jihadis like Al-Qaeda. It appears that the process has stopped. Major Kashmir-focused jihadi groups based in Pakistan do not challenge the Pakistani government. These groups have also consolidated control over their cadres, preventing fragmentation toward Al-Qaeda and [the ultra-radical] Islamic State (IS). This is not to say there are no indirect bad effects of such groups on Pakistan. These groups spawn a large jihadi infrastructure, which is a source of radicalization in the country. Pakistan continually faces international opprobrium, even from its allies like China privately, for allowing such groups to operate from its territory. RFE/RL: What has the international community's role been in the current crisis? Mir: [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump made an important statement in Hanoi on February 28, suggesting that the U.S. government has been involved in mediating an end to the India-Pakistan crisis. Besides the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, and Russia have sought to deescalate the tensions. Overall, Pakistan is under pressure from the international community for not doing enough to curb anti-India jihadi groups. Still, it is striking that beyond condemnation, the U.S. and other major powers have not pledged any material support to the Indian government like sanctions against Pakistani leadership or military support for Indian operations. RFE/RL: Did nuclear weapons play a role in the current crisis? Mir: Nuclear weapons have played a role. Following the first Indian air strike on February 26, the Pakistani military spokesman stated that the government was activating the body which decides the deployment and use of nuclear weapons. This was a clear-cut signal by Pakistan that it would use nuclear weapons if the crisis exacerbated. I believe that deterred a sizable Indian response after Pakistan conducted its retaliatory strikes on February 27. Yes, I found a better job Yes, but I'm still looking for a new job Yes, I retired Yes, I started my own business No, I like my current job No, but I'm currently looking for a new job Vote View Results Eleven candidates vying for three at-large seats on the Colorado Springs City Council were split on recreational marijuana sales during their first forum before the April 2 election. The candidates for council and four for mayor spoke Thursday night at the Westside Community Center. All 15 candidates were asked: Do you believe recreational marijuana wrecks young minds? Most agreed that people under 21 shouldnt get marijuana, as the law declares, but some argued that city voters should get to weigh in on pot sales. Councilman Bill Murray, whos seeking re-election, said people can buy recreational pot in nearby Manitou Springs and bring it into Colorado Springs. That pragmatic understanding makes me consider the fact that you should decide on a ballot issue what you want to do, all right? Understanding that with any type of agreement on rec marijuana, theres age limits but then the taxes that could come in could be used for education purposes. Dennis Spiker and Regina English agreed that a city vote is needed and said legal pot doesnt increase crime. We know that recreational marijuana, when legalized in a city, drives down other illegal drugs, Spiker said. And I would rather see an 18-year-old get their hands on a marijuana joint than methamphetamines. Randy Tuck said, Manitou Springs is taking our profits and our revenues right now and building their city on our dime, and thats not right. But Councilman Tom Strand, seeking re-election, said he doesnt support recreational sales because it has such a negative effect on our young people and how they can grow and move forward. "Being an elementary principal and an educator for my entire career, what the question is really asking is, 'Should we do all that we can to make sure that kids don't get access?' and absolutely," said Terry Martinez. Former Councilman Val Snider, who served from 2011 to 2015, said recreational pots incredibly high levels of THC havent been studied sufficiently, and it should not be sold here in the city limits from the retail side. Former Secretary of State Wayne Williams said Colorado voters wisely said that there are age requirements for the use of recreational marijuana, and the law should be enforced. Adults can make their own decisions, he said, but I dont think, because of the effects, that kids should be using recreational marijuana. Marijuana is the most-used drug in the nation, said candidate Athena Roe, who read a list of adverse side effects and also opposed pot sales. Former state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt said pot would endanger national security and destroy the careers of young people in the military. Tony Gioia also cited the ban on marijuana in the military, saying local sales would make it difficult for that big local population. Mayor John Suthers long has opposed recreational sales in the city. His challengers, John Pitchford, Juliette Parker and Lawrence Martinez, who ran for mayor in 2015, all said young people should not have access to pot. To watch a live-stream video of the forum, visit The Avenue Colorado Springs on Facebook. A Colorado Springs food distribution company and at least six local Mexican restaurants are linked to the Sinoloa Cartel and drug lords Joaquin El Chapo Guzman-Lorea and Ismael El Mayo Zambada-Garcia, says a recently released federal complaint providing the first evidence of cartels operating in Colorado Springs. A cellphone of Jose Aguilar-Martinez, who purported to own the unregistered wholesale distributor El Potosino Foods, had significant contact with suspected cocaine distributors in the city and in Pueblo and was linked to Guzmans and Zambadas trafficking, the complaint says. The six restaurants and El Potosino which means the one from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, an area associated with drug cartels are accused in a drug-money laundering scheme in the sealed federal complaint filed in November. A 50-page version sanitized of confidential information was filed publicly Feb. 22. It alleges that El Potosino was a front company used to funnel drug money through Mexican restaurants in Colorado and Wyoming. The restaurants would buy food from El Potosino and accept invoices for items they did not order or receive so checks could be cut to the company and Aguilar-Martinez, 48, who is in the U.S. illegally, the complaint said. El Potosino is not a registered business, its website is inactive and no other wholesale food distributors in Colorado Springs were even aware of El Potosinos existence or that it purported to compete with them, the complaint and other records said. Authorities have seized more than $1.5 million from 15 bank accounts and two safety deposit boxes of the restaurants. In Colorado Springs, those are three Taco Star eateries, at 318 N. Wahsatch Ave., 7434 Ridgewood Drive and 605 N. Circle Drive; two Monicas Taco Shops, at 30 E. Fillmore St. and 5829 Palmer Park Blvd.; and the Albertacos at 4494 Austin Bluffs Parkway. A seventh restaurant with ties to Colorado Springs also was named in the complaint. Rodolfos Mexican Grill is in Cheyenne, Wyo., where the investigation began with a suspicious vehicle purchase. Its owner, Hilario Montejano-Aleman, also operates the local Viva El Taco at 5945 N. Academy Blvd. The two seized deposit boxes, tied to Monicas Taco Shop, contained more than $800,000, the complaint said. Authorities believe a woman accessing the safe-deposit boxes faked pregnancies to make deposits, carrying the cash inside of a false belly. Defendants have denied involvement in the scheme. Guzman, widely known as El Chapo, was considered the worlds most powerful drug lord until his federal conviction this month on 10 counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and use of a firearm in decades of grisly killings to further his drug enterprise. His Sinaloa Cartel is one of the worlds most prolific, violent and powerful drug cartels, moving billions upon billions of dollars in marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, the U.S. Justice Department reports. Guzman is a known escape artist as well. In 2001, he spent $2.5 million in bribes to escape the maximum-security Puente Grande prison in Jalisco, Mexico, in a laundry cart. And in 2015, he crawled through an opening in a shower area that led to a mile-long tunnel, escaping the maximum-security Altiplano Federal Prison near Toluca, Mexico. He later bragged to movie star Sean Penn: I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats. Now Guzman is expected to be sent to Colorados maximum-security prison in Florence, the U.S. Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility, better known as Supermax. He faces a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole. Zambada now is assumed to head the Sinoloa Cartel. The Colorado Springs restaurants, meanwhile, all remain open. Albertacos did close briefly after funds were seized, but it has reopened. In 2017, 16-year-old Nathaniel Czajkowski was shot to death in Albertacos while eating with three friends, two of whom also were shot. No arrests have been made, but a cashier told The Gazette that all employees in the restaurant that night then returned to Mexico. Contact the writer at 719-636-0362 or find her on Twitter: @njKaitlinDurbin. A bill allowing those with behavioral or mental health disorders to create an advance medical plan for future crises went to Gov. Jared Polis' desk Wednesday. The Colorado Senate approved House Bill 1044, by Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, and Sen. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora. The House had approved it in January. The measure allows adults to write advance medical orders on the type of treatment they prefer and to establish a set of procedures in case they can't provide consent or make their own decisions. The Senate passed the bill unanimously after adopting a last-minute amendment to limit the advance orders' life span to two years. During a committee hearing last week, some asked how medical professionals would know about the orders if the patient can't make decisions or communicate clearly. Others, saying they suffer bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, praised the measure in a committee hearing. They said advance medical orders in past crises would have benefited them by providing for a different doctor, hospital or treatments and avoiding long stints in isolation. A bill shifting management of Colorados oil and gas industries and redefining regulators roles will be introduced soon, Gov. Jared Polis and the states ranking Democrats said Thursday. Few have seen the legislation, but Polis and House and Senate majority leaders, Rep. KC Becker, D-Boulder, and Sen. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, offered a few details. Putting health and safety first of communities, of workers, is absolutely critical, Polis said. And in a state as diverse as ours, as diverse culturally and politically and geographically, theres not a one-size-fits-all approach to how we view integrating oil and gas development into different communities. So the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission should prioritize public health and safety over business development, the governor said. And local governments, rather than the state, should control oil and gas development proposals, Fenberg said. Communities must be empowered to take control over whats happening in their backyards and equip them with the tools they need to stand up for their best interests, he said. Becker said, As technologies and drilling practices within the industry have changed over the years, and as our communities have grown, our laws and state agencies that regulate oil and gas have not kept pace, leaving our neighborhoods, schools, communities and our environment with insufficient tools to deal with the risks and impacts of oil and gas. The legislation will address all of those points, they said. Fenberg said many stakeholders were consulted, but their input was not absolute. The industry didnt write the bill. Activists didnt write the bill. We are looking forward to our first opportunity to review the actual legislation as is customary in the stakeholder process, said Tracee Bentley, executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council, in a statement. Bentley leaves next month to lead an industry group in Texas. I have been working on state policy issues for over 15 years, and having worked for a governor, I know the importance firsthand of bringing all voices to the table, she said, particularly as our industry supports 232,900 jobs and contributes $31.4 billion in annual economic activity to Colorado. Proponents of oil and gas reform also said theyre eager to see the bill. We find it curious to make a public statement about a bill that is not even public yet and has only been reviewed by a select group, said Anne Lee Foster, a spokeswoman for Colorado Rising. Its premature for us to respond because we havent had a chance to review the bill in full. Having a press conference and asking for support on language, still unknown, is bizarre at best. Colorado Rising was behind Proposition 112, which voters shot down Nov. 6. The measure would have increased the buffer between buildings and new oil and gas operations to 2,500 feet from the current 500 feet around homes and 1,000 feet around schools. Prop. 112 was cited Thursday in a Colorado Business Roundtable statement signed by representatives of 30 business, labor and civic organizations, including chambers of commerce from Aurora, Pueblo, Grand Junction, Fort Collins and Castle Rock, the Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado Bankers Association and the Colorado Association of Realtors. The people of Colorado voted against the extreme measure, and efforts to push that type of agenda through the legislature, similarly, should be rejected in a strong, bipartisan manner, the statement said of Prop. 112. Becker said the bill wont address setbacks. But local governments could impose them, Fenberg said. The Roundtable statement asked Polis to collaborate with industry leaders and lean on scientific analysis. But theres little natural about natural gas, said Emily Gedeon, conservation program director with the Sierra Club. Methane gas emitted by the industry significantly contributes to ozone problems along the Front Range, she said. Said Becker, Our state, including where my constituents live, work and play, has some of the worst air quality in the country. Thats why the bill were proposing directs our states air quality experts to take the next steps to reduce harmful emissions from oil and gas development, including climate change-inducing methane gas. But more regulation could harm the economy, the Roundtable said, repeating an argument often heard against Prop. 112. Oil and gas is one of the most significant sources of tax revenue for basic public services at the state and local level, it said. More than $1 billion in taxes and other public revenues are generated by oil and natural gas development every year in Colorado, including more than $600 million for K-12 and higher education. Kelly Nordini, executive director of Conservation Colorado, said the specter of losing hundreds of thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue is fear mongering and hyperbole. Give me a break. She said the bill surely wont address everyones concerns, but she was pleased with what Polis, Fenberg and Becker said. The state leaders were joined by Erin Martinez, whose husband and brother were killed when her home exploded in 2017 after natural gas leaked from a nearby pipeline. She and her children moved to a new home, only to discover yet another abandoned gas well next door. Now theyre moving again. Human life should come first, Martinez said. We should have the right to know what we are living and working on top of. A bill to let more Colorado motor vehicle offices help undocumented migrants get a drivers license or state identification card passed the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. Senate Bill 139 won 5-2 approval, with Sen. Jack Tate, R-Centennial, voting in favor with the Democrats. Four more motor vehicle offices would be added in the next fiscal year, with three more the following year, to offer first-time appointments for drivers licenses to undocumented residents. The phase-in amendment was offered by Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, the bills sponsor. The program is self-funded through fees for the licenses, which are good for three years. No one testified against the bill Thursday. The program is something of a victim of its own success, as demand has far exceeded the appointments available. People sometimes drive from the Eastern Plains to Grand Junction on the Western Slope, where first-time license appointments are offered. Workers at the states 120 family-owned dairy farms, mostly in northeastern Colorado, pay up to $1,000 to brokers who get appointments for their workers, testified Brock Herzberg of the Colorado Dairy Association. Even license renewal appointments, available at only one office, are up for sale, Herzberg said. Our [dairy] owners are willing to pay the ($100 license) fee as part of an employee package, he said. Its important for them to have these licenses and documentation. The program hasnt worked as efficiently as we would have liked, said Sen. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, the co-sponsor. Moreno said some people book appointments months in advance. The drivers licenses dont allow undocumented residents to vote or use them as identification for employment. The license is marked: Not Valid For Federal Identification, Voting or Public Benefit Purposes. Sen. Rob Woodward, R-Loveland, said he tried to make an appointment, as a test, and found it impossible. The problems are twofold: too few offices and too few appointments, said Angel Lopez. Ranchers need their workers to have licenses to drive and manage equipment, but they often must miss work to travel for their appointments. The state capped the program appointments at 66,000 in legislation last year. When the cap was reached, two of three offices for first-time appointments would be closed. That cap will be reached in June, the Department of Revenue reported. Woodward tried to slow the bills adoption by asking that it include a clause that would allow a challenge to the law on the 2020 ballot. Im not convinced this is a safety issue, he said. Do you drive? asked Coram. Do you have insurance? If you look at your insurance, youre paying a fee for uninsured motorists. This affects everyone in the state. Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, said he had hoped the federal government would deal with immigration and was reticent to relieve pressure on that debate with bills like this one. Coram got laughs when he responded: Im not comfortable waiting on Congress to do anything. It will happen when there is peace in the Middle East and mattresses are not on sale. The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee. SHANGHAI, China, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From Feb 2nd to 5th, during the Chinese New Year holiday, Ms. Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip, Chinas largest online travel agency, visited refugee centers in Lebanon and Jordan accompanied by staff from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, seeking further commitments to the region. As a philanthropist who donates tens of thousands of dollars every year to causes which help children suffering from the effects of war, Ms. Sun took the trip to better understand the situation in the region and how she as a philanthropist as well as Ctrip as a leading Chinese company, could better support the region. Refugee settlement in Taanayel Accompanied by staff from UNHCR, Ms. Sun visited a Syrian refugee family in a settlement in Taanayel. The family of six resides in a tent, with the two oldest children going to school while their mother takes care of two younger daughters and cooks for the whole family. The father of the family gets up at dawn every morning to look for work; if he is lucky, he manages to find the occasional day job to support them. Considering that the majority of Syrian refugees do not possess legal documents to work in Lebanon, this precarious situation is in fact relatively fortunate. Though the government of Lebanon opens the border when necessary, the government does not want to turn UN settlements into permanent ones. The population of Lebanon is only 5 million, so they lack the capacity to support 1.5 million refugees permanently. As far as the family is concerned, they are grateful for this chance to escape from the bombs of their homeland and find refuge in Lebanon. Offering help through education Ms. Sun made sure to ask about childrens education at every refugee center she visited throughout the trip, as she is a passionate believer in power of education to change the lives of refugee children. While she was in Chtoura, Ms. Sun visited a local education center. The Maharat Center provides special needs education to ninety Syrian and Lebanese children with learning disabilities and autism, providing extra support to children who have trouble accessing a mainstream curriculum. Ms. Sun offered to connect teachers in the center with similar China-based organizations she is also a patron of, expressing the belief that Chinese organizations can assist counterparts in the Middle East by sharing their experience in educating children with autism. Ms. Sun also impressed on teachers the importance of English education in increasing the future job opportunities of children at the center. The tragedy and human cost of war is felt far beyond the battlefield upon which it is fought, said Ms. Sun upon the trips completion. The perilous situation of these refugees should impel us all to consider our place in the world, and this trip has served to remind me that awareness must be coupled with action. As a leading travel company, co-operation for the common good - regardless of international borders - is an essential part of the Ctrip mission. With the benefit of having visited these families in need, I will do all I can to make sure Ctrip and Trip.com play a positive role in the alleviation of this global crisis. As the presence of Chinese companies has become ever more prominent in world of international business, they are progressively also taking up the mantle of social responsibility on a global scale. In another example of a Chinese entrepreneur demonstrating a commitment to the Middle East, in 2018 Alibabas Jack Ma made a significant donation to teacher training programs for refugees in Jordan. Last year, Ms. Sun led Ctrip Group to undertake three major philanthropic initiatives: the CanDo project, which helps build and operate childrens hospitals a northern part of Syria; the Edesia project, which donates food to young children suffering from malnutrition in western African countries; and the Syrian Paralyzed Children project, which provides artificial limbs to children injured in the Syrian Civil War. Email: Pr@ctrip.com English Lithuanian Lietuvos Energija, UAB (hereinafter the Company), identification code 301844044, registered office placed at Zveju St. 14, Vilnius, the Republic of Lithuania. The total nominal value of issued bonds 600 000 000 EUR; ISIN codes XS1646530565; XS1853999313. Increased prices in international markets affected the results of Lietuvos Energija During the four quarters of 2018, the financial results of the state-owned group of energy companies Lietuvos Energija (the Group) were significantly affected by the price situation in the electricity and gas markets. Due to price changes in the aforementioned markets, the Groups revenue amounted to EUR 1.266 million, which is 15.1% more if compared to EUR 1,100 million earned during Q1Q4 of 2017. However, rising prices have also lead to an increase in the costs of purchasing electricity, gas, fuel and related services by 33.2%, up to EUR 986.6 million. Due to the specificity of the regulated activity, the Groups costs increased more than revenue, and the regulatory differences will be compensated in the coming periods. After eliminating regulatory effects, the Groups adjusted EBITDA decreased slightly by 3.8% and totaled EUR 229.7 million, compared to EUR 238.7 million during Q1Q4 of 2017. In addition to the aforementioned changes in electricity and gas prices, the Groups net profit result in 2018 was also significantly affected by the one-off item of fixed assets valuation of managed company Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius. Although, overall the valuation resulted in an increase of assets value, due to the accounting aspects in the income statement revaluation losses were accounted, which significantly decreased net profit result, the increase in value were accounted in the revaluation reserve in equity. After eliminating regulatory and one-off effects, the Groups adjusted net profit decreased by 3.3% compared to 2017 and totaled EUR 125.8 million. Last year has been full of challenges for Lietuvos Energija the spikes in energy price in the international markets impacted Group's results, but we managed risks successfully and ended 2018 with the expected results. We continue to confidently implement the objectives set out in the LE 2030 strategy. Last year the Group's investments were record high, amounting to nearly EUR 410 million. We are expanding the green generation capabilities in 2018, we acquired three operating wind farms, while the Smart Energy Fund, powered by Lietuvos Energija, invested in start-ups that will, without doubt, develop amazing solutions and show great results. This year we will continue to transform the Group by consolidating its activities and will focus on the client even more, says Darius Maikstenas, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Lietuvos Energija. Key interim financial indicators of Lietuvos Energija Group for Q1Q4, 2018: The Groups revenue amounted to EUR 1.266 million, which is 15.1% more if compared to EUR 1.100 million earned during Q1Q4 of 2017; Operating expenses amounted to EUR 127.6 million, which is 3.3% (or EUR 4 million) less, compared to EUR 132 million during Q1Q4 of 2017. Lower operating expenses resulted from the improvement of operational efficiency; The Groups EBITDA decreased by 33.5% and totaled EUR 151.2 million. The Groups adjusted EBITDA decreased by 3.8% and totaled EUR 229.7 million, compared to EUR 238.7 million during Q1Q4 of 2017. The steady growth of the distribution activity results has been offset by the poorer performance of the electricity and gas trading activities, affected by increased market prices; The level of the return on equity ratio was equal to 0.5% compared to 7% in 2017. The level of the adjusted return on equity ratio remained high and was equal to 9.4% compared to 9.8% in 2017; The Groups net profit decreased by 93.1% to EUR 6.5 million. The Groups adjusted net profit amounted to EUR 125.8 million, which is 3.3% less compared to EUR 130.1 million during Q1Q4 of 2017; Investments amounted to EUR 409.2 million, which is 61.5% more compared to EUR 253.4 million during Q1Q4 of 2017. Investments were mainly allocated for the maintenance (30%) and development (21%) of the electricity distribution network, also investments have increased significantly due to investments in cogeneration plants projects in Vilnius and Kaunas (20%). *The Groups EBITDA and net profit is adjusted (1) by eliminating deviation between actual and regulated revenue, by which the Groups future financial results will be adjusted; (2) by eliminating gas price discount expenses that are related to the previous periods. Arturas Ketlerius, Acting Head of Public Relations, arturas.ketlerius@le.lt, +370 620 76076 Attachments TORONTO, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation (hereinafter, The Company) (TSX: TNX) (NYSE MKT:TRX) announced that todays 2019 Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders, was adjourned due to the fact that the percentage of shareholders participating in the proxy vote totaled approximately 14%, thereby not reaching the quorum of 20% required to conduct business. A problem with process mechanics resulted in a large number of US shareholders not receiving voting materials. The meeting has been scheduled to reconvene on Thursday, March 21st, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time at the offices of the DSA Corporate Services Inc, 82 Richmond Street East, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1. Company management noted that of the votes received, all measures requiring a for/against vote received a For vote of over 98%. All proxies submitted for todays annual general and special meeting will remain valid for the reconvened meeting. Although the meeting was adjourned and rescheduled, a company presentation was made, followed by a question and answer period. A video recording of the presentation was made and will appear on the companys website shortly. If you have any questions concerning the 2019 Annual General and Special Meeting and you are the stockholder of record of your shares, please contact the company by email at m.martin@tanzanianroyalty.com or by phone at 860-248-0999. If your shares are held by a broker or other nominee (that is, in street name), please contact your broker for questions concerning the 2019 Annual General and Special Meeting. Respectfully Submitted, James E. Sinclair, Executive Chairman Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation For further information, please contact Michael Martin, Investor Relations at 860-248-0999, email m.martin@tanzanianroyalty.com ABOUT TANZANIAN ROYALTY EXPLORATION CORPORATION: Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation is a mineral resource company, which engages in the acquisition, exploration and extraction of gold and other natural resources in the United Republic of Tanzania, Africa. The Company, after successfully exploring for Gold has identified three development projects, Buckreef, Kigosi, and Itetemia. In early 2016 in conjunction with our first gold pour, the Company was deemed a commercial gold producer by the Tanzanian Government. The Company is presently focused on its Buckreef Gold Project located in North central Tanzania. Further information can be found in the Company's 43-101 reports, which can be viewed together with other reports and updates on the Company homepage at: www.TanzanianRoyalty.com The Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE AmexEquities have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this letter. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements Certain of the statements made herein may contain forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forward- looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified using words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, ,occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information herein include, but are not limited to the Positive Feasibility Study on Buckreef, the timing and the results of the proposed drilling program. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information and even though our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: gold price volatility; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; mining operational and development risk; litigation risks; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability; risks of sovereign investment; currency fluctuations; speculative nature of gold exploration; global economic climate; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; and defective title to mineral claims or property, as well as those factors discussed in the sections entitled "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 20-F Annual Report dated November 29, 2018. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward- looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securitys regulatory authorities in Canada and the U.S. Cautionary Note Regarding Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources The terms "Mineral Reserve", "Proven Mineral Reserve" and "Probable Mineral Reserve" used in this release are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council on August 20, 2000 as may be amended from time to time by the CIM. These definitions differ from the definitions in the United States Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") Guide 7. In the United States, a mineral reserve is defined as a part of a mineral deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time the mineral reserve determination is made. The terms "Mineral Resource", "Measured Mineral Resource", "Indicated Mineral Resource", "Inferred Mineral Resource" used in this release are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with National Instruction 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the CIM Standards. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. For a detailed discussion of Buckreef resource and reserve estimates and related matters see the Company's reports, including the Form 20-F Annual Report dated November 29, 2018 and technical reports filed under the Company's name at our website at: www.tanzanianroyalty.com . Cautionary Note to US Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources Note to U.S. Investors. While the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource," "indicated mineral resource", and "inferred mineral resource" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, they are not defined terms under standards in the United States and normally are not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. As such, information contained in this report concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources under Canadian standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S companies in SEC filings. With respect to "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" there is a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and a great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "indicated mineral resource" or "inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. French English Regulated Information Significant progress across all areas of the business Positioned to move the clinical pipeline into late-stage development Proprietary, optimised commercial production process fully operational Thomas Lienard, CEO, and Jean-Luc Vandebroek, CFO, will host a conference call today at 13:00 CET / 12:00 BST. To participate in the conference call, please select your dial-in number from the list below quoting the conference ID: Belgium: +32 (0)800 48 740 / +32 (0)2 400 98 74 France: +33 (0)805 103 028 / +33 (0)1 76 70 07 94 United Kingdom: +44 (0)800 376 7922 / +44 (0)844 571 8892 United States: +1 (866) 966 1396 / +1 (631) 510 7495 Conference ID: 1789228# Shortly prior to the call, the presentation will be made available on the Investors section of the Companys website. A replay will be available by dialling the following number +44 (0)333 300 9785 / +33 (0)1 70 95 03 48 and by using the conference ID: 1789228# Gosselies, Belgium, 1 March 2019, 7am CET BONE THERAPEUTICS (Euronext Brussels and Paris: BOTHE), the bone cell therapy company addressing high unmet medical needs in orthopaedics and bone diseases, today announces its business update and full year financial results for the year ending 31 December 2018, prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union. Thomas Lienard, CEO of Bone Therapeutics, commented: During the past year, we have made substantial progress in all areas of our business. We are now progressing the late-stage clinical development of the ALLOB platform in delayed-union fractures and JTA-004 in osteoarthritis of the knee. We look forward to continuing to report on our progress and to execute on our strategy to address high unmet needs for patients suffering from debilitating bone related disorders. Clinical and operational highlights Achieved positive final results for the Phase I/IIa study with ALLOB in 21 patients with delayed-union fractures. Completed patient recruitment in the ALLOB Phase IIa lumbar spinal fusion study. Optimised the allogeneic manufacturing process to improve consistency, scalability, cost effectiveness and ease of use, factors critical for the successful development of a commercial cell therapy product. Further demonstrated the potent osteogenic properties of the allogeneic cell therapy platform, presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Orthopaedic Research Society (EORS). Reported positive Phase IIb efficacy results with JTA-004 in patients with knee osteoarthritis, showing a statistically significant improvement in pain relief compared to a leading viscosupplement. Pipeline focused on the clinical development of ALLOB and JTA-004, following discontinuation of the autologous product, PREOB, in osteonecrosis of the hip. Corporate highlights Further strengthened the Board of Directors with the appointment of Jean Stephenne as Chairman, Jean-Luc Vandebroek as Executive Director and Claudia DAugusta as Independent Director. Appointment of Linda Lebon as Chief Regulatory Officer, who will play a crucial role in defining the regulatory pathway for the late-stage clinical assets. Financial highlights Revenues and operating income of 5.1 million, up 20.5% compared to 2017. Operating loss for the period amounted to 11.5 million, compared to 12.3 million for the full year 2017. Lower than anticipated net cash burn of 13.9 million vs 15-16 million previously guided. Year-end cash position of 8.2 million compared to 8.4 million year-end 2017. Secured a total of 19.45 million in committed funds following the successful private placement of convertible bonds. Post-period highlights Subsequent analysis of the unblinded interim data of the Phase III PREOB study in patients with hip osteonecrosis demonstrated that PREOB had a clinical effect, which was in line with the previous reported results from the Phase II study. However, this analysis also revealed that the control group, which consisted of core decompression alone, performed much better than what was originally anticipated from historical clinical studies. This could be related to improvements of the core decompression techniques in recent years, and hence may have led to a reduced difference in responder rate between the control arm and PREOB group, leading to the discontinuation of the Phase III trial. Based on the preclinical data, manufacturing and intellectual property experience with PREOB, the Company generated the knowledge to develop ALLOB, its patented allogeneic cell therapy platform. ALLOBs optimised production process significantly increases the production yield, substantially reducing production costs, and the product is delivered to physicians in a ready-to-use cryopreserved formulation, to the benefit of patients. Achieved a regulatory milestone as part of its PREOB collaboration with Asahi Kasei, triggering a 1 million success fee. In parallel, Asahi Kasei and the Company are reviewing their options regarding the future of the PREOB licensing agreement, following termination of the PREOB study in osteonecrosis of the hip in Europe. Further demonstrated the potent osteogenic properties of its allogeneic cell therapy product at the Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS). Strengthened the executive management team with the appointment Benoit Moreaux as Chief Technology & Manufacturing Officer. Outlook for the remainder of 2019 The Company expects to report top line data in mid-2019 from the Phase IIa study with ALLOB in 32 patients undergoing a lumbar spinal fusion procedure. In the second half of 2019, the Company plans to submit a clinical trial application (CTA) with the regulatory authorities in Europe and the United States to allow the start of a Phase IIb/III clinical trial with ALLOB in patients with delayed-union fractures, using its proprietary, optimised production process. The Company is currently generating the non-clinical data package as required. Also, in the second half of 2019, the Company plans to submit a CTA with the regulatory authorities in Europe and the United States for the Phase III programme with JTA-004 in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Good cost and cash management will remain a key priority. The net cash burn for the full year 2019 is expected to be in the range of 13-14 million. The Company anticipates having sufficient cash to carry out its business objectives until the end of 2019, taking into account the 5.18 million to be received under the convertible bond programme. About Bone Therapeutics Bone Therapeutics is a leading cell therapy company addressing high unmet needs in orthopaedics and bone diseases. Based in Gosselies, Belgium, the Company has a broad, diversified portfolio of bone cell therapy products in clinical development across a number of disease areas targeting markets with large unmet medical needs and limited innovation. Bone Therapeutics technology is based on a unique, proprietary approach to bone regeneration, which turns undifferentiated stem cells into bone-forming cells. These cells can be administered via a minimally invasive procedure, avoiding the need for invasive surgery. The Companys primary clinical focus is ALLOB, an allogeneic off-the-shelf cell therapy platform derived from stem cells of healthy donors, which is in Phase II studies for the treatment of delayed-union fractures and spinal fusion. In addition, the Company also has JTA-004, a viscosupplement in development for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Bone Therapeutics cell therapy products are manufactured to the highest GMP standards and are protected by a rich IP estate covering nine patent families. Further information is available at: www.bonetherapeutics.com. Contacts Bone Therapeutics SA Thomas Lienard, Chief Executive Officer Jean-Luc Vandebroek, Chief Financial Officer Gunther De Backer, Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Tel: +32 (0) 71 12 10 00 investorrelations@bonetherapeutics.com International Media Enquiries: Consilium Strategic Communications Marieke Vermeersch Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701 bonetherapeutics@consilium-comms.com For French Media and Investor Enquiries: NewCap Investor Relations & Financial Communications Pierre Laurent, Louis-Victor Delouvrier and Nicolas Merigeau Tel: + 33 (0)1 44 71 94 94 bone@newcap.eu Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company or, as appropriate, the Company 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, the Company 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 the Company 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. Attachment TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Two weeks ago, Dinant attended a special forum organized by the British Ambassador for Honduras, Tom Carter, on the important relationship between business and human rights. As the first company in Honduras to adopt the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights an internationally accepted benchmark that strictly governs how companies recruit and train their security guards, and how they engage with members of the community Dinant was invited to talk about the significant progress the company is making in challenging parts of Honduras where it has operated for many years. Company spokesman, Roger Pineda, said, I am proud of Dinants progress, but I know that there is always more we can do to improve our relationships with local communities. I am grateful to Ambassador Carter for giving Dinant the opportunity to share our experiences and to learn more about Civil Societies general concerns for human rights in Honduras. Chris Goodwin-Hudson of Watchman, a specialist on the relationship between security and human rights, and with experience of Honduras, also spoke at the forum. He commented afterwards, The situation in the Aguan is complex and multilayered. In the past, allegations of human rights abuses have been heightened by the involvement of highly politicized peasant groups, well-meaning NGOs who have presented conjecture as fact, and some mainstream media that have favored sensationalized headlines over balanced reporting. Underpinning all of these concerns has been the violent role played by organized crime. The event hosted by COHEP served to reassure and build confidence that participants from across the spectrum, including Government, Civil Society, the private sector and the UKs diplomatic representation, are committed to bringing meaningful peace to those parts of Honduran society that most need it. The forum Risk management associated to Human Rights and Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights was a joint initiative by Advocacy for Business and Human Rights (ABHR), Watchman, and the British Embassy. More information is provided on the UK Government website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-expert-highlights-the-important-relationship-between-businesses-and-human-rights-in-honduras About Corporacion Dinant Dinant is a family-owned consumer products manufacturer founded in Honduras in 1960. Its products are sold across Central America and the Dominican Republic. For more information, visit www.dinant.com. This material is distributed by Tricuro LLC on behalf of Corporacion Dinant. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. TOURNAMENT CENTRAL PAGE ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. The University of New Mexico beach volleyball team is headed to Kingsville, Texas this weekend for a two-day tournament against four teams scheduled for Friday and Saturday. UNM opens up the Emerald Beach Hotel Classic with an 11 a.m. MT match against University of Louisiana-Monroe followed by a 2 p.m. MT match against Houston Baptist. On Saturday, the Lobos will go up against host Texas A&M- Kingsville at 8 a.m. MT and a 10 a.m. MT contest versus Missouri Baptist. All matches will be played at the Javelina Beach Volleyball Courts. The Lobos are coming off of a tough opening weekend against two ranked teams, losing to then-No. 16 Grand Canyon 4-1 and two, 5-0 losses to then-No. 15 Loyola Marymount and Arizona State. The duo of Lauren Twitty and Dali Rosado earned the lone win on the weekend on court one with a 23-21, 21-15 victory against the Lopes. Historically, UNM is 0-1 in its only matchups against ULM and Houston Baptist, 1-1 versus Texas A&M- Kingsville and have never previously played Missouri Baptist. Both UNMs contests against ULM and HBU came in 3-2 decisions. April 16, 2016 was the first and only meeting against ULM, while the loss versus HBU came last year on March 16. Texas A&M-Kingsville won the last meeting, also 3-2, on April 14 with UNMs win coming in a 5-0 manner on March 11, 2017. All contests will have live stats provided HERE. Grand Old Partisan celebrates the 152nd anniversary of Nebraska statehood. It took the Republican Party to get the job done. Today in 1867, Nebraska joined the Union. This occurred after the GOP-controlled 39th Congress overrode a veto by the Democrat President. Andrew Johnson had objected to a condition, introduced by a Republican Senator, that the 37th state's proposed constitution guarantee voting rights to all races. Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Hm_yfUxb_ww Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement. Each day, Michael Zak's 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 San Francisco purveyor of graffiti has it right.When times are bleak -- when country and planet sink under the barely restrained sway of greed, raw power, and fear -- it's time to restate what matters. I write here to preserve and kindle hope for a national and global turn toward multi-racial, economically egalitarian, gender non-constricting, woman affirming, and peace choosing democracy that preserves the habitability of earth for all. There's a big order -- but what else is there to do but struggle for this? Not much.Topics range from the minuscule to the transcendent to the global, from dire to delightful. I am not an optimist, but I refuse to allow myself to wallow within the easy bias that everything is going to always be awful. Good also happens; love lives too.I've been yammering here about activism, politics, history, racism and other occasional horrors and pleasures since 2005.I intend to continue as long as the opportunity exists. In this time, that means activism and chronicling resistance. Perhaps it always has, one way and another.My other internet project: 596 Precincts-Walking San Francisco I am a Canna What Flower Are You? table width="145">"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that." Involvement in a dairy cattle breed association can build relationships with other breeders both locally and around the country. Some producers take those relationships a step further to connect with farmers around the globe. This summer, the United States will host the 16th World Guernsey Cattle Federation Conference and tours from May 21 to June 15, 2019. During that time frame, attendees will visit more than 20 farms, partake in educational sessions, and see tourist attractions across the country. The World Guernsey Cattle Federation Conference is held only once every three years, and this is the first time it will be held in the United States in over two decades. According to conference co-chairs Patty and John McMurray of Bentleyville, Pa., serving as the host country provides an opportunity to showcase American cattle while sharing and learning from fellow Guernsey breeders. As past attendees, they also found personal benefits from the conference. Patty said, Our attendance at previous World Guernsey Conferences and tours has enhanced our knowledge of the world and its inhabitants, as well as of the Guernsey breed. Australian Guernsey breeders Lyndon and Joyce Cleggert have attended the conference and tours in the past, and they enthusiastically endorse the program as well. There are a huge number of opportunities that can come out of a conference. First, it is possibly the best holiday you dont have to plan yourself. You get to see things you may never have thought you wanted to see, and experience local culture and share it with a group of like-minded people that you will consider family by the end of the trip, Lyndon said. And, you get to see some amazing Guernsey cows along the way." Lyndon added, These conferences are all about moving forward as a breed and planning for the future. Registration for the 2019 World Guernsey Conference is open until March 15. To learn more, visit www.worldguernseyconference.com. While I have not personally attended a world breed conference, I served as one of the hosts when the World Jersey Cattle Bureau made a tour stop at the Hoards Dairyman Farm during their international conference last summer. You can read more about their conference in the blog, Global Jersey enthusiasts visit Hoards. Oceans may separate the continents, but dairy farmers share the same passion for their cows, no matter where they live. And when it comes to these world breed conferences, the host country goes all out to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for global dairy producers to enjoy. If you ever have the opportunity to attend, I dont think youll return home disappointed. Abby Bauer The author is an associate editor and covers animal health, dairy housing and equipment, and nutrient management. She grew up on a dairy farm near Plymouth, Wis., and previously served as a University of Wisconsin agricultural extension agent. She received a masters degree from North Carolina State University and a bachelors from University of Wisconsin-Madison. My names Will Capers. For almost nine years, Ive blogged on various topics. I blogged as Blaque Ink first, and as Brotha Wolf second. The latter had a mu... 2 years ago IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them. They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country. However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia. "Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination. Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia. They should be lovingly helped. Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948. To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts: While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 : Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell. The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites. A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught. The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers. Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites." Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers. There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks. This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work. It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter. In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam. In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir. " The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life." An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir . In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance). Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed). Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance). Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam. It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way. A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah. Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs). Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life". Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology. Islam is a supremacist ideology. Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism. Islam is a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life. It has a say about every conceivable human act . Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam. The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic. Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111). A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44) Muhammad himself said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30) Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ Scarborough Leader Funding for the project would come from a bond and through a capital campaign. (2019) The aim of this paper is to refute the skeptical theism response to the evidential argument from evil. I argue that the principle of theodical individualism (defined below) poses a serious threat to skeptical theism because it signals the existence of pointless evil in the world. Skeptical theists can get around this only by greatly aggravating the familiar moral paralysis problem, or else by making serious concessions that are in themselves implausible. The Evidential Argument from Evil and Skeptical Theism If by the God of theism we mean a personal being who is omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect, as theists typically do, then the discovery of a single case of pointless evil of horrendous intensity is strong evidence against the existence of such a God. A pointless (or gratuitous) evil is a horrific event for which there is no morally sufficient justification. In its standard form, the evidential argument from evil against the existence of God proceeds as follows: If God exists, then there are no instances of gratuitous evil. It is likely that at least some instances of evil are gratuitous. Therefore, it is likely that God does not exist. While the first premise has its fair share of criticsnamely, theists who argue that gratuitous evil is, after all, compatible with the existence of Godthe focus of skeptical theism (ST) is premise 2. Skeptical theists hold that there are only evils that appear to us to lack sufficient moral justification. Given the cognitive limitation of human beings, ST claims that we are never justified in concluding that any evil, irrespective of how abominable it might seem, is truly pointless. God, in his infinite wisdom, might have good moral reasons to permit seemingly pointless evil, reasons that elude us due to our intellectual limitations. According to skeptical theist Michael Bergmann, ST entails the following three major points: ST1: We have no good reason for thinking that the possible goods we know of are representative of the possible goods there are. ST2: We have no good reason for thinking that the possible evils we know of are representative of the possible evils there are. ST3: We have no good reason for thinking that the entailment relations we know of between possible goods and the permission of possible evils are representative of the entailment relations there are between possible goods and the permission of possible evils.[1] Presumably, ST3 refers to something like the complexity of history as illustrated by William Lane Craig: The brutal murder of an innocent man or a childs dying of leukemia could produce a sort of ripple effect through history such that Gods morally sufficient reason for permitting it might not emerge until centuries later and perhaps in another land.[2] Theodical Individualism I take it to be an intuitive and widely accepted statement that it is immoral to inflict any type of suffering, but especially intense suffering, on an undeserving and involuntary agent unless (a) that specific agent gains a net benefit from said suffering and (b) that benefit could not be brought about in any other less painful way. Performing a life-saving but painful medical procedure on someone is not morally forbidden, if, despite the pain, it is the only way the patient gains something extremely valuable: she is going to be alive for a (much) longer time. On the other hand, subjecting an undeserving and unwilling person to extremely painful medical procedures for long periods of time is unacceptable if the benefit she gains does not outweigh the cost (say, it only prolongs her life for two seconds more) or it is someone else entirely who gets to benefit from it. Theodical individualism (TI) is based on the idea that God himself, being morally perfect, would accept this principle and would act in accordance to it. As I hope to show, TI strikes a powerful blow against ST because it blocks the theistic attempt to speculate about possible reasons for a certain case of (extreme) suffering outside of the sufferers interest. If TI is accepted, there can be no more talk about possible benefits emerging centuries later or in another part of the world. The trouble for the skeptical theist is that there are real-life examples, as I will show below, where it simply cannot be the case that the person who suffered horribly had anything to gain. Thus, her suffering was indeed a case of gratuitous evil. TI is certainly not a novel idea within the philosophy of religion. The term was coined by Jeff Jordan.[3] TI can be defined as follows: TI: Necessarily, God will not permit suffering that is (a) undeserved; (b) involuntary; and (c) gratuitous vis-a-vis the individual suffering it, if (i) it does not produce a net benefit for that individual, or (ii) it does produce a net benefit for him or her, but is not necessary in producing that net benefit. If, contrary to TI, God were to permit such suffering, that would be equivalent to God exploiting that individualusing her for someone elses benefit, for another end, or for no reason at all. God would be treating the individual who is suffering as a means to an end, not as an end in itself. Since such treatment would be unjust, it would follow that God is not morally perfect, and thus that a morally perfect God does not exist. Now there are certain situations where we use the innocent in order to benefit others. A child who has a highly contagious and dangerous disease is rightfully quarantined even if this isolation causes her additional suffering. However, such a scenario does not show some flaw in the principle on which TI is built, but illustrates our limitations as human beings. As Stephen Maitzen explains: These practices reflect our imperfection: its only limitations in our knowledge and power (in this case, medical) that make us resort to triage or quarantine. We regret having to do it; we wish we had the resources to make these practices unnecessary. A perfect God, however, isnt subject to our limitations in knowledge or power, or indeed any real limitations in knowledge or power. So no perfect God has an excuse for exploitation, even if we sometimes do. Furthermore, if God were to face an actual moral dilemma, a case in which he does something immoral no matter what he does, then he wouldnt count as morally perfect, on the obvious assumption that a morally perfect being never does anything immoral.[4] Nick Trakakis gives a similar reply to cases related to the trolley problem, where we might be inclined to sacrifice an undeserving and involuntary subject for the benefit of others. For example, suppose you see a runaway trolley moving toward five innocent people that are tied up to the track. You have the option of pulling a lever that will change the trolleys trajectory, but now it will run over another innocent person lying on the sidetrack. It is not obvious that pulling the lever is the immoral option. But such examples pose no challenge to TI. As Trakakis explains: The above cases, then, are generated by situations involving forced choicesthat is, situations in which we are compelled to choose between the interests of an individual and the interests of some wider group or community. However, we only find ourselves in such situations due to our limited resources and abilities. The choices open to us in the above two cases are clearly not the only ones that would be available to an omnipotent and omniscient being.[5] TI has good intuitive moral support. It is a common premise in our everyday moral reasoning that human beings are ends in themselves, to paraphrase Immanuel Kants formula of humanity of his Categorical Imperative. Humans have inherent value, autonomy, and rights, therefore it is immoral to use/manipulate/exploit them. This is a position that also sits well within mainstream Christianity, according to which human life has intrinsic value because it derives from God, who made human beings in his own image (Genesis 1:26-27). There is no surprise, then, that leading theistic philosophers have endorsed TI. Eleonore Stump, for instance, argues that: [T]he sufferings of any particular person are outweighed by the good which the suffering produces for that person; otherwise, we might justifiably expect a good God somehow to prevent that particular suffering, either by intervening (in one way or another) to protect the victim, while still allowing the perpetrator his freedom, or by curtailing freedom in some select cases.[6] William Alston concurs: A perfectly good God would not wholly sacrifice the welfare of one of His intelligent creatures simply in order to achieve a good for others, or for Himself. This would be incompatible with His concern for the welfare of each of His creatures.[7] Marilyn Adams holds a similar position when she writes: The dimension of Divine goodness most at stake in the problem of evil is not that of producer-of-global-goods, but rather that of goodness-to-created-persons. Thus, what needs explanation is not merely how God can ensure the global defeat of evil by good, but how God could be good enough to created persons, despite their participation in horrors.[8] As argued above, TI is a formidable challenge to ST because it drastically restricts the range in which a possible and sufficient moral justification for ones suffering might be found. Possible ways in which that suffering would preserve or bring about some good with respect to other people are at best secondary, and at worse simply misplaced. What matters first and foremost is whether or not the suffering endured by the victim is necessary to produce a net benefit for that specific individual. Indeed, in numerous discussions about the problem of evil, the focus is on the perpetrator (the preservation of her free will, for instance), or on the opportunities that the suffering opens up for some third party (by allowing them to show courage and compassion, for example). As seen in the Craigs illustration above, skeptical theists are ready to accept the sacrifice of a victim of evil if her suffering would bring about some hypothetical goods centuries later, when, obviously, the person who suffered horribly would be long dead anyway. But, we should rightfully ask, what about the victim, who is, after all, at the center of the evidential argument from evil? What did the victim gain? Theodical Individualism and an Example of Pointless Evil Let us now turn our attention to an actual event. Early on New Years Day in 1986, Suea five-year-old girl in Flint, Michiganwas severely beaten, raped, and then strangled to death. Obviously, Sues suffering was undeserved and involuntary. Was it also gratuitous? Certainly yes. How do we know that Sue has not benefited in any way from her ordeal? Because there simply was no time interval in which a positive outcome could have come about for her. She died while being tortured. How do Bergmanns three points about ST fare with respect to Sues case? Let us assume that ST1 is true. For reasons already given, ST1 is completely irrelevant in Sues case. There was no possible good that could have emerged for her from her situation, period. There simply was no time for that. Next, take ST2. Again, it may be true that the possible evils that we know of are not representative of the possible evils that exist. But nobody could deny that we know that the brutal beating, rape, and killing by strangulation of an undeserving and nonvoluntary person to be evils of the most atrocious kind. As for ST3, it is irrelevant because, again, there was no possible good in Sues case. Craigs point about the ripple effect through history is also useless in defense of ST unless he is willing to admit that God allowance of Sues suffering is equivalent to God exploiting Sues suffering for the exclusive benefit of somebody else or for another end. But what if ST can be applied directly to TI? I can see two ways in which that could happen. A skeptical theist might claim either that: (A) God has good reasons to think TI is incorrect, and we simply dont know his reasons due to our intellectual limitations, or (B) TI is correct, but God has good reasons to overlook or ignore TI, and we dont know his reasons for doing so because of our intellectual limitations. Preliminary Remarks Before discussing these two objections, the reader should keep in mind that my goal here is solely to attack ST. Skeptical theists grant that no theodicy is able to present a morally sufficient reason for God to permit all of the suffering that exists. As such, if the theist employs strategies to answer my criticism that rely on some form of a theodicy or a nontraditional vision of God then, if effect, she admits the failure of ST. Lets say that the theist claims that God has the right to exploit any human being because we all owe our existence to him. Insofar as the theist takes this path, she no longer argues from a position of skeptical theism and indeed renounces its skepticism. Rejecting such a reply falls well outside the scope of this paper since it is actually incompatible with ST, as I point out in the Problems with (B) section below. Likewise, if the theist invokes Heaven as compensation to an undeserving and unwilling victim of atrocious evil, or the sanctity of the libertarian free will of her executioner, or soul-making or any other theodicy, then the theist concedes the defeat of ST as a plausible response to the evidential problem of evil. Lets now begin the discussion of (A) and (B). Problems with (A) (A) states that God has good reasons to think that TI is incorrect, and that we simply dont know what his reasons are due to our intellectual limitations. The problem with (A) is that is has catastrophic results for our moral reasoning. This is because (A) becomes an attack on the plausibility of any moral principle that we normally hold. Remember that TI has intuitive appeal and is based on everyday judgments about the value of human beings and about what is just. Moreover, TI is grounded in fundamental claims of theology, like that humans are valuable because they are created by God and, moreover, are created in his own image, no less. But if God thinks TI is incorrect, then surely we must think so, too, because obviously God cannot be wrong. At this point we might as well raise doubts about any moral principles that we normally use, including those that are grounded in basic theological dogmas and percepts. Thus, if we take (A) seriously, skepticism is allowed with respect to any moral principles we hold on grounds like intuition, everyday morality, and basic theological dogmas. ST already faces the problem of moral paralysis (or aporia). Critics of ST, like Mark Piper, argue that faced with any particular instance of suffering, the adept of ST cannot decide whether to intervene or not because, for all she knows, there could be beneficial consequences that arise from a particular case of suffering. Piper gives the example of a girl that is about to be molested by a rapist and explains that a bystander who accepts ST cannot decide to intervene in the girls defense because he cannot choose between two conflicting percepts: Everything that he [the bystander] has been taught by his upbringing and his religious education suggests that he has a moral obligation to help the girl, but he cannot discount the possibility that goodness might be best served in this case by allowing the girl to be molested. [The bystander is faced with the following two conditionals:] (a) I ought to prevent the molestation of the girl (if I can) and if doing so will lead to goodness being best served, and (b) I ought not to prevent the molestation of the girl (if I can) if doing so will lead to goodness being best served.[9] But if the skeptical theist adheres to (A), then she should also have reasons to think that acting according to (a) will not lead to goodness being served. She might as well renounce all of her common-sense morality and religious education. If this is the case, there isnt even a balance between (a) and (b): neither of them provides a reason to think they are relevant to the present situation. Thus, if the bystander accepts (A), not only does he have reasons to refrain from intervening, but also no reasons to intervene. It is precisely in order to avoid such drastic repercussions that skeptical theists like Bergmann insist that the scope of their skepticism should be rather limited. He writes: I can confess to being in the dark about which of two proposed courses of action will have the best overall consequences without thereby admitting complete skepticism about value. Likewise, endorsing the limitations mentioned in ST1-ST3 isnt an acknowledgement of complete skepticism about value. [W]e should recognize up front that the skeptical theist intends to affirm only a modest form of skepticism.[10] Bergmanns prudent position is understandable. Once we become skeptical about our usual moral principles, which in itself poses significant problems, a serious question arises with respect to our very existence: what is the point of our earthly life, from a theistic position, if we do not have a firm grasp on the realm of ethical value? Indeed, according to mainstream Christian theism, God is interested to see how closely we adhere to moral principles, and he will judge our character and conduct. In Romans 12:9 we read that people should abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. But what does evil and good mean if we cannot be reasonably confident about what constitutes justified moral belief? In Matthew 5:48 we are encouraged to be perfect, as our heavenly father is perfect. But surely this becomes an unclear and impractical incentive if we lack proper knowledge of what constitutes correct moral principles.[11] Problems with (B) With regard to (B)according to which TI is correct but God has good reasons to overlook or ignore TI, and we dont know his reasons because of our intellectual limitationsthe skeptical theist admits that Sues suffering is an instance of gratuitous evil. At this point, classical theism is already in serious trouble, and the proponent of ST is hard pressed to explain how a perfectly moral being could create a world which he knew (if molinism is correct) or at least had excellent reasons to conclude would include, at some point, evil that lacks any morally sufficient justification. Obviously, Sues case is, sadly, far from being a single, isolated incident. Moreover, given (B), there cannot be any positive consequences for Sue. It follows that the allegedly morally valid reasons God might have for not intervening in her defense can only be deontological. However, Maitzen gives good arguments to refute this possibility. He writes: I know of no version of Skeptical Theism that claims that God might have a non-consequentialist (say, Kantian) duty to permit [the victims] suffering, a duty that remains inscrutable to us for non-consequentialist reasons. Nor can I see how such a version could plausibly work. On the standard Kantian theory of duty, we can discover duties by rational reflection alone. Hence, even if its possible for us to overlook some existing duties, or mistake for duties what are in fact not duties, its less plausible that our reflective understanding of our duties should fail to be even representative of the duties there actually are. A deontological version of ST1-ST3 therefore looks less plausible than a consequentialist version, and so it becomes hard to defend skeptical theism by rejecting consequentialism.[12] In addition, if God is a deontologist, then duty-based morality must be the correct ethical theory. But if duty-based morality is correct, and if there are deontological principles that we have no idea aboutas (B) claimsthen, again, skepticism about our morality rears its ugly head because our ethics would be at best woefully incomplete. Whats more, notice that according to (B), there is a moral duty not to intervene to assist an innocent victim of a gruesome evil. But normally we think that deontological ethics would point us in the opposite direction. Hence, it follows that we are in the dark with respect to morality, and skepticism is again justified about the validity of any moral principle that we currently hold. Last but not least, we could ask again what the point of our earthly life from a theistic perspective is if we do not have a firm grasp on the realm of ethics. The skeptical theist might reply here that deontological duties are relative to the agent. Perhaps God follows a different set of duties from ours, and both are valid. But this reply is implausible since universality is a key feature of deontological principles. Kant thought that it was possible to develop a consistent moral system by using reason. As Samuel J. Kerstein explains: The supreme principle of morality would have an extremely wide scope: one that extended not only to all rational human beings but to any other rational beings who might existfor example, God, angels, and intelligent extraterrestrials.[13] It is therefore hard to believe that when starting from a common rational principle, opposite duties could arise with respect to the same innocent victims suffering. Whats more, notice that ST itself presupposes that there is common ground between God and humanity when it comes to moral principles. In defining ST, Justin P. McBrayer writes: Skeptical theism is the view that God exists but that we should be skeptical of our ability to discern Gods reasons for acting or refraining from acting in any particular instance. If there is a God, he knows much more than we do about the relevant facts, and thus it would not be surprising at all if he has reasons for doing or allowing something that we cannot fathom.[14] [emphasis mine] Thus, what ST entails is that both God and human beings operate within the same moral framework, only that when it comes to specific, particular actions, human beings do not have the relevant knowledge to classify any of them as lacking sufficient moral justification. If we were to have that knowledge, we would understand and agree with the moral reasoning behind them. In other words, ST does not presuppose skepticism with regard to the moral principles God holds. Instead, it runs on the assumption that God holds the same moral principles as we do, only that he has more knowledge regarding actual cases that appear to us to be morally unjustified. Moreover, theists view God as the loving parent of human beings when inspired by, among other things, verses like Isaiah 64:8. In fact, in the literature dedicated to ST, the parent analogy is used extensively by some theists in order to justify their position.[15] They argue that just as a small child cannot comprehend the reasons her loving parent has for allowing her to suffer justified pain, so we should expect that we will be blind to the reasons that God has for allowing our justified suffering. The idea behind this analogy is that both the human parent and God operate on the same moral principles, and have the same good intentions towards us, but that we cannot see, in every specific case, how their actions comply with these principles. The disparity between parents and children and between God and human beings is a cognitive one, not a moral one. It is doubtful, therefore, that the ST proponent would insist that God follows an altogether different set of moral principles. Last but not least, if God were to follow moral principles that are radically different from ours, there wouldnt exist a problem of evil to begin with and, as a result, the ST response to it. But let us suppose that there are indeed two different sets of duties: one suitable for God, and the other suitable for human beings. This time the theist is faced with skepticism regarding theological dogmas and Gods actions. What expectations might the theist have from God if God follows a completely different set of rules from us? In what sense could humanity hold a loving and trusting relationship with God if he has a completely different set of moral rules? For example, why should we think God would keep his promise that people who believed in his existence and who behaved morally would go to Heaven? Human beings consider that promises should be kept, but there is no reason to think God adheres to the same principle. After all, human beings think that we have a duty to save an innocent and unwilling victim of torture and rape, yet purportedly God has a duty not to save her. Conclusion TI challenges the claim made by proponents of ST that we can never know whether a specific case of evil is gratuitous. As I have argued above, when taking TI into consideration we discover real-life examples of horrendous evils that we know do not lead to any positive outcomes for the relevant agent and, therefore, are not morally justified. If this is correct, then the second premise of the evidential argument from evil is vindicated from the challenge posed by ST. In summary, the ST proponent is faced with a devastating trilemma. She could accept TI and thus admit pointless evils exist; she could use ST to reject TI, which leads to devastating moral skepticism and other unpalatable consequences for theism; or she could use a deontological version of ST, which is not only implausible, but also leads to moral skepticism and has other unwelcome consequences.[16] Notes [1] Michael Bergmann, Skeptical Theism and the Problem of Evil in The Oxford Handbook to Philosophical Theology (pp. 374-399), ed. Thomas Flint & Michael Rea (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 377. [2] William Lane Craig, The Problem of Evil (n.d.). Reasonable Faith website. . [3] Jeff Jordan, Divine Love and Human Suffering. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion Vol. 56, No. 2/3 (October-December 2004): 169-178, p. 169. [4] Stephen Maitzen, Atheism and the Basis of Morality in What Makes Us Moral? On the Capacities and Conditions for Being Moral (pp. 257-269), ed. A. W. Musschenga & Anton van Harskamp (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2013). [5] Nick Trakakis, The God Beyond Belief: In Defence of William Rowes Evidential Argument from Evil (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2013), p. 179. [6] Eleonore Stump, The Problem of Evil. Faith and Philosophy Vol. 2, No. 4 (October 1985): 392-418, p. 411. [7] William Alston, The Inductive Argument from Evil and the Human Cognitive Condition in Philosophical Perspectives 5: Philosophy of Religion (pp. 29-67), ed. James Tomberlin (Atascadero, CA: Ridgeview, 1991), p. 48. [8] Marilyn Adams, Theodicy Without Blame. Philosophical Topics Vol. 16, No. 2 (1988): 215-245, p. 235. [9] Mark Piper, Skeptical Theism and the Problem of Moral Aporia. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion Vol. 62, No. 2 (October 2007): 65-79, p. 72 [10] Bergmann, Skeptical Theism and the Problem of Evil, p. 379. [11] Sometimes skeptical theists will appeal to divine commands to rescue their position from the threat of moral skepticism. This response is not convincing, however, because the skeptical theist would need to follow all or only some of Gods commands. If all, her moral view will be deeply repugnant; if some, she will be abandoning her skeptical theism by confidently exercising her independent moral judgment (Scott Aikin & Brian Ribeiro, Skeptical Theism, Moral Skepticism and Divine Commands. International Journal for the Study of Skepticism Vol. 3 (August 9, 2013), pp. 77-96, p. 94). [12] Stephen Maitzen, The Moral Skepticism Objection to Skeptical Theism in The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil (pp. 444-457), ed. Justin P. McBrayer and Daniel Howard-Snyder (West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), pp. 9-10. [13] Samuel J. Kerstein, Kants Search for the Supreme Principle of Morality (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 2. [14] Justin McBrayer, Skeptical Theism (n.d.). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. . [15] See, for example, Stephen Wykstra, The Human Obstacle to Evidential Arguments from Suffering: On Avoiding the Evils of Appearance. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion Vol. 16, No. 2 (1984): 73-93. [16] I am indebted to an anonymous reviewer for making valuable and helpful suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. I also thank Keith Augustine for giving this paper a suitable form for publication. Copyright 2019 Horia George Plugaru. The electronic version is copyright 2019 by Internet Infidels, Inc. with the written permission of Horia George Plugaru. All rights reserved. Encouraging InScribe members to share their writings with each other and the world Kat blocking access to the internet The IPKat is delighted to host the following opinion by former GuestKat Mirko Bru on a very recent decision of the Swiss top court concerning the on a very recentof the Swiss top court concerning the or - rather - unavailability of blocking injunctions in that country. availability Here's what Mirko writes: "The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland just said no to a an application of a Swiss movie studio which had requested local ISP Swisscom to block its customers from accessing an infringing website (case No. 4A_433/2018). Readers of this blog are familiar with website blocking as one of the many tools right owners rely on when trying to combat online copyright infringement. Ever since the CJEUs UPC Telekabel here] , it is clear that an ISP (like Swisscom) can be required to block access by its customers to a website which infringes copyright. decision, it is clear that an ISP (like Swisscom) can be required to block access by its customers to a website which infringes copyright. One of the main reasons for this is that ISPs are considered an intermediary whose services are used to infringe a copyright or related right within the meaning of Article 8(3) of the InfoSoc Directive . In its 2017 Filmspeler here] , the CJEU confirmed that users who access (=stream, not necessarily download) content that is available online without the right owners consent, infringe copyright, and that the acts of reproduction are not covered by the exemption in Art. 5(1) of the InfoSoc Directive. judgment, the CJEU confirmed that users who access (=stream, not necessarily download) content that is available online without the right owners consent, infringe copyright, and that the acts of reproduction are not covered by the exemption in Art. 5(1) of the InfoSoc Directive. However, Switzerland is not part of the EU, which leads to a very different assessment of basically the same facts in the case at hand. The Swiss Court agreed with the claimant that the works in question were illegally made available on several websites that were (only) available in Italian. Neither the uploaders of the files nor the operators of the illegal websites were known. Thus, the Court had to assess whether Swisscom could be held liable or accountable (see Martin Husovecs excellent work for more details) for third parties infringements. The Federal Supreme Court answered this in the negative. Swiss law does not provide specific rules for the liability of intermediaries in copyright cases; the Court therefore examined Art. 50 of the Swiss Obligationenrecht, which regulates the liability of more than one party in tort and is generally applied to civil (and copyright) cases as well. Using the standards set forth in Art. 50, the Court looked for an abetting or facilitation of infringement, which exists if the third party (here: Swisscom) encourages, promotes or facilitates the infringement of an intellectual property right. So the relevant question for the present case was if Swisscoms users infringe copyright by watching movies from an illegal source. This is where Swiss copyright law is dramatically different from the laws in EU - and many other countries. A private copying exception exists in most countries, as provided for in Art. 5 of the InfoSoc Directive. In Switzerland, this exception, which is not based on Art. 5, is governed by Art. 19 of the Swiss Copyright Code (Urheberrechtsgesetz, URG). Astonishingly, the Swiss judges found that watching movies from illegal sources does not constitute a copyright infringement under Swiss law, because such activities are covered by private use (translation from German is mine): In doing so, the lower Court came to the conclusion, without infringing federal law, that the activity of the user who accesses the websites in dispute and consumes the films in dispute is covered by the personal use defence pursuant to Art. 19 para. 1 lit. a URG, irrespective of whether it is a legally or illegally accessible source. Indeed, this issue has been discussed in Swiss politics for years. In 2007, a change of Art. 19 was proposed , adding a clarification against the use of illegal sources for private copies (again, translation from German is mine): Copies of works in accordance with the provisions for personal use may not be made using copies of works that were obviously illegally produced or made available. But this proposal was not adopted, which the Court states confirms its view that according to Art. 19 URG, if copyright works are downloaded from the Internet for personal use, no infringement by the user exists even if the relevant (stored) copy template has been made illegally accessible on the Internet. As a result of this, the Federal Supreme Court found no illegal activity on behalf of Swisscoms customers to which Swisscom had (or could have) contributed. It remained undisputed between the parties that the operators of the infringing website and the uploaders of the movies while engaging in copyright infringements had not done so using Swisscoms services. The same was true for the hosting provider where the copies of the movies were stored. With no illegal act which Swisscom encouraged, promoted or facilitated, the court rejected the application. Since the Federal Supreme Court is the highest civil court in Switzerland, right owners hoping for a change for the better are once again left depending on the legislator, with little hope. Katblocking Indeed, site blocking was introduced into Swiss law just in 2018, with the arrival of Art. 86 of the Geldspielgesetz, BGS which regulates (online) gambling and provides for site blocking of websites that offer gambling which is not approved in Switzerland. Other provisions in Swiss law now offer site blocking in cases of illegal pornography (Art. 46a Fernmeldegesetz, FMG ). However, a similar proposal for a change of Swiss Copyright law was once again dropped in 2018. It remains to be seen if the latest decision by the Federal Supreme Court will lead to renewed efforts of the legislators to make site blocking available to copyright owners in Switzerland. Prof. Jacques de Werra, Dr. Yaniv Benhamou (both University of Geneva) and Prof. Irene Calboli (Texas A&M University), with the support of the International Trademark Association (INTA). The eleventh edition of University of Genevas Yearly Conference on Intellectual Property was dedicated to non-traditional trade marks. The Conference was organized by(both University of Geneva) and(Texas A&M University), with the support of the International Trademark Association (INTA). Eric Meier (Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, FIIP), first up, gave an overview of the FIIPs practice on non-traditional trade marks. Except for 3D trade marks, applicants seem to have limited appetite for non-traditional trade marks in Switzerland, with fewer than 40 sound marks, a dozen of color marks, and no hologram or motive marks having been registered until now. One of the reasons is the difficulty of registering color and 3D trade marks (no inherent distinctiveness); also Switzerland still requires a visual representation of trade marks, which is currently impossible for flavors and scents. (Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, FIIP), first up, gave an overview of the FIIPs practice on non-traditional trade marks. Except for 3D trade marks, applicants seem to have limited appetite for non-traditional trade marks in Switzerland, with fewer than 40 sound marks, a dozen of color marks, and no hologram or motive marks having been registered until now. One of the reasons is the difficulty of registering color and 3D trade marks (no inherent distinctiveness); also Switzerland still requires a visual representation of trade marks, which is currently impossible for flavors and scents. Marcus Hopperger (WIPO) then provided a perspective on how non-traditional trade marks can be protected at the international level. He placed special emphasis on what national trade mark offices should accept as a representation of a non-traditional mark, referencing what is likely the most important (albeit non-binding) piece of soft law in the area, the 2009 Areas of Convergence on the Representation of Non-Traditional Trademarks. These Guidelines deal with defining minimum standards of what trade mark offices around the world should accept as a sufficient representation of signs. Although nothing would prevent WIPO from technically receiving e.g. a sound file, not all Madrid System members are ready and prepared to receive such types of representations of a mark. (WIPO) then provided a perspective on how non-traditional trade marks can be protected at the international level. He placed special emphasis on what national trade mark offices should accept as a representation of a non-traditional mark, referencing what is likely the most important (albeit non-binding) piece of soft law in the area, the 2009. These Guidelines deal with defining minimum standards of what trade mark offices around the world should accept as a sufficient representation of signs. Although nothing would prevent WIPO from technically receiving e.g. a sound file, not all Madrid System members are ready and prepared to receive such types of representations of a mark. The ensuing discussion revolved around standards and expectations regarding survey evidence, in particular, discrepancies between national standards and the complete lack of published standards in some jurisdictions. Philipp von Kapff (EUIPO Boards of Appeal) then provided an overview of some aspects of non-traditional trade marks in the EU. The presentation focused on how the reform of EU trade mark law has made the application for certain types of marks easier, stating in particular that sounds are one of the winners in the EU trade mark law reform. This is so because the EUIPO has abandoned the visual representation requirement, so that sound or video files (in particular) are an acceptable way of representing a sound or a motion mark. In the last part of his presentation, Mr. von Kapff examined when 3D marks can become distinctive through the addition of a 2D element. (EUIPO Boards of Appeal) then provided an overview of some aspects of non-traditional trade marks in the EU. The presentation focused on how the reform of EU trade mark law has made the application for certain types of marks easier, stating in particular that sounds are one of the winners in the EU trade mark law reform. This is so because the EUIPO has abandoned the visual representation requirement, so that sound or video files (in particular) are an acceptable way of representing a sound or a motion mark. In the last part of his presentation, Mr. von Kapff examined when 3D marks can become distinctive through the addition of a 2D element. Julia Belagorudsky (Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu). Since US trade mark law allows the registration of anything that can be perceived by the consumers five senses, virtually all types of non-traditional trade marks are registrable at least in theory. In practice, the functionality doctrine sets an absolute bar to registration that prevents registration of e.g. three-dimensional forms, when the specific shape applied for as a mark has utilitarian advantages. The morning session was rounded off by the US perspective on non-traditional trade marks, provided by(Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu). Since US trade mark law allows the registration of anything that can be perceived by the consumers five senses, virtually all types of non-traditional trade marks are registrable at least in theory. In practice, the functionality doctrine sets an absolute bar to registration that prevents registration of e.g. three-dimensional forms, when the specific shape applied for as a mark has utilitarian advantages. The afternoon session started with a perspective from the luxury industry, likely one of the heaviest applicants for non-traditional trade marks. Olivia Dhordain (Richemont) focused on distinctive shapes and the "iconization" phenomenon in the luxury industry, providing numerous examples from around the world. Interestingly, she noted that European trade mark offices are often among the most challenging jurisdictions to register such marks. Ms. Dhordain noted that proving acquired distinctiveness may pose a particularly high hurdle for trade mark owners in this context. Further, even once the mark is registered, some actors in the luxury market apparently prefer not asserting their 3D marks for fear of losing them in litigation. The ensuing discussion dealt with the question whether trade mark law is the right tool to protect three-dimensional shapes. Some of the participants made the point that this should be left to design law. Ms. Dhordain underscored that what 3D marks are protecting is not a mere shape, but the fact that something has become a distinctive sign. What is more, in many countries, trade marks are the only available IP right that can be asserted effectively in the framework of border measures. If I can smell it, it is distinctive Guillaume Fournier (Meyerlustenberger Lachenal), addressing insights gleaned from Swiss court cases. Mr. Fournier noted the peculiarities of Swiss civil proceedings for trade mark infringement and on how different cantonal courts keep relying on their own legal traditions, resulting in surprisingly significant differences when it comes to conducting proceedings. He also emphasized the importance of using unfair competition law in parallel in order to build up pressure on the alleged infringer. He closed by asking rhetorically whether a single specialized trade mark court for all of Switzerland, like the Federal Patent Court, would not enhance the quality of Swiss case law. The focus of the discussion came back to the conferences home turf with the presentation by(Meyerlustenberger Lachenal), addressing insights gleaned from Swiss court cases. Mr. Fournier noted the peculiarities of Swiss civil proceedings for trade mark infringement and on how different cantonal courts keep relying on their own legal traditions, resulting in surprisingly significant differences when it comes to conducting proceedings. He also emphasized the importance of using unfair competition law in parallel in order to build up pressure on the alleged infringer. He closed by asking rhetorically whether a single specialized trade mark court for all of Switzerland, like the Federal Patent Court, would not enhance the quality of Swiss case law. In the following presentation, Prof. Calboli laid her cards on the table, stating that she was skeptical about non-traditional trade marks and that the perspective of policymakers and the public interest are not necessarily identical to that of right holders. She asked whether the granting of virtually perpetual monopoly to one right holder on a given shape, color or scent is in accordance with the public policy objectives of trade mark law. Prof. Calboli also pointed to a shift in the understanding of the connection between trade marks and distinctiveness. While we used to learn that a trade mark had to be distinctive, today non-traditional trade marks teach that anything that is distinctive can be a trade mark. Prof. Martin Senftleben (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) placed special emphasis on whether copyrighted works could be protected as non-traditional trade marks and whether monopolizing formerly copyrighted works that are part of the cultural heritage should be allowed. He made the point that such cases should not be resolved by relying only on distinctiveness as a gatekeeper criterion because this solution allows the acquisition of trade mark rights as a result of continuous use in trade. Instead, courts and examiners should broaden the scope of public order and morality as grounds for refusal, following in the footsteps of the EFTA Court decision in the Vigeland case (Katpost here). The last presentation by(Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) placed special emphasis on whether copyrighted works could be protected as non-traditional trade marks and whether monopolizing formerly copyrighted works that are part of the cultural heritage should be allowed. He made the point that such cases should not be resolved by relying only on distinctiveness as a gatekeeper criterion because this solution allows the acquisition of trade mark rights as a result of continuous use in trade. Instead, courts and examiners should broaden the scope of public order and morality as grounds for refusal, following in the footsteps of the EFTA Court decision in the Vigeland case (Katpost). The final, engaged discussion between the panel of speakers and mainly industry representatives focused primarily whether the broadening of trade mark protection to non-traditional signs has a measurable effect on innovation (spoiler alert: there were as many answers as respondents from the speakers and the public). The relevant UN report was presented to the 40th session of the Human Rights Council by Javaid Rehman, the special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in Iran. The second of two sections in that report focuses on Irans persistent practice of executing juvenile offenders a problem that had already returned to international headlines with the news of the planned implementation of the death sentence for Mohammad Kalhori. But the first section took a wider look at recent Iranian protests and the governments violent response. The special rapporteur credits Tehran with undertaking some measures to address the publics economic grievances, though these are only one of a number of factors driving protest that began in late 2017 and have frequently taken on a strongly anti-government tone. The report therefore points to numerous arrests of lawyers, human rights defenders, labor activists, and others as evidence of an increasingly severe response by regime authorities. Amnesty International corroborates this assessment in its overview of the human rights situation in several Middle Eastern and North African countries over the year 2018. During that period, the human rights group says, at least 7,000 people were arrested for participating in peaceful protests in the Islamic Republic alone. And while such reports shine a light upon ongoing trends as they affect the activist population as a whole, various anecdotal reports continue to point out the particular consequences for specific individuals and groups. Along these lines, the Center for Human Rights in Iran issued its latest report on Tuesday about the long-term plight of labor activists who have been involved in protesting for back pay at the Haft Tapeh sugarcane factory. Two such activists have become something of a cause celebre since the beginning of the year, owing in part to their willingness to speak publicly about the torture that they experienced after their initial arrests in November of last year. Because of this, both persons, Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian, were re-arrested in January, two weeks after making their public statements. They remain in detention to this day, and multiple human rights groups have warned about the likelihood of their being subjected to further torture. The latest reports do not convey specific such allegations, but they do explain that both of the political prisoners are suffering from deteriorating health conditions, which may be attributable either to physical torture or to generally poor prison conditions. Tuesdays CHRI report notes that in spite of their worsening situation, neither Bakhshi nor Gholian have been granted access to medical treatment. This, of course, constitutes a form of torture in and of itself, and one that is commonly utilized as a means of exerting additional pressure on Iranian prisoners, especially political prisoners. At the same time that reports of their plight leak to the public, the pairs families have also been subjected to their own pressure and threats of prosecution, partly as a means of discouraging further public disclosures. One day after issuing this report, CHRI turned its focus also to the particular abuses that the regime has carried out against another specific activist group: those who have advocated for greater ecological protections in certain areas of Iran. Early last year, nine members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation were arrested by the intelligence division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and accused of using their environmentalism as a cover for vaguely defined spying operations. One of the arrestees died under suspicious circumstances, while the remaining eight are currently on trial, where the case against them seems to rely entirely on false confessions that were elicited under torture and were later withdrawn. After objecting to the introduction of this evidence one of the co-defendants was barred from attending subsequent trial sessions. And following reports to that effect, it has also been revealed that the families of the remaining defendants have also been prevented from observing the proceedings. As CHRI notes, this has helped to fuel international outcry over the systematic denial of due process to the persons in this case and in others like it. Among other irregularities, the environmentalists have been barred from receiving legal counsel or have been instructed to select an attorney from a short list of those who have been pre-approved by the judiciary. In the case of six of the eight defendants, the court simply appointed a lawyer on the accuseds behalf. But those who selected their own legal representation were likely not much advantaged by the situation, in part because reports indicate that none of the defendants was informed of the precise charges they faced until after the trial had begun. All of these practices are familiar to cases of politically motivated arrest in the Islamic Republic, and all have been extensively reported upon. But in the context of numerous recent reports affirming the growth of crackdowns on dissent and supposed threats to the clerical regime, it stands to reason that these practices can be expected to go on increasing in frequency, intensity, or both. The demonstration, held at the Place des Nations, called on the UN to remove the Iranian regime from its membership and replace them with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which serves as a parliament-in-exile and is the legitimate representative of the Iranian people. Demonstrators put up large posters of the people executed by the Iranian Regime for political activism, highlighting that in the past four decades the mullahs have executed over 120,000 Iranian dissidents, mainly members of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The protesters also urged the UN to launch an official investigation into the 1988 massacre, when over 30,000 political prisoners, mostly PMOI/MEK members and supporters, were executed following sham trials on the orders of then-supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini in what has become known as a summer of blood. The demonstrators also voiced their support for the NCRI and its president-elect Maryam Rajavi, as the only democratic alternative to the malign Regime. Rajavi has a ten-point plan for the future of a free Iran that, in direct contrast with the mullahs, includes: the establishment of a free and democratic state equal opportunities to all Iranians regardless of their gender, ethnicity and religion the abolishment of executions and all sorts of torture the end to nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions the end of terrorism sponsorship Many politicians believe that Rajavi and the NCRI are the best solution to the Iranian Regime and the myriad of threats that it poses to peace and security around the world and the demonstrators clearly agree. They chanted: Democracy, freedom, with Maryam Rajavi. The protesters also showed their support for the Iranian Resistance Units, which are made up of PMOI/MEK supporters inside Iran, who challenge the Iranian regime and its repressive forces. They chanted: Resistance units, we support you. In the past year and a bit, since the nationwide anti-regime uprising took hold in December 2017, these Resistance Units have been setting fire to posters and banners of regime leaders and icons, as well as putting up posters of Rajavi and murdered dissidents, in order to undermine the Regimes efforts to quash the popular protests. Given their imminent demise, it is only right that we look at the Iranian opposition group looking to take power during the transition period and stabilise Iran for the transitional period until an election can be held and the Iranian people can elect their own leader. This group is the Peoples Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The MEK has a very clear platform for a future, free Iran, which encompasses human rights, peaceful foreign policy, individual freedoms, and an economy that works for everyone. Lets look at that in more detail. Human rights The MEK is committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all its relevant covenants, including freedom of: association thought and expression media political parties trade unions councils religions and denominations profession The MEK would prevent any violation of individual and social rights and freedoms, starting with the abolition of the death penalty. Womens rights The MEK believes that women should be free to exercise all the rights that men do including, but not limited to, the right to: vote and run for office in all elections choose their own profession, assume any position, and work without needing permission from their husband/father to choose their own clothing the right to participate in all sports, professional or not, without gender-based discrimination Freedom of religion The MEK believes in the separation of religion and state, so would ban all forms of discrimination against followers of any religion or denomination. The MEK also wrote: No citizen shall enjoy any privileges or be subject to any deprivations with respect to nomination for election, suffrage, employment, education, becoming a judge or any other individual or social rights, for reason of belief or non-belief in particular religion or denomination. National minorities The MEK recognises that all ethnic and national minorities should enjoy the same rights as any other Iranian. The MEK also supports an autonomous Iranian Kurdistan, allowing the Iranian Kurds to govern themselves on all matters except for foreign policy, national defence, national security, foreign trade and customs. Economy The MEK, in contradiction to the rumours spread by the Regime, supports national capitalism, the market economy, private ownership, and investment. The MEK also believes that Iran should use technological advancements and relations with the industrialised world to reconstruct Irans economy. International relations The MEK believes in peaceful coexistence with other countries, with a foreign policy based on independence, international and regional cooperation, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, good neighbourliness, and respect for the United Nations Charter and international conventions and treaties. The MEK also opposes nuclear proliferation and the production of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles South Africa: Businessman sentenced for defrauding COGTA R7.5m The Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court has sentenced Mex Dhladhla to 12 years direct imprisonment for fraud against government for R7.5 million. Dhladhla (47) was arrested in 2015 along with accomplices, Nokwazi Chule (32), Hlengiwe Hlela (34) after investigations revealed that they defrauded the Department of Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs. The Hawks said they illegally transferred R7.5 million into a bank account held by Imvusa Trading, where Dhladhla was a sole signatory. These funds were meant for development at a local community centre in Bulwer, which falls under Ingwe Municipality but ended up in Dhladhlas account where a series of withdrawals took place within a two-week period. Investigations further revealed that some of the money was transferred to Chule and Hlela, who were working for the department at that time. The case against Chule and Hlela, who remain out on bail, has been postponed to 10 April 2019. Meanwhile, a 35-year-old security company owner and 14 guards are expected to appear at the Randburg Magistrates Court this morning after they were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly rendering security services without the required registration. The collaborative swoop at the security company premises in Buccleuch seized two shotguns and three handguns, as well as an assortment of ammunition. The Hawks are conducting further investigations. The owner and the guards who are aged between 26 and 37 are to face charges of contravening the Firearms Control Act and the PSIRA Act in that they were in possession of firearms without the mandatory competency and permits. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. 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Username: Password: or Register Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Thread Rating: 2 Vote(s) - 5 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 461243 03-01-2019 10:36 PM Post: #1 Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications Advertisement It appears that most if not all civilizations throughout the millennia have been familiar with war. It is so fascinating that LiDAR is able to reveal new facts about Mayan Civilization, such as the fact that the cities were larger and more interconnected than archaeologists had previously known. The archaeologists found two more pyramids at Tikal which were previously thought to be natural features. "Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. Archaeologists guided by laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies waged large-scale warfare over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared beneath the dense tropical forest. Among the most startling discoveries was a large fortress complex now called La Cuernavilla. Built on a steep ridge between the Maya cities of El Zotz and Tikal, the heavily fortified site included high walls, moats, watchtowers, and caches of round stones that likely served as ammunition for warriors slings. It is the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region, and possibly in all of the ancient Americas, says Stephen Houston, a Brown University archaeologist and Maya scholar. The presence of the Cuernavilla citadel and other newly identified structures built expressly for warfare suggests that conflict was large-scale and systematic, and a part of life throughout much of the ancient civilizations duration. This was surprising, says Houston, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized and concentrated toward the end of the civilization. But the fortifications were seeing now suggest an elevated level of conflict over centuries. Rulers were so deeply worried about defense that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/cultu...war-ruins/ Full article with images here: "Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices.Archaeologists guided by laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies waged large-scale warfare over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared beneath the dense tropical forest.Among the most startling discoveries was a large fortress complex now called La Cuernavilla. Built on a steep ridge between the Maya cities of El Zotz and Tikal, the heavily fortified site included high walls, moats, watchtowers, and caches of round stones that likely served as ammunition for warriors slings. It is the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region, and possibly in all of the ancient Americas, says Stephen Houston, a Brown University archaeologist and Maya scholar.The presence of the Cuernavilla citadel and other newly identified structures built expressly for warfare suggests that conflict was large-scale and systematic, and a part of life throughout much of the ancient civilizations duration.This was surprising, says Houston, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized and concentrated toward the end of the civilization. But the fortifications were seeing now suggest an elevated level of conflict over centuries. Rulers were so deeply worried about defense that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape." PuddyCat I Want Tuna User ID: 348173 03-01-2019 10:48 PM Posts: 23,513 Post: #2 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications LoP Guest Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:36 PM) It appears that most if not all civilizations throughout the millennia have been familiar with war. It is so fascinating that LiDAR is able to reveal new facts about Mayan Civilization, such as the fact that the cities were larger and more interconnected than archaeologists had previously known. The archaeologists found two more pyramids at Tikal which were previously thought to be natural features. "Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. Archaeologists guided by laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies waged large-scale warfare over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared beneath the dense tropical forest. Among the most startling discoveries was a large fortress complex now called La Cuernavilla. Built on a steep ridge between the Maya cities of El Zotz and Tikal, the heavily fortified site included high walls, moats, watchtowers, and caches of round stones that likely served as ammunition for warriors slings. It is the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region, and possibly in all of the ancient Americas, says Stephen Houston, a Brown University archaeologist and Maya scholar. The presence of the Cuernavilla citadel and other newly identified structures built expressly for warfare suggests that conflict was large-scale and systematic, and a part of life throughout much of the ancient civilizations duration. This was surprising, says Houston, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized and concentrated toward the end of the civilization. But the fortifications were seeing now suggest an elevated level of conflict over centuries. Rulers were so deeply worried about defense that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/cultu...war-ruins/ Full article with images here: Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. LiDAR digitally removes the forest canopy to reveal ancient ruins below, showing that Maya cities such as Tikal were much larger than ground-based research had suggested. Nearly 1,500 years old, a rare ritual altar discovered at La Corona depicts a ruler believed to have played a key role in the rise of a powerful Maya dynasty known as the Snake Kings. LiDAR digitally removes the dense forest that cloaks this ridge, revealing ancient defensive structures. The newly discovered site, now called La Cuernavilla, includes moats, watchtowers, and walls 20 feet tall. I added the pics. Fascinating article 5* I added the pics.Fascinating article 5* Politics only interests me because it transforms people into dribbling nincompoops (The World Is Mad) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsjRpcgfmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oFzHx29PDo LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 461243 03-01-2019 10:51 PM Post: #3 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications PuddyCat Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:48 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:36 PM) It appears that most if not all civilizations throughout the millennia have been familiar with war. It is so fascinating that LiDAR is able to reveal new facts about Mayan Civilization, such as the fact that the cities were larger and more interconnected than archaeologists had previously known. The archaeologists found two more pyramids at Tikal which were previously thought to be natural features. "Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. Archaeologists guided by laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies waged large-scale warfare over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared beneath the dense tropical forest. Among the most startling discoveries was a large fortress complex now called La Cuernavilla. Built on a steep ridge between the Maya cities of El Zotz and Tikal, the heavily fortified site included high walls, moats, watchtowers, and caches of round stones that likely served as ammunition for warriors slings. It is the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region, and possibly in all of the ancient Americas, says Stephen Houston, a Brown University archaeologist and Maya scholar. The presence of the Cuernavilla citadel and other newly identified structures built expressly for warfare suggests that conflict was large-scale and systematic, and a part of life throughout much of the ancient civilizations duration. This was surprising, says Houston, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized and concentrated toward the end of the civilization. But the fortifications were seeing now suggest an elevated level of conflict over centuries. Rulers were so deeply worried about defense that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/cultu...war-ruins/ Full article with images here: link to image: https://i.imgur.com/71rv3VQ.jpg Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. link to image: https://i.imgur.com/UOzdtQS.jpg LiDAR digitally removes the forest canopy to reveal ancient ruins below, showing that Maya cities such as Tikal were much larger than ground-based research had suggested. link to image: https://i.imgur.com/ghbKKHv.jpg link to image: https://i.imgur.com/3cAcj2H.jpg Nearly 1,500 years old, a rare ritual altar discovered at La Corona depicts a ruler believed to have played a key role in the rise of a powerful Maya dynasty known as the Snake Kings. link to image: https://i.imgur.com/WPjBkXK.jpg LiDAR digitally removes the dense forest that cloaks this ridge, revealing ancient defensive structures. The newly discovered site, now called La Cuernavilla, includes moats, watchtowers, and walls 20 feet tall. I added the pics. Fascinating article 5* Thank you Thank you PuddyCat I Want Tuna User ID: 348173 03-01-2019 10:56 PM Posts: 23,513 Post: #4 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications LoP Guest Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:51 PM) PuddyCat Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:48 PM) Fascinating article 5* Thank you I love all history, it's something which should be cultivated in my opinion and not censored or toned down because of any controversy. History is what identifies us all by culture and shows how things have changed over the centuries. I love all history, it's something which should be cultivated in my opinion and not censored or toned down because of any controversy.History is what identifies us all by culture and shows how things have changed over the centuries. Politics only interests me because it transforms people into dribbling nincompoops (The World Is Mad) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsjRpcgfmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oFzHx29PDo (This post was last modified: 03-01-2019 10:58 PM by PuddyCat .) seasnake Registered User User ID: 67904 03-02-2019 12:22 AM Posts: 19,324 Post: #5 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications Finds like this justify the killing off of people like the Native American Indians even more. Uppity Me Registered User User ID: 491073 03-02-2019 12:25 AM Posts: 38,847 Post: #6 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications Seeing that most of our history is under the water and under the ground this technology is amazing Quote: Les pauvres n'ont-ils des Euros ? Alors laissez les pauvres 'sh*t' dans les rues LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 491371 03-02-2019 05:13 AM Post: #7 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications LoP Guest Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:36 PM) It appears that most if not all civilizations throughout the millennia have been familiar with war. It is so fascinating that LiDAR is able to reveal new facts about Mayan Civilization, such as the fact that the cities were larger and more interconnected than archaeologists had previously known. The archaeologists found two more pyramids at Tikal which were previously thought to be natural features. "Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. Archaeologists guided by laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies waged large-scale warfare over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared beneath the dense tropical forest. Among the most startling discoveries was a large fortress complex now called La Cuernavilla. Built on a steep ridge between the Maya cities of El Zotz and Tikal, the heavily fortified site included high walls, moats, watchtowers, and caches of round stones that likely served as ammunition for warriors slings. It is the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region, and possibly in all of the ancient Americas, says Stephen Houston, a Brown University archaeologist and Maya scholar. The presence of the Cuernavilla citadel and other newly identified structures built expressly for warfare suggests that conflict was large-scale and systematic, and a part of life throughout much of the ancient civilizations duration. This was surprising, says Houston, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized and concentrated toward the end of the civilization. But the fortifications were seeing now suggest an elevated level of conflict over centuries. Rulers were so deeply worried about defense that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/cultu...war-ruins/ Full article with images here: 20 FOOT WALL. Fascinating. Quite continentally advantageous I'd say. Choke the bottleneck 20 FOOT WALL. Fascinating. Quite continentally advantageous I'd say. Choke the bottleneck Prince Vegeta Knowledge and Power User ID: 456214 03-02-2019 05:32 PM Posts: 2,726 Post: #8 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications LoP Guest Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:36 PM) It appears that most if not all civilizations throughout the millennia have been familiar with war. It is so fascinating that LiDAR is able to reveal new facts about Mayan Civilization, such as the fact that the cities were larger and more interconnected than archaeologists had previously known. The archaeologists found two more pyramids at Tikal which were previously thought to be natural features. "Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. Archaeologists guided by laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies waged large-scale warfare over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared beneath the dense tropical forest. Among the most startling discoveries was a large fortress complex now called La Cuernavilla. Built on a steep ridge between the Maya cities of El Zotz and Tikal, the heavily fortified site included high walls, moats, watchtowers, and caches of round stones that likely served as ammunition for warriors slings. It is the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region, and possibly in all of the ancient Americas, says Stephen Houston, a Brown University archaeologist and Maya scholar. The presence of the Cuernavilla citadel and other newly identified structures built expressly for warfare suggests that conflict was large-scale and systematic, and a part of life throughout much of the ancient civilizations duration. This was surprising, says Houston, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized and concentrated toward the end of the civilization. But the fortifications were seeing now suggest an elevated level of conflict over centuries. Rulers were so deeply worried about defense that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/cultu...war-ruins/ Full article with images here: Theres also evidence of an ancient nuclear war in India. Interesting stuff. Ancient City Found in India, Irradiated from Atomic Blast http://veda.wikidot.com/ancient-city-fou...omic-blast Theres also evidence of an ancient nuclear war in India. Interesting stuff. I have no time for weaklings. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 348173 03-02-2019 05:52 PM Post: #9 RE: Archaeologists using lasers discover ancient Mayan military fortifications Fight the Power Wrote: (03-02-2019 05:32 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-01-2019 10:36 PM) It appears that most if not all civilizations throughout the millennia have been familiar with war. It is so fascinating that LiDAR is able to reveal new facts about Mayan Civilization, such as the fact that the cities were larger and more interconnected than archaeologists had previously known. The archaeologists found two more pyramids at Tikal which were previously thought to be natural features. "Far from being the peaceful farmers and priests they were once believed to be, the Maya fought bitter wars that culminated in bloody sacrifices. Archaeologists guided by laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies waged large-scale warfare over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared beneath the dense tropical forest. Among the most startling discoveries was a large fortress complex now called La Cuernavilla. Built on a steep ridge between the Maya cities of El Zotz and Tikal, the heavily fortified site included high walls, moats, watchtowers, and caches of round stones that likely served as ammunition for warriors slings. It is the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region, and possibly in all of the ancient Americas, says Stephen Houston, a Brown University archaeologist and Maya scholar. The presence of the Cuernavilla citadel and other newly identified structures built expressly for warfare suggests that conflict was large-scale and systematic, and a part of life throughout much of the ancient civilizations duration. This was surprising, says Houston, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized and concentrated toward the end of the civilization. But the fortifications were seeing now suggest an elevated level of conflict over centuries. Rulers were so deeply worried about defense that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/cultu...war-ruins/ Full article with images here: Theres also evidence of an ancient nuclear war in India. Interesting stuff. Ancient City Found in India, Irradiated from Atomic Blast http://veda.wikidot.com/ancient-city-fou...omic-blast Quote: Consider these verses from the ancient (6500 BC at the latest) Mahabharata: a single projectile Charged with all the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and flame As bright as the thousand suns Rose in all its splendour a perpendicular explosion with its billowing smoke clouds the cloud of smoke rising after its first explosion formed into expanding round circles like the opening of giant parasols ..it was an unknown weapon, An iron thunderbolt, A gigantic messenger of death, Which reduced to ashes The entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas. The corpses were so burned As to be unrecognisable. The hair and nails fell out; Pottery broke without apparent cause, And the birds turned white. After a few hours All foodstuffs were infected to escape from this fire The soldiers threw themselves in streams To wash themselves and their equipment. Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Angelenos with retail jobs could soon be working more predictable hours. Los Angeles City Council members introduced a motion on Friday that could lead to new scheduling rules for the city's more than 147,000 retail employees. Council President Herb Wesson spoke in favor of what policymakers call a "fair workweek" at a Thursday press conference on the campus of Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Council members Curren Price and Paul Koretz also voiced their support. "You have a lot of people that work in retail that have children, and need to take them to the doctor or a variety of other things," Wesson said. "Most people have predictability in their life, and that's all we're trying to come up with here." Los Angeles has already passed a $15 minimum wage. But higher pay won't necessarily help workers who can't count on a reliable schedule. Downtown L.A. Whole Foods employee Alissa Harrison said when her hours get cut without much notice, she struggles to pay rent and other expenses. "Even down to something like groceries. Which is ironic because I work for a grocery store. Your budget can just drop, drastically," Harrison said, explaining that she's also missed family events like her niece's birthday party. Whole Foods representatives did not respond to a request for comment on the company's scheduling practices. The motion introduced Friday instructs the city attorney's office to craft an ordinance that would apply to employers in Los Angeles with 300 workers or more, regardless of where those workers are based. Some rules that could be part of the ordinance include: A requirement that employers post schedules at least two weeks in advance The right for workers to refuse shifts assigned on short notice Extra pay for last-minute scheduling changes Restrictions on scheduling workers for shifts less than 10 hours apart Giving part-time employees access to more hours before employers hire new workers They city's move follows similar legislation recently passed in cities such as San Francisco, Seattle and Emeryville. The L.A. ordinance would cover retail and grocery store workers, but unlike rules passed in other cities, it would not apply to fast food workers. The idea is likely to receive pushback from local employers that have come to rely on a flexible workforce. In an emailed statement, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce vice president Jessica Duboff said, "Predictive scheduling is often actually restrictive scheduling, imposing a one-size fits all system that threatens the flexibility of employees and employers. It can also end up reducing opportunities for seasonal employment and part-time or summer work for students." Most L.A. retail workers have schedules that are nothing like a nine-to-five, according to a report released last year by the UCLA Labor Center and advocacy group Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. Eighty-four percent of surveyed workers said their hours change from week to week. More than three quarters said they receive their schedules with a week's notice or less. The report found workers with unstable schedules often struggle to make ends meet and manage other priorities like child care, education or finding a second job. Scheduling issues can also lead to workplace conflict, according to a local retail worker named Valentina. We're only using her middle name because her employer, a national drug store chain, has told her not to speak with the media. Valentina said she recently scheduled a doctor's appointment around one of her shifts. But her hours are only posted in the break room, and they're often changed without her knowledge. At the last minute she found out that her manager had scheduled her for a shift during her appointment. "He tried to put the blame on me, like, 'Don't let this happen again,'" Valentina said. "How could it not happen again? It's not only me. I've seen it happen many times. Because they're constantly changing schedules." LAist reached out to the employer to ask about its scheduling policies but did not receive a response. Before coming up for a final vote, the motion would likely go through the council's Economic Development committee. Organizers hope the ordinance will pass later this year. UPDATE: 2:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details of the motion introduced Friday. This article was originally published on Thursday afternoon. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe By Andrea Gutierrez with John Horn and Darby Maloney Chiwetel Ejiofor remembers the exact moment he decided that William Kamkwamba's memoir The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind should be made into a movie. He'd just read the part where Kamkwamba snuck back into school after being thrown out because his parents could no longer afford the fees. "I put down the book at that point and just thought, what was I doing at 13? What was my relationship to school when I was 13 years old?" he told the Frame. You might have seen Kamkwamba's TED Talks or the 2013 documentary about him. During a severe famine in resource-poor Malawi in 2001, he built a windmill in his farming village when he was just 14, changing the lives and fortunes of his community. He did it using old American textbooks from his primary school's library, with a shaky command of the English language. Kamkwamba's initial push for an alternate energy source tied back to his hunger for an education . He wanted to power a light bulb so that he could read at night, avoiding the financial and health costs of burning kerosene at home. But he could also see how this knowledge would help his family and village at a time of crisis. Despite his enthusiasm for the story, Ejiofor didn't necessarily think he was the one to write, direct, and star in the film. He initially used the source material as an exercise in screenwriting, but got serious about making the movie when he realized that leaving it up to others might not be the best path. Ejiofor remembered thinking, "If I don't do this, it might not happen." Ejiofor's understanding of the relationship between William and his father, Trywell, is at the heart of the story. In the film, William realizes his education has given him access to knowledge that his dad doesn't possess, and William knows he has to help find solutions. "There are other people. There is another generation," Ejiofor said. "And they aren't going to solve it. [William] has to assist them. It's no longer going to be the other way around." The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind premieres March 1 in select theaters and on Netflix. Listen to this interview on KPCC's The Frame podcast. OIG Report Raises Concerns About Overcrowded Jails, Lack of Care The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors postponed discussion of a report by the Office of Inspector General that raises concerns about overcrowded jails, poor quality of medical and mental health care for inmates and the persistence of dangerous social cliques in the Sheriffs Department. While none of those issues are new, the OIG report released this month highlights uncertainty about how effective Sheriff Alex Villanueva will be in tackling the problems. One question is how cooperative the new sheriff plans to be in sharing information with the watchdog agency. ADVERTISEMENT Upon the new sheriff being elected, this office made a formal request to be notified of any action on truth and reconciliation, the term the sheriff has used to describe his planned desire to rehire some deputies who have been fired for dishonesty or other misconduct, so that we could monitor the process. As of December 31, 2018, the Office of Inspector General has received no response, according to the report. The sheriff has already reinstated one deputy a man who helped Villanueva win his post who was terminated because of allegations of domestic violence and stalking and then lost an appeal to the Civil Service Commission. Villanuevas unilateral move drew harsh criticism last month from the Board of Supervisors, which asked county lawyers to figure out what recourse was available. The sheriff, uncowed, said at the time there were a half-dozen similar cases that he planned to pursue, assuring board members they would agree with him once they heard the details. As for secret cliques within the department, the OIGs report took a more optimistic tack, saying Villanueva could be a catalyst for solving a decades-long problem. This failure has been going on for fifty years and is not the fault of any one sheriff or of the employees of the department. However, because we have a new administration, we have an opportunity to resolve the problem permanently now, the report states. The department should consult with deputy unions and the (Civilian Oversight Commission) and implement a policy prohibiting membership in organizations which advocate violation of laws, policy and civil rights or which conceal their nature and membership. ADVERTISEMENT Under former sheriff Jim McDonnell, the department took steps to shut down clubs in the custody division but stopped short of department-wide action, according to the OIG, which described a centrally organized code of silence among deputies. As evidence, it notes that despite multiple ongoing internal investigations, this office believes that the number of deputies who have been asked to date about the membership of these groups or their nature is zero. The OIG report covers the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, so many of its findings about use-of-force data and in-custody deaths predate Villanuevas term, which began Dec. 3. It offers a stark assessment of jail overcrowding. Our jails contain too many prisoners to be properly run by the number of staff, custody and medical, assigned to them, the report states. That results in an increasing use of force though the OIG also says department data on use-of-force incidents is unreliable inadequate inmate welfare, and breakdowns in medical and mental health care. Examples cited include chaining mentally ill individuals to benches in the Inmate Reception Center for prolonged periods of time and women inmates being forced to wear paper underwear for two months because of a mix-up in ordering supplies. There were six inmate deaths during the three months under review. Three involved inmates of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, most of whom had some medical or mental health issues, and one of those three was described as a suicide. None were related to a use-of-force incident, according to the OIG, which said it was concerned about the quality of care and poor coordination between jail guards and health care personnel. There was some good news. Deputies involved in multiple shootings have been under increased scrutiny and some have been removed from the field. In 2016, 34 percent of deputies involved in shootings had been involved in one or more previous shootings. In 2017, that ratio dropped to 19 percent and in 2018 to 3 percent. There were four deputy-involved shootings during the three months in question, three of which involved armed suspects and none of which appeared to result in a fatality. The report also provided use-of-force data, but with so many caveats that it is hard to draw conclusions beyond the reports statement that incidents are on the rise. However, the OIG and court monitors have previously said that the kind of bone-breaking violence seen during Sheriff Lee Bacas tenure and leading to lawsuits and federal oversight is now a very rare occurrence. Villanueva has reported dramatic increases in the use of force as well as inmate attacks on deputies to challenge the success of reforms instituted by McDonnell. The OIG and others have challenged the accuracy of that data and raised concerns that the numbers will be used to justify rolling back changes. The title of this post is the headline of this notable new Atlantic piece, which carries the subheadline "As legalization spreads, so do calls to ease sentences for those convicted of possessing pot." Here are excerpts: Colorado, which legalized marijuana for recreational usage in the 2012 elections, doesnt allow anyone with a felony marijuana conviction in the last decade to apply for a retail marijuana business license this in a state where African-Americans are more than three times more likely and Latinos 1.5 times more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges than whites. So even though arrests are down 81 percent since 2012, theres a whole host of black and brown people in the state who will be excluded from participation in the legalized industry for almost another decade. Activists have, however, learned some lessons from the Colorado experience. The devastation of communities of color by the war on drugs was always a top priority for people working on this issue, said Shaleen Title, a marijuana activist on the board of Marijuana Majority and the founder of THC Staffing Group. But what we started seeing in 2012, and particularly as there started to be a big business incentive for legalization, was less focus on the social justice issues. This is, in part, because some newer proponents of legalization either didnt focus on it or worried that introducing the issue of racial justice would impede the effort to legalize. Its very well documented that its black and brown people who have borne the brunt of prohibition, she added, noting that only one of Colorados 500 marijuana dispensaries is owned by an African-American woman. When we pass these laws, we have to address that. We cant just start from scratch and expect for that to be fair. Title was part of a coalition of activists in Massachusetts that made sure that the states ballot initiative in 2016 allowed people with marijuana-only convictions to be licensed marijuana business holders. It also forced the issue of broader amnesty for marijuana convictions. The war on drugs has been a racially discriminatory disaster and legalization should be an opportunity to try to correct that and make amends for past wrongs, explained Tom Angell, the chairman of Marijuana Majority, which is devoted to reforming the countrys marijuana laws. But theres still a lingering, outdated, and cruel attitude that people who broke the law should be punished as much as possible, even if it prevents them from fully participating in society.... Californias 2016 ballot initiative to legalize the production, distribution, and use of marijuana for recreational purposes set up a system providing for the reclassification and/or expungement of marijuana-related offenses. For those still serving sentences, there will also be opportunities for resentencing. Its likely to have an impact on a significant number of Californians: The ACLU says that nearly 20,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession even after the state decriminalized possession in 2011. In Oregon, which legalized recreational marijuana by ballot initiative in 2014, the law did not have an explicit expungement provision but it did allow people with marijuana-related crimes to qualify for licensure to own a legal marijuana business. Then, in 2015, the legislature passed a law allowing anyone with a marijuana conviction to apply for expungement if the act for which they were convicted like possession, growing marijuana, or growing in excess of what was deemed allowable for medical use is no longer considered a crime. There are fees associated with expungement as there are in most states and the process requires legal assistance, which is why the Minority Cannabis Business Association, in partnership with the cannabis company Marley Natural, held its first-ever expungement clinic in Portland, which helped 30 clients. Jeannette Ward, the vice chair of the MCBA, noted that, because of Oregons law allowing people with convictions for marijuana-related offenses to participate in the legal system, the clinic wasnt about helping potential marijuana business owners. We do it because the war on drugs targeted people of color, she said, and we want to take the profits from companies that are making money and try to rebalance the scales of the detrimental wars on drugs.... The impacts of a marijuana arrest, let alone a conviction, can be profound. Arrest is just one moment, explained Jenny Roberts, a professor and the co-director of the Criminal Justice Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law. And then that moment is determinant of so many things down the line. One moment of racially disparate policing becomes a moment that follows people throughout their life. She noted that criminal records can legally or not affect arrestees employment prospects, their ability to find housing, and even their ability to travel outside the countryeven if they arent convicted of any crime. We treat too many acts in this country as things that need to be processed through the criminal justice system, she said. Everyone knows that you can go around and arrest many, many people for marijuana, but we all know who actually gets arrested for it, she added. Policies that end up in racially disparate arrests are unfair and have much broader impacts than just the arrests. Stateline has this effective new piece on a topic that I have long thought should get even more attention as the marijuana reform movement continues to pick up steam. The piece is headlined "In These States, Past Marijuana Crimes Can Go Away," and here is how the article starts and ends: When Californians voted to legalize marijuana last year, they also voted to let people petition courts to reduce or hide convictions for past marijuana crimes. State residents can now petition courts to change some felonies to misdemeanors, change some misdemeanors to infractions, and wipe away convictions for possessing or growing small amounts of the drug. We call it reparative justice: repairing the harms caused by the war on drugs, says Eunisses Hernandez of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped write the California ballot initiative. Colorado, Maryland, New Hampshire and Oregon also have made it easier for people convicted of some crimes of marijuana possession, cultivation or manufacture to get their records sealed or expunged, which generally means removing convictions from public databases. Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a criminal justice bill that would, among other changes, allow people to expunge any conviction thats no longer a crime, such as marijuana possession. These efforts by states that have legalized or decriminalized marijuana are part of a national trend toward making it easier for people to seal or expunge a range of convictions. Americans with a criminal record whether its marked with felonies, misdemeanors or both can find it harder to get a job and find housing. Hernandez and other social justice advocates say marijuana legalization should be paired with criminal justice reforms that help people convicted of past drug crimes rebuild their lives. Yet allowing people to seal their criminal records or reclassify convictions is not the rule in states that have legalized or decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. Bills that would remove or reduce convictions on peoples records are often opposed by lawmakers and prosecutors who argue that people who knowingly violated prior laws shouldnt be let off the hook just because the law changed. California has done more than any other state to require judges to excuse residents past marijuana crimes. Thats because the state took the issue to voters, Hernandez said. Through the Legislature, we would not have gotten this.... Defense lawyers and other advocates for decreasing penalties for nonviolent drug crimes say that sealing someones record can change their life. Yet state data from Oregon and California the states that have done the most to allow people to take convictions off their records suggest that so far, only a fraction of people with marijuana convictions have asked to get them sealed or set aside. Nearly half a million people were arrested for marijuana crimes in California over the past decade, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. But California courts have received just 1,506 applications for reclassifying past marijuana-related crimes since state residents gained the option to do so last year. The Drug Policy Alliance also says that more than 78,000 convictions could be set aside in Oregon. But courts received just 388 requests for set-asides in cases that involved a marijuana charge in 2015, 453 in 2016, and 365 so far this year, according to the Oregon Judicial Department. It could be that many people just dont know they can get their records sealed. Marijuana industry and legal defense groups have hosted free events in both states to help people file the right paperwork though in both states, lawyers say filing a petition is straightforward enough to handle without an attorney. Another problem may be that many people have complicated criminal records, Margolis said. Those people they have not benefited. Courts are more likely to reject petitions from people with long criminal histories, Margolis said. For instance, someones conviction for marijuana cultivation might be paired with a money-laundering conviction, a delivery conviction, or a criminal-mischief conviction because a house was vandalized. Some people may just decide that hiding their conviction from view isnt worth the hassle. If someone has another crime on his record that cant be wiped away, say an unrelated felony, he might not bother to eliminate a minor marijuana conviction. One of the convictions that can be sealed in Colorado and California is possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. But in both states, even before marijuana possession was legalized, possession of a small amount of marijuana was just an infraction or a petty offense, punishable by a $100 fine. Still, the California ballot initiatives emphasis on criminal justice reform and releasing people from the burden of past crimes may be the new normal moving forward. The initiative has become the gold standard, said Art Way, director of the Drug Policy Alliances Colorado office. He said that activists in New Mexico, New Jersey and New York are all lobbying for racial justice and, to some extent, retroactive relief for marijuana crimes. In recent weeks, I have spotlighted a number of article from a number of outlets discussing marijuana reform's impact on part marijuana convictions. The latest example today comes from the Washington Post via this extended article headlined "Convicted of a marijuana crime in California? It might go away, thanks to legal pot." Here are excerpts: California is offering a second chance to people convicted of almost any marijuana crimes, from serious felonies to small infractions, with the opportunity to have their criminal records cleared or the charges sharply reduced. State officials hope to reverse decades of marijuana convictions that can make it difficult for people to gain meaningful employment and disproportionately affect low-income minorities. We worked to help create a legalized and regulated process for legal marijuana, but we also wanted to make sure we could help some way, somehow repair the damages of marijuana prohibition, said Eunisses Hernandez, a policy coordinator at the Drug Policy Alliance. The alliance said there have been 500,000 arrests for marijuana offenses in California in the past 10 years, and it estimates that up to a million people have reviewable convictions on their records. At least 4,500 people had filed petitions to have their sentences reduced, redesignated or thrown out as of September, according to the California Judicial Council. The highest amount came from Riverside County, where 613 applications were filed. In addition, at least 365 people have applied to have their juvenile marijuana convictions thrown out. Not every county reported data. The change here is part of a nationwide movement to reduce marijuana charges and atone for harsh penalties during the war on drugs. At least nine states have passed laws expunging or reducing marijuana convictions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Maryland, Oregon and Vermont also now allow convictions for marijuana offenses that are not crimes under current law to be wiped off a criminal record. The re-designation of marijuana crimes in California went into effect immediately after voters approved the measure legalizing pot. Many viewed it as an offshoot of a 2014 ballot initiative that reduced penalties for certain drug and theft crimes. Those who want their marijuana convictions lessened must present their cases in court. Prosecutors can decide not to support a reduction should someone have a major felony, such as murder, on their record. Old convictions will be reclassified under the law as it reads now. For example, if someone had been convicted of possessing an ounce or less of marijuana, that conviction would be tossed out because that is now legal in California. Some district attorneys offices notified the recently convicted and incarcerated that they were eligible to have their records changed and that they potentially could leave prison. Last year, prosecutors in San Diego searched for people convicted of marijuana offenses in the prior three years who would be eligible for reductions. When the measure passed, prosecutors got their petitions before a judge as soon as possible. We absolutely didnt want people to be in custody who shouldnt be in custody, said Rachel Solov, chief of the collaborative courts division in the San Diego district attorneys office. She said that as of mid-December, the office has handled nearly 600 reductions. But advocates said many people who completed their sentences still do not know they could be able to change their criminal records. Hernandez and defense lawyers said that the state has put little effort into outreach and that most people are hearing about the opportunities through word of mouth or social media. One of the projects were working on this year is to notify people that this is an option, said Bruce Margolin, a Los Angeles defense lawyer who specializes in marijuana cases. Its a viable thing to do, obviously, because people are suffering with these felony convictions in so many aspects of their life. Omar Figueroa, a defense lawyer in Sebastopol, Calif., who specializes in marijuana law, said the requirement to go to court makes it more difficult for the poor to take advantage. Thats one of the criticisms, that a lot of people dont have the time or energy or the access to public transportation to get to the courthouse, Figueroa said. What I see is the people who have more means are the ones who are taking advantage of this, and the people who have more basic struggles in their everyday life, the last thing theyre thinking about is cleaning up their criminal history for their old marijuana convictions. State-owned Philippine National Oil Co., Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. and CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co. Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding on the liquefied natural gas project of Tanglawan Philippine LNG Inc. We warmly welcome the potential addition of PNOC in the LNG hub project we have been planning to venture on with CNOOC G&P. The LNG hub is a crucial project that will provide long-term solutions for our countrys energy needs, and the strategic alliance among our companies will further secure the continuous development of this venture, said Phoenix Petroleum chief operating officer Henry Albert Fadullon. The agreement will allow the three companies to explore and discuss business opportunities and cooperation in relation to the equity investment in Tanglawan Philippine LNG and other companies relating to the project, PNOC facilities, market development, PNOC banked gas and future energy projects. Phoenix Petroleum president and founder Dennis Uy, CNOOC G&P chief finance officer and vice president Wu Zhengxing and PNOC president and CEO Reuben Lista signed the agreement in a meeting held at the Department of Energy office in Taguig City on February 28, 2019. The LNG hub project is expected to break ground on the re-gasification and receiving terminal with a capacity of 2.2 metric tons a year within the year, with commercial operations set to start by 2023.The facility will help support the demand for a clean, competitive and environment-friendly energy source in Luzon, and provide energy security for the country. It also aims to develop a gas-fired power generation facility with up to 2,000 megawatts of installed capacity. Phoenix last month confirmed talks with PNOC in hopes to secure a strategic alliance with the state-owned firm in its LNG hub project. The Department of Energy has issued a notice to proceed to Tanglawan for the construction of an LNG re-gasification terminal in Batangas province. As reported in this Los Angeles Times article, headlined "California lawmaker wants to make it easier to clear marijuana convictions from criminal records," a lawmaker in California is talking about making a law to make expungement of certain past marijuana convictions automatic. Here are the details: Proposition 64, approved by California voters in 2016 to legalize recreational pot use, allows people to petition the courts to have past convictions for marijuana offenses expunged from their records. But the process can be difficult and expensive, according to supporters of pot legalization. In response, Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) on Tuesday proposed legislation that would make it easier to have criminal convictions removed from the records of marijuana users, potentially opening more doors to employment and housing. Rather than require people to petition the courts for a determination, AB 1793 would require criminal convictions for marijuana-related offenses to be automatically expunged, placing the burden on the courts, Bonta said. Lets be honest, navigating the legal system bureaucracy can be costly and time-consuming, the lawmaker told reporters at the Capitol. His bill, he said, will give people the fresh start to which they are legally entitled and allow them to move on with their lives. Proposition 64 legalizes, among other things, the possession and purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana and allows individuals to grow up to six plants for personal use. The measure also allows people convicted of marijuana possession crimes eliminated by Proposition 64 to petition the court to have those convictions expunged from their records as long as the person does not pose a risk to public safety. They can also petition the court to reduce some crimes from a felony to a misdemeanor, including possession of more than an ounce of marijuana by a person who is 18 or older. As of September, 4,885 Californians have petitioned the courts to have marijuana convictions expunged or reclassified, but many people dont know about the process, which can be difficult, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, which supported Proposition 64. Bontas bill was supported Tuesday by alliance state director Laura Thomas and Dale Gieringer, who is the state coordinator of California NORML, another legalization group. The bill, Thomas said, will help to expedite the ability of people to achieve the promise of restorative justice. This new local article, headlined "SF will wipe thousands of marijuana convictions off the books," reports on an interesting and encouraging development int he Bay area. Here are the details: San Francisco will retroactively apply Californias marijuana-legalization laws to past criminal cases, District Attorney George Gascon said Wednesday expunging or reducing misdemeanor and felony convictions going back decades. The unprecedented move will affect thousands of people whose marijuana convictions brand them with criminal histories that can hurt chances of finding jobs and obtaining some government benefits. Proposition 64, which state voters passed in November 2016, legalized the recreational use of marijuana in California for those 21 and older and permitted the possession up to one ounce of cannabis. The legislation also allows those with past marijuana convictions that would have been lesser crimes or no crime at all under Prop. 64 to petition a court to recall or dismiss their cases. Rather than leaving it up to individuals to petition the courts which is time consuming and can cost hundreds of dollars in attorney fees Gascon said San Francisco prosecutors will review and wipe out convictions en masse. The district attorney said his office will dismiss and seal more than 3,000 misdemeanor marijuana convictions in San Francisco dating back to 1975. Prosecutors will also review and, if necessary, re-sentence 4,940 felony marijuana cases, Gascon said. Instead of waiting for people to petition for the community to come out we have decided that we will do so ourselves, Gascon said. We believe it is the right thing to do. We believe it is the just thing to do. He made the announcement at a news conference at which he was joined by city Supervisors Malia Cohen and Jeff Sheehy, along with Nicole Elliot, director of the citys Office of Cannabis, Laura Thomas of the Drug Policy Alliance reform group, and the Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP. Advocates for poor and minority communities have long complained that marijuana laws are applied disproportionately to the impoverished and people of color. A 2013 study by the American Civil Liberties Union found that African Americans were more than twice as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as whites, despite similar levels of use. In San Francisco, African Americans were four times as likely as whites to be arrested for possession, the study found. A marijuana conviction can affect whether a person qualifies for federally subsidized housing, student loans and disability insurance.... According to the Drug Policy Alliance, nearly 5,000 people statewide have petitioned courts to have their marijuana convictions expunged since Prop. 64 took effect. In San Francisco, however, fewer than two dozen people have done so, Gascon said. His office is believed to be the first in the state to move to clear old marijuana convictions, Gascon said. Most of the work will be done outside of courtrooms, and those affected wont be required to show up for court. Misdemeanor clearances will begin immediately, but felony cases will take a little more time, Gascon said. Those who were convicted of felony marijuana counts that were tied to other offenses may not be eligible to have their cases expunged under Prop. 64. Gascon said he will have a limited number of attorneys and paralegals going over such cases at first, but may assign more depending on the workload. Its evolving, he said. It will be a lot of clerical work, and we will evaluate as we start reviewing felonies. Prosecutors will also have to coordinate with the state attorney generals office to make sure cases are updated in the state system. Gascon said he hopes his undertaking will prompt other jurisdictions to follow suit. Were hoping what we are doing here will not only benefit San Francisco, he said. Were hoping other elected officials around the state will say this is the right thing to do. On Jan. 9, Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, introduced a bill that would make it easier for many people statewide to have marijuana convictions expunged. The legislation, AB1793, would allow automatic expungement or reduction of a prior cannabis conviction. However, the number of such convictions throughout California over the years runs into the millions. Opponents of the bill have said ordering courts to expunge them on a broad scale could cost millions of dollars. This Washington Post piece, headlined "Cities, states work to clear marijuana convictions, calling it a states' rights issue," provides another useful account of the ever-growing movement to undue past marijuana convictions in conjunction with modern marijuana reforms. Here are excerpts: When California voters passed a measure in 2016 that legalized cannabis and allowed for people to have their marijuana convictions wiped away or reduced, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan ordered her staff to immediately start scouring the citys criminal records to find people who qualified. As marijuana becomes legal in more states, some are allowing people to ask to have their old marijuana convictions expunged or reduced. It is, proponents say, a way to atone a war on drugs that disproportionately affected low-income and minority communities and to ensure that the criminal records people carry are not out of sync with current laws. It also attempts to get to the root of a complex legal question: what happens when people have a conviction on their record for a crime that is no longer illegal? If youve made a legislative determination that this is no longer criminal, why would you want to continue to have people feeling the ramifications of something that people going forward will no longer have to suffer? said Jenny Roberts, an American University law professor. At least nine states, including Colorado, Maryland and Oregon, have made it easier to have some marijuana charges sealed or thrown out completely. Recreational marijuana use is legal in some, but not all, of those states. Colorado last year approved a bill that allows people convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession before Dec. 10, 2012, to petition to have their convictions sealed. In Oregon, lawmakers stated that judges must take the current law -- which says that possessing and selling marijuana is legal -- into account when they consider whether or not to change a persons criminal record. In Maryland, people convicted of marijuana possession can petition a court for expungment. It really makes sense to not burden these people with a lifelong criminal record, said Kate Bell, a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project in Maryland. In most places, people must specifically request to have their records expunged, a process that can be costly and time-consuming. Though the laws largely aimed to help low-income people, there is concern that the petitioning process makes it more difficult, and therefore less likely, that they will move to have their records changed. On Wednesday, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon announced that his office will clear all marijuana misdemeanor convictions dating to 1975 and review all felony convictions to see if they are eligible for a reduction. California voters have clearly sent a message, he said. The war on drugs has been a failure, and more specifically, the war on marijuana has been a failure.... Gascon said he made the decision to automatically clear records so people will not have to jump through hoops to get relief. He estimates that about 3,000 people will be eligible to have their convictions vacated and about 5,000 will be eligible to have their cases reviewed for possible reduction. Prosecutors can decide not to support a reduction should a person have a major felony, such as murder, on their record. Old convictions will be reclassified under the law as it reads now. For example, if someone had been convicted of possessing an ounce or less of marijuana, that conviction would be tossed out because that is now legal under California law. California Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced a bill that would require automatic expungment of records. The role of government should be to ease burdens and expedite the operation of law not create unneeded obstacles, barriers and delay, Bonta said in a statement. These individuals are legally entitled to expungement or reduction and a fresh start. It should be implemented without unnecessary delay or burden. Nevada assemblyman William McCurdy (D) introduced a bill that would allow people convicted of possessing less than an ounce of marijuana to have their records wiped clean; it was vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R). McCurdy said he would like to reintroduce the legislation in the state, where marijuana is now legal. Ive always been under the belief that if you made a mistake in the past and the law has changed, you should definitely benefit from the changing of that law, he said. Theres a lot of folks who are sitting behind bars for less than an ounce of marijuana, and thats troubling. In San Diego, Stephan ordered attorneys to look at cases shortly after voters passed the ballot initiative in November 2016, when the expungement provisions took effect. Prosecutors first looked at people in prison, then at those who were recently convicted, recommending their cases to public defenders. They worked backward, with the idea that persons that received their convictions more recently might be directly impacted in terms of their ability to look for jobs or have informal probation, housing benefits, military, other things, she said. About 680 people have had their convictions lessened, 55 of whom are currently behind bars, Stephan said. She believes there are about 5,000 people who are eligible to have their convictions changed. Our hope is that they will take advantage of it and use it to reintegrate and enter society without the burden of having a felony conviction, she said. Most of the sentencing laws are tied to the legalization of marijuana, something that Kevin Sabet, the founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization, said shouldnt be the case. People deserve a second chance, and we shouldnt penalize people for past convictions, but it shouldnt take having to legalize -- and commercialize -- marijuana for that to happen, he said. This a false choice between legalization and criminalization. As highlighted by a number of posts linked below, the notion of expunging past marijuana convictions following legalization has quickly become a mainstream part of the reform movement. The latest notable development on this front comes from Seattle where, as reported here, city leaders are pledging to vacate past vacate misdemeanor marijuana-possession convictions. Here are the details: Seattle will move to vacate misdemeanor marijuana-possession convictions prosecuted by the city before pot was legalized in Washington in 2012, Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes said Thursday. Describing the action as a necessary step to right the wrongs of what she called a failed war on drugs, the mayor said such convictions have been an unfair barrier for people trying to obtain housing, credit, jobs and educations. The war on drugs ended up being a war on people who needed help, who needed opportunity and who needed treatment, Durkan said in a news conference at Rainier Community Center in South Seattle. We did little to stem the tide of the supply of drugs and instead incarcerating almost an entire generation of users who could have had a different way. Holmes will ask the Seattle Municipal Court to vacate all convictions and to dismiss all charges for misdemeanor marijuana possession prosecuted before pot was legalized statewide, he said at the news conference. He believes the move will result in the vacation of 500 to 600 convictions from 1997, when Seattle took over misdemeanor marijuana prosecutions from King County, until 2010, when the city stopped such prosecutions as a matter of policy.... In 2010, soon after he was elected, Holmes dismissed all of the citys marijuana-possession cases and said his office would no longer prosecute such cases. As Seattle seeks to undo the consequences of the countrys decades-long war on drugs, its challenges include a Trump administration, which would like to turn back the clock, he said. Were going to do everything we can in the city of Seattle to hold our gains, Holmes said. The city attorney said he plans t0 file a single motion by early next week for all convictions to be vacated and said his office will set up a website where people can determine whether their convictions have been cleared. Karen Donohue, the presiding judge for Seattle Municipal Court, is very supportive of the move, Durkan said. The mayor said vacating hundreds of convictions from the earlier period will help communities disproportionately impacted by the criminal-justice system and help the city try to eliminate racial disparities in Seattle. Marijuana-possession arrests in Washington increased sharply between 1986 and 2010, rising from 4,000 a year to 11,000 a year, said the mayors office, citing the Drug Policy Alliance. There were 240,000 arrests in that period, with some communities affected more than others. In Washington, black people were three times more likely than white people to be convicted of marijuana crimes, Durkan said. Those numbers tell us we were dealing with an unjust system, she said, adding, While we cannot reverse all the harm that was done, we can give back to those people a record that says they were not convicted, because that is the more just thing to do.... Durkan said she would like to see officials at the county and state levels, who handle felony marijuana cases, follow the citys lead.... Seattles move follows an announcement last week by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, who said he would dismiss 3,038 misdemeanor marijuana charges and would consider reducing 4,900 felony marijuana charges. As explained in this recent press release, the Center for Justice Reform at Vermont Law School is taking an active role in helping Vermont's recent marijuana reform become consequential for persons with certain prior marijuana convictions. Here are the details (with links from the original): Windsor County States Attorney David Cahill, Chittenden County States Attorney, Sarah George, and the Center for Justice Reform at Vermont Law School, invite community members convicted of misdemeanor marijuana offenses to Expungement Day, a free information session to assist individuals with removing convictions from their record. Expungement Day for Windsor County convictions will be held from 9 a.m. to Noon Saturday, June 9, in Oakes Hall, Room 012 at VLS. Expungement Day for Chittenden County convictions will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, June 12, in Courtroom 2C of the Costello Courthouse at 32 Cherry Street in Burlington. Effective July 1, Vermont law changes to allow for the personal possession of small amounts of marijuana by individuals age 21 and older. In recognition of this change and shifting attitudes about marijuana, the Windsor and Chittenden County States Attorneys have agreed to support the expungement of all old misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses that arose within Windsor and Chittenden County. This does not apply to felony-level offenses, convictions for sale of marijuana, or any offenses that took place outside of Windsor or Chittenden County. Cahill and George will support expungement regardless of any prior or subsequent convictions for other offenses. However, even after July 1, it will remain illegal to possess more than an ounce of marijuana, to use marijuana in a public place, or to drive under the influence of marijuana or any other drug. These laws will continue to be enforced by police and prosecuted by the Windsor and Chittenden County States Attorneys. Under Vermont law, 13 VSA 7606, once a conviction is expunged, a person may lawfully claim that he or she was never arrested, convicted, or sentenced for the marijuana possession offense. While Vermont affords these protections for expunged offenses, other states and the federal government may treat the effect of the expungement differently. During each Expungement Day, Professor Robert Sand, director of the Center for Justice Reform, VLS students, and other volunteers will educate community members about how to complete an expungement petition. Though volunteers will not provide legal advice, by the end of the session, participants will have a completed expungement petition ready for filing. Both States Attorneys have agreed to accept the petitions and file them with their respective courts. When a person has paid their debt by virtue of a criminal conviction, that should be finite they shouldnt keep paying said Sand in a VPR interview earlier this year. There is room within our judicial system and it should be appropriately resourced for court to be a place where rights are restored. Participants in Expungement Day should plan to bring valid, government-issued photo identification as well as any records they have related to their prior misdemeanor marijuana offense, to include the original docket number. For more information about Expungement Day, email justicereform@vermontlaw.edu. Expungement Day is supported with a generous contribution by the Pennywise Foundation. As reported in this local article, headlined "San Francisco will use new technology to automatically reduce marijuana convictions under Prop. 64: 'Its about leveling the playing field'," a notable player in the tech world is stepping up to aid expungement efforts in California in the wake of marijuana legalization. Here are the details: When recreational marijuana use was legalized in California, it presented an opportunity to reduce or expunge convictions for possession crimes that made it harder for some people to get ahead in life. Since then, some counties have worked to address those convictions, taking on the lengthy bureaucratic process so that people would not have to wade through the legal world on their own. San Francisco led the charge, announcing in January that the district attorney's office would retroactively apply the new marijuana law to prior convictions dating as far back as 1975. But for prosecutors, the chance to change those convictions also came with a challenge: It required a lot of resources to plow through thousands of cases. On Tuesday, Dist. Atty. George Gascon announced what he believes to be the solution. San Francisco is working with a nonprofit organization to create a program that would automatically clear eligible convictions under California's new marijuana legalization law. The program, created by Code for America, will allow the district attorney's office to use new technology to determine eligibility for record clearance under state law, automatically fill out the required forms and generate a completed motion in PDF format. The district attorney's office can then file the completed motion with the court.... The new program will clear people's records of crimes that can be barriers to employment and housing, the district attorney said. Lack of access to employment and housing drive recidivism, Gascon said, adding that he hopes the partnership will inspire other prosecutors who have cited resource constraints to follow suit. In February, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said petitioning through the courts would be faster for people seeking relief than waiting for her office to review the case files. The same month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to develop a plan to help make it easier for people to reduce or clear minor pot convictions. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office estimates there have been 40,000 felony convictions involving pot-related offenses since 1993. It is unclear how many of those people are eligible for relief or how many have petitioned for it. Although "drug use in this country has not been limited to people of color" in California, minorities particularly African Americans and Latinos have been arrested and jailed for marijuana offenses at much higher rates than white people, Gascon said. Many of those affected are poor, he added, or lack the resources needed to change their criminal records on their own. "It's about leveling the playing field," he said. "Justice is supposed to be about fairness and equity."... The district attorney's office said Gascon and Code for America began exploring the possibility of automating the process in February, after recognizing how "resource intensive" it was to wipe out or reduce convictions. Some 962 motions to dismiss a misdemeanor marijuana conviction have been prepared, 528 have been submitted to the San Francisco Superior Court and 428 have been granted, the district attorney's office said, but felony convictions take longer because they require an analysis of rap sheets in order to determine eligibility. Code for America plans to expand the pilot program to other California counties with the target of clearing 250,000 convictions by 2019. The organization has previously delved into the realm of criminal justice: In 2016, it created Clear My Record, an online application that connects people with lawyers to clear criminal records across California. "By reimagining existing government systems through technology and user-centered design, we can help governments rethink incarceration, reduce recidivism, and restore opportunity," Code for America Executive Director Jennifer Pahlka said in a statement. The program, she said, will demonstrate that "our institutions can deliver on the promise voters intended when they passed propositions like Proposition 64." The title of this post is the title of this new HuffPost piece on a topic that readers know is dear to my heart in part due to my work on my most recent article, "Leveraging Marijuana Reform to Enhance Expungement Practices." Here are excerpts from the HuffPo piece: In California, prosecutors in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Diego and San Francisco counties announced earlier this year they will automatically review, recall, resentence and potentially dismiss and seal more than 10,000 misdemeanor and felony marijuana convictions. The movement is spreading. On Friday, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes became the latest top prosecutor to join, asking a city court to vacate all convictions and dismiss all charges for misdemeanor marijuana possession that were prosecuted in the city before the state legalized marijuana for recreational purposes in 2012. Now prosecutors in Denver and Burlington, Vt., are mulling similar measures, their representatives told HuffPost this week. In Denver, where prosecution of low-level pot offenses has been a low priority for a decade, Ken Lane, a spokesman for newly elected DA Beth McCann, said that while McCann hasnt retroactively applied Colorados laws for post-conviction relief, she has asked staff to research the matter... in response to what DAs in California are doing. And in Vermont, which recently became the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana via legislature rather than ballot measure, another prosecutor is making moves. Justin Jiron, deputy states attorney in Chittenden County, Vermont, which contains Burlington, told HuffPost that his office is weeks away from announcing a new policy that will allow individuals to apply to have their past marijuana possession records expunged or sealed regardless of when the conviction took place. Its not as immediate of a review as San Franciscans and San Diegans can expect, but its a meaningful step. I think the simplest way of looking at it for us is just that these people have convictions that if they were to commit them today they wouldnt be a crime, Jiron said. So it seems unfair to basically saddle them with a conviction for something that is now legal. Prosecutors in pot-friendly jurisdictions have enormous power to offer relief for people previously convicted of marijuana offenses in their jurisdiction, but many arent using it. Californias marijuana law requires individuals to apply for relief for previous marijuana-related crimes a process that can be costly and time-consuming. Prosecutors there could greatly speed up the process by following San Franciscos automatic process, which makes relief more immediate. Prosecutors in other legal-weed jurisdictions could potentially follow Seattle prosecutor Holmes lead and leverage their own states laws to move for post-conviction relief for past marijuana offenses. Those state laws, however, are complex and vary tremendously by jurisdiction this includes expungement, which does not have a standard definition across jurisdictions, as well as sealing and dismissal. Some states dont address retroactive relief for past criminal convictions. Some require a governors pardon to vacate a conviction. Others allow post-conviction relief but require years-long wait periods, or limit which kinds of convictions can be removed from a persons record. But few prosecutors are making moves like Holmes either because they dont want to, or because state legislatures havent passed laws that allow relief for now-legal acts. People convicted of state pot crimes in the past in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine all places where the drug is now legal for recreational purposes may still have violations on their record. And even in California, where the legal marijuana industry is already valued at $7 billion, according to one estimate. In Los Angeles County, Californias largest by population, District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced in February that individuals will have to continue to apply for relief themselves, rather than wait for [her] office to go through tens of thousands of case files. Lacey estimated there were 40,000 felony convictions involving marijuana since 1993 in Los Angeles County. When reached by HuffPost, her office did not have any updates on this decision.... The exact extent to which prosecutors can retroactively apply their state marijuana laws o r seek to vacate past convictions is a point of debate, and it depends on many complicated factors. This includes a prosecutors individual preferences, resources, a states laws regarding retroactivity and post-conviction relief, said Lauren-Brooke Eisen, a former prosecutor who is now a senior fellow at New York University School of Laws Brennan Center for Justice. Theres no one right answer to this, Eisen said. But whats happening with marijuana in states like California and Colorado, which have built in some of this retroactivity, it does open the door absolutely for a little bit more pushing the envelope by DAs. Rodney Holcombe, staff attorney at the Drug Policy Alliance echoed this sentiment, saying it is not enough to simply legalize marijuana because prohibition ravaged many communities. Tens of thousands of people across the country especially persons of color continue to suffer from the consequences of prohibition, he said. We cannot in good conscience legalize without repairing the harms wrought by the failed drug war. We can only truly claim victory when we center our efforts on the persons most harmed by prohibition. A restaurant in Mexico City gives migrants a second chance. Hugo Hernandez, a manager, lived in the U.S. illegally. He was deported to Mexico after an arrest for illegal driving. He said, "When I was deported, they took away everything from me except one thing: my knowledge." A new study by Gallup shows fewer people believe in American leadership around the world. With only 31 percent approval, the United States' rating is lower than Germany and China -- and in a tie with Russia. It shows international views of American leadership remained about the same in the second year of Donald Trumps presidency. It dropped 18 points during Trumps first year. Gallup has been carrying out the research since 2007. The 2018 study was released Thursday. It examined the answers of people from 133 countries. The report suggests that people around the world no longer believe in Americas international commitments. It says the unpredictability of the U.S. president in now somewhat expected. Both China and Russia gained in the new study. Chinas median approval rating rose to 34 percent and Russias rating reached 30 percent. Russia and Chinas approval ratings increased in nations where the U.S. decreased, including Mexico and Turkey. Germany received the highest median approval rating, at 39 percent. But it was Germanys first rating below 40 percent in ten years. Jon Clifton is Gallups Global Managing Partner. He said in the report that Trumps America First policy was not winning friends around the world. It also said that Trump has taken many unpopular decisions since he took office. These include pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal. It also includes Trumps trade wars with Europe and China. Clifton said that the effects of Trumps actions will hurt American interests abroad. He pointed to research from Dartmouth College and the University of Sydney that found public opinion about U.S. foreign policy in foreign countries does affect their policies toward the U.S. In Europe The report said the U.S.'s leadership image is very poor in Europe. Its disapproval rating was 59 percent, up three points from 2017. While Europeans view of American leadership was low, their view of Russian leadership was even lower, at 21 percent. They equally disliked the leadership of Russia and the United States. Nearly six in 10 Europeans disapproved of the leadership of the two countries. Europeans had the highest rating for Germanys leadership, with 56 percent approving. In the Americas The U.S. leadership rating increased in the Americas from 24 percent to 31 percent. Last year, the U.S. renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Those two countries had two of the highest disapproval numbers for American leadership. Seventy-nine percent of Canadians and 74 percent of Mexicans disapproved of U.S. leadership in 2018. The approval numbers for the U.S., Germany, China and Russia, were roughly the same in the Americas. But the disapproval rating for the United States at 53 percent was much higher than the other countries. In Asia In Asia, the approval of U.S. leadership increased slightly since last year, but it was still very low at 32 percent. The majorities of just five countries, Israel, the Philippines, Mongolia, Nepal and Myanmar, approved of American leadership. Gallup said the two things that probably hurt the U.S. image most in the region were the trade war with China and the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. Chinas approval rating was only a little higher at 34 percent. Russia came in at 32 and Germany at 36. In Africa American image was strongest in Africa, the Gallup study said. More than half of Africans in the study viewed American leadership favorably. The countries with the most favorable view of the leadership of the United States were Togo, Guinea, Niger and Ghana. Africans also had a favorable view of China, which has invested heavily in the continent. I'm Susan Shand. VOA News reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story median adj. the middle value in a series of values arranged from smallest to largest accord - n. an agreement favorably - adv. with approval After a tornado struck Havana last month, Mijail Ramirez wrote on Twitter that Cuban officials were threatening to force him from his damaged home. A week later, he said the government had changed its mind and would help him rebuild the home. Cuban citizen Jorge Luis Leon sent a message to the official Twitter account of a Cuban vice president asking that hospital waiting rooms have seating for family members. And, a group of young people launched Sube, a ride-requesting app for the aging American vehicles that can be seen on the streets of Havana each day. It has been over two months since Cuban officials announced that the countrys citizens could fully use the internet on their mobile phones. Today, internet-connected Cubans are doing everything from questioning government officials to posting pictures of dirty bathrooms. In the process, they are bringing their country -- once one of the least-connected places in the world -- into the digital age. Fast-moving changes are small but noticeable. Life has changed, said 25-year-old Alberto Cabrera, who is part of the team that developed the Sube app. You see it when you walk down the street. The other day, looking from the roof of my house I could see that a neighbor had mobile internet service, as did the person in front and the person beyond him. You never saw that before. A recent government report says about 6.4 million of Cubas 11 million people are using the internet and social media. In the past, most Cubans could use their mobile phones to link only to their state-run email accounts. They also could visit one of the few government-supported Wi-Fi areas on the island. Claudia Cuevas is a 26-year-old university professor and a member of the Sube team. She said, Before you went to the park (with Wi-Fi zones) once a week to communicate with your family. The history of the internet in Cuba has been filled with tensions and suspicions since the 1990s. Cubas government accused the United States of blocking its access to the fiber optic cables near the island. Cuba said, as a result, it was forced it to use a costly and slow satellite service. In 2011, Cuba got access to a submarine cable with the help of Venezuela. Then, in 2015, the general public in Cuba gained access through the opening of Wi-Fi points in hundreds of parks. Critics of the government said it resisted giving Cubans free access to the internet because it feared a free flow of information. Government supporters said it was fighting efforts by the U.S. to weaken Cubas political system. Harold Cardenas is a Cuban blogger and Cuba expert who now lives in the United States. He said, For a while, the internet generated fear among Cubas leaders and there was a long wait. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel opened a Twitter account last year. He recently ordered all of his ministers and other top officials to do the same. But many of them do not provide their own content or answer citizens questions. They only retweet official messages or propaganda. Diaz-Canel has repeated the importance of the internet. He says Cuban officials are working on websites and tools to help provide online government services. Such tools could make it easier for a citizen to request birth certificates or complete a government form. Cubans are growing more skilled and more interested in internet use. This was made clear by the online reaction to the tornado in late January. Citizens used Facebook and Twitter to give and gather reports on damage and organize support. Claudia Cuevas, the university professor, said the combination of internet access and social media is a channel that people can use to say things as they are directly: We need this or this is happening. It cannot be blocked and people must see it as a way to express themselves and say what they think. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Caty Weaver. The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story tornado - n. a violent and destructive storm in which powerful winds move around a central point app - n. a computer program that performs a special function roof - n. the cover or top of a building, vehicle, etc. fiber optics - n. thin threads of glass or plastic to carry large amounts of information in the form of light signals access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone Senator Richard Gordon Senator Richard Gordon has warned hospitals against burdening their patients by imposing excessive charges and committing unjust practices. Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, issued the warning after a daughter of an intensive care unit patient sought the senators help in connection with the unjust practices committed by the UnihealthBaypointe Hospital and Medical Center, a privately owned and controlled hospital operating in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.As I have stressed multiple times in the past, medical facilities practice of charging retesting fees for PRC blood units is unnecessary and burdens poor Filipinos financially. Hospitals should realize that patients are already suffering enough hence, they should not overcharge in terms of blood, he said in a letter to Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III. The daughter complained that their running bill for blood alone has reached the enormous amount of P200,000.00 because the hospital charges an exorbitant amount of P6,000 per unit of blood. In case the patient would provide two donors, the fee charged would be P1,000 per unit.For blood coming from the PRC, a retesting fee of P6,000 per unit is also charged. Gordon assured that blood units coming from the Philippine Red Cross has already been tested and there is no need to re-test them. This week, Vietnam welcomed more than 2,600 reporters from around the world for one of the biggest news stories of the year. Its capital city, Hanoi, hosted the second meeting between American President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The summit ended earlier than planned on Thursday, after the two leaders failed to reach a deal on U.S. economic restrictions and the Norths nuclear activities. But officials in Vietnam hope the weeks media attention can help improve their countrys image. They want to see an increase in visitors and investment. And they aim to show the country as a member in good standing with the international community. Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung told city residents to be on their best behavior, noting the large presence of foreign reporters. In a message on the citys website, the mayor urged citizens to heighten the image of civilized, elegant, friendly and hospitable Vietnamese people and Hanoi residents in the eyes of international press and friends. He also asked business owners to not increase prices of goods and services during the summit. Little could be done about Hanois traffic, however. Robert Costantini, who reports from the White House for an American radio news network, said it was like nothing he had experienced before. He said, All the people on motorbikes, and the bus will turn in front of them, and then they stop and try to squeeze through. Its just amazing visually for me. Getting around in Hanoi is very different than in the very rigid and disciplined society of Singapore at the first Trump-Kim summit, Costantini added. Many reporters also noted the high levels of security during the summit. In fact, they said the strict security sometimes made it hard to do their jobs. Kims travel plans are almost always kept secret. But, getting any information connected to Kims activities was harder in Vietnam than it was last year in Singapore. Peter Wang works for Taiwans Eastern Broadcasting Company. He said in Singapore, reporters were able to learn of some of Kims personal activities in advance. But, in Vietnam its very hard. They blocked the road a couple blocks away and police are very strict. A group of American reporters got a clear understanding of Vietnams focus on security over media access just before the two leaders arrived in town. White House reporters were forced to leave their established work area at the Melia Hotel after last-minute word that Kim would be staying there. Their ouster reportedly came at the request of North Korean representatives. The United States also restricted press access during the summit. It blocked four print reporters -- including one from The Associated Press -- from covering the start of Trump and Kims dinner in Hanoi on Wednesday. The move came after two of the reporters asked questions of the president during earlier events at the summit. Im Jonathan Evans. The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story host - v. to be the host for (a social event, a group of people, etc.) host - n. a place or organization that provides the things that are needed for a particular event mayor - n. an official who is elected to be the head of the government of a city or town residents - n. people who live in a particular place elegant - adj. showing good taste : graceful and attractive squeeze - v. to move into or through a small or crowded space rigid - adj. not easily changed disciplined - adj. related to having rules or orders that must be obeyed and punishing bad behavior strict - adj. used to describe a command, rule, etc., that must be obeyed access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone American President Donald Trump says he walked away from a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam on Thursday. Trump said Kim was only willing to give up North Koreas main nuclear structure at Yongbyon -- and not complete denuclearization. In return, the North Korean leader demanded that all sanctions against his country be lifted. Trump said, Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldnt do that. The United States and the United Nations had increased sanctions on North Korea in 2017, after the country carried out a series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The measures have created economic difficulties for North Korea. Hours after Trump left Hanoi, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said that North Korea had sought only a partial lifting of sanctions "related to people's livelihoods and unrelated to military sanctions." A second official added that Kim might lose his willingness to pursue a deal after the U.S. rejected the offer. South Koreas presidential spokesman said in a statement, "(We) do feel regret that President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un could not reach complete agreement at today's summit. But it also appears that they have clearly made more meaningful progress than at any time in the past." Chinas foreign ministry spokesman said in his regular meeting with reporters Thursday, the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue has been there for many years and cannot be resolved overnight without effort. He added that, based on what we can see from the reports by far, the two sides may continue with their talks at the working level... Is Kim testing Trump? There was hope of an agreement when the two leaders began their two-day meeting on Wednesday. When a reporter asked Kim that day if he was ready to give up his nuclear weapons, the North Korean leader said, If Im not willing to do that, I wont be here right now. The White House even scheduled a joint agreement signing ceremony at the end of the talks. The ceremony did not take place, as Trump quickly left Vietnam. The first meeting between Trump and Kim, held in June in Singapore, produced a statement that North Korea would work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But little progress followed. U.S. intelligence officials have recently said that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons. They say its leaders consider nuclear weapon to be critical to the ruling familys survival. Daniel Russel is a former top State Department diplomat for East Asia. He told the Reuters news agency, Kim Jong-un is not testing ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs at the moment, but he is testing Donald Trump. Russel added that, given Trumps troubles in the United States, Kim may have been trying to see if Trump was desperate enough to take any deal he could get. As the two leaders were meeting in Hanoi, Trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, appeared before Congress and accused the president of several wrongdoings. Working level talks After last years Singapore summit, U.S. negotiators had difficulties trying to meet with the North Koreans. On Thursday, U.S. Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter, The lack of working-level talks in the lead up to the Hanoi Summit undermined the chances of reaching a successful deal. Russel agreed that without working-level talks, it is harder for the two the two leaders to reach a deal. He said, At this point it will be no easy matter to persuade North Korea to move quickly, to deal with U.S. negotiators rather than with Trump directly, or to accept that its entire nuclear and missile program must be on the table. Kyle Ferrier is director of the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute. He said, By walking away from the table, Trump is effectively signaling to North Korea that they will have to deal more with Steve Biegun, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea. Ferrier added, What is needed now are small steps to keep the diplomatic momentum going. I'm Caty Weaver. Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on Reuters, Associated Press and VOA news reports. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story sanction - n. an action that is taken to force a country to obey international laws by limiting trade or economic activity entirety - n. the whole or total amount of something peninsula - n a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water and is attached to a larger area of land ballistic missile - n. a weapon that is shot through the sky over a great distance desperate - adj. having a strong need or desire to do something undermine - v. to make something less effective on the table - phrase, to be available or put forward momentum - n. the strength or force that allows something to continue You know how the SD Association just introduced a new MicroSD Express standard that would make it possible for next-gen microSD cards to offer speeds as high as 985 MB per second? The CompactFlash Association just went a step further by unveiling a new CFexpress 2.0 specification with theoretical top speeds as high high as 4,000 MB/s. Im not aware of any cards quite that fast yet, but Sonys new CFExpress Type-B cards can hit top read speeds of 1,700 MB/s and write speeds as high as 1,480 MB/s. The only catch is that these cards arent going to end up in phones anytime soon CompactFlash cards are larger than SD or microSD cards and are more commonly used in high-end cameras. In fact, Engadget notes that a few new high-end cameras can already support Sonys new cards. Sony says its new card is more than three times as fast as its fastest CFast memory card, which tops out at 530MB/s. Of course, you dont actually need a card that fast for more consumer-friendly cameras. But if you want to shoot higher-resolution, higher-bitrate video, the extra speed could come in handy. Sony says the first CFexpress Type B card to ship will be a 128GB version, but 256GB and 512GB cards are also in the works. While Sonys cards are clearly aimed at professional cameras, the CompactFlash Association says other applications for new cards based on the CFexpress 2.0 standard include use for storing media, software, and files for servers and routers or as low-latency external, removable SSDs. Type-B cards like the ones Sony is introducing are faster than many consumer SSDs, but not yet as fast as a PCIe NVMe solid state drive. But the CFExpress 2.0 Type-C standard supports a 4-lane PCIe Gen 3 interface and NVMe 1.3 stack for theoretical speeds as high as 4,000 MB/s, which is faster than most consumer SSDs. In other words, maybe youll eventually be able to buy a computer that essentially has an SSD that you can pop out like any other memory card, allowing you to store important files, programs, or even the full operating system on swappable cards. For now I suspect thats something only enterprise customers are likely to be looking for. But its a neat idea that I wouldnt mind seeing make its way to the consumer space. Instead of setting up multiple user profiles in the operating system running on your computer, you could just give each member of your household their own CF card that would store their entire operating system. Insert it into a laptop, tablet, or desktop and you boot into your environment. Remove it and nobody else can access your files. Type A Type B Type C Dimension 20mm x 28mm x 2.8mm 38.5mm x 29.8mm x 3.8mm 54mm x 74mm x 4.8mm PCIe Interface Gen3, 1 lane Gen3, 2 lanes Gen3, 4 lanes Stack NVMe 1.3 NVMe 1.3 NVMe 1.3 Maximum Theoretical Performance 1000MB/s 2000MB/s 4000MB/s It felt like it's been ages since I last volunteered or helped out in a race. Well, the last one was being a crew for Ironman Malaysia last year. And before that, a few races here and there but mostly small scale races that friends organised. So when I was asked whether I want to help out at Illumi Fest Run REPC, I excitedly said yes. As of last weekend, Illumi Fest Run had more than 5,000 registered participants (and growing) so this was a crowd I'm not used to deal with. Yet. Taken during a quiet time at the REPC Counter on Sunday Hubby and I were the noobs, and fortunately, the rest of the volunteers were old hands in this. Despite only 6 volunteers manning the REPC counters on Saturday - doing everything from checking participants' details, getting the correct t-shirt size for every participants and putting everything in the swag bag, they took it in their stride and did it so cheerfully and in a friendly manner. Without much supervision, they knew what to do, how to handle duties and the crowd too. Hats off to them! I was pretty unsure whether I did things right myself but fortunately, those who came for their swag bags collection were pretty patient and friendly lot too. I hope I didn't f**ked too much last weekend. ^^! For the runners, they sure were one eager lot. The swag bag counters only officially opened at 10.30 am but there was already a queue forming at 10.20 am! We decided to open the counter a few minutes earlier and then close a bit later than the 9 pm closing time as some runners still came sauntering by at 9.15 pm on Sunday. With a huge turnout of runners collecting their swag bags on the first day, everyone kinda worked non-stop from 10.30am to 9.00pm with just a really short break for lunch (or rather it can be called early dinner at 4 pm). After cleaning up and packing, we only left the REPC venue after 10 pm. A bulk of runners came on Saturday, on the first day of the REPC and a huge numbers of them did bulk collection. It was like, one person would be seen carrying 10-20 swag bags collected on behalf of friends and family. The volunteers seemed to take everything in their stride and did things quite calmly and cheerfully. There were a few hiccups here and there (especially by me hahaha) but manageable. We did have a lot of requests to change t-shirt sizes during the REPC and some were quite persistent about it but we stood firm in disallowing any changes. The two volunteers manning the Glo-Shop which sells Illumi Fest Run merchandises were no less busy too. The Glo-Shop was a hit among runners and who can blame them! Just look at the price of the merchandises! The finger lights were sold out early on Sunday. I couldn't chat much with the other volunteers on the first day because we were so busy and the queue for the swag bag never seemed to let up on Saturday. It was quieter on Sunday and whenever there was a lull at the REPC counter, one of us would either go take out and arrange t-shirts or the swag bags. We also chatted more on Sunday. These volunteers had volunteered at many other races, including Milo Run! They shared with me their stories about their previous experiences and it's so interesting to listen to their stories. Anyways, Illumi Fest Run 2019 will be held this Saturday night on Mar 2, 2019 at Selangot Turf Club. For those joining the run, I hope you enjoy the run! For me, being able to do this makes me appreciate race volunteers even more. Vietnam thanked on fishers rescue posted March 01, 2019 at 11:00 pm by Maricel Cruz March 01, 2019 at 11:00 pm A party-list legislator who represents the education sector on Friday thanked the Vietnamese and commended its navy for rescuing two fishermen from Occidental Mindoro who were stranded on an islet on the West Philippine Sea. Through our friends in Occidental Mindoro, I will ascertain how 1-Ang Edukasyon party-list group can help the two fishermen of San Jose, Rep. Bong Belaro said. With this act of kindness and its Navys professionalism out at sea, Vietnam proved it is a true friend of Filipinos and the Philippines, Belaro, a reserve Navy commander (lieutenant colonel in the ground and air forces) said.He noted that the Philippines and Vietnam are both seafaring nations. We both care about making sure the marine life of the South China Sea will continue to sustain our peoples families and communities, Belaro said. 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. Cotabato CityThe police remained virtually clueless in the probe of the killing last Thursday of a forest enforcer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat. Environment Secretary Frank Cimatu has sent DENR Assistant Secretary Jim Sampulna to meet with the family and colleagues of slain forester Kandatu Bansil, who headed the Forest Law Enforcement Unit of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat. Officials and employees of the DENR XII lament the death of Forester Kandatu A. Bansil of the CENRO in Tacurong City, said Sampulna. Local police report said the 51-year-old Bansil was shot dead by an unidentified gunman on Feb. 21, in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat. But Saga Akmad, the CENRO head in Tacurong City, said nothing much came out of the police investigation from the day Bansil was shot dead early morning in nearby Lambayong, his hometown. Sampulna said he spoke in defense and sympathy to the bereaved family, as Secretary Roy A. Cimatu gave instruction to provide the family with assistance most needed and to monitor the result of the investigation. DENR Regional Executive Director Nilo Tamoria said it was not far-fetched that the employees murder was work-related.The work of a forester is not an easy task. It is somehow associated with risk especially when they are assigned in the field and armed only with their desire of combatting illegal logging activities, Tamoria said, adding he was saddened by departments loss of a sincere and dependable worker. Secretary Cimatu has been saying that the safety of the employees is of utmost concern of the department in the midst of the tour of duty, Sampulna said. Akmad said it was unthinkable for sincere and dedicated public servant to fall victim to cold-blooded murder. He has been sincere and dedicated in his responsibility as environmental law enforce. Forester Bansil was serious in enforcing the environmental laws for the department and would go after violators, Akmad said. Secretary Cimatu said that he will be taking action to improve the protection of foresters having cognizant on this related occurrences. Dir. Tamoria added. Bansil rose from the ranks before becoming the chief of the CENRO Law Enforcement Unit in Tacurong City, from being a Forester I in 2005 to Forester II in 2016. Asia-wide gaming exhibition G2E Asia is returning to the Venetian Macao from May 21 to 23, introducing for the first time a bi-level exhibitor space stretching to 34,000 square meters and able to accommodate an anticipated 18,000 visitors. The 2019 edition of the exhibition is dedicated to showcasing the latest technologies in the casino industry through various products and services. This year will see the return of the exhibitions trademark aspects, including a conference program, technology-specific segments, networking events and online business matchmaking services. According to organizers, there will also be an Esports Connect Asia platform, serving to facilitate networking and business engagement in the fast- growing sector, as well as an Asia Lottery Forum led by industry leaders to shed light on current and future lottery trends and solutions for the internet era. G2E Asia 2019 also sees the return of the exhibitions annual awards ceremony. The nomination period has already opened and will run until April 5. There are a total of 12 award categories this year, including Best Integrated Resort, Best VIP Gaming Promoter, Best IR Non-gaming Attraction and Best Corporate Social Responsibility Contribution. Last years event was the largest of its kind to date, attracting over 16,300 visitors, according to organizers, and representing year-on-year growth of about 17 percent. Around one-quarter of last years visitors were from Macau, while a further 39 percent came from the rest of the greater China region. DB A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer disappeared on the day of his scheduled release from prison yesterday and was reportedly taken away by unknown persons. Jiang Tianyong, who defended politically sensitive clients like blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng and followers of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group, had completed a two- year sentence handed down for crimes against the state. But supporters who arrived at the prison in central Henan province were told that unknown individuals had already picked him up and taken him away, said his wife Jin Bianling. The Chinese government is so shameless, Jin said in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where she lives with their 16-year-old daughter. Hes completed his sentence now, so he should be free, she said. Is Chinese law just a piece of scrap paper? Jiangs sister and father have also been missing since Wednesday afternoon, when state security agents were supposed to be escorting them to the prison, Jin said. Calls to the prison yesterday rang unanswered. China has increasingly placed those it considers dissidents under various types of extra-legal detention even after they have served their sentences, with no due process or additional charges filed. Chen, the blind legal activist, was confined for years at his home in a northern Chinese village, guarded around-the-clock by hired thugs until his escape in 2012. Environmental activist Wu Lihong has been restricted to his home in the eastern city of Wuxi under constant surveillance since his release in 2010 after serving a three-year sentence over allegedly trumped-up charges of financial crimes. Such restrictions are tightened during politically sensitive occasions, such as next weeks start of the annual session of Chinas rubber-stamp parliament, the National Peoples Congress. Jin said Jiangs sister visited him earlier this month and reported that he was in poor health. His skin tone was darker, he appeared gaunt, and his lips were cracked, Jiangs sister told Jin. He requested that his sister pick him on his release date and bring him to their ancestral home in Henans Luoshan county. On Tuesday, however, state security agents visited Jiangs parents and said he would not be permitted to return home, and would instead be sent to Zhengzhou, Henans capital, where the government would determine his housing and employment. The next day, state security agents said they would escort Jiangs sister and father to the jailhouse to meet him upon his release. The two have since been unreachable, Jin said, with their cellphones shut off despite a prior promise to call Jiangs mother when they arrived at the jail. Prior to Jiangs arrest in 2016, he had worked to publicize the plight of lawyers arrested in a sweeping crackdown on legal advocates that began in July 2015. He was forced to stop practicing law in 2009, after authorities refused to renew his legal license. Jiang was sentenced in 2017 to two years in prison for inciting subversion of state power, a vague charged often levied against human rights activists. Prosecutors accused Jiang of using social media platforms to denigrate the government and judicial authorities said he incited others to subvert state power, including fabricating claims that another lawyer had allegedly been tortured in custody. Jin said she worries about her husbands health, as he suffers from high blood pressure. Our daughter was looking forward to talking to her father, Jin. Now what can we do? Yanan Wang, Beijing, AP Macau and Beijing justice authorities have reached a consensus regarding the transfer of convicted criminals, the Secretariat for Administration and Justice announced. Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan led a local delegation to Beijing to discuss the possible extradition of convicts, following a suggestion from Hong Kong authorities that would allow extraditions to Macau, Taiwan and mainland China on a case- by-case basis. Chan met with Justice Minister of Beijing, Fu Zhenghua. According to a statement issued by the Secretarys office, the visit was successful and had achieved the results that both parties were hoping for. The two parties are set to study the different legal regimes and have said to have already created a contact mechanism for checking on progress. During the meting, the two officials exchanged views on the transfer of sentenced convicts between the two regions. Chans office noted that mutual efforts will be made to boost and deepen bilateral judicial cooperation. The office also said that both parties would undertake mutual efforts to deepen judicial cooperation and legal exchanges. Meanwhile, representatives of the Chinese Department of International Cooperation and the Correctional Services of the Ministry of Justice also held a meeting with the local delegation regarding the legal arrangements for the transfer of convicted felons. During the visit, held between February 25 and 28, the delegation studied how to introduce electronic judicial citations and notifications, as well as to create a cooperation platform for the courts of both the mainland and the Macau SAR. Macau currently has agreements for the transfer of convicted criminals with Hong Kong, Portugal, Mongolia and Nigeria. Plans are already in place to develop similar agreements with Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. LV HUMAN TRAFFICKERS. One of three Chinese arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation agents are presented to the media on Friday, March 1. The three, Han Wang a.k.a. Logan Wang, Fengping Yue a.k.a. Amber Yue and Filipinos Richelle Athena and Maxine Landicho, were nabbed for alleged human trafficking of 16 females of whom 11 are minors. They were arrested at a Makati condominium on Feb. 27. The recruits were forced to work as prostitutes. Norman Cruz Police arrested on Thursday night eight Chinese nationals engaged in illegal online gambling in Makati City. A search warrant issued by Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 56 Judge Bonifacio Pascua led to the apprehension of Chenchen Li, Yu Hong, Huimin Li, Jian Cai, Chijin Lei, Yaowli Xiong, Yufei Lin and Cun Peng at 22 Briones Street, San Lorenzo Ville around 10 p.m. We conducted the police operation based on the search warrant following intelligence information regarding the presence of Chinese nationals engaging in illegal gambling, said Metro Manila police director Guillermo Eleazar. Eleazar said the foreigners have no license and necessary permits from the Makati City government and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to establish and conduct gambling operation.The suspects will be charged with violating the cybercrime prevention law while the Immigration bureau is verifying their status in the country. The raiding team recovered a number of high-end computers and internet routers believed used in the illegal activity. Also confiscated during the search were laptops, a modem, cellular phones and passports. The suspects have been detained at the National Capital Region Police Office headquarters in Bicutan, Taguig City for proper disposition and documentation.In October 2016, authorities raided an online gambling den along Ayala Avenue, also in Makati, where at least 40 people, most of them Chinese nationals, were apprehended, also for alleged possession of illegal drugs. The raid prompted Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay to check the establishment and later ordered its closure. The Hao Ying Solutions Inc., located at the 15th floor of Multinational Bancorporation Building, was shut down following site inspection conducted by personnel of the citys Business Permits Office upon the directive of Binay. On orders of Binay, BPO personnel checked its records and found out that the company was first registered in 2011 and its business permit was renewed last January 2016. However, its registered address was at the 21st floor of Tower I, Enterprise Center at Ayala Avenue. The management of Enterprise Center has issued a certification that Hao Ying Solutions, Inc. is no longer a tenant of the building. Under the Revised Makati Revenue Code, the Mayor shall revoke the permit of a business establishment that deliberately makes a false statement regarding the nature of the business, trade or activity. This offense carries a penalty of imprisonment between six months and one year or a fine of not less than P5,000 but not more than P50,000, or both, at the discretion of the court. Suspected communist guerrillas torched six heavy equipment in Cagayan on Friday, days after another group burned 12 construction equipment at a power plant in Mindoro. A policeman was also killed Friday in sporadic fighting between communist guerrillas and government forces in Mindoro province. Fighting broke again between government forces and communist rebels in Malamig village in Gloria, Oriental Mindoro, resulting in the killing of PO3 Edwin Encarnacion and the wounding of PO3 John John Morente. Meanwhile, Sr. Supt. Chevalier Iringan said the burning incident occurred around 9 p.m. in Agani village, Alcala, Cagayan. He said some 30 heavily armed men believed to be communist guerrillas swooped down on the construction depot of CAMIA Construction Company and threatened all the employees there. The rebels then poured gasoline into the construction equipment parked inside the companys office and then lighted it before fleeing. Iringan said the torched equipment included three mixer trucks, a dump truck, one Grader and a steam roller.The burning sortie is the third such incident since last week as the sporadic fighting between them and government forces has so far claimed the lives of three policemen and nearly a dozen rebels. The NPAs activity is proof of their motive to pursue their lawless purpose, contrary to their claim of protecting the people, Iringan said. He said the construction equipment were being used in the ongoing road project in the villages of Baybayog, Masin, Pared and Pussian in Alcala town. The NPAs evil act is proof of their desperate move to extort money from the construction firms in the locality, Iringan said. He said security forces will continue to protect all government installations and private companies. The Police Regional Office-2 said security measures were being implemented to ensure the safety of all potential targets, including government vital installations, power lines, private companies and municipal police stations. Camp Siongco, MaguindanaoUnidentified gunmen ambushed and killed three soldiers and injured two others in the Maguindanao town of Datu Salibo and in Cotabato City.Major Arvin John Encinas, spokesman of the Armys 6th Infantry Division, identified the casualties in the Maguindanao incident as Privates Junard Estribor and Nelier Pinto, both of the Armys 57th Infantry Battalion. Injured in the same incident were Pvt. Muqtadir Sampulna, also of the 57th IB, and a female bystander whose identity was not immediately known. Encinas said the soldiers were aboard a Toyota Vios car when they were waylaid along Sitio Kurungan, Barangay Sambulawan, past 2 p.m. Estribor and Pinto died instantly, while the wounded Sampulna and the woman were taken to a hospital. The gunmen used M16 rifles based on the empty shells recovered at the site of the ambush, Encinas said.He said intelligence reports pointed to the Islamic State-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters as behind the attack. The BIFF continues to be on the run due to ongoing military operations against them in their pinpointed lairs in Maguindanao, Encinas said. Also on Thursday, motorcycle-riding gunmen shot dead an Army man along Sinsuat Avenue in Rosary Heights 10, Cotabato City, shortly before noon. Police Col. Michel Lebanan, city police director, said Staff Sgt. Verande Lardera, 40, of the Armys 37th IB, was on board a motorbike when he was tailed and fired upon by the gunmen. The Army man succumbed to four gunshot wounds, Lebanan said. Introducing The Main Index There are now over 43,000 individual posts here on A Light In The Darkness. They have all been individually added into Main Index categories. To get the full experience out of A Light In The Darkness and its very extensive library of items, covering virtually all things paranormal, supernatural etc ... we recommend that you flick down the Main Index, which runs down the right hand side of the blog page ... to find the indexed category in which the subject matter you seek is located. Alternatively, why not use long search bar you will find towards the top of the blog page ... ENJOY (HealthDay)Common autoimmune disorders are associated with an increased risk for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Academic Physiatrists, held from Feb. 19 to 23 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Po-Cheng Hsu, M.D., from Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues used data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2015 from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database to examine the correlation between CTS and common autoimmune disorders (autoimmune rheumatic disease [ARD] and inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]). The researchers identified 3,291 ARD and IBD patients who were compared to a control group. Patients with Crohn disease had the highest incidence of CTS (8.8 percent), followed by scleroderma and rheumatic arthritis. In the control group, the incidence for CTS was 4.8 percent. After adjustment for age and sex, the hazard ratio for developing CTS was significantly increased for Sjogren syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis (1.44 and 1.41, respectively). The overall surgical rate was 0.2 and 0.3 percent in ARD and IBD patients and controls, respectively. "Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disease that may affect health-related quality of life," Hsu said in a statement. "Early diagnosis when managing patients with rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren syndrome with adequate early health education and treatment could decrease the influence of CTS." Explore further Rheumatic diseases associated with increased dementia risk More information: More Information Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. The novel bioreactor that allows heart tissue to stretch and contract like it would in the body. Credit: Fotios Pitoulis It is difficult to study hearts in the laboratory because of their incredible ability to change in response to their environment. Hearts in healthy athletes enlarge to support the increased demands on the body, hearts in those with chronic hypertension get thicker and less elastic and can eventually fail. Heart tissue in labs undergoes remodeling, making it difficult to understand heart physiology and to develop new medicines for heart disease. Graduate student Fotios Pitoulis, working in Cesare Terracciano's lab at Imperial College London, in collaboration with Pieter de Tombe, created a new system to study heart tissue within a physiological environment. They will present their work at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held March 26, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. "The heart needs to generate force and shorten at the same time to squeeze blood out; this is not usually something you see in in vitro heart models," Terracciano said. Using tiny pieces of heart tissue with preserved structure and function, they were able to recapitulate the sequence of mechanical events as found in the body. This was done by creating a custom bioreactor that allows the tissue to shorten in sync with electrical stimulation. To see whether the heart tissue in their system behaved like it would inside the body, they added noradrenaline and changed the workload on the tissue to simulate normal conditions and disease. The team observed changes in force similar to those observed in hearts in vivo.. The new aspects of this system is that contraction parameters can be promptly adjusted using computer algorithms to mimic normal or disease conditions, for example to recreate the stiffer conditions of high blood pressure. "If you have high blood pressure, you affect how the heart cells work. We can recreate this condition to understand what happens at the level of the tissue," Terracciano said. Pitoulis added, "We now have a unique tool to study the mechanical and electrical properties of heart tissue, as well as long-term changes that happen at the molecular level within the context of healthy heart or disease." Explore further In vitro grafts increase blood flow in infarcted rat hearts Some doctors websites make false claims to encourage women to have genital cosmetic surgery. Credit: rawpixel Women's genitals are as diverse as our faces, as you can see in the Labia Library photo gallery. We are accustomed to some faces being accepted as "beautiful", and know that the standard varies across time and culture. We may be less familiar with the idea that similar judgements are made about the vulva. The vulva includes the inner lips (labia minora) and outer lips (labia majora), the clitoris, and the vaginal opening. Labia can be long or short, wrinkled or smooth, dark or light. One side is often longer than the other, consistent with the asymmetry of most body parts. The exterior of the clitoris can be pea-sized or as big as a thumb. Just as some people seek cosmetic surgery on visible parts of their bodies, women have resorted to cosmetic surgery on their genitals to make them resemble an ideal. The Western ideal vulva is represented by the Barbie doll: "a clean slit". More than half of GPs surveyed in 2016 reported being consulted by women and girls wanting genital cosmetic surgery. But what do women see when they search for cosmetic surgery? Doctors advertise online, offering procedures including labiaplasty to reduce the labia minora, reduction of the clitoral hood, and plumping up of the labia majora. Our research team wanted to learn what was in popular websites advertising Australian clinics, and analysed 31 websites in 2016. The same or similar websites came up in our search this week. Websites gave a strong impression that female genitals diverging from the "ideal" need surgery. Although most websites acknowledged that vulvas were naturally diverse, they used language that pathologised any appearance other than a Barbie doll. Visible labia minora were described as "hypertrophic" (showing excessive growth), which sounds like a medical diagnosis. According to one doctor: "The primary goal of labiaplasty is to reduce the size of the labia by surgically removing excess skin and shaping it into a more youthful and attractive form." Websites didn't say why it was better to be youthful than mature in sexuality or sexual organs. "Youthful" implies a yearning for women who are compliant and self-effacing, with no alarming sexual organs and presumably sexual needs. Websites also emphasised the need to be "feminine", with a "neat" and "tidy" vulva, conjuring up images of a 1950s housewife. These doctors reinforced the idea of binary sex, in which women must look undeniably female, with no visible clitoris. One website claimed a protruding clitoris "can feel and appear like a very small penis, which can cause deep insecurity and sexual anxiety". "Excess, floppy or uneven Labia Minora" justified cosmetic surgery, as did psychological, emotional, and physical discomfort. These were often described as "symptoms" requiring surgery to improve women's health and well-being. According to one website: "The truth is that relationships, exercise, even dressing can be negatively impacted by a large inner or outer labia." A typical "patient testimonial" claimed that, after labiaplasty, "Suddenly empowered, I felt more womanly than ever." Credit: Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND Large labia minora were said to be "unhealthy and unhygienic". Women were warned that, should "symptoms" be left "untreated", they would worsen and "contribute to an unpleasant smell developing in the sensitive area". Only one website talked about the lack of evidence to support claims about hygiene: "There is no evidence to suggest that labiaplasty surgery can reduce problems with recurrent thrush or address hygiene concerns or problems." It was also claimed on some sites that women's sex life would improve because they would no longer be anxious about the way their genitals looked, and because cutting off visible labia minora would make women more attractive: "It will be very apparent to your sexual partner that the external structure of the labia will have been altered visuallynamely they'll be smaller and better aligned. Your sexual partner will clearly notice this change for the better." Some websites claimed cosmetic surgery had nothing to do with fashion or social pressure and everything to do with individual choice: "Labiaplasty is an individual consideration. It is not merely the domain of strippers or porn stars. It can improve the physical and psychological quality of life for women who [are] affected by genital irregularities. [] Part of being a woman is not 'putting up with it' but taking control by having access to choice." The sales pitch emphasised that labiaplasty was "simple," "safe and pain-free", "one-hour surgery". The websites' primary interest appeared to be commercial. While most doctors showed awareness of at least some ethical practices (including risks or side-effects, usually described as "rare"), few gave evidence of practising ethically, such as performing surgery only on adults. Only two warned of potential loss of sensation or the harmful effects of scarring. Three websites did recommend that women seek a second opinion and another required a recommendation from an independent doctor. Of course, doctors may practise ethically without giving details on their websites. However, it could be considered poor ethical practice to persuade women they need surgery on genitals showing no evidence of abnormality. Medical organisations point to the lack of "high-quality evidence" to support female genital surgery for cosmetic reasons. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, for example, dismisses claims cosmetic genital surgery enhances sexual function or women's self-image. The college has also raised concern that such surgery may exploit vulnerable women. While supporting genital surgery for female anatomy following trauma, mutilation or congenital anomalies, the Australian Federation of Medical Women opposes the promotion of surgical techniques that make unproven claims about sexual satisfaction or attractiveness: "promoting and performing such surgery carries significant risks of physical and psychological harm to women and girls." Because these websites represent GPs and surgeons, they carry the weight of professional and scientific respectability, which gives power to their message: women's most intimate bodies need to be shaped to conform to fashion or beauty ideals. The first principle of medicine is to do no harm. Encouraging women to cut off bits of their genitals to suit a fashion trend or social constructions of womanhood has at least the potential for harm. The time has come for stricter regulation and monitoring of medical advertisements rather than of women's bodies. Explore further Rising rates of genital cosmetic surgery subject of new research This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. READ: Momo Challenge goes viral: Beware! The Philippine National Police on Friday joined other government agencies in urging parents to monitor their childrens online activities. Brig. Gen. Marni Marcos Jr. made the reminder after theon social media and reportedly driving some youth to suicide. While we have yet to determine where theoriginated, we encourage the public and law enforcement authorities to spread awareness of this suicide game, Marcos said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology is urging parents to play an active role in safeguarding their children against theNews of the death of an 11-year-old child was allegedly linked to the Momo Challenge, where children are reportedly tricked to follow a step-by-step instruction to get involved in unsafe dares, which eventually lead them to harm themselves. Marcos advised people to report any untoward incident involving theto the ACG through hotline 414-1560 or by visiting the nearest Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit or any police station.when it was noticed by a known YouTube user. Later, a 12-year-old Argentine girl died after she was allegedly persuaded to take her own life by a grotesque-looking female figure through the mobile messaging application WhatsApp.However, authorities have yet to find a link between the trending suicide game and the unlikely death of the victim, the same with the reported cases of Momo Challenge casualties in Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Europe. The face of the Momo Challenge was found to be a sculpture created by Link Factory, a Japanese special effects company. Reports say that unscrupulous people behind the Momo Challenge only used the cropped image of the Mother Bird (the real name of the artwork) due to its disturbingly bizarre appearance. Web security experts also claimed that the Momo Challenge was likely a case of moral panic and was being sensationalized through media reports and social media stories. It was even being compared to the popular Blue Whale Challenge, a game reportedly consisting of a series of tasks that are initially harmless before introducing elements of self-harm and requiring the player to commit suicide at the final challenge, as well as the Bloody Mary Challenge, wherein children would scare themselves by saying Bloody Mary three times in front of a mirror. This Feb. 17, 2016 file photo shows marijuana plants at a home in Honolulu. Hawaii is among the bluest of states, but when it comes to legalizing marijuana, it is out of step with liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont. A bill that would legalize marijuana in the islands faces significant obstacles from leaders worried about contradicting federal law and jeopardizing Hawaii's existing medical marijuana program. It faces a Friday, March 1, 2019, deadline to pass committee. (AP Photo/Marina Riker, File) On the political spectrum, Hawaii is among the bluest of states. Democrats control all the levers of power at the state and federal levels, and voters back Democratic presidential candidates over Republicans by some of the widest margins in the U.S. The state has committed to the Paris climate agreement that President Donald Trump rejected and was the first state to require people to be 21 to buy cigarettes. The tourist haven even banned certain types of sunscreen because they can harm coral reefs. But when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana for adult use, the islands are out of step with liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont that have already done so, and other left-leaning states such as New York and New Jersey that are racing toward joining them. On Friday, a legalization bill that made it farther in the legislative process than previous efforts died when lawmakers failed to consider it in time for a deadline. Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English has introduced marijuana legalization bills for the past 15 yearsbut Hawaii has a track record of moving slowly on social issues. For example, other states moved far more quickly to sanction gay marriage and medically assisted suicide. Half the Democrats in the state Senate co-sponsored English's measure, helping spur speculation this would be the year legalization becomes reality. But the effort fizzled as other leaders worried about contradicting federal law, which continues to classify marijuana as an illegal drug, and jeopardizing Hawaii's existing medical marijuana program. To move forward, the bill had to pass the Senate Health Committee and Senate Ways and Means Committee by a Friday deadline so it could be considered by the full Senate. But the Health Committee did not schedule a meeting on Friday to consider any bills, effectively killing the marijuana legalization measure. This June 6, 2017 file photo shows Aloha Green, a medical marijuana dispensary, in Honolulu. Hawaii is among the bluest of states; but when it comes to legalizing marijuana for adult use, the islands are out of step with fellow liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont. Hawaii was the first state to legislatively approve medical marijuana in 2000, but it took island lawmakers another 15 years to set up a dispensary system. (AP Photo/Cathy Bussewitz, File) Rep. Della Au Belatti, the House majority leader, said before the bill died that she believes Hawaii will legalize adult use marijuana at some point. But she said lawmakers will vet the issue carefully. "I also think that we have enough folks who are sitting around the table who are saying 'Let's do it right. Let's not just rush into things and let's do it right,'" she said. Belatti said lawmakers must closely study the experiences of states that have already legalized marijuana. She also wants to have abuse prevention, treatment and education programs set up before legalization. Hawaii also will have to make sure legalized marijuana doesn't lead to more impaired driving, she said. For now, Belatti said she's just inclined toward decriminalizing marijuana, or reducing fines and criminal penalties for possession. Twelve states and the District of Columbia have recreational marijuana laws. All except Vermont did it by ballot initiative, an option not available in Hawaii. Sen. Karl Rhoads, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Hawaii residents are becoming more accepting of legalization now because it has happened elsewhere and "the world hasn't come to an end." There's also recognition that the status quo isn't working, he said, noting that juniors at a high school near his district tell him they can get pot whenever they want. "It's like Prohibition," he said. "We've been trying to squish it out, squeeze it out, by making it illegal. And it's just failed miserably." In this Jan. 25, 2016 file photo, Democratic Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Honolulu. Hawaii is among the bluest of states; but when it comes to legalizing marijuana for adult use, the islands are out of step with fellow liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont. English has introduced legalization bills for the past 15 years. (AP Photo/Marina Riker, File) Rhoads' committee passed an amended version of English's bill last month, the first time a legalization measure has ever made it out of any committee. Health Committee Chairwoman Sen. Roz Baker said she did not want to do anything that would threaten Hawaii's nascent medical cannabis dispensary system. Dispensary sales began just two years ago. Baker believes the federal government will leave medical marijuana alone but might take a more active approach to enforcing federal drug laws if Hawaii takes the next step. Democratic Gov. David Ige expressed similar concerns. Rep. Joy San Buenaventura said it did not make sense to push the measure through without Ige's support. San Buenaventura represents Puna, a mostly rural area on the Big Island long known for pot growing. Brian Goldstein, the founder and CEO of the medical marijuana dispensary Noa Botanicals, said it is inevitable Hawaii will eventually allow adult use. He acknowledged it may take a while. Hawaii's Legislature approved medical marijuana in 2000four years after California became the first state with such a lawbut it took island lawmakers another 15 years to set up a dispensary system. Carl Bergquist, the executive director of the pro-legalization Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, said progress is being made even though the idea failed again this year. "It's a huge step ... just to have that conversation started," he said. Explore further New York governor says he's ready to legalize recreational pot 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain There is a significant association between the rise of populism across Europe and the level of mistrust around vaccines, according to a study by Queen Mary University of London. Lead author Dr. Jonathan Kennedy from Queen Mary University of London said: "It seems likely that scientific populism is driven by similar feelings to political populism, for example, a profound distrust of elites and experts by disenfranchised and marginalised parts of the population. "Even where programmes objectively improve the health of targeted populations, they can be viewed with suspicion by communities that do not trust elites and experts. In the case of vaccine hesitancy, distrust is focused on public health experts and pharmaceutical companies that advocate vaccines." The study, published in the European Journal of Public Health, looked at national-level data from 14 European countries. This data included the percentage of people in a country who voted for populist parties in the 2014 European Parliament elections, and the percentage of people in a country who believe that vaccines are not important, safe and/or effective, according to data from the 2015 Vaccine Confidence Project. The analysis found a highly significant positive association between the percentage of people in a country who voted for populist parties and the percentage who believe that vaccines are not important and not effective. Professor Sophie Harman, an expert on global health politics from Queen Mary's School of Politics and International Relations, who was not involved in the research, commented: "Like restrictions on reproductive rights, anti-vaccination rhetoric has long been the canary in the coal mine for populism." In the research article, Dr. Kennedy writes that modern vaccine hesitancy is usually traced to Andrew Wakefield's now discredited 1998 Lancet article, which claimed a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. MMR vaccination rates in the UK fell from 92 per cent in 1995 to a low of 79 per cent in 2003, well below the 95 per cent rate needed to achieve herd immunity. Confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales rose from 56 in 1998 to 1370 in 2008. Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register and the Lancet study retracted. Nevertheless, his ideas remain influential and are cited as a reason why measles cases have increased in Europe over the past few years. There is additional anecdotal evidence suggesting a connection between the rise of populist politicians and political movements in Western Europe and increasing levels of vaccine hesitancy, Kennedy writes. The most prominent example is Italy. The Five Star Movement (5SM) have raised concerns about vaccine safety and the link between MMR and autism. It is argued that these concerns caused MMR vaccination coverage to fall from 90 per cent in 2013 to 85 per cent in 2016, and resulted in an increase in measles cases from 840 in 2016 to 5000 in 2017. Despite this, the upper house of the Italian Parliamentbolstered by newly elected representatives from 5SM and Leaguerecently passed a law to repeal legislation that makes vaccines compulsory for children enrolling in state schools. In France, the right-wing Front National have also raised concerns about vaccine safety and laws that make childhood vaccinations mandatory. And in Greece, the left-wing SYRIZA government proposed that parents should be able to opt out of vaccinating their children. While UKIP has not expressed similar concerns, a poll conducted by Mori showed UKIP voters were almost five times more likely than the general population to believe that MMR was unsafe. Further afield in the US, Donald Trump has met well-known anti-vaccination campaigners, including Wakefield, and expressed sympathy with their ideas. For example, in 2014 he tweeted: 'Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn't feel good and changesAUTISM. Many such cases!' Dr. Kennedy adds: "Vaccine hesitancy will be difficult to resolve unless its underlying causes of populisman iniquitous economic system and unrepresentative political systemare addressed." More information: Jonathan Kennedy, Populist politics and vaccine hesitancy in Western Europe: an analysis of national-level data, European Journal of Public Health (2019). Journal information: European Journal of Public Health Jonathan Kennedy, Populist politics and vaccine hesitancy in Western Europe: an analysis of national-level data,(2019). DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckz004 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Federal officials are examining potential barriers, such as a fear of retaliation from employers, that may explain why only about one-third of coal miners participate in a program to screen for black lung disease even as the number of workers suffering from the deadly condition is rising. The lack of participation concerns lawmakers and the federal agency that administers the program, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The institute, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plans to issue a congressionally mandated report on the issue by the end of March. The consensus among health advocates is that miners are afraid that participating in the screenings will hurt their careers because employers don't want to have to deal with a sick employee. "It's a known fact that there have been people who were either dismissed or discriminated against because they went for black lung screening or benefits," said Brenda Marion, project director for the New River Health Black Lung Clinic in Scarbro, W.Va. She said that the perception among some miners is that if they are screened and a problem is found, the employer might fire them because of a reluctance to pay for their health care or other benefits, or because the company doesn't want to move the employee into a job with less exposure to dust. The Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program has offered coal miners free chest X-rays and other screening services since 1970. In addition to helping miners find out if they're affected by black lung, the program also collects national data about the disease's prevalence, and last year found that it had reached its highest level in 25 years. The institute that runs the program called the situation an epidemic. Ten percent of coal miners who worked in mines for at least 25 years have black lung, up from 7 percent in 2012, the last time an estimate was made. Miners in the central Appalachian region, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, are even more at risk, with a black lung prevalence of 25 percent. It's particularly important that younger workers get screenings, Marion said, because in recent years she's seen black lung in miners who haven't spent as much time underground as in earlier eras. She said this might be due to new drilling techniques that result in higher exposure levels or longer hours for workers. The federal program is not the only option for the nation's 50,000 miners to get a black lung diagnosis. Coal mines are also supposed to arrange for employees to have access to screenings, but mistrust is still an issue when the employer is involved. Seeking a doctor independently is also an option, but that can require jumping through insurance hoops or an out-of-pocket payment. The goal behind the federal program was to boost early detection, so that a miner with the early stages of the disease could be transferred to a job with less dust exposure to slow progression, according to Cara Halladin, a researcher in NIOSH's respiratory health division. "It had good intentions, but a lot of people aren't participating," she said in an interview. "When they are participating, they're participating later in their careers." That means by the time it is detected, the disease is already in a more advanced stage that can't be slowed. NIOSH wants to boost participation above the current 35 percent of miners who take advantage of the screenings, and recently sought public comments about the barrier to access. Just eight comments were submitted in response to the CDC's request for public input, but almost all agreed that the perception of confidentiality and discrimination against employees who sought the screenings was a major barrier. Halladin said that confidentiality was a real concern that the CDC often hears. And while it would be illegal for an employer to fire an employee explicitly for their health status, "that doesn't prevent them from being fired for other reasons or being discriminated against in other ways," she said. Phil Smith, director of communications and government affairs for the labor union United Mine Workers of America, said that while union workers don't have to worry about discrimination based on health status, at-will employees at non-union mines don't have the same protections. "The last thing that a company wants is somebody working at their mine who can later prove that they contracted black lung at their mine," he said. While NIOSH says the screenings are confidential, the coal mining companies have to pay for the screenings themselves and know who has received one. The issue arises once miners know their status and choose whether to exercise their so-called "Part 90" rights, which require employers to transfer employees with black lung to a different job at the same pay rate. The mine would also be on the hook for paying the miners' disability benefits. Miners fear that invoking their rights "will result in their eventual demotion or termination from work, and thus make it difficult to find future work," according to the comments from the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center Inc. The coal mining industry disputes that access is an issue. A representative for Murray Energy, the fourth-largest coal-mining company in the U.S., said that its mines post information about where X-rays are available and grant access to NIOSH's mobile screening van. Jason D. Witt, Murray's assistant general counsel, also said that the mines only know about the diagnosis if a miner exercises Part 90 rights. "Murray Energy Corporation does not retaliate against miners who participate in the CWHSP or who has received a positive diagnosis, or for any other reason," he said in an email. He said that Murray has only two miners who have ever chosen to invoke the Part 90 rightsone who is still employed, and another who recently retired. A spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, which represents coal and other mining companies, echoed that sentiment and cited federal law that bans discrimination based on a medical evaluation. "NMA is not aware of any case where an operator has terminated a miner, or retaliated in any way, when testing showed evidence of" black lung, Ashley Burke, the association's senior vice president for communications, said in an email. Other issues raised included the lack of clinics certified to conduct the screenings in Western states, meaning that it's more costly for miners to travel for the screenings or requires them to take time off. All of the commenters agreed that barriers existedexcept for one. NMA, the industry's trade group, argued that there were no impediments at all to access, and that the best way to boost participation would be to make screening mandatory. Another commenter, Aysha A. Bodenhamer, an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia's Radford University who specializes in rural health issues, also said the screenings should be mandatory. That, she said, would "dissolve the power dynamic of bullying those who decide to be proactive and get screened." But the miners' union and others, like the American Public Health Association, don't think workers should be compelled to have health screenings. They maintain that the burden should be on the employers to support the screenings and naturally eliminate the perception that being screened is bad for your career. Smith of the miners' union said one way to address the concern about confidentiality would be for the mining companies to pay into a pool of money that would pay for screenings nationwide, rather than separate invoices for each company. But given how hard mining companies fought last year against a tax to help fund black lung disability benefits, Smith was doubtful they would agree to pay more for the screenings. "They're not going to want to pay any more money into something that identifies people with black lung," he sad. Asked about that idea, Witt from Murray Energy replied: "We currently pay for our employees' screenings and believe the current program to be satisfactory." Explore further Coal miners at growing risk of developing debilitating, deadly lung fibrosis 2019 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Sanofi's dengue vaccine Dengvaxia was recalled in the Philippines in December 2017 The Philippine government said Friday it would file criminal charges against six officials of the French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur over the deaths of children injected with its Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine. The Philippines in 2016 was the first nation to use Dengvaxia in a mass immunisation programme, but Sanofi disclosed a year later that it could worsen symptoms for people not previously infected by the dengue virus. The disclosure sparked a nationwide panic, with some parents alleging the vaccine killed their children. The controversy also triggered a vaccine scare that the government said was a factor behind measles outbreaks that the UN Children's Fund said have killed 203 people so far this year. The justice department said on Friday its prosecutors found grounds to hold Sanofi officials criminally liable and that charges of "reckless imprudence resulting to homicide" will be filed in court, but gave no timeframe. The department said the charges were based on an investigation into the deaths of 10 children, adding other complaints were still being probed. "Members of the board of Sanofi Pasteur actively advertised, in fact marketed the drug, despite knowledge of the risks involved in the vaccine, despite knowledge of the risks involved in its use," justice department spokesman Markk Perete said. "Later on when certain deaths and other medical emergencies arose, they did not render assistance to the victims and their family ... It's a crime by neglect," he told AFP. The department said the crime is punishable by up to six years in prison. Sanofi on Friday criticised Manila's decision to file charges and vowed to defend the officials. "We strongly disagree with the conclusions reached against Sanofi and certain of its employees and we will defend them vigorously," the group said in a written statement. Sanofi has repeatedly said the vaccine is safe, noting in a March 2018 statement: "No causal-related deaths were reported in 15 countries after clinical trials conducted for more than a decade with 40,000 subjects involved." Current and former officials of the health department will also be charged, the justice department said, adding complaints against two other Sanofi executives were dismissed. Dengue, or haemorrhagic fever, is the world's most common mosquito-borne virus and infects an estimated 390 million people in more than 120 countries each yearkilling more than 25,000 of them, according to the World Health Organization. Friday's announcement comes less than two weeks after the Philippine Food and Drug Administration permanently banned the sale, import and distribution of Dengvaxia. Manila stopped the public immunisation programme shortly after Sanofi's 2017 disclosure. Explore further Philippines hit by deadly measles outbreak 2019 AFP Python cardiomyocyte. Credit: Claudia Crocini Burmese pythons have an amazing response to fasting and feeding. They can go without eating for months, and when they do eat, they can consume twice their body mass or more. Their hearts then nearly double in size in response to such a feeding, and after digestion most of that new tissue is broken down in a short amount of time. Leslie Leinwand's lab at the University of Colorado Boulder is working to better understand these dramatic changes in python hearts, which are relevant to enlargement of the human heart. Claudia Crocini, a postdoctoral fellow in the Leinwand lab, will present their latest research at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held March 26, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. Human hearts get larger in response to pregnancy or chronic exercise, both of which are normal, healthy processes. But the human heart also enlarges in response to chronic high blood pressure, or to certain genetic diseases, which presents health risks and can lead to heart failure. The processes involved in quickly growing and shrinking python hearts may provide insights that could help humans with these conditions. "The Leinwand lab previously found that the increase in python cardiac size is triggered by a combination of fatty acids in python serum. That combination of fatty acids was able to induce hypertrophy in mice," Crocini said, and added, "now we want to understand the fundamental mechanisms of python cardiac growth at the cellular level, and how this healthy heart growth and regression could help redirect or regress a pathological heart growth in mammals." But studying pythons isn't easythere isn't much information about their genes, and it's difficult to isolate their cells because they're surrounded by a lot of tough collagen. "A python heart is 15-18 percent collagen. In a healthy mouse, it's one percent," Crocini added. But in order to understand how python hearts function at the cellular and molecular levels, isolating their cells is crucial. Crocini painstakingly developed a technique, involving an enzyme to break down the collagen, to isolate python heart cells (cardiomyocytes), while maintaining their normal structure. As compared to mammalian cardiac cells, python cardiomyocytes exhibit a long and thinner shape with one single nucleus. She and her colleagues were also able to isolate individual cardiac contractile units from python tissue, and measure the tension and rates of activation and relaxation of these units. Python contractile units are faster but generate less maximal force than those in humans. "We now have the tools to study single python cardiomyocytes and understand the mechanics of python cardiac growth at the cellular level", Crocini explained. Explore further Great snakes! Indonesians wrestle with giant python Credit: CC0 Public Domain Should public health-care systems provide couples with expanded screening for genetic disorders before they decide to become pregnant? Screening programmes could increase our reproductive choices and autonomy. But there are ethical issues at stake. "With more choices comes more responsibility, which, in turn, can cause moral distress. Instead of couples asking themselves if this is the right time to start a family, they could feel pressured to make the 'right' reproductive choices," says Amal Matar, Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB) vid Uppsala University, about her Ph.D. thesis based on interviews with Swedish healthcare professionals and healthcare policy experts. Couples with family history of genetic disorders are offered testing to see if they are carriers of the genes that cause genetic disorders. But what happens if couples planning a baby are offered to screen for up to 1,500 genetic disorders? In her thesis, Amal Matar interviewed health care professionals and policy experts. The results show that Swedish experts and professionals believe that this kind of screening on a larger scale raises ethical concerns. For the individuals, it can affect people's reproductive autonomy. But for us as a society, this kind of expanded genetic carrier screening raises concerns about how we prioritize already limited health-care resources. It could also lead to discrimination and a 'medicalization' of human reproduction, which, according to Amal Matar can have long-term effects on our society and values. Letting medicine control more aspects of your life might not be morally wrong, but some have viewed it as intrusion to their integrity and personal or family space. Her work shows that through the screening process, individuals could find ways to better express their reproductive autonomy. "In reproductive genetic counselling, healthcare practitioners are expected to help couples make joint reproductive decisions, while at the same time facilitating the individual's reproductive freedom. Two perspectives that are sometimes conflicting," says Amal Matar. In her thesis, Amal Matar introduces the idea of "couple autonomy," and outlines a number of criteria that should be fulfilled before a joint decision can be considered autonomous. For example that each partner should be able to express their respective concerns and preferences openly. The couple should also be allowed enough time to weigh the options and reach a joint decision that is acceptable for both of them. According to Amal Matar, expanded genetic screening before pregnancy could increase our sense of reproductive autonomy. But large-scale implementation potentially threatens the values upon which the Swedish publicly-funded healthcare system is built: Human dignity, equality, and solidarity. She concludes that we need more knowledge about the potential long-term societal effects before considering this kind of genetic preconception expanded carrier screening for the Swedish population. She suggests designing a framework that involves public engagement and societal dialogue about ethical and social issues ensuing from new technologies, can help protect these values. Genetic testing has become both cheaper and more reliable. It is now possible to screen for up to 1,500 genetic disorders and conditions. Ranging from severe conditions like beta thalassemia (chronic anaemia) and cystic fibrosis, to mild ones, like hereditary fructose intolerance. Parents can be healthy and unaware that are carriers of the same non-dominant disease gene. If they do, the risk that their child develops the disease is 1 in 4. One group that could potentially benefit from such screening programmes are couples who are considering having a baby. If the screening shows there is risk for genetic disorders, the couple can be offered prenatal screening during pregnancy, or in-vitro fertilisation and preimplantation diagnosis, or consider adoption. Explore further ACOG recommends use of carrier screening before pregnancy More information: Matar, Amal (2019): Considering a Baby? Responsible Screening for the Future: Ethical and social implications for implementation and use of preconception expanded carrier screening in Sweden. Matar, Amal (2019): Considering a Baby? Responsible Screening for the Future: Ethical and social implications for implementation and use of preconception expanded carrier screening in Sweden. urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-372736 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Pharmacists at University of Minnesota Health are attaching digital sensors to chemotherapy pills to detect when cancer patients are forgetting or falling behind on tumor-killing medications. So-called smart pills have been used to improve "medication adherence" for patients with heart problems or mental disorders, but the U became the first to test their effectiveness with oral chemotherapy. The technology could significantly improve cancer care because the timing and dosage of chemotherapy is critical, said Dr. Edward Greeno, who directs the U's oncology service line. "The therapy windowthe difference between what's too much and too littlecan be pretty narrow," he said. "You want to know (the drugs are) being given right." Ingestible sensors are affixed to the pills, then send signals to receiver patches that patients wear on their bellies. The receivers send the drug-consumption information to patients' mobile phones and to doctors' medical records. The university has combined sensors with capecitabine chemo pills since September in a test project with pharmacists from Fairview Health and the manufacturer, California-based Proteus Digital Health. Medication non-adherence is a problem in the United States: An estimated 50 percent of patients with chronic diseases don't take medications as prescribed. The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics in 2013 estimated that improper and unnecessary medication use caused an additional $200 billion in annual U.S. health care costs. Proteus' chief executive, Andrew Thompson, said the sensors are an affordable solution, though the company didn't disclose specific cost figures. The company first tried its federally approved sensors in combination with pills for schizophrenia, because of high rates of non-adherence in that patient population. Then it added sensors to drugs for heart problems and infectious diseases, because researchers could quickly assess whether they improved short-term outcomes for patients with those conditions. Around 177,000 Proteus digital sensors have been swallowed with medication to date. The system works because so many people rely on mobile phones, and will respond to alerts or "behavioral nudges" from them to take their pills, Thompson said. "Nudges that are small and incremental and frequent are much more powerful than visiting the doctor once a month and being given an eight-minute lecture," he said. Such technology wasn't necessary in cancer care until recently, because chemotherapy was mostly given intravenously in clinics. But it could be vital now that more patients are taking pill forms of chemotherapy at home, Greeno said. Some patients are intimidated by the life-or-death responsibility of managing their own chemotherapy, and wouldn't consider it without support, he said. "They're afraid of treating themselves. This is sort of a way of giving patients some back up." Greeno cited a cancer patient who stopped taking her pills last fall. After seeing the sensor data, Greeno learned that arthritis had made it too hard for the patient to open her pill bottle. "A pretty easy problem to solve if you know about it," he said. "Impossible (to solve) if you don't." In addition to receiving information from the digital pills, the patches can monitor patients' heart rates, exercise patterns and sleep levels. Greeno said he was surprised at how much that data helped him learn how his cancer patients were coping. Even with cancer, "patients are not as compliant as you might think," he said. Grading Papers Brenda Jans Darling, 45, of Montevideo, Minn., was one of the first cancer patients to take digital medicine, and said the general fitness data from the patch was valuable. She had been taking oral chemotherapy for months for colon cancer and had developed a routine, so the sensor data only verified she was taking her pills on time. But the math teacher and mother of two thought she was getting enough rest but not enough exercise. The sensor data showed that she had it backward: Moving around with her students gave her more than enough daily activity, but she wasn't sleeping enough. The data convinced her to stop grading papers by 8 p.m. each night to assure adequate time with her kids and sufficient rest. "That's been really helpful," she said. Patients with colon cancer received the digital medicine during the university's initial test phase this fall. How quickly the technology expands will depend in part on whether health insurers will pay for it as a benefit. Two large Minnesota insurance companies are hedging on digital medicine for now. HealthPartners said in a statement that it's not covering the sensors until research proves that they improve patient outcomes. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota said the technology is a "non-preferred option" in its formulary and that it recommends long-acting medications and patient counseling instead. Some insurers are adding it conservativelyfirst trying it in "capitated" health plans that make doctors and clinics responsible for cost overruns, said Olivia Ware, a senior vice president for Proteus. When they see that it works, they add it to more plans, she said. The cost of developing the sensor system alone was relatively low, Thompson said, which helps to keep its price down. Hospital and clinic systems do incur additional staff costs, though, because their pharmacists must manually combine the sensor pills and medications in capsules. The sensor is the size of a grain of salt and contains the same copper, magnesium and other minerals found in everyday foods, the company said. Proteus is pursuing federal approval of medications that are already combined with sensors before they reach pharmacies, but has to do so one drug at a time. The first such combination drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was Ability MyCite, an antipsychotic drug. The university and Fairview are expanding their use of digital medicine for cancer carecombining the sensors with anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea pills that patients receive to manage chemo side effects. Sensor readings from those pills could be valuable, because if patients are taking them frequently, it might mean that their chemotherapy is too harsh and needs adjusting, Greeno said. That could produce savings by reducing prescriptions to patients of drugs that aren't working for them. Greeno has no ownership stake in Proteus, but will be reimbursed for travel to speak about the company. He said the sensors have particular value in Minnesota, because they detect medication problems that stoic patients otherwise might not discuss. "You know how Minnesotans are," he said. "They don't want to be a bother so they sit at home being sick." Explore further Smart pills dumb down medical care, experts warn 2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Conceiving within a year of stillbirth is common and is not associated with increased risk of stillbirth, preterm birth, or small-for-gestational-age birth in the following pregnancy, compared with an interpregnancy interval of at least two years. The results are from the first large-scale observational study to investigate the interval between stillbirth and subsequent pregnancy, including almost 14,500 births in women from Australia, Finland and Norway who had a stillbirth in their previous pregnancy. The findings are published in The Lancet. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women wait at least two years after a livebirth and at least 6 months after a miscarriage or induced abortion before conceiving again, but there is no guidance for the optimal interval after a stillbirth because there is limited evidence in this area. "Our results consistently showed that an interpregnancy interval of less than one year was not associated with increased risk of adverse birth outcomes in the next pregnancy, compared with an interval of at least two years. Our findings provide valuable evidence for recommended pregnancy spacing after a stillbirth," says study author Dr. Annette Regan, Curtin University, Australia. "Approximately 3.5 in every 1,000 births in high-income countries are stillborn, and there is limited guidance available for planning future pregnancies. We hope that our findings can provide reassurance to women who wish to become pregnant or unexpectedly become pregnant shortly after a stillbirth." The study used birth records spanning 37 years (1980-2016) from Finland, Norway, and Australia to investigate intervals between pregnancies and the risk of subsequent stillbirth, preterm birth, and small-for-gestational-age birth. The authors note that these countries have access to universal health care and free antenatal care, and the populations are primarily white, so the findings might not be generalisable to low- or middle-income countries, countries without access to universal health care, or ethnic minority groups. The study included singleton births only, and stillbirths following 22 or more weeks' gestation. The interpregnancy interval was calculated from the delivery date of the past birth or stillbirth and the start of the next pregnancy (delivery date of next pregnancy minus gestational age at birth), and was categorised as less than 6 months, 6-11 months, 12-23 months, 24-59 months, and more than 59 months. Overall, the study included 14,452 births among mothers who had a stillbirth in their previous pregnancy (4,170 in Finland, 6,761 in Norway, and 3,521 in Australia). Results were compared with 1,654,289 births following a previous livebirth from the three countries (536,392 in Finland, 854,999 in Norway, and 262,898 in Australia). Of the 14,452 births in women whose previous pregnancy ended in stillbirth, 14,224 (98%) were livebirths, 2,532 (18%) were preterm births, and 1,284 (9%) were small-for-gestational-age births. Of the 228 stillbirths (2% of the total births), 201 (88%) were preterm and 27 (12%) were stillborn at term. For women who had experienced stillbirth in their last pregnancy, intervals shorter than 12 months were not associated with increased risk of subsequent stillbirth, preterm birth, or small-for-gestational-age birth, compared with an interpregnancy interval of 24-59 months. This trend remained the same when adjusted for maternal age, number of previous births, and decade of delivery. The authors also noted no difference in the association between interpregnancy interval and birth outcomes based on the gestational length of the previous stillbirth. Short interpregnancy intervals were more common after stillbirth than after livebirththe median interpregnancy interval after a stillbirth was 9 months, compared with 25 months after a livebirth. After stillbirth, 9,109 (63%) women conceived their next child within 12 months, with 5,393 of those (37% of all births) conceived within 6 months. The authors note the difference in optimal intervals following livebirth and stillbirth. Dr. Regan explains: "Although the mechanism linking interpregnancy interval and perinatal health is unclear, previous research offers several hypotheses, including depleted nutrition from past pregnancy, cervical insufficiency, and breastfeeding-pregnancy overlap in closely spaced pregnancies. Without sufficient time to recover from a previous pregnancy, women may be at increased risk of entering a reproductive cycle with poor nutritional status, which has been linked to increased risk of foetal growth restriction and birth defects. Such nutritional depletion might not occur to the same extent after a pregnancy loss, and this may affect the optimal interpregnancy interval, explaining why it may be different after stillbirth and livebirth." The authors note that other factors that they could not study (such as maternal chronic medical conditions, pregnancy intention, use of assisted reproductive technology, cause of previous stillbirth, or socioeconomic status) may have affected their findings. They also add that women who conceive soon after a previous pregnancy might be healthier and more fertile than women who conceive later and therefore could be less prone to adverse birth outcomes. Within the study, information on miscarriages or induced abortions was not available, which could have led to overestimation of interpregnancy interval in some women. Lastly, the authors note that although this is largest study of its kind, only 228 women had recurrent stillbirths, which means the analyses for this group are limited due to small numbers. Replication of the study in a larger group would be informative. Writing in a linked Comment, Mark A Klebanoff, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, USA, says: "The results of this study, in conjunction with results of studies of pregnancy interval after early loss and with findings of studies using new approaches to study interval after a livebirth, suggest that interpregnancy interval might be less important than previously assumed, at least in women in high-income regions. Rather than adhering to hard and fast rules, clinical recommendations should consider a woman's current health status, her current age in conjunction with her desires regarding child spacing and ultimate family size, and particularly following a loss, her emotional readiness to become pregnant again." Explore further How long should I wait between pregnancies? More information: Association between interpregnancy interval and adverse birth outcomes in women with a previous stillbirth: an international cohort study, The Lancet (2019). www.thelancet.com/journals/lan (18)32266-9/fulltext Journal information: The Lancet Association between interpregnancy interval and adverse birth outcomes in women with a previous stillbirth: an international cohort study,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32266-9 In an attempt to shed light on Zika circulation, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, in collaboration with US teams and the Thai National Institute of Health, decided to investigate the history of the Zika virus in Thailand. They discovered that it has been circulating in the country for at least 16 years and probably longer. Credit: (c) Institut Pasteur The circulation of the dengue virus for the past sixty years in South-East Asia is relatively well known. For Zika, the situation is much less clear. In an attempt to shed light on Zika circulation, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, in collaboration with US teams and the Thai National Institute of Health, decided to investigate the history of the Zika virus in Thailand. They made the surprising discovery that it has been circulating in the country for at least 16 years and probably longer. Their findings were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases on February 27, 2019. The Aedes mosquitopotentially together with flaviviruses like dengue and Zikais found in most tropical and subtropical countries, and South-East Asia is no exception. But unlike South America, South-East Asia has not recorded widespread Zika outbreaks. However, it has been unclear whether there represented a true absence of the virus in the region or if outbreaks have simply not been detected. "It is a disease that is difficult to study, since most people infected by Zika do not fall ill or suffer only minor symptoms," explains Henrik Salje, a statistician and epidemiologist in the Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases Unit at the Institut Pasteur. "Even when they do get sick, the symptoms can easily be confused with other diseases such as the flu or dengue". This means that outbreaks may remain silent. "The two main problems with this virus are that, occasionally, it can lead to neurological complications, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, or severe fetal brain developmental defects. That is why an effective surveillance system is vital." But how can we keep track of such a discreet virus? Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with Thai and US scientists, with the participation of the CNRS, decided to make use of the surveillance network set up by the Thai government in 2016, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika outbreak to be a "public health emergency of international concern". In 2016, in response to the WHO declaration, the Thai government called on hospitals in the country to collect urine, blood and plasma samples from people with symptoms that may be associated with Zika, in other words people with fever or rash symptoms. Over the next two years, a total of 1,717 samples were collected and 368 individuals were revealed to be infected by Zika, giving the scientists the material they needed to start their investigation. Initial results showed that all age categories in the population were affected, exactly as was observed in Colombia, which recently experienced a Zika outbreak. But a surprising finding soon came to light. "We noticed that from the very beginning of the surveillance campaign, Zika could be found all over Thailand," explains Henrik Salje. "This was not expected, since in South America the Zika virus largely disappeared after two or three years following the outbreaks; there does not appear to be widespread long-term circulation." This encouraged the teams to take their inquiry further by examining the viral genome. "Unlike humans, viruses do not have a genetic repair system," says Henrik Salje. "We can use the little errors that emerge during viral replication to piece together the historical spread of viruses." By producing a phylogenetic tree of the Zika virus in Thailand, the scientists discovered that the viral strains within Thailand were genetically very different from each other, and their ancestor seems to have appeared in the country in 2002. "In South America, all the viral strains are very similar to each other. We are pretty sure that there were no strains circulating in South America before 2013 and that the virus has now largely gone" explains Henrik Salje. "When we examine the genetic information collected in Thailand, we see that the virus has been circulating for at least 16 years, and probably even longer." Several theories can be put forward to explain these differences. The first is that changes may have occurred to the Zika virusand its transmissibilitywhen the virus migrated to South America. Another hypothesis suggests cross-immunity with circulating dengue viruses; in other words, individuals who are immune to dengue are also temporarily immunized against Zika. "This publication raises several questions. And we don't yet know why such a difference exists. But one thing that has been confirmed is that it is important to have surveillance systems in place that can monitor Zika on a long-term basis, even if there are no visible signs of its activity," concludes Henrik Salje. Explore further Dengue virus infection may cause severe outcomes following Zika virus infection during pregnancy More information: Kriangsak Ruchusatsawat et al, Long-term circulation of Zika virus in Thailand: an observational study, The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2019). Journal information: Lancet Infectious Diseases Kriangsak Ruchusatsawat et al, Long-term circulation of Zika virus in Thailand: an observational study,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30718-7 @alextdaugherty Matt Gaetz isnt backing down. The two-term congressman from the Florida Panhandle laughed off a Florida Bar inquiry into his tweets, which claimed, the night before former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified in a congressional hearing, that Cohen had extramarital relations, statements that invited claims of witness intimidation. And he also vigorously denied claims that hes been in touch with anyone at the White House regarding Cohens testimony this week, after a reporter said Gaetz had a phone conversation with President Donald Trump while the president was in Vietnam negotiating with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. Recent conversations between Trump and Gaetz could mean that the president is coordinating with allies to discredit Cohen. Gaetz, who said any reporting of phone conversations with the president this week was #FakeNews, paused when asked if he spoke with anyone at the White House this week. Not this week, Gaetz said. Wait I take that back, I had an unrelated conversation about trade with someone. Nothing about Cohen or any of that. Gaetz is one of Trumps biggest defenders in Congress, frequently appearing on cable television and earning Trumps respect and trust. He later apologized for his Cohen tweet and said Thursday that he reached out to Cohen via text message. I told him I was sorry and I shouldnt have mentioned his family, Gaetz said. He appreciated that I acknowledged that mistake on my part. He asked me to publicly ask folks to leave his family alone and I thought that was a fair request. Read more here. NUMBERS RISING. Children with measles occupy beds at the pediatric department of government-run San Lazaro Hospital in Manila in this file photo. The United Nations childrens agency UNICEF said Friday the Philippines is one of 10 nations responsible for three-quarters of a global surge in measles cases last year. Lino Santos The Philippines and nine other countries were responsible for three-quarters of a global surge in measles cases last year, the United Nations childrens agency said Friday.Ninety-eight countries reported more cases of measles in 2018 compared with 2017, and the world body warned that conflict, complacency and the growing anti-vaccine movement threatened to undo decades of work to tame the disease. Meanwhile, the Department of Health reported Friday that a total of 203 patients who contracted measles this year have died. In an interview with radio dzMM, Undersecretary Eric Domingo said there were 13,470 cases of measles in the first two months. Of these, 4,300 cases were recorded in the first week of February. Most of the cases were recorded in Metro Manila, Cagayan and Minaropa, Domingo said. This is a wake-up call. We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious diseasea vaccine that saved almost a million lives every year over the last two decades, said Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF. These cases havent happened overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow. Measles is more contagious than tuberculosis or Ebola, yet it is eminently preventable with a vaccine that costs pennies. But the World Health Organization last year said cases worldwide had soared nearly 50 percent in 2018, killing around 136,000 people. Ukraine, the Philippines, and Brazil saw the largest year-on-year increases in cases. In Ukraine alone, there were 35,120 casesnearly 30,000 more than in 2017.Brazil saw 10,262 reported cases after having none at all the year before. While most of the countries that experienced large spikes in cases are experiencing unrest or conflict, France saw its caseload jump by 2,269. The resurgence of the disease in some countries has been linked to medically baseless claims linking the measles vaccine to autism, which have been spread in part on social media by members of the so-called anti-vax movement. READ: Measles outbreak: 70 dead The WHO last month listed vaccine hesitancy among the top 10 most pressing global health threats for 2019. Almost all of these cases are preventable and yet children are getting infected even in places where there is simply no excuse, Fore said. Measles may be the disease, but all too often the real infection is misinformation, mistrust and complacency. Other nations included on UNICEFs top 10 list of cases increases were France, Yemen, Venezuela, Serbia, Madagascar, Sudan and Thailand. READ: Measles scourge persists House Speaker Jose Oliva apologized Friday for repeatedly referring to pregnant women as "host bodies" in an interview with CBS Miamis Jim DeFede about abortion, which was released Thursday night. The Miami Lakes Republican in a statement apologized multiple times for the phrase, which he said was "an attempt to use terminology found in medical ethics writings with the purpose of keeping the discussion dispassionate. The reaction undoubtedly shows it had the exact opposite effect." "I apologize for having caused offense, my aim was the contrary," he added. "This is and will continue to be our societies [sic] greatest challenge. I strongly believe both mother and child have rights and the extent and balance of those rights remain in question. I regret my wording has distracted from the issue. My apologies to all." Read more. STRONG ALLIES. President Rodrigo Duterte greets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo upon his arrival at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Thursday night. They discussed the countries stances in the West Philippine Sea and Chinas claims in the disputed waterway and the risks of using technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. AFP US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against armed attack in the disputed South China Sea in Washingtons starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking after meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijings artificial islands in waters also claimed by the Southeast Asian nation and other neighbors was a threat.Chinas island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States, he said at a joint news conference with Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin. As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack of Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defense obligations under. Pompeos comments marked the first time anyspecifically in the flashpoint sea. A 1951and its former colonial master to come to each others aid in case of an armed attack in the Pacific area on either party. Senior Duterte officials have called for a review of the pact because they were unsure whether it applied to the maritime row. Troops and fishermen have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces around some of the islands and reefs Manila occupies. The United States has said it is not taking sides in the dispute over waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. The Philippines used to be the staunchest critics of Chinas expansive claims over the sea. But after his election in 2016, Duterte put the dispute on the back burner in favor of courting Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then President Barack Obama a son of a whore. Relations are being rebuilt under US President Donald Trump, who has hailed Dutertes actionsincluding a drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of livesas a sign of toughness. Locsin on Friday downplayed his governments suggestions for a review of the defense pact, saying in its vagueness lies the best deterrence.We are very assured, we are very confident that United States has, in the words of Secretary Pompeo and words of President Trump to our President: We have your back, Locsin said. But Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty still needs to be reviewed to clarify some kinks and to make the terms of the pact more clear-cut. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also said the defense treaty needed to be reviewed. This view differed from Locsins. My own view, it is a dynamic exchange thats going on in government, my own view is no. I believe in the old theory of deterrence. I have been an old man, Ive engaged in the Cold War for longer than you. In vagueness lies the best deterrence, Locsin said during a press briefing. How do you flesh out that vagueness? In the repeated assurances by the US that in the event of an act of aggression committed against the Philippines. I dont believe going down into the details is the way the sincerity of the American commitment can be shown, he said. Pompeo and Locsin also discussed the US support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program as well as the governments campaign against all forms of criminality especially terrorism and its connection with illegal drugs trade. READ: PH-US defense pact likely item in Pompeo visit Ideally mutual defense should cover a partners back as well as its front. Secretary Pompeo and I agreed that it was in both our countries interest to ensure that the alliance effectively address other non-traditional security issues such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; and, above all, the fight against human trafficking, Locsin said. READ: Pompeo visit to make US understand PH policy Pompeo, for his part, raised the importance of a free press during his talks with Locsin. I raised with my counterpart the importance of protecting the rights and liberties of all Filipinos including free speech, a free press, and due process under the law, Pompeo said in his opening remarks during his joint press conference with Locsin. READ: Americas state secretary likens Duterte to Trump Wagah, IndiaThousands of Indians, some waving flags and singing, gathered Friday to give a heros welcome to an air force pilot due to be returned across the border after being shot down by Pakistan. Islamabads peace gesture of freeing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman comes after tensions with New Delhi over Kashmir escalated this week to their highest level in years. The fighter pilot of 16 years experience from Chennai has emerged as the face of the latest standoff, which has seen the nuclear-armed rivals exchange rare aerial raids. Abhinandans parents were given a standing ovation by fellow passengers as they boarded a flight to Amritsar near the Wagah border crossing to welcome their son. The highly symbolic Wagah crossing point, where the handover is due to take place, is famed for hosting colourful rival ceremonies by Indian and Pakistani soldiers each day at sundown. Patriotic spectators fill stadium-style stands on each side to cheer as goose-stepping troops bring down their national flags in elaborate, competing performances. On Friday, thousands of people had crowded in early to get a glimpse of Abhinandan, clutching sweets and garlands as they waited for his return, an AFP reporter said. Pakistan should learn its lesson. The film is not over yet. [Prime Minister Narendra]Modi will teach them a lesson, one man at Wagah told Indian television. A group of schoolchildren brandished a painting of the pilot, along with saffron, white and green Indian flags and placards reading: Hope for peace between India & Pakistan and Thank you Imran Khan, referring to Pakistans prime minister. An old man with a white beard banged a drum as groups of young men sang and danced.We are very happy that the hero of our country is coming back. We have come here to support him, another spectator who came to the Wagah border with his family told the ABP news channel. After Abhinandan was shot down on Wednesday in a dogfight with Pakistani aircraft, purported footage that went viral showed him being beaten by locals before Pakistani soldiers intervened. A video released by the Pakistani military later showed Abhinandan sipping tea, his face swollen and sporting bruises but otherwise collected and calm. His polite refusal to proffer more details than necessary -- I am sorry major, I am not supposed to tell you this -- won him particular sympathy in India. His father, a retired air force officer, told the Times of India newspaper, Just look at the way he talked so bravely... a true soldier... we are proud of him. Social media has been abuzz with #GivebackAbhinandan and #Abhinandanmyhero hashtags elevating the pilot to national hero status. Diplomatic sources said they expected Abhinandan to be handed over to India at around 3.00-4.00 pm (1000-1100 GMT). Abhinandan was captured a day after Indian fighter planes bombed what India said was a militant camp in Pakistan, in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Kashmir on February 14 that killed 40 paramilitaries. He was among the fighter pilots scrambled to repel a Pakistani incursion over the border the next day. I am currently making a hearty breakfast of chicken, spinach, and mashed potatoes for this day, March 1, 2019. I have a late start day today (because of all the inclement weather days that we had in January and February), so I have about an hour and 45 minutes before I have to leave my house and go to work. I am really liking this arrangement of working a 5 hour day on Fridays. Since today is also World Music Therapy Day, I am also taking some time to reflect on my life as a music therapist over the past 26 years. The two things really do go together in my head, I promise!! My breakfast is the result of a melding of different tastes, textures, and food groups. It is not a combination that I found in any type of cookbook or recipe site - it is something that I've made up through putting things into my crock pot and seeing what will happen. Now, I tend to do crock pot things this way. I buy some chicken pieces, look in the freezer for the vegetables that I am going to put into a combination (I am not a fan of vegetables on their own, so I have to "trick" myself into eating things like spinach), and then start to play around with broth and sauce and gravy-type elements. This combination ended up including some soup, some Italian dressing seasoning, and some mushrooms. Now, I also have a bit of difficulty digesting hot things (don't ask - just one of the quirky bits of me!!), so soupy foods are not good for me. However, add a bit of starch (in this case, the potatoes) and I can digest things just fine! So, the potatoes are an add-in to this particular meal, but they make things easier for me. Are you starting to see how this could work into an analogy about a life of music therapy? I first heard about music therapy when I was newly 14 years of age. The summer between my eighth and ninth grade years was a pivotal summer for me. I went on my first trip all by myself, to Evansville, Indiana to the University of Evansville for a Girl Scout Wider Opportunity event. I attended this event as a vocalist - it was a two-week fine and performing arts seminar and 103 other high school Girl Scouts gathered for a college-like experience in our specific creative areas. Since the Girl Scouts didn't really think that there were many female trumpet players (my other primary instrument), I went as a vocalist. That fact doesn't really matter except that one of the things that we did as part of our training was attend a variety of lectures about the bigger world of music as a career. One of those lectures was on music education as a career choice. Now, I was a serious kid back then. I was seriously thinking about college and career plans even before starting high school. I was going back and forth between teaching, music ministry, some sort of therapy (my mom is an Occupational Therapist and I enjoyed her work), and back again to teaching. I figured that I would probably be a music educator because I didn't really know about other options, and I knew that I loved working with people and that music was a huge part of my life. None of my options felt exactly right, but that's what I knew. (As I reflect back on life, I figure I probably would have ended up out of music education and into special education as a career if I hadn't been in that lecture about music education on that fateful day way, WAY back!) Back to the lecture day. It was towards the end of the two-week time period, and the lecturer told us things that I already knew about - the course requirements, the options that were available if you got a degree in music education. Nothing really earth shattering until the end. The lecturer said, "Oh. I almost forgot. We have another department here as well. The professor wasn't able to be here, but she asked me to leave some brochures for you if you are interested. It's called music therapy." CLICK. Seriously, that's the sound that my brain made. CLICK. I hurried to the front of the room and took one of those mimeographed brochures like it was the Holy Grail (which, for me, it really was!). I knew at that moment what was to be my destiny. Without knowing anything about music therapy other than the information that was on that brochure, I knew that I was going to be a music therapist. It was perfect, and everything literally clicked into place on that day. For me, music therapy has always been the perfect blend of the things that I love the most - helping humans get from one place to another, music, problem-solving, continuous learning, and cool tools and instruments! Much like my breakfast, it has many different tastes and textures. I figure that I will be a music therapist until it loses its flavor for me - when things get too bland, I will spice it up until I can no longer tolerate the spice. At that point, it will be time to move to something new. That hasn't happened yet, but that's because I experiment a bit with spicing up my music therapy life. (See I told you there was a connection between my breakfast and music therapy - at least, in my own brain!) Music therapy is not something that I consider to be routine. Every interaction with every client is new and quite variable. It amazes me how, much like recipes, you can put in all the different parts (ingredients) in the same way each time but get extremely different types of results. A bit of salty behavior here and the session falls flat, but a bit of salty behavior in a different part of the session leads to a masterpiece of therapeutic breakthrough and growth! I have now finished my breakfast of chicken, spinach, potatoes, and cheddar cheese (added ingredient at the last moment). It is time to get prepared to move out into the world as a representative of this wonderful profession for the people that are around me. I don't remember the name of the lecturer who first told me about music therapy, but I am so grateful for her and her off-hand comment that has led me here, to World Music Therapy Day 2019. Thank you. Free Fire is a world unto itself. More than 40 million players log on each day to find weapons and battle it out till one characters left standing. Its Sea Ltd.s marquee hit, a virtual landscape housing more people than the American population and the prime reason Chinese-born founder Forrest Li is climbing the real worlds wealth rankings. The 41-year-old entrepreneur owns 13.8 percent of Singapore-based Sea, a stake now worth roughly $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Shares in Southeast Asias biggest gaming service surged 35 percent on Wednesday the most since its 2017 initial public offering after reporting a doubling in sales and robust growth at e-commerce unit Shopee. Free Fire played a mega role: with more than 350 million registered users from Brazil to Indonesia, it was the worlds fourth most-downloaded game on the Apple and Google app stores in 2018. Even though last years net loss widened to $961 million, investors are betting that Seas costly expansion into e-commerce will complement its gaming arm and create a regional internet-services heavyweight in the mold of backer Tencent Holdings Ltd. Sea this week forecast 2019 annual adjusted revenue at gaming arm Garena and mobile shopping unit Shopee will double or more. Li, who is now a Singaporean citizen, joins Tim Sweeney in the e-gaming billionaire stakes. Sweeney created Fortnite, another last-character-standing Battle Royale sensation. Neither has to look far for advice on how to manage their wealth. Tencent is a shareholder in both Sea and Fortnite-developer Epic Games Inc. and the Chinese gaming titans founder Pony Ma is worth $34.4 billion, according to Bloomberg wealth rankings. Born and raised in the port city of Tianjin by state-company lifers, Li attended a Shanghai university in his teens, arriving in a metropolis teeming with urbanites who spoke an alien dialect. He spent most nights playing games at an internet cafe till dawn. Li adopted his English name after identifying with Tom Hanks Oscar-winning portrayal of the fictional character Forrest Gump. After graduation, he worked at Motorola Solutions Inc. and Corning Inc. in China. But he saw a limited future as a white-collar manager and enrolled in Stanfords MBA program. It was when he attended his then-girlfriends graduation ceremony the same one where the late Steve Jobs gave his now-famous commencement speech that things clicked for him. In an interview with Bloomberg in 2016, Li said he replayed the oration daily for months on YouTube before deciding to strike out on his own. It gave me the courage to do what I am doing now, he said at the time. Li founded his company, then known only as Garena, in Singapore in 2009, starting out as an online gaming service. Since going public in October 2017, Sea has struggled to keep its footing amid widening losses. The company invested heavily to expand beyond games and into e-commerce, where it faces entrenched competition from the likes of Lazada, owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., as well as a number of well-funded homegrown players. Its U.S.-listed stock traded at $13 on average in 2018, below the IPO price of $15. It closed at $21.50 Thursday in New York, down 1.7 percent. Huawei Technologies Co. pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges of trade-secret theft, a day before the company learns if Canada will start extradition proceedings for its chief financial officer in a pivotal week that could see diplomatic tensions flare. Chinas biggest smartphone maker and its U.S. affiliate appeared in federal court in Seattle this morning to answer to charges that they engaged in a scheme to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile US Inc. and also committed wire fraud and obstruction of justice. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez and a trial was scheduled for March 2, 2020. The arraignment comes just a day before Canadas deadline to decide whether to officially order the start of extradition hearings against Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the U.S. on fraud charges. In a separate indictment filed in Brooklyn, U.S. prosecutors allege she lied to banks to trick them into processing transactions for Huawei that potentially violated Iran trade sanctions. The two cases have intensified the spotlight on Huawei, which has come to symbolize Chinas economic rise and challenge to the U.S.s status as the worlds top superpower. In particular, the decision to prosecute Meng daughter of billionaire Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has sparked an unprecedented diplomatic dispute, with Canada trapped in the middle. If history is any guide, Canada will probably start extradition proceedings, which will set in motion a process that promises to be long and politically explosive. China has demanded that Canada release Meng and, since her December arrest in Vancouver, has detained two Canadians on national security grounds and sentenced a third with a death sentence for drug trafficking in China. Meng is next scheduled to appear in court on March 6. If extradition proceedings begin, the process is likely to drag on for months, possibly years. However long they take, shes likely to be extradited in the end. In the trade-secrets case, prosecutors said in a January indictment that from 2012 to 2014 Huawei stole information from T-Mobiles Bellevue, Washington, headquarters contained in Tappy, a robotic phone-testing system. The U.S. says it uncovered Huawei email messages showing it offered bonuses to employees for information stolen from companies worldwide. Huawei faces fines of more than $5 million, or three times the value of T-Mobiles secrets, according to the government. The company has denied any wrongdoing and said it expects to be found innocent in court. Judge Martinez reviewed the 10 counts of the indictment aloud, while prosecutors explained the penalties the company faces. Robert H. Westinghouse, James F. Hibey and Brian M. Heberlig are representing Huawei. Lawyers for both sides declined to comment after the hearing. Prosecutor Todd Greenberg told Martinez that the government proposed the 2020 trial date because this is a complex case, more complex than many cases that come before the court. Greenberg said he expects significant pretrial information sharing. NPP and NDC are all guilty ... The UpValley Family Centers (UVFC) is looking for community volunteers to serve as math and reading tutors for students at St. Helena Primary and St. Helena Elementary Schools. Though the end of the school year is only a few months away, children are in great need of tutoring. In partnership with the St. Helena Unified School District, UVFC provides a Tutor Volunteer Program aimed to support St. Helena students in grades K-5. UVFCs Annette Smith leads the charge as the Tutoring Volunteer Coordinator for this rewarding program. This program builds connections between the community and our schools, all the while helping students succeed, she said. Its such a rewarding experience for both the tutor and the student. Your commitment to a childs success is guaranteed to make your day. My son Ilyas has not only thrived with his tutor Doug but has developed a strong and trusting relationship which has allowed him to feel comfortable asking for additional help when needed, said Sophia Tsilimigras. I was definitely impressed with Ilyas progress but even more impressed that he asked me if it would be possible to keep the same tutor for a second year. Community volunteers are recruited to serve as tutors for students. Participants are asked to volunteer one hour a week through the end of the school year, with the possibility of returning again next fall. All tutors are provided a one-on-one orientation with our Tutoring Volunteer Coordinator. Live Scan finger printing clearance and a TB test are required to participate in the program. For more information on UVFCs Tutoring Volunteer Program, contact Annette Smith at 965-5010 or at asmith@upvalleyfamilycenters.org. In November, the Napa Valley Vintners awarded $4.1 million in grants for 15 Napa County healthcare nonprofits as part of its 2018 allocation of funds from Auction Napa Valley. These health care grants are in addition to the final $2 million of a $6 million grant to OLE Health for its new medical facility in south Napa. Earlier in 2018, the NVV made $2.5 million in grants to childrens education. According to the NVV, affordable healthcare and access to quality mental health services, especially affecting youth, are concerns that shaped the 2018 allocations. The NVV is grateful for the opportunity to support the dedicated, resourceful and impactful nonprofits working to improve community health in Napa County, said Carol Kingery Ritter, an Auction Napa Valley Community Board member and chairwoman of the NVVs Grants Review Committee. Since the wine auction started 38 years ago, the Napa Valley Vintners has invested more than $185 million in the Napa Valley. Each year for the past two, the NVV has awarded $85,000 grants to the Rianda House Senior Activity Center. Executive Director Julie Spencer called these very generous grants and added the funds will be used to provide general operating funds to support Rianda Houses overall mission: to provide Upvalley seniors with programs, support services and experiences that stimulate minds, strengthen bodies and promote independent living through education, recreation and social involvement. Rianda Houses overall budget is $387,000; 53 percent comes from community donations, the rest from grants and activity donations. Rianda House offers a wide range of programs, nearly all of them free. St. Helena is brimming with another crop besides grapes this time of year. Lemons, oranges, grapefruits all are hanging on trees around town or falling on the ground unused. The St. Helena Food Pantry welcomes fresh fruit donations especially this time of year. Dont let your citrus go to waste! Box it up and bring it over to the Food Pantry. No mushy or rotten fruit. Contact the Food Pantry at 963-5183 about getting your citrus to them. "Here is Senator De Lima in her own words." "Here is Senator De Lima in her own words." More than two years as a detainee at the Camp Crame Custodial Center for what she and others believe to be trumped-up charges against her, Senator Leila De Lima, many might expect, would be dejected and overwhelmed by her dismal condition. But the good senator is proving to be made of much tougher stuff than most. Despite her condition, she remains defiant but buoyant. She continuous to conscientiously perform her constitutionally mandated duty as elected senator of the Republic. Compared to many more legislators who have been detained in the past for various charges, De Lima is a woman on a mission. Not only is she the most vociferous and implacable critic of the present administration particularly on issues concerning the country such as extrajudicial killings, West Philippine Sea and a host of other issues. She is diligent in the discharge of her duty as a senator notwithstanding the restrictions on her liberty. As chairperson of the Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, De Lima has authorized her Vice-Chairpersons Senator Sonny Trillanes and Senator Sonny Angara to conduct three (3) hearings and five (5) Technical Working Group Meetings. These hearings produced a total of ten (10) Committee Reports. Of the ten Committee Reports, four (4) were approved on third reading both in the Senate and the House of Representatives. These are Committee Report No. 552 (National Commission of Senior Citizens Act); Committee Report No. 531 (Magna Carta of the Poor); Committee Report No. 522 (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program [4PS] Act); and Committee Report No. 566 (Community-Based Monitoring System Act). Four (4) are pending on 2nd reading while two (2) are still for sponsorship. De Lima assumed the chairmanship in June 2018. Among her many accomplishments, she prides herself most on her committees progress on the bills concerning the National Commission of Senior Citizens Act; Magna Carta of the Poor; 4PS; and the Community-Based Monitoring System Actall designed to uplift the quality of living of every Filipino specially those living below the poverty line. We can expect more legislative accomplishments coming from the office of Senator de Lima in the days or months ahead. Yes, she is in prisonbut she is unbowed. This truth about Senator De Lima is best seen in the speech she delivered before the final blessing of the Holy Mass held at the PNP Custodial Center, Camp Crame, Quezon City last Feb. 24, 2019 in commemoration of the 2nd year of her illegal arrest and unjust detention. Below are excerpts from that speech: Two (2) years ago, Feb. 24, before 8:00 in the morning, or right before I stepped out of my Senate office and went down to the parking area to face the PNP arresting team, I convened my staff to bid farewell. I could see that most of them were trying to hold back their tears. It was a high-stress, high-emotion moment. I told themIm not sure how long this ordeal will last. It could take a few days, a few weeks, a few months or a few years. A few days or few weeks because we were banking on an immediate injunctive relief, a TRO from the Supreme Court. It didnt come to pass. A few months because we were hoping against hope that the Supreme Court would grant our Petition seeking for the nullification of my arrest. Again, it didnt happen. The majority of the SC chose to turn a blind eye to this gross injustice. And I will tell you now what I didnt dare openly wish in front of my staff: Sana few years lang. I did not dare say it loud because I didnt want to give them any sign that I was afraid of a long, drawn-out detention. I didnt want to leave them with fear in their hearts, more than the fear that was already there. I wanted to be strong for them. I was in warrior mode. And now its 2 full years. How many more years shall I endure? I want to be confident. No choice but to be confident. But Im not sure if I can be confident. The state of our justice system hardly inspires confidence. Xxx I want to be optimistic, but I am not blind. I can see what is happening in the country at large, as clearly as I can see what is happening in my own cases.Even the few minor victories we achieved, like the inhibition of judges, is proof of what an uphill battle we are facing. Nobody wanted to touch these trumped-up drug cases. A number of judges have inhibited themselves. I dont blame them. They know that they will be damned if they do justice, and damned if they dont. They know what is at stake: I have to be convicted for this Administration to retain its thin semblance of legitimacy. To do justice to me is to offend the powers that be. To do right is to incur the Duterte wrath. So it all boils down to how powerful the enemies I have made are. And Duterte is but one of themYes, he is the most blatantly and vocally vicious, but I am wise enough to know that he is not alone. You know what they say, no good deed goes unpunished? Kaya nga todays Gospel strikes hard at me. Parang nananadya si Lord. Todays Gospel is about loving my enemies. On a theoretical and philosophical level, such a teaching is easy to accept and understand. What good is it to only love those who are good to us? But a very difficult one to put in practice. So I ask myself, can I love my enemies? I dont know. For sure, I am not there yet. That is something I have to meditate further about. But I dont know if I will ever get there. So I ask myself something easier, can I forgive my enemies, even when they have not asked for forgiveness? In truth, though, I have long ago forgiven those who were merely used as pawns, such as the convicts themselves and others who allowed themselves to be used against me. They arent the real enemies. In the end, I think, I can find it in my heart to forgive, but not forget. Do not ask me to forget. Because to forget is to ask me to surrender my humanity. Someday, I can forgive the real enemies. But I cannot forget. Xxx Remember, remember the 24th of February. For this is not MY day. It is the day when our commitment to Truth, Justice, Rule of Law, and Democracy were put to test, serious test. We are still fighting. We have not lost. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy The spouse and 9-year-old daughter of Jennifer Golick, who was killed March 9, 2018 in a shooting at the Veterans Home, are suing the state and county for wrongful death. Attorneys for Marc Golick and his daughter claim that the state Department of Veterans Affairs, Napa County, Napa County Sheriff's Office and Deputy Steve Lombardi who was the first officer to respond to the active shooter call could have prevented her death. Golick, 42, was clinical director of The Pathway Home, a now-shuttered private treatment facility that was based at the Veterans Home, dedicated to serving Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The state knew that two weeks prior to the shooting, the gunman came onto the campus, armed, and his weapons were confiscated, the lawsuit says. He had threatened Golick's life, the suit says, and the lives of fellow victims Christine Loeber, 48, and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, who was 26 weeks pregnant at the time of the shooting. "The plaintiffs have been deprived of a loving mother and wife," the lawsuit says. The county, state and Napa County Sheriff's Office declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Gunman Albert Cheung Wong, 36, let himself into the building the night before the shooting, propped open a door, and returned the next morning. He dressed in tactical gear, entered the building with a shotgun and a rifle, and took the three women hostage during a staff goodbye party. He exchanged fire through a door with the deputy who arrived on the scene, then killed the women and himself. Previous reports said that Wong was dismissed from the program because he failed to comply with his treatment plan. The lawsuit says he was, in fact, dismissed from Pathway because he came onto the campus armed and made threats against the women. The lawsuit referenced a Sacramento Bee report that said the California Highway Patrol, which oversees the campus because it is a state property, determined in a site assessment that the campus should have a security checkpoint, front gate, fencing, working locks and intercoms. CHP has previously denied the Register's public records request for this report, claiming exemptions that apply to investigatory records of law enforcement agencies, and to documents that assess an agency's vulnerability to terrorist attacks or criminal acts. The state veterans department, known as CalVet, should have had security cameras, silent alarm distress signals, working door locks and a surveillance system that alerted someone to the gunman's entry, the lawsuit says. There were too many doors to the building that housed the Pathway Home for a facility dedicated to treating veterans with PTSD, the lawsuit said. The state knew that veterans on campus may have access to weapons, struggle to control their impulses, and be physically aggressive and violent, according to the suit. "Nothing was in place to stop Wong along the way," the lawsuit said. The Napa County Sheriff's Office, which was responsible for law enforcement services to the campus, had also recognized the possibility of an active shooter at the Veterans Home, the lawsuit said. It referenced a Register article about an active shooter training conducted by the FBI for the Napa County Sheriff's Office, two months earlier. The Sheriff's Department and Deputy Lombardi failed to warn others of Wong's ejection from the property, the lawsuit says. The suit says they failed to report the hostage situation to the dispatcher, to wait for backup and the negotiation team, to deescalate the situation and to kill Wong. Attorneys also took issue with the fact that Lombardi shot through a closed door at Wong. The Napa County District Attorney's Office said in November that Lombardi's actions were justified and it would not press charges against the deputy. Attorneys representing the families of the other two women killed in the shooting have said previously in legal documents that they plan to sue for wrongful death. 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. Napa Countys latest environmental battle over watershed and tree protections is thorny and complicated. Grand themes have emerged battling climate change, protecting drinking water, respecting private property rights, keeping Napa Countys world-famous wine country economy healthy. Finding ways to reconcile these various values is the trick. The issue returns to the Napa County Planning Commission at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the county administration building, 1195 Third St. Heres a Q&A look at the situation. Think of this as a cheat sheet for the draft Napa County Water Quality and Tree Protection Ordinance. Included are comments from the dozens of letters submitted to the county and from speakers during several hours public hearings held so far. Q What problems need fixing? This depends on whom you ask. The answers range from grave problems to no apparent problems, with some ground in-between. Advocates of tougher conservation laws say that Napa County must do its part to combat climate change, a phenomena they say has been scientifically proven. Among other things, that means conserving more trees that can sequester carbon dioxide. Water quality is another big issue. The cities of Napa, St. Helena, Calistoga and Yountville all depend on reservoirs in local hills. Some citizens and citiesare concerned that sediments, fertilizers and other materials from vineyards in the mountains could wash into creeks and into reservoirs. Sediments can also impair fish habitat. Others say that Napa County already has among the toughest conservation laws in the nation, requiring such things as erosion control plans for vineyard development in watersheds. Thats in addition to state standards. They want the county to gather more data before moving ahead with measures they say could unnecessarily hurt farming and property rights. Scientific information specific to Napa County will reveal what the local problems are, if any, and what solutions are needed, they say. Q How can both sides invoke science to defend their views? Some speakers at recent county meetings see a Napa County environmental success story and others see looming, urgent environmental challenges. They debate over whether the science shows that new conservation laws are needed. The problem is how you define it, Planning, Building and Environmental Services Director David Morrison said. Whats an acceptable level of protection? Theres certainly a debate about whether we need a higher level of (environmental) protection than weve had in the past. Q Napa County proposes to ban most development on slopes 30 percent or steeper. How steep is that? The Rector Reservoir spillway east of Yountville is a 33-percent slope, by way of comparison, county officials said. A 30-percent slope is the type that hiking trails would use switchbacks to climb. Think of an intermediate run at a ski resort. Can you walk up it? Yes. Is it easy? No, Morrison said. Q How much land in the county has 30-percent slopes? A total of 170,315 acres, or 34 percent of the county. Presently, county law for unincorporated areas allows grading or development on slopes greater than 30 percent only with a use permit, with certain exemptions. The reason stated in county law is to minimize risks associated with high erosion potential, unstable soils and combustible vegetation. The proposed law would remove the use permit option. The remaining exemptions would include making certain home additions, maintaining private access roads and creating firebreaks required by Cal Fire. In effect, about 34 percent of the county would be off-limits to development of vineyards and structures. Q What is the 70-percent tree canopy retention idea? Another idea is to beef up an existing requirement that landowners developing property in municipal reservoir watersheds retain at least 60 percent of the tree canopy. The proposal is to increase this requirement to 70 percent of the canopy shown in 2016 aerial photos. Also, the county would extend the requirement to all unincorporated areas. Some say this tree-saving idea doesnt go far enough, others say it goes too far. To think that saving some trees by changing the canopy retention from 60% to 70% is enough is to deny that there is a climate crisis, resident Elaine de Man wrote to the county. Forests do everything from sequester carbon to decrease erosion and water runoff to remove agricultural pollutants in groundwater, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, which cited various studies. It wants at least 90-percent retention. George Bachich, who has been involved in past local land use battles as a member of the Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance, has a different view. The requirement to maintain a minimum of 70 percent of the original tree canopy is arbitrary and extreme, he wrote to the county. Napa County is not losing its forests and there is no demonstrated need to impose this requirement. Napa Valley Grapegrowers in a letter to the county put in a good word for vineyards. Research shows vineyards are not only carbon neutral, but can be climate positive over the medium and long terms, the group wrote. A vineyards low nitrogen requirements, low water requirements and ability to thrive in drought conditions make it a powerful tool in the toolbox for combating global warming and the perfect agricultural product for Napa County, Napa Valley Grapegrowers wrote. Q What are the proposed tree mitigation changes? The county presently requires a 2-1 mitigation ratio for oak woodlands lost to development. The property owner must replant or preserve through a conservation easement or deed restriction twice as much oak habitat as is lost. Now the county is weighing whether to go from 2-1 mitigation to 3-1 mitigation. Also, the mitigation would be not only for oak woodlands, but for other tree canopies. That would include forests with conifers. The county would prefer that the replacement or preservation take place on the same property. Also, it would prefer that mitigation be on slopes of less than 30 percent and outside of stream and wetland setbacks. If those conditions cannot be met, the county could allow mitigation on slopes of greater than 30 percent and in stream setbacks. If mitigation cannot be done onsite, the county could allow it offsite in the same watershed with similar habitat. But resident Jim Wilson doesnt like the idea of allowing mitigation by preserving trees on slopes greater than 30 percent. He called this double-dipping, since these steep areas are already effectively protected from development. Preservation needs to take place on developable land outside of already protected steeper slopes and streams and wetland setbacks, Wilson said. The local firm PPI Engineering, which does vineyard design and erosion control, questioned whether 3-1 mitigation is necessary on top of the proposed 70-percent tree canopy retention requirement. Q What is the 40 percent shrub retention idea? This is similar to the 70-percent tree canopy proposal. The county presently required 40-percent shrub/grassland retention for development in the municipal reservoir watersheds. The proposal is to extend the 40-percent requirement to the entire unincorporated county, but with a twistonly the shrub retention, not the grassland retention, would be in force outside of municipal reservoir watersheds. Q What types of new setbacks are proposed? Napa County has stream setback requirements that vary based on slopes. At the extremes, it has a 35-foot setback for slopes less than one-percent and 150-foot setback for slopes of 60 percent to 70 percent. Goals include protecting water quality and aquatic habitat. The county originally proposed to remove the requirements for setbacks on slopes steeper than 30 percent, given that separate proposal to ban virtually all development in these areas. But a revision going to the Planning Commission on Wednesday recommends keeping all slope setbacks out of an abundance of caution. A new proposed twist is adding a 35-foot setback for Class III streams. These are small, intermittent streams that dont support aquatic life, but are headwaters for larger streams. The county also proposes a minimum 50-foot setback for wetlands and minimum 200-foot setback for city reservoirs. The local Sierra Club prefers a 150-foot setback for wetlands and 500-foot minimum setback for reservoirs. That would further protect the ecosystems ability to filter out sediments and pollutants from the local water supply, club members wrote. We must do everything we can now to protect this precious water supply, which is increasingly threatened in a warming world, the club wrote to the county. Bachich wrote to the county that the proposed Class III stream setbacks would amount to de facto conservation easements without fair compensation. This land grab cannot be justified based on undemonstrated, immeasurably small gains in water quality, he wrote. Q Is Napa County at a tipping point? Calistoga area resident George Caloyannidis thinks so. The best science says the Napa River is impaired due to pathogen, nutrients and sediment. The local steelhead trout population over 50 years dropped from 7,000 to 1,000, he said. The county cant replace existing vineyards with forests, but it can stop vineyard and mansion development that degrades the watershed, he said. We are now at the tipping point, Caloyannidis told the Planning Commission on Feb. 20. Vintner Stuart Smith sees a different type of tipping point. He said the countys conservation regulations are working and the proposed changes are draconian and hostile to grape growers and property owners. Only with the passage of time can economists recognize the tipping point that sends an industry into an uncontrolled tailspin, he told the Planning Commission. If enacted, will these new regulations be the proverbial straw that breaks the camels back? Only time will tell. Thats the gulf of viewpoints facing the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. At this point, no compromise has emerged that the various parties in the debate would be willing to accept. 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 inside of Compadres was looking like something out of a sad Jimmy Buffett song. Piles of empty salt shakers and margarita glasses, collections of straw sombreros and Mexican blankets, stacks of stock pots and frying pans even a display of miniature mariachi performers were all up for grabs at the now-shuttered Compadres Rio Grille. The party is over. The longtime Napa Valley restaurant, located at 505 Lincoln Ave. for many years, closed on Feb. 18. Business owner Rick Enos said he was unable to secure new lease terms for the eatery. A card room has been proposed as the next tenant of the space. On Monday a professional auction company was hired to sell off the restaurants wares, down to the last beer pitcher and kids plastic booster seat. That morning a number of former customers found themselves at the restaurant, most looking to find a memento to take home in remembrance. We have an emotional connection with Compadres, said Amy Collins of Angwin. She was hoping to buy one of the sun wall decorations on display on the patio. Before Compadres closed, we came here weekly, she said. It was a good place for a family to eat out and one that welcomed kids. More than one person had fond memories of the hanging sun decor. Diane Wooley of Napa came to the Compadres auction too. Her sister, who had worked at the restaurant for a number of years, had asked her to try and buy one of the suns. Its very sad, she said of the restaurants demise. Compadres was a community staple, a place that hosted many a birthday or anniversary party. Its huge to lose that in Napa, she said. Lynn Schmidt of Napa agreed. Its a shame, said Schmidt. Compadres was an icon, said Schmidt, who was hoping to buy something to remind her of the good times. Its a tearjerker, she said. Rebecca Griffen of Napa also visited the auction preview. Theres some good stuff here, she said, looking around at restaurant-quality pots and pans. Unfortunately, too many family friendly restaurants, like Uva Trattoria, Hurleys in Yountville and now Compadres have closed, she said. Those were our go-to places to eat, Griffen said. Marilyn Reid of Napa said Compadres was also a good spot for civic groups like Rotary clubs to meet. Besides that, Compadres offered great food and great people, she said. Its just so hard to leave, she said after she shared memories with Rick Enos. Enos said he was still hoping to find a new place to lease, but it will be hard to replicate the restaurant space. This location was really great for us, he said. It had parking. It had space. It even had a koi fish pond. Enos said the fish should remain at the site. Its the end of an era, said his wife Nancy Enos. Over the years there were a total of eight different Compadres restaurants: Oahu, Maui, Palo Alto, Ghirardelli Square, Monterey, Sacramento and Oakland. Napa was the last Compadres. The auction puts the punctuation on the closure, but I wouldnt miss this, she said. Were certainly grateful for all the support, said Rick Enos. Its been wonderful being part of the community. Joe Fischer, local commercial real estate broker, is helping Enos find a new restaurant location. The closure and auction, is utterly heartbreaking and depressing, he wrote in an email. I remain hopeful that the Enos family and Compadres can ultimately emerge from the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix purified and stronger after trial by fire recreating elements of the magic that was Compadres. 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. Just after Gov. Gavin Newsoms first State of the State speech, a major newspaper editorialized that perhaps he should become known as Gov. Gaslight because of the mind-bending way he announced a plan to switch the focus of Californias under-construction bullet train to the rather short run between Bakersfield and Merced, but then pulled back. The nickname referred to the plot of a 1930s-era movie of that name. Newsom, fast becoming the face of resistance to President Trump and his agenda, ironically sounded Trumpesque when he blasted the press for reporting what he said, rather than what he perhaps wished he had said. For this, color Newsom green as grass, inexperienced. Barely a month into his time as governor of the nations largest state, he seemed not to realize his words might be reported outside California. They were, and Trump seized on them. Soon after Newsom spoke, Trump announced he will cancel almost $1 billion of a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant that this states High Speed Rail Authority has counted on for about one-fourth of its known funding. The authority still hopes to find private backers and more state funds than the $9 billion in bonds authorized by voters in 2008, but little has materialized. Trump also threatened to claw back another $2.5 billion in federal funds already spent on the bullet train, an unprecedented action. And it was hard to quarrel with the justifying facts set out in the Trump administration threat letter, signed by the FRA administrator. The letter said California has not kicked in matching funds it promised for final design work and adds that the state cant complete even part of the originally proposed project by 2022, a key deadline in the federal grant. Newsom called this political retribution for Californias resistance to Trump policies, including his deep desire to build a solid wall along the Mexican border. The Trump move surely is retribution, aimed at bringing Newsom to heel. Why be surprised? As Mr. Dooley, the legendary, fictitious bartender of the 1890s, once observed, Politics aint beanbag. None of this had to happen. Newsoms speech could have avoided the subject of high-speed rail, like most of ex-Gov. Jerry Browns similar addresses. Perhaps a desire to avoid such pitfalls moved Brown to make speeches quickly forgotten after their delivery, just like most presidential State of the Union addresses. But Newsom blithely stepped into a pothole, then acted surprised when he tripped. His shock at having his words quickly and accurately reported does not render him less idealistic than hes been, offering initiative after initiative to help poor children, areas with foul drinking water and places that need more housing. Nor does it necessarily portend lasting hostility to the press, with which he has long enjoyed positive relations. This man is not a blackguard. Rather, Newsom looks like a green rookie. He demonstrated this elsewhere during the same ongoing bullet train flap created by his speech. The new governor seemed to think he can by himself change the trains scope and route. He was quickly reminded by the chairman of the state Senate Transportation Committee that he cannot. As Democratic Sen. Jim Beall of San Jose told a reporter, He has a right to say what he wants. But there has to be a public process. That might include legislative votes. This part of the kerfuffle evoked a 1999 flap that saw the newly-elected Gov. Gray Davis issue an order to then Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Lockyer demurred, reminding Davis that the attorney general works for the state, not the governor, and is independently elected by the same constituents. Davis, like Newsom, was a former lieutenant governor who may have gotten magnified ideas about gubernatorial powers by watching up close as a political veteran exercised them skillfully, in his case ex-Gov. Pete Wilson. Davis never again made a similar mistake. So maybe Newsoms bullet train blunders wont be repeated, either. For if Newsom has demonstrated any quality besides idealism as governor, its that hes a fast learner. That might mean the current Gov. Green-as-grass will soon turn into a savvy operative, like the man he succeeded. Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It. Along with her considerable political talents, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has an unhelpful verbal mannerism in which she talks to people who try her patience with a faintly exasperated tone in her voice. She shares this trait with, among others, former Vice President Al Gore and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. It can make her sound as if she is condescending to a slightly backward group of schoolchildren. The problem arises when she is talking to a group of actual schoolchildren, who are not backward but are extremely motivated supporters of unrealistic public policy. The result was an unfortunate video in which Feinstein appeared to be admonishing these kids for daring to care about the future of the planet. Even after it became public that the advocacy group that had sponsored the visit had unfairly edited the video to make her look like an annoyed lunchroom monitor, the entire episode cast Feinstein in a decidedly unfavorable light. But Feinsteins senior senator moment brought back speculation that she may decide to step down before her current term ends in 2024, when she will be 91 years old. That would allow Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint her successor. Barring a miraculous resurrection of the California Republican Party, assume that Newsom gets re-elected in 2022. Barring an equally miraculous gubernatorial attitude adjustment, assume he then begins planning a presidential campaign for 2024 or 2028. Finally, lets postulate that one contributing factor in Newsoms decision on Feinsteins replacement will be how it could enhance his White House aspirations. In an almost-post-Trump Democratic Party, demographic identity is destiny. So bet against a white male governor appointing a white male senator. That means if Congressman Adam Schiff, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, or Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti want to hold statewide office, theyre going to have to do it without Newsoms help. So who would Newsom pick? The presumed frontrunner for the appointment is Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who was a Democratic Party loyalist in 2018 in forgoing possible challenges to both Newsom and Feinstein. But while Padilla was playing good soldier, two other Latino leaders, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and former state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon were turning themselves into media stars. Becerra has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump Administration, establishing a national platform as one of the presidents most persistent adversaries. But de Leon leveraged his unsuccessful campaign against Feinstein to emerge as a hero of the state Democratic Partys progressive wing. Even though he and de Leon have clashed in the past, Newsom would greatly enhance his own leftist credentials by putting a younger, more media-genic version of Bernie Sanders into the U.S. Senate. There is no shortage of qualified Asian-Pacific candidates. John Chiang established a solid record during his years as state controller and state treasurer, and current statewide officeholders Betty Yee and Fiona Ma and Congressman Ted Lieu would all be smart options as well. On the other hand, an African-American appointee would be a more likely replacement for Kamala Harris should she end up in the White House two years from now. San Francisco Mayor London Breed is still new to the job, but a Southern Californian such as Congresswoman Karen Bass, Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, Sen. Holly Mitchell or Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson could help on their home turf and in key primary states. Newsom has proudly pointed to his early support for marriage equality. So the appointment of an LGBTQ senator could reinforce his support with this critical voting bloc. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is unpredictable, and state Senate President Toni Atkins is underwhelming. But Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, a relatively unknown young centrist who represents a working-class battleground in the Inland Empire, would be an intriguing alternative. Women voters and female candidates fueled the Democratic House takeover this year and are providing much of the early energy in the 2020 presidential campaign. California has had two female Senators since 1993, and if Newsom wants to continue that record, there are other options available to him in addition to those listed above. Respected Congresswoman Jackie Speier reportedly explored a statewide campaign last year. But picking a non-politician like Maria Shriver or Laurene Powell Jobs would send a powerful message through national Democratic activist and fundraising circles. Newsom is also the product of a tribal Bay Area political network. He and Harris share the same consultantsAce Smith, Sean Clegg, Laphonza Butler, and Juan Rodriguezwho also advise firebrand Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. As Feinsteins illustrious Senate career winds down, keep an eye on Schaaf as the type of replacement with whom Newsom could feel especially comfortable. Demography is destiny but so is loyalty. Dan Schnur is a professor at USCs Annenberg School of Communications, UC-Berkeleys Institute of Governmental Studies, and Pepperdine Universitys Graduate School of Public Policy. He wrote this commentary for CALmatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias Capitol works and why it matters. Californias attorney general objects to President Donald Trumps border wall. But when it comes to letting the public know about police misconduct, its another story. Hes all for a wall to keep the public in the dark. My colleagues and I learned that the hard way when a letter landed the other day in our office at UC Berkeleys Investigative Reporting Program. It had a simple message: You committed a crime for doing your job as journalists, for asking for and then receiving a documents we sent you. What were the documents? Spreadsheets with nearly 12,000 names of law enforcement officers or applicants who had committed crimesfrom shoplifting, to perjury, to murder. Not a list of accusations. Not a list of arrests. No. These were convictions, already decided cases available to anyone who walks into courthouses across California. What was startling about the spreadsheets, as outlined in our story in the Mercury News and on KQED was the number of cases and how many had never been reported. When Becerra tries to claw back data, it raises the question: Who is he standing up for? Lately, at least, the answer has seemed pretty clear. He recently also rejected a Public Records Act request for misconduct records of his own departments officers that should be available under a new law. Our case started when journalists affiliated with Berkeley filed public records requests asking the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Trainingcalled POST to identify officers who had been convicted of crimes. The department took its time, asked for extensions under the law, and then responded, sending us the spreadsheets. Three weeks later, Becerras office sent a shot in the dark. The message to us was clear: You werent authorized to receive the documents POST sent you. So destroy them. And if you dont: You are hereby on notice that the unauthorized receipt or possession of the record we sent you is a misdemeanor. The letter went on to threaten legal action: If you do not intend to comply with our request, the Department can take legal action. Why does this matter? Because we have an attorney general threatening the press for doing its job, which doesnt seem much different than a president who labels the press the enemy of the people. Because we have an attorney general who wants to keep a wall of secrecy around police misconduct. Because we have an attorney general who appears to be flaunting the very principles that have protected a free press in this country. The implication of his departments letter is clear: Dont report on the documents. We think what we learned from the documents is important for the public to know: the extent of law enforcement criminality in California and how much has been hidden from us until now, some of the very questions the new law hes fighting was meant to answer. We intend to pursue our reporting in the weeks and months ahead. In this country, thankfully, news organizations are free from criminal liability for publishing information, even from secret documents, if they didnt commit a crime in obtaining them. Reporters have protection from prosecution for a reason. Otherwise, governments could punish journalists for doing their job. That sure seems to be what the attorney general is trying to do here. John Temple is the director of the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He wrote this commentary for CALmatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias Capitol works and why it matters. Studying wine is a lofty task. For the wine professional, or for the passionate wine enthusiast, there are the most well-known certifications through The Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and The Court of Master Sommeliers. There are also the Society of Wine Educators certifications. Each of these programs provide an in-depth study of wine from around the world. And, while Italian wine is a part of each of these programs, the reality is that none of them take a deep dive into the world of Italian wine. And, that is a world unto itself. Italy is a country made up of 20 regions and 110 provinces. When it comes to wine in Italy, it is about regionality. Each region, even each province, produces wine. Biodiversity is Italys greatest asset and one of its biggest challenges. Most wine courses focus on a handful of key wine varieties, which is fine for other countries. When we talk about winemaking in the United States, 90 percent of the wine comes from nine grape varieties. When we talk about winemaking in France, 90 percent of the wine is produced from 15 grape varieties. But, when we talk about winemaking in Italy, 90 percent of the wine is from 30 different grape varieties. And that is just the beginning. In 2012, Jancis Robinson published Wine Grapes, which was a comprehensive list of all 1,368 vine varieties that were currently making wine in commercial circulation. As of May 2018, in Italy there are 517 varieties listed in the national registry of grape varieties. This means that 28 percent to 35 percent of the worlds grapes are Italian and 15 of the top 20 most planted grapes are native to Italy, with Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Glera (Prosecco) and Pinot Gris at the top of the list before Merlot! To delve into Italian wine to its fullest, Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) was created in 2014 with the goal to be the gold standard of Italian wine education. In 2015, the VIA Wine Certificate Course was launched. This course is a five-day intensive training that covered every region of Italy, the history, the soils, the grapes, the wines and even touches upon the food of each region. And, this past week, I attended this intensive training, taught by Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar. Based in Hong Kong, Sarah Heller is a graduate of Yale University, a Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Wine and Spirits and, as of 2017, a Master of Wine. In 2014, Sarah took the Vinitaly International Academy course and earned her title of Certified Italian Wine Ambassador. Henry Davar is based in Las Vegas where he works for Breakthru Beverage. Previously, Henry worked for Del Posto in New York and Las Vegas and holds certifications from the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. In April 2017, Henry took the Vinitaly International Academy course and passed at the highest level, earning him the title of Italian Wine Expert. Together, their knowledge, passion and ability to communicate the information made for an exceptionally informative week. The most recent VIA Wine Certificate Course took place at The Line Hotel in Los Angeles. On Day 1, we started with the grape Nebbiolo and then covered the regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria and Val dAosta. On Day 2, we started with the sparkling wines of Italy (Prosecco, Moscato, Franciacorta, Otrepo Pavese, Trento DOC, and Alta Langhe) and then covered the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige and Veneto. On Day 3, we started with the grape Sangiovese and then covered the regions of Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise. On Day 4, we covered Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily and Sardenga. That was 20 regions covered, in depth, in only four days! Committing a full week of ones life to the course is a challenge and this program took up almost every minute of the week. The five-day training started at 8:30 a.m. every day. After we covered the grapes and the regions, we would taste wines and finish by 6 p.m. As part of the program, we had to also break up into groups of four and create a video. The topic was to argue the merits of sub-zoning in Brunello while considering the history, soil differences, climate difference and topography. And, then there was finding time to study. In addition to our notes, our other resources were Italian wine unplugged grape by grape by Stevie Kim and Native Wine Grapes of Italy by Ian DAgata. The exam took place on Day 5 and comprised a blind tasting of two wines, two short-answer essays and 100 multiple-choice answers. Passing the exam is not easy. To date, VIA has trained 170 wine ambassadors, of which 13 have also gained the highest level of certification, the Italian Wine Expert title. Of our group of 27, only seven people passed, and I was not one of the seven. Regardless, it was a wonderful, albeit exhausting, education and experience. Our group was made up of people from Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, England, Italy and China. We are now part of a larger community, and I am inspired to continue studying Italian wine and attempting to take the exam again in the future. Allison Levine is owner of Please The Palate, a marketing and event-planning agency. A freelance writer, she contributes to numerous publications while eating and drinking her way around the world. Allison is also the host of the wine podcast Wine Soundtrack USA. Contact her at allison@pleasethepalate.com. Kazakhstan First President notes Russias role in resolving Karabakh conflict Armenia opposition MP: We are launching legal process of National Assembly speaker's resignation Fight occurs in Armenia legislature Armenia legislature deputy speaker from opposition: We are at preparatory phase for rallies Armenia parliament speaker claims video with his remarks on captive Armenian soldiers was edited MFA: Armenia urges Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions Legislature speaker: Criminal case will be launched against Armenian soldiers who laid down their weapons, surrendered 4 more die of coronavirus in Artsakh Dejavu: Parliament speaker says Armenian captive soldiers no longer exist for him National Assembly holding urgent discussion on Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan Armenia legislature majority blocks opposition draft statement on border delimitation Armenia ex-defense minister on border delimitation: Authorities say 'we negotiate whatever we want' US embassy of Armenia on local elections: We note reports of pressure against opposition candidates Ombudsman in Paris, briefs France colleague on Armenian captives in, war crimes of Azerbaijan Opposition Armenia Faction plans to launch urgent parliamentary debates on POWs in Azerbaijan Karabakh President pays tribute to 1988 Spitak earthquake victims Pentagon discusses situation on Russia-Ukraine border 240 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia US Air Force plans to develop 2 new secret combat drones Wreath laid in Gyumri on behalf of Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Ombudsman provides details from Azerbaijan shooting at Karmir Shuka village of Artsakh Armenia parliament session kicks off with minute of silence Newspaper: As always Armenia citizens chose individuals over ideas in elections Armenia remembers victims of 1988 earthquake Newspaper: Armenia gets more than $11M from international organizations, several countries for Covid prevention Seven die in Zanzibar after eating exotic food Turkey and Qatar discuss possibility of joint operation of airport in Afghanistan Development of warm relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran is one of UAE priorities Israel tries to convince US to strike Iranian targets Bayramov and US Assistant Secretary of State discuss normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan NEWS.am daily digest: 06.12.21 Armenia legislature majority to block opposition draft statement on border delimitation Vahe Hakobyan underscores effective cooperation with UNDP Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia project Armenia prosecutor's office files lawsuit demanding confiscation of ex-Police chief, his familys illegal property One dollar passes AMD 491 threshold in Armenia Armenia parliament to set up friendship group with Montenegro India-Eurasian Union free trade zone talks to begin early 2022 Armenia Supreme Judicial Council members receive ECHR judgments execution department delegation Armenia President, UK envoy discuss regional security Armenia premier chairs Security Council meeting Man found dead in downtown Yerevan near garbage cans Opposition Armenia Faction MP: Premier Pashinyan gave best assessment of local elections Armenia opposition lawmaker on local election results: Authorities rigged, pressured but still did not win Kopirkin: Russian-Armenian Center for Humanitarian Response has highly qualified specialists Russia official: 1988 Armenia earthquakes tragic experience gave impetus to creation of effective warning system Opposition MP: Nothing officially announced in Armenia about negotiations over return of 10 POWs Young Russia air force crew kicks off night flights over Armenia mountains 2 people killed in single-engine plane crash in Canada 95 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Yerevan hosting international conference with participation of Armenia, Russia emergency ministries representatives World oil prices on the rise Friend of Armenian people, former US Senator, presidential candidate Bob Dole dies aged 98 PM: Practice of election-rigging undermined state resistance system emerging in early 1990s in Armenia World gold prices going down Armenia local elections: Ruling party loses by more than 13.5% in Vanadzor Artsakh soldier, 19, dies from gunshot wound Armenia local elections: Ruling party suffers crushing defeat in Aparan Armenia local elections: Lack of alternative, record low voter turnout ensure ruling partys win in Armavir Armenia local elections: PAP beats ruling party in Abovyan Armenia local elections: Bloc named after incumbent mayor wins in Sevan The body of a young man found under a bridge in Yerevan UAE National Security Advisor to visit Iran Artsakh registered 31 new coronavirus cases Voter turnout in local elections in Armenia 3 hours before the end of voting was 33.8% Naftali Bennett calls on world powers to take a tough stance on Iran COVID-19 in Armenia: 327 new cases OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs regret that it was not possible to hold a joint meeting of Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs Aravot: Special police forces are in Aparan Head of Ayntap village of Ararat province and his brother apprehended 10 Armenian captives are returned from Azerbaijan Azerbaijan transfers 10 soldiers to Armenia, media report Armenia PM attends meeting of Consultative Assembly on Cooperation with Extra-Parliamentary Political Forces Armenia FM meets with OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Identity of Azerbaijani who killed Artsakh resident is known Turkey intelligence took part in 2020 war against Karabakh, says Turkish vice president Baku explains why it declined from Stockholm meeting of Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs FM: Any status within Azerbaijan is unacceptable for Artsakh people, authorities Opportunities for expanding Armenia-Belarus cooperation in high tech are discussed Quake hits Armenia-Georgia border zone Russia peacekeepers in Karabakh ensure safety during replanting of vineyards Biden says hopes to have long discussion with Putin 54 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh 419 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Blinken: NATO does not seek aggression against Russia MFA spokesman: Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs did not meet in Stockholm WHO: Omicron variant could worsen situation in Europe Newspaper: Opportunity created for change of power in Armenia Newspaper: Matter of changing Armenias external vector becoming reality? Psaki: US, Russia considering possibility of Biden-Putin meeting Armenian FM meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Putin and Erdogan discuss Azerbaijan, Armenia, Syria, Libya, and Ukraine Armenia and Poland FMs discuss regional security issues Erdogan and Putin support coordination of efforts on Karabakh UN launches campaign against Gender-based violence online NEWS.am daily digest: 03.12.21 Azerbaijanis kill Nagorno-Karabakh resident captured today Armenia deputy FM: Azerbaijan blatantly ignores core principles of international law (PHOTOS) 2-day workshop on Inclusive Development kicks off in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General to head for Egypt Dollar ascent continues in Armenia YEREVAN. Members of the Bright Armenia Party (BAP) and of the Bright Armenia faction in parliament on Friday attended a church requiem ceremony in memory of those who lost their lives during the tragic events that occurred in capital city Yerevan, in March 2008. BAP Chairman and Bright Armenia parliament faction head Edmon Marukyan told reporters that many circumstances have not been clarified yet in the criminal case into these events. Its the authorities who claim that [the] March 1 [case] is solved, he said, in particular, [But] I hope that we already will see both the organizers [of] and the murderers [during these events] at court, and we will learn the circumstances of that day, and the society will start to go toward reconciliation. The MP noted, however, that not much details are known to this day, regarding the criminal case into this tragedy. As per Marukyan, the respective verdicts that have already entered into legal force need to be reviewed. As a result of reviewing the cases, we need to come to a public solidarity, and think [about] () how we will build the future [of Armenia], he added, in particular. Subsequently, the Bright Armenia representatives marched to Alexander Myasnikyan Monument, and paid tribute to those who died in the events in March 2008. 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. Pakistans civil aviation authorities said airspace of the country will remain closed till March 4. The airspace was closed for commercial flights after the Pakistani army announced shooting down of two Indian fighter jets which violated countrys airspace in the disputed region of Kashmir. The situation in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir and border regions of Pakistan escalated after 49 Indian soldiers were killed in a suicide attack of Army of Muhammed terrorist organization. On Tuesday evening Indian air forces targeted the supposed base of the militants on the territory of Pakistan. Two Indian fighter jets were shot down, Pakistani military officials said. The shooting on the border continued on Tuesday, while Russia, U.S. and EU called on the parties to show restraint. The meeting with the My Step parliamentary faction was devoted to our future actions, the vision of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development and possible cooperation. This is what Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Suren Papikyan told journalists after his meeting with MPs of the My Step parliamentary faction of the National Assembly on 1 March. Talking about the future actions, he stated that the draft law on territorial administration would be introduced in the National Assembly and that reduction of staffs of regional governors offices would arise from the draft law, adding that the Ministry plans on laying off nearly 30% of the employees of regional governors offices. When asked if there would be 30% reduction at all regional governors offices, the Minister said that the staffs of certain regional governors offices might be cut less than others. This will lead to optimal management. Based on our study, 40% of the employees dont do their jobs. We want to make management more effective instead of leaving people unemployed. We need professionals, he said. When told that the new government is laying off the in-laws, friends and acquaintances of former government officials to hire the in-laws, friends and acquaintances of the new government officials, Papikyan asked to bring an example and stated that there was no such thing. YEREVAN. There is a legal procedure. The deadline until the bill on changing the government structure should have remained on e-draft was over on Thursday. Suren Papikyan, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Development, on Friday told about the aforementioned to reporters in the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia. He noted this when asked why this bills submission to parliament was being delayed. In his words, it would not have been right to immediately submit this proposed law to the legislature. The process proceeds in the normal course, Papikyan added. The deadline is over. With the next phase, it will appear at the government session, and then it will be brought to the NA. There is no secret, nothing is done behind the scenes, everything is known and simple to everyone. Under the said bill, the number of Armenias ministries is planned to be reduced from seventeen down to twelve. In particular, there will no longer be the Ministries of Culture, Agriculture, Diaspora, and Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources. PM: 40 ambulance centers and 100 outpatient clinics to build By Tea Mariamidze Around 40 emergency rescue centers will be launched in Georgia this year, also over 100 outpatient healthcare facilities will be built and up to 300- renovated.The information was released by Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze on February 26 prior to the Executive Government Meeting.The PM noted that GEL 20 million has been allocated for the program that covers every municipality throughout the country.Moreover, he said that the government has planned the implementation of special programs for the regions of the country with an aim of equitable development and delivery of essential services in regions of the country.Indispensable service rendering for decent health and living conditions of our citizens is a priority of our Government, which will never be diverted, he underlined.In addition, the PM said Action Plan for Environment and Healthcare will be drafted for 2018-2022 in the nearest future.He underlined that protection of environment and development of Green Economy is one of the key priorities of the Government, adding all-inclusive approach and specific decisions need to be made on the topic.We will develop an Action Plan for Environment and Healthcare for 2018-2022 in the nearest future, considering the high priority of the issue, implementation of the plan will be supervised by a special Coordination Council, which is a consultative body of the Government of Georgia under my personal management. It will engage international organizations, experts and civil society, said Bakhtadze.Governmental Administration informs that the PM will issue specific instructions to the heads of public institutions engaged in the Coordination Council to carry out a nationwide situation analysis of drinking water supply and to develop an action plan towards this end. Today is the eleventh anniversary of the tragic events of March 1 when ten people were killed during the clashes between the demonstrators and police in Yerevan. PM Nikol Pashinyan addressed the nation saying it is extremely important to give a political assessment to what happened during the events. The chapter of resolving matters through violence is closed in Armenia. Our joint mission is turning Armenia into a country of law and justice, truth and values, he said. He invited everyone join a march from Yerevans Liberty Square toward the Myasnikyan statue to pay tribute to the victims of March 1. The President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, on Friday morning placed flowers at the monument. Prosperous Armenia participated in the events commemorating the events of 1 March with its own march. The political party leader Gagik Tsarukyan expressed indignation when a journalist asked him about being interrogated as a witness in connection with the March 1 case. Tsarukyan said he had explained several times that he had nothing to do with the events that took place on 1 March and that nobody can find anything on him. Bright Armenia, another opposition party in the parliament, also paid tribute to the March 1 victims on their own without joining any party. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan accepted the Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices, the Co-Chairs said in a statement summing up their regional visit. During the meetings in the region, the leaders briefed the Co-Chairs on their recent conversation on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The leaders and the Co-Chairs discussed the situation on the ground and their expectations for next steps, the statement says. The Co-Chairs assessed positively the continuing lack of casualties on the line of contact and welcomed the developing discussions in the region about preparing populations for peace. The Armenian foreign ministry condemned the verdict of the Azerbaijani court against Karen Ghazaryan, ruled in a vivid violation of the international human rights obligations. The real reason behind the state-orchestrated capture of Karen Ghazaryan is not a secret. However, those efforts will not succeed. The rights of the people living in the conflict zone and the international humanitarian law constitute a priority for both the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh, spokesperson for MFA Anna Naghdalyan said. Armenia's Special Investigation Service blocked the pension account of ex-defense minister Seyran Ohanyan who is charged with overthrowing constitutional order within the March 1 case. However, later the block was lifted, spokesperson for the Service Marina Oghanjanyan said. According to earlier reports, all the assets of Ohanyan, including the pension account, were frozen. YEREVAN. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with President Armen Sarkissin to discuss foreign policy agenda. Welcoming PM in his residence, President Sarkissian said he had heard of Pashinyans successful visit to Iran and said he would be happy to learn the details. Yes, I do believe that the visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran was very important and very successful. I plan to pay an official visit to Brussels to discuss our next moves with the EU partners, Pashinyan said. Pashinyan pointed to rich foreign policy agenda this year, recalling Armenias presidency of the Eurasian Economic Union. One of the meetings of the intergovernmental council and the session of the supreme economic ouncil will take place in Yerevan, he added. Pashinyan emphasized that the foreign policy agenda has to be adapted to the goals of the economic revolution. President Sarkissian, in turn, briefed the Prime Minister on his recent visit to France where he attended the 90th plenary session of the Armenian General Benevolent Union. He also held meetings with large French companies, such as Thales and Dassault. The President also shared the details of his meetings on the margins of the Munich Security Council as well as the visit to University of Heidelberg , Munich Technical University, Max Planck institute. The aim of these visits, according to him, is to turn Armenia into a country of modern technologies and to ensure countrys rapid growth. Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has revealed plans to institute investigations into Hessy wa Dandora, a mysterious group of trigger-happy crime busters believed to be police officers. The killers, who were initially thought to be one person, operate by issuing warnings and death threats to criminals who often end up dead. Speaking at the Kayole Social Hall during a community dialogue meeting on Thursday, DPP Haji pledged to follow up the matter with the Inspector General of Police Joseph. No one should be killed; suspects must go through legal process. I will write to IG to investigate on Hessy vigilante group, said the DPP. Haji, who was accompanied by the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti, urged the community to expose criminals assuring them of witness protection. He also provided a telephone number through which members of the public can anonymously report crime and their concerns in the quest for justice. Expose criminals we shall protect you as a witness. No victimization. Those who have spoken & exposed sensitive issues in this forum must be protected by local administration, said the DPP. He also said police must be held accountable for the use of firearms in any case of judicial killings. DCI Kinoti also echoed Hajis sentiments and vowed to tame rogue officers involved in extra-judicial killings. I acknowledge that the police kill innocent civilians unlawfully and it is a fact because I have seen it. I stand before God if myself or anybody who will ever cover for someone who has killed an innocent person let God curse me. I am saying no one will ever cover for a police officer who kills under my watch, said Kinoti. According to a recent report in the Washington Post, at least four Democratic presidential candidates -- Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson -- in one way or the other favor the idea of African-American reparations. Although reparations is not a new concept, its exact meaning in the current context has not been well defined. As the Washington Post put it: "In the modern political sense, the term 'reparations' is a little like 'socialism.' It means very different things to different people." That ambiguity was highlighted earlier this week when presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on CNN, asked about his stance on reparations, dodged the question by saying it "depends on what the word means." The traditional use of the term reparations is to signify a financial recompense for African-Americans whose ancestors were slaves and lived through the Jim Crow era. But commentators such as journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates focus more on current disparities in income, wealth and education between blacks and whites, arguing that these are a current-day legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, and that action is needed to reduce these differences. As Coates says in a recent Atlantic Magazine article "The Case for Reparations": "What I'm talking about is more than recompense for past injustices -- more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I'm talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal." This seems to be presidential candidate Kamala Harris' use of the term when she said: "We have to be honest that people in this country do not start from the same place or have access to the same opportunities. I'm serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in black communities." Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren talked about reparations in a similar vein in an interview with the New York Times: "We must confront the dark history of slavery and government-sanctioned discrimination in this country that has had many consequences, including undermining the ability of black families to build wealth in America for generations. We need systemic, structural changes to address that." But it's not just commentators and presidential candidates who perceive a need for a national reckoning, new policies and structures, and systemic, structural changes. Black Americans, over 150 years after the end of the Civil War, also believe that the U.S. government needs to be involved in bringing about significant and meaningful race-related changes. My colleagues Jeff Jones and Mohamed Younis recently reviewed new Gallup data on views of race in America today. Taken as a whole, the results show that black Americans express very low levels of satisfaction with the status of how blacks are treated in this country, believe that blacks still face discrimination across a number of everyday situations and that black-white relations will be a problem for many years to come. One key finding: Only 18% of blacks are satisfied with the way blacks are treated in this country today, compared with 51% of whites who say they are satisfied with the way blacks are treated. Well over half of blacks believe that blacks are treated less favorably than whites in dealing with the police, in stores and malls, and on the job. About half of blacks say blacks are treated less favorably in neighborhood shops, in restaurants and in getting healthcare. More than one in five black Americans say that within the last 30 days they were treated unfairly in stores, in restaurants or by the police. Slightly fewer, but still substantial numbers, say that they have been treated unfairly at work or in receiving healthcare. A slight majority of blacks are pessimistic about the future, saying that relations between blacks and whites will always be a problem in this country. Black Americans also clearly believe that government actions should be taken to help bring about change. Over seven in 10 blacks favor affirmative action programs for racial minorities in this country, and a majority of 57% of whites agree. Previous Gallup research has shown that about two-thirds of black Americans believe the U.S. government should play a major role in trying to improve the social and economic position of blacks and other minority groups in this country. Over seven in 10 blacks believe that new civil rights laws are needed in this country to reduce discrimination against blacks. What about reparations per se? Several polls in recent years have shown majority black support for the concept. A YouGov online survey in 2014 showed roughly six in 10 black Americans said that the U.S. government should offer cash payments and education and job training programs to the descendants of slaves. A Kaiser Family Foundation/CNN survey from 2015 found that 52% of blacks said that "as a way to make up for the harm caused by slavery" the government should "make cash payments to Black Americans who are descendants of slaves" (8% of whites agreed). A Marist poll from 2016 showed that 58% of blacks supported the idea for reparations for African-American descendants of slaves. Overall, blacks in the U.S. have continuing concerns about discrimination and structural impediments to their success, and most believe that the government must step in and do more to help this situation. The concept of reparations per se is broad, and the exact level of black support for the idea depends on how it is defined. But we know that at least a majority of blacks appear from past polling to be in favor -- not surprising given the general context of black support for the government actively addressing race inequalities in the U.S. today. Reparations May Be a Significant Policy Issue in 2020 Elections The black vote could be a critical factor in next year's Democratic presidential primaries, particularly in the early voting states of South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Black voter turnout will also be an important factor in the general election. We know that blacks remain dissatisfied with their current situation and want the government to do more to address it. This provides a supportive attitudinal context for the concept of some form of reparations. Already, the frequency of discussion of the idea of reparations indicates that it may well be a much more significant policy debate in 2020 than it has been in previous elections. Presidential candidates' typically broad discussions of racism and racial inequality may, by necessity, morph in this election cycle into a targeted discussion of direct government actions designed to address the racial disparities. President Trump's approach so far has been to emphasize the improved situation of blacks as a result of the positive overall economy (saying, for example, "Because of my policies, Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the lowest rate ever recorded!"). Democratic candidates, it appears, are going to be much more likely to bring up the concept of more direct government action, including reparations. Whatever the approach, the ways in which candidates discuss race in America today may help determine the eventual party nominees -- and the outcome of the November 2020 general election. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Afghan Taliban Claims 40 U.S. Soldiers, 30 Afghans Killed Thus Far in Ongoing Suicide Raid at Shurab Airbase in Helmand If you want to save money at tax time, you'll want to take advantage of as many tax deductions as possible. While the term write-off often refers to a deduction, many taxpayers use it to describe a tax credit as well. "A deduction is a deduction from (taxable) income, and a credit is a deduction from tax (owed)," explains Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, a provider of software and information services for tax, accounting and audit workers. While a credit can result in more substantial savings, both can reduce your tax bill. [Read: Tax Deductions That Disappeared This Year.] From state taxes to child care expenses, there are plenty of ways to reduce your federal tax obligation. Here are 10 tax write-offs you shouldn't overlook: -- State income and sales tax. -- Mortgage points and property tax. -- Value-based car registration fees. -- Medical expenses. -- Noncash charitable giving. -- Traditional IRA and HSA contributions. -- College tuition and student loan interest. -- Self-employment income. -- Child care. -- Earned Income Tax Credit. Read on to learn more about the 10 credits and deductions you don't want to miss out on. State Income or Sales Tax Taxpayers who itemize deductions can choose to deduct either their state income or state sales tax payments. While state income tax may provide the bigger deduction for many people, a sales tax deduction might make more sense for those who made a major purchase, such as a vehicle or a boat last year. In the past, taxpayers could take an unlimited itemized deduction for their state income or sales tax. However, for the 2018 tax year, under the new rules of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the deduction for sales, income and property tax deductions is capped at $10,000. "That's probably less valuable now to a lot of people," Luscombe says. Mortgage Points and Property Taxes Property taxes are a major deduction for many homeowners, though this tax break is subject to the $10,000 cap on deductions for state income, sales and property taxes. Mortgage points paid as part of closing costs on a home sale can also be deducted. Story continues Homeowners who don't think they will hit the $10,000 cap can increase their deduction by consolidating their tax payments in a single year, says Paul T. Joseph, an attorney and CPA with Joseph & Joseph Tax & Payroll in Williamston, Michigan. This works particularly well in states where residents are assessed winter and summer tax bills. While a winter bill may not be due until January or February, it can be deducted for the previous tax year if paid in December. This strategy means a homeowner might pay three bills in one calendar year and make a single summer payment the following year. Accelerating tax payments is particularly beneficial now that the standard deduction has been nearly doubled to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. As a result, many people won't be able to itemize unless they concentrate their deductible spending into a single year. "You want to pay (bills) so they are all part of the same pile (in the same year)," Joseph says. Value-Based Car Registration Fees States have a variety of methods to assess registration renewal fees for vehicles. Some assess flat fees, while others calculate the amount based upon the weight of a vehicle. These fees are not deductible. However, other states, such as Michigan and California, assess a fee based on the value of a car. In those states, taxpayers can include the amount paid in their itemized deductions so long as the fee is assessed on an annual basis. Medical Expenses For the 2018 tax year, taxpayers can deduct medical expenses that exceeded 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income. In addition to out-of-pocket costs, the IRS allows people to deduct mileage or other travel expenses associated with medical visits. What's more, they can deduct home improvements completed for a medical reason, says Laura Plotner, tax managing director for financial firm CBIZ MHM in Tampa Bay, Florida. It's a commonly overlooked option for significant tax savings. Examples of medical home renovations include installing a wheelchair ramp, lowering cabinets and installing support bars. "Those types of things would all be deductible," Plotner says. However, only costs exceeding 7.5 percent of a person's adjusted gross income is deductible and any increase in the value of the home that occurs because of the renovation must be subtracted from the deductible amount. In the 2019 tax year, the threshold will increase and only expenses in excess of 10 percent of a person's adjusted gross income will qualify for a deduction. Noncash Charitable Giving The deduction for cash gifts to charities is well-known, but not all taxpayers are aware they can deduct other charitable gifts as well. Donations of goods made to a local thrift store can be deductible, as can expenses associated with volunteer work. "People don't claim their charitable mileage," Joseph says, and that's a mistake. Taxpayers can deduct 14 cents per mile driven to and from volunteer activities for nonprofit organizations. What's more, they can deduct any parking expenses or tolls incurred as a direct result of volunteerism. However, not everything related to volunteer work is deductible. You can't deduct for your time or any personal expenses. For instance, if you stopped by a restaurant on the way to a volunteer opportunity, you can't deduct the cost of lunch. See: [15 Tax Questions -- Answered.] Qualified Business Income The creation of the qualified business income deduction is one of the most significant changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. It allows certain self-employed individuals who have pass-through businesses such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, S Corporations and limited liability corporations to deduct 20 percent of their business income from their personal taxes. The deduction is only available to individual taxpayers who have incomes below $157,000 or $315,000 for married couples filing jointly. Still, there are also some limitations on which occupations are eligible for the deduction. For instance, some service-based professionals such as physicians and attorneys are excluded. "Some people might look at it and decide it's too complicated to figure out," Luscombe says. However, a 20 percent deduction of business income is substantial, and it may be worth seeking out assistance from a tax professional to take advantage of the write-off. Traditional IRA and HSA Contributions IRA and health savings account contributions are unique when it comes to taxable deductions. While taxpayers must have paid for other expenses in 2018 to claim a deduction, they can make a deposit in a traditional IRA or an HSA as late as April 15, 2019, and still deduct it on their tax forms. For the 2018 tax year, workers younger than age 50 can contribute up to $5,500 to an IRA, while those age 50 or older can make a $6,500 contribution to a traditional IRA. HSAs can be opened by those with a qualified high-deductible health insurance plan. The 2018 contribution limits to these accounts are $3,450 for those with single coverage and $6,900 for those with a family health plan. College Tuition and Student Loan Interest The government provides several tax deductions and credits intended to offset the cost of college. These include the American Opportunity Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit and a deduction for student loan interest. Education tax credits and deductions can be claimed by a child so long as he or she has earned income and is not listed as a dependent on a parent's tax form. Only the parent or the child can claim an education deduction or credit. For affluent households, where the total income makes families ineligible for education credits, it could be beneficial to stop claiming children in college so they can apply for a deduction or credit themselves. Earned Income Tax Credit The earned income tax credit is a refundable credit which means families can receive a check from the government even if they haven't paid any taxes. "A lot of people miss that opportunity," Plotner says. To be eligible for the credit, people must have at least one dollar of earned income and at least one qualifying child. They also must not exceed certain income limits that vary depending on a person's filing status and number of children. To qualify, the maximum earned and adjusted gross income must be less than $54,884 for a married couple filing jointly with three or more qualifying children. The credit amount also varies depending on a person's income and number of children, and the maximum credit for the 2018 tax year is $6,431. Child Care Parents who work may be eligible for a child and dependent care tax credit, and that's not the only day care expense they may qualify for. Day camps may also be claimed as a qualified expense. For child care and any other tax write-offs, it's essential to have proper documentation to justify the deduction or credit. Also, while it affects a relatively small number of people, high-income families should be wary of inadvertently triggering the alternative minimum tax as a result of their write-offs. If you've been hit with this tax, it may be wise to consult with a financial professional to determine the cause. [See: 10 Smart Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund.] However, for most people, more tax write-offs means a smaller tax bill. Check with your accountant or review your records to ensure you haven't overlooked these deductions and credits or other money-saving tax incentives. The case was already horrible enough: An 11-year-old Argentine girl was raped and impregnated by her grandmother's boyfriend. But after a protracted legal battle to win the right for an abortion, doctors shocked "Lucia" by delivering a baby via cesarean section at 23 weeks. Doctors say the baby has little chance of surviving, according to media reports. The uproar by anti-abortion forces in this predominantly Catholic country reignited a debate only six months after the Argentine Senate narrowly rejected a bill to legalize abortion. The ordeal began on Jan. 29, at week 19 of gestation, when the girl, identified only as "Lucia," went to a primary care center in Buyuirracu, in the northwest of Tucuman province, to complain of a "gut pain" that was diagnosed as a pregnancy. "I want you to take out of my tummy what the old man put there," the girl was quoting as saying in a complaint lodged with authorities in the northern province of Tucuman, the Guardian reports. After suffering self-inflicted lesions resulting from apparent suicide attempts, Lucia was placed in state care, according to the newspaper. However, her request for an abortion was delayed by almost five weeks, as some doctors refused to carry out the procedure and a legal row erupted over whether her mother or her grandmother had the legal right to speak on her behalf. Mariana Paterlini of human rights organization Andhes, which filed a brief in Lucias case, told The Daily Beast that Lucia had sought permission for an abortion eight times, including at the trial for her abuser, who is currently awaiting sentencing. Abortion in Argentina, which is nominally 70 percent Catholic and the home of Pope Francis, is illegal, except in cases of rape or if the mother's health is in danger. But Lucia's fight ran into delays, including a battle over whether her mother or grandmother was the legal guardian. At one point, the grandmother was stripped of her guardianship for cohabiting with the rapist. Story continues A major holdup, however, was the refusal of some doctors, calling themselves conscientious objectors, to perform the procedure. By the time the issues had been settled, the girl was in the 23rd week of her pregnancy. After the provincial Family Court ruled that the abortion was permissible, the agonizing ordeal got even more complicated. Two rivate doctors, Cecilia Outsset, a gynecologist and her husband, Jose Gigena, volunteered to perform the operation. But they were assigned three hospital staff members an anesthetist, a surgical technician, and nurse who declared themselves as conscientious objectors and would not participate, according to Clarin, Argentina's largest newspaper. Outsset told Infobae: "We were left alone, but we could not leave her, we could not say 'not now.'" "I had to inform my husband and call an anesthetist from another hospital," she said. After her transfer to Eva Peron hospital, lawyers of the Argentine Northwest in Human Rights and Social Studies (Andhes), and the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Human Rights (CLADEM) had presented a legal brief last week supporting her request for an abortion, but were not allowed to make contact with Lucia. In the end, an aunt was reached by Facebook who intervened to permit the girl and her mother to declare in writing the desire to terminate the pregnancy. Meanwhile, women told Clarin that anti-abortion activists, purportedly posing as doctors, had entered the hospital to try to convince Lucia and her mother to continue with the pregnancy. Outsset, who counts herself a conscientious objector, but also supports the right of other groups to seek legalization, said the decision to perform a C-section was determined to be the safer option. Eventually, with Lucia sedated, doctors carried out a C-section instead of an abortion, arguing it would have been too risky to perform the latter, the BBC reported. "Vaginally, it wasn't possible," she said, according to Clarin. "Her body wasn't sufficiently developed for a 23-week pregnancy, and even if it had been, she wasn't psychologically ready given the many abuses she'd suffered." Outsset tells Radio Nacional Tucuman that when she and her husband first saw Lucia in the hospital room, she was playing with dolls and weighed barely 110 pounds. When I saw her my legs trembled, it was like seeing my youngest daughter," she said. "The little girl did not fully understand what was going to happen. In the end, Family Court Judge Valeria Brand ruled in favor of the abortion. The Ministry of Health in Tucuman then ordered the medical intervention, but with a message: "save the two lives." But as the anger rose among pro-abortion groups, the press office of the Supreme Court of Tucuman issued a statement declaring that at no time did Judge Brand include a "save the two lives" call in her ruling, Pagina/12 reports. The case has inflamed activists on both sides of the issue. Last year, the bill to legalize abortion up to 14 weeks was passed by the Argentinian chamber of deputies but failed in senate, under strong pressure from the church. "The State is responsible for torturing Lucia," said #NiUnaMenos, which means 'not one less,' one of the feminist organizations leading the campaign to legalize abortion. Lawyer Soledad Deza, of Catholics for the Right to Decide, said Lucias case was not one of conscientious objection by doctors, AFP reports. Regrettably, what we have here is a conservative action stemming from the executive branch, Deza told Pagina/12. Abortion is a legal option in the case of abuse or risk to life. The state has to ensure the procedure. Here there was the worst kind of cruelty with this child. That defenseless and innocent human being is whom abortionists managed to pull from its mothers womb in Tucuman, 24 weeks and premature. Now it lies with tubes attached and in risk of dying when 20 more days could have been allowed to pass to guarantee both lives ..., tweeted Mariano Obarrio, a journalist for La Nacion. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: An 11-year-old rape victim in Argentina begged for an abortion. Instead, she was forced to have a C-section Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israeli troops on Friday shot and wounded 17 Palestinians during a protest on the Gaza-Israel border, where rallies have been held for nearly a year, the enclave's health ministry said. A ministry statement reported "17 injuries by the Israeli occupation forces with live ammunition", without giving details on the condition of those shot. It said that three paramedics and one journalist were hurt by tear gas grenades. The Israeli army told AFP that troops used live fire "according to the rules of engagement" with violent demonstrators. "There are close to 8,000 rioters who are throwing stones, who are burning tyres and throwing explosive devices and grenades at troops and at the (border) fence," a spokeswoman said. "In response we are using riot dispersal means and also firing, according to the rules of engagement of course," she said. The conclusions of a UN probe published on Thursday said Israeli forces responding to protests on the Gaza border had committed "violations of international human rights and humanitarian law". "Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity," said the report, by a commission of inquiry set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Protests and clashes began along the Gaza border on March 30 last year. Demonstrators have been calling for Palestinian refugees to be allowed to return to their former homes now inside Israel, which Israeli officials say is akin to calling for their country's destruction. Israel accuses Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas of using the protests as cover for infiltrations and attacks, while rights groups and Palestinians say protesters posing little threat have been shot by Israeli snipers. At least 251 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March 2018, the majority shot during weekly border protests and others hit by tank fire or air strikes in response to violence from Gaza. Story continues Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period. Israeli leaders strongly condemned the findings of the UN inquiry, which investigated possible violations from the start of the protests last March through to December 31. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "rejects outright the report". Foreign Minister Israel Katz called it "hostile, deceitful and biased" and insisted that "no institution can negate Israel's right to self-defence". Israel and Hamas, which has controlled the blockaded Gaza Strip for over a decade, have fought three wars since 2008. FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) The mayor of Alaska's second-largest city vetoed a new local law Friday that gave sweeping equal rights protections to the LGBTQ community just days after the City Council approved it. Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly said he hopes to put the issue on the ballot in October and let voting residents decide, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Friday. Matherly made the announcement in a column sent to the newspaper Friday morning. The decision was made "after much soul searching, research, and examination of all facets of the issues," according to Matherly. "I do not take this action lightly," he wrote. "As with most concepts, the details become challenging when they affect so many people with different priorities and opinions. It is those details that I think require further examination." The Fairbanks City Council approved the equal rights ordinance on Monday by a 4-2 vote. The hotly debated measure extended anti-discrimination protections for employment, housing and public accommodations. The measure also provided a means for people to challenge in court the practices they believe are discriminatory. Supporters of the measure were planning to hold a vigil Friday night in Fairbanks. Among them is Hayden Nevill, who said the veto "gives our neighbors a license to treat us poorly." He said in a statement to the newspaper that the new law is supported by a majority of residents. "The arguments against the ordinance were based on fear and misunderstanding," Nevill wrote. "It's disheartening that Mr. Matherly has chosen to legitimize fear instead of legitimizing people." The vetoed ordinance was modeled after local laws in Juneau, Alaska's capital, and the southeast community of Sitka. Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, also has protections for LGBTQ residents. The Alaska Municipal League does not have a count on how many other Alaska cities might have similar protections. Story continues Before the Fairbanks law was passed, a few dozen people testified, with a small majority voicing opposition. Under the city charter, the mayor can veto any legislative action. The City Council has the power to override vetoes with five affirmative votes within 14 days. In his column, Matherly notes the public interest generated by the ordinance. He also says many of the public comments were from people living outside the city limits. "While I value the opinion of our neighbors in the surrounding communities and visitors from farther out, I want the citizens of Fairbanks to chart their own course and decide how we move forward as a city," he states. In September, Matherly apologized after there was an angry uproar on social media when a meme that made fun of a woman who accused then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault was shared from his Facebook account. The meme showed Christine Blasey Ford with her hand raised, apparently being sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The meme read: "Believe in something, even if you can't remember anything." Matherly said his girlfriend shared the meme on a thread of a friend while she was scrolling through his Facebook newsfeed on his iPhone. From there, it spread quickly. "I understand the emotion surrounding this entire national conversation, and I am sympathetic to both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh and especially too ALL victims of sexual assault," he wrote on Facebook the next day. "My sincere apologies for anyone that was offended by the sharing of that meme. I am truly sorry." A family in Komarock, Nairobi is trying to come to terms with the tragic death of their two-year-old daughter who died after she was hit by a car that was being driven by a minor. The incident occurred on Monday, February 25 afternoon when the father of the deceased, Derrick Wayodi, went to visit a neighbour whose Standard Eight son had been unwell. When Wayodi arrived at his friends home which is about 200 metres from his, he found that the boy had just returned from the hospital with his mother. The 12 year-old-boy injured his arm last Friday when he fell from a mango tree. The boy left us talking in the house. After about five minutes, I also decided to leave, Wayodi said. Outside his friends house, unimaginable horror awaited him. He first heard chilling screams before he saw the boy he had come to visit running towards him. I asked him why he was running and he said he had accidentally hit my two-year-old daughter Angel with a car, Wayodi said. Panicked, Wayodi ran towards the screams and came face to face with his worst fear; his baby Angel was lying in a pool of blood, motionless. I felt weak. I was trembling. Some parts of her body were swollen and she was bleeding, the anguished father recalled painfully. The Standard reports that while Wayodi stood there paralysed, a neighbours car arrived and rushed Angel to hospital. Wayodi, not knowing what to do at first, is said to have rushed home. He took his car and tried and catch up with the neighbours vehicle. He drove to Mama Lucy Hospital but Angel was not there. His anguish continued when he went to the Aga Khan clinic in Komarock; angel was not there. He finally found her at Modern Hospital where his worst fear was confirmed. Doctors told Wayodi that Angel was bleeding from the ears and mouth and had a fractured skull. She passed away while being attended to. The father of six described his lastborn Angel as a happy and talkative child who was popular in the neighbourhood. Angel was such a joy bringer. The day she died we all cried the whole night; we could not sleep at all, he was quoted. He said the family of the 12-year-old boy had expressed remorse but he still pressed charges against the boy and his family. Both families recorded statements with the police on Wednesday. I implore the police and the Government to do their work without fear or favour, he said. The estates chairman John Mwangi said the boy was driving his parents car at high speed. The life of this little girl has been cut short due to negligence. The boy is a minor and had no driving licence, Mr Mwangi said. Police from Kayole Station have impounded the vehicle and questioned some of the people who witnessed the accident. Baby Angel will be buried next week in Alego, Siaya County. Algiers (AFP) - The confirmation on February 10 that Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika would contest a fifth term sparked a series of protests in the North African country. Here is a timeline. - New bid confirmed - On February 10 Bouteflika ends months of speculation and confirms that he intends to seek a fifth term in April 18 elections. The leader, who became president in 1999, acknowledges his weakened state of health, which has left him in a wheelchair and rarely seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. "But the unwavering desire to serve... has never left me and it allows me to transcend the constraints linked to health troubles which everyone may one day face," he says, according to the APS news agency. - Massive protest - On February 22 tens of thousands of people demonstrate in several cities including the capital Algiers, where protests have been banned since 2001. "No fifth mandate," chant the mostly young male demonstrators in the capital. There are scuffles in Algiers between demonstrators and security forces who fire tear gas. On February 24 hundreds of people take to the streets of Algiers, although the turnout is lower than in the previous protests. In Paris, home to a large Algerian diaspora, hundreds of demonstrators wave placards, some reading "Regime murderers". - Official media silent - With state media silent on the protests, national radio journalists protest they are being prevented from reporting on the opposition to Bouteflika. In an unsigned letter to management seen by AFP, they slam the "decision by the hierarchy to ignore" the rallies and deplore the skewing of coverage in favour of the incumbent. Bouteflika heads to Geneva for "routine medical checks". - Students join in - In the first official reaction to the protests, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia calls on February 25 for "vigilance" at demonstrations and says it should be left to voters "to decide in a peaceful and civilised way" if Bouteflika gets a fifth term. Story continues Around a hundred lawyers also protest, waving placards bearing messages saying that they are "with the people". On February 26 around 500 students demonstrate on the main campus of the University of Algiers, shouting "No to a fifth term" and "Bouteflika get out" in the latest rally against his candidacy. Thousands of students then rally peacefully in and around the capital and other cities. - Journalists arrested - Authorities announce that Bouteflika will formally submit his candidature on March 3, a day after turning 82. On February 28 a dozen journalists are detained for several hours as they participate in a rally against alleged censorship of protest coverage. Prime Minister Ouyahia compares the growing protest movement to the peaceful demonstrations that erupted in Syria and sparked a war which is now nearing its ninth year. - Clashes - On March 1, tens of thousands protest in Algiers and across the country. "Regime murderers", thousands chant in central Algiers. Other demonstrations take place in the second and third cities -- Oran and Constantine. Several people are wounded in clashes between police and groups of young protesters in Algiers, AFP journalists say. Riot police fire tear gas to try to disperse a group of around 200 young people, around 1.5 kilometres (around a mile) from the presidential palace. Amanda Bynes is getting treatment for her ongoing drug addiction and mental health struggles, according to reports. People, Us Weekly and TMZ report that Bynes suffered a relapse and checked into a Los Angeles-area rehab facility last month. The Shes the Man star, 32, is said to have been feeling pressure from being back in the spotlight after her high-profile interview with Paper magazine in November. Amanda is continuing treatment with the assistance of mental health counselors and addiction specialists, a source told Us, adding that she is responding very well to treatment and her team remains extremely optimistic about her future. TMZ noted that the 32-year-old is getting a ton of support from her parents. Yahoo has reached out to Byness attorney for comment and will update this story when we hear back. In her interview with Paper, the Hairspray actress talked about getting sober four years earlier after being in the throes of drug addiction. She said she started dabbling when she was 16 and it escalated. She suffered a very public breakdown in 2014 and her bizarre behavior became the talk of social media. Amanda Bynes, in 2015, is reportedly receiving mental health treatment. (Photo: Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) Im really ashamed and embarrassed with the things I said. I cant turn back time but if I could, I would. And Im so sorry to whoever I hurt and whoever I lied about because it truly eats away at me. It makes me feel so horrible and sick to my stomach and sad, she told the magazine. Everything I worked my whole life to achieve, I kind of ruined it all through Twitter Its definitely not Twitters fault its my own fault. However, she told the magazine that she never had mental health issues only substance abuse ones. It definitely isnt fun when people diagnose you with what they think you are, Bynes said. That was always really bothersome to me. If you deny anything and tell them what it actually is, they dont believe you. Truly, for me, [my behavior] was drug-induced, and whenever I got off of [drugs], I was always back to normal. I know that my behavior was so strange that people were just trying to grasp at straws for what was wrong. Story continues During her recovery, Bynes dropped out of the spotlight and enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. However, she said shes not ruling out a return to the big screen. I have no fear of the future, she said. Ive been through the worst and came out the other end and survived it so I just feel like its only up from here. Read more on Yahoo Entertainment: The woman near the war memorial bench (Horncastle Community Page/Facebook) Two mums have been criticised for defacing a newly-laid World War One memorial. The pair were caught vandalising the bench as two youngsters, thought to be their children, watch on. The woman scraped Shell and Jane into the wet cement beneath a memorial bench in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, even though the area was cordoned off. Locals have branded them disrespectful, an absolute disgrace and disgusting on a local community page on Facebook. The bench was only installed in the middle of last month. The names written into the concrete (Horncastle Community Page/Facebook) It is though the women sribbled their names into the concrete the day after the bench was installed. The back of the metal bench shows soldiers and a warhorse silhouetted next to poppies, and the immortal words: Lest we forget. The incident came to the publics attention when the damage was posted by a Facebook user on the Horncastle Community Page. One local, Julie Goy, responded: I walked past this bench earlier, 12.15 today with my granddaughter who is nearly two and we stood and admired it, she liked the red poppies. It was fine then and no damage. The incident came to light after it was posted on a Facebook page (Wendy Rea/Horncastle Community Page) She added: What a dreadful shame, should be ashamed of themselves. Others on the Facebook page said the women were bad role models for their children. One, Jayne Grieg, wrote: Those children have no hope. Sophie Nisbet added: Actually disgusting, what an example shes setting to her kids. Willa Jamieson commented: Encouraging little kids to commit vandalism! Wow, hang your heads whoever you are. A Lincolnshire Police spokeswoman said: One woman has been voluntarily interviewed in connection with the matter. There have been no arrests or charges. The mayor of Horncastle, Brian Burbidge, said he was deeply saddened by the incident. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is the new speaker of the House, but the name of the San Francisco liberal was rarely uttered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual gathering held south of Washington, D.C. Demonized for much of the 2018 political season in Republican ads and presidential tweets, she had been, it seemed, entirely forgotten. Former archrival Hillary Clinton came in for a couple of predictable jabs, as when Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, the conservative activist group, promised more accountability from the former secretary of state. But such calls werent followed up by the lock-her-up chants of yore. Instead, by far the greatest animosity and anxiety was reserved for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the 29-year-old House newcomer who has single-handedly pushed the agenda of the Democratic Party to the left. As much as Republicans oppose her agenda the Green New Deal, a 70 percent tax rate on the wealthy they thrill at the prospect of using her to broadly paint the Democrats challenging President Trump in 2020 as like-minded socialists. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., listens as Michael Cohen testifies before the House Oversight Committee Feb. 27, 2019. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) The moment America becomes a socialist country is the moment America ceases to be America, Vice President Mike Pence said on the conventions second day. Pence did not mention Ocasio-Cortez by name, but he didnt have to: She was everywhere at CPAC, so much so that the entirety of the five-day affair could have been dedicated to her. The event officially opened on Thursday with a panel title Marketing Marxism: Theres Nothing New About the Green New Deal. But there was little serious debate of the proposal, which was recently introduced by Ocasio-Cortez, and which would transition the nation to a carbon-free economy under government control. Theyre trying to get rid of all the cows, said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., referencing a comment by Ocasio-Cortez about bovine flatulence, which does in fact contribute to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thus exacerbating the warming of the planet. The cow comment proved popular at CPAC. Story continues Former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Feb. 28, 2019. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) Speaking shortly thereafter, former White House official Sebastian Gorka warned that progressives are seeking to take away your hamburgers, and that this represented Stalinism in its purest form. You just try to have AOC show up at my house and try to take my cows away, said Jerry Falwell Jr., using the acronym by which Ocasio-Cortez is almost universally known. This came right after Falwell said that his sons had grown up with guns in their hands. I think its good, though, that thats the direction the Democrats are going, Falwell added. Thats gonna make it pretty easy in 2020, he added. Indeed, the goal of many attendees and speakers was to paint Ocasio-Cortez as dangerously uninformed. You have a 29-year-old socialist and the only thing shes done on policy issues in her life is bartending, yet shes driving an entire national agenda, said one conservative activist, according to a McClatchy report. Ocasio-Cortez tended bar in New York before turning to politics. The number of allusions to Ocasio-Cortez at CPAC suggests that conservatives believe that she has become the rights new bugbear. Her office did not respond to multiple Yahoo News requests for comment. But on Thursday afternoon, she tweeted in response to a report that an image of her dancing outside her Washington office ominously edited appeared during a video montage by the National Rifle Association. The GOP *is* scared of dancing women, because they fear the liberation of all identities taught to feel shame, Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response. For all that, Ocasio-Cortez will not be old enough to run president for six years, as she is only 29 years old. The prospect clearly thrills some, just as it terrifies others. The sites aoc2028.com and aocforpresident.com have both been registered, though it is unclear to whom. Both sites are blank, with a placeholder from the domain hosting company. Coming soon, it says. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: President Donald Trump responded to criticism Friday about his apparent acceptance of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's denial that he had any involvement in the death of a young American who had been held in North Korean custody. "Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death," Trump tweeted about Otto Warmbier, an Ohio college student who was arrested for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster during a trip to North Korea in 2016. When he was released in June 2017, he was in a coma with a brain injury and he died soon after his return to the U.S. After meeting with Kim in Vietnam for a summit on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Trump told reporters on Thursday, that Kim "felt badly about" Warmbier's death. "I don't believe he knew about it," referring to Kim's involvement in Warmbier's death. "He tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word." Otto Warmbier's parents: 'Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son' More: Trump believes Kim Jong Un didn't know about Otto Warmbier. Experts say that's impossible. I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family. Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch. Of course I hold North Korea responsible.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019 ....for Ottos mistreatment and death. Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future. I love Otto and think of him often! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019 The remarks drew wide criticism, including from Warmbier's parents. Story continues "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son, Otto," Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement on Friday by their lawyer. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that." Experts said that is virtually impossible that in an authoritarian regime like North Korea that one of the few Americans in their custody could have been tortured without Kim's consent. "I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family" Trump tweeted Friday without explaining how his remarks, which were delivered in English, had been misrepresented. The president proceeded to deflect blame on the Obama administration, explaining that he was the one who had secured Warmbier's release while his predecessor had been in office when Warmbier was detained. Trump said that Warmbier "will not have died in vain" and that his family was a "symbol of strong passion and strength." "I love Otto and think of him often!" the president tweeted. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Of course I hold North Korea responsible': Trump says Warmbier comments 'misinterpreted' In a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump, the parents of Otto Warmbier blamed Kim Jong Un for the death of their son from injuries suffered in a North Korean prison and said "no excuse or lavish praise can change that." "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son, Otto," Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement issued Friday by their lawyer. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity." The Warmbiers did not mention Trump by name, but within hours, the president tweeted that he had been "misinterpreted" over the issue. He said he holds North Korea responsible. In Hanoi, Trump said that Kim told him he had not been aware of Otto's treatment and the president said he would "take (Kim) at his word." Otto Warmbier, then a 21-year-old student at the University of Virginia, was arrested in January 2016 during a five-day trip to North Korea for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster from his Pyongyang hotel. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family. Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch. Of course I hold North Korea responsible.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019 After 17 months in prison, Otto was released in June 2017 in a vegetative state and flown back to the United States where he died less than a week later with a severe neurological injury. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 28, 2019, in Hanoi, Vietnam. The couple said they had refrained from any comments earlier out of respect for the second summit between Trump and Kim that wrapped up Thursday in Hanoi. Profile: Who was Otto Warmbier the student released from North Korea? Trump, in response to a question from reporters, had said Thursday that he did not believe that Kim knew about Warmbier's condition or treatment during his imprisonment. Story continues "He felt badly about it," Trump said, referring to Kim. "He knew about it very well, but he knew it later." The president went on to say: "He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word." Trump also took pains to praise Kim as his "good friend." In their statement, which was released within hours after Trump's remarks, the Warmbiers, who live in Cincinnati, said, "Now we must speak out." Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who represents the Warmbier's home state of Ohio, also spoke out strongly to assess blame in the student's death. We must remember Otto, and we should never let North Korea off the hook for what they did to him, Portman said. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway addressed the issue earlier in an appearance on FOX News Channels Americas Newsroom. Conway said she had spoken to Trump about the issue and that "the president agrees with the Warmbier family and holds North Korea responsible for Otto Warmbier's death. He's said that time and again." "But the president is talking about Chairman Kim did not know what happened to Otto at the time of when it happened," she added."and so of course he holds North Korea responsible." Conway said Trump has "deep affection and shares the grief" of the Warmbier family and "that will never end." "But Chairman Kim did not know the what the president is saying is that there's no indication Chairman Kim knew what happened to Otto Warmbier when it happened," "she said. "It's after he was returned here to the United States that we all learned of his very sad and frankly unforgivable state. President Trump on Otto Warmbier: From 'brutal regime...we'll handle it' to 'I will take (Kim) at his word.' The Warmbiers had attended the 2018 State of the Union address at Trump's invitation. In the president's speech, he called the family "powerful witnesses" to North Korea's horrors as the Warmbier family watched from a guest box in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Warmbier family received two standing ovations during the speech. Fred and Cindy stood next to first lady Melania Trump and wept as they acknowledged the cheers. "You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength inspires us all," Trump said. "Thank you very much." Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat and a former ambassador to the United Nations who tried in the past to negotiate Warmbier's release, said on MSNBC Thursday that it was "dispiriting" and "disappointing" that Trump would side with Kim over American intelligence. Rosa Park, director of programs and editor at The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, described North Korea as a totalitarian dictatorship where nothing escape'sKim's eye. "Anything that the leadership does has to be approved by the man at the top," sPark said. In December, a federal judge awarded the Warmbiers $500 million in punitive and compensatory damages, ruling that Otto was tortured in North Korea. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell found that North Korea "deliberately caused Otto's brain damage, which resulted in his death." Its unclear if the Warmbiers will actually receive any money from North Korea from the judgment. Carl Tobias, professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said Monday that getting the North Korean government to cooperate would be difficult. Its another government, and one that doesnt cooperate much with the United States," Tobias said. The question is how to find assets that are probably in the United States that the parents could secure. Contributing: Sean Rossman This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son', Otto Warmbier's parents say Mumbai (AFP) - The Asian Development Bank on Friday awarded its biggest loan for an infrastructure project, almost one billion dollars, to help finance Mumbai's ambitious underground metro network. The ADB said it would lend India $926 million to help fund two lines on the teeming financial capital's first subway network. A bank statement said the lines would "ease the distress of millions of commuters each day and help provide a cleaner, less congested city." It described it as "the single largest infrastructure project loan in ADB history". The Indian government has announced plans to build 12 metro lines totalling 276 kilometers (171 miles) in Mumbai. Backers say the scheme is essential to solve the city's traffic woes and ease the load on its creaking surface railway lines, but the project has been mired in controversy. The main line, called Metro 3, has faced considerable opposition in court, delaying its completion to December 2021. Environmentalists tried unsuccessfully to stop the felling of thousands of trees and are unhappy at plans to build a metro car shed in an urban forest. Thousands of Parsis, meanwhile, called for the route to be changed so trains do not pass under fire temples where Zororastrians worship. The ADB said the two lines which it is supporting will total about 58 kilometres in length and are expected to open at the end of 2022. An estimated two million passengers a day will use the two lines, it added. "ADB financing will ease travel for millions of commuters across Mumbai, help decongest heavily crowded suburban rail systems, and contribute to providing modern, clean, and livable urban environment to its citizens," said India country director Kenichi Yokoyama. Seven million people squeeze onto Mumbai's railway daily. An average of around nine people die on the network every day, either falling off overcrowded carriages or hit while crossing tracks. Two innocent civilians have lost their lives following an attack by gunmen at a supermarket in Makutano area Kirinyaga County. According to reports, gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles raided the supermarket at around 7 p.m. on Thursday and opened fire indiscriminately. Two shoppers; John Nduati (38) and Carol Kasiva, 32 were among those who were caught in the line of fire but they succumbed to injuries. The owner of the supermarket, Michael Njeru and his wife Rodah Karimi also sustained gunshot injuries when the gunmen demanded to given access to the money. The robbers stashed the money in a bag and escaped on a motorcycle while the su[ermarket owners were rushed to Mwea Mission Hospital where they were stabilized. A number of other shoppers who were injured during the evening raid were taken to the White Rose Hospital in Wamumu area. Ms Kasivas mother, Rahab Mbaika survived the attack. She told Nation, One of the gangsters shot my daughter on the left leg and she collapsed. It was so terrifying, I escaped death by a whisker. Nduati, a hotel operator in the town, had gone to the supermarket to get some supplies when he was shot on the chest. He was able to run out of the store but collapsed a few metres away. The bodies were taken to White Rose Hospital mortuary. Mwea West police boss Joseph Matiku confirmed the attack saying that the police had recovered CCTV footage from the supermarket to help identify the robbers. We are tracking down the gangsters who fled towards Ngurubani town. We shall not rest until we arrest the culprits who killed innocent customers, he stated. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Bangladesh told the UN Security Council on Thursday that it will no longer be able to take in refugees from Myanmar. Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a council meeting that the crisis over the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from "bad to worse" and urged the council to take "decisive" action. Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. "Here, I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar," said Haque. Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?" asked the foreign secretary. After five trips to Myanmar, UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener reported "slow progress" in efforts to help hundreds of thousands of Rohingya return home and warned that Myanmar's elections next year could worsen the crisis. The Swiss diplomat, who was appointed in April as UN envoy for Myanmar, said UN agencies had been given "insufficient" access to help prepare the return of the Rohingya. - Myanmar appeals for patience - Myanmar's Ambassador Hau Do Suan insisted his government was taking steps and appealed for patience. He spoke of "huge physical as well as psychological barriers" in the way of allowing the refugees' return and stressed that "it takes time and patience as well as courage to build trust and confidence among different communities in Rakhine." Story continues China, which has close ties with Myanmar's former military junta, insisted that development aid could help ease tensions in Rakhine and made clear the council should not get involved in addressing the refugee crisis. "It is up to the two countries to work out a solution," said Chinese Deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao. In December, Britain circulated a draft resolution that would have forced Myanmar to roll out a strategy for addressing the Rohingya crisis, but China threatened to veto the measure, according to diplomats. "We are very disappointed that there hasn't been more progress on getting the refugees back," said British Ambassador Karen Pierce. "The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far," said Pierce. The UN envoy warned that the election campaign "could add to the domestic complexities" in Myanmar, which is still struggling with a democratic transition after 50 years of military rule. Myanmar's de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized for failing to speak out to defend the Rohingya, is seeking to consolidate her position ahead of the 2020 vote. Myanmar's military dominates the Buddhist-majority nation, holding a quarter of seats in parliament and controlling three ministries, making their grip on power firm despite political reforms which began in 2011. London (AFP) - The BBC on Friday detailed the latest "escalation" in the "systematic targeting" by Iranian authorities of its Persian Service journalists and their relatives. In the most recent intimidation, government-affiliated media in Iran published articles and pictures of staff describing them as "a mafia gang" associated with terrorism, BBC TV presenter Rana Rahimpour said at a panel discussion in London. Iran's judiciary-linked Mizan news agency warned in its report that "God's hand of justice will manifest itself through the arms of the Iranian people and they will be punished for their actions", she said. "This language is ominous: it has had particular use in the past in reference to extra-judicial killings," Rahimpour noted. Iran's embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment. In video testimonies, BBC staff described receiving death threats targeting their children, missing parents' funerals because of travel bans and facing attempts by Iranian agents to recruit them as spies. Veteran journalist and BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson, who chaired the event on Friday, said the situation reminded him of the Cold War. "I hoped we'd never see any more of that disgusting kind of behaviour," he said. "It's one of the worst things a nation has done to free speech in recent times." - Popularity 'draws fire' - The London-based Persian Service -- launched on shortwave radio in 1940 and now also comprising TV and digital output -- says it reaches nearly 23 million people, including around 13 million inside Iran. But the BBC alleges its journalists and their families have faced worsening persecution and harassment, particularly since a 2009 uprising in the Islamic republic was brutally put down. Iranian authorities in 2017 launched a criminal investigation of 152 BBC staff and their relatives for "conspiracy against national security", while their assets were frozen -- preventing them from buying or selling property in Iran. Story continues An internal staff survey later that year found 86 of 96 respondents had suffered harassment themselves and 45 had seen their parents interrogated by officials. "It's the existence of the channel, its popularity, the way that it exists inside Persian living rooms that draws fire," said Tarik Kafala, Controller of BBC World Service Languages. The British broadcaster does not face intimidation "on this scale" anywhere else in the world, he added. In recent years it has appealed to United Nations Special Rapporteurs David Kaye and Asma Jahangir and the UN Rights Council in Geneva. The moves prompted free speech rapporteur Kaye and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres both to make public calls for Iran's government to stop the harassment. On Fridays The View, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke about Hillary Clinton, whom he lost to in the 2016 democratic presidential primaries, and said they have fundamental differences. While discussing other Democratic presidential candidates, like Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who have been meeting with Clinton for advice, Sanders was asked by Meghan McCain if he would be doing the same. I suspect not, Sanders said. Hillary has, you know, she has not called me. Look, we have differences. Hillary has played a very important role in modern American politics. Sanders said how hard he worked to help get Clinton elected, and said it is their political opponents who are pushing the narrative that Sanders splintered the party in 2016 and helped get Donald Trump elected. But he did say why he thinks Trump may have had the edge over Clinton in that election. In some ways, she didnt reach out to working class people the way I think she should have, Sanders said. There were states where she did not campaign as vigorously as she should have, Wisconsin, Michigan, maybe some other states. Sanders, who is gearing up for an even stronger grassroots campaign this time around, said that his main focus now is beating Trump, whom he calls the most dangerous president in modern American history. I hope to be the Democratic nominee and have the support of the whole Democratic Party behind me, Sanders said. If I am not and somebody else is, I will support that candidate. Because thats most important, that Trump be defeated. The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on ABC. Check out what Meghan McCain had to say on the View about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs line of questioning at the Michael Cohen hearing: Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. SAO PAULO (Reuters) - An underground blast in a gold mine in the Brazilian state of Bahia on Friday killed two workers, Canadian company Leagold Mining Corp said. Leagold investor relations vice-president Meghan Brown said few further details were available, and that the company had started an investigation. Local media in Brazil said three other workers were injured, but not seriously and had been released from a hospital. Leagold did not confirm that information. In January, a deadly dam collapse at an iron ore mine managed by Brazil's Vale SA in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state killed hundreds of people. The disaster is driving an overhaul of Brazilian mining operations, particularly safety conditions. Less than four years ago there was a similar deadly dam burst in the same state. Leagold manages two other mines in Brazil, including the RDM site in Minas Gerais state. (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Susan Thomas) LONDON (AP) For almost as long as Britain and the European Union have been wrangling over Brexit, Melvin Burton has been preparing for a bumpy landing. He's growing vegetables, drying fruit and buying in bulk. He reels off the cornucopia of cans filling his shed and the cupboard under his stairs: "Tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, corned beef, tuna, honey, baked beans, tins of ham. Cat food, of course, because I don't want them to go hungry." "I started buying stuff about a year and a half ago," said the 45-year-old, who lives with his wife and 8-year-old son in a village near Cambridge in eastern England. "No one seemed to be accepting that there was a real problem." Plenty of people think there is a problem now. Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in less than a month, on March 29, but its departure terms are still unknown. A U.K.-EU deal designed to ensure a smooth departure has been rejected by Britain's Parliament, and lawmakers are due to vote in mid-March on three starkly differing options: leave with a deal, leave without a deal or postpone Brexit. Quitting the bloc without a deal would, overnight, bring tariffs, customs checks and other barriers between Britain and the EU, and could lead to gridlock to British ports. U.K. officials and companies have been bracing for potential trade disruption by stockpiling everything from ice cream and chocolate cookies to medicines and body bags. But the government still warned this week that British people and businesses are unprepared for the shock of a "no-deal" exit. Britain imports almost a third of its food from the EU even more during the early spring "hunger gap," when domestic crops have yet to be harvested and retailers rely on fresh produce from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and further afield. Supermarket chief executives have warned the government that Britain's available storage space is full, and "even if there were more space it is impossible to stockpile fresh produce, such as salad leaves and fresh fruit." Story continues The government says there will be severe disruption to freight across the English Channel and "reduced availability and choice of products," especially fresh fruit and vegetables, if Britain leaves the EU on March 29 without a divorce deal. And it has warned that "there is a risk that consumer behavior could exacerbate, or create, shortages in this scenario." Some people, like Burton, are taking no chances. He's a member of a Facebook group titled "48 Percent Preppers," with more than 10,000 members. The name refers to the 48 percent of electors who voted to remain in the EU in Britain's 2016 referendum. "Remain" voters make up the bulk of Brexit hoarders; "leave" supporters are apt to dismiss warnings of food and medicine shortages as "Project Fear." Members of the group and several similar online forums swap tips on what to buy and how to store it, whether to stock up on fuel and how to knit their own clothes. Others have seen a commercial opportunity. One company in northern England sells "Brexit boxes" containing freeze-dried food, a water filter and a fire-starter for almost 300 pounds ($400). In London, seed importer Paolo Arrigo put together 12 months' worth of easy-to-grow seed packets carrots, beans, lettuce, pumpkin, tomatoes and labelled it a Brexit Vegetable Growing Survival Kit. He has sold hundreds in a few weeks. "By sowing something each month, you can harvest something each month," said Arrigo, who runs his family's business, Seeds of Italy. "And that means that you've got a supply of fresh vegetables to feed your family in case there's any interruption in supplies." Arrigo's business is relatively Brexit-proof, because "seeds sell better in a crisis." But he thinks leaving the EU is a big mistake, and understands why people are worried. "I had never heard the word 'preppers' before a month ago, and I kind of assumed it was Americans who were buying guns and ammo and tinned food and water," Arrigo said. "Now I belong to four Brexit preppers websites. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a thing. People are stockpiling, and that is because of the uncertainty. "That's where we are as a country: digging for Brexit," he said, echoing a World War II campaign urging Britons to grow vegetables and "dig for victory." Many Britons think the Brexit preppers are overreacting, and they remain a minority. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said this week that "we're not picking up evidence of household stockpiling in any material sense." Some skeptics compare Brexit hoarding to the Y2K millennium bug: a catastrophe that never came to pass. But Burton, who tests software for a living, says internet meltdown was avoided at the turn of the millennium because "we spent vast quantities of people and money and man hours making sure it didn't happen." He's not confident Britain is that well prepared for Brexit though he hopes he's wrong. "I would be very, very happy if it turns out that none of this is going to be necessary," Burton said. "This is a pain in the neck. I'd rather not be doing all this. I would rather be coming home, worrying about what I'm going to watch on Netflix and then ordering an Indian takeaway." ___ Follow Jill Lawless on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless ___ Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at https://www.apnews.com/Brexit A new bill has been introduced in California which will see the legalisation of crypto payments for taxes and fees for cannabis-related businesses. Assembly bill 935 will allow city, county, and state tax offices in California to accept stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies or a physical asset. After January 1st 2020, the bill will allow the legislative body of a city or the board of supervisors of a county to determine and implement a method by which a licensee under MAUCRSA (Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act) may remit any city or county cannabis license tax amounts due by payment using stablecoins. The bill will authorise cities and counties to determine a method of accepting stablecoins directly or by utilising a third-party digital asset payment processor which enables the immediate conversion of any stablecoin payment into USD and will deposit it into an account in the relevant jurisdiction. Existing laws currently impose a state excise tax on the purchase of any cannabis-related products at a rate of 15% of the average market price of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. California also imposes a state cultivation tax for all cultivators who harvest cannabis that enters the commercial market. The rates are specified per dry-weight ounce of cannabis flowers and leaves. Interested in reading more cannabis-related crypto news? Discover how this Colorado-based cannabis dispensary facilitated its first Bitcoin-to-weed transaction. The post California bill could legalise crypto tax payments for cannabis-related businesses appeared first on Coin Rivet. Montreal (AFP) - Canada's former attorney general has provoked the worst political crisis for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government by accusing senior officials of attempting to head off the fraud prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. Here's what you need to know. - What are the accusations ? - Jody Wilson-Raybould testified at the House of Commons Justice Committee that Trudeau, one of his ministers and close advisors applied "inappropriate" pressure on her, including "veiled threats" to intervene in a criminal prosecution. She said that from September to December 2018 officials "hounded" her to ask prosecutors to settle the case out of court. The company was charged in 2015 with corruption for allegedly bribing officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts during former strongman Moamer Kadhafi's reign. Wilson-Raybould refused, and the trial is set to proceed. The allegations were first reported by The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources, and were confirmed Wednesday by Wilson-Raybould herself while testifying at the justice committee. - Why help out SNC-Lavalin? - The Montreal-based construction and engineering company is one of the world's largest. It heavily lobbied the government, including senior officials in Trudeau's office, for an out-of-court settlement that would include paying a fine and agreeing to put in place compliance measures. It has argued that those responsible for alleged wrongdoing left the company long ago, and that holding it accountable for their criminal actions would severely hurt its business. A guilty verdict would notably result in a 10-year ban on bidding on Canadian government contracts. There were suggestions in the press that it might also move its headquarters to London if that happened. - What's the government's position ? - Trudeau said he "completely disagrees" with his former attorney general's characterization of events, insisting that he and his team were rightly looking to safeguard up to 9,000 Canadian jobs, including in his own Quebec electoral district -- which Wilson-Raybould referred to as improper "partisan political considerations." Story continues He has insisted that he made clear to his former attorney general that the "decision around SNC-Lavalin was Wilson-Raybould's and hers alone to make." The attorney general and justice minister are conjoined positions in Canada, which critics say blurs their separate responsibilities -- the former is the country's top prosecutor and independent from the political, partisan role of a cabinet minister. Wilson-Raybould suggested they should be split. - What are the political consequences for Trudeau ? - The Globe and Mail newspaper unleashed a major political controversy when it reported on February 7 that Trudeau's office attempted to pressure Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the case -- months from the next election. Wilson-Raybould, Canada's first indigenous attorney general, was shuffled to veterans affairs in January, and a month later resigned from cabinet. Days later, Trudeau's longtime friend and top advisor Gerry Butts also quit. "I think if the Liberals had not replaced Ms Wilson-Raybould in January as attorney general, we might never have heard about any of this," said Daniel Beland, a politics professor at McGill University in Montreal. The accusations weigh all the more heavily on Trudeau because he has repeatedly affirmed the independence of Canada's judiciary, notably in the case of Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive of Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei who was arrested in Vancouver on a US warrant and faces possible extradition. The opposition Conservatives have seized on the controversy to call for Trudeau's resignation and a federal police investigation into the matter. "Trudeau's image," said Beland, "has been tarnished. This is a prime minister who boasted about being a feminist and a strong advocate of reconciliation with indigenous peoples, so this has created dissonance damaging to him." A poll taken since the scandal erupted put the opposition Conservatives in the lead ahead of the ruling Liberals, for the first time since Trudeau came to power in 2015. Russia plans to build two nuclear-powered Leader-class destroyers of project 23560 worth close to 100 billion rubles each, a source in the shipbuilding industry told TASS. Russia plans to build two nuclear-powered Leader-class destroyers of project 23560 worth close to 100 billion rubles each, a source in the shipbuilding industry told TASS. Scale model showing the Project 23560E "Shkval-class" Destroyer (export variant of Leader-class) at Army 2016 exhibition (Picture source : Navy Recognition) The preliminary design has been completed, research is ongoing and the technical project drafted. "According to the state arms program for 2018-2027, the R&D has to begin in 2021 and construction is to follow. It will take seven years to build one destroyer, according to preliminary estimates," the source said. The lead and the first serial destroyers have to be floated in late 2020s. "The preliminary cost of each warship is 100 bln rubles," he said. The destroyers will have a length of 230 meters and a displacement of 20 thousand tons. "The Leader can carry over a hundred precision Tsirkon, Kalibr or Onix missiles," the source said. The United Shipbuilding Corporation refused comment, but said its shipyards were ready to build warships of such a class. Copyright 2019 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Captain Marvel is in cinemas a week today (just in time for National Womens Day, on 9 March), and Gemma Chans Minn-Erva is one of the most striking characters in the film. Minn-Erva works closely with Captain Marvel in the movie, so who better to ask about how she thinks Carol Danvers will get on with the Avengers during Phase 4 of the MCU? I think shes going to shake things up. Im looking forward to her coming in there. Theres quite a few egos in there, but shes clearly the most powerful out of all of them, Chan says. Gemma Chan gives her thoughts on Carol Danvers future in the MCU Captain Marvel director Anna Boden agrees. Itll be really, really fun to see her interact with the rest of the gang. Should Thanos be worried? Absolutely, says Chan. I think anyone who wants to go up against Captain Marvel ought to be worried, co-director Ryan Fleck says. Read more: Captain Marvel: Brie Larson responds to smile criticism But, when youre looking forward to Phase 4, dont expect the directing team behind Captain Marvel to turn up in the credits of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3, even if Captain Marvel does feel, at times, like an audition reel for that film. We love those movies. But its got James [Gunn] written all over it to us, and I dont think that thats a world that we would jump into, Boden confirms. Those are tough shoes to fill, Fleck agrees. Read more: Guardians Vol. 3 Will Not be Directed by Taika Waititi As for Captain Marvel 2 (which might not arrive until phase 5), Chan has a clear idea about what shed like to see in the movie. Where has she been all this time? Itll be interesting to see what shes been up to in the far-flung reaches of the galaxy. Filling in the gaps, and continuing with this idea of her searching for who she is, searching for her identity, going further along that road. Captain Marvel is in cinemas in the UK on March 9. LONDON (Reuters) - Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, part of Tata Motors Ltd, is preparing to announce hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment in Britain, the BBC reported on Friday. The reported investment would be a rare piece of good news for Britain's car industry, which is now recording falling sales, investment and production. A JLR spokeswoman described the report as speculation. Last month, Jaguar Land Rover's owner Tata Motors Ltd reported the biggest-ever quarterly loss in Indian corporate history of about $4 billion on slumping China sales. JLR then announced plans to cut some 4,500 jobs, mostly in Britain, as the carmaker faces lower Chinese demand and a slump in European diesel sales. Also last month, Honda announced the closure of its British factory which builds over 10 percent of the country's 1.5 million cars. British new car production nosedived 18.2 percent in January, the eighth successive month of annual declines, due to model changes and weaker demand both in Britain and major export markets, an automotive industry body said on Thursday. (Reporting by Stephen Addison and David Milliken; editing by Jane Merriman) Whats happening? Storm Freya is set to bring strong winds, dangerous conditions and travel disruptions to Britain after Februarys record-breaking high temperatures and sunshine, according to the Met Office. Forecasters predict the storm will hit on Sunday afternoon and be severe enough to risk injuries and danger to life from flying debris and large waves. Wheres it going to hit? The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning that runs from 3pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday with gusts are expected to hit around 65mph. Some areas may experience gusts of up to 80mph. The warning covers significant chunks the UK, including Wales, south-west England, the Midlands, northern England and parts of southern Scotland. Wind speeds are expected to be highest in Devon, Cornwall, Wales and north-west England. The storm may also bring snow to areas more than 200 to 300-metres above sea level but temperatures will be probably just above average for the time of year. What to expect Injuries and danger to life from flying debris, large waves and beach material being blown inland Road, rail , air and ferry services are expect to be hit Closure to some road and bridges Some damage to buildings and trees Read more about this story Danger to life as Freya to batter UK (The Telegraph) February set to be hottest on record (Yahoo News UK) Soaring temperatures have hit fish stocks by 5% (Independent) A parenting debate has been sparked online over whether children should be allowed to attend family naturist events. This weekend there will be a naked family swim session at Blackpools Sandcastle Waterpark, but some parents arent convinced a nudist event is suitable for children. We want to know: how healthy do you think Britains relationship is with nudity? Read the full story (Yahoo Style UK) and have your say below: Rapper jailed for eight-and-a-half years over Bestival death A rapper who filmed the daughter of Holby City actor John Michie as she died from a drug overdose at Bestival has been jailed for eight and a half years. Ceon Broughton, 30, ignored his girlfriend Louella Fletcher-Michies pleas for help and took disturbing video footage and pictures on his phone as she slipped into unconsciousness over the course of six hours. Even as she pleaded for help, he refused to take her to the medical tent 500 yards away. Read the full story here (Evening Standard) Story continues Woman who lived with her heart in a rucksack dies A woman who carried her artificial heart in a rucksack following life saving surgery has died. Rebecca Henderson, 24, died at Harefield Hospital on Wednesday following transplant complications, her family and friends have said. Her mother Linda tweeted: Were going to miss our amazing, wonderful daughter. She touched so many lives and lived her life to the fullest. She was also my best friend and Im going to love and miss her forever. Read the full story here (Yahoo News UK) MSC Bellissima, the biggest cruise ship ever to be christened in the UK, celebrates her naming ceremony in Southampton this weekend. The 172,000-tonne ship, which has 19 decks, will set sail on a ten-night inaugural cruise to Genoa on Monday. As you can see from this remarkable timelapse footage, building the 5,686 passenger ship was a huge operation. 33million The government is to pay Eurotunnel tens of millions of pounds over Transport secretary Chris Graylings no-deal Brexit ferry contracts. The Channel Tunnel operator took court action against the Department of Transport over the secretive process to award contracts worth 108m. The decision by Grayling to award the contract attracted widespread criticism and ridicule after it emerged that one company, Seaborne Freight, had no ships and had never run a ferry service. Under the agreement the money will be used by Eurotunnel to help improve security and traffic flow at its UK terminal. Read the full story here (The Guardian) By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Inspectors have concluded that a "toxic chemical" containing chlorine was used in an attack last April in the Syrian town of Douma, at the time held by rebels but besieged by pro-government forces, the global chemical weapons agency said on Friday. The attack on April 7, 2018, killed dozens of civilians and prompted air strikes against the Syrian government by Britain, France and the United States. Washington blamed the Syrian government and said it had used chemical weapons. Damascus denies having ever used chemical weapons. During an investigation in mid-April, inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited two sites in Douma to interview witnesses and take samples, which have been analyzed in OPCW-affiliated national laboratories. The investigation did not assign blame, but the information gathered provided "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place on 7 April 2018". "This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine," the OPCW said in a statement. Weaponizing chlorine is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, ratified by Syria in 2013, and is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law. The OPCW has documented systematic use of the banned nerve agent sarin and chlorine in Syria's civil war, now nearing its eighth year. From 2015 to 2017 a joint U.N.-OPCW team had been appointed to assign blame for chemical attacks in Syria. It found that Syrian government troops had used the nerve agent sarin and chorine barrel bombs on several occasions, while Islamic State militants were found to have used sulfur mustard. In June, the OPCW's member states granted the organization new powers to assign blame for chemical weapons attacks, but that was not the mandate of the team that carried out the Douma inquiry. The latest OPCW report "adds one more case to the scores of illegal chemical weapons attacks confirmed since 2013," said Lou Charbonneau of the New York-based Human Rights Watch. "Its clear that the organizations new unit for attributing blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria has its work cut out. Those responsible for the use of these banned weapons should be unmasked and held to account. The OPCW is also looking into an alleged gas attack last November in Aleppo that reportedly made up to 100 people ill. The Syrian government and its ally, Russia, blamed that attack on insurgents. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams and Andrew Heavens) Beijing (AFP) - China called Friday for North Korean sanctions relief to be discussed at the UN Security Council after US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un ended a summit without a deal. Beijing is the North's main trade partner and sole major ally, but it has backed a raft of UN sanctions following Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests in recent years. Both North Korea and the US note that lifting sanctions is an important part of the denuclearisation process, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang. "They should be considered simultaneously and resolved together, I think this is a common denominator that should be seized," Lu said at a regular press briefing. Noting "the positive developments on the peninsula, especially the steps taken by North Korea on denuclearisation," Lu said the UN Security Council should "start discussions on the reversible clauses of the resolutions." The council should "adjust the sanctions in accordance with the principle of simultaneous reciprocity," he said. Trump and Kim ended their summit in Hanoi on Thursday without a deal, with the two sides at an impasse over the sanctions imposed on the North. Trump insisted Pyongyang wanted a lifting of all sanctions imposed on it over its banned weapons programmes. But North Korea's foreign minister said Pyongyang had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its proposal to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was its best and final offer. Meanwhile, a senior Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs official, Yang Jiechi, spoke with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the summit on the phone, the foreign ministry said. Pompeo told Yang that Washington will maintain contact with the North Korean side and that the United States "highly appreciates the positive role China played on the Korean peninsula issue," the ministry said in a statement. Story continues Yang said the Korean Peninsula issue is complex and "difficult to solve overnight." He urged the two sides to "maintain patience" and "persevere in pushing forward the peace talks." China is willing to continue playing a "constructive role," he said. Kim met with Chinese President Xi Jinping four times in the past year, most recently in January, and is expected to take the train back across China on Saturday on his way home following his Vietnam visit. Roma (Credit: Netflix) The cinema chain Cineworld has withdrawn its support from BAFTA, following wins for the streaming movie Roma at this years awards. Writing to BAFTA members, the Academys film committee chairman Marc Samuelson said that the company, the second largest chain in the world in terms of screen numbers, had made a unilateral decision to revoke its support. It cited concerns regarding the eligibility requirements of the Film Awards, in a continuing row over whether films made by streaming studios should be allowed a cursory theatrical release in order to gain eligibility for BAFTA awards. Read more: Lumleys BAFTA gags a train wreck The letter added that BAFTA members will no longer be able to use their membership cards to watch films at Cineworld branches from Monday to Thursday. Cineworld is not the only chain to voice their concern over such practices. After Roma, made by Netflix and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, won the BAFTA for Best Film last month along with three other awards, Tim Richards, the CEO of the Vue chain of cinemas, also threatened a boycott of the British film academy. Read more: Vue goes to war with BAFTA over made for TV films In an open letter, he said: It saddens me that the Academy has chosen to ignore the opportunity to defend this principle. I regret that in future we will not be able to support the Bafta awards as we usually do unless the Academy board reconsiders its eligibility criteria. He also called Roma, which won Cuaron the Oscar for Best Director as well as gongs for Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography, a made for TV film. It is clear that Netflix made at best a token effort to screen Roma, screening it to less than 1% of the UK market solely because it wanted an award. How could Bafta let this happen? he went on. Cineworld is yet to comment on the decision. Paris (AFP) - When the misty skies cleared over southern France on the afternoon of Sunday March 2, 1969, the green light was signalled for the highly anticipated first ever flight of the Concorde. Journalists had been alerted two days earlier that the test flight was imminent; the world had been waiting since the futuristic aircraft, with its pointed nose and triangular wings, was publicly presented in December 1967. Here is an account, drawn from AFP reports, of the momentous day in aviation history when the supersonic turbojet first took to the skies 50 years ago. - 'She flies!' - Several hundred journalists and spectators were crowded near the runway of the airport at Toulouse, where prototype 001 of the Franco-British aircraft was constructed. With French test pilot Andre Turcat at the controls and the event aired live on television, the sleek white plane started off down the runway just after 3:30 pm. She picked up speed, eased off the runway and then powered into the sky, straight as an arrow. "She flies! Concorde flies at last!" exclaimed BBC commentator Raymond Baxter. AFP sent out a flash alert: "Concorde has taken off." - Concord or Concorde? - It was a source of pride on both sides of the Channel: Britain and France had joined forces in 1962 to build an airliner capable of flying faster than the speed of sound. In fact Concorde's maximum velocity was more than twice the speed of sound. The coalition of two governments and two aircraft makers -- British Aircraft Corporation (now BAE Systems) and Sud-Aviation, a precursor to Airbus -- had encountered a series of hurdles and differences. Even the aircraft's name, which means "agreement" in both languages, was a sticking point: English-style "Concord" or "Concorde" in French? Britain's technology minister Tony Benn settled the dispute in 1967, keeping the "e" for "excellence", "England", "Europe" and "Entente cordiale", as he said. Story continues - Proving the plane can fly - For Concorde's maiden flight, Turcat manoeuvred just a simple loop above the Garonne river at reduced speed and with the plane's landing gear out. The aim was not to break speed records but rather to "show the plane can fly" and "return to the ground", he would later explain. The roar of the four powerful engines and the silhouette of the aircraft, like a bird of prey in the sky, halted traffic on a nearby highway as people across the region stopped to watch, an AFP report said. - Sweating in the cockpit - Inside the cockpit it was tense. Three of the four air-conditioning systems had broken and the temperature rose quickly. "Under our helmets, we were soon sweating profusely," Turcat recalled in his book "Concorde" (1977). When the wheels hit the tarmac for the landing, thick smoke rose from the tyres and a security parachute opened at the rear to brake the 112-tonne machine. The crowds along the runway broke into applause. The flight had lasted 27 minutes. The British test flight came weeks later, on April 9, with Brian Trubshaw taking off aboard the 002 prototype built in Britain. On October 1 Turcat would also take the jet through the sound barrier for the first time. - Just the beginning - "This first flight is not a conclusion," Turcat told the hundreds of journalists after that first flight. "It is the beginning of our work." It would take another seven years and 5,500 hours of test flying before Concorde was authorised to enter into commercial service in 1976 with flights operated by Air France and British Airways. And in the end commercial passenger services only lasted 27 years. The gas-guzzling "great white bird" was retired on both sides of the Channel in 2003, brought down by its high costs and a dwindling market, with a 2000 crash outside Paris -- in which 113 people were killed -- heralding its final demise. Paris (AFP) - The Concorde airliner first took to the skies 50 years ago promising a revolution in air travel with its technical prowess and supersonic speed. But just 34 years later and with only 14 planes ever entering commercial passenger service, the Franco-British turbojet was grounded by high costs and still haunted by a major crash in France three years earlier. Here is some background about the promising but ultimately doomed "great white bird". - A dream is airborne - The first flight of Concorde's prototype 001 was a successful half-hour test over Toulouse, southern France, on March 2, 1969. It would take another seven years for the aircraft developed by French company Aerospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (precursor of BAE Systems) to begin commercial services. Its inaugural scheduled passenger flights were on January 21, 1976: the Paris-Rio route operated by Air France and London-Bahrain by British Airways. - Famous silhouette, innovations - Among Concorde's most distinctive features was its pointed nose, which drooped downwards during take-off to allow for better pilot visibility. Its triangular "delta" wings were also instantly recognisable and offered stability and efficiency. Innovations born with Concorde advanced aeronautics, including the weight-saving aluminium for the body and the first ever use of electronic controls to replace manual ones. According to BAE Systems, the estimated final overall cost of developing the Concorde was around 1.6 billion dollars. - Supersonic speed - The Concorde and the short-lived Russian Tupolev Tu-144, known as the "Concordski", are the only passenger airliners to have flown faster than the speed of sound. While sound travels at around 1,225 kilometres (761 miles) per hour, the Concorde was able to reach a cruising speed of around 2,200 kilometres per hour. This meant flying time between New York and Paris of three and a half hours, about half that of a regular flight today and 10 times faster than the first non-stop crossing by US aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1927. Story continues But shorter travel times came at a price: a return London-New York ticket in 2003 cost around 8,300 pounds ($11,960). - Thunderously noisy - The Concorde was famously loud: a take-off at Washington airport in 1977 measured 119.4 decibels. By comparison, a clap of thunder hits 120 decibels while the pain threshold for the human ear is around 110. When the jet broke through the sound barrier, it created a "sonic boom", a huge crashing noise which led many countries to banish it from flying over their territory. - Fuel guzzler - Another black mark was the Concorde's high fuel consumption. Its four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines together guzzled on average 20 tonnes of kerosene per hour of flight and 450 litres (nearly 120 gallons) per minute at take-off. The fuel consumption per passenger was 14-17 litres for every 100 kilometres travelled -- four times more than for an aircraft today. - Just 14 jets - Its developers had hoped to sell more than 100 models but in the end just 14 were used commercially between 1976 and 2003, seven each by Air France and British Airways, no other carrier buying in. Small by contemporary standards, a Concorde could carry between 100 and 144 people. - Crashing down - The beginning of the end came in July 2000 when an Air France Concorde crashed near Paris shortly after take-off, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. Both carriers suspended services. Flights resumed after some months but industry confidence was again rocked by the September 2001 plane attacks on New York and Washington. There were also demands for cheaper and more environmentally friendly travel. In 2003 the two operators announced they would retire their Concordes, citing poor economic performance, a drop in demand for premium air travel and rising maintenance costs. Air France's last commercial Concorde flight was in May 2003; British Airways ended the era in October the same year. On February 27, Turkey launched the largest maritime drill of its history, testing its war fighting capabilities in the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and in the eastern Mediterranean simultaneously. The drill will end on March 8 and totalises 103 military vessels and thousands of soldiers. On February 27, Turkey launched the largest maritime drill of its history, testing its war fighting capabilities in the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and in the eastern Mediterranean simultaneously. The drill will end on March 8 and totalises 103 military vessels and thousands of soldiers. Turkish naval ships during maritime drill (Picture source : AA photo) Dubbed Mavi Vatan, or "the Blue Homeland," the maritime drill will last from February 27 to March 8 and will see the participation of 103 military vessels and thousands of soldiers, conducting operations in 462,000 square meters in three seas surrounding the country (i.e. the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the eastern Mediterranean). According to Turkeys Anadolu news agency, the naval vessels taking part will include destroyers, frigates, corvettes, assault boats, submarines, mine hunting vessels, patrol boats and as well as 20 fighter jets, military helicopters and drones. While the drill was reported to have been planned six months in advance in line with NATO rules and regulations, it comes during heightened tensions in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. According to Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, Turkey expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, one of the most important aspects of this drill is the utilization of Turkey's self-produced weapons. For instance the UAVs - 'Bayraktar' and 'Anka' - 'Milgem (National Warship) corvettes,' 'Atak' helicopter, 'Cirit' missile... all these can be considered as a signal for the US that Turkey is seeking to put an end to its dependency. Greek media have reported that the drill is taking place amid plans by Ankara to dispatch a second drilling ship to areas around the divided island of Cyprus later this week after Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the country would begin drilling for oil and gas near Cyprus in the near future. Pauline and Colin have been together for 43 years. [Photo: Caters] A pensioner has finally agreed to marry her partner of 43 years after turning down his annual proposal for more than four decades. Colin Jones, 74, and Pauline Young, 72, first met in 1976. From that year onwards, Colin asked Pauline to marry him annually, only to be refused again and again. But Colins fortunes took a turn for the better late last year, when Pauline proposed to Colin and he of course agreed. When Pauline asked me, I almost fell off the bed. Id been asking her all this time so now she was asking me, I said of course I will. READ MORE: Best wedding photos of 2018 The couple, who are now husband and wife, lived and worked together throughout their relationship. Pauline proposed to Colin after rejecting his proposals for 43 years. [Photo: Caters] Both married before, the pair have five children between them from their previous marriages, and met through a playgroup their children both attended. For 30 years, they ran a cabinet-making business called Young Jones, which was based in Powys, Wales, and later moved to Gozo, Malta, 14 years ago to run a bed and breakfast together. Colin revealed he has been floating on air ever since he first met Pauline. People say theyve been together years but really they have maybe an hour before work and then they see each other in the evenings we were always together, he said. READ MORE: Pet names make your relationship stronger When we saw each other it was instant, we fell in love hook, line and sinker. The magic of life allows you to meet people like Pauline, our marriage was a combination of our 43 years together. Colin and Pauline had their wedding reception in Paulines care home. [Photo: Caters] While their story is a touching one, it is not without difficulties. The pair have lived apart for the past three years, after Pauline who suffers from rare neurological condition Corticobasal Degeneration, which causes slower movements and tremors moved to a care home in Telford, UK, after her health worsened. Colin, meanwhile, has remained in Malta to run the pairs business, and returns to the UK to visit Pauline every fortnight. Story continues It was during one of these visits last December when Pauline finally proposed to him, while the pair were relaxing together at the home. READ MORE: Older couples from around the world They married in a blessing ceremony, which is not legally recognised, at the St Georges Methodist Church in Telford on Valentines Day this year. They dressed in their best clothes, and Paulines wheelchair was decorated with flowers. Colin and Pauline ran a cabinet making business together for 30 years. [Photo: Caters] The pair then celebrated with aa wedding cake and celebratory drinks at Paulines care home. Colin said: I had given up all hope of us getting married, I thought it would never ever happen. It was a real mix of emotions, I was surprised, I was worried. But we gradually worked through it and now here we are. The service was a blessing ceremony, but as far as were concerned its a marriage, its a show of love. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Representative Devin Nunes on Friday called for everything related to Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation to be made public. I want everything that Mueller did made public. I want every email, everybody that they wiretapped, every warrant that they got, Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. I think the White House is going to ultimately have to get involved in declassifying all documents, Nunes said, adding that he doubts the Justice Department will declassify all the documents, based on its previous reluctance to declassify other documents related to the investigation. However, the California Republican also said he does not think any report on the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election will contain anything worthwhile, with anything new. Nunes has frequently accused the FBI and Justice Department officials of harboring bias against Trump. He headed the House Intelligence Committees own Russia investigation in 2017 but recused himself after his controversial decision to visit the White House to examine classified documents. Recent reports have suggested that Attorney General William Barr expects Mueller to wrap up the investigation and submit a final report in the next few weeks. During his confirmation hearing, Barr told Congress that he intended to provide as much transparency as I can regarding reports on the investigation, but declined to promise to release the full report to the public. I also believe it is very important that the public and Congress be informed of the results of the special counsels work, Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee in January. For that reason, my goal will be to provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law. More from National Review The race for 2020 is taking shape, although there are still significant unknowns, including whether Donald Trump will get a serious primary challenge. His fiercest Republican critics say, Yes please, please, yes. They are probably wrong, and its certainly nothing to root for. Trumps dominance of the party begins with his lockdown support of the right, forcing any primary challenger to the left. This isnt fertile territory. Self-identified moderates and liberals are only a fraction of the party, and it is grass-roots conservative activists who have fueled the most potent Republican primary challenges (Ronald Reagan in 1976, Pat Buchanan in 1992). Because a primary challenge would naturally come from the left and is unlikely to succeed, it will tend to attract people who dont have a future in GOP national politics and lack conservative bona fides the wayward former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld; the centrist governor of Maryland Larry Hogan; the former Ohio governor John Kasich, who convincingly demonstrated his lack of national electoral appeal in 2016. Trump is in a stronger position in the party now than he was then. Hes been a rock on judges, abortion, and religious liberty. Last time, many Republicans told themselves, Well, at least compared to Hillary, we dont know what were getting with Trump. Now, they are grateful for what theyve gotten. Could all of this change? It would require a torpedo to the bow from some enormous scandal and a significant ideological betrayal on something extremely important, like a Supreme Court nominee. The promoters of a Trump primary challenge still havent come to grips with how intertwined Trumps fate is with the partys. If Trump becomes seriously vulnerable to a primary challenge, its a sign that something very bad has happened that wont be constrained to him. Say its proof of a criminal conspiracy with the Russians. Is the rest of the party that has defended Trump so vociferously in the Mueller probe going to emerge unscathed? Say its a sudden economic downturn. Whats the case that such an event wouldnt tank the GOP generally? Story continues Indeed, a winning primary campaign against Trump would almost certainly be a catastrophic success. How would the winner put the party back together again for the general election? Perhaps the hardcore Trump base and media will enthusiastically back whoever slays their champion. But why would they? Besides the inevitable hurt feelings and ideological disagreements, they will surely consider recent precedent Never Trump would be the analogue to Never Hogan. Of course, a primary campaign doesnt have to be about winning. Futile gestures can achieve a kind of grandeur. Bill Buckley was never going to win the 1965 New York City mayoral campaign, but he did promote his brand of conservatism. In their primary challenges, Reagan and Buchanan were movement-builders, not just candidates. There are people out there who may well have significant say in the partys future a Nikki Haley or a Tom Cotton but for them, 2024 will come soon enough (if Trump loses, the presidential jockeying begins in less than two years; if he wins, in less than four). There is obviously a character case to be made against Trump, although Republican voters are already aware of his flaws and strongly support him nonetheless. The contradiction in the case for a primary challenge is this: If its a bad thing that Trump is potentially a weak general-election candidate, as Trumps critics say, then why make him potentially weaker with a primary challenge? What many of Trumps GOP detractors wont say out loud is that when they talk of defeating Trump, they dont mean only defeating him in a nomination battle; they mean seeing him lose in a general election. That Republican voters would sense this, and understandably recoil, is another reason a primary challenge is probably a box canyon. 2019 by King Features Syndicate More from National Review By Marion Giraldo EASTER ISLAND, Chile (Reuters) - In just 100 years, the emblematic stone sculptures that guard the coastline of Easter Island could be little more than simple rectangular blocks, conservation experts are warning. The giant heads, carved centuries ago by the island's inhabitants, represent the living ancestors of Easter Island's Polynesian people - the Rapa Nui - and have brought it UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Dozens of giant "Moai" statues dominate the hillsides surrounding the island's Rano Raraku wetland, but they are facing the threat of what locals describe as a kind of leprosy, white spots that are appearing on their iconic facades. Caused by lichens, a marriage of fungi and algae, the patches eat away at the sculptures, softening them to a clay-like consistency and deforming their features. The statues must also contend with coastal erosion, rising sea levels, high winds and damage from freely roaming livestock. "I imagine that in a century more these Moai will basically be rectangular figures," Tahira Edmunds, adviser to Chile's National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) who has worked on cleaning the sculptures to remove the lichen, told Reuters during a visit to the island last month. Sonia Haoa, an archaeologist and Easter Island native, is compiling an inventory of its heritage, including the Moai. She estimates that about 70 percent of the more than 1,000 statues are affected by lichens. While the deterioration can appear shocking to visitors who flock to the remote volcanic island, located some 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) from mainland Chile, Haoa said it was still possible to save them, through laborious cleaning and coating with sealant chemicals to curb moisture and prevent the porous volcanic rock from collapsing. The most famous Moai groupings, such as the Ahu Tongariki, 15 statues arranged along a platform by the sea, and those scattered around the Ranu Raraku quarry, the source of the stone, are already being cared for by heritage experts and the indigenous community's administrators of the Rapa Nui National Park. But the island has at least 30,000 archaeological sites spread across its 166 square kilometers (64.1 square miles), most of which are exposed to the environment. To protect all the statues could cost as much as $500 million, and international help will be needed, according to local authorities and experts. "You will never be able to entirely prevent the impact of time or the weather, but you can hold it back, so that more people can see them first," Haoa told Reuters. A BRITISH SOLUTION? With no government fund specifically dedicated to preserving the island's heritage, the community allocates a large part of its income from tourism to repair and protection measures. Nonetheless, they say, resources are scarce. The mayor of Easter Island has come up with an innovative solution: seeking royalty payments from nations whose explorers took some of Easter Island's statues into their possession centuries ago. Among them is the Hoa Hakananai'a, a seven-foot (2.13 m) tall basalt statue that has become one of the British Museum's most popular exhibits since it was removed from the island by British sailors more than 150 years ago. The Easter Island authorities and the Chilean government sent a delegation to London in November to request the return of the four-ton statue. The museum responded that it was happy to consider a long-term loan of the Moai. Mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa instead suggested the Hoa Hakananai'a could act as an "ambassador" for Easter Island, and Britain could keep it in return for regular payments to ensure the upkeep of its Easter Island counterparts. "We would win much more," he said. Sonia Paoa agreed, saying that while Easter Island's heritage was more than just statues, their celebrity could be the key to sustaining it all. "What do you leave to a 10-year-old boy, what will there be in Easter Island for the European or Chilean tourist to come see if we don't save them?" He asks. "It's the only oil well we have." The British Museum said it was looking forward to continuing the "warm, friendly and open" conversation begun in London with a potential visit to Easter Island. "The museum is keen to work collaboratively with partners and communities across the globe and welcomes these proposed discussions around future joint projects with Rapa Nui," it said in a statement sent to Reuters. (This story corrects gender of archaeologist in paragraph 7.) (Reporting by Marion Giraldo; writing by Aislinn Laing, editing by Steve Orlofsky and G Crosse) Elon Musk has gotten into trouble with the SEC over his tweets again. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File) Once again, Elon Musk has stepped in it on Twitter. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this week that it had filed a motion with a U.S. District Court asking to hold Musk in contempt for violating the terms of a court order. At the heart of the SECs ire is a tweet that Musk sent out on Feb. 19, saying that Tesla had made zero cars in 2011, but will produce 500,000 vehicles this year a fact that was new to Tesla shareholders, who expected deliveries to reach 400,000. A few hours later, Musk clarified his original tweet with another, specifying that he was referring to annualized production rates. Meant to say annualized production rate at end of 2019 probably around 500k, ie 10k cars/week. Deliveries for year still estimated to be about 400k. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2019 A few days after that tweet was sent out to Musks 25 million followers, the SEC filed a motion for an order to show cause why Musk shouldnt be held in contempt for violating the terms of a settlement agreement reached in October that requires the Tesla CEO to have all his tweets pre-approved. A federal judge in New York has ordered Musk to respond by March 11, explaining why he isnt in contempt. The latest development in the spat between Musk and the SEC has raised concerns about how it may impact Teslas business prospects, at least in the near term. CITI Research analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a note to clients this week that the escalation was viewed as a negative, and would cause Tesla shares to come under pressure at least until some clarity is achieved. Thought its difficult at this stage to predict an outcome . this escalation comes at a more delicate time for the company after recent management departures (including CFO), the ongoing Model 3 international expansion and looming debt maturities, Michaeli wrote. Story continues In our view, the longer this new escalation drags out, the greater the likelihood of negative consequences to Teslas fundamental position. But analysts at Macquarie Research said in a note to clients that they do not expect any material risk of a change to Mr. Musks role at Tesla. CEO warning about Twitter Still, Musks tweets have shown that CEOs in particular may have to be more careful when it comes to communicating on Twitter. Most CEOs are fairly conservative and gun shy and, frankly, rightfully afraid of Twitter, Vivian Schiller, CEO of the Civil Media Foundation, told the Washington Post this week. The wonderful thing about Twitter is its so personal and authentic, and the terrible thing about Twitter is its so personal and authentic. It really cuts both ways. This certainly isnt the first time the CEO has run into trouble on Twitter. Musk is being sued by diver Vernon Unsworth for tweet in which the CEO called him a pedo. Twitter screenshot Then, of course, there was the infamous funding secured tweet that indicated Musk had obtained the funding required to take the company private. The company was not going private, and the SEC argued the tweet was misleading and harmed investors who bought stock in the company as a result. In the end, Musk agreed to pay a total of $40 million in fines as part of a settlement which allowed Musk to hold onto the title of CEO, but required Tesla to clamp down on his communications with investors. With files from the Associated Press Montreal (AFP) - Vatican diplomat Luigi Ventura -- who is already under investigation in France over alleged sexual assault -- is now facing a similar complaint in Canada, the Holy See's embassy in Ottawa said Thursday. Luigi Ventura, currently the Vatican's envoy to France, has been accused of molesting an official at the Paris mayor's office. The 74-year-old Italian archbishop served as the envoy to Canada from 2001 to 2009. He now faces a "single" complaint filed in Ottawa, the embassy told AFP, adding that the complaint has been reported to officials in Vatican City. According to the Canadian website Presence, which specializes in religious news and first reported on the complaint, Ventura allegedly groped a man in 2008 at the shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre in Quebec province. The alleged victim, then 32, was helping to serve Ventura during a banquet for the Feast of Sainte Anne. The man said that Ventura touched his buttocks at least twice, according to Presence. The man filed his complaint last week at the Vatican embassy in Ottawa after learning of the accusations against Ventura in France. The accusations are more unwelcome news for the Catholic Church as it looks to turn the page on years of scandal. Pope Francis has vowed that the church will no longer ignore abuse allegations, and he removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle late last year after they were tainted by pedophilia scandals. Shares of Endo International plc ENDP increased 6.2% after the company reported better-than-expected results for fourth-quarter 2018. Endos stock has lost 13.1% in the past three months. Endo International plc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Endo International plc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Endo International plc Quote Earnings of 75 cents easily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 59 cents. However, earnings declined from 77 cents recorded in the year-ago quarter. Revenues came in at $786.4 million in the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $744.2 million and increasing 2% from the year-ago quarters figure. This increase was primarily attributable to continued strong growth in the U.S. Branded - Sterile Injectables segment and the Specialty Products portfolio of our U.S. Branded - Specialty & Established Pharmaceuticals segment. Quarterly Highlights Endo now has four reportable business segments: (1) U.S. Generic Pharmaceuticals, (2) U.S. Branded - Specialty & Established Pharmaceuticals, (3) U.S. Branded Sterile Injectables and (4) International Pharmaceuticals. U.S. Generic Pharmaceuticals recorded sales of $263.8 million in the quarter, down 13% due to competitive pressures in the generic business. U.S. Branded Pharmaceuticals (Specialty & Established Pharmaceuticals) sales were up 1% to $229.8 million, driven by continued strong growth of Specialty Products portfolio, offset by ongoing generic competition in Established Products portfolio. Specialty Products revenues increased 15% to $143 million, driven by the continued strong performance of Xiaflex. Sales of Xiaflex increased 30% to $80 million, owing to underlying volume growth in both Peyronie's Disease and Dupuytren's Contracture indications, and a benefit from the timing of shipments compared to prior year. Earlier, Endo reported positive results from two phase III trials of collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH) for the treatment of cellulite in the buttocks. The results demonstrated that subjects receiving CCH showed highly statistically significant levels of improvement in the appearance of cellulite with treatment, as measured by the trial's primary endpoint. Story continues U.S. Branded Sterile Injectables sales of $259.1 million was up 32%, driven by strong growth of Adrenalin and Vasostrict. In July, the segment launched ertapenem for injection, the authorized generic of Merck's MRK Invanz, which boosted sales. Endo has decided to terminate its previously announced acquisition of Somerset Therapeutics, LLC, a New Jersey-based specialty pharmaceutical company, and the business of its India-based affiliate Wintac Limited, which operates as Somerset Therapeutics' contract developer and manufacturer. The decision was taken as certain regulatory approvals in India took longer than anticipated and the company lacks clarity on when those approvals could be received. Earlier, Endo also entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Nevakar, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing multiple assets in the ophthalmic and injectable areas. Both companies have collaborated for the development of five differentiated, sterile injectable products in the United States and Canada. While Nevakar will develop and seek FDA approval for these products, Endo's Par Pharmaceuticals Sterile Products division will launch and distribute them upon approval. The International Pharmaceuticals division generated sales of $34 million, down from $41 million in the year-ago quarter due to recent divestitures. Endo sold Mexican subsidiary, Somar to Advent International in October 2017. Endo also sold its South African subsidiary, Litha Healthcare Group in July 2017. 2018 Results Endos revenues came in at $2.9 billion, down 15% from 2017, but were in-line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Earnings per share of $2.89 were down from $3.84 in 2017 and easily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.73. 2019 Outlook Endo expects revenues between $2.76 billion and $2.96 billion in 2019. The company expects Xiaflexs full-year revenues to grow mid-to-high teens. Branded Sterile Injectables revenues are now expected to grow high single to low-double digits. U.S. Generics revenues are projected to decline mid to high teens. International Pharmaceuticals revenues are estimated to decline approximately 20% due to the impact of generic competition in the business in Canada. The company anticipates earnings from continuing operations to be $2.00-$2.25 per share. Our Take Endos fourth-quarter results were positive as the company beat on both earnings and sales. The last year was a transitional year for Endo as it transformed its legacy-branded pharmaceutical business, which was primarily focused on pain-management, into a highly focused branded specialty pharmaceutical business in the United States. The company has divested its non-core assets and businesses, and repositioned its generics business in the United States by executing a comprehensive product portfolio and manufacturing footprint rationalization initiative. However, the guidance wasnt impressive as the company expects continued competitive pressure for the generic business. The huge level of debt is a concern. Moreover, response rates from the CCH trials did not impress the investors earlier. Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Endo currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). A few better-ranked stocks are Celgene Corp. CELG and BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. BDSI. Both the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Celgenes earnings per share estimates have increased from $10.21 to $10.75 for 2019 and from $11.63 to $12.70 for 2020 in the past 60 days. BioDelivery Sciences loss per share estimates has narrowed from 25 cents to 22 cents for 2019 in the past 60 days. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (BDSI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Celgene Corporation (CELG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Endo International plc (ENDP) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Nigel Farage and Jacob Rees-Mogg enjoy a cuppa. Photo: Isabel Infantes/EMPICS Entertainment Membership of the EU costs the average citizen less than a cup of coffee a day, according to European officials in a briefing on Friday. But Brexit has thrown a huge spanner into the works, as it is likely to leave a billion-pound hole in the EUs budget, which European states are currently negotiating for the years ahead. It has made it harder than usual for EU states to agree who will pay more for their metaphorical coffee and there is growing alarm that states have sometimes not coughed up at all. READ MORE: HMRC tells firms how to prepare for a no-deal Brexit A briefing by the European Parliament shows member states will have to spend at least 1.11% of their output on the seven-year budget, which officials hope to have signed off later this year before it comes into effect in 2021. The percentage is similar than the current level, but will require more from each government because of the loss of Britains contributions, with states partly paying more just to stand still. The loss of the UK, a significant net contributor, forced the European Parliament to suggest cutbacks in some areas too, which sparked a backlash from many members of the European parliament (MEPs). READ MORE: EU immigration is falling to the UK as Brexodus grows The briefing also highlights a mountain of unpaid bills in recent years because of an increased reluctance by some member states to pay what they have pledged. It says European officials were so alarmed by a high abnormal payments backlog in 2014 and 2015, they are now hoping to change rigid rules in the budget to use the money they do have more flexibly. Negotiations over the budget are expected to become more intense and controversial after elections to the European Parliament in May, which some EU insiders fear could hand more power to Eurosceptic parties. The briefing admits hope of all states reaching an agreement by autumn 2019 now seems ambitious, given growing tensions and the way negotiations over-ran for the EU s last budget. Story continues It's time to sort the myth from the reality: for less than one cup of coffee a day, every EU citizen benefits from #EUbudget. pic.twitter.com/8XC93CP9bd European Commission (@EU_Commission) January 7, 2018 European officials have made the coffee-a-day comparison several times since the Brexit vote, suggesting they recognise a growing need to show their institutions represent value for money. But the EUs financial challenges suggest the likes of former UKIP leader Nigel Farage and Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg are not alone in questioning whether it really is worth their daily coffee. Buenos Aires (AFP) - The former Argentine judge who led the probe into the deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires was jailed for his role in a cover-up Thursday, but the country's former president Carlos Menem was acquitted. Juan Jose Galeano -- who for a decade led the initial investigation into Argentina's worst terror attack -- was jailed for six years for concealment and violation of evidence. Former intelligence chief Hugo Anzorreguy was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for his role in obstructing the probe of the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) center, which killed 85 people and injured 300 others. They were among 13 defendants facing a slew of corruption and obstruction of justice charges in a trial that lasted four years. "I am at peace. We wanted the truth and they are going to pay for what they did," said Jorge Burstein, a member of an association for the AMIA victims. But he added that the "investigation must continue." No one has ever been convicted of the bombing, though Argentina -- and Israel -- have long pointed the finger at Iran. They suspect a Lebanese Hezbollah operative of carrying out the suicide bombing on Tehran's orders. But decades of investigation in Argentina have been roiled by political interference and allegations of high-level corruption. - Shady dealings - On Thursday -- nearly 25 years after the bombing -- the court sentenced Carlos Telledin, a used car dealer who sold the van that contained the bomb, to three-and-a-half years in jail. Prosecutors said Galeano paid Telledin -- who was also a police informant -- $400,000 to implicate a group of police officers early on in the probe. Galeano however denied prosecutors' assertions that he had acted on the orders of Menem, who is now 88. Prosecutors had called for a four-year jail sentence for Menem, Argentina's president from 1989-1999, on grounds that he ordered the cover-up. Story continues The aging statesman gave little away in his testimony to the court, keeping mum on what his lawyer said were state secrets that could affect Argentina's "peaceful coexistence with other nations." As he left the court Thursday, Menem's lawyer Omar Daer described the former president as "relieved," adding that the court had shown "that there never was an order on his part to stop the investigation." Menem was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2013 for violating an international arms embargo in a weapons deal. Again, in 2015, he received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for bribing officials. But his status as a member of the Argentine senate means that he has benefited from immunity from imprisonment. - Buried leads - Decades of obstructed investigation meant a key line of enquiry in the case, the so-called Syrian track, was abandoned -- a lapse lamented by prosecutor Miguel Yivoff during the trial. That track led to Syrian businessman Alberto Kanoore Edul, a boyhood friend of Menem. The prosecutor said that on the day of the attack, the businessman had spoken with Telledin. Galeano, the ex-judge, said during the trial that the investigation was flawed by problems within the Argentine secret services. He was accused of acting on Menem's orders to drop the Syrian track of the investigation implicating Edul and other businessmen linked to the purchase of the bomb materials. In addition to Galeano and the intelligence chief, two police officers and two former prosecutors in the case were also sentenced to jail time. However, a former Jewish community leader, Ruben Beraja, as well as a lawyer and two former members of the intelligence services, were acquitted. Prosecutors separately indicted ex-president Cristina Kirchner in 2017 for whitewashing Iran's alleged role in the attack. Kirchner had the Argentine Congress's backing for a 2012 political deal with Iran to allow Iranian suspects to be questioned in their own country by Argentine prosecutors. The deal was never ratified by Tehran, but prosecutors investigating Kirchner for corruption say the deal was effectively a cover-up to absolve Iran in return for lucrative trade deals with her government. Tehran has always refused to hand over Iranian diplomats suspected of having participated in the planning of the attack. Costco COST shares have climbed 7% in 2019, but still rest roughly 11% below their 52-week high. This gives the discount grocery powerhouses stock room to run heading into its quarterly earnings release Thursday. So lets see what investors should expect from Costcos financial results as its e-commerce initiatives continue to pay off. Recent News & Overview Costco took over from Amazon AMZN to claim the number one spot in terms of customer satisfaction in 2018, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The big-box giant scored an 83 in its first year in the internet retail category to top Amazons 82 and dethrone the e-commerce powers place on top, which it had held since 2010. The survey attributed much of Costcos e-commerce strength to its delivery options. Costco currently offers free two-day delivery for non-perishable food and household supplies to customers nationwide on orders of $75 or more, with a fee charged to smaller orders. Costco also expanded its same-day delivery service to most metropolitan areas through an updated partnership with Instacart. Most importantly, Costco has been able to thrive in the Amazon age because its customers love their prices and business model. In fact, 90% of Costco members reportedly renew their subscriptions. Costco wants to be the last to have to raise prices and the first to lower them, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School Mark Cohen told CNN last year. Of course, fellow industry giants Kroger KR, Walmart WMT, Target TGT, and others have also all rolled out more e-commerce offerings and delivery options, and expanded their businesses to better adapt to the new retail age. But it seems that Costco has found a winning formula both in stores and online that should help it compete in the market for years to come. Fiscal Second Quarter Outlook Costco, like some other retailers, reports its monthly sales throughout the year. The companys January net sales jumped 8% to $10.71 billion. Meanwhile, the firms U.S. comparable sales climbed 6.6%, with e-commerce comps up 22.1% for the month. Story continues Overall, our current Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for Costcos quarterly revenues to jump 8.05% to reach $35.65 billion, which includes the firms membership fees. At the bottom end of the income statement, Costcos adjusted quarterly earnings are projected to climb 17.61% to hit $1.67 per share. Investors should also note that the companys earnings estimate revision activity has been mixed recently. But COSTs quarterly earnings estimate has climbed by $0.03 in the last 30 days. Bottom Line Costco stock closed regular trading Friday up marginally at $219.44 a share. This represented a roughly 11% downturn from its 52-week high of $245.16 a share and sets up what could be a solid buying opportunity heading into Costcos Q2 2019 earnings release that is scheduled for Thursday, March 7. Make sure to head back to Zacks for a complete breakdown of Costcos actual quarterly metrics. The Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Kroger Co. (KR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Benjamin Netanyahu is the dominant Israeli politician of his generation. No rival comes close in political skill to the Likud Party leader known widely as "Bibi". But on Thursday, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit said he intends to indict Netanyahu in three corruption cases on charges of bribery and fraud and breach of trust, pending a pre-trial hearing. The announcement comes just 40 days before Netanyahu seeks re-election at the April 9 national ballot. [L5N20N87L] Here's a guide to Netanyahu's political and legal prospects. WHAT ARE THE ALLEGATIONS? Netanyahu faces charges in three corruption cases: CASE 4000 alleges that Netanyahu granted regulatory favors to Israel's leading telecommunications company, Bezeq Telecom Israel, in return for positive coverage on a news website controlled by the company's former chairman. The attorney-general said he intends to charge Netanyahu with bribery and fraud and breach of trust in that case. CASE 1000 alleges that Netanyahu wrongfully received gifts from Arnon Milchan, a prominent Hollywood producer and Israeli citizen, and Australian billionaire businessman James Packer, including champagne and cigars. Both Packer and Milchan deny wrongdoing. The attorney-general said he intends to charge Netanyahu with fraud and breach of trust in that case. Milchan will not be charged, according to the attorney-general. CASE 2000 - Netanyahu is suspected of negotiating a deal with the owner of Israel's best-selling daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, for better coverage in return for legislation that would slow the growth of a rival daily newspaper. The attorney-general said he intends to charge Netanyahu with fraud and breach of trust in that case. DOES NETANYAHU HAVE TO RESIGN? No. Netanyahu is under no strict legal obligation to quit. He is seeking a renewed mandate from the people in the April 9 election and has indicated that he intends to remain in office while pursuing a legal battle. Some commentators say he may be seeking an election win as leverage while negotiating a plea deal with the attorney general. WILL A TRIAL BEGIN SOON? No. Netanyahu will have a pre-trial-hearing with the attorney-general, in which his attorneys can argue for the charges to be scrapped or reduced. That process can take weeks, if not months. IF CONVICTED, WHAT DOES NETANYAHU FACE? Bribery charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years in jail and/or a fine. Fraud and breach of trust carry a prison sentence of up to three years. WHAT DOES NETANYAHU SAY ABOUT THE INVESTIGATIONS? Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a politically orchestrated "witch-hunt" by the media and the left. WHAT ARE NETANYAHU'S POLITICAL PROSPECTS? The election race has turned into a real contest, after early polls showed Netanyahu's Likud party on course for a sure victory and formation of a governing right-wing coalition. But a new alliance between his strongest opponents, former armed forces chief Benny Gantz and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid, could tip the balance in favor of a center-left bloc. The announcement of possible criminal charges could see Netanyahu's popularity fall. WHY HAS NETANYAHU BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL FOR SO LONG? Many Israeli voters like his security-first approach to politics. They admire his fluency in English and decades of experience which give him an international stature that no other Israeli politician can presently rival. And the Israeli economy is strong. Netanyahu enjoys a close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who backed his consistent opposition to an Iran nuclear deal negotiated under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump's decisions to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the U.S. Embassy to the city angered Palestinians and delighted many Israelis, who saw Netanyahu's influence in both decisions. But a promised U.S. peace plan that would require compromises from Netanyahu and the Palestinians could lead to friction between Israel and Washington. (Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller, William Maclean) A couple of years ago, opponents of Donald Trumps presidential bid warned that a Trump presidency would be a crazy spectacle. Jeb Bush famously said that Trump was a chaos candidate who would be a chaos president. Some even conjured various wild scenarios that might unfold under a President Trump. They said it might look something like this: As tensions flared in some hot spot the Middle East or maybe along the IndiaPakistan border or as the president conducted perilous negotiations with, say, North Korea, he would be distracted or bedeviled with some sort of domestic scandal. Well, I dont know if anybody predicted the specific details of Wednesdays cavalcade of crazy, but if they did, they should collect their door prize. Michael Cohen, Trumps former fixer and vice president of the Trump Organization, owed his career to the fact that he would happily be his bosss pet snake. By his own admission, Cohen proudly did the presidents dirty deeds (his words), likening himself to the Tom Hagen character in The Godfather. He threatened anyone who crossed Trump, paid off inconvenient women, and boasted with a losers false courage how he would take a bullet for his boss. He celebrated, with an alacrity rarely matched by Stalins henchmen, his employers near-superhuman genius and empathy. Then, on Wednesday, as he stopped by Congress before he heads to prison, he shed his old skin, the way snakes can, and tried on a new role of martyr and moralist. Its possible his professed redemption is sincere. It certainly seemed like it at times. But one neednt be a cynic to doubt it. Regardless, Cohens testimony seemed designed to simultaneously enrage the president in every way possible and ingratiate himself with his left-wing critics. Cohen impugned the presidents character, his intelligence, honesty, and wealth. He called Trump a draft-dodging racist and grifter. If I had to guess, his testimony was framed in the best way possible to compensate for the fact that Cohen could not corroborate the most extreme versions of the Russia-collusion theory, which is a political Holy Grail for Democrats and much of the media. Story continues Meanwhile, Trump was in Hanoi, Vietnam a locale he studiously avoided visiting in his youth by claiming to have bone spurs to negotiate with the murderous dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. The summit, like the first one, was ill-considered. It rested on the assumption that Trump, the worlds greatest dealmaker, could charm Kim and the North Korean regime out of its nuclear program. The worry from foreign-policy experts across much of the ideological spectrum was that Trump would blunder into a deal just for the sake of being able to declare victory. Rumored concessions leaked out in the media as if through an open faucet. And then, it didnt happen. The summit was a failure on its own terms, and ironically, that made it a kind of victory for Trump. The political tumult in Washington gave Trump every personal incentive to come up with any deal he could in order to change the subject and have something to boast about. This was, after all, part of the political rationale for his declaration of an emergency to build the wall at the border: It changed the subject from his defeat in the post-government-shutdown budget deal. I have long argued that the North Koreans cant be talked out of their nuclear program because their nuclear program is central to the rationale for the regimes entire existence. It would be like talking Hitler and the Nazi regime out of their desire for conquest and their obsessions with the Jews; its simply the nature of the regime. You cannot reason a leopard to abandon its spots. Its doubtful Trump fully recognizes this yet, but thats irrelevant. He recognized enough: Any deal he could have gotten with Kim would have been worse than doing what he did walk away from the table. Whether he came to this conclusion on his own or was cajoled into it by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton is irrelevant, too. One can rightly bemoan or lament the fact that the Trump presidency made the Cohen spectacle possible in the first place. But that doesnt change the fact that the president defied political temptation and did the right thing. Tribune Content Agency LLC More from National Review Washington (AFP) - Washington state Governor Jay Inslee launched a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, joining a crowded field vying to challenge Republican Donald Trump in 2020. The pool of Democratic candidates for the White House is among the largest and most diverse ever. It includes female US senators, African-Americans, Hispanics and a young gay mayor and is likely to grow before the US primary season gets underway next year. Here are the main contenders to be the Democratic candidate on the ballot in November 2020. - Bernie Sanders - The 77-year-old Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, was an outsider when the 2016 Democratic primaries began. But he gave favorite Hillary Clinton a run for her money with his calls for a "political revolution" and battled her down to the wire. Sanders won passionate support among young liberals with his calls for universal health care, a $15 minimum wage and free public university education. - Amy Klobuchar - The 58-year-old granddaughter of an iron miner, Klobuchar is a former prosecutor with an unpretentious demeanor. She has quietly gained attention in Washington as a centrist. Klobuchar is known for putting partisanship aside to pass legislation, something that has earned her a devoted following in Minnesota. Klobuchar has promised more stringent gun laws and set a target of universal health care. - Elizabeth Warren - At 69, the US Senate's consumer protection champion from Massachusetts is on the party's left flank. She built her reputation by holding Wall Street accountable for its missteps. Warren is considered to have one of the best campaign organizations of any Democrat. Warren's campaign has been dogged, however, by her past claims of Native American heritage and Trump mockingly refers to her as "Pocahontas." - Cory Booker - The 49-year-old US senator from New Jersey announced his candidacy February 1, evoking the civil rights movement as he promised to work to bring together a divided America. Story continues Often compared to former president Barack Obama, Booker began his career as a community activist and rose to prominence as mayor of Newark, New Jersey. A talented orator, he was elected to the US Senate in 2013, the first African-American senator ever from the eastern state. - Kirsten Gillibrand - The New York senator made a name campaigning against sexual abuse, especially in the military, before the #MeToo movement gained national prominence. The 52-year-old, a fierce Trump critic, is making gender and women's issues a hallmark of her campaign. - Kamala Harris - The barrier-breaking senator from California who aspires to be the nation's first black female president announced her candidacy on a day honoring slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. The daughter of an Indian immigrant medical researcher mother and a Jamaican economist father, Harris, 54, began her career as a district attorney in San Francisco before serving as California's attorney general. - Julian Castro - A cabinet member under Obama and grandson of a Mexican immigrant, Castro announced his candidacy in English and Spanish on January 12 in the heat of the debate on immigration and border security. At 44, the former mayor of San Antonio, Texas hopes to become the nation's first Hispanic president. - Tulsi Gabbard - At just 37, Gabbard, a congresswoman from Hawaii, would be the first Hindu president. A supporter of Sanders in the 2016 race, military veteran Gabbard was criticized for meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad during that country's civil war, and for anti-gay positions that she has since retracted and apologized for. - Pete Buttigieg - Nine months younger than Gabbard is the South Bend, Indiana, mayor who joined the race unveiling a resolutely future-looking and optimistic message to counter Trump's darker vision. A Rhodes Scholar, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay nominee of any major party. A US Navy reserve officer, he put his mayoral duties aside to serve in Afghanistan in 2014. - Jay Inslee - Inslee, the governor of Washington state, said he would make climate change the central theme of his campaign, calling it the "most urgent challenge of our time." The 68-year-old Inslee served in the US House of Representatives before becoming governor of the northwest state in 2013. - John Delaney - An affluent Maryland businessman who served three terms in Congress, Delaney was the earliest Democrat to officially launch a bid, back in July 2017. The 55-year-old Delaney has crisscrossed the early-voting state of Iowa seeking to boost his name recognition. - Waiting in the wings - Several big Democratic guns have yet to commit, including former vice president Joe Biden and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke is also considering a run as is billionaire New York ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg. Current and former governors are in the mix, too: John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Steve Bullock of Montana and Virginia's Terry McAuliffe. burs-cl/ft Tallinn (AFP) - Estonia's centre-left coalition is fighting for survival in a general election Sunday, challenged by its traditional liberal rival but also a far-right party boosted by a backlash from mostly rural regions in the Baltic eurozone state. The largely lacklustre campaign has focused on taxation, tensions over Russian language education for Estonia's sizeable Russian minority and the rural-urban divide. A survey conducted on February 14-20 suggests a very tight race. Prime Minister Juri Ratas's centrist Centre party received 24.7 percent support among those surveyed, narrowly trailing the liberal Reform party led by former MEP Kaja Kallas with 25.7 percent, according to pollster Kantar Emor. The far-right Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) meanwhile stands to more than double its support to 21.3 percent, on populist promises of slashing income and excise taxes and pushing anti-immigration rhetoric. However, with 5-6 parties expected to enter the 101-seat parliament, the splintered outcome will likely make coalition building tricky. Traditional rivals, Centre and Reform have alternated in government and even governed together over the nearly three decades since Estonia broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union. Both strongly support EU and NATO membership and have favoured austerity to keep spending in check, giving Estonia the eurozone's lowest debt-to-GDP ratio. Centre has vowed to replace Estonia's 20 percent flat income tax and 21 percent corporate tax with a progressive system to boost state revenue. Reform wants to raise the tax-free monthly minimum and lower unemployment insurance premiums to aid job creation. Joblessness hovers at just under five percent while economic growth is expected to slow to 2.7 percent this year, from the 3.5 percent in 2018. A 34-year-old financial risk analyst from Tallinn sees cause for concern. "As the global market seems to be heading towards a new crisis, politicians' promises to change taxes or finance their promises with deficits isn't very reassuring," said Tiina, who declined to give her surname. Story continues Voting will be a "difficult choice", she added. - Estxit - While it won only seven seats in parliament in the 2015 election, the EKRE is set to capture a close third spot behind established parties. Staunchly eurosceptic, it called for an "Estxit" referendum on Estonia's EU membership, although the move would fail in the overwhelmingly pro-EU country. The party's deep suspicion towards Moscow means it sees NATO membership as a must and fully supports the multinational NATO battalion installed in Estonia in 2017 as a tripwire against possible Russian adventurism. Tonis Saarts, a Tallinn University political scientist, draws comparisons to the rise of far-right parties across Europe that oppose immigration and multiculturalism while offering generous social spending. He describes EKRE's position on liberal democracy, including civic and human rights, rule of law and the separation of powers as "very ambiguous". The party's growing popularity is largely rooted in the misgivings of rural Estonians, who feel left behind after years of austerity under Centre and Reform. "These people see few economic prospects and feel that the mainstream parties don't care much about their problems," Saarts told AFP. According to Mari-Liis Jakobson, a Tallinn University political sociologist, it remains unclear whether "mainstream parties will form a 'cordon sanitaire' around the more radical EKRE." - Russian minority - The Centre party has long been the favourite of Estonia's Russian minority, which accounts for around a quarter of the Baltic state's population of 1.3 million. In 2004, the party inked a memorandum of understanding with Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. But since becoming party leader in 2016, Juri Ratas insists the deal is "frozen" in order to avoid losing voters suspicious of Soviet-era master Russia, especially after its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The Russian minority is counting on Centre to save the current education system with both Estonian and Russian-language schools created during Soviet times, while Reform and EKRE want an end to Russian-language instruction. Other parties on the ballot include current junior coalition partners the Social Democrats and the conservative Isamaa (formerly Pro Patria) party. Nearly a quarter million of Estonia's 880,690 eligible voters have already used e-voting in advanced polling. Officials are confident the country's online voting system can withstand any attempted meddling. Polling stations open from 0700 to 1800 GMT on Sunday. No exit polls will be issued, with initial official results due by midnight. You may have heard that Bitcoin is heading to the moon and its price will rise astronomically. Or you may have heard that Bitcoin is going to become the global reserve currency replacing the US dollar. If not, then maybe it could become the native currency of the internet? Before this can happen though, cryptocurrency would have to become mainstream, and currently there are a few barriers that it needs to overcome. Here are five barriers to cryptocurrency adoption in the mainstream. Scams The first issue is with trust. Whilst Bitcoin aims to create a sense of trust by using blockchain technology to remove the need for a central authority, there is still little appetite from the mainstream to trust cryptocurrencies as a whole. This is in large part due to both the volatility of price within cryptocurrencies and the abundance of scams within the space. As regulation has been slow to catch up with the cryptocurrency space, many people have jumped on this opportunity. There are numerous MLM coins that provide little to no value, with OneCoin and Bitconnect being perhaps the most famous. There are also numerous other coins that although perhaps not outright scams, have provided little value if any at all. Whilst many people may have made money off these altcoins, just as many people will have lost money. This will have certainly put many people off cryptocurrencies as a whole and made them believe the space is just a scam. User experience If you ever think that the internet can be a confusing space, then cryptocurrencies are most certainly a step above. Whilst this might not be such an issue for those of us who have grown up around computers, for those that didnt, the technology can still prove to be a difficult hurdle. Cryptocurrencies are even more complex. From private keys to public keys, hot wallets to cold wallets, there is a wealth of knowledge one needs to acquire before they can feel comfortable trading and playing with cryptocurrencies. Story continues Whilst the internet is also complicated, there have been massive advances in hiding these complex processes in the back-end, ensuring a smooth and easy user experience. Cryptocurrencies, both exchanges and wallets, still have some way to go in achieving this ease of use and simplicity. This is highlighted further with the kerfuffle of working a Lightning Wallet. However, in fairness, the Lightning Wallet is still in its early days, so it has plenty of time to overcome these hurdles. Until the rest of the industry tackles these issues though, mainstream adoption will be far away. Scaling For those who were present during the 2017 bull run, you may have noticed the rise in fees to trade with Bitcoin. This led to a war within the community and ultimately the split of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Issues became apparent as it was clear that Bitcoin was not scaled to handle the large amount of users trying to move Bitcoin. The mempool became full, which meant that transaction fees shot through the roof. The different approaches taken by the two competing versions are the Lightning Network, a second-layer solution built on top of Bitcoin, and the on-chain scaling solution proposed by Bitcoin Cash, where they increased the block size. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a whole will need to fix the issue of scaling to meet demand if they are ever to become mainstream. The philosophy Bitcoiners, at least the maximalists, tend to be a rather stubborn bunch. They stick to their guns and are not impressed by the boogeyman known as socialism. Theirs is a right-wing libertarian philosophy of sound money, minimal state, and no tax. This stems from the Austrian school of economics coupled with the ideas of crypto anarchy from the Cypherpunks. Libertarianisms main breeding ground is within the USA, whereby thanks to the era of McCarthyism, any political or economic philosophy slightly left-leaning is automatically labelled socialism. Unfortunately for them, social democracy has strong support in many other areas of the world, from Europe to South America and Oceania. The privitisation of all public services isnt going to quite fly with the majority of citizens from these nations, and although there has been a distinct shift to the right in some, there has also been an uprising of the left as well. Merchants The final barrier to cryptocurrency adoption in the mainstream is the lack of merchants accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. Without such, spending cryptocurrencies on a regular basis is difficult. This problem is exacerbated when many holders of cryptocurrencies prefer to store them for a long time in the hope of price appreciation rather then choosing to spend them. Some major merchants have turned away from cryptocurrency in the past couple of years, which has been detrimental. Steam, the video game distribution platform, did accept Bitcoin until 2017. Again, one of the main issues for merchants is the volatility in price coupled with the scaling issues that surround some of the major cryptocurrencies. Conclusion There are still many barriers to cryptocurrency adoption in the mainstream. These are but five issues that are more prevalent than others, but you perhaps have some of your own. If so, let us know in the comments what you believe are the main issues surrounding mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. The post Five barriers to cryptocurrency adoption in the mainstream appeared first on Coin Rivet. New York (AFP) - Gap Inc. on Thursday announced plans to split into two companies and shutter 230 stores in a makeover that showcases its hot "Old Navy" chain and deemphasizes its slumping namesake brand. Shares surged around 25 percent in aftermarket trading following the announcement of the division into "Old Navy" and the unnamed "NewCo," which will comprise Gap, Banana Republic and the company's other brands. "Following a comprehensive review by the Gap Inc. Board of Directors, it's clear that Old Navy's business model and customers have increasingly diverged from our specialty brands over time, and each company now requires a different strategy to thrive moving forward," Gap Inc Board Chairman Robert Fisher said in a statement. "Pursuing a separation is the most compelling path forward for our brands," he added. Gap Chief Executive Art Peck, who will lead NewCo, said the revamp was made with an eye towards positioning the businesses for the future almost exactly 50 years after founders Doris and Don Fisher launched the company with a single store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco that also sold record albums. - Revitalizing the Gap brand - "We are focused on value creation and have no sort of emotional attachment to a particular combination of these businesses," Peck told an analyst conference call. Including all its chains, Gap Inc. had about 135,000 employees as of February 2018 and 3,688 stores globally as of November 2018, according to securities filings. Old Navy will continue to be led by the brand's chief Sonia Syngal once it becomes a standalone company. Originally launched by Gap in 1994, Old Navy offers apparel that generally comes in at a lower price point than at Gap or Banana Republic. Gap reported full-year comparable sales of positive three percent at Old Navy versus a decline of five percent at Gap and a gain of one percent at Banana Republic. Story continues The company plans 230 more Gap store closures globally over the next two years as the company works "to revitalize the Gap brand by re-engaging with customers and expanding its loyal customer base, leveraging the multigenerational, democratic appeal of the brand," Gap said in a press release. The move comes as the US retail sector faces stiffening pressure from Amazon and other online retailers as e-commerce eats up a greater share of retail sales. Conventional brick-and-mortar chains are also making costly investments to become "omnichannel" vendors to stay relevant. However, profitability remains a challenge in e-commerce, in part because of pressure from customer's for free delivery. Gap shareholders will receive an equal proportion of shares in each of the two companies. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2020. Gap shares were up 24.9 percent at $31.72 in afterhours trading. HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Thousands of students in the German port city of Hamburg marched out of school on Friday led by teenage Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg to call for more action on climate change. The protest is part of a global movement known as "School Strike 4 Climate" or "Fridays For Future" launched last August when Thunberg began protesting outside the Swedish parliament on school days. About 3,000 students marched through the streets of the port city chanting: "We are here, we are loud, because you are stealing our future." Thunberg said the school strikes would go on until politicians took firmer action against climate change. "For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis. But we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer," she said. The Hamburg demonstrators also demanded an end to coal-fired energy. Germany is planning to phase out coal by 2038 and has imposed higher emission standards on cars, but higher costs for cleaner vehicles and power are concerns for the government and the industry. Last month the 16-year-old Thunberg joined protests in Belgium, where she won a European Union pledge to spend billions of euros combating climate change during the next decade. The youth initiative has called for nationwide strikes on March 15 as part of an international day of action by students in which more than 40 countries are expected to participate. German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said on Twitter the protests were impressive. But Ties Rabe, education senator for Hamburg state, said that although he supported the young people's attempts to make the world a better place: "No one improves the world by skipping school". (Reporting by Reuters TV in Hamburg and Riham Alkousaa in Berlin; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - Candidates campaigning for upcoming local elections in southeastern Turkey have a serious conundrum: the villages they want to run have been largely emptied by clashes between Kurdish rebels and Turkish soldiers. The violence, which resumed after the collapse of a fragile ceasefire in 2015, hit the historic walled town of Sur in the Kurdish-majority province of Diyarbakir especially hard. Thousands had to abandon the region, with many houses demolished during intense clashes between the Turkish military and outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants. Mehmet Kacan, who is running for village chief in the March 31 elections, finds himself chasing some 4,000 voters of his Fatihpasa neighbourhood who simply are not at home. "The people are now scattered all around the province," Kacan told AFP. "It is hard to afford a living there, people cannot even pay their electricity bills. They want to return to their old neighbourhoods," he said, vowing: "I will work to bring those people back." Around 6,000 families were forced to leave six Sur neighbourhoods, and no one has returned, according to a February report by the Diyarbakir-based Dicle Social Studies Centre. While construction of new homes has been continuing since 2017, police barriers and concrete blocks prevent any access to the town, a UNESCO World Heritage site with ancient fortified walls, historic mosques, churches and synagogues. Although many people moved away, they remain registered as residents to avoid losing state benefits such as rent allowances and compensation for damaged homes. - 'No neighbourhood left'- Turkey stepped up the fight against Kurdish militants following a 2016 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, declaring a state of emergency under which tens of thousands of people were arrested or sacked from their jobs. The PKK, originally set up to win Kurdish autonomy, took up arms in 1984 with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state. The subsequent insurgency has claimed more than 40,000 lives. Story continues Parts of Sur have endured 24-hour curfews lasting weeks at a time, preventing Kurdish civilians from fleeing combat zones. Activists have accused Turkish security forces of causing huge destruction to urban centres and killing Kurdish civilians. Although the district -- a tourist attraction as one of the first places where humanity began settled life -- has been rebuilt, it has changed significantly. Kacan, an electrician, is going street by street in search of an audience for his campaign platform. At a local coffeehouse, he came across two former residents from Fatihpasa who lamented their loss. "There is no neighbourhood left physically to talk about," said Selim Turgul. "When we left the neighbourhood we did not change our addresses... because we wanted to get back to our house there." He said many former residents "are in a dire situation", adding: "We are hoping to return. We want our own house." - 'You see the suffering'- Orhan Kacan, a former resident of Fatihpasa neighbourhood, also wants to return home. "You see the suffering of people. They cannot pay their rents for four months," he said. "We want to live in peace. We want our neighbourhood to be like it was before, so that we can return." Savas is another devastated neighbourhood where the number of voters has dropped to 1,800 from 3,000. Metin Arslan, another candidate for village chief or muhtar, is also touring the coffeehouses, to little avail. "Our residents live somewhere else because the neighbourhood is abandoned," he said. "It is not appropriate to make promises to an electorate in a neighbourhood that no longer exists." By Paresh Dave SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Six Google employees on Thursday joined U.S. lawmakers to support bills that would ban mandatory arbitration in employment and consumer contracts, as the workers seek to build on recent success in getting the Alphabet Inc company to drop some arbitration provisions. Mandatory arbitration, which prevents people from taking disputes to court, has become a big target for workers' rights activists in recent years. They have expressed concern that requiring private arbitration helps businesses facing harassment and discrimination allegations to avoid public scrutiny. "We cannot have an honest conversation about labor rights or restoring consumer protections until we pull back the curtain of forced arbitration, which denies employees and consumers of their ability to fully and publicly vindicate their rights," Tanuja Gupta, a New York-based Google employee said during a news conference in Washington on Thursday. The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act and several pieces of related legislation would ensure individual and class-action lawsuits are an option in a variety of disputes, members of Congress said at the news conference. Business groups have said arbitration provides timely resolutions and that lawsuits benefit lawyers more than plaintiffs. Democratic lawmakers have attempted to curtail mandatory arbitration before but have struggled to gain support from Republican colleagues. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said he expects the FAIR Act to at least pass the Democrat-controlled House this year. "This bill is about guaranteeing every individual their day in court," Blumenthal said. Andy Phelan, a spokesperson for Representative Hank Johnson, who has long backed arbitration changes, said tech workers harmed by such provisions had never before appeared at a bill introduction. Last week, Google became the latest of a handful of tech companies to announce it would no longer require employees to arbitrate employment disputes. Thousands of Google workers briefly walked off the job in November as part of a demonstration organized by Gupta and a few others to advocate for workplace policy changes, including on arbitration. Google declined to comment on employees' support of legislative changes. (Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) A homeless person sleeping rough near Windsor Castle, Berkshire. Photo: Steve Parsons/PA Wire Up to 26m ($34.5m) will go towards providing tailored, specialist support to vulnerable rough sleepers across the UK, the government announced on Friday. According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), councils will be able to bid for a portion of the money to fund schemes that prioritise housing those who are battling mental health or substance misuse problems. Councils will use the funding to create a team of navigators who will work as a point of contact for rough sleepers who need directing to services like mental health support, substance misuse counselling or housing advice services. READ MORE: Contactless giving points launched to help the homeless They will also establish dedicated letting agencies for rough sleepers, set up hubs to provide those on the streets with professional help and guidance, and implement supported letting schemes that will help rough sleepers sustain tenancies. This new funding forms part of the governments Rough Sleeping Initative, which was unveiled in August 2018 and aims to end rough sleeping for good, backed by an investment of 100m. Heather Wheeler MP, minister for housing and homelessness, said: No one should ever have to face a night on the streets, and steps are being taken to ensure people are never faced with this as their only option. These are vulnerable people who need specialist support to get back on their feet and turn their lives around. READ MORE: Nearly 10m will bring hundreds of homes to Festival Gardens The funding announced today will ensure those sleeping on the streets across the country have access to the professional help and guidance they need to start their recovery taking us one step closer to our ambition to end rough sleeping for good. Official figures show the number of people sleeping rough in the UK fell for the first time in eight years in 2018, from 4,751 to 4,677. In the 83 areas supported through the Rough Sleeping Initiative, it fell by 19%. Councils have used the investment to create an additional 1,700 beds and 500 rough sleeping support staff, the MHCLG claimed. Neil Jordans Greta is a cautionary film by a director usually known for astute, myth-based storytelling in movies such as The Crying Game and even Interview with the Vampire. At first Gretas stalker plot looks mechanical and superficial, as post-college waitress Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz) falls into an emotional web woven by middle-aged European widow Greta (Isabelle Huppert). It slightly resembles junk such as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. Frances is introduced on the subway reading David Foster Wallaces The Girl with Curious Hair an informed literary clue that Jordan means to upgrade the genre and match tonier European antecedents Repulsion and Die! Die! My Darling! But since none of those movies mean anything to the millennial market, Jordan has to retroject its thriller mythology for contemporary relevance: Frances, a rich but unskilled Smith graduate, is part of the generation aspiring toward socialism (despite the irony that her roommates Tribeca loft was purchased by her own dad). Meanwhile, Chanel-suited Greta, who lives in a two-story domicile that resembles Greenwich Villages Patchin Place, incarnates Old World fascination and degradation. Frances seeks out the matron after discovering the chic green pocketbook Greta lost on the subway. Their contrasting manner and style ignites the ideological seduction at the films core. The privileged, good-mannered naif feels orphaned; she slums luxuriously, casually serving customers at a high-end Manhattan boite, and mysterious dowager Greta preys on the recently motherless girl the same way she plays Liebestraum on a weathered upright piano. Its a song of love, and love is a memory, Greta entices Frances. Jordan and co-screenwriter Ray Wright use Gretas decadent lure to evoke an adult fairy tale. In a key Jordanesque scene, conveying personal mythic projection, Frances tearfully recalls moviegoing with her late mother. Its an IMAX movie screening that Frances attends with her hard-nosed roommate Erica (Maika Monroe, a perfect Chloe Sevigny lookalike). The IMAX transference of sensation to emotion is a sophisticated Jordan trope. That passion is also provoked by Gretas advances: hand-holding, heart- and breast-clutching gestures of empathy which continue when she lights a candle in a church. Even though I dont practice, she charms Frances. Its a French Catholic twist on Jordans habitual Irish Catholic guilt. Story continues Girl-child Moretz, who has been an ideal, baby-face millennial for directors from Scorsese to Assayas to Guadagnino, looks very tough in Francess butch waitress uniform. She could be an AOC blank slate, yet Moretzs surprisingly bright eyes convey soft feeling a sad sexual ambiguity that compares to Hupperts always enigmatic facade. Jordan shows sensitivity to the big American and tiny European and their uncertain rapport. When Frances meets Alexa (Zawe Ashton), the partner of Gretas late daughter, the sudden depth of Alexas confession recalls the feminine sympathy of Jordans powerful vampire masterpiece Byzantium as well as his film noir Mona Lisa. Gretas disclosure Ive been in a well of loneliness triggers Jordans literary sensibility, which extends to Radclyffe Halls renowned lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness and Alice Munros Runaway. Those who saw Pedro Almodovars Munro adaptation Julieta may catch further resemblances in this mother-daughter narrative and its sexually open sensibility. Its Jordans compassionate storytelling that saves Greta from shrill feminist manipulation such as Orange Is the New Black and The Handmaids Tale. Is Greta scary? Does it work? Those questions can also be asked of socialism advocates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, who practice political versions of the same deception that Greta deploys on Frances. This isnt the top of Jordans oeuvre, but sometimes movies gain fascination for the way they absorb and reflect the days social currents, including our media-inspired anxiety. Thats whats so striking about the IMAX scene where Frances instinctively reacts to the artificial replacement for real-life experience. Jordan is aware of how movies and myths operate as a substitute for memory. His horror film offers a metaphor for the Old World failures that naive millennials dangerously mistake for progressive political alternatives. As Greta nears its finale, the rushed editing hints at truncation, sometimes begging laughter like Die! Die! My Darling! and Berserk! (except that Huppert doesnt have Tallulah Bankheads or Joan Crawfords campy force). But when Frances awakens to find herself locked in childhoods naive box, Jordans political cautionary tale feels real. More from National Review Appearing before the U.S. District Court in Seattle, the two units of Chinese telecom equipment manufacturing firm, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, pleaded not guilty to charges of IP theft from T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS. A trial date for the levied charges has been set for Mar 2, 2020 by Judge Richardo S. Martinez. Earlier, the U.S. Justice Department had charged two units of Huawei with a 10-count indictment, accusing them of stealing robotic technology from T-Mobile to test smartphones durability. The court had arraigned Huawei Device Co Ltd and Huawei Device USA Inc on Feb 28 to stand trial for the charges. The latest indictment traces its roots to a civil suit filed by T-Mobile in Seattle District Court in 2014, in which it accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets at the behest of the R&D team based in China. Although the case was settled with a $4.8-million compensation award to T-Mobile in 2017, it seems that the Trump administration will leave no stone unturned to ban Chinas Huawei and ZTE from the country. Additionally, the federal prosecutors had issued a 13-point indictment against Huawei for allegedly deceiving international banks into clearing transactions (worth millions of dollars) with Iran despite economic sanctions. However, no arraignment date has been put forth for it. Nonetheless, the latest developments could cast a shadow over the bilateral trade talks between the United States and China, which seemed to strike the right chords in the past week as both sides signaled intentions to resolve their differences. With significant progress in the negotiations, President Trump has reportedly extended the Mar 1 deadline to reach a sweeping agreement to end the trade skirmishes. A probable meeting between the top leaders of both countries is also in the cards in late March. Trump further observed that key issues, such as concerns related to technology transfer and intellectual property rights were ironed out, although no official statements were released in this regard. Media reports cited that commonality was reached on various matters that hitherto remained bone of contention between the two countries. However, there seemed to be some lingering issues with difference of opinion on Chinas subsidies, cyber theft, public sector enterprises and so-called forcible technology transfers. Common ground on a mutual enforcement mechanism remained particularly elusive. Although no apparent breakthrough has yet been made on such matters, the Trump administration maintained that the talks have been quite fruitful. Higher level meetings are scheduled to continue through the end of this week as both parties appear to be eager to walk the extra mile to strike a full-scale accord. Meanwhile, T-Mobile remains poised to complete its merger with Sprint Corporation S in an all-stock transaction in the first half of 2019. The deal will help accelerate development of faster 5G wireless networks. The New T-Mobile would have about 127 million customers. It will have a strong closing balance sheet and a fully funded business plan, with a strong foundation of secured investment grade debt at close. T-Mobile has received shareholder approval related to the merger. This is considered as a step forward in creating the New T-Mobile through which the company will bring robust competition to the 5G era. The stock has recorded average return of 16.5% in the past year, while the industry impoved 3.2%. T-Mobile currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry include Gogo Inc. GOGO, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and Telenav, Inc. TNAV, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Gogo beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, average being 34.4%. Telenav beat earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, average being 23.7%. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Sprint Corporation (S) : Free Stock Analysis Report Gogo Inc. (GOGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Telenav, Inc. (TNAV) : Free Stock Analysis Report T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research During 10 years of service, Michael Cohen says, he threatened hundreds of people on behalf of his boss, Donald J. Trump: he strong-armed contractors, browbeat reporters and warned schools against releasing Trumps grades. But sitting before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Feb. 27, Cohen himself became a threat as he ticked off a long list of potentially criminal acts committed by Trump and laid bare the many legal and political perils the President faces for his conduct as a businessman, candidate and Commander in Chief. It was a sordid scene. Cohen, somber and clad in a suit and light blue tie, produced a check, signed by Trump, allegedly reimbursing him for the hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He claimed that Trump inflated his assets to request a bank loan and that he used money from the Trump Foundation to run up the auction price of a portrait of himself. Cohen also described hearing longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone tell Trump in advance about a 2016 WikiLeaks release of emails that would damage Hillary Clintons campaign. Read More: The 13 Most Explosive Claims From Michael Cohens Testimony Republicans argued that Cohen, who will start a three-year prison sentence in May for campaign-finance violations, tax evasion and bank fraud, was an untrustworthy witness. Its laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word, said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. Nearly every Republican lawmaker on the committee touted a similar form of verbiage during their allotted five minute period of questioning during his testimony, repeatedly reminding him of his impending incarceration. But, as Cohen himself noted, none of the Republican lawmakers asked him about his allegations levied against the President. The American people dont care about my taxes, he told Republicans on the committee. They want to know what I know about President Trump. But as the country awaits special counsel Robert Muellers report on possible collusion between Trumps 2016 campaign and Russia, even failings highlight the dangers confronting the President. Trump has always been driven, his longtime lieutenant alleges, not by a grand scheme to undermine American democracy but rather by a litany of low motives: personal power, self-preservation and greed. Story continues Cohens most explosive testimony included an allegation that Trump committed a crime after becoming President. He said that during a conversation in the Oval Office in early 2017, the President promised to reimburse him for payments Cohen had made to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump. Cohen showed the committee a copy of a check dated August 2017 from Trumps personal bank account and signed by the President. If Trump knowingly reimbursed Cohen to limit political damage, which Trump denies, he likely violated campaign-finance laws. Cohen himself pleaded guilty in August 2018 to violating campaign-finance laws related to his role in these payments. This image provided by Michael Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, shows copies of two checks that Cohen presented to the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019 in Washington. Cohen also alleged that Trump intentionally inflated his financial assets when it suited his needs. He showed the committee financial statements from 2011 to 2013 that he said Trump gave to Deutsche Bank to obtain a loan to try to buy the NFLs Buffalo Bills. Both Cohen and Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort were convicted of bank fraud. If Trump lied about his assets to Deutsche Bank, he could face the same fate once he leaves office. Current Justice Department policy says a sitting President cant be indicted. Cohen again raised eyebrows when he was asked whether the President compelled him to lie. Cohen pleaded guilty to perjuring himself in written testimony to Congress in 2017; now he says Trump and two lawyers reviewed that testimony beforehand. Cohen also said Trump implicitly directed him to lie about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. He would look me in the eye and tell me theres no business in Russia and then go out and lie to the American people by saying the same thing, Cohen said. In his way, he was telling me to lie. In the claim that circled closest to Muellers probe, Cohen said he was present when Stone phoned Trump to inform him that WikiLeaks was preparing to publish emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee. Trump was reportedly asked by Mueller about his contacts with Stone, and provided detailed answers under oath. Stone was indicted in January for obstruction, false statements and witness tampering, and he denies Cohens allegations. It is now clearer than ever that Trumps legal troubles go well beyond the Mueller investigation. His businesses, family charity, campaign, Inauguration, Administration and even his Washington hotel remain tangled in investigations and civil lawsuits in multiple federal and state jurisdictions. Cohen testified that Manhattan federal prosecutors, for example, are probing other alleged crimes, with his help. And he concluded his testimony by hypothesizing that, if Trump were to lose reelection in 2020, there may not be a peaceful transfer of power. Cohens testimony was only the first of what may be dozens of high-wattage congressional hearings this year. Other potential witnesses to the Presidents alleged misdeeds: his family, his former National Security Adviser and Mueller himself. Democrats were reluctant to discuss the the implications of Cohens testimony, declining to answer questions about impeachment proceedings and simply noting that more would unfold. This is not the end of the process, but the beginning, said Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings. With reporting by Alana Abramson in Washington NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government was "happy" that Pakistan had decided to return its captured air force pilot and it looked forward to his return, defense officials told reporters on Thursday. Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan's army on Wednesday, will return to India on Friday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan told the country's parliament. Asked about the damage caused when India warplanes struck a suspected militant camp in Pakistan, the officials said it was premature to provide details about casualties. But they said they had "credible" evidence of the damage inflicted on the camp by the air strikes. (This story has been refiled to change wording of first paragraph to make clear that only one Indian pilot is in Pakistan custody) (Reporting by Neha Dasgupta; Writing by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Peter Graff) Intrexon Corporation XON incurred a loss of 22 cents per share (excluding non-cash charge of $311 million) in fourth-quarter 2018, narrower than 23 cents recorded in the year-ago period and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 29 cents. Total revenues came in at $43.2 million, reflecting a 44% decline from the year-ago quarter. The reported revenues also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $62 million. The stock has lost 46.2% over the past year. Recent Business Highlights Intrexons sales primarily consist of collaboration and licensing revenues, as well as product and service revenues. Collaboration and licensing revenues decreased 55% from the prior-year quarter to $25.2 million. Product revenues came in at $4.9 million, down 36.2% from the year-ago period. Service revenues totaled $12 million, down 5.4% year over year. Intrexon follows a business model, under which the company commercializes its technologies through exclusive channel collaborations (ECC), licensing agreements and joint ventures that have market and product development expertise, as well as sales and marketing capabilities to bring new and improved products and processes to the market. Such agreements provide the company with funds in the form of technology access fees, along with milestones and other payments. Meanwhile, the company is developing several candidates in partnership with other companies. Intrexon structured its principal healthcare assets into two separate wholly-owned subsidiaries Precigen, Inc., which is a gene and cell therapy company developing precision medicines and ActoBio Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on therapeutic delivery of biologics to the site of disease via its proprietary ActoBiotics platform. Effective Jan 1, 2018, Precigen and ActoBio Therapeutics began operating as standalone entities. Both the companies are now wholly-owned subsidiaries of Intrexon. Precigen announced that the FDA has cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for PRGN-3006, an investigational drug for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and higher risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Story continues Precigen also announced that the FDA has cleared the IND application for PRGN-3005 UltraCAR-T, an investigational drug using CAR-T cells to treat advanced-stage platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients and the first UltraCAR-T candidate targeting solid tumors to enter the clinic. Following the previously reported reacquisition of oncology rights from Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. ZIOP in October 2018, Precigen and Intrexon entered into an agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Ares Trading, pursuant to which Intrexon assumed rights from Ares Trading under the existing agreement among Precigen, Ares Trading and Ziopharm relating to the development of CAR-T therapies. 2018 Results Loss per share in 2018 was 69 cents, narrower than the year-ago figure of 98 cents and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59. Total revenues came in at $160.6 million, reflecting a 31% year-over-year decline and missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $183.4 million. Intrexon Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Intrexon Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Intrexon Corporation Quote Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider Intrexon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are Celgene Corporation CELG and BieGene Ltd. BGNE, each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Celgenes earnings per share estimates have increased from $10.21 to $10.75 for 2019 and from $11.63 to $12.70 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters, with average of 2.65%. BieGenes loss per share estimates have narrowed from $10.09 to $9.90 for 2019 and from $10.57 to $10.24 for 2010 over the past 60 days. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Celgene Corporation (CELG) : Free Stock Analysis Report ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc (ZIOP) : Free Stock Analysis Report BeiGene, Ltd. (BGNE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Intrexon Corporation (XON) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A family-owned manufacturing facility in the Irish county of Westmeath. Photo: PA Ahead of Brexit, the Irish manufacturing sector is stockpiling at the fastest rate in more than 20 years. Stocks of purchases in the sector have risen in 11 of the past 12 months and February saw the biggest jump in purchasing activity in more than 19 years. Manufacturers are attempting to mitigate Brexit-related supply chain issues, according to the AIB purchasing managers index (PMI), which conducts a monthly survey of firms in the sector. The impact of Brexit was evident in many of the components of the PMI as some firms moved to take action to avoid possible disruption to supply chains, said AIB chief economist Oliver Mangan. READ MORE: Surge in Irish businesses applying for post-Brexit UK access Post-production stocks also rose to a 13-month high, in a sign that the industry is trying to guard against potential Brexit-related delays. And uncertainty about Brexit saw business optimism within the sector fall to its lowest level in 18 months. But there was also some positive news. A 69th straight month of growth in manufacturing activity saw the sectors PMI reading jump to 54.0, from 52.6 in January. In comparison, a similar indicator from the eurozone fell to 49.2 in February, its lowest level since the middle of 2013. And employment growth in the Irish sector rose to a four-month high. The rise in the Irish index was driven by stronger growth in output and new orders, with firms reporting a pick-up in both domestic and international demand, most notably from the US and UK, Mangan said. Though the Irish Central Bank maintains that Irelands economy could withstand the impact of a no-deal Brexit, Irish business groups have consistently warned of the devastating consequences of such a scenario. By Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar promised on Friday to resolve a legal "anomaly" that led to the seizure of two small fishing boats from Northern Ireland and drew angry denunciations from pro-British politicians. A 60-meter armed Irish Coast guard vessel on Thursday impounded two trawlers registered in the British region of Northern Ireland for fishing illegally inside Ireland's six-mile (9.6 km) territorial limit. Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, a close ally of British Prime Minister Theresa May, reacted angrily, with deputy leader Nigel Dodds on Thursday describing the incident as "outrageous... heavy-handed tactics". Dodds also accused the Irish government of using it as a "bargaining chip on Brexit", something the Irish government denied. The owners of the trawlers pleaded guilty to breaching fishing regulations at Drogheda District Court on Friday but a judge decided to release them without levying a fine, the BBC reported. A court service official declined comment. An informal bilateral agreement had allowed fishermen from Ireland and Northern Ireland to fish inside the six-mile limit of each others' jurisdictions, but it was struck down by the Irish Supreme Court in 2016 and Ireland has yet to approve replacement legislation. As a result Irish fishermen can legally fish along Northern Ireland's coast but Northern Ireland fishermen are prohibited from fishing along the coast of the Republic of Ireland. "I think we can have that law changed and that anomaly, if you like, corrected, and we can do that in the next couple of weeks," Prime Minister Varadkar told LMFM Radio, saying legislation had got stuck in the upper house of parliament, which Varadkar's government does not control. But while Ireland's Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed told RTE radio on Friday that the issue had "zero to do with Brexit," Varadkar linked the dispute with Britain's post-Brexit plans for its fisheries and whether or not these it will stay party to the London Fisheries Convention, which governs fishing rights in coastal waters off Western Europe. "Obviously it would be useful to know from the United Kingdom side that they are not going to pull out of that London Convention," he said. "It would be unusual to change our law only to find out that the situation on the other side changed." Britain's withdrawal agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the British parliament, says the two sides would try to agree on the future of fisheries by July 2020, during the transition period after Brexit, to form part of an eventual new EU-UK trade deal. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) Weve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in James Cropper PLC (LON:CRPR). What Is Insider Buying? Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required. Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise. View our latest analysis for James Cropper James Cropper Insider Transactions Over The Last Year Chairman of the Board Mark A. Cropper made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK315k worth of shares at a price of UK10.70 each. That means that even when the share price was higher, an insider wanted to purchase shares. Its very possible they regret the purchase, but its more likely they are bullish about the company. We generally consider it a positive if insiders have been buying on market, even above the current price. Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 43.41k shares worth UK504k. Overall, James Cropper insiders were net buyers last year. The average buy price was around UK11.60. Id consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price, which is UK9.45. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! Story continues AIM:CRPR Recent Insider Trading, March 1st 2019 If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). James Cropper Insiders Bought Stock Recently Over the last quarter, James Cropper insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. We can see that Mark A. Cropper paid UK315k for shares in the company. No-one sold. That shows some optimism about the companys future. Does James Cropper Boast High Insider Ownership? Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that James Cropper insiders own 26% of the company, worth about UK24m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. What Might The Insider Transactions At James Cropper Tell Us? It is good to see recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of James Cropper we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for James Cropper. If you would prefer to check out another company one with potentially superior financials then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Jared Kushner quietly met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during a foreign trip featuring meetings with top Middle East officials that is sure to raise controversy in the United States. The White House released a readout of the previously non-disclosed meeting between the Crown Prince and Donald Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser just minutes after the presidents former attorney and fixer began a highly-anticipated public testimony before the House Oversight Committee. News outlets across the country were covering the developments on Capitol Hill in real-time as one of Mr Trumps closest former confidants detailed his alleged criminal conduct, racism and lies from the 2016 presidential election and after assuming the Oval Office. Mr Kushner was meeting with the 33-year-old Saudi Arabian leader for the first time since the Crown Prince was alleged by the international community and global intelligence experts to have ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist killed inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Mr Khashoggi was a notable journalist who frequently wrote reports critical of the Saudi government. Mr Khashoggis death and the Crown Princes supposed involvement in that atrocity was not included in the readout released by the White House on Wednesday, however. As for the president, Mr Trump has repeatedly declined to punish, condemn or even implicate Saudi leadership in the death of Mr Khashoggi, a US resident who lived in Virginia before he was killed. Turkish officials also confirmed on Wednesday that Mr Kushner tasked with restoring peace throughout the Middle East region by the White House had met with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the countrys president. He was joined by Berat Albayrak, Turkeys economy minister who also happens to be a son-in-law of the Turkish president. Mr Kushner, who has said he plans to release a full plan on his Mideast peace initiative after Israel conducts its elections 9 April, said he is ultimately seeking economic opportunities for Palestinians. Story continues He did not mention whether hed support the establishment of a Palestinian state, but only that he would address final status issues, reportedly including borders, the Associated Press reported. Saudi officials have long denied any involvement in Mr Khashoggis murder, claiming the Crown Prince and his father were unaware of the attacks. The Middle East is a rough place, Mr Kushner said in an interview with CNN last year. It's been a rough place for a very long time. We have to be able to pursue our strategic objectives, he added. But we also have to deal with what is obviously a terrible situation. Washington governor Jay Inslee, a fierce climate change activist and former congressman, is joining the 2020 presidential race as a growing pool of Democratic candidates seek to unseat Donald Trump in the White House. Unlike the slate of progressives who have announced their bids before him and rejected the help of Super PACs, the governor will reportedly receive aid along the campaign trail from Act Now On Climate, a group spearheaded by Corey Platt, the former political director of the Democratic Governors Association. Hell be the person to say [climate change] is the number one priority, Mr Platt told HuffPost about the Super PACs support for Mr Inslee. Were here to amplify and support his candidacy. The 68-year-old governor is launching his bid Friday in Seattle, following recent visits to the first primary state of New Hampshire and the early caucus state of Nevada. Mr Inslee governed Washington as an unabashed liberal, promoting clean energy, gay rights, abortion rights, environmental preservation, tighter gun restrictions and more spending for education and job training. Most recently, he's called for a state-based public option health insurance plan in Washington that he calls a step toward universal health care. We went to the moon and created technologies that have changed the world - our country's next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change, Mr Inslee says in a video announcement ahead of a public announcement later Friday in Seattle. It will not be easy for the governor to garner attention with six prominent senators - Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts - already running. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke also are expected to make highly anticipated 2020 announcements in the coming weeks. Story continues Mr Inslee acknowledges his underdog status but says his emphasis on combating climate change will set him apart. Climate change is a unifying issue, he told The Associated Press in a recent interview, calling it a moral necessity and an economic opportunity. He promises substantial investment in clean energy sources that reduce American dependence on fossil fuels. This issue is connected to virtually every other value system and thing we want to do in our communities, he said, mentioning environmental justice, infrastructure, clean energy, health care and national security. Mr Inslee has not specifically endorsed the Green New Deal introduced by New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey. He instead advocates for a more piecemeal approach he describes as ambitious but attainable, and he avoids promising specific reductions of carbon emissions under an absolute timeframe. The Green New Deal targets 2030 for the US to become net carbon neutral. The Associated Press contributed to this report A sizeable part of portfolio returns can be produced by dividend stocks due to their contribution to compounding returns in the long run. Historically, Jiangxi Copper Company Limited (HKG:358) has paid dividends to shareholders, and these days it yields 2.1%. Lets dig deeper into whether Jiangxi Copper should have a place in your portfolio. View our latest analysis for Jiangxi Copper How I analyze a dividend stock When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria: Does it pay an annual yield higher than 75% of dividend payers? Has it consistently paid a stable dividend without missing a payment or drastically cutting payout? Has dividend per share amount increased over the past? Is is able to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings? Will it be able to continue to payout at the current rate in the future? SEHK:358 Historical Dividend Yield, March 1st 2019 How does Jiangxi Copper fare? The current trailing twelve-month payout ratio for the stock is 34%, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. However, going forward, analysts expect 358s payout to fall to 10% of its earnings. Assuming a constant share price, this equates to a dividend yield of 2.9%. However, EPS should increase to CN0.77, meaning that the lower payout ratio does not necessarily implicate a lower dividend payment. When thinking about whether a dividend is sustainable, another factor to consider is the cash flow. A business with strong cash flow can sustain a higher divided payout ratio than a company with weak cash flow. If theres one type of stock you want to be reliable, its dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. Dividend payments from Jiangxi Copper have been volatile in the past 10 years, with some years experiencing significant drops of over 25%. This means that dividend hunters should probably steer clear of the stock, at least for now until the track record improves. Relative to peers, Jiangxi Copper generates a yield of 2.1%, which is on the low-side for Metals and Mining stocks. Story continues Next Steps: If Jiangxi Copper is in your portfolio for cash-generating reasons, there may be better alternatives out there. However, if you are not strictly just a dividend investor, the stock could still offer some interesting investment opportunities. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the companys fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. There are three essential factors you should look at: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 358s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 358s outlook. Valuation: What is 358 worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, its not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 358 is currently mispriced by the market. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Recently, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM temporarily extended an existing lease in Paris to cope with the after-effects of an anticipated no-deal Brexit. Per the plan, this banking giant will accommodate nearly 200 employees at the temporary base, who may be transferred at a short notice to the French capital. This news was reported by Reuters. Although Britains exit from the European Union (EU) is due on Mar 29, an exit deal has not been signed yet. JPMorgan has taken this additional office space in Paris so as to enable a swift transfer of business that is essential to continuing operations in continental Europe in case the U.K. leaves the EU without a deal. Additionally, the bank leased a number of hotel rooms and apartments in Paris, and some other cities in Europe, where its staff could be accommodated in case of a disorderly Brexit. The banks CEO, Jamie Dimon stated that the company was prepared for all contingencies and already spent hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare for Brexit. Per sources, until there is a permanent arrangement in response to Brexit, the staff will continue to operate from this temporary site in Paris. Notably, the prestigious Place Vendome in Paris, where JPMorgan already has its long-standing offices, is a preferred choice of the company for setting up a permanent office. Hotel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde is one of the sites that have been taken into consideration, per sources. Currently, Place Vendome does not have enough space to accommodate the staff that would be shifted on the first day of Brexit. In fact, JPMorgan does not want to rush into signing a long-term lease on a large new base in Paris, particularly in case a lengthy Brexit transition deal is signed. This is because, during the transition, European regulators are most likely to provide clarity on the scale and scope of operations that international banks will be required to have in the EU compared with their existing European headquarters in London. Apart from JPMorgan, Barclays BCS plans to shift some equity and credit derivatives sales jobs to Paris as it revamps operations ahead of Brexit. Moreover, Bank of America BAC has started relocating some jobs to Paris while HSBC Holdings HSBC is shifting 1000 jobs from London to Paris, where the banks European headquarters will be set up. JPMorgans shares have lost more than 5% over the past year. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Bank of America Corporation (BAC) : Free Stock Analysis Report HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Barclays PLC (BCS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Remember when little Kendall Jenner first appeared on the E! reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians? Of course, you do! The famous familys rise to fame skyrocketed Jenners popularity and led to some big boss moves as a model, designer, actress and author. After a breakout gig with Forever 21s Twist and Hello Kitty collections, Jenner put out a bunch of womens wear and jewelry. In 2013, she signed on with modeling group the Society Management, quickly rising in the ranks of the high-fashion world with Victorias Secret shows and Estee Lauder gigs. Since then, shes walked for such brands as Chanel, Vera Wang, Givenchy and Diane von Furstenberg. In January, she partnered with Proactiv as the companys new spokesperson. Dont underestimate this rockin Jenner the skys the limit! How will the government maintain and even speed up the 3.1% real GDP growth that the U.S. saw in 2018? The answer - at least according to Kevin Hassett - is deregulation. The Chairman of President Trump's Council of Economic Advisers joined "The Final Round" on Yahoo Finance Thursday and pointed to cutting red tape as the way that that the economy will continue to grow even as the effects from the 2017 tax cuts wear off. "I expect that the tax cut part is going to continue to give" he said. Don't forget that President Trump's deregulation agenda can happen without Congress intervening. Basically, we just go thing by thing and make it smart and if we do that, that really improves business sentiment." Chairman Hassett pointed to one department in particular saying "there are a lot of regulations especially, say, at the Labor Department that people have been studying and thinking about how to revise to improve the business climate." Council of Economic Advisers has previously cited research by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University which claims to have found that "economic growth has been dampened by approximately 0.8 percent per annum since 1980" due to regulations. Mr. Hassett says that his group's model shows GDP growth actually increasing in 2019 even against headwinds from the lingering effects of the government shutdown and a weakening global economy. "The model that told us 3.1 way back in the day, even before the tax cuts were passed, says this year is going to be 3.2" he said. Ben Werschkul is the Washington, DC producer for Yahoo Finance. Read more: Trump economic adviser: There was a very, very positive vibe at the White House after the jobs report Maxine Waters pledges to undo the harm done to consumer protection agency Photo credit: Mate Petrany From Road & Track On Tuesday, Koenigsegg will reveal its replacement for the world's fastest car, the Agera RS. But Koenigsegg is also working on a higher volume model with NEVS, which is set to debut at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show. And according to Christian von Koenigsegg, that car will use the Koenigsegg V8 in naturally-aspirated form, with Freevalve, and electrification. Last month, NEVS, the Chinese-Swedish company that owns Saab's assets bought a 20-percent minority stake in Koenigsegg. This development will result in a new car, which will be built in Angelholm and badged as a Koenigsegg, but sell for under a million euros, and produced in the hundreds instead. Photo credit: Mate Petrany Of course Christian had a lot more to tell us about the NEVS joint venture: The collaboration is basically that we have this slightly higher volumestill very low volume, a couple of hundred a yearidea of a car priced under a million euro. Lets say somewhere between 6-7-800,000, depending on the specification. Weve been working on that project for two years now, and we realized that to make it properly, we probably need to bring in an investor for that program, in order not to put too heavy burden on the other programs we are doing, which are much smaller volume, of course. During that process, we had talks with some very good investors, and then NEVS came knocking on the door: Hey, we just got this new main shareholder who wants to invest in new car technology, Swedish technology, and so on. And weve been working with NEVS for many years to utilize their testing facilities in Trollhattan, where Saab used to be. They have emission test labs, electronic radiation test labs, climatic chambers, test tracks, crash facilitiesall of those things weve been using. And weve also been talking for many years about maybe working on more together, but they were never really in the condition of expanding their efforts into other areas. But with this new shareholder, they said they really want to find a way to work together, and if possible, would also like to invest. We said okay, we have this opportunity that weve been working on, and then the idea came about that they invest as a minority shareholder, and we do this joint venture car together. The production facility will actually be here in Angelholm, well be running the engineering and production, but well be utilizing the facilities in Trollhattan like we already do, and also whatever capability they have for slightly higher volume production parts than we can do here. Like sub assembly, subframes, maybe wiring harnesses, upholstery, paintingbut the car will be engineered here and but together by the same people here, and also tested here at Angelholm. So it will very much be a Koenigsegg car, with the involvement of NEVS. Story continues Photo credit: Mate Petrany I was also curious to find out whether this higher volume second model is a safety measure in case our current hypercar-crazed era comes to a sudden end, perhaps due to unpredictable economic reasons. But Koenigsegg says their core business is looking good, and the new car is a much more personal project: The projections are still for this segment to grow over the foreseeable future. The next car is more about exploring new avenues, and to make use of the technologies weve developed. I mean, we developed so many complex systems, and put them in so few cars! By doing this, we can take the experience of direct drive, on our infotainment, electronic platforms, and reuse them at very little extra cost. And we will get so much more out of it! Also, to showcase Freevalve (camless engines), and our capabilities in general. We think the car we develop is in a very interesting niche that nobody has ever tried before. Its a car that came about because I very much want one myself. And than it turned out that other people are also very interested in this type of a car. Youll see it at Geneva 2020. Were not trying to cannibalize what we are doing with our super extreme hypercars. It will be more of a road car, not at all track focused. Of course you can enjoy it at a track like you can enjoy a very high performance version of another car, but its a different focus, and something Im very excited about. Photo credit: Mate Petrany That leaves us with the question of the powertrain. Ever since Koenigsegg's engine deal fell through with Spyker, I've been wondering if we will ever see the Koenigsegg V8 in production in naturally-aspirated form. The company has already announced that the joint venture model will combine a Freevalve engine with a hybrid system, but now, we've also learnt that the engine under that camless top will be the naturally-aspirated V8: To spill the beans a little bit then, the higher volume Koenigsegg, were foreseeing a naturally-aspirated V8. But with Freevalve. Yet don't expect Koenigsegg to go any cheaper than the joint venture model. Christian has other ideas for extending their portfolio: To me, Koenigsegg should be a top pinnacle brand. And when were saying were doing a car just under a million euro, or around there, thats still a very-very expensive car. Its just that our other hypercars became astronomically expensive. I think at that sub-million price level, the Koenigsegg brand still works well, but I dont foresee us becoming like a McLaren, a Ferrari or an Aston Martin. Well stay smaller volume, and higher average price than them. But hopefully, we can showcase our technology at an ever broader spectrum, and make more business on the side with our technology setup, a company were now forming to help others with platforms, electrical systems, carbon fiber wheels, and various other solutions that will trickle down to normal cars. Photo credit: Mate Petrany So, the 2021 Koenigsegg-NEVS joint venture car in a nutshell: Road-focused, electrified, with a camless naturally-aspirated V8, for under a million dollars, or thereabout, designed and built by Koenigsegg in Angelholm. Knowing this, Christian von Koenigsegg isn't the only one who "very much wants one", in advance... Photo credit: Mate Petrany ('You Might Also Like',) OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Latest on a bill that would allow Oklahoma residents to openly carry firearms without a background check or training (all times local): 4:40 p.m. Oklahoma residents will soon be able to openly carry guns without background checks or training after the state's new Republican governor signed a bill legalizing it. Gov. Kevin Stitt held a ceremonial bill signing Wednesday, just hours after the state Senate approved it 40-6. All Republicans in the chamber voted yes on the bill. The bill takes effect Nov. 1. Stitt endorsed the plan on the campaign trail and had said he was looking forward to signing it. Dubbed "constitutional carry" by its supporters, the bill was vetoed last year by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin , who cited opposition from business leaders and law enforcement. National Rifle Association numbers show at least 14 states have approved some version of permitless carry, most recently South Dakota . ___ 3 p.m. Oklahoma residents will be able to openly carry firearms without a background check or training under a bill given final legislative approval that's expected to be the first signed into law by the new Republican governor. Dubbed "constitutional carry" by its supporters, the bill passed the Senate 40-6 on Wednesday with all Republicans voting in favor. Gov. Kevin Stitt endorsed the plan on the campaign trail and says he's looking forward to signing it. The bill was vetoed last year by GOP Gov. Mary Fallin , who cited opposition from business leaders and law enforcement. According to the National Rifle Association, at least 14 states have approved some version of permitless carry, most recently South Dakota , where it was the first bill signed by new Republican Gov. Kristi Noem. ISLAMABAD (AP) The Latest on escalating India-Pakistan tensions (all times local): 9 p.m. Pakistan has handed over an Indian pilot captured after his plane was shot down by the Pakistani military this week amid a dramatic confrontation between the two nuclear-armed rivals over the disputed Kashmir region. Pakistani officials brought the pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, to the border crossing with India at Wagah and handed him back to India on Friday. On the Indian side of the border, Indian officials greeted the pilot who was in a dark blue suit, accompanied by a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Islamabad has said that the handover was a gesture of peace that could defuse tensions and avoid another war between India and Pakistan. Varthaman was shot down on Wednesday in Pakistani-held Kashmir. ___ 4:50 p.m. India's prime minister says a tough response by his country's armed forces to recent attacks in Indian controlled Kashmir have curtailed the influence of terror groups in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to curtail acts of terrorism further. Modi, who faces elections this spring, spoke at a public rally on Friday in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, Pakistani officials were preparing to hand over a captured Indian pilot from a plane downed by Pakistani forces amid the worst escalation between the archrivals in two decades. Modi made no mention of the pilot. Modi cited the Feb.14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops and set in motion the latest escalation and said Indoan soldiers now have full "freedom to do what they want." ___ 3:50 p.m. Pakistani officials have brought the Indian pilot captured from a downed plane to a border crossing with India for handover. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was taken in a convoy that set out from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the border crossing at Wagah on Friday, escorted by military vehicles with soldiers, their weapons drawn. Story continues On the Indian side of the border, turbaned Indian policemen lined the road as a group of cheering Indian residents from the area waved India's national flag and held up a huge garland of flowers to welcome him back. Islamabad has said the handover is a gesture of peace that could defuse tensions and avoid another war between India and Pakistan. ___ 3:15 p.m. India has banned a largest political and religious group in Indian-held Kashmir in an ongoing crackdown against rebels seeking the end of Indian rule in the disputed region. The ban comes against the backdrop of the most serious confrontation between India and Pakistan in two decades. India also imposed a security lockdown in several parts of the region on Friday, including in downtown areas of the main city of Srinagar, in anticipation of protests and clashes against Indian rule. India's home ministry issued a notification against Jama'at-e-Islami on Thursday night, accusing the group as "unlawful association" and supporting militancy in the region. Police have already arrested at least 400 leaders and activists, mainly from the Jama'at-e-Islami, which seeks self-determination for the Himalayan region, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety. ___ 3:10 p.m. China welcomes Pakistan's decision to "express kindness" and hand over a captured Indian pilot after four straight days of cross-border attacks in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said during a regular news briefing on Friday that "the alleviation of tensions between the two countries serves their fundamental interests." Pakistan said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot on Wednesday. A close Pakistani ally, China has blocked India's attempts to have the U.N. list as a terrorist the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based group that claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing on Indian troops earlier in February in Indian-Controlled Kashmir. In 2017, however, China joined several nations in declaring Jaish-e-Mohammad and another group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, as terrorist organizations. ___ 3 p.m. Pakistan's civil aviation authority has partially re-opened the country's airspace, allowing travel to four major cities, another sign that tensions with archrival India are de-escalating. The agency issued a statement on Friday saying all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. It says other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, will remain closed until March 4. Islamabad closed its air space on Wednesday after saying that Pakistan's military shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot, escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. The closures snarled air traffic. The pilot is expected to be handed back to India later in the day, a move Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said was a gesture of peace. ___ 2:45 p.m. Pakistan's parliament is reiterating praise for the country's military in responding to India's incursion this week by downing two Indian aircraft and capturing a pilot in Pakistani-held Kashmir. The lawmakers in both the 342-seat Assembly and the 104-seat Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Friday, concluding a joint session that began the previous day over the latest escalation between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The resolution also endorses Prime Minister Imran Khan's offer of talks to New Delhi, saying this is the only way to solve all outstanding issues, including the issue of Kashmir, which is split between India and Pakistan and is claimed by both in its entirety. Pakistani Defense Minister Perfez Khattak told the parliament Islamabad would give a "memorable response" to India if it attacks Pakistan again. ___ 11:55 a.m. Pakistan's top diplomat says he is skipping a meeting of foreign ministers from the world's leading Islamic organization in the United Arab Emirates to protest the host's decision to invite India, a non-member. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's announcement that he won't be attending the inaugural session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi amid soaring tensions this week with archrival India. The escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals over the disputed region of Kashmir has brought them close to the brink of an all-out conflict. Qureshi told Parliament on Friday he decided to stay away from the OIC gathering after UAE's Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan refused to withdraw the invitation to India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Qureshi says India is neither a member of the 57-nation organization nor has observer status. ___ 10:25 am. Pakistan's civil aviation authority says the country's air space remains closed for all domestic and international flights because of continuing tensions with neighboring India. In a statement, the agency said the government decision about the closure of the air space will remain effective until 1 p.m. on Friday, after which authorities will announce whether they are reopening it or keeping the airspace closed. Islamabad closed its air space on Wednesday after saying that Pakistan's military had shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot, escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. The pilot is expected to be handed back to India later in the day, a move that could de-escalate the crisis. The closing of Pakistan's airspace forced may airlines to reshuffle their flights, causing problems for passengers. ___ 10:10 a.m. Pakistan is preparing to hand over a captured Indian pilot as shelling continued for a third night across the disputed Kashmir border even as the two nuclear-armed neighbors seek to defuse the most serious confrontation in two decades. Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off against each other along the disputed Himalayan border known as the Line of Control in one of the world most volatile regions. Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft and capturing a pilot. World leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is expected in Islamabad later Friday. Leave voters are ready to blame hard Brexiteers (PA) Hard Brexiteers will be getting the blame if Brexit fails to happen, according to a new YouGov poll. They posed the question: Who would Leave voters blame if Brexit didnt happen?, and MPs who opposed Theresa Mays Brexit deal because they wanted a harder Brexit won 63 per cent of the vote. More than a quarter (29 per cent) of respondents said those MPs would bear a lot of responsibility for Britain ending up staying in the EU, while a further 34 per cent said they would bear some responsibility a total of more than six in 10. MPs who held out for no-deal were viewed almost as harshly, with 59 per cent of the vote. Most Leave voters would blame the MPs who opposed Theresa May;s Brexit deal, according to a YouGov poll (yougov.com) The countdowns on (PA Graphics) Most people said the blame would lie with the MPs who opposed Theresa Mays Brexit deal because they wanted to stop Brexit, however a total of 83 per cent. Read more: Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson accidentally votes for Jeremy Corbyns Brexit vision The EU was second with 80 per cent, while 75 per cent thought Jeremy Corbyn would be responsible and 69 per cent said it would be Theresa Mays fault. With the Labour party having come out in favour of a second referendum on Brexit, the chances of this becoming a reality have increased in the eyes of voters up from 12 per cent to 19 per cent, according to YouGov. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said his re-election was "free and fair", after his beaten rival denounced the results as a "sham" and promised a legal challenge that could dominate politics for weeks. The 76-year-old one-time military ruler's victory was confirmed late on Tuesday, after rescheduled polling blamed on logistical difficulties. Buhari's winning margin over his nearest challenger, Atiku Abubakar, was 3.9 million votes -- more than enough to ensure he remained head of Africa's most populous nation and leading oil producer for the next four years. Leading civil society election monitors YIAGA Africa, which has US and British backing, said "the announced election results reflect the votes cast", even if there were problems. But Abubakar's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cried foul, claiming Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) colluded with the electoral commission to manipulate the outcome. The former vice-president broke his silence nearly 10 hours after results were announced to explain he would have congratulated Buhari, had the vote been "free and fair". Instead, he said: "I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court." Buhari called Saturday's vote "another milestone in Nigeria's democratic development", 20 years after the country returned to civilian rule. Thanking his opponents for a "hard-fought campaign", he said: "From the comment of several observers, both local and foreign, it is obvious that the elections were both free and fair." - Failed 'Messiah' - Buhari's supporters began celebrating at his campaign headquarters in Abuja late on Tuesday, as he took an unassailable lead. But there were none of the spontaneous street parties that marked his victory in 2015, when he became Nigeria's first opposition candidate to beat an incumbent president. Story continues Even in Kano, the biggest city in Buhari's northern homeland, celebrations were muted. Many blamed the fact that results were only confirmed at 4:00 am. Later on Wednesday morning, APC supporters took to the streets, dancing to music played on loudspeakers and waving wicker brooms -- the party symbol. Many shouted his campaign slogan "Sai Baba!" (Only Buhari) and "four more years!" Crowds were noticeably smaller than in 2015, an AFP correspondent in the city said. Armed police had to break up skirmishes between APC and PDP supporters, he added. In the southern city of Port Harcourt -- a PDP stronghold -- a group of angry pro-Biafran supporters took to the streets to denounce the results as a "charade". "We don't want Buhari. His re-election was a grand manipulation... We want freedom," said car mechanic Joseph Elijah, calling for an independent republic for the Igbo people in the southeast. In the commercial capital, Lagos, Ade Monday, 63, said Buhari was hailed as "the Messiah" four years ago and expected to tackle insecurity, corruption and boost the economy. "But now look, the Messiah has failed us," he told AFP. - Legal challenge - The vote was marred by violence, including 53 deaths, according to election observers. Some reported vote-buying, intimidation and violence towards voters and officials, which have been a problem in previous polls in Nigeria. At 35 percent across the country, low voter turnout was blamed on a combination of apathy because of the one-week delay, organisational problems and unrest. Abubakar's promise of legal action now raises the prospect of a lengthy court battle, which will dominate the run-up to Buhari's official inauguration on May 29. The PDP's main claim is that data from handheld devices used to authenticate voter identities at nearly 120,000 polling units had been altered in favour of the ruling party. It called for the data from the machines to be made available to all parties for checking and the election to be re-run in at least two states. Tens of thousands of "valid, legal" votes had been cancelled elsewhere, it added. PDP spokesman Boladele Adekoya said evidence for the legal challenge was being compiled for submission to the presidential election tribunal, set up by the Supreme Court. Buhari sparked controversy weeks before the election by suspending the head of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen, after he was charged with corruption. Critics spied a political motive, as Onnoghen could have ruled on any dispute. The election tribunal will be overseen by the acting chief justice, Ibrahim Muhammad Tanko. It will adjudicate on complaints about the result and has the power to overturn it. "We wait to see how independent and truthful the acting CJN panel is," said the PDP's Adekoya. Freetown (AFP) - Sierra Leone has chosen the chimpanzee as its new national symbol as part of efforts to protect the endangered species and rebrand the country as a sustainable tourist destination. The Western chimpanzee is now the "national animal of Sierra Leone", Agriculture Minister Joseph Ndanema announced at a ceremony honouring renowned British primatologist Jane Goodall late Thursday. "We share 98 percent of human genes with chimpanzees, we are all apes," said Goodall, 84, who helped set up the country's only chimpanzee sanctuary in the 1990s. "Every single human being needs to make a difference on the environment to avoid the greatest danger of our future," said the UN Messenger of Peace. Western chimpanzees are the only critically endangered chimp subspecies. They have already been wiped out in Burkina Faso, Benin, Gambia -- and possibly Togo too. According to The American Journal of Primatology, their population plunged more than 80 percent between 1990 and 2014. Sierra Leone is home to about 10 percent of the estimated 55,000 still living in the wild. Poachers hunt them for their meat, farmers shoot them to protect their crops, and increasingly their habitat is being surrendered to urban development and forestry. In addition, the deadly Ebola virus has wiped out tens of thousands of the wild apes. Over the past 12 months, the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary -- set high in the hills on the outskirts of the capital Freetown -- has welcomed a record 11 orphaned chimps, as well 90 primates. "We urge the government to unite all stakeholders to protect the only sanctuary in the country from deforestation, and human activities for the future generation," Tacugama's director Bala Amarasekaran said Thursday at the ceremony. According to the government, two other sanctuaries will be opened soon. Sierra Leone banks on wildlife conservation to help rekindle its tourism industry nearly two decades after the end of the civil war, which claimed some 120,000 lives. "We are going to rebrand Sierra Leone as a tourism destination with chimps," Tourism Minister Memunatu Pratt said. WASHINGTON (AP) A poster propped behind Republicans grilling Michael Cohen set out their strategy in five words: "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!" They sounded angry, whipped off their glasses and threw paper down on their desks as they questioned President Donald Trump's former "fixer" about his misdeeds all while conspicuously avoiding Cohen's contention that he did Trump's bidding, possibly in violation of the law, for decades. Rather than rush to the president's defense on his payments to a porn star or what Cohen described as pressure to violate the law, Republicans hammered on Cohen for being a convicted liar, suggesting he's especially lying now about Trump. The president piped up from Vietnam during the hearing with a similar approach. "He is lying in order to reduce his prison time," Trump tweeted. But by then, Republicans were well into their effort to discredit the man Trump has called a "rat." "You've claimed that you've lied but you're not a liar," said Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga. "Just to set the record straight, if you lied, you are a liar by definition." While Republicans focused on lies, Democrats talked about truth about Trump, about the payments, about the inner workings and finances of the Trump Organization. They took pains to condemn Cohen for his false statement to Congress, acknowledging the considerable baggage he brought as a witness. Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., opened the hearing with a no-nonsense lecture to Cohen and later said he would "nail him to the cross" for lying to the committee. But Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., suggested truthfulness wasn't the issue. "I don't think colleagues on the other side of the aisle are afraid that you're going to lie," Lynch told Cohen. "I think they're afraid you're going to tell the truth." The true-or-false gamesmanship pointed to a more consequential political struggle, one that is just now getting under way. Democrats wanted to convince the public that Cohen's testimony was a legitimate and necessary use of their new oversight power, with more to come. Repeatedly, they used their questioning of Cohen to set up new lines of inquiry, asking him for the names of other people in Trump's orbit that they should interview. Story continues All the while, Republicans portrayed the hearing as a sham, motivated by animus against the president, with Cohen's mere presence in the hearing room serving as proof. Cohen was already heading to prison next month after pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws and yes, lying to Congress. In his opening statement, Cohen again admitted having lied to protect Trump and himself. Calling Cohen a liar over and over during Wednesday's proceedings didn't stand up to the documentation he brought with him including what he said was a copy of a $35,000 check signed by Trump, then president. Cohen said it was one of 11 checks Trump wrote to repay Cohen for the cash paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair. He told the panel that Trump pressured him to lie to first lady Melania Trump about the matter. Cohen said Trump pressured him to suppress the truth about his college grades and the real reason he did not serve in Vietnam a deferment later attributed to bone spurs. Cohen also suggested there could be more revelations to come. He suggested prosecutors in New York are investigating conversations that Trump or his advisers had with Cohen after Cohen's hotel-room office was raided by the FBI. He said Trump did not ask him directly to lie to Congress, specifying that's not the president's style. But he said there was pressure to lie in the form of suggestive words from Trump, including in one instance, in the Oval Office. At one point, he said he appreciates that Republicans are attacking "me every single time about taxes, (saying) I have no credibility." "It's for exactly that reason that I spent the last week searching boxes in order to find the information that I did so that you don't have to take my word for it. I don't want you to," he said. "I want you to look at the documents." Republicans held firm to their goal of showing Cohen can't be trusted. "Where are those boxes? Are they in your garage or...?" asked Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who asked for more detail on whether they should have been turned over to law enforcement. They were confiscated by the FBI, and then returned, Cohen said. Other Republicans went off on Cohen, including Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a top Trump ally who pointed his glasses at Cohen and at times shouted. He took aim at Cohen's testimony that Trump was a racist who said black people would not vote for him because they're "too stupid." About 90 minutes into the hearing, a woman named Lynne Patton, a longtime Trump family aide who works at the Department of Housing and Urban Development stood behind Meadows. Meadows said Patton, who is African American, would not work for someone who is racist. "Neither should I as the son of a Holocaust survivor," Cohen replied. Later, freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan said that using Patton as a "prop" was racist. Meadows objected. Tlaib said she "was not referring to you at all as a racist" and apologized "if that's what it sounded like." Some Republicans got to the point. "You're either incompetent or you are a liar," said Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio. Added Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.: "You are a pathological liar. You don't note truth from falsehood." "I'm sorry," said Cohen. "Are you referring to me or the president?" Cohen grew visibly emotional at the end of the hearing as Cummings thanked him for coming. Face reddening, Cohen appeared to be holding back tears and took a sip of water as he composed himself. It was one of several moments during the hearing where Cohen's old bravado as Trump's fixer was seemingly gone. "Good luck on your road to redemption," said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., at one point. "Thank you," Cohen replied. "It's going to be a long way." ___ Associated Press Writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report. ___ Follow Kellman on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman By Heather Somerville SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Lyft Inc inched closer to becoming the first ride-hailing company to make a stock market debut by releasing its filing for an initial public offering on Friday, revealing to the public a detailed look at its financial performance. Fast-growing but money-losing Lyft expects to be valued at up to $25 billion in its IPO, sources have said. It is now all but certain to go public before larger but also unprofitable rival Uber Technologies Inc in a test of how investors value the ride-hailing industry. The 220-page document provides a picture of a company with high growth and improving economics but widening losses. Lyft now has nearly 40 percent of the U.S. ride-sharing market, but warned further growth could come at the expense of yet more losses for a company already deep in the red, according to the filing. The company has managed to grab market share from better-funded Uber, but the filing failed to provide answers to how it will sustain growth or achieve profitability. "We will see how they perform as they have to start filing quarterly and managing shareholder expectations," said Alex Castelli, managing partner of emerging markets for advisory and accounting firm CohnReznick. "Can you achieve the growth expectations? Can you continue to grow at the rate that you've been growing? That's going to be the real measurement stick over time." Lyft's revenue was $2.16 billion for 2018, double the previous year and up 528 percent from $343 million in 2016. Gross bookings, or the total value of the rides Lyft sells before driver pay is deducted, reached $8.05 billion last year, 76 percent above the prior year and 323 percent above 2016. But Lyft posted a loss of $911 million for 2018, which climbed from $688 million in 2017 and $682 million in 2016, according to the filing. Losses could mount, Lyft cautioned, as it continues to invest and eye a broader international expansion. And even now, seven years after it launched, Lyft subsidizes rides to attract passengers and offers bonuses to enlist drivers. Story continues Still, Lyft has improved its contribution margin to 43 percent in 2018 from 38 percent in 2017, a sign the business is getting more efficient. Uber in 2018 lost $1.8 billion before taxes, depreciation and other expenses. Its revenue for the year was $11.3 billion and ride bookings were $50 billion. Unlike Lyft, Uber for the last few quarters has shared selected financial data with the public. Lyft's IPO is being led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group AG and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. GROWING RIDERSHIP San Francisco-based Lyft is positioned to become the first IPO from a group of highly valued, venture-backed companies including Pinterest and Slack expected go public this year. Lyft expects to be valued at between $20 billion and $25 billion, up from its current $15 billion valuation, sources have told Reuters. Lyft plans to launch its two-week roadshow to pitch potential investors the week of March 18, setting up the company for an early April debut. At a $25 billion valuation, Lyft would be trading at nearly 12 times its annual revenue. The same multiple would suggest a roughly $135 billion valuation for Uber, whose IPO is likely still several weeks out. Both Lyft and Uber filed confidentially for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December, a process that gives privately held companies more time to keep their financials secret and reduce their exposure to market fluctuations. Companies must release the formal version of the filing before their roadshow. Lyft has been eager to emphasize its growth to investors over its total revenue. Lyft said that as of December it held 39 percent of the U.S. ride-hailing market, up from 22 percent at the end of 2016. The company had 30.7 million riders and 1.9 million drivers in more than 300 U.S. and Canadian cities last year. Lyft earned on average $36.04 from each of its 18.6 million active riders during the fourth quarter, a 32 percent increase in earnings and 47 percent increase in riders over the same period in 2017. REVENUE FROM BIKES, SCOOTERS NOT MATERIAL Lyft does not expect to make much in the near future on its expansion into bike and scooter renting. Both Uber and Lyft have invested heavily in bikes and scooters as alternatives to car rides for short trips, hopeful that a transportation option that does not involve paying drivers will prove profitable. But Lyft's acquisition of bike-sharing company Motivate for $250.9 million last year is not expected to materially increase revenue in the short term. Revenue from Lyft's scooter business was also not material. The company's IPO includes a dual-class stock structure, with one class of shareholders getting 20 votes per share and another getting just one vote per share. Dual-class share structures are increasingly common among technology companies, although Uber got rid of its dual-class stock as part of a broader governance reform. Lyft will offer cash bonuses of up to $10,000 to some of its most active drivers with the option to purchase shares in the IPO, a bid to improve relations with drivers. Reuters reported the plan on Thursday. Lyft co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer each own about 1.2 million shares. The company's largest shareholder is Rakuten Inc, a Japanese internet company that invested in Lyft in 2015 and made several subsequent investments, and owns a more than 13 percent stake. As a private company, Lyft raised nearly $5 billion from investors. Other top shareholders include General Motors Co and Fidelity Investments, with just under 8 percent stakes each; venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which owns more than 6 percent; and Alphabet Inc, with more than 5 percent of shares. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) Lyft beat Uber in the race to the public market by filing for its U.S. initial public offering on Friday. The ride-hailing company is trying hard to persuade investors that it has unique advantages over its major competitors. Lyft booked revenue of $2.16 billion in 2018 and a loss of $911.3 million, according to its IPO filing. As Lyft quickly gained market share amid Ubers scandal-ridden 2017, its total expenses almost doubled in one year. The cash burn isnt likely to stop anytime soon. The company lists sustained losses among its risk factors and sees expenses continuing to rise. We have a history of net losses and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future, it warns. The San Francisco-based company has been trying to differentiate itself from Uber by pitching its focus on the transportation industry. Lyft mentions it is a "visionary, founder-led company and highlights its Singular Focus on Transportation, a stark contrast to Uber, which has expanded its business to food delivery, freights and even on-demand staffing. "We are singularly focused on revolutionizing transportation," Lyft wrote in its IPO document. Serving only North America, the company's revenue mostly comes from ride-hailing and the company will seek to expand geographically and pursue acquisitions. Lyft seems to have shown little interest in moving into the food delivery space, an area Uber has been booming in. "Todays transportation status quo is unacceptable. Americans spend over $1 trillion every year owning and operating their cars, making it the second highest household expense (more money than Americans spend on food)," Lyft wrote. Lyft drivers will receive shares SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JANUARY 31: A Lyft driver places the Amp on his dashboard on January 31, 2017 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Lyft) Lyft recognizes in the prospectus that paying drivers as independent contractors is a core part of its business, and any legal proceeding that classifies a driver on a ridesharing platform as an employee could have an adverse effect on its business. To engage contractors who work as Lyft drivers, the company made a novel move to grant shares to drivers, a practice that is prevalent among tech companies for full-time employees. Story continues Current Lyft drivers who have completed at least 10,000 rides by February 25, 2019; and drivers who have served on the Driver Advisory Council are eligible to receive Class A common stock. Other drivers, depending on how many trips they have completed, can get cash rewards from $1,000 or $10,000 (for more than 20,000 rides), and choose to use the bonus to purchase shares through the companys directed share program. Uber is considering similar moves to reward their drivers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Do you drive for Lyft or Uber? Share your thoughts with Krystal Hu via krystalh@yahoofinance.com Read more: China builds the worlds longest high-speed rail as a rail stalls in the U.S. Apple cuts iPhone XR price for partner sellers in China Amazon eyes closed Sears stores for Whole Foods expansion PHOENIX Jim Watkins was on a bike ride with a friend on an Arizona trail Wednesday afternoon when he fell off his bike and into a bush. If that wasn't bad enough, he was bit by a rattlesnake after he landed. Watkins, 75, was biking up a steep part of the trail at Apache Wash in northern Phoenix at about 3:45 p.m. when he lost momentum and fell beside the trail, he said, discussing the ordeal Thursday from a hospital where he was being treated. It felt like a bee sting. And then as I looked down, I could see the snake was recoiling back up, but still vibrating his rattles. And so I pulled away, Watkins said. Watkins, who was bit on his left calf, then rode with his friend for 30 minutes to get back to the trailhead. His friend called poison control right away to seek advice. "Once I got in the truck, I got poison control on the speaker phone and started talking with them. And they said, 'This is serious, you need to go to an emergency room,'" Watkins said. Wakins responded: "Well, right now I feel fine. It just feels like a bee sting." Watkins went to Banner University Medical Center and was assessed once he arrived. He received three treatments of anti-venom 12 vials in all that counteracted the snake's venom and reduced the swelling. "Most Arizona emergency departments and hospitals have anti-venom. But there's only a couple of hospitals that have medical toxicologists that specialize in this care," said Daniel Brooks, medical director of Banners Poison and Drug Information Center. Brooks advises that anyone who gets bit by a rattlesnake should get anti-venom as soon as possible. Walking, running and riding a mountain bike all increase blood circulation and can put your at risk for secondary injuries, Brooks said. "Wherever the bite is, is where most of the damage is going to occur. And that means breakdown of muscle and skin, as well as a lot of edema and swelling," Brooks said. Story continues Brooks said the most important factor in a rattlesnake bite is to consider how much venom is injected. Jim Watkins' snakebite. As the weather warms up, rattlesnakes are out on the hiking trails. Brooks gives this advice to anyone planning on hiking: Wear closed-toe shoes. Be aware of your environment. If you see the snake, leave it alone. "In the warm deserts, rattlesnakes are most active from March through October. In the spring, they are active during daylight hours. As days become increasingly hot around early May, rattlesnakes become more active at night and spend the day in a spot of shade or a cool shelter," according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. More: Rare two-headed snake found in Virginia has died This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man rode his bike for half-hour to seek help after being bit by rattlesnake WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for Paul Manafort, U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, asked a federal judge in Virginia on Friday to hand down a sentence that is significantly below sentencing guidelines, according to a court filing. Manafort, 69, who was convicted in August of eight charges of bank and tax fraud as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, is due to be sentenced on March 7. Under federal guidelines, Manafort is eligible for a sentence ranging from 19-1/2 to 24 years. In the court filing, Manafort's lawyers asked Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia, for a sentence "substantially below" the guidelines "in light of the fact that the defendant is a first-time offender and given the nature of the offenses." Prosecutors, in a court filing on Feb. 15, said Manafort deserved a sentence within the guidelines and a fine of between $50,000 and $24 million. "While some of these offenses are commonly prosecuted, there was nothing ordinary about the millions of dollars involved in the defendant's crimes, the duration of his criminal conduct or the sophistication of his schemes," prosecutors said. Prosecutors accused Manafort of hiding from U.S. tax authorities $16 million he earned as a political consultant for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, money he used to fund an opulent lifestyle. Later, when his lobbying work started to dry up following the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, prosecutors said Manafort began lying to banks to secure $20 million in loans to maintain his lifestyle. Manafort also pleaded guilty in a separate case in federal court in Washington last September to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He faces up to 10 years in prison on those charges and is due to be sentenced on March 13. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Bill Berkrot) Spring cleaning is upon us. Marie Kondo, the Japanese tidying expert who has taken the States by storm, is helping everyone and their mothers figure out what sparks joy for them in their homes. Her reach has brought her appearances on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and even an invite to the Oscars, for which she excitedly shared photos of the Jenny Packham dress that ultimately brought her joy. Here, in honor of the inevitable bustle of spring cleaning set to take place in homes all over the world, we rounded up some of Kondos most recent celebrity-mess undertakings, as well as a few Hollywood stars who are asking for her help. Hasan Minhaj The comedian called on Kondo to help him sort through wires, pens, and old magazines. Jennifer Garner Inspired by Kondo, the actress shared a video of her going through drawers at home and revealing she should probably get rid of a stuff-away rain bonnet. Stephen Colbert The organizational expert helped the TV host clean up his desk. Katie Couric Couric and Kondo worked together to declutter the news anchor's closet. Elizabeth Gilbert Gilbert chatted with Kondo about making space for creativity. Ariana Huffington Huffington has long been a proponent of wellness. So it makes sense that she'd partner up with Kondo. Tim Ferriss On his podcast, Ferriss chatted with Kondo about the importance of having a tidy home. Karlie Kloss Kondo's meeting with Kloss certainly sparked joy for her. Emma Watson Kondo also rubbed elbows with the Beauty and the Beast star. Emily Schuman The CEO of Cupcakes and Cashmere used Kondo to help organize her tough miscellaneous items. It was back in January when staff at Zurich-based ChainSecurity were preparing some examples of how auditing crypto technology can work when one of the companys founders Dr Hubert Ritzdorf noticed something awry in the programming. The Ethereum Constantinople update was postponed when issues in EIP 1283 were discovered by the smart contract auditing research firm. Smart contracts already part of the chain could have utilised code patterns that would have made them vulnerable to a re-entrancy attack after the upgrade had taken place; they wouldnt have been vulnerable before it. His colleague Matthias Egli told Coin Rivet at the time: We were looking at Constantinople from an internal training point of view to show people what auditing can do. Best researcher Hubert just happened to come across the flaw quite randomly which was very lucky for Ethereum as he happens to be one of the worlds best researchers in the security area. The flaw would have allowed people to make small changes which should not have been possible, Egli told me. The Swiss company flagged up the problem to the Ethereum Foundation which then mobilised its development team for an emergency meeting with multi-millionaire founder Vitalik Buterin. Matthias says he was super impressed by their reaction they immediately saw what was going on and brought more auditors in to verify our findings. Lengthy delay It led to a lengthy delay in the Ethereum upgrade, which was scheduled to take place on February 28. Matthias is an electrical engineer by background and became interested in the theoretical aspect of Bitcoin at university and less the economic impact. He went on to work in Silicon Valley for several years and sat near a colleague who was heavily involved in Ethereum. Eventually, he joined ChainSecurity, which was set up by two students after studying for their PhDs at university. The company now has nine staff based in Switzerland and a remote worker in India. Story continues Gender diversity They also employ two women in non-technical roles. On the issue of lack of gender diversity in the space, Matthias says: There are a lot less women in IT in general and in IT security, it drops even more and is a very small number. For me, Im engaged very actively working with associations and institutions across Europe and it doesnt have to be like that. In countries which are former Eastern Bloc the ratio is much better. He says in these countries, there tends not to be any issue with gender inequality. On mass adoption, he predicts it is not something that will happen this year or for some time yet. This will not come until end users interact naturally with the blockchain. With the internet, it was quickly something that people started using email with. Depending on the project, it needs to have proven use cases before people follow and it is something that could take years to have mass adoption. Psychology and economy The wild fluctuations in the price of cryptocurrency have been caused by the psychology, economy and finance. Matthias says: Im an engineer whos interested from a technology point of view. He hasnt found it to be disappointing, personally as I think it is showing the live, healthy system without unhealthy things. The shift in the market has made it become more stable and closer to reality as a result of the market correction. As a result of the discovery in January, the decision was rightly made to delay Constantinople. The issue discovered by Dr Ritzdorf related to a throwback from the June 2016 DAO incident when a mysterious hacker took $50m out of Ethereum. To beef up security Buterins developers forced through a handful of hard forks and an adjustment to the gas limits. Ethereum uses gas as the execution fee for any operation conducted on its platform. By Christina Comben March 1, 2019 The post Matthias Egli: How Swiss firm discovered Ethereum glitch appeared first on Coin Rivet. Live your golden years at a Holiday Inn? For at least one potential retiree, that may be a great and affordable way to spend your nest egg. But not everyone agrees. A man's post describing a plan to spend his retirement years in Holiday Inns went viral this month, but experts say seniors can't find solace in the satirical plan. The Facebook post touting the idea strikes a chord with some seniors because of its simplicity: "No nursing home for us. We'll be checking into a Holiday Inn!" the poster, Terry Robison, writes. "With the average cost for a nursing home care costing $188.00 per day, there is a better way when we get old and too feeble," the 64-year-old resident of a Houston suburb wrote. "I've already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn. For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it's $59.23 per night. Breakfast is included, and some have happy hours in the afternoon." Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox But the idea touts misconceptions about elderly people's needs, senior living experts told USA TODAY, even as many seniors today cannot afford assisted care facilities. "This is all just based on the idea that you have nothing else to do but check in and out of a Holiday Inn and take an airport shuttle," said Caroline Cicero, an associate professor of gerontology at the University of Southern California. "And that's just not based in reality." Seniors need a sense of purpose, Cicero said, and many spend their time working, volunteering, taking care of grand children or doing art. Hotel living is especially impractical, Cicero said, for physically disabled seniors who need help with daily activities such as bathing and getting dressed. Before social media, Cicero said people have shared a hotel retirement plan in chain emails since at least a decade ago. Robison said he edited a chain email he received over a year ago to create his Feb. 7 post. Surprised that over 100,000 people shared the idea, Robison said he meant to describe hotel living as a cheaper alternative to an independent living center geared toward mentally and physically fit seniors, not a nursing home. Story continues While rates at Holiday Inns and assisted living facilities vary throughout the nation, Robison said he came up with $59.23 versus $188 a night from a Houston hotel and what friends pay for facilities. But he admits he isn't sure if he will follow through with the idea. Related: When should seniors stop driving? Most never talk to anyone about giving up their car Related: How to protect your retirement when your senior parent needs financial help "I would not rule it out completely," Robison told USA TODAY. Robison said he wrote the post with a dash of humor and that he hopes people appreciate it. "Maybe it did open it up to a certain degree for debate so if it did that I'm happy for that," he said. "And if it was a way for people to vent, that's good . . . Because they shared it, I think they enjoyed it." If someone budgets carefully, it may be possible to save a bit of money living in motels instead of a luxury senior home, said Sue Johansen, VP of Partner Services for A Place for Mom, a Seattle-based senior care referral service. But unlike senior living communities, Johansen said hotels do not help people develop long-term companionship or engage in mentally-stimulating activities. Hotel staff also aren't trained to notice warning signs in a senior's health. While it may sound "sexy," she said none of her clients have ever seriously proposed choosing hotels or cruise ships instead of a senior living center. "You start to look at not only the associated costs, but what life would really be like isolated in a hotel somewhere and I think it loses a lot of its appeal," Johansen said. For independent living, Johansen said she's seen offers for $85 per day or $1,995 per month for the first year. Nursing homes can cost $200 per day, Cicero said, while continuing care facilities where people start at the independent level and add more services as needed require an entrance fee plus monthly charges. Entrance fees can range from $100,000 to $1 million, according to AARP, with monthly costs from $3,000 to $5,000. "Most people in reality can't afford that, certainly if you aren't a homeowner," Cicero said. "It's based on the idea that you sell your home and then have this chunk of money to slap down on a continuing care." When seniors can't afford to move into assisted living, Johansen said reports of falls and emergencies rise. If a senior falls and breaks a hip, Cicero said they can need nursing home care for the rest of their life. Although the Facebook post states a hotel will "upgrade you to a suite" after a senior breaks a hip, Cicero said many hotel rooms are not accessible for people using wheelchairs or walkers anyways. As of Wednesday, Robison said Holiday Inn has not contacted him about the post. The owner of Holiday Inn, InterContinental Hotels Group, gave another reason to visit its hotels in a statement. "While were not certain how Mr. Robison arrived at his current budget calculations, we look forward to welcoming him when he reaches his golden age,'" an IHG spokesperson said. "He did miss one big benefit in his long list of reasons to stay with us kids eat for free at Holiday Inn." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maybe it's not so golden: Seniors might not want a Holiday Inn retirement life, experts say Paris (AFP) - Just 10 countries were responsible for three-quarters of a global surge in measles cases last year, the UN children's agency said Friday, including one of the world's richest nations, France. Ninety-eight countries reported more cases of measles in 2018 compared with 2017, and the world body warned that conflict, complacency and the growing anti-vaccine movement threatened to undo decades of work to tame the disease. "This is a wakeup call. We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious disease -- a vaccine that saved almost a million lives every year over the last two decades," said Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF. "These cases haven't happened overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow." Measles is more contagious than tuberculosis or Ebola, yet it is eminently preventable with a vaccine that costs pennies. But the World Health Organization last year said cases worldwide had soared nearly 50 percent in 2018, killing around 136,000 people. Ukraine, the Philippines and Brazil saw the largest year-on-year increases. In Ukraine alone there were 35,120 cases -- nearly 30,000 more than in 2017. Brazil saw 10,262 cases in 2018 after having none at all the year before, while the Philippines reported 15,599 cases last year compared to 2,407 in 2017. Taken together, the ten nations accounting for 75 percent of the increase from 2017 to 2018 account for only a tenth of the global population. The countries with the highest rate of measles last year were Ukraine (822 cases per million people), Serbia (618), Albania (481), Liberia (412), Georgia (398), Yemen 328), Montenegro (323) and Greece (227). While most of the countries that experienced large spikes in cases are beset by unrest or conflict, France saw its caseload jump by 2,269. In the United States, there was a 559 percent year-on-year increase in cases from 120 to 791. Story continues - Misinformation and mistrust - The resurgence of the disease in some countries has been linked to medically baseless claims linking the measles vaccine to autism, which have been spread in part on social media by members of the so-called "anti-vax" movement. The WHO last month listed "vaccine hesitancy" among the top 10 most pressing global health threats for 2019. "Almost all of these cases are preventable and yet children are getting infected even in places where there is simply no excuse," Fore said. "Measles may be the disease, but all too often the real infection is misinformation, mistrust and complacency." In war-torn Yemen, where health services in many regions have collapsed, UNICEF and the World Health Organization joined with local authorities last month in a campaign to vaccinate some 13 children aged six months to 15 for measles and rubella. UN officials estimated that 92 percent of the targeted children were jabbed during the one-week push, which ended on February 14. Yemen also figured on UNICEF's "top 10" list of countries showing the largest increases last year in measles cases with a 316 percent hike, from 2,101 cases in 2017 to 8,742 cases in 2018. Other countries with huge jumps last year compared to 2017 are Venezuela (4,916 more cases, up 676 percent), Serbia (4,355 more cases, up 620 percent), Madagascar (4,307 more cases, up 5,127 percent), Sudan (3,496 more cases, up 526 percent)and Thailand (2,758 more cases, up 136 percent). A few countries saw declines in the number of confirmed cases of measles. In Romania, reported cases dropped 89 percent from 8,673 to 943, and in Indonesia the number declined by 65 percent from 11,389 to 3,995. Nigeria, Pakistan, Italy and China also saw drops of 35 to 55 percent. By Ju-min Park and Joyce Lee HANOI/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean state media on Friday brushed over the lack of a summit deal for leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, focusing on constructive talks and signalling Pyongyang was not about to walk away from negotiations. The fiery rhetoric that has followed previous failed talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and sanctions was absent in extensive but measured coverage of the two-day summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. A banner headline on the front-page of the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper proclaimed Kim's meeting with Trump with no mention of the fact both would be going home empty handed. Photos showed Kim talking amicably with Trump, a man he once derided as a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard". "They had a constructive and candid exchange of their opinions over the practical issues arising in opening up a new era of the improvement of the DPRK-U.S. relations on the basis of the progress," Rodong said. DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. State media made no mention of the failure of the talks or the disagreement over the North's demand for the end of sanctions and U.S. calls for the dismantlement of all of the North's nuclear programme. The official KCNA news agency also took a conciliatory tone, saying Kim "expressed his thanks to Trump for making positive efforts for the successful meeting and talks while making a long journey and said goodbye, promising the next meeting." PROMISE TO MEET AGAIN A senior South Korean official called it "composed message management," noting official media focused on the two having positive discussions and the promise to meet again. The measured approached mirrored the message late on Thursday from the North's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and his deputy Choe Son Hui, a veteran of the North's nuclear diplomacy who was previously responsible for fiery attack on Washington. Story continues Ri is the same man who days before his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September 2017 told reporters his country might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific, after Trump called Kim a "Little Rocket Man" on a suicide mission. "Kim would have to study the U.S. and especially Trump more," said Nam Sung-wook, professor at Korea University's North Korea studies programme. "This was likely a great learning experience, and it must have come as a shock to him to see the problem of just counting on reports by aides." JAPAN SAYS BACK TO SQUARE ONE Media in U.S. ally Japan focused on the breakdown of the talks and scepticism about the future of the nuclear diplomacy given how the two sides failed to bridge the gap despite the leaders' personal involvement in the negotiations. Many pundits in Japan, often the target of North Korean threats, had been worried Trump would agree a deal that left the former Korean colonial power exposed to Pyongyang's nuclear threat. "Back to square one on complete denuclearisation" read the pro-government conservative Yomiuri newspaper headline. China, the North's biggest backer, was more neutral, balancing the failure of the talks with the assessment there was still progress. Official English-language China Daily said although high hopes for the summit were not met, contacts between the two sides were likely to continue, while South Korea and China were likely to lend support. It would seem a deal is still on the cards it just needs more time to put the pieces in place, it said. South Korea had secured a large section of the international media centre in Hanoi for its 403 media workers, reflecting big interest back home where President Moon Jae-in has staked significant political capital on rapprochement with the North. Analysis of the summit was split sharply along ideological lines with liberal media lamenting the loss of a great opportunity to bring in peace, while conservative outlets expressed relief that no major concessions were made to Kim. "Kim Jong Un has no plan to give up nukes now and denuclearisation is fake," Chosun Ilbo newspaper wrote in an editorial. (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Hyonhee Shin in HANOI, Joyce Lee in SEOUL and Billy Mallard in TOKYO; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Lincoln Feast) Huitzuco de los Figueroa (Mexico) (AFP) - Maria Herrera is scraping at the earth on a hill in the town of Huitzuco, in southern Mexico, looking for the mounds or sunken spots that indicate a decaying corpse. At 70 years old, Herrera is hoping against all odds to find her four missing sons -- two who disappeared in 2008, and two who vanished in 2010 looking for their brothers. "Every time we come to one of these nasty places, we suffer.... Who heard their screams of pain? Who heard their last words?" she said through tears as she dug in the dirt with a group of 100 other activists in the violent state of Guerrero. The small, gray-haired grandmother is the face of a dirty secret that has haunted Mexico for years: the countryside of Latin America's second-largest economy is littered with bodies. More than 40,000 people are missing in Mexico, which has been swept by a wave of violence since the government declared war on the country's powerful drug cartels in 2006. Herrera regularly goes out searching for her sons with other relatives of the "disappeared." But she is also part of a smaller, even more tragic group: some 20 families who have lost children not once but twice, when the ones who remained went looking for their missing siblings and ended up disappearing too. - SUV full of cash - Herrera's family comes from Pajuacaran, a small town in western Mexico where most people are farmers or emigrate to the United States. She and her husband decided they wanted something different for their eight children. They started a small business selling household goods door to door, then used the profits to launch a nationwide gold exchange. Part of the business, she said, involved traveling the country to buy and sell gold -- which is what Jesus Salvador, then 24, and Raul, then 19, were doing in Guerrero in 2008. Traveling with five employees in an SUV carrying nearly $90,000 in cash and gold, they did not realize a bloody cartel turf war was just breaking out in the state. Story continues "My brothers had no idea when they arrived," said Juan Carlos, 41, their older sibling. He and his family believe a local cartel mistook the brothers and their co-workers for members of a rival group and had some crooked cops arrest them. Such stories are not uncommon in Guerrero. It is the state where 43 student protesters disappeared in 2014 after being arrested by state police, who apparently handed them over to cartel hitmen -- a notorious case that drew international condemnation, and remains unsolved. - Wrong place, wrong time - With no news of their sons, and fed up with the lack of answers from the authorities, the Herreras hired private investigators and began searching on their own. Their situation got more desperate in February 2009, when Herrera's husband died of a stroke. Taking up the family gold business -- and using their travels to search for Jesus and Raul -- two more brothers, Gustavo, then 27, and Luis Armando, then 25, started criss-crossing the country. "Sometimes the drug traffickers take their victims somewhere else. Maybe we'll find them in another state," Herrera said Gustavo told her. They were on such a trip when they, too, disappeared. Moments after Gustavo called his wife to check in, on September 22, 2010, the brothers were detained by police in Poza Rica, in the eastern state of Veracruz -- another cartel hotspot known for hit squads run by corrupt cops. The family believes the police decided to get rid of the pair when they realized they were searching for missing persons. Looking for the missing can be dangerous in Mexico. Herrera's latest group, the Fourth National Missing Persons Search Brigade, had to be escorted by federal police. Juan Carlos, her 41-year-old son, was attacked by an unknown gunman six months ago while organizing another search party. He managed to escape by jumping over a wall. - Seeking closure - Herrera has long given up hope of finding her four youngest children alive. But she wants to find their bodies to achieve some sort of closure. She joined her first search party in 2016, in Veracruz, and has since become an expert, learning the trade from forensic anthropologists -- things like how to hammer metal rods into the ground in a T to release any smells of decaying flesh. Her latest group found seven bodies during its two-week search. Others like it have found many more. Officials say there are probably more than 1,000 unmarked burial sites in Mexico. "Unfortunately, the country has become a giant clandestine grave," Mexico's under-secretary for human rights, Alejandro Encinas, said recently. On top of that, there are around 26,000 unidentified bodies in the forensic system, according to the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December. His government recently announced a new plan to search for the missing, including a new forensic institute. Identifying the bodies languishing in the system would be a good start, said Herrera. "We'll keep looking. But please, for the love of God, let them identify the ones we've already found," she said. Right-wing firebrand Michelle Malkin delivered a fiery speech on immigration in which she slammed moderate Republicans, including the "ghost of John McCain," at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Friday. Malkin painted immigration, both legal illegal, as an invasion and an existential threat to America. And she did not just blame Democrats for the problem. "It's the GOP sell-outs, not just the radical, open-borders left, that is in bed with immigration saboteurs," she said. "Like the ones who hijacked the tea party movement to shill for amnesty. Those are the real grifters cashing in and practicing deceit at the expense of their base and at the expense of our country." Malkin cited a number of immigration policies that she believes demand reform such as granting visas to migrants' family members and the process that allows migrants to apply for asylum or refugee status. "Both parties are to blame," she said. "And yes, I'm looking at you, retired Paul Ryan, and yes, I'm looking at you, Mitch McConnell," she added, referring to the former Republican House speaker from Wisconsin and the current Senate majority leader from Kentucky. "And yes, I'm looking at you, Bush family, and yes, I'm looking at you, the ghost of John McCain," she continued with a gesture toward the ceiling. The line drew a standing ovation from the audience. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., died in August from brain cancer. Former President George H.W. Bush died in November. McCain, Bush and former President George W. Bush all advocated a comprehensive immigration approach with increased border security and a path to citizenship for migrants who had already entered the country illegally. Immigration opponent like Malkin deride such a policy as "amnesty" for those migrants' immigration violations. "How is it that we have Republicans on Capitol Hill that are doing the bidding of the Dreamer movement?" Malkin said of the effort to protect from deportation undocumented migrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors. "What about our dreams?" Story continues Malkin is Asian-American but said she "identifies" as a "proud, unhyphenated, unapologetic, fully assimilated American." She said that critics had called her "white" because of her views. "I'm not white, I'm just right," Malkin said. She said that migrant families like hers who "revere the rule of law" are "being replaced by militantly unassimilable and hostile generations" of "future Democrat voters whose tribal allegiance to the left has only hardened over time." Malkin said that "from the comfort of TV green rooms and Beltway back rooms and corporate board rooms and conference ballrooms, it may not look like civil war is imminent." But she said conservatives are under attack in what she called the "Disunited States." "The divide in this country is between decent people, who stand up for America, and dastardly people who want to bring America to its knees," she said. "Diversity is not our strength and I know those words are a 'trigger,'" Malkin concluded, echoing a phrase that has been used by controversial figures like Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. "Diversity is not our strength, unity is." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michelle Malkin attacks the 'ghost of John McCain' in immigration talk at CPAC It's easy to let retirement savings fall by the wayside when you're relatively young and that milestone is decades away. Older workers, on the other hand, have a much shorter window for funding their nest eggs, so you'd expect them to dedicate pretty much all of their available resources to retirement while they still can. It's somewhat surprising, then, to learn that a large number of older Americans are compromising their retirements in order to help their children or grandchildren buy homes. A good 20% of homeowners received a gift or loan from a friend or family member to make that purchase, according to financial services firm Legal & General. And parents account for 72% of those windfalls. Person holding a set of keys with a house in the background IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. All told, parents give their children or grandchildren an average of $39,000 to buy a home, and usually, that money is given in the form of a gift or an interest-free loan. The problem, of course, is that in helping younger generations, a large number of older Americans risk coming up short in retirement, and all in the spirit of generosity. Focus on your own financial needs first It's certainly noble to want to help your children or grandchildren buy homes of their own, especially since it's harder to buy today than it was in years past. But if you sell your nest egg short in an attempt to make their financial lives easier, you'll only end up hurting everyone involved. Imagine you give a child a $39,000 check toward a down payment when you're 57 years old, and your intent is to retire 10 years later. If you were to invest that money at a 7% average annual return, which is reasonable for a stock-heavy portfolio, you could grow that sum into almost $77,000. And frankly, that's a lot of retirement income to give up. The trend of helping younger generations buy homes has, in fact, impacted many older Americans already. More than 1 in 7 say that they've had to adjust to a lower standard of living as a result of giving or lending money. Furthermore, 14% feel less secure about their future because they helped family members buy a home, and 7% expect to postpone retirement for the same reason. Story continues Clearly, offering financial assistance during the homebuying process is an honorable thing to do. But you should only do it if you have extra money lying around that won't compromise your ability to retire on time or in a manner that gives you a comfortable lifestyle. Remember, your grown children and grandchildren have their whole lives ahead of them to work hard, earn money, save up for a home down payment, and also fund their own nest eggs. When you're older, however, you only have a limited opportunity to pad your retirement fund and ensure that it's adequate to buy you the lifestyle you deserve. Therefore, to put your own golden years at risk just doesn't make sense. Furthermore, when you sell your retirement savings short in an effort to help younger family members with important milestones like buying a home, you create a scenario where you risk running out of money later in life. And that, in turn, might put an undue burden on the younger generations you once helped out when they're forced to bail you out financially. Though homeownership has its benefits, there's no rule stating that it must be achieved at a certain point in time. Therefore, if you have children or grandchildren who are struggling to make it happen, let them continue to work on it while you focus on your own financial needs. You'll all be a lot happier for it in the long run. More From The Motley Fool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Nigel Farage (PA) Is the true price of Brexit? If you want to walk with Nigel Farage on his Brexit march from Sunderland to Westminster later this month, it will cost you 50. However, in return, you will get an official March to Leave kit for your money. And those who walk with the former UKIP leader for two or more days will get their breakfast, dinner and accommodation paid for as well. We're marching from Sunderland to London to tell the Westminster elite we will not be betrayed over Brexit. Get your walking boots on! pic.twitter.com/td1RFpbtwQ Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) February 28, 2019 The 50 fee will be made via PayPal. Farage says he will lead the 277-mile march, which begins on March 29, the day the UK is set to leave the European Union. He tweeted: Were marching from Sunderland to London to tell the Westminster elite we will not be betrayed over Brexit. Get your walking boots on! A projection on the Houses of Parliament calling for a second Brexit vote (PA) The march is being organised by the Leave Means Leave group. It comes as Britains future relationship with Europe remains unclear and if the country will even leave the European Union in 28 days time. Theresa Mays announcement that she will offer MPs a vote, by March 12, on delaying the UKs departure from the EU or ruling out a no-deal Brexit, if they reject her deal, means it is no longer certain the Government will take the UK out of the EU on March 29. Deal or no-deal: Theresa May (PA) At the same time, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said his party will back a second referendum. However, there has been some scepticism over whether or not Mr Farage will walk the entire route from Sunderland. The route, which will also take in place such as Middlesbrough and Doncaster, also features some gaps, according to reports, where it appears the marchers will be transported up to 30 miles from the end of one stage to the start of the next. Story continues Youre charging people 50, youre not walking the whole way, youre getting buses. So youre not marching from Sunderland to London, are you? Youre cheating. Like you did in 2016. https://t.co/semzvMLNIE Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) March 1, 2019 Opponents of Farage, including the author Emma Kennedy, accused him of cheating, like you did in 2016, referring to the referendum. The march will end with a rally in Parliament Square. Read more: Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson accidentally votes for Jeremy Corbyns Brexit vision Leave Means Leave chairman John Longworth said: The Westminster elite has had over two years to implement Brexit and instead has done everything in its power to prevent it. An extension of Article 50, thereby kicking the can further down the road, is completely unacceptable. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK - AFP or licensors North Korea has rejected claims by US President Donald Trump that Pyongyang was demanding the lifting of all sanctions during summit talks in Hanoi on Thursday between the president and Kim Jong-un. Mr Trump said in a press conference after the talks collapsed that he had no choice but to walk away without a deal because the North Korean leader insisted that all sanctions be lifted in return for progress on the question of the Norths nuclear weapons. In a hastily arranged news conference in the early hours of Friday morning, Ri Yong-ho, the Norths foreign minister, contradicted the presidents comments. What we have asked for was partial lifting of sanctions, not in their entirety, he said. In detail, we asked to lift five sanctions that were imposed in 2016 and 2017 out of a total of 11 UN sanctions and which affect ordinary peoples livelihoods. Mr Ri added that the US demanded one more concession from the North beyond the decommissioning of its Yongbyon nuclear plant, adding that Pyongyangs position will not change even if the US requests further talks in the months ahead. At the same press conference, Choe Son-hui, the vice foreign minister, commented that Mr Kim appears to have lost motivation to continue discussions with the US. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui speaks to reporters after a news conference. 1 March Credit: Reuters North Korean state media has nevertheless attempted to put a positive spin on the Hanoi summit, with the Korea Central News Agency reporting that the two leaders agreed to keep in close touch with each other for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the epochal development of the DRPK-US relations in the future. The Norths official news agency added that The top leaders of the two countries appreciated that the second meeting in Hanoi offered an important occasion for deepening mutual respect and trust and putting the relations between the two countries on a new stage. The collapse of the talks will be a significant blow to Mr Kim, particularly given widespread coverage in domestic media before his departure and the suggestion that he would return from Hanoi with a deal that would remove sanctions and improve the lives of ordinary people. Story continues It will be difficult for Kim to save face domestically with no concrete outcome from the Hanoi summit, said Alison Evans, deputy head of Asia Pacific Country Risk for London-based IHS Markit, adding that Washingtons all-or-nothing approach undermines the possibility of progress for the foreseeable future. Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor specialising in the North Korean leadership at Tokyos Waseda University, agrees that Mr Kim returning empty-handed will inevitably trigger domestic discontent. He went to Hanoi with big promises of a deal to lift the sanctions and we saw in their media the positive reaction of the people, but hes got nothing, Professor Shigemura told The Telegraph. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un walk together during their meeting at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam on Thursday Credit: KCNA The powerful military faction will complain because sanctions mean they do not have the funds to upgrade their weapons and Mr Kim is unlikely to permit them to resume missile or nuclear tests for fear of completely alienating Washington, he said. Ordinary people may not be able to say anything in public, but sanctions have made their lives much more difficult and they appear to have had high hopes of a breakthrough, so this could lead to strong emotions against the Kim regime, he said. There has been growing suggestions of opposition to the regime, with dissident media reporting a number of incidents of anti-government graffiti in towns across the northern part of the country in recent weeks. Many Americans went to bed Wednesday expecting an overnight nuclear deal between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. They woke up instead to news that the summit in Vietnam had abruptly fallen apart. What happened? Perhaps Kim, sensing weakness in his American counterpart, overreached. Here was an embattled U.S. president eager for a diplomatic victory to deflect attention from embarrassing headlines back home a self-styled master deal-maker, looking to demonstrate he alone could solve intractable problems that had bedeviled predecessors. Kim offered to dismantle one large nuclear processing site in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions, leaving his arsenal of 30 to 60 nuclear bombs intact. Correctly, Trump said no and walked away from the Hanoi summit. "We actually had papers ready to be signed, but it just wasnt appropriate," he told reporters. "Id much rather do it right than do it fast." T-shirts sold in Hanoi, Vietnam, for the Trump-Kim summit in February 2019. OPPOSING VIEW: Presidents diplomatic approach to North Korea is artful Doing it right is certainly better than doing it fast. And no deal is certainly better than a bad deal. But Kim did not come away from Hanoi empty-handed. Every time he meets with Trump, it raises the despot's stature on the world stage and lends legitimacy to his cruel leadership. The imagery is bracing. On Wednesday, the American president told the world it was an "honor" to stand next to Kim whose murderous regime operates gulags filled with tens of thousands of people. By Thursday, Trump was all but giving Kim a pass for the brutal death in 2017 of American college student Otto Warmbier: "He tells me he didn't know about it, and I take him at his word." To be sure, the world is a safer place when there's dialogue between the United States and North Korea rather than threats of war. There's nothing wrong with Trump developing a rapport with Kim during talks, if only he didn't keep smiling and praising the dictator in public. And there's nothing wrong with summitry but only as a reward after midlevel negotiators have set the table, established common definitions of the sticking points, and worked out most of the details to be ratified. Story continues In the wake of the diplomatic failure in Vietnam, where the farewell lunch was never served, there is still a deal to be had with North Korea. It would involve sanctions relief in exchange for verifiable steps toward denuclearization. In fact, it would look a lot like the Iran nuclear deal, the one Trump walked away from. USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view a unique USA TODAY feature. To read more editorials, go to the Opinion front page or sign up for the daily Opinion email newsletter. To respond to this editorial, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com. If you can't see this reader poll, please refresh your page. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At North Korea summit, flattery got Trump nowhere Nutanix Inc. NTNX incurred second-quarter fiscal 2019 loss of 23 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 25 cents. However, the figure was wider than the year-ago quarters loss of 14 cents. Revenues increased 17% from the year-earlier quarter to $335.4 million and also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $331 million. This top-line improvement can be attributed to large deal wins and a steady shift to a subscription-based business model. Strong performance in the EMEA region also contributed to this upside. Quarterly Details Product revenues climbed 6.14% year over year to $236.93 million. Support, entitlements & other services revenues soared 54.7% to $98.43 million. Total software and support revenues surged 42% from the year-ago quarter to $280.7297 million. Billings were up 16% year over year to $414 million. Software and Support billings rose 37% from the prior-year quarter to $375 million. New customer bookings represented 25% of total bookings compared with 35% in the comparable quarter last year. Software related bookings from the companys international regions were 49% of the total software and support bookings compared with 46% in the year-earlier quarter. The bill to revenue ratio in the quarter under review was 1.23, higher than the year-ago ratio of 1.22. During the quarter under consideration, Nutanix sealed several large deals on the back of its consistent execution in product, customer support and enterprise selling, which also led to a deeper penetration into existing customers. 57 deals worth more than $1 million and six deals worth above $5 million were signed. Nutanix now has 17 customers with a lifetime spend of more than $15 million and about 800 customers with a lifetime investment exceeding $1 million. Subscription revenues were up 112% year over year to $157 million as a result of a continued shift of the business model. In the reported quarter, the companys database service offering, Era, was named the Product of the Year by Salesforce CRM. The company continued to witness a strong adoption of its products including a worthy $5-million plus deal with the U.S. Department of Defense. Notably, a $5-million deal was also inked in the fiscal second quarter between Nutanix and a major American for-profit operator for healthcare facilities. This win expands the existing customer deployment to bring a new workload, Splunk SPLK, on to the Nutanix platform. Moreover, during the quarter under discussion, a $1-million deal was snapped up with a large Italy-based, Global 500 insurance company. Nutanix also struck a major deal with a British multinational contract-based food service company. This Global 1000 company will use Nutanixs Xi IoT solution to power a machine-learning driven computer vision project. Margin In the fiscal second quarter, the company delivered non-GAAP gross profit of $257.5 million, up from $182.2 million year over year. Non-GAAP gross margin of 76.8% was higher than 63.5% of the same in the year-ago quarter. Operating loss, however, widened to $39 million from a loss of $20.2 million in the year-ago period. Balance Sheet & Cash Flow As of Jan 31, 2019, cash and cash equivalents plus short-term investments were $966 million, slightly up from $965 million in the preceding quarter. Cash flow from operations was $46.4 million compared with $49.8 million in the previous quarter. Free cash flow was $32.4 million compared with a flow of $20 million in the prior quarter. Deferred revenues jumped 63% year over year to $780 million in second-quarter fiscal 2019. Guidance For the third quarter of fiscal 2019, revenues are projected between $290 million and $300 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $347.3 million. Nutanix anticipates billings to be in the range of $360-$370 million. Non-GAAP gross margin is predicted between 75% and 76%. Moreover, management forecasts operating expenses in the $330-$340 million band. Nutanix estimates non-GAAP loss per share to be 60 cents, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 28 cents. Nutanix expects a significant impact on third-quarter fiscal 2019 results from imbalance and lead generation spending coupled with a slower-than-expected sales hiring. The company remains positive about its transition to software-based revenues as the same is likely to expand its margins significantly, going forward. Zacks Rank & Key Pick Nutanix currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Another top-ranked stock in the broader Computer and Technology sector is Xilinx, Inc. XLNX, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Long-term earnings growth rate for Xilinx is projected to be 12%. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities. These companies are changing the world and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated +98%, +119% and +164% gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Splunk Inc. (SPLK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nutanix Inc. (NTNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report salesforce.com, inc. (CRM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Xilinx, Inc. (XLNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Editors note: Some details in this report may be disturbing ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Christina Grana cant forget the principal she and her classmates at St. Margaret Mary School in New York called a Hawk. She was the monster in my dreams, Grana said. She was the monster in my closet. She was monster under my bed. She was Sister Janice Nadeau, a nun described by those who worked and lived with her as a harsh, stern, aggressive, and a heavy-handed school administrator who was known to pick on children. To Grana, she was a predator who forever altered the trajectory of Granas life with an outburst that culminated in a violent sexual assault in February 1977, when Grana was 12 years old and in the seventh grade. That single incident defined who I am as a person, said Grana, now 54 and a mother of two living in Webster, New York. Sister Janice Nadeau in the 1976 McQuaid Jesuit High School yearbook. The alleged assault could not be corroborated by an investigator commissioned by the Diocese of Rochester, whose 33-page report on the matter Grana provided to the Democrat and Chronicle. Even those who worked closely with Nadeau and have described her in unflattering terms were astonished at the allegation against her, according to the report. But the administrator of the dioceses abuse victims reconciliation program found Granas description of the events completely credible, and offered her a five-figure settlement intended to compensate for pain and suffering by which the diocese has agreed to abide. The payout would be the first in the diocese known to involve an allegation of sexual abuse against a nun. Nadeau arrived at St. Margaret Mary School in 1976 following something of a scandal at the school, when its principal, Sister Bernard Mary, took up with a priest, the Rev. Gary Shaw, and started a family. Incidentally, Shaw was accused last summer of having sexually abused a child while a priest. The allegation, made by a Boston attorney who represents victims of sexual abuse by priests, has not been proven. Story continues More: New sex abuse lawsuits against Catholic priests could push NY dioceses to bankruptcy More: Diocese of Rochester has paid $1.6 million to 20 sex abuse victims Christina Grana stands in front of St. Margaret Mary Church in Irondequoit. Grana went to the former St. Margaret Mary School across the street and says she was sexually abused by the school's principal, Sister Janice Nadeau. Nadeau, who was in her forties and held a previous teaching post at McQuaid Jesuit High School in New York, set out to make an impression on her new students. A classmate of Granas recalled in an affidavit how Nadeau slapped her face on the first day of school after she refused Nadeaus demand to parade in front of other students with the wad of gum she had been chewing stuck to the tip of her nose. The new principal became known as a relentless stickler for rules. As the school year wore on, she turned her attention to the length of Granas kilt worn as part of the green and yellow school uniform. Grana recalled Nadeau chastising her daily for her kilt being too short. More: Local nun, priests among the names uncovered in sex abuse claims process More: Harrisburg Catholic diocese names priests who have been accused of sexual abuse Grana recalled relaying the concern to her mother, whom she said measured the kilt, determined it was an appropriate length and wrote a letter to Nadeau stating so. When Grana presented the letter to Nadeau in the school cafeteria, Grana recalled, Nadeau read the letter, flew into a rage and hauled Grana to the principals office by the ear. Once there, Nadeau slammed the door shut and slapped Granas face twice, knocking her first into a wall, then onto the floor. She remembered Nadeau was wearing the gray skirt, white buttoned-down blouse, and dark vest that defined her appearance. Then Sister Janice got on top of me, straddling me, Grana said. She kept yelling at me, saying, Youre a slut, and, Youre inviting rape and youre going to get raped. It was then, Grana said, that Nadeau reached under Granas kilt and penetrated her. From there, Grana said, Nadeau picked her up by her yellow shirt, tossed her into an empty waiting room where a secretary normally sat, and slammed the door shut. Grana recalled falling to the floor and hoping someone would find her and help her. No one did. She said she eventually got up and went to the bathroom to clean herself. I remember looking in the mirror and seeing handprints on my face, Grana said. She recalled using the toilet being painful and seeing blood in her urine. She returned to class and didnt tell anyone what had happened for 41 years. In the interim, she said she suffered nightmares, depression, and suicidal tendencies. She said she fell into abusive relationships with men and has been in therapy since early adulthood. More: Indiana diocese releases names of 18 priests or deacons accused of sex abuse Grana left home at 18 and eventually settled in Los Angeles, where she worked in the film industry before returning to the Rochester area a couple of years ago. Her mother, Annette Grana, corroborated much of Granas behavior in an interview with the dioceses investigator. Christina Grana as a student at St. Margaret Mary School before (left) and after Sister Janice Nadeau became principal. Annette Grana recalled a marked change in her daughters personality after Nadeau took the helm as principal at St. Margaret Mary. She said Grana had been a sweet, loveable and outgoing child who suddenly began sleepwalking and exhibiting signs of anxiety, particularly about her school and her uniform. Concerned about the change, which included Grana abruptly cutting her long red hair short, she recalled taking Grana to her pediatrician. She said the doctor examined Grana and found nothing out of the ordinary. Grana first revealed her recollections of Nadeau to family and friends in June 2018, after the Democrat and Chronicle reported that a priest her family had known had been labeled an abuser. Nadeau, who is now 85, was reportedly the principal at St. Margaret Mary for nine years, and lived in convents in Rochester and Gates before retiring to the motherhouse of her order, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, in Wilton, Conn. Nuns there told the dioceses investigator that Nadeau was in the advanced stages of dementia and had since been moved to a long-term care facility. Reached by phone, a lawyer for the order, Mark MacDougall, declined to comment. The dioceses investigation shows MacDougall requested the investigator stop contacting the sisters of the order. The Diocese of Rochester, like other dioceses, keeps a list of clergy on its website whom the diocese has determined engaged in sexual misconduct. Nadeau and other clergy against whom allegations have resulted in payouts under the dioceses reconciliation program are not on the list. The dioceses lawyer has indicated theres no clear way to classify them. But there is. If the diocese is compensating their accusers for pain and suffering, and the administrator of its reconciliation program has found the accusers completely credible, as in the case of Grana, then the diocese is already accepting responsibility for the accused. Accounting for them on its website is the next step. Classifying them under a new category that explains the reconciliation process makes the most sense for their alleged victims, those whove revealed themselves and those who havent. Grana said her compensation, the exact amount of which the Democrat and Chronicle agreed not to disclose, was secondary to having been found completely credible. I feel like my voice was finally heard, she said. That for all the suffering Ive been through for all the years, somebody heard me. She never left me, Grana added of Nadeau. I thought of her, I wouldnt say every day, but most days of my life. She was in there. Shes a part of me. Follow David Andreatta on Twitter: @david_andreatta This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: NY woman says nun told her she was inviting rape before assaulting her as a child Update (March 3): Teachers in Oakland, California, announced the official end of their weeklong strike on Sunday, two days after the educators union and school district reached a tentative accord. Union members voted to ratify the agreement on Sunday afternoon. We return to our classrooms tomorrow with our heads held high knowing we are united for the schools Oakland students deserve! the union wrote on Twitter. This afternoon, OEA members voted to ratify our contract. With a turnout of over 70% of members voting, the results were 64% YES for the 2017/18 contract term, and 58% for the 20/21 contract term. #OUSDstrike #Unite4OaklandKids pic.twitter.com/QKktCfetf4 Oakland Education Association (@OaklandEA) March 4, 2019 Thank you, Oakland, for stepping up and fighting alongside us. Thank you Oakland families for your tremendous solidarity. Thank you to all of those who supported us from afar. Most of all, thank you to our students. You are the reason why we fight, and why we will keep fighting. Oakland Education Association (@OaklandEA) March 4, 2019 Earlier: The teachers strike in Oakland, California, came to end on Friday, as the educators union and school district reached a tentative agreement. About 3,000 educators went on strike Feb. 21, demanding higher wages, reduced class sizes and other resources like more counselors and nurses for students. With teachers and supporters picketing daily at schools and rallying in front of City Hall, the strike continued into this week, as the union and school district were unable to reach an agreement. Story continues The new contract will provide teachers with an 11 percent salary raise and a one-time 3 percent bonus, as well as reduce class sizes. The tentative agreement represents a significant victory for Oakland educators, who originally demanded a 12 percent raise and held strong in their strike as the school district offered a 7 percent raise last week and 8 percent earlier this week. The union tweeted on Friday that it reached a historic no-concessions contract with a win in every major proposal we made. We are now leaps and bounds closer to the schools that Oakland students deserve, the union wrote. When we strike, we win! Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said in a statement that the agreement was a major step in support of our teachers and students, adding that she looked forward to everyone being together again in the classroom on Monday. During the strike, an average of 6 percent of the districts 37,000 students went to class. Many parents and kids opted to picket and rally alongside teachers. Teachers, students and supporters rally in front of City Hall in Oakland, California, on Feb. 21. The teachers union reached a tentative agreement with the school district on March 1. (Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS) Oakland teachers were the latest in the nation to demand more pay and better classroom conditions. Tens of thousands of educators in Los Angeles went on strike in January and won a better agreement, and West Virginia teachers went on strike last week to protest what they viewed as a legislative effort to privatize public education. Educators told HuffPost this week that, without a larger raise, they couldnt afford to live in the Bay Area, where housing prices have soared in recent years amid Northern Californias affordable-housing crisis. People cant afford to live here, said Janet Vasquez, a sixth-grade teacher at Life Academy in East Oakland, where most of her students are Latinx. Vasquez, 22, grew up going to Oakland public schools and still lives with her family. I cant afford to move out, she said. School district officials had said they didnt receive enough money from the state to allow for more spending on wages and other resources. Meanwhile, teachers claimed that the problem stemmed from district mismanagement of funds and spending too much on administrators and outside consultants. HuffPosts Dominique Mosbergen contributed reporting. Related Coverage Los Angeles Teachers Union Votes To End Strike, Will See Educators Go Back Wednesday Oakland Teachers Go On Strike To Demand Higher Pay, Better Classroom Conditions Oakland Teachers Still On Strike After One Week Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. One of the sons of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is emerging as the new leader of the militant group, according to the State Department. The United States is offering a reward for information on Hamza bin Laden, thought to be about 30 years old and based near the Afghan-Pakistan border, of $1 million. The State Department's Counter-Terrorism Rewards Program posted the reward on its website late Thursday. "He has released audio and video messages on the Internet, calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies, and he has threatened attacks against the United States in revenge for the May 2011 killing of his father by U.S. military forces," the State Department said. Hamza bin Laden is married to the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker and a mastermind of al-Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox Hamza's father, Osama bin Laden, was killed by U.S. Navy Seals in Pakistan in 2011. According to letters found by the Navy Seals during the raid on his hideout in Pakistan, Hamza wrote to the Saudi-born al-Qaeda leader asking to be trained to follow him. The letters indicate Osama bin Laden was grooming Hamza to replace him. Since Osama bin Laden's death, al-Qaeda has been led by Ayman al Zawahiri, a trained surgeon who was born in Egypt. It is not immediately clear why, if the State Department's assessment is accurate, he is relinquishing power to Hamza bin Laden. A video frame grab from Nov. 7, 2001, shows Hamza bin Laden, the youngest son of Saudi born Osama bin Laden. The United Nations Security Council added Hamza bin Laden to its sanctions list on Thursday. He is subject to an assets freeze and travel ban. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry announced on Friday that it was stripping him of his Saudi nationality. Two years ago the CIA released a massive trove of files that were found on a computer in Osama bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Audio and video footage included with these documents appeared to indicate that Hamza bin Laden's wedding was held in Iran, according to an analysis by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. Story continues Michael Evanoff, an assistant secretary for diplomatic security at the State Department, said that while Hamza bin Laden is likely hiding near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, he may try to cross into Iran or even head toward south central Asia. "He could be anywhere, though," he said in a Thursday news briefing. Osama bin Laden, the son of a Saudi construction and real estate development billionaire, is believed to have fathered at least 20 children from half a dozen wives and he himself was the 17th of 52 children. The letters uncovered in Pakistan after he was killed suggest that Hamza bin Laden may have been one of his favorites. A State Department notice seeking information on Hamza bin Laden. Al-Qaeda grew out of a resistance group in Afghanistan in the 1980s that was fighting the Soviet Union, which invaded the country in 1979. Osama bin Laden joined this group and then helped develop it with money and weapons supplied by the CIA. When the Soviet Union withdrew from the country in 1989, the U.S. government referred to these guerrilla fighters mujahideen as "freedom fighters." However, Osama bin Laden quickly became frustrated with what he viewed as a corrupt Saudi Arabian government and Middle East that was being undermined and denigrated by the United States' presence in the region. Under his leadership, al-Qaeda expanded its focus to call for attacks on Americans, Jews and their allies. Al-Qaeda bombed U.S. troops in Aden, Yemen, in 1992, shot down U.S. helicopters and killed American soldiers in Somalia in 1993, carried out the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, killing up to 300 people and injuring more than 5,000. In 2000, it conducted a suicide attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden, with an explosive-laden boat, killing 17 U.S. Navy sailors. The four U.S. commercial jets that al-Qaeda members deliberately crashed on 9/11 two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon, and one into a field in Pennsylvania took the lives of nearly 3,000 civilians, police and first responders. The dead included nationals from at least 77 countries. The Islamic State militant group in recent years has overtaken al-Qaeda in terms of international attention, foreign recruits and the number of attacks on western targets. According to the Global Terrorism Index 2018, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace think tank, of the 18,814 deaths caused by terrorists around the world last year, well over half are attributed to just four groups: ISIS (Iraq and Syria), the Taliban (Afghanistan), Al-Shabaab (East Africa) and Boko Haram (Nigeria). More: ISIS bride Hoda Muthana's family files lawsuit against Trump More: Told to leave, ISIS caliphate holdouts in Syria stay devoted Between 2015 and 2017, according to the index, 69 percent of terror-related deaths caused by al-Qaeda occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa. While historically the group has been most active in the Middle East, its focus has turned toward Africa in order to "seize on the power vacuum left by the Arab Spring (2010 democracy uprisings and anti-government protests)," according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. But al-Qaeda remains a potent force, with upward of 30,000 active fighters in at least 17 countries. Together with its affiliates, it is responsible for three of the worlds five deadliest terrorist attacks in recorded history: the two attacks against the World Trade Center in 2001 and an Al-Shabaab car bombing in Mogadishu in 2017. Nathan Sales, a counter-terrorism expert at the State Department, said it remains a problem for the West. "Al-Qaeda has been relatively quiet. This is a strategic pause, not a surrender," he said in the briefing alongside Evanoff on Thursday. "Al-Qaeda is not stagnant. It's rebuilding and it continues to threaten the United States and its allies ... Make no mistake, al-Qaeda retains both the capability and the intent to hit us." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Osama bin Laden's son Hamza emerging as new al-Qaeda leader The parents of Otto Warmbier, the college student who died from injuries he sustained in a North Korean labor camp, blamed Kim Jong-un and his regime for the tragedy in a Friday statement released just one day after President Trump attempted to exonerate Kim. We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that, the statement read. President Trump, at the conclusion of his nuclear summit with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi on Thursday, told reporters that he took Kim at his word when the dictator told him he was unaware of the abuse Warmbier suffered during his 17 months in captivity. Some really bad things happened to Otto some really really bad things. But [Kim] tells me that he didnt know about it and I will take him at his word, Trump said during the press conference. Warmbier, a 22 year old University of Virginia student, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after stealing a propaganda poster from a Pyongyang hotel during a trip to North Korea in January 2016. Warmbier was returned to the U.S. in June 2017 in a coma and died days later. His exact cause of death remains unknown. Trump added that Kim felt really bad about Warmbiers apparently brutal murder but argued Kim had no reason to kill the college student. I really dont think it was in his interest at all, Trump said. Trumps recent comments stand in contrast to remarks he made during his 2018 State of The Union, in which he appeared to place blame for Warmbiers death squarely on Kims regime. You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength inspires us all, Trump said, addressing Warmbiers parents. Tonight, we pledge to honor Ottos memory with American resolve. We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and our allies, he later added. More from National Review A pilot shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani aircraft returned to India on Friday, after being freed in what Islamabad called a "peace gesture" following the biggest standoff between the two countries in years. But fresh violence raged in Kashmir, with seven people killed in the Indian-administered part of the tinder-box territory, suggesting that the crisis may not be over yet. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, shot down on Wednesday over Kashmir -- divided between the nuclear-armed rivals since 1947 -- crossed into India at the famed Wagah crossing point, sporting a black eye from his ordeal. Thousands of Indians, waving flags, singing and dancing with patriotic fervour, had gathered at the crossing point on Friday afternoon but the crowd dwindled after his release was delayed inexplicably by hours. In New Delhi the announcement of the experienced pilot's release was seen as a diplomatic victory, but India warned that its military remained on "heightened" alert. On Thursday and Friday both countries continued to fire barrages across the Line of Control (LoC), the de-facto border dividing Kashmir, leaving at least one person dead. Gun battles on the Indian side left two militants and four members of the Indian security services dead, while a civilian was killed in later protests, police told AFP. "Influence of terrorists and terrorism has been curtailed and it is going to be curtailed even more. This is a New India," Prime Minister Narendra Modi, facing a tough election due by May, said Friday. "This is an India that will return the damage done by terrorists with interest," he said. India's junior foreign minister and former army chief, Vijay Kumar Singh, tweeted that the "welcome" release of the pilot was "the first of many steps that #Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace". - Suicide bombing - Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule. Both claim it in full and have fought two wars over the Himalayan territory. Story continues India has half a million troops in the part it administers, with militants -- backed by Islamabad, according to New Delhi -- fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died since a revolt that broke out in 1989. Last year was the deadliest in a decade with almost 600 killed, monitors say. Matters escalated alarmingly after a massive suicide bombing killed 40 Indian troops on February 14, with the attack claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group. Twelve days later Indian warplanes launched a strike inside undisputed Pakistani territory, claiming to have hit a militant camp. An infuriated Islamabad denied casualties or damage, but a day later launched its own incursion across the LoC. That sparked the dogfight which ended in both countries claiming they had shot down each other's warplanes, and Abhinandan's capture. Prime Minister Imran Khan unexpectedly announced Thursday that he would be released in the first sign of a potential thaw. Khan alluded to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war and called for talks -- even as he warned India should not take the announcement as a sign of weakness. Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi meanwhile said he was boycotting a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Abu Dhabi, as India had been invited. The tensions prompted Pakistan to close down its airspace, disrupting major routes between Europe and South Asia and grounding thousands of travellers worldwide. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said Friday that flights could land and depart from its main airports from 1300 GMT, and that others would be opened "gradually". - Standing ovation - The parents of handlebar-moustached Abhinandan were given a standing ovation by fellow passengers as they boarded a flight to Amritsar near Wagah to welcome their son. He has become a national hero after purported footage that went viral showed him being beaten by locals after being shot down before Pakistani soldiers intervened, with social media abuzz with #GivebackAbhinandan and #Abhinandanmyhero hashtags. His subsequent polite refusal to proffer more details than necessary -- "I am sorry major, I am not supposed to tell you this" -- won him particular sympathy in India. His father, a retired air force officer, told the Times of India newspaper, "Just look at the way he talked so bravely... a true soldier... we are proud of him." burs-stu/rox/amu The Department of Defense on Friday released a plan for President Trumps proposed Space Force, asking Congress for $2 billion to fund it over the next five years. The proposal, sent to Congress on Wednesday, stipulates that 15,000 space-related military and civilian personnel will be transferred from other areas of the Pentagon to the Space Force. DOD officials are asking for $72 million from the fiscal year 2020 budget and 200 people to launch a headquarters for the program, which is expected to cost approximately $500 million annually to maintain. Last summer, President Trump ordered the Space Force to be established as a separate branch of the military, but earlier this month he reversed course, he signing a policy directive that placed it under the purview of the Air Force at least temporarily. Our approach follows President Trumps bold vision for space and commits resources to deliver more capability faster, ensuring the United States can compete, deter, and, if needed, win in a complex domain, read a statement from acting secretary of defense Patrick Shanahan, who praised the move as a strategic step towards securing Americas vital national interests in space. With Democrats now in control of the House, the plan is expected to struggle to pass Congress, as it is not popular among Democratic legislators. More from National Review Christians are the most widely persecuted religious believers around the globe. They are the most numerous people of faith worldwide. They also tend to evangelize, threatening established religions. Moreover, especially in some Muslim nations, local Christians are assumed to be strong supporters of Israel and agents of America and U.S. foreign policy. The result is an increasingly tenuous existence for Christians in many lands. However, smaller faiths tend to face more intense hostility. Jews, of course, are the traditional scapegoats for numerous ills. Bahais are seen by Muslims as apostates. And Jehovahs Witnesses now are under sustained attack in Russia. JWs, as they are known (and call themselves), might seem an odd addition to that list. While active, their numbers remain relatively low, about 8.5 million worldwide. Their largest national home is America. The next two are Mexico and Brazil, which exist in a region with the least religious persecution. JWs reject any political role. They do not threaten the existing order anywhere. Yet Russia has imposed a six-year sentence on a Danish JW, Dennis Christensen, for organizing the activity of an extremist organization. In 2016 the government recognized the JW faith as extremist; the following year the countrys supreme court ruled the JW church to be an extremist organization and banned it. Although Christensen knew that his faith had been outlawed, explained the prosecutor, the JW unsurprisingly continued to proselytize, hold meetings, and distribute literature. He was arrested in May 2017 at a worship service and is now set to serve six years in a penal colony which will be decidedly less pleasant than the prisons in Christensens homeland. Unfortunately, he is not the only such victim of Russian persecution. Last year Moscow launched a vigorous nationwide campaign against JWs. Earlier this month the world headquarters of Jehovahs Witnesses published a special report, Russia: State-Sponsored Persecution of Jehovahs Witnesses Continues. Story continues From September 2017 to January 2019, the church reported, the Putin government has mounted 300 raids, mostly of homes. Twenty-three people have been jailed, 27 have been placed under house arrest, 41 have been ordered to remain in their hometown, and 121 have been placed under investigation. The church has complained that government security agents use heavy-handed tactics against the Witnesses as though they were dealing with hardened criminals. The authorities point guns in the face of Witnesses, including children and the elderly and manhandle them. Property worth $90 million is subject to confiscation. More than 100 properties, including the large administrative center, have already been seized, and some 300 more face confiscation. The report goes on to list the other JWs facing charges. They should not be forgotten. Three currently are on trial: Sergey Skrynnikov, Yuriy Zalipayev, and Arkadya Akopyan. (The latter is 71 years old.) In pretrial detention are Aleksandr Akopov, Vladimir Atryakhin, Dmitriy Barmakin, Konstantin Bazhenov, Sergey Britvin, Aleksey Budenchuk, Sergey Klimov, Vadim Levchuk, Feliks Makhammadiyev, Valeriy Moskalenko, Georgiy Nikulin, Andrzej Oniszczuk, Konstantin Samsonov, Yuriy Savelyev, Andrey Sazonov, Aleksandr Shevchuk, Nataliya Sorokina, Yevgeniy Spirin, Andrey Stupnikov, Shamil Sultanov, Yeveniy Suvorkov, and Mariya Troshina. Such a campaign might be appropriate against a terrorist organization. But against a group of religious believers whose behavior is decidedly harmless? The armed assaults demonstrate that the Russian government is determined to halt private worship as well as organizational activity. For targeting JWs and other peaceful religious minorities, Russia has been designated a country of particular concern by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. In its annual report on persecutors worldwide, USCIRF observed that the Putin government has continued to target nontraditional religious minorities, including Jehovahs Witnesses and Scientologists, with fines, detentions, and criminal charges under the pretext of combating extremism. Most notably, the Jehovahs Witnesses were banned outright, as was their translation of the Bible, and their followers persecuted nationwide. Although Russia has gained the distinction of being just about the only majority-Christian country to persecute, it is not the only nation to ban JWs. Twenty-six Muslim nations do so, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and even reasonably liberal Kuwait, as well as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, and Yemen. Several are Communist, such as China, North Korea, and Vietnam, or formerly Communist. Eritrea, Lebanon, and Singapore are also on the list. Why such hostility? The sect was founded in the U.S. in the 1870s. Its doctrines, including non-trinitarianism and teachings on the role of Jesus Christ, differ significantly from those of traditional Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic. JWs rely on their own biblical translation, have a unique eschatology, and are noted for rejecting blood transfusions and refusing to celebrate traditional religious holidays. However, being different isnt reason for persecution. (I have several JW relatives and friends. Their theology is not for me, but they are uniformly warm, decent people.) More significant, perhaps, is the separationist nature of JWs. An intense community rather like the Amish, they expel members through disfellowship. They refuse to accord government the respect that public officials crave or to honor the state to say the Pledge of Allegiance in America, for example, or to serve in the military anywhere. Such attitudes may have generated the Russian claim that they are guilty of social hostility. Presumably they are seen as focusing on those within their community rather than without. Moscow denies that it is persecuting JWs for their beliefs. Rather, explained Vyacheslav Lebedev, chief justice of the Russian Supreme Court, the situation is actually being presented as if these people are being persecuted for their belief and religious activity. Yet the decision, which was made by the Supreme Court amongst others, is unrelated to religion. It is about a violation of the law, which religious organizations have no right to breach. The law bans the faith, so punishing them for exercising their faith is merely punishing a violation of the law. This argument is perfectly Orwellian. Translating Lebedev: We declared your religious faith to be extremist, and you are not allowed to be extremists. So we are arresting you for being extremists. But feel free to practice your faith and have a good day. Some critics appear to imagine that they are dealing with something akin to al-Qaeda. For instance, Roman Silantyev of Moscow State Linguistic University complained that this sect promotes external and inner extremism, inciting hatred to those who think and believe in a different way and bullying their own members. He went on to claim that recognizing this sect as extremist gave a possibility to dozens of our citizens to leave this concentration camp. Silantyev appears not to understand religion: Despite the threat of arrest and prison, JWs continue to meet, because they are operating out of faith rather than compulsion. JWs also are known for evangelism, highlighted by their going door to door. This stirs harsh resistance by majority faiths, especially those that are as much political as religious. The Russian Orthodox Church is hostile even to traditional Christian faiths. It would be difficult for its hierarchy to advocate banning Catholic and Protestant churches with roots as deep as its own, but JWs are an easier target. President Vladimir Putin admitted as much. When asked why his government targeted JWs, Putin dismissed the charge. But, he admitted, our society does not consist solely of religious sects. Ninety percent of citizens of the Russian Federation or so consider themselves Orthodox Christians. . . . It is also necessary to take into account the country and the society in which we live. Translation: JWs are different and dont fit in. This attitude also may explain attacks by groups and individuals on JWs, their homes, and meeting halls. Putin offered a glimmer of hope in December when he allowed that one should not label representatives of religious communities as member of destructive, much less terrorist organizations and acknowledged that he did not quite understand why they are persecuted, so this should be looked into, this must be done. Although Putins references to human rights should be treated with more than a few grains of salt, he appears to respect religion, and these comments are hard to explain other than as an expression of genuine puzzlement over so much effort being expended to eliminate an evidently nonexistent threat. Russias persecution of JWs pales compared with the punishment, including violence, inflicted on religious minorities elsewhere. Consider the horrors that continue to afflict religious minorities in the Middle East. Conflict zones in Iraq and Syria have shrunk, but Christians, Yazidis, and others continue to be at risk. Both sides of the SunniShia divide, represented by Saudi Arabia and Iran, are inhospitable homes for non-Muslims, as well as for the wrong Muslims. American client states, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, are little better. Nevertheless, the precarious status of JWs worldwide shows the breadth and reach of the problem of religious persecution. In Russia, thousands of people, largely ignored owing to their small numbers and relative isolation, are being punished for their faith, persecuted for no plausible reason. The arbitrariness of the state is matched only by the hardship inflicted on the affected individuals and families. The freedom of Jehovahs Witnesses should be on the religious-liberty agenda. Indeed, given the concern expressed even by Putin, American and European officials should raise the issue when they meet their Russian counterparts. The agenda with Russia is crowded. However, liberty of conscience is always worth defending. Especially when success doesnt require armed campaigns and regime change. More from National Review California utility Pacific Gas & Electric has admitted that its equipment failures were likely the cause of the Camp fire in November 2018 the states deadliest and most destructive wildfire. In an earnings release on Thursday, PG&E said the company believes it is probable that its equipment will be determined to be an ignition point of the Camp fire. Officials are still investigating the cause of the Camp fire, but PG&E came to its conclusion based on the information currently known to the company. The Camp fire killed 85 people and burned down nearly 14,000 homes, leveling almost the entire community of Paradise, a rural town in Northern California. Over three months later, many of the tens of thousands of people displaced are still looking for a permanent place to live, and some are homeless. The blaze ignited near a tower on one of PG&Es transmission lines, per the release. The fire started minutes after the transmission line de-energized, and a company employee saw flames near the tower around the time Cal Fire said the blaze started Nov. 8. Later that day, PG&E found damage on the transmission line at the tower. Burned buildings off the main road in Paradise -- Feb. 12, 2019 (Photo: Sarah Ruiz-Grossman/HuffPost ) PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January, after facing billions of dollars in claims related to the Camp fire, as well as the deadly fires in Sonoma, Napa and other counties in 2017. In its report, the company said it was adding a $10.5 billion charge related to damage claims from the Camp fire. Its estimated the company could be liable for more than $30 billion in connection to wildfires. Several lawsuits have been filed against PG&E on behalf of wildfire victims, saying the company is responsible for deadly 2018 and 2017 fires. Investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection determined that a dozen of the 2017 blazes were started by failed PG&E electric equipment, including after trees or branches fell onto power lines. The company said Thursday that it was inspecting its electrical equipment in areas with high fire risk and would complete inspections by the end of the month. Story continues Related Coverage Northern California Fire Victims Are Suing The Power Company California Utility Tied To Devastating Wildfires To File For Bankruptcy Months After Californias Deadliest Wildfire, Many Still Have Nowhere To Call Home Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The North Korean political and military Rubiks Cube has confounded Democratic and Republican administrations for 70 years. President Donald Trumps peace through strength approach has achieved more tangible results in the past two years than all the other efforts combined. While maintaining strategic and tactical pressure, he has developed relationships and initiated meaningful dialogue with the worlds most insular nation and dictator. In short, our president has taken us from nuclear brinkmanship to a period of greater regional stability and the potential for breakthrough on the Korean Peninsula. Although the presidents second summit meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un ended without denuclearization, Trumps courageous decision to walk away from negotiations rather than accept Kims demand for sanctions reliefs showed that he will not make the same mistake as his predecessors by offering unreciprocated concessions to the rogue state. Trump said he would rather do it right than do it fast. And he locked in gains made from the previous summit. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on on Feb. 28, 2019. OUR VIEW: At North Korea summit, flattery got Trump nowhere While many establishment politicians and fake-news journalists downplay that last summit, Trumps first meeting with Kim achieved important strategic objectives. Kim halted missile testing, dismantled North Koreas main nuclear testing site, concluded a tentative peace agreement with South Korea, released three American hostages, and returned the remains of American troops killed in the Korean War. In exchange, Trump made limited, reversible concessions such as suspending U.S.-South Korea military exercises and postponing new sanctions. Trump is on the cusp of one of the most significant diplomatic achievements in recent history. His predecessors essentially tried to bribe North Korea with sanctions relief and humanitarian aid. It didnt work. Trumps unconventional diplomacy ensures that no matter what, the North Korean regime wont walk away with any free handouts. Story continues President Trumps savvy diplomatic approach to the perplexing North Korean dilemma is promising, even artful. Lets give it a chance, America. Retired Army Major General Bob Dees commanded along the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea. If you can't see this reader poll, please refresh your page. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Presidents diplomatic approach to North Korea is artful Thanks to President Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen, we now have powerful documentary evidence a check signed by Trump that implicates the President in a crime, in which the two conspired to violate campaign finance laws. Cohens Feb. 27 public testimony also provided ample evidence of other possible crimes, including the Presidents apparent knowledge of and consent to Cohens false testimony to Congress about Trump Organization dealings in Russia, Trumps knowledge and approval of Roger Stones dealings regarding the Wikileaks handling of the Russian hack of the Democrats, and more. There may be additional pertinent facts coming out of the Mueller investigation or other inquiries by federal prosecutors material not covered in the Cohen testimony. But any criminal charge against President Trump would first have to overcome the effect of Justice (DOJ) opinions that say that the Constitution bars an indictment of an incumbent president. No court has ever ruled on whether this is correct. Yet the Departments Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinions have been described by scholars as shaky and political. Indeed, recent discoveries make them even weaker. The OLC rendered the first such opinion in 1973. On its face, it is dubious. It derived from the Departments criminal investigation of Vice President Spiro Agnew who, coincidentally, was accused of criminal conduct that occurred, in part, in the White House, just as Cohen alleged about Trump. I was a member of Agnews legal team, and we urged Attorney General Elliott Richardson to suspend the inquiry because, we argued, the language of the Constitution made the Vice President immune from criminal prosecution, unless the Vice President had first been impeached. In addition to the thin legislative history, we supplemented our claim by arguing that, because some scholars opined the President was immune, our Article II client must be immune as well. Richardson sent the question to the OLC and asked for an objective opinion. What he got, instead, was a politically dishonest one. As was recently uncovered by producer Michael Yarvitz for The Rachel Maddow Show, according to J.T. Smith, who was Richardsons Executive Assistant at the time of the inquiry, the OLC lawyer who wrote the opinion believed the matter was unclear. But instead of saying that in his report, he took the easy way out and asked what the Attorney General wanted him to say. In fact, he called Smith, who instructed the OLC official that Richardson wanted a report saying the Vice President was not immune. The OLC lawyer obeyed. But in order to get the answer the Attorney General wanted, the OLC lawyer wrote that while the Presidents duties were too great for him to be indicted, the Vice Presidents duties are nowhere near as important as the Presidents; therefore, the President was immune, and the Vice President was not. The revelation of this extra-legal, thumb-on-the-scale political intervention makes the opinion virtually worthless. Story continues Decades later, the question came up again. In 2000, while President Clinton was under attack for possible criminal indictment for perjury, his Department of Justice produced an update to the 1973 opinion. By then, the Supreme Court had rendered two opinions that cast grave doubt on the 1973 opinion. In Nixon v. U.S., the Court concluded the President was not immune from a grand jury subpoena (and was therefore required to turn over key tapes), leading ultimately to Nixons resignation. And in Clinton v. Jones, the Court held the President was not immune from a civil suit for damages respecting his conduct prior to his inauguration. Remarkably, the 2000 OLC opinion nevertheless concluded that those cases reinforced the 1973 opinion, and again opined that the President was immune. It is notable that both OLC opinions rely on practical considerations, including that the President now carries a heavier burden than he did a century ago and therefore, the argument goes, is too busy to deal with an indictment. Inasmuch as neither opinion cites constitutional language clearly supporting its conclusion, one assumes a conservative Supreme Court Justice, like the ones we have now, applying the so-called textual approach to constitutional interpretation, would reject both OLC opinions. But as long as the Department of Justice continues to abide by those opinions, despite their clearly visible defects, they may nevertheless save the day for President Trump. Even if the Special Counsel uncovered a factual basis for indictment, as long as President Trumps Attorney General adheres to the flawed OLC opinions, there can be no indictment of the President, and thus no judicial review of the question. Absent indictment, the statute of limitations clock will continue to run, so that even a post-presidency indictment might never reach a determination of guilty or not guilty. With each tick of the clock, the President comes closer to an imperial presidency a Chief Executive Officer beyond the reach of the law. This would be a result that would make Hamilton, Madison and company retch. But there may be a solution. If, as we can assume he will, Trump would respond to an indictment handed down after his presidency by asserting that the time had run out on the statute of limitations, the prosecution might advance a so-far untested legal theory. Common concepts of judicial equitable powers permit that the statute of limitations clock to be stopped because of exceptional circumstances that are not the fault of a diligent plaintiff or prosecutor but which could have nonetheless been cured by the party accused of wrongdoing. This is called equitable tolling. While the doctrine has never been applied to statutes of limitations in criminal cases, it has been well accepted by the Supreme Court in civil cases. In criminal cases, the doctrine derives from U.S. courts inherent power to avoid conduct by the defendant that results in frustration in determining the merits of the Governments claims and risks a criminal defendant gaining an improper advantage in prosecution. Up to now, in such cases, the doctrine has been applied to fugitives people who have intentionally put themselves beyond the geographic jurisdictional reach of the court. If President Trump persists in having his Department of Justice adhere to the rules that bar his indictment even one in which the government agrees to suspend proceedings during his incumbency and at the same time the President refuses to waive the statute of limitations, then I suggest he has intentionally put himself beyond the jurisdictional reach of the court as effectively as if he had fled to Switzerland. The newly discovered evidence about the OLC decision in 1973 demonstrates that the Department of Justice should not bar the indictment of this President and should permit a court to decide whether the President is immune. But if the DOJ adheres to its current flawed policy, the Court should rule that the statute of limitations clock is put on pause while the President is immune from prosecution. Tallinn (AFP) - The daughter of a former European Commissioner and a far-right firebrand face off against centrist Prime Minister Juri Ratas in Sunday's general election in Estonia. Here are the top contenders in the race: - Juri Ratas - Ratas became one of the world's youngest leaders when he took over as Estonia's prime minister in late 2016 at the age of 38. With a background in law and economics, Ratas cut his political teeth as the mayor of the capital Tallinn between 2005 and 2007, when he launched the European Green Capital project focused on fostering eco-friendly urban living. It is now an annual award that recognises one European city each year working to improve its environmental record. In 2007, the married father of four won a parliamentary seat on the centrist Centre party ticket and was elected its deputy speaker. In late 2016, Ratas took over as Centre party leader from Edgar Savisaar, whose perceived ties to Russia had scared off potential coalition partners amid heightened tensions with Russia. The move paved the way to Centre leading a three-party coalition government that took office in November 2016. - Kaja Kallas - Kaja Kallas was elected leader of the opposition liberal Reform party in April 2018 after having become an MP in 2011 and an MEP in 2014. A staunch europhile, she is the daughter of former Estonian prime minister Siim Kallas, who also led the Reform party before serving as European commissioner for transport 2010-14. Kallas, 41, has been repeatedly included on lists of the most influential MEPs. In 2017, she made Politico's list of the most influential women in Brussels and the VoteWatch think tank's top 10 most influential MEPs in the areas of digital and communications policy. Kallas is a passionate proponent of innovation who argues that regulations must not hinder the digital technological revolution. Focused on the rights of small and medium-sized enterprises, Kallas believes that borders in the digital world prevent innovative companies from emerging. Story continues - Mart Helme - Born in 1949, the leader of the far-right EKRE is significantly older than his two main rivals. Helme's father was a veteran of the Estonian Legion, a military unit comprised of forcibly drafted and volunteer Estonian soldiers that served as part of Nazi German SS forces in World War II. A historian, Helme became a diplomat in 1994 after Estonia broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union, and served as Estonia's ambassador to Russia for several years. He entered politics in the early 2000s before eventually taking over the leadership of the far-right Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE). His son Martin Helme is currently the party's deputy chairman and leads it in parliament. The eurosceptic EKRE stands to win around 20 percent of the vote in Sunday's election, according to pre-vote polls. The party opposes same-sex marriage, EU refugee relocation efforts and wants to cut the public funding of abortions. It has also raised the idea of an "Estxit" referendum on EU membership although it says it does not support leaving bloc, which remains very popular among Estonians. The party is deeply suspicious of Russia and favours continued NATO membership. Helme himself has publicly expressed xenophobic, sexist and homophobic views, and the members of his party have included people convicted of violent crimes and Nazi sympathisers. Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau holds a media availability in Toronto on Thursday February 28, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn) Finance Minister Bill Morneau does not have a magic bullet budget measure up his sleeve to meaningfully help millennials priced out of the housing market, Royal Bank of Canada warns. The Trudeau government is set to release its pre-election budget on March 19. Morneau said in January that affordable housing for millennials will be addressed when the Liberals lay out their spending plans, without delving into specific details. Rumours have swirled about the government opening up access to 30-year insured mortgages, an increase from the current 25-year limit, or tweaking stress test rules. RBC senior economist Robert Hogue urges Morneau to tread carefully, adding that such measures fail to address the root of the problem, a lack of affordable housing options in the nations biggest markets. On the surface, ideas like relaxing the mortgage stress test, extending the maximum amortization period for insured mortgages, or increasing the amount of RRSP take-out for a first home down payment might bring short-term relief to buyers, he wrote in a research note. What millennials in Vancouver and Toronto really need is more inventory of homes they can afford, and a better mix of housing options be it to own or rent. Hogue said efforts to boost demand or up the purchasing power of buyers are likely to inflate home prices, making it more difficult for the next generation to enter the market. He said new measures on that front would also add to already high household debt. The solution, Hogue said, should be to remove barriers blocking home developers from responding quickly to demand for new housing. A more nimble and responsive supply side of the market would go a long way to address the needs of buyers on a more permanent basis, he wrote. Solving the supply issues isnt the federal governments responsibility alone, but requires a concerted effort across all levels of government. Canadas millennials more likely to own than U.S. peers Story continues The rate of home ownership has been in decline for the past decade, but RBC takes issue with the notion that Canada has a problem. Hogue notes the proportion of Canadian households who own a home is the among the highest in advanced economies. Canadas least affordable cities, Toronto and Vancouver, have home-ownership rates about double that of Paris and Berlin. Forty-three per cent of Canadian households under 35 years of age own their home, compared to 34.5 per cent in the U.S, according to 2016 data from Statistics Canada. Calgary was found to have the highest rate of young homeowners, at 50.6 per cent. Victoria was the lowest, at 27.4 per cent. Calgary also had the highest overall rate of homeownership compared to major global cities, at 73 percent. Paris ranked lowest, at 33.2 per cent. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. By Ismael Lopez MANAGUA (Reuters) - Human rights advocates on Friday urged Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega to free 566 people still in custody that the opposition considers political prisoners following an initial release of detainees from a simmering political crisis. As it restarted talks with the opposition, the government on Wednesday released 100 people arrested during months of demonstrations against Ortega, the bloodiest conflict to shake the country since an 11-year civil war ended in 1990. More than 320 people have died as pro-government forces cracked down on protests which erupted in April after an attempt to overhaul the pensions system. The resistance quickly swelled into a broad-based movement against Ortega's rule. Gradually crushing the rallies and street barricades, pro-government forces hunted down key protesters, detaining hundreds, many of whom were charged with terrorism. At least 30,000 Nicaraguans fled the country, many seeking asylum. Talks to end the crisis first began last May but they quickly broke down amid opposition calls for early elections and frustration over a lack of concessions by the government. Agreement has yet to be reached after two days of talks behind closed doors on the outskirts of Managua. The government has not accepted the mediation of the Organization of American States (OAS) nor of the United Nations, rights advocates said. The activists said none of the prisoners released were among the most prominent, including journalists Miguel Mora and Lucia Pineda, who have been accused of terrorism. Another emblematic figure who remains in custody is Medardo Mairena, a farmworkers' leader who was sentenced in December to 216 years in prison for terrorism, murder and organised crime. "The state's afraid. It's afraid of freeing leaders or the farmers who are detained," said Braulio Abarca, of Nicaragua Nunca Mas, a group of rights activists based in exile. Story continues Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for a European Union delegation in Nicaragua, said: "We hope that all prisoners illegally detained will be released. Respect for fundamental rights, especially freedom of expression and assembly, is essential to restore confidence." Protesters criticize Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla who has held the presidency since 2007, and Rosario Murillo, his wife and vice-president, for their ever-tightening grip on power in what is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Ortega denies holding political prisoners. His government says the protests were an attempted coup, that the judiciary is independent and that those behind bars have committed crimes. (Reporting by Ismael Lopez; writing by Delphine Schrank; Editing by James Dalgleish) Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi women activists detained last year in a sweeping crackdown on campaigners will be put on trial, state media said Friday. "The public prosecution would like to announce that it has concluded its investigation and prepared the indictment list against the defendants... and will refer the case to the relevant court," the Saudi Press Agency said. The brief statement did not directly identify the defendants as women activists nor give a date for court proceedings. More than a dozen activists were arrested in May last year -- just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on women drivers the following month. Many of them were accused of undermining security and aiding enemies of the state. Some were subsequently released. Some of those detained have faced sexual harassment and torture during interrogation, rights groups and their family members say. The Saudi government has rejected the allegation. "The public prosecutor would like to affirm that all detainees in this case enjoy all rights preserved by the laws in the kingdom," the SPA statement on Friday said. But the statement drew sharp criticism from rights group Amnesty International. "These women's rights activists should be released from detention for their peaceful activism not referred to trial," said Samah Hadid, the organisation's Middle East campaigns director. "The Saudi Arabian authorities continue their signature repression." Those still detained include Aziza al-Yousef, a retired professor at Riyadh's King Saud University, and Loujain al-Hathloul -- who was held in 2014 for more than 70 days for attempting to drive from neighbouring United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia. Following their arrest, state-backed newspapers published front-page pictures of some of the activists with the word "traitor" stamped across them in red. Riyadh (AFP) - Hamza Bin Laden, a son of late al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden seen as a rising jihadist leader, has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship, state newspaper Umm al-Qura said Friday. Bin Laden had his citizenship removed on February 22 by royal decree, the Saudi newspaper said, quoting the kingdom's interior ministry. It did not give a reason for the decision. The US on Thursday offered a $1 million (0.9 million euros) reward for information on Hamza bin Laden, who it sees as an emerging face of extremism. Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States killed some 3,000 people and sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan. Bin Laden, who according to Washington is around 30, has threatened attacks against the US to avenge the 2011 killing of his father -- who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad -- by US special forces. "Since at least August 2015, he has released audio and video messages on the Internet calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies," the US State Department said in a statement on Thursday. The 15th of Osama bin Laden's 20 children and a son of his third wife, Hamza has been groomed to follow in his father's footsteps since childhood. At his father's side in Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks, Hamza learnt how to handle weapons, and ranted in his thin voice against Americans, Jews and "Crusaders" in videos uploaded online. On the eve of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Hamza was separated from his father, whom he was never to see again. The location of bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. He is believed to have spent years along with his mother in Iran, despite Al-Qaeda's strident denunciations of the Shiite branch of Islam that dominates the country. Story continues Observers say that the clerical regime in Tehran kept him under house arrest as a way to maintain pressure on rival Saudi Arabia as well as on Al-Qaeda, dissuading the Sunni militants from attacking Iran. In 2015, bin Laden released an audio message urging jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country would pave the way to "liberating Palestine". And in a message a year later, repeating one of his father's central messages, he urged the overthrow of Saudi Arabia's leadership. One of Hamza bin Laden's half-brothers told The Guardian last year that Hamza married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in the September 11, 2001 attacks. By Andy Sullivan (Reuters) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller and other U.S. prosecutors have been investigating whether President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign conspired with Russia and whether the president unlawfully tried to obstruct the inquiry. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Russia interfered in the presidential election with a campaign of hacking and propaganda to sow discord in the United States and damage the Republican Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Russia denies it. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction of justice. Here are some key figures in the investigation. DONALD TRUMP JR. Trump's eldest son set up a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and other Russians who had offered damaging information on Clinton. In an email after being promised the Clinton "dirt," Trump Jr. wrote "I love it." When news of the meeting broke in July 2017, Trump Jr. issued a statement saying the meeting was set up to discuss adoption policy, not politics, before later admitting he had been expecting intelligence on Clinton. President Trump's advisers eventually said the president dictated the misleading statement put out in his son's name, after initially denying his involvement. JARED KUSHNER Trump's son-in-law has served as a senior adviser to him as both candidate and president. Kushner initially did not list any Russian contacts on his application for a White House security clearance, but subsequently revised those forms to reveal he had participated in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting and discussed setting up a secure communications line at the Russian Embassy in Washington after Trump won the November 2016 election with Sergei Kislyak, then-Russian ambassador to the United States. JEFF SESSIONS Sessions, a longtime U.S. senator from Alabama, served as a campaign adviser and then Trump's first attorney general. During his Senate confirmation hearings he said he did not meet with Russian officials during the campaign, but later admitted he had met at least twice with Kislyak. Under pressure, he recused himself from oversight of the Russia investigation, which at the time was led by the FBI and later by Mueller. The recusal angered Trump, who eventually fired Sessions in November 2018. MICHAEL FLYNN A retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, Flynn was a top campaign adviser and served as Trump's first national security adviser until he was fired after only weeks on the job for lying about his conversations with Kislyak in December 2017, after Trump won the election but before he took office. Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions with Russia and asked the ambassador for help with a U.N. vote, according to court filings. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and has been cooperating with investigators. Before he joined Trump's campaign, Flynn sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Moscow dinner in December 2015 celebrating RT, a pro-Kremlin Russian-owned English language media channel. PAUL MANAFORT Manafort served on Trump's campaign from March to August 2016, including three months as chairman, ensuring Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination during the party's convention in Cleveland. During that time, the Republican Party softened its support for arming U.S. allies in Ukraine. He participated in the Trump Tower meeting with Russians who offered damaging information on Clinton. Manafort's lawyers said that after the convention he shared election polling data and discussed a way to end the Ukraine conflict with Russian Konstantin Kilimnik, a former business associate who Mueller's team has called an agent of the Kremlin. Manafort faces decades in prison for crimes relating to his work earning millions of dollars as a political consultant and lobbyist for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. He was found guilty of bank and tax fraud and has pleaded guilty to separate lobbying violations. A judge ruled on Feb. 13 that Manafort violated his plea agreement with prosecutors by repeatedly lying to Mueller's team. RICK GATES Manafort's longtime lobbying associate served as deputy campaign chairman and worked on the transition after Trump was elected. Gates pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and was a star witness in Manafort's 2018 trial, testifying that he helped his boss file false tax returns and hide millions of dollars offshore. Gates has continued to cooperate with the investigation, according to court filings. MICHAEL COHEN Trump's former longtime personal attorney once boasted that he would take a bullet for his boss, but has since turned on him. In a series of guilty pleas, Cohen said he worked on a deal to build a Trump tower in Moscow for nearly a year while Trump was running for president, and acted at Trump's direction to break campaign-finance laws by arranging "hush money" payments to women who claim to have had sexual relationships with Trump. Cohen's turn against Trump was on dramatic display in his congressional testimony on Wednesday, accusing the president of being a "racist," "conman" and "cheat." ROGER STONE Stone is a self-proclaimed political "dirty trickster" who has known Trump for about four decades. Stone is accused of telling members of Trump's presidential campaign that he knew in advance of plans by the WikiLeaks website to release damaging emails about Clinton. Cohen has said he heard Stone tell Trump on the telephone in July 2016 about a forthcoming release by WikiLeaks of the stolen emails. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the emails were stolen by Russians. They sowed division among Democratic voters by showing that Democratic Party officials had favored Clinton over insurgent candidate Bernie Sanders. INTERNET RESEARCH AGENCY Muller's team has said this St. Petersburg-based organization tried to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election through fake social-media accounts, aiming to spread distrust about the candidates and the American political system. The organization employed hundreds of people, according to an indictment. RUDY GIULIANI The former New York mayor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate has offered a freewheeling defense of the president in the news media since signing on as Trump's personal lawyer in April 2018. Giuliani has occasionally misstated facts, drawing rebukes from Trump or other members of his administration. MARIA BUTINA This Russian woman, a former graduate student at American University in Washington, has admitted to trying to infiltrate the influential National Rifle Association lobby group and make inroads with conservative activists and Republicans as an agent for Moscow in a criminal case in parallel with the Mueller investigation. Butina pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in December 2018 and has agreed to cooperate with U.S. investigators. JAMES COMEY As FBI director, Comey oversaw the initial stages of the Russia investigation until Trump fired him in May 2017. The White House initially said Comey was fired because he had mishandled a 2016 investigation into Clinton's emails, but shortly thereafter Trump told NBC that he had "this Russia thing" on his mind in the dismissal. Comey has said that Trump pressured him to end the investigation of Flynn. CARTER PAGE The Trump foreign-policy adviser met with Russian officials in Moscow in July 2016, and has said he reported back to Sessions and other senior campaign officials after the trip. His contacts attracted suspicion from the FBI, which said in surveillance applications that it believed Page "has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian Government" and had established relationships with Russian intelligence officers. Page, who has not been charged, has said he did nothing wrong. (Compiled by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Will Dunham) WPP office. Photo: REUTERS/Simon Dawson/File Photo Shares in WPP (WPP.L) have surged this morning despite a steep drop in profits at the advertising giant last year after the departure of its founder Sir Martin Sorrell. The worlds largest advertising firm reported a 30.6% fall in pre-tax profit for the year in its results today, while revenue dipped 1.3% to 15.6bn. It warned of a difficult year ahead, with its underlying net sales this year expected to fall by 2%. But shares in the group were up by around 7% this morning, with investors reassured the results were not as catastrophic as feared. Concerns had been high over the future of the group after its rival Publicis reported weaker-than-expected numbers last month. WPP faced a tumultuous year in 2018, losing its founder Sir Martin Sorrell, 40% of its market value and several big clients as the advertising industry struggled with competition from Facebook and Google. The company highlighted the costs of restructuring and transformation in 2018, with 57 offices worldwide shut down and 2,650 staff made redundant. Chief executive Mark Read told Reuters: We are at the beginning of a three-year turnaround plan, but WPPs new positioning as a creative transformation company with stronger, more integrated, more tech-enabled agencies is already proving effective, having driven several of our recent new business successes. We think WPPs shares represent value long term and that, for those investors prepared to waitthe shares could offer considerable upside, Liberum analyst Ian Whittaker said. Additional reporting by Oscar Williams-Grut. Idlib (Syria) (AFP) - Six jihadists, mostly foreigners, were among eight people killed in a bomb attack on a restaurant in the Syrian city of Idlib on Friday, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 22 people were wounded in the explosion that hit a restaurant frequented by foreign jihadists, including Europeans and Uzbeks. At least five foreign fighters were among those killed in the blast, but their nationalities are not known, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. He said jihadists had tried to open fire on the suicide bomber, who still managed to detonate his explosive belt inside the restaurant. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Abdel Rahman said the bomber was believed to be a member of the Islamic State group. IS is known to have sleeper cells in the area. An AFP correspondent saw blood spattered on the floor of the wrecked restaurant. Rubble and broken plates littered the floor. Idlib is held by an alliance led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham -- a grouping that opposes IS. HTS took administrative control of the whole of the region last month, after overpowering smaller factions that are backed by Turkey. Idlib has been protected from a massive offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's regime since September, thanks to a buffer zone deal agreed by Damascus' ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey. But it has been hit by sporadic government shelling. Eight years into a multi-faceted conflict that has killed more than 360,000 people, Syria's government has wrested back large swathes of territory to control around two-thirds of the country. Scotland could soon have its own independent currency (PA) The SNP is to propose an independent currency for Scotland at the partys conference next month. SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said that the motion will state that it should now be party policy that an SNP government in an independent Scotland would establish an independent currency. He added that Scotland would need to retain the pound sterling during a transition period, and that the process of moving to a new currency must be managed robustly and be guided by the best interests of the Scottish people and economy. SNP deputy leader Keith Brown (PA) Writing in The National newspaper, he said: We propose that necessary preparations, including the work of building the institutions that we need, such as an independent central bank, would begin during the transition period. And the aim of an SNP government would be to complete preparations in time for the newly independent Scottish Parliament, informed by assessments and information from the Central Bank, to take a decision on establishing a new currency by the end of its first term. Read more Nigel Farage charging Brexiteer marchers 50 to walk from Sunderland to London This marks a major change from the SNPs stance back in 2014, when Alex Salmond said Scotland would maintain a currency union with the rest of the UK. Mr Brown concluded: I believe this approach will maximise support for an independent Scotland. And it goes to the heart of the case for independence providing a democratically elected independent Parliament with the means to take the best decisions for Scotland. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK By Joey Roulette CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX was due to launch an unmanned crew capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket early on Saturday bound for the International Space Station, a major step toward NASA's goal of reviving the U.S. human spaceflight program this year. SpaceX's 16-foot-tall (4.88-meter-) Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket was set for lift off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 2:49 a.m. (1049 GMT) local time. The station's three-member crew is expected to greet the capsule, carrying 400 pounds of supplies and test equipment, early Sunday morning, NASA said. During its five-day stay, U.S. astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will run tests and inspect Crew Dragon's cabin. NASA has awarded SpaceX and Boeing Co $6.8 billion to build competing rocket and capsule systems to launch astronauts into orbit from American soil for the first time since the U.S. Space Shuttle was retired from service in 2011. The Boeing and SpaceX launch systems are aimed at ending U.S. reliance on Russian rockets for rides to the $100 billion orbital research laboratory, which flies about 250 miles (402 km) above Earth, at about $80 million per ticket. While Saturday's SpaceX test mission is a crucial step in the long-delayed project, there are questions about whether NASA can achieve its 2019 flight goal. (graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2VbosiV) Reuters reported on Feb. 21 that SpaceX and Boeing both must address significant design and safety concerns before they can fly humans. Early on Friday, Musk, who is also chief executive officer of electric carmaker Tesla Inc, tweeted a photo of the inside of Crew Dragon capsule with a mannequin nicknamed Ripley strapped inside. SpaceX said the spacesuit for Ripley, apparently a reference to the protagonist in the science fiction movie "Alien," has been embedded with sensors around its head, neck, and spine to monitor how a flight would feel for a human astronaut. (Reporting by Joey Roulette,; Editing by Eric M. Johnson and David Gregorio) As popular protest build up across Algeria against a fifth term for ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, some voices within the regime are invoking the Syrian chaos to maintain the authoritarian status quo. Citizens offered flowers to policemen. That is beautiful. But I remind them that in Syria it all started with flowers, said prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia alluding to the civil war that broke out after the Arab Spring revolution in the middle eastern country. Ouyahya had warned the opposition against taking to the streets prior to the outbreak of protests against Bouteflikas re-election. For the Algerian opposition, such statements by Ouyahya are meant to intimidate protesters thirsty for democracy and change. They also reflect the state of fear within the ruling elites in the oil-rich country. Ouyahya who described the pro-democracy protesters as people who seek chaos is reflecting the state of disrespect towards the people typical of a military junta that rules the country behind a curtain of a civilian government with a firm grip. Ouyahya went as far as warning of a repetition of the bloody civil war of the 1990s when a military intervention put an end to a democratic electoral process. As usual, the ruling elite with vested interest in maintaining regime opacity and the authoritarian modus operandi blamed the protest on foreign intervention as though there were not enough reasons to question the legitimacy of a regime that failed to use its oil mantra to develop the country. During the era of expensive oil, which ended in 2014, Algeria amassed enough wealth to develop the whole of the continent. But a lack of vision and leadership failure made Algeria lag behind in all global economic indicators from transparency to doing business. The eighty-one-year-old Bouteflika, whose public appearances are a thing of the past, has been in office since April 1999. He is so enfeebled that he was unable to announce his own candidacy. Opposition parties announced their boycott of what they described as sham elections whose results is decided in advance by an opaque regime known in French as le Pouvoir. Le Pouvoir is believed to bring together army and business tycoons with vested interest in the status quo. In response to the peaceful protests, the regime has banned the media from covering them and shutdown the countrys 3G and 4G networks so that social media could not be used to encourage ever larger numbers of demonstrators. Torrevieja beach in Valencia region of Spain. Photo: NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA Images Spain has confirmed it will grant British people the right to live permanently in the country even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. A Spanish draft decree published on Friday gives UK passport holders the right to stay under a no-deal scenario if they hold a certificate of residency or are seeking to obtain one, according to Reuters. British nationals would be given until the end of 2020 to apply for an identity card giving them a permanent right to stay in Spain. This process will be nearly automatic for those with permanent residency already. The estimated 400,000 Brits living in Spain will be relieved at the news, with considerable uncertainty for the past two years as Britains departure from the EU edges closer. READ MORE: How the rest of Europe is bracing itself for no-deal Spain has one of the largest British-born populations anywhere in the world. More than 300,000 British citizens are registered in the country, and many more are unregistered. The measures would only be offered if the UK gave the same rights to Spanish nationals currently in the UK. Our main objective is that no British or Spanish citizen is left unprotected, neither they nor their relatives, said foreign Minister Josep Borrell, Reuters reports. But Spanish migration statistics suggest some British residents have packed their bags since the Brexit vote. The Spanish newspaper El Pais reports that a drop-off in numbers of registered Brits in the country has been particularly severe in Valencia over the past five years, a longstanding popular location for British migrants. Many Brits may be grappling with their identity as they decide whether to stay and apply for residency or citizenship, according to Katy Hall, an academic at Birmingham University who has researched British migration to Spain. Brexit has fragmented a previously strong and cohesive British community in Spain, she wrote last year. The majority of older British people in Spain retain a close allegiance with their British identity and are left reeling from the results of a vote that many of them had no say in. A new virtual reality experience will allow people to fall into a black hole with Stephen Hawking - Atlantic Productions Tumbling into a black hole with Stephen Hawking might seem the stuff of nightmares, but it is soon to become reality. Well, virtually at least. In the year before his death Professor Hawking began work on a groundbreaking project to digitally recreate the universe, allowing the cosmically curious to don a headset and glide over galaxies, bump through asteroid belts and witness the birth of stars. As his final lasting legacy, the theoretical physicist recorded hours of commentary to be played alongside the experience, so that he could personally inspire a new generation of space scientists. The project is being overseen by Anthony Geffen, the Bafta-award winning filmmaker whose previous virtual reality productions have included resurrecting dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum so they could interact with Sir David Attenborough. Launching the experience at Londons Science Museum Mr Geffen, the CEO of Atlantic Productions, said: This will allow you to travel through Stephens mind. It really will be like going on a personal experience with him across the universe. We built the journey together before his death. We talked it through and the he added a voiceover. So it was made in his lifetime, but to build something as ambitious as an immersive experience takes a long time. He was terribly excited about new technology and about when he was no longer here being able to take people on a personal journey." Anthony Geffen and Prof Hawking shortly before his death Credit: Atlantic Productions Professor Hawkingwho was given just two years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease at the age of 22 defied all expectations to become a father-of-three, bestselling author and groundbreaking scientist. His proposal that black holes could lose energy and evaporate by sending out Hawking Radiation changed how physicists viewed the universe. If his theory had been observed in his lifetime he would almost certainly have won a Nobel Prize. He died last March at the age of 76 and is buried between Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. Story continues The first stage of the new VR experience will allow people to fall into a black hole, but eventually it will be a wide-ranging choose-your-own adventure in which users zip around the universe with Prof Hawking as their guide. He recorded multiple journeys before his death and Mr Geffen is now working with experts like American theoretical physicists like Kip Thorne to make sure the science is as accurate as possible. Tim Hawking, the late scientists son, said: I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some of the first work thats been done on the VR experience and its absolutely extraordinary to me. Actually I went on a black hole roller-coaster with my father when I was 12 at Alton Towers and he was thrilled at the time that he had been into a black hole. But thats nothing compared to this new experience. Lucy and Tim Hawking launch the new VR experience at London's Science Museum Credit: Paul Grover for the Telegraph Prof Hawking was adamant that the show should not be confined to museums, but put into pods and taken out into shopping centres so that as many people as possible could witness the beauty of the universe. We are going to deliver it in giant pods or domes which can go almost anywhere, so in the middle of Birmingham or the Southbank, added Mr Geffen. Were making it very accessible to people. In 2017, Mr Geffen created the Space Descent virtual reality experience which allowed users to journey down to Earth from the International Space Station with British astronaut Tim Peake. Prof Hawkings daughter Lucy said her father had always been impressed with how virtual reality to could appeal to young people. Virtual reality was really important to him because he wanted young people to engage with his work, she said. Many young people think physics it too complex, they dont have way in, but this is a portal to that world which makes it interesting and engaging. This project takes us on a great big cosmic journey, to show the universe through my fathers eyes. The VR experience is due to be released in 2020. Khartoum (AFP) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has handed his powers as chief of the country's ruling party to his newly appointed deputy, the party said late Thursday, weeks into protests against Bashir's rule. The move came after Bashir last week imposed a year-long state of emergency and dissolved the government in a bid to quell demonstrations and deadly clashes that have rocked the country since December. "President Omar al-Bashir has transferred his authority as chief of the party to Ahmed Harun," the ruling National Congress Party said in a statement. "Harun will serve as the acting chief of NCP until the party's next general convention, where a new president of the party will be elected." Announcing the changes last Friday, he said he was now adopting a neutral stance towards all parties, but did not categorically say he would quit as NCP chief. An analyst said the NCP statement was vague. "There's no explicit indication that he is actually stepping down as party chief," said Murithi Mutiga of Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group (ICG). "This is a further demonstration of the division within the top ranks of the ruling party," he added. "There are voices within the ruling party that recognise that there is a major crisis and it will not be enough to suppress the uprising with repression." - Top level changes - Bashir appointed Harun, wanted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the conflict in Darfur, as his deputy party chief last week as part of a top-level reshuffle in the face of ongoing protests. Bashir himself is wanted by the ICC for alleged genocide and war crimes in Darfur, charges he denies. The NCP has an overwhelming majority in parliament, and according to its charter, the chief of the party becomes its candidate in presidential elections. The next presidential election in Sudan is scheduled for 2020. Story continues The NCP was formed a few years after Bashir swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, and he has been party chief ever since. But protestors have staged regular demonstrations across Sudan since December, accusing the administration of mismanaging the economy and calling on Bashir to step down. He declared a year-long state of emergency across the country last week after an initial crackdown failed to suppress the protests. Bashir also dissolved the federal and provincial governments, appointing 16 officers from the army and two from the feared National Intelligence and Security Service as governors of the country's 18 provinces. He has pushed on with top-level changes to his administration, including sacking his long-time ally and first vice president Bakri Hassen Saleh, who was replaced by General Awad Ibnouf. Bashir also ordered the creation of special emergency courts to investigate violations during the state of emergency. On Thursday, eight protesters were sentenced to jail by emergency courts in Khartoum for participating in unauthorised rallies earlier in the day, the tribunals' first such rulings. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence so far, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed. Protests first erupted over a government decision to triple the price of bread, but swiftly escalated into demonstrations against Bashir's rule. Over the last 20 years, the hedge fund industry has grown from a few hundred funds with an estimated $400 billion in assets under management (AUM) to several thousand funds with an estimated $3.2 trillion in AUM. Hedge funds are fairly unique investors because they: (1) tend to be particularly active in seeking alpha; (2) often take highly concentrated positions; (3) are often run by managers who were trained on similar investment styles and therefore tend to seek similar investments in factors uncovered by academic research; and (4) use leverage and short sales. Worth noting is that over the last 20 years, the number of publicly listed companies in the U.S. has declined by about 50% from nearly 8,000 in 1997 to under 4,000 in 2017. The result is that the universe of opportunities for hedge fund trades has shrunk significantly even as the number of funds and size of assets has grown. These facts all make the study of hedge fund positions a good laboratory for understanding the role of active traders in creating risks associated with crowded trades. Crowded Trades We can define a crowded trade as a collection of similar positions in a particular asset by investors who share a common investment thesis and may therefore want to trade in the same direction at about the same time. Such trades run the risk of fire sales, which occur when a large investor(s) wants to sell significant amounts of an asset, and there are insufficient buys near the current market price. Financial crises, such as the failure of Lehman Brothers, often lead to fire sales. Gregory Brown, Philip Howard and Christian Lundblad, authors of the February 2019 study Crowded Trades and Tail Risk sought to understand how concentrated positions held by hedge funds create risks and how they affect asset and portfolio returns. Their focus was on long positions in U.S. equities held by about 1,500 hedge funds from 2004 through 2016. Because crowdedness does not have a single widely accepted definition, they measure it in four ways. Story continues The value of holdings by hedge funds. For the average stock hedge fund, holdings grew more than threefold, from about $160 million in 2004 to over $500 million in 2016. The number of hedge funds invested in each stock. The number of funds holding a typical stock has roughly doubled from 15 in 2004 to 28 in 2016. The percentage of shares outstanding (PSO) held by hedge funds. Average PSO increased from about 8% in 2004 to 12% in 2016. Hedge fund holdings as a percentage of average daily trading volume (days-ADV). This is likely the best measure of the ones we consider, because it measures crowdedness in terms of the size of hedge fund holdings as well as the underlying liquidity of the stock. The days-ADV increased from about 18 days in 2004 to 26 days in 2016. Quintile Analysis Brown, Howard and Lundblad then sorted stocks into quintile portfolios based on the cross-sectional variation of each measure. As is common practice, To limit the contaminating effects of difficult to trade micro-capitalization stocks, the smallest 20% of securities over the sample period are removed from the sample, they wrote. The data sample constituted almost 6,000 securities. Following is a summary of their findings: In each measure, the most crowded portfolios have the highest returns, and the least crowded portfolios have the lowest returns. On a value-weighted basis sorted on days-ADV, the low crowdedness portfolio (Q1) average return is 8.5% per annum versus 11.3% for the high crowdedness portfolio (Q5). The difference of 2.8% was highly significant (t-stat of 6.2). The difference was much larger on an equal-weighted basis: 9.1% with a t-stat of 8.0. The crowdedness factor generates, on average, statistically significant alphas even after controlling for other traditional risk factors, including the relative illiquidity of the more crowded positions. At a particular point in time, some hedge funds are disproportionately invested in relatively crowded positions, whereas others are not. The difference between high and low illiquidity portfolios is positive and significant for the equal-weighted portfolio (even with the removal of the smallest 20% of stocks). Illiquidity matters. Constituent stocks are relatively stickytransition probabilities of firms across portfolios are reasonably low. Taking the equally weighted days-ADV-based portfolios as an example, conditional on a firm being in portfolio Q1 (Q5), the likelihood of remaining there in the next period is 77% (82%). High PSO or (Q5) firms are significantly smaller and less liquid, on average, than firms in the low crowdedness portfolios (Q1). Some hedge funds disproportionately load on our crowdedness factor, others less so. For example, 58% of equity funds have significant exposures to crowdedness, while only 18% of global macro funds have significant exposures. Firms with relatively higher exposures to crowdedness exhibit greater realized volatilities during the financial crisis. And they become relatively more correlated with peers holding similar investment positions. In bad states of the world (times of market turmoil), funds holding crowded securities, on average, become riskier. Crowds During Crisis Brown, Howard and Lundblad then examined the extent to which returns are disproportionately affected by crowdedness during the financial crisis by calculating cumulative abnormal returns (CARs)returns in excess of the returns implied by a factor model, such as the CAPM or Fama-Frenchfor the crowded and uncrowded portfolios. They found: Hedge fund distress may transmit to the prices of the securities in which they disproportionately investthere were significantly negative CARs for the crowded portfolios during 2008, which largely reversed in 2009. CARs for uncrowded positions were closer to zero (or positive in some cases). They concluded: These results suggest that during the financial crisis, firms with both significant hedge fund ownership and relatively low levels of daily liquidity can be characterized by exit frictions that exhibit significant, temporary price dislocations (i.e., fire sales). The authors note: While the results described suggest that returns of individual stocks are subject to crowdedness risk, this does not mean that funds would necessarily have significant exposure to crowdedness. Funds may only hold a small part of their portfolio in crowded trades or may undertake other types of risk mitigation with short positions or derivatives unobserved in 13F filings. Therefore, they examined monthly hedge fund returns to see if crowdedness is an important risk factor. They found: The days-ADV risk factor is statistically significant for about 26% of the hedge fund universe (and certain subsets of hedge fund strategies are highly exposed to crowdedness). These results indicate that crowdedness risk is important at the hedge fund portfolio level as well as the individual security holding level. Finally, Brown, Howard and Lundblad examined the relation between crowdedness and fund downside risk. They found that: Funds with a higher average investment weight in the least crowded days-ADV portfolio experienced less severe drawdowns during the financial crisis, while funds with a higher allocation to the most crowded days-ADV portfolio experienced more severe drawdowns. This indicates that crowded trades are associated with relatively worse fund performance in particularly bad states of the world. Unique Risk Or Skill (Alpha)? The findings from the study raise an interesting question: Is the average return difference documented due to risk compensation separate from that embodied in the other common risk factors used in asset pricing models, or is this an indication that hedge funds are, on average, picking the right securities and delivering bona fide outperformance? Unfortunately for hedge fund investors, even if the results are an indication of skill (Q5 positions predict abnormal excess returns), the evidence on hedge fund performance demonstrates that the return to the skill has gone to the managers and not to investors. As reported in my February 2019 column, their performance over the last calendar decade was dismal. Conclusion It appears that while hedge funds are, on average, able to identify securities that will outperform (either because they have identified a unique risk factor or because they have securities selection skill), the high fees they impose (typically 2% plus 20%, and often significant other incremental fees), as well the trading costs incurred in implementing their strategies (including market impact costs), result in poor net returnsthe only kind that matter to investors. Another important problem identified by Brown, Howard and Lundblad is that because these crowded trades tend to perform poorly at exactly the wrong time (during crises), hedge funds are contributing to the tail risks incurred by investorsrisks they are generally seeking to reduce. In other words, hedge funds in general are not hedging and narrowing the dispersion of portfolio returns but exacerbating the tail risks, which raises the question, Why they are called hedge funds? Larry Swedroe is the director of research for The BAM Alliance, a community of more than 130 independent registered investment advisors throughout the country. Permalink | Copyright 2019 ETF.com. All rights reserved By John Miller ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland may let up to 5,000 people smoke marijuana legally in pilot studies to help shape new rules for recreational use of the drug, the government said on Thursday. The cabinet proposed limited pilot projects that may lead to changes in laws banning cannabis that date back to 1951. The plan will be put out for public comment until mid-year, the Federal Health Office said. Switzerland already allows cannabis products of less than 1 percent THC, the chemical that makes people high. It began last July to explore new ways of regulating more-potent marijuana, after the University of Bern was blocked by existing law from undertaking a scientific study. Some 200,000 people in Switzerland use illegal cannabis, the government estimated, despite its criminalization. "Without undermining the general cannabis prohibition, we need to be able to test new regulation models under the current situation," the government said in a statement. "Cities point to the negative impact of current laws, illegal trade in public places that is increasingly disruptive and makes people feel unsafe, and resource-sapping efforts to curb drug sales in urban areas," it added. "As a result, some cities want to find out how controlled access to cannabis affects its consumption, buying behaviors and the health of participants." Several U.S. states have relaxed restrictions on marijuana, seeing an opportunity to save money on law enforcement and profit from taxing the drug. In Europe, Portugal and the Czech Republic have decriminalized cannabis and Luxembourg is discussing legalization. The proposed Swiss pilot projects would be limited to cannabis, with only adults who demonstrate that they already use it allowed to participate. The government also plans to make it easier for people to access medical marijuana, but that would be part of a separate process. (Reporting by John Miller, editing by Larry King) For years, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repudiated state laws that prevent car manufacturers from owning and operating stores to sell vehicles directly to consumers. On Thursday, the company took a divergent strategy, moving worldwide sales for its $35,000 Model 3 online, and announcing plans to shutter an unspecified number of its 131 physical stores. Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, Tesla said Thursday in a press release. Tesla (TSLA) plans to keep a number of its stores open and transform them into galleries or information centers where customers can both see and learn about vehicles, first hand, a Tesla spokesperson told Yahoo Finance, adding that the transition is expected to take several months. The decision will test Teslas ability to maintain strong sales without physical locations where it can sell vehicles directly to consumers. The move will also likely draw legal challenges, stock research firm JMP said in a report. Teslas company-owned stores have required special exemption from decades-old dealer franchise laws, said JMP. While Tesla will likely assert that it indeed will have sufficient resources to maintain the consumer safety of the fleet, we expect a number of legal challenges to this move. What form those legal challenges would take is unclear. Tesla said it plans to increase investment in its vehicle service capability and use mobile technicians in the absence of physical service locations. [W]e guarantee service availability anywhere in any country in which we operate, the company said. We will be significantly increasing headcount in service technicians, Musk added Thursday during a conference call with reporters. The laws, which Musk has been fighting, were enacted between the 1930s and 1950s in efforts to stop the Big Three (Ford, General Motors and Chrysler) from strong arming dealerships into purchasing more product than demand warranted. Essentially, the intent of the law was to protect dealerships from assuming the bulk of the risk in franchise relationships. As part of the parties negotiated remedies, states adopted laws prohibiting car manufacturers from direct-to-customer sales. The idea is that it would prevent manufacturers from directly competing with franchisees. Story continues If [Teslas] now saying they really don't want to rely very much on bricks and mortar at all, it does seem to me to at least in part moot this whole question about direct distribution, said University of Michigan law professor Dan Crane, who has worked closely with Tesla on dealership laws since 2014. (Crane has never been retained by or received compensation from the company.) Dealer franchise laws not applicable to Tesla Unsold 2018 Model 3 Long Range vehicles sit on a Tesla lot in the south Denver suburb of Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Regardless of Teslas decision to close some stores, Crane said dealership laws, which were created to protect mom-and-pop businesses, are not applicable to Tesla because the company has never endeavored to use dealers, and therefore has no risk of competing with franchisees. The whole premise of this is, if you are franchising a dealer, you will be unfair to them if you can also open your own store, Crane said. We don't just have the Big Three any more. We have a much more competitive car market so the bargaining power has changed. There are six dealership groups in America, that have more annual revenue than Tesla does. Another argument dealers have raised in court to keep Tesla out of the U.S. markets they serve is that allowing Tesla to operate without dealerships would put dealers out of business and lead to job loss. If [Tesla] can have bricks and mortar in the state that means paying local taxes, hiring local people to work there, and so forth, Crane said. Its a complete red herring, he said, referring to the dealers job loss argument against Tesla. Tesla declined to say whether it expects legal challenges based on its decision to close stores and whether it will continue to pursue pending or future dealership legislation reforms. Tesla is also a threat to car makers The real story is that dealers have woken up to realize that their business model is under attack, Crane said. Frankly Tesla is not their biggest problem, he said, pointing out the shift away from individual ownership and towards ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. They are I think recognizing that their days are numbered, and they see the possibility of being cut out by manufacturers who go directly to consumers. But for now, car manufacturers appear to be on dealers side, at least when it comes to Tesla. Manufacturers are using their weight against Tesla, Crane said. Frankly it's GM as well because GM doesn't want to see Tesla get an advantage, so the dealers, aided and abetted by GM in particular, have seen that their best bet is to slow Tesla by trying to make Tesla use dealers which they know isn't viable for Tesla, and that effectively keeps Tesla out of states. As of January 26, Tesla had still been pushing for legislation in Connecticut, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia that would allow it to expand its retail and service presence in those states. Alexis Keenan is a New York-based reporter for Yahoo Finance. She previously produced live news for CNN and is a former litigation attorney. Follow her on Twitter at @alexiskweed More from Alexis: Google boosts the odds that sexual harassment cases will see the light of day How the legal fight over Trumps border wall could hurt the economy Weed consumers no longer stoner that lives in his moms basement: CEO NYPD: Waze users who post sobriety checkpoints may be committing crimes How legalized cannabis changed Colorado in the past five years Come on, Tesla. The electric carmaker finally found a way to lower the price of its mass market Model 3 sedan to $35,000, as it has been promising for several years. But if you visit Teslas website, youll see an even better deal. Tesla lists the entry-level price of the Model 3 as a mere $24,450, as you can see here: Model 3 list prices posted on Tesla's web site. Wow! What a deal! For the price of a humdrum Toyota Camry or Honda CR-V, you can drive off in one of the most exciting cars on the market. Right? No. Not right. Theres an asterisk next to the $24,450 price, with a note at the bottom saying prices above include potential incentives and gas savings. Car dealers are famous for fishy pricing claims, but this is a new innovation. When you click to learn more, you discover the following: The real base price is $35,000. Thats what you pay for the car, not including taxes. Potential incentives might save you $6,250. Gas savings might save you another $4,300. Heres the fine print: Model 3 pricing fine print So the possible savings add up to $10,550. If you subtract that from the actual price, you end up with a price after estimated savings of $24,450. If you look hard, you can find needed disclaimers on Telsas website, so this is probably legal. But its scammy, especially for an automaker supposedly peddling luxury and sophistication. And most buyers will never realize $10,550 worth of estimated savings. [Check out our video review of the Model 3.] If you follow the steps all the way through to the order page on Teslas site, you learn that potential incentives include a $3,750 federal tax credit, which every buyer will qualify for. That lets you slash $3,750 from your federal tax bill, so thats a direct savings, as long as you remember to apply for the credit. But Tesla also counts a $2,500 rebate if you live in California. Only 12% of Americans live in California. So most of us wont get to save $2,500. Heres how Tesla estimates a buyer will save $4,300 in gasoline costs. Tesla estimates the average annual gasoline cost for somebody driving up to 15,000 miles per year, averaging 28 MPG and paying $2.85 per gallon for gas. Then it compares that to the cost of powering a Tesla off the electrical grid, which costs less. Multiply that by six years and you get a savings of $4,300. Story continues Well, okay, but why stop there? Youd save even more money if you never drove your Tesla and spent nothing on fuel. If it costs about $500 per year to power a Tesla, for instance, and you never drove it, well, youd save that $4,300 in gas money not spent, plus another $3,000 in electrical fueling not spent, bringing the estimated cost all the way down to $21,450. Thats cheaper than a Toyota Prius! Youd save even more if you never registered your Tesla and never insured it. Just keep it in the garage for people to look at. Call it a piece of art and donate it to a museum, and you might be able to claim a tax deduction that will get the cost well below $20,000. Many factors beyond the purchase price go into the real cost of owning a car, including depreciation, maintenance, repairs, interest paid on loans if you finance, taxes and the opportunity cost of not spending your money on something else. The cost of fuel is one factor, but hardly the only one. There are many scams in the car business, such as advertising a car at an unusually low price that turns out not to be available when you get to the dealer. Automakers often list attractive features as availablemeaning you have to pay extra for themnext to a base price that doesnt include those features. Theres always a delivery fee, typically $500 or more, thats not normally included in the advertised price. And of course salespeople try to upsell many types of warranties and paint and wheel protection that are almost never worth the money. The Tesla Model 3 starts at $35,000. If Tesla feels its offering a great car for the money, the company should be proud to sell it at that price. Federal tax credits lower the cost to $31,250, for now, which Tesla should helpfully point out to buyers. As for fuel savings, sure, provide the info and let us ponder. But dont treat car buyers like rubes who have never driven around the block. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Click here to get Ricks stories by email. Read more: What its like driving a Batmobile The new Jeep Wranglera lovable brute Dont call the BMW X2 a hatchback 2 dudes marvel at the self-driving Cadillac Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman Rumours of a rift between the Duchess of Sussex and Duchess of Cambridge began to circulate at the end of last year. There were reports that Kate was left in tears during a bridesmaid fitting for Princess Charlotte in the lead-up to Meghan and Harrys May 2018 wedding. The Duchess of Cambridge, 37, had just given birth to Prince Louis at the time and was said to be feeling quite emotional, a source said at the time. The announcement, made in November 2018, that Harry and Meghan are moving to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor did little to dispel the rumours of a row between them and the Cambridges. Kate and Meghan in Sandringham on Christmas Day 2018 [Photo: Getty] William and Harrys plans to split Kensington Palace into two separate households also added to the narrative. There has been no response from the palace as to whether theres any truth about the rumours, however royal editor and author Robert Jobson, who has spent over 30 years covering the Royal Family, believes that there has been some confrontation between Meghan and Kate. READ MORE: Harry and Meghan are a perfect example of modern dating He tells Yahoo UKs The Royal Box: Whether or not there were reports Kate cried over the way her daughter, I dont know if thats true or not, but theres clearly been some confrontation. He added: I think that most of the stories that have been written have probably been true or Kensington Palace would have come down on them with a ton of bricks, so I think most of its probably true. There were also reports there was a heated exchange when Meghan, 37, couldnt have her first choice of tiara in the run-up to her wedding. The former actress wanted to wear a headpiece with emeralds, but there were concerns it came from Russia. She ended up wearing Queen Marys diamond bandeau tiara on the day. Meghan on her wedding day on May 19, 2018 [Photo: Getty] It was also claimed in Jobsons book Charles at Seventy that Harry yelled what Meghan wants, she gets at palace staff, following the alleged tiara row. That apparently lead the Queen to warn her grandson about his behaviour. Story continues Jobson says: I dont believe that Meghan was being difficult when she picked out the tiara, I think probably Harry was being overly defensive and overly protective. King Mohmmed VI has attached utmost priority to revamping the vocational training offer in order to be adapted to the labor market requirement and equip the Moroccan youth with skills that would help them easily find jobs. After two previous similar meetings, the King has chaired Thursday a working session on the program to upgrade vocational training during which he called for a realistic approach that responds to the requirements of the labor market and the national economy. In a speech in August, the King had stressed that further attention needed to be given to vocational training at all levels, and to creating a new generation of centers for the vocational training of young people, keeping in mind current needs as well as the particularities and expectations of each region. Later, at the opening of the Parliaments fall session (Oct.12), the King insisted on the need to work on creating more bridges and links between vocational training programs and general education courses within a unified, integrated system. There should also be a balance between theoretical training, on the one hand, and practical, workplace training, on the other. In October last year, the King dismissed Larbi Benckheikh, Secretary of State in charge of vocational training and former Director General of the Vocational Training Institute (OFPPT) for falling short of achieving the sectors objectives. The job was assigned to Loubna Tricha who has been tasked with revamping the countrys vocational training in a way that fits into job market needs. Undoubtedly, President Donald Trump and North Koreas Kim Jong Un are the main stars of the summit in Vietnam. But around them is an orchestra of senior aides who are keeping the show going. These are some of the trusted advisers and negotiators who, behind the scenes, are helping to formulate the outcome of the second Trump-Kim summit. If any deal happens, they will likely have played a key part in it. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney were the plus-2s Trump took with him to his dinner with Kim Jong Un on Wednesday in Hanoi. While Trump continued to lavish praise on his North Korean friend, Pompeo, a chief architect of the second summit, remained firm about the need for the regime to achieve more real, demonstrable, verifiable results this time. Against the unorthodox and impulsive moves made by Trump, ex-CIA director Pompeo appears to play a more conventional and even hawkish hand. Last July, Pompeo made waves when he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that North Korea was actively making fuel for nuclear weapons, saying they continue to produce fissile material. A month earlier, Trump had prematurely declared North Korea no longer a nuclear threat. Amid criticism that the U.S. has achieved little in its public courting of the pariah state, Pompeo has doubled down on the strategy, saying at a press conference ahead of this summit that the U.S. is making the progress we need. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun Trump named Stephen Biegun special envoy to North Korea just a over six months ago. Since the end of the end of August, Biegun has taken the reins in negotiating this second summit, and flitted between the Koreas and Vietnam to clinch the details. A week before the summit kicked off, Biegun touched down in Hanoi to meet with senior DPRK officials and begin ironing out any trade-offs between Pyongyang and Washington. But Biegun faces a number of hurdles in trying to cement a deal, including balancing Trumps desperation for a history-making agreement against the expectations of more hawkish figures within the administration who do not trust North Korea and want to sustain maximum pressure on the regime. Story continues Yun Hyang Lee, Interpreter When the doors close and everyone leaves Trump and Kim to square off, diplomacy rests on the shoulders of State Department interpreter Yun Hyang Lee. Lee has worked extensively with the State Department and the White House under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and served Trump last November during a visit by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. She was also by Trumps side in Singapore during his hotly anticipated first meeting with Kim. Vice Chair Kim Yong Chol Former spy chief Kim Yong Chol is North Koreas chief interlocutor in nuclear talks with the U.S. and Kim Jong Uns right-hand man. The Vice Chair of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea appears to be the most influential North Korean outside the Kim family. Kim Yong Chol has dedicated his life to military service. He took part in high-level inter-Korean talks in the early 1990s, and headed the security team during South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong Ils summit in 2000. While at the General Reconnaissance Bureau, Kim Yong Chol oversaw the expansion of North Koreas cyber and electronic warfare, and reportedly masterminded the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures. More recently, Kim Yong Chol was on both Kim Jong Uns trips to China and met Pompeo and Trump in Washington last month to lay the groundwork for resuming the stalled denuclearization talks. Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho The reclusive states second most visible official is arguably Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong. Analysts have long identified him as a key player to watch. Ri, like Kim Jong Un, is a graduate of the Kim Il Sung Military Academy and a third-generation fixture of the regimes elite. Ri reportedly established a close relationship with Kim Jong Il, as well as with Chang Sung Taek, the uncle of the current Supreme Leader who was accused of treason and executed in 2013. Ri and Kim Yong Chol were both alongside Kim Jong Un at the summits dinner on Wednesday. Kim Yo Jong Kim Jong Uns sister Kim Yo Jong accompanied the Dear Leader on his two and a half day train journey to reach Vietnam. The youngest daughter of late leader Kim Jong Il became a member of the Workers Partys Politburo, the countrys highest political assembly, in 2017. Like with much else about the Kim clan, details about Kim Yo Jong are shrouded in mystery. Even her age is the subject of some debate. She could be 29, or she might be 31. She is believed to be one of her brothers most trusted aides, and last year, she led the Norths charm offensive at the Olympic Games in PyeongChang. South Korean media dubbed her North Koreas Ivanka because of her family connections. By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Workers handling rat-infested garbage on the outskirts of Belgrade face a double health hazard: from the trash itself and a nearby stream of raw sewage gushing into a canal on its way to the river Danube. The dump, that covers around 2 square kilometres (500 acres) outside the capital city, symbolises the challenge Serbia faces to bring its environmental procedures and greenhouse gas emissions to the standards required if it is to join the European Union, a task estimated to cost around 15 billion euros ($17 billion). Serbia, which plans to join the EU by 2025, processes less than 10 percent of its waste water. The two largest cities, Belgrade and Novi Sad, dump raw sewage directly into the Danube and Sava rivers and the country has countless unregulated landfills. But the problem also offers economic opportunities. "In municipal and toxic waste processing we may see investments of around 2 billion euros and ... around 5 billion euros in waste water processing," environment minister Goran Trivan told Reuters. Investments so far had been slow, he said, but with improved legislation, "the doors for investments are wide open," Trivan said, adding: "We would have to construct over 300 systems for waste water processing." Serbia says it will not meet EU environmental and climate change demands by the target date and has proposed an 11-year transition period from when it joins the bloc. Neighbouring Croatia, which joined in 2013, has already asked the EU to extend its deadline to 2025. Last year, the government's fiscal advisory body said Serbia should invest 1.3 percent of GDP to tackle environmental problems, up from 0.7 percent. Most other countries in central and eastern Europe spend around 2 percent of GDP on the environment. The EUs medium-term goals are to recycle 50 percent of municipal waste by 2020 and around 65 percent by 2035, sending less than 10 percent to landfill. Story continues Serbia recycles only around 3 percent of its municipal waste and up to 40 percent of packaging, far from the 65 percent required by the EU by 2025, said Kristina Cvejanov, the director of Belgrade's EkoStarPak waste management company. "Theres a lack of knowledge, motivation, finances, but also an unregulated market," she said. "Local utility companies and municipalities mainly do not suffer repercussions ... when they violate laws about waste management." ($1 = 0.8804 euros) (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) President Donald Trump says he believes that North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un didn't know about how Otto Warmbier was treated while imprisoned in the totalitarian state. Warmbier, a Wyoming, Ohio college student visiting the country, was accused of stealing a propaganda poster and imprisoned in North Korea in 2016. He returned to Ohio in a coma with a brain injury in June 2017 and died soon after. "I don't believe he knew about it," Trump said of Kim. "He tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word." Experts say Kim knew. It is inconceivable that such a high profile American prisoner like Otto Warmbier, that Kim Jong-un would not know, said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Thursday morning on MSNBC. Richardson, a former ambassador to the United Nations, tried for over a year to negotiate Warmbier's release. Richardson said it was "dispiriting" and "disappointing" that Trump would side with Kim over American intelligence. President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Hanoi. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Why is it likely Kim knew about Warmbier? "North Korea is a totalitarian dictatorship. Anything that the leadership does has to be approved by the man at the top," said Rosa Park, director of programs and editor at The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. "This is how the North Korean state has been since its inception: this iron-grip control over the leadership," she added. And a federal judge found that Kim's regime was responsible for Warmbier's torture and awarded Warmbier's parents $500 million. In a statement after the decision, Fred and Cindy Warmbier said they are "thankful that the United States has a fair and open judicial system so that the world can see that the Kim (Jong Un) regime is legally and morally responsible for Ottos death." Warmbiers case would have certainly come to Kims attention at some point, said Scott Snyder, senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Snyder said its difficult to know when and how he would have been informed. Story continues Snyder said its striking that Trump started his administration focusing on human rights but those issues have disappeared from his rhetoric since deciding to meet with Kim. Its unfortunate the administration has not found a way to continue a human rights policy against North Korea at some form at a bureaucratic level while trying to perform high level diplomacy, Snyder said. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trump believes Kim Jong Un didn't know about Otto Warmbier. Experts say that's impossible. Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Friday he held North Korea responsible for the death of an American student who died after being tortured in custody but did not directly blame the regime's leader Kim Jong Un. Trump sparked widespread criticism when he told reporters at this week's summit with Kim in Vietnam that he believed the North Korean leader's claim that he didn't know what happened to Otto Warmbier during his detention. The 22-year-old Warmbier died days after being sent back to the United States from North Korea in a coma in 2017. "Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death," Trump wrote on Twitter after Warmbier's parents had weighed in on the controversy. "Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future." After Fred and Cindy Warmbier issued a statement earlier in the day saying that "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son," Trump said that his comments had been "misinterpreted." "I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family," he said. "Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch," said the president. "I love Otto and think of him often!", he added in his tweets, which made no mention of Kim. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The parents of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died after 17 months in a North Korean prison, blamed Kim Jong Un's "evil regime" on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed the leader's claim not to have known how their son was treated. Warmbier's parents said they had held off commenting during the second summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi, which was cut short on Thursday after the two sides failed to reach a deal for the reclusive communist nation to give up its nuclear weapons. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto," Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that." After the family's sharp statement, the White House tried to explain what Trump meant. "What he said was that Chairman Kim says, what he believes Chairman Kim to have said, was that he was not aware of what had happened to Otto Warmbier when it happened," Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News. Trump had kind words for the family later on Twitter: "I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family. ... Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death." The U.S. president drew criticism after he praised Kim's leadership and said he accepted Kim's assertion that he had not been aware of how Warmbier was treated while in detention. "He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word," Trump told a news conference. Prominent Republicans on Thursday did not share Trump's acceptance of Kim's word, including close Trump ally U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who said he didn't "buy it for a minute." It wasn't the first time Trump has faced criticism for appearing to side with autocratic leaders. He gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the benefit of the doubt after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi last year. In July, Trump refused to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for interfering in U.S. elections. Warmbier, 22, died on June 19, 2017, shortly after he was flown home to Ohio in a coma after being held by North Korea for 17 months. "Otto should have never been arrested in the first place and Kim is responsible for that decision and everything that subsequently happened," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Patricia Zengerle, David Brunnstrom in Washington and Peter Szekely in New York; editing by Scott Malone and James Dalgleish) Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen turned on his former boss in a dramatic congressional appearance Wednesday, calling the US president a conman and inveterate liar who engaged in possibly illegal conduct while in office. Cohen told the House Oversight Committee that Trump directed him last year to lie about hush payments made to a porn actress to silence her claims of an affair with Trump. He said that Trump knew in advance in mid-2016 that WikiLeaks would publish emails stolen from rival Hillary Clinton's campaign by the Russians. And Cohen asserted that personal lawyers for Trump and his family reviewed and edited his written testimony to Congress in 2017 in which he lied about a Moscow real estate deal that was negotiated through the 2016 presidential election. But Cohen's five hours of testimony, at times angry and at others emotional, produced no fresh evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia during the race, or evidence of financial crimes by the president and his Trump Organization -- subjects at the center of multiple federal and congressional investigations. Instead, he drew a damning portrait of the man he worked for as personal lawyer, dealmaker and fixer for over 10 years -- depicting a morally corrupt figure who forces staff to lie for him, and cares only about himself. "Today, I am here to tell the truth about Mr Trump," Cohen told the nationally-televised hearing. "He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat," who inflated his assets when it suited him "and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes," Cohen said. Cohen was sentenced in December to three years in prison over the hush payments and his lies to Congress -- both of which he said were to protect Trump -- as well as for tax evasion. But in a striking display of remorse, the 52-year-old New Yorker, who was the president's right-hand man at the Trump Organization, said he was ashamed of the time he worked for Trump, protecting him and concealing "illicit acts." Story continues He called Trump an "autocrat" who readily abuses the power of his office, and compared his operations to a mafia family. "I did things and I acted improperly. I blindly followed his demands," Cohen told the panel. "My loyalty has cost me everything, my family's happiness, my law license, my company, my livelihood, my honor, my reputation and soon my freedom. I will not sit back and allow him to do the same to the country." - No evidence of collusion - The White House and Republicans sought to undermine Cohen's credibility, insisting his history of lying to Congress -- to which he pleaded guilty last year -- made his testimony unreliable. "Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately)," Trump tweeted ahead of the hearing from Hanoi, where he was enmeshed in a second nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time." Cohen held his own against fiery attacks during the hearing, castigating Republicans for avoiding serious questions about Trump. Still, on the key issue of whether Trump worked with the Russians to get elected -- Cohen delivered no knock-out blow. "Questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that Mr Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia," he said. "I do not, I want to be clear. But I have my suspicions." Cohen said Trump knew ahead of time -- via the political consultant Roger Stone -- that WikiLeaks would publish damaging information obtained from Russian hackers on his Democratic opponent Clinton. He also said he believed Trump had prior knowledge of a June 2016 meeting between his campaign and a Russian lawyer peddling "dirt" on Clinton. And he named two private lawyers working for Trump and his family -- Jay Sekulow and Abbe Lowell -- as having edited the false testimony on the Moscow Trump Tower project that led to Cohen's conviction for lying to Congress. In a later statement, Sekulow called that assertion -- which appeared to implicate the lawyers in a crime -- "completely false." - 'Accountability' - The hearing was one of three for Cohen on Capitol Hill this week, with the other two -- Tuesday in the Senate Intelligence Committee and Thursday in the House Intelligence Committee -- both behind closed doors. All are running in parallel with the Russia meddling investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is focused on whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow and whether Trump has illegally obstructed the investigation. Cohen also asserted that federal prosecutors in New York are investigating other possible illegal activities involving the president. Elijah Cummings, the committee's Democratic chairman, said Wednesday's hearing was essential to bringing accountability to the Trump administration. "Over the past two years there has not been any accountability. None," Cummings said after the hearing. "Basically what he (Cohen) did was to reintroduce the American people to the man he has known for 10 years." The good news is that the Trump/Kim summit in Hanoi did not result in a deal because any deal would be nothing but a scam perpetrated by Kim Jong Un. Selling this rug repeatedly is a North Korean specialty. The Kim dynasty inked agreements to denuclearize in 1985, 1992, 1994, 2005, 2007, and 2012. Youve seen the results. Pyongyang violated every one and marched inexorably toward nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile technology. Its bad enough to confront the prospect of a nuclear-armed North Korea. It would be worse to, in effect, subsidize it, which is all that was on offer. Why would Kim give up his nukes? To get American aid to improve his economy? Fantasy. He runs a prison state that actually exports slaves to countries like China, Kuwait, and Qatar. His goal is not to develop the economy but to remain firmly in power and to conquer South Korea. He saw what happened to Moammar Qaddafi when he gave up his nuclear program and to Saddam Hussein who only pretended to be working on one. That much must be obvious to Trumps advisers, if not to Mr. Trump himself, who seemed so eager for a deal that he announced before the Hanoi summit that the U.S. was dropping the demand for a full accounting of North Koreas nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile programs. If that sounds precisely like what President Obama did vis-a-vis Iran, it should. For now, Trump has sidestepped the trap Kim prepared. While he may have avoided one bad outcome, his behavior was so bizarre and sycophantic toward Kim personally that he still departs Hanoi trailing a stench of shame. There is just no mistaking it; our president gets excited in the presence of dictators. Appearing with Kim at a press conference, the president warned reporters as he never has regarding the leaders of democracies to show respect to Kim. Dont raise your voice, please. This isnt like dealing with Trump. Trump himself went way beyond diplomatic niceties, contrasting Kim favorably with other rich kids who didnt turn out so well. Story continues Even if Mr. Trump could overlook the millions who have been persecuted (its a crime to visit a South Korean website), starved, tortured, and worked to death in the Hermit Kingdom, its beyond appalling that he would offer a pass about the torture and murder of a young American, Otto Warmbier. Recall that in 2017, Trump had said, Ottos fate deepens my administrations determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency. But off teleprompter, Trump demonstrated his characteristic sympathy for dictators caught behaving badly. He [Kim] tells me that he didnt know about it, and I will take him at his word. . . . I dont believe he knew about it. Nor did he believe Mohammad bin Salman knew about Jamal Khashoggis murder. And he took Vladimir Putins word over the judgment of the U.S. intelligence agencies about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has launched a vicious program of state-sanctioned murders of suspected drug addicts and dealers. According to the Philippine National Police, the state has killed more than 5,000 people since Dutertes election in 2016. Others estimate that the true number is closer to 20,000. Amazingly, Duterte does not dispute this. What is my sin? Did I steal even one peso? . . . My sin is extra-judicial killings. On another occasion he said, Hitler killed 3 million Jews. Now there are 3 million drug addicts. Id be happy to slaughter them all. The world is full of misery, and American leaders sometimes have to deal with unsavory characters. But nothing required President Trump to pick up the phone in 2017 and say to Duterte, You are a good man . . . . You are doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem. Many countries have the problem, we have the problem, but what a great job you are doing, and I just wanted to call and tell you that. Explaining the need for a wall on the southern border, Trump offered this odd report from a conversation with Chinas Xi Jinping, who apparently told the president that China has no drug problem because they employ the death penalty. He found this exhilarating. If we want to get smart, we can get smart, Trump said. You can end the drug problem, can end it a lot faster than you think. It would be less disturbing if Mr. Trumps chief weakness were for porn stars and money. Alas, his attraction to thugs seems even stronger. 2018 creators.com More from National Review Donald Trumps hardline immigration policies are discouraging migrants seeking HIV treatment, a leading expert has claimed, as a new report showed infection rates among some Latino communities soaring by as much as 30 per cent. A report published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claimed the battle against HIV in the US has stalled in recent years, after a period of steady decline. Latest figures show there are 39,000 new infections every year. The report, published three weeks after Mr Trump announced a plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030, showed that among white gay and bisexual men, infection rates decreased by 16 per cent. Among black gay and bisexual men, they remained stable. However, among Latino gay and bisexual men, infection rates increased by more than 30 per cent. Now is the time for our nation to take bold action. We strongly support President Trumps plan to end the HIV epidemic in America, said CDC director Robert Redfield. At least one prominent expert believes Mr Trumps policies are making the situation worse. While the data contained in the CDC report was collected from 2010-16, before Mr Trump became president, there is said to be evidence his hardline policies on immigration are discouraging some of the most vulnerable groups from getting treatment. Carlos del Rio, professor of global health at Atlantas Emory University, told The Independent he had seen persuasive evidence that HIV outreach among migrant and Latino communities had become more difficult since the president took office. He said it appeared many people were keeping their heads low. That is why, while I welcome the presidents proposal [to tackle HIV], his other policies are impacting people, said Mr Del Rio, a member of the leadership team of Fast-Track Cities, a global, United Nations-backed initiative to tackle HIV. It is good to have lofty goals, but those other policies are impacting that effort. The CDC data showed that after falling for a number of years, the total number of infection rates leveled off from 2013-2016. We are not making any progress since 2013, said Mr Del Rio. And that report is the big picture. When you look locally, you see there are big increases in some areas. Story continues The report showed that of the new infections, around 20,000 were recorded in the southern US. The CDC said it estimated the decline in HIV infections has plateaued because effective HIV prevention and treatment are not adequately reaching those who could most benefit from them. It added: These gaps remain particularly troublesome in rural areas and in the South and among disproportionately affected populations like African-Americans and Latinos. The Independent and its sister paper, the Evening Standard, recently partnered with the Elton John Aids Foundation to highlight the ongoing fight against HIV, three decades after the development of an effective treatment. In the US, it reported how one in two black gay men will become infected with HIV during their lifetimes, a statistic created by a combination of a lack of education, homophobia and systemic racism. Infection rates in cities such as Atlanta, Georgia, which the CDC is based, are as bad as those in southern Africa. The CDC did not immediately respond to enquiries. In his State on the Union address, Mr Trump said the country had made remarkable progress, but he said he wanted it to do even more. My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years, he said. Together, we will defeat Aids in America. Sir Elton John welcomed Mr Trumps proposal, but also urged that efforts to tackle HIV in the US did not take from resources the US invested in such efforts elsewhere around the world. I applaud President Trumps announcement of a renewed commitment to ending the Aids epidemic in the United States, he said previously. While we have made tremendous progress in reducing new infections and reaching those who are at risk or HIV positive with lifesaving testing and treatment services, the epidemic in the US is far from over. He added: While early epicentres like San Francisco and New York have seen dramatic declines in the incidence of HIV in recent years, the epidemic in the southern United States still rages on, particularly among young black men who have sex with men. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Friday that his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi had been "substantive," adding, "We know what they want and they know what we must have." The second summit between Trump and Kim collapsed in Vietnam on Thursday without any agreement or immediate plan for a third meeting between the two leaders or their delegations. The two sides gave different reasons for the abrupt end in talks about denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Trump told reporters on Thursday that North Korea wanted all of the sanctions lifted in their entirety. But the North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho disputed that claim during a midnight news conference, saying North Korea had asked only for a partial lifting of the sanctions in exchange for dismantling its main nuclear site at Yongbyon. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has actively supported the talks, said South Korea will work with the United States and North Korea to ensure an agreement on denuclearization. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Meredith Mazzilli) Egyptian authorities Thursday handed over to Hamas four of its fighters kidnapped three years ago at Rafah crossing point. The Palestinian movement announced the release of the four officers, believed to be members of the groups naval commando forces. The men were kidnapped from a bus at the crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza strip by gunmen, reportedly at the demand of Egyptian authorities. Egypt however denied any connection with the raid. Their arrest came following tipoffs from Israeli agencies that the men were heading to Iran for training, Israeli Haaretz noted citing Palestinian reports. Egypts Thursday move came following the intervention of Hamas political wing Chief Ismail Haniyeh. The leader of the movement spent weeks in the Egyptian capital to secure the release of the four operatives. The handover of the detainees also heralds Egypts good intention to ease the standoff between Hamas and Israel over the return of Israeli civilians and bodies of Israeli soldiers held in Gaza. Hamas is still holding two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who had crossed the border into the Gaza Strip, as well as the bodies of Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the Israeli media reported. When the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea met in the Vietnamese capital determined to make a deal on denuclearization, few predicted that the outcome would be, in a nutshell, nothing. But when talks collapsed Thursday between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, the consensus among experts was that a whimper was a better way to conclude the summit than a bang. Trump said talks broke down when Kim brought an unacceptable offer to the table: a blanket removal of U.S. sanctions in exchange for partial denuclearization. Trump entered negotiations at a disadvantage; problems were piling up at home, and Kim may have overplayed his hand on the assumption hed take a win wherever he could find it. They wanted the sanctions lifted in entirety, and we couldnt do that, Trump said in Hanoi. We had to walk away from that. Trump and Kim were widely expected to reach some form of agreement that in principle would formally end the Korean War in exchange for concrete commitments on denuclearization a tradeoff that analysts were ready to call an unacceptable giveaway. Reporters in Hanoi were caught off guard however when a scheduled signing ceremony was suddenly canceled and the White House Press Secretary said in a statement that, No agreement was reached at this time. The underwhelming outcome has already been described as both a failure and the right move. On the one hand, it delays further talks and throws fundamental disagreements such as the definition of denuclearization and the importance of inventory in any further negotiations into stark relief. On the other hand, several experts shared the same sentiment, borrowing a phrase from U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May: No deal is better than a bad deal. This is the start of a long process, says David Kim, a research analyst at the Stimson Center. Its like there are two lovers; theyre going to have their fights, but ultimately, if theyre committed, theyre going to work it out. Story continues Jenny Town, a research analyst for the North Korea monitoring site 38North, says the tone of relations still seems relatively positive, but the stakes are now higher for a successful outcome. My worry is that the door is open and there may be a way forward, but we may be moving back to a place where its all or nothing. Many doubted Kim would ask for full sanctions removal, as the U.S. would be highly unlikely to grant such a move. I cant imagine that Kim Jong Un would have said, you must lift all of the sanctions, says Town, suggesting Trump may have paraphrased the demand imprecisely. Just as likely, says Christopher Green, North Korea analyst for the International Crisis Group, North Korea may have had its own reasons to stall a pact, and therefore put a maximalist position on the table that the American side wouldnt agree to. Whatever the reasons, the summits failure to produce an actionable agreement was decidedly not a loss. Was this the best outcome? No, says Green. A better conclusion, he says, would have been a fully consultative working-level agreement. But its still a long shot. I dont think the prospects for denuclearization have ever been particularly good, he says. I think itll take a lot of creative diplomacy to unlock all the differences. HANOI, Vietnam (AP) Even as he announced the failure of nuclear negotiations with North Korea, President Donald Trump complained that annual military drills with South Korea were "very, very expensive" and said the South must pay more for them. Trump's comments Thursday raised the question of whether the allies can hold springtime drills this year at the same level as in the past and maintain their military readiness if tensions with North Korea flare again following the collapsed talks. The alliance, forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War, has been at risk since Trump threatened earlier to pull out the 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea if Seoul doesn't increase its financial support for them. After his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last June, he baffled many in South Korea by unilaterally announcing the suspension of major summertime military drills, calling them "very provocative" and "tremendously expensive." "I want to bring our soldiers (in South Korea) back home," Trump added. Trump's second summit with Kim in Hanoi ended early with no agreement on Thursday because of what Trump described as a dispute over the lifting of U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea. When asked by a reporter whether he would go ahead with other major drills with South Korea, Trump complained about how costly they were. "And I'm not saying it's not necessary because on some levels it is, but on other levels it's not. But it's a very, very expensive thing and we do have to think about that, too," Trump said. "And frankly, I was sort of the opinion that South Korea should help us with that. You know, we're protecting South Korea. I think they should help us with that." Around this time of the year, U.S. and South Korean troops normally launch springtime drills that involve both massive field exercises and computer-simulated war games. Last year's drills were delayed for weeks to encourage North Korea's participation in the South Korean Winter Olympics, which paved the way for U.S.-North Korea nuclear diplomacy. Story continues Details of this year's exercises haven't been announced, with officials from both countries closely watching the outcome of the Hanoi summit. Seoul's Defense Ministry said earlier Thursday that the starting date for the drills hasn't been decided. The allies have been holding smaller training exercises, but experts say a prolonged halt in comprehensive exercises would eventually weaken their military readiness, especially since many U.S. troops rotate out of South Korea after less than a year of service. A key objective of joint drills is the training of both commanders and troops from both countries to be ready for any crisis. During past drills, the U.S. often flew nuclear-capable bombers close to the border with North Korea and deployed aircraft carriers near the Korean Peninsula in a show of force, while North Korea conducted high-profile weapons tests in response. "We fly these massive bombers in from Guam, and when I first started a certain general said, 'oh, yes sir, we fly them in from Guam, it's right next door.' Right next door is seven hours away and then they come and drop millions of dollars of bombs and then they go back," Trump said Thursday. "We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on those exercises, and I hated to see it. I thought it was unfair." Analyst Kim Dae-young at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy said U.S. nuclear-capable bombers occasionally dropped conventional bombs at firing ranges in South Korea during past exercises. He called Trump's description of "millions of dollars" of spending on those bombing exercises a "clear exaggeration." He said the U.S. would likely send less troops and equipment to upcoming drills, ultimately weakening the joint operational capability. "Listening to what Trump said today, I felt he's saying he will send strategic assets if South Korea pays for their deployment," he said. Worries about a U.S. troop drawdown flared in South Korea earlier this year when Trump pushed Seoul to drastically increase its financial contribution for the U.S. military deployment. The concerns died down after Trump said he had no immediate plans to withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea and Seoul eventually agreed to pay more. But similar security jitters could erupt again because the allies need to begin negotiating next year's troop deployment, and it is highly likely that Trump will demand that South Korea increase its share again. North Korea has long pushed for the suspension of joint military drills and a U.S. troop pullout. Since U.S. "carpet bombing" during the Korean War destroyed much of its infrastructure, North Korea has feared U.S. attacks. It calls its nuclear weapons a "powerful treasured sword" that can foil U.S. attempts to invade. During negotiations with the U.S., North Korea has pushed for a joint declaration of the end of the Korean War as a security guarantee. An armistice halted fighting in the war and no peace treaty was ever signed. The declaration could provide North Korea with a firmer basis for stepping up its call for a U.S. troop withdrawal. ___ Follow all of AP's summit coverage: https://apnews.com/Trump-KimSummit ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and the United States are in talks over Washington's offer to sell a Patriot missile defence system to Ankara, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday. "The United States said they could sell Patriots, and the delegations are negotiating", Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by news agency Anadolu. Cavusoglu's comments came after Bloomberg reported that Turkey had rejected a U.S. proposal to deliver a Patriot missile system by the end of the year. During negotiations, the United States said it could deliver one system earlier, following Turkish objections to the delivery times, Cavusoglu said according to Anadolu. He added the possibility of joint production or a transfer of technology were also important for Ankara. While offering the Patriots to Turkey, the United States has warned its NATO ally against buying a Russian missile defence system, saying it cannot be integrated into NATO air defences. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey remains committed to the deal for the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system. "They (S-400s) will be delivered towards the end of this year in autumn. We bought S-400s because we could not purchase Patriots," Cavusoglu said. U.S. officials have said that if Turkey proceeds with the S-400 purchase, Washington would withdraw its offer to sell the $3.5 billion Raytheon Co missile package, and could block the sale of fighter jets to Turkey and impose sanctions. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Dominic Evans and Mark Potter) Ankara (AFP) - A Turkish former opposition lawmaker was sentenced to four years and two months in jail on Friday for allegedly helping a group blamed for the 2016 failed coup, local media reported. The Istanbul court found Eren Erdem guilty of "helping an armed terror organisation deliberately and willingly without being a member", NTV broadcaster reported. The former MP for Istanbul from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was arrested last June over his alleged links to the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. Turkey accuses Gulen of ordering the 2016 attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, charges denied by the preacher. Ankara refers to Gulen's movement as the "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation". Erdem's sentencing relates to a time when he was editor-in-chief of Karsi newspaper when a series of illegal audio recordings were leaked to the media by the Gulen movement during a 2013 scandal involving key government members and Erdogan's inner circle. In 2014, several recordings, allegedly of Erdogan who was prime minister at the time and other senior officials, were published online in a scandal which the government denounced as "an attempted coup" orchestrated by Gulen. Since 2016, tens of thousands of people have been arrested over alleged links to Gulen including military personnel. The United Nations on Friday stressed that refugees fleeing conflict should be granted safe haven after Bangladesh declared that it would no longer take in Myanmar's Rohingya. Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told the Security Council on Thursday that the refugee crisis had gone from "bad to worse" and deplored the fact that none of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had returned home. "Bangladesh has been amazingly generous in the support they have given the Rohingya refugees," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "It is important that people fleeing conflict are able to find safe haven wherever they go." Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. Haque told a council meeting on Myanmar that "Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar", suggesting that his government was ready to close the border to refugees. Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?" asked the foreign secretary. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is conducting an internal review of the world body's operations in Myanmar following accusations that UN officials in the country ignored warning signs of the attacks against the Rohingya. The UN spokesman said the review led by Guatemalan diplomat Gert Rosenthal was to provide "possible lessons learned for the future" and advise on the way forward. Britain's Guardian newspaper first reported on the inquiry on Tuesday that will focus on the UN's failure to prevent the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. Some of the criticism has focussed on allegations that the UN resident coordinator, Renata Lok-Dessallien, downplayed concerns about worsening abuses against the Rohingya and sought to prioritize economic development at the expense of human rights. The UN has denied those claims. UNITED NATIONS (AP) Backing the rival sides in Venezuela, the United States and Russia failed Thursday to get the deeply divided U.N. Security Council to take a stand on how to address the Latin American nation's political conflict and humanitarian crisis sparked by an economic downturn worse than the U.S. Great Depression. The council rejected their rival resolutions the U.S. measure backing opposition leader Juan Guaido and calling for free and fair elections, the Russian draft supporting President Nicolas Maduro and opposing interference in Venezuelan affairs and any threats of military intervention. As expected, Russia and China vetoed the U.S. draft resolution, and Moscow's proposal failed to win majority support. The results highlighted the inability of the U.N.'s most powerful body to address the worsening situation in Venezuela. Immediately before the votes, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the United States of engaging in "shameless propaganda" with the goal of "regime change." He expressed concern that the council meeting "may be exploited as a step for preparations for a real not humanitarian intervention." U.S. envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams said after the vote that "the time for a peaceful transition to democracy is now." He accused opponents of the U.S. resolution of prolonging the suffering of Venezuelans and continuing "to shield Maduro and his cronies." Speaking to reporters later about when Maduro might go, Abrams said, "We hope that it's as little time as possible." He reiterated U.S. concerns about Guaido's safety and security when he returns to Venezuela and expressed hope that all council members "will join us in doing so." The U.S. draft resolution received nine "yes" votes the minimum number required for adoption and three "no" votes from veto-wielding Russia and China as well as South Africa. Indonesia, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast abstained. Story continues The vetoed measure urged "the peaceful restoration of democracy" in Venezuela, expressed "deep concern" at "the violence and excessive use of force by Venezuelan security forces against unarmed, peaceful protesters" and "recent attempts to block the delivery of humanitarian aid." It called for unhindered humanitarian access. Russia's resolution got four votes in favor, from Russia, China, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea. Seven nations voted against, and four abstained. If it had received nine "yes" votes, Abrams made clear the Trump administration would have vetoed it. The defeated Russian resolution called for peaceful settlement of disputes and a political solution in Venezuela, and reaffirmed the primary role of the government in seeking and consenting to international aid. Indonesian Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, who abstained on both resolutions, expressed regret that the Security Council could not achieve unity. He said both resolutions were incomplete, not balanced or comprehensive enough, and became "overly politicized." "This is a sad day for the international community, particularly for the people of Venezuela," he said. "This is undoubtedly a collective failure a failure of us 15 that are seated at this table, because we all came here today knowing that we would not reach the needed consensus for the adoption of a resolution." U.S. President Donald Trump has said all options are on the table in dealing with Venezuela's crisis, though Abrams this week stressed the word "peaceful." Washington's proposed resolution was changed from its initial text to include that word several times, including calling "for the start of a peaceful political process leading to free, fair and credible presidential elections." French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters: "The American draft does not represent a legal basis for a use of force, nor an attempt to undermine the sovereignty of Venezuela. Rather, it reflects the tragic reality of this country today." The vote on the rival resolutions followed Saturday's highly publicized attempt by Guaido, who has been recognized as Venezuela's interim president by the U.S. and more than 50 other countries, to deliver humanitarian aid across the country's borders with Colombia and Brazil. During Tuesday's council debate, Abrams and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza disagreed sharply over who was responsible for violence that flared when Venezuelan troops blocked the shipments. Venezuelan Ambassador Samuel Moncada told the council on Thursday: "There is no type of violence in Venezuela. If there are threats to peace, those threats come from abroad." Washington (AFP) - The United States on Thursday congratulated Nigeria on a "successful" vote, which saw President Muhammadu Buhari re-elected after delayed polling blamed on logistical difficulties. "We commend all those Nigerians who participated peacefully in the election and condemn those whose acts of violence harmed Nigerians and the electoral process," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. "We note the assessments of international and domestic observer missions affirming the overall credibility of the election, despite localized violence and irregularities." The United States has built political and economic relations with Nigeria since the restoration of democracy 20 years ago and in recent years has been especially involved in supporting its fight against Boko Haram jihadists. Buhari's winning margin over his nearest challenger, Atiku Abubakar, was 3.9 million votes -- more than enough to ensure he remained the head of Africa's most populous nation and leading oil producer for the next four years. Leading civil society election monitor YIAGA Africa, which has US and British backing, said "the announced election results reflect the votes cast," even if there were problems. The vote took place last Saturday, delayed one week over the logistical problems cited by election officials. Abubakar's Peoples Democratic Party claimed Buhari's All Progressives Congress colluded with the electoral commission to manipulate the outcome. In early February, with tensions mounting over potential violence and vote-rigging, Pompeo said the ballot offered "an opportunity for Nigeria to solidify its place as a democratic leader in Africa." He called for a "free, fair, transparent and peaceful election." US Mt Gox victims notched a legal win in their case against disgraced Bitcoin exchange CEO Mark Karpeles. | Source: Quentin TYBERGHIEN / AFP By CCN.com: Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of the notorious Mt Gox, has lost the motion to strike a lawsuit against him on the grounds that plaintiffs specifically the defunct bitcoin exchanges US victims are likely to be reimbursed eventually. The exchanges former CEO spent nearly a year in a Japanese jail after being arrested and charged with embezzlement and is now out on bail. Karpeles is awaiting trial in a country with a 99% conviction rate and faces up to 10 years in prison following the loss or theft of 850,000 BTC from the exchange in 2014. Now, a judge has ruled he must also reckon with a lawsuit in the US. Illinois Judge Quashes Karpeles Bid to Halt US Lawsuit Earlier this week, Karpeles filed a motion to stay that US lawsuit against him because civil rehabilitation proceedings are likely to compensate the plaintiffs, Mt Gox victims Gregory Greene and Anthony Motto, making the lawsuit unnecessary. Greene and Motto aim to hold Karpeles personally liable for the loss of their funds due to his role as leader of the defunct and compromised exchange during the time of bankruptcy. Karpeles defense team argued that the case should be stayed to conserve judicial resources and avoid frivolous legal expenses on all sides, also stating that a class action was not the appropriate channel to resolve the dispute between Karpeles and the former Mt Gox customers. Part of Karpeles defense is the argument that 200,000 of the stolen bitcoins have been tracked and recovered and have significantly increased in value, which could be viewed as compensation for the victims. On the other hand, it seems illogical to ignore the fact that this would have resulted in massive profits for any clients choosing to hold the entirety of their cryptocurrency funds through the astronomical price gains seen since the exchange collapsed and went bankrupt, making Karpeles claims dubious at best. Read the full story on CCN.com. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The United States is calling for a vote on a U.N. resolution urging "the peaceful restoration of democracy" in Venezuela, free and fair presidential elections, unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to all people in need and making clear its support for opposition leader Juan Guaido. The draft resolution is expected to be put to a vote Thursday afternoon, a council diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an expected announcement. But it is likely to face a veto from Russia, which backs Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the May 20 election that kept him in power. The proposed resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, also expresses "deep concern" at "the violence and excessive use of force by Venezuelan security forces against unarmed, peaceful protesters" and "recent attempts to block the delivery of humanitarian aid." At a Security Council meeting Tuesday, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the weekend attempt by the Venezuelan opposition to carry in aid shipments from Colombia nothing but a "humanitarian show" created by the United States. He said the Trump administration's sole aim is "regime change, including with threats to do so via foreign intervention" in violation of the U.N. Charter's principle of noninterference in the affairs of another country. Elliott Abrams, the U.S. envoy for Venezuela, shot back: "I reject from start to finish, I reject from top to bottom, accusations of military interventions from a country that is occupying the territory of Georgia and Ukraine." Before the council meeting, Abrams told reporters that U.S. policy "is to use as much diplomatic and economic and political pressure as we can" along with the dozens of countries backing Guaido "to support the Venezuelan people's desire for democracy." The U.S. draft resolution to be voted on makes some significant changes from the administration's initial draft, in what one diplomat called an attempt to address Russian concerns. Story continues Russia had circulated a rival draft resolution "expressing concern over the threats to use force" against Venezuela and "to intervene" in its domestic matters. Its draft reaffirmed that international disputes should be settled peacefully and urged that the Venezuelan situation to be settled "through peaceful means." The initial U.S. draft's only mention of "peace" was to recognize "the disruption to peace and security in the region caused by the actions of a regime that have caused an economic collapse." More than 3 million Venezuelans have fled their homeland in recent years in search of food, medicine and opportunities elsewhere in the region. The final U.S. draft doesn't mention the use or threatened use of force but it does make several references to peace. It "calls for the start of a peaceful political process leading to free, fair and credible presidential elections." It "supports the peaceful restoration of democracy and rule of law in Venezuela." And it asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "to help ensure free, fair, and credible presidential elections, and encourages subsequent peaceful, inclusive, and credible initiatives to address the prolonged crisis in the country." The Russians, however, are likely to object to another statement in the new U.S. text. It notes "the constitutional authority of the democratically elected National Assembly," which Guaido heads, and commends its efforts to release political prisoners, fight corruption and provide amnesties to civilian and military officials who support "the restoration of democracy." Responding to threats against Guaido and others in the opposition, the draft "stresses the importance of ensuring the security of all members of the National Assembly, and members of the political opposition." As for aid, the Trump administration's initial draft expressed "deep concern" at "recent attempts to block the delivery of humanitarian aid" and stressed the need to facilitate access and delivery of aid to all Venezuelans in need similar language to the final draft, which added a call for "unhindered access." Washington (AFP) - The United States and Russia clashed Friday over how to assist crisis-wracked Venezuela, with Moscow pledging new relief channeled through President Nicolas Maduro and Washington slapping sanctions over the blocking of US aid it tried to push through the border. A day after Russia and China vetoed a US and European resolution at the UN Security Council that called for unimpeded aid deliveries, Washington said it was targeting six Venezuelan military officers for stopping last weekend's US-led convoy. Four people were killed in the melee as Maduro's forces prevented the 178 metric tonnes of rice, beans and other food from crossing into the country from Colombia. The leftist strongman says the aid is a pretext for a US-led invasion. "We are sanctioning members of Maduro's security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The six include Major General Richard Jesus Lopez Vargas, the commander of the Venezuelan National Guard. The sanctions freeze any assets in the United States and penalize US financial dealings with the officials. The United States also revoked the visas of 49 Venezuelan officials and their family members, the State Department said. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington has recognized as interim president, had hoped to triumph in bringing in the stockpiles of food, which the United States coordinated with Colombia and Brazil. Guaido has said 300,000 people could die without an influx of aid into Venezuela. The United Nations says 2.7 million Venezuelans have fled since 2015 as the socialist economy crumbles, with basic supplies out of reach to the masses. - Russia steps up - More than 50 countries recognize Guaido as Venezuela's rightful president -- but Maduro enjoys strong support from Russia, which is eager to challenge US interventionism, as well as China, which is concerned over the fate of billions of dollars Beijing has lent to Caracas. Story continues Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, receiving Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow, said Russia was stepping up shipments of wheat and was considering sending more medical supplies after shipping 7.5 tonnes. "We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps in the international arena," Lavrov said. "This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs," he said. Elliott Abrams, the US special representative on the crisis, charged that Maduro's forces would turn Russian aid into a "political weapon" by providing it only to supporters. "Obviously we are in favor of giving humanitarian assistance to Venezuela; we are not in favor of giving it to this corrupt regime," Abrams told reporters in Washington. Lavrov voiced hope that international pressure would "cool hotheads in Washington" who he said are seeking military intervention in Venezuela. He alleged that the United States was planning to buy small arms, mortar launchers and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles from an "Eastern European country" and station them "close to Venezuela." - Warnings of force - President Donald Trump has not ruled out military intervention in Venezuela, although even close US allies have said they would not support the use of force. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who has worked closely with Trump to seek Maduro's ouster, appeared this week to suggest a violent climax as he posted on Twitter two pictures of Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi -- one relaxed and smiling while in power, the other bloodied as he was lynched in an uprising. Defying a travel ban by Maduro, Guaido went first to Colombia to try to bring in the aid and to meet with visiting US Vice President Mike Pence. The 35-year-old political newcomer continued on to Brazil, where he met the new right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, and on Friday traveled to Paraguay and Argentina. Guaido has said he will return home "at the latest on Monday" despite threats to arrest him. After meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Guaido said: "The only step backwards in this process we have begun in Venezuela will be when many Venezuelans are able to return home." Abrams said the United States was "very concerned" about Guaido's ability to return home safely and warned of a "very large reaction" if he is arrested. Libyas main rivals have agreed to hold elections in a bid to preserve stability in the country and unify institutions, the UN said. Faiez Serraj of the UN-backed Presidential Council (PC) and Khalifa Haftar, military commander and supporter of Beida-based rival administration, agreed Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to hold elections in the oil-rich country, the UNs Libya mission UNSMIL announced in a twit Thursday. The two sides agreed on the need to end the transitional phase through general elections and on ways to preserve the stability of #Libya and unify its institutions, the UNSMIL tweeted. Libya has been without a central government since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed revolution in 2011. The UN has been pushing for several years to end chaos in the North African country but the efforts have hit a buffer. In May last year, Serraj and Haftar, met in Paris under the auspices of President Emmanuel Macron of France and agreed to hold elections in December 2018 but the plan failed. The difference between the two stakeholders became more significant after Haftars forces launched in December a military operation in the south of the country. The offensive supposed to get rid of terror and gang groups is seen within the PC as a covert power grab. In November, at the Palermo conference held as part of Italys efforts to snatch an agreement for elections, Haftar refused to attend the main conference and held separate talks with envoys from foreign countries. At their meeting in the UAE, the two rivals did not set any date for the elections. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against "armed attack" in the disputed South China Sea, in Washington's starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's actions in waters also claimed by the Southeast Asian nation and other neighbours were a threat. "China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States," he said. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty." Pompeo's comments mark the first time a US official has publicly stated Washington's commitment to defending its poorly-armed ally in the flashpoint sea. A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defence treaty committed Manila and its former colonial master to come to each other's aid in case of "armed attack in the Pacific area". Philippine troops and fishermen have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces. Reacting to Pompeo, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing was committed to keeping peace and stability in the region. He added that for countries outside the region "such as the United States... it is not necessary to be deliberately provocative, or stir up trouble." The United States has said it is not taking sides in the dispute over waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. Story continues The Philippines used to be a staunch critic of China's claims over the sea. But after his election in 2016 Duterte put the dispute on the back burner in favour of courting Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then President Barack Obama a "son of a whore", but relations are being rebuilt under President Donald Trump. Senior Duterte officials have called for clarification on whether the US defence pact applies to the maritime row. But Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said Friday that Manila was "very confident" in US backing. - Huawei - Pompeo also warned the Philippines and other nations against using technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The Philippines' Globe Telecom plans to roll out Huawei commercial 5G services this year, while the Duterte government signed a $400 million deal for Huawei to install closed-circuit television cameras in two Philippine cities to deter crime. US officials suspect Beijing could use Huawei's products to spy on foreign governments. The company denies the allegations. On Friday, Pompeo said using Huawei technology carried risks. "We want to make sure that the world has their eyes wide open as to the risks of having that technology be part of the infrastructure or backbone or networks," Pompeo said. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman replied: "The government and people of any country probably know better what is good for their country than anyone else". Brussels (AFP) - The United States on Friday welcomed the blocking of a proposal to add a group of countries, including four American territories, to the EU money-laundering blacklist after almost all member states opposed it. The US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, hit out at the "dogmatic posturing" of the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm. The commission was behind the ill-fated plan which infuriated Saudi Arabia -- which was also among the proposed additions -- and exasperated European capitals. EU diplomats complained that the way the commission had drawn up the list was unclear and potentially vulnerable to legal challenges, with as many as 27 out of 28 member states opposing it in a non-binding test vote on Thursday. Crisis talks between the commission and the member states on Friday failed to yield any breakthrough and the proposed changes to the list will be formally killed off in a vote in the coming days. "It's heartening to see common sense from the member states prevail over the commission's dogmatic posturing on this issue," Sondland said in a statement to AFP. He said the US fight against the bid to list the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands was a "whole of government effort that cut across agencies". "It's a simply ridiculous waste when you think about all the effort that could instead have been spent on increasing GDP and jobs or on advancing the US-EU relationship. Instead, we had to spend our energy killing this bad idea," he said. - 'Surprising and unexpected' - Under the commission proposal, the new countries -- which also included Panama -- would have joined 16 others seen as doing too little to stop the financing of terrorism and organised crime. Those blacklisted already include the likes of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Ethiopia and North Korea. Inclusion on the EU list does not trigger sanctions, but it does oblige European banks to apply tighter controls on transactions with customers and institutions in those countries. Story continues A European source said the problem with the commission proposal was "the criteria used to create the list and the way those criteria were applied". "If you bear in mind that such lists must stand up in court, then it might give you second thoughts. We must work on the criteria and also on the justification," the source said. The US was not the only affected country to mobilise against the list -- Saudi Arabia's King Salman intervened personally, writing to European leaders to protest. The letter, seen by AFP, called the move to list the Gulf monarchy "surprising and unexpected" and warned it would damage "trade and investment flows between the kingdom and the European Union". Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva defended the list, insisting that the methodology had been created in consultation with EU member states. Having trouble finding an All Cap Growth fund? USAA Aggressive Growth Fund (USAUX) is a potential starting point. USAUX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. Objective We note that USAUX is an All Cap Growth option, and is loaded with different selections. All Cap Growth mutual funds look to invest in a wide variety of equities, no matter the size of the company and as long as the firm exhibits growth characteristics. In order to increase diversification, these portfolios have holdings across small, medium, and large-cap levels. History of Fund/Manager USAA Group is based in San Antonio, TX, and is the manager of USAUX. USAA Aggressive Growth Fund made its debut in October of 1981, and since then, USAUX has accumulated about $1.59 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals. Performance Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.44%, and is 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 15.26%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.06%, the standard deviation of USAUX over the past three years is 13.04%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.11% compared to the category average of 10.83%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Risk Factors Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In USAUX's case, the fund lost 52.56% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 3.72%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment. Story continues Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.1, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. With a negative alpha of -0.32, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Holdings Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States. As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 98.21% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $253.50 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors: Technology Finance Retail Trade Industrial Cyclical Turnover is about 57%, so those in charge of the fund make more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds. 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, USAUX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.05%. So, USAUX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective. Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50. Bottom Line Overall, USAA Aggressive Growth Fund ( USAUX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers. Don't stop here for your research on All Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare USAUX to its peers as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well. 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 (USAUX): Fund Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The official who oversaw the USs efforts to overthrow the government of Nicaragua, has claimed Washington is not seeking to intervene militarily to oust Venezuelas Nicolas Maduro. Elliott Abrams, a conservative hawk who three decades ago was convicted of lying to Congress over the Iran-Contra affair, claimed the US would take appropriate action against Mr Maduro and in support of opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who in January declared himself the countrys legitimate president. Around 50 countries, including the US, UK and Canada, have recognised him as such. Speaking to reporters at the state department as the US treasury announced new sanctions targeting Venezuelan officials linked to Mr Maduro, Mr Elliott said Washington was speaking to other countries about how to put more pressure on the Latin American nations government, Reuters said. He denied the US was seeking to intervene militarily, despite Donald Trumps repeated assertion that all options are on the table. Mr Abrams comments came after Russia this week accused the US of deploying troops in Colombia and Puerto Rico ahead of a planned military operation. The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian security council, was quoted as saying in an interview with the weekly Argumenty i Fakty, according to the news agency. The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of US forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove Maduro from power. Russia and China are among the major countries that still recognise Mr Maduro as president. On Thursday, at the UN Security Council, they blocked a measure proposed by the US calling for a fresh presidential election and the distribution of US aid in Venezuela. Venezuelas UN ambassador Samuel Moncada, told the world body the US was constantly threatening his country militarily. He claimed supporters of the Venezuelan opposition had violently tried to cross the border using trucks. Story continues It was an international incident that has been deliberately ignored. It constitutes hostile acts against our nation and a violation of the founding charter of the UN, he said, according to Telesur. Last weekend, several people were killed after Mr Maduros security forces prevented supporters of Mr Guaido taking US aid stockpiled in Colombia across the border. Mr Maduro has claimed the aid operation is part of a ploy to oust him, and his supporters point out the UN has increased its humanitarian aid distribution inside Venezuela. Also on Friday, Mr Guaido, who travelled to Argentina, claimed that 600 members of the Venezuelan military had abandoned Mr Maduro. We have spoken clearly to the Armed Forces of Venezuela. They have seen more than 600 officers in recent days switch to side with the Constitution, he said. There is a very clear process of transition to democracy. Mr Guaido did not immediately provide any evidence for his claim. What has been noticeable since he declared himself president in January, is that the vast bulk of senior military officers have not halted their support for Mr Maduro. FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's flagship VW brand missed its margin target in 2018 as operating profits declined despite growth in top-line revenues at the German carmaker, news weekly Spiegel reported on Friday, citing unpublished figures. The operating margin at the brand fell to 3.8 percent from 4.1 percent, the magazine reported, putting it short of a target of 4 to 5 percent set by group CEO Herbert Diess, who wants to raise it to 6 percent over the medium term. Volkswagen declined to comment on the report ahead of a news conference on its results scheduled for March 12. Another news conference on VW brand results is due a day later. The company, based in Wolfsburg, reported preliminary 2018 group results a week ago that were weighed down by currency effects and supply bottlenecks caused by new emissions testing rules, and warned of a tough year ahead. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine and Jan Schwartz. Editing by Jane Merriman) While Walmart is planning to replace its greeters with customer hosts, stores are "taking specific steps to support" disabled employees affected by the change, officials announced Thursday. Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., sent a memo to all store managers Thursday outlining the transition and how "each case requires a thoughtful solution." Customer hosts still greet customers but have added and more physically demanding responsibilities than greeters, which have been part of the company since the early 1980s. Some of the greeters are disabled, but the exact number wasn't available. "As can sometimes happen, this change has created some conversation both externally and internally, specifically where associates with disabilities are concerned," Foran wrote in the two-page memo. Stores started telling affected workers their jobs could be in jeopardy more than a week ago. There is usually a 60-day window for affected workers to apply for other roles in the company while continuing in their current job. Willing and able: Disabled workers prove their value in tight labor market Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox However, for associates with disabilities impacted by the changes, Foran said, the company has "extended the current 60-day transition period while we explore the circumstances and potential accommodations that will make sense for each person." Since the change was announced, Foran said, Walmart has made offers to a number of the greeters, including those with physical disabilities. "We expect this will continue to be the case for many more across the country over the coming weeks," he said. Jay Melton, who has worked as a greeter at a Walmart in Marion, North Carolina, is one of the affected employees. An online petition was started to keep Melton, who has cerebral palsy and cant walk without assistance, at the store. Story continues The Marion Walmart posted on Facebook that Melton will be staying. "We are so excited to announce that Jay has accepted a position as a Self-Checkout Host," the Facebook post said. "Jay has been a part of our store for the last 17 years and is well known throughout our community. Please help us congratulate Jay on his new position!" In his memo, Foran said he was proud of the chain's history "of being an employer of choice for people with disabilities." Walmart officials have said that after it made the change from greeters to hosts at more than 1,000 stores in 2016, 80 to 85 percent of all affected greeters found other roles at Walmart. "We are confident that we are taking the right steps to do what is necessary for the business, while also treating affected associates with the respect and assistance they deserve as they transition to new opportunities," Foran said. J.C. Penney closings: 24 stores to close as sales fall and department stores struggle Victoria's Secret: L Brands shuttering 53 more Victoria's Secret stores Follow Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Walmart CEO outlines 'specific steps' stores can take to support disabled greeters Ouagadougou (AFP) - Africa's top film festival heads to a climax on Saturday after a fierce debate about gender equality and sexual aggression in the continent's movie industry. In its half-century of history, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco) has never awarded its top prize to a female director -- a fact that faced uncomfortable scrutiny during the week-long event. "Where are the women?" asked South African actress Xolile Tshabalala, who stars in "Miraculous Weapons" made by Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Bekolo. "Can it be that in 50 years, there hasn't been a single woman capable of telling a great story to win the Fespaco?" Alimata Salemembere, a pioneer of TV broadcasting in Burkina Faso, who helped launch the very first Fespaco back in 1969, said: "There's discrimination in the cinema and in television, just like in other aspects of life." "There's no explanation, but there are people who take the liberty of discriminating against women just because they think their role is to stay at home." This year, 20 feature-length films are bidding for the top award, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, four of which have been directed by women. - 'No equality' - One of those in the running is 43-year-old Burkinabe director Apolline Traore. Her film "Desrances", which premiered on Tuesday, is a tale about the courage and wisdom of women, set against the backdrop of the 2010-11 post-election violence in Ivory Coast. Highly applauded, it won a special prize on Friday awarded by the Burkina National Assembly and city of Ouagadougou. "Of course there's a problem" in gender equality for directors, she said. "There's no equality for the craft of a woman director, not just in Africa, but in the world," she said. But Traore said that recognition had to be made on merit, not as a token gesture in the fight against discrimination. Story continues Fellow Burkinabe filmmaker and actor Isaka Sawadogo acknowledged the problems facing women in cinema, relating it to the question of traditional roles and education. "It's long and hard to make a film. To commit to this profession, you have to be a locomotive, to know how to impose your will," he said. "Traditional education doesn't predispose women to this kind of role, but rather to be a housewife and to bring up the children. For that reason there aren't many women interested in this job." For Mouniratou Gouem, a 22-year-old actress and model with a part in a Burkinabe TV series, the main battle she had to overcome was with her family -- and stemmed from her religion. "I come from a very orthodox Muslim family. It is frowned upon to be a model or an actress, because you wear fashionable clothes instead of being covered from head to toe," she says. "My grandmother associated these roles with sexual depravity." For her, freedom came with getting a job. "I was able to make my own choices by earning a living, by becoming independent. A boy would not have faced these difficulties," she said. - Touched by #MeToo scandal - The 2019 Fespaco was also marked by allegations of sexual abuse levelled against African filmmakers by actresses encouraged by the #MeToo movement. "It's time to speak out," said French actress Nadege Beausson-Diagne, who told AFP that she was setting up the movement called #Memepaspeur ("Not even scared") to help women speak out in Africa. Violence "is everywhere -- against actresses but also directors, scriptwriters and technicians, who live with harassment, sexual aggression and rape," she said, adding that she had twice been assaulted during film shoots in Africa. An online petition was launched urging Fespaco to exclude a TV series from the competition after an actress accused its director of assault. The director, reached by AFP, refused to comment. - Social themes - Other front-runners for the Golden Stallion turn a bright spotlight on social problems in contemporary Africa. They include a Burkinabe film, "Duga," a satire on traditional chiefs, religious leaders and bureaucrats, and "Resolution," an Ivorian film about wife beating, both of which joined "Desrances" on Friday for special awards. Two Tunisian films also stand out -- "Regarde-moi" (Look at Me), about a man who develops a relationship with the autistic child he had abandoned, and "Fatwa," about a father who discovers that his dead son had been a jihadist. There are two main reasons why you may not be able to use your favorite credit card at a certain retailer. young woman handing credit card to cashier Image source: Getty Images. Grocery giant Kroger recently decided to stop accepting Visa credit cards at its subsidiaries Foods Co. and Smith's Food and Drug, a move designed to pressure the credit card giant into lowering its interchange fees, or "swipe" fees. Kroger isn't the only retailer that takes issue with certain types of credit cards. In fact, millions of retailers don't accept one or more of the four major credit card types for one reason or another. Amex and Discover: Why aren't they accepted everywhere? American Express and Discover have done a great job of building up their acceptance rates in recent years, but they still don't enjoy the near-universal acceptance of Visa or Mastercard. Why aren't American Express and Discover accepted as much as the other two? Like Kroger's issue with Visa, it comes down to fees. American Express is notorious for charging higher swipe fees than the competition. While the credit card companies are tight-lipped about the specifics of their fees, American Express' swipe fees are roughly 1% higher than those of the other major issuers, according to several reports. To be fair, American Express does have a highly desirable cardmember base. Amex cardholders have higher average income and spending than the average Visa or Mastercard user, so in many cases, it's in the merchant's best interest to accept the higher fees. However, many merchants still feel it's not worth it, thus "Sorry, we don't take American Express" is still a common refrain. Discover is generally not as expensive as American Express for merchants to accept, but it still generally charges more than Visa or Mastercard, which is why Discover is No. 3 in terms of acceptance. Plus, Discover doesn't offer the benefit of an affluent cardholder base. Story continues Another common reason for "selective" credit card acceptance Swipe fees are the No. 1 reason retailers choose to accept some types of credit cards but not others. Another common reason is for partnership purposes. Costco is by far the biggest example of this, accepting Visa credit cards exclusively. Costco is expected to generate more than $150 billion in revenue during its current fiscal year, which gives it tremendous power to negotiate with the major payment processors -- especially if it's willing to give all of that business to just one company (in this case Visa). The standard swipe fee a merchant pays is in the 2%-3% range, but reports have put Costco's swipe fees to Visa at around 0.4%. Doing the math, this saves Costco billions per year compared to what average retailers pay. Some businesses don't take credit cards at all In general, paying with cash is becoming less and less convenient, especially as companies like Square make it easier than ever for small businesses to accept credit cards. However, there are some holdouts that remain cash-only businesses. This is especially common among independent restaurants. For example, the famous Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn, New York, only accepts, cash, checks, debit cards (which have generally lower swipe fees than credit cards), and their own Peter Luger card. Laundromats, vending machines, and nail salons are other types of businesses you're likely to encounter that don't take credit cards of any kind. To sum it up, there are two main reasons businesses might choose not to accept a particular type of credit card, or none at all -- fees and partnerships. Swipe fees can take a big bite out of a merchants profits, especially in businesses with tight profit margins like restaurants, and every percentage point counts. And, by using an exclusive partnership structure, like Costco does, a retailer can potentially cut its acceptance costs even further. 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. Hasakeh (Syria) (AFP) - In the four years he was enslaved, jihadists killed his father and sold his mother. Saddam is free now, but even with the "caliphate" in ruins, his life is filled with trauma. The warm living room in northeastern Syria where the 15-year-old sits is a far cry from the cold trenches and dingy basements that protected him from shellfire that targeted his Islamic State group captors in recent weeks. But his newfound comfort does little to ease the tension that grips him as he tries to tell his story to AFP. Saddam was among 11 Yazidi children rescued by US-backed forces from IS's last sliver of territory in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border in recent days. The Yazidis are a mostly Iraq-based Kurdish-speaking religious minority. The jihadists consider them heretics and in 2014, tried to exterminate them. Saddam arrived in a Kurdish-run shelter for Yazidi children in the town of Gumar in the northeastern province of Hasakeh on Tuesday. His lips pursed, he is mostly quiet. He says a few muffled words between long stretches of silence. The other children in his group don't want to talk at all, some of them even hiding their faces. They quit the last IS redoubt after jihadists trapped there allowed thousands of people to flee. Upon receiving them, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces contacted The Yazidi House, a shelter that reunites rescued Yazidi children with surviving relatives. Days after their harrowing journey out of the jihadist proto-state, the desert dust has been washed off. They sport colourful tracksuits and sleep on velvet-coloured mattresses in a room furnished with carpets and cushions. - Families separated - Most, including Saddam, come from the Yazidi bastion of Sinjar in northern Iraq, between the jihadists' former stronghold of Mosul and the border with Syria. In 2014, IS jihadists massacred hundreds of men and kidnapped thousands of women to be used as sex slaves or sold on. Story continues The fate of some 3,000 remains unknown, but some may remain in the last IS pocket of Baghouz. Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, herself an Iraqi Yazidi who was abducted and raped, called Thursday on the Iraqi government to facilitate the transfer of rescued Yazidis across the Syrian border. "There is not one family in Sinjar that has not had a member killed... or raped," says Mahmoud Racho, one of the volunteers at the House of Yazidis. Racho says the shelter has so far helped 300 Yazidis rescued from IS. For each new arrival, they contact relatives in Iraq, who come to pick them up after a few days, he says. Saddam says jihadists separated his own family. With teary eyes, he says IS fighters told him that they had killed his father. They abducted his mother and separated her from her five children, he adds. He has not seen his mother or siblings in four years, but Saddam does not condemn the jihadists. He says he did not personally suffer from mistreatment but the jihadists showed him videos of executions and "spent most of their time" teaching him the Koran. "I didn't like them, I didn't want to stay," he says. "I arranged to leave." - 'Scared to death'- Saddam's reluctance to speak is no surprise to Halifa Hasso, another volunteer at the Yazidi shelter. "Where they were, they were scared to death," she says. "When you talk with them (at first), they close their eyes or hide their faces because they are so scared," she adds. Saddam, who has only been at the shelter for two days, "didn't tell us anything", Hasso says. "It usually takes four or five days for them to start telling their stories." "We take care of them, we give them food. Some vomit, they are given medicine. After that, they get to talking. They don't cry, but tell us everything," she says. It can take up to six months for some arrivals to start speaking, especially when their relatives are still being held by IS, Racho says. He says some children come back brainwashed by jihadists. "We are asking for specialised medical follow-up," he adds. Ziad Avdal, who co-chairs the association, says it's harder for some children to get rid of this mentality than it is for others. "But little by little, these children get better," he says. Saddam now hopes he will be reunited with his mother and siblings, who have sought refuge in Canada. "I want to go there. I haven't seen them for four years," he says. "I miss them a lot." President Macky Sall Thursday won a new term in office after the electoral commission credited him with 58.3 per cent of votes during the Sunday polls, clearly ahead of his rivals who said they rejected the result, but would not lodge a recourse with the Constitutional Council to contest it. Official but provisional results of the Sunday presidential polls gave the win to incumbent Macky Sall with 58.3 per cent of votes meaning that there will be no runoff. The provisional results must be approved by the Constitutional Council. Five candidates were on the ballot paper and Salls main challenger, former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, received 21 per cent of votes while Ousmane Sonko had 16 per cent. Both Seck and Sonko said they will not challenge the results. Prime Minister Aminata Toure told supporters outside the capital Dakar that the 57-year old President led the vote in 12 of 14 regions. The voter turnout was put at 66 per cent. 6.7 million Senegalese at home and abroad are registered on the rolls. Sall pivoted on his economic record during the campaign as he boasted about the countrys 6 per cent economic growth scored under his leadership. He will rule the country for the next five years after he managed to shorten presidential mandate from seven to five years in 2012 after he defeated his former mentor Abdulaye Wade. The future of North Korea's decades-old Yongbyon nuclear complex was one of the sticking points that sparked deadlock between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump at their second summit in Hanoi. Pyongyang offered to "completely dismantle" its nuclear production facilities in the presence of US experts if Washington lifted some sanctions "that hamper the civilian economy and the livelihood of our people", the North's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in a surprise late-night briefing. Yongbyon has long been at the heart of Pyongyang's atomic development programme, but remains shrouded in secrecy. Here is what we know about it: - What is it? - About 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, Yongbyon is made up of dozens of buildings related to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. In the aftermath of the summit, a State Department official described it as: "A sprawling three square-mile site, with more than 300 different separate facilities located on it, all of which are dedicated to supporting the nuclear weapons programme in North Korea." Opened in 1986, it is home to the country's first nuclear reactor, with a five megawatt capacity, and is the only known source of plutonium for the North's weapons programme. It also produces other key fuels for nuclear bombs -- highly enriched uranium and tritium -- and according to a 2019 report by the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation has been expanding even amid the recent diplomatic thaw. The report by leading nuclear researcher Siegfried Hecker, who has visited Yongbyon four times, said the complex produced enough fissile material for five to seven atomic bombs in 2018. - How important is it? - Yongbyon is not believed to be the North's only uranium enrichment facility and closing it down would not in and of itself signal an end to the country's atomic programme. US intelligence believes Pyongyang has at least two more uranium plants -- one near Kangson, just outside Pyongyang, and another at an undisclosed location. Story continues A Yongbyon closure "may *slow* the growth of North Korea's fissile material stockpile, but it would not *cap* it", tweeted Jeffrey Lewis, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Critics also note that North Korea has already produced a stockpile of fissile material with which to build more bombs. "It is important to be precise about what a shut-down accomplishes and what it does not," Lewis added. Given the size of the complex, the State Department official said it was important to be "very precise" about what the North Koreans were offering to dismantle. "The North Koreans struggled to give us a precise definition of what that was," said the official. - What does the North want in exchange? - When South Korean President Moon Jae-in went to Pyongyang for a summit with Kim in September, the North offered Yongbyon's "permanent destruction", but only if the US took "corresponding actions". The qualification goes to the heart of one of the disagreements between Washington and Pyongyang -- the North wants the US to make concessions step-by-step along the way, particularly sanctions relief, while Washington has insisted the restrictions must remain in place until denuclearisation is completed. - Have we been here before? - Pyongyang has agreed to mothball Yongbyon in the past. The main reactor was shut down in 1994 under an agreement with Washington, only to be restarted in 2003 after the deal was derailed. Another agreement to shut down the reactor was signed in 2007, and the North blew up a cooling tower as a token of its commitment. But that deal also fell apart when relations soured and Pyongyang reactivated the reactor, using river water to cool it. Experts say previous broken promises show that simple deactivation will not be enough. "This demonstrates the need for (1) verification by trusted inspectors, (2) acceptance that somethings can be reversed, (3) the ability to reverse economic inducements," tweeted Melissa Hanham, a researcher at the One Earth Future foundation. - How could it be checked? - In the past North Korea has allowed in UN nuclear inspectors in exchange for concessions. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials carried out checks from 1994 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2009. But Pyongyang expelled them in 2009 ahead of the second of its six nuclear tests and has since refused to allow international inspections on its territory. And the IAEA has said its representatives were never given full access to the complex, including the uranium enrichment facilities. For Immediate Release Chicago, IL March 1, 2019 Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Southwest Airlines LUV, United Continental Holdings UAL, Delta Air Lines DAL, American Airlines AAL and JetBlue Airways JBLU. Here are highlights from Thursdays Analyst Blog: Airline Stock Roundup: LUV, UAL, DAL & More In the past week, Southwest Airlines trimmed its first-quarter projection for operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM: a key measure of unit revenues) due to the 35-day partial U.S. government shutdown. On an encouraging note, the carrier finally gained approval to fly to Hawaii. The government shutdown had delayed the approval process. With the Olympics to be held in Tokyo next year, leading U.S. carriers like United Airlines the wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to fly to Tokyos Haneda Airport. An update pertaining to JetBlue Airways efforts to strengthen its Boston footprint was also available in the past week. (Read the last Airline Stock Roundup for Feb 20, 2019) Recap of the Past Weeks Most Important Stories 1. Southwest Airlines anticipates first-quarter 2019 revenues to be adversely impacted to the tune of $60 million due to the government shutdown. Previously, the airline predicted revenues to decline by $10-$15 million. As a result of weak bookings, the airline now forecasts RASM to increase in the range of 3-4% compared with a rise of 4-5% expected earlier. (Read more: Southwest Shares Decline on Dull Q1 Unit Revenue View). Furthermore, Southwest Airlines took a major step toward fulfilling its 2019 growth plans when it received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly to the Hawaiian Islands. Tickets on the routes will be shortly available. Once the company commences operations to the islands, competition will heat up. Story continues Southwest Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 2. United Airlines filed an application with the DOT to operate daily non-stop flights to Tokyos Haneda Airport from six U.S. international airports. In the summer of 2020, United Airlines plans to commence operations to Haneda after the slots are awarded from its hubs at Newark Liberty, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles International, Houston George Bush and Guam (read more: United Airlines Looking to Expand Operations to Haneda Airport). 3. In a bid to strengthen its presence in Boston, JetBlue announced that it will add more flights connecting Logan International Airport to its 12 existing routes, extending along the eastern half of the United States. Notably, JetBlue will start adding the flights that will operate on a daily basis from this summer. Additionally, this low-cost carrier aims to start offering hourly service to two key northeast markets Washington, D.C. and the New York Metro Area from Boston in order to meet its target of 200 daily departures. 4. According to International Air Transport Associations (IATA) 2018 safety-related data in the aviation space, rate for all accidents (accidents per 1 million flights) increased on a year-over-year basis. The rate for such accidents was 1.35 (one accident for every 740,000 flights) compared with 2017 figure of 1.11. The comparable figure for 2013-2017 period was 1.79. Moreover, the rate for major jet accidents (jet hull losses per 1 million flights) in 2018 was 0.19 (one major accident for every 5.4 million flights). The figure compared favorably with 0.29 recorded in the 2013-2017 period. The comparable figure was 0.12. Additionally, in 2018 there were 11 fatal accidents with 523 fatalities related to passengers/ crew. In the 2013-2017 period, there was an average of 8.8 fatal accidents, with approximately 234 fatalities per year. In 2017, the industry experienced a record low of 6 fatal accidents, with 19 fatalities. Moreover, one accident in 2017 resulted in the deaths of 35 persons on the ground. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research For Immediate Release Chicago, IL March 1, 2019 Zacks Value Trader is a podcast hosted weekly by Zacks Stock Strategist Tracey Ryniec. Every week, Tracey will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. To listen to the podcast, click here: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/357327/are-there-any-safe-stocks Are There Any "Safe" Stocks? Welcome to Episode #131 of the Value Investor Podcast Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio service , shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks. Warren Buffett has been doing a mea culpa lately about Berkshire Hathaways investment in Kraft Heinz KHC. Not only did Berkshire take a $3 billion write down thanks to it but when Kraft Heinz shares fell 27% in a single day, Berkshire lost $4.3 billion. Buffett admitted he overpaid for Kraft but he also said he has no intention of selling his investment now. Many investors, however, are having second thoughts about some of the older blue-chip stocks. In 2018, General Electric GE slashed its dividend and shares sank to a multi-year low. In January 2019, Tupperware TUP cut its dividend by more than 50% and shares plunged 17%. It was the first dividend cut for the company since 1996. Are There Any Stocks that are Considered to be Safe? The quick answer is: no. Even Buffett has been caught in some unexpected surprises with his investment even though Kraft owns such well-known brands such as Jell-O, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Kool-Aid which have been around for decades. Longevity doesnt necessarily equal safety. Which Companies Are Raising the Dividend and Yet are Still Cheap? While not a sure thing, a rising dividend, year-after-year, at least provides some level of comfort to investors even though its not a sure thing that the company is well-managed, as we saw with GE. Story continues These two companies have been raising their dividend for years. Philip Morris PM has raised its dividend every year since 2008. This is an international tobacco company so regulations and changes in trends will impact its business, however. It has a forward P/E of 16.2 and its dividend is yielding 5.3%. Phillips 66 Partners LP PSXP is a refiner which has raised its dividend every year since it was spun-off from ConocoPhillips in 2013. Its cheap with a forward P/E of 12. It also has a juicy dividend yield of 6.6%. They are both Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stocks. Whats the Lesson from the Kraft Heinz Blow-Up? Every investor should always do their research on any company they buy. But even research might not protect you from a dividend cut or government investigation. Even Warren Buffett has gotten caught in what is going on at Kraft Heinz. No stock is safe which is why all investors should be diversified. While Kraft Heinz is a big position in Berkshires portfolio, it has plenty of cash on hand and other investments in which to ride out the volatility in Kraft Heinz. What else should you know about safe stocks? Listen to this weeks podcast to find out. [In full disclosure, the author of this article owns shares in PXSP.] Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com/performance 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 Tupperware Brands Corporation (TUP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Phillips 66 Partners LP (PSXP) : Free Stock Analysis Report General Electric Company (GE) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research New Zealand joined an international effort Friday to limit damage from oil spilling out of a ship that ran aground near World Heritage-listed waters in the Solomon Islands almost a month ago. The MV Solomon Trader became stranded on a coral reef on February 5 while loading bauxite at remote Rennell Island, about 240 kilometres (150 miles) south of the capital Honiara. Efforts to salvage the 225-metre bulk carrier have so far failed and experts estimate about 75 tonnes of heavy fuel oil has leaked into the sea, with another 600 tonnes still on board. "Australia remains extremely concerned by the ongoing risk of a major oil spill," Canberra's High Commission in Honiara said in a statement. Rennell Island is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and includes a UNESCO World Heritage site which extends kilometres (miles) out to sea. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is providing regular aerial surveillance of the stricken ship to monitor the unfolding environmental disaster. Pictures taken during the flyovers show a large oil slick running from the ship into the aquamarine waters and thick clumps of petrochemical sludge on the shore. New Zealand dispatched two oil spill containment specialists to the disaster zone on Friday and said they would help implement a response plan. Maritime New Zealand said more specialists may be needed as the situation evolved. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has expressed concerns about the grounding said says it is working with local officials on mitigation measures. Australia has advised its citizens to reconsider travelling to Rennell Island, warning the heavy fuel oil leaking from the ship is a toxic substance and exposure to it should be avoided. Australia's High Commission described the area as "ecologically delicate" and said local inhabitants relied on the ocean for their livelihoods. It said Australia would help the Solomons make sure those responsible for the spill were held to account. "Australia stands behind the Solomon Islands government's efforts to ensure that commercial parties responsible for this incident take action," it said. The Solomon Trader is registered in Hong Kong and operated by a Hong Kong-based company, but its ownership is unclear. Home | News | General | Senator Akpabio's fall: Lessons to be learnt by Abasifreke Effiong Editor's note: Public affairs commentator, Abasifreke Effiong, writes on the political downfall of former Senate minority leader and former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Chief Godswill Akpabio, which has been one of the trending topics in Nigeria's political circles in recent times, after he lost his seat at the upper chamber. Read below: Saturday, 23rd February 2019 was a day of political revolution in Akwa Ibom state. This article seeks to date-stamp one of the shocking events of that day; what the main casualty of the day, Senator Godswill Akpabio did which led to his unforeseen fall; the objectives of the actors who plotted the backdoor conspiracies executed through the ballot against Akpabio, a political mafia unceremoniously defeated within the trenches of his empire. For ease of reading, this piece will be written in subtitles. In the beginning Akpabio came into the political space of Akwa Ibom state through Obong Victor Attah who appointed him special adviser on petroleum and mineral resources in 2002 and later commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs; and that of lands and town planning. By 2007, he had built a generational political movement around the youths, women and some elders who saw in him a unique leadership mien different from that of the stock of the day. Armed with a rich resume cutting across his likeable personality, outstanding oratory, great mobilizing skill and an inate capacity for investing in the youths, Godswill Akpabio dared the odds, and was subsequently elected governor in 2007. Akwa Ibom people, particularly the youths saw him as the symbol of a generational shift in leadership. Through a determined might they made him governor in 2007 against the wish of his boss, then Governor Attah and other elders of the state. All reviews show that Akpabio became the governor of Akwa Ibom state through the effort of the people. This gives credence to the audacious statement by Barr. Onofiok Luke, one of Akpabio's estranged political sons who told Akpabio that he and the people made Akpabio before Akpabio made him. 2011 and Udoedehe's challenge The political upheaval stirred against Akpabio in 2011 by his 2007 chief campaigner, the self-styled "Akpan Ibibio," Senator John Udoedehe, showed that Akpabio was a product of the people. It would be recalled that Udoedehe launched a vicious assault against Governor Godswill Akpabio in 2011; that fierce campaign hinged on the alarming insecurity witnessed in the state in Akpabio's first term as governor woke a sudden rage amongst Akpabio's followers and the result of it was the in-erasable losses in human lives and properties which it left. Despite the itching for change which became intensed by the hurting of the 2011 Ikot Ekpene political massacre, Akpabio was reelected governor by the people. Akpabio's reelection came to fulfil the 'prophecy' of Senator Udoedehe who said in a video which was played repeatedly on AKBC TV during the 2011 governorship campaigns that Akpabio will be governor for eight years. READ ALSO: Simple reason APC got high number of votes from north east - Ndume Akpabio sought personal glory in 2015 The people stood by Akpabio for eight years. By 2015, Akpabio had built a formidable empire for himself and sat as "emperor" and became an authority over the people. He had "glorified" himself to a height where he thought the people can not do without him, notwithstanding his many leadership weaknesses.Typical of an "emperor," Akpabio in 2015 out of sheer arrogance sought a personal history to singlehandedly produce a successor, a feat his predecessor could not achieve. He brought Mr. Udom Emmanuel to lead his empire. Pronto, Akpabio was said to have told his lieutenants that he will handover power to his friend Mr. Umana Okon Umana, the conservative technocrat whom Akpabio repeatedly described as the engine-room of his administration. In the end Akpabio jilted Umana abruptly. When Akpabio reneged on that promise, he severed himself from the unity, trust and protection of the territories within his empire. Those who were around then could recall the chaos that upsetting change caused. That was why almost everyone, including Akpabio's aides sought to become governor right under his armpit. For the first time, some of the boys who adored Akpabio dared him and walked away. Akpabio had his way after all and 'singlehandedly made Udom Emmanuel governor.' That event is believed to have bred a pattern of mistrust within the empire, opening a corridor for his loyalists who stayed back with him to start plotting their own game, to wreck the empire. From PDP to APC: Where Akpabio Lost It On August 8, 2018, Akpabio decamped to the APC. Akpabio's defection to the national ruling party perhaps had more media reviews than Saraki's defection to the PDP, but he did not have his strongmen defect with him. Akpabio left his strong and very dependable lieutenants in the PDP and joined the APC with a few of his kinsmen who are not experienced in warfare, enough to protect themselves and the new empire Akpabio sought to build in the APC. With the Senate President zoned to the south-south, Akpabio saw an opportunity in becoming the president of the ninth Senate. His undoing was that he left out members of his political clan which he had built over the years as governor in his new power game. Akpabio is very ambitious; that is not bad. But he lost it in his strategy when he went solo. The anger in his structure is that he went for negotiation without involving them. No one wants to be a stooge all the time. Consequently, the people saw his movement to the APC as an affront and mobilised against him. The revolt against Akpabio right from his household is a lesson every leader must learn. Keen political observers must have known that his voyage to the APC would be a misadventure the moment Akpabio failed to convince his political father figure, Chief Afangideh to sign on to the bargain. This is not to say that Afangideh possess any extraordinary grace other than the blessings of a father in Akpabio's political career, but it goes to show that Akpabio thought less of the people who made him. Afangideh has stood by Akpabio through thick and thin. He was the only elder in that bracket from Akwa Ibom who graced his declaration for the office of governor on November 23, 2006, at Ibom Hall ground. Despite Akpabio's inconsistencies, the old man stood by him until Akpabio sought him to move against Udom Emmanuel. No leader moves against his empire as Akpabio did. Udoedehe tried to bring down the empire he built with the people for Akpabio but failed. The rationale for the revolt against Akpabio by members of his political clan notably Emmanuel Enoidem, Bassey Albert, Onofiok Luke, Prince Akpabio, Iniobong Ekong and many others, is traceable to his plot to dethrone Udom Emmanuel. Akpabio's men who plotted his downfall Aside from his failure to take his lieutenants into confidence on his mission in the APC, Akpabio began to speak more like an "emperor" but acted less like one. For instance during the APC campaign in Nsit Ubium, he said Onofiok Luke, Speaker of the House of Assembly and his godson whom he had blessed should be told that God has told him that he will not win the election. I don't know if Akpabio was trying to make himself a prophet! But I know that Akpabio's several Baalish prophecies could account for one of the reasons his men became resolute in plotting his downfall and the reason why people are unreasonably excited at his downfall. However, during the build up to his fall, Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem appeared to have launched the weirdest verbal onslaught on Akpabio. Enoidem had during the 2007 governorship campaigns called Akpabio a 'basta*d' on radio. In 2019, he called him a 'coward.' Enoidem was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Akpabio's administration having overseen many big and uncompleted projects of that administration including the Ibom Tropicana and the 10,000 housing scheme. Beyond Akpabio's defection to the APC, Enoidem is said to be angry with Akpabio over the attempt to force Emmanuel Ekon's third term on Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika people. Enoidem fell out with Ekon whom he was said to have brought from the U.S to contest the Abak federal constituency seat, over the insecurity in Etim Ekpo. Supporters of Ekon in the wake of the face-off booed Enoidem during the commissioning of one the constituency projects done by Akpabio in Etim Ekpo. Feelers from Enoidem's household suggest that Enoidem thinks Akpabio sanctioned that humiliation. This perhaps contributed to the resoluteness with which Enoidem worked to bring down Akpabio's scheme. For Prince Ukpong Akpabio, he is said to be angry that Emmanuel Inyangetoh, Senator Akpabio's chief of staff and maternal cousin had caged the former governor and kept him out of reach. Close friends of Prince Akpabio say that 'mega' as Prince Akpabio is fondly called, was not taken into confidence about Senator Akpabio's defection. Consequently, it was convenient for prince to stay with Udom Emmanuel to vent himself to political relevance and entreat the governor to pay the debts the State government owed him. Next is Saviour Enyiekere. The former two term chairman of Ika local government area was one of the most devoted boys to the Akpabios. He left the Akpabio's dynasty in 2014 when he was denied the Etim Ekpo/Ika state constituency ticket. Enyiekere was said to have insulted the Akpabios when he lost the ticket. For that reason, Akpabio was said to have stopped Enyiekere's nomination for commissionership under Udom Emmanuel. During the Saturday's election, Enyiekere ensured that Akpabio did not win a single ward in Ika. Udo Kierian, the leader of the state House of Assembly and international president of Nto Annang Foundation was Akpabio's core loyalist until August 8, last year. In fact it was rumoured that Kierian will defect to APC with Akpabio. Kierian did not find it funny that Akpabio left without the courtesy of notifying him. The list of Akpabio's men who plotted his downfall is a long one. For each of them Saturday was an opportunity to take their own revenege against Akpabio. When one summarises the tirades against Akpabio by his men, it shows that Akpabio had dishonoured them. Akpabio's game Akpabio took a lot of things for granted ahead of last Saturday's election. Information at my disposal shows that Akpabio did not consult his people extensively ahead of the election. Also, his boardroom aides said Akpabio never really printed a single poster nor raised a billboard for that election except those done for him by his supporters. Akpabio did most of the campaigns for the election by proxy. He rather spent much time outside the state trying to pave way for his senate presidency and left the 'small devils' within his home to grow wild. Akpabio had worked really hard so that upon his return to the Senate, he won't have a major challenger for the senate president from the South-South. There is a school of thought that says Akpabio encouraged Senator Magnus Abe, from Rivers and Senator Owan Enoh, from Cross River to vie for the governorship of their respective states so that they will not return to the Senate, so that he will clinch the Senate president's position effortlessly. READ ALSO: APC leads in Senate, secures 64 seats, PDP 40, YPP 1 Akpabio's tough talks laid him bare When a political figure speaks like an "emperor" what he stirs up in the minds of his people is rebellion. In warfare, surprise is the element. Akpabio exposed all his strategy to his opponents. First he said he will finish election in three hours. He went on to say that he has brought in three DIGs, AIGs, Commissioners of Police, Generals in the Army for the election. Akpabio stripped himself bare of strategies after he exposed the few he had. It is said that Akpabio had probably banked on rigging the election that was why commissioners of police in the state were changed almost fortnightly. His inability to remove Barr. Mike Igini, the INEC REC who is said to have a strong bias for the PDP in the state to pave way for him to manage the election as he would want and Buhari's integrity were Akpabio's albatross. End notes The political rebellion of Saturday against Akpabio is akin to the Arab spring which swept through Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain. It is really heartbreaking. The hard lesson is that no leader takes decisions for the people all the time without earning their confidence. Nevertheless, Akpabio was a victim of backdoor conspiracy by his people united for the purpose of securing their personal future. For Enoidem and others, the battle that brought down Akpabio on Saturday was the battle for 2023. A number of actors who survived Saturday's political spring have already started assembling arsenals for that famed year, 2023. This is why I should think the new commander of the army, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, should not rejoice at the unity the generals who fought Akpabio have demonstrated. Their unity was that of a defined objective and it is temporary. Udom must be ready for these men. In all of these, as Otu Ita Toyo aptly captured, "Akwa Ibom has thrown away the senate presidency with the baby." It wasn't all about Akpabio. Yes, he has lost owing to his concealed machinations, but Akwa Ibom is the greatest loser. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng. Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Twitter. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Congratulations, but remember minimum wage - Labour tells Buhari - A branch of the organised labour congratulates President Buhari over his election victory - The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) reminds Buhari about the minimum wage - The labour body wants the president to sign the minimum wage act immediately it is passed by the Senate The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), on Thursday, February 28, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to and enforce the new minimum wage act once it is passed by the Senate. Legit.ng learnt that Bashir Lawal, the secretary-general of ASCSN, made the appeal in Lagos while congratulating President Buhari over his re-election. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lawal pleaded with Buhari not to delay in signing the new wage bill when ready. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda The labour leader noted that the bill had already been approved by the House of Representatives. He praised the president for ensuring timely payment of workers salaries. Lawal said that it was good that the president did not lay off workers, noting that the labour market was over-saturated. We commend the president for ensuring that salaries and allowances of public servants are paid as and when due. We are happy that promotion arrears and outstanding salaries owed workers had been settled, he said. The labour leader said that there was no doubt that workers omitted or short-paid would be settled soonest. He commended Buhari for keeping his promise to make unity colleges to remain a commonwealth. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app For him, the president must spend his next four years looking at areas that would need improvement in order to enhance national cohesion, peace, prosperity and progress. Legit.ng earlier reported earlier that Alhaji Ishaq Hadejia, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in jigawa state, advised President Muhammadu Buhari avoid re-appointing ministers that did not performed credibly in office. Legit.ng learnt that Hadejia, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state on Thursday, February 28 on the re-election of President Buhari. The APC chieftain argued that the president earned a lot of votes from Nigerians because of the trust and confidence the citizens have in him. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Abdusalami, others in closed door meeting with Atiku, Obi in Abuja Some members of the National Peace Committee (NPC) headed by a former military head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, are reportedly holding a meeting with the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Peter Obi in Abuja. Daily Trust reports that the meeting which is taking place at the secretariat of the National Peace Committee (NPC) has in attendance Adulsalami Abubakar, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Rev Fr Atta Barkindo and other members of the committee. READ ALSO: Breaking: Buhari to dissolve cabinet - Presidency Some senior members of Atikus campaign team reported to be at the meeting include Senate president Bukola Saraki, PDP chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, speaker, Yakubu Dogara and other PDP leaders. Reports have it that the meeting may be connected with Atikus decision to challenge Muhammadu Buharis presidential victory in court. The INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, early Wednesday, February 27, had declared President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the presidential election held nationwide. Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 15,191, 847 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 11,255, 978. The president-elect won in 19 states while his closest opponent, Abubakar won in 17 states Legit.ng had reported that Atiku Abubakar, rejected the result of the election won by President Muhammadu Buhari. Atiku, who had kept mute since Monday, February 25, when the results showed that he was going to be the loser, described the election as a sham. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update The former vice president said if he had lost in a free and fair election, he would have called the victor within seconds of being aware of his victory to offer not just his congratulation. In a statement shared on Facebook, Atiku said the militarisation of the electoral process is a disservice to Nigeria's democracy and a throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | 2 Kaduna governorship candidates step down, declare support for PDP - The governorship candidate of APGA, Polycarp Gankon and his counterpart in the LM party, Ezekiel Habila, are backing the PDP ahead of the Kaduna governorship election - Polycarp Gankon tells the press that he and his counterpart stepped down after due consultation with their members to rescue the state from numerous challenges facing it - Gankon calls on supporters of APGA and those of LM to massively support the PDP in the governorship election on the scheduled for March 9 Two governorship aspirants in Kaduna state have stepped down from the governorship race and declared their support for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Isa Ashiru Kudan. One of the candidates, Polycarp Gankon of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), told the press that he and his counterpart stepped down after due consultation with their members to rescue the state from numerous challenges facing it, Daily Trust reports. READ ALSO: UK reacts to INECs declaration of Buhari as winner of presidential election In view of this decision, we are calling on all our supporters to massively support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election on the 9th March, 2019," Gankon stated. We also appeal to our supporters not to be discouraged with the outcome of the Presidential election which was rigged in favour of the ruling party, we must be resolute and determined to come out enmass and vote PDP. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update We still have candidates contesting for State Houses of Assembly for some constituencies, kindly support and vote for them but for the governorship we should all vote for PDP. The other candidate, Ezekiel Habila of the Liberation Movement (LM), urged his party supporters to move to Kaduna state and vote for PDP during the governorship election in the state on March 9. Meanwhile, the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said he was so confident of President Muhammadu Buharis victory in the Saturday, February 23 elections based on the unprecedented achievements of his administration. Legit.ng reports that the minister made the remarks on Thursday, February 28, in Abuja when he received the management of his ministry, who came to congratulate him on the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the presidential and National Assembly elections. He said he had no doubt before the elections that President Buhari would have a landslide victory at the polls. 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | I never mocked Ajimobi or said I will order my supporters to work for opposition - Shittu debunks report - Barrister Adebayo Shittu has debunked report where he was quoted to have said he would order his supporters to vote for opposition during next governorship election in the state - The minister of communications said he never granted any interview or mocked Governor Abiola over his defeat on Saturday, February 23 - Shittu, however, urged members of the public to disregard the purported interview and the statement therein which according to him did not emanate from him The minister of communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, has debunked media report where he was quoted to have said that he would work against the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Oyo state. Legit.ng reports that the minister also said he never mocked Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state, over his failure to secure the ticket to the Senate on Saturday, February 23. In a press release issued on Thursday night, February 28, by the ministers media office, Shittu stated expressly that he has not spoken to the press in recent times and neither has he directed anyone to do so on his behalf. He described the report as untrue, ill-motivated and a calculated attempt to smear his integrity by some political jobbers. READ ALSO: Abdusalami-led peace committee in closed-door meeting with Atiku, Obi The minister, however, urged the general public to disregard the purported interview and statement therein as he reiterated his total commitment to the party. He said: ''Our attention has been drawn to a report by some ill-motivated individuals that the Honourable minister of communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, mocked Governor Abiola Ajimobi and directed his followers to vote opposition. ''For the record, let me make it unequivocally clear that the Honourable minister did not grant any interview or speak to any journalist directly or by proxy, mocking the governor or the party, neither did he direct anyone to do so on his behalf. ''Before the election, he ordered all his supporters across the state to support and cast their votes for his party at all levels of the elections which in turn resulted in victory for All Progressive Congress at all levels of the election in his unit, ward and senatorial district. 'It is no longer news that I delivered my polling unit, ward and local government to the APC. If I had wanted to work against the interest of the party, I would not have gone out of my way to convince my people to vote massively for the APC in last Saturdays election which they did. I am not in the habit of mocking people in their low moments even if we were sworn enemies." ''I want to appeal to the public to disregard the purported interview and statement therein which did not emanate from the minister.'' The minister pointed out that considering his position in the present administration, he would not do anything that would undermine his partys integrity. He, therefore, called on sponsors of the malicious report to desist from their mischievous agenda as it is now common knowledge that they are only trying to discredit him with the president to further their own selfish interests. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Governor Abiola Ajimobi was defeated by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Saturday, February 23, during the National Assembly election held in Oyo south senatorial district was dashed. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Sack these ministers - Northern APC chieftains advises Buhari not to appoint family members, friends - Alhaji Ishaq Hadejia wants some cabinet members in the government of Muhammadu Buhari sacked - Hadejia advises President Buhari to avoid appointing friends and family members in his new government - The APC chieftain wants the president to consult governors in his next appointment of cabinet members Alhaji Ishaq Hadejia, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in jigawa state, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari avoid re-appointing ministers that did not performed credibly in office. Legit.ng learnt that Hadejia, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state on Thursday, February 28 on the re-election of President Buhari. The APC chieftain argued that the president earned a lot of votes from Nigerians because of the trust and confidence the citizens have in him. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Going by this, I am of the view that any minister who doesnt have the trust and confidence of his people, the President should not re-appoint him or her in the journey to the Next Level. Some of these ministers are hostile and isolated themselves from their people, they are not even participating fully in the campaign for the re-election of APC for a second term. Now that the masses have again voted Buhari for a second term, he should avoid appointment of relatives and friends into his cabinet, he said. Hadejia further urged the president to always consult state governments before the appointment of ministers. I can tell you that there are series of complaints from state governors including party chieftains that they were never consulted before appointments of ministers were made at the top, Hadjia said. Legit.ng earlier reported that the Ekiti state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Omotoso, described the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Saturday February 23 presidential election as an act of God. Omotoso stated this on Thursday, February 28, in Ado-Ekiti at a rally to felicitate with the president on his victory. He said Buharis victory was an answered prayer of Nigerians which no human can work against. It also reported that Senator Ali Ndume, a representative of Borno at the National Assembly, said President Muhammadu Buhari scored high in the north east during the election because of the relative peace that now reigns in the zone. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is looking to hire two consultants a renewable specialist and a power system planning expert to help steer the set-up of a solar corridor in the region. Between April and June this year, the experts will produce a strategic plan on how to deliver the scheme, which aims to push solar capacity up to 2GW (2020) and 10GW (2030) across a vast swath of West Africa from Senegal to Nigeria. This strategy will have to take into account all the components of this project, from production inclusion decisions to national electricity grids, fund mobilization mechanisms, to the respect of deadlines, among others. The West Africa Clean Energy Corridor Initiative was developed on the strong political commitment of African leaders to strengthen regional generation and transmission infrastructure. It provides a unique opportunity to complement other important conventional sources of power production such as large hydro and natural gas and also to foster regional power trade, experts say. The Solar Corridor runs across a number of ECOWAS countries where the solar generation potential significantly exceeds local electricity requirements and where large-scale solar generation plants could be built at low generation costs, thus benefitting from economies of scale and high solar electricity generation potential. Home | News | General | Breaking: Buhari to dissolve cabinet before May 29 - Presidency The presidency has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari would likely dissolve his cabinet before his inauguration for a second term in office on May 29. Daily Trust reports that Buhari won his re-election, polling over 15 million votes to defeat his main challenger and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Legit.ng gathered that Femi Adesina, the spokesman to President Buhari, in an interview on Arise TV, said the president is expected to officially dissolve his cabinet at the expiration of the first tenure on May 29. READ ALSO: Harassment of Igbos: Bode George tells Buhari to call Tinubu to order He said: That mandate lapses on May 29, and shortly before May 29, the president is likely going to officially dissolve his government. That is the way it is usually done. He says thank you to everybody that he has called to work with him and then he dissolves that government officially. Then when he is inaugurated for a second time, he now reconstitutes a government; he appoints his personal aides, he forms his cabinet, he appoints other people to fill other positions.'' Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the UK government congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on securing a second term as president. A statement from the British High Commission in Abuja on Wednesday, February 27, quoted the minister of state for Africa, Harriett Baldwin, as saying, I offer my congratulations to President Buhari on securing a second term as the Nigerian president. The UK is a long-standing friend and partner of Nigeria and the Nigerian people and a stable and prosperous Nigeria benefits Africa and the world." Baldwin commended Nigerians for their resilience and commitment to democracy. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | South African pastor falls to his knees as he calls 'resurrection' pastor a fake Pastor Mboro looks to be trying to take on Pastor Lukau as he was filmed outside Lukau's Alleluia Ministries praying loudly and asking God to forgive fake pastors. Mboro reportedly wants to know what drove Lukau to claim to raise people from the dead. It looks like it's Pastor Mboro vs. Pastor Alph Lukau. From his behaviour, it looks like Mboro is doing all he can to expose Lukau as a fake pastor. Lukau made headlines when he allegedly raised a man from the dead - a 'miracle' that has been shrouded in controversy since a video of the resurrection surfaced on social media. READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com) Mboro claims Lukau is besmirching the name of Christianity for media attention. However, Legit.ng reported earlier that many South Africans feel Mboro did the same thing not so long ago when he claimed to have been to heaven. In his latest attempt to take on Lukau, Mboro fell to his knees outside Lukau's Alleluia Ministries in Johannesburg, praying to God to 'forgive fake pastors'. READ ALSO: Tragedy as actor Alfred Rotimi Popoola reportedly dies after brief illness According to a report by The South African, Mboro had members of the South African Funeral Practitioners Association with him. He apparently went to Lukau's church to find out why he went as far as claiming to resurrect people. "Pastor Lukau must actually explain himself to me and the church because I am a prophet in this country and I cannot allow people being fooled in the name of God.He needs to come clean, apologise and be converted by accepting Christ. He cost that funeral parlour money, he damaged their reputation, this is not the role of the church." PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App Onlookers couldn't help but notice the shiny car with which Mboro arrived at the church, feeling it was bought with money from people who are taken for fools by him. Get the hottest gist on Africa Love Aid Other people took to social media to say that Mboro was just jealous that Lukau had the country's attention: @Ayola_M - This one loves the spotlight. He just couldnt cope with Alph being the centre of our attention @Mokgalapa_619 - drama ya mboro when he sees cameras. Ke starring @Trixx_Ray - Mboro o rata attention yeses. HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better. Top 3 Pastor Scandals: Most Discussed Humiliations | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Godswill Akpabio: The end game by Emmanuel Ndon Editor's note: Akwa Ibom-based public affairs analyst, Emmanuel Odon, writes on the recent defeat of the former Senate minority leader and former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Chief Godswill Akpabio, in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state. Read below: He mounted the saddle like a political colossus. His rise was meteoric but his fall abrupt. The political tsunami blowing across the country have swept him rough. Now, the mighty has fallen. This is the fate of Chief Godswill Akpabio, a former Senate minority leader and former governor of Akwa Ibom state. Akpabio, senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, has lost his bid to return to the Senate in Akwa Ibom North West (Ikot Ekpene) senatorial district to Engineer Chris Ekpenyong. Before now, its been speculations all through as results from the polling units of eight out of ten local government areas of the district started trickling in. He polled 67,487 against 136,373 votes garnered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom state. The former minority leader never saw this coming. What may have occupied his attention would have been how to secure the presidency of the Senate for which is rumoured to have been promised him. During the campaigns, Akpabio and his folks were jubilating at campaign grounds with mockery songs video buzzing across the social media. READ ALSO: APC leads in Senate, secures 64 seats, PDP 40, YPP 1 What may give an indication to his seeming overconfidence is his speech at a rally in Ikot Ekpene on July 16, 2018, attended by the state governor, Udom Emmanuel. It was there Akpabio gave notice of his impending defection from the PDP. He told his audience to de-emphasize the platform, because Godswill will be done again and again irrespective of the political party. Less than 30 days after, he crossed over to the All Progressives Congress on August 18, 2018 having gone to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari earlier in faraway London. Unknown to Senator Akpabio, that defection was to become his albatross. But his greatest undoing was the series of declarations which trailed his defection. At one point, he vowed to match fire for fire in what has become his infamous Warsaw saw war antics. In another breadth, the senator is said to have promised that he will deliver Akwa Ibom state votes to President Buhari in three hours. These avalanche of threats and boasts united friends and foes alike to treat Akpabio like an enemy of the state which considers the PDP as a religion. Akpabio's travails reflects a culmination of his endemic arrogance. From his days as governor, every authority and power which begot anything for anyone was arrogated to himself. His word was law. He could make or mar, his commands were final - and this made him believe that nothing could happen without him. I recall an instance where, during the 2011 elections, Governor Akpabio had boasted of crossing off the winner of the primary election and writing (in his hand), Senator Aloysius Etok's name to single handedly make him a senator. In any case, making and destroying people were his trademark. Nearly all of the elected officials in 2015 were 'crowned' by him, explaining the rampant cases of victimization and electoral heist which characterized his tenure. And this is why the people bade farewell to, probably saying "enough is enough," in response to a era of orderliness brought about by the present administration. This is largely responsible for the crushing defeat of the All Progressives Congress in presidential election, with an impending repeat in the governorship polls. Senator Akpabios defection also earned him more enemies than friends. He had failed to realize that the glory of the king lies with his subjects. Akpabio had, all along, been dwelling in the erroneous impression that he made the people and not the other way round. But the people who understood that they were the ones who made Akpabio found a way to deflate his ego and power. Now, he has been defeated in his own game. Except he finds his way through the courts (as he has always maneuvered), he will not be in the 9th Senate and his dream for the office of Senate president will also collapse like a pack of cards. But the lesson here is that, power belongs to the people. Again, another interesting aspect of Akpabios fall is the rise of his beneficiary, Governor Udom Emmanuel. But for the defection of Senator Akpabio, Governor Emmanuels second term bid would have been a herculean task. Not many people would tend to share or give in to this line of thought. However, a candid reminder is that nearly all the people who dumped the PDP for the opposition (ACN and now APC) did so because of Akpabio. Similarly, the broom revolution which was spearheaded by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate, Senator John James Akpan Udoedeghe, in 2011 profited mainly because the people united to fight a common enemy in Akpabio. The incessant cases of kidnapping, high profile assassinations particularly against the Ibibio stock, and other dissenting voices had become unbearable. There were also cases of broken promises about projects and even individuals. For instance, the 31 cottage industries for each of the 31 local government areas did not see the light of day. His promise, also to shift power to Oron in Eket senatorial district, proved a serious deception. Need we also remember his antagonism against his predecessor, Obong Victor Attah whom, from the first day he accused of leaving behind an empty treasury? In his treachery to cede power to Oron, he had projected both Ekpenyong Ntekim and Barr. Effiong Abia and made both commissioners, but in the end none even stood a chance for the primaries. These infamous tendencies have betrayed his pretence as a selfish leader and this perhaps, explains why his move to the APC was viewed as a betrayal not only to the party but the state. However, the scenario of 2011 ACN has played out in the 2019 PDP. Again, the common enemy is Akpabio. It must be said that Senator Akpabio survived the 2011 onslaught essentially the for two reasons. First, the PDP as a political party is deeply rooted in Akwa Ibom and like Dr. Effiong Edunam pointed out, as a fighting force, it is the only party that exists organizationally at the grassroots. Secondly, as a ruling party in Abuja, it was easy for then Governor Akpabio to manipulate his way through inspite of the widespread malpractices. His quest was to reenact the adventure of his PDP days in the hope that he can always find coverage under the Buhari presidency. But again, he could only have done all these because the people accepted. From the outset Akpabio didnt hide his love for power. He started out as commissioner and then began to build his empire. Gradually, he had warmed his way to the heart of his boss, Governor Obong Victor Attah. No doubt, Chief Godwill Akpabio is a man of many parts. His towering attribute has distinguished him as a leader of no mean repute. He has been a mentor to many with a knack to identify would-be-leaders whom he feels and recognizes their capacity and capabilities. His retinue of aides from his days as commissioner has had some good stories to tell about the man that came to be known as the uncommon transformer. READ ALSO: Simple reason APC got high number of votes from north east - Ndume His fame as commissioner started from the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs where he was strategically positioned and groomed for the task of higher stewardship. Akpabios relationship with the traditional institution also aided his support base at the grassroots which catapulted him to become governor. At some point, his boss Attah, had considered him for the position of deputy governor during the crisis of confidence between him and his former deputy, Chris Ekpenyong until he narrowly missed out. During Akpabios reign as governor his influence and swag could be felt around the country. Now, it is waning and, perhaps, may recede to an all-time low. Senate President, Bukola Saraki shares the same fate with Akpabio. He will not also return to the Senate unless through the courts. Both were good folks in the PDP until Akpabios defection set them apart. Unlike Saraki, Akpabio will forever remain in the black book of the PDP for betraying the party on whose wings he rode to fame and power. Perhaps his wealth may speak for him but the verdict of the people will haunt him for a long time. This may be the end game. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng. Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Twitter. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Some operatives attached to the Area F Police Command, on Thursday, fired tear gas at some anti-Bola Tinubu protesters in Lagos. The group, Free Lagos Orange Movement, converged on the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, to launch the O to ge movement aimed at ending the political dynasty of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu. The police officers, who arrived at the venue in six patrol vehicles and one Black Maria van, blocked the entrance to the hotel for two hours and prevented customers from coming in and going out. Some of the operatives also blocked the gate leading to the Oranmiyan Hall, the venue of the news conference by the group, preventing the conveners of the movement, including a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba; the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin; and the spokesman for the Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Campaign Council, Mr Segun Sowunmi, among others, from gaining access to the venue. Participants, who came for the conference, were stranded at the main gate of the hotel, causing traffic congestion on both sides of the Obafemi Awolowo Way. Hoodlums, who were allegedly acting on the directive of the senator representing Lagos West, Senator Olamilekan Solomon, stormed the venue and asked the members of the movement to leave the entrance to the hotel immediately. Although the members refused to heed the directive, their decision to remain at the gate of the hotel led to a confrontation with the hoodlums, which degenerated into a free-for-all, forcing the police officers to use tear gas and gunshots to disperse them. One of the conveners of the group, Mark Adebayo, while addressing the members, decried the violence that characterised the presidential and National Assembly elections in some parts of the state, especially in Shomolu Local Government Area and Oshodi-Isolo Local Council Development Area, adding that it was time to free the state from bondage and allow the will of the people to prevail. He said, I want you to challenge the political hegemony that has maltreated and cornered our resources. Are we so stupid and ignorant in Lagos to allow one man to manipulate and maltreat us this way? The clear answer is a resounding no. So, Lagosians, enough is enough; Lagosians arise and shine, liberate yourselves from the iron grip of one man. Stand up and free yourselves and your future from the captivity of a roguish system of power succession that lacks basic respect for the free choice of leadership. Also speaking, Agbakoba noted that the movement, which is aimed at dismantling Tinubus stranglehold on Lagos, would not be deterred by the actions of the police. He said, The Free Lagos Movement is a non-political movement that is aimed at ensuring that we have good governance in Lagos State. We feel that Tinubu has had his time as the emperor of Lagos since 1998, and we are trying to mobilise Lagosians to say no to the continuity of Lagos by Tinubu. Im not surprised that the police would come and break up the gathering, but it wont deter us as our purpose is to build on the result of the last elections. We hope to keep the momentum and we are backing Jimi Agbaje, because we want something new. Odumakin, who described the invasion of the gathering by the police as the resurrection of the Sanni Abacha regime in Lagos, urged Lagosians to vote out the APC in the gubernatorial election. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti, noted that movement did not notify the command about its mission, hence, the police action. He stated, In view of the incident that happened yesterday (Wednesday) wherein some group of persons, without clearance from the police, decided to embark on a procession, and today again, we got information that a group of people would be gathering at another location. Since we were not notified of what they wanted to do, which would have enabled us to make adequate preparation and guide them appropriately or work along with them to make the event a success, we decided to disperse everybody to prevent any incident from occurring. Two sets of people gathered and at a point, they turned it into a riotous event and we had no option but to use a public order instrument to disperse them without any collateral damage. KINDLY DROP A COMMENT BELOW A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a retired senior official of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshall Tony Omenyi (retd) to 21 years cumulative term of imprisonment after being convicted on a three-count charge of fraud. Omenyi was the Managing Director of Aeronautical Engineering and Technical Services Limited, a subsidiary company of Nigerian Air Force, when he was said to have committed the offence. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, in a judgment on Thursday, sentenced Omenyi to seven years per count and directed that the term of imprisonment shall run concurrently. The EFCC had in 2016 charged Omenyi and his company, Huzee Nigeria Limited with three counts of money laundering, upon a report by the panel set up by the Federal Government to investigate the use of the funds allocated for the purchase of arms under previous administrations, The prosecution said Omenyi, between January and November 2014, received various sums of money estimated at about N136,323,000. through his company, Huzee Nigeria Limited from Sky Experts Nigeria Limited, a contractor with NAF. M.S Abubakar, who led the prosecution team alleged that Omenyi, a sole signatory to the bank account of Huzee Nigeria Limited, received various sums of fund from the contractor when he and the company reasonably ought to know that the various sums of money formed part of the proceed of corruption. By their conduct, the defendants were said to have violated section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 and punishable under section 15(3) and (4) of the same Act, which provided a minimum of seven years and maximum of 14 years imprisonment for the offence. Omenyi was arraigned, with his company, Huzee Nigeria Limited, on November 11, 2016 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). They were charged with abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of N136,323,000 . The defendants, who was represented by Gordy Uche (SAN), denied the charges and pleaded not guilty to the charges, following which a trail was conducted, during which the prosecution called five witnesses and tendered about 20 documents, which were admitted in evidence, and closed its case on April 17, 2018. The defendant also conducted their case at the closure of the prosecutions case. In his judgment on Thursday, Justice Dimgba analysed the evidence led by both parties and found that of the prosecution credible. The judge said: Having fully reflected on the above defence as well as evaluated the evidence before me, as a matter of fact, I agree with the prosecution that the defence is a sham. What motivation does the defendant have, for spending his own personal funds towards the execution of contracts awarded by the Nigerian Air Force on behalf of the contractor, when the proper thing to do is get the Nigeria Air Force to expend the funds on behalf of the contractor to ensure the project is done? One indisputable thing is that, by the state of the law, and the entire circumstances of the case, the money received by the defendant as played out in count one, two and three, by themselves, raised criminal abilities against the defendants. I do not believe that the explanations given by the defence to the charges are credible A public official with any role to play in any contract awarded by a government agency to a contractor should at all times operate at an arms-length with the said contractor. The first defendant (Omenyi) has not operated by this standard. In the final analysis, the funds received by the defendants, as contained in counts one to three, are kickbacks in the contracts awarded by the Nigerian Airforce. Any way it is looked at, either as a direct bribe or kickbacks, or as a share of revenue or profits with a business partner, so long as the source of the funds is from the Nigerian Airforce and linked to the execution of contracts of Nigerian Airforce, I am of the view that the monies as contained in count one to three are rooted in corruption. The judge proceeded to convict the defendants on all the counts and sentenced the first defendant to seven year-per-count. Justice Dimgba equally ordered Huzee Nigeria Limited, being a corporate entity to forfeit the sum of N60 million in the custody of the EFCC to the Federal Government. He added: I further order that the second defendant be compulsory wound up by the Federal Government. KINDLY DROP A COMMENT BELOW Home | News | General | Intrigues as Bakare meets with Buhari at Aso Rock following presidential election - Pastor Tunde Bakare met with President Buhari at Aso Rock on Thursday, February 28 - The cleric did not speak with newsmen after the meeting which may have something to do with Buharis victory at the polls - Bakare had been Buharis running mate for the 2011 presidential election The general overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly (LRA), Pastor Tunde Bakare, met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa on Thursday, February 28. According to Leadership, the visit may have something to do with the presidents recent electoral victory. READ ALSO: Elections: Tambuwal seeks US intervention over harassment of PDP leaders, supporters Legit.ng gathers that the cleric did not speak with State House correspondents after the meeting. Bakare was Buharis running mate in the 2011 presidential elections. Both men had run on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Pastor Tunde Bakare stated that he told President Muhammadu Buhari that he (Bakare) would become Nigeria's 16th president. The cleric made the statement in an interview in Calgary, Canada, adding that he was building a political family from across the world which would be deployed for future political aspirations. Bakare said President Buhari is the 15th president or head of state of the country, and that he (Bakare) would be the 16th. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Buhari wins 2019 Election; Nigerians react - on Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Tambuwal laments over harassment of PDP leaders, supporters during elections, seeks US intervention - Ahead of the governorship elections, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto has appealed to the US govt to intervene in the prevention of the alleged harassment of the electorate - The governor told the US ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, that PDP leaders and loyalists had been harassed during the presidential and National Assembly elections - Tambuwal urged the envoy to prevail on the Nigerian government to allow the will of the people be granted during the forthcoming governorship elections Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state has appealed to United States government to intervene in the prevention of alleged harassment of electorate in the Saturday, March 9 governorship and state assembly elections. Tambuwal made the appeal on Thursday, February 28 when he received the US ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, in Sokoto. READ ALSO: Atiku sends 5-point demand to Buhari Legit.ng gathers that he told Symington that the just-concluded presidential and National Assembly elections witnessed harassment of leaders and loyalists of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). According to him, many PDP members were hounded and arrested by security agents on Election Day. Our appeal is to ensure the electorate in whatever political parties are not intimidated or terrorised. Because our people were intimidated to the extent of failing to discharge their civic duties in the remaining elections, scheduled for March 9. As such, I want to appeal to the US envoy to call on the Nigerian government to allow the will of the people be granted during the forthcoming governorship and state House of Assembly elections, he said. He thanked the envoy for the visit, describing such as important for the peace and development of democracy in the state. Earlier, Symington said he was in Sokoto to encourage more peaceful atmosphere throughout the electioneering period and beyond. There is no any development that can come without peace, so I appeal on all stakeholders and the good people of Sokoto to ensure peaceful polls, he said. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Legit.ng previously reported that Governor Aminu Tambuwal said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will accept any outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections. The governor made this known at his Waziri ward polling unit immediately after voting. He, however, expressed optimism at the turnout of voters and the way the electoral exercise was being conducted. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! 2019 Election: We are retrogressing in Nigeria - 83-year-old man - on Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Atiku presents 5-point demand to Buhari in meeting with Abdulsalami, warns of tension in the land - Atiku Abubakar has presented a 5-point demand to President Buhari, through Abdulsalami Abubakar and his National Peace Committee (NPC) - The demands include the unfreezing of opposition accounts, demilitarization of subsequent elections, amongst others - The NPC is expected to meet with the Buhari government subsequently and present the demands A 5-point demand has been presented to the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded presidential election. The former vice president presented his demands to the president during a meeting with a delegation led by the former head of state and chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC), General Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd), Vanguard reports. READ ALSO: Congratulations, but remember minimum wage - Labour tells Buhari Legit.ng gathers that Atiku, who met Abdulsalami in the presence of his running mate, Peter Obi, and other PDP chieftains, warned that tensions are building up in the land. He reportedly demanded for the following: 1. Unfreezing of bank accounts belonging to opposition politicians. 2. Demilitarization of subsequent elections. 3. Accreditation of voters before voting in subsequent elections. 4. INEC should open its back end server to all participating parties. 5. Release of all politicians detained illegally by the federal government. Atiku stated that the February 23 elections were the worst in the country since the return to democratic rule as the exercise was marred by brazen rigging with no consideration for the peoples will. He reportedly listed the issues with the elections as follows: 1. Unconstitutional deployment of the military which was in breach of a Supreme Court judgement. 2. Malpractice between INEC officials, the ruling party and the military to undermine the votes/voters of the PDP. 3. Collaboration between the federal government and INEC to undermine the sanctity of the votes of the people. 4. The malpractices show that there was no improvement from 2015. Abdulsalami and his team reportedly pleaded with Atiku to avoid anything that would jeopardize the peace of the nation. The NPC is expected to meet the Buhari government with the demands. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Atiku Abubakar is confident that he would be victorious when he formally institutes an election petition case against President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. One major reason for Atikus confidence is the alleged wide-ranging availability of video evidence to back up his claims of non-voting, voter intimidation, ballot box snatching and destruction, illegal vote cancellation and deliberate voter disenfranchisement. An associate to the presidential candidate said the PDP prepared in advance for the APCs rigging by sending agents with hidden cameras to the field. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? - on Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Elections 2019: We have no issues with Abia north result - INEC - The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it has no problem with election result in Abia North - The commission rather said it only only has issues with National Assembly polls conducted in Aba South - The electoral body made the clarification to clear the air on the controversy surrounding Chief Orji Kali's emergence in Abia North The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the commission has no issues with the result of Saturdays National Assembly polls in Abia North senatorial district. Bamidele Oyetunji, the public relations officer of the commission in Umuahia, the Abia capital, said this in an interview with newsmen on Friday, March 1, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. READ ALSO: APC forms majority as Saraki, Akpabio, 62 senators, 151 reps fail to return Bamidele said that the commission only had problem with the results of the National Assembly polls in Abia South senatorial district, which were still awaiting declaration. The clarification was coming on the heels of the agitation by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the declaration of Chief Orji Kalu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as the winner of the election in Abia north. Kalu, who polled 31,201 votes was declared the winner ahead of the two other frontline contenders, including Ohuabunwa and Chief David Onuoha, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who scored 20,801 votes and 11,410 votes, respectively. Ohuabunwa had alleged in a statement issued in Umuahia that the returning officer for the election, Charles Anumudu, did not declare anybody winner of the poll. He claimed that the number of canceled votes, totalling 76,889, was higher than the margin of lead, put at 10,402 votes. He said that the difference between the margin of victory and canceled votes was 66,487. He therefore urged INEC to order for a rerun in the areas, where the election was cancelled. But according to Oyetunji: the commission has no problem with the result of the polls in Abia north. Also, the head of voter education and publicity unit of the commission, Achibie Chigozie, said that Ohuabunwa knew where to direct his grievances. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, was urged to stop the announcement of the presidential election results. The PDP made the call in a press conference addressed by deputy director-general of the PDP presidential campaign organisation, Kabiru Turaki, alongside other party officials on Tuesday, February 26. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! 2019 Election: Presidential candidate, party leaders react to announced results| Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Don't not allow selfish people to hijack National Assembly - Rep-elect urges Buhari - President Buhari has been asked to guide the APC in the selection of the 9th assembly leadership - According to Ahmed Manir, the president should not allow selfish people to hijack the National Assembly as they did in 2015 - Manir said it obvious APC would have the majority at the Senate and House of Representatives Ahmed Manir, a newly elected House of Representatives member for Lere federal constituency, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to guide the APC in the selection the 9th assembly leadership. Daily Trust reports Manir who contested under the platform of APC and was declared the winner of the Lere federal constituency seat in Kaduna state by the INEC made the call on Thursday, February 28. He maintained that President Buhari should not allow selfish people to hijack the National Assembly as they did in 2015. READ ALSO: US congratulates Buhari, makes key remarks on conduct of polls The new legislator disclosed that it was already confirmed that APC would have the majority at the Senate and House of Representatives due to the results released by the commission. He said: This makes it easier for the party leadership to avoid the mess of 2015 where some people for their selfish interest held the legislature to ransom. Recalled that after the just concluded elections, 64 presently serving senators and 151 members of the House of Representatives would not be returning to their seats in the next 9th National Assembly. Only 209 members of the House and 45 senators will be retaining their seats going by the election result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Also, 42 of the 64 senators that would not be returning lost out at their primaries since October 2018, while the other 22 suffered defeat at the just concluded general election. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have updated to serve you better! Nigeria News 2018: 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV: 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will convene its 44th annual meeting in Marrakech April 3-6 to discuss challenges and explore opportunities facing IsDB Group member countries. The announcement of the venue was made Thursday by Moroccan Minister of Economy & Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun during the Public-Private Partnerships Forum 2019 organized by the IsDB in Rabat. Mohamed Benchaaboun also announced at a press conference on the sidelines of the forum that the Jeddah-based financial institution has decided to raise its financial assistance to Morocco in the period 2019-2022. He said that a convention relating to the new IsDB financing program will be signed in Marrakech on the occasion of the 44th Annual Meeting of the Saudi banking institution. We are in the process of finalizing this funding program which will interest the strategic sectors of health, education and the regions, he said, without however disclosing the amount of the financial assistance. Chair of the IsDB Group, the Saudi Bandar Hajjar on his part praised Moroccos African expertise, and expressed his institutions wish to benefit from this experience to improve partnership with African countries. The Public-Private Partnerships Forum 2019 was attended by decision-makers from the public & private sectors, internationally renowned experts, Govt officials and business leaders. They discussed the opportunities and challenges to create the best environment for PPP projects, particularly in the African continent, as the traditional model of government-financing is no longer sustainable. As the development financing gap widens to $ 2.5 billion per year, the IsDB is pleading for a new global development model likely to enable all economic agents in the market both public and private to play a role in development. Morocco was chosen to host the PPP Forum, in recognition of its success with PPPs and co-financed projects, including the expansion and rehabilitation of the Jorf Lasfar Port project, the Tangier-Casablanca high-speed rail line and the Noor Solar Power Complex. Since its inception, the Islamic Development Bank has supported PPP projects in its 57 Member Countries with an amount of $3.93 billion where co-financing was in excess of $45 billion, in the areas of utilities, financial services, minerals, energy and healthcare. Morocco is one of the Banks key beneficiaries of PPP projects and has received $6.7 billion in financing since the creation of the bank in 1975. Home | News | General | Jigawa state gets guber, NASS polls petition tribunal - Petition tribunal for governorship, state, and National Assembly elections have been constituted in Jigawa - The state has also approved the use of chief magistrate court 1 Hall, high court of justice Dutse as trial courts and registry - The state government urged security agencies and media houses sensitise the public on the fact that the registry is open to everyone The president of the federal Court of Appeal, Justice Zainaab Bulkachuwa, has constituted the governorship, National and state Assembly tribunal for 2019 elections for Jigawa. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda This is announced in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Thursday, February 28. The chief judge of the state, Justice Aminu Sabo, has, in line with the development, approved the use of chief magistrate 1 Hall, high court of justice Dutse as trial courts and registry. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! The statement urges the police, State Security Service (SSS) the media and the general public to note that the registry of the tribunal is open to members of the public and litigants for enquiries from 8: 00 a.m daily. Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed, the new acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on Saturday, January 26, swore in 250 members of the general elections tribunal. During the swearing-in ceremony held in in Abuja on Saturday, Muhammed admonished the members of the election tribunals to carry out their duties with integrity and godly fear in their hearts. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Onnoghen Absent As Trial Commences | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Phyno replies artist who painted a portrait of him, Nigerians tell him to help the talented man out like Kevin Hart Often times, creative Nigerians put out their works on social media with the hope that someone willing to invest, help or patronize them would see it. It is a common practice among talented artist to paint portraits of their favourite celebrities and post it on social media. This move has helped many of these artist grow and be known both at home and abroad. Legit.ng recently reported that Hollywood comic actor Kevin Hart had promised to help a Nigerian artist who painted a portrait of him. Nigerians celebrated with the artist and many even thanked the actor for his kindness. It could be assumed that many Nigerian artists who were moved by what Hart did have also decided to follow in the footsteps of the lucky artist. Another Nigerian artist identified as Arinze Stephen Ekwuide took to his Twitter account to share a pencil painting of popular Nigerian rapper Phyno. READ ALSO: Nigerians react to Kevin Hart supporting young pencil artist from Kaduna This move by the artist caused the rapper and many Nigerians to react. Phyno replied the young artist by acknowledging his work, expressing that he did a good job. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Nigerians who saw the rapper's reply however stated that he should also help like Kevin Hart did with the other artist. Others just laughed about his reply and another Twitter user expressed that everyone cannot be like the Hollywood actor. PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Nigerians had tried to cajole rapper Ycee to support another artist identified as @austinelkhasy who made a pencil sketch him. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda A Twitter user identified as @Iam_KingBuchi had tried to guilt trip the rapper into buying the artwork, but the rapper had swiftly replied by saying he is not Kevin Hart, he also thanked the artist for taking out his time to sketch the beauty artwork. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better Top 5 Nigeria Rappers: Falz, Olamide And... Guess Who Else! - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Hundreds of women storm Abuja, beg Atiku to concede defeat - Several women stormed Abuja street to beg Atiku Abubakar to concede defeat - The women asked the PDP candidate to call President Buhari and congratulate him - The group convener urged Atiku to save Nigeria from anarchy by accepting defeat Women under the aegis of Two Million Woman Rally for Democracy in Nigeria, on Friday, March 1, staged a street rally to urge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to concede defeat. The women are asking the PDP candidate to call and congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the recently concluded presidential election. Women stage a rally in Abuja to beg Atiku Abubakar to concede Source: UGC READ ALSO: APC suspends Amosun, Okorocha from party The women started their march at the Unity Fountain down to Hilton Area before proceeding to the Force headquarters, Eagle Square. Women stage a rally in Abuja to beg Atiku Abubakar to concede Source: UGC The group convener, Mary Onuche, urged Atiku to save Nigeria from anarchy and embrace Buhari. Onuche said: "Fortunately for Nigeria, our democracy, though still young, has continued to evolve in ways that reassure us that things can only get better. One such leap is the development in 2015 when the then President Goodluck Jonathan called to congratulate the then winner of the presidential election, incumbent President Buhari, even before the votes tally was completed. "That singular act of patriotism is today hailed as the benchmark of the level of statesmanship befitting of candidates in our elections. May God bless President Goodluck Jonathan, the hero of our modern democracy. "This has become a modern democratic culture in Nigeria for which former President Jonathan will continue to receive accolades. Had he acted contrary at that time, perhaps democratic growth in Nigeria might have been stunted or even truncated. "But thankfully he set the benchmark, a standard that we today expect from anyone that takes part in the presidential election. "We therefore call on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to emulate the statesmanship of President Jonathan and quit his on-going disruptive stance on the election." Meanwhile, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), called on the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to pick out and prosecute agent of mass killings, violence, and ballot box snatching in the just conducted general elections. The national chairman of the APC said that the lawlessness in the country cannot be stopped until those who think they can overrule the will of Nigerians are jailed. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app Oshiomhole made his comment on the basis of the recent killings and election disruptions in states like Rivers and Imo, insisting that the people who are involved must face punishment. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! 6 things that may happen on Election Day | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Africans challenge 'resurrection' pastor to bring back Nelson Mandela It has been a couple of days since the video went viral of Pastor Alph Lukau allegedly resurrecting a man and Africans are still not over it. In fact, they have now called on Lukau to bring back Mandela to life. On Thursday, February 28, Pastor Paseka "Mboro" Motsoeneng visited the Alleluia Ministries church to call out Lukau. "If it's true that you resurrected a man, then let's go to Mandela's grave to do the same," Mboro said during his visit. Mboro was not the only one who wanted to see Pastor Lukau bringing back the late father of the nation. READ ALSO: Music producer Don Jazzy shares hilarious sketch a fan made of him Legit.ng spotted several social media posts where South Africans challenged the resurrection pastor to bring back Madiba, and other notable names as well. Here are some reactions below: Social media user @tebohomajoro0 commented: "So that Pastor Lukau saw us burying Mandela and he kept Quiet?" Another tweep, @FruityStar, added: "If Pastor Alph Lukau can bring back Tata Nelson Mandela only then will i believe this resurrection rubbish, until then ke masipa daai ding." Thabombaki Laghu, who goes by the Twitter handle @tabofred, said: "So Pastor Alph Lukau watched us burry Nelson Mandela &Lucky Dube just like that??" PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group Meanwhile, Ikorodu Bois recently mimicked Pastor Lukau resurrection miracle. The hilarious video has made rounds on social media. 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 Nigerian Pastor Reveals How He Got the Gift of Prophecy at a Young age on Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Election 2019: Group lists 8 recommendations for future polls - Connected Development (CODE) has presented its final report on the Nigerian 2019 presidential election - The report was presented by the head of mission, CODE election observation team, Hamzat Lawal, to members of the public - The report is geared towards recounting findings by Uzabe mapping tool, CODE's tech election observation platform Connected Development (CODE) on Thursday, February 28, presented its final report on the Nigerian 2019 presidential election. The report was presented by the head of mission, CODE election observation team, Hamzat Lawal, to members of the press, the government, civil society groups, political parties and other national stakeholders. The report is geared towards recounting findings by Uzabe mapping tool, CODE's tech election observation platform. Uzabe is a real-time (web-based map) situation technology that captured election processes across the 36 states of Nigeria with about 5,000 observers deployed by CODE nationwide during the polls. It also provided real-time reports on security intelligence to strengthen mitigation and emergency response during violence and establish early warning systems for vulnerable communities. The technology was officially launched on Wednesday, February 13 at a press briefing in Abuja. CODE would like to emphasize that Uzabe is not keen on results but rather observing the electoral process and analysing issues that are critical to running a fair electoral process, Lawal clarified. Legit.ng lists 8 suggestions by CODE to election stakeholders below: 1. CODE suggests that in order to enhance confidence in the election process, INECs complete autonomy must be strengthened to ensure it provides more effective and objective electoral process. We seek to see an INEC that is decentralised to avoid issues of logistics and operational issues. 2. INEC must develop result-management process using competent and secure technology; and must provide a more conducive environment for collating results in regions. 3. There should be policies and regulations guiding campaign financing to enhance accountability of political candidates and also legal measures should be introduced to address abuse of state resources. 4. INEC must introduce reforms that allow for Nigerians in the diaspora to vote the candidate of their choice. 5. Under-age voting is a violation of the Nigerian constitution and it is prevalent in some regions of the country. INEC must work to curb this issue as it serves as an indictment on the credibility of election process and ultimately a threat to our democracy. 6. Appropriate authorities should investigate all allegations of violence and cases of violent acts, as well as vandalism and destruction of election materials and electorates properties, in accordance with the rule of law, and perpetrators held legally responsible. 7. Party agents must learn to be cordial irrespective of political differences and must desist from inciting election-violence. Government must apply punitive measures in prosecuting criminals and perpetrators of election-based violence. 8. Security agents must do better in protecting lives and properties of the electorate and ensure lives are not lost during the electoral process. We cannot keep addressing issues of electoral violence except we adequately prepare for these contingencies. We, however commend INEC, for allowing the will of the people to be heard, and for remaining firm on her duty regardless of pressure from political actors that want to truncate the electoral process. We urge citizens to support INEC, particularly the Resident Electoral Commissioners, and they should come out en mass to vote their candidate of choice for the gubernatorial elections, Lawal said. READ ALSO: My government will be tough this time around - Buhari declares Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for their dedication and professionalism during the elections. The mission in a statement signed by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; former Liberian president and leader of the ECOWAS observation mission, noted that the voting process went on smoothly despite the widespread delays witnessed at the commencement of the polls. ECOWAS also applauded the effective presence of security agencies at various polling units for maintaining peaceful order and curtailing outbreak of violence experienced in some places. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. 2019 Election: Nigerians react to Saraki's loss as INEC releases more results| Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Nobody can say I did not go to heaven - Prophet Mboro says On Thursday, Pastor Paseka "Mboro" Motsoeneng spoke to reporters outside the Alleluia Ministries' church about miracles and fake prophets. The controversial prophet reiterated the fact that he went to heaven. Earlier, the pastor tried to criticise his colleague for claiming to raise a dead man. But he was lambasted for throwing stones while living in a glass house. Hence, Mboro is no stranger to controversies himself. Journalists asked Mboro about his own questionable miracles and a video posted on Twitter by the Daily Sun showed his response. Mboro spoke about his claims that he killed the devil and false reports that he said Jesus was dating a Xhosa woman. READ ALSO: Video shows Pastor Mboro falling to his knees calling Alph Lukau fake However, at the very start of the clip, the controversial man reiterated that he went to heaven and that no one could prove otherwise. "Even if I can say I went to heaven, nobody can say I didn't go to heaven, because nobody knows heaven," he said. 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 However, it was gathered some social media users pointed out he forgot the part where he claimed he had taken photos of heaven. Twitter users added Mboro had contradicted himself when he claimed he went to heaven, but, then added "nobody" knows heaven. Social media user @Mlungisi06 commented: "So, in short, he admits that he was lying about the going heaven thing." PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Recently, the same pastor took to calming the crowd that stirred up after another wealthy pastor Shepherd Bushiri and his wife were convicted and arrested for the suspected crime of fraud. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better. Top 3 Pastor Scandals: Most Discussed Humiliations | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Time has come when we all have to put politics aside and adopt progressive imagination to deal with our current scenario. It is not proper for country which was a bread basket nation before would adopt the dependence syndrome mentality to countries like Botswana, to an extent of begging for pads and bandages. I once highlighted in my previous publications that Zim Government must deal with the issue of public relations. It was an embarrassment for ministry of information and Zimbabwe Broadcasting officials retracting statements which they earlier on pronounced on the state media and this has gone far and below the level of a belt. What has gone wrong with our country? We should not allow such desperation to drag our country in this mud. We must learn to admit failure and accept that we don't have, but we must apply principles and we must not throw away our dignity because we are desperation. Our country is likely to be duped by purported investors, who will come to Zimbabwe pretending to be investors, because of the kind of ignorance and level of desperation we are displaying as a nation. I urge President Mnangagwa to deal with his PR team to avoid further humiliation by foreign Governments. Botswana Government made it clear last night with a circular, which we did not give Zimbabwe any kind of assistance, but State broadcaster had already paraded false information regarding the deals between Zimbabwe Government and their Botswana counterpart. This must stop forthwith and we must exercise caution when dealing with matters of public interest. Policy clarity There is need for consistency in terms of policy guide. There has been several changes regarding policy clarity on monetary and fiscal policy which then does not inspire or bring any investor confidence. There is need for the Government of Zimbabwe to engage meaningful academics and policy makers on clarity on certain aspects of the economy. There was rampant invasion of several mines countrywide and fresh farm invasions which does not reflect any positive side of our ruling Government. Some key opposition forces went to an extent of losing farms to key ruling party officials which further dent the Government's image and put Zimbabwe under spot light on human rights violations. There is need for creation of ministry of Planning and Policy formulation to further deal with policy clarity and investment issues. Inclusive approach What is difficult for Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa to meet and resolve the political and economic impasse we have at hand? What a waste of tax payer's money, having dialogue meetings which do not yield anything. It's time to set aside political ideologies and focus on economic development and development agenda. We need an inclusive approach when dealing with matters of national interest. Look at Kenya, look at Botswana, Uganda, Rwanda and these are the results of inclusiveness. We cannot continue to be in an election mood. Yes the dispute was there, but let's reasonably go back to the drawing board as a nation and see where we went wrong, and deal with decisiveness approach, so that we can build our nation. In this era it's an embarrassment to talk of abductions, brutal cases, this is the time for technological advancement, and promote economic development. Does this mean we will spend a decade without jobs because our country is marred by violence and election disputes? This is the time we expect Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa to sit down and resolve their political differences for the good of our nation. We have economic documents such as ZIM ASSET, JUICE, SMART and BUILD, why can't we have them and come up with a proper empowerment broad based plan. Broad Based Empowerment Plan The idea is to empower citizens. Minority are the ones with lavish life style, living large at the expense of the majority of citizens. I would suggest that every deal that the Government signs must have a large chunk which accommodates women, youths and other key economic sectors. Can this be normal to have an individual controlling larger stake in our economy? The poor will continue to be poor and rich will get richer. One thing you have to take note is that, about 97% of our population belongs to the informal trade, and this is the same group with potential voting system which has a potential of changing the political landscape. There must be a broad based empowerment policy plan which must accommodate everyone in all sectors of the economy. We had alluvial diamonds in Marange, there is nothing to show in Manicaland, look at their infrastructure, yet they are the ones who had diamonds which were worth 60 billion. Everything was looted and Zimbabweans remained poor despite being the second largest platinum producer in Africa. Government must revise all its deals to accommodate the idea of empowerment. Deal with corruption Corruption is the root of all our problems in Zimbabwe. Look at ZINARA, ZESA and all other state entities, corruption is the order of the day. No one is in jail because of corruption. How then do we define the Zimbabwe is open for business mantra with such toxic economic environment? The Government remains silent on corruption, our state institutions are marred with corruption. So many Government projects have been brought to halt because of corruption. Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo is an academic and development practitioner studying Doctor of Philosophy degree at Women's University of Africa and He can be contacted at tinamuzala@gmail.com Home | World | Africa | Former Army Commander, ex-defence minister opposes judge Former Army Commander, ex-defence minister opposes Zimbabwe judge Zimbabwe's Justice Charles Hungwe is among five foreign judges facing rejection by Lesotho's murder-accused former Defence minister Tseliso Mokhosi, former army commander Tlali Kamoli and 14 other members of different security agencies. Mr Mokhosi was Lesotho's defence minister until June 2017 and Lieutenant General Kamoli was the army commander until his retirement in December 2016. Mr Mokhosi, Lieutenant General Kamoli and the other members of the country's army, police, prisons and intelligence services recently launched an urgent High Court application for the reversal of the appointment of foreign judges to handle their criminal cases. The first of the five foreign judges to try cases involving politicians and members of the security agencies, Zimbabwe's Justice Charles Hungwe, has already been to Lesotho in connection with the high-profile cases. Justice Hungwe was sworn-in at the High Court on 15 January 2019 and on that same day, he got down to work, setting dates for the various criminal cases which will begin when the other foreign judges jet into the country before the end of this month. But ahead of the arrival of the remaining foreign judges and the commencement of the trials, Mr Mokhosi, Lieutenant General Kamoli and 14 others filed their court application on 15 February 2019. The other 14 applicants are Thabo Tsukulu, Mothibeli Mofolo, Mabitle Matona, Rapele Mphaki, Pitso Ramoepana, Lekhooa Moepi, Mahlele Moeletsi, Mahlomola Makhoali, Nthatakane Motanyane, Motsoane Machai, Liphapang Sefako, Nemase Faso, Tieho Tikiso and Litekanyo Nyakane. They want the appointment of the foreign judges by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of Lesotho to be nullified on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. In terms of the interim relief, they want Justice Hungwe and the other foreign judges to be interdicted and prevented from commencing criminal proceedings until the finalisation of their main court application. "The first respondent (Justice Hungwe) and/or any foreign judge who has been appointed to preside over criminal proceedings (should) be interdicted and prevented from convening and commencing criminal proceedings pending finalisation of these proceedings," part of the application states. "These criminal trials are stayed (deferred) until finalisation of the final relief (nullification of foreign judges' appointments). "It is declared that the appointment of the first respondent or any foreign judges specifically to preside over criminal proceedings was made in violation of the national constitution and is therefore null and void and of no force and effect. "The recommendation by the Judicial Service Commission to appoint foreign judges to His Majesty the King (Letsie III) and the subsequent appointment of the first respondent (Justice Hungwe) or any foreign judge, pursuant to the initiatives of the executive, violates the provisions of section 132 (8) of the constitution which provides that in the exercise of its functions under the constitution, the Judicial Service Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority." The applicants further state that the appointment of foreign judges violates "provisions of section 12 (1) of the Constitution which guarantees the right to fair trial, section 118 (3) of the constitution which guarantees the independence of the judiciary and are therefore null and void and of no force and effect". In his affidavit submitted as part of the application, Lt-Gen Kamoli said, "I aver that I appeared (last month) before a foreign judge (Justice Charles Hungwe) whose particulars I do not know. The Honourable judge indicated in an open court that he has learned about my attitude". "In this regard, I shall request the copy of the record to be transcribed as the exchange between us showed a judge who is not independent but has prejudged matters and accused persons he is yet to try. "I aver that similar position applies to his colleagues who were appointed under similar circumstances. I believe that I am accurate in that analysis. I was surprised by this particular judge's attitude towards me when I requested clarity over simple things such as why the (Assistant) High Registrar (Staford Sharite) was allowed to give me documents when my counsel was denied that opportunity," Lt-Gen Kamoli states. Mr Mokhosi also states in his affidavit that foreign judges had been appointed to deliver verdict in line with the government's desire to have them jailed. "I wish to indicate that we object to the government made up of politicians like myself initiating the appointment of judges because we suspect thatthe government is desirous to have certain outcomes. "In particular I am clear in mind that the government the government wants us to be convicted at all costs and receive the harshest possible sentences. "The participation of the Attorney General, the legal adviser of the executive and the Director of Public Prosecutions, the prosecuting authority in our criminal trials, in the recruitment of (foreign) judges gives a reasonable impression that certain judges are picked to achieve certain desired criminal trial outcomes." Lt-Gen Kamoli faces a murder charge stemming from the 30 August 2014 killing of Police Sub-Inspector, Mokheseng Ramahloko. Sub-Inspector Ramahloko was shot and killed by soldiers during the attempted coup of 30 August 2014 at the police headquarters in Maseru. The soldiers who allegedly acted on the instructions of the then army commander, Lt-Gen Kamoli, also raided several other police stations in Maseru and seized an assortment of weapons. Lt-Gen Kamoli also faces 14 counts of attempted murder in connection with the 27 January 2014 simultaneous bombings of the Moshoeshoe II homes of First Lady Maesaiah Thabane and the Ha Abia residence of former police commissioner, Khothatso Tsooana. He is charged alongside Major Ramoepane, Captain Litekanyo Nyakane, Sergeant Heqoa Malefane and Corporal Mohlalefi Seitlheko. Major Ramoepane faces a separate murder charge in connection with the 5 September 2017 assassination of army commander Lt-Gen Khoantle Motsomotso. Mr Mokhosi faces charges of murdering Police Constable (PC) Mokalekale Khetheng. He is charged along with former police commissioner Molahlehi Letsoepa and four other police officers. The other officers are Senior Superintendent Thabo Tsukulu, Superintendent Mothibeli Mofolo, Inspector Mabitle Matona and Police Constable Haleokoe Taasoane who are all currently on suspension from the police service. Messrs Mokhosi and Letsoepa are in exile while the four officers are still detained at the Maseru Maximum Security Prison. There are 10 soldiers who stand accused of strangling Lekhoele Noko, Molise Pakela and Khothatso Makibinyane at Setibing in rural Maseru on 16 May 2017 and dumped their bodies in the Mohale Dam. The 10 soldiers are Brigadier Rapele Mphaki, Sergeant Lekhooa Moepi, Captain Mahlehle Moeletsi, Lance Corporal Mahlomola Makhoali, Private Nthatakane Motanyane, Motsoane Machai, Tieho Tikiso, Pitso Ramoepana, Liphapang Sefako and Nemase Faso. The soldiers allegedly kidnapped and murdered the three men after the trio had just been released from police custody where they were detained in connection with a shooting incident that occurred at the Maseru border gate on 13 May 2017. Mr Mokhosi, Lt-Gen Kamoli and the others' court application has been a long time coming. Last April, the lawyers representing Lt-Gen Kamoli and other soldiers threatened to file a constitutional application to oppose the recruitment of foreign judges. They said the recruitment of foreign judges amounted to an interference with the independence of the judiciary. In his address to the High Court on behalf of the defence lawyers in April 2018, Advocate Motiea Teele, said "the unanimous view of all counsel appearing in these matters is that we will not accept the involvement of foreign judges to hear these matters". "Our local judges are competent and able to deal with these matters. It has come to our attention that the involvement of foreign judges was at the initiative of the executive. It has now come to the public knowledge that this initiative was not done in consultation with the chief justice (the now suspended Nthomeng Majara)," Adv Teele submitted. He added: "The proper constitutional way is by the advice of the chief justice and this must be done to reduce the backlog of cases in this court. But in this case, it is the government that says it is going to give the chief justice judges that will be sourced elsewhere. "The correct position is that the chief justice should advise the government and the government should assist with funds. The business of this court is the responsibility of the chief justice. The question of allocation of cases is one of the integral parts of the judicial independence." Last November, Mr Mokhosi's lawyer, Adv Mda, told High Court judge, Justice Sakoane Sakoane that they could not understand why his case required a foreign judge to preside over it when it was similar to other murder cases which had been heard by local judges in the same court. "We put it before this court that defendants have been ready to be tried by local judges but there has never been a clear reason why our clients should be given the special treatment of being tried by foreign judges," Adv Mda said in November. The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mokhele Moletsane, is on record saying that the decision to engage foreign judges was taken to protect local judges from possible victimisation and backlash from trying the "politically sensitive cases". Mr Moletsane said while the local judges were competent enough to try the cases, the government and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) still felt it necessary to engage foreign judges because the cases in question were politically sensitive. He further said that the verdicts of the foreign judges were less likely to be viewed as biased. "It has never been about the incompetency of local judges as the government believes they are capable enough to preside over the cases. "However, the government and SADC agreed that due to the nature of the cases which are said to be politically sensitive, it would be best to source foreign judges because local judges are at risk of being victimised for the verdicts they would give in the cases," Mr Moletsane said. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Auxillia Mnangagwa the fourth first lady in Zimbabwe was born on the 25th March 1963. She precedes Mrs Banana. mrs Sally Mugabe. Mrs Grace Mugabe She is a second born in a family of 5. She grew up in very humble settings in a farm in Chiweshe were she underwent her primary education and secondary education. Auxillia understands the culture and the roles of the girl child and women at large. She went through the natural education of humility thus her humbleness is clearly visible in any unsaid situations. Auxillia got involved in politics as early as 1982. She was 21. She went through all stages and rose through the ranks and she made it to the politburo. She showed her tenacity while giving her all to politics she embarked on Tertiary education. She took studies in the Environment and Tourism department at the University of Zimbabwe. She then left for Switzerland two years later, graduating in Hotel and Tourism Administration in 2001. She excelled in both politics as a Zimbabwean politician and has served as the First Lady of Zimbabwe since November 2017, as the wife of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. She had worked over at the Ministry of Manpower and Development, for over ten years. She then joined the Prime Minister's office in 1992 which was later transformed to President's office. She was elected as a Zanu-PF Member of Parliament in 2015, serving for the same constituency as her husband after he became Vice-President under Robert Mugabe. She showed the utmost zeal to serve the people and make women's lives better. She is a person who gives back to the community. Auxillia Set up a number of women's banks in Silobela, Zhombe, Kwekwe and Chirumanzu-Zibagwe. She never claimed ownership of her good work. She sacrificed for the best interest of the party and communities. Contrary to what people said Auxillia was not and is not a tribalist. She did not open banks in Chiweshe or any place she grew up. She developed any area which was near her. The first lady has lived a life above nepotism. She is rightfully called the Right Honourable Auxillia Mnangagwa MP. As we have indicated she assumed the office of the First Lady of Zimbabwe. She is a fourth first lady in Zimbabwe and therefore she is not overwhelmed by power. She is stable right minded loving and understanding. In the office of the first lady Honourable Auxilia Munangagwa took over after a circus ridden Mrs Grace Mugabe. Auxillia charmed the nation by her humility and a listening. The first lady comes from Mazowe District, Mashonaland Central, She rubbed shoulders with powerful people and as of now she is married to the most powerful man in Zimbabwe. She is a proud member of ZANU-PF. She is the mother of Three children but in her motherly instincts she looked after many children. Auxillia has been involved in many campaigns to try and end early childhood marriages.She was a member of the Pan African Parliament before resigning to focus of her philanthropic work. The history of the first lady speaks for itself. It is therefore not true that she could be a person who abuses workers or interfere in government business. The State house is under the Office of the president and Cabinet. This is completely different from the President's office. So it is not correct that every person who works at State house is an officer. The behaviour if the first lady as shown in several online papers and social media is not the true reflection of who Auxillia is. It is meant to embarrass the president and his family. It is common sense that when a new tenant comes into occupancy of the property he designs it to his or her specification. When the former first lady came onto Zvimba she ordered that a nee house be built and the old house which was for Sally be discarded. This was a normal reaction humanity shows when they take charge. When Auxillia moved into state house a lot of changes were made. A lot of people were moved. For her own peace of mind she had to request changes in the employees. It wAs normal to do so. A number of workers were affected. Obviously they are not happy. They have lost their source of income. One should remember that Auxillia came in with her workers as well so a place for them had to be created. This move is called adjustment. As for nepotism the first lady had developed and impacted on the lives of women all over. Banks were opened and she started a Charitable organisation which deals with welfare of Children. All these projects were never done in home area. If she was a tribalist the state house will be in Mt Darwin now. People have different perspectives on people. Judgements are pronounced by people on our characters. What is needed is a closer interaction with the first lady and your opinion of her will change. The most important issue is the first lady was a politician first before she was a first lady. Politicians have two sides and people are at liberty to chose the side which fits their aspirations. The human resources issues at state house is not the work of the first lady. Her temperamental attitude cannot be diagnosed by the press. Judging from what she has done so far the first lady is far from a bedroom politician. She earned and gained her political space without men's power. She deserves our respect and indeed she should be honoured. Zimbabwe has a culture of motherhood this flows naturally in the first lady's blood. She should not be tainted by the few disgruntled people. The changes in offices must reflect the change in occupancy. She should be allowed to adjust were she spends most of her time to her comfort. Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk German dictator and NAZI supremo Mr Adolf Hilter once told his Gestapo these famous words "If you loose you don't need to be there to explain".Zimbabwe politics is no longer the same since the assuming of MDC presidency by Mr Nelson Chamisa.He was one of the MDC vice presidents appointed by democracy icon Dr Richard Tsvangirai. Let's not forget that Mr Nelson Chamisa faced Dr Douglas Mwonzora at the last congress contesting for the Secretary General post that fell vacant after the explusion of then Sec Gen Tendai Biti.Dr Mwonzora came out on top and Mr Chamisa was rescued by Dr Tsvangirai from political wilderness. Now these two democratic heavyweights will square off again but now for the MDC president arguably the second most powerful position after the Zimbabwean presidency. This is a do or die congress for the opposition party and it is a make or break congress. The party will emerge form the congress stronger or weaker but all indications points to a stronger MDC after this make or break congress.Democracy is about freedom to contest or to express yourself the way you want and this is a right message for all Zimbabwean political parties to embrace in moving forward. Douglas Mwonzora is a calm and mature politician who is needed in the opposition and he can make a great leader.Contrary to many people among opposition activists that he is a ZANU PF project that is not the case he is excecising his democratic right in the party just like anyone and if he wins MDC will also be in good hands, remember he played a big role in the drafting of our country constitution.He is a great secretary General of the party and a composed figure amongst MDC stalwarts.The fact that he is being supported by well known Zanu-PF apologists and party members must not surprise the MDC because that the nature of politics and for him I think the best way is for Doug to distance himself from toxic Zanu-PF guys like Mutodi and Lewis Matutu who are now acting as his campaign advisors. MDC must show Zanu-PF that they are a democratic party which tolerate different views or visions.Nelson Chamisa supporters must accept the challenge from Mwonzora to avoid creating another Mugabe from Chamisa.There is no doubt that Dr Mwonzora timing of challenging the incumbent is wrong but principles must be the order of the day in the MDC.Nelson Chamisa is the favorite to win there is no doubt about that our plea is to see Mwonzora returning the secretary General post after congress to strengthen the movement in tackling the monster called Zanu-PF.Chamisa won 2018 national polls and is the most popular politician in Zimbabwe right now and if things remain the same we will witness a heavy beating of Dr Mwonzora by Chamisa come congress.As things stand right now in Zimbabwe MDC needs the presidency of Chamisa more than of Mwonzora because Zanu-PF doesn't need kind gloves they need a leader who will go toe to toe with them like what Nelson Chamisa is doing at the moment. Zanu-PF is showing signs of desperatation by backing calm,mature but unpopular Dr Mwonzora at this contest.The economy is at its knees and we are witnessing long queues from fuel to food.That is what we must see Zanu-PF dealing with than spending money on MDC congress when it is crystal clear that Mr Nelson Chamisa will win this one. We are seeing a renewed MDC under Chamisa and he is showing Zanu-PF particularly ED and war vets that he can be challenged at a party congress something which Zanu-PF has failed to do since 1963.Whoever wins this contrast will definitely become the next Zimbabwe president in the coming years because it's now clear that Zanu-PF is no longer in touch with the masses they are now busy looting for the last time. Zanu-PF youth league is the thing of the past because it's leader is more than 60yrs which clearly shows that its a party of only war vets and those who are connected to the looting machine.Most Zimbabwe are educated and they studied history that's why they are want to associate themself with the future than the past and its Zanu-PF. Remember what happened to Nigerian ruler Dr Sani Abachar's children after his fall from grace that's must ring in the ears of Zanu-PF youths who are falsely claiming that they will die for a corrupt and looting president in ED Mnangagwa.Democray must prevail at the congress and we want to see a united MDC after the congress with Mr Nelson Chamisa remaining Joshua of the struggle. IN CHAMISA WE TRUST NEROOOO nkosanamalinga04@gmail.com A parliamentary forum on the fight against religious extremism will be held in Morocco shortly in partnership with the Morocco-European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The announcement was made this Friday in Rabat during the 10th annual session of the Morocco-EU JPC, co-chaired by Moroccan MP Abderrahim Atmoun, and Spanish MEP Ines Ayala Sender (from the PSOE), reports local news website le360. Ines Ayala Sender highlighted in this connection the reform of the religious field, initiated by King Mohammed VI. Morocco is cited as an example in the fight against extremism, she said before expressing the recognition of Europe for the stabilizing role played by Morocco in the Maghreb. The 10th session which takes place just few weeks before the European elections assessed the dense and varied ten-year long partnership between the two sides, noting that this partnership culminated in 2019 by the adoption by the European Parliament of the Morocco-EU farm and fisheries agreements. Abderrahim Atmoun -who had been appointed recently by King Mohammed VI as Moroccos ambassador to Poland- expressed thanks to the Euro-deputies as well as to the EU member countries for their support to Moroccos just causes, the website said. Atmoun said the JPC has become essential for political cooperation between Morocco and the EU. It is a real laboratory for exchange and expertise and a key tool in parliamentary diplomacy, he said. The JPC, created in 2010, represents an added value and a mark of confidence in the context of a reciprocal neighborhood policy, he said, highlighting the role of this privileged space for parliamentary cooperation in promoting strategic dialogue between the two sides. Diario digital con noticias de actualidad relacionadas con el mundo de la salud. Novedades, encuestas, estudios, informes, entrevistas. Con un sencillo lenguaje dirigido a todo el mundo. Y algunos consejos turisticos para pasarlo bien Bangladesh told the UN Security Council on Thursday that it will no longer be able to take in refugees from Myanmar. Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a council meeting that the crisis over the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from "bad to worse" and urged the council to take "decisive" action. Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. "Here, I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar," said Haque. Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?" asked the foreign secretary. After five trips to Myanmar, UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener reported "slow progress" in efforts to help hundreds of thousands of Rohingya return home and warned that Myanmar's elections next year could worsen the crisis. The Swiss diplomat, who was appointed in April as UN envoy for Myanmar, said UN agencies had been given "insufficient" access to help prepare the return of the Rohingya. - Myanmar appeals for patience - Myanmar's Ambassador Hau Do Suan insisted his government was taking steps and appealed for patience. He spoke of "huge physical as well as psychological barriers" in the way of allowing the refugees' return and stressed that "it takes time and patience as well as courage to build trust and confidence among different communities in Rakhine." China, which has close ties with Myanmar's former military junta, insisted that development aid could help ease tensions in Rakhine and made clear the council should not get involved in addressing the refugee crisis. "It is up to the two countries to work out a solution," said Chinese Deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao. In December, Britain circulated a draft resolution that would have forced Myanmar to roll out a strategy for addressing the Rohingya crisis, but China threatened to veto the measure, according to diplomats. "We are very disappointed that there hasn't been more progress on getting the refugees back," said British Ambassador Karen Pierce. "The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far," said Pierce. The UN envoy warned that the election campaign "could add to the domestic complexities" in Myanmar, which is still struggling with a democratic transition after 50 years of military rule. Myanmar's de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized for failing to speak out to defend the Rohingya, is seeking to consolidate her position ahead of the 2020 vote. Myanmar's military dominates the Buddhist-majority nation, holding a quarter of seats in parliament and controlling three ministries, making their grip on power firm despite political reforms which began in 2011. Young Rohingya refugees keep an eye on cows at the Thangkhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh Major Rohingya refugee camp populations in Bangladesh. Rohingya refugee girls peep out from a makeshift shelter at Balukhali refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh King Mohammed VI sent a message of congratulations to President of Senegal Macky Sall upon his re-election to the highest office of his country. In this message, the Sovereign expressed, in his name and on behalf of the Moroccan people, to the President of Senegal his warm congratulations and sincere wishes for full success in this new mandate. Your reelection, in the first round, is a vibrant tribute paid by the brotherly Senegalese people to your personal qualities and to your commitment to serve its social and economic progress, the Sovereign said in his message. Through this reelection, the Senegalese people evidences its adherence to your political choices and the consideration that it bears to the important achievements made by your country, under your enlightened leadership, underlines the Sovereign. King Mohammed VI hailed the fact that Morocco and Senegal are united, not only by an exceptional partnership but also and especially by historical ties of fraternal friendship and active solidarity. He renewed his firm and unwavering determination to work with Macky Sall to bring the Moroccan-Senegalese partnership to the highest level, for the great benefit of the two sister countries, and to serve a global and sustainable development of the African continent. Macky Sall has been re-elected president of Senegal for a second term, according to provisional results published on Thursday. Figures released by the National Vote Counting Commission showed that Macky Sall won Sundays first round outright, picking up 58.27 percent of the vote. First all the senators announced they were running for president and now all the governors are following. The debates are going to end up like UK parliament. Reply Thread Link I think a good handful will drop before the first primary votes. Money will be an issue. With that said, I was listening to Pod Save America and Alyssa Mastromonaco brought up an interesting point. She said candidates are going to have to run very different campaigns because donations in the primary are going to be stretched. How they spend their money is going to be very interesting! Reply Parent Thread Link Where were all these people in 2016 Reply Parent Thread Link Stepping aside for Hillary, lmao. That was such a dumbfuck decision by the DNC/Dem party in general. Not having a healthy debate in a competitive primary really hurt us in the general. Firstly, it didn't ensure that we were putting forward a candidate that people were genuinely passionate about (rather than just being like 'well ok i guess' because people had Clinton Fatigue). But also by encouraging more people to jump into the race, we could have avoided the whole Bernie vs Hillary thing. When it boils down to two people so fast, things get TENSE AF (especially when one candidate is perceived as being favored by the DNC). And we still haven't healed from that. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Or like the 2016 Republican primaries. Reply Parent Thread Link jared always looks like he's about to cry Reply Thread Link i'd give him something to cry about Reply Parent Thread Link More like he has hidden bodies Reply Parent Thread Link I couldn't help but burst out laughing at Meghan's ridiculous hair style today, yikes. Reply Thread Link looks like her inspiration was cindy lou who Reply Parent Thread Link As soon as she walked out I started laughing too. She thinks she's so high fashion when her outfits are atrocious. Reply Parent Thread Link She's really going over the top with her hair lewks. Reply Parent Thread Link My eyes rolled so far back when I heard his company wanted a billion dollar federal loan but somehow his company was quick to say that since being in government- hes got nothing to do with the business - really heffa? Reply Thread Link I cannot even imagine the fucking wrath that conservatives would be bringing if a Dem president's unqualified son-in-law was given security clearance over the objections of the people who are in charge of national security. And then he's caught lying about it!! Where is the outrage? I hate these fucks and anyone who argues with them in good faith is wasting their goddamn time. Reply Thread Link They lost their shit over Obama's tan suit, so... heads would be imploding. Reply Parent Thread Link she has not called him ofc the old white dude expects the woman to call him. also where are his taxes? and granpa, do something against your wet lips, it's gross af. Reply Thread Link that's an interesting take on what he actually said Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah I'm done with Bernie and wish he'd step the fuck back and allow POC and women to take center stage. Reply Parent Thread Link Bernie has a lot of supporters who wanted him to run because they don't have another candidate to go to. If AOC was eligible, sure, maybe. Reply Parent Thread Link I saw a tweet about this, saying something to the effect that why would she be calling this "grey pillar of brooding ineffectiveness" and I cackled at how apt that description was. Never had a real job until he was 40, deadbeat dad, writer of gang bang fantasies--HRC spent her entire career trying to solve problems men like him created. Reply Parent Thread Link lmao that wasn't even what he meant Reply Parent Thread Link Meghan McCain is so fucking useless. The fact that she railed against AOC asking whether or not we should have kids because of climate change and pivoted to abortion and infanticide--she's a fucking idiot. Reply Thread Link I agree. But I did like how Meghan gave AOC credit during the Cohen hearing. She actually gave her a compliment which I was surprising lol Reply Parent Thread Link I can't believe ABC didn't make her apologize for that. They've made people apologize for way less. Reply Parent Thread Link I got so livid when I was watching yesterday's episode. She started talking about how she's a small government Republican and yet she's fine with the government all up in our vaginas? Ok, bitch. Someone blast her into the sun. Reply Parent Thread Link This whole thing feels so fucking futile like we get huge bombshells every goddamn day and nothing happens at all Reply Thread Link It really does. I have to trust this is building up to something, because otherwise... Reply Parent Thread Link The Watergate hearings ran from May through July and those were just hearings, not impeachment hearings. It's a process and it's slow and methodical. The Democrats will be holding more public hearings like the one with Michael Cohen and as time goes by, it will make impeachment easier. What's the point of them trying to impeach him right now? Not enough evidence is out in the public sphere. His time is coming to an end, one way or the other. Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment. We might get lucky. Reply Parent Thread Link I don't think there are any true "small government" republicans. It's not about less government and regulation. It's about what is and isn't regulated. Republicans: guns = nope, vaginas = yes, regulations on oil = nope, regulations on wind/solar = yep Reply Parent Thread Link Such big liar. Why even lie about that? Whos going to believe anyone other than Trump would want those two to have security clearance? Why?! Reply Thread Link Not only that but his spyin ass has requested more classified info than anyone else in the administration. Selling it for the highest price, Im sure. Reply Thread Link This was on while I was at the doctor's office and yikes, I did not care for Bernie's answer when asked about the difference in how reports are being handled when he was accused similarly to how Amy Klobuchar is for how she treats her staff. And I thought it was dumb that he fell for Meghan's trick question about why Hillary lost. I don't know, I don't know yet who's getting my backing in the primary but he just rubs me the wrong way with how he addresses some issues, which is a shame because I probably agree the most with his policies (I like Warren's policies too but yikes at how she's handled herself over the past year). Obviously I'll vote for him if he gets the nom though. Reply Thread Link I did not care for Bernie's answer when asked about the difference in how reports are being handled when he was accused similarly to how Amy Klobuchar is for how she treats her staff. lmao @ people even comparing the allegations between the two. y'all insane. did bernie ever do anything remotely similar to Edited at 2019-03-01 08:39 pm (UTC) lmao @ people even comparing the allegations between the two. y'all insane. did bernie ever do anything remotely similar to this or has he ever actually abused his employees? are some people buying it the parallel between the two because they're dumb or because they hate sanders and have no problem trying to undermine him using bad faith? Reply Parent Thread Link I thought his response was overly dismissive, but I will cop to the fact that I'm not fully aware of what some tried to accuse him of. I don't hate Bernie and I'm assuming now it was a question asked in bad faith by Meghan, which I shouldn't have taken at face value. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I agree in the sense that he's often needlessly impatient and dismissive, and I don't think a woman could get away with that even if a question is disingenuous. He's still my #1 pick policy-wise, with Warren being 2nd, but I sorta wish we had a younger, less prickly version of him this time around. Reply Parent Thread Link "As a supervisor, he was unbelievably abusive," says one former campaign staffer, who claims to have endured frequent verbal assaults. "Bernie was an asshole," says a Democratic insider who worked with Sanders on the campaign trail. "Just unnecessarily an asshole." Bernie "exudes a contempt for those he derides, including his staff." "He yelled in meetings all the time," says one of Sanders' former Senate staffers. "He'd yell, 'I don't want to hear excuses! I want to get it done!'" "I just think he's kind of harsh to a fault. He's so focused on his issues that he doesn't have a softer side. I don't think he's a very nice man." https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/anger-management-sanders-fights-for-employees-except-his-own/Content?oid=2834657 His treatment of women has always been a problem. Bernie had a staff of 22 and only 5 of them were women, and they weren't paid the same as the men in 2016. Sexism Claims From Bernie Sanderss 2016 Run: Paid Less, Treated Worse You are right to have concerns. Just because reports about him aren't as bad as they are about Klobuchar doesn't give him an automatic pass. Back in August, 2015, an article came out about how Bernie mistreated his staff, and it was completely ignored."As a supervisor, he was unbelievably abusive," says one former campaign staffer, who claims to have endured frequent verbal assaults. "Bernie was an asshole," says a Democratic insider who worked with Sanders on the campaign trail. "Just unnecessarily an asshole." Bernie "exudes a contempt for those he derides, including his staff.""He yelled in meetings all the time," says one of Sanders' former Senate staffers. "He'd yell, 'I don't want to hear excuses! I want to get it done!'""I just think he's kind of harsh to a fault. He's so focused on his issues that he doesn't have a softer side. I don't think he's a very nice man."His treatment of women has always been a problem. Bernie had a staff of 22 and only 5 of them were women, and they weren't paid the same as the men in 2016.Sexism Claims From Bernie Sanderss 2016 Run: Paid Less, Treated Worse https://t.co/LnAFjWhndH Randy (@censoredmm) February 19, 2019 Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I don't care for him either, TBH. Reply Parent Thread Link Drop dead, Jared Reply Thread Link Y'all should listen to this interview with Pete Buttigieg. And donate to him if you can! I don't think he has a shot in hell of winning, but I think his voice in the race is important, so I want him to hit the 65,000 donor threshold so he can participate in the debate in June. Reply Thread Link So far he has my vote. And knowing that, I'll donate too. Edited at 2019-03-01 08:32 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I don't think he's trying to win, though, just trying to boost his national profile for a Senate race maybe Edited at 2019-03-01 08:37 pm (UTC) Haven't listened to the interview but he has no policy platform https://www.peteforamerica.com/ I don't think he's trying to win, though, just trying to boost his national profile for a Senate race maybe Reply Parent Thread Link policy platform seems to be very secondary for quite a few candidates for some reason Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Might be auditioning for veep, too. Some folks do that. Reply Parent Thread Link Do you know close he is to the donor threshold? I can donate a dollar lol. Reply Parent Thread Link I was listening to this earlier. He's going to be in town on Monday and I'm planning to go. It's way too early for me to decide who to caucus for, but I liked his interview. I'm interested in hearing him more. I moved to Iowa in June. I'm taking this caucus shit very seriously. I'm going to see as many candidates that roll through as possible. I saw Warren and Gillibrand. I'm looking forward to the rest to help me make a better decision. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, he wouldn't be my first choice, but I donated $5 to him because I'd like him to be involved in the debates. Reply Parent Thread Link I really loved PSA's interview with him when he was running for DNC Chair, and I wish he would have won. He was my favorite Reply Parent Thread Link Also lmao I am becoming a single issue voter. And that issue is: "WILL YOU SUPPORT GETTING RID OF THE FILIBUSTER?" (Blame Jon Favreau.) Because all other ideas like Medicare For All and the Green New Deal will NOT happen while the filibuster is in place. Republicans can get their priorities (like tax cuts for the rich) passed via reconciliation anyway so they only need 51 votes for the shit they want to do. Getting rid of the filibuster makes it so that Dems can do legislation that we want to do by lowering the votes needed to pass to 51 votes since things we want to do can't necessarily happen via reconciliation. And given current demographics there is NO WAY IN HELL we are getting to 60 votes in the Senate any time soon. We'll be lucky to get to 51 votes in the next couple of elections. So if we want to do anything major to save this planet and this country, we gotta get rid of the filibuster. And only Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren have seemed open to abolishing the filibuster. Reply Thread Link I'm kind of a single issue voter: Are you a Republican? I really, really don't want Trump to be able to get another SCOTUS justice. I didn't want him to get the last two either. SCOTUS is going to be for the rest of my life. Edited at 2019-03-01 08:57 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I'm v worried that Clarence Thomas will retire soon so that Trump can name his replacement. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm curious as to why you think the Dems won't regain seats in Congress in 2020? They'll certainly have enough ammo to make the GOP incumbents look bad. Did you see the poll this week in Texas where Beto had the same amount of support as Trump? I think it was 46/46 -- in Texas in February, 2019. People were skeptical that the Dems would take 40 seats in the House in 2018, but they did. The only thing that will keep them from regaining the Senate in 2020 is lack of Democratic registered voters. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I think democrats should give republicans a chance to work with them, and when they obstruct, remove the filibuster and let the chips fall where they may. Democrats will never get anything done otherwise. They'll get blocked by the senate and the radical conservative supreme court. Reply Parent Thread Link I wanna check them out. Which album do you recomend to begin with? Reply Thread Link I'd recommend Wings. Each dude has his own solo song, so you get a feel for their vocals. Also, Blood, Sweat & Tears is pop perfection. Reply Parent Thread Link Wings Love yourself: Tear Love yourself: Answer Also listen to DDaegn, Baepsae, Ma city, Agust D, Airplane, piece of peace, promise, Attack on Bantang..... And on a personal note Rm's mix tape "mono" is my everything Reply Parent Thread Link The most beautiful moment in life: young forever. Their best work. PERIODT Reply Parent Thread Link I discovered them when fka posted Save You here like 2 years ago and it's still my favorite song/video of theirs Reply Parent Thread Link wings then love yourself: tear! Reply Parent Thread Link just start with Blood, Sweat & Tears from there you're good to go anywhere theyre pop perfection Reply Parent Thread Link Blood Sweat and Tears choreography is INCREDIBLE Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Start with Spring Day. Then Blood, Sweat and Tears. Then Dope. Then Butterfly. Then Fake Love. Then I Need U. Then Save Me. All MVs. Then get back to us if youre still interested. Edited at 2019-03-02 02:55 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link i hope most of it went to fans and not scalpers.. i can't imagine the resale value of those tickets Reply Thread Link 3000 some were going for literally seconds after Wembley Stadium's twitter said they'd sold out. Reply Parent Thread Link Ive basically given up going to concerts. Which is something I love and part of the reason I moved to LA. Its so frustrating and expensive now I dread buying tickets. Reply Parent Thread Link I'd really love to see them even if I'd probably be the oldest one there that isn't a mom LOL But they're not coming anywhere near me, and I'm sure the prices are outrageous. I bet they put on a hell of a concert though. Reply Thread Link I somehow managed to get a ticket for the Paris date!! It's not the best view tbh but I consider myself very very lucky to have even gotten it ... I almost gave up after the first 15 minutes of ticketmaster crashing and throwing me out of the queue but then I miraculously got let in after I opened it in yet another tab more than 30 minutes after the tickets first went on sale. What a lucky lucky day for me. I'm super excited to see them for the first time ever! Reply Thread Link Yeah, we're at the top directly in front of the screen. That's gonna have to do because my kid and her friend could not be in different seats. Its too many people and my anxiety would flare right up. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah that's understandable! Tbh there wasn't much you could do here ... We all just had to be happy with the seats we got bc at least we managed to get them, lol. Reply Parent Thread Link I tried getting tickets to MetLife and Ticketmaster kept asking me if I was human!!!! Ill wait until a closer date to check stubhub but as a back up plan I asked my sister if she mind going overseas lol. Reply Thread Link I ended up calling ticketmaster to get my ticket that way and I'd wake up early tomorrow if i were you. i'm like 99% sure they're throwing out 2nd dates tomorrow Reply Parent Thread Link omfg i totally forgot about calling ticketmaster!!! but yeah here's hoping that we get more dates tomorrow. Reply Parent Thread Link Why they using the jfk intl font Reply Thread Link once again I miss out on a ticket for the London date. might just skip this and wait for when monsta x release their tickets Reply Thread Link Call ticketmaster that's how i got through, their site is trash Reply Parent Thread Link omg and there were tix available? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link tbh i'm not a fan of them (i bop to a few songs but cant stan!!!) but i do appreciate them making overseas tours for kpop groups a more common occurrence. getting to see a full red velvet show a few weeks ago made my life. Reply Thread Link I'm jealous, i'm just getting into RV so i'd love to see them live Reply Parent Thread Link they did mention multiple times throughout the tour that this was only 'the beginning' for them coming to the usa and canada, so hopefully as their career progresses they bring their future tours back around!!! they were wonderful live and so so sooooo beautiful - seulgi is my fav but half the time i couldn't keep my eyes off irene (who is like my 4th fav rip), she was so stunning irl Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm so thankful I was able to get a face value floor seat. I was trying on my phone app, the website and I had my boyfriend trying on his computer and his phone, but I eventually got one by calling Ticketmaster. Legit one of the most exhausting experiences of my life. Reply Thread Link !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so fucking stressful I haven't felt that kinda stress since finals in college. Reply Parent Thread Link I legit started to tear up. I had no idea it would be so hard. Its my first concert, so I had no idea it could get like that. Finally my best friend called me and she told me to go to stub hub. I've never been on stub hub, but I got tickets. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I was at work too so I had to like hide my stress. Thankfully no one was around to see me pacing and repeatedly calling Ticketmaster like a fiend. Also, your icon makes me so happy every time I see it. Solo Yoongi is like my favorite era of his ever. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Edited at 2019-03-01 10:14 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link He's so pretty. Reply Parent Thread Link He is so adorable almost as adorable as Tannie Reply Parent Thread Link The recent twitter vid he posted of tannie doing tricks had me in shambles Reply Parent Thread Link I tried but it was the most futile exercise of my life. And there are so many seats posted on SeatGeek rn, I kinda wanna scream. Reply Thread Link I was just reading people angry about the prices. I always feel bad for the fans. and they announced it so close. they don't have this kind of money. it is so fucking expensive. and people started camping at the stadium the day they announced. insane. and tickets only go on sale in 10 days. imagine if they don't get it, and are already camping for it. Reply Thread Link I always complain about waiting 9 months for the actual concert, but yea this announcement was way too close to most dates. Reply Parent Thread Link I got my tickets. Gonna take my daughter and her best friend. That shit was unbelievable. Ticketmaster can fuck right off. Reply Thread Link Mom of the year! Reply Parent Thread Link You are the best mom ever. I hope you have so much fun!! Reply Parent Thread Link That is so sweet of you to do! Reply Parent Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link i've been trying to avoid single use plastics for a couple of years now with mixed success but now i'm also trying to cut out recyclable plastics, once i learned more about how hard it is to actually get plastic recycled and how harmful it is to the environment to even produce plastic. we're seriously being buried in plastic. Reply Thread Link A+ the fact that it is so difficult too avoid is why this sort of systemic change is so important Reply Parent Thread Link not just being buried in it we're consuming a lot of it now that plastic microfibers are making its way into our water system and food. yikes. Reply Parent Thread Link I wonder if that's partly why so many people my age seem to be sick. I swear everyone has something going on with their health, and it's not all diet related but there's something. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Speaking of plastic, I've started carrying around water bottles with me to use at restaurants or whatever and I've noticed that some ppl will give you an attitude even if your bottle is way smaller than the cup you actually paid for. It's so weird to me. You're not losing money. Idgi. Mcdonalds doesn't care and Dunkin actually gives you a discount for bringing your own DD cup in which I think everyone should do. /csb Reply Thread Link Yeah I bring my own mugs or cups when I go to coffee shops now. Starbucks and Peet's give you a discount! Reply Parent Thread Link Good! I hope that we slowly but surely work towards reducing our consumption/use of plastics. Reply Thread Link amazing Reply Thread Link My local health food store uses biodegradable containers, cups and flatware made out of sugarcane and potato starch but they look like plastic. There really is no need for manufacturers to still be using so much plastic, it's honestly one of the worst things ever invented imo. Reply Thread Link Not even sucking dick will help you get your hands on Evian at this festival! via GIPHY Jokes aside thats pretty cool that theyre doing that. Jokes aside thats pretty cool that theyre doing that. Reply Thread Link Its what she deserves. Reply Thread Link This is a great initiative. I have a lot of recyclable bags at home + work and Ive not had to take a single bag when (grocery) shopping for a few years now. I use metal straws all the time. My favourite purchase was a cloth cup carrier! I bought a few to give out as christmas presents to my friends and they were really well received. Another really easy way to avoid waste is to dine in as opposed to ordering take out. Side note: I love visiting Japan especially for its shopping but its crazy how much material waste goes on there thanks to their elaborate packaging when you shop. I bought pads (making the switch to menstrual cups soon) and they double wrapped it in a black bag before placing it in yet another plastic bag and I was so confused. Reply Thread Link I do not often get the small plastic bottles, but the grocery store sells orange juice, soda, etc.. in plastic bottles. I pour it into a glass, but it is still a plastic bottle. Reply Thread Link the fact that Styrofoam still exists really pisses me off Reply Thread Link I'm always shocked when I see restaurants still using it. Reply Parent Thread Link Good idea but hopefully they're prepared for it. Yeah single use bottles suck but it also sucks having a bottle to refill and all the refill stations are empty before the event is even over. As has happened to me at a few festivals and outdoor events. Reply Thread Link I haven't bought single use plastic bottles in ages, don't use Styrofoam anymore, or plastic straws. A huge bummer is my apt. complex not having a recycling bin. :( Reply Thread Link Mine doesn't either! I have to take my recycling to the plant myself but at least I know it's actually getting there I guess... Reply Parent Thread Link This is awesome and hopefully other festivals will follow. The amount of trash and waste at them is staggering. I have reusable shopping bags and I bring my water bottle everywhere. Where I have the biggest opportunity for improvement is my makeup/beauty crap. So much single use plastic in beauty. Reply Thread Link This is like 80% of the reason I feel guilty throwing out old/used up make up, the packaging is so wasteful. Reply Parent Thread Link Who wants to carry around a water bottle at a festival anyways? I feel like a good hydration backpack is way better. Reply Thread Link All our drinks came in glass bottles when I was growing up. When your case of bottles was finished you gave it back the retailer to cleanse or recycle. Reply Thread Link They still do that in lots of developing countries. I'm really curious what caused the change in other countries in the first place. Reply Parent Thread Link $$ basically. it was cheaper and more efficient to switch to single use plastic than having to rewash and recycle glass products. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link we still do it in germany for a lot of drinks, mostly bottled water. though there's def a lot of plastic being used these days as well :/ Reply Parent Thread Link The latest signals from the U.S.-China trade dispute appear to be that progress has been made in the talks and the two biggest economies in the world may avert a full-scale trade war. The latest signals from ship-tracking data suggest that U.S. crude oil appears to be heading to China after many months of China abstaining from buying American oil despite the fact that its not on Beijings tariff list. he return of the U.S. crude oil exports to China will depend on two key factorshow the trade dispute plays out in coming months and how wide the Brent Crude premium over WTI Crude will be. The wider the spread, the more economic U.S. oil is for Asian refiners compared to Brent-linked grades. An independent Chinese refiner has recently imported U.S.-origin crude oil pulled from storage in South Korea, S&P Global Platts vessel tracking data showed earlier this week. China could soon import crude oil directly shipped from the U.S., CNBC reports, citing ClipperDatas tanker-tracking data. Although tanker-tracking data currently shows that a tanker is en route to a Chinese port, the final destination may yet change as the estimated time of arrival is the middle of April. In the past couple of months, other crude oil tankers heading to Asia were first thought to be en route to China but they later changed their final destination to other countries in the region. According to ClipperData, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), Hong Kong Spirit, has recently loaded nearly 2 million barrels of U.S. oil at Moda Midstreams Ingleside terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. According to MarineTraffic, the currently declared destination of the vessel is Yantai, China, with an estimated time of arrival on April 18. Related: Has Trump Overplayed His Hand With Saudi Arabia? Still, the final destination could change, Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, told CNBC, but noted that by mid-April trade war concerns may have dissipated. In the first half of 2018, China was one of the biggest buyers of U.S. crude oil, even outpacing Canada in some months. But Chinese imports of American oil abruptly stopped in the summer of 2018, when the trade war between the United States and China escalated with tit-for-tat tariffs on many products. Although crude oil is not on Chinas tariff list, Chinese buyers have been staying away from U.S. crude oil purchases since the summer of last year. According to the latest available EIA data, the United States didnt export any crude oil to China in August, September, October, and November, compared to 384,000 bpd in July and a record-high 510,000 bpd in June. Related: Saudi Aramco CEO Rebukes Peak Oil Demand Hype After the United States and China called a trade-war truce in early December and pledged to immediately begin trade negotiations in view of possible deal within 90 days, Chinese refiners were said to have been looking for opportunities to buy U.S. crude oil by March 1, when the negotiating period expires, but they reportedly needed further assurances that no cargoes would be left stranded with possible tariffs on crude oil on them. In mid-January, three U.S. crude oil cargoes were headed to China in what could have been the first Chinese purchase of American crude since the trade war escalated, but the tankers have been diverted to other destinations. Recent signs of de-escalation of the trade war could prompt Chinese refiners to resume buying U.S. oil, but they will likely wait to see what a possible trade deal would be like. In one of the clearest signals that there could be a deal, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this week China Trade Deal (and more) in advanced stages and that the United States would be delaying new tariffs on Chinese imports. The other key factor for the return of U.S. crude oil on the Chinese market is the Brent/WTI spread. According to Platts and analysts it has briefed, the recent import by Chinese independent refiner Hongrun Petrochemical of U.S. Eagle Ford crude from South Korean storage was likely the result of the wide Brent Crude premium over WTI Crude, which has made the Eagle Ford grade attractive for the refinery. The price spreads could encourage occasional Chinese imports of U.S. crude grades. However, the two countries will have to settle the trade dispute with a deal in coming months in order for China to regain its top-three spot among American oil buyers. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: OPECs production dropped to a four-year low in February, helped by Saudi Arabia and its Arab Gulf allies overachieving in their shares of the cuts, the monthly Reuters survey showed on Friday. According to the survey tracking supply to the market and based on shipping data and information provided by sources at oil companies, consulting firms, and OPEC, the cartels oil production in February 2019 fell by 300,000 bpd compared to January to stand at 30.68 million bpdthe lowest production level since February 2015, according to Reuters surveys. Saudi Arabia has already signaled that it would further cut production to around 9.8 million bpd in March, some 500,000 bpd below its commitment in the OPEC+ deal. Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said last month that Saudi Arabia would be also cutting its crude oil exports to near 6.9 million bpd in March, slashed from 8.2 million bpd just three months ago. The eleven OPEC members bound by the production cut deal achieved compliance of 101 percent in February, the Reuters survey found, suggesting that the cartels largest producer and de facto leader Saudi Arabia slashed production by more than it had pledged in the agreement. Production in exempt member Venezuela further declined, while another exempted producer, Iran, managed to boost its exports compared to December, according to the survey. Official figures by OPEC and its secondary sources in the Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) showed that total OPEC production in Januarythe start of the new cutsdropped by 797,000 bpd to average 30.81 million bpd. Saudi Arabia slashed production by 350,000 bpd from December to 10.213 million bpd in January, and its Arab Gulf allies Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also cut output substantially. Production in Venezuelaexempted from the cuts along with Libya and Iranplunged by another 59,000 bpd to stand at just 1.106 million bpd in January. OPEC will release its figures for the February production on March 14. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Brent is creeping back up towards the high-$60s per barrel, prompting a scolding of OPEC by President Trump via tweet earlier this week. Trumps irritability with high oil prices is well-known, but the tweet suggests that he sees oil prices getting too close to dangerous political territory once again. He wants more supply to lower prices, but OPEC is much less likely to heed his warning this time around, having been burned by him last year following the surprise waivers issued on Iran sanctions, which helped crash the market. Trump told OPEC to relax and take it easy, and in response, Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said: We are taking it easy; 25 countries are taking a very slow and measured approach. Al-Falihs comments suggest that OPEC will not back down in the face of pressure from the U.S. government. The standoff is unfolding at a time when the U.S. Congress is pushing forward on the NOPEC legislation, which would open up OPEC members to antitrust regulation by the U.S. Justice Department. Legislation targeting OPEC has floated around Washington for years, but the momentum and odds of passage into law have never been higher. A confluence of events have come together in favor of the bill, including Democrats in the House of Representatives, an erosion of Saudi support on Capitol Hill, and a mercurial President that likes to rhetorically beat up on OPEC. Related: Oil Prices Could Soar On Trade War Truce At a minimum, the possibility of the NOPEC bill becoming law grants President Trump significantly more leverage in his demands for OPEC to lower oil prices. So far, at least publicly, he has refrained from using that threat, most notably in his February 25 tweet calling on OPEC to relax. The effect of President Trumps comment would likely have been greater had he explicitly mentioned the [NOPEC bill], Standard Chartered analysts wrote in a note. The investment bank noted that the sharp fall in oil prices that day may have been a result of the market interpreting the tweet as a veiled threat to OPEC regarding the NOPEC bill. However, Standard Chartered said that may not have been the case. Trump has not up to now been known to specialise in veiled threats; he tends to be explicit. So, perhaps Trump is holding his fire, at least for now. Even though Capitol Hill has warmed up to the bill, there are powerful interests lining up against the legislation, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute and much of the domestic oil industry. After all, U.S. oil producers are perfectly happy to let OPEC cut production to boost prices OPECs actions to engineer higher prices works entirely in the favor of U.S. shale drillers. Also, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry expressed some skepticism on Thursday about the NOPEC bill, arguing that without OPECs market management, prices could crash, dealing a blow to supply, which could subsequently raise prices again. Hailing from Texas, Perry is wary of letting his friends in the shale industry suffer. In short, no market management from OPEC means a lot more volatility. Related: Saudi Aramco CEO Rebukes Peak Oil Demand Hype Still, OPEC is not exactly popular in Washington or elsewhere in the United States, so it doesnt exactly have much of a political constituency outside of the oil industry. Bashing OPEC, or at least being seen as confronting the oil cartel, is arguably a political winner. That gives the bill decent odds of becoming law. We see NOPEC as potentially one of the defining issues for the oil market in 2019, Standard Chartered analysts concluded. While President George W. Bush vetoed similar legislation on grounds of it acting against the US national interest, the possibility of it being enacted into law should it reach President Trumps desk appears significant in our view. For its part, OPEC doesnt appreciate being made the bad guy. Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said that if it werent for OPEC, the oil industry would have faced disaster. OPEC has been doing a great service, to the industry and to global oil markets, Barkindo told CNBC on Wednesday. The decisions that OPEC took, together with our non-OPEC partners, literally rescued this industry from total collapse. When asked about the NOPEC legislation, Barkindo said: You can ask the producers in the shale basins in the U.S. whether they have benefitted from the actions we have taken over the years. He essentially argued that the U.S. needs OPEC to maintain market stability. [W]ithout OPEC, the U.S. would probably have created another organization to do exactly the same. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Crude oil started the day with gains on reports from Washington that a U.S.-Chinese trade deal is imminent, S&P Global Platts reports, noting Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had said the two were working on the details of the 150-page document. According to Mnuchin, the deal would include Beijings cutting of subsidies for state-owned companies and a disclosure obligation for the central bank of the country on transactions involving foreign currencies. Yet nothing is final yet, whatever the positive signals. "We have to hear from President Xi and the Politburo of course, but I think we're headed toward a remarkable historic deal," the director of the White Houses national Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, told CNBC this week. Whats more, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg, the Trump administration is not unanimous about whether it should press China for more concessions than the ones already granted. If the pressure is too strong the two sides may end up without a deal and President Trumps recently demonstrated readiness to break off talks if he doesnt like the terms adds to the uncertainty. Speaking of China were very well on our way to doing something special, Trump said after he ended is summit with North Koreas Kim Jong Un ahead of time after Kim asked for the lifting of Western sanctions and Trump plainly refused. But well see. I am always prepared to walk. Im never afraid to walk from a deal, and I would do that with China, too, if it didnt work out. If Trump and Xi reach no deal, Washington will go ahead with its threat to slap a 25-percent tariff on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods, which, according to analysts, would be bad for both the U.S. and the Chinese economy. It will also no doubt hit oil prices hard, especially WTI, as Chinas oil market closes for U.S. crude. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call,Inc. Earlier this month, Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted, Its all about the Benjamins, baby! in response to a report about AIPAC, a pro-Israel organization. Omars tweet echoed a longstanding anti-Semitic trope in particular, the implication that Jewish political influence operates entirely (all about) through money. After wide condemnation, Omar apologized. It seemed fair to read her tweet generously: Perhaps she was not familiar with the particular vein of anti-Semitism she happened to echo. Indeed, progressives often make crudely reductive statements about the influence of money in supporting policies they oppose (to wit: everything Bernie Sanders says), so it wasnt necessarily anti-Semitic for Omar to extend that thinking to Jews. Her apparently sincere apology seemed to set to rest a minor offense. But at an event last night, Omar went much farther, reports Laura Kelly. After an audience member shouted out, Its all about the Benjamins, at which, according to Kellys reporting, she smiled. (Jeremy Slevin, Omars press secretary and strategist, denies she acknowledged that line from the audience.) Later she stated, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country. This is much worse. Accusing Jews of allegiance to a foreign country is a historically classic way of delegitimizing their participation in the political system. Whether or not the foreign policy agenda endorsed by American supporters of Israel is wise or humane, it is a legitimate expression of their political rights as American citizens. To believe in a strong American alliance with Israel (or Canada, or the United Kingdom, or any other country) is not the same thing as giving ones allegiance to that country. Omar is directly invoking the hoary myth of dual loyalty, in which the Americanness of Jews is inherently suspect, and their political participation must be contingent upon proving their patriotism. Of course, she is attempting to couch her position as a defense of free speech, and against a tendency to reflexively dismiss all criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic. And its certainly true that many Israel hawks do label criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic without a good basis to do so. There should be more space in American politics to advocate criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights. But Omar is using that cause to smuggle in ugly stereotypes. And whatever presumption of good faith she deserved last time should be gone now. This post has been updated. Canadas proposed legislation to amend the way major energy projects are being reviewed doesnt work for oil-rich Alberta and risks exacerbating the oil industrys troubles, Albertas Premier Rachel Notley said at a Senate committee hearing on Thursday. Alberta, the heart of the Canadian oil industry, has been grappling with takeaway capacity constraints, because major proposed oil pipelines have been either scrapped or stalled for years. Alberta even resorted to a mandatory short-term oil production cut in the oil patch to lift the price of Canadian oil, which had dropped to record lows in the fall of 2018. Alberta has also argued for the Trans Mountain pipeline project expansion, which has been stalled due to fierce opposition, various court claims, and reassessments. The Canadian governments Bill C-69, designed to change the environmental approval process of major projects, has become a controversial proposed legislation. Supporters argue that indigenous people would be properly consulted, while opponents say that increased government powers could lead to vetoes even before a project review begins. Changing the way Canada approves infrastructure projects is long over-due but, unless its fixed, Bill C-69 is just another broken system replacing the old one, Albertas Premier Notley tweeted before the Senate hearing today. A day before the hearing, Notley said she would propose several amendments to the current draft legislation, such as excluding existing projects, pipelines, and in-situ facilities from additional oversight, and considering and evaluating the socio-economic benefits of a project. Ottawa just doesnt get it. They dont understand Alberta and what this province contributes to the national economy and the well-being of all Canadians. I will make the case as clearly as I can that Bill C-69, in its current form, doesnt work for Alberta. And, therefore, it does not work for Canada, Notley said. ill C-69 is far from becoming a lawit is currently being reviewed by the Senate Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources. The committee could propose amendments to the text after hearing experts and stakeholders. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A tanker capable of carrying up to 600,000 barrels of oil is discharging U.S. Eagle Ford crude oil into Chinas eastern port of Qingdao on Friday, Reuters reported, quoting Refinitiv ship-tracking data and trade sources, in what would be the first Chinese import of American crude oil in months. The Aframax tanker the Kara Sea is discharging the light crude Eagle Ford in the Chinese port, after the U.S.-origin oil had been transferred to the Kara Sea tanker from supertanker Olympic Luck, Refinitiv analyst Emma Li told Reuters. The Kara Sea has been chartered by BP and the receiver of the Eagle Ford crude is independent Chinese refiner Hongrun Petrochemical based in the Shandong province, Refinitivs analyst said. According to Reuters, the cargo of Eagle Ford will likely be included in Chinas February import volumes by the Chinese customs. Other ship-tracking data suggest that U.S. crude oil appears to be heading to China after many months of China abstaining from buying American oil amid the trade dispute, despite the fact that crude oil is not on Beijings tariff list. China could soon import crude oil directly shipped from the United States, CNBC reported earlier this week, citing tanker-tracking data from ClipperData. Although tanker-tracking data currently shows that a tanker is en route to a Chinese port, the final destination may yet change as the estimated time of arrival is the middle of April. In the past couple of months, other crude oil tankers heading to Asia were first thought to be en route to China but they later changed their final destination to other countries in the region. According to ClipperData, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), Hong Kong Spirit, has recently loaded nearly 2 million barrels of U.S. oil at Moda Midstreams Ingleside terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. According to MarineTraffic, the current declared destination of the vessel is Yantai, China, with an estimated time of arrival on April 18. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Nicolas Maduro has ordered an office in Europe of Venezuelas state oil firm PDVSA to be moved to Moscow, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Friday after meeting with Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Russian capital. Russia is one of Maduros key supporters in the political power struggle in the Latin American country sitting on top of the worlds largest oil reserves, while the U.S. and many European nations have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president. Russia has stood by Maduro for years and has poured billions of U.S. dollars in Venezuela in the form of loans and oil investments, even when all other Venezuelan alliesincluding Chinahave shown reluctance to continue lending money to Maduros regime. After meeting with Russias Lavron today, Venezuelas Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said that President Nicolas Maduro instructed the Lisbon branch of PDVSA to close this office and relocate the office to Moscow. The relocation of PDVSAs office is part of a broader agreement to boost cooperation with Russias giant energy companies Rosneft and Gazprom, Russian news agency TASS quoted Venezuelas Rodriguez as saying. This is done in line with our plans to expand technical cooperation in the oil production area with Rosneft, with Gazprom. The moment now is the most suitable to do so. We are changing the format of our relations, Rodriguez said, as carried by TASS. Speaking to the media on Friday, Lavrov said that he discussed with Rodriguez the situation in Venezuela, noting that the Latin American country is a long-standing and reliable partner of Russia. Russia reaffirmed its solidarity with the people of Venezuela and its legitimate government, and supported its efforts to defend its sovereignty and independence, Lavrov said, as carried by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Earlier this week, Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russian companies in Venezuela were not experiencing any problems resulting from the escalation in the political situation in the country and had not incurred any losses on the oil they produce there. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Shell is facing prosecution from the Dutch authorities over its acquisition of an offshore oil and gas block in Nigeria a few years ago, Reuters reports. The Anglo-Dutch supermajor is already a defendant in a trial for the same deal in Italy. The 2011 acquisition of block OPL 245 in Nigeria by Shell and Eni, according to Italian and Nigerian prosecutors, involved a transfer of money to personal accounts held by the Nigerian oil minister at the time. The official, Dan Etete, was later convicted of money laundering by a French court in a separate, unrelated case. The sum of the OPL 245 deal was US$1.3 billion, an investigation revealed, of which US$1.1 billion was used to bribe politicians and businessmen to secure the deal. Shell and Eni have insisted they were unaware of any wrongdoing at the time. Based on the preliminary criminal investigation, public prosecutors concluded that there are prosecutable offences, Reuters quoted a spokeswoman for the Dutch prosecution authorities as saying. The Dutch prosecutors add pressure on the supermajor, which is also being targeted by the Nigerian authorities for unpaid taxes, media reported earlier this month. Nigeria has demanded that several international oil companies that operate in the country pay about US$20 billion in taxes they owed to local states. Among them, in addition to Shell, are Total, Chevron, and again Italys Eni. Shell is the largest investor in Nigeria among these companies and has denied it owed any tax payments. The company also said it will dispute the governments demand, adding the affair would delay the start of expanded production at one of Nigerias largest fields, Bonga. Separately, a trial about OLP 245 is due to begin at the end of this month in Nigeria. This case, brought to the court by a human rights organizationHuman and Environmental Development Agendaseeks the revoking of the license for OPL 245 citing transparency and accountability problems with the process that led to its issuance. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The U.S. Department of Energy plans to sell up to 6 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), with deliveries taking place in April and May, the Department of Energy said on Thursday. DOE plans to draw down and sell crude oil from three SPR sitesBryan Mound and Big Hill in Texas, and West Hackberry in Louisiana. The Department of Energy announced today a notice for a price-competitive sale of up to 3 million barrels from Bryan Mound, up to 1.5 million barrels from Big Hill, and up to 1.5 million barrels from West Hackberry. DOE will award contracts to successful offers no later than March 15, 2019. The sale is part of the law that authorizes the Secretary of Energy to draw down and sell up to US$2 billion of SPR crude oil for fiscal years 2017 through 2020, to carry out an SPR modernization program. In fiscal year 2019, the Secretary is authorized to sell up to US$300 million worth of crude oil from the SPR to carry out the SPR Life Extension Phase II project as part of the modernization program. Related: BP CEO Dudley: U.S. Shale Is A Market Without A Brain Although the sale does not appear to be aimed at easing possible supply concerns, deliveries will be taking place around the time in which the U.S. waivers for Irans oil customers to continue importing Iranian oil will expire in early May. Venezuelas oil exports are also likely to have further dropped by that time due to the U.S. sanctions on its oil industry. At the end of January, reports emerged that the U.S. Administration was considering tapping the SPR as it imposed the sanctions on Venezuela. However, as Reuters noted, the reserve mostly lacks heavy crude similar to the grades that Venezuela typically exports. Sales from the SPR would likely have little effect on the global oil market and the U.S. didnt tap the reserve before the sanctions on Iran returned. If you look at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and you were to introduce it into the market, it has a fairly minor and short-term impact, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in September, a month and a half before the U.S. sanctions on Iran kicked in. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: I am a big lover of hot coffee cocktails, like Irish Coffee. And it is no small wonder, you do remember I live in cold Canada, right? The first hot coffee cocktail I ever had, was a Spanish Coffee. I dont remember where it was, but I do remember it was pure heavenand I may have had two! For years, Spanish Coffee has been my hot coffee cocktail of choice and in place of dessert, has finished off many a special occasion meal. We have recently started adding Irish Coffee to our hot coffee cocktail (say that three times) repertoire and it is quickly gaining speed on Spanish Coffee as my dessert of choice. With St. Patricks Day on the horizon, a time when everyone either is or wants to be Irish, I thought it would be a great time to share our recipe for Irish Coffee. (Did I mention my maiden surname is Kelly, so I am not fibbing when I tell you my Irish roots run deep!) Irish coffee is a hot cocktail made with strong coffee, Irish whiskey, brown sugar and topped with poured or whipped cream. Although there are many theories about who invented Irish coffee, my research tells me this classic drink was invented at Foynes, a small town in the west of Ireland. Foynes was an airbase near Limerick and by 1940, the airport was handling many passengers, including many American VIPs from the world of politics and Hollywood. In 1942, the airport opened a new restaurant and hired Chef, Joe Sheridan. Rumour has it that on a winter night, in 1942, a flight left Foynes for Botwood in Newfoundland and then on to New York. After several hours of battling a storm, the pilot decided to turn back to Foynes. Sheridan decided to prepare something special to warm the passengers up. He brewed dark, rich coffee, added in some Irish whiskey, a little brown sugar and floated freshly whipped cream on top of each cup. The story goes that there was a hushed silence as people drank this brew for the first time. Hey Buddy, said a surprised passenger, is this Brazilian coffee? No, said Joe, thats Irish Coffee. 5.0 from 3 reviews Irish Coffee Print Ingredients 1 oz Irish whiskey 1 tsp brown sugar 6 oz hot coffee Whipping cream and whipped to soft peaks. Grated chocolate garnish Instructions Combine whiskey, sugar and coffee in a mug and stir to dissolve. Float a couple of tablespoons of whipped cream on top and garnish with grated chocolate. 3.4.3177 In celebration of St. Patricks Day, treat yourself to your own tasty Irish meal or cocktail. Are you Irish? Jamas nos callaran Fisica y culturalmente Nec plus ultra, nec variatur Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript. Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript. Paginas vistas en total Dolar USA Vs Euro Sin ellas, no seremos Deja vu Nada que celebrar Hasta cuando? Colombia Hoy Para nunca olvidar 'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England Sin palabras La UE le apunta a la paz Cada vez mas solo Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript. LULA y su Pueblo Bye Bye Homenaje al genial Quino Fueron ellos Una imagen que resume Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero? Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante) Ladrones al poder Asi mira el perrito a su amo Crazy Clamor popular La nueva inquisicion Bolivia Chile Hoy Eso es todo amigos! Piensalo! Pinerachet No More Trump Adios Macri, hasta nunca La Marioneta se desinfla Asi o mas cinico Almugre Mexico en 1794 Mas arrastrado imposible Hasta cuando! La pura verdad Solidaridad con Palestina Serie Capitalismo Espejismos de la clase trabajadora Asi es! Comerciantes o delincuentes No pasaran! Asi es la vida USA HOY 01/01/1959 La avaricia no tiene limites AYUDA HUMANITARIA? Chile Hoy Asi son las cosas Mapa Electoral de Venezuela Patagonia argentina? Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad Retrato del franquismo en Espana Visca Catalunya! El Chulo de Madrid Cuando la policia se roba la democracia Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras La purita verdad Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia Mi pobre clase media Como Chavez nadie Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear Programa de la MUD Asi o mas clarito Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte? Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio? Una verguenza nacional La luz que nos guia La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz? Feudalismo ayer y hoy Obama, el mentiroso Curiosa coincidencia Un mundo de cerdos No es extrano? La Marioneta Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran MARICORI Y OBAMA Cuantas muertes este ano? 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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... Capitalismo... medicos (2) Quien educa a nuestros hijos? Los Medios... Sin Palabras... Chistes feministas - Cual es el problema, Eva? - Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas. - Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas... - Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti. - Que es un hombre? - Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente. - Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente. - Cual es el truco?. - Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion. - Cual? - Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer. Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Ellas... Ellas (2)... Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1 Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije: -Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro. Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria. Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre? -Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa! VENGANZA NUMERO 2 Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris. A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita: - Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!! Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta. La mujer paso quince dias en Francia. El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla. Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es: - Y amor me trajiste mi francesita?? - Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina. VENGANZA NUMERO 3 El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion. - No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo. - Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz. Te quiero confesar algo. - Esta bien, esta bien. Habla! - He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga. - Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!! machismo y cibernetica Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston. -Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide. -Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!. .Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos. Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco. Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas Gol !!!! Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso! Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy! 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 PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte, who is likened to United States (US) President Donald Trump, is once again invited to visit Washington, Malacanang said on Friday, March 1. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saw similarities between Trump and Duterte. Pompeo, who paid a courtesy call on Duterte on Thursday, February 28, told the Chief Executive about his same "style" and "controversial" acts with Trump. "He (Pompeo) is very fond of the President. I remember when the President was talking about what he is doing for the country, pati 'yung mga controversial na galaw niya, pati 'yung cursing niya (including his controversial acts and cursing), the Secretary of State said, 'You're just like our President,'" Panelo told Palace reporters. "The style of the President, prangka, walang sini-sino, na kahit sino pwedeng labanan (The style of the President is frank, not favoring anybody, and fighting anyone). 'Di ba ganoon si Mr. Trump (Mr. Trump is like that), against all flags," he added. Pompeo arrived on Thursday, February 28, for a two-day visit to the country. The US official had the chance to hold a meeting with Duterte upon his arrival at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Tuesday night, February 26. Panelo said Pompeo extended Trump's renewed invitation to Duterte to visit the US but there was no "definite acceptance" from the Philippine President. "Wala siyang sinabi. Kasi the problem with the President is he cannot stand the temperature in the US. Napakalamig eh. Mahihirapan siya at saka masyadong malayo. 'Yung mga long haul, ayaw niya eh," he said. (He did not say anything. The problem with the President is he cannot stand the temperature in the US. It's very cold them. It will be difficult for him. And it's too far. He doesn't want a long haul.) But during Duterte's meeting with Pompeo, the Chief Executive emphasized prospects of "stronger and more meaningful" relations with the US," Panelo noted. Story continues Reaffirming the strength of Philippines-US alliance, Duterte also discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in countering terrorism and violent extremism. "The President highlighted prospects of stronger and more meaningful ties with the United States, particularly on defense and security, peace and order, regional stability, as well as the rule of law in the conduct of activities in the West Philippine Sea to prevent escalation of tensions among countries involved," the Palace official said. Panelo said Pompeo likewise reaffirmed the US's commitment to strengthen cooperation and deepen engagement with the Philippines on matters of mutual interest and common concern at the regional and global arena, including the rule of law and need for a rules-based regime in the West Philippine Sea. "The US Secretary of State also assured the Philippines of the nation's support," he said. (SunStar Philippines) Committed in its mission to become a key player in the real estate industry, Innoland Development Corporation sets the bar higher upon structurally completing one of the buildings in its biggest project Committed in its mission to become a key player in the real estate industry, Innoland Development Corporation sets the bar higher upon structurally completing one of the buildings in its biggest project to date- Montage. Last February 22, 2019 (Friday), Innoland together with its top executive officers has topped off One Montage, the first of the three towers in Montage. An integrated, master-planned, and sustainable mixed-used development, Montage is a three-tower commercial, office, and retail complex. Along with its top executives, the ceremonial event was done to celebrate a construction milestone, the structural completion of the 29-story grade A office building bound to house a mix of local and international names. Sitting on a prime lot located along Archbishop Reyes Avenue, alongside Cebus Business District, the pre-certified LEED Silver development will include office spaces, cafes, restaurants, service centers, and a supermarket. One Montage is seen to soar as the next preferred hub in Cebu. With its high technology business system and iconic design, it is set to transcend Innolands previous developments. Innoland Development Corporation is also known to have built multiple and diverse developments in the Philippines such as Calyx Centre and Calyx Residences, as well as TGU Tower and LINK building located in Cebu I.T Park. The corporation is also able to penetrate Alabang with Aeon Center, Polaris, and Capella which also offer office spaces to the metropolis. With its dynamic research and development, Innoland is steadfast in maintaining world-class standards and creating innovations to provide beautiful and usable space for customers. (Sponsored Content) Centuries to Tom Latham and Jeet Raval, and the best opening partnership for New Zealand in nearly half-a-century left Bangladesh on the ropes on day two of the first Test on Friday. Kane Williamson, unbeaten on 93, added to the run-fest at Hamilton's Seddon Park in a century stand for the fourth wicket with Henry Nicholls. At stumps, New Zealand were 451 for four, leading by 217 with six wickets in hand. Latham made 161, Raval notched his maiden century with 132, while Nicholls departed two overs before stumps for 53. With the assistance of a flat track, Latham and Raval put on 254 for the first wicket -- the third-highest opening partnership by a New Zealand pair and their best since the record 387 set by Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis against the West Indies 47 years ago. Latham punished Sri Lanka for dropping him before he scored at the start of the innings. He occupied the crease for more than six hours, scoring freely around the ground and reaching the boundary with 17 fours as well as hitting Mehidy Hasan over the mid-wicket fence three times. Ironically, it was Soumya Sarkar -- who spilled the simple catch at second slip -- who eventually claimed his wicket. But by then, Latham had passed 150 for the fourth time in his career and New Zealand were 333 for two. It continued a purple patch of form for the left-hander who has three centuries from his past four Test innings. Raval, frustrated by holding the New Zealand record for the most fifties (eight) without a century, finally got that monkey off his back in his 17th Test. He held his nerve after passing his previous best -- 88 on the same ground against South Africa two years ago -- and was able to raise his bat when he cracked back-to-back fours off Ebadat Hossain to move from 93 to 101. It took a sly switch from Mahmudullah to make the elusive breakthrough. The Bangladesh skipper brought himself on for one over only and on his fifth delivery, Raval skied an attempted slog-sweep to Khaled Ahmed at mid-wicket. It was another part-time bowler Soumya who picked up the two wickets of Latham and Ross Taylor. Latham, who edged a wide delivery to second slip on the second ball he faced, put that stroke away for 246 deliveries before he poked at a wide ball from Soumya and a diving Mohammad Mithun completed the dismissal -- also at second slip. Taylor did not bother questioning his dismissal when a Soumya inswinger rapped on the front pad plumb in line with the stumps. Against the run of play, Mehidy claimed the late wicket of Nicholls with a ball that came back and crashed into the stumps. Trump at a press conference in Hanoi after talks fell apart. Photo: Getty Images/Getty Images As his former fixer Michael Cohen spilled his guts to Congress, President Trump had one thing going for him: Overnight, hed announce that hed reached a new agreement with North Korea maybe even declaring an official end to the Korean War. That would knock some of the Cohen news out of the headlines on Thursday morning, and show that while Trump may have committed various crimes in the past, as president hes at least moving us toward more peaceful relations with North Korea. Unfortunately, thatt not what happened in Hanoi. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un abruptly cut short their two-day summit skipping their planned signing ceremony and even lunch when they failed to reach an agreement. The major sticking point was Kims demand that the U.S. drop all sanctions in return for North Korea closing just one nuclear facility. It was about the sanctions, Trump said at a press conference in Hanoi. Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldnt do that. We had some options, but at this time we decided not to do any of the options, Trump said, adding, Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times. So it seems like there was little point to Trump flying halfway around the world, and spending 20 hours in Vietnam. There was no talk of a third summit, but Trump stressed that his friendship with the North Korean dictator remains intact. This wasnt a walkaway like you get up and walk out, Trump said. No, this was very friendly. We shook hands Theres a warmth that we have, and I hope that stays. I think it will. But were positioned to do something very special. Its unclear what something very special might look like. Trump said Kim is still committed to holding off on missile launches and nuclear weapons tests (though reports suggest its nuclear weapons program is still very much alive). But its becoming more and more apparent that the previous goal set for the talks at last years summit in Singapore Kim promised to work toward complete denuclearization isnt very realistic. And it certainly wont happen on the absurdly fast timeline Trump suggested back then. Still, theres no doubt that relations with North Korea are less dangerous than when the two leaders were threatening each other over their nuclear button at the start of 2018. Trump told reporters that he and Kim discussed Otto Warmbier, the American student who was imprisoned in North Korea and died in 2017 of brain damage after being returned home in a coma, and hes sure his pal knew nothing about one of the few Americans being imprisoned in his country. He tells me that he didnt know about it, and I will take him at his word, Trump said. Those prisons are rough. Theyre rough places, and bad things happen. But I dont believe he knew about it. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte greets MNLF Founding Chairman Nur Misuari during their meeting at the Malacanan Palace on February 25, 2019. (Photo from PCOO) MANILA, Philippines Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Friday (March 1) clarified that President Rodrigo Duterte does not intend to create a new peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Instead, Medialdea said the Chief Executive wants an agreement in form of a formal writing between him and MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari for the sake of achieving peace in the Mindanao region. The proposal came after the recently concluded plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and the appointment of the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority. Duterte and Misuari held a brief meeting at Malacanang on Monday (February 25). The day after, the President himself revealed Misuaris intention and willingness to talk peace with the administration once the latter gets back from his travel abroad. It can be noted that President Duterte already directed Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to help in crafting the said agreement on peace. Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rosalie Coz) The post Palace: Duterte wants a gentlemens agreement, not new peace deal with MNLF appeared first on UNTV News. The Philippines just topped a list, but not the good kind. The United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) warned in a statement today that cases of measles are surging to alarmingly high levels in several countries including the Philippines. According to UNICEF, there have been 12,736 measles cases and 203 deaths in the Philippines so far this year, compared to the 15,599 cases in 2018. The Philippines ranks second among the 10 countries with the largest increase in measles cases. Other countries on the list are Ukraine, Brazil, Yemen, Venezuela, Serbia, Madagascar, Sudan, Thailand, France. This is based on data from the World Health Organization. Measles is highly contagious, more so than Ebola, tuberculosis or influenza. The virus can be contracted up to two hours after an infected person has left a room. It spreads through the air and infects the respiratory tract, potentially killing malnourished children or babies too young to be vaccinated. Once infected, there is no specific treatment for measles, so vaccination is life-saving, especially for children. This is a wake-up call. We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious disease a vaccine that has saved almost a million lives every year over the last two decades, said Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEFs Executive Director. These cases havent happened overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow, Fore added. The statement adds that UNICEF and its partners will conduct a campaign to vaccinate 9 million children in the Philippines against measles across 17 regions. Using social media, campaigners plan to encourage apprehensive parents, and health workers, it reads. Immunization rates in the country plunged to 40 percent last year from the average 70 percent in recent years, which many credited to the dengue vaccine Dengavia scare. This has led to the current measles outbreak in Metro Manila and in other regions of the country, which the Philippine Department of Health declared in February. This article, PH among countries with high rise in measles cases, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! A draft law that would have made it illegal for parents to smack their children in the Philippines has been vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte, the presidential palace said Thursday. The bill would have banned physical, humiliating, or degrading acts of punishment or discipline by parents or teachers on children. It also called for repeat offenders to undergo anger management counselling. "I am aware that there is a growing trend, prevalent in Western nations, that sees all forms of corporal punishment as an outdated form of disciplining children," Duterte told Congress, explaining why he would not sign it into law. "I strongly believe that we should resist this trend," he said in a statement Thursday, adding he believed parents should be able to impose corporal punishment. The president has also called for the age of criminal liability -- currently 15 years old -- to be lowered, to give more teeth to a narcotics crackdown that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 drug suspects. Richard Dy, spokesman for the Child Rights Network, told AFP rights groups were surprised at Duterte's veto, and said his organisation will call on Congress to vote to override the veto so it becomes law. Dy said three in five Filipino children are victims of psychological and physical violence, and "more than half of these are happening at home". "There is a cultural norm in the Philippines that we can hit children in order to discipline them. That's what we wanted changed with this bill," Dy said. Studies have shown that corporal punishment of children could lead to depression, suicide, or turn victims into child-smackers themselves when they grow up, Dy added. Duterte has said publicly that as a child his mother would hit him "with whatever she could grab" and make him kneel in front of the altar with his arms spread like those of Jesus Christ nailed to the cross as punishment. Dy said the bill took more than 10 years to pass in the House of Representatives and the Senate, with majority approval secured after its sponsors agreed to drop an early provision that would have imposed jail terms for offenders. Last month parliament passed a controversial bill lowering the minimum age of criminal liability to 12, among measures sought by Duterte to further extend his deadly crackdown on drugs and crime. However the Senate has yet to pass the bill, which has been criticised by the United Nations and rights monitors. ANTICIPATING a surge in demand for heavy-duty trucks because of the governments infrastructure program, Cebu-based All Prime International Motor Corp. announced its alliance with Chinese manufacturer ANTICIPATING a surge in demand for heavy-duty trucks because of the governments infrastructure program, Cebu-based All Prime International Motor Corp. announced its alliance with Chinese manufacturer Sinotruk. The company on Friday, March 1, inaugurated its new sales and service center along UN Ave. in Mandaue City. China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co. Ltd. (Sinotruk Group) is one of Chinas biggest heavy-duty truck manufacturing firms. The infrastructure buildup and booming construction in the country have increased the demand for quality heavy-duty trucks and reliable parts and service. We see the opportunity in this business and the area by which we will be able to complement the industry, said All Prime chairman Oscar Chua. All Prime is the authorized exclusive distributor of Sinotruk brands and parts. All Prime is also authorized to expand marketing in the Visayas. This partnership assures our customers of factory-specified light to heavy trucks, supported by quality service and original parts straight from the factory. We look forward to working with businesses from all over the Visayas as we look forward to expanding our business in the country, said All Prime president Andrew Lim. According to Lim, trucks are a major investment in industries like construction, mining, logistics, manufacturing and retail. Lim said their alliance with Sinotruk will help them ensure their clients long-term productivity because of the quick access to parts and services. It will also give them that confidence to deliver customer service at higher standards. The Duterte administration is embarking on big-ticket infrastructure projects across the country, which are expected to cost a whopping P9 trillion until 2022. House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who led the inauguration, lauded the partnership forged between All Prime and Sinotruk, saying it mirrors the healthy economic relationship between the Philippines and China. We are happy with our economic relations with China, said Arroyo. Story continues She added that its fitting for the Philippines to forge business partnerships with China, which is becoming a champion in technology. She also said that it makes sense for the Philippines to build economic ties with China because it is one of the worlds economic powerhouses and the fastest-growing neighbor country in Asia. Its practical and logical that we become friends, she said. Business chamber leaders also welcomed Sinotruks entry to Cebu. Stanley Go, president of Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said this venture will aid in the supply chain requirements of businesses. As business owners, we all know that logistics is of prime importance in operating a successful business. Reliable transportation is key towards running an efficient logistics team, said Go. In the booming Cebuano economy, this new business is an essential service to address a pain point for all business owners, which is finding reliable services for our trucks and services, he added. Jay Yuvallos, vice president of Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the supply chain capacity is important to build and strengthen local businesses. The world is getting smaller and has become very competitive. Your services and support to our supply chain is crucial, said Yuvallos, thanking Sinotruk for pouring investments in Cebu. All Prime was founded in 2016 as a dealership specializing in trucks and other commercial motor equipment. The company has showrooms in Cebu and Manila. All Prime is a member of the Simon Group of Companies, an integrated marketing enterprise with wide business operations in major cities in the country based in Cebu. 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 A UNIVERSITY of the Philippines Cebu professor facing possible administrative charges for the alleged destruction of a boom barrier of Camp Sergio Osmena is pointing at the latter for the violence that erupted during a rally on Feb. 25. Dr. Phoebe Zoe Sanchez, a public sociologist and professor of UP Cebu, is set to face administrative charges from the Police Regional Office 7 (PRO 7) for allegedly destroying a government property. Sanchez is one of the 10 demonstrators that PRO 7 Director Senior Supt. Debold Sinas is planning to sue following the altercation between officers and protesters on Monday's commemoration of the 33rd anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution. The demonstrators, who were members of cause-oriented groups Bayan, Karapatan and Makabayan, allegedly tried to block vehicles leaving the camp, pulled down streamers and damaged the camps boom barrier. But Sanchez said it was the other way around. She said it was not their fault but the officers themselves. According to her, the gate was broken from inside because the officers also pushed the gate in retaliation to some protestors banging at the gate. "Gi toktok sa mga tawo ang gate, unya gilampag ra ang gate. Unya, naa sad miy video nga (The people knocked on the gate, and banged it. And we also have a video).. actually, the bar that they said was destroyed was interior to the gate. Wala na siya sa gawas. So dili kami ang nagkupot ana (It's not outside, so it was not us holding it)," she said. Sanchez, who is also the chairperson of human rights group Karapatan Central Visayas, said she was the one who negotiated with police to allow them to push through with the rally yet to no avail. The commotion started when the PRO 7 played music while the demonstrators were staging a program outside the camp. Voltes V music of the famed Japanese anime television series of the '70s was played loudly, according to demonstrators. "I negotiated. 'Sir, inyo ning (its your) function nga maminaw mo namo (to listen to us). One hour lang, one hour lang. Just tolerate us kay inyo ang (because it is your) function for tolerance. Niadto ko sa laing pulis (I went to another police), 'Sir, one hour lang.' Nag sige gyud kog hangyo. (Sir, just one hour, I repeatedly asked) Wala jud ko nisyagit, ang pulis in front of me nag sigeg syagit (I didn't shout, it was the police in front of me who kept on shouting)," she recalled. Story continues Sanchez even claims the officers violated a constitutional right and even protocols in the Police Operational Procedures Manual. "Duna jud sila silay (They have) administrative violations...katong mga pulis (those police). Only, they want to highlight...ang ilang gi capitalize is katong knocking of the door and the pushing of the door to make it appear that we are the ones criminally liable when they are also administratively responsible for culpable violation of the Constitution and the police operational procedure manual." READ:PRO 7 to press charges vs 10 Edsa protesters She said they just wanted to air their concerns regarding the recent string of sketchy police operations and to voice out the importance of democracy since it was the 33rd anniversary of the Edsa. Unforfunately, she said, it did not happen that way. "Ganahan ra sad mi nga maminaw sila (We wanted them to listen) because it is an exercise of democratic assemblies...ingon ana ba. They don't want us to speak kaya nga nilagyan kami ng malaki at malakas na (that is why they set up a huge and loud) 'Voltes 5' music because they don't want us to discuss to the public and for the media to capture all the things they have done," she said. She said she is ready to face the administrative complaint the PRO 7 is planning to file against her at the Ombudsman. She said activist groups will also file cases against the police for alleged violation of police protocols and the constitution. "Let it come kay kami, andam man sad mi mu (we are also ready to) file ug (a) complaint against them. Naa miy public assembly but wala nasay exercise of public assembly (There is [right] to public assembly but there is no longer an exercise of public assembly). I'll be ready to face them in court man sad with the pictures and videos we took," she said. (Von Daniel R. Plasencia and Jayvee A. Gulfan, USC-Interns) Why Donald Trumps failure to reach deal with North Korea in Vietnam could be a win for China Beijing stands to gain from the abrupt end to the second summit between North Korea and the United States, according to Chinese analysts. They believe that the no-deal summit is actually in Chinas interest, and that Beijings influence is set to increase as both Washington and Pyongyang will want to work more closely with China to extract a future agreement over denuclearisation, sanctions relief and regional stability. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump admitted his two-day summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had failed to reach a much-anticipated deal because of Pyongyangs demands that economic sanctions be lifted. Just hours after the Hanoi meeting ended, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met North Korean deputy foreign minister Ri Kil-song in Beijing and promised that China would continue to play a constructive role in promoting a deal between the US and North Korea. The international community is deeply concerned about the Hanoi summit between the leaders of North Korea and the US, Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying. He said that the talks had entered deep waters and that it was not possible to avoid difficulties. But through continued dialogue, the overall direction of resolving the Korean peninsula issues namely denuclearisation and the establishment of a peaceful mechanism through political means is clear, Wang added. Earlier, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang also stressed the importance of dialogue and mutual respect, and reiterated that Beijing would continue to play a constructive role. It is expected that Kim will return to Pyongyang through China and will update President Xi Jinping on the Hanoi meeting. Huang Jing, a professor at Beijing Language and Culture Universitys Institute of International and Regional Studies, said he was not surprised that the summit had ended with no concrete results. There remains a huge gap in terms of what Washington and Pyongyang wanted from the denuclearisation talks and their bargaining ability, he said. Story continues But such an unsatisfactory outcome may be welcomed in Beijing because it would not be in Chinas interests if the US and North Korea can find a solution to the denuclearisation issue too quickly, Huang said. While China officially supported talks between Trump and Kim, Beijing is deeply concerned about rapid rapprochement between Washington and Pyongyang, and fears a shift in the regional power dynamic in which North Korea could be used against it. According to Chinese diplomatic sources, North Korea despite its geopolitical importance has been and will remain a useful card in Beijings long game against the US as their rivalry unfolds. For Beijing, itd be better to hold the North Korea card than to use it, Huang said. Although Trump insisted that the summit was not a failure and that it was important not to rush into a bad deal, the outcome was widely seen as a setback for the embattled US president, who was eager to score points diplomatically. According to Huang, Trumps eagerness to make his mark by meeting Kim personally has not only helped Pyongyang gain international recognition as a de facto nuclear power, but also helped Beijing improve relations with its communist neighbour. Wang Sheng, a North Korean affairs specialist at Jilin University, also said the fruitless Hanoi meeting underscored the sensitivity and difficulty of making any breakthrough on dismantling Pyongyangs nuclear and missile arsenal. I think Chinas influence will expand afterwards, such as more mediation in the related multilateral meetings, or pushing Pyongyang harder to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and reform the North Korean economy, he said. And theres still leeway for negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. I dont think US-North Korean relations will worsen because of this meeting. However, Sun Xingjie, another Korean affairs specialist at Jilin University, described the outcome on Thursday as a setback for China as well because Beijing has very much wished to push ahead with the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. As to how the security situation in Northeast Asia changes in the future, we need to watch how Pyongyang reacts to this meeting afterwards. Its still early to say if the situation will suffer or remain unchanged, he said. Additional reporting by Kristin Huang More from South China Morning Post: This article Why Donald Trumps failure to reach deal with North Korea in Vietnam could be a win for China first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019. A Greek vase painting, dating to about 450 B.C., depicts the death of Talos. Stanfords Adrienne Mayor examined the myth of Talos and others in her latest research. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Forzaruvo94 Thousands of years before machine learning and self-driving cars became reality, the tales of giant bronze robot Talos, artificial woman Pandora and their creator god, Hephaestus, filled the imaginations of people in ancient Greece. Historians usually trace the idea of automata to the Middle Ages, when the first self-moving devices were invented, but the concept of artificial, lifelike creatures dates to the myths and legends from at least about 2,700 years ago, said Adrienne Mayor, a research scholar in the Department of Classics in the School of Humanities and Sciences. These ancient myths are the subject of Mayor's latest book, Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology. "Our ability to imagine artificial intelligence goes back to the ancient times," said Mayor, who is also a 2018-19 fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. "Long before technological advances made self-moving devices possible, ideas about creating artificial life and robots were explored in ancient myths." Mayor, a historian of science, said that the earliest themes of artificial intelligence, robots and self-moving objects appear in the work of ancient Greek poets Hesiod and Homer, who were alive somewhere between 750 and 650 B.C. The story of Talos, first mentioned around 700 B.C. by Hesiod, offers one of the earliest conceptions of a robot, Mayor said. The myth describes Talos as a giant bronze man built by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention and blacksmithing. Talos was commissioned by Zeus, the king of Greek gods, to protect the island of Crete from invaders. He marched around the island three times every day and hurled boulders at approaching enemy ships. At his core, the giant had a tube running from his head to one of his feet that carried a mysterious life source of the gods the Greeks called ichor. Another ancient text, Argonautica, which dates to the third century B.C., describes how sorceress Medea defeated Talos by removing a bolt at his ankle and letting the ichor fluid flow out, Mayor said. The myth of Pandora, first described in Hesiod's Theogony, is another example of a mythical artificial being, Mayor said. Although much later versions of the story portray Pandora as an innocent woman who unknowingly opened a box of evil, Mayor said Hesiod's original described Pandora as an artificial, evil woman built by Hephaestus and sent to Earth on the orders of Zeus to punish humans for discovering fire. "It could be argued that Pandora was a kind of AI agent," Mayor said. "Her only mission was to infiltrate the human world and release her jar of miseries." In addition to creating Talos and Pandora, mythical Hephaestus made other self-moving objects, including a set of automated servants, who looked like women but were made of gold, Mayor said. According to Homer's recounting of the myth, Hephaestus gave these artificial women the gods' knowledge. Mayor argues that they could be considered an ancient mythical version of artificial intelligence. The ancient myths that Mayor examined in her research grapple with the moral implications of Hephaestus' creations. "Not one of those myths has a good ending once the artificial beings are sent to Earth," Mayor said. "It's almost as if the myths say that it's great to have these artificial things up in heaven used by the gods. But once they interact with humans, we get chaos and destruction." Mayor said the myths underscore humanity's fascination with creating artificial life. "People have an impulse to imagine things that aren't possible yet," Mayor said. "There is a timeless link between imagination and science." Explore further Researcher explores the truths behind myths of ancient Amazons Nutritional soil with a producer strain of Streptomyces together with the inclusion of a single colony. Credit: Leiden University Increasing resistance and a lack of new antibiotics are a serious problem for public health. Against this background, Gilles van Wezel of the Institute of Biology Leiden is looking for new medicines. Together with former Ph.D. student Changsheng Wu and colleagues he discovered the special antibiotic lugdunomycin, which they named after Leiden. The discovery was recently published in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Exhausted source "It is predicted that by 2050 approximately 10 million people worldwide will die from the consequences of antibiotic resistance," says Van Wezel. "That is as many as due to cancer. We are facing a negative trend in which more and more bacteria are becoming resistant, often to multiple antibiotics, while at the same time fewer and fewer new medicines are coming onto the market. We want to find solutions for this." Van Wezel performs research into the bacterium Streptomyces. This genus lives in the soil and produces no less than two-thirds of all antibiotics. Because they have been used and screened for so long, the pharmaceutical industry thought that everything that could be obtained from these bacteria had already been discovered. The source seemed exhausted," says Van Wezel. But that turned out not to be the case after all. Sleeping antibiotic At the beginning of the 21st century, DNA sequencing took off: a technique for visualising and analysing the entire DNA of organisms. "This way we could also look at the DNA of antibiotic-producing bacteria. Then it turned out that they had much more potential than we had previously thought possible! The Streptomyces coelicolor model strain, which produces sky blue (coelicolor in Latin) antibiotics, is a good example. The bacterium produces as many as four different species. Thousands of scientists have been working on this strain for fifty years, so it was thought that there was not much more to be obtained. However, when the complete DNA of the strain was published in 2002, it appeared that the DNA of the bacteria contains far more recipes for antibiotics than just for the antibiotics they produce in the lab. These are called sleeping antibiotics. The structure of the antibiotic lugdunomycine. Credit: Leiden University Saving energy It takes a bacterium a lot of energy to make antibiotics," explains Van Wezel. "That's why they don't do it when it's not necessary." Therefore, in the laboratory bacteria make fewer antibiotics than in the soil. Simply because the lab lacks the necessary ecological conditions. "Or, in other words: in the soil, there are more enemies against which bacteria need antibiotics." Leiden antibiotic The antibiotic discovered by Wu, Van Wezel and co-promoter Young Hae Choi is also a sleeping antibiotic, produced by a still unknown Streptomyces bacterium from the Qinling Mountains in China. They called it lugdunomycin, after the Latin name for Leiden (Lugdunum batavorum). "Wu has looked at a strain that did not produce anything at first sight. But after imitating different growing conditions, we nevertheless witnessed biological activity here. This led to the discovery of a chemical molecule with an unforeseen complex structure!" Lugdunomycin is derived from a well-known family of molecules with mainly anti-tumour activity but underwent such large modifications that it no longer looks like it. "The addition of three extra rings make it look like a helicopter," says Van Wezel. "We have never seen this before, but it will certainly occur more often in nature. But in such small quantities that they must have been overlooked until now." The discovery of such a radically different chemical structure is rare. Now that Wu, Choi and Van Wezel have published the structure of lugdunomycin, the next challenge is: to make Streptomyces produce more of it. They also have to investigate the exact activity of the molecule, and whether it is actually clinically applicable. Possibly, the Leiden antibiotic will be able to serve as real medicine in the future. To this end, Van Wezel started a follow-up project within the NACTAR programme in the NWO domain of Applied and Technical Sciences (TTW). In this programme, scientists and industry work together on the development of new antibiotics. "For now, at least, we have discovered this special molecule, which is very exciting. I don't think we will quickly discover another molecule with such a spectacular structure." Explore further New insights into the production of antibiotics by bacteria The structure of myomesin with elastic regions shown in red. Credit: Matthias Wilmanns Proteins made in our cells are folded into specific shapes so they can fulfill their functions. Scientists have discovered the static structures of over 100,000 proteins, but how they change in response to forces on the cell, like muscle contractions, is largely unknown. Matthias Wilmanns and colleagues at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Hamburg, Germany, developed methods to study the structure of a protein "strain absorber" as it changes during muscle contractions. They will present their work at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held March 26, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. Each muscle unit has a series of highly organized protein rods that are pulled to overlap when a muscle contracts or are pulled apart when a muscle is stretched. Myomesin is a protein that stabilizes and organizes these rods, acting to absorb the strain on stretched muscles to prevent the muscle units from breaking apart. Wilmanns, in collaboration with Matthias Rief's group at the Technical University of Munich, used atomic force microscopy to stretch and measure individual myomesin molecules. Myomesin became 2.5 times longer under force, and their high resolution structure showed this was due to slinky-like linkers in the protein that allow it to stretch without unfolding. However, a key question remains on demonstrating that these mechanisms apply under physiological conditions as well. To address this question, Wilmanns and colleagues are now designing experiments to visualize the changes in myomesin inside muscle cells using super high-resolution imaging. "Muscle is a good model for looking at how its proteins respond to force, because it experiences extraordinarily high forces, but we have small forces all over the body," explained Wilmanns. "Now we have methods sensitive enough to measure very small forces, so we can start looking at the behavior of different proteins that respond to very small forces. At present there is so little known about mechanisms of molecular elasticity in proteins." Dai's historical trends from 1976 to 2016 show the Arctic region's largest surface warming is over areas with significant sea ice loss. Credit: Patrick Dodson Two new studies authored by atmospheric scientists at UAlbany and published in Nature Communications may offer us clues for future climate change projections. Arctic Warming Arctic temperatures are warming at a rate more than twice as fast as the overall planet and the trend is not letting up, according to NOAA's most recent Arctic Report Card. Sea ice in the region is also now declining at an average rate of 12.8 percent per decade, relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. Though most scientists agree that human-induced global warming is the culprit of the Arctic's transformation, the cause of its faster warming rates than the rest of the world known as Arctic Amplification (AA) is still under great debate. UAlbany's Aiguo Dai turned to historical data and future climate model projections for answers. His analyses showed that AA would not diminish until the 22nd and 23rd centuries, after nearly all of the Arctic's sea ice has melted away due to increasing CO2 emissions over time. "Rapid Arctic warming and sea ice loss are attracting a lot of attention in the media, public and scientific community. Our study links the two together and suggests that the sea ice loss is causing the rapid warming in the Arctic," said Dai, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (DAES). "When the sea ice melts away completely, this elevated warming will also disappear and the warming rate in the Arctic will be similar to the rest of the world," he concluded. According to the study, large AA occurs from about October to Aprilwhen the Arctic Ocean becomes a heat source to the atmosphereand only in areas that experienced significant sea ice loss during these months. In addition, their new model simulations showed that AA would not exist if surface fluxes were calculated with a fixed sea ice cover, again suggesting that sea ice loss is necessary for AA to occur. "The take-home message here is that the melting of Arctic sea ice will not only reduce the habitat for polar bears and open new waterways for ships, but also greatly enhance warming in the region for the coming decades," Dai said. "This could also impact weather patterns in middle latitudes, causing more frequent intrusions of winter polar vortex into the continental U.S." DAES Professor Aiguo Dai (left) and ASRC Senior Research Associate Fangqun Yu. Credit: Patrick Dodson DAES Associate Professor Jiping Liu is a co-author on the study, along with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Aerosols and Climate Greenhouse gases are known for their warming effect on the Earth's surface. Lesser known is that aerosol particles associated with both anthropogenic and biogenic emissions can disrupt our climate too. These microscopic pollutants cool the environment by modifying properties of clouds that reflect sunlight back to space. Fangqun Yu, a senior research associate at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC), is an aerosols expert and uses advanced climate modeling to investigate their formation and evolution. He recently collaborated with a group of leading climate scientists to determine how changes to climate and human modifications to natural environments or "land use" influence the formation of new aerosol particles from plant emissions through a process called organic nucleation. When factoring in climate and land use in their simulations, the researchers calculated a 16 percent decrease in radiative forcing associated with aerosols, which is the difference between sunlight absorbed by the Earth and energy radiated back to space. "The formation of organic aerosols in the atmosphere is a complex process that involves hundreds of organic compounds and reactions," said Yu. "The effects of atmospheric particles both organic and inorganic is the largest uncertainty in our understanding of climate change and projected levels of increasing global temperatures by the end of this century." "Our study demonstrates that by accounting for the change in organic aerosol nucleation associated with climate change and land use, we can reduce uncertainty in future climate change projections." Yu also reviewed a study last month in Nature's News & Views that challenges our understanding of the organic aerosol formation processes that impact air quality and climate. Explore further A warming world increases air pollution More information: Jialei Zhu et al. Decrease in radiative forcing by organic aerosol nucleation, climate, and land use change, Nature Communications (2019). Jialei Zhu et al. Decrease in radiative forcing by organic aerosol nucleation, climate, and land use change,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08407-7 Aiguo Dai et al. Arctic amplification is caused by sea-ice loss under increasing CO2, Nature Communications (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07954-9 Journal information: Nature Communications , Nature Photo: Shutterstock Warren Buffett merged Kraft and Heinz in 2015. Kraft Heinz, the giant food company, has not had a good month. On Friday, they announced disappointing profits, a disappointing outlook for future profits, and a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into their accounting practices. They also announced that they were taking a $15 billion write-down of their intangible assets: Essentially, saying the Kraft and Oscar Mayer trademarks are not worth as much as they previously estimated, and must be valued accordingly on their balance sheet. The stock fell by 29 percent in one day. But the stock had been getting beaten up more slowly over the prior two years; its down by nearly two-thirds since its peak in February 2017. Whats wrong at Kraft Heinz? There are two theories, and neither looks great for legendary investor Warren Buffett, who teamed up with the Brazilian private equity firm 3G to buy out H.J. Heinz in 2013, and then merged it with Kraft in 2015. One theory is that Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway and 3G have mismanaged Kraft Heinz. 3G is known for a strategy of profit improvement through aggressive cost-cutting, and one of Buffetts investing ideas is that old and established but unsexy brands are undervalued by Wall Street. Together, Buffett and 3G have pursued a cost-cutting strategy at Kraft Heinz that relies on the established strength of the companys famous brands to continue generating sales even as costs especially sales and marketing costs are slashed. But some of those brands are losing relevance as customers become more focused on fresh and healthy foods. Critics say Kraft Heinz is failing to invest aggressively enough in updating its product lineup for changing tastes. In The Wall Street Journal, Aaron Back and Carol Ryan point to Conagra foods, which successfully turned around aging frozen-food brands Healthy Choice and Marie Callenders by incorporating fashionable ingredients like kale. Maybe Kraft Heinz should be more like Conagra. The other possibility is that Kraft Heinz has a fine strategy but was simply overvalued by investors, who had unrealistic expectations for its sales and profit margins. This is Buffetts diagnosis, and he counts himself as one of the unrealistic investors, admitting in an interview with CNBC this week that he overpaid, at least for the Kraft part of the acquisition. Buffett is more focused on the problem of a shift in power from manufacturers toward retailers than on shifts in consumer taste. The value of Kraft Heinzs brands doesnt just depend on consumers willingness to buy their products. It also depends on retailers willingness to pay a premium to carry recognizable Kraft Heinz brands alongside their store brands and other competitors. In the CNBC interview, Buffett points to the explosive growth of Kirkland Signature, Costcos house brand. Kraft and Heinz are both over 100 years old and can be sold at any retailer, while Kirkland is less than 30 years old and its products are sold almost entirely at Costco; yet, consumers spent 50 percent more last year on Kirkland products than on Kraft Heinz products. The rise of private-label brands doesnt just mean that companies like Kraft lose market share. Increased consumer willingness to buy private-label products also gives retailers a stronger hand in their negotiations with companies like Kraft. If Walmart or Costco can credibly say they will just drop Kraft mayonnaise if Kraft Heinz wont sell it at the price they like, they gain leverage over pricing, and Kraft Heinz loses profit margin. Of course, this leverage varies from brand to brand. Heinz Ketchup still has a 60 percent market share and is the sort of brand that enjoys a persistent margin advantage due to consumer preference. Do consumers have a similar preference for Oscar Mayer lunch meats over competitive brands? Accountants at Kraft Heinz apparently dont think so. Ideally, a company facing this challenge would develop new brands that consumers are willing to pay a premium for. Or, it can acquire such brands, creating value by marrying its skills in production and distribution with intellectual property created by someone else. Still, this approach doesnt always work. General Mills bought a controlling stake in Yoplait in 2011, in an attempt to adapt to the shift in consumer preferences away from carb-filled cereals toward yogurt. But Yoplait has been outcompeted by competitors who better kept up with particular consumer fashions in yogurt. Sometimes, the best approach to a valuable but declining business is simply to continue collecting the declining stream of profits. A lot of people still buy Velveeta cheese and Capri Sun drinks, even if they are not as fashionable as they used to be. The question, then, is: If thats the right approach for Kraft Heinz, why did Buffett and 3G pay so much for the company to begin with? The market reaction to the ban was telling, underscoring the problem of being so reliant on a single client. Credit: Shutterstock As a standoff over Australian coal shipments through the northern Chinese port of Dalian continues, it underscores the extent of Australia's economic dependence on China. One-third of all Australia's exports globally are China-bound. Market reaction to a Chinese coal "ban" was telling and reflected concerns about an over-dependence on one client. The Australian dollar tumbled before recovering. Coal producers were pegged back. Initially, the decision was attributed to local customs officials, but this misunderstood the nature of the Chinese regime. No decision to restrain imports from China's largest supplier of raw materials would be taken without the imprimatur of the leadership in Beijing. While the freeze on Australian coal imports through Dalian may prove to be a short, sharp shock, what China's action does convey is a message that Beijing can turn an import spigot on and off at will. Why it might have chosen now to remind Australia of its vulnerability to central planning decisions, arbitrarily applied, is not clear. But it's reasonable to speculate that politics is involved. What is notable about China's action is that it does not, at this stage, affect Russian and Indonesian coal imports. Australia appears to have been singled out. Australia is far and away the world's largest coal exporter. It accounts for more than 20% of China's coal imports, the bulk of it thermal coal for greedy power stations. China's foreign ministry has said there is no "ban" on Australian coal imports through the Dalian port. But with demurrage charges mounting on coal carriers obliged to stand offshore for 40 days or more, use of the word "ban" is moot. If politics is a factor, then several possibilities present themselves in what has been a rocky relationship over the past several years. Beijing could be signalling its displeasure over Australia's decision to bar the technology company Huawei from participating in the build-out of Australia's 5G communications network. Other possible causes of Chinese unhappiness include Canberra's decision to deny a re-entry permit to Australia for businessman Huang Xiangmo. This follows a decision to deny Huang Australian citizenship on grounds that his links with the Chinese Communist Party render him a security risk. Delicate late-stage negotiations between the US and China on trade could also be a factor. Beijing might regard meting out a bit of grief to one of America's closest allies as a reminder of its ability to exact retribution if things do not go its way. Then there are the twin issues of the South China Sea and China's push into the southwest Pacific. Canberra is a persistent if low-key critic of Beijing's militarisation of disputed territory in waters that are subject to claims and counter-claims before international tribunals. These waters span trade routes through which the bulk of Australia's seaborne trade passes to its markets in north Asia, including trans-shipment points like Dalian. Beijing will also not have overlooked a vigorous campaign against its interests being waged by elements of the Australian foreign and security policy establishment. At the forefront of this criticism is the government-funded Australian Security Policy Institute. ASPI spokespeople have focused particularly on China's alleged breaches of cyber security. Sections of the Australian media, feeding off ASPI criticism of cyber breaches, will have added to Chinese displeasure. Then there are irritants like the continued detention on security grounds of Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun. Yang has been a persistent critic of the Communist Party. While a freeze initiated by Beijing during which no senior Australian official visited China for high-level talks for the better part of two years has been lifted, relations remain problematic. Foreign Minister Marise Payne went to Beijing late last year for talks with her Chinese counterpart. These were designed to "re-set" the relationship. But episodes like the "ban" on coal shipments foreshadow further difficulties in the Sino-Australia relationship as China's power and influence grow. Other explanations offered for what appeared to be, on the face of it, arbitrary action against Australian coal shipments relate to pressures on China's hard-pressed domestic producers. In a slowing Chinese economy, competition from higher-quality and competitively priced imports has battered domestic coal producers. In other words, a number of factors are likely to have been at play in China's decision to halt Australian coal imports through Dalian, if only temporarily. These coal shipments, it should be noted, amount to a relatively small proportion of the 300 million tonnes shipped annually. About 7 million tonnes passes through Dalian. This is coking or metallurgical coal for the steel industry, to distinguish it from thermal coal for power generation. In 2017-19 coal exports to China were worth about A$13 billion, second only to exports of A$50 billion of iron ore and concentrates. However, if the ban spreads to other ports Australian exporters will have cause for much deeper concern. Uncertainties among Australian exporters are not helped by an opaque Chinese system that denies transparent explanations unless it suits Beijing of actions that are unfriendly to its trading partners. China's slowdown in imports of Australian wine last year is a case in point. The problem has eased, but the episode unnerved wine exporters whose production is geared significantly to a booming Chinese market. Australian officials will also be concerned about action taken against Canadian nationals who have been detained in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest pending extradition to the US of the daughter of the Huawei founder. Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, has been fighting extradition through the courts in Vancouver to prevent her removal to the US, where she has been charged with violations of sanctions against doing business with Iran. The arrest of two Canadians former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor for allegedly endangering China's national security is widely viewed as retaliation against Canada for the arrest of Meng. What all this tells us is that dealing with a more nationalistic, assertive and ruthless China in pursuit of what it regards as its national interests will become more, not less, difficult. Western officials can talk about a rules-based international order until they're blue in the face, but if the rules don't correspond with Beijing's own preferences, then chances are it will disregard them. This is a reality that has taken some time to impress itself on those who might have believed that encouragement to China to live up to expectations of it becoming a "responsible stakeholder" will survive an encounter with Chinese self-interest. In that regard, Beijing and Washington are not dissimilar in a new era in which a more nationalist US is shunning multilateral trading agreements like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership and looking to a narrower self-interest. The new US-China trade deal is set to be concluded next month. You can be sure that interruptions to Australian coal shipments to China will be very far from their concerns. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Oleg Bolshakov. Credit: SUSU Modern cosmetics and medical implants contain many inorganic substances. Studies by South Ural State University researchers are aimed at understanding how biological molecules of the human body will interact with new, foreign, inorganic molecules and implants. A study by the SUSU team of nanotechnologists published in Langmuir could advance international medicine, cosmetology and transplantology. The Mystery of Biomolecules The human body is an obvious example of the interaction between the organic and inorganic. Protein generated in human body is able to form a mineral, calcium phosphate, from which all bones and teeth are formeda natural, inorganic part of the body. However, the mechanism of the formation of inorganic parts has not yet been discovered. The scientists from the SUSU Nanotechnology Research and Education Centre have set a goal of repeating the processes of growth of the inorganic parts of human body in laboratory conditions using biomineral proteins. This will help scientists and medical researchers around the world understand how organic and inorganic matter interact, which could support future scientific breakthroughs in medicine, cosmetology and transplantology. "The first task we set for ourselves was to understand how big molecules (proteins) interact with this mineral phase. Before combining with microcrystalline mineral, proteins must come into close contact with the mineral, and metaphorically speaking, take its hand before integrating into a big bone structure. In January 2019 our article was published, which was dedicated to how interactions between the biomolecules of protein and mineral parts (inorganic crystals) occur in a simple fashion," says Oleg Bolshakov, head of the project and researcher of the Nanotechnology REC. Oleg Bolshakov. Credit: SUSU The main issue was that it was difficult to isolate mineralizing proteins in their pure form. "We did not locate proteins, because they are unavailable. So we decided to study the interactions not with the protein itself, but with its constituent (amino acids). Knowing how an amino acid sequence will interact with a protein, we can formulate a hypothesis about how a complex combination of amino acids will interact with inorganic microcrystals. Our article was devoted to the interaction with amino acids." Studies on Amino Acids in the Laboratory To complete a number of studies on biomineralization, the researchers chose an ecologically clean synthesis of inorganic matter, specifically, nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, since this is one of the main fields of research at the SUSU Nanotechnology REC. "In many ways, the conclusions from our measurements complement what was stated previously in our theoretical opinions. For example, we confirmed a previously stated conjecture that the so-called negatively-charged acids (or acidic amino acids) interact much more weakly with nanoparticles than basic amino acids do. Our team was the first one to show exactly how weakly they interact," explains Oleg Bolshakov. Roman Morozov. Credit: SUSU SUSU researchers involved all the facilities of Nanotechnology REC in their studies, starting from the synthetic laboratory, where they formed the nanoparticles of the highest crystallinity thanks to postgraduate student Roman Morozov. These nanoparticles where characterized using all types of microscopy: transmission and scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet spectroscopy. Computer Analysis of the Results A significant portion of the research was dedicated to the theoretical modeling of the results. Vladimir Potemkin, Head of the SUSU Computer-Aided Drug Design Laboratory, is a recognized specialist in this field and has developed his own method of theoretical modelling. His calculations showed that it is the amino group in particular that provides for the adhesion of biological molecules to nanoparticles, i.e. with inorganic microcrystals. The studies by South Ural State University researchers are quite important. For example, a large number of pigments in cosmetic products and medical implants use titanium oxide. The theoretical and practical groundwork laid by the researchers will make it possible to understand how biological molecules will interact with these foreign introductions and determine which interaction will provide the best affinity. The researchers plan on continuing their series of studies on biomineralization. Explore further Body building supplement could be bad for the brain More information: Artyom Shchelokov et al. Adsorption of Native Amino Acids on Nanocrystalline TiO2: Physical Chemistry, QSPR, and Theoretical Modeling, Langmuir (2018). Journal information: Langmuir Artyom Shchelokov et al. Adsorption of Native Amino Acids on Nanocrystalline TiO2: Physical Chemistry, QSPR, and Theoretical Modeling,(2018). DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b02007 The supersonic jet the Concorde pictured in the sky above Toulouse in France during its inaugural test flight on March 2, 1969 When the misty skies cleared over southern France on the afternoon of Sunday March 2, 1969, the green light was signalled for the highly anticipated first ever flight of the Concorde. Journalists had been alerted two days earlier that the test flight was imminent; the world had been waiting since the futuristic aircraft, with its pointed nose and triangular wings, was publicly presented in December 1967. Here is an account, drawn from AFP reports, of the momentous day in aviation history when the supersonic turbojet first took to the skies 50 years ago. 'She flies!' Several hundred journalists and spectators were crowded near the runway of the airport at Toulouse, where prototype 001 of the Franco-British aircraft was constructed. With French test pilot Andre Turcat at the controls and the event aired live on television, the sleek white plane started off down the runway just after 3:30 pm. She picked up speed, eased off the runway and then powered into the sky, straight as an arrow. "She flies! Concorde flies at last!" exclaimed BBC commentator Raymond Baxter. AFP sent out a flash alert: "Concorde has taken off." Concord or Concorde? It was a source of pride on both sides of the Channel: Britain and France had joined forces in 1962 to build an airliner capable of flying faster than the speed of sound. French pilot Andre Turcat, who was at the controls for the first test flight of the Concorde, pictured here a few months later in June 1969, in the cockpit of the supersonic jet In fact Concorde's maximum velocity was more than twice the speed of sound. The coalition of two governments and two aircraft makersBritish Aircraft Corporation (now BAE Systems) and Sud-Aviation, a precursor to Airbushad encountered a series of hurdles and differences. Even the aircraft's name, which means "agreement" in both languages, was a sticking point: English-style "Concord" or "Concorde" in French? Britain's technology minister Tony Benn settled the dispute in 1967, keeping the "e" for "excellence", "England", "Europe" and "Entente cordiale", as he said. Proving the plane can fly For Concorde's maiden flight, Turcat manoeuvred just a simple loop above the Garonne river at reduced speed and with the plane's landing gear out. The aim was not to break speed records but rather to "show the plane can fly" and "return to the ground", he would later explain. The roar of the four powerful engines and the silhouette of the aircraft, like a bird of prey in the sky, halted traffic on a nearby highway as people across the region stopped to watch, an AFP report said. The Concorde, pictured here in 1971, had a number of distinctive visual features, including its triangular-shaped wings Sweating in the cockpit Inside the cockpit it was tense. Three of the four air-conditioning systems had broken and the temperature rose quickly. "Under our helmets, we were soon sweating profusely," Turcat recalled in his book "Concorde" (1977). When the wheels hit the tarmac for the landing, thick smoke rose from the tyres and a security parachute opened at the rear to brake the 112-tonne machine. The crowds along the runway broke into applause. The flight had lasted 27 minutes. The British test flight came weeks later, on April 9, with Brian Trubshaw taking off aboard the 002 prototype built in Britain. On October 1 Turcat would also take the jet through the sound barrier for the first time. Pilot Andre Turcat pictured in France in 1969 at the controls of the Concorde, which he flew for its first test flight on March 2 that same year Just the beginning "This first flight is not a conclusion," Turcat told the hundreds of journalists after that first flight. "It is the beginning of our work." It would take another seven years and 5,500 hours of test flying before Concorde was authorised to enter into commercial service in 1976 with flights operated by Air France and British Airways. And in the end commercial passenger services only lasted 27 years. The gas-guzzling "great white bird" was retired on both sides of the Channel in 2003, brought down by its high costs and a dwindling market, with a 2000 crash outside Parisin which 113 people were killedheralding its final demise. 2019 AFP Credit: CC0 Public Domain Connecting with people has become so much easier with advancing technology. Tasks that once required an operator, postage stamp or carrier pigeon are now as simple as tapping a name or even a face on your screen, and, voila, you're connected. But also easier is unwittingly getting caught up in a major disconnect by violating a tangle of new rules for communicating. A big one for some: Don't call until you've texted to confirm it's OK to call. But that's just the beginning. "I'm usually pretty chill and not much bothers me," said Mark Angiello, a 29-year-old office manager from White Plains, New York. But the one thing that really gets under his skin, that he "hates more than anything else in life" is the horrendous one-word message"K." "At the very least reply with, 'Got it.'" Angiello said. "At least give me the courtesy of a few words here. You're not that busy." Ramoan Bruce, a 29-year-old DJ from the Bronx said his personal list of digital interaction rules runs long. "Don't text me and say, 'Hey, did you get my last text?' You know that I got it," Bruce said. "I get kinda annoyed when I text someone and then they respond by calling me, and I hate when people FaceTime me out of nowhere. Like, don't do that." There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of others who have taken to social media to express their detest for people who don't follow the unwritten ground rules of digital communication. Twitter user @Zelvel writes: "It's an unsaid rule in texting if you weren't the last person to send a text before you fell asleep, you should be the first to send one in the morning." "Doesn't everyone know the unsaid rule? You have to send at least 3 texts pretending to be friendly before you can ask for a favor." writes Twitter user @Tforace. Twitter user @Kassmori writes: "Okay rule #1 if I unadd you on anything, do not ask me why on something else. Especially if I don't know you?" Other examples include don't leave a message after the beep, don't send too many texts in a row, and don't just start a conversation with "Hey." If you decline incoming phone calls just to text the caller "What's up?" then you, too, have adopted some informal protocols. Have you ever wondered where these seemingly innate communication subtleties come from? "These rules are simply a new manifestation of a phenomenon we've seen in the past," said James Ivory, professor of communication at Virginia Tech. Ivory said that the same way that generations and small groups of friends have their own slang and customs, internet culture has given birth to technology-dependent beings that have their own unique set of correspondence rituals. So, not everyone gets the memo. Unlike formal language, which can be taught with practice using an online subscription to Rosetta Stone, digital communication can be laced with cryptic clues that the person on the other end of the call, text or email may or may not easily understand. "As soon as people aren't talking face to face, the first thing that gets lost is some of the richness of the nonverbal communication," Ivory said. "People immediately fill that gap by trying to approximate it," either by using emoji, adopting informal etiquette or sending gifsthose animated images that seem to sum up a sentiment in seconds. Etiquette and lifestyle expert Elaine Swann said that it's perfectly natural for the social manners to change as formats for chatter evolve. "We used to pick up the phone and say happy birthday, happy New Year's and Merry Christmas to each other. Nowadays, it is appropriate and in good form to send those via text," the founder of a nationwide etiquette training institute said. "We are evolving with the way we communicate using electronic (devices). The guidelines of etiquette must evolve as well." Ivory said that the only way to adapt to the techno-talk rules is to fully immerse yourself in the culture, but there are inherent drawbacks to over-adopting "chillaxed" methods of communication. "There's great potential for danger," Ivory said. "What's considered polite in one form might be inappropriate or rude in another scenario." Still, some communication rules should stand the test of time, Swann said. "If I call you and you cannot talk at the moment, please don't answer your phone. Don't cut me off mid-sentence to tell me you are busy," Swann said. "First of all, it's rude to answer your phone in the presence of the folks you are with. Second of all, you are inconsiderate of my time." 15 unwritten rules of communicating in the digital age, according to people on Twitter 1. Don't randomly FaceTime people. If you want to Facetime, shoot them a text or call first. 2. One word texts like OK and LOL are conversation killers. Don't respond with one word, unless you don't want to talk anymore. 3. If someone you know comments on a photo or video you posted, you should respond. 4. If someone communicates to you using a certain form of communication, e.g. e-mail, then you are expected to respond using the same form of communication. 5. Don't like your own posts. People see that, and it makes you look weird. 6. Don't ask for likes, comments or shares. 7. Don't take hours to respond without an excuse. 8. You don't actually have to leave a voice message. 9. If someone asks you multiple questions via text, don't just reply to part of the message. 10. Don't post dozens of photos of cheezy quotes back to back. 11. It's OK to text Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, etc. You don't have to call. 12. Don't have one-on-one's in the group-chat, better yet, rarely send group chats. They're mostly annoying and usually avoidable. 13. Try not to deliver bad news via text. Don't deliver bad news via DMs. 14. If you don't get a response, you don't have to get angry. It's not always that big of a deal. 15. If you have time to post on Snapchat, you have time to respond to text messages. (c)2019 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A light-sheet microscope image of embryonic duckbill skin stained with Tuj1 antibodies to label sensory neurons. Credit: Slav Bagriantsev If it walks like a duck (or a goose or a swan), it can find food in mud without seeing or smelling it. These waterfowl bills are covered in skin that's a lot like the sensitive skin on the palms of our hands, and it can feel food in mud and murky water. Slav Bagriantsev, Eve Schneider, and Evan Anderson at Yale University are researching duck skin to learn more about how our sense of touch works. "We know a lot about how we see, taste, and smell," Bagriantsev explained, "but we actually don't know much about how touch works at the molecular level." They will present their insights into the mechanics of touch at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held March 26, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. There is only one molecule, so far, that has been identified as being important for touch in vertebrates like humans, mice, and ducks, called Piezo2. Most of what we know about Piezo2 has come from research in mice, however, a mouse's skin is mostly covered with hairunlike the glabrous skin on our palms or lips. Bagriantsev and his colleagues decided to study ducks, whose bills are covered with glabrous skin like ours, which can help them learn about human touch too. Ducks, geese, and swans are unique among waterfowl in that they are picky about the food they eatthey wouldn't be able to do this without their specialized bills. They found that the clusters of neurons responsible for sensing touch exist in similar density in ducks' bills as they do in human and primate palms. When tiny forces, like those that might be generated from a tadpole wiggling in murky water, stretch the neurons in a duck bill, Piezo2 opens and lets ions into the neuron. When enough ions enter, the neuron fires, sending a signal to the brain telling the duck there's movement nearby. Bagriantsev and colleagues found that duck Piezo2 allows more ions to enter the neuron by staying open longer, compared to mouse Piezo2. This tiny difference probably allows a duck bill to be more sensitive to touch than a mouse's paw. "It seems that ducks capitalized on what most vertebrates normally have," said Bagriantsev. Piezo2 is probably not the only molecule involved in touch. Mice without Piezo2 have tactile deficits, but are still able to detect touch and navigate the world, so there must be other molecules involved. Bagriantsev and his colleagues hope that ducks' bills will help them reveal the other players in the sensation of touch. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Remember Moments? Yeah, most people forgot or never knew it existed, and now it's on its way to the bin of Facebook apps past. With 1.1 million downloads on the Google Play Store, the face-scanning, photo-sharing app Moments will be discontinued by Facebook on Feb. 25. The social media giant is urging users to export their photos before it's too late. "We know your photos and videos saved to Moments are important, so we want to help you keep them," Facebook said in a post. You have until May 2019 to export your pictures. Users can create private albums on their Facebook profiles with the images from the app, or download them directly to a device. "We're ending support for the Moments app, which we originally launched as a place for people to save their photos. We know the photos people share are important to them, so we will continue offering ways to save memories within the Facebook app," Facebook's director of product management Rushabh Doshi said in a statement. Facebook Moments was launched back in 2015 as a new way to manage pictures of you and your friends by uploading them all to the app, where Facebook's facial recognition software could identify who's in each photo and let you share them with friends. Facebook shut down the fitness app Moves, the calling app Hello and the positivity-focused teen app tbh in July 2018. The world's largest social network nuked its Snapchat clone Lifestage and Groups apps in August 2017. The Newsreading app Paper was shut down by the social media giant in 2016. Slingshot, Rooms and Riff, along with the Facebook Creative Labs unit all ended in December 2015. Explore further Facebook launches private photo sharing for friends (c)2019 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The AEI Hannover optical bench for test of LISA technology before it was integrated in the vacuum chamber. The three lasers are transmitted via optical fibres. Credit: D. Penkert/Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics For the first time, it has been possible to test laser measurement technology for LISA in laboratories almost under mission conditions. A team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute; AEI) and the Institute for Gravitational Physics at Leibniz Universitat in Hannover, Germany, achieved the breakthrough with a novel experiment. The work ties up with the LISA Pathfinder mission, which tested LISA technologies in space from 2015 to 2017. LISA is a planned observatory in space that will detect gravitational waves inaccessible on Earth. A consortium of international scientists is currently developing LISA as a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). With their experiment, the AEI scientists demonstrate the functionality of the LISA phasemeter, which will be the central measuring unit of the observatory. Their experiment can also be easily extended for further testing and can thus verify other steps of LISA measurements observatory. "All components of the planned LISA space observatory must meet strict precision requirements to measure gravitational waves," says Dr. Thomas Schwarze, lead author of the article published today in the renowned journal Physical Review Letters. "Creating conditions in a laboratory under which the enormous precision for LISA can be verified requires great care. For the first time, we can test an important part of LISA technology under almost realistic mission conditions in our laboratories and show that it works as intended." LISA a gravitational-wave observatory in space LISA is scheduled to launch into space in 2034 as a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The mission will consist of three satellites that will create an equilateral laser triangle with each side approximately 2.5 million kilometers long. The distances of this formation flight in space are changed by a trillionth of a meter by gravitational waves. To detect these tiny changes, instruments (phasemeters) in the LISA satellites monitor and measure the laser light exchanged between them. This measurement has to be performed with highest precision like an extremely accurate microphone with low noise and low distortion over a large range of 8 to 10 orders of magnitude. Testing LISA measurements in a laboratory In their article, the researchers describe a new experimental setup which, for the first time, enables laser-based LISA measurements in a laboratory under almost realistic mission conditions and use it to verify the accuracy of the phasemeter. The setup consists of an optical bench which, due to its special construction, is highly precise and stable and thus eliminates all undesirable noise sources ten times better than previous experiments. The required LISA accuracy in the trillionth of a meter range can thus be achieved. The proposed LISA mission will detect gravitational waves in space using a trio of satellites, separated by millions of kilometers. Lasers will be employed to measure the minute changes in their relative distance induced by impinging gravitational waves. Credit: AEI/MM/exozet; GW simulation: NASA/C. Henze On the optical bench, three laser beams produced in a controlled manner are superimposed in pairs in order to obtain six new laser beams with precisely defined properties. By skillfully superimposing three of these mixed beams and measuring their properties with the phasemeter, its function can be precisely checked. Successful test under almost realistic mission conditions The phasemeter tested with the setup meets the mission requirements almost throughout LISA's entire measurement range. This successful test is the first under almost realistic conditions. It shows that with the new setup and with small modifications, further central components of the LISA mission can be tested under even more realistic conditions. "It's crucial to understand all the details of the LISA mission precisely and to test them in advance in the laboratory," explains Prof. Gerhard Heinzel, leader of the research group for space interferometry at AEI Hannover. "Only in this way can we be sure that the complex mission will work as planned. Once the satellites are in orbit around the Sun, we can no longer modify the hardware." Future gravitational-wave astronomy with LISA LISA will measure low-frequency gravitational waves with oscillation periods from 10 seconds to more than half a day, which cannot be observed with detectors on Earth. Such gravitational waves are emitted, for example, by supermassive black holes, millions of times heavier than our Sun, which merge at the centers of galaxies, the orbital movements of tens of thousands of binary stars in our Galaxy, and possibly from exotic sources such as cosmic strings and the echo of the Big Bang. Between December 2015 and July 2017, the LISA Pathfinder mission demonstrated other LISA components in space and showed that they exceeded requirements throughout the LISA measurement band. ESA is currently conducting the Phase A system study with the international LISA consortium. A preliminary design of the space components is to be developed in preparation for the mission. Explore further Good night, LISA Pathfinder More information: Thomas S. Schwarze et al. Picometer-Stable Hexagonal Optical Bench to Verify LISA Phase Extraction Linearity and Precision, Physical Review Letters (2019). Journal information: Physical Review Letters Thomas S. Schwarze et al. Picometer-Stable Hexagonal Optical Bench to Verify LISA Phase Extraction Linearity and Precision,(2019). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.081104 ALERTWildfire cameras on top of Santiago Peak in Orange County, Calif., inform fire officials with views of the Holy Fire in August 2018. Credit: University of California - San Diego A multi-hazard camera technology developed at the University of California San Diego and the University of Nevada, Reno that improves fire detection and response capabilities is expanding to include 70 cameras in high fire risk areas throughout Southern California. The ALERTWildfire Camera Network connects firefighters with real-time fire activity and provides situational awareness that allows first responders to scale their response accordingly. The network now features more than 160 cameras throughout California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, enabling high-definition, on-demand time-lapse imagery, including many with live video and near infrared night vision to detect smoke, pan-tilt-zoom functions and more. Fire officials have full control of the cameras to monitor fires, triangulate on the location of fires at their earliest stages, and confirm 911 reports. The expansion coincides with research that projects an increasing likelihood of wildfires in the state. According to California's Fourth Climate Change Assessment released in 2018, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, by 2100 the frequency of extreme wildfires would increase, and the average area burned statewide would increase by 77 percent. The 70 new cameras are dispersed throughout high fire risk areas in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Ventura Counties, and are supported by Southern California Edison (SCE). SCE's Fire Management Organization, public agencies as well as the general public have access to the cameras around-the-clock to monitor wildfire activity. The installation of the cameras is part of the utility's wildfire mitigation efforts. Up to 160 cameras are expected to be installed in the SCE service area by 2020, which will allow approximately 90 percent coverage in high fire risk areas. One of 70 new ALERTWildfire cameras is installed atop Baldwin Hills in Los Angeles in February 2019. Credit: Southern California Edison. "Before the cameras, we relied on reports from fire agencies and the media, as well as on-scene observations by our crews to address wildfire activity in our service area," said Don Daigler, SCE's director of business resiliency, who helps oversee operations during wildfires, severe storms and earthquakes. "The fire-monitoring cameras provide real-time images that we can rely on to protect our customers, communities and equipment from the ongoing threat of wildfires." Brian Norton, Division Chief with the Orange County Fire Authority, used the cameras in August 2018 to monitor the Holy Fire that eventually burnt 23,000 acres in the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County. He had helped oversee the installment of the cameras last year and worked with SCE to conduct a test pilot program on Santiago Peak just three months before the Holy Fire started. "These cameras showed us the likely time the Holy Fire originated. We used the cameras to follow the fire spread," Norton said. "During a flare up that occurred near Santiago Peak, the initial report was validated by turning the cameras to view the entire mountain top." ALERTWildfire camera tower atop of Lyons Peak in San Diego County. Credit: University of California - San Diego "The true functionality of the ALERTWildfire camera network is realized when they are deployed in clusters as it allows for confirmation of 911 calls, situational awareness for first responders, and triangulation to determine the fire location", said Neal Driscoll, geosciences professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and co-director of the project. Over the last decade, a collaborative team of researchers at UC San Diego, the University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Oregon built a network across areas most prone to wildfires, starting first in the backcountry in San Diego and Lake Tahoe. The infrastructure for the system was first developed as an early earthquake warning tool but quickly evolved into a multi-hazard monitoring system that provides valuable data during extreme weather events and earthquakes. The system has been credited with detection of more than 500 fires in the last two years. In the fall of 2017, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) supported the installation of 15 high-definition pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras in San Diego's most fire prone areas, and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors helped make critical upgrades to the technology backbone of the system. In the North Bay region, 30 cameras have been installed in collaboration with Sonoma County and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Explore further New cameras keep electronic eye on Western wildfires This SMAC image shows mutant p53 proteins in the blood of an ovarian cancer patient. Individual clusters of p53 molecules are represented by red spots. Credit: Shih-Chin Wang Proteins that normally reside inside cell nuclei have never been found in the blood, until now. A new blood test developed at the Johns Hopkins University by Shih-Chin Wang and Chih-Ping Maograduate students in Jie Xiao's lab in the Department of Biophysics and Chien-Fu Hung's lab in the Department of Pathologycan identify individual molecules in human blood samples with minimal detection errors. Among the molecules that they used their new test to find was a mutated protein thought to be restricted to the inside of cells, mostly within the nucleus. It is the first time that single-molecule imaging has been applied to visualize disease-causing molecules in blood. They will present their research at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held March 26, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. Wang and colleagues call their new approach Single-Molecule Augmented Capture (SMAC). They used this new technique to detect molecules commonly screened for in standard blood tests, like prostate-specific antigen. And they were also able to detect rare intracellular proteins, secreted proteins and membrane proteins, including the cancer-associated proteins mutant p53, anti-p53 autoantibodies and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). Mutant p53 is a well-known tumor-specific nuclear protein and has never before been detected in the blood, likely because current tests cannot detect its extremely low blood concentrations. Wang and colleagues found mutant p53 or anti-p53 autoantibodies in samples from patients with ovarian cancer, but not in patients without cancer. PD-L1 is also found on the surface of some cancer cells and has recently been effectively targeted with immunotherapy to combat cancer. Knowing whether or not a patient's tumor expresses PD-L1 is a crucial first step in this treatmentand SMAC may be able to identify cancers that have PD-L1 at low levels that are undetectable by standard blood tests. "With SMAC, we have brought single-molecule imaging into the clinical arena. By visualizing and examining individual molecules released from diseased cells into the blood, we aim to detect diseases more accurately and gain new insights into their mechanisms," Mao said. Wang and colleagues are hopeful that their test will one day be commercially available. Explore further New method to detect cancer cells faster, potentially improving outcomes Credit: Shutterstock/lidear21/AshTProductions/Dishant Shrivastava/Rawpixel India's 2019 national elections are widely anticipated to be the "WhatsApp elections". Against a backdrop of rapidly improving internet connectivity and rising smartphone use, the number of people using private messaging service WhatsApp has soared since its India launch in mid-2010 to more than 200m more users than in any other democracy. And now the country's political parties are moving to capitalise on this mass communication channel. But given WhatsApp has already been used to misinform voters in other elections and spread damaging "fake news" that has led to serious violence in India, there's a danger this could also pose a threat to the democratic process. Keen to extend the power of social media mobilised in the 2014 election, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to target smartphone-owning voters at the grass roots. More than 900,000 volunteer "cell phone pramukhs" are creating neighbourhood-based WhatsApp groups to disseminate information about the BJP's development achievements and prime minister Narendra Modi's campaign activities. Meanwhile, the opposition Indian National Congress party is playing catch up with the launch of its "Digital Sathi" app and the appointment of their own volunteers to coordinate local digital campaigns. But there's good reason to think the widespread popularity of WhatsApp in India could have a damaging effect on the election. For one thing, the 2018 Brazilian elections and recent state-level elections in India exposed how WhatsApp is being used to rapidly share messages intended to misinform voters for political gain. But India also has specific conditions related to the use of WhatsApp. While parties across India's political spectrum as well as globally increasingly seek to gain from fake news by manipulating public opinion, the Hindu right has been far more successful at mobilising a common socio-political identity through media like WhatsApp. In particular, invitation-only groups have spread virulent and vitriolic messages that have played a role in cultivating a strong nationalist identity. The recent conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir, which is likely to play an influential role in the election, has led to the spread of viral content that has stoked public tension, as well as a reported flood of misinformation. In some cases, when more sinister forms of misinformation have gone viral, the impact on everyday social life in India has been lethal. The misuse of WhatsApp has been connected with at least 30 incidents of murder and lynching, for example following the circulation of children abduction rumours. Anxious about the inadvertent dark side of its product, particularly within one of its biggest markets, WhatsApp has already launched its own public education campaign in India persuading its users to "spread joy not rumours". It has also made simple alterations to its product design to encourage users to pause before forwarding messages and limited the number of people you can send a message to at once and the number of times you can forward it, which has since been rolled out globally. And it has banned more than 6m apparently automated and potentially harmful accounts in the past three months. These steps are a starting point but may not be enough. For one thing, despite the forwarding limits, you can still send messages to 256 people at once and forward them five times which means you can share something with 1,280 people in seconds. Another challenge is that research suggests people care less about the validity of a message's source and content, and more about the sender and its potential to entertain or reinforce a sense of identity. So, journalistic efforts to fact check reports circulating on WhatsApp will likely have a limited effect on media literacy and the detrimental impact of fake news. Blaming each other Part of the problem is that the question over who is at fault for the spread of misinformation is contentious and politically charged. Politicians have blamed WhatsApp and called on it to trace and stop the source of hostile messaging. The company is resolute that it can't access the encrypted messages sent via its app and, even if it could, sharing them with the government would be tantamount to state surveillance, a position supported by India's Supreme Court. The firm has, in turn, blamed Indian political parties for "misusing" the app during election times. Ultimately, the role of WhatsApp in Indian politics needs to be understood through the interaction of technology with wider social and cultural issues. WhatsApp is a tool that amplifies certain tendencies that already exist in Indian society. For example, incidents of lynching might have much more to do with incitement to violence in a divided society than with an app that potentially facilitates the spread of rumours. Similarly, messages that promote hatred on religious, caste and gender lines rely on prevailing social cleavages. We need a more well-rounded understanding of the emerging links between digital politics and the public sphere. How is (mis)information circulated by messaging apps related to more traditional forms of political campaigns, such as door to door canvassing, rallies and speeches? And how do these different spheres influence political participation and allegiance in different ways? This knowledge needs to be the starting point of any intervention to address WhatsApp's role in misinformation during elections. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Photo: Nick Shepherd/Getty Images/Ikon Images Does white identity deserve a place in politics? The question may seem absurd, though for different reasons depending on where you stand. For many on the left, whiteness is already implicit in nearly every aspect of Western politics and culture; white people have woven their own particularistic identity into the very fabric of our shared political life, stigmatizing and suppressing any expressions of difference. According to some popular theories of race, moreover, whiteness itself is something of a delusion, a pseudo-ethnicity invented to legitimize the domination of others (the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates thus refers not to white people but to people who believe themselves to be white). To positively assert a white identity is, in this view, an act of racial aggression. Conservatives, of course, reject this narrative. They tend to see the dominant culture as, in principle, universal and condemn as divisive any attempt to code it as white. Although they may believe it is hypocritical for the left to promote minority identities while disapproving of white identity, their solution is typically to criticize identity politics altogether everyone, white and nonwhite, should think of themselves as an individual, or else as a member of some nonethnic community like their church, neighborhood, or nation. White identity politics, whether in the form of Trump or the alt-right, is no better than and is in fact the mirror image of the left-wing identity politics they have been warning about for decades. This bipartisan aversion to white identity is the target of Whiteshift, a fascinating new book by the political scientist Eric Kaufmann. Kaufmann claims that despite our best collective efforts to repress the topic, white identity concerns are already in the process of reshaping politics across the West. Migration-driven demographic change is polarizing white electorates, pitting group-oriented whites determined to resist their decline against cosmopolitan whites who accept or even cheer it, leading to the liberal-internationalist versus populist-nationalist split we see in nearly every Western country. More controversially, Kaufmann argues that the identity-based concerns of whites who oppose or fear their demographic decline should not be considered racist, and that it is neither possible nor desirable for the mainstream to suppress or condemn them. Instead of assuming that all political expressions of white identity are motivated by prejudice, Kaufmann calls for a new cultural contract, in which everyone, white and nonwhite, gets to have a secure, culturally rich ethnic identity as well as a thin, culturally neutral and future-oriented national identity. Whiteshift is a sprawling tome. More than 500 pages long, it includes detailed chapters on the history of immigration politics and policy in North America and Europe; the rise of contemporary anti-racism norms; patterns of white social and residential segregation; and long-term demographic projections on the future racial makeup of Western societies. The books title refers to Kaufmanns prediction that over the coming century, Western countries will become majority mixed-race due to migration-driven demographic change, but that these mixed-race majorities will continue to identify with white symbols, cultural markers, and myths of ancestry. (Kaufmann, who has an Anglo name and passes as white despite being one-quarter Latino and one-quarter Chinese, offers himself as an example of how such continuity might work in practice.) In the very long term, that is, Kaufmann argues that demographic change will lead to a shift in who gets categorized as white rather than to a permanent majority-minority situation. In the meantime, however, he predicts that the conflict between those who wish to slow this transformation and those who wish to accelerate it will become the defining cleavage of Western politics. In fact, at the center of Whiteshift is the argument that this conflict is already reshaping our politics. In Kaufmanns view, white identity concerns, not economics, are behind the rise of right-wing populism. For all the attempts to explain populism as a backlash to inequality or a revolt of the losers of globalization, Kaufmann, drawing on his own research and that of colleagues such as Karen Stenner and Ashley Jardina, sees it as an expression of conservative white opposition to demographic change. Among whites in the United States, for instance, support for Trump was strongly predicted by psychological conservatism and authoritarianism, white identity and ethnic consciousness, and opposition to immigration. (Similar measures predicted support for Brexit in the U.K.) Kaufmann also cites suggestive research not directly related to the election, such as Maureen Craig and Jennifer Richesons finding that whites, after reading a passage about their demographic decline, displayed greater levels of in-group bias and support for the GOP. Kaufmann is not the first to suggest that populism is an expression of white demographic anxiety. Versions of this argument have been made before, often becoming, in simplified form, the basis of a morality tale in which Trump voters are racist authoritarians whose only real goal is to maintain white supremacy. Yet Kaufmann believes that it is perfectly legitimate for whites to prefer immigration restriction for cultural reasons, and criticizes the expansive elite anti-racism norms that see this preference as racist. These norms, according to Kaufmann, make it difficult for mainstream politicians to respond to their voters actual concerns, producing a vast unmet demand for restrictionist policies that the populist right is well-positioned to meet. They also lead restrictionist voters and politicians, who oppose immigration for cultural reasons but fear accusations of racism, to invent spurious economic or security rationales to justify their preferences. Paradoxically, Kaufmann writes, it becomes more acceptable to complain about immigrant crime, welfare dependency, terrorism or wage competition than to voice a sense of loss and anxiety about the decline of ones group or a white-Christian tradition of nationhood. Consider the debate over Trumps border wall. The president has cited terrorism, drug and human trafficking, and immigrant crime as reasons to build the wall, tarring immigrants as criminals while offering a policy that would do little to address his stated concerns. It would be far better, in Kaufmanns view, if the president or at least, the more intelligent of his advisers and supporters were just to admit that what what really made them anxious about immigration was demographic change. Kaufmann spends a good deal of time in the book criticizing the idea that white demographic anxiety or white group attachment more generally is racist. He attributes this idea to an ideology that he calls left-modernism, which can be thought of as a more precise term for what people mean when they say political correctness. Kaufmann traces the origins of left-modernism to the bohemian counterculture of early 20th-century New York, when WASP intellectuals like Randolph Bourne began to argue that white ethnics like Jews and Catholics should remain distinct rather than assimilate to the American mainstream. At the same time, he called on WASPs to abandon their own stultifying culture and become cosmopolitan individualists a view Kaufmann dubs asymmetrical multiculturalism, since the dominant culture is not considered one of the multiple cultures worthy of being preserved. After the civil-rights movement, this framework was updated, with whites taking the place of the WASPs and blacks, Native Americans, and newer nonwhite immigrant groups taking the place of the old white ethnics. And as both left-modernism and anti-racism norms expanded via higher education and the mass media, Kaufmann argues that the two fused: racism came to describe not only acts of overt prejudice, hostility, or discrimination, but any violation of the left-modernist expectation that whites eschew group attachments and become cosmopolitans. Kaufmann thinks this latter step was a mistake. He sees individualist cosmopolitanism as a lifestyle preference suited to psychological liberals, but one that psychological authoritarians and conservatives, who are more attached to their group identity, will invariably find alienating. He thus sees the attempt to force group-oriented whites to celebrate diversity or celebrate their own demographic decline as a form of cultural imperialism, akin to forcing Protestants to attend mass. Kaufmann, moreover, is at pains to show that whites who identify with their group are not necessarily racist. He highlights the work of the social psychologist Marilynn Brewer, who argues that across a variety of cultural contexts, in-group attachment is independent of negative attitudes toward outgroups. He cites data from the 2016 ANES survey showing that American whites who feel warmly toward whites also tend to feel warmly toward blacks. And he highlights his own surveys, in which he asks respondents in number of mostly Western countries whether it is racist for whites (or, in nonwhite countries, members of the majority) to prefer to restrict immigration in order to preserve their share of the population. Most say it isnt, although the United States has the largest share of people saying that it is (36 percent), with massive gaps based on education and party affiliation 83.9 percent of white Clinton voters with college degrees say its racist, compared to 58.3 percent of minority Clinton voters and 5.5 percent of white Trump voters with less than a high-school degree. Kaufmann also points out that, in the United States at least, around one-third of Asians and Latinos favor the same sort of ethno-traditional nationalism as do group-oriented whites that is to say, they see the countrys white symbols and cultural traditions (e.g., Christopher Columbus) as an integral part of what they like about America, rather than as relics of a racist past that needs to be overcome. Ultimately, Kaufmann argues that the best thing would be to accept a moderate form of white identity politics as a more benign alternative to contemporary populism, which in his view is merely a sublimated form of ethno-nationalism. That can sound, written out, as a sort of brief for white nationalism-lite. At Vox, Zach Beauchamp makes precisely this accusation, arguing that Kaufmanns accommodating view of white identity politics, combined with his criticisms of social justice, makes it possible to see whites as a victimized class maligned by social justice warriors, and even swinging all the way around to embracing white ethno-nationalism. While Kaufmann doesnt directly endorse far-right politicians, Beauchamp argues, he is making them more respectable all the same. Whether or not Kaufmann is making Trump or Marine Le Pen more respectable is an open question my own sense is that their future successes or failures will have little to do with academics opposed to political correctness. But its worth noting that Kaufmann, though critical of some of the expansive claims of racism made by the left, is somewhat unique among center-right intellectuals in chastising conservatives and centrists who ask minorities to repress their own identities in favor of civic nationalism or some other unifying identity. Ethnic identity, he writes, is not inherently toxic, as some on the right believe, but, like religion or partisanship, needs to be moderate. His ideal is what he terms a symmetrical multiculturalism, in which all groups, both minority and majority, are allowed to express their interests or celebrate their identities within the bounds of a larger commitment to the national whole. At present, Kaufmann argues: What happens is that minorities set out identity-based concerns which many whites reject as divisive because they have been forced by left-modernism to repress their own ethnicity or because they cant see that their national interests may actually consist of sublimated ethnic desires. If whites set out some explicit identity interests apart from those of the nation, this could allow them to better appreciate minority claims and vice-versa, producing a shared understanding The current dispensation in which white conservatives attack even moderate minority interests as identity politics only leads to polarization. It would be easy to throw out some objections on behalf of my left-modernist readers here: What, exactly, are white interests? Even if they exist, whos to say that they wont inevitably be tinged with racism or feelings of superiority? And isnt the whole weight of our countrys history already tilted toward the expression of whites sublimated ethnic desires? All fair enough. But Kaufmann has done something exceedingly rare among center-right thinkers, which is to write an intelligent, challenging, and in its own way, brave book about race and identity; one not meant to fire up partisans but to make an honest attempt to understand our present dilemmas and propose a solution. He wont convince all readers, and reviewers more data-literate than I may be able to better evaluate the reams of surveys and statistics that Kaufmann cites in his favor. But at present, Whiteshift is the best diagnosis of populism the right has to offer, and presents compelling arguments that defenders of asymmetric multiculturalism should be prepared to answer. Credit: Joy Real/Unsplash It is a reliable occurrence now: every time we have a cold event here in the United States, two public conversations begin, both of which deploy the term "polar vortex." Those who are suspicious of the reality of climate change and persist in calling it "global warming" argue that these polar vortex-driven cold events are evidence the warming is fake news. Other people know polar sea ice is vanishing while these polar vortex events seem to be multiplying and amplifying. The climate, people say, is just getting out of control. But new developments in climate research are steadily making more sense of the changes we are witnessing. Yutian Wu, an associate research professor at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatoryand a Center for Climate and Life Fellow, is a scientist adding to our understanding of these events. Wu is a climate modeler. Climate data can show a correlation between climate events and their ostensible drivers. On the other hand, climate models, because they rely on the laws of physics to recreate the behavior of the environment, can establish a causal relationship between observed environmental change and climate events. Wu and her colleagues have shown that decreases in sea ice in the Barents and Kara seas (BKS) north of western Russia cause a reduction in atmospheric pressure gradient that extends up into the stratosphere. This reduces the strength of the jet stream that encircles the basin and allows polar air to break out of the Arctic basin and descend on Eurasia and the North Atlantic. Because of this research, it may be possible to predict when an especially cold winter is coming to northern Europe and Asia. Given the human and economic costs of very cold weather, this is science with measurable value. Wu's work shows how the warming taking place in the low and mid-latitudes leads to cold air breaking out of the Arctic. "The BKS region has been known for many years to be sensitive," Wu said in a recent interview. "Sea ice varies a lot from year to year there because of moisture intrusion related to storm activity over the North Atlantic. When the North Atlantic is warmer than normal, it causes sea ice cover to decline." Credit: NASA Digital Mapping System team and Operation IceBridge The ring-shaped zone of abrupt atmospheric-pressure change that encircles the perimeter of the Arctic Ocean and usually keeps the cold air in is called the Arctic Oscillation (AO). In its so-called positive phase, it forms an effective barrier, keeping Arctic air masses over the Arctic basin. In its negative phase, westerly winds in the high mid-latitudes are weaker and allow the Arctic cold to penetrate southward. The phenomenon is called an oscillation because the system alternates between positive and negative phases. Wu and her research community discovered that the decrease in sea ice cover in the BKS region and the associated warming of the overlying atmosphere by the heat released from the exposed ocean weakens the stratospheric polar vortex, and the "downward influence" from the stratosphere to the troposphere weakens the retaining-wall properties of the AO. Previous studies looked at changes in the AO without assessing the effect on mid-latitude weather extremes. Wu and her colleagues also found that while the greatest loss of Arctic sea ice occurs during the late autumn and early winter, the effects on the AO and mid-latitude weather extremes persist through the winter because of the long timescale of the stratospheric processes. Their modeling studies have the potential to improve seasonal prediction of mid-latitude cold events over the North Atlantic and Eurasia. More recently, Wu worked with graduate student Bithi De to examine the influence of BKS ice on the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the North Atlantic sector of the AO. "The AO is usually considered zonally symmetric," Wu said, "but it is not. The NAO is special, and it significantly affects the North Atlantic Ocean and Europe." The NAO is in a positive phase when the pressure gradient between the Icelandic Low and the Azores High is large, which causes the westerly winds to be strong. As Wu explained it, the strong westerlies penetrate the subarctic and drive the warm Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Drift surface water into that region, melting the sea ice in the Barents and Kara seas. But this produces a negative feedbackthe weakening of the westerlies and the AOthat flips the NAO into a negative phase. The latter is associated with especially cold winters in both northwest Europe and the northeastern United States, as well as fierce winter rain storms in the Mediterranean. Wu and De found that it was important to incorporate a significant portion of the stratosphere in their model in order to recreate cold-air outbreaks in response to sea-ice decline. Yutian Wu. Credit: Yutian Wu Questions remain, however. "Sea ice is just one process that affects the NAO," Wu said. "Something else causes it to go from negative to positive again." Wu is still in her early 30s. She has many more model experiments to perform to test her hypotheses and to her research. She completed her Ph.D. at Columbia in 2011, held positions at NYU and Purdue University, and then returned to Columbia in 2017 to work at Lamont. "We have quite a large group of climate scientists to study the impacts of climate change, and it is a very collaborative environment that includes research scientists, post docs, and graduate students," Wu said. As a Center for Climate and Life Fellow, Wu receives partial support for her research. "The Center funding has provided me with the opportunity to explore more boldly the Arctic-mid-latitude linkage problem," Wu said. "It's also a great opportunity to work out some analyses that would help me apply for external funding in the future." When she was asked the obvious question, "So, are our current polar vortex events in the U.S. caused by this phenomenon?" Wu chuckled and said, "Probably not. The Earth system works in a much more complex way than a single mechanism." Explore further Warming in the stratosphere leads to cold winters The EUs data protection measures aspire to force companies to be more transparent around data collection. Credit: www.shutterstock.com, CC BY-SA The political economy of digital capitalism is largely premised on a new exchange: individuals enjoy cheap or free services and goods in exchange for their personal information. Put simply, individuals often pay online, consciously or unintentionally, with their data and privacy. As a result, companies hold a vast amount of information on consumers, and consumers allegedly agree to that practice. But as our research shows, online privacy agreements are largely incomprehensible. Regulating privacy Privacy issues are becoming more and more salient, in part due to enormous privacy scandals. Perhaps most conspicuously, a massive public protest erupted in response to the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal. In this case, the data of millions of people's Facebook profiles was harvested. Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testified before two US senate committees about the company's privacy practices. Privacy is now also at the forefront of policy making. The most systematic legislative attempt to make more order in the messy world of privacy is the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It comes as no surprise that European legislature was breaking the ground in this realm. The EU is known to have a strong focus on citizens' rights. It is committed to data protection, and to consumer protection more generally. The GDPR came into force in May 2018. Its primary objective is to level the playing field and give individuals more control over their personal data. The GDPR also aspires to force companies to be more transparent around data collection and more cautious about its usage. Clear and plain language Another interesting aspect of the GDPR is its requirement to clearly communicate privacy terms to end users. In this respect, the GDPR requires companies to use "clear and plain language" in their privacy agreements. Making privacy policies readable may bring about a few notable benefits. For starters, drafting readable policies better respects users' autonomy. Beyond that, readability can contribute to better comprehension of legal texts. This, in turn, can make such texts more salient, leading companies to draft more balanced terms. But does this indeed materialise? In our study (with Professor Uri Benoliel from Israel), we examined whether, half a year post-GDPR, companies present users with online privacy agreements that are readable. We applied two well-established linguistic tools: the Flesch Reading Ease test and the Flesch-Kincaid test. Both tests are based on the average sentence length and the average number of syllables per word. We measured the readability of more than 200 privacy policies. We gathered these policies from the most popular English websites in the UK and Ireland. Our sample included policies used by companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, Youtube, and the BBC. We had good reasons to be optimistic. The GDPR receives a lot of attention. It employs harsh penalties, which can presumably serve as effective deterrence. Additionally, the cultural convention is that Europeans generally tend to be compliant and law abiding. But we were disappointed. Instead of the recommended Flesch-Kincaid score of 8th grade for consumer-related materials, understanding the average policy in our sample requires almost 13 years of education. Almost all the privacy policies in our sample, about 97%, received a higher than recommended score. Readability remains a challenge The European legislature thought that using plain language in privacy agreements can be part of a better, holistic approach to users' privacy. We believe this is an idea worth exploring. While not a magic bullet, readability can prove to be important for users' privacy. But despite the GDPR's requirement, European citizens still encounter privacy policies that are largely unreadable. Does the GDPR just bark, but not bite? While it is perhaps too early to say, we located 24 websites in our sample that included their privacy policies as drafted pre-GDPR. We then measured their readability. The results show that current privacy policies are only slightly more readable than the older ones. This may offer some lessons. Most notably perhaps, good intentions and extensive legislation may not suffice. Merely having a general, vague law is not likely to yield the anticipated change. Explore further Flood of complaints to EU countries since data law adopted This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. In her latest project, Chiu is using measurements from a region of boreal forest in Finland. Credit: US Department of Energy Christine Chiu of Colorado State University investigates clouds. She calls them "complicated 3-D objects that evolve fast." She studies clouds from below and on all sides with scanning cloud radars and from above with satellite data. Her research matters. Cloud properties are the prime determinants of the Earth's energy budget, yet are not represented well in current models. The disconcertingly wide range of present-day earth system predictions, Chiu says, "is partly a result of inaccurate cloud properties in climate models." To improve models, it's necessary to better understand the physical processes and radiative effects of clouds and precipitation. To that end, Chiu and colleagues in Colorado, the United Kingdom, and Finland began work in July 2018 on a three-year research project that addresses an enduring puzzle of cloud microphysics. Why does the observed concentration of ice particles in a cloud system often exceed, by several orders of magnitude, the nearby number of primary ice nuclei? In sum, why does so much ice in clouds get made from so few apparent ingredients? Scientists have a name for this unexpected enhancement of ice particles: secondary ice production, or SIP. In the past 70 years, researchers have hypothesized many mechanisms that could explain SIP, as outlined in this 2017 review paper in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The three mechanisms of primary interest to Chiu, the project's principal investigator (PI), get a lot of attention in current discussions. But it is not clear which is the predominant one, or how SIP initiation and formation varies with cloud types. Chiu and her team intend to confront these and other SIP process questions, and (importantly) to discover how these processes affect radiation and precipitation. Their research projectto assess SIP in continental cloudsis funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program. Chiu has been part of ASR research almost continuously since 2006. Riming, Shattering, and Collisions Among the three SIP mechanisms Chiu focuses on is one that was first hypothesized in 1943. Rime splintering occurs when large riming ice particles like snowflakes or graupel (snow pellets) collect supercooled liquid droplets, generating numerous splinters of ice. Frozen-drop shattering takes place when larger droplets freeze, then splinter. The lower the temperature, the higher the rates of shattering. Ice-ice collision, the third hypothesized SIP mechanism, happens when fragile ice crystals, coated with thin needles or slender dendrites, break up easily during collisions with one another. Some observations and model simulations have suggested that the three SIP mechanisms may happen together, says Chiubut under what conditions? "The microphysical processes are way too complicated." Additionally, is SIP the most important process of all? "People don't actually know," she says. "But knowing the beginning of ice particle concentration is an important place to go." At Work To begin getting some answers, "we're cracking data now," says Chiu. At CSU, in the project's first phase, she is working with Nicholas Kedzuf, a master's student, to look at data and to establish a comprehensive inventory of ice particle properties. ("It's an absolute joy to work with such an excellent student," says Chiu.) The data are from a 2014 field campaign in Finland called Biogenic AerosolsEffects on Clouds and Climate (BAECC), supported by DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility. To capture the moments of secondary ice production, Chiu and her team turned to ARMs 2014 Biogenic AerosolsEffects on Clouds and Climate (BAECC) field campaign in Finland, which was equipped with comprehensive radar systems. Credit: US Department of Energy ARM maintains fixed long-term and portable short-term atmospheric observatories across the world. It also collects, quality-controls, and archives all of its field data. (Chiu has used ARM data since 2003.) BAECC was designed to obtain important details on processes related to aerosol, cloud, and snow formation that are not currently well understood or well represented in earth system models. During the field campaign, researchers deployed coincident multi-instrument measurements, a first during a field study of snow and ice microphysics. Other instruments provided the comprehensive aerosol measurements Chiu needs to calculate the number of primary ice nuclei. "Without knowing the concentration of primary ice nuclei," says Chiu, "we won't be able to know if 'secondary' ice production occurs." Measurements during BAECC were collected in the frigid reaches of Finnish boreal forests, often during conditions of deep clouds and heavy rainwhich is useful to the ASR project mission. "Secondary ice production is believed to occur at a rather narrow temperature zone between minus-3 and minus-15 degrees Celsius," says Chiu. "We wanted to increase our chances of observing that ice production. High latitude is our ideal environment." The unique, first-time multifrequency radar measurements made during BAECC comprise one of the most complete radar data sets in the ARM archive, she says, but the data have not yet been fully exploited. Two BAECC-data veterans from Finland are collaborators in Chiu's present ASR project: Tuukka Petaja of the University of Helsinki, and David Brus from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Better Models Ahead Fittingly, Chiu is joined by CSU's V. Chandrasekar, an internationally known authority on radar systems and co-PI of the ASR project. "Radar data plays an important role in this project," she says. "Chandrasekar will help us get the best out of these radar observations." To achieve the highest data quality for the cloud retrieval method, Chiu also works closely with ARM radar instrument mentors Bradley Isom and Nitin Bharadwaj. Both are at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington. Another CSU colleague will help in the ASR project. Susan van den Heever, an expert in cloud microphysics, oversees the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System, or RAMS. The model will be used to evaluate the results of the project. Van den Heever says that secondary ice processes play a big role in "precipitation production, cloud-radiative forcing, and anvil dynamics." All the more reason to understand them better on a process level, she adds, and to represent them in research and forecasting models. To set the project in motion, Chiu wrote the science questions as well as the cloud retrieval algorithm. Once she and the others are confident about their cloud retrieval, they will run RAMS to test their new understanding of SIP. "If successful, we will come up with more accurate secondary ice parameterizations," says Chiu. "That will lead to models that better predict ice water content and radiation." In the end, she hopes the project will help improve how ice microphysics is represented in models and therefore reduce errors in estimated global precipitation and radiation. 'It's Really New' The team's goal is to fill in critical knowledge gaps about microphysical processes, says Chiu. "Clouds are still in many ways mysterious." The wider mission for the project is to call attention to the need for long-term, frequent, robust observations for characterizing SIP processes. Historically, evaluating rime splintering and other SIP mechanisms depend on observational data from aircraft. But Chiu and her team are devising a method to also incorporate ARM's powerful ground-based radars to better quantify ice particle concentration. Incorporating radars to solve the SIP puzzle "is a high-risk project," she says. "It's really new. We're trying to retrieve something in ways no one has ever done before outside of a laboratory or aircraft data." In a 2014 paper co-authored by Chiu, a combination of solar radiation measurements and radar slices helped reveal high-resolution, three-dimensional cloud fields for understanding cloud evolution and organization. Credit: Mark Fielding and Chiu In some of her earlier ASR research, Chiu took methodological leaps in retrieving microphysical and optical properties, using what she calls "synergistic" measurements from cloud radar, lidar, and shortwave spectrometers. Chiu finds ways to take advantage of how clouds and radiation affect remote sensing observations. For example, she combined solar radiation measurements and radar slices to retrieve high-resolution, three-dimensional cloud fields for the first time in both overcast and broken-cloud situations. She calls that "a key step to improving our understanding of cloud life cycles and cloud organization." Chiu and her colleagues also developed a novel method of simultaneously retrieving vertical profiles of both clouds and drizzle. It is well known that drizzle often dominates observed radar reflectivity. They proposed a way around that while using active remote sensing on marine boundary layer clouds. The data came from eight transects of the Pacific Ocean by a Horizon Lines container ship fitted with atmospheric instruments during the Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds (MAGIC) field campaign of 2012 and 2013. Chiu has also done field research in the Azores, serving as a co-investigator for the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) campaign. The study of low clouds and marine boundary layer aerosols took place in summer 2017 and winter 2018. "I find the intertwined interactions between drizzle, clouds, aerosols, dynamics, and radiation fascinating," says Chiu. A Path to Cloud Science The courage to face risks, and to travel far to achieve her goals, has characterized Chiu's life so far. Born in Taiwan, and good early at math and physics, she took her first scientific risk at age 13. Still in junior high school, she had a question on chemistry and boldly mailed it to the legendary Wu Ta-You, now known as the "Father of Chinese Physics." He wrote back a 10-page handwritten answer. It shook her with joy. "You can imagine how I felt," says Chiu. "He listed several arguments and explained how to solve the question. It was the first time I saw that knowing the answer may not be the most important thingthat the process itself is more fun!" She adds: "I was just a little girl from a not-so-well-developed town, so his letter really inspired and touched me. I am always grateful for that." Instead of Being an Astronaut Bachelor's degree studies at Taiwan's National Central University gave Chiu her first taste of atmospheric sciencean interest that sprang up after she realized she could not be an astronaut, her first science love. "I am severely nearsighted," she confesses, "and get motion sickness." At Purdue University in Indiana, Chiu earned her Ph.D., which took her deep into satellite observations for precipitation. As a postdoctoral researcher, she joined the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. At the same time, Chiu was a researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Her time at Goddard, says Chiu, "really shaped my whole career," in part because of her mentors, Warren Wiscombe (now retired) and Alexander Marshak. Then came a teaching and research stint at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, where she joined a prestigious cloud remote sensing group. (A former Reading colleague, Shannon Mason, is a collaborator on the current ASR project.) Since the fall of 2017, Chiu has been an associate professor at CSU, where her research group investigates remote sensing, radiative transfer, and the interactions of clouds, aerosols, precipitation, and radiation. At the same time, she sees clouds for what they also are: beautiful. "I do enjoy, intellectually, working with observations," says Chiu. "But I never look at clouds and wonder how many droplets they contain." Explore further Drones soar up to clouds to understand ice-formation effect on climate More information: P. R. Field et al. Chapter 7. Secondary Ice Production - current state of the science and recommendations for the future, Meteorological Monographs (2016). P. R. Field et al. Chapter 7. Secondary Ice Production - current state of the science and recommendations for the future,(2016). DOI: 10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-16-0014.1 ErgoJack in side view. Credit: Fraunhofer IPK When workers in Germany call in sick, back pain is often to blame. It frequently affects employees in logistics, manufacturing and services where physically strenuous patterns of movement are part of the daily job routine. In a bid to prevent back problems, Fraunhofer researchers have come up with ErgoJack to offer a smart soft orthosis that supports workers with real-time motion detection. A prototype of this smart vest will be presented live at Hannover Messe from April 1 through 5, 2019, at Booth C24 in Hall 17. A welder spends long hours bent over a component. Back pain is inevitable with this kind of constrained posture. Permanent damage such as premature spine wear is not uncommon in people who do this kind of work for years but neglect to adopt proper ergonomic posture. The same goes for workers who are frequently compelled to lift heavy objects. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institutes for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK and for Reliability and Microintegration IZM in Berlin developed ErgoJack a smart soft orthosis to relieve back strain and encourage workers to execute strenuous movements in a more ergonomic way. The research teams aim to mitigate the risk of downtime with this modular, wearable soft robotics system. Real-time motion analysis distinguishes ergonomic from unergonomic movements "Our soft robotic upper-body orthosis' unique selling point is its real-time motion analysis. Specially developed algorithms based on machine learning and AI enable the ergonomics to be analyzed. This sets this orthosis apart from commercially available exoskeletons. The latter are wearable robots that, inherently to their functional principles, amplify all types of movements even unergonomic ones and merely divert the load placed on the wearer from an overloaded part of the body to a less taxed area," says Dipl.-Ing. Henning Schmidt, a scientist at Fraunhofer IPK. In contrast, the IPK orthosis uses motion analysis to distinguish between ergonomic and unergonomic movements. The wearer receives real-time feedback from a vibrating alarm when he adopts postures or performs movements that are detrimental to his health. Inertial measurement units, or IMU for short, built into the vest compare pre-learned movement patterns with the worker's actual movement and assess it in real time. This takes just a few hundred milliseconds. The miniaturized motion sensors are located on the shoulders, back and thighs. ErgoJack with a locking hip joint and leg brace supports the worker when lifting heavy loads. Credit: Fraunhofer IPK These motion sensors are not the only in-built circuitry; the vest also features robust, miniaturized electronics, including an embedded controller, a vibration module and a rechargeable battery. Fraunhofer IZM's brief is to develop the miniaturized and comformable electronic components; Fraunhofer IPK's is to design the system layout, human-system-interface, mechanics, electronics and software including the machine learning/AI real-time algorithm. Data is processed locally on the vest. "The real-time algorithm requires complex calculations and has to be very robust, but a very small data set suffices to train the system to a new worker's movement pattern," says Schmidt, describing another feature that sets this system apart. Fraunhofer IZM scientists are now working on encapsulating the electronics and sensors in the fabric version of the orthosis so it can be washed without having to first remove components from the vest. Available in different versions and in all sizes Customers will eventually be able to choose between a sensory vest made purely of fabric and a version with power assistance built in. Another variant of the current system comes with a back and hip support. Its orthotic brace has the smallest surface area necessary to support the body. A locking lateral hip joint on the vest serves to switch the joint torque transmission from the back to the legs on and off. This mechanism enables the worker to alternately perform tasks while standing and sitting. ErgoJack is suitable for use in a wide range of industries. As successful trials at automaker Ford have shown, it benefits logistics and production personnel who have to lift heavy packages off pallets or adopt a constrained posture for hours while welding. ErgoJack from behind. Credit: Fraunhofer IPK Explore further Power vest supports the back without restricting freedom of movement Credit: CC0 Public Domain What's the one item that never leaves your side? It goes into the bathroom with you. You use it in the kitchen. It often touches your face, your desk and, well, just about any other surface within arm's reach. It's your smartphone, of course. And the tasks listed above are just some of the reasons it's a breeding ground for germs and a cesspool of bacteria. Don't just take our word for it. Fecal matter can be found on 1 out of every 6 smartphones, according to a 2011 study done by researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. "Mobile phones have become veritable reservoirs of pathogens as they touch faces, ears, lips and hands of different users of different health conditions," researchers observed in a 2009 study of bacteria removed from personal calling devices. A study by the University of Arizona found the typical worker's desk, which tends to be your smartphone's home for about 40 hours a week, has hundreds of times more bacteria per square inch than an office toilet seat. Other studies have found serious pathogens on smartphones such as Streptococcus, MRSAwhich is a type of bacteria that is resistant to several antibioticsand even E. coli. So, why exactly is your phone so nasty? "We touch more surfaces than any generation in history, from ATM machines to self-checkout counters," said Dr. Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona. "So, you're picking up germs all the time on your hands and fingers, putting them on your cellphone and bringing them close to your nose, mouth or eyes." These germs can make you, your family and anyone else you come in contact with sick. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 80 percent of all infections are transmitted by hands, and our smartphones have basically become an extension of that. "Mobile phones are now mobile germ devices," Gerba said. "You get a germ on your hand, and you use your phone. Then you go wash your hands later, but the germs are still on your phone." On average, Americans check their phone once every 12 minutesburying their heads in their phones 80 times a day, according to global tech protection company Asurion. That's plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to migrate between your fingers and your phone. The worst culprits are teenagers, according to Gerba, whose research found that people who work in the food service industry along with adults who work with children tend to get the most contamination on their hands. Think about all the surfaces you touch throughout the day, from subway poles and light switches to remote controls to bathroom doors. All of the bacteria picked up during your day-to-day activities ends up on your daily dialing devices, and odds are, you don't clean them often or well enough. "All cellphones are going to have bacteria on them because we hold them up to our face," says Susan Whittier, director of clinical microbiology at New York-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center. "Normal bacteria that's being transferred from cheeks and ears isn't anything to worry about. But, if you're coughing into your phone, those viruses can live on those surfaces for hours and can be transferred to others." What's the solution? Apple advises against using liquids or disinfectants on its devices. Instead, the iPhone maker offers a detailed list of how to clean your phone depending on the model that you have. Motorola suggests using a microfiber cloththe kind you might clean your glasses withwith a little water. As for Google's Pixel phone, the company has given the OK to use household soap if necessary. There are other ways you can safely clean your device depending on the type of phone you have. You may need the following materials: 1. Microfiber cloth 2. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol 3. Water 4. Cotton swabs 5. Cleaning gloves Waterproof & Water Resistant Waterproof phones have become a big deal recently, with manufacturers keen to talk up their phone's ability to survive a dunking. This category includes Google Pixel 3 XL, iPhone XS, Samsung Galaxy S9 and many others. If you have one of these new devices, here's how you can clean it: You can make your own cleaning solution with rubbing alcohol and distilled water inside a spray bottle, said Gerba, the microbiology professor. Rubbing alcohol sanitizes and evaporates rather quickly. Spray the outside of the device and wipe it down using a cotton swab. Wear gloves or wash your hands before cleaning it. Non-Waterproof You'll have to be slightly more careful when wiping down a phone that isn't water resistant. Lysol advertises that the wipes are "safe to use on electronics including smartphones, tablets and remote controls." So you can carefully use one of these to wipe off the screen and back of your phone. All smartphones If you're worried about using disinfectant, consider an option like "PhoneSoap," a device that first gained attention on the ABC show Shark Tank. It uses UV light to kill 99.9 percent of the germs on your smartphone, according to its manufacturer. It costs about $60 and can be grabbed from Amazon. A quick 10-minute stint inside the PhoneSoap not only cleans your phone but charges it, too. Or, you can just use a standard microfiber cloth, like the one included with some smartphones. Gerba said that it's probably best to sanitize your phone daily. He cleans his twice a day. Explore further Get the dirt on germs (c)2019 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: CC0 Public Domain T-Mobile users may need to wait a little longer for 5G than those on AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. In an interview with CNET Monday, T-Mobile chief technology officer Neville Ray said that his company will be pushing off the launch of its 5G network to the second half of 2019 as it waits for a phone that is better equipped to work with the company's lower band wireless spectrum. At the industry MWC tradeshow in Barcelona last year the company said it was working to build out its network across 30 cities with a plan to start shipping its first 5G devices in "early 2019." New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas were previously announced to be getting the new network first. The news of the T-Mobile delay comes on the same day that Sprint announced it would be turning on its own 5G network in Chicago, Kansas City, Atlanta and Dallas in May, with five other cities still on track to have 5G during the first half of 2019. T-Mobile and Sprint are currently in the process of trying to complete a $26 billion merger. Each carrier has stressed to lawmakers that it needs the other in order to speedily deploy 5G nationwide. T-Mobile did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY request for comment on the delay. By pushing off its launch, T-Mobile falls further behind rivals AT&T and Verizon in the mobile 5G race. AT&T launched its 5G network in 12 cities late last year, while Verizon last week announced that it will be the first carrier to offer Samsung's new Galaxy S10 5G in the first half of the year. The three other carriers have announced that they too, will offer Samsung's 5G Galaxy S10 this year, with T-Mobile on its website stating that it will offer the phone "this summer." (c)2019 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The Tibetan Plateau today is on average 4,500 meters above sea level. It is the biggest mountain-building zone on Earth. Most analyses to date indicated that, back in the Eocene period some 40 million years ago, the plateau was about as high as it is today. Dr. Svetlana Botsyun of the University of Tubingen's Geoscience Department tested this theory using comprehensive tools. Working with an international team of colleagues, she made use of a wide range of palaeoclimate data and came to a surprising conclusion: The data showed that the plateau had an elevation of no more than 3,000 meters in the Eocene. This new scenario helps researchers to understand the geological forces involved in the formation of mountain ranges along the edges of tectonic plates. The study has been published in the latest edition of the journal Science. The Tibetan Plateau is located on the border of the Eurasian continental plate, which is colliding with the Indian plate. This collision has led to the uplift of the plateau over millions of years. In order to determine the elevation of mountains over the course of Earth's geological history, researchers often use a special geological archive the water stored in the ground millions of years ago. The method is based on the relationship between various stable oxygen isotopes oxygen atoms of differing mass. The underlying theory says that rain contains fewer heavy isotopes the higher it falls. This means that geoscientists can draw conclusions about the previous altitude of the location from which the sample was taken. For the Tibetan Plateau, the samples yielded data for an altitude of about 4,000 meters in the Eocene. "We questioned these results because the distribution of the oxygen isotopes not only indicates the altitude above sea level, it also reflects the influence of palaeoclimate," Svetlana Botsyun explains. Interplay of many factors In the Eocene the geological period from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere was far higher than it is today. Asia's temperature distribution and geography were also very different. There was a large, shallow sea which geologists call the Paratethys bordering the Eurasian Plate. And the Indian continental plate was ten degrees latitude further south from its current position. "All these conditions in the Eocene had an effect on the proportion of oxygen isotopes, so we included them in our climate simulations," Dr. Botsyun says. That resulted in a completely different picture. "Our simulations showed that, due to Tibet's more southerly position in the Eocene, the isotope relationships in rainwater were actually reversed. On the southern flank of Tibet, heavier water was precipitated at higher altitudes," says Svetlana Botsyun. "Therefore we must abandon the conventional wisdom that there was a uniform relationship between the mountain elevation and the proportion of heavy oxygen isotopes in rainwater during earlier geological periods." The team's new findings fit with a scenario in which the Tibetan Plateau appears to have been no more than 3,000 meters high. "In the future we will combine climate models with the isotopic data from the geological archives to obtain reliable data on elevation in earlier phases of the Earth's history," Dr. Botsyun explains. Explore further Strength of tectonic plates may explain shape of the Tibetan Plateau, study finds More information: Svetlana Botsyun et al. Revised paleoaltimetry data show low Tibetan Plateau elevation during the Eocene, Science (2019). Svetlana Botsyun et al. Revised paleoaltimetry data show low Tibetan Plateau elevation during the Eocene,(2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaq1436 Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen et al. How high were these mountains?, Science (2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw7705 Journal information: Science Sample tree-ring cross section from the 19th and 20th centuries displayed at the Tree Ring Lab of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Credit: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Satellite imagery of earth's vegetation, measurements of carbon dioxide in the air and computer models all help scientists understand how climate is affecting carbon dynamics and the world's forests. But these technologies stretch back only decades, limiting our picture of long-term changes. A new study in the journal Nature Communications shows how information revealed by a new method of analyzing tree rings matches the story told by more high-tech equipment over the short term. Because trees are long-lived, looking back in their rings with this new approach may add decades or even centuries to our understanding of carbon storage and how climate change is affecting forests. Traditionally, tree-ring scientists measure variations in the widths of tree rings in order to determine year-by-year changes in past temperatures or rainfall. This method can produce a reasonable picture in many cases, but has its limitations. To test whether tree rings are a good proxy for modern satellite and other data, the scientists examined ring samples from two widespread tree speciestulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and northern red oak (Quercus rubra) growing in three climatically different regions of the eastern United States. By analyzing isotopes of carbon and oxygen stored in the rings, they compared the trees' own picture of forest productivity to estimates derived from satellites. They found strong agreement each year, and over time. The analysis also revealed that the biggest changes in annual forest growth in this region were linked to moisture availability. "Our method showed that the productivity of a forest can be estimated using information from just five trees," said Laia Andreu-Hayles, a tree-ring researcher at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and coauthor of the new study. "The stable isotopes measured in tree rings are highly sensitive to tracking moisture." The team said that to take full advantage of the new method, many more sites over wider areas would have to be sampled. "When we put tree ring data to work in historical climate models, we find that the models are more powerful when more species are included," said coauthor Neil Pederson, an ecologist at Harvard Forest. "I suspect this might also be the case when we use models to look forward, to future forest productivity and carbon storage." More information: Mathieu Levesque et al. Tree-ring isotopes capture interannual vegetation productivity dynamics at the biome scale, Nature Communications (2019). Journal information: Nature Communications Mathieu Levesque et al. Tree-ring isotopes capture interannual vegetation productivity dynamics at the biome scale,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08634-y Provided by Earth Institute This story is republished courtesy of Earth Institute, Columbia University http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu. Kwek Tze (KT) Tan, Ph.D. (left) and his graduate assistant and Ph.D. student Mahfujul Khan. Credit: The University of Akron Maritime regulations and ship architecture have improved quite a bit since that freezing, deadly night in April 1912 when the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, with global warming affecting the Arctic region, there could be a chance for a similar disaster. Kwek Tze (KT) Tan, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechanical engineering in UA's College of Engineering, recently received a $150,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to investigate the impact and behavior of specific materials used in the construction of military naval vessels in extreme low temperature Arctic conditions. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, global warming has reduced the Arctic ice region by 50 percent in the last 30 years. This has resulted in new sea routes that are more efficient and economical to connect opposite ends of the globe, which has led to a significant increase in sea travel and transportation through the region. As more ships sail through these freezing waters, there will likely be more impacts with iceburgs. The Arctic has a very harsh climatic condition (average temperature about negative 22 degrees Fahrenheit and lowest temperature about negative 94 degrees Fahrenheit). Materials used to build these vessels must be designed to withstand this extreme low temperature to transport people and goods safely through these harsh conditions. "If we don't alter the makeup of these structures to withstand the cold, we're looking at another Titanic catastrophe," said Tan. Tan and his team will study composite sandwich structures, which are used in the construction of many naval vessels due to their lightweight and high strength. They are fabricated by attaching two thin but stiff skins to a lightweight but thick core. The core material is normally low strength material, but its higher thickness provides the sandwich composite with high bending stiffness with overall low density. However, current composite structures used in the manufacture of naval vessels are not designed for low temperature environments, the team has found. "Our preliminary work shows that extreme low temperature has detrimental effect on the strength and integrity of composites," said Tan, who has been researching the durability of composite structures for 14 years. "Results from this work will provide the Office of Naval Research with fundamental understanding on how composite materials behave at low temperature environment and thus lead to new sandwich construction with enhanced dynamic performances for arctic region applications, benefiting the design of new generation naval vessels." Research, conducted by Tan and his graduate assistant and Ph.D. student Mahfujul Khan, will incorporate experimental techniques such as impact dynamic characterization and non-destructive inspection analysis. The research will utilize state-of-the art technology available on campus, including the impact test machine (Instron CEAST 9350) and X-ray micro-computed tomography device (Nikon XTH320). Liquid nitrogen gas will be used to cool down sample composites in an environmental chamber, which can test at freezing Arctic temperatures. Provided by University of Akron Andrew Cuomo in happier times, imagining how nice it will be to have Amazon in NYC. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images As a group of wise boys becoming men once said, its so hard to say good-bye to yesterday. It was just a few weeks ago that Long Island City was preparing to become home to a new Amazon office campus and 25,000 incoming jobs. It was a deal fiercely sought by Governor Andrew Cuomo and a host of other state and local politicians and business leaders, who used $3 billion in tax incentives to make the deal even sweeter. Then everything went south. Amazon, facing headwinds from local politicians, decided it didnt need the to be in New York and pulled out of the deal in early February. Now, Cuomo, who joked that he would change his name to Amazon Cuomo if it would land the deal with Amazon, is furiously working the phones, according to a report in the New York Times, trying to see if he can woo back Amazon. Per the Times: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who was staggered by Amazons decision to pull out of its plans to come to New York City, is working intensely behind the scenes to lure the company back, even connecting with Jeff Bezos, Amazons founder, to make a personal pitch. The governor has had multiple phone conversations with Amazon executives, including Mr. Bezos, over the past two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the efforts. In those calls, Mr. Cuomo said he would navigate the company through the byzantine governmental process. Mr. Cuomo did not offer a new location but rather guarantees of support for the project, one person said. Amazon executives gave no sense the company would reconsider. Its an odd look for Cuomo, who is the epitome of a transactional politician and has rarely demonstrated the willingness (or ability) to achieve goals through persuasion, preferring instead to act by fiat. Charm is not really in his bag of tricks. Nevertheless, he persists. Theres also an open letter published in todays Times, signed by politicians, businesses, and groups who support the deal. (Curiously, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the letter, despite issuing a statement that castigated Amazon for acting in bad faith.) The letter says that whole activist and politician pushback was just part of New Yorks charm: We know the public debate that followed the announcement of the Long Island City project was rough and not very welcoming. Opinions are strong in New York sometimes strident. We consider it part of the New York charm! But when we commit to a project as important as this, we figure out how to get it done in a way that works for everyone. Hey, Im protestin here! Only in New York do people hold rallies against your company, baby! The deal, announced 17 weeks ago, was a surprise to many in the city details of the negotiations were kept secret at the behest of Amazon, meaning many local groups and communities that would have been affected (and many of the city council and state politicians who wield a tremendous amount of power in the city) werent involved. When the the details of the plan were made public, including the sheer size of the tax incentives offered to Amazon and perks like a promise that local officials would help clear the way for a helipad for Amazons site in Queens, activists and anti-Amazon politicians had plenty of ammunition to use. The heat proved to be too much for Amazon, and it seems unlikely that whatever promises Cuomo makes to Amazon would change the facts on the ground. Update: This article originally stated that State Senator Mike Gianariss appointment to the Public Authorities Control Board would have made the Amazon deal difficult, as Gianaris is a vocal critic of Amazon and would have had veto power on the Amazon project. However, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins rescinded Gianariss nomination on Saturday, and Senate Democrats have nominated State Senator Leroy Comrie in Gianariss stead. In breezily talking about how he would govern as president, Bernie Sanders sounds a lot like Barack Obama. Photo: Getty Images In the conventional wisdom about the Obama presidency, particularly among progressives who werent big fans, the 44th president took office with a naive belief in bipartisanship, and thus got mugged by the GOPs systematic obstructionism. What he was able to accomplish he did so by using his executive powers and this mainly amounted to stopping conservatives from imposing their will on the country after they took back the House in 2010, and the Senate in 2014. I beg to differ with this memory of the Obama presidency. He wasnt naive, and didnt have big illusions about the Republican Partys leadership, or its evil intent towards his administration. He did, however, overestimate his ability to impose his own will on Republicans via appeals to their voters. At the time, I called it grassroots bipartisanship: Nowhere has Obama promised Americans he would come to Washington and broker deals between the two partys congressional leaders and interest groups. What he has done is to promise those inside and outside the two parties rank-and-file that hell force Washington to get big things done achieving universal health care, reducing dependency on oil, addressing the downside of globalization, making public schools work, responsibly ending the war in Iraq and restoring Americas full arsenal of non-military assets. These happen to be priorities that have steadily become dominant concerns for big majorities of self-identified independents and a significant minority of self-identified Republicans as well. Defining both parties in Washington, and their fruitless rivalries, as obstacles to progress on these priorities made Obamas demand for change a lot more compelling at the bipartisan grassroots, where some degree of bipartisan distrust of Washington has lurked under the surface of partisan attachments for decades. Unfortunately, that strategy for forcing cooperation in Congress didnt work any better than straightforward efforts to cut deals with Republican leaders. Once Democrats lost their filibuster-proof margin in the Senate, and then their control of the House altogether, bipartisan initiatives in Congress became rare, then largely extinct. I bring up this forgotten dimension of the Obama presidency because we are hearing something very close to a plan for grassroots bipartisanship from some 2020 Democratic presidential candidates including a few who generally arent considered Obama disciples. One is Bernie Sanders, who seems breezily confident that his agenda can create a grassroots movement that will compel Republicans to go along, as Paul Waldman observes: The question of how you get your ideas through Congress is particularly important for Sanders, because his agenda is the most sweeping and the one that will run into the strongest resistance, not only from Republicans but from outside stakeholders as well. Unfortunately, Sanderss usual answer to such questions is unsatisfying, to say the least. He argues that we need a popular revolution so overwhelming that even Republican legislators will bow down before its power and vote for things they abhor with every fiber of their beings, such as single-payer health care. That, of course, is just not going to happen. No its not, unless you think Bernie Sanders is massively more persuasive than Barack Obama was. Sanders isnt the only 2020 progressive who seems to be under the illusion that Republican opposition wont matter to the implementation of his agenda. Senator Sherrod Brown suggests sheer legislative skill may work wonders: Senator @SherrodBrown says it's possible to get an agenda through Congress even with the legislative filibuster in place, but "it takes a chief executive who knows what she's doing." Then he adds: "Or knows what he's doing." Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 26, 2019 Did Obama not know what he was doing? Youd have to be pretty damn smart, in my judgment, to think you are smarter than Barack Obama. Yes, some progressives think he wasnt mean enough to conduct effective daily combat with his Republican opponents. But whatever the merits of meanness, its not going to convince Republican senators to vote for your legislation. Browns comment may explain a lot of this big talk. Hes on the record and for that matter, so are Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar in opposing the abolition of the legislative filibuster, which would significantly reduce the number of senators needed to enact partisan legislation. That opposition, I happen to believe, is grievously mistaken. But if you take that position, then you have to have some theory of how you are going to prevail in Congress, particularly if you have an ambitious agenda like most of the 2020 Democratic field. Obama had grassroots bipartisanship, which failed. What do his wannabe Democratic successors have? Pixie dust? Its an important question. That's really what the book is about. It's a call to people who have an idea about how to make the world better to get out there and try. And it provides a playbook, based on five principles, to help get folks started and to give them a sense of what they need to think about as they try to execute on a big idea. JC: It is. In fact, I think the role it plays is often underestimated. I like to say that there is no better time to do something than when your back is against the wall, because you have nowhere left to go. It's what Martin Luther King called the "fierce urgency of now," and sometimes it's exactly the motivation we need to get out there and try. PND: The transformational breakthroughs you talk about in the book are almost always rooted in the willingness of an individual or an organization to make a big bet, take a risk, and let urgency conquer their fear. Urgency is key in that equation, isn't it? Jean Case: Well, the book is premised on research the Case Foundation undertook a number of years ago, where we set out to investigate the core qualities of great entrepreneurs and change makers, past and present, from around the world. And what we discovered was really surprising. When you think about what vaults people to success, it wasnt genius, or privilege, or wealth. Instead, it boiled down to five things that are present whenever a transformational breakthrough happens. We thought it was interesting research, and we wanted to share it. And we quickly learned that what we were sharing resonated with people in every sector, with leaders of organizations in every sector, from college students to CEOs, in terms of challenging them to think about how they might move something forward that might have been languishing, or that they didnt think they could do. Case attributes much of her success to her mother, her "first and most enduring role model" and the person who taught her "to take risks, to see possibility, and to be good to others." In her new book, Be Fearless: 5 Principles for a Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose , Case shares the stories of ordinary people who overcame their fear, took a bold risk, and did something extraordinary. Jean Case is a woman on a mission. As the youngest child of a single mom working to raise a family in the small town of Normal, Illinois, and then in the Fort Lauderdale area, Case studied hard and dreamed big of becoming a lawyer and maybe having a career in politics. But a few years out of college, something new called the Internet beckoned, and she found herself working at the one of the first pure-play online services. In short order, she took a similar position at General Electric and then, in her late twenties, landed a job at another startup, soon to become America Online (AOL), where over the next decade she and her colleagues helped usher in the Internet revolution. PND: What do you say to young people who approach you and say, "Jean, I care, I really do, but I've got a lot of student debt, my parents aren't wealthy, housing costs are through the roof, and I just need to find a good job and make some money." JC: Well, you know, the first chapter of the book is titled "Start Right Where You Are." And its meant to push back against the idea that to do something transformational, something that represents a breakthrough, you've got to have everything planned in advance and a detailed roadmap pointing you to where you hope to end up. That's just not what our research shows. It turns out that a lot of people who've gone on to extraordinary success got started in small ways. Yes, they might have had a big idea, but they started right where they were. For example, I open the book by telling the story of Barbara Van Dahlen. Barbara was a family counselor, a sole practitioner, who was helping families deal with various mental health issues. But it began to dawn on her that the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq had created a huge mental health crisis among returning vets, and that the country simply didnt have the capacity to meet the mental healthcare needs of veterans and their families. So, Barbara started donating an hour a week of her time to these families. And then she started talking to her colleagues, many of whom responded in kind, which then led her to wonder whether she could scale the effort. And thats what she did, ultimately building a national network of thousands and thousands of doctors willing to donate healthcare services some $25 million worth to date to veterans and their families. She didn't quit her job, and she didn't wait until she had earned an MBA; she just started where she was and, step by step, took a big idea and moved it forward. PND: If you had to choose between betting big on a person or betting big on an idea, which would you choose? JC: I would always choose the person. You know, one of the things I point out in the book is that a lot of people whove seen success have had failures along the way. And often, the difference between people who find success and those who dont is that the former are undaunted by their fears and failures. They've stared them in the eye, and they've pushed past them. It's not that they don't have them. We all have fears, and we all have had failures. But the person who learns to overcome them is more likely to be the person that finds success. When I invest in startup companies, for instance, I like to invest in entrepreneurs who may fail, because I know they will take to heart those lessons I talk about in the book and will keep going forward, applying lessons they learned to their next company or startup situation. You know, Einstein said failure is success in progress. Too many of us don't think about it that way, and we need to. PND: Do you have a favorite big bet, one that grabbed you as you were researching the book and exemplifies the maxim you attribute to Jane Goodall, namely, that every person can make a difference every day. JC: It's interesting you mention Jane, because for me, she probably emerges as the truly iconic be-fearless story. Here she was, a young British woman with no education but who had a love and passion for animals. So, she gets herself to Africa, where she has the good fortune to meet Louis Leakey, who sends her out into the field, all by herself, to do her chimpanzee research. She wasn't formally trained, so a lot of her methods were unconventional. But she ended up changing the field of primate research and today is considered to be one of the preeminent animal researchers in the world. She also likes to encourage others to act on their big bet and not be daunted by things they may not have or possess. In Jane's case, it was a degree. And that ultimately worked to her advantage. PND: There are a lot of great quotations in the book. One of my favorites, credited to Henry Ford, is: "If Id asked people what they wanted, they'd have said faster horses." He was referring to the importance of not only having a great idea, but also being stubborn enough to ignore the naysayers. Where does that kind of confidence come from? JC: You know, you have to work at it, and hopefully people who are reading this have someone around them who encourages them when others are trying to rain on their parade. But even if they don't, if they have a big idea they probably also have a gut sense that they are on to something great. I talk in the book about moments in my own life where others were quick to tell me I was crazy and I just had to close my ears and do what I had to do. There are always going to be naysayers, but the person with a big idea knows in his or her gut that theyre on to something. They may have to pivot or change things along the way, but deep down they know that if they just keep going, they will achieve success. The other thing the Henry Ford quote alludes to is how people with a big idea often have a knack for seeing around corners. They see things coming that others don't, and that gives them the confidence to stick with what they're doing. You know, when we started AOL, only 3 percent of Americans were online, and they were only online for an average of an hour a week. We had many people say to us, Why would I ever need e-mail? Why would my business ever need a website? It's really that ability to see what others can't that helps keep you going. PND: In terms of practical advice, I really like your idea of pursuing a big bet in "chunks," a step at a time. But I think a lot of people who are passionate about making a difference want to make things happen now and have a hard time accepting the idea that change is a process, that it's more evolutionary than revolutionary. Is that how you see it? JC: I definitely see it that way, and again I think this is one of those areas where people need to understand that there are small things they can do today, no matter their circumstance, to begin moving their idea forward. There are several tips and techniques in the book designed to help people get started from where they are, which is really key. PND: Is the framework you lay out in the book translatable to other fields? A lot of foundations were established in perpetuity, and that tends to make the people who run them risk-averse and predisposed to the status quo. Can the Be Fearless framework work in an institutional philanthropy context? JC: It most certainly can, and thanks to my role as chair of the National Geographic Society, a hundred-and-thirty-year-old organization, I can totally relate to the situation of larger, endowed, legacy organizations and the concern that trying new things can put all that at risk. I tell the story of National Geographic in the book, because its a great example of the need for organizations to constantly innovate and iterate if they want to stay relevant. Back when color photography was a new technology, the publisher and editors of National Geographic, the magazine, decided they wanted to include photographs in each issue, which led some members of the board to resign, because they felt that color photography was just a fad and not in keeping with the scientific mission of the National Geographic Society. Fast forward to 2019 and look where we are not only are we the most popular organization on Instagram, with over a hundred million followers, but our brand has become synonymous with high-quality color photography. And the society has been able to pull that rabbit out of the hat through each successive stage of technological disruption and change. When cable TV was the hot new medium, we introduced the National Geographic Channel in partnership with Fox. The same is true of social media more broadly, where we have the biggest footprint of any brand in the world. So, although we're an older, legacy organization I mean, there are still members of the board related to the founding family the one thing we are committed to is not settling for the status quo. We believe that if we don't continue to disrupt ourselves and find new ways to be relevant, we will lose our relevance altogether. PND: At the same time, lots of people, in the U.S. and around the world, feel technology is moving too fast, that it's too disruptive, that we've let the genie out of the bottle and someday, in the not-too-distant future, we're going to regret it. Is that a valid concern? JC: I wouldn't necessarily say it's a valid concern or that we're going to regret it. But I do think it's accurate to say that the pace of technological change is running faster than ever before in history, and that if we dont have clear frameworks around ethics, around how to make sure all that change is in service to humanity, we could find ourselves in trouble. But, you know, I'm encouraged by all the people who are looking at this, and the very fact that we're having a dialogue about it. Things have happened quickly on the technology front and have taken us further than perhaps anyone would have guessed, and now we need to catch up and put some frameworks in place to make sure the future lives up to the promise. PND: As you detail in the book, you didn't have a perfect Ozzie and Harriet upbringing. But you did have a very determined mother, wonderful grandparents, an excellent support system, and ended up living the American dream. Is that dream still achievable for most Americans? JC: I would like to believe it is, but part of the reason I wrote the book is to sound a sort of clarion call to anyone who is questioning that. I was the youngest child of a single mom. What I had in my early years came to us through the generosity of others. One of the stories I include in the book is the story of Madame C. J. Walker, who was born the daughter of a slave in Louisiana a few years after the end of the Civil War. I mean, talk about starting life with challenges. And yet C.J. Walker built a hair care empire by herself, becoming the first self-made female millionaire and philanthropist in America. It's stories like Madame Walker's that should inspire everyone who thinks the world has counted them out to say, "I'm not counting myself out. I know there are still opportunities in America for someone like me to do something great." That's why I wrote the book. PND: What's the best piece of advice you ever received from a mentor? JC: I'd probably have to say it's, "Don't wait to find the time to do the thing that matters." Life is short, and it's really important to make the time to do the thing that matters. In the book, I talked about how I use my calendar to do that. If I'm really trying to move toward a goal, I want to make sure that this week, every week, I've done something to move me closer to that goal. That won't happen if I just sit around and hope it does. I literally have to put on my calendar as a reminder that I need to work on it. I have to be intentional in writing down what it is I want to achieve this week. It's a great piece of life advice that was shared with me early on, and I swear by it. It's really made a difference for me, and I believe it can make a difference for other people as well. PND: A final question for you. Here we are a month or so into the new year. As you look ahead to 2019 and beyond, are you an optimist? JC: I'm a total optimist. I think theres never been a better time for people who see a way to make a difference in the world to make a difference. They just need to get started. And I'm super-optimistic that more and more people will feel called to do that. Yes, we have challenges, but we also have opportunities, and lots of people who see those opportunities, and I think that's true not just in the United States, but in countries around the world. So, I'm optimistic. And I'm looking forward to what 2019, and the future, brings. Mitch Nauffts It appears Kushner has lies and nepotism to thank for his security clearance. Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today, new revelations about Jared Kushners security clearance, the fallout from the Michael Cohen hearing, and Mark Meadowss birtherism. According to a report in the New York Times, Jared Kushner received his top-secret security clearance because of an order by Donald Trump, spurring the White House counsel and chief of staff to compose memos at the time outlining their concerns. In previous interviews with the press where they had been asked about this directly, Trump and Ivanka both seem to have lied. Should Kushner be forced to resign? Surely you are not suggesting that Jared resign before he unveils his Middle East peace plan! In any case, there may be no way to force any of these grifters out of the White House short of handcuffs. It has long been my contention that Jareds subconscious ambition is to follow his father, Charles, into prison. Every revelation brings him closer to his goal, starting as far back as his attempt to set up a secret communications back channel between the Trump transition and the Russians to circumvent Americas intelligence agencies. His and the Kushner familys international dealings to secure financing for their struggling real-estate ventures since Inauguration Day have repeatedly raised the question of which country he is actually serving from his perch in the White House. Russia? Saudi Arabia? Qatar? China? Certainly there is nothing in Kushners record to suggest that he is loyal to the United States of America. This latest bombshell raises a whole bunch of ancillary questions. Indeed, why did Ivanka and Jareds lawyer, Abbe Lowell, appear to lie about his devious path to his security clearance? And what about John Kelly, that good soldier who was widely praised in Washington as the adult in the Trump circle? Weve already learned that he is a racist and a nativist from various incidents during his craven tenure in the administration, but now we have to wonder if he, Michael Flynnstyle, betrayed his country by facilitating Jareds access to intelligence at Trumps insistence. He could have protested more forcibly at the time, and even now, in disgrace and retirement, he still remains silent. If Jared is a mole for a foreign power who damaged American interests, Kelly will bear partial responsibility for activating him. A plea that he was just following the bosss orders will not get him off the hook. But lets not let this episode distract from the bigger picture of what Jared has been doing while armed with classified secrets and his White House role as de facto chief of staff. The three most bizarre and mysterious man-crushes in American history may be his for Mohammed bin Salman, and his father-in-laws for Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin. We dont know if MBS has written Jared love letters as Kim has Trump (or vice versa), but this week he had another furtive assignation with the Saudi prince, as if the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi never happened. Exactly what business whether Kushners or Americas is on the table when they canoodle? In a similar vein, the president, despite being embarrassed by the collapse of the Hanoi nuclear talks that were supposed to secure his Nobel Peace Prize, still went weirdly out his way to clear Kim of any responsibility for the brutal murder of the American student Otto Warmbier, who had been imprisoned and tortured in North Korea. Along with the other ways that the Trump operation resembles a gangster enterprise, we must always include the reality that its criminal allies are piling up corpses as surely as associates of the Gotti family once did. Michael Cohens hearing before the House Oversight Committee this week provided new details on Donald Trumps involvement in what might be a criminal conspiracy, while also changing the way we understand some things that have already been reported. Will his testimony be a turning point for the Trump investigations? Perhaps because the hearings blanketed television broadcast networks as well as cable the Cohen show moved the needle a bit in terms of reengaging the public in a saga that has numbed out many over two exhausting years. There is zero chance, though, that it or anything else will ease Trumps grip on his base. Now, as always, it must be Republicans in Congress who determine when the turning point comes. They will do so not out of conscience its not clear that more than a half dozen of them have one but out of fear of losing their own races in purple districts or states. Youll notice that the likes of Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado are stepping up their concern about Trump in direct proportion to the proximity of November 3, 2020, when both are up for reelection. As many have noted, what may have been most striking about the hearings (aside from that incriminating 2017 Trump-signed check reimbursing Cohen for porn-star hush money) was that not a single GOP inquisitor would be caught on camera praising or defending Trump, as opposed to trashing Cohen. They may have moved into a mode where they want to protect themselves on camera more than their dear leader. Also notable was Cohens name-checking of other witnesses (in part thanks to the stiletto questioning of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) to Trump Organization wrongdoing who may soon be brought before Congress in so public a setting: Allen Weisselberg, Alan Garten, Ron Lieberman, and the evocatively named Matthew Calamari. This drama was needing some fresh characters, so bring them on. Also nailed by Cohen of course was Donald Jr., whom Cohen said signed one of the hush-money reimbursements an act of stupidity that again reminds those of us who likened him to Fredo that we were way too kind. While Cohens testimony wasnt high on laughs, lets be grateful for this line, which he delivered with exquisite deadpan: Mr. Trump had frequently told me and others that his son Donald Jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the world. Within a day of Representative Mark Meadows sidetracking the end of the Cohen hearing to argue that he was not a racist, at least three videos have surfaced of him pushing birtherism on the campaign trail, promising to send President Obama back home, to Kenya or wherever it is. Will there be a political price for those comments now? There will be no political price for Meadows among his voters any more than for any other racists harbored by the Republican Party, whose voters are almost entirely loyal to a president who did far more to promote birtherism than a Meadows or Steve King could ever do. Lets never forget the fact that the GOP has tolerated and exploited racism since its 1964 presidential nominee, Barry Goldwater, voted against the Civil Rights Act. In recent years, especially in the aftermath of America electing its first black president, the party has been pursuing wholesale minority-voter suppression efforts, including phony campaigns against nonexistent election fraud. (The only proven case of major fraud, we now know, was undertaken on behalf of a Republican congressional candidate, Mark Harris, in Meadowss own state of North Carolina.) This toxicity poisoned the GOP well before Trump became a Republican, and unless and until the party starts exorcising it instead of denying it, it will remain in place after hes gone. March 1, 2019 in Software (E) [prMac.com] Lake Dallas, Texas - GeekSuit today is proud to announce the release of Client Folder Maker 5.0, an important feature update to their popular folder creation and management utility for macOS. Perfect for the busy web developer, graphic designer, app developer, or prepress operator, Client Folder Maker allows anyone to set up a hierarchy of folders once, then instantly re-create that hierarchy in any specified folder with just a few clicks of the mouse. Users can activate any chosen preset via a Menu Item, Keyboard Shortcut, the Services Menu or even a new Finder Extension. After setting a pre-determined archive folder (or the Desktop), simply enter the Client or Project Name, the Job or Version Number, and click the "Create Folder" button. Instantly, a new folder hierarchy is created within its own Archive Folder (or the Desktop). Client Folder Maker will faithfully create the folder structure based on the client's name and the number associated with that job - with all the support folders and files inside. Client Folder Maker utilizes a very simple approach to building custom folder sets for any job. Easily add, rename, or delete folders in the hierarchy and create new files under the folder tree. The hidden gem is CFM's limitless customization of tag variables, so the possibilities for personal customization are endless. Among Client Folder Maker's most useful features is its ability to import and export Presets via Drag & Drop. Effortlessly drag any Preset to the Desktop for setting up another machine, to save and archive, or even share them with friends and colleagues. Existing Presets can be sorted in any way in the list. Users can also add useful descriptions for each Preset to better describe its use under different conditions. Client Folder Maker doesn't stop there. Users can also designate content to be auto-imported from existing source files. This feature easily copies content from any text file into the newly created files in the new folders. It is prefect for users who find themselves using the same base content in their projects, such as custom HTML markup, jQuery, CSS files, and more. Features: * User-defined keyboard shortcut * Colored labels * Custom folder views * Auto-incrementing variables * Import/export settings via drag/drop * Preset descriptions * Custom permissions * File content copying * Stays out of the way * Can be invoked via Contextual Menu, Menu Item or Keyboard shortcut * Limitless Customization * Zero Footprint "I am very excited about this update! Client Folder Maker has long been the solution for any Mac user who provides a service and creates new job folders for their clients," explained GeekSuit CEO Ray Barber. "With version 5.0, we've completely overhauled the application with many new features that I'm sure our customers will immediately recognize and appreciate. Many features are customer driven. An important new feature is that CFM now allows users to set their Archive Folder at the Preset level. It's no longer a global setting." Client Folder Maker 5.0 is a virtually brand new application that introduces many new customer requested features, as well as builds on existing features. 1) Archive Folder Re-Implemented: * The Archive Folder is now set at the Preset level (instead of globally). Now, each Preset can have its own Archive Folder set, where newly created Hierarchies will go. Or the user can merely choose their Desktop as their Archive Folder. 2) Resizable and Modernized Window: * Upgraded the window to use modern automatic layout, making it adapt better for localization and resizing. * The presets list now uses a source list style, and the width can be resized. * The window is now resizable horizontally as well as vertically. * Modernized the layout to eliminate old-fashioned dead space and boxes, while keeping the familiar controls. 3) Preset-Specific Archive Folder: * Moved the archive folder path to be preset-specific, so each preset can create folders in their own parent folder. * When adding a new preset, the archive folder defaults to the last-selected one, if any. * Improved the appearance of the path control when one isn't set. 4) Custom Icon & Label Color for Root Folder: * Added an image well to the right of the Preset Label, where an image can be dropped or pasted. * If an image is chosen, it is used as the icon of the root folder when invoking a Preset. * Right-click on the Image Well to show the Label Colors, to assign a label color to the created root folder. 5) New Date Variable: * Added support for a {Date} variable, which displays a field automatically populated with today's date, in the preferred short date format. * For advanced users, the {Date} variable also supports specifying a custom format using the standard Unicode conventions. * Dates can have their own custom separators. e.g. "{Date yyMMdd'T'hhmmss}" to output "181228T134527". 6) New AUTO feature: * Users can have new numbered folder structures. Each time this Preset is invoked, it is incremented by one (1). 7) Other Changes: * Now supports Dark Mode under Mojave. * Icon for Preset Files - Files created when dragging Presets to the Desktop now have a custom icon. * Changed the "Directory Name" field prompt to "Folder Name" to be more consistent and intuitive. * Renamed the preset name prompt, and moved the launch at login prompt to the same line as the other preferences. * Tweaked the color of the label text under the color swatches, to be more visible in dark mode with a light background behind. * Added tooltips to the preset controls. Client Folder Maker ships with default Presents for the design or prepress minded, as well as a simple website structure for web developers. Both have their own unique tag variables, but can easily be customized for any working environment. Despite its namesake, Client Folder Maker's default presets aren't limited to simply a "client name" or a "job number." As long as the chosen words or phrases are surrounded in braces, anyone can create and use any tags they wish. System Requirements: * OS X 10.8.5 or later * 64-bit processor * 0.5 MB Pricing and Availability: Client Folder Maker 5.0 is only $4.99 USD (or an equivalent amount in other currencies), and is available through the App Store in the Productivity category. There is a 15 day free trial available. Promo codes are available for members of the press. Headquartered in Lake Dallas, Texas, GeekSuit, LLC is a leading evangelist for the Mac platform since 1999, including popular website brands prMac, MacDeveloper, App Review Helper and others. Copyright 1999-2019 GeekSuit, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. ### 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 Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images This is shaping up to be a year in which many popular tech start-ups make their highly anticipated initial public offerings, turning tech-employee equity into cold hard cash and minting fresh millionaires overnight. First on the docket, apparently, is Lyft, the rideshare app that many know for its distinctive quality of not being Uber. The companys S-1 gives us some hard numbers about its financial state, none of which are particularly surprising. The main thing to know is that Lyft still isnt profitable (in a very substantial way) and may never be. Last year, the company lost $911 million, bringing in $2.2 billion in revenue. $911 million, according to some back-of-the-envelope math I just did, is enough money to buy 911 million Arizona iced tea tallboys. Losing nearly a billion dollars in a year is not exactly a great business proposition, and the future of Lyft is unclear, to say the least. Among the risk factors cited in its filing, the first is an open admission: Our limited operating history and our evolving business makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects. The second: We have a history of net losses and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future. Some other stats: Lyft had 30.7 million riders in 2018 and 1.9 million people drove cars for Lyft. Ninety-one percent of Lyft drivers drive less than 20 hours per week, meaning that most of its fleet is comprised of people who are working for the company to supplement their main sources of income. Thirty-four percent of drivers are over the age of 45 and 9 percent are veterans. Our business depends largely on our ability to cost-effectively attract and retain qualified drivers and increase utilization of our platform by existing drivers, the company states. In other words, the companys business model relies on a gig-economy model in which drivers continue to drive for Lyft without treating the service as an employer that owes drivers a living wage. If the contractor classification of drivers that use our platform is challenged, there may be adverse business, financial, tax, legal and other consequences, states another risk-factor bullet point. Aside from the threats of an as-yet-unproven business model and low-paid drivers ditching the service (or, scarier still for Lyft, organizing to demand benefits and workplace protections), there looms another complicating factor: driverless cars. If we are unable to efficiently develop our own autonomous vehicle technologies or develop partnerships with other companies to offer autonomous vehicle technologies on our platform in a timely manner, the S-1 states, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. General Motors is a significant stakeholder in Lyft and has partnered with the start-up on developing autonomous vehicles. While Lyft maintains that it is difficult to evaluate its own future, the general arc of its ambition seems pretty apparent. Continue to scale up and get more people to rely on Lyft for transportation, keep drivers happy without paying them too much, and then, hopefully, launch a fleet of driverless cars so that they wont have to pay any drivers at all. Uh, good luck! Netanyahu could manage to hold on if he doesnt wind up in prison. Photo: Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images Unlike our own president, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has never mused that he could stand in the middle of Ben Yehuda Street and shoot someone without losing any supporters. But, in a development Donald Trump is no doubt watching closely, Netanyahu is about to find out what effect being charged with corruption has on ones base. Israeli attorney general Avichai Mandelblit recommended on Thursday that Netanyahu be indicted on various charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three corruption cases in which the prime minister is implicated, introducing a new wild card into a general election campaign with just 40 days to go. In a 57-page letter to Netanyahus lawyers, Mandelblit said he should be charged with fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000, in which the prime minister and his wife Sara are accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from wealthy benefactors in exchange for political favors. He is to face the same charges in Case 2000, as well as bribery and breach-of-trust charges in Case 4000, both of which revolve around deals he allegedly sought with the owners of media outlets to trade favorable coverage of him for regulatory or legislative changes that would advantage their businesses. Mandelblits letter does not mean Netanyahu has been formally charged yet; Netanyahus legal team will have an opportunity to present a defense and make a case for dropping the charges before Mandelblit makes a final decision on whether or not to indict him. That process could take weeks or months. If he is tried and convicted of these crimes, Netanyahu could face serious prison time, including up to ten years for the bribery charge. Nonetheless, he is not legally required to step down and has rejected calls for his resignation from other Israeli political figures. The recommendation was not unexpected, but has ignited a huge controversy, coming just six weeks before the early elections Netanyahu had called for April 9, which his Likud party was on track to win, giving him a fifth term and the title of Israels longest-serving prime minister. In a number of voluble public statements, featuring strikingly Trumpian language, Netanyahu denounced the corruption probe as a witch hunt, part of a conspiracy to undermine and overthrow his government. He repeated these allegations after Thursdays announcement, calling the legal case against him a house of cards that would disappear as soon as it failed to cost him reelection. Right-wing media has characterized it as the work of the Israeli deep state (Mandelblit and Robert Mueller could form a support group). Netanyahus conspiratorial rhetoric suggesting hes the victim of an elaborate plot perpetrated by the media and a phantasmic left wing, encompassing everyone who wants him out of office is standard operating procedure for a demagogic politician desperate to hold onto power. But the controversy extends beyond Israels right-wing fever swamps. Netanyahu has argued that it is unjust to begin a legal process against him that wouldnt conclude until after the elections passing over the fact that he chose the timing of these elections, deliberately, in an effort to get reelected before his legal troubles caught up to him. Still, Israelis will have to vote under the cloud of these indictments, not knowing whether the leader of one major party is about to be found guilty or innocent of multiple crimes. Critics of Mandelblits decision to recommend charges say it represents an unprecedented intrusion into the democratic process by unelected officials in the judicial system: Israel has sent a former prime minister to jail before (Ehud Olmert), but this is the first time a head of government has faced charges while in office. Yet the attorney general has been in an impossible situation all along, as any decision to indict or not would read as a political choice and infuriate some segment of the Israeli body politic. The notion that Mandelblit is making a partisan choice here is hardly credible, his defenders argue, as he has a solidly right-wing ideological pedigree and previously served as Netanyahus cabinet secretary. Irrespective of whether it was correct or justified, Mandelblits decision will inevitably have political consequences. A Times of Israel poll projected that a recommendation to indict could cost Likud four seats in the next Knesset, not necessarily causing it to lose but making it that much harder for it to form a coalition. Netanyahus party is now facing a stronger competition in this campaign after his leading rivals, former military chief of staff Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid, agreed to form a centrist alliance called Kahol Lavan (Blue and White). Previously, Kahol Lavan had suggested it would be willing to form a government with Likud, but Gantz said on Thursday that he was no longer willing to join a coalition led by Netanyahu. It will be extremely difficult, however, for Blue and White to cobble together the 61 Knesset seats it would need to form a coalition of its own without Likud or without violating the Israeli political taboo against bringing the majority-Arab, non-Zionist left-wing parties into government. Lapid has denied that his coalition would include the Arab parties, but Netanyahu is already making hay out of the notion that they would empower these parties, which he regularly characterizes as spies and traitors bent on destroying the state of Israel. Clearly, Lapid and Gantz would prefer that Netanyahu resign or be ousted so that they could caucus with a post-Netanyahu Likud party, but that could also give the prime minister another form of leverage with his right-wing allies in keeping himself in power. Netanyahu has already stooped to conquer in that regard. Late last year, he faced down an internal revolt from hard-right members of his own cabinet, who deemed the man who proudly takes credit for dismantling the Oslo Accords and the two-state solution insufficiently tough on defense because he did not take advantage of every single opportunity to bomb the Gaza Strip just most of them. Since then, the already hawkish Netanyahu has gone out of his way to burnish his nationalist credentials, playing up the demagogy and warning darkly of left-wingers handing the country over to the tender mercies of the Arabs. Last week, in a step so shocking that even AIPAC denounced it, Netanyahu and his party legitimized Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), a radical right-wing party associated with the teachings of the genocidal terrorist Rabbi Meir Kahane, by incorporating it into a right-wing union with the religious nationalist party HaBayit HaYehudi (Jewish Home). For Netanyahu, this was a nakedly self-serving act of parliamentary calculus, as a joint list of far-right parties is more likely to clear the threshold for seats in the Knesset than each party would on its own, and Likud needs as many seats as it can get for its coalition partners. Netanyahus legal turmoil may or may not cost his party a plurality in the Knesset, but even if it does, theres no guarantee that these voters will defect to the center rather than the far right. Israeli politics has taken on an increasingly violent, nationalist, and anti-Arab tone in recent years, with the center-left collapsing and the mainstream right going into business with an increasingly fanatical cast of characters that make Netanyahu look reasonable and statesmanlike in comparison. In other words, if Israeli democracy is falling apart, Avichai Mandelblit is pretty far down on the list of people responsible for that. Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was arrested by the Pakistani rangers on Wednesday, is back on Indian soil. He had to undergo an immigration process and a one-page visa has been issued so he could enter the country. People from all sphere of nation is hailing Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming. Be it politician or Bollywood stars, all are welcoming the warrior, who was held captive by Pakistan for two days after his plane was shot down in a duel by Pakistani fighters. IAF pilot's capture in Pakistan occurred amid escalating military tension between the two countries. On Wednesday, IAF pilot Abhinandan's MiG 21 had shot down Pakistan's F-16 fighter jet before falling into an ambush which led to the crash of the fighter jet he was flying. Abhinandan landed on Pakistani soil after ejecting from his jet and was arrested by the Pakistani forces. However, it is believed India put back-channel diplomatic pressure with the help of allies to make Pakistan release the pilot immediately. On Thursday, Imran Khan announced in the Pakistan National Assembly that Abhinandan would be set free as 'peace gesture'. India has meanwhile maintained that Pakistan is obliged to release the pilot under the Geneva Conventions. Catch all the latest updates on IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman 's release on BusinessToday.In live blog. 10:25pm: Kupwara encounter: 2 police personnel, 2 CRPF personnel &1 civilian have succumbed to injuries. 2 police personnel who lost their lives identified as SgCt Naseer Ahmad Kholi & SgCt Ghulam Mustafa Barah & 2 CRPF personnel identified as Inspector Pintu & Ct Vinod;Operation underway pic.twitter.com/7qk6tjaSvx - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 10:12pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi also welcomed Abhinandan. He said the nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets, "Welcome Home Wing Commander #Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!" pic.twitter.com/pGcnH4uguE - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 10:10pm: Abhinandan's convoy is heading towards the Guru Ramdas Airport of Amritsar. He is likely to be taken to a military hospital in Delhi for treatment and check up. 10:05pm: People from all sphere of nation is hailing Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming. Be it politician or Bollywood stars all are welcoming the warrior. 10:00pm: Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future. - Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 1, 2019 9:55pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, says entire Nation is proud of him. Welcome Home! The entire Nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan. - Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 1, 2019 9:50pm: Welcome back soldier. You have made us all very proud. I salute your valor, courage, conviction, calmness and selflessness. #WelcomeHomeHero#WingCommanderAbhinandan#JaiHind - Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 1, 2019 9:30pm: Pakistan has released a statement. "The captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India today. He was arrested when his military jet MIG-21 crashed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir after being shot down by Pakistan Air Force for violating Pakistani airspace on February 27, 2019." The statement added, "While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Imran Khan announced his return as a goodwill gesture aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India." 9:18pm: IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman handed over to India by Pak officials. 9:15pm: First visuals of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman walking towards Wagah as he comes from the Batapur Army camp. 9:12pm: Abhinandan is being treated as a normal Indian citizen and has to go through all immigration procedures before crossing over to India. He will be provided a one page visa and allowed to cross over to India through Wagah Attari border. 9:11pm: It must be understood that #Pakistan has not done us a favor by returning #WingCommanderAbhinandan. Under the #GenevaConvention, a serving soldier captured during conflict has to be returned. We must not forget that after 1971, we released over 90,000 PoW from Pakistan. - Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 1, 2019 9:10pm: The process of handover has begun. IAF pilot Abhinandan will be back in India any time now. 9:00pm: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is keeping a close eye on proceedingsat Attari-Wagah border. 8:55pm: Media report suggested that Wing Commander Abhinandan has reached Attari-Wagah border after fulfilling the immigration documents. He will be taken to a military hospital in Delhi for treatment and check up. 8:35 pm: Air Force's Air Vice Marshal Ravi Kapoor and Air Vice Marshal Prabhakaran are in Amritsar to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan . 8:00pm: Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC in Mendhar, Balakote, Krishna Ghati sectors Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/Kh4WLgWz9Ypic.twitter.com/tWCNbhgq7P - ANI Digital (@ani_digital) March 1, 2019 7.56pm: Tennis star Sania Mirza welcomes the IAF pilot. Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan .. you are our HERO in the truest sense.. The country salutes you and the bravery and dignity you have shown #Respect#WelcomeBackAbinandan Jai Hind - Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) March 1, 2019 7.48pm: Two buses were reportedly seen going through the Wagah-Attari border. 7.40pm: There are reports of documentation issues that has delayed his homecoming. 7.30pm: Akhilesh Yadav says he is looking forward to welcoming the pilot. I look forward to welcoming braveheart Wing Commander Abhinandan home. We will never forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave martyrs and their families. Pak should walk the talk on dismantling it's home grown terror networks. I hope that peace prevails.#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan - Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) March 1, 2019 7:15pm: Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht who was the pilot of the Mi-17 helicopter that crashed in Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir on February 27 was cremated in Chandigarh earlier today. Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht who was the pilot of the Mi-17 helicopter that crashed in Budgam,J&K on February 27 was cremated in Chandigarh earlier today. (In pic 1: his wife Squadron Leader Aarti Singh holding the folded tricolour) pic.twitter.com/ShIBfpyBL3 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 7.05pm: As per latest information, three security personnel have been killed in an encounter with militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. 6.50pm: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs for one hour on pos-Pulwama scenario, India's strike in Balakot and the IAF pilot's release. He added that India did not negotiate for the Wing Commander's release. 6.46pm: Wing Commander crosses over to the Indian side. 6.44pm: Indian Defence forces will continue to remain on high alert across the border despite IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's release. 6.37pm: A special plane will be deployed to fly the Wing Commander to Delhi. 6.36pm: There were ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC in Mendhar, Balakote and Krishna Ghati sectors at 6:00pm | ANI 6.30pm: Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh said, "It must be understood that Pakistan has not done us a favor by returning Wing Commander Abhinandan. Under the Geneva Convention, a serving soldier captured during conflict has to be returned. We must not forget that after 1971, we released over 90,000 PoW from Pakistan." 6.19pm: Shah Rukh Khan says, "There's no better feeling than coming back home." There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandanpic.twitter.com/NFTRINu6Mw - Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 1, 2019 6.15pm: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu compliments the IAF pilot. Very happy to see the safe return of IAF wing commander Abhinandan. AP salutes the brave and spirited patriot. - N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) March 1, 2019 6.09pm: India says handing over to be done only after the retreat parade is over. 6.00pm: Retreat parade underway on Pakistan's side. 5.53pm: Wing Commander's immigration process getting completed. One-page visa will be issued. 5.43pm: Actress Raveena Tandon said she is glued to the TV waiting for the pilot's return. Glued to our TVs to catch a glimpse of our Hero's return! The way you stayed calm, professional & respectful during such adversities talks so much about your bravery. Such a proud feeling, welcome back wing commander. #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan.gratefully yours ! - Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) March 1, 2019 5.30pm: Official press meet scheduled for 5.35pm at Attari border outpost. Air Vice-Marshal Ravi Kapoor to give statement. 5.18pm: "Welcome home Abhinandan Varthaman," says TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. Welcome home #AbhinandanVarthaman Welcome home sweet home - Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 1, 2019 5.16pm: The High Commission delegation has reached the Wagah border to receive Abhinandan; the Air Force and Civil Hospital ambulance have also been deployed. 5.09pm: The Islamabad High Court has dismissed a petition to stop the release of Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. 4.53pm: Wing Commander's medical check-up is being conducted; he will cross India in minutes. 4.38pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman could cross India anytime soon. Visuals from Attari-Wagah border; Wing Commander Abhinandan to be received by a team of Indian Air Force. Visuals from Attari-Wagah border; Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman to be received by a team of Indian Air Force. pic.twitter.com/C4wv14AEAd - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 4.35pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has reached the Wagah VIP lounge, reports News18. 4.32pm: At a time when Wing Commander Abhinandan is about to reach India from Pakistan, Pakistan has violated ceasefire in the Nowshera sector in Rajouri district at 4.15pm. Indian Army retaliating, reports ANI. 4.26pm: Visuals from Wagah in Lahore: IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border. Pakistan: Visuals from Wagah in Lahore; IAF Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border pic.twitter.com/xEPghVgNzi - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 4.22pm: Abhinandan reaches Attari border: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman could cross the Wagah border anytime soon. The Pakistani convoy carrying the Indian hero has already reached the Attari border. 4.13pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan's parents get standing ovation in flight. Watch the video. 4.05pm: When Uri happened, you saw what our brave soldiers did; when Pulwama happened, you saw what our brave air warriors did, says PM Modi during a political rally in Tamil Nadu. 4.00pm: 'Shocked over PM's conduct': Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia, during India Today Conclave 2019, says he is shocked over PM Modi's conduct after the recent confrontation with Pakistan. "I was shocked. You have conducted a successful strike. We congratulated our jawans and pilots. One of our brave hero shot down an F-16, then he gets shot down in Pakistani airspace. He has been held captive by Pakistan and you are holding a conference with poll booth workers of the BJP." 3.52pm: PM Modi slams Opposition: "These are the same people whose statements are helping Pakistan and harming India. They are the same people whose statements are being happily quoted in Parliament of Pakistan & in the radio of Pakistan. I want to ask them- do you support our armed forces or suspect them?" says the PM, reports ANI. 3.46pm: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today held a security review meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the three services chiefs. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today held a security review meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the three services chiefs. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/azOR2begtI - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 3.30pm: While India has cancelled the beating the retreat ceremony in wake of the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's release from Pakistan today, Pakistan has allowed its people to be present at the retreat ceremony. 3.12pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander Abhinanadan is from Tamil Nadu. "I am proud that India's first woman Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is from Tamil Nadu," says PM Modi. PM Narendra Modi in Kanyakumari,Tamil Nadu: Every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander #Abhinanadan is from Tamil Nadu pic.twitter.com/xUkmAhV5MO - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 3.08pm: "As tensions are high and uncertainty is prevalent between Indian and Pakistan, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh reminds us what is most imperative at this time - working towards improving the economic and social conditions for the citizens of both countries," say the Congress party. As tensions are high & uncertainty is prevalent between Indian & Pakistan, former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh reminds us what is most imperative at this time - working towards improving the economic & social conditions for the citizens of both countries. pic.twitter.com/7iHVESaGhD - Congress (@INCIndia) March 1, 2019 3.03pm: Welcome move, says VK Singh: "Returning of Wing Commander Abhinandan is a welcome move, however, it is the first of many steps that Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace. We need an affirmative & verifiable action by Pakistan against terrorism," says Union minister VK Singh. Returning #WingCommanderAbhinandan is a welcome move, however, it is the first of many steps that #Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace. We need an affirmative & verifiable action by Pakistan against terrorism. - Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 1, 2019 2.57pm: The closure of Pakistani airspace has affected 400 flights daily: Flights have partially resumed at the international airports of Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, and Islamabad, reports Dawn. 2.40pm: 'Democracy is a battle of ideas': Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti says "crackdown followed by banning of Jammat-e-Islami (JK) is condemnable". "Why is GoI so uncomfortable with Jamaat e Islami? Radicalised Hindu groups representing fringe elements are given carte blanche to spread misinformation & vitiate the atmosphere. But an org that has worked tirelessly for Kashmiris is banned. Is being anti BJP anti national now?" she asked. Democracy is a battle of ideas , crackdown followed by banning of Jammat Islami (jk) is condemnable , another example of high handedness and muscular approach of GOI to deal with political issue of J&k . - Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) March 1, 2019 2.30pm: Stand by our soldiers, says Capt Amarinder Singh. "Interacted with jawans at the BSF Post in Dera Baba Nanak. Such an amazing feeling to be where my heart belongs. We all stand by our soldiers at this time & are always ready to serve our nation," says the Punjab CM. "Would love to go (to receive Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman ) but there's laid out protocol whenever anybody comes back like happened to Prisoners of war in '65 & '71, they had to first go for medical & then be debriefed. I think same process will be followed here," he told ANI. Interacted with jawans at the BSF Post in Dera Baba Nanak. Such an amazing feeling to be where my heart belongs. We all stand by our soldiers at this time & are always ready to serve our nation. pic.twitter.com/TutGL6ymRq - Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) March 1, 2019 2.20pm: Beating retreat ceremony cancelled: The beating retreat ceremony, which is usually held every day where soldiers of both of the sides participate in a parade, has been cancelled. Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar: The Beating the Retreat ceremony (at Attari-Wagah Border) will not be held today. Senior team of the Indian Air Force will receive Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. pic.twitter.com/n40CcJX7H6 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 2.06pm: Pak ignores India's request for aerial route to Abhinandan: Hours after Pakistan announced its decision to release Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, India conveyed to Islamabad that it wants him to be sent back via aerial route and not through the Wagah land border, PTI reported. However, late in the night, Pakistan communicated to India that he will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border. The Indian defence establishment was also mulling over sending a special aircraft to Pakistan to bring back Wing Commander Varthaman. 2.03pm: For Varthamans, flying MiG-21 is family tradition: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman downed a Pakistani F-16 plane before his MiG-21 Bison was hit during a dogfight. His father Air Marshal (retd) Simhakutty Varthaman also flew the MiG-21s and was an IAF test pilot, who retired five years ago, a family friend told PTI. Abhinandan's grandfather was also in the IAF. In an interview to PTI, Wing Commander (retd) Prakash Navale, who was a course-mate of Abhinandan's father at the National Defence Academy (NDA) during 1969-72, said the first time he saw the young pilot, held captive by Pakistan, was when he was a three-year-old toddler. 1.49pm: Celebrations at Wagah: Celebrations break out at the Wagah border as the reports of Wing Commander Abhinandan has been brought from Islamabad to Lahore. He will be crossing the Wagah border around 4pm. 1.30pm: Mirage-2000 vs F-16 Falcon: Which is a better fighter jet? The Mirage 2000 is mainly known for its capability of carrying out bombing operations while the F-16 has an edge in air-to-air combat. Read more here. 1.27pm: I carry the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, says Sushma. "Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself," says Sushma Swaraj. EAM @SushmaSwaraj at #OIC: I carry the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself. pic.twitter.com/kMdkistoFp - Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 1, 2019 1.23pm: Sushma Swaraj at OIC: "God is One but learned men describe Him in many ways". EAM Swaraj: India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text "The Rig Veda" and I quote "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadhanti", which means "God is One but learned men describe him in many ways". pic.twitter.com/sqE94IOETM - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 1.20pm: 'Fight against terror is not against any religion': "The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion & brotherhood." 1.15pm: 'Terrorism and extremism are driven by distortion of religion': External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj at the OIC: "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed." EAM @SushmaSwaraj at the #OIC : Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels.It uses diverse causes.But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. - Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 1, 2019 12.54pm: Guterres welcomes Pak's decision on Abhinandan: The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to release the captured Indian pilot. pic.twitter.com/TFDlhCpimd - Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) March 1, 2019 12.40pm: Abhinandan to cross border today: Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar, told ANI that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will cross the border today but the details regarding his arrival can't be revealed. Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar: Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will cross the border today, can't tell you exact time since there are certain formalities. A senior Indian Air force team from Delhi is here, they will be the ones to receive him. pic.twitter.com/np8iCrCn5h - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 12.31pm: Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to be brought to Delhi from Attari, reports India Today. Media reports suggest Abhinandan will arrive at the Wagah border between 2pm and 4pm where he will be received by Group Captain JD Kurian. 12.13pm: 'Pakistan should be represented at OIC': Former Pakistani President and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari says foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi should attend the OIC meet. "I am a democratic man and if the house thinks that foreign minister should not attend then I can't say anything. But disengagement is not a solution. The foreign minister should attend the OIC meeting. Pakistan should be represented there," says Zardari, reports Dawn. 12.00pm: Standing ovation for parents of India's hero: IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's parents, Air Marshal (retd) S Varthaman and Dr Shobha Varthaman, were given a standing ovation as passengers made way for them in the early hours of Friday, ensuring that the couple gets off first, reports PTI.In photos and videos shared by passengers on social media platforms, the couple, who came to Delhi on their way to Amritsar to bring their son home, can can be seen acknowledging the clapping, cheers and thank yous with nods of their heads. 11.45am: Pak foreign minister not to attend OIC conclave: Pakistan Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that he will not attend OIC's foreign ministers conclave, reports Dawn. He had earlier said: "I requested them to review the decision (of inviting Sushma Swaraj). UAE said that when we extended the invitation, Pulwama had not occurred. If it had, case would have been difference. Now we have extended invitation it would be hard to retract but they would still consult." Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi: I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/eRIiSVkox7 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 11.30am: Imran Khan has shown statesmanship, says Mehbooba Mufti: Pak PM Imran Khan has exhibited real statesmanship, says former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti. "It is time for our political leadership to step up and take measures to de escalate the current situation. People of J&K are living under unimaginable duress. How much longer will we suffer for?" My statement on the recent developments. https://t.co/PLajxxeyIz - Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 28, 2019 11.20am: People throng to Wagah border: People have started gathering at the Attari-Wagah border to celebrate the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan. Punjab: People gather at Attari-Wagah border; Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will be released by Pakistan today. pic.twitter.com/svQUHh4dzg - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 11.05am: China cancels all flights to and from Pakistan: China has cancelled allflights to and from Pakistan and rerouted its international aircraft flyingover the Pakistani airspace due to the regional tensions, official media said.The closure of Pakistan's airspace in response to escalating tensions withIndia disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia and leftthousands of air travellers stranded worldwide. Flights from the Middle Eastthat usually overfly Pakistan and the Pakistan-India border will have tore-route over India, Myanmar or central Asia to enter China, civil aviationexperts told Global Times (PTI). 10.50am: Petition filed in Pakistan court against the release of Abhinandan: As India awaits the arrival of its brave Wing Commander Abhinandan to India from Pakistan, an activist has filed a writ petition in a Pakistan court to challenge his release, reported Times Now. Creating a situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory, says Amit Shah at the India Today Conclave 2019. 10.43am: Amit Shah at India Today Conclave 2019: Maximum number of terrorists has been eliminated under BJP govt led by Modi. Track record of our government has been best in dealing with terror since Independence. Opposition resolution post air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan. 10.35am: 'Pak PM should have criticised Pulwama': Imran Khan should have criticised Pulwama attacks at least once; how can we trust him, says Amit Shah. The BJP chief says "the mistake Jawahar Lal Nehru made in Kashmir can't be easily solved". 10.31am: Ami Shah at India Today Conclave 2019: Hitting out at the Congress party, BJP chief Amit Shah, during India Today Conclave, says the Opposition was wrong in equating India with Pakistan. India is yet to give response on the Pulwama attack, says Shah. 10.25am: India to share F-16 evidence with the US: India will be sharing this evidence with the US to emphasise that the neighbouring country is misusing assets it may have acquired under the 'fight against terrorism' banner in 2008, say reports. The fighter jets, as per the sale agreement, can only be used for counter-terrorism operations, not to attack any country. 10.16am: Abhinandan to cross Wagah border around 3pm: The time for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's arrival at Wagah border has been changed from 10am to between 3 to 4pm (Pakistan time). 10.00am: How Abhinandan will be brought back?: As per the standard of procedure, Abhinandan will be brought to the Wagah border by the Army. He will be handed over to civilian authorities and representative of Indian High Commission at the Wagah border. Then the civilian authorities will be handing him over to the Indian Border Security forces. 9.49am: Man with working Pak SIM arrested: The Border Security Force in Ferozepur, Punjab, has arrested a UP resident near the border outpost, Maboke, and seized a mobile phone with working Pakistani SIM card from his possession, reports ANI. Punjab: BSF in Ferozepur has arrested an Indian national near border out post, Maboke&seized a mobile phone with Pakistani SIM card, in use, from his possession. The number is added to 8 Pak groups. 6 other Pak phone numbers also retrieved from him. The man is from Moradabad (UP) - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 9.40am: Abhinandan to cross Wagah around 2pm: According to the reports, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman may cross the Wagah border after 2pm, reports India Today. The Indian Air Force Wing Commander will be brought through back the Wagah-Attari joint check-post in Punjab's Amritsar. 9.33am: Govt asks YouTube to remove 11 videos linked to Abhinandan: The IT Ministry asks YouTube to remove 11 video links pertaining to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, reports PTI. The ministry asked YouTube to remove the clips following directive from the Home Ministry. A Google (which runs YouTube) spokesperson told the news agency the company complies with "valid legal requests from authorities wherever possible, consistent with our longstanding policy and act quickly to remove such material". 9.22am: Capt Amarinder Singh may receive Abhinandan: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has sought permission from the Centre government to receive the Wing Commander at the Wagah Border. "It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. (sic)," he tweeted. Dear @narendramodi ji , I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. - Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) February 28, 2019 9.15am: Abhinandan to reach Wagah border around 12pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman may likely reach Wagah border around 12 noon today, reports News18. The entire country has been waiting with bated breath for the release of the braveheart Wing Commander. Visuals from the Attari-Wagah border. Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will be released by Pakistan today. pic.twitter.com/6x30IQpqbB - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 9.00am: Pak F-16 jets were closed to Northern Army HQ, Vaishno Devi: Pakistan used its Air Force to target military installations on the Indian side on Wednesday and its F-16 fighter jets were close to Northern Army HQ and Vaishno Devi shrine when IAF chased them away, reported India Today, adding that these jets targetted places in Resai district, which is quite far away from the Line of Control. 8.50am: 'Imran responded to popular sentiment': Pakistani actor Jamal Shah has said that the Imran Khan government's decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan was a response to public sentiment. "I would have done the same. A majority in Pakistan wanted to do that [send him home]. Imran just responded to popular sentiment," Shah told IndiaToday.In. 8.45am: Major ceasefire violation in 4 areas: Pakistan has violated ceasefire at several areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including Gawahalan, Chokas, Kiker and Kathi posts in Uri sector last night. One civilian was injured and is currently in a hospital for treatment, reported ANI. Read more. Jammu & Kashmir: Pakistan violated ceasefire at Gawahalan, Chokas, Kiker and Kathi posts in Uri sector last night. One civilian was injured and is currently in a hospital for treatment. - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 8.30am: Senators urge Trump to address India-Pak conflict peacefully: Two influential American Senators has urged the US President Donald Trump to pursue a peaceful resolution to the India-Pak conflict including working with regional actors to apply pressure on New Delhi and Islamabad to address the underlying causes of the dispute. In a letter, Senators Jerry Moran from Kansas and Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire said that there is an urgency surrounding the dangerous situation between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region, reported PTI. 8.20am: Gesture as part of Geneva Conventions, says IAF: "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, said on Thursday. Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor debunks Pak claim that F-16s was not used in the strike; IAF shows parts of AMRAAM, air to air missile which is carried only on the Pakistani F-16s as evidence. pic.twitter.com/LCW5w3p03r - PIB India (@PIB_India) February 28, 2019 8.00am: IAF to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan: A delegation of IAF team will today receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat, at the Wagah border, official sources said, reported PTI. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. 7.45am: Sushma to attend OIC conclave: Sushma Swaraj reaches Abu Dhabi to address OIC conclave. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting as guest of honour. Pakistan had earlier tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the OIC meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Recognising India's engagement with the Islamic world EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in #AbuDhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of @OIC_OCI. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'. pic.twitter.com/wzQbVOGczN - Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 28, 2019 7.30am: Firing stops in Kupwara: The firing has now stopped. A search operation is underway. More details awaited. #UPDATE: The firing has now stopped. A search operation is underway. More details awaited. https://t.co/bV6Rg3jzj3 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 7.15am: Ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops: One civilian was injured on Friday morning in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, reported PTI. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing towards Indian posts and villages in Kamalkote area of Uri in Baramulla district on Thursday evening, the officials said. They said the intermittent firing continued throughout the night. 7.00am: Encounter breaks out in Kupwara district: An encounter broke out on Friday between militants and security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, reported PTI. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Babagund area of Kupwara following information about presence of militants there, the officials said. They said the search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened firing towards the security forces, who retaliated. There are no reports of any casualties so far. Edited by Manoj Sharma March 2020 has arrived and income tax filing for YA 2019 is now officially open. However, filing your taxes when youre not sure what all the various terms mean can be quite confusing, especially if youre doing it for the first time. Whats the difference between chargeable income and taxable income? What is gross income? What are perquisites and benefits-in-kind? And for goodness sake, what is the difference between a tax exemption, tax relief, and tax rebate? If you have any of these questions running through your head, go through our Malaysia Income Tax Glossary before you do any filing! Aggregate income The sum of all your taxable income that will be automatically totalled for you on your online tax return form. It includes income from employment, rent, royalties, and so on, but does not include non-taxable income. Benefits-in-kind Benefits received by employees which are not included in their salary. There are a few tax exemptions for benefits-in-kind, but benefits like cars, furniture, and personal drivers are subjected to income tax. Each benefit-in-kind must be prescribed a monetary value in order to be taxed, and this can be done through the formula method or the prescribed method. Chargeable Income Chargeable income = Gross income tax exemptions tax deductions tax relief. The tax rate you will be charged with increases as your chargeable income does, which is why you should take full advantage of the various tax reliefs and so on to bring down your chargeable income amount. EA Form Officially called the Yearly Remuneration Statement, the EA form is a statement of your annual income, monthly tax deductions, EPF contributions, etc. It is issued by your employer at the beginning of each year; your employer has a legal obligation to provide you with it by the last day of February. EC Form Just like the EA Form for private employees, the EC Form is the Yearly Remuneration Statement for government employees. e-Daftar The section of the ezHasil website where you can register yourself as a new taxpayer for the first time. Its also where you can obtain or check for your income tax number online. ezHASIL LHDNs main website for all things income-tax related. Its divided into sections where you can register as a taxpayer (e-Daftar), file your taxes (e-Filing), pay your taxes (ByrHASiL), and so on. Gross Income The amount of income you earn before any deductions are made, eg EPF, SOCSO, etc. This includes your basic salary, commission, bonuses, etc. So, if your basic monthly salary is RM4,000 with RM100 travel allowance, your gross annual income is RM49,200. Income Tax Number The unique reference number assigned to you by LHDN. To obtain your income tax number, you should register online through e-Daftar or in person. If youve ever been employed, you may already have a tax number you can check online or by calling LHDN. Inland Revenue Board Malaysia (IRBM) The government agency in charge of administering, assessing, collecting, and enforcing payment of direct taxes in Malaysia. It is under the Ministry of Finance and also known as Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN). Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) Also known as Inland Revenue Board Malaysia (IRBM), this is the government agency responsible for administering, assessing, collecting, and enforcing payment of direct taxes in Malaysia. Monthly Tax Deductions (MTD) The compulsory mechanism where employers deduct monthly tax payments from a taxable employees salary. Your MTD does not necessarily represent your final tax sum; it doesnt take into account the tax reliefs you are eligible for. Also known as Potongan Cukai Bulan (PCB). Perquisites A perk or benefit given to you by your employer. You need to be aware of the perquisites you are receiving because they can either be taxable or tax exempt, thus affecting your total chargeable income. Some examples are travel allowances (exempt up to RM6,000), childcare (exempt up to RM2,400), and parking allowances (fully exempted). PIN Number Required for first-time logins into e-Filing on ezHASIL. You have to go to your nearest LHDN branch to obtain it. Tax Bracket The range of incomes being taxed at a given rate. In a progressive tax system, youre taxed a higher rate depending on what tax bracket you fall under. So, if your annual income is RM43,000, you will fall under the RM35,00050,000 tax bracket. Tax Deductions Granted for the contribution of Gifts and Donations to the government or a government-approved charitable organisation. You can deduct up to 7% of your aggregate income. Tax Exemptions Income that you dont need to pay taxes for. This type of income is excluded from counting as your taxable income. For example, the interest you earn off a fixed deposit or certain dividend payments are fully exempted from income tax. Things like parking and childcare allowances (which fall under Perquisites above) can also be exempted from tax. Tax Rate The percentage at which you will be taxed. Tax rates are applied to your chargeable income amount and vary according to your income bracket. Tax Rebate A reduction in your chargeable tax amount. Unlike tax reliefs and tax deductions, tax rebates come into play after youve determined your chargeable income. An example is a tax rebate for zakat/fitrah, which is subject only to the maximum of tax charged. Tax Refund/Return If youre subject to monthly tax deductions, you may find once youve filed your taxes that youve paid more than you actually owe. Usually, this is because MTDs dont take into account tax reliefs and so on. In this case, youre entitled to a tax refund from the government, which you can get by providing your bank details. Tax Relief Claiming for tax relief when you file taxes allows you to reduce your chargeable income up to a certain amount. You can get tax relief for lifestyle purchases such as books and smartphones (up to RM2,500), for having children below the age of 18 (RM2,000 per child), and many more. Remember, you claim for tax relief a year later after the YA in question and make sure to keep all your receipts for the next 7 years as proof! Taxable Income Gross income tax exemptions. Take the total amount of income you are earning and minus off the types of income that isnt taxable. Lets say Ahmad has a gross annual income of RM50,000 which consists of RM48,000 in salary and RM2,000 in parking allowance. Because parking allowance is tax exempted, his taxable income is only RM48,000. Year of Assessment (YA) The year in which the income tax is calculated and charged, starting from 1 January and ending 31 December. When you file your taxes in 2019, you are basing it on your income earned during YA 2018. *** Now that you know what each of these income tax terms mean, we hope that youre a bit more prepared to face filing your taxes in 2019. But if youre still not too confident about the processes, check out our guides below: Find more income tax related content in our Income Tax page. 4.5 2 votes Article Rating SHARE The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased the risk-weightage norms for the banks for the rated loan exposure they have in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). The move will not only free up more capital for the banks for lending, but also make it easier and cheaper for select NBFCs to receive funds from the banks. Non-transparency is a big challenge among mushrooming NBFCs. By these guidelines, RBI has put in a systemic incentive for NBFCs to be transparent and vie for good rating from the credit rating agencies. Following are the key implications of RBI's final guidelines: 1) More capital for lending: Following the new norms, banks can now assign risk weights to their rated NBFC exposures depending on ratings given to them by accredited credit rating agencies. Exposure to asset finance companies (AFCs), infrastructure finance companies (IFCs) and infrastructure debt funds (IDFs) is already risk-weighted based on their ratings. At present, bank's NBFC exposure--rated and un-rated--attracts 100 per cent risk weight. The reduction in risk weightage will free up capital for the banks that they can use for incremental lending or improving their capital ratios. Assuming the risk weightage halves for borrowing from the banking system, then the Tier I capital relief could be to the tune of Rs 5000 crore for the banking system, says brokerage Motilal Oswal Securities in a note. 2) Lower borrowing cost for quality NBFCs: Reduction in risk weightage could lead banks to lower the borrowing cost for well-rated NBFCs. It will a big relief for NBFCs marred by higher borrowing cost post Rs 90,000-crore default by IL&FS in August last year. Satyam Kumar, co-founder & CEO, LoanTap, an NBFC start-up, sees borrowing cost to drop by anywhere between 75 bps to 200 bps for AA to AAA rated NBFCs. "The risk-weightage requirement for AAA-rated NBFCs will reduce to 20 per cent from 100 per cent earlier, for AA-rated NBFCs to 30 per cent, and for A-rated NBFCs to 50 per cent. It will continue to be 100 per cent for BBB-rated NBFCs," he says. 3) Systemic incentive to do better Since borrowing cost will depend on the credit rating assigned to them, banks will push all NBFCs to get rated. This will encourage flow of information in the system, making it lucrative for NBFCs to lower their NPA level, and improve capital adequacy ratios. "Earlier, you reduced your cost of borrowing by looking forward to shorter term credit from commercial papers and one-year bonds from the markets. That incentive will not be very strong as short-term capital even from bank will come at lower rate if your rating is good," says Kumar. 4) Separating men from boys The new norms will help segregate the good NBFCs from the poor ones as any unrated exposure of banks towards NBFCs, which owes banks Rs 200 crore or more will now attract 150 per cent risk weightage versus 100 per cent earlier, thus making it expensive for them to borrow from the banks, at the same time banks being reluctant to lend them. Also read: RBI extends enhanced single borrower limit facility for NBFCs till March 31 Also read: NBFC outlook 2019: The tough and safe will get going Afghan Taliban-US special envoy satisfied with peace talks in Qatar ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban and US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad are apparently satisfied with the outcome of the peace talks in Qatar as both sides are likely to reach an understanding on the withdrawal of the foreign forces and preventing the Afghan soil from being used against other countries. Taliban spokesman for political office Suhail Shaheen told Daily Times that technical groups on foreign troops and terrorism have wrapped up the two-day talks and a statement may be issued at the conclusion of the current round of negotiations. The talks will resume on Saturday after two-day break during which both sides will hold internal discussions. Khalilzad, who led the US team, described meetings as productive on Thursday. We continue to take slow, steady steps toward understanding and eventually peace, he posted on his Twitter handle. Senior Taliban negotiator Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa also said the talks were positive where both sides explained their views. Now both sides will consult their leaders and resume negotiations on Saturday, Khairkhwa, the Taliban former interior minister, told Afghan website nunn.asia. Khairkhwa was among the five senior Taliban leaders who were freed from the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay in 2014 in exchange for a US soldier. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also released some details of the meeting. Extensive discussions were held about the procedure of withdrawal of foreign troops from Tuesday till Wednesday noon, and from that time onwards, discussion revolved around preventing Afghanistan from being used against other countries, he said, and added that the meetings ended late Wednesday as both teams agreed to take a break for two days for consultations and preparation for the third meeting which shall be held on Saturday. Meanwhile, Taliban senior leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar held meetings with top US commander in Afghanistan Scott Miller, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Abdul Rahman al-Thani and National Security Advisor Muhammad al-Masnad in Qatar. The meetings focused on discussions about the ongoing negotiations process and withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, Mujahid said in a statement. Baradar clarified the Taliban policy regarding foreign forces withdrawal and changing situation of Afghanistan while emphasizing commitment to the current peace process along with peace and establishment of an Islamic system in Afghanistan, he added. Taliban insist they are discussing two issues with Khalilzad-led team but the US envoy said on Twitter that all four key issues remained on the table. He did not explain the other two issues but the US side had earlier called for ceasefire and urged the Taliban to talk to the Afghan government. Taliban have refused so far to sit with the Kabul administration on the plea that they want to strike deal with the US on the withdrawal of troops. The path to peace doesnt often run in a straight line. The situation in Afghanistan is complex and like all sensitive talks, not everything is conducted in public, Khalilzad wrote on Twitter. Emerging from three solid days of talks with the Taliban in Doha. Meetings were productive. "Clemency as the Soul of the Constitution" | Main | "The Lingering Stench of Marijuana Prohibition: People with pot records continue to suffer, even in places where their crimes are no longer crimes." This local article, headlined "Texas death row inmate's son arrested for outburst during father's execution," reports on an execution and its remarkable aftermath. Here are details: Billie Wayne Coble's son pounded on the execution chamber windows, cursing and shouting "no" as he watched his father die. It was just after 6:20 p.m., and the 70-year-old triple killer was about to become the oldest Texan executed in the modern era of capital punishment. The aging Vietnam veteran who murdered his in-laws in an apparent rash of vengeance offered a only a short final statement before he was pronounced dead, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "That will be five dollars," he said. "I love you, I love you, and I love you."... But as soon as he finished speaking, the witness room erupted into chaos. Gordon Coble started banging on the glass, and his son Dalton joined in the furor. Both men along with another relative were removed from the room before the execution ended, and the two ended the night in the Walker County Jail, facing resisting arrest charges.... It was a dramatic and unexpected end to a decades-long saga. Back in the summer of 1989, Coble was distraught over the disintegration of his third marriage when he kidnapped his estranged wife and killed her parents and brother before attempting to kill himself. But the Waco man, now 70, had no priors and, as he racked up years of good behavior in prison, his attorneys argued that a pair of experts for the state got it wrong at trial when they offered testimony claiming he'd be a future danger even behind bars.... This year, Coble's lawyer filed a plea for clemency. "He is now 70 years old, in poor health, and has an almost blemish-free prison record for the past 30 years," attorney Richard Ellis wrote. "His execution would serve no valid purpose." The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles turned his request down on Tuesday, leaving him with a final appeal in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. In that claim, Coble's attorney argued that the Waco man's trial attorneys shouldn't have admitted his guilt because Coble asked them not to. Last year, the same concern came up in a Louisiana case and the high court sided with the condemned prisoner. In Coble's case they did not.... Coble was the second man executed in Texas in 2019. There are five more executions on the calendar, including a June death date for Harris County killer Dexter Johnson. 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. The year 2019 is finally here, and for many, it represents alot of opportunities especially for anyone looking to invest. There are manyinvestment opportunities in Singapore, but heavy competition makes it ratherdifficult to get consistent returns. Investors, therefore, have to considerwhere they are most likely to earn decent returns and Endowment plans have beengaining more traction due to their low risk. Understanding what itis An endowment plan is a long-term insurance policy used as asavings plan that helps the investor acquire wealth over a specified durationof time such as ten years or more. Endowment plans are becoming more popular inSingapore because they are characterized by higher returns compared thelong-term savings interest offered by banks. One of the reasons or the growing interest is that endowmentplans offer some guaranteed returns unlike traditional investments such asdeposits or stocks. They also require premium payments to be made throughoutthe investment lifespan. The premiums are usually fixed although investors havethe option of lowering or increasing their premiums. Premium payments can be made either monthly, quarterly orafter every six months and even on an annual basis. Endowment plans to behavelike insurance policies due to the premium payments, and they also behave likemandatory savings. They are described as investment vehicles. Endowment plans thatwill likely be huge in 2019 Before getting to the ones that are probably going to be thebest in 2019, it is important to understand the five different types ofendowment plans in Singapore. Single premium- They are characterized by justone lump sum amount that is paid upfront. Education plans- these are endowment plans thatallow investors to save up money for their childrens education. Regular premium- they offer a savings plan wherethe investor contributes a regular premium depending on the stipulated durationwhether monthly, quarterly or annually. Cashback- Just as the name suggests, these areplans where the investor may receive some cash back after some time but may optto reinvest it. Retirement- This is an endowment plan that youcan take up to prepare for retirement. You may opt to receive regular payoutsor let the interest accumulate so that you can receive a lump sum once youretire. You may also opt to receive regular payouts after retirement. Below are some of the most promising endowment plans forthis year. Story continues Aviva MySavingsPlan This is a regular pay savings endowment plan that is 100%guaranteed. It will likely be a hit in 2019 because it offers flexibility evenfor investors on a tight budget. As far as flexibility is concerned, thisparticular endowment plan allows users to choose from a five-year to a 25-yearinvestment period. It also allows investors to pay premiums daily at amounts aslow as $1.56. Aviva MySavingsPlan is also easy to enter because it doesnot ask any health questions while at the same time insuring the client againstaccidental death and terminal illness. Those subscribed to this endowment planare guaranteed 100% of their capital upon maturity. The only drawback is thatit does not allow a cash withdrawal option before maturity. Manulife ReadyPayoutPlus This is a cashback endowment savings plan that offers aflexible policy term ranging from 13, 15 and 20 years. It also has a premiumpolicy term that runs for 10, 15a and 20 years. The Manulife ReadyPayout Plusis available to anyone since no health questions are asked and it also offersprotection against terminal illness and death. This particular savings plan allows investors to withdrawinterest from the end of their first policy year and onwards. The downside isthat Manulife ReadyPayout Plus does not offer 100% capital guarantee. Great Eastern FlexiEndowment This refers to an insurance policy that offers a flexiblepolicy term whose duration ranges from 10 to 40 years. The Great Eastern FlexiEndowment allows the insured to decide whether to fund their savings plan for afive-year duration, ten years or to go full term. This policy plan also insuresagainst permanent disability, terminal illnesses, and death. The policy plan is quite flexible, and it offers a 5% discountto those that pay the 5-year premium in a one-time lump sum. The downsidesinclude the lack of a cash withdrawal option before the expiry of the policyterm and the lack of a 100% capital guarantee. Aviva MyEduPlan This is an education insurance plan that helps policyholdersto secure their childrens education. This is one of the numerouseducation-focused endowment plans that have been predicted to be the bestendowment plans in 2019. The cost of education in Singapore has been rising,forcing the countrys residents to start considering investing so that they canfund their childrens education. Aviva MyEduPlan offers 100% capital guarantee andfacilitates multiple payouts before the savings plan reaches full term. Itspremium payment term is also limited to 10 years. The premium holder also getsto choose whether to pay the premiums on a monthly, quarterly, twice a year oreven once a year. Aviva MyEduPlan can be acquired through an easy andstress-free process. It also accommodates additional riders that facilitatecontinued education in case something unfortunate happens to the policyholder.The disadvantage is that the Aviva MyEduPlan does not offer any guarantee onthe bonus. The OCBC MaxEdu GoalEducation Endowment Plan This is yet another endowment plan that offers an affordableavenue that policyholders can use to save for their childrens education. The OCBCMaxEdu endowment plan offers a 100% capital guarantee and even offers a bonuswhich can boost the policy holders balance significantly. It also offersmultiple payouts through Fixed Cash Benefits paid out after the policy reachesmaturity. The policyholders receive the payouts when their childrenreach 18 or 20 years old. The payouts are supposed to help the policyholder topay for their childs 3 or 4-year university course. The policy is easy tosubscribe to, and it provides additional protection against terminal illnesses,permanent disability, and death. The downside is that it does not offer aguarantee on bonus. The above are just some of the endowment plans that willlikely be the best in 2019 although there are many other endowment plansavailable. (By Neha Gupta) Related Articles - 5 Unconventional Uses Of An Endowment Plan - Do Endowment Plans Still Suit Your Saving Needs? Heres What We Think. FILE PHOTO: The Shell logo is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against Royal Dutch Shell over its $1.3 billion (980 million pounds) acquisition of Nigerian offshore oilfield OPL 245 in 2011. Shell said in a statement on its website that it had been informed by the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office (DPP) that it had nearly concluded its investigation and is preparing to prosecute Shell for criminal charges directly or indirectly related to the 2011 settlement of disputes over OPL 245. The Dutch decision piles pressure on Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, which is already facing charges of bribery in a trial in Milan over the same deal alongside Italy's Eni.shel Prosecutors in Italy allege that the two oil companies knew that around $1.1 billion used for the acquisition of OPL 245 would be used to pay politicians, businessmen and middlemen. Both oil firms have denied any wrongdoing. A spokeswoman for the Dutch prosecutors said: "Based on the preliminary criminal investigation, public prosecutors concluded that there are prosecutable offences". Under the deal, Eni and Shell jointly acquired the OPL 245 field from a company owned by former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete, who was convicted of money laundering in an unrelated case in France in 2007. Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi and four ex-Shell managers, including its former head of upstream, Malcolm Brinded, are also facing charges of international corruption in the Milan trial. All have denied any wrongdoing. Shell shares were up 0.37 percent at 0923 GMT. (Additional reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam; Editing by Bernard Orr and Alexander Smith) (Feb 21): LGT, the international private banking and asset management group owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, has opened its wealth management business in Thailand. Located in downtown Bangkok, the international private banking and asset management group will offer a unique set of investment and wealth management services to high net worth individuals and corporates in the country. HSH Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, CEO of LGT, says, We are delighted to start operations in Thailand and look forward to offering full-fledged wealth management services to high net worth individuals, their families and corporates here in Bangkok. We see Thailand as an important growth market, and the establishment of an onshore presence reflects our ambition to continue our growth path in Asia. Headquartered in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, LGT manages assets of up to US$207.5 billion ($280.6 billion) on behalf of wealthy private individuals and institutional clients, as of mid 2018. It is also the 12th largest private bank in Asia with over US$60 billion assets under management. LGTs subsidiary in Thailand will be known as LGT Securities (Thailand). A team of investment consultants and investment planners will provide investment and wealth management services to Thai clients from the Bangkok office and complement LGTs existing private banking efforts in Hong Kong and Singapore. Henri Leimer, CEO LGT Private Banking Asia, says, Thailand is a rapidly growing market with extremely interesting opportunities. With our local presence in Bangkok, we can now advise and support our Thai customers even better on-the-ground. LGT's Thai market expansion is overseen by industry veteran Karn Karuhadej, who has close to 20 years experience in private banking. The local office in Thailand will be led by CEO, Ekkapob Makeguljai, a homegrown career banker who has over 16 years experience in financial services and wealth management. The team will consist of experienced local and international wealth managers. FILE PHOTO: An oil pump is seen at sunset outside Scheibenhard, near Strasbourg, France, October 6, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled down about 2 percent on Friday, ending around 3 percent lower on the week as concerns over global demand growth after weak U.S. manufacturing data overshadowed OPEC-led supply cuts and sanctions on Venezuela and Iran. After strengthening early in the session to over a three-month high, U.S. crude futures turned sharply lower on demand worries. The ISM manufacturing activity index in February sank to the lowest since November 2016, and was below expectations. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures fell $1.42, or 2.5 percent, to settle at $55.80 per barrel, after hitting $57.88, its highest since mid-November. Global benchmark Brent crude futures for May settled $1.24, or 1.9 percent, lower at $65.07 a barrel. Despite hitting their highest levels since mid-November this week, Brent futures ended the week 3.3 percent lower and WTI dropped 2.7 percent. "We have been the island of prosperity, globally, so if the economic slowdown is coming our way that is bad news for oil prices," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. "We were up all morning until that data hit," he said. The data sent a strong message to a market that has been looking for direction, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "I think the market is nervous, and when they got the data, they reacted," he said. The data compounded worries that demand is falling globally. A Reuters poll showed analysts have grown more pessimistic over the prospects for a significant price rally this year, global fuel consumption is expected to dip this year in the face of a broad economic slowdown. China's February factory activity fell for a third month as the world's second-largest economy continued to struggle with weak export orders, a private survey showed on Friday. The weakness is also being felt across the wider region. South Korea's exports contracted at their steepest pace in nearly three years in February as demand from China cooled further. Story continues Despite this, fuel consumption, especially in Asia's developing economies which are key drivers of global oil demand, is so far holding up. India's diesel consumption, for example, is expected to rise to a record this year amid economic growth of around 7 percent. Potential demand declines could offset producers' efforts to curb a global supply glut. The 14-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 30.68 million barrels per day (bpd) in February, a Reuters survey showed, down 300,000 bpd from January and the lowest OPEC total since 2015. In Venezuela, oil exports have plunged 40 percent to around 920,000 bpd since the U.S. government slapped sanctions on its petroleum industry on Jan. 28. OPEC, of which Venezuela is a founding member, is leading efforts to withhold around 1.2 million bpd of supply from the market to prop up prices. Venezuela is exempt from the cuts. The fall in OPEC production comes at a time when the United States is pumping oil at record rates, with the latest data showing production hit an all-time high for the second week in a row. However, U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil rigs operating to the lowest in almost nine months as some producers follow through on plans to cut spending despite an over 20-percent increase crude futures so far this year. Drillers cut 10 oil rigs in the week to March 1, bringing the total count down to 843, the lowest since May 2018, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. Canada's main oil-producing province of Alberta on Thursday raised the amount of crude that companies can produce in April to 3.66 million bpd, an increase of 100,000 bpd from the limit imposed in January. (Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein, Koustav Samanta and Roslan Khasawneh in SINGAPORE and Ahmad Gaddar in London; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Jan Harvey) Do not misconstrue Pakistans desire for de-escalation as weakness: Imran Khan ISLAMABAD: Do not misconstrue Pakistans desire for de-escalation as weakness, the prime minister asserted while addressing a joint parliamentary session here at the Parliament House. I address the Indian government: do not force us for retaliation. We are prepared for any eventuality and response. I beseech India not to force us down the path of war, he said. Presenting a tribute to the opposition and the entire nation for standing united during the difficult time, he again urged India not to go beyond this point of aggression as all issues should be resolved through dialogue. Countries are ruined because of miscalculations. War is not a solution. If India takes any action, we will have to retaliate, he vehemently said. The only purpose of our strike was to demonstrate our capability and will. We did not want to inflict any casualty on India as we wanted to act in a responsible manner. I had already said that if India did something, then we would definitely respond, he said. Referring to February 14 Pulwama attack, the prime minister regretted that Pakistan was blamed within 30 minutes of the incident. I am not saying India is involved in Pulwama attack, but tell us how it can benefit Pakistan? he questioned, while recalling series of important events scheduled in Pakistan during the same period of time. We did ask India to give evidences and assured them of taking action, but rather than providing proofs, India started warmongering, he lamented. Despite our offers for dialogue on a number of occasions, India never responded positively, he continued, while recounting his July 26 address and a letter to the United Nations inviting the Indian prime minister for peace talks. The invitation of dialogue was given in the view of rising poverty in the South Asian region, Imran said. He maintained that the current Pak-India tension is because of Kashmir issue. At one point, Kashmiri leaders did not want separation. But owing to Indian brutalities, today all they demand is independence, he said. For how long will Pakistan be blamed for everything in Kashmir? he asked. I want to tell this House: Pakistan desires peace. Pakistan intends to work for poverty alleviation, investment, and job creation. Indians are terming recent attacks in Kashmir as Islamic radicalism. If you remember, most suicide attacks were carried out by Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, he said. The prime minister also appreciated Pakistani media and noted that Indian media was busy creating war hysteria in their country. However, our media showed solidarity and acted responsibly, he said. Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said India will have to give Kashmiris their right to self-determination. Wars are no solution to any issue as after all you have to sit on the table in the end, he said. It is not the first time that Pakistan-India escalation has taken place we have fought several wars in the past and wasted our resources, he said, and stressed that the Kashmir conflict should be resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Lauding the Pakistan Air Force for its robust response to the Indian aggression and its violation of the Line of Control (LoC), Shehbaz said the valour exhibited by the Pakistans armed forces has established that they are capable of protecting every nook and corner of the country. He said it is an open secret that Narendra Modi was a terrorist who had been involved in the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat. Several countries had even banned Modis entry in the past, he recalled. Former prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism. War is itself a problem it is not a solution to the problems, he said, and added that more than 80,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives due to terrorism. Ghaus Baksh Mehr of the Grand Democratic Alliance said all the political parties are united at this critical juncture and stand by the armed forces of Pakistan. He said India should act responsibly as war between two nuclear countries will have disastrous consequences for the region. Leader of the Opposition in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq said Pakistan should forcefully raise the longstanding Kashmir dispute at all the international forums besides unmasking the maltreatment being meted out to the minorities including Muslims in India. Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid said India has hegemonic designs in the region and is resorting to provocations to establish its hegemony. He commended the Pakistan Air Force for shooting down two Indian aircraft, saying the PAF is far superior to the Indian Air Force as it has indigenously developed JF-17 fighter jets. At least 5,000 cases of a potentially deadly tropical disease have been registered in Libya in the past six months, the country's health ministry said Wednesday. Leishmaniasis, which is caused by a microscopic parasite spread by sandflies, creates ulcers and disfiguring scars, and one variety can attack internal organs. It is often associated with poverty and poor urban sanitation. "There are currently 5,000 patients who are being treated," said Ahmad al-Qarari, who heads the centre for disease control at the health ministry of Libya's UN-backed unity government. But he told AFP that these were only cases which have been registered by the authorities, noting that the extent of the problem remains unknown because some patients do not seek treatment. Qarari said the World Health Organization was providing Libya with treatment from India and that a new batch of medication was due next week. Most of the cases were registered along North African country's Mediterranean coast west of the capital, Tripoli. Mansour Souleiman said he contracted the disease while harvesting olives in December. "I noticed small lesions (on my skin) and at first I thought they were caused by insect bites," he said at a clinic in Tripoli where authorities provide treatment. Within a month they became ulcers, he said. According to WHO estimates published in 2018, there are about 700,000 to one million cases of leishmaniasis globally every year, with 20,000-30,000 people dying of the disease. Qarari said it first appeared in Libya a century ago and more recently in 2006. "The government must organise awareness campaigns continuously because this disease has become endemic," Qarari said. Libya has been rocked by deadly conflict and its economy thrown into turmoil since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising which toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo addresses Parliament. PHOTO: Screengrab from Gov.sg YouTube channel The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is aiming to set up a new science and technology agency by the end of 2019, said Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo on Friday (1 March). Speaking during the Committee of Supply (COS) debate in Parliament, Teo said her ministry intends to table a bill in Parliament to establish the agency as a statutory board under MHA. The new agency will build on recent efforts to transform the Home Team through the increased use of technology to support operations. It will deepen the Home Teams scientific and engineering expertise; work on developing new technologies such as threat detection and digital forensics; and integrate science and technology requirements across the Home Team, said Teo. The agency will conduct applied research, and develop new systems to be deployed in the Home Teams various operations. (It) will help to direct our investments in capability development, which will more than double from $979 million in FY2019, to $1.9 billion in FY2025, said Teo. The Minister was responding to questions from Members of Parliament about MHAs plans for and the role of the new agency. Why the need for a new agency? Teo, who is also Minister in the Prime Ministers Office, elaborated on the reasons for setting the new agency. Capabilities such as forensics, biometrics and surveillance, will become increasingly critical to safeguarding Singapore. We must stay ahead in these areas, said Teo. Many of these capabilities are unique to the Home Team, reflecting its distinct operational context and mission requirements. The Home Team needs organic scientists and engineers, said Teo. A dedicated agency will boost the joint Home Team approach, with capabilities developed and shared across departments. She added, Lastly, centralising science and technology talent that is today distributed across the different Home Team departments, will better support career development for the officers, which in turn deepens organisational capabilities. Story continues MHA is already partnering other government agencies, such as GovTech, the Defence Science and Technology Agency, DSO National Laboratories, as well as companies like ST Engineering and Singtel, to develop the capabilities. But as we look to further leverage technology, we will need to set up a dedicated agency to further develop the Home Teams science and technology capabilities, said Teo. The 50-year-old also spoke about the challenges that the Home Team faces including the persistent terrorist threat, criminals using more sophisticated tactics and the increasing workload of the Home Team, as well as increased public expectations. Teo said the deployment of technology will enhance the Home Teams capacity to meet these challenges amid manpower constraints. More Parliament stories Budget 2019 debate: Next-generation SAF upgrades in land, air, sea forces to guard Singapores future Budget 2019 debate: NSmen no longer need to notify authorities of overseas trips under 6 months Budget 2019 debate: SAFTI City, new NS Hub by 2023, says Ng Eng Hen Budget 2019 debate: Electoral Boundaries Review Committee operates independently, says Chan Chun Sing The funding will be focussed towards tech investments in the country Worldbridge Group, one of Cambodias largest logistics companies, has backed Ooctane, a local venture capital (VC) firm, by investing a total of US$55 million, as told by Deal Street Asia. Also Read: This startup connects people with hawker comfort food Ooctane was freshly launched in June last year and the Worldbridge Groups founding chairman Okhna Rithy Sear contributed US$5 million as the part of the funding round. This first investment then opened the door to additional funding that closed the fund at a total of US$55 million. Ooctane will make a game-changing contribution as it seeks to propel Cambodia into its digital future, an Ooctane representative told DealStreetAsia. Ooctane noted that being in a nascent stage like its fellow Southeast Asian countries, Cambodias private sector now experiences a spike in interest of launching corporate venture capital arms as well as starting incubator programs. Also Read: BlinQ raises $2M for upcoming AR-driven e-commerce play It is reported that other investors are looking at investment opportunities in Cambodia include Mekong-focused Belt Road Capital Management and Emerging Markets Investment Advisers. Image Credit: Ooctane The post Cambodia-grown VC firm Ooctane secures US$55M from countrys logistic giants appeared first on e27. Geneva Motor Show. Photo: PA Motoring These are troubling times for the global car industry, with the expensive shift to electric cars menacing the internal combustion engine, and US tariffs and Brexit threatening to take a sledge hammer to carmakers profits. None of that will seem apparent next week however, when carmakers line up to dazzle in Geneva. It is famous as the show where carmakers bring their best game, showing off futuristic concept cars, new models, and their most impressive tech. Industry insiders love Geneva, its the perfect showcase for them to display their wares to high-end customers and eye up the extremes of what the competition is doing. Some 180 exhibitors will set up their stands in Genevas Palexpo convention center. One of the largest on the global circuit, the International Motor Show runs from 7 to 17 March. Car shows are becoming less essential to brands. For one, theyre a huge investment Volkswagen chairman Herbert Diess, told Australias Motoring website last year that traditional motorshows were dead and not delivering what we want. Next year, Detroit will move its North American International Auto Show from freezing January to summer time in an effort to lure exhibitors and visitors. Also, with tech like automation and connectivity an increasingly important component of the cars of the future, many manufacturers are instead ramping up their presence at big tech bashes like the CES in Las Vegas. However, brands that gave Detroit a miss in January, like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes, are front-and-center at Geneva. Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volvo have pulled out of car shows, and will unveil new models at their own events. Volvos performance brand Polestar, which revealed its new electric Tesla competitor in Sweden yesterday, will show off the Polestar 2 in Switzerland next week. READ MORE: Volvos Polestar unveils new electric car to rival Tesla The big names of the luxury supercar stable, like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls, McLaren are all in Geneva next week, bumper-to-bumper with household brands, like Peugeot with its all-new electric 208. Heres an overview of what to look out for. Story continues Electric Avenues One thing is clear, if youre not putting an electric or hybrid car on your stand, youre going to be the odd one out. From Hondas cute-as-a-button e-car, to Audis new e-tron compact SUV, and Aston Martins Lagonda All-Terrain concept, car firms will be trumpeting their e-credentials. Profitable SUVs still rule of course, but this year the focus will be increasingly on plug-in hybrid and even fully-electric versions. The Germans out in force Volkswagens ID Buggy. Photo: Volkswagen German car giants are taking Geneva by electrical storm. Audi will be showing off the newest addition to its sizeable SUV family, the electric Q4 e-tron SUV slated for production in 2021, as well as a bunch of plug-in hybrid versions of its sedans and SUVs. Volkswagen, which is outspending its rivals by billions in its bid to be an e-mobility leader, will show off a funky electric beach-buggy, the ID Buggy, from its electric ID family. Covering all bases, VW will also debut a new turbocharged Volkswagen T-Roc R crossover. Porsche, which announced this week that its bestselling Macan is going electric, is bringing its new 911 Carrera S and 4S Cabriolets, and a new, powerful 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. READ MORE: Porsche reveals its bestselling Macan SUV is going electric BMWs latest 7 Series flagship sedan, with its huge new kidney grille and slinky design, will make its first car show appearance, luring the power-hungry with the 6.6 liter V12 760i and the eco-friendlier with the 745e plug-in hybrid. Mercedes premieres include a new CLA Shooting Brake, its Concept EQV, which is says will be the worlds first premium electric van, a Formula E race car, and the first-ever diesel version of the G-Class. Blasts from the past Hispano Suizas Carmen teaser. Photo: Hispano Suiza A storied Spanish car brand will come back from the dead next week. Hispano Suiza, which made luxury cars between 1904 and the late 1940s, will show off its new electric supercar, called the Carmen. The company (not to be confused with Hispano Suiza Automobile Manufaktur), is led by Miguel Suque Mateu, the great grandson of the founder. The car, of which only a handful will be produced, has a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, and the firm says it is inspired by its 1938 Dubonnet Xenia. All we have so far is this teaser photo above. Another member of a famous automotive dynasty making an appearance at Geneva is Anton Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, creator of the Porsche and the iconic VW Beetle, and the son of former VW chairman Ferdinand Piech. His Switzerland based company, Piech Automotive, will present its Mark Zero electric sportscar concept. City runarounds Hondas new e-car on a charm offensive. Photo: Honda Honda, fresh from its announcement that it was shuttering its UK factory to focus on electric vehicles, will put its new e-Prototype on the stand. The little car, which has a range of just 200km (124 miles) is, Honda said, a cornerstone of its Electric Vision strategy. It will apparently be produced only for the European market. READ MORE: Hondas call to quit UK makes perfect sense as electric-car age looms One of the oddest and smallest e-cars and the show will be Citroens 2.5 meter long Ami One. The 425 kg (936 lb) concept car is aimed at city drivers, and in particular, young people with a top speed of just 45 kph (28 mph), it could be driven on a learners license in some EU countries. The minimal cube-shaped car has 3-D printed seats and can be charged in a couple of hours at a household plug. Brits Abroad Lagonda All-Terrain Concept. Photo: Aston Martin Pushing all the buttons of luxury, SUV, and emissions-free, Aston Martins relaunched Lagonda marque could take aim at the Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV with its all-terrain concept, which, the company says boasts extraordinary style and a rakish design language. Aston Martin itself also brings a new hypercar concept to show in Geneva, the very Bond-sounding Project 003. GAC Motor is showing its aggressiveness in opening dealerships all around the country as the China-based brand has unveiled its latest dealership, this time in San Fernando, Pampanga. Last February 26, Legado Motors opened its Pampanga dealership through Dreamcar Unlimited Automotive Corporation headed by Dr. Jose Chua Jr. The latest dealership is situated along McArthur Highway, Baliti, in San Fernando, Pampanga. The said location has an estimated lot area of 1,700 sqm., and is strategically designed with a five-vehicle display showroom and a separate service center in partnership with Yokohama San Fernando. Aside from Chua Jr.,attending the dealership inauguration were Juanita Chua of Dreamcar Unlimited Automotive Corporation; Legado Motors, Inc. (LMI) executives Wilbert Lim (Chief Executive Officer), Regina Lim (Chief Finance Officer), and Giovanni Frias (Vice President for Sales and Operations). LMI is the official distributor of GAC Motor in the Philippines The GAC Motor San Fernando dealership aims to help improve the automotive business and to open more job opportunities in the region. On behalf of GAC Motor Philippines and Dreamcar Unlimited Automotive Corporation, we are excited to showcase a lineup of world-class luxury vehicles to everyone. Most importantly, this new dealership will provide more job opportunities as well as improve the automotive business in the region. We are grateful for everyone who supports us in this business venture, Chua shared. GAC Motor Philippines seeks to continuously expand nationwide in the coming years and is expected to open new dealerships in Tarlac and Cebu later this year. The post GAC Motor Opens Premier Dealership in Central Luzon appeared first on Carmudi Philippines. FILE PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su The much-dreaded haze could return to Singapore if fires from hotspots in Johor continue, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a media statement on Wednesday (27 February). The agency said that it received multiple reports from members of the public about a burning smell across many areas of Singapore on Tuesday. NEA had earlier noted a hotspot in southern Johor, 30 kilometres east of the Republic. The Department of Environment (Johor) has since informed the NEA that there was a fire at Punggai, near Bandar Penawar, in the area of an oil palm plantation. It was caused by the hot weather in parts of Johor. NEA added, The firemen from Bandar Penawar and plantation workers have just managed to put out the fire, after fighting the fire for the past few days. This effort was also helped by the rainfall on (Tuesday), although 20 per cent of the area remains smoky. Second hotspot detected However, the NEA said it detected a second hotspot in Johor, about 50 kilometres to the east-northeast of Singapore. The smoke plume from the hotspot was blown to the southwest by the prevailing northeasterly winds, it said in the media statement. If the fires in Johor continue, some smell and haze may be expected in Singapore. The NEA said that February is normally a dry month in the surrounding region. Extended periods of dry weather can lead to outbreaks of land and vegetation fires. PSI in Good to Moderate range As of 9am on Thursday, the Pollution Standards Index (PSI) across Singapore ranged from 42-55, in the Good to Moderate range, while the 1-hr PM2.5 readings ranged from 14-25g/m3, in Band I (Normal). Given the current air quality, normal activities can go. SOURCE: National Environment Agency We are closely monitoring the air quality and will provide updates on any significant changes to the air quality situation, the NEA said. Other Singapore stories: STTA Player of the Year Yu Mengyu continues to be troubled by injury Man jailed for assaulting MHA officers, threatening to kill probation officer Remove streaming in secondary schools to reduce social stratification: Louis Ng The International Monetary Fund on Friday revived a $1.5 billion bailout for Sri Lanka that was suspended over a government power struggle last year that seriously slowed economic growth. The Washington-based lender said officials visiting Colombo agreed to re-activate the three-year loan, which started in 2016 and spread the instalments over an additional year. "The team reached understandings at the staff level with the Sri Lankan authorities... to allow more time for the completion of the economic reform agenda," the IMF said. The Fund had been due to release an instalment in October when President Maithripala Sirisena sacked his Prime Minister and called fresh elections, triggering a two month power struggle in the island nation. Because of the crisis, the economy grew by just 3.0 percent last year, making it the slowest expansion in 17 years, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The IMF said it expected Sri Lanka's growth to improve to 3.5 percent in 2019. Sri Lanka's Supreme Court eventually held that Sirisena's actons were unconstitutional, allowing Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe to resume his duties. Wickremesinghe told parliament in January that his dismissal on October 26 was a "coup" and a "death blow" to the economy. During the crisis, three international credit rating agencies downgraded the country's debt and the extra borrowing costs forced Sri Lanka to abandon plans to raise loans abroad. But the IMF noted that Sri Lanka's economy was "gradually stabilising after the weak economic performance in 2018, in the context of external shocks and domestic political uncertainty." "At this difficult juncture, a concerted effort is needed by all stakeholders to preserve the hard-won gains." Official figures show that Sri Lanka will have to repay a record $5.9 billion in foreign loans in 2019. One of the biggest drags on the balance sheet is national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines, which has accumulated losses and debts of over $2 billion. The government has failed to privatise the airline, but the president has revived attempts to find a partner who could inject new capital to keep the airline afloat. If India has solid evidence about Masood Azhar,it should shared with Pakistan: Shah Mahmood Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that if India has "solid evidence" regarding Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar's involvement in the Pulwama attack, it should share that with Pakistan "so we can convince the judiciary and the people". The foreign minister made these remarks during an interview with CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour regarding Pakistan's ongoing tensions with India, which was sparked by the Pulwama incident and has since led to armed conflict at the Line of Control. Qureshi was asked how he would respond to Indian concerns regarding Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM). "My message to the Indians is that this is a new government that has a new mindset. We want to live in peace. We have a people-centric agenda. We want to concentrate on fixing the economy. We want to improve governance and eradicate corruption in Pakistan. That's the mandate given to us. "We want to see peace and reconciliation in Pakistan and the region. The western front is consuming us; we do not want [escalation on the] eastern front. The policy of our government is that we will not allow our soil to be used by any organisation or individual for terrorism against anyone, and that includes India." Qureshi was asked what he thought of India's desire to have the JeM's head's name on the international terrorist list. "We will be open to any step that leads to de-escalation. If they have good, solid evidence, please sit and talk, initiate a dialogue and we will show reasonableness." When asked if Azhar was present in Pakistan and would the government go after him, Qureshi replied: "He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is very unwell, to the extent that he cannot leave his house." He urged India to share with Pakistan any evidence that "is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan". Regarding Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to release the Indian Air Force's (IAF) captured pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, Qureshi said: "This was a goodwill gesture and we feel that this should be an expression of Pakistan's willingness to de-escalate." When asked how serious the conflict between Pakistan and India two nuclear-armed countries was, the foreign minister said: "The situation certainly was serious when India attacked Pakistan, when they violated our airspace and dropped bombs, when they violated the UN charter and international law. This was serious. The Indian and Pakistani air forces are fully mobilised ... how dangerous can it be?" Upon being asked if he envisioned an all-out Pak-India war, Qureshi said: "I hope not. That would be a mutual suicide. Pakistan never wants to escalate or want to be in a hostile position. From day one, Prime Minister Imran Khan offered that if you take one step towards peace we will take two. He wrote to the Indian prime minister, saying 'let the two foreign ministers meet on the sidelines in New York so that they can chart a way forward'. "When this Pulwama tragic incident took place and I landed in Munich for the security conference and I learned about it, what did I do? I condemned, condoled and then the prime minister made a reasonable offer that 'if you have actionable evidence, share it with us and we will honestly, sincerely investigate.' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long reign atop Israeli politics has earned him the nickname "King Bibi," but a decision ahead of April elections to indict him on corruption charges may be his biggest challenge yet. After Israel's attorney general announced Thursday night he intended to charge the prime minister with bribery, fraud and breach of trust pending a hearing, Netanyahu showed characteristic defiance in a televised statement. He blamed his political opponents for what he called a "witch hunt" intended to force him from office -- though he appointed the attorney general who issued the decision. In the 20-minute statement, a campaign banner reading "Netanyahu Strong Right" behind him, he called the investigations a "house of cards" meant to "influence the elections." "Netanyahu will not resign," said Ilan Greilsammer, political science professor at the University of Tel Aviv. "There is a family-like culture in Israel, and for Likud's electoral base, Netanyahu is family," he said of the premier's right-wing party. Netanyahu is not legally required to resign if indicted, only if convicted with all appeals exhausted. But the announcement by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit comes with Netanyahu facing a serious challenge from a centrist political alliance led by former armed forces chief of staff Benny Gantz in an April 9 general election. Should he win in April, he will be on track to surpass founding father David Ben-Gurion's record of more than 13 years in office. - 'Mr. Security' - The burly 69-year-old with his familiar grey comb-over has entrenched himself at the top so firmly he has been labelled "King Bibi", his nickname dating to childhood. Few doubt his political effectiveness. Much of his popularity has to do with another nickname -- "Mr. Security" -- in a country where such issues are always on voters' minds. He has sought to discredit Gantz in part by calling him a "weak" leftist despite his military background and the fact that his alliance features three former armed forces chiefs of staff. Netanyahu frequently highlights Israel's actions against Iran in Syria, a reference to hundreds of air strikes there against his country's main enemy and Tehran-backed Hezbollah. He often seeks to avoid talking about the Palestinians apart from security operations, with prominent members of his right-wing coalition openly ruling out a two-state solution. Netanyahu was born in 1949 in the then-nascent state of Israel around a year and a half after it was created. He and his wife Sara have two sons, and he has a daughter from a previous marriage. The son of a history professor active in Israeli right-wing politics, Netanyahu grew up partly in the United States. He attended the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and with his fluent, American-accented English would appear on television speaking forcefully in defence of Israel. He performed his Israeli military service with an elite unit and was wounded in combat, but another family member's service may have affected him more deeply. In 1976, his brother Yonatan died in an Israeli commando raid to rescue hostages in Uganda. Netanyahu has called the operation "a very dramatic national experience" and "one of great personal consequence." - 'Very sad day' - Israeli politics in its early years was dominated by the Labour party, but the first victory by Likud, then led by Menachem Begin, in 1977 helped lay groundwork for Netanyahu's political future. His career took off when he was posted to Israel's Washington embassy and was later ambassador to the United Nations. He became Israel's youngest prime minister in 1996, at 46, but was defeated three years later. Netanyahu would return to office in 2009 and has remained ever since. While Israel's economy has grown under his watch and his security credentials have shored up his right-wing base, many call his politics too divisive. They accuse him of scare tactics and pitting Israelis against themselves by castigating those who disagree. As the investigations have closed in, he has moved further to the right, brokering a deal last week to boost a party many see as racist in upcoming elections. "The risks that he creates in the society, it will take many, many years to amend them because he's just taking all the assets of Israel as captive in his own struggle for survival," said Gayil Talshir, political science professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. "It's a very sad day for Israeli society." North Korea on Friday promised further negotiations with the US despite a spectacular failure to strike a nuclear deal at their Hanoi summit, with both sides keeping the door of diplomacy open. The high-stakes second meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump broke up in disarray Thursday, without even a joint statement. In the aftermath, each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock. Trump insisted Pyongyang wanted all sanctions imposed on it over its banned weapons programmes lifted, and this was a bridge too far. But in a rare late-night press briefing, the North Korean foreign minister said Pyongyang had only wanted some of the measures eased, and that its proposal to close "all the nuclear production facilities" at its Yongbyon complex was its best and final offer. Despite the stalemate, the North's official KCNA news agency reported Friday that the two leaders had had a "constructive and candid exchange." Relations between the two countries -- on opposite sides of the technically still-unfinished Korean War -- had been "characterised by mistrust and antagonism" for decades, it said. Despite "inevitable hardships and difficulties" on the way to forging a new relationship, KNCA described the Hanoi summit as "successful" and said Kim had promised Trump another encounter. An unusually downcast Trump told reporters on Thursday that he would "rather do it right than do it fast," adding: "Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times." After returning to Washington, the US president tweeted Friday that his relations with Kim were "very good". "We had very substantive negotiations with Kim Jong Un - we know what they want and they know what we must have," he wrote. - 'Billions of dollars' - The outcome in Hanoi fell far short of the pre-meeting expectations and hopes, after critics said their initial historic meeting in Singapore -- which produced only a vague commitment from Kim to work "toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" -- was more style over substance. According to senior US officials, in the week leading up to the Hanoi summit the North Koreans had demanded the lifting of effectively all the UN Security Council economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang since March 2016. Before that date, the measures were largely focused on preventing technology transfers but more recent restrictions apply to several lucrative industries -- coal and iron ore, seafood and textiles, among others -- in an effort to force concessions from Pyongyang. "It was basically all the sanctions except for armaments," a senior US official told reporters. "It tallies up to the tune of many, many billions of dollars." In return, Pyongyang was only offering to close "a portion of the Yongbyon complex", a sprawling site covering multiple different facilities -- and the North is believed to have other uranium enrichment plants. Trump had urged Kim to go "all in" to secure a deal, the official said, adding Washington was willing to do so. "The weapons themselves need to be on the table," he added, pointing to both Pyongyang's existing stock of atomic bombs and the ICBMs which can reach the whole of the US mainland. But the process was continuing and Washington was "encouraged by the opportunities ahead of us", the official said. "There's still ample opportunity to talk." Kim began a two-day official visit to Vietnam Friday, while in Manila, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters: "We are anxious to get back to the table so we can continue that conversation that will ultimately lead to peace and stability." - 'Rollercoaster ride' - Analysts said the failure to reach a deal in Hanoi did not herald the end of negotiations. "I don't think it's a disaster and it doesn't end the dialogue process," said Chris Green of the International Crisis Group. Trump could not afford to do "a quote-unquote 'bad deal'" in Hanoi, he added. "I think it benefits him to look tough, to string this out." But others pointed to a lack of preparation ahead of the meeting, with the two sides unable to bridge the gaps between them in time. Former US ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said the impasse "highlighted the importance of working-level talks but simultaneously narrowed the range of options". Kim put "more emphasis" on sanctions relief than most observers predicted, she said, and mutual liaison offices and an end-of-war statement proved insufficient to persuade him to go further with denuclearisation. Joel Wit and Jenny Town of the respected Washington-based 38 North project said that while there had been fears beforehand that Trump "was going to give away the store, he did just the opposite, holding out for a better deal". "The two leaders are heavily invested in the process so hopefully, this failed summit will just be one more chapter in the rollercoaster ride that is the Trump presidency," they wrote. Tokyo ranks first out of 26 cities in the region for its combinationof business and leisure--or bleisure--appeal for travellers Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong and Melbourne join the Japanesecapital as "five-star" bleisure destinations, based on a quantitative barometerincluded in the new EIU study Shanghai and Beijing rank higher in the bleisure barometerthan corresponding liveability measures suggest, propelled by rapidly improvingbusiness infrastructure Some smaller Australian cities stumble on aspects likeopportunity for cultural experiences for business travellers, despite highscores on rankings measuring liveability SINGAPORE - MediaOutReach - 1 March 2019 - As corporate travel booms acrossAsia-Pacific, the concept of bleisure is gaining traction, spurring theregion's cities to better integrate opportunities for leisure amid busybusiness trips. The 2019 bleisurebarometer: Asia's best cities for work and recreation, sponsored by AllNippon Airways, reveals that while Asia's best bleisure destinations providethe right balance of business activity, high-quality infrastructure andtop-flight leisure experiences, a number of less obvious choices stand out aswell. Asia's top cities for bleisure Rank City 1 Tokyo 2 Singapore 3 Sydney 3 Hong Kong 5 Melbourne 6 Shanghai 7 Beijing 8 Osaka 9 Perth 10 Seoul Citieswere scored out of five possible points, with scores tabulated from responsesof a survey of 1,500 business travellers from around the world, asking themabout a variety of factors impacting business travel, such as ease oftransportation and availability of consumer goods and services. Scores wereused to determine rankings as well as star groupings, with five-star citiesscoring above the average and one-star cities scoring below. Five stars Four stars Three stars Two stars One star Tokyo Shanghai Osaka Taipei Bangkok Singapore Beijing Perth Guangzhou Adelaide Sydney Seoul Kuala Lumpur Shenzhen Hong Kong Mumbai Jakarta Melbourne Wellington Ho Chi Minh City Brisbane Colombo New Delhi Hanoi Auckland Manila Story continues Onesignificant finding from the study is that Asia's best cities for bleisure arenot necessarily its most liveable. Although the specific questions used in thesurvey were inspired by ourGlobal Liveability Index, some striking differencesemerge. For example, wealthy cities such as Auckland, New Zealand, andAdelaide, Australia, sit atop the league tables for liveability, butdrastically underperform on bleisure. Meanwhile, Shanghai and Beijing, whilerarely considered highly liveable, show their rising business might in thebleisure study, filling the four-star tier. Thestudy also assesses specific aspects of the bleisure experience, such as whatmakes for a successful business trip and what travellers look for in theirleisurely diversions. On the former question, ease of transportation takes thetop spot, followed closely by safety and orderliness of streets/urban areas andquality of business facilities. On the question of leisure activities, diningout won by a large margin, with visiting local historical or heritage sites andgoing to an art museum/gallery ranking second and third. Accordingto Naka Kondo, editor of the report: "Cities in Asia-Pacific should take note:facilitating leisure experiences for corporate travellers can be the key todifferentiating in a crowded business travel market. Some of the top cities inour bleisure barometer are already world leaders in this regard, while otherscan learn from the best in improving access to the intersection of business andleisure travel in the region." Thereport, including full scoring and star bracket methodology, as well as an infographicand video, can be found at: https://fivestarcities.economist.com/?utm_source=PRMO Aboutthe research InDecember 2018-January 2019, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a surveyof 1,500 business travellers, sponsored by All Nippon Airways, to assess the qualityof bleisure experiences--including both ease of doing business and quality ofleisure activities--across 34 cities in Asia. Cities receiving fewer than 50responses were excluded from the final analysis, resulting in 26 cities in thefinal list. Cities were assigned scores out of five points; scores were thenused to determine rankings and placement in star groupings, from one to fivestars. City scores on corresponding indicators in the Global Liveability Index werenot tabulated into the final bleisure scores but are presented in the whitepaper for comparison. About The Economist Intelligence Unit The EIU is the thought leadership, research and analysis division of TheEconomist Group and the world leader in global business intelligence forexecutives. We uncover novel and forward-looking perspectives with access toover 650 expert analysts and editors across 200 countries worldwide. Moreinformation can be found on www.eiuperspectives.economist.com. Follow us on Twitter,LinkedIn, and Facebook About ANA Foundedin 1952, ANA is currently the largest Japanese airline, operating 78international routes and 118 domestic routes. ANA is a multi-winner of the"Airline of the Year" award (Air Transport World), and has maintained itsprestigious five-star ratings by SKYTRAX for the past six years. ANA offers aunique dual hub model which enables passengers to travel to Tokyo and connectto various destinations throughout Japan, and also offers same-day connectionsbetween various North American, Asian and Chinese cities. For more information,please refer to the following link: https://www.ana.co.jp/group/en/ US President Donald Trump urged North Korea's Kim Jong Un to go "all in" during their high-stakes nuclear negotiations but talks floundered amid differences over sanctions and the definition of "denuclearisation", a senior State Department official said Friday. The two leaders travelled huge distances to Hanoi for a second summit over dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programme but the two-day meeting broke down suddenly with the two sides failing to agree on a joint statement as scheduled. A senior administration official, who requested anonymity, said the North Koreans wanted "many, many billions of dollars in sanctions relief" but were "unwilling to impose a complete freeze on their weapons of mass destruction programmes". Lifting the sanctions "would in effect put us in a position of subsidising the ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction in North Korea," the official added. "The weapons themselves need to be on the table." "The President in his discussions challenged the North Koreans to go bigger. The president encouraged Chairman Kim to go all in. And we were going to -- we were prepared to go all in as well," he said. North Korea's foreign minister convened journalists from a handful of countries for a surprise midnight press conference in Hanoi to present Pyongyang's position that it had only requested partial sanctions relief. In return -- and in what the minister Ri Yong Ho called a "realistic proposal" -- the North had offered to "permanently and completely dismantle all the nuclear production facilities in the Yongbyon area, in the presence of US experts". But one of the problems was a precise definition of what is located at Yongbyon -- an enormous complex containing "more than 300 different separate facilities", the US official noted. "What the North Koreans proposed to us was closing down a portion of the Yongbyon complex." A further sticking point was the ever-thorny issue of an exact definition of "denuclearisation". While Washington wants North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme, Pyongyang sees denuclearisation more broadly. The North's view includes an end to sanctions and what it sees as US threats -- usually including the American military presence in South Korea, and sometimes in the wider region. The official said the definition was extensively discussed at working-group level but "they haven't agreed to it". Despite the chasms still separating the two sides, the official -- like his boss Trump -- sought to strike a positive tone. "We're actually encouraged by where we're going," he said." "We didn't get close enough at this summit but we're encouraged by the opportunities ahead of us." AFPTV "I think America is disrespecting athletes," says one Beijing resident while another asks: "Sports is sports. How is it connected to politics?" Beijing residents at the Olympic Park share their opinions about the United States announcing a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to protest China's human rights record, particularly its handling of Muslim minorities that Washington considers a form of genocide. Under the boycott, the Biden administration will not send any US diplomatic or official governmental representatives to the Games. The United States imposed sanctions Friday on six Venezuelan security officials for obstructing aid that Washington had tried to force in as part of its effort to support the country's opposition leader against President Nicolas Maduro. "We are sanctioning members of Maduro's security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The six include Major General Richard Jesus Lopez Vargas, the commander of the Venezuelan National Guard, and Jesus Maria Mantilla Oliveros, commander of a unit tasked by Maduro with reinforcing security on the Brazilian border, the Treasury Department said. The sanctions freeze any assets in the United States by the six security officials as well as US financial dealings with them. The United States, backed by Colombia and Brazil, last weekend tried to push badly needed aid into the crisis-torn country in coordination with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington has recognized as interim president. Venezuelan forces blocked the operation, fearing it was a precursor to an invasion as President Donald Trump has not ruled out the use of force to depose Maduro. Four people were killed in the ensuing melee and Guaido was stuck outside Venezuela, although he has vowed to return. "The United States strongly supports the efforts of Interim President Juan Guaido, and Treasury will continue to target Maduro loyalists prolonging the suffering of the victims of this man-made humanitarian crisis," Mnuchin said. Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a US and European-backed resolution at the United Nations that would have called for new presidential elections in Venezuela and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian aid. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, receiving Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow on Friday, said that Russia was stepping up shipments of wheat into Venezuela and was considering more shipments of medical supplies after sending 7.5 tonnes worth. "We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps in the international arena," Lavrov said. "This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs," he said. Guaido has said that 300,000 people could die without an influx of aid into Venezuela, where Maduro's leftist government presides over a crumbling economy in a crisis that according to the United Nations has caused 2.7 million people to flee since 2015. The Trump administration has rejected Maduro's appeals for direct talks, saying there is nothing to negotiate so long as he stays in power. Indian Air Force to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan WAGHA: According to the deputy commissioner of Amritsar, Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, a senior team of the Indian Air Force will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan. He added that the 'Beating the Retreat' ceremony at Wagah border will not take place today. According to News 18, civilians are being turned back from the Wagah border ahead of the pilot's release from Pakistan. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against "armed attack" in the disputed South China Sea, in Washington's starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's actions in waters also claimed by the Southeast Asian nation and other neighbours were a threat. "China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States," he said. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty." Pompeo's comments mark the first time a US official has publicly stated Washington's commitment to defending its poorly-armed ally in the flashpoint sea. A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defence treaty committed Manila and its former colonial master to come to each other's aid in case of "armed attack in the Pacific area". Philippine troops and fishermen have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces. Reacting to Pompeo, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing was committed to keeping peace and stability in the region. He added that for countries outside the region "such as the United States... it is not necessary to be deliberately provocative, or stir up trouble." The United States has said it is not taking sides in the dispute over waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. The Philippines used to be a staunch critic of China's claims over the sea. But after his election in 2016 Duterte put the dispute on the back burner in favour of courting Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then President Barack Obama a "son of a whore", but relations are being rebuilt under President Donald Trump. Senior Duterte officials have called for clarification on whether the US defence pact applies to the maritime row. But Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said Friday that Manila was "very confident" in US backing. - Huawei - Pompeo also warned the Philippines and other nations against using technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The Philippines' Globe Telecom plans to roll out Huawei commercial 5G services this year, while the Duterte government signed a $400 million deal for Huawei to install closed-circuit television cameras in two Philippine cities to deter crime. US officials suspect Beijing could use Huawei's products to spy on foreign governments. The company denies the allegations. On Friday, Pompeo said using Huawei technology carried risks. "We want to make sure that the world has their eyes wide open as to the risks of having that technology be part of the infrastructure or backbone or networks," Pompeo said. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman replied: "The government and people of any country probably know better what is good for their country than anyone else". US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against "armed attack" in the disputed South China Sea in Washington's starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's artificial islands in waters also claimed by the Southeast Asian nation and other neighbours was a threat. "China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States," he said at a joint news conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack of Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty." Pompeo's comments marked the first time any US official had publicly stated Washington's intent to defend its poorly-armed ally specifically in the flashpoint sea. A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defence treaty committed Manila and its former colonial master to come to each other's aid in case of an "armed attack in the Pacific area" on either party. Senior Duterte officials have called for a review of the pact because they were unsure whether it applied to the maritime row. - 'Have your back' - Philippine troops and fishermen have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces around some of the islands and reefs Manila occupies. The United States has said it is not taking sides in the dispute over waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. The Philippines used to be the staunchest critic of China's expansive claims over the sea. But after his election in 2016 Duterte put the dispute on the back burner in favour of courting Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then President Barack Obama a "son of a whore". Relations are being rebuilt under US President Donald Trump, who has hailed Duterte's actions -- including a drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives -- as a sign of toughness. Locsin on Friday downplayed his government's suggestions for a review of the defence pact, saying in its "vagueness lies the best deterrence". "We are very assured, we are very confident that United States has, in the words of Secretary Pompeo and words of President Trump to our president: we have your back," Locsin said. - 'Huawei risks'- Doubling down on China, Pompeo also warned the Philippines and other nations against using technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The Philippines' Globe Telecom plans to roll out with Huawei commercial 5G services this year, while the Duterte government last year signed an $400 million deal for Huawei to install closed-circuit television cameras in two Philippine cities to deter crime. US officials suspect that Beijing could use the Shenzhen-based Huawei's products to spy on Western governments. The company denies the allegations. On Friday, Pompeo said using Huawei technology carried risks. "We want to make sure that the world has their eyes wide open as to the risks of having that technology be part of the infrastructure or backbone or networks," Pompeo said. "We believe that competition, whether it's in 5G or some other technology, opt to be open, free, transparent and we worry that Huawei is not that." Pakistan being founding member of OICshould attend OIC: Asif Zardari PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, said that Pakistan being a founding member of OIC should attend the meeting. "I am a democratic man and if the house thinks that the foreign minister should not attend, then I won't say much. But disengagement is not a solution. The foreign minister should attend the OIC meeting. Pakistan should be represented there," Zardari said in the house and suggested that if the foreign minister did not think it appropriate to attend the meeting, he should send the foreign secretary. He reminded the house that Pakistan was one of OIC's founding member and its ties with the body's members were older and stronger than that of India's. "Our population is emotional, we are emotional and we think with emotions. Wars are fought against nations if it comes to that, we are ready for war. But that should be the last resort. Soft diplomacy is the need of the hour," he added. The former president further said that the world dynamics had changed and, therefore, Pakistan must change its way of thinking as well. Finance Minister Asad Umar started his address by praising the armed forces, adding that the entire parliament was standing united unlike its Indian counterpart. "Military leaderships job is to protect and defend the country. But political leaderships responsibility is to ensure that such a situation does not emerge in the first place," said Umar. "I am proud that in the past 72 hours, Pakistani political leadership has displayed exemplary unity, whereas Indian politicians are divided. We do not see any divide among Pakistanis." Like everyone in attendance, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman also started her speech by paying tribute to the armed forces. She lauded the political parties for "standing by their flag" at a time when India had committed an "act of war". Rehman praised the prime minister's decision to release Indian pilot Abhinandan. PML-N's Khawaja Asif welcomed the foreign minister's decision to not attend the OIC meeting. He said that it has been India's wish to become a part of OIC. "Today they have been invited as a guest, tomorrow they will be given the observer status and then they will become a member," he cautioned. He further said that while the government had taken the right stance, the country needed to introspect and "convince the world that we do not condone terrorism". He pointed out that Pakistan has been combating terrorism for the past 17 years and was the only country that had successfully defeated militancy. "The groups [created by the West] that were considered as assets have become our liabilities and we need to eliminate them," he insisted. "I said this at [a previous] Munich Security Conference that these [terrorists] were created and dumped on us by the [western powers]." Reservation over invite to India In his letter to OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, Qureshi said that Pakistan had asked the UAE to withdraw the invitation. Qureshis letter invited OICs attention towards the deteriorating security situation in the region after violation of the Line of Control (LoC) by India. He said Indian planes intruded Pakistani airspace from Muzaffarabad sector of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and were forced to fly back by the Pakistan Air Force. The foreign minister had said the intrusion by India was not only violation of international laws but was an aggression that provided Pakistan the right to act in self-defence. Pakistan will not attend OIC of CFM: Shah Mahmood Pakistan will not attend the 46th session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), which is being hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow. This was announced by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday during the joint session of parliament. Pakistan on Wednesday had officially conveyed to the OIC that it may have to boycott the foreign ministers conclave if the invitation extended to the Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to be guest of honour at its inaugural session is not withdrawn. "I requested them [UAE] to review the decision [on invitation to India]. UAE said that when we extended the invitation, Pulwama had not occurred," Qureshi told lawmakers on Friday, adding that UAE officials said "it would be hard to retract the invitation". "A joint resolution has been passed by the parliament, signed by all parties, which demands that Pakistan refrain from attending the OIC meeting. In light of this resolution, I will not attend the meeting," said Qureshi, amid near unanimous desk-thumping. The foreign minister also informed the parliament that the OIC's secretary general as well as Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers had said that they were not consulted on the matter. In a letter dated Feb 28 Qureshi told the UAE foreign minister the invitation to India "was extended without consultation with member states and contrary to the rules of the OIC". "India having conflict with at least one founding member state [...] is disqualified from any association with the OIC," says the letter, also informing Qureshi's counterpart that a resolution was passed on Thursday in the parliament which took exception to "India an egregious aggressor against Pakistan as well as Kashmiri people" being invited as a guest of honour. The resolution demanded that Pakistan abstain completely [from the meeting] as a protest, the letter states. Qureshi, however, pointed out that there were 19 pending resolutions presented by Pakistan in the OIC many of which concern the Kashmir issue. He said that a lower level delegation will be attending the meeting in order to represent Pakistan's stance and oppose any proposal to grant India an observer status. He further said that the Turkish foreign minister had termed it "unacceptable" for India to be granted an observer status in the OIC. Backing Qureshi's announcement, Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif urged the UAE crown prince to withdraw the invitation to India. "UAE crown princes father was a friend of Pakistan and crown prince too is very fond of Pakistan. In the light of tensions with India, we request him [to retract the invitation to Indian FM]," said Sharif and added that even if the crown prince does not withdraw the invitation to India, "Pakistan should employ all forums" to push its demand. Rabbit Holes is a recurring series in which writers pay homage to the diversity and ingenuity of the ways we procrastinate now. To pitch your personal rabbit hole, email humaninterest@slate.com. It all started with a click on a YouTube talk by former CIA Officer Susan Carnicero. As I watched, riveted, Carnicero went over how to tell whether someone is lying. When asked a question, she explained, a persons behavior will betray their dishonesty within five seconds. They shake their heads no when making a positive statement or nod yes when denying something. They get angry or display inappropriate levels of concern. They repeat questions or avoid direct answers. They smirk or avert their gaze. Taken alone, these behaviors may indicate other emotions, like anxiety or shyness, but if two or more appeara cluster, Carnicero called itthen you may have a liar on your hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When you finish this 45 minutes with me, youre going to know just enough to be dangerous, Carnicero said. She was right. I gleefully applied my newfound knowledge to dozens of online clips of politicians, murder suspects, and celebrities. Lo and behold, like an invisible code overlaying the screen, the lying behavior emerged. After Bill Clinton claimed he did not have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, a small smile flitted across his face. When Tonya Harding said she didnt know anything about Nancy Kerrigans attack in an interview, she shifted her eyes and smiled. Angelina Jolie may have said of course when Good Morning America asked her if she still thought Brad Pitt was a wonderful father, but she also stiffened and shook her head no, suggesting her opinion may have changed after all. Advertisement Advertisement Since then, scrutinizing whether someone is lying has become my favorite way to procrastinate. All I have to do is wonder about a lie, and Ill drop everything to look it up. Was Lindsay Lohan really sober when she had that reality show with Oprah in 2014? What did Michael Jackson look like when he denied the sexual abuse allegations? What about Woody Allen and his allegations? How did various killers act when claiming their innocenceScott Peterson, OJ Simpson, Lacey Spears? How did Jodie Foster deal with questions about boyfriends before coming out as gay? (Considering the times, Foster was pretty straightforward about her sexuality, plus that smirk when asked what she wants in a boyfriend is priceless.) Advertisement Advertisement I always plan to take a quick look at these clips and get right back to business, but it never works out that way. One interview will lead to another, as I must see and contrast all the possible wordings and facials tics available. Then I must see interviews with witnesses and detractors, and before I know it, Ive wasted three hours. But Ive also thoroughly investigated and identified all lying behavior, which is deeply satisfying. Advertisement Advertisement Oddly, it doesnt matter to me what the lie is about. It could be as frivolous as a celebrity romance or as serious as murder, I just like recognizing the behavior. Every time I spot a lie, I feel like I have a superpower. Ive seen through the veils. I can tell whats really going onor I like to think I can. Because of this, reality TV is one of my favorite places to look for lies. The shows are often telling stories that are different from whats happening behind the scenes, and the participants sometimes choose to lie to go along with it. Since most of these people arent good actors, reality TV is fertile ground for armchair lie-spotting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My favorite is Arie from The Bachelor, who side-eyed and shook his head every time he said how much he liked Becca, the woman he picked to marry. Im not a huge fan of The Bachelor, but I watched that season (often during the day, when I was supposed to be working) because I found this behavior so fascinating. What was going on? I wondered. Didnt anyone else notice this mans obvious reticence about this relationship? To make sure I wasnt imagining it, I spent way too long checking clips online, and yes, his body language contradicted most of his verbal declarations. It even happened when he proposed: I choose you today but I choose you every day from here on out, he said, shaking his head vigorously. I love you so much. His immediate breakup with her was the first thing he did that made any sense. Advertisement It may seem silly, but Im proud of myself for recognizing Aries deception because it shows that Im getting better at seeing lies. All this procrastinating and wasting time playing amateur detective may have a purpose after all. In this age of fake news and alternative facts, when common sense is up for debate and politicians double down on provable falsehoods, recognizing lies is tantamount to self-soothing. By his 730th day in office, Donald Trump had made over 8,000 false or misleading claims, often with a glib believe me, his hands flat in front of his body as if to push the listener away. And its not just him. From the Summer of Scam to sexual abuse scandals to fake campaign ads on social media, lying has become a cultural disease. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So its nice to know that the truth can still come out. No matter how we try to obscure it, truth seeps through our microexpressions and contradicts our words with nonverbal cues. A person may be a great liar, but there are so many tells its impossible to hide them all. Of course, everyone liesmyself included. And when Im pretending to remember someone I dont recognize, or saying something nice that I dont mean, Ive become aware of my own tics. I can feel my eyes shifting away or my toes tapping nervously. These behaviors create a map pointing to whats real, but instead of hiding them in myself, I want to get good at reading them in others. The more I look at liars, the more I recognize what lies look like. Its powerful information, because if you can recognize lies, you can recognize the truth as well. These days, I find that comforting. The Rev. James MacDonald founded Harvest Bible Chapel in a Chicago suburb in the late 1980s, and over the years his profile grew in tandem with the churchs. Harvest expanded to multiple campuses that drew 12,000 people to weekly services and became one of the 50 largest churches in America. MacDonald was a nationally sought-after speaker, a radio and television preacher, and the author of books including Act Like Men: 40 Days to Biblical Manhood and Lord, Change My Attitude. Meanwhile, its critics say, the church amassed millions in debt while the motorcycle-riding MacDonald lived large and treated his perceived enemies ruthlessly. The final blow to MacDonalds leadership came in February from an unlikely source: a local radio shock jock. Advertisement Questions about MacDonalds leadership had been swirling for years. Problems were first raised in 2012 by two former church members who documented the churchs complicated finances on their blog, and accused it of accruing $44 million in debts. Other disgruntled ex-leaders and members later began speaking publicly about their experiences. Then a freelance journalist named Julie Roys began investigating the story in earnest last year. MacDonald and the church responded by suing the two bloggers, their wives, and Roys for defamation last fall. The church dropped the suit in January after a court ruled that documents in the case could be made public. Roys devastating piece of investigative reporting was published in December by the conservative evangelical magazine World, and included details about the churchs finances along with accounts from former employees and church members who said MacDonald fostered an abusive and fear-based culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All of that was before Mancow Muller, who has been a fixture in Chicago since the 1990s, started speaking out. Muller has a reputation as the wild man of Chicago radio, known for stunts like taping himself being waterboarded and for racking up big fines from the Federal Communications Commission. Muller had also attended MacDonalds church since 2014. The two local celebrities became close, and Muller admired the older pastor. They traveled together and spent time together outside of church. On a trip to Israel last year, Muller says that MacDonald baptized him in the Jordan River. I was one of his dummies, Muller told me in a private message on Twitter. We wanted to believe that that guy up on stage was real and genuine and actually cared about us and our families and was channeling Jesus Christ. Advertisement Muller said he grew suspicious of MacDonald when, he claims, the pastor asked him to donate $3 million to the church. [He] told me that he would be blessed more because he gave more than me, said Muller, who was out of work at the time. Muller also recalled that MacDonald suggested he buy a house in Florida for Mullers retirement and then leave that house to the church. Muller said hed grown suspicious, too, of MacDonalds handling of the lawsuit against his critics last year, and of the way the pastor discouraged his followers from reading anything negative about the church. He broke with MacDonald publicly last month in a scathing op-ed in a local newspaper, in which he accused MacDonald of fostering a culture of authoritarianism, secrecy, intimidation, outlandish fundraising expectations, poor financial controls and debt. Muller described the atmosphere at Harvest as cult-like, and he urged parishioners to stop donating money to the church. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In February, Muller escalated his crusade by airing clips on his show that seemed to capture MacDonald privately insulting his perceived enemies in terms that would be shocking to his followersthough not, perhaps, to Mullers own listeners. The voice in the clips refers to the idea of planting child pornography on the computer of Christianity Today CEO Harold Smith in retaliation for the magazines coverage of him. It calls the magazines editor in chief, Mark Galli, a certifiable prick, and jokes that Galli and Julie Roys had an affair. (Roys firmly denies this on her blog and calls the joke disgusting.) It calls the magazine an Anglican, pseudo-dignity, high church, symphony-adoring, pipe organ-protecting, musty, mild smell of urine, blue-haired Methodist-loving, mainline-dying, women preacher-championing, emerging church-adoring, almost good with all gays and closet Palestine-promoting Christianity. Parsing those epithets would make a decent masters thesis on contemporary American evangelicalism. Advertisement The next day, the churchs leadership board fired MacDonald for engaging in conduct that the Elders believe is contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church. In a statement posted to the churchs website, the all-male elder board wrote that they had been considering MacDonalds removal for some time, but the highly inappropriate tapes on Mullers show accelerated the decision. Muller hasnt backed down since MacDonalds firing. On his Feb. 18 radio show, he interviewed a former Harvest music leader named Anne Green who said MacDonald once touched her leg near her crotch on a private plane in or around 2005. (The church issued a statement saying it had investigated the allegation last fall and failed to corroborate it.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was one of his dummies, Muller said in a Twitter DM . We wanted to believe that that guy up on stage was real and genuine. A few days later, Muller invited Roys on his podcast, where he played more excerpts from the tapes, and revealed that one of the voices MacDonald was speaking with belonged to public relations executive Johnnie Moore, one of President Trumps evangelical advisers. At one point, Moore seems to agree when MacDonald calls Galli, the Christianity Today editor, a certifiable prick. In a statement, Moore said his job sometimes involves acting as a shock absorber who listens when clients become frustrated. But the fact that it was a private conversation, meant to absorb the emotions of the moment, did not make it right for me to respond offensively and thoughtlessly. Im very sorry for that, and Im dealing with it directly, seriously and personally. (Requests for comment emailed to MacDonald, his office at Harvest, and his long-time assistant did not receive replies.) Advertisement Advertisement MacDonald is the second Chicago-based megachurch pastor to fall dramatically from power within the last year. Last April, Willow Creek founder the Rev. Bill Hybels resigned after multiple women accused him of misconduct. That church has seen significant declines in attendance. MacDonalds downfall also echoes that of formerly Seattle-based pastor the Rev. Mark Driscoll, with whom he was once close. Driscoll resigned in 2014 over criticisms of his authoritarian leadership style and use of crude language. He moved to Arizona and started a new church there. For now, the church MacDonald built is in chaos. His two sons resigned from their jobs at the church last week. Church members are calling for the resignation of another senior pastor, plus all of the churchs elders. Headlines about MacDonalds disgrace dominate Christian media outlets. Muller tweeted that his former friendship with MacDonald could make a great movie someday: The so-called shock jock that found out that this mega church spiritual leader was a demonic fraud. This post was published in partnership with Wirecutter, the site devoted to finding the best gear and gadgets. Every product is independently selected by the Wirecutter team. We update links when possible, but note that deals may expire and prices are subject to change. If you buy something through our links, Slate and Wirecutter may earn an affiliate commission. When steak (or any serious cut of meat) is on the table, a set of steak knives should be, too. After 40 hours of research, interviews, and testing, were convinced the Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood knives offer the best value by far. Beautiful to look at, comfortable in the hand, and as high-performing as knives six times their price, theyre great tools. (And if you prefer a classic black handle, the Messermeister Avanta knives come that way too, at an even better price.) Our pick The blade edges on the Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood knives are smooth and very sharp, capable of cutting tough steaks easily. They feature full-tang constructions, which means a single piece of steel forms the blade, bolsters, and handle. This design, which adds to the knifes strength and weight, isnt commonly seen in other steak knives at this price. Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood Beautiful to look at and as high-performing as knives six times their price. $65 from Amazon Also great If budget is a chief concern (because you need 20 settings for a wedding, for example), Chicago Cutlerys inexpensive Walnut Tradition knives are a fine option. Theyre not beautiful, but theyre well-made, and, with smooth-edged, boning-knife-like blades, they perform far, far better than the dull serrated steak knives you usually have to settle for at this price. Also great If youre looking for luxury, Wusthofs Classic Ikon steak knives are elegant and exceptionally well-constructed. German engineering is a catchphrase for a reason, and these knives demonstrate it in every aspect. The satin-finished black handles are joined seamlessly to the steel; the blade is both sharp and tough and will perform for years without maintenance; the weight and hand-feel of the knives is, as several testers put it, perfect. Also great Finally, if you need steak knives but also want a contemporary look, Opinels No. 125 Bon Appetit Set fits the bill. A respected French knife maker for well over a century, Opinel often employs unusual natural materials, like the olive-wood handles used here and the color-dyed hornbeam-wood handles used in an otherwise identical (and slightly lower-priced) set. Why you should trust us Ive been cooking for myself and for crowds since I left high school (20 years agogah!); between that and various stints in construction and landscaping, Ive come to appreciate well-made, well-designed hand toolsincluding knives. And having wasted money on crummy, expensive (but well-marketed) knives more than once when I was younger, I have a particular regard for knives that truly justify their price (and even more for those that overachieve). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For my own needs and as a journalist, Ive researched deeply into knife-making materials, knife design, and knife performance over the years; Mark Richmond, owner of Chef Knives to Go, has been particularly helpful on several occasions. Our 2015 guide, researched and written by Wirecutter senior editor Christine Cyr Clisset, produced a wealth of information also incorporated here. Christine gathered reviews from Americas Test Kitchen (registration required), Saveur, and Serious Eats; she learned about knife styles and materials from Dexter Ewing of BLADE magazine and Howard Nourieli of Bowery Kitchen Supplies; and she spoke to Rick Gresh, then the executive chef at David Burkes Primehouse in Chicago for practical advice on steak knife performance and care. Finally, weve now tested 15 different steak knives on 16 pounds of beef in two real-world test sessions, involving a dozen Wirecutter staffers and friends. If theres a question about steak knives, however obscure, weve asked it and found the answer. Who needs a steak knife set? Even if you havent seen the movie, you probably know the line: First prize is a Cadillac Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is youre fired. Alec Baldwins speech is cinema legend. Its also insightful. Glengarry Glen Ross (the play, not the film) premiered in 1984, when there was nothing more quintessentially American than big cars, lost jobsand steak for dinner. Of course second prize is a set of steak knives! Almost everyone would have appreciated themif not the circumstances they arrived under. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, second prize would be something else. Americans are eating less meat in general, and less beef in particular, so not everyone needs a set of steak knives these days. But if you eat meat regularly, you really should have one. Its amazing how much nicer it is to slice a tenderloin or chop with a well-made blade designed for that purpose. And that will hold true even if youre already using a cheapo set of serrated steak knives, let alone if youre hacking away with the dull table knives that came with your silverware. Advertisement Advertisement A nice set of steak knives also dresses up a place-setting, so if you like to entertainor just like to make a fancy meal now and thenyou may appreciate owning a set, too. Finally, one thing that held true in 1984 still holds true in 2015: steak knives are a special gift for the right person. You can even spend Cadillac money, if youre feeling extra generous. How we picked Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres no consensus on what makes a good steak knife. The fact is, there are so many different styles that making direct comparisons is almost impossible. Some steak knives are straight-edged (also called fine-edged) like chefs knives; some are serrated (broad-toothed, that is, like bread knives); still others are whats known as micro-serrated and have fine-toothed blades that look like scaled-down wood saws. Even the experts dont agree. Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats prefers a serrated blade; Rick Gresh of Chicagos Primehouse favors straight-edge, as does Americas Test Kitchen; Saveur recommends straight-edge, traditional serrated, and micro-serrated models; and Amazon customers review all three types positively. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And there are dozens of other ways knives can be differentiated: by blade shape and length, by blade and handle material, by the way the blades are made (forged versus stampedsee Notes on materials and construction), and so on. On top of all that, best is a subjective term, especially for a simple tool like a steak knife, for which look and feel are almost as important as performance. But in our original steak-knife test, a consensus did emerge: everyone strongly preferred straight edges. Even the least-impressive straight-edge knife sliced through the meat smoothly and easily, whereas even the best serrated knife forced everyone to saw back and forth. So for 2016s update I focused my research exclusively on straight-edge knives. Advertisement Advertisement One thing I learned right away: You can spend $2 on a steak knife and you can also spend $200 (or more). On the former, you get what you pay for: not much, aesthetically or functionally. On the latter, you mostly pay for looks, not vast leaps in performance over well-made mid-priced knives. Between the extremes are knives of every quality and price. To help narrow the field, I tried to put myself in Wirecutter readers shoes. If youre serving steaks to a crowd for a special occasiona self-catered wedding, for example, or a Fourth of July backyard blowoutor if youre simply on a budget, you need knives that work great and look decent but dont break the bank. If youre giving them as a gift, on the other hand, youre probably ready to splurge on knives that are beautiful to look at, but you also want to be sure theyre a delight to hold and use. And if youre looking for steak knives for yourself for everyday use, I figured you probably want something that hits a sweet spot between cost, looks, and performance. With these scenarios in mind, I set out to find an inexpensive set (less than $25); a luxury set ($200$500); and a mid-priced set (between $50 and $125). (Steak knives almost always come in sets of four, but to account for any differences in that number, we also calculated the price-per-knife of every set we tested.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then I dove into the jungle that is the steak knife market. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of models available; because many of them are mass-produced and sold under multiple resellers names, I restricted my search to well-known manufacturers house brands. There are also dozens of styles available, from the utilitarian to the ultramodern. But for most peoples taste, a steak knife should look like a steak knife, and to me and the Wirecutter editors I polled, that means a traditional upswept blade with riveted handles. That immediately nixed the many models with molded-rubber or plastic handles, the sort you see on restaurant-grade kitchen knives. Insisting on straight-edge blades also eliminated a huge swath of the inexpensive and mid-priced serrated steak knife options. Serrated blades are very cheap to manufacture; almost every steak knife set under $100 features them. In fact, finding good straight-edged knives at low prices proved to be the biggest research challenge. Advertisement But after ten hours of hunting, I had five new knife sets to test (and an Alp-size discard pile). They ranged from about $20 for four knives (roughly $5 apiece) to $400 for four ($100 each). To these, we added last years pick (the Victorinox Rosewood Straight Edge Steak Knife Set), alternate (the J.A. Henckels International Classic Forged Steak Knives), and upgrade models (the Wusthof Classic Ikon Steak Knives), whose prices lay in between. How we tested Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For 2015s test, Wirecutter editor Christine Cyr Clisset cooked six pounds of chuck steak and two of tenderloin, and, with her husband and two friends, used 10 different steak knives to slice them up over the course of dinner. In 2016, Wirecutter kitchen editor Lesley Stockton and I pan-seared eight pounds of hanger, skirt, and flank steak, the toughest steak cuts availablewe wanted a real test, no tender cutsand invited half a dozen colleagues to lunch. Everyone used each knife repeatedly and under real-world conditions: The steaks were arrayed and sliced on china plates, the way they would be in your home. (China, which is much harder than steel, is rough on knife edges, and we wanted to see how our test models held up.) Advertisement I also made sure that our testers were diverse: we had men and women; large people and small; experienced knife-handlers and folks who dont give knives much thought at all. I asked everyone for their impressions on simple performance (how well each knife cut the steaks), on feel (how well or poorly the knives fit the hand, and how flimsy or sturdy they seemed), and on looks. After two hours and one brief-but-spectacular grease fire, we had our results. Our pick: Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood Set Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood steak knife set was our clear winner. No other knives came close to matching their combination of performance, price, and quality of construction. Their blade-edges are well-formed, smooth, and extremely sharp; they cut even the toughest steaks as well as knives we tested that cost five times as much, which cant be said for most others in their price range. Their handles are finished with pakkawood, a durable resin-impregnated natural wood usually only found on more expensive knives. And unlike any other knives we found at the price, they feature full-tang construction: A single piece of steel forms the blade, bolsters, and handle. This adds strength (a practical concern), balance, and heft. The latter is an aesthetic concern, but an important one: 2015s test revealed that a knife weight of around 80 grams (2.7 ounces) feels just right in the hand. The Messermeisters weigh 89 gramspleasantly robust, and significantly nicer to hold than the lightweight knives typical at this price. Advertisement Advertisement The Messermeisters also have a long and upswept bladethe ideal steak knife shape, resulting from centuries of evolution. The length allows the knife to slice through even a thick steak in one stroke, and the upswept tip lets your elbow move up as you slice instead of back, where it might strike your chair or a waiter. Many mid-priced knives we looked atincluding our pick from Victorinox last yearappear simply to be paring knives, whose short, straight blades are designed for peeling and trimming fruits and vegetables, not slicing meat. Moreover, Messermeisters are extremely sharp, with edges that are evenly ground and finely honeda sign of good quality control during the production process. (This may be due to the fact that the blades are produced in Germany, long known for its exceptional cutlery, before being sent to China for handle-attachment and finishing.) In our tests, they sliced steaks as effortlessly as knives that cost five times as much, far better than any other knives in their price range. Advertisement Advertisement Also unique to the Messermeisters price range, their handles are finished with pakkawoodan industry term for resin-impregnated natural woodinstead of the more-common cheap plastic or unfinished wood. Pakkawood is strong, durable, and stablebasically, it doesnt absorb water or dry out and expand or shrink accordinglybut retains the rich and variegated look of natural wood. (Many high-end Japanese kitchen knives, including our Best Chefs Knife for Most Cooks, feature pakkawood handles for these reasons.) Advertisement Advertisement As mentioned, the Messermeisters have one-piece, full-tang construction, with the blade and handle forged from one continuous piece of steel that runs from end to endyet another feature thats usually reserved for more expensive knives. The full tang makes the knives inherently stronger than knives with partial tangs (which dont run all the way to the end of the handle), and it makes them heavier. Thats a good thing: in our tests, knives in the three-ounce range simply felt more comfortable and impressive in the hand, and the Messermeisters weigh almost exactly that. Advertisement The only flaw we found was the not-quite-perfect finishthere were slightly-raised rivets on some handlesbut still, the Messermeisters quality of construction is well above that of the other knives we tested in its price range. (Our previous pick from Victorinox, for example, costs about a third more per knife, yet features wide gaps between the rosewood handle and the blade.) Simply put, with most knives you get what you pay for; with the Messermeisters, you get more. Not tested, but also recommended, is the black POM-handled version of theMessermeister Avanta knife, which is otherwise identical. POM (polyoxymethylene) is a hard, dense, strong plastic; its been used on classic riveted-handle kitchen knives for half a century. No steak knife should be put through a dishwasher, but if you must, these will stand up best. Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood The Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood steak knives are great tools and an exceptional value. $65 from Amazon Upgrade pick: Wusthof Classic Ikon Set Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wusthof Classic Ikon steak knives arent cheap, but they are the cheapest of the three high-end sets that we tested. With little to distinguish between the high-end sets on performancewhich was universally exceptionalaesthetics played the largest role in this pick, and our testers all favored the Ikons classic, understated elegance. Their razor-sharp blades have the ideal upswept shape. The unique double-concave curves of their satiny black POM handles fit the hand wonderfully; both our smallest and our largest tester found them the most comfortable to hold of all the knives we tested. Their full-tang construction adds strength and, at 77 grams/2.6 ounces, pleasing heft. (As Christine Cyr Clisset reported in 2015, all the testers thought this was the perfect weight.) Lastly, their construction is flawlessas it should be for the price. Because in truth, its the flawless fit-and-finish, more than anything else, that separates an exceptional luxury steak knife from a really great mid-priced oneand that you pay for. Advertisement One criticism: the Ikons come in a simple, clear plastic box. Its sturdy enough to use for knife storage but left us wishing for something more distinguished-looking, particularly if the knives are intended to be a gift. For about $100 more, the blackwood-handled Ikon steak knives come in a walnut case; its unfortunate that this is not an option for the standard model. Budget pick: Chicago Cutlerys Walnut Tradition Set Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chicago Cutlerys Walnut Tradition steak knife set is the best low-cost set out there. The knives are not perfect by any metric: the blade-edges are coarse and uneven; at 60 grams/2 ounces, theyre a bit lighter than wed like; and the fit-and-finish is indifferent. In fact, they appear just to be industrial-grade boning knives with steak knife handles slapped on. Put it this way: if the Messermeisters give you more than you pay for aesthetically, these give you exactly what you pay for, and not a penny more. But theyre built to last and they work perfectly welland, more importantly, they work far better than the serrated blades you usually have to settle for at this price. Theyre a great choice for outfitting a crowd, taking along on country picnics, or while car camping. Not fancy, perfectly functional, and if you lose one, youll shed no tears. Also great: Opinel No. 125 Bon Appetit Set Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several testers diverged from the pack on steak knife aesthetics, preferring something with cleaner, modern lines instead of the traditional look. If that also describes you, the Opinel No. 125 Bon Appetit Set, which used to be called the South Spirit, is our recommendation. The Opinel blades are noticeably less sharp than the Messermeister and Wusthof, but they still cut our tough test-steaks neatly and efficiently. The beautiful handles are made of olivewood, which, in addition to being pretty, is naturally water-resistant (though not virtually waterproof, like the pakkawood on the Messermeisters; the Opinels absolutely must be hand-washed). The Opinels underperform noticeably in one category: weight. At just 35 gramsbarely more than an ouncethey feel insubstantial in the hand. They also come in a simple cardboard case that wont last long in your silverware drawer; youd want to store it somewhere less trafficked like a high shelf. But on looks and performance, theyre winners at the price. Lastly, if youre looking for something to brighten your table, Opinel makes a version of this knife set thats fitted with colored hornbeam-wood handles. You can also buy the knives open stock if you want to build your own set in different colors. These got Bon Appetit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoports recommendation this past summer. Care and maintenance All these knives are low-maintenance, but there are a few things you should do to keep them performing their best. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First and foremost: hand-wash them, and dry them afterwards. (This is especially important for the Opinel and Chicago Cutlery models natural wood handles.) Dishwashers are hard on knives, both because of the high temperatures and chemicals in the soap, and because of the banging around. Spending a few minutes after dinner hand-washing your steak knives will go a long way toward keeping them performing well for years. Second: store them in the box they came in; in a knife block, knife roll, or knife tray; or on a magnetic strip. You dont need anything fancy; you just need to keep the blades protected from the wear and tear theyd suffer sitting amongst your everyday forks and spoons. (You also need to protect your fingers from the wear and tear theyd receive from accidentally grabbing a sharp steak knife.) Advertisement Third and last: keep the edges sharp by running them on a knife steel before each use. Remember, though, that a steel is only there to maintain a sharp edge, not to create one. After many, many steak dinners, your knives will need to be re-sharpenedsomething you can do at home or have done professionally at any good cutler for a few dollars per blade. But unless you are essentially carnivorous, that day wont arrive for a long time. When we spoke to Rick Gresh of Primehouse restaurant in 2014, he said he hadnt re-sharpened his steak knives once in the eight years hed owned them. Notes on materials and construction If youve spent more than a few minutes researching knives, youve likely run into a bewildering fog of jargon and technical specifications. Heres a quick guide, which applies to steak knives, chefs knives, and everything in between: Advertisement Advertisement The phrase high-carbon steel is basically marketing hype: every steel alloy used to make knives is high-carbon. You can ignore the phrase it if its used, and you neednt worry if its not. Do note, however, that if a knife is listed only as high-carbon or carbon steel, it will easily rust. To be sure your knife is rust-resistant, make sure it is also listed as stainless. Advertisement Stainless steel is steel alloyed with at least 12 percent, and usually 14 to 18 percent, chromium. The chromium forms a dense layer on any exposed surface which rapidly oxidizes, preventing oxidation (rusting) of the steel underneath. There are multiple types of stainless steel, some more corrosion-resistant than others; all those used on our recommended knives (and all those used by major manufacturers) are high-performing: extremely corrosion-resistant, capable of taking and holding a sharp edge and easy to re-sharpen. Advertisement In ancient times, Damascus referred to a special type of steel created by Middle Eastern smiths. In legend and perhaps in fact, it was tougher, harder, and held a better edge than any other steel in the known world. Today, Damascus simply refers to a decorative, layered type of common steel, formed by stacking slabs of different alloys, welding them into a solid block, and folding the block over itself repeatedly. (Watch here.) Despite loud claims to the contrary, Damascus knives are not sharper or stronger than knives made of a single piece of steel, but many people consider them more beautiful. Advertisement Advertisement There are thousands of different steel alloysmixtures of iron, carbon, and any of 20 or more other elementseach designed for a different purpose. Knife alloys alone run into the dozens, and the names are alphabet soup: AEB-L, VG-10, 19C27, ZDP-189. My advice is: ignore them all, at least for steak knives. Whatever alloy a good manufacturer chooses will perform perfectly well. Advertisement As used by knifemakers today, rosewood is rarely real rosewood. And thats good: real rosewood (a term that refers to several tropical species) is endangered and banned from international trade. In knifemaking, the term rosewood now refers to any hardwood thats been dyed a reddish-brown color; beech is commonly used and environmentally sound. Advertisement POM (polyoxymethylene; also known as acetal and Delrin, and often called POM resin) is a heavy, hard, and strong plastic. It is highly resistant to acids, solvents, salt, and heat, and its food-safe for knife handles. Not surprisingly, it has been used in that role for decades. Its not a sign of cheapness or inferiority; most top manufacturers offer POM-handled knives, typically aimed at restaurant chefs and serious home cooks. (A POM-handled santoku has been my workhorse for nearly two decades, and none of the fancier knives Ive since purchased has budged it from its throne.) Advertisement Advertisement Pakkawood is an industry term for resin-impregnated real wood. The resinswhich are biologically inert and food-safemake the wood denser and far more stable and water-resistant. Pakkawood is often dyed black, but it can also be clear- or color-stained to highlight the woods natural grain, as on our top pick. Finally, youll see a lot of talk about forged versus stamped blades. Forged blades are made of a single chunk of steel thats hammered into shape. Stamped blades are punched out of flat sheets of steel, with any additional shaping done by grinding metal away. For many years, forged knives were more or less inherently superior to stamped blades: the forging process produced knives with stronger, more uniform, more easily sharpened, and more durable blades. But stamped knives have closed the gap considerably. (Americas Test Kitchen famously put a cheap, stamped Victorinox chefs knife and an expensive, forged Bob Kramer model under the microscope; the Victorinox exhibited comparable metal quality.) Stamped knives also have the advantage of being far less expensive. Theres no reason, in short, to insist on forged blades anymore, although youll still find them on most high-end knives. The competition 2015s winner, the Victorinox Rosewood Straight Edge Steak Knife Set, continued to impress on performance and looks. Unfortunately, Wirecutter buyers experienced big problems with lack of availability after we recommended them. Worse, the price fluctuates from the initial price of $130 for six ($21.75 each) to about $180 ($30 each). And when compared to the Messermeisters, their head-to-head competitors, the Victorinox lost in every category: performance, appearance, weight (41 grams, half the ideal weight), fit-and-finish, and price. It wasnt fun (or difficult) to take them off our list of picks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The J. A. Henckels International Classic Forged Steak Knives were our 2015 pick for black-plastic-handled knives, and they are still good knives. But theyre about twice the price of the black-handled Messermeisters and performed less well when cutting steaks. We brought in two new high-end steak knife sets: Shun Premier and Wusthof Epicure. Both perform astonishingly wellyou wont find sharper steak knives under the sun. Visually, however, testers felt that both were wanting, albeit for opposite reasons. The Shun knives are magnificent but border on ostentatious, with their mirror-polished, hammer-finished damascus blades and decorative rear bolster. The Wusthofs, by contrast, are austere to a fault: The thinking behind their boring recycled-wood-fiber handles is nice, but at an MSRP of $600, surely some equally-green reclaimed walnut burl was in order. Our testers unanimously preferred the quiet elegance of 2015s pick, the black-handled Wusthof Ikons, to both. Advertisement The Rada Utility Steak Knife set is very well-reviewed on Amazon, and at about $30 its highly affordable. We looked at it in fall 2017, but found the aluminum handles too thin, short, and coarsely finished to be comfortable. The blades are also so flexible theyre almost floppy. Advertisement Lamsons Straight-Edge Steak Knife set, which we also looked at in fall 2017, competes price-wise with our upgrade pick, the Wusthof Ikon, and comes in four color options. But the full bolster on these knives makes sharpening difficult. Lamsons paring knife blades lack our preferred upswept tip, and their cutting edges were unevenly ground; while both the Ikons and our top pickMessermeister Avantas came with perfect edges. The Lamson knives can also be hard to find in stores. Advertisement Still, it should be stated again that at high-end prices, youre mostly paying for aesthetics; performance will always be adequate, and typically outstanding. So if youre already planning to be lavish, why not search for something unique to your taste? Fashion and industrial designers are always dabbling in side projects, and steak knives are one of them. A few minutes on Google revealed these orange-lucite-handled hepcats. More are surely out there. Advertisement The following knives were considered but rejected; the list is not comprehensive, and all serrated knives, in particular, have been deleted. We simply dont recommend them. But you may run into some of these knives on your own knife searches. This is why theyre not our favorites: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wusthof Classic Steak Knife Set wasnt reviewed in any editorials, but it was the fourth-top-rated set on Amazon and comes from a well-respected knifemaker. This straight-edged knife cut really nicely, but everyone preferred the rounded Ikon handles to the Classic square handles. Also, one of our testers didnt like how the Classic knives have the Wusthof logo on the handle (which makes them look like kitchen knives). The Zwilling Twin Cuisine II (currently unavailable) set also didnt come with any editorial reviews, but we opted to include it in testing after trying and liking the knives at Williams-Sonoma. The straight-edged blade of the knife we tested cut very cleanly. Yet one tester said the handle looked ostentatious and didnt think it would fit with her other silverware. These knives are also less balanced than some of the others, and for the price we prefer the Wusthof Ikon set. Advertisement Laguiole steak knives This is not a brand, but a name used for knives made in Laguiole or Thiers, France. These are classic, beautiful knives, based on traditional shepherds pocket knives. They have slightly curved blades and handles made from a variety of woods and even mammoth fossil, but there are also less expensive ones with colorful acrylic handles. There are many imitations of these knives on the market, since the name Laguiole isnt copyrighted. A popular and authentic maker is the Dubost family, which sells their knives at Williams-Sonoma. We tried these knives at Williams-Sonoma and didnt like how the rivets in the wood handles felt rough. We also couldnt find any warranty information for these knives. We think the knives we tested are a better value. Given that these are more boutique knives, we didnt feel they fit into the scope of this review. If you happen to be traveling through France, though, and can afford a set, weve read nice things about the authentic versions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wusthof Gourmet Steak Knife Set was not more highly recommended than the other Wusthof and Henckels knives we tested. We also tried this set out at Williams-Sonoma and thought the handles felt cheap. The Wusthof Grand Prix II Steak Knife Set did not receive better reviews than the other Wusthof sets we opted to test. The Wusthof Classic Hollow-Ground Knife Set looks identical to the Wusthof Classic set we tested, except the knives have dimpled blades, which are supposed to slice more easily. The Classic set we tested received better reviews, so we opted not to test this one. Sources 1. Steak Knives, Americas Test Kitchen (subscription required) 2. Dominique Lemoine, 6 Sharp Players, Saveur, September 9, 2013 3. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, Equipment: What Makes the Best Steak Knives?, Serious Eats, August 31, 2010 4. Rick Gresh, Executive Chef at David Burkes Primehouse, Interview 5. Dexter Ewing, Field editor of BLADE magazine, Interview 6. Howard Nourieli, Founder of Bowery Kitchen Supplies, Interview 7. Kate Bonamici, Best Steak Knives, Fortune, May 23, 2006 8. Mark Richmond, Interview Read the original post on The Best Steak Knife Set. The Human Use of Human Beings, Norbert Wieners 1950 popularization of his highly influential book Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948), investigates the interplay between human beings and machines in a world in which machines are becoming ever more computationally capable and powerful. It is a remarkably prescient book, and remarkably wrong. Written at the height of the Cold War, it contains a chilling reminder of the dangers of totalitarian organizations and societies, and of the danger to democracy when it tries to combat totalitarianism with totalitarianisms own weapons. Advertisement Wieners Cybernetics looked in close scientific detail at the process of control via feedback. (Cybernetics, from the ancient Greek for helmsman, is the etymological basis of our word governor, which is what James Watt called his pathbreaking feedback control device that transformed the use of steam engines.) Because he was immersed in problems of control, Wiener saw the world as a set of complex, interlocking feedback loops, in which sensors, signals, and actuators such as engines interact via an intricate exchange of signals and information. The engineering applications of Cybernetics were tremendously influential and effective, giving rise to rockets, robots, automated assembly lines, and a host of precision-engineering techniquesin other words, to the basis of contemporary industrial society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wiener had greater ambitions for cybernetic concepts, however, and in The Human Use of Human Beings, he spells out his thoughts on its application to topics as diverse as the thought experiment Maxwells demon, human language, the brain, insect metabolism, the legal system, the role of technological innovation in government, and religion. These broader applications of cybernetics were an almost unequivocal failure. Vigorously hyped from the late 1940s to the early 1960sto a degree similar to the hype of computer and communication technology that led to the dot-com crash of 20002001cybernetics delivered satellites and telephone switching systems but generated few if any useful developments in social organization and society at large. Nearly 70 years later, however, The Human Use of Human Beings has more to teach us humans than it did the first time around. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the book is that it introduces a large number of topics concerning human/machine interactions that are still of considerable relevance. Dark in tone, the book makes several predictions about disasters to come in the second half of the 20th century, many of which are almost identical to predictions made today about the second half of the 21st. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For example, Wiener foresaw a moment in the near future of 1950 in which humans would cede control of society to a cybernetic artificial intelligence, which would then proceed to wreak havoc on humankind. The automation of manufacturing, Wiener predicted, would both create large advances in productivity and displace many workers from their jobsa sequence of events that did indeed come to pass in the ensuing decades. Unless society could find productive occupations for these displaced workers, Wiener warned, revolt would ensue. But Wiener failed to foresee crucial technological developments. Like pretty much all technologists of the 1950s, he failed to predict the computer revolution. Computers, he thought, would eventually fall in price from hundreds of thousands of (1950s) dollars to tens of thousands; neither he nor his compeers anticipated the tremendous explosion of computer power that would follow the development of the transistor and the integrated circuit. Finally, because of his emphasis on control, Wiener could not foresee a technological world in which innovation and self-organization bubble up from the bottom rather than being imposed from the top. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Focusing on the evils of totalitarianism (political, scientific, and religious), Wiener saw the world in a deeply pessimistic light. His book warned of the catastrophe that awaited us if we didnt mend our ways, fast. The current world of human beings and machines, more than a half-century after its publication, is much more complex and richer, and contains a much wider variety of political, social, and scientific systems than he was able to envisage. The warnings of what will happen if we get it wrong, howeverfor example, control of the entire internet by a global totalitarian regimeremain as relevant and pressing today as they were in 1950. What Wiener Got Right Wieners most famous mathematical works focused on problems of signal analysis and the effects of noise. During World War II, he developed techniques for aiming antiaircraft fire by making models that could predict the future trajectory of an airplane by extrapolating from its past behavior. In Cybernetics and in The Human Use of Human Beings, Wiener notes that this past behavior includes quirks and habits of the human pilot; thus, a mechanized device can predict the behavior of humans. Like Alan Turing, whose Turing test suggested that computing machines could give responses to questions that were indistinguishable from human responses, Wiener was fascinated by the notion of capturing human behavior by mathematical description. In the 1940s, he applied his knowledge of control and feedback loops to neuromuscular feedback in living systems, and was responsible for bringing Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts to MIT, where they did their pioneering work on artificial neural networks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wieners central insight was that the world should be understood in terms of information. Complex systems, such as organisms, brains, and human societies, consist of interlocking feedback loops in which signals exchanged between subsystems result in complex but stable behavior. When feedback loops break down, the system goes unstable. He constructed a compelling picture of how complex biological systems function, a picture that is by and large universally accepted today. Advertisement Wieners vision of information as the central quantity in governing the behavior of complex systems was remarkable at the time. Nowadays, when cars and refrigerators are jammed with microprocessors and much of human society revolves around computers and cellphones connected by the internet, it seems prosaic to emphasize the centrality of information, computation, and communication. In Wieners time, however, the first digital computers had only just come into existence, and the internet was not even a twinkle in the technologists eye. Advertisement Wieners powerful conception of not just engineered complex systems but all complex systems as revolving around cycles of signals and computation led to tremendous contributions to the development of complex human-made systems. The methods he and others developed for the control of missiles, for example, were later put to work in building the Saturn V moon rocket, one of the crowning engineering achievements of the 20th century. In particular, Wieners applications of cybernetic concepts to the brain and to computerized perception are the direct precursors of todays neural networkbased deep-learning circuits, and of artificial intelligence itself. But current developments in these fields have diverged from his vision, and their future development may well affect the human uses both of human beings and of machines. What Wiener Got Wrong It is exactly in the extension of the cybernetic idea to human beings that Wieners conceptions missed their target. Setting aside his ruminations on language, law, and human society for the moment, look at a humbler but potentially useful innovation that he thought was imminent in 1950. Wiener notes that prosthetic limbs would be much more effective if their wearers could communicate directly with their prosthetics by their own neural signals, receiving information about pressure and position from the limb and directing its subsequent motion. This turned out to be a much harder problem than Wiener envisaged: Seventy years down the road, prosthetic limbs that incorporate neural feedback are still in the very early stages. Wieners concept was an excellent oneits just that the problem of interfacing neural signals with mechanical-electrical devices is hard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More significantly, Wiener (along with pretty much everyone else in 1950) greatly underappreciated the potential of digital computation. As noted, Wieners mathematical contributions were to the analysis of signals and noise, and his analytic methods apply to continuously varying, or analog, signals. Although he participated in the wartime development of digital computation, he never foresaw the exponential explosion of computing power brought on by the introduction and progressive miniaturization of semiconductor circuits. This is hardly Wieners fault: The transistor hadnt been invented yet, and the vacuum-tube technology of the digital computers he was familiar with was clunky, unreliable, and unscalable to ever larger devices. In an appendix to the 1948 edition of Cybernetics, he anticipates chess-playing computers and predicts that theyll be able to look two or three moves ahead. He might have been surprised to learn that within half a century a computer would beat the human world champion at chess. Technological Overstimulation and the Existential Risks of the Singularity When Wiener wrote his books, a significant example of technological overestimation was about to occur. The 1950s saw the first efforts at developing artificial intelligence by researchers such as Herbert Simon, John McCarthy, and Marvin Minsky, who began to program computers to perform simple tasks and to construct rudimentary robots. The success of these initial efforts inspired Simon to declare that machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do. Such predictions turned out to be spectacularly wrong. As they became more powerful, computers got better and better at playing chess because they could systematically generate and evaluate a vast selection of possible future moves. But the majority of predictions of A.I., e.g., robotic maids, turned out to be illusory. When Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov at chess in 1997, the most powerful room-cleaning robot was a Roomba, which moved around vacuuming at random and squeaked when it got caught under the couch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Technological prediction is particularly chancy, given that technologies progress by a series of refinements, halted by obstacles and overcome by innovation. Many obstacles and some innovations can be anticipated, but more cannot. In my own work with experimentalists on building quantum computers, I typically find that some of the technological steps I expect to be easy turn out to be impossible, whereas some of the tasks I imagine to be impossible turn out to be easy. You dont know until you try. In the 1950s, partly inspired by conversations with Wiener, John von Neumann introduced the notion of the technological singularity. Technologies tend to improve exponentially, doubling in power or sensitivity over some interval of time. (For example, since 1950, computer technologies have been doubling in power roughly every two years, an observation enshrined as Moores law.) Von Neumann extrapolated from the observed exponential rate of technological improvement to predict that technological progress will become incomprehensively rapid and complicated, outstripping human capabilities in the not-too-distant future. Indeed, if one extrapolates the growth of raw computing powerexpressed in terms of bits and bit flipsinto the future at its current rate, computers should match human brains sometime in the next two to four decades (depending on how one estimates the information-processing power of human brains). Advertisement Advertisement The failure of the initial overly optimistic predictions of A.I. dampened talk about the technological singularity for a few decades, but since the 2005 publication of Ray Kurzweils The Singularity Is Near, the idea of technological advance leading to superintelligence is back in force. Some believers, Kurzweil included, regard this singularity as an opportunity: Humans can merge their brains with the superintelligence and thereby live forever. Others, such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, worried that this superintelligence would prove to be malign and regarded it as the greatest existing threat to human civilization. Still others think such talk is overblown. Advertisement Wieners lifework and his failure to predict its consequences are intimately bound up in the idea of an impending technological singularity. His work on neuroscience and his initial support of McCulloch and Pitts adumbrated the startlingly effective deep-learning methods of the present day. Over the past decade, and particularly in the last five years, such deep-learning techniques have finally exhibited what Wiener liked to call Gestaltfor example, the ability to recognize that a circle is a circle even if when slanted sideways it looks like an ellipse. His work on control, combined with his work on neuromuscular feedback, was significant for the development of robotics and is the inspiration for neural-based human/machine interfaces. His lapses in technological prediction, however, suggest that we should take the notion of a technological singularity with a grain of salt. The general difficulties of technological prediction and the problems specific to the development of a superintelligence should warn us against overestimating both the power and the efficacy of information processing. The Arguments for Singularity Skepticism No exponential increase lasts forever. An atomic explosion grows exponentially, but only until it runs out of fuel. Similarly, the exponential advances in Moores law are starting to run into limits imposed by basic physics. The clock speed of computers maxed out at a few gigahertz a decade and a half ago, simply because the chips were starting to melt. The miniaturization of transistors is already running into quantum-mechanical problems due to tunneling and leakage currents. Eventually, the various exponential improvements in memory and processing driven by Moores law will grind to a halt. A few more decades, however, will probably be time enough for the raw information-processing power of computers to match that of brainsat least by the crude measures of number of bits and number of bit-flips per second. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Human brains are intricately constructed, the process of millions of years of natural selection. In Wieners time, our understanding of the architecture of the brain was rudimentary and simplistic. Since then, increasingly sensitive instrumentation and imaging techniques have shown our brains to be far more varied in structure and complex in function than Wiener could have imagined. I recently asked Tomaso Poggio, one of the pioneers of modern neuroscience, whether he was worried that computers, with their rapidly increasing processing power, would soon emulate the functioning of the human brain. Not a chance, he replied. The recent advances in deep learning and neuromorphic computation are very good at reproducing a particular aspect of human intelligence focused on the operation of the brains cortex, where patterns are processed and recognized. These advances have enabled a computer to beat the world champion not just of chess but of Go, an impressive feat, but theyre far short of enabling a computerized robot to tidy a room. (In fact, robots with anything approaching human capability in a broad range of flexible movements are still far awaysearch robots falling down. Robots are good at making precision welds on assembly lines, but they still cant tie their own shoes.) Advertisement Education is as hard and slow for computers as it is for teenagers. Raw information-processing power does not mean sophisticated information-processing power. While computer power has advanced exponentially, the programs by which computers operate have often failed to advance at all. One of the primary responses of software companies to increased processing power is to add useful features, which often make the software harder to use. Microsoft Word reached its apex in 1995 and has been slowly sinking under the weight of added features ever since. Once Moores law starts slowing down, software developers will be confronted with hard choices between efficiency, speed, and functionality. Advertisement A major fear of the singulariteers is that as computers become more involved in designing their own software, theyll rapidly bootstrap themselves into achieving superhuman computational ability. But the evidence of machine learning points in the opposite direction. As machines become more powerful and capable of learning, they learn more and more as human beings dofrom multiple examples, often under the supervision of human and machine teachers. Education is as hard and slow for computers as it is for teenagers. Consequently, systems based on deep learning are becoming more rather than less human. The skills they bring to learning are not better than but complementary to human learning: Computer learning systems can identify patterns that humans cannotand vice versa. The worlds best chess players are neither computers nor humans but humans working together with computers. Cyberspace is indeed inhabited by harmful programs, but these primarily take the form of malwareviruses notable for their malign mindlessness, not for their superintelligence. Whither Wiener Wiener noted that exponential technological progress is a relatively modern phenomenon and not all of it is good. He regarded atomic weapons and the development of missiles with nuclear warheads as a recipe for the suicide of the human species. He compared the headlong exploitation of the planets resources with the Mad Tea Party of Alice in Wonderland: Having laid waste to one local environment, we make progress simply by moving on to lay waste to the next. Wieners optimism about the development of computers and neuromechanical systems was tempered by his pessimism about their exploitation by authoritarian governments, such as the Soviet Union, and the tendency for democracies, such as the United States, to become more authoritarian themselves in confronting the threat of authoritarianism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What would Wiener think of the current human use of human beings? He would be amazed by the power of computers and the internet. He would be happy that the early neural nets in which he played a role have spawned powerful deep-learning systems that exhibit the perceptual ability he demanded of themalthough he might not be impressed that one of the most prominent examples of such computerized Gestalt is the ability to recognize photos of kittens on the World Wide Web. Rather than regarding machine intelligence as a threat, I suspect he would regard it as a phenomenon in its own right, different from and coevolving with our own human intelligence. Advertisement Unsurprised by global warmingthe Mad Tea Party of our eraWiener would applaud the exponential improvement in alternative-energy technologies and would apply his cybernetic expertise to developing the intricate set of feedback loops needed to incorporate such technologies into the coming smart electrical grid. Nonetheless, recognizing that the solution to the problem of climate change is at least as much political as it is technological, he would undoubtedly be pessimistic about our chances of solving this civilization-threatening problem in time. Wiener hated hucksterspolitical hucksters most of allbut he acknowledged that hucksters would always be with us. Advertisement Advertisement Its easy to forget just how scary Wieners world was. The United States and the Soviet Union were in a full-out arms race, building hydrogen bombs mounted on nuclear warheads carried by intercontinental ballistic missiles guided by navigation systems to which Wiener himselfto his dismayhad contributed. I was 4 years old when Wiener died. In 1964, my nursery school class was practicing duck and cover under our desks to prepare for a nuclear attack. Given the human use of human beings in his own day, if he could see our current state, Wieners first response would be to be relieved that we are still alive. From Wrong, but More Relevant Than Ever by Seth Lloyd. Adapted from Possible Minds: 25 Ways of Looking at AI edited by John Brockman, published by Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright 2019 by John Brockman. Slate has relationships with various online retailers. If you buy something through our links, Slate may earn an affiliate commission. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. All prices were up to date at the time of publication. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. This piece originally appeared in the Conversation. The Green New Deal has changed the conversation among progressive Democrats about how to deal with climate change: from simply managing a disaster to how to take advantage of an existential threat to build a more just society. However, should this legislative concept be transformed from the hypothetical framework it is today into actual policies, some of the solutions it engenders could make global inequality worse. As a scholar of colonialism, I am concerned that the Green New Deal could exacerbate what scholars like sociologist Doreen Martinez call climate colonialismthe domination of less-powerful countries and people through initiatives meant to slow the pace of global warming. Advertisement The clearest cases of colonialism involve the unmistakable signifiers of foreign control: planted flags, and the formal and institutionally recognized assertion of authority over foreign lands. Only five countries in the world were not colonized by European empires in one way or other after the 15th century. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The history of colonialism has many clear milestones, including the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain, Portugal, and the Vatican that divided the world outside Europe between the two Iberian empires. At the Berlin Conference of 1884, European powers divvied the African continent among themselves. U.S. colonialism has often been less stark. But the United States does occupy land that belonged to people who lived in North America before European settlers arrived. Following the realization of its Manifest Destiny, it also went beyond its coastal borders by taking over many islands, including those in Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Advertisement Advertisement Likewise, overt foreign influence and control have become the exception rather than the rule, even for the original colonial powers. Throughout much of Africa and Asia, global empires like Britain preferred a strategy of indirect rule, with chieftaincies, monarchies, and other power structures that let them delegate their domination to local elites. Responding to global warming may require vast tracts of land on which to grow food and carry out new policies as the climate changes. In 1946, there were only 35 member states of the United Nations. Once most former colonies had become independent countries by 1970, that number had swelled to 127. Amid this wave of independence, rich countries continued to exert control over former colonies through a system Ghanas first prime minister, Kwame Nkrumah, first called neocolonialism. Advertisement Rather than directly running other countries, neocolonial domination is accomplished through levers of political and economic leverage. Advertisement Green New Deal policies could empower communities on both sides of U.S. borders, and could expand the power of poor nations to determine their own destinies. Or they could promote climate colonialism, a term that can mean different things to different people. To me, its the deepening or expansion of foreign domination through climate initiatives that exploits poorer nations resources or otherwise compromises their sovereignty. Others focus more on how formerly colonized countries are paying the price for a crisis caused disproportionately by the emissions from more industrialized nationstheir current and past colonizers. Advertisement Advertisement But the Green New Deal will not meet any definition of climate justice if it becomes the next chapter in a long history of U.S. industrial policies that have oppressed people. Advertisement Advertisement During the 19th century, when the transcontinental railway system arose, the U.S. gave land to rail companies that it had taken from Native Americans in a series of coerced treaties and wars. Similarly, responding to global warming may require vast tracts of land on which to grow food and carry out new policies as the climate changes. A global land rush is already underway. Advertisement Advertisement Take, for example, carbon offsets, a form of investment in greenhouse gas emissions reduction that lets the buyer offset the effects of its emissions-producing activity. But much of the available land is in poor countries, inhabited by people who are those countries least politically powerful. This can put them in competition for the land that provides their basic needs with powerful private interests from the worlds most powerful countries. Advertisement For instance, a research institute reported in 2014 that Norwegian companies quest to buy and conserve forestland in East Africa to use as carbon offsets came at the cost of forced evictions and food scarcity for thousands of Ugandans, Mozambicans, and Tanzanians. The Green New Deal could encourage exactly this kind of political trade-off. Efforts to boost energy security can also drive climate colonialism. The African continent is, paradoxically, both home to the worlds largest solar power plantthe Noor Ouarzazate complex in Moroccoand the people who are the least connected to the grid. Solar power may end up giving more Africans access to electricity, but at the same time, many large renewable energy projects in North Africa could soon boost the European electric grid, bolstering European energy security with a climate-friendly source of power while millions of sub-Saharan Africans have no energy of their own. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Daniel A.M. Egbe, the coordinator of the African Network for Solar Energy, calls this linkage of large-scale solar farms with foreign power grids a new form of resource exploitation. The Green New Deals stated goal of meeting all of Americas considerable and potentially increasing energy demand with renewable or zero-emission sources could create an incentive to go this route too, with Mexico. California already imports electricity from Baja California state, and business interests stand ready to expand cross-border grid links throughout Central America if that proves feasible. I see a serious risk that connecting the U.S. grid to Mexico and Central America could drain power out of the isthmus into the U.S. at the expense of Central Americans. Advertisement To be clear, I do not believe the Green New Deal will necessarily lead to climate colonialism, and I see its emphasis on climate justice as a good start. Technology and policy are tools, and how they function depends on how they are designed and how they are used. The U.S. could, for instance, do more to subsidize renewable energy technologies, because American innovation can expedite their adoption everywhere. The U.S. could also follow the lead of the federal governments National Academy of Sciences and fund a substantial research initiative on negative emissions, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identifies as necessary to prevent the worst climate change scenarios. The Green New Deal, in its current draft form, is just as compatible with this path as it is with climate colonialism. But I do believe that achieving a version of climate justice that doesnt end at U.S. borders will require the right vision, values, and strategies. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies , click here. 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. Samjhota Express service suspended ISLAMABAD: Amid tension between Pakistan and India, the Samjhota Express service was suspended on Thursday, a statement issued by the Foreign Office said. The Samjhota Express a bi-weekly train runs from Lahore to Indias Attari. The suspension of the train service left 16 travellers at the railway station. A total of 21 people had booked tickets for the train, out of which five cancelled their tickets. The remaining passengers were informed of the cancellation. Immigration officials said due to the suspension of the Samjhota Express, the travellers would be sent to India via road through the Wagah border. Preparations for the departure of visiting Indians whose visas expired on Thursday, are being made, they added. The FO said the train service will resume as soon as the security situation improves between India and Pakistan. Pakistans airspace also remained closed for a second day on Thursday amid tensions with India. All flight operations across the country will remain suspended till 5am on Friday, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said. The CAA clarified that the earlier notification which mentioned that the airspace had been closed until 2359HRS of February 28 was as per the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which is 5am PST on March 1. Since the existing NOTAM is effective until 2359HRS of February 28, Pakistan airspace shall remain closed. Please stay in touch with your airlines for timely update on any further changes, the CAA tweeted. The temporary closure of air space over Pakistan snarled air traffic, especially between Asia and Europe, though some airlines adjusted by rerouting their flights. In Bangkok, an important and busy hub for transcontinental flights, thousands of travellers were stranded. Bangkok airport officials said over 4,000 travellers were affected. Those needing help were getting access to accommodations and alternative travel arrangements, they said, though some of those stranded complained they were getting no help at all. The terminal was so crowded that the chief of Thailands immigration police, Surachate Hakparn, tweeted a warning to Please spare your time for your trip! The disruptions marked an unhappy end to a month-long tropical holiday for a group of 25 Danish students unable to board a connecting flight in Bangkok. The guard over there just said we have to go down to the basement to sleep. So we cant get any help or information, said Sara Bjerregaard Larsen, 21. Thai Airways says it had rerouted flights to Europe outside Pakistani air space. Malaysia Airlines also said in a travel advisory on its web site that it was avoiding air space over Pakistan and northern India until further notice. India also suspended flights though some of its northern airports on Wednesday. Those facilities were back to normal on Thursday, but flights both to the US and Europe out of New Delhi were affected. Air China canceled its flight Thursday from Beijing to the Islamabad. According to an employee of the airlines publicity office in Beijing, the status of other flights would be decided later. The closing of Pakistans airspace saw Gulf Arab airlines, which serve as a link between East and West in global travel, rapidly reshuffle their flights. In the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, civil aviation authorities immediately halted their flights to Pakistan. Airlines in those countries include the long-haul carriers Etihad, Emirates and Gulf Air. ANNAPOLIS (March 1, 2019)Maryland state legislation could allow people to use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefitsknown as the Food Supplement Program in Marylandto purchase meals at restaurants. Sponsored by Sen. Clarence Lam, D-Howard and Baltimore Counties, Senate bill 752 would allow elderly, disabled and homeless people to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards to purchase food at participating restaurants, Lam said. Arizona and some counties in California have restaurant meals programs and there are pilot programs in Rhode Island and Florida, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. Rhode Island's program currently has 10 participating Subway restaurants, according to the University of Rhode Island SNAP Outreach Project. This bill is scheduled to be heard by a Maryland Senate committee March 14. Identical legislation, sponsored by Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith, D-Prince George's, on Feb. 21 was heard by a Maryland House of Delegates committee, which has not yet voted on the measure. The Maryland Department of Human Services announced Wednesday that it will provide all Food Supplement Program benefits for next month on March 6. Normally distributed on a schedule from the 1st to the 24th of each month, March benefits are being provided up front to aid people affected by the federal government shutdown. On Friday, another bill passed the House of Delegates 136-2 that would allow more oversight of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. This special benefits program provides food, health care referrals and nutrition education to low-income women and children up to age 5 who qualify, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. House bill 506 would require the Maryland Department of Health to provide state legislators with annual reports through December 2021 detailing how many women, infants and children in the state are receiving the benefits of this program and how many are eligible but not receiving benefits. There are on average 650,000 people in Maryland receiving a total of $75 million each month from the Food Supplement Program, according to the Maryland Department of Human Services. After a successful Kickstarter campaign and the subsequent addition of print into their weekly subscription service, Los Angeles-based Yes Plz is expanding. Now, those looking to enjoy the combination an ever-changing coffee blend and weekly zine from Tony Tonx Konecny and Sumi Ali need not wait for it to be delivered to their doorsteps. In a Sprudge exclusive, Yes Plz has announced their brand new stockist program. Starting Monday, March 4th, consumers will be able to find the weekly box set at book and periodical shops and cafes around LA. Like with the subscription, each Yes Plz box found at a stockist comes with a 250g bag of The Mix, a weekly-changing, ever-evolving blend per the websitecurrently The Mix consists of coffee from San Ignacio Peru, Uganda, and the El Limonar from Guatemala, but Ali tells Sprudge that blend will change next week to include an Ethiopian coffee sourced through Collaborative Coffee Source and two Central American coffeesand Yes Plz Weekly, the brands accompanying print mag covering an eclectic mix of topics. Previous topics have ranged from dance to the postal service, bees to dating in the digital age in the soon-to-be-released Issue 015, which includes an interview with writer/filmmaker Nancy Jo Sales, whose HBO documentary Swiped investigates the dark side of the mobile dating trend, as well as [taking] up the cause of the star-crossed would-be lover with some Missed Connections. Konecny tells Sprudge that the plan with Yes Plz was always to break out of the subscription-only model, but they needed time kick the tires. The beans and zines combo is a little unusual and I think people are immediately intrigued by it or drawn to it when you hand them a boxwhereas with merchandizing stuff on the web, youre always pushed to center the value proposition around getting coffee sent by mail, framing it around solving a problem for the customer. We dont want to limit ourselves only to people whove bought into the utility having a coffee subscription. Its hard to grasp what were doing with this crazy print magazine thing without holding one in your hands. And then people cant believe were doing it every single week! For the initial brick-and-mortar release, Yes Plz will be available at Dayglow Coffee, Dinosaur, Kindness & Mischief, Cafe Dulce, and WoodCat as well as Now Serving book shop. More stockists will be announced in the coming weeks, and Konecny states that Yes Plz is looking to expand outside of the LA area, assuming the right partners come along. Any interested stockists can inquire about carrying Yes Plz via email at stockists@yesplz.coffee. Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge. Images via Yes Plz The margin of victory for pacing gelding L Weather B wasnt a big one on Thursday evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park, but it was enough for Shawn Steacy to celebrate his first lifetime training victory. Steacy, the son of well-known conditioner Mark Steacy, watched L Weather B turned a covered up trip into a head decision over J J Powerball in the $17,000 conditioned affair. The time for the mile was 1:55.2. It was the 25th kick at the can for Steacy, who now owns a 1-3-4 record with purse earnings just shy of $32,000. Hes got some work to do to catch up to his father, who boasts 1,671 victories good for purse earnings in excess of $24 million. One thing he clearly has going for him is a solid racing pedigree. To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results Woodbine Mohawk Park. Turkey president called Imran Khan ISLAMABAD: President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday called Prime Minister Imran Khan and congratulated him on his speech in the parliament as well as his statesman-type offers to India for de-escalating the situation and working towards peace, according to a statement issued by the PM Office. Islam is the religion of peace that underscores resolving disputes in a peaceful manner, Erdogan said, and appreciated the announcement by the prime minister to release the captured Indian Air Force pilot. He pointed out that this gesture was a sign of strength. Prime Minister Khan briefed President Erdogan on the situation that evolved over the past few days and the efforts he made to de-escalate the crisis. He also referred to the extremely difficult situation in Indian-held Kashmir and the brutalities inflicted upon the Kashmiri people. He also thanked President Erdogan for his constant support for Pakistan and the Kashmiri people. Both leaders agreed that President Erdogans visit to Pakistan for the Pakistan-Turkey High Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting will provide an opportunity for in-depth overview of bilateral relations and the way forward. Pakistan is the country that will always stand by Turkey, Imran asserted. Syria has told residents of the al-Rukban camp that it is safe for them to return home and has lambasted the US for preventing them leaving writes SANA. Syria has repeatedly affirmed, in statements by senior officials and concerned institutions, that it welcomes the return of all displaced Syrians to their homeland, an official source at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said on Thursday. The Syrian state is ready to shoulder all its responsibilities and secure a safe and decent return for its citizens, who were forced from Syria by the difficult circumstances, the source stated. The source added that because of their concern for the wellbeing of Syrians they, renew their call for Syrians in the al-Rukban camp to leave and return to their towns and villages. The Syrian state will provide everything needed to transport the citizens from the camp to their places of residence and all other facilitations to achieve that end, the source said. The Ministrys source went on to say that Syria reiterates that responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in the al-Rukban camp falls solely on the US occupation forces and their tools. They have been preventing the departure of Syrian citizens by means of force and through threats, in spite of the fact that safe corridors have been opened for those who are willing to leave the camp. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Idleb was designated as a "de-escalation zone", but attacks against civilians have continued reports Anadolu Agency. Attacks on Idleb by the Bashar al-Assad regime and its supporters are threatening a political solution in the country, according to a delegation from the Syrian military opposition. It has been six months since the Sochi agreement that created the cease-fire in Idleb, but the Bashar al-Assad regime continues to violate the cease-fire agreement in the Idleb de-escalation zone, with the support of its Russian and Iranian allies, said the delegation, which represents the Syrian military opposition in the Astana-format international meetings. Labelling the silence of the international community to the regime attacks on civilians as shameful, it added, The regime attacks on Idleb are threatening the prospects for a political solution and the Astana process. It said that the opposition was in favor of a peaceful solution, and added that the attacks targeting civilians would shatter the hopes for a solution. The only people responsible for this situation are the guarantor countries of the regime and especially Russia, it noted. Located in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, Idleb was designated as a de-escalation zone in May last year, where acts of aggression are expressly forbidden. Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. As well as asking for the release of prisoners, residents of southern Syria asked the General Intelligence Directorate to improve the living conditions and access to services writes Alsouria Net. Bashar al-Assad sent a security delegation to Daraa province in southern Syria, led by the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, Major General Mohamed Mahla, who carried out two visitsthe first public, and the second private. The delegation were sent to notify a number of notables from the city that they should totally forget those people who were arrested more than five years ago. Alsouria Net learned from trusted local sources, who asked not to be named to maintain their safety, about the details of the visit headed by Mahla, who was accompanied by a number of officers from the security branches in the south, most prominently Brigadier General Louay al-Ali, head of the Military Security branch in the southern region, as well as a general from the Russian intelligence, and the regime governor in Daraa, and a number of representatives of regime institutions and the Baath Party. Mahla began his visit in the city of al-Sanamayn north of Daraa, and then headed to the town of Tafas in the west of the province, where he met with notables from a number of cities and towns, in addition to commanders from the settlements and reconciliations. From local notables, Mahla received 13 requests from residents, most prominently, releasing prisoners held in the prisons of the security branches, disclosing the fate of the missing, and reducing the notifications calling people up for military service in the regime army, as well as other requests that included improving the living conditions for residents and providing them with basic services such as water, electricity, fuel, and other similar necessities. A source familiar with the details of what occurred during the visit told Alsouria Net that Mahla spoke about efforts to improve the level of services offered to residents in the coming period, but with regards to the prisoners and missing, he told the area residents to forget anyone taken before 2014, and then made promises to try to release those arrested after that and who were still alive. A source quoted Mahla as saying that those arrested before 2014 were in a, critical state and most of them could be deceased. 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. UNSG welcomed Pakistan decision to release Indian pilot ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has welcomed Pakistans decision to release Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured when his MiG-21 was shot down by Pakistan Air Force for violating the Pakistani airspace. UN Chiefs spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, talking to reporters in New York said, The report of the release of the Indian pilot by the Pakistani authorities would be very much a welcome step. We would encourage both parties to do whatever they can to de-escalate the situation. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appreciated Pakistan for its efforts for de-escalation of tensions with India and announcement to release the captured Indian pilot. In a telephonic call to the Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said Islam is a religion of peace that underscores resolving disputes in a peaceful manner. The Prime Minister Imran Khan briefed President Erdogan on the situation as it evolved over the past few days and the efforts he made to de-escalate the crisis. He also referred to the extremely difficult situation in Indian occupied Kashmir and the brutalities inflicted upon the Kashmiri people. The Prime Minister thanked President Erdogan for his constant support for Pakistan and the Kashmiri people. On the other hand, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Washington is in constant touch with both Pakistan and India for de-escalation of tensions between them. Pompeo said that during telephonic conversation with leaders of both countries, he exchanged good information. He urged the both countries to not take any action that would escalate and create increased risk. Syrian refugees living in Lebanon have been slow to return home, with some claiming that they have been pressured into returning, regardless of whether it is safe reports Al-Modon. Lebanese General Security has arranged the return of a new batch of Syrian refugees through the border centers in al-Masnaa, al-Aboudiyeh, and al-Qaa. This is the second voluntary return campaign for 2019. The Syrian news agency, SANA, reported that 22 buses from the Lebanese territory crossed the border into Syria, carrying hundreds of refugees. The buses that brought the refugees, began their journeys early in the morning, from the Saida, Chebaa, Nabatiyeh, Tartous and Akkar areas. In the Saida area, two buses started from the municipal stadium. The General Security office in the south arranged the logistics and secured the security measures. In the Nabatiyeh area, two buses carried about 50 Syrian refugees through the al-Masnaa border crossing. This occurred in a convoy that included the army, General Security, and the Lebanese Red Cross. Delegates of the United Nations and the agencies working with them, asked the returnees questions about the reasons for their return to make sure they were not leaving Lebanon under pressure. In the north, dozens of Syrian families returned from the Akkar and Tartous areas. Their journey was completed on buses that were allocated by the Syrian Ministry of Transport, which visited Tripoli. The refugees returned through the al-Aboudiyeh border crossing, in accordance with the plan developed by the General Directorate of General Security, in the presence of representatives from the United Nations refugee agency. 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. Weighing as much as a raindrop, the chest sensor can wirelessly monitor heart rate, breathing rate, and temperature. Credit: John A. Rogers/Northwestern University An interdisciplinary Northwestern University team has developed a pair of soft, flexible wireless sensors that replace the tangle of wire-based sensors that currently monitor babies in hospitals' neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and pose a barrier to parent-baby cuddling and physical bonding. The team recently completed a series of first human studies on premature babies at Prentice Women's Hospital and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The researchers concluded that the wireless sensors provided data as precise and accurate as that from traditional monitoring systems. The wireless patches also are gentler on a newborn's fragile skin and allow for more skin-to-skin contact with the parent. Existing sensors must be attached with adhesives that can scar and blister premature newborns' skin. The study, involving materials scientists, engineers, dermatologists and pediatricians will be published March 1 in the journal Science. The study includes initial data from more than 20 babies who wore the wireless sensors alongside traditional monitoring systems, so Northwestern researchers could do a side-by-side, quantitative comparison. Since then, the team has conducted successful tests with more than 70 babies in the NICU. "We wanted to eliminate the rat's nest of wires and aggressive adhesives associated with existing hardware systems and replace them with something safer, more patient-centric and more compatible with parent-child interaction," said John A. Rogers, a bio-electronics pioneer, who led the technology development. "We were able to reproduce all of the functionality that current wire-based sensors provide with clinical-grade precision. Our wireless, battery-free, skin-like devices give up nothing in terms of range of measurement, accuracy and precisionand they even provide advanced measurements that are clinically important but not commonly collected." Rogers is the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and a professor of neurological surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine. He co-led the research with Dr. Amy Paller, dermatology department chair, Walter J. Hamlin Professor of Dermatology and professor of pediatrics at Feinberg, and Dr. Shuai (Steve) Xu, an instructor of dermatology at Feinberg and a Northwestern Medicine dermatologist. Cutting the cords The mass of wires that surround newborns in the NICU are often bigger than the babies themselves. Typically, five or six wires connect electrodes on each baby to monitors for breathing, blood pressure, blood oxygen, heartbeat and more. Although these wires ensure health and safety, they constrain the baby's movements and pose a major barrier to physical bonding during a critical period of development. "We know that skin-to-skin contact is so important for newbornsespecially those who are sick or premature," said Paller, a pediatric dermatologist at Lurie Children's. "It's been shown to decrease the risk of pulmonary complications, liver issues and infections. Yet, when you have wires everywhere and the baby is tethered to a bed, it's really hard to make skin-to-skin contact." New mother frustrated by inability to hold her newborn New mother Taschana Taylor is familiar with that frustration. After an emergency C-section, Taylor's daughter Grace was rushed to the NICU, where she remained for three weeks. Desperate to bond with their new baby, Taylor and her husband felt exhausted when navigating the wires to provide Grace with the most basic care. Grace is among the 70 babies who have participated in the side-by-side comparison study so far. "Trying to feed her, change her, swaddle her, hold her and move around with her with the wires was difficult," Taylor said. "If she didn't have wires on her, we could go for a walk around the room together. It would have made the entire experience more enjoyable." Weighing as much as a raindrop, the chest sensor can wirelessly monitor heart rate, breathing rate, and temperature. Credit: Northwestern University Stressful and difficult to take baby out of crib "The gyrations that parents and nurses have to go through just to take the baby out of the crib are astounding," said co-author Dr. Aaron Hamvas, the Raymond and Hazel Speck Berry Professor of Neonatology at Feinberg and division head of neonatology at Lurie Children's. "Wires are going up to the monitor, down to the baby, maybe going through holes in an incubator," Hamvas said. "Nurses and parents try to get the babies all bundled, so they don't accidentally pull anything off them or out of the wall. It's very, very cumbersome and stressful. If the baby were totally unencumbered, it would be tremendously more efficient and less prone to problems." "Anybody who has had the experience of entering a NICU immediately notices how tiny the babies are, and how many wires and electrodes are attached to them," said co-author Dr. Debra Weese-Mayer, the Beatrice Cummings Mayer Professor of Pediatric Autonomic Medicine at Feinberg and chief of Pediatric Autonomic Medicine at Lurie Children's. "The opportunity to go wireless has enormous potential for decreasing the burden for the nurses, for the babies and for the parents." Going beyond current possibilities The benefits of the Northwestern team's new technology reach beyond its lack of wiresmeasuring more than what's possible with today's clinical standards. The dual wireless sensors monitor babies' vital signsheart rate, respiration rate and body temperaturefrom opposite ends of the body. One sensor lays across the baby's chest or back, while the other sensor wraps around a foot. (The chest sensor measures 5 centimeters by 2.5 centimeters; the foot sensor is 2.5 centimeters by 2 centimeters. Each sensor weighs about the same as a raindrop.) This strategy allows physicians to gather an infant's core temperature as well as body temperature from a peripheral region. "Differences in temperature between the foot and the chest have great clinical importance in determining blood flow and cardiac function," Rogers said. "That's something that's not commonly done today." Physicians also can measure blood pressure by continuously tracking when the pulse leaves the heart and arrives at the foot. Currently, there is not a good way to collect a reliable blood pressure measurement. A blood pressure cuff can bruise or damage an infant's fragile skin. The other option is to insert a catheter into an artery, which is tricky because of the slight diameter of a premature newborn's blood vessels. It also introduces a risk of infection, clotting and even death. "We are missing a great deal of information where there may be variations in blood pressure over the course of the day," Hamvas said. "These variations in blood pressure may have a significant impact on outcomes." The device also could help fill in information gaps that exist during skin-to-skin contact. If physicians can continue to measure infants' vital signs while being held by their parents, they might learn more about just how critical this contact might be. Transparent and compatible with imaging, the sensors also can be worn during X-rays, MRIs and CT scans. "Wires are not just a physical impediment to interacting with the baby but also disrupt imaging if left in place," Paller said. "The technology has been developed so you can do imaging with the sensors in place and continue monitoring the baby." Credit: Northwestern University Saving 'incredibly fragile' skin The blood pressure cuff isn't the only potentially damaging part of current technology. Many premature babies suffer skin injuries from the sticky tape that adheres the wires to the body. Tape can cause skin irritation, blisters and, ultimately, infections. In some cases, this damage can lead to lifelong scarring. "Premature babies' skin is not fully developed, so it's incredibly fragile," Paller said. "In fact, the thickness of the skin in premature infants is about 40 percent reduced. The more premature you get, the more fragile the skin becomes. That means we have to be very careful." The Northwestern team has studied 70 babies in the NICU thus far and found no sign of skin damage from the wireless sensors. The sensor's skin-saving secret lies in its lightweight nature, thin geometry and soft mechanics. The paper-thin device is made from bio-compatible, soft elastic silicone that embeds a collection of tiny electronic components connected with spring-like wires that move and flex with the body. Rogers worked with longtime collaborator and stretchable electronics and theoretical mechanics expert Yonggang Huang to come up with an optimal design. Huang is a Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School. "If you look back to the 1960s, the basic approach to monitoring infants is essentially the same as it is today," Rogers said. "It's taped-on sensors, wires to external boxes of electronics. That's all that's ever been done. "The strength of the adhesive required to keep our lightweight device on the skin is much lower than that of the kinds of adhesives needed to maintain an interface between a hardwired sensor and an external box," Rogers continued. "We have seen no adverse side effects in our study, not even a hint of skin injury even in the most frail babies." The wireless sensor communicates through a transmitter placed underneath the crib's mattress. Using radio frequencies the same strength as those in RFID tags, the antenna transmits data to displays at the nurses' station. Although it can be sterilized and reused, the sensor is cheap enough (about $10) that it can simply be discarded after 24 hours and replaced with a new one to eliminate any risk of infection. When will wireless sensors appear in U.S. hospitals? Rogers estimates that his wireless sensors will appear in American hospitals within the next two to three years. With support from two major nonprofit organizations, Rogers' team expects to send sensors to tens of thousands of families in developing countries over the next year as part of an international effort. "We're proud of the fact that this technology isn't just limited to advanced NICUs in developed countries," Xu said. "The technology can be adapted with minimal modification for low-resource settings." Explore further Bambi-belt to be tested in 8 hospitals around the Netherlands More information: H.U. Chung el al., "Dual wireless epidermal electronic systems with in-sensor analytics for neonatal intensive care," Science (2019). H.U. Chung el al., "Dual wireless epidermal electronic systems with in-sensor analytics for neonatal intensive care,"(2019). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi 1126/science.aau0780 "Improving care of critically ill newborns," Science (2019). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi 1126/science.aaw2085 Journal information: Science Credit: CC0 Public Domain Holograms. Emotive, life-like digital human beings. Washing machine repairs directed from miles away. The rollout of 5G wireless networks that will continue throughout 2019 and beyond promises a slew of new smartphones that will hum along much faster than the models they'll eventually replace. But while zippier handsets compatible with the next generation of wireless are surely welcome, 5G's potential extends beyond them. Verizon, and some of the entrepreneurial startups it is working with, recently demonstrated a few of the fresh consumer and business experiences made possible or enhanced by 5G, at its 5G Lab in New York City, one of five such labs around the country. 5G works in tandem with other technologies, notably artificial intelligence, augmented reality and enhanced computer vision, which as the name suggests, is the machine's ability to make sense of what it sees. In each of the examples below, 5G promises to handle the big lift in processing data that digests a lot of bandwidth. A very real but make-believe concierge She is attractive, emotiveand all-too-real. But Lia is an emotionally intelligent "artificial human" from New Zealand startup Soul Machines, with expressions and slight skin imperfections that make it difficult to tell that she is digital. Lia has a virtual brain, virtual nervous system and even digital versions of dopamine and oxytocin that affect her neurons and autonomously trigger facial muscles. She can make eye contact with youyou'll see your own reflection looking at herand read your face, detecting your emotional state. If you smile, Lia will smile back. The idea is that you will engage with Lia, or a digital person like her, to perhaps book a vacation to Paris, to find an ideal credit card, to handle technical support, or to interact in some other customer service fashion. Lia is modeled after New Zealand actress Shushila Takao. Soul Machine can change the digital person's age, ethnicity and gender through digital DNA, based on real people. And though you could fool someone into thinking the person is real, Soul Machine customer Autodesk gave a digital character purple eyes to remind folks that she wasn't. Soul Machine's other customers include Daimler and Royal Bank of Scotland. But fascinating as Lia is, you can't help but be wigged out by the prospect of not knowing if the person you are communicating with is human. And that is kind of creepy. Real-time holograms Evercoast is a computer vision and 3-D sensing software company that can exploit 5G to turn people in real-time into holograms. The goal is to shift the way people communicate from 2-D to 3-D. Along the way, you may experience new products, play games, and even interact with each other differently. Holographic telepresence promises to enable fresh shopping experiences, and impact corporate training, telemedicine and more. At the Verizon lab, Evercoast set up a "volumetric" rig with two-dozen off-the-shelf depth-sensing cameras. The company's software rendered the 3-D hologram more or less in real-time. Potential use cases: You might experience the dressing room of the future to try on clothes, send a stream to friends, and solicit feedback in real time. You might watch a 3-D newscast, communicate with your holographic bosses or "visit" your 3-D physician. You might even communicate this way someday with your grandparents as a holograms. Such 3-D content might be displayed on a large TV monitors, a glass cube display, via a mobile phone or augmented reality headset. Remote repairs Your internet router or washing machine is on the fritz, but the repair expert can't come to the house anytime soon. A startup known as Streem can arrange a real-time virtual visit, accomplished through augmented reality and video. The expert can collaborate with the person at home from afar, projecting virtual arrows and pointers to instruct someone on the steps he or she can take. The repair person can even take measurements remotely. 5G will let Streem stream higher quality video, certainly compared to 4G and in some cases even Wi-Fi. Home inspectors are among the companies that might take advantage of Streem's technology, perhaps while consumers await approval on a mortgage loan. And Streem is working with appliance makers and telecom companies that might make use the technology to provide remote customer support. Augmented shopping Say you or a loved one has a food allergy. Sure, you can physically inspect each box of cereal or other food item you come across in the grocery store to see if it contains nuts or some other ingredient to avoid. Verizon's own 5G developers propose a more hopeful solution, which uses augmented reality to blend online shopping with physical retail. You point the camera on your phone or tablet at store shelves to see an instant readout on the screen of which boxes have which items have which ingredients. This can be done today in a limited fashion. According to Verizon, though, 5G will let a retailer augment tens of thousands of products to identify ingredients or provide other data to consumers from product ratings or info on which items are in stock. Consumers might arrange a mobile checkout right then and there, and arrange to have items shipped home. Such technologies will take time to implement, and there's no guarantee of wide consumer acceptance. Some of these have serious privacy implications, too, that bear watching. What they again demonstrate, though, is that 5G's potential, while just that, is enormous and not just about your phone. (c)2019 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. C&G Aleska, a mining company, has dismissed claims that the company connived with a chinese entity to destroy over 20000 acres of virgin forest from their mining activities. According to the company's General Manager, Emmanuel Donald Entsuah; C&G Aleska has been unfairly treated by government's Inter-ministerial Taskforce on Illegal Mining and therefore wants to set the records straight. In a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, the company says it is licenced to operate in the mining sector, stating emphatically "we acquired a mining lease agreement dated December 23, 2016, between the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources on the one part and on the other part, the government of Ghana granted a mining lease over an area measuring approximately 21.54 square kilometres within the Upper Wassaw Forest Reserve in the Western Region for the plaintiff to mine for gold for a period of 10 years. "...Our licensed company, which operates under strict environmental compliance, is clearly the victim of the situation as illegal miners have taken over our lands. They are destroying portions of the land assigned us and it is, rather unfortunate for some elements to turn around and blame us (the victims)". While indicating its intent to "come out with a documentary to show how illegal miners have been destroying our concession", the mining company demanded for a "retraction and an apology" from the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) on the falsehoods it peddled. "The documentary will give viewers a clear picture of how the activities of illegal miners are causing the government to lose billions in revenue generation through taxes and other fees....We are by this rejoinder, requesting for a retraction and apology of the false story; failure, which would leave us no option, than to resort to lawful means to have our name cleared," the statement read. Read full statement below: REJOINDER TO NEWS ITEM TITLED: HOW C&G ALESKA MINING DESTROYED 24,000 ACRES OF VIRGIN FOREST RESERVE IN DENKYIRA. The attention of C&G Aleska, a licensed mining company, has been drawn to a news item indicating it had allegedly connived with Chinese nationals to destroy 24,000 acres of virgin forest. We deny this story in its entirety and wish to place on record that we are a licenced mining company who, have been unfairly dealt with by the Inter Ministerial Task Force on Illegal Mining and other government agencies. We acquired a mining lease agreement dated December 23, 2016, between the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources on the one part and on the other part, the government of Ghana granted a mining lease over an area measuring approximately 21.54 square kilometres within the Upper Wassaw Forest Reserve in the Western Region for the plaintiff to mine for gold for a period of 10 years. Prior to the grant of the mining lease, we obtained the necessary entry permits from the Forestry Commission to enable us to commence operations in the Upper Wassaw Forest Reserve in the Western Region. We entered the Upper Wassaw Forest Reserve to prepare the mining concession in order to commence mining operations. In the course of the preparatory works to commence mining activities, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on illegal mining taskforce on February 9, 2019, invaded the companys mining concession, seized its machinery, equipments and moneys without taking inventory and without any form of explanation. The seized equipment and moneys run into several millions of cedis. We have since the seizure, not been able to operate. We have petitioned the Presidency and even filed a suit at the High Court against the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Attorney-General, demanding that our moneys and equipment be released to us among other reliefs. Our licensed company, which operates under strict environmental compliance, is clearly the victim of the situation as illegal miners have taken over our lands. They are destroying portions of the land assigned us and it is, rather unfortunate for some elements to turn around and blame us (the victims). C&G Aleska will soon come out with a documentary to show how illegal miners have been destroying our concession. The documentary will give viewers a clear picture of how the activities of illegal miners are causing the government to lose billions in revenue generation through taxes and other fees. We have invested so much into the area and at no point would we engage in activities harmful to the environment. We are by this rejoinder, requesting for a retraction and apology of the false story; failure, which would leave us no option, than to resort to lawful means to have our name cleared. .. EMMANUEL DONALD ENTSUAH GENERAL MANAGER C&G ALESKA MINING CO. LTD. 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 The Undead Archives I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world. The Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Friday, 1st March, 2019, joined Muslim worshippers at the Abossey Okai Central Mosque in Accra, to offer prayers and thanks-giving to Allah for his goodness to Ghana in its 62 years of Independence. Dr. Bawumia used the occasion to give thanks to Allah for giving Ghana peace and unity. "I thank Almighty Allah for allowing Ghanaians to enjoy peace, unity in our 62 years as an independent country," he said. The Vice President urged Ghanaians to cherish the peace we enjoy and eschew any words or deeds that could negatively impact on the nation's harmonious forward march. "We are one people despite our cultural differences. Ghana is a place where everybody feels a sense of belonging. Let us continue to co-exist to develop our homeland Ghanam," Dr. Bawumia added. "President Akufo-Addo is building an inclusive society. That is why we have introduced free SHS, planting for foods and jobs, Nation Builder's Corps (NaBCo) so that every citizen regardless of where you are coming from will benefit from government's policies," Vice President Bawumia explained. "The establishment of the Zongo Development Fund shows how passionate President Akufo-Addo is when it comes to developments in the zongos." In his sermon, the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu Sharabu, commended the government for its tremendous performance and pro-poor policies introduced. The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr.Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, asked all Muslims to pray for President Akufo-Addo, Vice President Bawumia and other government appointees to enable them serve the people of Ghana with dedication. Alhaji Dr. Bawumia was accompanied by Hon. Abu-Bakar Saddique Boniface, Minister of State at the Office of the Vice President; Hon. Alhaji Habib Saad, MP for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro; Abdul Aziz Haruna Futa, Nasara Coordinator of the ruling New Patriotic Party, (NPP), Sheik I.C Quaye,Chairman of Hajj Board and other officials. Source: 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 The Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament yesterday boycotted the passage of the Public Holiday (Amendment) Bill, saying it will never be part of an attempt by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to alter the history of the country by introducing new public holidays and changing existing ones. The NDC MPs, led by the Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu were vociferous in their opposition to the Public Holiday (Amendment) Bill. They stated categorically that if the NDC wins power in 2020 it will immediately reverse the decision to make January 7 and August 4, Constitution Day and the Founders Day respectively. It said it would also reverse the decision to make African Union (AU) Day on May 25, Republic Day on July 1 and Founders Day on September 21 as commemorative days. The minority leader said the minority will not be part of such an embarrassment to rewrite the history of country, particularly with the NPP government refusing to recognize former President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah as the Founder of the nation. He indicated that all of Africa recognizes Dr Kwame Nkrumah as the founder of the modern Ghana who played pioneering role in helping other African countries to gain independence. The Minority leader also explained that making Republic Day, a commemorative day is completely misplaced because republican status is key to the political history of the country and will therefore not be part of the passage of that bill. The majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the minoritys boycott showed its intolerance for positive changes. According to him, at the committee level both the majority and the minority agreed to come up with a report for those changes to be made only for them to eventually turn round to oppose the consideration and passage of the bill. He said without the Minority, the majority will continue to discharge their duties as MPs and consider the Public Holiday (Amendment) Bill. 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 General Secretary of Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, Rev Emmanuel Barigah says political campaign in churches will be banned ahead of election 2020. He explained that the approach is not healthy for the Christian kingdom, after threatening a total boycott of voting by its members. We will not allow them [political parties] to campaign in churches again, and we will also not vote for any party who engage vigilante groups. We will instruct all our members to boycott the election . . . he said. Rev Emmanuel Barigah was discussing NDCs National Chairman leaked tape on NEAT FMs evening political program, Torchlight with Mac Jerry Osei Agyeman. Mr. Ofosu-Ampofo has had his reputation as a servant of God come into question after a two-hour explosive audio recording emerged on Tuesday, in which he is heard calling on members of his party to attack political opponents, and carry out acts apparently to create the impression that Ghana is not safe. Even though the NDC is seeking to suggest that the tape is a doctored one, the Pentecost and Charismatic Council appears strongly concerned about its reputation and is, therefore, demanding the tape to enable it to authenticate if it is true or not. Premature To Judge Ofosu-Ampofo According Rev Emmanuel Barigah, utterances on the tape must be condemned, but noted that the lad should not be judged. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the voice has been doctored so lets not judge him hastily. We have to investigate before we make any decision on the issue. Currently it is too premature to judge him. The council will order for the voice to investigate, he said. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007 Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In this week's edition of 'stories behind the songs', we take a bit more of an imaginative leap and examine ABBA's Fernando for any historical basis. As a disclaimer, this may be quite the reach in interpretation. Why, you ask? According to Genius.com, songwriters Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Stig Anderson may not have had any historical inspiration at all! After all, Ulvaeus is quoted in the book 1000 UK #1 Hits as follows: "That lyric is so banal and I didnt like it. It was a love lyric, someone who loved Fernando, but I inherited the word Fernando and I thought long and hard, what does Fernando tell me? I was in my summerhouse one starry evening and the words came, There was something in the air that night and I thought of two old comrades from some guerrilla war in Mexico who would be sitting in the porch and reminiscing about what happened to them back then and this is what it is all about. Total fiction." The songwriter has spoken. However, the beauty of interpretation allows us to on occasion ignore the songwriter. As a result, I will be taking the catchy song as a basis to discuss the war between Mexico and the United States of America in the nineteenth century. This is more of a humourous exercise, as based on the above fictional account, the events in Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again! do become rather ludicrous. More on that later. The Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 Granted, the story from the song may be entirely fictitious, but could it refer to any real-life events? Whilst Ulvaeus may have just been taking elements that partly resemble reality, we can look at the lyrics to try and situate the story. The song looks back at a memory and is full of nostalgia alongside themes of patriotism. The narrator talks through their fear of war and sets the scene for the memory, but is confident that they do not regret what they and Fernando did. The mention of a bugle and drums could situate the conflict the narrator mentions as being in the nineteenth century. But which conflict? Mexico had a lot of wars between its declaration of independence, including a war of independence. The country went through a turbulent time and changed its status multiple times. First, it was the Mexican Empire (1822-23), then the First Mexican Republic, then the Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Second Mexican Republic, the Second Mexican Empire, and finally, the United Mexican States. All of this in the space of forty odd years. Public domain As an illustration, I've copied the time in office of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna below. As it shows, he was hopping in and out of office so many times that historians sometimes refer to the first half of the nineteenth century in Mexico as the "Age of Santa Anna". Santa Anna was well known as an political opportunist and was a military general and dictator to boot. Wikipedia We've established that there were a lot of wars involving Mexico in the nineteenth century. So, the question is, which one is referred to in Fernando? The line Do you still recall the fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande allows us to discern that the war in question is the Mexican-American war of 1846-1848, as much of it did revolve around territorial disputes, to which the Rio Grande proved pivotal. Despite the secession of the Republic of Texas, which goes on to join the United States, Santa Anna refused to acknowledge the existence of the republic and viewed the territory as Mexican. The Mexicans were the aggressors in the conflict and ended up losing a significant amount of territory, including Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico and Alta California, making the Rio Grande the border between the US and Mexico. This could be the conflict that the narrator of Fernando remains nostalgic about, as the insistence on not regretting any of it could imply that the troops the narrator and Fernando were part of were unsuccessful: For liberty, Fernando Though I never thought that we could lose There's no regret The emphasis on liberty suggests the narrator and Fernando are young Mexican troops (alongside their fear of war) as they would continue to be full of patriotism, given that the country had emancipated itself from Spain a mere twenty years before and they would have grown up on stories of Mexico's independence. Of course, the details remain sparse as the song is based on fiction. However, it is entertaining to try and discern references to historical narratives. On the topic of Mexican history, there is a further European connection which I find fascinating (although utterly unrelated to music). The Second Mexican Empire was a poor French maneouvre at gaining influence in Mexico by installing Maximilian I as the emperor of Mexico. Spoiler alert: he was executed by Mexican forces. The interesting thing is how this adds yet another dimension of tragedy in the life of Austrian emperor, Franz Joseph I. Maximilian was his younger brother. In addition to this, Franz Joseph's son, Rudolf, committed suicide with his lover and then his beloved wife, Elisabeth, was assassinated in Geneva. Fernando in the canon of Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again! Now, you may require a hefty handful of salt with this next segment, but I want to examine the universe of Mamma Mia 2. In the movie, we meet Ruby Sheridan (played by Cher), the mother of Donna and grandmother of Sophie. At the party organised by Sophie, Ruby makes a surprise appearance and discovers her old lover, Fernando, who is the manager of Sophie's hotel. It turns out that Ruby and Fernando were lovers, which obviously prepares the scene for a duet! Given that the movie is meant to be based in the present, give or take a few years, this raises serious questions about the ages of Ruby and Fernando. Singing the lines 'Do you still recall the fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande? I can see it in your eyes, how proud you were to fight for freedom in this land', my conclusion is that Ruby and Fernando are either time-travellers or immortal beasts. Why? EPU/AFP According to the movie-verse, the two met and were lovers in 1959. However, the mention of crossing the Rio Grande refers back to the nineteenth century, making both characters far older than they appear to be in the present time of Mamma Mia 2. This is all of course based on an incredibly literal interpretation of both the song and the movie. I'm sure many of you will think I need to chill out and stop interpreting things so literally, but admit it, it makes the film and the song much more entertaining! Thank you for bearing with me on this perhaps slightly absurd journey that begins with an ABBA hit and ends with a dose of time-travelling nonsense. --- Nathalie Lodhi is a translator and editor for RTL Today and has an avid interest in music and history, although her topic of choice is usually Zimbabwean politics. On Thursday morning at 1am, a police patrol took notice when they spotted a woman chasing a man down the street in Luxembourg City. The police officers noticed the woman running from Avenue de la Gare towards Rue de Bonnevoie. Once the woman saw the officers, she told them that the man she was chasing had attacked her with a knife. The police officers then chased the man and managed to arrest him. After taking him to the police station, the public prosecutor's office informed the officers that he should be taken to the Schrassig penitentiary centre. It has yet to be determined whether the attacker knew the victim. The woman was taken to hospital due to cuts on her face. She was able to leave after quick treatment. The Vatican sexual abuse summit took place between 21 and 24 February. Bishops and cardinals from all over the world regrouped at the Vatican to discuss the topic of sexual abuse in the Church. In light of the summit dedicated to how the Church prevents and investigates abuse, RTL was contacted by a man who experienced sexual abuse in a Catholic boarding school. His experiences go back to a boy's boarding school in the sixties and the victim had documents to prove his experience. The now-sixty-year-old victim explained that whenever the topic of sexual abuse in the Church comes up again in the media, his memories come back to him. He followed reporting on the summit closely and explained that Pope Francis' conclusions were not satisfactory. In an interview with RTL, he spoke of how the memories seem to play in front of his eyes like a film. Normally, the nun would teach classes, but was indisposed on one occasion. The victim said that the priest of the monastery then came to hold the class. Once class was finished, he let the other kids leave and told the victim to stay behind. Once the other boys had left, the priest told the victim to pull down his trousers. He listened to the priest, but then the nun came into the room and told him to get dressed and proceeded to yell at the priest. When a Church hotline was created in Luxembourg, he never reported the case. He explained that the Church should have made a hotline including neutral parties. He regrets not having said something earlier, but explained that he needed to process the events. As a child, you take up the guilt and it takes decades to realise what the adult did was wrong. Cases in Luxembourg With the news of the summit so recent, this led to the question of how many cases were reported to the Church's hotline in Luxembourg between 2011 and 2018. Further to that, what did the Church do to both protect victims and prevent further instances of sexual abuse? These questions were addressed at a press conference on Thursday, where both the Archbishop of Luxembourg and general vicar were present. The general vicar Leo Wagener told RTL Background in mid-February that the Church would be making information public as a consequence of the report written by the late CSV politician Mill Majerus and his wife in 2010. The Majerus' report claimed that 138 people had called and reported 39 cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Luxembourg. The report also provided various recommendations on a number of levels. One recommendation made by Majerus was to improve laws, which has yet to happen. The statute of limitations remains at 10 years. The report also highlighted that it is insufficient to simply put abusers in prison. Instead the report recommended working with the abusers to treat them. However, the Ombuds committee for children's rights has deplored that ten years later, nothing has happened. There have been changes in terms of diagnosing and treating traumatised children. The association of social pediatry (Alupse) has worked hard on the issue and highed a social pediatrician. According to the Letzebuerger Wort, Minister of Education Claude Meisch has written to teachers explaining the situation to them. In just two weeks' time, students in more than forty different countries will protest government inaction on climate change. According to Meisch's newsletter, students are allowed to participate in the protests. However, Meisch highlighted that this does not make the day a day off from school, and students hoping to join in must provide a written excuse. The minister justified his decision based on the noble goal of the protests organised by Youth for Climate. He explained that he wants to give students the opportunity to participate without being penalised. Schools were also authorised to provide information meetings outside of school hours about the topics of the environment and climate change. Greta Thunberg joins Hamburg students Students in a number of German cities will take to the streets again on Friday. The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is joining protests in Hamburg. Currently, students throughout Germany, France, and Belgium are boycotting classes every Friday to call for politicians to do something. On Thursday, the parliamentary commission on defence met to discuss the deployment of Luxembourgish troops abroad. Francois Bausch, the Minister of Defence, insisted that the Luxembourgish Army would remain a "protective and observing army". Bausch was clear: under no circumstances will the army be an offensive one. The minister believes it is useful to adapt the framework of the army's foreign deployments. Amongst the planned adaptations are shortening intervention periods, integrating new jobs such as pilots, facilitating army procedures, and adapting the framework in which Luxembourgish troops and civilians can participate in foreign operations. All of these make up as aspects of draft bill 7325, which will be developed by Green MP Carlo Back. Un soldat de l'armee luxembourgeoise stationnee au Mali en janvier 2019. / Armee luxembourgeoise A further change will be that peacekeeping operations will be renamed "crisis management missions" if the draft bill passes. First of all, the parliamentary commission must approve the report, then the Chamber of Deputies will review, debate and potentially pass it. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: North Korean officials have expressed hopes of cooperating with Vietnams Viettel Group following their visit to the military-run telcos complex in Hanoi. The high-ranking delegation visited a civil equipment research and production complex operated by Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group, located in the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park on Thursday afternoon, and were apparently impressed with what they saw. The North Korean delegation to facility included Ri Su Yong, head of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK)s International Affairs Department, Kim Pyong Hae, head of the WPKs Cadres Affairs Department, and O Su Yong, head of the WPKs Economic Affairs Department. All three also serve as vice-chairmen of the WPK Central Committee. The officials were hosted at the facility by Vietnams Colonel General Be Xuan Truong, Deputy Minister of Public Security, and Viettel leaders. The visit was part of the officials trip to Vietnam for the second U.S.-North Korea Summit that ended on Thursday in Hanoi and Chairman Kim Jong Uns official visit to Vietnam scheduled for March 1-2. The delegations of North Korean high-ranking officials visit Viettels civil equipment research and production complex in Hanoi on February 28, 2019. Photo: Viettel Also on Thursday, the North Korean officials visited Viettels global telecom center which oversees and operates the telecom and information technology system in Vietnam, as well as provides technical assistance for ten foreign telecom companies. The group was also introduced to Viettels core telecom equipment system and several devices and solutions it has developed for the fishing industry. According to vice-chairman Ri Su Yong, North Korea has heard about and been impressed by Viettels technology. The country is interested in telecommunications products developed for supporting smart communities, Ri shared, adding that he hopes both sides can strike a deal to move forward with cooperative efforts in the field sometime in the near future. The North Korean delegation later went on to visit the Dan Hoai Cooperatives orchid planting model in Dan Phuong District, Hanoi. On the morning of the same day, they paid a trip to the Vietnam Agriculture Science Institute in the capital, as well as the northern province of Hai Duong. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Several businesses operating in Vietnam have the intention to build tracks for racing animals and vehicles across the country in ambitious projects collectively worth over US$1 billion. In Hanoi, a horse racing track expected to carry a price tag of $348 million is slated to be built in the citys suburban Soc Son District. Plans for the 99.5 hectare track include space for 30,000 spectators. It is expected to be located next to a large reservoir, a three-star hotel, a convention center, and tourist resort. The entire VND9.6 trillion ($412 million) project will cover 125 hectares of what are currently paddy fields. Hanoitourist Corporation and South Koreas Global Consultant Network, the projects developers are still awaiting approval from the prime minister. Also in the capital, FLC Group owner of Vietnams fledgling Bamboo Airways has officially proposed building a VND25 trillion ($1.07 billion) complex consisting of stadiums, a Formula 1 circuit, and horse race course. Meanwhile, the administration is Ha Tinh Province, north-central Vietnam, is seeking permission to run betting at VND300 billion ($12.9 million) local greyhound racing course built by a private company. Further to the south, another enterprise has submitted a plan to build a 95-heactare racing complex, one fourth on sea, that costs around $100 million. The tracks developers hope to increase their return on investment by cooperating with a domestic television network to broadcast the tracks events internationally. Nguyen Duc Chung, chairman of the Hanoi administration, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the Soc Son race course will create jobs for around 5,000 people and benefit the businesses surrounding the facility. Chung hopes this will assure the public that the track replacing vast agricultural land will not leave farmers jobless. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A new species of damselfly, an insect closely related to the dragonfly, has been discovered by a researcher from Da Nangs Duy Tan University studying biodiversity in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. Damselflies and dragonflies are indicative of the water quality and general health of an ecosystem. They also help protect crops from pests. Dr. Phan Quoc Toan first wrote publically about the newly discovered species in an article published in the international journal of Zootaxa in early February, where he announced it would be named Coeliccia lecongcoi in honor of the scientific contributions made by Le Cong Co, the first president of Duy Tan University in the central city of Da Nang. Two damselflies of the Coeliccia lecongcoi are seen in tandem in this photo taken from Phan Quoc Toans paper published in Zootaxa in February 2019. Phan Quoc Toan shows Coeliccia lecongcoi, the latest damselfly that he found in Vietnam and was featured in a paper published in Zootaxa in February 2019. Photo: Ha Chau / Tuoi Tre According to Toan, the duty of naming a new species falls upon the person who discovered it, but the label must not include that persons own name. This is Toans second major discovery in the past two years, following his identification of the Coeliccia duytan damselfly species at Chu Mom Ray National Park in Kon Tum in 2017. Toans office at Duy Tan University looks more like a natural history museum than an office, with damselflies and dragonflies covering the walls a precursor to the biological museum he hopes to build one day in central Vietnam. When I started doing my PhD thesis on dragonflies in Japan in 2013, my instructors told me to mine for gold when I returned to Vietnam, he recalled. Phan Quoc Toan shows insect specimens in his office at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, central Vietnam. Photo: Ha Chau / Tuoi Tre And that he did. I knew exactly what they meant. I finished my degree at the Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2016 and immediately came back to Vietnam when I did, in fact, strike gold. Those gold mines, he says, are the lush world of insects and parasites that make up Vietnams characteristically diverse ecosystem. Japan is so far ahead scientifically that theres even an association of nearly 100 scientists studying the characteristics and habits of the damselfly alone, he said. Thats why more there are more chances of being the one to discover a new species in a developing country. Over the past two years, Toan and his colleagues have found 19 new species of damselfly in Vietnams forests, nature reserves, and national parks. Phan Quoc Toan poses for a picture holding an aerial insect net. Photo: T.D. / Tuoi Tre Phan Quoc Toan (first right) poses for a picture with colleagues in a forest in Vietnam. Photo: T.D. / Tuoi Tre Toan has also taken part in several collaborative projects with foreign researchers and coauthored articles about new insect species discovered in Indonesia and Malaysia. His current aim is continue researching biodiversity in Vietnam and hopes to use his expertise to focus on conserving insects, studying their origins, and observing their reactions to climate and ecological change. He is currently considered one of the most knowledgeable damselfly researchers in Southeast Asia, according to To Van Quang, a researcher at Vietnams Southern Institute of Ecology. Toans works are expected to provide scientists with more information for research in the evolution, taxonomy, and genetic features of damselflies, Quang added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! North Koreas foreign minister Ri Yong Ho called an impromptu press conference on the night of February 28 in Hanoi, shortly after the Trump-Kim summit ended in the afternoon without any deals reached. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met for their second summit on February 27-28 in the Vietnamese capital, a two-day meeting during which both high-profile leaders had held serious discussions, Ri told reporters. The foreign minister said North Korea had offered realistic proposals but the U.S. wanted more. The two sides failed to reconcile their differences, which led to what Trump called a walk away earlier in his press conference in Hanoi, the Vietnam News Agency quoted Ri as saying. According to Ri, Pyongyang had attempted to get Washington to lift five sanction articles adopted in 2016 and 2017 under 11 United Nations Security Council resolutions, which he said hampered the civilian economy and the livelihoods of our people. In return, North Korea would completely and permanent dismantle all nuclear material production facilities in the Yongbyon area, including plutonium and uranium under the supervision of experts from both countries. The diplomat emphasized that North Korea did not seek a complete removal of all sanctions, but only partial relief. He added that it was the biggest measure it could take at present given the current level of confidence between North Korea and the U.S. President Trump and Chairman Kim had their first talks in Hanoi on Wednesday evening, and met again for a one-on-one conversation that lasted through noon on Thursday. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump attend the extended bilateral meeting in the Metropole hotel with their aides, during the second North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Vietnam February 28, 2019. Photo: Reuters During the last meeting of the second Trump - Kim summit, North Korea pledged a complete halt of nuclear and missile testing, including rocket launches, to ease the concerns of the U.S., according to Ri. The foreign minister said that if the two sides could go through this level of trust-building regime, then we would be able to accelerate the process of denuclearization. However, Ri added, the U.S. side was insistent on North Koreas moving one more step besides the shutting down of the Yongbyon plant, the countrys main nuclear facility. It became crystal clear that the U.S. was not ready to go through with this proposal, the North Korean top diplomat said. Ri said it would be difficult to come up with a better proposal than the one his country was putting on the table. Our principle stands and remains invariable and our proposal will never change in the future even if the U.S. wants further talks, he said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a formal welcome ceremony in Hanoi on Friday afternoon, commencing his official friendly visit to Vietnam scheduled for March 1-2. Chairman Kim was warmly welcomed by Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong at the Presidential Palace at 3:30 pm. This is his first official friendly visit to Vietnam after he assumed his post in 2011. It also marks a historic milestone in the two nations relationship, taking place 61 years after North Koreas former leader Kim Il Sungs first visit to Vietnam in 1958. Chairman Kim Jong Un is welcomed by General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre Vietnam and North Korea established their diplomatic ties on January 31, 1950 and will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the relationship in 2020. Following the ceremony, Chairman Kim and General Secretary Trong, along with delegations of high-ranking officials from both countries, were scheduled to join talks. The North Korean leader will meet Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan at around 5:00 pm the same day. The two leaders shake hands before their talk in Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre Chairman Kim left Pyongyang on his train on Saturday last week and arrived at the Dong Dang Railway Station in the northern Vietnamese province of Lang Son on Tuesday morning, before heading to Hanoi by car. He has been staying at the Melia Hotel in the Vietnamese capital for meetings with President Donald Trump during the second U.S.-North Korea Summit, held eight months after they first met in Singapore in June 2018. The high-profile leaders met at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday. No joint statement was signed between the two leaders, but President Trump said in a press conference on Thursday, before his return flight to the U.S., that he and Chairman Kim had an effective talk and discussed a number of issues. Young Vietnamese students welcome the North Korean leader. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre Hanoi residents welcome Chairman Kim on Ly Thuong Kiet Street as his motorcade travel from the hotel to the Presidential Palace. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The second U.S.-North Korea Summit in Hanoi was an important step in the development of dialogue between the two sides, Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters on Thursday evening. Vietnam has been consistent in its support of peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Hang stressed at a press conference held shortly after the Trump-Kim summit ended with no deal reached between the U.S. and North Korean leaders on Thursday afternoon. During their dialogues at the summit, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made active and constructive efforts to discuss a number of important issues. Vietnam, as the host of the summit, spared no efforts to make careful and comprehensive preparations and ensure absolute safety and security for the event, which reflected the countrys external policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, and development, Hang stated. According to Hang, Vietnams role in the summit shows that it becoming more widely recognized as a responsible member in the international community. Vietnams role and position in organizing the event were recognized and highly appreciated by leaders of the U.S. and North Korea, as well as by other nations, Hang said. The Southeast Asian country shares hopes with the international community that the both the U.S. and North Korea will continue to work towards resolving their disputes and continue to develop their relations. Hang also noted that Vietnam is willing to continue playing a constructive role in promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. The second U.S.-North Korean Summit took place at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in the Vietnamese capital on February 27 and 28. Following his meetings with North Korean leader Kim on Thursday, President Trump told the press that the talks were effective and the two discussed a number of issues but decided that it was not the right time to sign a joint statement. The U.S. leader left Vietnam later that day while Chairman Kim will remain in the country until March 2 for an official friendly visit. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Read what is in the news today, March 1! Politics -- U.S. President Donald Trump left Vietnam Thursday afternoon, right after a press conference following his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi with no deal signed. -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un started his official two-day visit to Vietnam on Friday, 60 years since a president of the East Asian nation first arrived in Vietnam in 1958. -- High-ranking North Korean officials visited a civil equipment plant of military-run Viettel Group in Hanoi Thursday, remarking after the trip that they were impressed by the corporations technology. Society -- Authorities in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, home to the famed beach city of Nha Trang, announced Thursday they will inspect local businesses for violations in employing foreign workers. -- Around a dozen residents in Khanh Hoa have stationed at a working toll booth to manually count passing vehicles and send the figures to authorities since Tuesday as they suspected its operator has intentionally lengthened its toll collection period beyond the expected period. -- Police in the central province of Quang Nam said Thursday they received a report that a local family had lost over VND1.8 billion ($77,305) worth of gold hoarded in a container full of rice the previous day. -- Vietnams national road traffic safety agency said it will step up its effort in punishing automobile and truck occupants who fail to buckle seat belts across the country from March 1 to June 17, with the aim of raising their awareness of fastening seat belts. -- Ninety-five people tested positive to drugs after police raided the largest nightclub in Vietnams southernmost province of Ca Mau Thursday. -- A boy over one year old died Wednesday choking on jelly in the north-central province of Nghe An. -- A man in Ho Chi Minh Citys neighboring province of Dong Nai was found hanged on Thursday just outside his house. Locals said he had been sad and frequently visited by debt collectors. Business -- The Central Eye Hospital in Hanoi signed a contract Thursday with Ho Chi Minh City-based Medical Devices and Biomaterial Plant JSC and Hanoi-based Vietstar Research Company to produce artificial eye lens for the first time in Vietnam. -- Cao Anh Tuan, a PhD at New Yorks Cornell University, and his colleagues presented Genetica, a genome-mapping technology using artificial intelligence in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Around a dozen residents in south-central Vietnam have taken it upon themselves to sit at a toll station and count passing vehicles manually, as they suspected the facilitys operator dishonestly manipulated figures of traffic volume to prolong the fee collection period. Nguyen Minh Hung, a representative of the grass-roots group, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that all members started the observation on Tuesday and would not stop until the end of Monday next week. Hung and his team are keeping track of traffic volume passing through the toll gate on the section of the National Route 1 Vietnams longest highway in Ninh Hoa Town of Khanh Hoa Province, where the tourist city of Nha Trang is located. Trucks and cars running on this road section must pay toll fees to the company that developed the road under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) scheme. The BOT developer, which is also responsible for maintaining the highway, is allowed to collect toll fees until it recoups its investment and gains some financial profits. The road portion crossing Khanh Hoa cost about VND2.6 trillion ($111.7 million) to build, and the toll collection period is 21 years and eight months, according to Vu Hai Long, deputy director of the projects developer Deo Ca Investment Joint Stock Company. But this is subject to change, Long said. Local residents, however, believe that the investment lacked transparency and the vehicle counts, according to data publicized by the developer, at the toll plaza were unreliable. They have thus started counting vehicles by themselves, and categorized them into the types shown on pricing signs at the tollbooths before calculating the total amount of money collected during a day. After spending a week counting, well send the data to the transport ministry, government inspectorate and state audit office, group member Hung said. A local police chief said the group had not done anything illegal but law enforcement has kept an eye on them to preempt violations. Deputy director Long said transparency was ensured as the operator reports the traffic figures and toll revenue to relevant authorities on a monthly and quarterly basis, and the plaza has also been regularly visited by transport ministry inspectors. The counting of vehicles is done by machine, Long stressed. When a ticket is scanned, the boom barrier is lifted and the number of times the barrier does this is stored in the computer. Dishonest reports are therefore impossible. But he did not mention the possibility that someone may try to tamper with computers doing the job. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Police in northern Vietnam announced Wednesday they have commenced legal proceedings against a local man who partially destroyed his older brothers house in a pre-meditated attack. The attacker, Nguyen Huy Xo, 56, is currently in police custody in Thanh Hoa Province and faces attempted murder and property damage charges. The police report states that a blast occurred at the house of Xos biological brother, Nguyen Huy Lien, just after 2:00 am on February 9. Lien and his two grandchildren were wounded in the attack but the others inside the house, including three adults and three young children, were untouched. The wall is damaged following the blast made by Nguyen Huy Xo at his brothers house in Thanh Hoa Province, northern Vietnam, on February 9, 2019. Photo: Thanh Hoa Police The wall is damaged following the blast made by Nguyen Huy Xo at his brothers house in Thanh Hoa Province, northern Vietnam, on February 9, 2019. Photo: Thanh Hoa Police The blast blew out a large section of wall supporting the two-story building, destroyed furniture, and caused severe damage to a neighboring house. Police estimate that the total cost of repairs will be over VND500 million ($21,553). Working off a list of more than 100 suspects, law enforcement officials eventually narrowed down the list to Xo, a man they say has been feuding with his brother for many years. Police also noted that Xo had fled his home shortly before the blast and changed his phone number immediately after. Xo was found by police and eventually confessed that a bitter disagreement with Lien and one of his grandchildren motivated him to carry out the attack. It is still unclear exactly what the disagreement was. Nguyen Huy Xo is seen at a police station in Thanh Hoa Province, northern Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Hoa Police According to Xos statement, he first began planning the attack in October last year and purchased two kilograms of explosives, a 1.5-meter-long slow burning fuse, and two detonators the following month. He originally had hoped to set off the bomb on February 2 but chose to delay because a number of people had gathered at the house for a family reunion. Five days later he rigged the home-made device on the second story of the house, burned the fuse, and rushed down a ladder to escape the blast. He hid in various rental spaces until police finally found him on February 17, a little more than week after the blast, while he was boarding a fishing boat in Thanh Hoas neighboring province of Nghe An. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! On 60 Minutes new reporter Sarah Abo makes her debut with access to a vault with the remains of MH370. MH370: Never Give Up For her first assignment on 60 Minutes, Sarah Abo investigates new developments in the mystery of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Its now five years since it disappeared, but there have been no definitive answers about where the airliner is or what happened to it. The failure of the search has had an unbearable impact on the family and friends of the 239 people on board, who are presumed dead. But Danica Weeks, whose husband Paul was one of the passengers, refuses to give up. With Sarah Abos assistance, she has achieved what many think is impossible and arranged a face-to-face meeting with the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad the first time he has met with a relative of a passenger on MH370. The Perth mother-of-two has pleaded with him to continue searching for the plane. And as our story reveals, Dr Mahathir has been clearly touched by Danica Weeks determination, ordering his Minister of Transport to give 60 Minutes world-first access to the secret vault where recovered parts of the planes wreckage are stored. Its a degree of investigative transparency from Malaysia that is unheard of, and signals a major step forward. Danica says it is vital that the world finds out what happened to MH370. This is not just about the 239 people on the Boeing 777, this is about eight million people who get on a flight every day, she says. Reporter: Sarah Abo Producer: Gareth Harvey Seriously Funny In all his years interviewing so-called funny people, Charles Wooley has often been faced with the sad truth that many of them arent that humorous in real life. But not so Ricky Gervais. As Wooley discovered, along with the laughs this dangerously sharp comedian has the knack of being able to make people wince in agony or cringe with embarrassment at some of his observations. Rickys rule is there is no topic that cant be joked about. It has landed him in plenty of trouble, but as he says, he couldnt give a f***. Reporter: Charles Wooley Producer: Stefanie Sgroi 8:30pm (ish) Sunday on Nine. First Dates is hunting for new cast members to serve as a Maitre D, Waiter / Waitress or Bartender. Are you passionate about hospitality and customer satisfaction? Do you love to help others find the partner of their dreams through the art of wining and dining? Or do you know someone who is? a casting notice asks. Were looking for Vivacious and committed hospitality professionals over the age of 21. Applicants must hold a valid RSA. You can apply here. US actor Luke Perry, 52, was rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles after reportedly suffering a massive stroke. Paramedics rushed to the residence of the Riverdale and former Beverly Hills, 90210 star about on Wednesday following a 911 call. Perry was reportedly responsive and talking when paramedics first arrived, but his condition quickly deteriorated and he was taken to the hospital. A family source reportedly told TMZ that Perry was placed in a medically induced coma but Perrys representatives disputed that claim. Mr. Perry is currently under observation at the hospital, his publicist Arnold Robinson has said. Perry, 52, shot to international fame playing heartthrob Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210 through the 1990s and most recently returned to TV as Fred Andrews, father to Archie, on Riverdale. He will also make appearances on the six-episode series 90210 spin-off, which sees cast portraying heightened versions of themselves in a behind the scenes version. On social media several expressed their support for Perry. My friend. Holding you tight and giving you my strength. You got this, actress Shannen Doherty wrote. No words can express what my heart feels hearing todays shocking news. Let us all say a prayer for his speedy recovery, fellow star Ian Ziering wrote. Source: NY Daily News Two UK dramas, both of which are currently screening on ABC, have been renewed for new seasons. Death in Paradise has been re-commissioned for two more series following its eighth season run. Ardal OHanlon will return to head up the Saint Marie police team as lead detective DI Jack Mooney alongside Tobi Bakare (Officer JP Hooper), Shyko Amos (Officer Ruby Patterson), Don Warrington (Commissioner Selwyn Patterson) and Elizabeth Bourgine (Catherine Bordey). Aude Legastelois joins as series regular DS Madeleine Dumas following her debut in the last two episodes of series eight. Tommy Bulfin, BBC Drama Commissioning Editor, says: We are delighted to announce that Death in Paradise is coming back to BBC One. The show is a jewel in our roster of top drama and we are thrilled that its returning. Meanwhile, US-based streamer Acorn TV has ordered a third season of mystery series Agatha Raisin. The show is based on the novels by MC Beaton and stars Ashley Jensen as a PR guru turned detective. Three feature-length episodes and a special are in the works. Agatha Raisin was first commissioned by SKY TV in 2014, but was dropped after the initial season. The third season is being produced in association with All3Media International, which will distribute around the world including the UK and Australia, with Acorn Media International distributing in most other English-speaking territories. Source: C21 Legendary broadcaster Mike Willesee, who popularised nightly current affairs on commercial TV, has died aged 76 after a long battle with throat cancer. Willesee became a household name after fronting the ABCs Four Corners for two years from 1969. He then left the national broadcaster, persuading Channel Nine to allow him to start his own nightly program in November 1971 A Current Affair. Willesees interviewing style, with quiet questions and long pauses, became his trademark style. Ray Martin once said the Willesee pause became his signature move. You give a politician a moments silence and they feel like they had to talk, Martin said. They often said things they didnt want to say to Mike Willesee. But he had charisma and there was a touch of class about what he did in his journalism. Kerry OBrien, a former long-time presenter of the ABCs 7.30, remembered Willesee as an absolute trailblazer on Australian television. I regarded him right through my career as the benchmark, OBrien said. He cut his teeth on This Day Tonight. Mike was the first Canberra correspondent and had no television experience. He was quality and class from the outset. A very sharp mind and a great instinct for the right question. He famously offered a young Paul Hogan a TV job, and befriended a young Quentin Kenihan. An interview quizzing Liberal leader John Hewson about GST on a brthday cake was regarded as the moment he lost a federal election campaign. But there were also infamous moments, including one night when he was sozzled on air. In recent years Willesee joined Sevens Sunday Night. Hugh Marks, Nine, CEO: Im writing to you regarding the sad passing of Michael Willesee. His death has robbed us all of a trailblazing pioneer of journalism, the likes of whom well likely never see again. Our deepest condolences go to the whole Willesee clan at this time, including Allison Langdon and her husband, Mike Willesee Jnr. The word legend is somewhat too readily conferred in modern times, but it describes Mike to a tee. He all but invented current affairs television in Australia at the ABC in the 1960s. Then later at Seven and Nine he moulded the medium into an art form of which for decades he remained the prime and most skilful exponent.His particular skills as an interviewer are unarguably the stuff of legend. Most famously the Willesee pause where Mike deliberately allowed many seconds of silence to pass before his next question. He knew the power of silence, or a slight quizzical tilt of the head, would usually cause a hapless interviewee to fall into the mistake of speaking to fill the dead air. This gotcha technique came to represent Michael Willesee at his brilliant best. When others spoke too much, he said only what was necessary the short, sharp question which everyone was thinking, but no-one dared ask. He had a mind as sharp as a steel trap and a sense of humour as cheeky as his smile But across the craft he always shone like a beacon. So many aspiring and practising journalists have learned so much from Mike. And everyone who practises journalism in Australia is in his debt. Mike was a modest and humble man. A big friendly bear of a man who worked hard, and back in the day, played even harder. But he was always a gentle man. Generous and caring of others, his presence would always light up the room. Michael Willesee will be sadly missed but fondly remembered by all of us at Nine and across the media generally. Especially those who were fortunate enough to come into his orbit and to regard him as a friend. For 50 years he was a giant in broadcasting, a trailblazer of news, and a skillful master of interviews. Mike Willesee died today after fighting cancer. #7News pic.twitter.com/AIZCI1BdVm 7NEWS Brisbane (@7NewsBrisbane) March 1, 2019 Seven statement: We are deeply saddened to hear Veteran Australian television reporter, Mike Willesee, has lost his battle with throat cancer at the age of 76. The Perth-born journalist was known for his masterful interviewing skills. Willesee dominated Australian television current affairs for 50 years setting an industry standard that few were able to match. His final major TV investigation was for Sevens flagship news and public affairs programme Sunday Night. Our thoughts are with his family. He was one of the original hard men of Australian television. Mike Willesee was king in the era of 'kick-the-door' down news and current affairs. Sadly, we lost him today to cancer.@florezcata pic.twitter.com/QqOKsdrZal Sandra Sully (@Sandra_Sully) March 1, 2019 Source: ABC Theresa May's purpose in proposing to give up to three months for Parliament to vote on Brexit is to prevent the United Kingdom from leaving the European Union without having reached an agreement. This change of position by Theresa May came after threats of a mass resignation by ministers, and the request for a second referendum by the Labor Party, on the permanence of Great Britain in the European Union. The pound sterling was quoted at its highest level since 2017, which reduced investors' fear of a trade blockage, thus calming uncertainty in the face of possible financial chaos. For the leader of the Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, it is nothing more than an attempt by the Prime Minister to continue delaying Brexit in a way considered by him, to be imprudent. Theresa May offers to parliamentarians According to the BBC, Theresa May offered parliament a vote, including the changes that have been made in its negotiation with the European Union, in a process to be held on March 12. If this vote fails, parliamentarians will be offered two votes in the following days. In the first, it would be voted in favor of a Brexit without having reached any kind of agreement. In the second vote, which would be held before March 14, the extension of the negotiation process for two more years, Article 50, would be requested, which would delay the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Theresa May has said she does not want Brexit to be delayed any longer, and that they should be focused on ensuring that it arrives on March 29 and that there is an agreement that allows the United Kingdom to formalize its withdrawal. For her, any delay that is made should not be prolonged until the month of June, and this is the only delay that is made in this regard. Strong and stable: the parent group of the London Stock Exchange, which released its annual results today, is not so bothered by Brexit. Thats because it has become a data business. A snippet I wrote for todays Economist Espresso https://t.co/o8oyJKZ69Z pic.twitter.com/K8WH7TrGuc Matthieu Favas (@MatthieuFavas) March 1, 2019 The implications of May's proposal and the reactions it provoked CNN reported that the proposal submitted by Theresa May seeks to win more time, given the threat of rebellion, offering parliamentarians the possibility of rejecting a Brexit without an agreement, and thereby delay the departure from the European Union for a period of time. The rebellious ministers endorse a parliamentary amendment proposal, which would force May to establish a new date for Brexit. It must be taken into account, that any delay that occurs can weaken or revert Brexit. This would be a waste of time and is what everyone wants to avoid. However, you will have to wait for the result of the possible agreements. NAIROBI, March 1: A powerful explosion killed at least 11 people in the Somali capital Thursday, police said. An Islamic extremist group claimed that a Mogadishu hotel was the intended target, but a police officer said militants detonated a bomb while trying to assassinate a judge. The car bomb went off near the residence of appeals court chief Judge Abshir Omar, and security forces stationed outside the judges house fought off gunmen who tried to force their way inside, police officer Mohamed Hussein said. More than 35 were wounded in the attack, said Hussein, who raised the death toll to 11. Shortly after the detonation, at least four gunmen running on foot opened fire at nearby buildings and business, sparking clashes with security forces stationed nearby and hotel guards, he said. Two witnesses said the blast ripped off part of the roof of Omars house. The witnesses, shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamed and area resident Fatima Nur, reported hearing gunfire after the explosion and said smoke billowed from the site of the attack. Al-Shabab, which is considered the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa, claimed responsibility for the attack. The al-Qaida-linked group said the Maka Almukarramah hotel, not the judges house nearby, was the intended target. Another witness, Sabir Abdi, said the hotel suffered significant damage and several people inside were injured. Dozens of cars were on fire along Maka Almukarramah Road, which is in a busy part of Mogadishu where restaurants and hotels are located. Al-Shabab has targeted the Maka Almukarramah hotel multiple times in the past, including a March 2015 attack in which at least 18 people died. The hotel is frequently patronized by government officials. Many of victims of Thursdays attack suffered horrific injuries and local hospitals were said to be struggling to cope with causalities. Some of the wounded lost limbs, said Sadiya Yusuf, a nurse at Daru Shifa, one of the hospitals treating victims. The militant group, which opposes Somalias federal government and wants to impose sharia law, has carried out many deadly attacks inside Somalia and elsewhere in the region, including in neighboring Kenya. It was behind the deadliest attack in Somalias history, a massive truck bombing that killed well over 500 people in Mogadishu in October 2017. Al-Shabab also said it was responsible for a January attack on a hotel and shopping complex in neighboring Kenyas capital of Nairobi that killed 21 people. The U.S. has dramatically increased airstrikes against the extremist group since President Donald Trump took office. The U.S. military command for the African continent reported carrying out 50 strikes in Somalia in 2018. This year, U.S. strikes targeting al-Shabab fighters have come at an even faster pace. The military command in Africa reported 23 as of Tuesday, including one in central Somalia that killed 20 militants and another the day before that killed 35. Issad Rebrab, the owner of Cevital, Algerias largest private company, joined protesters in Algiers on Friday, March 1, to take part in a massive demonstration against President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas plan to seek a fifth term in office. The 81-year-old president suffered a stroke in 2013, and has rarely been seen in public since, according to Reuters. Rebrabs participation in the protests was described as symbolically significant by the news site Ameslay. Tens of thousands of people took part in the demonstration, according to AFP, during which tear gas deployed by police. Credit: Issad Rebrab via Storyful Algerian police have arrested and dispersed a small protest of journalists in the capital Algiers as they called for the right to cover the increasingly large nation-wide protests.Since last Friday, calls to protest were answered not by some, but by masses across Algeria in a never before-seen push-back against the government of Abdelaziz Bouteflika.They are calling for him to step down as a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections on April 18th as he seeks a fifth term.Algerians are protesting against Abdelalaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term, despite his poor state of health. That is the main demand. The other demand is a protest against the entire regime. They are demanding that the regime goes away, explains Hamdi Baala, an Algiers-based journalist.And so they are basically protesting the ludicrousness of an ailing man who partakes in election for a fifth term. Hes held office since 1999. And he amended the constitution to run for a third term in 2009 and now you're seeing a fifth term of someone who is clearly incapable of ruling. So essentially this is a peoples movement to say enough is enough adds Yasmine Allouche, an Algerian national herself living abroad as a researcher for TRT specialising in Algeria.Protesters are coming out en masse to make it clear that they want a complete reform and shake-up of the current system and for the constitution to be reformed, or at least adhered to explains Allouche.When Bouteflika was elected into power in 1999, under the constitution the president could only remain in power for two terms at five years each.However, in 2009, he amended the constitution allowing himself to be re-elected for a third, and then a fourth term in 2014, despite having suffered a stroke in 2013. But according to the constitution, article 102 stipulates that any illness that prevents a leader from governing the country must step down underlines Allouche.Change in the countryThe call to demonstrate was led by the people, stresses Allouche. These are anonymous calls to utilise the streets as a medium of protestbut now youre [seeing] a more organized response.At the heart of the protest is the umbrella movement called Mouwatana, born in Algeria six months ago.Right now Mouwatana is the initiator says Paris-based Fatah Bendali, the movement's coordinator in France.Mouwatana, which means citizen and peoples hope in Arabic, is a collection of political parties, associations and independent people working together with the overall goal to improve Algeria by emphasizing the role of citizens through the rule of law explains Bendali.That means it rejects our despotic system which is considered illegitimate and corrupt by everyone he stresses.The movement tried to initiate protests six months ago, but the government had refused such moves. But with elections looming ahead, Mouwatana called on citizens to come with us and to take the future by themselves says Bendali, adding it was essentially a call to protest that culminated last week on 22 and 24 February.Those protests were held in 45 out of 48 districts across Algeria, and by the Algerian diaspora across the world, particularly here in France, where a major one was held in central Paris last Saturday.Their chants clearly indicate that they do not want Bouteflika, nor his brother Said Bouteflika to run for Algeria's presidency.They also want to the see the Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia step down.Before the protests, he [Ouyahia] said the people are happy that Bouteflika is a candidate explains Baala.In response, the people came out to prove him wrong.Protests not newAllouche is quick to point out that protests in Algeria are not new, despite the on-going ban under the state of emergency.Various sectors of the education, oil gas sectors, have regularly undertaken strikes and protests along with human rights organisations but their numbers have normally been small, and thus not seen in the same magnitude as we [had] last week.Authorities tried to contain the demonstrations across Algeria, but the sheer scale of the numbers of protesters has overwhelmed police, say Baala. They couldnt contain the protests so [they] happened anyway, despite being banned in Algiers he adds.While the protests have not yet turned violent, Allouche warns that as the numbers increase, it is possible that the police will change their strategy.For the time being, Hamid says police are firing teargas and arresting protesters and releasing them at the end of the day.Upcoming demonstrationsMouwatana is expecting another major turnout on Friday and over the weekend. Bendali says in France protests will be held in Paris and Lyon on Saturday.Marseille, Toulouse and the Canadian city of Montreal will hold protests on Sunday. Algerian police have arrested and dispersed a small protest of journalists in the capital Algiers as they called for the right to cover the increasingly large nation-wide protests. Since last Friday, calls to protest were answered not by some, but by masses across Algeria in a never before-seen push-back against the government of Abdelaziz Bouteflika. They are calling for him to step down as a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections on April 18th as he seeks a fifth term. Algerians are protesting against Abdelalaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term, despite his poor state of health. That is the main demand. The other demand is a protest against the entire regime. They are demanding that the regime goes away, explains Hamdi Baala, an Algiers-based journalist. And so they are basically protesting the ludicrousness of an ailing man who partakes in election for a fifth term. Hes held office since 1999. And he amended the constitution to run for a third term in 2009 and now you're seeing a fifth term of someone who is clearly incapable of ruling. So essentially this is a peoples movement to say enough is enough adds Yasmine Allouche, an Algerian national herself living abroad as a researcher for TRT specialising in Algeria. Protesters are coming out en masse to make it clear that they want a complete reform and shake-up of the current system and for the constitution to be reformed, or at least adhered to explains Allouche. When Bouteflika was elected into power in 1999, under the constitution the president could only remain in power for two terms at five years each. However, in 2009, he amended the constitution allowing himself to be re-elected for a third, and then a fourth term in 2014, despite having suffered a stroke in 2013. But according to the constitution, article 102 stipulates that any illness that prevents a leader from governing the country must step down underlines Allouche. Change in the country Story continues The call to demonstrate was led by the people, stresses Allouche. These are anonymous calls to utilise the streets as a medium of protestbut now youre [seeing] a more organized response. At the heart of the protest is the umbrella movement called Mouwatana, born in Algeria six months ago. Right now Mouwatana is the initiator says Paris-based Fatah Bendali, the movement's coordinator in France. Mouwatana, which means citizen and peoples hope in Arabic, is a collection of political parties, associations and independent people working together with the overall goal to improve Algeria by emphasizing the role of citizens through the rule of law explains Bendali. That means it rejects our despotic system which is considered illegitimate and corrupt by everyone he stresses. The movement tried to initiate protests six months ago, but the government had refused such moves. But with elections looming ahead, Mouwatana called on citizens to come with us and to take the future by themselves says Bendali, adding it was essentially a call to protest that culminated last week on 22 and 24 February. Those protests were held in 45 out of 48 districts across Algeria, and by the Algerian diaspora across the world, particularly here in France, where a major one was held in central Paris last Saturday. Their chants clearly indicate that they do not want Bouteflika, nor his brother Said Bouteflika to run for Algeria's presidency. They also want to the see the Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia step down. Before the protests, he [Ouyahia] said the people are happy that Bouteflika is a candidate explains Baala. In response, the people came out to prove him wrong. Protests not new Allouche is quick to point out that protests in Algeria are not new, despite the on-going ban under the state of emergency. Various sectors of the education, oil gas sectors, have regularly undertaken strikes and protests along with human rights organisations but their numbers have normally been small, and thus not seen in the same magnitude as we [had] last week. Authorities tried to contain the demonstrations across Algeria, but the sheer scale of the numbers of protesters has overwhelmed police, say Baala. They couldnt contain the protests so [they] happened anyway, despite being banned in Algiers he adds. While the protests have not yet turned violent, Allouche warns that as the numbers increase, it is possible that the police will change their strategy. For the time being, Hamid says police are firing teargas and arresting protesters and releasing them at the end of the day. Upcoming demonstrations Mouwatana is expecting another major turnout on Friday and over the weekend. Bendali says in France protests will be held in Paris and Lyon on Saturday. Marseille, Toulouse and the Canadian city of Montreal will hold protests on Sunday. An annual parade has taken place in Cardiff as Wales celebrates St Davids Day. More than 200 people took part in the march through the city centre of the Welsh capital, while hundreds more lined the streets to celebrate the countrys patron saint. The St Davids Day Parade in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA) Last years event was officially cancelled due to safety fears owing to snow and freezing temperatures, though a group of around 40 determined Welsh men and women did complete the route despite warnings to stay away. On Friday, a much larger crowd dressed in traditional clothing and carrying Welsh flags marched through the streets of Cardiff. The traditional procession, led by performer Meic Peterson dressed as St David, is made up of local people, theatrical performers and choir groups marching and singing across the city centre. A man dressed as St David leads the way (Ben Birchall/PA) The parade ended in The Hayes area of the city centre at the statue of John Batchelor, a Welsh Liberal politician and mayor of Cardiff who campaigned against slavery in the 1800s. There the crowd joined in a rousing rendition of the Welsh national anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. Neil McEvoy, an independent Assembly Member in the Welsh Assembly, called for the Welsh Government to follow the examples of Ireland and Scotland and make celebrations of their patron saint a public holiday. A Welsh red dragon is pulled along during the parade (Ben Birchall/PA) Addressing the crowd, he said: Cardiff Council, the Welsh Government, the Assembly, give your staff a day off. Make St Davids Day a festival. Go to Ireland, go to Dublin, see them celebrate Irishness. Go to Scotland, see how they celebrate Scottishness. What we need to do is invest in our national event, St Davids Day. British Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington and Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney have held constructive talks in Dublin as the Brexit deadline looms. The meeting took place at Government Buildings in Dublin on Thursday afternoon. It lasted about 60 minutes. A spokesman for Mr Coveney described the meeting as constructive. He said Mr Coveney and Mr Lidington had held a detailed exchange on the political situation in Westminster. The Tanaiste made clear the EU position that the Withdrawal Agreement would not be reopened and that there is only one EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels, the spokesman said. He added that Mr Coveney had discussed the Irish governments desire to reassure Westminster that if the backstop ever were to be used, it would only apply unless and until it was replaced by alternative arrangements. Issues relating to Northern Ireland were also discussed. The spokesman said: They discussed the urgent need for devolved administration in Stormont through a new talks process for all the parties. He added that the ministers had agreed to stay in touch in the days and weeks ahead. Speaking ahead of the meeting Mr Coveney said the talks were not in any way a bilateral negotiation on the UKs withdrawal from the EU. Mr Coveney said the meeting had been arranged at Mr Lidingtons request. The real negotiation will happen in Brussels and thats very clear, Mr Coveney said. He made the comments at an event at University College Dublin to launch the Irish Governments new foreign aid policy. Mr Coveney said there was little he could say about Brexit that Mr Lidington had not already heard, but the EU may provide an addition to the Withdrawal Agreement to give some assurance to the UK Government. The British Prime Minister will try to get ratification from her Parliament for any final deal, he said. Story continues Simon Coveney (Brian Lawless/PA) I think the EU parliament wants to work with the UK to try to give the reassurance and clarification to get that done, particularly around the protocol on Ireland and the Irish backstop, he said. The EU has made it very clear though that theyre not going to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement in terms of text. So what theyll be providing will be an addition to that, but in a way that doesnt undermine the meaning of that text which I think is very important from an Irish perspective. (PA Graphics) Asked whether it would be a legally binding addition, he replied: Lets wait and see what the negotiating teams work on. The Queen and Princess Anne with Crown Prince Hussein, Queen Rania and King Abdullah II of Jordan at Buckingham Palace [Photo: PA] The Queen has sparked health concerns after being photographed with what appears to be a purple hand. The 92-year-old monarch was pictured with daughter Princess Anne, as they hosted King Abdullah, Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. But social media users noticed that the Queen appeared to have a purple hand or what might be a bruise on her left hand and began posting well-wishes. Oh my HM does look like she hurt her hand.. Hope it heals quickly Colleen White (@cmbmw) February 28, 2019 I love keeping up with Queen EliAbeth II but Im concerned. Why does she have such a terrible bruise on her left hand. Did I miss something? But as always, she looks stunning! Tracy Edgar (@TracyLEdgar) February 28, 2019 The Queen in conversation with Queen Rania, King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan [Photo: PA] Her Majesty, who turns 93 in April, is generally in good health. She was admitted to hospital in 2013 aged 86, as a precautionary measure, after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis. A scheduled visit to Rome was called off as a result. She also had cataract surgery in May 2018 at the private King Edward VIIs hospital, but wore sunglasses in public to avoid cancelling engagements. The Queen and Princess Royal had a private audience with the King and Queen of Jordan, before hosting lunch. READ MORE: The Queen returns to London after her winter break in Sandringham King Abdullah has just marked the 20th anniversary of his rule he took his countrys throne on February 7, 1999 on the death of his father, King Hussein. He and Queen Rania also attended the conference Jordan: Growth and Opportunity, while in London, where Prime Minister Theresa May gave a speech. Next week the Queen will host a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the 50th anniversary of the investiture of the Prince of Wales, where Charles, Camilla, the Cambridges and the Sussexes will be in attendance. SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Friday South Korea will cooperate with the United States and North Korea to help their stalled talks reach a complete settlement. A second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed on Thursday over sanctions against Pyongyang. The two sides gave conflicting accounts of what happened, raising questions about the future of their denuclearisation negotiations. "I believe this is part of a process to reach a higher level of agreement. Now our role has become even more important," Moon said in a speech while commemorating a national holiday. "My administration will closely communicate and cooperate with the United States and North Korea so as to help their talks reach a complete settlement by any means," he said. Moon also said South Korea would consult with the United States on ways to resume tourism in Mount Kumgang and the operation of the Kaesong industrial complex, both in North Korea. South Korea suspended operations at the jointly run factory park in Kaesong after a long-range rocket launch by Pyongyang in 2016, cutting off an important source of revenue for the impoverished North. North Korea's Kim has also emphasised the need to bolster tourism as part of his drive to develop the country's economy. The North earned $30 million annually from Mt. Kumgang tours between 1998-2008 before they were suspended, the South's unification ministry estimated. Moon said South Korea's cooperation with Japan would also be strengthened for the sake of peace on the Korean peninsula. "When the pain of victims is substantively healed through concerted efforts, Korea and Japan will become genuine friends with heart-to-heart understanding," Moon said, without giving specifics. Relations between South Korea and Japan have soured since last year, when South Korea disbanded a fund meant to settle compensation for South Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War Two. South Korea's top court also ordered Japanese firms to compensate South Koreans for their forced labour in the war. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Paul Tait) Shamima Begum left London in 2015 as a 15-year-old Isis bride Shamima Begum and her newborn baby are thought to have fled their Syrian refugee camp after being threatened by other jihadi wives. The Sun reported that Ms Begum, who wants to return to the UK but has been stripped of her British citizenship, had received death threats since speaking out about her plight. Her family lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, confirmed that the teenager and her son, Jerah, were moved from the al-Hawl camp due to safety concerns. Ms Begum, who fled from Bethnal Green in east London to join Islamic State in 2015 with two school friends, said last month she wanted to return home for the health of her unborn child. Stills taken from CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police of (left to right) Kadiza Sultana, Shamima Begum, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport. Source: PA The 19-year-old then gave birth days after her discovery by a journalist was first reported and recently said she regretted speaking to the media. The mother and baby are said to have since been moved to another camp nearer to the Iraqi border. The development comes after British officials ruled out any effort inside Syria to extract Ms Begum and her child. Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her British citizenship in an effort to block her return. Ms Begums family have pleaded for the pair to be allowed to come back to Britain, but what comes next? She could lodge an appeal Although Mr Javid stripped her of her British citizenship, saying she is a dual British-Bangladeshi national, both Ms Begum and the Bangladeshi government have denied she is a citizen. Under international law, it is illegal to strip someone of their only citizenship if they then become stateless. Therefore Ms Begum could appeal Mr Javids decision and have her British nationality reinvoked. Ms Begum, pictured here when she was 15, resisted her familys calls for her to return home. Source: PA Her son could come to the UK Mr Javid confirmed her son was a British citizen as he was born before his mothers citizenship was revoked and so could be entitled to British consular help and come back to the UK if he was taken out of Syria with her consent. Mr Javid said: If it is possible for a British child to be brought to a place where there is British consular presence the closest place might be Turkey then in those circumstances, its potentially possible to arrange some sort of help with the consent of the parent. Story continues Stuck in limbo The likelihood is that Ms Begum will probably remain in Syria for the foreseeable future. The UK, Bangladesh and Holland, where her husband is from, are all adamant to keep her out of their borders, and with international help looking unlikely, Ms Begum will have no other option but remain in a refugee camp. France and the Netherlands will work together to improve the performance of Air France-KLM, the French finance minister said on Friday, after talks with his Dutch counterpart to ease tensions over the airline alliance. The French government is the airlines largest shareholder, and so the Netherlands shock stock buy with the country now being the second biggest shareholder -- ratcheting up already significant tension between the two countries over the company.The meeting today between Paris and The Hague have apparently eased those tensions. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire's told reporters after a meeting with Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra in the French capital, "We have explained ourselves to each other We want to look to the future with the goal of making Air France-KLM the most successful airline in the world.Hoekstra explained before Fridays meeting of the buy, The Dutch Cabinet wants to be able to directly influence the future development of Air France-KLM in order to optimally ensure the Dutch public interest. The reason behind the tension, and therefore the share purchase, was that the Dutch felt that important decisions about KLMs strategy were increasingly taken at the level of the Air France-KLM level. As a result, the French benefitted more than the Dutch from the merger. The Netherlands covert buy of 14% of Air France-KLM shares - just short of Frances 14.3% - shocked the market and resulted in a 15% plunge in the airline by Thursday night.James Goodall, an analyst at Redburn, told FRANCE 24, It was definitely a surprise. Even the Air France-KLM management team are not sure why there was secrecy in [the Dutch government] building the stake. While the Netherlands did not own shares in the France-KLM alliance before its first purchase on Tuesday, it did own a 5.92% stake in KLM itself. Because much of the efficiency gains for the group over the past few years have come from KLM and not Air France (because of the union constraints), the move adds protection from this trend continuing ad infinitum, Goodall said.After the Friday meeting, during which the two ministers agreed to put in place a working group which will deliver its conclusions on how to improve the alliance by June, the share price recovered by 5.4%.Im aware our stake acquisition is not very orthodox, but it is based on good intentions, Hoekstra told reporters after the talks with Le Maire. Both ministers affirmed their support for Air France-KLMs new chief executive, Canadian Ben Smith.We want to build a better company, and we want to make sure the interests of both countries are taken into account, Hoekstra said.Protecting jobsAccording to several news reports, Dutch ministers ordered the stealth acquisition after Smith appeared unreceptive to their concerns about his plan for closer integration between the Air France and KLM operations, and its potential impact on Amsterdams Schiphol airport if KLM flights begin to be transferred to Paris.Since their 2004 merger, the two airline brands have maintained separate corporate structures and boards, and a high degree of management autonomy jealously guarded by KLM.Smith appeared last month to have resolved a very public standoff with KLM boss Pieter Elbers, announcing that decisions on networks, fleets and commercial strategy would be taken at the group level to improve competitiveness against better-integrated rivals such as IAG, parent of British Airways and Iberia.Parts of Smiths programme may now face fresh challenges, with a second strong government shareholder in the boardroom. Together the two countrys states will control close to 30 percent of voting rights.[With the Dutch purchase] it will certainly make strategic planning and decision making in the business more challenging. Especially given the large stakes of Delta and China Eastern [who hold 8.8% each], Redburns Goodall said.In a joint statement, Le Maire and Hoekstra said their working group would address the governments views on long-term strategy for the group, while also defending the interests of its airport hubs at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol.Jointly chaired by senior treasury officials, the panel will also review the two states shareholdings in Air France-KLM and the makeup of its board, they said.Le Maire, who had condemned the Dutch stake purchase as incomprehensible and unfriendly, played down the dispute on Friday - even as ripples of indignation continued to be felt in Paris.What was unfriendly about this was the lack of warning, and the politicisation of a company was inappropriate, European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau told CNews television as Le Maire and Hoekstra were about to meet.It may please Dutch voters, but you cant take business decisions for electoral reasons. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS) France and the Netherlands will work together to improve the performance of Air France-KLM, the French finance minister said on Friday, after talks with his Dutch counterpart to ease tensions over the airline alliance. The French government is the airlines largest shareholder, and so the Netherlands shock stock buy with the country now being the second biggest shareholder -- ratcheting up already significant tension between the two countries over the company. The meeting today between Paris and The Hague have apparently eased those tensions. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire's told reporters after a meeting with Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra in the French capital, "We have explained ourselves to each other We want to look to the future with the goal of making Air France-KLM the most successful airline in the world. Hoekstra explained before Fridays meeting of the buy, The Dutch Cabinet wants to be able to directly influence the future development of Air France-KLM in order to optimally ensure the Dutch public interest. The reason behind the tension, and therefore the share purchase, was that the Dutch felt that important decisions about KLMs strategy were increasingly taken at the level of the Air France-KLM level. As a result, the French benefitted more than the Dutch from the merger. The Netherlands covert buy of 14% of Air France-KLM shares - just short of Frances 14.3% - shocked the market and resulted in a 15% plunge in the airline by Thursday night. James Goodall, an analyst at Redburn, told FRANCE 24, It was definitely a surprise. Even the Air France-KLM management team are not sure why there was secrecy in [the Dutch government] building the stake. While the Netherlands did not own shares in the France-KLM alliance before its first purchase on Tuesday, it did own a 5.92% stake in KLM itself. Because much of the efficiency gains for the group over the past few years have come from KLM and not Air France (because of the union constraints), the move adds protection from this trend continuing ad infinitum, Goodall said. Story continues After the Friday meeting, during which the two ministers agreed to put in place a working group which will deliver its conclusions on how to improve the alliance by June, the share price recovered by 5.4%. Im aware our stake acquisition is not very orthodox, but it is based on good intentions, Hoekstra told reporters after the talks with Le Maire. Both ministers affirmed their support for Air France-KLMs new chief executive, Canadian Ben Smith. We want to build a better company, and we want to make sure the interests of both countries are taken into account, Hoekstra said. Protecting jobs According to several news reports, Dutch ministers ordered the stealth acquisition after Smith appeared unreceptive to their concerns about his plan for closer integration between the Air France and KLM operations, and its potential impact on Amsterdams Schiphol airport if KLM flights begin to be transferred to Paris. Since their 2004 merger, the two airline brands have maintained separate corporate structures and boards, and a high degree of management autonomy jealously guarded by KLM. Smith appeared last month to have resolved a very public standoff with KLM boss Pieter Elbers, announcing that decisions on networks, fleets and commercial strategy would be taken at the group level to improve competitiveness against better-integrated rivals such as IAG, parent of British Airways and Iberia. Parts of Smiths programme may now face fresh challenges, with a second strong government shareholder in the boardroom. Together the two countrys states will control close to 30 percent of voting rights. [With the Dutch purchase] it will certainly make strategic planning and decision making in the business more challenging. Especially given the large stakes of Delta and China Eastern [who hold 8.8% each], Redburns Goodall said. In a joint statement, Le Maire and Hoekstra said their working group would address the governments views on long-term strategy for the group, while also defending the interests of its airport hubs at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol. Jointly chaired by senior treasury officials, the panel will also review the two states shareholdings in Air France-KLM and the makeup of its board, they said. Le Maire, who had condemned the Dutch stake purchase as incomprehensible and unfriendly, played down the dispute on Friday - even as ripples of indignation continued to be felt in Paris. What was unfriendly about this was the lack of warning, and the politicisation of a company was inappropriate, European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau told CNews television as Le Maire and Hoekstra were about to meet. It may please Dutch voters, but you cant take business decisions for electoral reasons. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS) The US and Russia clashed Friday over how to assist ailing Venezuela, with Moscow pledging new relief channeled through President Nicolas Maduro and Washington slapping sanctions over the blocking of US aid it tried to force through the border. A day after Russia and China vetoed a US and European resolution at the UN Security Council that called for unimpeded aid deliveries, Washington said it was targeting six Venezuelan military officers for stopping last weekends US-led convoy.Four people were killed in the melee as Maduros forces prevented the 178 metric tonnes of rice, beans and other food from crossing, with the leftist strongman seeing the aid as a pretext for a US-led invasion.We are sanctioning members of Maduros security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.The six include Major General Richard Jesus Lopez Vargas, the commander of the Venezuelan National Guard. The sanctions freeze any assets in the United States and penalize US financial dealings with the officials.The United States also revoked the visas of dozens more officials and their families, said Elliott Abrams, the US special representative on the crisis.Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington has recognized as interim president, had hoped to triumph in bringing in the stockpiles of food, which the United States coordinated with Colombia and Brazil.Guaido has said that 300,000 people could die without an influx of aid into Venezuela. The United Nations says 2.7 million Venezuelans have fled since 2015 as the socialist economy crumbles, with basic supplies out of reach to the masses.Russia steps upMore than 50 countries recognize Guaido as Venezuelas president but Maduro enjoys strong support from Russia, which is eager to challenge US interventionism, as well as China, which is concerned over the fate of billions of dollars Beijing has lent to Caracas.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, receiving Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow, said Russia was stepping up shipments of wheat and was considering sending more medical supplies after shipping 7.5 tonnes worth.We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps in the international arena, Lavrov said.This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs, he said.Abrams, the US envoy, charged that Maduros forces would turn Russian aid into a political weapon by providing it only to supporters.Obviously we are in favor of giving humanitarian assistance to Venezuela; we are not in favor of giving it to this corrupt regime, Abrams told reporters in Washington.Lavrov voiced hope that international pressure would cool hotheads in Washington who he said are seeking military intervention in Venezuela.He alleged that the United States was planning to buy small arms, mortar launchers, and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles from an Eastern European country and station them close to Venezuela.Warnings of forcePresident Donald Trump has not ruled out military intervention in Venezuela, although even close US allies have said they would not support the use of force.Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who has worked closely with Trump to seek Maduros ouster, appeared this week to suggest a violent climax as he posted on Twitter two pictures of Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi one relaxed and smiling while in power, the other bloodied as he was lynched in an uprising.Since last month, more than 50 countries have recognized Guaido, a 35-year-old political newcomer who has united the often fractious Venezuelan opposition.Defying a travel ban by Maduro, Guaido went first to Colombia to try to bring in the aid and to meet with visiting US Vice President Mike Pence. Guaido continued on to Brazil, where he met with the new right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, and on Friday traveled to Paraguay.Speaking to reporters in Brasilia on Thursday, Guaido said he would return home at the latest on Monday despite threats to arrest him.Abrams said that the United States was very concerned about Guaidos ability to return home safely and warned of a very large reaction if he is arrested.(AFP) The US and Russia clashed Friday over how to assist ailing Venezuela, with Moscow pledging new relief channeled through President Nicolas Maduro and Washington slapping sanctions over the blocking of US aid it tried to force through the border. A day after Russia and China vetoed a US and European resolution at the UN Security Council that called for unimpeded aid deliveries, Washington said it was targeting six Venezuelan military officers for stopping last weekends US-led convoy. Four people were killed in the melee as Maduros forces prevented the 178 metric tonnes of rice, beans and other food from crossing, with the leftist strongman seeing the aid as a pretext for a US-led invasion. We are sanctioning members of Maduros security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The six include Major General Richard Jesus Lopez Vargas, the commander of the Venezuelan National Guard. The sanctions freeze any assets in the United States and penalize US financial dealings with the officials. The United States also revoked the visas of dozens more officials and their families, said Elliott Abrams, the US special representative on the crisis. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington has recognized as interim president, had hoped to triumph in bringing in the stockpiles of food, which the United States coordinated with Colombia and Brazil. Guaido has said that 300,000 people could die without an influx of aid into Venezuela. The United Nations says 2.7 million Venezuelans have fled since 2015 as the socialist economy crumbles, with basic supplies out of reach to the masses. Russia steps up More than 50 countries recognize Guaido as Venezuelas president but Maduro enjoys strong support from Russia, which is eager to challenge US interventionism, as well as China, which is concerned over the fate of billions of dollars Beijing has lent to Caracas. Story continues Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, receiving Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow, said Russia was stepping up shipments of wheat and was considering sending more medical supplies after shipping 7.5 tonnes worth. We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps in the international arena, Lavrov said. This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs, he said. Abrams, the US envoy, charged that Maduros forces would turn Russian aid into a political weapon by providing it only to supporters. Obviously we are in favor of giving humanitarian assistance to Venezuela; we are not in favor of giving it to this corrupt regime, Abrams told reporters in Washington. Lavrov voiced hope that international pressure would cool hotheads in Washington who he said are seeking military intervention in Venezuela. He alleged that the United States was planning to buy small arms, mortar launchers, and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles from an Eastern European country and station them close to Venezuela. Warnings of force President Donald Trump has not ruled out military intervention in Venezuela, although even close US allies have said they would not support the use of force. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who has worked closely with Trump to seek Maduros ouster, appeared this week to suggest a violent climax as he posted on Twitter two pictures of Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi one relaxed and smiling while in power, the other bloodied as he was lynched in an uprising. Since last month, more than 50 countries have recognized Guaido, a 35-year-old political newcomer who has united the often fractious Venezuelan opposition. Defying a travel ban by Maduro, Guaido went first to Colombia to try to bring in the aid and to meet with visiting US Vice President Mike Pence. Guaido continued on to Brazil, where he met with the new right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, and on Friday traveled to Paraguay. Speaking to reporters in Brasilia on Thursday, Guaido said he would return home at the latest on Monday despite threats to arrest him. Abrams said that the United States was very concerned about Guaidos ability to return home safely and warned of a very large reaction if he is arrested. (AFP) A number of young women in a town in Indonesia demonstrated their new expertise in assembling and using firearms today (March 1), while blindfolded. In less than two minutes they were able to dismantle and reassemble the firearms while blindfolded, to the amazement of onlookers. One of the women, named Chintia, said that the ability to shoot and install this weapon was obtained from participating in a 12-day defence training course held by the Indonesian army. Pokhara, Nepal: The mortal remains of late Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari is airlifted to his home town Pokhara on Friday. A condolence event is being organized at the Exhibition Centre in Pokhara to offer last tribute to late Adhikari before performing last rites at Ramghat of Pokhara. It is said that last rites will be performed with state honor. Senior leaders of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) including Bam Dev Gautam are also joining in the last rites event. NCP youth leader Adhikari was elected the member of House of Representatives from Kaski Constituency-2. Minister Adhikari and six others were killed in chopper crash in Taplejung on Wednesday. Each spring, high school juniors and seniors venture to area colleges and universities to sample the offerings of higher education. And every spring and fall, the University of North Georgia (UNG) prepares to showcase its attributes on all five campuses. This year, a small and substantial change has been added to the Open House on UNG's Gainesville Campus. The sessions in Spanish will include a new student panel. "Parents and students can ask questions of current students in their native language," said Molly Potts, director of undergraduate admissions. Potts explained the panel was added for two reasons. First is the anticipated growth of native Spanish speakers considering UNG as their next academic step. Potts said it is driven by an increase of heritage Spanish-speaking students graduating from area high schools, specifically Gainesville and Hall County. "That is where the demographic is growing," Potts said. "And we want to address those needs." The second reason is the addition of Leri Argueta, the new assistant director for enrollment diversity. "With Leri coming on board, we are able to focus more efforts on our native Spanish-speaking students as well as our under-represented student population," Potts said. UNG started offering sessions in Spanish on the Gainesville Campus in spring 2018. The sessions include the topics of financial aid, admissions and next steps. Now, five UNG students can answer questions from parents and prospective students in Spanish. "We want them to feel comfortable sending their children to us," Potts said. "By conducting a session in Spanish and answering questions in Spanish, they can feel confident in the decision they make as a family about higher education." Potts added the best way for students and their families to find the right fit is to visit a college. Open houses provide them with an atmosphere to do simply that. During the Open Houses on all five campuses, UNG will offer sessions about admissions, financial aid, the Honors Program, language programs, orientation and transition programs, student involvement, study abroad and transferring. Sessions specific to the Dahlonega Campus include housing and meal plans and the Corps of Cadets. High school students will attend several sessions featuring admissions, financial aid, the Honors Program, language programs, orientation and transition programs, student involvement, study abroad and transferring. Potts said the one of the prominent features of Open House is the academic and organization showcase. "It is the most beneficial because parents and students get to talk with faculty and staff about potential majors and the students can ask about student life from current students," she said. Potts said UNG has experienced a 73 percent increase in student attendee registration for spring Open Houses compared to last year. "We attribute a great deal of this to the launch of a new digital media marketing campaign promoting these events," she said. The spring 2019 Open Houses will be: March 2: 8:30 a.m. to noon in Oconee March 23: 8:30 a.m. to noon in Dahlonega April 13: 8:30 a.m. to noon in Gainesville April 27: 9:30 a.m. to noon in Blue Ridge; and 9 a.m. to noon in Cumming For more information, visit UNG's Undergraduate Admissions webpage. For 3 1/2 years, Brendyn Melugin served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper until an injury changed his trajectory. Melugin was medically discharged in May 2016 and decided to serve his country in another way. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native set his sights on working for the Army Research Institute in a civilian capacity. But first, he needed a degree. Melugin enrolled at the University of North Georgia (UNG) to pursue a degree in psychology. He also knew he needed to complete his degree in 36 months, which was the financial limit of the GI Bill. To finish in that time frame, Melugin leveraged the American Council on Education (ACE) Military Evaluations program to gain college credit for his military training which had been evaluated by ACE. "Their program helped me receive between 12 and 16 college credits based on my military experience and training," Melugin said, explaining the credits counted toward his elective courses. "This saved me at least a semester of time." Melugin put the time to good use. He participated in undergraduate research projects, served in a leadership role with the Student Veterans of America, conducted independent research for UNG's Psychological Science department, and worked for the BB&T Center for Ethical Leadership within the Mike Cottrell College of Business. "I gained experience and income while I've been a student," he said. All of Melugin's extracurricular activities paid off. He was named the national ACE Student of the Year, which is presented annually to an adult learner who has benefited from the use of ACE credit recommendations to earn a college degree or advance a career. "It was really surprising to me," the 26-year-old from Norcross, Georgia, said. "I went in applying for it as shot in dark. I didn't think I would be a finalist, let alone win it." Melugin said he was in shock and disbelief when he learned the news. That quickly subsided when he called his wife, who is a UNG alumna. "There was a lot of positive yelling and cheering on the phone," he said. "I got the hint that she was jumping up and down." ACE Student of the Year award winners must demonstrate: Continued success in academic, professional, personal, and community endeavors. Extraordinary achievement in his or her community or workplace while successfully balancing the demands of family, career, and education. Inspiration to others in setting high educational goals. In addition to the winning the competitive award which is a first for UNG he received $1,000 for his future education. Melugin, who will graduate in December 2019, plans to use it toward graduate school. "Anything that helps for my education will be great," he said, adding the assistance ACE provided by securing him his elective credits helped in immeasurable ways. "ACE credits allowed me to further my career, and grad school wouldn't be as attainable without it." In fact, since Melugin had time to participate in undergraduate research projects such as Faculty Undergraduate Summer Engagement (FUSE), he was able to solidify his plans for the future. "Because I received a FUSE grant and one-on-one mentorship with a faculty member, I decided to pursue grad school," Melugin said. "It helped me find a new passion." Now that new passion is leading him to graduate school and, propitiously, the Army Research Institute. He also hopes his story will inspire others to utilize ACE's program. "I think my award will show the rest of veterans that we can win scholarships," he said. Students interested in learning more about nationally competitive scholarships should contact ncs@ung.edu for more information. Rashida Tlaib called out the Republican Party for racism in a heated moment between the Republican and Democratic Party, and it has everyone talking. The heated moment centered around Lynne Patton and Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan. Working at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Patton is one of the most prominent members of the Trump administration, according to the New York Times. Before her time in the federal government, Patton also worked for the Trump Foundation. Lynne Patton was brought up during the hearing, to defend Trump from accusations of racism. Representative Mark Meadows, a Republican of North Carolina, invited her to the hearing. She stood by Meadows as he rebutted Cohens claims that Trump made racist comments such as he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid. Meadows said: "I asked Lynne to come today in her personal capacity to actually shed some light. She says that as a daughter of a man born in Birmingham, Ala., that there is no way that she would work for an individual who was racist." Patton herself never said a word. She continued to stand behind Meadows until he finished speaking, then she left. Representative Tlaib was appalled by this event Tlaib called what happened racist and accused Representative Meadows of using a black woman as a prop. She continued to express her displeasure of what Meadows did by saying, "As a person of color in this committee, that is how I felt at that moment and I wanted to express that. Im saying that in itself it is a racist act." This did not go over well with Meadows, who fired back, by saying that he had nieces and nephews of color. Discuss this news on Eunomia The clash was quickly ended after this exchange, with Tlaib apologizing. However, what Meadows did was racist However, the fact is that Meadows was using Lynne Patton as a prop. In the context of the Cohen hearing, Patton is only around to deflect accusations of racism from the President. Her appearance was the equivalent to a white person saying, "I cant be a racist, I have black friends." Patton, whether she knows it or not, was dehumanized at that moment. When she was behind Meadows, she was not treated like a person. She was treated like a tool to be used to make President Trump not seem like a racist. She was not there to talk and her role in this event was to simply stand there and be the token black person. Meanwhile, the argument that Trump cannot be racist because he has black employees is not true. It has been proven, time and time again, that a white person can be racist while seemingly treating people of color well. A pew research study conducted in 2009 is an excellent example of that, according to the Washington Post. In the survey, almost 1500 White Americans were asked how they would describe Black Americans. Nine percent said that black people are not smart while 20 percent said that they do not see black people as law abiding citizens. Yet most of these white Americans who expressed racist ideals still said that they had black friends. This research proves that white people can still be racists while being friendly with black people. Thus, Trump can have a black employee, even treat her well, yet still, be a racist. Representative Meadows, with a doubt, did something racist when he invited Patton to the hearing to use her as a prop. Not only that, but he used a racist argument to attempt to prove that Donald Trump is not a bigot and when he brought up his "nephews and nieces of color". In trying to prove that Trump is not a racist, Mark Meadows had proven that he is a racist. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting a baby that is old news, as Kensington Palace made the big announcement in October 2018, five months after Meghan and Harry walked down the aisle. However, Harry, the father-to-be, seemed surprised when a lady in a girls school in Asni, Morocco congratulated Meghan on her pregnancy. It was a joke, of course, and it certainly made everyone in the meeting crack a laugh. Official portraits from their wedding were also released. Harry's joke The couple was sitting at the end of the table in what seemed to be a routine day for them. Harry dressed in dark pants and a long-sleeved grey shirt, while Meghan chose a black ensemble covered by a dark purple coat. One of the women took her time to talk to Meghan directly and congratulate her for the upcoming royal baby that will enlighten the lives of many. When the Duchess thanked her, Harry feigned surprise and said: What, youre pregnant? People laughed and waited for Meghans response. She just patted him on the back and said: Surprise! Following his own dad joke, Harry added: Is it mine? Some people didn't get it Even though it was obviously a joke, several people considered it disrespectful, claiming that nobody should ever make the fatal mistake of asking such a thing, especially if you are a royal. The truth is that Harry had no intentions of hurting anybody and he was just trying to be funny during the meeting. And this is funny how? Patricia Agudow (@ThePatAgudow) 26 de febrero de 2019 Harry is totally on drugs. This is proof. No man in his senses will ever make the fatal mistake of making such a crude remark about his pregnant wife. (well whether Meghan is pregnant or not is another question altogether). But this was crass Harry. https://t.co/oQNmsaFNrd TeaLipstickCeleb (@CelebLipstick) 25 de febrero de 2019 The royals spent three days in Morocco as part of their latest duty. Discuss this news on Eunomia The intention of that visit was to improve the relationship that both nations have and encourage the different projects the couple has been working on, including gender equality and support of people with special needs. George Clooney addressing the godparent rumors Speaking of the baby, many rumors have linked George Clooney as the godfather of the upcoming royal child, due to the fact that Meghan and Amal, the actors wife, are close friends. However, George himself shut down all the rumors while in an interview with "Australias Who magazine." When he was asked about it, he said: Oh yes, Ill be the godfather of the Royals, apparently. Markle also recently had a baby shower. The actor quickly set clear he was being sarcastic, as he said: No! Im the father of twins; I have enough s*** to deal with literally! At the moment, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are enjoying the last weeks of pregnancy as Markle is expected to give birth in late April or early May. So far, the gender of the child has not been revealed. The second summit in Hanoi between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took off on a positive note. The leaders exchanged pleasantries and laid down a tentative schedule that included dinner, lunch, and a signing ceremony on some form of agreement. However, there was no progress on the talks because the duo could not find common ground on the subject of sanctions. It is a sensitive issue and the summit turned out to be a non-starter. Trump and Kim left without sharing a planned lunch that could have helped to build bridges. CNBC reports Donald Trump called off the meet. During a post-summit news conference, he said, "We had some options, and at this time we decided not to do any of the options Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times." JUST IN: The White House says no joint agreement has been reached between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as their Hanoi summit ends abruptly https://t.co/c8Fwf3JuEH pic.twitter.com/BYbzz4OeLB CNN International (@cnni) February 28, 2019 Battle of denuclearization versus sanctions US President Donald Trump has been harping on denuclearization and he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un discussed it when they met in Singapore in June last year. However, the modalities for its implementation had to be evolved and there were expectations that a plan of action would emerge at the Hanoi summit. Trump wants Kim to accept the possibilities of a better future for his country by abandoning his nuclear ambitions but Kim insists that easing of sanctions is his priority. HANOI In the end, President Trump did the unexpected: He walked away. A visibly deflated Trump began the press conference wrapping up his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by talking about anything else. He riffed on the p... https://t.co/uzTrrTvsTw #EU #EUpol pic.twitter.com/6bhyDHD09t EUwatch (@EUwatchers) February 28, 2019 It is natural that the world would like to know if this was the end of the road and whether there will be a third summit. Discuss this news on Eunomia There is no commitment from Donald Trump on the subject but he has kept the doors open by describing the talks as "productive." He even went on to say, "I think we'll end up being very good friends." At the beginning of the Hanoi summit, the US President had dropped hints that speed was not an important criterion. The focus must be on concluding the right deal. Peace must return to the Korean peninsula According to Variety, this was the second summit between Trump and Kim in less than a year. The mutually agreed venue was the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and the objective was denuclearization of North Korea and a possible formal end to the Korean War. However, the proceedings ran into rough weather and the two leaders drove off in their motorcades from the hotel. North Korea has created an infrastructure to support its nuclear programs. The country keeps testing its nuclear weapons at regular intervals and the activities are a major threat in the Korean peninsula. Therefore, the two leaders Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un met for the first time in Singapore. While the former laid stress on denuclearization, the latter was keen to get relief from sanctions since it was hurting the economy. Therefore, the two of them met in Hanoi for the second summit to discuss sensitive issues in order to bring peace in the Korean peninsula, but it has fizzled out. Another attempt might produce the desired results. Heres everything you need to know about some of the best-known e-commerce sites in Asia. With vast technological advancements, in todays world, everything can be made possible within the blink of an eye. These tech advancements, apart from helping us in our day to day lives, have also made the task of virtual shopping easier than ever. A person with a full-time job, a household to manage and kids to look after would find it super difficult to go around the store to store to purchase different items. Thanks to easy access to online shopping and the emerging era of e-commerce that simple yet painful tasks are made easier with a single website. However, shopping online can be a great hassle if the right website is not consulted. Pro Tip: best online shopping tips In order to figure out the best e-commerce websites, weve formed this article with the purpose to tell you the greatest e-commerce websites in Asia. Online Shopping Sites in Hong Kong Zaful Zaful is an online clothing store which is initially based in Hong Kong, but delivers all around the world. Zaful has gained attention by its extensive advertising of edgy and trendy products. The expensive advertising not only expands its customer base but also manages to not restrict its customer baseline to Hong Kong only. The pretty dresses and cute T-shirts have gained the attention of a lot of ladies from across the globe. At Zaful you can easily find the clothes that best suit your aesthetics as well as make you look the coolest. Though the apparels are mostly for women, a section on their official website is also dedicated to mens clothing. YESSTYLE This online shopping website doesnt just focus on apparels but also has a variety of makeup products that are often available on amazing discounted deals. A wide variety of Korean beauty products can also be seen and the product quality looks ensured. Yesstyle has some of the coolest and trendiest clothing line which caters to your need of daily wear. Online Shopping Sites in Malaysia Lazada Lazada is home to thousands of products ranging from all categories, like home appliances, apparels and beauty products. Each product is categorized differently so that you dont face a problem while visiting a specific category accordingly. Its a private company based in Germany which has online retail sites in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. Zalora Zalora initiates from Malaysia but delivers worldwide. Zalora caters to some of the best globally known brands and totally sells quality products without a doubt. At Zalora you can search for any brand and you wont be disappointed. Brands like Hollister, Mango, and Calvin Klein can be easily found at Zalora. Quality is never a question at Zalora, you can easily get best quality branded clothes at the cheapest of prices. Online Shopping Sites in India Indiamart Indiamart provides you with all sorts of home products, from appliances to apparels, you name it and its there. Indiamart has a list of categories that provide you with literally anything you need. It is home to thousands of products that help a lot of people with their daily needs with ease. Products here are mostly bought in bulks for wholesale purposes. Delivery options are just not limited to India but are delivered worldwide. Myntra If you plan to buy sassy dresses and pretty shirts, Myntra is the best place for you. Myntra not only sells quality clothes for women but also has a section for mens and kids clothing which makes it easier to shop quality products for your entire family. Moreover, Myntra has the best delivery options along with some amazing deals. Myntra never disappoints you in terms of quality and fulfills all your necessary needs including some top-notch fashion statements. Online Shopping Sites in Pakistan Daraz Being the biggest online website in Pakistan for the most basic home products at the most reasonable prices online, Daraz caters to some of the biggest brands and makes online shopping for all of us. The amazing discounts and great deals make it even more feasible and affordable to order from Daraz. Daraz delivers all over Pakistan without any hassle. Goto A reliable source of an e-commerce website which lets you buy all your favorite products in no time while providing you with great deals and discounts at the same time. Goto offers a variety of home products, great quality apparels and cosmetic items as well. Online Shopping Sites in Bangladesh Pickaboo The biggest online store for electronic products in Bangladesh remains the title for Pickaboo. Offering tech products at best prices, Pickaboo has made its way to an average Bangladeshis heart. An average online user never has to think twice when ordering electronic products from Pickaboo. Capturing a large customer base by selling mobile gadgets, play stations, kitchen appliances, and LCDs, Pickaboo has become one of the largest online stores in Bangladesh. Pickaboo only delivers within Dhaka. Bagdoom A great place for youth to search for their favorite products at the most affordable prices. Previously named as Akhoni.com, Bagdoom offers a vast variety for fashion products, watches, and electronics at the most reasonable prices which best suit the pockets of an average consumer. These were some of the best-known e-commerce sites in the well-known Asian countries, each website quite popular in its own country making online shopping easier for the people within the vicinity. KATHMANDU, March 1: The National Assembly (NA) today endorsed a condolence motion on the demise of Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Rabindra Adhikari, who was killed in a chopper crash in Taplejung Wednesday. In today's session of the Upper House, NA chair Ganesh Prasad Timilsina presented the motion before it, which was passed unanimously. The meeting also observed a moment of silence for a minute, wishing for eternal peace to the departed soul. " The meeting expresses deep sorrow over the passing way of Minister Adhikari at the age of 49 on February 27 in a helicopter crash occurred at Phungling of Taplejung after paying homage to the Pathibhara deity, following an inspection of the (proposed) Chuhandanda Airport in Tehrathum." Adhikari was elected to the both Constituent Assembly in 2008 and 2013; and in the House of Representatives elections 2018 from Kaski and was the central member of the Nepal Communist Party. He was the former president of the Legislature-Parliament's Development Committee. The meeting has extended heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family. The next meeting of the Upper House has been scheduled for 1:00 pm of March 3. RSS Ukraine mulls domestic launch site A leading Ukrainian rocket developer has published plans for a space port on the country's Black Sea coast, which could give the former Soviet republic a fully independent access to space for the first time. Previous chapter: Tsyklon-4M rocket From the publisher: Pace of our development depends primarily on the level of support from our readers! In February 2019, the KB Yuzhnoe design bureau based in Dnipro, Ukraine, disclosed plans for a launch site on Ukrainian territory to host a newly proposed light-weight rocket dubbed Tsyklon-1M (Cyclone-1M). The small launch vehicle appeared to feature two stages with a single engine on the first stage. If ever built, it could compete on the emerging market of smallest commercial satellite launches, primarily targeting near-polar orbits, which allow global coverage of the Earth's surface. This is likely the first known plan for Ukraine to build a spaceport on its own territory. In nearly three decades since its independence, the lack of a launch facility seriously hampered indigenous space efforts in the country, despite a great deal of experience and technological heritage surviving from the Soviet period. In the intervening years, KB Yuzhnoe operated as a major contractor in the Russian, American and European space programs. The proposed Ukrainian site would be located in the rural area on the northern coast of Black Sea in the Mykolaiv (Nikolaev) Region of Ukraine at 46.36 degrees North latitude, 32.03 degrees East longitude. (During the Cold War, the same region hosted Soviet ballistic missiles.) The particular location also happens to be in the delta of the Dnipro (Dnepr) River, providing a direct water route to Yuzhnoe's production plant, perhaps as an alternative to ground transportation across a landmass notorious for its bad roads. The orbital ascent trajectory envisioned for the spaceport, would take the rocket south across the Black Sea and after overflying Turkey, it would allow a splashdown of the first stage in the Mediterranean Sea, east of Cyprus, around 1,300 kilometers downrange from the launch site. The fragments of the payload fairing would follow shortly thereafter, also falling into the Mediterranean north of Egypt, around 1,500 kilometers downrange. The second stage and its payload could be inserted into a polar orbit and they would reappear over the Ukrainian territory after one revolution around the planet. The ground track was apparently designed to cross the shore of Asia Minor east of the Bosphorus Straits and then continue over the mountainous regions of Turkey to avoid the densely populated areas around Istanbul. However, a possibility of an accident with the rocket at a certain point of ascent would still leave some chance of debris falling on the Turkish landmass. Therefore, some sort of political agreement between governments in Kiev and Ankara would be required to settle overflight rights for successful missions and to provide compensations in case of an accident. In the past few years, KB Yuzhnoe advertised plans to build a launch site in Canada for the heavier Tsyklon-4M rocket, but the development of that new launcher and its launch site has been continuously delayed due to financial and technical problems. In February 2019, KB Yuzhnoe promised to break ground at the Canadian site at the end of the year. The two proposed sites can theoretically co-exist, because they will host rockets in different weight categories, but the developers of both vehicles will have to overcome considerable financial and technical challenges. A previous attempt to develop a launch site for the Ukrainian Tsyklon-4 rocket in Brazil was abandoned around 2015 due to political problems. A concept of the light-weight Tsyklon-1M rocket as of February 2019. Credit: KB Yuzhnoe Launch pad, processing complex and fueling facility proposed for the Mykolaiv launch site in the spring of 2019. Credit: KB Yuzhnoe The founding president of the Peruvian Council of Friendship with the SADR, the pseudo-Sahrawi republic, Ricardo Sanchez Serra, has published in few days, a second article in which he details how the Polisarios independence claims are whimsical. Ricardo Sanchez, known to be a fervent defender of the Polisario, posted a first article on February 19 on the news website Peruinforma under the title: Western Sahara: why not autonomy? In this article, he defended the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara. Few days later, he comes back on the offensive in a second article entitled: Western Sahara: answer to my detractors. In this new column, published by Peruvian daily La Razon, on February 27, he justifies, with arguments, the utopian and unrealistic character of the Polisarios claims compared to the soundness of the Moroccan autonomy proposal for the political settlement of this territorial dispute. What remains to be done? wonders the Peruvian political analyst, who answers: Nothing, except accelerating the search for a political solution to the conflict on the basis of the UN political process, in which the Moroccan autonomy initiative enjoys the appreciation of the influential countries of the Security Council and a large part of the international community. As the Polisario is celebrating the 43rd anniversary of the self-proclamation of its so-called SADR, Ricardo Sanchez notes that the cause the separatists have been defending for more than 40 years is losing momentum. The Polisario has lost and is still losing its main traditional supports like late Kadhafis Libya and Nicolas Maduros Venezuela, whereas Algeria is facing serious institutional problems and the Tindouf camp are prey to tribal tensions. It is silly and naive to think that Morocco will one day abandon the territory of the Sahara, he argued, recalling that with its return to the African Union, Morocco has instead won the Pan-African blocs neutrality in this issue. It would be a sin that God would not forgive to deceive people with false triumphalism, since the truth is that the Polisario has won no battle on any front, neither political nor diplomatic, the Peruvian analyst underlines. He invites once again the Polisario to seize the historic opportunity of the political process initiated in 2007 under the aegis of the UN, on the basis of the autonomy proposal, to advance towards the peace of the braves because, he insists, all these aforementioned factors play against the option of independence. Christopher Turner at Literary Review: Fiona MacCarthy met Walter Gropius (18831969) through Jack Pritchard, the British entrepreneur who built Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead, an experiment in modernist living where Gropius took up residence after escaping Nazi Germany in 1934. The Bauhaus, the school he founded in Weimar a century ago this year, had been closed by stormtroopers the previous year (by then it had moved to Berlin). In 1968, after the opening of a Bauhaus exhibition at the Royal Academy, MacCarthy was invited to dinner with Gropius at the Lawn Road Isobar, the blocks in-house dining room: He was then eighty-five, small, upright, very courteous, retaining a Germanic formality of bearing, MacCarthy recalled. He was still valiant and impressive, with a flickering of arrogance. Gropius, who died nine months later, split his life into three acts, obligingly providing the overall structure for MacCarthys biography. He started out as a radical, avant-garde architect in Germany, working for Peter Behrens alongside Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, before founding the Bauhaus; he then fled Nazi Germany to Britain, where he became a leading advocate of modernism but struggled to build anything of substance or replicate his school; finally, he emigrated to America, where he was feted and taught a new generation of architects at Harvard, thereby exerting enormous influence. more here. Looking for some affordable excitement? Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival returns to San Jose and Redwood City March 5th for a stunning 13 days featuring 600 unique experiences in the genres of film and television, dance, fashion, music, art and design, food, writing, virtual and augmented realities, and more. Voted Best Film Festival by readers of USA Today, the 2019 edition of Cinequest will draw more than 105,000 attendees to its state-of-the-art San Jose venues; but thanks to Cinequest's renowned hospitality, the festival experience will be as warm and personal as it is electrifying. Cinequest presents more than 130 world and U.S. premiere films, groundbreaking innovations, and various creative integrations. "Picture the Possibilities" by Cinequest holds its annual Creativity Summit during the festival as well, with more than 1,100 artists, innovators, and youth from more than 50 countries each year. Cinequest's highest honor, the Maverick Award, recognizes bold visionaries, all exemplary in the worlds of Silicon Valley innovation and the creative arts. This year, Cinequest recognizes artists including Nandita Das, Bill Nighy, and other special guests including 2017 Librarian of the Year, Jill Bourne. Cinequest prides itself on its wide and ever-expanding selection of creative experiences and opportunities available to all people, and all ages. This year, the festival's "Unexpected" theme will push forward the new and unanticipated. // March 5-17 in Downtown San Jose (California Theatre, Hammer Theatre and 3 Below Theaters) and Redwood City (Century Downtown 20); to see the full lineup and purchase tickets, go to cinequest.org. Several Aberdeen-area schools are excelling in robotics competitions Several local schools have made it to state, regional, and even national competitions. Judd Lormand is always up for a challenge. Thats what makes his role as Lt. Cmdr. Eric Blackburn on SEAL Team so intriguing. Its been really cool to live the journey, he says of the show. In so many ways, the best part of our show is that Im still learning about Blackburn. People will stop and ask me questions about Blackburns background, and the majority of it hasnt been revealed yet. SEAL Team follows the lives of the elite Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high-stakes missions our country can ask. As Blackburn, Lormand is the SEAL team troop commander, who coordinates operations whenever Bravo team is on missions and serves as the teams leader and confidant, both on and off the battlefield. The series also stars David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Neil Brown Jr., AJ Buckley, Toni Trucks and Jessica Pare. The series airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS. Each week, Lormand says, Blackburn is faced with a new problem. I prefer to find out just before we shoot the episode, he says. I dont really want to know the long term. I want to concentrate on where we are now with him. Lormand says Blackburn has the ability to keep his cool in tough situations, although in one of the episodes during the current, second season, he has to raise his voice with a team member. Weve seen Blackburn get mad but never heard his voice raised, he says It was an unplanned type of thing that came along, and it was the perfect timing. It made it that much more impactful. Lormand began his work in film and TV about 10 years ago. In that time, hes managed to get more than 70 credits to his name. Born in Marshall, Texas, Lormand grew up in Houston and spent a number of years in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked as a civil engineer building natural gas pipelines. Later, the family moved to Lafayette, La., where Lormand attended Comeaux High School and the University of Louisiana. He credits his high school drama teacher for encouraging his interest in theater arts. By 2010, Judd was acting full time, landing part after part. He booked 72 Screen Actors Guild jobs in 72 months all while living in Louisiana. But hes had no productions in New Mexico. Ive been very close, he says of filming in the state. Im putting it out in the universe that after production wraps on the show, Ill find a production in New Mexico. Not only does he want to work in the state, but he would like to spend some time looking at the spacious skies. I enjoy astronomy and have heard that there are spectacular places to see them, he says. Once, I was driving through the state and got out of the city and was impressed with how big the sky is and what you can see. Its a place I would definitely love to work in and explore more. SEND ME YOUR TIPS: If you know of a movie filming in the state, or are curious about one, email film@ABQjournal.com. Follow me on Twitter @agomezART. Police have arrested a woman who they say shot another woman twice in the head following an argument outside a discount store in southeast Albuquerque on Wednesday afternoon. Maiah Madrid-Schleicher, 26, faces an open count of murder in the death of 25-year-old Amanda Madrid. She was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Thursday morning. Officers responded to the shooting at the Family Dollar store on Central, east of Louisiana, around 2:15 p.m. and found Madrid dead in the passengers seat of a black car. According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Madrids girlfriend Veronica Trimble told police the couple went to the store to buy hamster food and ran into Madrid-Schleicher, whom they knew from previous encounters. Police say the pair didnt find hamster food, and, as they left the store, Madrid-Schleicher yelled an insult from her red truck. Trimble told police that, as they were getting into their vehicle, she saw Madrid-Schleicher pointing a gun at Madrid. Then she heard a gunshot and saw Madrid slump into the passenger seat. According to the complaint, Madrid-Schleicher fled the parking lot and Trimble hugged Madrid, who was unresponsive. Trimble told police that Madrids gun was lying on the pavement near her, but she didnt see her pull it out before being shot. Police say a witness believing a robbery had occurred took down the license plate number on Madrid-Schleichers red truck. Officers found her a few blocks away around 10 p.m. and took her into custody. I asked her if she wanted to make a statement, and she was very uncooperative and refused to answer, a detective wrote. (Madrid-Schleicher) mentioned she wanted her lawyer and continued to be abrasive. A formal agreement between the city and the county will provide extra county funding for the year-round operation of the city-owned Westside Emergency Housing Center. During a Thursday news conference at the Westside facility, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Bernalillo County Manager Julie Morgas Baca signed a memorandum of understanding in which the county committed $300,000 toward operating expenses. The emergency shelter, open for four months during the winter, would normally close about March 15. The Albuquerque City Council allocated money to keep it open year-round, and the countys funding will provide shelter residents with clinical mental health services and help pay for some meals and additional transportation services between the shelter and the primary pick-up and drop-off location at Coronado Park. This is another piece in our plan, working together with all of our partners to deal with homelessness in central New Mexico, Keller said at the news conference. The shelter, which used to be a jail, is located on the far Westside, near the Double Eagle II Airport, about 20 miles west of Downtown Albuquerque. As a winter shelter, Keller said, its mostly served as a place homeless individuals and families can come in out of the cold and avoid freezing. But we know that so much more is needed, Keller said. The infusion of county money, Keller said, will allow some necessary supportive services to be provided. Still, its a temporary fix until funding is in place to build a year-round facility that is more centrally located, with support services from all the partners. The cost of building such a facility has been estimated at $28 million, and the city is asking the Legislature for that amount in capital outlay funding. The city may also seek money through this Novembers capital improvement bond election. Keller and officials from the University of New Mexico and UNMs Health Sciences Center signed a letter of intent Feb. 13 to collaborate on the problem of local homelessness. That might involve the development of emergency shelter facility(ies) with supportive services, and expanding ways to improve access so that the homeless populations may receive high-quality and coordinated health care services, including medical, psychiatric and addiction-related services. The Westside Emergency Housing Center has a 450-bed capacity and regularly serves 325 people during the winter. People needing shelter can catch a shuttle bus weekdays from Coronado Park, north of Downtown, to the shelter between 4 and 7 p.m., with return buses starting at 6 a.m. The center will now be able to be open around the clock on weekends, with breakfast and lunch served on Saturdays and possibly Sundays, depending on funding and meal sources. We see this shelter as a place of transition, a safe place where people can get connected to services and resources that are available through our behavioral health initiative, Morgas Baca said. She noted that 41 percent of people who have sought shelter at the Westside facility have a self-reported mental health condition, and 23 percent report alcohol or substance abuse problems. The countys behavioral health initiative, started five years ago, now has 18 programs for people living with behavioral health conditions, Morgas Baca said. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal Albuquerque is home to the states largest airport, its largest tourist event and its only Level I trauma center. Each fall, the University of New Mexico attracts a few thousand freshmen to its Albuquerque campus most of them from within the state. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller argues that the citys welfare matters to the entire state, and he is pleading with those who control New Mexicos purse strings for help addressing crime and homelessness even contending that the states largest city has not historically received a commensurate share of funding for capital projects. Albuquerque needs funding and support from the State in order to tackle the challenges the City is facing, Keller recently wrote to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and legislative finance leaders. Albuquerques success is New Mexicos success, and with this legislative agenda, our City can help lift up the entire state. With the state capital pot significantly bigger than during the past several years, Albuquerque is pushing for big-dollar help with what it calls its top four statewide priorities. The largest is a $34.6 million joint request with Bernalillo County for a major radio system update that would enable law enforcement and other emergency personnel around central New Mexico to communicate. Driven largely by activity in Albuquerque, New Mexico has the nations highest per capita rate of property crime and ranks second for violent crime, according to 2017 federally compiled data, the most recent available. Numbers released by Albuquerque officials more recently show some improvement in 2018, but crime remains a chief concern among leadership and citizens. Keller has also prioritized initiatives to help the approximately 5,000-8,000 people experiencing homelessness in the city. Albuquerque is seeking $28 million in state money to build a centrally located 24/7 shelter that would also have on-site personnel to help guide people to social services and, ideally, permanent housing. The mayor said that as the states population center, Albuquerque is going to be a repository for the states homeless problems and addiction problems, and that leaders in Santa Fe should provide a significant financial response. Albuquerque does not get its fair share of the statewide priority money, Keller said in a recent meeting with Journal editors and reporters. He said the city has not received significant capital funding since 2012, when the Legislature and then-Gov. Susana Martinez approved nearly $30 million for the Paseo del Norte/Interstate 25 reconstruction. The city still covered more than half of the $93 million project with $50 million in voter-approved gross receipts tax revenue bonds. A former state senator, the mayor said rural lawmakers will rightly argue that capital money goes to rural areas that do not have an economic base like Albuquerques. But he notes that the city of 560,000 residents is currently suffering. Im also asking for help with humility, Keller said. Im not saying Were Awesome Albuquerque, and were going to push you around. I am saying We are desperate, youve got to help us. This is our fight in the Legislature. I dont think the city has won this fight in 20 or 30 years, (but) Im hoping this year one of these projects can at least be a statewide priority, and it should be. He cited the Legislatures 2018 approval of up to $30 million in funding from taxes collected on auto sales to prevent a potentially devastating brine well collapse in Carlsbad as an example of the state helping communities facing crisis. However, Legislative Finance Committee staff noted that project might have had broader implications as the state which had permitted the well decades ago may have been liable in the event of a disaster. The Albuquerque metro area has about 911,000 people, according to 2017 U.S. Census Bureau estimates. About 560,000 reside in city limits, meaning the city of Albuquerque alone is home to slightly more than a quarter of all New Mexicans. Between 2011 and 2018, the city of Albuquerque received about $39 million in state capital outlay roughly 7 percent of the statewide local appropriations total, according to figures provided by the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration. However, that does not include appropriations to other public entities inside and around the city, including Albuquerque Public Schools and the University of New Mexico. It also does not include the major appropriation for the Paseo del Norte intersection, which was routed through the state Department of Transportation. The cities of Santa Fe and Las Cruces with estimated populations of 83,776 and 101,712 each received about 3 percent of the local appropriations pot, according to DFAs figures. Sen. Carlos Cisneros, a Questa Democrat and vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said statewide priority allocations usually mean investments in state-owned facilities, and that decision-makers should not favor the bigger cities at the risk of neglecting the smaller ones. He called the process for capital distribution fair, saying individual lawmakers each get a slice of capital money they can allocate as they see fit, and Albuquerque legislators can put it toward Albuquerque projects. Its done in the most equitable mechanism weve got, Cisneros said. If we gave it all to the large metropolitan areas, then nobody else would get anything. Rep. Javier Martinez, an Albuquerque Democrat, said he does not consider only state-owned facilities worthy of statewide priority status, but rather anything with significant impact, like water system upgrades or big road projects in communities that need them. Decision-makers have to look all around the state when allocating money, he said, but I think some of the citys projects definitely would fall within that statewide definition certainly. The Legislature will have approximately $300 million in capital outlay money this year, Cisneros said, split evenly among the House and the Senate, and then divided up among members of each chamber. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham should have at least $300 million in her pot, he added. Its that sum that can really help address major needs, Keller said. His administration has met with both Lujan Grisham and many lawmakers in recent months to make the citys case, he said. They (executive and legislative branches) sit down and negotiate (details), so you have to convince both, he said. Martinez said he and other legislative colleagues from the city have discussed potentially pooling some of their funds to help with Albuquerques big requests, and have talked about the law enforcement radios and homeless shelter. But he said they have to consider the smaller project needs in their individual districts, too. Our expectation is the governors office also makes the investment in the statewide priorities, including the ones in the city of Albuquerque, Martinez said. Asked whether Lujan Grisham considered Albuquerques projects statewide priorities and if she planned to help fund them, her spokesman said it was too early to commit to anything. Numerous projects from all across the state have been submitted for outlay consideration, and the analysis and review process is still ongoing as to which of them will receive allocations from the governors office, Tripp Stelnicki said in an email, adding that decisions would be made soon. Albuquerques other top statewide priority requests include $15 million for the redevelopment of the Rail Yards in the Barelas neighborhood and $7.5 million for Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta traffic improvement projects, including a New Mexico Rail Runner stop and slip ramp access to Interstate 25 from the frontage road just south of Balloon Fiesta Parkway. Keller said he will push to make up for anything the city does not get from the state in this falls Albuquerque capital improvement bond election. The University of New Mexico has hired a labor and employment law firm in response to faculty members filing a petition to form a union. The UNM Board of Regents on Thursday convened for a briefing on the petition, which was filed last month with the UNM Labor Relations Board. It was the first meeting since the confirmation of five new regents who were appointed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to the seven-member board. A group of UNM faculty has moved to create a new bargaining unit, which would be comprised of more than 1,600 full- and part-time faculty on UNMs main campus in Albuquerque as well as its campuses in Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos and Los Lunas. They would become the United Academics of the University of New Mexico, according to a website created by organizers. Interim Provost Richard Wood said its the first time in at least 20 years that university professors have pushed to create a union. The labor board would need to certify the petition by determining that at least 30 percent of affected faculty expressed an interest in the union, Wood said. If there is a vote on unionizing, he said, 40 percent of the faculty would have to vote, and a simple majority vote would be needed for passage. University officials said that in the meantime, theyll work to inform people about the effects the union would have at the university. I think that one thing that is absolutely essential is that we launch an extensive education campaign for our faculty so they fully understand the ramification of the decision to unionize, UNM President Garnett Stokes said. Petition organizers couldnt be reached by email late Thursday. Julia Scherba de Valenzuela, an associate professor in UNMs special education department, said last month that a union would allow professors to have a louder voice on matters that affect them. The union would be affiliated nationally with the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors, according to prior Journal reports. Loretta Martinez, chief legal counsel for the university, said that UNM has hired Jackson Lewis, a labor and employment law firm, to advise the university on its response to the facultys petition. University administration has until mid-March to file an official response. SANTA FE New Mexico is currently one of roughly 30 states that does not allow voters to remove and replace elected officials before their term expires. But that could change under a proposal filed Thursday at the Roundhouse that would allow for voter-initiated recall elections. The proposed constitutional amendment, House Joint Resolution 11, was filed by three Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, who said it would make elected officials more accountable to New Mexico voters. Each elected official is here to do the work of the people and the people should have the power to remove them if they see fit, Rehm said in a statement. Currently, New Mexico elected officials can be removed from office only through impeachment, which requires legislative action. Under the recall proposal, at least 25 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last general election that the targeted official ran in would have to sign a petition. If the signatures were determined to be valid, a special election on the issue would then have to be held within 90 days. An impeachment petition was launched last month against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in response to her decision to remove most New Mexico National Guard troops from the states southern border with Mexico. But top House Democrats have said they would not pursue the matter and Rehm said his proposal was not motivated by the petition. It has nothing to do with that, he told the Journal. SAN DIEGO Furious Democrats demand that I stop complaining and learn to love The Beto. My criticism of a Texas-sized cultural enigma who changes his schtick like other people change cellphone companies has enraged both white liberals and Latino lefties. Beware the Beto Bots. The white liberals prefer that Mexican-Americans serve up chips and not opinions. And theyre miffed that I rejected their choice for the preferred Latino 2020 presidential hopeful, after they went to the trouble of choosing him for me. The Latino lefties have such low self-esteem and deep insecurities that theyre flattered that a handsome Irish-American who grew up on the soft side of town and studied in the Ivy League wants to be one of them. Robert Francis ORourke is likely to announce soon that he is joining the 2020 Democratic presidential field. After leaving Congress and losing a Senate race, ORourke hit the open road in search of America. What he found was that Beto really loves Beto. Which makes him the perfect foil for Donald Trump, who really loves Donald Trump. I dont feel the love. I think the Texas Democrat is a phony, an opportunist and an underachiever whose thought process is stuck in the shallow end. And what really bothers me is how the media, liberals and the rest of the Beto Bots deify him and demonize critics. As a Mexican-American who fell in love with the Irish when I went to college and graduate school across the Charles River from Boston, the fact that this Irishman is hellbent on impersonating a Mexican-American or at least doesnt mind if you think hes one drives me loco. Here are 10 reasons why Beto-mania bugs me. It has always bothered me when Hollywood casts non-Latinos as Latinos. In the film West Side Story, few of the actors besides Rita Moreno were Latino. In a planned remake, producers are making the effort to cast Latinos. ORourke talks about the importance of taking courageous stances. But, as The Washington Post pointed out recently after interviewing him, he avoids taking firm positions on controversial issues. Thats not courage. As a Mexican-American, Ive learned not to fluster white people who often get squeamish easily because of demographics. But ORourke can go all radical and talk about knocking down walls on the U.S.-Mexico border. When the Post asked about immigration and what to do about visa overstayers, ORourke said: I dont know. He lives in El Paso, not Des Moines. He cant say: I dont know. An actual Mexican-American would be toast if he said that. ORourke doesnt do homework. He is the Democratic Partys version of Sarah Palin, telegenic and charismatic but afraid to open a book because he thinks it might explode in his face. The son of a county commissioner and county judge, the Democrat is now the husband of Amy ORourke and the son-in-law of William D. Sanders, a real-estate tycoon who has been called a billionaire but who Forbes insists is worth a measly $500 million. With an estimated net worth of $5 million to $10 million, Beto never learned accountability. Not even after getting arrested in his 20s for drunken driving and breaking into the University of Texas in El Paso. ORourkes father, Pat, was the one who gave him the nickname Beto. Pat told reporters he thought it would help his son if he entered politics in El Paso. But first, Beto went to Columbia University in New York, where he conveniently reverted to Robert. Beto may be a serious candidate, but he does not seem to be a serious person. Everything is a show, a joke, a missed test he didnt study for anyway. What do you expect when you come up short and still fall backward into an interview with Oprah Winfrey? ORourke may be the only Latino in the country who missed out on racism, so he probably lacks empathy for those who endured it. Everyone says ORourke is vying for the Latino vote against Julian Castro, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development who is running for president. But ORourke isnt Latino. They might as well pit him against Sen. Elizabeth Warren for the female vote. I bet ORourke can really rock a pantsuit. Its not just me. Every day, I hear from other Latinos who for their own reasons are not feeling The Beto. Just in case youre interested. Or do we not get a say in who represents us? If thats true, then, well, good to know. E-mail ruben@rubennavarrette.com. Navarrette Nation is available through every podcast app. 2019, The Washington Post Writers Group. Whiskey the pit bull will never be whole again after losing a leg when she was shot and left for dead as a bait dog. But she is complete, thanks to a new master whos also missing a limb. I imagined what this sweet, loving dog must be going through, said Jeff Meyer of Mansfield, Texas, and knew I could help. Before she was Whiskey, she was a malnourished and fearful bait dog named Jessica, used as prey in dog-fighting bouts. Abandoned by her old master, someone left her at the Fort Worth animal shelter where veterinarians saved her life, but not her leg. She eventually recovered from her injuries and ended up in the care of Kristen Flora, a foster-dog mom who spent five months helping Whiskey trust people again. Watching her overcome so many obstacles was a joy, Flora said. Its inspirational to watch a dog with three limbs and a history of sadness love and just be, without question or sadness or anxiety or any of the things we experience as humans. Those challenges are familiar to Meyer, who was born without part of his left forearm. As a child, and sometimes even as an adult, I was/am looked at differently by people, he said. Often, they will ignore me out of fear of the unknown. Until Meyer came along, Whiskeys future was uncertain, between having a disability and being a breed that gets a bad rap, said Missy Redding, co-founder of the nonprofit Bull-luv-able Paws. The chances of a tri-pawed, bait-dog pit bull being adopted was about 1 out of 100,000, Redding said. We were not confident of her ever being adopted. But Whiskey had beaten the odds before and she did it again, thanks to a serendipitous Facebook post. Meyer saw a post by the Lucky Fin Project, a nonprofit support network for those born with limb differences and he knew hed found a lifelong friend. Renamed Whiskey, after something else Meyer loves, shes now showered with chew toys and unconditional affection, and she gives it right back. I know from experience how others will view her and knew that she needed her shot at happiness, Meyer said. Lucky for me, its just that. She has brought a ton of happiness into our home. This week the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the bail reforms New Mexico voters demanded in 2016 a key piece of those reforms being that defendants can be held in jail without bail until trial if they are found to be a danger to the community. And yet more than three years after New Mexicans overwhelmingly approved these common-sense measures, there are New Mexico judges who continue to abdicate their discretion from the bench and release people who have horrifyingly violent pasts so they can continue to provide the public with a horrifyingly violent present. The most recent is 32-year-old Donald Delahunt, arrested last month on stolen vehicle and drug possession charges in Albuquerque. Second Judicial District Judge Alisa Hart denied pretrial detention, even though the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office gave her a rundown of Delahunts colorful criminal history, which includes domestic violence, burglary and drug charges; five bench warrants and eight probation violations stemming from noncompliance; and three unsatisfactory discharges from probation. And even though Delahunt beat someone until he thought they were dead, then called a friend to ask for help burying the body. And even though he scored five out of six on the tool judges use to help determine whether to detain someone. Instead, Hart said the bad stuff was too long ago to matter. And so eight days after his release, police say, Delahunt was free to shove the barrel of a gun into a womans mouth, pistol whip her and demand pills, cash and that she take her clothes off. When it all became too much for his alleged partner in crime and the man called 911, Delahunt allegedly began pistol whipping him and calling him a snitch. The woman ran to a bedroom, the men left with her pills and cash, and they were arrested soon after in a stolen SUV. Unfortunately, this is not a unique case. You have to wonder how many other time bombs are out there ticking. In December, Pro Tem Judge Richard Brown discarded the recommendation of the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office and released Anthony Juarez, a man with military-level training who, when police officers responded to neighbors calls of an armed and aggressive man, retrieved an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle from his truck, said I have you in my sights. I will kill you, and fired 26 rounds at officers. His wife, Brianna, told the Journal that before the shootout he just started breaking everything in the room. He told me that he was going to shoot me tonights the last night of your life, he told me. Thats when I remembered he had a rifle. She said she was able to get herself and four children, including a baby, out a bedroom window and to a neighbors house. She watched police arrive and heard her husband count down and begin firing. Brown said the criminal complaint was deficient because the detective who wrote it may have gotten information from other officers but didnt specify who. Many of New Mexicos judges have the wisdom and courage in such clear-cut cases to heed the state Supreme Court, which has made it clear that if allegations in a case are sufficiently egregious, the defendant can be detained pending trial. The 10th Circuit backs that up. Unfortunately, courtesy of Brown, Albuquerque residents have Anthony Juarez on the streets posing a risk to himself and others. And courtesy of Judge Hart, Delahunts alleged victim has added countless sleepless nights to her future as she remembers the taste of the gun barrel and applies extra makeup to cover her scars. Voters must look at cases like these and ask how this can happen given the higher courts clear instructions regarding bail reform. And they must demand, come Election Day, that all their judges heed those instructions when balancing defendant rights with public safety. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal SUNLAND PARK In the early morning hours Wednesday, Border Patrol agents called for medical assistance after a large group of migrants slipped across the border. After Border Patrol EMTs screened 180 migrants taken into custody near Mount Cristo Rey, they called for medical help for some in the group. Sunland Park Emergency Medical Service responded to the scene where they provided medical attention, according to a Border Patrol press release about the group. Requesting medical assistance has become routine for Border Patrol agents in New Mexico, where large groups of Central Americans, mostly parents with children and juveniles traveling on their own, cross the border. After turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents, the vast majority ask for asylum and, increasingly, for medical treatment. Every single day were transporting at least one or two individuals, if not more, to the hospital, said Joe Romero, supervisory Border Patrol Agent in the El Paso sector, which includes all of New Mexico. The seven Central Americans in Sunland Park who were sent to a hospital Wednesday were primarily suffering from dehydration and stomach issues, Romero said. Border Patrol agents accompany migrants to the hospital. If they get admitted to the hospital, then our agents are assigned hospital watch, which means they dont go out to the field, Romero said. Agents have encountered migrants with a range of medical conditions from respiratory illnesses to skin disorders. A man from Central America who asked for medical care in Lordsburg in late January was suffering from a flesh-eating bacteria. The bacteria is not contagious. One media outlet reported that migrants who crossed the border in the Bootheel had Legionnaires disease, but Border Patrol said it had not found any cases. The disease is contracted by inhaling a bacteria through microscopic water droplets in mist or vapor. It can cause a severe type of lung infection or pneumonia. Some migrants crossing the border have been diagnosed with pneumonia and other serious illnesses, including tuberculosis, parasites and gastrointestinal problems, according to CBP. Wide screenings After two Guatemalan children in Border Patrol custody in New Mexico died in December, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen ordered medical screenings for all children in custody, with a focus on those younger than 10. The cause of death for the two Guatemalan children, 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin and 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo, has not been released by the medical examiners offices in Albuquerque and El Paso, which performed autopsies. From October through January, Border Patrol took 25,710 family units into custody in the El Paso sector alone, according to CBP data. A family unit includes a parent and at least one child. As the number of migrant families crossing the border into New Mexico grows, area hospitals have been called on to help. What were primarily seeing is a lot of exhaustion, a lot of dehydration, malnutrition. You know these patients have traveled a huge distance, said Doug Oaks, Gila Regional Medical Center director of marketing. The 68-bed acute care hospital in Silver City is one of the medical facilities treating patients brought in by Border Patrol. In late January, the hospital serving Grant County hosted the first Southwest New Mexico regional consortium to address medical facility issues emerging from the migrant crisis. The gathering brought together representatives from the New Mexico Department of Health, Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, Mimbres Memorial Hospital in Deming, Hidalgo Medical Services in Lordsburg, Mountain View Hospital in Las Cruces and BorderRAC of El Paso, a regional advisory council for the emergency health system. The two-hour discussion addressed a range of topics including communication across the region, resource management and infection prevention. We havent dealt with any kind of contagions or anything like that, Oaks said. Gila Regional Medical Center gets from one to 10 migrant patients a day. Minor problems Hidalgo Medical Services, an outpatient clinic in Lordsburg, regularly helps Border Patrol in caring for migrant patients. Weve always taken care of migrants. When the Border Patrol would bring them in basically its a minor ailment, said Dan Otero, CEO of Hidalgo Medical Services. Cough, colds, blisters from walking, from what Im being told by my clinical staff. He said migrants with more serious issues were sent to the hospitals in Silver City or Deming. Im not aware of any infectious diseases that have come through our clinic at all. You see the same stuff in the migrants that you would see from anybody in the states in reality, Otero said. The number of migrant patients at the clinic jumped from three or four to as many as 30 patients a month between October and December, when large groups of Central Americans began crossing the border in the Antelope Wells area. But in the past couple of weeks the clinic did not have any migrants coming in, Otero said. One reason is that Border Patrol now has medical personnel available on site for migrants held in Lordsburg. I can confirm they do have medical providers in their station in Hidalgo County now, Otero said. At the same time, the number of large groups of migrants crossing the border in the Bootheel region has sharply declined in recent weeks, according to Border Patrol. As more groups cross near Sunland Park, the demand for migrant medical services is likely to shift to Dona Ana County, along with the need for the Border Patrol to respond. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexicos House District 1 said she heard from hundreds of her constituents urging her to support gun safety legislation. She and fellow Democratic Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Xochitl Torres Small did just that Wednesday, voting in favor of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. But Torres Small broke ranks Thursday in voting against the Charleston loophole bill, which would extend the waiting period from three days to 10 for would-be gun buyers at gun shows who dont quickly pass a federal background check. Haaland and Lujan voted in favor of the bill, which was designed to close the so-called loophole, which some feel allowed the mass shooting by Dylann Roof to occur. Nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. were killed in the 2015 attack. I got hundreds and hundreds of postcards in the mail from my constituents in New Mexico District 1 saying I should support this bill, Haaland said after Wednesdays vote. Im excited to be in an era when we can stop gun violence and support students whove come in to my office and have been outspoken throughout the country. The background bill is similar to background check bills being considered at the state level. Like a majority of gun owners across America, I believe in common-sense gun safety measures, which is why I supported HR 8, Torres Small said in a statement about Wednesdays vote. While protecting our Second Amendment rights, this bill ensures that dangerous individuals can no longer exploit the gun-show loophole to buy a gun while also making smart exemptions to prevent burdensome regulations for transfers between family and friends. The measures in this bipartisan bill strike a balance that will help to keep our communities safe and our rights protected. She didnt have a comment on Thursdays vote. The bills advance to the Senate, where they face an uncertain future because of the Republican majority. Lujan, however, believes the votes send a message. The House took an imperative step forward in our quest to end senseless gun violence, he said. This vote spoke loudly: Congress will no longer sit idly by as children are murdered in their schools and neighborhoods and Americans are slaughtered within their communities. The American people sent us to Washington to end gun violence and Im incredibly proud to support legislation that will stop criminals and bad actors from obtaining guns illegally. Haaland said students in her district were afraid to go to school, and gun violence was affecting communities in the state. Young people are leading the way and demanding solutions, Haaland said. We have a responsibility to our communities, and we must act on effective, common-sense solutions to address gun violence. Flashing beacons warning drivers about the presence of wild horses and wildlife along New Mexico Highway 48 north of Ruidoso were installed last month near the routes intersection with Ski Run Road. The flashing warning beacons were warranted based on traffic data for the area, according to information from the District 2 office of the state Department of Transportation. Road crews also installed eight wildlife activity ahead signs, and speed radar feedback units will be added near the Brewer Service Station and Convenience Store. The installations followed months of correspondence and calls by wild horse advocate Debra Wilcox and others, who feared horses or wildlife could be injured by speeding or reckless drivers on the highway that leads into Ruidoso. But while the folks from Alto and Ruidoso rallied around the wild horse herds they fought to bring home, the situation doesnt look promising for the passage of any of the legislation aimed at protecting those horses, advocates say. In fact, they are worried that Senate Bill 158, which they characterized as pro-horse slaughter, could be passed and signed by the governor. Patience ODowd, president of the Wild Horse Observers Association that won an injunction against the sale of about a dozen horses confiscated in 2016 by the New Mexico Livestock Board, urged supporters to write their legislators to vote against the bill, and if it passes, to write the governor urging her to veto the bill. The bill gives the Livestock Board control of our wild horses to wipe them out, ODowd said. The good bills were tabled. SB158 wipes out much of WHOAs 2007 legislative wins for the wild horses, which were upheld in the courts. The NMLB has never had jurisdiction over our wild horses. That is why they lost in court twice, contrary to what anti-wild horse groups are saying in support of this pro-slaughter bill. NMLB even had to include our fence out win and our animal cruelty win from our two last court wins in SB158, but it is still a pro-slaughter wild horse wipe out bill. The livestock board disputes the characterization of its role and has appealed the ruling of 12th Judicial District Judge Daniel Bryant that the horses are wild, do not fall under the boards jurisdiction and should never have been hauled to Santa Fe. State Sen. Pat Woods bill 158 would amend existing law to clarify that wild horses are not livestock, and adds provisions to establish procedures for handling wild horses, including capture, relocation, adoption and euthanasia, according to the analysis by the Legislative The bill changes the existing definition of wild horse from a horse on public land that is not an estray to an unclaimed horse without obvious brands or evidence of private ownership. It authorizes the livestock board to capture and relocate wild horses, and transfer horses under the federal jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land management, or arrange for adoption or humane euthanasia provided that this option shall only be available as a last resort for an unhealthy horse. The bill also allows the board to capture and use birth control on wild horses. Livestock board officials contend a clear definition of wild horses and public land will prevent continuous litigation. The board also indicated being able to quickly move domesticated roaming horses from state custody would have significant impact on the agency. Without clarification, the board will remain in an untenable position of either responding to requests form private citizens for relief under estray statutes, being sued for impounding animals that have not been found by a court to be domesticated and precluding the board from performing its statutory duty regarding estray horses captured on private land, board officials contended. Unfortunately, SB158 is supported by Animal Protection of NM-Animal Protection Voters, a 501c4, which opposed WHOA at the legislature in 2017 by supporting SB126, a pro-slaughter bill and now again in 2019, by supporting SB158 and siding with the Cattle Grower lobbyists and NMLB, ODowd said. This gives legislators an animal group to hide their bad vote behind. This time, all votes will be reported by our legislative arm, WHOA-Voters a 501c4. While the battle over the wild horses continues in Santa Fe at the legislature, a scuffle is on-going in Lincoln County over the fate of two colts picked up by the livestock board while the WHOA case was being tried. Wilcox said for the second time, a hearing on whether the colts should be part of the restraining order issued for the herd in 2016, has been postponed from February to 9 a.m., April 10, on a motion for attorney fees and Wilcox motion to intervene. I was so hoping to get to the judge (last week) to figure out why they have not been released, Wilcox said, adding that the two are caught up in the fight between WHOA and the livestock board. 2019 the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.) Visit the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.) at www.ruidosonews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The state Supreme Court on Friday ordered an emergency stay on Public Regulation Commission proceedings on abandonment of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station near Farmington. Public Service Co. of New Mexico had petitioned the court on Wednesday to block the PRCs Jan. 30 order that would have forced the utility to submit an application for plant abandonment by March 1. The commission ignored a request that PNM filed last week to reconsider its order, which had obligated PNM to detail all costs, impacts and plans associated with the San Juan shutdown, something the utility expects to file in mid-2019. PNM said it was impossible to comply with a March 1 filing, since it lacks the basic information needed, including selection and cost estimates for alternative energy resources to replace San Juan. The utility also said the order exceeded commission authority by forcing the company to involuntarily initiate an abandonment proceeding of property thats still serving the public, something that must be a voluntary act under state law, according to PNM. The PRCs proceedings could also interfere with the state Legislatures authority to set policy, creating legal issues about whether Senate Bill 489, known as the Energy Transition Act, could be applicable to a proceeding already underway at the PRC, according to PNM. The bill would create a financial mechanism to help the utility cover the costs of the San Juan shutdown. PNM also petitioned the Supreme Court to force the PRC to rescind its Jan. 30 order for an abandonment application. The Supreme Courts Friday ruling orders parties in the case to file responses to PNMs petition by March 19, three days after the current legislative session ends. The New Mexico Supreme Court has granted a temporary stay to allow time to assess our request, said PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval in an email to the Journal. We hope that ultimately our Legislature, our new governor, and our company can finish the work needed so PNM can file a complete application addressing the abandonment and replacement of the San Juan Generating Station in front of the PRC. Kroger Co., the biggest U.S. supermarket chain, plans to widen a ban on Visa Inc. credit cards to its Smiths food and drug division, blaming rising costs from premium cards. Starting April 3, Smiths stores wont accept Visa credit cards, though customers can still use their Visa debit cards, the company said Friday in a statement. The ban follows Krogers decision in July to stop accepting Visa credit cards at its Foods Co. Supermarkets unit in California. Signs were up in Smiths stores on Friday, warning customers that they wont be able to use their Visa credit cards beginning next month, Kroger is responding to the growing popularity of premium cards, which come with higher swipe fees for merchants, Chief Financial Officer Mike Schlotman said in an interview. Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., American Express Co. and Citigroup Inc. have been offering ever increasing rewards on their high-end credit cards as a way to entice affluent customers. Premium-rewards cards carry significantly higher fees, and they entice the customer to use those, Schlotman said. When youre in a business that has a margin of 2 percent or less, a 1 percent higher fee has a meaningful effect to the bottom line. The spat is the latest flare-up in retailers push to lower the $90 billion they pay each year in swipe fees. Major retailers have long looked for ways to cut down on such charges, including by lobbying lawmakers to lower the rates and through technology upgrades that avoid systems run by Visa and Mastercard Inc. entirely. Smiths employs more than 20,000 and has 142 stores in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Arizona. It is unfair and disappointing that Kroger is putting shoppers in the middle of a business dispute, Amanda Pires, a spokeswoman for Visa, said in a statement. Visa provides merchants access to more customers, increased sales and fraud protection, among other services, she said. Kroger enjoys all of these benefits, and there is a cost for these services, like any other. Schlotman declined to comment on whether Kroger would consider further expanding the ban, though he said every option is still on the table. he said. There will certainly be some consumers who dont like the decision, he said, adding that the company will be promoting its 1-2-3 Rewards World Mastercard, which is issued by U.S. Bancorp, to affected customers. Kroger has been investing in its mobile payment and co-brand card offerings in recent years as a way to encourage customer engagement and lower its card-processing costs. In 2016, the grocer sued card companies over the fees charged in the aftermath of the U.S. transition to chip technology. Krogers decision to ban Visa credit cards is similar to a policy Walmart Inc. started in some of its Canadian stores in 2016, when the retailer clashed with Visa over card fees. That dispute ended when the two companies reached an agreement about seven months later. OROVILLE, Calif. - The Lime Saddle Campground on Lake Oroville is now open, but only for Camp Fire survivors. California State Parks granted Butte County temporary use of the campground at Lake Oroville, to serve as a temporary RV park for fire survivors. Spaces are available on a first-come, first served basis. To qualify, people must be signed up for either the government or alternative fire debris removal program. Fire survivors must also get a placard from Butte County before entering the campground. The county will provide water service and wastewater pumping. For more information call (530) 538-7572. Uber, the world's largest on-demand ridesharing company launched its latest campaign No Haggling, No Hassles - encouraging people to avail UberAuto services in Chennai, India. UberAuto promises consumers faster pickups and convenient rides without "haggling or hassles". Set against the backdrop of a dramatic Courtroom scene, much like in some Tamil movies, the campaign captures the story of an accused waiting for his witness to arrive to his aid. Conceptualised by Ogilvy Bangalore, the campaign shows the name of the protagonist (witness), Selvam echoed around the city dramatically. As unique characters ranging from policemen to politicians scream Selvams name in anticipation, we finally see Selvam haggling with a regular rickshaw driver for his ride. As the Voice Over resolves Selvams conflict by introducing him to UberAuto, we see him happily arriving at the Court much to the relief of everyone. The film ends with the most relieved of them all, the accused who is thankful that his witness has arrived on time. Sonal Dabral, Vice Chairman India and Chief Creative Officer South and S.E. Asia, Ogilvy added, UberAuto has brought a dramatic change to the way our audience uses auto rickshaws by bringing them never before convenience and peace of mind. Its therefore fitting that we are introducing this epic service to our audience with an epic story full of humour, drama and suspense. Im sure that our audience will enjoy this campaign as much as we enjoyed creating it. Commenting on this initiative, Saakshi Verma Menon, Head of Brand - Rides, India & South Asia said, "Ubers vision is to build globally and live locally. UberAuto takes away the daily hassles of hailing an Auto by harnessing the power of technology. This campaign aims to connect with our communities, driver-partners and riders in Chennai. Ogilvy South has been a great partner in bringing this creative idea to life in Chennai." Ram Moorthi, President, Ogilvy South said, The flavour of the relationship between an auto rickshaw and its rider is a uniquely local one. From Ogilvys South office, weve used a South Indian flavour to help UberAuto convey its hassle-free message to its customers. Full credit to our client partners for going with our audience understanding while keeping us honest in terms of the Uber brands values. As part of the campaign, Uber is also set to release Print, Outdoor and Radio ads with the same message. The campaign went on air this week and is sure to strike a chord with the Chennai market. Watch the 30sec TVC at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiPqxso_Y_k You could also download the 40sec film: https://we.tl/t-3GumBmQ8gu CREDITS Client: Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd. Creative agency: Ogilvy Bangalore Vice Chairman India and CCO South and S.E. Asia: Sonal Dabral President - Ogilvy South: Ram Moorthi CCOs India (South): Mahesh Gharat Managing Partner: Kiran Ramamurthy Sr. VP & Head of Planning: Anirban Roy Group Creative Director: Sharat Kuttikat Copywriters: Satish Kannan (Senior Creative Director) & Sharat Kuttikat Sr. Planning Director: Vivas Nandhakumar Account Director: Sivaramakrishnan Dandapani Sr. Agency Producer: Rajib Baruah Production House: Kadhai Films Director: Hariprasad Udayakumar Over the last two decades IdeateLabs has established itself as one of Indias biggest independently funded end-to-end digital media companies. With offices in Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore, IdeateLabs has catered to some of Indias biggest brands such as Future Group, HT Media, Hiranandani Group, Tata Teleservices amongst others. In line with the ever-transforming media landscape and varied consumer needs, IdeateLabs is set to introduce a series of new IPs each designed to cater to a unique consumer base, the first of which is Alcohowl Indias one and only platform for fine drinking experiences. Alcohowl follows the philosophy that fine drinking isnt just about whats in the bottle, but the story and soul behind every sip. Alcohowl aims at creating the perfect blend of alcohol related events, reviews, tastings and trends to give alcohol connoisseurs a different outlook on the art of fine drinking. Vrutika Dawda, Director, IdeateLabs calls it a dynamic futuristic direction, adding At IdeateLabs we pride in our ability to combine content and consumer experience to deliver strong results, Alcohowl is one such example of that. It is a wholly niche space, but one that is far too overlooked. Were in the midst of a cultural shift and as ones exposure to global culture and hospitality increases, the demand for unique avenues that provide such experiences will increase as well. Alcohowl is the first of its kind in this sunrise sector that is soon to witness a boom. Were thrilled with the potential it offers and excited to see where we can take this. Vrutika added, We are committed towards creating communities led by strong content. As a company we intend to focus on community led marketing. Taking that into account we dipped into the fabulous talent pool at IdeateLabs, Pallavi Naidu, one of our own will be fronting Alcohowl as the CEO. With her intrinsic knowledge of the space and the consumer base were targeting as well as her exceptional instinct for success, Pallavi is sure to take Alcohowl to great heights. Speaking of the platform, Pallavi Naidu, CEO, Alcohowl, said, Alcohowl is all about the experience of fine drinking. We understand that while there are platforms that focus on food and beverage, none of them exclusively cater to alcohol connoisseurs. With Alcohowl, we not only intend to present them with a unique perspective, but also weave a story around their experience. It is about shifting away from the mundane and diving into a world of niche spirits and drinks. As a brand, Alcohowl will be present at two levels, as a digital platform creating custom content for the consumers in the form of our upcoming E-Magazine and branded videos and as an on-ground experiential platform providing curated experiences through special events and activities Currently operating only in Mumbai, Alcohowl is rapidly expanding their presence, starting with Goa, Delhi and Bangalore. Alcohowl will soon be launching Indias first E-Magazine dedicated to fine drinking and partnering with brands and OTT players to create custom content. AkzoNobel, the leading global paints and coatings company and makers of Dulux Paints in India, unveiledSpiced Honey today as the Colour of the Year 2019- this follows expert research into global trends, insights and consumer behaviours. Farhan Akhtar, brand ambassador of Dulux in India unveiled Spiced Honey. Perfectly capturing this years theme, let the light in, the warm amber tone is versatile and contemporary, and complements a wide variety of life and interior styles. Under the umbrella of Colour of the Year, Spiced Honey inspires four harmonious colour palettes themed warm neutrals, soft pastels, intense pigments, and bold bright palette. Each theme is inspired by the varied tones and remarkable properties of honey natural, timeless and enduring, protective, rejuvenating, and healing palettes are also forecasted to be seen on the rise of fashion, architecture and design. Adgully spoke to Rajiv Rajgopal, Managing Director, AkzoNobel India, Oscar Wezenbeek Managing Director, Decorative Paints South East & South Asia (SESA) AkzoNobel and Abhishek Pandey, Digital Head, AkzoNobel What was the idea behind coming up with Honey Spice color? I think its really about understanding and reflecting the moods of the people. Both Honey & spice are an integral part of Indian spirit. It gives a feeling of warmth, and this is what differentiates us from all other places and companies. Its all about bringing optimism, India has a sense of optimism, we are the worlds fastest growing economy. So, to me, a color like Spice Honey lends itself to the ambience through its transformative power. Also, Honey is a very translucent substance and catches the light. It resonates around the house and is very nourishing. Its a very beautiful contemporary color and a beautiful combination with Spice. What is AkzoNobels market share in India? We are not the market leader in India as far as the market share goes. But, if you look at the premium and paints part of the portfolio, were at number 2. We have positions in between 1-2 in other segments, but we are fairly aggressive. In todays fast paced world where everyone wants a quick solution to things, why do people still take painting as an exercise? Painting is usually done before an occasion. It is also done when you're moving into a house, or simply because youve outlived the colors and truly want a change. You reflect when you desire this, and are willing to put in the time and investment to make sure they are able to paint their offices or homes etc. Moreover, Rang bohot badlav laate hai, the colour of the environment plays a very important role in a persons mood, state of mind, mentality, imagery, and thought process. We can know a lot from the color a person carries, especially his personality. An individuals mood depends on the surrounding colors. For instance, it always makes a difference when the weather changes outside. The mood is different when its sunshine, when the clouds are gathering, or when its drizzling. How are your advertising spends distributed on digital vs. traditional media? We believe in being present at the right point at the right time with the right message. It is very imperative for us that we have a story to tell the customer, we do not then worry about what event it is. We just did a campaign called The Homes of the Brave where we didn't worry about what event is, where it is etc. We were just lucky that we were close to Republic Day and hence we chose that day. It was a completely digital initiative. Our advertising spends have been upped on the digital platform. That is where the consumers are going so we need to be there. Overall, its been in the range of 8-10%. There are some campaigns on TV, then augmented for digital. We also do campaigns that give us incremental reach with Silverpost and Zappr. Is Dulux taking a leap ahead with AI and Machine Learning? Our visualizer app helps you choose the color for your walls is based on AR technology. Weve already been using it for the past few years. We also did a contest titled Finding Farhan, based on AR. We arent using any chatbots at the moment, but we do plan to introduce them. Several banks use them because they have a template but our journey is very different. A consumer has to choose the brand, the type of paint and then colors, textures etc. It is not as simple as checking my balance or account statement. Zeotap, the global mobile data company today announced that GSMA has named 18 new companies to GSMA 100, featuring zeotap among them. GSMA 100 is a global innovation discovery initiative designed to identify and advance the next generation of connectivity and digital services. Zeotap joins the second cohort of the GSMA 100. This includes: AppOnBoard, Cinarra, Cloudify, CUJOAI, DefinedCrowd, Genus AI, Invisible Systems, IoTium, Jiminy, KaiOS, Limitless, Litmus Automation, Lumina Networks, Messagenius, SecureHome, UserTribe, and Vilynx. Projjol Banerjea, Co-founder & CPO, zeotap said, It is a honor to be a named among such esteemed peers, and a testimony to our pioneering work. Today we work with a single focus to help our clients achieve better results by building intelligent technology platforms. This recognition from GSMA will further motivate us to innovate and set new standards in digital mobile marketing ecosystem. Stephane Richard, CEO GSMA 100 said We welcome zeotap 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 zeotap to unlock business development and investment opportunities and champion innovation in our industry. GSMA 100 represents the innovation priorities of mobile operators around the world. Companies are referred into the program through investment and key partners. Contributors of the GSMA 100 for 2018-2019 include: 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. Zeotap enables mobile operators and other large enterprises to monetize their data through the integration with its patented technology zeoCore, which is already connected to the largest advertisers in the ecosystem. Before the current measles hysteria gets even further out of hand, a little common sense could help us think more carefully before rushing to take action that won't work and will actually do harm. Refusing unwanted medical treatment is a basic human right that all civilized nations have sworn to uphold, with the sole possible exception of a dire and imminent threat to the public health, which a few localized measles outbreaks, numbering no more than a few dozens or hundreds of cases, decidedly are not. All of these outbreaks are typical of those that have occurred ever since the vaccine was introduced, and others just like them will undoubtedly continue to occur even if the drug industry's well-funded campaign succeeds in vaccinating everybody. Yet the Washington State Health Department has declared a public health emergency on the basis of them; several other states are considering doing the same; and the news media have enthusiastically joined in, with editorials and Op-Eds in the New York Times, 1 the Boston Globe, 2 and other major outlets, as well as talk shows on NPR and other radio stations, all well-meaning but repeating the same alarmist fears and exaggerations as if they were settled truths, and citing these modest outbreaks as ample justification for eliminating personal-belief exemptions from the states that still honor them. A clear violation of the First Amendment, the latest and most ominous example is Congressional pressure on Facebook and other social media to censor postings that dare raise doubts or questions about vaccines or their mandates. On the other hand, these politicians and journalists have done nothing more than simply taking on faith the information that prominent doctors and public health authorities are telling them. Unfortunately, what they're being told is not only bad ethics, but also bad science, based on assumptions that are flatly contradicted by current research, and violate basic human rights and moral values that we still profess to hold dear. Often assumed to be self-evident without even having to be stated, much less proved, their bottom-line assumptions are really two postulates that depend on each other to support them -- namely, 1) that these small outbreaks of measles and other infectious diseases that we vaccinate against are initiated and propagated by unvaccinated individuals; and 2) that vaccines are not only miraculously safe, but also uniformly effective in rendering people immune to these diseases without having to contract them, so that only the unvaccinated are still susceptible and thus capable of transmitting them to others.But you can't have it both ways. For if these postulates were really true, if the immunity conferred by the measles vaccine were truly comparable to the absolute, lifelong immunity that results from coming down with and recovering from the actual disease, then the unvaccinated would pose no threat to anyone but themselves, based on a free choice of their own making, such that those taking the vaccine would have nothing to worry about. Conversely, if vaccinated individuals are indeed at risk of acquiring the disease from the unvaccinated, then the vaccine is clearly ineffective to that extent, and whatever it does offer cannot be a genuine or reliably effective immunity.In any case, there's plenty of good scientific evidence that both of these assumptions are just plain false. The vast majority of cases of measles, mumps, and other vaccine-preventable diseases in both past and recent outbreaks, typically between 75 and 95%, have been in vaccinated individuals,while a recent study of measles in China, where over 99% of the population are vaccinated by the same sort of strict government mandate being advocated here, nevertheless reported over 700 localized outbreaks in a single year, totaling almost 26,000 cases.Much the same is true of recent mumps outbreaks in the United States, where typically 95-100% of the cases have been vaccinated.So even if all non-medical exemptions were eliminated and virtually everyone were vaccinated, as the proposed new laws would require, similar outbreaks would undoubtedly continue to occur. In other words, the so-called immunity conferred by vaccines is a trick, a counterfeit of the real thing; and "herd immunity," the stated goal of the mandates, customarily tied to a vaccination rate of 95% or more in the case of measles, is a chimera of wishful thinking that vaccination simply cannot achieve, in contrast to the natural disease, regarding which public health experts have long known that large-scale outbreaks no longer occur when at least 80% of the population have already contracted and recovered from it.That, and only that, is herd immunity: to expect a vaccine to achieve an even higher level, with no outbreaks at all, is pure fantasy, and the polar opposite of hard science.Moreover, scientists have also demonstrated that individuals receiving vaccines made from live viruses, like measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, rotavirus, oral polio, and some versions of influenza, regularly "shed" them and are thus contagious for many weeks afterward.Regarding the resurgence of whooping cough in recent years, for example, numerous studies have shown that the increasingly large and frequent outbreaks of the disease are likewise being spread by vaccinated individuals, even though the bacterium is no longer alive, in part through natural selection for vaccine-resistant strains,as has been documented in the case of other non-living vaccines (HiB, pneumococcus, and possibly injectable polio) as well.In short, the entire rationale of vaccinating as many people as possible, and the bullying and resentment of parents who choose not to vaccinate that always accompanies it, is not only cruel and misplaced, but helps to create and propagate the very diseases that the vaccines were designed to eradicate.Rather than simply accepting the fact that vaccines have at best a partial and limited efficacy, we are allowing the CDC and the drug industry to play on our fears to the extent of inflating these small, localized outbreaks of measles into the dreaded semblance of a looming public-health emergency, posing a serious threat to society, justifying forced vaccination of everyone, even against their will if necessary, and thereby nullifying our co-authorship of and continuing allegiance to the Nuremberg Code of Human Rights and the Helsinki Declaration governing Biomedical Research, both of which insist upon the right of every patient and every experimental subject to give informed consent to all medical and surgical procedures, and explicitly forbid administering them by force.Although one could imagine a genuine public health emergency that might justify and even require temporarily waiving such rights, such as a large-scale bioterrorist attack or the rapid dissemination of a deadly plague, that is precisely what these small, localized outbreaks of ordinary childhood diseases are not. The truth is that there is no emergency, that we vaccinate purely as a matter of long-term health policy, and that most of the diseases that we vaccinate against were 1) already rapidly declining, thanks to improvements in sanitation, water quality, and other aspects of public health (pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus);11 2) ordinary diseases of childhood that most people contracted and recovered from without complications or sequelae (measles, mumps, rubella, flu, rotavirus, chickenpox);12 3) or caused by mutant strains of organisms that are part of our normal flora and only occasionally cause invasive disease (HiB, pneumococcus).13 Measles is indeed a perfect test case of the vaccination concept, as the most highly contagious of them all, with an attack rate approaching 100% in susceptible individuals; and the measles vaccine has in fact reduced the annual incidence of the disease in the United States from about 400,000 cases to less than 10,000, surely a historic achievement, no matter how it was done or why it was thought necessary. But inasmuch as these small, localized outbreaks are still occurring, and will undoubtedly continue do so in the future, no matter what we do, the CDC surely owes us a more convincing explanation than the impossible dream of "herd immunity" for why they don't simply declare victory and let it go at that. So for all of these reasons, contrary to what we're being told, the science is far from being settled when it comes to vaccine effectiveness. Even that much would be enough to deflate the myth that vaccine mandates are necessary. But it's not the only reason, or even the most important one. Vaccine safety is even further from being settled, to put it mildly, and for very good reasons. In the first place, many studies have shown that children who come down with and recover from acute febrile infections like measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and influenza are much less likely to develop chronic autoimmune diseases and cancer later in life than those merely vaccinated against them.14 Still other studies link the risk of death, hospitalization, and other serious adverse reactions not so much to any particular vaccine or vaccines, but rather to the total number of vaccines given, both simultaneously at the same visit,19 and cumulatively over the patient's lifetime.20 In other words, these worst outcomes cannot be simply written off as idiosyncratic aberrations of certain hypersensitive individuals, but rather appear to be built into something about the nature of the vaccination process itself. These findings are already more than sufficient to question if not discredit the almost universal reverence accorded to the concept of vaccination, not to mention the blank check that allows and even incentivizes the drug industry to develop, market, and ultimately mandate more and more vaccines, based on the assumption that vaccines are safe and effective across the board, that they save vast sums of money from not having to care for patients suffering with these diseases, and that it is therefore OK and even desirable to pile on as many doses of as many different vaccines as the traffic will bear, often for no better reason than that we have the technical capacity to make them. It is the same assumption that allows and even blesses the drug industry to conduct its own safety studies without genuine placebo controls of unvaccinated individuals;15 that limits adverse effects to those appearing within a few hours or days of the shot,16 thus automatically excluding the chronic diseases from consideration; that gives the lead investigator unlimited authority to determine whether a reported adverse reaction is or is not vaccine-related, according to criteria that are never specified;17 and that allows the CDC to insist that vaccines are uniformly safe and effective without conducting independent studies of its own, even though Congress has legislated and the Supreme Court has upheld that they are "unavoidably unsafe," in order to shield the manufacturers from liability for the deaths and injuries they cause,18 a free ride granted to no other industry. In short, these assumptions are not science, but merely scientism, a reverent, quasi-religious faith characterized by dogmatism in the name of science, which stifles the critical thinking, questioning, and doubting of allegedly settled truths that real science requires, and helps explain why the news media refrain from reporting deaths or injuries from vaccines without having to be told, and why most physicians offer up their own children for the same vaccinations they administer to their patients. The late Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics, sums it up admirably: [In science] we must leave room for doubt, or there is no progress and no learning. There is no learning without having to pose a question, and a question requires doubt. Before you begin an experiment, you must not know the answer, [or] there is no need to gather any evidence; and to judge the evidence, you must take all of it, not just the parts you like. That's a responsibility that scientists feel toward each other, a kind of morality.21 Which brings me to my final point, that if vaccination and vaccines were indeed safe and effective across the board, then the thousands upon thousands of parents who sincerely believe that their children were maimed or killed by them and must live with that existential reality every day of their lives must be either lying, ignorant, or stupid, and thus perhaps even deserve to have their stories ignored and dismissed out of hand by the medical community, the news media, and the public at large. Yet their suffering, whatever may have caused it, surely cries out at the very least for caution, restraint, and simple compassion for the viewpoint of those whose lived experience is so tragically different from that of everyone else privileged enough to be ignorant of or somehow unmoved by their loss. As a family physician who has cared for many of these children over the years, I can say with complete assurance that the vast majority of their parents are by no means ignorant or credulous "anti-vaxxers" or hostile to science. Quite the contrary, in fact: they are often well-educated, have devoted their lives to unraveling the mystery about what really happened to their kids, and ask no more than that vaccines be made as safe as possible, based on careful investigation by independent scientists unaffiliated with the drug industry. After more than fifty years in the trenches, I can also attest that the instinctive, practical sense of caring parents is often a far more accurate and trustworthy guide to the truth about what caused the specific tragedies that they have had to endure than any preformed, generic pronouncement that pre-empts any need to consider the details of their actual, lived experience. Finally, the widespread and indeed almost universal reverence accorded to vaccination, based on the catechism that vaccines are not only safe and effective, but also among the supreme achievements of modern medicine, has impelled me to write with a sense of urgency and foreboding at this critical moment in our history, when the time-honored rights of patients to refuse unwanted medical treatment and to make such decisions on behalf of their children are being challenged as never before. I will feel well rewarded if my words, my reasoning, and the commingled sadness, fear, and outrage I have long felt about this subject will promote a healthy debate and elicit more of the rigorous scientific work that still remains to be done. Given the legitimate doubts and fears surrounding their use, the simplest and wisest solution would be to make the vaccines optional, that is, available to all those who want them, once fully apprised of their risks, so that exemptions will no longer be required. For if vaccines and vaccination are truly as safe and effective as the CDC and the industry have been insisting, it shouldn't be that difficult for them to convince the public to the extent of wanting to give them to their children, without needing mandates to impose them by force. Until that happens, the most pressing issue before us is to preserve the frail remnant of personal liberty embodied in the few remaining exemptions that most citizens in our democracy have long been rightly proud of, and that the influential and well-funded drug industry has always been eager to take away. My fervent hope and heartfelt plea is that good common sense will prevail and the American people will be sufficiently aroused to not let that happen. Notes. Some photos are worth waiting for. As we noted in last month, an African black leopard was recently photographed for the first time in 100 years: According to CNN, the last confirmed photographic observation of a black leopard took place in 1909, in Ethiopia, though Kenyas Daily Nation newspaper claims that its photographer, Phoebe Okall, photographed a black leopard in 2013. Wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas, working with a team of biologists in Kenya, fulfilled a lifelong dream when he photographed the rare cat. "For me, no animal is shrouded in more mystery, he noted at his blog. He later explained to Hyperallergic why the cat is so seldom seen. [V]ery few images of wild black panthers exist, he said. This is not just because leopards are extremely secretive and hard to see, but also because only a tiny percentage of leopards are black. According to Nick Pilfold, a global conservation scientist at the San Diego Zoo and part of the team of biologists Burrard-Lucas was working with, some female leopards appear black as a result of melanism, a gene mutation that causes an over-production of pigment, noted Hyperallergic. During the day, the leopards coat appears black in its entirety, but at night, the leopard-print pattern is visible due to infrared imagery, as seen in Burrard-Lucass photographs. To photograph the leopard, Burrard-Lucas created his own camera trap system using a Camtraptions motion sensor to trigger a high quality DSLR or mirrorless camera and two or three flashes, noted Hyperallergic. Burrard-Lucas described his system in a YouTube video. Meanwhile, Joshua Holko, a professional nature photographer based in Australia, went searching for a wolverine in winter in northern Finland (in no mans land on the Russian border, he noted recently at PetaPixel). While waiting to see a wolverine, Holko, who previously has endured temperatures down to -22 degrees Fahrenheit for 16 hours a day while photographing polar bears, created daily video journal revealing what it is like to spend day after day in a hide waiting for the opportunity to photograph rare and elusive wildlife. Holko spent only six days photographing a wolverine a mere blink of the eye, considering that it took a century to photograph a black leopard. Nonetheless, as his video shows, fortitude was called for. Here are some of the other photo stories we spotlighted this week: ____________________________ 1. Correcting the Story of Behind a Vietnam War Photo In Feburary of 1968, photographer John Olson covered the intense fighting in Hue City, Vietnam, where he shot an iconic image of an unconscious Marine lying on a tank surrounded by his comrades. Last year, on the 50th anniversary of the battle, a best-selling book, (Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam, by Mark Bowden) and an exhibition at the Newseum in Washington told the story behind the picture. But, noted Reading the Pictures writer Michael Shaw at The New York Times, both got it wrong. 2. Coco Capitan at the Maison Europeenne Curator Simon Baker left Londons Tate museum to become the new director of the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris, and he leaves little doubt about his intention to bring youth to the institution with his first program there: Coco Capitan: Busy Living Everything with Everyone, Everywhere, All of the Time, featuring work by a 26-year-old Spanish wunderkind who since, she graduated from the Royal College of Art in London in 2016, has become what the British Journal of Photography calls a never-predictable presence. 3. Maine Photographers Take on Climate Change With increasing frequency Maine artists of all disciplines are traveling to the Arctic and Antarctic to study, observe and record the effects of climate change, says Bruce Brown, curator of the exhibition Melt Down at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, through June 9. The exhibition features work by 10 Maine artists including John Paul Caponigro, Shoshannah White and Justin Levesque (whose photo is seen here) responding to the visible and visceral markers of irrefutable change and calling for action to combat climate change. 4. Ana Vallejo's Portrait of Life in the Slums of Bogota San German is a slum on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia. There, notes Colombian documentary photographer Ana Vallejo, live many of the vulnerable members of society: "Victims of the armed conflict, ex-guerilla members, natives and afros displaced from all over the country." In 2016, we noted, she began documenting the people who live in San German for a series called "Entre Nubes" ("Between Clouds"). Her portrait of one resident, displaced from her home in another city by paramilitary fighters, was named a winner of the Latin American Fotografia 7 competition. 5. Kodachrome Photos of 1960s New York by Tod Papageorge Tod Papageorge was relatively new to Manhattan and photography when he set out in the mid-1960s to make his mark, noted The New York Times. While street photographers with black-and-white film darted around pedestrians and traffic, he was attracted to storefronts with their harmonized symmetry and varying shades of gold between jelly jars and cider jugs. His contemporaries Joel Meyerowitz and Garry Winogrand also urged him to use color. The work in now collected in the book Dr. Blankmans New York (Steidl). _______________________ At top: from Will Burrard-Lucas Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang's Regular Press Conference on March 1, 2019 2019/03/02 Q: On February 28, the UN Security Council voted on a draft resolution put forward by the US regarding the Venezuela issue, which was not adopted because China and Russia voted against it. What is your comment? A: China has expounded on its principled position on the Venezuela issue many times. China supports the efforts made by the Venezuelan government to uphold national sovereignty, independence and stability, and believes that the Venezuelan affairs should be determined independently by its people. In light of the current situation, China calls on the Venezuelan government and the opposition to seek political settlement through dialogue and consultation under the framework of the Constitution and law. As for the voting of the draft resolution at the Security Council yesterday, I'd like to say that when dealing with Venezuela-related issues, China is committed to upholding the spirit of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, promoting peaceful settlement, and safeguarding the long-term peace and development of the Latin American region. China opposes any external interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela as well as military intervention. To our regret, the draft resolution put forward by the US side was far from our aforementioned principles and position. That's why China had to vote against it. Peace and stability of Venezuela serve not only the fundamental interests of the country and its people, but also the common interests of all parties. We hope that on the premise of respecting Venezuela's sovereignty, the international community can make constructive efforts that are truly conducive to the country's national stability, economic development and people's livelihood, and promote an early and smooth settlement of the relevant issue. Any move taken by the Security Council on this issue should be in line with the aforementioned principles. Q: The DPRK-US summit in Hanoi didn't yield an agreement. What does China think of the prospect of future dialogue and the political settlement of the Peninsula issue? Also, Foreign Minister of the DPRK Ri Yong-ho stated in Hanoi on February 28th that the DPRK did not ask for sanctions to be lifted in their entirety as the US put it, but only the lifting of part of the sanctions disrupting its people's livelihood. US President Donald Trump also said on the 28th that he wants to "take off the sanctions so badly" because he wants "that country to grow", and he wants "a lot to be given up" by the DPRK. What's your comment? A: The international community has been following the second DPRK-US summit in Hanoi closely. During his meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Ri Gil-song of the DPRK, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated China's view on the summit. Both the DPRK and the US, as we have noted, expressed willingness to keep in contact and continue dialogue. China welcomes that. Realizing denuclearization and enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula is the prevailing trend and the shared aspiration and consensus of the international community. With the concerted efforts of all parties, the general direction to achieve political settlement through dialogue has been clear, which is to advance denuclearization and the establishment of a peace mechanism in parallel. We hope the US and the DPRK will continue to engage in dialogue, meet each other half way and accommodate each other's legitimate concerns on the basis of mutual respect, so as to push forward the political settlement of the Peninsula issue. China will continue to play a constructive role to this end. China has noted the statements from both sides regarding the lifting of sanctions after the summit. Despite persistent differences, both countries acknowledged that sanctions relief is an important part of the denuclearization process and that the two should be considered and done in tandem. This represents a common denominator that should be kept in mind. It has been China's consistent position that the Security Council should, pursuant to provisions of relevant resolutions and taking into account positive progress on the Korean Peninsula, especially DPRK's steps toward denuclearization, begin discussing invoking relevant provisions to modify sanctions according to the principle of synchronized and reciprocal steps. Under current circumstances, we sincerely urge all parties to approach this issue constructively and contribute to the comprehensive resolution of this issue. Q: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made some comments about China in Manila. One was that countries should have their eyes wide open about the risks posed by Chinese technology. And second, he said that the United States will defend the Philippines if it came under attack in the South China Sea. How does the Chinese government respond to these comments? A: On the South China Sea issue, we have made clear our position many times. I can repeat it here. As you can see, thanks to the concerted efforts by regional countries, the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable and sound. All parties concerned are committed to advancing consultations on the COC and upholding regional peace and stability. If non-regional countries, for example the US, truly wish for peace, tranquility and wellbeing for people in the region, they should stay away from stirring up troubles. As for your first question that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wants other countries to keep their eyes wide open and watch out for the threats they face, I think he can rest assured because no others will know better than the countries concerned and their own people where the interests lie. Q: Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday said that the Indian pilot in Pakistan's custody would be released today. I was wondering if China has played any behind-the-scene role in facilitating the release of the Indian pilot? A: From the very beginning, China has been calling on both India and Pakistan to exercise the utmost restraint and take measures to resolve problems and ease tensions between the two sides through dialogue. I noted the situation you just mentioned. The Chinese side welcomes the above-mentioned decision of the Pakistani side and the signal of goodwill it sent to India. India and Pakistan are each other's neighbors that cannot move away. The de-escalation of tensions between the two countries is in the fundamental interests of both sides. We encourage both parties to continue to meet each other half way, take substantive steps in resolving relevant disputes through consultation and dialogue, and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability. Q: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that Australia will stick to its decision on banning Huawei from the 5G telecommunications network even if the US backs down. She said that Australia does not want anyone in its communications networks that has an obligation to any other government. What is your comment? A: We are gravely concerned by these remarks. The Chinese government always encourages Chinese enterprises to observe international rules and local laws when carrying out economic cooperation overseas. The Chinese government has never backed any company in doing things that hurt other countries' legitimate security interests. The Australian side should facilitate cooperation between the two business communities, instead of citing various excuses and taking discriminatory measures to obstruct cooperation. We urge the Australian side to discard its ideological prejudice and create a level playing field for Chinese enterprises operating in Australia. Q: Earlier, China's examination on imported coal drew some attention from the media. Some reported that the examination appears to be on Australian coal specifically and speculated that it might have something to do with the recent tensions in China-Australia relations caused by Australia's behavior on 5G and other issues. Is that true? A: China's customs carry out risk monitoring and analysis on the safety of imported coal, and conduct corresponding examination and inspection compliant with laws and regulations. These are normal practices to safeguard public safety, which falls within the responsibility of the Chinese government. Q: In addition to the release of the captured Indian pilot, Pakistan Prime Minister also reiterated his offer to investigate Pulwama incident if India gives credible evidence. What are your comments on this? A: As I said when answering the Indian journalist's question, we have noted relevant reports and we welcome Pakistan's goodwill gesture. China always maintains that India and Pakistan should continue to take more positive measures to create an enabling atmosphere, strive to resolve all outstanding issues between them through dialogue, and jointly stay committed to keeping the region peaceful and stable, including what Prime Minister Imran Khan pledged to do, like you said. It serves the interests of both countries and is what China hopes to see. Q: According to some reports, the US government recently repatriated over 361 pieces of cultural artifacts originating from China? Could you confirm that? A: That is true. On February 28th, China and the US held a ceremony in Indianapolis where the US returned 361 pieces of seized archeological items originating from China to the Chinese government. This is the third and the largest return since the signing of an inter-governmental MOU on import restrictions of Chinese antiquities. China appreciates the move. Cooperation in preservation of antiquities is an important component of China-US people-to-people and cultural exchanges. We are ready to work with the US side to enhance exchange and cooperation in this area to contribute more to preservation and inheritance of cultural heritage across the world. Q: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once said that Canada is a country enjoying judicial independence, where there is no political intervention in judicial affairs. This is also what the Canadian officials said regarding the case of Meng Wanzhou. But according to reports, when testifying at the House of Commons Justice Committee on February 27, former Canadian Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould said that from September to December 2018, officials "hounded" her to ask prosecutors to settle the case off court and avoid prosecuting a Canadian engineering company on allegations of corruption. Do you think such practices in the two cases are in fact contradictory? What is your comment? A: I really like your question, yet I think you may need to ask the Canadian government. In fact the case you mentioned has drawn much attention in Canada. We also noted that Canadian media and people in various sectors have raised similar questions. I believe people can tell right from wrong. In fact, not only the Chinese and Canadian people, but the whole world are very interested to hear what the Canadian government will say. Q: After yesterday's summit, the DPRK gets to keep all its nuclear assets including the two reprocessing plants that Trump referred to in his news conference, and there's no date of a new meeting although Trump insisted that everybody left on good terms. This means that the DPRK continues to produce material for nuclear weapons and hasn't given anything up. Does China accept that the DPRK is a nuclear state? A: For what you said at the very beginning, could you tell me whose remarks they are? Follow-up: I'm not saying anybody made these remarks. I'm saying that's a presumption that they keep two reprocessing plants. That's the fact. Does China accept the DPRK as a nuclear power similar to India and Pakistan? The second question is, will Kim Jong Un come to Beijing on his way home from Hanoi? A: Regarding your first question, I would like to say that China has never recognized India and Pakistan as nuclear-weapon states. China's position on the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) remains firm and unchanged. As to your second question, like I said in these two days, Chairman Kim Jong Un is now on a friendly visit in Vietnam. It is not in China's position to release any information on behalf of the government of another country. Q: The 27th Meeting of the China-ASEAN Joint Working Group on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (JWG-DOC) was recently held. Could you share us more information? A: China and ASEAN held the 27th Meeting of the China-ASEAN Joint Working Group on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (JWG-DOC) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on February 27 and 28, which is the first JWG-DOC meeting of this year. During the meeting, China and ASEAN countries had an in-depth and candid exchange of views on the implementation of the DOC and the consultations on the COC. Last year, the Chinese leadership proposed to finish consultations on the COC in three years' time, a vision that has been echoed by ASEAN countries. During this meeting, China and ASEAN countries kept the momentum for dialogue and cooperation, moved forward the COC text reviewing in an efficient and orderly manner, and accumulated more consensus. The consultations on the COC text went well in general. Q: On February 28 local time, Senegal's National Vote Counting Commission released the official result of its presidential election. The incumbent President Macky Sall won the election with 58.27 percent of the vote. What is your comment? A: We noted that Senegal's National Vote Counting Commission released the official result of its presidential election. We congratulate President Sall on his re-election and believe that under his leadership, Senegal will score greater achievements in its national development. China and Senegal are good friends and partners. In recent years, our two countries have deepened our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and our bilateral cooperation in various fields has yielded new outcomes. China and Senegal, as co-chairs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), shoulder important responsibilities in moving forward the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation between China and Africa. We stand ready to closely cooperate with the new Senegalese government, elevate the friendly cooperation between China and Senegal and between China and Africa, and deliver more benefits to the people of China, Senegal and Africa beyond by implementing the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit. Q: European Union leaders have been recently expressing concerns about the number of Chinese companies that have gone to Europe to buy European companies. Now the European Union has been considering taking steps to try and prevent this. Some European Union officials also say that China has not moved fast enough on addressing concerns of European companies. For example, market access. How is China able to convince Europe that it has nothing to worry about? And is China concerned about the European Union's plans or considerations to perhaps move to limit Chinese companies buying European companies? A: In the era of rapid economic globalization, the interests of countries have been closely intertwined. Against such backdrop, promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation makes an effective way and means to achieve the optimal allocation of resources and the most efficient production and bring more benefits to all participating parties. European countries have been championing trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, which enables it to gain tangible benefits in the process of globalization and its trade and investment cooperation with other parties, including China. We believe that it is in the common interests of all relevant parties, including China and Europe, to uphold an open world economy and share opportunities and interests in opening-up. We hope that the EU will continue to maintain open trade and investment market, and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign enterprises doing business there, including the Chinese ones. As to China's market environment and reform and opening-up, we have achieved remarkable progress in opening up our market over the past four decades or so. I remember I once said that in the World Bank's Doing Business 2019 report, China ranks the 46th in 2018, and in 2017 the number was 78th. China has become the biggest overseas market and the largest source of profits for many EU businesses. I believe European companies have the best say about this. China will steadfastly advance opening up, relax market access for foreign investment, continue to improve investment environment for foreign businesses and continue to enhance the transparency of market regulations. We are committed to creating a more attractive investment environment for foreign enterprises. 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 N Augusta 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. Critical services becoming understaffed because American teens are too fat to fight fires, criminals, wars There is little doubt that obesity is a growing problem in the United States. The problem with Americans expanding waistlines only seems to be getting worse as time trudges on; a report from the Centers for Disease Control has shown that nearly 40 percent of Americas adults are obese and some 20 percent of American teens are obese now, too. Overall, approximately 70 percent of all Americans are overweight or obese. Dr. Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health told NBC News that its become difficult to be optimistic regarding the obesity epidemic. He added, The trend of obesity has been steadily increasing in both children and adults despite many public health efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity. But the rising rates of obesity among the young people of the United States is especially concerning, for a wide variety of reasons. In addition to the grievous health concerns that come with obesity, a staggering number of American teens are too unfit to even serve in the military or other critical services, like law enforcement or firefighting. In the most fit U.S. state, Colorado, a concerning 26.5 percent of teenagers would be deemed ineligible to serve in the armed forces due to their weight. In total, an astonishing 70 percent of young people in Colorado, between the ages of 17 and 24, would be ineligible for military service, either because of their weight, criminal record or lack of education. To make matters worse, Colorado is considered to be the fittest state in the U.S., which raises the question: How bad off is the rest of the country? Across the nation, 71 percent of young people from the same age group are estimated to be unfit to serve under the same conditions. The power of the elements: Discover Colloidal Silver Mouthwash with quality, natural ingredients like Sangre de Drago sap, black walnut hulls, menthol crystals and more. Zero artificial sweeteners, colors or alcohol. Learn more at the Health Ranger Store and help support this news site. According to the CDC, normal weight Americans, or those with a BMI of 25 or less, are now a minority making up just under 30 percent of the population, according to their latest estimates. Data collected by the agency in 2015 suggested that some 14 percent of American high school students were obese but its expected that number will continue to climb, as unfortunate as that may be. In areas like military service, law enforcement and firefighting, it is easy to see why weight and overall health status are a major concern. Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terrance McWilliam told the Colorado Springs Gazette, It gets extremely dangerous when you cant keep up with the rest of the pack. In 2016, the military revealed that 7.8 percent of troops were overweight and that number has been rising over the last several years. While each branch of the military has its own weight or body fat percentage standards, all have a cut-off point that will result in disqualification. In firefighting and law enforcement, there may not be an exact weight requirement but, physical fitness tests still rule. While many people may argue that weight isnt everything, the fact remains that being obese or overweight can increase your risk for many health conditions, including diabetes and heart disease. These conditions can affect productivity and can slow a service member down, possibly rendering them unable to do their job at some point as well. Two of the biggest factors driving up obesity in the United States are, of course, food and a lack of physical activity. As NBC News reports, physical activity rates in the U.S. are dropping across the board whether that be in the workplace or at home, people are just not moving around as much. Combined with the prevalence of high-calorie, low-nutrient food, and its a recipe for disaster. As obesity becomes more prevalent in younger children, it becomes a lifelong issue that could one day cripple the country, as too few people will be fit to serve in important service roles. Sources for this article include: DailyMail.co.uk NBCNews.com BAGHDAD Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi announced Feb. 12 that the security situation in Kirkuk has been stabilized. However, Kurdish parties now say Kurdish peshmerga forces have returned to Kirkuk province an area disputed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. The federal authorities led by former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi restored control over Kirkuk and the disputed areas from peshmerga forces after the independence referendum of Kurdistan in October 2017. As a result, Kirkuk's former Kurdish Gov. Najmiddin Karim escaped, and Arab Gov. Rakan al-Jabouri was temporarily appointed. Now that ties have been restored between Baghdad and Erbil and Kurds have become part of Abdul Mahdis government, given his strong ties with them, the Kurdish and Arab circles are talking about taking action to restore joint control between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over oil-rich Kirkuk. Such action first began Jan. 23 when Abdul Mahdi decided to withdraw anti-terrorism forces from Kirkuk and then peshmerga forces returned to the northern and western borders of the province. All of this happened after the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Massoud Barzani, visited Baghdad and met with Abdul Mahdi on Nov. 22, 2018. That visit was described as historic because it ended the boycott that followed the referendum and paved the way for many arrangements for the future of Kirkuk. KDP leader Muhsin al-Sadoun told Al-Monitor, The fact that the KDP is part of the new Iraqi government has opened a new page of relations between Baghdad and Erbil, which resulted in resolving several issues such as the budget and the export of oil; [it also] allowed reaching an agreement over restoring joint security administration over Kirkuk. He added, Kirkuk and the disputed areas are subject to Article 140 of the [Iraqi] Constitution, so its security issue must be managed by the federal and Kurdish forces, especially as dozens of districts and areas administered by the Kurdish parties need security support from the peshmerga. He noted that the current agreement stipulates peshmerga forces should remain outside the cities and local police should assume internal security. Speaking about appointing a new governor for Kirkuk, Saadoun said, The agreement between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK] and the KDP on forming the KRG included a paragraph on naming someone to assume this position in the coming period. He noted, The new governor will most likely be affiliated with the PUK which achieved the highest voter turnout in Kirkuk during the last general elections and the number of members it has in local councils is greater than the seats the KDP occupies. According to reports in the local press, the PUKs peshmerga forces reached the K1 base and made it all the way to Tuz Khormato district, which is affiliated with Salahuddin province. This provoked Turkmen and Arab parties. Former Turkmen parliament member and member of the Sadrist movement Fawzi Tarzi told Al-Monitor, Turkmen in the city fear the situation will change back to how it was and Kurds will be in control of all official and security circles. Tarzi said that what happened comes within the framework of agreements sponsored by the United States, stipulating the return of peshmerga forces to Kirkuk and the appointment of a Kurdish governor, which we strongly reject. Meanwhile, Mansour al-Baiji, a parliament member for the Fatah alliance, told Al-Monitor that the return of peshmerga forces to Kirkuk at this time will destabilize the city and the situation will go back to square one. Baiji added, These so-called agreements need to be made public and fall within the framework of the [Iraqi] Constitution. The city should also remain under the control of the federal forces, since [Kirkuk] is one of the unorganized provinces in the KRG. Disputed areas namely Kirkuk have for many years remained major outstanding issues between Baghdad and the KRG. Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution of 2005 provides a road map to settle the dispute by removing the demographic policies of the Saddam Hussein regime, accomplishing a census and concluding with a referendum in Kirkuk and other disputed territories to determine the will of the citizens: either join the KRG or remain under control of the federal government. The implementation of the article was due to be completed by the end of 2007, but the Kurds continue to accuse Baghdad of delaying it. At the political level, the debate over the governor's position could be resolved in the local elections scheduled for the end of this year, which will include Kirkuk for the first time in the provincial elections law after agreeing on a special system for holding elections. In terms of security, Abdul Mahdi is trying to win over as many political forces as possible, including Kurdish forces. He made it to his position as a candidate that all parties agreed upon. He did not have a large parliamentary bloc that supported him, which he needs right now as long as the bloc does not control him. Abdul Mahdi now has to please the Kurds without bothering Arabs and Turkmen. This is why he is giving Kurdish people control of some areas after agreeing to hand over Kirkuks oil to Baghdad and resolving the controversy over the provinces share of the countrys general budget. However, any action will have an Arab and Turkmen reaction. This may threaten Abdul Mahdi's position and may also lead to clashes on the ground, as happened when the PUK tried to raise the Kurdish flag in January over some buildings in Kirkuk province. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Palestinian General Directorate of Police denied Feb. 7 Israeli media reports on the orders given to policemen deployed in the villages of al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya and al-Sawiya in Area C in the northern West Bank. The reports claimed the Palestinian security forces were ordered to deploy in Area C under the security coordination in order to prevent Palestinian students from hurling stones at the vehicles of Israeli settlers. Per the Oslo Accord, Area C, which makes up more than 60% of the West Bank, is under Israeli security and administrative control. Any Palestinian project in this area requires the approval of the Israeli authorities, including the deployment of Palestinian security forces, under the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The General Directorate of Police explained in its statement that it deployed a group of unarmed security forces in civilian clothes in front of schools in al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya and al-Sawiya in order to protect the students from settlers attacks and help them cross the street to their schools, as well as prevent the interruption of classes. The directorate stressed that the police measures were widely welcomed by the students parents in both towns. The number of settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem has reached 198, with some 675,000 settlers, according to a Feb. 19 report by the PLO's Abdullah al-Hourani Center for Studies and Documentation. Settler attacks against the Palestinians have risen by 60% in 2018 compared to 2017, according to a 2018 report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Israeli media had reported Feb. 6 that the commander of the Israeli armys Binyamin Brigade of the West Bank Division ordered the deployment of plainclothes Palestinian police officers along Route 60 leading to the town of al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, in an effort to protect settlers, who claim they have been attacked by Palestinians, passing or driving by. This order comes in the context of the security coordination between the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed Feb. 6 security contacts between Israel and the PA on daily security affairs. Abbas, however, denied any political relations with Israel, noting that the PA will deal with the next Israeli government, regardless of its political color, as long as it remains committed to international resolutions and agreements signed for a just and comprehensive peace between the two sides. Palestinian police spokesman Louay Azriqat told Al-Monitor that policemen were ordered by the General Directorate of Police to dress as civilians because they were entering Area C. Azriqat said Palestinian police cant enter the area unless there has been coordination with the Israeli side. Settlers are out to get Palestinian students and citizens, either through verbal abuse, intimidation or cutting off the roads for students preventing them from reaching their schools. Sometimes they even shoot [in the air] or attack houses in the town, Mohammed al-Haj Ibrahim, a resident of al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, told Al-Monitor. The schools are only 800 meters [0.5 miles] from al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya settlement, making it a target for settlers." Ibrahim said that the settlers are seeking to close the schools in the two towns and disrupt classes on the pretext that students are throwing stones. But this is not a justification for the calls for closure, especially since this was the action of a handful of students only and not the entire school, he explained. Ibrahim said that citizens are trying to defend themselves through peaceful demonstrations or by filing complaints with human rights organizations, instead of direct clashes with the Israeli army and settlers. He believes that the Israelis main goal is to completely control the area and make it available to settlers or turn it into an army camp. Commenting on the Palestinian plainclothes and unarmed policemen, Ibrahim noted the security forces are trying to protect students and citizens but they are also being attacked by settlers. He said that the heavily armed Israeli army escorts settlers from morning to evening to protect them and arrests students for the slightest incident. The Palestinian police are unable to protect us, while the Israeli army provides maximum protection to its settlers," he said. Political analyst Khaled Mansour told Al-Monitor that the police saying it sent its forces to Area C to protect Palestinian students was illogical, as the protection of Palestinian civilians in this area is not part of the task of the police. He explained that the citizens themselves are protecting their children, since the PA cannot protect anyone as it does not have arms, powers or sovereignty over the area. The residents ought to form popular committees to protect themselves, he added. Mansour said, The PA or the Palestinian police cannot enter into Area C without approval from Israel under the security coordination, which is sacred for the PA, as Abbas recently put it. Let the people of the town and similar towns assume the responsibility of ensuring protection. He added, It is unacceptable for us to cooperate with Israel so as to bring about security in the area. Our security is already breached and lacks the fundamentals. He explained that the PA is keen on keeping the security coordination with Israel, while the latter does not miss an opportunity to violate agreements and commitments. The PA fears that any halt of security coordination would threaten its own existence. Mansour, however, noted that the PA could stop any coordination with Israel now since the Israeli government agreed to deduct millions of dollars from the Palestinian tax revenues, not to mention that the United States suspended its financial aid to the PA. He said, Maybe if the PA halts the security coordination, Israel could change how it deals with it and make sure to provide it with financial assistance. Israel would take the PA over any armed resistance factions any day. Omar Jaara, a professor of political science at An-Najah National University, told Al-Monitor that the Israelis, particularly the settlers, trust only the Israeli army with their safety and security and not plainclothes Palestinian policemen. He said that it is the Israeli armys responsibility to protect settlers and not that of the Palestinians. Jaara noted the Israeli claims that Palestinian police were deployed to protect the settlers are part of Israels efforts to pit the Palestinians against the PA. The Israeli soldiers escort the settlers wherever they go to protect them, he added. Jaara wondered, How will the PA be able to protect citizens in Area C, at a time when it could not protect Palestinians from the abuses of settlers and soldiers in Area A, which is under its security and administrative control? He stressed that the security coordination between the two sides is ongoing, while Israel continues to attack Abbas and to violate all the agreements signed with the Palestinian side. He believes that Israel considers the PA as a toothless authority and a mere tool to protect its settlers. The PA has to stand up for its citizens and protect them against the increasing attacks by settlers and push for the implementation of international resolutions providing for Israels withdrawal from the occupied territories of 1967, he concluded. The Palestinian arena has of lately witnessed successive events, beginning with the resignation of the Palestinian government on Jan. 29, the start of consultations to form a new government, the leaks in late January that the US administration's Mideast peace plan would be announced soon, and the announcement by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Feb. 10 that international institutions have responded to a US request for a financial blockade on the PA. In addition, the Israeli government carries on with its settlement projects after it approved in January the construction of 2,500 settlement units in the West Bank and Jerusalem settlements. Also in January, the Israeli army continued its incursions into West Bank cities on the pretext of pursuing Palestinian militants. Meanwhile, reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas reached an impasse after the PA withdrew its employees from the Rafah crossing on Jan. 8. Amid these developments, informed Palestinian sources told Sama News on condition of anonymity on Feb. 4 about major changes in the leadership of the security services. The report said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will make some appointments, which may include designating head of the intelligence apparatus Zakaria Mosleh as head of the Preventive Security Service, instead of Ziad Hab al-Rih, who may be appointed as an adviser to Abbas for province affairs. Meanwhile, Amine Fawalha could head the military liaison service, replacing Jihad al-Aaraj, and Iyad Abbas may be appointed as head of military finance, replacing Omar Ghaith, who suffers from difficult health conditions. Brig. Gen. Ghassan Nimr may take over the position of spokesman for the security services instead of Adnan al-Damiri. Either Ramadan Awad or Jihad al-Msaymi could head the police, replacing Gen. Hazem Attallah, who is a candidate for interior minister. The sources expected General Intelligence Service head Maj. Gen. Majid Faraj to be appointed an adviser to the president for national security, for Khaled Abu Yemen to be his successor, and the head of the military justice system Ismail Farrag to retire for reaching the age of 60. The new appointments have yet to be officially announced, but Al-Monitor contacted a number of senior Palestinian security officers in the West Bank, who revealed on condition of anonymity that the Palestinian presidency and heads of the security services are discussing these appointments, which will be announced at any time. On Feb. 6, caretaker Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah appointed Nimr, who was a member of the Presidential Guard, as a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior and a media coordinator in the security services. The PA neither denied nor confirmed the Sama news report. However, a Palestinian security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The coming days will reveal changes within the Palestinian security establishment that will serve the Palestinian situation in general, regardless of names; the Palestinian leadership is handling this. The decisions of the new appointments bear several indications. Their timing comes at a sensitive stage of the Palestinian cause, both internally given the Palestinian division, and externally in light of the estrangement with Israel and the US administration. Noteworthy is that all names mentioned in the possible appointments are senior officers who have been involved with the security services for many years, and all of them will move from one apparatus to another, with no mention of new names from outside the services. The Palestinian security services in the West Bank consist of four main bodies, namely the National Security Forces, the General Intelligence, the Military Intelligence and Internal Security. The latter includes the police, the Preventive Security Service and Civil Defense. The security services are made up of 66,000 officers, or an average of one officer for every 48 Palestinians. The PA has a major issue with senior officers, including brigadiers, brigadier generals and colonels, whose salaries are a great burden on the PAs budget, which already suffers from a financial crisis. The security services take up 31% of the government budget, with an average value of $1 billion. However, a survey conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) in December 2018 showed that only 47% of West Bank residents feel secure as they consider that these officers did not provide security for Palestinians in the West Bank. PCPSR head Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Masri, who served as director of the General Intelligence Service in Gaza before Hamas took over in 2007, told Al-Monitor, Only President Abbas can take a decision to make security changes; be it to rotate officers or refer them to retirement. However, the expected appointments are all linked to political development and the relationship with Israel, whose army repeatedly invaded the West Bank, putting security services in an embarrassing position before the Palestinian public opinion, and showed that they are unable to prevent these Israeli incursions. In addition, the US support for these services stopped in the beginning of February. In light of the Palestinian political stalemate with Abbas being in office since 2005 and legislative elections not being held since 2006 even though both presidential and legislative mandates have expired security changes are significant, especially since changes should have been made ages ago as no officer should remain in position after reaching 60 years of age or after having major health issues; in such cases, officers need to retire and make room for others. Abbas has been making changes to the leadership of the security services every few years, first in 2009 and then in 2014 and 2016. The expected changes do not affect the PAs commitment to the peace process and the security coordination with Israel, which includes pursuing Hamas which means that any changes are acceptable to Israel and the United States. On Sept. 20, 2018, the US State Department issued a report praising the performance of the Palestinian security services by fighting Hamas in the West Bank. Raed Nairat, a professor of political science at An-Najah National University in Nablus in the northern West Bank, told Al-Monitor that the upcoming changes are related to the senior officers of the apparatuses, not the Palestinian public policies. The major issues such as the relationship with Israel, the position on the 'deal of the century' and reconciliation with Hamas fall within the competence of Fatahs Central Committee. Security officers are not part of this, and these are routine changes, not political ones; they only aim to rotate and reposition officers. On Feb. 5, Ehud Yaari, editor of Palestinian affairs with Israels Channel 12 and a close associate of the PA, said in his article on the Mako channel that Abbas would announce new security appointments in line with the arrangement he will make for his successor, especially when it comes to Faraj, head of the General Intelligence Service, and Attallah, commander of the National Security Forces, known for being his most loyal supporters. Ibrahim Habib, dean of scientific research at the Ribat University College of the Interior Ministry in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, The Palestinian security changes serve Abbas during this critical period of the end of his term. Given the US and Israeli knowledge of the Palestinian security structure, any change in senior positions will only happen following their approval. As long as the PAs security services believe in fighting Hamas, Washington and Tel Aviv will approve, regardless of tensions with the PA. These changes come at a time when Palestinian security services are competing against each other to be on Abbas good side Abbas has made sure since he took office in 2005 not to limit the power to certain officers. Instead, Abbas sought to distribute the roles to the largest number of officers who were loyal to him so he makes sure everything stays under his control. This is why tension has now risen among officers. CAIRO Egypts tourism sector has recovered appreciably during the first three months of the fiscal year 2018-2019, according to the Egyptian Central Bank. There has been an increase in tourists arriving in Egypt after a nosedive following the 2011 revolution and the subsequent protests and the 2015 crash of a Russian plane in Sinai. Leaders in the tourism sector are seeking to boost tourism from east and southeast Asia, particularly China. Ahmed Hamdi, former deputy head of Egypt's Tourism Development Authority, said that the Russian plane crash was a turning point in Egypts tourism industry as Russia and the UK suspended flights, which accounted for 30-40% of the Egypt's inbound tourism. He told Al-Monitor that in the wake of the incident, the Ministry of Tourism begun to consider parallel tourism markets and niches, especially in east and southeast Asia. Asian tourists to Egypt already rank third in terms of numbers, with 670,000 tourists out of a total of 11.5 million visiting Egypt in 2018. Hamdi said that the Asian markets look promising, especially in the cultural tourism department, which has seen a decline over the past years. He called on Egyptian tourism companies to target the Asian market, particularly Japan, China and Vietnam. Egypts Bright Star Travel, a private company, announced in February that it had contracted with more than 35 tour operators in Indonesia. The companys chairman, Hani Peter, said Feb. 9 that Bright Star and Indonesias Christmas Tour agreed to aim for more than 2,000 tourists a month from East Asia, mainly Indonesia, starting in March. Egyptian Tourism Minister Rania al-Mashat is preparing to launch an international promotional campaign for Egypts most famous tourist destinations via social media in cooperation with the global travel brand Beautiful Destinations. During her meeting with founder Jeremy Jauncey in late January in Cairo, Mashat said that the ministry is looking to attract more inbound tourism from Asia, including China and India. Chinese tourism to Egypt grew by 30% in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to Chinese CGTN channel. The Egyptian Tourism Development Authority has offices in China and India, working on promoting Egyptian tourist destinations in Asia. The Ministry of Tourism plans to sign a cooperation protocol with the telecommunications giant Huawei to promote tourism in Egypt by displaying Egyptian tourist destinations as backgrounds on mobile phones. According to Hamdi, the ministry is trying to reorient the map of the nations inbound tourism, which accounts for 20% of the countrys GDP. The Central Bank of Egypt data showed that Egypts revenues from tourism rose during the first three months of the current fiscal year by 45.7% compared to the same period of the previous year. Egypts tourism revenues from July to September 2018 stood at $3.93 billion, compared to $2.7 billion for the same period last year. Egypt has made significant investments in infrastructure to promote tourism. On Jan. 25, Egypt opened a new international airport near the pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian Museum. The airport is scheduled to operate at full capacity by 2020. The government also plans to inaugurate the Grand Egyptian Museum near the pyramids and the Sphinx the same year. The museum will display more than 100,000 artifacts, including 20,000 pieces that will be shown for the first time. Wagdi al-Kardani, the former president of the Egyptian Chamber of Tourism, is less optimistic about the incoming tourist numbers from Asia. He told Al-Monitor that Asian tourism numbers have not been as high as expected because the lack of direct flights from these countries to Egypt. Hamdi and Kardani agree that to increase the number of Asian tourists visiting Egypt, the first step should be focusing on direct flights. Hamdi, however, believes that the government is trying instead to promote "tourism flights" within the country. As part of the efforts to encourage tourism, in October 2018, the Egyptian Tourism Ministry initiated an incentive program for nine destinations from November 2018 until April 29, 2020. The Ministry of Tourism will pay aviation companies a set amount of several thousand dollars for every flight that achieves 65% occupancy to Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Marsa Matrouh, Taba and Alamein. The incentives go up with the number of weekly flights. Kardani decried Egypt Airs monopoly over the market and grip over the aviation sector. He demanded that an open skies policy be implemented at the Cairo airport to ease tourist traffic from and into Cairo, lower prices and encourage private aviation companies to increase flights to Egypt. Hamdi expects an increase in tourists from Japan with the return of direct flights between Cairo and Tokyo in 2017, after a four-year hiatus owing to low demand. Tourism industry insiders estimate that Japanese tourists spend the most at up to $150 per night. The ministry is working to attract the same number of Japanese as before the revolution, or 130,000 inbound visits annually. In October 2018, the Ministry of Tourism contracted with advertising companies MCN and Synergy to promote Egyptian tourism abroad, though Hamdi believes it would have been better to work with local companies within each county targeted. DIYARBAKIR, Turkey Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could wind up facing voter backlash over his latest inflammatory statements regarding Turkeys pro-Kurdish political parties. At a Feb. 26 election rally in the town of Yozgat, Erdogan said that if mayoral candidates from pro-Kurdish parties win, he will replace them with appointed trustees. This attempt at intimidation seems to have already backfired on him in predominantly Kurdish regions. Erdogan has specifically targeted parties he says are affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey, the United States and other countries consider a terrorist group. Painting with a broad brush, he implied links between the PKK and the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) and the Kurdish-friendly Republican Peoples Party (CHP). After Erdogan's speech in Yozgat, the HDP and CHP fired back with their own threat to lodge a criminal complaint against the president for having "tarnished" their reputations. Erdogan's threat to remove mayors from office has rekindled the trusteeship debate that erupted in 2016, when the Turkish government first appointed trustees to municipalities to replace democratically elected pro-Kurdish mayors in several towns and cities. Some 94 trustees were posted to 102 municipalities. As a result, some 40 million people in Turkey are ruled by appointees instead of their elected leaders. In municipalities where no trustees were appointed, mayors were relieved of their duties, which were then transferred to district and provincial governors. Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) alleges that those local administrations had allowed the PKK to take advantage of the municipalities' resources. Kurdish politicians deny these charges. Will trustees once again become an election tool? It's hard to say, but it's already possible to see the adverse effects of Erdogans threats in the reactions of residents and civil society organizations. If he really means it, then why hold elections? It will be a countermove against parliamentary democracy. He is basically telling people, If you elect them, I will fire them and replace them with my people, Cihan Aydin, chairman of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, told Al-Monitor. Aydin is sure Erdogans remarks will backfire. I think voters in major cities like Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul will stand against it. It's not a correct step as an election strategy, he added. Burc Baysal, chairman of the Diyarbakir Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association, also doubts Erdogans remarks will find support in the mainly Kurdish southeastern region of Turkey. It's a threat that puts democracy on the back shelf. It's not acceptable for an elected official to erect such barriers in front of people who may be elected tomorrow, he told Al-Monitor. The person who said these words was elected by the people. He came from the ballot box. I dont think he will now make gains. Actually, it may backfire [regarding] voters choices. Voters now think, If the ones I elect won't be accepted, then why bother?'" he added. Many locals also expressed discomfort. Sehmuz Cakar, a Diyarbakir resident, didnt want to reveal who he would vote for, but asked, Why waste so much money to organize elections? He told Al-Monitor that Erdogan might as well skip the voting and just appoint the people he wants. There are fears that a trusteeship move by the government would cause tension in the region. A shopkeeper who spoke to Al-Monitor of the matter recalled that there were violent clashes between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces when the trustees first arrived. But the public was tired of these clashes and willing to accept the trustees to end the violence. "But it is different now," he said. "People will react." On the other hand, there are also people who favor trusteeship. According to them, support for trustees doesn't mean support of the AKP government. They appreciate the services trustees provide. Nahit Kuscu is one of these advocates. People are satisfied with the unprecedented services [trustees] provided. But as the regional population considers the elections an ideological event, they will vote for the HDP and live with whatever happens after the elections. They will vote although they know there will be trustees taking over, he told Al-Monitor. Some of the services provided have included road repairs, new junctions, green areas and new public transport fleets. Yet the trustees were only able to provide such services because the ruling AKP provided an array of resources and facilities that hadn't been offered to the mayors. Also, people's appreciation of these services is being marred by Erdogan's threats and government officials' hawkish stance against the HDP. Thus, such "favors" probably won't translate into votes for the AKP in the upcoming elections, scheduled for March 31. Besieged in its last holdout in Baghouz, eastern Syria, the Islamic State (IS) has reached the end of the road in terms of territorial control, with Turkey standing out as an escape route for fleeing militants. Despite measures the authorities take, the militants sustain their efforts to sneak into Turkey and head to other countries after staying for a while. Smugglers play an important role in the infiltrations, charging thousands of dollars for each person they help cross the border. Turkey has long been under fire for turning a blind eye to IS at its borders, failing to enforce enough measures and failing to properly prosecute IS members, letting many suspects walk free. Turkish officials respond angrily to such criticism. According to the government, no country can match Turkeys efforts to combat the radical group. After the 2012-2015 period, when Turkish borders were highly porous due to what amounted to a free passage policy, security operations targeting IS have notably increased in Turkey in recent years. According to official news agency Anatolia, 3,038 suspects were rounded up in operations against IS last year, with 408 of them sent to prison pending trial. Eighty-seven suspects were detained in January 36 of whom are in jail pending trial Anatolia reported, heralding that IS is being rooted out. The operations continued into February. Four IS suspects were caught Feb. 2 in the town of Akcakale at the Syrian border. Two days later, 24 suspects were rounded up in Istanbul and neighboring Kocaeli, with 11 of them released pending trial. On Feb. 6, three detainees suspected of links to IS two Iraqis and a Syrian were released in the northern city of Samsun. On Feb. 14, 52 Syrians were detained in operations in Bursa, northwestern Turkey, with no further information on how many of them were charged. Five days later, nine out of 12 people wanted on suspicion of IS membership were apprehended in the central province of Konya. On Feb. 17, security forces in Bursa arrested two foreign women wanted by Interpol for links to IS. On Feb. 21, eight IS suspects seven Iraqis and a Jordanian were detained and then released in Samsun. In another operation in Bursa on Feb. 27, police captured a Syrian suspect described as an IS emir who coordinated IS militants in Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor. Meanwhile, several major trials are underway, including the trial of eight suspects connected to a senior IS logistics operative in Kayseri. Detailing Ankaras anti-terror tally in late December, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that 69,967 individuals from 151 countries had been banned from entering Turkey and 7,031 people of 100 nationalities had been extradited for being foreign terrorist fighters. In 2017 and 2018, Turkish security forces foiled 697 and 347 terrorist attacks respectively, Soylu said. Many observers, however, see Turkeys efforts against IS as inadequate and not serious, given how Ankara waters the issue down by jumbling it together with other groups it considers to be terrorist organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG); and Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen and his followers, all of whom stand accused of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt. Most of the questioning stems from a widespread impression that IS suspects are easily released. It is a widely held conviction that IS members enjoy lenient treatment in Turkey, not to be found anywhere else in the world. In some trials over IS attacks in the country, the courts have contended with questioning suspects via video links without bringing them into the courtroom, fueling doubts on how serious the trials are. Despite the criticism, government officials have not stopped blurring the lines in their statements on IS suspects. Take, for instance, Soylus Feb. 15 remarks on the capture of an IS suspect driving a bomb-laden vehicle in Hatay, which borders Syria. The minister said the man had taken the bomb from the PYD in Syria and planned to detonate it in a big Turkish city in return for the PYDs release of 100 IS captives. The PYD and the PKK gave the instructions. Those groups are all the same, he said. The number of IS-related detentions in Turkey is no doubt impressive, but many detainees are subsequently released due to shallow investigations not to mention those who duck the radar of authorities. IS logistical networks and cells remain active despite the hundreds-kilometer-long border walls that Turkey erected in recent years against illegal crossings from Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that at least 85 IS-linked families have sneaked into Turkey in the past two months, paying smugglers large sums of between $10,000 and $50,000. According to SOHR, the smugglers take the escapees through territory held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) first and then through the Turkish-controlled Operation Euphrates Shield region. An Uzbek fighter has reportedly paid the biggest sum to smugglers $50,000 for a clandestine journey to Turkey with his wife and two children. Others are said to pay up to $10,000 to make it to the western bank of the Euphrates River from areas such as al-Busayrah, Theban and Gharanij. According to the SOHR tally, 49,650 people among them some 5,000 fighters have left the IS enclave in eastern Syria since Dec. 1. They included Syrians as well as nationals of various Asian and European countries such as Iraq, Russia, Somalia and the Philippines. The Iraqis, who constitute the majority, prefer to cross to Iraq where IS militants are still able to find refuge. About 5,000 civilians and some 400 fighters who refuse to surrender are estimated to remain in Baghouz. In addition, 800 fighters captured by the SDF and their relatives numbering 8,000 people are kept in four camps and various prisons. Turkey is no doubt the first destination of those who manage to escape. SDF representatives say they have rejected requests by besieged IS fighters for safe passage to Turkey or rebel-held Idlib. Turkey stands out as a major crossroad in the accounts of IS members captured in various countries, from Tunisia to Britain. Interviews with 18 IS captives held by the YPG, conducted by the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, indicate that Turkey has been central to the organizations activities. According to the account of Abdel Kadr a Tunisian who had experience as a smuggler between Turkey and Europe prior to joining IS and then worked for the IS intelligence unit known as emni militants underwent special training to set up sleeper cells in Europe, with some having hair replacement and plastic surgeries in Turkey to avoid recognition. Others vacationed in Turkish resorts, taking an abundance of pictures to build solid alibis before heading back to Europe to join sleeper cells. Beijings sudden decision to temporarily close its consulate in Izmir is widely seen as a warning to Turkey to back off its criticism of Chinas treatment of its Muslim minority. Why it matters: Izmir is poised to be the last port on Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative, serving as a bridge between Asia and Europe. The consulates closure, announced by the Chinese Embassy in Turkey late Thursday, immediately drew strong reaction from the Aegean provinces business circles. The embassy did not refer to tensions between Beijing and Ankara in its statement, limiting its explanation to different factors such as working efficiency. But in an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Chinese Ambassador Deng Li made clear Turkey would pay a price if it continues to criticize Chinas treatment of its ethnic Uighurs. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has styled himself as a champion of Muslims, and the Uighur issue resonates with his base ahead of municipal elections right around the corner. Last month Turkeys Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Beijing of having tortured and politically brainwashed more than a million Uighurs in concentration camps. There may be disagreements or misunderstandings between friends but we should solve them through dialogue. Criticizing your friend publicly everywhere is not a constructive approach, Deng told the wire service. If you choose a non-constructive path, it will negatively affect mutual trust and understanding and will be reflected in commercial and economic relations. Money talks: A group of business foundations based in Izmir today issued a joint statement calling on China not to close the consulate. Ender Yorgancilar, chairman of the Aegean Region Chamber of Industry, told a local magazine that Izmir accounts for $850 million of the $23 billion in annual trade between Turkey and China. In the context of Chinas One Belt One Road initiative, Izmir is the last port before the European Union, Jak Eskinazi of the Aegean Exporters Associations told the magazine. Turkeys stance stands in sharp contrast to other regional powers that share an interest in being seen as a champion for Muslims. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was deafeningly quiet on the Uighur matter during a visit to China last week during which he bagged a $10 billion oil deal. Whats next: The Turkish Foreign Ministry has yet to comment on the matter. Turkeys attempts to diffuse tensions over the past week have so far failed to produce results. Tensions escalated when Turkey brought the Uighur matter up at the UN Human Rights Councils meeting in Geneva on Feb. 25. Two days later, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu insisted Ankara remains committed to cooperating with China on the One Belt, One Road initiative. The fact that we have a problem with China on an issue should not necessarily hinder our cooperation on other matters, Cavusoglu said at a conference in Ankara. We may link Chinas One Belt One Road initiative with our own Middle Corridor Initiative so that a direct line between London and Beijing could be set up. Know more: Semih Idiz explains why Turkey has broken its silence over the treatment of Uighurs here. For more background on the matter, read Metin Gurcans Sept. 14 piece here and Fehim Tastekin on what it means for Syria here. News of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's abrupt resignation late on Feb. 25 spurred celebration and joy among Iran's powerful hard-liners. "The disgraceful JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] has reached a dead end. Zarif is like a gambler who gambled his entire existence on trusting [former US Secretary of State] John Kerry and lost," proclaimed hard-line former member of parliament Hamid Rasaee. Conservative politician Mahmoud Nabavian declared, "The man behind the damaging agreements of Saadabad, Paris, Geneva, Lausanne, the JCPOA and FATF [Financial Action Task Force] has resigned. Thank God." Lawmaker Javad Karimi Ghodoosi handed out sweets to fellow members of parliament, saying he was "certain" Zarif was finished. As it turned out, confidence in the foreign minister's departure was premature. He returns to his post with renewed legitimacy and decision-making power after receiving expressions of support from an array of Irans ruling elite. Above all, one public figure's praise has dampened the spirits of Iranian hard-liners and boosted Zarif's position the most: Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. Soleimani backed Zarif as "the main official responsible for foreign policy" and stressed that he has always had the support of senior officials, "especially" Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His comments echoed President Hassan Rouhani's letter rejecting Zarif's resignation in which he stated that he agreed with his chief diplomat that the foreign minister is the "highest official implementing the country's foreign policy." Soleimani's emphatic support of Zarif comes as the US administrations abrogation of the JCPOA and pursuit of a "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran has all but decimated the fragile momentum Rouhani had built in favor of diplomacy and increased openness. Rather than the economic dividends he promised with the nuclear deal, Rouhani has wound up with an economy debilitated by reimposed US sanctions and hard-liners vindicated in their warnings not to trust the United States. However, Soleimani who is respected across Tehran's partisan divide but especially revered by conservative forces has great influence over the balance of power in Tehran's contentious domestic politics. His comments diminished the political space for hard-line forces to sabotage Zarif's foreign policy approach and awkwardly positioned them on the same side as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who promptly bid Zarif "good riddance." Despite political limitations and checks on electoral processes by unelected institutions, Iran's political system is not static or monolithic. To the contrary, politics in the Islamic Republic are marked by intense competition between rival factions that diverge on major foreign and domestic policies. In this political arena, one faction has repeatedly shown it is willing to do anything to bring down not just Zarif, but the entirety of Rouhani's administration. The group called the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability often referred to as the Endurance Front has for years sought to eliminate Reformists and moderates from Iran's political scene. Its spiritual leader, fundamentalist Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, rigorously opposes engagement with the West and has been described as seeking an isolationist, North Korea-style model for Iran. Last August, Mesbah Yazdi warned Iranians against trusting any foreign power whether Western or Eastern saying, "We must confess and say God, we made a damn mistake. Please forgive us for being optimistic about the JCPOA and negotiations with the enemy. Please forgive us for being optimistic toward the Europeans. He added, Some have tied their hearts to Russia and China; they are making a mistake as well. In recent months, parliament members affiliated with the group have introduced bills calling for the impeachment of Zarif, Rouhani and even centrist parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani. It is no coincidence that the political figures who promptly lauded Zarif's resignation bid are all part of the Endurance Front. Last year, the group sparked immense controversy in Iran over a placard raised at a gathering it organized in the holy city of Qom. The sign was viewed as threatening Rouhanis life if he pursued renewed negotiations with the United States. The infamous placard read, Oh you whose slogan is negotiations, Farahs swimming pool is your fate, apparently referring to former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Rouhanis long-time patron who died mysteriously in January 2017 after allegedly swimming in a former palace of the late shahs wife Farah Pahlavi. The Qom rally was denounced by senior traditional clergy, including Grand Ayatollahs Nasser Makarem Shirazi and Hossein Nouri Hamedani. Khamenei has also strongly censured those calling for Rouhanis removal as playing a role in the enemys plan. However, as the Zarif resignation saga shows, hard-line ideologues clustered around the Endurance Front will forgo no opportunity to subvert Rouhani and his vision for Iran at home and abroad. The increased brazenness of Iran's hard-liners is reminiscent of the final years of former Reformist President Mohammad Khatami, whose efforts to reach out to the United States ultimately proved futile. Irans support of the US-led overthrow of the Taliban regime in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks was answered with President George W. Bush's designation of the Islamic Republic as part of an "axis of evil." And Tehrans freezing of its uranium enrichment program in 2003 as part of its engagement with Europe failed to achieve a deal in the shadow of American pressure on London, Paris and Berlin. Khatamis downfall led to the rise of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Thus, if past is prologue, it appears that despite their setback with Zarifs return as foreign minister, the Endurance Front and other conservative factions are poised to make gains in Iran's next parliamentary and presidential elections in 2020 and 2021 unless Europe stands up to US pressure and provides the promised dividends of the JCPOA. The outcome of this multidimensional struggle is not yet clear but it will in all certainty be momentous. For the first time in the history of Israel, the countrys top law enforcement officer has decided to indict the man at its helm. On Feb. 28, following a complex investigation spanning more than two years, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that he had decided to serve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom he had worked as cabinet secretary, with three criminal indictments. In Case 4000, concerning ties between Netanyahu and communication tycoon Shaul Elovitch, hell be charged with bribery, and in Case 1000 and Case 2000 concerning benefits received from wealthy businessmen and the positive media coverage, hell be charged with fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu's official indictment is now pending a hearing. His supporters are latching onto the word hearing, telling themselves that everything could still turn around and Mandelblits decision is not final. In fact, Mandelblit is highly unlikely to change his mind after Netanyahu and his lawyers respond to the suspicions laid out in detail over 57 pages. He took every possible precaution and raised the evidentiary bar to unprecedented heights before making his decision. He played it safe, cutting Netanyahu extensive slack. That Mandelblit went ahead and issued his recommendation to indict Netanyahu despite intense pressure to hold off until after the upcoming Knesset elections on April 9 attests to his confidence in the outcome. Israel is in the throes of a series of earthquakes. The first struck on Feb. 21, when Yesh Atid and Israel Resilience united to form the Blue and White Party. Two other former army chiefs Moshe Yaalon and Gabi Ashkenazi joined them in a bid to form a credible threat against Netanyahu. For the first time in ages, Netanyahu found himself lagging in the polls. The second tremblor the long-awaited announcement was the more powerful and its aftershocks continue. The third will take place when Israelis go to the polls on April 9. It will be followed by the winners efforts to form a coalition government, and then by Netanyahus hearing. A decision by a beleaguered Netanyahu to quit politics while he stands trial on charges of bribery would be the ultimate quake, the perfect storm about which we have been talking for several years, ending the Netanyahu era in Israeli politics. Will it end before or after Netanyahu breaks the record this summer as Israels longest consecutive serving prime minister? Right now, no one knows. Netanyahu is in the fight of his life, waging simultaneous battles on three fronts. The legal front is the most threatening and has the most destructive potential: Netanyahu must have finally realized that his career could end like that of his predecessor Ehud Olmert in jail. The second front, the political one, consists of two parts. One is Netanyahus desperate attempt to win the elections against all odds, knowing that a loss would increase his prospects of ending up in jail. It would be far easier to wage a legal battle from the prime ministers office, from which he could seek a cushy plea agreement without jail time and dictate the terms and the pace of the proceedings. A private citizen, however, is at the mercy of the system, as Olmert was. The other part of the political front involves Netanyahus efforts to ensure a future coalition. An electoral victory will be meaningless if he is unable to form a government, making Netanyahu more dependent than ever on his coalition partners. Most delivered the goods this week, pledging to stick by Netanyahu even now and promising to recommend him to the president as Israels next premier and to refuse to join Gantz if he wins. However, Netanyahu would find himself at their mercy, needing every single one of their votes to form a government while charged with bribery. The support of the ultra-Orthodox parties is a given, and the head of the Yisrael Beitenu, Avigdor Liberman, has pledged his allegiance. Trouble could come from the heads of the New Right party, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, as well as from Finance Minister Moshe Kahlons center-right Kulanu. Kahlon has declared he would recommend Netanyahu to the president, but is also on record as saying he would refuse to remain in the government of a prime minister under indictment. Bennett and Shaked have left the issue up in the air. The watershed moment for these two parties will likely occur after Netanyahus hearing, late this year or early next year. An official indictment would sink Netanyahus political career. Netanyahus third front is diplomatic. Even as his legal woes are mounting, his ally President Donald Trump is nearing the unveiling of his plan for Middle East peace. The plan could be Netanyahus undoing or his salvation; it all depends on the timing. Right now, Netanyahu is in a desperate bid to mobilize right-wing voters and he cannot afford to be perceived as inclined to accept a plan designed to establish a Palestinian state. That could change after the elections if he wins. The most crucial question now is how the decision will affect the broad public support Netanyahu enjoys. Will voters from his staunch political base defect and cost his Likud a loss of four to six Knesset seats, as pollsters and pundits predict? Could it go the other way, with the move to indict him boosting Netanyahus popularity? Netanyahu is fighting back like a wounded animal. Less than an hour after Mandelblits decision was announced, Netanyahu delivered a scathing response from his Jerusalem residence with a broadside against the police, the state prosecution, the rule of law and, of course, the left. Netanyahu is ignoring facts, evidence and testimonies, creating an alternative scenario based on conspiracy theories, lies and bursts of fury against the gatekeepers and institutions of the state he heads. For the first time in public, he specifically accused State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan and the chief prosecutor in his case, Liat Ben-Ari, of plotting against him in the service of his political rivals. Netanyahu hopes to convince his supporters that he is the target of a political hit. The Likud is on board, producing videos in support of this angle and flooding social media before and after every news item. Netanyahu will fight to the last bullet. Minutes after Netanyahus nationally televised speech, it was Gantz' turn as leader of the Blue and White alliance. Gantz took the podium to deliver a calm, dignified response, even flattering Netanyahu. This country is also dear to you, the nations one-time top soldier told his former boss. However, Given the circumstances that have been created, sitting together with Benjamin Netanyahu is not an option, he added. Gantz urged Netanyahu to take a deep breath, display responsibility to the nation and quit. The speech was meticulously crafted. Gantz was deferential, even warm, with the aim of drawing moderate Likud supporters to his party. Gantz is not the only one counting on Likud defections. A brawl is underway within the right-wing camp over voters ostensibly disillusioned with Netanyahu after the announcement. Participants in the melee include Bennett and Shaked, Kahlon and Liberman. In recent weeks, each of their parties has crowned itself as the sane, responsible or pragmatic right. Liberman, Bennett and Kahlon are trying to sell themselves as Netanyahu but without the corruption. On April 10, we will know whether they were successful. Al-Aqsa Mosque is again causing a major rift in the once friendly relationship between Jordan and Israel. Relations turned sour in the past week when Israeli security officials conducted a humiliating arrest of Jordans most senior official in Jerusalem. Heavily armed Israeli security forces arrived at the East Jerusalem home of Sheikh Abdul Azim Salhab at 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 24. Salhabs deputy and a score of other employees of the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf were also taken away, as were leading Palestinian activists. The Israeli police said the arrests were made because Salhab, 75, and hundreds of Muslims broke an Israeli imposed ban forbidding Palestinians from entering or praying at the Bab al-Rahmeh prayer room in the mosque. They called the protest act a change in the status quo. The prayer room on the eastern side of the UNESCO World Heritage Site was ordered closed in 2003. The newly appointed and expanded Islamic Waqf Council had made a symbolic protest move Feb. 14 by entering and praying at the site. Israel responded by putting chains on the door a move that resulted in daily protests and brought Muslim worshippers to pray outside the banned location. On Feb. 22, hundreds of Muslims led by the Waqf Council entered the site and held Friday prayer there, which infuriated the Israelis, especially the radical Jewish groups that have been trying to reclaim the mosque saying that the location used to contain a Jewish temple thousands of years ago. Wasfi Kailani, director of the Royal Hashemite Fund for the Restoration of Al-Aqsa, told Al-Monitor that the original 2003 ban was made after a group headed by Sheikh Raed Salah used the site. The ban in 2003 was an arbitrary military decision taken without any attempt to respect the rights of Muslims to pray in their own mosque. Besides, Sheikh Salah, who lives in the Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm, has not set foot in Al-Aqsa for about 12 years due to Israeli bans. Since 2003, Jordan has requested every year that the site be reopened, but the Jordanian requests were summarily dismissed. At the time, Israel said it closed this location because it was used by Salah and the Turath (Heritage) Islamic Committee dedicated to defending Al-Aqsa Mosque. Salah, a charismatic leader belonging to the Islamic Movement in the north of Israel, has been regularly barred by Israeli courts from setting foot in Al-Aqsa Mosque saying he was inciting violence. Salah is now under town arrest inside Israel. The arrest of Salhab caught the attention of Jordan. The Jordanian parliament, government and even the small Jordanian Evangelical Council all issued strong statements of condemnation. Jordanian Awqaf Ministry lawyers, who are usually reluctant to use the Israeli courts to resolve such diplomatic issues, were forced to defend the head of the council in court. Within hours of the arrests, as the sheikh was brought in for an arraignment in court and in the presence of the Awqaf lawyers, it became clear that the supposed 16-year-old military order banning prayer at the Bab al-Rahmeh room does not exist. It is not clear if there ever was an order or if it had simply elapsed over the years. The Israeli Court of First Instance ordered on the same day, Feb. 24, the release of the sheikh and all others who had been arrested for that reason on condition that they stay away from the mosque for seven days. A quick attempt by the Israelis to appeal the Lower Court decision was rejected and the Waqf officials were released the day of their arrest. Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the PLO's Executive Committee, told Al-Monitor that relations with Jordan are very close. "We have a very close relationship with Jordan in many aspects, the most important being our coordination in order to protect Jerusalem from the Israeli policies of colonization, including attempts at changing the status quo." The secretary-general of the Palestinian Authority's Islamic-Christian Council for Jerusalem and the Holy Places, Hanna Issa, told Al-Monitor that Jordans leadership in reinstituting a council provided Jerusalemites the courage to stand up. The efforts of His Majesty the King was evident in the reopening of Bab al-Rahmeh gate because it gave Jerusalemites the bravery to stand up with their bare chest to the Israeli occupiers. Issa said that the Jordanians have been carrying out their duties as custodians since 1924 and have been enforcing the Palestinian-Jordanian agreement signed in 2013 guaranteeing that Christian and Muslim holy places fall under the Jordanian custodianship. Khaled Abu Arafeh, Jerusalem minister in the Hamas-led government in 2006, told Al-Monitor that the situation had evolved over the years as the popular sentiment in Jerusalem had risen and forced officials to take responsibility. The new Waqf Council reacted, the Jordanian government was unhappy with the repeated Israeli violation of agreements and all sides were keen not to leave the scene as heroic Jerusalemites stood up for their rights. Ofer Zalzberg, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group and an expert on Jerusalem affairs, told Al-Monitor that Palestinian elation with what happened and Jordans role is matched by Israeli frustration. Jordan's assertive participation in confronting Israeli restrictive measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque is matched by a sense of frustration in the Israeli prime ministers office from the way in which the Holy Esplanade [Esplanade is a neutral reference to the site of Haram al-Sharif/Al-Aqsa Mosque] crisis reveals the low point in Israeli-Jordanian relations writ large, he said. Zalzberg argued that although the king is pleased with the domestic popular support for Amman's recent role at Al-Aqsa, at the same time he seeks a way to restore the delicate balance between Jordanian-Palestinian and Jordanian-Israeli relations. Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Vatican and member of the PLOs Higher Church Council, told Al-Monitor that Jordanians and Palestinians are working closely with each other. What we saw in the last weeks of coordination at the highest level to challenge attempts against Haram al-Sharif including the addition of well-respected Jerusalem figures to the Waqf Council are signs of this unique relationship that will ensure the protection of Bab al-Rahmeh and the rest of the mosque as well as its living stones. What transpired in Jerusalems Old City over the past two weeks has shown again the tremendous value of people power and the importance of leadership. But now that the genie is out of the bottle and the people of Jerusalem are aware of their rights to the entire 144 dunams (35.5 acres) that constitute Haram al-Sharif/Al-Aqsa Mosque, it will be next to impossible to reverse things. And as the saying goes, you cant put the toothpaste back into the tube. The Wednesday killing of a Birmingham man at the hands of a family member during a domestic dispute has been ruled justified, police said Thursday. James Earl Hunter, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue when they arrived at the scene at 1505 52nd St. Ensley around 7 p.m., police said. Hunter was involved in a physical altercation with another family member that resulted in the 52-year-old mans death. A suspect was taken into custody Wednesday night, but not charges will be filed, police said. Following the assessment of the information, the Jefferson County District Attorneys office ruled the death of the subject, James Earl Hunter, as justifiable, Birmingham police said in a statement Thursday. Turns out there were four tornadoes that struck Alabama last weekend. The National Weather Service in Birmingham on Thursday said that a fourth tornado track had been identified in central Alabama, this one in Pickens County, from storms on Feb. 23 and 24. The weather service earlier this week had confirmed three other tornadoes: *An EF1 with 105 mph winds in Lamar and Fayette counties *An EF0 with 80 mph winds in Fayette and Walker counties *And an EF1 with 95 mph winds in Coosa County. The Pickens County tornado touched down at 5:44 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 23) about 3 miles west-southwest of the Gainsville Lake Boat Ramp, the weather service said. It had a track that was 1.08 miles long and 75 yards wide at its peak. The tornado touched down over open pasture just east of Nancy Clark Road, the weather service said. It damaged numerous trees in its path and snapped five power poles. There were no injuries with that tornado, or the other three. Read the weather services preliminary report on the storms here. The weather service will also be watching closely this weekend, when another round of severe weather will be possible. Data on civil asset forfeitures in Alabama, cases involving the seizure of property by law enforcement on suspicion of crimes, will be compiled into public reports under a new initiative announced today by the Alabama District Attorneys Association. The Alabama Forfeiture Accountability System will bring transparency and inform legislators and the public about the practice of police taking property based on claims that it was gained from or used for criminal activity, officials said at a press conference today at the state Capitol. Rep. Arnold Mooney, who sponsored a bill last year to require public reporting on civil asset forfeiture, said todays announcement marks an important step toward what he was trying to achieve with the legislation, which did not pass. The new voluntary database will clearly shine daylight on forfeiture activity in our state and allow Alabama legislators to legitimately evaluate and determine whether individual rights have been violated and then to take those necessary corrective actions, Mooney said. The practice of property seizures by police has drawn criticism in Alabama and nationally and received new attention with a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In an Indiana case, the court ruled that authorities violated the constitutional prohibition on excessive fines when they seized a $42,000 vehicle from a man who pleaded guilty to selling $225 worth of heroin to undercover officers. Mooney, a Republican from north Shelby County, said Alabamas new database and reports would include enough information about each case to pinpoint problems. If we do have someone who is not doing things the right way, well have an opportunity to understand where they are," Mooney said. "And instead of taking a shotgun action, well be able to take a rifle shot action working with our law enforcement leadership, as well as if we need any type of legislative action, Mooney said. Alabama District Attorneys Association Executive Director Barry Matson said the new database is the result of discussions between prosecutors, lawmakers, law enforcement and civil justice rights groups that continued after the legislation failed. Matson said the database and reports will show if theres a pattern of unusual activity in civil asset forfeitures. Why does this county all of a sudden have a huge spike in asset forfeitures? Matson said. If they cant answer it properly or legally, then theres going to be a problem. If they can, then we understand. But at least now well be able to ask the questions. A report last year by the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center determined that civil asset forfeiture is abused. Alabama Appleseed Executive Director Carla Crowder said today the database and reporting could be helpful if the right information is included. But she said reporting alone is not enough. Having the data doesnt fix the problem, Crowder said. It could show how widespread and misused civil asset forfeiture is. For the report, Alabama Appleseed and the SPLC examined 1,110 civil asset forfeiture cases from 2015. Among the problems they cited: criminal charges were not brought in about one-fourth of the cases; in 18 percent of cases where charges were filed they were for possession of marijuana or paraphernalia; in half the cases the amount of cash seized was $1,372 or less; in 64 percent of the cases where criminal charges were filed, the defendant was black, even though African-Americans make up 27 percent of the states population. They say the findings indicate that the process is too often used against minor offenders rather than as a tool against drug traffickers and more serious crimes. Crowder said a key concern is that the burden of proof for the state to prevail in a civil asset case is reasonable satisfaction, lower than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard in a criminal trial. The Alabama District Attorneys Association maintains that due process rights are protected in civil asset forfeiture cases, as in any other lawsuit. In a frequently asked questions handout distributed at todays news conference, the association said: You have the same rights as any other litigant in a civil lawsuit. These include the right to due process, to equal protection under the law and protection against excessive fines. Law enforcement officials at todays press conference said in forfeiture cases, its the states burden to convince a judge that the seized property is connected with criminal activity. But Crowder said defendants in the civil cases arent entitled to lawyers like in a criminal case and said many cant afford to hire a lawyer, especially in cases where legal fees might exceed the value of the property seized. Attorney General Steve Marshall, the Alabama Sheriffs Association and the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police endorsed the new data collection and reporting system, as did the Alabama Policy Institute. Matson said district attorneys will begin providing the data for the system immediately and the database would likely be operating within weeks. The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center will maintain the database, which will be created by the University of Alabamas Center for the Advancement of Public Safety. The Alabama District Attorneys Association said Alabama courts have applied the standard that fines must be proportional to criminal activity, the issue in the recent Supreme Court case, since 1999. Edited at 7:53 a.m. on March 1 to change information in first sentence to data. Alabamas only deep-water port, faced with fierce competition from other Southern shipping ports, is angling for a nearly $400 million expansion project to accommodate bigger and larger container ships. The project, which is awaiting final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, also needs a state investment of around $150 million. On Wednesday, supporters for the project got a huge boost when the ship channel project was included in Alabama Gov. Kay Iveys Rebuild Alabama infrastructure plan. Its the only non-road and bridge project that was unveiled as part of Iveys overall plan that would be financed through a 10-cent increase in the states gasoline tax. Its all about keeping Alabama competitive, said Jimmy Lyons, executive director of the Alabama State Port Authority, which oversees the Port of Mobile and the ship channel that runs through downtown Mobile. The ships are getting bigger and bigger. Iveys plan requires legislative approval, and a bill is likely to be introduced in the coming days. The Legislature will return to Montgomery on Tuesday to start its spring legislative session, and begin negotiations on Iveys plan. Port support On Thursday, approximately 60 lawmakers visited Mobile to tour the Port of Mobile via the Perdido Queen paddleboat, which began offering dinner cruises along the waterfront in January. We are showing them what is happening in coastal Alabama and what that means for the rest of the state, said state Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Daphne. We are showing how the Port of Mobile impacts the global competitiveness of the poultry industry in Alabama, the steel industry, the coal industry, the automobile and aerospace industries. For the visiting lawmakers, the tour offered a in-person visual of how the Port of Mobile is handling products imported and exported out of Mobile. State Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, was among those who attended. And though she remains non-committal to the gas tax increase, she said the ship channel project though located in Mobile, and far from her hometown district is worthwhile for the entire state. Overall, I consider the Port part of our overall infrastructure and very important to the economic success of our entire state, said Collins. Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, a former state representative from Guntersville, agreed: No matter where you live in Alabama, the Port has a direct impact. Its not Mobiles port. Its Alabamas port. Iveys initial plan already has support from some lawmakers in other parts of the state, including the mayors of the states five largest cities Mobile, Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, who visited the port while running for governor last year, said in a statement Thursday that he supports its inclusion into the governors roads and bridges plan. An investment into Mobiles ship channel is an investment in Alabama, and thats good for everyone in the state, Battle said in a statement to AL.com. Goods shipped in through Mobile can be supplier parts for our growing automotive, aerospace and industrial fields. The greater the capacity of the Mobile shipyard, the greater the capacity for Alabama to sell products overseas. Fierce competition Mobiles port ranked No. 9 in the U.S. in a 2016 statistic based on tonnage handled through its facility. The Port of South Louisiana is, by far, the nations largest followed by ports in Houston, New York/New Jersey, New Orleans and Beaumont, Texas. Lyons said he was concerned with ongoing investments made in other states to upgrade competing ports, namely Savannah, Ga. The Port of Savannah, which handles a large amount of container terminals, is undergoing a massive railroad expansion project that is expected to double the number of containers transported via rail by 2020. Lyons said that other ports Jacksonville, Charleston and elsewhere are undergoing ship channel deepening projects aimed at making them more competitive enough to lure the bigger ships that are more favorable in the international shipping industry since the widening of the Panama Canal in 2016. Its an economy of scale you get with these larger ships that should drive down the shipping costs its a tremendous benefit for the users of our port, said Lyons, referring to the need for a project that will both widen and deepen the shipping channel. And thats where the real benefit of the channel comes by making Alabama companies more competitive. Gas tax The fate of the states potential $150 million allocation for the channel project will hinge on the overall reaction to the gasoline tax increase from state lawmakers. In recent days, there has been mounting opposition to the overall plan, including the Alabama Republican executive committee, which voted overwhelmingly on a resolution to oppose a gas tax increase without an offsetting decrease in taxation elsewhere. Josh Dodd, secretary of the Alabama GOP, said hes unsure of the constitutionality of using gasoline tax revenues to pay for the widening of the ship channel. He also said that money should be found elsewhere to pay for the project. State Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview, said hes a supporter of the port project and realizes how vital it can be to the states burgeoning automobile manufacturing industry that will be buoyed by a new $1.6 billion Toyota and Mazda plant in Huntsville. But Shedd, like Dodd, said the money should come from elsewhere. I would like to see us address it with some other revenue source other than gas tax, said Shedd. Elliott, a backer of the port project, said the federal money that is being applied for it is driven through support from Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, who chairs the influential Senate Appropriations Committee. He said the timing is now to decide how to pay for the port expansion, which Lyons said could be under construction by 2020. We have one shot at this with Senator Shelby in the seat he is in right now, said Elliott. Hes worked a long time to make sure this is teed up for us to get this money. This (the state allocation) is a small fraction of the money the total project will cost. If we dont do this now, it wont happen. The project also has plenty of unresolved environmental concerns, which are being reassessed by the Corps of Engineers before its final report is due out sometime later this year. Seafood, Dauphin Island worries Environmental concerns about the ship channel project have been front and center of the debate since 2017, and focuses primarily on two major issues: A deepened ship channel would intensify erosion at Dauphin Island, and adversely affect coastal Alabamas collapsing oyster ecology. A deeper and wider ship channel is a great net step for this community if we continue to realize the other industries here the health of Mobile Bay, seafood, tourism, said Casi Callaway, executive director with Mobile Baykeeper. We dont want it to be a working ditch, but we want it as the front yard for our work places and homes. In Dauphin Island, longtime concerns have existed over the impact the ship channel has on the natural westward flow of replenishing sand along the barrier islands sensitive shoreline that is vulnerable to powerful hurricanes. The Corps of Engineers has long been the focus of the concerns from people who believe that the federal entity should take a more proactive measure. In December, the Corps committed $4 million to putting sand from channel dredging into an area that can help support Dauphin Islands eroding beaches. Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier said hes convinced that its very doable to find ways to both enhance the channel while stabilizing the barrier islands beaches. Lyons, who lives on Dauphin Island, said the issues have been studied carefully in the past, and he attributes much of the erosion to hurricanes and not the ship channel. Dauphin Island, thorough several bad hurricanes, has moved north, said Lyons. There are a few people who say these studies are a bunch of lies but they have no science to back it up. The studies show the same things. We do have a certain level of sea rise already and we have more projected in the next 20 to 30 years and it doesnt take anything to inundate the west end of Dauphin Island anymore. Its so low. Gov. Kay Ivey and top Republican lawmakers enter the legislative session next week with one issue front and center -- a proposal to raise state fuel taxes to increase funding for roads, bridges and improvements to the state port in Mobile. Democrats place health care at the top of their list and call for the state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, disputing the Republican argument that the state cant afford it, even though federal funds would pay most of the cost. We find ways to pay for a lot of other things, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said. So, the argument of not being able to afford it is something Im not going to accept. Both parties have interest in an expected proposal for a state lottery. Lottery bills come up every year. But House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, said the option of state revenue from a lottery will get more attention during a year in which lawmakers are asking taxpayers to pay a higher tax at the gas pump. Youre seeing more and more people leave the state to buy lottery tickets, said McCutcheon, whose district borders lottery state Tennessee. People are starting to take notice of that. And when you start talking about raising any kind of revenue, theres always a discussion of, well, are we looking at every source we can find. I think that discussion will bring forth the lottery issue and give it a new breath of life. Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said a lottery could be one way to partly offset the amount of the proposed gas tax increase. The legislative session starts Tuesday and can last up to three and a half months. Besides the gas tax and possible lottery proposal, lawmakers will debate the state budgets, including an expected pay raise for educators, as well as a request for increased funding for prisons. Alabamas state gasoline tax has remained at 18 cents a gallon since 1992. Advocates for raising the tax say the revenue falls short of whats needed to build and maintain a road system to handle todays traffic volume and the demands to transport goods in a competitive economy. Iveys plan would raise the tax on gas and diesel by 10 cents a gallon over three years, 6 cents this year, 2 cents in 2020 and 2 cents in 2021. That would produce an estimated $320 million in new revenue, which would be distributed to the state, counties and cities for roads and bridges. The tax would be adjusted according to a national index on highway construction costs. A portion would go to widen and deepen the shipping channel in Mobile Bay, a project that officials say would enable the port to handle more cargo faster. Ivey has taken the lead on the issue in collaboration with the House Speaker McCutcheon and Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston. The plan has the strong backing of business groups and officials representing county and city governments. Republicans hold strong majorities in the House and Senate. But the Republican leaderships support doesnt necessarily set up a slam dunk in the State House. The state Republican Executive Committee voted at its winter meeting in February to oppose any increase in the fuel tax without an offsetting cut in another tax. Proposals to raise the gas tax died in the House in 2016 and 2017 despite the support of the House leadership. If GOP lawmakers split on the issue, advocates might need votes from Democratic lawmakers to pass the tax. House Minority Leader Daniels said the Democratic caucus had not taken a position on the issue, partly because they havent seen a bill with the specifics. Daniels said Democrats see roads and bridges as just one of the states priorities. I think all of our members see the need for infrastructure but they also see the need in Medicaid expansion, Daniels said. They also see the need in adding additional funding for pre-K. They also see the need for making certain that we dont use a one size fits all approach to what infrastructure means for certain communities. Lowndes County, infrastructure for them is being able to have good sewage and clean water. Daniels said House Democrats identified several priorities during town hall meetings around the state. In urban areas, Daniels said criminal justice reform was the number one topic. Proposals are likely to include decriminalization of marijuana and reforms that prevent people from being stuck in jail because theyre unable to pay fines on minor offenses like traffic violations. In rural areas, Daniels said health care is the number one topic, including concerns over the closing of rural hospitals. I just really hope that the governor would look at that issue as a priority issue as well, Daniels said. It is certainly the number one priority for our caucus. Senate Minority Leader Singleton said he expects legislation proposing the expansion of Medicaid. Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton, has sponsored that bill in the past. Singleton said he expects a bill from Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, to propose a constitutional amendment to raise the state property tax to produce more money for the state General Fund. Figures has proposed similar measures before. Singleton said a gas tax increase would hurt low-income families in his district. He said more infrastructure funding is needed but said there are other sources besides the gas tax, including a lottery, noting that Mississippis newly elected lottery will help fund roads. A lottery could help offset some things in the state to where the consumers dont have to pay a whole lot more on those taxes, Singleton said. Theres some talk, and I think theres some serious talk going on. And hopefully, it gets a good shot. Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said he expects consideration of legislation intended to tighten the scrutiny on how dollars from a fuel tax increase would be spent. I think that will be a topic that will require a good bit of analysis by the Legislature, not only looking at the potential revenue generation and the reasons for it, but making sure that if it is enacted, theres appropriate accountability, appropriate oversight so that the people of Alabama are able to be comfortable in the fact that those new resources, if there are new resources, are managed appropriately, Reed said. State budgets are always a main task for the Legislature. With employment high and the states economy doing relatively well, lawmakers are not expecting a shortage of tax dollars to support education and state services. The good news is that unlike years past where weve been in a very difficult situation trying to find enough resource to be able to accommodate the minimum requirements of the education and General Fund budgets, I think were going to be in good shape with those budgets, Reed said. With more people working and pumping money into education coffers, the state education budget could top $7 billion for the first time ever. McCutcheon said more money brings more demands. Thats going to open up the door for people to try to talk about more programs or new programs, the speaker said. I think were going to try to hold the line with existing programs and try to improve on what we have, such as the pre-K program." The Legislature has boosted funding for pre-kindergarten for several years, a trend that has support in both parties. Alabamas First Class pre-K program has won acclaim for its quality but is still not available to most of the states 4-year-olds. Other education priorities, McCutcheon said, include funding to hire more teachers in grades 4-6 to reduce classroom sizes, and initiatives to address a shortage of math and science teachers. McCutcheon said he expects legislation on school security, which became a hot topic for lawmakers after the mass shooting that claimed 17 lives at a Florida high school in February 2018. McCutcheon said he expects a return of legislation to arm teachers, which failed last year, and discussion of how to put more school resource officers in school systems that cant afford them. Lawmakers are expected to consider a cost-of-living raise for teachers and education employees. The debate could be over the amount of the raise, rather than whether there will be one. On the General Fund side, Reed said he believes funding is available to support a call for more state troopers and address what the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says is a significant shortage. The Alabama Department of Corrections requested a $42 million increase, partly to hire 500 additional correctional officers and to give correctional staff a 20 percent pay increase. The ADOC has only about half the security staff it needs and is under a federal court order to add about 2,000 officers. Separately, Ivey is pursuing a plan to build three new mens prisons at an expected cost of close to $1 billion. The governor has not asked the Legislature to fund that and is considering the option of having private companies build the prisons and lease them to the state. The ADOC says it could cover the lease payments with money saved by closing old prisons, consolidating services and reducing labor costs because prisons with better designs and surveillance could be staffed with fewer officers. Reed said that puts the Legislature in a tough spot of balancing the need for more officers with the long-range plan of running new prisons with a streamlined staff. Reed said he believes a pay raise for correctional officers is needed because of the difficulty of hiring and retaining them. He said lawmakers will have to closely examine the full funding request. I think there is an increase thats needed, Reed said. But is it the full $42 million? I think that will remain to be observed and understood based on what is some of the decisions on building new prisons or not. Some Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against a plan to lease prisons from private builders and the plan to build three mens prisons while not replacing Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, which opened in 1942. Ivey will deliver the traditional State of the State address on Tuesday night. The Cullman County Sheriffs Office has a warning for churches: Keep an eye on your vehicles. The sheriffs office said it is working on about a half dozen cases where a suspect or suspects stole catalytic converters off church vans and buses left at Cullman County churches. We want to make all local churches aware so that they can take their church van or bus to a parishioners home if they choose too Sheriff Matt Gentry said. "We will also continue to close patrol all local churches and investigate who is responsible for these crimes but we wanted to make our churches aware so they can take preventive action. The Sheriffs Office in neighboring Morgan County shared Cullmans warning. This type of crime could easily move north into Morgan County. If you keep your church van/bus parked at your church, you may want to: check them periodically; keep them in or move them to a visible area; determine other parking arrangements. Catalytic converters, part of a vehicles exhaust system, are popular targets for thieves who are looking to sell of the platinum, palladium or rhodium in the devices. Buses, vans and trucks are popular targets as the converters are easy to reach from under the vehicle. Thieves sell the parts to scrap yards for up to $200. The activism of the black community bore many fruits Integration, inventions, and voting rights laws are examples. But oftentimes people cherry-pick which legacies they want to remember. Leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are honored every Black History Month. But their legacies are diluted to the point that they become comfortable household brands for love, unity and courage even though they challenged the status quo in uncomfortable ways. Shoved in their shadows are multiple black people and events that rarely receive recognition. I saw proof of this as I started posting about the legends and unsung legacies of black history last month in the Black Magic Project's Facebook group, where we talk about issues and topics affecting black Alabamians. Those who live outside of Birmingham knew of Rev. King, but weren't familiar with Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth -- the fearless Birmingham minister who stood up to white supremacists and was twice bombed out of his home. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute gives out an award in his honor every year. But why did it take some drama between activist icon Angela Davis and the BCRI to expand the reach of Shuttlesworth's name? After we published a video about how the Womens Political Council laid down the foundation of the Montgomery Bus Boycott more than a year and a half prior to Rosa Parks arrest, I received an email from a Spain Park High School parent who was helping their child with a research project about Parks. The parent used our video to flesh out their childs presentation, as well as their understanding of the oppression African Americans faced at the time. But why wasnt this taught to the student, a high school junior, grades before? Throughout the year, the Black Magic Project will continue to post features about the legends and unsung legacies of black history on social media because muting certain voices just to make people feel comfortable comes with damaging and dangerous consequences. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been dubbed the "black national anthem" because it details the triumphs of the black community and calls for persistence as challenges continue in the future. It became, and will remain, the Black Magic Project's hashtag to ensure all voices of black history are heard. Producing comfortable narratives of black history is how Rosa Park's legacy has been diluted to just being a "tired seamstress" who stumbled into history. But Parks should have been in the history books for investigating the sexual assaults and rapes of black women by white men for the NAACP. She did this years before she refused to give up her bus seat to a white rider because she was tired of being treated like a second-class citizen. But acknowledging her activism would distort the middle-aged, calm-mannered, never-rock-the-boat image of Parks illustrated in our history books. Revealing that white men raped black women, knowing they wouldn't be jailed for it, would make people uncomfortable. People ought to be uncomfortable. We honor the image we made of Parks, but silenced the context of the racist interrogation she fought against. Parks lost her job as a tailor in Montgomery for refusing to give up her seat. When we don't face the epidemic of racial injustices in our states and countrys past, it is bound to infect our future. Racially-insensitive events plagued this year's Black History Month. As Virginia's top lawmakers and fashion powerhouse Gucci faced backlash for wearing blackface or selling clothing resembling blackface, an Auburn High School student asked on Snapchat, "Is this what being a n***er feels like?" The student's face was smeared in what looked like a charcoal face mask. An examination into Alabama Department of Educations course of study for history reveals that students arent required to learn about the 19th century minstrel shows where white people would dehumanize black people by wearing tattered clothes and exaggerated, black makeup. But people aren't comfortable with talking about how white performers crafted the stereotypes hurting black people today. And those aren't the only details of black history that have been silenced. The erasure of black gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender gamechangers from black history can become problematic as well. Bayard Rustin taught King MLK about the power of nonviolent protests, and organized the legendary 1963 march in Washington, D.C. where King made gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Homophobia forced Rustin to the sidelines of the movement because he was an openly gay black man. He not only faced criticisms from both black and white activists, but he was left out of the history books because of his sexuality. That disapproval still exists for black LGBTQ activists today. When "Pose" star and gay activist Billy Porter glided across the red carpet in a velvet black tuxedo-gown during the Oscars, debates flared on social media accusing Porter of participating in the "emasculation of black men." The phrase compares castration to the loss of masculinity and usually arises when men don't meet social standards of masculinity. Porter told Vogue that wearing gender-fluid clothing wasnt emasculating, but empowering because it allowed him to unapologetically express his authentic self. He wants others to have the freedom to do the same. When we silence black LGBTQ voices from black history just because it makes us challenge our social norms, we also mute the voices of the black LGBTQ youth in our classrooms. The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) says LGBTQ students thrive when they hear experiences similar to their own in black history. So when we say #LiftEveryVoice, we mean every. single. voice. We will lift the voices of all the unsung heroes of black history for the sake of our future. Because little girls need to know the power of banding together the way the Women's Political Council did to challenge and change unjust policies. Because young boys can stare in the eyes of oppression and, like Fred Shuttlesworth, say, "I wasn't taught to run." Because the LGBTQ youth need to know that, like Rustin and Porter, can lead movements for change. We will lift every voice, especially the ones that screamed in agony due to the racial terrorism of slavery, Jim Crow laws and lynchings. These stories may be uncomfortable to hear, but are necessary to recognize so we can stop the cycle of hate. And as always in the Black Magic Project, we will be lifting the voices of those who are doing inspiring things in the black community today. Such as the Fairfield teacher who is fighting the school-to-prison pipeline by encouraging students to read. Or the Birmingham barber who cuts hair for the homeless every month without pay. Or two women who uprooted their lives in D.C. to build a national mental health campaign. And we will continue to share these stories year round because, as I said before, black history never ends. City and county officials joined Gov. Kay Ivey on the state Capitol steps today to promote her plan for a fuel tax increase to fund infrastructure. The speakers included two mayors who ran against the governor last year. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox joined other mayors and county commissioners at a press conference to emphasize what they say is the need for more money to build and maintain roads and bridges. Other speakers included Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange. "I want to commend Gov. Ivey for the courage of her convictions to make this bill a priority in this session, Maddox said. The Tuscaloosa mayor was the Democratic nominee for governor last year and lost to Ivey in the November election. Maddox said more investment in roads and bridges is important for safety and for economic growth. So to me, Alabama is at a decision point, Maddox said. And if were going to compete, not only now, but in the future, it is imperative that Alabama stands behind Gov. Ivey. Lets pass this legislation. Ivey proposed raising the gasoline and diesel taxes 10 cents per gallon over three years, which would raise an estimated $320 million a year when phased in. The money would go to the state, as well as county and city governments, for road and bridge construction and maintenance. A portion would be set aside to fund improvements to the shipping channel in Mobile Bay. The legislative session starts Tuesday. Ivey said lawmakers are getting their first look at the bill today. The governor said she has been calling lawmakers and would continue that. Most of the members havent gotten the bill until today; it was available today. So, a lot of them say, Im for you but I havent seen it. So, were taking that excuse off the table starting today, Ivey said. I talked to a number of legislators last night. I called them individually on the telephone and a number of them are already supportive period because they know the dire straits that were in. And Ill start calling again this afternoon. Legislators are not ill informed. Ivey was asked today why lawmakers should not consider other options to boost funding for roads, such as a state lottery. This is a user fee," Ivey said. If you use the roads you need to help pay for them. The governor noted that the state gasoline tax has remained at 18 cents per gallon since 1992. This has got to get done now, Ivey said after the question about a lottery. All these suggestions, where have they been 27 years? Weve come up with something thats workable. A lot of people have done the research and were ready to go. The Association of County Commissions of Alabama released a report today: The Cost of Doing Nothing; A Report on Alabamas Crumbling County Infrastructure. The report says 52 percent of paved county roads have not been resurfaced or patched since 2000 even though the asphalt used on county roads has a life expectancy of about 15 years. The report said counties are on pace to resurface roads on a 114-year cycle. The report says county bridges should be on a 50-year replacement cycle but that 45 percent are more than 50 years old. Aging bridges are more likely to have vehicle weight restrictions that cause problems that include longer routes for school buses, the report says. Rep. Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, said Wednesday that the bill would allocate 66 percent of the new revenue to the state, 25 percent to counties and 8 percent to cities. At that time, Poole said the bill was still being finalized. Greg Cochran, deputy director of the Alabama League of Municipalities, said the league and county commissions reached an agreement on the distribution of the new revenue, which allocates more to cities than they receive from the current 18-cent gas tax. With the current tax, cities get 10 percent of the amount allocated for local governments. Cities would get 25 percent of the allocation for local governments from the new tax revenue. We worked with the county commissions and worked on a local funding formula that would make more a fair allocation to both cities and counties under the parameters that we had to work under that would allow a bill to pass the Legislature," Cochran said. There is opposition to the tax proposal. The Republican Partys state executive committee voted last Saturday to oppose a gas tax decrease thats not offset by a cut in another tax. Opponents formed a new political action committee, Stop the Alabama Gas Tax. This story will be updated. The USS James E. Williams docked Friday in Mobile, with some of its sailors catching their first Mardi Gras beads before even setting foot in the city. The ship is visiting Mobile as part of Navy Week, which brings naval personnel to a wide variety of public engagement activities. It and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, the Manowar, will be open for tours. (The Navy destroyer is docked just north of the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center, where parking is available. The Manowar will be alongside the GulfQuest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico.) "We are so grateful for you to come to Mobile," said Don Rose, chief procurement officer for the city of Mobile and a former Coast Guard commander. "We love you, we thank you for what you do for our country every day." Rose read an official welcoming proclamation on behalf of Mayor Sandy Stimpson; Rose said Stimpson had to travel to Montgomery. "There's plenty of fun you're going to get to have," Rose said of Mardi Gras in Mobile. Cmdr. Joseph E. Fals was escorted by two Azalea Trail Maids as he left his ship. In his official remarks he said that on the way up Mobile Bay his crew had paid its respects to the USS Tecumseh, a Union ironclad sunk in the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, and to the WWII battleship USS Alabama. In Mobile the Tecumseh probably is best known as the ship whose destruction inspired Rear Adm. David G. Farragut to cry Damn the torpedoes -- but Fals said its demise evoked another motto: Freedom isnt free. Fals offered some advice to Mobile on how to greet its visitors. "As you see our sailors walking around your city, I encouraged you to approach them and ask them about their service," he said. He said their stories would resonate in a city "steeped in naval history and rich tradition." Free public tours of the USS James E. Williams will be offered 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday, March 2-5. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Manowar will be open to free public tours from 8 a.m. to p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 2-3. A Chambers County woman was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison Friday for embezzling funds from her employer and filing false tax returns, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama announced. Alita Baker Edeker, 49, embezzled $700,000 by diverting payments from her companys clients to debit and credit cards that she controlled, prosecutors said. She made false entries in the companys books and records to conceal the embezzlement. After Edeker embezzled the funds, she did not report the money on her tax returns in 2011, 2012 and 2013, said U.S. Attorney Louis Franklin, Sr., and Richard E. Zuckerman, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Departments tax division. Besides her 46-month federal prison term, Edeker was also sentenced to three years of supervised released and ordered to pay $819,497.29 in restitution to her employer and $101,604 to the IRS. Yemenis fear they could suffocate due to intermittent electricity and soaring temperatures in new housing units. Markazi refugee camp, Djibouti He survived Saudi-led air raids, Houthi snipers and a perilous boat journey from Yemen to Djibouti. But for Ahmad Muhammed Ali, the next few months could be the toughest of his life. For three years, he says he merely existed at one of the UN-funded tents in the Markazi refugee camp. Surviving on meagre portions of food and routinely being stung by scorpions and bitten by snakes; he prayed for his familys circumstances to change. The eldest of four children, Ali said it was his duty to look after his siblings and mother after their father passed away. So, in November, when Saudi Arabia inaugurated 300 shipping-container style housing units, he thought his prayers had finally been answered. 180314094515972 In a ceremony marked with pomp and celebration, the Saudi and Djiboutian governments unveiled the units to accommodate around 1,200 Yemeni refugees at Markazi, along with a mosque, a school, and two medical centres. Costing a reported $6.5m, less than the price of five Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles, Ali, like many of the camps residents rejoiced, hopeful that the project would generate more funding and development from the oil-rich kingdom. But only three months in, temperatures inside Alis unit are already exceeding 35 degrees, raising fears that intermittent supplies of electricity could make the steel units worse than ovens, and potentially death traps. We get about four hours of electricity in the morning, and then another four hours in the evening, the 24-year-old told Al Jazeera, his brow dripping with sweat. The authorities switch off the power at around 1pm because of fears the generators might get hot and damaged. So we stay in indoors for about an hour after lunch, but once it gets really unbearable, we head outside. Its cooler outside than it is inside. Each air-conditioned residential unit includes a toilet, bedroom, living room and kitchen, along with cooking facilities [Faisal Edroos/Al Jazeera] I want to be resettled in Mexico or Brazil A tiny nation of around 800,000 people, Djibouti became a haven for Yemeni refugees in March 2015 after the countrys civil war embroiled the region. At the time, Saudi Arabia, alarmed that a Shia group with ties to Iran had taken over parts of their southern neighbour, intervened at the request of Yemens President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Expectations were high that a coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia, with all its military might, would crush the rag-tag alliance of Houthi fighters and army forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh within a matter of weeks. 180319102515240 But after nearly four years of fighting, and an estimated 60,000 deaths, the coalition has failed to pave the way for the recapture of the capital Sanaa. Instead, tens of thousands of Yemenis have fled on small rickety boats across the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, known as the Gate of Tears a name derived from the long history of people perishing when trying to cross it. At least 37,248 people have arrived in Djibouti, which sits just 32km from Yemen, with around 2,200 Yemenis currently registered at the Markazi camp. For its part, the Djiboutian government has tried to welcome the Yemenis, introducing new laws making it easier for them to find work. But with the unemployment rate hovering at around 45 percent, and few Yemenis speaking French, the local lingua franca, most have opted to either head to other countries or return home. With wind speeds as high as 60kph, this years Khamsin dust storm coincides with the start of Ramadan [Faisal Edroos/Al Jazeera] In an attempt to make the best of their situation, Ali said his mother sold all of her jewellery to start up a small business in their living room. Sitting on a thin mattress in a bedroom that he shares with his younger brother, he signalled towards his mother Hayfa who was trying to sell cold drinks, cigarettes, and lollypops in their living room as the warm air carrying sand swept in through the door, lashing her face. She sacrificed everything to make our lives tolerable, he said, as his eyes drifted to a damaged TV playing a dance scene in Shah Rukh Khans 2004 blockbuster Bollywood flick, Kal Hoh Naa Ho. She sold all her jewellery to start this shop and make it work. But Ive had enough. I dont want to live here. I want to be resettled in Mexico, Brazil or Canada. Somewhere where Im free to do what I want. Or somewhere where its cold. Ahmed Muhammad Ali says his mother sold all her jewellery so the family could start their business [Faisal Edroos/Al Jazeera] Ramadan will be very bad Many of the residents told Al Jazeera they were dreading the summer months which are accompanied by the khamsin, a ferociously hot sandstorm. With temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius and wind speeds as high as 60kph, this years dust storm coincides with the start of Ramadan, the daily fasting period that begins in May. Refugees such as Ali will be hungry, hot and have little to do. When Ramadan comes it will be very bad, said Alis mother Hayfa, as she served a customer two individual cigarettes. We started buying ice from the capital (two half hours away by boat), so God willing, the chocolates and cakes wont melt. The entire project cost a reported $6.5m, less than the price of five Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles [Faisal Edroos/Al Jazeera] The UNHCR, which assists the Djiboutian government in running Markazi, said it was doing what it could to help the refugees, but acknowledged conditions remained primitive. We hope that there will be continuity and the people will stay in the units, and that there will be funding for electricity in the summer, Vanessa Panaligan, the UNs media relations officer in Djibouti told Al Jazeera. But if the refugees head back to the tents they will have to contend with the Khamsin winds and the camps are not built to withstand that. The sand gets everywhere, so they should be better protected with the housing units against the hot winds, the sand and the elements. Trying to keep a brave face, Hayfa said she hoped sustained media coverage would help shed a light on what was happening at the camp. Ive spent a fortune starting this business, but for many reasons, I couldnt go forward. I was subject to harassment and people have tried to take advantage of me. I wanted to buy a house here, a car, to settle down with my children, But we cant because were foreigners and refugees. Now, our only hope is that the war ends and some of the Arab countries take us in. We dont want to go to the West, we want our Arab and Muslim brothers to let us in. Heres a revelation: relationships are never easyespecially gay relationships. Outre Theatre Co. offers South Florida audiences a witty, provocative examination of our complicated affairs in Gregory Nauffts Next Fall, opening March 8 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. In Nauffts 2010 Outer Critics Circle award-winner, the stumbling blocks for a young couple are faith and religious conviction. Luke is a devout believer. Adam is his boyfriend, and a militant agnostic. Next Fall chronicles the relationship of this unlikely couple over the course of their five-year relationship, from their meeting at a dinner event where Luke is waiting tables, to their breakups and makeups, and finally the tragedy that forces Adam to seek comfort, strength, and communion with Lukes religious parents. Nauffts has written a very funny, very powerful piece, said Skye Whitcomb, Outres artistic director and the director of the production. While the characters often exchange witty repartee, they also share their joy and sadness in a way that is very real and truthful. They struggle with identity, with belief in both the tangible and the intangible, and with their relationships with themselves and others. At its core, its a very beautiful, very moving love story. Beautiful and moving, yes, but thought-provoking, too, Whitcomb emphasized. Naufft is never heavy-handed, and Whitcomb admits there are too many sad stories being told about tragic relationships, both gay and straight. It has a serious message to it, but at its core, this is a story about joy, two men who come togethernobody thinks its going to work. Everyone assumes that it will fail, but they complete each other. That says so much more than if we spend the entire time talking about tragedy, he said. The play was a perfect fit for Outre, a company that has long told important stories of marginalized communities. The companys mission statement declares: Outre believes that theatre is a living art form with the power to reimagine and reexamine ourselves and the world around us. [We] strive to create theatre which stimulates thought, provokes reflection, and encourages activism. Outre has always tried to speak to those groups who dont get the attention they deserve. Im a straight white cisgender college educated male; Im as privileged as you can get, but I have a duty to tell these stories, he explained. We want to do work that speaks, that lets us all know that there are issues to be thought about and wrestled with. There are no easy answers to the problems we as human beings all face. The cast includes Charlie Alguera and Stephen Kaiser as Luke and Adam. Kat Gold, a veteran of Outres critically-acclaimed production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, returns to the stage, along with longtime South Florida actor Kevin Reilley and newcomers Zac Gowdie and Siobhan Nolan. After many years as a traveling theater company, Outre returns to its new home, the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, for a second season. Whitcomb said the location has been ideal for the company, which is attracting audiences from south Broward County all the way to Lake Worth and West Palm Beach. Outre Theatre Co. presents Gregory Nauffts Next Fall March 8 31 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd. Tickets are $29 through March 7 and $39 after at CCPompano.org. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil It was naptime at the nursery school in Complex da Penha favela, and teacher Thuany Farias da Silva was cautious not to disturb the dozens of toddlers who were sprawled out asleep on the floor around her. They slept in a building surrounded by walls pocked with fist-sized bullet holes, the scars of an ongoing conflict between Rio de Janeiros security forces and the powerful drug gangs which control many of its poorest areas. As in other similar neighbourhoods scattered throughout Rios impoverished northern zone, civilians living here have often been caught in the middle of the violence. Even if youre not the one being shot at you are still susceptible to it, da Silva, 21, said quietly. But we have to have hope for the children. Penhas hilltop nursery sits inside walls riddled by bullet holes [David Child/Al Jazeera] In Penha, people become familiar with conflict from a young age. But last year, da Silva suggested, an already precarious situation deteriorated further in February when then-Brazilian President Michel Temer launched a military intervention in Rio in response to a spike in crime during the citys annual carnival celebrations. Unheard-of since Brazils return to democracy in 1985 after 21 years of military rule, the move saw army generals replace civilian authorities in top security posts, soldiers deployed on the streets and military operations in the favelas become commonplace. Even if the intervention in itself was aimed at ending conflict, it was not done in the right way and the end result is not good, da Silva said. On December 31, the intervention ended. The following day, Temer ceded office to new Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who has promised to head a brutal crackdown on violent crime. Despite the policys conclusion, police killings have continued to escalate amid pledges by Rio de Janeiro states new governor to slaughter criminals, prompting questions about the repercussions of the intervention and what, if any, lessons have been learned from it. The intervention was completely wrong Down the hill from the nursery, in a small classroom he helped set up, local activist Zen Ferreira said the military intervention was a disaster. The way that the intervention was done was completely wrong, Ferreira, 40, told Al Jazeera. His community-run youth group, Heroes of the Complex, helps young people in the area finish school and find work. Those issues, he argued, should have been the focus of authorities attention in Rios favelas, where unemployment and poverty are widespread. The intervention should have been for culture, education and health not the way that it has been conducted, which is through aggression, slaps in the face and beating down doors, Ferreira said. Instead, they used a method of extermination of human beings executions. Local activist Zen Ferreira says the intervention was disastrous [David Child/Al Jazeera] Last years military intervention coincided with a record high number of people killed in police operations in Rio de Janeiro state, according to Rios Public Security Institute (ISP), with 1,375 such fatalities between February and December. The data revealed a nearly 34 percent jump from the same period in 2017 and ensured that 2018 became the bloodiest year on record since the ISP began collating figures two decades ago. From March of last year onwards, as the intervention kicked into gear, nearly one in every four people killed in Rio died at the hands of the state, prompting New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) to slam the trail of death carved out by the militarys deployment. These killings make communities fear the police and much less likely to collaborate with the police in the fight against crime, said Daniel Wilkinson, HRWs Americas managing director, in a December report. Confrontation, shootings and crossfire Other observers suggested the intervention was only the latest and most glaring error in a series of public security policy mistakes in Rio, however. Rio is not a lost cause, Rio is a case of wrong security policies repeated over and over this accelerated and got worse under the military intervention, said Silvia Ramos, a coordinator for the Intervention Observatory monitoring group. According to the Observatory, authorities spent about 1.2 billion reais ($320m) on the intervention. The result was a well-financed failure, Ramos said, amounting to a policy of confrontation, shootings and crossfire. Rios favelas are home to more than a million people [David Child/Al Jazeera] In Ferreiras classroom, 20-year-old student Leonardo Soza de Lima supported Ramoss assessment. Gunshots are like music here, they happen all the time, he said as other students nodded in agreement. The military intervention, they claimed, intensified pre-existing violence and made everyday life increasingly unpredictable. You never knew what was going to happen sometimes you could be walking down the street and then gunfire would break out, there would be a shooting on your way to school, said 19-year-old Julio Cesar Figueiredo. Schools, not soldiers Rio has sometimes been described as a city at war, with frequent conflicts between competing gangs and police forces making shootings and armed robberies common. Ferreiras students suggested theres only one way to end the violence. Using guns is not the solution, you have to first start from the base and better education, then you can start talking about public security, de Lima said. At the moment, there are zero opportunities here, everybody agrees. Unemployment is pervasive in Penha, the knock-on effect of high school drop-out rates being markedly higher than in other more affluent parts of Rio. More than 21 percent of Brazilians who fail to complete high school are jobless, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Unemployment among those who complete university studies, by comparison, is 6.3 percent. High school dropout rates are markedly higher in Penha than other more affluent parts of Rio [David Child/Al Jazeera] From his simple classroom chair, Figueiredo was quick to clarify how dire the consequences of this reality can be. My two cousins are dead and my brother is involved in the drug trafficking and if I dont go after things myself then I, too, will be at the mercy of them [the gangs] its basically every man for himself here, he said. Listening to his students accounts, Ferreiras lingering anger over the intervention bubbled up again. Nobody lives in the favela because they want to, they live here because they have to, he says. You have people from all walks of life here and you cant just reduce them all and think they are all criminals. Public security successes Supporters of the intervention reject accusations that it was a failure. The general in charge of Rios state forces for its duration, General Walter Souza Braga Netto, claimed his team had fulfilled its mission to lower Rios crime rates and that Temer had praised the brilliant work carried out by the intervention team before leaving office. Rios Secretary of Public Security during the intervention, General Richard Nunes, declined to comment on the militarys deployment when contacted by Al Jazeera, however. ISP figures indicated there were some improvements in public security during the military intervention. From February to December last year, for example, the number of intentional homicides dropped by about eight percent compared with the same period in 2017, falling to 4,468. Armed robberies of cargo-carrying vehicles also fell in the final 11 months of last year compared with the corresponding period in 2017. Drug seizures, meanwhile, went up. Police killings rose nearly 34 percent from February-December last year compared to the same period in 2017 [File: Silvia Izquierdo/AP] Police killings rose nearly 34 percent from February-December last year compared to the same period in 2017 [File: Silvia Izquierdo/AP] The ISP figures play into arguments made by Rios new governor, Wilson Witzel, who has indicated he intends to follow on from the example set by the intervention and take a hard line against the drugs gangs and crime. Witzel has pledged to slaughter criminals by using helicopter-borne snipers to target and kill anyone carrying a rifle, even if they were not shooting their weapons, and warned that Rio would dig graves for criminals under his watch. His rhetoric aligns with Bolsonaros, a former Rio congressman, who sees more guns as the answer to reducing crime in a country where a record high 63,880 homicides took place in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available. The 63-year-old is keen to give police carte blanche to kill suspects and said during his successful storm to office in Octobers election that a good criminal is a dead criminal. Violence generates violence Although Bolsonaros and Witzels tough-on-crime messages found favour with millions of Brazilian voters worried about their safety, in Penha they have caused concern. Still wearied by the states heavy-handed intervention, many fear they will continue to suffer on the front line of an ongoing battle between security forces and the drug gangs a conflict which shows little signs of slowing despite the ending of the militarys deployment. In Penha and neighbourhoods like it, da Silva said, tomorrows threats are often worse. The people who live here know just how hard it is [and] it ends up affecting them because they grow up with trauma, she adds. Violence only generates violence. Palestinians see any change in status quo a step towards partitioning holy site, building the Third Temple over Al-Aqsa. Palestinian activist Hanady Halawani has lost count of the number of times she has been banned from visiting the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. Over a span of 15 years, she says shes been arrested at least 24 times, much of the time due to her social media posts, in which she would update her followers on the latest developments unravelling at the flashpoint. Her posts include videos of Israeli settlers performing prayers at the holy compound, in violation of the status quo. Other photos from the past summer show land and graves that have been dug up by Israeli authorities at the historic Bab al-Rahma cemetery, located just outside the compounds eastern wall. Protests over the summer last year by a small group of Palestinians were of no avail as the centuries-old graves of Muslim leaders reportedly lie in the way of a planned Israeli park. Even when the site known as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) for Muslims and Temple Mount for Jews may at times appear to be relatively calm, Halawani and other Palestinians say that this is an illusion. They believe the fragile status quo is being gradually eroded as Israelis continue to take steps in asserting sovereignty over the site, with the goal of spatially and temporally partitioning the holy compound and eventually building the Third Temple over the ruins of Al-Aqsa, as propagated by the Temple Movement activists. 190226092904245 According to the status quo reaffirmed in 1967 between Israel and Jordan, the holy compound is administered by the Islamic Waqf endowment seated in Jordan. Non-Muslims can visit the site, but cannot pray there. This coincided with the Chief Rabbinate of Israels declaration in 1967 that Jews are not allowed to the compound as it would desecrate the sites holiness. The latest unrest has broken out over the formerly abandoned building at Bab al-Rahma (Gate of Mercy or Golden Gate) in the Al-Aqsa compound. For the first time in 16 years, Palestinians have reopened its gates, which had been closed under Israeli order, and hundreds have been praying at the site their biggest achievement since forcing Israel to remove the unilaterally installed metal detectors from the compound in July 2017. Palestinians perform Friday prayer outside Bab al-Rahma in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on February 22 [Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Anadolu Agency] Israel closed Bab al-Rahma in 2003 alleging the site was being used by members of the outlawed Islamic Movement in Israel Northern Branch for political activities, an allegation denied by the Islamic Waqf. Since reopening the buildings prayer hall, some 100 Palestinians have been reportedly arrested, including Sheikh Abdel-Azeem Salhab, head of the waqf, and his deputy after they joined Palestinians in prayer at the site. 170719122538219 After being arrested early in the morning last week from his home, Salhab was banned from Al-Aqsa for a week, which was an unprecedented move. Halawani was also issued another ban following a house raid and arrest. Authorities claimed her presence at Al-Aqsa is dangerous and problematic. The most dangerous woman thats what they chose to call me to justify bringing a big army force to knock down the door of a defenceless woman. They searched every room in the house then beat me and forcefully dragged me on the floor before arresting me, Halawani wrote on Instagram, adding that shes been banned for another six months. Reportedly days after the gate was reopened, an Israeli court ruled that several Palestinians arrested for praying at the site are not guilty of any crime as the structure no longer belongs to an alleged terror organisation, but to the waqf. Israel Hayom's Shragai claims Palestinians are "Chipping away at the Status Quo" by renewing Muslim access to, and Waqf maintenance of, Bab a Rahme. But this was reality till Israel's 2003 restrictions for alleged use by terror org. Court now ruled organization no longer exists. Ofer Zalzberg (@OferZalzberg) February 25, 2019 Bab al-Rahmas closure for 16 years under the claim of a court order turned out to be false, Wafa news reported. Battle over sovereignty Despite the courts recent ruling and with Muslim prayers currently being held inside the building, Israeli MKs have been pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reclose the gate and assert Israels sovereignty over the site. [Dangerous idea] MK Smotrich to Ch 13:"There already are four mosques on the Temple Mount. A fifth one [Bab al Rahme] must not be allowed. I call upon Netanyahu to totally close the Temple Mount this Friday [to Muslims] or to limit [Muslim] entry by age. Whatever is neccessary". pic.twitter.com/XTy1Q2GsjS Ofer Zalzberg (@OferZalzberg) February 27, 2019 Palestinian anxiety about the possibility of forced removal remains high, Israeli NGO Ir Amim noted in a press release on Thursday. According to Ahmad Sub Laban, a field researcher with Ir Amim, the Islamic High Commission of the Waqf had decided to reopen Bab al-Rahma to assert their authority in a move to show that this area is part of Al-Aqsa and that its under the Islamic Waqfs responsibility. 190220073923925 All 144 dunums, everything [within the compound] [belongs to the Waqf], Sub Laban said, adding that when the Israeli police returned to lock the gate again, Palestinians considered this as interfering with the status quo since the compounds management is under the jurisdiction of the Jordanian Hashemite Kingdom and the waqf. As Muslims, we consider any kind of interference as an attempt to change the mosque and to divide it as part of the occupation, Sub Laban said. For foreigners who come to visit the mosque, we welcome this but we dont welcome anyone who comes to visit with the intention to change the situation at the mosque, damage it, divide it or take a part of it. Its a holy area, its not going to be divided at all, Sub Laban said. Despite the relative calm at the site over the past year and a half, Israel has continued to take actions that compromise the management role of the waqf and contribute to the erosion of the status quo, Ir Amim wrote. Over the past two years, the Israeli police have repeatedly restricted the waqf from carrying out maintenance in the compound and have installed a watchtower over Bab al-Rahma, defying waqf authorities. Palestinian Muslims enter Bab al-Rahma in the Al-Aqsa compound for the first time in 16 years [Ammar Awad/Reuters] Building the Third Temple For years, Ir Amim has been issuing reports warning of the danger and growing prominence of Temple Movement activists. Temple activists openly declare that ascension to the compound and praying at the site is central in their strategy of breaking the status quo, asserting Israeli control and serves as the first step in eventually building the Third Temple over Al-Aqsa. 170809102814269 The number of Jewish visitors to the compound has been breaking records over the past few years. In the last Jewish year, 22,552 Jewish visitors ascended to the compound, which more than doubled compared with the number two years ago. Ir Amim warned in 2017 that the Israeli police, who are supposed to prevent non-Muslim worship at the site, are now working in close coordination with temple activists and disregard Jewish worship that takes place, marking a radical shift in their relationship. Activists have been seen praying at the Muslim cemetery and adjacent to Bab al-Rahma. Given the deepening ties between the movement and the right-wing Israeli political establishment, there are rising suspicions in the Palestinian community that the state intends to establish a synagogue at the site, Ir Amim noted. As a result, there is increasing pressure among some Palestinians to consolidate the Muslim presence at Bab al-Rahma in order to curtail any potential plans. According to messianic belief, building the Third Temple at the Al-Aqsa compound where the First and Second Jewish temples stood 2,000 years ago would usher the coming of the Messiah [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency] Restrictions for Palestinians For Palestinians, maintaining a presence at the compound is necessary to ensure control over Al-Aqsa. With the desecration of mosques and other holy sites after 1948 and the division of Hebrons Ibrahimi Mosque to allow Jewish worship, Palestinians have progressively lost control over religious sites and national symbols, Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) reported in 2015. While religious Jews are increasingly visiting the holy site, for Palestinians living in the occupied territories, visiting Al-Aqsa remains a dream as they are typically not allowed to visit. With little being done about the eroding status quo and with Israeli MKs continuously calling for Israeli sovereignty over the site, Halawani is determined to at least inform others through social media about the dangers facing Al-Aqsa, even if it means another arrest or ban. ICG explained in its analysis that Jewish historical and religious sites in East Jerusalem have become foci of Israeli control, attracting a Jewish presence that securitises Arab surroundings and embitters residents. Many Palestinians believe their last stand is at Al-Aqsa, in a city already lost. Kabul, Afghanistan A blue bus stops on a small street on the outskirts of Afghanistans capital, Kabul. Soon after its doors open, joyful children crowd the vehicle to pick up their favourite book before retreating into a corner to learn about the adventures of a superhero or the wisdom and kindness of a fairy. The Charmaghaz (walnut) project, which runs this mobile library, started in February last year and soon became a regular sight around the city. Each day, the bus visits up to four communities across Kabul, with every stop lasting two hours. The main goal of the mobile library is to promote critical thinking, which we believe it is not promoted in our education system or our society, said Freshta Karim, the 26-year-old founder of the Charmaghaz project. When children read stories from around the world and see issues through somebody elses eyes, they learn to think critically and realise their potential. Its been one year since we started working with children and we realised they are very passionate and they have so much energy and thirst for knowledge. They deserve a lot of investment. Education is one of the areas we need to invest because this is how we will change this country, Karim added. A teenager, just out of her childhood years, is groomed online by members of a group well known for advocating misogyny, regressive social practices, religious absolutism and violence. She disappears to join the group in its compound abroad. During a four year period, she is married, subjected to statutory rape, and loses two babies. Heavily pregnant and in a refugee camp as the group faces military defeat, she asks to return to the only country she can legitimately call home. The request is denied and she is subsequently stripped of British citizenship. Many have noted correctly that had the young woman in question been a white Briton, it would have been less easy for British Home Secretary Sajid Javid to have made political capital by refusing a citizens request to return to her homeland, and less likely that he would have attempted to do so. Shamima Begum, however, is brown, wears full hijab, has parents of Bangladeshi origin and is reported to have made ill-advised statements to a British journalist. She has apparently expressed little remorse for her action in running away from home to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), a patriarchal death cult in whose care, needless to say, she was likely subjected to significant amounts of ideological control despite exercising an obstinate childs will in joining them. As Anthony Lloyd, the journalist who interviewed her notes, people do make crass statements at a time such as this, not least when surrounded by current and former members of the cult in question. He, himself, is clear that Shamima and other Britons who joined ISIL must now be brought back to face transparent, robust justice and to prevent further indoctrination into violent extremism. He has also said clearly that Shamima has considerably more doubt and reserve over Islamic State than has been suggested in the British media. She has certainly spoken of her husband, a Dutch convert to Islam and a former ISIL member, being tortured at their hands. With one eye on his own prospective bid for the leadership of the Tory party, Javid did not hesitate to revoke Shamimas British citizenship, a move very well received by British voters, including many who regard themselves as otherwise tolerant and liberal. Despite, or perhaps because of, Javids own ancestral links to Pakistan, which lends his actions a certain racial credibility, the message is loud and clear: If you are not white and have heritage links to Asian or African countries, you will be denied the right to due process and a fair trial and asked to go back to these places. Bangladesh, rightly, has made clear that it takes no responsibility for Shamima, who was neither born nor raised there; that she may be entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship through her parents is not legally relevant. Her newborn child is certainly British by right, not Bangladeshi. By trying to pass responsibility to Bangladesh, the British government implies that non-European nations have a greater affinity for suspected criminals and terrorists who in turn have a claim upon their citizenship. Since Shamima does not already hold a Bangladeshi passport it is likely that Javids decision will be overturned as illegal. Apart from being legally dubious, Britains attempt to strip a British-born woman of citizenship underlines what many in Britain believe: That those who are not white and British, really belong somewhere else in the first and last instance, no matter how tenuous their relationship to that somewhere else is. The most crudely honest declaration may have come from British author Allison Pearson, who wrote in the Telegraph newspaper: Shamima Begum may have been born here, but she was never British. Disgraceful as it is, Pearsons comment simply makes visible assumptions that are rife in the British media and which clearly underpinned the home secretarys canny calculation: All citizens are supposed to be equal but citizens from minority ethnic communities are, in fact, less equal than others. If you are of Asian, Caribbean or African heritage, you cant really expect to be treated as pukka British no matter where you were born and how long you have or your family have lived in the UK. Unsurprisingly, then, the treatment of Shamima, while supported by some among them, has caused anxiety in British minority ethnic communities, particularly those largely comprising Muslims, prominent targets of right-wing propaganda. Coming as it has in the wake of the Windrush scandal, where hundreds of Britons of West Indian descent have been and are still being deported back to Caribbean countries they have never lived in, the Home Offices move has reinforced the suggestion that those who have ties to migrant communities and who are also racial minorities, must live constantly under the sign of not being quite fully British. Citizenship for these groups, it turns out, is entirely conditional. They must constantly justify why they are in the UK in the first place, work three times as hard to be considered British and still face the charge that they can never be British, not really. They belong over there. The point here is not that Shamima or others like her are innocent (though the law must presume that until proven otherwise), but that she is both subject and entitled to the same judicial processes and, if necessary, punishment as any other British citizen, including serious criminals, might be. Indeed, the best chance of holding her accountable for any crimes she might have committed would be to let her return to Britain and face the courts and the British justice that many in this country like to uphold as a global model. Instead, what has been allowed to happen sends out a grim warning; a manifestly racist trial by media in which well-known figures like the TV host Piers Morgan have screamed, using deliberately bestial images, about women who have sex with and breed with terrorists. You do not have to be a supporter of any form of religious extremism or even especially liberal to consider the grave implications of what it means to bypass the law and judicial process altogether in favour of a heavy-handed state response to tabloid headlines screaming about jihadi brides. The 1981 Nationality Act has provisions, with certain conditions, for a person to be stripped of citizenship if the Secretary of State is satisfied that deprivation is conducive to the public good, not the public mood. Ultimately though, the identity crisis about what it means to be British is not actually one that is taking place among British ethnic minority communities. As London mayor Sadiq Khan has rightly noted, the Home Office has called into question the very nature of what it means to be a citizen of this country at all. The real crisis, as is evident from the endless shambolic drama around Brexit has to do with British identity itself, about what Britain is in a century where it has lost global pre-eminence for good, and where it is now dependent on its former colonies (the so-called Commonwealth) to save it from economic meltdown after it departs the European Union, should it do so at all. Brexiteers paint Britain, with a heavy historical irony they cannot be unaware of, as a nation colonised by Europe striving to break the shackles of tyranny to take our country back. In the face of this profound confusion about what Britain actually means in the 21st century and uncertainty about what is uniquely British, it is perceived outsiders, precisely those who have ancestral links to former colonies, who have been charged with proving what Britishness is and ordered to enact pantomime versions of it or its presumed opposite. They can be easily demonised: Shamimas photograph is now available for customers at a shooting range to use as light-hearted target practice fun. The pantomime itself wont end, however, until Britain accepts that it is one heterogeneous society among many in a global panorama, that there is no single version of Britishness and that citizens for better or for worse cannot be divided into different classes and subjected to differential treatment. This is a tough lesson but one that will serve this country better than the fairytales of exceptional heroism and unique valour that have brought it so close to the brink in recent months. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. The Victory of Adwa has been a very divisive issue in Ethiopia for decades. Its time to change that. Today marks the 123rd anniversary of the battle of Adwa in which Ethiopia inflicted a crushing defeat on Italys colonial army. It was a landmark victory that permanently altered the course of Ethiopian and African history. The outcome of the battle was so stunning for Ethiopia and so humiliating for Italy that, according to the New York Times, even the pope was greatly disturbed. Adwa is annually commemorated as an iconic victory in Ethiopia, but it nevertheless remains a focal point of political and ideological contestation between various nationalist groups in the country. For some, it is a momentous event that defined the weight and prestige of Ethiopia on the global stage and stands as a shining example of the endurance and fortitude of the Ethiopian people to this day. For others, the historic battle is not a heroic victory as such, but an unfortunate military achievement that helped Emperor Menelik II consolidate his brutal southward expansion. Still others view Adwa as the very first decisive victory of a black African power against colonialism, and celebrate it as a critical juncture in black peoples collective struggle against European colonial domination. In other words, the battle of Adwa is an event that is etched into the consciousness of a significant portion of the Ethiopian population, but it does not carry the same meaning for everyone. The contemporary narratives about the battle are largely retrospective, often reconstructed based on current political and ideological considerations. They aim to control meaning, solidify an ideological position, or simply fit this historical episode into a larger contemporary narrative, and as a result, cannot agree on a single interpretation. Today, the differences between these multiple interpretations are more obvious, and impactful, than ever before. As Ethiopia seeks to forge a new path forward, it brings existing ideological and political faultlines into a sharp focus, and in the process history in general and Adwa, in particular, are becoming a battleground where multiple forms of power struggles and competing modalities of remembering and forgetting converge. The ruins of collective memory Collective historical memory is a highly heterogeneous and complex constellation of momentous events, figures, and phenomena that helps a nation define its identity and place in the world. It comprises stories of revolutions, wars, victories, defeats, and conquests events that most profoundly affect lives and arouse passions and for that reason shape the political, social, and cultural fabric of a given people. The collective historical memory is the repository of a peoples own self-perception, awareness, and beliefs. It is the formative ground for societal collective consciousness. But collective memory is not about historical accuracy. It is inevitably selective, idiosyncratic, mythic, symbolic, and binary (right/wrong, true/false, hero/villain). In Ethiopia, where the use of history and memory as a weapon of control, subjection, and even liberation is ubiquitous, collective memory is always viewed from a combative position. This is particularly true of the Oromo and the Amhara, the two great historical antagonists of the Ethiopian state, who together make up about two-thirds of Ethiopias 108 million population. Ethiopian history is the history of many peoples and the history of some is not necessarily the history of others. For example, the history of the Oromos after their fall to Meneliks nascent empire is not the same as the history of the Amharas who were the victors. Like every other country, the unity of the Ethiopian state is forged by means of violence battles, conquests, plunders, defeats, and victories. The presumed unity of the nations and nationalities that make up the Ethiopian state is born in the fog and frictions of war, in the burning villages, plundered communities, and ravaged fields. Adwa is undoubtedly one of these formative battles, but it is also much more. Today, if shared history and collective memory is serving as a vital battleground between various nationalist forces, it is because collective national memory, ie, the ideals and values that define the nation, its strengths, viability, and endurance, is not just the foundation of the states self-respect and pride but also a critical factor of political mobilisation and organising. The battle over the past is not about the past as such. It is not even about the present. It is about the future. Emperor Menelik II (1844-1913) in a war costume illustration by Thiriat from LIllustration, No 2764, February 15, 1896 [File: Getty] The Adwa paradox While segments of the Ethiopian society view Adwa as Ethiopias finest hour that defined its place in the regional and global balance of power, there is a significant portion of the public, including the Oromo, that remains ambivalent towards this historical moment. For Oromos and those on the periphery of Ethiopias collective memory, those whose lived experiences and memories have been relegated to subterranean existence by official historiography, Adwa carries a complicated legacy for three key reasons. First, the historical figure that masterminded the victory at Adwa, Emperor Menelik II, also presided over some of the most brutal atrocities committed against the various groups in the southern part of the country, particularly the Oromos, as they resisted his southward expansion. For Oromos, Menelik II is devil incarnate and is beyond redemption. Perhaps, the association of Adwa with Menelik II is the single most important reason behind Oromo ambivalence towards this historical event. Second, the victory at Adwa and the prestige it brought allowed Menelik II to consolidate his empire, depleting the ability of those he conquered to resist. Third, official Ethiopian historiography filtered out the contributions of historically marginalised groups including the Oromos from the public memory of Adwa, essentially erasing their images, experiences and accounts of the war. And yet they played a pivotal role in the battle. As historian Raymond Jonas points out in his book The Battle of Adwa, the appearance of Oromo cavalrymen at the Battle of Adwa had a notably dispiriting effect on the Italian soldiers The Oromo functioned with such grim efficiency that they hastened the demoralization of the crumbling Italian army. Reconstructing Adwa Debates over national identity and collective memory are not solely rational, fact-based exchanges. They often involve strategic efforts aimed at foregrounding new realities and consolidating well-rehearsed narratives. The intractable predicaments caused by the different contemporary interpretations of decades and even centuries-old battles, revolutions, victories, defeats and conquests can only be overcome through a new elite consensus based on recognition and acknowledgement of all of the countrys complex histories. Today, as the government promises to build a peaceful and secure future for all, Ethiopians have the opportunity to move away from endless bickering over history. Reconstructing the battle of Adwa as an all-inclusive Ethiopian victory against a colonial power can be the first step towards affirming and embedding a new spirit of unity and harmony in the country. As Ethiopia commemorates the 123rd anniversary of the Adwa victory and contemplates a new future, the political elites of today should try to learn some lessons from this historical episode. Adwa was a great and truly monumental victory won by the collective sacrifice of all Ethiopians. It was indeed Ethiopias finest hour had March 1, 1896, ended differently 123 years ago, the Horn of Africa would have been a completely different region today. However, for the history and memory of Adwa to be complete, room must be made for all stories of front-line heroism including the ones by those in the periphery, who had previously been written out of national history and memory. If Adwa is to serve as a value-based foundation for the new Ethiopia, Ethiopians should remember its defining significance. They should acknowledge some of its problematic consequences and refuse to succumb to the temptation of glorifying or romanticising a controversial figure like Emperor Menelik II. Ethiopians overcame the onslaught of a modern European army 123 years ago. There is no reason why the country could not muster the strength and demonstrate the fortitude that enabled it to inflict a decisive blow against Italys colonial ambitions once again to overcome todays challenges. If Ethiopians are able to look back at their finest hour as a unified nation and remember how they defeated a seemingly superior military power collectively, they can surmount any discord and division that is threatening to destabilise their country. Italian representatives signing the peace treaty in front of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, Frontpage of French newspaper Le Petit Parisien, 1896, Private Collection [File: Leemage/Getty Images] The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Popularly elected National League for Democracy launches bid to change constitution and reduce power of armed forces. Yangon, Myanmar Officials bribed and bullied voters, stuffed ballot boxes and pushed ahead with a May 2008 referendum on a new constitution despite the deadliest natural disaster in Myanmars recorded history. For the generals, the charter was a vital step towards a carefully planned new system that would resemble a democracy but keep the military firmly in charge. And it could not be postponed. Even by Cyclone Nargis, which tore through the countrys Irrawaddy Delta leaving about 140,000 people dead. Political activist Tint Soe was in the minority, at least according to the official results, when he picked up a pen at a polling booth and voted no to the military governments proposed constitution. It was enacted by force when hundreds of thousands of civilians were dying, Tint Soe told Al Jazeera. It was a merciless act. Tint Soe is now a legislator for the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), which last month began its boldest bid yet to wrest power from the generals and into civilian hands by changing the constitution. He was among hundreds who backed a vote in parliament to form a new committee to amend the charter, bringing leader Aung San Suu Kyi a step closer to fulfilling one of her partys key election pledges. The 45-member body is tasked with changing sections that pose an obstacle to multiparty democracy and free and fair elections, according to a document circulated among MPs. Earlier efforts to amend the constitution to remove the militarys veto failed to meet the 75 percent support in parliament [Hnin Yadana Zaw/Reuters] Military obstacle Forming the committee, though, was the easy part. The generals made sure when they wrote the original charter that it would be all but impossible to amend without their say-so, experts say. When the committee publishes a draft outlining its proposed changes in July, it will need at least 75 percent of combined votes across both houses of parliament in order to become law. But the constitution gives unelected military legislators one-quarter of all seats, so generals can veto any changes they do not like. One observer has argued the NLD could, theoretically, banish the armed forces from parliament because the charter does not set a minimum number of military seats in the lower house. But critics say the military would never allow that, arguing it is obvious the charters authors intended to guarantee the military enough seats to veto any changes. Assuming they are right, Aung San Suu Kyi is unlikely to succeed in changing clauses that, for example, give the military control of key ministries, even though she commands a large majority. She would also have trouble convincing the military to scrap a clause that bars her from being president. Section 59f, seemingly designed with her late British husband and two sons in mind, says no one with a foreign spouse or child can take the job. To get around that, Aung San Suu Kyis advisers came up with the new role of state counsellor, through which she has ruled, as she puts it, from above the president. The man credited with finding this loophole, a top constitutional lawyer named Ko Ni, was assassinated in broad daylight two years ago in what was seen as a reminder of the dangers of challenging the militarys power. On February 15, a court in Myanmars main city of Yangon sentenced two men to death and gave jail terms to two others in connection with the murder. No need for military Outside the court, Ma Ma Lwin, a campaigner, handed out stickers encouraging people to protest against the constitution. Nobody told the military to take these seats in parliament they dont need to be there, she said. On the second anniversary of Ko Nis death in late January, the NLD tabled an emergency motion to form the committee, though the timing was just a coincidence, said Aung Kyi Nyunt, the NLD legislator who proposed it. The move sparked a protest from military legislators who said the party had failed to follow the proper procedure. Others complained the NLD had not given opposition groups enough seats on the committee. Aung Kyi Nyunt dismissed that criticism. The NLD has 58 percent of the seats in parliament, he told Al Jazeera. If we didnt want to include any other parties we wouldnt have to. But that majority is seemingly useless against the militarys veto, leaving many to wonder what the NLD realistically expects to achieve. With the party looking ahead to the 2020 election, one goal could be to give voters more detail about what constitutional reform would actually look like even if they are as yet unable to deliver it. I think its about getting it down on record and then if they were to be re-elected in 2020, they would use the following five years to really work on pushing through those reforms, said Melissa Crouch, an expert on Myanmars constitution. Another reason they might be turning to this issue now is the slow progress in the countrys peace process. Striking an agreement with an array of ethnic armed groups who have been fighting the government for decades was another of Aung San Suu Kyis main election promises. The military-written charter on sale at a stall in Yangon in April 2008 [File: Aung Hla Tun/Reuters] Ethnic conflicts As violence continues to rage in the borderlands, the committee is an opportunity to show these groups their demands for a federal system could soon be enshrined in the charter. And there are plenty of smaller matters in the constitution that ethnic parties in peripheral states might want to address as part of the dialogue. The 400-page softback, published in Burmese and English, covers everything from redrawing state boundaries to a provincial governments right to tax the contents of a treasure trove. But it is section 261 that will probably stir most debate. The military-backed opposition party has proposed amending it so that states can elect their own chief ministers. Until there are significant changes to clauses that entrench military power, however, resentment is likely to linger. The vast majority of people did not even get a chance to look at the proposed charter before the 2008 vote, says Tint Soe, the activist turned legislator who voted against it. Their approach was: the less people know the better, he said. At a recent rally in Mandalay, the countrys second city, protesters gathered to voice support for the governments new committee. One demonstrator, a poet named San Nein Oo, told a local reporter the only good thing about the constitution was its cover. Others may disagree; with its generic sans serif font and drop shadow effect, the books exterior is no exemplar of design. Then again, when it was first published ahead of the 2008 vote, the generals were not exactly trying to lure people into reading it. Analysts say the collapse of Trump-Kim summit is a major setback for all sides involved in the nuclear standoff. Hanoi, Vietnam President Donald Trump decided to walk away from the negotiation table in the Vietnamese capital, leaving North Korea without sanctions relief and the United States without Pyongyangs commitment towards denuclearisation that it sought. The lead-up to the second summit between the US and North Korea promised a different world after the talks. Both leaders greeted each other with smiles in Hanoi, sitting together and oozing optimism. Trump sought a guarantee from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that Pyongyang would stop testing its missiles and nuclear weapons. In return, North Korea demanded the lifting of the economic sanctions and that, ultimately, became the sticking point in the talks. But there was drama after Air Force One took off for Washington on Thursday evening. While the US president repeatedly said Pyongyang wanted sanctions lifted entirely, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, in a late-night press conference in Hanoi, clarified his side sought only a partial lifting and had offered a realistic proposal, including the dismantling of its main nuclear site at Yongbyon. It was the sanctions. They wanted them lifted in their entirety and we couldnt do that, Trump told reporters after the summit was cut short, the signing ceremony and the working lunch cancelled. North Korea was willing to denuclearise but we couldnt give up all the sanctions for that. One more measure In a rare exchange between a North Korean official and reporters, Ri said the sanctions-dismantling deal was the biggest denuclearisation step we can take based on the current level of trust between the two countries. As we take steps toward denuclearisation, the most important issue is security but we thought it would be more burdensome for the US to take military-related measures, which is why we saw partial lifting of sanctions as corresponding action. The US demanded one more measure beyond dismantling Yongbyon, Ri said without elaborating. While the White House insisted the dialogue will continue, Trump said the walking away was on friendly terms and they shook hands. Analysts say both sides lost a lot by the fact they return empty-handed following the collapse of the talks. Normally, a majority of the agreement is made ahead of a summit in order to prevent exactly something like this from happening, Lami Kim, a former South Korean diplomat, told Al Jazeera. Trump will face huge criticism for flying halfway around the world when no deal had been negotiated. I think it doesnt look good for Kim either. The North Korean media has been covering the summit and raising hopes for economic development. Now we will have to see what happens. Asking for too much North Korea has conducted no tests since late 2017, when there were months of growing tensions marked by nuclear and missile tests, fresh sanctions and threats of total destruction. A recent report by Stanford Universitys Centre for International Security and Cooperation said North Korea appears to have produced enough bomb fuel in the past year to add as many as seven nuclear weapons to its arsenal. On Thursday, Trump said Kim promised him there would be no resumption of North Koreas missile testing. Before the summit, North Korea warned it faced a food shortfall of around 1.4 million tonnes this year, highlighting the importance that lifting the economic sanctions would have on the country. North Koreas domestic mentioning of wanting a better economy isnt just a facade. They really mean it and getting rid of sanctions is a big deal for them, Ben Young, a North Korea analyst and historian, told Al Jazeera. 190228054130239 Kim wants to fashion himself as an economic reformer of sorts. Lifting of sanctions was thus imperative but they were simply asking for too much. Blow to South Korea The stalemate is a big setback for South Korea as well, which was not only looking towards the talks to help end the Korean tensions but also revive inter-Korean trade. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim met three times last year as relations between Seoul and Pyongyang improved considerably. Last August, the two sides also allowed brief reunions of selected family members separated by the Korean War. Kim and Moon had also agreed to take steps to reduce military threats. With Seoul being a key partner in the USs drive towards North Koreas denuclearisation, Trump spoke to Moon on Thursday following his departure from Vietnam. According to a Blue House statement, the South Korean president also offered to meet his US counterpart for an in-depth consultation. This is a big blow to South Korea, which was hoping to resume economic cooperation with North Korea and also to end the Korean War, added Lami, who is also a lecturer at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong. 190228004711797 President Moon will keep trying to mediate between the US and North Korea, but I think what will happen depends on how much concession on the denuclearisation front Kim will make. It is a stalemate but hopefully the two sides [the US and North Korea] will continue their negotiations and come up with an agreement. It is really unclear when they will be able to do so. Next steps Neither Trump nor the White House commented on when the next round of talks would take place. The US president is currently in the middle of a domestic turmoil. The House has voted to overturn his national emergency declaration on the US-Mexico border wall funding issue. On Wednesday, his former lawyer told Congress the US president was a racist, conman and a cheat. Those headlines may have proved to be distractions for Trump in Hanoi, but it may also mean that internal discussions on how to move ahead with the US-North Korea relations could be put on the backburner. A similar move could also be seen from Pyongyangs side, according to Young. My worry is that the North Korean leadership is now going to wait to see the results of next years elections. If a Democrat wins that, we will be back to square one because they have a nasty habit of taking an opposite stance to Trump. Time is on North Koreas side. And while Trump flew back to Washington straight after the press conference at his hotel, the North Korean leader opted to stay in Vietnam for a goodwill visit. Earlier this week, North Korean officials visited some hi-tech factories and a tourist site in Vietnam prior to the two-day talks. The moves could imply that Kim, and his delegation, hope to leave Vietnam with some deals and hope for the future even if its not in the manner they wanted. The Taliban attack on Shorab military base in Helmand province also left 15 security forces injured, officials say. At least 23 Afghan soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, say officials. The pre-dawn assault on Shorab military base one of the largest military installations in the country lasted for several hours and was claimed by the Taliban. It was the Talibans third attempt to overrun the base in the past 48 hours, according to officials. The operation is over, 23 security forces killed, 15 injured and 20 insurgents killed. Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, also confirmed the toll. The US advise and assist mission, which works alongside Afghan troops, also operates from the base but in a separate area of the complex. The US and international forces present at the base were safe as the Taliban could not breach the walls of their compound, according to security officials. Repeated raids Clashes between the Taliban and the government troops backed by foreign forces have not subsided even as the US and Taliban are holding talks in Qatar to seek a negotiated solution to end Afghanistans long war. Afghan forces are taking heavy casualties on the battlefield. President Ashraf Ghani said in January that 45,000 members of the countrys security forces have been killed since he became the leader in September 2014. Repeated raids on Camp Shorab, a sprawling base situated on what used to be Camp Bastion, the former British airbase, and Camp Leatherneck, the old US Marine Corps base in Helmand, have underlined the Talibans ability to target critical security installations. The Taliban said its fighters were engaged in clashes with the US and Afghan forces at Shorab base. Heavy clashes continue as tens of members of the enemy forces had been killed or were wounded, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said in a statement. President Donald Trump has said he plans to reduce US forces as talks with the Taliban progress. In addition to 14,000 Americans, some 8,000 troops from 38 other countries in NATOs Resolute Support mission provide training and support for Afghan forces. The Taliban controls large areas of Helmand. The province is a source of much of the worlds illegal opium supply. During more than a decade of international intervention, it was the deadliest province for foreign troops, claiming nearly 1,000 lives. Survivors and families of victims accuse the kingdom of helping the hijackers who launched the attacks in 2001. Some survivors of the September 11 attacks and the families of victims have moved to a New York court against Saudi Arabia. They accuse the Saudi government of helping the hijackers launch the concurrent attacks in 2001. They came to the court to demand the Saudi government cough up more information specific documents that survivors of the attacks believe will shed new light on the hijackers. Al Jazeeras Kristen Saloomey reports. Former Argentine President Carlos Menem was acquitted in the trial, but victims of the 1994 attack hope the trial will pave the way to a new investigation. The 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre killed 185 people and injured more than 300. A court in Argentina has cleared former President Carlos Menem of involvement in a cover-up of the bombing, but jailed the retired judge who led the investigation into the attack, along with former intelligence chief Hugo Anzorreguy. The trial showed that members of the government, prosecutors and judges were involved in misdirecting the investigation into the attack and victims said they hoped the courts decision would allow a new investigation to find the truth of what happened 25 years ago. Al Jazeeras Teresa Bo reports from Buenos Aires. St. Nicholas Episcopal Church has assisted homeless individuals for over 25 years, primarily through support provided by St. Laurence Chapel, located in Pompano Beach. For most of St. Laurences 31-year history, it was a day shelter for the homeless. St. Nicholas provided food, clothing, and volunteers. Then, when St. Laurence transitioned to an emergency overnight model, the Holy Grill of St. Nicholas mobile feeding ministry also began serving dinners at St. Laurence Monday through Friday. Unfortunately, Broward County has terminated its contract with St. Laurence. Facing an uncertain future, St. Laurence must vacate the Blount Road site by noon, March 31. When I had the opportunity to speak with St. Laurences Board of Directors, I suggested they step back from this moment of grief and seize the opportunity to prayerfully consider how they might refine their mission to the homeless to perhaps be even more effective going forward. In this regard, I suggested the Board consider addressing homelessness among the young and especially among LGBTQ youth. The statistics I've seen suggest that LGBTQ youth are highly over-represented among the homeless youth population, approaching 40%. Moreover, whereas 33% of homeless youth are subjected to sexual victimization, according to one study, with 26% being solicited for sex in exchange for money, food, drugs, shelter, or clothing, 58% of the LGBTQ homeless population are sexually victimized and 44% solicited to exchange sex in order to meet basic human needs. Even more troubling, research suggests 62% of homeless LGBTQ youth attempt suicide as compared to 29% for heterosexual homeless youth. Please help. There may be resources and safe places for LGBTQ homeless youth in South Florida of which I am unaware. If you know of any such resources, please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Equally important, if you know of LGBTQ homeless youth who need assistance and a safe, accepting place, please refer them to me. Together we can make a positive difference in the lives of many. And, if you would be so kind, please pray for us, our ministries, and our efforts to persuade St. Laurence Chapel or some other organization to fill the gap and be an important resource for homeless LGBTQ youth. Foreign minister accuses Myanmar of hollow promises over 700,000 Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has told the United Nations Security Council it cannot take any more refugees from Myanmar, some 18 months after more than 700,000 Rohingya fled across the border amid a brutal military crackdown. Attacks on security posts by Rohingya fighters in Myanmars Rakhine state triggered the violence that the UN, the United States, Britain and others describe as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies the accusations. I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told the UN on Thursday. Haque accused Myanmar of hollow promises and various obstructionist approaches during negotiations on returns. Not a single Rohingya has volunteered to return to Rakhine due to the absence of [a] conducive environment there, Haque said. Myanmar says it has been ready to accept returning refugees since January, but the Rohingya say they want guarantees over their safety and to be recognised as citizens before they go back to Rakhine. The UN says conditions are not yet right for their return. The Western powers on the council on Thursday lamented the lack of action from Myanmars government. Very disappointed Were very disappointed that there hasnt been more progress on getting the refugees back and that obviously includes creating the conditions where the refugees feel able to go back, Karen Pierce, Britains UN Ambassador, told the council. Several council members stressed the return of refugees needed to be safe, voluntary, dignified and secure, and pushed for the Myanmar government to allow the UN widespread and unconditional access to Rakhine. UN envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner-Burgener told the council that the UN access was currently insufficient. The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far, she said. The 15-member UNSC has been split over how to deal with the crisis, with Western powers pitted against Russia and China, an ally of Myanmar. Chinas Deputy UN Ambassador Wu Haitao said it was mainly an issue between Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh and as such it is up to the two countries to work out a solution. Russias Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy agreed. In December, Britain circulated a draft resolution to council members that diplomats said aims to put a timeline on Myanmar allowing the return of refugees and addressing accountability, but China and Russia have boycotted talks on the draft. Deputy US Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said: The international community cannot ignore the worlds largest refugee camp. Ottawa says it will allow an extradition hearing to proceed against Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese tech giant Huawei. The Canadian government has said it would allow an extradition hearing to proceed against the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, who was arrested in Canada late last year. Meng Wanzhou, currently under house arrest, will appear in a Vancouver court on March 6 to set the date of the hearing. Meng and Huawei face US charges of conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran. Today, Department of Justice Canada officials issued an authority to proceed, formally commencing an extradition process in the case of Ms Meng Wanzhou, the government said in a statement on Friday. The department is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to be put before an extradition judge for decision. Legal experts had predicted Ottawa would give the go-ahead, given the close judicial relationship between Canada and the United States. It could be years though before she is ever sent to the US, since Canadas slow-moving justice system allows many decisions to be appealed. David Martin, Mengs lawyer, said in a statement, We are disappointed that the Minister of Justice has decided to issue an Authority to Proceed in the face of the political nature of the US charges and where the President of the United States has repeatedly stated that he would interfere in Ms Mengs case if he thought it would assist the US negotiations with China over a trade deal. Canada-China relations 190219044409758 The decision is likely to sour Canadas already bad relations with China, which is demanding Meng be released. The Chinese side is utterly dissatisfied, Chinas embassy in Ottawa said in a statement. This is not a merely judicial case, but a political persecution against a Chinese high-tech enterprise. The subsequent developments have proved this. The so-called rule of law and judicial independence asserted by Canada cannot cover up the mistakes made by the Canadian side on the case of Meng Wanzhou. After her detention, China arrested two Canadians on national security grounds, and a Chinese court later sentenced to death a Canadian man who previously had only been jailed for drug smuggling. Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti declined to comment. US President Donald Trump told Reuters news agency in December he would intervene if it served national security interests or helped close a trade deal with China, prompting Ottawa to stress the extradition process should not be politicised. Last week, Trump played down the idea of dropping the charges. Four people with confirmed cases of the highly contagious virus are still missing after fleeing the scene. The medical NGO Doctors Without Borders has suspended its work at the epicentre of the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Two of its clinics were burned down, in the latest attack against aid workers trying to contain the dangerous virus. Ebola is believed to have killed more than 550 people in the latest outbreak the worst in DRC history. Al Jazeeras Alexi OBrien reports. Otto Warmbiers family blasts Kim Jong Un after Trump praises North Korean leader during this weeks summit in Vietnam. The parents of an American college student who died following months of detention in North Korea rebuked US President Donald Trump on Friday, saying Kim Jong Un and his evil regime are responsible for their sons death. Trump drew criticism during this weeks Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam after he praised Kim and said he accepted his claims that he was not aware of how Otto was treated in detention. He tells me that he didnt know about it, and I will take him at his word, Trump told reporters this week. He also praised Kims leadership. Fred and Cindy Warmbier, Ottos parents, pushed back in a statement on Friday, saying they had remained silent earlier this week while Trump and Kim met in Vietnam. Now we must speak out, they said. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto, they added in a statement released by their lawyer. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that. Signs of torture Warmbier, 22, was a student at the University of Virginia when he visited North Korea with a tour group. During his trip, he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in March 2016 on suspicion of stealing a propaganda poster. 181225003924301 He died less than a year later on June 19, 2017, shortly after he returned to the US in a coma and showing apparent signs of torture while in custody. The North claimed Warmbier fell into a coma soon after he was sentenced, saying he had contracted botulism and been given a sleeping pill. However, medical tests carried out in the US offered no conclusive evidence as to the cause of his neurological injuries, and no evidence of a prior botulism infection. Warmbiers doctors said he had suffered extensive tissue loss in all regions of his brain, but showed no signs of physical trauma. They said Warmbiers severe brain injury was most likely given his young age caused by cardiopulmonary arrest cutting the blood supply to the brain. We cant be naive about what they did Prominent Republicans did not share Trumps acceptance of Kims word, including US Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who said he didnt buy it for a minute, and US Senator Rob Portman from Warmbiers home state of Ohio. 170619210648464 We cant be naive about what they did to Otto and about the brutal nature of the regime, Portman said in a Thursday speech on the Senate floor. Its not just about Otto or other visitors, its about how the people of North Korea are treated. On Friday, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News that Trump blames North Korea but not Kim. The president agrees with the Warmbier family and holds North Korea responsible for Otto Warmbiers death, Conway said. What he said was that Chairman Kim says, what he believes Chairman Kim to have said, was that he was not aware of what had happened to Otto Warmbier when it happened, she added. Lawmaker of the defunct Palestinian parliament was arrested in July 2017 for being a member of a party banned by Israel. Israel has released a prominent Palestinian legislator who had been held without trial for 20 months over links to the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Khalida Jarrars husband, Ghassan, said the 56-year-old legislator was freed on Thursday, and Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), also confirmed Jarrars release. This imprisonment was yet another chapter in a lifetime of persecution and oppression from the Israeli occupation to this prominent human rights defender and elected representative, including several arrests, house arrest and a ban on travel due to her activism against occupation and her work in defending the national and human rights of her people, she said. Jarrar, a mother of three, was arrested on July 2, 2017, for being a senior member in the PFLP, a movement considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States, and the European Union. Details of the accusations against her are secret, as is customary with Israeli administrative detention orders, which allow suspects to be held without trial for renewable six-month periods. A legislator in the largely defunct Palestinian parliament, Jarrar was given a six-month administrative detention order shortly after her arrest that was later extended several times. The Israeli army said after one such extension that security personnel found she still poses a substantial threat. Many PFLP leaders are in custody and Jarrar has been jailed multiple times. Since her detention began, the Palestinian parliament has been dissolved due to internal strife. Jarrar had only been released in June 2016 after 14 months in an Israeli jail for allegedly encouraging attacks against Israelis, allegations that Jarrar and her family have denied. Israel said administrative detention is intended to allow authorities to hold suspects while continuing to gather evidence, with the aim of preventing attacks in the meantime. But the system has been criticised by Palestinians, rights groups and members of the international community who say Israel abuses the measure. Pakistan has handed over a captured pilot to Indian authorities at the Wagah border, a move aimed at de-escalating tensions after days of hostilities between the South Asian neighbours. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the Wagah-Attari border at around 9pm local time (16:00 GMT) on Friday, hours later than expected and sporting a black eye from his ordeal. His release came two days after he was captured following a rare aerial engagement between the nuclear-armed rivals over the disputed region of Kashmir, divided between the two countries since 1947. 190227130808599 A press statement by Pakistans foreign ministry said Varthaman has been returned to India and that he was treated with dignity during his custody. While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Imran Khan announced his return as a goodwill gesture aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India, said the statement. On Thursday, Khan had announced his decision to return Varthaman back to India as a peace gesture during a joint sitting of the parliament in capital, Islamabad. In a tweet, Khans Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, welcomed the pilot home, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2019 Varthaman had become a national hero after purported footage that went viral showed him being beaten by locals after being shot down before Pakistani soldiers intervened, with social media abuzz with #GivebackAbhinandan and #Abhinandanmyhero hashtags. 190227063414443 His polite refusal to proffer more details than necessary I am sorry major, I am not supposed to tell you this won the handlebar-moustached pilot particular sympathy in India. The pilots parents travelled to Amritsar town near Wagah via Indias capital New Delhi on Thursday night and received a standing ovation by co-passengers as they boarded their flight. At the famous Wagah border crossing, thousands of Indians, waving flags, singing and dancing with patriotic fervour, had gathered to welcome Varthaman home. But the crowd dwindled after his release was delayed inexplicably by hours. Before the pilot was released, Pakistani television stations broadcast a video of him, looking cleaned up and thanking the Pakistani army for treating him well. The Pakistani army is a very professional service, he said. People and media gather at Wagah border before the arrival of Indian Air Force pilot, who was captured by Pakistan [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters] Al Jazeeras Sohail Rahman, reporting from New Delhi, said the processing of Varthamans return at the Wagah border crossing had gone according to plan, though the Pakistanis delayed the release of the Wing Commander at least three times during the day. 190228200217590 We dont know why there has been a delay, but it seems that the wing commander is now on his way home, said Rahman. Rahman also said the pilots release was unlikely to end the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan. As far as India is concerned, the situation is still very tense. India-administered Kashmir is still under curfew there has been an ongoing gun battle in Handwara [in India-administered Kashmir], he said. Gun battles in India-administered Kashmir on Friday left two rebels and four members of the Indian security services dead, while a civilian was killed in later protests, police said. Regardless of whats going on with the wing commander and him being transferred back to India, the situation in terms of any semblance of peace and tranquility is certainly far from it, said Rahman. Tense subcontinent 190227183058957 On Wednesday, Pakistani military said it shot down two Indian air force fighter jets that entered its airspace in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and took the pilot in custody The Pakistani attack came a day after Indian warplanes launched raids inside the Pakistani territory, claiming to have hit a Jaish-e-Muhammad camp. Tensions between the archrivals escalated after a suicide bombing in India-administered Kashmir on February 14 that killed at least 42 Indian soldiers, the worst such attack in three decades of the conflict. The car transferring Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman is pictured near Wagah border on the outskirts of Amritsar [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters] Al Jazeeras Kamal Hyder, reporting from Pakistans capital, Islamabad, said the situation remained critical following Varthamans release amid concerns over how to defuse this escalating crisis. 190228115747005 The Pakistani military is on full red alert, they are flying constant air patrols all over Pakistan and although the airspace has been open, the movement of aircraft between India and Pakistan, especially commercial aircraft is still under restrictions, said Hyder. What we are being told here in Pakistan is that the Indians are still in a belligerent mood, that Modi is trying to capitalise on this crisis for the elections coming up within the next two months, he added. So the ball, as far as Pakistan is concerned, is in Indias court. Mona Alam, an Islamabad-based defence and security analyst, told Al Jazeera the move was unlikely to be followed by any sort of de-escalation from India. As soon as the announcement was made by Prime Minister Imran Khan, we saw that Modi kept on repeating the same lines which spoke about war and never spoke about peace, said Alam. Captured fighter pilot to be handed back to India in the afternoon at the Wagah border crossing, Pakistan FM says. Pakistan is set to release a captured Indian pilot in a peace gesture aimed at easing tensions with its nuclear archrival, after aerial clashes ignited fears of a dangerous conflict in South Asia. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who has become the face of the crisis between Islamabad and New Delhi, will be handed back to Indian officials at the Wagah border crossing on Friday afternoon, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday. In New Delhi, the announcement of his release by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday was seen as a diplomatic victory, with Indian leaders welcoming the pilots return but announcing they would remain on heightened military alert. We have an Indian pilot. As a peace gesture we will release him tomorrow, Khan told a joint sitting of parliament in the capital Islamabad on Thursday. 190227183058957 Khan also said he had unsuccessfully tried to make telephone contact with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Wednesday night. Yesterday, I tried to call Narendra Modi, Khan said. I wanted to make it clear that we do not want any kind of escalation. Abhinandans plane was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday, after a dogfight in the skies over the disputed Himalayan region which sent tensions between India and Pakistan to their highest levels in years and alarmed world powers, who issued calls for restraint. As the prime minister has said, as a peace gesture and to de-escalate matters, the Indian pilot will be released. So today, this afternoon, he will be released at Wagah, Qureshi told a joint session of parliament. A diplomatic source told AFP news agency, the handover was expected about 3-4pm Pakistani time (1000-1100 GMT). By 1500 GMT, the release hadnt been announced. People and media gather before the arrival of an Indian air force pilot, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, near Wagah border, on the outskirts of the northern Indian city of Amritsar [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters] The Wagah crossing gate is famed for hosting an elaborate daily ceremony by Indian and Pakistani soldiers at sunset. Thousands of people had already gathered on the Indian side early on Friday to welcome the pilot home, an AFP journalist said. The pilots parents travelled to Amritsar, near Wagah, via New Delhi late on Thursday night and were applauded by the fellow passengers on the flight they took, TV footage showed. Media on both sides were pushed back by authorities about 1 kilometre from the border, sources told Al Jazeera. He [the pilot] will be debriefed by not only the secret service, but mainly the air force and there will be no media sound bites from him for the foreseeable future as and when he will come back to Indian soil, said Al Jazeeras Sohail Rahman, reporting from the Indian capital, New Delhi. That is part of the protocol when you are, in theory, a prisoner of war, he added. The surging tensions had prompted Pakistan to close down its airspace, disrupting major routes between Europe and South Asia and grounding thousands of travellers worldwide. On Friday morning, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced a decision would be taken on re-opening airspace shortly. Earlier, it had said flights would remain grounded until at least 1.00 pm local time (0800 GMT) on Friday. #WelcomeBackAbhi The latest confrontation between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947, erupted after a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir killed at least 42 Indian paramilitary troops on February 14, with the attack claimed by Pakistan-based rebel group Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM). Twelve days later, Indian warplanes launched an air raid inside the Pakistani territory, claiming to have hit a JeM camp. It was the first such aerial attack since their last war in 1971, before either country had nuclear weapons. An infuriated Islamabad denied casualties or damage, but a day later launched its own incursion as a show of strength across the Line of Control, the de facto Kashmir border. That sparked the dogfight that ended in both countries claiming they had shot down each others warplanes, and Abhinandans capture. Border Security Force soldiers keep guard before the arrival of Indian Air Force pilot on the outskirts of the northern city of Amritsar, India [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters] Residents on either side of the LoC also reported heavy shelling, which continued into the early hours on Friday. Analysts said the pilot could prove to be Islamabads trump card, but Prime Minister Khan unexpectedly announced on Thursday that he would be released a day later in the first sign of a potential thaw. Khan alluded to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war and called for talks, even as he warned India should not take the announcement as a sign of weakness. 190227104245060 With the pilot attaining hero status and the hashtag #WelcomeBackAbhi swiftly trending on social media, Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on his citizens to stand as a wall in the face of an enemy that seeks to destabilise India. The last time an Indian pilot was captured by Pakistan, in 1999, the handover was facilitated by the Red Cross (ICRC), which met Flight Lieutenant K Nachiketa at the Pakistani foreign office in Islamabad before escorting him to the Indian high commission overnight. He left for India that same day. On Friday, a Red Cross spokesman told AFP the aid organisation is ready to provide any assistance necessary, but so far is not involved in Abhinandans return. Kashmir is ruled in part but claimed in full by both India and Pakistan. Two of their three wars have been fought over the disputed territory. State prosecutor has sent letters to more than 100 media organisations and journalists over suppression-order breach. An Australian state prosecutor has sent letters threatening to charge media organisations and dozens of journalists with breaching a gag order that banned reporting on Cardinal George Pells convictions on child sexual abuse, lawyers said. Reporting in any format accessible from Australia details of the former Vatican economy chiefs convictions in a Melbourne court in December was banned by a judges suppression order that was only lifted on Tuesday when a second trial was dropped. Victoria state Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Kerri Judd has written more than 100 letters to journalists and media organisations advising that she intends to charge them with offences related to reporting on the Pell case, said Jason Bosland, the deputy director of the Center for Media and Communications Law at Melbourne University. Bosland, a leading expert on suppression orders, said he was told the number by media sources. Suppression orders are common in the Australian and British judicial systems, and breaches can result in jail terms. A jury unanimously found Pell guilty on one count of sexual abuse and four counts of indecent assault against two boys at St Patricks Cathedral in Melbourne in late 1996. Pell is the most senior Catholic cleric ever to have been found guilty of child sexual abuse and his conviction follows a year of worldwide revelations of abuse and cover-up. He is being held in custody and is due to be sentenced on March 13. A lawyer involved in several cases, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed more than 100 letters were sent. Some individuals received two or three letters, so the number of media employees facing charges could be fewer than 100, the lawyer added. He and Bosland said the charges were aiding and abetting breaches of the suppression order by international media, breaching the suppression order, scandalising the court and sub-judice contempt. Anthony Loncaric, a spokesman for the Office of Public Prosecutions, declined to comment. CENSORED Two of Australias largest media organisations, Nine and Australian Broadcasting Corp, confirmed they had received letters. News Corp, another major media organisation that was criticised by a Pell lawyer for running a headline saying CENSORED following the conviction, declined to comment. Nine spokeswoman Miranda Ward said the company had received a letter accusing it of breaching the suppression order. Australian Broadcasting Corp confirmed the public broadcaster had received a letter from Judd. ABC declined to provide details of the content of the letter, except to say it was related to its coverage of the Pell trial. We stand by all of our coverage and our actions in this matter, the broadcaster said in a statement. We have responded to the DPP strongly contesting any suggestion of wrongdoing on our part. Boland said the number of journalists facing prosecution was unprecedented. Ive never seen a situation where such a huge number of people have been shown show-cause notices, Boland said. Normally its sent to one or two media outlets. But this is an extraordinary approach in extraordinary circumstances. Boland said he had never heard of a charge of aiding and abetting being used to enforce a suppression order. He said it was a novel approach to target media outside the courts jurisdiction. What theyre doing is instead of going after the international organisations themselves because obviously, they cant they are potentially going after the local people within the jurisdiction that they think have aided and abetted these international breaches, Boland said. The US Constitutions First Amendment would prevent such orders in the US, so attempting to extradite an American for breaching an Australian suppression order would be futile. Risk of jail As soon as Pell was convicted on December 11 for indecent acts involving the two boys, news began to spread around the world through social media. Some international media outlets and websites also began reporting the verdicts, although the sparsity of detail and factual errors suggested they had little if any help from professional journalists inside the court. Melbournes The Age newspaper reported a high-profile figure had been convicted of a serious crime and was among the publications put on notice by the states chief prosecutor. The Age, which is owned by Nine, reported that 30 journalists employed by Nine had been told in letters in February to show cause why they should not be charged. Authorities responses to breaches of the suppression order like the order itself had been banned from publication until the order was lifted on Tuesday. Two days after the verdict, trial judge Peter Kidd convened a court hearing with Judd to set the prosecutions in motion. A number of very important people in the media are facing, if found guilty, the prospect of imprisonment and indeed substantial imprisonment, Kidd said. It may well be that many significant members of the media community are in that potential position. Breaching a suppression order carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The suppression order was designed to prevent the December conviction from influencing the jury in a trial that was to be held in April on allegations that he groped two boys in a swimming pool as a young priest in the 1970s. Calvey is accused of fraud worth more than $37m, but says he is the victim of a corporate dispute with his Russian shareholders. A court in Moscow has dismissed the appeal of prominent American business executive Michael Calvey, who was arrested two weeks ago for alleged fraud. Calvey, who will be kept in custody until his trial, has helped invest almost $4bn into the Russian economy. But his detention has sent shockwaves through Russias business community and highlighted its increasingly uncertain investment climate. Al Jazeeras Step Vaessen reports from Moscow. Change is hard and adaptability is the key to success and happiness. This moment in time is an exceptionally interesting one in terms of advocacy efforts. Previous strategies of funneling grassroots support into large organizations served us well in gaining ground on broad issues impacting large segments of our shared communities. We grew titans among us in the effort of change action and we largely found success in many of those fights thanks to the combined strength of our efforts focused on single organizations and people. For those efforts, we should and must continue to be grateful. Gratitude, however, does not come without accountability and the necessity to adapt to a changed environment or risk stagnation; worse yet, backslide. As we adjust to a greater recognition of our humanity in marriage equality and progress in fights against the disparities we face, we must also recognize those spaces where we have failed and the people we have left behind. Today, for us to succeed in ensuring equity, advocacy efforts, be it funding, programming, or strategic direction, we must begin to shift our operational style to grassroots organizations. Unfortunately, change is hard, right? Dozens, hundreds of well-meaning advocacy leaders have grown accustomed to their positions of power; to being the spokespersons of our very diverse communities. And they have confused their own position, made easier by their past success, with that of the position of our communities. We are not uniform and it is time we acknowledge that. Our environment has changed. Gone are the days of allies in federal administration working to ensure and enforce our values of progress and protection. Our national tone has slipped, like a recovering addict experiencing relapse, into comfortable biases of our past and, if we are to be invested in the health and wellness of those around us, it is time to acknowledge that addiction is so heavy, so deep, that harm reduction as a strategy is pertinent. It is time we acknowledge that our national and state politics have slipped and we are no longer at a tipping point. Listening to advocates speaking on behalf of Equality Florida at Wilton Manors City Commission meeting last week was interesting. Here were two, middle-aged, white appearing, cisgender men proclaiming to not want to be treated as one-third a person and I had to suppress a laugh. Theyre safe. They are not the transgender women of color described in the Human Rights Report issued last November. They do not and will not know what it is to face employment discrimination so ingrained as to be a boot heel of poverty on their necks. But my sisters will. My clients will. My family will. And ever present is the knowledge that my transition, my skin keeps me relatively safe from these facts. The difference is I chose to listen to those most impacted by a lack of statewide protections. I listened as a young transman in Ocala explained how his employer forces him to use the restroom across the street at the gas station. I listened to countless stories of employers not seeing a need to include transition related, gender affirming care in their benefits offerings, impeding the quality of life of my community. I listened to dozens of stories of people being refused work, refused wage increases, being passed up for promotion, and how that made life hard for my community. Hard can be measured in missed light bills, missed meals, less than comfortable apartments, never seeing the ability to pay off debt, and surrendering to an idea that retirement will never come. These cornerstones of the American ideal are simply out of reach for many transgender Americanstransgender Floridians. Identifying grassroots advocacy organizations, local and sometimes unlikely allies, and working to ensure transgender Floridians are heard in our concerns is critical to centering our voices and our priorities as one of those populations feeling the greatest brunt of focused bigotry. Were fortunate that Translatina Coalition maintains a seat at the table of our statewide advocacy efforts among other organizations and individuals including SAVE, Forward Miami, Palm Beach Human Rights Council, and former state Rep. David Richardson. Operating with a collaborative approach and seeking out community accountability, we would do well to remember those who come to stop harm as much as we celebrate those who have paved paths forward. Both of those efforts are meaningful and valuable toward our shared goals of equity. And so here we are with a promise of a first step; an effort at courageousness. Yes, case law exists in interpreting sex protections under the Constitution and state law to include LGBTQ Americans and this has not been tested at the Supreme Court or cemented by federal law. This is not decided law and it is certainly not decided in the 11thCircuit Court of Appeals, a court that has already refused to consider sex protections to cover our community as recently as last July, in any area of life. A judge may use the lack of explicit mention in statute to manifest case law excluding LGBTQ Floridians from housing protections and they may not and we should, justly, expect rebuttal and appeal at every turn because we are not powerless at the mere word of a single judge. We should not bow to messages of fear of what the future may hold. While we cannot predict future, we should be able to rely on the power those titans of yesterday keep their fingers tightly gripped around to defend progress whereever it may manifest. That was their commitment, right? Thats why we supported them; gave them their status. These fights are not about us and our win but about The Cause. It is time we hold them accountable to those ideals they so inspired. It is time to ensure our actions further progress instead of impeding it even if that means more work in the future, because the most vulnerable in our communities can no longer stand to wait for the ideal as they suffer harm. Be brave. Take the first step with us, not for us. Support both FL SB 430 and FL SB 438. Hamza bin Laden is wanted by the United States, which has issued a reward of up to $1m for news of his whereabouts. Saudi Arabia has stripped a son of deceased former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden of his citizenship, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement published by state media. The decision was made by a royal order in November, according to the statement, which ran in Umm Al-Qura newspaper on Friday. The move comes a day after the United States announced a reward of up to one million dollars for information on the younger bin Ladens whereabouts. Described by the US State Department as an emerging leader within al-Qaeda, Hamza bin Laden has been classified as a terrorist by the US since 2017. He has released audio and video messages on the internet calling for attacks on Western capitals and has threatened revenge for his fathers killing in 2011 by US forces, according to a State Department statement. He has also threatened to target US citizens abroad and urged Saudi tribes to unite with al-Qaedas Yemeni branch to fight against the Saudi state. WANTED. Up to $1 million for information on Hamza bin Laden, an emerging al-Qa'ida leader. Hamza is son of Usama bin Laden and has threatened attacks against the United States and allies. Relocation possible. Submit a tip, get paid. https://t.co/LtBVhsrwTc #RFJ pic.twitter.com/gmx5hkoSzQ Rewards for Justice (@Rewards4Justice) February 28, 2019 Osama bin Laden was killed in a covert operation at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where the former al-Qaeda leader had gone into hiding. He became notorious worldwide after claiming responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, which killed almost 3,000 people from more than 70 countries. 190301064508390 Letters from Osama bin Laden seized from the Abbottabad compound indicated that he was grooming his son to replace him as leader of al-Qaeda. Hamza bin Ladens current whereabouts are unknown and it is not clear whether he holds other citizenship. We do believe hes probably in the Afghan-Pakistan border and hell cross into Iran. But he could be anywhere though in southcentral Asia, Michael Evanoff, the US assistant secretary for diplomatic security said on Thursday. Youth appeal Hamza bin Laden has called for attacks on Western capitals [CIA handout via AP Photo] Thought to be around 30 years old, Hamza was alongside his father in Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks and the pair spent time together in Pakistan after the elder bin Laden fled following the US-led invasion in 2001, according to the Brookings Institution. According to the State Department, he is married to the daughter of Mohammed Atta, who hijacked one of the planes used in the 9/11 attacks. He was introduced by al-Qaedas current leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a 2015 audio message. Analysts say the younger bin Laden provides a youthful voice for al-Qaeda, whose ageing leaders have struggled to inspire potential recruits around the world as successfully as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS). Since its formation in Saudi Arabia in 1988, al-Qaedas presence and influence has spread significantly. The group has established affiliations with armed groups on several continents and carried out dozens of attacks. Al-Qaeda is classed as a terrorist organisation by dozens of countries and international bodies including the United Nations and European Union. The SDF says an operation is under way to clear the last remaining pocket of ISIL along the Euphrates River. The Syrian Kurdish forces are launching an assault on the last area still controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group in Syria. The operation to clear the last remaining pocket of ISIS has just started, Mustefa Bali, the spokesman of the United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said in a statement on Friday. SDF fighters have been trying to seize control of the village of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border, for several weeks. The SDF said it extracted several hundred civilians from Baghouz late on Thursday. Hundreds of people, mostly women and children, left Baghouz late on Thursday, a day before the SDF launched its assault [Felipe Dana/AP] Many foreigners from various nationalities were among them, Bali told the AFP news agency without specifying which ones. The United Nations said in last week alone about 13,000 people have arrived at the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria after fleeing the ISIL. Many of the arrivals are exhausted, hungry and sick, said Jens Laerke, spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at a news briefing in Geneva. Most determined supporters The ISIL group, which once controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq, now holds about half a square kilometre of land along the Euphrates River. A few hundred ISIL fighters are holed up there with their family members and other civilians who are among the groups most determined supporters, many of whom travelled to Syria from all over the world. Countries have been wrestling over whether to allow civilians who voluntarily joined ISIL to return to countries they had left. Some are women who gave birth while married to the ISIL fighters. The SDF released a video on Thursday that said it would announce a complete victory over ISIL in about a week. US President Donald Trump falsely claimed on Thursday that ISIL has lost 100 percent of the territory it once controlled in Syria. Syrian government convoys In Moscow, the Russian military said the Syrian government was sending convoys to evacuate a refugee camp in southern Syria where tens of thousands of people suffer from lack of food and medical supplies. Col Gen Mikhail Mizintsev said the Syrian convoys were heading on Friday to the Rukban camp and urged the US military in the area to secure their safe passage. Russia has accused the US of failing to provide humane conditions in the camp, which is home to about 40,000 people. Mizintsev said the US military would bear full responsibility for the safe passage of convoys through its zone of control. The Russian military said it will work together with the Syrian army to escort the convoys as they head to temporary accommodation centres for refugees established in several Syrian provinces. Police say as many as 29 people killed as soldiers and al-Shabab fighters continue to exchange fire in Somali capital. A gun battle continues to rage in Mogadishu between Somali soldiers and al-Shabab fighters, who carried out a daring raid and suicide attack on Thursday night that killed as many as 29 people. Heavy gunfire was heard across the Somali capital through the night on Thursday, and it continued as Friday dawned. At least 80 others were injured in the attack on Thursday near Hotel Maka al-Mukarama and a judges residence on a busy street in Mogadishu, according to a police commander. In an interview with Reuters news agency, police officer Major Musa Ali placed the death toll at 29. AFP news agency, however, said the fatalities were at least 10, quoting Abdirahman Ali, a Somali national security officer. Al-Shababs military spokesman said they still control the hotel. The government tried three times to enter the building but we repulsed them. We still control the hotel, Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shababs military spokesman, told Reuters. Many victims of Thursdays attack suffered horrific injuries and hospitals were said to be struggling to cope with causalities. Some of the wounded lost limbs, Sadiya Yusuf, a nurse at Daru Shifa, one of the hospitals treating victims, told AP news agency. Frequent target The Maka al-Mukarama hotel is frequently patronised by government officials, and al-Shabab has targeted it multiple times in past attacks that have killed scores of people. Al-Shababs spokesman said the group still controlled the hotel raided by its fighters on Thursday night [Feisal Omar/Reuters] Reuters witnesses saw frantic residents in the city searching for missing relatives through the night, making countless phone calls to find out if anyone had seen their family members. I have been running to and fro from blast scene to hospitals since yesterday evening in search of my husband and brother who were selling a shop at the place where the blast took place. I have just seen them in hospital, they are in critical conditions. My husband lost his stomach and my brother suffered severe wounds to both arms, Halima Omar, a mother of three children told Reuters. Somalia has been convulsed by lawlessness and violence since 1991 but has stabilised somewhat in recent years. The armed group has been fighting to dislodge a Western-backed government protected by African Union-mandated peacekeepers. The US has dramatically increased air attacks against al-Shabab since President Donald Trump took office. The US military command for the African continent reportedly carried out 50 raids in Somalia in 2018. This year, the US raids targeting al-Shabab fighters have been coming more frequently. The military command in Africa reported 23 raids as of Tuesday, including one in central Somalia that killed 20 fighters and another the day before that killed 35. Al-Bashir hands over leadership of the National Congress Party to his deputy Ahmed Harun, according to the ruling party. Sudans embattled President Omar al-Bashir quit his position as chairman of the ruling party after more than two months of protests against his nearly three-decade rule, the party said. According to a party statement released on Friday, al-Bashir delegated his powers as chairman of the National Congress Party to its deputy chairman, Ahmed Harun, until the partys next general conference. No date has been set for the conference. Local media quoted Harun as saying al-Bashir took this step in order to devote himself to the national tasks as the countrys leader. Wanted for alleged war crimes Like al-Bashir, Harun is also wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes committed in Sudans Darfur region. He was appointed the partys deputy chairman earlier this week. In late February, al-Bashir banned unauthorised public gatherings. On Thursday, an emergency court in the capital, Khartoum, sent eight people to prison over their participation in the anti-government protests that have engulfed Khartoum and its twin city, Omdurman, the state-run news agency SUNA reported. Four were sentenced to five-year terms each and three got three-year sentences. One person was sentenced to six months. The same court also ordered the deportation of an Ethiopian national over the same charges. The sentences were the first handed down by the emergency courts in Khartoum set up earlier this week to investigate violations under the state of emergency that al-Bashir declared in late February to quash the protests. The Democratic Lawyers Alliance, which is part of an umbrella group spearheading the protests, said at least 870 protesters were brought before emergency courts in Khartoum and Omdurman on Thursday. Al-Bashirs rule has been marred by civil wars and increasing street demonstrations. The latest wave of nationwide protests erupted in mid-December, initially triggered by rising prices and shortages but quickly turned to calls for al-Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 military coup, to step down. A heavy security crackdown has left scores of protesters dead. Crowds march in cities across Algeria calling for ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika not to run in April election. Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Algeria on Friday against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas bid for a fifth term, the largest demonstrations in years. Police helicopters circled overhead as protesters gathered in streets and parks of the capital, Algiers after midday Muslim prayer services. Riot police vans lined the boulevard leading to the presidential headquarters and deployed around the march route. Security forces fired tear gas at protesters in the Belcourt neighbourhood on the citys Mediterranean shore. Protesters hoped the demonstration would send a loud signal of public discontent to the gas-rich North African countrys secretive leadership before the April 18 presidential election. Look at the Algerian youth, all it is demanding is a valid president who can talk to the people, Hamdane Salim, a 45-year-old public sector worker, said. Among the crowd was Djamila Bouhired, 83, a heroine of the 1954-1962 independence war against France, who told reporters: Im happy to be here. There were also demonstrations in other cities such as Oran, Constantine, Setif, Tizi Ouzou and Bouira drawing in thousands, according to residents. The protests were mostly peaceful, but scuffles broke out in the capital between police and protestors later in the day near the presidential palace, witnesses said. About a dozen people were wounded in sporadic clashes with police, the AFP news agency reported. Since last Friday thousands have taken part in anti-government protests seldom seen in the country. To come out onto the streets in such huge numbers is an act of courage by the Algerian people. In a sense they have got rid of their fear of the repressive regime. This could be a tipping point in Algeria, Jeremy Keenan of the Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera. Keenan called the demonstrations completely unprecedented. He said Algerian youth are not only calling for 81-year-old Bouteflika to not run in the upcoming election but also are demanding a change in the way their oil-rich country is governed. Fifty percent of the Algerian population, we are talking about 42 million people, is under the age of 27 and 30 percent of those are unemployed. You have a country that is potentially extremely rich. The revenues from oil in the last 20 years have been at least a trillion dollars. Of that at least 300 million is unaccounted for. People know this and are sick of it. he added. Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 and has rarely appeared in public since then. The ailing leader has also not given any known speeches since he suffered the stroke. Overthrow the regime For years, many Algerians have avoided public political activity fearing trouble from the omnipresent security services or becoming disillusioned as the country has been run by the same group of veterans since the 1954-1962 independence war with France. There appeared to be few such inhibitions on Friday. People want to overthrow the regime, some chanted, using a slogan from the 2011 Arab Spring turmoil which toppled leaders in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia. For years, Algerians have avoided public political activity fearing trouble from the security services [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters] Bouteflika himself has ruled Algeria since 1999 and stamped out a decade-long rebellion early in his rule. Many Algerians have long tolerated a political system with little space for dissent as a price to pay for peace and stability. But the new protest waves appear to have broken the long taboo on public discussion of politics. Bouteflikas opponents say there is no evidence he is fit enough to lead the country and allege it is being ruled in his name by advisers. Authorities say he retains a firm grip on public affairs despite the rarity of his appearances. A weak and divided opposition faces high hurdles in mounting an electoral challenge. Since the long-ruling FLN party again picked Bouteflika as its presidential candidate, several parties, trade unions and business groups have endorsed him. Lower oil prices in recent years have damaged Algerias economy, rekindling discontent. Clearance was held up in part over questions about Jared Kushners foreign and business contacts, news report says. US President Donald Trump ordered his chief of staff to grant his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance, the New York Times has reported. Senior administration officials were troubled by the decision, which prompted then-White House chief of staff John Kelly to write an internal memo about how he had been ordered to give Kushner the top-secret clearance, the newspaper said on Thursday. The White House counsel at the time, Donald McGahn, also wrote an internal memo outlining concerns raised about Kushner and how McGahn had recommended against the decision. The Times said the memos contradicted a statement made by Trump in an interview with the newspaper in January that he had no role in Kushners receiving his clearance. Asked about the report, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: We dont comment on security clearances. Foreign contacts Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Kushners lawyer Abbe Lowell, said in an email that White House and security clearance officials last year asserted that Kushners clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. New stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time, Mirijanian said. The Times quoting multiple people familiar with the events reported specific concerns about Kushner were not known, but the security clearance was held up in part over questions from the FBI and the CIA about his foreign and business contacts, including those related to Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. In an interview last month with ABC News, Ivanka Trump a White House adviser and Kushners wife said her father did not order security clearances be given. There were anonymous leaks about there being issues. But the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husbands clearance, zero, she said. Cucuta, Colombia Thousands of Venezuelans in search of food and medicine have entered Colombia through informal crossings after main border bridges were closed during last weeks attempted aid delivery. The informal crossings, or trochas as they are referred to locally, are reportedly operated by illegal armed groups, who charge fees to let people pass. On the route, Venezuelans must step over rocks and cross a river. There are elderly people and children crossing over to study. I just saw an old lady being carried over in a wheelchair, said Ana Luisa Cuellar, 36, standing with bags of toilet roll and rice beside the river she would have to cross to return home. It was the third time she crossed from Venezuela on the trocha this week. Its dangerous because there is no security and the people who control it are from armed groups, Cuellar said, while nervously looking around at who was listening to her speak. She said she had to pay the illegal groups 5,000 Colombian pesos ($1.60) to cross. They make a fortune, she added. After last Saturdays attempts to deliver US humanitarian aid into Venezuela by self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, the Simon Bolivar bridge was shut at President Nicolas Maduros orders. Shipping containers filled with sand barricade the bridge, where more than 30,000 Venezuelans crossed daily to buy food and medicine unavailable in Venezuela. When the border is open, more than 30,000 Venezuelans close the Simon Bolivar bridge daily [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera] Venezuelans who depend on crossing the border to get basic products are feeling the strain of the border closure. Women and children are regularly exposed to violence, including risks of sexual violence and harassment. Additionally, fees are often required to cross, said Bob Kitchen, the International Rescue Committees vice president for emergencies. Our teams report that upwards of 2,000 children are no longer able to access school, as they made the journey from Venezuela to Colombia on a daily basis to receive their education, he told Al Jazeera. The International Rescue Committee reported an increase in the number of Venezuelans using informal crossings [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera] The IRC also reported seeing an increase in walkers or caminantes, with the spike beginning on Sunday and still on the increase. 190228213304862 Teams report seeing an increase in the number of women and children, and in particular teenage boys who are afraid of being recruited into gangs in Venezuela, Kitchen said. Felipe Munoz, the Colombian governments director of border issues, said that the move has hugely affected Venezuelan citizens. A very important thing to mention is ill people who need dialysis and cancer treatment and vaccines are unable to access these services, he said, adding that because the routes are controlled by armed groups, Venezuelans are now at risk. Im dreading crossing The informal border crossing near the Simon Bolivar bridge was closed on late Friday morning for about an hour for unknown reasons, creating a buildup of Venezuelans trying to reach their home country. Roger Moros, 39, laid on the ground of Colombian side of the trocha when the closure was announced. Surrounded by the goods he bought in Cucuta, which included chicken feet, sugar and flour, he said he had to pay 3,000 pesos ($1) to pass by. Im not a fan of Guaido or Maduro, and I think the humanitarian aid is just a political weapon, he said. If it were really humanitarian aid why dont they distribute it in Colombia so people can get access to it now? The IRC said that many Venezuelan children are unable to go to school due to the border closures [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera] [Daylife] Another Venezuelan waiting to cross the river was Patricia Ortiz, 57, from San Antonio, just across the border. The aid should have gotten in for the people who need it, she said, standing beside her neighbour who she travels with once a week to Cucuta. Im dreading crossing, she said staring at the river that separates Venezuela and Colombia. Carole Benowitz was on vacation in the tropics when her nature tour guide said something startling. Were not sure why this tortoise, named George, wont mate with any of the female tortoises, the tour guide said. To Benowitz, the answer was obvious: I feel like George is a homosexual tortoise, she said in front of the crowd, her husband urging her to refrain. Wherever she goes, Benowitz is always making the LGBT community more visible for animals but more importantly, for people. Benowitz, 78, is the president of Palm Beach Countys chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). She has long been an ally to the South Florida LGBT community as the chapters president and the state coordinator for Florida with two community service awards under her belt. If you can educate one person, you can change the world, she said. PFLAG is a support group that meets twice a month at Compass, the LGBT community center of the Palm Beaches. Its designed to guide family members and loved ones on their journey toward acceptance through education, projects, and storytelling. She was jolted into the activist community around 1986, when her son, Neil, unexpectedly ended his relationship with his fiance. Benowitz speculateduntil she put the pieces together: her son was gay. Neil ... he thought that if he told us, we would stop loving him, Benowitz said, which was when she started attending PFLAG meetings with her husband. I had to educate myself and get rid of the blame. She said that having been in other families shoes before, she can better facilitate meetings and support them with empathy. But Benowitzs LGBT activism stretches back to the early 90s when she advocated for fair treatment of lesbians in the Jewish community. According to Randal Schnoor, a sociologist at York University, many gay and lesbian Jews feel a sense of alienation from the Jewish community and develop an ambivalent or conflicted relationship about their Jewish identity. She eventually joined the national organization Womens League for Conservative Judaism and tried to diminish that culture. She drafted a resolution in her early days of the organization that called for acceptance and better treatment of lesbians within the organization which passed. At that time, parents [of Jewish lesbians] wouldnt even say the word lesbian, she said. Now, lesbians can become rabbis. Since the 90s, she hasnt stopped. Most recently, Compass awarded herwith the 2018 Michael Brown Memorial Faces of the Community Award for her work with PFLAG. But since PFLAG is an entirely volunteer-based organization thats restricted to tabling and meetings, Benowitz has often made an impact using her own time and money. Her efforts outside PFLAG include trying to ban conversion therapy and trying to find safe homes for LGBT kids turned away from their families. Shes helped kids from coast-to-coast, and recalled one instance where her and her ties across the country helped one boy find a home in San Francisco after he escaped conversion therapy in Las Vegas. They could be kicked out, physically harmed, and left without money some even live in their cars ... she said. They need to know theres support out there. Whether its kids or other PFLAG chapters, Benowitz is known for helping however and whenever she can. She pours everything that she has into everything that she does, said Jeff Oliverio, president of Broward Countys PFLAG. He said theyre a small organization that doesnt have a lottery of people to choose from, but Carole is that person. Over the years, she has seen attitudes and behaviors become more accepting at PFLAG meetings. Theres been an increase in grandparents becoming more supportive, she said, as well as more open discussions on non-conforming children. Benowitz continues to expand PFLAG, both across the U.S. and the world. Her recent projects include working to start chapters in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. At the local level, shes working to launch a scholarship for LGBT high school seniors in Palm Beach County and is constantly boasting her organization everywhere from grocery stores to airports because, you never know who needs it, she said. I educate every day of my life, if I can ... she said. Its a better world, now. In an excellent article by Jeff Lukens here on American Thinker, he asks the question, Is a second civil war coming? In reply, I say that Americas second civil war has already begun. Its opening shots were fired by Barack Obama when he stated, We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America. Most of this country is center-right and never considered America a place that needed transformation. Most people can think of things they would change but few believe the nation needs to be torn down and rebuilt. Obama failed but the left soldiers on in its quest for a new America remade in their own image. When Obama went on his world apology tour, he wasnt apologizing for America, he was apologizing for Americans. This is the essence of this second civil war. Leftists are demi-gods who believe they are America and that anyone who does not believe in them cannot lay legitimate claim to this country as their own. Yes, this war has begun. The opening skirmish was the Obama presidency itself, which history will see as a failure, despite what the media want us to believe in the here and now. Sure, he passed ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank, overregulated, and ruled by executive diktat to great media acclaim. Yet, ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank have been whittled away by legislation and judicial rulings, while Trump has prioritized deregulation and reversed many of Obamas illegal executive orders. The wars second battle was the 2016 presidential election when Hillary Clinton, Obamas chosen successor, lost to a television personality whom very few took seriously as a candidate. Trump won despite the Obama administration conspiring with the Clinton campaign to steal the election and has remained as president even as that conspiracy fundamentally transformed into a failed coup attempt to depose him. Trumps presidency has been the third battle and with his string of successes, the battle is being won. This, despite near-universal acrimony and condemnation among the media, the Democrats, and the left. But, what difference, at this point, does it make? because these victories are pyrrhic. As the eminent Michael Walsh said of the left, they never stop, they never sleep, they never quit. Democrats are chipping away at this nation with their policies. This is a war of attrition and we Americans are being attrited. For example, their open borders policy is effectively importing a new electorate -- one guaranteed to vote for them. The left agrees with Obama, there is nothing wrong with America, its those damn Americans, so they are going to drown the conservative vote with new Democrats. Its the same with their policy of everything should be free. Why vote for someone who promises equal opportunity when someone else promises a better outcome? Nuclear winter became global warming became climate change became we want total control over everything. The reason why Democrat candidates for the presidency so quickly signed on to my congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs Green New Deal is its promise of comprehensive control over every aspect of our lives. Eliminating planes, trains, and automobiles will keep us close to our homes and jobs or for those unwilling to work in their basement enjoying their universal basic income. Dependent people without mobility are easier to control. The 2020 election looms as the next battle and it will be hard fought because Democrats have myriad policies that may sound great but are really about control. They have always been masters of micturating down our leg and telling us it is raining. Yet, they dont need to trick us into acquiescence, because even should Trump win, without a complete reversal by the Democratic Party, a renewed free and fair media, and a return to the principles upon which this nation was founded, this war will continue, and it is only a matter of time before the left again wins the Presidency, or the House, or the Senate -- or all three. When that happens, this civil war will become hot because the Democrats are going to come for our guns. An armed citizenry is a free citizenry, and they cant have that. The third most populated nation with 330,000,000 people, America has an estimated 350 million guns in circulation; any effort to seize them will call for the total mobilization of our armed forces, city and state police, and the National Guard. People are not going to turn in their guns and politicians who think they will do so are being naive. Fighting will surely ensue as the forces of the regime go door to door to try to take them. Many of those empowered to confiscate weapons wont obey orders. Defections will be common and there will be fighting in the streets, limited at first, but it will soon break out into open rebellion. The regime will become increasingly strident and many states will refuse to comply. Using Democratic-run sanctuary cities as an example of state nullification of federal law, talk of secession will become rife. The ruling leftists will, of course, be surprised, and orders will be given to the remaining loyalist forces to put down the rebellion. In the end, the death toll will far exceed the 620,000 people who died in our first civil war. To people who say it cant happen here, I say history is replete with examples of places that no longer exist where people believed it cant happen here. It cant happen here? Open your eyes, it has already begun. Please follow William L. Gensert on Twitter at @williamlgensert. Stop Making Sense is a classic 1984 concert film featuring the alt-rock group Talking Heads. The title has a certain punkish frisson, but is also a joke. Not so the modern Democratic party which might as well adopt Stop Making Sense as its platform. Nothing about the competing positions of Democratic candidates makes much sense, and thats not just from a Republican or conservative perspective. Thats from a position of logic, consistency, and anything resembling sound judgment. Internally, the positions being advocated by the leading Democratic candidates and the party activists that support them are an incoherent contradictory mishmash of ideas that might sound like the stuff youd hear at a college campus pot party, with a lot of pot. It appears the Democrats do not care whether the emerging positions of its candidates and activists make are incoherent, contradictory, thoroughly impractical, and/or unconstitutional as a matter of law. Three contradictory and irreconcilable planks dominate Democrat politics today and nobody is trying to rationalize them -- socialism, identity politics, and climate change. The major Democratic candidates promote socialism (or at least a greater degree of American socialism) to one extent or another. They generally favor single-payer national healthcare (now dubbed Medicare for All), national child care, increased progressive taxation on income, confiscatory taxes on wealth, and a broadened regulatory state. To objections that these policies are inconsistent with national prosperity and democracy, Democrats point to the Scandinavian social democracies of northern Europe as examples that such policies can work. Accepting for the sake of argument that this is true (its not) the ethos of Scandinavian polities are entirely inconsistent with the second Democratic plank, identity politics. Northern European social democracies work (such as they do) because they not only embody a partly socialist economic template, but a cultural one too. That is, these societies are overwhelmingly homogeneous with respect to race, religion, and ethnicity. To the extent in recent years this homogeneity has broken down just a little, with increasing numbers of Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and Africa, these societies have already begun to struggle. American is anything but homogeneous. That in itself is problematic to the socialist program. Perhaps this would not be an insurmountable problem with the right policies, leadership, and educational system. An old socialist like Bernie Sanders certainly believes thats true. However, it is not true if the government also privileges certain races, sexes, or ethnicities while demonizing others. A well-to-do Danish businessman may not mind paying more than his fair share of taxes, understanding that the government society he is underwriting values him equally as a person, and doesnt see him as fundamentally tarred by the accidents of his birth. That cannot be true in a Democratic-run American government, where non-Hispanic white males, who make up 30% of the population and would be expected to pay the greatest proportional share of socialist taxation, are not only not valued, but actively demonized and officially discriminated against by way of government policies ranging from diversity hiring and enrollments, to proposed reparations for slavery. Identity based favoritism and set-asides are not socialist, but rather much closer to fascism. And of course, if you combine fascism with socialism you get Finally, there is climate change. Assume again, for the sake of argument, that the science is settled with regard to human-caused climate change. Efforts to arrest it, like the Green New Deal endorsed by most Democrat candidates and much of the Democrat congressional caucuses, are inconsistent with either the social reforms Democrats say they desire or the promotion of underprivileged races, sexes, and ethnicities, which identity politics embodies. Climate change is the obsession of Democratic elites and their children, not the broader constituencies they claim to represent. It has becomes something of a secular religion among these elites, which presumably allows acolytes to assuage some of their own privilege guilt by advocating economically ruinous and ultimately pointless alterations to national energy policies and laws. If imposed, the Green New Deal would disproportionately impact the very people that Democratic socialist policies supposedly are intended to help. Likewise, favored races and ethnicities have little interest in addressing climate change. They do not want national wealth which might otherwise go to them lost in chimeric efforts to change the course of planetary climate. What has emboldened the Democrats to stop making sense altogether? First is just plain ignorance, as embodied almost perfectly by the Democrats preferred but constitutionally barred (by her youth) candidate, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She as much as anyone is the author of current Democrat positioning, and she appears to be as dumb as a doorstop. And critically, the mainstream media, which has not only lionized Ocasio-Cortez, but continues to obfuscate her silliness and inherent inconsistency, and by extension the Democrats in general. Stop Making Sense is now effectively Democratic policy. A quote attributed to C.S. Lewis stated: Once people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will believe in nothing; rather, the problem is that they will believe anything. Today, among secular leftists, radical environmentalism has attained the status of theology and their catechism is the Green New Deal. A wish list framed as a set of policy proposals, the Green New Deal demands the obliteration of our nation's energy infrastructure as expiation for our sin of material prosperity and requires faith that something will come along to replace it. Bloomberg conservatively estimates the costs of the Green New Deal at $6.6 trillion per year. Other cost estimates are higher. To put that in perspective, writes economist Brian Wesbury, in the past twelve months the federal government has raised $3.3 trillion in revenue, including $1.7 trillion in individual income taxes, and spent $4.2 trillion. In other words, said Wesbury, it's an impossible fantasy that would require tax collections at least three times higher than today. Yet, as of this writing more than 70 Democrats in the House, and a dozen in the Senate have signed on to this lunacy. Forced to defend the particulars, many of its supporters retreat into the defense that its a conversation starter. But since the Green New Deal is based on the assertion by its chief proponent that the planet has only twelve years to survive, its a conversation that could only take place inside an insane asylum. The Green New Deal specifically excludes an expansion of nuclear power, so its unrealistic even on its own terms. The radical environment agenda is not public policy, its dogma. One person who understood this was the late Dr. Michael Crichton, the celebrated science-fiction writer and author of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, and other best sellers. Fifteen years ago, Crichton released his techno-thriller, State of Fear, which challenged the claims of the global warming alarmists. Rereading it today, in light of the Green New Deal, one is impressed not only with Crichtons grasp of the science, but with his prescience in forecasting how modern environmentalism has morphed into a quasi-religion, complete with heresies and predictions of the apocalypse. In State of Fear, Crichton suggests that radical environmentalism is essentially a politically correct narrative designed to advance an agenda. The agenda is social control through irrational fear. As one of his characters puts it: Industrialized nations provide their citizens with unprecedented safety, health, and comfort... Average life spans increased fifty percent in the last century. Yet modern people live in abject fear... [T]hey are convinced that the environment of the entire planet is being destroyed around them. Remarkable! Like the belief in witchcraft, it's an extraordinary delusion -- a global fantasy worthy of the Middle Ages. And the delusion is fed by the corrupt universities. The modern state of fear could never exist without universities feeding it, Crichton's character says. Echoing Orwell, he observes that the modern university invents new terrors, new social anxieties, new restrictive codes, words you can't say, thoughts you can't think. There is a particular neo-Stalinist mode of thought that is required to support all of this... The notion that these institutions are liberal is a cruel joke. There is also spiritual conflict at work of which Crichton was quite aware. The Biblical worldview sees man as steward of the environment. The environmentalist movement rejects the Biblical view and substitutes a new-age quasi-religious belief based on earth worship. In a speech before the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, Crichton said: Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western world is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say its a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths. Crichton considered himself a political agnostic. And while he thought climate research was impressive, it was simply not good enough to justify radically transforming energy policy. I never thought the idea that you cant predict the future would be controversial, he once wrote. The threshold question with any environmental action is whether the benefits outweigh the harm. Economist Thomas Sowell has observed that, in life, there are no solutions, only trade-offs. This line of thought is heresy to the progressive left. The Green New Deal is a search for paradise on earth, a return to an Edenic past. For the true believers, there is no room for trade-offs. Their religion is radical environmentalism and they do not observe separation of church and state. You can follow Nicholas J. Kaster on Twitter. Former vice president Joe Biden was in Omaha at the Forum in Global Leadership at the University of Nebraska-Omaha yesterday when he said a kind word about our devout Christian vice president, Mike Pence. Daily Caller: Former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday described current Vice President Mike Pence as "a decent guy," but then quickly backtracked following criticism from actress Cynthia Nixon. Biden made the comment while speaking at an event in Omaha, Nebraska. The remark provoked a quick backlash online from left-wingers. Nixon addressed Biden in a tweet, writing "you've just called America's most anti-LGBT elected leader 'a decent guy.' Please consider how this falls on the ears of our community." Biden, who is expected to run for president, groveled like a dog before the leftist onslaught: Youre right, Cynthia. I was making a point in a foreign policy context, that under normal circumstances a Vice President wouldnt be given a silent reaction on the world stage. But there is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the Vice President. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 28, 2019 Ms. Nixon's views on issues are formed by her personal beliefs. Why can't she grant the vice president the same? I would question her calling Pence "anti-LGBTQ" just because he's not 100% behind the gay rights movement. Being opposed to redefining marriage, or same-sex couples adopting children, is not "anti-" anything. It's "pro" tradition. You can argue that some traditions should end, but does his opposition to these issues disqualify him from being "decent"? Of course not. By all reports, Pence is a loving husband and father and a truly dedicated public servant. Biden's claim that he called Pence "decent" in a "foreign policy context" is ridiculous. He was bowing to pressure from leftist trolls like Nixon, who didn't appear to be satisfied at all with Biden's mea culpa. I think what this shows is that even Biden, who is considered by some a "moderate" Democrat, will be forced to become beholden to the radicals in order to win the nomination. For the radicals, there is no respite, no give, no quarter. Despite Biden and Pence being friends when they were senators, the former vice president was willing to throw him under a bus to curry favor with hysterics. It demonstrates who will be in charge in the White House if Biden wins the general election. As media allies idealize House speaker Nancy Pelosi and her congressional Democrats "shaping the future" on the cover of Rolling Stone, the reality in the Democrat-led Congress is quite a bit uglier. Roll Call reports that Democrats are in the midst of internecine warfare, fighting among themselves over the merest of legislative procedural moves called "motion to recommit," which permits dissenting voices to say something or maybe try to persuade for moderating amendments when extremely radical bills are presented in the House and headed to a vote. If nothing else, it's a desire to be heard. House minority Republicans use it, and that's enough for Democrats to want to shut it down. But it's also employed by moderate Democrats, many of whom do not want to come across as left-wing nuts to their constituents in red-tinged districts. Someone isn't happy with that: socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or Comrade Ocasio-Cortez to you. She has a list... Here's the Washington Post's report: House Democrats exploded in recriminations Thursday over moderates bucking the party, with liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez threatening to put those voting with Republicans "on a list" for a primary challenge. In a closed-door session, a frustrated Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lashed out at about two dozen moderates and pressured them to get on board. "We are either a team or we're not, and we have to make that decision," Pelosi said, according to two people present but not authorized to discuss the remarks publicly. But Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the unquestioned media superstar of the freshman class, upped the ante, admonishing the moderates and indicating she would help liberal activists unseat them in the 2020 election. Corbin Trent, a spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez, said she told her colleagues that Democrats who side with Republicans "are putting themselves on a list." It sounds as though she's got show trials on her mind. Primaries as show trials? Why not? Every socialist system adapts. Shades of Joe McCarthy and his lists, for sure, and the inevitable comparisons are going to make her mad. But even more accurately, it's shades of Vishinsky Andrey Vishinsky, the famous show trial prosecutor in the heady days of the Stalin-run socialist Soviet Union, the infamous commissar who put his fellow comrades in the dock and effectively made them crawl on their bellies professing their allegiance to socialism and its leader. Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev they all puddled into groveling in the face of the Robespierrian Comrade Vishinsky before they were packed off by the comrades and shot. And now Comrade Ocasio-Cortez has a list... So much for the socialist congresswoman's claims to democratic socialism. For all her talk about expropriating from the rich and spending to the skies, what we see here in this act is socialism as it's actually practiced, grotesquely intolerant of dissent and anything but democratic. Yes, it's true to pattern. Why do you think socialist organizations such as the assorted communist parties in the U.S. are always breaking up and splintering off into factions, each angrier at its fellow splitters than at the little man with the mustache and the top hat on the Monopoly cards? It's because they are socialists being socialists, and there's no such thing as a socialist who doesn't expect a socialism where he himself is at the top of the food heap, running things and establishing nomenklaturas. That's why we see continous power struggles and phony arguments over orthodoxy among socialists, when the reality is, these fights are always about power. Ocasio-Cortez's vow to be the bad cop against her fellow Democrats who are too moderate for her comes off as old socialist practices made new again. Like Stalin's henchmen, she'll primary them out of office. After that, the "real" socialism can begin. Image credit: Official portrait with modifications by Monica Showalter. After throwing away their chance to help DREAMers during February's extended budget debacle, refusing to exchange President Trump's wall funding for some kind of legislative amnesty for the favored aliens here illegally whom they claim to champion, House Democrats are coming out with a big new legislative bill, H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Bill of 2019. According to Roll Call: The reintroduction of the Dream Act has taken longer than other measures simply reintroduced from the previous Congress because it will include changes from prior versions. Among those changes are the inclusion of protections for Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients. The TPS and DED programs have protected undocumented refugees from deportation. Basically, not only will the DREAMers get their free ride, but so will a lot of other classes of illegal aliens, such as those from undesirable states such as Sudan and El Salvador, who currently benefit from Temporary Protected Status, extended again and again. Most troubling is the inclusion of Deferred Enforced Departure cases, which allows for multi-times-deported lawbreakers and people with multiple misdemeanors people who don't qualify for asylum and who wouldn't be allowed in under normal immigration law. There have been some loathsome people allowed to stay after openly breaking U.S. immigration law under that policy, and now they're grandfathered in with the DREAMers, who are a far from pristine lot, given that they're permitted to have up to two crimes such as wife-beating, drunk-driving, and graffiti-spraying misdemeanors on their records and still qualify, as the press tries to tout them all as valedictorians. The problem is that the extended amnesty to a much larger group of people, who would number in the millions, amounts to an "illegal alien stimulus package." Who wouldn't want to come here illegally now that another amnesty train has left the station? Amnesties are like the subway stop: all you do is get to the station and wait for another train on this sort of setup. Word gets around in places like Honduras, and with a pile of goodies waiting for them in the state of California and no wall to hold them back, an uneducated, indigent foreign national in need of a lot of "services" would almost feel stupid not to act on such an opportunity. A better name for this proposed law would be the "Illegal Immigration Stimulus Act of 2019." What Congress could do, if it were really serious about helping these people via bipartisan support, is find a way to make legal immigration easier. Legislators could raise the numbers of foreign nationals to be allowed in, simplify immigration procedures, lower costs of applying, insist on customer service from immigration officials, and even permit people living here illegally under some circumstances to apply for legal residence. All of that would buttress a law-based immigration system, ending the incentives to immigrate illegally. DREAMers and anyone else they want in would benefit, yet rule of law would remain, and many Republicans would sign on. They don't want that. Stimulus is better in their minds; they want people to come here illegally. The measure as it is obviously will go to a vote, and it might even pass in both the House and Senate, given the number of Republicans who continue to favor amnesty for illegal aliens. However, Roll Call notes that Democrats from red-leaning districts who've just gotten into office are not entirely unified. The irony of this is that at least some of the Republicans who would have been most likely to support the measure were the very ones who got ballot-harvested out of office in the last election by ballot-harvesting illegal aliens working for the Democrats, no less. They killed their seed corn. In the end, it's likely to come down to just President Trump against the amnesty-minded Democrats with congressional power. Get ready for the media sob stories and the DREAMer valedictorians to come up in the press. It's the only inevitable thing to come of this. Image credit: Mark Nozell via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. As you may know, Senator Kamala Harris is running for president and dashing to the left fast. Reality may be catching up with the lady senator, as we see in this report: When Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) came out on Tuesday in favor of decriminalizing prostitution, she failed to mention that she had opposed it her entire career. Harris most publicly opposed the idea of decriminalizing the oldest profession in 2008, when she called a proposal to do so in San Francisco "completely ridiculous" and argued it "would put a welcome mat out for pimps and prostitutes." She rejected the notion that prostitution was a "victimless crime," the New York Times reported, and said it "compromises the quality of life in a community." But in her Tuesday interview with The Root, she said she supports decriminalizing prostitution and explicitly said it was because it is often victimless. Well, I am not sure about the victimless part. It may be true that a high-rent call girl is a willing participant. However, I am not sure that a lot of young women engaging in prostitution are truly willing. Nevertheless, the issue here is Senator Harris. She appears to be afraid of having once enforced California law. She seems to be saying "never mind that I once put people in jail for violating the law." The whole story speaks volumes about what is happening in the Democratic Party. Democrats are so indebted to the left that they have to recreate themselves to win the nomination. We can call it the "What's My Line" primary! I can't wait for Senator Harris to defend these reversals in an upcoming debate with V.P. Mike Pence. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Listening to Rep. Ilhan Omar can be like getting in a time machine and returning to the 1930s. Before Adolf Hitler came to power, Europe was in the grip of an anti-Semitic fever. Political parties, politicians, even newspapers were openly, nauseatingly anti-Semitic. It was common to blame Jews for starting World War I, the depression, political unrest any of society's ills that could be blamed on the Jews was. The upper classes were particularly prone to expressing anti-Semitic views. It was in this atmosphere that Hitler matured. One of his inspirational heroes was the openly anti-Semitic mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger, who used Jew-hatred as a platform to propel himself to national prominence. Rep. Omar is cut from the same cloth. It's not that she's oblivious to her anti-Semitism. In fact, after her tepid "apology" for anti-Semitic tweets about AIPAC and Israel ("Israel has hypnotized the world), she claimed that she had not apologized for being anti-Semitic. REPORTER: "You've since apologized unequivocally for the tweet. You said rightly that anti-Semitism is real. But just to be clear, we're a few weeks now, what were you apologizing for? Was it a badly worded tweet that you were apologizing for or was it that you were anti-Semitic wittingly or unwittingly?" OMAR: "Absolutely not. I apologized for the way that my words made people feel. Oftentimes, you know, we are in places where someone will say something and they might not know how it makes you feel. And it's not acceptable, once you express to them, that this is hurtful or that you have felt attacked by their words. They should acknowledge how you feel. They should speak to that. They should apologize and figure out a way to remedy that situation." Omar uses anti-Semitic tropes as casually and as easily as any Nazi from the 1930s. New Yorker: Earlier this month, Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted, "It's all about the Benjamins, baby!" in response to a report about AIPAC, a pro-Israel organization. Omar's tweet echoed a longstanding anti-Semitic trope in particular, the implication that Jewish political influence operates entirely ("all about") through money. After wide condemnation, Omar apologized. It seemed fair to read her tweet generously: Perhaps she was not familiar with the particular vein of anti-Semitism she happened to echo. Indeed, progressives often make crudely reductive statements about the influence of money in supporting policies they oppose (to wit: everything Bernie Sanders says), so it wasn't necessarily anti-Semitic for Omar to extend that thinking to Jews. Her apparently sincere apology seemed to set to rest a minor offense. But at an event last night, Omar went much farther, reports Laura Kelly. After an audience member shouted out, "It's all about the Benjamins," at which, according to Kelly's reporting, she smiled. (Jeremy Slevin, Omar's press secretary and strategist, denies she acknowledged that line from the audience.) Later she stated, "I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country." That calumnious smear against American Jews should not go unpunished. She sounds like a skinhead or neo-Nazi holding forth in a bar. Jonathan Chait explains: Accusing Jews of "allegiance to a foreign country" is a historically classic way of delegitimizing their participation in the political system. Whether or not the foreign policy agenda endorsed by American supporters of Israel is wise or humane, it is a legitimate expression of their political rights as American citizens. To believe in a strong American alliance with Israel (or Canada, or the United Kingdom, or any other country) is not the same thing as giving one's allegiance to that country. Omar is directly invoking the hoary myth of dual loyalty, in which the Americanness of Jews is inherently suspect, and their political participation must be contingent upon proving their patriotism. Does Omar give her allegiance to Islam over the U.S.? She wouldn't want to answer that question, nor should she have to. But the casual way she smeared millions of American Jews while refusing to apologize for her anti-Semitism shows that Congress needs to teach her a lesson. Democrats if they had an ounce of integrity would move to pass a resolution of censure against Rep. Omar and warn her that the next time, she would be expelled. There simply is no place for this kind of blatant hatred in Congress, any more than a member who made casual smears about blacks, or women, or gays, or any other group. DavidRichardson, the first openly gay person elected to the Florida Legislature, will run for the Miami Beach City Commission. Today, I would like to announce that I will be a candidate for Commissioner in Miami Beach, thank you for the support, I really appreciate it. Tengo un gran Corazon para ti, Muchas gracias! he recently told a crowd gathered at the 4Ward Maimi 2019 PaLante awards, where he was one of the honorees. Richardsonwas elected to the Florida Houses 113th District in Miami in 2012. Since he ran unopposed in the general election, his victory was guaranteed. He served for 6 years. In 2018 he decided to run for the U.S House to succeed Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He lost to Donna Shalalain the democratic primary. Nokia 9 PureView is pushing the boundaries of mobile photography with a whopping five cameras. HMD Global showed up to Mobile World Congress with a slew of new phones, but the one that caught everyones attention was the Nokia 9 PureView. This was due to the five cameras on the backside of the device. HMD Global partnered with Light on the Nokia 9 PureView, using its expertise in using multiple lenses at once to get some pretty stunning pictures. What HMD Global is doing with the Nokia 9 PureView is using five identical sensors the only difference being the fact that there are three RGB sensors and two monochrome sensors. These five sensors are used on every single image that is taken. This allows the Nokia 9 PureView to take some rather impressive pictures, especially in troubling lighting. Advertisement In dark environments or at night, the Nokia 9 PureView will take images with all five cameras and then combine them into one. This results in getting rid of a lot of the noise youd find in other smartphone pictures. When it comes to using Bokeh, the Nokia 9 PureView allows users to change the focus point after the shot. Whether you want the foreground or background in focus, you can edit that after taking the picture. Which is not something new, but it works better on the Nokia 9 PureView, because it actually has the data, versus some of the other smartphones out there that is using software to make up that data. Thus making the Bokeh effect look pretty bad. Advertisement The Nokia 9 PureView is still a pretty high-end phone, otherwise. Though, many are knocking it for having the Snapdragon 845, over the newer Snapdragon 855. But there is a reason for this. HMD Global and Light had to work pretty closely with Qualcomm for this penta-camera smartphone. Since this isnt something that has been done in the past. Making launching with the Snapdragon 845 (still a very capable processor) a better option. As integrating all of this tech into the newer Snapdragon 855 would mean more work and the phone would launch later in the year. HMD Global outfitted the Nokia 9 PureView with a stunning 5.99-inch display, and there is no notch. So the notch haters out there are going to love the Nokia 9 PureView for that alone. Its a really stunning device, and having all of the cameras on the backside make this a rather interesting smartphone from HMD Global as well. This is the most high-end smartphone that HMD Global has put out, since relaunching the Nokia brand two years ago at Mobile World Congress. Nokia 9 PureView is definitely worthy of a best of award at Mobile World Congress this year, for the unique way that it is using its multi-camera setup. Most other smartphones are using different focal lengths and different sensors. But HMD Global opted to use the same sensor five times. Its something that photographers are going to love, as youre getting some DSLR features in the form of a smartphone. Right now, theres no other smartphone on the market that can offer what the Nokia 9 PureView is able to offer, making it one of the most unique smartphones at the show this year. Both the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro surfaced in seemingly official renders recently, and now the P30 Pro appeared in real-life images. These images actually come from two sources, the device was first spotted in the hands of Huaweis CEO, Richard Yu, while all the other images appeared in Vietnam, and those images are actually quite sketchy because of one specific detail which well talk about in a bit. If you take a look at the first image in the gallery, you will be able to see the Huawei P30 Pro in Richard Yus right hand. The phone seems to have a regular case on it, but its camera setup on the back is clearly visible. This is a blue-colored P30 Pro, it seems, while the case on it is either dark gray or black. How, do we know this is the P30 Pro, and not the regular P30 variant? Well, the position of the phones sensors and LED flash. On the regular P30 unit, an LED flash is placed below the triple camera setup, while on the P30 Pro, it sits next to those three cameras, on the right. Advertisement The other three images that are included in the gallery give you an even better look at the phone, even though theres a huge sticker on the back of the device, and even though the bottom camera on the back looks quite odd. That camera is supposed to show off a circular sensor, like the other two, but instead, this seems to be rectangular. Everything else seems to be in place, but that camera setup is well, odd-looking, so keep that in mind. The Huawei P30 Pro will be made out of metal and glass, while its back side will be curved, so that its easier to hold. As you can see, the P30 Pro will include three, vertically-aligned cameras on the back, and those three cameras will protrude a bit. Other Huawei P30 & P30 Pro Info Advertisement The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro will both include a tiny, teardrop display notch on the front, and the main difference between the two phones, when it comes to the design, will be visible on the front. The Huawei P30 will sport a flat display, while the P30 Pro will ship with a curved panel. Both devices are expected to include OLED displays, though the P30 Pros panel will be considerably larger than the P30s. Both devices got certified in China yesterday, and those listings confirmed that the P30 Pro will ship with 40W charging, while the P30 will include 22.5W fast wired charging. Both devices will include wireless charging, probably 15W wireless charging. The Kirin 980 64-bit octa-core processor will fuel both of these devices, the same chip that is included in the Huawei Mate 20 series. It remains to be seen if Huawei plans to introduce a 5G variant of the P30 / P30 Pro, or will the company stick to 4G variants only. The same chip will be included if a 5G variant arrives, but the Balong 5000 modem will accompany it. Advertisement Huawei will include at least 6GB of RAM into these two phones, though variants with more RAM are expected as well. Android 9 Pie will come pre-installed on the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro, while Huaweis custom Android overlay will be a part of the package as well. Posted on: March 1, 2019 2:36 PM In this feature, first published in the April 2018 edition of Anglican World, Amelia Brown examines a campaign led by an Anglican woman in England to force the British government to take steps to prevent violence against women. Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo travelling alongside their own troops through war torn areas. A 19-yearold college girl in California walking home from a party. A 12-year-old girl in Pakistan given in marriage to a man 30-years her senior. While each life and context is vastly different, each of these women faces the real possibility of violence, threat of rape, forced marriages, so-called honour killings, and domestic abuse. These issues, and more, plague women from one part of the world to another, from east to west. Violence against women may be so ingrained into society that the possibility of ending it is overwhelming. Many of us may wish to do something, but have no clue how to begin. Fuelled by passion and faith, one young woman brought gender justice to the attention of her own government. In 2011, the Council of Europe an intergovernmental body working to uphold human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across its 47 member-states drafted a Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence on Women and Domestic Violence. Known as the Istanbul Convention, it is one of the most comprehensive legal frameworks on gender-based violence, setting standards for how a government should tackle violence against women in terms of prevention, prosecuting, and monitoring. By 2017, 45 countries had signed the convention; and 28 had gone on to ratify it. The UK was one of the nations that signed the convention. But it has yet to ratify it and so has never been under formal obligation to fulfil the conventions requirements. Robyn Boosey, a member of St Johns, Hampton Wick, decided it was time to change that. She had come to faith at the age of 13. Since her time in university, she has viewed the gospel through a social action lens. Most recently, that meant organising, launching, and managing a social media and action campaign demanding the government to take steps towards ratifying the Istanbul Convention: ICChangeUK. As Robyn discovered, the UK held back ratification of the Istanbul Convention until it could pass appropriate legislation that would allow it to be compliant. In the years since the UK had signed the Convention, passing such legislation moved to the back of the agenda and became forgotten. ICChangeUK was set up to mobilise supporters to reach out to their Members of Parliament and bring these issues back to the top of the governments agenda. Robyns story began in 2014 after an intensive week spent at Campaign Bootcamp, a residential advocacy and activism training programme. There she combined an initial passion for womens issues and an inspiration to start an advocacy campaign. After learning about the Istanbul Convention and that the UK had yet to ratify it, Robyn decided to give her new skills a try. At first the whole idea was quite naive. It was based around the idea that wed start a change.org petition, like many campaigns do these days, that would go viral, the government would realise the error of their ways and they would say OK, and ratify it. We thought it would be quite a quick process, Robyn recalled. Quickly, she and her co-leader realised that the process would take far more work. They would need allies both inside and outside the government, and target their actions to supporters and MPs personally. Ultimately, their campaign needed to prove enough of an immediate and popular need to wade through the layers of bureaucracy that passing laws demands. Robyn and her team first approached Christian and secular womens organisations for support. Even this first step took more work than expected. Organisations were slow to open up to the campaign, taking time to build up relationships. This entire process of relationship building and low-key social media awareness actions took about a year. In the second year, they began creating relationships within Parliament itself. It was during this year that Robyn and her team were able to push for Parliamentary Actions, or openings for members of Parliament to debate subjects. Little by little, they gained ground. They asked their online supporters to contact their MPs. At one point, they even asked supporters to send their MPs motivational mixtapes. These mixtapes could mean tweeting or sending playlists on a flash drive of songs encouraging MPs to take up the cause. Finally, after about a year, Robyn and her team had the opportunity to take advantage of a Private Members Bill. This Private Members Bill is a unique process, through which a Member of Parliament may propose a Bill on whatever subject they chose, rather than the government driving the legislation. In general, this isnt an easy or recommended process for change-makers. The odds of such a Bill gaining enough support to pass are low. With their partners support, Robyn and the campaign were able to convince MP Eilidh Whiteford to introduce a Bill about the Istanbul Convention. Together they began to encourage more MPs from multiple parties to take part in debate and readings of the Bill. That said, not all MPs were so encouraging. In fact, some opposed the Bill in no few words. One MP even tried to filibuster the bill. Yet, against all odds, the Bill went through various readings, and eventually to a vote. What went from being an idea dreamt up by a handful of young professional women in their living room became a major social media and public campaign for change. While the campaigning isnt yet finished, Robyn reflected on the improbability of its success, and how she felt Gods hand at work throughout the process. As Robyn discovered, mobilising MPs and bringing about the Bill was neither an easy nor a quick task. Even once theyd raised enough support to bring around voting on an initial Bill, now known as the Istanbul Convention Bill, they faced an uphill battle. A vote required a minimum of 100 MPs to be present and the vote was taking place on a Friday evening close to Christmas. Robyn recalls that she dreamt that 130 would attend, but the likelihood of even 100 on such a date was extremely unlikely. And yet, when the vote came, over 135 MPs attended that first vote. Moreover, the vote passed. It was like that verse, I can do infinitely more than what you ask or imagine, Robyn explained. God has repeatedly reminded me throughout the campaign that if I want to make the biggest impact possible then I have to start with Him. Dont try to do it all in my own strength. And whenever Hed remind me of that, and Id pray, wed have quite a big breakthrough. The Bill went on to became law the Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 in Spring last year. It requires the government to report annually to Parliament on steps being taken to ratify the Convention. The government has announced that it will introduce a Domestic Violence Bill to bring into law obligations it would need to undertake before it is able to ratify the convention. While the purpose of the campaign was not exclusively Christian, Robyns faith fuelled her drive. It comes from this place of justice and God is a God of justice. God cares deeply about all people and every human being has dignity in His eyes. She also reflected on how sometimes people are confused by her work and how she bridges it with her faith. For Robyn there is no confusion. Working to end violence against women whether that means domestic abuse, rape, FGM, forced marriages, or any of the other cases laid out in the Istanbul Convention connects to the Gospel. We have to recognise that gender inequality is not the way that God planned the world since the Fall, thats when the power imbalance started to go wrong, she said. Its part of His vision for setting things right in the world. And for some crazy reason He wants us to partner with Him in that. Robyn offered suggestions to any Christians, particularly young adults, who want to see change in their world, wherever they are. Her best advice? Just start something, start small, and pray. As she found in her own experience, Hes saying come on, youve got a role to play, youve got so much to give. You are needed. Posted on: March 1, 2019 1:48 PM The latest in a series of regional Primates Meetings took place this week in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The European regional meeting, dubbed the Celtic Primates, took place in the Ecclesiastical capital of Ireland on Wednesday and Thursday. The host, Archbishop Richard Clarke, was joined by the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Bishop Mark Strange; the Archbishop of Wales, John Davies; and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The Primates enjoyed the pleasure of each others company and the meeting was conducted with informality and in friendship, the Primates said in a communique. Discussion took place on issues affecting the Anglican Communion, Provinces, the UK and Ireland, the mission of the Church in these islands. The Primates prayed and shared Holy Communion together and with optimism look to the future and to further opportunities to meet again. During the meeting, the Primates discussed next years Lambeth Conference with Phil George, Chief Executive of the Lambeth Conference Company. It was the fifth six regional Primates Meetings taking place in the run-up to the Lambeth Conference. The final regional meeting, for Primates from Asia, will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October 2019. A full global Primates Meeting will take place in the Jordanian capital Amman in January 2020, ahead of the Lambeth Conference in August next year. (AP) Michigan police say a transgender, gay rights activist tried to fabricate a hate crime by setting his home on fire, but the man's attorney is questioning the evidence. Attorney Daniel Barnett said the evidence is circumstantial and doesn't provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Nikki Joly set the August 2017 fire that killed five pets at his home in Jackson. The 54-year-old Joly was charged last year with first-degree arson. A hearing is scheduled for March 8 in Jackson County Circuit Court, The Detroit News reported. "We determined it pretty quickly to be an arson," Elmer Hitt, Jackson's director of police and fire services, said Monday. "We investigated it over what probably was a year's time before the prosecutor ended up issuing charges." MLive.com obtained the arson investigation report that says gas station surveillance video shows Joly buying gasoline the day of the fire and traces of gasoline was found on his clothes. Phone records and witness statements show Joly was home around the time the fire was set, the report said. "The timeline shows a window of less than five minutes for another person to enter the residence, splash gasoline around, ignite the fire and then leave without being seen," police detective Aaron Grove wrote in the report. Hitt declined to provide a potential motive for the arson. Barnett said the lack of motive causes doubt in the prosecutor's case. "It doesn't make sense," Barnett said. "(Joly) was citizen of the year." A local newspaper selected Joly as Jackson's citizen of the year in 2018. Joly helped open the city's first gay community center, organized its first gay pride festival and helped pass a nondiscrimination ordinance. Chicago police last week charged the black and gay "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett with disorderly conduct for falsely reporting a racist and homophobic attack. MadridAt the trial of the Catalan pro-independence leaders on Thursday, Basque Lehendakari Inigo Urkullu, one of the protagonists of October 2017, testified about last-minute attempts to avoid the clash between the Catalan and Spanish governments over the declaration of independence and the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which suspended Catalan self-government. In the ninth session of the trial, Urkullu kicked off the second round of witness questioning, this time with a political profile, after former Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy and deputy PM Soraya Saenz de Santamaria reappeared on Wednesday to defend the application of Article 155, deny the role of "mediators" with the Generalitat, deny responsibility for the police operations in September and October 2017, and transfer the blame for the violence of 1-O to the Catalan authorities. And he did so with the most concise answers and detailed content of the entire cross-examination phase. In just over 45 minutes, he went over his role from the moment Carles Puigdemont asked him to become a mediator with the Spanish government to resolve the "blockage", up to the declaration of independence on October 27, including the five proposals for dialogue that he laid down on the table. In contrast to what Rajoy had said in court, the Basque president acknowledged his role as intercessor", starting in the summer of 2017, between the Generalitat and the Spanish government although he stated that he never came to the point of negotiating the right to self-determination or the referendum and confirmed one of the key aspects of the events of October that precipitated the declaration of independence on October 27. Urkullu described the Spanish PM as harbouring doubts about how to respond to 1-O. He assured that Mariano Rajoy never guaranteed, on October 26, that he would agree not to impose direct rule on Catalonia, if Carles Puigdemont decided to call early elections. "There was no official response from the Spanish government in regard to direct rule", he said in response to Francesc Homs, lawyer for Catalan Minister Josep Rull. However, he admitted that the Spanish president "did not take the application of 155 as a given" and for that reason there were negotiations until the last moment. Urkullu recalled how during the month of October "public proposals were made to suspend Catalonias home rule" with the commitment of Pedro Sanchez and Rajoy to bring in direct rule. One of the proceedings under discussion, according to the Basque leader, was the multiple "interpretations" of the application of Article 116 of the Constitution, which established the declaration of a state of alarm and exception through an organic law, but made it clear that he never spoke to Rajoy about invoking this article. Earlier meetings at Puigdemont's request Urkully also explained that he met with Santamaria on June 19 at the Barcelona airport to request a meeting with Rajoy, which took place on July 19, two and a half months before the October referendum. "From there, many conversations and meetings were held with various people with different responsibilities, from the social, political, economic, business, and cultural fields, linked to the Catalan reality", noted the Basque president, who pointed out that from October 4 to October 27, meetings and conversations were frequent. One of the calls with Rajoy took place on September 21, the day after the Guardia Civil searched the Ministry of Economy and other public facilities of the Generalitat. "I told him that things were getting out of hand" Urkullu said, worried about a social breakdown", and revealed that Rajoy assured him that "he would take great care" with everything that he would do. Rufian: "The only violence I saw was by the police" After Urkullu, it was Gabriel Rufians turn. The spokesman for Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya in the Spanish parliament stated that "the only violence" he saw in Catalonia on October 1 was by the Spanish police. Rufian explained that during the referendum day he observed people "yearning to vote" and that many people "slept at the polling stations for fear that the police would turn up." The ERC representative did not abandon his provocative tone and in answer to Vox questions he said he thought it was a "shame" that [far-right party] Vox was a plaintiff in the case and he denied that the official from Court 13 left via the roof on September 20. "It's 'fake news', just like the Spanish language being persecuted in Catalonia," Rufian claimed. Later, Albano Dante Fachin, former Catalan Parliament MP and ex-Secretary General of Podemos in Catalonia, offered his point of view on the public gathering of September 20 in front of Barcelonas Ministry of Economy (one of the events being used to justify the charges of rebellion against the defendants) and assured that he saw people "enter and leave [the Ministry] in a normal way". "The only thing I perceived as a nuisance to the Guardia Civil officers was the smoke from my cigarette," Fachin said, when asked about the atmosphere of the mobilization. As to 1-O, the driving force behind the Som Alternativa party explained that he participated in the initiatives that took place at the polling stations in the hours leading up to the referendum and, despite not remembering if he called on people to go to the polls, he did say that he did not call on the people to stay home. After Wednesday's testimony by Nuria de Gispert, ex-president of Parliament, Thursday was Ernest Benach's turn, at the request of Carme Forcadell's defense, while next week it will be the turn of the current president of the chamber, Roger Torrent. Benach argued, as did Forcadell, that the cahmbers Executive Committee does not have to consider the content when it allows for proposals to go to the floor for debate and that neither, once this process has begun, does this mean that it enters into the days agenda. This is one way to disassociate the Parliament's former president from the final decision-making responsibility for the breakaway laws and also the unilateral declaration of independence. (CNN) United Methodist churches and clergy could face removal from the denomination if they do not affirm its stance against gay marriage and noncelibate LGBT clergy by 2021. The church reached the decision in a vote at a General Conference in St. Louis on Tuesday. Church leaders say the move will almost surely lead more liberal members to leave the mainline denomination. The vote for the "Traditional" plan came after the church voted to reject an earlier proposal, known as the "One Church" plan, which would have allowed local churches to perform same-sex weddings and hire openly LGBT clergy. That move was pitched by proponents as a way to keep the increasingly fractious denomination together amid widespread disagreements about scripture and the morality of same-sex relationships. "Many of us have members who are saying they will leave," said the Rev. Tom Berlin of Virginia, a member of the church's legislative committee. "A virus of conflict will spread." Instead, United Methodists voted to push forward the "Traditional" plan, which passed with a vote of 438 to 384. "Today, more than 800 worldwide General Conference delegates affirmed the Traditional Plan as The Way Forward for The United Methodist Church," Bishop Scott Jones said in a statement. "This decision resolves a long-standing debate about how we can best accomplish our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." "Our views on same-sex marriage have not changed. We will continue to welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer persons to our churches and affirm their sacred worth," the statement said. Rejection of the "One Church" plan, which had support among United Methodist bishops in the United States, drew criticism. "The United Methodist Church's special General Conference failed Tuesday to love LGBTQIA people, recognize their gifts in the church, maintain our unity in the midst of diversity, and to live out our Gospel mandate to seek justice and pursue peace," General Secretary Susan Henry-Crowe of the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church said in a statement. "We worship a fully-inclusive, justice-seeking God," the statement said. Several members from African nations had stood on Tuesday to support the "Traditional" plan, saying it accords with scripture's teachings on sexuality. "Today the church in Africa is growing in leaps and bounds because we are committed to biblical Christianity," said the Rev. Jerry Kulah, who is from Liberia. "You cannot be performing Christianity differently in America and Africa and suggest that we are one church." Several young Americans, on the other plan, pleaded to have their voices heard. Shayla Jordan, a 21-year-old delegate from the church's Kansas-based Great Plains Conference, said 15,000 young United Methodists had signed a petition opposing the "Traditional" plan. "We need a church that is still alive. This is our church, too, and I have thousands of people with me urging you to hear this call," Jordan said. Cara Nicklas, a delegate from Oklahoma, said that she's received numerous messages from people calling her support for the church's current stance on LGBT relationships "mean-spirited and unloving." "Surely you don't want to be united with me if I am as mean and unloving as you say," she said. "You will not stop trying to make me fit your idea of a loving person." The General Conference took an unusual turn later Tuesday afternoon when Carlene Fogle-Miller, a young delegate from Florida, proposed an investigation into "vote buying" at the conference. The proposal to send the matter to the church's ethics committee passed 417-388. "If there is nothing to hide, there is no need to fear an ethics investigation," Fogle-Miller said on Twitter. "Period." The United Methodists' Book of Discipline states that all people are of "sacred worth" but denounces the "practice of homosexuality" as "incompatible with Christian teaching." Openly gay and lesbian clergy members can be removed from ministry, but church trials on the matter are rare. In 2016, dozens of United Methodist clergy members came out as lesbian, gay or bisexual defying their church's ban on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" serving in ministry and essentially daring their supervisors to discipline them. In a public letter posted online, 111 pastors, deacons, elders and candidates for ministry said church rules require "that we not bring our full selves to ministry, that we hide from view our sexual orientations and gender identities." That campaign came after a similar letter issued by 15 Methodist ministers in New York, who also openly acknowledged that they are gay or lesbian. In some parts of the United States, openly gay clergy serve with few if any restrictions. Conservatives argue that such policies threaten to break up the church into small, self-governing branches. For more than a decade, liberal United Methodists have sought to push the church to adopt more lenient provisions, without success. After the earlier vote to reject the more liberal proposal, Reconciling Ministries, a pro-LGBT church group, tweeted, "God weeps. The Spirit rages. The children of God are undefeated." Greater Bostons leading resident theater company has been on Harvard Square for decades, but its just been given $100 million by hedge funder David E. Goel and his wife as the lead gift for a research and performance center in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. (No timeline has been announced.) The New York Times Do it yourself if you can We accept in principle that private equity can deliver (somewhat) excess returns over most other asset classes. But there are a lot of qualifications attached to that, and most of them are very relevant to whether and how pension funds should invest in private equity. The HD 106906 binary star hosts a mysterious, asymmetric disk of cometary dust and a giant exoplanet HD 106906 b that is located very far from both the binary and the disk. Close flybys by other stars could have gravitationally perturbed the planet and researchers discovered that the two bright stars to the upper right passed near HD 106906 roughly 3 Myr years ago. Some of the peculiar aspects of our solar system -- an enveloping cloud of comets, dwarf planets in weird orbits and, if it truly exists, a possible Planet Nine far from the sun -- have been linked to the close approach of another star in our system's infancy flung things helter-skelter. But are stellar flybys really capable of knocking planets, comets and asteroids askew, reshaping entire planetary systems? UC Berkeley and Stanford University astronomers think they have now found a smoking gun. A planet orbiting a young binary star may have been perturbed by another pair of stars that skated too close to the system between 2 and 3 million years ago, soon after the planet formed from a swirling disk of dust and gas. If confirmed, this bolsters arguments that close stellar misses help sculpt planetary systems and may determine whether or not they harbor planets with stable orbits. "One of the mysteries arising from the study of exoplanets is that we see systems where the planets are misaligned, even though they are born in a flat, circular disk," said Paul Kalas, a UC Berkeley adjunct professor of astronomy. "Maybe a cosmic tsunami hit these systems and rearranged everything about them, but we haven't had proof. Our paper gives rare observational evidence for one of these flybys gently influencing one of the planetary systems in the galaxy." Astronomers are already searching for a stellar flyby in our solar system's past, but since that likely happened 4.6 billion years ago, most of the evidence has gone cold. The star system that the astronomers studied, identified only by the number HD 106906 and located about 300 light years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Crux, is very young, only about 15 million years old. Kalas and Robert De Rosa, a former UC Berkeley postdoc who is now a research scientist at Stanford's Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, describe their findings in a paper accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal and now available online. Rogue stars Kalas, who studies young, newly formed planetary systems to try to understand what happened in the early years of our own solar system, first focused on HD 106906 in 2015 after it was found to have a massive planet in a highly unusual orbit. The planet, dubbed HD 106906 b, has a mass of about 11 Jupiters, and it orbits HD 106906 -- recently revealed to be a binary star -- in an orbit tipped about 21 degrees from the plane of the disk that contains all the other material around the star. Its current location is at least 738 times farther from its star than Earth is from the sun, or about 18 times farther from its star than Pluto is from the sun. Kalas used both the Gemini Planet Imager on the Gemini Telescope in the Chilean Andes and the Hubble Space Telescope to look more closely at HD 106906 and discovered that the star has a lopsided comet belt, as well. The planet's strange orbit and the fact that the dust disk itself is asymmetrical indicated that something had disrupted the young system. Kalas and his colleagues, including De Rosa, proposed that the planet had been kicked out of its solar system by interactions with another as-yet-unseen planet in the system or by a passing star. Kalas and De Rosa now believe that both happened: The planet was kicked into an eccentric orbit when it came dangerously close to the central binary star, a scenario proposed in 2017 by theorist Laetitia Rodet and her collaborators from the Grenoble Observatory in France. Repeated gravitational kicks from the binary would have quickly ejected the planet into interstellar space, but the passing stars rescued the planet by nudging its orbit to a safer distance from the binary. The Gaia space observatory gave them the data they needed to test their hypothesis. Gaia, launched in 2012 by the European Space Agency, collects precise measurements of distance, position and motion for 1.3 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, a catalog 10,000 times larger than Gaia's predecessor, Hipparcos. Kalas and De Rosa gathered Gaia information on 461 stars in the same cluster as HD 106906 and calculated their positions backward in time--reversed the cosmic clock, so to speak--and discovered that another binary star system may have approached close enough 3 million years ago to alter the planetary system. "What we have done here is actually find the stars that could have given HD 106906 b the extra gravitational kick, a second kick so that it became long-lived, just like a hypothetical Planet Nine would be in our solar system," Kalas said. They also found also that the binary star came in on a trajectory that was within about 5 degrees of the system's disk, making it even more likely that the encounter had a strong and lasting impact on HD 106906. Such double kicks may be important to stabilizing planets, asteroids and comets around stars, Kalas said. "Studying the HD 106906 planetary system is like going back in time to watch the Oort cloud of comets forming around our young sun," he said. "Our own giant planets gravitationally kicked countless comets outward to large distances. Many were ejected completely, becoming interstellar objects like ?Oumuamua, but others were influenced by passing stars. That second kick by a stellar flyby can detach a comet's orbit from any further encounters with the planets, saving it from the prospect of ejection. This chain of events preserved the most primitive solar system material in a deep freeze far from the sun for billions of years." Kalas hopes that future observations, such as an updated catalog of Gaia measurements, will clarify the significance of the flyby on HD 106906. "We started with 461 suspects and discovered two that were at the scene of the crime," he said. "Their exact role will be revealed as we gather more evidence." The work was supported by the National Science Foundation (AST-1518332), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX15AC89G) and Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), a research coordination network sponsored by NASA's Science Mission Directorate (NNX15AD95G). Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Despite challenging conditions at the start of the year, 2019 could end up as a classic for Australian IPOs according to a new report from Herbert Smith Freehills. While continued trade tensions between the US and China, Brexit, state and federal elections in Australia and the regulatory fallout of the Financial Services Royal Commission, will all test market confidence in the first half of the year, the firm expects a rebound from the difficulties that began last year. Some IPOs will still try to time the market perfectly for launches, which will be challenging. IPO issuers and investors may have to accept that these transactions will need to have a greater focus on the long term rather than the short, said partner Michael Ziegelaar, global co-head of capital markets. Dealmakers from a global firm and an independent Australian firm are working on a major transaction in the fashion industry in Australasia and Oceania. Clifford Chance is advising global fashion company PVH Corp. on its planned acquisition by way of scheme of arrangement of Gazal Corp., which is being counselled by Johnson Winter & Slattery (JWS). PVH expects to pay about $124m for the 78% of Gazal shares it plans to acquire. ASX-listed Gazal is the Australian joint-venture partner of PVH, which is listed in New York. Operating in 40 countries, PVH is one of the worlds largest fashion houses, with nearly US$9bn in turnover in 2017. The JV, which generated $260m in revenues in the 12 months to the end of July 2018, has the licenses for PVHs Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Pierre Cardin, Bracks, and Nancy Ganz brands in Australia, New Zealand, and other parts of Oceania. This is a major expansion for our business in Australia and especially for our practice in Melbourne. It further establishes DWF as a force in the Australian market, where we are growing at pace and attracting quality people who share our desire to do things differently, Mark Hickey, DWF Asia Pacific chairman, said about the integration of WARD Lawyers and the recruitment of three senior lawyers in Sydney. This new team will complement DWF's existing strengths in our global sectors of financial services, insurance, and real estate. We now have more than 130 people in Australia, including 24 principal lawyers and more than 60 other fee earners providing our clients with a range of complex, managed, and connected services, he said. The significant expansion comes after DWF raided Sparke Helmore last year, recruiting a team headlined by eight senior lawyers including Hickey, who then just recently stepped down as Sparke Helmore chairman. While bespoke legal counsel remains key to clients commercial success, clients also now require complementary services to solve wider business challenges. Meeting this broader need means disrupting how things are done which is why we introduced Connected Services in late 2017, said Jason Ford, head of DWF Connected Services. "The merger of FT Adjusting with our DWF Adjusting business is the next milestone in the rapid expansion of connected services in Australia. By offering services adjacent to traditional legal advice, such as insurance loss adjusting, we're listening to and responding to our clients' needs. Among the senior lawyers who moved to the firm are WARD Lawyers managing director, Philip Gleed, who DWF has tasked to be the executive head of the firms Melbourne office. Scott Stewart, WARD Lawyers director, has been appointed as head of the planning and environment team in Australia. Ashurst Ashurst is the only law firm to have been consecutively given the citation from the WGEA and its predecessor, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, since the recognitions inception in 2001. "We are proud to be leading the way with our sustained focus on diversity and inclusion and to once again be recognised for the work being done across our firm to ensure our workplace is inclusive and reflective of the world we live in. We are deeply committed to ensuring the firm has gender equality and continue to drive change forward through numerous initiatives, supported by our renewed diversity and inclusion targets announced in October last year, said Paul Jenkins, Ashursts global managing partner. Jenkins, who is a national WGEA pay equity ambassador, was also the first law firm leader to join the Male Champions of Change program in Australia. Ashurst has a number of gender-diversity initiatives. It has a global Committed To Change program, which engages partners to make a public and proactive commitment to diversity and inclusion. The firm also launched its RISE initiative last year, bringing together female senior partners to support them in continued career development and networking. The firm has also introduced bystander intervention training and a campaign to support calling out any unacceptable language or behaviour across the firm. Its diversity strategy also includes policies for flexible working arrangements, paid parental leave, paid domestic and family violence leave, and return-to-work assistance. The firm is a signatory to the National Model Gender Equitable Briefing Policy. The only crime Stiber is guilty of, according to his attorney, is eating a McDonald's hash brown while driving, NBC News reports. The officers on patrol noticed the paper wrapped around the hash brown and thought they saw Stiber holding a cellphone, so they pulled him over and ticketed him accordingly.That happened last April in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Stiber has already fought the ticket and lost. Hes back in court for the second time, this time before a judge, trying to argue and offer proof that would back up his story. This way, the police would have to admit they were wrong.Stibers attorney John Thygerson says they have presented the court with evidence to support Stibers innocence: a McDs receipt for a hash brown and a coffee, issued on the day of the incident, and phone records that show he didnt make or receive any calls at the moment police thought they saw him on the phone. Thygerson also says his clients car has handfree Bluetooth connection, so if he was on the phone, there would have been no need for him to actually hold it in his hand.Stiber claims that the officers were misled into thinking he was on the phone and his only goal here is to prove his innocence. Clearly, hes willing to spend a lot of money for that to happen.I have done nothing but criminal defense for 21 years and I have a very sensitive nose for [lying clients], Thygerson tells NBC News. I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, that I firmly believe my client 100 percent.The cop says he saw my client's lips moving my client's lips were moving because he was chewing on his hash brown. He's fighting this because he didn't do anything wrong, the attorney adds.The judge is expected to rule by April 5. SUV A few months ago, Mercedes began development of the E-Class facelift, and the prototype to be spotted was the coupe, not the more common sedan. At first, it seemed that there weren't going to be any changes, but we now know that the CLS III is the inspiration.We can see the same sort of elongated taillights and headlights, as well as a redesigned grille and bumpers. Our favorite feature of the C238 remains untouched: frameless doors with almost uninterrupted glass al the way to the back. The more expensive BMW 8 Series misses out on this feature. The E-Class T-Model facelift isn't too bad either, but it can't hold a candle to an S Line Audi A6 Avant.Mercedes has already let slip its full 2019 roadmap, which is accurate, considering both the GLC facelift and the CLA came out on schedule. As such, the E-Class facelift won't be revealed this year, but in 2020. This makes sense, considering most Mercedes prototypes take about two years to reach readiness.The launch could thus coincide with that of the W223 S-Class, meaning the two could once again share technology. Almost every engine they have should feature hybrid technology, the only way to meet emissions targets.And have you seen W223's infotainment? Instead of two connected displays on top of the dash, it has a giant one cascading down the console. We'd be just as happy to see the Command system ditched for the MBUX we see in the latest GLE How does the company plan to do it? By launching two new crossovers, as well as open four more dealerships in the country. With it, Volkswagen is looking to expand its model lineup from 5 to 7, as well as widen its current dealership network of 8 to 12. Under the careful guidance of its new president, Felipe Estrella III, Volkswagen is keen on making those goals into reality. Volkswagen Philippines has some ambitious plans for 2019. After selling the same number of cars as it did in 2017 (1,363 units sold), the automaker is looking to boost its sales 50%. " This 2019, I want more Filipinos to discover or create their own wonderful stories in their very own Volkswagens. We hope that our products, aftersales service, and new and existing dealerships will greatly add to the buying public's own affinity for our brand, and will attract even more segments of the market," said Estrella III. The company has yet to state as to what exactly the new models will be. However, looking at Volkswagen China's current lineup, there are several candidates that could make the cut. One of the likeliest models that could arrive in the country is the T-Roc. First launched back in 2017, the new crossover is the perfect candidate to draw in more buyers that are looking at a small, high-riding family runabout. The other model, on the other hand, could be a bigger SUV that will slot above the Tiguan LWB. Our best bet is that it will be Teramont, a big seven-seater that comes with plenty of features and amenities. Besides the Teramont, a seven-seater variant of the Tiguan (dubbed the Tiguan L or Allspace) could also be the likely option that will help Volkswagen generate more sales. Klaus Schadewald, Chief Operating Adviser for Volkswagen Philippines, is confident that 2019 will be a good year for the company. Besides having a quality lineup of cars, Schadewald also added that Estrella has quite the leadership experience. Before being appointed as the president of Volkswagen Philippines, Estrella was the Head of the Corporate Finance and Asset Management in 2010 and became the Chief Finance Offier of AC Industrials in 2017. With that type of leadership experience, Schadewald is confident that Estrella will be able to steer Volkswagen Philippines onto the right direction and will make this year's goals a reality. Major School Choice Policy Unveiled NEW YORK, Mar. 1, 2019 /Standard Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue (photo) comments on a new school choice program: Yesterday, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos unveiled an innovative school choice initiative sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Bradley Byrne. The Education Freedom Scholarships program would funnel $5 billion into locally controlled scholarship programs. It is designed to offer parents school choice, and to provide competition among schools. The public school establishment, which reflexively puts the best interests of the teacher unions above the best interests of students, is opposed to this program. JoAnn Bartoletti, who heads the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said the initiative would "further starve public schools." The public schools are currently starved? Bartoletti misrepresented the program. Sen. Cruz spoke the truth when he said, "This legislation doesn't take one penny from any public school in America." That is because it is entirely voluntary. Taxpayers can elect to make a contribution to the program; they would then receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit. Participation is voluntary for students, schools, and states, and would not require a new bureaucratic entity to run it. Moreover, public schools can also participate in it. The competition with Catholic and other private schools would benefit all students. Families know what is in the best interests of their children better than anyone, and that is why this program is so promising. When parents are empowered, educational achievement follows. The Education Freedom Scholarships initiative is another promise kept by President Trump. Catholics should welcome it. SOURCE Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights Contact: Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org Anti-health worker rhetoric has led to deadly violence and setbacks for combatting the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the country's Ministry of Health and reports from international health organizations. Why it matters: Doctors without Borders (MSF) announced Tuesday it is closing its Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Katwa after a violent attack killed one person and forced staff and patients to flee. Continued violence against health care workers and treatment centers has severely damaged efforts to combat this deadly outbreak, as each pullback or break in treatment can allow the contagious virus to spread. According to a DRC Health Ministry spokesperson, local politicians are using anti-Ebola-treatment rhetoric "just to gain popularity," which is fomenting a "high level of urban violence" in Katwa, a current epicenter of the outbreak that has now surpassed the number of cases in the previous epicenters of Beni and Mangina. Background: This outbreak is more challenging than the prior 9 outbreaks, as it's the first in an area experiencing an active, decades-long conflict. The two affected provinces also haven't experienced the disease before. This creates the need to educate and push against misinformation, Daniel Lucey, adjunct professor of microbiology and immunology at Georgetown University Medical School, tells Axios. What's new: On Feb. 24, there was a "traumatic" attack on the Ebola Treatment Center in Katwa, which ended up killing 1 person, partially burning down the facility, and forcing personnel and 10 patients to be evacuated, MSF announced. This attack has crippled our ability to respond to what is now the epicenter of the outbreak," Emmanuel Massart, MSFs emergency coordinator in Katwa, said in a statement Tuesday. "After some successes in stopping transmission in the initial epicenters of Mangina and Beni and some ancillary locations such as Tchomia, Mutwanga, and Masereka the epidemic has spread from four to 19 health zones," MSF announced. "We increased security around ETCs as we constantly receive threats of attacks," DRC Ministry of Health spokesperson Jessica Ilunga tells Axios. "The attack in Katwa was incredibly shocking for health teams. We were lucky that patients did not escape and that we managed to transfer them safely to other facilities. But if there is another similar attack, we might not be as lucky." A spokesperson for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases tells Axios that patients from the Katwa facility were transferred to another center in Butembo. "I really admire the people on the ground who are doing this day and night. ... Their lives are at risk and they're still doing it, but that's what it'll take to get this done," Lucey said. Yes, but: Lucey also said he's "hopeful" that the same measures can be taken in Katwa that succeeded in Beni, the former epicenter where there's been no new cases for 23 days, with 1 exception a suspected case of sexually transmitted Ebola from a man who had been successfully treated. Very rarely, the Ebola virus can remain in a survivor's semen for months or even a year after it's no longer present in the blood, Lucey said. A synopsis in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases says more research is needed for studying immunologically protected body sites, like male gonads and parts of the eye, as potential new chains of transmission. Go deeper: Editor's note: This story has been corrected to better explain where the virus might be able to persist in the body (not in the tears) after a person survives. The Trump administration is set to announce that it will end large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea, replacing them with some mission-specific training to ensure troop readiness, NBC News reports. Our thought bubble, via Axios' Dave Lawler: Experts worry that by stepping back from the exercises Trump is appeasing North Korea, undermining part of his leverage over Kim Jong-un, and weakening the U.S.-South Korea military alliance. President Trump and Chairman Kim are returning to their respective capitals empty-handed, with conflicting explanations for how talks broke down and where we go from here. Why it matters: Trump showed both flexibility he backed off the long-standing U.S. demand that any deal requires complete and verifiable denuclearization and a willingness to walk away. The summit also laid bare the limits to his charisma-based negotiating style and revealed how far the two sides are from agreeing to anything of substance. Catch up quick: In a press conference this morning, Trump looked dejected but still called Kim quite a guy, said progress had been made, and he insisted the U.S. was on track to become very good friends with Chairman Kim and with North Korea. The North Koreans then held an unexpected, late-night press conference to contradict Trumps claim that Kim had demanded all sanctions be waived in exchange for partial denuclearization. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui also said her impression is that Kim has lost the will to engage in deal-making with the U.S. Between the lines: North Koreas demands on sanctions relief still went far beyond what was likely to be accepted in exchange for limited steps toward denuclearization. Jung Pak, a former CIA analyst now at Brookings, emails that Trump demonstrating his desire for substantive actions on denuclearization was important because Kim has been ignoring U.S. negotiators and banking on his personal appeals to Trump, whom he probably judged was more malleable. While the abrupt ending of the summit was a surprise, the absence of a major breakthrough was not. Jim Walsh, an international security expert at MIT who has negotiated with North Korea, says the two sides squandered their time since Singapore, adding: It took 2 years of intense, regular negotiation to get the Iran deal. And Iran is easier. So no, 30 days and winging it isnt going to get it done. an international security expert at MIT who has negotiated with North Korea, says the two sides squandered their time since Singapore, adding: It took 2 years of intense, regular negotiation to get the Iran deal. And Iran is easier. So no, 30 days and winging it isnt going to get it done. Trump was told and the expert community has long stressed that Kim wanted immediate sanctions relief, says Van Jackson, a former Pentagon strategist and author of "On the Brink: Trump, Kim, and the Threat of Nuclear War." Because most sanctions are by legislation and not executive order, that meant Trump literally couldn't give Kim what he wanted. But Trump went ahead with the summit anyway out of a heady mix of hubris and ignorance. The question now is whether this was a bump in the road or if weve now veered entirely off course. Bruce Klingner, a former CIA official now at Heritage, isn't expecting a return to fire and fury in the short term, given Kim "promised not to resume nuclear or missile testing" at least according to Trump and the U.S. has shown no interest in "activity that could trigger a strong North Korean response." a former CIA official now at Heritage, isn't expecting a return to fire and fury in the short term, given Kim "promised not to resume nuclear or missile testing" at least according to Trump and the U.S. has shown no interest in "activity that could trigger a strong North Korean response." The negotiations will resume sooner or later, and the misfortune in Hanoi might impart a different kind of momentum to what is destined to be a fluctuating, arduous diplomatic process," Gi-Wook Shin of Stanford University writes for Axios Expert Voices. Behind the scenes: For the South Koreans and anyone banking on positive momentum, this was a bad outcome. As Axios Jonathan Swan points out, hawks like John Bolton wont share that disappointment. The bottom line: Now that many of the critics ... have got what they wanted a tougher approach to North Korea they have to accept the consequences, whatever they may be, write Joel Wit and Jenny Town of 38 North. Correction: This post has been corrected to reflect the fact that Choe Son-hui is North Korea's vice foreign minister, not its foreign minister. The former longtime mayor of the Armenian town of Hrazdan has been released from custody after agreeing to return over 102 million drams ($210,000) in public funds which he had allegedly embezzled while in office. Aram Danielian was arrested on Tuesday in connection with what law-enforcement authorities described as misuse of land and property taxes collected by the Hrazdan municipality in 2015-2018. The former head of a municipality division tasked with tax collection was also arrested on suspicion of embezzling the money. Through his lawyer, Danielian denied any wrongdoing on Wednesday. The lawyer, Aleksandr Sirunian, said his client could only be faulted for allowing other local officials to waste or pocket the collected taxes. Armenias Investigative Committee announced on Friday that Danielian accepted his guilt, recovered the 102.2 million-dram damage inflicted on the state, and was set free as a result of that on Thursday. The investigation is continuing, it said in a statement. The law-enforcement agency did not specify whether it will bring criminal charges against the other suspect. A member of former President Serzh Sarkisians Republican Party, Danielian ran the town located 45 kilometers north of Yerevan for over 15 years. He resigned in July two months after Sarkisian was ousted from power during the velvet revolution led by Nikol Pashinian, Armenias current prime minister. Thousands of people led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian marched through central Yerevan on Friday to mark the 11th anniversary of the breakup of post-election protests in Armenias capital which left ten people dead. The crowd silently walked from the citys Liberty Square to the site of violent clashes between security forces and opposition protests which broke out on March 1, 2008. Pashinian laid flowers there, as did many other demonstrators. Today, on March 1, 2019, I want to make it clear that the return to the past is impossible in our country, Pashinian declared in an address to the nation aired earlier in the day. Armenia will not return to corruption, political persecutions, political violence and abuse. Pashinian urged Armenians to join him in paying respects to the victims of the worst street violence in Armenias history and all political killings committed since the countrys independence. The 2008 unrest resulted from a disputed presidential election which formalized the handover of power from outgoing President Robert Kocharian to his preferred successor, Serzh Sarkisian. The main opposition presidential candidate, Levon Ter-Petrosian, refused to concede defeat, alleging serious fraud. Ter-Petrosian supporters held nonstop rallies in Liberty Square until they were forcibly dispersed by riot police early on March 1, 2008. Thousands of them gathered and barricaded themselves elsewhere in the city center later on that day. Pashinian, then a newspaper editor, was among Ter-Petrosian associates who addressed them there. Eight protesters and two policemen died in ensuing clashes. Citing the violence, Kocharian declared a state of emergency and ordered army units into Yerevan late on March 1, 2008. The former Armenian authorities accused the Ter-Petrosian-led opposition of organizing the mass disturbances in a bid to seize power. Dozens of Ter-Petrosian allies, including Pashinian, were jailed on charges strongly denied by them. Armenias Special Investigative Service (SIS) completely changed the official version of events shortly last springs velvet revolution which brought Pashinian to power. It now says that Kocharian illegally used the military against the protesters. Kocharian was arrested in December five months after being charged with overthrowing the constitutional order. The ex-president denies the accusations as politically motivated, alleging a vendetta waged by Pashinian. The SIS has also indicted but not arrested three retired Armenian generals. They and Kocharian could go on trial already this spring. In his statement, Pashinian condemned the former regime for using illegal force against the protesters but did not mention Kocharian or any other suspects by name. He read out the names of the ten victims of the bloodshed instead. The shots fired on the victims of March 1 were targeted at each of us, he said. Ter-Petrosians Armenian National Congress (HAK), from which Pashinian split in 2013, welcomed the premiers decision to organize Fridays march. The partys deputy chairman, Levon Zurabian, and other senior members participated in it. But Ter-Petrosian himself did not show up. Zurabian hailed the criminal charges brought against Kocharian and the generals. Everything is clear, he told reporters. The constitutional order was overthrown and the army was used against the people. Unlike the HAK, the two opposition parties represented in the current Armenian parliament, Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia (LHK), declined to join the Pashinian-led demonstration. Some of their senior representatives accused the premier of using the unrest anniversary for political purposes. The BHK and LHK leaders laid flowers at an unofficial memorial to the March 2008 victims earlier on Friday. By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade The Small and Medium Business Development Agency of Azerbaijan has prepared proposals for the implementation of new business support mechanisms. Deputy Chairman of the Agency Elchin Ibrahimov said this during his speech at the conference entitled Support for start-up projects and expanding access to financial resources, Trend reports. He also stated that proposals are submitted to the government. The proposals include four directions. The first concerns the approval of the status of clusters of SMEs, the second one relates to supporting small businesses in terms of providing access to trading networks, the third one about developing human resources and the fourth is the mechanism provides for researching the domestic market. Deputy Chairman of the Agency announced plans for the department to expand the "SME Houses" and create a mechanism "Friends of SMEs". Note that "Friend of SME is one of the most important mechanisms created in order to support small and medium-sized businesses, direct communication with business entities in the regions. Friend of SME functions in Masalli, Khachmaz, Siyazan, Shabran, Ganja, Yevlakh, Guba and Gusar. Their work in Baku is also ensured. In the near future, SME Houses will also be opened, and the number of Friends of SMEs will be increased to 60. Approximately 30 percent of our staff will be involved in this direction, which will be engaged in solving the problems of local entrepreneurs, Ibrahimov said. The Small and Medium Business Development Agency under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan was established by decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated December 28, 2017. The presidential decree of June 26, 2018 approved the statute and structure of the Agency. The task of the Agency is to ensure the succession of reforms, as well as the improvement of the business regulation system and the application of effective coordination, enhancing the role and competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses in the country's economy, and the compliance of the management system in this area with modern requirements. As a single structure with special powers, the Agency organizes, coordinates, evaluates and regulates the services provided by government agencies and organizations in this area through the SME Houses. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Today in Bucharest, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union together with the European Commission will host the 3rd Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy, Trend reports citing a message from the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan. The event will bring together EU Ministers responsible for the Digital Economy and their counterparts from the six Eastern Partners - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine to help deepen cooperation in the digital area across the region. During the meeting, the EU and the 6 Partner country Ministers are expected to endorse a declaration, which includes a commitment to reduce the roaming tariffs among the Eastern Partnership countries based on a clear roadmap for cooperation towards the signature of a Regional Roaming Agreement by the end of 2020. Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said ahead of the event: The digital economy is an area with still untapped potential, and essential for both the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries for bringing tangible benefit to citizens. Today our Eastern partners have taken an important step towards the reduction of roaming tariffs among their countries. This is one concrete step with real impact, but it's crucial to work on every aspect of digital - including data flows, security and regulatory alignment. The Ministerial meeting will provide the opportunity to address other key challenges in the sector. The recently launched EU4Digital initiative will contribute to strengthening the cooperation between the EU and its six Eastern partner countries in these areas. This will result in improved online services at better prices and with greater choice; stronger personal data protection. It will also attract investments and boost trade and employment. Existing companies will grow faster and start-ups will be created more easily. The Ministerial meeting follows up on the joint commitment by the EU, its Member States and the 6 Partner countries, at the Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2017 to deliver tangible benefits for citizens in the region, based on a clear work plan of 20 Deliverables for 2020 in four priority areas (stronger economy, stronger governance, stronger connectivity, stronger society). Launched in 2009 as a joint policy initiative, the Eastern Partnership (EaP) aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Within this framework, all partners agreed to deliver tangible benets to the daily lives of their citizens by focusing on achieving 20 Deliverables for 2020. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Presidential decree on additional measures to address the problem loans in Azerbaijan will cover 800,000 people, Vusal Gasimli, Director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications, said at a briefing organized for journalists on Feb. 28. Gasimli said the state will allocate over 700 million manats to this end. Speaking about the mechanism of compensation, he noted that a loan of $10,000, taken until Feb. 21, 2015, amounted to 7,800 manats. After the devaluation, it became equal to 10,500 manats, and the state will pay the difference of 2,700 manats as compensation to individuals, he said. The same refers to the loans taken before the second devaluation until Dec. 21, 2015, he noted. In this case, a loan of $10,000 after the devaluation amounted to 15,500 manats, he said. It turns out that the difference between a loan amount before the first devaluation (in February 2015) and after the second devaluation was 7,700 manats, he added. The decree also provides for paying this difference from public funds, he noted. There is one unchangeable rule relating both to the first part of the decree and to its second part the maximum amount of compensation will be $5,000, he noted. The second part of the decree concerns loans of up to $10,000 or 17,000 manats overdue for more than a year, he said. These loans will be restructured by the state, he noted. For these purposes, the state will allocate 682 million manats to banks as soft loans, he added. According to preliminary calculations, about 400,000 persons fall within the second part of the decree, he said. The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA) and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) are instructed to determine the exact figures, Gasimli noted. Restructuring is an optimal opportunity for Azerbaijans banking sector, since banks wont lose anything from it, on the contrary, they will be able to receive funds in a manat equivalent for a long period on favorable terms, he said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The route of the Caspian Sea-Black Sea international transport corridor offers great benefits and advantages for Azerbaijan, Akif Mustafayev, national secretary of Azerbaijan in IGC TRACECA, expert in the field of transport and logistics, told Trend. He was commenting on the significance of this route, as well as forthcoming participation of Azerbaijan in the discussions of the transport project at the meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Romania March 4 in Bucharest (Romania). He said that the topic of the Caspian Sea-Black Sea international transport corridor became relevant back in 1998. "This route implies the access of Asian countries to Europe through the Caspian Sea, including Azerbaijan and Georgia, via the Black Sea," he noted. "The multilateral agreement signed by the heads of state and government of twelve states clearly reflects the length of routes, tariffs and discounts on railway transportation tariffs. The document also contains four technical annexes regarding maritime navigation, road transport, technical annex on railway transport and also regarding customs procedures." "Thus, all the documents signed by the presidents during that period remain in force up till now and each time are extended for the next five, ten years," Mustafayev said. "This route became less popular after the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway," he said. "But this is not so. A few years ago, the Georgian side was concerned about the BTK route. The Georgian side thought that Georgias Black Sea ports, namely, the port of Batumi and the port of Poti will remain without work due to transportation of goods to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway." "Azerbaijan was able to convince the Georgian side that the goods will be further shipped through Azerbaijan and Georgia in the direction of Georgian ports in the same volume and will be supplied to Europe, while container cargo will be mainly transported along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to Europe," he said. "That is, the containers will run from China and the Central Asian countries through the ports of Kazakhstan, through the new Baku International Sea Trade Port in Alat, then to Europe through Georgia, Turkey," Mustafayev added. "Presently, traditional transportation through the Caspian Sea in the direction of the Black Sea is available," the expert said. "Oil is shipped via maritime routes from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Baku, then loaded into railway tanks and delivered to Georgian ports. Meanwhile, the route between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea certainly does not compete with the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route. These are different levels of cargo transportation. If, suppose, we are dealing with the transportation of oil, oil products, trade and construction goods in the first case, then in the second case (via BTK) we are mainly dealing with the transshipping of containers." "We assume that the number of containers from China and Central Asian countries will reach about 500,000 units in the next 5 years. If we are to take into account over 20,000 containers currently being transported across the Caspian Sea, it then poses no difficulties to ascertain that the transport project offers tremendous benefits for Azerbaijan," Mustafayev said. The expert assumed that the Azerbaijani side, while participating in the upcoming transport project discussions, can achieve more optimal conditions for transportation. "The agreements adopted 20 years ago require improvement, and there is something to work on," Mustafayev said. The expert then drew attention to at least 2 very important corridors in the East-West and North-South direction passing through Azerbaijan. "This is great achievement for Azerbaijan, because the creation of extensive infrastructure is beyond the power of many countries," said Mustafayev. "Azerbaijan has done tremendous work in this direction and created powerful infrastructure. Such a well-adjusted policy was laid down since the times of Heydar Aliyev and continues today under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. Over the past ten years, billions have been invested in the construction of powerful infrastructure facilities, the purchase of railcars, containers, ferries, and a plant has been built for the construction of ships for the work in the Caspian Sea." The expert noted that as a result of this work, Azerbaijan holds the first place in the CIS in terms of construction of highways, and ranks about 20th in Europe. The new transport route is being created on the basis of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and the Lapis Lazuli corridor. Romania and Turkmenistan were initiators of the creation of the new transport route. Ashgabat has long been exploring the possibility of transporting goods, including liquefied gas to Constanta. The supply route envisages using special containers and lies through the Caspian Sea to Baku (Azerbaijan), then by rail to the Georgian ports of Batumi or Poti and from there by sea to Romania. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade The Czech Republic is the fifth largest trade partner of Azerbaijan and the ninth largest foreign investor in the economy of our state, Milan Ekert Czech Ambassador to Azerbaijan said based on the results of the last year's trade turnover, AZERTAG reports. As the diplomat noted, the trade turnover between the two countries increased by 12 percent compared to 2017 and reached 1.1 billion euros. The past year may be called the year of the emergence of new dynamics in relations between the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan, creating the basis for strengthening the strategic partnership between our countries and the search for new joint projects, the envoy said. Ekert singled out mechanical engineering, automobiles, and electronics among the items of Czech exports to Azerbaijan. Czech Republic is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan. The presidents of the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan signed a Memorandum on Strategic Partnership in 2015. Relations are developing in the economic sphere. Czech Republic annually imports oil from Azerbaijan up to $1.5 billion. Mutual cooperation does not include only the supply of oil. The close relationship between our countries is demonstrated by the fact that the Czech Republic occupies the ninth place in terms of foreign investment in the Azerbaijani economy. In addition, Czech companies operating in the country are actively working to strengthen relations between the two countries. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Its been two years now since weve moved to Florida and I cannot believe how fast time flies! It seems like it was just yesterday we drove across country from San Diego to Tampa. Its been quite a transition for us but weve really fallen in love with everything here. We love the beaches, the people and the casual relaxed vibe. Every week I get questions from readers asking what to pack for vacation trips to Florida and my answers usually depend on what time of year theyre visiting and where theyre going. Florida is a big state and the weather varies depending on how far north or south youre visiting (its more humid and hotter the further south you go). There is a long distance between Tampa, Orlando and Miami so temperatures and humidity changes depending on how close you are to the coast. Weather is also fairly unpredictable depending on what time of year. Right now the weather is mild in the Tampa Bay area with temperatures ranging from low 60s to low 80s. Last week weather was in the high 80s! Ive teamed up with Nordstrom to share some of my go-to warm weather essentials for South Florida. My favorite layering piece is a good denim jacket. For me the best ones are from Madewell because they come in a wide range of washes and fits whether you want something classic, loose or cropped. Temperatures can change from morning to mid-day to night. Also indoors they love to put the AC on full blast making it icy cold. I like that you can dress up or dress down any outfit with a classic denim jacket. I typically size up for a more slouchy relaxed look. Good shorts are absolutely a must in Florida. Since moving here Ive tried so many different brands and styles. For those who want a true mid-rise with a casual look I highly recommend checking out the STS Blue Raw Denim shorts. Theyre the best affordable denim shorts Ive found. Even the light blue distressed ones hold up remarkably well after lots of washes in the washing machine. I also love these ones from 7 For All Mankind and Blank NYC. A simple small crossbody bag is perfect for just carrying the essentials. When its hot and humid out its nice to have something light and small that you dont even notice is weighing you down. I splurged on the Chloe Mini Marcie and love it to death. The Tory Burch Marsden Crossbody is a less expensive alternative and I have also been contemplating the Madewell small crossbody as well for something simple. The tees and tanks I pretty much live in are the Madewell Whisper Cotton V-Neck Tank, V-Neck Tee and Northside Vintage Tee. Theyre lightweight, super comfortable and come in so many different colors. I am a little embarrassed to admit how many of these I own. Theyre great as a casual tee by itself, layered with a sweater or jacket, nice for the beach, also perfect for at-home lounging. Theyre not really designed for workouts but sometimes Ill wear the tank during a run or at home when were lifting weights too. I also have and love the Stripe Version. For shoes I live in the Tory Burch Miller Sandals and Converse Sneakers they go with everything! I find the classic Converse Chuck Low Tops to be among my favorite and most comfortable sneakers. They dont give me blisters and are nice to walk in for extended periods of time. I think theyre a super cute sneaker even for the girls who feel like they arent really sneaker girls. One last essential I have to mention is sunscreen. We have tested dozens and our favorite that isnt heavy, doesnt smell like sunscreen, has no flash back, is lightweight, easy to apply and also is the best at preventing burn is the Supergoop! Everyday Sunscreen. No matter what we try, this is the one we keep going back to. Outfit details, for sizing reference Im 53 petite! Hope you enjoyed this post! More of these to follow since Ive been getting so many questions about my everyday basics. A few other favorites linked below. JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content. Sponsored by Nordstrom. By Leman Mammadova World Bank (WB) has introduced its new report on Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform. According to the report, only six countries in the world have achieved gender equality-Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxmeburg and Sweden, AZERTAC informs. For the study, experts assessed the legislative framework of 187 countries, identifying what changes were made there over the past 10 years and how it affected the rights of women. Eight basic indicators were calculated for assessing legislation: salary, employment, running own business, the management of women's assets, pension benefits, freedom of movement, as well as marriage and having children. The indicator having children, for example, reflects an assessment of laws on maternity, paternity and parental rights, as well as legislation on maternity leave, which may affect the decision of women to start a family. The World Bank points out that there is a link between the level of economic development and gender equality. 26 countries out of the 39 that scored 90 points and above, are among the countries with the highest level of income - GDP is more than 12 thousand dollars per person per year. Six leading countries scored on the sum of all aspects of 100 points. The greatest progress in the last 10 years in this area was achieved by France due to the reforms that improved its result by almost 10 points - from 91.88 points in 2009. Among the former Soviet republics almost each country got a higher score than Russia. Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Belarus, each received 78.75, Kyrgyzstan - 76.88, Kazakhstan - 75.63. Gender equality is even better in Estonia (97.50), Lithuania (93.75), Moldova (84.38), Georgia (79.38). Among the former Soviet countries Uzbekistan scored less than Russia - 70.63 points. Syria (34.38), Qatar (32.50), Iran (31.25), Sudan (29.38), United Arab Emirates (29.38) and Saudi Arabia (25.63) close the rankings of 187 countries of the world. Nowadays, the stereotype that business is a purely male activity and there is no place for female entrepreneurs in it has already been destroyed. In the current market economy, when the country switched to a new model of economic development, the role of women is increasing. Today, Azerbaijan demonstrates its commitment to gender equality, supporting the efforts of various structures and organizations in this direction. Azerbaijan has joined a number of conventions on gender equality. The country strives to ensure gender equality and empower women in public and social life. Azerbaijan in recent years has taken major measures to improve the role of women in entrepreneurship. Women hold a special place in the development of entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan. Womens share in entrepreneurship is 25 percent. The activity of women is one of the most important indicators of social progress. --- Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade Its expected that the number of Chinese tourists in Azerbaijan may reach 200,000 people within the next few years. This is provided for by a Memorandum of Understanding on the simplification of group tours of Chinese tourists to Azerbaijan signed between the Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, Chairman of the Agency Fuad Naghiyev said on March 1. He said that 50 percent increase was observed in this direction in 2018. Today we may say that several times more tourists will come from China to Azerbaijan. China has been chosen as one of the main priority markets for attracting tourists to Azerbaijan. There are a total of 12 target areas, including the post-Soviet space, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Azerbaijans official travel agencies have already been operating in six countries, including China. In the near future, offices will open in four more countries, Naghiyev said. Naghiyev added that according to the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, participants in the emerging tourism industry should ensure the double growth of tourists inflow to Azerbaijan. Along with this, tourists should be satisfied with the services provided here. From the Azerbaijani side, the Memorandum was signed by Chairman of the Tourism Agency Fuad Naghiyev, from the Chinese side - Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of China Zhang Sue. Generally, in recent years, the development of the tourism industry has received the closest attention of the leadership of Azerbaijan. In the cities of country, in resort areas, in the mountains and on the Caspian coast, dozens of international-class hotels were built, worldwide networks opened their hotels, water parks and extensive recreation areas were created. Moreover, simplification of visa regime also plays a major role in the development of tourism in Azerbaijan. Currently, citizens of a number of countries get visas right at the Azerbaijani airports, while other tourists can visit the country by getting online tourist visas. In 2018, 2,849,600 tourists from 196 countries arrived in Azerbaijan, showing a 5.7 percent increase compared to 2017. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova An exhibition dedicated to the 75th anniversary of honored artist Rafael Abasov has opened at the National Art Museum. Speaking at the event, First Deputy Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Vagif Aliyev noted the contribution of Rafael Abasov to the development of Azerbaijani art, Trend Life reported. It was emphasized that Rafael Abasov, drawing still lifes, portraits, landscapes in the style of realism, contributed to the enrichment of the treasury of national art. The artist with extraordinary skill created portraits of prominent political figures, representatives of science and art. In his works, Abasov with great love celebrates the beauty of the nature of his native country. Among these works one can mention "Golden Autumn", "Gala", "Green Lake", "Night", "Bilgah" and many others. Chairman of the Azerbaijan Union of Artists, Peoples Artist Farhad Khalilov, Rector of the State Academy of Arts, Peoples Artist Omar Eldarov, Peoples Artist Arif Huseynov and others told about the work of Rafael Abasov and his human qualities. Rafael Abasov, in turn, expressed his gratitude to the organizers and participants of the event. From 1960 to 1965, Rafael Abasov studied at the Azim Azimzade Azerbaijan State Art School. From 1968 to 1974, he studied at the M. Aliyev Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts (now the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts). Since 1967, he is a participant of exhibitions held both in the country and abroad. In 1995, a personal exhibition of Rafael Abasov was held in Boston (USA). In 1997, the artist's personal exhibitions were successfully held in Austria and Germany. Abasov's works are kept in private collections in Germany, USA, Austria, Japan, Turkey, as well as in the National Museum of Art of Azerbaijan and the Academy of Arts of Russia. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend There is an executive power in Russia, and there is the point of view of individual politicians, and this is normal, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a press conference, Trend reports Feb. 28. Zakharova was answering a question from an Armenian journalist about the participation of Russian MPs in the nationwide march in Baku in connection with the 27th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide. Zakharova reminded that in a democratic society, people with different political views on various issues are elected to the legislative assembly. We still have a division of branches of power, she said. We have an executive power, and I voiced the official position of the Russian Federation, and there is the point of view of individual politicians; this is normal. It is strange that you dont understand this. On Feb. 26, a nationwide march took place in connection with the 27th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, and a delegation from Russia also participated in the march. The delegation included Deputy Chairman of the Committee for International Affairs of the State Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament), world-famous athlete Irina Rodnina, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Safety and Combating Corruption of the State Duma Dmitry Savelyev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Federal Assembly of the State Duma Oksana Pushkina, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for State Building and Legislation of the State Duma Mikhail Yemelyanov. Russian MPs Tatyana Sibizova, Denis Parfenov and Aleksey Zhuravlev, Director of the Institute for Political Studies of Russia, Coordinator of the Group of Friends of Azerbaijan, well-known political scientist Sergey Markov and head of the CIS countries department of the institute Aleksey Bychkov, military expert, editor-in-chief of Natsionalnaya Oborona magazine Igor Korotchenko, Russian director, writer Aleksandr Rusnak and Dean of the Faculty of Sociology and Political Science of the Financial University under the Government of Russia Aleksandr Shatilov also attended the nationwide march. 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. During the Karabakh war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Chairman of Italy-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, member of Italys ruling Five Star Movement (M5S) party Senator Stefano Lucidi expressed hope for new initiatives to maintain dialogue between the parties to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports with reference to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Lucidi was delivering speech at a plenary session in the Italian parliament. The senator stressed that for more than 20 years, Armenia has been keeping the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent districts under military occupation. Lucidi added that while speaking of this conflict, it is important to emphasize the four UN Security Council resolutions adopted in 1993, demanding the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and which havent been implemented yet, and it is also important to recall the resolution of the European Parliament dated Oct. 23, 2013. He also expressed hope that new initiatives will be launched to maintain a dialogue between the parties, and the conflict that lasts for a long time will be resolved. Video footage of the speech is available below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7sAYOm2SVc 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. During the Karabakh war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia accepted the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices, Trend reports March 1 with reference to the statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the US) met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan Feb. 20 and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku Feb. 21 to discuss preparations for a meeting of the leaders in the near future, including possible topics for discussion, according to the statement. The Co-Chairs also held discussions with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in their respective capitals, reads the statement. The Co-Chairs were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. During the meetings in the region, the leaders briefed the Co-Chairs on their recent conversation on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The leaders and the Co-Chairs discussed the situation on the ground and their expectations for next steps. The Co-Chairs assessed positively the continuing lack of casualties on the line of contact. They also welcomed the developing discussions in the region about preparing populations for peace. The leaders accepted the Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices, says the statement. Following their visit to the region, the Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office travelled to Vienna and Bratislava from Feb. 28 to March 1 to brief the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, according to the statement. 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Around 98 percent of pipes needed for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, are in the ground in Greece and Albania, Trend reports citing TAP AG consortium. In February 2013, Greece Albania and Italy signed a trilateral intergovernmental agreement, reinforcing their support for TAP. Six years later, 98 percent of pipes (around 750 kilometers out of 765 kilometers in total) are in the ground in Greece and Albania, said the message. TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU). The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries. Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network. The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016. Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe. TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent). --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend A meeting of the joint technical commission from the Azerbaijani side, created in connection with the continuation of the construction of Khudaferin and Giz Galasi hydro-junctions and hydroelectric power plants on the Araz River, was held at the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, Trend reports referring to the ministry. The current construction process, the further actions and obligations of the structures responsible for the construction were discussed at the meeting. Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Energy, co-chairman of the commission Elnur Solnatov stressed that the implementation of the agreement on the construction of Khudaferin and Giz Galasi hydro-junctions and hydroelectric power plants is of strategic importance. The reports on the work carried out by the working group were heard. The construction of Khudaferin dam completed by 95 percent. Giz Galasi hydro-junctions on the Araz River will be built next year. The joint technical commission includes the representatives of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Culture, the State Committee on Property Issues, the State Security Service, the State Border Service, Azerenergy OJSC, Azerishiq OJSC. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Russian and Turkish foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu in a phone conversation on Feb. 28 confirmed the commitment of Moscow and Ankara to fight the terrorist threat in Syria, Trend reports via TASS. The ministers exchanged views on the current state of the Syrian settlement process and the efforts they are making as part of the Astana format, the report said. The sides reaffirmed common approach in the fight against terrorist threats in Syria for the sake of speedy stabilization of the situation in that country and progress in its political settlement. In addition, the ministers discussed a number of practical issues in connection with the upcoming Russian-Turkish contacts at the high and the highest levels. The conversation took place at the initiative of the Turkish side. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend At the meeting of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov with representatives of international organizations accredited in the country, Charge dAffaires of the EU Liaison Office in Turkmenistan Lubomir Frebort expressed gratitude for supporting the development of relations with the EU, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmenistan State News Agency. The representative of Brussels also expressed appreciation for the initiatives taken by Turkmenistan on universal energy security and the ongoing policy of diversifying energy supplies, adding that Europe can become one of the directions for diversifying energy supplies with the implementation of a promising project to lay a gas pipeline across the Caspian Sea. The EU and Turkmenistan are committed to implementing a project designed to bring Turkmen hydrocarbon energy carriers to European markets. The negotiations have been underway since 2011. The project of laying a 300-kilometer gas pipeline along the bottom of the Caspian Sea to the shores of Azerbaijan is optimal for the delivery of Turkmen gas to the European market. Further, the Turkmen gas can be delivered to Turkey, which borders with European countries. At the German-Turkmen business forum held recently in Berlin, the issue of the prospects for Turkmen gas to enter the EU markets was raised. Head of the Turkmengaz State Concern Myrat Archayev said that the East-West gas pipeline that was commissioned in 2015 connected the gas-rich eastern regions of Turkmenistan with the west of the country and the Caspian coast. In addition, oil and gas resources are being developed in the Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea at accelerated pace, he said. With the participation of foreign investors, four projects are being implemented offshore and three onshore, he added. We are fully prepared to sell Turkmen gas in the European markets, only left to find the interested consumers, he said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov The 24th meeting of the Uzbek-British Council on Trade and Industry (UBCTI) was held on February 28 -March 1 in Tashkent. More than 100 businessmen representing over the 55 British companies will take part in the event. This is the largest number of participants in the entire history of the Uzbek-British Council on Trade and Industry. The annual session of UBCTI brought together entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan and the UK in order to provide an opportunity for both parties to learn more about the business opportunities available in both countries. This year more than 110 businessmen representing more than 60 British companies took part in the event. This event attracts the largest number of participants in the history of UBCTI. The plenary session was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Elyor Ganiyev and Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, the co-chair from the British side. Our country is confidently advancing along the path of cardinal reforms, the number of new investors in our market is increasing, but we understand that many foreign companies are still waiting for the moment - they look what will happen next. Once again, on behalf of the government, I want to firmly state that reforms in Uzbekistan are irreversible. They will continue on very confidently and effectively, said Elyor Ganiyev at the meeting of the Uzbek-British Council on Trade and Industry in Tashkent. During the plenary session, the parties discussed practical measures for the development of trade and investment between the UK and Uzbekistan, cooperation in the field of health, education and tourism. Following the first day of the Uzbek-British Council for Trade and Industry, both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding. UBCTI was established in accordance with a bilateral agreement signed in 1994. This is an annual forum for promoting the development of trade and investment relations between Uzbekistan and the UK, and representatives of both sides are co-chairs. UBCTI provides support and assistance to British companies currently operating in the Republic or wanting to invest in Uzbekistan. Meetings are held alternately in Tashkent and London. Diplomatic relations between Uzbekistan and the UK were established on February 18, 1992. The foundation of the Uzbek-British relations was laid during the visit of the First President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov to the UK in November 1993. Exports to the UK from Uzbekistan include ferrous metals and cotton. Major imports from the United Kingdom are services, machinery and equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov American investment company Epsilon Development Company plans to invest more than $ 2 billion in the development of five large investment blocks with gas fields in Uzbekistan, according to the Kazakh Forbes. Epsilon specializes in the development of hard-to-recover gas reserves and leads projects ranging from exploration to operation. Cooperation with Uzbekistan is carried out on the basis of a special government decree. Kazakh Forbes informs that the development of heavy fields is a high-cost production requiring consideration of both technical and financial risks, and the investor is trying to furnish its activities with favorable conditions. As edition notes, Uzbekistan has managed to protect its interests and build relations according to the principle of public-private partnership (50 to 50) in such a way that the amount of the investor's expenses does not affect the share received by the state from the sale of marketable products. Epsilon, in turn, attracts industry leaders such as Schlumberger, the largest oilfield services company, founded in 1,926 and operating in 85 countries. Two investment blocks of five, Surkhandarya and Fergana are particularly complicated. In Surkhandarya, gas deposits are located at a depth of almost 7,000 meters, with an increased risk of accidents. In the next two years, these deposits will require about $ 2 billion of investment. Diplomatic relations between the United States and Uzbekistan were established on February 19, 1992. Since then, the United States and Uzbekistan have developed a broad-based relationship, cooperating in such areas as border and regional security programs, economic relations, political and civil society issues, and English language training. Uzbekistan and the United States signed a declaration on Strategic Partnership and the Basics of Cooperation in 2002. Thanks to active cooperation with American companies, two countries managed to increase the bilateral trade by almost two times and bring it to $332 million in January-September 2018. Currently, more than 200 enterprises with the participation of U.S. companies are successfully operating in Uzbekistan. American capital took part in the creation of 25 enterprises since the beginning of 2018. Uzbekistan has signed a trade and investment framework agreement with the United States and other Central Asian countries establishing a regional forum to discuss ways to improve investment climates and expand trade within Central Asia. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov The European Commission cooperates with Tajikistan at the centralized, regional, subregional and national levels with projects managed from Brussels and Dushanbe. The European Union (EU) may allow a duty-free supply of Tajik products to the European market in exchange for labor protection, the environment, and efficient management. Head of the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management Farrukh Hamralizoda and EU Ambassador to the Republic Marilyn Josephson discussed the issues related to the accession of Tajikistan to the General System of Preferences (GSP +), the press service of the State Committee reports. During the meeting, it was noted that the entry of Tajikistan into this system will allow exporting more than 6,400 domestic goods to European markets under the system of customs duties with a zero rate. According to the State Committee, this process improves the supply of goods from Tajikistan to European consumers, thereby increasing the competitiveness of domestic goods in this region. The press service of the State Committee informed that to get the preferences of this system, the republic must implement 27 conventions and protocols ratified by Tajikistan in the field of environmental protection, labor protection and effective management. Hamralizoda emphasized that joining the General System of Preferences is a priority for Tajikistan. As he noted, this increases the competitiveness of domestic goods exported to the EU and creates a favorable basis for the competitiveness of domestic goods on the European market. Reducing import customs duties for exporters of the country to zero for the EU markets contributes to an increase in foreign trade turnover and creates a real basis for the creation of new jobs, told the head of the State Committee. The Chairman asks the EU to support Tajikistan in its accession to the General System of Preferences. In 2018, Tajikistan traded with 36 European countries, most of which are EU members: the total trade turnover of Tajikistan with European countries amounted to about $ 320 million, a decrease of almost a third compared with a year earlier. Tajik products were exported to Europe worth $ 63 million in 2018. Germany was the main trading partner of Tajikistan on the European continent, with bilateral trade with a total of $ 97.7 million. The EU began to cooperate with Tajikistan in the early 1990s after the republic proclaimed independence from the Soviet Union. In 1992, the Technical Aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS) program office was opened in Dushanbe. In 2001, the first annual meeting of the EU-Tajikistan Cooperation Committee was held in Brussels. In 2004, EU Commissioner for Foreign Policy visited Dushanbe, and President Rahmon signed in Luxembourg the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which entered into force after ratification in 2010. Today, relations between the EU and Tajikistan are developing in the framework of the EU Strategy in Central Asia for 2014-2020. In 2016, the European Commission reaffirmed its commitment by 2020 to provide Tajikistan with 251 million euros for development. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz SCHLIEREN / ZURICH, Switzerland, March 01, 2019 / B3C newswire / -- Neurimmune today announced the appointment of John Dellapa as General Counsel. John joins Neurimmune from the Boston office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, an AmLaw 100 law firm widely recognized for its outstanding life sciences practice. As a corporate transactional lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in the life science industry, John has advised Neurimmune on numerous global transactions since Neurimmunes inception in 2006. At Neurimmune, we wholeheartedly welcome John Dellapa in his new role as General Counsel", said Roger Nitsch, Neurimmunes CEO & President. "In his prior function as Neurimmune's external counsel, John accompanied our transformation into a well-funded, Phase III stage company by crafting sustainable alliances with pharma and large biotech companies. Johns wealth of legal and executive experience will be instrumental in further advancing Neurimmune as we continue our efforts to develop therapies against diseases that severely impact daily life. John Dellapa is a board member of the BioBuilder Educational Foundation and a member of the Licensing Executives Society. Prior to joining Mintz Levin, John served for 9 years as group general counsel at Fisher Scientific International, Inc. John holds a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University and Bachelors degree in management from Boston College. He will be located at Neurimmunes headquarters in Schlieren, Switzerland. About Neurimmune Neurimmune is a Swiss clinical stage biotech company translating human immune memory into game changing therapeutics. Neurimmunes pipeline comprises high-potential drug candidates at both clinical and advanced preclinical development stages. Aducanumab, an investigational treatment for Alzheimers disease, partnered with Biogen, is currently in phase 3 clinical trials. Rights in antibodies BIIB054 for Parkinsons disease and BIIB076 for Alzheimers disease were acquired by Biogen. Neurimmune partnered with TVM and Eli Lillys Chorus unit to advance an antibody for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurimmunes pipeline includes human antibody programs for cardiomyopathy, type-2 diabetes and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, with potential therapies in advanced preclinical stages. Contact Neurimmune Fabian Buller Chief Business Officer +41 44 755 46 46 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Published by B3C newswire and shared through Newronic A Historic Evening with Eva Schloss What: Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss will talk about her experience and how she sees the world today in a lecture moderated by KERN 1180 radio host Richard Beene When: Doors at 6 p.m., starts at 7 p.m. March 12 Where: The Fox Theater, 2001 H St. Admission: $28, $16 for students; $180 for VIP package, which includes priority seating, private reception and cocktail party at 6 p.m. with Schloss Information: thebakersfieldfox.com or 324-1369 You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415 or smorgen@bakersfield.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC. A body found Thursday morning inside a southwest Bakersfield house has been identified as a man who, along with his wife, was arrested last we Respondents are relatively evenly divided between agreeing and disagreeing on whether their countries tax, education, and welfare systems are adequately set up for a world in which AI is pervasive. For example, if AI does in fact lead to a dramatic decrease in employment, how will welfare and education systems respond? What effect will that have on taxation and the way governments fund their activities? The same is true when it comes to whether governments are doing enough to manage the impact of technology on the workforce and economy or to engage with the community on the impact of AI. What This Means for Government The results of our survey have important implications for governments as they consider how they use and develop policies in relation to AI. Use case selection and addressing ethical issues are paramount in assuaging citizen concerns. Citizens are clearly worried about the removal of human discretion in certain decisions, particularly in more sensitive domains such as health care and justice. Perceptions of bias and discrimination are major factors that affect use case selection. AI has the potential to reduce human biasesboth cognitive and socialthat influence human decision making. In cognitive biases, for example, humans rely disproportionately on the first piece of information they encounter, rather than weighing all information dispassionately. Social biases are based on prior beliefs and worldviews and sometimes manifest in discrimination. Algorithms have the potential to minimize both noise and bias from decision making. For example, algorithms can weigh all inputs exactly as instructed. However, eliminating bias is very difficult. AI learns from data, much of which has been generated from human activity. Unfortunately, those activities include human bias; thus it is possible to create systems that magnify and perpetuate prejudices that are already present. Creating models free from that bias remains a significant technical challenge. For example, a study in the US showed the COMPAS (Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions) system used to estimate the likelihood of recidivism in criminal offenders has racial biases. In some cases, such as black box models, it may be impossible to understand how a recommendation or decision was derived, and thus also to meet traditional government requirements for explainability, transparency, and auditability. This is especially true of the more complex tools such as neural networks and deep learning. Governments will need to select carefully how and where they launch pilots and eventually scale them. When identifying use cases that will deliver the greatest benefit from experimentation, governments will need to balance the difficulty of implementation with the benefits, including the potential impact for citizens, the reusability and applicability of a use case to other needs, and the opportunity to reduce costs and free up resources for other uses. Governments should also consider how to involve citizens in these pilots. Switzerland, for example, is exploring resettling asylum seekers in different parts of the country using AI. From late 2018, the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration and the nonprofit Immigration Policy Lab will test a new, data-driven method for assigning asylum seekers to cantons across the country. Asylum seekers in the pilot will be assessed using an algorithm designed to maximize their chances of finding a job. The algorithm will allow officials to resettle individuals in the canton that best fits their profile, rather than allocate them randomly. The program will then follow these asylum seekers over the next several years, comparing their employment rates to those of others who entered the country at the same time. Pilots should be publicized, tracked, and reported on, not only to demonstrate the value of AI but also to build public trust and create transparency. Communication and education will play a large part in building this trust as governments roll out increasingly advanced applications of AI to their policy and delivery environments. Trust and integrity in government institutions must be builtor rebuilt. Transparency is very important to citizens and should be high on the agenda for governments. This means being clear about the ethical implications of AI, as well as about how it willand will notbe used. Governments need to underscore the role of humans in government decision making. In some cases, AI alone can be used to make decisions, but in many others AI should augment human judgment and support decision making. Checks need to be put in place, as well as mechanisms through which citizens can raise concerns. And governments should measure and be transparent about the quality of AI recommendations. Appropriate oversight of AI will be critical if citizens are to have confidence in its use by government. Legal and regulatory frameworks may need to be enhanced, and a code of conduct or rules for the ethical use of AI code should be created. Transparency helps ensure the algorithms that underpin AI are reliable and protected from manipulation, but the difficulty of providing it increases with the complexity of the algorithms. Regulation needs to be carefully thought out, balancing the need to limit government use of individuals personal data and AI, while allowing government to innovate in the use of the technology. Putting rules and accountability frameworks in place will reassure citizens that AI is being used responsibly and ethically. Given the importance of AI to future economic, geopolitical, and security positioning, it is critical that governments have the support of their citizens for its use. Addressing genuine concerns about the future of work is critical to building citizen acceptance of AI. The confluence of recent developments in big data, cloud-based computer processing power, and neural networks (which are modeled loosely on the human brain and nervous system to recognize patterns) has fueled and accelerated the developments in AI. And with the news media and others focusing on the rise of robots and their potential effect on humans, it is not surprising that potential job losses resulting from the use of AI emerge as one of citizens key concerns. The fear of technological unemployment as machines become dominant in the economy is real. Whether this threat will materialize is another matter entirely. However, unless governments address fears of potential job insecurity and general uncertaintythrough public dialogue and policies that provide a safety net for those most affectedthese perceived threats could create a significant barrier to the development of AI. Citizens should be supported and empowered to navigate new career pathways through lifelong learning strategies and more tailored career guidance. Governments should prepare for the substantial workforce transitions ahead through policy measures such as the expansion of social safety nets, provision of more targeted reskilling and upskilling programs, and more effective job matching and job placement services. Government needs to build AI capabilities inside the public sector. As they adopt AI, governments need to educate themselves and prepare for wider AI rollout by building internal capabilities and setting clear data strategies such as those being pursued by Singapore. (See the sidebar Case Study: Singapore Smart Nation and Digital Government Group.) The technologies are evolving rapidly, which means ministers and public servants need a basic understanding of AI. (See Ten Things Every Manager Should Know About Artificial Intelligence, BCG article, September 2017.) While this may take time through recruitment and upskilling, they can accelerate the acquisition of expertise by embarking on partnerships with companies, startups, universities, and others. Identifying the right mix of current and future skills will be critical to enabling government organizations to scale up their AI-related efforts. Case Study: Singapore Smart Nation and Digital Government Group Singapore uses AI and advanced analytics in areas such as mobility, health, and public safety. Formed in May 2017, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group leads efforts across government to integrate cutting-edge technological capabilities into the provision of government services. The group promotes application of AI technologies across government, including coordinating between agencies, industry, and the public; developing digital enablers and platforms; and driving the digital transformation of the public service. As government agencies employ more sophisticated technologies, data privacy will become a priority. In Singapore, the Public Sector (Governance) Bill of January 2018 formalized agency data-sharing frameworks, including conducting regular audits, removing personal identifiers where appropriate, limiting access to sensitive personal data, and introducing criminal punishments for data-related offenses. Government uses of AI in Singapore are diverse and include: Assistive Technology, Analytics, and Robotics for Aging and Health Care. RoboCoach (a robot) helps to provide physical and cognitive therapy to seniors who have suffered strokes or have disorders such as Alzheimers or Parkinsons. RoboCoach (a robot) helps to provide physical and cognitive therapy to seniors who have suffered strokes or have disorders such as Alzheimers or Parkinsons. Smart Homes. Smart devices available in some homes include a system to monitor the elderly and provide peace of mind to caregivers, and a utility management system that helps with household utilities usage. Smart devices available in some homes include a system to monitor the elderly and provide peace of mind to caregivers, and a utility management system that helps with household utilities usage. Preventing Corruption in Procurement. AI algorithms analyze HR and finance data, procurement requests, tender approvals, and workflows to pick up patterns to identify and prevent potential corruption in government. AI algorithms analyze HR and finance data, procurement requests, tender approvals, and workflows to pick up patterns to identify and prevent potential corruption in government. Matching Job Seekers with Positions. Machine learning and text analysis identify skills required for jobs and prioritize search results according to the relevance of the job seekers skills. Machine learning and text analysis identify skills required for jobs and prioritize search results according to the relevance of the job seekers skills. Traffic Management. An expressway monitoring and advisory system uses technology to detect accidents, vehicle breakdowns, and other incidents, and provides real-time travel time information from the expressways entry point to selected exits. An expressway monitoring and advisory system uses technology to detect accidents, vehicle breakdowns, and other incidents, and provides real-time travel time information from the expressways entry point to selected exits. Lamppost-as-a-Platform. Sensors on lampposts monitor air quality and water levels, count electric scooters in public places, and collect footfall data to support urban and transport planning. Similarly, governments will need to bolster their data management capabilities, as the adage garbage in, garbage out rings especially true for AI. Ensuring the availability of accurate and reliable data is essential for AI tools to deliver the correct decisions. Sourcing appropriate data sets not just from within an organization but also externally should be high on the list of priorities for governments so they can train AI algorithms appropriately. Governments need to focus their attention on educating citizens, creating transparency, and putting in place programs and policies to support the rollout of AI in government. They also need to begin adopting AI in a thoughtful way, soliciting feedback from citizens in the process to help build citizen support for AI. Artificial Intelligence holds great potential for governments as they seek to enhance the efficiency and impact of the services they deliver. However, as with any changes to the way policy making is executed or services are delivered, citizens may have concerns about the changes, particularly when they are being driven by complex, rapidly evolving technologies that may be hard to understand and for which the implications and unintended consequences are as yet unknown. For this reason, governments need to continue to move forward but also tread carefully when looking to harness the power of AI. Transparency into where and how AI will be used in government will be essential to establishing the legitimacy of the technology in citizens eyes and to mitigate their concerns about any negative effects it might have on their lives. Given the speed of technological change, this work must be done sooner rather than later. The good news is that there are many areas where citizens understand the efficiency benefits of the technology. However, if governments want to secure public support, they need to implement AI applications rapidly and unlock its potential, while simultaneously building trust and creating mechanisms to increase transparency. For governments, as for many organizations, the digital era could be transformativebut only if they are able to bring their citizens with them on the journey. In the real world, churros would be served piping hot and covered in cinnamon sugar. But this is the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, folks, and nothing about the carnival food here is commonplace. The sweets and savories available for hungry rodeo crowds must undergo torturous transformations to be considered midway marvelous. They are dunked in chocolate, dredged in batter, studded with candy or nuts, drizzled in caramel, coated with crunchy bits of Wonka-colored cereal flakes, and topped with a bright red cherry. And in the case of churros, they arrive as freezing as liquid nitrogen so that when you bite into them you expel the cloudy breath of an arctic dragon. FOR HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM SUBSCRIBERS: Rodeo cook-off helps barbecue go global Those sub-zero crunchers or as they're called at the Houston rodeo, Nitro Churros were among the cool and crazy foods entered Thursday in the 2019 Gold Buckle Foodie Awards, an annual contest to find the best carnival food at the rodeo. Judged by dozens of local media personalities, the Gold Buckle honors both innovative and classic carnival foods while also stretching the limits of fair food endurance. There were 110 entries in eight categories that included foods such as caramel apples coated in hot Cheetos, deep-fried chocolate cupcake and ice cream, chicharrones nachos, deep-fried nacho balls, a waffle cone taco filled with frozen pineapple whip, jalapeno corn bread shot through with chocolate, and hot fried potatoes topped with caramel, whipped cream and Fruity Pebbles better known as caramel crack fries. This year the Gold Buckle was good to RCS, a carnival concessions company that operates 39 food stands at the rodeo. RCS, headed by owner Dominic Palmieri, a familiar presence on the midway, walked away with three Gold Buckle first-place awards, including Most Creative Food the Unicorn Float, an icy blue coconut float topped with whipped cream, cotton candy and unicorn sprinkles. Though the rodeo still has two weeks left, Palmieri is already cooking up plans for next year: "The team is already trying to figure out the next new thing, the next inspiration." OSCARS OF THE FOOD WORLD: Houston scores big on James Beard Awards semifinals list Here are the results of the 2019 HLSR Gold Buckle Foodie Awards: Best Specialty Food 1st: All of Us: Chocolate cobbler 2nd: The Great Texas Pecan Candy Co.: Pecan roux 3rd: Sweet Feed Cinnamon Roasted nuts: Cinnamon roasted pecans Best Fair Food 1st: Candy Factory: Hot crunchy Cheetos cotton candy 2nd: Harlon's BBQ: All-meat potato 3rd: Texas Tater Twister: Texas bucket of nachos Best Value 1st: Salt Grass: Rib & chicken patter 2nd: Paradise Burgers: Paradise fries 3rd: Yoakum Packing Company: Chopped beef BBQ stuffed baked potato Best Food on a Stick 1st: Holmes Smokehouse: bacon-wrapped pecan smoked sausage 2nd: Texas Steak Out: Steak dinner on a stick 3rd: Harlon's BBQ: Bacon-wrapped boudin on a stick Best Fried Food 1st: The Original Minneapple Pie: Minnechocolate pie 2nd: Sweet Cheeks: Deep fried Oreos 3rd: Yoakum Packing Co: Deep fried brisket balls Most Creative Food 1st: The Candy Factory: Unicorn float 2nd: Cowboy Kettle Corn: Nitro churros 3rd: The Minneapple Pie: The Ultimate Minneapple Pie Best Dessert 1st: Aunt Edmoes Cookies: Cookie dough parfait 2nd: Dippin Dots: Dippin Dots Cookies N Cream, Banana Split, Chocolate, and Rainbow Ice Cool Mint Crunch 3rd: Nitro Treats: Dole whip taco Best New Flavor 1st: Totally Baked Cookie Joint: Smoorcookie 2nd: Sills Funnel Cakes: Fred Red Velvet Cupcake 3rd: Ranch House Meat Company: BBQ poppers Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture. South Africa: SA pavilion set for International Art Exhibition The South African Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia is expected to put social, political and economic resilience under the spotlight. The pavilion will showcase works by the artists Dineo Seshee Bopape, Tracey Rose and Mawande Ka Zenzile under the theme The Stronger We Become. The Department of Arts and Culture explained that the pavilion will symbolise freedom of expression, the freedom to create challenging work and the freedom to present dissenting voices that displace geographical space and speak for self-determination. This international art exhibition in Venice is an important platform to showcase South Africas rich and varied artistic talent, especially in the year in which South Africa celebrates 25 years of freedom and democracy, said Minister Nathi Mthethwa. The department has appointed the Michael School of Art based Nkule Mabaso and Nomusa Makhubu to curate the pavilion at the La Biennale di Venezia which will run in Venice, Italy from 11 May 24 November 2019. According to the curators the proposed theme engages with the determination and tenacious spirit of South Africans. Resilience becomes one of the crucial aspects in understanding South Africa and its people. We need to be able to celebrate our many achievements, while we also confront our shortcomings. While South Africa remains a fragmented society with a fragile political landscape, there is still agency reflected in these artists works that buoys social resistance, the curators explained. Bopape offers intuitive installations that transform spaces into meditative arenas where historical narratives, fiction and personal narratives are wittingly interwoven. Ka Zenziles work draws from African epistemology and the foundations laid by the father of Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Bantu Biko (1977), as well as African postcolonial thought leader and Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiongo. While Roses work reflects the cultural, economic and political differences that mark the contemporary world and in particular post-apartheid South Africa, along with identity-related issues. The department added that this exhibition is not only to recognise the brilliance of this trio of artists but also to open up debates about the narratives of social resilience that are reflected in their creative practice. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. From $10 million in road repairs to an 18 percent increase in revenues from hotel room taxes and estimates Beaumont will hit its largest population totals ever in 2019, the citys headed in the right direction, according to Mayor Becky Ames. After telling Beaumont Chamber of Commerce Thursday lunch attendees she has a particularly rosy view of the city, Ames recounted more than a dozen projects the city is starting or has recently completed, earning her State of the City address more than one lengthy round of applause. Nothing happens without a group of people that are committed to doing whats right and they think is purposeful for our citizens, she said, noting that while shes the one presenting the projects, many people have been involved. Ames is facing re-election in May. She has four challengers Bill Lambert, Joshua Yates, Geary Senigaur Jr. and Jude Paredez. After briefly detailing the citys budget, which Ames says is healthy and sends the most money to the police and fire departments, she told attendees of $10 million the city borrowed to repair roads in 2019 and 2020. Each year will see $5 million in dedicated streets funding a combined total that will end up being more than the citys ever spent on repairing roads, she said. Streets are one of our biggest challenges and I think most cities would agree with me because theyre very expensive and everybody wants their street fixed, she said. Ames also noted the citys created its first mixed-use street on Magnolia Avenue, which has space for bikes and cars. Its also used natural gas royalty earnings from production at the citys Municipal Airport to pay for improvements to Washington Boulevard, Seventh Street and the create the Northwest Parkway. RELATED: Northwest Parkway opens, linking North Major and Parkdale Mall areas In terms of projects that have seen more behind-the-scenes work, Ames discussed the stabilization of Riverfront Park and improvements to the citys water system, all of which were damaged during Tropical Storm Harvey. The city hasnt been able to start on Riverfront Park, which will include stabilizing the shore where it was pushed back by the storm, because that would make it ineligible for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But Ames said shes hopeful that money will come relatively soon and only require a 10 percent match from the city a far cry from the $23.34 million total cost. RELATED: Storm-damaged Riverfront Park still a year away from reopening Work on repairing the water system is expected to begin this summer with a few smaller fixes the city can cover the cost for. City staff is looking into financing options for larger-scale water projects that could include building a whole new water system that is expected to better protect the city from losing water in another storm like Harvey. Ames then briefly touched on a variety of other improvements to the city, including a 10 percent drop in crime from 2017 to 2018, the expansion or relocation of several companies to the Beaumont area, Fire Station No. 1 near Babe D. Zaharias Park in Beaumont and plans to renovate part the Tyrrell Park Community Center, among many other accolades. She also said Beaumont is also expected to see a population over 120,000 beating a record of 119,175 set in 1960, according to the Texas Almanac. The preliminary indications say Beaumont will grow this year, she said, adding to statements made earlier in the address that experts expect Beaumonts recent economic growth means itll be be booming for years to come. Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 9:00PM by Chris Feil As a palette cleanser for the sour taste left in our mouths from the Oscar season, director Neil Jordan has a chocolate-covered acid truffle to offer. Intergenerational stalker thriller Greta is here to deliver in a pinch, an unpretentious treat with pedigree and casual self-awareness. Its the cinematic equivalent of an airport paperback in the best possible way, all schlocky upsides without the unrefined downsides. Chloe Grace Moretz stars as Frances, a young woman in New York City grieving the recent death of her mother. In a chance moment of good samaritanism, Frances finds a handbag bag on the subway and returns it to its rightful owner, Isabelle Hupperts Greta Hideg. Gretas abandonment by her own daughter sparks a sudden friendship of complimentary loneliness between the two. But once Frances learns that their meet cute was a calculation on Gretas part, things quickly escalate into obsession and very ominous hats. Much of the appeal of this thriller is watching Huppert rip into Gretas psychotic swings between sweetness and devilishness - and naturally the actress delivers mightily. She is the current reigning Performer As Auteur, and here she subverts multiple archetypal cliches that regularly hound her actress peers. Part of what makes Greta so much fun is that she is having a ball dissecting genre. As she delights in the films tense heights, Moretz smartly plays it straight, making the film a successful duet of tones for taste levels both high and low. Because of the leads, the film can have its cake and eat it too. Exquisitely shot by Seamus McGarvey, Greta is crafted with a formal class that makes it a buffet of prestige junk food for those starving for respectable sleaze. The film comes off as some kind of aspirational horror film, its tongue-in-cheek thrills are as soothing as Frances illogically easy and well-furnished big city fantasy. Its like if DePalma started shooting ads for West Elm. Jordan keeps things chaste in its actual and suggestive violence, Gretas whimsical menace barely earning its R rating with most horrors left out of frame. It carries an air of modern day Brothers Grimm fairy tale, its interests rooted in femininity and comforts both aesthetic and emotional. Maika Monroe is also an unassumingly charming presence as Frances roommate Erica, a much needed whipsmart contrast to the protagonist straight out of 90s horror archetypes. Perhaps the film is too expedient to really allow itself to develop its ideas of feminine pastiche as persona, but it is filled with meaning in its textures - the shock of Gretas sunglasses, Frances contrasting basics, the primness of Gretas handbag that lures her in. A woman is known by her shoes and her gloves. And we are nothing if not ladies, Huppert coos after a flash of gruesomeness occurs. Her knowing smile and faux-relaxed posture speakes volumes to the theme, but the film flies by them too fast to linger on them. Occasionally Greta feels like a somewhat missed opportunity to deliver something really nasty - or more decidedly queer. But mostly it delivers on exactly what it is selling us, with the promise of Huppert to always elevate its intellectual capacity without diminishing its B-movie elation. Its a camp operetta all the more welcome for its arch tone and slick unpretentiousness. And thank goodness. Grade: B WASHINGTON For Nayda Alvarez, the U.S.-Mexico border is not a political slogan or a line of demarcation. It's her back yard. With the federal government threatening to construct "border security tactical infrastructure" across her one-acre lot in La Rosita, along the Rio Grande, she is looking at the end of a way of life her family has enjoyed for five generations wooden corrals, farm animals and all. So on Thursday, she took a seat alongside a group of constitutional theorists testifying before Congress on the legitimacy of President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration, which the administration is using to get billions of dollars for a new border wall part of which would run between her house and the river 200 feet away. "The bottom line for me is that the federal government is threatening to take my land to fulfill a campaign promise," Alvarez told sympathetic lawmakers, including several from Texas. Alvarez's real hope, however, could lie not in the halls of Congress, but in a federal courthouse near the U.S. Capitol where she and a group of South Texas landowners are challenging the president's edict. Her lawsuit, which names Trump and Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, seeks to block the administration from diverting some $8 billion in military construction and other funds for a border wall. Hers' comes on top another suit filed by 16 states other than Texas, as well as a Democratic-led resolution in Congress that Trump is expected to veto. Unlike the hundreds of cases that have gone to court over the past decade involving people fighting federal seizures of their land on the southwest border, Alvarez's challenge is tied directly to Trump's two-week old emergency order. Although Trump has said the wall is already going up, the legal jockeying around his move could push any new construction back years, at the same time that the administration seeks money for dozens more lawyers to fight a multitude of individual condemnation cases. In addition to the construction costs, the government has been forced to spend nearly $80 million to acquire land for fencing since 2007, according to congressional reports. With the political fight over executive power intensifying as well, Alvarez has now become the national poster child for the cause of private landowners along the border in Texas threatened by the loss of land. Like many others, she faces not only eminent domain action for a wall, but also for a 150-wide "enforcement zone" to go with it. For Alvarez, a 47-year-old teacher and landowner, that would put her house less than 50 feet from a major federal installation. "Even if my house is spared," she said, "it will never be the same. I will lose my entire back yard, and I will be staring at a wall right outside my back door and windows." Her case has been picked up by Public Citizen Litigation Group, which filed suit in February, a month after she received her third letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seeking to survey her land for a wall and threatening to take her to court if she does not cooperate. Alvarez lives next door to her father alongside land where her grandfather lived. The family has lived there for at least five generations. "My grandchild and nieces and nephews play in the same places where their parents played and where I played as a child," she told a panel of the House Judiciary Committee, which is considering changes to the 1976 National Emergency Act being invoked by the White House. "There is no emergency where I live," she continued, "and there is no good reason for the government to take my property to build a border wall in my back yard." Alvarez's property, however, lies in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, about halfway between Brownsville and Laredo, a sector which the Border Patrol has identified as one of the most heavily travelled sectors for migrants of the entire 1,954-mile Mexican border. Some GOP lawmakers questioned her contention that she has never seen migrants from Mexico traversing her family's land illegally. "How can you be so certain?" asked Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson, the ranking Republican on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties subcommittee. Alvarez cited the video surveillance cameras around the house. "No drugs, no gangs, no terrorists come across my property," she said. Some of the Texans on the committee came to her rescue, including Houston Democrat Sylvia Garcia, who grew up on a farm in the South Texas town of Palito Blanco. "We always knew when somebody crossed the farm because there'd be either a fence that was left unlocked or some footprints," she said. "There'd be some sign that somebody had traversed our property." Texas U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Tyler, said he sympathized, even as he remains a stalwart backer of Trump's proposed wall. "I certainly appreciate testimony from anybody that lives there," he said, "but of all the nights I've spent all night on the border, I've seen a crisis." For Alvarez, the crisis is the uncertainty of the coming legal battle, which to her is personal, not political. "You've obviously had to hire lawyers, and you've had to fly to Washington, D.C., to defend your property," said El Paso Democrat Veronica Escobar, a member of the committee. "I am very curious about what the government is putting you through." Alvarez testified that her community has been wracked by the same divisions as the rest of the country. "The government has created a loss of family members and a loss of friendships, divisions amongst us in our communities, because people agree and disagree," she said. As for her, she added, "I am here and I am here to fight this." Houston's largest teachers union has rescinded its support for Mayor Sylvester Turner, citing an ongoing legal dispute between the city and the local firefighters union related to Proposition B. The executive board of the Houston Federation of Teachers voted unanimously Monday to withdraw its support for Turner, who is up for re-election in November 2019. In a statement, the teachers union said it could no longer back the mayor because of the city's ongoing litigation in Texas' 14th Court of Appeals, in which Turner's administration is seeking a ruling that would effectively render the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association's collective bargaining rights unconstitutional. In the city's "ongoing fight against Proposition B," the teachers union said, teachers have been "treated like collateral damage." BACK IN COURT: Turner seeks to have Prop B declared invalid Voters passed the Prop B referendum in November granting firefighters the same pay as police officers of corresponding status, but the city has yet to implement the pay raises. If Turner resolves the Prop B dispute before the election, the teachers union would likely support him again, President Zeph Capo said. "We put a lot of money and time into his last election," Capo said. "We want to support him again, but this has got to be resolved. Questioning any part of the [collective bargaining] process is a line in the sand that we can't cross." Though the election remains more than eight months away, negotiations between the city and fire union have ground to a halt for now, fire union President Marty Lancton said. "As the city doesn't have a current offer to implement Prop B, there are no ongoing negotiations," he said. Turner, in an open letter released Friday, said the city had sent firefighters a proposal to phase in the costs of Prop B over five years, which he said would "substantially eliminate the need to lay off or reduce services beyond the normal budgetary process." The mayor has said that without any relief, the city would have to lay off as many as 1,000 employees, including firefighters to cover the $100 million annual estimated cost of implementing Prop B raises. The city's appellate case is just one element of a complex legal web related to firefighters' pay and the Prop B charter amendment. In a separate case still playing out in district court, the city is seeking to declare Prop B invalid. The union also has sought a court order compelling the city to implement the charter amendment. Meanwhile, the case currently going through the 14th Court of Appeals stems from a long-running contract dispute between the city and firefighters. The fire union sued the city in June 2017 after the city rejected the union's request to settle their differences through arbitration and both sides subsequently failed to reach a deal through mediation. In that lawsuit, a state district judge last year struck down the city's argument that a section of Texas' Local Government Code violates the Texas Constitution by granting a judge discretion over firefighter pay. The provision in question allows the union to seek a district judge's ruling if the city "refuses to engage in arbitration." If the judge finds firefighters are not receiving compensation that meets criteria laid out in a different section of the code, the judge can declare what pay would meet those standards, and order the city to "make the affected employees whole as to the employees' past losses." In his letter, Turner disputed the notion that his administration is "mounting a broadside attack, constitutional or otherwise," on the chapter of the local government code that regulates fire and police employee relations. Citing his time in the Legislature, Turner affirmed that he is "committed to collective bargaining" and in fact would prefer to settle the Prop B dispute through that process instead of going through a judge. The firefighters union, which has argued the removal of that provision would essentially gut firefighters' collective bargaining rights, applauded the Houston Federation of Teachers' move on Twitter. 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. A bill to scale back restrictions for certified registered nurse anesthetists in Arkansas was rejected Feb. 28, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Three insights: 1. Senate Bill 184 would have required CRNAs to work "in coordination with" a physician, dentist or other practitioner authorized to order anesthesia, rather than "under the supervision of" those providers. 2. The Arkansas Society of Anesthesiologists and American Society of Anesthesiologists opposed the bill. 3. Sponsored by Arkansas House Rep. Justin Gonzales, R-Okolona, the bill was one vote short of clearing the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor. Texas Health Surgery Center Cleburne partnered with Cleburne High School gives high school students interested in medical careers real-world experience, the Cleburne Times-Review reports. What you should know: 1. The students first visited the surgery center in 2018, which led to center administrators developing a partnership with teachers to host the students for a three week, twice-a-week program. 2. The students get a chance to observe several aspects of patient care including check-in, preoperative prep, surgery, postoperative recovery and dismissal. 3. Health Sciences Teacher Jodi Thomas said, "The biggest thing I hear from our kids is the way they are treated by the staff at the surgery center. They are so receptive to them being there and really want to provide them with every aspect of what is taking place there." 4. Surgery Center Administrator Melissa Dansby said the center is attempting to provide as much hands-on learning as possible. She added, "We wanted to do it right. We wanted to make it meaningful for students in their time with us. We try to let them apply what they are learning at the high school and teach them a little bit more." Kenneth J. Vega, MD, is the gastroenterology and hepatology division chief at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Dr. Vega is also a medical professor at the Medical College of Georgia. He has authored more than 60 reviews, original articles and book chapters. In 2013, Dr. Vega retired from the U.S. Army National Guard after three overseas deployments, during which he provided medical support for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Here are 25 ASCs that were opened or announced in February: 1. Chicago-based River North Surgery Center is seeking state permission to establish an ASC. 2. UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center and Steamboat Orthopaedic & Spine Institute, both based in Steamboat Springs, Colo., are collaborating on an orthopedic ASC project. 3. Raleigh, N.C.-based Compass Surgical Partners opened Skyway Surgery Center in St. Petersburg, Fla., in partnership with a group of independent neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and pain management specialists. 4. Santa Monica, Calif.-based Source Healthcare plans to open an ASC, according to Founder Tim Davis, MD. 5. York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health is opening an outpatient surgery center in Hanover, Pa., March 4. 6. New York's Public Health and Health Planning Council approved a plan by OrthoNY, Albany ENT & Allergy Services and St. Peter's Hospital to build an $8.4 million outpatient surgery center. Each organization is based in Albany, N.Y. 7. After suing for independence from Atrium Health in 2018, Tryon Medical Partners has opened a $2.8 million gastroenterology ASC in Charlotte, N.C. 8. Nashville, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners opened an ASC in Tampa, Fla. 9. Flagstaff (Ariz.) Bone & Joint is expanding its footprint with The Flagstaff Bone & Joint Ambulatory Surgical Center and medical office building. 10. An outpatient pavilion featuring an ASC is coming to Doylestown (Pa.) Health's campus. 11. Glendale-based Ascension Wisconsin held a ceremonial groundbreaking on its $42 million medical center with an ASC. 12. Construction on Granite Falls, N.C.-based Prime Surgical Suites is nearing completion, according to orthopedic spine surgeon Matthew Hannibal, MD. It is expected to open in late 2019. 13. Conway (S.C.) Medical Center bought about 8.8 acres in Socastee, S.C., for a medical office complex. CMC leaders applied for a certificate of need to house an ASC on the second floor of a three-story building under development. 14. Orlando (Fla.) Health's South Lake Hospital Center for Specialty Surgery in Clermont, Fla., is taking shape. The 28,696-square-foot outpatient surgery center will offer orthopedic, podiatry and pain management procedures. 15. New Orleans-based LCMC Health opened Ridgelake Health Center in Metairie, La., as part of a $400 million expansion involving two surgery centers. 16. The Hasting Planning Commission approved Hastings, Mich.-based Spectrum Health Pennock Hospital's $12 million surgical center proposal. 17. Canton, Ohio-based Omni Orthopaedics plans to build a surgery center in 2019 in Jackson Township, Ohio. 18. Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center's planned development in Murfreesboro, Tenn., is expected to cost $51.5 million. VUMC is building a 37,500-square-foot pediatric clinic and ASC. Within 10 years, VUMC wants to expand the building to 100,000 square feet. 19. Doctors United Surgery Center opened a facility in Pasadena, Texas. 20. Casto Southeast Realty Services is developing a $24 million medical office building complex anchoring a 50-acre, mixed-use commercial project in Lakewood, Fla. The three-story building will have a 13,000-square-foot surgery and imaging center. 21. Columbus-based The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is seeking approval to expand its ambulatory care network by building a large outpatient care center in Dublin, Ohio. 22. Towson, Md -based SurgCenter Development formed its 200th ASC partnership with SurgCenter of Clearwater (Fla.). 23. Madison, Miss.-based Capital Ortho's new Flowood, Miss.-based campus houses the Specialty Surgical Center. 24. The University of Miami (Fla.) Health System is constructing an outpatient medical facility in North Miami. The UHealth Medical Center at SoLe Mia will include ambulatory surgery suites, as well as cancer and eye specialists. 25. Medical City Frisco (Texas) broke ground on a 150,000-square-foot, $37 million medical office building and ASC project Feb. 27. The following hospital and health system credit rating and outlook changes or affirmations occurred in the last two weeks, beginning with the most recent: 1. Moody's affirms 'A1' rating for Regional Health Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A1" rating for Rapid City, S.D.-based Regional Health, affecting $212 million of rated debt. 2. Moody's downgrades North Mississippi Health Services' rating to 'A2' Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Tupelo, Miss.-based North Mississippi Health Services' long-term rating from "Aa3" to "A1," affecting $111 million of outstanding rated bonds. 3. Moody's downgrades CentraCare Health System rating to 'A2' Moody's Investors Service has assigned an "A2" rating to St. Cloud, Minn.-based CentraCare Health System's proposed revenue bonds and downgraded its existing bonds from "A1" to A2," affecting $247 million of outstanding debt. 4. S&P lowers rating for Milford Regional Medical Center to 'BB+' S&P Global Ratings lowered its rating for Milford (Mass.) Regional Medical Center from "BBB-" to "BB+." 5. Moody's affirms 'A2' rating for University of Vermont Health Network Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A2" rating for Burlington-based University of Vermont Health Network, affecting $313 million of rated debt. 6. Fitch assigns 'AA' rating to WellSpan Health Fitch Ratings assigned an "AA-" revenue bond rating to York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health and affirmed the system's "AA-" issuer default rating. 7. Fitch withdraws issue default rating for Summit Health Fitch Ratings has withdrawn its issuer default rating for Chambersburg, Pa.-based Summit Health. 8. Fitch affirms 'BBB-' ratings for Marshall Medical Center Fitch Ratings affirmed its "BBB-" issuer default and revenue bond ratings for Placerville, Calif.-based Marshall Medical Center. 9. Fitch affirms 'AA' ratings for Advocate Aurora Health Fitch Ratings affirmed "AA" issuer default and revenue bond ratings for Milwaukee-based Advocate Aurora Health and assigned an "F1+" short term rating to the system's taxable commercial paper program. 10. Moody's revises outlook to negative for Washington Township Health Care District Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook for Washington Township (Calif.) Health Care District from stable to negative. 11. Moody's revises outlook to negative for Washington Township Health Care District Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook for Washington Township (Calif.) Health Care District from stable to negative. 12. S&P revises outlook to positive for H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute S&P Global Ratings has revised its outlook from stable to positive for Tampa, Fla.-based H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. 13. Fitch affirms 'AA-' ratings for Salem Health Fitch Ratings has affirmed its "AA-" issuer default rating and "AA-" long-term rating for Salem (Ore.) Health. 14. S&P raises Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare rating to 'A-' S&P Global Ratings raised its rating for Carson City, Nev.-based Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare from "BBB+" to "A-." 15. S&P revises Southcoast Health System outlook to stable S&P Global Ratings has revised its rating outlook for New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health System from negative to stable. 16. Fitch assigns 'AA' issuer default rating to Rady's Children's Hospital Fitch Ratings has assigned a "AA" issuer default rating to San Diego-based Rady Children's Hospital. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said lawmakers hope to release new legislation to stop surprise medical bills by the end of March, according to The Hill. Mr. Cassidy has been working with a group of Republicans and Democrats to address the issue, which can leave patients with high, unexpected out-of-pocket costs. Last year, Mr. Cassidy introduced the Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills Act, and Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire separate surprise billing legislation. Now Mr. Cassidy and Ms. Hassan, along with other lawmakers, are working together on one, revised bill, according to The Hill. Details of the revised legislation are still being worked out, after lawmakers received input from providers, insurers, employers and consumer groups. A key issue reportedly is the amount insurers would be required to pay physicians or hospitals for services provided, and how that amount is determined. Mr. Cassidy told The Hill arbitration is one potential solution. More articles on healthcare finance: Boca Raton Regional Hospital sees revenue increase, operating income fall in Q2 9 recent stories on medical billing Illinois association publishes billing guide for Medicaid managed care The president of Brigham and Women's Hospital is refuting media reports of tension between the facility and Massachusetts General Hospital, both part of the Boston-based Partners HealthCare system, wpri.com reports. Three things to know: 1. After Partners CEO David Torchiana, MD, revealed plans to step down in April, healthcare experts began to speculate as to how his successor would handle perceived tensions between the Boston-based hospitals. 2. Brigham and Women's and MGH founded Partners HealthCare in 1994, and the health system has since grown to become the largest system in the state. 3. Brigham and Women's President Elizabeth Nabel, MD, told wpri.com that reports of tension between the hospital and MGH have been "completely overblown." "You can't believe everything you read, with all due respect to your profession. The relationship between the Brigham and Mass. General has never been stronger," Dr. Nabel said. "I've been in my role for nine years. [MGH President] Dr. Peter Slavin is a very close colleague of mine. We actively work for ways in which we can collaborate together." "I can tell you, as an insider, that Partners is very sound and very stable," she added. To access the full report, click here. After spending 30 years progressing through the ranks and helping drive improvements at Coral Gables (Fla.) Hospital, Cristina Jimenez saw her efforts recognized in March 2017 when she was promoted to CEO. Ms. Jimenez began her career at the hospital more than three decades ago as a student intern focusing on her Bachelors in medical technology. Upon completion of the internship, she was asked to stay as a laboratory technologist. Although she left briefly for three months, she was immediately asked to return. Since that day, she has spent her entire career at Coral Gables. Over the years, the healthcare veteran has served as Coral Gables' COO, chief standards officer, associate administrator and risk manager, among others. Since Ms. Jimenez took the helm, the 245-bed hospital has achieved significant milestones. For example, in 2018, Coral Gables became the top Tenet hospital for patient satisfaction in the Miami-Dade market. In 2017, Coral Gables became first hospital in the area to achieve certification for both total hip and total knee replacement from the Joint Commission. Here, Ms. Jimenez discusses more about her 30-year career by answering Becker's seven Corner Office questions. Editor's Note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity Question: What is one thing that piqued your interest in healthcare? Cristina Jimenez: As I was growing up, both my father and grandfather worked in the healthcare industry. Thanks to them, I have always been passionate about healthcare. Even from a young age, I wanted to help people and make sure I made a difference in their lives. When patients are hospitalized, it can be a vulnerable moment in their lives and being able to help people gives me a lot of satisfaction. Growing up, I never thought I would be a healthcare leader. However, my career and the steps I took prepared me to develop into one. I was able to demonstrate my skills, devotion and interest and I was able to prove myself. Tenet trusted me, they gave me the opportunity to grow and I was selected to be part of a leadership development program. That led me to earning my MBA with a specialization in healthcare. Q: What do you enjoy most about the city of Coral Gables? CJ: Coral Gables is a great city filled with rich history and beautiful architecture. It has a Mediterranean style, which is very intriguing to me. Additionally, after looking into the history of Coral Gables, I found out that George Merrick established the city and he had ties to Latin America. That history has allowed Coral Gables to evolve while still maintaining that international pride. The hospital carries the name of the city and we're very honored by that, because much like the city, it is international and multicultural. Q: If you could eliminate one of the healthcare industry's problems overnight, which would it be? CJ: While much progress has been made, I'd want to eliminate all preventable medical errors. I think it could be achieved by more research and improving technology as an industry. If we could implement more technology, we would be able to further eliminate medication errors and improve patient safety, which is a top priority for everyone in healthcare. It would be a great accomplishment. I also think that if we had more automated systems and if the government provided incentives to the hospitals to implement new technologies, we'd be better off as a whole. Q: What do you consider your greatest talent or skill outside of the C-suite? CJ: I love to cook. I've never been professionally trained, but when I was a child my grandmother was a great cook and she taught me. I enjoy cooking so much that when I'm not at the hospital or when I'm on vacation, I cook as a hobby of mine. I love cooking a lot of different dishes, but I would have to say my specialty is the shrimp creole I add a bit of sugar to the sauce. Q: How do you revitalize yourself? CJ: I belong to a wellness program and make sure to exercise regularly. I think exercise is good for the mind and good for the soul. I also prioritize time with my family when I'm not at the hospital. I recently became a grandmother, so I enjoy time with my grandson. He gives me great joy, and revitalizes me when I'm not here at the hospital. Q: What is one piece of advice you remember most clearly? CJ: It's very important that you embrace change in healthcare, because the industry is very dynamic. One thing someone told me a long time ago is that healthcare is ever-changing and leaders in healthcare need to be able to adapt to those changes and embrace them. If you don't, then you and your organization won't evolve. That's something I've always taken to heart. Meaning, even though I've been at Coral Gables for a long time, I adapt to change and I'm not one of those people to say, "Oh, we've done it like this for 30 years, so we have to continue doing it this way." On the contrary, I always search for new ways to do things. If a new method works better, I'm the first one to make sure my team complies. Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement at Coral Gables Hospital so far? CJ: One thing I consider a great personal accomplishment is the longstanding career I've had at Coral Gables. I think it's something that should be highlighted, especially being a female and having the opportunity to grow and evolve into the CEO. I know that's something I should be very proud of, and something my family takes pride in. I'm sure that my dad, if he was still alive, would be very proud of what I've been able to accomplish. Beyond that, as CEO I have a few great accomplishments. Since I took over, our patient satisfaction scores have improved significantly. In the last two years, we were able to be in the top quartile for all Tenet facilities. Then last year, we were in the top 10 and we finished with the highest patient satisfaction score of all Tenet hospitals in the Miami-Dade market. The team has worked very diligently making sure that we give our patients the respect, dignity and satisfaction they deserve. In addition, I am also very proud of our orthopedic program and the work of our Orthopedic Center of Excellence Director Gilbert Beauperthuy-Rojas, DO, who helped start the program. Even though this was not something that was started by me it was part of my transition as a CEO I was here when the program first achieved the Joint Commission accreditation. That was a huge accomplishment for the facility and we are currently in the process to obtain the Advance Certification. I also want to highlight that we just started our robotics program for general surgery, urology and gynecological services, among others. So far, we have had great success and we are currently in the process of applying for Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) certification for robotics, which is something I am very proud of. Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health in Burlington, Mass., officially merge March 1 to become Beth Israel Lahey Health, a system with 13 hospitals and 4,300 physicians across Massachusetts, according to WBUR. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and state attorney general approved the merger under conditions, including limited annual price increases over the next seven years, maintaining $71.6 million in commitments to support healthcare services for low-income and underserved communities statewide, and good faith efforts to enroll all licensed providers in MassHealth the state's Medicaid and children's health insurance program within three years. Maura Healey, attorney general of Massachusetts, is negotiating with Beth Israel Lahey to appoint an independent monitor to track adherence to these conditions. "In five years time, if patients and their families tell us that we have made a difference in their lives, then we will have been wildly successful as far as I'm concerned," said Kevin Tabb, MD, president and CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health. More articles on healthcare transactions: Littleton Regional Healthcare drops New Hampshire consortium affiliation Healthy Connections to buy Arkansas hospital Mayo Clinic adds Mexico hospital to care network Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital in Green Valley, Ariz., has filed a counterclaim against Global Hospitalist Solutions after the Memphis, Tenn.-based physician staffing company sued the hospital for more than $1.9 million, according to Green Valley News. Five things to know: 1. Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital entered into contracts with Global Hospitalist Solutions in 2018. In its lawsuit, GHS alleges the hospital fell behind on its payments. When the physician staffing company notified the hospital's CEO of the overdue payment, the hospital allegedly terminated its contracts with GHS "without cause." 2. The termination agreement called for the contracts to end Jan. 31. However, the hospital allegedly continued to fall behind on payments, and GHS terminated the agreement Dec. 31. 3. The hospital recently filed a counterclaim against GHS, alleging the physician staffing group breached its contract with the hospital, failed to act in good faith and interfered with the hospital's business relations, according to Green Valley News. 4. The hospital alleges that it was often unable to bill patients for services provided by GHS physicians because the physicians left many patient files incomplete and unsigned. The hospital also raised concerns about the quality of services provided by GHS. GHS "caused the hospital substantial reputational harm, lost and diverted business opportunities and the inability to bill and collect for services rendered," the hospital's counterclaim states, according to the report. 5. In a response to the hospital's counterclaim, an attorney representing GHS denied the allegations brought by the hospital. Access the full Green Valley News article here. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: Physicians accepted $40M in kickbacks from Texas hospital, feds say HCA accused of billing fraud: 3 things to know Financial analyst gets prison time for embezzling $46K from West Virginia hospital Vanguard Healthcare, a Brentwood, Tenn.-based nursing home chain, has agreed to pay more than $18 million to resolve false claims allegations, according to the Department of Justice. Vanguard allegedly billed Medicare and Medicaid for "grossly substandard" services. Five Vanguard facilities failed to provide standard infection control and wound care, used unnecessary physical restraints on residents, and failed to administer medications to residents as prescribed, according to the Justice Department. "Simply stated, our elderly and vulnerable citizens who can't care for themselves deserve far better treatment than what they were subjected to by Vanguard," Don Cochran, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said in a press release. "The substandard care that many of these facilities' residents endured while the companies were raiding the public coffers is deplorable." The settlement also resolves the government's claims against Vanguard's majority owner and CEO, William Orand, and Vanguard's former director of operations, Mark Miller. They agreed to pay $250,000 as part of the settlement. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: Physicians accepted $40M in kickbacks from Texas hospital, feds say HCA accused of billing fraud: 3 things to know Financial analyst gets prison time for embezzling $46K from West Virginia hospital Pittsburgh-based UPMC said its health plan now has more Medicare Advantage members than Pittsburgh-based rival Highmark, according to Trib Live. UPMC Health Plan covers 37 percent of the Western Pennsylvania market, according to UPMC, and is outpacing Highmark in Medicare Advantage members by about 50,000. "We've grown dramatically," Diane Holder, president of UPMC's Insurance Services Division, told Trib Live. "We are now the largest provider of Medicare Advantage in Western Pennsylvania." During fall 2018 alone, UPMC recorded its second-best year in Medicare Advantage sales. Eight thousand members were added for 2019 compared to the year prior, according to UPMC's year-end financial updates. At the same time, Highmark's Medicare Advantage enrollment fell by 21,000 members, according to UPMC. Highmark spokesperson Aaron Billger told the publication he would not comment or "speculate on data points presented by UPMC." UPMC attributed the change to its impending split with Highmark in summer 2019, which caused fewer members to choose Highmark and opt for alternatives like Aetna, the health system said. More articles on payers: BCBS of Michigan accused of charging hidden fees UnityPoint back in network with Humana, Molina Anthem study: Employers are increasingly bundling health benefits Hospital pharmacies' role continues to evolve. Today, they play a critical role in delivering safe, effective care for patients. They are also uniquely positioned to improve patient outcomes, cut drug expenses and accelerate operational efficiencies to help health systems meet hospitalwide strategic initiatives. Yet as the pharmacy's role evolves, hospital executives need to understand how to fully leverage this emerging asset and resource to its full potential, noted Michael Brown, RPh, vice president of Managed Services at Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health. For example, said Mr. Brown, today's hospital executives need to leverage their pharmacies as strategic assets to help counter rising drug costs, promote population health initiatives and foster more innovation. "Hospital administrators need to ask how their pharmacy can help their organization meet its goalsIf administrators don't take the steps to utilize this expertise, their health system is going to miss opportunities to decrease drug expenses and implement productivity and quality standards, which affect outcomes," Mr. Brown said. Mr. Brown has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare and is responsible for the operations of more than 200 hospital pharmacies across the U.S. The inpatient pharmacy services business Mr. Brown oversees at Cardinal Health celebrates its 50th year of service this year. Here, Mr. Brown outlines what questions hospital executives should ask of their pharmacies to maximize performance and help meet their hospitals strategic goals. Editor's Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: How can hospitals leverage pharmacy to help achieve hospitalwide strategic initiatives? Michael Brown:Today, hospital administrators must balance a lotfrom regulatory pressures, reimbursement challenges or shifts in patient volume to outpatient care. To address these challenges successfully they must be innovative. However, recent research states that about 60 percent of hospital administrators don't have time or resources to focus on new programs or improvements. In terms of the pharmacy department, administrators said that about half of all new initiatives are driven by outside forces like a new regulatory requirement or shortage alert. So, it's not strategic at all. More often than not, administrators are reacting. That said, hospital administrators need to begin asking how their pharmacy can help them meet organizational goals. Innovative approaches, centered on optimizing medication utilization, improvement opportunities and cost-cutting strategies, should come from the experts who live in the pharmacy world daily. Administrators must expect their pharmacy leaders to bring strategic ideas to the table. Overall, I think C-suite leaders should begin elevating the system pharmacist or director of pharmacy to the executive branch, so that these leaders can be part of the holistic, organizational decision-making and strategic planning processes. The reality is that pharmacy costs have been increasing at about 5 percent annually. That is a big issue hospital leaders must address. When it comes to pharmacy, many administrators don't know how to address those rising costs. However, they have pharmacy experts in their health system who do. If administrators don't take the steps to utilize this expertise, their health system is going to miss opportunities to reduce drug expenses, as well as to implement productivity and quality standards, which can improve patient outcomes. If your patient outcomes are poor, you're going to get hit by penalties and receive less reimbursement. The pharmacy can help ensure better patient outcomes. Administrators should expect their pharmacy leaders to bring their clinical expertise and ideas to the top of the organization. Q: How should hospital administrators measure pharmacy performance? What types of questions should they ask their pharmacies today? MB:I think a lot of administrators struggle with this question because pharmacy can be an enigma. It is a clinical, technically complex world, and many administrators are unsure when to dig deeper into opportunities. When it comes to measuring pharmacy performance, I urge C-suite leaders to think outside the box. Don't just ask questions like, "How are we doing against my drug budget? How are we doing against regulatory standards?" It must go beyond that. Instead, administrators should focus on several different areas. The first thing they should do is take a step back and look at pharmacy as a whole and asks questions like, "What is pharmacy doing to drive my top-line revenue or patient volume? Do they have a retail strategy? What drugs are being used and how do I maximize reimbursement on those drugs? Are we participating in patient assistance programs?" Another area to look at is operational efficiency. Administrators must ask, "What is the pharmacy doing that can improve costs within the hospital? What drugs am I utilizing and how much is it costing me to use those drugs? Are there alternatives that can maximize margins?" A third area to focus on is the pharmacy staff's involvement in quality initiatives and productivity. Administrators should ask questions like, "How am I using my pharmacy staff? Are they practicing at the top of their licenses or just checking and entering orders in the pharmacy? Or are they out on the floors, talking to physicians, talking to patients and improving quality care, patient outcomes, proper utilization of medicines, etc.?" Additionally, C-suite leaders should assess the pharmacy's role in various quality initiatives, such as medication safety, pain management programs and how pharmacy can help with medication management across the continuum of care. Those are just a few of the new areas that hospital pharmacies should address to help their hospitals succeed and thrive. In terms of measuring and benchmarking pharmacy performance, there are commercial programs that can help hospitals track various datamostly surrounding productivity and clinical utilization. In addition, there are metrics to use to ensure that your hospital is getting the most from your pharmacylike those that track medication safety. However, at the end of the day, the C-suite needs a pharmacy leader who can prepare these statistics for them. A hospital needs to have the ability to measure how well its doing against their peers, and most pharmacy leaders should have scorecard tools to help their organizations do so. Q: What else can pharmacies do to help ensure their hospital's future success? MB:The pharmacy has to start thinking about the hospital of the future. We pharmacists are no longer just treating patients as they are admitted. We're treating a population and a community. Hospitals are buying clinics, infusion centers and physician practices. As the market consolidates and managing the health of a population becomes the standard, it is important to understand how pharmacy can help address the issues that come with these changes. Most patients are on a medication of some sort and they can obtain their medications in myriad ways, whether at a hospital, retail store, physician's office or infusion center. The pharmacy is in a unique position to ensure patients receive the right drug, take it the right way and understand what it does regardless of where they obtain the medication. The end goal is to improve quality and patient outcomes. To do that, leaders must look at expanding pharmacy's reach into the community. By working with retail, long-term care and infusion center partners, hospital pharmacies can help improve patients' healthcare journey outside of the three to five days they stay at a hospital. To learn more about Inpatient Pharmacy Services at Cardinal Health, please click here. Nine spine surgeons discuss the technology and techniques that will fade over the next few years, and factors driving the disappearance. Q: What do you think will fade or disappear from the spine field over the next few years? Mitchell Levine, MD. Lenox Hill Hospital (New York City): Interventions for focal back pain and neck pain without neurological involvement are going to trend down. Insurance companies are tightening their criteria for approving fusion surgeries and evidence-based care will be standard. This increased scrutiny on efficacy will be brought to bear on all aspects of spine care, including pain management and physical therapy as well. The overuse of epidural steroids and ablative procedures in spinal stenosis treatment is already being evaluated. Nigel Price, MD. Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.): Several value-driven practices are changing the outcomes. We will see fewer infections, less need for transfusions, early mobilization and earlier discharges from the inpatient side. We will hopefully make better decisions in terms of preoperative planning and execution so avoidable complications necessitating revision surgery will be reduced. Collaboration across many institutions will help refine technique through sharing of data. There will be fewer spine fusions for deformity in the younger age group as techniques and technologies for doing guided growth will encourage more fusionless surgery. Jeffrey Cantor, MD. Cantor Spine Institute (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.): Traditional bone cutting tools are the easiest old technology to replace. Eugene Koh, MD, PhD. University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore): Currently, insurance companies are collecting data on each individual surgeon, including expense for each individual procedure (for example, the cost for a single-level ACDF). Certain insurance companies are financially incentivizing primary care physicians to refer to the least expensive surgeons. As they accumulate more data, including outcomes data, the insurance companies would dictate the procedure or surgeon with the lowest revision rate. Numerous reports have demonstrated interspinous devices for lumbar spinal stenosis have poor outcomes and a high re-operation rate. Insurance companies will make it more and more difficult for surgeons to justify placing these implants or any devices that have a high revision rate. Andrew Cordover, MD. Andrews Sorts Medicine & Orthopaedic Center (Birmingham, Ala.): I have a concern with the over-reliance on technology and the disappearance of knowledge of basic, technical surgical principles. The burden will fall on teaching institutions to make sure that doesn't happen as image guidance and new biologics (which may allow for suboptimal surgical technique) gain acceptance. Avery Jackson, MD. Michigan Neurosurgical Institute (Grand Blanc): I think interbody spinous devices will eventually fade. I think halo fixation will eventually fade. Michael Goldsmith, MD. The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics (Bethesda, Md.): Hopefully revision surgery for pseudarthrosis will be less prevalent in the coming years. As our implants and techniques become better and our adjuncts to bone grafts become more powerful through advancement in biologics, I would expect to see fusion rates rise. Revision surgery is extremely costly and has higher complication rates than index fusions, so the goal is to avoid reoperation to benefit both the patient and health system. One concern I have, which is a bleak prediction, is that innovation may decrease as well. In an effort to save money, many hospitals, in particular the larger health systems, are moving to one or two vendor systems which drives out smaller companies and may have the downstream effect of diminishing innovation. Oftentimes smaller companies have the ability to be more innovative either because they were created around a new technology or in order to differentiate themselves. We need to continue to encourage true innovation at the ground level by supporting all technology, not just from the big companies. Robert Jackson, MD. Orange County Neurosurgical Associates (Laguna Hills, Calif.): Narcotic consumption will decrease over the next five years as practitioners and public become more aware of the dangers. To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com. For a deeper dive into the future of spine, attend the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC in Chicago, June 13-5, 2019. Click here to learn more and register. In March, neurosurgeon Carolyn Quinsey, MD, will travel to Malawi in Africa to improve neurosurgical care, according to The Daily Tar Heel. Five things to know: 1. Dr. Quinsey is an assistant pediatric neurosurgery professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill and the project director of the UNC Neurosurgery Initiative in Malawi. 2. Along with fellow UNC neurosurgeon Eldad Hadar, MD, Dr. Quinsey will travel to Lilongwe, Malawi, to support Kamuzu Central Hospital's newest neurosurgeon, Dr. Ken-Keller Kumwenda. 3. Drs. Quinsey and Hadar travel to Malawi twice a year for two weeks at a time. 4. Dr. Quinsey hopes that Malawian neurosurgeons will eventually help train UNC residents. 5. UNC aims to help Malawi create a self-sufficient medical community. Tampa, Fla.-based Joseph Spine's Samuel Joseph, MD, and Andrew Moulton, MD, traveled to the Dominican Republic with other surgeons in early February to perform several spinal surgeries. What you should know: 1. The group performed four to five surgeries a day on the trip. They performed a total of 23 scoliosis and kyphosis cases on the trip. 2. In addition, the group screened patients and gave several educational lectures to residents. 3. Dr. Joseph said, "It felt amazing to have a direct effect on a child's life and not only improve their appearance but improve their quality of life and life expectancy." Wilsons Auctions made history last night by staging the world's first live physical auction for Bitcoin. The Mallusk-based firm beat competition from across Europe to win the contract to dispose of the criminal assets on behalf of the Belgian Government. It includes a batch of 315 Bitcoin seized from criminals operating on the dark web. The total haul is valued at around 300,000. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has become increasingly popular among criminals. Unlike traditional currencies, which use a central bank, a cryptocurrency operates through blockchain technology, which records every transaction via an online public ledger system. It has become prevalent on the 'dark web', an area of the internet only accessible by using anonymity software. Wilsons have offered most of the Bitcoin via a 24-hour online auction, garnering interest from 110 countries. But last night it put some of it under the hammer alongside a series of luxury seized assets from Rolex watches and Lou Vuitton bags to a Bentley car and Jimmy Choo shoes. Some of the watches were part of a 330,000 haul stolen from the son of a Russian billionaire in London in 2015. A large amount of the Bitcoin being auctioned was seized from two drug-dealing brothers in Antwerp, who were selling substances over the dark net and shipping it worldwide. Wilsons is now the largest independent auctioneer in the UK and Ireland, employing around 400 people. Aidan Larkin, head of asset recovery, said his division had grown "massively" from a single staff member five years ago to around 50. "Five years ago we had a handful of contracts, we now represent 90% of law enforcement agencies in the UK and Ireland, in addition to contracts in Belgium, Malta and now the Balkan countries and soon to be in Nigeria and in Malaysia. "We're involved in some of the biggest fraud cases, where there are tens of millions of pounds of assets being managed. "The stuff you see on a Wilsons Auctions website for sale could have been seized from a corrupt political leader in the Balkans," he said. "We're now dealing with cases for example in Bermuda, where there are 25 seized vessels that haven't been moved in a long time. We have a case with 6,000 parked cars in Macedonia." He said the criminal assets auctioned by the firm had yielded more than 100m for HMRC in the past five years. Outgoing Invest NI chief executive Alastair Hamilton has been praised for his contribution to the economic development agency after announcing his departure. Mr Hamilton was appointed 10 years ago to lead the agency, which is responsible for drawing foreign direct investment into Northern Ireland, and for helping homegrown companies expand. The 10 years he's been in charge spanned the worst years of the economic crash, when Invest NI came up with strategies to help the NI economy withstand the impact of the downturn. Read More The agency encouraged the creation of new jobs in a shorter than usual time through the Jobs Fund. He also developed new Access to Finance measures to encourage banks and other types of lenders to fund business, after banks' balance sheets in particular were badly hit by the property crash. And in the last two years, it's aimed to continue to attract inward investors to Northern Ireland despite any potential impact of Brexit. Mr Hamilton this week told the Belfast Telegraph that he and the board of Invest NI had initially made a decision to be "neutral" on Brexit, but that the board had then taken the step of contacting the leaders of the political parties to express concerns over readiness for Brexit. He said that move had been "fully supported and endorsed by the full executive team in Invest Northern Ireland". He has also been the face of other more positive news stories of job creation and economic development - notably the growth of legal sector jobs from firms such as Allen & Overy and Baker McKenzie. And through the work of Northern Ireland Screen, a sister organisation of Invest NI, he was also involved in encouraging the growth of US cable HBO's operations in Northern Ireland, where it filmed blockbuster fantasy series Game of Thrones. Recruitment specialist Neal Lucas said Mr Hamilton had played "a critical role in driving toward future economic prosperity for our region and his is not a job that is easily comparable to any other role in Northern Ireland". He added that the role had changed in recent years as Mr Hamilton became the face of Invest NI and government in jobs announcement, as there was no longer an Economy Minister to take part in photo opportunities. "He has had to walk the intricate tightrope between the public and private sectors in a highly politically visible role. "His public profile has undoubtedly increased in the last two years in the absence of active politicians as he has had to step in front of the camera more than usual and take the deserved credit for the work of his organisation when announcing inward investment projects. "Many local business owners will have noticed the positive cultural change within Invest NI under his stewardship as it has improved the support services, adding real value and helped many businesses grow in the difficult economic and political climate of recent years." His role attracted one of the highest salaries in the public sector in NI. And unlike others in top roles in both the private and public sector, Mr Hamilton did not go to university, instead rising through the ranks of BT after starting as an apprentice. He told the Belfast Telegraph in 2012: "I realise it would be difficult for me to repeat what I have achieved in my career in today's environment or to get to where I am now without a degree - because of the need for a degree, in a lot of jobs, it doesn't matter how good you are, you could get filtered out." Alastair Hamilton, CEO of Invest NI with then First Minister Arlene Foster and the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Shaun Kelly of KPMG International during an investment mission to the US in 2016 One of the most important jobs in the public sector in Northern Ireland is to become vacant after Invest NI chief executive Alastair Hamilton announced he's leaving after 10 years in the post. Mr Hamilton, who is originally from Coleraine, has helped increase levels of inward investment into the region, including new types of companies such as major London law firms who now have support offices here. One entrepreneur said that Mr Hamilton had brought a change of culture for the better to the economic development agency. Read More The former BT boss is due to stay at the organisation until a successor is appointed, and is not expected to leave the post until the autumn. But he has not gone into detail about what his plans are for the future. Mr Hamilton said yesterday: "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Invest NI, and count it a great privilege to have been able to serve the organisation, and my home country, in such a significant role. "There is never a good time to leave such a position, but it has been my intention to step down after 10 years in the post, which would be during 2019. "I intend to explore new opportunities and further expand my other areas of interest." Businesspeople praised his achievements in the role. Ann McGregor, chief executive of the NI Chamber of Commerce, wished him well for the future. "He did a fantastic job establishing Invest NI, with international offices all over the world, and in bringing foreign direct investment into Northern Ireland, especially in the fintech (financial technology) sector. "We look forward to continuing to engage with him during his final months in the role." Noel Lavery, permanent secretary of the Department for the Economy, the parent department of Invest NI, said: "Under Alastair Hamilton's leadership, Invest NI has played a central role in securing significant levels of foreign direct investment in Northern Ireland across a range of sectors during particularly challenging global economic conditions over the last decade. "In that time, Invest NI has also helped promote and enhance the competitiveness of locally owned companies and their capability to export. "I pay tribute to Alastair's commitment and the contribution he has made to Northern Ireland's economic prosperity as he signals his intention to move on from his role at Invest NI, and I wish him well in whatever he chooses to do next." However, Mr Hamilton attracted media attention over his pay. In 2012, Invest NI was forced to defend his new pay deal after criticism over an arrangement which consolidated his bonus into a salary package of between 185,000 and 190,000 a year. He had been hired on a deal which would see him paid 160,000 with scope for an annual bonus of up to 48,000. A spokeswoman for Invest NI said yesterday: "The salary package for the incoming chief executive will be a matter for the Invest NI board. "We would clarify, however, that the format of the CEO package was revised by the Invest NI board in 2012, with the removal of a bonus structure." Mr Hamilton was appointed chief executive of Invest NI in April 2009 after holding positions within BT, including director of BT Solutions, managing director of BT major business in Ireland and UK director of BT Health. In May 2007, he was seconded for one year to work as economic and business adviser to the First Minister of Northern Ireland, the late DUP leader Ian Paisley, who was also a family friend. Outside of his professional life, Mr Hamilton has also carried out missionary work in Africa on behalf of his church. Chiwetel Ejiofor was well aware of the challenges that could crop up with his latest project. The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, based on the bestselling book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, is not only his directorial debut, but he also stars in the moving film. From what he had read about directing yourself, the Londoner (41) realised that he might feel awkward about giving himself another take. "There's a tendency to try and look after everybody else, but pretend that you're OK with whatever you're doing, or be half OK with it, or not be quite as demanding of people's time and people's patience, to make sure that you feel OK within that context," suggests the ardent, Bafta Award-winning actor. "That was something I had in the back of my mind, because I thought actually, 'That's not something I've even thought about, that I might put pressure on myself to pretend that I'm all right with everything that I was doing as an actor'. "So, I tried not to do that." The inspiring true story, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in late January, follows 13-year-old William Kamkwamba (played by newcomer Maxwell Simba). After he's thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees, he manages to sneak back into the school library. And he finds a way, using the bones of the bicycle belonging to his father Trywell (portrayed by Ejiofor), to build a windmill, which then saves his Malawian village from famine. Ejiofor, who was born in Forest Gate in east London to Nigerian parents and grew up visiting his family in villages much like William's, bought the film rights after reading the book in 2010. Developing it has taken the best part of a decade. Explaining what drew him to the story, he says: "The cultural history of where the subjects are from and their dynamics in and around this landscape are beautiful, cinematic and fascinating. They're epic." The star was 19 and attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art when he was cast in his debut film, Amistad, by Steven Spielberg. His profile has risen higher and higher, thanks to prolific roles in films such as 12 Years A Slave, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor. When it comes to the move behind the camera, he says he was always "interested in directing, but at a distance". "And also actually with writing as well, there was something kind of recreational about the way that I was approaching writing, which was I'd written a couple of films but I hadn't really pursued an aggressive form of development of those films," he adds. Having only experimented with making short films previously, it felt right to take the plunge into full-length features with The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. But he didn't exactly pick the easiest story to bring to life. In William's community, the people speak a mixture of a local language called Chichewa and English. To make the film truly authentic, Ejiofor decided to work Chichewa into the script when it seemed most natural for the characters to speak it. This made for an intense filming process for him and the rest of the cast, as they had the task of learning a whole new language. "Sometimes you've just got to go for it," he reasons, when discussing how difficult this element of the role was. "And actually it gets a bit of wind behind you. It's harder to do things by halves, in a way... You're not fully invested, so you get bogged down by the self-doubt and not knowing why you're doing it and what choices you're making." He continues matter-of-factly: "I wanted to have an authentic experience, but that meant shooting in Malawi was going to be really important. And if shooting in Malawi was going to be really important, then it felt like shooting it in a Malawian language was going to be very important. "Trying to find the right people to play the parts, and people and actors who are going to be engaged with all the complications of Chichewa and doing it in that way, felt a natural part of the process." Ejiofor has worked with some incredibly successful directors throughout his career - Steve McQueen for 12 Years A Slave, Alfonso Cuaron for Children of Men, Stephen Frears for what was arguably his breakout role, in thriller Dirty Pretty Things, and, as mentioned earlier, Spielberg right at the start of his career. But while they have all been "deeply inspirational", he stresses there must be a balance on set of trying to find your own voice with a film too. "If you are trying to borrow somebody else, then the film is going to feel like you're trying to borrow somebody else," he elaborates. "It's not going to feel particularly authentic, and it's not going to feel consistent, in a way. "In the end it is about trying to be honest, and to be honest to yourself and whatever your strengths are but also to what your weaknesses are, and to 'fess up to them and try and navigate them, because all of it is very raw on screen. "It's a very transparent medium and it really does expose the director, it exposes the writer, it exposes the actor. It's very brutal as a format. So, you've just got to be as truthful to yourself as you can be." The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind is available on Netflix from today As acting royalty in Northern Ireland it is not surprising that Stella McCusker's current theatre role was actually written with her in mind. A vibrant, sharp-witted veteran of the stage and screen, Stella plays 80-year-old Olivia who suffers from "age rage" and is growing old disgracefully in the world premiere of the comedy I Shall Wear Purple, currently running at Belfast's Grand Opera House. Rosemary Jenkinson's new play about painting the town red will resonate with many - not least its leading lady - as it takes a hilarious look at senior years with the clear message that age is just a number, not an identity. For Stella, who opens our interview with the words "I never discuss my age or retirement", it is definitely a theme she can relate to. And after a superb opening night on Tuesday she reveals that Rosemary had her in mind when she penned the play. "The audience seemed to really enjoy it and that is very gratifying," she says. "My character in the play is in a nursing home but doesn't want to be there and she does have lots of freedom but she has to get permission to go out. "She is a very lively character and is 80-years-old, but says she is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her 70th birthday. "I'm that character. Rosemary told me she wrote it with me in mind. She says she heard my voice as she was writing it. It is certainly very nice and of course I am very flattered and thrilled about it. "Age and retirement are not spoken about in my home. Just like Dame Judi Dench I plan never to retire and there will be no nursing homes for me." Warming to her theme, Stella goes on to exclaim: "I still think I am 16! I come from a family of long livers and very hard workers and I do work terribly hard. I'm very dedicated and I think that is what has kept me going so long." The role demands a lot of Stella and her co-actor Patrick McBrearty, who plays Thomas. There are only the two of them in the cast for the duration of the 70-minute play. Expand Close Stella McCusker / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stella McCusker Set in Malinderry Care Home, it tells the story of Olivia who is fighting to leave, while Thomas, who runs art therapy classes, is fighting to stay when his funding is cut. When the play finishes its run in the Opera House tomorrow, it is due to go on a tour of theatres across Northern Ireland. Stella says: "There are 10 scenes in it, each with a week or two weeks between them, and we have no time to get in and out of costume as we only have 15 seconds between scenes - which is just enough time to throw a scarf over me. It is hard work for us but Rosemary is very nice and everyone is very kind and helpful." Exhilarated to be on stage and doing what she loves most, Stella has enjoyed a stellar career in acting spanning 50 years. Not only does she refuse to retire but even slowing down is not a consideration as she insists: "I want to accelerate, not slow down, and I would never even dream of telling management I wasn't feeling well. I would keep going even if my foot was about to fall off." Her work ethic has seen her enjoy a prolific career, appearing in plays, television and films all over the world. Just last year she completed a seven-month stint in London's West End in The Ferryman, which won widespread critical acclaim when it opened at the Royal Court and was the fastest selling show in the theatre's history. Expand Close Liam Neeson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Liam Neeson Before that she toured Europe with The Muse and then was cast in a film called Euthanasia by a Munich company which again involved her travelling across the continent. She is perhaps best known for the 2009 film Five Minutes of Heaven and Nineties movie You, Me and Marley which revolved around a gang of Protestant and Catholic youths in which she played Mrs Hagan. She has also appeared in the TV series Lovejoy and more recently on Game of Thrones. Stella reveals she has also just filmed a movie in Belfast with long-time friend Liam Neeson (right) which is due for release later this year. Liam and Stella go way back to when he first trod the boards as a young man in the Lyric Theatre in Belfast - and they have remained friends ever since. Talking about the movie, she says: "I did get a small part in Normal People, which is a love story written by Owen McCafferty and starring Liam. It is about a cancer diagnosis and our characters meet in hospital. "We filmed at Whiteabbey Hospital and at the Whitehead steam train and while we were standing at the railway tracks we enjoyed reminiscing. He is a wonderful person." Stella is very dismissive of the recent racism storm the Hollywood star found himself caught up in. Neeson sparked outrage when he admitted he once wanted to kill a black man. He said he walked the streets with a weapon for a week years ago, hoping to take out his anger after someone close to him was raped by a black man. He was speaking to promote his new film, Cold Pursuit, a thriller about a man who seeks retribution after his son is murdered. Stella says she is happy that the furore appears to have died down, dismissing it as "ridiculous, nothing more than a storm in a teacup". Expand Close Stella McCusker in the comedy I Shall Wear Purple at Belfasts Grand Opera House / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stella McCusker in the comedy I Shall Wear Purple at Belfasts Grand Opera House Stella began her own career in her 20s but got a taste for acting while still a schoolgirl when she joined an operatic society in Lurgan. Acting as a profession was even more precarious when she started out and she is thrilled to have witnessed the birth of Northern Ireland's booming new film industry in recent years. Game of Thrones proved a game changer for the industry here and Stella is grateful she got to play a part in the international blockbuster, albeit (as she points out) a small one. "When I was younger there weren't the same opportunities and it is wonderful to see what is happening here now," she says. "I was so thankful to be part of Game of Thrones. It was not a huge part although I wish it had been. "The amount of money they spent just on my small part was amazing, there was no expense spared. "My character ends up flailed and cut up and hung up and for that I was flown to London to get a mould of my body made which cost a lot of money but looked so realistic, although it was a bit claustrophobic getting it done." How it came across on screen is something she will never know because, despite the many parts she has played for TV and film, she reveals she has never watched anything she appears in. And it is much to her obvious discomfort that she is set to break that golden rule soon after being persuaded by writer Michael Daly to attend a special showing of his film, Forgive Me Not, in Queen's Film Theatre. She says: "I don't watch the stuff I do. I wouldn't dream of it and I am very reluctantly going to the premiere in Queen's Film Theatre of Forgive Me Not which Michael Daly has begged me to go to. I promised I would but I don't know how I will feel as watching myself on screen is not a thing I do. I just don't. I have never watched myself apart from maybe looking at show reels. "Film is, of course, very different from theatre and I'm sure if I did watch myself there would be lots of stuff I would think I could have done better but it is just something I don't do." Stella was brought up in Aghagallon, outside Lurgan, with one sister and three brothers, one of whom has passed away. She says her family is very close and she is a regular visitor. She has lived for many years in Belfast with her partner James Cahill, an artist whom she describes as "my great friend". They have been together for 28 years. "James is my right-hand man, I couldn't do without him," she says. "He is an amazing guy and is my great friend as well as being my partner. "I am lucky to be close to my family as well and I think they are proud of me. They do come to see my stuff most of the time. "I have a lot of nephews and nieces who are all over the world and I think that is brilliant." Stella has been grateful for the opportunities that have come her way and says she is happiest when she is busy with work. Outside of her work she says she enjoys "a normal life" with no particular hobbies other than going to the theatre. Her need to keep busy will be tested this year as she finds herself in the unusual position of having an open diary after I Shall Wear Purple completes its province-wide tour on March 16. "I have absolutely nothing coming up this year which is the first time in about four years that I've been in that position. "I have been approached about some work in early 2020 but nothing for this year, although that can change very quickly. Or maybe it is one of those times when it is just going to be quiet for me." She adds: "I don't cope terribly well with having nothing to do. "When I started out there wasn't as many roles for women and all women go through that and I think parts dwindle off as you get to a certain age. "I guess I've been very lucky so far and I feel very blessed to have done what I have done" I Shall Wear Purple is at Belfast's Grand Opera House until tomorrow, and then has a six-show tour across Northern Ireland. For more information visit C21theatrecompany.com Prime Minister Theresa May stands with DUP leader Arlene Foster as DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson signs the paperwork in June 2017 with the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, Gavin Williamson, to cement the partys confidence and supply deal to support Mrs Mays minority Conservative government in Commons votes A total of 200m funding from the DUP's confidence and supply deal with the Tories will be spent on Northern Ireland infrastructure in the next year. As Stormont's budget was published yesterday, it was revealed that 333m - almost a third of the money secured by the party in return for supporting Theresa May's minority government - would be spent in 2019-20. Around 100m will be spent on health service reform, 10m on mental health services, 20m on tackling deprivation and 3 million on improving the broadband network. Of the money diverted to Northern Ireland as a result of the 2017 Westminster deal, 430m has already been spent, the majority on health service reform and infrastructure projects. Under the budget, domestic rates are to rise by almost 5% and business rates by just under 2%. The budget includes an additional 140m on top of the block grant allocated under the Barnett model for devolved regions. Secretary of State Karen Bradley said it was to recognise the lack of opportunity for "fundamental service reconfiguration" in the current financial year. Mrs Bradley said it wouldn't be appropriate for her to take fundamental or strategic spending decisions, insisting those were for locally elected politicians. The budget was instead aimed at securing public services and meeting urgent pressures in health, education and other core frontline services, she added. Mrs Bradley said she had "engaged intensively" with the senior civil servants who are currently in charge of running public services in Northern Ireland and had also discussed the budget with the main political parties at Stormont. In real terms, health will receive a 2% increase in funds and education will suffer a 0.7% cut, under the budget. Given the size of the health spend - around half of the total Stormont budget - a number of other departments are also facing real terms decreases, with the Executive Office and Department of Finance likely to be hardest hit. Public services will receive 11.35bn in the coming budget but around 180m of that has been included to pay for increased employer pension costs across the public sector. Around 1.5bn has been allocated for capital projects. Mrs Bradley said that would provide a platform to progress a number of major builds, including the York Street motorway interchange in Belfast, the city's Mother and Children's Hospital, and the upgrade of the A6 between Belfast and Londonderry. Police have issued an appeal for witnesses after an attempted armed robbery in south Belfast on Friday evening. A man entered a shop on the Ormeau Road, close to North Parade, shortly before 7pm and demanded that staff empty the contents of the till. The man intimated to staff that he had a knife in his pocket. The staff refused to open the till and the man made off empty handed. He was described as wearing a green coat and navy jeans. Detective Sergeant Gill is appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time and who saw a man matching the description of the suspect, or anyone who knows anything about the incident to contact detectives in Musgrave on 101, quoting reference number 1281 01/03/19. Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime. An English student who later became a senior charity worker told the Ballymurphy inquest yesterday that "if there was to be a stronger recruitment method for the IRA I don't think you could have designed one". Steve Pittam was 21 and a student at Nottingham University when he volunteered to work in west Belfast in 1971. Ten people - one of them a Catholic priest - died over three days in Ballymurphy in 1971 amid a wave of disturbances sparked by the introduction of internment. Another man died of a heart attack following an alleged violent confrontation with the troops in the west Belfast estate. Mr Pittam told the inquest he had taken the placement because he was interested in "non-violence and pacifism". In his evidence, Mr Pittam said he was in Ballymurphy on August 9, 1971. He and a colleague tried to rescue a wounded man, but were unable to do so because of sustained gunfire in the area. He described the experience as the "10 most frightening minutes of my life". Mr Pittam later returned to work in west Belfast for a further two years after graduating from Nottingham University. He later rose to a senior position in the Joseph Rowntree Trust, from which he retired seven years ago. He also told the court that in the days following the Ballymurphy killings, he had often been stopped and questioned by soldiers from the Parachute Regiment. They had also beaten him with their rifle butts. The inquests into the 1971 deaths, referred to as the Ballymurphy Massacre by bereaved relatives, began in Belfast last November. In 2011, Northern Ireland's Attorney General John Larkin directed that new inquests be heard after a long campaign by family members who claimed the original coroner probes in the aftermath of the shootings were inadequate. Soldiers have long been held responsible for killing all 10 people in Ballymurphy between August 9 and August 11 1971. The accepted narrative became clouded earlier this year when former members of the paramilitary UVF came forward to claim their organisation was also involved. The inquest continues. Journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney leave Musgrave PSNI station in Belfast on Friday with Solicitor Niall Murphy.Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker An attempt by police to gag two prominent Belfast journalists has failed, according to their lawyers. Award-winning reporters Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey presented themselves to Musgrave police station for scheduled questioning on Friday. They were interviewed separately by police. It comes six months after Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney were arrested over the alleged theft of confidential material from the offices of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Dr Michael Maguire. The material relates to a police investigation into the murder of six men in Loughinisland. A police press release issued at the time stated the investigation was triggered when the ombudsman reported the theft to police. That claim has since been directly contradicted by the ombudsmans office itself. However, Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable George Hamilton told the Policing Board in February that he wants to bust the myth that there was no statement of complaint. Expand Close PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton (Brian Lawless/PA) We had a report of what was quite a serious offence in terms of theft of the documents, he said. Mr Hamilton said he had asked Durham Police to carry out the investigation to give confidence. He said the Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary is willing to attend a meeting of the Policing Board to answer questions around the arrests. Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey produced a documentary about the 1994 Loughinisland killings, which were carried out by loyalist terrorists. The No Stone Unturned programme examined claims of state collusion in the murders. Expand Close Barry McCaffrey, left, and Trevor Birney (Liam McBurney/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barry McCaffrey, left, and Trevor Birney (Liam McBurney/PA) Speaking after meeting police on Friday, Mr Birneys solicitor Niall Murphy said they consider the case to be a farce. Today is six months to the day since Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey were arrested in a police operation arising out of what we consider to be a malicious investigation in relation to the documentary No Stone Unturned, he said. Six months on we are no further on, and police today applied for an additional bail condition which would seek to restrict both Trevor and Barry from making public comment in relation to this case. That application was farcical, preposterous and robustly challenged by myself and Mr McCaffreys solicitor John Finucane. The application was ultimately refused by the adjudicating sergeant and the position that currently stands is that they have been bailed now for a further six months so that would be a total of one year on police bail for a case that doesnt exist. There is no theft, there is no complaint of a theft and police have taken investigative action arising from this film and that police have arrested the two people that seek to tell the truth about the circumstances of the atrocity in Loughinisland is a farce, and a malicious farce. . @Barry_TheDetail again in PSNI station re No Stone Unturned doc. In an extraordinary & worrying move, police sought to gag my client talking publicly about investigation & witnesses. This blatant attack on press freedom was successfully resisted & concern in this case increases John Finucane MP (@johnfinucane) March 1, 2019 Mr McCaffreys lawyer John Finucane said: In an extraordinary and worrying move, police sought to gag my client talking publicly about investigation and witnesses. This blatant attack on press freedom was successfully resisted and concern in this case increases. The two journalists are due to be speak at an Amnesty International event on Saturday. Mr McCaffrey said if the additional bail condition had been successful, they would have had to bring their lawyers along to speak for them. We would have been gagged from speaking, our solicitors would have had to answer questions for us, what does that say about press freedom, he said. Durham Constabulary has denied any attempt to gag the journalists. This investigation will continue and we are anxious that it remains as open and transparent as possible, a spokesman said. During todays bail extension, Durham Constabulary applied for a condition which sought to prevent the two suspects from discussing the contents of witness statements, which have been disclosed to them during the ongoing Judicial Review. At no stage today did Durham ask for a condition stopping either person talking about their arrest as has been suggested. These matters were properly adjudicated upon by an independent Custody Officer. Todays process is not an attempt at gagging anyone. We simply would not wish to see our investigation undermined by having witness statements inappropriately disclosed on social media. In February, Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey won the right at the High Court to challenge the legality of search warrants issued during the investigation. The case is set to be heard in May. Amnesty International and the National Union of Journalists have spoken out in support of the journalists. Amnestys Northern Ireland programme director Patrick Corrigan said the arrests of two of the most widely respected journalists in Northern Ireland has sent a shiver of fear through the region. When the police are arresting journalists who have investigated police collusion in the killing of civilians, rather than the killers and those who helped them get away with murder, people everywhere should be worried, he said. NUJ assistant general secretary Seamus Dooley described the extension of police bail as a travesty. This was a blatant attempt to thwart the massive international campaign against the arrest of two journalists whose only crime is their search for truth and justice. International awareness, cross community support and growing media interests in this violation of human rights is clearly proving embarrassing, he said. This crude attempt to suppress our campaign in support of Trevor and Barry shows the truth of the adage truth hurts. Barry and Trevor have won overwhelming support because it is clear to all who care about justice that these arrests cannot be justified. The extension of bail until September 2019 is a travesty and imposes ongoing hardship on our members, their families and colleagues. These journalists are being punished because they have exposed brutal human rights abuses in Northern Ireland. The legal threats, harassment and intimidation must stop. A free press is critical to the health of democracy and freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. The police should not be allowed to continue to violate basic media freedoms. An alleged killer accused of beating a Romanian fisherman to death denies the offence, a lawyer has said. Jason Carr (21) denies the murder of Stefan Zait. His father David Brian Carr (50) and 35-year-old Nicola Goulding face charges of witness intimidation and perverting the course of justice respectively. During a preliminary enquiry (PE) hearing at Downpatrick Magistrates Court yesterday, a prosecuting lawyer submitted there was a prima facie case against each of the accused, a submission conceded by their lawyers. Counsel for Jason Carr told the court his client denies the four charges against him. Jason Carr, from Crew Hill Court in Ardglass, is accused of assaulting Stefan Zait, stealing a bottle of vodka from him and causing criminal damage to the front door of a property next door to his on May 22 last year, as well as the murder of Mr Zait on May 24. His father David Carr, from Kildare Court, also in Ardglass, is charged with witness intimidation on May 22. Goulding, from St Josephs Close in the fishing town, faces an accusation of perverting the course of justice on June 1 last year in that she is alleged to have "made a false statement that Stefan Zait produced a knife during a confrontation with Jason Carr". Mr Zait, a 45-year-old Romanian fisherman, died on May 24, two days after being taken to hospital with head injuries including a blood clot to the brain and suspected fractured jaw. Yesterday, the three accused all declined the opportunity to give evidence to the PE, the legal step necessary to refer a case upwards to the Crown Court, or to call witnesses on their behalf. Freeing each of them on bail, District Judge Amanda Brady ordered them to appear at Laganside courthouse in Belfast for their arraignment on April 5 and extended Jason Carr's legal aid to allow a senior QC to be instructed. A doctor criticised by the hyponatraemia inquiry has asked to be removed from the medical register, it can be revealed. Dr Robert James Murray Quinn faces a series of allegations over his part in the investigation into the death of Lucy Crawford in April 2000. It has now emerged that on Monday - on the first day of a fitness-to-practise hearing examining the allegations, an application was submitted to allow Dr Quinn to be voluntarily erased from the medical register. A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel is due to deliver its decision on the application today. If the MPTS permits Dr Quinn to remove himself from the medical register, the fitness-to-practise hearing will be cancelled and all professional charges will be dropped. Such a move is likely to be met with anger by the families of the children at the centre of the hyponatraemia inquiry. It was set up to examine the deaths of five children following treatment at Northern Ireland hospitals. Lucy, the youngest child of a family of three, was admitted to the Erne Hospital in Enniskillen on April 12, 2000. She was transferred to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children the following day and died on April 14, 2000, at just 17 months old. Lucy died as a result of hyponatraemia, which is the term for a low level of sodium in the blood stream, causing the brain's cells to swell with too much water. John O'Hara, chair of the hyponatraemia inquiry, found that "Lucy's death was caused by a glaring medical error". Dr Quinn was a paediatric consultant who was working at Altnagelvin Area Hospital in Londonderry when he was asked to review the care given to the girl prior to her death. In his report, Mr O'Hara raised concerns about the decision to appoint Dr Quinn to review Lucy's care, given the fact that he knew some of the doctors who had treated her. "Dr Quinn was a very poor choice to conduct this work on behalf of the trust," he said. "The trust is to be criticised for retaining an expert who was not transparently independent. "It is clear to me that Dr Quinn did not approach his task with the necessary degree of professional detachment. "His familiarity with the organisation and the people who had retained him plainly influenced him. "He has indicated he was 'sweet-talked' into providing a written report for the review against his better judgment. "He should not have carried out this work on behalf of the trust, and should not have been asked to do so." Mr O'Hara also criticised Dr Quinn for some of his findings, which he said "individually and cumulatively gave the trust reassurance when its clinicians ought to have been subject to criticism". The MPTS panel had originally been due to consider two specific allegations, including an allegation that he prepared a written report in which he failed to record information relating to Lucy, reached the wrong conclusion in respect of the fluids administered, and gave a misleading impression of the care she received. John Downey is facing extradition over the murder of two Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, in 1972 (Niall Carson/PA Wire) A judge in Dublin is set to rule whether a Co Donegal man will be extradited to Northern Ireland to face charges over the car bomb murder of two soldiers. John Downey, 67, whose trial for the IRAs Hyde Park bombing collapsed in controversy five years ago, is wanted by prosecutors in Northern Ireland over the 1972 murder of two Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers. Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly is expected to make a ruling on the extradition in the Dublin High Court on Friday morning. Downey was detained in the Republic of Ireland last October under a European arrest warrant. Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service initiated extradition proceedings last year after determining it had sufficient evidence to charge him with the murders of Lance Corporal Alfred Johnston, 32, and Private James Eames, 33. The two soldiers died when an IRA bomb exploded in a car they were checking on Irvinestown Road, Cherrymount, on August 25 1972. In 2013, Downey was charged with murdering four Royal Household Cavalrymen in a bomb in Londons Hyde Park in 1982. He stood trial at the Old Bailey, but the case dramatically collapsed after it was revealed he had received a written assurance from former prime minister Tony Blairs government that he was not actively wanted by the authorities. The letter was issued under the terms of the controversial On The Runs (OTRs) scheme. Mr Downey has always denied any involvement in the Hyde Park attack. During an extradition hearing on the matter last month, Downeys barrister Garnet Orange SC made an appeal to Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly not to proceed with the hearing until after March 29 when Brexit matters have been clarified. Remy Farrell, barrister for the State, said however that Downeys counsel did not identify how his client would be impinged by Brexit. A woman who admitted exchanging what was alleged to be a faulty PlayStation, but which had been replaced in the box with a set of bathroom scales and some weights, has been fined at Dungannon Crown Court A woman who admitted exchanging what was alleged to be a faulty PlayStation, but which had been replaced in the box with a set of bathroom scales and some weights, has been fined at Dungannon Crown Court. Geraldine Bernadette McDonagh (38) from Dunavon Park, Dungannon, pleaded guilty to stealing a PlayStation 4 games console valued at 349 and making a false representation. The court heard police were called to Sainsbury's, Dungannon on November 12, 2017 after the PlayStation box was checked having been returned and exchanged for a new one. CCTV was viewed and officers identified a woman who looked very similar to McDonagh and was in fact her sister. The sister accepted exchanging the item on McDonagh's behalf, but said she knew nothing of the fraudulent contents. A prosecution lawyer described the sister as "essentially being used". McDonagh was arrested and admitted what she had done, saying her sister had no knowledge of the offences. The PlayStation was found and returned to Sainbury's, and was deemed fit for re-sale. A defence barrister said the case had come to Crown Court as "significant consideration was given to challenging the admissions" McDonagh had made. He added: "Ultimately, that is not something we then sought to pursue. Following consultation, the defendant felt it best to hold up her hands and plead guilty." A number of medical reports were submitted to the court, and one - from a neurologist - was put forward in defence of McDonagh's mental capacity. Judge Stephen Fowler QC said: "The consultant was sceptical but carried out a very considered and a very careful assessment, pointing to a significant brain injury. I accept his report fully." A pre-sentence report said McDonagh was the mother of seven young children and while she did not object to a probation order, was concerned she could not commit to full engagement, due to her parental responsibilities. Judge Fowler said: "The defendant realistically indicated she would struggle to attend meetings and that is understandable due to her mental health difficulties and as a mother of seven children. I also take into account the goods were fit for re-sale." McDonagh was fined a total of 100. Two Northern Ireland-registered fishing boats seized by the Irish navy moored in the port of Clogherhead in Co Louth (Niall Carson/PA) Two fishermen have been reunited with their boats amid an ongoing impasse over fishing rights. Jack Brown, 57, and 47-year-old Kevin Trainor pleaded guilty to breaching fishing regulations on Friday after their trawlers were seized in Dundalk Bay. The Northern Ireland-registered vessels were seized by the Irish navy on Tuesday amid an ongoing dispute over their right to fish in Irelands waters. Judge John Coughlan told Co Louth District Court that the men were people of absolute integrity, but he was bound by a Supreme Court decision which effectively banned Northern Ireland boats from fishing in Irish inshore waters. The judge asked at one point if he could strike out the charges. Its clear these are people of absolute integrity, and I should be as lenient as possible, he said. This should be dealt with with absolute discretion, but I am bound by the Supreme Court. My instinct is to strike out the charge, but can I legally do that? Solicitor for the two men Karina Kinsella said that not being able to access their boats was affecting them greatly and that it was unfortunate that Northern Irish fisherman are missing out because of the Supreme Court ruling. Judge Coughlan agreed, and added that he did not feel the men deserved any conviction. They were given the benefit of the Probation Act and the boats were released early on Friday afternoon and returned to Kilkeel, Co Down, where they are usually based. Both men left court after the judgement and travelled to Clogherhead Harbour where the boats had been kept. Expand Close The two Northern Ireland-registered fishing boats moored in the port of Clogherhead in Co Louth (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The two Northern Ireland-registered fishing boats moored in the port of Clogherhead in Co Louth (Niall Carson/PA) The boats seized, Boy Joseph and Amity, were described as modest vessels, with a total of five staff between them. The Boy Joseph had just over 1,200 euro worth of shellfish on board when it was seized. Amity had a haul of crabs and lobsters worth an estimated 2,000 euro. Both men have no previous convictions and fully co-operated with Irish police. The move by Irish authorities comes amid an ongoing fishing dispute caused by the demise of an informal deal between the UK and Irish governments. Irelands premier Leo Varadkar described the incident as truly regrettable on Friday evening, and said he is hopeful of updating Irish law within weeks. Speaking in Belfast, he said: I am pleased that it was resolved today and the ships have been released. The situation arose in 2016 when our Supreme Court struck down the provisions which allowed us to give access to Northern Ireland vessels within our six-mile limit. We need to change that law, we are going to change that law to restore the status quo to what it was before 2016. Mr Varadkar said he has been in contact with Irish opposition parties and is confident the legislation can be passed quickly. That will allow us to go back to the situation as it was between 1960 and 2016 where both Northern Ireland and Ireland allowed each others vessels to enter our six-mile limit, he said. Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he is confident the relevant changes to legislation can be made within weeks (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he is confident the relevant changes to legislation can be made within weeks (Brian Lawless/PA) What would be helpful would be an indication from the UK Government that they wont withdraw Northern Ireland from the London Convention because it wouldnt make sense for us to change our law only to find that the law then changes in Northern Ireland as well. That is not a precondition, this is legislation we are going to get through. Fish do not know boundaries, certainly dont know political boundaries, and we should be able as good neighbours to allow each others vessels to fish in each others waters. The DUP representative for the Kilkeel area, Jim Wells, said the Irish navy had been heavy-handed in their actions. The men werent doing anything illegal, it was a gentlemans agreement which is being contested in the courts, he said. There is no need for a gunboat to arrive that had the power to take out both boats with one shot. That is not required for two little fishing boats from Kilkeel who were carrying nothing more dangerous than a fax machine. People in the community cannot understand how two little trawlers fishing for crabs started a diplomatic incident. All that was required was a chat with the two skippers, not something that couldve blown them to smithereens if they wanted to. Its like something Arnold Schwarzenegger would have. The Voisinage agreement, which collapsed months after the Brexit referendum, was a reciprocal understanding between the UK and Irish Republic dating back to the mid-1960s which allowed vessels from Northern Ireland to fish in Irish inshore waters (zero to six nautical miles from shore) and vice versa. But the agreement hit the rocks in late 2016 when a number of Irish fishermen took a case to the states Supreme Court, challenging the right of Northern Ireland vessels to fish in their waters. The court ruled that Voisinage was an informal agreement of insufficient legal standing to formally grant access to foreign-registered boats. That decision effectively banned Northern Ireland boats from fishing in Irish inshore waters a move which affected fishermen north of the border who traded in species such as lobsters, crabs, mussels and whelks. The UK has continued to recognise the Voisinage agreement so Irish vessels remain free to fish inshore waters around Northern Ireland. DUP leader Arlene Foster has called for a clear distinction to be made between a "terrorist perpetrator and their innocent victims" after new legacy proposals were announced. Mrs Foster was speaking after she and DUP MEP Diane Dodds met with Secretary of State Karen Bradley on Friday morning. Read More It was announced this week that the Department of Justice (DoJ) would release 55m to fund a unit to speed up the process of hearing inquests into 93 Troubles deaths. The DUP leader said that to fully tackle the legacy issues in Northern Ireland there was a need to change the way a victim is defined across the UK. She said that she had urged the Secretary of State Karen Bradley to address the issue. "The Victims Strategy published in 2001 by the then OFMDFM used a victim definition that made no distinction between innocent victim and terrorist. This definition was then placed in law in the Victims and Survivors ( Northern Ireland) Order 2006. The DUP opposed this," Mrs Foster said. "The 2006 definition of a victim and survivor is indefensible. There is a clear distinction in law between a terrorist perpetrator and their innocent victim. Expand Close H-block at the Maze Prison. PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp H-block at the Maze Prison. "To equate the two is morally indefensible. A perpetrator of an unlawful act cannot at the same time be a victim of the act they have perpetrated." Under the 2006 order victims and survivors are considered to be someone who is or has been physically or psychologically injured as a result of or in consequence of a conflict-related incident or someone who provides a substantial amount of care on a regular basis for an individual. Someone who has been bereaved as a result of or in consequence of a conflict-related incident is also included in the definiton. The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said that she opposed the Good Friday Agreement due to the way "victims were ignored and terrorist prisoners were placated". A number of prisoners convicted of Troubles-related crimes were released under the terms of the agreement. "Innocent victims universally oppose the current definition of a victim and place it as a top priority to change. It is an incredible hurt and insult to victims families for their loved one to be placed in the same category as terrorist perpetrators," Mrs Foster said. "The Government should bring forward plans now for a new UK-wide definition of a victim with a clear distinction between perpetrator and victim. We believe this could improve the existing climate and context and offer the best prospect of new legacy bodies proving successful." The DUP leader said that everyone who broke the law during the Troubles must be held accountable and brought to justice. "No one should be above the law. The legacy process must be balanced and fair. There should be no hierarchy of cases. Everyone has an equal right to justice, she said. On Thursday, a New Legacy Inquest Unit will examine 52 legacy cases relating to 93 deaths throughout the Troubles. It will operate under the remit of the Lord Chief Justice and will be supported by additional officials from the PSNI, Public Prosecution Service and other justice agencies. It has been given a six-year timescale to reflect the need to build up capacity and the complexity of the outstanding legacy inquest cases. Former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams at the funeral of his younger brother Liam in Letterkenny. (North West Newspix) Former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams attended the funeral of his paedophile brother in Donegal on Friday. Liam Adams, a former community worker, died at the age of 63 from cancer in a Belfast hospice on Monday. Read More Mr Adams visited his brother at the hospice shortly before his death. Liam Adams had been waked at his partner's home in the Mountaintop area of Letterkenny from Wednesday. He was laid to rest following a funeral service at St Eunan's Cathedral in Letterkenny. His TD-brother Gerry was part of a small congregation that gathered for the mass. Liam Adams was then buried at Conwal Graveyard on the outskirts of the Co Donegal town. Expand Close Liam Adams, brother of fomer Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, died in a hospice from cancer. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Liam Adams, brother of fomer Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, died in a hospice from cancer. His funeral procession was led by a silver Belfast taxi. Gerry Adams did not carry his brother's coffin during the procession. Liam Adams was sentenced to 16-years in prison in November 2013 for raping his daughter Aine Dahlstrom. At his brother's first trial, which collapsed in April 2013, Mr Adams told the court that in 2000, during a walk in the rain in Dundalk, his brother had admitted sexually abusing Ms Dalhstrom. Liam Adams began to abuse his daughter Aine in 1977 when she was just four years old and continued doing so over a six-year period. He was convicted of 10 offences - three counts of rape, four of indecent assault and three of gross indecency and served six years in Maghaberry Prison before his death. Aine Dahlstrom waived her right to anonymity in 2009. Expand Close Gerry Adams with his brother Liam at a wedding / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gerry Adams with his brother Liam at a wedding Gerry Adams made his first report to police about the allegations in 2007 but did not tell officers about the confession in Dundalk until 2009, when he made a second statement. Mr Adams was criticised for not informing police about the confession at an earlier date, but a Police Ombudsman investigation found no evidence of misconduct in a police decision not to prosecute the then Sinn Fein leader. Alan Woodside, who is Professor of Civil Engineering at Brunel University More than half of drivers in Northern Ireland have used their mobile phone behind the wheel, a survey has suggested. Of the 2,805 adults questioned on their driving habits, 52% confessed to using their phone in some capacity behind the wheel, a Department for Infrastructure report found. This included one in seven people texting while driving (14%) and one in ten (10%) taking a handheld call. Despite this, the vast majority (91%) of those polled said using a phone behind the wheel made drivers more likely to cause a crash, more likely to be involved in a crash (84%) and less likely to notice danger ahead (82%). Read More RAC spokesperson Simon Williams said the consequences of being distracted by your phone while driving could be horrific. "We still hear reports of people using their phone behind the wheel all the time, so things still need to change," he said. "We need to make using a handheld phone at the wheel, whether that's texting or talking, just as socially unacceptable as drink driving. "I think mobile phones play such a big part in our lives that's it's hard for some people to leave them alone." Mr Williams continued: "People would do well to imagine the consequences of something bad happening and use that as motivation to stop doing it. "People may think looking away for one second is fine, but that's all it takes for something bad to happen." Other findings in the DfI survey showed a majority (56%) supported the increased use of 20mph zones while 80% said this should be applied outside schools, and 75% backed it for areas where children play. Nearly half of drivers (44%) admitted to speeding on the motorways, and a quarter on dual carriageways, but this dropped to 4% in built-up areas. On mobile phone use, just over half (51%) believed they were likely to be stopped by police for using their phone while driving. Almost three quarters (72%) correctly identified that the police penalty for being caught was a fine plus penalty points. Over half of those surveyed (55%) said they believed this penalty should be increased. Chief Inspector Diane Pennington said: "Detecting people using their mobile phones while driving remains a key element of our Road Safety Strategy and is something we continue to focus on. "Drivers are reminded that not only are there serious risks by being distracted by mobile devices while in control of a vehicle, but also there are penalties and consequences to face for breaking the law." She added that drivers using a mobile phone are four times more likely to crash. "Absolutely nothing on your mobile device or social media accounts should come before your safety and the safety of others. "Police will continue to focus on robustly enforcing the law to make Northern Ireland's roads safer. "All police ask is that drivers slow down, never drive after drinking or taking drugs, wear a seatbelt, drive with greater care and attention and don't use mobile phones while driving," she added. Davy Jackson is director of the campaign group Road Safe NI. "We see this every day, you just have to pull up at a set of traffic lights and you constantly see drivers sitting on their phone. "In England, when you're caught on the phone it's six points and a fine. So you only need to be caught twice to lose your licence. "In Northern Ireland you only get three points, so we would support that two strikes and you're out system." Lisburn man Alan Woodside, who is Professor of Civil Engineering at Brunel University, said the survey showed drivers using mobile phones was a "disaster" in Northern Ireland. "Any distraction is a problem, but people still seem to think it's their right to use their phone while driving," he said. "Facilities are available for hands-free, so there's no excuse. One thing I think could be used is a signal blocker in cars unless it's coupled up to a hands-free. "I've seen a prototype and I think that could be very helpful, for young drivers in particular." PSNI figures showed there were 4,569 detections of mobile phone use between December 2017 and November 2018, which represented a 5.9% drop from the previous year. Insurance offences remained the highest at 8,503, while speeding offences increased by 16% to 8,061. John Downey arrives for an extradition hearing at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA) Hyde Park bomb suspect John Downey can be extradited from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland to face charges over the murder of two soldiers in 1972, a judge has ruled. Downey, 67, whose trial for the IRAs London bombing collapsed in controversy five years ago, is wanted by prosecutors in Northern Ireland over the 1972 murder of two Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers in Enniskillen. Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly ruled on the extradition in the Dublin High Court on Friday. Expand Close Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service determined it had sufficient evidence to charge Downey with two murders (Donall Famer/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service determined it had sufficient evidence to charge Downey with two murders (Donall Famer/PA) The judge told the court that Downey had objected to the surrender on a number of grounds over his belief that it would be oppressive to surrender him. But Ms Donnelly rejected all of his objections. After granting the order for the surrender, Ms Justice Donnelly agreed to hear whether Downeys legal team will lodge an appeal next Wednesday and has permitted him to remain on continuing bail. Downey, from Co Donegal, who was detained in the Republic of Ireland last October under a European arrest warrant, has always denied any involvement in the Hyde Park attack. Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service initiated extradition proceedings last year after determining it had sufficient evidence to charge him with the murders of Lance Corporal Alfred Johnston, 32, and Private James Eames, 33. The two soldiers died when an IRA bomb exploded in a car they were checking on Irvinestown Road, Cherrymount, on August 25 1972. In 2013, Downey was charged with murdering four Royal Household Cavalrymen in a bomb in Londons Hyde Park in 1982. Expand Close A police forensic officer working on the remains of the car which housed the Hyde Park car bomb (PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A police forensic officer working on the remains of the car which housed the Hyde Park car bomb (PA) He stood trial at the Old Bailey, but the case dramatically collapsed after it was revealed he had received a written assurance from former prime minister Tony Blairs government that he was not actively wanted by the authorities. The letter was issued under the terms of the controversial On The Runs (OTRs) scheme. During an extradition hearing on the matter last month, Downeys barrister Garnet Orange SC made an appeal to Ms Justice Donnelly not to proceed with the hearing until after March 29, when Brexit matters have been clarified. However, Remy Farrell, barrister for the State, said Downeys counsel did not identify how his client would be impinged by Brexit. Mark Tipper of the Hyde Park Justice Campaign said other recipients of OTR letters should now be investigated fully. A killer was on the loose last night after he failed to return to Maghaberry prison after pre-release testing. However, the Department for Justice refused to give out any information about convicted murderer William Robert Martin (48). UUP justice spokesman Doug Beattie MLA last night hit out at the lack of information. Martin (48) had been 'unescorted' while out of jail, according to official sources. In a statement, the NI Prison service said the killer had failed to return after a period of pre-release testing. "At this time we are focused on returning him to custody and we would ask anyone with information to contact the PSNI on 101 immediately," a spokesperson said. The Belfast Telegraph asked the Department for Justice for information about the crime for which Martin was convicted, including the identity of his victim or victims, how long he had served in jail, and whether in its view he represented a danger to the public. The department refused, saying it was not its policy to give information about individual prisoners. Last night, Mr Beattie slammed officials for what he called 'secretive' behaviour. "Every time a prisoner fails to return, it damages public confidence in what the Prison Service are doing," Mr Beattie said. "And if the Prison Service then becomes secretive, it then becomes an issue that the public will feel more concerned about. "This man has absconded. And people have the right to know that there is a murderer in their midst: to know what he's done, who he murdered, what the circumstances were. "I think that is incredibly important, and in the public interest. "Public confidence in the Prison Service and its ability to release people, monitor people, and make sound judgments is damaged every time this happens." Asked whether the Prison Service had ever given him an reason for withholding information about the crimes an escaped prisoner had committed, Mr Beattie said: "No they haven't. And I have to say that there is a public interest here. The mechanisms for releasing these people need to be looked at - and the sooner the Criminal Justice Inspectorate does so the better." Murderers failing to return to prison during 'pre-release' is not uncommon in Northern Ireland. Two murderers were among four prisoners 'unlawfully at large' in January 2018, Later that year, child killer John Clifford 'failed to return' to Maghaberry prison, as did Samuel McKinley, who had also absconded in January. And in September, the Prison Service came under fire after five killers were spotted on an outing to the seaside at Newcastle. Just two prison staff were supervising them. A man convicted of a bid to kill a police officer with an under-car bomb has shown no remorse for the action which could have resulted in multiple deaths, Belfast Crown Court has heard. Sean McVeigh, 38, of Victoria Street, Lurgan, was found guilty in February of the attempted murder of a police officer at his home using an under-car bomb following a non-jury Diplock trial. The bid was foiled when the officers wife raised the alarm at their home in the Eglinton area of Co Londonderry in the early hours of June 18 2015. McVeigh was arrested by Irish police across the border in Co Donegal following a car chase a short time later. He refused to answer questions and was released on bail. McVeigh was later arrested by detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) at Portadown train station in May 2016. A sentencing hearing on Friday was told that McVeigh has shown no remorse. A prosecution lawyer made a submission to the court outlining aggravating factors. These included that it had been a terrorist plot which had required planning, involving three people and two cars which were stolen for the purpose and fitted with false registration plates, as well as efforts to ensure their escape route across the border into Co Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. He described the device planted on the police officers car as sophisticated, using more than 300g of an unusual type of semtex called RDX and a mercury tilt switch. Multiple deaths were risked and at least one was very likelyProsecution lawyer The would-be victim was vulnerable, the car was in a driveway, either of them (the police officer and his wife), could have driven the car, both could have been in the vehicle, he said, adding that the house was in a residential area and members of the public could have been in the vicinity. Multiple deaths were risked and at least one was very likely. He also told the court that McVeigh has 36 previous convictions, which include resisting police and disorderly behaviour. McVeighs defence lawyer Orlando Pownall conceded his client has shown no signs of remorse, and the fact that no-one was injured in the incident was more through luck than design. But he said a life sentence would be exceptional and draconian, describing it as an option of last resort. Mr Pownall said none of his clients previous convictions were of as serious a nature as those he was convicted of in February, and pointed out McVeigh has held down a job as a qualified joiner since the age of 17. Judge Stephen Fowler said he intended to take some time to consider the submissions before sentencing. McVeigh is expected to be sentenced on March 8. A child protection expert said reports of a potentially deadly "suicide game" said to be targeting Northern Ireland children are either "fake" or "grossly exaggerated". On Thursday a string of charities, including the NSPCC, the Samaritans and the UK Safer Internet Centre dismissed the reports as a "hoax". YouTube said claims it appeared on its platform were false saying content of that nature would be removed. However, Jim Gamble said the advice on managing online risks to children were "spot on" from the PSNI and parents should be aware of them and how to encourage their children to identify and deal with them. "If this isn't fake news - and I am not entirely sure it is fake - then it is grossly exaggerated," Mr Gamble said. "Some fact-checking at an early point would have shown at the very worst this is grossly exaggerated. So it is a lesson in managing fake or exaggerated news." Over the weekend the PSNI sent out a Northern Ireland-wide alert to warn parents of the potential dangers of the so-called "suicide challenge game". It said a creepy character appeared in apparently harmless looking videos and issued a set of demands warning not to tell parents and of the possibility of a curse if instructions were not followed. One officer posting on the Craigavon Facebook page said he had watched footage saying there was "no disputing" the content was "horrendous". Expand Close Child protection expert Jim Gamble / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Child protection expert Jim Gamble Read More The officer encouraged parents not to focus solely on the character of Momo but instead the potential dangers the online world presented, or that peer pressure can pose to young children. "In 2017 it was 'Blue Whale', now it's 'Momo'. There'll be something else next," the officer added. The PSNI has always stated it had no reports made directly to it of the character appearing. Charities, including the NSPCC, the Samaritans and the UK Safer Internet Centre dismissed the reports as a "hoax". YouTube said claims it appeared on its platform were false saying content of that nature would be removed. Read More Former police officer Jim Gamble worked on researching the 'Blue Whale' phenomena and found that instead of the hundreds of child suicides cases it was said to be responsible for, there were just two linked cases. He said he had seen other credible law enforcement agencies spread warnings of the Momo challenge and not just the PSNI. "The police are damned if they do and damned if they don't," he added, "we are all learning lessons here. It is important for law enforcement to get prevention messages out as soon as possible. "In child protection you want to pause, think and consider the consequences of your actions and then plan what to do. "I'm sure the police will pause and reflect and they are good at that. They are alert to these issues and 99 times out of 100 they do the right thing." He added: "There is a positive in that you can use it as a mechanism in a constructive and positive way. You can address the issue with children and let them unpack what they already know and then educate them on what they need to do. "You don't want to build on the curiosity - curiosity killed the cat. Sometimes it may sound basic.. but it is back to basics we need sometime. "Ask children would they know what to do if they see something that concerns them or if they felt something wasn't right - and say to them 'you can always talk to me'. Parents and carers may not know much about technology, but they know a lot about life. "The Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland, police and schools need to work on a single coherent message and make sure they highlight concerns responsibly and they provide an action plan. What to look for and what to do if there is a problem." The PSNI said they were committed to keeping people safe both online and in the real world. A man allegedly lay on a hospital floor performing a sex act after requesting help for epilepsy, the High Court heard A man allegedly lay on a hospital floor performing a sex act after requesting help for epilepsy, the High Court heard. Staff were left distressed by 47-year-old Thomas McDonagh's actions in a reception area at the Tower Hill clinic in Armagh, prosecutors said. McDonagh, of Sydney Lane in Aughnacloy, was refused bail on a charge of indecent behaviour. He allegedly entered the community hospital on February 4 seeking help for epileptic fits. Crown lawyer Robin Steer said staff asked him to remain in an area with secure doors. He claimed the accused then lay down in reception and performed the sex act. Defence counsel confirmed staff at the hospital had previous experience with his client. "He would be known to engage in nuisance-type behaviour," the barrister told the court. "This has escalated beyond what he would normally do," he added. A former vice-chairman of the Policing Board has said the British and Irish governments should admit to the public the current political vacuum in Northern Ireland is an opportunity to deal with legacy issues surrounding the Troubles and which have long caused division in politics. Denis Bradley said the PSNI should be removed from the process of dealing with Northern Ireland's troubled past. He said politicians were "incapable" of agreeing a way forward on legacy issues. The Policing Board has said it agrees the implementation of political agreements on legacy are long overdue, including the establishment of the Historical Investigations Unit, but said this was a matter for the British Government to progress. Read More Mr Bradley, a former priest, was speaking on the BBC after the Department of Justice announced 55m had been allocated to set up a new legacy inquest unit to help clear the backlog of legacy inquests in Northern Ireland. While welcoming the 55m released to deal with legacy inquests, he said it was a piecemeal approach to legacy that will leave many victims families' without justice. Asked if the absence of MLAs at Stormont was an opportunity for the two governments to finally agree a comprehensive strategy to deal with legacy issues, he replied: "Of course, that is very clear. They (British and Irish governments) will tell you that behind the scenes but they won't tell that to the public and it is about time that this is clear. "The two governments have been irresponsible because what they have been doing is pretending that they want our politicians to deal with it when it is quite clear that our politicians are very unlikely to deal with it and will fight about it for years to come. "It is going to cost us financially, socially and politically an enormous amount. Way beyond what our society should have to bear." Mr Bradley called on the Policing Board to start the process of removing the PSNI from the legacy investigation process. "Policing has been damaged, as your headlines will tell you, over the last month or even over the last 10 years by its involvement in trying to deal with the legacy," he said. "They (PSNI) shouldn't be there, they weren't meant to be there and I think they should remove themselves from it. "I don't think the police themselves as an organisation are capable of doing that, but I think the governing/oversight body, the body responsible for making the police accountable to the public in general (Policing Board) should now tell the two governments that it is their responsibility to deal with the past, not the police." A Policing Board spokesman said: The issues arising from legacy matters continue to have a seriously detrimental impact on policing and public confidence but most importantly on the victims and families of all those who have been affected by our troubles and are seeking information or justice. "The Board agrees that the implementation of political agreements on legacy are long overdue including the establishment of the Historical Investigations Unit. These are matters for the British Government to progress. "At the special meeting held on 26th February 2019, the Board agreed to write to the Secretary of State to seek an investment of funding for legacy and the establishment of the Historical Investigations Unit." William and Kate's private engagement yesterday with the PSNI may have been away from the glare of the media spotlight, but the Chief Constable has been very public in his praise of the royal couple. On the final day of their two-day visit, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge started their morning yesterday meeting with George Hamilton who was joined by a number of his officers and staff members at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down. As they later conducted a walkabout in Ballymena during a visit to Braid Arts Centre before then capping off their trip by speaking to parents at a SureStart centre, the PSNI revealed on its Twitter page the royal couple had discussed the challenges policing faces daily. The Police Federation for NI also tweeted it had been a "privilege" to speak to the couple about the "serious and ongoing #mentalhealth crisis", adding it was "grateful" to the pair for taking "such active interest in the traumatic experiences" of their PSNI colleagues. In an NIO tweet, Mr Hamilton said he "appreciated" the couple "taking time out" to learn about the challenges facing the PSNI. A journalism student - who was paralysed from the neck down in a horrific crash as a toddler - has said meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge yesterday in Ballymena "felt like a dream". Phoebe Lyle (21) was knocked down and severely injured on a road in Spain when she was just three and now breathes with the help of a ventilator. She met William and Kate during their visit to the Braid Centre. The Belfast Metropolitan College broadcast journalism student told the royal couple about the work she carried out on the Young Filmmakers Programme with Cinemagic - a charity that uses film, TV and digital technologies to inspire and educate young people. And she showcased interviews she carried out while studying for her journalism qualification. Read More Phoebe said the couple were genuinely impressed and told her that her work was amazing, before commiserating with her after her computer battery died. "It was a real honour to meet their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge," she said. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Duchess of Cambridge is pictured with the Council Chief Executive Anne Donaghy. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E BALLYMENA, NORTHERN IRELAND - FEBRUARY 28: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge receives daffodils during a visit to St Josephs SureStart Facility on February 28, 2019 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Prince William last visited Belfast in October 2017 without his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who was then pregnant with the couple's third child. This time they concentrate on the young people of Northern Ireland. Their engagements include a visit to Windsor Park Stadium, home of the Irish Football Association, activities at the Roscor Youth Village in Fermanagh, a party at the Belfast Empire Hall, Cinemagic -a charity that uses film, television and digital technologies to inspire young people and finally dropping in on a SureStart early years programme. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge receives daffodils during a visit to St Josephs SureStart Facility on February 28, 2019 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.(Photo by Jeff J Mitchell - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Ballymena Town Hall on Thursday during a walk about on the second day of a visit to Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Ballymena Town Hall on Thursday during a walk about on the second day of a visit to Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Ballymena Town Hall on Thursday during a walk about on the second day of a visit to Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Ballymena Town Hall on Thursday during a walk about on the second day of a visit to Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Duchess of Cambridge is pictured with Mayor Lindsay Millar and Council Chief Executive Anne Donaghy. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Duchess of Cambridge is pictured with Mayor Lindsay Millar and Council Chief Executive Anne Donaghy. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Ballymena Town Hall on Thursday during a walk about on the second day of a visit to Northern Ireland. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye The Duke of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday February 28, 2019. PA The Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena. Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday February 28, 2019. PA The Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to the SureStart Facility in Ballymena as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA The Duke of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA The Duke of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye The Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge arrives for a visit to the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire PA The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visit the Braid Centre, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye The Duke of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire PA The Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a walkabout outside the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena as part of their two day tour to Northern Ireland. Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet police officers and staff at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet police officers and staff at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet police officers and staff at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet police officers and staff at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet police officers and staff at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet police officers and staff at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet police officers and staff at Hillsborough Castle today. Photo by Aaron McCracken / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena to see the workings of the CineMagic charity as part of their two day visit to Northern Ireland. Aaron Chown/PA Wire "It was really nice. Kate was really beautiful, she was just stunning. "They were asking me about the experiences that I had with Cinemagic, because today was its 30th anniversary. I spoke about how the knowledge I got with Cinemagic has given me the skills that I'm now using in broadcast journalism. "I showed them a broadcast that I had recorded for my second year of broadcast journalism. I had to do two video interviews with regards further education versus higher education and get the thoughts of young people and teachers. Kate and William were really impressed. They said it was amazing. "Will was really getting into my interviews and then my computer died. Kate laughed and said that it happens all the time at home. "I guess even a royal highness runs out of battery!" Phoebe said that meeting the royal couple meant she went home feeling "totally inspired". "I was slightly nervous meeting them," she said. "And even now after meeting them it just seems like it was a dream. "I know that it happened, but I feel like I have just imagined it. Expand Expand Previous Next Close The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Phoebe Lyle during their visit to the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena PA Phoebe at home with mum Jane / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Phoebe Lyle during their visit to the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena "It was a beautiful thing to meet them, they are very lovely people. They are really down to earth. "I have been completely inspired by them both. "They are wonderful people." Sharon Traynor and her former husband Peter at the City Hospital in Belfast before their separate surgeries planned for today Sharon Traynor and her former husband Peter at the City Hospital in Belfast before their separate surgeries planned for today An inspirational woman will today give her ex-husband the gift of life by donating a kidney to him three days ahead of his 44th birthday. Sharon and Peter Traynor, from Co Tyrone, who separated three years ago, spent last night at Belfast City Hospital in preparation for their separate surgeries at 8.30am and midday. Peter needs the transplant because he has a degenerative organ disease. Full-time mum Sharon said she was "excited" about being able to help her former partner "get his life back". Peter said he is "so thankful" to his ex for giving him "the chance of a bright future". Read More Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph hours before Peter's life-changing operation, 40-year-old Sharon said she wanted the father of their six children to be around to see them grow up. She added: "I'm not here for the starlight. When Peter first took ill a few years ago I was devastated and I wanted to help out in any way I could so I immediately put my name on the organ donor list. But then thankfully his condition stabilised. "Suddenly he got the news that his kidney had deteriorated so much that he needed a donor or he would need dialysis. "I volunteered, did all the tests and came back as a match and here we are. "Everybody has two kidneys and they only need one. Even though we've split up, that doesn't matter to me. Everybody deserves a second chance in life, there's enough suffering in the world and enough people dying from illnesses with no cures." Sharon, whose philosophy is "everyone should help each other if they can", said she "can't wait to see the difference in him" afterwards, and joked she's told him "this is all he's getting for his birthday". "I have watched him go downhill health-wise and get really sick and it made me very sad to watch someone suffer like that," she said. "It doesn't matter that we're not still together. People have told me that they think I'm mad for giving a kidney to an ex-husband and others have said they don't think their former partners would do it for them. "There have been different views on it and I think some people are in shock about my decision but it doesn't bother me. "I suppose it is kind of funny for an ex-wife to give the gift of life to her ex-husband." She added: "Lots of people donate [organs] when they're dead but why not come forward and do it when you're alive because then you'll be able to see the positive results of what you've done? " Sharon admitted that their children - Cora (23), Chelsea (22), Michaela (21), Dean (18), Cormac (14) and Molly (8) - are nervous about their mum and dad going through surgery on the same day. But she added: "They're really proud of me stepping forward and helping their daddy out. "It will give him another lease of life and they'll be able to hold on to their daddy and he'll be able to hold on to them." Peter said he was "all ready" for the operation and revealed he's had a lot of backing online from his renal support group in Omagh, as well as friends who've been through the procedure. "I'm a bit anxious, nervous and worried but I suppose that's normal," he said. Acknowledging that he will have a new kidney in time for his birthday on Monday thanks to Sharon, Peter said: "You can't get much better than that." He also paid tribute to his ex-wife's "amazing" act of selflessness and he recalled how she stepped in to offer help as his condition worsened and doctors told him it was time to start looking for a donor. "When Sharon heard how ill I'd become, she just walked into the renal unit in Omagh and asked if she was still on the list to donate a kidney and it all went from there," he said. Their story, first reported by the Ulster Herald yesterday, has been described as inspiring by hospital staff. Peter said he developed health problems at the end of 2011 and by the time he was diagnosed with kidney disease doctors told him he had it for 18 months. For several years he managed the illness with medication, but then he revealed that his "kidneys went in a downward spiral" which now brings him to "a critical stage, needing a donor". "In another two or three months I'll have no kidney function; they'll pack up and, without a living donor, I would be facing years and years of dialysis. "Sharon is a lifesaver. She knows I'm so thankful to her. At the end of the day she is saving my life and you can't do much more for anybody than that." Girls aged 12 to 15 are most likely to be targeted by groomers and UK victims included children as young as five. Cases involving sexual communication with a child more than doubled in Northern Ireland in a year, a report revealed today. The number of incidents recorded between April and September 2018 rose to 57 - up from 27 for the same six-month period a year previously. It comes as NSPCC research shows more than 5,000 online grooming offences were recorded by police in England and Wales in just 18 months. The data was obtained by the NSPCC after Freedom of Information requests. Read More The recorded use of Instagram has risen dramatically over the 18-month period across the UK, the figures show. Girls aged 12 to 15 are most likely to be targeted by groomers and UK victims included children as young as five. Today's report comes ahead of the imminent publication of the UK Government's Online Harms White Paper. The NSPCC urged ministers to tame what they said is the wild west web by bringing in statutory regulation to enforce a legal duty of care to children on social networks, backed by hefty fines if they fail. An anti-grooming law has been in place across Northern Ireland since February 2016, following a campaign by NSPCC Northern Ireland. Colin Reid, policy and public affairs manager at NSPCC Northern Ireland, said: "These figures are overwhelming evidence that keeping children safe cannot be left to social networks. "We cannot wait for the next tragedy before tech companies are made to act. It is hugely concerning to see the sharp spike in grooming offences on Instagram, and it is vital that the platform designs basic protection more carefully into the service it offers young people. "After 10 years of failed self-regulation by social networks, it is crucial that the UK Government's imminent Online Harms White Paper includes new laws that tackle online grooming once and for all." The NSPCC referred to the case of Emily (not her real name). She was 13 when she was groomed online by a 24-year-old man. She first met him in person because he was dating an older girl she knew. He had introduced himself and initially said he was 16, which quickly changed to 18. She told him she was 13. Later that evening he added her on Facebook and Snapchat. Emily said: "It escalated very quickly from there. We exchanged texts which quickly became sexual, then photos and videos before arranging for him to come and pick me up after school. "He drove me somewhere quiet ... and took me into the woods and had sex with me. He drove me in the direction of home straight afterwards, refusing to even talk, and then kicked me out of the car at the traffic lights. I was bleeding and crying. This was my first sexual experience." Emily's mother said: "We felt as though we had failed as parents. We knew about these social media sites, we thought we were doing everything we could to ensure our children's safety when they were online, but we still couldn't protect Emily. Police have found and arrested a killer prisoner who failed to return to jail after being released for pre-release testing. A massive search operation was launched on Thursday after convicted murderer William Robert Martin (48) failed to return to Maghaberry Prison. On Friday afternoon, police announced Martin had been found and arrested. "We would like to thank everyone who came forward with information relating to the person unlawfully at large from HMP Maghaberry; Robert William Martin," a PSNI spokesperson said. "Police can confirm that this male has been located and arrested today." Stormont's Department of Justice was criticised for being "secretive" about releasing details about the prisoner, including how long Martin had served in jail and whether in its view he represented a danger to the public. Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said: "This man has absconded. And people have the right to know that there is a murderer in their midst: to know what he's done, who he murdered, what the circumstances were." A councillor has warned that someone could be killed if organised fights between groups of youths in an interface area in north Belfast do not stop. SDLP councillor Paul McCusker told the Belfast Telegraph he received calls from frightened residents in the Ardoyne area at around 8.30pm on Thursday when two groups of youths met near Alliance Avenue for an arranged fight. A number of parked cars were damaged during the incident. Mr McCusker said around 40 youths were involved and that video footage of the incident circulating on social media shows some of those involved carrying bats and other weapons. Mr McCusker said no arrests were made. "This has been an issue for the last year but the violence has been escalating over the last couple of months," the Oldpark councillor said. "The behaviour is becoming more violent. Last weekend we had two youths fist-fighting in the middle of the street. It is becoming more consistent and more concerning for the local community." Mr McCusker said he was concerned that young people involved in these fights may be seriously injured or even killed if more is not done to prevent the violence. "In one fight a young lad received a really bad head injury and another lad got three of his teeth knocked out," he said. "We have seen the damage that these arranged fights can cause but if it doesn't stop and they are carrying weapons we are fearful that someone is going to be seriously hurt or even killed." Mr McCusker called for a greater police presence in the area to prevent further fighting over the weekend. He said he and other youth workers will be out on the streets to deter youths from taking part in the violence. He added: "At the minute we are just responding when it is happening. What we need to do is get police in the area during the early part of the evening to identify groups of youths before fights begin. Police need to be more proactive and more visible." PSNI Inspector McCullough said that police received a number of calls on Thursday about groups of young people throwing items at each other in the Deerpark Road/Alliance Avenue area and surrounding areas of North Belfast. He said police came under attack with stones and bottles when trying to disperse the young people. It is critical that the young people who choose to engage in anti-social behaviour understand that it is unacceptable and it must stop. We dont want anyone injured or worse. We want people to take responsibility. We want residents to feel safe in their own homes," Inspector McCullough said. We will continue to deploy resources, from local officers, supported by our tactical support group and evidence gathering colleagues patrolling North Belfast to prevent anti-social behaviour and detect those involved." Inspector McCullough said that young people were ignoring repeated warnings. We will also continue to work alongside our partner agencies, local representatives and the community to address the issue, but it is quite apparent that some people are still choosing to ignore our repeated appeals and warnings," he said. Parents and guardians need to prevent young people from becoming involved or caught up in these activities. Know where your children are, who they are with, what they are doing and what they are arranging on their social media accounts. We do not want to criminalise young people however if offences are identified we will deal with these robustly. A number of hoax bomb alerts caused disruption in Portadown on Friday. DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley said that he would be requesting a meeting with police after "more than half a dozen" hoax bomb alerts were reported. Mr Buckley said that while the bomb scares disrupted everyday life in the town, that the bomb-scares also cost money in terms of police time and for the local economy and traders. "It causes chaos in the town. There are clearly people in our society who want to drag us back to the days of bombs and bullets. The majority of people want to move forward," the Upper Bann MLA said. "I hope there will be cross party condemnation of this activity and fulsome support for our local police. Those who continue to glorify the terrorists who bombed Portadown in the past send a confusing message to the next generation. Terrorism was wrong in the 1970s and its wrong today. Police confirmed that they carried out searches of a number of business premises in Portadown town centre after telephone warnings that bombs had been left inside. "Nothing was found during the searches and police are treating the incidents as a hoax. Further Police enquiries into the source of the calls are ongoing," a PSNI spokesperson said. "While these reports were deemed to have been hoaxes, anyone who notices anything suspicious should report it to police immediately by calling 101." Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is to meet business leaders in Belfast before delivering a keynote address at the opening of the Alliance Party conference tonight. A spokesman for Mr Vardkar said he would meet local businesses "to hear their views and concerns on the latest Brexit developments and the ongoing political impasse in Northern Ireland". He will then address a dinner to mark the opening of Alliance's annual conference. Meanwhile, UK Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington and Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney held Brexit talks in Dublin yesterday. A spokesman for Mr Coveney described the meeting as "constructive". He said Mr Coveney and Mr Lidington held a "detailed exchange on the political situation in Westminster". The spokesman said: "The Tanaiste made clear the EU position that the Withdrawal Agreement would not be reopened and that there is only one EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels." He added that Mr Coveney had stressed Dublin's "desire to reassure Westminster that if the backstop ever were to be used, it would only apply unless and until it was replaced by alternative arrangements". Issues relating to Northern Ireland were also raised. The spokesman said: "They discussed the urgent need for devolved administration in Stormont through a new talks process for all the parties." He added that the ministers had agreed to stay in touch in the weeks ahead. Mr Coveney said the talks were "not in any way a bilateral negotiation" on the UK's EU exit. "The real negotiation will happen in Brussels and that's very clear," he added. Labour Party MP Stella Creasy has criticised the confidence and supply agreement between the Conservatives and the DUP, blaming the deal for denying women their rights. Ms Creasy is among a number of cross-party MPs who have joined over 70 organisations in calling on the Government to rethink its decision to restrict the Domestic Abuse Bill to England and Wales. Ms Creasy had intended to put down an amendment to the draft Bill to reform abortion laws in Northern Ireland, but the scope of it was restricted to England and Wales, preventing her from bringing reforms forward. She said: "The Government has restricted the extent of this Bill to try and avoid upsetting the DUP. "Without change, the UK risks reneging on human rights obligations to treat women equally, including those women in Northern Ireland who are denied their basic rights. "That such a coalition of organisations and cross-party parliamentarians has come together reveals how worried so many of us are that the UK risks protections for vulnerable people for the sake of party political gain. "This short-sighted decision must be reversed so that parliament can consider legislation that protects the rights of every woman everywhere in the UK." But the DUP said any attempt to change the law without the consent of the Assembly "would be a breach of the devolution settlement". "The Government should respect the right of the Assembly to legislate on abortion," a spokesperson said. Meanwhile, today will see the latest bid in the House of Lords to extend same-sex marriage legislation to Northern Ireland. Conservative peer, Lord Hayward, and Labour peer, Lord Collins of Highbury, have tabled an amendment to the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths Bill, which would extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland. Lord Hayward said: "Same-sex couples in Northern Ireland should not have to suffer inequality on the basis of their sexual orientation or the part of the country where they live. "In the absence of devolved government in Northern Ireland, there are members on all sides and in both Houses of Parliament who want to get this matter resolved. "Westminster has already passed Northern Ireland legislation in the absence of Stormont, so we know that we can and should address the issue of marriage equality." Lord Hayward and Lord Collins' amendment would bring same-sex marriage legislation to Northern Ireland, with a clause that would give the Assembly six months to overturn the provision following the Bill becoming law, to allow for a possible return of devolved government. The Provost of Trinity College Dublin has said arrangements for Northern Irish students must be "copper-fastened" after Brexit. Dr Patrick Prendergast was in Belfast yesterday to address an audience of Trinity alumni. In January there were concerns a hard Brexit would see fees soar for local students wishing to study in Irish universities. Dr Prendergast said he welcomed confirmation from the Irish Government this would not happen for current students and those applying for 2019/20. This means students will continue to pay a contribution fee of 2,700 a year. "The Irish Government have done a lot in clarifying fees for the upcoming year and for current students," he said. "But really, we would like to see greater clarity in the long run. What's going to happen decades into the future? "I believe something should be done, at least in the UK and Ireland, to see that arrangement copper-fastened long into the future." Some 763 students from Northern Ireland applied to Trinity for 2018/19 but this has now dropped 20%. Uncertainty over Brexit as well as high Dublin rental prices have been cited as the main reasons. Northern Ireland currently has 1,200 Trinity alumni, including 700 in Belfast. "I'm travelling to Belfast to assure them that Trinity College Dublin is still their university, that they should see the advantages of studying here for their own sons and daughters and wider networks," said Dr Prendergast. "People in Belfast tend to forget how close Dublin is; it's only two hours down the road and Trinity is very welcoming to students from all over Ireland and the UK." He said Trinity, established by a royal charter in 1592, had always seen itself as a university for the island of Ireland. It is also seeking to boost their appeal with new schools in law and engineering plus building accommodation for 250 students to offset the Dublin housing crisis. Irelands premier believes it is unlikely that the United Kingdom will crash out of the European Union without a deal. Leo Varadkar was speaking in Belfast after meeting Northern Irelands business leaders for discussions which he described as being about Brexit and developing stronger economic links across the border. His government is currently making preparations for a no-deal Brexit, but he told media that he believes there will either be a deal or an extension to the negotiations. The Taoiseach said: We are entering quite a sensitive period over the next week or two in the run-up to the next set of votes in the House of Commons on March 12 and the European Council summit which happens the week after. I dont want to say too much about it at this stage but I think that the United Kingdom crashing out of the European Union without a deal on March 29 is unlikely. I think that we either will have a deal or we will have an extension but as is always the case, we have to work hard to achieve that withdrawal agreement, to get it ratified and also prepare for the worst-case scenario in case that arises. Referring to the Conservative Partys confidence and supply deal with the Democratic Unionists, Mr Varadkar said he feels it has created a new dynamic in politics. Expand Close Leo Varadkar after a meeting at the Irish Secretariat offices in Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leo Varadkar after a meeting at the Irish Secretariat offices in Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) My view as the head of the Irish government is that we should try to be honest brokers and be impartial when it comes to dealing with the different political parties in Northern Ireland, to work with everyone and also to listen to all sides, he said. I think that the fact the DUP confidence and supply deal has created a new dynamic, whether it is true or not, some people certainly perceive that it means that the British Government listens more to the DUP than to other parties. We see for example that Fianna Fail has decided to create a similar partnership with the SDLP which could create a similar dynamic were they to re-enter government south of the border. My view is that we should try to speak to all parties, be an honest broker, but I particularly want to reach out to the centre ground, people in politics and not in politics who share a vision as to how we can work together, put the past behind us and build a much better future. Mr Varadkar ruled out running Fine Gael candidates in Northern Ireland. No, no, we wont be doing that. Not in the foreseeable future, he said. Later, speaking at a gathering of the Alliance Party in Belfast, Mr Varadkar expressed concern that Brexit has weakened Northern Irelands Good Friday Agreement. He said: I am deeply concerned at how Brexit has already weakened the agreement and I am concerned that anything that creates new differences divergence between Britain and Ireland will undermine it more. We cannot allow that to happen. The UUP's justice spokesperson Doug Beattie has called for a public inquiry into the historic relationship between "Sinn Fein and violent republicanism". Mr Beattie was speaking after it was announced that the Department of Justice (DoJ) would release 55m to fund a unit to speed up the process of hearing inquests into 93 Troubles deaths. Read More The former Army Captain said that while the funding was to be welcomed, it would be "bittersweet" for many families whose loved one's deaths would not be investigated. He called on the Lord Chief Justice and the DoJ to "not stop at the 52 cases which are presently opened". "Instead it must continue to deliver truth and justice via inquests to the hundreds, if not thousands, of family members who saw their loved ones butchered by republican and loyalist terrorists," Mr Beattie said. He said Sinn Fein's historic relationship with "violent republicanism" should also be the result of a public inquiry. The UUP justice spokesperson said that the republican narrative or Sinn Fein should not be allowed to "bog down" the legacy process in calls for endless judicial reviews and public inquiries while "they continue to use victimhood as their own personal political tool". DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that legacy issues must be dealt with in a "balanced and proportionate" way. Expand Close Sir Jeffrey Donaldson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir Jeffrey Donaldson "We must move forward in Northern Ireland on a basis where everyone is equal under the law and where there is a proportionate focus on all the deaths which occurred during the Troubles. Whilst some cases receive continued focus there are others which have had no further investigation or review," the Lagan Valley MP said. "We will continue to engage in this process to pursue the fairness and balance that is required." Sinn Fein welcomed the news that the funding was being released and called it "long overdue". Party vice President Michelle O'Neill said that the onus was on the PSNI and Ministry of Defence to provide full disclosure of information to the inquests. The New Legacy Inquest Unit will examine 52 legacy cases relating to 93 deaths throughout the Troubles. It will operate under the remit of the Lord Chief Justice and will be supported by additional officials from the PSNI, Public Prosecution Service and other justice agencies. It has been given a six-year timescale to reflect the need to build up capacity and the complexity of the outstanding legacy inquest cases. Sinn Fein has been contacted for a response to Mr Beattie's comments. Two Northern Ireland-registered fishing boats seized by the Irish navy moored in the port of Clogherhead in Co Louth (Niall Carson/PA) Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar promised on Friday to resolve a legal "anomaly" that led to the seizure of two small fishing boats from Northern Ireland and drew angry denunciations from some politicians. A 60-metre armed Irish Coast Guard vessel on Thursday impounded two trawlers registered in Northern Ireland for fishing illegally inside the Republic's six-mile (9.6 km) territorial limit. The DUP, a close ally of British Prime Minister Theresa May, reacted angrily, with deputy leader Nigel Dodds on Thursday describing the incident as "outrageous... heavy-handed tactics". Mr Dodds also accused the Irish government of using it as a "bargaining chip on Brexit", something the Government denied. The owners of the trawlers pleaded guilty to breaching fishing regulations at Drogheda District Court on Friday but a judge decided to release them without levying a fine. Read More An informal bilateral agreement had allowed fishermen from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to fish inside the six-mile limit of each others' jurisdictions, but it was struck down by the Irish Supreme Court in 2016 and the Republic has yet to approve replacement legislation. As a result Irish fishermen can legally fish along Northern Ireland's coast but Northern Ireland fishermen are prohibited from fishing along the coast of the Republic of Ireland. "I think we can have that law changed and that anomaly, if you like, corrected, and we can do that in the next couple of weeks," Leo Varadkar told LMFM Radio, saying legislation had got stuck in the upper house of parliament, which Mr Varadkar's government does not control. But while the Republic's Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed told RTE radio on Friday that the issue had "zero to do with Brexit," Mr Varadkar linked the dispute with Britain's post-Brexit plans for its fisheries and whether or not these it will stay party to the London Fisheries Convention, which governs fishing rights in coastal waters off Western Europe The number of people waiting longer than a year for an operation in a Northern Ireland hospital has rocketed by 43% in just 12 months The number of people waiting longer than a year for an operation in a Northern Ireland hospital has rocketed by 43% in just 12 months. The Department of Health has released its quarterly waiting list bulletin which has revealed the shocking scale of the crisis facing the NHS in Northern Ireland. Despite a 30m cash boost last year to help address the problem, almost 95,000 people had been waiting for longer than a year for a first outpatient appointment at the end of December 2018 - an increase of 18% in 12 months. A further 21,477 people had been waiting more than 12 months for inpatient or day care treatment. This was up from just under 15,000 at the end of December last year. The statistics are even more startling in light of the 30m funding, which resulted in an additional 79,000 procedures being carried out. Without drastic action, such as offering specialist services at fewer locations, the situation is likely to deteriorate even further in light of the budget announced yesterday. The figures have been released just days after the Belfast Telegraph revealed children are waiting four years for an outpatient appointment and some patients face 10-year waits for surgery. The British Medical Association (BMA) has branded the situation "unacceptable" and warned Northern Ireland needs an additional 1,000 hospital doctors by 2033 to deliver a safe service. Dr Anne Carson, chair of the BMA's Northern Ireland Consultants Committee, said: "Every time the waiting list figures come out it is the same story: the number of patients waiting for first appointments and for treatment or further diagnostics increases. "This is a totally unacceptable service for our patients. "We cannot continue like this; if we don't move swiftly it is hard to see how this situation will be improved. "Staff right across healthcare in Northern Ireland are working harder than ever, but without some of the major changes outlined in successive reports, nothing will change." Dr Carson warned of a significant challenge in achieving this due to opportunities for doctors elsewhere in the UK and abroad. "We need to have more flexible working opportunities for doctors, better training and career development opportunities and pay parity with our colleagues in the rest of the UK," she said. Meanwhile, the Royal College of Surgeons has highlighted the massive disparity in waiting times for treatment here compared to England. While more than 100,000 people in Northern Ireland were waiting longer than a year for treatment at the end of last year, only 2,237 patients had faced such a wait in England. It also highlighted the fact that the 52-week Government target has not been completely achieved in more than 12 years. A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said the NHS is "unable to keep pace with growing demands for treatment, despite the best efforts of staff". She said fundamental transformation remains the only long-term answer to the situation. "While transformation is under way, sustained investment is also required to clear the backlog of patients waiting for treatment," she added. people in Northern Ireland have been waiting more than a year for a first outpatient appointment # Victor Chestnutt said if the cuts come into effect many farmers will face "dramatic" cash flow issues The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) has met with the Department for the Economy (DfE) to raise concerns about the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive tariff cuts, stating they could "decimate" scores of Northern Ireland businesses and cause "permanent damage" to the local farming sector. Earlier this week, DfE announced proposed tariff cuts to boilers under the controversial green energy scheme, which led to the collapse of Stormont in January 2017. Subject to new legislation, the revised tariffs for the most common type of boiler under the scheme will drop from around 13,000 to 2,000 a year. It's been claimed the cuts could put many out of business. Read More The UFU met with the permanent secretary of DfE, Noel Lavery, to voice their concerns about the tariff cuts. Victor Chestnutt, deputy president of the UFU, said if the cuts come into effect many farmers will face "dramatic" cash flow issues. "The proposed cuts have the potential to decimate hundreds of Northern Irelands farming businesses," he said. "It is galling that these farmers entered a government run scheme in good faith, used it responsibly and now their businesses are being pushed to the wall because of the failures of others." Mr Chestnutt said those in the scheme in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain receive around 20k per boiler each year, whereas the proposed plans would see those Northern Ireland receive 2,000 a year. He said this was "completely unsustainable" and doesn't take into account loan repayments, boiler maintenance or fuel. The UFU also said the RHI audit process, which was undertaken to assess the sustainability of the scheme, was "gruelling" for farmers and many of those who were audited in the summer of 2018 have not yet received a report. "This is completely unacceptable. We encouraged DfE to follow the lead of other regions and to organise pre-audit workshops," Mr Chestnutt said. "Im pleased to say they were receptive to this idea and agreed to plan workshops going forward." The UFU is also seeking a meeting with the Secretary of State, Karen Bradley, to discuss their concerns. A report following the public inquiry into the RHI is scheme is expected to be published later this year. Some airports could be forced to close if strike action goes ahead (Andrew Milligan/PA) Air traffic controllers working in the Highlands and Islands are considering strike action which could see the temporary closure of some airports over the summer. Highlands and Island Airport Limited (HIAL) said the vote in favour of industrial action by members of the Prospect union would have a significant impact on passengers. HIAL runs Inverness, Dundee, Sumburgh, Kirkwall, Stornoway, Benbecula and Wick airports. Prospect said 88% of controllers had voted for strike action, with 90% backing action short of a strike. Air traffic controllers do not want to have to take this actionDavid Avery, Prospect It claims members pay has fallen significantly behind the rest of the industry due to public sector pay restraint. HIAL said as a government-sponsored agency it must follow Scottish Government policy on pay. And it said comparisons with the remuneration of controllers at Heathrow and Gatwick were not appropriate given the differences in volumes of traffic and in the cost of living. Consultations will get under way next week on the plans for industrial action, which will likely start in April and continue through the summer. HIAL managing director Inglis Lyon said in a letter to stakeholders on Friday that if a strike cannot be avoided its airports will close. We are disappointed air traffic control colleagues have chosen to take industrial action that is likely to have a significant impact on passengersInglis Lyon, HIAL David Avery, Prospect negotiations officer, said: Our members at HIAL undertake highly skilled roles, much in demand across the UK and Europe, but due to public sector pay restraint their pay has fallen significantly behind the rest of the industry. Air traffic controllers do not want to have to take this action but ministers refusal to engage with the issue of pay has left them with no choice. Prospect remains ready to negotiate at any point to avoid this action but ministers must come back to the table with a new meaningful offer. Mr Lyon said in a statement: We are disappointed Air Traffic Control (ATC) colleagues have chosen to take industrial action that is likely to have a significant impact on passengers and the communities we serve in the Highlands and Islands. HIAL made a pay award offer to all staff which was accepted following an overall ballot of trade union members and paid to all staff at the end of September 2018. This was backdated to April 1 2018 and saw colleagues receive increases of up to 3% in line with Scottish Government Pay Remit Guidelines. Prospect ATC members rejected the pay settlement, but nonetheless received the increase. We are open to holding further talks with Prospect on a recruitment and retention allowance for ATC staff that would further bolster an attractive remuneration package that already includes excellent pension benefits and holiday entitlements. HIAL has implemented a pay rise for all staff, which is a significant improvement on previous yearsScottish Government spokesman The Scottish Government also described the vote for industrial action as disappointing and encouraged both parties to continue efforts to reach an agreement. A spokesman said: HIAL has implemented a pay rise for all staff, which is a significant improvement on previous years, as well as significantly increasing their contribution to their pension scheme in order to maintain this benefit for employees. Staff also continue to receive generous annual leave, sick pay and other allowances. In the face of the UK Governments continued budget cuts, the Scottish Government delivered a distinctive and progressive Pay Policy for 2018/19 one which is fair, supports those on lower incomes and protects public sector jobs and services while delivering value for money for the people of Scotland. Members of the public wave flags as they gather to watch a St Davids Day Parade in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA) An annual parade has taken place in Cardiff as Wales celebrates St Davids Day. More than 200 people took part in the march through the city centre of the Welsh capital, while hundreds more lined the streets to celebrate the countrys patron saint. Expand Close The St Davids Day Parade in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The St Davids Day Parade in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA) Last years event was officially cancelled due to safety fears owing to snow and freezing temperatures, though a group of around 40 determined Welsh men and women did complete the route despite warnings to stay away. On Friday, a much larger crowd dressed in traditional clothing and carrying Welsh flags marched through the streets of Cardiff. The traditional procession, led by performer Meic Peterson dressed as St David, is made up of local people, theatrical performers and choir groups marching and singing across the city centre. Expand Close A man dressed as St David leads the way during a St Davids Day Parade in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A man dressed as St David leads the way during a St Davids Day Parade in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA) The parade ended in The Hayes area of the city centre at the statue of John Batchelor, a Welsh Liberal politician and mayor of Cardiff who campaigned against slavery in the 1800s. There the crowd joined in a rousing rendition of the Welsh national anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. Neil McEvoy, an independent Assembly Member in the Welsh Assembly, called for the Welsh Government to follow the examples of Ireland and Scotland and make celebrations of their patron saint a public holiday. Expand Close A Welsh red dragon is pulled along during the parade (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Welsh red dragon is pulled along during the parade (Ben Birchall/PA) Addressing the crowd, he said: Cardiff Council, the Welsh Government, the Assembly, give your staff a day off. Make St Davids Day a festival. Go to Ireland, go to Dublin, see them celebrate Irishness. Go to Scotland, see how they celebrate Scottishness. What we need to do is invest in our national event, St Davids Day. A man has been charged in connection with the death of Kevin Byrne (Joe Giddens/PA) The family of a man who was allegedly murdered in Fife has described him as a loveable rogue. Kevin Byrne, known locally as Kevin Forrester, was discovered at an address in Alison Street, Kirkcaldy, on February 5. In a statement issued through Police Scotland, the 45-year-olds family said: Kevin was a loving son, father and brother. He loved life and was kind, caring and a loveable rogue. https://t.co/BOVG1pnJa2 You can read the family tribute to Kevin Byrne, who was murdered at his home in Alison Street, Kirkcaldy, by clicking on this link. Fife Police (@FifePolice) March 1, 2019 His loss in such tragic circumstances has been a shock to us all but we hold in our hearts the happy memories we have. We would like to thank everyone who has come forward to the police with information and also encourage anyone else with information to contact police. As a family, we would appreciate if we could now be left alone to grieve. Leslie Fraser appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Friday February 22 charged with assault and murder. The 30-year-old, of no fixed abode, made no plea and was due to appear again within eight days. The Government is not persuaded by plans for anonymous arrests, according to a Home Office Minister. Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Lord Paddick of Brixton wants police to be able to arrest people without releasing names to the public, making it illegal for anyone to publicly name them. Lord Paddick claimed people like pop star Sir Cliff Richard had their reputations ruined when allegations of historic child abuse made by four men were publicised, although he was neither arrested nor charged. Expand Close Sir Cliff Richard arriving at the Rolls Building in London (PA/Kirsty OConnor) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir Cliff Richard arriving at the Rolls Building in London (PA/Kirsty OConnor) But speaking in the second reading of the Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill in the Lords, Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford refused to back the Bill. She said: Restricting the freedom of the Press is a serious matter and we are not yet persuaded that legislating in this instance would be a necessary or proportionate response to the perceived problems. We do recognise the importance of debating these issues and we will keep the position under review. Restricting the freedom of the Press is a serious matter and we are not yet persuaded that legislating in this instance would be a necessary or proportionate response to the perceived problemsBaroness Williams Lord Paddick said his Bill would make it illegal for those arrested to be named by anyone and journalists would have to seek approval from a judge to release names in the public interest, such as to encourage potential rape victims to come forward. He said: Being arrested by the police lends credence to the allegations made. Members of the public, encouraged by the press and the media, form the impression there is no smoke without fire if the police have gone as far as to arrest the individual. We have to face the reality that, in the eyes of the public, people are no longer considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court. Members of the public, encouraged by the press and the media, form the impression there is no smoke without fire if the police have gone as far as to arrest the individualLord Paddick Lord Paddick, formerly deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, dismissed concerns the change would have prevented serial rapist John Worboys from being convicted. Lib Dem colleague Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames agreed, claiming concerns raised by charities supporting victims of rape and abuse would be addressed by judicial appeals and saying we have to trust the judges to decide. He said: The argument that people wont come forward he mentions the Worboys case but its often used particularly in cases of domestic and sexual violence but I just wonder whether thats true. People who might not otherwise come forward because they are frightened and deterred by whats happened to them do gain courage from the fact there is publicity about particular suspects it seems to me a judge is entitled to weigh up those features of the case and come to a just conclusion. Expand Close John Worboys will stay in prison after a Parole Board panel concluded he is not suitable for release (PA/Met Police) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp John Worboys will stay in prison after a Parole Board panel concluded he is not suitable for release (PA/Met Police) Lord Marks also questioned whether lifelong anonymity for victims of sex offences should be revised and went on to suggest the balance needed to be tipped back in favour of the suspect. He said: When you look at the issue of justice for the uncharged suspect and you balance that against justice to the public, often as purchasers of prurient newspapers or listening to television programmes trying to improve ratings I think its important to have regard to both sides. Labour peer Lord Campbell-Savours, who said he was appalled at the destruction of reputations, such as the ongoing inquiry into child abuse allegations against the late Lord Janner of Braunstone. Expand Close Lord Janner leaves court after appearing over 22 historic child sex abuse charges (Anthony Devlin/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lord Janner leaves court after appearing over 22 historic child sex abuse charges (Anthony Devlin/PA) Shadow home affairs Minister Lord Kennedy of Southwark accepted media scrutiny could cause damage and devastation for the accused but, on balance, he thought publicity is useful. I also recognise that the responsible publishing of identities has in cases encourage victims to come forward, he said, listing the cases of convicted paedophiles Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall and wife-beater and former SNP MSP Bill Walker. People did come forward and that in the end enabled those men to be brought to justice for their crimes. But I do think (this Bill) has highlighted an important issue and the situation isnt right at the present time but I cant see (the Bill) making much more progress. Expand Close Rolf Harris arrives at Southwark Crown Court (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rolf Harris arrives at Southwark Crown Court (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Baroness Williams also said the balance between the freedom of the press and the right to privacy must be upheld as she rejected Lord Paddicks arguments, saying publicity encouraged victims to come forward and the Me Too movement had been a living testament to this. Applications to lift reporting restrictions would risk adding potential delay to fast-moving investigations, she added, as well as placing additional burdens on our courts. The Government is committed to protecting the freedom of the press and recognises of course a vibrant and free press plays such a valuable role in our culture and in democratic life, she said. It isnt clear that this is absolutely necessary on the contrary existing arrangements with police do seem to strike a sensible balance. The Law Society of England and Wales said criminals would be cheering if there was a no-deal Brexit (Jonathan Brady/PA) Britain will face a significant gap in its ability to tackle cross-border crime and terrorism if there is a no-deal Brexit, the Law Society of England and Wales warned. Crashing out of the European Union would mean losing access to tools including the European Arrest Warrant, cross-border crime agency Europol and judicial co-operation unit Eurojust. Law Society president Christina Blacklaws said: If on March 29 we crash out of the EU without a deal, among the only people cheering will be criminals and those who wish us harm. A no deal Brexit will leave cross-border criminals cheering. "if we leave the EU without a deal, the era of unprecedented international security & criminal justice co-operation which weve enjoyed as a member state will immediately cease @LawSocPresident https://t.co/4uAfaXgZrV pic.twitter.com/KQRh7JI2mZ The Law Society (@TheLawSociety) March 1, 2019 The society, which represents solicitors, said an orderly transition period would allow new arrangements to be put in place covering criminal justice co-operation. The Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly stressed her desire to secure a deal and a close partnership with Brussels on security and justice measures. But the Law Society warned of the uncertainty surrounding a possible no-deal Brexit. Ms Blacklaws said: The absence of clear guidance or information about contingency planning when it comes to criminal justice is deeply troubling as there will be immediate consequences from a no-deal and any new agreements can only be forged once Britain has left the EU, leaving a significant gap in our ability to fight crime and terrorism. Military personnel wearing protective clothing at the home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal (Andrew Matthews/PA) Novichok victim Charlie Rowley has appealed for justice to be served almost a year after he and his partner were caught up in the Salisbury nerve agent attacks. Police repeated pleas for information over the Novichok poisoning as the Wiltshire city was declared decontaminated after an extensive military clean-up. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripals house and 11 other potentially infected sites were ruled safe on Friday after the 355-day operation. Military teams have spent 13,000 hours making Salisbury safe after Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were targeted with the nerve agent on March 4 2018 and left seriously ill. Mr Rowley and his partner Dawn Sturgess, 44, fell ill in nearby Amesbury months after the Skripal incident, and Ms Sturgess died in hospital in July. She had come into contact with a perfume bottle believed to have been used in the attack on the Skripals and then discarded. Speaking to ITV News, Mr Rowley, 45, said: I want justice really, I want justice to be served and someone to pay for what theyve done. I think that would probably put my mind at rest and get over whats happened. Its the fact its an open book still and nothing really has changed. Its been a year, and six or seven months since my partners passed away. Nothings changed. Id like there to be answers rather than questions all the time. Mr Rowley said his health has suffered and it is a struggle to remember things as he continues to deal with the long-term effects of Novichok exposure. Wiltshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: Whilst today marks an important landmark in relation to the decontamination process it does not however mark the end to the police investigation. Expand Close The roof of the home and garage of Sergei Skripal was dismantled amid the decontamination operation (Andrew Matthews/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The roof of the home and garage of Sergei Skripal was dismantled amid the decontamination operation (Andrew Matthews/PA) Some 250 detectives have worked on the investigation, collecting 11,000 hours of CCTV footage, seizing 3,700 exhibits and taking 1,702 statements. Police are asking anyone who may have seen a counterfeit pink Nina Ricci perfume box or glass bottle in between the two incidents to come forward. Counter Terrorism Policing senior national co-ordinator, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, said officers were determined to bring to justice those responsible. He said one year on there were still parts of the picture being pieced together, adding: We cannot account for the whereabouts of the bottle, nozzle or box between the attack on the Skripals and Detective Sergeant (Nick) Bailey on 4 March and when Charlie Rowley said he found it on Wednesday, 27 June. The Skripals house, in Christie Miller Road, was handed from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) back to Wiltshire Council on Friday. Army Lieutenant General Ty Urch, who oversaw military involvement in the clean-up, said the announcement declared all of those 12 sites safe. A Defra spokesman said: The completion of clean-up work at Christie Miller Road, Salisbury, marks a significant milestone in south Wiltshires return to normality following the sickening Novichok nerve agent attack last year. The property was declared safe following extensive cleaning and testing by specialist teams. Wiltshire Council will shortly begin to co-ordinate work to refurbish the property, with residents of Christie Miller Road consulted on its future use. Expand Close The Prezzo restaurant in Salisbury was one of the sites decontaminated (Ben Mitchell/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Prezzo restaurant in Salisbury was one of the sites decontaminated (Ben Mitchell/PA) Alistair Cunningham, chairman of the south Wiltshire recovery co-ordinating group, said this was a significant moment for the area which can now look to the future. He added: Work will begin shortly to reconstruct and refurbish the house so it can return to being a home again. We are continuing to talk to the residents on the future of the property as it is important their views are taken into account on how it is used in the future. Environment minister Therese Coffey said the professionalism of all those involved in the clean-up had been exemplary. Along with the house, the sites include the park bench where the Skripals were found collapsed, the Zizzi restaurant where they had dined beforehand, and the home of Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who was exposed to the agent. Lt Gen Urch, commander home command and standing joint commander, said it had been the longest running operation of its kind on British soil. He said: Novichok is probably one of the most dangerous and most challenging chemicals in existence today and you dont need very much of it and its highly spreadable. An estimated 600-800 specially trained military personnel, including the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear regiment, were involved in the clean-up, named Operation Morlop. About 190 worked at any one time and there were 250 deliberate operations to cross into and decontaminate danger areas. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) A senior military source said the Skripal house was the most complex but each decontamination effort was bespoke to the site. Other sites were Salisbury and Amesbury ambulance stations, Bourne Hill police station, Ashley Wood vehicle recovery yard and The Mill pub. Mr Rowleys home, a Boots pharmacy branch and Amesbury Baptist Church were also among the 12 sites. Lt Gen Urch said ambulances used in the initial response also had to be decontaminated during the slow, deliberate and detailed operation. Special dressing zones were set up near the Novichok hotspots where teams changed into special respirator suits which included equipment not normally used by the military, the general said. I think our military personnel have demonstrated genuine courage, he said. This is something which young girls and boys crossing the hot zone have never done before in their lives and its been an amazing demonstration of physical and mental courage. He said the attack, believed to have been orchestrated by Russias secret service, was a despicable act, repeating a comment made by the Prime Minister Theresa May in the aftermath. Teams involved in the clean-up will be recognised in due course for their courage, Lt Gen Urch added. Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the Jordan Growth and Opportunity conference in London (Toby Melville/PA) Theresa May has announced new financial support for Jordan to open the door to reinvigorating the countrys economy. The Prime Minister, speaking at the close of a major international conference on the Arab state in London, said the UK would underwrite a 250 million US dollar (188 million) World Bank loan to Jordan. The support is designed to help the country borrow money at a lower rate and manage its national debt. Britain will also increase its grant financing to Jordan over the next five years, Mrs May said, to attract the investment needed for creating jobs. Expand Close Jordans PM Omar Razzaz also addressed the event (Toby Melville/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jordans PM Omar Razzaz also addressed the event (Toby Melville/PA) The PM told the Jordan: Growth and Opportunity conference on Thursday afternoon: To demonstrate the extent of the UKs own confidence in Jordan, and our determination to make the vision that Jordans prime minister and king have spoken about today a reality, I am pleased that the UK will be underwriting a 250 million dollar World Bank loan to Jordan. This will come alongside a substantial uplift in our grant financing over the next five years. This will open the door to reinvigorating Jordans economy, attracting the investment needed to stimulate growth and create jobs. The UKs assistance for Jordan is a practical demonstration of the approach I set out in Cape Town. This is about working in partnership, sharing our skills, experience and resources to jointly tackle the challenges we face in a way that delivers global security and prosperity. Mrs May said it matters to all of us to unlock Jordans potential so it can prosper and remain a beacon of stability. Expand Close Mrs May earlier met King Abdullah II of Jordan at Number 10 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mrs May earlier met King Abdullah II of Jordan at Number 10 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) She told the conference: Jordan sits at the centre of a region that has faced turbulence and uncertainty over the last decade. The political upheaval in 2010 and 2011, the emergence of Daesh, and the ongoing conflict in Syria have changed the face of the Middle East. She said a stable Jordan defends us from terrorist groups taking root and strengthens the border security of neighbouring countries. She added: And that is why our collective support for Jordan is so crucial. US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, interim president of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva, EU foreign affairs representative Federica Mogherini, and foreign ministers from around the world also attended the conference. Mrs May earlier held talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Downing Street. Military personnel wearing protective clothing at the home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal (Andrew Matthews/PA) Police have repeated pleas for information over the Novichok poisoning as Salisbury was declared decontaminated of the nerve agent. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal s house and 11 other potentially infected sites were ruled safe on Friday after an almost year-long clean-up. Military teams have spent 13,000 hours on the clean-up after Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were targeted with the nerve agent on March 4 2018 and left seriously ill. They took 5,000 test samples from across Salisbury and nearby Amesbury, where Dawn Sturgess, 44, was fatally poisoned in July, during the 355-day operation. Wiltshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: Whilst today marks an important landmark in relation to the decontamination process it does not however mark the end to the police investigation. Expand Close The roof of the home and garage of Sergei Skripals home was dismantled amid the decontamination operation (Andrew Matthews/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The roof of the home and garage of Sergei Skripals home was dismantled amid the decontamination operation (Andrew Matthews/PA) Some 250 detectives have worked on the investigation, collecting 11,000 hours of CCTV footage, seizing 3,700 exhibits and taking 1,702 statements. Police are asking anyone who may have seen a counterfeit pink Nina Ricci perfume box or glass bottle in between the two incidents to come forward. Counter Terrorism Policing senior national co-ordinator, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, said officers were determined to bring to justice those responsible. He said one year on there were still parts of the picture being pieced together, adding: We cannot account for the whereabouts of the bottle, nozzle or box between the attack on the Skripals and Detective Sergeant (Nick) Bailey on 4 March and when Charlie Rowley said he found it on Wednesday, 27 June. The Skripals house, in Christie Miller Road, was handed from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) back to Wiltshire Council on Friday. Army Lieutenant General Ty Urch, who oversaw military involvement in the clean-up, said the announcement declared all of those 12 sites safe. A Defra spokesman said: The completion of clean-up work at Christie Miller Road, Salisbury marks a significant milestone in south Wiltshires return to normality following the sickening Novichok nerve agent attack last year. The property was declared safe following extensive cleaning and testing by specialist teams. Wiltshire Council will shortly begin to co-ordinate work to refurbish the property, with residents of Christie Miller Road consulted on its future use. Expand Close The Prezzo restaurant in Salisbury was one of the sites decontaminated (Ben Mitchell/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Prezzo restaurant in Salisbury was one of the sites decontaminated (Ben Mitchell/PA) Alistair Cunningham, chairman of the south Wiltshire recovery co-ordinating group, said this was a significant moment for the area which can now look to the future. He added: Work will begin shortly to reconstruct and refurbish the house so it can return to being a home again. We are continuing to talk to the residents on the future of the property as it is important their views are taken into account on how it is used in the future. Environment minister Therese Coffey said the professionalism of all those involved in the clean-up had been exemplary. Along with the house, the sites include the park bench where the Skripals were found collapsed, the Zizzi restaurant where they had dined beforehand, and the home of Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who was exposed to the agent. Lt Gen Urch, commander home command and standing joint commander, said it had been the longest running operation of its kind on British soil. He said: Novichok is probably one of the most dangerous and most challenging chemicals in existence today and you dont need very much of it and its highly spreadable. An estimated 600-800 specially trained military personnel, including the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear regiment, were involved in the clean-up, named Operation Morlop. About 190 worked at any one time and there were 250 deliberate operations to cross into and decontaminate danger areas. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) A senior military source said the Skripal house was the most complex but each decontamination effort was bespoke to the site. Other sites were Salisbury and Amesbury ambulance stations, Bourne Hill police station, Ashley Wood vehicle recovery yard and The Mill pub. Ms Sturgess fell ill and died after coming into contact with a perfume bottle believed to have been used in the attack on the Skripals and then discarded. Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, was also exposed to the nerve agent but was treated and discharged. Mr Rowleys home, a Boots pharmacy branch and Amesbury Baptist Church were also among the 12 sites. In January, the roof of the Skripals house and garage were dismantled then removed and disposed of. The roof was removed because the extent of the search potentially spread the agent into every nook and cranny, the source said. Lt Gen Urch said ambulances used in the initial response also had to be decontaminated during the slow, deliberate and detailed operation. Special dressing zones were set up near the Novichok hotspots where teams changed into special respirator suits which included equipment not normally used by the military, the general said. I think our military personnel have demonstrated genuine courage, he said. This is something which young girls and boys crossing the hot zone have never done before in their lives and its been an amazing demonstration of physical and mental courage. He said the attack, believed to have been orchestrated by Russias secret service, was a despicable act, repeating a comment made by the Prime Minister Theresa May in the aftermath. Teams involved in the clean-up will be recognised in due course for their courage, Lt Gen Urch added. Shamima Begum, who has said she regrets speaking to the media (PA) Shamima Begum and her newborn baby are thought to have been moved from a Syrian refugee camp after they were threatened, her familys lawyer has said. The teenager and her infant son were moved from the Al-Hol camp in the north of the country due to safety concerns around her and her baby, Tasnime Akunjee said. Ms Begum, who fled from Bethnal Green in east London to join Islamic State as a 15-year-old, recently said she regretted speaking to the media. The 19-year-old, who gave birth days after her discovery by a journalist was first reported, said she wished she had kept a low profile. Expand Close Shamima Begum before catching from London in 2015 to join the Islamic State group (Met Police/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shamima Begum before catching from London in 2015 to join the Islamic State group (Met Police/PA) The Sun reported that Ms Begum, who wants to return to the UK but has been stripped of her British citizenship, had received death threats since speaking out about her plight. The mother and her baby are said to have since been moved to another camp nearer to the Iraqi border. Mr Akunjee told the paper: I can confirm that it is our understanding that Shamima has been moved from Al-Hol due to safety concerns around her and her baby. We further understand that indeed she and her child had been threatened by others at the Al-Hol camp. The development comes after British officials ruled out any effort inside Syria to extract Ms Begum and her child. Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her British citizenship in an effort to block her return. Ms Begums family have pleaded for the mother and her child to be allowed to come back to Britain. They say the teenager should face justice if she is found to have broken the law by travelling to Syria. A drink called milk coke is taking social media by storm, and the man popularising it is encouraging people to try the delicious beverage. Comedy writer James Felton says the drink is a Birmingham tradition which, as its name suggests, is quite literally a mixture of milk with Coca-Cola. Milk coke is a real thing. Brummies love it. We can all move on from this discussion now, I will be taking no further questions. pic.twitter.com/dQR8bg3UAO James Felton (@JimMFelton) March 1, 2019 Ive been drinking it since I was a child and had the metabolism to cope with the calories involved, he told the Press Association. Since a discussion between Mr Felton and some of his friends on Twitter about the drink on Friday, talk about milk coke has surged, with the drink receiving mixed reviews. Tried my first milk coke after learning about it on Twitter earlier today. I expected it to be bad, but I have to say my expectations were completely right. It's not good. I do not recommend mixing coke and milk Wild Geerters (@steinkobbe) March 1, 2019 Twitter user @classiclib3ral commented: I expected it to be bad, but I have to say my expectations were completely right. Its not good. I do not recommend mixing coke and milk. Mr Felton claims the drink comes from Birmingham, saying: The Brummie side of my family all drink it, and I have several Brummie friends (and people online also) who have confirmed its a Brummie thing. However its also a South African thing, and they call it (oh god) Brown Milk. The discussion about the liquid refreshment has even seen politicians get involved, with Labour MP Wes Streeting looking to test the Birmingham theory. @jessphillips What is your position on milk coke please? Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) March 1, 2019 What is your position on milk coke please? he posed to fellow politician Jess Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley. She said she had never heard of it. However, Mohammad Mubashir Hussain, 23, works in Birmingham at a legal firm and agrees with Mr Feltons assertion that milk coke is from the city. I work in Birmingham and was introduced to it by a colleague, at first I was repulsed and apprehensive but now I love it, he said. Dont knock it till you try it. Its a Brummie thing. So how to drink milk coke? Well, Mr Felton says the best mixture is one third milk to two thirds coke. You have to pour the milk in first otherwise itll curdle, he added. Youve got about 10 minutes to drink it once youve made it, before it separates. And trust me, you do not want to drink a separated milk coke. Mr Felton recommends people try milk coke because its delicious and has all the flavour of a coke float without the hassle of having to own ice cream. But he also offers some words of caution. It definitely shouldnt be a craze, I dont want to give the whole UK diabetes, he said. Another candidate is seeking the Democratic Partys nomination for the 2020 presidential election. Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, declared climate change the nations most pressing issue and promising to build his White House bid around it. It is time for our nation to set a new priority, Mr Inslee told supporters gathered at a solar panel business in Seattle. VIDEO: This is our moment, our climate, our mission together, we can defeat climate change. That's why I'm running for president. Join #OurClimateMoment today https://t.co/zg8ILGyk0Z pic.twitter.com/pUZVxyzfc5 Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 This is truly our moment. It is our moment to solve Americas most daunting challenge and make it the first, foremost and paramount duty of the United States, and that is to defeat climate change. The 68-year-old former congressman becomes the first governor to enter a race dominated by senators. Montana governor Steve Bullock and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper are eyeing presidential campaigns. As a candidate, I will not take one dime from fossil fuel companies or executives. And when I'm president, not one nickel of taxpayer dollars will go to subsidize an oil or gas company. #OurClimateMoment Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 It will not be easy for Mr Inslee to garner attention with six prominent senators, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, already running. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Representative Beto ORourke also are expected to make highly anticipated 2020 announcements in the coming weeks. Expand Close Washington governor Jay Inslee (Ted S. Warren/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Washington governor Jay Inslee (Ted S. Warren/AP) But Mr Inslee said his emphasis on combating climate change will set him apart from his competitors and from Republican President Donald Trump. Climate change is a unifying issue, Mr Inslee said in a recent interview, calling it a moral necessity and an economic opportunity. Climate change is just as much a matter of character as it is a matter of science. #OurClimateMoment Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 He promises substantial investment in clean energy sources that reduce American dependence on fossil fuels. This issue is connected to virtually every other value system and thing we want to do in our communities, he said, mentioning environmental justice, infrastructure, clean energy, health care and national security. Mr Inslee argues that no presidential candidate has hinged a campaign as heavily on climate and environmental policy as he will. The winner of the Democratic primary process will be nominated by the party to challenge Mr Trump in the November 2020 election. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiled broadly as he strode down a red carpet with Vietnams president on Friday, a day after his stunning summit breakdown with US President Donald Trump With Mr Trump back in Washington, and both countries spinning their version of what happened during one of the most high-profile diplomatic collapses in recent years, Mr Kim seemed confident and poised he stepped out of his armoured car and embraced President Nguyen Phu Trong. On Saturday he is expected to be driven back to the border with China where he will board his armoured train for a 60-plus-hour trip, through the sprawl of China, home to Pyongyang, North Koreas capital. In Hanoi, President Trump held firm on Americas terms: Nothing short of real progress toward verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will result in sanctions relief. Tonights 1600 Daily: https://t.co/A68ueVC88u pic.twitter.com/3PSM69cDQZ The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) March 1, 2019 But Friday saw his car rolling beneath fluttering Vietnamese and North Korean flags the US ones have been mostly taken down as a large crowd jammed the citys streets and waved flowers. Talks between Mr Kim and Mr Trump broke down on Thursday, the second day of their two-day summit, in a dispute over how much sanctions relief Washington should provide Pyongyang in return for nuclear disarmament steps. Despite a senior North Korean officials suggestion in a middle-of-the-night news conference called to dispute Mr Trumps version of the summits end that Mr Kim may have lost the will for diplomacy, the North Korean leader seems to have emerged from the diplomatic wreckage as a winner. Expand Close North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, centre, during a press conference in Hanoi (Vincent Yu/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, centre, during a press conference in Hanoi (Vincent Yu/AP) Mr Kim stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Mr Trump at the summit and answered questions with humour and ease when confronted by an aggressive international media contingent. And, crucially for his image at home, he stood firm on his demands for the relief of sanctions imposed over a nuclear programme North Korea says it built in the face of unrelenting US hostility meant to end its leadership. Mr Kim, as he considers his next move after Hanoi, will also be backed by state-controlled media that were already busy portraying the summit as a victory for their leader. They said Mr Kim and Mr Trump appreciated that the second meeting in Hanoi offered an important occasion for deepening mutual respect and trust and putting the relations between the two countries on a new stage. North Korea said it had asked for partial sanctions relief in return for closing its main nuclear site at Yongbyon, an important nuclear-fuel production facility but not the only place the North is believed to make bomb fuel. The United States also put its interpretation on the summit breakdown, with senior officials saying that North Korea wanted billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for only partial dismantlement of Yongbyon, and demanded the North scrap more of its nuclear programme for such a high level of concessions. Protesters demonstrate in the streets of Algiers (Sidali Djarboub/AP) Masses of Algerians surged through the capital and rallied in other cities against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas bid for a fifth term. It was an exceptional popular challenge to the countrys secretive leadership. Protesters surged past a barricade and defied repeated volleys of tear gas fired by police in the march in Algiers. Most marchers were peaceful but a small group throwing stones clashed at the end of the event with police, causing some injuries. Expand Close Protesters clash with police (Toufik Doudou/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters clash with police (Toufik Doudou/AP) Such anti-government protests are unusual in Algeria, where questions are growing about Mr Bouteflikas fitness for office after a 2013 stroke that has left him largely hidden from public. Police helicopters circled overhead as crowds gathered in streets and parks of Algiers after midday Muslim prayer services to join the march. Organisers of the social media-driven movement hope the protest will send a loud signal of public discontent to Algerias secretive leadership before the April 18 presidential election. For a free and democratic Algeria! shouted some demonstrators, or No fifth term! Expand Close A woman poses with a sign reading No To A Fifth Term (Fateh Gudoum/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman poses with a sign reading No To A Fifth Term (Fateh Gudoum/AP) The crowd included families with small children and women in headscarves or jeans. Riot police lined key avenues, determined to keep marchers from nearing government buildings. Bursts of tear gas fire punctuated the afternoon, starting soon after crowds started gathering. Expand Close Demonstrators carry their national flag (Anis Belghoul/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Demonstrators carry their national flag (Anis Belghoul/AP) More and more demonstrators joined in as the group marched along a route parallel to the citys Mediterranean shore. Police stopped the crowd near the central post office, and the protesters chants briefly fell silent as they joined together to sing the Algerian national anthem. Then the crowd overwhelmed a police barricade, pushing on toward Martyrs Square in the historic Casbah neighbourhood. Indians wait to welcome the pilot at the India Pakistan border at Wagah (Prabhjot Gill/AP) Pakistan prepared to hand over a captured Indian pilot on Friday while cross-border attacks across the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir continued for a fourth day. Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers faced off along the Kashmir boundary known as the Line of Control, in one of the worlds most volatile regions. Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a February 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops. As a true statesman, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan announced that #Pakistan will release Indian Air Force Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman tomorrow as a peace gesture. pic.twitter.com/4nIbd6szk6 Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) February 28, 2019 Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft on Wednesday and capturing a pilot. Since the escalation, world leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent. US President Donald Trump in Hanoi on Thursday said he had been involved in seeking to de-escalate the conflict. I think hopefully thats going to be coming to an end, Mr Trump said, without elaborating. Its been going on for a long time decades and decades. Theres a lot of dislike, unfortunately, so weve been in the middle trying to help them both out, see if we can get some organisation and some peace, and I think probably thats going to be happening. On Friday Saudi Arabias minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, is expected in Islamabad with a message from the kingdoms powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told lawmakers on Thursday: We are releasing the Indian pilot as a goodwill gesture tomorrow. But India made it clear that the latest escalation has changed its strategy and that going forward, it will strike, including inside Pakistan, if they get information of an attack in the planning. Expand Close A Pakistani soldier stands guard near the wreckage of the Indian plane (Abdul Razzaq/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Pakistani soldier stands guard near the wreckage of the Indian plane (Abdul Razzaq/AP) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier Thursday warned Indias enemies are conspiring to create instability in the country through terror attacks. Meanwhile, Pakistans air space remained closed to most air traffic, although some domestic flights were allowed on Thursday. Residents of the Pakistani border town of Chikhoti reported heavy shelling overnight and Friday morning. Expand Close The Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy rally against any escalation of tension (B.K. Bangash/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy rally against any escalation of tension (B.K. Bangash/AP) More than 200 people had fled to a military organised camp about 16 miles away from the border. Kashmir has been divided but claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after the two countries creation in 1947. They have fought three wars, two directly over the disputed region. This weeks violence marked the most serious escalation of the long-simmering conflict since 1999, when Pakistans military sent a ground force into Indian-controlled Kashmir at Kargil. The parents of an American college student who died after being detained in North Korea say Kim Jong Un and his evil regime are responsible for his death. Fred and Cindy Warmbier rebuked President Donald Trump in a statement on Friday. After meeting with Mr Kim earlier this week, President Trump said he takes the North Korean leader at his word that he was unaware of alleged mistreatment of Otto Warmbier. Expand Close President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi. (Evan Vucci/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi. (Evan Vucci/AP) The Warmbiers say they remained silent during the Trump-Kim summit, but now we must speak out. They say Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto and for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. They said no excuses or lavish praise can change that. Otto Warmbier died in June 2017 after being returned home in a vegetative state. Queues at Belfast International Airport have even led to some people missing their flights I'm sure that Belfast International Airport did not deliberately set out to make itself a byword for chaos, queues and security delays, but its name has become legion among weary local travellers. Month after month, we've seen similar pictures of massive queues extending down the main departures staircase. Many people have been unfortunate enough to stand in that miserable logjam of disgruntled humanity, with some even missing their flights as a result. Twitter regularly goes bucko with frustrated passengers venting their ire, posting videos of hundreds of their fellow-travellers corralled in the lanes like cattle. A change in the security company responsible for the checks, back in November, was supposed to make everything better. But still the backlogs have continued. In January, one passenger reported that it took him two hours to get from the front door of the terminal to the departure gate. You could drive from Belfast to Dublin airport in less than that time. Now, the International is seeking to ease the situation by expanding its security area from six to eight search lanes. Well, hallelujah. It's welcome news - but it will take a heck of a lot more than two extra conveyor belts to turn Belfast International into an airport we can be proud of. Aldergrove has a serious image problem, and it's not solely due to the delays, ridiculous and unacceptable as they are. Last summer, it hit the headlines twice in quick succession, for reasons unconnected to queueing. First, the airport had to apologise to a disabled man, Steve Smithers, who was travelling from Belfast to Gatwick to visit his cancer-stricken father, but was prevented from going through security because he was carrying an essential spanner kit for his wheelchair. Mr Smithers - an extensive traveller who had never had a problem in any other airport - claimed he was told by security staff that the spanners would be a security risk because they could be used to "dismantle the plane". Just ponder that image, if you will. Then, a couple of weeks later, urgent questions about driver safety were raised over the airport's handling of a flood in its car parks, which left many vehicles water-logged. The International subsequently released a statement to "set the record straight" about what happened, in which it claimed to have been "the subject of a frenzied onslaught by certain sections of the local media". As the lowliest PR apprentice knows, pompous bullishness and attempts to deflect blame on to others (in this case the media) are not the best responses to a crisis. And it certainly does not impress your core audience: your customers. There was more intemperate language from the International in September last year, when Norwegian Air withdrew flights from Belfast to the United States. The airport accused the airline of "moronically channelling much greater levels of Northern Ireland passengers onto Dublin flights". It was a disappointing decision, yes - but "moronic"? Really? Factor in the security delays, and all this adds up to the public perception of an airport which needs to spend less energy pumping out arrogant excuses and criticism, and far more time improving its facilities, which - in my view - are various shades of grim. I think of it as a Troubles-era terminal, low-ceilinged and gloomy: very different to the much brighter, fresher and generally hassle-free offering at the City airport. I'm not saying that the International is the world's worst airport. That title could easily go to Brandenburg airport in Berlin, an embarrassing multi-billion-euro fiasco of a project which was due to open in 2011 but due to numerous financial and logistical problems still remains closed, costing the German authorities between 9m and 10m every month. Last year, 750 flight information monitors had to be replaced, at the cost of half a million euro, because they had burnt out after years of disuse. To be fair, at least Aldergrove is actually open for business. But, just as Brandenburg can be seen as a failed symbol of hubristic German ambition, perhaps the International says something about who we are, too. A small, hapless and loudly self-important statelet that needs to step away from the past? Somewhat farcically, in order for the International to create its new, improved security area, it will temporarily have to reduce the number of lanes. A spokesperson for the airport said: "We understand this may cause some delays." You have to laugh, or you'd cry tears of pure tedium. An injured man is led away following an IRA bomb attack on the Abercorn restaurant in Belfast in March 1972 A former vice chancellor of Ulster University returned a few years ago from a visit to a prestigious US university. He told some colleagues that the American students he had met had never heard of Ulster University, but they knew about the CAIN website. The website is recognised around the world as an important source of information about the Northern Ireland conflict. CAIN (https://cain.ulster.ac.uk) is an encyclopaedic digital record of the conflict in and about Ireland. It was established by the-then University of Ulster in 1996 and, over the last two decades, has built a unique digital archive that is freely available online. It contains a large archive of materials and information related to the conflict and politics in Northern Ireland. It includes bibliographies, biographies, chronologies, databases, election results, guides, key events and issues, oral histories, personal collections, photographic archives, political ephemera, public records and materials relating to victims, survivors and commemoration. The resources are heavily used: there have been over 22 million visits to the site, with visitors coming from many countries - one-in-four of them from the US. CAIN is cited in more than 2,400 books, journal articles and reports. CAIN staff have replied to the many thousands of email queries and permission requests that were sent via the website over the lifetime of the project. Users include academics, students, journalists, those working in peace building and conflict-transformation and the general public who are interested in the situation in Northern Ireland. CAIN is unique in that it is in Northern Ireland and about Northern Ireland, but has global reach; it provides an independent, trustworthy and neutral source of information which is vital in peace building. CAIN's position as an active archive is currently under threat, as Ulster University says that external funding must be found to support the resource. The university will otherwise guarantee only that the site will remain as a static digital resource within the library and that this will happen during 2019. The university says that CAIN will remain available to the public and to scholars. But it is important people understand that, if CAIN is not kept active, there is a threat that a static resource could eventually die. This may not be intentional, but a site like CAIN, which started in 1996, has grown organically. Without due management and maintenance, it is possible that web pages driven by databases will go down and not be noticed, so that valuable material is not available. CAIN is content-rich and staff have worked hard to attract over 2m in external funding over the years. It would be a travesty if such an investment and such a quality resource was not kept active. Ulster University aims to be a civic and a global university. For the University and Colleges Union (UCU), it is hard to understand the narrow, short-term thinking of Ulster University management in relation to CAIN. Management is making a huge investment in trying to "promote Ulster programmes across the world and to recruit high-quality students to these programmes". CAIN is Ulster University's most globally acknowledged resource. Yet, the university is willing to consider ending CAIN as a live archive for the sake of less than 170,000 - some of which is currently met by external funding. While this is a disaster for the university's global reach, it is even more concerning in relation to its civic mission. The Troubles may be over, but the conflict remains, often fought out in relation to how history is interpreted. If it "mothballs" CAIN, what does it say about Ulster University's role in Northern Ireland at this point in time, when the region is without a government for over two years and without a broad consensus around legacy issues and dealing with the past? Since its inception, CAIN has quietly and carefully recorded a wide range of material relevant to the legacy debate. Two major projects, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council on victims, survivors and commemoration, built detailed databases on memorials and public debate. The Stormont House Agreement sought to establish an oral history archive and an agreed timeline of the conflict. Prior to the agreement, and funded by the EU's PEACE III programme, CAIN staff had produced the Accounts of the Conflict archive. This online archive allows us to read/listen/view how the conflict affected a range of people across Northern Ireland and should form part of, or parallel, any future oral history archive. CAIN also includes a chronology of the conflict that could form a starting-point for the proposed timeline. CAIN staff collaborate with the two national archives on the island of Ireland, PRONI and National Archives Ireland, to select newly declassified documents for archiving on CAIN. New information about the history of the conflict comes to light almost every day and this requires the information to be added to the site, or existing information needs to be amended. New items are donated regularly; these must be assessed and, where suitable, digitised, catalogued and placed on the website. For example, recently CAIN was donated a collection of the speeches, statements and articles that John Hume made during his political career. History is constantly being rewritten in Northern Ireland. Even what has happened over the last decade is already in danger of being rewritten: for example, try to find Peter Robinson's speeches when he was First Minister. They are no longer available on the DUP website, but happily CAIN archived a selection that were most controversial at the time they were made. CAIN thus challenges the rewriting of "current" history and ensures the original sources are available to scholars and the public. These are just some of the reasons why UCU is concerned about keeping CAIN live - of course, our first concern is for the jobs of our three members who make up the CAIN team. But keeping CAIN live is also about ensuring that Ulster University does not destroy an important tool in its mission to be a civic and global university. Goretti Horgan is a lecturer in social policy and University and Colleges Union rep at Ulster University. She is policy director at ARK, Northern Ireland's social policy hub (https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/) Updated at 4:54 p.m. ET on 2019-02-28 More than four years have passed since Lidia, a Malaysian medical technician, disappeared from home with her infant son and husband. The Mandarin-speaking university graduate, now 29, is among 102 Malaysians who left their country for Syria or Iraq to live under the Islamic State (IS) extremist groups so-called caliphate. Last week, her father, a businessman from Johor state, said he had received a text from Lidia informing him that she had left IS territory in northeastern Syria and wanted to come home. She is one of six IS-linked Malaysians who are in the Middle East but have expressed a wish to return to their country of origin, police said. She is currently sheltering at Al-Hol camp in al-Hasakah, her father, who declined to be named, told BenarNews during a phone interview. Lidia is his daughters real name but he declined to release her full name and asked to remain anonymous, citing security reasons. She walked for five days together with her two sons, now aged 2 and 4, to reach the camp from Mayadin. Another Malaysian, named Aisyah, traveled with her, her father said. Al-Mayadin is a town in the Deir ez-Zor governate, where Malaysian IS members are believed to be holed up, according to the Royal Malaysia Police. For years, her father pleaded with her to return, but to no avail. I believe she now wants to return home because both her husbands are dead, Lidias father said. She also said there were heavy bombings all around her home, he said. The father and daughter have communicated sporadically since she left Malaysia, and the text message was the first time he had heard from her in more than six months, he said. She has just registered herself with the Red Cross. I hope she comes home safely with her sons, the businessman said. Lidia left Malaysia in October 2014, a few months after giving birth to her first son whom her father has seen only three times. Her father had no inkling that she was going to leave. It was her husband who brought her there. She does not understand what IS is back then, he said. After her first husband died, Lidia did not want to return home despite pleas from her father. She then married again. Her second husband has also been killed. Lidia is among thousands of foreign nationals and families who joined IS, but today are fleeing the final assault on the extremist groups last redoubt in Syria. The al-Hol camp in the al-Hasakah governorate in Syrias northeast is under Kurdish control. She has food and shelter. But the place is not comfortable for her and her sons. She wants to return home as soon as possible, her father said. A lesson to her Malaysian police said they were working to repatriate at least six Malaysian IS members who are stuck in Syria but want to come home. We are trying to bring them home. But, you know, the situation is difficult as it involves many parties from different countries, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, head of the counter-terrorism division at Special Branch, told BenarNews. Special Branch is the intelligence arm of the Royal Malaysian Police. Of the 102 Malaysians who ventured to Syria and Iraq since 2013 in hopes of joining IS, 40 have been killed in combat or other circumstances, including nine in suicide bombings, while 11 have returned home, Ayob said. A total of 51 Malaysians, including Lidia and 17 children, remain in Syria, according to the top police official. Asked whether returnees would be jailed, the chief of counter-terrorist police said each case would be evaluated individually, and not all returnees would be incarcerated. But all will have to go through a de-radicalization program, Ayob said. As for Lidias father, he said he just wanted her to be repatriated even if it meant that she might have to spend time behind bars. I dont care about the possibility that she would be detained. I just want her home and to see my grandsons, said her father. Let her experience under IS be a lesson to her. Now it is proven that Malaysia is better than the Caliphate. Now she can make the comparison, he told BenarNews. Malaysian officials and villagers give new clothes to Rohingya women and children who were found stranded along a beach in Perlis state, March 1, 2019. Malaysian villagers rescued 35 hungry Rohingya women and children who were stranded along a beach in the nations northernmost state on Friday, officials said, as reports surfaced that human traffickers could have dropped off the group from neighboring Thailand. Police scrambled to the scene after receiving phone calls from local residents that they had found 26 Rohingya women and nine children covered in mud and weak while walking along the coast of Kuala Sungai Baru village in Perlis state, authorities said. Based on information gathered by my officers who were at the scene, a group of illegal immigrants believed to be of Rohingya descent was found by the side of the road while another group was still in the sea and assisted to the shore by the public, state police chief Noor Mushtar Mohd said in a statement. He said the Rohingya Muslims were believed to have been dropped off by a fishing boat before dawn Friday and were making their way through the muddy shores during low tide before they were spotted and aided by villagers, who gave them new clothes. The Rohingya women and children were fed before they were handed over to immigration officers who transported them to the Belantik Immigration Office, about 134 km (84 miles) south, Noor Mushtar said. Malaysia, which has a dominant Muslim-majority population, does not make any distinction between undocumented workers and refugees. The nations laws consider any illegal entry as a criminal offense. Immigration officials did not respond to a request for comment. Yante Ismail, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kuala Lumpur, said the agency was aware of reports about the Rohingya Muslims, and would be ready to provide humanitarian assistance. UNHCR will be in contact with Malaysian authorities to seek access to these individuals in order to assess their protection needs, Yante told BenarNews. A police official in Kangar, capital of Perlis, told the Associated Press that the group was believed to have come from Thailand. The official sought anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. Lilianne Fan, international director of the Geutanyoe Foundation, a refugee assistance organization, said it was coordinating with UNHCR and other NGOs to assist the Rohingya women and children. I believe we could expect to see more of this happening, Fan said. In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya were driven out of Myanmars northern Rakhine during a massive military counter-offensive, which the United States and the U.N. described as ethnic cleansing. The retaliatory operation took place after Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar security outposts, sparking an exodus of refugees into Bangladesh. A supporter of the Pheu Thai Party uses the internet and a mobile phone to transmit images during an electoral campaign in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Feb. 26, 2019. A newly passed cybersecurity bill empowers state agencies to monitor internet traffic even without a warrant, rights advocates and a lobby group for high-tech companies said Friday, in the latest sign of a junta clampdown on online speech weeks before long-promised polls. The Cybersecurity Act, which was unanimously approved on Thursday, would potentially compromise private and corporate data, according to the Singapore-based Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), whose members include Facebook, Google and several other major technology companies. The laws ambiguously defined scope, vague language and lack of safeguards raises serious privacy concerns for both individuals and businesses, said Jeff Paine, AICs managing director. This would give the regime sweeping powers to monitor online traffic in the name of an emergency or as a preventive measure, potentially compromising private and corporate data, Paine said in a statement. The National Legislative Assembly passed the cybersecurity bill more than two years after the military-appointed legislature adopted another law, the Computer Crimes Act (CCA), giving the military government broad powers to restrict free speech and enforce surveillance and censorship, according to the Human Rights Watch. Only a handful of lawmakers opposed the measure, which will be submitted to the king for his signature before it takes effect with publication in the Royal Gazette. Since Army Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha overthrew the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014, his National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) the official name of the junta has taken steps to curtail freedom, including banning the gathering of more than five people. It has also aggressively enforced an existing Lese-Majeste law, which makes it a crime to insult the king or the royal family. This cybersecurity law is a consequence of 2006 coup that security officials and rulers have been longing for to control cyberspace, Sunai Phasuk, a Thai researcher for Human Rights Watch, told BenarNews, referring to the coup that deposed Yinglucks older brother, Thaksin. They did not have such a tool in the past, Sunai said. To put it simply, until now the NCPO hasnt abolished orders or announcements that deprive rights and freedom necessary to make elections free and fair. The junta also suspended opposition media, including Voice TV, a station owned by Thaksins son. This week, a court ruled that the nations broadcasting regulators had unlawfully suspended the station on Feb. 12, when they ordered the station to go dark for 15 days for allegedly airing program content that caused public confusion and divisiveness. The station went off the air at midnight Feb. 13 but began broadcasting again on Feb. 15, after lodging a suit against the NBTC and obtaining a court injunction. During emergency cases, the Cybersecurity Act 2019 empowers authorities to access online information, search computer data and networks, make copies of information and seize computers, without a court warrant. Real-time online traffic can be monitored and criminal penalties will be imposed to those who violate orders. The law stipulates that the prime minister would lead the National Cybersecurity Commission, supervising an apparatus that would prevent, cope with and lessen the severity of cyber threats. Saowanee Suwancheep, chief of the committee that drafted the cybersecurity bill, called a snap news conference to quell fears that the the legislation might leade to abuse of power. Im clarifying here that there is no element in the law that empowers authorities to breach rights and freedom of citizens, she said. Searches must be pre-approved by a court. It is aimed at containing national threats and [the cybercrime law] has clear definition of what threats are, she said. Since it seized power five years ago, the junta has prosecuted about 100 people on charges of violating Lese-Majeste, under which offenders can be sentenced to as many as 15 years in prison, according to rights groups. Earlier this year, police charged seven pro-democracy activists with sedition and defying a ban on public gatherings for leading a January demonstration that drew about 100 people in downtown Bangkok. The junta lifted that ban in December last year. An academic expressed concerns that the cybersecurity laws definition of threats was too broad. The problem lies in the interpretation of officials, what are deemed security issues. It may be used for political purposes, Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, told BenarNews. It is fearsome when that authority is used under the junta or the NCPO, which enjoys draconian powers, Titipol said. The government might use it to attack its political opponents. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Mordecai was Esther's adoptive father, mentor, confidante, cheerleader, and fellow leader to stand for the rights of their Jewish community. The life of Mordecai might seem secondary in the extraordinary story of Esther in the Bible, but Mordecai was more than just her uncle who welcomed her as his own daughter. "And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. " - Esther 2:7 Who is Mordecai in the Bible? As you read the book of Esther, you will see that Mordecai was very instrumental in ensuring the safety of not only Esther and the Jewish people, but of also exposing treachery in the kingdom of her husband, King Ahasuerus. His actions within Esthers life story in the Bible characterize attributes that we can relate to or wish we embraced more of in life: wisdom, compassion, faith, courage, and hope. These characteristics embody a man who was placed in situations by God where he had to stand up for the rights of others instead of hiding in the shadows. He became a man who not only raised a little girl by himself but saw in her inner strength and anointing by God that she couldnt see. As we explore the personality of Mordecai, we begin to see even in the unbelievable experiences he was in, he was just like us in how he reacted, felt, and believed of his situation. 1. Mordecai was compassionate to the needs of others. It is evident from the start of the book of Esther that Mordecais heart always beat for the needs of others, beginning most of all when he took in his orphaned niece Hadassah (later named Esther) after her parents deaths. When Esther was taken and groomed to be the next queen, Mordecai was not far away from her, even waiting outside her quarters to learn about Esther from the other women there. "And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women's quarters, to learn of Esther's welfare and what was happening to her." (Esther 2:11). He also showed his compassion when he learned of the plan by Haman to have all Jews killed in the kingdom and wore sackcloth and ashes to show his sadness over the tragic decree. According to the Collins English Dictionary website, sackcloth and ashes were worn in a public display of grief, remorse, or repentance.1 Even when Esthers servants brought clothes for him to wear from the queen, Mordecai refused because he was feeling the sorrow of his people and wanted their supposed fates to be reminders to all those in the kingdom, including Esther. There have probably been several situations in our own lives where we have displayed our compassion for those around us, from wearing pins/shirts to remember a loved ones cancer battle to taking part in peace rallies or townhall meetings to speak out about injustices to offering a place to stay for a friend going through hard times. We, like Mordecai, have hearts that beat for our fellow man and we will do what we can to show them they matter and we love them. 2. Mordecai had the wisdom to use his brain. Mordecais intelligence may not have been recognized immediately in the first chapters of Esther, but he knew what to do when handling situations involving the king. He told Esther not to reveal her Jewish heritage at first, waiting until after she shared Hamans plan to kill the Jews with King Ahasuerus to show her Jewish heritage and make her plea more meaningful to influence the king (Esther 2:10; 8:3). Mordecai also informed Esther of the eunuchs plot to kill the king, making sure that the knowledge was brought to the king by Esther instead of passed along from kings servant to kings servant (Esther 2:21-22). Even though his name was shared as the person who discovered the plot, Mordecai was smart enough to see that not only would the knowledge of the plot please the king but also make him more appreciative of Esther. Mordecais ability to read a situation to know when to act and when to lay low allowed him to know how best to place Esther in a state of favor with the king. This not only saved his and Esthers lives but also insured that their Jewish community was spared. 3. Mordecai had the courage to stand up for his beliefs. One attribute that is undeniable with Mordecai is he never was one to buckle under peer pressure. He was proud of his Jewish heritage and could easily recognize within people whether they were of good intentions or not. That was never more obvious than with his encounters with Haman, the kings promoted second-in-command. His promotion meant many in the kingdom were forced to bow down to him by order of the king, but Mordecai didnt follow this order - "And all the king's servants who were within the king's gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage." (Esther 3:2-3). Haman was told of this transgression and from then forward, he viewed Mordecai with contempt and felt only satisfied in knowing that he might seek his revenge against Mordecai with the plan to kill the Jews (Esther 3:5-6). Even though there was the strong possibility of death by Haman, Mordecai didnt back down from standing up for his beliefs, especially his belief that Haman was not a man worthy of being bowed to. This intensified more when Mordecai learned of Hamans plot and stayed in sackcloth and ashes in mourning. These actions prove that Mordecai believed that being true to his beliefs were more important than following in line with kingdom leadership and then being disappointed in himself afterward. 4. Mordecai had hope in Gods callings and provisions. One of the most celebrated verses in the Bible comes from the lips of Mordecai, when he was speaking to Esther about why she must be the one to tell King Ahasuerus of Hamans plot. He doesnt lessen the truth that when the king discovers Esthers Jewish heritage, she will have the same fate as all the rest in the community. However, he instilled in her hope that maybe this difficult position she was in was ordained by God for her to have. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14). After this response of encouragement, Esther knew that she needed to connect to God through fasting and prayer to learn of His plan for the circumstances. This could explain why Mordecai told Esther not to reveal her Jewish heritage from the start; that he knew well before she did that this would be an important factor that would not only save the lives of her people, but also that of herself, Mordecai, and even the king. Just as Mordecai did, we can discover Gods calling and direction in a situation if we seek to see the situation through His perspective. 5. Mordecais faith was rewarded because he did right in Gods eyes. All throughout the book of Esther, Mordecais faith in God shined through to be a beacon of hope to those around him and a source of strength for Esther. His words and actions reflected a man that wasnt into prestige or following the crowd but of standing up (at times alone) on what he believed of God and His will. Because of this, God richly blessed Mordecai as he strived to remind others of Gods provisions for them. When Mordecai discovered the eunuchs plot to kill the king, he thought nothing more of it until he learned the king wanted to honor Mordecai with a royal robe and parade (Esther 6:8-10). The blessings from the king also continued after Esther exposed Haman for his plot: with Hamans hanging, Mordecais commanding of the Jews to protect themselves against their attackers, and Mordecais appointing as second in command to the king (Esther 8-10). These unexpected blessings from God were not meant to elevate Mordecai, but it was meant for him to continue Gods missions for peace in the kingdom and continued reliance on God (Esther 10:3). The beloved Billy Graham defined Gods purposes for blessings with a similar mindset: All of these material blessings are gifts from God, given in order that we might humble ourselves, fall upon our knees before Him, and call upon His name.2 By doing what he knew to be Gods calling on him, Mordecai was blessed by God and was placed in a position to continue Gods mission on a greater scale. Mordecai didnt do what he did for Esther, the king, and his people because he was hoping to be placed in a royal position; he did what he did because it was right in the eyes of God and knew that even if his actions caused his death, he would have eternal life with his Father. Besides that, Mordecai embodied several attributes we can find in ourselves (compassion for others, standing up for our beliefs, using wisdom in our lives) that reminds us we all could be called by God, like Mordecai, to be leaders in faith and examples for others Sources Collins English Dictionary, s.v. sackcloth and ashes." Billy Graham, 2018. Our Many Blessings. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Blair Parke is a freelance writer for BibleStudyTools.com and editor for Xulon Press. A graduate of Stetson University with a Bachelor's in Communications, Blair previously worked as a writer/editor for several local magazines in the Central Florida area, including Celebration Independent and Lake Magazine in Leesburg, Florida and currently freelances for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin. Photo credit: GettyImages/ZU_09 On this exclusive, members-only event, Bill breaks down what you need to know about The Real Joe Biden. Who is he and how will he directly affect you and your family? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For Immediate Release, March 1, 2019 Contact: Jonathan Evans, (510) 844-7118, jevans@biologicaldiversity.org Studies: Rat Poisons Harm Bobcats' Immune Systems, Genetics Research Provides Support for California Bill Restricting Rat Poisons LOS ANGELES Two studies by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Park Service reveal that rat poisons are causing dramatic changes to the immune system and genetics of bobcats. The research provides further support for a bill introduced late last month to greatly restrict super-toxic rodenticides in California. The researchers found that the damage to bobcats genes and immune systems can be linked to a range of health problems, such as a 2002 mange outbreak that killed dozens of the animals. Evidence continues to mount that California must ban these dangerous poisons to prevent the needless illness and death of wildlife, said Jonathan Evans, legal director of the Center for Biological Diversitys environmental health program. There are safer, cheaper alternatives that greatly reduce risks to wildlife, pets and children. Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) has introduced AB 1788. The bill would ban super-toxic rodenticides known as second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides except for use in agriculture and in the case of public health and environmental emergencies. It would also limit other anticoagulant rodenticides on state lands. Virtually every mountain lion we test has rat poison in its system, and so do 90 percent of the bobcats, said Seth Riley, a professor at UCLA and wildlife branch chief at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area who co-authored the recent studies. Weve found three mountain lions that bled to death internally, but our studies show that even animals that dont die can be harmed. This research pinpoints how the poisons affect cats in previously unknown, sublethal ways, which has important implications for management and conservation. California state regulators are also reevaluating rodenticides after a state analysis late in 2018 found super-toxic rat poisons in more than 90 percent of tested mountain lions, 88 percent of tested bobcats and 85 percent of protected Pacific fishers tested. Background The harm caused by the super-toxic second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides in California is well documented. More than 70 percent of wildlife tested in California in recent years has been exposed to dangerous rodenticides. Officials have found poisonings in more than 25 different species of animals, including endangered wildlife such as the San Joaquin kit fox and Pacific fisher. More than 4,400 children under age 6 were poisoned with long-acting anticoagulant rodenticides in the United States in 2016, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that children in low-income families are disproportionately exposed to the poisons. Thousands of incidents of pets being poisoned by rodenticides have also been reported, many resulting in serious injury or death. Effective, affordable alternatives to rat poison include rodent-proofing homes and farms by sealing cracks and crevices and eliminating food sources; providing owl boxes in rural areas to encourage natural predation; and using traps that dont involve these highly toxic chemicals. For more information on nontoxic rodent control methods, visit SafeRodentControl.org. Wyoming Tries to Bring Back Yellowstone Grizzly Hunt Wyoming is at it again. The state legislature has passed a bill, which the governor has signed, to give the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission authority to manage grizzly bears. That could include the ability to authorize a hunt as early as this spring. It's a clear attempt to get around a federal ruling secured by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies last fall that restored Endangered Species Act protection for Yellowstone grizzlies and ended Wyoming's plans for a hunt for grizzlies that wandered out of the national park. We've filed a notice of intent to sue over the state's new law. "It's outrageous that Wyoming would blatantly ignore federal law to satisfy its thirst to kill grizzly bears," said the Center's Noah Greenwald. "Moves like this show that the state is far from ready to manage grizzlies." Read more in the Idaho Statesman and consider donating to our Predator Defense Fund. The approval would facilitate better understanding of the regulatory aspects between the two sides The Union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Argentina on cooperation in the field of Medical Products Regulation. The approval would facilitate better understanding of the regulatory aspects between the two sides and help in increasing Indias export of medical products to Argentina and better coordination in the international fora. The project would provide highly specialized state-of-the-art healthcare to the patients The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given in principle approval to the Implementation of Master Plan to convert All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi into a world class Medical University. The Master Plan envisages freeing up adequate space through redevelopment, vertical expansion and reorganizing the land usage, thus optimizing the infrastructure of the Institute for the next 20 years. It is proposed to re-develop the infrastructure of AIIMS, New Delhi by consolidating the Patient Care, Teaching, Research, Administration and support services in areas in the East Ansari Nagar (Main) Campus and residential facilities from East Ansari Nagar (Main Campus) to Trauma Centre Extension (New Rajnagar) Campus. The project would provide highly specialized state-of-the-art healthcare to the patients and an integrated One Campus answer to all the investigative, physiotherapeutic, operative, rehabilitative and vocational needs of the patients. It would ensure smart mobility and accessibility for the patients and become an apex tertiary care centre for advancement of research, clinical applications and management of patients. The awareness program was organised by the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and GI oncology, Apollo Hospital In an effort to raise awareness about colorectal cancer in India, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in collaboration with Colo Rectal Cancer Research Foundation (CRCRF) hosted a public lecture on the Rising trend of colorectal cancer in India and how to curb it. The awareness program which was organised by the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and GI oncology, Apollo Hospital, Delhi detailed the risk, present status, newer operative techniques and specialised surgical procedures performed on the colon and rectum which are parts of the large intestine. The meeting which was attended by large number of senior citizens, doctors, surgeons and specialists in the field of gastrointestinal surgery was put in order now because March is celebrated as International colorectal cancer prevention month. Dr. Deepak Govil, HOD and Senior Consultant, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology & GI oncology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi commented, Colonic diseases, both malignant and benign have increased significantly not only in India but globally. This can be attributed to both an increase in the overall population and increasing lifespan of an average individual. Sedentary lifestyle and increase in consumption of junk food, animal fat, red meat, alcohol intake and smoking have contributed to this increase. Also, decreased physical activity has led to rise in obesity which contributes to a higher risk of colorectal cancer. Inflammatory bowel disease is also a leading cause of hospitalisations in India which also increases the individual risk of colorectal cancer. It is estimated that in India although the incidence is less as compared to western countries but it is increasing and we see younger patients with advanced colorectal cancer. In USA alone, colorectal cancer is among the top 5 causes of cancer related deaths. In line with the Do Not Assume campaign, he further stressed on the importance of getting screened regularly, With the campaign, Do Not Assume we want to highlight that one shouldnt assume that just because they are young, or no one in their family has colorectal cancer, they are completely safe from the disease. One should be vigilant about their health and should not neglect the common symptoms of colorectal cancer such as blood in stools, long term unexplained anaemia and weight loss, family history of colorectal cancer, among others. Prevention is better than cure, and the key to prevent colorectal cancer is to educate oneself about the disease. If detected on time, colorectal cancer can be treated successfully. Today, on 1st March, 2019 we have decided to dress in blue to show solidarity in beating colorectal cancer with collective effort. Dr. Govil also spoke about the importance of surgical procedures in managing and treating colorectal cancer, Most patients with colorectal cancer are amenable to curative surgical treatment at the time of diagnosis. Surgical management of colorectal cancer is extremely complicated, requiring high level of skill and expertise. Today laparoscopic and robotic surgical techniques help the patient with less surgical pain, enhanced recovery and early return to work. To increase the chances of a successful outcome, such surgeries should be performed at tertiary care centres where there is infrastructure to provide adequate support and post-operative care. Dr. Govils address was followed by a panel discussion by Dr. Vivek Tandon, Dr. Saket Goel, Dr. Yogesh Batra, Dr. O P Sharma and Dr. Anita Jatana who further elucidated on the subject that gastro-intestinal and colorectal cancer is beatable, highlighting and debunking various myths associated with the disease. Republication of selected Bizcommunity content for non-commercial purposes is allowed if the original article is linked to with "Source: www.bizcommunity.com ". Please click here for more information and to request permission #Newsmaker: Bridget Johnson, Riverbed's new ECD Bridget Johnson, Riverbed's newly appointed ECD, tells us what she brings to the agency, besides cake on Fridays... Bridget Johnson How do you feel about your appointment? How do you feel about your appointment? What excites you most about joining Riverbed? What excites you most about joining Riverbed? I believe there are really interesting opportunities in the crossover space between social impact PR and the purpose-led direction in which more and more brand comms are going. What do you love most about your career and the creative industry in particular? What do you love most about your career and the creative industry in particular? Tell us a bit about your experience, what you bring to the agency and what you hope to achieve in your new position. Tell us a bit about your experience, what you bring to the agency and what you hope to achieve in your new position. I bring a depth of brand expertise, an ideas-focused approach, a common interest in socially-impactful and cause work and occasionally cake on Fridays. Any career highlights youre particularly proud of? Any career highlights youre particularly proud of? What are you most looking forward to? What are you most looking forward to? Whats at the top of your to-do list at work? Whats at the top of your to-do list at work? What are you currently reading/watching/listening to for work? What are you currently reading/watching/listening to for work? Tell us something about yourself not generally known? Tell us something about yourself not generally known? Jessica Tennant's articles About Jessica Tennant Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. moc.ytinummoczib@swengnitekram I could not be more excited. There is an energy about Riverbed that feels interesting and new. A lot of the work is relatively new for me and thats always an opportunity.Beyond that, I like the way the agency approaches briefs and ideas. I love the agencys bravery and refreshing why-not take on things.I love that each day has the potential to be different. Theres nothing that beats the feeling of co-creating something special and surprising.Ive been fortunate to work with many of SAs best creatives, in some of the countrys best agencies.I hope to share the best of what Ive learned over the years and to learn a lot myself.Wow, so many highlights! Ive made lots of work Im proud of with people I admire.My career has allowed me to travel, meet incredible people and change a few things. I think one of my proudest moments has been inspiring younger women to aim for whatever they want in life.Im looking forward to working with people with different perspectives and making great work.Lists What are those? Look, theres a butterflyAh, now theres a list that keeps growing:; and a pile of options by author Brene Brown.I love to draw, listen to old-school jazz and eat (Im a bit greedy too). Cape Town Air Access (CTAA) has welcomed the announcement by Air Botswana's resumption of flights between Gaborone and Cape Town, effective 1 March 2019. The service will be operated by Air Botswana's new Embraer E-170 jet - which has a seating capacity of 70 passengers and dual-class configuration - on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in both directions. The aircraft forms part of the upgraded Air Botswana fleet which began in November 2018. Developing connections "Cape Town remains a popular leisure and business destination. We are pleased to be able to reintroduce faster flights to Cape Town with our own Jet aircraft for our customers," commented Agnes Khunwana, Air Botswana general manager.African destinations accessible directly from Cape Town International now include Addis Ababa, Harare, Kigali, Livingstone, Luanda, Maun, Nairobi, Victoria Falls and as of March, Gaborone."According to the International Monetary Funds (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook report, Botswana has been identified as one of the top three biggest economies in Africa. Linking two popular business and tourism destinations creates an abundance of opportunities to increase tourism, trade, investment and air freight between our two cities. We are pleased by the announcement of the resumed flights, helping to further position Cape Town and the Western Cape as the gateway to Africa, said Tim Harris, Wesgro CEO.Minister of Economic Opportunities, Beverly Schafer said: "Africa is home to some of the fastest-developing economies in the world, with highly mobile citizens looking to travel for both leisure and business purposes."By developing connections between Cape Town and the rest of the continent, the Western Cape is able to create tourism, trade and business partnerships that will help to grow our economy and create jobs. We are pleased to re-establish the direct connection between Cape Town and Gaborone, which will enable travellers from both South Africa and Botswana to benefit from fast, direct travel between our regions.""We are pleased to hear that direct flights between Gaborone and Cape Town will be resuming. Beyond our goal to connect Cape Town to the world, we want to continue to expand our reach on the continent. We are particularly excited about Gaborone as it is one of the economic hubs in Africa. We see this development as a very positive one," added Dan Plato, executive mayor.Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos concluded by saying: "The City of Cape Town and its partners are committed to continuing to build a world-class city, where people live, work, play and invest. We welcome the resumption of the Cape Town Gaborone route as it assists in advancing our connectivity with the rest of Africa and further positions the Mother City as the gateway to the rest of the continent." We are the world's learning company and we are on a mission to help people make progress in their lives through learning. The High Court judge sided with Dr. Denzil Douglas against the government of St. Kitts and Nevis. (Photo Credit: WIC News) Two legal figures who together decorated the respondents benches in a court hearing of two Election Petitions here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, locked horns, last month, in a matter involving former St. Kitts and Nevis prime minister Dr. Denzil Douglas. The government of Dr. Timothy Harris took Douglas to court seeking a declaration to have him disqualified from being a member of the National Assembly (Parliament), over his possession of a diplomatic passport of Dominica. WINN reported that the government also asked that if that declaration was made, Douglas would have to vacate his seat in parliament and there should be an injunction that would bar him from the national assembly and from carrying out any functions of an MP. Interestingly, Senior Counsels Anthony Astaphan and Douglas Mendes were adversaries in the case, with Astaphan representing Dr. Douglas and Mendes the government. Mendes had argued then that Douglas by applying for and using the diplomatic passport issued by Dominica, allegiance to that government was presumed. But he was countered by Astaphan who argued that Douglas never applied for or acquired citizenship for Dominica, nor had he sworn any oath of allegiance to that foreign power. He further explained that in every instance where Douglas used the diplomatic passport to travel, he had put Kittitian as his nationality on all travel documents. Justice Ward summarized that he found the defendant had obtained the diplomatic passport solely as a gesture of political and professional courtesy extended to him in his capacity as former prime minister, and that this did not place Douglas under obligation to acknowledge allegiance to Dominica. (Source: WINN) But Dr. Douglas, now Leader of the Opposition, scored a major victory when, last week Wednesday, Justice Trevor Ward QC dismissed the governments case, after hearing arguments in January, according to WINN.Dr. Douglas was not in St. Kitts when the ruling was announced. Toshihiro Hiai, Japanese Volunteer, will spend the next two years assisting the fisherfolk with marketing their product, including identifying ways of adding value. Plans to revive the weekend Fish Fest activity are about ready to take off. In fact, that effort will commence today, Friday, at the Kingstown Fish Market, when fisherfolk will put an array of fish-based dishes on sale. The effort to revitalize the activity is being spearheaded by Japanese Volunteer Toshihiro Hiai, who is attached to the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture. Hiai explained: "What I am doing as a Japanese volunteer is to help with marketing. Previously they had Fish Night or Fish Fest, but it wasnt regular, so what I am doing is try to hold a Fish Fest every single month between different locations in St. Vincent. It will help fisherfolks to make some revenue and also to involve the communities in the fishing industry. The young man also has plans to have fisherfolk play an even greater role in providing for a broadened scope of activities at the annual Fishermans Day Celebration. As it stands, Hiai will be working closely with the National Fisherfolk Organization which groups co-operatives based in Barrouallie, Kingstown, Calllaiqua and Clare Valley. Hiai, who arrived here three months ago, said he will be here for the next two years, and among his objectives are to see Vincentians eating more fish, and to build friendships between both SVG and Japan. "I just hope to contribute to the friendship between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Japan, said Hiai. SVG is getting closer to seeing the commencement of cannabis research here, leading to establishing a medicinal cannabis industry here. With the Cannabis Research and Development Unit (CRDU) established under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, the state is readying itself to consider applications for cannabis research. The CRDU remains in effect an administrative body. Already it has a Chief Executive Officer in the person of medical doctor Jerrol Thompson, and advertisements of other positions within the Unit have been carried in the local press. THE VINCENTIAN understands that there could well be, very soon, an application for permission to conduct research from a company comprised of locals. Information is that a company registered here under the name Rastafari Farms, is all but ready to submit an application to conduct research. established growers/cultivators of cannabis. Its chief spokesperson is Ajit Duncan, a self-professed long standing cultivator of the herb. Those applications, though, must be submitted through the Bureau of Standards or the Ministry of Agriculture.Rastafari Farms is described as a group of Rastafarians who areAll things being even, the process for receipt,S study and consideration of applications should be in clear and chartered waters by the end of March. Hairoun promotion girls and employees helped create an atmosphere at an airport and a sense of travelling. The Hairoun Travellers Promotion is back, and it is the first of several consumer-centered campaigns listed for the year. Hairoun drinkers can look forward to receiving other rewards for their loyalty and support throughout the years, according to a press release from the St. Vincent Brewery, brewers of Hairoun Beer. Two Fridays ago, the Hairoun Caravan set off from the Sion Hill intersection and made its way to Heritage Square, Kingstown, where a massive party was held, fueled by Hairoun Beer on special. The Sion Hill intersection was transformed into an airport setting, with the Hairoun promotion girls dressed as immigration officials and Brewery employees dressed as pilots or co-pilots. Members of the public where presented with Hairoun Passports. The Hairoun Passport is at the centre of this promotion. Consumers who have attained the legal drinking age can collect their Hairoun Passport free of charge at the St. Vincent Brewery Ltd offices at Campden Park, from sales trucks, participating outlets and the mobile immigration office in and around Kingstown. On purchasing Hairoun Beer at any of the participating outlets, a unique numbered stamp will be placed in the consumers passport by the outlet operator. The consumer is free to surrender his passport for any of ten attractive prizes, equivalent to the number of stamps in their passports at the time of surrender. Stamps, though, must be accumulated from different outlets. The stamps from a particular outlet will be accounted for only once. Prizes range from beer, jackets, polo shirts, gas and supermarket vouchers, to a grand prize of a trip to Miami or $10,000.00 cash, for which only the first five persons who surrender their passport with one hundred stamps and four visa stamps will be eligible. Marketing Coordinator at the St. Vincent Brewery, Kelvin Franklyn said that Hairoun Traveller is a consumer focused promotion that will reward Hairoun drinkers as they enjoy the nations number one and favorite beer, and at the same time encouraging them to travel around our beautiful and beloved islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Commissioner of Police Colin John has declared that, in light of the recently enacted Cannabis Cultivation (Amnesty) Bill, the police will be exercising tolerance towards marijuana cultivation. { John, speaking with THE VINCENTIAN on Wednesday, said the move is to ensure that the Amnesty is given the opportunity to be effective. The Commissioner said he met with members of the Cannabis Revival Committee (CRC) this week, and he agrees with their proposal that though the Amnesty Act is not yet in effect, the traditional farmers should be given time before any eradication is done. The top cop said the CRC members complained that police recently destroyed marijuana plots in a number of communities. John said he had heard of the CRCs concerns even before he met with them, and he convened a meeting with the Gazetted police officers last Friday to discuss the issues, during which he instructed them to relay to the Junior rank officers that tolerance must be exercised, in light of the passage of the Amnesty Bill. "If you are going to eradicate the drugs now, when the Amnesty is put into effect, there will be no cannabis for the traditional farmers to hand over to the regulatory authorities, the Commissioner deduced. He added that he also made an order that some farming implements, recently seized by police, be returned. When asked for his position on persons being arrested in relation to small portions of marijuana, John said, "We will continue to exercise tolerance with regard to persons found in possession of small quantities. {more}}The Cannabis Cultivation (Amnesty) Bill is one of two pieces of cannabis related legislation enacted in Parliament December 11, 2018. The other is the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Bill. Are you lost in the wild? Sorry, but the page you're looking for has not been found Try checking the URL for errors, goto home or try to search below. Police officer captured in the action of inflicting punishment on a member of the public. (Facebook photo) Vincentians are in an uproar over what, from all accounts, is an action, played out on a video posted on social media, that showed a uniformed police officer inflicting blows on a citizen, outside the Russells Mall, Stoney Ground. The video which first appeared on social media on Wednesday, clearlyshowed the police officer inflicting blows with what appears to be his staff, to the head and back of the citizen. The video also captured the presence of another uniform officer in close proximity to the scene of the beating. That officer was confirmed to be an auxiliary police officer by the Public Relations and Complaints Office of the RSVG Police Force. The video also captured the voices of onlookers as they cried shame on the officer and begged him to cease his action. The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force is aware of a video that is being circulated on social media showing an incident involving a police officer, an auxiliary police officer and a member of the public. "The Public Relations and Complaints Office wishes to assure the general public that this matter is currently under investigation. By late Wednesday, the Police had issued a statement on the matter. It read:"We are therefore soliciting the assistance of anyone who has information related to this incident. The Department of Theater and Dance is staging the Maine premiere of the play, which explores how the recession of the early 2000s created explosive battles along racial and ethnic fault lines in America's Rust Belt. Theater professor Davis Robinson, who directs the production, talks about why the play remains important and the challenges of staging a barroom brawl, among other things. Performances of SWEAT will be in Pickard Theater, March 1-2 at 7:30 p.m., and on March 3 at 2:00 p.m. Join us after first performance for a reception sponsored by the Association of Bowdoin Friends! On Thursday, 14th February, while many persons across St. Vincent and the Grenadines eagerly looked out for loved ones to present them with gifts on Valentines Day, Feb. 14, twenty-one student members of the Peer Mentoring Club of the St. Marys Roman Catholic School were eagerly anticipating the conclusion of school for that day, so they could assemble and walk to the Catholic Soup Kitchen in Rose Place. Decked in their signature tee-shirts, they were easily identifiable on their route to the Soup Kitchen, where they would meet with children of Rose Place, and show them love and attention by engaging them in a wonderful get-together, and then presenting them with shoe box gifts. The Peer Mentoring Club was formed at the SMRC in 2014 by teacher and school Counsellor, Ms. Luevene John. Driven by the motto, Model, Help and Restore, peer mentors are expected to model desired behavior so as to act as mentors to needy peers who are not comfortable talking to adult leaders; and to bring joy to the hearts of children in and around their schools community. Parents, grandparents and guardians had also gathered at the function to lend support and witness the affair. After prayers and choruses led by teacher Mrs. Claudia Windsor, Ms. John extended a warm welcome to Ms. Gloria Williams to bring a message of inspiration. In her short talk, Ms. Williams spoke of the Valentines Day of love, reminding that in speaking of love, one must look to God, the author of love. She further went on to say, "Love is not just words. Love is action, and I am happy that you peer mentors are putting the action into love today. Turning her focus on the residents of Rose Place, she reminded them that love is tolerant, kind and forgiving, and not directed only to those whom a person knows. "This is the essence of love we are seeing here this afternoon, she said. "These students are not really acquainted with you children of Rose Place; but their excitement for coming, chatting with you, sharing hugs and snacks with you, and giving you gifts is quite clear: such a great way to show love! Following Ms. Willimas address, President of the Peer Mentors Club, Fifth Grade student Sharina Browne spoke to her contemporaries. After introducing herself and reiterating the purpose for the visit, she said, "Giving is a satisfying feeling, especially when you are making someone happy and knowing they appreciate it. We are learning from a young age that sharing and caring are important traits to have. These will help us to be better men and women in the future. These good habits that we develop will grow with us, thus helping us to make our community and our country a better place to be. The activity concluded with a mix and mingle, followed by sharing of snacks and then gifts. A total of forty-eight gifts were handed out, for which the group expressed thanks to their parents, the Teachers Cooperative Credit Union, the Central Water and Sewerage Authority, and the Ministry of National Mobilization. It was an afternoon well spent, and all parties concerned were the better for it. The Peer Mentoring Club of the St. Marys Roman Catholic School continues to provide good examples of leadership and care for others to students at the school and persons in the community. The team behind the proposed redesign of Braecrest Drive has unveiled a number of options for the public to consider, from hand signals and traffic lights to roundabouts and lower speed limits. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us Maps detailing proposed alternatives for the Braecrest Drive Corridor lay spread out on tables during a public open house at Assiniboine Community College's North Hill campus on Thursday. (Michael Lee/The Brandon Sun) The team behind the proposed redesign of Braecrest Drive has unveiled a number of options for the public to consider, from hand signals and traffic lights to roundabouts and lower speed limits. Representatives from the City of Brandon and consulting firm WSP Canada Group Ltd. hosted a public open house at Assiniboine Community Colleges North Hill campus on Thursday, where the conceptual designs for the Braecrest Drive Corridor were presented. Among the proposals were enhancements to First Street North and 18th Street North, along with possible alternatives for their respective intersections at Braecrest Drive. Each of the designs reflected the public feedback that the project team received previously. "Obviously we need to take into consideration everybodys input, not just the data and the facts that weve collected so far, but of course the comments and the feedback that were hearing tonight," said Sam van Huizen, project manager and the citys traffic and transportation planner. The city, together with Manitoba Infrastructure and Assiniboine, have partnered on a functional design study of the Braecrest Drive Corridor, which runs approximately 1.6 kilometres from First Street North to 18th Street North. The corridor has been a point of concern over traffic levels and speeds, safety for vehicles and pedestrians, and the lack of signals at either end of Braecrest Drive. For the First Street North and Braecrest Drive intersection, alternatives include restricting left turns for vehicles travelling eastbound either permanently or during peak hours limiting access to Assiniboine Community College at that location, and installing a pedestrian-activated half signal at, or north of, Braecrest Drive. Instead of making a left at Braecrest Drive, vehicles would take a detour to White Swan Drive. Traffic signals are not needed, according to 2018 traffic volumes, but may be required in 10 years or later. As for the 18th Street North and Braecrest Drive intersection, one option would involve installing traffic signals so vehicles can turn left off of Braecrest Drive, with pedestrian access as well. Other alternatives include restricting those left turns permanently or during peak hours and connecting Quail Ridge Drive to Mockingbird Drive so vehicles can access the 18th Street North and Cumberland Avenue lights. The amount of traffic on 18th Street North would require that signals be installed there, but the slope of the roads could be a problem for vehicles, especially under slippery winter conditions. "Thats why previous decisions have always steered away from a signals requirement ... but its an option we have to consider," van Huizen said. Coun. Jeff Fawcett (Assiniboine) said the goal will be to get as much feedback from people as they can, whether its ruling out certain options or considering others. "I dont know if the end result is actually on the table here yet," he said. "Theres some good proposals, but lets see what comes." Fawcett supported having lights at the 18th Street North intersection, but said he would also like to see better access for residents living east of 18th Street North and having Assiniboine connected to the rest of the North Hill community. "I want the North Hill up here to make it feel like First Street and 18th Street arent barriers, with the whole pieces connected," Fawcett said. "So however we can figure out the best (way) to do that, thats what I want to see." Outback Drive residents Robyn Little and Conrad Stott pointed to the need for pedestrian access on 18th Street North and raised concerns about the impact signal lights may have on heavy traffic. "But its nice that the city is looking at something to get answers for us," Stott said. A presentation for the preferred design will be made in April, while the functional design study is expected to be submitted in May. mlee@brandonsun.com Twitter: @mtaylorlee TORONTO - Environmentalists and opposition politicians say the Ontario government's review of endangered species laws could open the door to weakened protections and development of key habitats. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - Environmentalists and opposition politicians say the Ontario government's review of endangered species laws could open the door to weakened protections and development of key habitats. The concerns are being raised days before the province is set to stop accepting comments on an examination of the Endangered Species Act. The Progressive Conservative government says the act implemented over a decade ago hasn't accomplished what it needs to on a number of fronts. "The act has been criticized for being ineffective in its aim to protect and recover species at risk, for being unclear, administratively burdensome, time consuming and costly for applicants, and for creating barriers to economic development," the government said in a discussion paper released when it opened consultations in January. The government said its review was being conducted to improve protections for species at risk, as well as to look for ways to streamline approval processes and provide clarity to support economic development. Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said the government appears poised based on the contents of its discussion paper to loosen rules and allow for greater development that could hurt the province's 243 species at risk. "The paper seems to be suggesting that the Endangered Species Act is getting in the way of development," he said. "I think that's a false narrative." Schreiner said the province has a low unemployment rate and there has been strong economic growth in recent years, all while the current species protections have been in place. "I want to make sure that if they do make any changes to the ESA that they actually strengthen it instead of weaken it," he said. Anna Baggio, director of conservation planning for the Wildlands League, said the government discussion paper appears to suggest a rollback of species protections is coming. In 2013, the previous Liberal government created industry exemptions in the act that environmental groups slammed as a watering-down of the rules. It was a stark change from when the bill was first introduced and praised as a gold standard for species protection, she said. "We have not been doing our part to protect and recover the species in spite of this law which was really good when it first came in," she said. "Unfortunately, with implementation it's gone backwards." Baggio said the government offers little evidence that the law has impeded development or hurt the economy and has provided no data to measure its overall effectiveness. But a spokesman for the Environment Ministry said that after a decade of implementing the Endangered Species Act, the government has learned what works well and what can work better. "By undertaking a review of the Act, we are consulting to identify opportunities that balance the protection of species at risk and their habitat with our governments commitments to find efficiencies and streamline processes," Gary Wheeler said in a statement Friday evening. Last month, six environmental groups including Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund-Canada, and the David Suzuki Foundation issued a joint statement raising concerns about the review of the act. "The government says it wants to reduce barriers to economic development," the groups said. "But an overemphasis on creating greater efficiencies for industry could subject the province's at-risk species and our natural heritage to even greater threats. Further weakening of the act could push many of these species over the brink." Some sectors, however, are calling for the government to make changes to the act. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture said it would like to see some of the regulatory burdens placed on farmers by the law lifted. "The fact that many of the species on the risk list have habitats on and around farms shows the suitability of agricultural land as a favourable habitat for species that are endangered, threatened or of special concern," OFA director Larry Davis said in a statement. "For some outside our industry, the habitat locale seems to argue for habitat protection at all cost even over food production. Thats just not a sustainable solution." The public comment period for the Endangered Species Act closes Monday. After spending three months rowing a small boat across the moody Atlantic Ocean, father-daughter duo John and Libby Beeden say they're wobbly but relieved to have arrived on solid land. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. John Beeden and his 20-year-old daughter, Libby, are seen in this undated handout photo. An Ontario-based father-daughter rowing team has arrived on solid land in Antigua after spending three months crossing the Atlantic. John and Libby Beeden, who are 56 and 20 respectively, rowed their small boat from Portugal to the Caribbean island over the course of 91 days. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Nick Bowring MANDATORY CREDIT After spending three months rowing a small boat across the moody Atlantic Ocean, father-daughter duo John and Libby Beeden say they're wobbly but relieved to have arrived on solid land. It wasn't always a given, John Beeden said. The winds and currents were working against them for the last leg of their 91-day journey from Portugual to the Caribbean island of Antigua. "We're happy to be on terra firma," he said in a phone interview from Antigua. "The weather's been really difficult the whole way. Over the past two weeks things just got harder and harder. So we're just so happy to make Antigua, because for a while it didn't look like we were going to make Antigua." Libby Beeden, 20, described waves as tall as six metres crashing into their six-metre-long yellow boat, made of close-cell foam with shells of kevlar and fibreglass. The frustration was palpable on the blog they updated via satellite phone over the course of their journey. "ARE WE THERE YET?" the headline of one blog post screams. "WHAT THE B****Y HECK HAVE WE DONE TO DESERVE THIS?" another reads. "Desperate to get off this boat," Libby Beeden wrote in the days leading up to their journey's end. "It's too hot, I'm melting!" The elder Beeden, who is from the U.K. but now lives in Collingwood, Ont., was already a record-setting rower when he set out in November. In 2015, he became the first person to row solo, non-stop from North America to Australia in a journey that took 209 days. His daughter had considerably less experience. "I look at things from a jaded old man's approach, and Libby's only 20," John Beeden said. "She conquered all these fears of high waves and rowing at night." They took turns rowing in a bid to keep moving forward 24 hours a day. But in spite of the largely harrowing journey, there were some high points. "I was cleaning barnacles off the bottom of the boat, and Libby shouted at me and there was a whale about 10 feet (three metres) away from me," John Beeden said, noting that while they aren't sure, they think it was a minke whale. "You can be quite depressed with how bad the conditions are, but if a whale or a pod of dolphins comes by, it kind of lifts your spirits," he said. "It's cool that they choose to come of their own volition." The younger Beeden said that on the last full day of their journey, she and her father saw a leatherback sea turtle swimming in their wake. The sea turtles can weigh up to 700 kilograms, and measure up to 2.2 metres in length. Now that they've reached their destination, the Beedens said they're going to take some time to decompress. "I'm sat with a plate of avocado toast and fresh fruit at the moment," Libby Beeden said. "I've got ice in my drink!" OTTAWA - Nathan Cullen, one of the NDP's best known and most effective MPs, is calling it quits. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - Nathan Cullen, one of the NDP's best known and most effective MPs, is calling it quits. The northern British Columbia MP announced Friday that he won't seek re-election this fall. NDP MP Nathan Cullen speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. Cullen, one of the NDP's best known and most effective MPs, is calling it quits. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld That makes 13 of the 44 New Democrats elected in 2015 including five of the 14 in B.C. who won't be running again. "It sounds glib, but it's the best answer I've had today: It's time. Fifteen years, five elections, a leadership race, 2.5 million miles flown, half a million kilometres in the car," Cullen said in a phone interview from his home in Smithers, B.C. "I always wanted to do this work to my best and full ability and if I ever started to feel the hint that I wasn't giving the place what it deserves, then I should leave, I should let somebody else do it." Over the last little while, Cullen said he's found "small moments, I'm getting on another Dash-8, I'm getting on another float plane" where he wondered how much longer he could try to balance being a good MP and a good husband and father to eight-year-old twin boys. "Increasingly, I just felt like I couldn't make both things sustainable." Representing the sprawling, remote riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley made finding work-life balance more difficult for Cullen than for many other MPs. He joked that the life of MPs from remote ridings needs to be counted in "dog years" one year for them is like three years for an MP from Central Canada. "My riding is bigger than Poland, it's a third of the province of British Columbia," he said, adding it's more than a full-time job just travelling to every corner of the riding. Moreover, when the House of Commons is sitting, he spends 30 to 40 hours a week travelling between Ottawa and the riding. Cullen's announcement comes days after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh won his own seat in the House of Commons in a B.C. byelection. Had Singh lost Monday's byelection, Cullen would have come under heavy pressure to run for leader pressure he said he'd have easily resisted. He put off announcing his decision to retire until after the byelection so that Singh could have "a clear, clean shot at the byelection without any distractions ... without pundits saying the party's falling apart." Still, his decision is likely to renew concerns about the exodus of experienced New Democrat MPs. It comes just 24 hours after another respected B.C. New Democrat Victoria's Murray Rankin announced he won't seek re-election. Another B.C. MP, Fin Donnelly, has also said he won't run again. Two other New Democrat MPs in the province have already resigned their seats Kennedy Stewart, who is now Vancouver's mayor, and Sheila Malcolmson, who is now an MLA. Former party leader Tom Mulcair also gave up his Montreal seat, which was captured by the Liberals in a byelection Monday. Other New Democrats not seeking re-election include Quebec MPs Helene Laverdiere, Romeo Saganash, Anne Minh Thu Quach and Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, Ontario MPs David Christopherson and Irene Mathyssen, and Alberta's lone NDP MP, Linda Duncan. Despite the exodus, Cullen said he's optimistic about the party's chances in the coming election. "I really do think there's nothing but opportunities for us to be an unapologetically progressive party with an authentic leader." MONTREAL - In what is being described as a major defeat for the tobacco industry, the Quebec Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a landmark judgment ordering three companies to pay billions of dollars in damages to Quebec smokers. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Andre Lesperance, one of the class action lawyers, holds up a copy of the decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal's to uphold a Superior Court ruling in two class-action lawsuits against three tobacco companies, Friday, March 1, 2019 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz MONTREAL - In what is being described as a major defeat for the tobacco industry, the Quebec Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a landmark judgment ordering three companies to pay billions of dollars in damages to Quebec smokers. Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans-Benson & Hedges had appealed a ruling that found the companies chose profits over the health of their customers. In June 2015, Quebec Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan ordered the companies to make payments of more than $15-billion to smokers who either fell ill or were addicted. At the time, the ruling was believed to be the biggest class action award in Canadian history. Lise Blais, the widow of a man who died from smoking-related illness, said Friday she was sorry her husband couldn't be there to share the moment. Jean-Yves Blais, one of the case's original plaintiffs, died of lung cancer in September 2012 at the age of 68. "During the trial, the tobacco companies said it was the fault of the smokers, but for me it isn't. They played hide-and-seek with smokers," she said. She said her husband began smoking in the 1950s, when people weren't aware of the risks, and he was unable to quit despite trying three times. "They're liars," she said of the tobacco companies. She described Friday's decision as a victory, but noted it is unlikely to be the end of the road for victims, given the likelihood that the matter will end up before the Supreme Court of Canada. Philippe Trudel, a lawyer for smokers who brought the class action, called Friday's decision a complete victory. Trudel estimated that after the appeal ruling, the total damages owed by the companies would be more than $17-billion. "It is excellent news for victims who have been waiting for this day for a long time. We're very happy with the result, clearly," he said. Quebec's highest court, which began hearing the appeal in 2016, struck down almost all of the tobacco companies' grounds for appeal. The five-judge panel confirmed that the companies failed in their duty to inform their customers of the risks of smoking and failed to demonstrate that consumers were aware of the risk. The judges concluded that the companies understood that their marketing strategies would expose consumers to the risk of addiction or fatal disease. "In so doing, they certainly infringed in an illicit and intentional fashion the rights to life, to personal security and to inviolability" of the plaintiffs, the court ruled. The 422-page decision concluded that the tobacco companies failed to demonstrate errors of law in the lower court ruling, "except on certain minor points." Rothmans-Benson & Hedges denounced the judgment and said it would seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. "Todays decision by the Court of Appeal changes a fundamental principle of class action law and allows class-wide recovery of damages without proof from even a single class member," the firm's managing director, Peter Luongo, said in a statement. "We believe this unprecedented change in the law warrants review and reversal by the Supreme Court of Canada." Eric Gagnon, a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco, said the company was disappointed by Friday's decision. "We've shown that adult consumers have known the risks associated with tobacco for decades," he said. "We also know that it's the federal government that gives us the license to allow us to operate in this market, and we followed the laws and regulations," he told reporters. JTI-Macdonald Corp. issued a statement saying it "fundamentally disagrees" with the decision. JTI-Macdonald and Imperial indicated they are also considering appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court of Appeal did find the judge erred in several minor aspects, including how the interest was calculated. Trudel called the change a "technicality" that would have little effect on the overall damages. "Out of all the billions, I don't think they'll call it a victory," he said. "But we call it a total victory on all fronts." Friday's decision is the latest step in a case that has been before the courts for more than 20 years. The companies were targeted in two lawsuits heard at the same time, which were filed in 1998 and only argued in court in 2012. They covered roughly 100,000 smokers who took up the habit between 1950 and 1998. One lawsuit was started by people who were addicted to cigarettes and couldn't quit, and the second was brought by those who had suffered from cancer or emphysema. Some 76 witnesses testified at the Superior Court trial and nearly 43,000 documents were entered into evidence, including internal tobacco company documents that showed smokers didn't know or understand the risks associated with cigarettes. HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia man who served 17 years in prison for murder was acquitted of the charge Friday after a two-decade struggle to prove he was wrongfully convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Glen Assoun, jailed for over 16 years for the knife murder of his ex-girlfriend in a Halifax parking lot, is seen at his daughter's residence in Dartmouth, N.S. on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. The federal justice minister has quashed a murder conviction and directed a new trial be held for a Halifax-area man who was jailed for almost 17 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. David Lametti's decision released early Friday sys there is a reasonable basis to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice in the case of Glen Assoun. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia man who served 17 years in prison for murder was acquitted of the charge Friday after a two-decade struggle to prove he was wrongfully convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend. "I proved my innocence here today, after 21 years," Glen Assoun said as he emerged from a Halifax courtroom. "I never gave up hope. I knew this day would come. I just didn't know when." Inside the courtroom, his two daughters cried quietly as the Crown dropped the case, effectively exonerating the 63-year-old in the 1995 murder of Brenda LeAnne Way. Earlier in the day, federal Justice Minister David Lametti quashed the conviction, saying Assoun should be granted a new trial because he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. A few hours later, Assoun stood and pleaded not guilty when the second-degree murder charge was read aloud in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Crown prosecutor Mark Scott then said, "There is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction." The case was immediately dismissed. Assoun was released on bail in November 2014, based on a preliminary assessment that determined he may have been wrongfully convicted. "This is a momentous day in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia," Justice James Chipman told the court. "Glen Assoun, you maintained your innocence, you kept the faith with remarkable dignity ... (and) you are to be commended for your courage and resilience." Philip Campbell, one of Assoun's lawyers, said his client has suffered greatly over the years. "We have a belief in the factual innocence of Mr. Assoun," he said. "We hope the community of Halifax will welcome him back and embrace him as an innocent man." Lametti's decision said a federal inquiry determined "relevant and reliable information" was never provided to Assoun during his trial in 1999. Outside he courtroom, Campbell said police failed to disclose important evidence before a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal case that Assoun lost in 2006. "If police had conducted themselves properly with the information available to them from 2003 to 2006, Mr. Assoun would likely have succeeded on his appeal," he said, declining to provide details. The RCMP were not immediately available for comment. Glen Assoun, jailed for over 16 years for the knife murder of his ex-girlfriend in a Halifax parking lot, is seen at his daughter's residence in Dartmouth, N.S. on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. The federal justice minister has quashed a murder conviction and directed a new trial be held for a Halifax-area man who was jailed for almost 17 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. David Lametti's decision released early Friday says there is a reasonable basis to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice in the case of Glen Assoun. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan Halifax police didn't respond to questions about disclosure. Const. John MacLeod emailed a response saying, "We believe our officers conducted a thorough investigation into Brenda Way's homicide at the time." Earlier this week, Assoun told The Canadian Press that the time he spent in prison robbed him of his health, damaged his family, and left him with recurring nightmares and mental illness. "It was devastating to me. It affected my mind. It affected my overall health. I had several heart attacks in prison," the father of four said in an interview at his Halifax-area home. "Life passed me by." A public inquiry should look into how police and prosecutors handled his case, he said. On Sept. 17, 1999, Assoun was convicted by a jury and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of applying for parole for 18 years. He spent the next 16 years and eight months behind bars. That's six years longer than the 11 years Donald Marshall Jr. served for his wrongful conviction for murder in 1971. In 1990, the Mi'kmaq man, who would later become a well-known Indigenous leader, was exonerated by a royal commission that found he was the victim of a criminal justice system marked by racism and incompetence. The Assoun case began at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 12, 1995, when Way's partially clad body was discovered in a parking lot behind an aging apartment block in Dartmouth's north end. She had suffered multiple stab wounds, her top had been pulled up and her throat was slashed. Court documents say she had been spotted earlier in the evening visiting a crack cocaine dealer. At the time, Assoun was facing charges of assaulting Way. He was slated to appear in court about a month later. He was arrested and jailed in March 1998. The case against him was based largely on the testimony of witnesses whose circumstantial evidence has since been questioned by lawyers who work to free the wrongfully convicted. During his trial, he fired his lawyer. Though he told the judge he felt he needed counsel, Assoun ended up defending himself in the complex proceedings. Disputes over the validity of the prosecution have been in the public domain for years. Key to Assoun's defence was his alibi. At one point during his 36-day trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, witness Isabel Morse testified that Assoun was staying with her on the night of the murder. She testified she saw him in her apartment at 5 a.m. and that he was there when she awoke in the early afternoon. The Crown countered the alibi with testimony from Margaret Hartrick, a friend of Way's, who gave statements to police in 1996 and 1998 and testified at a preliminary hearing that she saw Assoun at 4:15 a.m. on the night of the murder. Hartrick also testified that Assoun told her Way was dead. A prostitute and frequent crack cocaine user, Hartrick died before Assoun's trial began. However, her videotaped testimony from the preliminary hearing was shown to the jury. Assoun's nephew, Wayne Wise, who had a lengthy criminal record, testified that he asked Assoun during a telephone conversation if he had murdered Way. Assoun had replied "yes," he said. The trial judge, Suzanne Hood, reminded the jury there was evidence that Wise had used crack on the day he'd called Assoun in British Columbia. There was also testimony that Wise, who was described as a "career criminal and cocaine addict," couldn't recall the correct area code, and that "he requested favours in exchange for his testimony." Another Crown witness, an 18-year-old prostitute, testified she was cut and raped by a man who admitted to killing "Pitbull," which the court heard was Way's nickname. The woman said this was between March 1996 and November 1997, though she couldn't provide an exact date. She identified the man as Assoun, based on seeing his photo on a television newscast the day after he was arrested and brought back from British Columbia on April 8, 1998. However, the woman's account had to be weighed against evidence from Assoun's sister-in-law, who testified Assoun was living in British Columbia at the time of the alleged rape. Assoun began fighting for his freedom while in jail, initially sending letters to American-Canadian boxer Rubin Carter who was wrongfully convicted of murder and exonerated and later having his case taken up by Innocence Canada lawyers. They later applied to the federal Justice Department for a review, spending more than 12 years quietly battling for his release. Assoun sought an appeal, but the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal dismissed his case on April 20, 2006. However, the appeal court confirmed police were never able to find physical or forensic evidence for their case. The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Assoun's application for leave to appeal on Sept. 14, 2006. Follow (at)mtuttoncporg on Twitter. OTTAWA - The federal Justice Department gave the go-ahead Friday for an extradition case against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, marking the formal start of the high-profile process that has put Canada in a deeply uncomfortable position between two superpowers. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 1/3/2019 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this Dec. 12, 2018, file photo, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou arrives at a parole office in Vancouver.The federal Justice Department is giving the go-ahead for an extradition case to proceed against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the United States on fraud allegations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck OTTAWA - The federal Justice Department gave the go-ahead Friday for an extradition case against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, marking the formal start of the high-profile process that has put Canada in a deeply uncomfortable position between two superpowers. Canada's relationship with China its second-biggest trading partner has deteriorated since Meng's December arrest in Vancouver. The arrest of the Chinese telecom giant's chief financial officer has angered Beijing, which has warned Ottawa of serious consequences unless she is released. China has criticized Canada for acting on what it sees as a politically motivated extradition request from the Americans, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly contemplated intervening in Meng's case in the interests of securing a better trade deal with China. Throughout, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has maintained Canada is simply following the rule of law. The government news release Friday announcing the decision appeared to take into consideration the deeply sensitive nature of Meng's case and the allegations of political interference that surround it. The first line in the release declares: "Canada is a country governed by the rule of law." It goes on to say the decision follows a "thorough and diligent review" of the evidence in this case. Ultimately, Justice Minister David Lametti must decide whether Meng is extradited, which is why his department said he will not comment on the facts of the case. It heads back to the British Columbia Supreme Court on Wednesday. The extradition hearing won't render a verdict of guilt or innocence. If Meng is eventually extradited, her actual trial will take place in the United States. Following Friday's decision, Meng's defence team said it's disappointed Lametti let the process proceeding "in the face of the political nature of the U.S. charges and where the president of the United States has repeatedly stated that he would interfere in Ms. Meng's case if he thought it would assist the U.S. negotiations with China over a trade deal." The statement, signed by David J. Martin, continued by saying the defence is also concerned the minister gave his approval even though the acts the U.S. wants to try Meng for would not be an offence in Canada. "Our client maintains that she is innocent of any wrongdoing and that the U.S. prosecution and extradition constitutes an abuse of the processes of law." The U.S. Department of Justice has laid out 13 criminal counts of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction against Huawei and Meng, who is the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said it is "utterly dissatisfied" with Friday's decision, calling her case "a political persecution against a Chinese high-tech enterprise." "The subsequent developments have proved this," the embassy said in a statement. "The so-called 'rule of law' and 'judicial independence' asserted by Canada cannot cover up the mistakes made by the Canadian side on the case of Meng Wanzhou." Allegations levelled against Trudeau and top officials of interfering in the prosecution of engineering firm SNC-Lavalin have caught the attention of the Chinese government. Former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould testified this week that she faced relentless pressure and even veiled threats from Trudeau, his senior aides, Canada's top public servant and the finance minister's office to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal trial. Trudeau and other senior Liberals have denied anyone applied inappropriate pressure on Wilson-Raybould. A spokesman for China's foreign ministry told reporters in Beijing that there is a lot of interest in China in how the Canadian government responds to the allegations. Lu Kang made the comments after being asked whether he thought the Trudeau government was taking an inconsistent approach in the cases of Meng and SNC-Lavalin. "I believe fair-minded people can tell right from wrong," Lu said Friday during the ministry's daily news conference. The ministry posts English transcripts of its briefings regularly. On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland insisted in an interview that Ottawa's handling of the Meng case has been "scrupulous." "Decisions that are correctly taken at the official i.e. non-political level have been scrupulously taken at the official non-political level and there has been no interference," Freeland told CBC radio. "I also want to be clear though that saying you're a rule-of-law country doesn't mean political decisions don't get taken. In the Meng case, there will be a moment when a political decision needs to be taken ... There is a potential path in the Meng case, as in all extradition cases, where the minister of justice... could need to take a political decision about whether to approve the extradition." In the days following Meng's arrest, China arrested two Canadians in moves Western analysts interpret as attempts to pressure Canada into releasing her. China detained Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, on allegations of engaging in activities that have endangered China's national security. They remain in Chinese custody. China also sentenced another Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death in a sudden retrial of his drug-smuggling case. With files from Mike Blanchfield OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to shuffle the federal cabinet on Friday as he looks to fill the void left by the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould, a senior government source confirmed Thursday evening. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/2/2019 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to shuffle the federal cabinet on Friday as he looks to fill the void left by the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould, a senior government source confirmed Thursday evening. The source, speaking to The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made, said the shuffle will be "internal to the existing cabinet," meaning no new ministers will be brought in. A small number of ministers will change roles, the source said, primarily so that the Department of Veterans Affairs will have a dedicated minister again. Wilson-Raybould, who was moved from the justice portfolio to veterans affairs in the last federal cabinet shuffle in mid-January, resigned her post Feb. 12. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has been acting as the minister of veterans affairs since then. On Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould testified to the House of Commons justice committee that she was pressured by Trudeau, his senior staff and others to halt a criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. She also testified that she held firm in her conviction not to intervene in the case, telling Trudeau at one point that she would strongly advise him against interfering with her functions as attorney general. When asked by Conservative MP Lisa Raitt whether she thought she was removed as attorney general because she "spoke truth to power," Wilson-Raybould said she was "concerned" that was the case. Trudeau has denied that the SNC-Lavalin affair had anything to do with Wilson-Raybould's being moved out of the justice portfolio in January. That shuffle was precipitated by former Treasury Board president Scott Brison's decision to leave politics. "If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general," Trudeau said Feb. 15. The January shuffle also saw Montreal MP David Lametti take over as justice minister and Nova Scotia's Bernadette Jordan become minister of rural economic development. Ontario's Jane Philpott moved from Indigenous services to the Treasury Board, while Newfoundland and Labrador MP Seamus O'Regan moved from veterans affairs to Indigenous services. Now, for the second time in six weeks, Trudeau's ministers will be on the move again. Aldi have announced plans to open a new 'Project Fresh' store in Cahersiveen as part of its 160m Irish store network investment programme. The supermarket chain reached an agreement to purchase a site at Abbey Place and hopes to develop the 1,140sqm proposed store. By Trend Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia will discuss expansion of cooperation in the field of energy, agriculture and the IT sector, Azerbaijans Finance Ministry told Trend March 1. These issues will be included in the agenda of the meeting of the fifth joint intergovernmental commission of the two countries to be held March 4. The sides will also discuss the development of trade relations and the increase in trade turnover, expansion of cooperation in food safety, labor and employment, healthcare, culture, tourism, education, youth and sports, religion, security, air communications, land reclamation and water management, the regulatory framework and other issues. The joint commission is co-chaired by Azerbaijans Finance Minister Samir Sharifov and Governor at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al Omar. During the meeting, the parties will also discuss the current state of economic cooperation, the work done after the fourth meeting of the intergovernmental commission and the prospects for expanding ties. Following the event, a final protocol will be signed and a round table meeting will be held with the participation of business circles of the two countries. Azerbaijans trade turnover with Saudi Arabia amounted to 30.9 million manats in 2018, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. About 24.3 million manats accounted for the import of Saudi products in Azerbaijan. Store closure plans by electric car manufacturer Tesla have raised questions about the future of its sites in the Ireland and the UK. Tesla announced on Thursday that it will only sell its electric cars online to allow it to market its Model 3 vehicle for $35,000 (30,800) in the US. As a result, the Silicon Valley company said it would be "winding down many of our stores" over the next few months, with "a small number of stores in high-traffic locations remaining as galleries, showcases and Tesla information centres". Details of the number of possible store closures or job losses have not been revealed, but Tesla has 378 stores and locations worldwide. The firm's website lists it has having 20 stores in the UK and Ireland, some of which are combined with service centres. However, Telsa only has one store in Ireland which is in Sandyford Dublin. A spokeswoman for Tesla was unable to provide details of how the company's plans might affect its operations in Ireland and the UK. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk wants to produce a mass market sedan at the $35,000 price point to help the company reach more consumers and generate greater sales. Tesla Model S. The online sales shift will enable Tesla to lower all vehicle prices by 6%, on average, including its higher-end Model S and Model X. Mr Musk said: "This is the only way to achieve the savings for this car and be financially sustainable. "It is excruciatingly difficult to make this car for $35,000 and be financially sustainable." The store closures come on top of a decision to cut 3,150 jobs - about 7% of Tesla's workforce - announced earlier this year. The Model 3 is currently not on sale in Ireland, with right-hand drive markets due to begin in the second half of this year. The car can be reserved online with a 1,000 deposit. The Model S ranges in price from 85,392 to 128,139. The Model X ranges from 107,072 to 146,378. -Press Association and Digital Desk Staff The Government has released new advice ahead of Brexit as no deal legislation starts being debated in the Oireachtas. Advice has been posted on the Government's website under a number of sections, divided into business advice and general daily life advice. It is thought that banking, and access to medicine and healthcare will not be affected. The government have advised not to order extra quantities or extra prescriptions, stating "if you do, you could disrupt existing stock levels and hamper the supply of medicines for other patients." However, it is a different story regarding food supply. The Government has advised prices may rise on imported food products in the event of a no-deal Brexit: "It is important to note that Ireland exports more food than it imports. We will have food in the event of a no-deal Brexit. "If however there is no-deal, recent commentary points out that currency fluctuation coupled with trade tariffs might mean an impact on costs of imports." The advice also warns that mobile operators would no longer be legally required to offer roaming at no additional charge to customers travelling to the UK. You can read all of the Government's advice on Brexit here: www.gov.ie Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan announced intention to hire 216 Recruit Prison Officers this year. Mr Flanagan said the Irish Prison Service is looking for positive role models who can relate to and engage with prisoners, and act with professionalism, tolerance and humanity. He added that applicants must also have the ability to think on their feet in dealing with situations which require security and control. He said: "Being a Prison Officer is a very challenging and rewarding role. "Prison Officers are required to undertake increasingly complex and diverse tasks, balancing the traditional security focussed role with a renewed emphasis on facilitating rehabilitation. Prison staff have the potential and the skills to positively influence prisoners to engage with the many services available in our prisons including training, education and addiction services and as a result makes our communities safer. The competition deadline is open and will close at 3pm, March 21, 2019. The Court of Appeal has had no hesitation in dismissing the sentence appeal of a teenager who boasted about raping a 15-year-old girl at a house party. The 20-year-old man, whose details cannot be published to protect the victims identity, had pleaded not guilty to rape at a house in Co Wexford on July 24, 2014. There was a two-year delay between the accused being interviewed and charged, which meant he was tried as an adult. He was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to five years imprisonment with the final two suspended by Mr Justice Paul McDermott on October 23, 2017. The Central Criminal Court heard that the teenagers had engaged in banter on social media before making an arrangement to meet up. She took a lift with him and friends to a house party, where she was given shots of vodka and felt very unwell. The accused then offered to bring her upstairs and help her to lie down. A short time later, some of the mans friends banged on the door and ordered him to stop what he was doing. He returned downstairs and boasted to friends, I bagged her, the court heard. Both the man and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) sought to appeal his sentence. His lawyers contended his sentence was too severe while the DPP argued it was too lenient. The Court of Appeal said today that it had no hesitation in dismissing his appeal. Giving judgment, President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said there were significant aggravating factors present, in what was by any standards a very serious case. There was an element of planning on the defendants part from early on in the evening. The girl was in a very vulnerable and drunken state, something that was obvious to many of those at the house party. There was an element of planning on the defendants part from early on in the evening. The case was contested on the claimed basis that the victim had not just consented, but initiated the sexual activity. Given the context above, the mitigation that would have been available to the accused was wholly lacking. Mr Justice Birmingham said the defendants moral culpability was high in light of the element of planning, the victim's vulnerable condition, his persistence in engaging with her sexually notwithstanding her condition and continuing to do so despite confrontation by others. The mans barrister, Patrick McCarthy SC, said his client was a child at the time and, as such, any penalty imposed on him should cause as little interference as possible with his pursuits. He submitted that it was desirable to allow the education, training or employment of child offenders to proceed without interruption, according to Section 96.2 of the Childrens Act 2001. Mr McCarthy said the objective behind sentencing children was their successful reintegration into society. He said his clients career development when he comes out of prison and returns to society would be seriously undermined. He said his client may only be able to go back to college as a 23-year-old which may diminish his career opportunities into the future. The man is a musician and was doing theory exams in prison, the court heard. In relation to the DPPs appeal, Mr Justice Birmingham said a higher sentence might well have been considered. He said the defendants moral culpability was high in light of the element of planning, the victim's vulnerable condition, his persistence in engaging with her sexually notwithstanding her condition and continuing to do so despite confrontation by others. On the other hand, the mans age at the time was a significant factor. The court was being called on to sentence a 19-year-old man pursuing a third-level degree course for an offence committed as a 16-year-old. He said the task of sentencing was approached by the judge with conspicuous care and attention. Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, dismissed both appeals and upheld the sentence. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Pauline Walley SC, welcomed the fact the man withdrew an appeal against his conviction on the morning of his appeal. It was some comfort to the injured party who is in court, she added. Ms Walley said the DPP was very mindful that young offenders should be treated differently, but it doesnt mean someone should get a blank cheque. She said the case could become a benchmark for similar offences involving young offenders. She submitted that the sentencing judge focused on the mans age to the exclusion of troubling aspects to the offence. The injured party was a young 15-year-old of slight frame, Ms Walley said. She was a virgin at the time and bruises on her arms showed the restraint the accused exercised on her. Ms Walley said the accused had pushed this myth that the injured party was the instigator or was somehow to be blamed because she wasnt able to control herself due to her intoxication. The accused, in Garda interviews, described the injured party as a willing participant. It was clearly false given the state she was in, Ms Walley said. The injured party was virtually comatose and unconscious according to the accuseds own friends. Ms Walley said the accuseds own friends admonished him for what he had done. One of his friends threatened to kill him. She said the accused then elected to put the injured party through a trial and elected to continue to castigate her. She said a probation report found him to be at a medium risk of reoffending. A gambler who was active in Gamblers Anonymous stole 6,900 from his employer, abandoned his van in Cork airport and then drove by car to Dublin for a gambling spree where he blew all the money. Detective Garda Jim Kearney described this scenario in the case against Ian OSullivan of Cherry Lawn, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork, today at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Detective Garda Kearney said the crime was committed between October 10 and 12, 2017 when the defendant was working as a delivery man contracted to Musgraves cash and carry. His job was to deliver goods to various shops around Cork, collect cash payment and then hand over the cash he had received. Instead, he drove the van to Cork airport where he abandoned it with the keys in the ignition. He hired a car at the airport and drove to Dublin where went on a gambling spree and lost all of the 6,900 he had collected in the course of his work. Peter OFlynn defence barrister said the accused had gathered 1,000 compensation but had since lost the job he had most recently. I am aware how insidious a gambling habit can be, Judge Sean O Donnabhain said. The judge said it appeared to be a vicious circle where the accused need to raise compensation but that he appeared to be unable to resist temptation when handling money in his work, causing him to lose a job. Mr OFlynn BL said that despite the gambling the defendant was a good family man and had the support of his family. The judge said he would adjourn sentencing until May 22 and he directed the preparation of a probation report. OSullivan was remanded on continuing bail until then. He pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing 6,900 in October 2017. A doctor who admitted working under the influence of opioids cannot be named although the hearing of sanctions to be imposed on him can be heard in public, the president of the High Court ruled. The doctor admitted taking medication from practice stocks and using "leftovers" from opioid vials which he had only part administered to patients to feed his own opioid addiction. Today, Mr Justice Peter Kelly ruled the Medical Council would have to hold in public a hearing at which it will censure him for misconduct along with a series of conditions on his registration. He has taken steps to recover from his addiction and other mental health problems and has spent a substantial period not practising medicine. The judge said however that his name cannot be published and can only be referred to by initials. The Medical Council had sought a ruling on whether the sanction hearing should be in public and whether and the report of its Fitness to Practice Committee (FtPC) should be published. It followed a FtPC hearing into an investigation arising out of complaints that, over a five year period, the doctor was using opioids which arose after he had been prescribed pain relief for injuries he suffered some years earlier. He admitted a number of allegations including administering opioids to 36 named patients where he knew it was not clinically warranted or was inappropriate. He also admitted prescribing opioids to six patients in excessive strengths and/or quantities. Anything left over in the vials of medication, he admitted using on himself. He admitted that on one or more occasions during a three-year period, he took Tramadol samples from one or more pharmaceutical company representatives for himself. He also obtained Tramadol and/or Cyclimorph and well as Pethidine and/or morphine sulphate from practice stock supplies or by using stock practice prescriptions. He admitted prescribing 10 vials of Cyclimorph for an identified patient and presenting that prescription to a pharmacy in circumstances where the doctor knew or ought to have known this was inappropriate. Generic and unrelated image of doctor He admitted he was under the influence of opioids while engaged in practice and that this may impair his ability to do so. The FtPC recommended censure although the Medical Council CEO said his registration should be cancelled because his conduct was at the most serious end of the spectrum. The full Medical Council agreed with the FtPC censure sanction given the admissions he made and his rehabilitation. The Council then asked the High Court to consider the appropriateness of having the sanctions hearing in private and of anonymising the names of patients, or other appropriate measures. Its view was disclosure of such material would potentially be detrimental to the doctor and named patients. Mr Justice Kelly said the hearing in public in which all names are anonymised would accommodate the constitutional rights of all involved. The Council also recommended that the patients involved be provided with the FtPC report so they can be made aware of how they have been treated. However, it said it was not in the public interest to publish a transcript of the FtPC inquiry and did not believe the public at large should be informed of the conditions to be imposed on the doctor's registration. Mr Justice Kelly agreed the patients involved should be advised. He said the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 clearly gives discretion in relation to advising the public. While the term "public" was not defined in the Act, it appeared to him the Council was entitled to advise "a limited constituency of the public". It was a matter for the Council to exercise its discretion in this regard. "Needless to say, the advice will have to be given in a sensitive way since I am sure that it will come as a great shock to the patients", he said. From Poirots moustache to signed pages from the script of Star Wars: Rogue One , an upcoming auction at the Fastnet Film Festival is a potential treasure trove for film buffs. The auction is a fundraiser to help transform the landmark building in the heart of Schull, Co Cork, that was gifted to the Fastnet Film Festival. The festival organisers plan to transform the building into a world class performance centre, including a 120-seater auditorium with a stage, cinema and rooms for workshops, archives, greenscreen, editing and more. Movie producer David Puttnams leather case. For every 1 raised at the auction, sponsor William and Judith Bollinger will contribute 2. The silent auction represents a unique chance to get your hands on a wide array of unique film memorabilia. Some of the highlights are: A framed Hercule Poirot moustache, worn by David Suchet in 1993, created by Patricia Coogan ODell, Suchets personal make-up artist on the original Poirot television series. A framed Rogue One Star Wars script page signed by Alistair Petrie, who played the part of General Davits Draven in the film A bespoke tan leather producer case made for David Puttnam, producer of The Killing Fields and Chariots of Fire and A leather-bound script of Oscar-winning film The Mission , written by Robert Bolt. Signed by star Jeremy Irons and producer David Puttnam , written by Robert Bolt. Signed by star Jeremy Irons and producer David Puttnam An hour-long sword training class with stunt actor Peter Dillon, whose work include The Hobbit , Vikings and Avatar . It will culminate in a lightsabre fight, which the winner will be able to film , and . It will culminate in a lightsabre fight, which the winner will be able to film A framed doodle by award-winning director Mike Leigh, who has seven Oscar nominations A picture of Mick Jagger taken just before the opening show of the Rolling Stones 1964 tour by photographer Chris ODell. It is a digital archival print from the original film negative, mounted, framed and glazed Artwork from notable artists such as Christine Thery, Hammond Journeaux, Ann Martin, Anne Kenefick, Catherine Melvin, Terrance Keenan and more DVDs of work by Oscar-nominated Irish director Lenny Abrahamson, signed by the director himself Signed copies of Graham Nortons novels There is also a chance to pick up some incredible cinematic history in the form of two black leather screening room chairs from the 1930s. These are from the home cinema of Harry Cohn, co-founder, president and production director from Columbia Pictures. Harry, known as King Cohn, was reputedly the most hated man in Hollywood. The chairs have been donated by David and Patsy Puttnam. The framed Float Like A Butterfly poster, signed by Carmel Winters which will feature in the Schull auction. "We acquired these two screening room chairs in 1987 when we were living in Los Angeles, and they were in my office throughout my tenure as chairman of Columbia Pictures. Were assured the chairs came from the private screening room of my most illustrious predecessor, Harry Cohn, Mr Puttnam said. The Hercule Poirot moustache as seen in the TV series. Cohn was famously opinionated and ritually insulted everyone who worked for him. One day Herman Mankiewicz, who wrote the screenplay of Citizen Kane, entered the studio dining room to find himself at the receiving end of a stream of barbed insults. Harry Cohn eventually went into a monologue, explaining that he had an infallible test of a films likely success or failure and it was his own behind. If it itches the picture stinks, if it doesnt itch the pictures going to be a hit! A brief silence was broken by Mankiewicz yelling back, who ever knew the entire American motion picture audience was wired to Harry Cohns ass. The Rogue One Star Wars script page signed by Alistair Petrie. The live event will take place on March 16, 2019 at the Fastnet Film Centre, Schull. Doors will open at 7.30pm. The 10 entry fee will include live music, wine, canapes and auction registration. For those who cant make it, online bidding is available. A leather-bound script of The Mission signed by Jeremy Irons. - See 32auctions.com/FFFAuction for further information on all items. Update 1.49pm: The CEO of the Irish Fish Producers Association, Francis ODonnell says the voices of Irish fishermen are not being listened to on the issue of the Voisinage agreement. Up until 2016, under the Voisinage agreement, which dates back to the 1960s, there was a gentlemans agreement where fishing vessels from both sides of the Border enjoyed reciprocal rights in Irish territorial waters. He told RTEs News at One that the fishing industry has been excluded from the discussion even though they are a major stakeholder. There are many issues that should be ironed out before the agreement is reinstated, he said as it left the fishing industry in the South at a distinct disadvantage. It was unfair that Irish fishing vessels had fewer rights in their own territorial waters than vessels from Northern Ireland, he added. Large multinationals could operate out of Northern Ireland and fish inside the 12 miles and 6 miles exclusion zones. No matter what happens after Brexit we either will or we wont have access. The pot of fish will be the same, it just depends on the share out. Mr ODonnell said that the agreement should not be reinstated before March 29. We want an absolutely transparent agreement, but it shouldnt be in place before March 29. The original agreement was not being operated in the spirit in which it had been initially drafted, he added. Large vessels from the North were coming into Irish territorial waters such as mussel vessels which exceeded the size that had been agreed. Meanwhile, the Taoiseach says detaining two fishing trawlers from the North in Dundalk bay on Wednesday is a "regrettable incident". They were detained by the Navy for alleged breaches of fishing regulations. The Voisinage agreement was struck down by the Supreme Court and legislation to formalise that agreement has yet to be passed in the Oireachtas. Speaking in Drogheda, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told LMFM that the current law is wrong. We've had some good conversations with the opposition parties overnight and I think we can have that law changed and that anomaly corrected and we can do that in the next couple of weeks. "At the same time, obviously it would be useful to know from the United Kingdom side that they're not going to pull out of that London convention because there was some suggestions from Michael Gove that they might and it would be unusual if we changed our law only to find out that the situation on the other side changed," he said. Additional reporting by Digital Desk Earlier: Dundalk fishing incident 'has zero to do with Brexit' Update 8.35am: The seizure of two Northern Irish fishing boats by a naval vessel for fishing inside the Republic of Irelands territorial limit has zero to do with Brexit, claims Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed. Mr Creed told RTEs Morning Ireland that he hopes legislation that will reinstate the Voisinage agreement can be completed by the end of this month. Up until 2016, under the Voisinage agreement dating back to the 1960s, there was a gentlemans agreement where fishing vessels from both sides of the Border enjoyed reciprocal rights in Irish territorial waters. Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed The reciprocal agreement, whilst a good idea, needed to be put on a statutory footing. The Minister said that legislation has been published, but because there is a minority government and the number of amendments it had not been possible to get that legislation passed. He is hopeful that with cooperation the legislation can be passed as quickly as possible, that it can be fast tracked and passed before the end of March. The seizure of two Northern Ireland fishing vessels from the port of Kilkeel in Dundalk Bay earlier this week was the first occasion on which the Supreme Court ruling of 2016 had been implemented said Mr Creed. When asked about the impact of Brexit on the reciprocal agreement, the Minister said that the issue has zero to do with Brexit. We have sole sovereignty over our waters, this has nothing to do with Europe. However, he did express concern over recent comments by his UK counterpart Michael Gove who has said he wants to undo the London agreement. That will make matters more difficult. Our intention is to go ahead and reintroduce the 1960s agreement. He pointed out that Irish vessels enjoy fishing rights in Northern Ireland. We can still go up north, but they cannot come south. Regardless of Brexit it is only right and proper that we restore the reciprocal arrangement. Earlier: Varadkar and Coveney playing politics on fishing, says Unionist councillor Update 7.47am: An Independent Unionist councillor from Kilkeel, Co Down has said that the impounding of two Northern Ireland fishing boats by the Irish Navy has created distrust. Cllr Henry Reilly told RTEs Morning Ireland that it appeared politics were being played as previously the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney had said they were going to resolve the issue of fishing rights. Northern Irish boats are currently prohibited from fishing inside the Republic of Irelands territorial limit while vessels from the Republic can fish in Northern Ireland waters. Up until 2016, under the Voisinage agreement dating back to the 1960s, there was a gentlemans agreement where fishing vessels from both sides of the Border enjoyed reciprocal rights in Irish territorial waters. However, the deal broke down following a successful legal challenge to the agreement in the Supreme Court in Dublin in 2016. The court ruled Voisinage was an informal agreement of insufficient legal standing to formally grant access to foreign-registered boats. That decision effectively banned Northern Ireland boats from fishing in Irish inshore waters. The UK has continued to recognise the Voisinage agreement so Irish vessels remain free to fish inshore waters around Northern Ireland. Cllr Reilly said people in Kilkeel were stunned at what had happened. He questioned the commitment of the Taoiseach and Tanaiste to an all-island economy having told us they were going to protect us. There was a good relationship between the fishing communities on both sides of the border, he said. Fishing families in Kilkeel and Clogherhead see each other as colleagues and friends, he added. We dont differentiate between southern boats and ours. We have southern boats coming up here all the time. Cllr Reilly said he supported the repatriation of UK waters and would like to see Ireland included in that. Irish fishing waters are being totally exploited by other European countries, he said. They are causing catastrophic environmental damage to Irish waters. He said hed like to see terms of cooperation about the management of fisheries in waters off the coast of Ireland. By Trend China is interested to import of agricultural and food products from Kazakhstan, Trend reports via Kazakh media. The remarks were made by the representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce at a meeting in Beijing with a delegation of the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry headed by Vice Minister Gulmira Isaeva. During the meeting, the parties agreed to cooperate in a number of areas, including the organization of import orders from Kazakhstan to China with the support of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, organization of the second forum of interregional cooperation in Kazakhstan this spring, as well as promotion of Kazakh agricultural products to the Chinese market through electronic trading platforms. In addition, the parties agreed to implement a pilot project to create a veterinary and phytosanitary laboratory and an electronic trading platform at the Khorgos International Center for Cross-Border Cooperation, as well as a project to create a joint veterinary laboratory in the East Kazakhstan region. Earlier this month, the former Industry and Infrastructure Development Minister of Kazakhstan Zhenis Kassymbek said that it is planned to provide Kazakh exporters with a simplified access to the markets of China by inviting inspection commissions from the country to visit the exporters' enterprises. He noted that 500 billion tenge was allocated in Kazakhstan to strengthen measures to support exporters in 2019-2021, including 470 billion tenge for financial measures and 30 billion tenge for non-financial measures. (377.26 KZT = 1 USD on Feb. 28) A man was released yesterday after a week in jail pending sentencing for an attack on his ex-partner where he kicked down the bathroom door and punched her in the face. Declan Murphy, aged 25, of Duarigle, Newmarket, Co Cork, was back before Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday for sentencing on a charge of assault causing harm to his then-partner on July 16, 2017, and related charges. Judge Sean O Donnabhain noted that the accused had gathered 4,500 compensation for the injured party and had made substantial progress in counselling since the violent incident. The judge released him from custody and remanded him on bail until November 6 for sentencing. Sergeant Gerard OShaughnessy previously said the injured party went out socialising that night, and on her return, Murphy was highly intoxicated and agitated. Sgt OShaughnessy said of Declan Murphy: He smashed a hurley off the wall and said [to the injured party] he would crack it off her the next time. There was a confrontation in the house. He caught her by the hair and threw her against the wall and she fell to the floor. She was concussed. He threw her to the ground a number of times in the kitchen and banged her head. She went upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. He followed her up and kicked in the bathroom door. He punched her in the face. Murphy later took a kitchen knife and threatened her with that, but she was not assaulted with the knife. Sgt OShaughnessy said two men at the scene restrained the defendant and gardai got the knife from him before arresting him and taking him from the scene. Paula McCarthy, defending, said the accused was really remorseful and had turned things around in his life since this happened. The death of a young mother, on her way to hospital to see her baby when a truck collided with the back of a car in which she was a passenger, highlighted the need for truck-drivers to take appropriate rest periods and avoid fatigue, a coroner has said. A garda technical expert who examined the stretch of motorway in Co Tipperary where Nicola Kenny (26) died in 2016 concluded that "driver error" by a truck driver contributed to the fatal collision. The car in which Nicola was a back-seat passenger, with her aunt driving and her mother in the front seat, was stopped on the hard shoulder of the M8 when a lorry approaching from behind collided with it, sending it down a grass embankment and killing the young woman instantly. An inquest in Clonmel found that she died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a road traffic collision and accidental death. A deposition from one witness, a Patrick Foley, heard that he was travelling north on the M8, at Dogstown, New Inn, between the Cahir and Cashel exits, when he saw a truck in the slow lane. As he overtook this truck, he noticed the driving was "erratic" and the truck was veering towards the hard shoulder. "I didn't have a good feeling," Mr Foley said of the driving of the truck. As he continued ahead of this truck, he observed in his rear-view mirrors that the truck continued onto the hard shoulder and he then noticed a Ford Focus pulled in on the hard shoulder. "I saw the front left of the truck collide with the back right side of this car." The Ford Focus ended up going down into a ditch, he said, and he phoned the emergency services. The driver of the truck, Ciaran McBride from 38 Tivenmara Road, Carna, Keady, Co Armagh, was given a suspended prison sentence last year after he pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death. The circuit court case heard at the time that Nicola Kenny, who was from Kennedy Park in Thurles, was being driven to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin to visit her new baby daughter, who had been transferred to Temple Street from South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel for medical attention. It was also heard in court last year that Nicola's aunt, the driver of the Ford Focus, had pulled into the hard hard shoulder to allow Nicola take a call from Temple Street to tell her the baby was fine. Garda Declan Corrigan told the inquest on Friday that the judge in the criminal case last year "said he believed driver fatigue was a contributing factor" to the fatal crash. The coroner, Paul Morris, said: "On the signs we see on the motorway, 'Tiredness Kills,' it does actually apply in this case." Paramedic Michael McGrath said he was off-duty at the time of the crash, 12.30pm on September 5, 2016, but came upon the scene in his car. He established that Nicola Kenny was deceased while her mother was injured and her aunt was seriously injured. A local GP, Dr William Ryan, pronounced Nicola dead at 1.42pm. Neither of the other women in the car at the time was present at the inquest, but Nicola's father Paddy Kenny was present. Sergeant Niamh Brosnan, a crash-scene expert, said she came to the conclusion following her investigation that "this collision was due to driver error". The Coroner then said that the case "really highlights that lorry drivers should obey their tachograph and take their rest". A pathologist's report was read out in court and referred to injuries sustained by Nicola which included multiple rib fractures, a fracture to the upper thoracic spine and lacerations to the lungs and liver. The jury returned a verdict in line with the medical evidence, that death was caused by multiple traumatic injuries consistent with involvement in a road crash, and accidental death. They also added a recommendation that commercial drivers should abide by "safe driving times" and "appropriate rest periods" to avoid fatigue and causing danger to other road-users. The Sunday Business Post has welcomed a High Court decision to dismiss a defamation case taken against them saying that that the issues raised in the 2015 article were of critical importance to the media in Ireland. The CEO of the Sunday Business Post (SBP) made the comment after Denis OBrien lost his High Court action alleging he was defamed in articles published in the newspaper. The jury, by a majority, dismissed the case this afternoon. The Sunday Business Post prides itself on its independence and objectivity," said the paper's CEO Siobhan Lennon. Now more than ever a strong, independent and objective media is essential to a functioning democracy. The case highlights the extent to which Irelands defamation laws place significant constraints on all Irish media outlets in their efforts to provide robust, objective and fair scrutiny of the stories that matter to Irish democracy. "We believe it is time for action to reform the relevant defamation laws and to ensure that the media are liberated from unreasonable pressures which currently exist," she said. We did it. Thank you to the jury and our legal team led by @SenatorMcDowell with Shane English and John Doyle. Thank you to all my colleagues in the SBP and in journalism who supported us over the last month. Tom Lyons (@TomLyonsBiz) March 1, 2019 Mr OBrien, who had attended each day of the case up to the 17th day today, was not in court for the verdict. The eight men and three women began deliberations about 12.45pm yesterday and the foreman told the judge about 12.40pm today, after some five hours deliberation, they could not reach a unanimous decision on some of the nine questions before them. They had gone through the all of the questions twice, the foreman said. In those circumstances, a majority decision was open to them, Mr Justice Bernard Barton told them. That meant at least nine of them must agree on the answers to the questions and it must be the same nine, or 10, who agree on each answer. The jury then resumed considering their verdict and returned to court just after 4pm. Mr OBrien sued Post Publications Ltd, publisher of the SBP, over articles published over six pages in the newspaper of March 15, 2015 in which Mr O'Brien was named as amongst the 22 biggest borrowers from Irish banks in 2008. Their focus was a confidential Price WaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report given to the government in November 2008 which looked at the exposure of Irelands banks in 2008. Journalist Tom Lyons got a copy of the report from a source in early 2015 and shredded it shortly after the articles were published to protect the source. Mr O'Brien claimed the articles, including articles headlined 22 men and 26bn and The Gang of 22 wrongly meant he was among a gang of 22 borrowers responsible for the destruction of the Irish banking system and that they defamed him and injured his reputation. He also alleged malicious publication and, in that context, sought punitive damages. The defendant denied the words meant what he alleged, denied defamation and malicious publication, and pleaded "fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest". The jury heard evidence from Mr OBrien, Mr Lyons and former SBP editor Ian Kehoe during the 17-day case. The jury had nine questions to consider. They found (1) the articles did not mean Mr OBrien, as one of 22 borrowers, was among those borrowers most to blame for the destruction of the Irish banking system and the subsequent bail out; and (2) was not a recipient of cheap and easy money which was in some way related to improper influence with bankers, politicians and civil servants. They also found (3) the articles did not mean, as a result of what was said about Mr OBriens borrowings, the PwC report was one which he wished to keep secret or top secret and had been suppressed. They found (4) the articles meant the story of Mr OBriens borrowings and the amount thereof was telling and disturbing but that was not defamatory. Question 5 and 6 asked whether the articles meant Mr OBrien was massively overstretched and faced huge financial pressure in November 2008. The jury found they did but that was not defamatory. Given those answers, Mr Justice Barton said the case was dismissed with an order for costs against Mr OBrien. The total legal costs of the case could run to 1m. In the case which ran over seventeen days, Mr O'Brien was represented by two senior counsel - Paul O'Higgins and Luan O Braonain and junior counsel Marcus Dowling, instructed by Meagher Solicitors. Post Publications was represented by Michael McDowell SC, with junior counsel Shane English, instructed by John Doyle, of Dillon Eustace Solicitors. Separately, the Supreme Court will rule next Tuesday in Galway on Mr OBriens appeal over the rejection of his challenge to statements made in the Dail about his banking affairs. That judgment was to be delivered last Wednesday but, at the request of OBriens lawyers last Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to defer it because of the defamation case. The Sunday Business Post welcomed the verdict, saying that the issues raised in the 2015 article were of critical importance to the media in Ireland. The Sunday Business Post prides itself on its independence and objectivity," said the paper's CEO Siobhan Lennon. "Now more than ever a strong, independent and objective media is essential to a functioning democracy. The case highlights the extent to which Irelands defamation laws place significant constraints on all Irish media outlets in their efforts to provide robust, objective and fair scrutiny of the stories that matter to Irish democracy. "We believe it is time for action to reform the relevant defamation laws and to ensure that the media are liberated from unreasonable pressures which currently exist," she said. Brexit will top the agenda of meetings between the Taoiseach and business representatives in the North. Leo Varadkar will be in Belfast later, where the political impasse at Stormont will also be discussed. As part of his visit to the city, he will deliver the keynote address to the Alliance Party Annual Conference Dinner. Meanwhile, Fianna Fail insists extending the confidence and supply arrangement with the government is justified as uncertainty over Brexit continues. The party's Finance spokesperson, Michael Mc Grath, however, believes a no deal scenario is now less likely. "We do just have to wait and see how it plays out and that is why it was so important that Fianna Fail provided stability in our country at this time when you contrast it with the chaos in Westminster. "The 'mood music' is getting a little better from there in that a no-deal scenario seems to be less likely and that a deal may well be done, hopefully by the end of March and if not, perhaps by the end of June." A letter sent to Scouting Ireland outlining serious concerns around child safety and protection was "routine business", Tusla chairman Pat Rabbitte said. The former politician also said that, instead of "going around the back of the scrum" by writing to Children's Minister Katherine Zappone to have the letter withdrawn, Scouting Ireland should have contacted Tusla officials. Tusla had written to the organisation on February 18 highlighting significant concerns around child protection. The agency listed eight recommendations that it required Scouting Ireland to implement. However, Scouting Ireland strongly refuted the concerns and questioned the child and family agency on its recommendations. Both Scouting Ireland and Tusla are scheduled to meet on Tuesday next but the scouting body insists on a meeting more sooner, given the seriousness of the issue. Today, ex-Labour leader Mr Rabbitte said the scouting organisation's interim safeguarding manager Ian Elliot had written to Ms Zappone "demanding, in intemperate terms, that the letter be withdrawn". For Tusla, it was no more than routine business; there was engagement with Scouting Ireland ongoing, there would be continuing meetings, if there were views in Scouting Ireland about the rigour of the letter then the place to confront that was in a direct meeting with the senior people in Tusla. "It's a matter of professional practice, it's not a matter of politicking or going around the back of the scrum and trying to get the letter withdrawn - these are serious concerns about compliance," Mr Rabbitte said. In a statement today, Tusla said: We do have concerns about current practices and procedures in Scouting Ireland and overall compliance with Children First. "We have invited Scouting Ireland to meet with us to discuss these concerns and progress the recommendations to ensure that the practices and procedures in place are in line with Children First, are robust and that children are as safe as possible. We look forward to meeting with Scouting Ireland. But the organisation, with over 50,000 members, said it was Scouting Ireland who wrote to Tusla seeking a meeting. Separately, Mr Rabbitte called for a change in the way social workers are trained in Ireland. He said the volume of social workers graduating is not sufficient to meet demand and there is a need to go outside traditional universities - hinting at other third-level institutions. If Ireland were to have the same ratio of social workers as the UK then it would be necessary to recruit 1,500 extra people, he said. Just 215 social workers graduate each year while, last year alone, 158 social workers left through retirement or quit the service. Furthermore, at any one time, 92 people are on maternity leave. "We have to go outside the traditional universities, there is no reason why the Technological University of Dublin or the Institutes of Technology around the country ought not to be involved in the education and training of social workers," he said, adding that conversation courses for social care workers could also be considered. Mr Rabbitte noted Tusla has 4,000 employees and dealt with 57,000 referrals last year. Two Irish men have been charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting of a former police detective in Australia. The pair were arrested near Byron Bay on Wednesday. Heavy rain is in store for at least 24 hours as the weather is expected to change dramatically this afternoon. Parts of the country reached record temperatures of 17 degrees earlier this week. Mostly cloudy with rain spreading east to all parts as southerly winds strengthen. A clearance to isolated showers will follow into the west this evening. Highest temperatures 12 to 14 degrees. pic.twitter.com/CD06wo0Y0j Met Eireann (@MetEireann) March 1, 2019 However, forecasters say almost all areas will be affected by heavy rain and strong winds until tomorrow night. There is a weather warning in place in the UK, but Met Eireann forecaster Vincent O'Shea says Ireland will not be as bad. A storm forecast to impact Wales and England on Sunday and Monday has been named by the UK Met Office this morning. #StormFreya is the latest name from the list jointly agreed between #MetEireann and #metofficeuk https://t.co/3T178zFq9e Met Eireann (@MetEireann) March 1, 2019 "It will be quite a changeable weekend compared to recent ones," said Mr O'Shea. "We have a band of rain crossing the country this afternoon which will affect all areas for a while. "It will be almost a repeat situation for tomorrow, probably a dry start in the east but there will be a band of rain across the country and quite strong winds as well. "But it will clear and we will be left with a mainly dry Saturday evening and Saturday night." Sunday will follow a similar pattern with a bright start giving way to outbreaks of rain during the afternoon and evening. Cooler temperatures will continue with temperatures falling around freezing in northern parts of the country on Sunday night. After 3,377,552 steps, 2058 kilometres, a total weight loss of 146.5 pounds weight loss and 138.5 inches, audiences said goodbye to this season of Operation Transformation. It's been an emotional few weeks for leaders and their families but also for Kathryn Thomas, who has been by their side throughout. In a tribute to the series, the presenter posted an emotional blog post saying she feels its just the start for Cathal, Pamela, Siobhan, Paul and Jean. She said she believes that this series was one of the best yet. The ratings have been huge, with more people than ever tuning in. After 12 years on TV, thats a pretty good result Adding: I think as a nation we have really started to listen to the warning signs about our health and maybe we are finally getting our heads around the Irish obesity crisis But more than that, I think people just want a connection againThey want to feel they are not on their own, whatever struggles they may be going through Thomas, who has presented the RTE show since 2011, said that its the connect the audience have with the shows leaders that makes the show so popular. The Operation Transformation leaders connect people. They allow us into their heads, their hearts and their lives week after week, they explore their vulnerabilities and remind us all to look inside ourselves and do exactly the same. Building connections, whether physical or psychological, is really about building a solid support system around you. It is so important. Her blog went on to commend each one of this years leaders and described the show's 5K in the Phoenix Park as one of her highlights. I shed more than a few tears watching them all cross the finish line. The sense of achievement, the result of all their hard work, the recognition of how far theyve come She also had a special mention for Jean, who stepped away from the programme early when she she found out she was seven weeks pregnant. We wish her all the best but I think it's clear for everyone to see, she is in a great place. If you could bottle that girls smile and positivity the world would be a better place. To Pam, Siobhan, Jean, Cathal and Paul, thank you for everything, go forth and conquer and always remember the reason people love you is because you are nobody else but you. The presenter also revealed that "a fair few celebratory scoops were had" in Coopers after the series finale was filmed. What happened in Coopers, stays in Coopers. By Trend Russian-Japanese consultations between deputy foreign ministers will be held in Moscow on March 5, Kyodo News reported on Friday, citing the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affair, Trend reports referring to TASS. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori will take part in the consultations, Kyodo News reported. They are expected to share their positions on the development of the peace treaty between the two states. On February 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono agreed at a meeting in Moscow that their deputies Igor Morgulov and Takeo Mori will hold consultations on the peace treaty in the coming weeks. A round of strategic dialogue between the first deputy ministers is scheduled for April 2. Russia and Japan have been negotiating since the middle of the past century to develop a peace treaty on World War II results. In November 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to galvanize this process based on the bilateral Joint Declaration as of October 19, 1956, which states the end of war between the two states and the restoration of their diplomatic and consular relations. The Soviet government also agreed to give to Japan Shikotan Island and some small uninhabited islands of Lesser Kuril Chain under the condition that they will be transferred under Tokyos control after the signing of the peace treaty. The declaration was ratified by the two states parliaments on December 8, 1956. Chaos erupted outside Texas' death chamber when the son of a condemned inmate became aggressive, shouted obscenities and threw fists after his father spoke his final words. Billie Wayne Coble, a Vietnam War veteran who killed his estranged wife's parents and brother - and threatened to do the same to her in 1989, told the five witnesses he selected to attend his execution that he loved them. Coble nodded at them as they watched from the witness room, adding: "Take care." When he finished speaking, his son, a friend and a daughter-in-law became emotional, throwing fists and kicking at others in the death chamber witness area. Officers stepped in but the witnesses continued to resist, and were eventually moved to a courtyard where the two men were handcuffed. They were arrested on charges of resisting an officer. "Why are you doing this?" the woman asked. "They just killed his daddy." As the men were being subdued outside, a single dose of pentobarbital was being administered to Coble. The 70-year-old was the oldest inmate executed by Texas since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982. He was convicted three decades ago over the 1989 shooting deaths of Robert and Zelda Vicha, and their son, Bobby Vicha, at separate homes in Axtell, which is north east of Waco. Prosecutors once described Coble as having "a heart full of scorpions". Coble, distraught over his pending divorce, kidnapped his wife, Karen Vicha. He was arrested and later freed on bond. Nine days after the kidnapping, Coble went to her home, where he handcuffed and tied up her three daughters and nephew, JR Vicha, according to investigators. Coble then went to the homes of Robert and Zelda Vicha, 64 and 60 respectively, and Bobby Vicha, 39, who lived nearby, and fatally shot them. After Karen Vicha returned home, Coble abducted her. He drove away, assaulted her and threatened to rape and kill her. He was arrested after wrecking the vehicle in neighbouring Bosque County following a police chase. Coble was convicted of capital murder in 1990. An appeals court ordered a new trial on punishment in 2007, but a second jury also sentenced him to death. On Thursday, the US Supreme Court turned down Coble's request to delay his execution. His attorneys had argued that Coble's original trial lawyers were negligent for conceding his guilt by failing to present an insanity defence. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also turned down his request for a commutation. -Press Association Hezbollah has strongly rejected the UK government's move to ban it as a terrorist organisation, calling it an "insult" to the Lebanese people and evidence of subservience to the United States. In a statement issued in Beirut, it stressed that Hezbollah is a "resistance" movement against Israeli occupation, but also a political and popular force with representatives in the Lebanese parliament and government. "The British government by adopting this decision has insulted the feelings, emotions and will of the Lebanese people which consider Hezbollah to be a significant political and popular force and granted it large representation in parliament and in the new government," the statement said. It was the first comment by the Iran-backed group on Britain's move earlier this week to ban Hezbollah as a terrorist group, accusing it of further destabilising the Middle East. The British government's decision means being a member of, or inviting support for, Hezbollah will be a criminal offence, carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Until now, the military wing of the Lebanon-based group has been outlawed in Britain, but not its political arm. Hezbollah - Arabic for Party of God - is a Shiite Muslim movement that emerged during the early 1980s to fight Israeli occupation of Lebanon, with financial backing from Iran. The group maintains a formidable military force that rivals the Lebanese army. It is also a powerful political force that participates in elections, has members in parliament and the government, and dominates the country's politics. The US and others have accused the group of destabilising the region through its military intervention in Syria on the side of President Bashar Assad's government. The Hezbollah statement added that the UK's decision is proof that the British government is "merely a puppet" that does the bidding of its American "masters". "No country in the world that embraces terrorism, funds and supports it has the right to accuse Hezbollah or any other resistance movement of being terrorist," it said. The British ban comes as the United States is increasing its pressure on Hezbollah, placing several sets of sanctions on the group and its regional backer, Iran. Last week, the US ambassador to Lebanon described what she labelled as Hezbollah's "growing" role in the new Lebanese Cabinet as a threat to the country's stability. US officials have also expressed concern that Hezbollah will exploit the ministries it runs to funnel money to fund the group's operations. -Press Association India has banned the largest political and religious group in Indian-controlled Kashmir in an ongoing crackdown on activists seeking the end of Indian rule in the disputed region. The move comes amid the most serious confrontation between India and Pakistan in two decades. Authorities imposed a security lockdown in several parts of the region on Friday, including in central areas of the main city of Srinagar, in anticipation of protests against Indian rule. Police and soldiers, carrying automatic rifles and wearing riot gear, erected iron barricades and laid razor wire on roads and intersections to cut off neighbourhoods. They patrolled streets in Srinagar and imposed restrictions around the city's main mosque, Jamia Masjid, prohibiting congregational Friday prayers there. India's home ministry issued the five-year ban on Jama'at-e-Islami, or JeI, on Thursday night, accusing the group of being an "unlawful association" and supporting militancy in the region. Police have arrested at least 400 activists and leaders, mainly from Jama'at-e-Islami, which seeks self-determination for the entire Himalayan region, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety. Meanwhile, two rebels, a paramilitary officer and a counterinsurgency officer were killed in a gun battle Friday in the northwestern Handwara area, police said. Five soldiers were also wounded in the fighting. The crackdown comes amid high tensions between India and Pakistan following the February 14 suicide car bombing of a paramilitary convoy by a Kashmiri militant. Forty Indian soldiers died in the attack, the worst against Indian government forces in Kashmir's history. Tensions deepened after Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday, with Indian authorities claiming to have bombed a militant training centre. Pakistan retaliated the next day, shooting down two Indian aircraft and capturing a pilot. "If the unlawful activities of JeI are not curbed and controlled immediately, it is likely to escalate its subversive activities ... by destabilising the government established by law," India's home ministry said in a statement. The group's head, Abdul Hamid Fayaz, dozens of its top leaders, and at least 300 members have been arrested since last week. Some of the arrests took place Thursday night in raids by police after the ban, officials said. The Joint Resistance Leadership, or JRL, which comprises three top Kashmiri leaders, condemned the ban as a "dictatorial measure". "The dictatorial and repressive measures against Kashmiris have become the order of the day in New Delhi's doctrine of force against Kashmiris", it said in a statement. India is "punishing people for demanding the resolution of the Kashmir dispute". Rebels have been fighting since 1989 against Indian control in Kashmir. -Press Association Dubai Startup Hub, an initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recently organised a workshop in collaboration with GoDaddy that provided startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners in Dubai with practical tips for building an online presence. GoDaddys pilot Digital Me workshop was attended by Dubai Startup Hub Members who learned how to build their own website and take their businesses online within one day. The digital training session was led by Selina Bieber, regional director for Mena and Turkey at GoDaddy, who explained the importance of a strong, professional digital identity for businesses specific to the local market. The curriculum covered topics including: what is an online presence; why it is necessary; what advantages and benefits it can provide small businesses; and, how you can create an effective website. During the training, all participants built and published their own website using GoDaddy Website Builder. Natalia Sycheva, Manager of Entrepreneurship at Dubai Chamber of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, explained that the workshop supported Dubai Startup Hubs efforts to provide startups and entrepreneurs with valuable knowledge and useful tools they need to get their businesses off the ground, adding the practical tips offered in the workshop were designed to enhance business competitiveness. In todays technology-driven business world it is imperative that entrepreneurs and small businesses create their digital corporate identity and we stand committed to providing all the know-how and skills needed by entrepreneurs to sustain and grow, said Sycheva. Selina Bieber, regional director for Mena and Turkey at GoDaddy said the workshop aimed to raise the of digital literacy align with Dubai Startup Hubs objectives, by providing both the knowledge and tools necessary for people to create and manage their venture online. Through hands-on education and training, the entrepreneurs who attended our workshop now have a better understanding of why and how to create a website, benefits of being online, and how they can use these tools to more effectively help grow their businesses, said Bieber. Dubai Chamber launched Dubai Startup Hub in 2016 as an online platform to connect startups, entrepreneurs, developers, venture capitalists and students, enabling them to learn about new opportunities and create new partnerships that stimulate economic growth. - TradeArabia News Service Spain has confirmed it will allow British citizens to stay in the country if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal. The government in Madrid has said more than 300,000 registered expats would gain residency rights in a no-deal scenario. An independent United Nations (UN) report into the demonstrations held in Gaza between March 30, 2018 and December 31, 2018 has found 'reasonable grounds' to believe that Israeli forces may have violated international human rights. More than 6,000 unarmed demonstrators were shot by military snipers along the border fence separating Gaza and Israel during the Great March of Return last year. Between 40,000 and 50,000 people, including children, attended the first day of the protests. The Commission behind the report focused in particular on three days of the demonstrations between Israel and the State of Palestine which were: 18 killed and over 700 shot60 killed and over 1,100 shotMarch 30, 2018: 7 killed and 186 injured by bullets or fragments of bullets May 14, 2018: October 12, 2018: [/factbox] The Commission found that of the 189 Palestinians who were killed by Israeli Security Forces during the eight month period, 183 were killed with live ammunition. It also found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers shot at journalists, health workers, children and persons with disabilities, knowing they were clearly recognizable as such. The Commission found that two of the fatalities were clearly marked as journalists, three were clearly marked as paramedics, and thirty five were children. Sara Hossain of Bangladesh said: There can be no justification for killing and injuring journalists, medics, and persons who pose no imminent threat of death or serious injury to those around them. "Particularly alarming is the targeting of children and persons with disabilities. Many young persons lives have been altered forever. 122 people have had a limb amputated since March 30 last year. Twenty of these amputees are children. Chair of the Commission Santiago Canton of Argentina said: The onus is now on Israel to investigate every protest-related killing and injury, promptly, impartially and independently in accordance with international standards, to determine whether war crimes or crimes against humanity were committed, with a view to holding accountable those found responsible. We also urge the organisers, the demonstrators, and the de facto authorities in Gaza, to ensure that the Great March of Return is entirely peaceful, as it is intended to be. The report found that the protests were civilian in nature and did not constitute combat or a military campaign. Statistics from the demonstrations. Picture: UN Report/ Commission. The Commission finds that these protests were a call for help from a population in despair. Not only Israel but also the de facto authorities led by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have responsibilities towards them. "The Commission calls on Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza, and on all three duty bearers to comply with their responsibilities and improve the living situation in Gaza. The commission carried out 325 interviews and meetings with victims, witnesses, and members of society form both sides. It also gathered more than 8,000 documents including drone footage. Background The blockade The Gaza strip runs 42km along the coast and has one of the highest population densities in the world. Half of its two million population are children, who have extremely limited access to the rest of the Occupied Palestine Territory. This is dude to restrictions from Israel that began in the early 1990s, and when, in 2007, Israel declared Gaza a 'hostile territory' and imposed an air, land and sea blockade in a campaign of 'economic warfare'. The refugees Around 75% of Gazans are registered refugees living in camps and are among the descendants of 750,000 Palestinians who were displaced after the 1948 conflict. On December 6, 2017 United States (US) President Donald Trump announced that the US would move its embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing it as Israel's capital, sparking new demonstrations. The parents of an American college student who died after being detained in North Korea say Kim Jong Un "and his evil regime" are responsible for his death. Fred and Cindy Warmbier rebuked President Donald Trump in a statement on Friday. Venezuela's vice president is visiting Russia, seeking stronger ties with Moscow amid mounting pressure from the United States. Delcy Rodriguez said after Friday's talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Venezuela will rely on supplies of food and medicines from Russia as it faces a US-led blockade and hold the door open for more Russian investments. Mr Lavrov reaffirmed strong support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and criticised the US for waging a "cynical campaign aimed at ousting the legitimate government of Venezuela". He strongly warned Washington against military intervention. He claimed that the US is planning to purchase firearms, mortars and portable air defence missiles in eastern Europe and deliver them next to Venezuelan borders in preparation for arming the opposition. Russia's top diplomat added that Venezuela's neighbours Brazil and Colombia are against US military intervention, voicing hope that it "would cool the hot heads in Washington". Mr Lavrov accused the US and its allies of using economic sanctions and asset freezes to provoke a humanitarian crisis in the South American country. He said that Russia has delivered a humanitarian aid shipment to Venezuela and will provide more such assistance. Mr Lavrov also noted Russian grain shipments to Venezuela. The Russian foreign minister hailed Mr Maduro for his "constructive" openness for dialogue with the opposition and criticised Juan Guaido, the head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress who has declared himself interim president, for his "destructive and confrontational" stance. Ms Rodriguez said that Venezuela has decided to move the European office of the state-run PDVSA oil company from Lisbon to Moscow. "Europe can't give us the necessary guarantees, because the capitalist world violates its own laws," she said, protesting over the freeze of Venezuelan assets in the US and Britain. -Press Association Former Westpac chief David Morgan has ruled himself out as next chairman of National Australia Bank and thrown his support behind acting chief executive Phil Chronican to be part of NAB's long-term leadership planning. Amid recent speculation he could be a contender to replace outgoing chairman Ken Henry, who announced his shock resignation last month, Dr Morgan signalled he had been approached about the role but added he was "essentially ruling myself out" due to his loyalty to Westpac. Former prime minister Paul Keating with former Westpac CEO David Morgan at the launch of the latter's biography in Sydney. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer "I am a deeply flawed character but one thing I am reasonably good at is loyalty. It just wouldnt feel right after what I owe Westpac. Its not the first time Ive been approached about bank chairmanship here," Dr Morgan said. Mr Chronican formally commenced as NAB's acting CEO on Friday - following Andrew Thorburn's departure - and affirmed the bank's support for the royal commission's findings. Yellow Brick Road could take a hit to its balance sheet of more than $30 million, industry sources said, as it takes a knife to its goodwill and intangible assets. The company's shares were formally suspended from trading on Friday because it had not yet filed its half-year accounts. Yellow Brick Road, chaired by Mark Bouris, had its shares suspended from trading this week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen An analysis of recent accounts shows the company has kept the goodwill on its balance sheet unchanged at $23.5 million since 2016. The Mark Bouris-chaired company on Thursday night said the royal commission and weak trading conditions had triggered a "material" non-cash impairment to the carrying value of the wealth management and lending business and various other assets across the group. The energy market rule maker has slammed the governments "patchwork" approach to policy, warning a focus on short term fixes was undermining the prospect of lasting solutions to high power prices. The Australian Energy Market Commission's submission to a senate inquiry into the federal governments so-called Fair Dinkum Energy policy, released on Friday, offers a withering assessment of the state of play. The government's policy proposals include a regulated basic electricity price for households and the power to break up companies found to be behaving poorly in the market. It unveiled the policies after ditching the National Energy Guarantee, which enjoyed widespread support from many stakeholders, and in the wake of an Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions electricity review which found the energy market was broken and not operating in customers interest. Canberra copped its hottest summer on record this season, made worse by a series of heatwaves around the capital, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The upcoming Autumn was also recently predicted to be drier than average, following the record-breaking summer. Hot air balloons during sunrise over Canberra in March 2018. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen This summer, Canberra Airport recorded mean maximum temperatures 3.8 degrees hotter than the long-term averages for summer. Tuggeranong also saw mean maximum temperatures 2.4 degrees hotter than the long-term averages for summer. Canberra's light rail will take its first passengers in April, pending final approval from the ACT government and independent regulators, Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris says. Ms Fitzharris once again could not provide a specific date for the service's launch, but said she expected the light rail would start moving passengers on a Saturday in mid-April. Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris and Canberra Metro chief executive Glenn Stockton at the light rail depot and control centre on Friday Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong Canberrans would be offered free public transport on the start date to mark the occasion, which will be followed soon after by the launch of the city's new bus network. The government has for months been unable to pin down a firm start date for the long-awaited light rail network, as the service's operator, Canberra Metro, worked through the process of obtaining final approvals. Kanoo Shipping, a division of The Kanoo Group, said it was recently honoured with the Electronics Services Award to Shipping Agent for General Cargo Service at the 11th E-Services Excellence Award by Dubai Trade. Dubai Trade is the premier trade facilitation entity that offers integrated electronic services from various trade and logistics service providers in Dubai. The 11th cycle of E-Services Excellence Award (ESEA) ceremony was held at the Intercontinental Festival City Hotel, Dubai, UAE, on February 18, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. Abdulla Bin Damithan, chief commercial officer, DP World, UAE Region, delivered his keynote speech and Hussain Alblooshi, acting chief operating officer, Dubai Trade, gave his welcome remarks in the presence of over 500 trade and logistics industry clients. The annual event is part of Dubai Trades strategy to encourage the e-transformation & adoption toward the smart services available on its portal which in turn will help establish Dubai as the leading trade and logistics hub in the world. It also aims to honour its clients who have been the most active online performers throughout the year, thus building customer loyalty by awarding the best-performing companies. Mishal Kanoo, chairman of The Kanoo Group UAE & Oman, together with Jonathan Bygrave, chief executive officer, Kanoo Shipping; John Drinkwater, vice president, Kanoo Shipping UAE & Oman; Muhammad Farooq, operations manager Northern Emirates; and Shihabdin Gulabdin, service manager, received the special award on behalf of Kanoo Shipping. Bygrave said: We are delighted to be one of the role models in supporting the governments initiative in innovation and use of technology to transform trade processes. This award will surely add value and moral support to Kanoo Shipping as well as the trade and logistics community in the UAE, he added. Kanoo Shipping and other winners for different categories in the latest edition of ESEA were rewarded according to their mobile and online transactions across key services provided by DP World, Dubai Customs, and Jebel Ali Free Zone throughout 2018. The prestigious event was attended by high profile leaders from Dubai's business community such as top executives, senior management and key decision makers from partners, banks, government, and private sectors. The ESEA is in line with the Year of Innovation, and the Smart Government initiative to make all services available through smart platforms and the completion of its deadline announced by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. TradeArabia News Service Children with cancer will have access to Australias first Comprehensive Childrens Cancer Centre and a new emergency department at the Sydney Childrens Hospital in Randwick. The NSW and federal governments have committed $528 million to fund the centre and emergency department that will be more than 50 per cent bigger than the current ED, state and national health ministers Brad Hazzard and Greg Hunt announced on Friday. Mr Hunt said the centre would for the first time give children from across Australia the same level of integrated cancer care experienced by adults. It will bring the latest research from the laboratory bench to the bedside, with scientists and clinicians working at the same campus, Mr Hunt said, to create the best childrens cancer centre in the world. Immortalised in Underbelly, Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin has long been the pin-up boy for the New South Wales homicide squad. Chief Inspector Jubelin has been with the force since 1985, and has been involved in a number of high-profile investigations including the Bowraville murders, the brutal killing of Michelle Leng and the death of mentally ill Sydney woman Courtney Topic. Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin says he has done nothing wrong. Credit:Louise Kennerley But the veteran detective has been on desk duty for some weeks, following allegations of bullying and harrassment, and using a mobile phone to illegally record without a warrant investigation into what happened to missing boy William Tyrrell. Until recently, Chief Inspector Jubelin led the hunt for William, who disappeared without a trace from his grandmother's Kendall home in 2014, age 3. Australians may have lost their life savings or entire superannuation in the hands of a multimillion-dollar global investment fraud allegedly run by two con artists in Brisbane. A Brisbane man has been extradited from New Zealand to face 25 charges over the fraudulent scheme. The 54-year-old man and an accomplice are alleged to have stolen $11,960,000 from 21 victims from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe between 2007 and 2016. Detectives searched a Highgate Hill home and charged a 74-year-old woman in Queensland with nine counts of fraud regarding a multimillion-dollar global investment scheme. Credit:Queensland Police Service Police said it would be alleged the duo, who were operating as solicitors and financial planners, ran a property investment scheme based on short-term bridging loans under several companies. A suspicious fire that broke out in north Brisbane overnight is the lastest attack between outlaw motorcyle gangs. The fire that tore through a tattoo parlour, Koolsville Studios, is owned by Little Mick Kosenko, who was believed to be linked to outlawed motorcycle club Rebels. Police have not officially linked which two gangs are involved, but are investigating the involvement of Rebels and Hells Angels' members. Credit:Kate Geraghty The past two weeks has seen an "absolute escalation of violence" between members of outlaw bikie gangs, Chief Superintendent of the State Crime Command Charysse Pond said. "The violence we have seen over the past few weeks has been specifically targeted at other members of criminal gangs," she said. Queensland researchers have been internationally recognised for their groundbreaking use of drones to track koala populations in south-east Queensland. Researchers from Queensland University of Technology's School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences have been using heat-seeking drones to find and track koalas in a Brisbane habitat. Project lead Grant Hamilton said much of their work has been around training the artificial intelligence to identify koalas specifically, with increasing success. A koala at Petrie as pictured by a heat-sensing camera mounted on a drone operated by ecologist Grant Hamilton. Credit:Dr Grant Hamilton We have a training dataset, and we tell the algorithm this is a koala and this is not a koala and we have found that its become very accurate at finding the kopalas that are there, Dr Hamilton said. Underworld sources say a fatal shooting outside a boxing tournament in Melbourne's inner west on Friday night was an escalation of an ongoing feud linked to a suspicious blaze at a Maribyrnong warehouse. Two gunmen remain on the run after a man in his 30s was shot dead and two others were injured at the Melbourne Pavilion in Kensington just after 10pm. Mick Gatto (right) outside Melbourne Pavilion on Saturday prior to collecting his car from the Kensington venue, where a man was shot dead and two others were wounded on Friday night. Credit:AAP The shooting follows a fire in the early hours of February 7 at the Kingcon warehouse in Williamson Road, Maribyrnong, where they found smoke billowing from the building and at least three cars alight. Firefighters deemed the blaze as suspicious and arson detectives were investigating. Underworld sources say one of the surviving shooting victims was an employee of Kingcon, which describes itself as "a boutique construction company specialising in small to medium density residential projects". Former high-profile criminal barrister Nicola Gobbo is Informer 3838, it can now be revealed. Ms Gobbo, also known as Lawyer X, has lost her legal fight to keep her identity suppressed during a royal commission into the use of police informers. The 46-year-old is part of a Victorian legal dynasty that includes two other well-known barristers and her uncle Sir James Gobbo, a former Supreme Court justice and governor of Victoria. Barrister Nicola Gobbo - the secret police informer 3838. This photo was taken in April 2008, the morning after her car was torched. Credit:Justin McManus The name of the criminal barrister turned supergrass was made public following a Court of Appeal decision last week to lift the order suppressing her identity on March 1. That trial, dubbed the 'swimmer's trial,' is no longer going ahead due to issues with evidence. Lyndon Monument talks about Cardinal George Pell on the ABC. Credit:Courtesy of ABC In a statement provided to The Age, Ms Monument also praised the work of the jury who found Pell guilty. "In all of this noise, their message comes through quietly, powerfully and is directed to those who have not yet come forward and sadly to those who are yet to have their experience you are safe, we believe you," she said. Mr Monument was among the first to come forward with allegations he had been sexually abused by Pell, whom he claims put his hands down the front of his bathers during a game in the water at the Eureka Pool. "The impact of child sexual abuse inflicted by members of the Catholic Church began reverberating in my family home almost 40 years ago and culminated in the loss of a brother to suicide just over 10 years ago," Ms Monument said. That brother is understood to have been sexually abused by a different clergy member. Loading "I did not think that my family could ever experience a pain and a darkness like that ever again. But I was wrong." The decision to come forward with allegations against George Pell, almost four years ago, set my brother, myself and my family on a journey that has had equally dark times and inflicted stress that I did not, at times, think we would survive." Pell, 77, is in prison waiting to be sentenced after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in East Melbourne in the 1990s, when he was Archbishop of Melbourne. Lyndon's close friend, Damian Dignan, also accused Pell of sexually abusing him in the pool as a child. He died from terminal cancer just months before court proceedings began. Damian Dignan died before court proceedings began. Credit:Courtesy of ABC Ms Monument also deplored Pell's barrister, Robert Richter, QC, for his remarks during a sentencing submission in which he described Pell's offending as "no more than a plain vanilla sexual penetration case". "The words spoken by Robert Richter in court ... have gone round and round in my mind since I first read them," she said. "They will impact survivors for days, weeks and for months." The prominent Melbourne-based barrister was heavily criticised after he made the comments and apologised on Thursday night for any distress they caused describing it as a "terrible choice of phrase for which he was "profusely" sorry. Read Ms Monument's full statement here: I am the sister of a complainant (and myself a witness) in the now abandoned swimmers trial against George Pell the reasons for which I fully understand and am comfortable with. I want to be clear the purpose of this letter is not to rage against the abandonment of that trial but a response to comments made by and the actions of a few particular men in the public eye over recent days. All of you have had something to say that has affected me now its my turn. The impact of child sexual abuse inflicted by members of the Catholic Church began reverberating in my family home almost 40 years ago and culminated in the loss of a brother to suicide just over 10 years ago. I did not think that my family could ever experience a pain and a darkness like that ever again. But I was wrong. The decision to come forward with allegations against George Pell, almost four years ago, set my brother, myself and my family on a journey that has had equally dark times and inflicted stress that I did not, at times, think we would survive. The words spoken by Robert Richter in court on Wednesday (I will not repeat them) have gone round and round in my mind since I first read them. The impact those words had on survivors is well documented across social media platforms, they will impact survivors for days, weeks and for some months. I am sorry you had to endure such disrespect and further harm. I hope that you have the support and care that you need right now. What I also observe is the impact those words had on us who are not victims. Why? Because they gave us an incomprehensible taste of what survivors face and endure through the various systems they navigate for both justice and compensation. It was unimaginable to the ordinary person that such an abhorrent experience could be referred to in such a callous way, in an effort to extract leniency. I also lost sleep. Social media has facilitated an overwhelming negative public response to the decision by John Howard for providing a character reference. Andrew Bolt's continued tirades depict the victims as unreliable and worse, always with his trademark air of arrogance and judgement. Father Frank Brennan used his position and the media, to demonstrate the innocence of his friend because it simply wasnt possible, providing details about time here and there as well as garments supposedly secured. Thousands of victims who told their stories to the royal commission recounted how acts of abuse could occur in the most brazen and impossible ways predators strike when you least expect it, with speed and precision and if well-practised in the slightest of opportune moments. What dampens my rage and instead restores my faith in being human is how the public has sent the strongest of messages to these men of white privilege and power. You no longer rule our world. As they scramble to hold on to their perceived entitlement, they continue to personify what enabled a system of abuse against children for all to see. The well-deserved public backlash that has been directed at these men has been both eloquent and raw and completely united in its message you are no longer of much interest to us. For they have been conquered by 12 ordinary people, installed on a jury and tasked with listening to all the evidence and to return a verdict beyond reasonable doubt they were unanimous guilty. It cant have been easy, will have taken courage and conviction, caused sleepless nights and returned them to their families changed from their experience. In all of this noise, their message comes through quietly, powerfully and is directed to those who have not yet come forward and sadly to those who are yet to have their experience you are safe, we believe you. Thank you, to the 12, for inspiring me to use my voice and my right to free speech. A Perth man who was involved in the group rape of a six-year-old girl has been sentenced to 21 years jail. The man was sentenced to 21 years in jail. District Court judge Bruce Goetze on Friday described the offending as depraved and the worst of its kind before handing down one of the longest prison sentences for a paedophile offence in WA history. Tracy Coulter, 51, sexually assaulted the child on four occasions between 2012 and 2014 along with the girl's mother and step-father after meeting the couple at a "swingers gathering". The girl was aged six at the time of the first offence. Prosecutor Sean Hughes told the court last month that Ms Haynes had dissociative identity disorder and that it was a sophisticated coping mechanism. It was possible that during her testimony she would present as another personality or "alter" he said. Speaking to the Herald, Ms Haynes explained that Symphony was her most important "alter". Praising both Queensland police and Bankstown Detective Sargeant Paul Stamoulis for listening to her, she said it was not possible to get multiple personality disorder without the kind of extreme abuse she had endured. "It was Symphony who my father suppressed," she said. "Jenny was born and my father started to abuse her. An alter was created who came to take dad's abuse so Jenny didn't have to. "From that moment forward, as the abuse happened there would be distractions - sounds, smells and tastes would make it difficult for Symphony to deal with dad's abuse and so other alters came along and they took away the smell, taste or sound. "Symphony intended to testify in court for the whole thing. When my father raped Jennifer Haynes he raped Symphony. Jenny Haynes' family home in Greenacre. Assaults took place in the adjoining shed. "There was an 11-year-old boy, name of Judas, with the obvious task of telling, and he fully intended to arrive and testify. And then there would be Muscles who was born on January 13, 1977 when my father did the first of his ritual ...[assaults]. "Muscles is a 17-year-old, well he's now 18, he was a teenage motorcycle-loving lout. Today if I move my hand Muscles is doing that. He refused to turn 18 because if he turned 18 before dad was arrested he could get a gun licence and shoot him." Her mother, Pat Haynes, 73, said she met her future husband, an electronics engineer, when she was 19 at a dancing school in Welling in England. The family moved to Australia in 1974 where they considered their prospects would be brighter. That's where the offending started. They divorced, without her knowing about the offending, in 1984. Jenny Haynes with her father Richard Haynes. Ms Haynes added: "He told me that if I told my mother she would die. According to him, she would just drop down dead. He pleaded guilty today because he is scared to death of hearing Symphony testify about everything he did to her. "I am not real to my father. I am a blow-up doll. He never called me Jenny and he certainly never called me Symphony because he never met her." She said she spoke to all the alter personalities internally to agree to the facts. "Every single alter had to agree to the facts. Six alters were going to give the vast majority of the evidence." Thirteen companies from the Middle East are among a new class of global challengers that are leapfrogging their developed market counterparts to achieve global leadership positions, according to a report. The report, titled Global Challengers 2018: Digital Leapfrogs, is by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm. UAEs Etisalat and Emirates Global Aluminium are among the companies driving the digital revolution that feature on the list. Despite the regions digital prowess, only one tech unicorn has emerged, and that is UAE-based Careem. Etisalat is a telecommunications trailblazer, and the worlds 14th largest mobile network operator, with a business presence in 18 countries, partly under different brand names. It was also the first telecommunications service provider in UAE. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is one of the top five global aluminium producers, with a strong geographical presence in 60 countries, EGA has recently incorporated two companies. In addition to Etisalat and EGA, other countries representing the Middle East on the Global Challengers list include the likes of Sabic and Almarai from Saudi Arabia; and companies from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar. Markus Massi, a BCG senior partner in the Middle East and the regional leader of the firms Global Advantage practice, said: When compared to companies in developed markets, Middle Eastern global challengers have demonstrated significantly faster growth profitability in most industries over the past decade. In the long term, the 100 Global Challengers total shareholder return outperformed their global peers, the S&P 500, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. More recent performance of emerging markets was affected by broader economic conditions; despite this, their revenue growth continued to outpace that of peers in other indices across multiple sectors, he said. In fact, over the past five years, Middle Eastern global challengers have had significant revenue growth, four times that of the S&P 500 while securing high margins, he added. Three quarters of the global challengers from the Middle East are leaders in digital adoption, both in their home markets and beyond. Nowhere is the trend toward digitisation more evident than among those 13 global challenger companies, many of which are leveraging digital technologies both to win in emerging markets and to compete globally with multinationals. However, the region is significantly underrepresented in terms of unicorn companies: Only one unicorn company, Careem, out of 220 global unicorns comes from the Middle East, compared to the top 100 unicorns, who mainly originate from China (33 per cent) and the United States (43 per cent). When it comes to digital adoption, instead of aiming for unicorn status by being digital disruptors, the report found that Middle Eastern challengers develop their digital capabilities in three main ways. First, they invest in internal innovation programs and research and development. Middle East companies also pursue partnerships and joint digital ecosystems or establish their own, and they acquire digital capabilities through mergers and acquisitions and private investments in startup companies and technologies. All three methods are proving to be highly productive avenues for digital development. Among global challengers, digital adoption is evident across multiple sectors, including consumer, TMT (technology, media, and telecommunications), energy, healthcare and financial services. The Middle East region, however, still holds untapped potential that will spur growth of the digital economy as businesses and governments are behind other regions in embracing digital commerce and have yet to adapt to the digital imperative. Although half of the Middle Eastern population is under 25 years of age, the region has 90 million internet users who account for 1 per cent of global e-commerce sales (compared to China with 42 per cent). The main reasons for this are several hurdles such as low consumer trust in and awareness of e-commerce, shortcomings in the payment infrastructure, and logistical difficulties. However, the region is undergoing a major transformation and getting ready for a digital future. A first indicator is Amazons recent market entry in the Middle East, with the recent acquisition of Souq.com and the launch of Noon.com. Massi continued: As the Middle East is becoming the next frontier of the global digital revolution, we believe that going forward, the global challengers will continue to be a driving force and outperform the market. They are able to leverage their regional base with superior access to the local markets and build on their strong digital capabilities to improve operations and overcome many of the physical, financial, and commercial hurdles to doing business in emerging markets, including those related to geography, logistics, and infrastructure. Favourable regulatory environments would help to embrace digital innovation and adoption within the region, in particular, digitally enabled workforces and new ways of collaborating in digital ecosystems, he added. TradeArabia News Service The Morrison government is bracing for a new round of cabinet resignations ahead of the May election, with focus shifting to the future of the Coalition's two most senior defence figures. Defence Industry Minister Steve Ciobo is preparing to announce his retirement as soon as Friday, potentially bringing the total number of departing government frontbenchers to four. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne has been in Parliament for 26 years. Credit:Photo: Alex Ellinghausen Many are also sceptical of Defence Minister Christopher Pyne's repeated declaration that he "intends" to recontest the election, pointing to Julie Bishop's use of the same language for months prior to her decision last week to retire from politics. Mr Pyne, who has been in Parliament for 26 years, is one of the Liberal Party's leading moderate figures and is a close supporter of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Latest News No Christmas cash rate surprise, but stage set for big 2022 All eyes on first decision of 2022 to help banks price rates into next year How to look beyond the RBA cash rate to understand where interest rates are going Leading economist breaks down where rates are moving in the coming months and years The royal commissions recommendation that brokers work under a best interest duty has been called an impossible standard by an association CEO and former regulator who saw Canada try and fail to do the same. In 2016, Canadas regulatory body the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced it would introduce a best interest standard after a four-year investigation exploring how the requirement would alter the market. Within two years, each of the countrys regional regulators had scrapped the duty having failed to define best or sufficiently demonstrate how the value judgment could be enforced. When youre talking about the best, its just an impossible standard. How are you supposed to nail down all the options?, said Samantha Gale, CEO of the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association in British Columbia. When push came to shove, when the principle was explored in terms of application, everybody had a hard time trying to figure out what it meant and what it would require. It sounds good, it sounds like the right thing to do, but it wasnt quite clear what it meant. Its an unreachable, unsurpassable, unattainable standard, she told Australian Broker. Several articles that circulated after the duty was discarded pitted the interests of financial advisers as conflicting with those of the consumer. To Gale, this is not a fair representation. She explained, The two [parties] arent necessarily opposed to each other. Looking after yourself in a professional capacity means that you need to be compensated. Looking after your client means they need to be the recipient of your professional services. Hopefully, youre both satisfied. On the spectrum of possible regulatory models, Gale places rule-based regulations on one end and principle-based regulations on the other. The proposed best interest duty falls in the latter group. With rule-based regulations, theres complete clarity. The law says, You must do a, b, c. But principle-based regulations say, we have these lovely standards and you must abide by these lovely standards, so figure out a plan to do that, she said. In Gales experience, regulators typically shy away from providing clarity due to liability concerns, despite the fact that regulated professionals require and tend to even explicitly request, clear rules. It is a contractual business relationship between lawyer and client, with both parties understanding the terms of the arrangement. "Regulators are good at coming up with standards, but they're short on applying that to practical circumstances so the industry is left to wonder, 'what does this mean and how does it apply?' That's the challenge of it," Gale said. When it comes to the future of the duty in Australia, Gale foresees the need for balanced rules that provide for standards, but that also provide clarity. Without that its like youre trying to connect dots, trying to figure out what the right answer is, but the regulators are moving the goalposts along the way, she concluded. There will be more on this story in the next issue of Australian Broker and on Brokernews.com.au next week Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Department of Transportation officials will meet with leaders of local community boards behind closed doors on March 11, to get the civic gurus input on the proposals to repair the BrooklynQueens Expressways crumbling triple cantilever, according to an agency spokeswoman. The meeting will consist of a briefing on the BQE project, and serve as an opportunity to hear feedback from the community boards, and will not include new information, said Alana Morales. The rep did not say which boards will send members to the meeting. But the top staffer of Community Board 2, whose district includes the Brooklyn Heights Promenade which one proposal suggests converting into a six-lane highway for expressway traffic in order to repair the three-tiered highway beneath it said that he and other leaders of that panel received an invitation. DOT invited us to an invitation-only scheduled briefing on the BQE, said CB2 District Manager Robert Perris. Perris, who said the invitation came with no further details on what the meeting would cover, will attend the meeting with CB2s newly elected chairman, Lenny Singletary, and heads of the panelss Transportation and Public Safety, Parks, and Land Use Committees. It will be the first time in five months that agency leaders discuss the looming fix with the civic gurus, according to the district manager. And he suspects officials waited that long so that tempers could cool following the overwhelming backlash they received to their two proposed repair plans at a September town hall retaliation that Perris believes led transit chiefs to reconsider their so-called innovative option to turn the Promenade into a speedway in order to fix the triple cantilever. They have not talked to CB2 since the September town hall, when they had their tails handed to them, he said. Theyre not talking to anybody because their reconsidering their plan. Since the heated town hall, Transportation Department officials only attended one CB2 meeting in January, where they presented a project on Nassau Street pedestrian improvements to the panels Transportation and Public Safety Committee. But over the past five months, agency leaders continued to meet with Brooklyn Heights residents, business owners, and other groups with a vested interest in the fate of the beloved Promenade, according to Morales. And those conversations suggest another town-hall style gathering may follow the upcoming private meeting, Perris said. Theyve been meeting with property owners in the neighborhood and politicians. All of that is an indication that they are on the verge of having another town hall meeting, he said. In addition to the innovative option which would turn the Promenade into a speedway for no less than six years so workers can shore up the 1.5-mile stretch of expressway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street by 2026, the year experts worry the triple cantilever may collapse beneath the weight of the thousands of trucks that travel it daily transit officials are now weighing two other repair plans. One, the citys so-called traditional option, proposes repairing the triple cantilever lane-by-lane, a job that could last until 2028, cause traffic backups for up to 12 miles, and would still require closing the Promenade for at least two years for repairs. The other, proposed by an architect tapped by local civic group the Brooklyn Heights Association, calls for creating a temporary, two-tiered roadway for diverted expressway traffic along the Furman Street border of Brooklyn Bridge Park, and would allow the job to finish faster than either city option, according to Heights Association leaders. The Transportation Department spokeswoman could not confirm by press time whether the agency planned to hold another public meeting about the repair plans, but said that its leaders will continue to engage with community members. We will continue to work with elected officials, the community, and all local stakeholders on the entire project corridor to hear their input, Morales said. But one CB2 member accused transit officials of not being transparent enough about their plans for the project which could kick off as soon as next year claiming the panel is still waiting on answers to its own questions about the forthcoming fix. I want them to not be evasive about it, and answer our questions about alternative proposals, said Transportation and Public Safety Committee member Patrick Killackey, who lives in Brooklyn Heights. This project is going to change our lives. Why are you just dismissing having dialogue with the community and experts? Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Marine Park The Brian Gewirtz Memorial Foundation which celebrates the life of a late Brooklynite while carrying out his legacy and donating to the things he loved is hosting its fourth-annual fund-raiser on June 1 to build on its mission of supporting those with mental or physical disabilities. The public charity was established by the family of Brian Gewirtz, a Marine Park man who had special needs and tragically passed away in 2015. The do-gooder group has given back to the Boy Scouts of America, sponsored pianos for education, and sent kids with disabilities to camp all things Brian cared deeply about. Brian accomplished more than most complete in a lifetime, but Brian had much more to give with both his talents and gifts, wrote his family and friends on the website. The Gewirtz family also dedicates educational awards and scholarships in Brians name at his alma mater, James Madison High School. Families living with special needs in the Marine Park community have felt the positive impact of Gewirtzs legacy. Thank you for having the courage and strength to get up at graduation and give out these awards, Nancy Vera wrote on the foundations website about her children who live with disabilities. By giving the award to James Vera last year, you helped give confidence to both of my children, on multiple occasions. Your entire family is inspirational. So save the date to contribute to Brians legacy and celebrate his life on June 1, which would have been his 25th birthday. Brian Gewirtz Memorial Foundation Fund-raiser Luncheon and Card Party at Knights of Columbus Council 126 [3051 Nostrand Ave. between Quentin Road and Stuart Street in Marine Park, (646) 2391693, www.bgmfo undat ion.org ]. June 1, 15 pm. $35. Natallie Rocha Manhattan Beach A dream come true Three cheers for Kingsborough Community College, which earned Achieving the Dreams newest recognition for achieving higher student outcomes and narrowing equity gaps: the designation Leader College of Distinction. Kingsborough was one of 11 community colleges nationwide to earn the accolade, and the only one in New York State. The college earned Leader College distinction in 2015. Achieving the Dream leads a national network of more than 220 community colleges championing evidence-based improvements to help community-college students achieve their goals, resulting in improved skills, better employability, and economic growth for families, communities, and the nation as a whole. Participating colleges focus on seven essential areas: leadership and vision; data and technology; equity; teaching and learning; engagement and communication; strategy and planning; and policies and practices. The college as a whole has embraced ATDs principles. Subcommittees of faculty, staff, and students have been gathering and analyzing data to develop new strategies aimed at strengthening and promoting more equitable outcomes, noted Kingsborough Community College President Claudia Schrader. Kingsborough has focused on overcoming opportunity gaps by identifying barriers that are nearly always outside the students control, including race, English proficiency, and family or community wealth. The metrics ATD established for Leader College of Distinction are meant to encourage colleges to sustain aggressive efforts that result in far greater student success and equity, said Dr. Karen A. Stout, president and chief executive officer of Achieving the Dream. The honor recognizes Network colleges that have stayed focused on the change process and seen real improvements in student achievement across the institution. Only colleges that have been Leader Colleges for three or more years were invited to apply. Emirates will be showcasing its flagship Airbus A380 for two days at the first ever Saudi International Airshow, taking place at the Al Thumamah Airport in Riyadh from March 12-14. The popular double-decker aircraft will be on display on March 12 and 13, giving visitors the opportunity to tour its interior and experience its award-winning products across all classes, including Emirates refreshed OnBoard Lounge. The airshow is the first international aviation and aerospace exhibition of its kind in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Adil Al Ghaith, senior vice president, Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East & Iran for Emirates airline said: Emirates is proud to be part of the Saudi International Airshow, a milestone event which will help connect the global aviation and aerospace industry to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Emirates A380 being showcased during the Airshow demonstrates our commitment to Saudi Arabia as it grows and develops its aviation landscape and elevates its position on the regional and global stage to unlock further growth. The air transport sector plays a major role in the growth of the Saudi Arabian economy through direct, indirect and induced contributions, accounting for $34 billion to its overall GDP and supporting over 500,000 jobs, according to a 2017 Oxford Economics report supported by the International Air Transport Association (Iata). The Saudi Vision 2030 continues to herald a number of opportunities for the kingdom to grow its aviation infrastructure as well as its connectivity for robust future traffic growth, both domestically and internationally. Emirates has been adding economic value by facilitating tourism and trade in the kingdom for over 30 years, when it first started services to Jeddah. Since then, the airline has gradually developed its services to include Riyadh, Dammam and Medina and today serves Saudi Arabia with 84 weekly flights. The airline has also carried close to 24 million passengers from its four gateways, connecting travellers to destinations across its network. Anticipated to be popular with aviation enthusiasts as well as the general public visiting the Saudi International Airshow, the Emirates A380 will feature 14 luxurious First Class suites, 76 flatbed seats in Business Class and 426 spacious seats in Economy Class. Emirates A380 static tour will take visitors across the aircrafts two decks, giving them a real-life glimpse of the spacious cabins and seats in Economy Class, lie-flat seats in Business Class and luxury First Class Private Suites. Guests will also get to see the A380 Shower Spas and OnBoard lounge that are both fully set-up and equipped to portray an authentic inflight experience. Emirates flies its flagship A380 to 50 destinations around the world, and has flown two one-off missions to Riyadh. The airline currently has 109 A380s in service. - TradeArabia News Service Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Adidas officially dropped the much-hyped Ultraboost 19 on February 21. It was one of those rare launches that had runners and sneakerheads equally psyched. But the UB19 is built with a clear preference in mind. American model and Adidas brand ambassador Kendall Jenner was among the first to be seen in the pair. She wore them with a pair of plain blue jeans and a white tank top, leisurely soaking up some sunshine at a park. Anybody who follows her would know that such simplicity is quite unusual for her. Then again, its an unusual pair of shoes. The rest of the celebrity ... The proposed strategic partnership between Boeing and Embraer has been approved by Embraer's shareholders during an Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting held at the company's headquarters in Brazil. At the special meeting, 96.8 per cent of all valid votes cast were in favour of the transaction, with participation of approximately 67 per cent of all outstanding shares. Shareholders approved the proposal that will establish a joint venture made up of the commercial aircraft and services operations of Embraer. Boeing will hold an 80 per cent ownership stake in the new company, and Embraer will hold the remaining 20 percent. The transaction values 100 percent of Embraer's commercial aircraft operations at $5.26 billion, and contemplates a value of $4.2 billion for Boeing's 80 per cent ownership stake in the joint venture. Embraer shareholders also agreed to a joint venture to promote and develop new markets for the multi-mission medium airlift KC-390. Under the terms of this proposed partnership, Embraer will own a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, with Boeing owning the remaining 49 per cent. "This groundbreaking partnership will position both companies to deliver a stronger value proposition for our customers and other stakeholders and create more opportunities for our employees," said Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, president and CEO of Embraer. "Our agreement will create mutual benefits and boost the competitiveness of both Embraer and Boeing." "Approval by Embraer's shareholders is an important step forward as we make progress on bringing together our two great aerospace companies. This strategic global partnership will build on Boeing's and Embraer's long history of collaboration, benefit our customers and accelerate our future growth," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president and chief executive officer. Embraer's defence and executive jet business and services operations associated with those products would remain as a standalone publically-traded company. A series of support agreements focused on supply chain, engineering and facilities would ensure mutual benefits and enhanced competitiveness between Boeing, the joint venture and Embraer. "Our shareholders have recognized the benefits of partnering with Boeing in commercial aviation and the promotion of the multi-mission airlift KC-390, as well as understanding the opportunities that exist in the executive aviation and defence business," said Nelson Salgado, Embraer executive vice president of Finance and Investor Relations. "People across Boeing and Embraer share a passion for innovation, a commitment to excellence, and a deep sense of pride in their products and their teams these joint ventures will strengthen those attributes as we build an exciting future together," said Greg Smith, Boeing chief financial officer and executive vice president of Enterprise Performance & Strategy. Boeing and Embraer announced in December 2018 that they had approved the terms for the joint ventures and the Brazilian government gave its approval in January 2019. Shortly thereafter, Embraer's board of directors ratified its support for the deal and definitive transaction documents were signed. The closing of the transaction is now subject to obtaining regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, which Boeing and Embraer hope to achieve by the end of 2019. Embraer will continue to operate the commercial aviation business and the KC-390 program independently until the closing of the transaction. TradeArabia News Service While the Cabinet passing an Ordinance to allow the voluntary use of Aadhaar as a Know Your Customer (KYC) mechanism is being welcomed by fintech companies and start-ups, it is set to stoke the debate on privacy once more. The voluntary nature of Aadhaar has been a contentious issue, with most industry players like telecom companies, banks and small businesses creating conditions more conducive for Aadhaar to be used as a proof of identification. For instance, telecom service providers have often been known to process new connections faster when Aadhaar is submitted as ... When Uber and Lyft go public this year, their founders, top executives and investors are set to reap billions of dollars in new wealth. But one group that helped build up the ride-hailing companies will miss out on most of the rewards: their drivers. Thats because while Ubers and Lyfts full-time employees and investors own company stock that they can convert into cash after the initial public offerings, the millions of drivers who ferry passengers around for the services are independent contractors. That has made them ineligible for stock grants and ... Shanghai (Gasgoo)- The U.S.-based EV maker Tesla once again announced the price cuts on its Model S sedan, Model X SUV and Model 3 sedan in China. Involving 8 models in total, the price slash ranges from RMB11,300 to RMB341,100. Gasgoo compiled the detailed price change of each model as below. The guide price of the Model X P100D is reduced by up to RMB341,100. After the price cuts, Chinese consumers will no longer enjoy the free service of upgrading the Enhanced Autopilot. Meanwhile, the fully autonomous driving feature has been added with its two optional configurators priced at RMB27,800 and RMB46,300 respectively. Tesla held a delivery event for Model 3 cars in Beijing on February 22. It announced on January 4 that Chinese consumers are allowed to place an order for optional configuration sets of the Tesla Model 3's High Performance All-wheel Drive (AWD) version and Long Range AWD version on Tesla China's official website and at Tesla's experience centers in China from then on. According to local media outlets and records on some shipment information checking websites, cargo ships carrying three batches of Model 3 cars were all supposed to arrive at Tianjin Port and Shanghai Port in February. The new era of the strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and the United State has begun. This was stated by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells on the results of the Uzbek-American political consultations in Tashkent on February 26-27th. The next round will be held in 2020 in Washington. Alice Wells reported that Washington has increased funding for Tashkent from $ 10.1 m in 2016 to $ 28.1 m in the 2018 fiscal year. The increase of aid shows Washingtons commitment to strengthening partnerships and supporting the reform program in Uzbekistan, the American diplomat said. Uzbekistan has become known to the whole world after the country began reforms in the economic and management spheres. The new opportunities have developed for cooperation with neighboring countries, as well as with the rest of the world. Central Asia benefits from the fact that Uzbekistan plays its legitimate role on the world stage. The United States supports and encourages the revival of Uzbekistan. Wells added that the United States pays tribute to Uzbekistans "neighbors first and foremost" policy, which benefits all Central Asian countries. "With the opening of borders and the settlement of old disputes, interaction in many areas has increased, which has led to the establishment of the new ties and strengthening of stability in the entire region, including in Afghanistan," the diplomat said. Alice Wells also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and the involvement of Uzbekistan in the regional trade and economic cooperation with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to whom she conveyed greetings from US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. The reason for the increased US attention to Uzbekistan is that Washington and Tashkent have reached an agreement in joint actions on the peace process in Afghanistan. At the talks in Washington during the state visit of Mirziyoyev to the USA in May 2018, an impetus was given to the development of bilateral relations. The US side achieved Tashkents consent to play the role of mediator in the Afghan settlement. At the same time, the distribution of tasks is as follows - the American side is working with the Taliban (the movement is prohibited in the Russian Federation) at the negotiations in Qatar, Tashkent is assigned a no less complicated role - to incline official Kabul to dialogue with the Taliban. In response, Mirziyoyev was recognized as one of the promising political leaders in the region, endorsing reforms in Uzbekistan. As the Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan, Ismatilla Irgashev, told Vestnik Kavkazka, "Tashkent held a number of important talks with the Afghan leadership and with representatives of other leading political forces in Afghanistan, including the Taliban movement. All of Uzbekistans actions are aimed at promoting the peace process in this country, they are strictly conformed and coordinated with official Kabul. At the same time, Tashkent proceeds from the key principle of the Afghan settlement - this is Afghans problem that should be solved by themselves. " According to Irgashev, Uzbekistan has managed to achieve the goodwill of all political forces, including the Taliban due to this approach. "Along with the political efforts, Tashkent is investing in the economic future, social stability and the younger generation of Afghans," the diplomat said. In particular, Uzbekistan is one of the few countries that, together with the Afghan side and international financial institutions, is implementing the major infrastructure projects, such as the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat railway and the new Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar project, which will provide access to the seaports - Chabahar and Bandar Abbas in Iran, and Gwadar in Pakistan. Not only Afghanistan but the countries of South Asia India and Pakistan are showing great interest in this project. The implementation of these projects will help to change the approaches of some countries in the region to resolving the Afghan conflict, Irgashev said. According to the diplomat, the ministerial meeting on the economic assistance to Afghanistan will be held in the second half of this year, and it will have a significant impact in restoring the national economy in the country. The second sphere of shared interests of the USA and Uzbekistan is military-technical one. The US is seeking to increase the supply of military products to Central Asia. Recently, the head of the United States Central Command, Joseph Votel, said that Uzbekistan expressed interest in diversifying its military equipment and announced its intention to acquire American weapons, systems and equipment. According to the officer, this fact is a unique opportunity to replace Russia as the main supplier of the military-industrial complex products in this republic. However, the nomenclature of this cooperation is rather limited. The Russian military-industrial complex will remain the core of the armed forces of Uzbekistan in terms of aviation and heavy weapons in the coming years. Nevertheless, Americans believe they have got work to do in this sphere. It is a day of celebration for India as Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was taken into custody by Pakistani rangers; three days ago will be repatriated today. Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan yesterday announced the release of captured Varthaman, calling it a "peace gesture". Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during an air battle to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday. It is worth mentioning that, Abhinandan's father, Retd Air Marshal S Varthaman, and his wife, Dr Shobha Varthama were greeted with loud cheers and salutes by passengers who shared the flight with them from Chennai to Delhi last night. A viral video shows how the proud parents of Abhinandan received a heart-warming welcome on the flight, as passengers applauded and thanked them for giving India, a warrior like Abhinandan. From the common man to Ministers to Bollywood stars, every Indian is celebrating the moment, hailing it as a "victory for India." "Dear @narendramodi ji , I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am," Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh tweeted on Thursday. "T 3103 - Abhinandan .. .. ," wrote Amitabh Bachchan on Twitter after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Abhinandan will be released by Pakistan on Friday. India used diplomatic and military pressure to ensure that Pakistan releases Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman unconditionally, top sources said in New Delhi. Prime Minister Modi made no compromises on the Pakistani proposal for holding talks, the sources said. Khan announced in Pakistan Parliament that Abhinandan will be released on Friday as a peace gesture. India mounted pressure on Pakistan through the international community, with Security Adviser Ajit Doval holding talks with the US and other P-5 countries, the sources said. The External Affairs Ministry also exerted pressure on Pakistan through the Arab world, they said. Wing Commander Varthaman, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was taken to the custody by the Pakistani Army. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Friday hit out at the NDA-led central government stating that its leaders are more interested in giving speeches and writing blogs than working towards the development of the country. His statement came a day after the economic growth of India slowed to a low of 6.6 per cent in the October-December period of the current fiscal year 2018-19. "It is a very, very shocking state of affairs that after an absolute majority that this government had, they had a free run on the economy, they could have brought in some radical changes, but they lost out these opportunities. The latest figure shows that the core sector growth is only 1.6 per cent. For the last six quarters, this has been the lowest rate of growth (6.6 per cent) in this quarter," Sibal told ANI here. "As per the date given out, the GDP for this year will only be 7 per cent. This is very unfortunate because they had a great opportunity to turn things around. They lost that opportunity. All that they are interested in is giving speeches, writing blogs, telling the world how India has changed for the better but the figures don't show that," he emphasised. He added, "The lives of farmers are getting from bad to worse. Agricultural growth is at its lowest. The common man is not earning enough money. The various scams and NPAs have brought down the pace of the economy." Ahead of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's arrival from Pakistan, Sibal said, "The whole country is waiting for Abhinandan to come back and embrace him. We all are happy. He is a great son of India. We must salute his bravery. While we do that, we should not forget that terror across the border will continue, attacks on India and our jawans will continue. Speeches will not help solve their problem." He added, "The whole world now knows that Pakistan has the roots of terrorism. China has supported Pakistan till now. We hope China will understand that they won't get any benefit by supporting Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Border Security Force has arrested a 21-year-old Indian from Maboke, near border outpost in Punjab on suspicion of spying for Pakistan. "21-year-old accused, Mohammed Sharukh, from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad is a suspected Pakistani spy. He was arrested on Thursday from border outpost, Maboke," officials told ANI. "The BSF has seized a mobile phone with Pakistani sim card and the contact number used by him was added in eight Pakistan-based groups. Six other Pakistani phone numbers were also retrieved from him," officials said while elaborating about his arrest. The officials further said that the accused had wrapped himself in a bed sheet and was trying to hide his mobile. Following which, he was interrogated by BSF personnel. Later it was found that he was allegedly using his cell phone to communicate with Pakistan-based terror groups. "During interrogation, Sharukh gave incoherent and contradictory answers asked by BSF. He has been handed over to police for further investigation," they added. The arrest comes a few days after Indian Air Force fighter jets on Wednesday carried out an attack on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in the Balakot region of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is worth mentioning that the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, led by Azhar Masood, had taken responsibility for the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Kashmir in which 40 personnel were killed. A day later after IAF attack on a JeM terror camp, a package of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jets tried to enter Indian airspace in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector in order to target military installations Rajouri sector. Wing Commander Varthaman, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was taken to the custody by the Pakistani Army. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced in Pakistan Parliament that Abhinandan will be released on Friday as a peace gesture. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday urged Pakistan to admit to, and release the Prisoners of War (POWs) still in its captivity from the 1971 war. In an informal chat with media persons as part of his tour of the border areas in the wake of the escalating tensions at the LoC, the Chief Minister also urged the Indian government to take up the issue with Islamabad. Expressing happiness that talks to further thrash out the modalities for Kartarpur corridor were on track despite the tensions, Captain Amarinder requested the Central government to allow 5,000-10,000 pilgrims to cross through every day once the corridor becomes operational. He recalled his own family's close connection with the Kartarpur Gurdwara, which his grandfather Bhupinder Singh had helped to rebuild after the 1928 floods. On the compensation to the people whose land was being acquired for the corridor, Captain Amarinder said: "The state government will thrash out the matter with the Indian government." He hoped that tensions along the border are resolved soon and Sikhs across the globe get the opportunity to have 'Khule Darshan Deedar' of the historic Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara with the fast completion of the corridor. The Chief Minister, who went around Haruwal village in Gurdaspur district as part of his tour of the border villages to instill confidence among the residents, said he would be the first one to cross the border to pay his obeisance at the historic Gurdwara. The Chief Minister assured the residents that there was no need for panic or fear as the armed forces were fully prepared to deal with the situation. He urged the people not to worry and assured them of his government's full support. Addressing a gathering at Dera Baba Nanak, the Chief Minister said he was in constant touch with the central government and the state government was well prepared for any eventuality. Amid loud cheers and slogans of Jai Hind, the Chief Minister said that even when he had come here as a serving military officer, what struck him the most was the indomitable courage and enthusiasm of the people. During his tour, the Chief Minister shared a cup of tea with BSF personnel at the BSF border observation post in Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur (10 Battalion BSF sector HQ BSF Gurdaspur). He also interacted with Indian Army officers and men at an army camp in the border district of Gurdaspur to boost their morale and appreciated their courage in these stressful times. Earlier, on arrival in Gurdaspur, the Chief Minister took stock of the situation and was briefed by DIG Border Range and Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur regarding the steps taken for the safety and security of the residents. The Chief Minister asked the Civil and Public administration to keep up the preparedness level and further intensify dissemination of information useful to the public to ensure their safety and security at all costs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre has given approval to the establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Manethi in Haryana's Rewari district at a cost of Rs. 1299 crore. The cabinet briefing chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given nod for creation of one post of Director in the basic pay of Rs. 2,25,000 (fixed) plus NPA (however, pay + NPA would not exceed Rs. 2,37,500) for the above mentioned AIIMS. The establishment of new AIIMS involves the creation of Hospital, Teaching Block for medical and nursing courses, residential complex and allied facilities/services, broadly on the pattern of AIIMS in New Delhi and other six new AIIMS has taken up under Phase-I of PMSSY. The objective is to establish the new AIIMS as Institutions of Importance for providing quality tertiary healthcare, medical education, nursing education and research in the region. According to the government, setting up of new AIIMS would not only transform health education and training but also address the shortfall of health care professionals in the region. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), a Central Sector Scheme, aims at correcting the imbalances in the availability of affordable tertiary healthcare facilities in different parts of the country in general and augmenting facilities for quality medical education in the under-served States in particular. AIIMS in Haryana was announced in the Interim Budget Speech for the year 2019-20. Cost of construction and running of the new AIIMS would be met by the Central Government under PMSSY. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South African comedian Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, during an episode, tried to find humour in the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. In a video that is being shared widely on social media Noah can be seen saying that while he hopes India and Pakistan do not go to war, it would be the "most entertaining" war if they did. Mocking army personnel, the comedian likened their war cry to Punjabi songs and it has not been liked by social media. Twitter user 'sage' questioned how someone could find the situation funny. Trevor Noah, however, is not new to controversy. 'The Daily Show' host recently introduced the best picture nominee 'Black Panther' at the Oscars and had some fun with the idea that people think the fictional setting of the country of Wakanda is real, reported CNN. Noah joked about knowing the movie's main character, T'Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, and said, that growing up as a young boy in Wakanda, he would see T'Challa flying over their village, and he would remind them of a great Xhosa phrase, adding, "He says 'abelungu abazi uba ndiyaxoka' -- which means, 'In times like these, we are stronger when we fight together than when we try to fight apart.'" However, those who know the dialogue realised Noah actually said, "White people don't know I'm lying. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Several members of the council of ministers in the past UPA government were on the target of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he launched one of the most scathing attacks on Congress in the recent past on Friday. From evoking the 'Zero loss' jibe to accusing the UPA government of 'bargaining ministerial posts over the phone', Prime Minister Modi seemed in full-campaign mode while addressing a public rally in the southernmost coast of India. "India has seen Prime Ministers who say that out of every rupee only 15 paise reaches poor. India has seen arrogant cabinet ministers who say zero loss to a scam worth lakhs of rupees," said Prime Minister Modi, in a veiled attack to the past Congress governments. PM Modi avoided taking names but used the 'recounting minister' reference to taunt a former minister for applying for a 'family-pack' of bail. "The NDA government has taken concrete steps against corruption. Fake companies have been shut, fake beneficiaries removed. The corrupt now have to pay for their misdeeds. The famous recounting minister who took pride in treating people badly, insulting middle class, he now had to apply for a family-pack of bail just like his party's first family," he said. Accusing Congress of endorsing a culture that promoted only friends and family members of big dynasties, PM Modi added that the 2019 Lok Sabha will have two distinct sides- "our sides offer strength and stability, the other side offers weakness and vulnerability," he said. He also reminded the large gathering of an alleged revelation that rocked the echelons of Indian way back in 2010 and said, "India remembers 2009 and how the DMK and Congress allotted portfolios after the election. Ministers were being picked not by the Prime Minister but by those who had nothing to do with the public service. There was telephone bargaining for the posts." "An adulteration government will remain hostage to individual egos and dynastic ambitions," the Prime Minister stated in an apparent appeal to the public for choosing NDA over the mahagathbandhan or grand alliance of Opposition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is a "tape recorder" of the military and suggested it will be better for India to hold talks with their Army General than with him. "Imran Khan is the tape recorder of the military. He will only say what the military will tell him. There is no point in holding peace discussions with him, rather it would be better to hold talks with their Army General," he said while talking to ANI. On Pakistan's decision to release Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Swamy said, "Islamabad is not doing it as a goodwill gesture. They are doing it as Saudi Arabia has mounted pressure on them. Our pilot fell on their land with an Indian jet, so in accordance with the United Nation they are supposed to release him." He also said that BJP leaders should ask people to vote for them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections by promising that if given the mandate, the Centre will "teach a lesson" to Pakistan. "In front of the public, we should roll out a proposal that if voted to power again, the government will make sure that Pakistan is divided in four parts," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the wait for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's return to India came to an end at 9.20 pm on Friday, good wishes poured in from all quarters with President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeting "Welcome home Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman! India is proud of your courage and sense of duty, and above all your dignity. Wishing you and our entire Air Force every success in the future," the President took to Twitter to share his sentiments and that of the nation of the occasion. Prime Minister Modi in his Twitter said, "The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram." Wing Commander Abhinandan stepped on the India soil at 9.20 pm from Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar, Punjab, where thousands had been waiting for hours to have a glimpse of the brave IAF officer. Politicians and ministers across party lines came together to welcome Abhinandan Varthaman home. Home Minister Rajnath Singh too tweeted: "Welcome Home! The entire nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan." BJP president Amit Shah Tweeted, "Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future." Congress president Rahul Gandhi also expressed his happiness and also said that he is proud of the Air Force officer. "Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise, and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love," tweeted Gandhi. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also appreciated Abhinandan's valour and grit. She tweeted: "Proud of you Wing Commander #Abhinandan Varthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram." Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also wrote on his Twitter account: "The nation salutes you Wing Commander. Welcome home!" In a statement, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said: "I am glad to learn that brave heart Abhinandan Varthaman who showed great calm and resilience in the face of adversity has returned from Wagah border to India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IT major Infosys has imposed a penalty of Rs 9.5 lakh on its lead independent director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw for inadvertently selling 1,600 shares during open trading window period without prior permission. The trade was carried out by the portfolio manager without the knowledge of Shaw, Infosys notified stock exchanges late on Thursday. "In portfolio management services, the investor does not generally monitor the day-to-day investment decisions. In this case as well, Shaw had given no instruction to conduct the trade and she also had no knowledge of the trade having occurred. The portfolio manager unilaterally took the decision to conduct the trade," it said. Infosys said it was brought to the attention of company's compliance officer on February 13 that Shaw had inadvertently through her portfolio management services, sold 1,600 shares without obtaining pre-clearance of trade. The company's audit committee believes that this was an inadvertent trade made without intent to violate the Infosys Insider Trading Policy or the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. However, a penalty of Rs 9.5 lakh has been imposed on Shaw and the amount will be payable to a charitable organisation of her choice. Infosys will also notify the Securities and Exchange Board of India of this event, it said. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The aggravation of the conflict between India and Pakistan, which turned into military clashes on the ground and in the air, caused serious concern of the world community. Moscow and Washington make official statements about extreme concern by the current situation and the need to de-escalate a conflict between the two nuclear powers. Regional players, in particular, China and Turkey, have already declared their willingness to play a role in resolving the current contradictions. The situation sharply worsened after mid-February's suicide attack in the Indian part of Kashmir and both countries's reaction, expert of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) Christian Wagner said in an interview with Dlf. As a result of a suicide bomber, more than 40 military reservists from the Indian side were killed. "The current danger is that Indias air strike on the alleged terrorist camp in Pakistan has caused a red line shift. India has made it clear that it can attack terrorist groups all over Pakistan. For the first time, Pakistans territory outside of Kashmir was attacked," the expert recalls. Pakistan also made it clear with its air strikes that its reaction can be different. "It was also an innovation," Wagner noted. A positive signal is that the foreign ministries of both countries spoke in favor of de-escalation. "It is to be hoped that the time of military muscle-flexing has passed, and the situation will become stable again," the German expert said. According to Wagner, it is problematic that militant groups still exist in Pakistan, when in fact they are prohibited. "These groups have taken advantage of local discontent in Kashmir to bring their agenda - the issue of ownership - to the public. Naturally, both sides have opportunities to improve the situation, and until it happens, militant groups will always find new ways to attack, paying attention to their problems," the expert is confident. Wagner does not see the logic of the fact that Pakistan places the responsibility for escalating the conflict on the U.S: "It could be an attempt to internationalize the conflict, to say that the conflict between the two nuclear powers may escalate, and therefore intervention in the situation should be in the interests of the international community." Meanwhile, a professor at the Free University of Berlin, expert on Asian countries Hermann Kreutzmann said in an interview with BILD that Indias attack on Pakistans militant camp after the attack was expected. "In April, elections will be held in India. This is a good opportunity to demonstrate strength," the professor noted. According to the expert, Indian aviation deliberately flew over the Pakistani part of Kashmir to demonstrate its capabilities. In response, Pakistan shot down an Indian aircraft on February 27. Kreutzmann believes that it is extremely unlikely that the clashes may erupt into a threat to peace, since these are two nuclear powers: "Conflicts between two countries possessing nuclear weapons are usually characterized by the fact that they themselves do not want war, but want to take deterrence measures against the enemy." On February 28, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said his country will release the captured Indian pilot as a "peace gesture." A day earlier, Khan turned to India with a proposal to start negotiations on problematic issues. New Delhi responded positively to Islamabads willingness to release the pilot. On the issue of negotiations, the Indians are more skeptical, saying that there is no basis for dialogue until Pakistan "does not take stronger action against terror groups operating from its soil." A man tried to enter the official premises of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in New Delhi on Friday. According to the police, IAF officials from Brar Square, Delhi Cantt informed that a man tried to enter the official premises in the morning. IAF and the police jointly interrogated him. His medical examination is underway. Further details are awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone of sewerage projects worth Rs 2785.23 Cr in Chhapra, Bihar in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, M.P, Saran, Suresh Sharma, Minister for Urban Development and Housing, Bihar, Nand Kishore Yadav, Minister for Road Construction, Bihar and other dignitaries today. In Bihar, NamamiGange sewerage infrastructure projects have been sanctioned in 18 towns at a cost of over Rs. 5, 000 crores. The present sewage treatment capacity on Ganga towns is only 64 Million Litres Per Day (MLD) which is being enhanced almost 10 times through all the NamamiGange projects upto 643 MLD. The projects will prevent the flow of 32 crore Litres of Sewage per day into the Ganga river from 13 towns of Bihar including Patna, Chhapra, Sonepur, Danapur, Maner, Phulwarishari, Bakhtiyarpur, Fatuha, Mokama, Begusarai, Khagaria, Munger and Bhagalpur. 'Sadhu-Sants who attended the Kumbh this year have appreciated the clean water flowing in the Ganga. We are committed to stop polluted water from flowing in river Ganga. I have directed NMCG to complete all the projects of NamamiGange within 13 months' said Shri Gadkari during the event. 6 Ghats with a cost of 19.75 cr at Sonepur inaugurated by the Union Minister and other dignitaries during the program. These ghats have changing rooms, toilets and seating platforms to improve accessibility of the ghats and better people's river connect. Foundation stone laid for: Digha, Patna: Foundation stone of sewage treatment plant with the capacity to treat 10 crore litres of sewage water per day has been laid at Digha. This also includes sewer network of 288 km. Kankarbagh, Patna: Foundation stone of another STP project with the capacity to treat 5 crore litres per day and sewer network of 150 km was given a go-ahead. Phulwarishaif, Patna: Foundation stone laid for 60 lakh litre per day treatment capacity STP, two additional STPs with a combined capacity of 70 lakh litres per day, 1 main pumping station, 4 projects of interception and diversion and 3 intermediate pumping station laid. Bakhtiyarpur, Patna: Foundation stone of 1 crore litre per day treatment capacity STP, one main pumping station and 6 projects of interception and diversion of drains given a green signal Fatuha, Patna: Foundation stone of 70 lakh litre per day treatment capacity STP, 5 sewage pumping stations and 19 projects of interception and diversion of drains was laid by Gadkari. Mokama: Foundation stone of 80 lakh litre per day capacity treatment plant STP and three pumping stations was laid. Danapur: Foundation stone of STP of 2.5 Cr litres per day capacity, 2 interception and diversion project, 4.1 km long gravity main sewer line, one pumping station and 2.8 km long rising main laid. Maner: Foundation stone of 65 Lakh litre per day capacity, 1 main pumping station, 2 interception and diversion project and 3 km long rising main laid. Chhapra: Foundation stone of interception and diversion of 31 drains, STP of 3.2 cr litres per day capacity, 5 sewage pumping station, 18.95 km long interceptor sewer, rehabilitation and development of 8 ghats and rising main of 2.3 km laid. Sonepur: Foundation stone of Interception and Diversion of 4 drains, 35 Lakh Litres per day capacity sewage treatment plant and 3.576 km long main interception sewer laid. Begusarai: Foundation stone of 1.7 cr litres per day capacity STP and 98 km long sewer network laid. Khagaria: Foundation stone of 45 lakh litres per day capacity STP, 2 sewage pumping station and 3 projects of interception and diversion of drains laid. Munger: Foundation stone of 30 lakh litres per day capacity STP, 174.5 km long sewer network laid. Bhagalpur: Foundation stone of 45 lakh litres per day capacity STP and 10 pumping stations laid. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India on Friday put forth that no OIC member-state offered to mediate between India and Pakistan in the wake of tense relations between the neighbours, on the sidelines of the 46th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers Meeting here. "There was no offer to mediate (between India and Pakistan) by any OIC member," Secretary (ER) TS Tirupathi said at a special media briefing. He, however, refused to comment on a question related to Saudi Arabia and UAE's alleged involvement in Pakistan releasing detained Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander AbhinandanVarthaman. India also put forth its nonchalance with regard to Pakistan's absence from the meeting, with Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar stating, "We are not keeping an attendance sheet of the ministers who are coming or not coming. As the secretary has mentioned we are very grateful that we have been invited by the UAE to participate and we are very happy to participate at the OIC Minister's meeting." The MEA Spokesperson, India's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Navdeep Singh Suri, and Tirumurti were present at the briefing, which was held after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gave her inaugural address at the OIC meeting. The 57-member OIC invited India as the 'guest of honour' for the first time in its 50-year history. "As the official announcement by the United Arab Emirates mentioned...the invitation to India was extended in recognition of India's global political stature as well as its time-honoured and deep-rooted cultural and historical legacy and its important Islamic component," Tirumurti stated while calling it a "historic day." He reaffirmed the stand against terrorism taken by Swaraj in her address earlier, adding, "She underlined that the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion." Responding to a question on the tone of resolution on Kashmir following India's participation at the OIC, the MEA stated: "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and we will not let anyone interfere in our internal affairs and that position stands." All three representatives outlined the closeness of relations between India and OIC member-states. They also shed light on the strengthening of bilateral ties with the UAE. "Member-states of the OIC inter alia serve as the primary source of our energy security," Tirumurti mentioned. "It is worth mentioning that more than USD 12 billion has been extended as Lines of Credit and nearly USD 4 billion as grant assistance to OIC member countries under our development partnership. In addition, India also offers around 4,500 high-tech slots and 2,000 educational scholarships annually to OIC countries contributing to their capacity-building in a very big way," Tirumurti said. "The trade between India and OIC countries was around USD 230 billion amounting to 30 per cent of our total trade," he added while talking about trade. Furthermore, he reiterated the statements made by Swaraj at her inaugural address at the OIC earlier in the day, noting all the bilateral steps which have been taken by India and UAE in strengthening relations. The UAE is India's third largest trading partner with bilateral trade amounting to USD 53 billion. Swaraj will be attending the reception held by UAE in the evening, before heading back to India. She earlier met with her Maldivian and Bangladeshi counterparts on the sidelines of the OIC meeting. "We acquired our first oil concession here last year and in the next week or so you may get some news on further development," the Indian Ambassador to UAE announced at the briefing. "In the area of strategic petroleum reserves, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company partnered with us to establish our first strategic petroleum reserve in Mangalore and talks are already underway on a second one," Suri added. Pakistan had raised "strong objections" to India's participation at the OIC meeting, choosing to skip the conference at Abu Dhabi in protest. Before the conference, Pakistan had conveyed its objections over the invitation to India but those were disregarded by the grouping and the host country UAE. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry claimed that "India has no moral or legal grounds to be present at the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid tight security, people in huge numbers from across India have gathered at the Wagah Border in Punjab to welcome Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who will be released by Pakistan this afternoon. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Thursday announced that the country will release the IAF pilot. Earlier today, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated that the "Indian pilot will be released this afternoon via Wagah." Once the news spread, people started gathering at the border to welcome him. "My home is 150 kms away from here. I have come here only for Wing Commander Abhinandan. Even I have a son. It is an emotional moment for all of us here," said a local. Vir Singh, an 80-year-old man, was seen beating drum enthusiastically to express his happiness ahead of Abhinandan's arrival. Meanwhile, a special thanksgiving prayer was organised today by state Home Guards at Kalikambal Temple in Chennai ahead of Varthaman's release. India used diplomatic and military pressure to ensure that Pakistan releases Wing Commander Varthaman unconditionally, top sources had said in New Delhi on Thursday, soon after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the pilot will be freed on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made no compromises on the Pakistani proposal for holding talks, the sources said. India mounted pressure on Pakistan through the international community, with Security Adviser Ajit Doval holding talks with the US and other P-5 countries, the sources said. Wing Commander Varthaman, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was taken to the custody by the Pakistani Army. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of External Affairs appointed Pranay Kumar Verma as the next Ambassador of India to Vietnam on Friday. Verma, a 1994 cadre Indian Foreign Services officer, is presently serving as the Joint Secretary at MEA. Furthermore, Nina Tshering La and Abhay Thakur were concurrently accredited as the respective Ambassadors of India to Gabon and Chad on March 1. La, presently serving as the Ambassador of India to the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be carrying out the additional duties with residence in Kinshasa. Meanwhile, Thakur - the current Ambassador of India to Nigeria - will be taking on the additional duty with residence in Abuja. All three diplomats are expected to take up their new assignments shortly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saudi Arabia on Friday revoked the citizenship of Hamza bin Laden, son of deceased former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Al Jazeera quoted the local media stating that the decision to quash Hamza's citizenship was undertaken in November last year by a royal order. The move came a day after the United States on Thursday offered US $1 million reward for information on slain terrorist Osama bin Laden son's Hamza bin Laden. "United States is offering to reward US $1 million for the information leading to the identification and location in any country of the Al-Qaeda leader Hamza Bin Laden," said United States Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Michael T. Evanoff. When asked about the last information about Hamza bin Laden, Evanoff said, "He is probably in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and probably could go to Iran." The United States declared Hamza as a 'terrorist' in 2017. A statement by the US State Department read, "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former al-Qa'ida leader Usama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the al-Qa'ida franchise." "He has released audio and video messages on the Internet, calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies, and he has threatened attacks against the United States in revenge for the May 2011 killing of his father by U.S. military forces," the statement added. In addition, Hamza has also urged the different Saudi tribes to unite with al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch to fight against the Saudi state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "It is really shocking. You are destroying the forest. It is not permissible," a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said. "Don't try to overrule the order," the bench told the Haryana government while giving a warning that it should not try to invite contempt of court proceedings. The Haryana Assembly had on Wednesday passed an amendment to the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, opening thousands of acres of land under the Aravalli and Shivalik ranges for real estate development and mining. The apex court in an earlier order had said that there should not be any construction in the Aravalli area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Poonch District Magistrate Rahul Yadav on Friday informed that schools and colleges near the border areas are closed due to precautionary measures and the situation is being reviewed on a daily basis. "A large part of Poonch is along the border and hence as precautionary measures, schools and colleges are closed. For the villages which are near the border, all related departments have been kept in a state of readiness to deal with any situation. Ambulances have also been mobilised towards the border to address any emergency, and hospitals are also in a state of readiness with staff being available for 24 hours." On being asked about any specific timeframe for educational institutions to remain closed, Yadav said that the further decision will be taken as per the situation of shelling from the Pakistani side. "We are reviewing the situation on a day to day basis," he added. He also asserted that the district's preparedness is part of the district disaster management plan and "it is our responsibility to be in a state of readiness". Detailing about bunkers being constructed for civilians near the border, he said: "the construction work for some bunkers is going on as per central government scheme. The weather created some disruption in the construction work but it will be resumed shortly." On February, 27, Office of the Deputy Commissioner Poonch constituted a round-the-clock control room with immediate effect for the general public. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday moved the Supreme Court against a decision by the Islamabad High Court, rejecting his bail application in connection with Al-Azizia reference case. Sharif's counsel Khawaja Haris filed a plea in the top court, stating that the high court's decision should be declared null and void, Geo News reported. The Islamabad High Court on Monday rejected Sharif's petition, who is serving seven years of the prison sentence on graft charges, seeking bail on medical grounds. The High Court bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ordered that the bail could not be given on medical grounds. After complaining about high fever, headache, and severe body pain, Sharif was shifted to Jinnah Hospital from Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore last month. On December 24 last year, Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison by an accountability court in Al-Azizia reference case and was fined US $ 2.5 million. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Snubbed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Pakistan on Friday boycotted its conference being held in Abu Dhabi as a protest against the invitation to India. "The Foreign Minister of Pakistan will not participate in the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers," said a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry here. It said Pakistan's "strong objections" to India's participation have been "clearly communicated" to the OIC. The 57-member OIC invited India as the 'guest of honour' for the first time in its 50-year history. Before the conference, Pakistan had conveyed its objections over invitation to India but those were disregarded by the grouping and the host country United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Pakistan Foreign Ministry claimed that "India has no moral or legal grounds to be present at the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers." The 46th Session of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who addressed its plenary session today and spoke about India's civilisational links with the Muslim countries across the world. Pakistan, in the past, has frequently used the OIC platform to target India over Jammu and Kashmir. However, with India improving its relations with the Muslim nations, OIC in the recent past has toned down its criticism of India over Jammu-Kashmir. In recent summit meetings of OIC, several member countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia and others, have objected to 'strong criticism' of India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Trump seems to think that the country is nearing a deal to end the U.S.-China trade war. Were getting very, very close, he told a group of governors visiting the White House in February. Citing substantial progress in recent negotiations, Trump postponed a March 1 deadline that would have sharply increased the rate of tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods. Trump said he hoped a meeting with Chinas President Xi Jinping, most likely in late March at Mar-a-Lago, would become a signing summit", Time writes in the article Deal or no Deal, the U.S.-China Relationship Is Beyond Repair. Trumps lunge for a deal may be driven in part by the fast-advancing U.S. electoral calendar. As Democrats begin lining up to run against him next year, the President may be hoping to avoid the stock-market gyrations and economic pain an escalating trade war might soon begin to inflict. He could surely use what he sees as a big political win on China at a time when multiple investigations, increasingly aggressive Democratic lawmakers, his failure to build a border wall and embarrassing public testimony from his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen are all clouding his political horizons. But as with his would-be reset with Russia, Trump cant change the structural game with China with a single agreement. Although Trump entered office predicting he would improve relations with Moscow, lawmakers of both parties continue to accuse Russia of interference in U.S. elections and various other crimes. Sanctions remain in place and may well expand. Neither Trumps praise nor congressional punishment has persuaded Russia to change course. The same goes for China. Trump will doubtless win some concessions from Xi, perhaps expanded access for U.S. companies to the Chinese marketplace, agreements on currency management, more Chinese purchases of American soybeans and promises in principle to address other U.S. demands. What Trump cannot do is persuade Xi to overhaul Chinas broader economic model. The Chinese state will continue to subsidize state-owned companies and privately owned national champions, tilting the global playing field in its favor. It will push forward, by any means necessary, on expanding technological innovation to compete with U.S. and European firms in the most important economic sectors of the 21st centuryAI, fintech and consumer electronics, for example. On these subjects, whatever Xi promises Trump or Chinese officials say publicly, they will not compromise. There are also limits to what Trump can offer to get that deal with Xi. If he signs off on an agreement that removes pressure on Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE, each suspected of undermining U.S. national security, hell get pushback from Congress. If he tries to use Meng Wanzhouthe Huawei executive arrested in Canada for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions on Iranas a bargaining chip, hell face criticism that hes meddling in a law-enforcement matter and exceeding his authority. Even if Trump and Xi cheer markets in March with a broad Mar-a-Lago agreement over coffee and chocolate cake, the damage to relations between the superpower and the rising challenger has already been done. Trust between them now stands at its lowest point in 30 years, and each government will continue a long-term project of making its side less vulnerable to pressure from the other. In short, the U.S.-China relationship is fundamentally broken, and no politically inspired, vaguely worded compromise will change that. External Affairs Minister on Friday reached Abu Dhabi to attend a conclave of the (OIC) as a Guest of Honour. "Recognising India's engagement with the Islamic world. EAM arrives in Abu Dhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'," tweeted Ministry of External Affairs Swaraj will address the plenary of the two-day 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the 57-member body. She has been invited by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to address the OIC meeting. Swaraj, who will be attending as a 'Guest of Honour' despite Pakistan's objections, will underscore India's long and historical relationship with the OIC member countries, sources said on Thursday. India considers its bilateral ties with the UAE as vital, the sources said. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has threatened to boycott the OIC meet if Swaraj participated. Before Swaraj's departure, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to discuss the recent developments and urged the need for resumption of dialogue between the two countries. "Mohamed bin Zayed makes telephone calls to Indian and Pakistani prime ministers, stresses importance of dealing wisely with recent developments and giving priority to dialogue and communication," read a tweet. The Indian Air Force strike on Tuesday in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province destroyed a major terrorist training camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and eliminated a "large number" of terrorists, including top commanders. On Wednesday morning, India foiled an attempt by Pakistan Air Force to carry out strikes in Jammu and Kashmir by shooting down an F-16 fighter plane while losing its own MiG-21 jet after which a pilot was "missing in action". Actor Swara Bhaskar who is known to speak her mind has slammed comedian Trevor Noah over his insensitive comments on Indo-Pak tensions. South African comedian Trevor Noah, host of 'The Daily Show', during an episode, tried to find humour in the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. In the video, being shared widely on social media, Noah said that while he hopes India and Pakistan do not go to war, it would be the "most entertaining" war if they did. Swara Bhaskar has now taken to Twitter to call out the comedian and tell him that neither is war 'funny', nor Hindi 'gibberish.' Calling his statement both 'ignorant & racist', the actor wrote, "@Trevornoah 1. War isn't funny or entertaining. 2. Hindi is not gibberish. Ur stereotype of indo- pak is ignorant & racist. 3. Ur set smacks of essentialism & a patronising generalisation & is v #FirstWorld 4. Human lives were lost & at stake. SO disappointing! @ComedyCentral." Following recent developments, Bhaskar, in a separate tweet, spoke about India and Pakistan 'walking back from brink of war' and further wrote, "@Trevornoah @ComedyCentral a not racist & cruel version of this joke (IF Ur Writers was diverse)- India & Pak thankfully walking back from brink of war. Meanwhile, Bollywood looking to see how many dance numbers they can fit in2 movie version of this episode! Thanks @vedashastri." Comedian Mallika Dua too slammed Noah over his remarks and took to Twitter to write, "Shockingly unintelligent & tone deaf What makes it sadder is that @Trevornoah cracked such a below average, shit joke. Something Russel Peters probably threw in the bin before his first open mic in life. If you're going to be a racist comic than at least get the comic bit right." Trevor Noah, however, is not new to controversy. He recently introduced the best picture nominee 'Black Panther' at the Oscars and had some fun with the idea that people think the fictional setting of the country of Wakanda is real. During the segment, Noah joked that growing up as a young boy in Wakanda, he would see T'Challa flying over their village, and he would remind them of a great Xhosa phrase, "abelungu abazi uba ndiyaxoka" -- which according to Noah meant, "In times like these, we are stronger when we fight together than when we try to fight apart." However, those who know the language realised Noah actually said, "White people don't know I'm lying. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asserting that the influence of terrorists and terrorism has been curtailed and will be curtailed, even more, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Addressing a public rally here, Prime Minister Modi accused the past government of being soft on terrorism and outlined the action taken by armed forces after the Pulwama and Uri attacks to substantiate his claim. "From 2004 to 2014 there were several terror attacks, there were blasts in Hyderabad, Jaipur, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru and, other places. It was expected that those responsible for this attack will be punished but nothing happened. 26/11 happened in India but nothing happened. But when Uri happened, you saw what our brave soldiers did; Pulwama happened and you saw what our brave warriors did. The vigilance of those serving the nation keeps our nation secure," he said. The Prime Minister also stated that the events of the past few days have demonstrated, yet again, the strength of India's armed forces and questioned the opposition for raising suspicion over the same. "Sadly, a few political parties guided by Modi hatred have started hating India. No wonder while the entire nation supports Armed forces, they suspect our armed forces. These are the same people whose statement are helping Pakistan and hurting India. Their statements are being happily quoted in the Parliament of Pakistan and in the radio of Pakistan." "They should clarify that they believe our armed forces or those who support those who support terrorism on our soil. I want to tell these parties that Modi will come and go but India will remain. We are Indian first and Indians only, your can wait, it is the safety of the nation that is at stake," he added. The Prime Minister began his address by acknowledging the Tamil Nadu connect of Indian pilot being released from Pakistan custody today and said that every Indian is proud that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman belongs to Tamil Nadu. Talking further of the defence and security segment, he said, "We made One Rank One Pension a reality, those who ruled the nation for so many years didn't even think of OROP properly. India has been facing the menace of terrorism for years but there is a big difference now. India will no longer be helpless in the wake of terror." He also took a corruption jibe on the past government and alleged that for many years, Congress promoted an economic culture that 'benefited openly the friends and families of big dynasties'. "Some people say corruption is a way of life, this would be acceptable to them but not to me. The corrupt now have to now pay for their misdeeds. The famous recounting minister who took pride in treating people badly, insulting middle class now had to apply for bail just like his party's first family," he added. The Prime also said that the India of the 21st century has to work with speed and scale, which is what the NDA government is doing. He also talked about the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi which was launched last Sunday, providing farmers with up to 5-acre land, monetary support of Rs 6000 in three installments. "Over 1.1 crore farmers have already got their first instalment in their bank account. A scheme announced on February 1, it became the reality in the same month. We worked 24 hours to ensure the scheme is implemented in 24 days," he added. Continuing his tirade against Congress, Prime Minister Modi remarked, "After doing nothing for farmers, they will come at the end and will say that they will waive-off your loan. In reality, Congress loan waiver benefits only a few farmers, whereas NDA in government's Kisan Samman scheme, benefits will be given every year." "In 2014, it was after 30 years that a party got a majority in parliament. People wanted honesty, not a dynasty, people wanted development not decay, people wanted progress, not policy paralysis, people wanted opportunities, not obstacles, people wanted security, not stagnation, people wanted inclusive growth, not vote bank politics," he said. He also outlined the creation of a fisheries department by the NDA government and talked of similar development initiatives concerning local populace. "The government of India is more sensitive towards safety and well-being of fisherman due to sustained diplomatic efforts more than 1900 fishermen's have been released by Sri Lankan authorities. More ports are being created, the capacity and efficiency of existing ports is being improved", he said. In Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for several development projects related to roads, railways and, highways. He flagged off Madurai-Chennai Tejas Express through video-conferencing and laid the foundation stones for the restoration of Rail Connectivity between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi (17.20km) at a cost of Rs 208 crore and also for construction of a new bridge at Pamban Viaduct (2.05 Km) at a cost of Rs 250 crore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump shot down his former attorney Michael Cohen's recent testimony before a House Committee, musing if his 2016 Presidential elections opponent Hillary Clinton was involved. "Michael Cohen's book manuscript shows that he committed perjury on a scale not seen before. He must have forgotten about his book when he testified. What does Hillary Clinton's lawyer, Lanny Davis, say about this one. Is he being paid by Crooked Hillary. Using her lawyer?" Trump tweeted on Friday (local time). He claimed that Cohen lied in front of the Congress again, labelling it a "fake testimony" and a "lie". "Congress must demand the transcript of Michael Cohen's new book, given to publishers a short time ago. Your heads will spin when you see the lies, misrepresentations and contradictions against his Thursday testimony. Like a different person! He is totally discredited!" Trump added. He further went on to state that "crooked" Hillary and the Democrats colluded with the Russians during the 2016 Presidential elections, asking for an end to the "Witch Hunt". "Oh' I see! Now that the 2-year Russian Collusion case has fallen apart, there was no Collusion except bye Crooked Hillary and the Democrats, they say, "gee, I have an idea, let's look at Trump's finances and every deal he has ever done. Let's follow discredited Michael Cohen and the fraudulent and dishonest statements he made on Wednesday," he said. "No way, it's time to stop this corrupt and illegally brought Witch Hunt. Time to start looking at the other side where real crimes were committed. Republicans have been abused long enough. Must end now!" he lastly said. Cohen made startling revelations about Trump during Wednesday's proceedings. He claimed that Trump had lied about his role in Moscow's Trump Tower project during the Presidential campaign 2016 - the elections where he beat Clinton to take charge as the 45th President of the United States. He also stated that Trump never expected to win the elections, which were merely a marketing opportunity for the former businessman. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lauded the decision of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to free Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, a move easing the escalating tension between India and Pakistan, on Friday. "The report of the release of the Indian pilot by the Pakistani authorities would be very much a welcome step," the spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric was quoted as saying by Geo News. "We would encourage both parties to do whatever they can to deescalate the situation and this is the message that has been passed on by the United Nations and, I think, by the international community as a whole," the spokesperson added. Dujarric further stated that Guterres was in touch with both India and Pakistan at various levels. IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday, two days after he was taken into custody by the Pakistan army when his MiG 21 fell in PoK while he was chasing Pakistani F-16 fighters which had transgressed into the Indian airspace. India used diplomatic and military pressure to ensure that Pakistan releases Abhinandan unconditionally, top sources said in New Delhi. Meanwhile, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Espinosa, also expressed concern over the situation and urged the two neighbouring countries to resolve their disputes through negotiations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States on Thursday (local time) called for "multilateral efforts" against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and asked international communities and countries to follow Washington's lead in designating the terror organisation and its leadership. It has also offered condolences to the people of India and the government for the February 14 Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Pakistan-sponsored JeM terror organisation claimed the responsibility of the attack. While briefing the media, United States Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counter terrorism Nathan A. Sales said, "The United States has designated JeM and its leadership under our domestic authorities to cut off the money and deprived of the resources." "Along with amplifying unilateral efforts, it is also necessary to take multilateral efforts against the JeM. We ask whole international communities and countries, to follow our leads, in designating the terror organisations and its leadership," he added. Nathan A. Sales, who was flanked by United States Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Michael T. Evanoff, made these remarks during a press briefing on "New Tools to Counter al-Qaeda and Its Future Leadership." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval late on Wednesday night and asserted that the US supports India's decision to take action against Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camp on the Pakistani soil on February 26. During the briefing, Michael T. Evanoff announced that the US has declared slain terrorist Osama bin Laden son's Hamza Bin Laden as a global terrorist and has offered the US $1 million rewards to find him. "United States is offering reward US $1 million for the information leading to the identification and location in any country of the al-Qaeda leader Hamza Bin Laden," said Evanoff. "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the al-Qaeda strongholds. He has also released audio and video messages on the internet calling his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its western alliance. The US has declared Hamza Bin Laden as a global terrorist" added Evanoff. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States on Thursday (local time) offered US $1 million reward for information on slain terrorist Osama bin Laden son's Hamza bin Laden."United States is offering to reward US $1 million for the information leading to the identification and location in any country of the Al-Qaeda leader Hamza Bin Laden," said United States Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Michael T. Evanoff. Evanoff who was flanked by the United States Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism Nathan A. Sales, made these remarks during a press briefing on "New Tools to Counter al-Qaeda and Its Future Leadership." "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the Al-Qaeda strongholds. He has also released audio and video messages on the internet calling his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its western alliance. The US has declared Hamza Bin Laden as a global terrorist" added Evanoff. Today's announcement demonstrates the United States' resolve to use all its available tools to counter-terrorism and hold Al-Qaeda and its leaders accountable for their actions. The State Department identified Hamza as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" in January 2017, and later stated that "all property subject to US jurisdiction in which Hamza bin Laden has any interest is blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with him." "Al-Qaeda during this period has been relatively quiet but that is a strategic pause not a surrender. Make no mistake. Al-Qaeda retains both the capability & the intent to hit us," said Nathan A. Sales. Indicating further action against Al-Qaeda, Nathan A. Sales said: "We have and will continue to conduct military operations to ensure Al-Qaeda plotters in places like Somalia & Syria aren't able to threat US & our allies". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on Thursday said Washington is "working hard" to reduce the tension between New Delhi and Islamabad so that the process of talks could begin. Talking with travelling press, Pompeo said: "We were and continue to be very engaged with the issue between India and Pakistan. I spent a good deal of time on the phone last night talking to leaders in both countries, making sure there was good information exchanged, encouraging each country to not take any action that would escalate and create increased risk." "I had good conversations, and I am hopeful that we can take down the tension there, at least for the time being, so they can begin to have conversations that don't portend risk of escalation to either of the two countries. So we're working hard on that," he added. Pompeo made these remarks during his two-day visit to the Philippines. This comes a day after Pompeo called India and Pakistan and asked them to observe restraint. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Pompeo had a telephonic conversation late on Wednesday night, where the former asserted that the US supports India's decision to take action against Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp on Pakistani soil, sources said. On Wednesday, with Pakistani jets violating the Indian air space and dropping bombs in Rajouri sector after which one of their fighters was shot down. Following Pakistan's action, India said it foiled an attempt by Pakistan Air Force to carry out strikes in Jammu and Kashmir by shooting down an F-16 fighter plane while losing its own MiG-21 jet after which a pilot was "missing in action". Pakistan later claimed that the Indian pilot was in its custody. Following the development, India strongly objected to Pakistan's vulgar display of injured personnel of the Indian Air Force in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention. MEA in a strongly worded statement Wednesday said, "It was made clear that Pakistan would be well advised to ensure that no harm comes to the Indian defence personnel in its custody. India also expects his immediate and safe return." It is worth mentioning that after Indian Air Force carried out multiple aerial strikes at terror launch pads in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir on Tuesday, the United States had asked Pakistan to avoid military action and take meaningful action against the terrorist group operating on its soil. "I spoke to Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi to underscore the priority of de-escalating current tensions by avoiding military action, and the urgency of Pakistan taking meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil," read the statement from Secretary Pompeo. Acknowledging Indian actions as "counter-terrorism" action, the US Secretary of State said, "Following Indian counter-terrorism actions on February 26, I spoke with Indian Minister of External Affairs Swaraj to emphasize our close security partnership and shared the goal of maintaining peace and security in the region," read the statement. "I expressed to both the Ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid escalation at any cost. I also encouraged both Ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid any further military activity," it read. The air strikes by IAF killed a large number of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders of Jaish, including Jaish chief Masood Azhar's brother-in-law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On Thursday, Banerjee had asked the government to spell out "details" of the exact place where the air raid was carried out and the casualties inflicted as the international media has claimed that there was no damage in the strike. "We, as the Opposition, want to know the details of the air strike. Where were the bombs dropped? How many people died? I was reading the New York Times and Washington Post and they said that there were no casualties. Some media houses said one died. We want to know the details," Banerjee had told reporters in Kolkata. Asked about the West Bengal Chief Minister's remarks, Singh, who is the Minister of State for External Affairs, said, "There are so many people in our nation who don't have any work to." He also criticised Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed BJP booth-level workers at a time when the country was worried about Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who was taken into custody by Pakistan. On Pakistan's decision to release Varthaman, Singh said "We are happy that Abhinandan is being released by Pakistan. Many things are followed and done under the Geneva Convention. We are also happy that Pakistan takes it as a peace gesture. But there is more to be done by Pakistan." He said Islamabad has to make efforts to create a good environment between the two countries. Wing Commander Varthaman, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was apprehended by the Pakistani Army. Tension spiralled between India and Pakistan after the Indian Air Force on February 26 carried out a strike at a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror training camp in Balakot. The strikes was in response to the terror attack in Pulwama in which about 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. JeM had claimed the responsibility of the attack. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had said the "pre-emptive" strike by India had become absolutely necessary as there was credible information that JeM was planning further attacks in the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday, two days after he was taken into custody by Pakistan Army when his MiG 21 fell in PoK. Wearing blue blazer and grey khaki trouser, he crossed over into India from the Attari-Wagah border at 9:20 PM. He was handed over by the Pakistan Rangers to the BSF following paperwork. Abhinandan was accompanied by an officer of the Pakistan Foreign Office and Indian Defence Attache Group Captain Joy Thomas Kurien. Announcing the release, Air Vice Marshall RGK Kapoor said that as per standard operating procedures, Wing Commander Abhinandan will be taken for a detailed medical checkup as he had to eject after his plane was shot and his body would have suffered "deep stress." "Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. As per standard operating procedure of IAF, he will now be taken for detailed medical check-up, this is mandatory because the officer had to eject from an aeroplane which would have put his entire body under great stress. IAF is happy to have Wing Commander Abhinandan back," he told media here. Thousands of people waited for hours at the Attari-Wagah border to greet the IAF officer. Waving the tricolour, they kept chanting slogans praising his bravado. Initially, Varthaman was to be released earlier in the day. However, sources said that Pakistan changed the timing of handover twice. Sources also said the Indian Defence Minister is keeping a close watch on proceedings. Upon arrival at Wagah, Varthaman was expected to be taken to Delhi by an Air Force plane, following which would be debriefed by the IAF on his detention in Pakistan. On Wednesday, Abhinandan, flying the MiG 21 Bison, was chasing Pakistani F-16 fighters which had transgressed into the Indian airspace, and in the process, his plane crossed over to the Pakistani side and was shot down. Abhinandan ejected safely but was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army upon landing. Before his plane was shot, he had hit a Pakistani F-16. On Friday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the release of Varthaman, calling it a "peace gesture". India used diplomatic and military pressure to ensure that Pakistan releases Varthaman unconditionally, top sources said in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made no compromises on the Pakistani proposal for holding talks, the sources added. India mounted pressure on Pakistan through the international community, with Security Adviser Ajit Doval holding talks with the US and other P-5 countries, the sources said. The External Affairs Ministry also exerted pressure on Pakistan through the Arab world, they said. Hours before Abhinandan's return, Prime Minister Modi told a rally in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu: "Every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venezuela's foreign minister on Wednesday called for direct talks between Presidents Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump to address the country's crisisa proposal swiftly rejected by the White House, which recognizes the opposition. The call from Venezuela's top diplomat Jorge Arreaza came in an address to the United Nations Human Rights Council. "We are proposing the path of dialogue, even with the United States... Why shouldn't they meet, President Trump and President Maduro?" Arreaza said, CGTN writes in the article Venezuela seeks Trump talks, but the U.S. quickly says no. The United States does not sit on the rights council following Trump's decision to quit the body last year. But the American envoy to the UN's Conference on Disarmament (CoD) Robert Wood walked out of the chamber as another Venezuelan diplomat, Felix Plasencia, took the podium. Several Latin American, European and other diplomats also joined Wood's walkout. Vice President Mike Pence said the United States only recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaidowhom he met earlier this week in Colombia in a show of support. "The only thing to discuss with Maduro at this point is the time and date for his departure," Pence tweeted. "For democracy to return and for Venezuela to rebuildMaduro must go," he wrote. Wood, asked about the prospects of a Trump-Maduro summit, told reporters: "President Trump is prepared to meet with the rightful president of Venezuela, and that is Juan Guaido." The U.S. has led a diplomatic campaign in support of opposition leader Guaido who has declared himself interim president and is recognized by about 50 countries, notably within the EU. Arreaza denounced what he described as a campaign of "aggression" being perpetrated by the United States against Venezuela, including an international assault on the government's foreign assets. He said Washington's actions were depriving ordinary Venezuelans of food and medicine and called on the rights council to "raise its voice" against the American "blockade." Meanwhile, Maduro accused the U.S. government of trying to fabricate a crisis to start a war in South America in his first interview with ABC News' Tom Llamas in Spanish from the presidential palace in Caracas. "Everything that the United States government has done has been doomed to failure," Maduro said. "They are trying to fabricate a crisis to justify political escalation and a military intervention in Venezuela to bring a war to South America." Maduro said that the meeting in Bogota was "part of that politics to attempt to establish a parallel government in Venezuela." He added that the U.S. "wants Venezuela's oil" and is "willing to go to war for that oil." U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with Guaido as well as Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez in Bogota Monday before he addressed the Lima Group on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. "The path that got you here is the fractured path that Barack Obama left behind, President Trump. It's a path of a coup d'etat, of an interventionthat is not of the 21st centuryI say to you, rectify. You will always have in me someone that is preparedwith our differences between usto extend my hand and talk about a peaceful dialogue," he added. After a delay of over five hours by Pakistan, Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman finally touched down the Indian soil on Friday at 9.20 pm with a confident face followed by a graceful walk. A smile on Abhinandan's face characterised with a thick gunslinger moustache with thin mutton chop beard was observed in the videos as soon as he was seen entering India. He shook hands with the Border Security Force personnel who were present at the heavily-guarded Wagah Border to receive him. Wearing blue blazer and grey 'khaki' trouser, Abhinandan was accompanied by an officer of the Pakistan Foreign Office and Indian Defence Attache Group Captain Joy Thomas Kurien. He was handed over by the Pakistan Rangers to the Border Security Force (BSF) following the paperwork. The official Twitter handle of the Defence Ministry's spokesperson posted, "For honour of the Nation, you kept duty ahead of your personal safety. Wearing India Colours on your sleeve, you showed calm and poise in adversity. #Abhinandan you created history and in you we find the best of the Indian Armed Forces. Bravo #AirWarrior, more power to you." Wing Commander Abhinandan returned home from Pakistan on Friday, two days after he was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army when his MiG 21 was shot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan, upon the release of Abhinandan, claimed that the personnel was "treated with dignity and in line with international law" while in captivity. Referring to the IAF Wing Commander as a 'Prisoner of War' (POW), Pakistan noted: "While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Imran Khan announced his return as a goodwill gesture aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India." The decision to release Abhinandan was announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the assembly, who labelled it as a "peace gesture" to India. The IAF officer became the human face of the conflict between the two countries when Pakistan Army put out a series of videos that showed him in its custody. In few videos doing rounds on social media platforms, Abhinandan was seen blindfolded and blood covered and yet, responded to questions from the Pakistan Army with remarkable calm, composure, politely and dignity. On Wednesday, Wing Commander Abhinandan, while flying the MiG 21 Bison, was chasing Pakistani F-16 fighters, which had transgressed into the Indian airspace, and in the process, his plane crossed over to Pakistani side and was shot down. He ejected safely but was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army upon landing. Before his plane was shot, he had hit a Pakistani F-16. On Friday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the release of Varthaman, terming his decision "a peace gesture. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Estimated cost of the projects stands at Rs 1405 crore The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has given its approval for development of New Greenfield Airport at Hirasar, Rajkot, Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 1405 crore. The existing airport at Rajkot is severely land constrained having only 236 acres (approx.) of land and situated in the heart of city. This Airport suffers from considerable capacity restraints due to presence of residential & commercial buildings around it. Railway line and State Highway located around the airport on eastern side also prohibits the extension of runway. Thus there is no feasibility to expand the airport on city or airside, hence possibility of operating wide bodied aircrafts at the existing airport location is ruled out. Rajkot is the fourth largest city in the state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara. The city is the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat and the 35th largest urban agglomeration in India with a population more than 1.2 million as of 2015. It is also the 22nd fastest growing city in the world. Considering the constraints and compulsions with respect to existing airport, State Government desires to develop a new Greenfield Airport in Rajkot. Government of Gujarat has identified required land for the new airport and requested Airports Authority of India to develop, operate and maintain the new airport. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Focus on transparency, better regulations & enforcement, balanced growth & sustainability The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved National Mineral Policy 2019. The New National Mineral Policy will ensure more effective regulation. It will lead to sustainable mining sector development in future while addressing the issues of project affected persons especially those residing in tribal areas The aim of National Mineral Policy 2019 is to have a more effective, meaningful and implementable policy that brings in further transparency, better regulation and enforcement, balanced social and economic growth as well as sustainable mining practices. The National Mineral Policy 2019 includes provisions which will give boost to mining sector such as * introduction of Right of First Refusal for RP/PL holders, * encouraging the private sector to take up exploration, * auctioning in virgin areas for composite RP cum PL cum ML on revenue share basis, * encouragement of merger and acquisition of mining entities and * transfer of mining leases and creation of dedicated mineral corridors to boost private sector mining areas. * The 2019 Policy proposes to grant status of industry to mining activity to boost financing of mining for private sector and for acquisitions of mineral assets in other countries by private sector * It also mentions that Long term import export policy for mineral will help private sector in better planning and stability in business * The Policy also mentions rationalize reserved areas given to PSUs which have not been used and to put these areas to auction, which will give more opportunity to private sector for participation * The Policy also mentions to make efforts to harmonize taxes, levies & royalty with world benchmarks to help private sector Among the changes introduced in the National Mineral Policy, 2019 include the focus on make in India initiative and Gender sensitivity in terms of the vision. In so far as the regulation in Minerals is concerned, E-Governance, IT enabled systems, awareness and Information campaigns have been incorporated. Regarding the role of state in mineral development online public portal with provision for generating triggers at higher level in the event of delay of clearances has been put in place. NMP 2019 aims to attract private investment through incentives while the efforts would be made to maintain a database of mineral resources and tenements under mining tenement systems. The new policy focusses on use coastal waterways and inland shipping for evacuation and transportation of minerals and encourages dedicated mineral corridors to facilitate the transportation of minerals. The utilization of the district mineral fund for equitable development of project affected persons and areas. NMP 2019 proposes a long term export import policy for the mineral sector to provide stability and as an incentive for investing in large scale commercial mining activity. The 2019 Policy also introduces the concept of Inter-Generational Equity that deals with the well-being not only of the present generation but also of the generations to come and also proposes to constitute an inter-ministerial body to institutionalize the mechanism for ensuring sustainable development in mining. National Mineral Policy 2019 replaces the extant National Mineral Policy 2008 ("NMP 2008") which was announced in year 2008. The impetus to review NMP 2008 came about by way of a direction from the Supreme Court vide its judgment dated 02.08.2017 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 114/2014 entitled Common Cause v/s Union of India & Others. In compliance of the directions of the apex Court, the Ministry of Mines constituted a committee on 14.08.2017 under the chairmanship of Dr. K Rajeswara Rao, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Mines to review NMP 2008. The Committee had members from Central Ministries/ Departments, State Governments, Industry Associations and Subordinate offices of Ministry of Mines. The Committee also invited concerned NGOs and Institutional Bodies to take part in the deliberation of the Committee meetings. The Comments/suggestions from the stakeholders were also sought. Based on the deliberations held at Committee meetings and stakeholders' comments/ suggestions, Committee Report was prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Mines. The Ministry of Mines accepted the committee Report and invited the comments/ suggestions of the stakeholders as part of the PLCP process. Based on the received comments/ suggestions received in PLCP process and the comments/ suggestions from the Central Ministries/ Departments the Ministry of Mines finalized the National Mineral Policy 2019. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Project entails an investment of Rs 1299 crore The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Manethi, District Rewari, Haryana at a cost of Rs 1299 crore and creation of one post of Director in the basic pay of Rs 2,25,000/- (fixed) plus NPA (however, pay + NPA would not exceed Rs 2,37,500/-) for the above AIIMS. New AIIMS will add 100 UG (MBBS) seats and 60 B.Sc (Nursing) seats and will have 15-20 Super Specialty Departments. New AIIMS will add around 750 hospital beds. As per data of current functional AIIMS, it is expected that each new AIIMS would cater to around 1500 OPD patients per day and around 1000 IPD patients per month. Establishment of new AIIMS involves creation of Hospital, Teaching Block for medical & nursing courses, residential complex and allied facilities/services, broadly on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi and other six new AIIMS taken up under Phase-I of PMSSY. The objective is to establish the new AIIMS as Institutions of National Importance for providing quality tertiary healthcare, medical education, nursing education and research in the Region. The proposed institution shall have a hospital with capacity of 750 beds which will include Emergency / Trauma Beds, AYUSH Beds, Private Beds and ICU Speciality& Super Speciality beds. In addition, there will be a Medical College, AYUSH Block, Auditorium, Night Shelter, Guest House, Hostels and residential facilities. The establishment of the new AIIMS will create capital assets for which requisite specialized manpower will be created, based on the pattern of the six new AIIMS, for their maintenance and upkeep. The recurring cost on these Institutions shall be met through Grant-in-Aid to them from Plan Budget Head of PMSSY of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Setting up of new AIIMS would not only transform health education and training but also address the shortfall of health care professionals in the region. The establishment of new AIIMS will serve the dual purpose of providing super, specialty health care to the population while also help create a large pool of doctors and other health workers in this region that can be available for primary and secondary level institutions / facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM). Construction of new AIIMS is fully funded by the Central Government. The Operations & Maintenance expenses on new AIIMS are also fully borne by the Central Government. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chennai Port Trust to acquire 100% govt share of Kamarajar Port in a single process through strategic The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has given 'in principle' approval for strategic disinvestment of 100% equity shares of Government of India in Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) to Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) in a single stage process, by following 'Arm's length' principles. Presently, the Government of India and Chennai Port Trust hold 67% and 33% of shares respectively in Kamarajar Port Limited. The methods of valuation, to be used shall include discounted cash flow, assets valuation and relative valuation as recommended by NITI Aayog. This would help to avoid duplication of capacity creation in the ports. Better human resource management in between the two ports will increase the efficiency of both Ports. The strategic disinvestment of KPL shall be undertaken after conducting due diligence exercise by both the entities with the help of Advisors to be appointed for the transaction. The approval is in the backdrop that ChPT and KPL will be able to evolve a clear policy on focus areas by devising optimum business strategy and defining dedicated cargo profile. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Headline indices of the Mainland China equity market were higher in morning session on Friday, 1 March 2019, bolstered by better than expected Caixin manufacturing PMI data. Confirmation that MSCI Inc. will boost the weight of Chinese stocks in its global benchmarks also helped sentiment. In morning trade, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.23%, or 6.79 points, to 2,947.74. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 0.01%, or 0.22 points, to 1,546.11. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.6%, or 21.52 points, to 3,690.89. China's factory activity improved in February but remained in contractionary territory for a third month as the world's second-largest economy continued to struggle with weak export orders, a private survey showed on Friday. The readings - closely watched by investors as an alternative to the official data and more focussed on smaller firms - offered further evidence China's economy is losing momentum and suggests the U. S.-Sino trade war will continue to weigh on exports as prospects for a trade deal remain uncertain. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for February rose to 49.9 from 48.3 in January, just below the neutral 50-mark dividing expansion from contraction on a monthly basis. Economists had forecast a sharper deterioration for February of 48.5. The results of the China's private survey came on the heels of official PMI China released on Thursday which showed manufacturing activity fell for the third straight month, dropping to 49.2 in February from 49.5 in January, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics. Investors have been closely watching economic indicators from the world's second-largest economy for signs of trouble amid domestic headwinds and the ongoing U. S.-China trade dispute. The manufacturing data come days before China's annual meeting of parliament which starts on March 5. Top officials are widely expected to announce more support measures such as sweeping tax cuts to reduce the strains on the economy. Chinese leaders will also reveal Beijing's key economic and financial targets for the year which may provide clues on their future policy stance. Actual growth in the world's second-largest economy cooled to 6.6% in 2018 the slowest in 28 years from 6.8% in 2017. Index provider MSCI Inc. said it would quadruple the contribution of mainland Chinese companies' to its benchmarks. Late Thursday, MSCI said it would follow through on its September proposal to increase the so-called inclusion factor of mainland companies in its widely tracked emerging-markets index to 20% from its previous cap of 5% over a three-step process starting in May. That will push the weighting of domestic Chinese stocks to 3.3% by November, when the process is set to be completed, from 0.7% now. The decision is likely to pull tens of billions of dollars into China. The world's second-largest economy is also set to enter a world bond index in April and a rival global stock index in June. CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan was little up against the U. S. dollar on Friday, buoyed by optimism that Beijing and Washington will reach a trade deal after a China tariff hike due on March 1 was suspended. Yuan traders said market sentiment remained positive as tensions between the world's two largest economies had eased. Prior to the market opening, the People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.6957 per dollar, 56 basis points softer than the previous day fixing of 6.6901. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Once operational by the end of 2022, an estimated 2 million passengers a day will use the two new lines The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $926 Million Loan Agreement today to operationalize two lines for the Mumbai Metro Rail System that will ease the distress of millions of commuters each day and help provide a cleaner, less congested city. The Single Largest Infrastructure Project Loan in ADB history approved by the ADB Board on 26 February 2019 - will help fund lines 2A (Dahisar to D.N. Nagar), 2B (D.N. Nagar-Bandra-Mandale), and 7 (Dahisar [East] to Andheri [East]), totaling about 58 kilometers (km). The project will fund 63 six-car trains, signaling and safety systems, and help establish a new dedicated metro operations organization to manage the entire metro network in Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will implement the project. Once operational by the end of 2022, an estimated 2 million passengers a day will use the two new lines, travelling in improved safety and comfort. It will also reduce emissions from vehicles, with carbon dioxide emissions expected to fall by about 166,000 tons a year. ADB financing will ease travel for millions of commuters across Mumbai, help decongest heavily crowded suburban rail systems, and contribute to providing modern, clean, and livable urban environment to its citizens, said Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission who signed the loan agreement for ADB. The New Mumbai Metro is an ambitious and truly transformative venture planned by the state government which will contribute to enhance the efficiency of the urban transport network and productivity of India's financial center, said Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance who signed the loan on behalf of Government of India. Mumbai, with a population of about 12 million, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra and renowned as the financial capital of India. Maharashtra accounts for about 15% of India's gross domestic product, about 40% of which is generated from the Mumbai metropolitan region. Rail is the primary means of transport in Mumbai, where the suburban network totals almost 400 km and carries more than 7.5 million passengers a day. Recognizing the transportation challenges, the government has developed a plan for 12 metro lines with a total length of 276 km. Line 1, completed in 2014 on a public-private partnership model, carries about 400,000 passengers a day and has reduced travel time along its east-west route from 71 minutes to 21 minutes. Other new metro lines will ease travel and make the city more livable and competitive. Since access to the stations is sometimes difficult, ADB is also assisting MMRDA to improve last mile connectivity by piloting electric vehicles and non-motorized transport at select stations. Carriages procured under this project will feature high-level safety features and automation, including surveillance systems, door closing, and train obstacle detectors. Platforms will have automatic doors, which will be synchronized with the trains, so there will no longer be a danger of surging crowds pushing passengers onto the tracks. The tracks will be elevated about 9 meters above road level, ensuring no nearby residents are put at risk. Various features that will benefit women include women-only carriages, mobile applications for women's security, separate ticket counters, and reporting desks to address incidents of harassment. It will ensure women have improved opportunities for employment along the new lines, including a station staffed only by women. There will be station and carriage facilities for elderly or differently-abled passengers including priority e-ticket counters. The Project also marks ADB's first co-financing with the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, which will provide $260 million toward the metro systems project. The MMRDA will implement civil works and other related components for the lines 2A, 2B, and 7. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Local stocks pared some intraday gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 149.17 points or 0.42% at 36,016.61. The Nifty 50 index was up 45.15 points or 0.42% at 10,837.65. Metal and mining stocks gained. The Sensex was currently trading a tad above the psychological 36,000 level after regaining that level in opening trade. Key benchmark indices drifted higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. Stocks held onto gains in morning trade. Key indices hovered in small range with modest gains in mid-morning trade. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.05%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.62%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1688 shares rose and 573 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged. Maruti Suzuki India rose 0.7%. The company during market hours today said that its total sales fell 0.8% to 148,682 units in February 2019 over February 2018. Maruti Suzuki India said total domestic sales rose 0.9% to 139,100 units, while total exports fell 19.6% to 9,582 units. Metal and mining stocks gained. Vedanta (up 2.48%), JSW Steel (up 0.85%), Tata Steel (up 1.11%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 8.28%), National Aluminium Company (up 5.14%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.33%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 3.23%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.36%), NMDC (up 1.34%), Hindustan Copper (up 3.17%) edged higher. On the macro front, the health of the Indian manufacturing sector strengthened further in February, data released today showed. At 54.3 in February, up from 53.9 in January, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reached a 14-month high. The latest figure was consistent with a robust improvement in business conditions that was stronger than seen on average over the 14-year survey history. India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth moderated to six-quarters low of 6.6% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 7% growth recorded in the previous quarter and 7.7% improvement in the corresponding quarter last year. Quarterly Gross Value Added (GVA) growth also eased to 6.3% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 6.8% in Q2 of 2018-19 and 7.3% in Q3FY of 2017-18. The data was released after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. The GDP growth estimate for 2018-19 is revised downward to 7% from 7.2% growth estimated at first advances estimate level released in January 2019. The GDP growth for agriculture sector is expected to ease to 2.7% and services sector to 7.4% in 2018-19, while industrial sector growth estimate to accelerate to 7.7% in 2018-19. The output of eight core industries comprising 40.27%of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 1.8% in January 2019 over January 2018. Its cumulative output increased 4.5% in April to January 2018-19. The data was released after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. Overseas, Asian shares rose on Friday, driven by a rally in Chinese markets after index publisher MSCI announced it would boost the proportion of mainland shares in its global benchmarks. Global index provider MSCI said it would quadruple the weighting of mainland shares in its global benchmarks later this year, potentially drawing more than $80 billion of fresh foreign inflows to the world's second-biggest economy. A private gauge of China's factory activity rebounded to its three-month high in February. The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 49.9 in February from 48.3 in January, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said on Friday. U. S. stocks finished lower Thursday after a sudden breakdown in denuclearization talks with North Korea weighed on sentiment. Better-than-expected fourth-quarter gross domestic product data helped to offset some of the selling pressure during the session. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reportedly said that a U. S.-North Korean nuclear agreement couldn't be reached at the summit in Hanoi because the isolated nation wanted more sanctions lifted than Trump would allow. On Wednesday, U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the U. S. would abandon for now its threat to raise tariffs to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods on March 2. The Commerce Department's estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth showed the U. S. economy growing at a rate of 2.6%. GDP grew at 2.9% during 2018, according to the preliminary estimates by the Commerce Department, representing the best growth in three years. However, expansion tapered from heady levels of a 4.2% growth rate in the second quarter of 2018. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stocks held onto gains in morning trade after a strong start to the day's trading session. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 207.63 points or 0.58% at 36,075.07. The Nifty 50 index was up 61.10 points or 0.57% at 10,853.60. The Sensex was trading above the psychological 36,000 level after regaining that level in opening trade. Key benchmark indices drifted higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.27%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1451 shares rose and 345 shares fell. A total of 91 shares were unchanged. Overseas, Asian shares rose on Friday, driven by a rally in Chinese markets after index publisher MSCI announced it would boost the proportion of mainland shares in its global benchmarks. Global index provider MSCI said it would quadruple the weighting of mainland shares in its global benchmarks later this year, potentially drawing more than $80 billion of fresh foreign inflows to the world's second-biggest economy. A private gauge of China's factory activity rebounded to its three-month high in February. The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 49.9 in February from 48.3 in January, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said on Friday. U.S. stocks finished lower Thursday after a sudden breakdown in denuclearization talks with North Korea weighed on sentiment. Better-than-expected fourth-quarter gross domestic product data helped to offset some of the selling pressure during the session. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reportedly said that a U.S.-North Korean nuclear agreement couldn't be reached at the summit in Hanoi because the isolated nation wanted more sanctions lifted than Trump would allow. On Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the U.S. would abandon for now its threat to raise tariffs to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods on March 2. The Commerce Department's estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth showed the U.S. economy growing at a rate of 2.6%. GDP grew at 2.9% during 2018, according to the preliminary estimates by the Commerce Department, representing the best growth in three years. However, expansion tapered from heady levels of a 4.2% growth rate in the second quarter of 2018. Back home, Vedanta (up 1.92%), Yes Bank (up 1.88%), Coal India (up 1.77%), ICICI Bank (up 1.68%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 1.67%) edged higher from the Sensex pack. Bharti Airtel dropped 3.9%. Bharti Airtel said that its board approved raising upto Rs 32,000 crore through rights issue of upto Rs 25,000 crore and perpetual bond with equity credit upto Rs 7000 crore. Rights issue price is set at Rs 220 per fully paid equity share. The company will issue 19 rights shares for every 67 equity shares held by eligible shareholders as on the record date. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. On the macro front, India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth moderated to six-quarters low of 6.6% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 7% growth recorded in the previous quarter and 7.7% improvement in the corresponding quarter last year. Quarterly Gross Value Added (GVA) growth also eased to 6.3% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 6.8% in Q2 of 2018-19 and 7.3% in Q3FY of 2017-18. The data was released after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. The GDP growth estimate for 2018-19 is revised downward to 7% from 7.2% growth estimated at first advances estimate level released in January 2019. The GDP growth for agriculture sector is expected to ease to 2.7% and services sector to 7.4% in 2018-19, while industrial sector growth estimate to accelerate to 7.7% in 2018-19. The output of eight core industries comprising 40.27%of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 1.8% in January 2019 over January 2018. Its cumulative output increased 4.5% in April to January 2018-19. The data was released after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. 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 indices hovered in small range with modest gains in mid-morning trade. At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 176.13 points or 0.49% at 36,043.57. The Nifty 50 index was up 55.60 points or 0.52% at 10,848.10. Telecom stocks rose. The Sensex was trading above the psychological 36,000 level after regaining that level in opening trade. Key benchmark indices drifted higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. Stocks held onto gains in morning trade. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.06%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.46%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1631 shares rose and 483 shares fell. A total of 112 shares were unchanged. Bajaj Auto rose 0.35% after the company reported 10% growth in its total vehicles sales to 3.93 lakh units in February 2019 over February 2018. Bajaj Auto's total domestic sales rose 4% to 2.21 lakh units, while total exports rose 19% to 1.71 lakh units in January 2019 over January 2018. The announcement was made during market hours today, 1 March 2019. Telecom stocks rose. Vodafone Idea (up 0.34%), MTNL (up 5.14%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 1.31%) and Reliance Communications (up 1.08%) gained. Bharti Airtel dropped 3.85%. Bharti Airtel said that its board approved raising upto Rs 32,000 crore through rights issue of upto Rs 25,000 crore and perpetual bond with equity credit upto Rs 7000 crore. Rights issue price is set at Rs 220 per fully paid equity share. The company will issue 19 rights shares for every 67 equity shares held by eligible shareholders as on the record date. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. Shares of Bharti Infratel rose 0.6%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel. On the macro front, India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth moderated to six-quarters low of 6.6% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 7% growth recorded in the previous quarter and 7.7% improvement in the corresponding quarter last year. Quarterly Gross Value Added (GVA) growth also eased to 6.3% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 6.8% in Q2 of 2018-19 and 7.3% in Q3FY of 2017-18. The data was released after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. The GDP growth estimate for 2018-19 is revised downward to 7% from 7.2% growth estimated at first advances estimate level released in January 2019. The GDP growth for agriculture sector is expected to ease to 2.7% and services sector to 7.4% in 2018-19, while industrial sector growth estimate to accelerate to 7.7% in 2018-19. The output of eight core industries comprising 40.27%of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 1.8% in January 2019 over January 2018. Its cumulative output increased 4.5% in April to January 2018-19. The data was released after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019. Overseas, Asian shares rose on Friday, driven by a rally in Chinese markets after index publisher MSCI announced it would boost the proportion of mainland shares in its global benchmarks. Global index provider MSCI said it would quadruple the weighting of mainland shares in its global benchmarks later this year, potentially drawing more than $80 billion of fresh foreign inflows to the world's second-biggest economy. A private gauge of China's factory activity rebounded to its three-month high in February. The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 49.9 in February from 48.3 in January, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said on Friday. U. S. stocks finished lower Thursday after a sudden breakdown in denuclearization talks with North Korea weighed on sentiment. Better-than-expected fourth-quarter gross domestic product data helped to offset some of the selling pressure during the session. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reportedly said that a U. S.-North Korean nuclear agreement couldn't be reached at the summit in Hanoi because the isolated nation wanted more sanctions lifted than Trump would allow. On Wednesday, U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the U. S. would abandon for now its threat to raise tariffs to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods on March 2. The Commerce Department's estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth showed the U. S. economy growing at a rate of 2.6%. GDP grew at 2.9% during 2018, according to the preliminary estimates by the Commerce Department, representing the best growth in three years. However, expansion tapered from heady levels of a 4.2% growth rate in the second quarter of 2018. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced his visit to Iran a month before arriving in Tehran. The visit was noteworthy because for the first time since Armenia's"velvet revolution,", its actual leader was received in Iran. Despite all the vicissitudes of domestic political life, Yerevan is closely following the events in Iran, which remains one of the important partners of Armenia. Taking into account Iran's difficult international position under the sanctions, Yerevan believes that the Armenian-Iranian relations should be considered in a wider context. Thus, Armenia continues to work towards overcoming the economic isolation caused by the Karabakh conflict. Among the topics discussed in Tehran there were issues of updating bilateral relations, as well as the implementation of suspended projects. Yerevan has high hopes for the ratification of an agreement for the establishment of a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, which will open up new opportunities for increasing trade and enhancing business contacts. Against the background of complex political processes, Armenia's new leadership seeks to pursue a more transparent domestic economic policy, hoping to attract investments from the diaspora from around the world, in particular, to establish and strengthen trade relations between Armenian entrepreneurs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which can significantly advance the development of infrastructure programs in the border region zone. A large number of Iranian Armenians have dual citizenship and, while living in Armenia, they constantly keep in touch with Iran. Many of then are entrepreneurs, artisans, as well as small and medium-sized businessmen interested in establishing their own industries in Armenia. According to Armenian media reports, last year's trade turnover between the republics reached a record $363.6 million, which is 40.5% more than in 2017 and the highest figure since 1991. At the end of the first day of his official visit to Tehran, Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with the local Armenian community. Tehran and Yerevan are also considering cooperation in tripartite and quadripartite formats. Armenia remains the only land link between Iran and the EEU countries. Tehran needs to improve its trade and transport links with Europe, and this may require the transit capabilities of Armenia, Georgia and Russia. The success of the quadripartite format provides Iran with access to the Black Sea ports, which will allow developing cooperation in the framework of the Iran-Caucasus-Europe axis. In such projects are implemented, Armenia's economic weight in the region may significantly increase and encourage new discussions on the long-standing project for the construction of the Tabriz-Megri pipeline, as well as the refinery in Meghri. The Iranian leadership, most likely, expected some specific statements regarding the Karabakh settlement from the meeting with the Armenian Prime Minister. Tehrans interest in resolving the conflict is simply explained. U.S. sanctions on Iran are supposed to prevent it from selling Iranian oil on the world market, and Tehran is seriously considering the prospect of blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world's traded oil from the Persian Gulf passes. Therefore, if tension between the West and Iran increases, Tehran expects the situation in the South Caucasus to be as stable as possible, and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will adhere to the peaceful scenario of resolving the conflict. At the same time, the Iranian authorities are in favor of solving the Karabakh problem by attracting exclusively regional players without the participation of the United States and the European Union. Obviously, in that manner Tehran wants to verify the political orientation of Yerevan, since Sa'dabad has repeatedly suggested that the West had been behind the events in Armenia. Finally, in advance of the next round of confrontation with the United States, it will be more difficult for Iran to attract international investors to implement its regional projects in the South Caucasus. Therefore, one of the goals of Pashinyans visit is to assure Tehran of Yerevans commitment to maintain strategic cooperation, despite the sanctions. Taking into account Azerbaijan's activity in the Iranian electric power market and Baku's desire to offer more favorable conditions within the framework of joint energy and transport and logistics projects, it is important for Yerevan to reach substantive agreements on joint economic projects. A military base in Afghanistan's Helmand province came under attack by a militant group early on Friday, the Governors office confirmed. The official statement released said the attack was carried out against the 215 Maiwand Corps base. The attack started around 4 a.m. in which at least 27 attackers, including seven suicide bombers, were involved, Tolo news reported. --IANS in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) FC Barcelona have extended the contract of Spain international left back Jordi Alba until the end of June 2024, the club has said. The new contract sets Alba's buyout clause at 500 million euros ($569 million), meaning that it is very unlikely anyone will be able to buy the 29-year old they signed from Valencia in the summer of 2012, reports Xinhua news agency. During his six and a half years at the club (where he began his career as a youngster, before being released because he was thought to be too small) Alba has played 282 games, scoring 14 goals and helping Barca win 14 different titles. He has also become a vital part of Barca's attack with his constant runs down the left touchline and during his career his association with Leo Messi has been vital as he has set up no fewer than 20 goals for the Argentinean striker. --IANS gau/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shamima Begum, a British teenager of Bangladeshi descent who ran away in 2015 to become an Islamic State (IS) jihadi bride, has been moved from a Syrian refugee camp after threats were made against them, according to her familys lawyer. The 19-year-old and her son were moved from the Al-Hol camp due to "safety concerns around her and her baby", the Guardian reported on Friday citing lawyer Tasnime Akunjee. Last week Begum, who left the UK in 2015 with two school friends, said she wanted to return home for the health of her then-unborn child. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered stripping off of her UK citizenship, a move Begum called "unjust" and "hard to swallow". On Friday, British tabloid Sun reported that Begum had received death threats since speaking out about her plight. British officials have ruled out any effort inside Syria to extract Begum and her child. Her family have pleaded for the mother and child to be allowed to come back to Britain. They say the teenager should face justice if she is found to have broken the law by travelling to Syria. Earlier this week, a shooting range in Wirral in north-west England defended its use of Begum's image as a target, saying it had received a large number of requests from customers. --IANS ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BSF on Friday detained a youth from the border belt of Ferozepur in Punjab on suspicion of spying, police sources said. The youth, said to be around 21-years-old, was being questioned by the Border Security Force (BSF) and other agencies. A mobile phone has been recovered from his possession with Pakistani phone numbers. The investigators said the detainee's social media accounts showed he has links to Islamic groups. Ferozepur is around 275 km from here. --IANS js/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Friday urged the UN Security Council to reconsider the sanctions imposed on North Korea in order to move forward in the negotiations for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula after a second summit between US President Donald Trump and Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-un ended inconclusively. "China believes that according to relevant resolutions and the progress made in the peninsula, especially measures taken by North Korea on denuclearization, the UNSC needs to consider and hold a debate about revoking the provisions of the Council in order to modify sanctions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said. According to explanations provided by Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the negotiations failed on Thursday when Kim offered to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear research facility - where North Korea produces nuclear material for its weapons - in exchange for a complete lifting of sanctions. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho contradicted this version of the negotiations hours later in a midnight press conference in Hanoi, saying that Kim had asked the US for only a partial removal of sanctions in exchange for dismantling Yongbyon. "After this summit, we have noticed that both sides made statements about the lifting of sanctions. They are different from each other but both sides believe lifting sanctions is an important part of denuclearization and it should be considered," Lu said. The Chinese spokesperson urged all parties involved to deal with the issue in a "responsible manner" and make joint efforts to reach an agreement. China, which is North Korea's primary trade partner and traditional political ally, has in recent years accepted the adoption of tough sanctions against Pyongyang by the UNSC in order to pressurize the regime into stopping its nuclear weapon and missile development programmes. The Chinese Foreign Ministry refused to comment on reports that Kim might meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and discuss the results of his meeting with Trump. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A civilian was injured in overnight shelling from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector, police sources said. Two residential houses were damaged in the heavy shelling by the Pakistan Army all along the Kamalkote sector and at four other places in Uri since Thursday evening. Intermittent shelling and firing between the Indian and Pakistani sides have continued in the morning. --IANS sq/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), which has been bullish on Africa continent and south Asian countries, is expecting 10 per cent growth in balance sheet this fiscal, an official said on Friday.A "We are looking at a 10 per cent growth in our balance sheet to touch Rs one lakh crore by March 2019. This has been supported by a growth in overseas project finance business," bank's Managing Director David Rasquinha said. Under overseas project finance business, the bank has the largest single country exposure in Bangladesh at close to $9 billion to be used over a period of five-to-six yearsAfor various social and infra projects,Ahe said on the sidelines of a programme, organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The lender finances for railway lines and rolling stock among others and is focusing on renewable energy, power transmission, agriculture, textiles and sugar, he said.A Exim Bank has now in place 236 lines of credit covering 62 countries in Africa , Asia, Latin America and the CIS with credit commitments of aroundA$23 billion, available for financing exports from India. "In terms of exports, we need geographical diversification. There is need to look at other parts of the world. Among fastest economies in the world, 7 are in Africa. In terms of ease of doing business Rwanda and Mauritius fares better than India. Africa looks very promising for us in terms of land area and resources," he said. According to him, at present exports to Africa are around 8 per cent and he wished to see it reach 20 per cent in ten years time.A -- IANS bdc/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was hospitalised here on Friday after he complained of fever and vomiting in the morning. He was discharged after medical examination and treatment, official sources said. According to an evening health bulletin released by the Chief Minister's Office, Rupani was feeling uncomfortable in the morning when he was leaving for Junagadh to receive Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath there. They were supposed to attend a Shivratri Mela together. After he started from his residence here, the Chief Minister went to the Civil Hospital where he was given initial treatment. He then left for Junagadh. But Rupani later returned to Ahmedabad as he continued to feel uneasy when he reached his hometown Rajkot and was taken straight to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Asia's biggest health facility. He was examined and treated by a team of Dr RK Patel and Dr Manoj Ghoda. It was found that the Chief Minister had swelling in his intestine and was advised complete rest, according to the health bulletin. "His health is fine and there is no reason to worry," the bulletin stated. All public programmes and engagements of Rupani for Saturday have been cancelled. --IANS desai/arm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan and asked both countries to keep up the "positive momentum". A statement issued by his spokesperson's office shortly after Varthaman returned to India said: "We welcome the news of the Pakistani authorities releasing the captive Indian pilot today. The Secretary-General calls on both parties to sustain this positive momentum and engage in further constructive dialogue". Guterres reiterated his offer good offices to facilitate a dialogue should both countries agree. Varthaman was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday after his MiG was shot down and crashed in Pakistani territory during an Indian Air Force operation to repel Pakistani planes intruding into Indian territory. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) --IANS al/pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said he was not in the race for the prime minister's post and as a pure RSS man for him the nation comes first. "I have nothing to do with it (Prime Minister post). I am not in the race to be the Prime Minister. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is the Prime Minister and will be the Prime Minister even after the elections," he said speaking at the India Today Conclave. The Water Resources Minister then said, "I am an RSS man and working for the country is our mission. Under Modiji, the country is progressing. So we all are behind him. I am just another worker in the fulfilment of his vision. Where does the question of me becoming a Prime Minister arise?" he said. Asked if he would become the Prime Minister if the BJP gets only about 200 seats in the elections, he replied that "thinking about Prime Minister's post is like 'mungeri lal ke haseen sapne' (day dreaming)." "And we are going to get clear majority in 2019 elections as well," he said. When asked about 'Congress mukt Bharat' (Congress free India), Gadkari said, "The ideologies of both the parties are different and we are not enemies of each other. There can be difference of opinion... It is human behaviour, it is our tradition. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru and even Modiji welcomes the opposition party." Gadkari said the Ganga river will be clean in the next 13 months. "And during my recent visit for 'Kumbh Snan' people told me that for the first time in 50 years they had found the river nirmal (clean)." Highlighting the works of his ministry, he said that on the Yamuna river in Delhi he was working on 13 projects worth Rs 4,500 crore besides the work on the Ramnadi, Kali Ganga and 40 tributaries. He also said that highway projects worth Rs 50,000 crore were underway. "A bridge at Dhaula Kuan to decongest Delhi will be inaugurated on Saturday when I return from Nagpur and a foundation stone will be laid by the Prime Minister for Dwarka Express Highway soon," he said. Gadkari also said that by March this year, the construction of highways is likely to reach 34 km per day against 28 km per day last year. --IANS aks/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated his 65th birthday. He was congratulated by President Vladimir Putin, who highlighted Erdogans great personal contribution to development of Russian-Turkish relations and reminded that eighth meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council between Russia and Turkey would be held in Moscow in April. Senior Researcher of the Department of Contemporary History of Central and South-Eastern Europe at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Ilgar Mamedov, discussed current stage of Russian-Turkish relations in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza. - Erdogan is often compared to Vladimir Putin. In your opinion, what do leaders of the Russian Federation and Turkey have in common? - Indeed, leaders of Russia and Turkey have a lot in common. First of all, both leaders protect their countries and peoples' national interests. Both Putin and Erdogan pursue the goal of protecting sovereignty and independence of their states. Second of all, both leaders do it decisively, with conviction. Third of all, both of them protect national interests in very difficult international conditions, when the West puts pressure on both Russia and Turkey, creating difficult foreign policy conditions for them. Nevertheless, despite these these circumstances, both leaders were able to find ways to protect national interests of Russia and Turkey. - What unites Russia and Turkey, Russian and Turkish peoples today? - There's much more things that unite them than it's usually mentioned. They are neighboring countries and nations. First of all, interests of both countries in bilateral format are extremely important. Over the past years, these relations have expanded and deepened thanks to joint work of the two presidents. Second of all, Moscow and Ankara work together thanks to regional interests in the South Caucasus, in the Middle East, in the Balkans, in the Black Sea region. When it comes to these matters, both countries are cooperating with each other very actively. Formats such as Russia-Turkey-Iran, Russia-Turkey-Azerbaijan are really fruitful. This cooperation contributes to regional security. Third of all, Russia and Turkey also have common interests in global context. Turkey is a member of NATO, but in current conditions, this membership isn't really in Turkey's interest. Cooperation and partnership with Russia brings Turkey more benefits than relations within NATO. There are many examples of that. For example, when it comes to the Middle East, we can see that Turkey's interests, especially in the context of Kurds' issue, the fight against terrorism in Syria and situation in Idlib are closer to Russia's interest than to America's. The United States, Turkey's NATO ally, refused to sell Turkey the Patriot air defense system, while Russia agreed to sell the S-400 systems. Russia-Turkey-Iran format has active, fruitful and constructive cooperation, which helps to overcome problems of the Syrian crisis. - What areas of Russian-Turkish cooperation do you consider the most important? - Cooperation between Russia and Turkey in energy sphere is of great importance. The Turkish Stream project will meet the natural gas demand not only in Turkey, but also in Europe. Moreover, Russian gas will reach Europe easily, supply process will become more secure. It's prices are already low compared to American liquefied gas. That's why this project has not only bilateral, but regional and global importance. In this sense, cooperation between Russia and Turkey is of strategic importance, especially considering pressure the US puts on Europe not only in connection with the Turkish Stream, but also the Nord Stream-2 project. By offering their much more expensive LNG, Americans are pursuing not economic, but geopolitical goals. Cooperation on Syria in the Astana format is also extremely importance. The Daesh (ISIS, terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation and other countries) was defeated, Bashar Assad preserved his power, the countrys integrity was saved, people returned to their homes, dialogue is under way, and the United States' actions in Syria were almost stopped. Another important area of cooperation is the Russia-Turkey-Iran and Russia-Turkey-Azerbaijan trilateral regional formats. They are important in terms of ensuring regional stability and cooperation. A similar experience could be seen in 1921, when as a result of agreements of the three South Caucasian republics, Russia and Turkey managed to resolve territorial disputes. The Balkans can also become potential area of cooperation, since each country has certain common interests with others. - Have relations between Erdogan and Putin and between Russia and Turkey restored over the past two and a half years? - I think they have. Situation with downed plane happened in part due to misunderstanding of Turkeys place in the US policy and Russia's influence and interests in the Middle East. It was a provocation. But President Erdogan managed to demonstrate wisdom, determination and courage while dealing with this situation. This helped to restore Russian-Turkish relations, as well as personal relations between the two presidents. Right now there's process of further strengthening of partnership between two countries. In addition to bilateral projects, creation of trilateral regional formats, beginning of the Astana process and cooperation in Syria are all great examples of deepening cooperation. - Did Russia and Turkey manage to find a compromise on the Syrian settlement? - The Astana process continues, and there's also the Russia-Turkey-Iran format. Dialogue continues. I don't see differences in fundamental positions of Russia and Turkey on the Syrian settlement. Their positions on basic issues are the same - recognition of integrity and sovereignty of Syria, unacceptability of power change in the country. Both countries believe that future of Syria must be decided by Syrians. By finding common positions, both countries cooperate on this issue. Idlib has almost become the last stronghold of terrorists, and situation there was unclear. But last year parties reached an agreement and now fulfill their obligations. The dialogue and cooperation process on this matter continues. That's the most important thing. - How will relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey develop in the future? - I'm optimistic, especially taking into account the fact that both Turkey and Russia are re-evaluating the role of the West in world politics. Illusions that existed before have finally vanished. Since 2014, it became clear that both Russia and Turkey should protect their own interests and national security on their own, relying on their natural partners. Partnership between Russia and Turkey is much more natural compared to Turkeys potential partnership with its NATO allies. Ending high-pitch drama and uncertainty stretching over several hours, Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed inside Pakistan, returned to India on Friday night. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, Abhinandan, with his unique mustache, was received by senior Border Security Force officers at 9.21 p.m. at Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. While one BSF officer shook his hand, another put his arm around the pilot to escort him back into India. "Feeling good to be back home," Abhinandan said in his first reaction after stepping into India, according to Amritsar Deputy Commissioner, Shivdular Singh Dhillon, who received the IAF pilot along with senior IAF and Border Security Force (BSF) officers. Abhinandan was accompanied from Pakistan side by Group Captain J.D. Kurian. He was surrounded by armed troopers of the Pakistan Rangers up to the border gate. The Wing Commander was in Pakistani captivity for over 60 hours before his ordeal came to an end after several hours of uncertainty on Friday. Pakistani authorities kept delaying his return to India through the day on Friday for unexplained reasons. Minutes before his return, Pakistani authorities released a propaganda video in which Abhinandan was forced to say tutored things. He was whisked from the Attari Joint Check Post (JCP) complex under tight security to the Amritsar International Airport for Delhi. Air Vice Marshall R.G.K. Kapoor told the media outside the JCP that the Wing Commander was "handed to us as per standard operating procedure of the Indian Air Force". "He will now be taken for a detailed medical check-up. The check-up is mandated particularly because the officer had to eject from an aeroplane which would have put his entire body under great stress," Kapoor said. "The IAF is happy to have Abhinandan back," said the Air Vice Marshal. Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Shivdular Singh Dhillon said "happiness in his (Abhinandan's) eyes said it all" upon his return. Dhillon said there was no particular reason for the delay by Pakistan in the pilot's return. Earlier, Abhinandan was formally handed over to officials of the Indian High Commission at Wagah (in Pakistan) led by Group Captain J.D. Kurian. The 35-year-old Wing Commander was captured on Wednesday (February 27) by Pakistan after his MiG-21 Bison was hit by Pakistan Air Force jets near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and it crashed in Pakistani territory. The Retreat Ceremony at the Attari-Wagah JCP between India and Pakistan was cancelled for Friday by the Border Security Force (BSF) owing to security concerns linked to the pilot's return. Scores of enthusiastic people assembled at the border since Friday morning to give a hero's welcome to the IAF pilot. They were carrying the national Tricolour flags, garlands and posters. The people raised slogans and sang patriotic songs to the beat of drums to keep up the tempo. The BSF, which mans the check-post and the 553-km International Border with Pakistan in Punjab, was on high alert. Punjab Police and other security agencies had stationed additional personnel in the area since Friday morning. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the captured pilot will be freed as a "goodwill gesture" after New Delhi demanded his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release. Tension has been building up between the two nuclear neighbours since the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF troopers were martyred when an explosives-laden car, driven by a Jaish-e-Muhammed (LeM) terrorist, rammed into their convoy. India retaliated on February 26 through a deep strike by IAF Mirage fighter jets at JeM terror facilities in Balakot and two other places. This led to war-mongering on both sides of the border, leading to a dogfight between IAF and Pakistan Air Force fighter jets near the Line of Control on Wednesday (February 27). Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lauded Abhinandan's bravery and welcomed his return. --IANS js/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, returned to India on Friday night. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, he was received warmly by senior Border Security Force (BSF) officers at Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. After the Pakistan Rangers escorted him till the border gates, one BSF officer put his arm around the Indian Air Force officer and led him away, apparently for handing him over to the IAF officials. The air force officer looked calm as he waited for a while close to the border in Pakistani territory along with Indian High Commission officials from Islamabad and Pakistan Rangers before getting the final okay for him to cross over to India. The capture of Wg Cdr Abhinandan on Wednesday in Pakistani-administered Kashmir led to strong demands from New Delhi that he be handed over to India immediately and unharmed. --IANS js/mr/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The proposed India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) cannot be finalised without an Indian commitment to lower import duties on cars and car parts since this is a politically sensitive issue in the European Union (EU), the EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski said here on Friday. The India-EU FTA negotiations, which started in 2007, were suspended in 2013 after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in some important areas. "For political reasons, no FTA will be approved in the EU Parliament without having car and car parts included. We can have a very long transitional period but we need to include cars," Kozlowski said at a conclave on India-EU cooperation in trade and sustainable development organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Amfori, an EU trade association. The major areas of disagreement in the EU-India FTA talks have been automobile tariffs, the issue of data security and more access for Indian professionals. "The EU is ready for an asymmetrical agreement but both sides should consider that the FTA will not be profitable to both in all the sectors and that only the 'final balance should be positive for both'," Kozlowski said. "The EU is ready to introduce substantial level of asymmetry to the agreement as it is aware that India is a developing country and not at the same level as Japan and Korea," he said. "India should decide how much foreign trade is important for the country's economic development," Kozlowski said. The Ambassador pointed out how the EU was India's largest trading partner at 85 billion euro, or Rs 8,500 crore, in 2017. However, from the EU's perspective, India was only the ninth biggest trading partner, far behind China, and lower than Korea. He also said there was strong will on both sides to go ahead with the stalled FTA talks which was evident from the fact that since 2017, there has been extremely active contacts at the level of experts, chief negotiators as well as Commerce Secretaries. --IANS bc/arm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Air Marshal Rajiv Dayal Mathur on Friday took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command headquarters here in Meghalaya, an Indian Air Force (IAF) official said. Air Marshal Mathur succeeds Air Marshal Anil Raghunath Nambiar. Headquartered in Shillong, the Eastern Air Command's area of responsibility covers 11 states. It has permanent air bases at Chabua, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Barrackpore, Hasimara, Jorhat, Kalaikunda and Tezpur with forward bases at Agartala, Kolkata, Panagarh and Shillong. Air Marshal Nambiar, who was highly praised for shooting five of the eight Laser Guided Bombs on Pakistani positions during the Kargil war from his plane, took over as chief of the IAF's sword arm Western Air Command. An alumnus of St Joseph's Academy, Dehradun, Air Marshal Mathur had joined the National Defence Academy in 1978 and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 4, 1982. Air Marshal Mathur has over 5,000 hours of flying experience on a variety of fighter aircraft, trainers and helicopters. He also led its space and cyber wings. Prior to taking over as chief of Eastern Air Command, he was the Senior Air Staff Officer of South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. He has held various Command and Staff appointments including command of a front-line Air Force station and a fighter aircraft squadron. His staff appointments include Principal Director, Information & Electronics Warfare, and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Space) at Air Headquarters New Delhi, Air Defence Commander at Headquarters Eastern Air Command Air Marshal Mathur has undergone post-graduate courses at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the National Defence College, New Delhi, and holds M.Sc and M Phil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University He has been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2003 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014. --IANS rrk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States' largest exhibition in a decade, on iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), known across the globe extensively for her self-portraits, will kick off on March 8 at the Brooklyn Museum here. "Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving" explores Kahlo's creative vision and self-crafted identity through a presentation of the artist's clothing and other personal items, paintings and drawings by the artist, photographs, film and documentation as well as related objects from the museum's collection, the museum said. The exhibition marks the first time that Kahlo's personal objects from the Blue House, in Mexico City, will be on view in the US. Her clothing and other personal possessions were rediscovered and inventoried in 2004 after being locked away since Kahlo's death in 1954. Kahlo's personal artefacts -- which range from noteworthy examples of Kahlo's Tehuana clothing, contemporary and pre-colonial jewellery, and some of the many hand-painted corsets and prosthetics used by the artist during her lifetime -- were stored in Casa Azul (Blue House), the longtime Mexico City home of Kahlo and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera. The exhibition explores her creative vision and self-crafted identity by displaying the artist's clothing and other personal items, and paintings and drawings. "The objects shed new light on how Kahlo crafted her appearance and shaped her personal and public identity to reflect her cultural heritage and political beliefs, while also addressing and incorporating her physical disabilities," the museum said. The exhibition is based on exhibitions at the Frida Kahlo Museum (2012) and the V&A London (2018). It will run through till May 5 here. --IANS sj/rs/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An MiG-21 shooting down an F-16 in a dogfight over Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday is being hailed as some sort of a military aviation feat, but experts said IAF aircraft might have belonged to the Soviet vintage, but its upgraded version Bison is certainly not completely outdated. As the details of the aerial engagement between a large number of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and IAF fighters filter in, it has emerged that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was able to maneuver his MiG-21 successfully to take a shot at the lead aircraft of the intruding formation, bringing it down. Pakistan denied involvement of F-16s in the raid, but India called the bluff displaying the evidence. MiG-21s and F-16s are generations apart. The PAF flies F-16 C/D advanced version of US-made fighter, while MiG-21 Bison is the upgraded avatar of an aircraft in service for nearly 60 years. The public perception about MiG-21 in India is not encouraging as frequent crashes of the aircraft have earned it the label of "flying coffins" leading to questions about using vintage fighters during the tense moments with Pakistan recently. But experts explain that F-16 without doubt is far superior in maneuverability and in terms of the range of weaponry, MiG-21 comes with its own positives. An MiG-21 is the obvious choice for IAF as an operational readiness patrol which is akin to the 100 number of the police, manning 24x7 to meet any emergency. The MiG-21s are the most preferred aircraft in this role simply because they take the shortest time to get airborne compared to all other fighters. The Mig-21 can be launched only in two minutes, experts said. The MiG-21 Bison can carry a range of weapons like any modern fighter and has fairly good features. It has an R073 close combat missile which has a range of 20-25 km and can also fire beyond visual range missiles R-77. It has got phased array radar, jammers and countermeasure dispensing systems chaffs and flares. The IAF is striving to get replacements for MiG-21, but experts said until then the force has to fly what it has got. All these are also part of the F-16 package, but the US fighter can fire AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, sky flash and R550 Magic air-to-air missiles. It can also fire Maverick, HARM and Shrike air-to-surface missiles. When the PAF aircraft approached the LoC from the south-west, MiG-21s were the first to engage the leading F-16s which were being given protection by JF-17 Thunders. While the Su-30s and Mirages chased away the support component, the MiG-21s took on F-16, sources said. (Gautam Datt can be contacted at datt.gautam@gmail.com) --IANS gd/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he has consistently refused to answer pointed questions on high profile defence deals in Parliament. "Chowkidar chor hi nahi, darpok bhi hai (Chowkidar is not just a thief, but also a coward)," said Gandhi addressing a huge public rally in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex. Gandhi, who kicked off the Congress party's 2019 Lok Sabha campaign at two public rallies in Dhule and Mumbai, added that he was ready for any public debate on corruption, but the Prime Minister was scared and did not accept the challenge. Terming the November 2016 demonetisation "a failed exercise", Gandhi said: "You stood in queues outside banks but not industrialists and businessmen like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi or Vijay Mallya, who converted their black money into white from the comforts of their plush homes." On the recent border tensions, he said Modi always claimed that "India is united", but did not miss any opportunity to attack the Congress and the opposition, not even at the inauguration of the National War Museum. "After the CRPF troopers were martyred and a war-like situation came up, I instructed all Congressmen and appealed to the countrymen that nobody should criticise the government and India must stand united at this critical hour," he said. "We (the Opposition) decided that only after the national crisis gets over will we resume However, the Prime Minister hasn't given up his PR even for five minutes," Gandhi thundered. Addressing another rally in Dhule, Gandhi said that ever since Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took over in 2014, the Prime Minister had been making promises but did nothing to implement them. Attacking the government on issues of farmers and the youth, he said Modi had claimed that every 24 hours, 450 youth were being given jobs but China created 50,000 jobs every day, "and we have to overtake China and only the Congress can do this." He said Modi attempted to dilute the Land Acquisition Bill thrice but on all occasions the Congress, despite its small strength in Parliament, successfully stalled it. He pointed out that the government had given Rs 17 per family to the farmers but had written off loans worth Rs 3.50 lakh-crore of 15-25 big industrialists. He said the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party were fighting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in alliance. "The people of Maharashtra will unite and teach a lesson to Modi and the BJP." --IANS qn/rtp/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday petitioned the Supreme Court against a decision by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejecting him bail in a corruption case. Sharif was on December 24 sentenced to seven years in prison by an anti-corruption court in Al-Azizia Steel Mills case for owning a steel factory abroad without disclosing its ownership. On February 25, the IHC dismissed the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader's plea seeking bail and suspension of his sentence on medical grounds. A petition filed by Sharif's counsel Khawaja Haris on Friday sought that the IHC decision be declared null and void. The anti-corruption court judge had last year imposed hefty fines on Sharif after ruling that Al-Azizia Steel Mills -- a Saudi Arabian firm carrying the name of his son -- belonged to the three-time Premier and that he was unable to demonstrate how the project was funded. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The OIC nations have expressed zero tolerance towards terrorism, T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary of Economic Relations at the Ministry of External Affairs, told the media on Friday. He said it was a "historic day" in India's engagement with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as on the 50th anniversary of the first session of the OIC in 1969, India was invited as the guest of honour at the inaugural plenary of the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC. He said it opened a new chapter in India's engagement with the OIC. "In her address, the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj underlined that the fight against terrorism was not a confrontation against any religion. Her speech was widely welcomed," Tirumurti said. "All the speakers in the session had no hesitation in saying that they had zero tolerance for terrorism," he added. Responding to a media query on the Pakistan Foreign Minister saying that India had no moral right to be present at the OIC meet, the senior official said: "The invitation to India was extended in recognition of its global political stature as well as its time-honoured and deep-rooted cultural and historical legacy and its important Islamic component." He pointed out that OIC nations catered to India's energy security and were home to the 12 million strong Indian diaspora. The volume of India's trade with OIC countries was $230 billion, which was 30 per cent of our total trade. He said the OIC nations were India's "important partners" in fighting terrorism. --IANS mak/arm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko supported creating of a common currency with Russia. "It will not be the Russian or Belarusian ruble, it will be our common ruble," the Belarusian had of state said today at a meeting with public and media in Minsk. Lukashenko also said he would consider building the issuance center in St. Petersburg, TASS reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Opposition was playing into Pakistan's hands by making statements lowering the morale of the Indian armed forces. Addressing a public rally here, Modi said the Opposition's "anti-Modi" attitude has turned into "anti-India attitude." "It is the misfortune of the country that at a time when the whole world is seeking answers from Pakistan, they (opposition parties) are making statements that undermine the morale of the security forces of the country. "The Pakistan parliament is quoting these irresponsible statements to counter us. This is unfortunate. Their penchant to oppose Modi has turned into anti-India attitude," Modi said. The Prime Minister's remarks come in the wake of 21 opposition parties unanimously accusing Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party of "blatant politicisation" of armed forces' sacrifices. Without taking names, Modi also attacked the Congress over dynasty and accused the state's ruling Telegu Desam Party of hindering Andhra Pradesh's development. "Unlike them, we do not have the fear of corruption cases or dynasties. That is why we are taking decisions without fear or any baggage in the best interest of the people," Modi said. He also announced approval of the South Coast Railway Zone which will be headquartered in Visakhaptnam. "It will create jobs, improve economy and develop the region. It reflects the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) commitment to developing Andhra Pradesh," he said. --IANS and/arm/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP President Amit Shah on Friday described Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a symbol of "bravery and valour" and said the diplomatic pressure by India forced Pakistan to order his release within 24 hours. "Abhinandan's safe return is a matter of immense pleasure. He is a symbol of bravery and valour. Pakistan bowed before the diplomatic pressure put by India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ordered his release within 24 hours," he said in a statement. Shah said the entire nation was proud of Abhinandan's courage and valour. "India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future," he said. Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis on February 27 after his MiG-21 crashed in the Pakistan-occupied territory, returned to India on Friday night. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Thursday that the IAF pilot would be released on Friday as a "gesture of peace". --IANS bns/pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Islamabad High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed against the release of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was captured by Pakistan two days earlier. The pilot was seized after his MIG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC). Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case earlier in the day ahead of the pilot's release, Samaa TV reported. Justice Minallah told the petitioner the decision to release the pilot was made by Prime Minister Imran Khan during a Parliament session on Thursday and no parliamentarian raised any objections. "So this is a policy matter and we must respect Parliament," the judge said. Khan had announced that Pakistan will release the pilot as a "gesture of goodwill". --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistan Parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution strongly condemning as "aggression" India's strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in the country earlier this week. The resolution was presented by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who had earlier in the day said that he won't be attending the Organisation of Islamic Summit Cooperation meet in the United Arab Emirates due to the presence of his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj at the event, Geo News reported. Tensions spiked between two countries after the Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kasmir's Pulwama on February 14. India, in retaliation, bombed the JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday and killed a large number of terrorists. This was followed by Pakistan seizing Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after his MIG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday. The resolution said: "The joint session of the Parliament strongly condemns the blatant Indian aggression on February 26 and 27 which is completely in violation of the United Nations charter, international law and inter-state laws." It rejected India's "self-serving and fictitious claims of having destroyed alleged terrorist camps and caused heavy casualties". The resolution condemned India's "baseless allegations" in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack which were "politically motivated" and recalled the statements of all political parties and the Prime Minister offering Pakistan's assistance to India after the incident. India's "reckless actions impaired the peace and stability of the region", the resolution read, while it endorsed the National Security Committee's decision to respond to Indian aggression at a "time and place of its own choice". It reaffirmed Pakistan's resolve to respond effectively in a "befitting manner" to India's "aggression" and called upon the international community, especially the UNSC, to condemn India's "highly irresponsible act endangering peace and stability" in the region. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's "goodwill gesture" of releasing Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman turned out to be an ordeal of several hours on Friday. While Khan made the announcement on Thursday that Wing Commander Abhinandan would be released today, the wait for the return of the IAF pilot kept getting longer and did not happen till 8.50 pm. The Pakistani authorities got all the paper work completed to hand over the pilot to Indian High Commission officials, but the pilot's return was awaited by hubndreds of Indian visitors who have thronged the border transit point. There were reports that Abhinandan was kept at Batapur cantonment, located about 10 km from Wagah, where his medical and immigration formalities were being completed. Scores of people, who had gathered at Attari to welcome the IAF pilot back, continued to stay put despite the delay, darkness and even the rain and cold weather. Since Friday morning, it was expected that Abhinandan would be released by Pakistan anytime after noon. The release time was pushed back several times and, for unexplained reasons, the return of the pilot kept getting longer. Authorities in India - the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Border Security Force (BSF), Indian Air Force (IAF), or anyone else -- had no idea why Pakistan was delaying the pilot's return. The Wing Commander was in Pakistani captivity since early on Wednesday. Senior IAF officers, along with those from Army, BSF, Punjab Police and district authorities in Amritsar had arrived before 4 pm at the Attari joint check post complex. There were reports that Abhinandan's parents were also at Attari to welcome their son back. The IAF pilot was earlier accompanied by officials of the Indian High Commission led by Group Captain J.D. Kurian. The handing over process was delayed by the Pakistan side for unexplained reasons. Abhinandan was captured in Pakistan on Wednesday (Feb 27) after his MiG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the captured IAF pilot will be freed as a "goodwill gesture" after New Delhi sought his unconditional and immediate release. --IANS js/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday said his country would respond in self-defence to any act of "unprovoked aggression" by the Indian military. According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Army chief made the remarks in his telephonic communication with the commanders of the US Central Command, UK Chief of Defence Staff and the Australian Chief of Defence Force as well as the ambassadors of the US, UK and China in Pakistan. "Pakistan shall surely respond to any aggression in self-defence," Gen. Bajwa was quoted as telling the military chiefs and envoys by Major General Asif Ghafoor, the head of the military's media wing ISPR, on Twitter. During the phone calls, Gen. Bajwa and the defence chiefs and ambassadors discussed the prevailing stand-off between Pakistan and India and its impact on the "peace (and) stability in the region (and) beyond", according to the Ghafoor's tweet. Tensions spiked between two countries after the Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kasmir's Pulwama on February 14. India, in retaliation, bombed the JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday claimed to have killed a large number of terrorists. This was followed by Pakistan seizing Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after his MiG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday. --IANS soni/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Ministry top official on Friday briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs on bilateral relations with Pakistan in view of India's attack on terror camps in the neighbouring country, followed by Pakistan's aerial incursion. According to sources, the members of the panel, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, suggested that the government tell the international community more extensively and emphatically that it was not an attack on Pakistan but a targeted attack on terror camps and terrorism. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed the members of the parliamentary panel about the sequence of events since the air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan to how the Indian forces foiled Pakistan's aerial incursion by shooting down one of their F-16 fighter jets in a dogfight which also led to the loss of one of India's MiG-21 Bison fighter jets, sources said. All members of the parliamentary panel hailed the action of the Indian Air Force and called it a "heroic job". Sources added that Gokhale was also asked about the third-party intervention by the US and the UAE, to which he responded that he "could not speak for US President Donald Trump". Trump had on Thursday said that the US had been "going at it" and had been involved in trying to have India and Pakistan de-escalate the matter. The US President had said that there is "some reasonably decent news" and hopefully it's coming to an end. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is also a member of the panel, was not present at the meeting. --IANS bns-vv/mag/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The police on Friday arrested a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant who was involved in weapon snatching incidents. "Based on a specific input regarding the movement of a suspected person near the Bone and Joint Hospital here, a special team of Srinagar Police apprehended a person. "On questioning, he identified himself as Showket Ahmed Khan, a resident of Budgam district associated with the LeT, the banned terrorist organisation. His code name is Aumer Bhai," the police said. "The arrested person was involved in weapon snatching incidents. Further questioning is going on," the police said. Although the police are yet to confirm it officially, sources said the arrested person was a constable who worked with the state armed police before going underground. "He is believed to be involved in the weapon loot that took place on December 31, 2018 when four rifles went missing from the guard's room of a Congress legislator in Jawahar Nagar area of Srinagar," sources said. --IANS sq/arm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 52-year-old property dealer was gunned down on Friday by an unidentified bike-borne man in his office in the national capital, police said. The incident occurred at 3.45 p.m in Rohini's Begumpur area of west Delhi when the deceased Sanjeev Sharma was in his office. "A bike-borne man with covered face came and fired at Sharma," Deputy Commissioner of Police S.D. Mishra said. Sharma was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead, he said. Sharma was living with his family in Jain Nagar and was into real estate business for the last eight months, Mishra said. A probe is underway to ascertain the cause of attack, he added. --IANS sp/rs/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Commenting on Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthamans safe return to India from Pakistans custody, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the nation was proud of the brave officer. "Proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram," Sitharaman tweeted. Varthaman was captured by the Pakistan Army on February 27 after his MiG 21 Bison was shot down during a dogfight and he ejected. He landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir across the Line of Control (LoC) where he was manhandled by local villagers. He was later rescued and taken into custody by the Pakistan Army. On February 28, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament that Varthaman would be handed over to India on Friday. The fighter pilot was handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah-Atari border in Punjab on Friday evening. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, he was received by senior Border Security Force officers at 9.21 p.m. at the Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. --IANS mak/arm/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kazakhstan Prime Minister Askar Mamin introduced new head of his office Darkhan Kaletayev to the staff. Darkhan Kaletayev, an East Kazakhstan State University graduate, was born on October 14, 1972. He began his career in 1995. He worked in the Presidential Administration, ministries of education and culture, information and public consent. In 2007-2008 he served as deputy head of the President's Administration, in 2008-2009 - first deputy chairman of the Nur Otan party, in 2009-2016 - managing director of JSC Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund, AKIpress reported. In October 2016, he was appointed as Senator by the president. In September 2017-April 2018, he was a member of the Senate's Committee on International Relations, Defense and Security. In April 2018, he was appointed Minister of Social Development of Kazakhstan. "Riverdale" actor Luke Perry has been hospitalised after suffering a massive stroke, the actor's representative said. The 52-year-old actor was admitted to a LA hospital after suffering the stroke at his Sherman Oaks home on Wednesday morning. His prognosis is still unknown, but according to his representative he has been sedated as part of his treatment. Variety.com was told that Perry, who plays Fred Andrews in "Riverdale" was currently "under observation at the hospital". A call was received by the paramedics for an "unspecified medical request" at about 9.39 a.m. on Wednesday from Perry's residence, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson said. The news of Perry's hospitalisation comes a day after Fox announced it was rebooting "Beverly Hills, 90210" that will star all the original stars of the show, except for Perry. --IANS sim/nn/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by Lt. General Ravi Dastane (since retired) challenging the appointment of then Lt. General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Eastern Command, which was a precursor to his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff. Dismissing the petition by Dastane for "lacking in merit", the bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hemant Gupta said that an officer has "no vested right to claim promotion on the basis of seniority alone. But that does not mean that the authority entitled to make the appointment must ignore seniority." "The emphasis on fitness in every respect is an indicator that the post is a selection post", the court said, pointing out that the seniority that brings with it experience of handling situations and experience in perspective and planning can't be ignored. "Officers of the army who attain the rank of Lieutenant General progress through the hierarchical structure after fulfilling rigorous criteria of assessment. The principle that the appointment of an Army Commander is made by selection does not require that the criterion of seniority should be ignored," said Justice Chandrachud. The principle that seniority alone does not confer a right to appointment to a selection post does not mean that the authority making the appointments must be oblivious to seniority, the court said. "Placed below the COAS, the post of Army Commander is of crucial significance to the organisational structure of the Army," it said. Seniority may be a relevant consideration as it brings with it "experience of organisation, experience in handling situations and experience in perspective and planning," the court said. The post of Army Commander, however, "remains a selection post," it said. While making appointments to such crucial posts which carry enormous functional responsibilities bearing on the defence needs of the armed forces and ultimately of the nation, a "range of relevant considerations can be borne in mind," the court said. Having said this, the court said: "It would not be appropriate in the course of judicial review to confine the appointing authority to a narrow range of considerations. The appointing authority is best suited to determine who among the officers in the rank of Lieutenant General is suited for appointment against a vacancy." Dastane had challenged the appointment of Suhag as the GOC-in-C Eastern Command which paved the way for his appointment as the next Army Chief succeeding the then incumbent Gen Bikramjit Singh. When the names of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as GOC-in-C Eastern Command and Lt. Gen Sanjiv Chachra as GOC-in-C Western Command were sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, there was no administrative, disciplinary or vigilance proceedings against Suhag. However, while their names were being considered, a disciplinary vigilance (DV) ban was imposed on Suhag by the then Army Chief Gen V.K. Singh and it was communicated to the Cabinet Secretariat. This resulted in putting on hold Suhag's appointment as GOC-in-C Eastern Command. However, Suhag's appointment as GOC-in-C Eastern Command was cleared after Gen Bikramjit Singh reversed the DV ban by Gen V.K. Singh after going through the response by Suhag to the show cause notice issued to him. Suhag retired as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) on December 31, 2016 while Chachra, who was appointed GOC-in-C Western Command, retired on May 31, 2014. Dastane retired on September 30, 2014. General Dalbir Singh, the third respondent, was appointed the Chief of Army Staff and retired from service on December 31, 2016. --IANS pk/arm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Friday allowed mutual funds (MFs) and portfolio managers to invest in commodity derivatives to strengthen the market offerings and attract more players. "The Board deliberated and approved the proposal contained in the memorandum to enable the participation by mutual funds and portfolio managers in exchange traded commodity derivatives in India subject to certain safeguards," SEBI said after its board meeting here. "Further, Category III alternative investment funds, which are already permitted to participate in commodity derivatives, have now been permitted to deal with goods received in delivery against physical settlement of such contracts, if any," the regulator added. Currently, the commodity markets are dominated by retail level traders and a few corporate hedgers and speculators. The entry of mutual funds and portfolio managers will attract more hedgers to the market and lead to its overall development. Market players said the SEBI move could offer structured and attractive products to deepen the commodity derivatives market. It would also lead to more participation from the funds. Institutional participants like mutual funds and portfolio managers will add long-term liquidity to the markets, said the member of a commodity exchange. The participants in the commodity derivatives market comprise retail and wholesale commodity traders and a few corporate clients and punters across asset classes. The SEBI also allowed Category III alternative investment funds to trade. Foreign companies with exposure to Indian commodities not having presence in India were also allowed to trade recently. --IANS ana/arm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Budget carrier SpiceJet will launch eight new daily direct flights to Gwalior under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme. In addition to the eight new flights to Gwalior, SpiceJet will also operate four new daily flights connecting Bhopal, including the Bhopal-Udaipur UDAN flight. "These new flights reiterate the airline's commitment to UDAN and direct connectivity, besides on-boarding non-metros and smaller cities onto the national aviation map," the airline said in a statement At present, SpiceJet operates 23 flights under the UDAN scheme. --IANS rv/arm/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an obvious attack on Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that states which shelter and fund terrorists must be told to dismantle terror camps on their soil. "If we want to save humanity, then we must tell the states which provide shelter and funding to terrorists to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to terror organisations based in that country," she said here on Friday. Swaraj was speaking at the conference as a "Guest of Honour", a first for India. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi kept away from the OIC meet due to her presence. Her remarks, without naming Pakistan, came three days after India targeted a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pakistan following the February 14 Pulwama suicide bombing in Kashmir which killed 40 CRPF personnel. The Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack. Swaraj said that terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels and use diverse causes. "But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed." She said the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation with any religion. "It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood." "It is a verse in the Holy Koran which says La Ikrah fiddeen - Let there be no compulsion in religion. And Sura Al Hujurat says "O Mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know one another, not that you may despise one another." Swaraj said the menace of terror cannot be defeated solely through "military, intelligence or diplomatic" means but must be won by "strength of our values and message of religion". "It is also a battle, that must be won through the strengths of our values, and the real message of religions. This is a task that states, societies, sages, scholars, spiritual leaders, and families must pursue, through personal contacts and on social media. "And, for this faiths must speak to faiths, cultures must engage cultures, communities must build bridges, not erect walls, the youth must shape the future, not destroy lives. "This is not a clash of civilization and culture but a contest between "ideas and ideals," she said and also referred to the remarks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," she said. The Minister also spoke about India's ancient civilisational values, its ethos of pluralism and its eternal message of peace. "God is one but learned men describe Him in many ways," she said, adding that Swami Vivekananda said that this phrase from the Rig Veda has "given the theme to all subsequent thoughts in India, and one, that will be the theme of the whole world of religions". Swaraj said the world is witnessing sweeping changes, multiple challenges and there were global shifts in power. The world, she said, is also seeing the human and economic costs of climate change and "witnessing the terrible daily destruction in senseless terrorist violence". "It is destroying lives, destabilising regions, and putting the world at great peril. The reach of terror is growing, Its lethality is increasing and the toll it is taking, is rising. In the rich diversity of Southeast Asia, in West Asia, and the Gulf, in North Africa, and Sahel region, in Europe, and North America, in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India, we see the terrible face of terror," she said. The minister said the OIC is making a new beginning at 50 years of its "completion and "the choices you make, the direction you set, will have a profound impact on humanity". "The OIC has a huge responsibility and a great opportunity to lift humanity to a higher level of peace and prosperity, and to make this planet a better place, not just for your people, but for rest of the world." She said India will work with the OIC to spread the true meaning and mission of all religions, promote respect for and between faiths, counter the language of hate with the message of harmony, advocate moderation over extremism and pluralism over exclusion, inspire youth to the path of service than of destruction, build bridge of understanding and reduce barriers across culture" and religions. She cited a couplet by Guru Nanak Dev about one God being the origin of all humanity and a remark by former President APJ Abdul Kalam about righteousness ultimately leading to peace in the world. Noting that she comes from the land of Mahatma Gandhi where every prayer ends with the call for peace for all, Sushma Swaraj conveyed her support and solidarity in "your quest for stability, peace, harmony, economic growth and prosperity for your people and the world." Swaraj said "the world we leave" should be infinitely better "than the one we inherited" and the mission has "brought us together in Abu Dhabi." She said India was the fastest growing economy and will work to ensure that the path to development remains open to all and the global trade regime is open, stable and fair. --IANS ps/vsc/bg (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.) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami on Friday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sanction a naval station here for fishermen's safety. Both Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam were full of praise for Modi. Speaking at the function where Modi unveiled various road and rail projects Palaniswami said: "I request Prime Minister to establish a naval station at Kanyakumari for ensuring the safety and security of our fishermen at sea." The Chief Minister praised Modi for his bold actions against terrorism. "The Prime Minister was not only leading the country for the past five years but is also the protector of the nation today. The entire nation is behind him and so is Tamil Nadu," Palaniswami said. On his part Deputy Chief Minister, Panneerselvam said: "From Kashmir to Kanyakumari India is one", is a statement which is repeated often. Today there is a need to clearly demonstrate this. The country, under the strong and steadfast leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji is battling external threats in a bold and decisive manner." Panneerselvam said Modi, like the Hindu God Narasimhan, killed hundreds of terrorists by his military action. The action taken by Modi instills fear in the nations that plan to attack India and is also a warning bell to those countries that support terrorism, Panneerselvam said. The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu has entered into an electoral pact with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Lok Sabha polls. --IANS vj/rs/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump held phone conversations with leaders of South Korea and Japan over the Hanoi summit during his flight en route to Washington, the White House has said. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told the press on Thursday that Trump had updated South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Xinhua reported. Trump told the two leaders that his administration would "continue the conversations" with Kim and continue to coordinate closely with the allies, Sanders said. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was on his trip to Manila, told reporters that Washington had not set a date for next working-level meeting with Pyongyang, adding that the two sides "need to regroup a little bit". Trump and Kim ended their second summit in Hanoi on Thursday without reaching an agreement. Trump said at a press conference that there was "a gap" in what North Korea and the US were pursuing. Kim demanded relief from sanctions against Pyongyang "in their entirety" in exchange for denuclearizing a "large portion" of North Korea's nuclear programme, something the US could not agree to, according to Trump. However, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said at a separate news conference in Hanoi on early Friday that "what we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but they are partial removal," adding that North Korea only asked those sanctions impeding the livelihood of its people to be removed first. "It is regrettable that President Trump and Chairman Kim were unable to reach complete agreement," Kim Eui-keum, spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told a press briefing. The Blue House spokesman, however, noted that it seemed clear that the two leaders have made "more meaningful progress" than ever as they expanded the scope and depth of their understanding of each other's positions through the two-day summit in the Vietnamese capital. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UN Security Council has failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on Venezuela, sponsored by the US and Russia respectively. The US draft received nine votes in favour, three against, and three abstentions in the 15-member council, on Thursday. Russia and China, as well as South Africa, vetoed the resolution, Xinhua reported. Minutes later, the Security Council voted on the Russian draft, which received four votes in favour, seven against and four abstentions. The US draft stresses the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela and to facilitate unhindered access and delivery of assistance to all in need in the entirety of the territory of Venezuela in accordance with humanitarian principles. The Russian draft, on the contrary, calls that international assistance should be provided with the consent of, and on the basis of an appeal by, the government of Venezuela. It also urges the settlement of the current situation through peaceful means and supports all initiatives aimed at reaching a political solution among Venezuelans. Thursday's Security Council meeting is the third on the situation in Venezuela in just over a month due to the escalation of political tension facing the Latin American country. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, said that the meeting "may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real, not humanitarian, intervention," adding that it may cause the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela. "At the Security Council, on the Venezuelan issue, our starting point is to uphold the spirit of the UN Charter and the basic principles governing international relations, promote a peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan issue and maintain long-term peace, stability and development in Latin America," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN. China opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela internal affairs and opposes military intervention in Venezuela, he stressed. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since January 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. A US-backed drive to deliver "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela through border crossings on February 23 met strong resistance from the Venezuelan government as President Nicolas Maduro believed the aid, mainly from the US, is a smokescreen for a military invasion. The Venezuelan government has closed borders with Brazil and Colombia and some air and sea routes. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A news report that actor Alok Nath is playing a judge pronouncing a sentence against a child molester in a forthcoming film has left writer-director Vinta Nanda, who has accused him of rape, speechless. Titled "#MainBhi", the film has been directed by Nasir Khan, said the report. "I don't know what to say. When I heard about this ironical casting my mind, my heart and soul was with Wing Commander Varthaman Abhinandan. I couldn't keep my eyes off the television screen because I wanted to see him as he stepped on Indian soil today," Vinta said emotionally. Her mindspace is currently taken up with the violence at the border. "I'm praying for peace and wishing that the Almighty grants us a non-violent universe. I can't think of anything else at the moment," she said. And she isn't bothered with what Alok Nath is doing. "This piece of news about Alok Nath acting in a film is irrelevant and has no effect upon what is actually going on in my heart," she said. Vinta had accused Alok Nath of allegedly raping her nearly 19 years ago when they worked together, which made for several such claims about his behaviour on the sets. He denied all the allegations levelled by the victim. --IANS skj/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Adivi Sesh, who will be seen as Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the NSG commando who lost his life while rescuing many hostages during the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, acknowledges the importance of not promoting jingoism through cinema. Excerpts from an interview in which the actor talks about the process of playing a soldier so heroic: Q. Congratulations, Adivi. How did this dream role come your way? A. Yes, dream role is right. You'll find this hard to believe. But I lived with the dream of playing Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan for eleven years. Even when I was living in San Francisco, I was completely taken up by his grit. I felt he was my brother. That's how close I feel to him. Q. So playing him on-screen is just a logical culmination of your dream? A. You could say that. When Mahesh Babu, who is a co-producer on this project and his wife Namrata Shirodkar approached me with this offer, it felt unreal. How could I be offered a chance to play a character that I have lived with for so many years? Q. Of late, films on the theme of national heroes and patriotism have almost become a formula. Isn't that a dangerous development? A. Cinema is a reflection of society at large. I am a proud Indian and happy to see a surge of patriotism in our country. Movies on true national heroes is most welcome for the actor as much as the audience. The important thing is to stay on the right side of the line dividing patriotism from jingoism. Q. So many biopics, many of them about army heroes, are being made. Does playing a real-life character mean an added responsibility for the actor? A. Of course. It does for me. I can't speak for others. This is the first time I'm playing a real-life character, and that too one someone who is taught as a subject in numerous textbooks in Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana. It is a responsibility and one that I am taking very seriously. I am writing the film myself. Q. Why aren't you directing it? A. It wouldn't be possible for me to play the Major, write the film, and also direct it. I trust the director Shashikiran Tikka completely. He directed me in "Goodachari". I like working with a closely-knit team. The process of creativity becomes so much easier when you are working with the people you trust. Q. Do you feel a special affiliation to Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan because he is a South Indian like you? A. Well, I can't deny the fact that we both belong to the same region, and that does heighten the sense of kinship. But I'd be just as happy and comfortable playing a war hero from Punjab. I think playing a hero of this stature goes beyond cultural considerations. How Gujarati was Ben Kingsley who played Mahatma Gandhi? Q. How much research is being done for the film and your character? Do you intend to meet the Major's family? A. I have been interacting with Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's parents for quite a while now. And I won't be wrong in saying that I am very close to Uncle and Aunty. I wouldn't like to dwell on my closeness to them as this would seem like a ploy to attract attention to our film. Q. But surely you did reach out to them because of this film? A. Yes, of course. There's no denying my selfish motive for getting to know them. Having known them closely for some time now, I can confidently say our relationship has gone beyond the film. Uncle and Aunty have enriched my life. I would've been poorer had I not known them. --IANS skj/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President of Moldova Igor Dodon will visit Baku in mid-March. He will take part in the 7th Global Baku Forum on March 14-16, to be organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Trend reported. The Moldovan president also attended the 6th Global Baku Forum last year. The 7th Global Baku Forum will be attended by 450 guests from more than 70 countries. The theme of the forum this year will be 'New Global Foreign Policy'. While India sat glued to TV screens waiting to catch the first glimpse of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as he crossed the Wagah border late on Friday evening, two days after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, Bollywood celebs were busy sending out feverish messages lauding the airman's heroism. And here's what the stars had to say: Ranveer Singh: Welcome home Abhinandan! Inspiration to our whole nation. Jai Hind. Karan Johar: We salute your bravery and valour.... We applaud your strength in the face of adversity. Anil Kapoor: With pride in our hearts and a smile on our face, welcome home Abhinandan. Kirron Kher: India doesn't need weapons to fight a war. Warriors like Abhinandan are enough. We cannot thank our brave soldiers enough for their endless efforts and sacrifices for our Motherland. Varun Dhawan: Welcome back home Abinandan, a true hero. These humane actions give hope that all humanity is not lost. Bharat Mata ki Jai. Emraan Hashmi: Proud of you sir! Salutes to the brave son of India. Parineeti Chopra: Everyone can learn something or two about real heroism from you. The entire nation is extremely proud of you and your courage! Boman Irani: Saluting the valour and bravery of our Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Like the entire nation, I would love to say welcome home Abhinandan. Arjun Kapoor: We salute your valour and the entire nation is extremely proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan... Welcome home. Nimrat Kaur: In the face of grave adversity, to stand tall and unbroken takes other worldly nerves. Welcome home Abhinandan, your steely valour and calibre has been awe-inspiring. All of India and the uniform swells with pride today. A fauji daughter's salute to you. Dia Mirza: There is no place like home. Love, respect and gratitude. Wing Commander Abhinandan. Celina Jaitly: Each and every officer and Jawan's family must be continued to be saluted and celebrated like this... the price our forces and their family pay for our freedom is phenomenal! Preity G Zinta: People in America are shocked that a 65-year-old Russian MIG-21 shot down an American made and sold F-16 at the India-Pakistan border. This tells a lot about pilot training. The best plane is the one with the best pilot inside. Welcome home Abhinandan. Shatrughan Sinha: We whole-heartedly welcome the brave and dashing IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Vardhaman and greatly appreciate the sincere efforts of the Government of India to get him back...not to forget Honourable Imran Khan's matured goodwill gesture of peace. My profound regards to the Indian. --IANS dc/rb/rtp/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and several Union ministers including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman soon after he returned via Wagha border to India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders took to Twitter to welcome him and hailed his courage and valour. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!" tweeted Modi. Shah said: "Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. "May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future." Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, returned to India on Friday night. "Welcome Home! The entire Nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan," Rajnath Singh said. "Proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. Jai Hind," Sitharaman said. Union Minister Smriti Irani said: "Salute to India as Abhinandan returns to home." Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Ram Vilas Paswan and other leaders also expressed their happiness over his return. --IANS bns/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bangladesh has told the UN that it won't accept any more Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, the first time the country has threatened to close its borders to members of the Muslim minority fleeing violence. Bangladesh is now sheltering more than a million refugees in camps, some 700,000 of whom have poured over the border in the past 18 months having fled a military-led crackdown in Rakhine state where thousands were killed, women were raped and villages razed, the Guardian reported on Friday. Speaking to the UN Security Council on Thursday, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said: "I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar." Most of the Rohingya arrived in Bangladesh between August and December 2017 in the midst of the brutal campaign of violence the UN has described as ethnic cleansing and possible genocide. Last year, about 16,000 Rohingya crossed the border to Bangladesh, fleeing ongoing abuses. Bangladesh was lauded for its willingness to keep its borders open and welcome the hundreds of thousands of refugees with open arms. However Haque said the situation in Cox's Bazar - where the millions of mainly Rohingya refugees are living in what has become the world's largest refugee camp - was now untenable and had gone from "bad to worse". "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighbouring country?" Haque asked. Haque expressed his frustration with both the Security Council and the international community at the lack of concrete action to solve the crisis. He accused Myanmar of trying to shift the blame by accusing Bangladesh of harbouring terrorists when in fact the Bangladesh government had "a zero-tolerance policy" in this regard. Haque was joined in his condemnation of Myanmar's failure to take steps towards repatriation of Rohingya by envoys from western governments including the UK and the US, reports the Guardian. Initial attempts to begin a repatriation process for the Rohingya last year collapsed after Myanmar failed to provide assurances to the refugees that they would be safe from violence, be allowed to return to their original homes, have freedom of movement and be given a pathway to citizenship in Myanmar, which the Rohingya were stripped of in 1974. As a result, the thousands of Rohingya listed for return refused, and many went into hiding. --IANS ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the face of allegations that YouTube is being used by paedophiles to target minors, the Google-owned video streaming platform said it is now disabling comments on videos featuring minors that could be at risk of attracting predatory behaviour. Due to the on-going paedophilia content controversy on YouTube, several international companies including Disney, Nestle and Fortnite maker Epic Games pulled out their advertisements from the platform this week. Many users also alleged that YouTube was being careless with monitoring content on its app. YouTube, however, claimed that it has been terminating accounts and channels over the past few weeks that have violated the platform's policies. "No form of content that endangers minors is acceptable on YouTube, which is why we have terminated certain channels that attempt to endanger children in any way," YouTube said in a blog post on Thursday. "Over the past week, we disabled comments from tens of millions of videos that could be subject to predatory behaviour," YouTube said, adding that over the next few months, it will be broadening this action to suspend comments on videos featuring young minors. But the platform is not introducing a blanket ban on comments for all videos featuring minors. "A small number of creators will be able to keep comments enabled on these types of videos. These channels will be required to actively moderate their comments, beyond just using our moderation tools and demonstrate a low risk of predatory behaviour. We will work with them directly," the company wrote. YouTube said it has a new comments classifier in place that is more sweeping in scope, and will detect and remove two times more individual comments. A study by the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute of the University of Toledo in Ohio, US recently showed that human traffickers are exploiting social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or SnapChat, as well as dating apps such as Tinder, Blendr and Yellow to hunt for potential underage victims. Traffickers educate themselves by studying what the victim posts on these sites to build trust. The study, which was requested by the Ohio Attorney General's Human Trafficking Commission, revealed how traffickers quickly target and connect with vulnerable children on the Internet through social media. Grooming children for sex trafficking consists of convincing someone to send a risky picture and then using it to extort them. The traffickers use fear of repercussions as a way to compel the youth to move from a monitored page to a less monitored page by saying, "You don't want your parents to find out what we're talking about", the study suggested. With a global user-base of over 1.3 billion people, every eight out of ten 18-49 years old people watch YouTube. With the penetration of Internet and smartphones, users below 18 years of age today are also heavily exposed to the platform. --IANS rp/gb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Perhaps the biggest positive takeaway from the military action over the last few days is the evidence of Indias new diplomatic heft. People old enough to remember earlier conflict situations will recall how no non-aligned country spoke up for India during the wars of the 1960s though India had been a co-founder and leader of the non-aligned movement. Even in 1971, it was principally the Soviet Union that stood by India, as it had done more than once by using its veto in the UN Security Council. In comparison, today India enjoys the support of not just the leading western powers ... Wars have been fought for all sorts of obscure reasons, ranging from the entirely rational to the completely insane. Russia and Japan, for instance, once went to war in order to win a Chinese contract to build a railway line in Manchuria. The Taiping Rebellion, which led to the deaths of over 20 million, was sparked off when a man who claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ demanded the right to establish a heavenly kingdom. Sundry wars everywhere have been fought over religious minutiae that make little sense to non-believers. This war between India and Pakistan is being ... Eleven flights, either arriving at or departing from Delhi, were cancelled due to closure of Pakistan airspace on Friday, airport officials said here. Due to the Pakistan airspace being closed, there were "22 departures and 17 arrivals that were late" at the Delhi airport on Friday, they said. "Five flights, which planned to depart from Delhi on March 1, had to be cancelled due to closure of Pakistan airspace. Similarly, six flights, which planned to arrive at Delhi on Friday, had to be cancelled for the same reason," the airport officials said. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority announced Friday that flight operations at Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta airports have resumed. However, the eastern side airports - Lahore, Multan, Sialkot, Faisalabab and Bahawalpur -- will remain closed till March 4, it added. The closure of Pakistan airspace left thousands of air travellers stranded worldwide and over 700 international and domestic flights were cancelled during the last three days to and from Pakistan, including flights to New Delhi. Delhi airport officials said a Pakistan International Airlines flight, which had to arrive at 2:10 pm here from Lahore on Friday, was cancelled. Consequently, the flight, which was scheduled to return at 3.30 pm, was cancelled too, according to the officials. They said the Air Canada flight, which had to arrive at Delhi from Vancouver at 4:05 am, was cancelled and the return flight at 6:05 am was also cancelled, they said. Similarly, Air Astana flight KC907 from the Almaty International Airport to Delhi was cancelled on Friday. The return flight to Astana was also cancelled, the officials said. The Swiss airline flight, which had to arrive from Zurich at 12:45 am, was also cancelled, according to officials. The Delhi to Kabul flight of SpiceJet, which had to depart at 8.50 am on Friday, was cancelled due to Pakistan airspace being closed, they said. The officials said as a result of the closure of airspace, the airline's returning flight from Kabul to Delhi was cancelled too, they added. The Kuwait Airways flight, which had to arrive at New Delhi from Kuwait City at 1.15 am on Friday, was cancelled. The return flight scheduled to depart from Delhi at 2.45 am was also cancelled, the officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 21,000 low birth-weight babies have been identified in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, who were born between October 2017 and October 2018, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said Friday. Gandhi said her ministry has been closely monitoring these babies and the weight of 15,000 of them have been brought to normal level. Newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams are considered low birth-weight (LBW) babies. "The weighing efficiency of 68 per cent of these 21,000 low birth babies have improved," she said while talking to reporters. The low birth-weight babies were identified in the three states by an independent agency and ministry officials said they aim to cover the entire country by April. Taking the national nutrition mission forward, Gandhi said her ministry will celebrate the first anniversary of 'Poshan Abhiyan' by organising 'Poshan Pakhwada' across the country from March 8 to 22. The 'Pakhwada' will be launched on the International Women's Day and the WCD Ministry would be the nodal agency for it. "Our aim is to reach 25 crore people with a special focus on anaemia in women and we want to target one crore anaemic women and give them treatment," she said. WCD Secretary Rakesh Srivastava said a convergence of 15 ministries would be seen and the government would try to reach to grass-root level through Gram Sabhas, self-help groups and field functionaries. A senior WCD official said except West Bengal and Odisha, active participation has been seen in rest of the states in 'Poshan Abhiyan', which aims to fight malnourishment and stunting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot on Friday said the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has set its seventh Guinness world record with 260 people in Gujarat's Bharuch getting 'Modern Artificial Limbs (Legs)' implanted within eight hours. The DEPwD under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had previously set six Guinness world records in other categories. This new record was set on Thursday. "It is a very proud moment for the DEPwD as well as for all divyangjans (people with disabilities) of our country," Gehlot said at the inauguration of a national conference on Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS). About 600 delegates from across the country participated in the conference. The DEPwD had earlier organized regional conferences in Secunderabad on December 22, Mumbai on January 17 and Kolkata on February 18. The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment expressed happiness that the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC) under the DEPwD has recently prepared a dictionary comprising 6,000 words for the hearing impaired and that more than 1,700 visually impaired children have been treated with cochlear implant surgery. The DEPwD has also provided 'motorized tricycles' to the physically challenged across the country. Gehlot said that so far, 28 states have provided universal ID cards to around 13 lakh differently abled people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russias Gazprom said its exports to countries outside the former Soviet Union were down 5.% year-on-year to 32.7 billion cubic metres in January and February. According to the company, it happened due to warm weather in Europe last month, Reuters reported. Four men were arrested from east Delhi in connection with several cases of robbery and snatching, police said Friday. The four were apprehended when they came to a CNG station near Gazipur. They were allegedly involved in more than 25 cases of robbery and snatching. Twenty mobile phones and two motorcycles have been recovered, the police said. The accused have been identified as Izhar Khan, Mohd Khalid, Mohd Riaz and Hari Om. During investigation, it was found that the four were habitual gamblers and would commit robbery and snatching whenever they lost money in gambling. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eight Bangladeshi women and a man, who illegally crossed the border, were arrested by BSF personnel in Meghalaya's South West Khasi Hills district, officials said Friday. The Bangladeshis, who were caught on February 25, were handed over to the authorities of the neighbouring country by the Border Security Force as a goodwill gesture the next day, they said. The illegal immigrants had crossed the International Border on Monday through an unfenced area to visit a weekly market, which is about 30 km away, the BSF said. Acting on inputs received that a group of Bangladeshis had crossed over, the BSF team deployed at Kaithakona carried out intensive search, frisking and checking of vehicular movement along the border, a BSF spokesperson said. In the process, the Bangladesh nationals -- one male and eight females -- en-route to the Khanjoy market were apprehended, he said. Vegetables and fishes seized from them were handed over to the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) with the persons, the official said. The BSF personnel requested the BGB to press charges against them for crossing the International Border without valid documents, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman landed in Delhi Friday night, hours after he was handed over to India by Pakistan after being in captivity for nearly three days. A group of people gave a rousing welcome to him at the Palam airport, from where he would be taken to a medical facility for examination. He was handed over to Indian authorities at Attari-Wagah border Friday evening. Varthaman, who was captured on February 27 by Pakistan following a dogfight between the two air forces in which his MIG-21 was shot down, returned home from his nearly three-day captivity, a major step towards defusing a near-war situation triggered by India's retaliation over Pakistan's continued support for terrorism. He finally emerged at 9.10 p.m(IST) at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. He was wearing a civilian clothes -- a dark jacket and khakhi trousers, walking proudly toward the gates that separated his captors' country from his homeland. He will undergo debriefing Saturday which will include his physiological as well as a physical check-up in the presence of officials from the military and Intelligence agencies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan, who returned to the country after almost three days of captivity in Pakistan, and said his dignity, poise and bravery have made all in India proud. "Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love," he said on Twitter. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said, "Great to have you back Abhinandan." He earlier said, "Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan. Your resilience and bravery is what makes India a great nation." Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It may have been after midnight when the Chennai-Delhi flight came to a stop at the tarmac but there was no scramble to get bags from the overhead bin or rush towards the exit because all eyes were focused on one couple -- the parents of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. Air Marshal (retd) S Varthaman and Dr Shobha Varthaman were given a standing ovation as passengers made way for them in the early hours of Friday, ensuring that the couple gets off first. Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, is expected to be released on Friday. In photos and videos shared by passengers on social media platforms, the couple, who came to Delhi on their way to Amritsar to bring their son home, can can be seen acknowledging the clapping, cheers and thank yous with nods of their heads. Co-Passengers of #Abhinandan Parents welcomed & applauded them in Flight landed Delhi. Parents are heading amritsar to receive their brave son.. #IndianAirForce #IndiaStrikesPakistan pic.twitter.com/4InIxhv6Ub saurabh srivastava (@saurabhsriLive) February 28, 2019 The plane landed at the Delhi airport about an hour after midnight. The couple left for Amritsar soon after landing in Delhi. They are all set to receive their son most likely at the Wagah border. Wing Commander Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan Army after his fighter jet crashed in an air duel with a Pakistani F-16. He shot down the plane before his own went down, forcing him to eject. He fell into Pakistani territory. On Thursday, Khan announced that he would be released, signalling a de-escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. Abhinandan's family has served the Indian Air Force for generations, since the second World War. Air Marshal S Varthaman, a recipient of several honours, including a Param Vishisht Seva Medal, said in a message, "Abhi is alive, not injured, sound in mind, just look at the way he talked so bravely... a true soldier... we are so proud of him". Marathi actor Amol KolheFriday quit the Shiv Sena and joined the Nationalist Congress Party, saying he wanted to "strengthen the hands of Sharad Pawar". Kolhe, who is currently playing the title role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji in a popular tv serial on the life of warrior king Shivaji's son, was a deputy leader in the Sena. Addressing a press conference here along with senior NCP leaders, he said the youth population is growing fast and "the country is in the midst of a defining moment and needs the right direction". "(NCP chief) Sharad Pawar is capable of givingthe right direction to the country. I want to strengthen his hands," he said. He described Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as a "cultured man". "I am indebted for the love and affection of Shiv Sena workersfrom all over the state," he added. However, he was quitting the party as "some decisions have to be taken at the right time", Kolhe said. He would continue his acting career but spare time for political work when the NCP wanted, he said. Asked about speculation that Kolhe may contest the Lok Sabha election on NCP ticket from Shirur, state NCP president Jayant Patil said the party had not discussed this issue with him. "We will announce all the candidates when they are finalised," Patil said. Senior NCP leader ChhaganBhujbal said, without naming the Sena, that he could understand how difficult it is to quit Kolhe's former party. "But he has managed it well," Bhujbal, who quit the Sena in the 1990s and had faced Sena workers' wrath, said in a lighter vein. Former NCP MLA from Badnapur Arvind Chavan, who had switched over to the BJP in 2014, also rejoined the NCP on this occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday urged Pakistan to admit to, and release, the Prisoners of War (PoWs) in its captivity from the 1971 war. In an informal chat with media persons as part of his tour of border areas in the wake of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack, he urged the central government to take up the matter with Islamabad. Meanwhile, Singh expressed happiness over the fact that talks to thrash out the modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor were on track despite the tensions. He, however, urged the Centre to allow 5,000-10,000 pilgrims to cross through every day once the corridor becomes operational. On compensation to people whose land was acquired for the corridor, the chief minister said the state government will raise the issue with the Centre. Singh, who went around Haruwal village in Gurdaspur district as part of his tour of the border villages to instill confidence among the residents, said he would be the first to cross the border to pay obeisance at the historic Gurdwara. The corridor will facilitate easy passage to Sikh pilgrims to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur. Gurdwara Darbar Sahib is located on the banks of Ravi river in Pakistan, where Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism, is said to have spent 18 years of his life. On the prevailing tension between the two nations, Singh assured the residents that there was no need for panic or fear as the armed forces were fully prepared to deal with the situation. During his tour, the chief minister also shared a cup of tea with the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel at the BSF border observation post in Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur. He was also briefed by DIG Border Range and Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur regarding the steps taken for the safety and security of border dwellers. Enquiring about the police preparedness, the senior Congress leader asked the Punjab Armed Police commandos at Dera Baba Nanak police station to keep a tight vigil and act as a strong second line of defence to the Army. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After a suspenseful wait lasting hours, Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman finally returned home from captivity in Pakistan Friday, a major step towards defusing a near-war situation triggered by India's retaliation over Pakistan's continued support for terrorism. Hoping to give a hero's welcome to Wing Commander Varthaman, thousands of Indians gathered on the border carrying the tricolour and garlands since morning. But as the day wore on and night fell there was no sign of the pilot, who was captured on February 27 by Pakistan following a dogfight between the two air forces in which his MIG-21 was shot down. He finally emerged at 9.10 p.m. India time at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. He was wearing a civilian clothes -- a dark jacket and khakhi trousers, walking proudly toward the gates that separated his captors' country from his homeland. "Wing Commander Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. He will be taken now for a detailed medical checkup. This check up is mandatory as he had to eject from an airplane which would have put his entire body under stress," Vice Chief Marshal R G K Kapoor told reporters in a brief statement in Attari, near Amritstar, on the other side of Wagah. Addressing a public rally in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "every Indian is proud of brave pilot Abhinandan." Several political leaders, including Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee welcome the IAF hero back home. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir on February 14 by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad. Amid mounting outrage, Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan retaliated with a large air formation, comprising 24 fighter jets, including F-16s. Varthaman was in one of the eight MIG-21s that took on the invader and shot down an F-16, according to officials. During the dogfight, his plane was hit and he bailed out, landing in PoK, where he was taken into custody by the Pakistani army. On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told a special joint sitting of Parliament that his government was releasing the pilot as a "peace gesture". However, India has been maintaining that Pakistani decision is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions. After the pilot's release, the Pakistan Foreign Office described him as a Prisoner of War. The Pakistan government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. As analysts painstakingly debated each nuance of India-Pakistan relations in TV studios, anchors went hoarse keeping up the constant commentary, and journalists looked for information on when and how he would be handed over to India. The government decided to keep it all under wraps. Patriotism was the mood of the day. There was garba in Ahmedabad, dancing in Bangalore, a sand sculpture of the officer in Puri and 'yagnas' in several places. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After a suspenseful wait lasting hours, Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman finally returned home Friday night from his nearly three-day captivity in Pakistan, a major step towards defusing a near-war situation triggered by India's retaliation over Pakistan's continued support for terrorism. Hoping to give a hero's welcome to Wing Commander Varthaman, thousands of Indians gathered on the border carrying the tricolour and garlands since morning. But as the day wore on and night fell there was no sign of the pilot, who was captured on February 27 by Pakistan following a dogfight between the two air forces in which his MIG-21 was shot down. He finally emerged at 9.10 p.m(IST) at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. He was wearing a civilian clothes -- a dark jacket and khakhi trousers, walking proudly toward the gates that separated his captors' country from his homeland. Amritsar's Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon told reporters that the fighter pilot was happy to be back in his country. Asked what Abhinandan told officials upon his return, the DC said he first smiled and remarked, "I am happy to be back to my country". Giving further details, the DC said, The Pakistan authorities brought Wing Commander Abhinandan to the Joint Check Post at Attari and he crossed over the Zero Line at around 9:21 p.m(IST). After going through some formalities at the Wagah-Attari border, he was handed over to the BSF authorities. Later, the IAF authorities took him with them. An official was seen putting his arms around the pilot while receiving him. The Wing Commander was then driven away from the Attari border towards Amritsar in an Air Force vehicle which was escorted by Punjab police. The Deputy Commissioner said the officer's parents were not present at the checkpost. Varthaman is being flown to Delhi and will undergo debriefing Saturday which will include his physiological as well as a physical check-up in the presence of officials from the military and Intelligence agencies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the return of Varthaman, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians," tweeted Modi. Earlier, addressing a public rally in Tamil Nadu, Modi said, "every Indian is proud of brave pilot Abhinandan." Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also came out with a Jai Hind tweet. Several political leaders, including Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also welcomed the IAF hero back home. Vice Chief Marshal R G K Kapoor read out a brief statement before a large posse of reporters in Attari, near Amritstar, on the other side of Wagah. "Wing Commander Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. He will be taken now for a detailed medical checkup. This check up is mandatory as he had to eject from an airplane which would have put his entire body under stress," said Kapoor, who did not take any questions. The handing over of Varthaman to India at Wagah was delayed as he was asked to record a statement on camera by Pakistani authorities before he was allowed to cross the border, according to sources in Pakistan. It was not clear whether he was made to record the video under duress. The video also had several jump cuts indicating that it had been edited heavily, apparently to fit Pakistani propaganda. At 8.30 pm (9 pm IST), the Pakistan government released the pilot's video message to the local media in which he said as to how he was captured. "Recording of his video message caused delay in his handing over," a source said. In the video message, Varthaman said he entered Pakistan's space to "find a target" but his aircraft was shot down. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir on February 14 by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM). Amid mounting outrage, Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan retaliated with a large air formation, comprising 24 fighter jets, including F-16s. Varthaman was in one of the eight MIG-21s that took on the invader and shot down an F-16, according to officials. During the dogfight, his plane was hit and he bailed out, landing in PoK, where he was taken into custody by the Pakistani army. On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told a special joint sitting of Parliament that his government was releasing the pilot as a "peace gesture". However, India has been maintaining that the Pakistani decision is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions. After the pilot's release, the Pakistan Foreign Office described him as a Prisoner of War. The Pakistan government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. As analysts painstakingly debated each nuance of India-Pakistan relations in TV studios, anchors went hoarse keeping up the constant commentary, and journalists looked for information on when and how he would be handed over to India. The government decided to keep it all under wraps. Patriotism was the mood of the day. There was garba in Ahmedabad, dancing in Bangalore, a sand sculpture of the officer in Puri and 'yagnas' in several places. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Narendra Modi has taken the "Narasimha avatar", Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said Friday, likening him to the incarnation of Lord Vishnu as he and chief minister K Palaniswami showered praise on the Prime Minister for 'decimating' terrorists in Pakistan in air strikes. Panneerselvam said Modi did not buckle under the threat of terrorism and instead had taken the "Narasimha avatar", a reference to Hindu faith in which Lord Vishnu takes the ferocious incarnation in the form of human body with the head of a lion to destroy demon king Hiranyakasibu. "Without buckling under the threat of terrorism of the neighbouring country, Modi took Narasimha avatar and decimated hundreds of terrorists which the world lauded," he said at a function here where the Prime Minister dedicated to the nation various highway and railway projects in Tamil Nadu. He was referring to India's February 26 pre-dawn air strikes on a terror camp in Pakistan days after the killing of 40 CRPF jawans by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber in Jammu and Kashmir. The Deputy Chief Minister praised Modi for his "strong and steadfast leadership," in battling external threats in a bold and decisive manner without a wink of sleep. Such resolute steps were a warning signal to countries that supported terrorism, he noted. Speaking after his deputy, Palaniswami hailed Modi for bold and decisive measures to root out terrorism. "On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu, I thank the Prime Minister for the bold and decisive measures to root out terrorism, which is threatening the world and the successful air strike to decimate the terrorist camps." "Entire country and Tamil Nadu stands behind you," the Chief Minister said referring to Modi. This is the first time, the top two leaders of the AIADMK joined the Prime Minister in an official event after their party inked a poll pact with BJP on Feb 19 for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The Chief Minister also thanked Modi for his effective diplomatic steps to bring back Wing Commander Abhinandan safely to India. Palaniswami requested Modi to establish a naval station at Kanyakumari for ensuring the safety and security of fishermen. Today's event was a "beginning to the Himalayan victory," he said in an apparent reference that the AIADMK-BJP combine will emerge victorious in Tamil Nadu in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Deputy Chief Minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and first lady, first vice-president Mehriban Aliyeva have met with a group of culture and art figures today. After "Victoria and Abdul", Ali Fazal is starring in another Hollywood project, which is expected to go on floors next year. Fazal started out in Hollywood with a cameo in the seventh installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise before bagging the lead opposite Judi Dench in "Victoria and Abdul." "It's a biopic, a war drama. But it's going to take time. I'm very new in the market there, barely one film old so they have to attach big names to it in the other cast. That's happening right now," Ali told PTI. The actor says there's also one indie project but he has to wrap up his commitments here first. "We were supposed to start the biopic by the end of this year but I think now it will be January 2020. I've to finish my commitments here first." The actor will also be shooting for Amazon Prime Video's India original "Mirzapur" season two. The first season of the show, created Puneet Krishna and directed by Gurmmeet Singh, featured an ensemble cast of Pankaj Tripathi, Ali, Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi, Rasika Dugal, Divyendu Sharma and Kulbhushan Kharbanda "The series is going further because the writing is not one dimensional, there are so many layers. In part two, the audience thinks it will be all about revenge but there's so much more that will happen. "My best wishes to 'Sacred Games' too because I'm excited about that as an audience," he said. On the film front, the actor will be next seen in Tigmanshu Dhulia's "Milan Talkies", scheduled to release on March 15. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP President Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how can India trust him. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence... Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. Questioning Khan's silence on the Pulwama attack, he said, "The Pakistan PM should have criticised the Pulwama attacks at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service". 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. The BJP President also said that the return of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was a diplomatic victory. "Creating situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory," he said. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Coming down hard on Opposition parties which alleged the government was "politicising" the sacrifices of the armed forces, Shah said their joint resolution post the air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan. "The opposition's accusation against the BJP that it was politicising the sacrifices of our forces has given happiness to Pakistan," Shah said. "The message has gone that now it is the Modi govt at the helm which is resolute in implementing its policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and has the political will to act," he said. Criticising former PM Manmohan Singh's call for restraint to India and Pakistan, Shah asked how he could compare a country, which has been sponsoring terrorism, with India. He also criticised Singh for his government's "lack of response" after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. "Now with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists Modi government has been able to create fear in the minds of those behind terrorism that they will face grave consequences for their actions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) Friday entered into a poll pact with Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) for the coming Lok Sabha polls, allotting one seat to it. This was the seat-sharing agreement entered into by AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran, who aims to upset the ruling AIADMK's victory prospects, two years after he was sidelined from the party. The seat-sharing deal was clinched during a meeting between a delegation of SDPI led by its National Vice President KKSM Tehlan Baqavi and Dhinakaran here, a release from AMMK said. The parties would work together in all 39 seats in the state, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 23 Afghan security forces were killed in a Taliban attack on a joint US-Afghan base in southwestern Afghanistan, officials said Friday, as fighting continues amid a pause in peace talks between the insurgents and American negotiators. "The operation is over -- 23 security forces killed, 15 injured and 20 insurgents killed," said Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed, a spokesman with the Ministry of Defence. A separate source from the provincial government also confirmed the toll. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A ride-sharing company has partnered with the government's flagship healthcare insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, to facilitate free healthcare for several drivers associated with the firm. The National Health Authority (NHA), the apex body implementing the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has inked an MoU with Uber. According to the agreement, Uber, under its Uber CARE initiative for driver and delivery partners, will facilitate the setting up of common service centres (CSC's) at Partners Seva Kendras across India. The CSC's village level entrepreneurs at these centers will help verify eligibility and issue e-cards to drivers for the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, which provides healthcare benefits worth Rs five lakh to each eligible family per year in government and empanelled private hospitals. CEO of NHA, Dr Indu Bhushan said, Reaching out to the last mile beneficiary lies at the core of the goal of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY of providing cashless quality inpatient care for serious illnesses with a view to protect more than 10 crore economically vulnerable families or 50 crore people from catastrophic healthcare expenditure that impoverishes more than 6 crore people every year. "Through this partnership with Uber, we hope to reach out to lakhs of people and their families in the driver and delivery community to bring them benefits of this transformative scheme and help secure their health and economic security." Drivers and delivery partners will pay only Rs 30 to obtain an Ayushman Bharat card to provide access to the services under the scheme. They will not be required to pay any charges or premium for pre-hospitalisation, hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses, which are all covered under the scheme. Each empanelled hospital is staffed by 'Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Mitras' or frontline healthcare workers to assist patients and facilitate their care at the hospital. They will also run a help desk and check documents to verify eligibility for the scheme. Pradeep Parameswaran, President, Uber, India and South Asia said, "Driver partners are at the heart of what we do and during our engagements with them, they have repeatedly mentioned the need for a stronger safety net, especially good healthcare." "Our partnership with Ayushman Bharat, the largest government healthcare scheme in the world, caters to such a requirement. It underscores our commitment not just to driver and delivery partners, but also our resolve to facilitate healthcare benefits for their family members," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The balance of influence is shifting in favour of India in the Muslim world, said former Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Talmiz Ahmad, who sees India's address to OIC for the first time as correction of a "historic wrong". "I think that this is a very significant development", Ahmad said of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's address to the grouping of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi Friday. "I see it as a shift in the balance of influence in favour of India, and away from Pakistan in the Muslim world," he told PTI. Fifty years ago, a Pakistani general (Yahya Khan) who had come to power as a result of coup d'etat had insisted that India should be evicted from the Rabat platform, he said. "50 years later, this historic wrong is being corrected. And it is significant that it is Pakistan that is missing from this Islamic forum. So, the entire scenario has shifted in favour of India and this is a result of the shift in regional and global affairs and very new perceptions relating to India and Pakistan...most important...relating to Pakistan", Ahmad, also the former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Oman said. Pakistan, he said, is recognised as the fountainhead of extremism and violence that is state-sponsored, while India is seen as the bastion of technological achievement, of economic future and of the great skills of its human resource and its total commitment to moderation and modernisation. In a major diplomatic achievement, India for the first time addressed the OIC meeting on Friday, and asserted that the war against terrorism, which was destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril, was not against any religion. India's participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to Swaraj to address the grouping of the OIC which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, a senior minister in Indira Gandhi's cabinet who later became President, was invited to attend the Rabat conference in 1969 and then disinvited at Pakistan's instance after he arrived in the Moroccan capital. Since then, India has been excluded from all OIC deliberations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood star Luke Perry, currently starring in "Riverdale", has been admitted to a hospital after he suffered a "massive" stroke. The 52-year-old actor is "currently under observation at the hospital", his representative Arnold Robinson told the Hollywood Reporter. However, contrary to what some media reports have said, "he is not in a coma," the spokesperson added. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to an address, believed to be Perry's, around 9:40 am for a "medical assistance" call on Wednesday, authorities said. The actor's health scare happened on the same day Fox announced that the original stars of "Beverly Hills 90210" has signed on for a reboot. Perry famously played bad boy Dylan McKay on the long-running '90s teen drama. The actor currently stars as Fred Andrews on "Riverdale". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Biotechnology major Biocon Friday said it has appointed Christiane Hamacher as CEO of its wholly-owned subsidiary Biocon Biologics India Ltd, effective from today. Hamacher comes with more than 20 years of leadership experience in both strategic and operational roles across the value chain in global pharma spanning Asia, Europe and the US, Biocon said in a BSE filing. Commenting on the development, Biocon Chairperson and MD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said: "Christiane joins us at a critical inflexion point in the business as we build our stature in the large and growing opportunity for biosimilar biologics. "I am confident that she will successfully lead the company to become a major global player in the near future. Being a woman leader, I believe she also brings a diversity perspective which is integral to our leadership journey." During her long career in the pharmaceutical industry, Hamacher has built expertise in the areas of oncology, virology, CNS, cardiovascular, gynaecology, diagnostics, dermatology, rheumatology and rare diseases, the filing said. Hamacher holds a PhD in Molecular Biology (Oncology) from the University Clinic Bergmannsheil / University of Bochum, Germany. She also studied Economics at the University of Hagen in Germany, it added. Shares of Biocon closed at Rs 631.45 apiece on the BSE, up 1.58 per cent from its previous close. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP Friday asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to reply to its five questions, including aligning with scamster Madhu Koda and a tie-up with the Lalu Prasad's party RJD which had opposed creation of Jharkhand, in his speech at the party rally here Saturday. after five long years Rahul Gandhi is visiting JharkhandRahul ji is welcome to Jharkhand, give replies to the (following) five questions, BJPs spokesman Pratul Shahdeo said in a press statement. Accusing Rahul of supporting the erstwhile Madhu Koda government that was allegedly involved in Rs 4000 crore scam, Shahdeo asked, Whether supporting Koda indicates giving shape to a new scam? In an apparent reference to the JMM bribery case, Shahdeos second poser was, You (Congress) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha have old connection of give and take. Make it public (as to) what deal has been struck between you and the JMM for making alliance this time. Shahdeo further asked Rahuls view on former Congress MP late Kartik Oraon, who had moved a bill in Lok Sabha to deny double benefits of reservation to converted tribals. The BJP leaders fourth query pertained to Congress alliance with the RJD in the proposed grand alliance despite the latter had opposed creation of Jharkhand and that how could the Lalu Prasad party think of the states development. Do you want to go to any level to get power, Shahdeo asked, taking a dig at the Congress president. In his last poser, Shahdeo asked who would be the leader of the proposed grand alliance in Jharkhand as Babulal Marandis Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik-JVM) has ceased to exist and that if you have accepted (JMMs) Hemant Soren as leader then announce his name because (JPCC president) Ajoy Kumar is also hoping to become the chief minister from the back door. The BJP had sought the Election Commission to direct Marandi not to use JVMs flag, election symbol and not to collect donation as Jharkhand Assembly Speaker on February 20 found legal the merger of six JVM MLAs with the BJP four years ago rejected the JVMs demand for their disqualification under the 10thSchedule. Rahul is scheduled to address a Congress rally Saturday along with opposition leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The body of a Pakistani prisoner who died following a scuffle with fellow inmates in Jaipur Central Jail on February 20 was Friday sent to the Attari border to hand it over to the Pakistani authorities, police said. Shakar Ullah (50), a member of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba succumbed to injuries on February 20. He was lodged in the Jaipur Central Jail since 2011 and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 by a court under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The body of the Pakistani prisoner was sent to Attari border at 5 pm Friday, Raj Kumar Sharma, SHO, Lal Kothi police station said. The body was kept at the SMS Hospital mortuary till February 28 after postmortem by a medical board, he said. Medical jurist N L Dasania said the body was handed over to the Lal Kothi police as per the directions of the court. IG (Jail) Rupinder Singh said the body will be handed over to the authorities at the border in the presence of Pakistan's high commission officers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia accepted the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' proposal to meet soon under their auspices, according to the statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the U.S.) met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan February 20 and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku February 21 to discuss preparations for a meeting of the leaders in the near future, including possible topics for discussion, according to the statement. "The co-chairs also held discussions with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in their respective capitals. The co-chairs were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. During the meetings in the region, the leaders briefed the Co-Chairs on their recent conversation on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The leaders and the co-chairs discussed the situation on the ground and their expectations for next steps," the statement reads. It was added that the co-chairs assessed positively the continuing lack of casualties on the line of contact, as well as welcomed the developing discussions in the region about preparing populations for peace. "The leaders accepted the Minsk Group co-chairs proposal to meet soon under their auspices. Following their visit to the region, the co-chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office travelled to Vienna and Bratislava from Feb. 28 to March 1 to brief the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak,"the statement says. Brazil has joined Australia to lodge a formal complaint against India, the world's second-largest producer, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), alleging that India's continued subsidies to farmers have led to a "glut" and "depressed" global prices. The Australian Government first lodged a counter-notification with the WTO over to India's subsidy practices last November. Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham on Thursday said India's regime was inconsistent with WTO rules and had helped create a glut in the global sugar market. "That's hurting sugercane growers and sugar millers whether they're in Australia, Brazil, or any other country in the world," Birmingham said. Birmingham said Australia was "left with no other choice but to initiate formal WTO dispute action, together with Brazil". "The Liberal- Government continues to stand side-by-side with our on this matter, Birmingham said in a statement. He said Australia respects the rights of WTO members to support their farmers and agricultural industries, this support must be consistent with WTO rules and provide a level playing field. "Australia always seeks to resolve its concerns outside of the WTO's dispute system, and our numerous representations to India at the highest levels and in the WTO have been consistent with this approach," he said. Australia maintains a very good relationship with India, both economically and strategically, and it is perfectly normal for even close friends and partners to avail themselves of WTO mechanisms from time-to-time to resolve trade issues, he said. Agriculture Minister David Littleproud and Assistant Minister for trade Mark Coulton joined Birmingham in acknowledging the work the Canegrowers and the Australian Sugar Milling Council have done in preparing to launch this WTO action. "Our industry relies heavily on exports, sending roughly 85 per cent of its raw sugar into the world market," Littleproud said. "These subsidies are hitting our farmers and millers, and I'm pleased we're exercising our WTO rights and asking for an even playing field," he said. Coulton said the made a great contribution to jobs and the economy in regional Australia and the Liberal- Government would continue to stand up for these communities. "This action being taken by the Government demonstrates our commitment to protecting the interests of our hard-working canegrowers and sugar millers, and to the rules-based international trading system that underpins the viability of our vital export industries," Coulton said. British Indian academic and manufacturing expert Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, who founded the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), passed away after a brief illness on Friday. He was 78. "His passing was peaceful and he was with his family, who are in our thoughts and prayers," WMG said in a statement. Bangalore-born Bhattacharyya, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 for his services to science and technology and made a life peer in the UK's House of Lords in 2004. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which worked closely with him over the years, described Bhattacharyya as a "visionary academic and tall leader of manufacturing excellence" in its tribute to the engineer and government adviser. "Professor Lord Bhattacharyya played a significant role in India-UK economic relations and helped found the Indo-British Partnership Initiative (IBPI), where CII was the Indian partner, launched by both governments in 1991 and was successful in taking bilateral trade and investment relations to new heights," the CII statement said. Bhattacharyya has been credited with facilitating talks that led to the Tata Group acquiring Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in 2008. His contributions were recognised when the National Automotive Innovation Centre, a 150-million pound facility dubbed as the largest single automotive facility in Europe and a joint initiative between the WMG and Tata Motors' JLR at the University of Warwick, was renamed the Lord Bhattacharyya Building last year. "Professor Lord Bhattacharyya served for four decades at Warwick, founding and leading WMG. However, his service goes far beyond this university," said Professor Stuart Croft, Warwick University Vice-Chancellor. "He has helped preserve and create jobs and transform companies, economies, and individual lives, above all in our region. We mourn the passing of a unique man but we also celebrate all that he has achieved and are thankful that those achievements will have a massive impact for years to come," he said. As the founder-chairman of WMG at the University of Warwick in central England, Bhattacharyya also helped launch the JLR Learning Academy last year to give Jaguar Land Rover employees the opportunity to undertake a degree course. "The academy will offer integrated training from apprentice to post-graduate level," he said in reference to the new academy in the House of Lords in August 2018. "We are very proud that JLR has established the first Learning Academy in this country, which is a technical accreditation scheme. In the UK, we have excellent universities and we need to exploit that and have an impact on industry," he said at the time. Warwick University said a memorial event will be planned in due course and that meanwhile Professor David Mullins had taken over as Acting Head of WMG. "It has been a great honour and privilege to have worked so closely with Professor Lord Bhattacharyya for over 20 years. At this sad time, we are all focused on growing the amazing organisation for research, education and impact that he created for national and international benefit," said Mullins. David Normington, the Pro-Chancellor of University of Warwick, added: "Long before I joined the University of Warwick Council, I knew of Professor Lord Bhattacharyya as an adviser to successive Prime Ministers and Secretaries of State and a tireless advocate for UK manufacturing industry. "He was a force of nature. He pushed at boundaries, he changed lives, he created jobs, and he set the standard for how universities should work with industry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shuffled his cabinet to fill the role vacated by an ex-minister who accuses him and others of inappropriately interfering to avoid prosecuting a major Canadian company. Trudeau named a new veterans affairs minister Friday after Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned from the cabinet on February 12. Wilson-Raybould had been justice minister and attorney general before being demoted to veterans affairs minister in January. Wilson-Raybould testified Wednesday that Trudeau, his staff and other officials imposed pressure on her to avoid criminal prosecution of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin in a case involving allegations of corruption in Libya. She said they pushed for an agreement that would let the company pay reparations but avoid a conviction. Trudeau maintains his government acted appropriately. He appointed Lawrence MacAulay as new veterans affairs minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to de-escalate tensions with Pakistan and diffuse the crisis situation in the Kashmir Valley while trying to win hearts and minds of the people. Speaking at the India Today conclave here, he said Modi and BJP leaders and ministers should not try to take credit for the act of the Indian Air Force, which the opposition and the country have lauded. "Going forward, Mr Modi either by his inner counsel or by consulting the opposition parties, adopt a strategy that will diffuse tensions with Pakistan and bring some kind of reassurance to the people of the Kashmir valley. These are two separate objectives that have to be addressed," he said. "Calm the people of the Kashmir valley and reassure them that their interests will be protected," he said. The former Union minister said the Congress was among the first to congratulate the IAF for the air strikes and after that it and other parties behaved in an exemplary manner. "We did not go out and hold rallies, public meeting and address party workers, and in fact we cancelled the CWC and other meetings scheduled yesterday. "On the other hand, we have not only the prime minister, we have the party president, home minister and other ministers fanning out all over the country addressing purely political meetings, party workers and booth workers meetings and claiming credit for what the IAF did. "The IAF does not belong to the BJP, the IAF belongs to the country. So if the IAF did a good job, the whole country is proud, why should one political party while appealing to all other parties to observe restraint, try to exploit to the situation and try to gain political advantage," he asked. Chidambaram said when the prime minister is live on television channels, "I don't think it is right for the leader of a political party which is the ruling party, to claim credit for what the IAF did. That is politicisation." He said that was not the occasion for claiming credit for which the Air Force did and suggested that he should have convened a joint session of Parliament and made a speech there and the opposition also would have joined in to praise the Indian Air Force. The Congress leader said "only time will tell, whether it is a right move or not so right move." "But I sincerely hope that this move will not push India into one direction, namely the solution to the K issue is through a war or a limited war."On questions being raised by the opposition about extensive damage in the Indian Air Force strikes, he said while the IAF adopted restraint in its statement, the External Affairs Ministry said there were no civilian or military casualties in the operation. But, it is the political party behind the government which claimed heavy casualties of terrorists, he said. "I am prepared to believe my government. But over the last few days international media have made contrary claims. "I am prepared the world cannot be asked to suspend disbelief. If somebody is perhaps raised questions, that is perhaps Mamata Banerjee has referred to," he said. About criticism of the previous UPA government by some that it did not allow such action after the 26/11 terror attacks, he said a former general has said that and it is not true. "26.11.2008 was clearly a terror attack, origins of which was clearly Pakistan. After that till May 2014, there was no terror attack in India which had its origins in Pakistan... We have had three such attacks during this government that took place in Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama, that were linked to Pakistan. "This time, when aircraft have moved into Pakistan and bombed a site in Pakistan, which I think is a bold move. We have praised the IAF. We are not taking away the credit from the Indian Air Force," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China has cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan and rerouted its international aircraft flying over the Pakistani airspace due to the regional tensions, official media here reported on Friday. The closure of Pakistan's airspace in response to escalating tensions with India disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia and left thousands of air travellers stranded worldwide. Flights from the Middle East that usually overfly Pakistan and the Pakistan-India border will have to re-route over India, Myanmar or central Asia to enter China, civil aviation experts told Global Times. The Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday, including connecting flights, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by the North China Air Traffic Management Bureau. Whether those flights will fly on Friday as scheduled is still unknown, state-run Global Times reported. The bureau said that 22 flights fly in and out of Pakistan every week, including two from Air China and other flights from Pakistan International Airlines. China is taking positive measures to deal with international flights after Pakistan shut down its airspace, opening part of Chinese airspace for foreign airlines to re-route. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) immediately launched an emergency plan to notify domestic flight companies and cooperate with the air force to ensure the safety of flights and approve temporary flight plans. Flights to Pakistan have undergone major changes in recent days and the CAAC reminded passengers to check flight information before they make plans, the statement said. Pakistan airspace was closed on Thursday. All international and domestic commercial flights in and out of Pakistan were canceled until further notice, according to reports from Pakistan. Civilian aviation experts told Global Times that flights from the Middle East that usually overfly Pakistan and the Pakistan-India border will have to re-route over India, Myanmar or central Asia to enter China. At the request of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the CAAC opened part of China's airspace and air routes for foreign airlines to re-route, China National Radio reported. As of 10 PM Thursday, 28 domestic airlines affected by the closure of Pakistani airspace adjusted flight plans and 49 foreign flights used Chinese airspace to re-route, the report added. Pakistan closed its airspace after tensions escalated with India in the wake of the Pulwama attack on February 14 by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). India carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. The facility at Balakot was headed by Yousuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of the JeM chief. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested a pilot. Later, Prime Minister Khan said that Pakistan will release the pilot as a goodwill gesture. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Friday welcomed Pakistan's decision to release the Indian Air Force pilot and encouraged the two countries to engage in more counter terrorism cooperation and dialogue for the regional peace and stability. Pakistan is set to release captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a "first step" to open negotiations with India. Pakistan detained the pilot following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. Asked how China views Pakistan's decision to release the pilot and whether Beijing played any behind-the-scenes role in it, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters: "Well, from the start China has been calling upon the two sides exercise restraint and take measures to ease tensions, engage in dialogue to resolve the differences". "I have taken note of the developments. China welcomes the goodwill signals released by the Pakistani side. De-escalation serves the common interests of both the countries. We encourage the two sides to engage in more dialogue for the peace and stability in the region," he said. About Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's offer to investigate the Pulwama terror attack if credible evidence is provided, Lu said: "we encourage the two sides to take more measures to create favourable atmosphere for the joint efforts to deal with the relevant issue. "The cooperation on counter-terrorism and jointly uphold the regional peace and stability, this is what China hopes to see". China's call for more India-Pakistan cooperation on the counter-terrorism comes in the backdrop of Beijing endorsing India's demand for elimination of breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism and agreeing to have joint policy coordination under the aegis of Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers mechanism. Briefing the media after the RIC ministers talks held on February 27 at the Chinese city of Wuzhen, Wang said: "we agreed to jointly combat all forms of terrorism through closer policy coordination and practical cooperation. Especially important is to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism". External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who attended the meeting, held talks with Wang before the RIC meeting. Wang, in his concluding remarks, tried to strike a balance by backing Pakistan, saying "we believe that Pakistan has always been opposed to terrorism". But at the same time, he said China would play a constructive role to de-escalate the tense stand-off between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mahammed (JeM). China, however, is yet to disclose the stand it would take in the UN Security Council when the US, the UK and France resolution to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist comes up for discussion. China has blocked previous three attempts by India and the three countries on the same issue. On Thursday, it sounded no-committal about the US, the UK and France resolution to list Azhar as a global terrorist. "As we have said on many occasions, the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council has clear norms on the listing of terrorist organisations or individuals and relevant procedures," Lu said in response to a question on the issue. China will continue to take a responsible attitude and participate in the discussions of the Security Council's relevant sanctions committees and other subsidiary bodies, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Biotechnology major Biocon announced that Dr Christiane Hamacher has been appointed as CEO of Biocon Biologics India Ltd., effective from Friday. Biocon Biologics India Ltd., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Biocon Ltd. Hamacher comes with more than 20 years of leadership experience in both strategic and operational roles across the value chain in global pharma, spanning Asia, Europe and the US, Biocon said in a release. She has been with Roche, Basel, Switzerland since 2007 and prior to that spent 10 years at Schering AG, Berlin, Germany, it said. "Christiane joins us at a critical inflexion point in the business as we build our stature in the large and growing opportunity for biosimilar biologics. I am confident that she will successfully lead the company to become a major globalplayer in the near future," Biocon Chairperson and ManagingDirector Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said. Biocon said, during her long career in the pharmaceutical industry, Hamacher has built expertise in the areas of oncology, virology, CNS, cardiovascular, gynaecology, diagnostics, dermatology, rheumatology and rare diseases. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CII Friday condoled the passing away of Padma Bhushan Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, describing him as a visionary academic and a tall leader of manufacturing excellence. "Prof Lord Bhattacharyya played a significant role in India-UK economic relations and helped found the Indo-British Partnership Initiative (IBPI) where CII was the Indian partner. "This was launched during the visit of Rt Hon. John Major, then Prime Minister of the UK, in 1993 and was successful in taking bilateral trade and investment relations to new heights," CII said in a statement. An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Prof Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya was globally respected for his vision and foresight. In 2002, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan by the Indian government for his services to science and technology. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- India, US need to engage at all levels to boost trade, investment potential: CUTS * Research and advocacy organisation CUTS International Friday said India and the US need to engage at all the levels to boost trade and investment between the two countries. Ways to promote economic ties was discussed during a panel discussion on 'Advancing United States and India Relations - Mission USD 500 billion Bilateral Trade', organised by the organisation. The momentum to deepen trade and economic partnership is building, however, a lot of contentious issues remains to be resolved, Udai S Mehta, deputy executive director at CUTS International said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Smart India Hackathon 2019 grand finale to be held on March 2,3 * The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Friday said the Smart India Hackathon 2019 grand finale will be held on March 2 and 3 at 49 different centres. It said more than 34,000 ideas will be evaluated in the process. Launched on Aug 29, 2018, the hackathon aims at harnessing creativity and expertise of students, the department said in a statement. "During the software edition grand finale, teams of thousands of technology students will build innovative digital solutions for problems posed by different industries, ministries and departments," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 21-year-old college student was held for allegedly trespassing into Indian Air Force premises in Delhi Cantonment, police said Friday. The man, identified as Rohit, is a native of Bihar and has been staying in the city's Bawana area with his elder brother, who is a labour, they said. Rohit was caught by Air Force officials in the early hours of Friday. After interrogating him, the officials handed him over to the local police, police added. As per protocol, the security agencies also questioned him and nothing suspicious was found, a senior police officer said. The officer said a medical examination was conducted and Rohit was found to be under influence of drugs. Further interrogation is underway, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The construction work of the new Meghalaya Assembly building will start soon as the high-powered committee (HPC) has given approval to the project, Speaker Donkupur Roy has said. The new building will be constructed on 80 acres land at Mawdiangdiang in New Shillong Township. The old Meghalaya Assembly building at Khyndailad was gutted in 2001. "We (HCP) have approved the proposal to allot the construction work of the Assembly building to Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd, a psu of the Uttar Pradesh government," Roy told mediapersons here on Thursday. "We have to ensure that the work starts before the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls comes into force," he said. Roy, who also heads the HPC, said the first phase of the project would include the construction of the Assembly building and office while the quarters for the Speaker and staff will taken up in the second phase. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma expressed confidence that the work of the new Assembly building would be completed within the stipulated time of 36 months. Asked about funds for the project, the chief minister said apart from mobilising funds from own resources, the state government would also approach the Centre for extending financial support for construction of the new Assembly building. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moscow is ready to provide all possible assistance to resolve the crisis in relations between India and Pakistan, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "Russia is, naturally, ready to contribute to the early normalization of the crisis situation in every possible way. However, that depends, first and foremost, on the parties, which have to do with the conflict situation," the Kremlin spokesman stressed. He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the situation during a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "No contacts with the Pakistani counterpart are planned so far," TASS cited Peskov as saying. The Delhi Commission for Women on Friday wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik over sale of illegal liquor and drugs in the national capital. In a letter to Patnaik, DCW chief Swati Maliwal said in every lane that she went to in the last five days, women and girls told her about the "sale of illegal liquor and drugs from houses and that the crime remains unchecked as the local police is hand in glove with the criminals". She said the national capital was in a firm grip of drug and liquor menace and "generations were being destroyed and the roots of the country were being weakened". Blaming drugs and liquor for the growing crime rate in the city, Maliwal wrote that she met some boys who were consuming drugs openly in New Seemapuri. The DCW chief said they told her how initially they were forced to consume drugs till they became addicted. Now they indulge in petty crimes to collect money for buying drugs. The commission on Thursday issued notices to the Delhi Police over complaints of illicit liquor and drugs being sold at Jahangirpuri and Bhalaswa. "Locals have lost trust in police when they realised that the criminals are openly peddling drugs and liquor due to their collusion with the police," Maliwal wrote in her letter to the Delhi Police commissioner. She has urged Patnaik to urgently convene a high level meeting of the special commissioners and DCPs and ensure that illegal liquor and drugs were not sold in the city. "Ascertain the source of illegal alcohol and drugs that is being supplied in Delhi and take strongest action against the high level criminals involved in the racket," she said in the letter. She also requested Patnaik to take strongest action against police officials who are operating in collusion with liquor and drug peddlers. Maliwal has asked him to send a report regarding this to the DCW in the next 10 days. The commission is carrying out a 12-day-long 'Mahila Suraksha Padyatra' in Delhi. During the 'padyatra', the DCW members are meeting people, hearing their complaints and initiating actions on the spot. The 'padyatra' will culminate on March 8 in Connaught Place at an event to mark the International Women's Day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court Friday that the criminal law amendment introducing death penalty for a repeat offence of rape was not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Delhi gang-rape incident. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni stated this in response to the defence's argument in the Shakti Mills rape case challenging the validity of IPC section 376(E). Kumbhakoni said the amendment was "well thought out" and not a "knee-jerk reaction". Advocate Yug Chaudhry, who represents three convicts in the case who have been awarded death sentence, had argued that section 376 (E) is arbitrary and does not prescribe a punishment proportional to the crime. The amendment was passed in haste following the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, he had said. Kumbhakoni told a bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and Revati Mohite-Dere that the amendment was brought following the recommendations of an experts committee in the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape, and passed by Parliament after due deliberation. Its purpose was to introduce a punishment proportional to the offence of repeat rape, Kumbhakoni said. Advocate Abad Ponda, serving as amicus curiae (lawyer appointed by the court to assist it), backed his argument. He cited police records and the National Crime Records Bureau data to show that the rate of crime against women had risen consistently since 1971 and "reached alarming levels". "Therefore, it was essential to bring about an amendment to ensure that a strong message was sent out to society," Ponda said. In April 2014, a sessions court here convicted five persons for gang-rape of a photo-journalist at Shakti Mills Compound in Central Mumbai. Of them, Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Salim Ansari got the death penalty under the newly introduced section 376 (E) as they were convicted in a previous case of gang-rape. They have challenged constitutional validity of the section 376 (E) before the high court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the NDA government's decision to create a South Coast Railway Zone headquartered here shows its commitment for Andhra Pradesh's development. The Prime Minister also listed the Centre's various efforts in the state, in what is seen as a response to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu's taunt asking him if he was not ashamed to visit the state with 'empty hands.' Without naming Naidu and in an apparent reference to his aligning with the Congress, Modi said the TDP supremo was now hobnobbing with those who "spared no efforts to hurt" Andhra's pride. He also lashed out at those whom he described as speaking in support of Pakistan against the backdrop of the tensions between the two countries, and asked them to 'introspect' on why their comments were being lauded in the neighbouring country. Apparently referring to some opposition parties and the proposed Mahagathbandhan, Modi said "Why are the parties of 'Mahamilavat' (highly adulterated) indulging in petty that is benefiting the enemy. In their hatred for Modi, they have started hating the country." Visakhapatnam was a 'dream city' of Andhra youth and the Centre had accorded priority to fulfil their aspirations, he said, addressing a public meeting. "Today I have come here with a good The government has taken a proactive step on a long pending demand. Centre has decided to create South Coast railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters," Modi said. This was as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, he said. Other initiatives for the state included upgradation of the local airport, an IIT, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy, ESIC super speciality hospital and creating oil reserve facilities, he said. The 'pradhan sevak' (principal worker) was totally dedicated for the development of the state and the NDA was doing it with full vigour and honesty as "there is no baggage on us." "We have no fear of what will happen if some file is opened. Only those who had sinned will be afraid. This fear is consuming our rivals, among who are those trying to establish a dynasty," he said without naming anyone. In an apparent reference to Naidu, he called him an "expert in U-turn," and said had he fulfilled the promises made by him, he could not have had to blame the Prime Minister for his follies. "He (Naidu) is hobnobbing with those who spared no efforts to hurt Andhra's pride," Modi said in an apparent reference to the TDP leader's aligning with the Congress. Ahead of the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, Modi has been training his guns against Naidu, seeking to remind him that the Telugu Desam Party founder, the late NT Ramarao, had founded the very party against the Congress. Modi also said those who have to ensure the progress of sons and daughters of Andhra Pradesh were doing it for their own sons and daughters, seen as yet another criticism directed at Naidu. In a letter to the Prime Minister on the eve of his scheduled visit to the port city, Naidu had asked Modi if he was not ashamed to visit the state with 'empty hands', saying he owed an explanation to 'five crore people' over unfulfilled promises,vis-a-vis the AP Reorganisation Act,2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan Friday rolled out a slew of projects worth over Rs 1,500 crore across Assam and said the Centre plans to make the state a hub of oil trade in Southeast Asia. Pradhan also slammed the erstwhile Congress government, both at Centre and state, for "not doing" anything for developing the North East despite Assam electing the UPA Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for two terms. "All petroleum products from the North East to Bangladesh, Bhutan and other Southeast Asian countries will go via Assam. We will make Assam a centre of world oil trading in this region," the Union Petroleum minister said. Pradhan dedicated a number of completed projects, worth Rs 1,524 crore, to the nation. Pradhan also announced the commencement of work of the KD Malaviya National Oil Museum at Guwahati, to be set up at an investment of Rs 104 crore over the next five-and-a-half years. The museum will showcase the rich history and heritage of the petroleum industry in India. It will have five galleries and a 3D theatre among others. "Assam was always neglected in earlier years. It lagged behind during earlier government's time. They were only giving lectures, but worked less... Manmohan Singh, who was elected from Assam, had planned the ONGC's hospital, but he left it there only and did nothing," Pradhan alleged. He claimed that initiatives were taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to expedite the work of the Rs 316 crore 300-bed hospital, the first phase of which was opened with 50 beds. To fulfil the targets of the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030, all PSU oil firms such as ONGC, IOC, BPCL, NRL, OIL and GAIL are making huge investments in the region. "In Bongaingaon refinery, we have invested Rs 2,500 crore. When we will make BS-VI norm, then there will be an additional investment of Rs 1,200 crore. For the bamboo-ethanol fuel project, Rs 1,259 crore is being invested," Pradhhan said. In addition, Rs 9,225 crore is being invested for the 1,650 km gas grid project by the PSU firms, connecting all the eight Northeastern states, he added. Speaking on the occasion, ONGC Chairman and MD Shashi Shanker said the company will invest Rs 1,300 crore in Assam in the next five years, 30 per cent more than what the oil giant had invested in the last five years. "For the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030, major development and revamp is going in Assam. It will incur an investment of Rs 2,350 crore. Further, projects worth Rs 800 crore are at different stages of implementation," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Procedural delays and issues relating to documentation held up the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to Indian authorities by Pakistan for several hours Friday, official sources said. Initially the Indian authorities indicated that Wing Commander Varthaman would be handed over to India at around 4 PM and later they suggested that he would be released at around 6:30 PM. However, he finally emerged at 9.10 pm Indian time at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. The sources said Pakistan postponed the time of his release twice. Varthaman was captured by Pakistani authorities on February 27 after an air combat between the air forces of the two countries, a day after New Delhi had conducted counter-terror operations in Pakistan's Balakot. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday announced his release as a "peace gesture". However, India has been maintaining that Pakistan's decision is in consonance with the Geneva Convention. The Pakistani government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Minister has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him not to hand over the international airport here to a private entity. The had emerged as the highest bidder for managing, operating and developing six airports of Airports Authority of India, including that in Thiruvananthapuram, which are to be privatised. In a letter to the prime minister, Vijayan demanded that the airport's operation be handed over to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) floated by the government-run State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). The interests of the Centre and the state would be protected by this move, and with the state backing it would also pave the way for the airport's development, he said in the letter. There is lot of opposition from the public to the handing over of the airport's functioning to a private entity, he said, adding that the same company has got the bids for all six airports in the country. About 23.57 acres of land was given for free to the airport for developing it in 2005 on the condition that the cost of the land would be converted to government equity if a company was formed to manage it, he said. A large number of people from different walks of life thronged the Attari border Friday to witness the return of their "hero" Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who is expected to touch home soil after his release from Pakistan. Wing Commander Varthaman, son of a decorated IAF veteran, was captured by Pakistan after his jet went down following a strike by an enemy missile. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Excited citizens carrying tricolor, raising patriotic slogans and dancing to 'dhol' beats waited with bated breath to catch a glimpse of the IAF pilot. Patriotic fervour prevailed at the border with residents singing songs, beating drums and carrying tricolour. They sang patriotic songs and raised slogans like "Bharat Mata ki Jai". A Sikh youth was seen carrying a huge garland, while an elderly man was seen beating 'dhol'. "If permitted, I want to welcome the Wing Commander with this garland," said the youth carrying garland. Many were also seen with tattoos of Indian flags on their faces. Amritsar Municipal Corporation Deputy Mayor Raman Bakshi, who reached here along with his supporters said, "Today we are full of enthusiasm as our hero is returning." He was also carrying Indian flags, sweet boxes and garlands. Neha, a young tourist from Delhi, said, "I feel blessed that today I am going to have a glimpse of a real life hero who without caring for his life showed such valor." Security arrangements have been further strengthened here, with Punjab Police personnel deployed in large numbers. Amid tight security arrangements, crowds were stopped nearly one km away from the Attari-Wagah Indo-Pak border. A battery of media persons camping there since morning were also not allowed to go near the JCP (Joint Check Post), the land transit route between India and Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) European Union's protectionist policies for import of steel products from India and other markets coupled with shut down of Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin plant are among the major reasons for a sharp drop in exports of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, the EEPC India said Friday. The engineering exporters' body cautioned that the declining trend in outward shipments of the key metals may continue for some time. "Exports of primary steel fell by 10.7 per cent in January 2019 and 14 per cent in the first ten months of the current fiscal. Exports of copper and copper products dropped by 76.6 per cent in January 2019 and 69.6 per cent in first the ten months," EEPC India said in a statement. ''It is clear from these facts that the protectionist policies adopted by EU, the US are also responsible for the decline in exports of steel," the exporters' body said. According to EEPC India, the country's refined copper production fell significantly during the first half of 2018-19 mainly due to the shutdown of the 400 KT, Tuticorin smelter of Sterlite which accounted for 40 per cent of India's smelting capacity. ''Recently, the Supreme Court refused to allow Vedanta plan to reopen Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin plant. Therefore, in this context, EEPC India feels that the trend in exports of copper will continue," the body said. Outward shipments of zinc and products declined by 17.6 per cent in January 2019 and 29.7 per cent in the first ten months, according to EEPC India analysis. Despatches of tin and products fell by 54.8 per cent in January 2019 and 17.4 per cent in the cumulative months of the current fiscal, it said. "The cumulative impact of the fall in these four product lines is USD 3.542 billion for the first ten months (without any growth)," said EEPC India Chairman Ravi Sehgal. The country's exports grew marginally by 3.74 per cent in January due to subdued performance of key sectors including engineering, leather, and gems & jewellery, even as the trade deficit narrowed to USD 14.73 billion. According to data from the commerce ministry, exports during the month increased to USD 26.36 billion, compared with USD 25.41 billion in January 2018. EEPC India said the domestic industry relies heavily on imports of copper concentrate from far off countries, particularly South Africa, which increases cost of production. "The duty on the copper concentrate is presently 2.5 per cent finished goods coming at zero duty, there is a situation of inverted duty structure. Government could consider removal of this duty in order to help the industry becoming globally competitive," the body suggested. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday hailed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman saying every Indian was proud of him and lashed out at political rivals for suspecting the armed forces which, he said, helped Pakistan. Modi also hit out at the previous Congress-led UPA government for allegedly "blocking," surgical strikes post 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008. After inaugurating several government projects here, Modi said "I am proud that India's first woman Defence Mininster Nirmala ji is from Tamil Nadu. Every Indian is proud that the brave wing commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu." The events of the past two days, an apparent reference to IAF's air strikes and the IAF shooting down a Pakistan jet, have demonstrated yet again the strengths of the country's armed forces, Modi said. "It has also brought our nation closer," the prime minister said, an obvious pointer to the outpouring of support to Abhinandan and India's armed forces from the people. However, he said, it was sad that a few political parties "suspect our fight against terror." When the entire nation supports the country's armed forces, they "suspect the armed forces," he said. "These are the same people whose statements are helping Pakistan and harming India. They are the same people whose statements are happily quoted in the Parliament of Pakistan and in the radio of Pakistan," Modi said. "They should clarify- do they believe our armed forces or they believe those forces who support terrorism on our soil? I want to tell them- Modi will come and go, India will remain. Please stop weakening India to strengthen your own politics," Modi said. "We are Indians first and your can wait...it is the safety of our nation that is at stake," the prime minister said. He asserted that the entire world was supporting India in its fight against terror. Reiterating his government's resolve against terrorism by retaliation, he slammed the previous UPA government for not following such aggressive tactics. "The nation expected those responsible for these acts of terror to be punished but nothing happened. 26/11 (Mumbai terror attacks) happened in India but nothing happened," Modi said. Citing reports, the prime minister said though the Indian Air Force wanted to carry out surgical strikes post 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "UPA blocked it." "And today we are in an era where the reads armed forces have full freedom to do what they want. Influence of terroirsts and terrorism is curtailed and is going to be curtailed even more. This is a new India, this is an India that will return the damage done by terrorists with interest," the prime minister said. He rued the bomb blasts at Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune between 2004 and 2014 when the UPA was in power. The country has been facing the menace of terrorism for years "but there "is a big difference now..India will no longer be helpless in the face of terror," Modi said. "But when Uri happened, you show what our brave soldiers did (surgical strikes), Pulwama happened, and you show what our brave air warriors did (Balakot air strikes). I salute those who are serving their nation. Their vigilance keeps the nation secure," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Automobile industry players Friday said the government's announcement of Rs 10,000-crore FAME-II scheme brings clarity and policy stability, and will provide a big fillip to popularisation of electric vehicles in India. Industry bodies SIAM, SMEV, along with companies like Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, lauded the phase-II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME) saying it will create an environment for all players to commit investments on the journey of sustainability. "This will provide a big fillip to our joint efforts to introduce higher levels of electric mobility in the country," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Rajan Wadhera said in a statement. He further said the industry has been eagerly waiting for more than two years for announcement of a long-term policy, including finalisation of the FAME-II scheme. The three-year scheme, with significantly enhanced financial allocations, will instill tremendous confidence in the auto as well as the component industry while making long-term investment decisions in electric vehicle (EV) development and manufacturing with minimum risk, he added. Echoing similar sentiments, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) Director General Sohinder Gill said, "The support would encourage associated industry players to invest in the sector, which will further help in creating an ecosystem, locally." On Thursday, the Union Cabinet cleared a Rs 10,000-crore programme under the FAME-II scheme to be implemented over a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2019. Through the scheme, the government plans to to support 10 lakh electric two-wheelers, five lakh three-wheelers, 55,000 four-wheelers and 7,000 buses. In three-wheeler and four-wheeler segments, incentives will be applicable mainly on vehicles used for public transport or registered commercial purposes, while the focus will be on private vehicles in the two-wheeler segment. "The new outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over a period of three years provides a stable policy to promote green mobility in India," Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka said. Fame-II addresses key issues, including national energy security, mitigation of adverse impact of vehicles on the environment and growth of domestic technology and manufacturing capabilities, he added. "The revised FAME-II removes all the uncertainty and will put EVs in the fast lane," he said. While expressing support to the Central government's focus to boost EVs in public transportation, he also asked "local authorities to help facilitate plying of electric vehicles on Indian roads." Tata Motors President - Electric Mobility Business and Corporate Strategy Shailesh Chandra said the industry saw FAME-II as the key intervention in accelerating penetration of EVs. "It brings clarity and policy stability in the industry, thus creating an environment for all the ecosystem players to commit to the journey of sustainability," Chandra said. Lohia Auto CEO Ayush Lohia said the government support under FAME II will give electric vehicles the much-needed push in India. "It will make two and three-wheeler electric vehicles very attractive to customers as it would end up bringing down their costs viz-a-viz petrol vehicles. It will also increase sales push, consumer acceptance and help build a customer base," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States plans to buy portable air-defense systems and weapons in an Eastern European country and send them close to Venezuelas border. It looks like the U.S. is considering a military intervention in Venezuela, Lavrov said during a press conference with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. "In this scenario, Washington would be buying arms in Eastern Europe and sending them via cargo plane to locations near Venezuelas borders," RT cited the Russian minister as saying. Russias top diplomat added that Venezuelas neighbors Brazil and Colombia are against U.S. military intervention, voicing hope that it "would cool the hot heads in Washington." Ghaziabad will soon boast of one of north India's largest Unani medicine institute for practice and research, foundation stone for which was laid by Union Minister of State (independent charge) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik on Friday. The National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM), being built at a cost of more than Rs 300 crore and will be spread in an area of 10 acres, is an extension of a similar facility in Bengaluru, but will have its own identity, Naik said. "It will be a postgraduate institute with facilities like OPD, a 200-bedded hospital, pharmacy, hostel for college students etc. The project is expected to be completed in two years," Naik said during his address flanked by Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Ghaziabad MP V K Singh. He said the Ministry of AYUSH is establishing the institute as a part of its commitment towards provision and promotion of quality education, research and healthcare services through Unani and other traditional Indian medicine systems. "With a 200-bedded hospital, the institute would cater to the needs of the masses and would have facilities for quality research and education at postgraduate and PhD levels," he added. "We believe that only curing ill people is not enough to meet our goals of proper healthcare. Instead of curing their illness, it would be easier to provide preventive care against diseases like obesity, diabetes, or heart-related issues. Out traditional medicine systems have answers for this," Naik said. Singh described the institute was a "gift" to the people of Ghaziabad whose benefits would be reaped by locals and others coming in from outside the district too. He said he was grateful to the central government for choosing the "gateway to Uttar Pradesh" for setting up the Unani institute after opening other major AYUSH facilities in Delhi's Sarita Vihar and Narela. "There are several diseases and disorders for which other medicine systems do not have much to offer. Like there are many skin related problems for which only Unani has a cure," the former Army chief said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) France Friday extended its complete solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism in all its forms, as it welcomed the easing of tensions between India and Pakistan and the release the IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. "I welcome the easing of tensions between India and Pakistan as well as the release of the Indian Air Force pilot detained in Pakistan. I hail the two governments' choice of restraint and responsibility and urge them to resume bilateral dialogue," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. France, which is assuming the presidency of the United Nations Security Council from Friday, will do its utmost so that those responsible for the terrible attack in Pulwama are sanctioned, he said. France reiterated its complete solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism in all its forms. The US, the UK and France on Wednesday moved a fresh proposal in the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based terror group JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, a listing that will subject him to global travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo. The Security Council Sanctions Committee will have 10 working days to consider the fresh proposal submitted by the three members. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale Friday briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs on the Indo-Pak front. The committee headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor met in Parliament House this afternoon. The briefing was on Indo-Pak relations in the light of the strain in relationship after the Pulwama attack and an air strike by India, officials said. "The parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will receive a briefing from the MEA on the current situation with Pakistan..." Tharoor tweeted earlier. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Akil Lakdawala, brother of fugitive gangster Ejaz Lakdawala, has been arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from a builder here, a senior police official said Friday. Ejaz Lakdawala had been calling several builders in the western suburbs since December and demanding 'protection money', he said. On February 26, a builder approached the anti-extortion cell of Mumbai Police and lodged a complaint against the gangster. Ejaz had threatened him over phone and demanded Rs 50 lakh, the builder told the police. Probe revealed that Akil was also involved in the extortion racket, and following a tip-off, he was nabbed from Mira Road area on the outskirts of Mumbai Thursday, the officer said. Akil had a similar case registered against him in the past and was on bail. He was booked under IPC section 386 (extortion) and 120 (criminal conspiracy) and produced before a court which remanded him in police custody till March 8. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) regulator has barred Commex Technology and two of its former directors from the capital in a matter related to manipulation in issuance of a global depository receipts (GDR). Commex has been barred for five years and its former directors -- Adi Cooper and Kishore Hegde -- for two years, as per Sebi's order dated February 28. The regulator after conducting a probe found that the firm issued 1.91 million GDRs worth USD 9.99 million on May 25, 2009, on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. It was observed that the entire 1.91 million GDR were subscribed by only one entity Vintage FZE, and Commex had not submitted the correct list of GDR subscribers to Sebi, the regulator said. The subscription amount was paid by Vintage after obtaining loan from European American Investment Bank (EURAM). However, the loan paid by Vintage was secured by pledge agreement between Commex and EURAM Bank. Besides, GDR issue would not have been subscribed if Commex had not given such security towards the loan taken by Vintage, said. The firm did not disclose the underlying fraudulent arrangement of the loan and pledge agreement in the GDR issue to the exchanges and by stating that the GDR was successfully placed, it gave a misleading appearance of the firm in the market, the regulator noted. Regarding the directors, said they were members of board of directors who approved the resolution regarding GDR issue and thereby acted as parties to fraudulent arrangement of subscription of GDR, the regulator said. By indulging in such activities, the entities violated PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trading Practices) regulations and thereby a ban was imposed on them, (Sebi) said. Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday briefed top American military officials and envoys from the US, the UK and China here over the Indo-Pak tensions and said the country would retaliate to any aggression in self defence. Gen Bajwa spoke over telephone with the commander of the US Central Command (USCENTCOM Gen Joseph Votel), the UK's Chief of Defence Staff (General Sir Nicholas Carter) and the Australia's Chief of Defence Forces (General Angus Campbell) and ambassadors of US, UK & China in Pakistan, Armu spokesperson Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) informed them about the tensions with India. "Prevailing stand off between Pakistan & India & its impact on peace & stability in the region & beyond discussed," Maj Gen Ghafoor tweeted. He said that COAS told them: "Pakistan shall surely respond to any aggression in self defence." The telephonic contacts came amid tensions between the two neighbours after Pakistan detained an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot on Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. The Pakistan government on Thursday decided to release him as "a first step" to open negotiations with India to de-escalate tension after a terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 21-year-old German woman and her friend were detained for allegedly entering into a prohibited area near the India-Pakistan international border in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district on Friday, police said. The woman, Juliane Wloch, and her friend, Rupesh Kumar, were detained for entering into the Tanot temple area, which is prohibited for foreign citizens, said Ramgarh police station incharge Kanta Singh. The woman and her friend live in Germany and had come to visit Jaisalmer with Kumar's parents, the officer said. The driver of the car had requested them to not enter the prohibited area, but Kumar's father, who was a Border Security Force (BSF) official, ignored the advice, the officer said. The duo was carrying valid documents and were interrogated by the joint intelligence agencies, the officer added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A parliamentary panel Friday asked the government to go all out to explain to the international community the reasons behind India's decision to carry out an air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp inside Pakistan. The suggestion came when Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs about the latest developments that have taken place between India and Pakistan after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack by the JeM in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. The panel told the foreign secretary that the government should highlight the impact of the air strike and the information about the extent of damage, including casualties, suffered by the JeM. This will ensure that no international agency questions the impact of the strike, a member of the panel said. Gokhale, who was assisted by officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), informed the panel's members about the air strike on the JeM terror camp in Pakistan and also about the retaliation by the western neighbour, a source said. A committee member, who was present in the meeting, said foreign ministry officials had briefed the panel earlier in October when Imran Khan was elected prime minister of Pakistan. On Friday, the briefing included the MEA's assessment of the Pakistan prime minister's tenure so far, the member said. The foreign secretary also told the panel that an attempt by the Pakistan Air Force on to target military installations in India was unsuccessful as it was thwarted by the Indian Air Force, which lost a jet in the fight back. The members told the foreign secretary that the government should vigorously publicise across the world the reasons behind New Delhi's move to target the terror camp, a member later said. Another member said the foreign secretary detailed the diplomatic measures that the ministry took right from after the Pulwama attack to the ensuing air strike, and efforts thereon to seek out the international community to brief them about the empasse, in an effort to isolate Pakistan globally. Foreign Secretary Gokhale assured the committee that diplomatic overtures to the international community were still underway. He also informed the members on how India got the support of the members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the issue. In a major diplomatic achievement, India on Friday for the first time addressed the OIC meeting in Abu Dhabi where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is a guest of honour. Pakistan has boycotted the plenary session of the OIC meet to protest India's participation there. One of the parliamentary panel's members also said while a slew of questions were asked to the foreign secretary about the anti-terror strikes against Pakistan, Gokhale was "cautious" about answering them, taking the stand that he could not reveal much because of the "sensitive nature" of the information and "national security". The panel raised some queries about the assessment of damage caused by the air strike, but Gokhale informed that the Defence Ministry was better equipped to answer. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is a member of the committee but was not present in the meeting Friday. The panel members also lauded the armed forces, including the IAF, and described the air strike as a "glorious and heroic" job which needs to be widely publicised. The purpose of the meeting, described as good and constructive, was part of "parliamentary accountability" and the MEA gave a brieing in this regard, a member said. The meeting was attended by chairperson Shashi Tharoor, Arka Keshari Deo, Prof Richard Hay, Jagdambika Pal, Magannti Venakateshwara Rao, Mohammad Salim, P Bhattacharya, Sambhaji Chhatrapati, Swapan Dasgupta, Chunibhai Kanjibhai Gohel and Kumar Ketkar. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "It is good to be back in my country," was the first reaction of IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as he set his foot back on Indian soil. This was stated by an official quoting Varthaman after he received the pilot at the Attari-Wagah border soon after his release by Pakistan. Varthaman was captured by Pakistani authorities on February 27 after an air combat between the air forces of the two countries, a day after New Delhi had conducted counter-terror operations in Pakistan's Balakot. "We are happy to have him back," said a top IAF officer shortly after Varthaman was handed over to Indian authorities. Reading out a brief statement, Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, assistant chief of Air Staff, told a posse of reporters that the pilot will be taken for a detailed medical examination as he was subjected to lot of stress during his nearly three-day captivity. "He will be taken for a detailed medical checkup. The officer has had to eject from a plane which would have put his body under immense strain," said Kapoor. The Air Vice Marshal did not take any question from the media. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Several guest teachers of Delhi government schools, whose contract ended on February 28, protested outside Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's residence on Friday. As many as 25,000 teachers are staring at uncertainty as their contracts ended on February 28 and they have not yet been informed whether their services have been terminated or their contracts will be renewed. According to Shoaib Rana, member of All India Guest Teachers' Association, "We are being asked to report for work when there is no assurance from the government on our salaries or the bills that we have submitted. Around 2,000 teachers protested on Friday and on Saturday around 5,000 teachers will be there for the protest." The guest teachers said that the Delhi government has been saying that the Services Department is not with them and their hands are tied in the matter. The Delhi High Court had earlier directed that guest teachers will continue till February 28 or till the time regular teachers were appointed. The court had gave the direction while hearing a plea of an NGO against the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board over the appointment of permanent teachers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro ordered to close the Lisbon office of the national oil and gas company PDVSA and relocate it to Moscow, Executive Vice President of the country Delcy Rodriguez said at a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "President Nicolas Maduro instructed the Lisbon branch of PDVSA to close this office and relocate the office to Moscow," she said. Relocation of the European office of the national oil and gas company from Lisbon to Moscow is taking place within the "framework of broadening cooperation with Rosneft and Gazprom," she explained. "The moment now is the most suitable to do so," TASS cited Rodriguez as saying. "We are changing the format of our relations," Venezuela's Executive Vice President noted. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani took ill Friday morning and his health deteriorated later in the day, leading to cancellation of his official engagements and a trip to Junagadh, said a medical bulletin issued by the state government. Rupani, said to be stable now, was forced to cancel his trip to Junagadh after his health deteriorated in Rajkot, said the bulletin. The 62-year-old chief minister has been diagnosed with swelling on intestines and advised rest by doctors, it said. All his engagements of Friday evening and also Saturday were cancelled, officials in the CMO said. Rupani was supposed to receive Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Rajkot airport. From there, both of them were scheduled to visit the ongoing Shivratri fair at Junagadh town, which has been declared as a 'Mini Kumbh' by the Gujarat government, the officials said. Though Rupani was down with fever in the morning and also complained of vomiting, he left for Rajkot from Gandhinagar after a primary check-up by doctors, said the bulletin. However, his health deteriorated after reaching Rajkot, forcing him to return to Ahmedabad, where he was taken to the Civil Hospital for check-up, it said. However, doctors have said there is no need to worry as the CM's health is stable now, said the bulletin. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "We are happy to have him back," said a top IAF officer Friday night shortly after the captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to Indian authorities by Pakistan at the border point here. Reading out a brief statement, Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, assistant chief of Air Staff, told a posse of reporters that the pilot will be taken for a detailed medical examination as he was subjected to lot of stress during his nearly three-day captivity. The Air Vice Marshal did not take any questions from the media. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister and former Army chief V K Singh on Friday said he was happy that Pakistan was releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, but the neighbouring country needs to do a "lot more" to fight terrorism. The Centre is taking "appropriate measures" and "such steps are not revealed", the minister of state for external affairs told reporters on the sidelines of an event in his Lok Sabha constituency when asked about the Centre's next step amid the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. "Returning #WingCommanderAbhinandan is a welcome move, however, it is the first of many steps that #Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace. We need an affirmative and verifiable action by Pakistan against terrorism," he said in a tweet. Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, is set to return home on Friday, a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his release as a "gesture of peace". "It must be understood that #Pakistan has not done us a favour by returning #WingCommanderAbhinandan. Under the #GenevaConvention, a serving soldier captured during conflict has to be returned. "We must not forget that after 1971, we released over 90,000 PoW from Pakistan (sic)," he said in tweeted later. On Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi not attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) being hosted by the United Arab Emirates, Singh said, "It's Qureshi's brain, let them do what they want." Qureshi on Friday announced that he will not attend the meeting over the grouping's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. Reacting to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's remarks on India's air-strike in Pakistan, Singh said, "There are a lot of people who don't have any work." Citing foreign media reports that not much damage was done by the Indian Air Force's preemptive strike on terror camps at Balakot, Banerjee on Thursday had said, "The Force should be given an opportunity to come up with facts."On trade relations between the two nations, Singh said, "The MFN (Most favoured nation) status to Pakistan has already been withdrawn. With this, goods imported from there will become costly and obviously people won't go for costly products. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A plea in the Delhi High Court has sought an SIT probe into the functioning of AYUSH Directorate alleging that it has failed to provide quality health care to the people of the national capital. The court has issued notice to the Delhi government and sought its response on the PIL which has alleged that there are irregularities in the functioning of the Directorate of AYUSH, an acronym for alternative medicines -- Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao directed the government to file its reply before the next date of hearing on July 30. The order came on the petition by Tarun Narang, a lawyer, who has contended that "millions of people of Delhi have been deprived of quality healthcare facilities in Indian systems of medicine and made to suffer because of the irregularities and failure of the... (Directorate) in discharging its mandated functions of providing quality health care facilities". He has claimed in his plea that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had carried out a performance audit on the functioning of AYUSH from 2012-17 and had found "inadequacies and deficiencies in planning and execution of schemes and programmes" even as the number of patients visiting its hospitals and dispensaries increased. The petition has alleged that according to the CAG report, Directorate of AYUSH did not initiate action to achieve specific objectives of the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP), like opening 60 new dispensaries. Instead it could open only 25 dispensaries, it added. Apart from that the directorate unauthorisedly spent over Rs 1.1 crore on advertising and publicity and 58.83 per cent of the total expenditure was at the end of the financial years, "ostensibly to exhaust the funds", the petition has alleged. It also alleged that none of the central drug stores run by the directorate had the full complement of Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic essential medicines and there were also shortage of doctors, pharmacists and support staff at its dispensaries. "Test-check of stock registers maintained at central drug store and at selected Ayurvedic and Unani dispensaries revealed discrepancies between the quantities of medicines shown as issued from the central drug store and the quantities received in the dispensaries," the petition has said. Apart from a probe into the alleged irregularities in AYUSH by a Special Investigative Team (SIT), Narang has sought orders to the Delhi government and its Health Department to "provide quality healthcare facilities in Indian systems of medicine" to people of the national capital, fill up the vacancies of medical staff and stock adequate essential medicines in Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic dispensaries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court Friday questioned the Maharashtra government's decision to create a separate category called Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) for providing reservation to the Maratha community. A division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre asked why the Maratha community was not included in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. "If, according to the government the SEBC and OBC are one and the same then what was the need to create a separate class?" Justice More asked. "The state could have included the Maratha community in the OBC category and granted them (Marathas) 16 per cent reservation. Why the segregation?" the court said. Responding to the court's query, government counsel V A Thorat said the state's intention was to give the Maratha community reservation only in government jobs and educational institutions. "Had the government included the Maratha community in the OBC category, then they would have automatically got full reservation, including political. The state did not want this," Thorat said. "This was the main reason and ground for creating a separate category," the senior counsel argued. Thorat further argued that Articles 15 (4) and 16 (4) of the Constitution of India gives the state government powers to identify backward classes and take measures towards their betterment. On November 30, 2018, the Maharashtra Legislature passed a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for the Marathas, a declared socially and educationally backward class by the government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday said it was heartening to learn about the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who has inspired the country with his bravery and conduct. "He has inspired the entire country with his bravery and conduct," Vijayan tweeted. "It is heartening to learn about the release of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. He has inspired the entire country with his bravery and conduct. On behalf of the people of Kerala, I welcome him," Vijayan tweeted. Pakistan had detained the pilot Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. The Pakistan government Thursday decided to release him as "a first step" to open negotiations with India to de-escalate tension after a terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan on Friday heavily shelled areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri and Poonch districts leaving a woman injured, the eighth consecutive day that it has violated the ceasefire. Officials said Pakistan troops used heavy guns including Howitzer 105 mm to target civilian areas in Poonch. "Pakistani troops resorted to firing and mortar shelling along the LOC in Krishnagati sector and it ended around 0130 hour," an official said. The firing and mortar shelling continued overnight in several sectors of Poonch and Rajouri districts, the official said adding the Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. A woman identified as Naseem Akhtar was injured in the firing in Mankote area of Poonch, officials said. "About 1615 hours Friday, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firingof small arms along LoC in Nowshera sector," the defence public relations officer said. On Thursday, a woman was killed and a jawan was injured when Pakistani Army heavily shelled civilian areas and forward posts in six sectors along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army. The Pakistan Army has violated the ceasefire for over 60 times during the last one week by targeting over 70 civilian and forward areas along the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir, in which one woman was killed and 9 persons were injured. In view of the prevailing situation, authorities have ordered temporary closure of educational institutions in a 5-km radius along the the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts. They have asked all border dwellers to remain inside their homes. Amid high tension along the LoC, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh accompanied by the White Knight Corps Commander, Lt Gen Paramjit Singh visited forward posts in Rajouri Sector to review the operational preparedness on Thursday. The year 2018 had witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violation, numbering 2,936 by Pakistani troops, in the last 15 years. Pakistan continues to violate the 2003 ceasefire agreement with India despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence to the pact during flag meetings between the two sides. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Highway projects worth Rs 5,000 crore are underway to decongest the National Capital Region, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said Friday. Transport Minister Gadkari was addressing a gathering while laying the foundation stone of a Rs 3,580 crore highway project here to decongest Delhi. The over 59-km long highway project will start at Ring Road-DND junction and passing through Kalindi bypass and Faridabad-Ballabhgarh bypass, it will finish at the interchange of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway at KMP. "Highway projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore are underway to decongest NCR Delhi," Ministry of Road Transport and Highways quoted Gadkari as saying in a statement. Reiterating the government's commitment for developing the capital city on international standards, providing world class transport amenities and reducing the high levels of pollution, Gadkari said work on the 59-km project will begin within two months and the entire project will be completed in two years, it said. "He thanked the state governments of UP, Haryana and Delhi for their cooperation in the project. Underlining the prospective development of the region, Shri Gadkari called upon Haryana to consider developing new townships of Faridabad and Gurugram on the lines of Navi Mumbai," the statement said. The project, for which the foundation stone was laid today, will have three-lane service roads each on either sides for about 29 km, 7.350 km of elevated section with two level crossings at four locations of Metro line, 18 new underpasses, and nine interchanges with improved junctions, the statement said. "The project will decongest Delhi with reduction of traffic in Ashram-Badarpur-Faridabad-Ballabhgarh region. This is expected to result in reduction of vehicular pollution," it said. The project would be in addition to the nine other projects being implemented for decongesting the National Capital Region. These projects include the 3-km signal free corridor from Dhaula Kuan to airport at a cost of Rs 280 crore, which is about 40 per cent completed; the 22-km, six-lane elevated corridor on Gurugram-Sohna Road costing Rs 2,000 crore on which work has started and eight-lane Delhi-Panipat highway from Mukarba Chowk to Panipat on NH-1 being constructed at a cost of Rs 2,300 and nearly 48 per cent done, the statement said. The other projects for decongestion include the 29-km, eight-lane access controlled Dwarka Expressway costing about Rs 9,500 crore on which work has started; package II, III and IV of Delhi-Meerut Expressway costing Rs 5,900 crore, where package II is 36 per cent done, package III is 76 per cent done and package IV is 32 per cent done, the statement said. The other projects include four-laning of 124-km Khekra-EPE junction to Shamli-Saharanpur (NH-709 B) at a cost of about Rs 1,200 crore; Rangpuri Bypass to connect Dwarka/NH-08 with Vasant Kunj-Nelson Mandela Road at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore; 75-km Urban Extension Road (UER-2); third Ring Road for Delhi under Bharatmala at a cost of Rs 4,000 Crore and the 31.3-km, six-lane access controlled corridor from Akshardham NH-24 Junction to EPE Junction on Baghpat Road at a cost of about Rs 2,600 crore, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The mortal remains of pilot Ninad Mandavgane, who died in an IAF helicopter crashed in Jammu and Kashmir two days back, were consigned to flames with full military honours here on Friday. Mandavgane (33), who hailed from Nashik, was cremated on the bank of Godavari river around 12.30 pm. Mandavgane and six others died on Wednesday, when the IAF chopper crashed in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. According to officials, the helicopter crashed in an open field near Garend Kalaan village in Budgam around 10.05 am. Besides its pilots, four others onboard and a local resident died in the incident. Mandavgane's body was brought to Ojhar airport from New Delhi by a special IAF plane on Thursday night. Air Force officials, including Air Commodore Samir Borade, commanding officer of the IAF Station Ojhar, and Nashik Collector Radhakrishna B, paid tribute to the pilot there. The body was later taken to his residence in DGP Nagar locality in Nashik. A large number of people gathered at the crematorium on Friday to bid adieu to the departed soul. When the body was brought to the crematorium around noon, people present there raised slogans of 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. Mandavgane's father Anil, mother Sushma, wife Vijeta and their two-year-old daughter, his relatives and other people attended the funeral. Before the funeral pyre was lit by Mandavgane's father, the Nashik unit of IAF and city police gave a 21-gun salute. Before joining the IAF, Mandavgane had studied in Bhonsala Military School in Nashik, Services Preparatory Institute (SPI) in Aurangabad and the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. However, the pilot was whisked away in a convoy by Indian officials away from the public glare. According to IAF officials, he will be brought to Delhi from Amritsar in a special flight. Varthaman was captured by Pakistani authorities on February 27 after an air combat between the air forces of the two countries, a day after New Delhi had conducted counter-terror operations in Pakistan's Balakot. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday announced his release as a "peace gesture". However, India has been maintaining that Pakistani decision is in consonance with the Geneva Convention. The Pakistan government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Evidence suggests Israel committed crimes against humanity in responding to 2018 protests in Gaza, as snipers targeted people clearly identifiable as children, health workers and journalists, Al Jazeera writes citing United Nations' report. Santiago Canton, the chair of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said in a statement on Thursday that "Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity." The inquiry, set up by the UN Human Rights Council, investigated possible violations from the start of the protests on March 30, 2018, through to December 31. "More than 6,000 unarmed demonstrators were shot by military snipers, week after week at the protest sites," it said. "The Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers shot at journalists, health workers, children and persons with disabilities, knowing they were clearly recognisable as such." The investigators specified that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli troops killed and injured Palestinians "who were neither directly participating in hostilities, nor posing an imminent threat". The UN team also dismissed claims by Israel that the protests were aimed to conceal acts of terrorism. "The demonstrations were civilian in nature, with clearly stated political aims," the statement said. "Despite some acts of significant violence, the Commission found that the demonstrations did not constitute combat or military campaigns." The commission said it conducted 325 interviews with victims, witnesses and other sources, while reviewing more than 8,000 documents. Investigators looked at drone footage and other audiovisual material, the commission said. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was present in Lahore to oversee the 'smooth' handing over captured Indian Air Force pilot to India at the Wagah border on Friday, official sources said. Khan arrived in Lahore on Friday afternoon, a couple of hours before IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was brought to the Wagah border from Islamabad, amid high security. "PM Khan's main purpose of being in the town was to oversee the 'smooth' handing over of the captured Indian pilot to the Border Security Force," an official source told PTI. He said during his stay Khan held a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, who praised the premier for ordering the release of the Indian pilot. They said this gesture would establish that Pakistan was a peace loving country and wanted peace with its neighbouring countries especially India. Buzdar said: "This move will help de-escalte tensions between India and Pakistan." "The prime minister stayed in the city till the time the Indian pilot was handed over to his country. Later, he left for Islamabad," the source added. Pakistan Foreign Office, in a statement issued after handing over of the Indian pilot to India said: "Prime Minister Imran Khan who announced his (Varthaman's) return as a 'goodwill gesture' aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India." Wing Commander Varthaman was arrested when his MIG-21 crashed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after being shot down by Pakistan Air Force for what Islamabad said "violating Pakistani airspace" on February 27. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major diplomatic achievement, India for the first time addressed the OIC meeting on Friday here, and asserted that the war against terrorism, which was destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril, was not against any religion. India's participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to address the grouping of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion," Swaraj, who is the first Indian minister to address the meeting of the 57 Islamic countries, said. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, a senior minister in Indira Gandhi's cabinet who later became President, was invited to attend the Rabat conference in 1969 and then disinvited at Pakistan's instance after he arrived in the Moroccan capital. Since then, India has been excluded from all OIC deliberations. Sawaraj during her address read a verse from the Holy Koran which says 'La Ikrah fiddeen' -- Let there be no compulsion in religion. "Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood," she said. "I carry the greetings of my Prime Minister Narendra Modiji and 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself," the minister said and asserted that "very few" Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies. During her nearly 17-minute speech, she did not mention Pakistan. Her remarks came amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. Pakistan, a member of the OIC, had written a letter to the grouping demanding the withdrawal of the invitation to the plenary after New Delhi's counter-terror operations in Pakistan on February 26. Swaraj said she is a representative of a land, that has been for ages a fountain of knowledge, a beacon of peace, a source of faiths and traditions, and home to religions from the world and now, one of the major economies of the world. "They have diverse culinary tastes, myriad choices of traditional attire, and they maintain strong cultural and linguistic heritage of the regions they loved and have lived for generations. They practice their respective beliefs and live in harmony with each other and with their non-Muslim brethren," Swaraj said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Friday welcomed the of the imminent release of Wing Commander Abhinanthan Varthaman from Pakistan's custody, and said his "heroism is laudable." Hailing the Indian Air Force pilot, the Chief Minister said, "millions of Indians' prayers are with you and I am proud of you as Indian first and Tamilian next." Meanwhile, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said in a tweet that "the country salutes Abhinandan, his family, IAF, India's leadership and Government of India as a whole". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian woman in Singapore has been acquitted of maid abuse after the judge felt that the domestic help was "prone to exaggeration" in her complaints against her employer, a media report said Friday. District Judge Kenneth Yap, who delivered the judgement after a nine-day trial, said that Rajinder Kaur, 28, had "demonstrated a lack of intention to work in Singapore from the start", The New Paper reported. Her former employer Madam Singh Manu, 43, was accused of assaulting Kaur on four occasions in January, 2017 in an apartment in the western part of Singapore. The purported acts included hitting the maid twice, hitting her hand with a knife, pulling her hair and twisting her arm. Deputy Public Prosecutors Yang Ziliang and Sheryl Yeo had stated that Kaur was a truthful witness who had no reason to fabricate the acts of assault. But defence lawyer Amarjit Singh Sidhu said Kaur, who is now in India, had made the allegations as she wanted to return home. The lawyer said Kaur was "irresponsible as a domestic helper" who would at times leave the door to the apartment wide open and forget to turn off the gas switch. In his brief grounds of decision, Judge Yap noted that in August, 2016, Kaur came here to work and take over her older sister's place as the family's breadwinner. He said: "Rajinder did not seem to share this sentiment... Even after she arrived, she cried... It required the combined efforts of her sister and the accused to calm her down and convince her to stay on". The judge said he found her accounts of the alleged assaults to lack clarity and "appear to be subject to exaggeration". He noted that Kaur had given different accounts on how a knife was purportedly used. "Rajinder initially said the sharp end of the knife came into contact with the top of her left hand and her skin had come off as a result," the Singapore tabloid quoted the Judge as saying. She later gave another version, stating it was the flat side of the knife instead and the top part "grazed" her hand. Judge Yap said a doctor who conducted a medical examination soon after did not record such an injury. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shamima Begum, the Jihadi bride of Bangladeshi origin who fled London to join the Islamic State (ISIS) four years ago before resurfacing in Syria recently, has been moved out of her refugee camp over "safety concerns", according to her family's lawyer in the UK. Tasnime Akunjee said the 19-year-old and her new-born son were removed from the Al-Hol camp in the north of Syria due to alleged threats and moved to a camp closer to the Iraqi border. I can confirm that it is our understanding that Shamima has been moved from Al-Hol due to safety concerns around her and her baby, he said. "We further understand that indeed she and her child had been threatened by others at the al-Hol camp," he said. The Sun newspaper reported on Friday that Begum had received death threats since speaking out about her plight and urging for her return to the UK during media interviews last month. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid had reacted by stripping Begum of her British citizenship, a decision her family has confirmed it would be mounting a legal challenge against. The family's lawyer also confirmed plans to fly out to the region to begin the legal process against the UK Home Office decision. "She needs a lawyer and we need her to sign these forms so that we can begin the appeals process. We know she is in a camp but not her exact location so we are trying to find this out at the moment from people on the ground, Akunjee said. In an appearance before the UK Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee earlier this week, Javid had told MPs that the UK government may be open to the idea of allowing Begum's baby Jerah back as a British citizen. "If it is possible for a British child to be brought to a place where there is British consular presence the closest place might be Turkey then in those circumstances it's potentially possible to arrange some sort of help with the consent of the parent, Javid said. The Pakistani-origin minister also stressed that he had followed the letter of the law in revoking Begum's British citizenship, denying it was on the basis she might be entitled to Bangladeshi nationality which would be illegal but that she already had it. "I have not deployed the power on the basis that someone could have citizenship to a second country, he told the committee. I've always applied it on the strict advice (of lawyers) that when the power is deployed with respect to that individual they already have more than one citizenship," he said. Citing his own Pakistani Muslim heritage, Javid said many people had contacted him and colleagues of similar heritage of mine had supported his decision to strip Begum of her citizenship. Begum, who was 15 years old when she fled from Bethnal Green in east London in February 2015 and married a Dutch Muslim convert as a so-called ISIS "jihadi bride" in Syria, can challenge the decision of the UK Home Office to revoke her British citizenship at the UK's Special Immigration Appeals Commission. The Bangladesh government has since intervened to deny that Begum is a dual national of its country or that she could be allowed entry into that country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is getting "abundant" support of Islamic countries in the fight against terror, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Friday. The government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has decided with pertinacity that the time has come to wage a decisive battle against terrorism in the wake of the Pulwama attack, he said. "I am very happy to tell you that we are getting abundant support from the Islamic countries of the world," he said. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has, for the first time, invited India's foreign minister as a guest of honour in its ongoing meeting, Singh noted. It is a pleasing thing that all nations of the world are coming onto one platform on the question of terrorism, he said. All feel that a decisive battle should be fought against terrorism, he said. Terrorism has no caste, creed or religion but sometimes, there would be some who try to associate it with some religion which is not appropriate, he added. The Home Minister was speaking after inaugurating two new office-cum-housing complexes of the NIA here and Guwahati, built by NBCC India at a cost of about Rs 77 crore. Appreciating NIA for its effective functioning, the Union Minister said the conviction rate of NIA is 92 per cent. "It means, the conviction rate (of NIA) is 92 per cent. It's a matter of pride for all us," he said. Noting that the government has given approval to open a research cell on terror-group Islamic State (ISIS), he said, "We have also given approval to the NIA to set up a research cell on the ISIS." The minister also said about 100 new posts have been approved in the NIA for effective investigation and supervision. "Terror funding is a big factor in promoting terrorism. The way NIA performed its role, the result is that there has been a decline in terror funding compared to earlier," Singh said. The circulation of fake Indian currency notes has also declined due to the combined efforts of the NIA and other Central and State agencies, he claimed. NIA, he said, has achieved good success in establishing coordination with other agencies like State police and anti-terror squads of different States. The Hyderabad NIA complex is an "all-inclusive" project and spread over 12,572 square metre. It has been constructed at a cost of about Rs 37 crore and consists of both administrative and residential flats for its staff. The Guwahati project entailed a cost of Rs 40 crore and has a built-up area of 9,830 square metre. Besides various office buildings and residential quarters, it also has barracks for Jawans, and a community centre, according to NBCC India. Singh also said: "On this occasion, you have feted ('abhinandan kiya hai') me, the Governor, the Home Minister of Telangana. But the truth is, your, our and the whole country's Abhinandan (IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman) is going to enter India in another few hours and come amongst us". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jordan's King Abdullah II Friday spoke to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and offered his country's mediation to help deescalate tensions with India, according to an official statement. Premier Khan briefed Abdullah II about his initiatives to maintain peace between Pakistan and India for the sake of the people of the two countries and the region, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. The king conveyed his concern over the escalating situation between Pakistan and India." Khan said that the "core issue between the two countries remained the issue of Kashmir" that needs to be resolved as per the UN Resolutions. "Khan said that his government's agenda was to promote peace and prosperity for the people of Pakistan through poverty alleviation and social welfare programmes. However, the war hysteria unleashed in India was threatening peace of the region," the statement said. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Forty CRPF soldiers were killed in the suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Following the attack, India carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Prime Minister Khan said Thursday that captured pilot will be released on Friday as a "gesture of peace". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday welcomed the return Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, lauding his bravery and the courage of his family. Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan Army after his fighter jet crashed in an air duel with a Pakistani F-16. He shot down the plane before his own went down, forcing him to eject. "Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan. I salute your bravery and the courage of your family. India is proud of you," Kejriwal tweeted. Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the IAF pilot will be released. The fighter pilot is schedule to return to India after being released by Pakistan later tonight. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lauding him as a hero, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday, and praised his bravery and the courage of his family. "The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us," he tweeted. "Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan. I salute your bravery and the courage of your family. India is proud of you," Kejriwal said in another tweet. Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisiodia also lauded him and called him a "lion of 'Bharat Mata'". "Jai Hind. Wing Commander Abhinadan! Jai Hind! Bharat Maa ke Sher," he tweeted in Hindi and posted a screen-grab of him from a TV channel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tornado Farewell Tour based upon words and images by George Land After forty years of stalwart service, Britains Royal Air Force is due to retire the last of their Panavia Tornados at the end of March. Initially known as the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, or MRCA, the Panavia Tornado was the crowning achievement of a tri-national development team between the United Kingdon, Germany and Italy which began during the late 1960s. The type first flew in 1974 and entered service in 1979. Nearly a thousand Tornados rolled off assembly lines in Britain, Italy and Germany between 1979 and 1998. The Tornado has proved incredibly versatile over the years, flying in numerous conflicts, both as the IDS model (Interdictor/Strike) in ground attack, anti-shipping, and aerial reconnaissance roles, and ADV (Air Defence Variant) as a fighter. It has served the air arms of Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the UK with distinction. While all four nations still field operational examples in significant numbers, Britains Royal Air Force is due to retire the remainder of their fleet on March 31st. Sadly this is more due to budgetary reasons than operational, as Tornados had been expected until fairly recently to continue with the RAF until at least 2025. In fact, RAF Tornados were still dropping weapons in anger as late as January 26th, 2019, when a flight from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus attacked enemy positions in Syria. This was part of Operation Shader, the British contribution to the effort to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The flight of eight Tornados returned from this final operational deployment to RAF Marham in Lincolnshire, England on February 5th. Tornados have slowly been replaced by the BAE Systems Typhoon, and now also by the nine, only-just-0perational Lockheed F-35B Lightning IIs of RAF 617 Squadron, the famous Dambusters, (although half of the flight crew and staff are members of the Royal Navy in the newly re-constituted unit). Affectionately known as the Tonka within the RAF, the service organized a series of three flypasts to mark the aircrafts retirement which took place on February 19th, 20th and 21st. These missions took a Tornado three-ship formation over significant sites in Britain associated with the aircraft in some way, but primarily locations where they were designed, manufactured, tested, maintained or flown. The Tornado has an enthusiastic following with the British public, and thousands of spectators turned out to witness these events. The first leg was on Tuesday, February 19th and covered the Midlands region of the UK with 18 sites visited before returning to RAF Marham, the Tornados sole remaining operational base. Sites Overflown during the first leg of the tour on February 19th: Cottesmore (former RAF Station and home to the Tri-national Tornado Training Establishment) National Memorial Arboretum DECA Stafford RAF Cosford (RAF technical training establishment & home to RAF Museum Cosford) RAF Shawbury DECA Sealand RAF Valley (RAF flying training) BAE Systems Warton (Tornado Assembly Factory) BAE Systems Samlesbury (Tornado Component Factory) RAF Spadeadam RAF Leeming (former Tornado ADV base) RAF Topcliffe RAF Linton-on-Ouse (RAF flying training) RAF Waddington (Primary RAF airborne electronic surveillance airfield) RAF Cranwell (RAF training college) RAF Coningsby (former home to Tornado ADV Operational Conversion Unit) RAF Donna Nook (RAF bombing range) RAF Holbeach (RAF air weapons range) The Tornado farewell tours second leg of the took place on Wednesday, February 20th with flypasts scheduled over a further 16 sites, the second of which was over Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire. As our readers well know, this airfield is steeped in aviation lore with strong connections to both the RAF and USAAF. The RAF had painted up three Tornados with special celebratory tail markings for the flypasts, but unfortunately due to servicing issues only one of these was available for the Duxford leg of the second flight (Feb 20th), which approached the airfield from the east at 400 feet and 420 knots, performed one pass over the field, then departed all too quickly to the West. Currently the Museum has two static Tornados on site allowing the 3,000 plus visitors who turned up on the day to not only witness the three-ship flypast, but also to have a closer inspection of GR1A ZA465 in the Aerospace Museum Hall and GR4 ZA469 in Hangar Four. RAF Honington (RAF Tornados first operational base) IWM Duxford Former RAE Bedford (Royal Aircraft Establishment where much Tornado testing took place) Cranfield Airfield (site of former RAF station and Cranfield University which played a significant role in aviation technology development) RAF Halton (former home of RAF School of Technical Training) RAF High Wycombe (site for HQ Air Command) RAF Benson HQ Land Forces MOD Boscombe Down (Primary aviation test facility in Britain home to much Tornado development work) RAF Pembrey (Support airfield for nearby Pembrey Sands Air Weapons Range) MOD St. Athan (major maintenance facility for Tornado fleet) Cardiff Airport Filton (former home to Bristol Aeroplane Company and later BAE Systems factory) Abbey Wood (MoD facility) MOD Shrivenham (MoD Defence Academy) RAF Brize Norton (Primary RAF heavy lift airfield) The final leg of the Tornado tour took place on Thursday 21st February and visited just three sites in Scotland, all of which have strong connections to the aircraft: Leuchars Station (former RAF Leuchars and Tornado ADV base) RAF Tain (Britains largest live weapons range) RAF Lossiemouth (former Tornado IDS base) Following the successful three-ship flights over Britain, RAF Marham was able to muster a special nine-ship flypast on February 28th for the graduation ceremony at RAF College Cranwell. The RAF made the following press release for the event THE campaign to celebrate the much loved and soon to retire Tornado aircraft continued on Thursday with a farewell flypast of a nine aircraft over East Anglia. Following the hugely popular series of FINale flypasts over the UK the previous week, the Tornado force carried out a sortie over Lincolnshire with nine aircraft from its base at RAF Marham in Norfolk. As witnessed the previous week, thousands of onlookers gathered along the route to see the iconic jet for the last time. The driving force behind the farewell activities, the RAF Marham Station Commander, Group Captain Ian Cab Townsend, said: The response to last weeks FINale flypasts reflects the high regard with which the aircraft is held by the UK public. With barely a fortnight before the disbandment parade for the two remaining Squadrons this was our opportunity to say thank you to all those who have supported Tornado since she entered service The route from the Tornados home at RAF Marham took them over College Hall at RAF Cranwell where a graduation parade for new officers had taken place. The Gp Capt added: It is sobering to think that most of the officers graduating today would not have been born when Tornado first entered service in 1979. Sad though it is, the time is right for Tornado to retire and hand the baton of UK Combat Air capability to the Typhoon and F35B Lightning, both exceptional aircraft able to meet the challenges of future warfare. In the immediate term, the Tornados will be replaced by new weapons capabilities for the Typhoon jet. Under Project Centurion, worth 425m over the past three years, the Typhoon now has deep strike cruise missile Storm Shadow, air-to-air missile Meteor and the precision attack missile Brimstone at their disposal. The RAFs new fleet of F-35 Lightning jets will form the backbone of the UKs combat air fleet alongside the Typhoon jets in the coming years. The Tornado will be officially retired from service at the end of March and will only be used for training purposes over the UK in the intervening period. Nicknamed the Tonka, the aircrafts first use in live operations was during the Gulf War in 1991, when 60 Tornado GR1s were deployed from bases in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The final official public Tornado flight will likely take place on March 14th at RAF Marham for the IX and No.31 Squadron disbandment ceremonies. After this date, the majority of the remaining, serviceable Tornados will likely be flown to RAF Leeming for RTP, or Return To Produce, where all useful spares will be removed, with whatever remains being put up for tender. It seems likely that some of the reclaimed parts will be refurbished for sale to other operators of the type. It is unknown at this time whether any airframes have been earmarked for preservation, though given the Tornados huge following in Britain, and its enormous contribution to the nations defense, some of them must be saved. The official final in service date for the RAFs Tornado fleet is March 31st, a sad day for many of us in the aviation world. We wish to offer our many thanks to George Land for his images, details and words used in this article. The last rites of Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht and Sergeant Vikrant Sehrawat, who died in a chopper crash in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district, were performed with full military honours at their home towns on Friday. Vashisht's (31) last rites were performed in Chandigarh. The Indian Air Force gave a gun salute in the presence of officials from the IAF, the civil administration and a large number of people who turned up to pay their last respects. In uniform, the deceased officer's wife, Aarti, who is also a squadron leader, laid a wreath on Vashisht before the last rites were performed. His father lit the funeral pyre. The mortal remains of the officer had arrived at the Air Force station here on a service aircraft on Thursday. It was taken to the cremation ground from his residence here in Sector 44 on a bedecked IAF vehicle. Chandigarh BJP President Sanjay Tandon and Haryana Minister Naib Saini were also present at the funeral ceremony. Vashisht, whose family had settled in Chandigarh, was commissioned in the IAF in 2010. Last month, he was given commendation for his role in the rescue operation during the Kerala floods. He was a fourth-generation member from his family in the armed forces. Last July, the officer, who also has three elder sisters, was posted in Srinagar. Vikrant Sehrawat's last rites were performed in Bhadani village in Jhajjar district in Haryana. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who attended the ceremony, said the state government would provide ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to the deceased's family and government job to one of his family members. Khattar paid rich tributes to Sehrawat and had earlier laid a wreath on his mortal remains. An IAF helicopter crashed in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday, killing both its pilots and four others onboard besides a local resident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The last rites of of Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht, who died in a helicopter crash in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district, were performed here on Friday with full military honours. The mortal remains of the officer had arrived at the Air Force station here on a service aircraft on Thursday. It was taken to the cremation ground from his residence here in Sector 44 on a bedecked IAF vehicle. In uniform, the deceased officer's wife, Aarti, who is also a squadron leader, laid a wreath before the last rites were performed. Siddharth Vashisht's father lit the funeral pyre. The Indian Air Force gave a gun salute in presence of officials from the IAF, the civil administration and a large number of people who turned up to pay their last respects. Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon and Haryana Minister Naib Saini were also present there. Vashisht (31) was a fourth-generation member from his family in the armed forces. He was commissioned in the IAF in 2010 and last month, he received commendation for his role in the rescue operation during the Kerala floods. An IAF helicopter crashed in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday, killing both its pilots and four others onboard besides a local resident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leaders cutting across party lines welcomed the return of pilot Abhinandan Varthman from captivity in Pakistan on Friday and lauded him for his poise and courage and for making the country proud. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the IAF Wing Commander, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. He said the country's armed forces are an inspiration for the 130 crore Indians. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram," he tweeted. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted, "Proud of you Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. Jai Hind." Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad too lauded the pilot for his bravery and welcomed him back to the country. ALSO READ: India cheers as IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman returns home from Pakistan "Welcome home. The entire nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan," Singh, the Minister for Home Affairs, tweeted. Prasad tweeted, "Proud of your courage Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back home. Abhinandan to you. Jai Hind. Bharat Mata Ki Jai." BJP president Amit Shah said Friday that the entire nation is proud of the courage and valour of the pilot and that India is glad to have him back. "Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future," Shah said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan said his dignity, poise and bravery have made all in India proud. "Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love," he said on Twitter. Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. Union minister Smriti Irani Friday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "parakram" (valour) for Varthaman's return from Pakistan within two days of his capture. "Sangh (RSS) today can be proud of the fact that a son of India is returning to India in 48 hours due to the 'parakram' of a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer)," she said in an apparent reference to Modi. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Welcome home Abhinandan Varthaman Welcome home sweet home". Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a series of tweet, called the pilot an inspiration for the nation. "Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan. I salute your bravery and the courage of your family. "India is proud of you. The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us," he tweeted. ALSO READ: Abhinandan to be brought to Delhi from Amritsar in a special flight Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said,"Very happy to see the safe return of IAF wing commander Abhinandan. AP salutes the brave and spirited patriot." Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Welcome home Wing Commander. It's great to have you back." Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted, "Relieved and glad that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is back home. I welcome him on Indian soil and salute his valour. The nation is proud of its armed forces." The Congress also put up a picture of Abhinandan on its Twitter handle and tweeted, "Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan. We are happy to have you back. You have been a true hero to all of us. Salute. Jai Hind." RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, "India Salutes you Wing Commander Abhinanand! Welcome Back! You are the real hero." Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said, "Join the nation in warmly welcoming back our hero Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman! Your resoluteness and poise in the face of adversity makes me proud as an Indian and former soldier. Welcome back son! Jai Hind." Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "The nation salutes you Wing Commander. Welcome home!" CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, "Home, finally, Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back." Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also tweeted, "Abhinandan' Bharat ! Our Abhinandan is back with us!" Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said, "Extremely happy that Our Hero #IAF pilot Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman is back. The grace, grit, and commitment he showed during the toughest time is really admirable. We are proud of him. The nation salutes his bravery. Welcome Home Abhinandan. A suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant, who was allegedly involved in a weapon-snatching case, was arrested here on Friday, police said. Acting on a tip-off, a special team of the Srinagar police apprehended a person near Bone and Joint Hospital at Barzulla, a police spokesperson said. The accused has been identified as Showket Ahmed Khan alias Aumer Bhai, a resident of central Kashmir's Budgam district. He is associated with the LeT outfit, the spokesperson said. Khan is involved in a weapon-snatching case, the spokesperson said, adding that further investigation was on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb Friday informed the Assembly that action will be taken against security personnel for firing on protesters at Madhabbari in West Tripura district on January 8 during an anti-citizenship bill stir. The police authorities were also asked to identify the personnel involved in attacking an ambulance carrying patients on the same day and legal action would be initiated against them, Deb said. At least eight persons including members of the Twipra Student Federation (TSF), who were protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, were injured when the police opened fire to disperse them on January 8 at Madhabbari during a bandh called in all the Northeastern states by various students' bodies. The chief minister had paid a visit to the area on January 19 and ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. As per the probe report, protesters started gathering at Madhabbari from 8 am and prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC was imposed there from 10:45 am, Deb said. "Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Jirania had sufficient police and para-military force at his disposal but the incident could not be contained due to lack of coordination between police and para-military personnel. The role of the SDPO was not desired and action will be taken against him," the chief minister said in the Assembly. He said an ambulance which started with patients from Kherengbar Hospital at Khumulwng towards GB Pant Hospital in Agartala, came under attack by police and security personnel at Dasharambari area, 5 km away from the place of protest. The personnel involved in it could not be specifically identified but the battalions of the police, TSR and CRPF have been known, Deb said. The Tripura State Rifles (TSR) is a paramilitary force under the state government. "This role of police is not tolerable at all. We can't tolerate if police personnel engaged for public safety disrupt peace," Deb said. He said the authorities of the TSR and the CRPF were instructed to identify all those involved in the incident and award suitable punishment to them. The enquiry report also recommended legal action against a government doctor for not properly treating a protester injured in police firing on that day, Deb said adding that as the person did not receive timely medical support, the bullet in his body was removed after 9 days. He also said action would be taken against TSR personnel involved in vandalising a house where a sraddha ritual was being held. The chief minister said two cases were registered on Madhabbari incident at Radhapur and Ranirbazaar police stations in West Tripura district and both cases are under investigation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A delegation of department officials from Madhya Pradesh visited Delhi on Friday to understand Arvind Kejriwal government's reforms, officials said. The officials from Madhya Pradesh interacted with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and visited schools and interacted with officials from the Directorate of The delegation was exploring the scope of learning and replicating the transforming education model of Delhi in Madhya Pradesh, the government said. They also apprised Sisodia about the schemes that the Madhya Pradesh government had launched to reform school education. "Politics must be on the basis of education," Sisodia said. He said a government must be assessed on the basis of its tangible policy achievements, rather than sectarian ideals. In order to improve quality of education, Delhi government introduced happiness and entrepreneurship curricula -- first of its kind initiatives in India, he said. Sisodia accepted the invitation to collaborate with the government of Madhya Pradesh to improve the education system there. "Both governments can plan teacher exchange programmes to facilitate better understanding," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court Friday declined to grant any interim relief to Vedanta group's Sterlite for carrying out maintenance work at its closed copper smelter unit in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. Hearing a petition by the company challenging the closure order, a division bench of justices M Sathyanarayanan and M Nirmal Kumar, however, cautioned the state government, under whose control the unit was now, it would be held responsible in the event of any mishap or environmental damage. It recorded an undertaking given by Advocate General Vijay Narayan, who appeared for the government, that the state would take all such responsibility and posted the matter to March 27 for further hearing. The bench also directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to file its reply by then. Sterlite in its petition, filed in line with the Supreme Court's recent suggestion, has challenged the May 23, 2018 orders of TNPCB refusing renewal of consent to the plant as well as permanent closure, terming them as wholly illegal, unconstitutional and ultra vires. The state government ordered the permanent closure in the wake of violent protests against Sterlite that led to killing of 13 people in police firing on May 22 on a huge crowd in Tuticorin. The locals were protesting against environment pollution being allegedly caused by the factory. The apex court on February 18 had set aside the order of the National Green Tribunal allowing opening of the copper unit but gave the liberty to the company to approach the high court against the closure order. A bench of justices R F Nariman and Navin Sinha had said if such a petition is filed by the company, it can seek an interim relief considering the fact that their plant at Tuticorin has been shut down since April 9, 2018. Accordingly, the company moved the high court Wednesday. When the petition came up for hearing, senior counsel Aryama Sundaram, who appeared for Sterllite, contended that there had been a motivated political campaign against the company from its inception in 1996. The factory had been functioning with consent orders, including permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forest for expansion, he submitted. In view of the company securing the nod for expansion, the protests were held, leading to violence and police firing. This was the reason for the closure of the factory, he said. The counsel said the TNPCB had refused to renew the consent citing what he called five untenable reasons. This was followed by another four orders and six other consequential orders before the final closure of the factory. Sundaram said the unit was now under the control of the District Collector, who has no technical knowhow to maintain the factory. Therefore, till the high court decided on the present petition, the management should be permitted to open the administrative wing for the limited purpose of taking care and maintenance of the factory since its condition was in a bad shape, the counsel said. The management will give an undertaking that no production work would taken up, he added. It was also argued on behalf of Sterlite by two other senior counsels that if the company loses its case, it may shift the unit elsewhere but till then the property should be protected. They submitted a running factory cannot be closed unless there was a finding that it causes pollution. Countering the submissions, senior counsel C S Vaidyanathan for TNPCB submitted that the state government officials had all the knowledge and expertise to take care of maintenance and that the state would be responsible for any problems. Counsels for impleading petitioners claimed that the factory caused air and water pollution affecting 10,000 people in the locality and their lives were at stake. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday welcomed IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman back in the country after being in the custody of Pakistan for two days. "Welcome home #AbhinandanVarthaman Welcome home sweet home," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle. Pakistan held Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Wednesday after fighter jets of both the nations engaged in an air battle following an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes. The pilot is scheduled to be handed over to India at the Attari border Friday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An over speeding SUV overturned after hitting a divider in Safdarganj area here, killing a man and his three-year-old son, police said Friday. The incident occurred on Thursday night when Manvendra Singh (35), along with his wife Tripti (32), son Darsh (3) and daughter Harshita (7), was on his way to Lucknow, they said. They were rushed to a hospital where Manvendra and Darsh died, the police said. Manvendra's wife and daughter were injured, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 40-year-old man was arrested for allegedly killing a Ghaziabad-based businessman after looting his bag, which had over Rs 5 lakh in cash, police said Friday. The accused has been identified as Ritesh, a resident of Gaziabad, who used to head an armed-biker gang, they said. According to police, the accused along with his associates have committed more than 50 armed robberies in Delhi, Ghaziabad, NCR, Kota and Bhopal. The arrest was made on Thursday after police got a tip off that Ritesh would come near Gagan Cinema in Nand Nagri to meet his associates, with whom he was planning to commit a robbery, officials said. During interrogation, Ritesh told police that on Wednesday, about 8.30 pm, he along with his associate robbed a businessman in Ghaziabad and shot him thrice when he resisted. They fled the spot with a bag containing about Rs 5.20 lakh in cash, G Ram Gopal Naik, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. Ritesh along with his associates -- Sonu, Dhananjay, Vineet, Amit Satte and Devesh -- have committed more than 50 armed robberies in Delhi-NCR, he said. After suffering losses, he shut his garment business and apparently fell into bad company and started consuming alcohol, the officer said. Ritesh came to Delhi in 2008 and started stealing two-wheelers. He came in contact with Satya parkash alias 'Satte gang' and got involved in robbery cases. Later, he formed his own gang with his associates -- Dhananjay, Vinit, Amit and Devesh -- and started armed robberies, the DCP said. One loaded semi-automatic pistol along with three magazines were found from him. Rs 1.78 lakh of the cash robbed form the businessman was recovered. The motorcycle used in the crime was found to be stolen from Badarpur area, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A recent start-up brand thats based in Malaysia but made in Switzerland, Ming has quickly built itself a reputation for watches that are thoughtfully designed and unpretentious in pricing. Thats largely due to the sensibilities of its founders, a group led by the eponymous Ming Thein Onn, whos best known for his photography. Though the brand started with watches priced below US$2000, namely the 17 Series, it soon went upmarket with the 19 Series, which includes the new 19.02 Worldtimer. The 19.02 is a combination of a Louis Cottier-style world time and GMT, priced at about US$9900 for pre-orders. The twin model lines means the 19.02 needs to prove itself, not just intrinsically, but also in comparison to the much more affordable 17 Series watches. Surprisingly, the 19.02 acquits itself well on both counts. On the wrist The 19.02 Worldtimer wears exceptionally well. It is compact 39mm in diameter and lightweight thanks to the titanium case. Add to that the short lugs and the result is a watch that hugs the wrist. Though the diameter is moderate, the watch looks smaller than it is. Thats in part due to the short lugs, and also because height of the case relative to its diameter. Its 11.2mm high, which is quite thick for a watch this size, but the proportions work well in creating a solid feel despite the lightness. And the height is not apparent, because a good part of it is the highly domed sapphire crystal, which helps to accommodate the extra height of the second time zone mechanism. Twin time zones The 19.02 has presence on the wrist because of its styling. The dial is a dark black, ringed by the rose gold plating of the movement, and framed by the sharply angled lugs. This is Mings house style, and its a good one. Sitting under the domed sapphire crystal is the gradient sapphire dial thats found on all 19 Series watches. It is basically a clear sapphire disc thats been painted with black lacquer in its centre, which has a graduated finishing that leaves the edges of the dial transparent. The borders of the black lacquer around the 24-hour scale are fuzzy, perhaps intentionally, though that is only visible up close. The world time scale, which uses airport codes for each time zone, is printed on the underside of the sapphire dial, and works alongside a 24-hour scale. While the cities scale is fixed, the 24-hour ring can be set backwards and forwards in one-hour steps. That allows the watch to show local time with the main hands, as well as the time in all other 24 time zones around the world. But the functionality of the 19.02 is similar to that of other twin time zone watches that have the second time zone mechanism as an add-on module. That means when crossing time zones, local time has to be set on the main hands, followed by adjusting the 24-hour ring, a two-step process. In contrast, for movements with a GMT mechanism integrated into the base plate, it is a one-step setting of an independently adjustable hour hand. While the design of the time zone display is logical and legible, the cities and 24-hour scale are small. I can read it well, but I can imagine those above 40 might find it less easy. Titanium case The titanium case boasts a surprising number of smart design details. The bezel is concave, emphasising the dial and domed crystal, while also making the case seem smaller. The lugs are short and aggressively but elegantly flared outwards, with a contrasting polished and brushed finish on the inner and outer faces. Because of the large sapphire crystal on the case back, the back is secured to the case via four tabs held down by screws onto each of the lugs. While just as functional as a more conventional back with screws on its rim, the four screws here are less appealing visually, though that is a subjective preference. As with the front, the back is also topped by a domed box type sapphire crystal. The view from the back is unusual, and appealing, for two reasons. One is the fact that the sapphire crystal extends almost to the edge of the case, and the other is the snug fit of the movement, which has no movement ring. According to Ming, eliminating the movement ring improves the rigidity of the case (which in turn improving water-resistance). That is true but not major; the clean look is definitely a more substantial improvement. Powered by Schwarz-Etienne Though the movement which is automatic with a 70 hour power reserve is based on a Schwarz-Etienne calibre, it has been heavily customised for Ming. The main bridge, barrel ratchet wheel and base plate are open-worked to reveal more of the mechanics, giving the movement an airy feel despite the smallish size of the watch. Most surprisingly is the quality of the finishing, which is excellent for a watch at this price point, putting it amongst the very best. In fact, the overall finishing is superior to what is found in mid-range luxury brands, like Jaeger-LeCoultre or IWC. Though the bridges have a simple frosted surface, all the edges feature prominent anglage bevelling and polishing. Found also around the cut-outs on the bridges, the mirror-polished bevels catch the light and emphasise the shapes of the bridges. According to Ming the polished bevels are done by hand; in all likelihood it is done with a small electric tool with a spinning, abrasive tip. The technique makes it feasible to achieve beautiful and consistent results in series production, and is also how high-end watchmakers like Patek Philippe and A. Lange & Sohne also do it. There is only one detail in the movement that feels out of place: the Etachron regulator on the balance cock. While perfectly functional, it is usually found in basic movements. Though it is entirely appropriate for a watch in this price range, it looks incongruous against the rest of the movement, which illustrates the high quality of execution overall. Schwarz-Etienne is a Swiss watchmaker owned by a low-key Swiss-Italian real estate tycoon. Though a small company, Schwarz-Etienne invested significant sums in building its own factory and developing its own movements. The brands own watches are good quality but blandly styled, so Schwarz-Etienne has turned towards developing watches for other brands. Not only does Schwarz-Etienne produce the movement inside the 19.02 (and also the earlier 19.01), it is responsible for some external components, as well as the entirety of the assembly and quality control. It is obviously a productive partnership, and one that will continue into the future, according to Mr Onn. Price and availability Early bird pricing for the Ming 19.02 Worldtimer is 9900 Swiss francs with payment via wire transfer, and 10,900 francs if paid for via credit card. The prices apply only till March 31, 2019. Deliveries, however, are far out, and will start only around March 2020. Orders can be placed via Ming. A man was arrested for allegedly being involved in killing a rival group member and dumping the body at an isolated place in Mathura after burning to destroy evidence, police said Friday. The accused identified as Pankaj Kumar, a resident of east Champaran district in Bihar, they added. According to police, both the Bihar-based gangs were involved in smuggling illicit liquor in the state. A case of kidnapping of Amit Kumar Singh was registered at the Saraiya police station in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar. Later, his burnt body was recovered from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, police said. Kumar was arrested on February 27 on a tip off that he would come to meet someone near a monastery opposite ISBT in Kashmere Gate, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said. A car used in the commission of crime was recovered from his possession, Deo said. Kumar told police that Singh was a rival gang member. On the directions of Channu Thakur, on February 20, he, along with Ravi and Mannu, forcibly took Singh to a flat in Faridabad and kept him there. The flat belonged to one Jitender Nagar, he added. Next day, when Kumar visited the flat, he found that Singh was killed by Chunnu Thakur, Jitender Nagar, Ravi and Mannu, the DCP said. On the instructions of Thakur, he along with Ravi and Mannu took Singh's body in his car to an isolated place at Mathura. They burnt his body after pouring petrol in order to destroy the evidences of crime and they returned to Delhi, he said. Accused Kumar further led raiding team to the place where he along with his associates had burnt the body of Singh, he added. The body was recovered by the officials of the Farah police station and a case was registered, the officer said. Kumar came to Delhi and started plying auto rickshaw to earn his livelihood. He, along with his brother Avnish, started ferrying Hawala money of Chunnu Thakur for which they were paid handsome amount, he said. Thakur, alleged to be the kingpin of the gang is involved in more than 150 cases of murder and kidnapping, he added. Singh was also involved in more than 20 cases of murder and kidnapping, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla has said Urdu language needs to be popularised among the people of the state. Speaking at an interactive session organised by National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language on Thursday, she said people should be encouraged to learn the language. "If proper programmes and policies are taken up, Urdu can become the language of the people," Heptulla said. The governor said Urdu was also being taught to the youngsters in Manipur. She called upon the council to take up practical works so that those learning the language can have adequate income. The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The Council is engaged in promotion, propagation and development of Urdu language across the country through its various schemes. It runs different courses and currently has 1,41,683 students in 252 districts of 25 states, including Union territories. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will be briefed on the current Indo-Pak relations by the foreign affairs ministry on Friday. The committee headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will meet in Parliament House this afternoon. "The parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will receive a briefing from the MEA on the current situation with Pakistan..." Tharoor tweeted earlier. The briefing will be on the present Indo-Pak relations in the light of the recent strain in relationship after the Pulwama attack and a air strike by India, officials said. The committee will also be briefed on the "new regime" in Pakistan led by Prime Minister and its relationship with India in light of the recent developments, they said. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. The Union Home Ministry has asked CAPF chiefs to conduct a data analysis exercise and assess "long term" age profile issues of combat units once the retirement age of their troops is raised from 57 years to 60 in the wake of a court order to fix an existing anomaly, officials said Friday. A meeting was held in the ministry on the subject on February 27 inthe wake of a Delhi High Courtorder that called the current policy of different age of superannuation in the four forces of CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB as "discriminatory and unconstitutional" which created two classes in these uniformed forces. The meeting discussed various implications once these four forces also have the retirement age of all its personnel at 60 years like the CISF and Assam Rifles, a senior official privy to the meeting said. The Home Ministry has asked the Directors General (DsG) of these forces to conduct a data analysis and furnish information to it by the next week and has called for a fresh meeting on March 6. The directive issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been accessed by PTI and it said CAPF chiefs should assess the impact of the proposed decision on "future" recruitments, age profile of personnel deployed for border guarding tasks and deputation of these men and women to special forces like the NSG, Special Protection Group and the NDRF. It added the "incremental increase" in manpower once the retirement age is enhanced should also be analysed along with cases of those troops graded under the low medical category owing to injury in action or any disease. "Whether there would be any long term effect with regard to raising of new battalions in case of change in retirement age?," the directive asked the CAPF chiefs to find. These forces are deployed to undertake a variety of security roles in the country, ranging from guarding borders to conducting anti-Naxal operations and combating terrorism inJammu and Kashmir. TheDelhi High Courthad issued its order on January 31 and had given theHome Ministry four weeks' time to implement its directive. Asenior officialin the security establishment had told the agency that the ministry will take the views of all DGs and it is expected that the superannuation age of all the personnel of these forces will be brought up to 60, as prevalent in two other forces under the ministry's command-- the CISF and Assam Rifles -- and remove existing anomalies. As per the present policy, all personnel in Central Industrial Security Forceand Assam Rifles retire at the age of 60 while in the rest four forces, personnel in the ranks ofconstableto commandant (senior superintendentof police equivalent) retire at the age of 57, while those above them superannuate after attaining the age of 60. A bench of Justices MuralidharandSanjeev Narulahad struck down these rules, saying such discrimination would lead to "lowering of the morale" of theCentral Armed Police Forces(CAPFs) personnel. The decision had come on a batch of petitions seeking that the retirement age of CAPF personnel of ranks concerned be enhanced to 60 years at par with officers above the rank of commandant in the four forces. The high court bench had said that among the CAPFs "a differential treatment is given to those belonging to AR, CISF, where all members in all ranks retire at the age of 60 years. Whereas, in the BSF, CRPF and ITBP two classes have been created where officers above the rank of commandant retire at the age of 60 and all other ranks retire at the age of 57". The court had also noted that the Seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC), which had examined the issue, by a majority of 2:1 had favoured enhancement of the retirement age of the commandant and below ranks in the three CAPFs. While the CRPF is the largest CAPF of the country with over 3 lakh personnel and is tasked as the lead internal security force, the BSF guards Indian borders. Similarly, the ITBP mans the Indian frontier withthe SSB secure open borders with Bhutan. The CISF is tasked with guarding 61 civil airports and other vital infrastructure in the country and the Assam Rifles guards the India-Myanmarborder. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Referring to the release of Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned Pakistan not to harm him. Addressing a gathering at a Shivratri fair at Junagadh town in Gujarat, Yogi said Modi was a "strong prime minister". "There was a time when Pakistan used to attack us indiscriminately. And we know how difficult it was in the past to secure the release of our soldiers from their custody. "This time, our brave IAF pilots destroyed Pak fighter planes before they could enter Indian territory," he said. "He (Modi) made it clear that we will not compromise. A warning was given that Pakistan will face consequences if anything happens to the soldier. Only a strong PM can show such a willpower," he said. The ongoing Shivratri fair at Junagadh has been declared as a 'Mini Kumbh' by the BJP government in Gujarat. Adityanath said over 30 crore people have taken holy dip at the Sangam during the Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj so far. "In 2013, foreign media had reported on lack of cleanliness, discrimination and many other issues during the Kumbh. But this time we have put a full stop to such questions. We could do that because we had Modi's guidance," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Smriti Irani Friday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "parakram" (valour) for Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's return from Pakistan within two days of his capture. "Sangh (RSS) today can be proud of the fact that a son of India is returning to India in 48 hours due to the 'parakram' of a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer)," she said in an apparent reference to Modi. Modi was an RSS pracharak before he joined the BJP, which is affiliated to the Hindutva organisation. She was speaking at the release of a book, 'RSS: Building India through Sewa', authored by BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal. Speaking on the occasion, RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabole said the nation was with Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday during an engagement between Indian and Pakistan fighter jets. Hosabole said people are feeling an upsurge of patriotism due to the prevailing atmosphere. He also spoke in detail about the nationwide work of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which, he asserted, believes in servicing the society in different fields without any bias and discrimination. Irani also highlighted work of the woman wing of the RSS. Mittal said his book presents facts about the RSS and its works while seeking to explode a lot of myths about it. The organisation has often faced vicious criticism even though it is in reality the biggest "nation-building" exercise. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Congress MLA in Madhya Pradesh has courted controversy by refusing to recite Vand Mataram citing that it violated the tenets of Islamic Sharia law. Bhopal (Central) MLA Arif Masood refused to recite Vande Mataram at a public gathering of the India Mev Mahasabha at Shyampur in the state's Sehore district on Tuesday. The speaker before him at the function, former BJP MLA Ramesh Saxena had started and concluded his speech with Vande Mataram and "Bharat Mata ki Jai" chants. Masood, who took the mike next, however, said he would not chant Vande Mataram as the Sharia did not permit it. "See the books of the Mev community. Several warriors who laid down their lives for the country are mentioned in them. We are laying down our lives for the country today, and will do so tomorrow," Masood said. "But it is regrettable that we have to prove our commitment by raising Vande Mataram slogans," he added by way of his defence. Talking to the media later, Masood said India was recognised all over the world because its people had religious freedom. "Why should I sing (Vande Mataram). I follow Shariat, which does not permit this. I am ready to lay my life for the country, ready to go to the border. But, they insist on singing Vande Mataram. Our Army fights at the border, not leaders," the Congress MLA claimed. Reacting to Masood's statement, Saxena said, "After speaking, I left the venue so don't know what Masood said in his speech. This might be his personal opinion," Saxena said. The MP Congress also said it did not agree with Masood and said the party would continue to recite Vande Mataram. "Whatever Arif Masood has said is his personal opinion based on Shariat. The Congress has utmost respect for Vande Mataram, which the party would continue to recite. We do not agree with his thoughts," Narendra Saluja, coordinator of state Congress media cell, said. The BJP upped the ante and demanded that the MP Assembly Speaker seek a clarification from Masood. "The Congress MLA has refused to sing Vande Mataram, which is our national song. He took the oath to protect the country's sovereignty and integrity. The Vidhan Sabha speaker should serve him notice to seek (his) response," said Rahul Kothari, state BJP spokesperson, adding that the Congress always protected such leaders. Meanwhile, as part of a tradition that was started by the earlier BJP government, Chief Minister Kamal Nath recited Vande Mataram on Friday, the first day of the month, in a park outside the state secretariat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman back to India, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. He said the country's armed forces are an inspiration for the 130 crore Indians. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram," he tweeted. Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday said he was "very happy" on hearing the that IAF pilot Abhinandan will be released by Pakistan soon. "Very happy to know that our brave Wing Commander #AbhinandanVartaman is going to be back home and be reunited with his family tomorrow. I congratulate every Indian on this wonderful #WelcomeBackAbhinandan," Patnaik tweeted. IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to India by the Pakistan authorities at 9.10 pm on Friday. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured on February 27 by Pakistan following a dogfight between the two air forces in which his MIG-21 was shot down. Meanwhile, Padma Shri awardee Sundarsan Pattnaik had created a beautiful work of sand art at the Puri Beach to welcome Abhinandan back home, officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A team of rescuers from the Navy and Army Friday announced to leave the operation site in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district after 60 days of searching the 15 miners trapped in a 370 feet-deep illegal coal mine. The Navy and the Army informed local authorities about their decision to pack up and leave the operation on direction from their higher-ups, operations spokesperson R Susngi said. However, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which has been engaged in the rescue operation since the day of the tragedy on December 13 last, will continue with their services. "There is no instruction for us to wind up the operation and we will continue with our work," Santosh Singh, Assistant Commandant of Guwahati-based NDRF team, told PTI Friday from the site. The Navy will be going back on Saturday, the operations spokesperson said, adding the Army will also pack up and leave on receiving a direction from the higher authority. The Navy and Army personnel along with rescuers of the NDRF had so far detected five bodies deep inside the mine and retrieved two of them, officials said. The Navy arrived at the accident site at Ksan area of Lumthari village on December 31 last and lately operated their underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search the holes 24/7. The district authority congratulated and saluted the efforts, dedication and the tremendous contribution of the agencies in the two month-long rescue operation for the trapped miners at Ksan. District Deputy Commissioner F M Dopth also conveyed his deepest gratitude. On Thursday, the second body was handed over to the relatives from Lumthari village, Susngi said. The highly decomposed body was identified by his family members from the clothes he wore, he said. The companies involved in discharging water from the mines, including the Coal India Ltd, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd and KSB dewatered over 1 crore litres every day, he said. The operation to rescue the miners is one of the longest in the country and involved multiple agencies, including the Navy, Army, NDRF among others. The family members of each of the 15 miners have been given Rs 1 lakh interim relief each by the district authorities. The mine disaster had shocked the nation. Media reports highlighted the cash-rich illegal coal mining in East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya in violation of a ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal in 2014. The Supreme Court is monitoring the development and the rescue operations on a weekly basis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Conference and the PDP said Friday that they were mulling moving court against the Centre's decision to extend the 77th and 103rd Amendments of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir in the absence of an elected government in the state. The reactions come after the Union government on Thursday gave its nod to the promulgation of an ordinance for giving reservation benefits to SCs and STs in Jammu and Kashmir by amending a clause of the contentious Article 370, which gives special status to the state. "It will serve the purpose of application of relevant provisions of the Constitution of India, as amended through the Constitution (77th Amendment) Act, 1995 and Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019 for Jammu and Kashmir, by issuing the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019 by the President under clause (1) of Article 370," Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said. In a series of tweets, NC leader Omar Abdullah said, "Article 370 makes concurrence of Government of Jammu and Kashmir a condition precedent for extension of a Constitutional provision not falling under three subjects." Abdullah said his party will consult eminent lawyers to explore how the decision can be challenged in the court of law. "The Government means an elected government. President cannot seek concurrence of Governor who is a representative or agent of President. Same will apply even where only consent is required," he tweeted. "It is for this reason that @JKNC_ will consult eminent lawyers tomorrow (Friday) to see how best we can challenge this blatantly unconstitutional order in court," he added. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the Centre using the Governor's office for extending the amendments to Jammu and Kashmir seemed to be a "sinister" move aimed at "disempowering" the state. "Ostensibly, using the Governor's office seems to be a sinister move to further disempower the state. This will not be tolerated & the entire state will fight against this criminal and illegal move of GoI," she said in a tweet. She questioned the intentions of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre asking why people of Kashmir were being pushed to the wall? "Why is GoI adamant on adding fuel to the fire and letting the situation slip out of control? Why push Kashmiris to the wall? PDP is willing to work with like minded parties and people of the state to fight this battle tooth and nail in the courts," Mufti said in another tweet. The official Twitter handle of the PDP said the Union cabinet's decision was in "contravention" of the spirit of Indian Constitution's Article 370. "Governor administration, which by design is interim arrangement, is stretching it's mandate a bit too far. The concurrence of an elected, not nominated, government is a must for any amendment to the 1954 presidential order and thereby is in contravention to the spirit Art 370," the party said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli Friday paid tributes to Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari and six others killed in a helicopter crash in the country's mountainous Taplejung district. The Air Dynasty helicopter crashed on February 27 killing the 39-year-old tourism minister, Nepal's prominent aviation and hospitality entrepreneur Ang Tsering Sherpa, Prime Minister's personal aide Yubaraj Dahal, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Deputy Director General Dhurba Bhochhibhoya, CAAN Deputy Director Yubaraj Dahal, Nepal Army official Arjun Kumar Ghimire and the pilot, Captain Prabhakar KC. The helicopter burst into flames after it hit a hill while Tourism Minister Adhikari was returning to Kathmandu after visiting famous Hindu temple Pathibhara in Eastern Nepal. The minister accompanied by the technical team from the Ministry of Civil Aviation had gone for a feasibility study for an airstrip in Chuhandanda, in Tehrathum district. The bodies of the minister and other victims were kept at Tundikhel open ground for tributes. The bodies were taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, for post-mortem and identification, after they were brought to Kathmandu on Thursday. Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun and House Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara, ministers and senior government officials and leaders of various political parties paid their tributes to the victims. Minister Adhikari's body will be kept at Exhibition Centre in Pokhara, his hometown, after it is airlifted from Kathmandu Friday afternoon. Adhikari will be cremated at Ramghat of Kaski district from where he was elected to Parliament. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal's Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari, who was killed in a helicopter crash, was cremated Friday with full state honours. A large number of leaders and people marched in the funeral procession through Pokhara and reached Ramghat to pay their last tributes to Adhikari. The Nepal Army marked the leader's demise with a 61-gun-salute before he was cremated at the banks of Seti river. His elder son, Biraj Adhikari, lit the funeral pyre as per Hindu traditions. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Ishkwor Pokharel attended the funeral. Mortal remains of Adhikari had been kept at Pokhara Exhibition Centre for final tributes since Friday morning which was followed by the funeral procession. Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and other leaders paid tributes to the minister. A private helicopter crashed on February 27 killing the 39-year-old tourism minister, Nepal's prominent aviation and hospitality entrepreneur Ang Tsering Sherpa, Prime Minister's personal aide Yubaraj Dahal, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Deputy Director General Dhurba Bhochhibhoya, CAAN Deputy Director Yubaraj Dahal, Nepal Army official Arjun Kumar Ghimire and the pilot, Captain Prabhakar KC. The helicopter burst into flames after it hit a hill while Adhikari was returning to Kathmandu after visiting famous Hindu temple Pathibhara in Eastern Nepal. The minister accompanied by the technical team from the Ministry of Civil Aviation had gone for a feasibility study for an airstrip in Chuhandanda, in Tehrathum district. The last rite of five other victims were performed at Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu as per Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The last rites of Sherpa, chairman of Yeti Airlines, would be performed on Sunday as per Buddhist tradition, said the family sources. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) European Union trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom is to meet her US counterpart Robert Lighthizer next Wednesday in Washington, an EU spokesman, as the two sides seek a limited trade deal amid renewed tensions. They have been eyeing a limited deal has been since last July when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and US President Donald Trump pledged no new tariffs following those on steel and aluminium. The announcement allowed the two sides to reduce tensions at a time when Trump threatened to impose steep duties on European automobiles -- a threat he has renewed in recent days. "Commissioner Malmstrom will meet the United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, on March 6," said a spokesperson for the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. The commission's secretary general Martin Selmayr will meet the director of the US National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, on Thursday, the spokesperson said. The two sides will hold further meetings in the following days. Trade tensions have resumed lately. Trump threatened last month to go ahead with auto tariffs after his Commerce Department delivered a report that sources said found European car imports constitute a national security threat to the United States. The EU promised a quick and effective response in the event of auto tariffs. The European Commission is hoping to obtain a mandate this month from European member countries to begin negotiating a trade deal limited to industrial goods. Despite pressure from Germany, which is worried about tariffs on its key auto industry, France is balking at opening negotiations at a time of anti-government protests. European elections meanwhile are set for May 22 to May 26, with experts warning that eurosceptic populists could big make gains. Paris is especially wary after the failure of talks on TTIP, a far more ambitious transatlantic trade plan, which stalled amid fears a deal with Washington would undermine EU food and health standards. The Commission, which handles trade negotiations for the EU's 28 member states, has proposed a mandate for a "limited" trade accord. The talks in Washington will focus "on the next steps" towards implementing the July truce and "on the EU-US cooperation on WTO reform and level playing field issues," the Commission spokesperson said. The Commission will brief the US on the "state of play of the adoption of the negotiating mandates for EU-US trade agreements on industrial goods," the spokesperson added. "The Commission will also raise the EU's concerns on the tariffs imposed by the US on steel and aluminium products and on the possible consequences of the recently concluded investigation on whether automobile imports represent a threat to the US' national security. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling CPI(M) here said Friday that there was no need to bring a law to manage temporal properties of the church in the state. CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said this while rejecting allegations of various church groups, including the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan was bringing in a new law to govern church properties. The existing laws and church laws were enough to deal with matters related to such properties and there was no need for enacting a new law for the purpose, Balakrishnan told reporters here. He alleged there was a propaganda by certain groups, claiming that the government was going ahead with its plan to introduce the bill, widely known as the Kerala Church Act, even after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made it clear that there was no such move from the government. The church groups, including Syro-Malabar Church and Orthodox Church, started protesting against the law after the Law Reforms Commission published the draft of the Kerala Church (Properties and Institutions) Bill, 2019 on the commission's website seeking views of the people. Balakrishnan made it clear that the state government would not intervene in the issues related to the church and its assets. The new legislation was mooted to ensure fair and transparent administration of all properties and funds of churches and to provide remedies for maladministration, if any. The initiative to bring the legislation was taken after Catholic reformists in the state launched a campaign for a new law to govern church properties following a controversy over alleged land deals involving top priests of Syro-Malabar church. The reformists allege that the core issue of corruption in the Catholic church rests with canon law, a church law, which allows bishops to use absolute powers even in temporal matters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling BJP Friday rejected the Congress's demand to cancel carnival festivities in Goa in the wake of the prevailing tension between India and Pakistan, saying the country is not in a state of war. Goa Carnival is one of the most popular and much- awaited annual cultural festivals in the coastal state. This year, the four-day festival, a huge tourist attraction marked by song, dance and display of colourful floats, will begin Saturday. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar had demanded that carnival festivities be cancelled due to the ongoing tension on the Indo-Pak border. Addressing a press conference here, Power Minister and Goa BJPspokesman Nilesh Cabral said the country is not in a state of war to cancel an event like carnival. The carnival, organised by the state tourism department, is a cultural festival held every year, he said. "We are not in a state of war. If we were in a state of war then it (the demand to cancel the event) could have been considered," Cabral said. "But now we(India) are in a commanding position. The armed forces are properly looking after us," he said, adding festivities like the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj are still on and they should not be stopped. "Sentiments of some opposition party should not be considered as sentiments of Goa," he said. Tensions have escalated between the two neighbours in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama suicide attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammed and subsequent aerial strike by the India Air Force on a sprawling training facility of the terror outfit inside Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A non-resident Indian was arrested from the IGI airport here for allegedly raping a woman he had met on a matrimonial site in 2017, police said Friday. The accused has been identified as Ravinder Singh, a native of Jalandhar district in Punjab, they said. According to police, the woman filed a case on March 27, 2018 stating that she came in contact with Singh through the matrimonial website. On December 12, 2017, Singh reportedly intoxicated the victim and raped her. He later convinced her that he would marry her soon, but instead left Delhi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya said. Thereafter, the victim got to know that Singh was already married and was living in the United Kingdom, where he used to work as a security guard, the DCP said. As part of the investigation, raids were conducted in the accused's village in Punjab, but he did not join the probe, police said, adding a lookout circular was also issued against him. On Thursday, Singh was apprehended from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here while he was returning from UK to visit his family in Jalandhar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Firing a fresh salvo at the opposition parties, Prime Minister Friday accused them of indulging in petty politics that is benefiting the enemy and said their only agenda was to "remove Modi" rather than focusing on the country's growth. "It is the country's misfortune during this time when the whole world is seeking ansewers from Pakistan, some in are giving statements that will weaken the morale of the country's security forces," said, addressing a rally organised by the here. "They should introspect what they are talking that is being lauded in Pakistan Parliament and used to target India," he said in an apparent reference to ongoing tensions between the two countries following the February 26 air strikes by the Indian Air Force and Pakistan capturing an IAF pilot the next day. "Why are the parties of mahamilavat (highly adulterated) indulging in petty politics that is benefiting the enemy. In their hatred for Modi, they have started hating the country," charged. Training his guns against his political opponents, Modi said they were keen on removing him because he had ushered in positive change in the lives of the poor, and the oppressed. "They also want to remove Modi because he is initiating action against touts and agents. Rather than having any agenda for the (growth of the) country, they are keen on only removing Modi," the prime minister said. However, people have understood the agenda of the 'Mahamilavat' (highly adulterated), Modi said alluding to the to the proposed 'Mahagathbandhan' or grand alliance. Their efforts to form a 'mazboor'(weak) government will not yield result as the country was witnessing the work of a 'mazboot' (strong) government, Modi said. Highlighting the Centre's commitment for Andhra Pradesh's development, Modi said the NDA government's decision to create a South Coast Railway Zone headquartered here is ample proof of that. The Prime Minister also listed the Centre's various efforts in the state, in what is seen as a response to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu's taunt asking him if he was not ashamed to visit the state with 'empty hands.' Visakhapatnam was a 'dream city' of Andhra youth and the Centre had accorded priority to fulfil their aspirations, Modi said. "Today I have come here with a good news. The government has taken a proactive step on a long pending demand. Centre has decided to create South Coast railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters," Modi said. This was as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, he said. Other initiatives for the state included upgradation of the local airport, an IIT, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy, ESIC super speciality hospital and creating oil reserve facilities, the prime minister said. The 'pradhan sevak' (principal worker) was totally dedicated for the development of the state and the NDA was doing it with full vigour and honesty as "there is no baggage on us," Modi said. "We have no fear of what will happen if some file is opened. Only those who had sinned will be afraid. This fear is consuming our rivals, among who are those trying to establish a dynasty," he said without naming anyone. In an apparent reference to Naidu, he called him an "expert in U-turn," and said had he fulfilled the promises made by him, he could not have had to blame the Prime Minister for his follies. "He (Naidu) is hobnobbing with those who spared no efforts to hurt Andhra's pride," Modi said in an apparent reference to the TDP leader's aligning with the Congress. Ahead of the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, Modi has been training his guns against Naidu, seeking to remind him that the Telugu Desam Party founder, the late NT Ramarao, had founded the very party against the Congress. Modi also said those who have to ensure the progress of sons and daughters of Andhra Pradesh were doing it for their own sons and daughters, seen as yet another jibe directed at Naidu. In a letter to the Prime Minister on the eve of his scheduled visit to the port city, Naidu had asked Modi if he was not ashamed to visit the state with 'empty hands', saying he owed an explanation to 'five crore people' over unfulfilled promises,vis-a-vis the AP Reorganisation Act,2014. Citing the recently rolled out PM-Kisan scheme and the income tax exemption announced in this year's budget, Modi reaffirmed his government's commitment for the people. Various initiatives in the port sector, for fishermen and others had also put the country on the path of growth, Modi said. He said "big decisions" have been possible with the same set of officialdom and credited it to the strong mandate given by the people in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and urged the voters to give him a stronger mandate this time. In the interest, "determined and big decisions" were being taken and "New India's rules are changing," the Prime Minister added. Earlier, after arriving at INS Dega from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister drove straight to the meeting venue even as the ruling Telugu Desam Party organised protests in the city against his visit. A drizzle did not deter the large crowd that assembled for the 'Praia Chaitanya' rally organised by the at the railway grounds here. A torch rally was taken out by TDP workers here denouncing the establishment of a new South Coast Railway zone by splitting the existing Waltair Division. This is Modis second visit to the state after the first one to Guntur on February 10, where he addressed a public meeting. The Islamabad High Court on Friday dismissed a Pakistani citizen's plea to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman. Pakistan detained the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot on Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. The Pakistan government on Thursday decided to release him as "a first step" to open negotiations with India to de-escalate tension after a terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead. A Pakistani citizen had filed the petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to stop the imminent release of Varthaman, saying he committed crime against the country and should be put on trial here. The petition in the IHC sought the court's order to stop Prime Minister Imran Khan's government from handing over the Indian Air Force pilot. The petitioner said the Indian pilot had violated the airspace of Pakistan to bomb the country and therefore he committed crime against Pakistan and should face trial here. The court has admitted the petition for hearing. IHC chief justice Athar Minhallah will hear the petition ahead of the Indian pilot's handing over to India. Abhinanadan is likely to be handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah border on Friday afternoon. "The Indian pilot will be handed over to Indian likely around 4pm," a source in Pakistan Rangers told PTI. Strict security measures have been taken at the Wagah border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Parliament's joint session on Friday passed an unanimous resolution strongly condemning as "aggression" India's counter-terrorism operation in the country. The resolution was moved by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who earlier announced that he was to skipping meeting of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation over the invitation to Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. Indian fighter jets bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. The House rejected as "self-serving" and "fictitious" India's claims of having destroyed terrorist facility and causing heavy casualties. The resolution said that "facts on the grounds clearly contradict India's false claim and so have been testified by independent observers. The resolution noted that timely and "effective action of Pakistan Air force repulsed the Indian attack without loss of life and property". The resolution recalled Pakistan's offer of assistance to India in investigating the February 14 Pulwama terror attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack. The resolution accused that "India's irresponsible and reckless actions of 26th and 27th February seriously imperiled peace and stability in South Asia". The resolution reaffirmed Pakistan's resolve to respond effectively and in a befittingly manner to "Indian aggression". Pakistan Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak Friday extended an offer of dialogue to India for resolution of all disputes. India has been saying that terror and talks cannot go together. Speaking at the joint session of parliament, Khattak rejected the allegation that Pakistan was i any way involved in the Pulwama attack. "Pakistan is not behind the Pulwama incident," he said adding that accusing Pakistan for the attack was "the biggest lie of the century". Khattak said Pakistan was peace loving country and would not in favour of conflict with India for the sake of regional peace and prosperity. The minister warned that if India again resorted to aggression, "our response will be such that the history will remember'. Khattak also said that peace with India was not possible until the resolution of Kashmir dispute. India says Kashmir an integral part of the country. Qureshi said Pakistan was ready for talks to de-escalate the situation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and former Gov. Barbara Roberts the states sole female governors will share the podium in the Daniel P. Santos Diversity Speaker Series on March 7 at Willamette College of Law. The governors will discuss their experiences working in politics and their struggles and triumphs in the field from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the College of Law, Room 201. The series is a signature event sponsored by the Latinx Law Student Association (LLSA). The Law School Admission Council, the national nonprofit responsible for the LSAT, is co-sponsoring the event through a diversity grant. Latinx President Natasha Torres JD/MBA20 said its a wonderful opportunity for the Willamette community to interact with the topic of politics and gender through genuine stories. It will offer a valuable perspective on an industry women are not well-represented in and teach them how to thrive in those professions, said Torres. Named after Santos JD86, a retired associate dean for the College of Law, the series aims to provide a space for dialogue between students from diverse or marginalized communities. LLSA members asked the governors to speak in honor of Womens History Month. Open to the public, the event includes remarks from Santos, Willamette President Steve Thorsett and Latinx members. Norma J. Paulus Professor of Law Robin Morris Collin will moderate the panel discussion with the governors. An audience Q&A will follow, as well as a reception with hors doeuvres at Ricks Cafe. Roberts, has authored two books, Death Without Denial, Grief Without Apology: A Guide for Facing Death and Loss and Up the Capitol Steps: A Womans March to the Governorship, which will be on sale for $25 each. She will sign copies after the event. Past speakers of the Dean Santos Diversity Speaker Series include all five women justices of the Oregon Supreme Court and former Rep. Rocky Barilla, the first Latino elected to the Oregon Legislature who played a vital role passing sanctuary state legislation. Last year, Barilla spoke at Willamette before a measure repealing the law in Oregon was defeated. Space may be limited, so organizers encourage people to RSVP as soon as possible. If the event moves to a different location, attendees will be contacted. Pakistan is set to release the captured IAF pilot on Friday as a "first step" to open negotiations with India. Pakistan detained the IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. India Wednesday summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan and demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot who was detained by Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of the parliament on Thursday announced that Pakistan will release the pilot. The government due to security reasons has not announced any time or place to hand him over to Indian authorities. But diplomatic sources said that the pilot will be taken to the Wagah border crossing near Lahore and handed over to officials of the Indian High Commission. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistan Army Friday heavily shelled areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, leaving a woman injured, officials said. This is the eight consecutive day that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire. An Army official said, "Pakistani troops resorted to firing and mortar shelling along the LOC in Krishnagati sector of Poonch district and it ended around 0130 hours". The firing and mortar shelling continued night long in several sectors of Poonch and Rajouri districts, he said. "The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively", the official said. A woman identified as Naseem Akhtar was injured in the firing in Mankote area of Poonch, officials said. They said Pakistan troops used heavy guns including Howitzer 105 mm in shelling civilian areas in Poonch district. On Thursday, a woman was killed and a jawan was injured when Pakistani Army heavily shelled civilian areas and forward posts in six sectors along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army. The Pakistan Army has violated the ceasefire for over 60 times during the last one week by targeting over 70 civilian and forward areas along the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir, in which one woman was killed and 9 persons were injured. In view of the prevailing situation, authorities have ordered a temporary closure of educational institutions in a 5-km radius along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts. They have asked all border dwellers to remain inside their homes. Amid high tension along the LoC, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh accompanied by the White Knight Corps Commander, Lt Gen Paramjit Singh visited forward posts in Rajouri Sector to review the operational preparedness on Thursday. 2018 had witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violation, numbering 2,936 by Pakistani troops, in the last 15 years along the Indo-Pak border. Pakistan continues to violate the 2003 ceasefire agreement with India despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence to the pact during flag meetings between the two sides. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan has turned down a request by India to send back Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman by aerial route and not through the Attari-Wagah land border, official sources said Friday. They said hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the decision to release Varthaman, India conveyed to Islamabad that he be sent back via the aerial route. However, late in the night, Pakistan conveyed to India that the pilot will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border and India's request could not be heeded to, the sources said. Varthaman was captured by Pakistan after his Mig-21 Bison was shot down by a Pakistani jet during a fierce dogfight on Wednesday. The Indian defence establishment was also mulling sending a special aircraft to Pakistan, the sources said. The IAF pilot's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during the dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir's Pulwama, killing 40 soldiers. The Pakistan Air Force carried out a retaliatory aerial combat, unsuccessfully targeting several Indian military installations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistani-origin member of the House of Lords in the UK, Lord Nazir Ahmed, has been charged with attempted rape in connection with incidents dating back to early 70s, police said on Friday. Ahmed, who is often at the forefront of anti-India campaigns including backing separatist Kashmiri and Khalistani outfits in Britain, has been charged with two counts of attempted rape and one count of indecent assault dating back to the 1970s and is due to appear at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on March 19. The alleged victims of the 61-year-old are reported to be a girl and a boy aged under 13 at the time. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Ahmed was charged with indecently assaulting the boy in 1971-72, when he himself was aged 14 to 15, and he is alleged to have committed the two attempted rapes in 1973-74, when he was aged 16 to 17. The police said that Ahmed was charged alongside two other men from Rotherham in South Yorkshire - Mohamed Farouq, who is charged with four counts of indecent assault, and Mohammed Tariq, charged with two counts of indecent assault. "They were charged via postal requisition on Thursday (February 28, 2019) and are all due to appear at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Tuesday (March 19, 2019)," South Yorkshire Police said in a statement. Ahmed was born in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and moved to the UK in 1969 with his family to join his father, who was working in steel factories in the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire region of northern England. He joined the Labour Party in 1975 at the age of 18, and became a councillor in Rotherham in 1990. In 1998, he became one of the first Muslim peers when he was appointed to the House of Lords by then Prime Minister Tony Blair. He resigned from the Labour Party in 2013 amid controversy and has been an independent peer in the House of Lords since. Ahmed did not comment on the latest charges, which come weeks after he was embroiled in accusations last month of using his position to exploit vulnerable women who came to him seeking help. He had denied any wrongdoing at the time or acting "inappropriately" towards women. "I take my duties as a Parliamentarian extremely seriously and would not act so as to undermine my personal or professional reputation," he said in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab minister O P Soni visited some schools in the border areas of Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts on Friday and checked the examination centres. Keeping in view the heightened tension between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack, Soni made a surprise visit to take stock of situation in the schools which are located close to the International Border. He checked the examination centres and interacted with the students and told them not to worry on any account and concentrate on their studies. At Government Senior Secondary School, Lopokey, located on the Indo-Pak border, the minister interacted with students in their classroom. During his visit to the school at Sarngraha he also checked the midday meal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistani citizen on Friday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman, saying he committed crime against the country and should be put on trial here. Pakistan detained the Indian Air Force pilot on Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. The Pakistan government on Thursday decided to release him as "a first step" to open negotiations with India to de-escalate tension after a terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead. The petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) sought the court's order to stop Prime Minister Imran Khan's government from handing over the Indian Air Force pilot. The petitioner said the Indian pilot had violated the airspace of Pakistan to bomb the country and therefore he committed crime against Pakistan and should face trial here. The court has admitted the petition for hearing. IHC chief justice Athar Minhallah will hear the petition ahead of the Indian pilot's handing over to India. Abhinanadan is likely to be handed over to the Indian authorities at Wagah border on Friday afternoon. "The Indian pilot will be handed over to Indian likely around 4pm," a source in Pakistan Rangers told PTI. Strict security measures have been taken at the Wagah border. Police and Rangers are deployed enroute to Wagah. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP President Amit Shah Friday said creating situation for return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan was a diplomatic victory, ahead of the expected arrival of the captured pilot. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said, "Creating situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, told a conference Thursday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for criticising the Congress despite talking about the need for unity after the Pulwama attack, party chief Rahul Gandhi Friday said Modi can't refrain from engaging in public relations exercise "even for five minutes". Speaking at a rally in north Maharashtra's Dhule district, the Congress chief also ridiculed industrialist Anil Ambani, saying he cannot make even paper planes. "After the Pulwama attack, I told my party leaders and workers to ensure that nobody criticised the government and (said) the country should stand together in this fight," Gandhi said. Political attacks on the government could be made once the tensions between India and Pakistan eased, he said. "Modi tells media that India is united after the Pulwama terror attack. Immediately after that, he criticises us during the war memorial opening (in Delhi). This country's prime minister cannot stop his public relations even for five minutes. That is the difference between him and Congress," Gandhi said. It was the defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which has been making military aircraft such as Mirage, Sukhois and Jaguars, he said, targeting Anil Ambani whose company has got the offset contract under the Rafale deal. When demonetisation was announced, the country was made to believe that it was a fight against black money, but only the common man had to stand in queues in front of banks and not Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi or Vijay Mallya, Gandhi said. Referring to the announcement of Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme for farmers during the Union Budget, Gandhi said the BJP MPs thumped their desks to welcome it. "Later we came to know that Modi and Piyush-ji have given Rs 17 (per day) to the families of farmers. So every person got Rs 3.5 (per day). Modi should be ashamed of himself. On one hand loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore are waived and on the other hand families of farmers are given Rs 3.5," he said. Under the scheme, farmers with land-holding of two hectares or less will get Rs 6,000 per year. The Congress chief reiterated his promise to give a "minimum income" to the poor. "We will not give you Rs 3. If they can give Rs 3.5 lakh crore to 15 people, we can surely give to the poor and the youth (minimum income)," he said. The BJP wants to create two Indias, one of 20-25 industrialists and the other of the poor, farmers and unemployed youth, Gandhi said. "We want a government where all are given equal space. This is a country of love. Wherever the BJP goes, they spread hatred. Wherever they go and spread hatred, we spread love," he said. Mobile phones, shirts and shoes are made in China, but the Congress wants them to be "made in India" and "made in Maharashtra", he said. How many people got the benefit of the Maharashtra government's loan waiver scheme or the Minimum Support Prices promised by the BJP, he asked the crowd. The Congress, after coming to power in three Hindi heartland states, waived farmers' loans within two days, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Smriti Irani Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a free hand to the armed forces to deal with terrorists and their supporters. She was addressing BJP's women volunteers at Agra College here under 'Mann Ki Baat' programme of the party. After the Pulwama tragedy, there was a lot of anger in the country and people wanted the government to give a fitting reply to promoters of terrorism, the textiles minister said. She also praised External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the latter's clear and firm stand at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday greeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his birthday, referring to him as "my friend" and praising him for pulling the state "out of the shadows of years of misrule". Kumar who also heads the JD(U), an NDA ally, turned 68 Friday. "Greetings to my friend and Bihar's hardworking Chief Minister @NitishKumar ji. Nitish ji's persistence ensured Bihar emerged out of the shadows of years of misrule. His pro-people governance has touched the lives of many. I pray for Nitish ji's long and healthy life," Modi tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Falconry Month at Birds and Booze: Ive decided to dedicate this month of March 2019 to wines and beers related to the history of falconry or hawking for no other reason than that Ive recently acquired several bottles adorned with mostly medieval European iconography relating to this sport of kings. While the hunting of game with trained birds of prey can be a controversial topic among birders, falconry was a valuable early source of information on birds, and its history, culture, and imagery continue to fascinate bird lovers, as we shall see. Few hobbies place such value on the written knowledge contained in books as does birding. Birders cherish and hoard books above all other trappings of the pastime, and rather than relegating these tomes to the home library or study, theyre routinely carried out-of-doors as constant and dog-eared companions in field and forest. Books about birds are a wealth of written and pictorial information to birders, and an exalted few have become watersheds in the history of ornithological study: Ornithologiae by Francis Willughby, Birds of America by John James Audubon, and Guide to the Birds by Roger Tory Peterson, to name just a few of the most legendary. But predating these and indeed almost all other ornithological texts in history is a medieval book on falconry: De arte venandi cum avibus (On the art of hunting with birds), a treatise on the sport written by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. This book is no mere dabbling by a royal dilettante either: De arte venandi cum avibus is a serious and comprehensive study not only of the birds of prey employed in falconry, but a logically structured catalog of Fredericks own keen and sometimes radical observations of all the birds he knew. There had been works on falconry before Fredericks time: treatises on falconry date back to the 10th century in Europe, and King Harold of England (of Battle of Hastings fame) reputedly owned the largest collection of volumes devoted to the subject in all of Europe. And sometime before Frederick completed his own work, he acquired a five-volume treatise on falconry in Arabic by a writer known to the Europeans as Moamyn perhaps while in Palestine during the Sixth Crusade in 1228 and 1229 and had it translated into Latin as De scientia venandi per aves by a Syriac named Theodore of Antioch, who was employed at the emperors court in Palermo. Possibly the first documentation of a ship-assisted bird in history, undoubtedly sailing off the edge of the world. So, in writing his own falconry treatise, Frederick drew on all sources of knowledge on birds available to him at the time, including the Aristotelian tradition inherited from antiquity, medieval bestiaries imbued with preordained Christian morality and symbolism rather than the careful observation of natural phenomena, as well as translations of later, more enlightened works by Arab falconers and scholars. But in many cases, Frederick found that the claims of these vaunted but unthinking sources stood in contrast with his own experiences as both a falconer and keen observer of birds. In De arte venandi cum avibus, he corrected and supplemented this comprehensive survey of the existing literature with his own empirical observations and logical inductions and methodically organized these natural histories in a work that is startlingly ahead of its time. Could this be the first accipiter sp. report in history? For instance, Frederick rejected centuries-old folk wisdom that claimed that Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) a species with a seasonal occurrence in Europe were born not of eggs laid by breeding geese but were spontaneously incarnated from driftwood afloat at sea. Of course, this fanciful story had been devised to explain the absence of nests in Europe by this Arctic breeder, but Frederick dismissed it as nonsense. Instead, he surmised that Barnacle Geese merely breed in far-off lands and return south in winter perhaps one of the earliest explanations of migration in history. Medieval migration: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land? Some of Fredericks observations were more mundane, but no less astute and revolutionary for his time. He noted that raptor plumages sometimes varied according to the age and sex of the bird (he really was a birder!), and also theorized that birds breed in the spring as the warmth of summer offers the best conditions for the rearing of offspring. And whenever ancient texts or folklore failed to provide a satisfactory explanation, Frederick conducted what would now be recognized as scientific experiments to discover the answer himself. He blindfolded vultures to determine whether they could locate food by sense of smell, and also sought to determine if chicken eggs would hatch by the warmth of the sun alone, rather than from being incubated by a hen. It was probably for Fredericks more worldly exploits among them the establishment of the University of Naples, outlawing the superstitious trial by ordeal, and waging war against no fewer than four popes that a contemporary chronicler dubbed the emperor stupor mundi (the astonishment of the world). But to we latter-day birders and ornithologists, Fredericks greatest accomplishment was his rejection of the prevailing dogmatic views on the natural history of birds, which he replaced with his own carefully recorded observations. At the time, this amounted to heresy and resulted in the suppression of his writings by religious authorities for centuries (though his antipapal campaigns probably had something to do with that, as well). Frederick completed De arte venandi cum avibus toward the end of his extraordinary life, sometime before 1248. The original six-volume manuscript was sumptuously decorated in gold and silver but was lost at the Battle of Parma in 1248, when the emperors siege camp was destroyed by factions supporting Pope Innocent IV (not surprisingly, Frederick was away hunting undoubtedly with hawks or falcons at the time of the attack). After the death of Frederick in 1250, his illegitimate son and heir, Manfred, commissioned a new edition, which was completed during his reign as the last Hohenstaufen King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266. This copy is by far the most famous version of the seven extant medieval copies of De arte venandi cum avibus. Like the others, it is a torso of Fredericks original work, in its case ending near the end of what had been the second of six volumes. The manuscript, comprising 111 folios, now resides in the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana. Owing to its provenance in the intensely intellectual, artistic, and scholastic court of 13th-century Palermo, this illuminated codex is one of the most remarkable repositories of falconry images and by extension the medieval iconography of birds in general. The Vatican edition of De arte venandi cum avibus contains over 660 outstanding manuscript illuminations depicting every aspect of the practice of falconry in exquisite detail and at least 80 different species of birds. One of these images is a depiction of four dark falcons with speckled breasts perched on a rail. Their hefty bearing and prominent beaks, as well as the dark mustachial stripe on each bird, suggests that they may be Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus), a favorite species of medieval royal falconers. Whatever they may be, the image makes a handsome label for this weeks wine, the 2015 Siir from San Martino, a vineyard in the Aglianico del Vulture region of Basilicata in Italy. There are letters from Frederick II requesting Gyrfalcons from Greenland, a place then only known to Europeans for fewer than three centuries. To my knowledge, the chronicles dont record the wine preferences of Frederick II. But theres a good chance the medieval emperor was drinking a good deal of Aglianico, a venerable grape variety first brought to Fredericks southern Italian homeland by Greek colonists, and later beloved by the ancient Romans. The poet Horace sang its praises, and according to legend, Hannibal rewarded his armies with Vulture wines after a victory over Rome. Even our pioneering ornithologist Frederick II is said to have promoted the cultivation of Aglianico vines within his realm in Basilicata, a region he visited often for hunting. With such a pedigree, it comes as no surprise that the French winemaker and professor of oenology at the University of Bordeaux, Denis Dubourdieu, stated that Aglianico is probably the grape with the longest consumer history of all. Aglianico vines are still grown in southern Italy today, particularly in area around Mount Vulture, an extinct volcano in Basilicata. The varietal thrives in the volcanic soils that dominate in the south of Italy, and the grape is much used in producing Aglianico del Vulture, a red wine that is the only Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wine from Basilicata. Although not particularly well known, Aglianico del Vulture wines are generally regarded as excellent, with great potential for aging owing to their lively acidity and tannins. At three years old, the 2015 Siir from San Martino is admittedly a bit fresh, but even in its youth, the intention of winemaker Lorenzo Piccin comes through beautifully in this wine. This deep red is imbued with fruity but dry aromas of black cherry and blackberry, supported by floral hints of violet, spicy licorice, and leather. The wine is strongly tannic, with a slight bitterness that should mellow after a few more years, but still retaining enough acidity to counter its rich, plummy flavors. This Aglianio del Vulture is a wine that should improve a good deal over time. And with its origins in the ancient, volcanic earth at the heart of Fredericks former realm in the south of Italy, and being made from one of the oldest grapes known to winemaking, it makes a fitting glass to enjoy while poring over images from De arte venandi cum avibus, the beautiful but unlikely ancestor of all the field guides sitting in your birding library. Frederick II, author of De arte venandi cum avibus, posing here with one of his hunting companions (hooded). Good birding and happy drinking! San Martino Siir (2015) Aglianico del Vulture DOC Four out of five feathers (Excellent) President Ram Nath Kovind issued an order extending the benefits of reservation to economically backward sections in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday night. A notification in this regard was issued after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took a decision on Thursday to issue the order, a Home Ministry official said. With this, the 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections has been made applicable in Jammu and Kashmir also. This would pave the way for reserving state government jobs to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir who are from economically weaker sections belonging to any religion or caste, the official said. Ten per cent reservation to economically weaker sections was introduced in the rest of the country through the 103rd Constitutional Amendment in January 2019. The central government's move came as Jammu and Kashmir is currently under the President's Rule. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A property dealer was allegedly shot dead at a wedding function by two unidentified persons in a village here, police said Friday. Atul Tiwari, 26, was attacked on Thursday night at Gumanpur village in Rizor area, they said. The body was sent for post-mortem and a probe on in the matter. No arrests have been made so far, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 52-year-old property dealer was shot dead at his office by a man in Rohini area's Jain Nagar on Friday, police said. The Begumpur police station was informed about the incident at 3:45 pm, they said. Sanjeev Sharma was taken to the Brahmshakti hospital where he was declared brought dead, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) S D Mishra said. The man, who had covered his face, arrived on a motorcycle and shot Sharma in his office in Jai Nagar, police said. Preliminary investigation revealed that during the time of the incident a minor boy there. The office is of Yashdeep, the officer said. Sharma was a property dealer for the past seven to eight years, Mishra said, adding that police are probing all angles. The DCP said as per witnesses a man came on a motorcycle. The vehicle did not have a complete registration number, he said. Footage from CCTV cameras installed in the area are also being examined, Mishra said. The body has been shifted to Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital. Further investigation is underway, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has admitted that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar is in and is "unwell", but said the government can act against him only if India presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law. Qureshi's remarks came amid heightened tensions between India and after the February 14 terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pulwama that left 40 CRPF personnel dead. India has handed over a dossier to with "specific details of the JeM complicity in and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan." India also expressed regret at the denial by Pakistan's political and military leadership at the presence of terrorist infrastructure in territories under its control. "He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his house, because he's really unwell," Qureshi told CNN when asked about Azhar. Azhar is the chief of JeM that claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. India has been repeatedly trying to list him as a "global terrorist" by the UN. However, China, an ally of Pakistan, has blocked India's efforts by using veto. Qureshi also said that Pakistan will take action against him if presented with "evidence that can stand in a court of law". "If they have solid, inalienable evidence that is acceptable to courts of Pakistan, share it with us so that we can convince the people and we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan," Qureshi said. "We need to satisfy the legal process," he said. Qureshi also added that the release of captured IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is a "peace gesture" and must be seen as Pakistan's "willingness to de-escalate". Varthaman, who in Pakistan's custody since Wednesday is likely to be released at the Wagah border on Friday. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally here Saturday along with leaders of Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Jharkhand. Gandhi will speak at the partys Parivartan Ulgulan Maha Rally at the Morahbadi ground with leaders of JMM, JVM and RJD, JPCC spokesman Lal Kishore Nath Shahdeo told PTI Friday. "JMMs working president Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) chief Babulal Marandi and RJDs Jharkhand unit president Annapurna Devi have been invited to participate in the Congress rally tomorrow," Shahdeo said. The JPCC spokesman, however, dismissed possibility of Gandhi meeting RJD president Lalu Prasad lodged in jail here after conviction in cases of multi-crore fodder scam. There is no possibility, Sahdeo said when asked whether the party has taken permission from the jail authorities for Gandhi to call on Prasad. Prasad has been in Ranchi's Birsa Munda jail since December 2017 after his conviction in cases of over Rs 900 crore fodder scam that broke out in early 90s in the united Bihar. RJD has been an important ally of the Congress in Bihar as well in Jharkhand and Prasad is the national president of the party. Though opposition parties have appeared together on many occasions as partners of mahagathbandhan, but seat-sharing among them is still not hammered. Media reports suggest that Prasad would have the last word on the allocation of seats to anti-BJP coalition particularly for a total of 40 seats in Bihar. This will be the first visit by Rahul Gandhi to Jharkhand after the 2014 Lok Sabha and assembly elections, another Congress leader said. Usually visitors are allowed to meet Prasad on Saturdays and a host of opposition leaders had met him in the last two months with former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi being the latest visitor on February 23. As per an understanding reached recently among the opposition parties in Jharkhand, the Congress will head the Lok Sabha elections in the state while the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) will do so in the assembly elections. However, the opposition parties have not yet announced seat adjustments for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, who had warned of parting ways with the National Democratic Alliance over the sub-quota demand, said Friday the matter would be taken up with BJP president Amit Shah next week. Rajbhar, the backward class minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh, has been vocal about implementing an expert group recommendation on sub-categorisation of the 27-per cent Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation into three categories to benefit the most-backward castes. "A meeting with the BJP president Amit Shah has been fixed for March 4 (Monday) during which all issues, including the implementation of social justice committee recommendations will be taken up," Rajbhar told reporters after a programme at Rasra in Ballia district. "The matter over continuation in the alliance with the BJP has not yet been resolved," the SBSP leader said. Rajbhar had earlier threatened to part ways with the BJP if recommendations of the social justice committee were not implemented by February 24, but had later decided to defer a decision in view of the meeting with saffron party leadership. Besides the implementation of the recommendations, the SBSP has also been demanding allotment of an office for his party in Lucknow. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo: Last Blood", which will mark the actor's fifth and final outing as the action character, John Rambo, will release in the US on September 20 this year. The film, directed by Adrian Grunberg from a script by Stallone and Matt Cirulnick, will see Rambo living on a ranch in Arizona, deeply troubled and wrestling with PTSD as he picks up casual work wherever he can. When longtime family friend and estate manager Maria informs the former soldier that her granddaughter has gone missing after crossing into Mexico for a party, he sets off with her to find the youngster. In pursuit, Rambo uncovers a sex-trafficking ring and teams up with a journalist whose half-sister has also been kidnapped. He must deploy all his skills to save the girls and bring down a vicious crime lord. The film will also feature Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Yvette Monreal in pivotal roles. Stallone first the played the character in "First Blood" (1982) and later followed it up with "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985), "Rambo III" (1988) and "Rambo" (2008). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Commerce ministers of RCEP countries including India and china, which are negotiating a mega trade deal, will hold a crucial meeting in Cambodia on Saturday, according to an official statement. The 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) bloc aims to cover among the issues related to goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights. Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has reached Siem Reap in Cambodia for the 7th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting to be held on March 2, 2019. The meet will see bilateral sessions and an opening ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen. "In this meeting, developments since the second RCEP summit held on November 14, 2018 in Singapore will be reviewed, particularly the outcomes of the second Special Trade Negotiating Committee meeting held on January 25-26 2019 in Jakarta," the commerce ministry said in a statement. After five years of intense negotiations, India, at the end of the 2nd RCEP summit, is now perceived as a constructive player, providing guidance and building consensus on critical areas by taking into consideration the concerns of all member countries, Prabhu was quoted as saying. "This will ensure that there is no marginalisation of request of smaller countries and there is room for policy space for developing countries in transition as it will help moderate ambitions, particularly in the goods negotiations and lead to balanced and mutually beneficial outcomes," it added. India's flexibility helped in facilitating successful conclusion of three chapters -- institutional provisions; sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment. RCEP bloc includes 10 countries of ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and their six free trade pact partners namely Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. The negotiations have entered the sixth year. During the last five years, 24 rounds of negotiations at the expert level were held. The last round was held from October 18-27, 2018 in Auckland. Besides, six ministerial meetings and seven inter-sessional meetings have been held so far. RCEP members want India to eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties on maximum number of goods it traded with them. India's huge domestic market provides immense opportunity of exports for RCEP countries. But lower level of ambitions in services and investments, a key area of interest for India, does not augur well for the agreement that seeks to be comprehensive in nature. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Patriotic slogans rent the air and people burst crackers and distributed sweets at this suburban Madambakkan locality Friday as they welcomed the of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's imminent release from Pakistan's custody. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He was subsequently captured on the Pakistani side of the LoC. The pilot is scheduled to be handed over to India at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab on Friday. of his capture sent residents of Jalvayu Vihar, a gated community of retired defence personnel, where the fighter pilot's parents are staying, into a sombre mood. But his imminent release Friday cheered residents as they hit the streets by bursting crackers and exchanging sweets. A group of people gathered outside the gate of Jalvayu Vihar, some 25 km from the city. They raised patriotic slogans like 'Bharath Mata ki jai", burst crackers and also distributed sweets soon after television channels telecast the that the Indian Air Force pilot left Lahore in a convoy comprising vehicles of the Pakistani government officials for the Wagah Border to be handed over to India. Chander, a retired Air Force officer and a resident of Jalvayu Vihar, said it was a wonderful moment for those in the locality as they had been praying for his safe return. "We all here were sad after Abhi's (Abhinandan) capture and visited the house of his parents to express our solidarity with them. We prayed for his safe return and our prayers have been answered. We wish him long life," he said. Chander also said the past two days were testing times for Abhinandan's parents but they were confident of their son returning. "Many of us are aware that Abhinandan's parents had a tough time dealing with things, but they were brave and confident that he would return," he added. Yashoda, who lives near Jalvayu Vihar, said the pilot's imminent return was a moment to celebrate in the locality, adding everyone was worried about his safety. LSS Mohan, a local DMK leader and resident, said he was overjoyed to learn about Abhinandan's imminent release, adding it was a victory for the country. "We are very happy for Abhinandan and his family. We were anxious but his parents were confident of seeing him back. He is a brave man. His imminent release is a victory for India," he added. K Mohandass, a former IAF officer and a resident of Madambakkam, said the people in the locality were praying for Abhinandan's well-being and his return is something to celebrate. "I have known their parents for a long time.It is an Air Force family and they have served the country with distinction," he said. G Murugesan, a shop-owner, said the locality has been buzzing with activity for a couple of days, a rare thing for a place known for its tranquility. "A lot of people, including some ministers, politicians and VIPs came calling...," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As much as Rs 1.2 lakh crore of investment has been committed by firms like IOC, Adani Gas and Torrent in a massive rollout of CNG stations and cooking gas connections to households over the next 8-10 years, oil regulator PNGRB said Friday. The move is likely to expand coverage of city gas to 70 per cent of the country's population. PNGRB has in last six months awarded licenses for setting up city gas distribution networks in 136 geographical areas or GAs in two bid rounds that will expand the network of CNG stations in the country to 10,000 from current 1,500 and piped natural gas connections to household kitchens to 5 crore from current 5 lakh, PNGRB Chairman D K Sarraf said. While Rs 70,000 crore investment was committed in 86 GAs awarded in the 9th city gas bid round in August last year, another Rs 50,000 crore was committed in the 50 GAs awarded in the 10th round Friday, he said. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan handed over letter of intent to the winners of the 10th round which included firms like Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), Torrent Gas and Adani Gas. "Just 20 per cent of the population was covered by city gas distribution network in 2014 and now after award of 10th bid round, this will reach 70 per cent," he said. "After 10th round, the coverage of city gas network will extend to 402 districts in the country". While 86 Geographical Areas or GAs, made up of 174 districts, were offered for bidding in the 9th round that concluded in August last year, 50 GAs, comprising of 124 districts, were offered in the 10th round. "225 bids from 25 entities were received up to February 5, 2019, i.e., the bid closing date (for the 10th round). And the PNGRB finalised the bids in a record time of 21 days," Sarraf said. Prior to this, city gas distribution (CGD) licences had been given for 178 GAs covering 280 districts (263 complete and 17 part) spread over 26 states and UTs. These covered about 50 per cent of India's population (as per 2011 census) and 35 per cent of its geographical area. State-owned IOC won licences to retail gas in 10 cities, while HPCL won rights for nine towns in the 10th city gas bid round. IOC won city gas distribution licences for nine cities, most of them in Bihar and Jharkhand, on its own and one in a joint venture with Adani Gas. HPCL, a subsidiary of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), won licences to retail CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households in nine cities in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. A consortium of LNG Marketing Pte Ltd and Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company of Manila Inc won rights for nine cities in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. Gujarat Gas Ltd won rights for six cities, while state gas utility GAIL India's unit GAIL Gas Ltd won rights for four. Indraprastha Gas Ltd and Torrent Gas won rights for three cities each, while Adani Gas and Bharat Gas Resources Ltd, a subsidiary of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), bagged two cities each. "In the 10th bid round 2 crore piped natural gas connections have been committed to be given and 3,500 CNG stations will be set up. Besides, 58,000-inch kilometre of steel pipeline will be laid for the supply of gas," Sarraf said, adding this along with commitments made in the 9th bid would help increase piped cooking gas connections 10-folds to 5 crore and CNG stations to 10,000 from current 1,500. Oil Secretary M M Kutty said the massive expansion of city gas distribution network is as part of government efforts to raise the share of natural gas in the energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from current 6.2 per cent. Natural gas is cleaner and environment-friendly fuel and is intended to replace some of the polluting coal and liquid fuels consumed currently. With the completion of 10th bidding round, CGD would be available in 228 GAs comprising 402 districts spread over 27 States and Union Territories covering approximately 70 per cent of India's population and 53 per cent of its geographical area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thomson expands focus to more gold opportunities Acquires Queensland Gold Project Sydney, Mar 1, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Thomson Resources ( ASX:TMZ ) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a gold exploration project in the Chillagoe district of north Queensland. The project comprises 6 EPMs (Exploration Permit for Minerals), 3 of which are granted. The area covered (594 square km) lies 30km west of Chillagoe and near the Mungana, Red Dome and King Vol mining operations.Highlights- Queensland Gold Project (Chillagoe) acquisition agreement- Targets are Intrusion Related Gold (IRG) in breccia pipes- Area lies within an IRG field (adjacent to Mungana, King Vol)- Little or no modern exploration- Highly anomalous rock chip geochemistry e.g. Ashtonville 9 g/t Au, 413 g/t Ag; Jessica 5 g/t Au, 202 g/t Ag; Laverock 7 g/t Au, 331 g/t Ag;Simpsons 31 g/t Au, 197 g/t Ag- No reported drilling in those areas- Potential also for copper-silver-zinc-lead deposits- Some NSW tenements will be relinquishedChillagoe ProjectThe principal target type in the area is Intrusion Related Gold (IRG) deposits which are typically associated with felsic Carboniferous breccia pipe and intrusive complexes. In this area several such bodies are known and display features typical of the nearby Red Dome and Mungana IRG deposits (see Table 1 in link below).The Palmerville Fault Zone is a fundamental crustal structure that allowed the fertile Carboniferous intrusions and breccias to be emplaced into the older country rocks of this region (see Figure 1 in link below). East of the Palmerville Fault the intrusions and breccias are hosted by dominantly limestone rocks, the result being replacement skarn deposits like Mungana and Red Dome.Within and west of the Palmerville Fault Zone the older intruded rocks are older Palaeozoic and Proterozoic age intrusives, schists and gneisses. However the mineralisation-associated intrusions are the same age in all cases: late Carboniferous. The Kidston and Mt Leyshon IRG deposits, although some distance to the south, are also associated with Permo-Carboniferous igneous intrusions into older rocks.These deposits have great vertical extent (Red Dome has proven depth continuity to greater than 1,000 metres). The exploration implication is that most undiscovered deposits of this type will come close to surface, only hidden by weathering and recent alluvial or transported sediments.A search of open file exploration reports has yielded just 22 percussion, reverse circulation or diamond drill holes recorded on the acquired EPMs. Of these, 10 are immediately west of the Wandoo mine leases, with 9 in the Loretta prospect area (see Figure 2 in link below). While the West Wandoo holes average 135m depth, the other 13 holes on these new EPMs average only a shallow 46m; and in many cases the reports suggest that a hole may not have reached target depth.Exploration in the area covered by the new EPMs has relied on surface prospecting, particularly rock chipping. Over 160 samples have been extracted from over 50 Open File reports and more than 40 of these returned more than 1 g/t Au. This release relies on these rock chip results and highlights 10 prospects for immediate follow up.ProspectsSeveral prospects are known to occur on the EPMs, mostly generated by surface sampling. These include prospects with anomalous (+1 g/t Au) rock chips that have been reported in Open File reports but where no drilling has been reported - Ashtonville; Jessica; Laverock; Mammoth, Salt Creek and Simpsons. Some prospects have limited drilling (Loretta and Ruboo) and there is also potential near the excluded mine leases of Empire and Wandoo.AshtonvilleThis prospect lies 1.5km south of the King Vol mine on EPM26333 with 15 recorded rock chips over a 900m x 400m area, max 8.9 g/t Au, average 3g/t (see Table 6 in link below). The prospect area covers a series of mineralised shears developed primarily in gneiss and schist of the Proterozoic Dargalong Metamorphics adjacent to the Palmerville Fault (see Figure 1 in link below). The shears have an extensive strike length of over 2 kilometres and occur as narrow sub-parallel NW trending zones over approximately 500 metres width. They generally dip moderately to the WSW and are anomalous in lead and arsenic, in addition to lesser gold, copper, zinc, silver and tin. No drilling is recorded from this area.Extending south from, and including, the Ashtonville area, is a 3.6km long multielement portable XRF anomaly ("South Vol"). This shallow soil anomaly is strongest in arsenic, a gold pathfinder element, but also has strong copper, lead and zinc numbers. No drilling is recorded from this area.Jessica -- RubooThese prospects lie 10-12km south of King Vol on EPM26502. No drilling is recorded from the Jessica area, and outcrop is sparse. 18 rockchips are recorded in open file reports dating from 1996-1997. Gold assays for 4 of these exceed 1 g/t Au, with a maximum of 5.4 g/t Au, 202 g/t Ag and 1.9% Pb (see Table 6 in link below).The Ruboo historic workings lie east of the Jessica prospect. Two holes were drilled on either side of a gossanous breccia lode in 2009 by Premier Minerals (see Table 5 in link below). Weakly anomalous gold (0.22 g/t Au) and antimony (0.5% Sb) were intersected at the bottom of drill hole RBRC02 from 60m depth.18 rock chips were collected in two phases of historic exploration with two samples reporting 1.1 g/t Au (see Table 6 in link below).LaverockThis prospect lies 3km east of the Cardross mining lease on EPM27186 (A). Four shafts were worked historically for copper on a lode zone running north-south for over 1km. Several open file reports from 1984-1998 list rock chip sampling and mapping. Although the maps provided lack topographic information 22 rock chip samples were located with reasonable accuracy. The average gold grade was 1.3 g/t Au, maximum 6.8 g/t Au (see Table 6 in link below). Although drilling was proposed none appears to have been carried out.400m to the west of Laverock, "Our Find" is another north-south lode system associated with felsic and mafic intrusions into schist and gneiss. Four short costeans were opened up over a 1.2km strike length, but channel sampling of the costeans reported only weak gold. A later report suggested contamination as a possible reason for the low results as rock chipping in the costeans and on surface yielded better numbers (6 samples, average 1.4 g/t Au, max 4.1 g/t Au).MammothThe Mammoth Line of workings lies 2km on strike and to the NE of Jessica on EPM (A) 26996. This area includes the old shaft named Buchanan and the prospect area was known as Lily Dam from 1984-1997. Five short costeans were opened up and, like at Our Find, results were low (max 10m at 0.3 g/t Au). This, again, is in contrast to surface rock chip sampling (16 samples, average 1.3 g./t Au, max 3.71 g/t Au). No drilling was reported.Salt CreekThe Salt Creek prospect lies 8km west of the Cardross mining lease on EPM26502. A line of old shallow pits with two shafts at either end are spread out over a 200m iron and quartz rich altered lode zone in schist. The last reported work in this area dates from 1985 with 17 rockchips collected, average 0.9 g/t Au, max 5.74 g/t Au (see Table 6 in link below).SimpsonsExtensive rock chip sampling has been reported in the Simpsons area on EPM26996. In a 1km x 1km area near the old workings 35 are reported, with 8 exceeding a gold content of 1 g/t Au (see Table 6 in link below). The maximum value obtained was 31 g/t Au, with 16.1% Pb. No drilling is recorded from this area.LorettaThe Loretta prospect on EPM26502 has scattered anomalism over a 4km x 1km area, with seven RC holes drilled adjacent to the old workings and two further north at Yellow Lode (see Table 2 in link below). No strong gold was intersected in drilling at Loretta, but there were some anomalous base metal intersections. The prospect has not been fully tested.Wandoo WestThe tenement package also has potential adjacent to the excluded mine leases at Empire, and Wandoo (see Figures 1,2 in link below). At the latter, 10 drill holes are collared on EPM26502, but are within 300m of the Wandoo Mine Lease boundary (see Figure 2, Table 5 in link below). Several holes are anomalous in gold and base metals (see Table 3 in link below).Key TermsThomson is acquiring a 90% interest in the Project from private company Bacchus Resources Pty Ltd (Bacchus). Bacchus will retain a 10% free carried interest until any part of the Tenements are converted to a Mineral Lease pursuant to a decision to mine. The consideration for the acquisition is $50,000 cash and 5 million options at an exercise price of 6c, and valid for 3 years from date of issue.Agreement Terms1. Thomson has already paid a non-refundable deposit of $10,0002. Thomson will pay the balance of the cash consideration, $40,000 on Completion of the acquisition3. Thomson will issue Bacchus 5 million options at an exercise price of 6c, valid for 3 years on Completion of the acquisition.Settlement will be subject to a number of conditions precedent:a. Thomson will enter into a preferred drillers contract with Australian Mineral & Waterwell Drilling Pty Ltd ("AMWD");b. Ministerial consent to be obtained in relation to transfer of the Tenements;c. the parties are to comply with all the Corporations Act and Listing Rule requirements and any other applicable laws or government policies.The conditions must be satisfied (or waived) on or before 30 June 2019 (or such other date as the parties agree).AMWD will provide a short term interest free unsecured loan to Thomson for the balance of the cash consideration, namely $40,000.Future PlansInitial work on the Chillagoe Gold Project will consist of surface mapping and sampling to identify shallow gold-bearing intrusive pipe breccias, followed by drilling. The ongoing success of Thomson's exploration at Bygoo and Harry Smith also requires extensive further exploration, including drilling. These projects are being analysed and drilling plans prepared.NSW Tenement Holdings and Joint VenturesThomson's tenement review identified five titles and one application that, although prospective, needed higher cost exploration with deep drilling. These are being surrendered in favour of the shallow to outcropping targets available at the new Queensland project as well as at Thomson's Bygoo Tin and Harry Smith Gold projects.The titles to be surrendered are:EL 6224 "Cuttaburra"EL 7746 "Achilles"EL 7931 "Chiron"EL 8256 "Mt Jacob"EL 8604 "Whooey"ELA 5737 "Browns Reef"The surrender of these ELs will release $50,000 in environmental bonds which will be used for new gold exploration.To view tables and figures, please visit:About Thomson Resources Ltd Thomson Resources Ltd (ASX:TMZ) is an NSW active mineral explorer. Thomson has several tin projects (including an advanced project near Ardlethan), as well as gold, copper and zinc targets in a range of settings. Thomson has a good record of discovery, with multiple new Intrusion-Related Gold (gold with copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, tungsten) systems discovered in the Thomson Fold Belt in the NW of the state. Russia on Friday offered to mediate and provide venue to Pakistan and India for the talks to resolve their current differences, Pakistan Foreign Office said. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi over telephone and discussed the situation in the region following escalation of tensions between the two neighbours, it said. "Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov reiterated his country's offer of mediation and provision of venue for the talks between India and Pakistan," the FO added. Qureshi appreciated Russia's balanced and constructive role in de-escalation of tensions in the region. He welcomed the Russian offer and said that he had acknowledged Moscow's constructive role in Parliament while addressing the joint session earlier in the day, which was well received. The two Foreign Ministers agreed to continue consultations for promotion of peace and stability in the region, according to FO. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia on Friday vowed to maintain support for the embattled regime of its Venezuelan "friend" President Nicolas Maduro, including with humanitarian aid supplies. During talks with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin expressed "support and solidarity for his colleague and friend" Maduro in the country's political standoff with the opposition. "Russia will continue to assist the Venezuelan authorities in resolving social and economic problems, including through the provision of legitimate humanitarian aid," Lavrov told a joint conference with Rodriguez afterwards. Battered by an economic meltdown, Venezuela descended into political crisis when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January and asserted that Maduro was no longer legitimate. Maduro and his allies -- including Russia -- have accused Washington of attempting to carry out a coup against his government. The United States has recognised Guaido and led a diplomatic campaign in support of his leadership. Lavrov said Russia had recently sent to Venezuela 7.5 tonnes of medical supplies and received a request for more shipments. "We are currently considering it," he said. He added that Russia was also sending "mass supplies" of wheat to Venezuela, claiming those shipments helped normalise the humanitarian situation in the crisis-hit country. He renewed warnings for the United States not to intervene militarily in Venezuela and reiterated Russia's claims that Washington was planning to buy small arms, mortar launchers, and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles known as MANPADS from an "Eastern European country" and station them "close to Venezuela." The weapons will be taken by an airline of an ex-Soviet country loyal to Washington, Lavrov claimed without providing further details. "Of course we see these intentions," he said, calling on Venezuela's neighbours Colombia and Brazil to resist any possible US intervention plans. He expressed hope that the fact that most countries which did not want to see the implementation of a military scenario "will cool hotheads in Washington even though there are some there who nothing can stop." Lavrov said the two countries would continue to coordinate on foreign affairs. "We are very closely cooperating and coordinating all our steps on the international arena," he said. "This has acquired special significance now that Venezuela is facing a frontal attack and unabashed interference in its domestic affairs." Rodriguez for her part said her government would move the European offices of state-owned oil company PDVSA from Portugal to Moscow. "President Maduro has instructed that the office of the Venezuelan oil company in Europe, which is located in Lisbon, be moved and transferred to Moscow," she said. She thanked Putin and "the Russian people" for all their support for "the constitutional and legitimate government." "We have come here with a very good programme to deepen the strategic relationship we have with our sister Russia," she added. "Venezuela does not need a military intervention, our continent does not need a military intervention, neither from the United States nor from anyone, we need peace, stability and tranquility. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A South African Airways (SAA) pilot's wings have been clipped after he fraudulently claimed to have a licence permitting him to fly airliners, the airline said Friday. The pilot, whom the state-owned carrier did not name, has been forced to resign and criminal proceedings have been opened against him. SAA said he allegedly claimed to possess an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) -- an advanced licence permitting him to fly large passenger planes. Yet he only had a commercial pilot license (CPL), which is for small aircraft and requires far less training and experience. "We find it disconcerting that misrepresentations were made about the type of license that the pilot claimed to possess," SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali said in a statement. According to local media, he had been employed at the national carrier since 1994. SAA gave no details about how long he had flown under false pretences, the number of passengers he had carried or the types of aircraft he had piloted. It said the falsehood came to light last November, when an Airbus A340-600 plane he was co-piloting to Germany encountered turbulence and he had to perform a recovery manoeuvre. The crew were grounded and evaluated in line with safety procedures, and at that point the subterfuge was discovered, it said. According to the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), which issues licenses, the ATPL is the highest qualification for pilots. It is only issued after logging at least 1,500 flying hours, in addition to undertaking special training and passing numerous examinations. Pilots are required to obtain the ATPL within five years of their employment at SAA or have their contract terminated. "We believe there is fraud committed here," SACAA spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwembu, told local television station eNCA on Friday. "What seems to have happened here is that the pilot would have taken what we have issued to them, which is the commercial pilot licence, and would have changed those documents to give an impression that they are in possession of an ATPL." Gwembu added: "We are greatly concerned that for this number of years nobody has picked this up." The airline is seeking to recover money unduly paid to him on the basis of his misrepresentation. "SAA has suffered actual financial prejudice and has opened a criminal case of fraud against that pilot," Tlali said. "Necessary steps will be taken to recover the money unduly paid to him. These include salary, overtime and allowances," he added. The aviation authorities added they were considering permanently revoking the pilot's flying licence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) President and Group Chief Financial Officer, S Chandramohan has been elected Chairman of Tamil Nadu State council for 2019-20, the CII said Friday. K Hari Thiagarajan who is currently serving as executive director of Thiagarajar Mills Pvt Ltd was elected Vice-Chairman, the Confederation of Indian Industry said. Chandramohan has been closely associated with the trade body for several years during which he has held various positions including chairman, agriculture and food processing task force, CII southern region, CII Chennai zone Chairman among others. Hari Thiagarajan was also Co-Chairman, Start-up entrepreneurs Forum, CII southern region and had also served CII Tamil Nadu as convenor-education panel, a press release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday asked a woman lawyer, who was allegedly assaulted by some cops outside the Delhi High Court premises last night, to approach a senior officer of Delhi Police for lodging FIR on the incident. A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and Deepak Gupta took note of the submissions of the woman advocate, who has also filed a sexual harassment case against an eminent jurist, that she was brutally assaulted by two policemen near the high court. She also alleged that her mobile phone, by which she was filming the cops, was snatched by them. "You go to the police station. This is not the police station," the bench said. Later, the bench asked the woman lawyer to approach the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, under whose jurisdiction the Tilak Marg police station falls, with her complaint for registration of the FIR and seeking protection. "Advocate, who is appearing as the petitioner-in-person in these writ petitions, has mentioned before this court today that she has been assaulted by some policemen outside the High Court of Delhi last night. "It would be appropriate if..., petitioner-in-person, files an First Information Report (FIR) to that effect in the Office of appropriate Deputy Commissioner of Police who is in-charge of the Tilak Marg Police Station, New Delhi. She may also seek police protection since she apprehends danger to her life," the bench noted in its order. The apex court also allowed the lawyer to file interlocutory application for directions in the main petitions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday dismissed the appeal of an army officer challenging the appointment of Lieutenant Generals Dalbir Singh Suhag and Sanjiv Chachra as heads of Eastern and Northern Commands in 2012. Lt General Suhag had later succeeded General Bikram Singh as Army chief on July 31, 2014 and retired on December 31, 2016. A bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta upheld the decision, delivered on September 6, 2013, of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) dismissing the plea of Lt Gen Ravi Dastane against the promotion of Suhag and Charcha. "The AFT dismissed the OA (original application) on the ground that the decision to appoint the third and fourth respondents (Suhag and Charcha) as Army Commanders was made on the basis of a comparative study of merit of all the officers in the zone of consideration and that no prejudice was caused to the appellant (Dastane). "The AFT held that the ACC approved the appointment of the third and fourth respondents as Army Commanders following the recommendation of the Ministry of Defence and that the procedure stipulated for appointments to the post was duly followed," the apex court said in its judgement. Dastane had referred to the letter of October 20, 1986 saying that it indicated that the appointment of Army Commanders is to be done "by selection and not on the basis of seniority". "We have come to the conclusion that the submissions which have been urged on behalf of the appellant are lacking in merit. The appellant as well as the third and fourth respondents have since retired from service. The third respondent retired from service as COAS," the apex court said. It said the appeal of Dastane was admitted for hearing by this court on October 13, 2014, after the officer has retired on September 30, 2014. "In order to render finality to the grievance which has been raised before this court, we have addressed the challenge on merits and have not found any substance in it," the bench said while dismissing the appeal. As per the case, on March 22, 2012, the then Army chief V K Singh had examined a proposal for filling up vacancies in two posts of Army Commander which were to arise on June 1, 2012 on the impending retirement of Lieutenant General S R Ghosh, GOC-in-C, Western Command and the appointment of Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command on his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff on May 31, 2012. The names of seven officers were in the zone of consideration for the two posts and Dastane was placed at number three. Lt Gen Dalbir Singh and Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra were high in the seniority list and were appointed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday came down heavily on the Haryana government for passing amendments to an act which allows construction in Aravalli hills, saying the step will destroy the forest and this cannot be permitted. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta asked the state not to take any further action on the law and termed it "shocking" that the Haryana government has taken this step despite being told earlier by the apex court not to do so. On February 27, the Haryana Assembly had passed amendments to an act, opening up thousands of acres of land to real estate and other non-forest activity that were protected under it for over a century. Chief Minister M L Khattar had said the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2019, was the "need of the hour", adding that it was a "very old" act and much has changed over a period of time. The top court was dealing with a matter in which it had earlier directed demolition of illegal constructions in forest area of Aravalli hills in Haryana. "You are not supreme and supreme is the rule of law," the bench told the counsel appearing for Haryana and asked the state not to take any action on the law allowing constructions in Aravalli area. "It is really shocking. You are destroying the forest...it is not permissible," the court said, adding that "it is sheer contempt". The bench observed it had earlier asked Haryana not to allow any construction in forest area of Aravalli, but despite that the state went ahead with it. The amendments to the act were passed by the state assembly amid vociferous protests and walkout by opposition parties. The Punjab Land Preservation Act was enacted by then Punjab government in 1900 and it provided for conservation of subsoil water and prevention of erosion in areas found to be subject to erosion or likely to become liable to erosion. The orders and notifications issued under the provisions of the act extend to approximately 10,945 sq km, accounting roughly for about 25 per cent area of Haryana and it covers, wholly or partly, 14 out of the state's 22 districts. The top court had in January this year extended till July 31 the deadline for house owners, whose buildings were ordered to be demolished due to illegal constructions in forest area of Aravalli hills, to vacate their premises subject to furnishing of undertaking in this regard. The court had said the 33 house owners in Faridabad's Kant Enclave, who were earlier directed by the apex court to vacate their premises by March 31, would get time till July 31 if they file undertaking that they would vacate the properties by then. On September 11 last year, the apex court had termed "frightening" the illegal construction in the forest area of Aravalli hills and directed the Haryana government to demolish the unauthorised structures built there after August 18, 1992. The court had lashed out at the Haryana government and said the construction activity carried out by R Kant and Company, a private realtor who was a party to the case, was clearly in violation of the August 18, 1992 notification and also in blatant defiance of the court's orders. The 1992 notification issued under the provisions of the Punjab Land Preservation (PLP) Act had prohibited clearing or breaking up of land not ordinarily under cultivation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with the Madras High Court order giving its nod to capture and put in captivity a wild elephant which has been venturing into human habitats in Coimbatore and neighbouring districts. On February 13, a division bench of the Madras High Court had directed the Tamil Nadu principal chief conservator of forest to pass appropriate orders for capturing the 25-year-old elephant, nicknamed "Chinna Thambi" and keep it in captivity. The appeal filed by an animal welfare organisation against the high court's order came before a bench of justices A K Sikri and S K Kaul on Friday. "You want us to supervise the elephants in the country? There are relevant authorities for this," the bench told senior advocate Anand Grover, who was appearing for the petitioner organisation. Grover said the elephant is "not dangerous" and "it is not satisfied here whether this elephant is dangerous to human". He said the animal cannot be kept in captivity unless it is declared by the wildlife authorities that it cannot be rehabilitated. When the bench said it was not inclined to hear the appeal and the high court as well as the experts have applied their minds in the matter, the lawyer said he would withdraw the plea. The high court order had come on a batch of pleas, including the one filed by the animal welfare organisation which had sought framing of suitable guidelines for translocation and rehabilitation of elephants and systematic study of man-elephant conflicts in forest fringes. The high court had made it clear that physical discomfort to the elephant while capturing and transporting should be kept to the minimum and adequate measures should be made for its safe journey to the place of captivity. The safety and security of the people en-route should also be ensured, the high court had said. 'Chinna Thambi' was translocated from the outskirts of Coimbatore to Varagaliar, about 100 km from here, by Forest Department personnel on January 25 following complaints from residents about the elephant destroying crops and damaging houses for the last seven months. However, the elephant, which was radio-collared, returned to human habitat after walking all the way back from Vargaliar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 36-year-old scrap dealer was shot dead allegedly by two masked bike-borne in northwest Delhi's Wazirpur after he resited their robbery bid, police said Friday. The deceased, identified as Mohammad Nasim, is a resident of Nangloi and the accused could not rob Rs 1.75 lakh the victim was carrying, they said. The incident took place on Thursday. Police were informed at around 7.40 pm that the two men who were chasing another man on a bike, have shot him while attempting to snatch a bag from him, police said. On reaching the spot, police learnt that Nasim was rushed to the Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. He sustained gun shot injury on his chest. The bullet had pierced through his body, a senior police officer said. Locals told police that two masked men had approached Nasim on a bike and tried to snatch the bag from him. When he resisted, one of them pulled out a pistol and threatened him, the officer said. When Nasim tried to raise alarm, the man shot at him once. However, since locals had started gathering at the spot, they fled without the bag, the officer added. Preliminary Investigations revealed that Nasim had come to Wazirpur to collect payment from the office of one Peeush, with whom they are in scrap business, Vijayanta Arya, Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) said. Peeush told police that Naism had delivered the scarp and had collected Rs 1.75 lakh. It was while he was returning home he was chased by the two men who tried to rob him, she said. A case has been registered and efforts are on to identify the men, she added. CCTV footages from the vicinity of the crime spot are being checked to trace the vehicle used by the accused, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress is preparing to contest the Lok Sabha polls on its own in Delhi, though a section within it feels that the party should be open for an alliance with the AAP to achieve the larger goal of defeating the BJP, sources said Friday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is sending feelers to the Congress leadership for a pre-poll tie-up and it might happen, but till now no decision has been taken by the Congress's Delhi unit, they said. "The AAP is sending feelers to the Congress leadership for a tie-up and a section within the Congress feels that it should be open to having an alliance with the AAP, to achieve the larger purpose of defeating the BJP in Delhi. "Our purpose is to defeat the BJP and ensure that the BJP does not win any seat in Delhi," a senior Congress leader said. A senior AAP leader, in the know of things, claimed that "the tie-up will happen. But, it will not come so fast and easily". Top leaders of the two parties are yet talk about an alliance in Delhi, which has seven Lok Sabha constituencies, the sources said. "The party is preparing for contesting all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and the process of selecting the candidates is on," Congress general secretary P C Chacko told PTI. On an alliance with the AAP, he said, "There has been no talks yet". Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit Friday held meetings with three working presidents of the party to discuss the issue of alliance with AAP, but there was no outcome. "Dikshit and the three working presidents were of the firm view that no alliance should be entertained with AAP and decided to convey this message to the party high command," a senior Delhi Congress leader said. Dikshit had earlier also asserted that the Congress is capable of contesting the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi on its own and had accused AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal of spreading lies on the alliance issue. Delhi chief minister Kejriwal had in a recent public meeting said that he was "tired" of convincing the Congress for an alliance in the Lok Sabha elections to defeat the BJP, but it was not understanding the issue. "We are tired of convincing the Congress to form an alliance, but they do not understand. If there is an alliance, the BJP will lose all the seven Lok Sabha seats it currently has in Delhi," Kejriwal said at a recent rally. "I don't know what they have in their minds," he further said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over this series, we have explored how the transition towards Connected Claims is taking shape across the industry, and how carriers will seek to leverage the benefits of Connected Claims in future, with special focus on the technologies they will rely on. You can find parts one, two and three here. Throughout our research, and despite differences across North American and European markets, claims has emerged as a clear priority for innovation, due to the manifold advantages that Connected Claims provide to carriers and their policy-holders, from faster, more transparent claims, to efficiency, both in terms of time and resources. And yet there is a clear acceptance, evidenced by investment in third parties and supplementary technologies, that Connected Claims transformation will not solely impact claims departments; if claims are truly to become, personalized, seamless and omnichannel, the whole organization must be included. The successful insurance carrier of the future will not be built on siloed departments. It is this need for interconnectivity that means any approach towards embedding Connected Claims must be enterprise-wide, and with pressure mounting from the growing digital sector, there is an urgent need for carriers to act. If claims really is insurances moment of truth, now is the moment for Connected Claims. Download the report today for comprehensive, exclusive and actionable insights into: The departments and job functions taking responsibility for claims transformation: from managing data, digital transformation and partnering with specialist third parties, Connected Claims transformation requires a multi-disciplinary approach Current progress in Connected Claims investment: are carriers as effective as they believe, and where are they prioritizing future investment? Building Connected Claims in the future: how are carriers currently investing in AI in the short and long-term, and what will this mean for carriers, their workforces and policy-holders? Which technologies do carriers think will yield the biggest lasting benefits? Download the Connected Claims 2019 report here Third Annual Connected Claims USA Summit 2019, taking place June 5-6, at the Marriott Marquis Chicago Hotel, Chicago. Welcoming over 750 senior attendees, Connected Claims USA is the worlds largest gathering for claims executives striving for efficient, customer-centric claims processing. More information can be found on the This report was produced in conjunction with Insurance Nexus upcoming, taking place June 5-6, at the. Welcoming over 750 senior attendees, Connected Claims USA is the worlds largest gathering for claims executives striving for efficient, customer-centric claims processing. More information can be found on the website I hope you enjoy the report! Mariana Two influential American Senators Thursday urged the US President to pursue a peaceful resolution to the India-Pak conflict including working with regional actors to apply pressure on New Delhi and Islamabad to address the underlying causes of the dispute. In a letter, Senators Jerry Moran from Kansas and Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire said that there is a urgency surrounding the dangerous situation between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region. They also urged Trump to ensure that Pakistan does more against the terrorist groups. We affirm India's right to self-defense in response to attacks planned and executed by Pakistani-based terrorist groups designated by the United States and United Nations and welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's recent decision to release a captured Air Force officer from India, the two Senators wrote. Tensions between India and Pakistan rose following the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack. Following the attack, India bombed and destroyed JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC) early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders. Pakistan detained Indian Air Force Pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. However, in a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday that the captured IAF pilot Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. The two American Senators said that they have ongoing concerns that this crisis may scale into an all-out war given the thousands of troops amassed along the countries' border, heavy artillery barrages and gunfire recorded in the area and tank columns taking formation. We share your position that Pakistan must do more to combat these anti-India extremist groups that destabilise the region and urge you to use your authority to pursue a peaceful resolution to this conflict before it grows, Moran from the ruling Republican party and Shaheen from the Democratic party said. In light of recent events, and the specter of the use of nuclear weapons should Pakistan and India continue to escalate hostilities, we strongly implore the direct and sustained engagement of the highest levels of your administration, they said. Noting that the US historically has conducted essential diplomacy to defuse previous crises in South Asia, the two Senators said that they are heartened by the Secretary of State's engagement and his recent statement that We've been in the middle to calm heightened tensions in Kashmir. As in the past, the United States should continue to take a hands-on approach, and, when appropriate, should work with other interested regional actors to apply appropriate pressure on Islamabad and New Delhi to address the underlying causes of the conflict, the two senators said. They pointed to the key positions laying vacant in the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department. We would be remiss if the issue of important State Department vacancies subject to Senate confirmation was not raised. Our nation currently lacks an ambassador to Pakistan, and despite her sterling reputation, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G. Wells remains serving in an acting capacity, they said. We encourage you to submit expeditiously to the Senate nominees for these critical positions and am intent to confirm qualified nominees in a timely manner," the letter said. "The United States must be well-positioned to assist in conflict prevention and mitigation that threatens the interests of our nation and our partners, the Senators wrote. Several people were hurt Friday in violent clashes between police and protesters in the Algerian capital, AFP journalists said, during demonstrations against a bid by ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to seek a fifth term. A number of the injured suffered head wounds after being hit by batons or stones thrown by police back at demonstrators who had initially hurled them at officers. Riot police also fired tear gas to try to disperse a group of around 200 young people, around 1.5 kilometres from the presidential palace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP President Amit Shah on Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the and said how could India trust him. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence... The maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. Shah questioned the Pakistan Prime Minister's silence on the Pulwama attack. "The Pakistan PM should have at least criticised the Pulwama attacks, at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service," he said. 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. BJP president Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how India can trust him. Speaking at the India Today conclave here, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" among those behind terrorism with its actions against Pakistan-based terrorists, and asserted a message has gone that India is no longer ruled by a dispensation that was at the helm between 2004-14, referring to the Congress-led UPA. Asked about Khan's offer for talks with India, the BJP chief said, "He does not have two words of condemnation that the incident (Pulwama attack) was wrong. He should condemn it. How can we trust you. What are you talking?" "You will speak and we will listen without finding out your intentions," he said, referring to Khan's comments that he was ready for talks. In his brief reference to the Pulwama incident in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terror attack, Khan had said on Wednesday, "We know how the families of those killed in Pulwama incident must have felt. We have been the victims of war for decades." Shah said it may be possible that Khan is not in control, but he should have at least paid a "lip service" and condemned the attack. Putting the UPA government in the dock for not giving a befitting reply to the enemy after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, he said the Modi government has been the best dispensation since Independence in responding to terrorism. "We have a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and the Modi government has the will to implement it on ground. Whenever we are attacked, we will give a befitting reply. Enemies will now think ten times before doing something," the BJP chief said. Hitting out at the Opposition over its accusation that the BJP was "politicising" the sacrifices of the armed forces, Shah said it has become a "reason for happiness" for Pakistan. The joint statement of opposition parties brought cheers to Pakistan and its media, he claimed. He also attacked former prime minister Manmohan Singh for his statement on Wednesday in which he had hoped that saner counsels will prevail in India and Pakistan, and had noted that they are grappling with another crisis of the "mad rush of mutual self destruction". Pakistan and India cannot be equated as one sponsors terrorism and the other is acting in self-defence, Shah said. "How can you put the two countries on the same platform? Can the country (India) be run with such a mindset. I am surprised," he said. To a question about the row over BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa's claim that air strikes in Pakistan will help the saffron party win 22 of the 28 seats in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said he was doing an "analysis" of the current situation but added that he should not have said so. Expressing confidence of the BJP's win in the general election, he said Modi has given hope to over 50 crore people that there is a prime minister who thinks about them. The central government has improved living standards of over 22 crore families, Shah said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's former premier Nawaz Sharif, who is currently serving a seven-year jail term in Lahore for corruption, Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the dismissal of his bail plea by a high court. In the petition filed through his counsel Khawaja Haris in the apex court, Sharif said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected the application despite the fact that he needed immediate medical attention due to his deteriorating health conditions. A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justices Aamer Farooq and Mohsin Akhtar Kayani rejected his bail plea on medical grounds on February 25. In its decision, the court said that Sharif, 69, could not be given bail on health grounds as he was already being treated at a hospital. Sharif asked the court to declare the high court's dismissal orders as null and void. The high court bench in a nine-page judgment had said: "In fact the reports of Board of Doctors and various Teams constituted, are indicative of the fact that the petitioner is receiving best possible medical treatment available to any individual in Pakistan." It said that facts highlighted by the medical reports cannot be regarded as an "extraordinary situation" and/or case of "extreme hardship" to give bail to the petitioner. Three corruption cases - Avenfield properties, Flagship investment and Al-Azizia steel mills - were registered against the Sharif family by the NAB in 2017 following a judgment by the Supreme Court that disqualified Sharif in the Panama Papers case in 2017. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Avenfiled case in July 2018 which was related to his properties in London. Later he was given bail in September. In December, the accountability court convicted him in the Al-Azizia case but acquitted him in the Flagship reference Currently, he is kept in the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. Though he was shifted to hospital many times for medical care. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Czech car maker Skoda Auto aims to double sales network in India to over 100 locations by 2021 with plans to position itself as a mainstream brand and shed the niche tag going ahead, a senior company official Friday said. The company's wholly-owned arm Skoda Auto India, which on Friday entered into a partnership with ORIX Auto Infrastructure for leasing services, currently has presence in 54 locations across India. "We need to get business ready for 2.0 India strategy and for that we are working on four key areas that include reduction in cost of ownership, improvement in service experience, change in perception that Skoda is expensive to own," Skoda Auto India Director - Sales, Service, and Marketing Zac Hollis told PTI. The company is also working on increasing brand awareness as well as expansion of network for new set of products that are expected to start rolling out from 2021 onwards. "We are currently represented in 54 cities in India and we need to go over 100 cities. We need to improve the accessibility of the brand from sales and service perspective as part of the India 2.0 plan," Hollis said. When asked about the time frame for expanding the sales infrastructure, he added: "By 2021 to coincide with the launch of two new new products by 2021-22." Hollis said the company, a part of German auto major Volkswagen group, is also evaluating to bring SUV Karoq to India. Elaborating on the company's long term strategy in India, Hollis said: "Skoda needs to keep moving towards being a mainstream brand in India. We are currently a niche brand in quite niche segments and with 2.0 we will move into much more mainstream segments like mid size SUV segment which is currently one of the fastest growing segments". "Our long term plan, once the first two cars under 2.0 are launched, is to make India become the number five market globally for the Skoda group by 2023," he said. Currently, the UK is at the fifth position with sales of around 75,000 units annually. Skoda Auto India is way behind, selling only 17,244 units in 2018. When asked about the company's preparedness for the upcoming BS VI emission norms, Hollis said: "We are currently evaluating engine types that are well suited for India." Under the India 2.0 strategy, Volkswagen group plans to roll out four new heavily-localised models in India starting from 2020. Under India 2.0 project, all models designed and produced locally in the future will be based on Volkswagen Groups MQB platform, and Skoda Auto will launch a volume segment model based on sub-compact MQB A0 platform by 2020. The project is aimed at reviving the fortunes of the group in a highly competitive market that has the potential to grow to over six million cars by 2020. Commenting on the tie-up with ORIX Auto Infrastructure Services Limited (OAIS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's ORIX Corporation, Hollis said the partnership with ORIX reflects its commitment to reach out to its customers through new strategic avenues. "The tailor-made leasing programme will draw on the strengths of both the companies and deliver an enhanced ownership experience to Skoda Auto customers," he added. As part of the tie-up, the monthly lease rental for koda model range will start at Rs 19,856 and cater to retail and corporate customers across segments including salaried individuals, working professionals, small and medium business enterprises, corporate entities, and public sector units or undertakings. As part of the arrangement, lease for up to five years could be availed on company's models -- Rapid, Octavia, Superb and Kodiaq. In the first phase, leasing solutions will be offered exclusively to customers across eight metropolitan cities, namely: Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, before a nationwide roll out in the subsequent phase, as part of the INDIA 2.0 project. "Through this venture, we hope to strengthen the concept of automotive leasing in India and offer tangible benefits to corporates and retail customers, who can now experience superior products and avail the benefits under a range of value-added leasing options," ORIX Auto Infrastructure Services MD and CEO Sandeep Gambhir said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IT industry body Nasscom on Friday said the National Policy on Software Products is a "positive step" towards empowering India to become global software products hub. "The policy recommendations are aligned to Nasscom's suggestions on sectorial software product development clusters, talent accelerator programs and the initiative to nurturing of software products start-ups..." Nasscom said in a statement. It added that the body will continue working with the government and other stakeholders to ensure a conducive policy for the industry at large to build a sustainable business environment. "Nasscom hopes that the policy will drive the creation of at least 30 product driven companies from India by 2025," the statement said. The Cabinet Thursday approved a national policy on software products that aims to position India as a hub for software products development and creating 65 lakh jobs by 2025. "India's IT revenue is USD 168 billion but most of it is services. Software product component is less, it is just USD 7.1 billion. Most of the software products are imported. The software product policy is designed to make India a big centre of software products by 2025," IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said after the Cabinet briefing. This policy has a scope of giving employment to nearly 65 lakh people and will have enormous revenue benefit, he had noted. The new policy seeks to nurture 10,000 technology start-ups working on software products, including 1,000 in tier II and III towns as well as upskilling 10 lakh IT professionals that includes one lakh school and college students. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Director General Omkar Rai said the policy would help in creating more India-based software product companies and will make sure that India gets its due share in the ever-growing global software product market. This policy comes as a major booster and will eliminate the ambiguity that existed in terms of defining the services and the product industries STPI has already taken various steps towards making India a Software Product Nation, STPI said in a statement. "...STPI has already taken initiatives to promote and create around 21 centres of excellence (CoE) in collaborative model with academia, industry and such other stakeholders which will nurture and fulfil the vision of creating 10,000 technology start- ups by 2025," Rai said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Spanish government on Friday introduced plans to minimise the effect of a no-deal Brexit on British residents in Spain. In attempting to help the 300,000 Brits living in Spain, Madrid also called on London to do the same for the 150,000 Spaniards resident in the United Kingdom. May's government, however, has already said she will protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK come what may and has urged other countries in the bloc to do the same for Britons abroad. The aim of the new Spanish measures, which will only be triggered if Britain drops out of the EU without a deal, is to ensure that "no British or Spanish citizen is left unprotected, neither them nor their family," Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo told reporters. Spain has the largest British expat community in the EU. Calvo said the measures concern areas such as residence, employment and healthcare, deemed "necessary to protect workers and retirees covered by the British and Spanish social security systems". These measures would ensure they retain broadly the same rights as the have today as EU citizens Although Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 there is still no deal agreed on the terms of its departure and on its future relations with the European bloc. "We hope we won't need to use this law," said Calvo, a member of Spain's socialist government. The measures will only come into force "if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union by the window". One enduring point of dispute between Britain and Madrid, which is rising up the diplomatic agenda as Brexit nears, is Gibraltar. Madrid has a long-standing claim on Gibraltar, a small rocky outcrop on Spain's southern tip that was ceded to the British crown in 1713. Calvo said special attention was being paid to ensure the easy flow of the 9,000 Spanish workers who cross over into Gibraltar daily. Jobs in the relatively rich British enclave are vital for the inhabitants of the neighbouring Campo de Gibraltar area in Spain's Cadiz province, but are also essential to the proper functioning of the Gibraltan economy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission will launch a two-day special campaign in Rajasthan beginning Saturday to allow eligible voters to get their names included in the voter list, Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar said in a statement on Friday. Under the voter verification and information programme, the names of eligible voters will be added in the electoral roll at all polling stations of the state, it said. From 9 am to 6 pm, booth-level officers will remain present at all 51,965 polling stations in the state. Kumar appealed to representatives of political parties to get the names of eligible voters included in the list. He said that the work of adding names to voter lists will continue even after the special drive. Voters can get their names included in the list 10 days before the last date for filing of nomination for the parliamentary election, Likely to be held in April-May. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Low-cost carrier SpiceJet Friday announced it will start 10 new flights under regional connectivity scheme UDAN between March 31 and April 15. While, eight of these will connect Gwalior to different cities across the country, two will fly on the Bhopal-Udaipur route, the airline said. Additionally, the budget carrier stated that it will start a new flight on the Bhopal-Chennai route from March 31.The Bhopal-Chennai-Bhopal route does not come under the UDAN scheme of the central government. The regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying affordable. The airline said passengers can book tickets at an "introductory promotional fare" starting at Rs 3,701 (all inclusive) on the Hyderabad-Gwalior, Gwalior-Hyderabad, Gwalior-Jammu, Jammu-Gwalior, Bengaluru-Gwalior, Gwalior-Bengaluru, Kolkata-Gwalior and the Gwalior-Kolkata routes and Rs 2,293 on the Bhopal-Udaipur and Udaipur-Bhopal routes. The bookings for all the flights will begin from March 4, the airline said. ? With the addition of these new flights from Gwalior, Bhopal and Jharsuguda (announced during the week), SpiceJet will be operating 39 daily flights under the regional connectivity scheme. The airline will be deploying its Bombardier Q-400 aircraft on all the 10 UDAN routes and will be using its fleet of Boeing 737 for the non-UDAN route of Bhopal-Chennai-Bhopal, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Designed as a practical means of helping administrators, trustees and employers assess the quality of their data and, where necessary, take appropriate action to address any issues raised, the guidance covers three key areas; assessment of data quality; managing risk and meeting compliance and impact assessment. Geraldine Brassett, Chair of the PASA Data Guidance Working Group commented At PASA, we encourage schemes to consider data cleanse exercises as an investment rather than additional cost. If done well, exercises can have a measurable impact on the long-term running of a scheme, so its about far more than just risk and governance management. Being clear on objectives for any cleanse is integral to any plan to ensure return on investment. Our guidance provides practical tools to help people fully understand where issues lie and articulate what they want to achieve, before setting out the steps they should follow to achieve their goals. Maurice Titley of ITM, PASA Knowledge Partner for Data Management added: Good quality data is at the heart of every well-run pension scheme, and has an incredibly important role to play in both strategic scheme objectives and day-to-day administration. Thats why were so happy to give our expert insight into the production of PASAs guidance. Its been encouraging to see data being driven up the trustee agenda by factors like GDPR and The Pensions Regulators stronger requirements on common and scheme specific data reporting. And with the planned introduction of dashboard in the pipeline, the continued march towards de-risking and, for some schemes, GMP equalisation, having data on the agenda is more important than ever. David Fairs, Executive Director of Regulatory Policy at The Pensions Regulator said: We welcome the publication of PASAs data guidance which provides trustees and administrators with the practical support they need to achieve data quality standards, and aligns with our expectations of them. We plan to raise awareness of this guidance to trustees by signposting via our website, and where appropriate, in communications to trustees regarding data quality. The conference, held in Plaisterers Hall in London, saw PASA joined by a range of speakers from across the industry to discuss key issues dominating the current administration landscape. Kim Brown, Head of Master Trust Authorisation & Supervision at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) told conference that they were focussing on administration more than ever before. Brown stressed that a two-way dialogue between trustees and administrators is key for trustees to have the knowledge and understanding needed to effectively oversee administration operations. The conference also featured speakers from Arc Pensions Law, Barnett Waddingham, Capita Employee Solutions, Equiniti, ITM, Moneyhub, pinBox Solutions Pte, Premier, Quietroom, Scottish Widows, Smart Pension and Veratta Ltd, as well as members of the PASA Committees and Board. To view PASAs Data Guidance in full, click here. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in Abu Dhabi to attend the foreign ministers' meet of the (OIC) states where she is expected to raise the issue of terrorism, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour. India's engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The ties strained further after Indian fighter jets bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid on Wednesday. Recognising Indias engagement with the Islamic world EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in #AbuDhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of @OIC_OCI. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'. pic.twitter.com/wzQbVOGczN Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 28, 2019 Pakistan, a member of the OIC, tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is also attending the meeting. Earlier he had said that he would boycott the meeting if Swaraj participates. Qureshi on Thursday said the OIC is "our home" so he will go there but will not hold talks with Swaraj. The OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Forty CRPF soldiers were killed in the attack. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in Abu Dhabi to attend the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states where she is expected to raise the issue of terrorism, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour. India's engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The ties strained further after Indian fighter jets bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid on Wednesday. "EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in #AbuDhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of @OIC_OCI. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Pakistan, a member of the OIC, tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he will not attend the meeting over the grouping's failure to rescind invitation to Swaraj. The OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Forty CRPF soldiers were killed in the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Friday held bilateral talks with her counterparts from Islamic countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives and Bahrain and exchanged views on the regional situation. After addressing the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting here, Swaraj held talks with host UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and thanked him for inviting India as a 'Guest of Honour' for the first time in the history of the OIC and that too on the occasion of the grouping's golden jubilee. Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir also welcomed India at the OIC meeting as the guest of honour and discussed bilateral issues with Swaraj. Swaraj held talks with Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and discussed follow up to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's visit to India in December last year and exchanged views on the regional situation, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. On the sidelines of the OIC meeting, Swaraj also held talks with Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and discussed follow up to the first India-Central Asia Dialogue in Samarkand as well as took stock of progress in bilateral relationship. She held bilateral meetings with Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and Bangladesh's AK Abdul Momen. Swaraj was the first Indian minister to address the meeting of the 57 Islamic countries. India's participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to Swaraj to address the grouping which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Friday those who challenged the country's pride and dignity were "biting the dust". Addressing an event here, the Union minister said it was a matter of great joy that Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was returning home from his nearly three-day captivity in Pakistan. The minister's comments came hours before Abhinandan was handed over to India by the Pakistani authorities at 9.10 pm. "Those who challenged India's self respect, pride and dignity were defeated and are biting the dust now. Many people raised questions and criticised (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, but now everything is being proved," he said, after inaugurating a number of oil sector projects in Assam. Pradhan said the impact of foreign nations on Pakistan and the "warm reception" to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meet in Abu Dhabi were the "result" of Modi's influence in the global arena, "although he has been criticised for touring the entire world". "Even Pakistan had to boycott the OIC meet. It happened only because of Modi's influence... When our security and pride are at stake and challenge to our Army, everyone in the country gets united. We are pained at the loss of 40 lives (in the Pulwama attack). "But, the prime minister believed in the strength of our Army, Navy and Air Force. As an Indian citizen, he left it to them where and how to handle the situation. Within 15 days, the enemy was forced to bite the dust," the minister added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least three security personnel were injured on Friday in an encounter with militants who were hiding in a house in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Babagund area of Kupwara following information about presence of militants there, the officials said. During the searches, the militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated, they said. There was lull in firing several times during the day but the militants would resume firing as soon as the security forces advanced towards the house where the ultras were hiding, the officials said. Three security force personnel have been injured in the gunbattle, they said. Clashes between a group of youngsters and security personnel took place near the encounter site, leaving four persons injured, the officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India should not hold talks with Pakistan at this point of time as the neighbouring country has not created the right environment for it, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said Friday. Speaking at the India Today Conclave here, he said though talks may help ease the current stand-off, Pakistan has to first create an environment conducive for it. "There has to be a sustainable environment for dialogue to happen. I have firmly believed that there has to be an environment that is created that will allow dialogue to happen. "Is that environment there today, my answer to that is unequivocally no. If you ask me the philosophical question that can this be resolved without a dialogue, the answer is that is also an unequivocal no. But the first has to follow for the second to happen. Today, has Pakistan created that environment, absolutely not," he said. Tensions between India and Pakistan soared after India carried out a preemptive air strike against terrorist camps in Pakistan earlier this week, days after 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. A day after India's preemptive strike, Pakistan Air Force jets intruded Indian airspace in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to a dogfight. On the domestic front, Scindia said he disagreed with the view that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had the ability to sway the public opinion in his favour. He said the Congress party is going to polls on the core issues that confront the public. These issues, he said, are plurality, institutions, tolerance levels and economic issues -- be it concerning farmers, women or youths. "The promises that Narendra Modi made in 2014 have not been delivered," he said, adding that there are two types of governments - "one that over-promises but under-delivers, the other is that under-promises but over-delivers. I prefer the latter one". He also said that the Congress looks at Uttar Pradesh as an opportunity and that the state has miles to go as far as development is concerned. Scindia was recently appointed the Congress general secretary in-charge of western Uttar Pradesh. He said the difference between UPA-2 under Manmohan Singh and the present regime is that, "under the Modi government, the situation is such that there is a tolerance towards intolerance." "The atmosphere of intolerance has got heightened under the Modi government. Look where we have reached. What has the government done," he said, referring to the cases of mob lynching and cow vigilantism in the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tremors of 4.3 magnitude jolted parts of Palghar district in Maharashtra on Friday, an official said. The intensity of tremors is the highest recorded in the region since November last year, the official said. Parts of Palghar district, especially Dahanu and Talasari talukas, have been experiencing such tremors routinely since November. The last round of tremors was witnessed on February 20. "Today, the tremors were experienced at 11.14 am. It measured 4.3 on the Richter scale, which is the maximum for the last four months," Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) chief Santosh Kadam said. "The epicentre was once again Dundalwadi village in Dahanu taluka, which has become the worst affected region as far as tremors are concerned," he added. The tremors were recorded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Due to the constant fear of earthquake, residents of the villages in Dahanu and Talasari talukas have been spending day out of the house and taking shelter in makeshift tents. On February 1 alone, the region had witnessed at least half a dozen tremors ranging between 3 and 4.1 on the Richter scale, causing immense panic among the residents. The district administration has been conducting awareness programmes in some villages in the district to tell people about the precautionary measures to be taken during such emergency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump accused his former lawyer Michael Cohen of perjury Friday, saying a manuscript Cohen wrote last year that complemented Trump contradicted his scathing testimony to Congress this week. "Wow, just revealed that Michael Cohen wrote a 'love letter to Trump' manuscript for a new book that he was pushing," Trump tweeted Friday. "Book is exact opposite of his fake testimony, which now is a lie!" "Michael Cohen's book manuscript shows that he committed perjury on a scale not seen before." Cohen, who worked for the president for a decade as his top "fixer" at the Trump Organization, assailed his ex-boss as "a racist... a conman... a cheat" in testimony Wednesday to the House Oversight Committee. But in a book proposal Cohen sent to publishers in early 2018 -- before he was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes related to his work for Trump -- the attorney promised a glowing picture of the real estate billionaire. The manuscript was titled "Trump Revolution: From the Tower to the White House, Understanding Donald J. Trump" - and according to the Daily Beast, it was aimed at offsetting books deeply critical of the president. The book proposal was pulled back after FBI agents raided Cohen's home and offices in April 2018 in an investigation that spanned the attorney's taxes as well as hush payments he arranged for women who claimed affairs with the president. Over the following months Cohen went from being a close ally of Trump to a foe, providing evidence that the president ordered him to make one hush payment and repaid him for it in a plea deal with prosecutors. Trump scorned him as "a rat." Cohen eventually pleaded guilty to felony charges of misuse of campaign funds in the hush payment, tax evasion and lying to Congress. In five hours of testimony Wednesday, he compared working for Trump to working for a "mobster." Republican lawmakers however attacked Cohen as an unreliable witness, citing his earlier false testimony, and accused him of trying to cash in on his work for Trump with book and film deals. Cohen said there were no deals in the works, but confirmed he had been approached and was open to the idea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations on Friday stressed that refugees fleeing conflict should be granted safe haven after Bangladesh declared that it would no longer take in Myanmar's Rohingya. Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told the Security Council on Thursday that the refugee crisis had gone from "bad to worse" and deplored the fact that none of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had returned home. "Bangladesh has been amazingly generous in the support they have given the Rohingya refugees," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "It is important that people fleeing conflict are able to find safe haven wherever they go." Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. Haque told a council meeting on Myanmar that "Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar", suggesting that his government was ready to close the border to refugees. Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighbouring country?" asked the foreign secretary. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is conducting an internal review of the world body's operations in Myanmar following accusations that UN officials in the country ignored warning signs of the attacks against the Rohingya. The UN spokesman said the review led by Guatemalan diplomat Gert Rosenthal was to provide "possible lessons learned for the future" and advise on the way forward. Britain's Guardian newspaper first reported on the inquiry on Tuesday that will focus on the UN's failure to prevent the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. Some of the criticism has focussed on allegations that the UN resident coordinator, Renata Lok-Dessallien, downplayed concerns about worsening abuses against the Rohingya and sought to prioritize economic development at the expense of human rights. The UN has denied those claims. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Supreme Court 2015 ruling legalising same-sex marriages in country boosted the well-being and life satisfaction of homosexual couples, a study claims. Some states were clear on whether or not they would recognise the marriages of same-sex couples, and others were in an uncertain flux, in some instances legalising, then backpedaling on the decision days later. Some married couples thus faced uncertainty about whether their union would continue to be legally valid. Even since the ruling, recent headlines have shown that several states continue to challenge marriage equality. Researchers at the University of Illinois in the US, led by associate professor Brian Ogolsky, intially wanted to understand how variation in state-level legislation and local community climate regarding same-sex marriage impacts the well-being and life satisfaction of same-sex couples across the US. When the US Supreme Court announced they would be ruling on same-sex marriage, the researchers expanded their project so they could evaluate the impact of the decision. "Our key question was, does federal recognition improve the well-being of individuals in same-sex relationships?" Ogolsky said. To understand the impact of the federal ruling, the researchers looked at levels of psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression, and life-satisfaction under the framework of minority stress -- negative experiences made possible by stigma in the social environment. They collected survey data from individuals in committed, romantic relationships four months before the ruling, and then two weeks, three months, and one year after. Half of the sample surveyed included individuals in same-sex relationships (279), and half included individuals in different-sex relationships (266), the latter of which, in principle, should not have been affected by the ruling, Ogolsky said. Their first paper focuses specifically on the experience of individuals in same-sex relationships. The researchers traced how changes in the legal context of same-sex marriage in the US affected the well-being of the individuals in these relationships. Looking at stressors unique to individuals in same-sex relationships, and taking into account that the social climate toward LGBTQ people across communities may vary, the researchers found that psychological distress dropped, and life satisfaction increased after the US Supreme Court ruling. The findings held regardless of marital status. In other words, the positive effects of Obergefell were felt by individuals in same-sex relationships whether married or unmarried. Researchers found that those who were more distressed before the Obergefell decision experienced more improvement after the ruling. "The most pronounced improvement was for those who were worse off in the beginning," Ogolsky said. "If you experienced higher levels of stigma related to sexual orientation before Obergefell, then you had a larger reduction in minority stress, and larger gain in psychological well-being, after the decision," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US military has stepped up its air campaign against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia in recent days, with officials on Friday saying another 26 "terrorists" had been killed. The latest air strike, which occurred in the Hiran region of central Somalia on Thursday, came as violence in the capital Mogadishu flared. According to US Africa Command (AFRICOM), the strike killed 26 "terrorists." It did not provide further detail but such strikes are usually conducted by drones. The strike brings the toll of Shabaab militants killed in recent days to 81, with 20 killed on February 25, and another 35 killed a day earlier. Such strikes "maintain pressure on al-Shabaab and disrupt its planning cycle and degrade its ability to mass forces and coordinate attacks against the Somali people," AFRICOM's deputy intelligence director Brigadier General Gregory Hadfield said in a statement. But on Thursday in Mogadishu, a Shabaab car bomb exploded, killing at least 19 people. Shabaab fighters were pushed out of Somalia's capital in 2011, and subsequently from other towns and cities, by African Union troops. The Al-Qaeda-linked group still holds sway in large parts of the countryside even though the US military is supporting local partner forces fight the jihadists. Shabaab launches regular gun and bomb attacks on government, military and civilian targets in Mogadishu, as well as ambushes on military convoys and outposts. In one strike in January, AFRICOM said it killed 52 Somali militants. Africa Command head General Thomas Waldhauser recently told US lawmakers that air strikes alone would not stop Shabaab, and he called on Somalia's army to take more responsibility in the fight. (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 Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against "armed attack" in the disputed South China Sea in Washington's starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's building of artificial islands in waters also claimed by Manila and other neighbours were potential threats to the two allies. "China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States," he said at a joint conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack of Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty." Pompeo's comments marked the first time any US official had publicly stated Washington's intent to defend its ally in the flashpoint sea. A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defence treaty committed Manila and its former colonial master to come to each other's aid in case of an "armed attack in the Pacific area" on either party. Senior Duterte officials have called for a review of the mutual defence pact with the US because they were unsure whether it applied to the South China Sea row. Philippine troops, as well as fishermen, have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces around some of the islands and reefs occupied by Filipino troops. The United States has said it is not taking sides in the disputes over South China Sea islands and waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Beijing claims most of the sea. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail its military and merchant vessels over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. The Philippines was previously one of the staunchest critics to China's island-building and militarisation of the islands. But Duterte put the dispute on the back burner when he was elected president in 2016 in favour of chasing Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore". Relations are being rebuilt under US President Donald Trump, who has hailed Duterte's actions -- including a drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives -- as a sign of toughness. Foreign Secretary Locsin on Friday downplayed his government's suggestions for a review of the US defence pact, saying in its "vagueness lies the best deterrence". "They (US forces) will respond depending on the circumstances but we are very assured, we are very confident that United States has, in the words of Secretary Pompeo and words of President Trump to our president: we have your back," Locsin said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States on Thursday welcomed Pakistan's decision to release an captured Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, in their custody. In a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday that the captured IAF pilot Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. Pakistan detained Varthaman Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. We welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's commitment that Pakistan will release on Friday the Indian pilot held in its custody, a State Department spokesperson told PTI responding to a question on the announcement made by Khan in the Pakistani parliament. Simultaneously, the US has urged both India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions. The United States continues to urge both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, including through direct communication. Further military activity will exacerbate the situation, the State Department spokesperson said. The US reiterated its call to Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. We reiterate our call for Pakistan to abide by its United Nations Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds, the spokesperson said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Thursday joined other lawmakers in expressing concern over the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. "This is a result of a Pakistan-based terrorist group's brutal attack, he said. I urge both countries to de-escalate the mounting tensions, Hoyer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the Varthamans, flying the MiG-21 fighter aircraft is a sort of family tradition. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman downed a Pakistani F-16 plane before his MiG-21 Bison was hit during a dogfight. His father Air Marshal (retd) Simhakutty Varthaman also flew the MiG-21s and was an IAF test pilot, who retired five years ago, a family friend said here Friday. Abhinandan's grandfather was also in the IAF, he said. In an interview to PTI, Wing Commander (retd) Prakash Navale, who was a course-mate of Abhinandan's father at the Defence Academy (NDA) during 1969-72, said the first time he saw the young pilot, held captive by Pakistan, was when he was a three-year-old toddler. "Myself and his father were then posted at the fighter training wing at Hakimpet, Hyderabad," said Navale, 66, who retired from the IAF in 1994 and now lives in Navi Mumbai. "Initially, I also passed out (from Air Force Academy) as a fighter pilot but later switched to helicopters. Myself and Air Marshal (retd) Varthaman were flying instructors for some time," he said. Like Navale, Air Marshal Varthaman is also a Sainik School alumnus. While Navale studied at Sainik School Satara, Air Mashal Varthaman is from Sainik School Amaravathinagar in Tamil Nadu. Navale said Air Marshal Varthaman was staying at Tambaram when he was doing the flying instructor's course there. "The Varthamans are very simple people and we have enjoyed many a hearty meal at their house," he said. "Air Marshal Varthaman is a through gentleman. His wife Shobha, a doctor, is a great lady. When my wife Aruna was pregnant, she used to visit us regularly and administer injections to her. We were blessed with our daughter Pooja due to Shobha's medical care," Navale said. Abhinandan's sister Aditi lives in France and has married a French national, he said. In 1982, Navale, then Flight Lieutenant, was awarded the 'Shaurya Chakra' for saving the life of then Odisha chief minister J B Patnaik from mob fury in Gopalpur. The award citation read: In this action, Flight Lieutenant Prakash Navale displayed determination, courage and presence of mind. Had he not flown out the VIP at that critical time, the situation could have taken a grave turn and could have resulted in serious consequences to the VIP and further break-down in the law and order situation. BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvergiya Friday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "doubting" the success of the strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at training camps of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed at Balakot in Pakistan. BJP's state president Dilip Ghosh also criticised her saying it is "condemnable" that an Indian politician, and not a Pakistani one, is demanding evidence of success of the air strike. "It is a matter of shame that just for the sake of politics, a chief minister is doubting our armed forces, when the entire country stands by the armed forces. We condemn such statements," Vijayvergiya told reporters on the sidelines of a party meeting here. Banerjee Thursday said the nation has a right to know what actually happened at Balakot in Pakistan following the IAF's air strike there, as several foreign media had reported that not much damage was done by the air strike. She had said, "We have the right to know, people of this country want to know how many were killed. Where was the bomb actually dropped? Was it dropped on the target?" Government officials had said on Tuesday that in a pre-dawn strike, the IAF bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp at Balakot in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, killing over 350 terrorists, trainers and senior commanders. Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility of the Pulwama terror attack that left over 40 CRPF jawans dead on February 14. It was up to the political leadership to decide when and how to release evidence of the Balakot strike's success, Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, assistant chief of Air Staff, said Thursday on the scepticism in some quarters about whether IAF fighters had hit the intended targets. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh too slammed Banerjee, also Trinamool Congress supremo, for asking for evidence of the success of the air strike. "Had a Pakistani politician asked such a question, we would have understood it. But it is shameful and condemnable that a politician from India, and that too a chief minister, has been raising such questions," Ghosh said. Vijayvergiya also claimed that the return of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from the custody of Pakistan is a diplomatic victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It is a diplomatic victory of Narendra Modiji that for last two days Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been wishing to talk to our prime minister. But our PM said first Pakistan has to release our pilot and stop exporting terrorism. This is our diplomatic victory," Vijayvergiya said. Pakistan held Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Wednesday after fighter jets of both the nations engaged in an air battle following an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes. The pilot is scheduled to return via Attari border Friday. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday announced in a joint session of Pakistani Parliament that the pilot would be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With patriotic fervour running high, the BJP in West Bengal has decided to hard sell the Modi government's fight against terrorism, particularly its actions targeting Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama suicide bombing, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, party sources said. A meeting of the party's booth-level functionaries and state election committee members resolved to send party cadre to every household to flag the Modi government's "political will" to teach Pakistan-backed outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed "befitting lessons" for their acts of terrorism. Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources said, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh asked leaders and workers to fan out across West Bengal and appeal to the "partiotic and nationalistic" sentiments of people. "No doubt it is a victory of our armed forces. But, at the same time, the political will of the Modi government also came into play. There is no harm in propagating about it," a party leader quoted Ghosh as having told the meeting. Another leader said the meeting took note of the heightened sense of patriotism and nationalistic fervour prevailing in West Bengal like in other states. "We have been asked by our leaders to propagate about how the Modi government has shown the political will and guts to fight back Pakistan and terror groups it is backing, and how the previous governments led by the Congress lacked that political will," another state BJP leader said. The state BJP leadership told the workers to strongly raise these issues while being unsparing in the criticism of West Bengal's Trinamool Congress government for its "misrule". They have been asked to especially target TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for questioning the timing of the Pulwama terror attack and India's strong response to it. Mamata had asked in the wake of the attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF troopers whether the government wanted to go to war with Pakistan when Lok Sabha elections were round the corner. The BJP cadre have been told to highlight Banerjee's statement demanding evidence to substantiate the Centre's claim that Indian Air Force bombers destroyed the biggest terror training camp of the JeM at Balakot deep inside Pakistan which could have killed up to 300 operatives. "We will propagate how the TMC, in its bid to appease a particular community, has not stopped from questioning even our security forces and their sacrifices," a BJP leader said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Online restaurant guide and food ordering firm Zomato Friday said it will open warehouses in nine more cities across India by the end of this year. Hyperpure warehouses by Zomato supplies restaurants fresh and clean ingredients at competitive prices, the company said in a statement. Commenting on the development, Hyperpure Founder Dhruv Sawhney said: "We will open Hyperpure warehouses in nine more cities across India by the end of this year, and eventually, across our international markets". The company has opened a Hyperpure warehouse in Bengaluru to serve over 2,500 restaurants every day, Zomato said. "Everything we do to bring together restaurants, consumers, food suppliers and logistics partners, working towards ensuring more people have access to fresh and clean food," Zomato CEO and Founder Deepinder Goyal said. The company plans to soon launch a large warehouse in Delhi, Zomato said. Zomato provides information for over 1.4 million restaurants across 24 countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opec oil supply fell to a four-year low in February, a Reuters survey found, as top exporter Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies over-delivered on the group's supply pact while Venezuelan output registered a further involuntary decline. The drop of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) comes despite criticism from US President Donald Trump, who on Monday tweeted a call for the group to ease its efforts to boost prices, saying they were "getting too high". On Jan. 1, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies began new production cuts to avert a glut ... Veteran industrialist Ratan Tata lauded the Indian Air Force's (IAF) strike on the terror camps of Jaish-e-Mohammed. He also praised the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the mission. "We congratulate the PM and the IAF for the successful air strikes on the terrorist training camps which Pakistan has claimed never existed! India is proud of the firm action taken in retaliation to the suicide attack on our soldiers a few days ago," Ratan Tata said in a tweet. India bombed and destroyed the biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's restive Kyber Pakhtunkhwa provice - around 80 km beyond the Line of Control (LoC). According to reports around 350 terrorists, trainers and senior commanders were killed during the operation. We congratulate the PM and the IAF for the successful air strikes on the terrorist training camps which Pakistan has claimed never existed! India is proud of the firm action taken in retaliation to the suicide attack on our soldiers a few days ago. @narendramodi - Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) February 26, 2019 Pakistan's Major General Asif Ghafoor, however, refuted the same and said that while Indian forces breached the border, Pakistan Air Force pushed them back. "They are claiming that they remained in the Pakistani airspace for 21 minutes and killed 350 terrorists. They claim that the second strike was in Muzaffarabad and the third in Chakothi. Allah almighty is the greatest and we should not make tall claims, but come and try to spend 21 minutes in Pakistani airspace," the DG had said during a press conference yesterday evening. Follow the LIVE blog here: Pak claims to have arrested Indian pilot, releases video; India yet to confirm Today, despite refuting India's reports on the air strikes, Pakistan engaged in multiple ceasefire violations. Earlier in the day heavy firing took place across the LoC. The IAF air strikes came 12 days after a JeM terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy, claiming as many as 40 lives. The IAF's retaliation on February 26, was lauded buy the who's who of India - from politicians and businessmen to actors. Also read: Indian Air Force shoots down Pakistan F-16 fighter jet: report Also read: Pakistan claims it has arrested an Indian pilot after shooting down aircraft Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was arrested by the Pakistani rangers on Wednesday, is back on Indian soil. He had to undergo an immigration process and a one-page visa has been issued so he could enter the country. People from all sphere of nation is hailing Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming. Be it politician or Bollywood stars, all are welcoming the warrior, who was held captive by Pakistan for two days after his plane was shot down in a duel by Pakistani fighters. IAF pilot's capture in Pakistan occurred amid escalating military tension between the two countries. On Wednesday, IAF pilot Abhinandan's MiG 21 had shot down Pakistan's F-16 fighter jet before falling into an ambush which led to the crash of the fighter jet he was flying. Abhinandan landed on Pakistani soil after ejecting from his jet and was arrested by the Pakistani forces. However, it is believed India put back-channel diplomatic pressure with the help of allies to make Pakistan release the pilot immediately. On Thursday, Imran Khan announced in the Pakistan National Assembly that Abhinandan would be set free as 'peace gesture'. India has meanwhile maintained that Pakistan is obliged to release the pilot under the Geneva Conventions. Catch all the latest updates on IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman 's release on BusinessToday.In live blog. 10:25pm: Kupwara encounter: 2 police personnel, 2 CRPF personnel &1 civilian have succumbed to injuries. 2 police personnel who lost their lives identified as SgCt Naseer Ahmad Kholi & SgCt Ghulam Mustafa Barah & 2 CRPF personnel identified as Inspector Pintu & Ct Vinod;Operation underway pic.twitter.com/7qk6tjaSvx - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 10:12pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi also welcomed Abhinandan. He said the nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets, "Welcome Home Wing Commander #Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!" pic.twitter.com/pGcnH4uguE - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 10:10pm: Abhinandan's convoy is heading towards the Guru Ramdas Airport of Amritsar. He is likely to be taken to a military hospital in Delhi for treatment and check up. 10:05pm: People from all sphere of nation is hailing Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming. Be it politician or Bollywood stars all are welcoming the warrior. 10:00pm: Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future. - Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 1, 2019 9:55pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, says entire Nation is proud of him. Welcome Home! The entire Nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan. - Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 1, 2019 9:50pm: Welcome back soldier. You have made us all very proud. I salute your valor, courage, conviction, calmness and selflessness. #WelcomeHomeHero #WingCommanderAbhinandan #JaiHind - Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 1, 2019 9:30pm: Pakistan has released a statement. "The captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India today. He was arrested when his military jet MIG-21 crashed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir after being shot down by Pakistan Air Force for violating Pakistani airspace on February 27, 2019." The statement added, "While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Imran Khan announced his return as a goodwill gesture aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India." 9:18pm: IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman handed over to India by Pak officials. 9:15pm: First visuals of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman walking towards Wagah as he comes from the Batapur Army camp. 9:12pm: Abhinandan is being treated as a normal Indian citizen and has to go through all immigration procedures before crossing over to India. He will be provided a one page visa and allowed to cross over to India through Wagah Attari border. 9:11pm: It must be understood that #Pakistan has not done us a favor by returning #WingCommanderAbhinandan. Under the #GenevaConvention, a serving soldier captured during conflict has to be returned. We must not forget that after 1971, we released over 90,000 PoW from Pakistan. - Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 1, 2019 9:10pm: The process of handover has begun. IAF pilot Abhinandan will be back in India any time now. 9:00pm: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is keeping a close eye on proceedings at Attari-Wagah border. 8:55pm: Media report suggested that Wing Commander Abhinandan has reached Attari-Wagah border after fulfilling the immigration documents. He will be taken to a military hospital in Delhi for treatment and check up. 8:35 pm: Air Force's Air Vice Marshal Ravi Kapoor and Air Vice Marshal Prabhakaran are in Amritsar to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan . 8:00pm: Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC in Mendhar, Balakote, Krishna Ghati sectors Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/Kh4WLgWz9Y pic.twitter.com/tWCNbhgq7P - ANI Digital (@ani_digital) March 1, 2019 7.56pm: Tennis star Sania Mirza welcomes the IAF pilot. Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan .. you are our HERO in the truest sense.. The country salutes you and the bravery and dignity you have shown #Respect #WelcomeBackAbinandan Jai Hind - Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) March 1, 2019 7.48pm: Two buses were reportedly seen going through the Wagah-Attari border. 7.40pm: There are reports of documentation issues that has delayed his homecoming. 7.30pm: Akhilesh Yadav says he is looking forward to welcoming the pilot. I look forward to welcoming braveheart Wing Commander Abhinandan home. We will never forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave martyrs and their families. Pak should walk the talk on dismantling it's home grown terror networks. I hope that peace prevails.#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan - Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) March 1, 2019 7:15pm: Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht who was the pilot of the Mi-17 helicopter that crashed in Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir on February 27 was cremated in Chandigarh earlier today. Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht who was the pilot of the Mi-17 helicopter that crashed in Budgam,J&K on February 27 was cremated in Chandigarh earlier today. (In pic 1: his wife Squadron Leader Aarti Singh holding the folded tricolour) pic.twitter.com/ShIBfpyBL3 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 7.05pm: As per latest information, three security personnel have been killed in an encounter with militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. 6.50pm: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs for one hour on pos-Pulwama scenario, India's strike in Balakot and the IAF pilot's release. He added that India did not negotiate for the Wing Commander's release. 6.46pm: Wing Commander crosses over to the Indian side. 6.44pm: Indian Defence forces will continue to remain on high alert across the border despite IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's release. 6.37pm: A special plane will be deployed to fly the Wing Commander to Delhi. 6.36pm: There were ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC in Mendhar, Balakote and Krishna Ghati sectors at 6:00pm | ANI 6.30pm: Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh said, "It must be understood that Pakistan has not done us a favor by returning Wing Commander Abhinandan. Under the Geneva Convention, a serving soldier captured during conflict has to be returned. We must not forget that after 1971, we released over 90,000 PoW from Pakistan." 6.19pm: Shah Rukh Khan says, "There's no better feeling than coming back home." There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/NFTRINu6Mw - Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 1, 2019 6.15pm: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu compliments the IAF pilot. Very happy to see the safe return of IAF wing commander Abhinandan. AP salutes the brave and spirited patriot. - N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) March 1, 2019 6.09pm: India says handing over to be done only after the retreat parade is over. 6.00pm: Retreat parade underway on Pakistan's side. 5.53pm: Wing Commander's immigration process getting completed. One-page visa will be issued. 5.43pm: Actress Raveena Tandon said she is glued to the TV waiting for the pilot's return. Glued to our TVs to catch a glimpse of our Hero's return! The way you stayed calm, professional & respectful during such adversities talks so much about your bravery. Such a proud feeling, welcome back wing commander. #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan.gratefully yours ! - Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) March 1, 2019 5.30pm: Official press meet scheduled for 5.35pm at Attari border outpost. Air Vice-Marshal Ravi Kapoor to give statement. 5.18pm: "Welcome home Abhinandan Varthaman," says TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. Welcome home #AbhinandanVarthaman Welcome home sweet home - Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 1, 2019 5.16pm: The High Commission delegation has reached the Wagah border to receive Abhinandan; the Air Force and Civil Hospital ambulance have also been deployed. 5.09pm: The Islamabad High Court has dismissed a petition to stop the release of Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. 4.53pm: Wing Commander's medical check-up is being conducted; he will cross India in minutes. 4.38pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman could cross India anytime soon. Visuals from Attari-Wagah border; Wing Commander Abhinandan to be received by a team of Indian Air Force. Visuals from Attari-Wagah border; Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman to be received by a team of Indian Air Force. pic.twitter.com/C4wv14AEAd - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 4.35pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has reached the Wagah VIP lounge, reports News18. 4.32pm: At a time when Wing Commander Abhinandan is about to reach India from Pakistan, Pakistan has violated ceasefire in the Nowshera sector in Rajouri district at 4.15pm. Indian Army retaliating, reports ANI. 4.26pm: Visuals from Wagah in Lahore: IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border. Pakistan: Visuals from Wagah in Lahore; IAF Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border pic.twitter.com/xEPghVgNzi - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 4.22pm: Abhinandan reaches Attari border: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman could cross the Wagah border anytime soon. The Pakistani convoy carrying the Indian hero has already reached the Attari border. 4.13pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan's parents get standing ovation in flight. Watch the video. 4.05pm: When Uri happened, you saw what our brave soldiers did; when Pulwama happened, you saw what our brave air warriors did, says PM Modi during a political rally in Tamil Nadu. 4.00pm: 'Shocked over PM's conduct': Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia, during India Today Conclave 2019, says he is shocked over PM Modi's conduct after the recent confrontation with Pakistan. "I was shocked. You have conducted a successful strike. We congratulated our jawans and pilots. One of our brave hero shot down an F-16, then he gets shot down in Pakistani airspace. He has been held captive by Pakistan and you are holding a conference with poll booth workers of the BJP." 3.52pm: PM Modi slams Opposition: "These are the same people whose statements are helping Pakistan and harming India. They are the same people whose statements are being happily quoted in Parliament of Pakistan & in the radio of Pakistan. I want to ask them- do you support our armed forces or suspect them?" says the PM, reports ANI. 3.46pm: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today held a security review meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the three services chiefs. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today held a security review meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the three services chiefs. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/azOR2begtI - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 3.30pm: While India has cancelled the beating the retreat ceremony in wake of the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's release from Pakistan today, Pakistan has allowed its people to be present at the retreat ceremony. 3.12pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander Abhinanadan is from Tamil Nadu. "I am proud that India's first woman Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is from Tamil Nadu," says PM Modi. PM Narendra Modi in Kanyakumari,Tamil Nadu: Every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander #Abhinanadan is from Tamil Nadu pic.twitter.com/xUkmAhV5MO - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 3.08pm: "As tensions are high and uncertainty is prevalent between Indian and Pakistan, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh reminds us what is most imperative at this time - working towards improving the economic and social conditions for the citizens of both countries," say the Congress party. As tensions are high & uncertainty is prevalent between Indian & Pakistan, former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh reminds us what is most imperative at this time - working towards improving the economic & social conditions for the citizens of both countries. pic.twitter.com/7iHVESaGhD - Congress (@INCIndia) March 1, 2019 3.03pm: Welcome move, says VK Singh: "Returning of Wing Commander Abhinandan is a welcome move, however, it is the first of many steps that Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace. We need an affirmative & verifiable action by Pakistan against terrorism," says Union minister VK Singh. Returning #WingCommanderAbhinandan is a welcome move, however, it is the first of many steps that #Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace. We need an affirmative & verifiable action by Pakistan against terrorism. - Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 1, 2019 2.57pm: The closure of Pakistani airspace has affected 400 flights daily: Flights have partially resumed at the international airports of Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, and Islamabad, reports Dawn. 2.40pm: 'Democracy is a battle of ideas': Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti says "crackdown followed by banning of Jammat-e-Islami (JK) is condemnable". "Why is GoI so uncomfortable with Jamaat e Islami? Radicalised Hindu groups representing fringe elements are given carte blanche to spread misinformation & vitiate the atmosphere. But an org that has worked tirelessly for Kashmiris is banned. Is being anti BJP anti national now?" she asked. Democracy is a battle of ideas , crackdown followed by banning of Jammat Islami (jk) is condemnable , another example of high handedness and muscular approach of GOI to deal with political issue of J&k . - Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) March 1, 2019 2.30pm: Stand by our soldiers, says Capt Amarinder Singh. "Interacted with jawans at the BSF Post in Dera Baba Nanak. Such an amazing feeling to be where my heart belongs. We all stand by our soldiers at this time & are always ready to serve our nation," says the Punjab CM. "Would love to go (to receive Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman ) but there's laid out protocol whenever anybody comes back like happened to Prisoners of war in '65 & '71, they had to first go for medical & then be debriefed. I think same process will be followed here," he told ANI. Interacted with jawans at the BSF Post in Dera Baba Nanak. Such an amazing feeling to be where my heart belongs. We all stand by our soldiers at this time & are always ready to serve our nation. pic.twitter.com/TutGL6ymRq - Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) March 1, 2019 2.20pm: Beating retreat ceremony cancelled: The beating retreat ceremony, which is usually held every day where soldiers of both of the sides participate in a parade, has been cancelled. Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar: The Beating the Retreat ceremony (at Attari-Wagah Border) will not be held today. Senior team of the Indian Air Force will receive Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. pic.twitter.com/n40CcJX7H6 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 2.06pm: Pak ignores India's request for aerial route to Abhinandan: Hours after Pakistan announced its decision to release Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, India conveyed to Islamabad that it wants him to be sent back via aerial route and not through the Wagah land border, PTI reported. However, late in the night, Pakistan communicated to India that he will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border. The Indian defence establishment was also mulling over sending a special aircraft to Pakistan to bring back Wing Commander Varthaman. 2.03pm: For Varthamans, flying MiG-21 is family tradition: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman downed a Pakistani F-16 plane before his MiG-21 Bison was hit during a dogfight. His father Air Marshal (retd) Simhakutty Varthaman also flew the MiG-21s and was an IAF test pilot, who retired five years ago, a family friend told PTI. Abhinandan's grandfather was also in the IAF. In an interview to PTI, Wing Commander (retd) Prakash Navale, who was a course-mate of Abhinandan's father at the National Defence Academy (NDA) during 1969-72, said the first time he saw the young pilot, held captive by Pakistan, was when he was a three-year-old toddler. 1.49pm: Celebrations at Wagah: Celebrations break out at the Wagah border as the reports of Wing Commander Abhinandan has been brought from Islamabad to Lahore. He will be crossing the Wagah border around 4pm. 1.30pm: Mirage-2000 vs F-16 Falcon: Which is a better fighter jet? The Mirage 2000 is mainly known for its capability of carrying out bombing operations while the F-16 has an edge in air-to-air combat. Read more here. 1.27pm: I carry the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, says Sushma. "Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself," says Sushma Swaraj. EAM @SushmaSwaraj at #OIC: I carry the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself. pic.twitter.com/kMdkistoFp - Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 1, 2019 1.23pm: Sushma Swaraj at OIC: "God is One but learned men describe Him in many ways". EAM Swaraj: India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text "The Rig Veda" and I quote "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadhanti", which means "God is One but learned men describe him in many ways". pic.twitter.com/sqE94IOETM - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 1.20pm: 'Fight against terror is not against any religion': "The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion & brotherhood." 1.15pm: 'Terrorism and extremism are driven by distortion of religion': External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj at the OIC: "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed." EAM @SushmaSwaraj at the #OIC : Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels.It uses diverse causes.But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. - Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 1, 2019 12.54pm: Guterres welcomes Pak's decision on Abhinandan: The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to release the captured Indian pilot. pic.twitter.com/TFDlhCpimd - Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) March 1, 2019 12.40pm: Abhinandan to cross border today: Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar, told ANI that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will cross the border today but the details regarding his arrival can't be revealed. Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar: Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will cross the border today, can't tell you exact time since there are certain formalities. A senior Indian Air force team from Delhi is here, they will be the ones to receive him. pic.twitter.com/np8iCrCn5h - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 12.31pm: Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to be brought to Delhi from Attari, reports India Today. Media reports suggest Abhinandan will arrive at the Wagah border between 2pm and 4pm where he will be received by Group Captain JD Kurian. 12.13pm: 'Pakistan should be represented at OIC': Former Pakistani President and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari says foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi should attend the OIC meet. "I am a democratic man and if the house thinks that foreign minister should not attend then I can't say anything. But disengagement is not a solution. The foreign minister should attend the OIC meeting. Pakistan should be represented there," says Zardari, reports Dawn. 12.00pm: Standing ovation for parents of India's hero: IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's parents, Air Marshal (retd) S Varthaman and Dr Shobha Varthaman, were given a standing ovation as passengers made way for them in the early hours of Friday, ensuring that the couple gets off first, reports PTI.In photos and videos shared by passengers on social media platforms, the couple, who came to Delhi on their way to Amritsar to bring their son home, can can be seen acknowledging the clapping, cheers and thank yous with nods of their heads. 11.45am: Pak foreign minister not to attend OIC conclave: Pakistan Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that he will not attend OIC's foreign ministers conclave, reports Dawn. He had earlier said: "I requested them to review the decision (of inviting Sushma Swaraj). UAE said that when we extended the invitation, Pulwama had not occurred. If it had, case would have been difference. Now we have extended invitation it would be hard to retract but they would still consult." Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi: I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/eRIiSVkox7 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 11.30am: Imran Khan has shown statesmanship, says Mehbooba Mufti: Pak PM Imran Khan has exhibited real statesmanship, says former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti. "It is time for our political leadership to step up and take measures to de escalate the current situation. People of J&K are living under unimaginable duress. How much longer will we suffer for?" My statement on the recent developments. https://t.co/PLajxxeyIz - Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 28, 2019 11.20am: People throng to Wagah border: People have started gathering at the Attari-Wagah border to celebrate the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan. Punjab: People gather at Attari-Wagah border; Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will be released by Pakistan today. pic.twitter.com/svQUHh4dzg - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 11.05am: China cancels all flights to and from Pakistan: China has cancelled allflights to and from Pakistan and rerouted its international aircraft flyingover the Pakistani airspace due to the regional tensions, official media said.The closure of Pakistan's airspace in response to escalating tensions withIndia disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia and leftthousands of air travellers stranded worldwide. Flights from the Middle Eastthat usually overfly Pakistan and the Pakistan-India border will have tore-route over India, Myanmar or central Asia to enter China, civil aviationexperts told Global Times (PTI). 10.50am: Petition filed in Pakistan court against the release of Abhinandan: As India awaits the arrival of its brave Wing Commander Abhinandan to India from Pakistan, an activist has filed a writ petition in a Pakistan court to challenge his release, reported Times Now. Creating a situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory, says Amit Shah at the India Today Conclave 2019. 10.43am: Amit Shah at India Today Conclave 2019: Maximum number of terrorists has been eliminated under BJP govt led by Modi. Track record of our government has been best in dealing with terror since Independence. Opposition resolution post air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan. 10.35am: 'Pak PM should have criticised Pulwama': Imran Khan should have criticised Pulwama attacks at least once; how can we trust him, says Amit Shah. The BJP chief says "the mistake Jawahar Lal Nehru made in Kashmir can't be easily solved". 10.31am: Ami Shah at India Today Conclave 2019: Hitting out at the Congress party, BJP chief Amit Shah, during India Today Conclave, says the Opposition was wrong in equating India with Pakistan. India is yet to give response on the Pulwama attack, says Shah. 10.25am: India to share F-16 evidence with the US: India will be sharing this evidence with the US to emphasise that the neighbouring country is misusing assets it may have acquired under the 'fight against terrorism' banner in 2008, say reports. The fighter jets, as per the sale agreement, can only be used for counter-terrorism operations, not to attack any country. 10.16am: Abhinandan to cross Wagah border around 3pm: The time for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's arrival at Wagah border has been changed from 10am to between 3 to 4pm (Pakistan time). 10.00am: How Abhinandan will be brought back?: As per the standard of procedure, Abhinandan will be brought to the Wagah border by the Army. He will be handed over to civilian authorities and representative of Indian High Commission at the Wagah border. Then the civilian authorities will be handing him over to the Indian Border Security forces. 9.49am: Man with working Pak SIM arrested: The Border Security Force in Ferozepur, Punjab, has arrested a UP resident near the border outpost, Maboke, and seized a mobile phone with working Pakistani SIM card from his possession, reports ANI. Punjab: BSF in Ferozepur has arrested an Indian national near border out post, Maboke&seized a mobile phone with Pakistani SIM card, in use, from his possession. The number is added to 8 Pak groups. 6 other Pak phone numbers also retrieved from him. The man is from Moradabad (UP) - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 9.40am: Abhinandan to cross Wagah around 2pm: According to the reports, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman may cross the Wagah border after 2pm, reports India Today. The Indian Air Force Wing Commander will be brought through back the Wagah-Attari joint check-post in Punjab's Amritsar. 9.33am: Govt asks YouTube to remove 11 videos linked to Abhinandan: The IT Ministry asks YouTube to remove 11 video links pertaining to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, reports PTI. The ministry asked YouTube to remove the clips following directive from the Home Ministry. A Google (which runs YouTube) spokesperson told the news agency the company complies with "valid legal requests from authorities wherever possible, consistent with our longstanding policy and act quickly to remove such material". 9.22am: Capt Amarinder Singh may receive Abhinandan: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has sought permission from the Centre government to receive the Wing Commander at the Wagah Border. "It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. (sic)," he tweeted. Dear @narendramodi ji , I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. - Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) February 28, 2019 9.15am: Abhinandan to reach Wagah border around 12pm: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman may likely reach Wagah border around 12 noon today, reports News18. The entire country has been waiting with bated breath for the release of the braveheart Wing Commander. Visuals from the Attari-Wagah border. Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will be released by Pakistan today. pic.twitter.com/6x30IQpqbB - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 9.00am: Pak F-16 jets were closed to Northern Army HQ, Vaishno Devi: Pakistan used its Air Force to target military installations on the Indian side on Wednesday and its F-16 fighter jets were close to Northern Army HQ and Vaishno Devi shrine when IAF chased them away, reported India Today, adding that these jets targetted places in Resai district, which is quite far away from the Line of Control. 8.50am: 'Imran responded to popular sentiment': Pakistani actor Jamal Shah has said that the Imran Khan government's decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan was a response to public sentiment. "I would have done the same. A majority in Pakistan wanted to do that [send him home]. Imran just responded to popular sentiment," Shah told IndiaToday.In. 8.45am: Major ceasefire violation in 4 areas: Pakistan has violated ceasefire at several areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including Gawahalan, Chokas, Kiker and Kathi posts in Uri sector last night. One civilian was injured and is currently in a hospital for treatment, reported ANI. Read more. Jammu & Kashmir: Pakistan violated ceasefire at Gawahalan, Chokas, Kiker and Kathi posts in Uri sector last night. One civilian was injured and is currently in a hospital for treatment. - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 8.30am: Senators urge Trump to address India-Pak conflict peacefully: Two influential American Senators has urged the US President Donald Trump to pursue a peaceful resolution to the India-Pak conflict including working with regional actors to apply pressure on New Delhi and Islamabad to address the underlying causes of the dispute. In a letter, Senators Jerry Moran from Kansas and Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire said that there is an urgency surrounding the dangerous situation between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region, reported PTI. 8.20am: Gesture as part of Geneva Conventions, says IAF: "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, said on Thursday. Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor debunks Pak claim that F-16s was not used in the strike; IAF shows parts of AMRAAM, air to air missile which is carried only on the Pakistani F-16s as evidence. pic.twitter.com/LCW5w3p03r - PIB India (@PIB_India) February 28, 2019 8.00am: IAF to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan: A delegation of IAF team will today receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat, at the Wagah border, official sources said, reported PTI. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. 7.45am: Sushma to attend OIC conclave: Sushma Swaraj reaches Abu Dhabi to address OIC conclave. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting as guest of honour. Pakistan had earlier tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the OIC meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Recognising India's engagement with the Islamic world EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in #AbuDhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of @OIC_OCI. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'. pic.twitter.com/wzQbVOGczN - Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 28, 2019 7.30am: Firing stops in Kupwara: The firing has now stopped. A search operation is underway. More details awaited. #UPDATE: The firing has now stopped. A search operation is underway. More details awaited. https://t.co/bV6Rg3jzj3 - ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 7.15am: Ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops: One civilian was injured on Friday morning in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, reported PTI. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing towards Indian posts and villages in Kamalkote area of Uri in Baramulla district on Thursday evening, the officials said. They said the intermittent firing continued throughout the night. 7.00am: Encounter breaks out in Kupwara district: An encounter broke out on Friday between militants and security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, reported PTI. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Babagund area of Kupwara following information about presence of militants there, the officials said. They said the search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened firing towards the security forces, who retaliated. There are no reports of any casualties so far. Edited by Manoj Sharma What you need to know when it comes to cultural etiquette, getting around, and of course the incredible food. Taiwan is one of the most beautiful, friendly, and tasty places in the world. I had never thought about travelling there until my brother fell in love with a Taiwanese girl. In a flash, my family and I flew to Taipei and my brother married the girl of his dreams, thus giving me a legitimate reason to finally take the plunge and visit an Eastern country... and it was far more than I bargained for. In the blink of an eye, I was back on my flight home, transformed by the incredible experience, already dreaming of my next trip back. Before I left for Taiwan, I studied the culture in depth and asked my soon-to-be sister-in-law every question possible. I was prepared - but not for everything. Here are 6 tips to remember before your next trip to Taiwan: 1. Get yourself a pocket wifi If youre not planning on staying for months (in that case, get a sim card), then get a pocket wifi. Its a portable device that brings a 4G network with you everywhere you go. You can rent them from various places. We picked ours up at the Taipei Airport from Klook. You can actually pre-order it before you get there, and drop it off at any kiosk in any major Taiwanese airport. The pocket wifi can host up to 5 devices so if youre travelling with friends or family its perfect for everyone to stay connected. Also, the battery lasts about 8 hours so its perfect if youre going on a longer excursion. The pocket wifi is very affordable as well, costing only about $20 for a week. Near the end of the trip, I went for a walk by myself and got lost. I didnt know how to get back and my brother had the pocket wifi. I had to desperately ask a local (in very broken Mandarin) to tether his data from his phone just to contact my wife and get back to my hotel. It was a scary and slightly embarrassing event that could have been avoided by bringing that pocket wifi on my walk. 2. Stand on the right Taiwan is packed with people. There are 2.6 million people living in Taipei alone. Compare that to Vancouver, Canada (where I live) that has just over 600,000 and it is easy to feel a little cozy at times. This is especially noticeable at train stations and malls where there are thousands of people packed like sardines on walkways. Taiwanese escalators have a strict unspoken rule: if youre going to walk, stick to the left; If youre going to stand, stick to the right. Canadians in Canada follow this rule to a small degree, but to the Taiwanese, this is a big deal. They probably wouldnt call you out publicly (as they are very respectful when it comes to saving face), but blocking someone wanting to walk up the left while you stand there, oblivious, will not impress them. This is one thing I made sure I followed ( I even pulled my (other) brother to the right a few times to make sure he didnt make that mistake). 3. Prepare yourself for a mysterious smell Taiwanese night markets are quite possibly the most incredible thing to experience in the country - the sights, the sounds, the people, the food. Its like a big nationwide performance that happens every night (though things get even more exciting on weekends). During one of our walks through the markets, while walking through the crowds, something struck my sense of smell like a bolt of lightning. The intensity of this mysterious fragrance stopped me and the rest of the group (except for my brothers new wife) in our tracks. Bewildered, I turned to my new sister-in-law desperate for an answer. She cracked a smile, laughed, and her eyes widened with excitement, Thats stinky tofu! You have to try some! I was shocked - I couldnt believe what we were smelling was something she actually wanted to eat (and yes, it really is called Stinky Tofu). But we found ourselves following the scent until it was almost unbearable. She picked us up a couple pieces of some stinky tofu. Half the group passed on the opportunity. She bit in eagerly and I reluctantly tried a bite... Outsiders have mixed feelings about this national dish. I was no different. But, sure enough, Im into trying almost anything. And when youre in Taiwan, just be aware that what you think may be something that has gone bad in the streets, dont run. Its only stinky tofu. And who knows, you might beat the odds as an outsider and enjoy it like the locals! 4. Stay away from number 4 Cultural superstitions revolve around almost every country. In Taiwan, there is a popular belief that the number 4 is bad luck. The superstition has been around for generations because the Cantonese word for the number 4 (si) sounds like the word for death (si). While in the west, we think of the number 13 as bad luck, Taiwanese take the number 4 seriously. When we checked into one of our hotels in Taipei, we noticed something odd in our elevator. On the way up, we went to press our floor number and noticed that the number 4 wasnt there. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. We thought this had to have been a mistake until my brother filled me in on the cultural superstition. Taiwanese people always try to avoid anything to do with the number. There are several cultural taboos and superstitions to be aware of when youre travelling in Taiwan. Dont put your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice or noodles (It represents incense). When someone gives you a gift, dont open it right away (Oops! I made that mistake). Always hand important letters, business cards, or other documents with two hands. Also, dont write anyones name in red ink. These are a few to remember but there are many more to learn before your next trip. 5. Keep your receipts - you could win the national lottery Taiwan has a very interesting lottery that every citizen can partake in. As a way to motivate its business owners to report their taxes legally, they introduced the Taiwan Receipt Lottery to encourage citizens to purchase from businesses who did their taxes properly. Every time you make a purchase in Taiwan, there will be a number on top of your receipt. Every two months, the Taiwanese government draws numbers at random that correspond to the eight numbers on top of the receipt. The last winner from the final period of 2018 recorded a grand prize of $426,000, and several others won thousands as well. And the best part is, this lottery is available not only to locals but to foreigners as well. If youre not wanting to hold onto hundreds of receipts during your visit, you can also store receipts electronically on an EasyCard (local transit card), and verify them when the winning lottery numbers are drawn. You can buy one of these cards at a local 7/11 and MRT stations (Taipeis Mass Rapid Transit). 6. Dont leave Taiwan until youve tried this dish Taiwan has an amazing cuisine. Some of their top dishes include beef noodle soup, bubble tea, pineapple cakes, fried chicken, and gua bao (steamed pork bun). But if there is one dish that stands atop the Taiwanese food chain, it is Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings). Though Xiao Long Bao originated in China, the Taiwanese perfected it. Our experience in Taiwan reached a pinnacle moment when we stumbled upon the famous Taiwanese restaurant chain, Din Tai Fung during a trip to a Taipei mall. We stood outside the restaurant mesmerized at the open kitchen concept where the kitchen staff brilliantly stood in an assembly line crafting hundreds of little pork dumplings with their magnificent craftsmanship in a matter of minutes, before sending them down the line to be steamed for the eager restaurant patrons in the dining room. As entertaining as it was to see the dumplings dance between their hands, we couldnt help ourselves but get into that restaurant and try them for ourselves. The dumplings are served in a bamboo basket, with a side dish of soy sauce, vinegar and thin strips of ginger to compliment the dumplings. You have to poke a hole in the dumpling with your chopsticks to let the steam out and let it cool for a minute before diving in. Then with a spoon, raise it slowly to your mouth and dive in with one bite. The combination of the juicy pork, the soft dumpling, and the savoury soup within the dumpling along with the soy sauce, vinegar and ginger warmed our bellies like no other food in Taiwan. When you visit Taiwan, schedule in a time to go to the restaurant at least once, and preferably within the first day or two. There are 9 locations to experience Taiwans favourite savoury treat. India has long known that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has been carrying out his terror activities from Pakistan soil with impunity. For instance, India Today reported that just nine days before the deadly Pulwama attack, Azhar had given a call for jehad against India at a terror rally in Peshawar, the capital of a province governed by Prime Minister Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party. In fact, he is heard making an intriguing reference to Pulwama in his speech. But Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told CNN recently that while the JeM chief is indeed in their country, as per his information, Azhar is "unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house". That was in response to a query about why Pakistan did not just arrest Azhar in the face of current India-Pakistan tensions. Qureshi also said that Pakistan "would be open to any move that leads to de-escalation", including putting Azhar on the international terrorist list, if India can back it up with "inalienable evidence". On Wednesday, India had handed over to Pakistan a dossier on "specific details" of JeM's involvement in the Pulwama terror attack on CRPF as well as the presence of camps of the UN-proscribed terror outfit in that country. The dossier was handed over to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan, who was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs to lodge a strong protest over Pakistan Air Force targeting Indian military installations, a day after the Indian Air Force's counter-terror action against the JeM. Qureshi also told the channel that it's not a matter of doubting what Azhar or his outfit have been accused of doing but "there is a legal process and you have to satisfy it" and asked that India "initiate a dialogue" and share any such evidence with Pakistan "so that we can convince the people and we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan". The development comes at a time when diplomatic pressure is mounting on Pakistan over terror groups operating on its soil. India and the US have been critical of Pakistan's shielding of Azhar. But while India has been trying hard to get him named an international terrorist at the United Nations Security Council, Pakistan's all-weather friend China has repeatedly thwarted such attempts. Why does India want him on the list in the first place? Because this move not only entails a travel and arms ban but also freezing Azhar's funds and financial assets. Also read: IAF pilot Abhinandan release LIVE updates: Wing Commander to be released through Wagah border later today Also read:India-Pakistan tension: Indian Air Force, Army, Navy stand together to expose Pak Army Pakistan left their representative's chair empty at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meet on Friday as a protest during Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj's speech. Pakistan had opposed the invitation to India, which is not a member of the OIC, for the conference taking place in Abu Dhabi. The inaugural address by Swaraj is considered a big diplomatic win for India. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced that he would not attend the meeting after OIC rejected his appeal to cancel the invitation to Swaraj. IAF pilot Abhinandan release LIVE updates: Wing Commander reaches Lahore; India waits to give hero's welcome Speaking at the OIC meeting, Swaraj said, "The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be." "Just as Islam literally means peace,none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood, " said Swaraj. On the ideology adopted by India, Swaraj said, "India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text 'The Rig Veda'." Subsequently, Swaraj mentioned a quote in Hindi which means "God is One but learned men describe Him in many ways". "Terrorism is destroying lives, destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril. Terror reach is growing and the toll it is taking is increasing," Swaraj said. On the fight against terrorism, Swaraj said, "This is not a clash of civilisations or cultures, but a contest of ideas and ideals. As PM Narendra Modi has often said, it is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity." "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed." Calling on the OIC for promoting peace and development, Swaraj said the OIC has a huge responsibility and opportunity to lift the people, promote respect with all states and replace harmony in place of hate. Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, China Friday cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan and rerouted its international flights flying over the Pakistani airspace, the official media in Beijing reported. Thousands of air travellers were stranded world over due to Pakistan's airspace closure owing to rising tensions with India. Major routes between Europe and South East Asia were disrupted, PTI reported. Civil aviation experts told the Global Times that flights from the Middle East that usually fly over Pakistan and India-Pakistan border will have to re-route over India, Myanmar or Central Asia to enter China now. Also Read: India, China, Russia reaffirms strong opposition to terrorism According to a statement sent to the Global Times by the North China Air Traffic Management bureau, the Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday, including connecting flights. Whether those flights will fly today as scheduled is still unknown, state-run Global Times reported. The bureau said that 22 flights fly in and out of Pakistan every week, including two from Air China and other flights from Pakistan International Airlines. China is taking all positive measures to deal with international flights after Pakistan shut down its airspace, opening part of Chinese airspace for foreign airlines to re-route. Also Read: India-Pakistan tension: IAF shows evidence of crashed F-16, exposes Pakistan's lie The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) immediately launched an emergency plan to notify domestic flight companies and cooperate with the air force to ensure the safety of flights and approve temporary flight plans. Flights to Pakistan have undergone major changes in recent days and the CAAC reminded passengers to check flight information before they make plans, the statement said. Pakistan's airspace was closed on Thursday. All international and domestic commercial flights in and out of Pakistan were canceled until further notice, according to reports from Pakistan. At the request of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the CAAC opened part of China's airspace and air routes for foreign airlines to re-route, China National Radio reported. Also Read: IAF pilot Abhinandan released LIVE updates: Wing Commander reaches Wagah, India all set to welcome the national hero As of 10pm on Thursday, 28 domestic airlines affected by the closure of Pakistani airspace adjusted flight plans and 49 foreign flights used Chinese airspace to re-route, the report added. Pakistan closed its airspace after tensions escalated with India in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM. The IAF on February 26 carried out 'non-military pre-emptive strike' in Pakistani territories of Balakot, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad in retaliation to a terror attack on CRPF troopers in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. India has blamed Pakistan of harbouring the perpetrator of the attack, Masood Azhar, the leader of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack. The Pakistani Air Force (PAF) in response to the attack by IAF intruded into the Indian airspace trying to target its military installations in Poonch and Nowshera sectors of J&K, but was forced to return by the IAF fighters. Also Read: Sensex rebounds 196 pts, posts 2nd weekly gains as geopolitical tensions ease At a time when entire nation is hailing Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming, Bollywood stars too welcomed the pilot, who was held captive by Pakistan for two days after his plane was shot down in a duel by Pakistani fighters. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan too cheered the moment and took to Twitter to express his happiness as Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returns to India. "There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan," Shah Rukh Khan wrote on Twitter. There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/NFTRINu6Mw - Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 1, 2019 Bollywood actress Varun Dhawan, Riteish Deshmukh, Preity Zinta also put out posts on the return of the pilot after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his release on Friday. Welcome back home #WelcomeBackAbinandan a true hero. These humane actions give hope that all humanity is not lost. Bharat mata ki Jai - Varun Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) March 1, 2019 On Wednesday, Wing Commander Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan Army after his fighter jet crashed in an air duel with a Pakistani F-16 and he fell into Pakistani territory. Also Read: Nation hails release of Wing Commander Abhinandan, twitterati say 'Welcome Back Hero!' On February 28, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan will release IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday as a 'peace gesture'. Pakistan PM made the announcement while addressing Pakistan's Parliament. Soon after the news began doing the rounds of social media, Hashtag #WelcomeBackAbhinandan, #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan and #WelcomeBackHero began trending on Twitter in quick time. From politician to Bollywood celebrities, Twitter users expressed their happiness and wished for his safe return. Edited by Chitranjan Kumar The Jet Airways share price rose in early trade amid reports founder Naresh Goyal has agreed to step down as the Chairman of the company's board as the lenders gear up to acquire majority stake in the airline under a bailout plan. The airline has not confirmed the exit of Goyal yet. However, the gains were capped after the loss-making air carrier said six more aircraft have been grounded due to non-payment of lease rentals. With this, the total number of aircraft taken out of operations due to severe liquidity crunch in the airline and its subsequent failure to pay rentals to various lessors now stand at 19 so far this month, as per the airline. Jet Airways share price rose 6.33% to 236.90 compared to the previous close of 222.80 on the BSE. Jet Airways share price rose with a gain of 4.89% to 233.70 on BSE. The small cap share has lost 68.57% during the last one year and fallen 16.08% since the beginning of this year. Jet Airways pilots to go on a black band protest, not work beyond shift hours from March 1 The development comes a day after an urgent meeting of lenders with Goyal and Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer Tony Douglas to resolve various issues between the two promoters as well as lenders and Etihad. The Gulf-based carrier holds 24 per cent stake in the Mumbai-based full service airline, founded by Goyal 25 years ago. State Bank of India is the lead lender of a consortium that has extended loans to Jet Airways, which has been grappling with financial woes and is looking to rejig debt as well as raise funds. On February 14, Jet Airways' board had approved a Bank-Led Provisional Resolution Plan (BLPRP), whereby lenders would become the largest shareholders in the airline. Its shareholders have also approved conversion of loan into shares and other proposals during the extraordinary general meeting on February 21. The Bank-Led Resolution Plan (BLRP) by lenders estimated a funding gap of Rs 8,500 crore (including proposed repayment of aircraft debt of Rs 1,700 crore) to be met by appropriate mix of equity infusion, debt restructuring, sale and lease back of aircraft, among other things. Shareholders of Jet Airways had approved conversion of loan into shares and other proposals during the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last week. As on September 30, 2018, Jet Airways had gross debt of Rs 8,411 crore (including terms loans from banks and dues to lessors for aircraft lease), as against Rs 8,403 crore as on March 31, 2018. The company has large repayments of Rs 1,700 crore due over December 2018 to March 2019, Rs 2,444.5 crore in FY2020 and Rs 2,167.9 crore in FY2021. Jet defaulted in servicing its loan obligations on December 31 2018 and the 90-day window before its loans are dubbed non-performing assets (NPA) ends on 31 March 2019. The company is reeling under losses for the last four consecutive quarters with its shares losing over 60% in one year. Edited by Aseem Thapliyal Jet Airways share price falls over 6% after seven more aircraft grounded on non-payment of dues The YES Bank share price rose in trade today after global financial services firm CGS-CIMB Securities upgraded the stock to buy and raised its target price. New MD and CEO Ravneet Gill taking charge with immediate effect for a tenure of three years also led the stock higher. The stock gained 2.68 per cent to close at Rs 237.40 on BSE. During the day, it surged 3 per cent to Rs 238.35. On the NSE, shares went up 2.48 per cent to close at Rs 236.90. YES Bank share price rose 3.07% to 238.30 compared to the previous close of 231.20 on the BSE. The YES Bank share price has gained 4.10% in last two days. YES Bank share has lost 25% in one year and gained 30.65% since the beginning of this year. YES Bank share price was trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving average of 200 and 230 levels, respectively. 30 of 46 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or 'outperform', 11 "hold", three "underperform" and two "sell", according to analysts' recommendations tracked by Reuters. "Ravneet Gill has joined Yes Bank as MD & CEO today. His tenure as approved by RBI is 3 years from the date of his joining, i.e. March 1, 2019 to February 28, 2022," Yes Bank said in a regulatory filing. Gill is not related to any of the directors of the Bank and he has affirmed that he is not debarred from holding office of director by virtue of any order of Securities and Exchange Board of India or any other such authority, the private sector lender said. Global financial services firm CGS-CIMB Securities said concerns over asset quality and top management have decreased. Additionally, NIL divergence report of RBI and appointment of MD & CEO will result in a re-rating since valuations are attractive at 1.5 times FY20 forward Price to earnings /book value. The firm raised the target price of the stock to Rs 300 from Rs 230. On February 14, the RBI cleared the bank of any disparity in reporting of the bad loan data. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) assesses compliance by banks with extant prudential norms on income recognition, asset classification and provisioning (IRACP) as part of its supervisory processes. "As part of this process, Yes Bank has received the risk assessment Report for 2017-2018. The report observes NIL divergences in the bank's asset classification and provisioning from the RBI norms," the bank said. Later, RBI warned YES Bank of regulatory action for disclosure of nil divergence report in violation of the confidentiality clause. Following the announcement by the private lender on February 14, that the RBI's Risk Assessment Report (RAR) had not found any divergence in asset classification and provisioning for 2017-18, the stock price for the bank skyrocketed 30 per cent. On February 15, the bank disclosed the RBI had criticised the lender saying it was an attempt to "mislead the public" and the RAR had "identified several other lapses and regulatory breaches". The stock exchanges sought clarification from the bank regarding the Risk Assessment Report for FY18 since it led to a huge rise in stock price of the lender. YES Bank clarified the information received under RAR regarding "divergence" was an Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI), which could be misused or leaked. Regarding the report, the bank stated it had not indulged in any sort of misrepresentation, and that no misleading information was provided to the stock exchanges and the investors. "The bank has not made any undue advantage or benefit by disseminating the UPSI. Hence, we humbly submit that the Bank has not misrepresented or mislead the stock exchanges/investors in terms of Regulation 4(1)(c) of Listing Regulations," it said to the NSE. Other banking peers also submitted the information pertaining to 'divergence' to the stock exchanges along with their quarterly results ahead of finalisation of their annual results, YES Bank added. In their 2019 Annual letter, Bill and Melinda Gates wrote that they got their impetus for starting their foundation from a news story about hundreds of thousands of kids in poor countries dying from diarrhoea. Diarrhoea, you say? Sure, it is uncomfortable and draining but is it really such a big problem? Unfortunately, it is. In fact, it accounts for 9% of deaths of children under-five, in India. Diarrhoea in children is caused by viral illnesses, notably rotavirus which accounts for 45% of diarrhoea cases. It causes children to lose fluids, causing dehydration rapidly and putting their lives at risk. The good news is that in this century, the world has made steady progress in reducing its diarrhoea burden. From 2000 to 2016, global diarrhoea deaths of children under-5 reduced by 61% from 1.237 million to 477,000. The same figure for India has reduced by 70% from 340,000 to 102,000. Bangladesh has performed significantly better than most countries, including India, in fighting diarrhoea. From 2000 to 2016, Bangladesh has reduced under-five diarrhoeal deaths from 38,877 to 7,062 (81.8%). This is particularly commendable when you consider that its per capita income is significantly lower than India as shown in the chart. So, what did Bangladesh do to control diarrhoea? Few elements stand out: Granular health system: Bangladesh has built a well-structured decentralised health system with three tiers of primary health care facilities - Community Clinics (CC) at the village level. Union Health and Family Welfare Centres (UHFWC) at the Union (cluster of villages) level and Upazila Health Complexes (UHCs) at the sub-district level. These feed into district hospitals and other tertiary facilities. In 1997, the Government introduced the Control of Diarrhoeal Disease (CDD) program establishing an Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) corner in each UHC, district hospital and tertiary care centre. This made treatment easily accessible. India has a similar tiered, well-conceived structure of health facilities. However, there are gaps in implementation. Basic equipment and supplies are often missing, and vacancies go unfilled. Community led-action and behaviour change: Oral rehydration has become a part of household life in Bangladeshi society. Starting 1980, BRAC and International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICCDR, b) have trained 12 million mothers, in mission mode, to make Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) at home itself. When a child falls ill, the mother simply mixes water, sugar and molasses together to create an ORS that prevents dehydration. Rice water is also used as an alternative. Community Health Workers (CHWs) serve as the link between the health system and the community. They routinely visit houses, offer basic counselling and refer cases to local facilities. They also play a key role in community mobilisation and are comparable to ASHA workers in India. The Government has augmented its CHW network by partnering with development organisations such as BRAC. Close to 75% (163,000 / 219,000) CHWs in Bangladesh are supported by NGOs. The ratio of CHWs for a given population has more than doubled between 2005 and 2015. The close link between CHWs managed by NGOs and the health system is a good example of public-private partnerships in rural healthcare. CHWs per 1000 people continues to be lower in Bangladesh (0.36) than India (0.58). However, their ability to drive behaviour change and work effectively with NGOs and the Government is impressive. Limiting open-defecation: It is essential to eliminate open defecation as faeces contain pathogens which cause diarrhoea. Bangladesh has reduced open defecation from 42% in 2003 to 1% in 2015[6]. While the Government did promote rapid construction of indoor toilets, a big part of the success was due to the community-led approach. Campaigns worked with local representatives to trigger people's inherent emotions of shame and disgust. Associations were drawn between faeces and consumption. Reports suggest that toilets are now seen as a symbol of status and dignity in the society, even becoming a consideration during matrimonial alliances. These efforts have had knock-on benefits. Earlier, women held back food intake for fear of going out in the open to defecate. Now, they feel more secure and are better nourished. In this regard, it is worthwhile to mention the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). 9 crore toilets have been built under the scheme as of January 2019. Utilisation of toilets in rural areas remains a concern. The Government is now taking up behaviour change campaigns across the country. Treatment facility and research centre: Bangladesh is home to 'ICDDR, b', the only diarrhoeal hospital in the world. The centre treats over 100,000 diarrhoea patients a year. It has also gone beyond treatment to perform path breaking research. Its accomplishments include developing oral rehydration solutions in the 1960s (then known as East Pakistan), proving the case for zinc-based treatment in the 1990s, developing guidelines for managing severe acute malnourishment now adopted by the WHO and many more. The centre has also emerged as a centre of excellence, training practitioners from around the world. Diarrhoea has important ramifications for a society's health and development. Studies have drawn clear links between diarrhoea, malnutrition and death. Bangladesh is a case study in achieving success in controlling diarrhoea despite having slower economic development than us. In recent years, the Government of India has undertaken some commendable measures such as the adoption of the Integration Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (IAPPD). In 2017, the Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF) was launched. Following the monsoons (when diarrhoea is most prevalent), a fortnight is dedicated to intensive care and counselling for diarrhoea. There are other positives - introduction of rotavirus vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Program in various states (11 as in September 2018) will help limit the largest cause of diarrhoea. Bangladesh has also announced plans to induct the vaccine in its program. If there are three things, I would emphasise from the Bangladesh experience, they are a) driving community ownership, b) empowering community health workers and driving closer engagement with NGOs, and c) investing in research. Bangladesh's success goes to show that supply and demand forces need to work seamlessly together to impact public health outcomes. The Government can initiate large programs, build facilities and capacity but ultimately community ownership is necessary for far-reaching impact. The writer is the CEO, Antara Foundation. He has worked in management consulting with Arthur D Little and KPMG. The government Thursday announced a soft loan of up to Rs 10,540 crore to the sugar industry to help mills clear mounting arrears to cane growers, a move that would cost exchequer up to Rs 1,054 crore as interest subsidy. Sugar cane arrears to farmers have crossed Rs 20,000 crore in the current marketing year 2018-19 (October-September). "To help the sugar industry clear its cane dues arrears, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister today approved the proposal to provide soft loans to the extent of about Rs 7,900-10,540 crore to the sugar industry," an official statement said. The Centre will bear the interest subvention cost at the rate of 7-10 per cent to the extent of Rs 553 crore to Rs 1,054 crore for one year. "Surplus production is also estimated in the current sugar season 2018-19 which has affected the liquidity position of sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers which has reached to the level of Rs 20,159 crore as on February 22, 2019," the statement said. To ensure that farmers are paid their dues expeditiously, the Centre has asked banks to seek bank account details of cane growers from mill owners, so that amount is paid directly to farmers. "In order to incentivize the mills to clear their dues, CCEA has also decided that the approved soft loans will be provided to those units which have already cleared at least 25 per cent of their outstanding dues in the sugar season 2018-19," the statement said. The decision to provide soft loans comes a fortnight after the Centre raised benchmark selling price of sugar at factory gate by Rs 2 to Rs 31 per kg. Although sugar production is estimated to decline to 307 lakh tonnes in the 2018-19 marketing year (October-September) from record 325 lakh tonnes in the previous year, the output will be much higher than annual domestic consumption of 260 lakh tonnes. Moreover, mills had an opening stock of about 100 lakh tonnes of stock from previous year's production. In last one-and-a-half years, the central government has taken a number of measures to bail out sugar mills as well as cane farmers. The steps include doubling of the import duty on sugar to 100 per cent and scrapping of the export duty. In June last year, the government announced a Rs 8,500 crore package for the industry, which included soft loans of Rs 4,440 crore to mills for creating ethanol capacity. It is bearing an interest subvention of Rs 1,332 crore for this. An assistance of Rs 5.50 per quintal of cane crushed was announced, amounting to Rs 1,540 crore to mills, for 2017-18. This has been raised to Rs 13.88 per quintal for 2018-19, costing over Rs 4,100 crore to the exchequer. Around Rs 1,200 crore was allocated for the creation of 30 lakh tonnes of buffer stock of sugar. That apart, the Centre is providing assistance worth Rs 1,375 crore to mills by compensating expenditure towards internal transport, freight, handling and other charges to facilitate 50 lakh tonnes export during the 2018-19 marketing year. Also read: Crisis imminent in Uttar Pradesh's Rs 22,000 cr sugarcane economy Also read: SC gives precedence to sugarcane farmers over banks The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its "ex-post facto approval" for the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and joint ventures, a government statement said. The cabinet also gave its approval for the development of new greenfield airport at Hirasar in Gujarat's Rajkot district. An SPV named Air India Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL) was set up on January 22 last year as part of financial restructuring of the debt-laden national carrier. The statement on Thursday said "the government has decided to transfer...to the newly-created SPV the debt of Air India Limited amounting to Rs 29,464 crore" as well as "non-core assets, painting and artifacts and other non-operational assets of Air India Limited". Moreover, the government said that the "subsidiaries which are not part of Air India strategic disinvestment viz. AIATSL (Air India Air Transport Services Limited), AIESL (Air India Engineering Services Limited), AASL (Airline Allied Services Limited) are to be shifted to the SPV". The government has been working on ways to revive the fortunes of Air India, which is estimated to have a debt burden of Rs 55,000 crore. The board of directors of the SPV includes Director Finance as well as the chairman and managing director of Air India. It also has joint secretaries of the following government departments -- Corporate Affairs, Investment and Public Asset Management, Expenditure, Economic Affairs -- as its board directors. The government will provide a total of Rs 3,900 crore for servicing Air India's loans transferred to the SPV, according to interim Budget presented on February 1. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "For disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and its remaining assets, a special purpose vehicle (SPV)'s incorporation has got the approval." According to the documents presented in the interim Budget for 2019-20, the government has decided to allocate Rs 1,300 crore for the SPV this fiscal. Besides, Rs 2,600 crore would be provided in the next financial year. "The Union Cabinet has been given ex-post facto approval for the creation of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and associated activities for the disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries/JV (joint ventures)," stated a government press statement Thursday. The national carrier has been in the red since its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007. Air India is staying afloat on a bailout package extended by the previous UPA regime in 2012. Also read: Air India's passenger revenue grows by 20% to Rs 5,500 crore in Q3 FY19 Also read: Air India to get Rs 1,500 crore from the govt next week, says official The government Thursday cleared an FDI proposal of telecom giant Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) ahead of its proposed up to Rs 25,000 crore rights issue. "The Cabinet has approved the proposal of Vodafone Idea Ltd, which had proposed foreign direct investment (FDI) of more than Rs 5,000 crore which may extend up to Rs 25,000 crore," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after announcing the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The CCEA has also approved to take on record the proposed changes in the indirect foreign investment in the subsidiaries of VIL that will take place on account of non-residents subscribing to the equity shares in the fund raise, an official statement said. Foreign direct investment up to 100 per cent is allowed in India's booming telecom services sector with 49 per cent allowed under the automatic route and beyond that through government route subject to observance of stipulated conditions by the licensee and investors. "However, in consideration of the extant FDI policy and procedure, it is necessary to take the government approval for FDI beyond Rs 5,000 crore even if there is no change in the percentage of foreign/ NRI equity already approved," the statement said. Last month, the board of directors of VIL had approved Rs 25,000 crore fundraising plan by way of rights issue to the existing eligible equity shareholders. The promoter shareholders Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group have told the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore, respectively, as part of such rights issue. The proposed rights issue will arm Vodafone Idea Ltd with ammo to take on market competition intensified by Reliance Jio. Also, Vodafone Idea has recently approached the the telecom department seeking two-year moratorium on its annual spectrum payment of about Rs 10,000 crore, citing high debt levels and stress on the balance sheet. British telecom major Vodafone holds 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group controls 26 per cent and Idea shareholders own 28.9 per cent. The mega merger was announced a few months after the entry of the deep-pocketed Reliance Jio, whose aggressive pricing and freebies have impacted the financials of the entire industry that has even seen bankruptcies and asset sell-offs. The CCEA decision comes on a day when another telecom operator Bharti Airtel's Board has approved fundraising plans of up to Rs 32,000 crore through a mix of rights issue and bond. Also read: Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea plan to create optical fibre venture to take on Reliance Jio Also read: Vodafone Idea asks 2 years extension for Rs 10,000 crore spectrum payment Yesterday, the three Chiefs of the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy jointly addressed a press conference and exposed Pakistan's lie that no F-16s had been deployed on their retaliatory strike targeting military installations on Wednesday. "There is enough evidence to show F-16s were used in this mission and Pakistan is trying to hide this fact," said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor. A day after the Indian Air Force blew up the terror camps of Jaish-e-Mohammed across the Line of Control (LoC), Pakistan's Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor yesterday agreed that Pakistan Air Force entered Indian airspace but refuted India's claim of shooting down one of their F-16 aircraft. The Air Vice Marshal told the media yesterday that parts of one F-16 that was shot down by an IAF MiG 21 Bison have been recovered inside Indian territory. Incidentally, it was Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who managed the feat before his aircraft went down in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Kapoor further displayed the wreckage of an AIM-120C advanced medium range air-to-air (AMRAAM) missile - clearly displaying its contract number -and said that only the F-16s in Pakistan's fleet can fit this missile. India reportedly does not use this missile. According to The Economic Times, India will be sharing this evidence with the US to emphasise that the neighbouring country is misusing assets it may have acquired under the 'fight against terrorism' banner in 2008. The fighter jets, as per the sale agreement, can only be used for counter-terrorism operations, not to attack any country. The electronic signatures of the deployed F-16s captured by Indian radars as well as sightings by Indian Army troops on the border, who saw two pilots ejecting from the Pakistani fighter inside PoK, will be part of the evidence to be presented to the US. Besides, the contract number on the wreckage can be tracked by US authorities to understand when they were delivered. Senior air force officers also told the daily that photographs obtained from Pakistani media show parts of the F-16 scattered across the border. Washington has already promised the Indian government all support to de-escalate tensions and in ensuring that Pakistan complies with its commitment to the US. As for questions being raised on the success of the IAF strike on JeM terror camps on February 26, Kapoor made it clear that the IAF has "evidence to show that whatever we wanted to do and targets we wanted to destroy, we have done that" but the "decision to show the evidence is on senior leadership". Allied Irish Banks will raise its dividend for the second successive year since resuming payments following the financial crisis, the bank said on Friday after reporting 1.4 billion euros in pre-exceptional 2018 profits. AIB was the first Irish lender to restart dividends after the sector required the euro zone's most costly bank bailout almost a decade ago. On Friday, it proposed payments at 17 euro cents per share, totalling 461 million euros. That compared to a 326 million euro payout a year ago, most of which will again go to the Irish government, which has been unable to sell anymore AIB shares since offloading a 29% stake in Europe's largest initial public offering (IPO) of 2017. Amid a European-wide slump, AIB shares are trading around 8 percent down on the IPO price of 4.40 euros, although they have recovered from a low of 3.50 euros last December. AIB's ability to return excess capital to shareholders was a selling point of the IPO. Friday's results showed its fully loaded tier one capital ratio of 17.5%, a measure of financial strength, was well above its medium-term target of 13%. Excluding exceptional items, AIB reported full-year pretax profit of 1.41 billion euros, down from 1.57 billion euros a year ago. Profit after tax was down 5 percent to 1.25 billion. Buoyed by the euro zone's fastest growing economy, new lending grew by 15% and the bank cut its level of non-performing loans by 41% to 6.1 billion euros. AIB's net interest margin fell to 2.47% from 2.58% in 2017, but was still higher than the 2.20 recorded by main rival Bank ofIreland, which this week warned it would face further margin pressure in 2019. "Our 2018 net interest margin, net interest income and costs are on track with our medium-term targets and our underlying capital generation has helped us in reaching our objective of normalizing our proposed level of annual dividend payment," outgoing Chief Executive Bernard Byrne said in a statement. Byrne told Reuters the bank's core assumption was that Britain would leave the European Union in an orderly manner and that the main Brexit challenge for the bank would likely be helping its business customers prepare. Byrne is due to be replaced by head of wholesale and institutional banking Colin Hunt once regulators sign off, which Byrne said should happen "in a very short time period." Deputy Chief Financial Officer Donal Galvin was appointed CFO on Friday with immediate effect. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie A planned revision to international tax rules for the digital era could be drawn up within 2019 after the United States and Ireland indicated that they wanted a deal, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday. Some 127 countries and territories agreed last month to tackle some of the most disputed issues of international taxation, such as where digital firms' cross-border income should be taxed. France has spearheaded efforts at the EU and on the international level to change rules that currently enable companies such as Facebook and Google to reduce their tax bills by booking revenue in low-tax countries like Ireland. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is working on a draft deal, which it officially aims to have ready in 2020, most likely for a summit of the Group of 20 economic powers towards the end of the year. Le Maire said that for the first time both the United States and Ireland had expressed support for an OECD deal on taxation of digital companies in talks with his counterparts from the two countries in the last two days. "Two years ago nobody wanted to tax the digital firms, it was us the French who put the subject on the table out of concern for fiscal fairness, justice and efficiency," Le Maire told Public Senat television. He said European Union countries were unlikely to agree to create an EU tax on digital companies at the next meeting of the bloc's finance ministers. But he was optimistic that progress on the OECD level could be made within the year. "I think we can reach a new deal and a common European position at the OECD," Le Maire said. "With the European Commission position, (and) the support of the United States, we can get a digital tax proposed at the international level, at the OECD, by the end of 2019," Le Maire added. The French government had been hoping to reach a deal next month for an EU-wide digital tax that could then serve as a model for a broader deal at the OECD. Ireland and several other countries remain opposed to an EU level deal, which kills off any chance of it becoming a reality as EU tax decisions must be taken unanimously. But Ireland is now willing to go ahead with something at the broader OECD level that includes the United States, Japan, Mexico and others. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Supply-side structural reform has become the latest buzzword among Chinas financial regulators, although the concept has been a central fixture in the policymaking landscape for the industrial sector for several years. President Xi Jinping first introduced supply-side structural reform to China back in late 2015 and it has dominated key economic policy documents since 2017 with a focus on cutting industrial overcapacity, reducing the stock of unsold homes, cutting borrowing costs and taxes for companies, deleveraging the corporate sector and improving weak links in the economy. It was only recently that the concept broadened its scope to specifically include the financial sector. In a speech last week, Xi specifically called for supply-side reform in the financial sector to strengthen its ability to serve the real economy sectors that actually produce goods and services and since then it has been highlighted by regulators as one of their main policy goals, although many of the measures are a continuation of existing policies. Earlier this week, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) stressed that efforts to promote supply-side structural reform in the financial sector would be a key policy priority for the coming year. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has also been publicizing its commitment. At a press briefing on Thursday, officials from the commission spelled out the measures they planned to take to push forward supply-side reform. These include offering more diversified and differentiated financial products and services, strengthening the monetary transmission mechanism (channels by which credit and monetary policy changes feed through to the real economy) and improving the allocation and efficiency of financial resources. New players, new markets Bringing new players into the financial markets and increasing the supply of financing are the most-needed steps in supply-side structural reform, according to Xiao Yuanqi, chief risk officer of the CBIRC. Large state-owned banks and insurance companies dominate Chinas financial markets and the regulator wants to boost the presence of smaller players and more specialized financial institutions such as wealth and asset management companies and investment firms, Xiao said. China will also welcome more foreign investors to set up businesses or form partnerships with domestic institutions. Xiao emphasized that while regulators want to improve the supply of capital to ensure ample liquidity in the markets, they will not allow the economy to be flooded with credit, echoing similar comments by a central bank official this week, who sought to downplay the prospect of aggressive monetary loosening. Improving the supply of financing will involve shifting inefficient credit from industries suffering from overcapacity to areas with greater need, such as small and micro businesses in innovative and strategic sectors, Xiao said. Poorly performing companies with little prospect of improvement will be guided to exit the market through reorganization or bankruptcy. No banks in China have been allowed to fail in recent years, and Xiao said that while some institutions will be allowed to experiment with bankruptcy, regulators will mainly use mergers and restructuring to defuse risks and force unqualified players out of the market. The authorities will also encourage lenders to step up efforts to offload their non-performing loans (NPLs), Xiao said. The banking sector has disposed of 3.48 trillion yuan ($519 billion) of bad loans over the past two years, CBIRC data show, but commercial banks still have 2 trillion yuan of NPLs on their balance sheets. The overall ratio of NPLs to total loans at commercial banks stood at 1.83% at the end of 2018, up from 1.74% at the end of 2016. As part of supply-side reform, financial institutions will be expected to offer more differentiated and customized products and services to meet customer demand. They will also be encouraged to show more flexibility in their operations to enhance their ability to support the real economy, such as accepting patents and other unconventional assets as collateral for loans, Xiao said. China has more than 4,000 banks, including 159 commercial banks and hundreds of rural cooperatives, but is dominated by five large state-owned lenders. In 2013 the government gave the green light to the establishment of privately owned banks in an effort to liberalize the sector and better serve private businesses and individuals. However most of these new lenders have reported sluggish business growth and many have been exposed to greater risks due to shortcomings in their management and governance. Removing barriers Xiao said regulators will continue encouraging smaller private players to join the market to expand access to credit for small and micro businesses but will also work out measures to contain risks associated with small financial institutions. Ensuring credit flows smoothly from the financial system to where its needed in the economy is another important part of supply-side reform in the financial sector, Xiao said. The CBIRC is studying measures to improve the monetary transmission in the banking system and considering giving a greater role to smaller institutions in process, he said. Regulators will also make efforts to remove barriers that prevent capital flowing between different sectors including banking, the bond and stock markets, and venture capital to make markets more connected and improve the efficiency of capital flows, he said. But measures should also be put in place to prevent arbitrage activities involving so-called empty fund transfers that divert capital away from the real economy, said Xiao, a response to concerns expressed last month by Premier Li Keqiang that the surge in bill financing and short-term loans in January risked leading to the inefficient circulation of funding. To push forward structural reform in the financial sector, China will also need to encourage more direct financing activities, such as equity sales, balancing the supply of credit between rural and urban regions, shifting more resources to small businesses and using technology and advanced management measures to improve business efficiency and reduce financing costs, Xiao said. Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) news, latest-news Janet Jeffs was just 19 when she started her apprenticeship with Cheong Liew at Neddys restaurant in Adelaide. It was 1978, the heady days of the Don Dunstan era and Adelaide was a vibrant multicultural city ahead of its time. Through Neddys, Liew began to introduce Chinese dishes, using ingredients no other chef dared to use: pigs feet, sea urchins and shark lips. What Cheong started to do was introduce some of his Chinese dishes and stay really true to his heritage, says Jeffs, now the executive chef and director of Ginger Catering. He started to push that east/west idea but there was more of a Chineseness, an Asianness to the dishes, rather than a fusion. He really was a vanguard of that time. For me, Cheong is a culinary magician, a sorcerer of the kitchen. And now the sorcerer and the sorcerers apprentice are reuniting in Canberra for a one-off event dinner. Jeffs and Liew will team up in the kitchen of the National Arboretum to present a four-course dinner and canapes that showcases Liews cuisine. Were starting with his most famous dish, The Four Dances of the Sea, which celebrates the waters of South Australia, Jeffs says. Its a very complicated dish, precise and detailed. It features soused snook, calamari with black noodles, olive fried octopus, and a prawn sambal, all served with coconut glutinous rice. To follow theres salt water duck celery with tangerine chicken cloud ear fungus; red roasted wild barramundi with leek fondue, shaved calamari, spring onion and a coriander green jus; Mayura Station wagyu barvette with garlic soy rice wine and a cured egg yolk sauce; and to finish a black rice palm sugar pudding with roasted pineapple coconut mousse. Cheong was all about experimenting and being led by the ingredients, Jeffs says. His complexity is discreet, his talent lies in combining flavours and textures into a single but multidimensional taste experience, which goes beyond the palate to the intellect. Jeffs says doing her apprenticeship with Liew was an amazing learning experience. I remember going to the Asian grocers with Cheong and going what's this, whats that, how do you use this. To have that experience, being in that situation in the late '70s, early '80s was pretty eye-opening. She remembers being given plenty of space to develop her own style. A lot of his advice was about experimenting and not being afraid to pursue your own style, she says. It was about thinking about what you were interested in and what you wanted to cook and eat. A lot of it is about the pursuit of flavour, a lot of chefs get lost in technique and style or the look on the plate, and don't consider how these ingredients are reacting together to make a complete dish. In tune with the sorcerers apprentice idea, Jeffs is including two of her young team in the dinner, Rory McLeod and Marie Koenig. We've heard so much about him from Janet, Koenig says. It will be amazing working with him and learning from him and seeing how his flavour combinations will work, seeing how we may have already picked up some of his influences through Janet. The Master and Apprentices: One night only with Cheong Liew, Thursday, March 14, National Arboretum, Canberra, canapes and a four-course dinner with matched wines, $170pp. Book now at gingercatering.com.au /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/86aaa5d6-6826-4b09-957e-dfee01d1d887/r0_262_5000_3087_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. NS The WhatsApp On Monday (6) it was announced that the 'Temporary Messages' functionality has become the default for all... Adelaide Brighton posts 1% fall in net profit in 2018 ICR Newsroom By 01 March 2019 Australian cement producer Adelaide Brighton posted a 1.4 per cent decline in net profit to AUD185.3m (US$131.5m) in 2018 as cement margins declined and slower growth in South Australia and Western Australia offset strong demand in New South Wales and Victoria. East coast construction markets were strong in 2018, South Australia and the Northern Territory were flat and Western Australia was down, while lime demand from the resources sector was stable, Adelaide Brightons CEO, Nick Miller, said. Adelaide Brighton said the fall in national quarterly construction work at the end of the year was an unusual combination of delays in infrastructure spending and a contraction in the residential building market. Construction work in Australia decreased by 3.1 per cent in the October-December 2018 quarter with the number of new homes being built down by 3.6 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Published under Senator Lamar Alexander said today that President Trump already has congressional funding authority to build the wall he wants on the southern border without resorting to a dangerous national emergency precedent. In an address on the Senate floor, he urged the president to ask his lawyers to take a second look at existing funding authorities that dont require a national emergency when he returns from his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. I support what the president wants to do on border security, but not the way he has been advised to do it. It is unnecessary and unwise to turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis about separation of powers when the president already has congressional funding authority to build the 234 miles of border wall that he requested in his Jan. 6 letter to the Senate, Senator Alexander said. There has never been an instance where a president has asked for funding, Congress refused it, and the president then used the National Emergencies Act to justify spending the money anyway. If President Trump can build a wall when Congress has refused to provide the funding, then the next president can declare a national emergency and tear the wall down or declare a climate change emergency and stop oil exports and offshore drilling. There is no limit to the imagination of what the next left wing president could do to harm our country with this precedent. Senator Alexander said, After an American revolution against a king, our founders chose not to create a chief executive who could tax the people and spend their money any way he chose. The Constitution gave that responsibility exclusively to a Congress elected by the people, and every one of us United States senators has sworn an oath to support that Constitution. Separation of those powers is a crucial constitutional imperative that goes to the heart of our freedom. Quoting the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Senator Alexander said that the genius of the American constitutional system is the dispersal of power. Once power is centralized in one person, or one part of government, the Bill of Rights is just words on paper. The senator continued, There is a way the president can avoid this dangerous precedent completely: he can use the congressional funding authority he already has to build the 234 miles of wall that he asked Congress to approve in his January 6 letter to the Senate. The senator offered this analysis of existing funding authority that could be used to support building the wall that the president has requested: If my analysis is incorrect, he said, I hope that the presidents lawyers will tell me. One January 6, in his letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the president requested $5.7 billion to build 234 miles of new physical barrier on the southern border. On February 14, Congress passed the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which provided $1.375 billion to build 55 miles that the president asked for. On February 15, the day he signed the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, President Trump announced that he would use two additional sources of funds that already had been approved by Congress which could be used to fund the border wall: 1. About $601 million from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. 2. Up to $2.5 billion from other Department of Defense accounts to support counter drug activities and block drug-smuggling corridors across international boundaries. The president is authorized to do this because of a provision in law that allows him to transfer up to $4 billion among accounts at the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense budget is over $600 billion. The senator said that these three sources of funds added up to about $4.5 billion, or $1.2 billion less than the $5.7 billion the president requested in his January 6 letter. So by transferring $3.7 billion instead of $2.5 billion from Department of Defense accounts to support counter drug activities, the president would be able to build the 234 miles of wall he requested and would not need to declare a national emergency. To be specific, this means the president would use: $1.375 billion from the Homeland Security Appropriations bill; $601 million from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund; and $3.7 billion from Department of Defense accounts to support counter drug activities. Using funds already approved by Congress avoids the constitutional crisis of separation of powers, Alexander said. It avoids establishing a dangerous precedent, which could be misused by subsequent presidents. It avoids taking money for military construction projects specifically approved by Congress such as military barracks and hospitals. And it also avoids months or years of litigation, which could make it unlikely the full 234 miles are ever built. The senator concluded, It may be a couple of weeks before the Senate votes on a resolution regarding the national emergency declaration so there is time for the presidents lawyers to take another look and determine whether we can both build the 234 miles of border wall that the president requested and avoid this dangerous precedent. The Tennessee Department of Treasurys Unclaimed Property Division is traveling to events across the state to reunite Tennesseans with missing money. The Division returned a record-breaking 48,425 claims last year, returning $32.9 million to those with missing money in Tennessee. In an effort to return missing money to even more Tennesseans this year, representatives from Treasurys Unclaimed Property Division will be visiting some new events across the state and will be returning to several successful events from previous years, officials said. Tennesseans are encouraged to stop by the Unclaimed Property booth to find out if they have missing money. Division representatives will be on-site to help attendees begin the claims process and answer any questions attendees may have. This is the third year the Division has met with Tennesseans at these events and thousands of dollars have been returned to people who stopped by the Unclaimed Property booth to search for their name. Currently, the largest amount found by an individual at one of these events is $13,466.04. With nearly $1 billion in unclaimed property in Tennessee, the need to connect with local communities is greater than ever. These events have been an excellent way to help increase awareness for this program, said State Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr. The first two events are the Southern Womens Show in Memphis this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 1-3, and the Southern Womens Show in Nashville the following week, Thursday through Sunday, March 7-10. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett today was joined by members of the General Assembly, advocates for domestic violence victims and other stakeholders to announce the introduction of the Tennessee Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program. Tennessee now joins the more than 35 other states offering similar domestic violence safety programs. Safe at Home launches March 1 and aims to protect Tennessee victims of domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, stalking and other related crimes from their abusers by keeping their address concealed from public records. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 18 of the 84 domestic violence-related murder victims in Tennessee in 2017 were repeat victims or had reported domestic abuse prior to their deaths. "Our goal is to shine a bright light on the problem of domestic violence in our state and help protect those Tennesseans who have been victimized from becoming victims again, Sec. Hargett said. Safe at Home provides victims and their families with a tool to help heal from their abuse, begin new lives and finally feel a sense of security in their communities. Under current Tennessee law, most state or local government records are considered public and available for public review. These public records include identifying documents like voter registration and other documents and information, making it easy for abusers to track and find their victims. Legislation passed in 2018 created the Safe at Home program and allows for participants of the program to be concealed from public records in order to shield survivors and victims from the ongoing threat of domestic violence. Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) and Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville) sponsored the legislation. We have made protecting victims of domestic violence a priority in Tennessee by passing legislation that targets repeat offenders and provides automatic no contact orders. Safe at Home is another mechanism to help keep victims and their families safe, Senator Brian Kelsey said. Domestic violence is an issue that knows no boundaries and impacts families across the state. I was proud to sponsor this legislation and support the Secretary of States office in its efforts to help those who have suffered at the hands of an abuser regain a sense of peace in their lives, Rep. Farmer said. Participants in the program will be provided a government-managed substitute address to be used as their official mailing address on all government documents. The address may be used for both victims and their children. Safe at Home forwards the mail received to program participants and keeps their personal address confidential. Once enrolled, the participant can provide the substitute address to all government entities in Tennessee, with very limited exceptions. Participants may also request that other nongovernmental entities, such as schools, employers and other private businesses, use this address as well. There is no cost to participate in the program, but participants must complete an application with the assistance of a certified application assistant. The TBI 2017 report on domestic violence found a total of 77,846 domestic violence offenses reported to police statewide, including 935 cases of stalking and more than 11,400 reports of aggravated assaults. Known domestic violence situations resulted in 81 murder victims in Tennessee during 2017. Detailed information about the Safe at Home program, participant eligibility, how to apply and more can be found at sos.tn.gov/safeathome. In an effort to reach new audiences outside the state capital, Governor Bill Lee announced plans to deliver regional addresses following the State of the State speech next week. I look forward to delivering my first State of the State address on Monday during a joint session of the legislature in Nashville, however, I am excited to have these special events in Knoxville and Memphis, said Governor Lee. As we present our budget and outline priorities for the next year, we want to engage with as many Tennesseans as we can. Governor Lee will deliver his State of the State address to the General Assembly and members of the public on Monday at 6 p.m. CT in the House Chamber of the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville. The joint session will air statewide. With the State of the State occurring in Nashville, and the addition of these two events, he will deliver an address in each Grand Division. The Williams family once owned the future North Chattanooga. There were various tracts left to his sons by George Washington Williams Sr., who died in 1832. George Jr. and Samuel jointly held the home place that was on the river opposite Williams Island. One of the younger sons, Silas, lived on the North Chattanooga farm directly across from Chattanooga with his young bride. This large tract was later to fall into the hands of Major John Cowart, a native of Virginia who was a farmer, merchant and ferry operator in the Ross's Landing days. The young son, Jesse, did not stay long at the family's adopted home by the river. He went west at the time of the Indian Removal as did other family members. Then Silas died of an illness in the fall of 1843. Nancy, the widow of Silas, recalled in a deposition that she had "been acquainted with the Williams all my life." She was from their former home in Paint Rock in Jackson County, Alabama. Nancy, who by the time of the deposition had married a Gwinn, said after the death of George Williams Sr. "a settlement was made in Alabama in 1841. Silas, my husband, was to have the cattle, horses and hogs. Samuel and George was to have the Negro woman, the goods there were on hand, and the firm's debt. I have heard that they paid to Silas his interest in the home place by a tract of land of 80 acres now belonging to Major Cowart by Silas paying back his $150. The other heirs, John Baker and Henry Edwards, were paid $150 each. I cannot tell what was paid to Jesse. "We moved up from Alabama after George W. Sr. died. We stayed a short time at George Williams. When we went to housekeeping we lived opposite to Chattanooga, the place now owned by Major Cowart. George Jr. moved to Lookout Valley and sold goods where Esq. Parker now lives." A Williams lawsuit that was uncovered last year shows the differing temperaments of Silas and Jesse. Col. James A. Whiteside observed, "Silas Williams was a very close hard trader and dealt with his brothers as with strangers." He said after the death of George Sr. "Samuel tried to settle with Silas, but could not, but George had arranged it and could manage him. I told Samuel and he acquiesced to George's wish, and in a day or two he went and made the settlement (about Silas' share of the home place). He laughed about it and recapitulated the difficulty he and Samuel had with Silas." Elijah Thurman, a close neighbor, said, "Silas Williams was complaining that George and Samuel were not going to pay him what was right for the home place. George said they had to pay him more than what was right or go to law with him. This was after the settlement had taken place. George said it was all settled up satisfactorily now. George said there would be no difficulty with Jesse about it - that Jesse was disposed to do what was right about it." John Johnson recalled, "I was present when they settled their partnership business - G.W., Samuel and Silas. Silas kept all his land, his horses and his stock cattle. G.W. and Samuel got his drove cattle and his store books and notes and paid his county debts. I became acquainted with them in 1838 or 1839. I think Mr. Foster and Mr. Beason were at the settlement. Thomas Oxley may have been also." Major John Cowart, in an interview on Jan. 16, 1852, said, "I lived about three fourths of a mile from their storehouse in Chattanooga and about four miles from G.W. Williams' house. A part of the time they both lived together. I still live at the same place. I have been a merchant 10 or more years. I have wound up, or helped to wind up, two businesses - that of Charles Sullivan and Williams, Black & Co. Samuel Williams and John L. Divine went into merchandising and stock trading. They were involved in cattle drives." Major Cowart had married Cynthia Pack, who came from a distinguished lineage of Cherokee and Scot, in Alabama. When they began to occupy the North Chattanooga farm, there were only three other houses in that whole section. Cynthia Pack Cowart joined in the founding of the first Methodist church organized in Chattanooga. Major Cowart operated a farm that was considered "a model for its day." The Cowarts resided in a house called "The Cedars" that was on the later Frazier Avenue not far from where the Walnut Street Bridge later had its north approach. The mansion had spacious halls and four large chimneys. The Frazier family resided at The Cedars until it burned on the afternoon of March 13, 1923. Jesse Williams married Elizabeth Taylor. He lived in the Indian Country across the Mississippi until his death in 1870. Cowart Street in South Chattanooga is named for John Cowart. Frazier Avenue is named for the Fraziers who later lived at "The Cedars." * * * The links to the Williams papers on Sam Hall's website are here. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today reiterated during a U.S. Senate hearing the need to restore the original intent of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is to be a second chance and not a way of life. Secretary Perdues comments come on the heels of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishing in the Federal Register a proposed rule to move more able-bodied recipients of SNAP benefits to self-sufficiency through the dignity of work. The rule aims to restore the system to what it was meant to be: assistance through difficult times, not lifelong dependency. This proposed rule focuses on work-related program requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) and would apply to non-disabled people, between the ages of 18 and 49, with no dependents. The rule would not apply to the elderly, the disabled, or pregnant women. Those who are eligible to receive SNAP including the underemployed would still qualify. "Despite the absence of any statutory changes to the welfare reform legislation of 1996, an abuse of administrative flexibility in SNAP has undermined the ideal of self-sufficiency," proponents said. When then President Bill Clinton signed the legislation that instituted work requirements for ABAWDs he said, First and foremost, it should be about moving people from welfare to work. It should impose time limits on welfare... It [work] gives structure, meaning and dignity to most of our lives. During todays hearing, Secretary Perdue was asked about work requirements and his proposed rule. He said: What was accepted by the U.S. Senate and passed was the same bill thats been there since the beginning of the Welfare Reform regarding the work requirements of 20 hours per week. And what you also passed was not a prohibition, it was no change to the fact that in one section it says that the Secretary may waive that applicability and we plan to do that for the ABAWDs. We think the purpose is to help people move to independency We should help people when they are down but that should not be interminably. You all also provided for a 12 percent cushion for states that they could use for any purpose. But, we do not believe in states where unemployment is 4 percent that ABAWDs should be able to stay on food assistance interminably. Cleveland State Community College will be hosting a Reconnect Information Session on Tuesday, March 19 from 5-7 p.m. at the Athens Center and Tuesday, March 26 at the main campus.Starting in the fall of 2018, Tennessee Reconnect is a scholarship for adults to earn an associate degree or technical certificate, tuition-free. To be eligible for the Tennessee Reconnect scholarship, you must:Not already have an associate or bachelors degreeHave been a Tennessee resident for at least one yearBe determined as an independent student on the FAFSADuring this session, attendees can learn more about the Tennessee Reconnect scholarship that covers eligible adults tuition to all programs at CSCC and other affordable educational opportunities, such as Pell grants and the colleges institutional scholarships, but the effort is more than just promoting the scholarship program, stated Natalia Williams, coordinator of Adult Student Services.It includes addressing questions adult learners may have, from receiving credit for work experience to the uncertainty of returning to a school environment.According to Ms. Williams, other efforts will include applying for admissions, sharing services available to military veterans, and CSCCs transcript analyst will be on hand to answer students questions about transfer credit if they have coursework from another college/university or how to go about requesting their high school transcripts."Cleveland State has recently added many new and convenient scheduling options that are specifically designed for adult students, such as weekend and evening classes, as well as block scheduling," officials said.In addition, dates for information sessions have been set for April at all sites. On Tuesday, April 9 from 4-6 p.m., there will be one at the Monroe County Center from 4-6 p.m. and on Tuesday, April 16 from 5-7 p.m. at the Athens Center, and on Tuesday, April 30 from 5-7 p.m. on the main campus in Cleveland.For more information on the Reconnect Information Sessions, visit the website at mycs.cc/reconnect or contact Ms. Williams at 423-478-6217. You can also email reconnect@clevelandstatecc.edu. For more information on Tennessee Reconnect in general, visit www.tnreconnect.gov. To apply for the Tennessee Reconnect, go to mycs.cc/tnreconnectapp for the Tennessee Reconnect scholarship. The Hamilton County Republican Womens Club is very proud to have three members who are now serving in the Tennessee State Legislature. For years, women in Hamilton County have played a significant role in supporting and assisting the Republican Party. They have worked tirelessly at the grassroots level to promote the values and message of the party and have truly been integral in the local success of the Republican delegation. Today, women have ascended into a leadership position within the party, and this unprecedented representation has cemented women's importance into the present and future success of the Republican Party in Hamilton County. These three women, Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, Rep. Esther Helton, and Rep. Robin Smith bring their knowledge and passion to Nashville and work each day to represent their districts and their constituents in the best possible way. Each of these women use their talents and backgrounds to make positive and lasting impacts on the state's future. Rep. Patsy Hazlewood (R -Signal Mountain) is currently serving her third term in the Tennessee State House. She was first elected in 2014, running as a strong fiscal conservative with a lengthy business and community service background. Rep. Hazlewood retired from BellSouth/AT&T in 2008 as vice president for Government Affairs. She has been very involved in and chaired a number of business and not-for-profit organizations including the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, the Community Foundation, a United Way campaign, Better Business Bureau, and Junior Achievement. She was the first woman elected as president of the Chattanooga Downtown Rotary Club. In addition to her telecommunications business experience, Rep. Hazlewood was a founding director of the start-up CapitalMark Bank and Trust which subsequently was purchased by Pinnacle Financial Partners. And, after retiring from BellSouth, she served as Governor Haslam's director of Economic Development for Southeast Tennessee until choosing to successfully run for election from District 27 to the State House in 2014. Rep. Hazlewood was the first female GOP member elected as part of the Hamilton County state delegation. Because of her business and financial experience, she was assigned to the Finance Ways and Means Committee by then-Speaker Beth Harwell as a freshman -- an unusual occurrence. She also served on the Business and Utilities Committee and the House Ethics Committee during her first two terms. In her second term, Speaker Harwell assigned her to the Finance sub-committee as well. For the current legislative session, the 111th General Assembly, Speaker Glen Casada named her vice-chair of the Finance Committee which will oversee completion and passage of Tennessee's approximately $38 billion budget. She also continues to serve on the Finance sub-committee, which hears all bills that have a financial impact on the state budget. In addition, Rep. Hazlewood is a member of the Joint Council for Pensions and Insurance, the Banking and Investment sub-committee, the Commerce full committee, and the Information Systems Council. As a now veteran lawmaker, Rep. Hazlewood continues to focus on the financial health of the state, with a particular interest in job growth, workforce readiness, and ensuring that Tennessee provides a favorable climate for business. Rep. Hazlewood commented, "To paraphrase former Governor Bill Haslam and others, government can't be the source of jobs for Tennesseans, but it should make sure that it is as simple as possible for the private sector to expand existing businesses and to attract new businesses to our state. Tennessee has been incredibly successful at doing that over the past 8 years. I'm committed to making sure that we continue to be an attractive option for new capital investment that provides family wage jobs for our citizens and that Tennesseans are prepared with the skills necessary to fill those employment opportunities." Rep. Esther Helton (R-East Ridge) is currently in her first term as a legislator. Representing District 30, Rep. Helton is passionate about health care and local government. These passions are born out of her direct experiences. Rep. Helton has been a nurse for 37 years, encountering patients in all sorts of situations. She has seen, firsthand, the ways that health care impacts people - both positively and negatively. As a result, she is energized and excited to work to help Tennesseans from all walks of life experience a health care system that works for their benefit and helps them to have the highest possible quality of life. Similarly, because of her experience as East Ridge's vice mayor, Rep. Helton knows the impact that government can have on its citizens. She is adamant that the government do its best to empower and propel its citizens towards success. Currently, Rep. Helton serves as the vice chair of the House Health Committee and is a member of three committees: the Facilities, Licensure, and Regulation Subcommittee, Local Committee, and the Property and Planning Subcommittee. Two pieces of legislation that she is currently carrying are HB 681 and HB 682. These two bills revolve around health care and public education. HB 681 deals with the Volunteer Public Education Trust Fund of 1985. This fund was created to allow citizens and others to make personal contributions to public education. The interest generated by the fund is provided to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in the form of grants. Unfortunately, the fund has not been well-utilized and the balance has not grown significantly. Rep. Helton hopes to modernize the statute in order to meet current Treasury Department investment strategies and, hopefully, renew interest in and generate additional revenue for use by the LEAs. HB 682, known as the Awake Legislation, is designed to ensure that facilities where emergency care is provided adopt protocols that require training of personnel in the detection and treatment of domestic violence and sexual assault victims. It is also designed to provide training of personnel to detect and identify the victims of human trafficking offenses. The hope is to use routine screenings to identify these victims, document their related injuries and illnesses in the medical record, and refer them to available local resources while ensuring provider training to identify these victims. These guidelines are aimed primarily at facilities that employ or contract with, either directly or indirectly, over twenty-five licensed health care providers who provide emergency care. The bill is not designed to impose liability for a provider' or facility's failure to detect victims of these types of crimes. Rep. Helton says she is "proud to be one of the three female legislators from Hamilton County. I feel very fortunate to serve with a high caliber of women like Patsy and Robin." She looks forward to working to improve the opportunities available to all Tennesseans and to helping them increase their overall quality of life. State Rep. Robin Smith (R-Hixson) has a lifetime record of advocating for conservative values. While serving as chair of the Hamilton County Republican Party from 1998-2002, her leadership and efforts helped local Republicans make strong gains at the ballot box, including the only Republican to unseat an incumbent Democrat State Representative in Tennessee in 2002. After being unanimously elected state chair of the Republican Party on Aug. 4, 2007, she helped lead the Tennessee Republican Party to a stunning victory at the polls on Nov. 4, 2008 - sweeping 14 non-incumbent races statewide and giving Republicans the majority of seats in the Legislature for the first time in 140 years. Rep. Smith currently serves in the State House representing District 26, which includes a portion of Hamilton County. Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada (R-Thompson's Station) recently appointed Rep. Smith to be chairman of the newly created House Life & Health Insurance Subcommittee during the 111th General Assembly, becoming the first freshman lawmaker to lead a legislative committee in the Tennessee House of Representatives. The House Life & Health Insurance Subcommittee is responsible for all laws pertaining to life and health insurance. As a former nurse, Rep. Smith will bring a unique perspective as she prepares to chair this important committee. Rep. Smith said, "I have already engaged officials on a state and federal level on a series of healthcare reforms that will help restructure Tennessee healthcare and make it a more consumer-driven, patient-focused market that delivers quality healthcare at reasonable prices - which, in turn, increases access." In addition to chairing the House Life & Health Insurance Subcommittee, Rep. Smith will serve as a member of the House Health and House Insurance Committees, as well as the Facilities, Licensure, & Regulations Subcommittee. Hamilton County is truly fortunate to be represented by three women who seek to serve their fellow citizens. These three Republican women are in positions of tremendous importance to the state of Tennessee's future. These legislators show the women of Hamilton County and the entire state that Republican women can lead in substantial and powerful ways. While these three women seek to serve the state to the best of their ability, their current actions help to pave the way for generations of future Republican women to come. Patsy Henry Crye-Leike Real Estate Services announced that Mac Hibbett has earned the title of Crye-Leike Top Real Estate Producer for the Chattanooga region. To be named a top producer in one of Crye-Leikes nine-state regions, individual(s) must have earned the highest sales volume for that year. Mr. Hibbett was recently honored by CEO and Co-Founder Harold Crye at Crye-Leikes Chattanooga Kick-Off meeting. "We are very proud of the dedication and commitment seen by our top producers," said Mr. Crye. "2018 was a record-breaking year for the company and would not have been possible without their hard-work and drive." Mr. Hibbett, a licensed realtor in Tennessee and Georgia, is a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Tennessee Association of Realtors (TAR) and the Chattanooga Association of Realtors (CAR). He specializes in residential, commercial, investment properties and property management real estate services in the Downtown Chattanooga area. Managing broker of the Crye-Leike Downtown office, Vicki Trapp, noted that, Mac is such a hard worker. From the day he started at the Downtown office, he has been focused and dedicated. Mr. Hibbett said he is thankful to his clients that have helped him become successful. Im truly grateful for my clients that have entrusted me with their business over the last nine years, said Mr. Hibbett. I look forward to serving the Chattanooga area for many years to come. (Editors Note: Dr. Wayne Shearer, 94, is a retired optometrist and retired colonel from the U.S. Air Force Reserve now living in Hixson. In his early 90s, he decided to sit down and write from memory and a few records he still possesses his recollections of going through Army Air Corps pilot training at several bases in the United States during World War II. A lifelong writer, he wanted to pen them as he remembered them happening at the time. He also recreates now-lost letters as best as he recalls writing them and references newspaper articles he collected at the time and still possesses. This is the 11th in a series of regular excerpts from his as yet unpublished book, Under This Arch.) * * * * * Setting: Arriving at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Classification Center. The San Antonio Evening News on Monday, August 17, 1943, said: HEAVY LOSS OF ALLIED BOMBERS IN SCHWEINFURT-REGENSBURG RAID. The mission raid on Schweinfurt-Regensburg has resulted in heavy loss of planes and crews. Another headline from that days paper stated: SICILY NOW CONTROLLED. U.S. troops enter Messina with Allies in control of Sicily. Another headline said: POLISH JEWS RESIST. The Polish Jews in Bealustok begin resistance with scant weaponry and little ammo. August 18, 1943: We boarded the train on Saturday mid-morning on August 14 onto two Pullman cars attached to a regular train with two dining cars. That means no bologna sandwiches on this trip! Along the route we alternated with civilian passengers in eating by groups. We woke up Sunday morning and I saw the wide Mississippi River as we crossed over into St. Louis, Mo. At this time I had just become 19 years of age on the previous day. Happy birthday to me! Soon our escorting sergeants told us that we were going to the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Classification Center. Surprise!! The conductor told us that yesterday, and last night, we passed through Columbus, Ohio, as well as Indianapolis and parts of Illinois. For the rest of the long trip, we went through Oklahoma City, Fort Worth (Monday a.m.), Austin and San Antonio late Monday afternoon. We had an hours break at Austin to stretch and us Southern boys grabbed a cold Dr Pepper to drink. Upon arriving in San Antonio, we were loaded into khaki-colored buses and unloaded at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Classification Center (SAACC), which is located on the back part, or the hill part, of historical Kelly Army Air Field. Im glad to be trained at such a historical military aviation town as San Antonio with Brooks, Randolph and Fort Sam Houston, where flying took place on its drill field before World War I. Across the road from SAACC is the Preflight School for pilots. A non-commissioned officer marched us to our orderly room surrounded by permanent-type, two-story buildings with white asbestos siding. Im beginning to get used to filling out these military forms. Then we were assigned to a barracks. This is an open bay with double-decked bunks. A latrine for each floor is at the end of the building. This is better than the tar paper-covered barracks with an outside latrine at Keesler. SAACC is where it really begins. In this classification process of testing, we will be processed, washed out, or classified to continue training as a pilot, bombardier, or navigator. There will be many chances to be washed out caused by attitude, coordination, medical or mental reasons, etc., during these several days of testing. Latrine rumors are rampant! Letter home: August 22, 1943 Dear Mother and Dad, Note the new return address is not Nashville. From Cleveland to San Antonio was a long trip, but we had a dining car and Pullman sleeper car. This being Sunday, weve been here almost a week. The day we arrived, it was 112 degrees in the shade, with high humidity like South Georgia. It was cooler in Cleveland! Im not disappointed I didnt go to the Nashville Classification Center. Its good to be at the Classification Center. We understand that it will be several weeks until our group gets the tough several days of mental and physical exams. Prospective Aviation Cadets have arrived from other College Training Detachments. Give pretty little sister Norma a hug and write soon. Your loving son, Wayne P.S. Thanks for the birthday card received just before leaving Cleveland! August 28, 1943: Weve been here two weeks almost, and today had our regular Saturday inspection. We each have a footlocker and small closet to hang uniforms and place extra shoes. The barracks interior is unfinished. The pine wood floor has to be thoroughly scrubbed and mopped for the inspection. Jack remarked, We could use that wore-out floor buffer Sgt. Gruff sold us in Basic. Our sergeants call it our weekly G.I. Party. G.I. means Government Issue. As someone who just turned 19 years old, this is high cotton for me. Each floor of the barracks is a flight. Most of us had not given any thought to military unit organizations other than flight and squadron. Something new to be learned is that the other Army Corps has units, just as our infantry ROTC at North Georgia College listed squads, platoons, companies, battalions, regiments and divisions. In the Army Air Corps, we have elements, flights, squadrons, groups and wings to which we are assigned. Just like at C.T.D. and Basic Training, we march as a flight everywhere we go, be it meals, physical training, testing, etc. We line up from the tallest in the front row to the shorter fellows in the back rows. At 5-foot, 10-inches tall, Im always in the middle of the flight. We do everything as a flight. Were getting to know each other well. We Southerners are in one end of the barracks with our country music radio stations and our Yankee friends at the other end. The San Antonio Evening News in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, August 30, 1943, said: NAZIS DROWN SCORES OF DANES. Big fires blazed fiercely today among the scuttled hulks of Denmarks naval vessels in Copenhagen harbor. Offshore Nazi patrol boats and planes shot at Danes fleeing a new German military dictatorship clamped upon the rebellious kingdom. Another headline said: ORTE, 40 MILES FROM ROME DEALT HEAVY BLOW FROM AIR. Flying Fortresses (B-17s) struck at Orte railway center north of Rome for the first time while medium bombers (B-26s) delivered other blows to vital rail and communications system targets. Letter home: August 31, 1943 Dear Mother and Dad, I hope you are well. I know its still hot in Cordele, as it is here. According to the newspaper and radio news, our Army Air Corps and Army ground troops are taking the battle more and more to our enemies. As I have mentioned before, Im continuing my newspaper front pages collection as Ive done since high school days. You should have received my latest collection in a box from Cleveland about the time you got the trombone. Weve been told by one of our sergeants that well be starting our testing tomorrow (Wednesday). Pray for me to do well and get classified as a pilot trainee. As we were in the physical training area of S.A.A.C.C. two training planes flew over that had foreign insignias on the wings. Someone said they were Mexican pilots training at Kelly. We frequently see American planes overhead from Kellys runways. Now in a matter of weeks Ive seen Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and AAF planes over Lake Erie and yesterday saw Mexican and American planes in the sky. Keep writing! Your loving son, Wayne September 2, 1943: Instead of college girls waiting on us, we have men. The chow is good and placed on the table. We eat out of plates. We have lots of good fruit. If we desire more food, the waiters will get it for us, but we have to eat everything on our plate. I understand that after were classified while waiting to go across the street to Pre-Flight School, our various squadron flights will, occasionally, do some work in the kitchen of the mess hall. Our testing started yesterday (Wednesday). It was pointed out to one of us by one of the lieutenants in charge of the testing that you cant fit a square peg into a round hole. The square pegs need to be eliminated quickly to save Uncle Sams time and money. One of the first forms to be filled out asked us to rank our selection preference for training from 1 to 10. I ranked 10 for pilot, 6 for navigator, and 7 for bombardier on my preference sheet. Some of the fellows put 10 on all three selections, but I honestly listed how I felt about it. This classification battery of tests was developed several years ago by psychologists. The lieutenant said that our test scores were graded by the Stanine (Standard Nine) grading system using a scale from one (the lowest) to nine (the highest). We spent all day with pencil and paper in small, one-person cubicles with plywood siding so no one could cheat by looking at someones paper. We also had a desk-like table to write on and a chair. The large room contained 50 or so of these open cubicles. Today, using the writing instruments, we were tested on general knowledge, map and photograph reading, and speed and accuracy of perception. We also had time for a lunch break, with the familiar Hut! Two! Three! Four! and off we marched to the mess hall. According to the conversations, we had all failed. All tests were timed for 1 hour each, and no one was able to finish the tests. Our sergeant must be having a bad day, because as he marched us back to the testing center, he kept after us constantly, saying, Shut up in the ranks. Ill do all the talking that is necessary. That didnt help our mood for the afternoon testing. During the afternoon session, we were tested on principles of mechanics, ability to understand technical information, and graph and chart reading. We marched in precise formation to the barracks, cleaned up and then marched to the mess hall. Again, the conversation was about the tests and inability to finish. One friend from Atlanta who had gone to a technical high school said his technical training helped him on the afternoon tests. Several questions on the principles of mechanics got me. They included questions about large industrial gears and screws in various large devices that interconnected 3 or 4 other large gears. We had to tell what their function was and would the final shaft be turning clockwise or counterclockwise, etc. I guessed at some and he said I got it right. It was hard for me regarding the mechanics of shafts in large machinery. Ive never been around anything like that. Maybe Ill survive these tests. I no sooner made good headway on the questions when the time was up, the papers were collected and a new test placed in front of me. September 3, 1943: Today is Friday and weve spent a busy week and yesterday got the major mental exams behind us. We exhibited our coordination today on various psychomotor tests. We were told before testing started this morning in an answer to a question about grading, and most of us are afraid to ask questions, that the test grades are listed as Stanine (Standard Nine) scores, as wed already been told. The psychomotor tests measured finger dexterity, motor coordination, divided attention, ability to react quickly with accuracy to constantly changing stimuli and steadiness under pressure. All of this while the non-commissioned officer kept yelling out stuff like, Youre about out of time, etc, to try to break our concentration. The last thing we had was a 10-15 minute very personal interview by a psychiatrist. He asked me did I like most people, did I like myself, did I like girls, etc. Some had a longer interview. What a week weve had! Next week well take the dreaded 64 physical exams. The Sunday San Antonio Light in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, September 5, 1943, said: ALLIES ENLARGE ITALIAN BRIDGEHEAD. INVASION AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomerys British 8th Army was reported Saturday night to have extended its Axis Europe bridgehead in Southern Italy from 25 to 35 miles in width. Other headlines from that paper were: MORE BOMBS FOLLOW 1,000-TON RAID. Swarms of Allied bombers and fighters pounded Western Europe incessantly today in the concentrated blow to the battle of Berlin. And LOCAL CAPTAIN KILLED IN FORT WORTH AIR CRASH. Letter home: Sept. 5, 1943 Dear Mother and Dad, This has been a busy week. We, finally, have started testing and were tested mentally on Thursday and had psychomotor testing on Friday, which tested depth perception and various aptitudes. Next week sometime I understand there will be an all-day flight physical called a 6-4. They will probably notice the slight scar on my right eye caused years ago when I fell into some thorny roses. I dont intend to say anything about my right leg having been broken because its OK. It seems like your son is doing about like the others. The food is still good, especially our lunch. Tonight well have the usual Sunday night cold cuts. Tell Norma hello and keep me in your prayers. Your loving son, Wayne * * * * * To see the previous entry in this series, read here. https://www.chattanoogan.com/ 2019/2/14/384803/Wayne- Shearers-World-War-II-Memoir. aspx * * * * * Dr. Shearer can be contacted at docshearer@epbfi.com. Governor Bill Lee will give his first State of the State address on Monday, March 4, 2019. The speech is highly anticipated, as it will signal to the state the administrations priorities for the immediate future. It is where campaign promises, either become realities or go to die. He will undoubtedly address issues across the board, from roads to mental health to criminal justice, and all things in between. My interest will be squarely on public education. What do I expect the Governor to say about education? His administration will focus on getting students ready for work. He will work to strengthen the public education system. He will look for innovative and student-centered strategies for public education. His administration will focus on getting students ready for work. He will work to strengthen the public education system. He will look for innovative and student-centered strategies for public education.How will he do that? Here is what I suggest he might say on Monday night:He will stress the need to build better connections between labor and education. This will mean facilitating improved linkage between school districts, community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and local industry. Meaning the state must assess our progress towards the Drive to 55 Goal. Which may include outreach to middle school students about their goals and aspirations. This is likely why one of the first assignments given to the new Education Commissioner, Penny Schwinn, has been to meet with students. Likewise, we will want secondary students to start thinking about their career. Governor Lee will probably push toward greater access to high-quality dual enrollment and dual credit opportunities in technical fields across our state. Work-based learning may be referenced. Governor Lee sees this as an opportunity to help students develop the practical abilities that help them perform in project-based environments, learn to work with others, and grow the discipline needed for success in a competitive workplace. This will require new partnerships between industry and our schools and may facilitate a more concrete connection between labor and education, which is a direction that the federal government has taken the past few years. The state will also need to expand and improve offerings in STEM.Governor Lee will likely continue to highlight the work of his predecessors, namely Governor Bredesen and Governor Haslam, in looking at ways to strengthen the foundations of our public education system. It is uncertain if Pre-K will be included. I would argue that he will look at some of the efforts underway and consult with State Representative Bill Dunn on this matter. All success in public education hinges on quality instruction, so it begins with our educators. We all agree that every student deserves highly effective teachers and administrators. So, it would be no surprise to hear the Governor talk about his plan to better develop a pipeline to secure educators here in Tennessee. Compensation is the key to recruitment and retention. Our teacher compensation model needs to be competitive nationally. I expect the Governor to send a message to educators that he recognizes and appreciates their efforts, and he will work to see they are paid for their efforts. I also expect that the Governor will stress the need to build upon Governor Haslams efforts in literacy. We know that school safety will also be a priority, as well as the need for additional school counselors. It is important that focus in counseling goes beyond mere college and career, but also into helping students with mental health issuesespecially children who have experienced physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect. Governor Lee must address the testing issue. Too many policymakers and stakeholders have been waiting on a message from the governor about how he plans to improve our assessment system, to ensure that our metrics are empowering and informing, not inhibiting quality instruction, while providing accurate feedback for educators, parents, and students.On the innovation front, the question is, will he or wont he bring up parental choice, specifically regarding school vouchers and/or education savings accounts? The administration has signaled more of a wait and see approach thus far. If he plans to bring up school choice, it is more likely to be done in his first term. There has been some indication that the votes are simply not there for a proposal in the Tennessee General Assembly. The Governor is more likely to discuss changes he envisions in creating a modern high school. He is correct that for the last 50 years the way high school has educated students has largely remained unchanged. He may suggest that it is time to embrace new, flexible school models in our high schools. This means he must also discuss supporting locally-driven flexibility and innovation. On the campaign trail, he argued for the need to break down the barriers that have held our teachers, school leaders, and school districts back from creative solutions to the unique challenges of their communities. I would not be surprised to see something like innovation grants from the state for our districts. The question is whether he is willing to make some adjustments to testing, like a pilot project that allows some districts to use the ACT, ACT Aspire, or SAT Suites as a means of assessment in high performing districts. Lee understands when we empower school leaders to bring new solutions to the table and hold them accountable for results, we all win. By piloting innovative approaches that encourage our schools and their communities to work together and design solutions without bureaucratic hurdles, he could send a huge message across the state. Hopefully, Governor Lee will grab the bull by the horns on school finance and discuss the possibilities of a school funding formula to reflect changing 21st century needs. Because of our modern educational mission, priorities, and strategies, businessman Governor Lee understands better than most policymakers the required formula that will support teachers, fund facilities, and facilitate innovation and technology, while looking to better connect K-12 education with workforce needs.I expect the speech of a lifetime from Governor Lee on Monday night. The State of the State is his one opportunity to lay out for all Tennesseans why we are the best state in the nation for education and in turn, the best place to raise a family. Tennessee continues to be a state that is moving forward.JC BowmanExecutive Director When her son suffered a tragedy that left him deaf, Cleveland State Community College student Amanda Forbes chose to step up and create a platform that will hopefully change the lives of all people who are hearing impaired in Tennessee. She recently attended Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL) and presented a bill that addressed the issue of hearing disabilities and how to better support those disabled in drive-thrus. She had no idea the impact the TISL experience would have on her life.When she returned from TISL, she received an email from Hunter McCloud, Speaker of the House Pro Tempore. McCloud informed her that the Executive Council found this bill to be an important piece of legislation, and he wanted to see it advance at the state level.He encouraged her to pursue this further by speaking with representatives to see if any of them would like to back the bill.Forbes and fellow CSCC senator Cassiopeia Blackburn attended Tennessees Disability Day on the Hill in Nashville. It was at this time that they met Representative Mark Hall (24th District, Cleveland). Blackburn showed him the bill they wrote at TISL, and he told them he wished he had seen the bill prior to the deadline to introduce new bills because this was one he would have definitely been interested in pursuing.Hall stated, I want to see you before December, and we are going to write this, and Im going to put this in general sessions next year, but only on one conditionthat I get to call it the John Blackwell Bill. (in honor of Forbes seven year-old son)Forbes said, I tried so hard not to cry, but this was just so awesome because this bill was my child on paper. This means the world to me. He gave me something that I have been fighting on my own for years. The fact that he looked at me and said that hes impressedI dont have a large enough vocabulary to describe how that made me feel.Forbes aspires to use her education to advocate for the hearing impaired. She will graduate from Cleveland State in May and plans to transfer to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and major in communications and minor in political science.I dont think John understands all of this just yet, but he knows that I will do whatever I can to make his life just a little bit easier, stated Forbes. I just want him to have the same equal opportunities as everyone else. One day, I hope he will look back and say, my mom did this because she loves me. Tennessees 2019-20 fishing regulations went into effect March 1 and anglers are encouraged to obtain the new Tennessee Fishing Guide now available at locations throughout the state, on the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency website (www.tnwildlife.org) and on the TWRA On the App. Hard copies of the guide are available wherever hunting and fishing licenses are sold and at the TWRAs four regional offices located in Jackson (Region I), Nashville (Region II), Crossville (Region III), and Morristown (Region IV). This years statewide and specific region regulation changes to are featured on page 4 of the guide. Several of the new fishing regulations established by the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission last fall are geared toward the agencys effort to battle the invasive Asian carp. In TWRA Region I and II, skipjack herring, gizzard shad, and threadfin shad will not be able to be transported alive from the Mississippi River and Barkley, Kentucky, and Pickwick reservoirs and any tributaries or oxbows of these waters. The restrictions do not apply to the Duck River above Normandy Dam. These bait species are similar in appearance to small Asian carp. This change is aimed to reduce the risk of accidentally introducing Asian carp into new waterways. Change to seasons on the Tellico River, Citico Creek, and Green Cove Pond will allow optimal stocking and fishing conditions during the permit season. Big Lost Creek, Goforth Creek, Spring Creek, and Greasy Creek and their tributaries in Polk County to have been changed to follow statewide regulations. This adds fishing opportunity to these creeks which are currently closed on Friday. The 2018-19 Tennessee hunting and fishing licenses expired Feb. 28. The 2019-20 licenses are available at licenses agents, regional offices, and available anytime at www.GoOutdoorsTennessee.com, on the TWRA On the Go App. The National Recreation and Park Association, in partnership with the City of Chattanooga, will host a two-day training event, March 5-6 for a group of 10-Minute Walk campaign cities awarded funding this year. The event will include a reception where Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke will address campaign participants during a reception at The Hunter Museum of American Art. In 2018, the City of Chattanooga received a campaign grant from NRPA, along with The Trust for Public Land and the Urban Land Institute, to support city planning and policy efforts that help increase access to high-quality, close-to-home parks and public green space. In Chattanooga, we want to connect people to open spaces in and around their communities, which is why we are pleased to work with the National Recreation and Park Association on their 10-Minute Walk campaign, Mayor Berke said. Were honored they wanted to host their campaign training here in the Scenic City and we look forward to working with and learning from other amazing cities. Campaign participants from cities such as Denver, Co., Los Angeles, Ca. and Memphis will discuss methods to create more equitable park systems through planning, policies and funding solutions. In addition, participants will engage in hands-on workshops at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and tour Chattanoogas parks to understand how to honor the history of the land and acquire new park spaces to increase access to greenspace for all. Thank you to the City of Chattanooga and Mayor Andy Berke for hosting this training event with us, said Rebecca Wickline, NRPA senior vice president of development. This important work is key to the success of the campaign and we are excited to host our other campaign cities in a place that proudly supports the 10-Minute Walk vision. Danielle Staub is engaged, and her husband-to-be is a royal who owns two castles in the south of France. Staubs fiance Oliver Maier says hes the Duke of Provence. That means that when he and Staub wed, shell become a duchess. How did Staub and Maier meet? Danielle Staub | Bruce Glikas/Getty Images The 56-year-old Staub and Maier have been an item since October, People reports. The couple met through a mutual friend who Maier was dating. But they didnt hit it off immediately, Staub told the magazine. I quite frankly couldnt stand him when I first met him, she said, adding that she initially thought he was arrogant and entitled. But the recently single housewife she just finalized her divorce from Marty Caffrey came around, especially after Maier pursued her. They plan to marry very soon Maier and Staub had only been dating for a few months when news of their engagement broke. The couple decided to marry during a recent vacation at the Cheval Blanc maison in St. Barths. This is the 21st engagement for Staub, who announced her relationship via Instagram, where she shared a photo of herself and Maier kissing in front of a rainbow. The couple isnt going to waste much time planning a wedding. Staub told People they plan to pick up her ring from Van Cleef & Arpels in New York when they return from their Caribbean getaway. Then, theyll get married by a justice of the peace on Monday, March 4. Talk about a whirlwind romance. Is Maier really a duke? Maier, who is German and French, is a managing director at Speyside Equity, a private equity firm in New York City. Previously, he was the CEO at United Initiators in Munich, according to his LinkedIn profile, and a senior vice president at Evonik Industries AG. He has a law degree from Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich. Maier, who was previously married and has a 12-year-old daughter, also owns 15 vineyards in France, as well as two castles. He told People that he is the Duke of Provence. But is Maier really a duke? The French monarchy was abolished in 1792 , when King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette were removed from the throne. (They were ultimately executed.) While the monarchy was restored in the 19th century, the last king of France, Louis-Philippe, abdicated in 1848. Henri dOrleans, the Orleanist claimant to the French throne, in 2002. He died in 2019 at age 85. | Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images While there are still some descendants of the French kings making claims to the defunct throne, theyre not officially recognized. Some of these people hold courtesy titles, but theyre not royals in the same way that Prince Charles or Prince William are in the U.K. As for the aristocrats the dukes, counts, and other members of the nobility who swirled around Versailles during the days of the Ancien Regime, they also lost their official status when the monarchy disappeared. But they didnt forget their heritage, and by some estimates, there are 4,000 French families that call themselves noble, the BBC reports. Theres even an organization that checks out claims of would-be nobles to determine if theyre legit. Its possible that Maier is from one of these families. Staubs upcoming marriage isnt going to transform her into American royalty on the same level as the Duchess of Sussex. But that doesnt seem to matter to her. She said she was unaware of Maiers title until recently, though she is looking forward to spending time in France. Most likely well be spending a lot of time in France. Well be going to castles and all that, and living in Paris for a certain amount of months out of the year, she told People. Its going to be far different than Jersey, thats for sure. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! The Jonas Brothers are back. Yes, if you live on planet earth, youre probably aware that the Jonas Brothers have rekindled their pop/rock bands spark and just released a brand new song called Suckers. But with the song release also came the music video release, which stars each of their three lovely women: Priyanka Chopra, Sophie Turner, and Danielle Jonas. But how long have the guys been with their respective women? Nick Jonas with wife Priyanka Chopra | George Pimentel/Getty Images The Jonas Brothers just released a new music video featuring their leading ladies Heads turned when people heard the Jonas Brothers would be releasing a new song titled Suckers. The long-anticipated song was released at midnight on March 1, and the video was released as well. And it featured Priyanka Chopra, Sophie Turner, and Danielle Jonas. Priyanka and Nick are married; Sophie and Joe are engaged; Danielle and Kevin are married. The song has lyrics such as, Im a sucker for you, and gives each of the women plenty of camera time. Nick Jonas married Priyanka Chopra in 2018 but she first caught his eye back in 2016 Nick and Priyanka had a whirlwind relationship. The two only began officially dating in May of last year, but by December, they were married. Priyanka first caught Nicks eye back in 2016, and he took action by sliding into her DMs on Twitter. She asked him to text her instead, and the two hit it off from there. But they didnt officially meet until an Oscars after-party in 2017. They then attended the 2017 Met Gala together, but it was a May 2018 Dodgers game that really sparked the dating rumors. The two were clearly falling in love, and they were married about six months later. Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner made their debut as a couple in 2016 and were engaged by 2017 Joe and Sophie sparked dating rumors back in October 2016, but it wasnt until they were spotted at a concert together a month later that people truly thought they were dating. Turner made things Instagram official back in January 2017 when she posted a sunny photo of Joe Jonas on a boat. They did their best to keep the relationship private, but the paparazzi were still trying their best to catch a glimpse of the couple. In October 2017, Turner announced her engagement to Jonas when she posted a photo of a ring on her hand to her Instagram feed. Kevin Jonas married Danielle Jonas at the height of Jo-Bros fame back in 2009 Kevin and Danielle are practically old news; theyve been married longer than most celebrity couples, and we couldnt be happier to see theyre still so in love. Kevin met Danielle while on a family vacation in the Bahamas back in 2007; Danielle, who is also from New Jersey, instantly fell for the guitarist. The two chose to lay low after the Jonas Brothers broke up in 2013, but it has worked for them; theyre still happily married and have two daughters together Valentina and Alena. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Social media has become a big part of the Duggar familys life. But up until yesterday, Joseph Duggar and his wife Kendra were not a part of the social media craze. Now, the two have officially made their Instagram debut, and their first photo is adorable. Joe and Kendra Duggar on their wedding day | instagram.com/p/Bgz34WNF0SE/ | Duggarfam via Instagram Joe and Kendra tied the knot back in 2017 Joe and Kendra have a nearly four-year gap between them, but it didnt stop the young couple from falling in love. The couple met about five years before they decided to enter into a courtship. According to Romper, the two ran in the same social circles at church, and at first, their relationship was very casual. After all, when they met, Kendra was only about 13. Once the two got older, Joe got permission from his parents to enter into a courtship with Kendra, and shortly after that, they were married. The two took an exotic honeymoon to Greece, and nine months later, they welcomed their first child a son, Garrett David Duggar. The Duggars typically join Instagram when they begin a courtship Joe and Kendra were a little late to the Instagram party. Members of the Duggar family typically join the social media app once they enter into a courtship. Its a way for family and friends to follow along with the lives of the Duggars as they enter into their next chapter. (Thats why when Jana Duggar finally got an Instagram, rumors immediately swirled that she was in a courtship; she wasnt.) However, Joe and Kendra were in no rush to get on social media. It took nearly a year and a half of marriage, plus a new baby, for the couple to finally create an account. Joe and Kendra kicked off their Instagram feed with an adorable photo of their son The happy couple introduced themselves to the Instagram world by posting an adorable photo of their son. We finally decided to get social media! They captioned the photo. Still trying to figure out how it works Looking forward to keeping yall updated on our little family. Only 15 hours after the couple joined, they already had 135,000 followers. The Duggars are wildly popular on Instagram; Jessa Seewald has a whopping two million followers, while her sister Jill has 1.6 million and Jinger has around one million. Fans warned the couple that Instagram can be a harsh place Although the couple seems overjoyed to finally be getting involved with Instagram, fans of the two were quick to comment on their first photo, warning them that Instagram can be a hostile environment. Please be careful, theres a lot of very mean people on here, one user wrote. Ignore the people who are hateful to or about you, said another user. Please be careful here. A lot of very mean, judgmental, and disrespectful people here, another warned. The couple seems excited to explore Instagram, but as with any celebrity couple, there will always be trolls. Hopefully Joe and Kendra can keep their heads up and ignore the haters. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Premiering in 2017, the Netflix Original The Confession Tapes takes a look at what happens when a confession is not a confession after all. For years advocacy groups have attempted to demystify the legal system and pinpoint issues that arise when detectives are fallible. False confessions, coercion, and railroading are all covered in the true crime docuseries first season, and now the team that started it all is back for another run of fresh cases and unbelievable, allegedly, false confessions. The second season of The Confession Tapes will take a look at the case of the kayak killer, a story so intense and winding that years after the incident many still wonder exactly what happened on a fateful spring day on the Hudson River. Who is the kayak killer? Angelika Graswald, then 35, was a seemingly normal and happy woman. Living her life in affluent Westchester County, NY, the Latvia-native was engaged to Vincent Viafore, then 46. Together the pair enjoyed kayaking and outdoor activities. In mid-April 2015 the couple set out on a kayaking trip in the late afternoon. Hudson River. (Photo by Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) They had planned a trip from Plum Point to Bannerman Island, a 6.5-acre island situated on the Hudson River. By the time they reached Bannerman Island, the previously warm weather had turned, and they decided to head back, according to ABC News. Viafore took on water as they traversed the 48-degree river, eventually falling into the water. Graswald made it back to Plum Point and called for help, but by the time rescue efforts were underway Viafore was nowhere to be found. Eventually, efforts had to be suspended due to bad weather. It was several weeks before Viafores kayak was located, then his body was found. What seemed like a tragic boating accident, however, turned into a deadly plot after Graswald was interrogated for 11-hours. She made bizarre statements, admitted to wanting her fiancee dead, and told detectives stories of abuse, but now she says none of it was true. Why Graswald is speaking out Graswald was convicted of negligence and served her time. Now out on parole, the 38-year-old blonde wants to clear her name. In a lengthy feature with Elle, Graswald insists that her confession was coerced and that the protracted interrogation process wore her down and forced her to say things she didnt mean. Hudson River Valley (Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images) Graswald is one of many who claims their confession was coerced, and Netflix is working hard to uncover what exactly went on. Whether Viafore fell into the water in a tragic accident or Graswald was somehow involved in his death will probably never be known. The Confession Tapes, however, is planning to look into the case, along with several others in its second season. The Confession Tapes Season 2 The Confession Tapes Season 1 premiered on Netflix in 2017 to rave reviews. Covering several high-profile cases, the documentary-style series aimed at uncovering the facts and figuring out exactly why some people have confessed falsely to police. The phenomenon of false confessions leaves viewers with more questions than answers, but that might be the entire goal of the series. Netflix has yet to announce the official release of The Confession Tapes Season 2, but Graswald case is expected to be heavily featured, according to News12. Season 1 followed six different cases, and viewers can expect a similar format for season 2. It is not yet known what other confessions will be featured. The first season is worth a binge watch. Prince William and Kate Middleton have their hands full with three royal children, Prince George (5), Princess Charlotte (3), and Prince Louis (10 months). But with everyones excited over Prince Harry and Meghan Markles pregnancy, have the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge caught baby fever? Yesterday, while on a royal tour in Northern Ireland, Kate Middleton toyed with the idea. Do Prince William and Kate Middleton want a fourth child? Prince William and Kate Middleton allegedly want four children. | Charles McQuillan/Getty Images During a walkabout in Ballymena, Kate Middleton caught up with a well-wisher, Alan Barr and his five-month-old son, James, reports People. Hes gorgeous. It makes me feel broody, the Duchess of Cambridge said at the sight of the baby. She then cooed at the infant and said, youre a very sweet little boy. Barr allegedly asked if her baby fever meant a possible baby number four, to which Kate laughed and replied, I think William would be a little worried. When he first became a dad, Prince William expressed how hard parenting one can be, so we can imagine how he might feel about four little ones to look after. Once the lack of sleep starts setting in, the stress levels go up, he explained. From a young age, youre taught to have a vision, have a plan, have a career and all of a sudden babies come along and you have to start thinking about a lot more. I think ladies are a lot more giving, a lot more generous, but guys, to make a success of whatever were going to do, we get into a rhythm. Its such a change, your whole life goes one way and suddenly youre told to stop in your tracks. Despite his concerns over lack of sleep and what Kate Middleton says, the future king might actually want four kids after all. Prince William reportedly wants to follow Queen Elizabeth IIs footsteps by having four children, one of Williams friends revealed. He would love to emulate his grandmother and have four children, and he would be very happy if it was another girl, they added. In addition, Closer Weekly noted that Kate also wants four children. Kates always said she wanted four children, a source told the publication. Are Prince William and Kate Middleton pregnant with baby no. 4? Since the birth of Prince Louis, royal family fans have wondered about a potential fourth child. And, some have even placed bets on the matter. Back in November 2018, the odds that Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis will have another sibling in 2019 were at 3/1 and the odds for further in the future were at 6/4, according to Bookies Coral. Our odds show that theres every chance that Kate and Wills might add to their growing family, and a fourth baby is certainly a possibility, noted Corals Harry Aitkenhead. Weve taken some bets over the last two weeks or so on it and theres a real buzz around the royal family at the moment with Meghan expecting. Will Prince William and Kate Middleton add a sixth member to their family of five? Only time will tell. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Frankie Jonas is the fourth Jonas brother, sometimes adorably referred to as the Bonus Jonas. Although he was not part of the well-known band that his older brothers formed, it certainly doesnt mean he was forgotten! Frankie walked on the red carpet numerous times and even made appearances on the familys Disney Channel television show. He was so loved by fans, that people often wonder why wasnt Frankie Jonas part of his brothers much-loved band, the Jonas Brothers? Frankie Jonas was too young when his brothers formed their band | Rob Kim/Getty Images He was just a little too young As it turns out, it wasnt that Frankie was unwanted or not good enough to be in the band. It was simply that he was a little bit too young, and didnt make the cut at the time. That doesnt mean his brothers excluded him or didnt connect with him. Frankie was very much a part of family activities, and Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas enjoyed spending time with him whenever they could. The youngest Jonas brother was often photographed with his three older siblings, as they joked around and doted on him as any loving brothers would do. When did the band stop making music? Much to the disappointment of fans everywhere, the Jonas Brothers finally decided to stop making music together in 2013. Although they still remain very close, they decided that as a band, it was time to go their separate ways. Although it was an emotional decision for everyone involved, the brothers feel that it was in their best interest to pursue individual endeavors and split up, and begin the next phase of their lives separately. What is Frankie Jonas up to now? As most fans are well aware, little Frankie Jonas did a great job at growing up. He has gone from being a cute, playful young boy to quite the mature, handsome young man in the blink of an eye. He did some amazing work on the familys show in the past, and he has been known to lend his voice to the world of animation. Frankie recently has been working alongside a young new artist named Alli Haber, co-writing and producing her music. What about the other brothers? The Jonas brothers have managed to stay in the spotlight, happily making the announcement they are officially back together. Celebrating their comeback with a new song and music video that celebrates their significant others, the brothers announcement left fans jumping for joy! Their new video features Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Danielle Jonas, and Sophie Turner. The video was filmed in England and features the three couples, all while capturing the love that they have for one another. Will Frankie Jonas be part of the band now that he is older? Unfortunately, it doesnt appear so. The Jonas Brothers are making a comeback with just the three original brothers, Nick, Joe, and Kevin. However, 18-year-old Frankie does seem to have an amazing talent, so it is no surprise he is focusing his efforts in other places. Going by the name Mephisto, Frankie plans to help other artists in addition to Alli Haber write and produce music. What else is Frankie involved in? Frankie Jonas definitely knows how to keep busy! He is currently receiving a college education at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Frankie has made appearances in some of his brothers videos and is also a doting uncle to the children of Kevin Jonas. It would seem as if the youngest Jonas is following in his older brothers footsteps in the world of music, as he is extremely busy with producing, and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon! As churches struggle to help Christians with mental illness, many flee 28 February, 2019 by Leonardo Blair , | As studies continue to show how ill-equipped many churches are in ministering to Christians who struggle with mental illness, some who were once among the faithful are now speaking out about how the spiritualizing of their conditions in church culture forced them to flee. In a recent discussion sparked by a rant in a subreddit of more than 40,000 anonymous former Christians, many shared stories about how they were forced to suffer as their evangelical churches and family members urged them to pray away conditions such as bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADD before they were finally able to get help. Some, like one critic identified as just reib0t in the discussion, never got the help they needed until they were adults. "I am 30 and was recently diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder," the former Christian began. The National Alliance on Mental Illness describes schizoaffective disorder as a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression. It is often treated with a combination of medications and psychotherapy. "As a TEENAGER I said to the Christian I looked up to, 'Hey, I hear voices and see shadow people everywhere, also I want to kill myself.' And I was told it was just 'spiritual warfare' and Satan fighting for my soul. I was told to NOT seek therapy because therapists work for the devil to drive people away from the Lord," the ex-Christian wrote. "I believed it easily because of the nature of my illness. He downplayed and contorted my illness so badly that even after I stopped believing in God, it took me years to get into therapy and get treatment. My life spiraled into drug abuse to cope, lost job after lost job, and my 20s wasted in pain," the person wrote. The individual explained that since they decided to get professional help, their life has changed for the better. "I feel a lot better on medication, have better understanding, and am looking forward to my 30s being a lot better in general, but... I think back to my teenage years and wonder what my life could have been if I wasn't Christian and got on the right meds much sooner. F**k the evangelical Christian view on mental health," reib0t said. About one in four Americans are estimated to suffer from some kind of mental illness in any given year, NAMI says, and many, according to LifeWay Research, turn to the church for help. A 2014 study by the Nashville-based research organization, which was co-sponsored by the conservative organization Focus on the Family and the family of a man who endured schizophrenia, pointed to the lack of awareness and help available to Christians who turn to the church for help with mental illness. The study found some pastors were reluctant to help those who suffer from acute mental illness because it takes too much time and that most Protestant senior pastors rarely spoke to their congregation about mental illness. Asked to describe current church culture on mental illness, Tim Sanford, clinical director at Focus on the Family, said there has been some progress made in recent years but many churches continue to blame mental issues on sin. "Fortunately, there has been positive movement in recent years as the church is beginning to respond to mental health issues and recognize their legitimacy. While many churches acknowledge mental illness as legitimate and are actively helping their parishioners with such issues, sadly, the belief (and subsequent responses) that anxiety or depression is sin or is a 'lack of faith' on the individual's part is still too common in the body of Christ," Sanford told The Christian Post. "Blind adherence to a flawed ethic on mental illness can lead to unnecessary guilt, debilitating shame and fear. This, in turn, limits access to help and freedom the kind of freedom and compassion Christ modeled and died for (John 10:10). Focus on The Family encourages believers to take a measured, integrated approach to the subject of mental health; hold to what is biblically true and accurate and also hold to what is scientifically true and research proven." One former Christian in the subreddit group identified as CastIronMystic, called out Focus on the Family, however, for what they described as an insensitive encounter when they once tried accessing a Christian therapist. "I was told that I was sinning by having anxiety and intrusive thoughts. This caused me anxiety about anxiety and a spiral of feeling like I wasn't a true Christian because a true Christian wouldn't worry. Then there was the time I called Focus on the Family because they said they had a hotline for mental health. I got to their hotline and was matched with a cold rude and condescending mental health worker who tried to charge me $60 to match me with a Christian therapist in my area. Their hotline was a referral program that charged its patients a finder's fee," the individual wrote. Sanford apologized for the encounter and debunked the notion that "true Christians" don't worry. "I'm very sorry this person was treated in such an uncaring manner and their relationship with Jesus was put into question because of anxiety. The statement 'a true Christian wouldn't worry' is simply not true. I can only imagine the added stress and pain that statement caused this individual," Sanford said. He pointed out that Focus on the Family does not provide fee-based tele-mental health services nor does the organization function as a hotline service. "We have a highly experienced and caring staff of 15 licensed and/or pastoral counselors who return calls to people requesting a consult. We are not a hotline service nor do we provide tele-mental health counseling services for a fee; rather we provide a free, one-time consultation for the caller. Our primary task during this brief consult is to assess how we can best assist the caller," he explained. "We will provide answers to questions as we are able, direct them toward resources that may be helpful (be it online or printed resources), make suggestions of professional treatment facilities to consider (if that is what is requested) and provide referrals to licensed counselors in the caller's area for ongoing therapy as appropriate," he noted. As Christians with mental health illness struggle to find help from churches, research also suggests that the need for mental help is not just among the laity. Many pastors struggling with reconciling their mental illness with their faith have turned to suicide because they feel they have nowhere else to turn. Read more from "As churches struggle to help Christians with mental illness, many flee" on The Christian Post. The unknown can be frightening for anyone, no matter the stage or season. Anytime we step outside our comfort zone and try something new, we may hear that little voice of doubt inside that says, "Can I really do this?" How loud and clear that voice is depends on one's mindset. Police in California have a felony warrant out for the man who assaulted a student last week on the University of California-Berkeley campus. Last week, Hayden Williams was helping to set up a recruitment table for the conservative campus group, Turning Point USA, when an argument started between two other men. Williams began filming the argument with his phone. In another video taken by a bystander, one of the men is shown knocking over the recruitment table and punching Williams in the face. The attacker left before police arrived, according to CBN News. "College campuses have become increasingly unsafe for conservatives," Charlie Kirk, the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, told Fox News. "Our amazing Turning Point USA team was talking and then confronted by the hateful left which resulted in the assault and punching in the face just because of a difference of opinion. If the attacker was wearing a MAGA hat, this would be classified as a hate crime and all over every news channel." Williams told CBN News that he is not a member of the Turning Point group, but a Leadership Institute field representative. He says he is still recovering from the attack. He claims he was assaulted because he and other students had printed signs criticizing what he called the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax. "This time it was me. Tomorrow, it could be your kids, or grandkids," Williams said. "So, this is a real problem that we need to address as a country. Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trumps son, also voiced his concern about the attack. "Wonder if it would be the same if a conservative beat up a leftist on the Berkeley Campus?" he wrote on Twitter. "Conservatives call out Berkeley police for lack of arrest one week after campus assault on activist." Photo courtesy: Alex Jones/Unsplash NAIROBI, Kenya, March 1, 2019 (Morning Star News) Christians in a town in southern Ethiopia were stunned when local Muslims attacked 10 church buildings on Feb. 9, destroying one and burning the property inside all the structures, according to aid agencies. Chanting the jihadist slogan, Allahu akbar [God is greater], Muslims in Halaba Kulito targeted worship buildings belonging to eight denominations, reported Scotland-based aid agency Steadfast Global and Voice of the Martyrs-Canada. Kale Hiwot Galeto churchs building was razed. The incensed crowds comprising Muslim residents of all ages from across the town made their way to the churches chanting Allahu Akbar after being given false information that a mosque in the surrounding countryside had been fire-bombed, said a Steadfast Global representative who requested anonymity. The contents of all the churches were removed from the buildings and set on fire on the street. Except for some minor vandalism, Christians in the town have not suffered such attacks to this extent, he said. But Halaba Kulito, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), is a predominantly Muslim town with nearly all Christians there having moved from surrounding villages for work reasons, creating an underlying tension, he added. He learned from witnesses that an Islamic conference was held in Halaba Kulito about week before the trouble flared that included speakers suspected of holding extremist views, but he said he had no information on what was said at the conference. Witnesses indicated that the assailants were clearly instructed to target only property and not Christians, he said. One of the attacked churches, Meserete Kristos Church, has since been vandalized again, and area Christians have faced intimidation and threats, he added. While Kale Hiwot Galeto church building was destroyed in the Feb. 9 attack, aid workers believe the other nine church buildings were not set ablaze only because of the risk to neighboring Muslim-owned properties. Municipal police were present during almost every attack but took no action, the agencies reported. The attacks lasted about five hours, with state police arriving in town in the early afternoon and restoring order. A number of the assailants were said to be arrested and placed in custody, and the aid agencies believe they will be charged and tried. More than 9,900 worshippers are estimated to attend the 10 churches. A small number of Christians sustained minor injuries and returned home after receiving hospital treatment, including two that were more seriously injured, according to the aid agencies. Huge amounts of property were destroyed, including Bibles, songbooks, instruments, benches and chairs. Despite the destruction, all of the congregations managed to meet for worship the following Sunday, the agencies reported. At the same time, after the attack a significant number of Christians chose not to gather for worship out of fear, they learned. The local government has allocated a police guard to each of the attacked churches. Most of the churches are gathering contributions from their members to try to replace damaged items, but they will need help from the wider church, according to the aid agencies, which have distributed emergency funds and are studying ways for ministry partners to help restore and rebuild. 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: MSN One Idaho teenager who made $35,000 in one week, decided to tithe $7,000 to his church for the sole purpose of advancing the kingdom. According to CBN News, 18-year-old David Holston was visiting his mother in Seattle, Washington when the state was hit by a historic snowstorm of up to 10 inches. The Idaho teen who is no stranger to the snow decided that this would be a great opportunity to serve the community by offering his snow plowing services. CBN News reports that the teen put an add up on Craigs list and was flooded with calls from locals and businesses who were not equipped for the snow a rare sighting in Seattle. Typically, Holston charges $125 and hour, but because the demand was so high, he raised his price to $500+. The 18-year-old Idaho native told CBN that he would start his day at 2 a.m. and work 12 to 15 hours plowing driveways, parking lots and streets each day. By the end of the week, Holston had made $35,000 and he knew exactly how he wanted to spend it. In an interview with Fox News, Holston shared that he wanted to tithe 20 percent of his earnings to his church, buy lawn mowing equipment for a potential new business venture and save the rest for buying his first house. Holston also told the news outlet that it was only through Christ that he could have been so successful in his endeavor, noting that Luke 12:31 inspires his work ethic. Holston said, I credit all of my success to my savior Jesus Christ who died on a cross to forgive my sins and three days later rose from the dead. Photo courtesy: Pawel Franke/Unsplash Last September on BreakPoint, we told you about the constitutional challenge to a World War I memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland, known as the Peace Cross. The Cross was erected on private land in 1925 by the American Legion. It was to be a memorial to 49 men from that area who died in the Great War. Their names are listed on the plaque at the base of the monument. In 1961, the state assumed control of the land, and therefore responsibility for the memorials maintenance. For more than fifty years, no one protested the Crosss presence on public land or the state paying for its maintenance. But in 2014, the American Humanist Association challenged the constitutionality of the Peace Cross in federal court. They lost the initial case in Federal District Court, but they prevailed at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In October, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and this past Wednesday heard the oral arguments. There was a lot at stake. If the American Humanist Association prevails, the implications would reach far beyond this memorial in Maryland to any and all memorials on public land everywhere in the country. Any of them with anything resembling a cross or religious symbol of any kind would be fair game. The justices, or at least most of them, seemed aware of the stakes and a bit skeptical that after all this time the Peace Cross suddenly presented an immediate threat to our republic. Still, some of the justices comments were less than a ringing endorsement of the place of religion in the public square. Most notably Justice Elena Kagan, who as Solicitor General defended the presence of a cross in the Mojave National Monument, emphasized the historical context. At the time of its erection in 1925, she pointed out, crosses were common in war memorials and were not intended to convey a specific religious message. As she put it, All the words on the memorial are words about military valor and so forth. So why in a case like that can we not say essentially the religious content has been stripped of this monument? For Kagan, crosses were the preeminent symbol for how to memorialize the war dead at that time. In a somewhat ironic twist, it was the lawyer for the American Humanist Association who then insisted that a large Latin cross cant be stripped of its religious meaning. I dont think it needs special words to . . . announce that this is . . . a religious symbol, he said. We should be sincerely grateful that, as The New York Times and the Washington Post both agreed, a solid majority of the justices seem to be for allowing the Peace Cross to remain on this public land. If the case were to go the other way, we could be looking at a scenario raised by Justice Breyer: wholesale demolition of suspiciously-religious historical monuments across the country, possibly starting with Arlington Cemetery across the Potomac and its hundreds of thousands of crosses. But the argument, like the case itself, underscores the allergy to religion that permeates Establishment Clause jurisprudence, especially from the left. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, apparently the only kind of godliness thats acceptable these days is one that denies the power thereof. So religious symbols must be, as Justice Kagan put it, stripped of their religious content if its to pass constitutional muster. That would mean that the image of Moses found on the walls of the Supreme Court, must be nothing more than equivalent to the images of Augustus, Hammurabi, John Marshall, and Napoleon a grouping that would surprise many rabbis, not to mention Moses himself. So I pray that the New York Times and the Washington Post are correct in their reading of the justice. But we shouldnt break out into our best end-zone celebrations just yet. Even a victory in this case could still leave the public square a little more naked. 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: March 1, 2019 Photo courtesy: First Liberty Institute Words saved the world. William Stephenson was a World War I hero, businessman, inventor, and spymaster. Ian Fleming called him the real thing behind his James Bond character. A Man Called Intrepid tells Stephensons incredible story (Intrepid was his code name). The book reads more like a novel than the historical narrative it is. Here we learn that early in World War II, Stephenson created a secret network that eventually involved thirty thousand intelligence experts. They worked behind enemy lines in Europe to provide intelligence to President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. These operatives were able to feed false information to German authorities, convincing them that D-Day would be launched at Calais rather than Normandy. This kept Hitler from committing forces that could have defeated the Allied invasion. When the Germans began launching rockets into London, these intelligence spies fed the Nazis false data on where their rockets actually fell, saving thousands of lives. They helped the Allies free Niels Bohr from Nazi captivity, which kept the Germans from developing atomic weapons and helped America create the bombs that ended World War II. These secret heroes did not fire weapons or drive tanks. They risked (and many gave) their lives to communicate words that helped defeat Hitler and save the world. When Switzerland invaded Liechtenstein A Florida congressman made news with a tweet directed at Michael Cohen, which the congressman later took down and for which he apologized. The Florida bar has now opened an investigation into whether the congressman, a licensed attorney in the state, violated professional conduct rules with his tweet. Even wordless events require words to record and interpret them. You may not know that on this day in 2007, Switzerland invaded Liechtenstein. A detachment of 170 Swiss infantrymen got lost on a training mission and accidentally crossed their neighbors border. Liechtenstein is seventeen times smaller than Rhode Island. Its thirty-seven thousand residents were not aware that they had been invaded. Since they have no army, they chose not to retaliate. We know of this ironic event only because it was reported in words. We send 6,000 tweets a second We are the most verbal society in history. One study concluded that women speak 16,215 words per day, while men speak 15,669 words per day. But thats just the tip of the iceberg. Six thousand tweets are sent every second, which corresponds to five hundred million tweets a day. Every sixty seconds, 510,000 comments are posted on Facebook. Add the 1.7 billion websites on the internet and the information exchanged on social media sites such as WhatsApp (one billion users a month), WeChat (697 million users a month), Tumblr (555 million users a month), and Instagram (400 million users a month), and it becomes clear that we are exchanging more words than ever before in human history. This can be good news for the gospel, but bad news for our souls. Good news for the good news Mart Green is the Chief Strategy Officer for the Green Family Businesses, board chair of Hobby Lobby, and founder of Mardel Christian Supply. At a recent conference in Washington, DC, I heard him describe the IllumiNations project he is leading. Its goal is to translate Gods word into all six-thousand-plus languages in the world. Digital technology is making this dream a reality. Walt Wilson is a retired Marine, brilliant businessman, longtime personal friend of mine, and founder of Global Media Outreach. This online evangelism and discipleship ministry has documented more than two hundred million decisions for Christ since it began in 2004. Digital technology is enabling us to make disciples of all nations more effectively than ever before in Christian history (Matthew 28:19). The secret of the Reformation Amid the cacophony of words in our culture, it can be hard to hear Gods voice. But human words cannot change human hearts. Only Gods words have the power to convict of sin, save souls, and transform eternities. I simply taught, preached, and wrote Gods Word; otherwise I did nothing. Martin Luther Explaining the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther testified: I simply taught, preached, and wrote Gods Word; otherwise I did nothing. The declaration Thus says the Lord appears more than four hundred times in the Bible. Each time, a human listened for Gods word before speaking or writing his truth to the world. Now its our turn. Be still, and know that I am God. To speak Gods word, we must first listen for Gods word. When last in our frenzied, social-media-driven culture did you accept your Fathers invitation to be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)? When last did you listen for the low whisper of Gods Spirit (1 Kings 19:12)? Our Father speaks through his word as we study Scripture (Hebrews 4:12). He speaks through his worship as we pray and focus on him (cf. Acts 13:2). He speaks through his world as we look for the Creator in his creation (Psalm 19:14). He is there and he is not silent. Francis Schaeffer As Francis Schaeffer noted, He is there and he is not silent. In fact, your Lord wants to speak to you today. When will you make time to listen? Note: In todays chaotic culture, we are increasingly faced with faith-related questions that can be challenging and impossible to answer. In this weeks video from our YouTube series, Biblical Insight to Tough Questions, we tackle the question: Why do we believe the Bible is actually the word of God? Thanks for turning to Denison Forum to discern news differently and build a movement of culture-changing Christians. For more from the Denison Forum, please visit www.denisonforum.org. The Daily Article Podcast is Here! Click to Listen Publication Date: March 1, 2019 Photo Courtesy: Pixabay A Louisville pastor is grateful to be alive after dying during a life-saving double lung transplant. Mike Olsen was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2014. Though he had never smoked, his lungs looked black and molded, which the doctors said was scar tissue from the damage caused by his fatal disease. He underwent surgery in January to replace his damaged lungs, but then circumstances took a tragic turn. Olsen, the pastor of Iona Community Church, bled out after the doctors removed the last clamp. His wife updated friends and family members on Facebook, saying that His body was not being properly oxygenated by his new lungs. The doctors placed him in a medically induced coma. After he came out of the coma and the doctors removed the ventilator, he told a friend that he, Got to meet my donor and tell him thank you. Later, in a video posted to his Facebook page, he told the story of what he described as a trip to heaven. He said, I saw these swirling lights and I heard this pattern of voices or something. And I just now realized what they were saying. They were saying, Mikes coming home. Mikes coming home. And then I heard Jesus say, Its not his time. Hes just here for a visit. Olsen concluded with tears in his eyes, Now its coming back to me like a story unfolding and Im realizing I had a genuine supernatural experience with God. And it really helps me realize the love of God for each one of us. Prior to his surgery, Olsen advocated for IPF funding and worked to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. In the Spring of 2018, he met with President Donald Trump at the White House and told him, Remember me when you go make a vote when you sign something. Im a real person and this is a disease that is devastating many people. Olsen is currently adjusting to his new reality but is thankful for every breath he takes with his new lungs. Even a few steps leave him winded and he must wear a mask to avoid illness. He is currently staying in an Airbnb until contractors can fix an issue with leaky gutters and mold at his home. Olsen said he will continue working on behalf of those suffering from the same debilitating disease as him while he still has breath. Just because Im on the other side, and Im transplanted, Ill never forget. Ill just keep doing what I can to bring awareness until IPF is something everyone knows about. We need to find a cure. Scott Slayton writes at One Degree to Another. Photo courtesy: Rajiv Bajaj/Unsplash Video courtesy: Mike Olsen On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump referred to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as his friend. At extreme odds a year ago, the two leaders met this week in Hanoi, Vietnam, with a new agreement possibly on the table. This time, Trump made friendly overtures to Kimeven going so far as to say he believed the leader had not been directly responsible for the death of an American student. But when the summit ended on Thursday, Trump walked away after the US refused to agree to North Koreas demand that all sanctions be lifted off the country. For years, North Korea has been one of the worlds worst countries to be a Christian; Open Doors has ranked it No. 1 for nearly the past two decades. Dozens of volunteers and employees from the many Christian nonprofits that serve North Koreansbelievers and unbelievers alikehave had increasing difficulty serving the beleaguered population. CT asked six experts from the Lausanne Movements North Korea ... 1 An independent investigation has concluded that the sexual harassment allegations that led to Bill Hybelss resignation last year are credible, based on a six-month investigation into the claims against the senior pastor and into Willow Creek Community Church (WCCC) and the Willow Creek Association (WCA). The newly released 17-page report places the blame for such incidents on Hybels himself and not the broader culture at either organization, though it concludes that both the church and the association could benefit from more thorough written policies to address inappropriate behavior. After fielding calls, conducting interviews, and reviewing forensics IT findings, the four-person Independent Advisory Group (IAG) investigating Hybels and Willow Creek found that the collective testimony of allegations of sexually inappropriate words and actions by the now-retired megachurch pastor proved reliable and would have been sufficient reason for church discipline had Hybels not left the church. A series of allegations against the 67-year-old evangelical visionary became public in a report by the Chicago Tribune last March, where a group of former Willow Creek pastors and staff accused Hybels of a pattern of sexual harassment and misconduct, including suggestive remarks, invitations to his hotel rooms, prolonged hugs, and an unwanted kiss. Hybels and Willow Creek initially rebutted the claims; eventually, as more women came forward, Hybels resigned, the church launched an investigation, and his successors and church elders stepped down last year as well. The report into Hybels and the culture at WCCC and WCA was released this week through the church, six months after the team (Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent emerita of The Wesleyan Church; Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Margaret Diddams, provost of Wheaton College; and Gary Walter, past president of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago) began their investigation. Our desire is to move forward into this new season with transparency, acknowledging that truth coming to light can oftentimes be difficult and painful, wrote Willow elders, as they presented the report to their church body this week. According to the findings, Hybels verbally and emotionally intimidated both female and male employees, while church board members were unable to provide effective oversight to keep him accountable. The report acknowledges that Hybelss management style was a source of growth and global impact to the church and the association. But investigators concluded the negative use of power, influence, and management style caused dysfunction in these organizations abilities to consistently implement policies, manage personnel, and handle an unexpected crisis. The IAG members indicated that the issues at Willow Creek were confined to Hybelss longtime rolehe founded the suburban Chicago church in 1975 and the affiliated association, which runs the Global Leadership Summit, in 1992. The corporate culture issues were primarily related to the presence and leadership of their shared founder and are not necessarily pervasive in the future of the church and association, the report stated. As a result, the IAG members advised the organizations to: Proceed with caution in establishing unusual structures and restriction on future church pastors and elders based on experiences with the founder of WCCC and the WCA. Future leaders should not be unnecessarily restricted, disciplined, or mistrusted because of past behaviors or experiences that did not involve them. The report recommends both WCCC and WCA establish written procedures for dealing with sinful behavior among employees, the discipline and restoration of leaders, external investigations of senior staff, and also standards of appropriate and inappropriate, language, jokes, relationships, and use of alcohol by staff and volunteers. Though Willow no longer has disciplinary authority over Hybels, the IAG members did suggest that he seek counsel on his own. They also suggest that the church offer financial assistance to cover counseling costs for those directly harmed by their interactions with him. Willows elder board pledged to review church policies in light of the report, and asked for the congregations patience as they process the findings. While we cannot change the events of the past, we grieve what has happened, ask for forgiveness, and commit ourselves to pursuing healing and reconciliation, they wrote. IAG members have declined to take questions from the press regarding the investigation. Biblical faith and Christian values are lived out in difficult circumstances, they stated. As faithful followers of Jesus Christ, the challenges at Willow Creek provide an unusual opportunity for each believer to effectively think and behave like Jesus. Likewise, the two organizations [WCCC and WCA] may seize current challenges as opportunities to be humble and faithful models of Christian discipleship and stewardship. They concluded: May Gods grace and mercy be experienced by all. After three years in court, Gospel for Asia (GFA) announced yesterday that it would pay $37 million and a board seat to settle a class-action lawsuit. One of Americas largest ministriesin 2013 alone, it brought in about $93.8 millionGFA faced two lawsuits accusing it of sending only 13 percent of its donations to the field instead of the oft-promised 100 percent. The first of those lawsuits was dismissed so it could go to arbitration. Then its plaintiffs were included in the second lawsuitalong with about 200,000 others who donated between January 2009 to September 2018when the suit switched to a class action in the fall. In the settlement, the plaintiffs and GFA agree that all donations designated for use in the field were ultimately sent to the field. Gospel for Asia is essentially refunding donations, stated spokesperson Johnnie Moore. (Or at least a portion of donationsthe class action originally asked for $376 million.) The ministry hopes that those who receive these funds will simply turn around and donate the same amount of money to another worthwhile ministry, Moore stated. [GFAs] desire is only for the Lords work to be done. Approximately 200,000 past donors to GFA will be eligible to receive a portion of the $37 million settlement, after court and attorney fees. The amount was only 10 percent of what the plaintiffs asked for, but I feel good, said plaintiffs attorney Marc Stanley. We also got significant reforms. One of those is a seat at the board for plaintiff Garland Murphy, a doctor who along with his wife gave $8,922 to GFA in 2012 based on its 100% Guarantee. Another reform is taking away a board seat from founder K. P. Yohannans wife Gisela and replacing her with a person approved by both Yohannan and Murphy. No new board members related to Yohannan may join the board for the next three years. And the board will add a subcommitteewhich will include Murphy but not Yohannan or his son Daniel Punnosewhich will file regular reports to the court for three years. Those reports will track how well GFA is doing in complying with its promises to train the board in its obligations, to publish annual reports, and to make clear to donors that it retains discretion to use donated funds in any manner that serves ministry purposes. Part of Murphys complaint was that GFAs loose bookkeepingmillions of hard copy receipts were spread across its partners in Indiahid the fact that money purportedly raised for water buffaloes or Jesus wells wasnt actually spent on those things. GFA contended that all of the money made it to the field, but there was no guarantee the money would be used for its exact designated purpose, according to court documents. GFA will also attempt to comply with all Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) guidelines, according to the settlement. In 2015, GFA was kicked out of the organization it helped found after ECFA concluded that GFA misled donors, mismanaged resources, had an ineffective board, and violated most of the accountability groups core standards. The fact of the matter is that Gospel for Asia did not act fraudulently, and all the donations they received made it to the field, Moore stated. The agreement to settle was, in part, precipitated by a concern that the ministry could [not] continue to bear the weight of defending itself. Class action lawsuits are enormous burdens for large, for-profit companies. So, one needs just to imagine the weight of an action like this against a not-for-profit organization. The good news is that the lessons learned from this burdensome series of events will make the ministry stronger, he stated. But first itll make GFA poorer. The nonprofit will pay $26 million within 30 days and raise the rest within a year, according to the settlementwith its Texas headquarters on the hook as collateral. And that money cant come from donations designated for something else. The plaintiffs recognize that funds payable were donated to GFA-USA for use in the field, the settlement said. Those obligations have to be paid first, and GFAs field partners will provide documentation that all such designations were satisfied. To the extend the funds [to pay off the lawsuit] are raised through donations, the settlement states, they shall be raised through solicitations for general ministry purposes. For three long years, our ministry wondered more often than Id like to admit if we would survive this ordeal, stated Yohannan. Im most proud of the fact that we managed to continue to serve those in need even as we fought every day to survive ourselves. Christians need to re-examine doctrine if they think culture is too evil to redeem: Andy Crouch Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment ORLANDO If the Gospel is to be relevant for a rapidly changing society Christians must re-examine their doctrine that functions like culture is too soiled to redeem, author Andy Crouch says. Speaking before hundreds gathered at the Association of Biblical Higher Education's annual meeting held Feb. 20-22, author Andy Crouch, whose most recent book, The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology In Its Proper Place, exhorted those in attendance that if their theology does not extend to redeem culture it is woefully inadequate. The theme of the conferences was "leveraging cultural insight for adaptive change" patterned after the sons of Issachar who, as it's explained in 1 Chronicles 12:32, had an understanding of the times. He showed a picture of an image of hands in yellow rubber gloves along with the words "Deliver us from culture," noting how quickly American culture has changed. In previous decades culture-shaping institutions were oriented toward the Gospel and left a distinctly Christian mark on society, he noted. "In less than a generation those institutions were handed over initially to a very different kind of Christian" Crouch said, mentioning hospitals and the YMCA, "and eventually to people who did not feel it was necessary to keep that faith perspective in those institutions." Yet it is mistaken for a Christian to regard "culture" as synonymous with "evil," he said. Praying that God "deliver us from evil," a line from the Lord's prayer, is quite different from praying "deliver us from culture." "I wonder, do we really mean that? Deliver us from culture? Because culture is a pretty big subject." To pray to be delivered from culture, he continued, is the opposite of what Jesus asked for in John 17 when He prayed: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." The church has thrived most when Christians are embedded in cultures that were not their own, he went on to say, and they need not fear getting dirty. The biblical stories of Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah, and all of the Israelite exiles illustrate this, he said, as they had to learn how to be faithful to God without their familiar support structures. When Christians stop thinking culturally, they cease thinking biblically, he said, and that thinking is distinct from the thinking about how churches might strategically use something within culture for their own purposes in the church separate from the world. "The more biblical we become, the more we will be sent into culture into exactly where Jesus prayed," Crouch said. Crouch stressed that the outlook a follower of Jesus takes when engaging culture must be grounded in the entire great story of Scripture from Creation to the Fall to the restoration of all things. And if your doctrine of creation extends only to nature but not culture it is too small, he said. "The promise of the Bible is that we're going to see the restoration of all things," he emphasized, "including the salvation of persons whom God loves and their soul and body. But not stopping with the restoration of the soul and body but the restoration of the whole broken cosmos that is waiting for the revealing of the new breed of the sons and daughters of God." "What is at stake is how good of a [Gospel] story we have to tell." The author argued that in the Creation story a progression exists where God moves from pronouncing what He made as "good" to "very good" after He made human being in His image. That "very good" marks an important shift because now God's image bearers who, like God, carry creativity are unleashed to co-labor with God in His ongoing work, he said, and when they take dominion over the Earth, their cultural activity included, that world will flourish. It's so sad that Christians have become associated with a very thin piece of the doctrine of Creation. Of course we believe that God created everything that is. But we're not known [for that] and we're not prepared." Meanwhile, Scripture speaks about cultural and social definitions of sin in addition to an individual's ability to do wrong, specifically idolatry and injustice. Idolatry is the creating of cultural goods that work to replace God, and it is especially evident today in technology, Crouch said, projecting the icon for the tech giant Apple a small apple with a bite taken out of one side on a screen behind him, noting how closely it represents "forbidden fruit." We need a deeper understanding of the Fall that doesn't just get us to sin, but to negative God-substitutes. And those substitutes, because they do not work, lead us then to create systems that exploit other people to give us what the Bible didn't give us." "What idolatry leads to are systems of exploitation in which we try to grab and grasp from other human being and from God's created world the good things that we have been promised." Injustice, then, occurs as humans pursue things God never meant us to have in ways not to be pursued. We exploit humans in durable, oppressive systems in which a few do get to feel like God while the rest suffer, he said. The ABHE conference, attended mostly by small Bible school and seminary presidents and top officials, concluded Feb. 22. Counseling recommended for Bill Hybels, changes for Willow Creek after sexual misconduct investigation Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An independent group convened to investigate sexual misconduct allegations against Bill Hybels, founder of the Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago, called them credible and recommended counseling for him as well as a raft of changes to improve the organizational culture at the church and Willow Creek Association, rebranded as the Global Leadership Network. The recommendations were among 15 suggestions as well as a list of conclusive points made by the Independent Advisory Group in a 17-page report released by the churchs new elder board on Thursday. Our desire is to move forward into this new season with transparency, acknowledging that truth coming to light can oftentimes be difficult and painful, the board said in a statement released with the report. The report, which paints Hybels as a flawed, hard to contain, charismatic leader, comes 10 months after his premature resignation from the multicampus megachurch on April 10, 2018. Bill Hybels verbally and emotionally intimidated both male and female employees. Over multiple decades, the Willow Creek Community Church boards were unable to provide effective oversight of Bill Hybels, the four-member IAG concluded on Feb. 26, six months after the group first convened last August. Hybels was forced to resign as lead pastor at Willow Creek Community Church after an extensive investigation published by the Chicago Tribune in March 2018 detailed a pattern of sexual misconduct allegations. Hybels denied a number of the allegations, including a consensual affair with a married woman who retracted her claims. The Tribune report also alleged a pattern of behavior against Hybels that includes suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and invitations to some female staffers to hotel rooms. Initial investigations commissioned by the church could not substantiate the allegations and the church's leadership staunchly defended Hybels. In an about-face after the scandal snowballed into a national story, Pam Orr, former chair of the church's elder board, apologized to Hybels' accusers and said after listening to some of them, "we do not believe the stories were all lies." The group of investigators that conducted extensive interviews included: Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent emerita of The Wesleyan Church, Indianapolis, Indiana; Margaret Diddams, provost of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois; Gary Walter, past president of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago; and Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals in Washington D.C. The group concluded that the collective testimony of Hybels victims is credible. The credibility of the allegations is not based on any one accusation or accuser but on the collective testimony and context of the allegations. The credibility of the allegations would have been sufficient for Willow Creek Community Church to initiate disciplinary action if Bill Hybels had continued as pastor of the church, they said. In reviewing the allegations against Hybels, the IAG suggested that the church should not take further action against him since he is retired and is no longer a pastor or employee of Willow Creek Community Church and the church no longer has disciplinary jurisdiction or authority. The investigators also noted that even though Hybels leadership flaws negatively affected his ministry at Willow Creek and the WCA, his work also resulted in blessings. While there may be negative residual effects in the corporate culture of WCCC and the WCA, the corporate culture issues were primarily related to the presence and leadership of their shared founder and are not necessarily pervasive in the future of the church and association, the IAG noted while laying the dysfunction in the two ministries on Hybels shoulders. Some may choose to discount or discredit the past blessings of God on Willow Creek Community Church, the Willow Creek Association, pastoral leadership, past elders and Bill Hybels because of specific words and actions in 2018 and before. Mistakes and sins should not be denied or forgotten but neither should Gods blessings and the faithfulness of Gods people, the group urged. Hybels benefits from a legally binding retirement agreement initiated in 2012 with the Willow Creek Community Church that will conclude in 2020, the report revealed. The IAG recommended that he return any possible financial resources that were provided to him by the church or the WCA to support his ministry after his retirement agreement has ended. He was also urged to seek independent counsel at his discretion to address his failings highlighted in the report. The counsel sought should be outside of WCCC and the WCA. This should be at his discretion, with his initiative and at the time he chooses, the IAG said. The group further suggested that Willow Creek design and make available a reconciliation process to provide hope and healing for broken relationships. The church was also encouraged to create criteria to provide financial assistance for counseling or other resources for women and men who were directly harmed by their interactions with Hybels. It was also suggested that Willow Creek should maintain a third-party off-site hotline to report misconduct with reports going to the elders or a designated committee of the elders and to a staff department designated by the elders, among other things. In their statement on the report Thursday, Willow Creeks elder board noted that every effort was made to ensure that the investigation was truly independent. None of the four members of the IAG worked for or had formal ties to Willow Creek Community Church or the WCA. The IAG did not seek direction or opinions from Willow Creek Community Church or the WCA in this process. The expenses for the work of the IAG were funded by an external anonymous donor, and IAG members were not compensated for their time. Their work was truly independent, the elders said. As a new Elder Board, we ask for your prayers and patience as we process this report and prepare appropriate responses and actions. We commit to honor and respect the work of the IAG and the entirety of their report, the elders continued. While we cannot change the events of the past, we grieve what has happened, ask for forgiveness, and commit ourselves to pursuing healing and reconciliation. Responding to the release of the report Thursday, the WCA also noted in a statement that they were grateful for the work of the IAG and would be reviewing the recommendations over the next few days. We receive and accept the conclusions and counsel shared with humility, and with a desire to live into the next steps outlined in the report. We regret the pain that has been caused by past mistakes and believe these directives and information can offer a way forward that allows for acknowledgement, amends and healing, the organization said. Our plan is to spend the next few days in reflection, processing and prayer on the recommendations included in the report in order to determine appropriate next steps and direction that we will communicate to our staff, partners and broader community, the statement added. Gospel for Asia Awaits Papers as 'Tens of Thousands' Could Join Class Action Lawsuit Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment With more than a million unique donations being made to Gospel for Asia annually, Monday's bombshell class action lawsuit against one of the largest missions agencies based in the U.S. could potentially involve no less than "tens of thousands" of plaintiffs and the agency says it's still waiting to be served. "While we are more than willing to answer any questions asked of us, it would be irresponsible for us to do so at this time since we have not yet been served any lawsuit. All we know is what has been posted on the Internet by certain bloggers who have previously misrepresented facts related to Gospel for Asia in a relentless attempt to discredit our ministry," wrote Daniel Punnose in an email statement to The Christian Post Thursday. He is listed as a vice president and member of Gospel for Asia's board of directors as well as the son of the organization's leader, K.P. Yohannan, in the lawsuit. "Once we know the nature of the accusations, we will respond accordingly and transparently. We remain as we have been for over 30 years committed to operating with integrity on behalf of so many of the world's most desperate people. That is our commitment and we will remain focused on our Christian mission. We are so grateful for all of those who support our work," the statement ended. The missions agency was named in the class action lawsuit filed in Arkansas Monday by the Dallas-based Stanley Law Group alleging that it and several affiliates fraudulently solicited hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations, and misdirected the money into the Yohannan's personal empire. Listed as defendants along with Yohannan and his son are: his wife, Gisela, a member of the Board of Directors of GFA; David Carroll, who serves GFA in multiple capacities, including Chief Financial Officer; and Pat Emerick. Emerick, according to the suit, is a United States citizen who resides in Ontario, Canada. He serves as the director of the Canadian affiliate of GFA. The lawsuit comes just four months after the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability cut ties with Gospel for Asia last October for violating five of the ECFA's seven core standards. Matthew and Jennifer Dickson are listed as the main plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which charges defendants with violations of RICO and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as fraud and unjust enrichment. The suit, however, covers: "All persons in the United States who donated money to GFA within the applicable statutes of limitations." And this class of individuals, according to the lawsuit, could amount to no less than "tens of thousands." "The members of the class are so numerous and geographically dispersed that individual joinder of all Class members is impracticable. While plaintiffs are informed and believe that there are not less than tens of thousands of members of the class, the precise number of class members is unknown to plaintiffs," argues the lawsuit. The plaintiffs allege that Gospel for Asia, Yohannan, and other GFA officials misrepresented to donors how, when, and where charitable donations would be spent, and funneled vast amounts of the hundreds of millions of dollars the organization has collected into for-profit businesses and an expensive headquarters. The lawsuit charges that the exact number of persons in the potential class of plaintiffs can be "ascertained from defendants' books and records." "Class members may be notified of the pendency of this action by recognized, court-approved notice dissemination methods, which may include U.S. mail, electronic mail, Internet postings, and/or published notice," it further notes. Between 2007 and 2013, GFA has solicited over $450,000,000 in donations from the U.S. alone, where the majority of GFA's donors reside. Donors charge the suit have given on a one time or on a recurring, sponsorship basis. The suit charges that despite repeated, explicit guarantees from GFA to donors, only a fraction of the donated money supports the people and causes for which it was donated, as the defendants redirect funds for their own purposes. READ THE COMPLETE LAWSUIT BELOW: Gospel for Asia settles class-action lawsuit, maintains it did 'not act fraudulently' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Gospel for Asia, one of the largest international ministries, has reached a $37 million settlement to a class-action lawsuit that accuses the nonprofit of mishandling hundreds of millions in donations designated to be used in the mission field worldwide. The ministry, founded by K.P. Yohannan over 40 years ago, was accused in the lawsuit filed in 2015 of racketeering, fraud, and financial mismanagement. Among other concerns, Yohannan and his associates were accused of using donations earmarked for charitable purposes within its mission fields to build personal residences and a headquarters in Texas. The organization has throughout the yearslong legal battle maintained that it didnt fraudulently use funds. GFA has labeled the claims false. Nonetheless, GFA was expelled from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and the National Religious Broadcasters after financial accountability concerns were voiced. On Thursday, GFA announced that the class-action lawsuit that has threatened the ministrys survival will soon come to a close. The lawsuit is being resolved through a settlement agreement between the parties, according to the preliminary approval application filed in federal court. According to GFA, the settlement procedure was ordered by the court in an attempt to satisfy the plaintiffs concerns before the scheduled trial. Although GFA will ultimately pay $37 million as part of a settlement fund, some of which will have to be raised over the course of the next year, GFA stresses that the settlement is not an acknowledgment of guilt. Additionally, the settlement does not admit any liability or wrongdoing whatsoever. The agreement reads in part that [GFAs] position is that the evidence demonstrates (i) all funds designated to the field were sent to the field and used for ministry purposes; and (ii) no Individual Defendant, as defined herein, received any improper personal gain or enrichment from or related to donated funds. The language of the agreement seems to refute a claim reported in the media last year that as little as 13 percent of donations to GFA make it to the mission field. The settlement states: The parties also mutually stipulate that all donations designated for use in the field were ultimately sent to the field. For three long years, our ministry wondered more often than Id like to admit if we would survive this ordeal, Yohannan said in a statement. We are so incredibly thankful for the prayers and the ongoing support of our many faithful friends and partners. We look today toward the future with optimism in our hearts being confident of this one thing: that He who began a good work in [us] will continue to perfect it. Johnnie Moore, the founder of the evangelical public relations firm The KAIROS Company, said as an acting spokesperson that GFA did not act fraudulently" and that "all the donations they received made it to the field. And one of the big four auditing companies is managing the analyzing and accounting of donations to the field. The agreement to settle was, in part, precipitated by a concern that the ministry could continue to bear the weight of defending itself," Moore, who also serves on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. He added that the agreement equates to GFA essentially refunding donations. "Class action lawsuits are enormous burdens for large, for-profit companies," Moore stated. "So one needs just to imagine the weight of an action like this against a not-for-profit organization. The good news is that the lessons learned from this burdensome series of events will make the ministry stronger. The settlement agreement stipulates that approximately 200,000 GFA donors will be eligible to receive a portion of the agreed upon settlement. The ministry hopes that those who receive these funds will simply turn around and donate the same amount of money to another worthwhile ministry, Moore explained. Their desire is only for the Lords work to be done. Also as part of the settlement negotiation, GFA proposed offering a seat on the board of directors to one of the plaintiffs that brought the lawsuit against the organization. GFA also retained one of the big four accounting firms to objectively analyze the flow of GFA donations to the mission field. Additionally, GFA is undergoing annual audits and will continue to undergo annual audits conducted by the CPA firm Payne, White and Schmutz. And separate annual audits by Payne of GFA have come back clean. GFA will also seek to regain membership with accrediting bodies and associations that it lost. If Gospel for Asia seeks to reapply for membership in National Religious Broadcasters, we will evaluate all relevant information, including the settlement agreement, to determine if the organization is in compliance with our financial accountability standards, NRB executive vice president and chief operating officer Troy Miller told CP in a statement. CP reached out to ECFA for comment for this article. A response is pending. In September 2015, ECFA sent GFA a letter highlighting 17 concerns with how GFA conducts its financial affairs. Moore told CP that GFA was well on its way to satisfying many of those concerns listed by ECFA prior to the litigation and has continued in those efforts throughout. "The legal case has further prepared them to complete that process," Moore explained. "The organization is confident it can meet the criteria necessary for membership again in accrediting bodies like the NRB, once they choose to pursue it." Among the concerns highlighted by ECFA was the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars in excess cash was being held in GFA partner field accounts in India. ECFA also criticized how delayed GFA was in sending donated funds to the mission fields. The level of urgency communicated in GFA donor appeals contrasted with reserves held by foreign field partners and delays in sending funds to the field, the ECFA letter explains. Another concern ECFA had was over the fact that GFAs foreign field partners were completely independent organizations. Therefore, GFA could not exercise any direct control over field partners. ECFA criticized GFA for using nearly $20 million in donations that were restricted to field use to build a new headquarters in Wills Point, Texas. The funds were gifted to GFA by GFA India. However, the funds gifted by GFA India were originally received by GFA to be used exclusively in the mission field. ECFA also voiced concerned about GFAs use of trip participants to carry hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the U.S. into India without reporting it to the Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, GFA did not have a foreign grant process in place to oversee the use of funds, according to ECFA. But in 2015, GFA instituted a new foreign grant process that was developed with the assistance of a new audit firm. Thus far, all audits have come back clean. Liberals use 'religion of social justice' to attack Christianity, says CPAC panel Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Progressives maintain a religion of social justice that leads them to attack Christians who live their faith openly, according to a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Allie Beth Stuckey, host of the Christian podcast Relatable who oversees The Conservative Millennial blog, was part of a panel Thursday that focused on the value of religious liberty and its contribution to overall freedom. There are people who say that secularism or the denial of religion, even the repressing of religion, will lead to more freedom, it will lead to more tolerance, it will lead to more inclusion, said Stuckey. Obviously, thats an ironic statement in and of itself. But theres actually another religion that is taking over, that is dominating, thats not a lack of religion, its a new religion of postmodernism, of moral relativism. Stuckey went on to argue that Americans who believe that religion should be practiced at home or in private do not lack religion, but rather have donned the religion of social justice. Theyve actually donned the religion of progressivism where intersectionality is one of their key doctrines and identity politics is part of their worship, she continued. So what were seeing is not this advancement of atheism or this advancement of agnosticism or secularism. Its the religion of progressivism and social justice and moral relativism that says this is the religion that needs to dominate in order for us to be tolerant. And what we see throughout history, and what were already seeing now is that progressivism is not a tolerant religion. Matthew Spalding, associate vice president and dean of Educational Programs for Hillsdale College in Washington, D.C., who was also part of the panel, agreed and then added that people still naturally yearn for truth and to learn more. Modern culture has tried to push religion into a smaller and smaller and smaller box. You got to keep it at home or you got to keep it in the confessional, explained Spalding. But as a result, a lot of people, especially young people, are still yearning to find something and they want to know that truth, which unfortunately draws a lot of people into not only crazy ideas, like the environment is the new god, but also drives them to despair. Spalding also talked about the need for American Christians to be actively involved in the fight for religious liberty, not simply trusting the Trump administration to solve the problem for them. The current administration is doing a great job of appointing good judges. The Supreme Court looks like it's going to pull back on some of these things after a long period of being very hostile, continued Spalding. But thats not going to be enough. We cant disengage, we cant leave it to other people. From the point of view of our faith we need to be engaged and outwardly focused. But from the point of view of being a good citizen, I think we also have to be engaged. U.S. Senator James Lankford, R-Okla., the third member of the panel, spoke about being in youth ministry for about 22 years before entering Congress and how he was told that he should not apply his beliefs to his elected position. I have people all the time that will catch me and say, Well, you used to be in a ministry position but now youre in Congress, now you need to set aside your faith, because youre in a secular role, said Lankford. And I enjoy smiling at them and saying, I need to introduce you to a document called the United States Constitution. And in that document, Article VI of the Constitution says theres no religious test for any officer of the United States. Last year, the term social justice was the source of much debate and controversy among evangelical circles, as some argued that the phrase was inherently anti-biblical. In August, influential California Pastor John MacArthur criticized what he called evangelicals' "newfound obsession with the notion of 'social justice'" in a series of blog posts. That was followed by a statement signed by other evangelical leaders. Specifically, we are deeply concerned that values borrowed from secular culture are currently undermining Scripture in the areas of race and ethnicity, manhood and womanhood, and human sexuality. The Bible's teaching on each of these subjects is being challenged under the broad and somewhat nebulous rubric of concern for 'social justice, read the statement in part. Other evangelicals criticized the statement. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, responded that he believed people claiming to oppose social justice don't really believe it [because they] don't act that way when it comes to the issues they care about and in most cases rightly care about." "In almost every case, we are not really talking about social justice and we are not even talking about social engagement broadly. We are almost always talking about race, said Moore. I don't even want to concede to the conceit that what we are talking about is a broader issue of social engagement because again, that is almost never the case. Some of the very people who would say this are the people who have talked about, and rightly so, abortion and the systemic public problem of abortion. NewSpring Church battling 2 lawsuits after day care volunteer molests 14 children Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment NewSpring Church in South Carolina is fighting back against two lawsuits alleging that lack of church oversight enabled the sexual assaults of at least 14 children at the hands of a former church day care volunteer. The multicampus megachurch recently issued a public response to a lawsuit filed against it surrounding the arrest of 28-year-old Jacob Hazlett, who had volunteered at the day care of its campus in Charleston for eight months. Hazlett was caught on camera inappropriately touching a 3-year-old child and was arrested last November. He has since been charged with 14 counts of first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Church security footage that goes back as far as 90 days showed instances of Hazlett assaulting children in the day care bathroom. Such criminal act was not intended or directed by [NewSpring] and could not be foreseen by [NewSpring], a statement from NewSpring provided to WCIV states. NewSpring performed a screening process that included a criminal background check that showed no prior records." Hazlett reportedly admitted to perpetrating the assaults to investigators. A lawsuit filed by the parent of the 3-year-old abused by Hazlett was submitted late last year and accused the volunteer of performing oral sex on the child. The church is also accused of failing to adequately supervise and monitor the actions of Hazlett. The lawsuit claims that lack of oversight allowed the abuse to occur inside the church even though there are around 40 surveillance cameras monitored by church volunteers. But NewSpring argues that it has no responsibility in the matter. The church contends that when concerns about Hazlett were made, it took the appropriate response and called authorities. NewSpring immediately notified law enforcement, took steps to prevent Hazlett from volunteering in any capacity, and continues to fully cooperate with law enforcements ongoing investigation, the statement asserts. NewSpring further argues that its liability as a nonprofit in this case is limited because of the South Carolina Charitable Funds Act. Additionally, the church stresses that since Hazlett was a volunteer, its liability is limited by the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997. The lawsuit stresses that Hazlett knew that there was a security camera near the bathroom where he committed the crimes and was aware of the extraordinary risk he was taking had NewSpring Church simply been monitoring the video feed. The church, however, maintains that it is not liable for punitive damages. According to WCSC, the church argues that the facts arent enough to pursue a lawsuit against the church itself and that the plaintiffs lawsuit against the church should be tossed out. Another lawsuit was brought against the church and Hazlett by seven families earlier this month. The second lawsuit states that Hazlett volunteered at Cove Church and Elevation Church in North Carolina from 2011 to 2014 but was asked to leave both places of worship because of concerns about his behavior around children. The lawsuit blames NewSpring for not contacting either church as a reference before allowing Hazlett to serve there. Josh Slavin, the attorney representing the families, said he is preparing for the case to go to jury trial. "To know that they took their children to this church, were required to put their sons in day care to attend Sunday services were told their boys would be safe, Slavin said, according to ABC4. Then come to find out that there was rampant abuse happening week in, week out right under New Spring Churchs noses. Slavin said that to not get justice and consequences for those who allowed this to happen would be unthinkable." NewSpring has not yet responded to the second lawsuit. NRB Terminates Gospel for Asia's Membership Over Financial Accountability Issues Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The National Religious Broadcasters has terminated the membership of embattled missions agency Gospel for Asia, which was hit with a bombshell class action lawsuit alleging fraudulent use of donor money earlier this month, due to financial accountability issues. In response to the allegations of fraud against the agency Thursday morning, Johnnie Moore, president of public relations firm The KAIROS Company, speaking on behalf of GFA, said the agency is working hard to put an end to "false accusations" continually being made against it. "Gospel for Asia is 100% focused on continuing its work around the world while working very hard to put an end to the false accusations being continually made against the ministry. Gospel for Asia can document the legal and ethical use of funds donated and clearly answer every question," he noted in an email to CP. "Thankfully, many of Gospel for Asia's friends and supporters have chosen to stand with the organization and provide greater and great degrees of prayer and support as the ministry works to put this all to rest, for good." A copy of a letter acquired by The Christian Post Wednesday signed by NRB President and CEO Jerry A. Johnson, and addressed to K.P. Yohannan, founder and international director of GFA, dated December 31, 2015, highlights that despite the strong relationship shared by the two organizations, NRB was forced to part ways with GFA. "This is a follow-up to my letter dated October 12, 2015 and our subsequent email correspondence regarding the NRB membership requirement for GFA to be compliant with our Constitution and Bylaws, Part II Financial Integrity, Accountability, and Transparency Not-for-Profit Members," began the letter from the NRB, which is a non-partisan international association of committed broadcasters and Christian communicators. "This requirement points out that 'operating with financial integrity is part of a faithful witness for Christ before a watching world. As such, National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) requires its members to conduct their financial operations in a manner that ensures integrity, accountability, and transparency," it continued. "While you have stated (as recently as your email of December 30) that you are diligently working to obtain the necessary information and to comply with the standards, you have not been able to do so at this time. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I must advise you that NRB must terminate your membership at this time," wrote Johnson. The NRB president further advised Yohannan that once he can demonstrate that he can meet the organization's financial accountability standards, GFA could reapply for membership. "You may reapply for membership when you are able to demonstrate that you meet our financial accountability standards." "We are grateful for your past support and participation in NRB, and we are hopeful Gospel for Asia can come in compliance in short order to allow you again to have active participation in NRB," Johnson ended. The NRB membership termination came approximately three months after the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability cut ties with GFA last October for violating five of the ECFA's seven core standards. Moore said the NRB membership termination was a direct result of GFA's loss of accreditation from the ECFA. He asserts that GFA and the NRB still maintain a good relationship. "Gospel for Asia has enjoyed and continues to enjoy a wonderful relationship with the NRB and a personal relationship with its leadership. Unfortunately, the NRB's membership requirements are tethered to ECFA accreditation. When Gospel for Asia was no longer accredited by ECFA it automatically was no longer qualified for membership with the NRB. It was a topic of much discussion among the organization's leadership where some NRB leaders thought it indicated a need to evaluate its membership requirements," said Moore. When asked if GFA planned on reapplying for NRB membership, Moore said, "perhaps." Earlier this month Dallas-based Stanley Law Group filed a class action lawsuit against GFA alleging that the missions agency and several of its affiliates fraudulently solicited hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations, and misdirected the money into Yohannan's personal empire. Listed as defendants along with Yohannan are his son, Daniel Punnose, a member of the Board of Directors of GFA; his wife, Gisela, also a Board member; David Carroll, who serves GFA in multiple capacities, including Chief Financial Officer; and Pat Emerick. Emerick, according to the suit, is a United States citizen who resides in Ontario, Canada. He serves as the director of the Canadian affiliate of GFA. Matthew and Jennifer Dickson are listed as the main plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which charges defendants with violations of RICO and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as fraud and unjust enrichment. The suit also covers: "All persons in the United States who donated money to GFA within the applicable statutes of limitations." And this class of individuals, according to the lawsuit, could amount to no less than "tens of thousands." "The members of the class are so numerous and geographically dispersed that individual joinder of all Class members is impracticable. While plaintiffs are informed and believe that there are not less than tens of thousands of members of the class, the precise number of class members is unknown to plaintiffs," argues the lawsuit. The plaintiffs allege that Gospel for Asia, Yohannan, and other GFA officials misrepresented to donors how, when, and where charitable donations would be spent, and funneled vast amounts of the hundreds of millions of dollars the organization has collected into for-profit businesses and an expensive headquarters. The lawsuit charges that the exact number of persons in the potential class of plaintiffs can be "ascertained from defendants' books and records." "Class members may be notified of the pendency of this action by recognized, court-approved notice dissemination methods, which may include U.S. mail, electronic mail, Internet postings, and/or published notice," it further notes. Between 2007 and 2013, GFA has solicited over $450,000,000 in donations from the U.S. alone, where the majority of GFA's donors reside. Donors include people who made a one-time or a recurring sponsorship. The suit charges that despite repeated, explicit guarantees from GFA to donors, only a fraction of the donated money supports the people and causes for which it was donated, as the defendants redirect funds for their own purposes. Moore said, GFA, one of the largest missions agency currently operating in the United States, "is in the final stages of interviewing multiple [law] firms, and will have acquired its specialized counsel within a week." Editor's Note: Johnnie Moore is an editorial advisor of The Christian Post but only represents GFA in CP's coverage of the organization's financial accountability issues. Utah passes bill banning abortion of Down syndrome babies Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Utah's state Legislature passed a bill Thursday banning abortion solely based on a Down syndrome diagnosis. The Down Syndrome Nondiscrimination Abortion Act, also known as HB166, includes exceptions for incest, rape, and medical emergencies that put the mother's life at risk. It's now headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Gary Herbert who hasn't said whether he will sign it or not, according to KSL radio. The bill also comes with a "trigger" provision stipulating that it would not become law, if signed of the governor, until after a court rules on its constitutional standing. "This is somewhat of a message bill from the standpoint that we are saying if that is the reason that you want an abortion, that is probably not a good reason," Herbert said. The governor said he thinks the bill comes with some legal protection because it will not become law until other states have tested it and it's deemed constitutional. "(That) takes some of the risk out of it," Herbert said. The final vote in the state Senate was 20-6, with every Democratic senator voting against and every Republican voting in favor of the bill. Utah previously attempted to pass a bill banning the abortion of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome last year, but it failed to gain the votes needed to pass. Pro-life advocates have long argued that aborting babies with the condition amounts to a form of eugenics. In the United States, 67 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted, according to Healthline. In Denmark the number is 98 percent, and in Iceland it's almost 100 percent. The Christian Post previously reported that the Canadian Down Syndrome Society released a video of individuals who petitioned the International Union for Conservation of Nature Global Species Programme to be included on the "red list" of endangered species, arguing that they meet the criteria to be considered endangered because of significant population declines in several countries. Stillbirth not 'an in-custody death,' says Trump's border patrol Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Stillbirths that take place at facilities of the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement are not classified as deaths by the agency, according to a recent official statement. On Feb. 22, a pregnant woman from Honduras went into premature labor while being processed for release, tragically delivering a stillborn baby, according to a joint statement released by ICE and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday. She went into premature labor, at 27 weeks pregnant, and delivered an unresponsive male infant. [ICE Health Service Corps] initiated CPR and EMS transported them both to the Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas, where the infant was later pronounced dead, noted the statement. The border security agencies then proceeded to explain that a stillbirth is not considered an in-custody death due to investigative and reporting purposes. ICE and CBP officials are proactively disclosing the details of this tragic event to be transparent with Congress, the media and the public, continued the agencies. Not recognizing stillborn babies of migrants as individual humans appears to be at odds with other administration policies. President Donald Trump has pursued multiple pro-life agenda items, including the reversal of an Obama era ban on states defunding Planned Parenthood, appointing judges who identify as pro-life, and allowing broader exemptions for groups opposed to providing coverage for abortions. At the annual March for Life rally held in January, Vice President Mike Pence told those gathered at National Mall that Trump was the most pro-life president in American history. ICE and CBPs joint statement comes as the United States Senate failed to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which if enacted would have required health care providers to give the same protection to babies who survive an attempted abortion as they would to babies not marked for abortion. Introduced by Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, the final vote was 53 in favor and 44 opposed. All but three of the Senate Democrats voted against it. The bill needed at least 60 votes to pass. Trump took to Twitter to express his dismay at the result, stating that he believed the result showed that the Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they dont mind executing babies AFTER birth. This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress. If there is one thing we should all agree on, its protecting the lives of innocent babies, tweeted Trump. UN subjects persecuted Christian refugees in Thailand to unfair burden, expert tells Congress Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Thousands of Pakistani Christian asylum-seekers in Thailand are subjected to an unfair burden of proof by the United Nations, which has led to many denials for believers fleeing persecution, a human rights lawyer told members of Congress Tuesday. Ann Buwalda, the director of the international advocacy group Jubilee Campaign USA and founder of Just Law International, testified before members of House Foreign Affairs subcommittee about the crisis of religious and ethnic minority asylum seekers in Thailand. As Pakistan ranks as the fifth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, thousands of Pakistani Christians migrate to countries like Malaysia and Thailand in search of refuge from societal violence associated with their faith in Christ in the 97-percent Muslim Pakistan. According to Buwalda, Jubilee Campaign estimates that there are as many as 3,000 to 4,000 Pakistani Christian refugees in Thailand with cases pending before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Many of those refugees are in the city of Bangkok. Some of them are approved and awaiting resettlement, she explained. But some cases are closed and affording them with no place to go. Buwalda entered into the testimony the case of Michael DSouza, a Pakistani Christian who was denied refugee status by the UNHCR in Bangkok and was forced to stay in Bangkoks notorious Immigration and Detention Center (IDC). The conditions at the center, Buwalda and other rights activists say, are deplorable. [A]fter one year of suffering through that and no hope, he returned to Pakistan. Michael DSouza was brutalized by the very people he feared would persecute him, Buwalda said. His case should not have been denied and he remains stranded in Karachi, Pakistan. Conditions in the IDC are so rough that some have died inside of the center. Many are brought there after being arrested in immigration raids. In May 2017, one Christian man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan died in the center after authorities neglected to provide him with treatment to a curable health condition. As for DSouza, Buwalda says that his case demonstrates the fact refugees fleeing religious persecution should be provided with opportunities to have their cases with more reasonableness. We have found that with many of the cases within UNHCR in Bangkok, there are denials because there is an unreasonable standard and burden of proof placed upon them, she explained. We have many cases, as do colleagues of ours, that assist with the refugee processing. It clearly appears to us that UNHCR in Bangkok has placed a higher burden of proof on Pakistani Christian asylum seekers. Buwalda and her colleagues have tried to raise awareness about the struggles facing Christian asylum seekers in Thailand. We have approached the UNHCR. They are sympathetic. But the conditions in terms of the interviews have not changed, Buwalda said. We would like to see that change take place. Pakistani Christians are not the only ones seeking asylum in Thailand as there is also a group of about 500 Montagnards from Vietnam also being detained in Bangkok. [T]hey're in the horrible situation at the IDC detention center where there are actually mothers separated from their children and not allowed to even give them breastfeeding, she detailed. Ranking member of the subcommittee Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. voiced his concern with the fact that only 10 to 30 percent of the Pakistani Christians in Thailand are being granted refugee status by the UNHCR. Smith, who authored the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016, wondered how Congress could hold UNHCR accountable. I've sent letters to them. I've talked to officials. We've talked to the UNHCR and we seem to get nowhere, Smith explained. Buwalda responded that one of the reasons why the denial rates are so high is because UNHCR has an unbalanced burden of proof placed on the Pakistani Christians because of a level of skepticism. We have we had a UNHCR official describe the basic skepticism of Pakistani Christians asylum seekers there that demonstrated that there is probably system-wide [issues] within Bangkok [of] not effectively handling these cases, Buwalda contended. She noted that there was an effort in 2016 and 2017 within the UNHCR in Bangkok to bring backlogs down. What they did was rush cases through. The fastest way for doing that is to deny them and that also came with average credibility claims, Buwalda recalled. With an average credibility claim, you have almost no chance on any appeal and you're left hopeless. The anecdotal evidence we have and the information we have is significant in terms of the numbers. Buwalda stated that UNHCRs own reports demonstrate that Pakistani Christians do in fact suffer persecution. One of the examples I gave in my testimony I submitted is Talib Masih, she told the Congress members. Masih was listed in [UNHCRs] own report prior to them denying his case for asylum in Bangkok and we worked very hard, his case has been reversed. But now he has no place to go. He's not been referred to any country at this stage, one year later, for resettlement. So, we're remaining concerned about him and others that should be resettled. Supreme Court struggling to determine fate of 40-foot tall Bladensburg Cross Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment U.S. Supreme Court justices appear to be struggling with whether a 40-foot tall cross honoring the veterans of World War I should be removed from a memorial, according to supporters and opponents who attended oral arguments today. Last November, the Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in the consolidated cases of America Legion, et al. v. American Humanist Association and Maryland-National Capital Park v. American Humanist Association, et al. Those arguments were held on Wednesday morning. Alexandra McPhee, director of Religious Freedom Advocacy at the Family Research Council, helped draft their amicus brief and attended the oral arguments. In an interview with The Christian Post following oral arguments, McPhee explained that the Supreme Court justices appeared to be searching for a limiting principle, which involves finding clear limits on government powers. What I found interesting was the idea of where to draw the line is so unclear in current Establishment Clause law, explained McPhee. McPhee said the American Legion, which is arguing in defense of the Bladensburg Cross, was supporting a more objective standard which has greater historical grounding. McPhee cited Town of Greece v. Galloway, the 2014 Supreme Court decision which concluded that town meetings could open with sectarian prayers, noting that in that case the high court looked at the nations traditions, especially at the time of the founding. And what the American Legion argued was that at the time of the founding something like a religious display would not be a violation of the Establishment Clause unless it was somehow coercive, continued McPhee. Richard B. Katskee, legal director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State who also attended oral arguments Wednesday morning, told CP that he believed the high court was unpersuaded by the American Legion. The justices clearly were not buying the argument from the American Legion for a simple clear test. You can just look for coercion and that settles everything. They were frustrated by that, said Katskee. I think in general the justices were struggling to figure out whether there is or can be one clear simple test, and I think that they came out with the same questions they went in with. In 2012, the American Humanist Association told the Maryland National Park and Planning Commission to remove the cross from the memorial. In February 2014, the AHA sued the Planning Commission on behalf of two members who lived in the area and another person who lived in Beltsville. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow ruled in November 2015 that the cross fulfilled a secular purpose of honoring fallen soldiers and was therefore constitutional. AHA appealed Chasanow's decision and in October 2017, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of removing the cross. In March of last year, the Fourth Circuit voted 8-6 to reject an appeal in the case, in a decision that Hiram Sasser of the First Liberty Institute labeled dangerous. "The decision of the three-judge panel sets dangerous precedent for veterans' memorials and cemeteries across America, and we cannot allow it to be the final word," Sasser said last year. "If this decision stands, other memorials including those in nearby Arlington Cemetery will be targeted for destruction as well. The American Legion will appeal this case to the U.S. Supreme Court." Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment To learn Biblical answers to your financial questions, you can #AskChuck @AskCrown your questions by clicking here. Questions used may be lightly edited for length or clarity. Dear Chuck, For several years now, my spouse and I have depended on our tax refund to make it through the year. A friend told me to not expect as much as last year and now Im concerned about how that will affect our family. Can you offer any help for this year and tips to prepare for next year? Taxed Dear Taxed, Great question, since roughly 60% of Americans expect to receive a refund based on their income tax filings. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December 2017 made changes that impact all of us this year. Many Americans do not know how those changes will affect them and may be pleasantly surprised or extremely disappointed. The IRS released filing statistics for the week ending February 8th. The first two weeks of filing reveal that the number of returns is down and that refunds have dropped 8.7% with an average decrease of $186. These numbers are no reason to panic. We have another 6 weeks of statistics to analyze and some analysts predict higher returns. Lower refunds are not indicative of more taxes paid, but the fact that tax savings showed up in paychecks throughout the year. This is the situation for those who did not adjust their withholdings after the new tax law changes. The Facts Business Insider reported that UBS analyzed how the new tax law would affect tax refunds. The findings revealed the following: Singles may see a smaller refund A $10,000 cap for deducting state and local taxes (SALT) will lower refunds for higher-income residents of states with higher taxes (like California and New York). Married couples with two children may see an increase in refunds (especially those making less than $40,000 or between $125,000 and $400,000) due to the increase in size of the child tax credit and in the income threshold for claiming that credit. TIPS 1. Plan and File Early Minimize stress by organizing well to file sooner than later. Prepare adequately to avoid penalties and costly mistakes. Limit potential for tax identity theft. Online filing with direct deposit grants faster refund. The IRS may waive penalties if at least 85% of the tax liability has been paid. 2. Helpful Resources 3. Beware Of Depending on refunds as part of your budget Scams: review the IRS Dirty Dozen list The fees of tax refund advances or loans: prepare early so you dont need an advance Preparers who promise big refunds: cheating may grant a larger refund, but back taxes and jail time arent worth it 4. Work Toward a Zero Refund Remember, refunds are interest-free loans to the federal government. If you are in the habit of receiving large returns, adjust your withholding (and mindset) to use the monthly increase in pay towards giving, saving, and paying down debt. Focus on being a wise steward. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? (Luke 16:10-11 ESV) 5. Honor the Lord Paying taxes is an opportunity to honor the Lord by living in obedience to His word. Consider some of the passages that should guide us: He said to them, Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.(Luke 20:25 ESV) Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. (Romans 13:1-7 ESV) Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work (Titus 3:1a ESV) Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,whether it be to the emperor as supreme,or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servantsof God.Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2:13-16 ESV) 6. Pray Our country is becoming more and more polarized. Let us commit to praying for our leaders at the local, state and federal levels. Pray for wisdom, discernment, and humility for responsible spending. Pray they will stop borrowing, work towards limiting government, and conduct themselves with diligence and dignity. If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV) First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV) Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment 2018 was a year of unprecedented disasters in the United States. Hurricane Michael and Florence, as well as the fires in Paradise, California, were all the "worst ever" of their kind. Meanwhile, around the globe, famine, war, genocide, human trafficking, and hunger are at epic proportions. The Economist reports, Since 1970, the number of disasters worldwide has more than quadrupled to around 400 a year. The UNs disaster-monitoring system ranks America, India, and China as leaders in terms of nations with the most natural disasters between 1995 and 2015. According to the report, natural disasters are those that result in at least ten deaths, affect more than 100 people or prompt the declaration of a national emergency including earthquakes, storms, floods and heatwaves. The world needs more than band-aids, says Sean Malone Founder and Director of Crisis Response International (CRI), a Christian disaster response ministry focused on training and sending missionaries into areas of the world devastated by crises. An apostolic response is required to this crisis so that a great harvest of souls comes in and cities and nations are transformed, Malone continued. CRI has trained and mobilized 10,000 responders since 2007 and has pioneered this unique space in the missions world. There is something about crisis situations, whether one time events like a fire or hurricane or ongoing issues like poverty and human trafficking, where people realize their need for Christ and are typically more open to hearing about his love for them, continued Malone. The team of CRI missionaries has seen tremendous impact deploying teams of trained volunteers all over the world including Iraq, Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida, Dominica, South Carolina, and most recently to Paradise, CA to aid in the relief of thousands without homes and a death toll that reached over 80. Food, clothing, and shelter are considered stage one in the deployment effort. We first meet basic practical needs. We then minister to individuals spiritually, whether healing or trauma or deep grief and loss, explained Malone. The ministry, based out of Wilmington, NC partners with churches, individuals, and corporations to meet the practical and spiritual needs of those in crisis. Churches will often host teams of volunteers, individuals and corporations volunteer and donate goods to help meet the immense needs. People are at a loss as to how to process the devastation that occurs in crisis, said Karen Wyatt, board member of CRI and staff fundraiser. What people have spent years working for and building can be wiped out in a matter of hours. Helping people grasp the love of God for them individually and his eternal plan of a life without end and joy without limits gives people a hope that something good can come out of the seemingly hopeless circumstances. This work is something Malone started after working on the lighting crew during the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Working in the movie business, Malone used his lighting equipment to assist first responders in their recovery efforts. It was then that I knew God was calling me to this work. I began thinking, What if we could raise up an army of Christians to bring the kingdom of God into crisis? asked Malone. What does it mean for the kingdom of God to come into crisis situations? It means peace and joy despite the loss. It means prayer, healing, and help both spiritually and practically. It means rebuilding homes and lives with patience as we look for the city of God that will never end or be destroyed. When Jesus taught us to pray for the kingdom of God to come on earth as it is in heaven, why can't we experience that now? asks Malone. We are not content to just bring aid, we want to see demonstrations of God's mercy and goodness revealing himself in the midst of these crises. A New Base Coming off the epic crises of 2018 including Hurricane Michael and the Malibu and Paradise, CA fires, the vision for CRI is poised to reach new heights as the ministry has secured a new property in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. An 84 acres campus, includes room for staff housing, dormitories for students, space for a dedicated prayer room, strategy sessions, and space to build community and debrief after what can be incredibly stressful deployments. The base is assessed at $2.4 million but its being purchased for just over $600,000 with an estimated $400,000 needed in repairs bringing the budget to 1 million needed to launch the ministry into this new season. The ministry has already raised over $230,000 towards the property and is set to move in mid-February, but more support is needed as the ministry steps into this new season. We're so thankful for those who have partnered with us this far. We have more to raise to position us for maximum impact this spring, but we are confident and expectant of God's provision, said Wyatt. I believe it was Hudson Taylor who said, 'Gods will done in God's way will never lack God's provision. We have been believing God for a base for 10 years and now it's happening. Were looking forward to seeing and reporting back on all God is going to do in the years ahead. This base is a key step forward as we ready ourselves to train another 10,000 believers with practical skills and tangible solutions, Malone explained. The ministry is sounding the alarm for a company of prophetic mercy missionaries to answer the call to what they are calling mercy missions, people with a heart to serve those suffering with the compassion of Jesus. Our responders are some of the most generous, selfless people on earth. What they are giving up to serve in crisis situations is huge. Having a base to process, pray, and debrief at as well as train and develop practical skills in the midst of a supportive sending going community is essential, explained Malone. The base will position CRI to serve and help so many more people in the next season ahead as they serve one-time crisis events as well as bringing Christ-centered solutions to ongoing issues like clean water, homeless refugees, human trafficking and more. The vision of CRI is to train and mobilize an army of end-time prophetic, mercy missionaries to the theatre of crisis, mobilized in the spirit of night and day prayer, releasing great demonstrations of power and rebuilding cities on the Kingdom of God. For CRI this promised land is allowing them the opportunity to host long term in-depth training right on their base. This includes the upcoming ARC school, a 2 and a half month training focused on giving students in-depth skills to respond to national and global crisis situations so responders can become a full-time, hope-filled Mercy Missionary. Additional training include a Basic Training, April 2-6, Chaplaincy Intensive, April 9-13, Preparing Places of Refuge, April 30 - May 4, and Week in the Wild, May 14-18. We must understand the hour we live and know what to do, added Malone. Its time for those who have felt the call but had no platform or support to walk it out, to come forth and answer the call of God to impact nations in crisis. Church of England marks 25 years since first women were ordained to priesthood A service marking 25 years of the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of England was held at Lambeth Palace today. The guests included many women who were among the first to be ordained in 1994, some laypeople that were active in the campaign for the ordination of women, as well as ordinands and a range of other female clergy. The very first woman to be ordained, Rev Prebendary Angela Berners-Wilson, was in attendance. Women participating in the service ranged from bishops to ordinands. Rev Dr Isabelle Hamley, the Archbishop of Canterbury's chaplain, preached the sermon. Six women bishops attended the service: the Bishop of Derby, Rt Rev Libby Lane; the Bishop of Sherborne, Rt Rev Karen Gorham; the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley; the Bishop of Penrith, Rt Rev Dr Emma Ineson, the Bishop of Dorking, Rt Rev Dr Jo Bailey Wells, and the Bishop of Aston, Rt Rev Anne Hollinghurst. Archbishop Justin Welby welcomed guests to the service and gave the blessing. The service, which featured music from St Martin's Voices, was recorded by BBC Radio 4 and will be broadcast at 8:10 am on Sunday March 3. In her sermon, Dr Hamley, reflected on the gift of Jesus that Mary and Joseph were given, and the risks and responsibilities of nurturing it. 'Let us cherish this gift where it is public and obvious, and where it is hidden, private and yet equally powerful. Together, may we witness to the gift that lives in us, and the God who has called us to follow him,' she said. Speaking at the service, Welby said: 'Many of those here today have been pioneers as they work out what it means to be an ordained woman in the Church of England not just for themselves and their communities, but for the whole of the Body of Christ. Today let us bear witness to those who paved the way in 1994, as well as upholding those whose way into ministry has been opened up since.' The first group of women were ordained to the priesthood in Bristol Cathedral on March 12, 1994. Bishop Barry Rogerson, who presided at the ordination, sent this message today, which was read out at a reception after the service: 'Over the last 25 years I have observed and received the ministry of women in parishes, but also in chaplaincies; hospitals and hospices, schools, universities and prisons and know what an innovative and positive contribution women priests have made. Perhaps today we might give a thought for all those women, worldwide whose vocations to the priesthood have still been neither recognised nor tested.' Berners-Wilson said: 'It was an amazing thing to be by a few seconds the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England. Today I've been reflecting with great gratitude on those other women who were priested alongside me, and the many hundreds of others since. 'For 25 years it has been the greatest privilege to finally be able to live out my calling, after a 15-year probationary period first as a deaconess, then as a deacon. Today has been a day to celebrate all the women priests who have been enabled to grow into the fullness of who God has called them to be as bearers of Christ's good news for the world.' European EA slams 6-year jail sentence for Russian Jehovah's Witness The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has expressed alarm after the jailing of a Jehovah's Witness in Russia, warning of a 'deterioration' in religious freedom in the country. Dennis Christensen, a Danish citizen, was found guilty early last month of 'the organisation of extremist activity' and sentenced to six years in prison. A court in the region outlawed the local Jehovah's Witnesses a year earlier. Russia's Supreme Court later ruled the group was 'extremist' and ordered it to disband nationwide. Christiansen's detention, Russia's first extremism-related arrest of a Jehovah's Witness, foreshadowed dozens more. A builder, Christensen first went to Russia as a volunteer and married a Russian Jehovah's Witness. They later moved to Oryol, the city where an American missionary, Don Ossewaarde, was found guilty of illegal missionary activity in 2017. The EEA said in its statement: 'To the best of our knowledge, Mr Christensen has been convicted for the peaceful manifestation of his faith as a Jehovah Witness. Therefore, we cannot but conclude that the verdict of the Oryol court is a violation of Mr Christensen's right to Freedom of Religion or Belief.' It called on the Russian authorities to 'respect and fully implement its Constitution and international human rights obligations' and said it 'expresses its deep concern about the deterioration of Freedom of Religion or Belief in the Russian Federation and expresses its full support for all religious leaders, politicians, and human rights activists defending and promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief for all'. The EEAs statement is one of several from international organisations alarmed at Russia's treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said: 'The harsh sentence imposed on Christensen creates a dangerous precedent, and effectively criminalizes the right to freedom of religion or belief for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.' The ruling against Jehovah's Witnesses is the product of the so-called 'Yarovaya law', named after one of its creators, which among other things bans evangelism and 'missionary activities'. It has been criticised for privileging the Russian Orthodox Church, falling short of international human rights standards and being open to widely varying interpretations leading to local abuses. Historic Istanbul church vandalised in graffiti attack A historic Armenian church in in Istanbul has been vandalised with graffiti, sparking outrage among Christians and minorities activists. The messages in English and Arabic were found at the entrance of the Church of the Holy Mother of God (Balat Surp Hreshdagabet). According to a statement from the Church, photographs and video recordings have been handed to the police. The statement continued: 'It is our greatest wish that such events do not happen again and the criminals are punished.' Turkey's Armenian community was targeted for genocide in 1915, though Turkey still refuses to accept this; up to 1.5 million Armenians may have died and only around 100,000 still live in Turkey today. The church is open only one day a year and its entrance is built with stones from the church that hosted the historic Council of Nicea in 325 AD, according to Armenian writer Murad Mhc, who shared images of the vandalism on Twitter. Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of parliament, tweeted: 'A hate attack has been carried out against Balat Surp Hreshdagabet Armenian Church. Every year, scores of hate attacks are being carried out against churches and synagogues. Not just the perpetrators, but also the people who are behind them, should be addressed. For the most important part, the politics that produce hate should be ended.' Hate speech has also increased against Turkey's Protestant churches in the wake of the Andrew Brunson case, according to a recent report. International Christian Concern's regional manager for the Middle East, Claire Evans, said: 'Thankfully, no one was hurt during this incident. However, the gravity of the situation cannot be ignored. Armenian Christians have long suffered targeted harassment and violence in Turkey, which drove most to flee. The general increase of hate speech in Turkey directed against Christians sounds the alarm that the environment is increasingly hostile toward non-Muslims. 'Turkey purports itself to be a secular nation, a country which has turned over a new leaf. If such is true, then those who encourage and commit these hate crimes against Christians must be held accountable before the situation escalates to something worse.' Sacked lecturer accuses uni of 'bringing back blasphemy as a crime' An academic sacked for gross misconduct has accused his former university of 'bringing back blasphemy as a crime' after he expressed his 'antipathy' to religion. Dr Chris Hill, formerly a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, was initially suspended after emailing its student union in response to a notice about 'hate speech'. In it he argued that 'faith is not something to be admired', said religious beliefs were 'nonsense' and that he was legally permitted to express 'dislike' towards faith. He has also expressed opposition to funding for a faith centre, saying its 1 million cost would be better spent on the maths department. He said he felt his freedom of speech was being curtailed, adding: I believe there is a problem in that staff see any discussion of religion as problematic. The university has effectively reintroduced blasphemy as a crime on campus. In my view, critical thinking about religion is an essential part of democratic and academic life.' The 1 million allocated for the faith centre, he said, 'could have provided over 1,000 years of maths support for engineering students at Uclan'. The university has also dismissed a student, Sebastian Walsh, a UKIP member, who criticised the 'Islamisation' of the UK and said immigrants should be charged for using the NHS. A Uclan spokesperson told Metro that free speech at the university was not under threat and said it 'promotes lawful, open debate, the discussion of varying views and academic freedom' and has 'robust procedures to ensure this can take place'. When it comes to doing business in Texas, written contracts are supreme - more important legally than face-to-face promises, handshakes among longtime colleagues or even covert acts of intentional fraud by partners, according to a new precedent-setting decision by the highest court in Texas. The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled that a company victimized by the fraudulent conduct of a business partner cannot use the civil justice system to recover damages caused by the illegal activity if the two businesses signed a written contract covering the issues in question. The Texas justices ruled that a written contract between Mercedes-Benz USA and a South Texas car dealership, Carduco Inc., exempts the automaker from being held financially responsible for the economic losses it caused by its false oral promises and misleading comments, which a jury that heard all of the evidence in the case described as criminal. Because the conduct and actions of MBUSA on which Carduco relies to establish its fraudulent-inducement claim are directly contrary to the unambiguous terms of the contract it signed, we conclude that Carducos reliance thereon was unjustified as a matter of law, Justice John Devine wrote. The decision, according to several legal experts, is another example of the Texas Supreme Court shifting questions of fact that were traditionally decided by citizen juries to issues of law that will now be decided by judges. Some leading corporate attorneys praise the justices opinion, saying it preserves the sanctity of business-to-business contracts and follows the state supreme courts ongoing reliance on written contracts even when they contradict oral promises made during the transaction. A contracting party cannot justifiably rely on extra-contractual representations that contradict the language to which he agreed in the contract that he signed, said Ray Guy, a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The court correctly pointed out that if, indeed, the execution of the contract was induced by an oral representation, Carducos duty to exercise ordinary care and diligence in protecting its own interests required that Carduco and its lawyers insist on revision of the contradictory provisions of the written contract, Guy said. Other business lawyers say that the decision essentially eviscerates the role of juries and solidifies the Texas Supreme Courts position as one of the most pro-defendant appellate courts in the U.S., even when the plaintiff is another business. Pete Marketos, a partner at Reese Marketos and lawyer for Harlingen car dealer Carduco Inc., said the justices ignored overwhelming evidence presented at trial to come to its conclusion. The courts opinion resembles the case we tried to the jury in that the names of the parties were correct, Marketos told The Texas Lawbook. This was the clearest case of fraud I have encountered in a 20-year career of trying business disputes. Thats why a unanimous jury found felony deception beyond a reasonable doubt. In order to arrive at this result, the court first had to start with its intended result and work its way backwards - changing the facts and claims as necessary to justify a preordained outcome, he said. Legal protection from felony-level deception and fraud in Texas business erodes with each opinion this court issues. Mercedes-Benz USA v. Carduco is a decade-long, nine-digit dollar dispute between two businesses. Carduco claims that Mercedes and three of its executives intentionally devised a scheme to defraud the South Texas car dealer by sabotaging the owners business. A Cameron County jury heard two weeks of evidence and ruled that the elite automaker pressured Carducos owner to spend millions of dollars to relocate the dealership to McAllen, but that Mercedes secretly negotiated a separate agreement with another dealer to move into the same town, which Mercedes knew would severely damage revenue and profits at Carduco. Mercedes corporate representatives admitted that the information passed on to Carduco was false, misleading and untrue, Marketos said. The jury awarded Carduco $15 million in compensatory damages and also found beyond a reasonable doubt that Mercedes conduct violated the states deceptive trade practices laws and ordered the automaker to pay $115 million in punitive damages. Carlos Becerra / Bloomberg Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA, drowning in debt, just got hit with another lawsuit, this time from Houston-based Dresser-Rand. Dresser-Rand, an engineering and manufacturing company that supplies equipment to the oil and gas industry, sued PDVSA alleging it has been in default on bond payments since October 2017. It claims PDVSA made only the first two required payments on the $119.6 million principal amount and then stopped paying. OPECs crude production slumped again last month as the cartel implemented planned cutbacks in full and some members were hit by U.S. sanctions. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates delivered all -- and in some cases more -- of the supply curbs they pledged to try to prevent a global glut. OPEC and its allies are embarking on a new round of cuts as record American shale output and fragile fuel demand put downward pressure on crude prices. Still, almost half of the output drop was caused by unplanned losses in Venezuela and Iran, which are under trade restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump. The plunge shows that, despite Trumps guidance this week that OPEC should relax instead of restraining supply, the groups production is highly influenced by the presidents foreign policy. RELATED: Saudi Arabia's crude supply to U.S. Gulf falling fast and hard Output from the 14 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fell by 560,000 barrels a day in February to 30.5 million a day, according to a Bloomberg survey of officials, analysts and ship-tracking data. As a result, the 11 members involved in the agreement to rein in supply have implemented 108 percent of the reduction they announced late last year. Their output is broadly in line with the 30.6 million daily barrels the group estimates is needed this year, meaning that global markets should be in balance. Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih gently rebuffed Trumps call to ease up on the strategy, saying in Riyadh on Feb. 27 that OPEC should continue to limit supply into the second half of the year. At about $66 a barrel, crude prices remain below the levels needed by the kingdom, and most other OPEC members, to cover government spending. SUPPLY: Big crude inventory draw helps boost oil prices Venezuela, Iran Nevertheless, about 250,000 barrels of Februarys output reduction came from members exempt from the supply accord. Venezuela suffered the biggest decline, losing 160,000 barrels a day to 1.07 million a day, the lowest since a labor strike virtually shut down the countrys production in 2003. The U.S., Venezuelas biggest oil customer, is banning imports as Trump accuses President Nicolas Maduro of fraudulently clinging to power, and gives backing to Maduros political opponents. Iran saw the next-biggest reduction, declining by 90,000 barrels a day to 2.65 million, the lowest since 2013. The U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Irans oil trade late last year after Trump abandoned an accord with the Islamic Republic relating to its nuclear program. --With assistance from Salma El Wardany, Julian Lee, Anthony DiPaola, John Deane, Verity Ratcliffe, Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, Brian Wingfield, Prejula Prem and Lucia Kassai. 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Parkway Property Investments has landed several technology companies as tenants in Greenway Plaza. ThoughtTrace has signed a 4,358-square-foot leased in Phoenix Tower, 3200 Southwest Freeway, for its U.S. headquarters. The company, which has regional sales offices in Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Oklahoma City and Pennsylvania, uses artificial intelligence to help enterprises review and validate information in contracts and legal documents. Allie Hubbard, Brandi McDonald and Christina Ott with Limestone Commercial represented the tenant. Rima Soroka and JP Hutcheson represented Parkway in-house. Move-in is planned in the first quarter. DMC, a project-based engineering and software development firm based Chicago, has leased 6,403 square feet in 8 Greenway Plaza for relocation of its Upper Kirby office in the third quarter. William Padon of CBRE represented the tenant, while Soroka and Hutcheson represented Parkway. Detechtion Technologies, a global provider of industrial "internet of things" and mobility solutions in the oil and gas industry, relocated its headquarters to 12,000 square feet at 8 Greenway Plaza. Amanda Nebel and Eric Siegrist represented Parkway in-house, while Joshua Brown and Evan Roland of Newmark Knight Frank represented the tenant. The Greenway Plaza deals come on top of about 30,000 square feet of recent leases for NextSeed, Joule Processing, SkillGigs and Marker Therapeutics. Nuveen Real Estate, a division of TIAA, has purchased a light-industrial portfolio consisting of 18 buildings totaling 2.3 million square feet in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Pennsylvania/New Jersey from Dallas-based Colony Industrial. CBRE National Partners represented Colony Industrial in the $136 million sale. The local properties included two buildings at 410 S. Trade Center, 18207 and 18209 Chisholm Trail and 4023 Westhollow. Goldman Sachs Asset Management Private Real Estate has acquired the Retreat at Shadow Creek Ranch, a 370-unit apartment complex at 2500 Business Center Drive, Pearland. Improvements are planned to the common areas and to the units, including upgrading kitchen and bathroom sinks, lighting and countertops. The property was built in 2013. Liberty Lift Solutions, an energy services company, has leased 10,936 square feet of office space at 16420 Park Ten Place Drive from Highbrook Investment Management. Griff Bandy of NAI Partners represented the tenant. Texas Installs, an appliance distribution and installation company for Electrolux Major Appliances USA, entered a design/build deal for a 20,000-square-foot industrial facility at 4633 Kennedy Commerce. Chris Caudill of NAI Partners represented Texas Installs. Copeland Rhea with Clay Development & Construction is handling the construction. NAI Partners Investment Fund has fully deployed its Fund II portfolio with the acquisitions of Leghorn Service Center, a 66,530-square-foot industrial building in northwest Houston; and Clear Lake Business Center, a 149,305-square-foot flex park adjacent to Texas 3 in Webster. Both are about 80 percent occupied. Andrew Pappas, Adam Hawkins and John Nolan of NAI Partners negotiated and closed the deals. NAI partnered with Kevin Hassenflu of Amegy Bank for debt financing. The seller was Berkeley Properties. TriArc Properties has purchased Smart Living at Stuebner Airline, a 112-unit apartment complex at 7020 Stuebner Airline Road, just southwest of Interstate 45 at West Little York Road, from Stuebner Trees LP. Cortney Cole of HFF arranged acquisition financing through Veritex Community Bank. The 4.35-acre property was completed in 2015 and totals 81,502 square feet. HFF assisted TriArc purchased the neighboring 4 Eighty West Parker apartments last year. SLI Group, a Houston-based commercial design/build firm, has leased 18,000 square feet at Broadfield at Park Ten, 15810 Park Ten Place. The deal takes the 85,050-square-foot buildings occupancy rate to more than 85 percent. Matthew Goldsby of Belvoir Real Estate Group and Dennis Nelson of Mission Cos. represented the landlord, while Blake Virgilio of Caldwell Cos. and David Price of Cresa Partners represented the tenant. A venture of Belvoir and Mission recently purchased the building from a Chief Partners and Stream Realty Partners. katherine.feser@chron.com twitter.com/kfeser Puppies! Well, hello there, little fellas! You're so cute! "I just want to get everyone's attention for a minute," said Alex Young, who might as well have been tossing out $100 bills while trying to rein in our group of nine visitors. I felt bad for ignoring Young, our tour guide at Southeastern Guide Dogs, a nonprofit breeding, raising and training facility in Palmetto, Florida, but not enough to listen to what she was saying. Because, puppies! We'd spotted the five 7-week-old yellow Labrador retrievers behind a window, two snoozing in a spoon position and the rest competing for space on a ledge to greet us, their tiny tails moving like mini-wipers on high speed. In return, we oohed and cooed, speaking in baby talk. Young finally tore us away, and started the tour with an introductory video narrated by Southeastern CEO Titus Herman. "I know you're not here to see me," he began. "You're here to see puppies." Indeed, the folks here know what they're up against. They hope visitors will learn a few things about this training ground for service dogs while intermittently taking us to work areas that might contain puppies! Since Southeastern started business in 1982, it has bred, raised and trained thousands of dogs - Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and a mix of the two called goldadors, all working toward the mission of transforming the lives of people in need. Its programs take dogs from birth to puppy preschool and kindergarten to volunteer "puppy-raiser" homes off campus, then back for advanced training and ultimately placement with the two main categories of people they serve. Guide dogs go to visually impaired people and service dogs are for veterans with disabilities and Gold Star families. The organization, housed on a 33-acre campus between St. Petersburg and Sarasota, employs some of the most innovative scientists and trainers in the working-dog industry and says it operates the most advanced training facilities of any service dog organization in the world. Southeastern matches about 100 guide and service dog teams yearly and estimates a price tag of $50,000 per dog to breed, raise, train and match the canines. All services, including training and lifetime follow-up, are free to recipients, and the organization is fully funded through donations. The public tours, held several times a week, take visitors through six buildings to view whatever happens to be going on at the time. There's also an indoor multimedia show available for those who prefer to skip the walking tour. Our first stop after the introductory video was to peer through windows at an 8-week-old yellow lab being assessed to deduce its natural strengths and weaknesses. A sign on the door - "Quiet please: puppy testing in progress" - compelled us to keep our squeals to a minimum as we watched the adorable fluff ball confront various obstacles, including a fake owl, a set of plastic stairs and a woman coming at the dog with a broom. Instead of running from it, the dog playfully went after it. Confident ones make the best guide and service dogs, Young said, and this one seemed on its way. Next up was puppy preschool, where we watched a volunteer playing with a 4-week-old black lab with the goal of exposing the dog to both people and a host of "distractions." She tossed it toys, had it walk on mats of various surfaces, opened an umbrella nearby and held different scents under its nose. Young explained that the bib the pup wore was to start getting it used to the feel of a guide harness or service vest. Before we left, the volunteer held the little one up to the window so we could feverishly wave like 5-year-olds at a parade and exclaim, "Hello, puppy!" The whelping, or delivery, area is off-limits, but we could watch the mothers and their litters on a wall of video feeds. Some 275 puppies are born at the facility each year, which has a six-person genetics and reproduction staff. About 40 to 50 females are mated with 15 males - breeders live at homes of volunteer breeder hosts, which must be no more than 75 minutes from campus "for reproductive urgency," Young said. Young said the dogs born here usually grow to 45 or 50 pounds, which is relatively small for the breed. The focus, she said, is on health and temperament. At about 12 weeks, the dogs go to trained volunteer puppy raisers - there are about 300 spread across seven southeastern states. Their job is to socialize the dog and give it many opportunities to be out in public. The dogs are returned to the center for "university" at about 15 months. "The most-asked question on the tours is how the puppy raisers are able to give the dogs back," Young said. "What they tell us is, 'I love this puppy, but someone else needs it.' " As for the puppy's reaction, "they're really great at bonding to the next person," she said. As we walked across campus to the veterinary center, we saw a couple of people walking adult dogs, but most canines in training were out and about on different tasks, including walking city streets and going to shopping areas all over the greater Tampa Bay area, Young said. At the veterinary center, where some 700 puppies and dogs are cared for each year, we watched another short video that explained the center's use of advanced medicine as well as holistic approaches. The center will soon add a conditioning aquatic center and hydrotherapy tanks. "I have something exciting for you," Young told us as an attendant trotted up with the energetic Papa Bear, a nearly 2-year-old yellow lab who had nearly completed university. We all but lunged at him, taking turns giving and receiving hugs and kisses. As I brushed his hair off my clothes, I asked Young if the stellar scientists here have done anything to eliminate shedding. Sadly, the answer was no. Next on the stop was the new indoor training center, where we learned that before the guide dogs graduate, they'll learn more than 40 commands, while service dogs will learn up to 20. The guide dogs also learn "intelligent disobedience" in case they've outsmarted their humans. Throughout the training program, only positive reinforcement is used, initially with the aid of treats but later solely through verbal praise and petting. Young said the matching of dogs to humans, done when the dogs are around 2 years old, is an art and a science, with trainers considering personalities, and an individual's lifestyle, pace, and activity level. The dogs typically work until they're 11 years old, the mandated retirement age. (Dogs that appear not suited for guide or service work go into different "careers," including public service, such as drug detection, and private adoption.) Each year, several classes are held to teach the "handlers," people receiving the dogs, how to work with them. They stay for two to three weeks and are housed in private rooms with en suite bathrooms - indoors for the human and out back for the canine. A highlight during the course is "Puppy Raiser Day," when the puppy raisers come to see their grown pup and the person matched to the dog. "The dog is surrounded by the three people it loves the most and the people who love the dog the most: the handler, the raiser and the trainer," Young said. "There are a lot of tears." At the tail end of our tour, we happened upon a trio of cavorting labs in an outdoors fenced-in area. They'd just finished lunch and their trainers were giving them a break before their next lesson. For our group, it was the final treat: Puppies! - - - If you go: Southeastern Guide Dogs 4210 77th St. East Palmetto, Fla. 941-729-5665 guidedogs.org Public tours are held several times a week year-round and must be reserved in advance. Guided walking tours cost $15 and the multimedia presentation "Creation of a Superhero" costs $10. Walking tours, limited to groups of nine, often sell out in advance. The on-campus gift shop is open to the public 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Harris County Department of Education Trustee Eric Dick called for the resignation of fellow Trustee Michael Wolfe on the heels of an investigation that alleged Wolfe asked a job applicant on a date and smeared her reputation when she refused. In a statement sent to the Chronicle, Dick said the investigation's findings were a victory for the alleged victim and asked other women to come forward if they had been harassed by Wolfe. "The investigation clearly shows that Mike Wolfe is a pervert. He should resign immediately. If he refuses, I beg the county attorney to file a lawsuit to remove him," Dick wrote. "It is unacceptable to serve as an elected official when you sexually harassed someone." RELATED: Harris County education official harassed female job applicant, according to report In January, Dick notified HCDE's administration that Wolfe, a longtime GOP activist, may have asked a woman on a date while she applied to be the board's secretary. Jared Woodfill, an attorney for Wolfe, said the allegations against his client were fiction and created by Dick in an effort to end Wolfe's political career. "(Wolfe)'s upset this smear campaign is being leveled against him," Woodfill said. "It appears Mr. Dick is doing what he can to smear Michael Wolfe's reputation." The board voted Wednesday evening to ask board attorney Sarah Langlois to draft a censure and to accept the findings of an investigation into Wolfe, which was compiled by Dallas-based labor attorney Harry Jones. HCDE Superintendent James Colbert Jr. asked Jones to dig into the allegations. If the board votes to censure Wolfe, Woodfill said, he may file a lawsuit. READ ALSO: At Harris County Dept. of Education, critics take control of board The report, obtained by the Chronicle on Thursday, alleged both Dick and Wolfe "hand-picked" job applicants for interviews who were "more friendly politically and otherwise" to their philosophy. Dick previously had tried to set one of his selected applicants up on a date with Wolfe a year before she applied for the HCDE job, but nothing came out of it. At the time, he allegedly told Wolfe he "needed to date an Asian," a choice of words Dick said he now regrets. The report refers to this woman as Jane Doe. "Although my statements were immature and inappropriate, I would encourage reporters in the future to not write about identifying features of victims (ie: race and nationality)," Dick said. "Our focus should be protecting the anonymity of Jane Doe." Harris County Ed Dept. prompts questions with special board meeting Wolfe allegedly asked the woman on a date, and after she refused, gave her low marks as she interviewed to be the board's secretary. The report also alleged Wolfe called another Republican official when the woman applied for another job, and asked him to take her name out of consideration. Dick said the investigation's findings validated his suspicions. HCDE board stands by Head Start after trustee proposes cutting programs Dick's statement in full: "I'm very proud of the work that HCDE has done in investigating and concluding that Mike Wolfe sexually harassed, retaliated against, and smeared Jane Doe. This is a victory for Jane Doe and, in general, victims of sexual predators. I fear that this may not be an isolated incident and urge victims of Mike Wolfe to report what happened. The investigation clearly shows that Mike Wolfe is a pervert. He should resign immediately. If he refuses, I beg the County Attorney to file a law suit to remove him. It is unacceptable to serve as an elected official when you sexually harassed someone. Also, although my statements were immature and inappropriate, I would encourage reporters in the future to not write about identifying features of victims (ie: race and nationality). Our focus should be protecting the anonymity of Jane Doe." shelby.webb@chron.com twitter.com/shelbywebb Federal officials have given Houston liquefied natural gas company Cheniere Energy permission to put its first production unit at Corpus Christi LNG into commercial service and begin exports. Less than a month after an inspection, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission officials issued an order Friday morning giving Cheniere permission to put an LNG production unit known as Train 1 into service adding that the company can begin export activities. Receiving natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale and other sources, the Train 1 production unit is used to supercool natural gas until it becomes a liquid that can shipped on tankers around the world. Located along the La Quinta Ship Channel in Ingleside, the $15 billion Corpus Christi LNG facility is the first liquefied natural gas export terminal to be brought into commercial service in Texas. Legal Dispute: Cheniere Energy sues former CEO Charif Souki over $46 million loan Construction at Corpus Christi LNG started in 2015, with Train 1 completed in November 2018. As part of a months long-startup and testing process known as commissioning, Cheniere exported two cargoes of LNG from Train 1 to Greece and the United Kingdom in December. With the FERC order in hand, Cheniere can now begin commercial operations and regular exports at the facility. Train 1 is just the beginning at Corpus Christi LNG. Cheniere has already begun the startup process at the facility for a second production unit there known as Train 2 while construction for a third production unit known as Train 3 continues. Fuel Fix: Receive daily energy news headlines in your inbox In addition to Corpus Christi LNG, Cheniere owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Cameron Parish, La., where the company has been exporting liquefied natural gas since February 2016. Founded in 1983, Cheniere Energy employs nearly 1,400 people in Texas and Louisiana. Amid a record 273 export cargoes to 32 nations, the company closed 2018 with a $471 million profit on $8 billion of revenue. Karen Warren/Staff Houston-based midstream company Targa Resources has launched a one-week open season to book capacity along a proposed pipeline to move natural gas liquids from New Mexico to Midland. Targa announced on Friday that it is seeking to gauge interest in the company's Grand Prix Pipeline, a project to move natural gas liquids from Lea County, New Mexico, to a processing plant in Midland County, Texas. Austin-based filmmaker Ty Roberts' "The Iron Orchard," made for just $1 million, opens Friday. The movie, based on the 1966 novel by Fort Worth's Tom Pendleton, follows an early 20th century wildcatter from bust to boom to bust. Roberts was able to meet his meager budget through the generosity of his fellow Texans. The film was shot in Midland, Big Spring, Austin and Gail, and all along the way people donated what they could. For example, Roberts said, the cast and crew lodged for free at Big Spring's Settle's Hotel. People with vintage cars appropriate for the movie time period loaned them to the filmmaker. A ranch was even offered up. The review at HoustonChronicle.com: 'Iron Orchard' not as poetic as it looks "We were scouting one day, looking at this old gas station," Roberts said. "A guy pulls up and said, 'Can I help you boys?' We said, 'We're making a movie.' Next thing we know, he has three cars, a gas station, a ranch, and he's lending it all to us." The kindness of the locals surprised the film crew. "Most people couldn't believe it. We had some L.A. crew who came out, some Georgia crew and (some from) Austin and Dallas, and everybody was just like, 'I can't believe how the West Texas mentality is to be part of this and help support it.' It was above and beyond." At HoustonChronicle.com, Roberts reveals the personal history that inspired him to make the movie and why he pitched it as a "Mad Men" of the oil patch. 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. An attorney hired by the Katy Independent School District said he found no evidence of fraud or corruption within the Katy ISD Police Department following allegations leveled in January by Sean Dolan, a school board candidate and frequent critic of district leadership. Dallas-based lawyer Harry Jones said interviews were conducted with more than 50 people both current and former Katy ISD employees and thousands of documents were reviewed to find any evidence of wrongdoing within the Katy ISD Police Department. Jones frequently referred to the accusations as the Dolan Claims. The Dolan Claims are not supported by facts. They are not corroborated by any witnesses, Jones told trustees during its Feb. 25 meeting. Dolan said a former Katy ISD police officer told him statements taken from students during criminal investigations were being altered to protect the school district. The actions were resulting in students being sent to jail. Dolan also made a public information request for five specific case files from the Katy ISD Police Department. Within 48 hours of the January 28 school board meeting, Katy ISD retained Littler Mendelson, P.C. the law firm Jones works for to conduct an inquiry. CHRON EXCLUSIVE: Katy ISD loses hundreds of teachers in three years The direction I was given was that if a crime, as alleged in the Dolan claims, appeared to have been committed, we were to report it without even waiting for the districts approval, Jones said. The district told me to take a broad approach to go wide and deep. Dolan said he objected to the school district spending more than $35,000 to hire a private law firm to investigate their police department. Hes not law enforcement. Why isnt a law enforcement officer coming in who is sworn to uphold the Constitution? Dolan said. He can lie to me. Hes held to no standard. Jones said his investigation was completely independent and would not have taken the assignment had Katy ISD attempted to direct the outcome. A fresh set of eyes is always better. I had no dog in the hunt, he said. Will will not allow an institution to steer our investigation. Nobody told us who we could talk to (or) who we could not talk to. Jones said (Dolans) request for the five Katy ISD police case files gave them a path to follow in their investigation. Dolan acknowledged four were not tainted and asked for them only to shield the one case file that had been. To determine if possible crimes such as suborning perjury or witness tampering had been committed by rogue Katy ISD police officers, Jones and his team opted to examine each of the cases. DOLAN: Katy ISD critic announces run for trustee I urged (Dolan) to identify which file was the corrupt one because my hourly rate is quite high, Jones said. I told him, Dont withhold information. The best way for you to help me stop what was happening was to tell me. Although he didnt have any power to compel cooperation from witnesses, Jones said everyone even disgruntled former Katy ISD employees who had been fired - agreed to speak to them. The only exception was Dolan. No one said someone would alter a statement. No corruption was identified by any of them, he said. The first file in the list asked for by Dolan involved a campus custodian who had lost a master key. The second case was about cars being burglarized in a school parking lot. Again, no student connection. The third involved an at-school drug paraphernalia case that Jones called a righteous bust. Jones said he interviewed the student who had reported the incident to authorities. That student owned up to every single part of her statement, Jones said. I walked her through every single line (and) every single word. It was her own handwriting. The fifth file involved a fight on campus. While he acknowledged some parental complaints about how that investigation proceeded, it didnt result in any Katy ISD student going to jail, Jones said. We did look at that as much as we could. We looked at every single bit of video evidence and couldnt find any incompetence let alone corruption, he said. A LOOK BACK: Katy ISD leadership dominates headlines in 2018 Dolan later released a statement again arguing such an investigation should be carried out by law enforcement officers at no cost to the taxpayer. Due to the inability of a private investigator to exercise subpoena authority, compel testimony from witnesses, exercise any type of arrest authority or exercise any authority in general, it was quite clear that it was impossible for a hired investigator to conduct anything more than a superficial investigation, he said. It appears to me that this investigation seeks not to uncover misconduct but rather cover-up misconduct. Although he acknowledged any organization might find ways to improve their operation, Jones said they found no examples of fraud or corruption within the Katy ISD Police Department. He said the department has a strong record for self policing. A former officer was indicted in 2003 and later fired for tampering with evidence, he said. I could honestly profess that Katy ISD could be proud of its police department its leaders and its rank and file, Jones said. Jones told Katy ISD trustee Bill Lacy it was possible the price tag might have been substantially reduced had Dolan cooperated with 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. Its refreshing to hear that our police force is as stellar as what you have reported, Lacy said. Katy ISD general counsel Justin Graham told trustee George Scott the board could consider discussing pursuing a civil claim because of the expense required to investigation the allegations of corruption within the police department. Board member Susan Gesoff used the occasion to acknowledge the Katy ISD police officers in the room. Thank you for protecting our children and our community. Thank you for being the ones who run in when the rest of us want to run out, he said. Thank you for loving our kids. mike.glenn@chron.com You may remember Michael Brown, the Lamar High School senior who last year received acceptance letters - and full ride offers - from all 20 colleges that he applied to. Now he's a freshman at Stanford University. And a proud Breakthrough Houston alum. Brown applied to the non-profit organization, which employs a two-fold approach to college readiness and teacher retention, when he was just a gifted, yet under-deserved sixth-grader in search of a more challenging classroom environment. ROOTS OF TEXAS: Here's where you can celebrate Texas Independence Day When Breakthrough Houston asked him to speak at it's "Expanding Our Horizons" luncheon on Feb. 25, he declined. As expected, Stanford's course load is no joke, so Brown sent his mother, Berthinia Rutledge-Brown, in his stead. Organizers also tapped another well-known local, H-E-B president Scott McClelland, to address the 400-strong crowd assembled in St. John's School's Hogwarts-esque Flores Hall. And McClelland did not hold back. "Education is the topic I'm most passionate about - after groceries, of course," he said before sharing his own lower-middle class, public education backgrounder. "I want to preface that this is not about your kids, this is about every kid. "The zip code your kids grow up in and who their parents are should not determine the quality of their education." There's a reason, he continued, that San Antonio is a magnet for call centers while San Francisco and Boston have more technologically advanced industries. "And there's a reason why Amazon chose not to come to Houston," McClelland told the hushed crowd after reminding everyone that the juggernaut e-tailer's founder and CEO attended River Oaks Elementary, just down the street. "We lack that caliber of highly-educated workforce." The issue, he asserted, is two-fold. Houston transfers in a significant number of out-of-state employees. "And with shattering the glass ceiling, for all the right reasons, the prestige of teaching has faded." Breakthrough Houston aims to mend both gaps by preparing gifted area students with limited resources for competitive high school and college environments in addition to investing in education reform for teachers. FOR HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM SUBSCRIBERS: It's not an accent wall anymore. It's a 'statement' wall. To that point, co-chairs Sarah and Brooks Shughart, Sue and Randy Sim and Alicia and Matthew Summers raised $238,000 towards the mission. Attendees also celebrated the organization's expansion into a third site at St. John's in collaboration with HISD and Connect Community. Existing campuses are located within KIPP CONNECT and Gregory Lincoln Education Center. There was no pop quiz, though the stimulating program gave supporters plenty to consider over cafeteria lunches and Beck's Prime signature milkshakes. PREVIEW: Find fun things to do and see around Houston in our weekly Preview newsletter. Subscribe here. After qualifying as one of two community colleges allowed in a NASA challenge, a group of Lone Star College-CyFair students has the chance to not only test their creation out in a NASA facility, but to have it used in future projects on the International Space Station. Mirco-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Challenge or NExT invited 24 teams from around the country to create a tool meant to address space exploration challenges. One of those teams was LSC-CyFairs own Team Cy-SMIC Station Mounted Interface for Cameras. Teams will visit the NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in the summer for the test to determine who completed their challenge the best by using it in the space designed to simulate movement in space. Team Cy-SMIC is voluntarily working on the challenge after most were selected by their adviser professor Yiheng Wang from one of her classes. Last year, team CERO from LSC-CyFair had their prototype, a zip tie cutter tool concept, chosen by NASA and used for flight design development for astronauts. Wang said she hopes the new team can complete the challenge this year as well. Justin Gallegos, a mechanical engineering student working on the project, said the camera attachment mechanism prototype is meant to help astronauts and their team have a better view by attaching cameras to the outside of the International Space Station. Team Cy-SMIC has been working on the project since the beginning of the fall semester. They have a few places where they can put a camera on a stick but the locations are pretty sparse, it's either there or nowhere, he said. It helps give them more spatial awareness too. They have a big team on the ground here supporting the astronauts during their (missions,) so it helps them to be more aware of the surroundings around the astronauts, which translates into better assistance from them. Each member of the team, including Gallegos, civil engineering students Andres Ledesma and Fei Xie, mechanical engineer students Daniel Lavarde and David Rubio and mechanical design student Tripp Manzella, provides their ideas for the project and then the team works on designs. Gallegos said problems that arose include conceiving a design thats good in theory, but requires an expensive manufacturing process, as well as a misunderstanding about a two-fault system for the prototype that would function as a backup, which the team has since corrected. Xie said the process has required experimentation and shifting of designs. A lot of times we come with ideas first and then we would do (computer-aided design) modeling, so whoever comes up with an idea, we do 3D models in Solidworks, she said. Some of us have our individual 3D printers so we print them out and see how they work together and figure out from there how to improve on that. One step after another, basically. Team Cy-SMIC has been photographing and documenting their progress weekly, turning in a 35-page report for their projects at one point, Lavarde said. The team is also participating in the Texas Space Grant Consortium Annual Design Challenge and won first place for best model in the fall, according to a press release. The group said they are happy to have the experience of crafting the prototype for the real life experience, including the need to collaborate, share ideas and explain their thoughts through technical writing and speech. Wang said she hopes to make the challenge into a course for LSC-CyFair students to earn credits and experience in the future. I recognize that (Team Cy-SMIC) were all taking the same class with me and that's how I recruited students to begin with, the engineering graphics class, she said. Starting this coming fall I plan to do it again with a new group of students, but I want to offer it as an honors class. In May, the team will head to the NBL to test their prototype to see if it completes the challenge and possibly have their mechanism utilized by NASA. chevall.pryce@chron.com Even though she excels at many art genres, Elena Armendariz has a specialty: hyperrealism. In fact, her colored pencil drawing, which was chosen to go to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this year, garnered her a best in show award. It took about a month, month and a half to do, she said of her drawing, which consists of two donkeys. Ive entered every year, and the best Ive gotten before now was runner-up. I was worried Id graduate and never win; so it was really, really nice to feel like all my hard work paid off this time. Armendariz said that the secret to hyperrealism is time, patience and lots and lots of layering. It really comes down to the details, she said. You have to really carefully layer the colors youre using. Its a superintense style because you have to have a lot of focus. I think thats why I like it. The 17-year-old Deer Park High School senior said that her art teacher, Kate Harrel, visited a ranch before the assignment and took photos for reference material to hand out to her students. Detailed study of a nosy donkey They were beautiful pictures of the animals and the land, and one of them really caught my eye, said Armendariz. It was a photo of these two donkeys. One of them was very close to the camera and one was off in the distance, and I loved it. The one closest to the camera looks curious, almost like hes being nosy and in your business. You can see all of the detail in his fur and his eyes. Then the other one, the one further away, was a little more out of focus, so by choosing this for reference material I got to try to capture that look. The work would likely seem daunting to most people, but not to Armendariz. I love illustrating eyes, she said. Making them glossy, all the layering thats involved and then when youre done it looks like a real photograph I love the intensity of drawing something like that. Apart from her natural ability, the student said that much of her focus comes from people helping her to cultivate her interest in art people like her family and Harrel, who was also her junior high art teacher. Ms. Harrel was a junior high art teacher and moved up to high school. So, Ive gotten to have her for several years, Armendariz said. Shes very knowledgeable and encouraging. Shes very hands-on, and gives us constructive criticism. When you draw something, its natural, I think, for you to see your own flaws in the work. But she points out what you did well and helps to celebrate it she helps you through rough patches. Shes always pushing us to do more and to try new things. Family spends time drawing together Armendariz is not the only art-inclined member of her family. My mom used to be a really good artist, she said. When I was little, and even now, we would all sit around and spend time as a family drawing. Well sit down together and say, Lets draw a beach, and its always so interesting to see how different all of our ideas are. Youre drawing the same thing, but everyones idea of what that thing looks like is very different. It brought us closer as a family and let us see things from each others perspective in an interesting way. Armendariz has been accepted to the University of Houston but plans on going to San Jacinto College first to complete basics before moving on to pursue a degree in computer science. It seems like a completely different route, but what Im really doing is trying to marry my love of art and love of technology together, she said. With my computer science degree, Id like to make sure theres a visual-art component with that and try to do virtual reality or 3D models. Art wont ever be completely out of my life. Its too important to me. Montgomery County Commissioners approved separate tax abatement agreements for the expansion of Alight Solutions in The Woodlands and Old Dominion Freight Line in Conroe. Illinois-based Alight Solutions LLC is expanding its presence in The Woodlands thanks to a $27 million ten-year tax abatement approved by commissioners Tuesday. Currently located on Lakeside Drive, the company is planning a multistory 180,000 square feet office building with a 115,000 square foot parking garage on new Trails Drive. The company is leasing the 13-acre site from The Woodlands Land Development Co. According to Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae, the expansion will retain 950 jobs with an annual payroll of $47.5 million and will include $30.4 million in improvements on the site. Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said he was happy the company chose to stay in The Woodlands since company officials were considering a location in Harris County. Im not a real big fan of tax abatement when there is an entity already here, he said. But this is a new facility and keeping these jobs here is going to be important. Founded in 1940, Alight Solutions is the fourth largest employer in The Woodlands and operates as a benefits administration and cloud-based human resource and financial solutions providers according to its website. It offers human resources outsourcing and consulting services. The company provides HR and financial solutions including software as a service advisory, cloud deployment solutions, support and application management services. It also offers health and wealth solutions such as benefits administration, contribution administration, advocacy, reimbursements, dependent verification and compliance solutions. Commissioner also approved a $9.4 million eight-year tax abatement with North Carolina-based Old Dominion Freight Line for the expansion of its Conroe location. McRae said the proposed facility will include 32,550 square feet of cross dock and 5,360 office space. The company is purchasing the 24.6-acre tract in the Conroe North Park Industrial Park. The project will create 95 jobs over the course of eight years, 45 within the first year, with an annual payroll of $5.3 million. Founded in 1934, Old Dominion Freight Line is a less than truckload shipping company, according to its website. It offers regional, inter-regional and national LTL service. In addition to its core LTL services, the company offers logistics services including ground and air expedited transportation, supply chain consulting, transportation management, truckload brokerage, container delivery and warehousing, as well as household moving services. cdominguez@hcnonline.com 3 1 of 3 courtesy of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 2 of 3 MCSO / MCSO Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A 50-year-old woman was arrested and charged last week accused of sexually assaulting a child in 2013 in a case where she says she was induced to the act by a former Montgomery County Jail guard currently serving a 25-year sentence for an unrelated incident. The Conroe Police Department began an investigation on Beth Angela Bristow, of Conroe after the victim came forward in late December. Bristow admitted to an investigator to performing sexual acts on a child in September 2013 after Phillip Wayne Rickard, 52, encouraged her to do so, according to court records. Montgomery County Commissioners appointed a project manager for its courthouse security project after two justices of the peace recently presented concerns about safety in their courtrooms. Following an executive session Tuesday, Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack made a motion to appoint the countys Director of Building Maintenance Tim Stewart as the project manager. The motion was approved unanimously. Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Meador was not present for the vote due to a previous commitment. The move comes after the commissioners tabled the issue in December following a presentation by Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack and a separate presentation Tuesday by newly seated Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Matt Beasley. According to Beasley, a second bailiff is needed due to the amount of people in his court each day. Sometimes we have 200 people, 250 people on a docket, he said noting since Jan. 1 more than 2,600 people have been on the docket. My courtroom doesnt hold that. It overflows into the hallway; it goes out the door. I consider an extension of my courtroom the hallway. Just by virtue of the volume of people who come through that court, an additional bailiff would be helpful. Precinct 3 Constable Ryan Gable echoed Beasley. We are having a hard time keeping up, Gable said. Our purpose is to keep the judge and his staff safe. Its a big deal and anything you guys can do to help would be appreciated. Meador, who was in attendance during Beasleys presentation, said security is a priority. The process needs to get started and we need to get on it pretty quick, he said of security project. During the courts Dec. 11 meeting, Mack asked the court to approve enhanced security measures for his offices. Mack, who holds court in both Willis and Montgomery, said threats made to his staff in the past prompted him to seek solutions to beef up security. (The enhancements) will maximize security in the front lobbies at both locations, Mack said noting the project would carry a price tag of about $20,000. Noack, who motioned to table the item that meeting, said the court should consider all JP courts, county courts at law and district courts before making a piecemeal decision on Macks court. I appreciate your goals in providing a safe and secure environment for your employees, Noack said. But I think this is something we need to have a comprehensive solution in place as to how we want to protect all these courts The court will consider projects and costs at a later date. cdominguez@hcnonline.com More than 15 years after the murder of a south Houston cop landed him on death row, the final report is in: Alfred Dewayne Brown is actually innocent. The news came Friday as part of a sweeping review authored by special prosecutor John Raley, who started investigating the Brown case last year at the behest of Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. "My obligation as an advocate is not to tell people what they want to hear but to tell them the truth," Ogg told a scrum of reporters gathered on the ground floor of the district attorney's office. "Alfred Brown was wrongfully convicted through prosecutorial misconduct." The explosive findings offer far more than a simple take on Brown's guilt or innocence. The painstaking 179-page report compiled over the course of 10 months also delves into alternate theories of the case, outlines possible other suspects, details more extensive problems with the grand jury than previously reported and raises questions about what embattled former prosecutor Dan Rizzo knew and when he knew it. "It is impossible to examine the conviction of Alfred Dewayne Brown without confronting prosecutorial misconduct," wrote Raley, with the Houston-based law firm Raley & Bowick. "ADA Daniel Rizzo presided over a Grand Jury that abusively manipulated witnesses to supply evidence for a chosen narrative. He was provided notice of the existence and meaning of exculpatory evidence, failed to produce it to the defense and avoided it during trial. Further investigation of his conduct is warranted." The scathing report comes two months after the State Bar of Texas tossed a disciplinary complaint against the retired lawyer, apparently finding there wasn't enough information at the time to determine he'd done anything wrong. Almost as soon as the report was released, the police union and Rizzo's attorney both pushed back, lobbing allegations of missed facts and political motivations. "The Raley report is a great use of artistic license used to fit a predesigned narrative," said Chris Tritico, who is representing the former prosecutor. "The Harris County District Attorney's Office is climbing over Dan Rizzo's back to free a cop killer because of a campaign promise." Hilde Clark the widow of Houston police officer Charles Clark slain in the robbery tearfully expressed her disappointment in the district attorney and lobbed new allegations. "I know from day one there's people very close to Alfred Brown that have been protecting him," she said. "I know that witnesses have been threatened." Despite the naysayers, Friday was a jubilant day for Brown and his legal team. "The consonant bell of justice rings loudly today and shares what Alfred Brown's family, supporters and attorneys have known for over a decade that he is actually innocent," said Casey Kaplan, one of the lawyers who worked on Brown's appeal. "It is a good day." Missing phone records Two years after the double murder that started it all, Brown was sent to death row in 2005. A decade after that, he was set free when evidence not turned over at trial phone records that seemed to confirm his alibi finally surfaced after a police officer discovered the material in his home garage. But even after he left death row and settled into a new post-prison life, his case turned into a political quagmire as police and prosecutors struggled with whether Brown was truly innocent of the crime. The lack of an "actual innocence" declaration made him ineligible for state compensation, a fact that pushed his lawyers to sue the district attorney and the county in the hope of finding a different way to get money for the years he wrongfully spent behind bars. Last year, a federal judge put the lawsuit on hold to give Ogg's special counsel a chance to figure out whether Brown really killed the police officer in the botched check-cashing store robbery. In the theory of the case presented at trial, prosecutors said that Brown had executed the police officer while his co-defendant Elijah Joubert shot to death store clerk Alfredia Jones, who had just returned from maternity leave. Both men were sent to death row, while a third co-defendant Dashan Glaspie got a 30-year sentence in exchange for his testimony. But Brown always said he was innocent and that he'd been at his girlfriend's apartment just after the murders. The proof, he said, was in a phone call he'd made to his girlfriend at work that morning. For years, officials claimed they had no records of that call. Then in 2013, police investigator Breck McDaniel uncovered the phone records in his garage a discovery that paved the way for Brown's release. At first, prosecutors said the evidence had been inadvertently misplaced and not intentionally concealed. But last year, Ogg's office recovered a 2003 email showing that McDaniel had told Rizzo about the phone records well before the case went to trial. Rizzo has, through his attorney, consistently maintained that he never read that email and never saw the phone records. But court records show that he signed a document attached to the email after making the one slight change suggested in the body of the message. In his report, Raley raises questions about how the records went missing from the state's file. The papers in McDaniel's garage were only photocopies; the originals he personally filed at HPD, and a U.S. Marshal said he watched him do it. In theory, those records should have been copied and added to the district attorney's file but somewhere in that process they disappeared. Questions for other convictions While the report could help lay the Brown matter to rest, the special prosecutor's findings could also throw legal entanglements into two other cases those of Glaspie and Joubert. Though Glaspie negotiated a plea deal based on the claim that he was not a shooter, Raley's report suggests that he was, and that he killed the store clerk. During Joubert's trial, Glaspie admitted that it was his gun used in the store clerk's slaying. And, the day after the murders, another witness allegedly heard Glaspie confess on the phone. "She got out of line and I did what I had to do," he allegedly said. Two other witnesses offered similar testimony about other times Glaspie allegedly confessed. If Glaspie was one of the shooters, Raley wrote, then that means he lied to get a plea deal a possibility that would call into question all of his testimony, including his identification of Brown as the third shooter. "The evidence indicates the state's chief witness Dashan Glaspie murdered Alfredia Jones in cold blood, then avoided a murder charge by providing law enforcement with a name for Officer Clark's killer," Raley wrote. "There are numerous factual and logical flaws in his uncorroborated testimony against Brown. Multiple eyewitness sightings indicate that the third man was shorter than Brown." And, though last year in an effort to get the lawsuit tossed out the Harris County Attorney's Office argued that the withheld landline records proved Brown's guilt, Raley argues that they proved his innocence. Claiming that Brown "bluffed his way out of prison," the county attorney alleged that the call in question was actually a three-way call and that Brown was not at his girlfriend's but with Glaspie and Joubert. Raley dismissed that possibility, pointing out that a woman who saw Glaspie and Joubert's end of the call has repeatedly stated that Brown was not there. She wasn't even able to pick him out of a line-up. "By clear and convincing evidence," Raley wrote, "no reasonable juror would fail to have a reasonable doubt about whether Brown is guilty of murder. Therefore his case meets the legal definition of 'actual innocence.'" It's still not clear what role Joubert played in the crimes and, though the report offers some possibilities, it's not clear who the third man was. Looking ahead Ogg said Friday she would accept all of Raley's findings and her office filed an amended motion to dismiss Brown's case, this time dubbing him "actually innocent." If the judge agrees, that would pave the way for state compensation for the 12 years Brown spent behind bars. But the report doesn't immediately present a resolution to the ongoing lawsuit. Currently, the County Attorney's Office is representing Ogg's office in the matter, and if they do not concur with Raley's findings then Ogg could be forced to find other legal counsel to work toward a resolution, she said. As the courts work out the legal entanglements surrounding Brown, there's also the question of what if anything happens to Rizzo. It's yet not clear whether he committed any crimes, Ogg said, but prosecuting him could pose problems with statutes of limitations and conflicts of interest. She, like many of the lawyers who work for her, has known Rizzo for decades, so a judge may have to appoint outside attorneys to handle the case. In the meantime, prosecutors plan to file another complaint with the State Bar, whose investigators Ogg pointed out "did not have the benefit of Mr. Raley's report" when they evaluated the matter before. There's no plan to review Rizzo's other cases, unless defendants raise claims on appeal. And it's not clear whether the Houston Police Department will take the matter up again, though Ogg suggested they treat it as an "open investigation." "Police and prosecutors disagree every day," she said. "We have different jobs." Heated reactions Despite Ogg's strong stance, not everyone was convinced. As soon as the district attorney's press conference ended, the Houston Police Officers' Union convened its own media gathering. "I'm disgusted with Kim Ogg today," former union president Ray Hunt said, calling her a "disgrace." Current union head Joe Gamaldi urged authorities to take Brown's case back to a grand jury, while vice president Doug Griffith called the district attorney's office "a bunch of clowns." The union threatened to file bar grievances against either Ogg or Brown's attorneys, saying "one of them is lying," before invoking alleged connections to liberal investor George Soros. But Brown and his attorneys were unfazed by the vehement pushback. "Anyone who thinks Mr. Brown is guilty is wrong," said Neal Manne, the high-profile Houston attorney who's handled his quest for state compensation. At this point, Brown could be entitled to nearly $2 million in compensation, half in a lump sum and half in an annuity. "Does that compensate someone for spending 12 years and 62 days in prison?" he said. "Of course it doesn't." Brown, who now lives in Louisiana, is "remarkably not bitter," Manne said. And Brian Stolarz, the lead attorney who got him off death row, expressed gratitude for the thorough review. "We are heartened that he found what we have known all along: Dewayne Brown is actually innocent and was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned," he said. "We commend the District Attorney's commitment to the truth and ensuring that miscarriages of justice like this never happen again in Harris County." Authorities are searching for a prisoner who escaped custody from a downtown Houston courthouse Thursday afternoon. Efrain Gutierrez, 38, was last seen in a red pickup truck near 1200 Congress, where he was in court, deputies said. Gutierrez is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a multi-colored shirt. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is urged to call the Harris County Sheriff's Office at 713-221-6000. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message Her parents are both scientists and she has aspirations to go to medical school, but for now Dawson High School senior Helen Wang is getting plenty of attention now for being an artist lauded for a rodeo-themed painting. Wang, 17, is a reserve class champion at the 2019 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeos annual rodeo art program, which draws more than 300,000 Western-themed entries each year from students in grades prekindergarten through 12. During the show, approximately 60 pieces of art selected by judges are auctioned for student awards and the rodeos educational fund. Wangs oil painting, titled Noon Shadows, was one of these chosen. Ive been doing art as long as I can remember, Wang said. I started taking it seriously when my parents put me in lessons when I was in elementary school. I started painting in middle school and tried oils in junior high; so basically, Ive been taking art classes all of my life. Ive done the rodeo art show all four years of high school, but this is the best Ive ever done. Her work, which features a figure on a horse, hat tipped down and lariat in hand, comes from a reference photo Wang took a few years ago. Our teacher always encourages us to take our own reference material so that we can experience it, she said. A few years ago, I went to the George Ranch and happened to be there on one of the handful of days in the year where they were doing a cattle drive demonstration. I take photos as a supplement to my art, so I had my camera there and was planning on taking some superwide-angle action shots, but just in the moments before that, they were explaining what was about to happen and this woman on a horse paused and seemed to reflect on herself. It was noon; so the sun was high and the shadows across her shirt and across her face were really nice. Wang credits her parents with encouraging her love for art. When I was very young, my teachers told my parents that I had a talent and it might be a good idea to invest in it, and I am very lucky that they did, she said. They have always encouraged me. Wang will go to college shes already been accepted to Stanford University but is awaiting decisions from a few other top-tier schools. She wants to study science but also to make sure that art is always part of her studies. Definitely at least minor or have a double major that includes art, she said. The balance between left and right brain, Wang said, is important. Having art and science together helps be balance my life, she said. I feel I can have more perspective, and each helps me approach the other subject better. With the help of a K-9 unit, cocaine with a street value of about $700,000 has been recovered and a 65-year-old woman was arrested by the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force. The unit is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement group and initiative of the Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. According to the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office, on Thursday, Feb. 28, one of the interdiction K-9 teams conducted a traffic stop on U.S. 59 northbound near Rosenberg, Texas. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to you. It was during the roadside investigation, a Task Force officer and K-9 Deputy Kaja located 14 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were reportedly concealed in an aftermarket-fabricated compartment. We will continue to be vigilant by working to intercept drugs as they make their way northbound from Mexico, Sheriff Troy Nehls said. RELATED: Six-foot fence doesn't stop suspect from stealing packages at Houston home Sandra Perez, 65, of Mission, was arrested and booked into the Fort Bend County Jail on a first degree felony charge of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance and a second degree felony charge of unlawful use of a criminal instrument. The Sheriffs Office reports that the cocaine has an estimated street level impact of $700,000. Perez is currently being held in Fort Bend County Jail. She has not been assigned any bail amount at this time. She has no previous record in Fort Bend County nor in her listed home county of Hidalgo. rkent@hcnonline.com NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Around 10 p.m. on Feb. 28, officers with the Tomball Police Department responded to a motor vehicle accident that left three children and their grandfather hospitalized. Margretta Green, 30, was driving with her 6, 10 and 11-year-old children and 54-year-old father when she crashed into the back of another vehicle at the 30400 block of Tomball Parkway, according to a Tomball Police Department press release. Lieutenant Brandon Patin, Tomball PD public information officer, said that Green physically assaulted two people who had seen the accident and were trying to offer assistance. From my understanding, she punched one and slapped the other one, Patin said. PROSECUTORS: Driver in deadly Lyft crash admits to taking tequila shots before driving After assaulting the bystanders, he said, she stole one of their vehicles and drove away. The press release states that her father and three children were injured and still inside the vehicle that had crashed. While fleeing in the stolen vehicle, Green reportedly crashed into another vehicle and then into the median at 23199 Hufsmith-Kohrville Road. The Tomball PD press releases alleges Green charged at officers after exiting the vehicle, and pretended to point a gun at the officers. Tomball officers drew a taser, but did not have to use it, according to the press release. At the end of that, she was taken into custody without any issues, Patin said. She pretty much gave up. 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. Her injured family members were transported to Tomball Regional Medical Center for treatment. Patin did not have an update on the condition of Greens children or father as of 2 p.m. March 1. Additionally, Tomball officials were not yet releasing identities of witnesses or victims. Patin said the people inside the other vehicles did not sustain major injuries. Everybody else is OK, he said. They did not even get transported, to my understanding. Patin could not confirm the cause of Greens actions, saying that Tomball officers do not suspect drugs or alcohol were involved. He said the department is not aware of Green having a prior history of emotional disturbances. She was carrying a Louisiana drivers license, but officials cannot yet confirm where she and her family currently live or why they were in the area. Patin said Green was being held at the Tomball Police Department and will be transferred to the Harris County Jail. She is charged with two felony offenses unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and injury to a child. Earlier this week at a special conference in Missouri, the United Methodist Church voted to reaffirm its stance opposing same-sex marriage and same-sex, LGBT ordained clergy in the church that has more than 12 million members worldwide. Different options were presented to more than 800 voting delegates from the faith community during the contentious meeting. One option would have left the decision up to local churches and one option would have caused a denominational split, but the option that won out by a 53 percent vote was the traditional plan. The traditional plan upholds the denominations current stance that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. It was a decision that made waves across the global United Methodist Church, even at churches here in Montgomery County. At St. Paul United Methodist in Conroe, traditional beliefs are maintained. Their pastor, Cynthia Hinson, has been the pastor there for 24 years. A few years ago, Hinson started a Facebook group of United Methodist clergy around the world. That group has grown to more than 4,600 members internationally. She said she streamed every minute of the conference and transcribed it for her online group to keep them updated. By far, this was the most strife-filled conference weve ever hadIt was a very difficult conference and there will be a lot of people who are hurt, Hinson said. Still, she said her congregation is not torn on the issue. St. Paul is a traditionalist church, which means we embrace the traditional Wesleyan doctrine and the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman while respecting and embracing that all people are of sacred worth, Hinson said. Although there are several members of her church that identify as LGBTQ, Hinson said she thinks they wont have an issue with not being able to be ordained in the church primarily because theyre not on that path. She added that neither she nor her church would allow for a same-sex wedding to happen at St. Paul, on the basis that she believes the Bible is clear about the issue. Theres no hatred and no disregard. I just dont think (same-sex marriage) is scriptural and I believe in scriptural authority, Hinson said. Hinson maintained that although this is the case in her church, she still believes that all people are loved by God and deserving of the highest treatment of grace. When people come to my church, they come to hear the message and be part of a group and know that theyre loved and embraced, Hinson said. The Villager and Courier reached out to several other United Methodist churches in the county seeking reaction and comment on the decision. The churches that were asked for comment included the Covenant United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Metropolitan United Methodist in Conroe, Wildwood United Methodist Church in Magnolia and Montgomery United Methodist Church in Montgomery. Most churches did not return phone calls or emails; a few declined to comment. The Woodlands United Methodist Church, led by Senior Pastor Ed Robb, is one of the most-attended United Methodist churches in Texas with 13,000 members. Initially, Robb agreed to a phone interview about the decision on Wednesday but then declined to make any public comment for this article. jane.stueckemann@chron.com Killens Steakhouse, the fifth concept by 2019 James Beard Award semi-finalist Chef Ronnie Killen, is due to open at 1700 Research Forest Drive in Shenandoah by April. The new venture is more than 50 miles north of Killens closest retaurant, Killens STQ, allowing the company to expand its reach north. (The Woodlands) is so far away from Pearland, and that location draws a lot of people from Houston said co-owner Deanna Killen. The new locations menu isnt set to veer to far from the original location diners will feast on Killens famed ribeyes, New York strips, Wagyus and tomahawks, as well as Gulf oysters, chicken fried steak and pork belly. The location, though, will also feature elements from Killens STQ, where the menu features more Southern and barbecue dishes like fried chicken and barbecued Maine lobster tail. Since its so far from (Killens Barbecue in Pearland), he wants to put a little bit more flavor from that joint effort up here, Deanna Killen said. The restaurant is taking over the space formerly occupied by Bobs Steak & Chop House, with some minor modifications, including expanded wine storage and a private event space, Deanna Killen said. The interior was a little too masculine, she added. There were a lot of wood panels some of those are coming down but, it seemed like a really great opportunity for us to turnkey into the property. mrincon@chron.com One of the newest recreational features in The Woodlands is expected to be open for business by mid-April, officials confirmed on Thursday, Feb. 28. Texas TreeVentures, the high ropes, tree-top adventure course being constructed in Rob Fleming Park in the Village of Creekside Park, is slated to open to customers on Friday, April 19, barring any delays to the last elements of construction on the facility, said Chris Nunes, the manager of The Woodlands Township Parks and Recreation Department. This idea was born out of discussions of what to do at Rob Fleming Park when we produced a five-year capital improvement plan for this site, Nunes said of how Texas TreeVentures was formulated. The original plan included an alpine tower, a dog park, lights on the (sports fields) and ziplines. This is part of our overall vision of how to activate people to get outside in the vision of George Mitchell. Nunes said once the idea for the high ropes course was presented in early 2018, township officials readily approved the plan, funding and details for the park. Over the next 12 to 14 months, he added, a course engineer and construction firm were tabbed, a name and logo were chosen and construction began in October, 2018. Now, the with the projected open date about six weeks away, a cadre of staff are getting intensive training on how the ropes course works, safety issues and other elements of managing the unique facility. We are excited, Nunes said of the looming opening of the park. It is going to be fun. It has been a real challenging 18 months going from an idea in board chambers to opening this in mid-April and getting the public out here. Although closed to the public due to safety issues, Nunes gave The Villager a tour of the complex on Thursday, Feb. 28, as the team of employees were going through training exercises and construction workers were fine tuning elements of the cabins that will serve patrons and customers. The high ropes facility and course are tucked away in a wooded area directly behind the Rob Fleming Park Recreation Center in the Village of Creekside Park. In order to prevent vandals or others from sneaking onto the site, the area is monitored 24 hours a day by Harris County constables as well as other township officials in conjunction with security cameras. The overall facility includes an elaborate, wooden playground structure that is free for families to use and a large picnic grounds that will have dozens of picnic tables as well as cornhole boards and horseshoe pits. At the Texas TreeVentures facility, customers will walk up onto an elevated wooden boardwalk that leads to a series of small elevated cabins. Customers will go into a main office to register, buy tickets and get set up with safety gear that includes a mandatory helmet, a secure rock-climbing harness with two belay ropes outfitted with carabiners. Attendees must wear closed toe shoes on the course and can opt to wear safety gloves if they choose. Once outfitted, the customers will be guided onto the course by staff all of whom will be trained as Level 1 certified guides under the Association of Challenge Course Technology, an organization that coordinates adventure course training standards. Nunes said customers can choose numerous optional courses or routes through the four story wooden structure, opting for varying levels of difficulty and obstacles including plank bridges, 55-gallon drums, aerial kayaks, rope nettings and other elements. Those who go on the course will generally be connected to the rope network via the two carabiner-equipped safety ropes attached to their harness. It is challenge by choice. It is managed risk. The experience of walking out of a house is different than traditional courses where (people) climb from the ground up. The experience of walking out of a house (at this course) is a lot different, Nunes explained. Ive been out on it three times already. It is a lot of fun just being able to be a kid again. Tickets pricing for the facility is still in the development stage, but Nunes said adults who register online will get a three-hour session for $40. In-person ticket purchases will cost $45 for adults. A reduced price rate for children age 13 or younger is still being decided upon, and groups and other large parties can rent the facility, too, he added. In addition to the high ropes course, the area is adjacent to two nature and hiking paths that allow people walking in the area to see the complex and become interested, Nunes said. The new course compliments that vision of George Mitchell of experiencing nature and the outdoors by being so close to both the Spring Creek Greenway and the Spring Creek Nature Trail. Safety is also a high priority, and part of the complex design is built so that emergency responders such as ambulances, EMTs, law enforcement officials or fire and rescue officials can drive up to the course to deal with potential injuries or accidents. The staff on site is fully trained in rescuing customers who may have taken on too much of the challenge, Nunes added, and they are also hyper-focused on customer safety. When we started the design aspect, we looked at those (safety) elements, Nunes added. We are working with fire officials and the Harris County Constables (Office) to make sure our emergency plans are in place. Although the chill of the Texas winter was still in the air and foliage on the trees surrounding the structure is still somewhat absent, the facility gives off a majestic feel. Nunes said that will become even more impressive when spring arrives and the flora of the area blooms. Imagine this place when all the trees are in full bloom, he said. jeff.forward@chron.com Often, physicians tend to work well past the normal retirement age of 65. In Dr. Joel Reeds case, that is certainly true. At 93 years old, Reed still sees patients at the Interfaith Community Clinic once a week, volunteering his time at the nonprofit center for medical and dental care for uninsured Montgomery County residents. And, Reed has quite the history, too: experience in the service, and a chance to meet and be honored by a former president. This Hometown Hero sat down with The Villager to talk about his life and love for what he does. QUESTION: Tell me about the history of the Interfaith Community Clinic? REED: Joel Kerschenbaum and his wife started a little storefront down on Sawdust Road, and immediately it was overwhelmed with people who were uninsured. He made it strict that it was free and people had to have no access to health care, couldnt be eligible for county care, Medicare or Medicaid. It was strictly for people who had no access to care, and it was immediately overwhelmed. That happened to be right at the moment I was retiring from practice and I wanted to go work for him, but I had to bring on my insurance to work one or two days a week and pay my liability insurance; it just didnt work. I started working with Don Gebert, who was the head of Interfaith (of The Woodlands), in raising funds. Sure enough the community responded. (George) Mitchell had this little triangular piece of land, sold it to us and then gave a contribution to counter it. An architect designed it at no cost. We ended up with a million-dollar building for half-a-million dollars. The facility is as nice as my old office was in the Medical Center. I, of course, fell in love with the idea of seeing patients because I had some concern with that in the past. QUESTION: What do you mean? REED: In 1984, we had a big recession, an oil recession. I was president of the (Harris County) Medical Society in Houston. I managed to get 1,000 physicians to see what we called temporary recession distressed individuals at no cost, along with 300 pharmacies at cost and two or three hospitals with their own staff members. So, I had that experience in the past. Actually, I got invited to the White House to be honored by President Reagan (for that work). QUESTION: How was that? REED: I had kind of a salty nurse at the time. (Reagans) assistant called the office and she said, We dont have time for practical jokes here. He convinced her that he really was legitimate, and she said Ill have him call you when hes between patients. So I called the number, and it was a direct wire to (Reagans) assistant. He said, The president would like to honor you at the White House on Tuesday, can you make it? I started to say, Is the pope Catholic? But I didnt. So, my wife and I went to the White House. QUESTION: How were you honored? REED: I was in the Roosevelt Room, which is adjacent to the Oval Office. He and Vice President (George H.W.) Bush were both there, and I had to give a speech. I asked them how long the president would talk, and they said about five minutes. So Ill make mine three. I had my speech memorized, and I was standing there beside him at the podium. I reached in my pocket for my notes and said, Mr. President, youll forgive me for using notes but I am nervous. He pulled his notes out and said, What do you think Ive got these for? That was my past experience, with the recession-distressed program. When (Gebert) came up with the idea here for a clinic, I caught that disease. I worked with the legislature to protect the physicians. I found an insurance agent who was impressed with the clinic and found an insurance company who would write what they called slot insurance. They considered 4,000 visits as one doctors full time practice. They would write one premium to cover as many volunteers as we could arrange. We got a lot of volunteers to see patients here and at one point we were seeing more patients than Montgomery County. It was a huge success. Once we got the insurance settled, we started seeing patients in this building. Gradually over time Ive cut it down, and Thursday is the only day I see patients. QUESTION: Youre technically retired, right? REED: (For) 23, 24 years Ive been retired. I retired when I was 70. I would have continued to practice, but you just cant work part time with the cost of running an office. So, I retired. I was also having health problems at the time, I developed cancer and had to have a hip replacement, and I decided it was time to retire and thats when I started coming here. Ive enjoyed it. I have marvelous help. Its kind of like a family here, and the people all have a heart. Theyre here because they want to help people who have no other access. QUESTION: What keeps you going? REED: I just love seeing patients. I wanted to be a doctor since I was a little kid. My mother worked as an office assistant for a doctor and I guess I caught the diseaseHere, I just do exactly what I want to do, spend as much time as I want to spend. We think we give a valuable service to people who otherwise have no access. And its very gratifying, much more gratifying than being paid. QUESTION: And youre a veteran, too? REED: I went in the Navy when I was 17 in World War II. Im 93 years old. I spent two and a half years in the Navy and didnt do a thing except go to school. I was in uniform, under military discipline. They ran the unit I was in like a little academy. I was able to go to medical school with the GI Bill paying for part of it, and I had a rich aunt who paid my tuition the last couple years. I was able to complete medical school with no debt, and the Korean war started right when I finished medical school. I went into the Air Force then, because my chief in training had been the chief of medicine in the Air Corps at the end of World War II. He wanted me to go in the Air Force, so you do what your boss says. I had a series of good stations, spent two years in the Philippines and I thought that would be a terrible assignment, but I got there and it turned out to be very nice. QUESTION: When did you move to The Woodlands? Reed: We had a place on Lake Livingston, and we used to drive back and forth. We stopped at a house, that they had here, and fell in love with The Woodlands and decided we could do it. That was 1983 we bought the lot, 1984 we moved in the house we built and lived there until about five years ago. I have five children, 12 grandchildren, in two weeks Ill have my eighth great-grandchild, and in June Ill have my ninth great-grandchild. QUESTION: What do you do when youre not at the office? REED: My hobby is woodworking. I had to give up everything heavy. I started woodworking when my oldest daughter was a year and a half old. I had nothing but a hand saw and a coping saw and a file, and I used the ends of boxes for wood because we had no money. I built her a little step stool, which we still use. Then I built a rocking horse, then it just went on from there and I got into building big heavy furniture. It got to be pretty good at it, now I do little things. I like to turn things on the lathe, make pens and pepper shakers, little things that I can do on the lathe with no weight. I was always very active at church, was on several committees and was a deacon (at Lord of Life Lutheran). I was not Lutheran till I met my wife, and she converted me. I lost my wife 11 years ago. We were married over 60 years. She was a nursing student, and I was a medical student. My fraternity, we were divided into fraternities for housing, was putting on a formal dance. I had no money, I had absolutely zero money. My fraternity brother, who was dating my wifes roommate, said You really need to meet her. I said, It wont hurt to have lunch at the hospital. So we went and had lunch at the hospital, the four of us, and she just blew me a away. We dated every day after that. I met her on Feb. 22, just a few days agoin 1947. I didnt have any money, but after I met her I wanted to go to that dance with her. So, I sold two pints of blood. I went to two different blood banks, and they paid $25 in those days for nicotine-free blood. Then, I had enough money to get a corsage and rent a tux, because $50 was a lot of money in 1947. We got engaged in June and got married in December. All in 1947. QUESTION: Do you plan to continue working at the clinic? REED: Im going to retire when Im 95. No, thats my joke. (Ill be here) as long as I can keep going. The Navy got me in good shape when I was young, and Ive stayed in good shape over the years. Ive always been a fruit and vegetable man. Of course I did my share of eating steaks and gravy, but I dont do that anymore. I follow a healthy diet now, and I do exercises. (The clinic) is such a service to the community, and I fell in love with it because of Joel Kerschenbaum, and I just cant give it up. jane.stueckemann@chron.com (ANSA) - Naples, March 1 - Police from the southern city of Caserta said Friday that they have arrested a 45-year-old Algerian on terrorism charges. The suspect was wanted at the international level after a court in the Algerian city of Constantine issued an arrest warrant for alleged involvement in a terrorist organization. The suspect left Algeria in 2014 to join ISIS in Syria. Investigators tracked him down to an abandoned farmhouse in Acerra, near Naples. (ANSA) - Lecco, March 1 - Transport and Infrastructure Minister Danilo Toninelli said Friday that he and his 5-Star Movement (M5S) remain "profoundly" opposed to the controversial TAV Turin-Lyon high-speed link. The M5S have long been against the project on environmental and cost grounds. Their calls for the project to be ditched have increased after a new analysis commissioned by the transport ministry said the rail link would have a negative cost-benefit balance of seven to eight billion euros. However, the M5S's government coalition partners in the League want the project to go ahead. Deputy Premier, Interior Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini has said the project could be revised to cut costs but should not be abandoned completely. "The TAV could be useful after 2070 but I'm the infrastructure minister and I would feel responsible if another bridge collapsed and people died tomorrow and I could have used the money from the TAV to do maintenance on that piece of infrastructure," Toninelli said. The new cost-benefit analysis has come under fire from some quarters for alleged bias and so the team of experts that compiled it was asked to do a supplementary analysis. Toninelli said Friday that the supplementary analysis had given the thumbs down to the project too, with a negative cost-benefit balance of 2.5 billion euros in the "realistic scenario". The opposition centre-left PD, meanwhile, said Friday that it would present a motion of no confidence on Toninelli for allegedly blocking progress on public work projects all over Italy. The premier's office, meanwhile, denied reports that Conte was warming to the idea of having a scaled down 'mini-TAV' version of the rail link to bring down costs. ROME - The 10th edition of Francofilm, the Festival of Francophone Films in Rome (FFF), will open on March 7. The first film will be 'Pour Vivre Heureux/For a Happy Life', the first feature film by the Belgians Salima Glamine and Dimitri Linder. For a week, FFF will be bringing 15 films from 13 countries - Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada-Quebec, Ivory Coast, France, Luxembourg, Mali, Morocco, Romania, Switzerland and Tunisia - to the Institut Francais - Centre Saint-Louis. 'Pour Vivre Heureux' (Belgium, 2017), the story of a secret love between two youths that is hindered by family traditions in their Pakistani and Algerian families, won the Audience's Prize at the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur (FIFF), which has been sponsoring Francofilm for the fifth year in a row. Most of the 15 films, 13 of which in competition, are being screened for the first time in Italy. Many of actors and directors will be at the screenings and all the films will be shown in the original version with Italian subtitles. For the 10th edition of the festival, the uniting thread for the films will be a focus on individuals torn between a tendency to challenge society and a desire to integrate and be accepted. This internal struggle pushes them to commit irreversible actions and to change their fate and that of those around them. The festival will end on March 14 with the awards ceremony and the showing of the film 'La Promesse de l'Aube' ('The Promise of Dawn') by Eric Barbier, a week after it is due to come out in Italian cinemas (March 7). The public will have the chance to vote for the Audience's Award. The Grand Prize of the Jury will be assigned by a jury chaired by Romano Milani, the secretary general of the Italian Union of Film Journalists, and will also include Antonio Flamini, director of Roma Africa Film Festival (RAFF) and Maite Bulgari, member of the Board of Directors of Cinecitta Istituto Luce. Francofilm was the idea of and coordinated by the Institut Francais - Centre Saint-Louis and organized in collaboration with the embassies and representative offices of many member states of the International Francophone Organization (OIF). Associated with the Francophone Days in Italy, March 1-30, the festival aims to promote francophone culture and language through artistic activities and sharing universal democratic values. MATERA - The Startup Europe Mediterranean (SEMED) initiative launched on Friday in Matera, the 2019 European Capital of Culture, which holds a strategic geographic position to create a virtual bridge between the ecosystems of Europe and the rest of the Mediterranean. The launch of SEMED, a cloud platform to connect innovators in the Mediterranean, took place at the Casa Cava auditorium and presented the project as part of the European Commission's Startup Europe. SEMED, which will be operative by this summer, is sponsored by the Pavia-based Italian high tech startup FacilityLive, which organisers said will be the project's "beating heart". It was presented in Matera because the so-called "City of Stones" has been chosen for experimentation with 5G technology. "This platform, compared to other Startup Europe networks, allows for an important step forward because it represents an opportunity to discover talents," said Gianpiero Lotito, FacilityLive CEO. Lotito said it will be a virtual space for "connection between the people and ecosystems of innovation in the strategic area of the Mediterranean basin". "Startuppers, investors, companies, stakeholders, universities, research institutions and institutional representatives will have a functional method available for meeting, exchanging information and ideas, and creating partnerships that can grow the ecosystem they are coming up in or investing in". The project's main intent is "to map innovative ecosystems in the Mediterranean region, paying particular attention to digital startups and learning about all the events and stakeholders in the area, discussing ideas, and exchanging best practices to benefit the entire ecosystem". Hospitalized Houston police officer John Daily recently had trouble telling his father Owen that his head was itching. They went word-by-word and John struggled to spell out letters one at a time to communicate. "My head itches," he slowly told his father. "It took an hour," Owen recalled in an interview. On Dec. 23, John Daily, who has been an officer for a year, sustained severe burns in a drunken driving crash while on duty. The 25-year-old has spent two months in Memorial Hermann's ICU and has had several surgeries. While a long recovery still lays ahead, including more surgeries, an iPad given to him Thursday by an anonymous donor could help the officer improve communicate with his family and "ease frustration." "He's heading in the right direction," said John's twin brother, Michael, who is also an HPD officer. "He still has a long ways to go." John was driving his police SUV to a scene when another car crashed into his vehicle, causing it to hit a utility pole and flip several times before bursting into flames. He suffered burns to more than 50 percent of his body, with only an undershirt and undershorts left of his clothing. Officer Alonzo Reid, 25, was also in the SUV and suffered burns to 10 percent of his body, according to court records. Reid and a citizen pulled John out of the burning vehicle. Officer Daily's family said they have been amazed how giving people have been. Donations have poured in for John's medical bills, along with food and gift cards to allow his parents to fly back and forth between their home in California and Houston. "You don't find that kind of hospitality anywhere but the South and Texas," Michael Daily said, citing police officers and even strangers who have assisted the family. John is expected eventually to speak without trouble, his father said. The other motorist, Cesar Collazo, 23, has been charged with two counts each of intoxicated assault of a peace officer and failure to stop and render aid after causing serious bodily injury. The crash occurred at the 10100 block of Telephone Road. The officers were responding to a high priority call to aid another officer. Collazo apparently told police he had eight beers. He had a blood alcohol level of .157, almost twice the legal limit of .08, prosecutors said. Collazo is in the Harris County Jail on a $250,000 bond and due back in court in next month.. Donations have come through the non-profit Assist the Officer Houston. A benefit auction will be held for John and Reid March 15 at 1600 State St. Due to the nature of burns, the family said it is hard to give a timeline to the officer's recovery. "He walked into the hospital, and he'll walk out," Owen said. "That's my son." Harris County Commissioners Court members agree projects from the flood control districts $2.5 billion bond program should equally benefit rich and poor watersheds, though their disagreement over what equity means and which projects should be completed first has fueled suspicions in neighborhoods across the county that they will be left behind. County Judge Lina Hidalgo this week blamed a television news report she said was inaccurate for sparking confusion about the bond program among state lawmakers and Houston City Council, and has sought to reassure residents each of the 237 bond projects will be completed over the next decade. She said the massive size of the program, however, means the flood control district must rank each project by priority. All the projects on the bond list are getting done, and theyre getting done as quickly as we can, Hidalgo said. The equity discussion touches a nerve for many residents, who want their watershed projects pushed to the front of the line as the second hurricane season since Hurricane Harvey looms and the county has built little new flood infrastructure since that storm. It also highlights the balancing act Houston and Harris County leaders must perform as they manage federal dollars some of which can be spent only in affluent neighborhoods while attempting to steer local money to poor ones, for which there is no other funding source. The squabbling threatens to divide Commissioners Court for the first time over the bond program, which the previous court unanimously drafted last summer and campaigned to secure its passage. A prolonged fight over how to manage the bond, the largest flood program in county history, could undermine public confidence in the flood control district at a time the county can ill-afford it. With cost estimates to fully protect Harris County from 100-year storms as high as $30 billion, Commissioners Court may need to persuade voters to pass another bond in the future. Hidalgo said much of the current confusion about the program can be traced to a misleading story aired by KRIV Fox 26 on Feb. 21, that said her administration was proposing changes to the bond program that could affect how the money is spent. A group of 11 Houston state legislators cited the report in a letter to Hidalgo on Wednesday expressing concern her office was changing the way projects are prioritized. The letter, authored by Rep. Jim Murphy, R-Houston, urged Hidalgo not to prioritize bond projects based on neighborhood and/or individual income levels, warning that doing so could undermine the Legislatures efforts to provide billions in state aid to Harris County. Murphy said he and Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, were alarmed to read the Fox 26 report the day after they had met with Hidalgo in Austin and been assured the projects would be continued as planned. At issue, Murphy said, was a prior draft of the countys equity guidelines that proposed to consider low-moderate income data generated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Hidalgo clarified the county no longer plans to include that in its guidelines. The judges response assuaged many of the state lawmakers worries, Murphy said. He added that his concern was rooted in the timing of the projects, not whether the county still intended to complete them. Im satisfied weve made some concerns known, Murphy said. Im not sure were resolute, on the countys part, on addressing those concerns. But Im content it is working. Complicating the issue for local officials is that federal rules governing funds for the recovery are in conflict. While billions in FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers funding for flood mitigation projects are driven by cost-benefit formulas that seek to minimize damage to high-value properties, HUD regulations tied to billions in housing and mitigation aid mandate, or are expected to mandate, that most of those dollars are used to benefit low-income residents. Stuck in the middle are local entities, such as cities and counties, who face difficult choices about where to direct those funds, and how to spend their own local dollars. We have to use our money, local money, to try and fill in the spaces for communities that historically have been left out of the equation, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said. Hidalgo and Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Russ Poppe wrote a letter in response to the lawmakers, laying out eight proposed equity guidelines by which projects would be ranked: existing drainage conditions at a site, the number of residents a project could remove from the floodplain, the suitability of a site to also serve as a park or other recreational purpose, the efficiency of a project expressed as its cost divided by the number of structures protected, long-term maintenance costs, environmental concerns, whether or not a site has been served by a flood protection project in the past decade and whether a project can be funded by partnerships. The flood control district plans to publish a master schedule with estimated project completion dates a month after Commissioners Court approves the equity guidelines. The dialogue over bond equity also seeped into Wednesdays Houston City Council meeting, where council members Dave Martin and Greg Travis raised concerns about social engineering and projects being pushed back. Travis, whose district was particularly slammed by Harvey, also conveyed his frustration with city-adopted guidelines that earmark 80 percent of HUD housing recovery funds more than the federally mandated 70 percent rate for families earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. Those who advocated for the higher rate, including Mayor Sylvester Turner, say the city should use its limited resources to prioritize the most vulnerable Houston residents namely, very low-income families, the elderly and disabled, and households with children. Also, Turner noted Wednesday, the city operates a reimbursement program for which high-earning homeowners are eligible. That initiative, one of five under a $428 million Harvey homeowner assistance program, prioritizes households that already have performed repairs, meaning successful applicants are likely to have higher incomes. Through that program, families earning up to 120 percent of the area median roughly $90,000 for a four-person family can receive up to $40,000 in reimbursement funds. Those above the 120 percent threshold can recoup up to $20,000. Travis, whose district encompasses some of Houstons wealthiest areas, such as the Galleria, Memorial and River Oaks, contended even high-income families who lose their homes cannot necessarily rebound if they receive just $20,000 in aid. Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle says the county can relieve resident anxieties by completing the bond program in five years rather than 10 by outsourcing more of the work to consultants. If a flood event happens in year seven, and you got pushed back to year 10, and you get clobbered because we didnt get to you, those folks are going to be justifiably concerned and unhappy, Cagle said. Flood control district leaders expressed doubt about the feasibility of doubling the pace of bond projects. Matt Zeve, the flood control districts deputy executive director, said the current pace of the bond program has left his office struggling to hire additional engineers quickly enough. Other potential delays, such as right-of-way acquisition, utility line reroutes and environmental permits are beyond the districts control. Reporter Mike Morris contributed to this story. zach.despart@chron.com jasper.scherer@chron.com NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Having survived the closest U.S. Senate race in Texas in 40 years, Ted Cruz warned a national conservative audience that his experience foreshadows what the rest of the nation will see in 2020 with Democrats well funded and turning out in record numbers. Cruz told attendees of a major conservative political rally in Maryland that the crazed assault from the left will be more unhinged than anything weve seen. We are going to see the left turn out in massive numbers, Cruz told attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. He reminded the audience that Beto ORourke in 2018 raised $80 million for the race the most ever raised by a Democrat for the Senate. In addition, Cruz said he had 18 paid campaign workers, while ORourke had more than 800 people on the ground. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Cruz warned conservatives, particularly young conservatives, to get engaged early. In 2018, Cruz won re-election to the U.S. Senate by less than 3 percentage points or about 219,000. It was the closest U.S. Senate race in Texas since 1978. Asked about ORourke calling for tearing down border walls in El Paso, Cruz answered: Democrats have gone bat crap crazy. He said its not just on border security, either. They are getting more and more extreme on every issue, he said. But Cruz had some criticism for Republicans too. When asked why Republicans werent more aggressive about building a wall when they held majorities in both the House and the Senate, Cruz acknowledged he would have done things differently. He said he urged Republican leaders in the Senate and the White House to follow his recommendation and force a vote on the border wall through something called budget reconciliation, which requires just a simple majority in the Senate and can prevent a filibuster. He said that is how the tax cuts were passed and thinks the wall would have passed, too. If that had happened, Cruz said hes convinced Republicans would not have lost the majority in the U.S. House in 2018 because it would have energized voters on the right. The Houston Independent School Districts board of trustees would undergo a major restructuring under a new bill filed by a top Republican in the Texas Senate. At present, all nine members of the HISD board of trustees serve in single-member districts, elected by the residents in each of those districts. None are elected at-large. Under SB 1385, filed by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, the board would be changed into a mix of single-member districts and at-large districts. Five trustees would serve in single-member districts, and four would be elected at-large, meaning they would be elected by all the voters who live inside the HISD boundaries. Bettencourt said the change would ensure that more trustees have a stake in the welfare of the whole district and not just the areas they represent. H-town deserves better leadership, said Bettencourt, who is also the chair of the Texas Senate Republican Caucus. Opponents of the bill, which Bettencourt has long pledged to file, argue it represents a state overreach that will dilute minority representation in a district where 86 percent of students are black or Hispanic. HISD Board President Diana Davila said he believes Bettencourt is unfairly targeting the states largest district, particularly given that many other school districts face significant challenges. Im bothered that hes doing this, because he has not reached out to us to say, What I can be doing legislatively to help the board? Davila said. HISD leaders have faced significant criticism in recent months following chronically low performance of several schools and board disharmony that stifles positive work for students. The districts entire school board could be replaced by a state-appointed Board of Managers later this year if any one of four long-struggling schools fails to meet state academic standards in August. Multiple trustees also admitted during a heated mid-October meeting that their internal acrimony exacerbated by a covertly orchestrated effort by five trustees to replace Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan has fomented dysfunction. Still, HISD received a B rating in 2018 for academic performance under the states academic accountability system, among the highest scores for large, urban districts. HISD also does not face any major financial issues. Bettencourt said he believes his bill will force better leadership and a more positive working environment to address chronically failing schools. There has to be changes for the betterment of the students, parents, staff, and community, Bettencourt said. Its not partisan. Its not ideological. Its not where you live or what you look like. Its about pure competence to lead the largest school district in the state. Hes far from the only Texas legislator concerned with the direction of the school district. State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., a Democrat whose district includes Kashmere, in December expressed his frustration with the trustees. Theres nothing wrong with the students there, he said. The problem here is the school board stepping up to its responsibility for improving these schools. It is not immediately clear whether legislators will take up Bettencourts bill during the ongoing Legislative session, which ends in late May. No companion bill has been filed in the Texas House of Representatives. Bettencourts legislation does not specifically mention HISD, but rather states the district with the largest student enrollment in a county with a population of 3.3 million or more must have five single-member trustees and four at-large trustees. HISD is the only Texas district fitting that criteria. Jacob Carpenter contributed to this report. jeremy.wallace@chron.com twitter.com/jeremyswallace Gaza: 17 injured in clashes at border Thousands of protesters and launching of explosive devices (ANSAmed) - GAZA, MARCH 1 - Medical sources in Palestine on Friday said a total of 17 Palestinians were injured by shots fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes that took place in five friction points along the border between Gaza and Israel, as part of the March of Return organised every Friday since last March by Hamas, to force the block imposed on the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources said thousands of protesters amassed along the border fence, trying to open gaps, and that the protesters launched explosive devices and incendiary bottles at soldiers, but there were no victims. Hamas dedicated this Friday's protests to Islamic faithful who last week managed to force the police block and take back control of a building next to the Golden Gate (Bab al-Rahma, Gate of Mercy) in the eastern sector of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.(ANSAmed). Texas' senior senator doesn't like the way President Trump has used the power to declare a national emergency to get his border wall built. Is the senator going to do anything about it? No, he isn't. That, in a nutshell, is the tragedy of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn as he prepares to battle his way to another term. On Wednesday, Cornyn told Texas reporters he would vote against a resolution seeking to cancel Trump's declaration of a national emergency. The resolution passed the House earlier this week, and Cornyn told Texas reporters this week it will likely pass the Senate. "This is obviously no one's first choice," Cornyn said of the president's use of emergency powers granted by Congress to the presidency in 1976. "I've expressed some concerns ... about the precedent this would set," Cornyn said in a chat with Texas reporters, before adding a little later: "Is this the best way for Congress and the White House to deal with situations like this? I would say no." That's an understatement of course. Congress debated fiercely whether to add funding for a border wall last month. Lawmakers decided not to. Now Trump is moving to do it anyway by tapping emergency presidential powers granted by Congress decades ago to confront national emergencies. So why won't Cornyn support the resolution? The senator explained why during Wednesday's phone chat with reporters, and his office shared with me a transcript of his exchange with Chronicle Washington correspondent Kevin Diaz. As I read his comments, they boil down to a single-word rationale: Caution. Cornyn is the most cautious politician I've ever covered. Six years ago he was worried about a challenge from the tea party. Perhaps now he's rattled by the prospect of a challenge from a Trump true-believer in 2020. Either way, the caution theory helps explain otherwise inexplicable behavior. Last year, for instance, when Trump unilaterally imposed tariffs on trading partners under the guise of national security, Cornyn spoke out. Like many pro-business Republicans he opposes tariffs generally and few of either party agreed with the White House that Canada is a national security threat. But when other Republicans joined with Democrats to say Congress should intervene Congress had written the statute used by Trump to impose the tariffs and could change it Cornyn demurred. Election season, he said, is no time to pick a fight with the president. This time, he's having it both ways again. Cornyn explained that he believes Trump is just using powers Congress gave him, and it'll be up to the courts to decide whether he's interpreting the statutes too broadly. But why leave it to the courts? Congress wrote the law, and Congress can make clear its intent directly. That's what the resolution is all about. Cornyn said he's concluded Trump has legal authority to declare a state of emergency over the border. After all, didn't President Obama declare in 2014 that the surge in unaccompanied minors on the border was "an actual humanitarian crisis?" "I think I'll leave for others the effort to try to distinguish between an emergency and a humanitarian crisis; I don't see any difference," Cornyn said. Plus, drugs. And human trafficking, he added. What supreme sophistry. America faces humanitarian crises routinely New Orleans and Hurricane Harvey come quickly to mind. The California wildfires. The lead in the water in Flint. Entrenched poverty. The crisis of addiction. Climate change. The list goes on. These crises require urgency. But emergency presidential powers have always been reserved for times when ordinary arrangements are simply not available. That's how it has always been. Until now. A wall won't slow the tide of unaccompanied children, which has abated since 2014, or the more recent wave of asylum seekers. More resources, faster processing and ultimately safer conditions back home will help. A wall won't. So why the inaction? It's becoming a signature Cornyn approach: Raise thoughtful objections to mark disagreement with the president, but then explain why there isn't anything that he can do about it. As is so often the case, there is something he can do if only he would. He can vote for the resolution. The message he'd send: The president can build as much wall as he wants, but only if he first persuades Congress to pay for it. That he hasn't been able to is merely a political set back, not a national emergency. . Tall, handsome and with a measured way of speaking in keeping with his past service as Texas attorney general and state Supreme Court justice, Cornyn is a senator straight from central casting. He has written or helped pass important laws, including a key Harvey recovery bill. But at nearly every turn, he takes the safe route. For the past six years he was deputy GOP leader in the Senate and maybe caution is baked into that role. But now, 17 years on, he's his own man in the Senate. How will he use that freedom? Not boldly, I fear. Lindenberger is deputy opinion editor at The Houston Chronicle and a member of the editorial board. The Russian River in wine country north of San Francisco crested at more than 46 feet Wednesday night, exceeding flood stage by some 14 feet. The water swelling over riverbanks inundated homes, businesses, and entire communities, including much of the small town of Guerneville. Drone footage of the area shows rivers where roads should be. "It came up super fast last night," Chris Baker, who is staying in a safe place in Guerneville through the flood, told SFGATE in an email. "You could almost watch it rising and it clearly caught out even experienced flood watchers. Unfortunately, several people have had cars/trucks swamped in our neighborhood... beyond all the basements/lower levels that have taken on water." ALSO: Soaked! Atmospheric dumps 6 inches on Marin while delivering only drizzle to SF The river frequently floods in rainy weather but it had not reached that level for 25 years and wasn't expected to recede again until late Thursday night. The estimated 2,000 buildings inundated by floodwaters were mainly in and around the community of Guerneville, said Briana Khan, a Sonoma County spokeswoman. "Guerneville has essentially become an island," Khan said. The entire town has been cut off since Tuesday, and the Sonoma County Sherriff's Office announced at 9 a.m. Wednesday, "Water receding slower than expected. No access to Guerneville for 24 to 48 hours due to flooded roads." The nearby town of Monte Rio also was also isolated when roads leading to it were swamped. No injuries were reported in the Guerneville area and by Wednesday night the rain had eased but about 3,500 people in two dozen river communities remained under evacuation orders. In addition, two sewage treatment plants were not working, leading to concerns about potential sewage spills, she added. MORE: Entire town of Guerneville cut off by Russian River flooding during evacuation orders In Guerneville, streets became seas of muddy brown water. Jeff Bridges, a hotel co-owner who is president of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce, spent the day canoeing through town and gave a ride to a couple and their dog who were stranded in a low-lying apartment. Five people whose homes were flooded were bunking down at his two-bedroom home. "We saw quite a few fish swimming by my front porch," he said. Bridges said this flood was the fourth he's experienced in 33 years and the locals took the disaster calmly. "It's the price you pay to live in paradise," he said. "Buffalo, New York puts up with blizzards. Miami and Houston put up with hurricanes...we have floods." However, Bridges said it will take weeks to clean up his R3 Hotel, as he has done in past floods. More than 8 feet of water inundated the 23-room business. "Anything that's been flooded you've got to rip it out, sanitize everything...and rebuild," he said, but added nonchalantly: "Everything's fixable." The Associated Press contributed to this story. TUNIS - Thousands of people took to the streets in various cities across Algeria on Friday, in particular in the capital, to protest against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's intention to run for a fifth time, local media said. Some politicians and other presidential candidates have joined the protesters' appeals, as well as the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) party, which called on its members to march in Algiers on Friday. Former Algerian prime minister Ali Benflis, who served in that role from 2000 to 2003 and ran for president in 2004 and 2014, supported the march in the capital. "We are calling for a democratic state, based on popular sovereignty," Benflis told news website tsa-algerie.com. "Today, the Algerian people as a whole will say no to the official narrative, no to threats, no to repression, yes to popular sovereignty, yes to true citizenship for all. People want self-determination. Just as they defeated colonialism, the Algerian people will say no to unjust leaders and to those who want to govern the country without the will of the Algerians," Benflis said. The three independent presidential candidates, Ghani Mahdi, Tahar Missoum, and Rachid Nekkaz, also called on Algerians to make their voices heard. Journalists protested on Thursday in the capital "against the silence imposed on popular demonstrations against the fifth candidacy of Abdelaziz Bouteflika". Communications and collaboration technology tools are worthless and ineffective if they dont facilitate or support workplace connectivity. Speaking with business leaders and technology decision-makers has made it clear that collaboration tools suffer low adoption when they dont support how people actually work together or connect. If a tool creates friction in workplace communications, it is an absolute non-starter. Therefore, a key objective for any enterprise investment in communications and collaboration technology has to be improving peoples work experiences and helping them get their work done. Anything less, is uncivilized! Establish the purpose The technology decision has to have as its core purpose the enhancement of the internal, customer and external-facing interactions of the organization. This is a continuum. Research shows there is a direct correlation between both the employee and customer experience. Digital workplace strategies have to factor in the experience of all stakeholders in every business process. Collaboration and coordination with external partner or customer organizations and stakeholders is critical. Looking for the right communications and collaboration tool So as business technology decision-makers, you have to bring the right tools to support communication and collaboration across a wide range of stakeholders. One of the major problems I see is misaligned communications and collaboration tools being implemented in organizations without any real purpose to address specific use cases or business processes. The key is matching tools and technology capabilities to actual use cases. I had the chance to speak with multiple franchise owner and entrepreneur, Alex Mercado from Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico. Alex runs multiple businesses, including six Subway and a couple Carls Jr. restaurants among other businesses and interests. In speaking with Alex about communications and collaboration tools, he intimated as an overarching goal, looking for technology that enabled him to work from home and connect without friction to people across all of his businesses. He basically wanted a tool that could provide context and help him manage projects and communications across all his various businesses. Were talking about businesses with different sets of teams and in different locations. Now that is a tall order for sure! This led Alex down a journey of evaluating several technology offerings. Let me interject here to say, when evaluating tools, its not about if its bad or good, its about is it the right fit for you and your organization and the specific processes it needs to support? So, after a thorough search, Alex decided on Glip from RingCentral. From his early testing and usage, Alex mentioned that Glip allowed him to manage his companies from anywhere, letting him create separate communication channels with each of his teams, manage tasks, and even collaborate with his suppliers around the world, all online and often from his home. While Alex is a unique case, the fundamental principle here is that he identified the communications and collaboration needs across his multiple businesses and let that serve as the basis for selecting technology to solve the key challenges. To add some real color to these challenges, Alex had to deal with managing an enormous number of projects and tasks. Add to that the numerous employees, contractors, suppliers and business partners that he needs to communicate with daily. For all of this to run smoothly, he needed a technology platform that was easily accessible from any device and that could manage all of this information and data, while providing the critical context required to have a clear view into his people and operations. Alex mentioned that as he works with suppliers in Holland, China, the United States, and in other places all over the world, all of their communication and collaboration is now easier because they do it all through Glip. An interesting thing to note here is that as Alex found Glip effective, he in turn became an evangelist of showing its benefits and convincing his entire ecosystem of partners to begin using it. As one of the main challenges for technology adoption is perceived usefulness, Alex was extremely instrumental in showcasing the benefits across all of his teams. When choosing a communications and collaboration technology, it is imperative then that people and the critical processes they are involved in be at the center of the decision. The idea is to become a more conversational enterprise that supports rich conversational experiences internally and externally with customers and partners. In the case of Alex Mercado, he had to factor in all the businesses he runs as well as his entire ecosystem of partners. There needs to be a clear picture of the needs of all stakeholders and how they actually work. Without a clear picture and purpose, business decision-makers will fly blind when making technology decisions. 28177 In most companies today, AI has become a crucial technology that is leveraged for the businesses growth. AIs growth has reached $1.2 trillion today, according to Gartner. In every country, especially in the UK, AI has become ubiquitous. The UK played an intelligent role in the development of AI, and the UK government has invested a large amount in AI technology. The UK government in April announced a deal called the AI Sector Deal, a financing package that supports several leading companies. The UK government has also been taking initiatives to increase AI knowledge in the citizens. Recently, it funded 115m for AI university courses. Microsoft recently claimed that the UK would become the AI technology game changer. The talent fostered in the future UK remains a challenge, regardless of technological advances. Microsoft has decided to launch two AI training programs to register its efforts. The programs aim to address the shortage of AI talents in UK business areas. Microsoft, therefore, sheds light on stimulating talent to those companies that need AI knowledge. Few AI Companies Microsoft launched the Microsoft AI Academy as the first initiative to help businessmen by offering face-to-face training sessions and web-based training. Microsoft also uses the academy to train its staff. The company extends its initiative to know the problems that leading AI researchers in the United Kingdom face. Many AI researchers have attracted private companies because of an attractive salary. Microsoft has launched a funding program called the "Microsoft Research-Cambridge Machine Learning Initiative" to curb this instance. It provides Ph.D. Scholarships, co-supervises students in universities, and offers paid internships that invite students to work along with Microsoft projects. Nearly 51 percent of companies do not use AI in their workplace, according to Microsoft's survey. However, 49 percent of the UK business leaders claim that AI technology makes them more productive and thus reduces processing time. According to Microsofts research, organizations already on AI journey have been outperforming other organizations by five percent on factors including business outcomes, productivity, and performance. What are the main benefits of cloud security? Cloud security helps you better manage security for the way the world works today. It shields users against threats anywhere they access the Internet, and it secures your data and applications in the cloud. Additional benefits of cloud security include: Blocks threats earlier. Stop malware before it spreads to your network or endpoints and decrease the time spent remediating infections. Enables more secure cloud use. Improve security without impacting end-user productivity. Helps secure users, data, and apps. Protect apps, data, and users in the cloud against compromised accounts, malware, and data breaches. Better support policy compliance. Extends protection. Eliminate blind spots and better secure users anywhere they go and anywhere they access the Internet. Why is cloud application security important? In our multicloud world, we have the freedom to choose what stays on-premises and what lives on different private, public, or hybrid clouds. While connecting to all those clouds is easy, managing the different environments can get complicated--fast. Even if you are connecting directly, you don't usually own certain connections. Colocation connections complicate matters even more; this includes all of the devices your workforce uses to access cloud-based apps. How to secure the public cloud? Securing the public cloud is an increasingly difficult challenge for businesses. As a result, IT departments are constantly seeking a cloud-delivered security solution that provides sufficient end-user security. Cisco Cloud Security products extend protection to all aspects of your business. For instance, Cisco Umbrella secures cloud access and Cisco Cloudlock helps safeguard the use of SaaS applications. Additionally, Cisco Secure Email blocks and remediates email threats, Secure Cloud Analytics monitors your SaaS instances and creates alerts for suspicious activities. Cisco Cloud Security products deliver a broad, effective security solution for your multicloud world. On Wednesday, President Donald Trumps former longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee about Trumps hush payments to alleged mistresses, his misrepresentation of his wealth and his business in Russia. But Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a close ally of Trumps, shifted the spotlight to Cohens own Russian ties in a now-deleted tweet posted a day before the hearing that seemed to threaten to sic Cohens father-in-law on him: Hey @MichaelCohen212 Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat I wonder if shell remain faithful when youre in prison. Shes about to learn a lot. Why would Gaetz reference Cohens father-in-law Fima Shusterman, and not just his wife? Why would Cohen fear his father-in-law if he had affairs? Perhaps because Trump and his allies have been implying without producing any evidence that Shusterman is a gangster. Allegations about the Ukrainian-born Shustermans ties to Russian organized crime in New York started to surface widely last spring, when FBI agents raided Cohens home with search warrants that reportedly referenced Shustermans $20 million loans to another Ukrainian-American taxi fleet operator in Chicago. Since December, Trump has been using those reports in an attempt to divert attention from investigations into his own Russian links while also appearing to threaten Cohen if he testifies against Trump. Now, facing a three-year prison sentence for arranging payments during the 2016 election to silence women who claimed to be involved with Trump and for lying to Congress about the extent of talks with Russia about a proposed Trump Tower in Moscow, Cohen says hes done protecting Trump. And perhaps because hes feeling the heat of a former trusted confidante cooperating with investigations into possible collusion with Russia, Trump is turning the allegations back on Cohen. Heres what they all mean. What are the allegations about Cohens father-in-law? Born in the Ukraine, Fima Shusterman first moved to New York in 1975, and eventually started buying up a fleet of taxis with his two business partners. The first major misstep that spectators point to when referencing Shustermans alleged Russian mob ties is a 1993 conviction related to money laundering. Shusterman pleaded guilty to evading federal reporting requirements for large cash transactions and admitted to cashing $5.5 million worth of checks in order to do so. One year later, Cohen married Shustermans daughter, Laura. The New York Times story last year that revealed this history also reported that Shusterman began trying to help Cohen get work, and that Cohen soon started doing business with Russian and Ukrainian immigrants from communities in Brooklyn, including Brighton Beach, a neighborhood heavily populated by immigrants from the former Soviet Union. More recently, Shusterman lent $20 million to a Ukrainian couple by the name of Shtayner who operated a large taxi fleet in Chicago. The Shtayners were reportedly mentioned in the search warrants used to raid Cohens home and office. Early last summer, Bloomberg also reported that the Shustermans owned three units in Trump World Tower in Manhattan two of which Cohens in-laws were trying to sell for a combined $11.2 million. Some have used those facts to draw up more direct ties between Shusterman and Russian organized crime. One former federal investigator told journalist Seth Hettena that Shusterman called in a favor with Trump to get Cohen a job in the Trump Organization and that he could have been a conduit to Russian investors in Trump properties. Cohen denied this claim. What has Trump said about Shusterman? Trump seemed to weaponize allegations about Shustermans supposed Russian mob ties against Cohen when it became clear that Cohen would cooperate with authorities on the investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. Trump first tweeted about Cohens father-in-law in December, saying the Cohen was making up stories about Trump while Shusterman and Cohens wife got off Scott Free. The president later called in to a Fox News show when Cohens testimony before the House Oversight Committee was announced. He should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because thats the one that people want to look at, because where does that money thats the money in the family, Trump told host Jeanine Pirro. And I guess he didnt want to talk about his father-in-law. While some viewed Trumps comments about Shusterman and Cohens wife as an attempt at witness intimidation, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani jumped into the ring last month to defend the president. Giuliani, who has been working for Trump, said that the comments were an instance of Trump simply trying to defend himself. "Of course it is (an instance of Trump defending himself) if the father-in-law is a criminal in the Southern District of New York," Giuliani said. He may have ties to something called organized crime. Were the allegations addressed during Wednesdays hearing? In his opening statement on Wednesday, Cohen referenced the attempts to pull his family into the proceedings. I have asked this Committee to ensure that my family be protected from Presidential threats, he said. I have provided the Committee with copies of Tweets that Mr. Trump posted, attacking me and my family only someone burying his head in the sand would not recognize them for what they are: encouragement to someone to do harm to me and my family. But during the rest of his testimony, Cohen didnt have much to say on his father-in-laws alleged ties with the Russian mob. When asked why he thought Trump was going after his father-in-law, Cohen said he didnt know, mentioning that Shusterman, who is retired, was in the clothing business which he was, in addition to owning taxicabs and that his biggest investments happened to be in Trump properties. What is the status of the Russian mob in New York today? While New York is traditionally associated with the Italian mafia, Russian organized crime has a storied history in the city, too. While Russian gangs are known to operate in fraud and insurance scams and tax evasion, theyve also been connected to early computer crime. In 1995, a group of Russian hackers accessed $12 million from Citibanks computer network in New York. The Russians start businesses and front companies and commodities firms that appear legitimate but essentially work to advance the interests of the Russian state, Craig Unger, author of House of Trump, House of Putin, said in an interview with Vox. Ungers book looks at Trumps connections to the Russian government and mafia in New York, reaching back three decades. Theyre very good at getting people entangled financially and then using that as leverage to get what they want. This appears to be what theyve done with Trump, and now hes the president of the United States. One of the largest recent busts was in 2017, when 30 members and associates of a Russian organized crime group were charged with racketeering, murder for hire and trafficking tens of thousands of pounds of stolen chocolate, among other crimes. The group, called the Shulaya Enterprise, operated in New York and New Jersey, as well as in Pennsylvania, Florida and Nevada. Among the crimes delineated, Shulaya members were accused of trying to operate an illegal poker business in Brighton Beach, where Cohen is said to have met some of his first business partners. Last Wednesday afternoon, Seamus Hughes stood in his driveway in the suburbs of Maryland, scraping snow off his car. He took a break, pulled his phone from a pocket, and indulged in his favorite pastime: trawling court documents. He saw something interesting: a detention memo showing that a lieutenant in the US Coast Guard, held in Maryland on drug and gun charges, had been stockpiling weapons and human growth hormone on the recommendation of a manifesto by Anders Breivik, a Norwegian terrorist who killed more than 70 people in 2011. The lieutenant, Christopher Hasson, planned to use focused violence to establish a white homeland. He also kept a hit list of media personalities and elected officials. Hughes tweeted, and attached the memo. Always troll the MJ court filings folks. Always, he wrote. Soon, The Washington Post had the story, attributing it to the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, where Hughes is the deputy director. Nobody ever wants to use Pacer, Hughes tells me later, when we meet at his office. He blames the user interface (God awful) and the fact that journalists are siloed, and therefore too narrowly focused in their research. The justice reporters only write about justice, the Russia reporters about Russia, he says. But thats not how it works if you want to search Pacer. When he was arrested this week in Silver Spring MD, he had a stash of guns and a list of people he wanted to kill. It was a whos who of media personalities and elected officials. pic.twitter.com/Y8iEgqktlR Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) February 20, 2019 ICYMI: Reporter behind controversial BuzzFeed scoop speaks Hughes, who is 35, is boyish in an Oxford and khakis. He and his boss, Lorenzo Vidino, consider the Program on Extremism an academic body, not a journalistic one. Yet their research and investigative work has repeatedly broken news that the press would have otherwise missed, from Julian Assanges 2018 indictment to the Los Angeles City Councils corruption investigation in January. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Hughes specializes in documents on domestic terrorism, while Vidino, originally from Milan, spends more time in the field with primary sources. Since the programs inception, in 2015, they have archived more than a million English-language tweets about ISIS. Our work is just the facts, maam, Hughes says. But we love a good story. It makes the data matter to policy makers. For instance, when Hoda Muthana, a Yemeni-American terrorist, left home in the summer of 2015 to go to Turkey and then Syria, Hughes noted her activity on Twitter and met with her father in Dulles airport in Washington, DC to speak on background. At the time, there was not much reported on her. Last week, however, when Muthana appealed to return to the US, Hughes gave interviews to outlets including The New York Times, the Associated Press, ABC, and FOX about Muthanas role in ISIS. Hughes learned the value of sifting through documents in the aughts, when he was an intern with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He worked under Jim McGee, a former reporter who had spent eight years at the Miami Herald, where he broke the Gary Hart scandal and shared a Pulitzer for his work on the Iran-Contra story, and another decade at the Post. Hughes was impressed: Hes a digger. Hughes followed his bosss lead. Within two years, he had his own office. My investigative skills translated very easily to Congressional oversight, but its an adversarial environment, McGee says. Seamus just got it. ICYMI: Reuters publishes ethically questionable story The Program on Extremism makes as many documents as possible public, for the use of other academics, policy makers, and journalists. Hughes tweets out leads as soon as the team finds them; sometimes, he and his team will write their own stories. But there are ethical concerns: before revealing a new story, Hughes says, they contact the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of Investigation to consult about whether the material might compromise national security. Also important is keeping safe the people mentioned in the documents. For ISIS Files, a project Vidino is working on with the Times that will scour and translate 15,000 pages of internal Islamic State documents, theyll spend a year analyzing the risks, in consultation with the Hoover Institute; the Genocide Archive for Rwanda; and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. We need to make these documents public, to fully understand what happened, Vidino says. But we dont want anyone endangered. Hughes likes to forward pertinent documents to journalists at local papers. They are the ones who deserve it, he says. Hughes strives for a symbiosis with the press, he adds, and compares himself to a fixer. Theyve got a first name of an American in a refugee camp, and we try to run it down, cross reference with our sources, make sure theyre ok with it. Sometimes, he finds, his journalist contacts get frustrated when he tweets out findings, rather than share them confidentially, as with the Assange indictment. A week after he broke the Hasson story, Hughes traveled to New York to deliver a Pacer training for the staff of Gizmodo. He advised focusing on four areas: Maryland, DC, Virginia, and central California. Thats where you know youre going to find terrorism cases, he says. Though youre never going to break a story in DC. Our local news is too good. He also recommended checking court dockets on the Fridays before national holidays. That way they can hold suspects an extra day before they see the judge. For the Hasson story, Hughes went down to the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, to attend the detention hearing. He was amazed by the number of reporters, who spilled over into an extra room. The scene made him think of a hearing hed attended a year ago in Baltimorethe only case yet of ISIS sending money to the US to commit an attackwhen he had been the only non-family member to show up. I was beating my head trying to get anyone to care, he recalls. This time, he realized, the story had all the right ingredients. With Hasson, youve got a media hit list, which means the media cares, he says. Youve got guns, a political aspect, presidential rhetoric. Wrap it all together and you get a story. ICYMI: A NYT article about Twitter got lot of pushback from journalists Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Amanda Darrach is a contributor to CJR and a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews School of International Relations. Follow her on Twitter @thedarrach. Yesterday, following the premature collapse of his nuclear summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, President Trump, addressing reporters in Hanoi, said he walked because North Korea wanted full sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearization. It was a concession, Trump said, that the United States could not make. Later in the day, at a rare news conference, Ri Yong-ho, North Koreas Minister of Foreign Affairs, denied Trumps account, saying that his country asked only for a partial lifting of sanctions. In America, commentators argued over why Trumps strategy failed, and whether he was right to bail. In North Korea, there was no such debate. State media glossed right over the collapse of the summit, describing it as an event of great significance that furthered mutual respect and trust. Since Trump entered office, US relations with North Korea have swung between extreme hostility and unlikely rapprochement. In two meetings with Kim, Trump has broken diplomatic ground. Yet the international reporters covering North Korea have little idea what Kims regime is really thinking, orat moments like this onewhat it might do next. At this weeks summit, Kim, for the first time ever, took questions from Western reporters; his answers were short and terse, though they were symbolically important, and offered some (albeit limited) insight into the situation. But now that the summit is over, the normal silence will resume. ICYMI: One way to improve coverage of the US-Mexico border? Move there. The information climate of North Korea is dire. For the past two years, Reporters Without Borders has ranked it the worst country in the world for press freedom. The state controls the internet; citizens caught accessing foreign media are sometimes sent to concentration camps. The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse have established bureaus in the country, in conjunction with state media, yet foreign reporters are tightly controlled. Before the summit, Andrew McCormick, my CJR colleague, spoke with journalists about their experiences covering North Korea. Several of them described it as a black box. The constant challenge, Simon Denyer, Tokyo bureau chief for The Washington Post, said, was resisting the temptation to provide complete narratives and limiting oneself to what is actually knowable. In the absence of reliable sources, reporters, as well as academics and other experts, have had to get creative. In 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that American scholars in Seoul fed North Korean state media through a high-powered mathematical engine for clues about the regimes plans. Doug Bock Clark wrote for The New Yorker that advances in commercial satellite photography have allowed civilian think tanks to source their own imaging of North Koreas nuclear sites. A month after Trump and Kims first summit, in Singapore, Joby Warrick, a Post reporter, turned to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies to verify a tip from an intelligence source. Analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and 38 North, a news-site-think-tank hybrid with a roster of high-powered experts, has been widely cited in the press. These sourcing workarounds have been useful in challenging the Trump administrations official narrative that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat. With talks now collapsed, the value of such sleuthing is even higher. But satellite cameras can only see Kims test sites, not inside his head. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Below, more on North Korea: Thumbs up: The Posts David Nakamura became the first foreign reporter to ask Kim a question on Wednesday. Once he began to speak, in his surprisingly deep voice, the Disney-like veneer faded, Nakamura writes. The bubble had been pierced, a reclusive control freak had revealed something, however smallthe fundamental currency between a reporter and his subject had been exchanged. The Posts David Nakamura became the first foreign reporter to ask Kim a question on Wednesday. Once he began to speak, in his surprisingly deep voice, the Disney-like veneer faded, Nakamura writes. The bubble had been pierced, a reclusive control freak had revealed something, however smallthe fundamental currency between a reporter and his subject had been exchanged. The risk of nuclear war: In 2017, with tensions between the US and North Korea running high, Evan Osnos was granted access for what became a terrifying piece in The New Yorker. In eighteen years of reporting, Ive never felt as much uncertainty at the end of a project, a feeling that nobodynot the diplomats, the strategists, or the scholars who have devoted their lives to the subjectis able to describe with confidence how the other side thinks, he wrote. In 2017, with tensions between the US and North Korea running high, Evan Osnos was granted access for what became a terrifying piece in The New Yorker. In eighteen years of reporting, Ive never felt as much uncertainty at the end of a project, a feeling that nobodynot the diplomats, the strategists, or the scholars who have devoted their lives to the subjectis able to describe with confidence how the other side thinks, he wrote. Diplomatic overture: Last year, Evan Ramstad, a former Journal reporter in Seoul, wrote for CJR on his coverage of a New York Philharmonic goodwill concert in North Korea in 2008. Competitive news organizations lower their reporting standards in return for access to a place that is exotic, scary, bizarre and even entertaining, he observed. Unfortunately, often enough, it has been able to count on journalists shortcuts and short memories for some extra polishing of its reputation in the world. Last year, Evan Ramstad, a former Journal reporter in Seoul, wrote for CJR on his coverage of a New York Philharmonic goodwill concert in North Korea in 2008. Competitive news organizations lower their reporting standards in return for access to a place that is exotic, scary, bizarre and even entertaining, he observed. Unfortunately, often enough, it has been able to count on journalists shortcuts and short memories for some extra polishing of its reputation in the world. Covering the Koreas: In our Fall 2018 magazine, E. Tammy Kim wrote about the role of the world press in shaping diplomacy with North Korea. In South Korea, the administration of Moon Jae-in worries that its peace-first approach to North Korea could be undermined by the American medias cynicism. PSA: The Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights at Columbia Journalism School is offering two $10,000 fellowship opportunities. Fellows work under Jelani Cobb, the Centers director and a staff writer at The New Yorker, to report a 5,000-word story or series linked to civil and human rights. For information on how to apply, click here. Other notable stories: ICYMI: Despite backlash, Jason Leopold stands by his story Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. MOSCOW - Russian armed forces and the Syrian government plan to start evacuation of the Rukban refugee camp in southern Syria on Friday, said Russian General Mikhail Mizintsev. "Today we must undertake an unprecedented humanitarian operation," Mizintsev said, calling on US troops in the area to allow passage of the evacuation convoys. In January, the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed "severe concern about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions" at Rukban, where it said "approximately 40,000 people, mostly women and children, remain stranded". Russia blamed the US for the inadequate living conditions at the camp, which has difficulty receiving food and medical supplies due to precarious security conditions. BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- I cant believe another year has gone by -- and this time Im admitting it was 60 years ago that I first started working in the Leader Post newspaper office. It really is kind of unbelievable to think its been that long. Emily Oravec and I would type away on our IBM Executive typewriters in the basement of the post office (now the Herman building at Ohio 303 and U.S. 42) for what was the first offset newspaper in Ohio. That was one of those bad winters, and I was lucky to live nearby on Harvard Drive. And thats where this wonderful adventure all began. Im really glad so many of you have been with me the whole time. Scouts go for the silver: Girl Scout Troop 90776, with five eighth-grade girls, has taken on a much-needed project to earn the Silver Award. It all started when a classmates mother who is an obstetrical nurse brought the cause to their attention -- that girls who live in poverty often cannot afford personal hygiene products at that time of the month. Samantha Smoyer, Julia Presser, Kirsten Luck, Emma Hansen and Allison Klinge learned more about it when the nurse posted an article last year about period poverty on the Medina Moms Discuss It Facebook page. She wanted to start a collection, and several moms then got together, including Girl Scout leader Amy Smoyer. Smoyer shared it with the Scouts, who decided to collect for the project and call it Just Between Girls. The Girl Scouts decorated donation boxes, and once the collections were completed, they put together bags of products that would each last a recipient throughout the summer months. This year, the troop is leading this collection themselves, which will earn them their Silver Award. They would like to expand their reach, and will be making donations to The Childrens Center of Medina, Cups Cafe and local middle schools. They are looking mainly for sanitary napkins (pads) in regular flow, overnight and panty liners. They are also collecting underwear for these girls, as they learned that some do not even own underwear. They need sizes childrens 12-16, or womens small and medium. The sixth-grade troop, 90465, also led by Smoyer, is joining the eighth-grade troops effort, but they want to add some fun items to The Childrens Center bags for girls who may come from abusive situations. The center has asked for items such as nail polish, manicure kits, bath bombs, shower poofs, lotion and deodorant -- basically anything that youd put into a teenagers stocking or Easter Basket. Several local stores have offered to place a collection box in their business. If youd like to donate, you can bring items to: Cool Beans Cafe, Circles on the Square and The Raspberry & The Rose, all on the Medina Square; MDG Flooring America, at the corner of Fenn and Pearl roads; Centerra Country Store, at 6701 Wooster Pike, Medina; and both Medina and Brunswick Jazzercise facilities. You can also contact the leader, Amy Smoyer at chefamy@zoominternet.net if you have any questions regarding the collection. They will be collecting from March 1-23. If youd like to read that original article about period poverty, go to kristof.blogs.nytimes.com\. Kids can have a fling: The Medina County Historical Society is presenting A Spring Fling at the Museum April 13 at the John Smart House museum, 206 N. Elmwood St., Medina. The day will include story time with Beatrix Potter, a sit-down tea party and manners class, pictures with The Rabbit in the restored McDowell-Phillips carriage (weather permitting), and natural egg coloring techniques with the Giants of Seville. The event is for children ages 6-10. Donation is $25 per person. For reservations and seating times, call Katie at 330-241-9692. This is a fundraiser for the Medina County Historical Society. They see the finish line: St. Ambrose parish is preparing to finish its huge renovation and church addition project, and soon you may see that cross placed back on the roof. The interior work is nearing complete, and you can see how much has been done outside as you drive by. Everything is scheduled for completion by Easter! Its getting to be reunion time: The Brunswick High School class of 1979 is searching for missing members. If you are an alumnus of the class of 79 or know how to reach someone who is, have them contact the reunion committee at bhs40yrs@gmail.com with their personal contact information so they can keep informed about the event. Members of the committee include Conrad Hornung, Karin (Prill) Gosnell, Jinny (Galloway) Widowski and Carolyn (Koverman) Zielinski. Lifeguard, water safety training offered: The Medina Community Recreation Center is offering an American Red Cross lifeguard training course, as well as a water safety instructor course. The lifeguard course will prepare attendees for a fun summer job or a career in aquatics. A pre-test has to be completed. Participants must be at least 15 years old by the end of the class. All classes are mandatory. No exceptions and no refunds after the first day of class. The class will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday from March 27 to April 24. Cost is $235 for MCRC members and $245 for non-members. Some students can be partially compensated for the course fee. Call aquatics manager Darlene at 330-721-6942 for more information. Participants who successfully complete the water safety instructor course will be certified to teach American Red Cross Learn to Swim classes. They must be at least 16 years old by the time of registration. Class meets from 5 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday from March 27 through April 24. Cost is $200 for MCRC members and $210 for non-members. To register for either class, click online registration at medinaoh.org/medina-rec or stop at the Recreation Center front desk. One more business: The list of the oldest Brunswick businesses owned by the same family that weve been gathering in the past few weeks has one more -- Fuller Farms. Its fun again: NASCAR races just got a lot more interesting in our household, now that we have local boy Matt Tifft driving. Im always staring to see number 36 -- hopefully safe and sound. Learn about governing: OSU Office of Extension, Medina and Leadership Medina County will present the third session of the 10-part 2019 Government Academy series focusing on public meetings and board procedures. Class will be held on March 21 and will detail the rules, etiquette and points to consider when participating in a public meeting as an observer or as a member of a public or private board of directors. The Government Academy classes are recommended for any individual seeking to explore the mechanics and philosophies that impact government, board or business, particularly with respect to decision-making and leadership. Class topics range from A (Agriculture) to Z (Zoning). Class presenters include local experts, such as Judge Joyce Kimbler, and state experts, including Dr. Peggy Hall, agriculture law professor at The Ohio State University. Class begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner, followed by two hours of teaching from 6 to 8 p.m. at the University of Akron, 6300 Technology Lane, Medina. The class registration fee includes dinner and all materials. All are welcome. The cost per class is $50. A discount is applied for registration for five or more classes. CLEs for lawyers are approved for four of the remaining classes, and CEUs for township trustee fiscal officers are approved for the Sept. 19 Sunshine Ethics class. Both are available upon request and included in the registration fee. Here is a link to the registration form: https://leadershipmedinacounty.org/government-academy/ or, for more information, contact Kyle White via email at white.2811@osu.edu. Scholars wanted: The American Association of University Women, Medina County Branch is accepting applications for two $1,000 scholarships to be given to non-traditional women undergraduate students who are attending accredited colleges or universities for the 2019-2020 academic year. Applicants must be residents of Medina County. The mission of AAUW is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research, explained branch president Kathy Kraus. Were thrilled to be able to help women continue their education who might not be able to otherwise. A non-traditional student is one who is returning to college to finish an undergraduate degree or who has delayed entering college for several years after completing high school or earning a GED. The deadline for submission of the application, college transcript and recommendations is April 26. The scholarships will be awarded on the basis of financial need, academic achievement and clarity of stated goals and objectives. The applicant must be attending an accredited college/university. Applications are available and administered through The Akron Community Foundation at akroncf.org/Students/ScholarshipFunds.aspx . For more information on eligibility or the process, contact Cheri Ingraham, scholarship committee chairperson, at cheri@bunkerhillgc.com or 330-723-3355. Scholarship winners will be announced in May and be recognized at the AAUW Annual Meeting on May 23. For more information on this and other AAUW programs, check visit medinacounty-oh.aauw.net/ . Fish fry time: The popular Lenten Fish fry is back at the Brunswick VFW Post 9520 and auxiliary, 1439 S. Carpenter Road. Fish fries are from 5 to 7 p.m. Fridays starting March 8 and continue through Good Friday, April 19. The post offers crunchy fried fish, beer-battered fish, salmon, breaded shrimp and chicken tenders with coleslaw or a trip to the salad bar and a side dish of macaroni and cheese, fries or pierogies. There are also pierogi dinners available. Prices range from $8 to $10, with additional sides, fish or chicken tenders available. Desserts are available for a donation, which is used for local veteran family programs. If you need more information, call 330-273-4892. Trustees elected: The Medina County Arts Council elected five trustees for new, three-year terms at the February Annual Meeting held at the Brunswick Library. They are: Vicki Sheridan, Aimee Adams, Elaine Lamb, Chris Nespeca and Donna Mittler. Elected to new two-year terms were Paulette Grubb and Jill Morton. Continuing on the board are Dallis Conrad, Craig Staufer, Linda Loveless, Dan Hostetler, Pat Chaloupek and Ann Cole. Also at the event, recognition and thanks were given to retiring trustee Dan Polk. After the adjournment of the Annual Meeting of members, the new trustees joined the continuing trustees for a board meeting in which officers were elected. Elected for the coming year were Dan Hostetler, president; Pat Chaloupek, vice president; Linda Loveless, secretary; and Ann Cole, treasurer. Scholarship time: The Medina County Arts Council is currently accepting applications for its 2019 scholarship award. All Medina County graduating seniors who have been actively involved in the arts during high school and are continuing their education at a technical school, two-year or four-year institution are eligible to apply. Declaration of a major in the arts is not required. The scholarship is a one-time $1,000 award to be used on tuition, books or other supplies. Full details may be found at medinacountyartscouncil.org/ . This annual scholarship is made possible through community memberships and donations to the MCAC. Consider joining to support local students in your community. The Medina County Arts Council, established in 1983, is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote and build community excellence through the arts in Medina County. The council serves audiences and assists artists and arts organizations throughout the county. The organization may be reached by mail at P.O. Box 532, Medina, OH 44258, or by phone at 330-722-5502. Eat for charity: Seven local charities are joining forces with 18 Jersey Mikes Subs restaurants in the Cleveland area for the ninth annual March Month of Giving campaign. During the month of March, customers can make a donation at participating Jersey Mikes restaurants to Deyarmin Foundation (five locations in Cleveland area south); Donation recipients include Prayers From Maria Childrens Glioma Cancer Foundation (Westlake, Rocky River, North Olmsted); Color Your Corner (Chardon, Willoughby, Mayfield); St. Baldricks Foundation (Brunswick, Chagrin Falls, Hudson); Gladiator X Project (Parma, Broadview Heights); Joshua T. Miktarian Memorial Scholarship Fund (Twinsburg) and Macedonia Fire Explorers (Macedonia). The campaign will culminate in Jersey Mikes Day of Giving on Wednesday, March 27, when local Jersey Mikes restaurants will give 100 percent of the days sales -- not just profit -- to the partner charities. On Day of Giving, local Jersey Mikes owners and operators throughout the country will donate their resources and every single dollar that comes in to more than 180 different charities, including hospitals, youth organizations, food banks and more. Last years nationwide Month of Giving initiative raised more than $6 million for charities, making a big difference in their local communities, and this year, we hope to raise even more, said Peter Cancro, Jersey Mikes founder and CEO, who started the company when he was only 17 years old. From the early days, its just what weve always done -- give to give, as they say. This March, I invite you to visit Jersey Mikes to help support an important cause in your neighborhood. For more information about Jersey Mikes Subs Month of Giving, visit: jerseymikes.com/mog . UF Bands Perform: The University of Findlay Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble recently performed Disney Goes to the Movies. The band performed music from Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, Planes, Aladdin, Mary Poppins and other favorites. The annual winter concert was directed by Jack Taylor, professor of music. Local students include Matthew Buchfellner and Madison Cifranic of Brunswick and Kimberly Sprungl of Hinckley Township. Emma is in the tourney: Emma Sturtecky, of Hinckley Township, will participate in the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association Regional Tournament this month at the University of Findlay. UF members of the IHSA Western and IHSA Hunt Seat teams qualified to compete by accumulating points in tournaments throughout the year. Students will compete individually and as a team for a chance to progress to the 2019 Nationals. Dont forget Brighton Beach: Neil Simons iconic Brighton Beach Memoirs is being presented by the Medina County Show Biz Company at 7:30 p.m. March 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23 and at 2 p.m. March 10 and 24 at the Haddad Theater at the Medina County Administration Building, 144 N. Broadway St., Medina. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at Buehlers. For more information, call 330-722-5776. Special event: St. Ambrose Parish is holding its Saint Patricks Day evening of music and song with James Kilbane at 7 p.m. March 14 at the parishs Hilkert Hall, 929 Pearl Road. Kilbane is a Top 10 Christian Performing Artist in Ireland. The concert is free and open to all. A freewill offering will be taken to support Catholic Works of Mercy Outreach Center. Help the band get to London: A benefit for The Brunswick High School band will include a breakfast reverse raffle at 9 a.m. March 31 at Brunswick Eagles Lodge 3505, 349 Pearl Road. Breakfast, provided by Danbury Senior Living, will be served from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., followed by sideboards, basket raffles and a grand prize of $1,500 (based on 150 tickets sold) . Cost is $20 a ticket; winner need not be present to win. For tickets, call Deb at 330-416-1451 or Jessica at 216-255-7290. Contact Boyer at samboyersunnews@yahoo.com CLEVELAND, Ohio A Cleveland man is accused of being one of two robbers who beat a man with a metal pipe and held a gun to his head during a robbery in the citys Old Brooklyn neighborhood. Zachary C. Low, 28, is charged with aggravated robbery in the Feb. 21 incident on West 47th Street near Spokane Avenue, according to court records. He is not in custody, but a warrant was issued Wednesday for his arrest. A 31-year-old man who was hurt in the beating told police officers that he recognized Low as one of the robbers. The man believed that Low blamed him for thefts that happened in Elyria, according to a police report. Investigators have not identified the second man involved in the robbery. The 31-year-old man was walking just after 3 p.m. when he saw the robbers at the corner of West 47th Street at Spokane Avenue. They chased him into a nearby backyard. The robbers caught the man and beat him over the head with a metal pipe, police reports say. Low also put a gun to the mans head and threatened to pull the trigger, police reports say. Low then rifled through the mans pocket and took his wallet, containing approximately $200 in cash, and his Samsung cellphone, police reports say. The robbers ran away and left in a silver car, which the 31-year-old man identified as a silver Ford Taurus. Cleveland police officers took photos of the mans injuries, but he declined to be taken to MetroHealth for treatment. To comment on this story, visit Fridays crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio Two legal experts told cleveland.com that they have seen no evidence of a conflict of interest with two assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutors working for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on a growing public corruption investigation into county government. The experts, who are both professors at Case Western Reserve Universitys law school, said that the assistant prosecutors who have worked on the investigation for nearly 18 months would not be barred from continuing work on the case just because County Prosecutor Michael OMalley recused himself from the case in January. Professors Cassandra Burke Robinson and Michael Benza said County Executive Armond Budishs lawyers will need to present a judge with evidence to back up their claims that prosecutors have a conflict. They cant rely solely on the fact that OMalleys office was both running a criminal probe into county government and preparing a defense of the county in a civil lawsuit filed over jail conditions. Clearing that bar will be high, and both professors said they have not seen such evidence. While it's always possible that other facts could change things, I don't see an immediate problem in this case, Robertson, director of the schools Center for Professional Ethics, said. Budish attacks after raids Yost agreed to take oversight of the criminal investigation from OMalley in a deal that allowed two assistant prosecutors, Matthew Meyer and Paul Soucie, as well as investigator Robert DeSimone to remain on the case. The three now work out of the Attorney Generals Cleveland office, instead of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center, and report to supervisors in Yosts office instead of OMalley. Two weeks after Yosts office took the case, investigators carried out a Feb. 14 raid at the countys downtown headquarters and seized Budishs cellphone, two computers and several boxes of documents. Budish, who had up to that point said he was directing his administration to fully cooperate with the investigation, attacked the probe within hours of the raid. He and his lawyers former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach and criminal defense lawyer Larry Zukerman -- made statements to media and recorded videos in which he said the raid was being carried out by his political enemies and accused investigators of raiding the office to embarrass him. Budish, Dettelbach and Cuyahoga County Chief Communications Office Eliza Wing, who previously served as president and CEO of cleveland.com from 1998 to 2010, met with cleveland.com reporters and editors Feb. 18 to again criticize the investigation. Dettelbach said he spoke with OMalley and raised concerns about OMalleys assistant prosecutors remaining on the case. Dettelbach said they have a conflict of interest, and the investigation should begin anew with independent eyes. He also said he believes Yost has an even bigger conflict than OMalley, citing their dogfight of a campaign for Attorney General that ended in Yosts election in November. Two days later, investigators served a second search warrant and seized Wings notebooks and unedited copies of video-recorded statements Budish made about the investigation. Yost responds Yost requested his own sit-down with cleveland.com reporters and editors and, in that meeting, said his office conducted a review and found no reason to dismiss Meyer and Soucie from the investigation. Yost said the review examined computer files and documents and interviewed members of the prosecutors office. It found that the two prosecutors were not exposed to any documents or information gathered by assistants in OMalleys office working on the defense against the civil lawsuit. Yost said his office did not go back further than the December filling of the lawsuit because he felt that was the moment OMalley became conflicted. He said he would carry out another review if presented with evidence that would warrant it. Yost was also dismissive of Dettelbachs claim of a conflict because the two ran against each other, saying that defense attorneys frequently run for judgeships and county prosecutors offices across the state and they are not barred from arguing cases against former political rivals. If the identity of defense counsel were sufficient to create a conflict, every defendant could stymie a prosecution by hiring the right lawyer, Yost told cleveland.com previously. What do the experts say? Robertson, who noted she was not fully briefed on the details of the investigation, said the two assistant prosecutors would not automatically need to step aside because their boss did. Conflicts of interest usually arise when one lawyer is asked to carry out two conflicting roles, or wear two hats, she said. Ohios rules of professional conduct say that, in a private a law firm, one lawyers conflict of interest can be passed onto the whole firm, Robertson said. Government agencies are different. In OMalleys case, a conflict arose when the prisoners from the jail filed their lawsuit. By law, OMalley is required to defend the Budish Administration in such a civil claim, so he very well could not participate in a criminal investigation into someone he has to defend. The rule says that it is still prudent to screen any government lawyers found to have a conflict, but that one lawyers conflict does not taint the entire office, Robertson said. Having Meyer and Soucie work out of the Attorney Generals office and away from the assistant prosecutors working on the civil side, seems like a good way to keep their roles clear, Robertson said. Benza said it appears that Yosts review is enough to show that there is no conflict with the assistant prosecutors staying on the criminal probe, based on publicly available information. And it will be up to Dettelbach and Budish to either bring Yost evidence that more than just the appearance of a conflict if they are to succeed in getting Meyer and Soucie removed from the case, but they dont need to go as far as producing evidence that Meyer or Soucie directly gave Budish legal advice and then turned around and used the information to guide their probe, Benza said. The burden on the challenger is going to be higher than simply saying this looks bad, Benza said. Its got be this looks bad and something else. Benza said he expects a judge will eventually determine the issue. This is why lawyers get paid lots of money," he joked. To make those subtle distinctions between two relatively indistinguishable concepts." Previous cases A review of two previous cases that featured defendants accusing prosecutors of having a conflict of interest, one in Cleveland and one in Cincinnati, underscores the burden that Budish and his lawyers will have to meet. Lawyers for disgraced Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Lance Mason unsuccessfully argued in his 2014 assault and domestic abuse case that then-Prosecutor Timothy J. McGintys office had a conflict because McGinty served on the bench as a judge alongside Mason for several years before he was elected prosecutor, and that it was McGintys job as prosecutor to act as the civil lawyer for all judges in their professional capacity, including Mason. "(McGinty) can't prosecute his own client, one of Masons lawyers, Fernando Mack, argued. The judge overseeing the case, Patricia Cosgrove, refused to kick McGinty off the case. Mason ultimately pleaded guilty and Cosgrove sent him to prison. Cosgrove is also the judge overseeing the criminal cases against the three people already indicted in the county corruption probe. A 2002 appellate court ruling in a Cincinnati case cemented the need for more than just the appearance of a conflict of interest to exist to kick a prosecutor off a case. In that case, the Hamilton County Prosecutors Office indicted a photographer for photographing bodies in the county morgue two weeks after a lawsuit was filed against the photographer, the county coroners office and its employees for letting him take the pictures. The photographer unsuccessfully argued in court that the prosecutors office had a clear conflict in pursuing an indictment against him when he was a co-defendant in a lawsuit against county officials who were being represented civilly by the same prosecutor. The 1st District Court of Appeals later upheld the decision because the mere appearance of impropriety in a government office is not sufficient in and of itself to warrant vicarious disqualification, according to the opinion. SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- South Euclid officials closed a portion of South Green Road and evacuated nearby business on Friday due to a gas leak. South Green Road is closed between Mayfield and Neville roads, officials said shortly after 11 a.m. Its unclear when the road will reopen. Contractors performing work on behalf of Cleveland Water inadvertently hit a gas line while repairing a water main break, the city of Cleveland said in a news release. Nearby businesses were evacuated as a precaution, a police dispatcher said. Dominion East Ohio was called out to shut off the gas line. Drivers are being asked to avoid the area. South Euclid officials have not released any additional information about the gas leak. The citys police department posted video of the gas leak on Facebook. PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- A Kirtland man pleaded guilty Friday to killing Mentor police officer Mathew Mazany in a hit-and-run crash last year. Brian Anthony, 25, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and other charges during a change-of-plea hearing in Lake County Common Pleas Court. Anthony faces a maximum of 11 years in prison at his April 12 sentencing hearing, Judge John P. ODonnell said during Fridays hearing. Prosecutors dismissed one count of failure to stop after an accident, saying in court that they did not have enough evidence to sustain a conviction on that charge. Anthony tested positive for drugs including fentanyl, heroin, morphine and codeine after the June 24, 2018 crash that killed Mazany on Ohio 2, prosecutors said. The crash happened about 1 a.m. in the highways eastbound lanes near the exit to Ohio 306. Mazany had stopped along the highway to help another police officer with an unrelated traffic stop. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Rocco Dipierro said during Fridays hearing that Anthony was traveling about 60 mph in a Jeep Wrangler when he struck Mazany. The crash pinned Mazany between the Jeep and another Mentor police officers cruiser. Anthony also struck another police cruiser. Dashboard camera video showed he then braked for a moment before he drove away. Mazany, who suffered skull fractures and blunt force trauma in the crash, died after being taken to TriPoint Medical Center in Painesville. Shortly after the crash, Anthony went to Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve & Marina and told a friend that he hit something, but wasnt sure what he hit, Dipierro said. Anthony later told investigators he was not aware he hit someone on the side of the highway. Authorities tracked the Jeep Wrangler and found Anthony about 9 a.m. the morning after the crash, sleeping on a hammock at the marina, Dipierro said. Anthony had been scheduled to stand trial later this month before changing his plea Friday. If youd like to comment on this story, visit Fridays crime and courts comments section. BEIRUT - About 50,000 people fleeing conflict between Kurdish-Syrian forces and the last ISIS holdouts have taken shelter in recent weeks at an already overcrowded refugee camp in eastern Syria, the UN said. It said in the past week alone 13,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, have arrived at the Al-Hol camp at the border with Iraq, in the Syrian region of Hasake. The UN denounced the grave humanitarian and sanitary conditions at the camp. Some refugees at the camp are wives of jihadist fighters who were arrested by the Kurdish forces, as well as the wives' children. The UN cited sources that reported 84 people died attempting to reach the Al-Hol camp between December and now, two-thirds of whom were children under age five. NEW YORK (AP) Dozens of community and nonprofit theaters across the U.S. have been forced to abandon productions of To Kill a Mockingbird under legal threat by Broadway and Hollywood producer Scott Rudin. The combative move has prompted calls for a boycott of Rudins work. Rudin is arguing that author Harper Lee signed over to him exclusive worldwide rights to the title of the novel and that Rudin's current adaptation on Broadway written by Aaron Sorkin is the only version allowed to be performed. That means different adaptations have had to be scuttled in such small venues as the Grand Theatre in Salt Lake City; Mugford Street Players in Marblehead, Massachusetts; and the Kavinoky Theatre in Buffalo, New York, as well as a planned United Kingdom and Ireland tour. They had licensed the rights for a different version, written by Christopher Sergel and licensed by The Dramatic Publishing Company or DPC. In a statement, Rudin defended his position. "We hate to ask anybody to cancel any production of a play anywhere, but the productions in question as licensed by DPC infringe on rights licensed to us by Harper Lee directly," he said. "The Sergel play can contractually continue to be performed under set guidelines as described in detail in its own agreement with Harper Lee and as long as those guidelines are adhered to, we have no issue with the play having a long life." Anger over the move has triggered an online revolt using the rallying cry #BoycottRudinplays. Chris Peterson, founder of the OnStage Blog , wants ticket buyers to steer clear of all current and upcoming Rudin productions on Broadway, including "Hilary and Clinton," ''Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus," ''King Lear," ''The Ferryman" and "The Book of Mormon." "If a theatre was consciously stealing creative license, that would be one thing. This is something else entirely. This is wrong," he writes. "Prohibiting others to perform this piece goes against everything the novel is about in the first place." The all-volunteer Curtain Call Theatre in Braintree, Massachusetts, said it received a letter threatening damages of up to $150,000, a staggering amount for a venue where tickets for plays are $20 and $25 for musicals. "Due to the substantial financial impact defending such an action would have on our small theatre group, we have no choice but to comply and, thus, cancel our upcoming production of 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Not doing so would put our theatre at great risk," the theater said in a statement. In Ohio, the Dayton Playhouse, an active community theater since 1959, had to abruptly cancel its "To Kill a Mockingbird." The cast and crew have been hard at work on the production for weeks. "I feel terrible for our artists, onstage and backstage, who poured their hearts into making something beautiful and meaningful, only to have it ended so suddenly," said Matt Lindsay, chair of the Dayton Playhouse's board of directors. The Broadway adaptation by Sorkin, creator of TV's "The West Wing" and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "The Social Network," stars Jeff Daniels as Atticus Finch, the Alabama lawyer who defends a black man from a false charge of raping a white woman. A spokesman for the American Association of Community Theatre said Thursday the organization would not weigh in on the dispute. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Three years ago, more than 100 people lined up outside the Tesla showroom in Lyndhurst to put $1,000 deposits on a car nobody had ever seen. That car was the Tesla Model 3, which offered the allure of an ultra cool brand combined with the environmental consciousness of an electric car for just $35,000. After many starts and stops, three years later, Tesla is finally ready to fulfill those orders. CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday the standard Model 3 is now available on Tesla.com starting at that promised price point of $35,000. Last month, I noted in my email that the fundamental issue Tesla must overcome is that our products remain too expensive for most people. We know there are many people who want to buy Model 3, but simply cant afford to do so, Musk wrote in a memo to employees obtained by CNBC. This is a significant milestone for Tesla, the culmination of years of hard work by employees across the company. At the same time, Tesla announced it would be closing most of its stores in order to sell cars at those prices while remaining financially sustainable. The future of Teslas showroom in Lyndhurst, the only one in the Cleveland area, is unknown, however, The Plain Dealer reported last month the property is for sale. "Unfortunately, this means that some jobs will be impacted or transitioned to other areas of the business," Musk said in the memo. "This is a hard decision, but it necessary to make our cars more affordable." Eliminating showrooms and moving all sales to online means potential buyers wont have an opportunity to test drive the car until after purchasing it. Thats why the company is loosening its return policy. Buyers can order a Tesla, try it out for 7 days or 1,000 miles, whichever comes first, and return it for a full refund if they so desire. But what does that $35,000 get you? The standard Model 3s range is 220 miles on a single charge. The car is quicker than the typical vehicle at that price, accelerating from 0-to-60 mph in 5.6 seconds and with a top speed of 130 mph. While the interior is more spartan than more expensive models, the base Model 3 still comes with a huge, futuristic 15-inch touchscreen control panel. Buyers who order one today can expect delivery in two to four weeks, according to Teslas website. But Richie Muniak of Medina, who we talked to three years ago while he was waiting in line to put a deposit on a $35,000 Tesla, wont be among those ordering one now. After two years of waiting, he finally decided to pull the trigger on the more expensive long-range Model 3 last year. Does Muniak, who paid $58,000 for his car, wish he wouldve just waited? No regrets. Ive always been a person who buys tech on the bleeding edge so I understand there is a cost to that, he said. It is very nice. Much nicer than the 2006 Corolla I used to drive. MAYFIELD, Ohio -- Mayfield Village's new Police Chief Paul Matias said that, ever since he was a child he wanted to become a police officer and, after 10 years of service in the United States Navy, he decided to make that dream come true. "I didn't want to arrest people, or anything. I wanted to help people," he said of his youthful goal. "Most police officers get into law enforcement because they really want to help people." On Feb. 11, Matias took over as chief from Richard Edelman, who retired after 33 years in law enforcement, the last eight as the village's chief of police. Born in Cleveland Heights, Matias grew up in Mayfield Heights and attended Oakville Elementary School (which has since closed and been demolished), Mayfield Middle School, and Mayfield High School, from which he graduated in 1988. At that time, he had a decision to make. "I had always thought about law enforcement, but I was kind of unsure," he said. "I didn't know any police officers and didn't have any in the family. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I come from a family of veterans, so I decided to join the military. Out of high school I joined the Navy." During the course of his decade of service, Matias worked and lived in locales east and west. Those places included Virginia, Hawaii and, in Canada, the island of Newfoundland. When he reached 10 years in the Navy, Matias, a petty officer, second class, was 28 years old. His desire to become a police officer had not gone away, so he had another big decision to make. "I was 28 and thought, 'Do I want to stay (in the Navy) and make this a career, or do I want to pursue law enforcement?' At that point, I was ready to seriously look into getting into law enforcement, so that's mainly why I got out. "It was hard to leave (the Navy) because that's all I knew as an adult. But, I was ready to do something else." Had Matias stayed in the Navy and finished a 20-year career he would have been 38 and past the age limit most departments set for new hires. Using his GI Bill from the Navy to pay, Matias went to the police academy in Cleveland Heights to learn how to work as an officer. After testing in various communities, he was hired in Mayfield Village in 1999. Matias said that police officers know what they're signing up for -- working on weekends, holidays and over night, and doing tasks most people would not want to undertake, such as walking into a home to check on a person and finding out they died, or answering a car crash report on I-271 and being the first on the scene. "We're it," Matias said. "It's not like, 'We'll call somebody else.' Part of taking that job is your the person they call. "It's nice driving around (on patrol) on a Saturday afternoon when the weather's nice waving to people in the park, but there's also the down sides, doing the things that aren't something anybody enjoys doing. That's what we're here for. We have to do it." Because he grew up in the area, Matias said he knows a lot of people. Thankfully, he said, he hasn't had to arrest anyone he knew while growing up or going to high school. While some may think working as a police officer in a village is less difficult than serving in a city like Cleveland, or a large suburb, Matias said that Mayfield is not a "sleepy" village. Located next to large suburbs, it includes a snow-belt section of I-271, the many offices of Progressive Insurance, a middle school and a high school, as well as businesses and large recreation areas. One call that stands out in Matias' mind involved a woman driving a car on an icy I-271. The woman's car spun out on the bridge over Wilson Mills Road. A large truck, trying to stop, jackknifed and proceeded over the top of the spinning car. "When I got there, the woman was now in a convertible, the truck took the roof off her car. She was sitting there holding the steering wheel. I asked her if she was OK and she said, 'I guess so.' And, she was. "A lot of times, when you arrive at an accident, people are just so glad that you're there to help them." Matias, with wife of nine years, Josephine, is an Eastlake resident. He takes over a department with 32 full- and part-time employees, including dispatchers. When asked if becoming chief had been a goal, Matias said that he always sought to advance in his profession, but knew the turnover for chiefs, especially in smaller departments, can be slow. "When I started here in 1999, the chief was Don Stevens and he had been chief since 1973," Matias said. "A lot of people come and go in that time without the opportunity to become chief." Mayor Brenda Bodnar chose Matias from among three candidates. "His experience, education and leadership have earned him the respect of his comrades, as well as of the administration and village residents," Bodnar stated in an email to cleveland.com. "Chief Matia has taken on a wide range of responsibilities throughout his career in Mayfield Village, and has worked with former chief Edelman to prepare for a smooth transition." In the years since he started with the MVPD, Matias, 48, has earned associate's and bachelor's degrees, plus a master's degree from Tiffin University in criminal justice, with a concentration on homeland security administration. Matias said he is "fortunate" to serve as the village's chief, stating about the MVPD, "We have a great relationship with the community. "Everybody here works hard to make this nice community what it is," he said. "People here feel safe and enjoy great community services." Matias thought a bit when asked what was his best day as a police officer. "There have been several days," he said. "They're the days when you get to help somebody out." LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Less than 24 hours after Mayor Mike Summers announced that he would not seek a third term in office, City Council President Sam OLeary officially threw his hat in the ring to become the citys next mayor. Lakewood has always been and will always be home for me, said Ward 2 City Councilman OLeary, 29, a 2007 Lakewood High School graduate who, more than three years ago, became the communitys youngest council president. Thats why Ive been driven to serve my fellow neighbors for the past six years on City Council and then two years before that on the Board of Zoning Appeals," he said. I hope that over the course of the next several months, well have an ongoing conversation about how we can make Lakewood even better in years to come. A graduate of George Washington University and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, OLeary -- an attorney at Matty, Henrikson & Greve -- currently lives on Gladys Avenue with his wife, Morgan. Regarding his qualifications to become Lakewoods next mayor, OLeary said that during his time in office, hes demonstrated a pragmatic and solutions-based approach pertaining to problems and challenges facing the community. His term on City Council expires later this year. The council president added that his interest in public service began with his mother, Ruth Gillett, who is Cuyahoga Countys homeless services program manager. She dedicated her career serving the homeless population in Cuyahoga County, OLeary said. Growing up in that environment, we talked about the challenges that we face as a region and as a city, and about how political will and innovative thinking can address those issues. OLeary said his campaign issues include city services delivered efficiently, as well as safe neighborhoods continuing to attract young families and seniors. Considering that the upcoming election will mark the first time in a quarter-century that theres been an open mayors race in Lakewood, OLeary anticipates a crowded field. Given Lakewoods strong tradition of community involvement, activism and engagement, I would expect that over the course of the coming months well get the very best ideas in this community, OLeary said. Well have a great conversation about how to bring those ideas forward and put them into practice. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man posing as Cleveland Browns safety Jabrill Pepperss uncle and financial advisor surreptitiously recorded a phone call with attorney Kevin Spellacy where the long-time attorney says that police disposed of some marijuana found in a bag stolen from Peppers Range Rover. Spellacy said in an interview with cleveland.com Thursday that he was joking when he referred to the drugs, and a Cleveland police spokeswoman has not said whether the contents of the recorded conversation were enough to launch an internal investigation into Spellacys claims. Thursdays event is the culmination of a bizarre string of events that began in early February when Peppers had a gun stolen from his car, possibly by a homeless woman who was found beaten to death six days later. Peppers is not a suspect in the death of Marsha Carroll, and a man is in custody in connection with her death. Peppers visited the Cleveland police station Thursday to recover some of his stolen property, the same day a Twitter user who goes by the handle @incarceratedbob posted the audio recording of his conversation with Spellacy. In the recording, which is not dated, and was removed from Twitter after about seven hours, Spellacy says that the marijuana was removed from Peppers recovered bag after the attorney met with Cleveland police. Spellacy, who has represented a number of notable Browns players in criminal cases, confirmed that he is the man in the recording, but downplayed his comment about the disappearing marijuana as a joke. Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said she was unsure if the department would launch an internal investigation into the claims Spellacy made in the audio recording about missing marijuana. She later said the department had no information indicating anything regarding any narcotics. On the recording, Spellacy told the anonymous man that Peppers called him and said that he alerted the Browns. Spellacy told the man that a homicide victim was identified as the person who stole from Peppers. Spellacy in the recording and to cleveland.com said Peppers was never considered a suspect in the homicide case. He only went to the police department to pick up his stolen items. Im hoping to put it to bed, Spellacy said on the recording. Theres a few unanswered questions I have to talk to him about. He had an unregistered Glock in his car and we have to get him a new gun thats registered clean. Spellacy said there were other issues and went on to say he hoped that there was no media coverage of the incident. Spellacy said he was at the homicide unit, when a detective told him that thing in his book bag doesnt exist anymore. So there was something in there he probably shouldnt have had, Spellacy told the caller, who asked if he meant the gun. No, I was thinking of the weed. So, theres that floating around. Spellacy added that Peppers was not interviewed by police about the homicide. Spellacy said that he and Peppers spoke about the incident but that he was not officially representing Peppers as an attorney. This kid didnt have anything to do with that case and [he] didnt deserve to have happen what this person on [social] media perpetrated on him, Spellacy said. Peppers, one of three Browns first-round draft picks in 2017, reported Jan. 29 that someone stole jewelry from his SUV that he left parked in the garage of his apartment on East 12th Street in downtown Cleveland. He parked his 2014 Range Rover in the buildings parking garage about 4 p.m. He returned about seven hours later and found several items were gone, including a Glock 26 from the SUVs center console and a yellow Tumi bag emblazoned with his jersey number that had $500 sunglasses and an iPad inside. The thief ditched the Tumi bag outside the SUV, police reports say. Surveillance video captured someone carrying the bag from the garage around 6:40 p.m. and that they later returned with the bag. Carroll, 57, was listed as a suspect in the break-in on a Cleveland police report. She was attacked eight days later an apartment building on East 79th Street and Chester Avenue. She died on Feb. 14 of blunt force trauma to her head. Deointa Campbell, 26, is charged with murder in Carrolls death. A witness told police that he was walking out of the apartment and saw Campbell on top of Carroll punching her in the head, according to police reports. A witness chased Campbell as he called 911, but lost sight of him, police reports say. The man walked back to check on Carroll. By the time he got there, Campbell had returned and was again punching her in the head while she remained on the ground, according to police reports. The witness chased Campbell away a second time, police reports say. Officers searched for Campbell and found him just inside the front doors of the Erie Square apartment building on Euclid Avenue and East 77th Street with blood on his hands and pant leg, police reports say. He smelled of alcohol and appeared to be high on drugs, according to police reports. Spellacy said that police recovered some of Peppers stolen items, but he was unsure exactly when or under what circumstances. Ciaccia said she was unsure of when the stolen items were recovered. Peppers on went to pick up his recovered property from the homicide unit Thursday, Spellacy said. Spellacy has represented several players from Peppers team. He served as attorney for then-Browns receiver Corey Coleman, who was a suspect in an assault case but never charged. He also represented Oakland Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley, who was accused of rape in Cleveland before he was drafted, and was also never charged with a crime. He most recently represented Browns receiver Antonio Callaway on a minor-misdemeanor marijuana possession charge that was dismissed. Callaway pleaded guilty to a traffic ticket for speeding in that case. CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland police are conducting an internal investigation into officers handling of a case involving a theft from Cleveland Browns safety Jabrill Peppers SUV in downtown Cleveland. Cleveland police Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said details of the investigation could not be released since it is ongoing. But she said it has nothing to do with a tangentially-related homicide investigation or a surreptitiously recorded phone call to Peppers attorney Kevin Spellacy. In the recording, Spellacy tells the caller that a homicide detective told him that Cleveland police officers removed marijuana from a bag that had been reported stolen from Peppers SUV. Spellacy said in a phone interview with cleveland.com that it was a joke, and that officers did not find any drugs when the recovered the bag. The division is conducting an internal investigation as to whether proper police procedures were followed regarding the reported theft, Ciaccia said in a statement. At this time, the investigation does not have anything to do with marijuana or any other narcotics. Ciaccia said the internal investigation into the theft case began shortly after the Jan. 29 incident, and before the recording involving Spellacy was posted Thursday on Twitter. Ciaccia said Thursday that police had no information indicating anything regarding any narcotics. Spellacy told a cleveland.com reporter that the caller lied and pretended to be an uncle and financial advisor to Peppers, a 2017 first-round draft pick. The recorded phone call was the culmination of a bizarre series of events that began with the Jan. 29 theft of a gun, sunglasses and an iPad from Peppers SUV parked in a garage near his downtown Cleveland apartment. Police reports list Marsha Carroll, a 57-year-old homeless woman, as a suspect in the theft that was caught on security video. Carroll was attacked eight days after the theft, and later died. Peppers is not a suspect in the homicide, police said. Deointa Campbell, 26, is charged with murder in connection with Carrolls death. A witness spotted a man, later identified as Campbell, on top of Carroll and repeatedly punching her in the head outside an apartment building on East 79th Street and Chester Avenue, police reports say. The witness chased Campbell down the road, but lost sight of him and circled back to check on Carroll. By the time he got there, Campbell had returned and was again punching Carroll in the head while she remained on the ground, police reports say. The witness chased Campbell away a second time. Officers searched for Campbell and found him just inside the front doors of the Erie Square apartment building on Euclid Avenue and East 77th Street with blood on his hands and pant leg, police reports say. He smelled of alcohol and appeared to be high on drugs, police reports say. Spellacy said he went to the homicide unit to pick up Peppers stolen items on Thursday. He later received the call from the man pretending to be Peppers uncle. In the recording, Spellacy told the anonymous man that Peppers had called him, and told him that hed alerted the Browns. Spellacy told the man that a homicide victim was identified as the thief. Spellacy said in the recording, and later reiterated to cleveland.com, that Peppers was never considered a suspect in the homicide case. He only went to the police department to pick up his stolen items. Im hoping to put it to bed, Spellacy said in the recording. Theres a few unanswered questions I have to talk to him about. He had an unregistered Glock in his car and we have to get him a new gun thats registered clean. Spellacy told the caller there were other issues and went on to say he hoped that there was no media coverage of the incident. Spellacy and told the caller he was at the homicide unit when a detective told him that thing in his book bag doesnt exist anymore." So there was something in there he probably shouldnt have had, Spellacy told the caller, who asked if he meant the gun. No, I was thinking of the weed. So, theres that floating around. HUNTSVILLE, Texas Family members of a convicted killer began banging on the observation glass and fighting with other witnesses during the mans execution Thursday night, with two ending up in jail, according to reports. Reports say the execution of Billie Wayne Coble, 70, at the state penitentiary in Huntsville was bizarre from the beginning, with Coble twice saying Thatll be $5 moments before he was put to death by lethal injection. The Houston Chronicle reports Coble might have been referring to his nickname, $5 Bill. Coble was convicted of the 1989 murders of his estranged wifes parents, Robert and Zelda Vicha, and her brother, Bobby Vicha, according to the Associated Press. After repeating Thatll be $5, Coble told his family members he loved them and to take care," the Dallas Morning News reports. As the injection took effect, Cobles son, Gordon Coble, and grandson, Dalton, and another relative reportedly began banging on the glass and cursing, the Chronicle reports. They were taken from the witness area before the execution was completed, with Gordon and Dalton charged with resisting arrest, reports say. Coble is the oldest inmate executed by Texas since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982, the AP reports. To comment on this story, please visit Thursdays crime and courts comments story. SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio About 35 local vendors from the North Union Farmers Market in Shaker Square are moving their weekly Indoor Winter Farmers Market to the Van Aken District Market Hall for the month of March, starting Saturday, March 2, from 9 a.m. to noon. This is an exciting new venue, and we are pleased to be a part of the Van Aken District, said Executive Director Donita Anderson, in a written announcement. Our farms will be warm and tucked in among the current amazing stands. The market is moving because the Coral Company, which owns Shaker Square, has contracted with an as-yet-unnamed tenant for the space the market used to occupy. A Coral Company spokeswoman said the tenant will be announced soon. The move is temporary, because the North Union Farmers Market will return to Shaker Square for its outdoor market from 8 a.m. to noon starting on Saturday, April 6. The day will begin with a traditional blessing of farms and farmers to pray for a prosperous growing season, followed by the annual sheep shearing demonstration with sheepshearer Geoff Baldwin. Farmers will be selling fresh produce, meat and dairy products, bakers will sell their baked goods, musicians will be performing live music, and chefs will have breakfast cooking showcase and sampling. The Shaker Square-based North Union Farmers Market is the oldest of 10 farmers markets in Northeast Ohio that promote locally grown food and support local producers and growers. It operates as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and requires that its farmers sell only food theyve made or raised themselves. We trust but verify, by visiting local farms to certify they grow the produce they sell, the market says on its website. North Union Farmers Market vendors sell items like antibiotic- and hormone-free beef, pork, poultry and dairy products, organic maple syrup, honey, farm-fresh eggs, cheeses, winter greens, herb, apples, potatoes, lettuces, organic grains, specialty goods and root vegetables, according to the market website. The Van Aken District Market Hall, at 3441 Tuttle Road, is a mixed use development located near the northwest corner of Warrensville Center Road and Chagrin Boulevard. There, the farmers and vendors will sell alongside Natures Oasis market and cafe, STEM Handmade Soap, Spice for Life, Whiskey Grade clothing, On the Rise Artisan Breads, CLE Clothing Co., Mitchells Ice Cream, and Rising Star Coffee Roasters. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman, who has publicly crusaded against online sex trafficking, gave Ohio charities the money his campaign got in 2016 from a billionaire investor who is accused soliciting prostitution in a Florida human trafficking investigation, a spokeswoman said. Federal Election Commission records show that John W. Childs gave $5,400 to Portmans re-election campaign in 2015. Last week, Childs was accused of soliciting prostitution in the sex trafficking investigation that entangled New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Childs told Bloomberg News he was innocent and police hadnt contacted him about the charge. He subsequently retired from the investment firm he founded, J.W. Childs Associates. Upon learning this news, Rob donated this contribution to a number of groups throughout Ohio that support trafficking survivors and the healing they are working toward," said a statement from Portman campaign spokeswoman Emily Benavides. "Hes proud of his work to combat human trafficking and enact legislation to help women and children, and he will continue to take the lead on this issue in the U.S. Senate. Childs also gave $100,000 to a political action committee founded to support Portmans re-election called Fighting for Ohio. The PACs founder, former Portman aide Barry Bennett, said he was no longer affiliated with it. The PACs treasurer, another former Portman aide named Christopher Marston, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the donation from Childs. Federal Election Commission records show the PAC had less than $70,000 in the bank at the end of 2018 - less money than Childs contributed. Portman doesnt face re-election again until 2022. The Washington Post reported that two other Republican U.S. Senators - Arizonas Martha McSally and Indianas Mike Braun - also gave their campaign donations from Childs to charities. CHEERS ... to the friends, family, fellow Marines, former sweetheart and classmates of long-fallen U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. James Patrick Witt of Fairview Park for coming together to honor Witt 50 years after his death in Vietnam. Witt was 21 when he was shot and killed while on combat patrol Feb. 14, 1969. Fifty years later, the flag once draped over his coffin flew again over Fairview Park City Hall. JEERS ... to the person who viciously beat to death Marsha Carroll, 57 and homeless, outside an apartment building in the citys Midtown district. Deointa Campbell, the 26-year-old charged in the murder, has denied the crime. CHEERS ... to those with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless who used a candlelight vigil to remember Carroll and 65-year-old Juan Proctor, who froze to death in an unheated abandoned home in the Union-Miles neighborhood a few days before Carrolls death. The coalition seeks to bring wider attention to the deaths of the homeless among us. About our editorials: Editorials, including Cheers & Jeers, express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email suggestions for future Cheers & Jeers, general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. BEIRUT - Lebanese Hezbollah has strongly rejected the British decision to consider the Shiite anti-Israeli organisation's political wing a terrorist group, in a statement released Friday by Lebanese broadcaster Al-Manar. The armed wing of Hezbollah has been on Britain's list of terrorist organisations for 18 years. The British government announced its decision to add Hezbollah's political wing to its black list on Monday. The party's military wing and consultative council have been on the country's black list since 2001 and 2008, respectively. "Hezbollah rejects and strongly condemns the British decision to consider Hezbollah a terrorist organisation," the statement said. It said the Islamic movement is a "resistance movement against the Israeli occupation". Hezbollah currently has three ministers in the Lebanese government led by Saad Hariri, and de facto controls the cabinet majority due to an alliance with other parties. In Parliament, the Shiite movement has 13 MPs out of a total of 128, but its influence is rather large due also in this case to close alliances with other Lebanese political forces. In the Friday statement, Hezbollah said the British government's decision shows "its subservience to the United States". It said London's decision is "an offense to the feelings and the free will of the Lebanese people, who consider Hezbollah a popular political force with broad representation in the government and in Parliament". COLUMBUS, Ohio--A Northeast Ohio lawmaker is looking to make it illegal for towing companies to hire spotters to report illegally parked vehicles. Under House Bill 113, introduced Thursday by state Rep. Tom Patton, towing officials caught using spotters could face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Patton, a Strongsville Republican, said he introduced the bill after WEWS-TV in Cleveland did a report last year on the use of spotters. To actually employ people whose sole job is to call it init didnt pass the smell test for me, Patton said. Patton said he wasnt sure how widespread the use of towing spotters is in Ohio. Its something well find out - is this truly a problem? he said. Obviously, the folks at Channel 5 thought it was a problem. Patton said he also hopes to insert language in the states transportation budget requiring that when motorists apply for or renew their Ohio license plates, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and deputy registrars must notify them if a recall notice has been issued for their vehicle. Maryland began a similar pilot program last year, and so far thousands of people there have been notified about recalls affecting their vehicles, Patton said. This is all about safety just reminding people if a car youre driving has a recall [notice] on it, he said. Its a nice public service, I think, for the people. Patton said that Ohio automobile dealers have indicated support for such a program, but the Ohio Department of Public Safety (which runs the states BMVs) so far isnt convinced to get behind the idea. CLEVELAND, Ohio. WEWS Channel 5 plans to hit pause on today's 11 p.m. newscast to present "The System: A Call for Help" in its place. The program is a piece by Channel 5 investigator Jonathan Walsh about witnessing a domestic-violence incident. In 2017, Walsh, along with a "5 On Your Side Investigator" producer and a videographer, was in the Franklin Boulevard/Gordon Square section of Cleveland examining how well the city is maintaining street repairs. Right before wrapping up, they said that they noticed a woman, Melissa Loomis, being brutally attacked by a man she identified as her ex-boyfriend. Loomis is part of the special. Walsh and his producer quickly grabbed their phones and started recording the incident. "We turned the car around and talked to the victim. One other witness and someone else had stopped to help," said Walsh. "The suspect looked a little menacing, and we didn't want him to harm anyone else. So we followed him, filming, while calling the police." When the trio notified their news director about the incident, he chose not to air it that evening. He felt the story needed to evolve before they did anything. Evolve it did. During the process, people involved with the project got an intimate look at the system and how it works, said Walsh. Producers are presenting the program as similar to a "Cops" episode rather than a segment of the evening news. It's done in real time. Some segments will interlace body-cam video showing how the police deal with victims along with the station's video showing the reporting team following the alleged perpetrator. According to Walsh, Loomis' case was one out of 35,000 domestic violence cases in Ohio for 2017. "There are mistakes made throughout the process of dealing with domestic violence cases," said Walsh. "There are cracks in the system. The victim in this case feels that the system is failing her." TUNIS - Protesters in Algiers and in other cities of Algeria staged new demonstrations on Friday against the fifth presidential run by the country's current president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, according to local news media. The protests thus far have been peaceful in most cases. Media reports said civil society has launched numerous appeals for protesters to take to the streets after Friday prayers. Meanwhile, some politicians and other presidential candidates are joining with the protesters' appeals. The Socialist Forces Front (FFS) party has called on its members to march in Algiers on Friday. The three independent candidates, Ghani Mahdi, Tahar Missoum and Rachid Nekkaz, have also called on Algerians to make their voices heard. Journalists turned out in the Algerian capital on Thursday to protest "against the silence imposed on demonstrations against the fifth candidacy of Abdelaziz Bouteflika". Algerians living in Tunisia have planned a sit-in for Friday at 13:00 in front of the Algerian Embassy in Tunis, according to local media. MADRID - The Spanish government has drafted its third Africa Plan for facing the new challenges in the region, said Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell in a press conference on Friday following the Council of Ministers meeting. "It is a long-term strategic document that makes Africa a priority axis in our foreign policy, drafted after eight months of intense work between ministries, public and private institutions, and civil society from various African countries," Borrell said. He said beginning on Monday he will present the plan to "various African countries and before the African Union". The plan responds to the need to "adapt our strategy to profound changes taking place on the continent" that already affect Spain and Europe and will increasingly continue to do so during the 21st century. "From now to 2050, the African population will double, going from the current 1.2 billion to 2.5 billion residents," Borrell said. "A more democratic and prosperous Africa" represents "not a threat, but an opportunity" and the fulcrum of the new Africa Plan is that of "exploring and taking advantage of the immense opportunities that current and future growth represent to the country". Citing World Bank forecasts, Borrell said Africa will need to generate 900 million jobs over the next 30 years to absorb large demographic growth, and that it is necessary to "combine all available tools to contribute in a significant way". Borrell said 80% of migrant flows are intra-African and that in order to face the challenges of migratory movements, "the key is working with the Africans to promote sustainable growth and development and their ability to manage the flows, with the final objective that they can continue to absorb them with growing results," he said. CMU's Zoe Rover Shows Robots Can Find Subterranean Organisms February 28, 2019 An autonomous rover named Zoe, designed and built by Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, drilled into the soil of Chile's Atacama Desert in 2013 and discovered unusual, highly specialized microbes. The NASA-funded mission demonstrated how robots might someday find life on Mars. The astrobiology mission was led by the Robotics Institute and the SETI Institute to test technologies for searching for life underground. The microbial analyses of the soil samples recovered by Zoe were published Feb. 28 in the journal Frontiers of Microbiology. Zoe was equipped with a one-meter drill that recovered samples several times each day. "This experiment culminates more than a decade of research at Carnegie Mellon developing robots that can autonomously explore the geology and microbiology of planetary surfaces," said David Wettergreen, research professor of robotics and principal investigator of the Life in the Atacama project. "Beginning in 2003, Zoe has mapped over 300 kilometers of traverse at eight field sites in the Atacama." "We have shown that a robotic rover can recover subsurface soil in the most Mars-like desert on Earth," said Stephen Pointing, professor of environmental studies at Yale-NUS College, Singapore, who led the microbial research. "This is important because most scientists agree that any life on Mars would have to occur below the surface to escape the harsh surface conditions where high radiation, low temperature and lack of water make life unlikely." Zoe, a solar-powered robot about the size of the Mars rovers, was equipped with a one-meter drill developed by Honeybee Robotics to recover soil samples deep below the surface. During the two-week experiment, the robot autonomously traversed 50 kilometers of the world's most arid desert, drilling and recovering samples several times each day. Pointing said microbes recovered by Zoe were adapted to high salt levels. They are different than microbes found on the surface of deserts but likely are similar to what might be expected in the Martian subsurface. Soil samples recovered by the scientists yielded similar results, showing that the robot deployment was successful. Both NASA and the European Space Agency plan to launch missions next year that would deploy rovers on Mars to drill below the surface in search of past or present life. The microbial life discovered in the Atacama was patchy, which was related to water availability, scarce nutrients and soil chemistry. If life exists on Mars, it too is likely to be patchy, said co-authors Nathalie Cabrol and Kim Warren-Rhodes of the SETI Institute. "While this will make detection more challenging, our findings provide a possible guide to the exploration for life on Mars, demonstrating that it is possible to detect life with smart robotic search and sampling strategies," they added. The team has collaborated with Guillermo Chong, geology professor at the Catholic University of the North in Chile and an expert on the Atacama, to identify and study locations believed to be most similar to Mars. Zoe first looked for life on the surface of the Atacama Desert during a NASA-funded field expedition in 2003. Early research developed multi-kilometer autonomous traverse and instrument targeting methods, which are both now used on NASA's Mars rovers. Initially Zoe deployed a plow to scrape the surface and examine samples. A variety of instruments have been tested including prototypes for Raman and neutron spectrometers used in later space missions. By 2012 the research focus was on automating exploration and the decision processes behind where to go and what samples to collect. Zoe was modified again for the 2013 experiment, with the addition of the deep drill. Analysis of results of an experiment in 2015, in which the field site experienced precipitation for the first time in 25 years, are ongoing. "This research continues to develop new technologies and deliver exciting scientific discoveries," Wettergreen said. "And we foresee the need for more robotic exploration as we search for life in even more remote and complex environments, such as the moons Europa, Enceladus and Titan." Bristol-Myers Squibb has been meeting with shareholders in Boston and New York over the last two weeks to try to salvage its $74 billion purchase of cancer drugmaker Celgene, the biggest acquisition announced so far this year. The deal, announced in January, was hard sell to Bristol shareholders from the start. The acquisition adds about $32 billion in fresh debt to Bristol's balance sheet while assuming $20 billion in Celgene's debt, the companies said at the time. After factoring in debt, the acquisition was the largest health-care deal on record, according to data compiled by Refinitiv. Now, hedge funds Wellington Management and Starboard Value say the deal doesn't sit well with them. Bristol has sent executives to New York to meet with institutional investors several times over the last two weeks and met with investors in Boston on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a person who briefed on the meetings. Bristol-Myers declined to comment. Wellington which is Bristol's largest institutional holder with 135.3 million shares, or 8 percent, of its common stock said Wednesday the Celgene deal asks Bristol shareholders to accept too much risk. Starboard,which holds about 1 million shares, cited similar concerns in an open letter to shareholders Thursday, saying the Celgene deal was "poorly conceived and ill-advised." Brian Skorney, senior research analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co, said it's unusual for an investment firm like Wellington, which has some gravitas with shareholders, to come out against such a deal. "Wellington in of itself is huge in the bio-pharmaceutical space. They're a major voice in terms of long-term shareholders," Skorney told CNBC. "Now the question is does [Wellington's opposition] bring more shareholders away who would otherwise vote with Bristol?" Buying Celgene was seen as giving Bristol more cancer drugs at a time when its immuno-oncology portfolio struggles to keep up with rival Merck's. Bristol's blockbuster Opdivo, which boosts the immune system to attack cancer, has fallen behind its leading competitor, Merck's Keytruda. Brad Loncar, CEO of Loncar Investments, said there was a feeling among investors that Bristol's management and stock performance aren't strong enough to execute a deal as big as Celgene. Bristol's shares have slid 21 percent over the last 12 months. Shares of Merck, which he said has managed to "outclass" Bristol, have soared almost 50 percent in the same period. "I talked to a lot of people and I'm not aware of any Bristol shareholders who were excited and even for the deal. Literally, not one," Loncar said. Shares of Bristol rose by about 1.4 percent Thursday, following the opposition from Wellington and Starboard, while Celgene shares fell by about 8.7 percent. On Thursday, following Starboard's announced opposition, Bristol said that it "welcomes the opinions of all of its stockholders and will review Starboard's letter and respond in due course." "The Bristol-Myers Squibb Board and management team are confident that our combination with Celgene will create a premier biopharma company and deliver substantial benefits to our stockholders," they added. -- Join us in New York City on May 21, when we'll explore some of these topics and more on stage with United Therepeautics CEO Martine Rothblatt, Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky and more at our Healthy Returns Conference. CNBC's Jim Cramer took the time on Thursday to explain why he will not recommend investors to buy any cannabis or Chinese company stocksoutside of a handful of names. The "Mad Money" host gave a number of reasons why he thinks there are a lot of risks to consider in both markets. In the cannabis group, Cramer said he likes Canopy, Cronos, and GW Pharma, whose CEO he interviewed on Wednesday. Out of the Chinese market, Cramer recommends buying Alibaba, a company he likened to Amazon. In addition to China's biggest ecommerce business, he likes Baidu and Nio if the stocks pullback. He did warn viewers, however, that he has not done his homework on the latter company, the connected electric vehicle manufacturer that has gained more than 50 percent this year. "These are the two riskiest areas of the market, people. They remind me of crypto at all times and I don't want to hurt you," Cramer said. "At least when these best of breed names that I just mentioned go down, I can tell you to buy more because they're worth picking up into weakness." Click here to hear why Cramer is cautious about cannabis and Chinese stocks. Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday sent an email to employees explaining the company's decision to reduce its headcount in its sales and marketing divisions, according to a copy of the memo that was sent to CNBC. News of the upcoming layoffs come as Tesla announced that sales of the $35,000 Model 3 were finally available, adding that all sales of Tesla vehicles would be moving exclusively online. As part of the announcement, Musk also warned that the company would not turn a profit in the first quarter, sending Tesla's share price down more than 3 percent Thursday night. Here's the full memo: Last month, I noted in my email that the fundamental issue Tesla must overcome is that our products remain too expensive for most people. We know there are many people who want to buy Model 3, but simply can't afford to do so. That is why we're excited to announce today that we are now offering the standard Model 3 at $35,000. This is a significant milestone for Tesla, the culmination of years of hard work by employees across the company, and something of which you should all be very proud. You can read the details of the announcement on our blog: https://www.tesla.com/blog/35000-tesla-model-3-available-now In addition, we are also making the decision to shift all sales worldwide to online only. Last year, 78% of all Model 3 orders were placed online, rather than in a store, and 82% of customers bought their Model 3 without ever having taken a test drive. Customers can now buy a Tesla in North America via their phone in about 1 minute, and that capability will soon be extended worldwide. We are also making it much easier to try out and return a Tesla without a test drive. You can now return a car within 7 days or 1,000 miles for a full refund. Customers are becoming increasingly comfortable making purchases online, and that is especially true for Tesla which is a testament to the products we make. As a result, over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores and significantly reducing our spend on sales and marketing, which will help make the price changes we've announced today possible. Shifting all sales online combined with other ongoing cost efficiency will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point. A small number of stores in high-traffic locations will remain as galleries, showcases and Tesla information centers. At the same time, we will be increasing our investment in the Tesla service system and manufacturing, and I expect that headcount to grow next year. Unfortunately, this means that some jobs will be impacted or transitioned to other areas of the business. This is a hard decision, but it necessary to make our cars more affordable. Our sales team has fought on the front lines of advancing our mission and has been our connection to hundreds of thousands of customers along the way. I want to express my sincere gratitude for all that you've done. In the coming weeks, we will be evaluating all of our sales and marketing organization to understand where there are operational efficiencies, and how best to support the transition to online sales while also continuing to deliver a truly awesome and educational Tesla buying experience. We'll be sharing more information on this transition soon. Thank you, Elon CNBC's John Harwood sat down with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. They talked about why the Republican and potential 2020 Trump challenger is visiting Iowa. John Harwood: You're going to Iowa pretty soon. What are you going to do out there? Larry Hogan: It's a National Governor's Association event, and as the co-chair, I'm required to be there. I'll be out there with Kim Reynolds, so the governor of Iowa, and Steve Bullock, who's the chairman, and it's going to be focused on jobs and we have a couple-day seminar. So it's not, I won't be hitting all 99 counties and going to every diner and looking like a presidential candidate. John Harwood: But you'll be doing a little politics out there, too. Larry Hogan: I'm going to see some folks and have a few meetings and looking forward to being in Iowa. John Harwood: Tell me when you envision coming to a conclusion one way or the other about this idea that we've been talking about. Larry Hogan: Look, again, I don't have any kind of timeline because I'm not considering it, but I think the filing deadlines for, say New Hampshire, are sometime in the late fall. Today, it might not make any sense, but who knows where we're going to be in two months or six months from now. All bets are off. We don't have any idea. John Harwood: Is part of your thinking what the Mueller report shows and how people react to that? Larry Hogan: I think everybody's looking to see what, if anything, comes out of that, and I don't know. I have no idea. I don't have access to the information. If something really alarming, if indictments come out of there, if it leads to impeachment, I mean, things are a lot different than they are today. CNBC's John Harwood sat down with Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, to talk about politics. Both of them have personal histories with the defining moment in American politics Watergate. Here's how the scandal impacted Hogan. John Harwood: You and I are the same age. Larry Hogan: How come you look so much better? John Harwood: The summer of '74 when Watergate was reaching a crescendo, we had graduated from high school, I was following Watergate developments very closely. My dad was senior editor of The Washington Post involved in the story. You were involved for a different and more intimate reason. What do you remember about that time for your dad? Larry Hogan: I remember it really well, and I talk about it really often because I have such respect for my father. He had an amazing influence on my life. But he had a really big role in that impeachment proceeding as a member of the House Judiciary Committee. He was the very first Republican to come out for the president's impeachment, and was the only Republican in the entire Congress to vote for all three articles of impeachment. I remember it well, number one, because it was a huge national and international story at that time. Number two, because I know talking with my dad, even though I was a kid, just graduated from high school, I know what a difficult time it was for him to go through that decision because he had supported the president, he was a Republican. He was an FBI agent and a Georgetown trained lawyer who after seeing all the evidence came to the conclusion that he had been involved in the cover up, and that he felt that he was guilty of impeachable offenses. It was a difficult decision for my dad, I'll tell you. Aviation Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Juan Cumpston directs an F-35C Lightning II carrier variant to the catapult on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. WASHINGTON The U.S. Navy has declared its fleet of F-35C fighter jets ready for war, the Department of Defense announced Thursday. The Navy joins the Marine Corps and Air Force as the third and final service branch to declare their F-35s ready for war. "The F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win," said Commander Naval Air Forces, Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller in a statement. "We are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force." Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's top weapons supplier, designed three variants of the fighter in order to accommodate the unique needs of each sister-service branch: the F-35A for the Air Force, F-35B for the Marine Corps, and F-35C for the Navy. Brian Kelly realized he had a knack for maximizing credit card rewards when he was working in HR at Morgan Stanley. "My job was to go to around to all the college campuses and recruit the top computer scientists to join the bank," he tells CNBC Make It, "so I was traveling like crazy, racking up tons of points. I was traveling around the world to places like the Seychelles for free and people were finally like, 'What trust fund are you on Brian?' "There was no trust fund it was just my points." In 2010, he started a blog to share his best travel and points advice. What started as "just a fun little side gig," says Kelly, evolved into a lifestyle media brand that reaches millions of people across social media platforms and the Points Guy (TPG) website. Kelly quit his corporate job a year after his first blog post and sold the company to Bankrate in 2012, but he remained CEO. Today, he remains the CEO of TPG and travels the world for next to nothing, thanks to the points he constantly racks up. "I've got 25 credit cards and a near perfect credit score," Kelly tells Make It, "but that's because I really manage them. A key thing with earning points through credit cards is you must pay your bill off in full every month. Otherwise, the interest that you pay will negate the value of those miles and points." Just look at the precedent it sets. Even if you're a hardcore supporter of the president who says, "We want to build a wall," think about this. What if the next president who comes in ... let's say it's a far left, a Democratic president, who says, "I think climate change is an emergency. I'm going to skip Congress, and I'm going to declare a state of emergency to enact the Green New Deal." Who's to stop him? Larry Hogan: I thought the entire thing was mishandled from the beginning, but the most recent iteration of this declaration of emergency is a mistake. It's not what the constitution had in mind. John Harwood: Well, let's talk about the president for a minute. You saw the other day the president having seen a bipartisan agreement in Congress, signing it, but then going and declaring a national emergency under circumstances that you yourself have said is not an emergency. What does that tell you? Larry Hogan: Well, I'm concerned about the Republican Party, I'm concerned about the country, I'm concerned about both parties quite frankly and the broken politics of today. It's the thing I'm most frustrated about, and I think many Americans are concerned about. It's this anger and divisiveness on both sides, where people don't really seem to care as much about fixing problems. They're more concerned about pointing fingers and winning arguments, and not really coming up with solutions. John Harwood: What do you see happening in Washington to your party and to your country? Larry Hogan: I'm doing great. Thank you for asking. I've been cancer free now for a couple of years, and feeling healthier than ever. I didn't quite get all my hair back ever, but other than that I'm feeling great. John Harwood: I can't start the interview without taking note of the fight that you had with cancer beginning in your first year in office. How are you doing right now? Hogan sat down with CNBC editor-at-large John Harwood at McGarvey's, an Annapolis bar near the governor's office, to discuss his concerns about Trump and the possibility he'll launch a campaign against the incumbent. What follows is a condensed, edited transcript of their conversation. The stout, personable Republican who this summer will become chairman of the National Governor's Association wields immense popularity even in a strongly Democratic state. And he carries a resonant family legacy of political fortitude. In 1974, his father, Rep. Lawrence Hogan Sr., became the only GOP member of the House Judiciary Committee to vote for all three articles of impeachment against Republican President Richard Nixon. Four years later, re-elected and cancer-free, Hogan has attracted 2020 attention. Dissident members of the GOP searching for someone to challenge President Donald Trump's renomination have turned to him for two reasons. Until recently, no one thought of Larry Hogan as a candidate for president. His first two campaigns for office ended in defeat. In 2014, he won the Maryland governorship at age 58 and within months received a diagnosis of Stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. John Harwood: Your dad as you noted was an FBI agent. When you hear the president attacking the FBI as a corrupt institution, does that strike you as someone who has been unfairly targeted by a corrupt institution, or someone who is very concerned about what a legitimate investigation is going to find? Larry Hogan: Well look, I can't read the president's mind or try to opine. I don't know what the president was thinking or why he says or does certain things. And I don't know all the facts of the case. But I do believe that the FBI is a proud organization. John Harwood: Do you have confidence in the current FBI investigation based on everything that you know? Larry Hogan: I'm very hopeful that the FBI investigation is going to be fair and maybe take a look at the facts. But no man is above the law, not even the president of the United States. They need to get to the facts and the truth. I don't want an unfair investigation that's just trying to undermine the president. But I don't want the president stopping an investigation either. I just think we want to get to the truth. I don't know the truth, but I think the people deserve to get the truth. John Harwood: But you have no reason to believe or to think that that is an unfair corrupt investigation? Larry Hogan: I certainly don't have any reason to think it. John Harwood: Let's step back a little bit. Do you see a straight line between the Nixon Republican Party and the Trump Republican Party? Larry Hogan: I don't think so. I think people are trying to draw the parallel because of the talk of impeachment, but I don't know that there's many similarities. Nixon was really focused on opening up trade and working with foreign nations and opening up discussion with China, and it's sort of the opposite of some of the things that are going on now. My concern about the party now is that we're focused on a smaller and smaller shrinking base. I happened to just win re-election in one of the blue states by winning a third of the black vote, winning the women vote, splitting the Latino vote and getting a huge number of Democrats and independents to cross over and vote for me. I'm not sure the Republican Party can continue winning national elections if we can't win the women vote, we can't appeal to any minorities, and if we're constantly shrinking. I think the party needs to find a better way to reach more people and to find consensus without abandoning principles ... that the party has stood for, on economic growth, on job creation, on tax cuts, without just getting to a smaller and smaller base where, if you don't agree with us on 100 percent of these issues, you're an outcast, an enemy, and we don't want you, which seems to be some of what's going on today. John Harwood: Mike Pence [recently] went to the Munich Security Conference, praised Trump, and was met with silence from our allies. What does it tell you about where the Trump administration has taken the United States in terms of our place in the world? Larry Hogan: Well, it's definitely concerning. I do think there's concern among a lot of leaders around the world that America is not in the same position of leading that it once was. Some of the positions we're taking on trade and on our relations with other countries are not helpful, and so I think that's a healthy debate that we need to have. John Harwood: That Munich conference was paying tribute to John McCain. You had John McCain's speechwriter, Mark Salter, work on your second inaugural. You had Jeb Bush, of course, whose father served with your father at your second inaugural. What message were you trying to send to the Republican Party? Larry Hogan: I wasn't really trying to send necessarily a message to the party or to President Trump. These are just guys that I admire. I grew up knowing and respecting President Bush, H.W. Bush, and he served in Congress with my dad. I went to his funeral, which is where I saw Jeb, and I thought he did a great job as governor of Florida. He's somebody I respect, and I asked him to come to speak at my inauguration. McCain, I've always admired because he always put his country ahead of himself or his party throughout his career. John Harwood: Does President Trump do that? Larry Hogan: Well, I'm not sure he always does. One of the things I probably was most angry with or most frustrated with Donald Trump about before he was president were the comments about John McCain not being a war hero when the guy sacrificed his life and spent all that time in a prisoner of war camp and stayed there when he could have gotten out. John Harwood: As you know, a lot of people took the presence of Jeb, the involvement of Salter, your invocation of your dad at the inaugural as a sign that you're considering running for president in the Republican primary against President Trump. Larry Hogan: I wouldn't say considering it. I've been listening to a lot of people who've been trying to encourage me. I have not been really giving it a whole lot of personal thought. John Harwood: You haven't told those people, "No." Larry Hogan: I didn't say, "No." I didn't say, "Under no circumstances would I never do it." There is a difference. I just got sworn in a month ago. There are more things I want to get done, and I also don't want to go on some fool's errand. Nobody's successfully challenged a sitting president in their primary since 1884, and I don't want to just run around the country and put my family and everybody through that kind of an effort for no reason. Now, if things change in the future, if the president weakened, and I really thought it was important to the country or the party, maybe later I'd be willing to consider it. John Harwood: But you are concerned about this president, who you did not endorse, and who you might run against. Larry Hogan: Well, I don't know about the I might run against part. I am concerned. There's been no secret. When I disagree with the policy or when I think something is happening that is wrong, I'm not afraid to stand up and say so, and that probably puts me in a different category than many Republicans, who I think, sometimes, feel the way I do, but they won't say anything about it. John Harwood: Well, to that point, I talked to a couple Republican members of Congress over the weekend, and one of them I was talking to about things the president had said about the border wall which weren't true. I was asking, "Do you agree with that?" And his answer was, "Well, you can say that, but I can't say that." Larry Hogan: Hey, you say it. I can't say it. Look, I'm a leader in the Governor's Association. I talk to Republican and Democratic governors on a regular basis, and I can tell you, without naming names, that there are a number of my colleagues that have shared with me, privately, that they're very concerned about a lot of things, but they won't speak up or ... they may be concerned about, in a red, red state, they're going to be primaried or challenged or attacked by the president on Twitter, or the base is going to get angry, and they'll quietly say, "I agreed with what you said," or, "I agreed with what you did. I just can't say it." But I'm not running for re-election. I'm term limited. I'm in a very blue state that the president lost by 29 points. John Harwood: Now, there's some people making the argument, Bill Kristol among them, I know he's talked to you, and some others, that it's important, even if a primary challenger can't win, it's important, as a matter of principle, that the Republican Party have someone run reflecting the kind of Republican Party they think ought to exist. Larry Hogan: I've heard that argument from dozens and dozens of people, including Bill Kristol, and many people feel pretty strongly about that. I wouldn't argue with that point. Whether that's something I could do or would do, I have to take into consideration my state and does it make sense to go running around the country to make a point or to do something for the greater good that then takes me away from my day job. John Harwood: But if the reason was to make a point about the Republican Party, even if you didn't win, you would not be willing to do that? Larry Hogan: It's funny. Somebody made the case the other day, and I won't tell you who, but they said, "What would your dad do?" Now, that's a low blow. You can't be pulling that one on me. What would be the right thing to do for the country and the party? And that's something that would require a lot more thought, whether that makes sense or not. I'm not ruling anything out. John Harwood: Do you think if you had your 26 fellow Republican governors in this room, that most of them would say, "Go, Larry, go"? Larry Hogan: No. I don't think that's the case. I think a lot of them are very strong supporters of the president and they're in very red states, and they, certainly, on your camera, none of them would say that. If we were having a beer and no one was listening, probably half of them might say, "It's worth a shot." The rapper tells CNBC Make It that after leaving Columbia Records, he turned down a lucrative deal with Virgin Records in 2003, because he believed he could achieve more as an independent artist. Many artists think landing a record deal with a major label is the key to success, but Grammy-winner Killer Mike felt early on in his career that there was value in betting on himself. The rapper explains that he had grown weary of corporate rules. "I got tired of being told corporately what to do and how to do it, and 'your name can't be Killer Mike' and 'you got to do this kind of single,'" he says. "I wanted to just be independent." But while being independent may "sound sexy and romantic and awesome," he warns, it also means that "you got to pay your own bills, you got to pay your own promo, you got to pay for your own record to be played and that puts you on your butt." As a result, the Atlanta native says that money was tight for two years. He credits his work ethic and the support of his wife with helping him to recover. "What brought me out of that was making dope records," he says. "What brings you here is consistency and hard work and belief in yourself, even when you're on your butt, and even when you're on the bottom struggling." Looking back, the independent rapper, who also has his own Netflix show, "Trigger Warning," says that "Honestly, had I signed the second record deal with Virgin Records, I wouldn't be standing here right now." "I knew I could make more money on my own. I didn't know it would take me this long, but I knew I could." Video by Beatriz Bajuelos Castillo and Helen Zhao Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube! Don't miss: Rapper and Netflix star Killer Mike: How a Warren Buffett mindset has been key to my success Rapper and Netflix star Killer Mike is 'pretty frugal'this is the one thing he splurges on Rapper Killer Mike says he'd love to have lunch with this surprising billionaire Investors don't seem to understand the importance of China's economy for European stocks, particularly for Germany and Northern Europe, according to Philip Saunders, co-head of multi-asset at Investec Asset Management. Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday, Saunders said that Chinese demand has "been a very significant driver of growth" for those shares over the last few years. And, when that demand slips, it's led to declines. "The extreme weakness of (European) markets last year was connected to the Chinese credit cycle, which now shows signs of turning around," Saunders said, referencing the slew of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures implemented by Beijing in 2018 and the beginning of this year. As a result of such policies, which are set to boost growth, Saunders expressed confidence that the "very unloved" European equity markets might well "be a significant beneficiary" of that change. Moreover, Saunders said an increase in Chinese demand is likely to have a positive impact on Europe's overall economy. China has been the second-largest trading partner for the European Union, contributing to 15.3 percent of the value of EU imports and exports in 2017, according to the European Commission. Still, Saunders said, not all European equities are necessarily going to rise after Chinese domestic stimulus kicks in. Rather, companies with direct links to demand in China will be poised to benefit the most, he added. In particular, he said: "Banks are very heavily beaten up and they could well surprise. So, for investors, basically, who missed out on this particular moving market, I think there may be opportunities to highlight areas that really haven't responded adequately to all the changes." Among European Union nations, Germany was the largest exporter of goods to China (87 billion Euros) in 2017, according to the European Commission's Eurostat. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks with the media after touring the W.H. Bagshaw Company during an exploratory trip on January 29, 2019 in Nashua, New Hampshire. "Bloomberg has the money and smart people around him, but they're preparing to build a larger campaign apparatus to compete against the other 2020 candidates if he decides to run," a person familiar with the plans told CNBC on the condition of anonymity. Kevin Sheekey, one of Bloomberg's closest confidants, has been meeting with prospective staff members in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Iowa and New Hampshire serve as the first two states in the presidential primaries while also acting as an early litmus test for those looking to capture the nomination. Both of the early contests are expected to take place in February 2020. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's closest advisors have been interviewing potential aides in early caucus and primary states as the billionaire considers a 2020 run for president, CNBC has learned. Many of the 2020 candidates already in the hunt, including Sens. Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris, have been snapping up top talent in these states. Even former Vice President Joe Biden, a longtime friend of Bloomberg's, has been trying recruit the best talent to go up against his competitors if he chooses to run. Biden's team has been interviewing seasoned political operatives in the primary state of South Carolina and he's publicly acknowledged to be in the "final stages" of deciding his future. The Washington Post reported in January that Bloomberg had quietly hired two senior strategists within Iowa and New Hampshire. Matt Paul, a former Iowa state director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, has been brought into the Bloomberg inner circle. "I'm on a retainer for him" Paul said in a text message to CNBC. While it's "not an exclusive agreement," he added that he's "advising during deliberative phases." Liz Purdy, who used to work in The Granite State for Clinton during her 2008 run for president has also reportedly been hired. If he were to jump into the race, one of the areas where Bloomberg will have a clear advantage is how much money he will be able to invest in his own campaign. In December, CNBC was first to report that Bloomberg is prepared to spend at least $100 million on his 2020 campaign for president. With a net worth of $55 billion according to Forbes, Bloomberg was a kingmaker for Democrats during the 2018 congressional midterm elections. He spent $110 million to help the party win over 20 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bloomberg has been one of the most vocal advocates for fighting climate change while also holding firm on a number of moderate policies. He's also been a strong supporter of gun control since his days as mayor of New York. At one of his most recent visits to New Hampshire, Bloomberg criticized, the "Green New Deal" as a "pie in the sky" proposal. "I'm a little bit tired of listening to things that are pie in the sky, that we never are going to pass, are never going to afford," he said at the time. "I think it's just disingenuous to promote those things. You've got to do something that's practical." He's also been critical of Warren's idea of initiating a wealth tax of 2 percent on households with more than $50 million in assets and households worth $1 billion or more paying 3 percent. Warren, for her part, has called on billionaires like Bloomberg running for president to not self fund their own campaigns and to focus their efforts on appealing to grassroots voters. Bloomberg is not faring well in early polling. Only 2 percent of respondents to a Morning Consult poll published on Tuesday said they would support the former mayor. Ahead of him are the likes of Biden, Harris, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke. The poll surveyed more than 15,000 registered voters who indicated they may vote in a Democratic primary or caucus. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percent. WATCH: Michael Bloomberg speaks at the 2016 Democratic Convention Mike Bloomberg's closest advisors have been meeting with potential staffers in Iowa and New Hampshire as the billionaire considers a 2020 run for president. Kevin Sheekey, one of Bloomberg's top confidants, has been leading most of the meetings. Senior Iowa operative Matt Paul is on retainer for Bloomberg as an advisor. Brian Schwartz | @schwartzbCNBC Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's closest advisors have been interviewing potential aides in early caucus and primary states as the billionaire considers a 2020 run for president, CNBC has learned. Kevin Sheekey, one of Bloomberg's closest confidants, has been meeting with prospective staff members in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Iowa and New Hampshire serve as the first two states in the presidential primaries while also acting as an early litmus test for those looking to capture the nomination. Both of the early contests are expected to take place in February 2020. "Bloomberg has the money and smart people around him, but they're preparing to build a larger campaign apparatus to compete against the other 2020 candidates if he decides to run," a person familiar with the plans told CNBC on the condition of anonymity. A Bloomberg spokesman declined to comment. Many of the 2020 candidates already in the hunt, including Sens. Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris, have been snapping up top talent in these states. Even former Vice President Joe Biden, a longtime friend of Bloomberg's, has been trying recruit the best talent to go up against his competitors if he chooses to run. Biden's team has been interviewing seasoned political operatives in the primary state of South Carolina and he's publicly acknowledged to be in the "final stages" of deciding his future. The Washington Post reported in January that Bloomberg had quietly hired two senior strategists within Iowa and New Hampshire.Matt Paul, a former Iowa state director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, has been brought into the Bloomberg inner circle. "I'm on a retainer for him" Paul said in a text message to CNBC. While it's "not an exclusive agreement," he added that he's "advising during deliberative phases." Liz Purdy, who used to work in The Granite State for Clinton during her 2008 run for president has also reportedly been hired. If he were to jump into the race, one of the areas where Bloomberg will have a clear advantage is how much money he will be able to invest in his own campaign. In December, CNBC was first to report that Bloomberg is prepared to spend at least $100 million on his 2020 campaign for president.With a net worth of $55 billion according to Forbes, Bloomberg was a kingmaker for Democrats during the 2018 congressional midterm elections. He spent $110 million to help the party win over 20 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bloomberg has been one of the most vocal advocates for fighting climate change while also holding firm on a number of moderate policies. He's also been a strong supporter of gun control since his days as mayor of New York. At one of his most recent visits to New Hampshire, Bloomberg criticized, the "Green New Deal" as a "pie in the sky" proposal. "I'm a little bit tired of listening to things that are pie in the sky, that we never are going to pass, are never going to afford," he said at the time. "I think it's just disingenuous to promote those things. You've got to do something that's practical." He's also been critical of Warren's idea of initiating a wealth tax of 2 percent on households with more than $50 million in assets and households worth $1 billion or more paying 3 percent. Warren, for her part, has called on billionaires like Bloomberg running for president to not self fund their own campaigns and to focus their efforts on appealing to grassroots voters. Bloomberg is not faring well in early polling. Only 2 percent of respondents to a Morning Consult poll published on Tuesday said they would support the former mayor. Ahead of him are the likes of Biden, Harris, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke. The poll surveyed over 15,000 registered voters who indicated they may vote in a Democratic primary or caucus. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 1 percent. About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information 410 million homes worldwide, including more than 90 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC Digital delivers more than 52 million multi-platform unique visitors each month. CNBC.com provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience. CNBC Make It is a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money by zeroing in on careers, leadership, entrepreneurship and personal finance. CNBC has a vast portfolio of digital products, offering CNBC content to a variety of platforms such as: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, a premium service that provides in-depth access to Wall Street; a suite of CNBC mobile apps for iOS and Android devices; Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri voice interfaces; and streaming services including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Samsung Smart TVs. To learn more, visit https://www.cnbc.com/digital-products/. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com. CVS Health is closing its roughly 30 hearing centers, as it experiments with new store formats and federal regulators write new rules that will allow hearing aids to be sold over the counter. CVS spokeswoman Erin Pensa confirmed the closures to CNBC and said the company made the decision to close the centers because the hearing-care market has evolved since CVS started piloting audiology services in 2015. Hearing Health & Technology Matters first reported the news. CVS is pivoting ahead of changes that could reshape the hearing aid market. Next year, the FDA will introduce regulations to allow hearing aids to be sold over the counter, eliminating the need for CVS to dedicate space in stores for audiologists to conduct hearing tests and fit people for the devices. The company is experimenting with new store formats as its core drugstore business faces pressure from online companies such as Amazon. It's piloting HealthHUBs, which offer more health services, such as blood pressure testing and yoga classes. A view of the waterfront of Long Island City in the Queens borough of New York, along the East River, on November 7, 2018. New York City's deputy mayor for housing and economic development, Alicia Glen, told CNBC on Friday, her last day in office, that she'd like to see more women running big companies and if that were the case, deals like the now-scuttled Amazon headquarters plans for Queens might have different outcomes. "Maybe if there weren't all these men running companies we would possibly have different results," said Glen, whose office spearheaded the Amazon HQ2 deal that fell apart last month, in the face of local protests led by liberal politicians such as freshman firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "If there were more women running large companies, there would be a different way in which people engage with communities. There would be a different way in which people started to threaten to leave, etc.," Glen said in a "Squawk Box" interview. When asked whether that stance could be seen as sexist, she said, "I don't think it's sexist at all." Last month, New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris defended his opposition to Amazon's HQ2 proposal for the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City. Queens is one of the five boroughs of New York City. The others are Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island. "Amazon needs to get ahold of what they mean to communities, and act responsibility," he told CNBC at the time. However, many other New York politicians and CEOs are trying to get Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos to change his mind. They wrote an open letter, which appeared in The New York Times, saying a "clear the majority of New Yorkers support this project." The effort, paid for by the Partnership for New York business group, said Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo "will take personal responsibility for the project's state approval," and Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio "will work together with the governor to manage the community development process." William Ford, chief executive of New York-based growth equity firm General Atlantic, told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Friday that the city's letter to Amazon does not seem needy. Ford, one of the signatories, said the message to Bezos is, "We want you to reconsider." Glen, whose departure was announced in December, told CNBC that the city remains committed to the original Amazon deal, which included city and state performance-based incentives of about $3 billion. Those perks were at the heart the deal's opposition. However, Glen said the incentives offered by the city are available to any company that wants to bring operations to Long Island City. "That is where the mischaracterization and misinformation about the basic deal continues to be in the ether," Glen contended. But she did acknowledge that the state's incentives were specific to Amazon. Elon Musk has hired the lead prosecutor of the 2006 Enron case to defend him in a contempt of court battle brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The substitution puts a well-versed securities lawyer in Musk's corner and adds notoriety to an already high-interest case. John Hueston and a team of three attorneys from Hueston Hennigan LLP have taken up the Tesla CEO's most recent legal case, according to a document filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. Musk is facing allegations he violated a settlement deal with the SEC, struck last fall, by tweeting "inaccurate" company information without the required preapproval. Hueston headed the prosecution against Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, which saw both men convicted of securities and wire fraud. Hueston takes over in Musk's case for Dane Butswinkas, who resigned as Tesla's general counsel last week, just a day after Musk sent the questionable tweet. Butswinkas held the top legal post at Tesla for just two months. Hueston is already representing Musk in two other lawsuits, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the switch: a defamation suit brought by British rescue diver Vernon Unsworth, who Musk called a "pedo guy" in a tweet, and a lawsuit involving a former employee who Tesla claims sought to sabotage the company after he was fired. WATCH: Tesla CEO Elon Musk lashes out at the SEC again five experts break down what to watch next The pan-European Stoxx 600 finished provisionally up 0.35 percent with almost every sector in positive territory. Autos were the top performing sector, with Faurecia leading the gains, up more than 5 percent. The French auto equipment firm said that it's to buy Clarion and launch a Japan-based business group in April. Looking at individual stocks, WPP surged towards the top of the European benchmark after the company said it had seen a good reaction to its restructuring plan. Top performer Moncler gained 10.5 percent after the Milan-listed company presented "remarkable" results, according to Jefferies. Rightmove, on the other hand, fell toward the bottom of the index after presenting its full-year results. Elsewhere, British hedge fund Man Group's shares fell 2.6 percent on Friday after it said its assets under management slipped 0.5 percent last year on market weakness and currency losses. Oil giant Shell also saw shares slip slightly after confirmation that it's facing multiple charges over corruption, emissions, and an explosion at its Moerdijk facility in 2014. Pakistan's escalating conflict with India this week disrupted commercial aviation after the country shut down its air space on Wednesday, forcing several international airlines to cancel or reroute their flights. When contacted by CNBC, a representative for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority in Karachi declined to confirm a report that four airports are set to partially open on Friday and commercial flights will fully resume from Monday. The representative pointed CNBC to the agency's website and added, "We're waiting for further orders." No further details were available on the agency's website. This comes after Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan announced Thursday that the country will return a captured pilot "as a peace gesture" to India. Pakistan is an important corridor for planes flying between Asia and Europe and the Middle East, meaning the closure of its air space affects hundreds of flights. As of Friday afternoon during Asian hours, planes were flying around Pakistan, with a large number of them going over the Persian Gulf, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.com. Kashmiri women seen walking past paramilitary troopers during shut down in Srinagar in India-administered Kashmir. Tensions between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan flared up this week after both sides carried out tit-for-tat air strikes and shot down each other's fighter jets, prompting global concerns over a potential outbreak of war in South Asia. Pakistan said it also captured an Indian pilot who was released on Friday as a gesture of peace towards New Delhi from Islamabad. The mountainous region of Kashmir has been a source of conflict between the two countries since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947. Jammu and Kashmir was a former princely state where a large number of people were killed and others were driven away by the violence during the partition. Since then, India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars over the region both countries claim the region in full but control only parts of it. This has led to innumerable conflicts between the two countries. While this week's escalation appears to be cooling for now, here is a timeline of how the events unfolded over the last two weeks. Feb. 14: A suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir, killing more than 40 in what was described as one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in the region in decades. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that "a befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons." Feb. 15: A Pakistan-based terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan's foreign ministry said it has "always condemned heightened acts of violence" in Kashmir but it strongly rejected "any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations." India's Ministry of External Affairs said Jaish-E-Mohammed and its leadership are located in Pakistan. "(They) cannot claim that it is unaware of their presence and their activities. They have not taken any action against these groups despite international demands," the official spokesperson said. Feb. 16: Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted New Delhi withdrew Pakistan's "most favored nation" status, which is usually given to countries receiving certain trade advantages such as low tariffs. Following that, basic customs duty on Pakistani exports to India were raised to 200 percent, he said. Tweet: India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect. #Pulwama Feb. 18: Nine people, including four Indian soldiers and a policeman, were killed during a gun battle in India-controlled Kashmir, further escalating tensions between the two countries. Reports said the operation targeted a residential area said to be a hideout for suspected militants. Feb. 19: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan offered India assistance to investigate the suicide bombing but he warned that his country will retaliate against any acts of aggression from New Delhi. India dismissed Khan's offer, citing previous terror attacks in Mumbai and an airbase. Feb. 20: India halted an important bus service between Srinagar, the capital of India-controlled Kashmir, and Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, without explanation. Feb. 2324: New Delhi stepped up its crackdown in Kashmir by detaining more than 160 separatists, reports said. Five people were killed as Indian security forces clashed with members of a Pakistani militant group in the disputed region. Feb. 26: India said its air force conducted strikes against a Jaish-e-Mohammed training base at Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and that the attack killed a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders. Pakistan denied there were any casualties from that attack and said the strikes missed any targets. Tweet: Payload of hastily escaping Indian aircrafts fell in open. Pakistan's foreign ministry said the "Indian aggression was a threat to regional peace and stability and would get a befitting response by Pakistan at a time and place of its choosing." Feb. 27: Pakistani media reported that Khan chaired a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body that oversees the country's nuclear warheads. Pakistan said its air force carried out strikes across the so-called Line of Control to demonstrate its "right, will and capability for self defense." The Line of Control is the de-facto border between the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir. A spokesman for the Pakistani armed forces said Indian planes entered its air space and two jets were shot down. One of the aircraft fell on India's side of Kashmir while the second came down in Pakistani territory, and its pilot was captured. India's foreign ministry acknowledged that a pilot was missing and a combat jet had been lost. The ministry spokesperson also claimed a Pakistani jet had been shot down in the altercation. Then, a video emerged of a man identified by Islamabad identified as the captured Indian pilot. India also said it handed over a dossier to its counterpart with specific details of Jaish-e-Mohammed's role in the Feb. 14 terror attack and their presence in Pakistan. Pakistan's Khan then called for talks with India and said he hoped "better sense" would prevail to de-escalate the situation. Feb. 28: Khan told his parliament that Pakistan will release the captured Indian pilot the next day as a "peace gesture" towards India. Tweet: As peace gesture, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, announced to release the captured Indian pilot, Wing Commander, Abhi Nandan, tomorrow. The move was welcomed by the chiefs of India's three armed forces during a joint press conference Thursday evening but they would not say if New Delhi considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict. Mar. 1: Pakistan handed over Wing Commander Abhinanda to India at the Wagah border crossing between the two countries. Reuters contributed to this report. Border villagers play cards as they sit near a Indian post at Chandu Chak village of Ranbir Singh Pura sector near the India-Pakistan international border, about 35km from Jammu on February 28, 2019 in Jammu, India. Nitin Kanotra | Hindustan Times | Getty Images India and Pakistan showed resolve and restraint this week as tensions flared between the nuclear-armed rivals but crucial underlying problems still need to be addressed, according to a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. Military planes from both sides carried out tit-for-tat air strikes this week in each other's territories while their troops traded fire along the de facto border in Kashmir. The escalation was triggered after terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for an attack in India-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14 that killed more than 40 Indian security officers. New Delhi and Islamabad also claimed to have brought down each other's military jets and Pakistan announced an Indian pilot was captured into its custody. On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that as a "peace gesture," he would release the pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, as early as Friday. The move was welcomed by the chiefs of India's three armed forces during a joint press conference Thursday evening but they would not say if New Delhi considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict. It's not every day that America and Iran, for example, stand shoulder-to-shoulder, criticizing the Pakistanis for not cracking down on terrorist groups. Cameron Munter former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Still, Thursday's developments prompted many to hope that both countries will stop the situation from spinning out of control, especially into a full-blown armed conflict. "I think both leaders had to show two things: Each of them had to show resolve, and each of them, fortunately, showed restraint. That is to say both sides said that they would not be pushed around by the other," Cameron Munter, CEO and president at the EastWest Institute, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. Munter was also the former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan between 2010 and 2012. Both sides have presented conflicting information from Tuesday's incident: A senior Indian government official source told Reuters that 300 militants were killed, but Pakistan said there were no deaths from India's bombing. Munter, who said India's air strike inside Pakistan did not lead to any casualties, pointed out it was a sign of restraint on New Delhi's part. "And the restraint on the Pakistani side was not to gloat but to actually come up with Imran Khan's suggestion to turn back the pilot," he added. The Kashmir problem India and Pakistan's conflict over the mountainous region of Kashmir dates back to 1947 when both countries became independent from British colonial rule. The entire subcontinent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, which led to a mass displacement as people migrated from one country to the other. Outbreaks of communal and religious violence killed hundreds of thousands of people in the subcontinent during that time. The Srinagar-Leh highway that connects Kashmir with the Indian region of Ladakh. The average snow buildup in the rocky territory normally stays in the level of 15 to 25 meters. Closed for a half of each year, the highway usually opens up in late spring and travelers on the pass have to deal with snowstorms, fierce air currents, and dangerous circumstances. Yawar Nazir / Getty Images Jammu and Kashmir was a former princely state where a large number of people were killed and others were driven away by the violence during the partition. Since then, India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars over the region both countries claim the region in full but control only parts of it. Many have raised concerns over violence and human rights abuses in both India-controlled Jammu and Kashmir, as well as in Pakistan-controlled Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan region. Speaking about India-controlled Kashmir, Munter said: "You have a mainly Muslim population and you have many hundreds of thousands of Indian troops keeping order. That's really not a sustainable or good situation." "It's not something that Indians want other people to interfere with but until that gets solved, there's going to be a problem in Kashmir," he added. In a recent op-ed piece with Indian newspaper Business Standard, former Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran said that after the Feb. 14 terror attack, India must examine why so many locals get recruited by terrorist groups operating in the area. "There have been allegations of intelligence failure but the ability to stop terrorist incidents and apprehending terrorists is most effective if the local populace is ready to provide intelligence that is relatively specific," Saran wrote. "This is possible only if there is a high level of trust and confidence between the populace and the security forces." Pakistan's problem, according to Munter, is that no one believes they've cracked down on the groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba which carried out one of the worst terrorist attacks in India's history or the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which operate in that region. India has long accused Pakistan of supporting those groups. "Until the Pakistanis are credible in cracking down on these groups, they're going to have a problem. Because it's not every day that America and Iran, for example, stand shoulder-to-shoulder, criticizing the Pakistanis for not cracking down on terrorist groups," the former envoy said. Test of leadership Political analysts agreed that this week's confrontation between India and Pakistan was a test of leadership for both Khan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is facing a parliamentary elections in the coming months. The developments did not turn out well for Modi, according to Moeed Yusuf, associate vice president for the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses his nation on July 26, 2018. Muhhamad Reza | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Indian people hold placards and photographs of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, as they celebrate the announcement of his soon release, in Amritsar on February 28, 2019. Indian military officials said on Thursday they welcomed Pakistan's planned return of a captured pilot, but refused to confirm they would de-escalate a conflict between the two nuclear powers. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan, became the human face of the flare-up over the contested region of Kashmir following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody. "We are happy our pilot is being released," said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, at a joint news conference of India's three armed forces on Thursday evening. He did not say when asked by reporters if India considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said the pilot would be released on Friday, to the relief of many Indians, even as his military reported that four Pakistani civilians had been killed by India firing across the disputed border in Kashmir. "As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow," Khan told Pakistan's parliament on Thursday afternoon. Lawmakers thumped their desks in response. "We will celebrate his release tomorrow," said Vinay Bhardwaj, 34, a plumber in Nawshera, a border town in Indian-controlled Kashmir. "People are very happy about that here." The United States, China, European Union and other powers have urged restraint from the two nations, as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14. The Muslim-majority Himalayan region has been at the heart of more than 70 years of animosity, since the partition of the British colony of India into the separate countries of Muslim Pakistan and majority Hindu India. It is divided between India, which rules the Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which controls a wedge of territory in the west, and China, which holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north. On Tuesday, India said it hit a training camp for a Pakistan-based group who claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, and a senior government source told reporters that 300 militants had been killed. Pakistan denies this, saying the attack was a failure and no one died, with bombs dropped on a largely empty hillside. It denies any militant camp was in the area. Local people said they had seen no sign of major casualties or significant damage, with only one man known to have been slightly hurt by the bombs. Asked about the damage caused by Indian warplanes in Tuesday's air strike, Kapoor said it was premature to provide details about casualties. But they said they had "credible" evidence of the damage inflicted on the camp by the air strikes. "Whatever we intended to destroy, we did," he said. Governor Jay Inslee Olivia Michael | CNBC Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday he's entering the 2020 presidential race as a climate change crusader but he's facing risk given polls show the issue ranks near the bottom as an issue priority for adult Americans. "I'm running for president because I'm the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation's number one priority," Inslee said in a video released Friday. Inslee, 68, joins a crowded field of Democratic contenders who have announced or are considering running for president. He is the first governor enter the 2020 Democratic presidential contest while another Western governor also is considering a run Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. In a Morning Consult survey last month, Inslee ranked 21st among Democratic primary voters. He was below Bullock and another potential contender, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. Inslee has openly discussed his interest in a White House run for many months and from the start focused on climate change. The Democrat has already visited key early states, including Iowa and New Hampshire. "We have one chance to defeat climate change and it is right now," Inslee said Friday in remarks at a Seattle-area solar installation company where he made the White House bid official. "And it is my belief that when you have one chance in life, you take it." Inslee added, "This is our moment together to create not just a transition but a just transition to bring justice to all communities, especially front line communities of color that have borne the brunt of climate change." He pledged a national mission with several climate goals, including powering the economy using "100 percent clean, renewable and carbon-free energy" and achieving "net zero greenhouse gas pollution in the United States." He also set a goal "to create millions of good paying jobs in every community investing in clean energy," from building electric cars in Michigan and making and installing wind turbines in Iowa to installing more solar out West. At the same time, Inslee vowed to end the practice of billions of dollar in subsidies going to fossil fuel industries. "I have a message for the oil, coal and gas special interests: that gravy train is over," he said. "As a candidate, I will not take one dime from fossil fuel companies. When I am president, not one nickel of the taxpayer dollars will go to subsidize oil and gas." But not everyone considers climate change a top priority issue, according to Pew Research Center. A Pew survey conducted in January found only 44 percent view climate change as a top priority of President Donald Trump and Congress, ranking it second lowest after global trade (39 percent). By comparison, 70 percent of those surveyed felt the economy should rank top as a policy priority and 69 percent identified health care costs. Climate policies In November, Inslee visited California after the Camp Fire destroyed most of the town of Paradise and later spoke about how climate change is contributing to more dangerous wildfires. Some of images in the launch video released Friday appear to show devastation from the Camp Fire, which destroyed more than 10,000 homes and killed 86 people. Inslee, a two-term governor who applauds the Green New Deal, has been outspoken on the environmental issues and the need for clean energy for more than a decade. Prior to becoming governor, he served in Congress and authored "Apollo's Fire," a 2007 book about how to reduce greenhouse gases and gain energy independence. Yet several other Democratic presidential contenders are also talking about climate change themes and a mix of ways to combat greenhouse gas emissions, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii. Also, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has weighed in on climate change as a human rights issue. Carbon tax defeat Inslee's climate agenda suffered a setback last year when the oil industry funded a campaign to defeat a carbon emissions fee initiative the governor backed. The measure was seen as a way to raise revenue as well as to help the state achieve ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals. One way around the voter setback is a pending clean energy bill that would require the state's utilities to be carbon-free by 2045. The state already gets the majority of its power from hydroelectricity sources. He also is a former criminal prosecutor and was a state legislator in Olympia before getting elected Washington's 23rd governor in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. He could seek a third term if his presidential run isn't successful. The Washington governor also has strong views on other issues, including gun control, health care, immigration and labor issues. Gun Control Inslee is an advocate for stricter gun control laws and in 1994 while in Congress voted for the 10-year assault weapons ban. He also challenged Trump at a White House event last year on the issue of arming teachers with firearms. Last year, Washington voters approved Initiative 1639, a measure Inslee supported that raised the age to purchase semiautomatic rifles to 21, from 18. The initiative also expanded background checks for rifles and added other new regulations, including firearm education and new standards for secured gun storage. Health Care Inslee backs a public health care option for the state that would compete with private insurers. The plan was proposed in January and promises that patients will spend no more than 10 percent of their income on premiums. The Democrat has criticized the "instability" in the health care system that was caused by undermining Obamacare. His plan would expand subsidies to private insurers but has generated criticism due to concerns about costs from some critics. Immigration Inslee has been critical of Trump's immigration policies and signed an executive order in 2017 that limited the state's role in enforcing immigration enforcement laws. He also pushed to increase the state's emergency funding to support civil legal aid services for immigrant families. The governor also recently called Trump's emergency declaration over the border wall "illegal" and last year slammed the administration's "zero tolerance" policy of separating families as "an intentional infliction, abusive behavior to punish innocent children." Labor Bottles of Heinz Kraft Co. Heinz brand Tomato Ketchup and Yellow Mustard are arranged for a photograph in Dobbs Ferry, New York, on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. Kraft Heinz faces a new lawsuit questioning why controlling shareholder 3G Capital transferred $1.23 billion of stock six months before the processed foods company stunned investors with a huge writedown and other bad news. The proposed class-action lawsuit made public on Wednesday is among the first accusing Kraft Heinz, whose other controlling shareholder is Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, of defrauding shareholders about its business prospects. Kraft Heinz's share price sank 27.5 percent on Feb. 22 after the company took a $15.4 billion writedown on its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands and Canadian assets, as consumers shifted to healthier and fresher alternatives or private-label products. The company, headquartered in both Chicago and Pittsburgh, also slashed its dividend and announced a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accounting probe. Kraft Heinz's stock plunge erased more than $16 billion of market value. In his damages complaint, shareholder Steve Walling accused Kraft Heinz, Chief Executive Bernardo Hees, 3G and others of concealing damage to Kraft Heinz's iconic brands and internal controls, including from 3G's signature belt-tightening. Walling also said the defendants had been "motivated" to engage in improper conduct to allow 3G to "sell" $1.23 billion of stock last August at artificially inflated prices. The complaint was filed in the federal court in Pittsburgh. In an Aug. 7 regulatory filing, 3G said an affiliate had transferred 20.63 million Kraft Heinz shares worth $59.83 each to an entity called HK3 18 LP. The Brazilian private equity firm said none of the shares sold related to 3G partners' original Kraft Heinz stake. Hees told Reuters in a Sept. 7, 2018 interview that the transfer was made on behalf of institutional investors that had a "window to liquidity" and were exiting a 3G fund. "It's not 3G, as we know 3G," he said. "We are very optimistic about the profile of what the investment can be for the long run." Kraft Heinz and 3G did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment. Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, a law firm representing Walling, did not respond to similar requests. Berkshire and Buffett are not defendants. Buffett told CNBC on Monday the market reacted "probably quite properly" to Kraft Heinz's news. Shareholder lawsuits are common after unexpected bad news hurts a company's stock price. They are often combined into a single lawsuit near where the company is based. The case is Walling v Kraft Heinz Co et al, U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, No. 19-00214. Logan Green, CEO and co-founder of Lyft, speaks at the SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival March 16, 2015, in Austin, Texas. By at least one measure, Lyft is very big. At the end of 2018, the ride-hailing company had 4,680 full-time employees, triple the total at the end of 2016, according to Lyft's IPO prospectus filed on Friday. That's more employees than Facebook, Google or Dropbox had when they filed for their public market debuts. The rapid expansion points to the growth of technology-enabled transit, and Lyft's need to aggressively hire in an effort to keep pace with larger rival Uber, which said in October it had more than 20,000 employees. Lyft also competes for talent with Gett as well as in the autonomous vehicle market, where Apple and Alphabet are active. Across Lyft's more than 50 offices and its "driver hub" service centers, there were a total of 4,791 employees at the end of 2018. The company also pays contractors and consultants, while drivers are considered independent contractors. Dropbox employed 1,858 people at the time of its filing last year. Facebook had 3,200 people when it field to go public in 2012, and Google had 1,907 at the time of its 2004 prospects. Around 36 percent of Lyft's employees focus on design, engineering and product management. Nearly 300 people worked on its trust and safety team, handling especially sensitive issues, and Lyft said there were "several hundred" people located at its Level 5 Engineering Center in Palo Alto, California, where the company works on self-driving car technology development. Lyft said none of its employees are unionized, and the company has "not experienced any work stoppages." In the same period that headcount tripled, Lyft said that the number of active riders increased by more than that amount. WATCH: Lyft says it has 39 percent market share in IPO filing It's not unusual for Canopy Growth co-CEO Bruce Linton to field strange emails. After all, he is the chief executive of one of the largest marijuana companies in the world. So when an email landed in Linton's inbox in the spring of 2015 saying celebrity rapper Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., professionally known as Snoop Dogg, was interested in pursuing a business partnership, the CEO laughed. "I didn't assume it was a legitimate email," Linton said to CNBC. "I thought it was a silly joke." No joke, the hip-hop star was interested in Linton's Tweed business, a subsidiary of Canopy Growth that now offers recreational marijuana products and boasts more than 4.3 million square feet of indoor and greenhouse cultivation in Canada. About a year later, Tweed unveiled a partnership with the hip-hop icon, complete with three varieties of cannabis in Canada under the "Leafs by Snoop" brand. Snoop Dogg's talent agents at Stampede Management reached out to Canopy last year suggesting it talk with one of his celebrity friends: Martha Stewart, the lifestyle authority who co-hosts their VH1 show "Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party." Stampede did not respond to CNBC's request for comment. "I was probably more excited to meet Martha than I think almost any other celebrity I've been introduced to," Linton said. "I'm running a very large marijuana company and here I am meeting a person considered a leader on all things etiquette." Global index provider MSCI's announcement that it will quadruple the weighting of large-cap Chinese shares in its benchmark indexes is likely to drive more money into the still highly regulated mainland market, investors and analysts said. In a widely expected move, MSCI said Thursday that it will increase the weighting of China A-shares yuan-denominated stocks traded on the mainland from 5 percent to 20 percent in three steps to November of this year. Chinese shares, which slumped sharply in 2018, have been on a tear this year, rising 14 percent in February alone on factors including optimism over progress in ending the U.S.-China trade war and expectations for the expanded MSCI inclusion. Investors and analysts welcomed the news as a significant step in the broader opening of Chinese markets to international funds. They still remain subject to tight capital controls. "Overall, the final inclusion plan continues to look as aggressive as its proposal, marking another milestone in China's capital market opening up," Citi China equity strategist Jerry Peng said in a note dated Thursday, adding that the U.S. bank expects "strong foreign inflows to China's onshore market." Chinese A-shares were included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index for the first time last year. Investors can access them through an arrangement between the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese markets. Gao Ting, head of China strategy at UBS Securities, said in a note Friday that the MSCI changes would likely spur $67 billion in inflows to the A-share market this year alone. The Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona is an annual opportunity for tech companies to showcase their latest devices and compete for the attention of more than 100,000 gadget-lovers. But this year a drama played out on stage and behind the scenes that had little to do with gadgets: a battle between American officials and Chinese tech giant Huawei. The U.S. sent a delegation to MWC to protest the telecommunication firm's involvement in providing infrastructure for 5G, a fifth-generation wireless network that heralds faster speeds and response times for consumers and businesses. U.S. intelligence agencies fear Huawei's networking equipment could enable Chinese spying, claims Huawei has repeatedly denied. The U.S. has also accused Huawei of violating American sanctions on Iran and stealing trade secrets, which it also denies. "The United States is asking other governments and the private sector to consider the threat posed by Huawei and other Chinese information technology companies," Robert Strayer, ambassador for cyber and international communications at the U.S. State Department, told reporters Tuesday in Barcelona. Intelligence experts have been skeptical about Huawei's guarantees it isn't a security risk, pointing to Chinese laws that allegedly mean every domestic company is legally mandated to assist the country in intelligence gathering if Beijing requests it. China's companies are also thought to be forbidden from talking about any intelligence work. Chinese government and media outlets have repeatedly claimed, however, that the American warnings about managing cybersecurity risk are really a pretext for a pre-meditated attack on Huawei because the world's largest economy feels its business interests are threatened by the telecom. The U.S. has not warned of any security risks associated with Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson Huawei's two main competitors in the telecom equipment industry. Huawei strikes back Huawei's response this week was an aggressive campaign to prove its prowess in technology like 5G, and that it can't be stopped by the world's largest economy. "Prism, prism on the wall. Who's the most trustworthy of them all?" Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman quipped in a keynote speech on Tuesday. "We can't use prisms, crystal balls, or politics to manage cybersecurity. It's a challenge we all share." In the speech, Guo claimed the company has never, and will never, use its equipment for spying. In a roundtable with media on Sunday ahead of MWC, the chairman took aim at the U.S., saying the country should implement 5G technology "as fast as possible" or it risks being left behind. Huawei is the biggest provider of telecommunications equipment globally and also one of the world's biggest smartphone vendors. Huawei's presence hard to miss Beyond public remarks, Huawei's physical presence at MWC was hard to miss. The Chinese tech giant is a major sponsor of the event and typically operates several massive booths in the conference halls. This year was no exception. Huawei's logo was brandished on the lanyards of thousands of attendees' badges and on posters and escalators around the conference. The company also hosted additional events in Barcelona throughout the week, like a cocktail reception Monday night at the swanky W hotel. Huawei's logo was on the lanyards of badges at MWC Barcelona 2019. Elizabeth Schulze | CNBC "What's playing out around the race to 5G is an exceptional marketing exercise from massive, multi-billion dollar companies, and two countries," Doug Murray, CEO of U.S.-based cloud software company Big Switch Networks, told CNBC in an email Wednesday. "Huawei has been on the defensive this week while the U.S. continues to push its agenda." Murray pointed to more than 20 deals that Huawei announced this week at MWC to provide 5G equipment to telecom operators. In perhaps the biggest setback to the U.S., the United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it had chosen Huawei to build out its 5G network through its state-controlled telecom firm Etisalat. Meanwhile, Huawei's new $2,600 foldable phone, announced at a flashy launch event on Sunday, captured a lot of attention from the tech-savvy consumers at MWC. "Everyone was kind of coming to the show thinking they were going to have a really, really tough time, and they smashed it with this new device," Ben Wood, a tech analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC on Wednesday in Barcelona. Uncertainty is the word Still, uncertainty over Huawei's future in the U.S. and other key markets like Germany and the U.K. has shrouded the outlook of many telecommunications and tech firms. Chang-Gyu Hwang, the CEO of South Korean mobile operator KT, told CNBC Tuesday the company was not using Huawei equipment in its 5G networks, citing security concerns. The CEO of Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce firm that also operates mobile networks, said there is a "political risk" with using Huawei equipment. "The risk I talked about is not about the fact that there will be a security breach," he told CNBC's Karen Tso. "The risk is that the government will try to legally or implicitly, kind of, force us not to use some hardware, especially from China." Meanwhile, Nokia and Ericsson warned about an uncertain political environment as 5G starts to go mainstream. About 80 New York union leaders, local officials and business owners published an open letter in Friday's New York Times asking Amazon to give Long Island City one more shot. In the letter, published as a full-page ad in the main section of the Times, the signatories try to persuade Amazon that most New Yorkers really do want the company and its 25,000 jobs in their city. "We know the public debate that followed the announcement of the Long Island City project was rough and not very welcoming. Opinions are strong in New York sometimes strident," wrote the signatories, which included Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, State University of New York Chancellor Kristina Johnson, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman. "We consider it part of the New York charm! But when we commit to a project as important as this, we figure out how to get it done in a way that works for everyone." The local leaders join New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in calls for the company to reconsider its Valentine's Day announcement that it would no longer build part of its new headquarters in Long Island City after a frosty welcome from local politicians and local activists. On Thursday night, the Times reported that Cuomo has been speaking with Amazon executives, including CEO Jeff Bezos, and making the case for the company's return. "The State Senate made a terrible blunder everyone, including their members, knows it and 75 percent of New Yorkers affirmed it; the Governor will take over the process and can comfortably assure Amazon the approval will get done," a spokesperson for Cuomo told CNBC in a statement following the Times report. In the open letter, the signatories promise Cuomo "will take personal responsibility for the project's state approval." So far, Amazon has made no signs that it's willing to compromise. When the company announced its reversal, it said in a statement, "a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City." At the time, Amazon said it did not plan to reopen its search and would instead remain focused on its other HQ2 location in Virginia as well as its other established offices around the country. Amazon declined to comment to CNBC on the open letter. Here's the full text of the letter that appeared in the Times Friday: Dear Mr. Bezos: New Yorkers do not want to give up on the 25,000 permanent jobs, 11,000 union construction and maintenance jobs, and $28 billion in new tax revenues that Amazon was prepared to bring to our state. A clear majority of New Yorkers support this project and were disappointed by your decision not to proceed. We understand that becoming home to the world's industry leader in e-commerce, logistics and web services would be a tremendous boost for our state's technology industry, which is our fastest growing generator of new jobs. As representatives of a wide range of government, business, labor and community interests, we urge you to reconsider, so that we can move forward together. We know the public debate that followed the announcement of the Long Island City project was rough and not very welcoming. Opinions are strong in New Yorksometimes strident. We consider it part of the New York charm! But when we commit to a project as important as this, we figure out how to get it done in a way that works for everyone. Governor Cuomo will take personal responsibility for the project's state approval and Mayor de Blasio will work together with the governor to manage the community development process, including the workforce development, public education and infrastructure investments that are necessary to ensure that the Amazon campus will be a tremendous benefit to residents and small businesses in the surrounding communities. New York attracts the best, most diverse talent from across the globe. We are a dynamic new center of the country's most inclusive tech economy. We all hope you reconsider and join us in building the exciting future of New York. Correction: This article has been updated to correct the number of signatories. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Watch: Two local New York politicians debate Amazon's decision to cancel its NYC HQ U.S. President Donald Trump walks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a break in talks at the U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi on February 28, 2019. The parents of Otto Warmbier, who died of injuries sustained in prison in North Korea, issued a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump for saying he believed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's claim that he was unaware of the brutal conditions under which their son was being held, or the abuse he suffered during his captivity. "We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto," Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement Friday. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that." The statement came a day after Trump returned from a nuclear summit with Kim in Hanoi, Vietnam, which failed to make any progress on denuclearizing North Korea. Before departing from Hanoi, Trump was asked whether he raised the issue of Warmbier's captivity and death with Kim. Trump said he had. "Some really bad things happened to Otto some really, really bad things," Trump said, "but [Kim] tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word." Trump added that Kim "felt very badly about it," and that the dictator "knew the case very well but he knew it later," implying that Kim somehow only learned of his American prisoner's situation after he was released and died of the injuries he suffered at the hands of Kim's government. Warmbier, 22, was arrested in Pyongyang in 2016 for removing a banner from a hotel. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He was released in June 2017 but returned to the United States in a coma and died just days after he landed on U.S. soil. Foreign policy experts were quick to contradict Trump's claim that Kim was unaware of Warmbier's situation. "It is inconceivable that such a high profile American prisoner like Otto Warmbier, that Kim Jong Un would not know," Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who was deeply involved in back-channel negotiations to obtain Warmbier's release, told MSNBC on Thursday. And on CNN, Richardson said: "The president should know better. And what should happen is a full accounting. Kim Jong Un should say, to his intelligence people, 'Let's tell the truth on this.' But they're not going to do it." Stung by the criticism and the statement from Warmbier's family, Trump pushed back in a pair of tweets Friday afternoon. "Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death," Trump said in the tweets, after noting: "Remember I got Otto out along with three others." TWEET I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family. Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch. Of course I hold North Korea responsible.... TWEET ....for Otto's mistreatment and death. Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future. I love Otto and think of him often! Trump's clarification did not address the question of whether he believed Kim himself knew about Warmbier's imprisonment at the time. This is not the first time that Trump has taken the word of an autocratic leader over the conclusions of his own intelligence services. In 2017, at a summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump publicly accepted Putin's denial that Russia had interfered in the U.S. presidential election in 2016. This came despite a unanimous assessment by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies that Russia did, indeed, try to sway the election in Trump's favor. "I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump said during a joint press conference with Putin. The following year, Trump again accepted Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's denial that he had anything to do with the murder of journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in October after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. "I hate the crime, I hate the cover-up. But I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, and they have vehemently denied it," Trump told reporters in November, more than a month after Khashoggi was slain and mutilated. Asked who should be held accountable for Khashoggi's death, Trump replied, that "maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a vicious place. The world is a very, very vicious place." In Warmbier's case, Trump again this week sought to blame the circumstances, and not the people in power. "Those prisons are rough, they're rough places and bad things happened," Trump said of North Korea's notoriously brutal prison system. Nonetheless, he said, "I don't believe [Kim] knew about it." Indian people hold placards and photographs of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, as they celebrate the announcement of his soon release, in Amritsar on February 28, 2019. Pakistan handed a captured Indian pilot back to his country on Friday as the nuclear-armed neighbors scaled back their confrontation, at least temporarily. Television footage showed Wing Commander Abhinandan walking across the border near the town of Wagah just before 9.00 p.m. (1600 GMT). Indian officials confirmed he had been returned and said he would be taken for medical checks. Abhinandan was shot down on Wednesday while flying a MiG-21 fighter jet that crashed in Pakistani territory after a dogfight with a Pakistani JF-17. World powers have urged restraint from the two nations, as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said earlier on Friday the pilot would be released "as a gesture of peace and to de-escalate matters." Before the pilot was released, Pakistani television stations broadcast video of him, looking cleaned up, thanking the Pakistani army for treating him well. "The Pakistani army is a very professional service," he said. Throughout the day, crowds on the Indian side thronged the road to the crossing, shouting nationalist slogans and waving Indian flags. "Pakistan is releasing our pilot, I thank them for that," said Kulwant Singh, who has run a food stall at the crossing for 20 years. "War can never be good. War is bad for business, war is bad for our soldiers." The disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir has been at the root of two of the three wars fought between India and Pakistan since they gained independence from Britain in 1947. There was some firing along the contested border dividing Kashmir on Friday, according to a spokesman for India's defence ministry, but the hostilities were well short of previous days. Pakistan reopened some airports on Friday, after easing airspace restrictions that had disrupted flights between Asia and Europe for several days during the conflict. Relations between the two countries, however, remain strained. Qureshi said he would not attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Abu Dhabi this weekend, because his Indian counterpart had been invited to the event. India also faces an ongoing battle against armed militants in its portion of Kashmir. On Friday, four security personnel and a civilian were killed in a gun battle with militants, officials said. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, speaks with employees after he made a surprise appearance during a Amazon Veterans Day celebration, honoring the Warriors@Amazon, a group of employees who have served in the military and their spouses, in an event outside a hanger at the Long Beach Airport in Long Beach on Monday, November 12, 2018. "There is strong evidence to suggest that at least part of the source of this trend is the degree to which medically inaccurate information about vaccines surface on the websites where many Americans get their information, among them Amazon," Schiff wrote. "As the largest online marketplace in the world, Amazon is in a unique position to shape consumption. Congressman Adam Schiff , D-Calif., sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Friday, expressing concern about the emerging anti-vaccination trend related to the spread of misinformation on the internet, calling it a "direct threat to public health." Schiff cited a World Health Organization report that called "vaccine hesitancy" a top health threat in 2019. Amazon isn't the only company that's under pressure to act. Pinterest is taking steps to crack down on health misinformation by blocking content related to searches about vaccines. YouTube announced it would not allow users to make money from anti-vaccine videos with ads, and Facebook said articles deemed false would rank lower in feeds. Earlier this month, Schiff sent an open letter to both Facebook and Google to express similar concerns, and both companies said they would submit a response. CNN recently found anti-vaccination books for sale on Amazon, with titles like "We Don't Vaccinate!" and "Shoot 'Em Up: The Truth About Vaccines," as well as similar content available to stream through Amazon Prime. Schiff said it's up to Amazon and the other major platforms to properly police the content on their sites. He asked Bezos if inaccurate medical information about vaccines violates Amazon's terms of service, what steps the company is taking to address the problem and whether it accepts paid advertising from "anti-vaccine activists and groups." "As a Member of Congress who is deeply concerned about declining vaccination rates around the nation, I am requesting additional information on the steps that you currently take to provide medically accurate information on vaccinations to your users, and to encourage you to consider additional steps you can take to address this growing problem," Schiff wrote. Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. WATCH: Pinterest eliminates search results for vaccination posts Shell will be prosecuted for criminal charges relating to a $1.3 billion settlement for an oil exploration licence in Nigeria, and has also been summoned by prosecutors to face charges over chemical emissions and an explosion. The Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office (DPP) informed Shell it is nearing the conclusion of an investigation into the case and is preparing to prosecute the oil giant, the company said in a statement on its website Friday. Shell and Italian oil firm Eni were accused of bribery in 2017 over a $1.3 billion payment that secured an exploration licence for an oil block, known as OPL 245, in 2011. It was alleged that although the funds were paid to the Nigerian government, the money actually went to Malabu Oil and Gas a company linked to former oil minister Dan Etete. Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and four ex-Shell managers are also facing charges of international corruption in Italy, where prosecutors allege they were aware that payments would be pocketed by individuals rather than the Nigerian government. Shell and Eni have both denied any wrongdoing. In an emailed statement, the DPP told CNBC Friday: "On the basis of the ongoing criminal investigation, the Public Prosecution Service concluded that there are prosecutable offenses. We are not yet able to make any announcements about the further course of the case." In November, a report from campaign group Global Witness said that Nigeria would lose $6 billion in oil revenue because of the terms of the allegedly corrupt deal. Shell declined to comment when contacted by CNBC about the DPP's decision to prosecute. Responding to the prosecution announcement, an Eni spokesperson told CNBC via email that the company had no involvement in the proceedings brought by Dutch prosecutors. "Eni confirms, once again and as based on the current outcomes in the ongoing trial in Milan, the correctness and compliance of every aspect of the transaction in respect of OPL 245 concluded in 2011, both with applicable laws and global industry practice," the spokesperson said. "Eni continues to reject any allegation of impropriety or irregularity in connection with its conduct." A spokesperson the Federal Government of Nigeria was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. President Donald Trump stops CNN's Jim Acosta while taking questions during a news conference following Tuesday's midterm congressional elections at the White House in Washington, November 7, 2018. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters President Donald Trump on Friday launched his first Twitter attacks against Michael Cohen since his former longtime lawyer and fixer provided riveting testimony about their relationship before Congress. After returning from his second summit with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Vietnam which was cut short and failed to produce any new agreements Trump tore into Cohen in a Friday morning tweet storm, accusing him of "going rogue" and committing "perjury on a scale not seen before." Cohen, 52, pleaded guilty last year to crimes including campaign finance violations and tax evasion, as well as lying to Congress in prior testimony in 2017. He cut agreements with federal prosecutors in New York and with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling and possible collusion with Trump's campaign in the 2016 election. Ukr Mykola Lazarenko | Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters A decision by Ukraine's constitutional court to row back on a key anti-corruption law may have repercussions for the country's relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This week, Ukraine's constitutional court rejected an anti-corruption law that would have made the illegal enrichment of officials a criminal act, according to a state news agency. And the decision cannot be appealed. Introducing anti-corruption laws is a key component of the international aid for Ukraine, and crucially was one of the conditions that it had to meet as part of its $17.5 billion bailout package from the IMF. "Any about-turn in the anti-corruption reform would be a huge blow to Ukraine's relationship with the IMF and other Western partners indeed, the EU has already expressed their concerns about the latest development," Liza Ermolenko, an emerging Europe economist at Barclays, told CNBC Thursday. The court ruled that provisions of the article within the country's criminal code failed to comply with the principles of law and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, according to state news. Critics of the law reportedly said that "the article on illegal enrichment obliges the suspect to prove (the) legitimacy of his revenues' origin, whereas the law places the burden of proving wrongdoing solely on the side of prosecution." Bailout program Unveiled in March 2015, the IMF's four-year bailout program aimed to boost Ukraine's ailing economy and public finances after investor confidence in Ukraine took a hit following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the pro-Russian uprising and conflict in the east of the country. As it sought to exit that program, Ukraine was granted a 14-month standby aid arrangement (essentially a credit line) worth $3.9 billion in December 2018, by the IMF and World Bank, to help it meets its financing needs and to consolidate reforms. In a statement announcing the aid, the IMF insisted on "further progress on anti-corruption reforms" and "operationalizing the anti-corruption court." The first $1.4 billion tranche of that aid was given to the country in December with the next tranches to be decided upon in May and November this year. Whether or not Ukraine is deemed to have broken a condition of the aid is uncertain. A spokesperson for the IMF said it had no immediate comment to make as it was still assessing the ruling. Jeopardy Anti-corruption legislation was also a condition of a "visa liberalization action plan" with the EU, an economic and political bloc that Ukraine would like to join. The move comes amid closer scrutiny on Ukraine too ahead of a presidential election in the country on March 31. Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission, said during a visit to Ukraine Thursday that Ukraine had made "good progress" on the establishment of a High Anti-Corruption Court but he was disappointed by the new ruling. "I must say that we have certain concerns concerning yesterday's constitutional court ruling concerning the illicit enrichment and the burden of proof concerning this illicit enrichment," he said in a speech at the University of Taras Shevchenko. "We must see what exactly the concerns of the constitutional court were, and how it will affect the effectiveness of the fight against corruption." 'State of flux' A demonstrator holds a placard as she takes part in a protest of Venezuelans against the government of President Nicolas Maduro at the Simon Bolivar International bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela, on February 15, 2019. The U.S. is adding six high-ranking Venezuelan security officials on its international sanctions list as it steps up pressure on the government of President Nicolas Maduro. The six include officials with the National Guard and police blamed for their roles in blocking humanitarian aid convoys into Venezuela. They were announced by the Treasury Department on Friday. The sanctions freeze any assets the people may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prevent anyone in the U.S. from conducting financial transactions with them. It's part of a campaign to pressure Maduro to step down and turn over power to opposition leader Juan Guaido. The U.S. recognized Guaido as interim president last month. Maduro was re-elected last year in an election widely viewed as illegitimate, but the security services have remained loyal. A reaper harvests wheat in the fields in Runan County of Zhumadian City, central China's Henan Province, May 24, 2016. The United States won a World Trade Organization ruling on China's price support for grains, successfully challenging a calculation methodology that is also used by India. A WTO adjudication panel agreed on Thursday with the U.S. complaint that China had paid farmers too much for wheat, Indica rice and Japonica rice in 2012-2015. A disputed corn subsidy had already expired. "China's excessive support limits opportunities for U.S. farmers to export their world-class products to China," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. "We expect China to quickly come into compliance with its WTO obligations." China said on Friday it regretted the lack of support from experts, noting that government support for agriculture was a common practice and allowed under WTO rules. China would continue to promote development of its agriculture sector in line with WTO rules and safeguard the stability of the multi-lateral trade system, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. The trade representative's office filed the complaint in September 2016, saying China had paid farmers nearly $100 billion more than allowed by the WTO rules. That provided an artificial incentive for farmers to produce more, lowering prices worldwide. China's WTO membership agreement permits trade-distorting subsidies of up to 8.5 percent of the total value of production. China argued that it was not breaching that limit because only the grains procured by government should be counted as subsidized. The United States successfully argued that state buying at a guaranteed price raised the whole market. The ruling, which may be appealed, could have ramifications for India, which has made similar arguments to China. At a meeting of the WTO's agriculture committee on Wednesday, the United States and Canada rejected India's claim that its market price support for pulses was 1.5 percent of the value of production, saying that it was actually 31 percent to 85 percent, far above allowed limits. Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido has promised to return to Caracas over the coming days, despite threats from the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Speaking alongside Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro at a press conference in Brasilia on Thursday, Venezuela's Guaido urged the international community to enforce economic sanctions against Maduro "so that everything is not robbed in Venezuela." Guaido has met with several Latin American leaders over the past week, in an attempt to shore up diplomatic pressure against Maduro's embattled administration. The leader of the country's National Assembly said the purpose of his regional tour was to discuss the best course of action to defeat Maduro's regime and to prepare for the country's reconstruction. When asked whether he was worried about his safety on returning to Venezuela, Guaido told reporters at the press conference in Brasilia: "Of course, it is a risk even life threatening." Rose Blumkin was a retail legend but she was probably more famous as the entrepreneur who billionaire investor Warren Buffett still likes to refer to as a model for aspiring business managers everywhere to follow. The Berkshire Hathaway chief recalls the late Blumkin as a "marvelous, marvelous woman." She was born on Dec. 3, 1893, in a Russian village near Minsk and immigrated to America when she was in her 20s. "She couldn't speak a word of English" when she arrived in Omaha, Buffett told CNBC's Becky Quick this week. But Blumkin took a modest investment "and turned it into the largest home furnishings store" in the country, he added. Blumkin, known as "Mrs. B.," was in her mid-40s when started Nebraska Furniture Mart in the basement of her husband's shop in downtown Omaha in 1937 with $500. Over the next four-plus decades, she turned NFM into a juggernaut that drew Buffett's attention. In 1983, he bought Blumkin's store in a $60 million deal that made it part of Berkshire Hathaway. Courtesy Berkshire Hathaway Buffett said the transaction was sealed with a simple handshake. "We did not get an audit. We did not look at the property records. I just said, 'Mrs. B. do you owe any money' and she says 'no' and that was it." "I felt like I had the Bank of England on the other side," the 88-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" said in testament to her hard-driving nature. After selling to Berkshire, Blumkin continued to work at NFM. But, according to her obituary in The New York Times, she left six years later when she was 95 because she felt frozen out as her grandchildren became more involved in the business. She then started a rival store, Mrs. B.'s Clearance and Factory Outlet, across the street from the Furniture Mart, the Times reported. The family rift was later mended and Berkshire bought the Outlet in 1992, the paper said, adding Buffett later joked that it had been a mistake to let Blumkin leave without signing a noncompete agreement. Blumkin retired from NFM when she was 103. "That's sort of a yardstick we use now on retirement," Buffett quipped. She died in 1998 at age 104. Buffett has referred to Blumkin throughout the years as someone others should try to emulate. In a letter to Berkshire shareholders in 2013, Buffett wrote, "Aspiring business managers should look hard at the plain, but rare, attributes that produced Mrs. B.'s incredible success. Students from 40 universities visit me every year, and I have them start the day with a visit to NFM. If they absorb Mrs. B.'s lessons, they need none from me." Blumkin "never went to school a day in her life," Buffett said with awe on CNBC's "Squawk Box" this week. "[And] when the family sat down for dinner, they sang 'God Bless America' before eating. It's an incredible story." Students from 40 universities visit me every year. ... If they absorb Mrs. B.'s lessons, they need none from me. Warren Buffett 2013 letter to Berkshire shareholders Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday he's running for president, saying he will emphasize attempts to combat climate change during his bid for the Democratic nomination. "I'm Jay Inslee and I'm running for president because I'm the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation's Number 1 priority," the 68-year-old governor said in a video announcing his candidacy. "We're the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we're the last that can do something about it. Our country's next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change." A book Inslee wrote on the topic some 10 years ago, "Apollo's Fire," argued for a clean energy program on the scale of President John F. Kennedy's moon shot. He's still pushing that message. In the video released Friday, Inslee said combating climate change would create job growth. "We have an opportunity to transform our economy, run on 100 percent clean energy," he said. "That will bring millions of jobs to every community across America, and create a more just future for everyone." video He has some reason to be optimistic that it will resonate. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll from December found that 66 percent of Americans now say action is warranted on climate change, up from 51 percent two decades ago. But it's far from clear that voters will make the environment a priority on Election Day. Inslee lost a 2018 ballot initiative in his home state that would have imposed the nation's first carbon fee on large polluters. Climate change is not his only calling card for primary voters. As chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, he helped his party flip seven states blue in the 2018 midterms. Inslee has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump Washington state brought suit against Trump's initial travel ban, winning an injunction. He was also critical of President George W. Bush's Iraq war when he served in Congress. Inslee's political action committee has raised $112,500, according to a November filing with the Federal Election Committee. That could help finance forays to early primary states like Iowa, where he visited twice in 2018, and New Hampshire, The Seattle Times reported. Still, he's not considered a top-tier candidate. He joins a crowded field. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the first to throw her hat into the ring, on Dec. 31, and Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Corey Booker are also running. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Texas Rep. Beto O'Roarke are among those who could soon join the fray. "You're coming from Washington state, and that's a big liability," Ron Dotzauer, a Seattle-based political strategist recently told McClatchyDC.com. "You can't get farther away from the epicenter of politics, except if you're in Alaska or Hawaii." Republicans were quick to pounce on the announcement. "Jay Inslee's chances of becoming president are exactly what he's polling at: zero. His campaign will only force Democrats into embracing more extreme policies, like a carbon tax, which would kill jobs, raise energy prices, and disproportionately hurt working-class Americans," Republican National Committee Communications Director Michael Ahrens said in an email on Friday. Even Inslee is hedging his bets. If things don't go his way, the governor told The Seattle Times, he could drop out by May, in time to run for a third term as Washington's top politician. "I see no reason to take that off as an option," he said. CNBC's Jessica Bursztynsky and Marilyn Haigh contributed to this report. Correction: This story was revised to correct that Inslee is 68 years old. 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 Shabnam Nasimi is President of the Conservative Friends of Afghanistan, and is Ward Captain and CWO representative of Lewisham Deptford Conservative Association. Conservative Friends of Afghanistan (CFoA) has a crystal-clear mission statement in seeking to build stronger ties between the Conservative Party, British Afghans, and Afghanistan. CFoA is a working example of the progressive nature of the modern Conservative Party. The group will be launched in Parliament, Jubilee Room on 26th March 2018, in conjunction with the Afghan New Year, from 5pm to 6:30pm. Over the last few years the Conservative Party has made huge leaps in winning support from ethnic minority communities, appealing to a far wider base than ever before. However, more needs to be done. We are, after all, a One Nation party and all peoples are part of this one nation, regardless of race, colour or creed. The Afghan diaspora are a large community in the UK, accounting for up to 250,000 people or more, to put it another way, more than two full parliamentary constituencies. Afghans are very much a conservative people, with a small c. There is an emphasis on family, community, self-reliance, charity, hard work, religion and business all true Conservative values. They should and could be the most enthusiastic supporters of the Conservatives. It is our duty to engage with this community, and all communities who often feel marginalised from the political system, to demonstrate that their values are also Conservative values. CFoA aims to engage the Afghan diaspora in political issues so not only can they have a say in issues that affect them, but they feel represented in, and increase their understanding of, the British political system. The Casey Review report, published in December 2016, points to salient issues for the British Afghan community, including challenges in integrating into British society, lack of English language skills, worrying levels of segregation and socio-economic exclusion, mental health and trauma from decades of war in Afghanistan, and that societal discrimination still exists in Britain which has yet to be fully addressed by political parties. The less integrated we are as a nation, the greater the economic and social costs we face, and central to CFoAs aims is tackling social exclusion and promoting integration. It is interesting to note that the five constituencies in West London with the highest British Afghan population, including Hounslow, Ealing, and Brent, are without a Conservative MP, and CFoA will be focusing its efforts on reversing this trend. In terms of engagement, we can learn a lot from our sitting MPs who represent ethnically diverse constituencies and who know what it is in their local area that certain groups feel passionate about. CFoA will act as a conduit for those MPs, helping them to spread best practice to all Conservative candidates. The Conservative party has come on leaps and bounds in terms of ethnic minority MPs since 2011, and our key focus will be on creating a representative party and putting forward a Conservative MP that is receptive to issues that affect the Afghan community. On the international stage, CFoA will continually make the case for aid programmes in Afghanistan to be continued, with the appropriate accountability measures, and focused on those areas with the highest levels of deprivation. As Sir Nicholas Kay recently stated at the Queens Birthday Party in 2018, the UK-Afghanistan relations are in extraordinarily good shape: vigorous, healthy, long-standing, and yet modern. In a country where approximately 54 per centof the population live below the food poverty line, nearly half of Afghan children do not attend a school, and half of the adult population are illiterate, we as Conservatives must help those who have less opportunity to strive for a better life; a chance at building a meritocratic society should surely be the aim of every Government that has fairness at its heart. With our mission statement and objectives clear to see, Conservative Friends of Afghanistan is indeed fortunate to have Sir Michael Fallon and Tom Tugendhat as Patrons. We are also proud to have Rory Stewart as an adviser to the group. It is through a combined effort that we will be able to lead delegations of MPs and peers out to Afghanistan, and hold the seminars and events in the UK that will further cement CFoA as a significant force within our Party structure. There is a long road ahead in terms of reaching our goals contained in our mission statement, but with a clear focus on community engagement and delivering on a consistent message of social cohesion, we must succeed in bringing the Conservative Party closer to those aspirations and beliefs that the British Afghan community hold dear. If you are interested in getting involved in our organisation, please email me at office@cfafghanistan.org.uk. Iain Dale presents the evening show on LBC Radio and is a commentator for CNN. The pundits seem to be euphoric about the failure of the summit between America and North Korea. Told you so, they all chirruped. It was never going to produce anything, they said in unison. Maybe, but I beg to differ. Meetings like this are never a waste of time. The more world leaders meet and talk, the less likely they are to push a button which could bring about mass destruction. And lets remember where we were at the beginning of 2018. Relations between the two countries were at an all-time low, and the two leaders were exchanging pot shot insults, which could have led anywhere. I remember thinking that 2018 could see real military conflict between the two countries. It turned out very differently. Donald Trumps undiplomatic ability to turn things his way struck again, and he brought about that historic meeting in the demilitarised zone between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-In, South Koreas president. I dont think that would have happened without Trump. And then Trump met Kim Jong Un in Singapore. This was more of a getting to know you summit, rather than one which was likely to produce any meaningful breakthrough. It is a shame though not a surprise that yesterdays summit broke up early. But, for Trump, it will have deflected some media attention away from the Michael Cohen testimony, so in that sense it was very helpful to him. And, for Kim Jong Un, he will nowgo back to North Korea with more understanding of where the Americans stand but also able to tell his people he stood up to the US giant. Job done for both of them. Alberto Costa is by common consent one of the nicer Conservative MPs. But this week, he has been treated incredibly shabbily. He was forced out i.e. sacked from his position as PPS to David Mundell. Why? As a consequence of supporting Government policy. You couldnt make it up. He had tabled an amendment for debate on Wednesday which guaranteed EU citizens rights here, and sought to push the government to negotiate the same with Brussels in the event of No Deal. The Government accepted the amendment, but forced him out because, in theory, PPSs arent allowed to table amendments. This is no way to behave, and is symbolic of the chaos at the heart of government. It came only a few days after various Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State blatantly breached collective responsibility by writing articles in the Daily Mail opposing the Brexit policy of their own government. If any of them had had a scintilla of honour, theyd have immediately resigned. In effect, they were challenging the Prime Minister to sack them, but she was too weak to do so. The message sent out is that if youre a Minister, you can now get away with anything. But if youre a lowly PPS a member of the government, but with no salary watch yourself, otherwise your career will be toast. If the chief whip wanted to score a few brownie points, hed ask Costa to return to his old job and offer him a fulsome apology. It wont happen, of course, but it should. And whoever succeeds Theresa May should make a note to give him a ministerial job in their initial reshuffle. In the meantime, Costa can bask in the knowledge that he, at least, stuck by his principles and genuinely achieved something. This week Labour, sank deeper in the mire of anti-semitism row. I wont rehearse all the events again, but it was a familiar pattern. MP says something bad. Labour has to be dragged kicking and screaming to take action. At least this time they did it relatively quickly, but its all smoke and mirrors. The MP concerned is Chris Williamson, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn. He was spotted heading for Corbyns office, where presumably he was to be told of his fate, by Michael Crick of Channel 4 News. He encountered the Ian Lavery, who proceeded to give him a bear hug. Presumably at the same time the Labour Party Chairman whispered into his ear: Dont worry, well look after you. Labours support among the Jewish community has plummeted from 65 per cent to less than five. But they dont care, given there are only 280,000 Jews in this country. Shameless and shameful. Obviously these arent normal times, but if they were you can be sure that David Gaukes announcement last week about abolishing short prison sentences would be getting a lot more attention critical and supportive. The Justice Secretarys speech merits a full and considered read. His critique of sentences of six months or less was the most headline-grabbing element. But while it contains the news hook that prison isnt working, the reality is rather more pragmatic than a kneejerk reaction to such words might suggest: In the last five years, just over a quarter of a million custodial sentences have been given to offenders for six months or less; over 300,000 sentences were for 12 months or less. But nearly two thirds of those offenders go on to commit a further crime within a year of being released. 27% of all reoffending is committed by people who have served short sentences of 12 months or less. For the offenders completing these short sentences whose lives are destabilised, and for society which incurs a heavy financial and social cost, prison simply isnt working. I have written before about the importance of developing a better Conservative perspective on prison not shying away from the need to punish, but acknowledging that the interests of victims, taxpayers and society at large are poorly served when we fail to also rehabilitate criminals. Its hard to disagree with Gaukes logic about judging policy on the basis of its effectiveness: Where we do spend on the criminal justice system, we must spend on what works. Why would we spend taxpayers money doing what we know doesnt work, and indeed, that makes us less safe? There are, however, two questions that he will likely face from Conservatives who are uncomfortable either with the policy of effectively getting rid of short sentences. First, is he certain that this is an inherent problem with short prison sentences, rather than with rehabilitation in British prisons as they currently operate? Second, is the best solution simply to shift people who would receive short sentences onto the reformed community orders Gauke is proposing, or might the answer be to extend some of their sentences beyond six months? On the first question, I suspect the answer will be that its an exercise in hypotheticals. If we had better or different prisons, then maybe theyd be able to do a drastically better job to prevent these high reoffending ratesbut we dont, and until we do the argument stands. On the second, I wonder if he might have a bit more trouble. His speech already noted, somewhat defensively, that as a matter of fact it is clearly not true that sentences overall are getting shorter or justice is somehow getting softer. That may be true but the need he felt to engage with the argument betrays an awareness that people generally believe the opposite. He might yet have to throw the public and his MPs some red meat to sate any concerns they might have that he or the system he oversees is going soft. Considered in that context, its alarming to consider how easily the Justice Secretarys mission could be knocked off course by events outside his control. He is out to reduce crime by cutting reoffending rates, through what he calls smart justice. In theory, the ongoing and all-too vivid issue of violent crime ought to underline his argument that what has been tried before hasnt succeeded. But this is a field where the politics is usually dominated by gut instincts, not cold logic. Gaukes argument is reasoned and reasonable, but it could find itself overwhelmed if a particularly heinous crime, or a particularly bad string of crimes, grabs the publics attention. If he wants to act, therefore, he needs to do so quickly. The launch statement of the seven former Labour MPs who originally made up the Independent Group contained only one reference to leaving the EU. It was aimed at Jeremy Corbyn. His party, it said, has failed to take a lead in addressing the challenge of Brexit and to provide a strong and coherent alternative to the Conservatives approach. By contrast, that of the three Tory MPs who left the Party recently put leaving the EU centre-stage: Brexit has re-defined the Conservative Party undoing all the efforts to modernise it, it said. The Independent Group will morph into a fully-fledged political party sooner or later. And the difference between the two statements offers a clue about how it may turn out. In the event of a revised deal with the EU passing Parliament, either before March 29 or afterwards, the Brexit talks will move on to their next stage. At this point, the Party will return to a policy choice that has never really gone away: high alignment with the EU, roughly Norway-style, or lower alignment, in the general shape of Canada. It is possible that there will be a clear shift to the latter, and that such a move, in turn, might see more Conservative MPs transfer to the Independent Group. If there is no deal at all the odds of which are lengthening, though the outcome is still possible the aftermath might see the same effect. But the more one ponders the Independent Groups future, the more one comes to see that it presents a bigger problem for Labour. Fundamentally, the Conservatives present problems are about EU policy. Elsewhere, most Tory MPs and members are willing to muddle along with a Government that is, as this site has previously put it, mired in the mixed middle. At heart, Labours problems stretch far wider. They are about not only Corbyn himself but a wider shift in the party itself. It may be that in the event of an election loss the partys hard left members leave and a mass of New Labour-type voters sign up. The party has certainly lost Remain-leaning members over its leaders pro-Brexit instincts. However, Momentum seems to be alive and kicking none the less, and the consensus view of many Labour MPs seems to be that there has been a fundamental change in the partys membership and outlook, reflecting the wider post-crash problems of social democratic and democratic parties throughout the rest of Europe. That being so, the Parliamentary Party is deeply divided not over one issue, but many: globalisation, anti-semitism, foreign policy, business, intervention abroad, defence. All parties are coalitions, but there is a culture gap between its membership, concentrated in London, and voters in the mass of Labour-held seats outside the greater South-East. These are early days, but many voters in the Labour column seem to feel the same way. A new POLITICO-Hanbury poll this morning shows that a quarter of voters would consider voting for a party based on the Independent Group. It also finds that 32 percent of Labour supporters say that they might, but only 19 per cent of Conservative ones. Similar survey results elsewhere help to explain Corybns unwilling shift towards a second EU referendum. (Younger voters and Londoners are among those most likely to back the Independent Group, according to the poll.) Some of those who remember the 1980s will see a parallel. There is dispute over whether the emergence of the SDP helped or harmed the Conservatives. One view is that, if it had never been brought into being, Margaret Thatchers vote would have been ever bigger. But there is more to politics than psephology, and a breakaway from Michael Foots Labour by high-profile former Ministers plainly did his party no good at all. Today, the Independent Group has announced that Chuka Umunna is to be its Chief Spokesman (now, theres a surprise). Its allocation of other MPs to different portfolios will mark the start of problems, as they struggle to explain different approaches historically, and perhaps now, to Universal Credit, free schools, the benefits freeze, austerity and so on. It could be that the eventual new party will vanish not with a bang, but a whimper. Its biggest problem looks to be the interplay between a relatively even spread of the vote and first past the post. (The curse of the Liberal Democrats: talking of which, how will the new party deal with them, and vice-versa?) But Labours shift left seems sufficiently well-established to offer it an opportunity. And a bigger one to the Conservatives as Corbynistas everywhere arent shy of pointing out. There is a solid rationale for most Tories taking the departure of their three former colleagues calmly and courteously. 81% Website e-budujemy.pl uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 50275 bytes (49.10 kb uncompressed) and 10033 bytes (9.80 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-10-06, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 100% Website wbisgpp.gov.in uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of . This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-10-06, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 100% Website youthplays.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery, Boostrap and Php. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 45150 bytes (44.09 kb uncompressed) and 11451 bytes (11.18 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-08-17, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. Modi with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Influential British weekly The Economist, in an unsigned analysis, has regretted that, as India approaches the general elections, the country today is looking as polarised as at any time since Independence. Pointing out that the visions confronting Indias 900 million voters have rarely been so sharply defined, the paper, in its print edition dated March 2, insists, Hindu nationalists regard India as a nation defined by its majority faith, much like Israel or indeed Pakistan. Noting that while one observe in India today extraordinary diversity as a source of strength, a legacy that has prevailed for the last seven decades of multi-coloured, secular vision, the weekly, in its article Orange evolution: Narendra Modi and the struggle for Indias soul How Indias prime minister uses Hindu nationalism, insists, under Modi, the orange-clad Hindutva strain has grown ever bolder.The Economist states, Modis strident brand of Hindu nationalism, which pictures Pakistan less as a strategic opponent than a threat to civilisation, puts him at the fringe even of his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), even as contending, Under Modi, the project to convert India into a fully-fledged Hindu nation has moved ahead smartly.Predicting that the pace would undoubtedly accelerate if, carried on a surge of patriotism brought by the clash with Pakistan, he sweeps into another term, the weekly wonders, But given that in 2014, the BJP grabbed its big majority with just 31% of the popular vote, how far would Modi be able to push the Hindutva project, even if he does get a new mandate? And if he loses, can a secular India be rebuilt?Seeking to measure the Hindu nationalist movement under Modi, The Economist says, RSS claim of being the worlds largest volunteer organization is to be seen against the backdrop of its all-male membership of around 5 million with 60,000-odd self-financing cells, or shakhas, which meet daily for communal exercises and discussion, typically on a patriotic theme, with harder core of the RSS consisting of some 6,000 full-time apostles known as pracharaks.Further pointing towards RSS having the largest trade union as well as unions for farmers, students, teachers, doctors, lawyers, women, small businesses and so on, the weekly reports, RSS progeny run Indias two largest private school networks, educating some 5 million children, with one of these, Ekal Vidyalaya, having grown by targeting remote regions where Christian missionaries have made inroads.All of this has led to some RSS groups exercise quiet influence, lobbying for more nationalist economic policy, the weekly says, adding, this is backed up by the 2 million-member Bajrang Dal, a youth branch of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an RSS offshoot, which has a reputation for beating up Muslim boys who dare to flirt with Hindu girls.Calling BJP a loose affiliate of the RSS, The Economist underlines, Under Modi, who served as an RSS pracharak before being assigned to the party, ties have been tighter. The RSS has thrown its full organisational weight behind his campaigns. In return, Modi has inserted RSS men or like-minded ones into every part of Indian politics. It adds, RSS influence also extends to university deans, heads of research institutes, members of the board of state-owned firms and banks.., the police, army and courts.According to the weekly, efforts by Modi to push through RSS agenda has made Muslims accounting for 14% of the population suffer. Thus, his Hindu nationalist approach has alienated Kashmiris and also tempted meddling by Pakistan, it says, adding, After the longest lull in three decades of violence, it has spiralled again under Modi. Further, there has been a running campaign in BJP-run states to apply stringent laws against the slaughter of cows, sacred beasts to Hindus, leading to killing of 44 people, 36 of them Muslim, by cow vigilantes.The weekly thinks, There seems limited conviction among Indian liberals that the Hindutva tide can be stemmed. Outside big cities, the roots of secular, inclusive India remain shallow. This lack of a strong and attractive liberal alternative matters more in the long term than the coming vote. Second tranche to be released between April-end and early May this year. New Delhi: With an eye on farmers vote bank, the central government is mulling releasing the second tranche installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme between April-end and early May this year. After transferring the first tranche in two instalments one is already done for more than one crore farmers and the other is scheduled for April 1 for them the Centres second phase money-transfer plan, which is much in advance of its proposed schedule, is aimed at consolidating the farmers sentiment towards the Narendra Modi-led government ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. As per the Centres proposal, the amount is being released in toto in three four-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each, to cover the total amount of Rs 6,000 for the year, at an annual outlay of Rs 75,000 crore. A sum of Rs 25,000 crore is fixed for each instalment, which has to be credited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through the direct benefits transfer (DBT) mode. A top government source told Financial Chronicle: We have been told that farmers are not happy with the first tranche of installment of the PM-KISAN scheme. So, the government is planning to extend its DBT plan for the second tranche of installments of the scheme in between April-end and early May this year. A total amount of more than Rs 2,000 crore have already been released to more than one crore farmers families across the country in the first lot of installments in the first phase. Further releases for the first instalment to the remaining beneficiaries are being made by the Centre as well, the source said. The Election Commission is expected to announce the general election schedule in the second week this month. Once the poll schedule is announced, governments are not supposed to announce any scheme that may influence the voters. However, the Union government sees no reason to hold back the scheme. We dont think there would be an issue of code of conduct for this scheme even after announcement of the election dates. For the betterment of the people, the government has every right to implement its existing or running flagship schemes as they have been announced much before the Election Commissions decision. Anchored by terrific performances by its star-ensemble, Chaubey brings his assured directorial mind to an eerily beautiful film. Rating: Director: Abhishek Chaubey Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey Mahesh Balraj, Ashutosh Rana. Sonchiriya is by far the most ambitious work for director Abhishek Chaubey for the various reasons. Films about caste-divide, patriarchy are rare because we are guilty of hiding the shameful aspects of our society, and in that case Sonchiriya hits like a sledgehammer. It is the seminal film about social ills prevalent in society today that Bollywood usually fears to tackle. Sonchiriya tells an irresistibly powerful and nuanced story, in a way that does not shirk the horror. And that works as the biggest USP of this film. Set in the Chambal Valley during 1975, Sonchiriya revolves around a bunch of fugitives and their desperate hope to survive. The films chronicles its story through three keys characters - Maan Singh (Manoj Bajpayee), Vakil Singh (Ranvir Shorey) and Lakhna (Sushant Singh Rajput). When an absconding woman Indumati (Bhumi Pednekar) crosses the path with the group, it creates different kind of rift between them. At the same time, an unforgiving policeman Virender Gujjar (Ashutosh Rana) is on mission to hunt them down as he has personal vendetta against these dacoits. Will they survive the fate? Sonchiriya is a film of searing sincerity and insight, whose central characters are drawn with real complexity. Director Abhishek Chaubey's unflinching eye shows you everything you need to see to form a judgment. He shoots long takes in which the action (as in the emotional action, or intention) is the focus, involving us deeply and meaningfully in the characters, their circumstances and the broader context. The impact is strong. The film is perfectly paced, with just the right amount of lingering mood and tense action. It is well served by a wonderfully structured screenplay by Chaubey's co-writer Sudip Sharma. It is not as violent or gory as Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen, a seemingly conscious move that actually works in its favour. Capturing the harsh realities of the era and emotional complexities of the characters, the film is extremely powerful. Anchored by terrific performances by its star-ensemble, Chaubey brings his assured directorial mind to a harrowing, yet eerily beautiful film. The technical accomplishments are something to admire. Anuj Dhawan's cinematography is highly impressive. The use of sequence shots, with the camera surrounding and swaying around the characters, makes the story more fluid. The camera sure lingers at the most important points of each scene, and Vishal Bhardwaj's music score is thankfully no excess for sentimentalism and leaves a big room that fits to the harsher moments. Sonchiriya is filled with astonishing, gut-wrenching performances. Sushant Singh Rajput's Lakhna is a character with a fire burning beneath the surface. His performance is typically unshowy yet subtle, conveying a dignity and humanity that the film needs in the face of such unfathomable injustice. Bhumi Pednekar is the emotional epicentre of the entire film. She evokes a woman of torment and sadness perfectly. The film unearths terrific performances from the two outstanding actors - Manoj Bajpayee and Ranvir Shorey. The always dependable Bajpayee makes an important cameo appearance, and, by all accounts, he is one of the main catalysts for the film to happen. Ashutosh Rana, although impressive, acts more like a typical villain than an actual believable character. Other supporting roles are well played, but a number of them are relegated to small appearances. This is essentially Rajput and Pednekar's film. Sonchiriya is significant, necessary piece of work, one that stays with you long after you rise out of your theatre seat. Although to be warned, watching Sonchiriya is never easy, but again so was the context. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Watch the trailer here: March 1, 2019 Are You Ready to Die Well? By Skip Heitzig Most people want to know how to live well, but the idea of how to die well is equally as significant. In the immortal words of Captain James T. Kirk, "How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life." We are creatures of time, but we are bound for eternity. So how do you make your time count for eternity? How do you live and die well? The apostle Peter viewed his life like he was camping out. In 2 Peter 1, he wrote, "I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent" (vv. 13-14). Twice in these verses Peter referred to the human body as something that was common in that part of the world: tents, temporary shelters nomads used on their way from one place to another (see also 2 Corinthians 5:1-4). It's a camping metaphor for those of us in the modern world. When you think of a tent, you think of something temporary, flimsy, and not all that beautiful. If you've ever been camping in a tent for very long, you probably reached a point where you couldn't wait to get home and take a shower and sleep in a real bed. I know the feelingI once camped all over America and Canada for three straight months. Your body, like a tent, is temporary. After a while, the threads unravel, the flaps get torn, and it starts leaking, like all tents do. James said, "What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14). One day when what we call death happens, you will take down your tent and move from one place to another. That's the best way to view death. It's not accurate to say a believer died. It's more accurate to say, "They moved into the everlasting kingdom prepared for them by the Lord." As Jesus said, "In My Father's house are many mansions" (John 14:2). When I think that I'm going to trade in this tent for a mansion, I look forward with anticipation to that mansion. So live your life like you're camping out, and don't make it all about "How does my tent look today?" Live with death in mind. Moses, in the only psalm he ever wrote, said, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). It is appointed for all of us to die once; all of us are terminal (see Hebrews 9:27). I pray that we would not ignore that fact, but think soberly about it, recognize that all of this is transitory, and live and die well in light of it. Copyright 2019 by Connection Communications. All rights reserved. Connect with Skip Heitzig March Resource Backstage: Serving When No One Is Looking Lifestyle Booklet by Skip Heitzig Some people serve the church in obvious ways, but most serve behind the scenes. The Bible gives us a portrait of an ideal servant with a humble heart who served without fanfare or recognition: Epaphroditus. In this booklet, you'll learn to cultivate the qualities of a true servant of Christ while keeping the Lord center stage. Request Yours For more from Skip Heitzig, visit ConnectionRadio.org, and listen to today's broadcast of The Connection with Skip Heitzig at OnePlace.com. Sin, Repent, Repeat: that is the saying on a featured online item to celebrate the Mardi Gras festival, a common tradition in recognition of Fat Tuesday. The sentiment shared in the item is conveying that Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday is a time to sin, then repent for Ash Wednesday, and then follow it up with repeating the whole process again the next year. So, what is Fat Tuesday? Why is it such a celebration to so many people, especially those that are found at church the next day receiving the ash on their foreheads or beginning the 40-day fast associated with the period of Lent and the Easter season? Many may not know what Fat Tuesday is, but several know what Mardi Gras is, which is the French term meaning Fat Tuesday. It marks the time between the ending of the Three Kings Day (January) and Ash Wednesday (46 days before Easter). How Did the Name Fat Tuesday Come About? The origins of Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras first began thousands of years ago as part of uninhibited pagan festivals for fertility and spring, filled with indulgences in everything. Romes embrace of Christianity meant the interest of incorporating Fat Tuesday into Christianity becoming a goal; thus, Fat Tuesday and all its unrestricted immorality were welcomed as part of preparing for Ash Wednesday and fasting for Lent. The event quickly spread through Europe like wildfire, and then began its journey over to the Americas. Mardi Gras arrived in the United States as a small festival marking French explorers Sieur de Bienville and Pierre Le Moyne dlbervilles landing on what is now New Orleans, Louisiana on March 3, 1699. What Happens on Fat Tuesday? Tradition has it that those who were preparing for Lent and fasting were to take all the food and drink from their homes that didnt coincide with whatever they would eat while fasting to the Lord. Typically, it was foods saturated with fat (dairy, lard), meat, and sugar to be replaced with fish and non-fat/meat/sugar food alternatives. What foods are traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday are various but still cater to the belief of eating those without fat/meat/sugar. England prepares pancakes for the holiday (even calling it Pancake Day), Poland declares it Paczki Day and consumes jelly-filled donuts, and the United States rounds it out with fried PoBoys, several types of meat, and lots of fried food. Fat Tuesday in New Orleans and Elsewhere One New Orleans tradition, which also started in France, is that of the King cake, which is where a plastic baby figure is baked into the cake and whoever finds the baby, while cutting him/herself a slice of cake, is crowned the king or queen of Mardi Gras and purchases the cake for the next year. Some people view the baby as that of Jesus Christ as a baby, catering to the belief that the baby represents prosperity to whoever cuts the piece with it. From eating and drinking in excess before fasting, Fat Tuesday also accepted newer traditions of costumes, street parties, and the first Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans in 1837. Among those in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian cultures, Carnival is what is celebrated as part of Fat Tuesday, with the name carnival originating from the Latin translation of meat; remove. Their celebrations last longer than just the official Fat Tuesday and could go days before the actual start of Lent. The same celebrations of food, drink, and physical misbehavior are also welcomed among their observations of Fat Tuesday. How Do Christians Participate in Fat Tuesday? Considering that Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras is known for inappropriate behavior being had for the day, Christians could take a different approach in preparing for the upcoming period of Lent without taking part in wild activities. Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, and Lutheran churches are usually those who observe and follow Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) as a day to be forgiven of past sins and to prepare their hearts for fasting during Lent. For all those of the Christian faith, one could take the same approach of fasting for Lent in observation of what Christ did in the cross and in our lives. The time of Lent and preparation of Shrove Tuesday/Fat Tuesday could be done in a state of prayer in asking God to lead the path in how you will uphold Lent. So, What Can You Do to Participate in Fat Tuesday? There is nothing really shared in the Bible about observing Shrove Tuesday or Lent, but there are countless reminders from Jesus and others in the Bible about not giving in to unlawful behavior. Just to name a few verses: Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; and Hebrews 10:26. You could spend parts of the Tuesday before Lent, which is March 5th of this year, to ask God in prayer what He would like you to do during Lent, whether it is give up something you like of food or drink or maybe fasting from social media, the television, or activities that distance you from His presence. It could also be taking up a new habit for the time, such as reading your Bible, praying more, and serving in a ministry in your community. The goal is to take the time to realize what Jesus did for you on the cross and what Easter symbolizes of Him making the ultimate sacrifice to create a path back to the Father. So, one way Fat Tuesday could be seen is grasping what God may be leading you to observe in this time of reflection and possible fasting. Keeping a journal close by to jot down what God might be encouraging you to do would help and maybe incorporate some memory verses to keep in mind to stay focused and engaged during Lent. Fat Tuesday shouldnt be viewed as Sin, Repent, Repeat every year but rather a time to truly re-connect with God and remember what Jesus did in love for that reconnection to happen. Its not just about repentance; it is about remembrance of what was done in love so that we could spend eternity with our loving Father. Sources Blair Parke is a freelance writer for BibleStudyTools.com and editor for Xulon Press. A graduate of Stetson University with a Bachelor's in Communications, Blair previously worked as a writer/editor for several local magazines in the Central Florida area, including Celebration Independent and Lake Magazine in Leesburg, Florida and currently freelances for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin. This article is part of our larger Lent and Easter resource library centered around the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ! What is Palm Sunday? What is Ash Wednesday? What is Maundy Thursday? What is Good Friday? What is Easter Photo credit: GettyImages/LynneMitchell Royal Caribbean Internationals newly amplified Navigator of the Seas is in Miami following a $115 million refit aimed at the important short-cruise market. Among the features are new waterslides, a new poolside area, new retail and restaurants and much more. We have really dialed up the adventure and Caribbean vibes in ways that will make Navigator of the Seas the ultimate getaway to take from Miami, said Michael Bayley, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. Independence and Mariner of the Seas, the first two modernized ships in our Royal Amplified program, have quickly become standout hits, and Navigator builds on this momentum with a combination of new, exciting features and signature Royal Caribbean offerings that will surprise and delight guests cruising with us for the first time and those who have vacationed with us before. The Navigator of the Seas is the third ship to be reimagined as part of the Royal Amplified modernization program, an investment of more than $1 billion in the cruise lines fleet and part of the booming drydock market. The effort spans 10 ships in four years and touches every facet of the guest experience with the introduction of a wide range of new thrills and Royal Caribbean staples meant to appeal to every generation, the company said. Beginning Friday, March 1, Navigator will sail five- and 9-night Caribbean itineraries through May 2019. The ship will then set course for The Bahamas with three-night weekend and four-night weekday cruises, including visits to the cruise lines private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. Beginning May 2019, each sailing onboard Navigator of the Seas will visit Perfect Day at CocoCay Disney Cruise Line has announced its summer 2020 cruise program, including a return to Greece and five new ports in Europe as part of an expanded season with the Disney Magic. After a five-year hiatus, the Disney Magic will return to Greece in summer 2020 as part of three special Mediterranean voyages departing from Rome. During one 12-night and two nine-night cruises, calls include Piraeus, the gateway to Athens; Katakolon, near ancient Olympia; and the islands of Santorini, Mykonos and Crete. Two of the sailings include a new port of call in Messina, Italy, where guests can visit landmarks in Sicily. The third features a return to the Pearl of the Adriatic, Dubrovnik, Croatia, for the first time in five years. Additional new ports of call in Europe include Gdynia, Poland; Nordfjordeid, Norway; Plymouth, England; and Zeebrugge, Belgium. The Disney Magic's 2020 Europe program begins with sailings through the Mediterranean and Greek Isles before heading to northern Europe in late summer for cruises to the Baltic, British Isles and Norwegian fjords. In 2020, the Disney Wonder will return to Alaska for the summer season as these seven-night itineraries depart from Vancouver, Canada, with visits to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point and Dawes Glacier. In addition to seven-night eastern and western Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral, near Orlando, Florida, the Disney Fantasy will embark on a variety of itineraries to the Caribbean and Bahamas throughout the summer of 2020, the company said.These include five- and nine-night Caribbean sailings, along with three-, four- and five-night Bahamian cruises, three of which feature two stops at Disneys private island, Castaway Cay. The Disney Dream will provide even more opportunities for guests to visit Castaway Cay in the summer of 2020 with three-, four- and five-night Bahamian cruises, including a series of sailings with two calls on the private island paradise. The brand new MSC Bellissima has officially arrived in the UK for her christening as the Meraviglia-class ship sailed into Southampton on Friday following her delivery earlier this week in France. The 4,500-guest ship spends this summer sailing in the Mediterranean before moving to the Middle East for the winter season, and China in 2020. Photos: Botnet definition A botnet is a collection of internet-connected devices that an attacker has compromised. Botnets act as a force multiplier for individual attackers, cyber-criminal groups and nation-states looking to disrupt or break into their targets systems. Commonly used in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, botnets can also take advantage of their collective computing power to send large volumes of spam, steal credentials at scale, or spy on people and organizations. Malicious actors build botnets by infecting connected devices with malware and then managing them using a command and control server. Once an attacker has compromised a device on a specific network, all the vulnerable devices on that network are at risk of being infected. A botnet attack can be devastating. In 2016, the Mirai botnet shut down a large portion of the internet, including Twitter, Netflix, CNN and other major sites, as well as major Russian banks and the entire country of Liberia. The botnet took advantage of unsecured internet of things (IoT) devices such as security cameras, installing malware that then attacked the DYN servers that route internet traffic. The industry woke up, and device manufacturers, regulators, telecom companies and internet infrastructure providers worked together to isolate compromised devices, take them down or patch them, and make sure that a botnet like could never be built again. Just kidding. None of that happened. Instead, the botnets just keep coming. Botnets examples Here are just some of the known active botnets. Mirai Even the Mirai botnet is still up and running. According to a report released by Fortinet in August 2018, Mirai was one of the most active botnets in the second quarter of that year. Since the release of its source code two years ago, Mirai botnets have even added new features, including the ability to turn infected devices into swarms of malware proxies and cryptominers. They've also continued to add exploits targeting both known and unknown vulnerabilities, according to Fortinet. In fact, cryptomining is showing up as a significant change across the botnet universe, says Tony Giandomenico, Fortinet's senior security strategist and researcher. It allows attackers to use the victim's computer hardware and electricity to earn Bitcoin, Monero and other cryptocurrencies. "That's the biggest thing that we've been experiencing over the past few months," he says. "The bad guys are experimenting with how they can use IoT botnets to make money." Reaper (a.k.a. IoTroop) Mirai is just the start. In fall 2017, Check Point researchers said they discovered a new botnet, variously known as "IoTroop" and "Reaper," that's compromising IoT devices at an even faster pace than Mirai did. It has the potential to take down the entire internet once the owners put it to work. Mirai infected vulnerable devices that used default user names and passwords. Reaper goes beyond that, targeting at least nine different vulnerabilities from nearly a dozen different device makers, including major players like D-Link, Netgear and Linksys. It's also flexible, in that attackers can easily update the botnet code to make it more damaging. According to research by Recorded Future, Reaper was used in attacks on European banks this year, including ABN Amro, Rabobank and Ing. Echobot Discovered in early 2019, Echobot is a Mirai variant that uses at least 26 exploits to propagate itself. Like many other botnets, it takes advantage of unpatched IoT devices, but also exploits vulnerabilities in enterprise applications such as Oracle WebLogic and VMware SD-WAN. Echobot was discovered by Palo Alto Networks, and its report on the botnet concludes that it is an effort to form larger botnets to execute larger DDoS attacks. Emotet, Gamut and Necurs The main purpose of these three botnets is to spew spam at high volume to deliver a malicious payload or get victims to perform a certain action. Each seems to have its own specialty, according to Ciscos Email: Click with Caution report. Emotet can steal email from victims mailboxes, which allows the attackers to craft convincing yet malicious messages to fool recipients. Attackers can also use it to steal SMTP credentials, useful to take over email accounts. Gamut seems to specialize in spam emails that try to establish a relationship with the victims. This might be in the form of a dating or romance guise, or a phony job offer. Necurs is known to deliver ransomware and other digital extortion attacks. Although it hasnt received as much attention recently since discovered in 2012, the Cisco report says it is still very much active and dangerous. The graphic below from Distil Networks' 2019 Bad Bot Report provides an overview of what the different types of bots can do. Distil Networks Why we cant stop botnets The challenges to shutting botnets down include the widespread availability and ongoing purchases of insecure devices, the near impossibility of simply locking infected machines out of the internet, and difficulty tracking down and prosecuting the botnet creators. When consumers go into a store to buy a security camera or other connected device, they look at features, they look for recognizable brands, and, most importantly, they look at the price. Security is rarely a top consideration. "Because [IoT devices are] so cheap, the likelihood of there being a good maintenance plan and fast updates is low," says Ryan Spanier, director of research at Kudelski Security. Meanwhile, as people continue to buy low-cost, insecure devices, the number of vulnerable end points just keeps going up. Research firm IHS Markit estimates that the total number of connected devices will rise from nearly 27 billion in 2017 to 125 billion in 2030. There's not much motivation for manufacturers to change, Spanier says. Most manufacturers face no consequences at all for selling insecure devices. "Though that's starting to change in the past year," he says. "The US government has fined a couple of manufacturers." For example, the FTC sued D-Link in 2017 for selling routers and IP cameras full of well-known and preventable security flaws such as hard-coded login credentials. However, a federal judge dismissed half of the FTC's complaints because the FTC couldn't identify any specific instances where consumers were actually harmed. How to detect botnets Botnets are typically controlled by a central command server. In theory, taking down that server and then following the traffic back to the infected devices to clean them up and secure them should be a straightforward job, but it's anything but easy. When the botnet is so big that it impacts the internet, the ISPs might band together to figure out what's going on and curb the traffic. That was the case with the Mirai botnet, says Spanier. "When it's smaller, something like spam, I don't see the ISPs caring so much," he says. "Some ISPs, especially for home users, have ways to alert their users, but it's such a small scale that it's not going to affect a botnet. It's also really hard to detect botnet traffic. Mirai was easy because of how it was spreading, and security researchers were sharing information as fast as possible." Compliance and privacy issues are also involved, says Jason Brvenik, CTO at NSS Labs, Inc., as well as operational aspects. A consumer might have several devices on their network sharing a single connection, while an enterprise might have thousands or more. "There's no way to isolate the thing that's impacted," Brvenik says. Botnets will try to disguise their origins. For example, Akamai has been tracking a botnet that has IP addresses associated with Fortune 100 companies addresses that Akamai suspects are probably spoofed. Some security firms are trying to work with infrastructure providers to identify the infected devices. "We work with the Comcasts, the Verizons, all the ISPs in the world, and tell them that these machines are talking to our sink hole and they have to find all the owners of those devices and remediate them," says Adam Meyers, VP of intelligence at CrowdStrike, Inc. That can involve millions of devices, where someone has to go out and install patches. Often, there's no remote upgrade option. Many security cameras and other connected sensors are in remote locations. "It's a huge challenge to fix those things," Meyers says. Plus, some devices might no longer be supported, or might be built in such a way that patching them is not even possible. The devices are usually still doing the jobs even after they're infected, so the owners aren't particularly motivated to throw them out and get new ones. "The quality of video doesn't go down so much that they need to replace it," Meyers says. Often, the owners of the devices never find out that they've been infected and are part of a botnet. "Consumers have no security controls to monitor botnet activity on their personal networks," says Chris Morales, head of security analytics at Vectra Networks, Inc. Enterprises have more tools at their disposal, but spotting botnets is not usually a top priority, says Morales. "Security teams prioritize attacks targeting their own resources rather than attacks emanating from their network to external targets," he says. Device manufacturers who discover a flaw in their IoT devices that they can't patch may, if sufficiently motivated, do a recall, but even then, it might not have much of an effect. "Very few people get a recall done unless there's a safety issue, even if there's a notice," says NSS Labs' Brvenik. "If there's a security alert on your security camera on your driveway, and you get a notice, you might think, 'So what, they can see my driveway?'" How to prevent botnet attacks The Council to Secure the Digital Economy (CSDE), in cooperation with the Information Technology Industry Council, USTelecom and other organizations, recently released a very comprehensive guide to defending enterprises against botnets. Here are the top recommendations. Update, update, update Botnets use unpatched vulnerabilities to spread from machine to machine so that they can cause maximum damage in an enterprise. The first line of defense should be to keep all systems updated. The CSDE recommends that enterprises install updates as soon as they become available, and automatic updates are preferable. Some enterprises prefer to delay updates until they've had time to check for compatibility and other problems. That can result in significant delays, while some systems may be completely forgotten about and never even make it to the update list. Enterprises that don't use automatic updates might want to reconsider their policies. "Vendors are getting good at testing for stability and functionality," says Craig Williams, security outreach manager for Talos at Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco is one of the founding partners of the CSDE, and contributed to the anti-botnet guide. "The risk that used to be there has been diminished," he says. It's not just applications and operating systems that need automatic updates. "Make sure that your hardware devices are set to update automatically as well," he says. Legacy products, both hardware and software, may no longer be updated, and the anti-botnet guide recommends that enterprises discontinue their use. Vendors are also extremely unlikely to provide support for pirated products. Lock down access The guide recommends that enterprises deploy multi-factor and risk-based authentication, least privilege, and other best practices for access controls. After infecting one machine, botnets also spread by leveraging credentials, says Williams. By locking down access, the botnets can be contained in one place, where they're do less damage and are easier to eradicate. One of the most effective steps that companies can take is to use physical keys for authentication. Google, for example, began requiring all its employees to use physical security keys in 2017. Since then, not a single employee's work account has been phished, according to the guide. "Unfortunately, a lot of business can't afford that," says Williams.In addition to the upfront costs of the technology, the risks that employees will lose keys are high. Smartphone-based second-factor authentication helps bridge that gap. According to Wiliams, this is cost effective and adds a significant layer of security. "Attackers would have to physically compromise a person's phone," he says. "It's possible to get code execution on the phone to intercept an SMS, but those types of issues are extraordinarily rare." Don't go it alone The anti-bot guide recommends several areas in which enterprises can benefit by looking to external partners for help. For example, there are many channels in which enterprises can share threat information, such as CERTs, industry groups, government and law enforcement information sharing activities, and via vendor-sponsored platforms. Another area in which a company shouldn't rely solely on its own internal resources is in protecting against DDoS attacks. "Generally speaking, with DDoS, you want to stop it as far away from you as you can," says Williams. "Lots of people assume that if you have an intrusion protection system or a firewall, it will stop a DDoS attack. That's not actually the case." Deepen your defenses It's no longer enough to secure the perimeter, or endpoint devices. "Attackers are really creative these days," says Williams. "They can add stress to your network from a number of different vendors." Having multiple defensive systems in place is like having several locks on a door, he says. If the attackers figure out how to get past one lock, the other locks will stop them. The anti-botnet guide recommends that enterprises consider using advanced analytics to secure users, data, and networks, to ensure that security controls are correctly set, and to use network segmentation and network architectures that securely manage traffic flows. For example, IoT devices should be on a separate, isolated part of the network, says Williams. The Mirai botnet, for example, took advantage of insecure connected devices. "When you have IoT devices that can't be patched on the same network as the rest of the enterprise, it adds a significant level of risk that doesn't need to be there," he says. Botnet takedowns In late 2017, the Andromeda botnet was taken down by the FBI working together with law enforcement in Europe. Over the previous six months, the botnet was detected on blocked on an average of more than a million machines every month. According to Fortinet, however, the Andromeda botnet was still active in the second quarter of this year -- in fact, it was the second biggest by volume, infecting devices on more than 20 percent of companies. It's hard to take them down, says Fortinet's Giandomenico. "Who is responsible? Is it the government that's responsible for going out there and cleaning it up?" And it's about to get even harder, he adds. With a botnet controlled by central servers, once the servers are removed, the botnet becomes inactive. But botnets are starting to operate in mesh fashion, with peer-to-peer communications that can make the botnets extremely resilient, Giandomenico says. It's not just a theoretical problem, he adds, with a few botnets already known to be running in decentralized, mesh mode. "It is a slow but growing trend," he says. "Some of the more famous ones are Hajime, Hide N Seek and TheMoon. In addition to taking down command and control servers, authorities can also attack botnets by going after their customers. DDoS-as-a-service providers, for example, use botnets to launch massive attacks on behalf of anyone with some spare cash in their PayPal or Bitcoin wallets. This spring, authorities from the UK and the Netherlands teamed up in Operation Power Off to take down one of the largest DDoS-as-a-service operators, webstresser.org, and arrested platform admins located in the UK, Croatia, Canada and Serbia. The service had 136,000 registered users and was responsible for 4 million attacks, according to Europol, with services running for as little as 15 euros a month. Webstresser.org is only one of many such sites, according to a report Akamai released this summer. So far, there's been no sign of a drop in DDoS attacks as a result. Authorities also go after the creators who build the botnets in the first place, according to Adam Meyers, VP of intelligence at CrowdStrike, Inc. For example, in 2017, authorities arrested Peter Severa Levashov, the hacker behind the Waledac and Kelihos spam botnets. "He was arrested while on vacation in Spain," Meyers says. "It required coordination between the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Spanish police. There was a lot of international cooperation. Plus, there was technical expertise required to disrupt the botnet, which involved us sending some technical experts to Alaska to help the FBI with the takedown." Shutting down a botnet's servers isn't enough to solve the problem if the creators are still out there. "With Kelihos, that was disrupted five times or so," Meyers says. "But because the author of that botnet was not apprehended, he was able to spin it back up, in some cases within hours of the disruption. After a couple of times, people realized that this wasn't going to go anywhere until we take this guy off the street." In the case of the Andromeda botnet, even arresting the creator wasn't enough. It took a massive cooperative effort by international law enforcement agencies and technology and security vendors to take down the network, which involved 464 botnets, 1,214 command-and-control domains, and 80 malware families. Andromeda has been around since 2011, with ready-to-go botnet kits sold on the dark web, also known as Gamarue and Wauchos. It was responsible for infecting more than 1.1 million systems per month. The law enforcement groups began working to take them down in 2015, says Jean-Ian Boutin, senior malware researcher at ESET, LLC, one of the groups working on the takedown. "This type of operation takes time," he says. During that time, security teams analyzed thousands of Andromeda samples. "Based on this, we believe that this operation led to the disruption of all current Andromeda botnets." However, not only is Andromeda still there, and still big, but the creator who was arrested in the takedown is also back on the street. Sergei Yarets was released this summer by Belarus authorities after six months in prison and a relatively small fine -- the equivalent of about $5,500. "This case is another example of a double standard toward prosecuting cybercriminals in post-Soviet countries, where they treat their own cybercriminals differently, allowing them to avoid fair punishment and then using them in the interests of the state, neutralizing the efforts of the international community to combat cybercrimes," says Alexandr Solad, a researcher with Recorded Future, in a report in August 2018. A long way from a permanent solution to botnets Even arresting the hackers in the first place is difficult. The problem is that there haven't been that many arrests, Meyers says. "[Russian hacker Evgeniy] Bogachev was fingered in June 2014 in the Gameover Zeus attacks, and he's still at large in Russia someplace," he says. "A lot of these guys don't have to worry about arrests. If they work in Russia, and don't target Russian systems, they can pretty much operate with impunity." Bogachev is currently on the FBI's Cyber's most wanted list. Permanently solving the botnet problem requires a global solution to cybercrime, on top of the technical challenges, says Daniel Miessler, director of advisory services at IOActive, Inc. That's not happening in the foreseeable future. "Botnets are an emergent malady that exist because of the vulnerabilities and incentives that exist within society," he says. "Until we fix those, we should expect botnets and other emergent intersections between malice and vulnerability, to be permanent co-passengers." In addition to creating a common, worldwide cybercrime enforcement system, there also needs to be standard regulations for manufacturers, requiring a certain level of minimal security in IoT devices. "Any regulation must also apply to all manufacturers, as many markets tend to be flooded with very cheap devices produced in regions where internet laws are very lax or non-existent," says Rod Soto, director of security research at Jask, an AI cybersecurity startup. It's hard to imagine all the world's nations and affected industries coming together and agreeing on a common approach, and then enforcing it, says Igal Zeifman, product evangelist at Incapsula, Inc. "All initiatives to combat the growth of botnets through industry standards and legislation will likely continue to occur only on a regional or country level," he says. That means that even if individual countries can slow down the growth of botnets in their regions, there will still be plenty of other places where they can grow. "Considering the global nature of the internet, this means that botnet attacks will continue to pose a threat to the digital businesses and the online community for many years to come," Zeifman says. Botnet news The IAF pilot was seen on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah crossing around 9:15 pm. Varthaman spent almost three days in the Pakistani captivity after he was shot down on Wednesday. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Mumbai: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the Wagah-Attari border post into India from Pakistan on Friday evening, at 9:20 pm on Friday, after a four-hour delay. The IAF pilot was seen on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah crossing around 9:15 pm. He spent almost three days in the Pakistani captivity after he was shot down on Wednesday. He hit a Pakistani F-16 before he was forced to eject and landed across the Line of Control. A little over 58 hours later, the 38-year-old pilot walked to his freedom at the heavily-guarded border post manned by the Border Security Force that guards the international border with Pakistan. After Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the border, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said, Wing Commander Varthaman has been handed over to us. He will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. IAF is happy to have him back. BSF officials, prepping for the return of the IAF pilot, had canceled the retreat ceremony at the border post. Also Read: Daily Retreat ceremony along Indo-Pak border cancelled: BSF Varthaman became the human face of the conflict between the two countries when Pakistan Army put out a series of videos that showed him in its custody. Read: A true soldier, look how bravely he spoke: Pilot Abhinandans father The decision to release Varthaman was announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly, who described it as a peace gesture. More than 11,700 donors contributed $1.7 million to southwestern Connecticut nonprofits on Thursday, a record amount for the six years the Fairfield Countys Community Foundation has held an annual Giving Day to help organizations raise cash. About 415 nonprofits raised money in the event sponsored by Bank of America, Hearst Connecticut Media and several other companies, with the Stamford-based theater organization Curtain Call raising $135,000 to lead all fundraisers for dollars, and Bridgeports LifeBridge Community Services leading on the donor front with more than 1,100 in all. You dont have to be wealthy to have an impact, said Juanita James, CEO of the Norwalk-based Fairfield Countys Community Foundation, in an online video promoting Fairfield Countys Giving Day. A small donation, when pooled with others, can make a huge impact. The 2019 totals push to $7.6 million the totals Fairfield Countys Giving Day has raised in six years for more than 800 entities. This years recipients used varying strategies to solicit money amid a region-wide push for donors, with Curtain Call posting a video at the top of its Facebook page with pleas and testimonials, including from the 2013 winner of the Miss Connecticut pageant Kaitlyn Tarpey and comedian Dan Levy who stars alongside his father Eugene Levy in the CBC sitcom Schitts Creek. I am speechless, stated Lou Ursone, executive director of Curtain Call, in a Facebook post in the late hours Thursday thanking supporters and sponsors. For the sixth year in a row, we have seen that the arts in Fairfield County are truly alive. As much as anything, Fairfield Countys Giving Day helps nonprofits hone fundraising skills they can use throughout the year, according to Harold Trischman, the former chairman of LifeBridges board and managing director of the Trischman Group wealth management affiliate of Morgan Stanley in Greenwich, in an online interview posted by Fairfield Countys Community Foundation. The idea is to grow your donor base, get your message out create as many friends as you possibly can, Trischman said. Giving Day is the perfect opportunity to leverage off that. The fundraiser was held even as nonprofits statewide are gearing up for what has become an annual exercise in budgetary uncertainty from a state government that many rely on for significant support. On Thursday, March 7, the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy holds a state budget impact forum in Hartford with new Gov. Ned Lamont scheduled to address the group. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman BRIDGEPORT A Hamden teenager is accused of making false sex assault allegations to police department all over the state. Tatyana Gable, 18, of Whitney Avenue, was arrested by Trumbull police and charged Friday with making a false statement, interfering with police and second-degree making a false statement. The allegations are unsettling, said Senior Assistant States Attorney Tatiana Messina during Gables arraignment hearing Friday afternoon. Messina said Gable is accused of making false sex assault allegations in New Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Southington, Middletown and Meriden. This alleged conduct is serious, to say the least, Superior Court Judge Eugene Calistro agreed, ordering Gable held in lieu of $7,500 bond. Police said that in August they were called to the Trumbull Mall for a complaint of a sexual assault. When officers got there, police said, they were met by Gable, who told them that her 18-year-old friend had been sexually assaulted in a car in the mall parking lot. Gable said she and her friend, who police said they expect to arrest, told officers they had contacted a man on the Meet Me app who had agreed to meet them in the mall parking lot. He had then sexually assaulted the girl, police said Gable told them. Police said when they later contacted the man accused of the assault he denied sexually assaulting the teen. Police said they took the two teens to St. Vincents Medical Center where the alleged victim was examined for a sexual assault. Later, while the alleged victim was alone with officers, police said, she admitted that she had not been sexually assaulted. She claimed Gable had convinced her to make the false claim. Police said they were later contacted by Meriden police, who said they were investigating Gable for allegedly making three false sex assault claims to that department. Later, police said, they contacted Gables mother, who told them her daughter has been making up allegations of abuse ever since she was in foster care. She tried to get people in trouble, police said the mother told them. BRIDGEPORT Thirteen years in prison doesnt seem to have taught Durante Best any remorse for killing a young woman and seriously wounding two others. So on Friday, a judge sentenced the city man to 40 more. I wasnt trying to shoot them in the heart, I was trying to shoot them in the arm, it was a tiny gun and I didnt think it would cause the damage it did, Best told Superior Court Judge Earl Richards, as one of his victims sobbed in the back of the courtroom. I didnt expect to wake up that morning and shoot three females because I was mad. Richards retorted that the tragic nature of this case is only overshadowed by its senseless nature, there was no reasonable or justifiable reason for Mr. Bests actions. For the conviction of murder, attempted murder and first-degree assault, the judge sentenced Best to 40 years, to run consecutive to the 40 he is currently serving for the same case. In January, a jury deliberated four hours before convicting Best of fatally shooting 19-year-old Rogerlina Jones and wounding 21-year-old Octavia Anderson for the second time. In 2007, a 12-person jury convicted Best of the same charges for shooting Jones, Octavia Anderson and Andersons mother, Erica Anderson. He was sentenced at that time to 80 years in prison. However, the state Appellate Court overturned the convictions regarding the shooting of Jones and Octavia Anderson and ordered a new trial contending that, based on the evidence at trial, the judge should have instructed the jury they could consider whether Best acted in self-defense. This time the defendant received a trial where the jury was instructed on the theory of self-defense which this jury ultimately rejected, Senior Assistant States Attorney Joseph Corradino to the judge on Friday. The court would be justified in imposing a lengthy sentence to protect the public from people like Mr. Best. On May 4, 2006, Best, who was on probation for drug and assault charges, was arguing with his girlfriend, Erica Anderson, in their Jefferson Street home, according to trial testimony. In the meantime, Andersons daughter, Octavia, her 3-year-old son and a friend, Jones, came to the house to pick up Erica Anderson, with plans to go to a carnival at Newfield Park. When Jones returned to the car to report she heard arguing coming from the apartment, both she and Octavia Anderson went inside. Octavia began banging on the bedroom door, demanding to see her mother, police said. When the door was flung open, three or four shots were fired, police said. Octavia Anderson and Jones were both hit in the chest. Both women stumbled from the house, leaving a trail of blood to Octavia Andersons car. Anderson drove to Bridgeport Hospital, where Jones later died. No one saw it coming, Octavia Anderson told the judge, her voice cracking with emotion. My stomach is still in a knot. All I heard was four shots. The bullet hit my chest like a ball of fire. Light snow that moved into western Connecticut shortly after 4 a.m. coating roads during the Friday morning commute. The snow that ended around 7:30 a.m., came from a weak upper level disturbance that passed through early this morning. Dry conditions return late thismorning and will continue into the early evening hours undermostly cloudy skies. Contributed photo A long-time New Britain independent soda manufacturer has found a way to express its displeasure with Gov. Ned Lamont's proposed tax on soda. Avery's Beverages, in business on Corbin Avenue in New Britain for more than a century is producing a limited edition "Don't Tax Me Ned!" brand that the company hopes to deliver to the legislature. Socialism in the United States is prominent in a way it hasn't been in decades. High-profile left-leaning politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., hold up socialist policies as solutions to the ills facing the nation, from the growing political influence of the "top 1 percent" to the lack of universal health care. Meanwhile, critics, including President Donald Trump, say socialism leads inexorably to tyranny and poverty. But the important debate isclouded by many misconceptions. Myth No. 1: Socialism is a single coherent ideology. Socialist groups may have different names ("democratic socialists" and so on), but the distinctions between them are an illusion, columnist Jenna Ellis wrotein the Washington Examiner last year: All are "precursor[s] to full-blown Marxist-Leninist communism." And according to an editorialin Investor's Business Daily, "All forms of socialism are the same." Many attacks on socialism, as well as polls gauging its surprising popularity,take for granted that it's a unified philosophy amenable to a crisp judgment. Yet socialism has multiple meanings and interpretations, which have to be disentangled before a discussion about its merits can begin. One distinction centers on whether socialism is a system that must supplant capitalism or one that can harness the market's immense productive capacity for progressive ends. Karl Marx, who predictedthat historical forces would inevitably lead to capitalism's demise and to government control of industry, was the most famous proponent of the first type of socialism. An impatient Vladimir Lenin argued instead that rather than waiting for history to run its course, a revolutionary vanguard should destroy capitalism. Other socialists, however, did not accept the violent, undemocratic nature of that course, although they agreed that capitalism was unjust and unstable. The left's role, in the view of these "democratic socialists" - the Czech-Austrian theorist Karl Kautsky, for instance - was to remind citizens of capitalism's defects and rally popular support for an alternative economic system that would end private ownership and assert popular control over the means of production. Although Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez embrace the term "democratic socialist," the policies they advocate place them much closer to yet another socialist tradition: social democracy. Social democrats say it is possible and desirable to reform capitalism. This tradition dominated the post-World War II European left and influenced the American Democratic Party, most notably during the Progressive era and the New Deal, inspiring Social Security, unemployment insurance and the eight-hour workday. Myth No. 2: Socialism and democracy are incompatible. In a speech last month on the crisis in Venezuela, Trump argued that socialism "must always give rise to tyranny." Socialism is a "pseudo-science . . . enforced by political tyranny," wrote the Heritage Foundation's Lee Edwards in December. Communists reject democracy, of course, but other socialists have strongly supported it. In many parts of the world, including Europe, they were the most consistent advocates of democratization. Eduard Bernstein, for example, one of the fathers of social democracy, described democracy as "both a means and an end. It is a weapon in the struggle for socialism and it is the form in which socialism will be realized." Conservatives, on the other hand, thought of democracy as "despotism of the multitude," in Edmund Burke's phrase, and liberals like Alexis de Tocqueville and John Stuart Mill were resistant to expanding the franchise as well, because giving workers too much power would threaten the economic elites necessary for social stability. Only organizing and pressure from parties of the left broke liberal and conservative resistance to democracy in Europe. After the Russian Revolution, a commitment to democracy became a key distinction dividing socialists from communists. The Bolsheviks split off from the Socialist International in 1919 because socialists would not to commit to overthrowing capitalism by "all available means, including armed force." And after World War II, socialist and social democratic parties became mainstays of democratic systems in Europe. Myth No. 3: All socialists want to abolish markets and private property. Cass Sunstein, a liberal law professor,writesthat once voters realize socialism meansgovernment ownership of "the nation's airlines, hospitals, restaurants and department stores," they will sour on it. Socialism leads to the "seizure of private property, and the dictating of individual behavior,"assertsCharlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA. But on this question, too, the traditions vary. Communists, when in power, have done away with markets and private property. Democratic socialists say that in principle they hope capitalism will disappear over the long run, but in the meantime they advocate piecemeal changes in the ownership and control of economic resources - bank nationalization, for instance. (Democratic socialists have never fully held power anywhere, so their programs remain largely theoretical.) And social democrats have focused on redistributing the fruits of markets and private enterprise rather than abolishing them. Most of the policies advocated by politicians like Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) - including universal health care, free college education, and higher wealth and income taxes - are clearly achievable within a capitalist system. Myth No. 4: When socialism is tried, it collapses. "Socialism . . . will always fail," wrote Mark Perry, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan at Flint and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, in March 2016. The Hoover Institution's Paul Gregory offered a primer on "Why Socialism Fails"in January 2018. Communism certainly failed, but social democracy has arguably been the single most successful modern ideology or political movement. Stable European democracies arose after World War II because a social consensus married relatively free markets and private ownership of the means of production with expanded welfare states, progressive taxation and other forms of government intervention in the economy and society. Without the impressive economic results generated by the market, the huge improvements in living standards in the West after the war would not have been possible; the 30 years after 1945 were Europe's fastest period of economic growth ever. But without the welfare state, the benefits of growth would not have been distributed so widely: Inequality declined dramatically during the postwar decades. Moreover, the parts of the world considered to be the most "social democratic," like the Scandinavian countries, are successful by almost any measure: Growth is strong, unemployment is low, their economies are consistently ranked as highly competitive, and the quality of life is extremely high. Myth No. 5: Socialism offers a ready-made solution to numerous current problems. Socialism's advocates today promote it as a near-panacea. It's a possible "answer to the climate catastrophe," writes a commentator in the Guardian. It "would remedy the systemic deprivation of people of color," says Connie M. Razza, director of policy and research at the think tank Demos. It would go far beyond political reform to reshape the "basic structures that disempower people and keep them in wage slavery," says Julia Salazar, a New York state senatorand democratic socialist. But many of today's democratic socialists lack clear plans for what they want to put in capitalism's place and how this new economic order would generate the growth, efficiency and innovation necessary to achieve redistribution and raise living standards. Nor is it clear that democratic socialists have realistic plans for dealing with other vexing social controversies, such as anxieties over immigration. Some argue that many current problems can be solved by new versions of policies that worked during the mid- to late 20th century, like a Green New Deal; more government spending on health care, education and infrastructure; and higher taxes. Republicans insist that these initiatives would destroy growth and turn the United States into a tyrannical economic basket case like Venezuela. True, conservatives made similar claims in the past about major government initiatives like Social Security and Medicare. But it is surely legitimate to press advocates of increased government spending on how they would pay for these programs. The economist Paul Krugman, for example, who is sympathetic to many social democratic policies, has criticized those on the left who argue that these programs can be subsidized by simply printing or borrowing money. What distinguished the postwar era was the combination of rising growth and equality. If socialists want to convince Americans, Europeans and others that they have the best solutions to contemporary problems, they need to show that their policies can generate substantial wealth and resources as well as, simultaneously, a more equitable distribution. - - - Berman is a professor of political science at Barnard College. South Africa: Government treasures the dignity of women and girls Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women Bathabile Dlamini says there is nothing that government treasures more than the dignity of women and girls. The South African government, through the Department of Women, has seen it appropriate to ensure that the dignity of the girl child is protected by rolling out free sanitary pads to learners, Dlamini said. Speaking at the launch of the National Sanitary Dignity Programme in Piet Retief in Mpumalanga on Thursday, Dlamini said government wants to ensure that learners attend school without hindrance due to a biological phenomenon, which is a natural part of life. Government wants these learners to reach their fullest potential and compete with boy learners on an equal footing so that women can finally and maximally occupy boardrooms of companies, government institutions and other sectors of society and be part of building of a truly diverse and non-sexist society and be leaders in their own right. Women are born into a life of oppression. Women are treated differently to men. As young girls, you are told that you must play inside, and you can only play with dolls, the Minister said. She decried cultural misnomers that result in young girls being expected to look after younger children, do the housework, cook and clean. Young girls, the Minister said, are prepared for a life of servitude even before they can enjoy their childhood. Young women are groomed for marriage and are measured by how many boys like them. Young girls struggle at tertiary institutions as they are treated as sex-objects, confined and controlled by young men, who constantly exert their toxic masculinity onto women to remain dominant. Women are constantly expected to prove themselves in the workplace, while doing the same work as men, as well as running a home. Dlamini said women face an additional burden of abuse, rape and murder. As a country, we have lost our moral compass, treating our women as objects to be used and discarded. The Minister said the Department of Women plays its part in all these areas through policy interventions, lobbying for gender-responsive budgeting, planning and auditing. She said very few countries in the world supply free sanitary pads to women and girls that cannot afford to access these products. South Africa is one of the leaders in this quest to ensure that women empowerment and gender equality is realised. She said if sanitary pads are not made available to women and girls, that would have an impact on the academic progress of girl learners in particular at school, while boys would progress without hindrance and that would perpetuate the prevailing feature of an unequal society. Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni called on the teachers to support girl learners when it is that time of the month. Most teachers do not know what to do to support girl learners. We thank those that are helping. As the provincial government, we are going to make sure that every girl child gets sanitary pads, Mtsweni said. Nokuthula Masango, a learner at Ndlela Secondary School, expressed her gratitude over the free sanitary pads. When it is that time of the month, I cant concentrate on my studies and sometimes I dont come to school. I thank our government for providing us with the sanitary pads, she said. Echoing the same sentiments was Silindile Nkosi, who said she hates going to school because of lack of sanitary pads. You feel uncomfortable and the situation becomes worse because you cant afford the things you need. Sometimes our teachers help us, Nkosi said. The national launch of the Sanitary Dignity Programme was held under the theme Restoring the dignity of young women. The launch is a culmination of governments efforts to ensure that all young women have access to sanitary products. Cabinet took a decision in October 2017 that the sanitary dignity programme should first be piloted in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces and that would inform and guide the national rollout process. The Sanitary Dignity Programme encompasses the entire value chain, from procurement and production, to storage, distribution, and disposal of sanitary products. The Department of Women is mandated with the responsibility to coordinate the development of an implementation framework on the distribution of sanitary products to indigent girls and women. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes The co-passengers expressed their gratitude with a standing ovation to Varthamans parents, who were on the Chennai-Delhi flight. The father of Abhinandan Varthaman, Air Marshal S Varthaman (pic) is a highly-decorated officer and his mother Shobha Varthaman is a doctor. (Photo: Twitter) New Delhi: The nation observed a moment of joy on Thursday after the Pakistan Prime Minister announced the release of the Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday. The co-passengers expressed their gratitude with a standing ovation to Varthamans parents, who were on the Chennai-Delhi flight late on Thursday night to welcome their son. When the flight was about to land in Delhi, co-passengers realised who Retd Air Marshal S Varthaman and his wife were, they stood up in respect to them, cheered, clapped for the Varthaman familys bravery, ignoring the seatbelt announcement made by the crew. Also, they waited on their seats and allowed Varthamans parents first to exit. Wing Commander #AbhinandanVartaman 's parents reached Delhi last night from Chennai. This was the scene inside the flight when the passengers realized his parents were onboard. They clapped for them, thanked them & made way for them to disembark first. #Respect #AbhinandanMyHero pic.twitter.com/P8USGzbgcp Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) March 1, 2019 Soon after landing to Delhi, Varthaman family left for Amritsar to receive their son, who will be released by Pakistan as a gesture of peace through the Wagah-Attari joint check-post around 2 pm. Air Marshal S Varthaman, a recipient of several honours, including a Param Vishisht Seva Medal, said in a message, "Abhi is alive, not injured, sound in mind, just look at the way he talked so bravely... a true soldier... we are so proud of him." Wing Commander Abhinandan comes from a family which has served Indian Air Force since the World War II days, when his grandfather Simhakutty was a member of the force. The father of Abhinandan Varthaman, Air Marshal S Varthaman is a highly-decorated officer and his mother Shobha Varthaman is a doctor. Read: A true soldier, look how bravely he spoke: IAF pilot Abhinandans father The 35-year-old Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was flying the MiG-21 Bison that shot down the PAF F-16 in the aerial engagement with Pakistan on Wednesday morning. Its probably not a coincidence that Fairfield County, among the richest places in the nation, is the center of opposition to school consolidation. Others have concerns, but hundreds of people from places like Wilton, New Canaan and Ridgefield have been loudest in their rage about any of the plans currently up for debate. They have a good thing and dont want to give it up. It obviously struck a nerve, one Wilton parent said. The consolidation debate is really about three or four different things cost savings, local control, educational quality, etc. and most people appear to be talking past each other. And Gov. Ned Lamont, for one, isnt helping clear things up. His budget takes a tough line: Small local school districts that choose to have inefficient governance structures and too many expensive superintendents can no longer expect the state to bear the costs of these decisions. But after a meeting with Fairfield County leaders, Lamont was more conciliatory. I am not using anything to force any of the folks here to give up local control they have over their own schools. Later, he alluded to the idea of combining city and suburban districts. If some (suburban) schools took in students from Waterbury, which is overcrowded, Lamont said, he would look upon them more favorably. Its that idea of a city-suburb combination that is causing such an uproar, even though nothing currently proposed would do that. Just the same, opponents have been clear about what they dont want, and in the past week we saw a state senator and the incumbent he defeated a few months ago make virtually identical arguments against consolidation. Will Haskell and Toni Boucher, the winner and loser in in the 26th District last fall, both say, essentially, weve got great schools here, so hands off. Its almost impressive how thoroughly they manage to miss the point. Because while the 26th District surely has many great teachers, its not coincidentally comprised of extremely wealthy towns, and students from well-off families do substantially better on school tests than children from poor families. This gap has only been growing, and is at the heart of the consolidation debate the state could be having but isnt. Students from rich and poor districts are equally capable of learning, but they do not have equal resources, which is not the same thing as per-pupil spending. True integration of schools could help change that. Today, Connecticut fares poorly when it comes to public school integration, ranking 13th for most segregation of its black students and 14th for Hispanic students. While some suburban districts have grown more diverse, the cities have gone the other way. According to data in the CT Mirror, Bridgeports percentage of minority students in public schools has risen from 51 percent in 1968, to 84 percent in 1988, to 86 percent (in 2017). Officials are insisting this is all about costs. But what no one has done yet is present the view that integrating schools is a worthwhile goal in and of itself. Its worth doing to bring some of the wealth and wherewithal in rich communities into high-poverty schools. Its worthwhile to bring children of different races and backgrounds into regular contact with each other. It worth doing to help eliminate some of the disparities caused by a system where property taxes play an outsize role in determining a districts success. Thats the debate were not having, at least not in public. Angry opponents are reacting to what hasnt even been proposed. Ned Lamont is still brand-new in office and hasnt yet caused half the state to resent his existence, though thats probably coming. He has a one-time chance to push for something big, something that would do more than make changes around the edges and start to ease some of Connecticuts worst-in-the-nation inequality. I would guess Lamont didnt run for governor to tinker with back-office school functions. This is his chance to go big. Give it a try. Tell people in Wilton and Branford and Farmington why we should integrate our schools. Make the case; dont hint at it. Its now or, once the tolls pass and the backlash starts, never. hbailey@hearstmediact.com Vincero Watches When Tim Nybo, Aaron Hallerman, and Sean Agatep graduated college nearly a decade ago, they did so in the aftermath of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. As such, they took the logical next step of booking three one-way tickets to Guangzhou, China, despite having no knowledge of the native language, self-described subpar chopstick skills, and just a few thousand dollars between them. It was abroad, in that port city on the Pearl River, where the trio decided that they were fed up with the societal and cultural emphasis on charging exorbitant amounts of money for quality goods that were hardly unique in design. They were tired of settling for mass-produced timepieces that didnt do any justice to the wearers distinct story. Above all, they wanted to make products that were bold and exceptionally crafted, yet accessible and fairly priced. A son of Osama bin Laden is emerging as a leader in al Qaeda, the U.S. State Department says, and it's willing to pay up to $1 million for information on his whereabouts. Hamza bin Laden, whose father was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan in 2011, is taking the reins of the terror group, the State Department said late Thursday. Unfazed by trolls Mita Santra urged the Centre to ensure the safe release of the Indian Air Force pilot. Mita Santra's husband Bablu Santra was one of the 40 victims of the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14. (Representational Image) Kolkata: Unfazed by trolls she faced for her advocacy of peace between India and Pakistan, the widow of a CRPF soldier killed in Pulwama attack on Thursday asserted she stands by her views that dialogue should be "given a chance". She also urged the Centre to ensure the safe release of the Indian Air Force pilot, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday. Mita Santra's husband Bablu Santra was one of the 40 victims of the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14. Ms Mita said she was not worried about the criticism she faced on social media over her anti-war stand. "We should give dialogue a chance instead of war that will lead to loss of so many more lives," Ms Mita told PTI and urged the Government of India to make all efforts to ensure the pilot's return. "I urge our government to engage with that of Pakistan to get back Wing Commander safely," she said. The pilot was captured following a fierce engagement between fighter aircraft of the two sides along the Line of Control in which a Pakistani F-16 jet was downed. The IAF also lost a MiG 21 Bison aircraft being flown by him, who bailed out but was captured and arrested. Following the death of her husband, Ms Mita had made a strong anti-war pitch despite calls for avenging the suicide attack, insisting that a war should be avoided as it will snuff out many more lives on both sides of the border, leaving women widowed, mothers without sons and children without fathers. Ms Mita said she was not bothered about social media trolls criticising her stand on war, adding that if one person has criticised her, 10 others appreciated her approach. The trolls even questioned her love for her husband. "After February 14, nothing touches me. Anybody can say anything, I am not worried," said the mother of a six-year-old girl. However, she wondered if those criticising her had a family member serving in the armed forces. "Sitting in their homes, some people are saying so many things, but do they have any of their family members in the Army, Air Force, Navy or paramilitary forces?" she asked. It is natural that the armed forces will have to go to war and make the ultimate sacrifice, but the Indian government must ensure their security, she said. "I want security of the forces to be ensured. All the forces, be it the Army or the paramilitary like CRPF or ITBP, are of the Government of India and it is the duty of the government to take necessary measures to ensure their security," she said. Ms Mita, who has a masters degree in modern history and teaches at a private school, said she has been offered a job in the CRPF but has not yet decided on taking it up. She said since a job in the CRPF would be transferable, it will come in the way of her taking care of her aged mother-in-law. "I want a job in the West Bengal government as was promised by ministers who visited our house following my husband's death," she said. The U.S. government is offering $1 million for help tracking down the son of the late terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. A State Department notice Thursday says the reward will be paid for help locating Hamza bin Laden in any country as part of its "Rewards for Justice" program. Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home, run by Thakur, chief of the state-funded NGO. The agency is analysing it, sources said adding that registering fresh FIRs against more public servants can not be ruled out in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual case. (Photo: Youtube Screengrab) New Delhi: The ED, probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case, will soon issue fresh summons to three former bureaucrats of the state administration for questioning. Sources said, The Central probe agency is preparing to register fresh cases to probe the role of three other senior public servants of the state government. The ED will soon issue summons to three former bureaucrats of the state administration for questioning. A special Pocso in Bihar (Muzaffarpur) recently directed the CBI to record the statement of an accused doctor in the case and look into allegations made by him against several senior government officials, that include former senior public servants. The agency is analysing it, sources said adding that registering fresh FIRs against more public servants can not be ruled out in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual case. Ashwani Kumar, accused of administering sedatives to the victims, had filed a petition before the Pocso court alleging that the CBI is suppressing facts. The petitioner had requested a CBI probe against the senior officials for not monitoring periodic government reports, especially by the Child Working Committee, on the functioning of Muzaffarpur shelter home. Meanwhile, Enforcement Directorate (ED), another Central probe agency which is investigating the case, is preparing to record the statement of Dilip Verma, former chairman of the District Child Welfare Committee, under the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sources said investigation of the agency revealed that Verma was constantly in touch with the prime accused in the case Brajesh Thakur and the former allegedly helped Thakur in procuring certain immovable assets, worth several crores, in the state. Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home, run by Thakur, chief of the state-funded NGO. An FIR was lodged on 31st May, 2018 against 11 people, including Thakur. The probe was later taken over by the CBI. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is currently on a two-day visit to the UAE, which would conclude on Saturday. Earlier in the day Sushma Swaraj spoke about India's civilisational links and close partnership with the Muslim countries across the world. (Photo: File | ANI) Abu Dhabi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met her Maldives' and Bangladesh counterparts, Abdulla Shahid and Dr AK Abdul Momen, respectively on the sidelines of 46th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers Meeting here on Friday. The Foreign Ministers of India and Maldives discussed follow up to Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's maiden visit to India last year and exchanged their views on the regional situation. "A close friend and a maritime neighbour. EAM @SushmaSwaraj met #Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on the sidelines of #OIC Foreign Ministers Meeting in #AbuDhabi. Discussed follow up to Maldives President's visit to India and exchanged views on the regional situation," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Swaraj and her Bangladeshi counterpart had a "good exchange" of views on bilateral issues, Kumar further informed. "Good exchange of views on issues of bilateral importance in EAM @SushmaSwaraj meeting with Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr AK Abdul Momen on the sidelines of #OIC Foreign Ministers Meeting in #AbuDhabi. #NeighbourhoodFirst," Kumar tweeted. Earlier today, Swaraj addressed the plenary session of the conference as the Guest of Honour which was boycotted by Pakistan as a protest against the invitation to India for the first time in the groupings 50-year-old history. In her speech, Swaraj said the fight against terrorism is not against any religion but underlined that the countries providing shelter and funding to it must be asked to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism based in their countries, in an apparent reference to Pakistan. The minister also underlined that those indulging in terrorism are resorting to distortion of religion and giving different names to the menace to justify it. Swaraj asserted that senseless terrorist violence was destroying lives, destabilising regions, and putting the world at great peril as its lethality was increasing and toll rising. She also spoke about India's civilisational links and close partnership with the Muslim countries across the world. EAM Sushma Swaraj had a series of bilateral meetings with her counterparts including Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Maldives etc. EAM to also call on Foreign Minister of UAE, said TS Trimurti, Secretary ER in Abu Dhabi. On being asked if any OIC member country offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, he said No OIC member has offered to mediate. Swaraj is currently on a two-day visit to the UAE, which would conclude on Saturday. 'Terrorism in each case is driven by distortion of religion. Fight against terror is not a confrontation against any religion,' said Swaraj. If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country, said Swaraj. (Photo: ANI) Abu Dhabi: As India waits to welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in middle of India Pakistan tension External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressed at Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conclave as the Guest of Honour in Abu Dhabi on Friday. OIC members constitute 1/4th of the United Nations and almost a quarter of humanity. India shares much with you, many of us have shared dark days of colonialism, said Sushma Swaraj. I'm honoured to join colleagues from nations that represent a great religion and ancient civilisations. I stand here as a representative of land that has been mountain of knowledge, beacon of peace, the source of faith and traditions, home to many religions and one of the major economies, said Swaraj. Many of us saw the light of freedom and ray of hope at the same time, we have stood together in solidarity in our quest for dignity and equality, said Swaraj. Terrorism is destroying lives, destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril. Terror reach is growing and the toll it is taking is increasing, said Swaraj. "Terrorism in each case is driven by distortion of religion. Fight against terror is not a confrontation against any religion. Just as Islam means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah means violence. Similarly, every religion stands for peace," said Swaraj. Read: Swaraj discusses bilateral issues with her Maldivian, B'desh counterparts at OIC meet I carry the greetings of my PM Narendra Modi and 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslim brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India, said Swaraj. Indian Muslims practice their respective beliefs and live in harmony with each other and with their non-Muslim brothers. It's this appreciation of diversity and coexistence that has ensured that very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies, said Swaraj. India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text The Rig Veda and I quote "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadhanti", which means God is One but learned men describe him in many ways," said Swaraj. I come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi where every prayer ends with a call for 'shanti' that is peace for all. I convey our best wishes, support and solidarity in your quest for stability, peace, harmony, economic growth and prosperity for your people and world. If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country, said Swaraj. "Recognising India's engagement with the Islamic world. EAM Sushma Swaraj arrives in Abu Dhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour', Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Raveesh Kumar had written on Twitter. The videos and photographs fuelled a wave of messages on social media and hashtags like #BringBackAbhinandan and #Abhinandanmyhero. Abhinandan Varthaman was forced to eject and landed into the Pakistani side of Line of Control, where he was captured. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The captured Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who will be released on Friday by Pakistan as a gesture of peace has been admired for his presence of mind and fortitude in enemy captivity. Various videos were circulated by Pakistani accounts. In one of the videos, 34-year-old was seen being dragged. India called it "Pakistan's vulgar display of injured personnel of the Indian Air Force in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention." In the second one, the pilot is blindfolded and wounded; he gives his name, service number and religion and said, That is all I am supposed to tell you. Varthaman asks his interrogator a question: "May I request a little bit of information. Am I with the Pakistani Army?" Later, the videos were taken off as Pakistan was accused of violating the Geneva Convention. Later in the evening, a third video emerged which showed the pilot sipping tea and his wound looked less severe. A voice asks him "I hope you have been treated well over here, with us." He replies: "Yes, I have. And I would like to put this on record that I will not change my statement if I go back to my country also. The officers of the Pakistani army have looked after me very well, starting from the Captain who rescued me from the mob and from the soldiers and thereafter the officers of the unit to which I was taken to. This is what I would expect my army to behave as and I am very impressed by the Pakistani army." Varthaman was asked where in India he is from and about his personal life. Keeping his calm he said, Am I supposed to tell you this? Major, I am sorry. I am from down South. On asking which aircraft he was flying, Wing Commander said that he is sorry and not supposed to tell about the jet. I am sure you have found the wreckage, he added. Talking about what was his mission?, pilot said, "I am sorry, I am not supposed to tell you this". The videos and photographs fuelled a wave of messages on social media and hashtags like #BringBackAbhinandan and #Abhinandanmyhero. Abhinandan Varthaman was forced to eject and landed into the Pakistani side of Line of Control, where he was captured. You can argue the winners and losers from Trump-fixer Michael Cohens daylong public testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform Wednesday, but whatever your political leanings, there was one clear winner: the presidentially labeled Enemy of the People the press. Republicans, whose position was pretty much that Michael Cohen is nothing but a lyin liar, and Democrats, whose position was that the witness was a brave lyin liar whod finally decided to come to Jesus, shared one common tactic: bolstering their cases with reports from the enemy. Just as examples, Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, the ranking committee member, early on cited a report in Pulitzer-prize winning ProPublica in one of his blistering attacks on Cohen; Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton was one of many to lean on information reported by the Washington Post. And scattered throughout the daylong hearing were references to such additional diverse sources of information as The New York Times, CNN Chris Cuomo in particular The Huffington Post, Mother Jones, UK-based The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Fox News, and I could have missed a few. These, of course, are some of the pillars of the institution that President Trump categorizes as fake news and the enemy of the people. It was a banner day for The Enemy, a shining example of the role the media plays. Trumps insinuation is, of course, preposterous. But preposterous is something this president seems to have in his DNA. Indeed, the offering of numerous press accounts was but a subtext to the much larger story that was unfolding, but I had to smile as one committee member after another cited one media outlet after another as a reliable source of information. These members of Congress made it clear that despite the presidents disdain for the press, they not only read a lot, they put enough credence in what they read to be comfortable entering these items as exhibits in a Congressional hearing. There was also, of course, the question of Cohens credibility. Hes going to prison for three years as a result of his lying in various venues, including on his tax returns and bank loan applications. But as a wily old Bridgeport cop, a roguish fellow with friends in both high and low places, told me once: You dont get clues from altar boys. Key witnesses in criminal cases, especially in those Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, known all too well in Bridgeport as RICO, are often those who have been caught in the snare of an FBI investigation and subsequently agree to cooperate with testimony against the guy at the top. Salvatore Sammy the Bull Gravano, for instance, was no ones idea of an altar boy. But he was one of the key witnesses in a prosecution that sent Mafia boss John Gotti, the Teflon Don, to prison for life. Flipping, they call it, and its a well-tested apparatus. Ask anyone whos ever found themselves in that situation, and they will tell you its a most uncomfortable thing. Should you compound your already bad spot by being less than honest as you move forward, you are only tossing a few more logs on the fire at your feet. So whatever the future holds for Michael Cohen and President Trump, the work of journalists editors, reporters, the copy desk, photographers and so on will grind on, as it has since the beginning of the Republic. They will inform and educate the public. Is the system perfect? As the representatives said repeatedly on Wednesday Ah, one of the benefits of retirement is the opportunity to watch on television and digest an historic moment I will yield my remaining time to the late author and essayist E.B. White, who wrote this in 1956 on the role of the press and the responsibility of the reader: All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular, although many are born upright. The beauty of the American free press is that the slants and the twists and the distortions come from so many directions, and the special interests are so numerous, the reader must sift and sort and check and countercheck in order to find out what the score is. This he does. It is only when a press gets its twist from a single source, as in the case of government-controlled press systems, that the reader is licked. Michael J. Daly is retired editor of the editorial page of the Connecticut Post. Email: Mike.Daly@hearstmediact.com. STORY LINK Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Drops as Australian Manufacturing Improves GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Falls as Australian Manufacturing Improves Fastest in 5 Months GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Slides as Dominic Raab Criticises EU Australian Dollar Pound (AUD/GBP) Exchange Rate Rises despite US-China Trade Talk Uncertainty GBP/AUD Forecast: Pound Could Fall Further if UK-EU Tensions Mount over Brexit Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate is down today and is currently trading around AU$1.8644 on the inter-bank market.The Australian Dollar (AUD) gained on the Pound (GBP) today after Australias manufacturing improved at its fasted pace in 5 months in February, following last nights release of the AiG performance of manufacturing index which increased to 54.0 against Januarys 52.5.Many Aussie traders, however, are remaining cautious as property price falls and energy costs and draining business confidence.Innes Willox, a Chief Executive at the Ai Group, commented:The drop off in residential construction activity is flowing along supply chains with both the metal products and the building, wood products and furniture sub sectors contracting.'Looking over the longer term, there are major concerns about the high cost of electricity and gas, particularly in more energy-intensive industries.Sterling, however, fell against the Aussie today following the release of the UKs Markit manufacturing PMI figures for February, which drew closer to contraction at 52.0 against Januarys 52.6.Rob Dobson, a Director at IHS Markit, commented:Manufacturing and the broader UK economy face a difficult 2019, with the slowdown being exacerbated later in the year as inventory positions are unwound and Brexit-related headwinds likely to linger.The Pound weakened today after Brexit fears rose following comments from the former Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, who has vowed to vote against Prime Minister Theresa Mays withdrawal agreement, accusing the EU of behaving dishonourably over the Northern Irish backstop.Raab said in an interview with BBC Radio 4s Today programme:If we sign this deal as is with no change, the problems will get worse and we will go into the next election, potentially, stuck in the backstop begging the EU to let us out of it and not having delivered on our promises to the voters, and I think that would be devastating for public trust in our democracy.Sterling traders are becoming increasingly jittery as Mays deal and the EU come under increasing pressure from MPs, which is heightening the possibility of a no-deal between the EU and the UK ahead of the 12 March parliamentary vote.Many Australian Dollar traders, however, are remaining cautious as the US and China are finalising a trade deal, and with no forthcoming indications of any progress, risk-appetite for the Aussie remains low.US President Donald Trump, however, further heightened fears over geopolitical tensions yesterday, saying at a press conference in Hanoi:Speaking of China were very well on our way to doing something special. But well see. I am always prepared to walk. Im never afraid to walk from a deal, and I would do that with China, too, if it didnt work out.AUD traders will be looking ahead to Monday next week which will see the publication of the Australian HIA new homes sales figures for January. Any signs of an improvement could provide some further uplift for the AUD/GBP exchange rate.Sterling investors, meanwhile, will be awaiting Mondays printing of the UK Markit construction PMI figures for February, which could prove Pound-positive if there is any signs of an increase.The GBP/AUD exchange rate is likely to remain driven by Brexit developments, however, and with any increasing signs of a division within Parliament over the EU, the Pound could begin to fall further. 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: Australian Dollar Forecasts Daily Currency Updates Pound Australian Dollar Forecasts UK And EU Will Connect With Cybersecurity After Brexit The UK is committed to working with cyber security partners in Europe after Brexit, according to Ciaran Martin, CEO of the UKs National Cyber Security Centre (pictured). Whatever form the future relationship between the UK and the European Union takes beyond 29 March this year, the prime minister and her cabinet have long made clear that our support to European security as a whole is unconditional, Martin told cyber security experts from the EU and Nato, international organisations and the global IT industry at the CyberSec Brussels Leaders Foresight 2019 event organised by the Kosciuszko Institute. Within the cyber security sphere, Martin said it was objectively true that nearly all the functions of the NCSC fall outside the scope of EU competence. It follows that our enhanced cooperation with European partners, and the EU as a whole, in cyber security over recent years is not automatically affected by the UKs changing relationship with the EU, he said. Pretty much everything we do now to help European partners, and what you do to help us, on cyber security can, should, and I am confident will, continue beyond 29 March. In the past, said Martin, the UK has shared classified and other threat data with EU member states and institutions and played a role in the development of European thinking in areas such as standards and incident response. As the next phase of the UKs relationship with the rest of Europe takes shape, we will want to take these partnerships further and to develop new ones, he said. Continuing the conferences theme of cooperation, Martin said that whatever final form the UKs relationship with the EU takes, the UK and the EU need to be at the forefront of global efforts to build a free and safer internet in the light of US and Chinese domination of technological development. In particular, he said, all European nations will need to act with others outside the continent to deal with structural challenges to the future of internet security in telecommunications infrastructure and the wider internet environment. The challenge in telecoms infrastructure lies in finding ways to ensure the security of 5G networks, said Martin. Like many countries, the UK is looking at the right policy approach to 5G security and the governments report on that is due to be released in March, he said. In recent months, multiple countries, including prominent UK allies and members of the so-called Five Eyes group (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US), have taken action to strip back Huaweis exposure to critical national infrastructure, or ban the companys networking kit. Contrary to some reporting, no decisions have been taken, said Martin, referring to a report in the Financial Times that said the NCSC believes it is possible to mitigate the risks associated with using hardware made by Chinese networking equipment and services supplier Huawei, citing sources said to be familiar with the conclusions of the government report on 5G security. As its public terms of reference make clear, it is a holistic review, taking account of economic, security, quality of service and other factors, said Martin. It is considering a full range of policy options. Everything is on the table. He said the NCSCs role is to offer expert, objective and technologically literate input into the security considerations around 5G in line with the organisations wider mission to bring objective rigour to complex technical issues. Setting telecoms security in the context of the threat picture, Martin said that in the past two years, the UK government has attributed state-sponsored malicious cyber activity against the UK to Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, adding that there is also a serious and sustained threat from organised cyber-crime. The supply chain, and where suppliers are from, is one issue, but it is not the only issue, he said. Last year, the NCSC publicly attributed some attacks on UK networks, including telecoms networks, to Russia. As far as we know, those networks didnt have any Russian kit in them, anywhere. The techniques the Russians used to target those networks were looking for weaknesses in how they were architected and how they were run. So we are not naive far from it, said Martin in response to a report from the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), a defence and security think tank, which said it was naive at best and irresponsible at worst to make the assumption that China will not try to leverage Huaweis participation in critical national infrastructure (CNI) projects, such as 5G mobile network roll-out, in some way. In the 1,200 or so significant cyber security incidents the NCSC has managed since we were set up, the country of origin of suppliers has not featured among the main causes for concern in how these attacks are carried out, he said. That is one example of our objective, evidence-based analysis of the threat. We take a similar objective, evidence-based approach to the technical security requirements for 5G. Taking threat and requirements together, this leads us to conclude that there are three technical pre-conditions for secure 5G networks. First, said Martin, there need to be higher standards of cyber security across the entire telecommunications sector. The biggest threat to our cyber security is weak cyber security, he said. Practices must be improved. That is the real lesson of the 1,200 cyber security incidents. The market does not currently incentivise good cyber security. That has to change. Second, telecoms networks must be more resilient, he said. From the point of view of managing corporate risk or, in our case, national risk, it essentially doesnt matter whether the vulnerabilities are deliberate or the result of honest mistakes. What matters is that those vulnerabilities can and will be exploited, said Martin. But the networks can and should be designed in a way that will cauterise the damage. That is what we need to do. Put it another way if youve built a telecommunications network in a way that the compromise of one supplier can cause catastrophic national harm, then youve built it the wrong way. Resilience is key. Third, he said, there must be sustainable diversity in the supplier market. Should the supplier market consolidate to such an extent that there are only a tiny number of viable options, that will not make for good cyber security, whether those options are Western, Chinese or from anywhere else, said Martin. Any company in an excessively dominant market position will not be incentivised to take cyber security seriously. And, at the same time, that company could also become the prime target for attack for the globes most potent cyber attackers. These pre-conditions are technical and generic, he said. They are about the technology and the architecture and the structure of our networks. They are about creating the necessary conditions for a safe 5G network. Noting that the UKs telecoms infrastructure is highly internationalised, Martin said there is already a framework in place for managing risk, based on an objective understanding of how telecoms networks work. As our guidance to operators shows, we assume that every bit of kit in any network can fail, he said. And so, what is vital is that the failure of individual bits of kit, either because of a malfunction or because of an attack, will not cause catastrophic harm. One well-known specific aspect of the UKs current mitigation framework is how Huaweis presence in UK networks is managed, said Martin. He pointed out that Huaweis presence is subject to detailed, formal oversight, led by the NCSC. Because of our 15 years of dealings with the company and 10 years of a formally agreed mitigation strategy which involves detailed provision of information, we have a wealth of understanding of the company, he said. There are also strict controls for how Huawei is deployed, he added. It is not in any sensitive networks including those of the government. Its kit is part of a balanced supply chain with other suppliers, he said. Our regime is arguably the toughest and most rigorous oversight regime in the world for Huawei. And it is proving its worth. Last July, our annual Oversight Board downgraded the assurance we could provide to the UK government on mitigating the risks associated with Huawei because of serious problems with their security and engineering processes. As we said then, and repeat today, these problems are about the standard of cyber security; they are not indicators of hostile activity by China. The company has accepted these findings and has pledged to address them, acknowledging that this will be a process of some years. Martin added: We will monitor and report on progress and we will not declare the problems are on the path to being solved unless and until there is clear evidence that this is the case. We will not compromise on the improvements we need to see from Huawei. And, based on our hard-headed assessment of risk and our detailed knowledge of how networks work, we are putting in place our own plans for helping our operators to manage these risks. In terms of the structural challenges to the future of internet security in the wider internet environment, Martin said the push to improve standards in cyber security should be a global effort. The internet was not built with security in mind, he said. That is no ones fault. It wasnt malicious, its just the way it happened. A model evolved over time where the price of entry for online services became the provision of personal data. The limitations of that model are becoming more apparent as time passes, said Martin, and have created structural security problems in the way the internet works. He said the NCSC focuses on the technical solutions that the market has not provided with the aim of making the internet automatically safer for people to use. Its not fair on busy individuals with complicated, rushed lives and other priorities if we expect them to make judgements every day about how trustworthy one of the hundreds or thousands of bits of communication they get every day are, he said. That is what is behind our active, or automated, cyber defence programme. Its aim is to provide a framework to take away most of the harm from most of the people most of the time. As part of the Active Cyber Defence programme, the NCSC has developed a system to use its threat data to block connections to malicious sites from government networks, said Martin. We are now protecting 1.3 million government internet users. In 2018, we blocked 11,000 unique malicious domains every month. In the course of the year, we blocked 54 million malicious connections. Martin concluded: So whether its future telecommunications infrastructure, or digital security more generally, we want to work with everyone across Europe and beyond to push these changes, to deliver the digital world we all want to see, one that is not just free and prosperous, but safer as well. Computer Weekly: You Might Also Read: No Brexit Deal? Then Its Digital Dover: US Under Attack By Chinese & Iranian Hackers Commerce, banks, business and, the US government have recently been attacked by Iranian and Chinese hackers who security experts believe have been energised by President Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year and his trade conflicts with China. Recent Iranian attacks on American banks, businesses and government agencies have been more extensive than previously reported. Dozens of corporations and multiple United States agencies have been hit, according to seven people briefed on the episodes who were not authorised to discuss them publicly. The attacks, attributed to Iran by analysts at the National Security Agency and the private security firm FireEye, prompted an emergency order by the Department of Homeland Security during the government shutdown last month. The Iranian attacks coincide with a renewed Chinese offensive geared toward stealing trade and military secrets from American military contractors and technology companies, according to nine intelligence officials, private security researchers and lawyers familiar with the attacks who discussed them on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. A summary of an intelligence briefing read to The New York Times said that Boeing, General Electric Aviation and T-Mobile were among the recent targets of Chinese industrial-espionage efforts. The companies all declined to discuss the threats, and it is not clear if any of the hacks were successful. Chinese cyberespionage cooled four years ago after President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping of China reached a landmark deal to stop hacks meant to steal trade secrets. But the 2015 agreement appears to have been unofficially canceled amid the continuing trade tension between the United States and China, the intelligence officials and private security researchers said. Chinese hacks have returned to earlier levels, although they are now stealthier and more sophisticated. Cyber is one of the ways adversaries can attack us and retaliate in effective and nasty ways that are well below the threshold of an armed attack or laws of war, said Joel Brenner, a former leader of United States counterintelligence under the director of national intelligence. Federal agencies and private companies are back to where they were five years ago: battling increasingly sophisticated, government-affiliated hackers from China and Iran, in addition to fighting constant efforts out of Russia, who hope to steal trade and military secrets and sow mayhem. And it appears the hackers substantially improved their skills during the lull. Russia is still considered Americas foremost hacking adversary. In addition to meddling widely and spreading disinformation during United States elections, Russian hackers are believed to have launched attacks on nuclear plants, the electrical grid and other targets. Threats from China and Iran never stopped entirely, but Iranian hackers became much less active after the nuclear deal was signed in 2015. And for about 18 months, intelligence officials concluded, Beijing backed off its 10-year online effort to steal trade secrets. But Chinese hackers have resumed carrying out commercially motivated attacks, security researchers and data-protection lawyers said. A priority for the hackers, researchers said, is supporting Beijings five-year economic plan, which is meant to make China a leader in artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies. Some of the recent intelligence collection has been for military purposes or preparing for some future cyber conflict, but a lot of the recent theft is driven by the demands of the five-year plan and other technology strategies, said Adam Segal, the director of the cyberspace program at the Council on Foreign Relations. They always intended on coming back. Officials at the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Segal and other Chinese security experts said attacks that once would have been conducted by hackers in Chinas Peoples Liberation Army are now being run by Chinas Ministry of State Security. These hackers are better at covering their tracks. Rather than going at targets directly, they have used a side door of sorts by breaking into the networks of the targets suppliers. They have also avoided using malware commonly attributed to China, relying instead on encrypting traffic, erasing server logs and other obfuscation tactics. It is difficult to quantify the number of industrial-espionage attacks, in part because they have been designed mostly to steal strategic trade secrets, not the kind of personal information about customers and employees that companies must disclose. Only Airbus has acknowledged in recent weeks that Chinese hackers had penetrated its databases. Many of the attacks by the Chinese Ministry of State Security have been against strategic targets like internet service providers with access to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of corporate and government networks. After the Trump administration pulled out of the nuclear deal, Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, testified before Congress that her agency was anticipating its a possibility that Iran would resort to hacking attacks. The Iranian attacks, which hit more than a half-dozen federal agencies last month, still caught the department off guard. Security researchers said the hacks, which exploited underlying weaknesses in the internets backbone, were continuing and were more damaging and widespread than agency officials had acknowledged. Iranian hackers began their latest wave of attacks in Persian Gulf states last year. Since then, they have expanded to 80 targets, including internet service providers, telecommunications companies and government agencies, in 12 European countries and the United States, according to researchers at FireEye, which first reported the attacks last month. The current hacks are harder to catch than previous Iranian attacks. Instead of hitting victims directly, FireEye researchers said, Iranian hackers have been going after the internets core routing system, intercepting traffic between so-called domain name registrars. Once they intercepted their targets customer web traffic, they used stolen login credentials to gain access to their victims emails. (Domain name registrars hold the keys to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of companies websites.) Theyre taking whole mailboxes of data, said Benjamin Read, a senior manager of cyberespionage analysis at FireEye. Mr. Read said Iranian hackers had targeted police forces, intelligence agencies and foreign ministries, indicating a classic, state-backed espionage campaign rather than a criminal, profit-seeking motive. There is a long history of Iranian attacks against the United States, and episodes from five years back or longer are just now being made public. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced an indictment against a former Air Force intelligence specialist, Monica Witt, on charges of helping Iran with an online espionage campaign. Four members of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were also charged with computer intrusions and aggravated identity theft directed at members of the United States intelligence community. The recent Iranian attacks have unnerved American officials. But after issuing the emergency order about the ones last month, the Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has largely played them down. An official with the cybersecurity agency said there was a belief that no information had been stolen and that the attacks had not materially impacted operations. But Mr. Read of FireEye and others said there had been a noticeable escalation in Irans digital espionage. If you tell the Iranians youre going to walk out on the agreement and do everything you can to undermine their government, said Mr. Brenner, the former counterintelligence official, you cant be surprised if they attack our government networks. NY Times: Telegraph: The Sun: You Might Also Read: Why Has The US Not Been Hit With A Devastating Cyber Attack?: Linksoft is a Technology Solutions firm with head offices in the Nairobi Kenya. Linksoft has been trusted to deliver Information technology and telecommunications solutions to some of the Africas leading corporations over the past 20 years. As a committed partner to our clients and using the leverage gained through our continued experience and successes, we bring a personal approach to transforming our clients Information Technology landscapes through pragmatic solutions and best practice. We provide strategic clarity and direction using a combination of consulting and customized solutions and services to help our clients make informed decisions for their Cyber Security and Managed Services needs. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening. BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that creating a situation for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan was a diplomatic victory, ahead of the expected arrival of the captured pilot. (Photo: File) New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that creating a situation for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan was a diplomatic victory, ahead of the expected arrival of the captured pilot. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said, "Creating a situation for the return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, told a news conference on Thursday. For Subscribers Why the Anderson family has never forgotten the impact of Pearl Harbor The United States will honor 80 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor this December. Here's a look at one local resident who lived through it. He recalled his own familys close connection with the Kartarpur Gurdwara, which his grandfather had helped to rebuild post 1928 floods. In an informal chat with media persons as part of his tour of the border areas in the wake of the escalating tensions at the LoC, the Chief Minister also urged the Indian government to take up the issue with Islamabad. (Photo: File) Gurdaspur: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday urged Pakistan to admit to, and release the Prisoners of War (POWs) still in its captivity from the 1971 war. In an informal chat with media persons as part of his tour of the border areas in the wake of the escalating tensions at the LoC, the Chief Minister also urged the Indian government to take up the issue with Islamabad. Expressing happiness that talks to further thrash out the modalities for Kartarpur corridor were on track despite the tensions, Captain Amarinder requested the Central government to allow 5,000-10,000 pilgrims to cross through every day once the corridor becomes operational. He recalled his own familys close connection with the Kartarpur Gurdwara, which his grandfather Bhupinder Singh had helped to rebuild after the 1928 floods. On the compensation to the people whose land was being acquired for the corridor, Captain Amarinder said: The state government will thrash out the matter with the Indian government. He hoped that tensions along the border are resolved soon and Sikhs across the globe get the opportunity to have Khule Darshan Deedar of the historic Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara with the fast completion of the corridor. The Chief Minister, who went around Haruwal village in Gurdaspur district as part of his tour of the border villages to instill confidence among the residents, said he would be the first one to cross the border to pay his obeisance at the historic Gurdwara. The Chief Minister assured the residents that there was no need for panic or fear as the armed forces were fully prepared to deal with the situation. He urged the people not to worry and assured them of his governments full support. Addressing a gathering at Dera Baba Nanak, the Chief Minister said he was in constant touch with the central government and the state government was well prepared for any eventuality. Amid loud cheers and slogans of Jai Hind, the Chief Minister said that even when he had come here as a serving military officer, what struck him the most was the indomitable courage and enthusiasm of the people. During his tour, the Chief Minister shared a cup of tea with BSF personnel at the BSF border observation post in Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur (10 Battalion BSF sector HQ BSF Gurdaspur). He also interacted with Indian Army officers and men at an army camp in the border district of Gurdaspur to boost their morale and appreciated their courage in these stressful times. Earlier, on arrival in Gurdaspur, the Chief Minister took stock of the situation and was briefed by DIG Border Range and Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur regarding the steps taken for the safety and security of the residents. The Chief Minister asked the Civil and Public administration to keep up the preparedness level and further intensify dissemination of information useful to the public to ensure their safety and security at all costs. Sydney is arts and culture editor at the Emerald. She likes to read books and write about them. She's also a Virgo, so take that as you will. Follow Sydney Dauphinais 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 theme of the OIC ministerial now underway is Roadmap for Prosperity and Development. The significance of the invitation by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to India to attend its 46th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi (March 1-2) lies in the fact that it came after the Pulwama terrorist strike by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, which boastfully took credit for the outrage. This was a clear indication that the organisation of 57 Islamic nations was expressing its aversion to terrorism, even when it emanated from a member state (Pakistan) to target a non-member (India). More, the OIC walked the further step to invite Indias external affairs minister as its guest of honour. Nor was India disinvited when Pakistan threatened not to attend if the invitation to New Delhi was not withdrawn even after the Indian Air Force struck at Balakot, violating Pakistans airspace. Thus, Pakistans foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi decided to absent himself from the gathering in the UAE. Perhaps he did not wish to embarrass himself as the issue of terrorism, and its threat to regional peace and stability, was bound to have a high profile at the meeting as India would be present in a special capacity. The theme of the OIC ministerial now underway is Roadmap for Prosperity and Development. Terrorism, which eats into the vitals of any society, stands in stark contrast to this goal. External affairs minister Sushma Swarajs address at the meeting pointed to this with clarity. Ms Swaraj noted that the young would not be satisfied with roadmaps, but would press for roads. It was left unsaid that the existence of terrorism serves as a roadblock in fulfilling such aspirations. Since ministerial meetings serve as planning bodies for upcoming summit meetings, it would seem that Pakistan has weakened its case to be a significant voice in preparing for the OICs golden jubilee celebration. Of course, it is to be seen if the Abu Dhabi ministerial includes terrorism as a subject for a longer-term conversation. India had been invited at the Rabat (Morocco) inaugural conference of the OIC in 1969. Pakistan managed to scuttle the invitation on the ground that India was in conflict with it, an Islamic country and a member state. Much has changed since then. If in the 1960s, Indias engagement with the developing world was of an intensely political nature around the subject of decolonisation through the nonaligned movement, of which this country was a founding leader, India today intensively deals on the economic front with all parts of the globe, not least key Islamic states in the Gulf and West Asia. This convergence explains the OICs solicitousness in giving India space on the question of terrorism, of which they too are victims. The OIC opportunity to us will also help cool hyper-nationalist ardours in some quarters that recommend broadening of the conflict with Pakistan. Forex Talking Points: - Next week brings a loaded economic calendar, offering both quality and quantity as a series of major Central Banks are scheduled for rate decisions ahead of the Friday releases of US and Canadian jobs numbers. - The more interesting technical events as the weekly close nears is coming from Commodity markets like Oil and Gold. As looked at in yesterdays webinar, a key area of Fibonacci resistance is helping to hold the highs in Oil, and this has had bearing on USDCAD. Meanwhile, Gold prices have continued to pullback from the prior February breakout, with price action now resting in a key zone of prior support. - DailyFX Forecasts are published on a variety of currencies such as the US Dollar or the Euroand are available from the DailyFX Trading Guides page. If youre looking to improve your trading approach, check out Traits of Successful Traders. And if youre looking for an introductory primer to the Forex market, check out our New to FX Guide. Do you want to see how retail traders are currently trading the US Dollar? Check out our IG Client Sentiment Indicator. US Dollar Strength Re-Appears Ahead of Loaded Economic Calendar With the door now closed on February, the focus turns towards early-March data and next week is a big one. There are three major Central Bank rate decisions: The RBA announced on Monday night/Tuesday morning, the Bank of Canada on Wednesday morning and the European Central Bank hosts their rate decision the morning after. But also on the calendar are some key data prints, such as US and Canadian jobs numbers set to be released on Friday morning. All-in-all, next weeks calendar offers both quality and quantity of releases, with high-impact data set to be released each day Monday-Friday. DailyFX Economic Calendar: High-Impact Events for the Week of March 4, 2019 US Dollar Recovers From Early-Week Losses This week started off with a continuation of last weeks pullback in the US Dollar. Monday led into a precipitous drop on Tuesday; but support began to show around the Powell testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. And while that support helped to hold the lows, there wasnt much of a bullish response until the Thursday release of US GDP data for Q4, which helped to push the US Dollar back above the 96.00 level on DXY, on the way to re-testing a prior area of support that runs from 96.27-96.30. Buyers continued that topside push in the overnight session, and prices now look ready to re-test as resistance another prior support zone that runs from 96.47-96.53. US Dollar Eight-Hour Price Chart Yen Weakness is This Weeks Big Takeaway Despite the US Dollars struggles in the early-portion of this week, USDJPY has remained with a bullish backdrop throughout the period, posing a mere pullback to prior swing-support before pushing another bullish breakout to fresh 2019 highs. This continues the pairs bullish theme thats been alive-and-well throughout the month of February, as an ascending triangle a few weeks ago led into a breakout to 111.00, and another similar scenario has led into a topside push up towards the 112-handle. USDJPY Eight-Hour Price Chart EURUSD Pushes Below Wedge Prices Remain in Middle of Longer-Term Range The longer-term range formation in EURUSD continues to hold. But, as looked at over the past couple of days, buyers have appeared very unmotivated upon tests or prior highs, leading into the build of a short-term rising wedge pattern. Such formations will often be approached with the aim of a bearish reversal, looking for the lack of enthusiasm from buyers upon tests of highs to, eventually, lead into a bearish move. Thats started to show in EURUSD after prices fell below the support line of that wedge formation. A bit of a bounce has developed this morning, with short-term resistance showing off of that prior support trend-line; but this leaves the pair in an odd spot with price action stuck in the middle of the longer-term range. EURUSD Four-Hour Price Chart WTI Crude Responds to Fibonacci Resistance Its been an interesting week in commodities and WTI Crude Oil just ran into a key area of resistance. I had looked at this during both Tuesday and Thursday webinars this week, as Oil prices had previously seen the bullish advance thwarted at a key area on the chart. The price of 57.47 is the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the 2016-2018 major move in Oil, and this level held resistance last week and into this week before prices finally retreated down to the 55.00 level. But, as looked at on Tuesday, a run back-up to 57.47 remained on the table, and thats whats taken place since then. Similar to last week, this Fibonacci level has helped to stop the topside run dead in its tracks. A hold at this resistance can keep CAD-weakness strategies of interest in the near-term, particularly for traders looking at ways to add-in long-USD exposure in USDCAD. WTI Crude Oil Four-Hour Price Chart: Revert to Resistance Gold Prices Pullback to Key Support Zone: Can Bulls Stage a Stand? The early-month breakout in Gold prices has been pulling back over the past week, and prices have moved back into a key zone of prior support: The big question at this point is whether it holds and whether buyers pose another gust of bullish price action. The $1302 area was tested for support on three separate occasions earlier in February. Each instance saw defense of support from buyers until, eventually, prices pushed up towards the $1350 handle. But will March bring a similar scenario? Or will the pullback deepen down to fresh monthly lows? Below the current support zone is another area of interest, running from the approximate $1275 up to $1286. This is the area on the chart that helped to cauterize support throughout January, and if prices do revisit down to this zone, topside strategies can remain as a potential theme. Gold Eight-Hour Price Chart Chart prepared by James Stanley To read more: Are you looking for longer-term analysis on the U.S. Dollar? Our DailyFX Forecasts for Q4 have a section for each major currency, and we also offer a plethora of resources on USD-pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD. Traders can also stay up with near-term positioning via our IG Client Sentiment Indicator. Forex Trading Resources DailyFX offers an abundance of tools, indicators and resources to help traders. For those looking for trading ideas, our IG Client Sentiment shows the positioning of retail traders with actual live trades and positions. Our trading guides bring our DailyFX Quarterly Forecasts and our Top Trading Opportunities; and our real-time news feed has intra-day interactions from the DailyFX team. And if youre looking for real-time analysis, our DailyFX Webinars offer numerous sessions each week in which you can see how and why were looking at what were looking at. If youre looking for educational information, our New to FX guide is there to help new(er) traders while our Traits of Successful Traders research is built to help sharpen the skill set by focusing on risk and trade management. --- Written by James Stanley, Strategist for DailyFX.com Contact and follow James on Twitter: @JStanleyFX The absence of any definite outcome from the second summit is disappointing both to the principal parties and the international community. The sceptics were proved right when the much anticipated second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Koreas Chairman Kim Jong-un ended without any agreement in Hanoi on February 28. Their first meeting on June 12 last year in Singapore had resulted in a formal agreement, howsoever incomplete on details, in which Chairman Kim had agreed to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula in return for security guarantees from the United States. The absence of any definite outcome from the second summit is disappointing both to the principal parties and the international community. On the first day of the summit on February 27, the North Korean leader had said: There is a look of distrust and misunderstanding which has hindered our journey to the destination. But we have been able to overcome all such obstacles and we meet again in Hanoi. Alas, his hopes were belied. In preparation for the Hanoi summit, there had been several rounds of negotiations between US officials led by secretary of state Mike Pompeo and the North Korean chief negotiator Kim Yong-chol, but clearly the chasm between the two sides was too deep to be crossed. Why the sherpas allowed the two principals to meet without a clear understanding of the outcome is surprising. Going into the Hanoi summit, the primary objective of the United States was to set North Korea firmly on an irreversible course towards denuclearisation, starting with a list of all the Norths nuclear facilities and an agreed timeline for their dismantling or disabling. The foremost objective of North Korea was to get the crippling sanctions lifted while conceding as little as possible immediately on the journey towards denuclearisation. The third common but minor objective was to move towards a closure of the 1950-53 Korean War, which had ended in an armistice. The Hanoi summit ended rather abruptly, and a luncheon scheduled between the two leaders was reportedly cancelled. It is to his credit that the mercurial President Trump concealed his frustration and held a long press conference in which he explained that while they had a very good meeting, Chairman Kims vision was different than what the US was looking for. Chairman Kim wanted all the sanctions to be lifted immediately in return for dismantling only their most prominent nuclear facility at Yongbyon. President Trump said that we wanted a lot to be given up. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo elaborated that North Korean missiles, nuclear warheads and weapon systems would have been left out of any immediate agreement, and the timing as well as the sequencing issues of various steps towards denuclearisation also could not be agreed. Mr Trump clarified that it had taken the US a long time and partnership with many countries to build the leverage of UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, and that leverage cannot be built again easily once it is given up. Replying to a query, President Trump said that he expected there would be no future nuclear or missile tests by the North and revealed that on this issue, Chairman Kim had said: We will see. President Trump evaded the question on any additional sanctions against North Korea, saying that they were very tough. The policy of maximum pressure is therefore being kept in abeyance by the US for the present. President Trump continues to assess Chairman Kim as a constructive interlocutor and is ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. When asked about the torture of young US citizen Otto Warmbier in 2017 in North Korean prisons, President Trump said that he would take Chairman Kim on his word when he said that he did not know about it. As is his wont, President Trump blamed his predecessors, particularly President Barack Obama, for doing nothing and allowing North Korea to develop its nuclear and missile capability. He said that in the process of dealing with North Korea, China has been a big help, more than what people know. He further said that at Hanoi he and Chairman Kim talked a lot about China. He also acknowledged Russias help in implementing the sanctions. When questioned on any possible resumption of military exercises with South Korea, President Trump deflected the issue complaining that the exercises cost hundreds of millions of dollars and South Korea should do more to reimburse the costs. He was a trifle disparaging when he remarked: Exercises are fun. They play war games. It appears that during the Kim-Trump talks, the focus was on denuclearisation and the lifting of sanctions, and the possibility of a formal end of the Korean War did not receive much attention. Most Korea watchers were always pessimistic about any breakthrough at Hanoi. North Korea had made its stance abundantly clear in several statements that it expected corresponding measures from the United States in a step-by-step path towards denuclearisation, and that the US should first ease sanctions in return for the freeze on nuclear and missile tests which North Korea has already declared. President Trump left Hanoi disappointed, but on a friendly note. The talks at the official level will continue to bridge the gaps in perception and outcomes. No understanding on a third summit was reached at Hanoi between the two leaders. After a inconclusive summit at Hanoi, the US foreign policy establishment will be relieved that the President has not yielded too much on promises of future action by North Korea. Japan would also heave a sigh of relief that no deal had been struck ignoring its concerns on short-range North Korean missiles. South Korea has termed the outcome regrettable, and would have to navigate deftly keeping the US on board in its own bilateral journey towards reconciliation with North Korea. And the world at large, including India, would find solace in that there is no immediate likelihood of a return to the belligerence and rhetoric about an imminent war on the Korean peninsula. At least in the medium term, till President Trumps patience runs out! Labours Tom Watson cuts a reduced figure these days. Weight-wise, that is. A brush with diabetes forced Parliaments most seasoned trencherman to shed seven stone the old-fashioned way eating less, exercising more and giving last orders down the Westminster Arms a wide swerve. In terms of gravitas, however, the newly bantam Brummie MP has been piling it on. Gone are the days of the chuckle-cheeked Brownite bruiser launching spittle-flecked rants across the chamber, jabbing his finger as though trying to lance a hornet. Tom Watson, Jeremy Corbyn's deputy, has spoken out about anti-Semitism in the Party in light of Jewish MP Luciana Berger resigning the whip When Mr Watson speaks now, it is in hushed, reverend tones. Long. Pauses. Between. Sentences. As any weary am-dram director will tell you, this is the first step to sounding like you have something to say. It speaks volumes of the Labour Party mired by anti-Semitism and racism, wedded to the bygone dogma of nationalisation and redistributive socialism that centre-leaning Mr Watson is now seen as its acceptable face. A genteel voice of reason among the shouty Corbynite loons. As reinventions go, its like watching bazooka-breasted model Jordan rejigged as a swan-necked blue stocking. Mr Watson delivered a speech yesterday addressing the perils of online gambling. The venue: A sweltering cubby hole in the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tanks starchy offices on the Embankment. Lithe little Tommy barely broke a sweat. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition had arrived all warm smiles and self-deprecative charm. Perched on his hooter was a pair of quirky Arthur Askey-style tortoiseshells. His message to his audience was succinct. The 2005 Gaming Act is in urgent need of reform. Britain has a 5 billion-a-year gambling industry which is predominantly online, yet the word internet appears in our gambling laws twice. Email once. Social media not at all. In short, its about as up-to-date as Jacob Rees-Moggs casual weekend wardrobe. Horror stories galore followed. A man who was stealing 60,000 to feed his online habit. A young boy with brain damage who had lost 210,000. He delivered a speech yesterday addressing the perils of online gambling at the Institute for Public Policy At no point did Mr Watson attempt to embarrass the Government, or deliver the bloooody Tories diatribes we might once have expected. Instead, we had a genuine call for cross-party co-operation. He demanded a new Gambling Act for a new digital age, a respectful rehash of that old Stanley Baldwin soundbite about a new Parliament for a new age. Gordon Browns ex-henchman quoting dusty Tory old Harrovian Baldwin! I could almost hear his old bosss molars grinding all the way up from Queensferry. As for the journalists in attendance, you may recall not so long ago, Mr Watson was pushing for Politburo-style curbs on Press freedom. Some of us, he would happily have seen shut down. Yesterday, we all got the first-name treatment. There was a playful joke about his passion for video games, which he insisted he played only in times of crisis. So Ive been playing rather a lot recently, he joshed, a reference to Labours woes. When he was done, he received a warm pat on the back from Lord Chadlington, who is keen to outlaw gambling adverts. Yup, thats right. Mr Watson and Savile Row-suited Lord C, spiffy clubland habitue and long-term Tory donor. Chummy as church mice, they were. As lunch beckoned, I wouldnt have been too surprised if they repaired to Whites gentlemans club together for pink gins. After witnessing this impressive, but ever-so-slightly unnerving, Watson charm offensive, I could have used one myself. In the Commons, meanwhile, likeable Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and his Labour opponent Keir Starmer were at it hammer and tongs. This is the Brexit B-team if you will. The phrase two bald men grappling over a comb sprung to mind. Up in the Gods with us hacks sat a visiting Japanese contingent wearing headphones. An interpreter was clearly relaying the debate to them. Judging by their guppy-eyed stares around the chamber, their translator may just as well have been speaking in Eskimo as much sense it was making. All I can say is our Oriental guests were in very good company. In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write." The column was provoked by some idiot declaring a World Hijab Day, importuning all women to adopt the head-cover. The hour we met wont come again Why would we want it to? Many hours have passed since then And theres so much left to do From Rundivous Graffiti by Bachchoo I never thought Id have the opportunity or the audacity to say Some of my best friends are Jews! As every fool knows, its the feeble construction attributed to anti-Semites in denial of their anti-Semitism. With the substitution of the word Jews for other classifications, it is a sentence now attributed to racists or homophobes who justify their prejudices. The opportunity to use the shibboleth (a Hebrew word: Judges xii.4-6) arises as, after I wrote, in this very column, about having observed orthodox Jewish women in certain parts of London wearing wigs over their heads of hair, I received a complaint calling me anti-Semitic. The correspondent who wrote to me through my TV agent even demanded an apology. Gentle reader, before I paraphrase what I wrote and what the objection to it was, I must tell you why I am not treating this triviality as dewdrops off this Parsi vultures back. There is a crisis in the Labour Party of Britain with long-standing members of Parliament resigning, Jewish organisations attacking the Labour leadership for complicity or inaction when faced with instances of anti-Semitic poison in the party with the media and the Tories indulging in justified bouts of schadenfreude. Another reason for stooping to address the complaint is that in our age of social media bullshit (some of my best friends are bulls) this kind of victim-seeking stuff can spread and get distorted. It has happened several times before. This column has on occasion excited objections, accusations, even death threats from, for instance, Islamist fundamentalists (not Muslims, mind you: Some of my best friends are Muslims!). In one of these instances I was accused of libelling an eminent Parsi gentleman. It wasnt my intention (some of my best friends are Parsis!). However, being well brought up, I took it upon myself to apologise in a traditional Parsi way and wrote a public apology. I feel compelled to repeat my repentance in this instance to the complainant who accuses me quite wrongly of anti-Semitism and I implore her to accept my heartfelt verse: Sorry, sorry Marghi Mori Thahra peyt ma Billari Dori I am confident that the complainant, after reading these lines and having my apology translated by her Parsi friends (I am sure some her best friends are Parsi) will issue a grovelling apology for her demand for an apology. (Some of best friends are apologists?) The offending observation in my previous column was made in the context of religious or supposed-religious injunctions to women to cover up their hair. The column was provoked by some idiot declaring a World Hijab Day, importuning all women to adopt the head-cover. She was free in democratic societies to so do. The opposite is not the case. There would be vociferous objections, riots and blood if someone declared a discard-your-hijab-day. And no doubt accusations of Islamophobia. (Please note, I am not calling for any such thing! fd. Hah! Coward, scaredy cat! Ed.) I said in that column that my Muslim friends and even an Islamic scholar or two aver that Islam doesnt demand hijabs. Neither does it stop women from driving cars or insist they have their sexual organs mutilated in infancy. The hijab remark attracted no accusations of Islamophobia from anyone. I went on in a paragraph or two (Some of my best friends are paragraphs!) to observe that I see Londons Jewish Orthodox women wearing wigs over their natural heads of hair. My observation was in no sense derogatory but an expression of wonder that hiding ones own hair, saving eyebrows and eyelashes, in particular places or on particular occasions, seemed to be a requirement of several societies. Parsis cover their heads in the fire temple and at other ceremonials. My complainant set out the history of the Jewish Orthodox practice of wearing wigs. She said that Jewish women in past centuries in eastern Europe lived in fear of rape and so shaved their heads bald and wore wigs. When the rapists tried it on, they took the wigs off to confront the rapists with a bald head which would put them off. This is a useful piece of folklore but it does make one wonder whether a determined rapist would, on seeing a bald head be demotivated and run away, sparing the hairless victim. I have no insight into the psychology of rapists though I have read feminist essays in which rape is characterised as an act of criminal power lust rather than one arising from normal sexual urges. (I have to say none of my friends are rapists!). The context in which the accusation against my innocent observation is, in the words of the complainant, the widespread debate about anti-Semitism in Britain from which city I wrote my column. This week a Labour MP from Derby has been suspended from the Labour Party for saying that the reaction to anti-Semitism was too strong. He volunteered to show a documentary which argued that the disciplining of Labour members for the offence was a witch hunt. He was discouraged from supporting this view with his film and is now justifiably suspended for defying that precaution. The leadership of Labour insists that they will do everything they can to eliminate any whiff of anti-Semitism from their party. Brave words. My suggestion to them then is that they convene full meetings of party members and the general public in every constituency in Britain, starting with those 12 which have voted in a Labour MP who happens to be a Muslim. Some of these have decisive numbers of voters who are immigrants from Bangladesh or Mirpur. The platform should then vigorously denounce all anti-Semitic thoughts and doctrines. Way forward, comrades! Watch those membership figures! (er some of my best friends are of Bangladeshi and Mirpuri origin!) A 21-year-old who worked three jobs in order to save extra money has revealed how she put away $50,000 in two short years. Sofia Rose Bernardi, from Adelaide, had a toxic relationship with money throughout her teens, after a relative's gambling addiction meant the rest of the family was left with next to nothing. However, over the past two years Sofia has repaired her attitude towards her finances - and saved $50,000 with nearly zero financial help from friends and family. 'I save more money than my friends combined,' Sofia told FEMAIL. 'Now, I'm looking towards saving for my own housing deposit.' As well as working multiple jobs, Sofia sells unneeded belongings online, tracks her spending to the cent with spreadsheets, makes monthly cutbacks, and sets regular goals. She has also cut back on buying coffees, fashion items and jewellery. Scroll down for video 21-year-old Sofia Rose Bernardi (pictured) has revealed how she worked three jobs in order to save extra money and put away $50,000 in just two years Sofia had a toxic relationship with money throughout her teens, after a relative's gambling addiction meant the rest of the family was left with nearly nothing How did Sofia save the money? * She took three jobs working in babysitting, retail and hospitality. * She tracked her expenses in a spreadsheet down to every single cent. * She makes cutbacks each month, depending where she has overspent the month before. * She sets regular and small goals. * She puts coins/cash in one of those Australian tin money boxes that can't be opened to prevent her from 'just spending' loose change. * She watched videos online about creating a positive money mindset. * She retains a sense of balance in her spending and her saving - and doesn't deprive herself of travel or experiences that mean something to her. * She sold belongings she no longer wanted on forums like Facebook Marketplace. * She stopped buying coffees out as well as fashion items. Advertisement Sofia moved to Denmark with the rest of her family at age 16 after the relative's gambling addiction came to a head. 'Suddenly, I had a really bad attitude towards money,' Sofia recalled. 'I always thought everyone else had it so easy compared to me. I felt as though money would just disappear.' And so, she decided to take matters into her own hands and began watching YouTube videos about saving and taking control of your cash. 'I had always been pretty good at saving,' Sofia said. 'My grandparents told me to spend half of my money and save half. 'But moving to Denmark and losing money meant I shift my entire mindset. I searched out videos, including savings tips from Australian financial guru, Canna Campbell, and began to put away money.' Sofia's saving really kicked off in the past two years when she moved back to Australia. In this time, the savvy 21-year-old has saved an impressive $50,000 through her own hard work and graft. Sofia's thrifty saving habits have meant she has been able to buy her own car (pictured), as well as enjoy frequent travel while saving money 'I took three jobs working in babysitting, retail and hospitality,' Sofia said. 'I've sold some of my things and I do all those little tiny things to try and save money like track my expenses down to every single cent.' Sofia said she also makes cutbacks each month, depending on which area she has overspent in the month before. 'If I see I've spent lots on coffees in January, I'll try and spend less in February,' she explained. 'I have been living out of home paying rent for about a year now. 'But even beforehand, I was living with my grandparents and paying them board of $100 a week. 'I am completely independent financially.' 'I had always been pretty good at saving,' Sofia (pictured) said. 'My grandparents told me to spend half of my money and save half' So what are the 21-year-old's top saving tips? 'Budget a lot and track everything you earn and spend on an Excel spreadsheet,' she said. 'I set lots of little goals with saving to keep me motivated in saving my money.' Sofia also said she hasn't deprived herself. In fact, in the last two years she has enjoyed foreign holidays back to Denmark from South Australia and New Zealand, as well as buying herself her own car. What is Sofia's typical budget? * Weekly rent: $220 * Weekly food bill: $50 * Weekly socialising bill: $50 * Monthly phone bill: $35 * Rare shopping trip: $20 * She pays for her car annually. Advertisement 'I put all coins/cash in one of those Australian tin money boxes that can't be opened so I don't spend the cash on pointless things for the sake of emptying my wallet,' Sofia added. 'You'd be surprised at how much the little things add up.' Elsewhere, the 21-year-old has continued to watch videos on YouTube about creating a 'positive money mindset'. 'I sell things on Facebook Marketplace to not only earn some extra cash, but send my unused belongings to a better home,' she added. She has cut back on spending, refraining from buying coffees out and fashion items she might not wear in a season or two. 'I sit on it for a long time before I make a purchase,' Sofia said. 'Most of the time when I wait a few weeks on something, I no longer have a desire to have it.' Finally, she has achieved a sense of balance in her saving and spending: 'There was a stage where I wouldn't do anything as I saw that as losing money,' Sofia said. 'But I've changed my mindset now. Because I work hard, I deserve to treat myself with holidays every now and again. I'm all about balance.' Speaking about her tips, Sofia said: 'I set lots of little goals with saving to keep me motivated in saving my money' Sofia's ultimate goal is to save for her very own property. 'I would be so proud and happy to own my own home,' Sofia said. 'Luckily, I am a minimalist - so I don't buy things too much. I'd rather put my money towards experiences.' Sofia has even set up her own YouTube channel, where she documents her experiences, her money saving, her travels and her zero-waste lifestyle. 'My attitude towards money has really changed in the past five years,' Sofia said. 'I love saving now and wouldn't have it any other way.' To follow Sofia's YouTube channel, please click here. A woman who was given just one year to live after her wisdom tooth pain was found to be terminal skin cancer has married the love of her life in a 'magical' wedding on her family's homestead. Joanne Coleman, 22, from Queensland, was grateful to be alive as she exchanged vows with her fiance Josh in front of 175 teary-eyed friends and family. Dressed in a traditional white lace wedding dress, Joanne was able to momentarily forget about her diagnosis and enjoy a beautiful day that included a surprise helicopter ride, a lolly station and the cake of her dreams. Joanne Coleman's wedding on her family's homestead in Queensland was described by many of the 175 guests as a 'magical' affair (pictured with her husband josh) The traditional white lace wedding dress, lolly cart and surprise helicopter ride to the ceremony in November 2018 were all touches the 22-year-old bride was grateful to have experienced What is Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)? It's the second most common form of skin cancer. It's the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells arising from the squamous cells in the epidermis, the skin's outermost layer. SCCs often look like scaly red patches, open sores, warts or elevated growths with a central depression; they may crust or bleed. Advertisement In March, 2018, Joanne was told she had just 12 months to live and that the cancer that had taken half her face - including her right eye and part of her mouth - was now terminal. Her mother Helen, who has been by her side since Joanne was first diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) at 20, reached out to My Wedding Wish to help them plan the nuptials. The organisation, which gifts weddings to the terminally ill, provided a welcome sign, stylist, cake, photographer, videographer, celebrant and numerous other suppliers to ensure the day was memorable. In March she was told she only had 12 months to live and the cancer that had taken half her face - including her right eye and part of her mouth - was now terminal Her mother Helen (left), who has been by her side since Joanne was first diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) at 20, reached out to My Wedding Wish to help them plan the nuptials (Joanne is pictured right with her father) The organisation, which gifts weddings to the terminally ill, provided a welcome sign, stylist, cake, photographer, videographer and celebrant (pictured with Josh) 'They even had a horse that was there the first time we kissed,' Joanne said of the special touches. Joanne had only been complaining of headaches back in August 2016 when she suddenly woke up with a swollen face. 'Doctors said it was just an infected wisdom tooth and that the worst case scenario was that it would be cancer,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'He said they would do a biopsy but he really didn't think it was anything too serious.' Joanne had only been complaining of headaches back in August 2016 when she suddenly woke up with a swollen face (pictured before the cancer) Even when she was told that a large portion of her face would have to be removed alongside the kiwi fruit-sized tumour they had found, she went into the surgery with the attitude that 'sh*t happens' Two weeks later Joanne was told the heartbreaking news. 'I couldn't look at either of them because I knew if I did the tears would flow,' she said. Even when she was told that a large portion of her face would have to be removed alongside the kiwi fruit-sized tumour they had found, she went into the surgery with the attitude that 'sh*t happens'. 'I would still be the same on the inside,' she thought. 'I would still be the same on the inside,' she thought (pictured before the cancer) Joanne went through the 23-hour surgery on September 30, 2016 (pictured after with Josh) Joanne went through the 23-hour surgery on September 30, 2016. Her main concern was that Josh might not like 'the new her' but those fears erased completely in January 2017 when he proposed. Posting to Facebook a few weeks after Josh got down on one knee, Joanne said: 'I should have died so if the worst thing I have to deal with is not opening my jaw and that I have no eye I'm happy with that. 'I'm still alive and happy.' 'As much as this whole thing has been crap I'm still alive and happy,' she said Now in palliative care, Joanne's efforts are focused on the 'trash your wedding dress' day she is holding on the Gold Coast on March 31 A month later the cancer returned and Joanne and Josh's wedding date had to be moved up to November 3. 'I should have died so if the worst thing I have to deal with is not opening my jaw and that I have no eye I'm happy with that 'I won't be around for the wedding,' she had told Josh at the time. But with fairy lights scattered down the aisle, Joanne did make it and walked towards the man who never left her side and later shared their first dance to 'I Love You This Big' by Scotty McCreery. Now in palliative care, Joanne's efforts are focused on the 'trash your wedding dress' day she is holding on the Gold Coast on March 31. For $32 other brides can join Joanne for an ocean swim in their gowns to raise money for The Wedding Wish - the same people who helped her tie the knot For $32 other brides can join Joanne for an ocean swim in their gowns to raise money for The Wedding Wish - the same people who helped her tie the knot. 'I want to pay it forward. I was so lucky to have them organise my wedding,' she said. While her future may be uncertain, Joanne is at peace knowing she has the love of her life with her every step of the way, and a family that will hold her hand until the end. You can purchase a ticket to Joanne's event here. London's boldest gym chain, Gymbox has announced the launch of the ultimate hangover cure for the festive season: the Hangxiety workout. When post-party anxiety meets the hangover from hell, this class promises that it will leave last nights mistakes dripping from every pore. Exercise meets exorcism in a hardcore burst of HIIT, followed by a juicy yoga flow to steady those alco-shakes and a mediation session to clear your aching mind. Rounding off with an IV Vitamin drip or booster shot administered by a team of medical experts, a rejuvenating dose of vitamins that help ease general worry and reduce oxidative stress in your body perfect for the morning after the night before. Hangxiety launches just in time for the party season, taking place at the Elephant & Castle club on December 3, 10 and 17. Long-distance relationships are hard enough, but four couples who have been living apart are put to the test when they are asked to lift the lid on what it's really like to be in a different city than their significant others. In the latest video for Cut.com's 'Truth or Drink' series, participants take turns asking their partners pre-written personal questions. The rules are simple: If they refuse to answer something, they have to take a shot of alcohol. Each of the couples has been together for less than a year, and things get incredibly awkward when they have to open up about their sexts, masturbation habits, and whether or not they'd marry their current partner. Scroll down for video Coming clean: Couples in long-distance relationships take turns asking their partners pre-written questions in the latest video for Cut.com's 'Truth or Drink' series Busted? If they refuse to answer something, they have to take a shot of alcohol The participants kick off the video by taking ceremonial shots, but they are in for a surprise. There is plenty of blushing when they realize the first question asks them to read the last sext their partner sent them. 'Feel free to drink for that,' a man from Seattle tells his boyfriend, who lives in Vietnam. The two have been together for seven months, but luckily he has nothing to worry about because his boyfriend had deleted his last sext, so they enjoy a shot instead. Another man freaks out and begs his girlfriend from Atlanta to take a shot, but she eagerly grabs her phone to read his last sexy text out loud. 'No, don't. Take a shot. Please!' he says, but she is quick to reveal his message. 'You said, Sarah!' she reads. 'I like you and your butt!' Awkward: Amanda admits to her boyfriend Logan that she sometimes tells him she is horny when she isn't at all. She just left the military and he is currently stationed in Georgia Although it's embarrassing, it's not nearly as graphic as the sext Amanda's boyfriend Logan reads for the camera. Amanda just got out of the military and Logan is currently stationed in Georgia. The two have been together for seven months, and sexting is clearly an important form of communication for them. 'I like it when you make me beg,' Logan reads, 'especially when it's begging for my c**k or c** in my a**.' Meanwhile, a participant named CJ said she and her boyfriend 'don't really send each other those' even though she lives in the Philippines and he is in Seattle. 'Baby, what do you do when you're horny?' he asks her, and she replies: 'I'm gonna take a shot.' The couples are then asked if they are monogamous, and almost all of them say they are. Say what? On the flip side, Amanda is shocked to learn that Logan only masturbates with her in mind once or twice a week Feeling confused: 'Once or twice? What is all my sexting for then?' she asks him One woman is planning on moving from Atlanta to Seattle to be with her boyfriend of three months, and they agree that they will become monogamous when she arrives. Amanda can't resist noting that she 'would love a three-way, but not like relationship wise.' Things get even more awkward when they have to reveal who in the relationship is more committed to making it work. One man looks stunned when his girlfriend says that he is, but she later clarifies: 'I want it to work out also.' Meanwhile, Amanda admits to Logan that she thinks he is more committed because she is worried she doesn't give him 'enough sexually.' 'I feel so guilty about that,' she admits. 'I can't give you what you need, and I'm afraid you're gonna go find it somewhere else.' Not having it: Another couple that has been together for seven months end sup taking shots when they are asked to share their most recent sext Fearing a wrong answer: The man from Seattle has a meltdown when he is asked to say whether or not he'd marry his partner tomorrow 'But you know that I don't want to,' he says. 'That's what he says now,' she tells the camera. When asked about the biggest lies they have told their partners, some of them give vague responses. One man tells his boyfriend that he will 'definitely stretch the truth sometimes,' without elaborating. Someone else says she feels like her boyfriend 'misrepresents' who certain people are, such as his exes. 'There's just an instant fear factor, just based on most people I've dated,' she explains. 'But you're also nice, and nobody else I have dated is nice.' Seriously? One man looks stunned when his girlfriend says she thinks he is more committed to making their relationship work that she is Good save: 'I want it to work out also,' she quickly adds to make him feel better Amanda's biggest lie, however, is actually to Logan's benefit. 'I mean, sometimes I tell you I'm horny when I'm really not at all, just because you want to hear it because you are horny,' she confesses. 'He's horny all the time,' she adds. 'So sometimes, just to be a good girlfriend, I will be like, "Yeah, baby, tell me more."' On the flip side, Amanda is shocked to learn that Logan only masturbates with her in mind once or twice a week. 'Once or twice? What is all my sexting for then?' she asks. When CJ asks her boyfriend if he watches porn, he says yes, but he quickly backtracks when she yells, 'You do?' Making it work: This couple claims they don't ever sext despite the fact that he lives in Seattle and she lives in the Philippines Uncomfortable: She opts to take a shot after her boyfriend asks her what she does when she is feeling horny 'Or I watched porn,' he reiterates, prompting her to think he was referring to the time before they started dating. The couples also have to disclose whether or not they'd marry their significant other tomorrow. One couple says no, another says yes, and Amanda and Logan end up being in disagreement. Logan refuses to answer, but Amanda insists that she would marry him tomorrow. However, he makes it clear that he isn't interested in anyone else. 'I love our relationship, even though it's far apart,' he says. 'Every time you text me, I still get that happy feeling.' At the end of the clip, Amanda admits that she was surprised to learn things about Logan that she didn't know before. 'When you're long distance, you feel like you talk about everything,' she explains. 'To find out there are things that we don't really discuss is kind of interesting.' Chilli flakes, tahini and tamari sauce are just some of the healthy staples a nutritionist believes we should all have in our pantry. Jessica Sepel, who is based in Sydney, shared her top 10 cooking essentials, explaining that they make a 'dramatic difference to her motivation to cook'. 'It also saves me so much time and means my meals are always bursting with flavour,' Jessica wrote on JSHealth. 'I usually have these ingredients laid out near my stove or on my kitchen bench. I highly recommend doing the same.' So what are the things to keep in your kitchen? Jessica Sepel (pictured), who is based in Sydney, shared her cooking essentials - and the things she always keeps in her pantry CHILLI FLAKES Commonly added to curries and on freshly seared fish, chilli flakes have the power to lift just about any dish. Research has also revealed that red chilli flakes and other peppers help to stimulate metabolism and prevent fat storage. 'A little spice makes everything nice! I love topping my meals with a pinch of chilli flakes to add an extra punch of flavour,' Miss Sepel said. Chilli flakes, tahini and tamari sauce are just some of the unusual items (pictured) Miss Sepel believes we should all have in our pantry staples LEMONS When it comes to cooking, we are always looking for a balance between core flavour profiles, the nutritionist explained. 'Fresh lemon juice has an acidic flavour which is one of the key elements. I use lemon juice to make a simple dressing and add some freshness to my meals,' Ms Sepel said. 'I also like to use the whole fruit by zesting the lemon and using the zest as a garnish on my salad, to make my lemon and herb chicken or on top of my morning porridge.' 'Fresh lemon juice has an acidic flavour which is one of the key elements. I use lemon juice to make a simple dressing and add some freshness to my meals,' she explained GARLIC This is an easy one to add to the pan with a little bit of olive oil to deliciously flavour just about any home-cooked meal. 'Garlic always lifts a meal to the next level,' Miss Sepel commented. 'I love to saute my vegetables in some freshly crushed or sliced garlic. Simple and delicious.' CURRY POWDER For those who like their meals hot this additive is often used to flavour curries of all kinds. But it can also be a wonderful additive to hummus, egg salad, popcorn and even dressings. 'I add curry powder to my cauliflower rice, and use it to make a quick and easy curry with coconut milk or sprinkle it over my vegetables before roasting,' Miss Sepel said. TAHINI Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds that works in most Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. 'Anyone who follows me knows I love tahini,' Miss Sepel said. 'Personally I use hulled tahini as it is extra creamy but if you are looking to increase your calcium intake opt for unhulled tahini.' EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL It's a good source of antioxidants and healthy fats but is sometimes pushed to the side for other less healthy oils. But when it comes to cooking, Miss Sepel swears by the extra virgin olive oil variety. 'It is not only incredibly nutritious but has a beautiful flavour profile,' she said. 'I add curry powder to my cauliflower rice, use it to make a quick and easy curry with coconut milk or sprinkle it over my vegetables before roasting,' Miss Sepel said DIJON MUSTARD 'My family and friends laugh at me because I love to add a big dollop of Dijon mustard to my salads,' she explained. 'It's creamy, tangy and something I always have on hand.' Brown mustard seeds and white wine are the main ingredients in this product. TAMARI Both soy sauce and tamari are byproducts of fermented soybeans, though the main difference between the two is the presence of wheat in soy and not in tamari. 'This is my favourite ingredient when it comes to marinating,' Miss Sepel commented. 'It's the star ingredient in my Japanese salmon marinade and also my satay sauce.' SESAME SEEDS 'A sprinkle of sesame seeds on top of a nourish bowl, sauteed vegetables or roasted vegetables not only looks beautiful but adds a nutty flavour that I adore,' she explained. They are extremely good for your skin and hair, and packed with copper, magnesium and calcium. Adding them to the top of your takeaway sushi will also work wonders to the quality of your meal. SEA SALT The addition of salt to a meal adds depth and also enhances the natural flavours. 'I use sea salt which has a stronger flavour which means you need to use less,' Ms Sepel explained. Salt is essential for sustaining the hydration levels in the body. David Lammy is not happy about Stacey Dooleys Comic Relief trip to Africa. Bad enough, his argument goes, that she swanned out there in the first place, trying to make a charity documentary and put some good in the world. Who does she think she is? A worthy person? Bah. The Labour politician is enraged about something he calls white saviour complex and has accused Dooley of using her Instagram account to make herself look like a heroine trying to save victim black children. While I dont agree with his bigger argument about celebrities propounding what he calls hateful colonial imagery privileged whites indulging themselves by tossing a crumb to oppressed blacks hasnt he got a point about her social media posts? Dooleys Instagram photographs from the Ugandan village where she was reporting on neonatal clinics and malaria have a queasy air about them. Im sorry, but they do. Here is the 31-year-old television reporter and Strictly Come Dancing star clutching a cute black baby, who looks none too pleased with the encounter Here is the 31-year-old television reporter and Strictly Come Dancing star clutching a cute black baby, who looks none too pleased with the encounter. Here she is again with the same toddler, head thrown back, laughing: hers, not his. He still looks a bit fed-up. And has she applied a post-production vanity filter to make her eyes so blue, her skin so clear and her teeth so bright? Since that would be so ghastly and inappropriate, such a glutinous splotch of first-world narcissism in the middle of this dusty safari of poverty, Im going to give her the benefit of the doubt and presume she hasnt. Her other snaps include one of a little shack, presumably where the locals live or work. And look here, another picture of indigenous women dancing and laughing, wearing colourful traditional robes. Arent they just darling? David Lammy is preposterous in a thousand ways and Stacey Dooley is terrific in a hundred ways more, but to be honest, some of this unseemly row is her own doing. Although she is not to blame for the social media self-obsession that currently engulfs society, perhaps she could have done more to encourage her 669,000 Instagram followers to understand and appreciate the gravity of her African trip. Beside her photograph of the humble shack, a fan called Jackie has joked that it is the Strictly dressing room, followed by a thumbs-up emoji. David Lammy (pictured) is not happy about Stacey Dooleys Comic Relief trip to Africa Next to the photograph of the random child whom she never gives the dignity of a name Dooley herself has written OB.SESSSSSSSSSSED. Isnt that peculiar? It suggests that this poor unfortunate boy, born into grinding hardship in one of the poorest countries in the world, is something desirable to obsess over, like a puppy or a new handbag or covetable pair of shoes. That is before she sets him back down in the sub-Saharan dust and returns home to her glamorous life in the UK, of course. To make matters worse, Dooleys African images were sandwiched between the cheery clatter of her usual Instagram feed. Stacey posing for magazine photoshoots, Stacey drinking pink cocktails with her friends, Stacey pausing by a mirror to admire her matching accessories. It insinuated that her Ugandan trip had been just one more pit stop on the carousel of her lovely life. A heroine? Well as anyone on Instagram will tell you, it is all about me, me, me. Anyone like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Clarkson and Nigella. To be honest, I regularly check into their Instagram to find out what they and everyone else are doing and am never disappointed. Gwyneth has just helped actress Drew Barrymore celebrate her birthday, and takes time to praises her immense brain. Jeremy is on holiday with his girlfriend in Vietnam and spent the morning picking up litter from the beach. Nigella has just finished a trip to Australia, where she ate a lot of gingered tuna. Although she is not to blame for the social media self-obsession that currently engulfs society, perhaps she could have done more to encourage her 669,000 Instagram followers to understand and appreciate the gravity of her African trip Meanwhile, are any of my enemies with Insta accounts in trouble or in pain? Lets hope it is nothing trivial. These are the questions I ask myself while pouring a glass of rose and happily scrolling through the not-so-secret lives of others, patrolling the very depths of their shallows. I dont post myself because Im too busy wondering when and why everyone become so OB.SESSED with putting the minutiae of their lives out there, for nosy parkers like me to consume as if they were episodes in a soap opera. Even though a great number of celebrities are slyly marketing themselves rather than guilelessly sharing their lives, the concept of privacy and a real sense of self are beginning to be washed away in this ongoing sea of conceit. And of course all this filters down into the civilian population. Even children now film themselves doing many everyday things for if you dont record it and post about it, how can it possibly exist? Of course, the weird culture of Instagram and other social media platforms is not unique to Stacey Dooley. Millions use these sites to post the significant alongside the trivial, the profound together with the profane. Perhaps she meant well, posing in the wretched village with the unknown little boy in her arms. Perhaps she thought there would be some benefit to posting the image online. Yet it is hard to see what that benefit could be, except to burnish the halo and image of one Stacey Dooley. And unfortunately, David Lammy agrees with me. Thats not very charitable, Mr Lammy He may have made a fair point about white celebrities such as Stacey Dooley posing with what David Lammy calls victim black babies. Yet when it comes to the wider implications of charitable donations from this country to Africa, he is way off beam. Being charitable to those who are less well off than we are is something inculcated in British schoolchildren from an early age. From infant school onwards, we collected milk bottle tops and did good deeds for the starving children in African countries where famine, poverty and lack of medical resources were endemic. We were taught that we were the lucky ones and we were. Then we grew up and saw terrible films and images of even more starving babies in Africa and once more we gave generously. Over and over again. Comic Relief has its faults, but it has raised more than a billion pounds, most of it donated by ordinary British people of every colour, people with only goodness in their hearts. Where the excitable member for Tottenham sees white privilege in any of this is hard to fathom. The biggest problem is not our unstinting generosity, but the widespread corruption and lack of will by some African governments to improve the lot of their citizens. We all know that millions of pounds ends up in the wrong places. If Mr Lammy would care to address that issue, instead of admonishing those who are only trying to help, we might have a little more respect for him. That's one hell of a date, Elle Elle MacPherson and Richard Lugner attending the Vienna Opera Ball Kim Kardashian did it, so did Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton and of course Sarah, Duchess of York, along with Goldie Hawn, Geri Halliwell, Ivana Trump and Joan Collins. Now this year it is Elle Macphersons turn. What is it, I hear you cry? Some fantastic treatment involving yak afterbirth and hot needles to improve the ageing or heavily freckled complexion? No, silly. These ladies have all accepted the cheque and signed up for the dubious honour of attending the Vienna Opera Ball on the arm of construction billionaire Richard Lugner. Every year the old toad pays a celebrity to accompany him to the social event of the year in downtown Vienna. And while it might be for charity, it is still rather creepy. A few years ago, Lugner paid 376,000 plus expenses to have Miss Kardashian by his side, but they fell out even before the goulash got cold. She was very hard to please, moaned Mr Lugner. Perhaps he is not sordid, just lonely? Maybe! In 2014, the 85-year-old married his fifth wife, a Playboy model called Cathy who is 57 years younger than him. It was a whirlwind romance, he said. At his age, it would have to be. Elles bells, what has she let herself in for? I know who Id pour a bucket of dirty water on Toby Sawyer (pictured) is the homeless man who was filmed having a bucket of dirty water poured around him by a railway worker Toby Sawyer is the homeless man who was filmed having a bucket of dirty water poured around him by a railway worker. Southern Rail has apologised and suspended three members of staff over the ugly incident at Sutton station in Surrey. Now it has emerged that Sawyer is a convicted killer with a long criminal record, a man who has spent much of his life behind bars. Is this supposed to make the transgression against him more or less reprehensible? Sawyer has done terrible things, and he is probably a right pest, especially if he was hanging around your home or your business. Yet he has been punished for his crime and paid his debt to society. Today, he is sleeping on the ground. He has nothing and no prospects; a life ruined and a brain pickled by alcohol. The railway workers he annoys every day probably have little sympathy with his plight, yet nothing excuses them swilling him with dirty water, trying to wash him away like dog mess. I hope I still live in a country where that will never be acceptable. Or excusable. Horror. Ocado has ditched Waitrose in favour of M&S and for millions of middle-class shoppers, life will never be the same. Waitrose fans will have to use waitrose.com to have their olive breads delivered or get used to the expensive treats at Marks. Not that it bothers me. Im a Tesco girl all the way. The BBC is losing viewers to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Hardly surprising as the terrestrial channels are often so dull, with only the occasional nugget of joy Killing Eve, The Night Manager to distract us. Making an appointment with yourself to sit down at an allocated time and stay there until you have watched the scheduled programme until the very end? Well, it all feels so last century, as old-fashioned as gathering around the steam radio to listen to the Kings Abdication speech, or enjoying music with an ear trumpet. Now the BBC is preparing, along with ITV, to launch is own streaming service called Britbox. The Beeb plans to keep shows on its free iPlayer service for a year before they move onto the paying service. This means those of us who have already paid 150 for a licence fee are going to have to pay again to watch something we have already seen. Fantastic! Where do I not sign up? Oh so very disappointed with the Beebs new This Time With Alan Partridge. Yes, it was a clever idea to have Alan filling in on a One Show-style programme, it just wasnt very funny. In a world where big beasts such as Richard Madeley and Piers Morgan roam free over the schedules, there is just no room for an Alan. Our eyeballs have been so scorched by the reality, we have nothing left for the parody. Steve Coogans comic creation is a joy, but semi-successful Alan is just not as amusing as aspirational Alan. There was nothing as funny as the big plate he kept in his briefcase for the Linton Travel Tavern buffet, or the bottomless desperation of his Radio Norwich show. Back of the net? Not yet. A mother has shared the inspirational moment she breastfed her baby while rescuing a puppy from beneath a car. Sterling Corbin, 30, from Guam, Western Pacific, had been trying to catch rescue dog, Polly, who had escaped under a vehicle, when her ten-month-old child, Keanu, started to cry for food. Insistent on capturing the puppy and returning her home, the stay-at-home mother decided to multi-task and breastfeed her son while continuing with her animal rescue. Sterling took to Facebook to share the inspirational moment, with other mothers praising her for showing the reality of parenthood. A mother, Sterling Corbin (pictured) has shared the inspirational moment she breast fed her baby whilst rescuing a puppy from beneath a car Sterling at her friends get on the floor to try and rescue the dog, which had escaped under a car Finally we have her! Sterling (pictured) was able capture Poppy from under the car and return her to her owner Sterling said: 'My friend's dog was at a sitter's house and she escaped - she had been out for hours and everyone was looking for her. 'After I had spent an hour searching, I found her under the car on a stranger's driveway, so ducked down to tried to grab the dog. 'Whilst trying to coax the dog out, my son started to cry and I knew that he needed feeding, but I didn't want to let the dog go. 'So, in true mother style, I decided to breastfeed my son whilst still rescuing the dog. Sterling's son Keanu with Poppy when she was a puppy - the mother had to breastfeed her son while trying to rescue the dog Poppy pictured as a puppy. The dog went missing from a friends house and Sterling helped to rescue the naughty pup Sterling took to Facebook to share the inspirational moment, with other mothers praising her for showing the reality of parenthood Sterling with her son Keanu - she admits she felt quite silly at first, but carried on with both at the same time 'By the end of it, my son was full, the dog was returned to her owner and I got a vegan cheesecake - so everyone won.' Despite the animal advocate's want to rescue this dog, she admits that there were times when she was going to let the dog go and privately breastfeed her child. She said: 'At first I felt quite silly and thought I could have just let go and gone and sat in my car and breastfed Keanu there.' Picture of Sterling as she grabbed the naughty pup and tried to rescue it as it got stuck under a car and wouldn't come out 'But I had a big support network around me who made sure I didn't feel ridiculous for nursing and trying to catch this dog in a stranger's driveway. 'I was afraid that if I let go of the dog we wouldn't catch her again, and there was a storm rolling in. 'So when I knew my son was hungry - it was either let him keep screaming, or feed a hungry baby. 'It just sums up the life of an every day mother - you're always having to think on your feet and do what is best for your child.' For any fashion brand, having a member of the royal family wear your clothes might seem like the ultimate endorsement, but while the 'Kate effect' can boost sales, it wasn't enough to save one of her high street favourites, LK Bennett. The high street fashion house, a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, is set to file for administration, putting up to 500 jobs at risk. And it's not the first time one of her favourite brands has got into financial trouble. Branding expert Claire Shiels told Femail: 'Celebrity endorsement is the holy grail for any retailer, although it can bring with it as many problems as benefits.' Kate is known for wearing older pieces that are no longer able to buy, meaning that brands have to then rush to manufacturer another run to satisfy demand - at a huge cost. Also, because Kate buys staples and re-wears them over the years, it means that customers follow suit and buy just one piece from a collection, rather than becoming a loyal repeat customer. 'Having your high street label worn in public by one of the worlds most photographed women can prove to be a nightmare if youre not forewarned, which is usually the case with Kate Middleton,' Claire explained. 'Retailers must walk a fine line between supply and demand, with production based on a number of factors, including historical sales figures, market trends and buyer behaviour. Kate Middleton, 37, pictured in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Wednesday wearing her go-to black boots from LK Bennett. The high street store is set to file for administration Kate wore this Hobbs teal coat during a visit to Whitehorse in Yukon Territory, Canada in September 2016 'A sudden and unexpected spike in sales and demand, which is what happens to a garment when the Duchess is spotted wearing it, often means that another immediate production run is required to satisfy demand and maximise the sales opportunity. 'Unfortunately, this can involve huge costs for the label, which then is unable to forecast when the sales surge is likely to suddenly drop again. 'The science behind production is therefore thrown into disarray and costs can easily spiral.' The Duchess, 37, has been spotted wearing LK Bennett numerous times - from a printed blue and white dress to her go-to black booties. Claire added: 'The problem for labels with Kate in particular, is that she chooses staple wardrobe items that are typically priced at the higher end for high street retailers and wears them more than once. Duchess Kate wearing a Orla Kiely dress in London in 2017. Fashion experts say there may be a link between Kate's backing of a fashioner designer and financial woes further down the line Appearing with Prince William for the first time since their engagement was announced in 2010, Kate wore a classic Issa wrap dress At The Portrait Gala fundraising dinner in May 2017, Kate wore a lace Alice Temperley dress 'This means that typically, her fashion followers will only purchase one item per season, rather than buying into the brand and shopping with them all year long. 'Despite the financial woes currently experienced by some of her favourite labels however, it is the market not Kate - that is to blame for the mass closure of many high street stores. 'As well as LK Bennett; Hobbs, Orla Kiely, Alice Temperley and Issa have all experienced significant financial difficulties.' Although it's a difficult time for retail, Claire claims some lower-priced brands including Zara and Primark have got it right. She said: 'Zara is in the enviable position to have been able to bring its manufacturing process in-house rather than outsourcing abroad, meaning costs are reduced and the brand is able to react quickly to a sudden increase in demand. 'At the other end of the scale, Primark is continuing to thrive due, it is said to its mass market appeal and its focus on engagement with its customers through social media. 'It is the stores which are best able to adapt and have a supply chain flexible enough to cope with fluctuating demand and market trends which will survive. Unfortunately for the likes of LK Bennett and Orla Kiely, this realisation has come too late.' The Duchess of Cambridge sporting an LK Bennett dress for a dinner at Kensington Palace, London, during former US President Barack Obama's state visit to Britain in April 2016 Kate, 37, wore a white and blue floral LK Bennett dress during a visit to Luton with national charity Youthscape in August 2016 The Duchess of Cambridge debuted an LK Bennett coat during a visit to the UNICEF emergency supply centre in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2011 LK Bennett is said to be working with Ernst & Young to help decide the 'best way through' the upcoming 'difficult and unstable times.' The brand's founder, Linda Bennett emailed staff today about the intention to file for administration. In the email Ms Bennett said: 'I came back to the company in 2017 to try and reinvigorate the brand. 'It was a difficult decision, but I don't regret it for a second. 'I have fought as hard as I can, with all your help to turn the business into the success that I know it deserves to be, and we have had some of our best sales figures and reactions to our recent collections that we have ever had.' The designer then added: 'We are going to be working with Ernst & Young to help decide the best way through this. 'I know that these are difficult and unstable times, and we are doing everything we can to identify the best way forward. 'I want to thank you for your dedication, hard work and continued support.' Kate, 37, is often pictured wearing her signature LK Bennett nude shoes pictured here during a visit to Adelaide, Australia in 2014 The Duchess of Cambridge wearing LK Bennett back in 2012 during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee UK Tour. LK Bennett's founder Lina Bennett emailed staff today about the intention to file for administration The British affordable luxury brand was founded in 1990 with 'the vision of bringing 'a bit of Bond Street luxury to the High Street'. The company is now well known for its signature kitten heels favoured by celebrities including Kate Middleton. Linda Bennett came back to the brand in 2017 after leaving in 2008 when she sold a majority stake in the firm for between 80m and 100m. In 2018 it was reported that LK Bennett reported losses of 5.9 million in 2016/2017, compared with a 100,000 profit in the previous 12 months. Total sales also fell by 1.8 per cent to 77.4 million. The company blamed the figures on 'exceptional costs' of 28.7 million, spent on corporate restructuring. So who else has fallen victim to the curse of Kate? A pregnant Kate in June 2013 at the 'Royal Princess' cruise ship naming ceremony in Southampton. She chose to wear the 'Dalmation mac' dress by Hobbs HOBBS: FINANCIAL WARNING Sloaney staple Hobbs founded in 1981 by London couple Yoram and Marilyn Anselm is one of Kate's High Street favourites. She wore the brand long before she entered The Firm. Her most-worn Hobbs pieces are coats most memorably this 279 emerald green Persephone trench she wore on St Patrick's Day in 2014, and dresses, such as the 169 Animal shirt dress she chose for a charity event in London in 2015. She also turned to Hobbs for her final engagement before giving birth to Prince Louis, in March this year the 79 polka-dot Rosie top which promptly sold out worldwide. FINANCIAL LOSSES: In 2015, Hobbs racked up pre-tax losses of 15.6 million, after a management shake-up left it with hefty legal fees. The previous year, it was forced to ditch its sister brand, NW3, after a 1.9 million loss. Even though gross profits jumped 8.7 per cent in 2017, earlier this year, it was named one of the UK's loss-making retailers, with financial analytics firm Company Watch placing it in its 'warning area'. OTHER WOES: In 2017, Hobbs was put up for sale by private equity firm 3i, which bought the business for 111 million in 2004. Its new owner, the South Africa-based Foschini Group, which owns Whistles and Phase Eight, thought the 80 million asking price too high, and secured it for an undisclosed sum. WHAT THEY SAID: 'Our sales are up, gross profit is up, our margin rates are steady and we now have a very strong platform to grow.' The Duchess of Cambridge at the National Portrait Gallery in February last year wearing an Orla Kiely dress ORLA KIELY: COLLAPSED OVERNIGHT Kate has been wearing the Irish designer, known as 'The Queen of Prints', since 2011, when she was crafting her early royal looks. Her first high-profile outing in Orla Kiely came in February 2012, when she wore the brown wool 'Birdie' dresscoat to visit a school in Oxford and ended up with a splodge of red paint on the sleeve. Ever-thrifty, she wore the coat again in November 2013, on her return to the spotlight after Prince George's birth. She also owns a grey pleated dress by the designer, which she wore for a charity engagement in October 2015, and this powder pink applique frock which she donned at Paddington station in November 2017. Most recently, she chose the Leith Margaret smock dress, a 490 mid-length black floral design, for the opening of an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in February. Mum Carole and sister Pippa are fans, too, with Carole sporting a blue polka-dot dress to hospital to meet Prince George in July 2013, and Pippa wearing a 120 white Kiely blouse on her honeymoon. All of Kate's outfits sold out within 24 hours, with designer Orla, 55, who set up the brand with her husband, Dermott, in 1995, delighted by the royal endorsement. 'We don't know in advance,' she said in 2017, 'so it's a case of, 'Holy smoke!' ' FINANCIAL LOSSES: The brand went bust overnight this week, closing all five of its shops, ceasing online trading and going into voluntary liquidation. Liquidators blamed the collapse on 'challenges' in recent years. Profits fell from 109,000 to 74,000 last year, according to Companies House records, although turnover grew from 7.2 million to 8.3 million. OTHER WOES: Staff were reportedly escorted out of the building in tears, with one source saying they were told they wouldn't be paid for three weeks' work. It was also said that Kiely and her husband paid themselves 400,000 as the fashion empire was on the brink of collapse. WHAT THEY SAID: 'We apologise for any inconvenience caused . . . Thank you for embracing our brand and designs throughout the years and for your ongoing support.' Kate Middleton appeared on TV with her new fiance Prince William on 16 November 2010 in a blue Issa wrap dress. The 400 garment sold out in five minutes ISSA: DESIGNER QUIT BRAND When a youthful Kate Middleton appeared on TV with her new fiance Prince William on 16 November 2010, wearing this blue wrap dress by sleek womenswear brand Issa, it should have been the best day of founder Daniella Helayel's life. The Brazilian - born designer, who started making dresses when she came to Britain in 2000 and built a cult celebrity following, said her company had been in 'serious financial trouble' but Kate turned its fortunes around. The 400 garment sold out in five minutes and was reordered 'countless' times, with one New York department store buying 1,100. 'We soon knew Kate was wearing Issa because the phones began ringing and didn't stop,' Daniella explains. 'It was bonkers.' Kate had worn the label previously, buying dresses directly from Daniella's studio, but the designer had no idea the dress would feature on such a momentous occasion. At its peak, the brand's value boomed to 47million. But the Duchess's endorsement also triggered its demise. 'I didn't have the money to finance production on that scale. The bank refused to give me credit and the factory was screaming for me to pay its bills,' says Daniella. Later that year, she sold 51 per cent of the business to close friend Camilla Fayed, daughter of Egyptian magnate Mohamed Al-Fayed. But relationships soured and in 2013 Daniella quit as creative director. Issa closed two years later. Having cut all ties, Daniella did produce special 200 versions of her iconic dress for a United Nations moneyraiser in 2016, then launched a new clothing line of her own, Dhela, in 2017. FINANCIAL LOSSES: Issa ceased operating in December 2015, with final company accounts showing annual losses of more than 4.3 million. OTHER WOES: In 2017, the department store House of Fraser bought what remained of the brand, taking it on as one of its in-house womenswear labels. Yet 12 months later House of Fraser, too, is in dire straits. Having announced 6,000 job losses and the closure of 31 stores, it's been bought by Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley. WHAT SHE SAID: 'I had a great business, which I'd built up on my own over a decade. To watch it evaporate was heartbreaking. Kate chose to wear Alice Temperley at the Action on Addiction Autumn Gala Evening in October in 2014 ALICE TEMPERLEY: 9 MILLION LOSSES The bohemian British brand is a favourite of Kate's for everything from casual days out (the embroidered blouse she sported on her 2011 Canadian tour) to formal occasions (the green lace gown she wore to a London gala in March 2017). She chose Temperley London, founded by 43-year-old Alice dubbed the 'English Ralph Lauren' for a post-engagement outing to Wimbledon in June 2011, and again in 2014, when she wore a daring black cut-out number to a London charity event. Both times the garments, which can cost up to 5,000, sold out overnight, with fans flocking to the website. In a 2013 interview, Alice, who said she received no prior warning when Kate was about to step out in one of her creations, described The Duchess as 'the perfect modern-day woman'. With Carole and Pippa both also Temperley fans not to mention a host of celebrity devotees including Beyonce, Emma Watson and Heidi Klum it seemed its future was secure. But beneath the surface cracks were beginning to form. FINANCIAL LOSSES: In 2016, reports showed losses of more than 9 million over five years. In both 2011 and 2012, Temperley Holdings lost more than 1 million, followed by pre-tax losses of over 5.8 million in 2013. In 2014, the company posted losses of 2.8 million, with auditors warning of 'material uncertainty' over the brand's future. Well-connected Alice secured a 1.8 million bail-out from 20 wealthy friends to stop the business going under. And in January it was reported that things may be turning round with growth almost doubled to 9 per cent. OTHER WOES: Alice's business troubles coincided with the breakdown of her marriage to German financier Lars von Bennigsen, whom she married in 2002. The pair, who have an eight-year-old son, Fox, separated in 2011. She put Cricket Court, her beloved listed Somerset mansion and the venue of her extravagant summer parties, on the market in 2016, slashing the price by 250,000 to 2 million after it failed to sell. WHAT THEY SAID: 'Temperley London's business continues to develop strongly on the back of a newly focused strategy.' Government plans to teach primary school children about sex education has sparked a row on Twitter, following a fiery debate on This Morning. The daytime show saw Catholic journalist Caroline Farrow branding the plans to teach children as young as five about sex education- including LGBTQ relationships - 'abusive' and 'indoctrination'. Education Secretary Damian Hinds also revealed this week that he wants to end a parent's right to 'opt out' of their child being taught sex education, once they reach 15. Farrow slammed sex education at a young age as a form of 'abuse' and said teaching young children about transgender people was 'indoctrination'. She also inflamed viewers with her comments on seeing a same-sex couple kissing. Scroll down for video Catholic journalist Caroline Farrow appeared on This Morning today to discuss Education Secretary's plans to teach more 'inclusivity' in primary schools, including LGBTQ relationships. The journalist inflamed viewers when she called sex education for five-year-olds 'abuse' Farrow told Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford that people should accept that some people feel uncomfortable when seeing two men or two women kiss She said: 'A lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of two men or two women kissing. It doesn't mean they're homophobic or they hate gay people.' This Morning presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford heard Human Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell argue that sex education in schools helped teach children to 'be safe and protect themselves'. Tatchell defended Hinds' plans, saying: 'The aim of these lessons is pure. It's to look after the sexual, mental and emotional health of young people. 'We want to cut the levels of teenage pregnancies and abortions, reduce the levels of sexual infection, stop abusive relationships. That's what these lessons are all about.' Human Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell argued that Damian Hinds plans to remove an 'opt out' on sex education for older children would make teenagers 'safer' and better able to protect themselves After being criticised on Twitter, Farrow responded, saying: 'Its fine to find this [same sex people kissing] a turn off. Stop trying to control other peoples thoughts, feelings and boundaries.' Eamonn recalled his A-level class in 1974, when he wasn't allowed to see photos of a naked man and a naked woman, asking: 'Isn't this just the modern day equivalent?' Tatchell called the plans 'pure', saying: 'We want to cut the levels of teenage pregnancies and abortions, reduce the levels of sexual infection, stop abusive relationships' Viewers responded to the debate strongly on Twitter, with many targeting Farrow's comments. @Fairyboobmother wrote: 'Did #ThisMorning hop back to 1940 to find this woman coz she surely can't be in 2019!' @Berkeley39 raged: 'Absolutely disgusted to hear what you said on #ThisMorning - the levels of 'discomfort' should be altered not the equal education.' Farrow responded to the criticism, saying: 'Whether or not you like a same-sex couple kissing has become todays litmus test of morality. 'Its fine to find this a turn off. Stop trying to control other peoples thoughts, feelings and boundaries.' Others felt that Farrow was right about five being too young to teach sex education. @AmberZoe12 wrote: 'I think we can do without leftie teachers pushing their own agenda to junior school children.' @ShaunF_Thompson: 'The interview about sex education for kids from five years old, they keep cutting the lady who doesnt agree with it off, a one sided debate in my opinion.' Prince William has revealed Prince George's new favourite film is children's action movie How To Train Your Dragon. The Duke of Cambridge revealed the sweet insight as he spoke to a little boy named Regan during his visit to Cinemagic in Northern Ireland yesterday. As the dad-of-three sat down with Regan to help him create dragons from pieces of coloured paper yesterday he revealed that George, five, loves the film. The fantasy film, which was released in 2014, is about a young Viking who dreams of hunting dragons, but befriends one in the process. The Duke of Cambridge revealed the sweet insight into Prince George's favourite film as he spoke to a little boy named Regan (left) during his visit to Cinemagic in Northern Ireland Prince William has revealed Prince George's new favourite film is children's hit How To Train Your Dragon The fantasy film, How To Train Your Dragon (pictured) which was released in 2014, is about a young Viking who dreams of hunting dragons, but befriends one in the process William revealed the insight as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the Braid Arts Centre charity Cinemagic, who have used film, television and digital technologies to engage with over 500,000 young people. George, five, must have moved on from his other favourite, as in 2017 Prince William revealed that Disney classic The Lion King was his favourite film. When asked what George's favourite film was the Duke said at the time: 'He quite likes the Lion King, he's watched it quite a few times.' Prince George, pictured at his brother Louis' christening in July 2018, was a big fan of the Lion King in 2017, but William has revealed he now has a new favourite Perhaps the young royal is a big fan of the film How To Train your Dragon (pictured) as its similar to the legend of St George and his Dragon Crafty Kate! The Duchess got involved in an arts lesson with youngsters at the Braids Arts Centre in Ballymena during her visit to Northern Ireland He also revealed in 2017 that his eldest child is also a fan of the Cbeebies regular Octonauts. And later added: 'He has watched some Lego movies as well'. While visiting the charity, which uses visual arts to increase opportunities and develop skills for young people from all backgrounds, Kate also spoke to children and helped them with face painting. Meeting fans when they arrived at the Braid Arts Centre Kate also admitted that she was broody. Spotting a baby in the crowd she said to his father Alan: 'He's a very sweet little boy... He's so diddy. Makes me very broody.' The solution itself is a remote cloud system, an interface for monitoring the status of all registered biomechanical devices. The Internet of Things is no longer just about connected smart watches or smart homes. (Photo: Pixabay) Kaspersky Lab experts investigating the experimental cloud infrastructure for advanced bionic prostheses have identified several previously unknown security issues that could enable a third party to access, manipulate, steal or even delete the private data and more of device users. The findings were shared with the manufacturer Motorica, a Russian high-technology start-up that develops bionic upper limb prostheses to assist people with disabilities, enabling them to address the security issues. The Internet of Things is no longer just about connected smartwatches or smart homes, but about advanced, complex, increasingly automated ecosystems. These include connected healthcare cyber technologies. In future, such technologies could shift away from purely supporting devices to becoming mainstream and used by consumers keen to extend the capabilities of the ordinary human body through a process of cybernetization. It is therefore important that any security risks that could potentially be exploited by attackers are minimized by investigating and addressing security issues in current products and their supporting infrastructure. Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT researchers, in partnership with Motorica, have undertaken a cybersecurity assessment of a test software solution for a digital prosthetic hand developed by the Russian start-up. The solution itself is a remote cloud system, an interface for monitoring the status of all registered biomechanical devices. It also gives other developers an existing toolset for analysis of the technical condition of devices like smart wheelchairs, artificial hands and feet. The initial research identified several security issues. These include insecure HTTP connection, incorrect account operations and insufficient input validation. When in use, the prosthetic hand transmits data to the cloud system. Due to the security gaps, an attacker could: Gain access to information held in the cloud about all the connected accounts (including logins and passwords in plaintext for all the prosthetic devices and their administrators) Manipulate, add or delete such information Add or delete their own regular and privileged users (with administrator rights). Motorica is a high-technology, trusted and socially responsible company focused on addressing the challenges faced by people with physical impairment. As the company prepares for growth, we wanted to help it ensure the right security measures were in place. The results of our analysis are a good reminder that security needs to be built into new technologies from the very start. We hope that other developers of advanced connected devices will want to collaborate with the security industry to understand and address device and system security issues and treat the security of devices as an integral and essential part of development, said Vladimir Dashchenko, a security researcher at Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT. New technologies are bringing us to a new world in terms of bionic assisting devices. It is now of crucial importance for the developers of such technologies to collaborate with cybersecurity solution vendors. That will allow us to make even theoretical cases of attacks on the human body impossible, noted Ilya Chekh, CEO at Motorica. To keep the devices safe, we advise that companies: Check out threat models and vulnerability classifications for the relevant web-based and IoT technologies, provided by industry experts, such as OWASP IoT Project. Introduce secure software development practices based on proper lifecycle. To evaluate existing software security practices use a systematic approach for example, OWASP OpenSAMM. Establish a procedure for obtaining information on relevant threats and vulnerabilities to ensure proper and timely response to any incidents. Regularly update operating systems, application and device software and security solutions. Implement cybersecurity solutions designed to analyze network traffic, detect and prevent network attacks at the boundary of the enterprise network and at the boundary of the OT network. Use a protection solution with machine learning anomaly detection (MLAD) technology to reveal deviations in IoT devices behaviour for early detection of attack, failure or damage of the device. Read the full version of the report on the Securelist website. While bionic technologies are developing, it is important to explore what kind of security issues they may contain to solve them properly. For a better understanding of what the future can bring us, Kaspersky Lab hosts the Earth 2050 website with a collection of futuristic forecasts. A 33-year-old, who was born as a woman before transitioning into a man, has revealed that they think they belong to any gender, and is an alien. Jareth Nebula, from Edmonds, Washington, transitioned from female to male and changed their name at the age of 29. The barber's shop receptionist, who also works as a model, has even gone as far as having their nipples removed in order to 'feel less human'. Transformation: Jareth Nebula, from Edmonds, Washington, transitioned from female to male at the age of 29, before deciding to refer to themselves as an agender alien Extraterrestrial: The 33-year-old has gone as far as having surgery to remove their nipples in order to make them appear 'less human' Unique: The Washington-native, who is agender and prefers to be referred to using the pronoun 'they', was born a woman and transitioned to a man when they were 29-years-old According to the Mirror, Jareth, who identifies as agender - which translates to 'without gender' - and prefers to be referred to with the pronoun they, named himself after the character played by David Bowie in the 1986 musical fantasy Labyrinth. Unlike the term gender-fluid - which refers to a person's whose gender identity is not fixed, or a person who feel they are a mix of both genders - agender typically refers to being gender-less, without a gender, or gender neutral. What it means to identify as agender: Agender translates to mean 'without gender' Unlike the term gender-fluid - which refers to a person's whose gender identity is not fixed, or a person who feel they are a mix of both genders - agender typically refers to being gender-less, lacking gender or gender neutral According to the the Oxford English Dictionary, agender means a 'person who does not identify themselves as having a particular gender. Advertisement Jareth, who chose not to disclose their birth name, has a total of 78 stars across their body, and has shaved off their eyebrows to add to the alien look. Explaining their transition journey, Jareth said: 'After coming out as transgender and believing I had finally found myself, I realized I was wrong - I wasnt male or female, or even human. 'I dont think or feel like humans. I cant really explain it to others - Im simply otherworldly. 'I didnt feel comfortable as either gender or even anything in between. I know Im stuck in a human form and thats how Im perceived by others - but to me, Im an alien with no gender,' they added. Jareth said they began thinking they didn't fit in among their peers when they were diagnosed with a rare condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) at the age of 26. The condition is a group of disorders that affect connective tissues supporting a number of organs and tissues including the skin, bones, and blood vessels. According to Mayo Clinic, the disorder can result in over-flexible joints, as well as stretchy and fragile skin. As a result of the disorder, Jareth was named 'Mr Elastic' by their doctors. Speaking about the condition, which leaves Jareth's skin wrinkle-free, they said: 'The condition means I can pop my joints out on purpose, which was a fun party trick when I was a kid. Different: Jareth said they began thinking they didn't fit in with others when they were diagnosed with a condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) Struggle: The condition makes Jareth's skin stretchy and leaves them with over-flexible joints, meaning they can easily 'pop' their joints out Process: Jareth decided to transition from female to male when they were 29, however, Jareth said after this they realized they weren't 'male or female, or even human' 'Now I realize why I could do that. My pain in my joints got worse as I got older and I would find it harder to move day to day. 'I get to a chiropractor once every two weeks and see a physical therapist once a week, as well as smoking medicinal marijuana for the pain - but there is currently no cure for EDS,' they added. Identity: When Jareth learned about the term agender - which translates to without gender - they decided to adopt the term After their diagnosis, Jareth said they really began to think that they were different to others. Throughout their teenage years, Jareth was a 'hyper-feminine female', who would model regularly. However, after turning 29, Jareth came out as a transgender male. In order to begin the transition journey, Jareth began taking testosterone injections, and started dressing in a masculine way. They also had surgery to remove their breasts. However, despite transitioning from female to male, Jareth was still left struggling with their gender identity. 'I thought being a trans man would solve all of my issues and inner battles with finding out who I was, but I wasnt as happy as I expected to be,' they said. 'I felt like I was trying to fit into someone elses box. I didnt want to be constrained - thats when I discovered what agender was. 'Id always been obsessed with aliens, too, and what it means to be extraterrestrial, so the idea of being an agender alien fit perfectly as an identity for me,' they added. Their new agender look includes a number of different modifications to their body. Jareth also enjoys wearing neon and pastel colors, as well as clothing influenced by Japanese pop culture. Obsession: Revealing that they had always been obsessed with aliens, Jareth decided to become an 'agender alien' and adopt a totally new look Style: Jareth's style as an alien sees them wearing a lot of neon and pastel colors, as well as clothes inspired by Japanese pop culture Changes: In order to adapt even more to the alien lifestyle and look, Jareth had their nipples removed and regularly shaves their eyebrows, as well as sporting a number of facial piercings Backlash: Although Jareth's family supported their transition from female to male, they did not accept Jareth becoming an alien, and still see him as a transgender man Jareth explained: 'I dont have nipples, as I had them removed during my top trans surgery. I shave off my eyebrows and have lip, septum and nose bridge piercings.' Although they are happy with their decision to be an alien, Jareth said not everyone has been so accepting. Their family supported Jareth transitioning from female to male, however, they have not been accepting of their decision to become an alien. Strong: Despite regularly facing backlash from people online, Jareth said they are happy in themselves, and will continue to look 'more alien-like' every day Jareth said: 'My family still see me as a trans man, because they dont understand what agender or alien really means. 'I have online friends who support me but offline is harder. 'Not everyone understands - but thats okay. I dont expect them to get it, I only want acceptance,' they added. Jareth has also faced backlash online about their decision to life life as an alien. 'People treat me like a freak because Im an alien, but its a completely valid thing to call yourself,' Jareth explained. 'Who is anyone to tell you who you can or cant be? If someone wants to identify as anything, even an animal, let them. 'I feel sorry for people who attack me online. I think they lack empathy and just want to target me, so I deal with it pretty well by brushing it off. Jareth added: Im happy with who I am and will continue to become more alien-like every day.' Gwyneth Paltrow she of vaginal steaming, yoni eggs, and all kinds of sexual health woo-woo claims to have never heard of vagina facials. The 46-year-old actress and Goop founder answered fan questions on Instagram this week, and insisted she wasn't aware of 'vag facials' or 'vajacials' - despite sparking discussion about such treatments back in 2015 when her website published a review of a spa that offered 'vaginal steaming'. However, while Gwyneth claims to have no knowledge of such treatments, she certainly seems eager to try one and cover it for her site. Open to questions! Gwyneth, 46, answered fan questions on Facebook live to celebrate Goop reaching one million followers If you say so! One fan asked for her thoughts on 'vag facials' and Gwyneth insisted she'd never heard of them Goop reached one million followers on Instagram recently, and in honor of the milestone, Gwynnie herself did a Q&A with fans on Instagram Live. Wearing her hair down and no makeup while sitting in what appeared to be an office, she read one particularly pressing fan question out loud. 'What's my current stance on the vag facial?' she read, before asking someone off camera, 'What is a vag facial?' She then made a surprised expression before saying, 'A vagina facial? I've never even heard of that. 'Whoever asked, let's go get one together. Let's go straight to the vagina facialist and then we'll write a piece together on Goop.' Vag facials do a lot of the things regular facials as in, for the face do, except for the outer skin of the vulva. According to Women's Health, one such treatment from Daphne in New York City promises to target 'ingrown hairs and hyperpigmentation in the bikini area, as well as cleansing, exfoliation, extractions, and brightening.' Invite: She offered to get one with the person who asked and write a story about it Casual: The mother-of-two appeared to go almost entirely makeup-free for the appearance, and left her long blonde hair hanging down around her shoulders The reporter who tested it out said it involved an exfoliating scrub, an ingrown hair extraction, toner, a mask, and hydrating cream. But though they've earned some attention on the internet for a few years now, it seems that Gwyneth has missed out on this particular phenomenon. She has been known, though, to be on the forefront of other vaginal trends. In 2015, she made headlines when Goop reviewed Tikkun Spa in Santa Monica, which offers vaginal steaming to patrons. Initially, the review claimed that the treatment 'cleans your uterus, et al' and noted that it is more than just a 'steam douche,' promising that it actually 'balanced female hormone levels.' Interestingly at the time, despite Gwyneth claiming to have never heard of a 'vag facial', this process of vaginal steaming was actually referred to by many as a kind of 'vagina facial'. The review is still on the site, however it has since been edited, and now reads: 'The real golden ticket here is the Mugworth V-Steam: You sit on what is essentially a mini throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam treats you to an energetic release.' On it: Gwyneth is often on the forefront of strange vaginal trends, first popularizing 'vaginal steaming' It's unclear if the piece was edited because Goop feared legal ramifications for making such claims about the vaginal steaming. Certainly, several doctors warned that a V-steam was a bad idea after she wrote about it According to the Daily Beast, OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Gunter said: 'Steam is probably not good for your vagina. Herbal steam is no better and quite possibly worse. It is most definitely more expensive. 'Steam isnt going to get into your uterus from your vagina unless you are using an attachment with some kind of pressure and MOST DEFINITELY NEVER EVER DO THAT.' Gwyneth did, in fact, face a legal penalty in 2018 for claims she had made about jade yoni eggs that she sold in her online shop. Her website claimed that its jade and rose quartz vaginal eggs could balance hormones and regulate menstrual cycles. Several people raised concerns that those claims were dubious, and California's consumer protection office brought a lawsuit against the company. 'The health and money of Santa Clara County residents should never be put at risk by misleading advertising,' District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. Uh-oh: She sells jade yoni eggs like these on her site, but recently had to pay a $145,000 settlement for making claims about them not backed up by science Gone: She had a whole article on yoni eggs that has since been deleted from her site 'We will vigilantly protect consumers against companies that promise health benefits without the support of good scienceor any science.' In September, they reached a settlement wherein Goop had to pay $145,000 in civil penalties and also offer refunds to customers who purchased the eggs (or a flower essence that also made scientifically-unsupported claims). Going forward, Goop is banned from making health claims that are not supported by science. Previously, the side had also had a guide on yoni eggs, which has since been deleted. It featured a Q&A with 'beauty guru/healer/inspiration/friend' Shiva Rose, who said, 'Jade eggs can help cultivate sexual energy, clear chi pathways in the body, intensify femininity, and invigorate our life force. To name a few!' Vagina facials weren't the only thing that Gwyneth addressed during her live Q&A however; the lifestyle guru also spoke about her sleeping habits - confessing that she likes to get at least eight hours - as well as her feelings about her children being in the public eye. When one fan asked whether Gwyneth would post more pictures of her daughter, 14-year-old Apple, the actress noted that she likes to let her children be their own people, and live as much away from the spotlight as possible. Gwyneth was also quizzed on her anti-aging philosophies, and revealed that her secrets to aging well are drinking lots of water, getting plenty of sleep, sex, and surrounding yourself with people you love. Meghan Markle's close friend Misha Nonoo has revealed the mother-to-be was glowing at her lavish shower in New York City, but she refused to confirm whether she was the one who introduced the former actress to Prince Harry. The British designer, who was one of the guests at the Duchess of Sussex's star-studded shower last week, appeared on the Today show Friday to reveal her three wardrobe essentials. However, after years of speculation, Today anchor Savannah Guthrie couldn't resist asking Misha, 33, if she was really the matchmaker who brought the Duke and Duchess of Sussex together. Scroll down for video It's a secret: Meghan Markle's close friend Misha Nonoo appeared on the Today show Friday, but she refused to confirm if she was the one who set up the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Keeping mum: When asked if the rumors were true, the 33-year-old British designer told Savannah Guthrie: 'Well, I don't discuss personal relationships at all' 'Well, I don't discuss personal relationships at all,' she said, 'but very happy for them.' Savannah went on to note that Meghan 'must have been glowing' at her baby shower last week, and Misha agreed, saying: 'She certainly looked it.' Connection: Misha, pictured with Meghan in 2015, has been a friend for years and was married to Harry's friend Alexander Gilkes until 2016 Although it has never been confirmed, Misha is thought to be the person who set up Meghan and Harry when they met first met in London in July 2016. Many previously speculated that it was Markus Anderson, a consultant for the elite members-only club Soho House, who brought them together. The couple are said to have enjoyed their first date at the private members' club in London, and were also reported to have spent time at the opening of the company's new club in Amsterdam not long after. This fueled suggestions that Markus was the couple's mysterious matchmaker until they inadvertently revealed during an interview that the mutual friend who arranged their blind date was actually a 'she'. 'We were introduced by a mutual friend,' Harry revealed in an interview with the BBC shortly after they announced their engagement publicly. Meghan then interjected: 'We should protect her privacy and not reveal too much of that.' True friend: Misha added that she is 'very happy' for Meghan and Prince Harry Getting the scoop: Savannah went on to note that Meghan 'must have been glowing' at her baby shower last week, and Misha agreed, saying: 'She certainly looked it' Segment: Misha appeared on the Today show Friday to reveal her wardrobe essentials A few months later, in January 2018, E! News reported that a source close to the couple confirmed that it was actually fashion PR Violet von Westenholz who first set Harry and Meghan up on a blind date back in 2016. Violet is the daughter of former Olympic skier Baron Piers von Westenholz, a close personal friend of Harry's father, the Prince of Wales. She had known Harry for years, but she met Meghan more recently while working as a press relations director for Ralph Lauren. Violet reportedly worked with Meghan on June 30, 2016, days before the then-actress's blind date with Prince Harry that July. However, she was noticeably absent at Meghan and Harry's evening reception after attending the couple's wedding and afternoon party. She was possibly double-booked, as she was seen at Ed Watson and Cara-Louise Pratt's wedding later that evening. Misha's right! Meghan was glowing as she stepped out of The Mark Hotel in New York City last week. The hotel was the location of her lavish shower, which took place on February 20 Bearing gifts: On the day of Meghan's shower, Misha was seen walking into the hotel with a bag from the upscale fashion and homeware brand Rani Arabella Friendly visit: A few days after her arrival in New York City, the Duchess of Sussex was seen leaving Misha's home Despite the conflicting rumors and reports, Misha is still widely believed to be the royal couple's mystery matchmaker. The designer was married to Harry's close friend Alexander Gilkes until they divorced in 2016, the same year the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met. When Megan first appeared in public with Prince Harry at the Invictus Games, she wore Misha's 'Husband' shirt, which led many to think it was a nod to her setting them up. 'I had no idea she was going to wear it,' she told the Evening Standard in 2017. 'It was a beautiful surprise and I was touched. The exposure has been incredible.' A month after Meghan and Harry met in July 2016, the former Suits star embarked on a trip to Spain with Misha. Rumors: Misha is widely believed to be the matchmaker who set up Harry and Meghan Hint? When Megan first appeared in public with Prince Harry at the Invictus Games, she wore Misha's 'Husband' shirt, which led many to think it was a nod to her setting them up The designer has remained mum about whether or not she is the truth matchmaker, telling the Evening Standard: 'I really can't answer that.' She did, however, gush about her love of Meghan, whom she met years ago through a mutual friend in Miami. 'Oh yes, I love her to death. She is the coolest girl in the world, she said of Meghan. 'We were seated next to one another at a lunch and we got along like a house on fire,' she recalled of their first meeting. 'She has the most remarkable and generous spirit. I aspire to be as philanthropic as she is, and to have as much of an impact as her.' Coincidence? Meghan, Misha, and their friend Markus Anderson, a consultant for Soho House traveled to Spain together in August 2016, a month after the actress met Harry Whoops! Markus Anderson, who also attended the royal's shower, was largely credited with setting up Harry and Megan until they revealed their matchmaker is a she Speculation: While Misha is believed to be the one who set up the couple, Meghan and Harry's mutual friend PR Violet von Westenholz is also rumored to be their matchmaker Misha Nonoo is with us today! Some people believe she brought Prince Harry and Meghan Markle together pic.twitter.com/ykJmkoqvcW TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 1, 2019 The two share many things in common, including being only children, having a mutual love of dogs, and going through divorces at a young age. Before she met Harry, Meghan was married to actor Trevor Engelson from 2011 to 2013. Misha successfully avoided saying too much about Meghan or her shower during her Today show appearance, despite Savannah's attempts to get her to open up. Last month DailyMail.com reported that Meghan's close pal Jessica Mulroney's refusal to talk about the royal on air has left Good Morning America producers and network executives feeling exasperated. The 39-year-old Canadian stylist was brought on as a fashion contributor for the morning show in October, shortly after she joined Meghan and her husband Prince Harry on a royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. The hope was for Jessica to help the network gain access to Meghan. But bosses were left completely stunned when Meghan turned up in New York City for her baby shower and the stylist didn't breathe a word about it, sources told DailyMail.com. Private matter: Misha, who is pictured with her fiance Mikey Hess at Meghan and Harry's wedding in May, has never confirmed that she was the one who introduced the royal couple Heat: Jessica Mulroney, pictured at Meghan's shower, has made Good Morning America producers furious because she refuses to talk about the royal, sources told DailyMail.com Drama: Jessica, 39, was brought on as a fashion contributor for GMA in October (pictured). The hope that the stylist would help the network gain access to Meghan Now executives at ABC News and producers at GMA are clamoring for the Canadian stylist to be fired, saying she brings nothing to the table and only has the job because of her friendship with Meghan. The two women have been friends for more than a decade, meeting when the former Suits star moved to Canada to film the show. Meghan and Jessica bonded over their mutual love of yoga and often traveled together. Jessica and her husband Ben reportedly hosted low-key dinner parties for Meghan and Prince Harry during their courtship. But despite Jessica's close ties with the Duchess of Sussex, an executive with ABC News told DailyMail.com that 'when she made her agreement to appear on ABC it was on the condition that we couldn't ask her anything about Meghan Markle.' The sourced added: 'Even when she is on set we can't even link her with Meghan. Many of us knew this would get us in trouble one day and this week it proved true. 'We had no idea Meghan was in town, but our so-called team member knew and didn't help us at all.' Breast screening rates have dropped to their lowest this decade, official figures show. Only 70.5 per cent of women in England aged 50 to 70 went to routine screening in 2017/18, down from 71.1 per cent the previous year. It means around 750,000 women who were invited did not attend their appointments, according to NHS Digital statistics. Breast screening rates have dropped to their lowest this decade new figures have shown Experts blame it on busy lives, worries that mammograms are painful and concerns that screening can do more harm than good. Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of the charity Breast Cancer Now, said: Its extremely worrying that uptake of breast screening continues to fall and has reached another decade low. If this decline continues, next year could see screening in England fall below its minimum attendance target of 70 per cent for the first time, and we must act now at national and regional levels to reverse this trend. With breast cancer incidence continuing to rise, its really concerning that over 750,000 women are missing out on the benefits of screening in England. Screening is vital in ensuring that breast cancer is detected at earlier, more treatable stages. In 2007/8, uptake was 73.2 per cent, but it has steadily declined over the past decade. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with 55,000 women diagnosed each year, and 11,500 dying from it. Under the NHS Breast Screening Programme, women will usually receive their first routine invitation between 50 and 53 and are asked back every three years until their 71st birthday. About six million women in England qualify for a routine check but only 4.5million have been for screening in the past three years About six million women in England qualify for a routine check but only 4.5million have been for screening in the past three years. Officials sent 2.54million invitations last year but only 1.79million women were scanned, with 750,000 failing to attend within six months. Worryingly, the uptake of women attending first invitations fell slightly, from 60.3 per cent last year to 60 per cent this year. Women who do not attend their first appointment are known to be far less likely to attend subsequent ones. While national uptake remains just above the NHS standard of 70 per cent, the North-West (69.8 per cent) and London (63.3 per cent) both fell below. Charities say the decline is most likely to have been triggered by years of debate about the benefits of screening for breast cancer, which they say focuses on false positives and over-treatment. About 4,000 women each year three of every 200 screened are offered treatment they do not need, according to the NHS. Catching a tumour early sometimes pushes women into having potentially harmful treatment such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, in some cases unnecessarily. If the tumour is slow-growing then a woman may never even realise she has cancer if it were not detected. Measles surged around the world last year and experts have warned it is a 'wake-up call' for more people to vaccinate their children. Children in the future could face 'disastrous' health problems if the deadly infection is allowed to spiral out of control. The number of people who caught measles last rose by 50 per cent worldwide, UNICEF has revealed, with 98 countries reporting an increase. Some 136,000 people died of the infection, which is more contagious than Ebola, despite there being an extremely effective and cheap vaccine. Growing numbers of people dangerously refusing to vaccinate their children anti-vaxxers are one of the main reasons for the illness spreading. Ukraine saw 30,000 more cases of measles in 2018 than it did in 2017, while Brazil had more than 10,000 people diagnosed compared with none at all the year before UNICEF the United Nations's children's agency has issued a warning that 'complacency' is leading to the rise. Ukraine, the Philippines and Brazil suffered the biggest increases in measles cases. Brazil didn't record a single case in 2018 but had 10,262 in 2018, while Ukraine saw an increase of more than 30,000 to a total of 35,120. The other countries with the biggest increases were Yemen, Venezuela, Serbia, Madagascar, Sudan, Thailand and France. 'This is a wake-up call,' said Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF. 'We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious disease -- a vaccine that saved almost a million lives every year over the last two decades. 'These cases haven't happened overnight. WHICH COUNTRIES SAW THE BIGGEST SPIKE IN MEASLES CASES LAST YEAR? Ukraine (30,338 cases in 2018) Philippines (13,192) Brazil (10,262) Yemen (6,641) Venezuela (4,916) Serbia (4,355) Madagascar (4,307) Sudan (3,496) Thailand (2,758) France (2,269) Source: UNICEF Advertisement 'Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow.' Measles, which is most deadly for children, begins as a blotchy rash and fever and usually only lasts for a week or two, but it can be fatal. If untreated the virus can lead to life-threatening complications such as hepatitis, meningitis, nerve damage or brain swelling. The number of children having MMR vaccinations which are given free by the NHS in the UK has been falling for years. Data in September last year revealed uptake in was at its lowest level since 2011 after falling for the fourth year in a row. Some 91.2 per cent of children in England are being vaccinated, fewer than the 95 per cent needed to stop the virus spreading through a community. Measles is more contagious than Ebola and, although it usually clears up on its own within a couple of weeks, can cause deadly complications like meningitis and pneumonia And the World Health Organisation has said 'vaccine hesitancy' is one of the 10 most serious threats to global health. 'Almost all of these cases are preventable and yet children are getting infected even in places where there is simply no excuse,' said Ms Fore. 'Measles may be the disease, but all too often the real infection is misinformation, mistrust and complacency.' A scalp-cooling treatment helped a cancer sufferer keep her hair - and identity - while she battled through 12 gruelling rounds of chemotherapy. Amanda White, 37, of Didsbury, Manchester, found a lump in her breast in January 2017 while training to trek to Everest Base Camp. She visited a walk-in GP centre on her lunch break and was later diagnosed with cancer. While she endured the intensive rounds of chemo in just 18 weeks - as well as surgery and three weeks of radiotherapy - Ms White wore the PAXMAN Scalp Cooling System cap, and credits this with her retaining a full head of hair. The cap lowers the head's temperature, which reduces the blood supply to the hair follicles, making them less able to take-up chemotherapy toxins. Now in remission, Ms White credits the cap for helping her avoid the 'cancer label' and giving her the confidence to continue living her life while she fought the disease. Amanda White kept her hair while battling cancer due to a scalp-cooling cap. Pictured while in remission, Ms White credits the technology for helping her maintain her confidence and avoid the 'cancer label' while she battled triple-negative breast cancer in 2017 Ms White is pictured wearing the PAXMAN Scalp Cooling System cap while she had 12 rounds of chemo over 18 weeks. The technology lowers the temperature of the head, which reduces the blood supply to the hair follicles, making them less able to take-up chemotherapy toxins. Speaking of the technology, Ms White said: 'The scalp-cooling cap allowed me to feel more like myself during a difficult time. 'Cancer can keep you from leaving the house, it affects your self confidence and you avoid looking people in the eye. It feels like everyone knows you have cancer. 'Although you might feel terrible on the inside, by keeping your hair you can look and feel better on the outside, you are not carrying the cancer label with you. 'The treatment can take so much away from you, your ability to work and socialise etc, but by being able to keep my hair, cancer didn't take away my identity.' WHAT IS AN ICE CAP? AND HOW DOES IT PREVENT HAIR LOSS DURING CHEMO? Chemotherapy works by targeting all rapidly-dividing cells in the body. Hair is the second fastest dividing cell, which is why many chemo drugs cause alopecia. The treatment attacks hair follicles during their growth phase, resulting in hair loss around two weeks after chemotherapy starts. The damage chemo causes to hair follicles can be alleviated by using scalp cooling, also known as the 'ice cap'. The cap reduces the temperature of the scalp by a few degrees immediately before, during and after the administration of chemotherapy. This lowers the blood flow to hair follicles, which helps prevent the chemo toxins they can take-up. Although successful scalp cooling depends on many factors, research and studies have shown scalp cooling can be effective across a wide range of chemotherapy regimens. Source: Paxman Advertisement Speaking of her diagnosis, Ms White said: 'I had found a lump ten years ago which had turned out to be a cyst but I knew this was different. 'The GP thought it wouldn't be too seriously but I was sent for an ultrasound, which was immediately followed by a mammogram and a biopsy all on the same day. 'A week later I returned to see the consultant with my sister, while mum and dad sat in the waiting room, and he told me it was early-stage triple-negative breast cancer.' Triple-negative breast cancer describes tumours that are not fueled by oestrogen, progesterone or HER2 protein, and therefore do not respond to treatments that target these. 'I thought I would have a operation and some radiotherapy, and I would be on my way, but when he told me I would need six months of intensive treatment, it really hit me,' Ms White said. 'I was given a pack of information by my MacMillan nurse after the appointment and there was a leaflet about the cooling cap and I thought, "why would you not want to do this?". 'As soon as I read there was a possibility I might keep my hair using scalp cooling, there was no question I was going to give it a try. 'Anything to reduce the trauma of chemotherapy.' The cold cap is available in 95 per cent of UK hospitals. Patients wear it for 30 minutes before, during, and for an hour after, drugs are administered. Pictured before she was diagnosed, Ms White discovered a lump in her breast in January 2017. The former head of rail at Transport for Greater Manchester went to her local GP walk-in centre on her lunch break, and was referred for a ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy At the time of her diagnosis, Ms White was training to trek to Everest Base Camp. She is pictured on a climb in the French Alps in 2017. Now in remission, she hopes to do the trek Ms White - who was head of rail at Transport for Greater Manchester - was treated at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Withington and froze her eggs before she started chemotherapy to preserve her fertility. Since getting the all-clear, she has quit her job, and hopes to spend the next year travelling with her new partner Dave and finally doing the Everest trek. 'I feel so lucky to have had a complete response to treatment, I have been in remission since July and the outcome couldn't be any better for me,' Ms White said. 'It is now about prevention, recovery and spending time with the people I love. 'Cancer can come in all shapes and sizes, trust your instincts, discovering it early really does save lives.' When her doctor gave Ms White (pictured before the diagnosis) the devastating news she had cancer, she assumed she would just need surgery and some radiotherapy, only to be told she required 'six months of intensive treatment'. It then 'really hit her' how serious her disease was Women are safe to have a pregnancy soon after a stillbirth without tragic outcomes, research has found. Some studies have suggested to wait a year or more following a stillbirth to avoid further complications or the heartbreak of enduring another. However, in one of the largest known international studies to investigate the issue, it does not appear to be a concern. The findings, published in the Lancet, are reassuring for women who are in fear they will have a premature birth or stillborn again. Expectant mothers are usually monitored closely if they have previously had a stillbirth, as studies have shown they are at an increased risk of another. Women are safe to have a pregnancy soon after a stillbirth without tragic outcomes, research published in the Lancet has found A stillbirth is when a baby is born deceased after 24 weeks of pregnancy, and is more common than many people believe, the NHS states. There are more than 3,200 stillbirths every year in the UK, and one in every 225 births ends in a stillbirth. Numbers have been declining - 2017 had the lowest stillbirth rate in the UK since recording began - but many countries, such as Croatia, Poland and Czech Republic, all have better stillbirth rates than UK. Researchers at Curtin University, Australia said the time between pregnancies has been identified as a potential risk factor for adverse birth outcomes. No official recommendations for how long women should wait before trying to have a child again after suffering a stillbirth currently exist because of limited medical evidence. Charities say that making the decision to try again for another baby after a stillbirth is a personal one that must take emotions into consideration. The researchers looked at the birth records of 14,452 women who had previously had a stillbirth - which was defined as a baby's death after 22 weeks' pregnancy - in Western Australia, Finland and Norway between 1980 and 2016. Sixty-three per cent of women conceived within 12 months and this was not associated with increased risk of another stillbirth, preterm birth or small baby compared to women who left two or more years between pregnancies. The study found those who conceived within 12 months of stillbirth were no more likely to have another stillbirth, or a preterm birth, than women who left two or more years between pregnancies, Senior author Dr Gavin Pereira said: 'The World Health Organisation recommends waiting at least two years following live birth, and at least six months following spontaneous or induced abortion to reduce the risk of adverse birth outcomes in the following pregnancy, but there is no recommendation for the waiting time following a stillbirth. Dr Annette Regan, lead author, said: 'We were able to demonstrate that conception of the next child within 12 months after a stillbirth was not associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. 'The research may have important implications for families who have experienced a stillbirth. 'Our findings should provide reassurance to women who wish to become pregnant or unexpectedly become pregnant shortly after a stillbirth.' Dr Pereira said previous research suggested that women needed sufficient time to recover from a previous pregnancy to reduce the risk of fetal growth restriction and preterm birth. Existing studies have suggested that less than six months between a stillbirth and pregnancy is associated with a nearly two-fold increase in the odds of preterm birth, low birth weight compared with longer intervals. As well as this, a 2015 study including over three million from The University of Aberdeen found that women who had had a previous stillbirth were more than four times more likely to have another than women who had not. Manchester University's Professor Alex Heazell, spokesman for Tommy's stillbirth charity and the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said to the BBC: 'As long as they [women] get all the information about why their baby died, then the choice of when to have another baby is down to when they are psychologically ready. According to him there is no physiological reason to wait more than a year before trying for another baby, but said: 'Stress may exacerbate things and so waiting until that goes may be a reason for some to hold off.' A woman ages eight times faster than normal due to a rare 'Benjamin Button' condition. Tiffany Wedekind, 41, has been told she is one in 50million due to her diagnosis of progeria, identified in 156 people worldwide, in her twenties. She is 'remarkable' because children are usually diagnosed with progeria in their first two years of life, and tend to not live past the age of 12. She is thought to be the oldest living person with the debilitating condition, with the longest known survivor, Leon Botha, being 26 before his death. However, this is not clarified as medically, her mother, Linda, who is in her seventies, carries the gene responsible for the condition. But she does not suffer symptoms. Ms Wedekind's brother, Chad, passed away from the disease seven years ago, aged 39, and so the family fear they will lose Ms Wedekind. She suffers with tooth decay, hair loss and heart problems due to the disease, and is just over 4ft 5in tall and weighs 58 pounds (26kg). But the yoga-enthusiast lives life as normal as possible, running a cleaning company and candle-making business. Tiffany Wedekind, 41, from Columbus, Ohio, has been told she is one in 50million due to her diagnosis of progeria, identified in 156 people worldwide Ms Wedekind's brother, Chad (see left), passed away from the disease seven years ago, aged 39, and so the family fear they will lose Ms Wedekind She is the oldest known living person with the debilitating condition, although this is not confirmed, with the longest known survivor, Leon Botha, being 26 before his death Ms Wedekind, from Columbus, Ohio, said: 'I don't let my disease define me, that's not who I am I just happen to have this, which makes me special in a way. 'When my brother died, it really opened my eyes to what the rest of my life could be like.' Dr Kim McBride, a clinical geneticist working at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, has referred to Ms Wedekind's case as incredibly rare. Dr McBride first met Ms Wedekind and Chad over 10 years ago, and put them in contact with researchers to investigate their genes further. He said: 'For people with the typical form of progeria, they live a very short life with many dying in their teens, so to have Ms Wedekind at her age is remarkable.' Children with progeria generally appear normal at birth but during their first year, signs and symptoms, such as slow growth and hair loss, begin to appear. Despite Ms Wedekind and Chad noticing their height difference to peers growing up, neither paid much attention until later on. Ms Wedekind said: 'I knew that I was different but I didnt care, I just wanted to be myself.' It wasnt until Chad started to have cardiovascular troubles and broke his femur bones that medical professionals started to take notice. Ms Wedekind and her brother noticed their height difference to peers growing up but neither paid much attention until later on when Chad started to show problems Ms Wedekind is 'remarkable' because children are usually diagnosed with progeria in their first two years of life, and tend to not live past the age of 12 Ms Wedekind said when Chad started to have real complications, such as cardiovascular troubles and broken femur bones, medics investigated Ms Wedekind said: 'Nothing came of it until my brother started to have real complications, and then they decided to figure out what it was. 'I wasn't having any complications apart from my teeth falling out.' Tooth decay is common among those diagnosed with progeria, as well as growth failure, loss of body fat and hair, aged-looking skin, stiffness of joints, hip dislocation and heart problems. Ms Wedekind said: 'I don't have many natural teeth now. That started at a really early age they didn't come out so they had to pull them out. 'Now I'm losing my hair and have mild aortic stenosis in my heart valve.' 'The fact I am so little means people think they can take advantage of me, but I bounce back from that. 'This resilience is definitely a strength of mine.' Ms Wedekind suffers with tooth decay, hair loss and heart problems due to the disease, and is just over four feet five inches tall and weighs 58 pounds Ms Wedekind's mother, Linda, who is in her seventies, carries the gene responsible for the condition but does not have symptoms of the disease, therefore she is medically the oldest known person with the disease Ms Wedekind doesn't allow her condition to hold her back, saying she doesn't like it when people think she is disadvantaged because she is small Ms Wedekind practices yoga to 'maintain a strong immune system and keep flexible' Ms Wedekind said her brother's death opened her eyes to 'what the rest of my life could be like' The extremely rare 'Benjamin Button' disease which causes children to age rapidly and has NO known cure Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, is an extremely rare, progressive genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly, beginning in their first two years of life. The name derives from the Greek word meaning 'prematurely old'. Children with progeria generally appear normal at birth. During the first year, signs and symptoms, such as slow growth and hair loss, begin to appear. Heart problems or strokes are the eventual cause of death in most children with progeria. The average life expectancy for a child with progeria is about 12 years, but some with the disease die younger and some live 20 years or longer. There's no cure for progeria, but ongoing research shows some promise for a treatment. Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement Ms Wedekind feels incredibly fortunate in comparison to others who suffer from the disease and practices yoga to 'maintain a strong immune system and keep flexible'. She said: 'I am very lucky, this is why I take good care of myself and I am proactive and not reactive. 'I love to dance, dance any chance I get and I love hanging out with friends and love to travel.' For Ms Wedekind's parents, they couldn't be more proud. Her mother, Linda, credits her positive attitude towards living. Linda said: 'She has lived a full life and is independent, she does things for herself. 'I am very proud of her. She is a go-getter and sets goals for herself.' Naturally, after losing their son Chad, Ms Wedekind's parents are worried that she faces a similar fate. 'Of course, you worry every day. A day doesn't go by that it doesn't cross my mind, but she has got the right attitude and doesn't let anything stop her.' Ms Wedekind runs a cleaning company and candle-making business Dr Kim McBride, a clinical geneticist working at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, has referred to Ms Wedekind's case as incredibly rare Ms Wedekind's parents, pictured when she was younger, said they 'worry every day' about Ms Wedekind after the death of their son to the same disease Progeria is caused by a mutation in the gene called LMNA, which produces the Lamin A protein, the structural scaffolding that holds the nucleus of a cell together. The defective Lamin A protein makes the nucleus unstable, leading to premature ageing, researchers believe. Ms Wedekind's mother, who is in her seventies, is the carrier of the disease but does not show symptoms, which medically makes her one of the oldest known living people with progeria. Linda said: 'I knew I could be the carrier. It was a horrible diagnosis but we have been working with the Progeria Foundation to prevent another child from having it.' Although Ms Wedekind is aware that living to her age is incredibly unique with her disease, she lives her life as normally as possible. 'I don't know if I look at myself as a miracle, I know that I am special and I won't deny that because I am who I am, but I am just like everyone else.' For Ms Wedekind, her key advice is for those suffering with the disease is: 'Have your family and friends to keep you laughing and try and have an open heart and an open mind. 'Try to find anything good in the day to counteract whatever it is that is going wrong, that's what I'd say.' A man travelled to Lithuania and paid 6,000 to have his hip replaced because he was afraid he would die waiting for the NHS to get round to it. Peter Gaillard, 86, was told he could have to wait 80 weeks (a year and seven months) to have the surgery near his home in Wales. Instead of shelling out for private surgery in the UK, he flew to the Baltic nation and had the life-changing op for half the price and the NHS paid him back for it. Mr Gaillard, from Gwynedd in North Wales, went on the 10-day round trip in October last year and says the results are 'extraordinarily good'. Peter Gaillard, 86, travelled to Lithuania for a hip replacement after being told by the NHS in Wales he could have to wait more than 18 months to have the surgery in his home country After having his right hip replaced in the UK in 2004, Mr Gaillard noticed the same problem brewing in his left leg last year, the Daily Post Wales reported. But the NHS board near his home Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board told him he might have to wait more than a year for the operation. 'I did not feel at my age I could hang around for what might have been two years with everything getting worse,' Mr Gaillard said. 'I want to make the most out of the rest of my life as I can. 'After hunting hard I found it was possible to have the operation in Lithuania for 6,000 as opposed to paying 12,000 privately in this country. 'I thought it through long and hard and decided to book the appointment and the travel.' He made the 1,500 mile trip and had the operation on October 8 last year, and only needed to rest for 10 days before he could return home. Figures revealed in October that the NHS waiting list was the longest it had been for 11 years, with 4.1million people around six per cent of the population on it. At the time more than 3,000 people had been waiting for more than a year to be seen, while one in 10 have to wait at least four-and-a-half months. When Mr Gaillard returned home he was pleased to discover he could claim the 6,000 surgery cost back from the NHS. Mr Gaillard's trip was done and dusted in less than two weeks and he said the results are 'extraordinarily good' and he was even able to claim back the 6,000 from the NHS Mr Gaillard had his other hip replaced privately in the UK and said he was in a lot of pain afterwards, but this time everything went smoothly and he was back to normal after 10 days Because his local health board admitted it wasn't able to do the operation within a 'reasonable' time frame, it agreed to reimburse him the money he had paid in Lithuania. 'I didn't know about the reimbursement it wasn't until I was emailing the nurse at the Lithuanian hospital that she told me she thought it would be possible for me to get my money back. No one here had told me anything about it,' he said. NHS patients can use an individual patient funding request (IPFR) to claim back the costs of private treatment which the health service was unable but expected to provide. Mr Gaillard said the Betsi Cadwaladr trust named after a nurse who worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War paid him back within three weeks. He added: 'After my operation in 2004 I was in a lot of pain for a long time so I couldn't understand how I would have been able to travel home after just 10 days, but I was. 'The whole process went very, very well and the results are extraordinarily good. 'The IPFR department were also very helpful I didn't feel there was a barrier there at all.' A Betsi Cadwaladr spokesperson said: 'Since January 2018 we have seen a 15 per cent reduction in orthopaedic patients waiting over 36 weeks for treatment, but we accept that waiting times are still too long and are working hard to reduce them.' Advertisement The 'godzilla' weather phenomenon El Nino in 2015-16 has been blamed for the worldwide surge in cases of killer viruses. The natural occurrence, caused by warm water shifting in the Pacific ocean, changes weather conditions across the planet. The one that struck three years ago is the strongest on record. During the 2015-2016 event, the precipitation levels and vegetation created the perfect conditions for dengue fever, cholera and the plague to spread, researchers have said. It had devastating effects throughout the world, including causing a spike in infections in Colorado, New Mexico, Tanzania, Brazil and Southeast Asia. The research is believed to be the first study, by NASA, to assess the public health impacts of the major climate event on a global scale. Experts believe it could serve as a 'remarkable tool' to save lives in the future, building on existing models that predict outbreaks. The 'godzilla' weather phenomenon El Nino has been blamed for the worldwide surge in cases of killer viruses including the spread of hantavirus and the plague in Colorado and New Mexico, cholera in Tanzania and dengue fever in Brazil and SE Asia El Nino, along with its little sister La Nina, are part of a recurring shift in climate that occurs as warm water shifts from one side of the Pacific to the other. It is caused by a shift in the distribution of warm water in the Pacific Ocean around the equator. The 201516 El Nino was 'record-breaking' and one of the three strongest events since 1950. 'The impact on weather and therefore diseases in these regions was especially pronounced,' said Assaf Anyamba, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who was lead author of the study. The study, published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, used a number of climate datasets and public health records to quantify a relationship between disease outbreak and El Nino. Reported cases of plague in Colorado and New Mexico were at their highest in 2015, while the number of hantavirus cases reached their peak in 2016. WHAT IS EL NINO? El Nino, along with its little sister La Nina, are part of a recurring shift in climate that occurs as warm water shifts from one side of the Pacific to the other. It is caused by a shift in the distribution of warm water in the Pacific Ocean around the equator. Usually the wind blows strongly from east to west, due to the rotation of the Earth, causing water to pile up in the western part of the Pacific. This pulls up colder water from the deep ocean in the eastern Pacific. However, in an El Nino, the winds pushing the water get weaker and cause the warmer water to shift back towards the east. This causes the eastern Pacific to get warmer. But as the ocean temperature is linked to the wind currents, this causes the winds to grow weaker still and so the ocean grows warmer, meaning the El Nino grows. This change in air and ocean currents around the equator can have a major impact on the weather patterns around the globe by creating pressure anomalies in the atmosphere. Advertisement Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents through urine and feces and plague is usually found in small mammals and their fleas. According to the study, the spike in both potentially fatal diseases was an El Nino-driven increase in rainfall and milder temperatures over the American Southwest. This spurred vegetative growth, providing more food for rodents that carry hantavirus who are in frequent contact with humans. As their rodent hosts proliferated, so did plague-carrying fleas. A continent away, in East Africa's Tanzania, the number of reported cases for cholera in 2015 and 2016 soared to record numbers since 2000. Cholera is a potentially deadly bacterial infection of the small intestine that spreads through fecal contamination of food and water. Increased rainfall in East Africa during the El Nino allowed for sewage to contaminate local water sources, such as untreated drinking water. 'Cholera doesn't flush out of the system quickly,' Anyamba said, 'so even though it was amplified in 2015-2016, it actually continued into 2017 and 2018. We're talking about a long-tailed, lasting peak.' In Brazil and Southeast Asia, during the El Nino dengue fever proliferated. In Brazil the number of reported cases for the potentially deadly mosquito-borne disease in 2015 was the highest from 2000 to 2017. In Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia and Thailand, the number of reported cases, while relatively low for an El Nino year, was still higher than in neutral years. In both regions, the El Nino produced higher than normal land surface temperatures and therefore drier habitats, which drew mosquitoes into populated, urban areas containing the open water needed for laying eggs. As the air warmed, mosquitoes also grew hungrier and reached sexual maturity more quickly, resulting in an increase in mosquito bites. The findings highlight the importance of existing seasonal forecasts, said Anyamba, who has been involved with such work for the past 20 years. Organisations can use early warnings in countries where these outbreaks occur to take preventive measures. Based on current forecast models, the US Department of Defense does pre-deployment planning, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) takes measures to ensure the safety of imported goods. Co-author Kenneth Linthicum, USDA center director at an entomology laboratory in Gainesville, Florida said: 'Knowledge of the linkages between El Nino events and these important human and animal diseases generated by this study is critical to disease control and prevention, which will also mitigate globalization.' He noted these data were used in 2016 to avert a Rift Valley fever outbreak in East Africa. 'By vaccinating livestock, they likely prevented thousands of human cases and animal deaths,' he said. Co-author William Karesh, executive vice president for New York City-based public health and environmental nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, said: 'This is a remarkable tool to help people prepare for impending disease events and take steps to prevent them. 'Vaccinations for humans and livestock, pest control programs, removing excess stagnant water - those are some actions that countries can take to minimize the impacts. 'But for many countries, in particular the agriculture sectors in Africa and Asia, these climate-weather forecasts are a new tool for them, so it may take time and dedicated resources for these kinds of practices to become more utilized.' According to Anyamba, the major benefit of these seasonal forecasts is additional time between the weather event and outbreaks. He said: 'A lot of diseases, particularly mosquito-borne epidemics, have a lag time of two to three months following these weather changes. So seasonal forecasting is actually very good, and the fact that they are updated every month means we can track conditions in different locations and prepare accordingly. It has the power to save lives.' It has previously been suggested that El Nino sparked the plague epidemic in Madagascar, which infected 2417 people and killed 209. The SKA will include more than 132,000 low-frequency antennas in Australia and hundreds of dishes in South Africa. The projected infrastructure will include 65,000 fibre optic cables to transfer the data from the antennas to the SKA's supercomputing facilities. (Photo: ANI) The worlds largest radio telescope, Square Kilometre Array (SKA), is one step closer to completion in the remote West Australian desert, as scientists are putting the final touches on the build for the ambitious project. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is heading the Australian side of the ambitious project to build the worlds largest radio telescope built across two continents. As CNET reports, the SKA will include more than 132,000 low-frequency antennas in Australia and hundreds of dishes in South Africa, creating a total area of 1 square kilometre. CSIRO says the final setup will resemble metal Christmas trees. With SKA, the exchange of data is estimated to be on the scale of petabits per second which means an even enhanced infrastructure and the need to control the level of radio emissions. The projected infrastructure will include 65,000 fibre optic cables to transfer the data from the antennas to the SKA's supercomputing facilities. As the infrastructure design is finalised across Australia and South Africa, the construction on the SKA is expected to commence in 2020. When completed, the SKA will be capable of imaging the sky at a resolution surpassing the Hubble telescope. It will help scientists look at how galaxies formed after the Big Bang, explore magnetic fields and dark energy, even potentially search for signs of extraterrestrial life. The UK has scored 16th in a report assessing the quality of healthcare across 35 European countries. The report - which looked at 46 indicators, including infant mortality, suicide rates and time waiting for treatment - ranked the UK below Czech Republic and Estonia, which scored 14th and 15th, respectively. Only Ireland performed worse than the UK when it came to 'accessibility', such as seeing a GP the same day or the time spent waiting for major surgery. But the UK was second only to Norway when it came to the best preventative healthcare, such as vaccinations and stop smoking interventions. Switzerland came out on top overall, marking the first time the Netherlands has been beaten in a decade. The UK was ranked 16th in a report assessing the quality of healthcare across 35 European countries. Out of a possible 1,000 points - representing optimal care - the UK scored 728. Switzerland came out on top with 893 points and Albania came last with a mere 544 points The Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI) 2018 report was carried out by the health policy think tank The Health Consumer Powerhouse in Marseillan, France. It was written by Professor Arne Bjornberg and Ann Yung Phang, who are executive chairman and project manager, respectively. They analysed healthcare statistics from each country, before scoring each one points out of a maximum 1,000. The UK - which scored 728 points - has fallen in its rankings after scoring 15th in 2017 and 14th the year before. But since the report began in 2005, the UK has never made it into the top ten due to 'poor accessibility and an autocratic top-down management culture'. The NHS started investing millions on reducing waiting times for treatment in 2008. And it introduced a maximum wait time of 18 weeks between diagnosis and treatment. Although this led to initial improvements in the UK's ranking in the EHCI's 2012 and 2013 reports, 'much of [this] seems to have been lost by 2018'. And the UK is now 'on par with Estonia and the Czech Republic in the middle of the field'. Cancer treatment accessibility scored green if essentially 'everybody receives treatment within three weeks' and red if 'everybody waits more than three weeks'. Iceland came out on top and Hungary last. Like with the overall ranking, the UK scored close to the middle WHAT WERE THE FULL RANKINGS? Switzerland: 893 Netherlands: 883 Norway: 857 Denmark: 855 Belgium: 849 Finland: 839 Luxembourg: 809 Sweden: 800 Austria: 799 Iceland: 797 France: 796 Germany: 785 Portugal: 754 Czech Republic: 731 Estonia: 729 UK: 728 Slovakia: 722 Serbia: 699 Spain: 698 Italy: 687 Slovenia: 678 Ireland: 669 Montenegro: 668 Croatia: 644 North Macedonia: 638 Cyprus: 635 Malta: 631 Lithuania: 622 Greece: 615 Latvia: 605 Bulgaria: 591 Poland: 585 Hungary: 565 Romania: 549 Albania: 544 Advertisement Switzerland, which has 'enjoyed a solid reputation for excellence in healthcare for a long time', scored highest overall, with 893 points. It was also the only country to score 'all green' on the traffic-light system assessing waiting times to be treated. When it came to suicide rates and waiting times for paediatric psychiatry, the Netherlands dropped from green scores to red, with Switzerland taking the top spot. 'Switzerland has for a long time had a reputation for having an excellent, although expensive, healthcare system,' the authors wrote. 'And it therefore comes as no surprise that rewarding clinical excellence results in a prominent position.' The worst healthcare in Europe was awarded to Albania, with 544 points. The authors described the country as having 'very limited healthcare resources'. But the report acknowledged healthcare is easy to access in the Balkans region, with waiting times being acceptable. Its ministry said: 'Albanians are a hardy lot, who only go to the doctor when carried there.' Overall, the authors claim healthcare is improving across Europe despite budget cuts. Survival rates in everything from heart disease to cancer are on the rise, despite obesity and junk food consumption also growing, they claim. Infant mortality has also improved across the board, with 24 countries having less than three deaths per 1,000 births. And 12 countries scored more than 800 points last year, up from 11 in 2016. Tightening of the '800 club's' criteria meant only eight fit the bill last year, but three more countries scored between 796 and 799. 'Infant mortality and survival rates of heart disease, stroke, and cancer are all moving in the right direction,' Arne Bjornberg, chair of the Health Consumer Powerhouse, said. 'Patient choice and involvement are developing.' But the think tank's founder Johan Hjertqvist added most citizens still cannot move across borders for treatment despite EU legislation permitting it. And a third of Europeans live in countries with poor healthcare access. Montenegro has the fewest number of infant deaths due to a system where all high-risk pregnancies are referred to a clinical centre after a baby died from sepsis in 2014 A 50-year-old mother-of-four and grandmother-of-two who thought she was in menopause has given birth to a surprise baby boy, a report reveals. Michele Hall and her husband, Jerry, found out in October that she was 26 weeks pregnant - just days from entering the third trimester, with two months until her due date. The family, based in Naples, Florida was stunned. Michele hadn't experienced any significant weight gain, nor did she have the morning sickness she remembers from previous pregnancies. But, for five months, Michele had endured unusual aches and pains in her abdomen, which she'd dismissed as symptoms of menopause or lupus, an autoimmune disease she has battled since the age of 40. Eventually, she decided to take a pregnancy test just to put that possible theory to bed - and it came back positive. On December 27, 2018, Michele and Jerry, Michele's three kids from a previous marriage, and their 14-year-old daughter Aubrey, welcomed little Grayson at the NCH North Naples Hospital. Michele Hall and her husband, Jerry, of Naples, Florida, found out in October that she was 26 weeks pregnant 'Everyone was in shock,' Michele told Naples Daily News, which followed her short, intense pregnancy and documented their transition out of the hospital. 'Definitely in shock,' Jerry echoed. 'So in shock,' daughter Aubrey said. Michele admitted she had always 'called bull' on the TLC show I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant. Until this happened. She hadn't had a period for more than a year, and her doctor declared her safely in the menopause bracket, which can start from about 45 years old. When a woman enters menopause, she gradually stops menstruating. Eventually, she is no longer fertile. But an obstetrician at NCH North Naples told Naples Daily News that it looks like, in Michele's case, 'she just released that one egg that did it.' Michele and Jerry said they never even considered terminating the pregnancy, saying Grayson is here 'by the grace of God' - though they are '100 percent certain' they aren't having any more. Grayson was delivered by scheduled C-section slightly premature at 35 weeks (rather than 40 weeks, which is full gestation) weighing 6 pounds and 19 ounces. There were concerns about both Grayson's health and Michele's, given her age, her lupus and her late discovery of the pregnancy. The C-section and inducement was recommended to lower the risk of Michele suffering a cardiac arrest or seizures by waiting for the baby. She got through it fine. Grayson, at first, had some breathing issues and an episode of sleep apnea, requiring intensive care for 12 days. He was brought home on January 7, to his woodland-themed nursery, and he is developing well. BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF by Marlon James (Hamish Hamilton 20, 640 pp) BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF by Marlon James (Hamish Hamilton 20, 640 pp) After Marlon James won the 2016 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings, he reportedly told his agent he might follow it up with a quiet, literary novel about Jamaicans in New York. What he in fact produced was a literary, but not at all quiet, first instalment of a fantasy trilogy set in an ancient Africa which reads a bit like The Lord of the Rings crossed with Game of Thrones as conceived by Ben Okri, with a strong dollop of Marvel-style comic book thrown in. On one level its a classic quest novel narrated by Tracker, an olfactory-blessed manhunter tasked with finding a missing boy; on another its an almost physically immersive summoning of a largely homoerotic and stupendously violent pan-African universe populated by psychopathic hyenas, witches, giants, mutilated children, mercenaries and a lusty leopard man with whom Tracker occasionally gets it on. This is a relentlessly kinetic, hallucinatory myth mash-up that revels in generating thrills. Many readers will jump on it with glee but, alas, it defeated me. THE SNAKES by Sadie Jones (Chatto 14.99, 448 pp) THE SNAKES by Sadie Jones (Chatto 14.99, 448 pp) Sadie Jones is such an enjoyable novelist to spend time with. Her books are so easy to read, while each sentence is rich in meaty observation. Her fifth novel, the first to be set in the present day (although the previous four felt pretty contemporary in their fashion, too), is a slow-burning thriller about a very wealthy family whose money, it gradually transpires, is not entirely legit. Their socialist daughter Bea is appalled by her fathers business approach and has rejected his lifestyle for one of impoverished happiness, living with her mixed-race husband Dan, a failed artist. Yet she finds herself drawn into her familys murky finances after the death of her dropout brother, Alex, in France. Elegantly atmospheric, this novel has echoes of Arthur Millers All My Sons in its portrait of greed and its unintended consequences. Sometimes it feels a bit top-heavy, yet Jones is excellent on the English obsession with status. While her denouement is risky, its abrupt swerve left me breathless. LOST CHILDREN ARCHIVE by Valeria Luiselli (4th Estate 16.99, 400 pp) LOST CHILDREN ARCHIVE by Valeria Luiselli (4th Estate 16.99, 400 pp) To leave is to die a little. To arrive is to never arrive, reads the migrant prayer that precedes this story of two opposing journeys. One is a road trip south by two unhappily married documentary sound artists and their two children, from New York towards the Mexican border. The other is the perilous journey taken north by thousands of undocumented Central American children who hope to cross into the United States. Interwoven is an imagined trip taken by a group of migrant children with an unnamed man across the desert, and the journey taken by the documentary couples young daughter and son, who decide on a whim to go in search of two missing Mexican girls. Valeria Luiselli offers a searing indictment of Americas border policy in this roving and rather beautiful form-busting novel. Among the tales many ruminative ideas about absences, vanished histories and bearing witness, it offers a powerful meditation on how best to tell a story when the subject of it is missing. The ongoing scandal around Chinese technology giant Huawei claimed a victim among the small caps this week in the form of IT and engineering recruiter Gattaca. On Wednesday, the company confirmed that it was assisting the US Department of Justice after information was requested largely relating to events prior to its acquisition of Networkers International in 2015. According to a media report, the ongoing investigation centres around Networkers supplying contract staff to Iranian firm Skycom, a company that the US government maintains was a front designed to cover up Huawei's business in the country, which was operating in violation of US sanctions, between 2010 and 2016. The ongoing scandal around Chinese technology giant Huawei claimed a victim among the small caps this week The DOJ alleges that Huawei used Skycom to get its hands on embargoed US technology and goods inside Iran and to move money out of the country, charges which Huawei denies. The investigation forms part of an ongoing international scandal around Huawei's alleged influence in the telecoms sector and whether or not the use of its technology is making countries and citizens vulnerable to Chinese spying, a dispute that has involved the arrest of Huawei's finance boss, Meng Wanzhou, in December last year. Despite the fact that the investigation did not connect directly to Gattaca, the news didn't do much to improve investor sentiment, with shares tumbling 9.7p, or 8.4 per cent to 107p over the course of the week. Gattaca shares sunk to 96p on Wednesday, just short of its 52-week low Meanwhile, legal wrangling was yielding some more positive news for music download platform 7digital, which soared 0.5p, or 57 per cent, to 1.5p after it reached a settlement with German electronics retailer MediaMarktSaturn over its Juke music service. 7digital said for an immediate payment of 4million by Juke it would be released from all outstanding contracts and commitments relating to the service, and will also use the proceeds to pay off 500,000 in loans to Juke. Byotrol also cleaned up in the week, with shares rising 0.5p, or 19 per cent to 2.8p after completing US product registration for two improved versions of its Byotrol24 surface sanitiser. Hormonal disease specialist Diurnal was given a boost as shares surged 4p, or 14 per cent to 32p after it submitted a marketing authorisation application for Alkindi, its treatment for adrenal insufficiency in children, as well as receiving a second patent for the product in Israel. A deal with Kuwaiti commodities traders helped put a spring in the step of fuel developer Quadrise, with its shares lifted 0.4p, or 14 per cent higher to 3.6p as it said the deal was 'an important milestone' for its Middle East efforts. The AIM All-Share crept up 2.5 points, or 0.3 per cent over the week to 912.5, while the FTSE 100 shed 72 points, or 1 per cent, to 7,106. Among the small cap fallers, XLMedia lost nearly a third of its value over the week, with shares plunging 24p, or 30 per cent to 55p after it unveiled plans to cut back on non-core activities and focus on its online publishing business, a move that was expected to knock both earnings and revenues in 2019. An earnings warning also caused pain for Fusion Antibodies after it cautioned that takings for the year ended March 2019 would be materially below market expectations, with the shares sinking 7p, or 18 per cent to 30.5p in response. Completing the warning trifecta was e-commerce firm Proactis, which plunged 76p, or 65 per cent to 40.5p after it revealed its trading deteriorated in 2019 which led to a cut to its growth forecasts. Bulb Energy has announced it is cutting its energy bills by 2 per cent, bucking the trend of major suppliers putting their prices up. The reduction will apply to Bulb's gas prices and means a million customers will save an average of 20 a year, bringing their average annual bill down to 1,000. This is more than 250 cheaper than the new default tariffs of the largest suppliers who have all announced price hikes in the past few weeks. Bulb has cut its annual prices by 2% - after all of the Big Six increased prices by 10% or more Hayden Wood, Co-founder and CEO of Bulb said: 'We're on a mission to reduce bills and cut carbon emissions, so I'm pleased to announce another Bulb price drop today. 'Bulb's renewable energy is now 250 cheaper than standard Big Six plans. Our single tariff reflects the true cost of supplying energy: when energy costs fall, we pass on those savings to our members. 'Last year, millions ditched the Big Six for a better deal on their energy. And with Big Six bills set to go up in a few weeks, there's never been a better time to switch.' The firm is the UK's eighth biggest supplier, just behind Ovo Energy, who today announced a 10 per cent price rise for the 160,000 customers on its standard variable tariff. The move will add 18million to bills across the country with the hike also affecting customers on its community brands, which include Peterborough Energy, Fairerpower, Southend Energy and EnergySW. All of the Big Six announced increases of 10 per cent or more for their standard variable tariff customers after Ofgem announced the price cap increase last month. SMALL SUPPLIER PRICES INCREASES SINCE PRICE CAP RISE (DIRECT DEBIT) Supplier Tariff name Current SVT price New SVT price from 1/4/19 Increase () Increase (%) Ebico Standard 1,058 1,227 169 16% Co-op Green Pioneer Direct Debit 1,136 1,253 117 10% GB Energy Green Pioneer - DD 1,136 1,253 117 10% Flow Flow Variable 1,136 1,253 117 10% OVO Simpler Energy 1,137 1,249 112 10% TOTO TOTO Plain and Simple 1,137 1,254 117 10% Bristol Energy Standard Variable Tariff v4 1,109 1,210 101 9% Tonik Energy Life Energy 1,048 1,192 144 14% Source: uSwitch (prices correct as of February 22 2019) The price cap was initially put into place to help customers who never switch their energy bills. However, due to the change in wholesale costs, the cap has already shifted significantly. The next review is due to take place in October of this year. A number of other small suppliers have also announced increases, including Bristol Energy, Tonik and TOTO, who are rising their prices by up to 144 for their credit meter standard variable customers. Prepayment customers will also feel the squeeze with Bristol Energy, First Utility, Tonik and TOTO increasing their bills by up to 108 per year. Overall, around 15 million standard credit and prepayment customers have had a 1.7billion price rise confirmed for April 1. Customers due to be affected by the hikes have been advised to switch their tariffs, which could save them an average of 324, according to uSwitch data. Rik Smith, energy expert at uSwitch.com, said: 'Challenger energy suppliers have largely followed the trend set by the Big Six and announced hikes to their standard tariffs. 'Against this backdrop, Bulb's decision to cut prices is all the more eye-catching. 'Since Ofgem raised the level of the price cap, price increases have been confirmed by all of the Big Six plus nine smaller providers. 'More will likely follow suit before the bill hikes take effect on 1 April. 'If your supplier has priced within a few pounds of the cap, you're on a bad deal. Over half the households in this country are already overpaying for their gas and electricity and in a month's time they'll be paying another 117. 'The only way to make sure you pay as little as possible for your gas and electricity is to switch tariff and show suppliers you won't be taken for granted. Now is the time to take action and save over 300.' Aston Martin Lagonda shares crashed to an all-time low as it suffered annual losses of 68.2million. The luxury car maker was hit by one-off costs of 136million relating to its much-hyped float on the London Stock Exchange in October last year including a 61.2million pay-out in staff bonuses. Shares fell 21.4 per cent, or 294.4p, to 1080p as investors made their displeasure known. The company has lost 43 per cent of its value or 1.8billion since the shares floated at 1900p in October. Shaken not stirred: The James Bond car maker has seen shares dive to an all-time low Analysts warned that bosses may even have to seek more money from shareholders to support the business. Chief executive Andy Palmer struck a defiant note, claiming that the stock will rise again and that large shareholders are behind him. He said: We try and speak to our key investors a lot. In every case they will tell us, Were into this for the long term, and you keep doing what youre doing. In the long term, the share price will catch up. Aston sold 6,441 cars in 2018, up 26 per cent on a year earlier, with overall US sales outstripping those in the UK for the first time. The average selling price of its cars was 157,000, down by 2,000 on a year earlier. Bosses are planning to unveil one car a year until 2023 and said its 140,000 SUV, the DBX, is on track to launch later in 2019. It is also developing the Valkyrie, an ultra-high-end electric hybrid intended to be the fastest road-legal car in the world, of which only 150 will be made. The 106-year-old firm is branching out beyond the cars that made it famous into other luxury markets. It has produced speedboats, last year signed a tie-up with Swiss firm TAG Heuer to produce watches and is also behind a luxury Miami apartment block. More exotic projects considered by Aston have included a submarine and pilotless aircraft. These grand ambitions helped drive huge excitement in the run-up to the float, but have so far failed to translate into huge profits. Astons revenues rose by 25 per cent to 1.1billion last year. Its 68.2million loss came after an 84.5million profit in 2017. The firm is also burning through cash as it seeks to grow rapidly, sparking fears it may have to tap up shareholders for more. In 2018 Aston generated 223million from its day-to-day activities but invested 306million in new projects, giving it a shortfall of 83million. Analysts at the broker Quest said if this does not improve then the car maker is likely to need more money, and urged shareholders to sell. The Aston Martin results come amid a turbulent time for the car market, with major cutbacks at Ford, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show an 18.2 per cent fall in UK production in January compared to a year earlier. A global crackdown on trade by President Trump is damaging worldwide exports, while the European market is struggling because customers have turned away from diesel. SMMT also found that a third of automotive firms had postponed or cancelled investment in the UK because of Brexit. Palmer, whose firm has set aside 30million to cover costs related to Brexit, warned any delay to our departure from the EU will prolong uncertainty and push up costs for manufacturers. He said a late Brexit will force firms to hold onto stockpiled parts for longer, and make it harder to invest. A British company growing cannabis for medicinal use in Jamaica is considering an initial public offering on AIM later this year. Jacana, founded by Alexandra Chong, raised an initial 15million from high-profile angel investors including Passion Capital co-founder Eileen Burbidge, venture capitalist Bill Tai and former Microsoft marketing head Mich Mathews-Spradlin. Each put their own money into the firm and also sit on Jacana's board. Cannabis listing: Jacana, founded by 37-year-old Alexandra Chong, raised an initial 15m from high-profile angel investors A junior market float would make Jacana one of the first companies in the sector to list in Britain. Jacana exported its first medical cannabis flower to Canadian firm Anandia in late 2018. And the company, which has 55 employees and a 100-acre farm in northern Jamaica, plans to sell to patients across North America, Europe and the UK in the coming months. Chong, 37, said: 'Jacana's mission is to provide natural medicine that people can trust.' Audley Shaw, Jamaica's minister of industry, said: 'Our country will play a crucial role in addressing the global demand for medical cannabis.' British Airways owner IAG is giving shareholders 600million in dividends after profit and revenues soared. IAG, which also owns Aer Lingus and Spanish airline Vueling, raked in profits of 2.6billion last year, 9.6 per cernt higher than in 2017. Revenues surged 6.7 per cent to 20.9billion. Figures were better than expected but chief executive Willie Walsh warned that profits will be flat this year due to higher fuel costs. Dividend boom: British Airways owner IAG raked in profits of 2.6bn last year, 9.6 per cent higher than a year earlier. Revenues surged 6.7 per cent to 20.9bn The profits boost comes after a massive customer data breach at BA, which could leave IAG with a 500million fine. It has also been a difficult year for the industry generally after a string of collapses and the rescue of regional carrier Flybe, which was effectively bought for 2.8million to save it from administration. But Walsh shrugged off concerns surrounding the sector, adding: Flybe was making up excuses for what has been a poor performance for years. Its not really relevant to the industry at large. Walsh, 57, also dismissed fears that a no-deal Brexit would ground flights. We will continue flying, both the UK and EU have stated that. People dont need to be concerned about that, he said. Earlier this month, IAG placed a limit on non-EU shareholders, but said that UK residents would be treated in the same way as those from the EU even after Brexit. However, Walsh insisted the move had nothing to do with Brexit, even though it led to fears over the treatment of British investors after the United Kingdom leaves the EU. I know the timing of it makes it look Brexit-related, but its related to the influx in US shareholders that we saw going through January and February, Walsh said. Its not an issue. I remain confident that we will have an air transport agreement. Were comfortable that these issues will be addressed. IAG has also ordered 18 Boeing 777-9 planes after shunning Airbus, due to its dissatisfaction with Rolls-Royce, which makes the engines for Airbuss A350 aircraft. A woman who had to fight to win back her biological son after becoming pregnant with twins during a surrogacy for a childless Chinese couple, is suing the surrogacy agency accusing them of 'human trafficking' and holding their newborn baby 'prisoner.' Jessica Allen, 31, and her husband Wardell Jasper, 34, are charging child abduction and abuse, battery, extortion, conspiracy and a string of other complaints in the lawsuit against Omega Family Global. The couple has suffered 'injury, sorrow, shock, anguish, fright, horror, nervousness, grief, anxiety, worry, humiliation, shame and severe distress,' blasts their lawyer in court documents obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. They are seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages from San Diego based Omega whom they accuse of 'wrongfully conspiring to abduct Jessica and Wardell's son and keep their son from them and extort monies from themand acting despicably and with oppressive, fraudulent or malicious intent.' Jessica Allen, 31, and her husband Wardell Jasper, 34, from Perris, California, are suing Omega Family Global claiming the agency kept their son, Malachi (far left) from them and extorted money from them Video Courtesy Dr. OZ Jessica and Wardell already had two young sons when they started looking into surrogacy in 2015, but Allen, who loved motherhood, was keen to 'bless' another family with a child, says the paperwork filed in Riverside County where the couple live in the city of Perris. After doing research on local surrogacy agencies, the couple approached Omega, who matched Jessica with a childless couple, the Lius (named for the sake of this article) in China where commercial surrogacy is banned. In April 2016, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) was successfully used to implant a male frozen embryo from the intended parents, the Lius, into Jessica and she became pregnant. But barely a month later, when she went to her physician, Dr Frank Yelian, for a routine ultrasound exam, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. What she didn't find out till much later was that she was naturally pregnant with her husband's child AND the Lius' child through an extremely rare medical condition called superfetation. But according to the couple's lawsuit, 'Dr. Yelian noted that two amniotic sacs were viewed on the ultrasound.' Jessica became pregnant with Malachi while carrying the child of another couple through an extremely rare medical incident called superfetation Jessica was told that the one embryo that had been transferred had split and therefore, the twins were identical males. 'The intended parents were notified that the ultrasound showed twins were expected.' Jessica - who was being paid $30,000 to be a surrogate - was to be paid an additional $5,000 for carrying a second child for the Lius. Fast forward to December 12, 2016 when the baby boys were born by C-section at 38 weeks. The delivery was done behind an opaque screen and the babies were whisked away from the delivery room before Jessica had the chance to see them. The following day Jessica asked if she could see the babies as had been agreed prior to the births. But Tracy Armato - a surrogate liaison coordinator with Omega - told her she could not see or hold the babies, the papers state. 'Jessica was devastated and was only permitted to see a cell phone photograph of the two children, taken by the intended mother, which she was hesitant to show Jessica,' the paperwork states. ' Jessica saw that the two children looked nothing alike in the photograph and commented that the boys 'looked so different (the Lius are Chinese, Jessica is white and Wardell is African-American).' But Armato ignored the mother-of-three's observation and fobbed her off with assurances that when she was a surrogate she had given birth to twins and they looked very different at birth, but later they started to look alike. When the babies were scheduled to be taken away from the hospital Jessica again asked to see them. Again she was denied. Armato, the lawsuit alleges, had the babies circumcised and immunized. It's also alleged that Omega and its lawyers, Gaston & Gaston - whom Jessica and Wardell are also suing - had already filed with the court the pre-birth legal documents, making the Lius the legal parents of both babies. Jessica gave birth to two 'twins' on December 12, 2016 but it wasn't until more than a month later on January 24, that she learned one of the infants was her biological son Omega finally returned baby Malachi to Jessica in a Starbucks parking lot on February 5, 2017, nearly two months after he was born A month after the babies were born, Mrs Liu sent Jessica photos of the twins with a text asking her if she thought they looked the same. 'It was very obvious that the boys looked nothing alike, just as Jessica had commented the day after they were born,' says the lawsuit. 'One of the boys was clearly Chinese and the other was clearly bi-racial' The Lius had DNA tests done on both boys and confirmed that one was not theirs. And soon afterward the Lius delivered the baby back to Omega and said that they wanted nothing to do with the 'bi-racial baby,' adds the lawsuit. When Jessica and Wardell learned the truth on January 24, 2017, 'They were in a state of disbelief, shock and horror,' says the lawsuit. 'They had not been able to see their baby, they had not been able to hold their baby, they had not been able to bring their baby home, feed him, care for him, bond with him or love him.' But despite the confirmation that the baby was theirs, still they couldn't take him home, the lawsuit alleges. Instead, it claims, Armato demanded that Omega be paid around $9,200 for 'out-of-pocket' expenses they had spent for the baby's care. The couple was also told they had to pay around $3,000 to have the baby's birth certificate changed. If the money wasn't paid Armato told the couple they would have to sign paperwork giving up their rights to the baby and that the baby would be put up for adoption. 'Jessica and Wardell were devastated, horrified and distraught at being told they would have pay $3,000, plus the additional amounts demanded, to get their own child from Omega, money they did not have,' the documents state. Jessica and Wardell are seeking unspecified damages and claim to have suffered 'injury, sorrow, shock, anguish, fright, horror, nervousness, grief, anxiety, worry, humiliation, shame and severe distress' The parents claim their baby was in poor health, had breathing problems and had severe diaper rash among other issues, when they were reunited with him A few days later, on January 31, according to the lawsuit, the couple were hit with an even bigger demand from Omega owner and director Kyle Kramer (also a defendant in the lawsuit) who 'told Jessica and Wardell that Omega wanted them to enter into a written agreement to pay approximately $18,000-$22,000 to the Lius' as compensation for the return of their child. Eventually, after getting a lawyer of their own and spending $3,000 on legal fees, the relieved parents finally got their baby back, with Omega staff handing him over in a Starbucks parking lot on February 5. They named him Malachi. The baby, the suit claims, was in poor health, had breathing problems and had severe diaper rash among other issues. 'Jessica and Wardell's shock, disbelief, horror, fear and betrayal at seeing the "human trafficking" of their son will never leave them,' the suit states. 'They have suffered immense and irreparable loss as to what can never be regained, i.e. being able to bond with their baby during the first two months of his life, holding him, watching him sleep, putting him to bed, feeding him, playing with him, getting to know him - all of this was stolen from Jessica and Wardell, all of this they can never get back.' The suit added that Malachi has already exhibited symptoms of bonding related issues, the lack of nurturing, love and attention and the trauma caused by being passed around. The lawsuit also claims Omega 'held Malachi as a prisoner. The paperwork concludes: 'Malachi was treated as nothing more than a 'pawn' in the defendants' conspiracy to keep him from his lawful parents and as a 'bargaining chip' the defendants could use to extort monies from Jessica and Wardell, sell to adoptive parents of others and/or use as a negotiating tool to try and obtain a release of their liability from Jesica and Wardell. 'The damage has been done by the defendants and Jessica, Wardell and most importantly Malachi, are now left to live with the long-lasting consequences of the defendants' wrongs against them.' Passengers travelling on state-of-the-art trains along a new 15billion, 60-mile rail line will need strong bladders because none of the carriages will have a loo. The fleet of 70 Bombardier Class 345 trains built in Derby and costing well over 1billion in total will cover the 102-minute journey on the Crossrail service from Reading in Berkshire to Shenfield in Essex. Anyone caught short will have to get off the train to use station toilets. Scroll down for video Passengers travelling on state-of-the-art trains along a new 15billion, 60-mile rail line will need strong bladders because none of the carriages will have a loo Some of the lavatory-free trains are already running on shorter journeys along the Elizabeth Line, which won't be fully completed until December 2019. It will take in Reading, Heathrow, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield. Each 200m train will be almost twice as long as a London Tube train, and will carry up to 1,500 people at peak times. Transport for London, which is overseeing the partly public-funded project, said adding toilets would 'displace' 600 passengers an hour. But the prospect of making the full journey without a toilet on board has unnerved some. Valerie Graves, from Tilehurst in Reading, said: 'Many passengers will be elderly and disabled, parents of young children, not to mention anxious travellers. 'Trains break down, signal failures occur, and many stations do not have working toilets. These trains will not be like Underground trains, which go much shorter distances than Crossrail.' A TfL spokesman said: 'The Elizabeth Line will be a high-frequency, metro-style service. The average time a passenger will travel will be 20 minutes.' The House of Commons scheduled an emergency debate on Thursday on the deepening controversy, the most serious faced by Justin Trudeau. Canada's opposition leader formally asked federal police on Thursday to investigate a claim of political meddling by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government. (Photo:AP) Ottawa: Canada's opposition leader formally asked federal police on Thursday to investigate a claim of political meddling by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in the criminal prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. The House of Commons scheduled an emergency debate Thursday on the deepening controversy, the most serious faced by Trudeau since assuming office in 2015. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer accused the Liberal prime minister's inner circle of possibly attempting to obstruct justice, in a letter to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Brenda Lucki -- which the RCMP confirmed to AFP it has received. "The matter at hand appears, on its face, to be a gross violation of the law," Scheer wrote. He pointed to "explosive testimony" by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, who told the House of Commons justice committee on Wednesday that Trudeau's staff and other senior officials applied undue pressure on her to settle a criminal case against SNC-Lavalin. The Montreal-based company was charged in 2015 with corruption for allegedly bribing officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts during former strongman Muammar Al Gaddafi's reign. Wilson-Raybould, after resigning from cabinet, testified that she experienced a "consistent and sustained effort" to politically interfere in the prosecution of one of the world's top engineering firms. She added that she faced "veiled threats," and described the intense pressure on her to comply as "inappropriate," but stopped short of suggesting it was illegal. In the end, Wilson-Raybould refused to ask prosecutors to settle, and the trial is set to proceed. Trudeau has rejected her characterizations of events, saying Wednesday that he had made clear to his former attorney general that the "decision around SNC-Lavalin was Jody Wilson-Raybould's and hers alone to make." Thursday morning, dodging calls to resign, he said: "My team and I have always acted in a professional manner." "Canadians expect their government to look for ways to protect jobs, to grow the economy, and that's exactly what we've done every step of the way ... in a way that has respected our laws and respects the independence of the judiciary," he added. For weeks, Trudeau's Liberal government has been rocked by the allegations first reported by The Globe and Mail newspaper, only eight months before elections. Canada's ethics commissioner has launched an investigation into the matter. GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy is under investigation for allegedly selling access to Donald Trump. Broidy, who is being investigated by the Department of Justice, reportedly promised foreign officials that the US government would fulfill their wishes if they paid him tens of millions of dollars, sources told The Washington Post. The claims first emerged in leaked emails reported earlier this year. Prosecutors are now probing whether Broidy tried to convince the Trump administration to extradite a Chinese 'dissident' Guo Wengui back to China, an action sought by Chinese President Xi Jinping. GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy (left) is under investigation for allegedly selling access to Donald Trump (right) Wengui fled to the United States in 2014 where he is now seeking asylum after accusing officials in his native China of corruption. He has since made explosive corruption accusations against China's elite by posting a series of graft allegations on social media, and called for a 'change of the regime' in Beijing. Prosecutors are also looking at if Broidy tried to earn $75 million from a Malaysian businessman Jho Low in exchange for getting the DOJ to drops its investigation into a development fund run by the Malaysian government. Low, a financier at the centre of Malaysias 1MDB mega-scandal, is suspected of being a key figure in one of the world's biggest frauds along with ousted leader Najib Razak and his cronies. He led a high-rolling lifestyle after allegedly stealing huge sums from 1MDB. He hung out with celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, partied with Paris Hilton, and reportedly spent vast sums in New York's hottest nightspots. As investigations into the controversy accelerated, the Malaysian took to a luxury yacht allegedly bought with stolen cash and sailed around Asia, until the vessel was seized off Bali recently as part of 1MDB-linked probes. The Department of Justice, which has launched lawsuits to seize assets allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB cash in the US, alleges $400 million from the fund was sent to America 'for the personal gratification of Low and his associates'. Broidy's lawyer has denied all allegations. 'Elliott Broidy has never agreed to work for, been retained by nor been compensated by any foreign government for any interaction with the U.S. Government, ever. Any implication to the contrary is a lie,' he said. Scandal-hit Broidy was already forced to step down down from his position as Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman in April this year. The move came after former Playboy model, Shera Bechard, filed a lawsuit against Broidy after reportedly becoming pregnant during their affair. Bechard had agreed to a $1.6 million settlement with the top Trump donor, but has since filed a suit against and her lawyer. She is asking that Broidy hand over $200,000 on top of the remaining $1.2 million she is owed as part of their settlement agreement in a complaint filed on July 6 inCalifornia. The complaint alleges that Broidy made a $200,000 payment one day before a 12-weeks-pregnant Bechard aborted his child, and a second payment in the same amount in April, but then stopped paying out the settlement. It is also revealed in the heavily redacted copy of the court filing, which was previously under seal and has now been obtained by DailyMail.com, that Bechard wants $140,000 from her former attorney Keith Davidson and undisclosed damages from both him and Michael Avenatti for leaking her story to the press. Settle for more: Shera Bechard (above in undated photo) is also suing Elliott Broidy for the remaining $1.2 million of their settlement plus an extra $200,000 for breach of contract Davidson, who previously represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her settlement agreement with President Donald Trump, is also accused of colluding with Broidy's attorney Michael Cohen in the suit. 'On October 31, 2017, Ms. Bechard met with Mr. Davidson and asked for his help dealing with a problem,' states the complaint. 'She was seven weeks pregnant with the child of Mr. Broidy (the then-Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee), conceived in an extramarital affair.' Bechard is a former Playmate who briefly date Hugh Hefner. She was born in Canada, and like Melania Trump received an elusive 'Einstein visa' back in 2012. Broidy, 62, has three children with wife Robin and was deputy finance chairman of the Republican national Committee until April, when news of the alleged affair broke. He has not made any payments since stepping down from that post. Bechard states that she was 'confused' and 'scared' at the time but things quickly began to move along, and on November 8 Davidson came back and said he had made contact with Broidy's lawyer. Elliott Broidy (pictured with his wife Robin in 2007) is being investigated by the Department of Justice 'Ms. Bechard was surprised to hear that Mr. Davidson had so quickly 15 figured out who Mr. Broidy's lawyer was, so she asked how that had happened,' reads the complaint. 'Mr. Davidson responded that he had a 'relationship' with the lawyer, a guy named Michael Cohen. Ms. Bechard 17 asked, 'wait, he's your friend?' But Mr. Davidson said no.' Just a week after that the deal for $1.6 million was offered to Bechard by her lawyer, with the sum represeneting 'the net present value of child-support payments Mr. Broidy would be expected to make 23 over the 18-year support term of their child.' Davidson told Bechard that 'she would give up all rights to sue Mr. Broidy for past conduct and would be required to 25 never again speak of the affair' if she signed the agreement, terms she agreed to at the time. The agreement was signed on December 1, with Bechar set to receive eight quarterly installments of $200,000, minust Davidson's 35 percent fee for negotiating the deal. 'Mr. Davidson told her that she was not getting paid to have an abortion, but 21 rather to give up her rights to sue Mr. Broidy and to not to talk about the relationship,' states the complaint. On December 5, Bechard received a $200,000 payment and on December 6 she ended her pregnancy after 12 weeks states the complaint. The next payment came on April 1, with Davidson withholding $70,000 from each payment, money which Bechard is now demanding also be returned to her in the lawsuit She wants that money back because of Davidson's past relationship with Cohen, which she learned of in April when The New York Times released a story detailing how the two men worked together while drawing up a settlement for Karen McDougal. She fired Davidson at that time, and soon after Avenatti began to leak details of the settlement. One day after Avenatti teased the story, the Wall Street Journal broke the news of the affair and named both Becar and Broidy. In that same article it was also revealed that it was Cohen who reached out to Broidy. That was further detailed in a subsequent story, with Broidy claiming that Cohen told him: 'It's your lucky day, because you have a big problem and I can help you solve it.' This was also confirmed with the release of Avenatti's March report, which showed three payments of $62,500 being wired to Billionaire Guo Wengui fled to the United States in 2014 where he is now seeking asylum after accusing officials in his native China of corruption Jho Low led a high-rolling lifestyle after allegedly stealing huge sums from 1MDB, reportedly spending vast sums in New York's hottest nightspots Bechard also reveals that Davidson never allowed her to keep a copy of the settlement, and that he responded to requests made by the Journal without her consent. When Bechard tried to obtain the agreement she was told that she owed Davidson $420,000 states the complaint. Furthermore, she claims Davidson changed the contract without her consent, adding a $4.8 million penalty should she breach the agreement. Behar is suing Broidy for breach of contract and Davidson for torturous interference an d conspiracy to commit breach of fiduciary duty. She is asking that Davidson return the payments he has received and that he and Avenatti pay damages to be determined at trial for leaking information of the affair and settlement. 'I did nothing wrong. I owed her no duty and the information was already in the hands of the Wall Street Journal. The allegations against me are frivolous,' said Avenatti when asked for comment. Broidy has also launched his own lawsuit against Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, a Qatari who is accused in court in Los Angeles of boasting that he was trying to bribe Steve Bannon and had targeted other officials. On May 26, Briody accused the investor of being part of a Qatari government plot to hack Broidy's emails and distribute them to the press. The leaked emails showed Broidy was selling his influence with Trump to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), promoting policies favorable to the gulf state, which is Qatar's bitter rival in the region. Residents have been told to take shelter in solid structures as fires blaze out of control across New South Wales. Wild winds have caused fires to spread, with one blaze wreaking havoc at Woodstock, near Ulladulla on the South Coast, and the other in the Port Stephens region, north of Sydney. Both wildfires were upgraded to an 'Emergency' level, and continue to burn out of control. Residents have been told to take shelter in solid structures as fires blaze out of control across New South Wales Wild winds fuel out-of-control fire tearing through Salt Ash The New South Wales Rural Fire Service issued further fire danger warnings on Saturday morning as expected winds were forecasted to affect the firegrounds. The inferno at Woodstock in the Mount Kingiman area has ripped through more than 4,000 hectares of land. Once the fire began to spread, the Rural Fire Service warned residents to put their bush fire survival plan into action. 'If your plan is to leave, leave now towards Ulladulla if the path is clear,' they posted to Twitter. The fire was soon downgraded to 'Watch and Act' at about 3pm, as firefighters succeeded in controlling the blaze and 'gaining the upper hand'. North of Sydney, another warning was sent to residents of an 'Emergency' wildfire in the Salt Ash area in Port Stephens. According to the Rural Fire Service, the inferno continued to burn behind containment lines, which was producing large clouds of smoke. Residents were urged to leave immediately at about 3:30pm, once the fire had torn through more than 860 hectares of land. Both wildfires were upgraded to an 'Emergency' level, and continue to burn out of control Fire services were on the scene undertaking property protection as winds could change the direction of the blaze. Both Oyster Cove Road and Lemon Tree Passage Road are closed, and emergency services are urging people in surrounding areas to put survival plans into action as soon as possible. A third fire is tearing through the outskirts of the town of Tabulam, west of Ballina on the NSW far north coast, was upgraded to 'Emergency' before being downgraded to 'Watch and Act' at 4:30pm. The fire crossed the Clarence River and residents were told to take shelter in a 'solid structure'. As of 3:30pm on Saturday, there were 73 bush and grass fires burning across NSW, 44 of which were uncontainted Once the fire began to spread, the Rural Fire Service warned residents to put their bush fire survival plan into action The fire has torn through 174 hectares of land and is being controlled, as firefighters remain on the scene and are slowing the spread of the fire, with the support of aircraft. As of 3:30pm on Saturday, there were 73 bush and grass fires burning across NSW, 44 of which were uncontainted. Firefighters are battling the wildfires in seven regions across the state. The NSW RFS has warned of 'Very High' fire dangers for the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter, North Western, Northern Slopes, New England and Far North Coast regions. Changing wind directions and speeds could cause the fires to gain momentum once again. A bitter six-year-long neighbourly feud has erupted over a $17,000 boundary fence between two multi-million dollar mansions inside an affluent gated community. Part of the $2.6million property owned by Ronald and Pamela Fisher in Queensland's Sovereign Islands was built on Christian and Karina Wenzel's land, a 2012 and 2014 survey found. But when the Wenzels began legally reclaiming the land - which involved knocking down a wrongly-placed boundary fence - things turned nasty. A bitter six-year-long neighbourly feud has erupted over a $17,000 boundary fence between mansions owned by the Fisher and Wenzel families (Ronald and Pamela Fisher pictured with daughter, Katrina, centre) When the Wenzels began legally reclaiming their land - which involved knocking down a wrongly-placed boundary fence (illustrated as 'Great Wall of China') - things turned nasty The Wenzels bought their home for $2 million in 2011, and a year later discovered the fence between them and the neighbours was on their land and not the boundary. As the Wenzels commenced work knocking down the fence the Fishers took the matter to court, and while it was dismissed one week on, the drama continued. The Fishers filed another application a fortnight later, before The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal gave the Wenzels six weeks to build a replacement at their own cost. Mrs Fisher works for a real estate agent selling homes worth up to $2.5million, while Mr Wenzel is the managing director of a commercial kitchen equipment company. The Wenzels bought their home (number 21) for $2 million in 2011, and a year later discovered the fence between them and the neighbours (number 19) was on their land, not the boundary As the Wenzels commenced work knocking down the fence, the Fishers took the matter to court, and while it was dismissed one week on, the drama continued (properties pictured) When the builder fell ill forcing the construction to take longer than six weeks, the matter returned to the QCAT, which then ordered for the bill to be evenly split. On completion, another complaint was filed to the QCAT from the Fishers, who argued the fence was too high and incomplete on their side. The application was dismissed last week, with the Fishers found not to have told the builder of their dissatisfaction. Mrs Fisher (pictured) works for a real estate agent selling homes worth up to $2.5million, while Mr Wenzel is the managing director of a commercial kitchen equipment company While having successfully erected a new fence and claiming their rightful land, the Wenzels have now claimed the Fishers never picked up their share of the bill. Last week the adjudicator overseeing the tribunal noted each couple had spent $32,000 in legal fees - in a dispute over a fence that cost $17,490 to construct. '[The Fishers] have unnecessarily inconvenienced Mr and Mrs Wenzel and put them to considerable further expense which they have no compensatory or restorative remedy in this Tribunal,' adjudicator Alan Walsh wrote in his decision. When the matter came before him two years ago, Mr Walsh said Mr Fisher had made 'false assertions' to sustain 'successive applications without merit'. He said in doing so, he 'caused Mr and Mrs Wenzel unnecessary disadvantage in having to defend themselves and repeatedly answer spurious allegations'. Daily Mail Australia contacted the Fishers and the Wenzels for comment. Last week the adjudicator overseeing the tribunal noted each couple had spent $32,000 in legal fees - in a dispute over a fence that cost $17,490 to construct (properties pictured) President Donald Trump has accused social media companies of 'totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices.' 'Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we wont let that happen,' the president tweeted early Saturday morning. 'They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others. 'Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. President Donald Trump (seen departing from the White House on Friday) has accused tech companies of silencing voices on the Right President Donald Trump has accused social media companies of 'totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices' 'Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police,' Trump tweeted early Saturday morning 'Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made,' Trump tweeted on Saturday 'If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. 'I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or dont watch at all.' The president continued: 'Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. 'Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. 'Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!' Though Trump was not specific, he was likely reacting to the recent decision by tech giants Google, Facebook, Spotify, and Apple to ban the controversial conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Earlier this week, Twitter Inc banned Jones and his website Infowars from tweeting for seven days, saying their tweets violated companys rules against abusive behavior. Though Trump was not specific, he was likely reacting to the recent decision by tech giants Google, Facebook, Spotify, and Apple to ban the controversial conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (whose Twitter account is seen above) 'Infowars.com is down', tweeted Jones, in what insiders claimed was a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) cyber attack The microblogging site said it had asked Jones late Tuesday to delete the tweet that contained a video, which according to a company spokesman had a segment that is an 'incitement to violence.' The tweet in question was deleted. The Infowars account repeated the same content that Jones had posted on Tuesday night and the company took a similar action on Wednesday, the spokesman said. The temporary ban means Jones and Infowars can browse and send direct messages to followers, but would not be able to tweet, retweet, or like. Twitters rules against abusive behavior says that a user may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone or incite other people to do so. Last week, major tech companies including Apple, Alphabets YouTube, and Facebook took down podcasts and channels from the Infowars author, saying he broke community standards. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told NBC News' Lester Holt in an exclusive interview.he resisted banning Jones, the embattled conspiracy theorist and radio host, despite calls to do so from in and outside the firm Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey this week defended the social media network's decision to put Infowars' Alex Jones in a seven-day 'timeout'. Dorsey said he resisted banning Jones, the embattled conspiracy theorist and radio host, despite calls to do so from in and outside the firm. 'We can't build a service that is subjective just to the whims of what we personally believe,' Dorsey told NBC News' Lester Holt in an exclusive interview. WHAT IS A TWITTER TIMEOUT? Alex Jones account has been placed in read-only mode for seven days. Twitter confirmed he can still browse Twitter posts, but can't interact with other users by tweeting, retweeting or liking posts. Jones was also required to delete the offending tweet, which included a snippet of video, Twitter said. Advertisement 'I feel any suspension, whether it be a permanent or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and their behaviors,' Dorsey said. When asked by Holt if he believes Jones will change his behavior, Dorsey said he did not know. 'Whether it works within this case to change some of those behaviors and change some of those actions, I don't know,' Dorsey said. 'But this is consistent with how we enforce.' The ban was imposed after InfoWars creator Jones tweeted a link to an online video calling for supporters to get their 'battle rifles' ready against media and others. Austin-based right-wing broadcaster Jones, who believes the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting was a hoax, won't be able to tweet or retweet from his personal account for the next seven days, although he can still browse Twitter. Dorsey said he feels 'terrible' at the pain Jones has caused the Sandy Hook families and acknowledged that the company had been slow to respond. 'I think we have felt behind and we have felt that we have moved too slow in a lot of our actions,' he said. The president continues to blast John Brennan, tweeting early Saturday morning that the former CIA director 'is a loudmouth, partisan, political hack who cannot be trusted.' 'Has anyone looked at the mistakes that John Brennan made while serving as CIA Director?,' Trump wrote on his Twitter account. 'He will go down as easily the WORST in history & since getting out, he has become nothing less than a loudmouth, partisan, political hack who cannot be trusted with the secrets to our country!' he added. His comments come in the midst of an embroiled war of words between the two men after President Trump revoked Brennan's security clearance Wednesday due to the the former CIA official being an outspoken critic of his. The president tweeted early Saturday morning insulting the former CIA director Donald Trump called John Brennan a'loudmouth, partisan, political hack' Brennan has been an outspoken critic of Trump, asserting that the president colluded with Russia and his meeting with Putin was 'treasonous' Brennan is a longstanding critic of Trump, in July accusing him of being 'wholly in the pocket of Putin' and his conduct 'nothing short of treasonous.' White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the stunning announcement of Brennan's security clearance Wednesday, citing Brennan's purported 'erratic conduct and behavior.' In response, Brennan wrote an op-ed in the New York Times revealing that he believes Trump is attempting to silence those who may oppose him. He wrote that the president's statements that there was no collusion were 'hogwash' and that the only question now was whether or not the collusion that took place 'constituted criminally liable conspiracy.' On Friday, Brennan spoke out against the president on MSNBC, saying Trump is 'drunk on power and abusing the powers of that office.' 'These are very frightening times,' he added. The president retorted: 'There's no silence. If anything I'm giving him a bigger voice.' Trump spoke to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for a pair of Long Island events and a weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate Friday. 'Many people don't even know who he is, and now he has a bigger voice. And that's okay with me because I like taking on voices like that,' he said of Brennan. 'I've never respected him. I've never had a lot of respect.' The president has been vocal on Twitter in his criticism of Brennan On Thursday, Trump got a stinging rebuke from a retired naval admiral William McRaven, who mockingly implored him to revoke his own security clearance as a show of solidarity with Brennan. 'I don't know McRaven,' Trump said Friday, declaring that 'I've gotten tremendous response from having done that because security clearances are very important to me. Very, very important.' A dozen former American intelligence chiefs have also supported Brennan, lashing out at Trump Friday for yanking the security clearance as a 'political tool.' The White House is now threatening to cancel security clearances of nine other officials - seen in some circles as a warning shot across the collective bow of his political enemies. Senior administration officials tell the Washington Post that the White House has drafted documents to revoke the security clearances of current and former officials as Trump's punishment for criticizing him or playing a role in the Russia investigation. This is the moment a tiny baby orangutan is rescued after being found alone in a palm oil plantation in West Borneo. A plantation worker called Rahman found the adorable ape crying in the bushes and reported the discovery to his manager. Thinking the baby's mother would return to retrieve him, they left him where he was but when they went back the next day they were upset to discover he was still in the same place, all alone. A plantation worker called Rahman found the adorable ape crying in the bushes A team from International Animal Rescue and members of the Natural Resources Conservation Centre in West Borneo travelled to the oil palm plantation in Tanjung Pasar Village A team from International Animal Rescue and members of the Natural Resources Conservation Centre in West Borneo travelled to the oil palm plantation in Tanjung Pasar Village where Rahman and his co-workers were waiting to hand the baby over. The team then named the little ape Rahman, after the man who found him. His rescue came as organisations all over the world were about to celebrate International Orangutan Day on Sunday. 'It's a tragedy to find a baby orangutan without its mother, alone, vulnerable and distressed,' IAR chief executive Alan Knight said. The team then named the little ape Rahman, after the man who found him Rahman being cared for by IAR vets after he was found alone on the palm oil plantation The organisation said it was highly likely his mother was killed by hunters or agricultural workers protecting their crops 'Rahman should have been in his mother's care for the next six or seven years of his life. 'Instead, she is nowhere to be found. It's highly likely that she has been killed as yet another victim of hunters or agricultural workers protecting their crops. 'Thankfully he is in safe hands now and will be given expert treatment and care at our centre which is currently home to 109 rescued orangutans.' Advertisement A Hitler lookalike was among more than 600 far-right extremists who took to the streets ofBerlin today to commemorate the death of a leading Nazi. Counter-demonstrators clashed with the neo-Nazis activists as bottles and stones were thrown during the clashes. The neo-Nazi supporters held a banner reading 'I regret nothing' as they marched through the German capital in memory of Rudolf Hess today. They waved colours of the old German Reich and were protected by police in riot gear as they chanted in the streets. One far-right supporter who resembled Hitler marches with the crowd of neo-Nazis in the centre of Berlin today The far-right supporters held up a banner which read 'we regret nothing'. The banner belongs to the National Socialists of Berlin Far-right supporters waved flags of the old German Reich as they marched through Berlin. Police officers had to escort the neo-Nazis through the streets of the city Police officers escorted protesters of mostly white men through the streets of Berlin today Around 2,300 officers were involved in policing the event today, as some helped to escort the crowd of mostly white men through the streets of Berlin today, as counter-demonstrators also voiced their anger at the far-right supporters. Left-wing counter-protesters held up banners and chanted as they attempted to block the neo-Nazis from carrying on their march. Berlin police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said officers had to physically remove some left-wing demonstrators who had staged sit-down protests along the route of the march. He confirmed missiles were thrown at the far-right protesters, but could not immediately say how many people were injured. Counter-demonstrators took to the streets of Berlin to ward of Nazis and demonstrate against fascism Protesters hold placards during an anti-Nazi demonstration on August 18, 2018 in Berlin on the day of the Neo-Nazi annual march A counter demonstrator holds a sign reading 'Berlin against Nazis' as she and others make their way to block a Neo-Nazis gathering intended to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess Counter demonstrators chant slogans towards Right-wing supporters gather to march with flags in the colors of the former German Empire Rudolf Hess attempted in a solo mission to negotiate peace with the Allies in 1941, was later sentenced to life in prison and committed suicide in 1987. Hess died after committing suicide in the Spandau Prison, where he served his life sentence. Hess was one of the most prominent Nazi leaders and appointed Deputy Fuehrer by German dictator Adolf Hitler in 1933. The driver, 27, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving A 21-year-old university student has been killed after being hit by a car in New Malden, south west London. Charlotte Staplehurst was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts from paramedics trying to save her. The crash happened at around midnight on Monday the 13 of August and the 27-year-old driver of the vehicle was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Charlotte's boyfriend, 19-year-old Harry Foster, has since posted a touching tribute online saying he promises he will 'see her again one day'. Despite efforts of medics, Charlotte Staplehurst (pictured) was pronounced dead at the scene Harry Foster posted this touching tribute to Charlotte Staplehurst on Instagram on Thursday Harry Foster accompanied his touching tribute with this picture of the couple kissing The driver of the vehicle that killed Charlotte was taken to a south London police station for questioning and has since been released under investigation. Mr Foster's Instagram tribute to Charlotte read: 'Never in the world did I think I would be doing this. These are the types of situations you read about thinking this could never happen to someone you love. 'The times I spent with you were the best of my life and what I feel for you will never change. You were my my world and nobody could or will ever replace you. 'You are the best person I know I would not change a single part of who you are I am so sorry. I promise I will see you again. I love you Charlotte.' The driver was arrested on suspicion of causing Charlotte's death by dangerous driving Charlotte is understood to have been studying pharmaceutical studies at Kingston University Police and ambulance crews rushed to the scene in Coombe Road, New Maldon, shortly before midnight on Monday, but Charlotte died just 30 minutes later. Charlotte, who was from Eastbourne, is understood to have been studying pharmaceutical studies at Kingston University. Her university campus lies around three miles from the site of the fatal crash. Charlotte's next-of-kin has been informed. Officers from the Mets Serious Collision Investigation Unit [SCIU] are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with dash cam footage to contact their incident room on 0208 543 5157 or call 101 quoting CAD 8304/13AUG. Number of articles seized at UK borders has more than halved from 4.6 million Cuts to the number of officials patrolling the borders is allowing organised gangs to smuggle fake goods into Britain unchecked. As well as contributing to huge queues at passport control this Summer, budget cuts at Border Force have been blamed for a dramatic fall in the number of fake items seized at the border. The influx of counterfeit goods has been largely driven by Chinese counterfeiters which are selling their wares through online market places such as Amazon, eBay and Ali Baba as well as on the High Street. Cuts to the number of officials patrolling the borders is allowing organised gangs to smuggle fake goods into Britain in black market worth 9.3billion (file photo) The bogus market is worth as much as 9.3 billion every year - or around 4 per cent of imports - according to the most recent estimates from the OECD thinktank. But the number of articles seized at UK borders has more than halved from 4.6 million to two million in 2016 according to separate figures published by the European Commission. The number of shipments - or 'cases' - of counterfeit items discovered at the UK's ports and airports has plunged by 83 per cent from 12,123 in 2015 to 2094 in 2016. This is less than Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands and Romania. The drop has coincided with budget cuts at Border Force, meaning fewer shipments coming into the UK's ports and airports are being checked. The number of full time Border Force officers fell by 662 or almost ten per cent in two years from 8332 in 2014/15 to 7602 in 2016/17. The Border Force's budget was cut by another 2.3 per cent last year although the number of permanent staff rose to 7674 according to the Home Office's latest annual report and accounts. Phil Lewis, a former government adviser who has fought against piracy for almost two decades, said cuts to Border Force means they have been 'pushed to the absolute limit'. Speaking to the Mail in his new role as boss of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, he warned Britain's 'whole enforcement structure is creaking'. Border officials are increasingly being forced to prioritise issues such as immigration, leaving them less time to help combat the 362billion global trade in fake goods. The influx of counterfeit goods has been largely driven by Chinese counterfeiters which are selling their wares through online market places (file photo) The number of articles seized at UK borders has more than halved from 4.6 million to two million in 2016 (file photo) This has made it increasingly easy for criminals to smuggle fake goods across the border. A fall in the number of local trading standards officers also means that once fake goods have been smuggled across the border they are less likely to be seized when they turn up in local markets, according to Mr Lewis. The illegal trade is robbing the UK exchequer of an estimated 3.8billion in unpaid tax and costing struggling retailers and businesses billions of pounds in lost sales. Mr Lewis said: 'The current plight of Border Force is ominously portrayed in the fight against the global trade of counterfeit and pirated goods. 'Our businesses, economy and consumers are under ruthless attack from international criminals involved a dark trade that gets more damaging and menacing by the day. 'But our whole enforcement structure is creaking. It is dreadfully over-stretched and has been pushed to the limit. 'Unless this is taken seriously I wonder whether we will ever be anywhere near 'taking back control of our borders'.' In a damning report published by the commons Home Affairs committee in February, MPs said they are 'increasingly alarmed about the impact that inadequate resources are having on the capacity for Border Force to operate effectively.' It added that the reduction in officers has meant members of staff being diverted regularly from customs operations to the priority service of immigration control'. Organisations including Interpol and the World Customs Organisation have warned huge profits from fake goods which range from anything from jewellery to luxury handbags and pharmaceuticals are being channelled into the trafficking of drugs and human beings as well as related crimes such as money laundering. Mr Lewis said the cuts at trading standards run by local authorities have made it easier counterfeit goods to be sold in markets and shops. The funding has almost halved in seven years from 213million in 2009 to just 124 million in 2016. Labour MP John Mann, who sits on the commons Treasury committee said: 'We have to keep our borders secure and that means counterfeit goods as well as people. 'Otherwise to people will put themselves at risk by using dangerous projects and genuine manufacturers will lose out.' Almost three quarters of fake goods arrive by sea. But increasingly smaller consignments are being delivered by air as people and businesses use the internet to buy and sell fake goods from their homes and offices. The most commonly counterfeited goods are tobacco, clothing, alcohol, footwear and cosmetics. Safety concerns have been raised about many of these products, including hair straighteners and other electric goods as well as pharmaceuticals. The trade in fake goods has damaged the high street, with a report by the OECD estimating it have cost legitimate firms 8.6billion in lost sales in 2013. Mr Lewis has been one of the key figures in the fight against piracy since 2001 when he became the UK's senior policy adviser on intellectual property under the Blair government. As part of that he was in charge of developing the UK's first strategy to tackle this crime. He has also been an adviser to the European Commission and Interpol The Anti-Counterfeiting Group represents more than 3,000 international manufacturers, retailers and businesses. Some of the group's members have complained of an increase in counterfeit goods being sold particularly online. They include American footwear company Deckers which makes UGG boots. Alistair Campbell, who is in charge of leading to fight against counterfeit goods in Europe, said: 'The depletion of UK customs and Trading Standards officers has resulted in a huge rise of shoddy fake goods, hitting our high streets, which undercut legitimate retailers, ultimately leading to the closure of shops and lost jobs in the locality.' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been forced into another humiliating backdown as pressure mounts on him to quit. Senior government figures have said Mr Turnbull is facing an 'almost inevitable' challenge to his leadership as infighting over his controversial energy policy continues, with a state party boss urging 21 MPs to withdraw their support. In the latest of a series of attempts to stave off a leadership challenge, Mr Turnbull on Monday outlined a raft of major changes to the National Energy Guarantee (NEG). One crucial change will be abandoning plans to legislate carbon emission targets through the NEG, which would be blocked by coalition backbenchers in the one-seat majority parliament. 'In politics you have to focus on what you can deliver and that's what we've done and we'll continue to do,' Mr Turnbull told reporters at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Mr Turnbull defied rumours of an impending leadership spill, denying his position was under threat and declaring he had the 'absolute support' of Mr Dutton. Scroll down for video Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) is faced with an 'almost inevitable' challenge to his leadership as infighting over his controversial energy policy continues 'The outstanding reservations of a number of our colleagues, combined with the absence of bipartisan support, means that as long as that remains the case we won't be in a position to take that legislation forward.' The government will also adopt a recommendation from the consumer watchdog to establish a 'default market offer' on energy bills. 'A price expectation will give consumers a clear picture of how much they should be paying for their electricity,' Mr Turnbull said. 'For too long, the energy companies have baffled consumers with confusing and complex offers, promising deep discounts to standing offer prices that bear little relation to the cost of providing electricity.' Mr Turnbull spoke as Queensland Liberal National Party President Gary Spence urged MPs in his state to dump him in favour of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Joining rebel MPs in an open revolt against Mr Turnbull, Mr Spence called for support to be shifted to Mr Dutton, saying the party will struggle to retain seats otherwise. Mr Spence told the 21 LNP members in Queensland they stand to lose half of all seats in the state unless Mr Turnbull is removed as leader, Sky News reported. Under Mr Dutton all seats would be safe, the LNP could win back the seat of Herbert from Labor, and possibly even take Kennedy from Bob Katter, Mr Spence argued. REVISED TURNBULL GOVERNMENT ENERGY PLAN: * Government won't bring in legislation for the National Energy Guarantee to parliament this week, because it lacks numbers to pass it. This means no immediate action on cutting emissions. * 'Default market offer' to give consumers a clear picture of how much they should be paying for their electricity. Saving for households could range between $183 and $416 a year. Average small business to save $561 to $1,457. * ACCC to get new powers to step in where there has been an abuse or misuse of market power by big electricity companies, including possible break-up of companies in worst cases. * Government will underwrite new power generation. * Talks to continue with the states on the reliability guarantee, which needs to be in place by July 2019. Source: AAP Advertisement A horror new poll showing a drop in support for the Coalition has intensified spill rumours, and even loyal backers of Mr Turnbull have admitted he is falling out of favour. The latest Fairfax/Ipsos poll showed the Coalition's primary vote has fallen from 39 to 33 in just a month. Labor now leads the Coalition 55 per cent to 45 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, intensifying calls for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to mount a challenge. According to senior ministers, dissatisfaction with Mr Turnbull goes beyond the National Energy Guarantee, with ideological splits developing within the government. 'He's just not one of us,' one senior figure told Nine News political editor Chris Uhlmann, he told the Today show. 'There are deep values arguments that are being made. A lot of them might well be spurious but this is a dangerous time for the prime minister,' Mr Ulhmann said. Mr Turnbull spoke as Queensland Liberal National Party President Gary Spence (pictured) urged MPs in his state to dump him in favour of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton WHAT FEDERAL MPS ARE SAYING ABOUT A POSSIBLE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE 'There are some people who don't support the current leader, and that's quite obvious. The overwhelming majority of my party room are 100 per cent behind Malcolm Turnbull, as is the entire cabinet.' - Senior Liberal MP Christopher Pyne. 'He's our best hope to beat Bill Shorten at the election next year.' Mr Pyne backs Mr Turnbull. 'Absolutely.' - Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, when asked if the government is united. 'It's not about personalities. It's not about him, its not about me... It's about policy and what we've got to get is a contest. The only way we can win the next election is to have a contest over policy not personalities.' - Former prime minister and National Energy Guarantee opponent Tony Abbott. 'As long as we get on and focus on the things we are doing for Australians ... there is no reason why we cannot get on and win the next election.' - Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham insists Malcolm Turnbull is 'absolutely' safe. 'The prime minister has my support - we're looking forward to working through these issues we have with the National Energy Guarantee.' - Liberal MP Craig Kelly. 'The Turnbull government is 100 per cent focused on themselves and not doing anything on energy prices.' - Labor Leader Bill Shorten. Source: AAP Advertisement Staunch Turnbull supporter Christopher Pyne, Minister for Defence Industry, said the prime minister had been deserted by some MPs, but had the full backing of cabinet. 'There are some people who don't support the current leader. That's quite obvious,' he told the Today show. 'The overwhelming majority of my party room are 100 per cent behind Malcolm Turnbull as is the entire cabinet.' The prime minister gathered his senior ministers together for dinner on Sunday night amid growing speculation he could be in strife over the government's National Energy Guarantee. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton (pictured) - and the man being touted as a possible leadership contender - was late to a Sunday night crisis meeting But his Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton - and the man being touted as a possible leadership contender - was late, reportedly because his flight was delayed. It's understood he missed the dinner, but arrived later at Parliament House after taking a VIP flight from Brisbane, the Courier-Mail reported. Poll Who do you prefer as Prime Minister if there is a leadership spill? Malcolm Turnbull Peter Dutton Tony Abbott Other Who do you prefer as Prime Minister if there is a leadership spill? Malcolm Turnbull 56 votes Peter Dutton 106 votes Tony Abbott 98 votes Other 65 votes Now share your opinion 'It is now almost inevitable, the question is timing,' one senior minister said. Mr Dutton has told the prime minister he does not want to run against him, however he did not rule out a challenge in a private phone conversation, The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday. Some conservative colleagues unhappy with the NEG have begun drifting towards Mr Dutton as their preferred prime minister. The leadership chatter grew much louder last week after Mr Dutton warned during a radio interview that further disagreements could lead to his resignation from cabinet. In a bid to quell the bubbling unrest, the prime minister took to social media to propose a number of changes to his signature energy policy. Mr Turnbull has promised to wield a 'big stick' over electricity retailers who charge too much, and make it easier for power consumers to tell when they are being ripped off. He has also offered to regulate - rather than legislate - Australia's commitments to reducing carbon emissions. Staunch Turnbull supporter Christopher Pyne (pictured), Minister for Defence Industry, said the prime minister had been deserted by some MPs, but had the full backing of cabinet During Sunday's dinner in Canberra, the prime minister was expected to float the idea of abandoning big business tax cuts rather than fighting for them up until the next election, if they are defeated in the Senate. However, it remains to be seen if these changes will be enough to win over restless colleagues, or whether they could potentially backfire by alienating his supporters. Mr Turnbull tried to brush off talk of rising numbers against him in the coalition party room. 'I'm focused on getting energy prices down and I'll leave you to all of the speculation,' he told reporters on Sunday. Meanwhile, Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie twice refused to say whether she would like to see him stay on as prime minister before eventually saying 'yes' when asked for a third time. Mr Dutton has told the prime minister he does not want to run against him, however he did not rule out a challenge in a private phone conversation (pictured are Mr Turnbull and Mr Dutton) WHAT IS THE NATIONAL ENERGY GUARANTEE? The National Energy Guarantee (NEG) claims to offer cheaper and more reliable power while lowering carbon emissions. NEG is in response to the county's commitment to the Paris Agreement, a pledge to reduce carbon emissions and action on climate change by 2020. At the heart of the policy is the emissions reduction target of 26 per cent by 2030. The Liberal and Nationals MPs who are against NEG and appear willing to cross the floor include Tony Abbott, Andrew Gee, Andrew Hastie, Barnaby Joyce, Craig Kelly, Kevin Andrews, George Christensen, and Keith Pitt. In order to stave off a revolt for the rebel MPs Mr Turnbull offered to regulate - rather than legislate - the Paris climate targets Advertisement 'I think Malcolm Turnbull is our prime minister and I would like to see him stay as our prime minister, and that is actually a decision for the Liberal Party,' Senator McKenzie told Sky News. Cabinet minister Simon Birmingham insisted the prime minister has support from the majority of the party room. He urged a 'handful of troublemakers' in coalition ranks to pull their heads in. 'As long as we get on and focus on the things we are doing for Australians ... there is no reason why we cannot get on and win the next election,' he told Sky News on Monday. Senator Birmingham, who was among ministers summoned by Mr Turnbull on Sunday night replied flatly 'no' when asked whether Mr Dutton would mount a challenge. 'Peter made a very clear public statement of support for the prime minister and the policies of the government - I take that at its word,' he said. The United States welcomed Pakistan's decision to release captured Indian pilot. The US reiterated its call to Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. (Photo:ANI) Washington: The United States on Thursday welcomed Pakistan's decision to release a captured Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, in their custody. In a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday that the captured IAF pilot Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. Pakistan detained Varthaman Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. We welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's commitment that Pakistan will release on Friday the Indian pilot held in its custody, a State Department spokesperson told PTI responding to a question on the announcement made by Khan in the Pakistani parliament. Simultaneously, the US has urged both India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions. The United States continues to urge both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, including through direct communication. Further military activity will exacerbate the situation, the State Department spokesperson said. The US reiterated its call to Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. We reiterate our call for Pakistan to abide by its United Nations Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds, the spokesperson said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Thursday joined other lawmakers in expressing concern over the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. "This is a result of a Pakistan-based terrorist group's brutal attack, he said. I urge both countries to de-escalate the mounting tensions, Hoyer said. Four-year-old Jaxon Bird is lucky to be alive after being bitten by a deadly brown snake while he was walking with his dad. The Queensland youngster was rushed to hospital soon after his dad realised he had been bitten by the snake in Langshaw near Gympie. 'He was crying and telling us his foot was feeling tingly,' Jaxon's mother Kirby told the Daily Mail Australia. Four-year-old Jaxon Bird was in hospital for seven hours after an unlucky encounter with a brown snake Jaxon's foot was swollen and bruised following the snake bite earlier this month. Two little blood dots were a centimetre apart 'He's pretty tough. It takes a lot to make him cry as he has had green ant bites before and just says ''ouch', so we knew it was serious.' Jaxon was walking along a creek-side track with his dad when he yelled: 'Dad something got me and I think it was a snake'. Jaxon then started screaming in pain. Dad Josh saw two blood dots on Jaxon's toe, and quickly realised it looked like a snake bite. They jumped straight in the car, headed for the hospital. The youngster spent seven hours in Gympie Hospital following his near death- experience. It's understood Jaxon suffered a dry bite, in which the snake doesn't inject venom. Kirby said her son had seen snakes before, they were often seen near their home in the four years they've lived there. 'He knows what they look like and knows to stay away.' Jaxon Bird was rushed to Gympie Hospital after he was bitten on the toe by a brown snake near his home A Gympie youngster was bitten by a suspected brown snake (stock image) earlier this month Jaxon's foot was swollen, bruised and tender for a few days after the ordeal. He will be wearing boots when he is outside from now on, his mum said. The brown snake is considered the world's second-most venomous land snake and is responsible for 60 per cent of snake bite deaths in Australia. Envenomation can result in paralysis, uncontrollable bleeding and death if left untreated. Jaxon's ordeal happened a week after an youngsters were bitten by the deadly reptile in separate incidents in Western Australia last month. Emilia Barnard, four, stopped breathing for nearly two minutes after she was bitten on the foot in a remote part of Western Australia while she was holidaying with family in Coral Bay last month. Saddening surveillance footage captured in a Florida Mexican restaurant shows the moment a woman steals a donation jar meant for a slain child's family. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested Tammy Wynnell Crews, 46, Saturday, hours after the theft was reported Friday at El Tapatio located on 103rd Street. The department said in a public statement that the jar of money was intended for the family of Heydi Rivas-Villanueva, a seven-year-old girl who was killed in a drive-by shooting last Saturday in front of the eatery. Police said the funds totaled about $600 and Crews took it order to fund her crack cocaine addiction. The is the moment Tammy Wynnell Crews, 46, is seen snatching a donation jar meant for a slain child's family The shocking theft happened at El Tapatio Mexican restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida The woman, who admitted she was hoping to fund her crack addiction, is seen darting out of the place after stealing the jar The following day, the department announced the woman had been arrested and jailed. Crews is currently booked to the Duval County jail on $10,000 bond. She is pictured in her mugshot smirking as her photo is taken She is pictured in her mugshot smirking as her photo is taken. 'Citizen tip led to her identity. Lieutenant Bottin spotted suspect Crews walking in the 7500 block of 103rd Street,' the updated police statement said. 'He engaged her in conversation and she spontaneously uttered that she had a "crack pipe" on her. 'She was detained and the glass pipe was seized. 'Officer Simpson interviewed suspect Crews. (She) admitted that she took the donation jar and used the money to support her crack cocaine addiction.' Crews has charged with felony grand theft and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Funds were intended for the family of Heydi Rivas-Villanueva, (above) a seven-year-old girl who was shot and killed at the location this summer Phuc Thien Tang (pictured), 50, killed Hoa Thi Huynh, 44, during an argument at the house they were squatting in An ice user who fatally bashed and stabbed his partner in the Melbourne house where they lived as squatters has been jailed for 25 years. Phuc Thien Tang, 50, killed Hoa Thi Huynh, 44, during an argument at the unoccupied St Albans house where they were living in September. Tang reportedly struck Ms Huynh to the head with a vacuum cleaner pipe and stabbed her in the face with a samurai sword in an ice-fuelled rage. Tang was jailed for 25 years after the 'callous' and 'cowardly' murder of Ms Huynh, news.com.au reported. The body of Ms Huynh, a mother of two, was found at the address on September 10, three days after she died. Tang, who has pleaded guilty to murder, was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Lesley Taylor on Monday. Tang was jailed for 25 years after the 'callous' and 'cowardly' murder of Ms Huynh Tang, who has pleaded guilty to murder, was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Lesley Taylor on Monday The court previously heard Tang 'whacked her several times about the face and head until she stopped moving'. 'He well understood the affect that ice had on him, he knew that he lost control,' Justice Taylor said. 'It's aggravating, it's not merely explanatory and it's not mitigating.' Tang reportedly struck Ms Huynh (pictured) to the head with a vacuum cleaner pipe and stabbed her in the face with a samurai sword in an ice-fuelled rage TigerAir has brought back its $1 flights in a frenzied 48-hour sale for travellers looking to jet off between February and April 2019. The sale, which launched on Monday, offers travellers a $1 return flight when booked with an outbound flight. TigerAir is including its 21 routes around Australia in the deal with more than 10,000 fares on sale. TigerAir has brought back its $1 flights in a frenzied 48 hour sale for travellers looking to jet off between February and April 2019 The sale includes all 21 routes around Australia with more than 10,000 fares on sale Flights from Melbourne to Hobart and Sydney to Coffs Harbour start at a low $70.95 return. The bargain is even better for some of Australia's long-haul flights across the country. Melbourne to Perth return fares start at $185.95 and Sydney to Perth return fares start at $195.95. Those in need of a holiday are advised to get in quickly as the 48-hour sale will end at midday on Wednesday. TigerAir's $1 promotion also comes a day before Click Frenzy's travel sale which goes live on Tuesday at 7pm AEST. The 24-hour sale will provide Australian's with $1,000 savings on European vacations, 77 per cent off hotels in Bali and $3,000 discounts on cruises. The 48-hour sale will end at midday on Wednesday, a day after Click Frenzy's travel sale goes live on Tuesday at 7pm A terrorist knifeman 'shouting Allahu Akbar' has been shot dead by a female cop after trying to stab officers in an attack on a police station in Barcelona today. The 29-year-old pleaded to be let into the premises in Cornella on the outskirts of the Catalan capital just before 6am - only to lunge at officers inside with a 'large' blade. A female police officer opened fire and 'took him' the Algerian, who lived in the area. He is said to have shouted 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) as he entered the station. But police have found no evidence linking the incident to terror attacks last August in Barcelona and nearby Cambrils, which killed 16 people. Despite the police suspicions, the Interior Ministry said it was keeping the country's terror alert at level 4, indicating high risk. Spain has been at that stage of alert since 2015, following a series of terror attacks abroad. Level 5, indicating a 'very high risk' of attacks, is the highest level. A terrorist knifeman 'shouting Allahu Akbar' has been shot dead by a female cop after trying to stab officers in an attack on a police station in Barcelona today. Police are pictured preparing to enter the man's apartment block after the attack Police have shot a knifeman shouting Allahu Akbar who tried to attack them at a station near Barcelona early this morning. Pictures show police near the headquarters The drama happened around 6am at a police station in Cornella on the outskirts of the Catalan capital. Pictures have emerged showing the man's body being removed from the police station Officers opened a locked police station security door to the man, who lived in a nearby apartment, Comes said. The police station is located in the Cornella district on the outskirts of the city. He said the suspect repeatedly pressed the buzzer to be let in and spoke with officers inside over an intercom. After they decided to let him in, he pulled out 'a large knife' and lunged at officers, according to Comes. The man had ID documents on him and police are checking whether they are authentic. Comes said authorities have found no criminal record for the man identified in the documents, although international police databases are being searched for matches with his fingerprints. 'We are treating it as a terrorist attack. The officer used her gun to save her own life,' Rafel Comes, a commissioner with the Catalan regional police, told a news conference in Cornella de Llobregat where the attack took place. The man arrived at the police station in the town near Barcelona at 5.45am with a knife and 'a clearly premeditated desire to kill an agent of our force,' he added, saying security was being reinforced at police stations across Catalonia. Anti-terrorism police sources had earlier told AFP that the man was a 29-year-old Algerian who lived in the area, and had shouted 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) as he entered the station. But Comes said the agent who shot the man dead can only recall hearing him invoking the name of 'Allah' and the rest of what he said was incomprehensible. The commissioner would not confirm the attacker was Algerian, saying police still needed to confirm that the Algerian identity papers he carried with him were in fact his. The police station was cordoned off and funeral home employees removed the attacker's body from the building, an AFP photographer at the scene said. Officers searched the man's home (pictured), which was located just a few hundred metres (yards) from the site of the attack Catalan regional police forces stand guard outside the apartment building of a man who tried to attack a police station in Cornella The 29-year-old pleaded to be let into the premises in Cornella on the outskirts of the Catalan capital just before 6am - only to lunge at officers inside with a 'large' blade. A neighbour of the suspect is pictured being evacuated this morning Officers searched the man's home, which was located just a few hundred yards from the site of the attack. The incident occurred just days after the first anniversary of a deadly jihadist rampage in Catalonia. Sixteen people were killed on August 17, 2017 when a van drove into crowds on Barcelona's popular Las Ramblas boulevard and in a knife attack in the nearby resort of Cambrils. ISISI claimed responsibility for the attacks, Spain's worst since the Madrid train bombings in 2004 when 191 people died and more than 1,800 were injured. Spain has kept its terrorist alert at the second-highest level since 2015. Catalonia, which is home to a significant number of second-generation North African immigrants, has had a long history of Islamic militant activity. Spain's first Muslim extremist - a member of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) - was uncovered in Catalonia in 1995. The incident occurred just days after the first anniversary of a deadly jihadist rampage in Catalonia Mohammed Atta, the pilot who slammed a passenger plane into one of New York's World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, spent time in Catalonia shortly before the attacks. And in 2008, a plot targeting Barcelona's underground trains was foiled when it was already in advanced stages. One in four people detained in Spain in relation to extremist Muslim-linked terrorism come from the Catalan province of Barcelona, according to a study published last year by the Real Instituto Elcano, a Spanish think-tank, which called the province the country's 'main centre of jihadist activity'. There have been a string of similar incidents in neighbouring France targeting police and soldiers, including one in January 2016 in which police shot dead a man wielding a cleaver and yelling 'Allahu akbar' as he tried to attack a police station in northern Paris. That incident came on the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. ISIS has frequently called on their followers to attack soldiers and police in France, who they see as a legitimate target because they represent the French state. It's something most drivers are guilty of, even if they won't admit it. But driving through a yellow light is illegal - and could land you with a big fine. Many Australians believe that the yellow traffic light signals the end of the green light phase - and that it is fine to carry on driving - but that is wrong. The yellow light in fact is the beginning of the red light phase and you're expected to stop when it appears - if it is safe to do so. The yellow light in fact is the beginning of the red light phase and you're expected to stop when it appears - if it is safe to do so A pamphlet released by Transport for New South Wales revealed ten of the road laws most misunderstood in the state. The pamphlet read: 'A yellow (amber) traffic light or arrow means stop. 'A driver approaching traffic lights showing a yellow traffic light must stop if the driver can stop safely before reaching the stop line or traffic lights. 'Penalties apply for drivers who fail to stop at a yellow light, unless it is unsafe to do so.' The penalty for breaking this road rule in NSW is $448 and three demerit points. Queensland Government also said: 'If its safe to stop, you must not drive past the stop line at the yellow traffic light or, if there is no stop line, the traffic light.' The fine in South Australia is $464, which may have an additional victims levy of $60, and three demerit points (stock image) The South Australian Drivers Knowledge Handbook stated: 'This indicates that the lights are about to change to red. 'You must not enter the intersection unless you are so close to the stop line that you are unable to stop safely without entering the intersection or risking a rear-end crash with vehicles following you.' The fine in South Australia is $464, which may have an additional victims levy of $60, and three demerit points. While the Northern Territory has no demerit points deducted and a $100 fine. White farmers in South Africa are trying to flog their land as fears grow that the government is about to start a widespread campaign of seizures. Union bosses say a record number of properties are for sale but nobody is buying, making the properties effectively worthless. Agri SA union, which represents mainly white commercial farmers, has warned that such seizures will deter investment, cause job losses, and may rob South Africa of the ability to feed itself. Meanwhile two farms in the north of the country have reportedly become the first targets for seizures after talks between the government and owners about buying the land broke down. A record number of white South Africa farmers are attempting to sell off their land but nobody is buying amid fears that the government is poised to start a widespread campaign of seizures Cyril Ramaphosa, who took over the ANC from Jacob Zuma last year, has committed his party to redistributing land from whites to blacks. ANC chair Gwede Mantashe (right) has suggested that anybody who owns more than 25,000 acres is a target Akkerland Boerdery, the owners of two game reserves in Limpopo, told City Press that the government asked to buy their land but was only willing to offer a tenth of the price. When the offer was refused, ministers allegedly sent a letter which said: 'Notice is hereby given that a terrain inspection will be held on the farms on April 5 2018 at 10am in order to conduct an audit of the assets and a handover of the farm's keys to the state.' AgriSA union spokeswoman Annelize Crosby told the paper: 'What makes the Akkerland case unique is that they apparently were not given the opportunity to first dispute the claim in court, as the law requires.' If the land is seized it will be the first time that the South African government has refused to pay market value for land. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC has followed a 'willing seller, willing buyer' process to redistribute white-owned farms to blacks. But according to a government audit last year, 72 per cent of farmland in South Africa is still owned by whites, despite them making up 9 per cent of the population. That statistic prompted Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's president who succeeded Jacob Zuma last year, to commit to a program of land expropriation. His ANC party has promised to 'test out' section 25 of the constitution, which allows the government to seize land to re-balance past 'racially discriminatory laws'. The constitution makes it clear that reasonable compensation must be offered to the owner of the land, but the ANC is now planning a number of test cases to see if land can be seized without money changing hands if it is 'in the public interest'. Two game reserves in the north of the country (location pictured) say they are the first to be targeted for seizures after government talks to buy the land for a tenth of its value broke down Union bosses warn that land seizures will deter investment, cause job losses, and may rob South Africa of the ability to feed itself If such bids fail, the ANC has threatened to amend the constitution. A program of land seizures in nearby Zimbabwe in the 1990s sent the country into an economic spiral from which it has never fully recovered. Reports earlier this month suggested ministers have already drawn up a list of 139 South African farms to be targeted, though the government denies the existence of any such list. Omri van Zyl, head of the Agri SA union, which represents mainly white commercial farmers, told The Express: 'The mood among our members is very solemn. 'They are confused about the lack of any apparent strategy from the government and many are panicking. 'So many farms are up for sale, more than we've ever had, but no one is buying.' ANC chairman Gwede Mantashe sparked more panic last week when he suggested that anyone owning more than 25,000 acres would be targeted. Agri SA said about 20 per cent of South Africa's farms produce 80 per cent of the food, and many of those properties would be affected by the cap. There are fears that the release of the list of 139 farms to be seized has already made the land worthless. Cattle farmer Jo-an Engelbrecht told the ABC's Foreign Correspondent his farm just outside Johannesburg was now 'worth zero'. 'We had several auctions in the last two or three weeks cancelled because there was no people interested in buying the land,' he said. 'Why would you buy a farm to know the government's going to take it?' A desperate Chinese couple were forced to get their sick twin sons to draw lots to decide which one they would save because they couldn't afford to treat both. The 10-month-old siblings were both diagnosed with a rare immune disease called CGD and are not expected to live past the age of two, according to a newspaper. The couple were told by doctors that each of their babies would need a transplant to survive, and the two operations could cost an astronomical one million yuan (114,000). And that was when the devastated family resorted to the extreme measure to decide which of their son they would keep with two paper slips. Luckily, a major Chinese charity has learnt about the family's story and is helping them raise funds to save both of their babies. Twin brothers were made to draw lots in their hospital bed in Chongqing, China. The tiny siblings were diagnosed with a rare immune disease and their parents could only save one Qiu Boqin and his wife Deng Baoling made the desperate decision after doctors told them that the cost of the two operations for the twins could be around one million yuan (114,000) The two boys, nicknamed 'Healthy' and 'Happy' by their parents, were born last October in Shaoguan's Shixing County in southern China's Guangdong Province, reported Shaoguan Daily. Their arrival brought much happiness to their father Qiu Boqin and their mother Deng Baoling, as well as their grandparents who are farmers. WHAT IS CGD? Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD) is diagnosed in one in 500,000 people every year. In the United States, the condition affects about 20 newborns each year. These babies' immune systems can fight of viral infections like the flu, but are nearly helpless against fungi and some bacteria. If a dangerous pathogen does find its way into either boy's body, their weak immune cells rush to attack it. Because the cells will not be able to eliminate the infection, they will simply gather at its site, forming a hard lump called a granuloma. If either 'Healthy' or 'Happy' got a severe infection in their bones or skin, it could lead to dangerous abscesses in internal organs such as the lungs, liver and brain. The disease can be cured with a bone marrow transplant, but the process is complicated and it can be difficult to find a donor who is a perfect match. Advertisement However, the family's life was turned upside down just one month after the birth of the twins. According to the report, one night last November, the elder brother 'Healthy' suddenly experienced difficulties in breathing and was rushed to the hospital. As 'Healthy' was in intensive care, his younger brother 'Happy' - who was staying at home with their grandmother - experienced the same symptoms. 'Happy' was taken to the same hospital. The two brothers stayed in the intensive care unit for nine days before being transferred to an ordinary ward. Both of them were diagnosed with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). CGD is an inherited primary immunodeficiency disease (PIDD), which means part of the body's immune system is missing or functions improperly. The condition increases the body's susceptibility to infections caused by certain bacteria and fungi. It is diagnosed in one in 500,000 people every year. Due to their condition, even a mild infection curable with antibiotics in healthy people could kill 'Healthy' and 'Happy'. The boys, nicknamed 'Healthy' and 'Happy' were born last October in Shaoguan, China The couple knelt in front of their sons and their mother to apologise after their mother found out that they had decided the 10-month-old boys' fate by making them draw lots Mr Qiu and Ms Deng were told by doctors that the two boys would have to undergo a transplant each in order to live past the age of two. The couple immediately contacted the China Marrow Donor Program under the Red Cross Society, which manages the recruitment of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donors. In February, Mr Qiu and Ms Deng transferred their twins to a hospital in Chongqing, which is renowned for treating CGD while waiting to hear about the result of the donors. Although CGD can be cured with a bone marrow transplant, the process is complicated and it can be difficult to find a donor who is a perfect match. The China Marrow Donor Program informed the couple that they had found matching donors who were willing to help their children. But the couple were once again thrown into despair when doctors told them the medical bills for each transplant could amount to some 500,000 yuan (57,000). The devastated family gathered in the boys' hospital ward in Chongqing. They had transferred the twins from Guangdong to Chongqing in order to seek better medical resources A Chinese charity is now helping the family raise enough money so both boys could be saved According to Shaoguan Daily, Mr Qiu and Ms Deng had spent some 400,000 yuan (45,000) treating their sons. After they asked among their friends and relatives, the most money they could borrow would only be enough to treat one child. The report said that the couple were so desperate they made the two boys draw lots in their hospital bed to decide which one they would save. They prepared two pieces of paper, one saying 'keep' and the other blank. It is claimed that the couple did so when the twin's grandmother went out so that she couldn't oppose to the idea. The elder brother got the paper saying 'keep'. But when their grandmother returned and saw 'Healthy' holding the lot, she was furious and scolded the couple, who knelt in front of her and their sons to apologise. The grandmother insisted the family should find all possible ways to save both twins. Fortunately, the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children has learned about the twins' illness and reach out to the family. 'God didn't give up on my twins,' Their father Mr Qiu was quoted saying by Shaoguan Daily. 'Volunteers from the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children have verified our situation from the hospital and started a fund-raising campaign on the internet. The donors have also agreed to undergo the transplant soon,' Mr Qiu added. According to the fund-raising page by the Foundation, the project aims to raise 900,000 yuan (102,000) for 'Healthy' and 'Happy'. The funds will be used on the twins' treatment as well as their life necessities during the process. The campaign has raised 753,052 yuan (86,000) from 23,352 people as of writing. Advertisement A porcelain pot that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima completely intact has sold at auction for 3,250. It was among a number of items up for grabs on Saturday, which also included a set of haunting photos snapped by an American GI which show the devastating aftermath of the 1945 atomic bomb on the Japanese city. The pot, which consists of a small white jar and lid, also has a chunk of melted glass welded to the side of it as a result of the explosion. The macabre relic is a grim reminder of the furnace-like heat caused by the explosion that killed 150,000 people in 1945. It sold at Henry Aldridge & Son of Devizes, Wilts, for three times its estimated price. A porcelain pot with molten glass melted onto the side of caused by the Hiroshima atomic bomb is just one of the relics from the disaster set to go to auction Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts, said: 'This pot shows the horrific, raw power the Atomic bomb created. 'The glass stuck to the side of it had melted to goo and was flung towards the pot and solidified. 'When you think that glass melts at temperatures of 1,000 fahrenheit, it gives you some idea of the intense heat the bomb caused. 'The photographs of Hiroshima are very apocalyptic and virtually everything in them is flattened. 'They have come to us from the estate of David Gainsborough-Roberts who was one of Europe's leading collectors of the eclectic.' The small jar was picked up by an Allied soldier weeks after the world's first nuclear bomb wiped out the Japanese city and brought an end to the Second World War. The jar was sold as part of an eclectic collection kept by a British man, David Gainsborough-Roberts. The photographs sold alongside it show the haunting aftermath of the nuclear bomb. The black and white images show an apocalyptic landscape as far as the eye can see with virtually every building flattened and barely a soul around. Buildings were left completely flattened by the atomic bomb blast, which is estimated to have killed around 150,000 people Pictures taken shortly after the blast in Hiroshima are also set to go to auction. The lots are expected to fetch as much as 1,200 The lots were some of a number of items that belonged to the late David Gainsborough-Roberts, from Jersey. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 and was shortly followed by the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, which killed an estimated 80,000. This aerial view shows the damage caused by the blast as only a few buildings remains standing following the bomb attack, which was launched by America Virtually no-one is in sight and rubble remains strewn across the ground following the bomb blast. A single tree, which has all its leaves taken off, remains standing A picture of one of the rivers in Hiroshima, which undoubtely would have been badly polluted following the bomb blast. The attack on Hiroshima took place on August 6. By August 15, Japan had surrended to the allied force On August 15, 1945, Japan surrender to allied forces which effectively brought about the end of the war. The legal ramifications of the bombings are still debated to this day, but America claim it helped hasten Japan's decision to surrender. Critics claim it was simply a matter of time before Japanese forces gave up, as Germany had issued their surrender to allied forces months earlier on May 8, 1945. Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts, said: 'This pot shows the horrific, raw power the Atomic bomb created. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 and was shortly followed by the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, which killed an estimated 80,000. The extent of the damage is shown above, as the internal structure of this building is completely mangled Very few people were present following the bombing in August 1945. The area was deserted, but these images show a number of people walking around the rubble 'The glass stuck to the side of it had melted to goo and was flung towards the pot and solidified. 'When you think that glass melts at temperatures of 1,000F, it gives you some idea of the intense heat the bomb caused. 'The photographs of Hiroshima are very apocalyptic and virtually everything in them flattened. 'They have come to us from the estate of David Gainsborough-Roberts who was one of Europe's leading collectors of the eclectic.' A minister admitted today that up to 20 jails are gripped by drugs and violence - as a watchdog accused the government of being 'asleep at the wheel' amid spiralling problems. Prisons minister Rory Stewart raised fears about the scope of chaos on the system after HMP Birmingham was taken back under public control. Chief inspector Peter Clarke has delivered a shocking assessment of conditions at the Midlands jail, saying inmates were openly taking drugs, carrying out assaults and behaving with 'near impunity'. He warned that the institution - run by G4S on a 15-year, 30million private contract - was in 'a state of crisis' and host to 'appalling violence and squalor'. The situation is so out of hand that inmates are roaming around unchecked while 'fearful' staff lock themselves in their offices or sleep when they should be on patrol, he said. In the face of the appalling findings, Justice Secretary David Gauke has taken the dramatic step of moving the jail back into Government control for at least six months. And Mr Stewart conceded today that 'as many as 20' other prisons are struggling with similar issues, with drugs the 'big driver'. A shocking report has revealed staff have lost control of prisoners in one of Britain's biggest prisons in Birmingham. Pictured: Prisoners gleefully pose with guard's helmets during a prison riot in 2016 A new governor has been appointed, 30 extra staff moved in and 300 inmates moved out. Mr Gauke insisted there would be no additional cost to the taxpayer. But the scathing assessment of conditions at the Category B prison the first in the public sector to be privatised is a major blow and will spark intense concern about the state of our jails. Speaking this morning, Mr Clarke suggested ministers had been 'asleep at the wheel'. Eight deaths and a string of dire warnings has forced the Government to re-nationalise prison The decision to seize back control of Birmingham Prison is the culmination of months of increasingly dire warnings. Campaigners told of chronic overcrowding and surging violence in chaotic, drug-soaked institutions. Shocking images regularly posted online highlight how inmates are taking advantage of acute low staffing and spiralling morale. As well as smuggling in mobile phones, illicit substances and other luxury items, many boast about their 'easy life' behind bars. Contraband is often delivered using drones, 32 of which have been seized in just six months more than one a week. Advertisement 'How is it that in 18 months a prison which is supposedly being run under the auspices of a tightly-managed contract, how has that been allowed to deteriorate?' he said. 'There are Ministry of Justice officials on-site permanently, and yet somehow there seems to have been some sort of institutional inertia that has allowed this prison to deteriorate to this completely unacceptable state.' Asked whether the MoJ had failed, Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think that's the only reasonable conclusion you can come to.' He added: 'It cannot be the case that the only time urgent action is taken to restore decency in a prison is when an inspection report is published, surely somebody must have been asleep at the wheel?' In an interview with LBC radio, Mr Stewart suggested the issues were much wider than Birmingham. He said he lost 'confidence' in G4S after visiting the prison recently. 'My decision when I visited the prison last week was that this wasn't enough and that we were going to have to step in and take full management control because I no longer had confidence,' he said. A series of dire reports have already suggested that prisons are mired in chronic overcrowding, surging violence and rampant drug abuse. Tory ministers now face a battle to the party's reputation on law and order. Mr Clarke's report, following an unannounced inspection at the end of July and start of August, assessed the 1400-place jail in Birmingham to be failing in every one of the criteria. It found: Birmingham was the most violent prison in England and Wales and thugs could act with 'near impunity'. Inmates intimidated staff without consequence and 'routinely disregarded the rules'. There was a 'general lack of order' on some wings. Staff were 'fearful' and locked themselves in offices - or slept - when they should have been on patrol. Blatant drug use went unpunished and prison officers simply shrugged their shoulders when challenged by inspectors. Trafficking of illegal substances including Spice was 'blatant' and drug use so widespread inspectors felt 'physically affected' by cannabis smoke in the air. 50 high risk criminals are due to be released in the next three months, and measures to protect the public are 'very poor'. The prison was filthy, infested with rats and cockroaches and blood and vomit not cleaned up. The lack of security at the jail the scene of a major riot in 2016 was highlighted during the inspection itself when there was an arson attack on a supposedly secure car park in which inspectors' cars were destroyed. Warning of 'high levels of 'violence and delinquency', Mr Clarke said serious assaults had left staff and inmates needing hospital treatment. A 'wholly inadequate' response meant most attacks were ignored and investigations eventually dropped. Bullied prisoners hid in their cells for fear of attack, with many emerging for just one hour a day to have a shower. The report said: 'Throughout our investigation we observed a prison where control was tenuous...with wing staff often not knowing where their prisoners were at any one time. 'There was a general lack of order on some wings and the movement of prisoners from place to place within the prison lacked sufficient control.' One in three prisoners were on drugs and one in seven said they had started using since being locked up. Mr Clarke said the 'use and trafficking of illegal substances was blatant' but staff did nothing about it. Staff have been beaten up by marauding prisoners, guards hiding in offices and drugs are openly taken as ministers take back control of the prison. Pictured: Lawless inmates during a riot inside the facility in 2016 Chief inspector Peter Clarke (pictured left giving a round of broadcast interviews today) said the government had been 'asleep at the wheel' while the crisis developed. Prisons minister Rory Stewart (pictured right) said as many as 20 other prisons faced similar problems The report said: 'When inspectors raised the fact that drugs were clearly being smoked on a wing, the response from staff was to shrug.' Condemning 'innefective' leadership and management, Mr Clarke said staff were 'anxious and fearful' as they did their jobs. 'We saw prisoners behaving poorly or intimidating staff and other prisoners without challenge and staff were ineffective in maintaining even basic standards. 'It was often difficult to find officers, although we did find some asleep during prisoner lock up-periods. On more than one occasion we found groups of staff who had locked themselves in their offices.' During the unannounced inspection, inspectors found piles of rubbish left to fester in 'filthy' communal areas, rats, cockroaches and blood and vomit not cleaned up. Dozens of dangerous criminals will be released in the next three months after staff 'failed to deal with high-risk criminals' The public are at risk from around 50 dangerous criminals to be released from crisis-hit HMP Birmingham in the next three months, inspectors warned. The report said that between August and November the criminals assessed as posing a 'high risk of harm' would walk free at the end of their sentences. But inspectors said they were 'greatly concerned' about what would happen when they were released. They wrote: 'Birmingham held and frequently released men who were assessed as posing a high risk of harm to others. Between August and November this year, 50 high-risk men are due to be released and we were greatly concerned that measures to protect the public from those men while in prison and on release were very poor.' The report also found that risk assessments for inmates were not up to date and criticised staff for failing to deal with high-risk criminals. Sex offenders were also unable to access rehabilitation courses. Advertisement A pool of blood was left for two days in a shower area, inspectors found. Ministry of Justice sources said the decision to 'step in' at the jail had in train for some considerable period, and insisted the other four G4S prisons were performing well. But one Whitehall source told the Mail the decision had been made in recent days in response to the catastrophic findings of the report. Mr Clarke issued an 'urgent notification' to the Ministry of Justice last Friday in a letter to Mr Gauke setting out the failings at the jail. G4S took over the prison in 2011 when HMP Birmingham became the first publicly run prison to be privatised. It is only the latest in a string of scandals to affect the controversial firm. Most notoriously, in 2012, it botched the security of the Olympic Games leaving the Government to summon the Armed Forces to fill the gaps. Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said: 'What we have seen at Birmingham is unacceptable and it has become clear that drastic action is required to bring about the improvements we require.' Jerry Petherick, managing director of G4S said: 'HMP Birmingham is an inner-city remand prison which faces exceptional challenges including increasingly high levels of prisoner violence towards staff and fellow prisoners. 'The well-being and safety of prisoners and prison staff is our key priority and we welcome the six month step-in and the opportunity to work with the Ministry of Justice to urgently address the issues faced at the prison.' Built in 1849, HMP Birmingham is a category B facility for adult male inmates and had a population of 1,269 at the end of last month. Today prisons minister Rory Stewart MP was grilled on the crisis at HMP Birmingham by Jeremy Kyle and Kate Garraway during an interview on Good Morning Briain this morning. They quizzed him on why the Government had not taken over from G4S before now, as issues of overcrowding, drug use, self harm and violence have been 'going on for years'. Mr Stewart told the programme: 'So you're right, it's absolutely shocking. I visited last week and saw for myself, the chief inspector of prisons and the secretary of state have also visited. 'The two main drivers of this are that there was a riot at Birmingham prison 18 months ago and they've never really recovered from that. They've brought in a new team, they've tried to stabilise. 'The other thing along with the riot is new psychoactive substances, new types of drugs that are causing problems.' Host Kate Garraway pointed out that an ex-gang member who appeared on the show on the same morning said 'prisons are no longer the deterrent they used to be'. Mr Stewart responded: 'It is a horrible thing to hear. 'Prisons are very challenging environments. Prison is not a comfortable place to go. 'But there are some people in this country who come from such challenged backgrounds that they don't find prison the deterrent that it should be. 'And that's why we need to work with them in every single way to turn their lives around, because that's the way we're going to protect the public. 'That's education, that's work, but there's an element of punishment that needs to be addressed here.' ** Do you or your relatives have any experiences of life inside Birmingham Prison? Please email: tips@mailonline.co.uk ** Prison riots, a botched Olympics and 'unprecedented levels' of complaints but security firm G4S is STILL charging taxpayers BILLIONS of pounds A litany of scandals has not stopped G4S pocketing billions of pounds from taxpayers over the last decade. The world's largest security company has been repeatedly exposed over failures in prisons, tagging, security services and patient transport. It even botched the security of the 2012 Olympics leaving the Government to summon the Armed Forces to fill the gaps. MPs called on ministers to rethink any future contracts as critics said the outsourcing giant had effectively become a 'private army' of the State. The firm was then hit with a 109million bill after it was revealed it had overcharged the Government during a contract to monitor electronic tags. The world's largest security company has been repeatedly exposed over failures in prisons, tagging, security services and patient transport (Security pictured at Wimbledon 2014) Incredibly, senior staff continued to bill the taxpayer for watching over criminals who were dead, in prison or had left the country. But the high-profile and embarrassing problems appeared to have little to no impact on the company's bottom line. Executives continued to receive lucrative public-sector contracts, posting a significant rise in profits last year and overall revenue of almost 8billion. However, the collapse of rival Carillion wiped significant chunks off the share value off it and other public-sector contractors. And don't forget jails where drones fly in steaks By Chris Greenwood, chief crime correspondent The decision to seize back control of Birmingham Prison is the culmination of months of increasingly dire warnings. Campaigners told of chronic overcrowding and surging violence in chaotic, drug-soaked institutions. Shocking images regularly posted online highlight how inmates are taking advantage of acute low staffing and spiralling morale. As well as smuggling in mobile phones, illicit substances and other luxury items, many boast about their 'easy life' behind bars. Contraband is often delivered using drones, 32 of which have been seized in just six months more than one a week. Incredibly, it was recently revealed prisoners in Cheshire were cooking sausages, bacon, fish and steaks simply thrown over the fence. Specialist teams have been sent in to quell explosions of violence including at Birmingham following a 15-hour riot in 2016. Officials have condemned conditions in the nation's prisons as the 'most disturbing' ever seen. Just a few weeks ago inspectors said jails were rife with violence, drugs, suicide and self-harm. One report said the living standards in some institutions 'have no place in an advanced nation in the 21st century'. Chief inspector Peter Clarke singled out conditions at HMP Liverpool, where some convicts were forced to live in damp cells with exposed electrical wiring and infested with rats and cockroaches. Standards at HMP Nottingham, a Category B prison, were so bad it was feared this was driving inmates to kill themselves. Eight men had taken their own lives in the two years to January. Amid concerns staff cannot cope with chronic overcrowding, jails have been hit by record levels of assaults and self-harm. Figures show the number of attacks on staff and inmates has doubled since 2012 to a record 29,485 last year or one every 18 minutes. Incidents of self-harm also rose from 23,158 in 2012 to 44,651 last year. Meanwhile, the number of prison officers has fallen by 8,000 nearly 20 per cent since 2010. In January Mr Clarke used new powers to demand ministers improve a 'fundamentally unsafe' jail. He issued an 'urgent notification', requiring the Justice Secretary to make an action plan to tackle 'serious failures' at HMP Nottingham. Rattled by the scale of the crisis engulfing jails in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice has been busy trying to re-establish control. Last week prisons minister Rory Stewart said he would resign in a year if he does not reduce drug and violence levels at ten target jails. He made the promise as the Government announced 10million to improve security and conditions. Officials hope body scanners and sniffer dogs will help clamp down on smuggling of drugs, including Spice, and mobile phones. Ministers want to raise standards of leadership by sending prison governors to military-style colleges. There will also be a programme of repairs and improvements to cell windows and perimeter security. Approximately 740 thousand people are massed in the refugee camps on the border with Myanmar. Their repatriation should be carried out safely. The UN special envoy witnesses "slow progress" on the part of Naypyidaw. Dhaka (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Bangladesh "can no longer bear the weight of the reception of the Rohingya refugees" according to Shahidul Haque, Secretary of Defense of Dhaka, who was speaking before the United Nations Security Council yesterday. He said that the refugee crisis created by the Muslim ethnicity fleeing from the Burmese state of Rakhine has gone "from bad to worse". This is why he asks the Council to take a firm position on the issue of returning displaced persons. For his part, the ambassador of Myanmar Hau Do Suan asked to be patient again. With the outbreak of violence between the Burmese army and militants of the Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) in August 2017, about 740 thousand Rohingya Muslims crossed the border and settled in Bangladesh. The voluntary transfer of the first 2,260 refugees was scheduled for 15 November. However, no one has expressed the wish to go back, at least until Naypyidaw guarantees them "security and citizenship rights". Secretary Haque said: "Here, I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar ". Then he asked: "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?". Christine Schraner Burgener, appointed UN Special Envoy in Myanmar in April 2018, highlighted that UN agencies have given "insufficient" help to prepare the repatriation of refugees. After making five official trips to Burmese soil, the correspondent testifies "slow progress" in preparing the return of thousands of Rohingya. The elections next year, he adds, could further worsen the crisis. 38-year-old Kristine Peralez opened fire early Monday at the Ben E. Keith facility southwest of Houston. She was later shot, possibly by police Police say a woman shot two co-workers at a Houston-area food distribution center, killing one and wounding the other. Missouri City police Capt. Paul Poulton says investigators are still trying to determine what prompted 38-year-old Kristine Peralez to open fire early Monday at the Ben E. Keith facility southwest of Houston. She had worked for the company for about two years. Poulton says Peralez had a social media posting indicating something significant was about to happen but it provided no specifics. He says Francisco Reyes, an overnight manager, was killed in the shooting. Another worker, identified as Fedencio Janas, was taken to a hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound to his leg. Peralez was confronted by a responding officer. She was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound and later died. Authorities investigate the scene after a deadly shooting at Ben E. Keith distribution center Monday in Missouri City, Texas Police encountered the suspected shooter in the parking lot, cops said Kristine Peralez is dead after she shot-and-killed a manager at a Ben E. Keith manager in Missouri City, Texas One person is dead and two others are injured following a shooting at a food distribution center in Missouri City, near Houston Authorities say it's not clear if the officer shot Peralez or if she sustained a self-inflicted wound. The victim who died was an overnight manager who died at the scene. Meanwhile, the other victim was taken to the hospital for treatment. The shooting happened just before 3am when there was at least 20 people working inside the complex. Missouri City Police Chief Mike Berezin says the shooting happened during the overnight shift, when fewer workers are on duty Lights illuminate a sign at Ben E. Keith distribution center as authorities investigate a deadly shooting at the distribution center Missouri City Police Chief Mike Berezin says the shooting happened during the overnight shift, when fewer workers are on duty. Police Captain Paul Poulton says the shooter was confronted by police outside the warehouse in the parking lot and there was an exchange of gunfire. The woman was shot above the chest but it is unclear if she shot herself or if the officer shot her. Police said the woman may have posted some things on social media in regards to the shooting and are in the process of reviewing her accounts. 'In fact, quite a few of the employees spoke with the shooter quite a bit during the day, today,' said Missouri City police Chief Mike Berezin. 'I think (the post) may have spelled that out for us all, but until we have an opportunity to review that -- it's too early in the investigation,' Berezin said. The shooting occurred in the middle of night, at around 3am The president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, says that his bold claim that 'truth isn't the truth' is being wildly misinterpreted. Giuliani said that he was was referring to a 'he said, she said' situation in which Donald Trump could be accused of lying to the special counsel because his story doesn't match up with another witnesses', even though the president's version of events is the one that's accurate. 'My statement was not meant as a pontification on moral theology but one referring to the situation where two people make precisely contradictory statements, the classic he said,she said puzzle,' Giuliani explained in a Monday morning tweet. 'Sometimes further inquiry can reveal the truth other times it doesnt.' The president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, says that his bold claim that 'truth isn't the truth' is being wildly misinterpreted Giuliani said that he was was referring to a 'he said, she said' situation in which Donald Trump could be accused of lying to the special counsel because his story doesn't match up with another witnesses, even though the president's version of events is the one that's accurate Appearing on NBC on Sunday, Giuliani made the head-scratching claim that 'truth isn't the truth' as he rebuffed an argument that President Trump should sit down with the special counsel if he no knowledge of Russia's plans to interfere in the 2016 election. The former New York City mayor, who's become the face of Trump's legal team, contended: 'I am not going to be rushed into having him testify so that he gets trapped into perjury. 'It's somebody's version of the truth. Not the truth,' he said on 'Meet the Press.' Flabbergasted, program host Chuck Todd replied, 'Truth is truth.' Giuliani responded, 'No, it isn't truth. Truth isn't truth.' The former New York City mayor went on to clarify he meant 'truth isn't truth' when two witnesses give conflicting reports in an investigation. He cited former FBI director James Comey's claim that Trump talked to him about his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was being investigated as part of the Russia probe. NBC's Chuck Todd said the comment would become a 'bad meme' Originally, the president's team said Trump did not ask Comey to lay off Flynn when the two men met in February 2017 shortly after the ex -official had been fired. But Giuliani said last week the two men did not discuss Flynn at all. Comey, who was then FBI director, claims Trump said to him: 'I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.' Giuliani said on CNN last week, 'There was no conversation about Michael Flynn.' Flynn, who was Trump's first national security adviser, pled guilty in December to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador and is cooperating with Mueller's investigation. He was fired from the White House after news reports revealed that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, after the election. Giuliani seemed to realize his 'truth isn't truth' statement could be misinterpreted even before his Monday morning tweet, telling Todd on Sunday, 'Don't do this to me,' when the 'Meet the Press' host groaned, put his head in his hands, and pushed the issue. Todd laughed, put his head in his hands and shook his head back and forth when Giuliani made his statement and said to him: 'Truth isn't truth? Mr. Mayor do you realize, this is going to become a bad meme.' Giuliani replied, 'Don't do this to me.' 'Don't do truth isn't truth to me,' Todd shot back. Giuliani then went on to clarify the claim, saying, 'Donald Trump says I didn't talk about Flynn with Comey. Comey says you did talk about it. So tell me what the truth is. If you're such a genius.' Todd then brought up White House counsel Don McGahn, who the New York Times reported is talking to Mueller's team. 'Don McGahn might know,' he said. 'Don McGahn doesn't know,' Giuliani told him. The former mayor went on to say, 'We have two pieces of evidence: Trump says he didn't tell him. The other guy says that he did say it. So which is the truth?' Todd conceded Giuliani had a point. 'Alright, on that point you're right, on two people,' he admitted. Giuliani clarified he was talking about the conflicting reports witnesses give on an incident during an investigation Giuliani also talked about the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting attended by Donald Trump Jr. Negotiations have been ongoing between Trump's legal team and the special counsel's team on whether the president will sit down with Mueller for an interview. Giuliani and Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow want to limit questioning to the period before the sitting president took office to avoid charges of obstruction of justice. Mueller has not agreed to those terms. Giuliani claimed Sunday that the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, where Donald Trump Jr., Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort meet with a Russian lawyer who had ties to the Kremlin, does not rise to the standard of collusion, because nothing came of it. He doubled down on Trump's assertion the meeting - which took place during the heart of the presidential campaign - was to get information on Hillary Clinton and claimed that the campaign's participants did not know that the woman they were meeting was a Russian. 'The meeting was originally for the purpose of getting information about Clinton,' he said. 'That was the original intention of the meeting. It turned out to be a meeting about another subject and it was not pursued at all.' He claimed that the Trump campaign team didn't know that attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya was a Russian national, even though she had a Russian name. 'She didn't represent the Russian government. She was a private citizen. I don't even know if they knew she was Russian at the time. All they had were her name,' Giuliani said. 'They knew it when they met with her. Not when they set up the meeting.' He added: 'All they knew was a woman with a Russian name wanted to meet with them.' Donald Trump Jr.'s own emails about the meeting, which he posted on his public Twitter account, acknowledge that the woman was a Russian. The emails sent to Trump Jr via Rob Goldstone, a music publicist who represented Emin Agalarov, whose father, Aras Agalarov, is a major real estate developer close to Putin and who bought rights to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant that took place in Moscow and which Trump attended, said the meeting is with a 'Russian government attorney who is flying over from Moscow.' Explanations for the Trump Tower meeting, which has become a focal point of Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election, have varied, and a tweet from the president in early August added yet another layer when he wrote that the meeting was about Clinton. The original statement from Donald Trump Jr about the meeting - which President Trump helped craft - said it was about Russian adoptions. Donald Trump Jr. gave the New York Times a statement in July 2017, when the paper broke the story, that said the gathering was about an adoption program. His statement did not address whether the presidential campaign was discussed. Veselnitskaya has led a multipronged attack against the Magnitsky Act, an American law that blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers and championed by financier Bill Browder, who Russian President Vladimir Putin named during the Helsinki press conference as someone Russians want to speak to in exchange for letting Mueller talk to Russian nationals. The Magnitsky Act so enraged Putin he retaliated by halting American adoptions of Russian children. Scotland Yard detectives flew to the US to question alleged victims of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, it emerged today. Weinstein has been at the centre of an avalanche of claims of sexual impropriety since harassment allegations first came to light in 2017. The complaints against him have sparked police probes on both sides of the Atlantic, with London's Met Police understood to be examining 15 allegations made by 10 different women. Uma Thurman, Natassia Malthe and Lysette Anthony are among the high-profile actresses who have alleged Weinstein attacked them in the UK. Ms Anthony says she has gone to police, although it is unclear whether Uma Thurman or Ms Malthe did the same. British detectives have flown to the US as part of the investigation into alleged sex attacks by the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, pictured in court in New York in July Among those to have made allegations against Weinstein relating to the UK are Pulp Fiction actress Uma Thurman and Hollyoaks star Lysette Anthony Detectives travelled to the US earlier this summer to question some of those who have made complaints against Weinstein, police confirmed today. A spokesman said: 'The Met can confirm that officers involved in Operation Kaguyak travelled to the United States in June as part of their inquiries. We are not prepared to discuss further.' Operation Kaguyak, as it has been named by police, was opened in October last year after Merseyside Police received an allegation of sexual assault in London in the 1980s and referred it to Scotland Yard. Natassia Malthe claims Harvey Weinstein burst into her room at the Sanderson Hotel in London in 2008 and raped her Investigations into alleged attacks on a woman in Westminster in 2010 and 2011, and in Camden in 2015, begun later that month before another allegation, relating to a woman in Westminster in the mid-1990s, was then added to the investigation in February this year. Lysette Anthony came forward in October to allege Weinstein had raped her at her London home in the 1980s. She said he pushed her inside her home then forced himself on her against a coat rack. She told The Sunday Times: 'He came over my leg like a dog and then left. It was pathetic, revolting... I remember lying in the bath, crying.' In an interview in February this year, Uma Thurman described how Weinstein allegedly attacked her in London's Savoy hotel in the 1990s. She said: 'He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things. But he didnt actually put his back into it and force me. Weinstein later denied Thurman's claims and insisted he couldn't have attacked her because they stayed friends for years after the alleged incident. Uma Thurman said Weinstein attacked her in London's Savoy hotel in the 1990s Natassia Malthe claims Harvey Weinstein burst into her room at the Sanderson Hotel in London after the 2008 BAFTA Awards and began masturbating in front of her while sitting on the bed. After telling her a number of A-list actresses he claimed to have bedded, Weinstein allegedly forced himself on Malthe and began having sex with her despite her pleas for him to stop. He did not wear a condom, she claims. More than 75 women have accused Weinstein, who was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, of wrongdoing since the MeToo movement a global campaign against sexual assault gathered momentum. Court proceedings have since begun in relation to three different women. Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex. It was reported in the US yesterday that Asia Argento, one of Weinstein's accusers, paid 300,000 to a teenage co-star who accused her of sexual assault. A transient teenager abducted and murdered a 21-year-old Gold Coast woman in a random attack in 1983, police say, after a major breakthrough in one of Queensland's longest-running murder mysteries. Newly-married Linda Reed disappeared during her lunch break while working at the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on December 13, almost 35 years ago. Her body was discovered three days later along with her light-coloured Mazda sedan in bushland at Gaven. Newly-married Linda Reed disappeared during her lunch break while working at the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on December 13, almost 35 years ago On Wednesday police charged 51-year-old Troy James O'Meara (pictured centre) following a recent reopening of the investigation into Ms Reed's murder On Wednesday police charged 51-year-old Troy James O'Meara following a recent reopening of the investigation into Ms Reed's murder. O'Meara is expected to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday afternoon. It will be alleged the then 17-year-old abducted, assaulted and killed Ms Reed in what police said was a completely random attack. Her husband Robert Reed thanked police for their tireless work. Her husband Robert Reed (pictured) thanked police for their tireless work Family members of Linda Reed, Nancy Fein (left), Philipp Fein (centre) and Robert Reed (right) are seen during a press conference at Police Headquarters in Brisbane, Wednesday, August 22, 2018. 'It's been 35 years since my wife was taken from me, from Nancy and Oscar, her parents, Philipp, her brother, and we just want to thank the police for never giving up on trying to find Linda's murderer,' he said. 'We cannot thank the Queensland Police enough.' Homicide Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Knight said O'Meara was staying on the Gold Coast at the time but had a transient lifestyle and did not appear to have any connection to Ms Reed before her death. 'Linda's abduction and murder was completely random and had such a devastating impact on her family and the local community,' Snr Sgt Knight said. 'I commend the work of the officers who were involved in this case from the outset and thank the detectives and forensic officers who worked so diligently to bring this case to a resolution.' In 2009 police announced they had reopened the case following a tip-off. Witnesses from 1983 told police they saw a 'baby-faced teenager' in the shopping centre car park with blond hair in a 'pageboy' style cut. Snr Sgt Knight said DNA advances had played a 'significant' role in the arrest. A school's head cook has gone on trial after being accused of stealing more than 60,000 of children's dinner money. Paula Kester, 53, of Hartlepool, allegedly pocketed the money over a four year period when she was responsible for counting the money brought in by pupils before it was taken to the bank. Kester was head cook at St Hild's School in Hartlepool where children used a pre-payment card scheme but 'inadequate' checks were made in accounting for their cash, Teesside Crown Court heard. Paula Kester, 53, (pictured right) leaves Teesside Crown Court yesterday. She has gone on trial after being accused of stealing more than 60,000 of children's dinner money Martin Towers, prosecuting, said: 'Dinners were paid for using a card scheme. Pupils would put their card and money into one of five machines, which are known as revaluation machines, which would transfer the cash value to the card. 'At the end of each day there was quite a large amount of cash in the various machines. 'As head cook, it was Ms Kester's sole responsibility to count the money and prepare it for the bank. Ms Kester would make the declaration saying how much money there was.' Mr Towers said there was a 'large gap' in the school's processes. Kester was head cook at St Hild's School in Hartlepool (pictured) where children used a pre-payment card scheme but 'inadequate' checks were made in accounting for their cash 'The machines produced a printout of how much money they had taken that day,' He told the jury. No one compared that printout to the amount declared by Ms Kester. 'Over the four-year period, more than 60,000 of dinner money paid into the machines went missing. 'It is the prosecution's case that only she had the opportunity to create the false record and take the money. Kester denies four charges of theft between September 2012 and April 2016 'The system, you may feel, was inadequate, it was comparatively easy for the head cook to abuse the trust placed in her and take advantage of it.' The jury was told Kester is alleged to have taken money many times during the four years, but not every day. Mr Towers said the prosecution could not say where the money had gone, but Kester had paid 20,000 in cash into her bank during the four years. An investigation was launched in April 2016 after an external auditor uncovered discrepancies in the accounts. 'This eventually involved the police,' said Mr Towers. 'During her interview with officers, Ms Kester seemed to accept money may have gone missing, but she said she had not taken it. 'She offered no alternative explanation. The police looked into her finances, many cash transactions leave no trace, particularly years later. 'The 20,000 cash paid into her bank account is barely a third of the missing money, but we say that is a potential explanation of what happened to some of it.' Kester, of Hartlepool, denies four charges of theft between September 2012 and April 2016. The case continues. TV star Deborah Hutton has been spotted exercising at Bondi Icebergs just days after her ex-boyfriend was charged with stalking and intimidation. The glamorous presenter and former model stretched and skipped near the pool in Sydney's affluent eastern suburbs on Thursday morning. She spoke out about the incident for the first time on her website, saying she was 'surrounded by friends and family'. Her ex-boyfriend Robert Venour Dulhunty, 49, allegedly planted a bag of condoms and restraints inside the multimillion-dollar home they shared in Bronte. Scroll down for video TV star Deborah Hutton has been spotted at Bondi Icebergs just days after her ex-boyfriend was charged with stalking and intimidation The glamorous presenter and former model exercised near the pool in Sydney's affluent eastern suburbs on Thursday morning She spoke out about the incident for the first time on Thursday, saying she was 'surrounded by friends and family' In a statement posted to her Balance by Deborah Hutton website, staff said she was 'shocked and devastated by the situation as it evolved' 'We can confirm she is now safe and working with the police on resolving this matter and letting the legal process take its due course,' the statement said Hutton's staff said she was 'surrounded by friends and family' after the incident He allegedly made it look like a break-in to intimidate her into not ending their relationship. He allegedly called Triple Zero claiming he confronted an attempted attacker outside the home he shared with Dutton, 56, shortly after 6am on August 8. In a statement posted to her Balance by Deborah Hutton website, staff said she was 'shocked and devastated by the situation as it evolved'. 'We can confirm she is now safe and working with the police on resolving this matter and letting the legal process take its due course,' the statement said. 'Deborah is surrounded by friends and family, and we trust the Balance community will also support her through this difficult time. Hutton's staff said she was working with the police on resolving the matter involving her ex-boyfriend Hutton was pictured skipping and stretching at the popular exercise spot in Sydney's eastern suburbs The glamorous model and TV presenter planked on a mat at Bondi Icebergs on Thursday morning Model and media star Deborah Hutton says she was 'devastated' after her ex-boyfriend was charged with stalking and intimidating her after he left a bag of condoms outside her house Police alleged Dulhunty called Triple Zero claiming he confronted an attempted attacker outside the home shortly after 6am on August 8 (Hutton pictured) 'As a community, we believe (every) woman, man and child has a right to feel safe in their relationships and in their home - a celebrity should be no different. 'We also acknowledge that it takes courage and resilience beyond measure to recognise and remove yourself from toxic situations. So we are sending Deborah all our love.' Dulhunty allegedly told police the attacker left behind a number of items, with investigators later finding condoms and an apparatus used to restrain someone. Police initially believed Hutton had been targeted by a celebrity stalker but nine days later they were led back to Dulhunty. He was arrested at the home on Monday and taken to Waverley Police Station where he was charged with stalk or intimidate to cause fear of physical or mental health (domestic violence). Dulhunty also faced three counts of destroy or damage property, false representation resulting in police investigation and making a false call to an emergency services number. He told police the attacker left behind a number of items, with investigators later finding condoms and an apparatus used to restrain someone (Hutton pictured) Court hears Robert Venour Dulhunty, 49, allegedly planted a bag of condoms and restraints inside the multimillion-dollar Bronte home they shared in Sydney's eastern suburbs (Hutton pictured) Court documents stated police alleged Dulhunty 'did intimidate Deborah Hutton with the intention of causing...(her) to fear physical or mental harm'. They will allege Dulhunty, a former company director, staged the event hoping it would push Hutton into staying with him for protection as they were in the midst of a break-up. The case is due to return to court on August 30. Court documents listed Hutton as the owner of the home, which was also listed as Dulhunty's address. She purchased the spectacular four-bedroom abode in Bronte, which boasts an uninterrupted vista of the ocean in Sydney's eastern suburbs, in late 2015 for $3.8million. Court documents listed Hutton as the owner of the home (pictured), which was also listed as Dulhunty's address She purchased the spectacular four bedroom abode (pictured) in Bronte, which boasts an uninterrupted vista of the ocean in Sydney's eastern suburbs, late 2015 for $3.8million Court documents stated police alleged Dulhunty 'did intimidate Deborah Hutton (pictured with late Harry M Miller) with the intention of causing...(her) to fear physical or mental harm' They will allege Dulhunty (centre) staged the event hoping it would push Hutton into staying with him for protection as they were in the midst of a break-up Hutton has been a household name in Australia for more than 40 years, having worked as a model and in the media She graced the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine at the age of 16, was the face of Qantas for 12 years and was the editor of Women's Weekly magazine. While in a long-term relationship with late celebrity agent Harry M Miller, she was a regular feature in newspaper social pages. Hutton has also hosted Looking Good and Location Location on the Nine Network and was a fashion expert at Kerry Packer's old TV station almost two decades ago. Ms Hutton (right with Megan Gale) been a household name in Australia for more than 40 years, having worked in some of the world's most competitive industries - namely modelling and TV A hooded man is at the centre of a police investigation after a 20-year-old was stabbed in the chest during a fight with a stranger. NSW police released CCTV footage on Thursday of a man believed to be involved in the incident in Ultimo, Sydney, last week. A fight erupted shortly after a man approached three people walking on Broadway about 7pm on August 15. During the argument, the man stabbed a member of the group, a 20-year-old man, with a knife before fleeing, according to police. The 20-year-old suffered stab wounds to his torso. Witnesses rushed to his aid before he was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital by paramedics. He has since been released. Police are searching for a thin Caucasian man wearing a black jumper, a white t-shirt, black pants and black shoes. He is believed to be about 175cm-180cm tall, with short dark hair. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers. Police are searching for a thin Caucasian man who is seen in CCTV footage wearing a black jumper, a white t-shirt, black pants and black shoes Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton (pictured) says that their efforts against African youth violence is working, despite a house attack in Melbourne's west Victoria's top cop has justified the police force's approach to Melbourne's African youth crime crisis, even though he says officers are repeatedly arresting the same people. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton stood by his approach to youth crime, even after a home invasion in Melbourne's western suburb of Tarneit last weekend, in which a woman was followed home, bashed and robbed. The attack occurred on Friday night, in which a 34-year-old woman was stalked into her house and punched in the face. Police say that they are searching for four youths of African appearance, one of which was wielding a machete. They fled the scene after they stole her car, a black Hyundai sedan. Victoria Police have established two operations in the area in the past 14 months, leading to 700 arrests. Regardless, Tarneit has become a hotspot for African crime, with repeat offenders becoming more and more frequently noticed by police. 'They're pretty resilient, they like to reoffend,' Mr Ashton told Neil Mitchell on 3AW. Tarneit is 25km west of Melbourne, and is notorious as a hotspot for African youth crime Operation Wayward was started in May to target 64 offenders, with one police officer assigned to each individual. The officers check the youths' school attendance, whereabouts in the evenings and track them when they go missing. Even with the attack on Friday, Mr Ashton maintains that what they're doing is working, saying their tactics don't need to be reviewed. He said crime was decreasing and police were making more arrests than ever before, but media coverage made Melbourne look like the 'Wild West'. Operations carried out by police have reduced crime rates in the area, but their biggest problem remains repeat offenders. 'We're absolutely seeing the same offenders repeat offending, so we'll absolutely nail them,' Mr Ashton said. Two operations have been put in place to help police manage the African youths in Tarneit (pictured) Earlier this year, Ecoville Community Park (pictured) in Tarneit was trashed by African gangs Gang members have sprayed graffitti all over Tarneit, with 'Menace to Society' (right) becoming prominent Two people have been arrested after the alleged theft of more than 4,000 tins of baby formula and $215,000 in cash. A 48-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man were arrested about 10pm on Wednesday at Carlingford, north-west Sydney. Investigators were tipped off to the coordinated theft of baby formula and vitamins across the city in February, and after an extensive operation thousands of tins of the product were found inside two homes. Two people have been arrested after the alleged theft of more than 4,000 tins of baby formula and $215,000 in cash A 48-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man were arrested about 10pm on Wednesday at Carlingford, north-west Sydney Investigators were tipped off to the coordinated theft of baby formula and vitamins across the city in February More than $215,000 in cash was hidden throughout one of the homes, believed to be the proceeds from the alleged crime. The New South Wales State Crime Command's robbery and serious crime squad were alerted to the alleged thefts by retailers. A man and a woman were subsequently arrested at a carpark on Lloyd Avenue in Carlingford and taken to Ryde police station. The woman was charged with directing activities of a criminal group, participating in a criminal group and recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime. She was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Burwood Local Court on September 17. The man was released pending further inquiries from Strike Force Dungv. After an extensive operation thousands of tins of the product were found inside two homes after they were searched Labour MP Rosie Duffield (pictured, stock) has vowed that MPs will not take it 'lying down' if Jeremy Corbyn refuses to take action this week Labour MPs could go on strike if Jeremy Corbyn refuses to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, one of his MPs has said. Rosie Duffield has warned that Labour MPs will not take it 'lying down' if the Labour leader refuses to take action at a crunch meeting of the party's ruling NEC tomorrow. Her stark warning comes as John McDonnell scrambles to try to soothe the row by saying he expects the definition to be adopted. Meanwhile, Tory deputy chairman James Cleverly last night accused Mr Corbyn of being an anti-Semite in the strongest attack by a Conservative politician on the Labour leader over the scandal so far. The Labour leadership has so far refused to adopt the definition - despite warnings by MPs and the Jewish community that it is vital to rebuild trust and deal with anti-Semitism festering among some party members. The row escalated a fortnight ago when the MailOnline exclusively published a video of Mr Corbyn saying that British Zionists 'have no sense of English irony'. The comments, made at a 2013 meeting, sparked a furious outcry and prompted former chief rabbi Lord Sacks to brand the leader an 'anti-Semite' who 'defiles our politics'. At a crucial showdown tomorrow, the National Executive Committee (NEC) will decide whether to U-turn and adopt the anti-Semitism definition after many weeks of bruising criticism. Ms Duffield told the Jewish Labour Movement conference yesterday that if Mr Corbyn does not back down then MPs could 'walk out'. She said: 'If this definition is not adopted, the majority of Labour MPs won't take this sitting down. 'We have talked about walking out - going on strike. We are not going to take that lying down. Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in Liverpool Lime Street station today) has so far refused to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition - despite warnings by MPs and the Jewish community that it is vital to rebuild trust and deal with anti-Semitism festering among some party members The Labour Party has been dogged by accusations of anti-Semitism ever since Jeremy Corbyn (pictured on a train from Liverpool Lime Street today) was elected leader in 2016, but it has reached a new crisis this summer 'It is not for us as a party to reject that definition which so many countries have adopted. It's just so embarrassing.' Why is Labour's new code of conduct on anti-Semitism so controversial? The Labour anti-Semitism row erupted again after the party leadership refused to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition. The party's code explicitly endorses the IHRA definition, but it omits four examples from the IHRA list: - Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country; - Claiming that Israel's existence as a state is a racist endeavour; - Requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations; and - Comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. Labour insisted that while the examples are not reproduced word-for-word, they are covered in the new code. But critics say the decision allows anti-Semitism to continue to fester. Advertisement Fellow Labour MP Wes Streeting said Mr Corbyn had been warned that he would be dogged by accusations he is anti-Semitic if he failed to adopt the IHRA definition before the summer - but he still refused. The MP for Ilford North told the conference: 'On Tuesday the NEC faces a defining moment - whether or not they want to draw a line under this and rebuild trust in the party, or whether they want to plunge the Labour party into its worst political crisis since 1981.' The Labour Party's ruling NEC body is holding a crucial meeting in central London tomorrow where the leadership is expected to climbdown and finally adopt the definition after a long summer of heated rows over it. It would mean that the party would finally adopt the four examples of anti-Semitism which it has so far snubbed. This includes; accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country, claiming that Israel's existence as a state is a racist endeavour, requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations, and comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. But they are expected to add crucial caveats - including that it cannot be applied retrospectively and additional clauses to spell out that criticism of Israel is allowed. Mr McDonnell - the shadow chancellor and one of Mr Corbyn's closest allies on the frontbench - told BBC Radio Kent today that he fully expects the party to adopt the full IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. John McDonnell (pictured in June at an economic conference in London) scrambled to try to soothe the row by saying he expects the definition to be adopted this week Gordon Brown (pictured at the Jewish Labour Movement conference in north London yesterday) delivered an impassioned demand for the party to finally heal the 'sore' of anti-Semitism in the party He said: 'I'm hoping what will happen is exactly what a lot of people were saying was - an acceptance of the IHRA definition and examples. That is what people are pressing for. Tory Party vice chairman accuses Corbyn of being ant-Semitic The Tory Party chairman last night accused Jeremy Corbyn of being an anti-Semite. James Cleverly issued the most strongly worded attack on the Labour leader since the anti-Semitism row erupted. Asked on the BBC Radio 4 Westminster Hour last night he believed Mr Corbyn was anti-Semitic, Mr Cleverly replied: 'Yes I do.' He added: 'I don't believe he thinks he is. He is convinced he is on the right side of these arguments. 'He has campaigned against the establishment. Often that sees him on the same side as people fighting for liberty and justice. 'But when he says he's always campaigned for peace again we look at examples where he has only ever had dialogue with one side of the argument. 'We didn't see him reaching out the hand of friendship to the unionist organisations during the struggles. 'I feel really uncomfortable saying this, but there is just now such a body of evidence where he has overstepped again and again and again. 'You cannot just lay that down as bad luck. How much bad luck can someone have in their life with who they fraternise with and write positively about and say sympathetic things about.' Advertisement 'But also to ensure that there is freedom of speech so people are free to criticise Israel and its polices, and free to advocate the rights of the Palestinians, but at the same time make sure it is done in language which is acceptable.' Commenting on the row, he added: 'It has dragged on and I think we should have addressed it much sooner, but we are doing that. People weren't necessarily listening and engaging effectively at the beginning. 'I think they are now, and I am hoping that we can resolve it in terms of the Labour Party tomorrow and more importantly unite, particularly with the Jewish community, to tackle anti-Semitism.' It comes after Gordon Brown yesterday delivered an impassioned demand for the party to finally heal the 'sore' of anti-Semitism in the party. Addressing the Jewish Labour Movement conference in north London, the former PM said: 'The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism is something that we should support unanimously, unequivocally and immediately.' And he demanded that Labour urgently deal with the huge backlog of cases of members accused of anti-Semitism. He said: 'It cannot be hesitant, it cannot be grudging. We can't just move on we have to move forward true to our values and true to our principles of equality and solidarity and in respect of the wishes of the Jewish community. 'So I say it is time to say that this wrong must and can be righted. This injustice has got to be remedied. This stain has got to be removed. 'This sore that exists and the harm that has been done and the hurt that is caused has got to be undone immediately and it's got to be undone and proved to be undone in the next few days.' Meanwhile, Mr Cleverly yesterday accused Mr Corbyn of being an anti-Semite. He told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour: 'Jeremy Corbyn has got to travel a huge distance... there have been now now so many examples and these are just ones where we've got video or photographic footage or written evidence where Jeremy Corbyn has over years and years and years completely overstepped the bounds of reasonable behavior when it comes to the Jewish community.' Corbyn backs push to make deselection of Labour moderates easier Jeremy Corbyn today backed a controversial bid to make the deselection of Labour MPs easier in a move which will fuel fears the party is on the brink of a purge. The campaign group Momentum - which has helped keep Mr Corbyn in the leadership - is calling for an overhaul of party rules so it is easier to oust sitting MPs. Quizzed about the plans, the Labour leader said he backed 'greater democratic accountability' in the party. It comes as it emerged that Labour MP Joan Ryan, chairwoman of Labour Friends of Israel, is facing a reselection battle as Corbynistas try to oust her from her seat of Enfield North. Mr Corbyn's remarks will fuel already bitter divisions in the Labour Party, which has been plunged into civil war over the anti-Semitism crisis. Speaking while touring trains in and around Liverpool today, the Labour leader said the influx of new Labour members meant the party should democratise. He told ITV News: Were a party whose membership has grown to half a million from less than 200,000 three years ago, and clearly there have to be come changes and more democratic accountability of everyone within the party. And Im happy that there should be greater democratic accountability. Advertisement Asked if he believed Mr Corbyn was anti-Semitic, Mr Cleverly replied: 'Yes I do.' He added: 'I don't believe he thinks he is. He is convinced he is on the right side of these arguments. 'He has campaigned against the establishment. Often that sees him on the same side as people fighting for liberty and justice. 'But when he says he's always campaigned for peace again we look at examples where he has only ever had dialogue with one side of the argument. 'We didn't see him reaching out the hand of friendship to the unionist organisations during the struggles. 'I feel really uncomfortable saying this, but there is just now such a body of evidence where he has overstepped again and again and again. 'You cannot just lay that down as bad luck. How much bad luck can someone have in their life with who they fraternise with and write positively about and say sympathetic things about.' Veteran Labour MP Frank Field, 76, last week sensationally quit as a Labour MP blaming Mr Corbyn for making the party a 'force for anti-Semitism'. Challenged over the resignation while on a trip to Liverpool today, Mr Corbyn hit back - saying he did not understand the decision. He said: 'Frank has been a Labour MP for a very long time, even longer than I have. 'I've known him for a very long time. I've worked with him in the past on social security and other issues. Sometimes we haven't agreed but we have always got along personally. 'I'm sorry he's resigned and I thank him for all the work that he's done as an MP and for the party, but I don't see why he had to resign. Asked about Mr Field's claims the party is rife with bullying, the Labour leader said: 'I'd have to see the claims, I don't know what the claims are or what the details of them are. 'Obviously bullying and intimidation is totally unacceptable in the Labour party in any form. Debate, of course, discussion, of course.' by Nirmala Carvalho The return of Abhinandan Varthaman is scheduled for today. Pakistani premier Imran Khan said that the release of the Indian pilot is a "gesture of peace" to defuse the conflict between the two nations. President of the Indian bishops: "We hope it will be the beginning of a peace process". Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Indian Church "welcomes with enthusiasm the return of the aeronautical pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. It is a great joy for the country and his family said Card. Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Indian Bishops' Conference speaking to AsiaNews. The Indian Air Force pilot was captured in Pakistan two days ago, when his jet plane was shot down for illegally overflying Islamabad airspace. He is expected to return to India today Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the release of the Indian pilot wants to be a "gesture of peace" to defuse the conflict between the two nations. The capture of the military has increased the tension between India and Pakistan, reactivated with the attack on Indian soldiers in Kashmir on 14 February, carried out by a militant of the Pakistani terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. In retaliation, on February 26, the Delhi government bombed a JeM training camp in Balakot, on Pakistani territory, killing about 300 terrorists. The next day the two fighter jets were shot down by the Islamabad anti-aircraft and the capture of one of the two pilots. Card. Gracias believes that the restitution of the prisoner is a good sign: "Pakistan proves to respect the Geneva Convention [on the treatment of prisoners in war zones, signed in 1949, it provides that the injured are treated with humanity, ed.]. We hope this is the beginning of a process that leads to the disengagement of tension between our two neighboring countries and opens the way to peace, dialogue and commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the region and the [Indian] subcontinent ". A parishioner shouted 'shame on you' as the Archbishop of Washington addressed the Catholic Church's child sex abuse scandal. When Cardinal Donald Wuerl made his apology speech to the church on Sunday, Brian Garfield stood up and confronted him before storming out. Another churchgoer turned her back on the clergyman in protest. Wuerl noted the interruption but continued with his speech. Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl was confronted by a parishioner who shouted 'shame on you' as he made an apology speech for the church's handling of clergy sex abuse scandal Wuerl faces accusations that he mishandled clergy sexual misconduct while he was a bishop in Pittsburgh. He was addressing Washington's Annunciation Catholic Church when some of the crowd turned on him. In a short speech after Mass, Wuerl asked for forgiveness for his 'error in judgement' and 'inaccuracies' from the 200 or so people in the church. Wuerl also urged the parish to pray for and remain loyal to Pope Francis. An 11-page text penned by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Vatican's former ambassador to the US, claimed that Pope Francis knew about sex abuse allegations since 2013. After the interruption Wuerl apologized for how the sex scandal was handled. 'Yes, my brothers and sisters, shame. I wish I could redo everything over these 30 years,' he said. Afterward, Garfield told CNN: 'I don't think he is a monster but I wish he would talk less about defending himself and more about his failings. 'It's a little galling to be lectured on transparency by people who are lying to us. I wish he would talk to us as a pastor and not a politician.' Last month, a Pennsylvania grand jury report found more than 300 Catholic priests abused more than 1,000 children since 1947 in six state dioceses,including Pittsburgh. Wuerl was not accused of any misconduct, but it was his job to oversee the Pittsburgh diocese during the time several attacks happened. Conservative commentator Candace Owens is under fire for condemning using death to advance a political agenda and pointing to John McCain's funeral - having done the same thing herself days earlier. Following Saturday's funeral for the late Arizona senator, Owens took to Twitter to decry the 'disgusting' jabs made at the Trump administration when Megan McCain said 'America was always great'. But Twitter users were quick to point how just 11 days earlier Owens, 29, blamed the death of murdered Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts on Democratic immigration policy. 'This new trend of using funerals and eulogies to deliver political messages is really quite disgusting. Sympathy from death as means to sway public opinion is next level corrupt. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves,' she tweeted Saturday. Political commentator Candace Owens is under fire for her contradictory tweets where she condemned using death towards a political agenda and pointed to John McCain's funeral. Yet days earlier she blamed the death of murdered student Mollie Tibbetts on Democrats On Saturday following John McCain's funeral she said: 'This new trend of using funerals and eulogies to deliver political messages is really quite disgusting' She added that there was no need to sprinkle political opinions into eulogy speeches as Meghan McCain did when she said: 'America was always great' Over it: She dismissed the late senator's funeral as a 'DNC swamp spectacle' She wrote: 'Leftist propaganda does not work on me ... #McCainMemorial' 'Like "oh this is what this person thought politically when he/she died" or "this is who this person liked or disliked when he/she died" is not an argument. I still support @DonaldTrump. Sorry, it needed to be said,' she added. She criticized McCain's funeral as a 'DNC swamp spectacle' adding 'I'm not going to feign sympathy. This is nothing more than prime time political grandstanding and I'm over it'. 'Leftist propaganda does not work on meeven when it comes in the form of a lavish funeral. #McCainMemorial,' she added. But just days earlier Owens blamed Tibbett's death on Democrats, pointing out that her suspected killer, 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. 'Mollie Tibbetts was killed by an illegal immigrant. There will be ZERO outrage from Democrats and the spineless celebrities who march to their orders because they need open borders for votes,' Owens tweeted on August 21. But Twitter users were quick to remind her that just 11 days earlier she blamed the death of Mollie Tibbetts on Democratic immigration policy In her tweets from the day of Tibbett's remains were found she said: 'Leftists boycotted, screamed, and cried when illegal immigrants were temporarily separated from their parents. What will they do for Mollie Tibbetts?' 'How many more AMERICAN lives is the left willing to sacrifice for elections?' she added. In another tweet she wrote: 'Leftists boycotted, screamed, and cried when illegal immigrants were temporarily separated from from their parents. What will they do for Mollie Tibbetts? What did they do for Kate Steinle? They will NEVER see their parents again.' Her contradictory statements have left online critics scratching their heads. Twitter user Parker Malloy shared pictures of Owen's tweets regarding Mollie Tibbetts and John McCain's funeral side by side with the caption '[blinks]', shedding light on the discrepancy. 'Says the woman who used Mollie Tibbetts death to do exactly what she says is disgusting. But we all know this. Its the Trump and @gop way of doing things. Hide hypocrisy behind the fear and anger of your base. Truth will win though. #bluewave,' another Twitter user wrote. Contradictory: Twitter users pointed out Owen's double standard online One Twitter user said: 'Says the woman who used Mollie Tibbett's death to do exactly what she says is disgusting' Comedian Dana Goldberg wrote: 'You mean how the GOP is using Mollie Tibbett's death to fuel racism and sway political opinion?' Called out: 'Pardon me, but didn't you try to use sympathy from Mollie Tibbett's murder to try and sway public opinion against immigration?' one Twitter user said Tibbett's cousin joined in the chorus as well saying: 'Stop using my cousin's death as political propaganda. Take her name out of your mouth' 'Pardon me, but didnt you try to use sympathy from Mollie Tibbetts murder to try and sway public opinion against immigration? Even when her family intervened and asked you to stop? Shame on you. Its interesting that a call to act with basic decency is now a "political message",' a critic wrote. 'You mean how the GOP is using Mollie Tibbetts death to fuel racism and sway political opinion? I agree,' Comedian Dana Goldberg tweeted. Even Tibbett's cousin joined in the chorus, hitting at Owens for using the student's death towards a political agenda. 'Hey im a member of mollies family and we are not so f***** small-minded that we generalize a whole population based on some bad individuals. now stop being a f****** snake and using my cousins death as political propaganda. take her name out of your mouth,' Sam Lucas tweeted. Rob Tibbetts, the father of Mollie Tibbetts (pictured together left), wrote an op-ed for the Des Moines Register calling on politicians to stop using his daughter as a 'pawn' to further an agenda after Donald Trump Jr (right) blamed her murder on immigration policy Owens isn't the only one to land in hot water for her comments. On Friday Donald Trump Jr wrote an op-ed for an Iowa newspaper that slammed liberals for downplaying the illegal alien status of Tibbett's alleged killer. The next day Rob Tibbetts, Mollie's father, wrote his own op-ed, calling on politicians to stop using his daughter as a 'pawn' to further their agenda. 'Please leave us out of your debate. Allow us to grieve in privacy and with dignity. At long last, show some decency. On behalf of my family and Mollie's memory, I'm imploring you to stop,' Rob wrote. 'But do not appropriate Mollie's soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist. The act grievously extends the crime that stole Mollie from our family and is, to quote Donald Trump Jr., "heartless" and "despicable,"' he added. In his op-ed, Don Jr wrote: 'The mask is off and the true radical face of the Democrats has been exposed... they are seemingly more concerned with protecting their radical open-borders agenda than the lives of innocent Americans.' A U.S. service member has been killed and another wounded in an apparent insider attack in eastern Afghanistan, according to a statement Monday from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission. Resolute Support and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Commanding General Scott Miller says 'the sacrifice of our service member, who volunteered for a mission to Afghanistan to protect his country is a tragic loss for all who knew and all who will now never know him.' He added, 'Our duty now is to honor him, care for his family and continue our mission.' The statement said the service member was the sixth American killed in Afghanistan this year. A US service member was killed in an insider attack in eastern Afghanistan (pictured file of soldiers holding their flags in Kabul) White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the administration was monitoring the situation and President Donald Trump had been briefed by Chief of Staff John Kelly. The wounded service member was said to be in stable condition. The names of the service members were not released. An insider attack is when U.S. forces are killed by the people of the country that they're training and fighting with. The criminal barrister known as 'Lawyer X', who brought down dozens of Australia's most notorious gangsters by acting as a secret police informant, can finally be named as high-flying lawyer Nicola Gobbo. Ms Gobbo is now in hiding and is understood to have fled the country after a court order suppressing her identity as police Informer 3838 was lifted on Friday afternoon. The blonde-haired lawyer made her name defending some of the nation's most high-profile criminals. But at the same time she was secretly working as a police informant. Inside information provided by Ms Gobbo helped send a swag of underworld figures to jail, including major drug traffickers Pasquale Barbaro, Rob Karam, John Higgs, Tony Mokbel and his brother Milad. Carl Williams also pleaded guilty to four murders on her advice before being murdered in Barwon Prison in 2010. The revelations of Ms Gobbo's double dealing has sparked a royal commission and cast doubt on the legality of dozens of convictions, with fears some of the nation's most notorious criminals could soon walk free. Revealed: Criminal lawyer Nicola Gobbo has gone into hiding after being outed as the notorious Informer 3838 who allegedly snitched on her clients to police Carlton Crew boss Mick Gatto (left) was once a client of lawyer Nicola Gobbo (right). Gatto shot dead Carl Williams' hitman Andrew 'Benji' Veniamin in self defence at the height of the gangland war Royal Commission chair Margaret McMurdo has called for anyone who had dealings with Gobbo to make submissions, saying it is 'essential' to the inquiry. 'The Commission is now better placed to ascertain the full extent of Nicola Gobbo's conduct as a police informer between 1995 and 2009 and the identities of the persons potentially affected,' Ms McMurdo said in a statement this afternoon. 'We are calling for submissions from individuals who were legally represented by Nicola Gobbo between 1995 and 2009 and who were found guilty or convicted, and sentenced. The Herald Sun has been fighting for five years for the right to name and picture Ms Gobbo, who is the niece of former Governor of Victoria Sir James Gobbo. The lawyer has admitted to destroying criminal organisations from the inside after becoming fed up with police's inability to catch criminals. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the royal commission after a damning High Court judgement found the police force's conduct in using Ms Gobbo for information was reprehensible, as well as describing her behaviour as appalling. Her name can finally be revealed after the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal last week rejected a Victoria Police bid to keep it and her image a secret. Ms Gobbo began working for police in mid-2003 when she met about six times with a Detective Sergeant of the Purana Taskforce, which was investigating Melbourne gangland crime. Nicola Gobbo's greatest snitch jobs 1. Rob Karam, John Higgs, Pasquale Barbaro and 33 co-accused for the largest ever seizure of ecstasy in the world. The drugs came into Australia in tomato tins. 2. Tony Mokbel's brothers Horty Mokbel and Milad Mokbel. 3. David Ilic was arrested in 2013 after police raided a Port Melbourne Kennards storage facility and discovered $3,735,890 in cash as well as kilograms of cocaine, methmphetamines and ecstasy. 4. Joe Mannella (and Karam) for the multiple seizures of hundreds of kilos of cocaine and other drugs that were not the subject of charges, but were intercepted and seized by Australian Customs. 5. Faruk Orman (for the murder of Victor Pierce) 6. Mick Gatto and the infamous Carlton crew. The crew consisted of convicted criminals including Alphonse Gangitano, Mario Condello and Graham Kinniburgh - all whom were killed during Melbourne's gangland war. Advertisement She went onto work undercover for police until 2009. It was later revealed police actually registered Ms Gobbo as an informer while she was still a law student at the University of Melbourne in 1995. It is unknown if her recruitment was connected to drug charges she faced as a university student two years earlier. Ms Gobbo continues to deny she has done anything wrong. 'I maintain ... that anything told to me or said in my presence about crimes being planned or committed cannot ever fall under the protection of legal professional privilege by a client,' she told police in 2015. 'Most significantly, I did not approach the police because I had committed (nor have I since) any crime for which I required some kind of "get out of jail free card", as is most often the reason people choose to assist police.' Last December, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said police were concerned with the protection of Ms Gobbo and her family, whom police feared would be murdered if word got out she was an informer. 'Nothing is more important to Victoria Police than the protection of human life - that is and always will be the absolute number one priority. And so I make no apologies for taking the legal actions that Victoria Police has taken in this matter,' he said at the time. Carl Williams was right when he wrote from jail that his lawyer had turned rogue. He was murdered in jail the day information was splashed across a newspaper calling him a snitch He said police still feared the lawyer could be a target if exposed. But Ms Gobbo has never truly been very much concerned for her safety. Up until two weeks ago she was still posting photos of her children on Instagram and happily mingled among the cafe dwellers just a short ride from where she used to practice law in Melbourne's CBD. Sources suggest Ms Gobbo only recently made the decision to skip town upon learning of the looming date where her identity could no longer be protected. Even then she managed to push out the inevitable by convincing authorities she needed to make one last visit to her mother's grave before packing up her two children and getting out of town. The outing of Ms Gobbo as Informer 3838 comes as a surprise to absolutely no-one within the legal community, media or government. Her name has been associated with snitching on clients ever since she admitted to wearing a wire in an effort to snare former cop Paul Dale. WHY NICOLA GOBBO'S NAME WAS SUPPRESSED FOR FIVE YEARS Victoria Police fought for five years to keep the identity of Lawyer X - now outed as Nicola Gobbo - secret to protect her from harm. After ratting out some of Australia's most notorious gangland criminals, the police feared that she may face revenge attacks if her name was made public. A suppression order was put in place by a court back in 2014 - just as the Herald Sun newspaper was set to name her - and it was finally lifted on Friday afternoon, allowing her identity to be revealed. The High Court of Australia ruled in February this year that 'public interest in preserving Lawyer Xs anonymity must be subordinated to the integrity of the criminal justice system'. In layman's terms, that means criminal barrister Ms Gobbo damaged the legal system's reputation so badly by dobbing in her clients that her safety has been set aside to repair that damage. Victoria Police do not believe the suppression order should have been lifted, with Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton saying on Thursday that the force has a duty to protect Ms Gobbo. '(We must) do everything we can to ensure they dont incur any risk to their safety, and all the assessments in relation to Lawyer X showed there were significant safety risks. 'This will be broadcast very broadly. People will see her face in the paper or in electronic media, and theyll know what the person looks like, so from the point of view of recognising people in the street it becomes another layer we have to look at.' Advertisement Nicola Gobbo was asked to wear a wire to get incriminating evidence against former drug squad detective Paul Dale (pictured). She was also asked to give evidence against him which exposed she was a rogue lawyer Nicola Gobbo was frequently seen enjoying a coffee while supposedly living in fear of being revealed as a rogue lawyer who had turned on the crooks she represented How Nicole Gobbo went rogue 1995: Ms Gobbo is arrested over drug offences and is registered with police an an informer 2003: She meets with a Detective Sergeant of the Purana Taskforce and begins ratting on her clients 2004: Terrence Hodson and his wife Christine are shot dead in their Kew East home. Policeman Paul Dale is implicated 2005: Gobbo becomes aware of high-level drug trafficking, money laundering, witness tampering, firearm offences and works to bring them down 2005-2007: Gobbo informs to police practically every day generating about 5,500 information reports to police. 2008: Gobbo covertly tapes a conversation with the former drug squad detective 2009: Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland decides to utilise Gobbo as a witness against Dale and her world falls apart 2010: Gobbo sues Victoria Police for exposing her and settles for $2.9 million 2014: Gobbo writes to police outlining her fears that the media was about to expose her. She was right 2014: The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission investigates her snitching February 2015: IBAC make 16 recommendations to Victoria Police, including to improve its policies, systems and practices for the management of human sources. June 2015: Gobbo writes to police telling them she was motivated by altruism rather than personal gain 2018: A royal commission into how police deal with police informers is announced 2019: Gobbo is exposed as Informer 3838 as the royal commission into how police handle informers like her are treated. Court imposed gag orders protecting her identity are lifted Advertisement Gobbo covertly taped a conversation with the former drug squad detective in 2008 and later signed a statement after repeated police urging. She went onto sue Victoria Police after the case went sour and her career was left in tatters. 'Having had the courage and strength to agree to become a witness for Victoria Police, I was required to give up my home, my security, my sense of life as I knew it,' she told The Age in 2010. 'I remain in fear for my life.' Dale had been arrested and charged with the murder of another police snitch - Terence Hodson. Gobbo received almost $2.9 million and an agreement from then deputy commissioner Simon Overland that she would not be forced to be a witness in any future prosecution. Dale was charged with the Hodson murders after Carl Williams told police he acted as the middle-man between Dale and hitman Rodney Collins, who was allegedly paid $150,000 to kill Hodson after he became a police informer. The case collapsed after Williams was bashed to death in prison by prison gang leader Matthew Johnson. It just happened to coincide with the publishing of a front page newspaper report detailing Williams had become a snitch. Gobbo's secret world came undone when she was asked by former police chief Simon Overland to act as a witness against Dale. The move infuriated Gobbo. 'I didn't appreciate that at the time I made the decision to become a witness for Victoria Police, I had been put in a situation in which every assurance given to me was a lie and more importantly, that the investigators who took my statement were not made aware of the very real problems with respect to my safety and status,' she later wrote. When Dale was made to go before the Australian Crime Commission about his links to Williams, Gobbo was not made to give evidence and he walked. Prisoner of War leader Matthew Johnson murdered Carl Williams in jail on the day he appeared on the front page of a newspaper being outed as a police snitch In a letter to Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana in 2015, Ms Gobbo revealed a 'Top 10' of crooks she helped to bring down. The list contained a swag of colourful Melbourne identities, including major drug traffickers Pasquale Barbaro, Rob Karam, John Higgs, Tony Mokbel and his brother Milad. Drug Lord Tony Mokbel, who is recovering in jail from stab wounds, believes he has a chance of getting out of jail because of Gobbo's snitching against him while employed as his lawyer Pasquale Barbaro is among a who's who of criminals lining up to get out of jail because of the information they claim Gobbo handed over to police while acting as their lawyer Barbaro was pinged in the infamous $440 million Tomato Tins drug sting in 2007 which saw 32 Mafia figures jailed. 'There were a total of 386 people arrested and charged that I am specifically aware of based upon information I provided to Victoria Police, but there are probably more because as you would know, I did not always know the value or use of some of the intelligence that I was providing,' Gobbo wrote. Daily Mail Australia revealed exclusively last November that Carl Williams himself suspected Gobbo was a rat. He penned his concerns about his once trusted lawyer in a jail house letter before he was bashed to death. Gobbo's outing as Informer 3838 should come as a relief for criminal lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson, who has been wrongly suspected of being the informer for years within the general community. Carl Williams' jailhouse letter where he stated his concerns about 'Nicola' and his suspicions that she had turned trusted allies against him Melbourne lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson was often wrongly believed in the general community to be Informer 3838. She had actually tried to out Nicola Gobbo years earlier In reality, Garde-Wilson herself has been one of Gobbo's biggest detractors. 'I knew she was playing both sides back in 2006 - it just took a while for it to come out,' she told Daily Mail Australia in December. Ms Garde-Wilson said Gobbo's clients were oblivious to the fact they were talking to a police stooge. 'It took other people a lot longer to realise,' Ms Garde-Wilson said. The royal commission into the Gobbo scandal has already revealed another six legal informants, including a court clerk, have been identified as police informers. . A minister charged taxpayers more than $2,300 so he could attend a Hillsong mega church conference with his wife, who has since became a pastor at the church. Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert was a guest speaker at the Pentecostal church's Hillsong Conference Nights event in Sydney, in July 2015. The Liberal minister delivered a 'Pillars of Influence Masterclass' lecture on how 'innovative individuals' are 'influencing their pillar with the message of Jesus'. The then assistant defence minister claimed the travel entitlements for the event even though it had nothing to do with his portfolio. The global Hillsong church, which started in Sydney during the early 1980s, has a big following among celebrities including Justin Bieber, his former girlfriend Selena Gomez, model Kendall Jenner, singer Nick Jonas and former Australian rugby league star Justin Hayne. It was also connected for many years to the Gloria Jeans cafe franchise and counted a police commissioner among its flock. Scroll down for video Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert (left) charged taxpayers more than $2,300 so he could attend a Hillsong mega church conference with his wife Chantelle (left), who went on to become a Pentecostal pastor Taxpayers stumped up $2,326 for Mr Robert's travel and accommodation, including $672 for his wife Chantelle, who has since become a Pentecostal pastor on the Gold Coast, Department of Finance records showed. Mr Robert claimed the travel as 'official business'. Ministers usually meet bureaucrats or stakeholder groups related to their portfolio during such visits. In this case, however, he was asked to represent the government at the five-day Hillsong conference. The global Hillsong church, which started in Sydney during the early 1980s, has a big following among celebrities including Justin Bieber (pictured in Sydney in 2017), his former girlfriend Selena Gomez, model Kendall Jenner, singer Nick Jonas and former Australian rugby league star Justin Hayne 'The Hillsong conference is the largest of its kind in Australia,' Mr Robert told Daily Mail Australia. 'The theme 'Pillars of Influence Masterclass' was addressed by speakers from both the government and non-government perspectives. 'I was invited to speak in my capacity as a minister to represent the "government" perspective.' On July, 1 2015, Mr Robert delivered a lunchtime lecture during a segment billed as the 'Pillars of Influence Masterclasses' on a panel with Mission Australia chief executive Catherine Yeomens. 'These masterclasses are discussions on how to reach and influence the world through the pillars of society,' a Hillsong flyer from 2015 said. The minister was a guest speaker at the Pentecostal church's Hillsong Conference Nights event in June and July 2015 (pictured) On the Wednesday, July 1, he delivered lecture during a segment billed as the 'Pillars of Influence Masterclasses' 'Join the conversation on these topics and hear from innovative individuals who are influencing their pillar with the message of Jesus.' How Stuart Robert's Hillsong speech cost you $2,326 Canberra to Sydney flight for minister - $158.34 on June 30, 2015 Same flight for his wife Chantelle - $158.34 Sydney travel allowance accommodation on June 30, July 1 - $870 Commonwealth car transport Sydney, June 30 - $480.90 Driver in Sydney July 1, 2015 - $145.50 Flight for his wife from Sydney to the Gold Coast - $513.56 TOTAL: $2,326 Source: Department of Finance Advertisement The minister claimed travel allowance on June 30 and July 1 2015, with his accommodation adding up to $870, describing this as 'official business'. He flew into Sydney from Canberra on June 30 with his wife Chantelle, who is now a volunteer Pentecostal pastor at the Metro Church on the Gold Coast, with their airfares costing the public purse $317. Chantelle Robert returned to the Gold Coast on July 2, at a cost of $514 under a system where the wives of federal MPs are allowed to accompany them on three official duties a year. Mr Robert's wife had accompanied him to the U.S. Embassy in Canberra on June 30, 2015 and the Hillsong conference in Sydney on the following day. Taxpayers also $481 paid for Mr Robert to be transferred from Sydney airport by Commonwealth car. The family travel 'Comcar' use reflected his wife's return travel home from Sydney. The minister then flew back to Canberra for further events. Stuart Robert confirmed to Daily Mail Australia he had claimed 'official business' duties to attend the Hillsong conference (pictured) on behalf of the government These included ones at the Israeli Embassy and the Australian National University's National Security College where Mr Robert delivered a speech on the government's national security priorities. Mr Robert resigned as a minister in 2016 before being reinstated last year after he lobbied fellow Liberal MPs to back Scott Morrison, who is also a Pentescostal, instead of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to replace Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister. What is Hillsong? The Pentecostal mega church was born in the Sydney suburb of Baulkham Hills in 1983. It was originally known as the Hills Christian Life Centre and was founded by New Zealand migrant Brian Houston and his wife Bobbie. The evangelical church, known for its bright lights and charismatic stadium conferences, has grown to 80 affliated churches worldwide. Its followers include Justin Bieber, his former girlfriend Selena Gomez, model Kendall Jenner, singer Nick Jonas and former Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne. The church receives tax-free status as a charity but it makes a lot of money from charging its 130,000 parishioners worldwide. Brian Houston's late father, Frank an Assemblies of God preacher, was sacked by his son two decades ago, after he confessed to sexually assaulting a boy in New Zealand 30 years earlier. The Hillsong church also has close ties to commerce with multi-millionaire businessman Nabi Saleh on its board. The Iranian-born convert to Christianity had, from 1995 to 2014, owned the global rights to the Gloria Jeans cafe franchise, before selling it to the Retail Food Group for $163.5million. Former New South Wales police commissioner Andrew Scipione has also been associated with Hillsong in Sydney. Advertisement After promoting him, Mr Turnbull accepted his resignation as veteran affairs and human services minister in February 2016. This was after it was revealed he had a financial interest in Nimrod Resources, a company he had promoted for a friend and major Liberal Party donor while travelling with him on a 'private' trip to China in August 2014. Last year, Mr Robert was caught charging taxpayers $2,832 a month to connect to the internet his luxury, four-bedroom home with a pool on the Gold Coast. That is 31 times the cost of a fast, National Broadband Network connection available which then was available on the Gold Coast for $90 a month. Mr Robert repaid the $38,000 in October 2018, with his spokesman claiming the minister's home suburb of Nerang didn't have fast NBN at the time. In May 2018, he also called for the billionaire owners of super yachts to be given a GST exemption. The Hillsong church is also controversial. Despite claiming tax-free status as a church, Hillsong makes money from its 130,000 parishioners worldwide. It also has close ties to commerce with multi-millionaire businessman Nabi Saleh on its board. The Iranian-born convert to Christianity owned the global rights to the Gloria Jeans cafe franchise from 1995 to 2014, when his company sold the coffeehouse company to the Retail Food Group for $163.5million. The Hillsong church was also rocked by a child sex scandal two decades ago. Founder Brian Houston sacked his late father Frank, an Assemblies of God preacher, after he confessed to sexually assaulting a New Zealand boy 30 years earlier. Former New South Wales police commissioner Andrew Scipione, a practising Pentecostal, has previously addressed Hillsong parishioners, telling a 2017 conference Jesus 'was always there' during his toughest days as a cop. WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday warned he could walk away from a trade deal with China if it were not good enough, even as his economic advisers touted "fantastic" progress towards an agreement to end a dispute with the Asian country. The United States and China have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of each others' goods, roiling financial markets, disrupting manufacturing supply chains and shrinking U.S. farm exports. "I am always prepared to walk," Trump said in Hanoi, after cutting short a summit meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un that failed to reach a nuclear deal. "I'm never afraid to walk from a deal. And I would do that with China, too, if it didnt work out." The United States had been poised to hike tariffs on some $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent after Friday if no deal was reached by then. But on Sunday, Trump announced that he would delay the hike in duties due to progress in negotiations with Chinese officials last week. Since then, Trump administration officials have offered few details on the discussions. "The progress last week was fantastic," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on CNBC on Thursday, noting that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer read Chinese officials "the riot act" in talks last week. "We are heading towards a remarkable, historic deal," he added. Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, was similarly upbeat, saying on Fox Business Network that Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He drafted "sketches of an agreement on intellectual property theft and trade ... that really makes sense for both parties." "If you look at the paperwork weve got and the line-by-lines that people have sketched out, its just about as favorable as you could hope for," Hassett said, adding that final details would need to be approved by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. CONTRASTING VIEWS Lighthizer, Trump's chief trade negotiator, on Wednesday was more cautious about the negotiations in testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee, saying much more work needed to be done to nail down an agreement and it was too soon to predict the outcome of talks. He also said the United States would need to maintain the threat of tariffs on Chinese imports for years, even if the two countries strike a deal, a gloomy prospect for companies seeking to end trade war uncertainty. Lighthizer had said the United States is seeking an agreement that prohibits China from competitively devaluing its currency as part of trade talks, following past manipulations of the yuan. Adding more details, Kudlow said China would need to report any intervention in the foreign exchange market. "The documents are very clear: I mean, even things like the currency deal ... got no manipulation; they've got to report any interventions in the market. That's part of it," Kudlow said. His comments came as the United States won a World Trade Organization ruling that China's domestic price supports for wheat and rice were excessive and violated WTO obligations. Trump administration officials have frequently criticized the Geneva-based WTO for its inability to rein in China's trade practices and non-market economic policies. (Reporting by Susan Heavey, Alexandra Alper and Makini Brice; Editing by Dan Grebler and Susan Thomas) Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, visiting Brazil to drum up support for his bid to push for a change of government in his country, said on Thursday he will return to Caracas by Monday despite threats of imprisonment. Guaido said the leftist 'regime' of President Nicolas Maduro was 'weak, lacking support in Venezuela and international recognition.' Speaking to reporters after meeting with Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, Guaido called for the enforcement of economic sanctions against the Maduro government to continue 'so that everything is not robbed in Venezuela.' Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido speaks during a joint statement with Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil on Thursday Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, left, and Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido held a press conference. Bolsonaro, who recognizes Guaido and has taken a hard line against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Guaido, head of Venezuela's National Assembly, last month invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro's re-election last year was fraudulent. He has since been recognized by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela. But he faces possible arrest if he returns to Venezuela for disobeying a Supreme Court order that he should not leave the country pending an investigation. He said on Thursday that he and his family had received threats, including of prison. He did not provide further details. Following a visit this week to Colombia for the launching of a U.S.-led plan to get humanitarian aid into Venezuela, Guaido is visiting Brazil to build diplomatic pressure against Maduro. Nicolas Maduro showing a document as he gives a message in Caracas. His foreign called for direct talks between Maduro and his US counterpart Donald Trump to help ease the crisis in the country He is set to leave on Friday for Paraguay and said he would plan his route back into Venezuela over the weekend. 'We continue to strengthen relations with countries that have recognized our efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela and hold free elections,' Guaido said in a Twitter message, after meeting in Brasilia with diplomats from about 20 European Union member states. He said there was no chance of dialogue with the Maduro government without discussing elections as a pre-condition. Bolsonaro said in a joint statement after meeting with Guaido that the opposition leader was the hope for restoring a 'free, democratic and prosperous Venezuela.' Brazil was one of the first to recognize Guaido, after the United States and Colombia. Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro demonstrate in Caracas A handout picture released by Venezuelan presidency press office shows supporters in the street for the Venezuelan government however there is concern after the Venezuelan government has denied entry at its borders to hundreds of tonnes of humanitarian aid It is hosting one of the Venezuelan opposition's collection points for aid, and together with the United States has funded some 200 tonnes of food and medicine being stockpiled in the northern city of Boa Vista. Venezuela's opposition failed to get that aid across the border as planned last weekend after Maduro closed it, sparking protests that killed one person and injured others. Russia and China, which back Maduro, vetoed on Thursday a U.S.-authored resolution at the United Nations Security Council calling for free and fair presidential elections and open access for the aid efforts. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was still working on plans to get the aid delivered to Venezuela, which is suffering from a deep economic crisis marked by widespread shortages of basic necessities. 'We are hopeful that over the next couple of weeks, we can really begin to make a dent in that problem,' Pompeo told reporters while flying to the Philippines from Vietnam. Maduro denies his oil-rich nation has any need of aid and accuses Guaido of being a coup-mongering puppet for Washington. A former coal industry lobbyist and climate change denier has been announced as the new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency. Andrew Wheeler - also a former Republican Senate aide on environmental issues - won in a 52-47 vote Thursday, the Senate announced. The move has infuriated Democrats and conservation groups who said his policies were endangering public health. Andrew Wheeler - a former coal industry lobbyist and climate change denier - has been announced as the new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency Wheeler, a Washington insider with years of experience working as a congressional staffer, has been acting administrator since July. He was nominated by Trump in January to permanently replace Scott Pruitt, who resigned in July after widespread criticism for alleged ethical missteps. 'As acting administrator of EPA, (Wheeler) has prioritized commonsense policies that protect our air and water, while allowing our economy to grow,' said Senate Republican John Barrasso of Wyoming following the vote. Only one Republican in the Republican-controlled Senate opposed Wheeler, Maine's Susan Collins, who argued his efforts to roll back standards on emissions blamed for climate change takes the country in the wrong direction. Business interests like oil and coal, eager to see reduced regulation, were quick to hail Wheeler's confirmation while Democrats and conservation groups are worried that environmental rollbacks under the Trump administration are going too far. 'Throughout his career, Andrew Wheeler has shown a clear disregard for the EPAs mission to protect the public and environment,' said Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein from California, after voting against him. While running the EPA on an interim basis, Wheeler oversaw the weakening of Obama-era rules limiting carbon and mercury emissions from power plants and standards on carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks. He has also advanced an initiative to lift a summertime ban on higher ethanol blends of gasoline that was enacted to curb smog. 'Andrew Wheeler has been instrumental in advancing the most regressive environmental proposals of the Trump Administration -weakening public health protections against dirty cars, heat-trapping methane, toxic mercury, pollution from coal plants, and so much more,' Moms Clean Air Force, a civil society group combating air pollution. During his confirmation hearing in January, Wheeler said he did not believe climate change was a major crisis - a stance that resonates with Trump's skepticism but which clashes with the scientific consensus that global warming will have devastating consequences if not addressed urgently. Wheeler oversaw the weakening of Obama-era rules limiting carbon and mercury emissions from power plants and standards on carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks Like Pruitt, Wheeler held nearly 20 times more meetings with industry representatives than with conservationists during his first two months on the job, according to a copy of his schedule. Prior to the vote, Wheeler had also faced a brief pushback from five Republican senators from oil states - including Ted Cruz of Texas - over what they perceived as his support of policies favorable to the ethanol industry. The corn and oil industries have conflicting interests when it comes to biofuels like ethanol, which compete with petroleum for market share. All five senators had met with Wheeler earlier in February over the issue and voted to approve Wheeler on Thursday. Michelle Bloodworth, president of America's Power (ACCCE), a coal industry lobby group said Wheeler was a 'thoughtful leader who understands the need for sensible environmental policies.' Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage asserted any elimination of the Electoral College would hurt white people. LePage told WVOM radio that allowing the popular vote to choose the president would give minorities more power and that 'white people will not have anything to say.' 'It's only going to be the minorities who would elect. It would be California, Texas, Florida,' he added. Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage said cutting the Electoral College would mean there is never another presidential candidate from small states LePage claimed that any such bill would mean that white people would become the 'forgotten people.' Proposals to eliminate the Electoral College are sometimes floated but fail to gain traction. A Maine legislative committee plans to discuss a proposal this week. The proposal would place Maine in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which is aimed at creating a way for states to bypass the electoral college process. States representing 270 Electoral College votes could force all of their votes to go to the winner of the popular vote if they joined the compact. He said allowing the popular vote to choose the president would give minorities more power and that 'white people will not have anything to say.' The ardent Trump supporter once stated that 'the enemy' in fighting drug addiction 'are people of color or people of Hispanic origin' LePage said cutting the Electoral College would mean there is never another presidential candidate from small states like 'Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Wyoming, Montana, Rhode Island.' While governor, LePage blamed out-of-state, minority dealers for bringing drugs into Maine and added that they often impregnate 'young, white' girls while in Maine. He also actively campaigned against same-sex marriage, also working to challenge protections for LGBT workers while he was governor. LePage has a history of making bigoted and racist remarks, Insider reports. The ardent Trump supporter once stated that 'the enemy' in fighting drug addiction 'are people of color or people of Hispanic origin.' A California judge delivered a blow Thursday to a decade-long effort by federal prosecutors to strip the Mongols motorcycle gang of its trademarked logo, ruling such a move would be unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter in Santa Ana nullified a first-of-its-kind jury verdict that would have given the government control of the logo of a Mongol warrior astride a chopper-style motorcycle and two other trademarks. Ordering forfeiture of the trademarks would violate the First Amendment rights to freedom of association and Eighth Amendment protections against excessive penalties, Carter said. 'The collective membership mark acts as a symbol that communicates a person's association with the Mongol Nation, and his or her support for their views,' Carter wrote. 'Though the symbol may at times function as a mouthpiece for unlawful or violent behavior, this is not sufficient to strip speech of its First Amendment protection.' A California judge delivered a blow Thursday to a decade-long effort by federal prosecutors to strip the Mongols motorcycle gang of its trademarked logo, ruling such a move would be unconstitutional Mongols' attorney Joe Yanny said the ruling was a big deal for the bikers and he criticized prosecutors for wasting millions of dollars chasing 'an impossible dream by some government guy who had no respect for the constitutional rights he might be trampling.' 'It's an attempt at collective guilt, which has never been the law here in this country,' Yanny said. 'You don't hold people guilty or punish folks simply because they know people that may be related in some fashion to people who are alleged to have done something wrong.' Prosecutors were disappointed with the ruling and may appeal, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney. Prosecutors had successfully argued before a jury that the logo was core to the identity of the Los Angeles area-based gang responsible for drug dealing, beatings and murder. They argued that bikers wore the badges like armor to intimidate. The January verdict appeared to conclude a 10-year quest that began after agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives infiltrated the gang and 77 members were convicted of racketeering. In January, the jury found the Mongol Nation entity guilty of racketeering and said the group's trademarked patches could be forfeited. While Carter affirmed the convictions, which could carry fines at sentencing in April, he refused to give prosecutors what they had long sought. In announcing charges in 2008, prosecutors said a forfeiture order would allow any law enforcement officer to stop a gang member and 'literally take the jacket right off his back.' Prosecutors appeared to dial back that assertion, claiming in court papers that forfeiture was 'merely a procedural step divesting the Mongol Nation of its legal rights to enforce exclusive use of the symbols.' But Carter dismissed that argument as disingenuous. 'The government has lost credibility when it now suggests the sole purpose of more than a decade of prosecution is only to limit the Mongol Nation's ability to bring infringement lawsuits against other entities,' Carter wrote. Marsha Gentner, a trademark lawyer in Washington, said she was puzzled by what the government hoped to accomplish. Under trademark law, the U.S. could prevent others from using the Mongol's logos or name. They could potentially auction the rights to the trademark, though it was questionable who pay for it. If they did nothing with the trademark, it would eventually be considered abandoned and someone else could snap it up. In January, the jury found the Mongol Nation entity guilty of racketeering and said the group's trademarked patches could be forfeited 'This whole idea of seizing the mark,' Gentner said, 'it just was not well thought out.' The Mongols was founded in a Los Angeles suburb in 1969. The group is estimated to have more than 1,000 riders in chapters worldwide. Yanny described the Mongols as a club that doesn't tolerate criminal activity. He said the government targeted the group because of its large Mexican-American population. Former pro wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura testified for the defense, saying he neither committed crimes nor was told to do so when he was a Mongol in the 1970s. Prosecutors won the convictions after detailing violence that included the killing of a Hells Angels leader in San Francisco, a Nevada brawl in 2002 that left members of both clubs dead, and the killing of a Pomona policeman while raiding the home of a Mongols member in 2014. The political prisoner asks authorities to investigate beatings and torture dating back to 2017 and 2018. He is serving a seven-year sentence for "propaganda against the state". So far, the complaints about the treatment received have not been answered. Hanoi (AsiaNews / RFA) - Nguyen Van Hoa (photo), a 24-year-old Catholic activist and political prisoner, today entered the eighth day of hunger strike to protest the repeated abuses suffered ta the hands of prison guards in An Diem, central-southern province of Quang Nam. The young man is serving a seven-year sentence for "propaganda against the state", issued in November 2017 by the People's Court of the province of Ha Tinh. Two days after visiting him in prison,his sister Nguyen Thi Hue declared that until now her brother's complaints about mistreatment had received no response. Hoa calls on the authorities to conduct an investigation into beatings and torture dating back to 2017 and 2018, when he was forced to testify in the trial against 44-year-old Le inh Luong, another Catholic activist sentenced to 20 years in prison. On 16 August 2018, Nguyen Van Hoa was taken by force before the court of Nghe An as a witness. Along with him there was also Nguyen Viet Dung, a former prisoner who has now been transferred to the Ha Nam detention center. Nguyen Van Hoa, Nguyen Viet Dung and Le inh Luong were arrested for their protests against the government regarding the management of the environmental disaster caused by the Taiwanese steel plant Formosa Plastics Group. In April 2016, the company was responsible for the release of toxic chemicals in port waters in the province of Ha Tinh, bringing the fishing industry and tourism to central Vietnam to its knees. Nguyen Van Hoa sent a copy of the petition to the authorities of the province of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and the Supreme People's Procuratorate in the capital Hanoi. The activist asks to prosecute the officers responsible for the abuses; he promises that he will not stop his hunger strike until his demands are met. At least five people were killed on Thursday when a car bomb exploded close to a major hotel in the capital of Somalia, medics said. Al-Shabaab insurgents boasted a suicide bomber from their group was responsible for the killings, the latest in a long line of attacks the Al-Qaeda linked group has carried out. Witnesses described how the blast ripped through one of the busiest streets in the seaside capital, as people were unwinding after work. A volley of gunfire was heard after the explosion as people ran in terror through the packed city streets. Al-Shabaab insurgents claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing near a major hotel in Mogadishu that killed at least five people 'Our teams have collected five dead bodies and 25 wounded people,' Abdukadir Abdirahman, director of the Aamin Ambulance service said warning that the tally could rise. 'The teams are still working,' Abdirahman said. Mogadishu is regularly targeted by the Shabaab fighters in their long fight to topple the government. They said their fighters were trying to kill senior officials staying in the famous Maka Al-Mukarama hotel. Volunteers and rescue workers evacuate a victim following a car bomb blast in Mogadishu claimed by Al-Shabaab 'There was a suicide blast followed by gunfire, in which the mujahedeen fighters targeted the commanders and officials of the Somali government who stayed at the hotel,' the group claimed in a statement on a pro-Shabaab website. There was also heavy gunfire after the blast. 'There was a huge car bomb blast along the Maka Al-Mukarama road,' said police officer Mohamed Farah. 'It destroyed many businesses and vehicles.' 'The whole area was in flames, and I could see the ambulances rushing to the scene,' said Abdisamed Mohamed, a witness. 'There was gunfire too, but we dont know who was shooting.' The deadly car bomb blast ripped through one of the busiest streets of Mogadishu in the early evening hours A second blast was heard in the area a few minutes later, but it was unclear what caused that explosion. Shabaab fighters fled their fixed positions they once held in Mogadishu in 2011, and have since lost many of their strongholds. But they retain control of large rural swathes of the country, and continue to wage a guerrilla war against the authorities. The Australian military is investing $9million in researching robotic weapons. A huge new project funded by the Defence Department will investigate how artificially intelligent weapons can be used ethically. The six-year project started yesterday at the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales. It will focus on how autonomous weapons such as drones and automatic guns make ethically tricky decisions on when to open fire. The Australian military is investing $9million in researching robotic weapons. Pictured: A Drone being tested in the United States It comes amid calls for the United Nations to ban autonomous weapons over fears they will lead to mass destruction and could be hacked by terrorists. But lead researcher Dr Jai Galliott of UNSW today told Daily Mail Australia they can do more good than harm. The third revolution: What are robotic weapons? While full-blown android soldiers remain the stuff of science fiction, advances in artificial intelligence mean machines with the power to select and attack targets without human input could soon be widely used. The Australian military already uses autonomous weapons in the form of guns on navy destroyers which automatically detect hostiles and fire. Such robots represent the 'third revolution' in warfare after gunpowder and nuclear weapons, scientists say. The issue is contentious with many people fearing robots will become too powerful and turn on humans to destroy mankind. Advertisement 'My fear is that we are slowing technology that could save lives because of negative hype,' he said. 'Some people fear robotic weapons because they envision a terminator-type scenario where robots are deployed in urban environments - but the reality is far from that. 'The systems we are looking at today, such as drones and automated guns, are acting in very limited scenarios in which it's safe to do so. 'They are not deployed in urban areas and deciding when and who to kill.' The research project will involve surveying human soldiers to find out what action they would take when faced with ethical decisions about opening fire. The aim is to build decision-making into robots so they would take actions similar to that which a human may take. While full-blown android soldiers remain the stuff of science fiction, advances in artificial intelligence mean machines with the power to select and attack targets without human input could soon be widely used. The Australian military already uses autonomous weapons in the form of guns on navy destroyers which automatically detect hostiles and fire. The purpose of the new project is to help artificial weapons save innocent lives, Dr Galliot told Daily Mail Australia. The Australian Navy already uses autonomous weapons with guns on destroyers, which automatically detect hostiles and fire. Pictured: The guns on American warship USS Idaho 'For example, we can design a weapon so that it never fires on an ambulance or a hospital if it recognises the red cross.' Drones could also be taught not to shoot at children if they are programmed not to open fire on a target above a certain height. Dr Galliot said the aim was not to replace human soldiers but to find the best way for robots to assist them. 'We can use robots to help avert accidents and deaths,' he said. 'For example, a drone could fly ahead of a group of soldiers and alert them to any danger such as incoming missiles or enemies.' As such, researchers will work alongside soldiers to work out how army personnel would like to see robots being used. 'One of our aims is to find out how we can facilitate better interaction between the weapons and the people who use them.' Dr Galliot said that, in his experience, soldiers do not see their jobs threatened by robots but rather see them as a 'buddy' to work alongside in the field of combat. A huge new project funded by the Defence Department will investigate how artificially intelligent weapons such as drones and automatic guns can be used ethically (stock image of a drone) When asked if the project was a government response to China recently investing millions in robotic technology, Dr Galliot said he has been persuading the federal government for the past five years to fund research. This year the autonomous systems specialist finally got his wish, with the government investing $9 million into the project. Dr Galliot believes it is the largest amount ever spent on a single robot ethics project in the West. The funding for the six-year project came from the Defence Department's $730million pool to develop future intelligence, space and automation technologies. Dr Galliot, who is working with ten full-time ethics experts and several other engineers, said he aimed to produce a report in around a year's time. He aims to shape international policy by convincing people that autonomous weapons are a force for good. Huawei Technologies ran a full page ad in major US newspapers on Thursday urging readers not to believe 'everything you hear' about the Chinese tech firm, as it defends itself against government accusations its equipment can be used to spy. The world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, which has been charged with bank fraud related to US sanctions against Iran, touted its relief efforts in disaster-torn countries like Chile and Indonesia, and its work to connect the undeserved around the world. 'Our doors are always open. We would like the US public to get to know us better,' the company stated in the open letter to the US media, noting that the US government has 'developed some misunderstandings about us.' Huawei Technologies ran a full page ad in major US newspapers on Thursday urging readers not to believe 'everything you hear' about the Chinese tech firm, as it defends itself against government accusations its equipment can be used to spy The advertisement ran in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Politico, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, said Huawei spokesman Chase Skinner. The move is part of an unprecedented public relations blitz, launched last month with a 25-minute interview aired on state-controlled China Central Television (CCTV) with Huawei Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei. Interviews on the UK's BBC and American broadcaster CBS soon followed. In the CCTV segment, Zhengfei shrugged off the global push against his company and hinted at the rationale behind the media push. 'My public relations department forced me,' a smiling Ren told CCTV. 'I must make our clients understand us, make our 180,000 employees understand us, come together and get through this tough time.' The move is part of an unprecedented public relations blitz, launched last month with a 25-minute interview aired on CCTV with Huawei Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei. Interviews on the UK's BBC and American broadcaster CBS (pictured) soon followed The move comes as the United States is seeking the extradition from Canada of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and Ren's 47-year-old daughter, after charging her with bank and wire fraud related to violation of US sanctions against Iran The United States warns that next-generation 5G equipment, which some telecoms experts see as more vulnerable to attack than previous technology, could be exploited by the Chinese government for spying if supplied by Huawei. Huawei has denied the claims, even as American officials have tried to persuade governments and telecoms operators around the world to shun Huawei equipment. 'I think it's more being transparent. It's time to take control of our narrative,' Skinner said, who noted that Huawei buys US$11 billion (8.3 billion) in US goods every year. The move comes as the United States is seeking the extradition from Canada of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and Ren's 47-year-old daughter, after charging her with bank and wire fraud related to violation of US sanctions against Iran. In interviews earlier this month, Ren said her arrest was politically motivated and that the company had never shared any customer information with the Chinese government, and never would. Advertisement Bikies, flag girls and motorcycle enthusiasts gathered at a bush dustbowl for the annual Mudgee Meltdown chopper rally in regional New South Wales. The three-day 'grass roots style chopper rally' is on private property which allows riders to get away with 'general wild s***', according to the Mudgee Meltown Facebook page. Drink driving, full-frontal nudity, burnouts and motorcycle drag racing are on full display in rowdy photos taken at the bush bash. Jack Daniels whiskey and Mexican tequila are poured into a woman's mouth while she does a burnout on a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Bikies, flag girls and motorcycle enthusiasts gathered at a bush dustbowl for the annual Mudgee Meltdown chopper rally in regional New South Wales Two completely naked riders rev their motorcycle engines while a flag girl jumps to announce the start of a dirt drag race. 'Party naked' is a hashtag regularly the Mudgee Meltdown Facebook page A tatted-up rider has whiskey and tequila poured into his mouth at the same time by two women on either side of him. He makes a cloud of smoke as he does a burnout on his motorcycle against a barrier in the designated burnout area Flag girls poured Jack Daniels whisky and Mexican tequila into riders' mouths while they did burnouts against barriers in the designated burnout area. The scantily-clad women wore crop tops and high-cut denim shorts as they marshaled motorcycle drag races. Some riders raced naked, taking the 'party naked' hashtag to heart. The hashtag is regularly used by the Mudgee Meltdown Facebook page. A long double-file line of racers stretched back as riders queued for their turn at drag racing. Red versus purple: A rider on a red chopper and another on a purple one speed off at the start of a race. The flag girl runs out of the way to avoid eating their dust left behind A shirtless man throws up a peace sign as he gets liquor poured on his chest by a dreadlocked woman in a crop top and denim shorts. At the same time he creates a huge cloud of smoke by doing a burnout on his Harley Davidson chopper The Hangover Part Four: Rider 'Aus Hooligan X' dressed up as a character from the Hangover films. The beard and baby doll wearing sunglasses resemble Alan Garner played by Zach Galifanakis. Drinking is a common sight at the chopper rally Event attendees had the option to camp for two nights at the event so they could be in the thick of it for the next day's shenanigans. Mudgee Meltdown was at a dry and dusty private property in Avisford, 20 minutes south west of Mudgee in regional NSW. 'F*** coppers ride choppers' the Mudgee Meltdown Facebook page said. On your marks, get set, go! A long line of racing pairs watch as they queue up for their turn while a rider kicks up dirt with his Harley at the start of a drag race Kicking up a storm: A dreadlocked woman pours tequila into a riders mouth as he kicks up smoke and dirt doing a burnout. Others cheer, laugh and film from the sidelines, encouraging the 'general wild s***' the event is known for There was no confusion about the theme of the event as tatted-up bikers with beers in their hands walked from their campground to the party area. 'Titties and beer' said one man's tank top Mudgee Police said they were aware of the annual two-night event. But they did not attend the event because it was on a private property and 'not a police matter'. A Mudgee Meltdown spokeswoman declined to comment after being asked a question about safety at the event. A rider has one wheel lifted off the ground as he speeds off on his Harley Davidson dirt bike at the start of a race. Camper vans and marquees can be seen in the background. Attendees had the option to camp for two nights at the event A tatted up rider and a woman with tattoos have a moment of quiet at the 'wild' event. Both men and women took part A taxi driver living in Western Sydney has been accused of travelling to Syria and administering encrypted messages for militant group Islamic State. The Bangladesh-born man, who has been granted Australian citizenship, travelled to Syria to allegedly fight with the group in 2015, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. When the man came back to Australia - via Turkey - in September, 2015, he was arrested by Australian Federal Police at Sydney Airport. The Islamic State logo, which appeared in images allegedly taken from the man's phone (stock image) At the same time of his arrest, uniformed police raided the man's Auburn home that he shared with his wife, their children, and his wife's children to a previous marriage. A source close to the investigation told the publication the man has not been charged, but remains under surveillance because of his alleged radical views. During the six months he stayed in the conflict zone, he is alleged to have been involved with the Islamic State's encrypted online messaging services. 'An administrator is the right term for him,' the source said, before adding the man has allegedly continued to manage the ISIS WhatsApp and Telegram groups. The messaging services are used by the group to communicate internally and also for the purpose of recruiting new members, the source said. Australian Federal Police believe the man didn't fight for the group during his time in Syria, although when he returned home those who knew him said he was different. One of the man's former neighbour's told the publication the man was 'angrier' and 'more radical' when he came back to Australia. A militant group propaganda image (pictured) allegedly taken from the man's mobile phone A taxi driver living in Western Sydney has been accused of travelling to Syria and administering encrypted messages for militant group Islamic State 'He made his wife wear the niqab - a conservative Islamic face-covering veil - and he was very controlling of his children,' the neighbour said. According to documents leaked by online vigilante group Ghost Squad Hack, the man is believed to attend South Granville mosque Al Noor. Images allegedly taken from the man's phone purportedly show explosions, blood-stained knives, and children brandishing the militant group's flag, The accused man's children are also allegedly enrolled at the local Islamic school Al Bayan Institute at Regents Park. An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the organisation is unable to comment on whether or not someone is being investigated. A Chinese man has been arrested after he allegedly murdered his sister, stuffed her body into his boot and drove 14km to his other sibling's home intending to kill her as well. Ning Wang, 68, from Clayton South in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, was arrested after police found the body of his sister, Qin Wang, 57, at a house in Anthony Court, Burwood East, about 9.40am on Wednesday. Police were called after his neighbours heard ear-piercing screams coming from the home. 'My sister, help us, my sister', a woman was heard wailing, 7 News reports. Wang allegedly murdered his sister in this home in Clayton South, Melbourne (above) before stuffing her body in the boot of his car and driving over to his other sister's home It is alleged Ning Wang attacked his other sister in a fit of rage before her son intervened, potentially preventing another death. The motive is not yet known although it is believed the family were fighting over money. His sister Qin is believed to have been staying with Wang while visiting from China. Wang smiled as he was brought into Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday for a brief administrative hearing. The body of Qin Wang, 57, was found at her sister's house in Burwood East, Melbourne, after she had been allegedly killed by brother Ning Wang, 68, on Wednesday (above) Wang was arrested and a crime scene has since been set up at both his Clayton property and his sibling's Burwood East home Shocked neighbours spoke of how Wang appeared depressed in recent weeks and was reportedly upset at his family over them selling family investments. Neighbour Allan Abeyratne said Wang was 'a bit of a loner', but added that he was a 'top bloke' and 'very nice', the Herald Sun reports. CCTV footage, a DNA analysis and a DNA report will be used as evidence. Wang was kept in custody and will appear in court again on June 20. A man has been arrested at a train station where he allegedly thought he would be meeting a 14-year-old girl for sex. Police picked up the 52-year-old man near Westmead Railway Station in western Sydney at about 9.15am on Thursday. Detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes squad started speaking with the man online back in December 2018. Police will allege in court that the man thought he was speaking to a 14-year-old girl and spoke at length about the sexual acts he wanted to perform on her. Scroll down for video A man has been arrested near a train station after he allegedly arranged to meet a teenage girl for sex He allegedly suggested he strike up a relationship with the girl's mother so he could see the young teenager more easily. The man was taken to Parramatta Police Station where he was charged with using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years of age for sexual activity. He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Friday. Investigators searched a Colyton property in western Sydney and numerous electronic devices were seized. Police picked up the 52-year-old man near Westmead Railway Station in western Sydney at about 9.15am on Thursday The U.S. government is offering $1 million for help tracking down the son of the late terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. A State Department notice Thursday says the reward will be paid for help locating Hamza bin Laden in any country as part its 'rewards for justice' program. The announcement says bin Laden's son has emerged as a key leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist group who is growing in prominence. His father was killed in a U.S. military raid in Pakistan in May 2011. 'Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise,' a State Department statement said, referring to Al-Qaeda. The United States is offering a $1 million reward for information on Hamza bin Laden, seen here in a video grab by the CIA Hamza bin Laden, who is about 30, was named a 'specially designated global terrorist' in January 2017. The junior bin Laden has released audio and video messages on the internet calling for attacks against the West and has threatened revenge for his father's 2011 killing by U.S. forces, the department said in a statement. Osama bin Laden was killed in a covert operation carried out in Abbottabad, Pakistan at a compound where the al-Qaeda leader was holed up. Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and other notorious actions In addition, Hamza allegedly married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the 'lead hijacker and a mastermind' of the 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and other notorious actions. Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day, including citizens of roughly 77 countries. US intelligence agencies increasingly see the younger bin Laden as a successor to his father for the mantle of global jihad, especially as the even more extreme Islamic State group is down to its last sliver of land in Syria. In 2015, bin Laden released an audio message urging jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to 'liberating Palestine.' And in a message a year later, following in the footsteps of his father, he urged the overthrow of the leadership in their native Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden's three surviving wives and his children were quietly allowed to return to Saudi Arabia after his killing. But Hamza bin Laden's whereabouts have been a matter of dispute. He is believed to have spent years along with his mother in Iran, despite Al-Qaeda's strident denunciations of the Shiite branch of Islam that dominates the country. Observers say that the clerical regime in Tehran kept him under house arrest as a way to maintain pressure on rival Saudi Arabia as well as on Al-Qaeda, dissuading the Sunni militants from attacking Iran. One of Hamza bin Laden's half-brothers told The Guardian last year that Hamza's whereabouts were unknown but that he may be in Afghanistan. Summer is over but the weather is showing no signs of cooling down. Heatwave and health warnings have been issued as Victoria and South Australia swelter through their hottest start to autumn in 30 years with temperatures set to nudge 40C in the coming days. Melbourne is in the middle of a four-day heatwave of 36C temperatures while parts of regional Victoria are expected to soar into the 40s. Adelaide will swelter through two consecutive days of 40C temperatures in the South Australian capital on Friday and Saturday. Australia's southern states are sweltering through a heatwave as temperatures soared on Friday (above) Hundreds of Melburnians will flock to Chelsea Beach (pictured) on Saturday to escape the heat Melbourne had already reached 26C by 5.30am on Friday after the city sweltered through one of its hottest March nights ever, with 26.3C at Laverton. It was just shy of the 26.5C record set in 2013. The city's Route 30 tram services have been cancelled while buses will replace route 78 and 82 due to the scorching weather. Melbourne is experiencing a four-day heatwave of 36C plus temperatures The heatwave has been caused by northerly winds dragging heat into Australia's southern states. 'A severe heatwave warning is in place for most Victoria until the cool change is expected to come through late Sunday,' Bureau of Meteorology Matthew Michael told Daily Mail Australia. 'A total fire ban is in place for Victoria's south-West on Friday, which is expected to continue into the weekend.' Melburnians flocked to the beach on Friday to escape the heat as temperatures soared to 37C The hottest March day on record for Melbourne was in 2016 when it hit 38.9C. 'While the maximum record is unlikely to be broken, there's a slight chance the minimum March temperature could go with two more hot nights to come,' Mr Michael told Daily Mail Australia. The statewide heatwave promoted Victoria Health to issue an alert for residents living in the states central region to take care. 'Heat can cause heat illness, including cramps and heat exhaustion which if left untreated can lead to life-threatening heatstroke,' the alert states. An extreme heatwave emergency warning is in place for South Australia, where authorities have warned residents to stay indoors, check on pets and elderly neighbours and to keep hydrated throughout the day. Melbourne's minimum March temperature record could be broken in the coming days. Pictured is Chelsea Beach on Friday 'Babies and young children, the elderly, pregnant women and those who are already unwell are especially at risk but, in an extreme heatwave, even healthy people who do not take action to keep cool can become very ill,' a SA State Emergency Service alert states. The SA Country Fire Service has fire weather warnings in place for the West Coast, Eastern Eyre Peninsula, Lower Eyre Peninsula, Mount Lofty Ranges, Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and Lower South East districts. In Tasmania, Hobart will also feel the heat with temperatures of 35 and 37 degrees forecast for Friday and Saturday. A total fire ban applies to all municipalities in the southern region will remain in place until at least Saturday. 'The conditions forecast for Friday and Saturday are equal to the worst we have seen this bushfire season. Any fires that start under these conditions will be fast-moving, dangerous and difficult to control,' Tasmania Fire Service posted on its Facebook page. Adelaide's Henley Beach (pictured) will be packed on Saturday with South Australia capital forecast to hit 40 degrees for a second consecutive day In other capital cities, Sydney will reach a top of 27 across the weekend with a chance of showers. There's also a possibility of rain forecast further north in Brisbane, which will reach highs of 29, while in the west, Perth will warm up over the weekend to 33 degrees on Sunday. In the Top End, Darwin will hit 33 on Saturday and a humid 34 on Sunday. The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts autumn to be drier than average for much of northern and eastern Australia, with an average to later-than-average autumn break in the south. 'Temperatures are very likely to be above average across the country,' the bureau tweeted on Thursday. Families flocked to Chelsea Beach in Melbourne's south-east on Friday Heavily armed police who swooped on a western Sydney home have arrested a man over an alleged fatal stabbing after a tense four-hour siege. A 45-year-old man died in a nearby driveway after allegedly being stabbed in the back and neck on Gladstone Street in North Parramatta. Police arrived on the scene at 8.50pm on Thursday after reports of two men fighting and found the man with critical injuries. He was unable to be revived. A 35-year-old man allegedly refused to talk to police and they cordoned off his townhouse until he surrendered at 2.30am The man was taken to Westmead Hospital and under police surveillance is being treated for injuries received before police arrived Special Operations officers then cordoned off a unit on the same street and attempted to speak to a 35-year-old man, who allegedly refused to leave the house. Officers were heard yelling: 'This the police, come to the door, we have the house surrounded,' reported The Daily Telegraph. The man eventually left the home at 2.30am on Friday and was arrested. He was taken to Westmead Hospital under police surveillance and is being treated for injuries sustained before police arrived. Witnesses said they heard yelling but thought it was a family arguing. 'Not long after all these police cars came, a helicopter and officers searching the neighbourhood with there flashlights...it was scary,' one local resident said. Police are investigating and are yet to locate a weapon. Detective Inspector Barry Vincent said: 'We believe they [the two men] are known to each other, that's all I can say at this stage.' Police were called after reports two men had been fighting in a driveway on Gladstone street, North Parramatta Elections are scheduled for May. The Office for Dalits and Disadvantaged Castes is calling on all political groups to add Christian and Muslim Dalits to the reserved quota system established in 1935. Back then Indias British rulers did not exclude anyone on the basis of religion. This changed with a 1950 presidential order that deprived Christians and Muslims of their reserved access to public employment and education. New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) Catholic Church leaders have called on political parties to include in their election manifesto granting Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Christian and Muslim Dalit. This follows a meeting of the Office for Dalits and Disadvantaged Castes of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) at its offices in New Delhi on Wednseday. "It is crucial time for us to get the same right as others, politically and legally. We cannot let it go, said CBCI general secretary Mgr Theodore Mascarenhas. And this effort includes Hindu Dalits. Mgr Sarat Chandra Nayak, president of the Office, noted that Christian and Muslim Dalits are denied a fundamental right, that is, reserved access to jobs and education. From a legal point of view, Indias Christian and Muslim Dalits are denied the benefit granted to the Dalits of other religious communities. The quota system was established under British rule in 1935, in an attempt to correct discriminatory practices based on caste membership. Later, the Indian Constitution, which came into force in 1950, adopted the same forms of Dalit empowerment. However, a presidential Order adopted the same year left out Christian as well as Muslim Dalits (formerly known as outcaste or untouchables) from reserved quotas. The Indian Church has always protested against this "shameful" form of discrimination, which affects converts to Christianity, and has repeatedly fought for the extension of reserved status in public employment and education to the poorest classes in society. Recently, the approval of reserved quotas for the poor of the upper castes sparked outrage. At least 15 petitions have been filed with the Supreme Court of India, calling for the inclusion of Christian Dalits. We have to get natural justice as the citizens of this country, Bishop Nayak said. In a democratic country, people are discriminated on the basis of religion. The constitutional rights are violated. Two minority communities (Christians and Muslims) have become victims of social, economic and political development. A Wisconsin man is facing at least his 10th drunken driving charge. Douglas Kluth, 66, of Green Bay, was arrested early on Wednesday in Oconto County. Authorities allege he had an open beer on the center console of his car. Officials say the State Patrol was helping with traffic when Kluth parked his vehicle and approached a trooper. The trooper saw the beer on the console. Kluth took a preliminary breath test on the scene. While not admissible in court, it showed his blood alcohol level at .134, according to a complaint cited by WLUK-TV. Douglas Kluth was arrested early on Wednesday in Oconto County, Wisconsin. Kluth is facing at least his 10th drunken driving charge That would be well above the normal limit of .08, and more than six times the limit of .02 imposed on Kluth due to his prior convictions, according to the complaint. The complaint says Kluth had a valid driver's license. He was charged with operating while intoxicated, 10th or more offense. Kluth's most recent conviction on drunk driving charges was in 2006, court records show. In that case, he admitted to having 12 beers before crashing his car, and served three years in prison. The 2006 conviction cites eight prior drunk driving incidents dating back to 1991. Wisconsin is the only state that treats a first-time drunken driving offense as a civil violation, not a crime. New Democratic Governor Tony Evers has said he's open to criminalizing first offenses. Kluth's bond was set at $25,000 cash on Wednesday and he is due back in court on March 14. If convicted, Kluth faces up to 15 years in prison. National Geographic has just announced the winner of the contest that celebrated it becoming the first brand to hit 100 million followers on Instagram, DailyMail.com can reveal. Beating out nearly 94,000 entries, Ketan Khambhatta, with his Instagram account of @ketankhambhatta, of India, won the 24-hour contest with his photograph, seen above, of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya in which zebras search for crocodiles while wildebeest run across the river. Photographer Muhammed Muheisen said: 'The image is so dynamic, with a powerful depth that keeps me looking. A moment well captured.' The prize is a National Geographic Tanzania Photo Safari trip, valued at more than $10,000, and includes the opportunity to learn from veteran photographers on how to 'with movement and light' while capturing wildlife in Africa. The nine-day trip will include visits to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park, and the winner will stay in hotels, lodges and luxury tented camps. The contest was launched as a way to thank the iconic magazines followers of it Instagram account @NatGeo for the milestone, which puts the brand in league with celebrities such as Selma Gomez, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and Cristiano Ronaldo. National Geographic encouraged people to enter their most Nat Geo-inspired photos from their own feeds using #NatGeo100contest. National Geographic shared some of its stunning images from contributing photographers for applicants to draw inspiration from with DailyMail.com earlier this month. More photographs can be seen at the National Geographic gallery. The mountain lion killed by a Colorado runner's bare hands was confirmed to be a relatively young cat, according to the findings of a necropsy report. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife report revealed that the predatory cat that attacked Travis Kauffman, 31, was a three-to-four month old mountain lion 'kitten,' the heavily scavenged carcass weighing 24 pounds. While the word 'kitten' typically refers to a very young cat, the use of the word in the report may simply mean the lion was immature, according to the Coloradoan , as the living weight of the mountain lion may have been 35 to 40 pounds. The report described the condition of the dead cat as having been in 'fair condition' with no sign of rabies. A necropsy report of the mountain lion that attacked runner Travis Kauffman described it as a 'kitten,' about three-to-four months old. File image of a mountain lion juvenile above Travis Kauffman says the lion locked its jaws on his wrist and was clawing his face and arms during the attack in the mountains west of Fort Collins. He says they fell to the ground, and he tried to hit the cat with a rock and stab it with twigs before getting his foot onto its neck Kauffman had been running along a Horsetooth Mountain Park trail in Fort Collins, Colorado, on February 4 when he was attacked by the juvenile mountain lion. He killed it by pinning the cat down and choking it, a claim backed up by the necropsy report indicating injuries to the mountain lion's larynx and trachea. 'I was able to kind of preposition I was kind of crouched on top of it, so imagine my wrist in its mouth and then I pinned its back legs with my left knee so I wouldn't get scratched on that end, and I was able to kind of swing my right leg around, some twister movement right there,' he said. Travis Kauffman responds to questions during a news conference Thursday, Febrary 14 in Fort Collins, Colorado about his encounter with a mountain lion. Kaufman's girlfriend, Annie Bierbower, looks on at left Finally he stepped on the lion's neck with right foot for a few exhausting minutes, which Kauffman said felt like 10 years. 'There were moments when it would periodically stop moving then start thrashing again. So a couple of those cycles and then finally I felt pretty convinced that it was done and it finally released my hand at that point,' he said. Though officials were able to begin examining the dead mountain lion only two hours after the attack, the report described the scavenged remains had lost a lot of its internal organs and its sexual organs making it difficult to ascertain its sex. Bite marks that matched the same sized teeth as the deceased cat appears to show scavenging done on the body was by other mountain lions. Colorado runner Travis Kauffman, 31, relived the vicious mountain lion attack he survived on February 4 on Tuesday's episode of the Today Show Injuries: The Colorado Parks and Wildlife shared these pictures of his bloody gashes and lacerations to his face and neck Kauffman also suffered scratches on his legs in the attack and required 20 stitches to recover Two other lions that were trapped near to where the attack occurred are believed to be the siblings of the dead lion, and are also thought to have been the ones to feed on the corpse. Authorities have since relocated the pair of mountain lions to a wildlife rehabilitation facility before they are to be released back to the wild. With just a scar to his cheek Kauffman said on the Today show on Tuesday: 'I'm feeling great. I'm pretty much 100 percent. 'The only thing I have to recover is numbness in my fingers but other than that Im shipshape.' He said the lion pinned him down at his wrists and started to attack his face and neck Kauffman explaining the incident and retracing his steps to the attack site. Wildlife officials praised him for defending himself against the dangerous predator despite it being a young juvenile Just three weeks after the attack Kauffman is looking healthy and confident, a far cry from how he emerged from the wild lion encounter suffering bloody lacerations and scratches to his face, neck, arms, and legs, requiring about 20 stitches to recover. 'I think if I had ear buds in I wouldn't have heard the stick crack, and I wouldn't have turned, and in that case I think the fight would have been very different, just for the fact it could have latched onto the back of my neck, and I don't know how I would have been able to get the cat off in that case,' he said. Even if the lion was fairly young, Kauffman did everything right in his fight against the attacking mountain lion according to wildlife officials who commended the runner for his actions. George Pell's heavy robes would have made it impossible for him to expose himself to the choirboys he was found to have molested, according to a retired Catholic priest. The disgraced cardinal's vestments were so layered and cumbersome a Melbourne jury's finding that he forced a 13-year-old boy to perform oral sex upon him was 'ridiculous'. An 86-year-old priest told 2GB's Alan Jones any Catholic cleric celebrating mass wore so many vestments it was difficult to even go to the toilet. 'The cardinal archbishop has so many clothes on at the exact time of the offence that it would be physically impossible to do what he's charged with,' the priest said. Even a 'lowly priest' was required to wear several layers of liturgical clothing when celebrating mass. 'And all this is tied around my waist tightly with a cincture,' he said. George Pell has maintained it would have been physically impossible for him to expose himself to a pair of 13-year-old choirboys. His vestments included an alb, chasuble, stole and cincture Pell has been found guilty of five sexual offences against two 13-year-old boys committed in the sacristy of Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral when he was archbishop there in 1996 'Standing still just waiting to be told to enter the sanctuary every morning I am praying that I might not have a quick call of nature and have to rush to the toilet. 'Simply because it is almost impossible to get to my belt and zipper under the weight of all these clothes. That is the basic reason the charge is so ridiculous.' Pell, the most senior Catholic in Australia and the third most senior in the world, is the highest ranking cleric in his church to be found guilty of sexual offences against children. The 77-year-old was found guilty by a Victorian County Court jury in December of one count of sexual penetration of a child and four counts of committing indecent acts with two choirboys in 1996. The assaults were found to have taken place in the sacristy of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, where Pell was archbishop and happened after he had celebrated Sunday mass. Among the arguments in the cardinal's defence case was that he could not have assaulted the boys in the robes he was wearing. Pell's vestments that day would have included an alb - a white tunic which reached the feet and had two slits to allow access to trouser pockets but no zips or buttons. The alb was secured tightly around the waist with a knotted rope cincture, which also secured a stole hanging around his neck, and over the alb was a decorative heavy chasuble which had no splits or openings. Pell was found to have exposed himself and forced a boy to perform oral sex on him inside the sacristy of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne (pictured). He maintains his innocence Only one of Pell's victims gave evidence against the man who rose to become the Vatican's treasurer. The other victim had died of a heroin overdose. The living complainant's evidence was not given in public but some of it was revealed from the bar table during the course of the trial. The surviving choirboy said Pell had caught him and his friend swilling altar wine and said something like 'What are you doing here?' or 'Youre in trouble'. 'There was this moment where we all just sort of froze and then he undid his trousers or his belt, like he started moving underneath his robes,' he said. 'He pulled [the other boy] aside and then he pulled out his penis and then grabbed [the other boy's] head.' The other boy struggled while Pell's hands were around his head and shoulders. The surviving choirboy said Pell then turned his attention to him and put his penis in his mouth. 'Archbishop Pell was standing. He was erect and he pushed it into my mouth.' George Pell in his cardinal's regalia when he was Archbishop of Sydney celebrating Easter Sunday Mass in 2011. Pell is the most senior Catholic figure to be convicted of child sex crimes Pell's barrister Robert Richter QC described the complainant's version of events as a 'far-fetched fantasty' and said his client's cumbersome multi-layered robes would have prevented access to his genitals. The prosecution had successfully argued it was still possible for Pell to expose his penis to the boys while robed because of the slits in the alb. Sacristan Max Potter told the court Pell would never have worn the alb on its own, rather it would be under a chasuble and possibly a dalmatic, another thick layer of liturgical clothing. 'The weight of those vestments are not light,' Mr Potter said. He said it would be 'inhumanly possible' for Pell to have exposed himself through the robes. Pell's former Master of Ceremonies Monsignor Charles Portelli also disagreed with the suggestion Pell could have exposed himself through the secured alb. 'The whole point of the cincture is to keep the alb in place.' The vestments were so heavy that Pell required help robing and disrobing and Monsignor Portelli could recall only two occasions Pell had nor required his assistance in five years. As an archbishop, George Pell was required to wear heavy vestments which a retired priest has told broadcaster Alan Jones would make it impossible for him to easily expose his genitals Jesuit priest, lawyer and academic Father Frank Brennan addressed the vestments issue in a piece he wrote for Catholic publication Eureka Street this week. Fr Brennan attended some of Pell's court case and wrote that he was 'very surprised' and 'devastated' by the verdicts. 'Witnesses familiar with liturgical vestments had been called who gave compelling evidence that it was impossible to produce an erect penis through a seamless alb,' Fr Brennan wrote. 'An alb is a long robe, worn under a heavier chasuble. It is secured and set in place by a cincture which is like a tightly drawn belt. 'An alb cannot be unbuttoned or unzipped, the only openings being small slits on the side to allow access to trouser pockets underneath. 'The complainant's initial claim to police was that Pell had parted his vestments, but an alb cannot be parted; it is like a seamless dress. 'Later the complainant said that Pell moved the vestments to the side. An alb secured with a cincture cannot be moved to the side. 'The police never inspected the vestments during their investigations, nor did the prosecution show that the vestments could be parted or moved to the side as the complainant had alleged.' Psychologist and former priest Terry Laidler sat through almost all the trial and told ABC's Law Report a set of robes was produced and sent to the jury room during the trial. The guilty verdicts against Pell were revealed only this week after a suppression order was lifted. He has since been taken into custody. Pell has maintained his innocence and will appeal the convictions on grounds including that the verdicts were unreasonable or unsafe. He will return to court to be sentenced on March 13. A 16-year-old boy with a mental age of a 10-year-old has been banned from a New Zealand school for not shaving his beard. Sheldon Pirini was barred from attending Te Puke High School, southwest of Tauranga on the North Island, after he refused to shave his beard on February 7. The boy's father, Jason Pirini, told NZ Herald he was shocked to learn his son had been disciplined by a staff member who sent him home with a disposable razor. Sheldon Pirini (pictured) was barred from attending Te Puke High School, southwest of Tauranga on the North Island, after he refused to shave his beard on February 7 'It's like giving a child a weapon,' Mr Pirini told the said. Sheldon, who attends most of his classes with other students with learning challenges, recently started attending mainstream classes. He was placed in the special learning unit at age 14 after being suspended for threatening another student on the school bus with a screwdriver, his father said. Following the incident, Sheldon underwent several tests, which revealed he had a mental age of a 10-year-old. The 16-year-old has never been formally diagnosed, but according to Mr Pirini, his son doesn't understand the consequences of his actions. Mr Pirini believes the school prioritised rules over education, saying he was especially shocked at the way the school treated his son. But according to school principal Alan Liddle, parents are made aware of the school's stance on uniform and appearance when they enroll their children. In a statement provided to the New Zealand Herald, the principal confirmed the school does have policies and procedures related to grooming that are enforceable. Sheldon (pictured) was placed in the special learning unit at age 14 after being suspended for threatening another student on the school bus with a screwdriver He said parents are made aware of these rules and regulations when they choose to enroll their children at the school and sign an agreement. Mr Liddle added the information on grooming and appearance - which comes under the uniform category - is also stipulated in the school's prospectus. According to the 2018 addition of the prospectus, which can be viewed on the school's website, all male students 'must be clean shaven'. 'Te Puke High School will take whatever steps necessary to ensure the uniform is worn correctly,' the prospectus stated. While Mr Pirini believes his son is being singled out, it's not the first time the school has been challenged for its stance on appearance and grooming. Te Puke school principal Alan Liddle said parents are made aware of the school's stance on uniform and appearance when they enroll their children Mr Pirini said teachers at Te Puke High School (pictured) have informed him his son will remain barred from mainstream classes until he has shaved his beard Brody Hide, 17, told the publication he was ordered to shave his beard, which he believed was a breach of his human rights. 'It's my body. It's my face and it's not the school's. They shouldn't be allowed legally or even in their policy to make me shave it off,' he said. Mr Pirini said the school has informed him his son will remain barred from mainstream classes until he has shaved his beard. He added a senior staff member has urged him to make a proposal at the next board of trustees meeting, which is scheduled to occur at the end of March. 'They're really bullying my son, because it's my rule that I don't want him to [shave] ... they're using his education as a weapon,' he said. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Te Puke High School for comment. Kath Purkis (pictured) director of the defunct start-up Her Fashion Box, faced Federal Circuit Court in Sydney A former Shark Tank candidate has been slapped with a hefty fine for exploiting three young workers. Kath Purkis, director of failed start-up Her Fashion Box, faced Federal Circuit Court in Sydney on Thursday, accused of underpaying workers more than $40,000 between 2013 and 2015. The final nail in the coffin for the defunct fashion business, which stopped trading in 2017 due to $200,000 worth of debts, saw Ms Purkis fined $54,855 and her company charged a further $274,278 for underpaying the employees. The three workers, who were swindled out of a total of $40,543 in payment entitlements, have now been reimbursed. One employee who worked for Ms Purkis as a graphic designer was unlawfully categorised as an 'unpaid intern', the court found. It's believed the female employee worked two days a week for almost six months, and received just $1000 as a 'Christmas bonus'. The so-called intern was underpaid a total $6913, another full-time graphic designer was owed $15,511 and a full-time brand partnership manager was due $18,119. Two of the former employees of the fashion business, which sold online subscription boxes filled with fashion merchandise and beauty products, gave evidence at the hearing. Ms Purkis (pictured) was fined $54,855 and her company was charged a further $274,278 for underpaying the three employees In 2016, Ms Purkis (pictured) appeared on Shark Tank, the show which gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business The full-time graphic designer claimed he struggled to afford every day expenses and had to borrow money from his mother, reported news.com.au. The court heard that the once promising businesswoman now has no source of income and relies on her partner for financial support. While Judge Nicholas Manousaridis noted that Ms Purkis had been fined a 'substantial' amount, he said the underpayments were a 'serious' infringement of the law. 'Unfortunately, the conduct constitutes serious and sustained contraventions of important provisions of the Fair Work Act,' Judge Manousaridis said. The court heard that the once promising businesswoman (pictured) now has no source of income and relies on her partner for financial support Ms Purkis (pictured) was also found to be in breach of the four Notices to Produce issued by Fair Work Ombudsman inspectors He also said the hefty fine was designed to deter other business owners from underpaying employees . 'The penalty should be set at a level that, having regard to the other circumstances of the case, should signal to employers who might be tempted not to inquire into their legal obligations as employers or not to comply with their legal obligations. '[Particularly] in relation to inexperienced workers, that there is a significant risk of being exposed to the imposition of a pecuniary penalty if they are to succumb to such temptation,' Judge Manousaridis said. Ms Purkis was also found to be in breach of the four Notices to Produce issued by Fair Work Ombudsman inspectors. The independent statutory agency had previously investigated the company after receiving complaints from the employees. The organisation took legal action against Ms Purkis in 2017. In 2016, Ms Purkis appeared on Shark Tank, the show which gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business to a panel of investors. Ms Purkis secured a $200,000 investment in exchange for 16 per cent of her business. However, just months after she appeared on the show, NSW Fair Trading issued a public warning about her business. The warning followed a number of complaints from customers who said they had not received their boxes. Other customers said they struggled to get a refund from the company. A homeless man who almost caused a major collision after wandering onto a busy road late at night has been told to buy LED lights for his trolley. Jeremy Leith Gray, 45, fronted Levin District Court in New Zealand's lower North Island this week. Police arrested the vagrant after he was caught shuffling down a busy road and dodging oncoming cars. Drivers were forced to swerve around Gray as he pushed his trolley. Jeremy Leith Gray, 45 (pictured), fronted Levin District Court in New Zealand's lower North Island this week To avoid a repeat situation and raise his visibility, Judge Sygrove suggested in court that Gray install an LED light onto his trolley. He said the LED light meant Gray wouldn't need to keep buying batteries. 'You must keep off the road,' Judge Sygrove told Gray in court, NZ Herald reported. Judge Sygrove's suggestion came as Gray's lawyer Kelvin Campbell told the court his repentant client would take more care in the future to not wander onto the road. Gray had also promised to use a light on the trolley. Social media users have since taken to Facebook to comment on the judge's suggestion. 'Next he will need to take it [trolley] and get a rego,' one user said. 'Someone give that man a Hi-Vis ... judge offer to pay?' another commented. Police first arrested the vagrant after he was caught shuffling down a busy road and dodging oncoming cars Gray is reported to have been wandering the streets for years, and to have also previously faced court for a separate matter. Authorities found Gray squatting in an empty property on Bryant Street at Palmerston North, about a 40 minute drive north from Levin back in 2013, Stuff reported. At the time he was charged with being unlawfully in a building and even faced a prison sentence if he could not find a place to live. His then-defence lawyer Jock Turnbull told the court Gray had always wanted to live on the streets. This time around, lawyer Mr Campbell said that Gray had a concerned and caring family member living at Foxton Beach along the east coast of the island. He noted that was always an optional living arrangement for Gray. Gray was sentenced to reappear in court if called upon in the next 12 months. Social media users have since taken to Facebook to comment on the judge's suggestion Another social media user took the judge's suggestion as an opportunity to sarcastically suggest a Hi-Vis for the homeless man A secret vault containing the only remnants found of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will be revealed for the first time. Only three pieces of debris that have washed up at the Indian Ocean over the years have been confirmed to belong to the Boeing 777 that vanished over the South China Sea on March 8, 2014. In a new episode of 60 Minutes set to premiere on Sunday night, investigators will offer a glimpse into an evidence room in Malaysia holding pieces of the aircraft, including a two-metre long wing part known as a flaperon. Scroll down for video A new episode of 60 Minutes set to premiere on Sunday night, will offer a glimpse into an evidence room in Malaysia holding pieces of the aircraft, including a two-metre long wing part Only three pieces of debris that have washed up at the Indian Ocean over the years have been confirmed to belong to the Boeing 777 that vanished over the South China Sea on March 8, 2014 The programme comes just a few months after relatives of MH370 victims presented what they believed were five more pieces of the doomed plane found off Madagascar to government officials. Malaysian authorities announced in January that the recovered parts were 'most likely' part of the missing flight. The groundbreaking discovery offered relatives a glimmer of hope but also sparked calls to relaunch the investigation into the unsolved mystery. MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 passengers bound for Beijing, but disappeared mid-flight in a mystery which has gripped the world. An official report released in July following a lengthy investigation and years of fruitless searching gave no new clues about why the plane disappeared, sparking anger among relatives. Grace Subathirai Nathan, a lawyer whose mother, Anne Daisy, was on the plane said: 'The fact that debris is still washing up now means that the investigation should still be live. It shouldn't be closed.' MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 passengers bound for Beijing, but disappeared mid-flight. The aircraft has never been found The revelation comes just a few months after relatives of MH370 victims presented what they believed were five more pieces of the doomed plane found off Madagascar to government officials. Above, Grace Subathirai Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was a passenger, shows a piece of debris Malaysian authorities announced in January that the recovered parts were 'most likely' part of the missing flight Ms Nathan's father, V.R. Nathan added the items were discovered by fishermen and that one piece of the debris 'has part of a label still readable.' 'We want the government to continue searching for these debris and piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle so that we can get some clue as to what happened to the plane.' The new television special will also show Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad meeting with a relative of a victim for the first time. Danica Weeks, whose husband Paul was on the plane, has asked for the case to be reopened. In a 400-page report, officials said the plane had diverted from its flight path manually rather than due to a mechanical fault while 'interference by a third party' could not be excluded. The television special will also show Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad meeting with a relative of a victim for the first time. Danica Weeks (right) whose husband Paul was on the plane, has asked for the case to be reopened Thousands of parents have revealed their frustration today as more than 100,000 primary school pupils missed out on their first choice secondary, with some even claiming to have failed their children. Many have vented their feelings on social media, revealing they have 'let their children down' and don't know how to break the news to them, while others have blasted the system. A record 115,000 children are expected to lose out this year following a growth in applications of around 23,000 since 2018. One mother on mumsnet wrote: 'I stayed up till midnight - we didn't get any of our choices and got given a terrible school. I'm gutted and feel I've failed my ds [son] with my choices for him.' Another said: 'My DD [daughter] got her second choice. First choice was a grammar school! She will be gutted, I don't know how I am going to tell her. 'The school she got is an outstanding school. How the blinking heck do I tell my hopeful DD that she didn't get into the school she has dreamed about since year 3?' Experts at the Good Schools Guide say 18.8 per cent around one in five will lose out on their first choice, up from 17.9 per cent last year, although the data will not be published in full by the Government until the summer. Official projections from last year show secondary pupil numbers were due to rise by more than 600,000 by 2023 (stock image) Some said they stayed up until the early hours to find out only to be disappointed. One parent said their daughter had been dreaming of going to one grammar school since she was seven but has missed out (pictured) More than 100,000 children across the country are believed to have missed out on their first choice schools today with parents reacting with anger online and asking how they are supposed to explain the situation to their children One parent wrote they would not show disappointment at their son getting a second choice because 'they did not want them to feel negative' Others on Twitter criticised the system and said it was 'infuriating' trying to get the best secondary school place Another parent who was successful revealed he was disappointed because many of his son's friends would not be joining him in September The Guide also warns of a rise in children getting none of their listed choices, after this happened to 4.1 per cent last year. This can be a disaster for families if they are landed with a school which is performing poorly or a long commute from home. The explosion in the school-age population is due to a baby boom a decade ago fuelled by high migration in the 1990s and early 2000s. It means many stayed up until the early hours last night to learn their children's fate only to be left bitterly disappointed. One mother on Twitter wrote: 'I find it infuriating & annoying that the secondary school I'm trying to get my son into, to try to offer him the best education I can but very expense (sic), & already informed his chances are unlikely, has two errors in an email sent today, regarding tests, interviews and analysis.' Another father in Harrogate wrote: 'Gutted to hear some of my sons best mates haven't got into the same secondary school as him. 'Their parents will devastated. People still refuse to accept too many people are crammed into Harrogate....maybe if it was their child they might see it differently. So unfair for them.' Many parents vented their frustration on online forums. The worst area is set to be Hammersmith and Fulham in London, where 48.6 per cent did not get their first choice last year One mother actually bemoaned her luck at her twins getting into their first choice school because it meant rising costs of school uniforms But others were jubilant on Twitter about their children being accepted into their first choice Even sibling rivalry was put to one side today as families celebrated good news Another said not only did her son not get his first choice but would now be going to a school that Ofsted has put into special measures. She wrote on Mumsnet: 'I stayed up until midnight. Ds didn't get his first choice. He got a School that's just gone into special measures. 'I'm beyond gutted. I'm not going to tell him this morning as I don't want him going to school upset.' But many children did secure their preferred choice and their parents shared their joy on social media. Tracy Catherall wrote on Twitter: 'We have a very excited boy this morning. High school places are out and he's thrilled to be going to @lawnswoodschool in Sept. I'm feeling a bit emotional about it all.' Jean Davis added: 'Oldest child got her first choice of Secondary school! The relief...' And one mother of twins in Scotland actually bemoaned her luck after both children got into their first choice school. What to do if you don't get your first choice Experts at The Good Schools Guide have the following advice for parents who don't get their first choice school: Accepting the place your child has been offered may go against instinct but it is the wise thing to do. If you dont accept this initial offer, you run the risk of your child having no school to go to in September. Once you have accepted that place, you can try to get on the waiting lists of schools you prefer even those to which you didnt originally apply. More places may become free before the start of the new academic year. Check out the school youve been allocated in greater detail. It might be better than you fear. A bad local reputation could be based on out-of-date information such as an old Ofsted report. Check last years public exam results or speak to parents at the school gate. It is your legal right to appeal to any of the schools on your original application. For more details visit www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/appealing-a-schools-decision www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/appealing-a-schools-decision In the end you may have little choice but for your child to attend the school youve been given, no matter how much you dislike it. The job of getting your child settled there will be much harder if they know how negatively you view it. Try not to talk the school down too much when theyre around. Advertisement Known as Anna, she wrote: 'High school places accepted for the the twins...... will now be permanently poor, saving money for the uniforms (more like a whole new wardrobe once you work your way through the list). Although the full UK data on how many children secured a place at their first choice school will not be published until later this year, some individual councils have revealed their results. One large drop came in Newcastle, where 75 per cent of first choice places were successful from 2,325 applications, down 14 per cent from 2018. But there was also a sharp drop in the number of places needed of around 600. In Bristol there were 4,983 applications for places, a slight increase on 4,900 in 2018, with 90.6 per cent successful in their preferred choice, up from 90 per cent last year. Meanwhile 82 per cent of parents were able to secure their first choice school in Leeds from 9,141 applications, which was almost exactly the same figures as the previous year. In London there have been around 96,000 applications, a rise of 4,000 on 2018, but only 66 per cent will secure their first choice, according to the Guide, with at least 16 of the capital's 32 boroughs oversubscribed. But those in the capital will not find out the results of their efforts until 5pm. The figures come from analysis of Government data by experts at the guide. A record 606,000 pupils need places this year, and today most parents can see their offer online, although some will receive it via post. Depending on the local authority, families were asked to list between three and six schools in order of preference on the application submitted in October. Bernadette John, Good Schools Guide director, said: 'It has been known for a long time that secondary schools would need to accommodate increased pupil numbers but little action seems to have been taken.' On London, she added: 'London parents are pulling their hair out because once again families in the capital are being let down by inadequate provision. 'Parts of the capital aren't just short of places at good schools, they're short of places full-stop. 'The demographic bulge which has worked its way through primary schools and is now hitting secondary schools has been a long time coming but it is proving very hard to open new schools in the capital and the alternative of adding classes to schools already fit to burst is not sustainable. 'We will continue to see demand for Year 7 places grow until at least 2022 and to rub further salt in the wound, London parents who wish to challenge a school place decision have the worst rate of success for appeals in the country.' Parents in London vented their frustration on Mumsnet about not learning the results of their applications until 5pm today Other hotspots will be Reading, where 33.7 per cent missed out in 2018. Increase in school-age population is due to 1990s migration-fuelled baby boom In Birmingham 32.1 per cent were disappointed last year. Of 606,000 pupils needing spots, 115,000 are expected to miss their first choice The worst area is set to be Hammersmith and Fulham in London, where 48.6 per cent did not get their first choice last year, and 14.1 per cent got none of their six choices. Other hotspots will be Reading, where 33.7 per cent missed out in 2018, and Birmingham, where 32.1 per cent were disappointed. Mrs John added: 'Some parts of the country simply do not have enough places to satisfy local demand and elsewhere, many under-performing schools are rejected by families, resulting in the desperate rush as parents put their hopes in the good local school which, of course, is hugely oversubscribed.' Mike Pemberton, head of the public law team at Stephensons Solicitors, recommended disappointed parents always accept their allocated place before appealing. They should also sign up to any waiting lists for their preferred schools. And the guide suggested that as only a quarter of appeals are successful, parents should re-examine their allocated school as a 'bad local reputation could be based on out-of-date information'. How to appeal a school place allocation Parents have a legal right to appeal if their child is not allocated their first choice school place. A local authority must give a parent 20 days to send an appeal letter. The next step is a hearing, which parents must be given 10 days notice of ahead of the date. For more information, visit: www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/appealing-a-schools-decision Advertisement 'In the end, you may have little choice but for your child to attend the school you've been given, no matter how much you dislike it,' the guide warned. 'The job of getting your child settled there will be much harder if they know how negatively you view it.' Last year, 104,314 of the 582,761 applicants did not get their first choice. The Government has previously admitted that the baby boom which occurred in the 2000s was down to high migration because migrant women had a higher birth rate than UK-born women. Official projections from last year show secondary pupil numbers were due to rise by more than 600,000 by 2023. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said councils need more freedom to create places. He said: 'For too many, there will be huge disappointment. In some parts of the country, it will mean children having to travel long distances to go to secondary school or being separated from their peers.' School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: 'Today is a significant milestone for thousands of parents and children finding out which secondary school they will be attending from September. 'This Government is determined to create more choice for parents when it comes to their children's education and we have created 825,000 school places since 2010, and are on track to see that number rise to a million by 2020. 'Standards have also risen, with 86 per cent of schools now good or outstanding, compared to 68 per cent in 2010, and last year more than nine out of 10 pupils got a place at one of their top three choices, setting them on the path for a successful future.' Donald Trump did order former chief of staff John F. Kelly to give his son-in-law Jared Kushner top-secret security clearance, according to reports. The president denied ever getting involved with the process in an interview just last month. His eldest daughter Ivanka also said her husband went through the standard process. But The New York Times now reports Trump overruled intelligence officials concerns to get the clearance. The former White House chief of staff John F. Kelly is even said to have sent an internal memo about being 'ordered' to give Mr. Kushner the top-secret clearance. Donald Trump , right, is said to have ordered former chief of staff John F. Kelly to give his son-in-law Jared Kushner top-secret security clearance, according to new reports Problems in Jared Kushner's initial background check stalled his application in 2017. But his wife Ivanka, right, said 'the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance, zero' In January Trump had said: 'I was never involved with the security. I know that he you know, just from reading I know that there was issues back and forth about security for numerous people, actually. But I don't want to get involved in that stuff.' Then just days later Ivanka claimed: 'There were anonymous leaks about there being issues. But the president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance, zero.' It comes as Elijah E. Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, revealed the White House has not been cooperative in the growing probe clearances given to aides. Presidents do have the power to assign top-level security clearances to White House aides. But Kushner's security clearance was initially declined by two security officials. It was finally given the green-light by a White House security specialist named Carl Kline. Trump told the Times in January that he never intervened. Kushner is cleared for 'Top Secret' information but still doesn't have 'sensitive compartmented information' clearance, the highest category available to him. Problems in his initial background check, related to potential foreign influences, stalled his application in 2017. Kushner was forced to amend his financial disclosures on multiple occasions because he omitted information about his family business looking for overseas partners to help finance a $1.4 billion mortgage on a Manhattan skyscraper. The involvement of Kline, an unknown White House employee, became known after one of his subordinates was suspended from her position in his office for 'defiance' of his orders. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump walk with children Theodore, left, and Joseph, center right. Kushner's security clearance was initially declined by two security officials In an interview in January Trump had said he 'was never involved with the security' Two Democratic lawmakers are now calling on the acting White House chief of staff to revoke Jared Kushner's security clearance. 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. Oversight chair Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland wrote: 'The system is supposed to be a nonpartisan determination of an individual's fitness to hold a clearance, not an ad hoc approach that overrules career experts to to our nation's most sensitive secrets.' White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: 'We don't comment on security clearances.' A spokesman for Mr. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell said: 'In 2018, White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushner's security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time.' by Fethullah Gulen At the beginning of the 1900s, Turkey was a model in the context of the Muslim world. For the Islamic preacher, accused of being the mastermind of the 2016 coup, the failure is due to the "rapid descent" towards totalitarianism. The campaign of arrests based on associationism. Need for an "awakening" of the "collective consciousness". Istanbul (AsiaNews) - Turkey was once a "model of Muslim democracy" in modern times. Since 2011, the Akp governing party and the then Prime Minister (now president) Erdogan have taken a radical turn and have betrayed these ideals. The fact remains that the "failure" of this Turkish democratic experience "is not due to adherence to these Islamic values, but rather to their betrayal". This is what is written in a long reflection, published by Le Monde, the Turkish Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, in exile in Pennsylvania (United States); he is considered by the Ankara establishment to be the mastermind of the (failed) coup of July 2016, in which 250 people died and which had shaken Erdogan's power for a few hours. Gulen, born in 1941, is the founder of the Hizmet (Service) movement against which the government has launched a real witch hunt. According to the latest estimates there are over 77 thousand people in prison awaiting trial, while arrests continue. The authorities also suspended or fired 150,000 public officials or members of the army. Analysts and experts speak of targeted attacks against tens of thousands of alleged opponents, intellectuals, activists, personalities at home and abroad, military and judges, teachers and intellectuals, ordinary people. These repressions, sustains the Islamic preacher, are the sign of the betrayal of the founding values of modern Turkey. Below his analysis in full: Turkey was hailed as an example for a modern Muslim democracy during the early 2000s. The current ruling party that came to power in 2002 implemented reforms that were aligned with the European Unions democratic standards and the countrys record in human rights began to improve. Unfortunately, the democratic reforms were short lived. The process stalled only a few years later and then around 2011, following his third election victory, then-prime minister now president Erdogan made a complete U-turn. The slide into authoritarianism have made Turkey no longer an example for other Muslim-majority countries to aspire to. Some may view the negative example Turkey presents under Erdogan as evidence of an incompatibility between democratic and Islamic values. But that would be an erroneous conclusion. Despite the outward appearance of Islamic observance, Erdogan regime represents a complete betrayal of core Islamic values. These core values are not about a style of dressing or the use of religious slogans. They include respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, accountability for the rulers and the preservation of inalienable rights and freedoms of every citizen. The recent setback in the Turkish democratic experience is not because of adherence to these Islamic values, but rather because of their betrayal. Turkish society remains remarkably heterogeneous. Sunni or Alevi, Turk, Kurd or other in ethnicity, Muslim or non-Muslim, and religiously observant or secular in lifestyle Turkish citizens adhere to many different ideologies, philosophies, and beliefs. In such a society, the effort to make everyone the same is both futile and disrespectful to humanity. Participatory or democratic form of governance where no group, majority or minority, dominates the others is the only viable form of governance for such a diverse population. The same can be said of Syria, Iraq and other neighboring countries in the region. In Turkey or elsewhere, authoritarian rulers have exploited the differences within the society to polarize various groups against each other and maintain their stronghold in power. Whatever beliefs or worldviews they have, citizens should come together around universal human rights and freedoms and be able to democratically oppose those who violate these rights. Expressing yourself against oppression is a democratic right, a civic duty, and a religious duty for believers. The Quran states that people should not remain silent against injustice: O you who have believe! Be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for God, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. (4:135) Living according to your beliefs or worldview with the condition that it does no harm to others, and exercising fundamental human freedoms, especially freedom of speech, makes a person truly a human. Liberty is a right given by the Compassionate God, and no oneand no leadercan take that away. A person deprived of his or her basic rights and freedoms cannot be said to live a truly human life. In contrast to claims by political Islamists, Islam is not a political ideology, it is a religion. It does have some principles that pertain to governance, but these account for, at most, five percent of all Islamic principles. To reduce Islam to a political ideology is the greatest crime against its ethos. In the past those who studied or spoke about the Islamic perspective of politics and state made three errors: First, they confused the historical experiences of Muslims with the foundational sources of Islamic tradition, the Quran and the authentic sayings and practices of the Prophet (upon whom be peace and blessings of God). Historical experiences of Muslims and the verdicts of the jurists under these circumstances should be analyzed with a critical eye, and cannot be given the same status as the authentic sources of religion. Secondly, some cherry-picked verses of the Quran or the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) to legitimize their perspective and pursued to impose that perspective upon people. The spirit of the Quran and the Prophetic tradition (Sunnah) can only be understood with a holistic view and with a sincere intention to seek out the will of God. Third, some concluded, wrongfully, that democracy is fundamentally against Islam because Islam declares God as the only sovereign whereas democracy is based upon the sovereignty of the people. No believer doubts that God is the sovereign of the universe, but this does not mean that human agency, including thought, inclinations and willpower do not exist or are excluded from Gods greater plan for humanity. Giving sovereignty to the people does not mean usurping it from God, but rather taking the right and duty to govern, which is endowed to humans by God, from a dictator or an oligarchy and giving it back to the people. The state is a system formed by human beings in order to protect their basic rights and freedoms and maintain justice and peace. The state is not a goal by itself, but an agency that helps people pursue happiness in this world and in the afterworld. The alignment of the state with a set of principles and values is a sum of the alignment of the individuals who make up the system with those principles and values. Therefore, the phrase Islamic state is a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron. Similarly, since there is no clergy class in Islam, theocracy is alien to the spirit of Islam. A state is a result of a contract among humans, made up of humans, and it can neither be Islamic nor holy. Democracies come in all shapes and sizes. The democratic ideal that underlies these forms, that no group has domination over the others, is also an Islamic ideal. The principle of equal citizenship is in alignment with acknowledging the dignity of every human being and respecting them as a work of art that was created by God. Participatory form of governance, whether it is called a democracy or republic, is much more in resonance with the Islamic spirit than other forms of government, including monarchies and oligarchies. The present picture of Turkeys leadership resembles an oligarchy rather than democracy. How did it go wrong? President Erdogan has corrupted Turkeys once-promising democracy, co-opting the state, seizing businesses and rewarding cronies. In order to consolidate enough of the public behind him to make his power grab, he has declared me and Hizmet movement participants the enemy of the state, blaming us for every negative incident in the country in the recent past. This is a textbook example of scapegoating. The government under President Erdogan has pursued me and also hundreds of thousands of other peoplecritics of all stripes, but especially from the peaceful Hizmet movement. Environmental protesters, Journalists, Academics, Kurds, Alevis, non-Muslims, and some of the Sunni Muslim groups who have been critical of Erdogans actions have had their share of consequences of his political agenda. Lives have been ruined through sacking, confiscating, jailing, and torture. Due to the ongoing persecution, thousands of Hizmet volunteers have sought asylum in around the Globe, including France. As new residents, they must abide by the laws of these countries, help find solutions to problems of those societies and lead an active struggle against the spread of radical interpretations of Islam in Europe. Back in Turkey, a vast arrest campaign based on guilt by association is ongoing. The number of victims of this campaign of persecution keeps increasing, with over 150,000 losing jobs, over 200,000 detained and over 80,000 arrested and jailed. People who are targeted by politically-motivated prosecution and who want to leave are deprived of their fundamental right to leave the country as their passports are cancelled. Despite setbacks due to military coups, Turkish Republic has been on a path of continuous improvement in democracy since its beginning in 1923. Erdogan is draining the reputation that the Turkish Republic has gained in the international arena, pushing Turkey into the league of nations known for suffocating freedoms and jailing democratic dissenters. The ruling clique is exploiting diplomatic relations, mobilizing government personnel and resources to harass, haunt and abduct Hizmet movement volunteers all around the world. In recent years, and in the face of such persecutions, Turkish citizens have remained relatively passive in conveying their democratic demands to their leaders. Concern for economic stability is one possible reason for this behavior. But if we backtrack from today, we can see that there is also a historic reason. Despite the fact that democratic governance has been an ideal of Turkish Republic, democratic values have never been systematically ingrained into the Turkish society. Obedience to a strong leader and the state have always been a strong theme in educational curricula. The military coups, which happened almost every decade, did not give democracy a chance to take hold and progress. Citizens forgot that the state existed for the people and not vice versa. It can be argued that Erdogan took advantage of this collective psyche. Turkish democracy may be in a coma due to the current leadership but I remain optimistic. Oppression does not last for too long. I believe that Turkey will one day return to the democratic path. However, for democracy to take root and be long lasting, several measures need to be taken. First of all, the school curricula should be reevaluated. Topics such as equal rights for all citizens and fundamental human rights and freedoms should be taught to students in the first years of school so that they can be guardians of these rights when they grow up. Secondly, there is a need for a constitution that does not allow for either the minority or the majoritys domination and protects in every situation the fundamental human rights referred to in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Civil society and free press should be protected by the constitution to flourish and be part of the checks and balances against the state power. Thirdly, opinion leaders should emphasize democratic values in their rhetoric and action. Turkey has now reached a point where democracy and human rights are put aside. It appears to have lost a historic opportunity to achieve a democracy by the standards of the European Union with a majority Muslim population. The leaders of a country are like the cream on top of a liquid. The cream is made of the same ingredients as the liquid underneath it. Leaders of a society, possibly with some level of inaccuracy or delay, reflect the beliefs and values of a society. I hope and pray that the recent sad experience of the Muslim majority countries lead to an awakening in the collective consciousness to produce democratically minded leaders and governments that uphold not only free an fair elections, but all fundamental human rights and freedoms. A Labour MP claimed yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn did all he could to defend his close ally Chris Williamson before his suspension. Siobhain McDonagh said the Labour leader tried to personally defend Mr Williamson while a party source suggested he had asked chief whip Nick Brown not to remove him. Labour has furiously denied that Mr Corbyn played any personal role in initially preventing the whip being removed from the firebrand MP after he was filmed telling a meeting the party had been too apologetic about anti-Semitism. But yesterday, the source said Mr Brown had implied the decision had been taken out of his hands. A Labour MP claimed yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn did all he could to defend his close ally Chris Williamson (right) before his suspension This would mean the suspension was a matter for the office of Mr Corbyn or the partys general secretary Jennie Formby, they added. Miss McDonagh, who is rumoured to be considering leaving the party, told HuffPost UK: I welcome Chris Williamsons suspension pending investigation for acts of anti-Jewish racism. No amount of mealy-mouthed apologies could justify his actions at the Sheffield Momentum event last week. Siobhain McDonagh (above) said the Labour leader tried to personally defend Mr Williamson while a party source suggested he had asked chief whip Nick Brown not to remove him How could we apologise too much for acts of anti-Jewish racism in our party? Jeremy did all he could to personally defend him but he could not maintain his support in the face of universal demands for his suspension. The row erupted on Wednesday after footage of Mr Williamsons comments at the Momentum meeting in Sheffield was released by the Yorkshire Post newspaper. It prompted an immediate outcry from moderate Labour MPs, including the partys deputy leader Tom Watson, who demanded the hard-Left MP be suspended. Mr Williamson was then seen heading into the leaders office before issuing an apology at around midday, saying he regretted his choice of words. At a briefing just after 1.30pm, Mr Corbyns spokesman said Mr Williamson had been issued with a notice of investigation. However, the spokesman said the MP would not be suspended while the investigation took place, triggering further anger. Labours Parliamentary Committee then met and agreed unanimously that Mr Williamson should be suspended. At 5pm the party finally announced Mr Williamson had been suspended. Miss McDonagh, who is rumoured to be considering leaving the party, told HuffPost UK: I welcome Chris Williamsons suspension pending investigation for acts of anti-Jewish racism' Around the same time, a letter from 38 Labour MPs was sent to Miss Formby calling for the whip to be withdrawn from the MP, although Labour deny this was the prompt. The party insists Mr Corbyn was not personally involved in the decision to suspend Mr Williamson, although it has not denied that the leaders office played a role. Yesterday, a Labour source said chief whip Mr Brown had implied that he had not been involved in the decision. They added: Suspension is a matter for the leaders office, the general secretary or the chief whip. Nick Brown implied the Chris Williamson decision had been taken out of his hands. He didnt say it in so many words, but it was suggested. Labour denied that Mr Corbyn spoke to Mr Brown. But a Shadow Cabinet source told The Independent: This decision was taken off Nick Brown and taken by the general secretary and the leaders office. And BBC Newsnight reported that Mr Corbyn was heavily involved in the initial decision. Last night a Labour spokesman said it was categorically untrue to suggest that Mr Corbyn himself had intervened in the case. They added: Jeremy Corbyn is not involved in disciplinary processes and did not intervene in this case. The suspension decision was taken before the letter from MPs. Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson dodged the question of whether Jeremy Corbyn was fit to be prime minister yesterday, as he warned that a number of MPs were perilously close to quitting the party Watson won't say if Jeremy's fit to be PM Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson dodged the question of whether Jeremy Corbyn was fit to be prime minister yesterday, as he warned that a number of MPs were perilously close to quitting the party. Mr Watson was asked on BBC Radio 4s Today programme if Mr Corbyn was fit to run the country given his handling of the partys anti-Semitism crisis. He replied only that he could easily be prime minister, adding: Of course, we could do without the anti-Semitism because it allows you to ask me that question on the Today programme. We need to close these issues down and we do it by being absolutely vigilant in the way we deal with racism in our own ranks. Thats on all of us. It came a day after the suspension of Labour MP Chris Williamson, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, over his claims that the party has been too apologetic about the issue. The Labour deputy leader said Mr Williamson was entitled to a fair hearing. But he added: Ive been very, very concerned that his comments have almost been deliberately inflammatory and causing offence to not just parliamentary colleagues but people in the Jewish community. Mr Watson later said he wants the inquiry into Mr Williamsons case to be very quick, and that it should be a matter of weeks not months in my view. He also denied he was Mr Corbyns deputy, telling the BBC: Im not actually Jeremys deputy. I was elected by 200,000 Labour Party members. From yesterday's Daily Mail He added: I have my own mandate and I have a responsibility in light of that, which is why I am speaking out now ... Ive asked to see Jeremy on Monday next week to talk about how we can further improve our measures to deal with anti-Semitism. Mr Watson described last weeks resignation of Jewish MP Luciana Berger as the worst day of shame in the Labour Partys 120-year history, saying a pregnant young MP had been bullied out of her own party by racist thugs. Miss Berger was one of nine MPs to quit the party last week, many of them citing anti-Semitism. Mr Watson warned more could follow them over the leaderships failure, telling ITVs Good Morning Britain: I dont think we can apologise enough for anti-Semitism in our ranks. The only way we will rebuild trust with the British Jewish community is to deal with anti-Semitism as the number one issue in my party. And Im going to do it, because Im not going to allow half a million Labour Party members to be tainted by racism. Ive said theres a battle for Labours soul. Im worried that colleagues feel they want to go. Im doing my best, but we are perilously close to other colleagues leaving. I just say to them again, Stay and fight your corner. The widow of a man who was shot outside an Atlanta country club is suing the venue for failing to keep its guests safe. Molly Broder filed a wrongful death suit this week after her husband, Christian Broder, was shot in the stomach outside of Capital City Country Club after a July 7, 2018 wedding, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'Capital City Club negligently failed to act on knowledge of prior crimes, and the surrounding high-crime area,' her lawsuit states, 'and failed to act to correct, prevent, or warn of prior criminal activity and the dangerous environment of the premises and approaches.' The lawsuit requests a jury trial and unspecified damages. Christian Broder (left), who was a married father of a nine-month-old baby girl at the time of his death, was leaving a wedding at an Atlanta country club when he was shot in the stomach. His wife Molly (right) filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Capital City Club for negligence Capital City Country Club in Atlanta was the scene of the July 2018 wedding where Christian Broder was shot waiting for an Uber after the event. Molly Broder is currently suing the venue 'Capital City's negligence was a cause in fact and a proximate cause of Christian Broder's injuries and death,' Molly Broder's suit contends. The legal filing argues that the venerable country club did not deploy enough proper security measures despite awareness of previous crimes being committed in the area. Christian, a restaurant executive from Washington DC, was waiting with a group of friends after the wedding for an Uber ride when two men pulled up in a white Dodge Charger. The group approached the car, confusing the Charger for their ride, when one of the men, Jayden Myrick, got out from the passenger side, pulled out a handgun and ordered them to hand over their belongings. Suspected gunman Jayden Myrick, 18, (left) alleged getaway driver Torrus Fleetwood, 19, (right) were arrested over Broder's killing The group gave up their phones, wallets and other valuables, and the suspect returned to his car, according to police. That was when Broder followed the suspect and tried to get him to return his license. Police say that was when Myrick opened fire, shooting Broder in the stomach. The gunman then got into the car and fled the scene. Broder was rushed to a Washington-area hospital and died almost two weeks later 'surrounded by loved ones' Broder is survived by his baby daughter Francis and his wife Molly, a pre-kindergarten teacher (pictured with him) Broder was rushed to a Washington-area hospital and died almost two weeks later 'surrounded by loved ones.' Investigators believe Jayden Myrick, 18, the suspected shooter was with Torrus Fleetwood, 19, the getaway driver. Both were indicted along with two 15-year-olds, Kevan Reeves and Montavious Lovejoy. All four are believed to be affiliated with a gang, according to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne and another cabinet colleague Steven Ciobo are expected to retire from politics at the next election. Mr Pyne, who was a strong supporter of former PM Malcolm Turnbull, may quit his Adelaide seat of Sturt, which he first won in 1993 when he was 25. The 51-year-old Liberal Party minister, from the party's moderate faction, would become the fifth cabinet minister to quit at the next election, with Mr Ciobo's possible retirement taking the tally to six. The retirements come just two months before Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to face the voters. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne (pictured) and another cabinet colleague Steven Ciobo are expected to retire from politics at the next election Former Liberal Party deputy and foreign minister Julie Bishop last week announced her retirement from Parliament. Her former cabinet colleagues Kelly O'Dwyer, Nigel Scullion and Michael Keenan have also declared they won't be running at the next election, following more than 40 consecutive Newspoll losses for the Coalition government. Mr Ciobo, the defence industry minister and an 18-year parliamentary veteran, tweeted on Friday he was looking forward to travelling to Indonesia within days to sign a landmark free trade agreement. But The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday the Gold Coast-based Liberal MP was ready to quit. Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo is also expected to quit, which wouyld take the retirement tally in the Morrison Government cabinet to six Former Liberal Party deputy and foreign minister Julie Bishop last week announced her retirement from Parliament (pictured in the House of Representatives) The Queenslander was demoted from the trade portfolio after the August leadership spill when he ran for deputy. Who was Christopher Pyne The 51-year-old father-of-four was a spear carrier for the Liberal Party's moderate faction. He was elected to the seat of Sturt, in Adelaide, at age 25 after challenging a sitting Liberal moderate MP Ian Wilson. The cabinet minister is a regular on TV and hosts a Sky News program with Labor frontbencher Richard Marles. He was a strong supporter of fellow Liberal moderate and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Advertisement A Queensland Liberal National Party source told AAP he would be 'surprised' if Mr Ciobo retired from parliament as he was very active in fundraising for the election campaign. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham was asked on Friday if he expected any other frontbench colleagues to resign and he replied: 'No.' Mr Pyne recently revealed how hard he took last year's spill and said he did not expect he could ever lead the Liberal Party. Labor leader Bill Shorten said the resignation speculation showed the government had given up. 'Cabinet ministers retiring on the eve of an election shows that this is a government that has given up,' he told reporters in Sydney. 'I say to Australians, if the ministers in the government are giving up on the government, you should too.' The possible retirements come just two months before Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left with Christopher Pyne) is expected to face the voters Mr Whittingdale, who was one of 118 Tory MPs who voted it down in January, hinted he may now support the Prime Ministers plan to ensure Brexit is not delayed or called off Former Cabinet minister John Whittingdale has become the latest senior Eurosceptic to suggest he could back Theresa Mays deal. Mr Whittingdale, who was one of 118 Tory MPs who voted it down in January, hinted he may now support the Prime Ministers plan to ensure Brexit is not delayed or called off. The former culture secretary said he continued to have concerns about the deals Irish backstop, which critics fear could leave the UK trapped in a customs union. He told ITVs Peston programme that the Prime Minister had to secure something which gives us legal certainty that there is a way out of the backstop. However, he hinted he could now back Mrs May in the next crunch vote, expected on March 12. I want to leave on March 29, he said. We have had to make compromises. There are a lot of things about the Withdrawal Agreement which I dont like. But we will have that argument when we move into the next stage. Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of MPs, revealed in yesterdays Daily Mail that he could back the deal if Mrs May secured the necessary assurances on the backstop. The admissions follow two key developments which have piled pressure on MPs to back Mrs Mays deal. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister said she would offer Parliament a vote on delaying Brexit if her own plan is rejected. Labour then formally adopted a second referendum as party policy meaning a delay to Brexit could lead to it being called off entirely. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said Labour would force a vote on a second referendum when Mrs May brings her deal back before MPs. Things are shifting, he said, adding: There is a chance we could win it. Two Texas sixth graders who went missing on Tuesday in a feared instance of a viral Facebook 'game' that convinces teens to run away from home for 48 hours have been found safe. Mary Tran Le, 13, and Tianny Granja, 12, were spotted by a woman in Houston late on Thursday, who recognized them from news coverage and convinced the children to get in her car, KHOU reported. The woman dropped the girls off at one of their homes at around 9pm on Thursday. The two girls went missing at approximately 7.30am on Tuesday while they were near Wilcrest Dive and Beechnut Street. Mary Tran Le, 13, (left) and Tianny Granja, 12, (right) went missing at approximately 7.30am on Tuesday while walking to their Houston bus stop. They were found safe on Thursday Both girls are sixth graders at Owens Middle School and they are described as being best friends. And while the girls never boarded their school bus, family members had hoped that the two are just taking part in the controversial challenge and not in more danger. Both girls are sixth graders at Owens Middle School and they are described as being best friends 'They were talking about the challenge the other day,' Dayanna Gomez, Tianny's mother, explained to the Daily Beast. 'I just want to find my daughter, and I hope she is just hiding and not in danger.' The 48-hour Challenge encourages teens to go 'fake missing' for two days, gaining 'points' with mention made about their disappearance on social media. Both girls' cellphones were turned off and an administrator called Tianny's parents after she failed to show. 'It is the school protocol to call the parents when children don't show up for school in the morning,' a spokesperson for the school said. 'That's what we did on Tuesday morning.' KHOU reports that a friend of the girls approached administrators and handed them a note that said that the friends had been abducted. A No Deal Brexit would cause considerable economic harm to the rest of Europe, Dutch MPs warned yesterday. The delegation, which visited Westminster last week on a fact-finding mission, said No Deal would worsen already weak growth across the eurozone. It could even trigger a banking crisis in Italy, they suggested, given the countrys vulnerability to economic shocks due to high public debt. This could rebound on the eurozone, the Dutch said. The delegation, which visited Westminster last week on a fact-finding mission, said No Deal would worsen already weak growth across the eurozone. Pictured: A file photo of pro-EU protesters outside Parliament They predicted the worst-hit nations would be Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and France, as well as the Netherlands. However, the MPs stressed that Britain would be hit the hardest by No Deal. Their report also warned the scenario would lead to long queues of freight traffic on both sides of the EUs new border with the UK. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is expected to return to Brussels next week, when talks will resume. But the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier said yesterday: We have finished our work I dont feel the need to spend a lot more time on [the Withdrawal Agreement]. Were working on explanations around the treaty, guarantees or supplementary assurances, notably on the question of the Irish backstop. The wife of Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has died after a long battle with cancer. In a statement, Senator Abetz confirmed his wife Michelle had succumbed to cancer which she had been battling since 2015. 'I want to take this opportunity to thank our many friends who have been so incredibly supportive in recent years which has provided Michelle so much courage and strength to fight this very long battle,' he said. The wife of Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has died after a long battle with cancer. Eric and Michelle Abetz are pictured 'We have been sustained by our Christian faith during this period and thank the Christian community around Australia for their prayerful support.' Senator Abetz also thanked the media for allowing his wife's cancer battle to be kept private since 2015. 'To that end, on behalf of my family and myself, I ask for privacy at this difficult time,' he said. A man accused of ripping a plaque from a Captain James Cook statue to use it as a hotplate for an Australia Day barbecue says he did it for his Aboriginal ancestors. David Stevens appeared in Brisbane's Cleveland Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with wilful damage and stealing the historic plaque from North Stradbroke Island's Point Lookout. He allegedly used the plaque to cook a T-bone steak on it and later shared photos and boasted about his barbecue on Facebook. A North Stradbroke man has appeared in court in relation to his alleged Australia Day barbecue (pictured), which he allegedly boasted about afterwards on social media 'Lookout, forgot to put the photo up, shame,' one post states. Stevens told The Australian he cleaned the plaque before handing it back to police and claimed it was in better condition than when it was taken. That claim has since been refuted by Redland Council. Mounted on a structure built from large stone blocks, the plaque was placed by North Stradbroke residents in 1970 to commemorate the bicentenary of the naming of Point Lookout by the British explorer on May 17, 1770. 'They've glorified him (Cook), made him a hero,' Stevens told The Australian outside court on Thursday. 'He's a rapist, murderer and genocider of the crown. I did it for my ancestors.' The plaque allegedly stolen and used for the barbecue will be returned to the the Captain Cook statue at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island Stevens claims he cleaned the plaque (pictured) and handed it back to police in mint condition Stevens will reappear in court later this month. Redland Council is in process of reinstalling the plaque to the statue at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island. 'The estimated cost of damage to the plaque is unknown at this point. It was not returned in good condition but may be able to be restored,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia. 'It is the first time it has been stolen or vandalised.' The recent incident follows a spate of vandalism attacks on Captain Cook monuments across Australia, including statues in Sydney's Hyde Park and in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda. The existing Hyde Park statue in Sydney saying Australia was 'discovered' was the target of vandalism leading up to Australia Day last year, sparking calls for its removal. David Stevens posted the infringement notice on Facebook after he charged by police Graffiti reading 'No pride in genocide' was scrawled on the base of the statue, as well as the words 'change the date' in relation to Australia Day. The statue at St Kilda was splattered with pink paint and spray painted with the Aboriginal flag and the words 'no pride' prior to Australia Day last year. The statue was vandalised again recently on the anniversary of Captain Cook's death. 'Good riddance' was scrawled at the base and yellow paint plastered on the leg of the First Fleet captain. Trevor Phillips is calling for ministers to discuss why a worryingly large number of violent crimes are committed by black teens on other black youngsters Gang violence will be reduced only if the Government admits it largely affects black people, the former race watchdog chief has said. Trevor Phillips is calling for ministers to discuss why a worryingly large number of violent crimes are committed by black teens on other black youngsters. It comes after a series of stabbings in London and Birmingham in the past week involving a large proportion of black youths. Mr Phillips, pictured, has accused politicians and the police of not acknowledging race, and the BBC of whitewashing the truth. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Phillips said: Evidence shows that the wave of killings and maiming are assassinations of black children by black children, often directed by adult drug dealers. Yet, to read our newspapers and listen to our media you would imagine that race played no part at all. The BBC in particular is guilty of whitewashing the truth. The former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission added: The daily parade of dark faces in items about knife crime tell their own story. Childrens Commissioner Anne Longfields report into childhood violence and vulnerability yesterday said 27,000 children under 19 identified as gang members. More than 300,000 confessed to knowing someone who was in a gang. Birmingham has seen three boys killed in knife attacks in the past two weeks. Across England, nine boys have died in the past week, mostly from stab wounds, in a series of attacks. Labour will attempt to block a controversial hike in probate fees, labelled a 'stealth tax', by forcing a Commons vote on the issue. Next month's rise could cost bereaved families thousands of pounds, but it was effectively waved through last month after Government ministers categorised it as a 'fee' rather than a tax meaning it would avoid full Parliamentary scrutiny. However, a Labour source confirmed yesterday that the party will now move to force a Commons vote on the issue and oppose the changes. The new fees for administering probate the legal authority to take control of someone's finances when they die will rise next month from 155 to as much as 6,000 depending on the size of the estate. Valerie Vaz, Labour MP for Walsall South, has said there should be a debate as the Government is acting beyond its legal authority This represents an increase of 3,770 per cent for an estate worth 2million or more. Labour MP Valerie Vaz has said there should be a debate as the Government is acting beyond its legal authority. 'It cannot be a service charge, because it is graduated, depending on the size of the estate,' she said. The Ministry of Justice has denied the charges are a tax and said they would help plug a shortfall in the cost of the courts service. The hike is expected to rake in an extra 185million a year by 2022-23. Officials insist the sliding scale of fees cover the cost of the service. Yet critics say they bear no relation to the actual cost of probate. Steve Webb, former pensions minister, hit out at the Government for 'smuggling' the tax hike through James Badcock, partner at law firm Collyer Bristow, said: 'At the higher end of the scale the fees are far greater than the administrative costs for which they are charged. 'The higher fees will result in beneficiaries of wills receiving less, including charities.' Former pensions minister Steve Webb, of insurance firm Royal London, said: 'The Government should not be using a backdoor procedure to smuggle the increases through.' And Sally Ashford, partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, said: 'It is hard to justify as the work is the same regardless of estate size.' Dr. Chris Duke OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- It was early 1983 when a 25-year-old Chris Duke arrived in Ocean Springs to begin work as a newly-minted veterinarian, fresh out of vet school at Auburn University. He joined the staff of Dr. John Broussard's practice on Bienville Boulevard (U.S. 90), but within months, any thoughts he may have had of "easing into" his career quickly ended. Broussard was shot and killed that spring during a visit to Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Duke continued to work at the clinic as an employee of the family until Memorial Day weekend of 1984, when he purchased the practice from the Broussard family and renamed it Bienville Animal Hospital. And for the next 35 years, he has remained right there, caring for Ocean Springs' pets, mentoring other young veterinarians and, in the process, becoming a fixture in the community. "It (Broussard's death) brought me into having to be my own man and get into business for myself a little faster," Duke said. "I'll always be grateful to the Broussard family and especially Dr. Broussard's clients, who stuck with me when I was 25-years-old." Last weekend, Duke's 35 years of dedicated service to his community and profession were recognized when the Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association named him its "Veterinarian of the Year" for 2019. Duke said in an interview with The Mississippi Press Wednesday that he was at home when he received an email from the MVMA about two weeks before the award ceremony in Starkville that he would be this year's recipient. "I got off the computer and went into the den and told my wife (Ann) 'You're not going to believe this, but I just got an email from the MVMA that I'm the veterinarian of the year and have to go to Starkville to accept the award.' "My wife just smiled and said 'Well look at you!'" The MVMA was founded in 1906, but only began awarding the Veterinarian of the Year honor in 2009. Duke is the 11th winner. True to his nature, he was humble in accepting the award. "There are lot of men and women in this state who do a fine job, day in and day out, of being a veterinarian," he said. "I don't do anything special they don't do. They not only represent the profession well, but the mentor the next generation. "I got some credit during the introduction for the award for the mentoring I do, but the truth is a lot of my peers do that." Bienville Animal Medical Center now employs five full-time veterinarians and two part-time and has a total staff of 46. The facility was expanded in 1990. In 2005, Dr. Michael Dill became Duke's co-owner. Duke, 60, was asked what keeps him going after 35 years in practice. "I love this profession," he said. "I'm having more fun and getting more joy out of veterinary medicine than I ever have, because all those things I worried about as a young man I have come to realize over the years are part of the job. "I still get tough cases, tough scenarios sometimes, but hopefully, when things don't turn out the best for our veterinary clients, I do a good job communicating, consoling and comforting in situations like that." Duke also said he has found some specialties within his profession about which he is passionate, including heartworm prevention. To that end, he has served on the board of directors of the American Heartworm Society for the past three years. "That has added to my travel, but we we are in such a hot pocket of heartworms here on the Gulf Coast -- my technicians in my office joke about me being the 'heartworm evangelist,' because if you get me on the hot-button topic, I won't stop talking about it." Duke noted that the MVMA award banquet fell just a day before he was already scheduled to fly to a professional conference. As a result, he was away from his office from last Friday until Thursday of this week. "There's a certain irony that the Veterinarian of the Year hasn't been to work in a week," he said, laughing. Fire ants are an invasive alien species, native to South America. In rare cases, its sting can cause death. In 2017, Japanese authorities discovered some in a port in Kyushu Prefecture. Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) The wasabi (or Japanese horseradish) is a plant that can be used to make a very spicy green sauce. It is also excellent at keeping away dangerous and venomous fire ants, whose stings can be quite painful. Experiments by Yoshiaki Hashimoto, an associate professor of entomology at the University of Hyogo, and others have found that the insects hate the organic compound that gives wasabi its pungent taste. In Japan, fire ants are an invasive alien species. Originally from South America, they have spread to the United States, China and Australia. People with allergies to its venom have been hospitalised for shock after being bitten, which in rare cases has even led to death. Concerns about the invasive alien species arriving in Japan began climbing in 2017 when some were found in a port in Kyushu Prefecture near shipping containers from China. Hashimoto and his team conducted their experiments using fire ants that had spread to Taiwan. Capsules containing Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), responsible for wasabi's sharp flavor, were worked into "wasabi sheets" and kept fire ants away. This indicates that placing wasabi sheets on cargo shipments might stop the ants from entering shipping containers and being transported to other nations. Hashimoto said he wanted to quicken the development of the technology to help stop their spread around the world. Dozens of Brexiteer Tory MPs will back Theresa May's Brexit deal if she sets a timetable for when she will quit as Prime Minister. A number of Brexiteer MPs are now prepared to vote for the deal, even if Mrs May isn't able to secure any significant changes. Mrs May faces a new Commons vote to approve her revised Brexit deal on March 12. One senior MP told The Sun: 'We need her to lay out a timetable for her departure this year. Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the Jordan Growth and Opportunity Conference in London yesterday. A group of Brexiteer MPs could now vote for her deal if the PM tells them when she will quit 'A decent amount of us have now told the whips we would change our vote and back the deal if she did - enough of us to get it through.' A second rebel MP confirmed they would also back the deal if she quits. A source at Downing Street said Theresa May is unaware of such a proposal. Earlier this week Mrs May made a screeching U-turn this week to admit if MPs reject her deal a second time by March 12, they will get to vote first on whether to go for no deal on March 13 and, if not, on delaying Brexit on March 14. In the wake of Mrs May's concessions George Eustice quit the government yesterday. He told Mrs May he now wanted to play full part in how Britain leaves the EU and could not do so as a minister having already stayed through 'a series of rather undignified retreats'. The MP, who was Michael Gove's deputy as Environment Secretary, told Mrs May he would vote for her deal when it comes back to Parliament - but said he would then vote to leave with no deal if she loses a second time. The ERG led by Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured Wednesday in the Commons) has so far been resolute in its opposition to the deal unless the Irish border backstop is stripped out - but appears to be softening its position The incendiary resignation will fuel Brexiteer fears ministers expect to be whipped to vote against no deal on March 13 - despite Mrs May insisting no deal is still an option. In his furious resignation letter, Mr Eustice lashed Remain supporters in Parliament for refusing to respect the referendum result - telling Mrs May she has been 'terribly undermined'. He demanded the Government should show 'courage' and commit to leaving the EU without a deal if Brussels refuses to make further concessions. His incendiary resignation comes after a blazing Cabinet row on Tuesday where Brexit backered lashed Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark for publicly threatening to resign over no deal. Earlier on Thursday, a member of the hardline Tory Brexiteers today said the group would back down and back the Brexit deal if Theresa May wins over the DUP. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is thought to be drawing up legal guarantees the Irish border backstop will not be permanent. DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds repeated his demand yesterday changes must be 'legally binding'. The ERG led by Jacob Rees-Mogg has so far been resolute in its opposition to the deal unless the Irish border backstop is stripped out. But with less than a fortnight until the next approval vote is expected the group may be softening its position. Mr Rees-Mogg said yesterday he could accept an appendix after all. What is the Irish border backstop and why do Tory MPs hate it? The so-called Irish border backstop is one of the most controversial parts of the PM's Brexit deal. This is what it means: What is the backstop? The backstop was invented to meet promises to keep open the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland even if there is no comprehensive UK-EU trade deal. The divorce deal says it will kick in automatically at the end of the Brexit transition if that deal is not in place. If effectively keeps the UK in a customs union with the EU and Northern Ireland in both the customs union and single market. This means many EU laws will keep being imposed on the UK and there can be no new trade deals. It also means regulatory checks on some goods crossing the Irish Sea. Why have Ireland and the EU demanded it? Because Britain demanded to leave the EU customs union and single market, the EU said it needed guarantees people and goods circulating inside met EU rules. This is covered by the Brexit transition, which effectively maintains current rules, and can in theory be done in the comprehensive EU-UK trade deal. But the EU said there had to be a backstop to cover what happens in any gap between transition and final deal. Why do critics hate it? Because Britain cannot decide when to leave the backstop. Getting out - even if there is a trade deal - can only happen if both sides agree people and goods can freely cross the border. Brexiteers fear the EU will unreasonably demand the backstop continues so EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland MPs also hate the regulatory border in the Irish Sea, insisting it unreasonably carves up the United Kingdom. What concessions did Britain get in negotiating it? During the negotiations, Britain persuaded Brussels the backstop should apply to the whole UK and not just Northern Ireland. Importantly, this prevents a customs border down the Irish Sea - even if some goods still need to be checked. The Government said this means Britain gets many of the benefits of EU membership after transition without all of the commitments - meaning Brussels will be eager to end the backstop. It also got promises the EU will act in 'good faith' during the future trade talks and use its 'best endeavours' to finalise a deal - promises it says can be enforced in court. What did the legal advice say about it? Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said even with the EU promises, if a trade deal cannot be reached the backstop could last forever. This would leave Britain stuck in a Brexit limbo, living under EU rules it had no say in writing and no way to unilaterally end it. Advertisement The first elephants to be seen in Britain must have made quite an impression as they arrived with the all-conquering Roman emperor Claudius. But the same cant be said of an attempt to mark that historic moment 2,000 years ago. Councillors in Colchester once the important Roman town of Camulodunum want to put up a 100,000 sculpture of one of the animals. However, many locals fear it will be a huge waste of money and have voiced their concerns on social media. The 100,000 elephant sculpture planned for Albert roundabout, in Colchester, Essex Andy Bugg called it a shocking waste and Sharon Gusterson tweeted: Im sick of this lunatic council making expensive, ridiculous, disastrous decisions. The towns Conservative MP, Will Quince, also attacked the plan, calling it unjustifiable. The 25ft tall sculpture, fitted with 52 LED lights, will sit on a roundabout in the town. Its fate was being decided last night at a meeting of the boroughs planning committee. A council spokesman said: The design is inspired by tales of Claudiuss dramatic arrival into Colchester with a herd of elephants to celebrate the victory of the Roman invasion in 43AD. A Melbourne man who fatally shot his American fiancee while the pair were on the run deep in the Victorian bush has been jailed for 11 years. Steven Con Samaras, 50, and Tamara Turner, 49, were on the run for smuggling firearms when he unintentionally shot her in the abdomen during a late-night struggle in their caravan. The bullet hit Ms Turner's aorta and she swiftly bled to death in dense woodland south of Mildura in June 2016. Melbourne man Steven Con Samaras, who fatally shot his American fiancee Tamara Turner (pictured together) while the pair were on the run deep in the Victorian bush, has been jailed for 11 years The pair were on the run for smuggling firearms when he unintentionally shot her in the abdomen during a late-night struggle in their caravan Samaras gave some futile first aid and hours later placed Ms Turner's body on a bench outside Mildura Base Hospital, giving nurses a false name before taking off in his Jeep. He later lied to police about what happened, claiming Ms Turner had accidentally shot herself and buried the gun herself. Eight months earlier, Samaras met Ms Turner on Facebook and proposed within only two hours of meeting. He asked the Missouri mother-of-two to move to Australia, and she agreed. They also arranged to post four guns to his Melbourne address from Ms Turner's ex-partner's US gun shop. But three guns were intercepted by Australian Border Force officers, sparking a police investigation that led to the pair being charged with gun importation. The pair were released on bail and decided to go on the run, buying a caravan and evading authorities for months until Ms Turner was shot. Samaras gave some futile first aid and hours later placed Ms Turner's body on a bench outside Mildura Base Hospital, giving nurses a false name before taking off in his Jeep Samaras was jailed in the Supreme Court on Friday for at least eight years after pleading guilty to manslaughter Samaras was jailed in the Supreme Court on Friday for at least eight years after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Justice Andrew Tinney said Samaras had not meant to shoot or kill Ms Turner but the judge slammed his 'selfish' lies and actions after her death. 'Your selfish behaviour revealed only a concern for yourself,' Justice Tinney said. 'Your failure to seek immediate assistance for her betrayed a disturbing lack of concern and regard for her, which is at odds with your claim of having loved her.' Samaras was sentenced to 11 years in prison with a non-parole period of eight years. He had originally been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. A South Australian father has been revealed to be the lucky winner of the $40million Powerball jackpot on Thursday. The man's 25-game marked entry was the only Division One winner in the 1189 draw with winning numbers 7, 5, 13, 4, 2, 14, 11, and Powerball number 14. The winner, who wished to remain anonymous, has recalled the remarkable moment he realised he had become a multi-millionaire. 'I was just sitting at home last night and for something to do I thought I would check my Powerball ticket,' he said on Friday. 'I checked the numbers and recognised that a few of them were mine, so I double checked them again. A South Australian father has been revealed to be the lucky winner of the $40million Powerball jackpot on Thursday after drawing winning numbers 7, 5, 13, 4, 2, 14, 11, and Powerball number 14 'I showed my wife and she said, "this can't be true, something must be wrong here." We didn't believe it until the news was confirmed this morning. 'We are over-the-moon!' About one-third of Australians are estimated to have bought a ticket to try their luck and nearly 6,000 tickets per minute were sold in the lead-up to the draw. Players are required to choose seven numbers ranging from 1 to 35 and an additional number ranging from 1 to 20 for the Powerball. Each number has an equal chance of being drawn, however, players were quick to point out the incredibly low sequence of the winning numbers which all fell between 2 and 14. The winner, who purchased his ticket on OzLotteries.com, revealed he based his selections on his family members' birth dates after he stopped buying his usual QuickPicks, which are randomly generated. 'I've been playing Powerball for about six or seven years and for a long time I was buying QuickPicks,' he said. 'A little while ago I thought I would change it up a bit and so I marked a coupon using my large family's birthdates. 'Once I changed the numbers, I started to win a few small things here and there so I thought to myself 'I'm not going to change these, I'm going to stick to them.' 'I've never won anything like this!' Each number has an equal chance of being drawn, however, players were quick to point out the incredibly low sequence of the winning numbers which all fell between 2 and 14 The modest dad, who is in his 50s and lives with his family on the outskirts of Adelaide, said he is not rushing to buy anything extravagant and wants to use his fortune to give back instead. 'I'm not into flashy houses or cars it's all about family first,' he said. 'We are quite involved in the local community in which we live. We'd love to give back to the charities and organisations close to our heart in the community. 'We've been doing it tough the last few years so this will make a whole world of difference to my family.' The chances of winning with a single-game entry are just one in 134,490,400. The chances of winning with a 12-game entry are one in 11,207,534. Division Two had six winners, who each won $83,887.80, and the division three prize was won by 79 people who each received $3893.55. The last winner was in January when a record-breaking $100 million jackpot made headlines across the country. One in three Australians are believed to have bought a ticket in that draw hoping to take home the major prize. In the 12 months ending 2018, there were 16 Powerball division one winning entries nationally who collectively took home $367million. The biggest Powerball prize was $60 million, won in November by a man from Burleigh Heads. The last time a single Powerball entry held by an Australian lottery player took home $40million was in May 2014, when a father from Brisbane's northside took home the entire prize pool. Advertisement President Donald Trump landed back in Washington after the sudden collapse of his nuclear summit with Kim Jong Un after saying in an interview he appreciates that North Korea spent 'a lot of time' building up its nuclear arsenal. In an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, conducted in Hanoi before Trump told the world why he failed to reach a deal with the North Korean dictator, Trump said he and Kim did not see eye to eye on what North Korea would have to give up for sanctions relief. 'Well, they wanted to denuke certain areas and I wanted everything,' Trump told Hannity. 'And the sanctions are there and I didnt want to give up the sanctions unless we had a real program. And theyre not ready for that and I understand that fully, I really do. I mean, they spent a lot of time building it and that doesnt mean the world has to be happy,' Trump said. Sanctions are a major point of leverage, and Trump is reluctant to give it up without seeing more movement from the DPRK. The summit was abruptly ended early Thursday with Trump and the North Korean side giving different accounts of what went wrong. Trump said he decided to walk away because North Korea wanted all sanctions lifted in exchange for closing a major nuclear facility. The North Korean side said they only pushed for the lifting of some. Choe Son-hui, North Korea's vice foreign minister, also raised the prospect of a complete collapse in the peace process by saying Kim may have 'lost the will for negotiations' because he 'got the feeling that he didn't understand the way Americans calculate'. 'But I wanted them to denuke, and they wouldnt do the full. They wanted to just some, and I guess a lot of people would have said, thats a great start. But I just didnt feel it was right,' Trump said, characterizing things the same way he did in his presser. But he had a new batch of adjectives to praise Kim Jong Un, whom he gushed about repeatedly in Hanoi. 'And hes a real personality and hes very smart,' Trump said of Kim. 'Hes sharp as you can be, and hes a real leader, and hes pretty mercurial. I dont say that necessarily in a bad way, but hes a pretty mercurial guy.' US President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, February 28, 2019, following a trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, for his second summit with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Trump continued: 'But he was talking to the press a little bit, and, you know, hes not big to talking to the press, but the press came in. Look, bottom line, I think he wants to get something done but this wasnt the right time. And Vietnam, Hanoi, where we are right now, they have treated us so fantastically, so good. Theyve done such a great job.' He later added: 'The fact is that he also said hes not going to do testing, and he said that recently, and he said it again to me just a little while ago. He doesnt want to do testing. Hes not going to do that. Thats a big thing. No rockets, no anything.' In another key part of the interview, Trump said longtime lawyer Michael Cohen 'made a decision' relating to payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors say 'Individual 1' Trump, directed the payments, which Cohen admitted broke campaign finance laws. Trump denies it, as well as the affair. Hannity, who was represented by Cohen himself, told Trump: 'He was never my attorney. He did apologize to me for his attorney saying that in court, and I can tell you personally, he said to me at least a dozen times, that he made the decision on the payments and he didnt tell you ... told me personally.' 'Yes,' Trump responded. 'No, he did. And he made a decision,' said Trump indicating that it was Cohen's plan. Cohen testified that Trump asked him and Trump Organization CEO Allen Wesellberg to work it out. Meanwhile, a statement from official state-run North Korean news agency KCNA also puts a positive spin on the talks, despite the failure of the two leaders to agree on a joint statement a signal that talks are likely to continue. 'The top leaders of the two countries highly appreciated at the one-on-one talks and extended talks that a remarkable progress has been made in the historic course of implementing the Singapore joint statement,' said the statement, in over-the-top language typical of government-run press accounts. 'They had a constructive and candid exchange of their opinions over the practical issues arising in opening up a new era of the improvement of the DPRK-U.S. relations on the basis of the progress,' it continued. 'At the talks they shared the common understanding that the efforts made by the two sides and proactive measures taken by them to defuse tensions and preserve peace on the Korean peninsula and completely denuclearize it were of great significance in building mutual trust and making a fundamental turn in the decades-long bilateral relations characterized by mistrust and antagonism. 'The top leaders listened to each other's views on the issues to be resolved without fail at the present phase in order to carry out the joint goals specified in the Singapore joint statement, and had an in-depth discussion of the ways to do so.' Trump walked away from a so called 'bad deal' with North Korea because he 'didn't want to make the same mistake Obama did with Iran', according to press secretary Sarah Sanders. She tweeted: 'President Obama refused to walk away from a bad deal with Iran. President @realDonaldTrump refuses to make the same mistake with Iran, North Korea, or anybody else. President Trump will always put the safety of the American people above politics.' The White House issued its first statement after North Korean officials made a rare appearance on Thursday while the president was on his way home from Vietnam to publicly rebuke him for the breakdown in nuclear talks. The president looked downbeat as he landed back into Joint Base Andrews in Maryland this evening local time after the summit with the North Korean leader was abruptly ended early without signing a deal. The nation that tightly controls the media its people consume and does not have any independent news agencies, allowed two top officials to appear before cameras. One of the officials even took questions in Korean after acknowledging an American reporter in English. It was a slap in the face to Trump, who'd boasted about his 'great relationship' with Kim Jong-un at a news conference and cast North Korea as 'not ready' to make a deal that he could sign. In a long statement delivered to the press in Korean, and a translator read aloud in English for Americans watching over lunch, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho contradicted Trump hours later at a midnight news conference. He said the country asked for 'partial sanctions' relief in areas the authoritarian country claims are harming North Korean citizens and affecting their livelihoods. In return, Pyongyang offered to 'permanently' close its Plutonium and Uranium facilities in the Yongbyon region in the presence of U.S. inspectors. Back home: Michael Cohen returned to New York and was seen at a TD Bank branch near his apartment. The bank was not the one which provided credit to him which he used to pay off Stormy Daniels before being reimbursed by the president; that was First Republic Bank Taste of freedom: Michael Cohen is to report to federal prison in May and will be in Washington D.C. again within days to testify for a second day to the House Intelligence Committee Trump landed back into the U.S. this evening local time after he abruptly ended summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi early without signing a deal. Trump continued to tout his 'warm' relationship with Kim before North Korean officials made a rare appearance to publicly rebuke him for claims he made about the breakdown in talks North Korean officials made a rare press appearance on Thursday after President Trump departed Vietnam to publicly dispute aspects of his claims about the breakdown in talks Sarah Sanders says Trump walked away from a 'bad deal' with North Korea because he 'didn't want to make the same mistake Obama did with Iran' He said North Korea asked the U.S. to lift sanctions corresponding with five United Nations resolutions adopted between 2016 and 2017. Ri claimed that his proposal was the 'biggest' offer North Korea could make based on the 'current level of confidence' between the country and the United States. Trump claimed Thursday that North Korea was 'not ready' to meet the United States' conditions. Ri said talks broke down when the United States 'insisted that we should take one more step' beyond the pledge to abandon Yongbyon. 'Therefore it became crystal clear that the United States was not ready to accept our proposal,' he stated. The U.S. president expressed confidence that an accord could be struck in the future that would see North Korea denuclearize, but Ri told reporters an opportunity to make a better agreement may not present itself: 'Our principle stand will remain variably and our proposal will never be changed.' Ri left the media availability without taking questions. His deputy Choe Son-hui did interact with press, and took a question in English from an NBC reporter on Otto Warmbier. Choe declined to comment on the Ohio college student's death, however, telling a rowdy group of reporters she would only talk about denuclearization. In an interview with FOX News Channels Hannity, filmed before North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's appearance, Trump said: 'It didnt quite work out. I would say that I wasnt satisfied, and perhaps he wasnt satisfied. Good relationship, but I decided that this wasnt the right time to sign something. 'You have to be prepared to walk, and this just wouldnt have been good for our country. And, frankly, he could look at it the same way. Maybe he can look at it the same way. But we get along really well. 'Hes a different kind of a guy, and I just said, look, this isnt going to be working. So, I have feeling something down the line will happen. And it will happen, it will be good.' North Korean officials made a rare press appearance on Thursday after President Trump departed Vietnam to publicly dispute aspects of his claims about the breakdown in talks She proceeded to answer questions in Korean for three and a half more minutes before she left the scrum at Melia Hotel in Hanoi She proceeded to answer questions in Korean for three and a half more minutes before she left the scrum at Melia Hotel in Hanoi that took place nearly ten hours after the summit concluded. Trump speculated at his own presser that 'top leadership' in North Korea did not know about the Warmbier's arrest and the student's deteriorating condition. He claimed it wasn't to Kim's 'advantage' to send the young man, who'd been accused of taking down a propaganda poster, back to the U.S. in a coma. 'He tells me that he didnt know about it, and I will take him at his word,' the American president said. President Donald Trump defended his decision to walk away from his North Korean nuclear summit without a deal in an interview Fox News host Sean Hannity from Vietnam that will air on Thursday evening in the United States Trump spoke to the press for roughly 40 minutes about his failure to get a deal before flying back to the U.S.,where he touched down just before 2 pm EDT at a base in Alaska. The president made no mention of Kim in remarks he delivered there to troops, opting for a traditional stump speech on the military, economy and trade, instead. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters riding on Air Force One that the U.S. was aware of North Korea's claims. She had no statement to share at the time in response to the country's shocking comments. Trump had already spoken about his decision to walk away from his North Korean nuclear summit without a deal not just at the news conference, but in a interview from Vietnam with Fox News host Sean Hannity, as well. The president told Hannity he wasn't 'satisfied' with the outcome of talks, and he suspects that Kim 'wasn't satisfied,' either. He suggested that they left as pals, though, and could someday resume the discussion. 'Were working towards something, but we didnt sign anything today, it didnt quite work out,' he told Hannity on Thursday afternoon local time. 'Good relationship, but I decided this wasnt the right time to sign something so well see what happens over a period of time.' The dictator demanded that all sanctions be lifted in return for giving up only some of his nukes, the U.S. president claimed. 'They wanted to de-nuke certain areas, and I wanted everything. And the sanctions are there and I didnt want to give up the sanctions unless we had a real program,' he told Hannity. 'And theyre not ready for that and I understand that fully, I really do.' Trump said that the final snag that caused the sudden breakdown was over sanctions and Kim's push to have all of them lifted in exchange for a concession Trump and his secretary of state could not live with. 'Sometimes you have to walk away,' Trump told reporters at a press conference in Hanoi that was abruptly moved up after the stalled talks. The president expressed his hope that the two leaders would meet again, but acknowledged: 'It might be soon, it might not be for a long time. I cant tell you.' President Trump abruptly ended talks with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi on Thursday, telling reporters that the North Korean leader had demanded that all sanctions be lifted in return for only getting rid of part of his nuclear stockpile, so he walked away Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised Kim Jong Un as the 'big winner' in the North Korea talks just for getting President Trump to sit down and negotiate At home, the president received the usual cheering from Republicans like South Carolina's Lindsey Graham. Graham suggested that Kim's days will be numbered if he can't come to an agreement with Trump. 'Speaking of Rocket Man, he couldn't be here. And if he doesn't get a deal with Trump he won't be anywhere much longer,' the U.S. senator said to laughs at a large-scale conservative gathering just outside of Washington. 'Why is Rocket Man talking to Trump when he's never talked to anybody else? Because he knows Trump means business.' Democrats mocked the summit as 'amateur hour' with Speaker Nancy Pelosi touting Kim the 'big winner' for getting the president to sit down and negotiate. 'I guess it took two meetings for him to realize that Kim Jong Un is not on the level,' Pelosi told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. 'He was a big winner, Kim Jong Un, in getting to sit face-to-face with the most powerful person in the world - the president of the United States.' Other Democratic lawmakers said they were not surprised that the Republican president whose claim to fame is his deal-making skills could not get Kim to agree the United States' preconditions for sanctions relief. They called the summit a 'failure' and the president who orchestrated it 'naive' for believing that the authoritarian leader would ever hand over his nuclear arsenal. 'I'm not surprised it ended in failure. Trump just does not know what he's doing,' Congressman Brendan Boyle told DailyMail.com. 'We have gotten absolutely nothing out of these two bilateral summits, other than a photo op.' Congressman Ruben Gallego, a member on the House Armed Services Committee, said the administration is either 'naive or so desperate for a deal' that it was willing to offer North Korea 'something for nothing' to get to this point in talks. 'North Korea does not intend to denuclearize,' he told DailyMail.com. 'It shows either the administration is naive or so desperate for a deal that they would go down this path.' Rep. Jim Clyburn, the number three House Democrat, told DailyMail.com as Trump flew back to the United States: 'I don't think anybody expected the president to get a deal out of that. I don't know what he was thinking.' Some legislators signaled relief that Trump had walked away, knowing what was on the table. 'In some ways this might be the best possible realistic outcome from my perspective because I was nervous President Trump would make an agreement that would be far worse than just a failed summit,' Boyle said. One Democratic lawmaker, who asked to speak to the DailyMail.com on background, said,' I guess no deal is better than a bad deal.' The lawmaker added what really concerned him were the president's comments on Otto Warmbier, the American student sent to a work camp who came back to the U.S. in a comma and died several days later. 'I was blown away by the president's quote about Otto Warmbier. That the president would defend Kim Jong-un and his regime I thought was incredible,' the lawmaker said. The member of Congress said the second summit did not help Trump's reputation as a deal maker. 'I think he really hasn't done a deal with anybody,' the lawmaker said, adding: 'He tries to do things on his own. He's not really a deal maker. At least he hasn't shown that in politics.' New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also said she was 'disappointed' that Trump's summit did not have a more productive conclusion. 'I'm grateful, however, that he is focused on diplomacy and a political solution with North Korea, as opposed to a military one,' she said. 'I just would hope that he would, perhaps, engage with our allies and South Korea more, so that we can reach a more productive solution.' Trouble was brewing for Trump on multiple fronts as he flew back to the U.S. on Thursday. His longtime fixer, Michael Cohen, claimed in congressional testimony that Trump ordered him to silence two women threatening to go public with affairs. Cohen said that a $130,000 payoff to one of them, former adult film actress Stormy Daniels, was chump change to a billionaire like Trump. The president mostly avoided the topic at his news conference by calling on a series of members of the foreign press corps he did not recognize rather than White House reporters preparing to quiz him on the crimes Cohen claims he witnessed. He told Hannity, 'As far as Cohen is concerned, hes convicted, hes a liar, hes defrauded at a high level. Hes got a lot of problems. And you know, it was very interesting, because he lied so much.' Trump said he watched some of the House Oversight hearing that Cohen testified at between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am, Hanoi time. He suggested with the statement that he was up late watching his disbarred former employee rather that prepping aggressively for his nuclear summit with Kim. 'He lied so much, and yet he said when it came to collusion, the whole hoax with the Russia collusion, its just a witch hunt hoax, and by the way, very, very bad for our country,' Trump told Hannity of Cohen, 'because it really stops you from doing what youre supposed to be doing. He said no collusion.' The president was unusually quiet on his flight back from Vietnam as it all unfurled, having tweeted his way through his flight to Hanoi on Tuesday. He's scheduled to arrive at the White House in the wee hours of Friday morning, when Americans who most likely missed his Vietnam presser will once again be going to bed. In Hanoi, Trump said that he remains on good terms with Kim and continued to tout the 'enormous potential' of North Korea but notably said there are no plans for another nuclear summit. Trump candidly revealed that Kim wanted the sanctions off, but was not willing to give up his array of nukes, missiles, and additional sites he only alluded to vaguely. 'They were willing to de-nuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted but we couldnt give up all of the sanctions for that,' Trump claimed. 'We had to walk away from that particular suggestion. We had to walk away from that.' He said, 'It was about sanctions. They wanted sanctions lifted but they weren't willing to do an area that we wanted.' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added: 'We have been working for weeks to find a path forward so we could make a big step at this summit. We made progress and even more progress when the two leaders met over the last 48, or 72 hours. 'But we didn't get all the way. We didn't get something that made sense for the United States,' he acknowledged. The first signs of a rupture came when the White House suddenly made changes to the president's schedule on Thursday afternoon local time. A planned lunch meeting never happened, although a table was set with a floral centerpiece and menus folded inside napkins. Reporters on hand to cover it were told to move to another location. Sanders suddenly told reporters traveling with the president just before 1 pm local time that talks would wrap up within a half an hour, throwing the event's schedule into turmoil. She declined to say initially that there wouldn't be a signing ceremony, though one had been on an earlier White House schedule. Only minutes before Trump was scheduled to face the press did she acknowledge that there would not be one. The public White House schedule had listed a Joint Agreement Signing Ceremony with the chairman of the state affairs commission of DPRK, set for 2:05 pm local time. Trump was to have fielded questions at 4 pm, right before leaving Vietnam, but his news conference was subsequently moved to 2 pm, and he left immediately after that Describing talks, which ran from a Wednesday dinner through mid-day Thursday, at the presser, Trump said Kim told him he was 'not going to do testing of rockets and nuclear. I trust him and I take him at his word.' He indicated that Kim was willing to make concessions related to the Yongbyon facility where his regime enriches Plutonium, but it wasn't enough. 'That facility while very big, it wasnt enough to do what we were doing. We had to have more than that,' said Trump. Trump insisted that his relationship with Kim remains 'warm' and that he sees 'great potential' in North Korea, but added that sometimes 'you have to be willing to walk away from a deal' if it's not the right one Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added that his team had been working with North Korea 'for weeks' to try and achieve a deal and that Trump and Kim made more progress towards a deal, but 'we didn't get all the way' President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un resumed their summit in Hanoi on Thursday morning local time as Trump predicted a 'fantastic success' but Kim said it was 'too early' to say they would reach a deal Trump once again asserted that he was in 'no rush' to make an agreement following an early report by NBC that the US was prepared to back away from a demand that North Korea provide a full accounting of its nuclear weapons programs He made it clear in his remarks there were other sites the U.S. identified that Kim wanted to maintain. 'We have that setup so we would be able to do that very easily. The inspections on North Korea will take place, and if we do something with them, we have a schedule setup that is very good. We know things ... about certain places and certain sites. There are sites that people dont know about that we know about. We would be able to do inspections we think very, very successfully,' Trump said. He insisted that the U.S. and North Korea remain in a position 'to do something very special' together' and that he and Kim have 'become very friendly' with one another. The U.S. dollar and South Korean stock market meanwhile fell on the news that no deal had been reached. The recognition that the two parties were two far apart to agree to a joint statement came despite weeks of advance negotiations. A range of compromise gestures had been circulating for days in media reports. Pompeo told reporters riding his plane back to Washington that the U.S. intentionally took a 'big swing' with the summit that it hoped would produce a deal. 'We cleared away a lot of brush over the past, apparently, 60, 90 days at the working level, then we were hoping we could take another big swing when the two leaders got together. I think we did. We made some progress, but we didnt get as far as we would have hoped to have gotten,' he said. The Cabinet official who has been running point on talks with North Korea since they began nearly a year ago insisted, 'We were prepared for the potentiality of this outcome as well, and tomorrow well get right back at it.' He said of the signing ceremony that journalists 'shouldnt get hung up on things like that' as he blasted reports about what the U.S. would be willing to concede for ultimately being wrong. Pompeo singled out NBC for reporting that the U.S. was no longer insisting as a negotiating position that North Korea provide a 'full accounting of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs,' which would amount to a major capitualtion. 'I think thatd give you a lot more credibility to the world than going out and saying silly things that you know nothing about and speculating,' he complained. 'It was radically uninformed and now I think can be proven incorrect, and so you ought to go fix it.' Pompeo said, 'We were very hopeful wed make enough progress that it would justify a signing statement at the ultimate concluding, and we didnt. The President made that decision. 'Its a schedule. Yeah, we were scheduled to leave seven minutes earlier than we did too,' he continued, as journalists tried to interject. 'Look, its a long ways. Weve known it was a long ways. Theres still a lot of work to do.' After Trump and Kim's historic summit in Singapore in June, they signed a joint statement although critics lambasted it for failing to include a timetable or verification members in its undefined call for denuclearization. Trump and Jong Un smile during a meeting at the second US-North Korea summit at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi Trump listens as he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday in Hanoi If the tension between Trump and Kim was there all along, it was not visible on Wednesday, when the two leaders and their aides smiled and chatted each other up at a poolside photo op. The chummy atmosphere continued into Thursday, when Trump and Kim grinned for the cameras before the start of talks Kim even took questions from U.S. media and expressed openness toward a step in normalization of relations. The North Korean dictator said he is open to the idea of a liaison office in Pyongyang, in a major development in relations. In another comment, he revealed his preference for denuclearization, although without saying what it would take to get him there. 'If I was not, I wouldn't be here,' he said in his native Korean, while seated alongside Trump, according to a translator. Trump once again asserted that he was in 'no rush' to make an agreement. 'We don't want the testing, and we've developed something very special with respect to that,' Trump said, without revealing details, as the two men seemingly moved toward their expected joint statement. A reporter asked Kim in Korean if he was confident of an agreement, and he responded, saying 'It's too early to say. I would not say I'm pessimistic.' 'I have a feeling that good results will come,' Kim added. Trump once again called the relationship between the two men 'very strong' and said he believes that 'a little bit longer term, and over a period of time, I know we're going to have a fantastic success with respect to Chairman Kim and North Korea. They're going to have an economic powerhouse.' Trump predicted: 'I think it's going to be something very special.' WHAT HAPPENED? On Wednesday Trump and Kim walked along with two interpreters beneath palm trees as Kim greeted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and general and spy chief Kim Yong Chol Greeting: Trump and Kim shake hands at the top of their meeting in Hanoi - which was followed by a 'quick dinner' The Hanoi summit was Trump's second with Kim since an inconclusive meeting in Singapore in June that produced much fanfare but little substance and there had been little sign of concrete progress since. Facing mounting pressure at home over investigations into Russian meddling in the election, Trump had sought a big win by trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for promises of peace and development, a foreign policy goal that has confounded multiple predecessors. 'It's great to be with you. We had a very successful first summit,' Trump said at his first meeting with Kim on Wednesday morning local time. 'I felt it was very successful. Some people would like to see it go quicker. I'm satisfied, you're satisfied. We want to be happy with what we're doing.' 'I thought the first summit was a great success, I think this one hopefully will be equal or greater than the first,' the president added. As he has repeatedly, Trump pointed to personal chemistry with the reclusive leader of the family-led one-party dictatorship. 'We made a lot of progress and I think the biggest progress was our relationship is really a good one,' he optimistically said. Trump complemented a New York Times photographer in one of many asides to Kim As he has repeatedly, Trump pointed to personal chemistry with the reclusive leader of the family-led one-party dictatorship although his secretary of state says North Korea is still a nuclear threat, having tested a hydrogen bomb and months ago conducted a skein of missile tests By the end of the summit, he said that the relationship was 'very good, very friendly' in spite of the way the talks ended. 'This wasnt a walk away, like you get up and walk out. No, this was very friendly. We shook hands. You know, there's a warmth that we have, and I hope that stays. I think it will.' An elderly father accused of raping his daughter, who would go on to develop a multiple personality disorder, has admitted the charges. Richard Haynes fronted the NSW District Court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to rape, buggery and indecent assault against his daughter Jennifer. The 74-year-old was extradited from the United Kingdom in February 2017 to face multiple counts of sexual abuse against his daughter in Sydney in the '70s and '80s. Jennifer Haynes (pictured centre) endured some of the worst sexual abuse ever documented in Australia With Ms Haynes looking on from the public gallery, Haynes pleaded guilty to 25 offences, which occurred when she was aged between four and 11. Outside court, Ms Haynes told reporters she was stunned but thrilled her father had 'owned up' to what he'd done. 'The guilty plea is my father admitting everything he did and I could not be happier,' she said. Ms Haynes said she wanted her father to face her in court because he'd previously thought of her as 'not real'. 'I am a blow-up doll ... and today he had to face the blow-up doll and I hope he enjoyed every minute of it,' she said. The 49-year-old thanked the police and prosecutor Sean Hughes for allowing her to testify despite suffering from dissociative identity disorder - previously known as multiple personality disorder. Ms Haynes urged other child victims to come forward and issued a warning to their abusers. 'Children remember,' she said. 'We will tell and we will put you in a courtroom ... and you will go to jail.' The judge had previously made an order allowing Ms Haynes to be identified after she indicated her consent. Ms Haynes, surrounded by supporters and family, told the court on Monday she was happy to have her identity made public. 'I have no objection whatever,' the 49-year-old said in a loud voice. Her case is one of the worst cases of child sex abuse ever documented in Australia. When she took the stand to give evidence against Haynes, lawyers were mindful of which of her six personalities was giving evidence. Her condition was allegedly brought on by years of sexual abuse, Seven News previously reported. Richard Haynes fronted the NSW District Court (pictured) on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to rape, buggery and indecent assault against his daughter Jennifer 'This is my chance to tell,' she said. 'I have no problem if the whole universe was in here.' Throughout her testimony her father smirked as she told how she had been tortured for seven years inside an inner-west home. The allegations were so serious that the case was a judge-only trial because it was feared a jury could be left psychologically traumatised. Ms Haynes referred to the accused as 'Daddy', her mother as 'Mummy' and her pet dog as 'Doggy' in court. Though her terms were child-like, she was able to describe her allegations in fine detail. She claimed her father threatened to hurt her mother, sister and pets if she made noises, saying she was 'scared people would die'. Lawyers had to identify which of Ms Haynes' six personalities was giving evidence at court (pictured) on Monday Haynes had been on trial for 84 offences committed until 1981 when both he and his daughter moved back to the UK where he was convicted for child sex offences against another girl. He returned to Australia in 2005 but was refused a visa due to his UK conviction. Mr Hughes revealed the UK records relating to his offending there had been accidentally destroyed so couldn't be used during sentencing submissions. Ms Haynes wants her father to go to prison for a 'very, very long time'. 'I hope that every moment in jail is as uncomfortable and traumatic as my childhood was,' she said. Haynes is due to be sentenced by Judge Sarah Haggett on May 23. A Canadian newspaper cartoonist faced a furious backlash on Twitter after he shared cartoon depicting Justin Trudeau about to be crushed by an avalanche after Trudeau's own brother died in a in 1998. Theo Moudakis, an award-winning cartoonist with the Toronto Star, came under fire for the 'inappropriate', 'classless', 'disgusting' image. The cartoon - which was set to come out on Friday - showed the bundled prime minister walking in the snow as an impending '2019 election' avalanche barrels down a hill towards him. Theo Moudakis was blasted on social media for a cartoon he made for the Friday's Toronto Star. The cartoon - which was to come out on Friday - showed the bundled prime minister walking as an impending '2019 election' avalanche makes its way towards him Many took issue with the cartoon, citing the death of Trudeau's youngest brother - Michel 'Trudeau's walk in the snow,' the cartoon is captioned. Many took issue with the cartoon, citing the death of Trudeau's youngest brother - Michel. In 1998, Michel Trudeau was presumed drowned in the Kokanee Lake after he was swept off the Kokanee Glacier Park trail in British Columbia, the CBC reports. 'Major offside, @TorontoStar,' asserted Anthony Reinhart. 'The cartoon depicts the 2019 election as an avalanche breading down on Trudeau. His brother, Michel, was killed in an avalanche. Incredibly poor taste.' In 1998, Michel Trudeau presumably drowned in the Kokanee Lake after he was blasted off the Kokanee Glacier Park trail in British Columbia The sentiment was shared by Charles Vennant, who said: 'This is completely inappropriate and should be taken down immediately. You owe an apology to the entire Trudeau family. Classless and disgusting cartoon.' 'I'm hardly a JT fan but given the Trudeau family history this is NOT an appropriate cartoon. I urge you reconsider,' continued a different user. 'Im not a fan of Trudeau & he has a lot of splainin to do but this cartoon was beyond reprehensible. You should be f@cking ashamed,' added another user. A user said: 'Thoughtless of the Star cartoonist and the editors to not see how tasteless his cartoon was. An apology to Maggie and Sacha is also in order. Michel's body has yet to be recovered.' Following the backlash, Moudakis took to his Twitter and apologized for his mistake. 'I've deleted tomorrow's cartoon and it won't be running in the Star,' the cartoonist said in a Thursday tweet. 'It was a thoughtless oversight, my apologies to the PM.' In the comment section of that post, folks commended Moudakis for apologizing. Following the backlash, Moudakis took to his Twitter and apologized for his mistake Advertisement Joshua Kushner and his supermodel wife, Karlie Kloss, are selling their New York apartment as they look to move somewhere bigger just months after getting married. Kushner, 33, who is a venture capitalist and younger brother of President Trump's son-in-law Jared, married Kloss, 26, last October. The couple have just put their Nolita pad on the market for $6.995 million according to StreetEasy. The 2,000-square-foot Elizabeth Street home comes with two bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. The centerpiece of the home is the 28-foot-long, east-facing living room, with a bedroom located at either end of the room A 28-foot living room contains three distinct seating areas with the focal point being a dramatic wood-burning fireplace of flamed granite A large open kitchen was designed with Danish walnut cabinetry and is equipped with Viking and Sub-Zero appliances Just beyond the kitchen is a dining area with floor-to-ceiling French doors leading to the terrace, left, while French double doors also provide the bedroom with much-needed privacy, right The fireplace is made from granite and burns wood. There is a whimsical-yet-industrial tone to the home French doors also lead to the master suite that includes a marble-clad bathroom featuring a classic deep-soaking tub that sits opposite a glass-walled shower The apartments was designed by designers-to-the-stars Roman and Williams. Walnut flooring throughout the home is laid in a herringbone pattern Supermodel Karlie Kloss and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared, have listed their two-bedroom condo after being married for just four months It comes with a 1,120-square-foot landscaped terrace that comes complete with a gas fireplace. Inside, the house features a full chefs kitchen, an open dining room complete with walnut herringbone-patterned floors and a wood-burning fireplace. A master bedroom suite and a spa-like bathroom with comes complete a deep soaking tub while a second bedroom is used as a media room and comes with built-in shelving and a walk-in closet. The building is just 12 years old and comes with a host of luxury amenities including a gym and landscaped roof terrace according to the New York Post. If Kushner and Kloss manage to sell their apartment, it is not clear where in the city they might be heading to next. A large, open kitchen and island is made up from dark Danish walnut cabinetry and Watermark hardware French doors also lead to the master suite that includes a marble-clad bath Plenty of light fills the apartment with wrap-around doors that line the perimeter of the rooms A second bedroomcurrently being used as a media roomis lined with custom built storage A set of French doors on one end of the living room space leads to the second bedroom which is being used as a media room The homes second bath offers a Watermark steam shower with bench a bench although that cannot be seen in this photo The 2,000-square-foot home boasts interiors by Roman and Williams and a 1,120-square-foot landscaped, irrigated terrace which is a rare find in a Manhattan condo Amenities at the boutique luxury condominium include a doorman and superintendent, a gym, a bike room, private storage and a newly renovated and landscaped roof terrace A company director is facing more than 50 bribery charges after being accused of being involved in a $40million corporate fraud scandal. Events and human resources company Human Group director Helen Rosamond was arrested at her home in Potts Point, an inner Sydney suburb, on Friday at around 9am by specialist detectives. Police claim she was involved allegedly corrupt commissions that are said to have seen her company offer over-inflated invoices to the National Australia Bank (NAB). Scroll down for video The relationship between Ms Rosamond (pictured) and former NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn's former chief-of-staff, Rosemary Rogers is at the centre of the investigation Human Group director Helen Rosamond (pictured left) was arrested at her home in Potts Point an inner Sydney suburb on Friday around 9am by specialist detectives The 43-year-old was taken to Kings Cross police station for further questioning and she was subsequently charged with 58 offences. The businesswoman was charged with 56 counts of corruptly give agent benefit, and one count each of obtain benefit by deception and attempt fraud. Human Group was a former contractor for NAB, and it's understood the deal was worth around $40 million over a five-year period. Strike Force Napthali detectives, a unit specially set up to investigate the allegedly fraudulent claims, will allege Rosamond spent more than $6.6 million to cover personal expenses for others. The 43-year-old (pictured, left) was taken to Kings Cross police station for further questioning and she was subsequently charged with 58 offences She is alleged to have covered the expenses in order to maintain a professional contract with a client between 2013 and 2017. The relationship between Ms Rosamond and former NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn's former chief-of-staff, Rosemary Rogers, is at the centre of the investigation, reported The Sunday Morning Herald. Ms Rogers has not been arrested or charged, but last month Supreme courts in New South Wales and Victoria issued freezing orders for her bank accounts and assets. Mr Thorburn is not suspected of any criminal activity. Ms Rosamond has been refused bail and is due to appear in Central Local Court, in Sydney city centre on Friday. In February 2018, detectives from the State Crime Command's Financial Crimes Squad established Strike Force Napthali to investigate allegations of corrupt commissions. Police confirmed that as part of their investigation, detectives executed more than 20 search warrants in New South Wales and Victoria. A large amount of documents and electronic storage devices were seized during searches. The seized items then underwent significant analysis by specialist forensic accountants. In the wake of the allegations against Ms Rosamond, an NAB spokesperson issued a statement stating that no one at NAB was under investigation. 'The alleged fraud was reported by a whistleblower. NAB responded immediately, investigated and reported it to police. (File picture) Police claim she was involved in the activity which saw corrupt commissions paid for contracts to the National Australia Bank 'If the alleged fraud is proven, it represents a most serious breach of trust by a former employee,' the statement read. 'We continue to cooperate fully with police and we thank them for their important work in investigating this matter. 'NAB is the victim in this matter. Police have confirmed that no one at NAB is under investigation, including former CEO Andrew Thorburn, and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by anyone at NAB. 'While this remains before the court it is not appropriate for us to comment further,' the statement concluded. Strike Force Napthali are continuing to investigate and further arrests and charges are expected to be made. A man who lost his arm in a horrific car crash and died twice - all when he was a teenager - is proving anything is possible as he lives his best life as a sheep shearer (pictured, Josh Talbot in his youth) A man who lost his arm and almost died in a horrific car crash as a teenager is proving anything is possible by making a living as a sheep shearer. Josh Talbot - a one armed shearer from Jamestown, a remote town in South Australia - flaunted his incredible poise in a video posted online this week. Making the most of what he's got, the 27-year-old cradles the sheep between his two legs. Mr Talbot dangles his body over a support hanging from the ceiling and uses his left and only arm to run the electric shear over the sheep. At first the sheep puts up a fight, but the skilled shearer quickly subdues it and manages to shave its wool in a matter of minutes. While Mr Talbot makes the whole ordeal look like a walk in the park, he very nearly never made it to this point after a horrific car crash took away his arm - and almost his life. A then-16-year-old Mr Talbot misjudged a turn on his way to his Jamestown home back in 2008. The P-plater lost control of his car before it rolled twice and crashed into a tree. Josh Talbot - a one armed shearer from Jamestown, a remote town in South Australia - flaunted his incredible poise in a sheep shearing video 'I took the corner too wide and the tyres hit the gravel and sent sliding sideways into a tree,' Mr Talbot told Daily Mail Australia. In a heartbreaking twist of events, his mother Ros was working as an ambulance officer and she was the one called out to the scene. When she learned the location of the crash she said she had a terrible feeling it might be her son. And it was only when she arrived on scene that her suspicions were confirmed. She said she recognised the colour of the car and was about to breakdown at the site when Josh let out a scream . That's when she went into 'ambulance mode'. Mrs Talbot raced against time to deliver her son to hospital so he could get treatment. At one point, he stopped breathing and Mrs Talbot had to revive her son. He was airlifted to Royal Adelaide Hospital before he again needed resuscitation. Coming out of a coma of two weeks and six operations on his arm later, Mr Talbot awoke to only a shoulder where his right arm should have been. Mr Talbot had only just started his lifelong dream of work as a shearer. In that little space of time he had taken on the nickname 'the young gun'; a fitting name considering he managed to shear 100 sheep in a single day. While Mr Talbot makes the whole ordeal look like a walk in the park, he very nearly never made it to this point after a horrific car crash took away his arm - and almost his life A then-16-year-old Mr Talbot overcooked a turn on his way to his Jamestown home back in 2008 So when Mr Talbot awoke to find his right arm missing he thought his whole world had gone down the drain. 'My mum reckons the first thing I said to her was, 'there goes my shearing career.' I can't remember because my memory is sort of blanked around that time,' Mr Talbot said. Though the strong show of support from his father Peter, mother and the local community lifted him back up. 'But a lot of good friends and a lot of good mates have helped me out along the way. Without their drive I wouldn't have been able to make it.' Together they managed to raise enough money to fund his medical bills and future retraining. So after more than five weeks in hospital Mr Talbot was immediately back in the shed and learning how to shear again. And when disbelievers told him he would never become a shearer, Mr Talbot used it as fuel to prove them wrong. 'Nearly everyone said I wouldnt be able to do it, that I wouldnt be able to make it a career. 'Even to this day I even come across people who cant fathom it. They cant believe its real and until they see it.' Mr Talbot made headway back in 2009 when he was awarded MAS National's Apprentice of the Month - an Australian Government apprenticeship initiative. To this day he continues to bowl over disbelievers as he lives his dreams as a shearer and even taken up blade shearing. 'I've just started doing that now. It's not too bad. It's going to take me a bit of time to learn it, but it will all work out,' Mr Talbot said. The Attorney General Mandelblit intends to request the indictment. The security questioning and the electoral session risk creating a political and institutional short-circuit. Netanyahu defends himself by attacking: a "witch hunt" of political origin, a "house of cards" destined to collapse. Tel Aviv (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A "witch hunt" of a political nature, with the sole aim of depriving it of power and forcing it to abandon its position. Thus Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on news of his possible indictment on charges of corruption, fraud and abuse of trust. The Prime Minister was responding to the judicial inquiry that could topple him and endanger his political career by counterattacking; he denounces a plot orchestrated by police, prosecutors and judicial institutions on the instigation of the left and the media. Yesterday, attorney general Avichai Mandelblit informed the head of the government that he intends to request indictment, in relations with three different events of (alleged) corruption. For the first time in the history of the country a premier in charge is put under investigation, even if a possible trial will take time to prepare. In fact, Netanyahu must be granted a security questioning, after which the prosecutor must confirm his intention to proceed. In the event of an indictment, the oppositions have already indicated that Netanyahu will have to resign from the position of Prime Minister. For Mandelblit, the Supreme Court is the competent body and it will have to decide on the legitimacy of the process. The supreme judges have already rejected a petition from Likud, which accused the left of "conspiracy" and "bullying" against the head of the executive and the investigation an "interference of the vote". Moreover, the request for indictment is destined to have serious repercussions on the electoral campaign in view of the 9 April political elections. Netanyahu is looking for the fourth term - which would see he overtake the same founding father of the country David Ben Gurion - but will have to fight against the new center party of the former chief of staff Benny Gantz and his ally Yair Lapid. The Prime Minister is accused among others of having pocketed goods and gifts for almost 270 thousand dollars in branded cigars and champagne, in exchange for political favors. In the second line of investigation, he passed regulations favorable to the telecommunications company Bezeq, in exchange for positive press coverage. Finally, he is accused of having benefited from flattering articles and reports on his work and on the family of Yedioth Ahronot, the country's best-selling newspaper, in exchange for oppressive and discriminating measures against a rival media. He risks convictions ranging from three to 10 years in prison. In the face of accusations Netanyahu has taken to television to defend himself and counterattack, denouncing a "witch hunt" to eliminate him. "I intend to serve you - he told the public - and the country as Prime Minister for many years. But it depends on you ". The investigations, he concluded, are a "hourse of cards destined to collapse". US President Donald Trump has come to his rescue, confirming "support to Israel's leader" who is "a great one". Almost half of would-be soldiers are giving up on the abysmal online Army recruitment process, a report reveals. Over 50 per cent of applications take ten months or longer to finish. During that time 47 per cent of applicants give up and just 14 per cent join. The Army and outsourcing giant Capita had failed dismally, the Commons public accounts committee said. It said Capitas performance was abysmal since it started. Over 50 per cent of applications take ten months or longer to finish. During that time 47 per cent of applicants give up and just 14 per cent join. File pic In 2012, the company was awarded a ten-year 495million contract for recruitment but has failed to meet a target of 82,000 regular troops. Last year the Army was 5,600 short. Half of applicants last year took 321 days to complete the recruitment process from application to basic training. The report said: The length of time affects the conversion of applicants into new recruits. Capita has estimated that just 14 per cent of would-be troops join the Army and 47 per cent voluntarily drop out. Capita said it had addressed problems with the contract. An Army spokesman said it had shortened the application process to boost recruits. A coroner in charge of an inquest into opioid deaths has recommended a drug summit to consider the decriminalisation of personal drug use. New South Wales Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame said prohibition policies have failed, and suggested a harm minimisation strategy instead. Ms Grahame delivered her findings on Friday into the accidental drug overdose deaths of five men and one woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as a result of heroin or multi-drug toxicity in 2016. The inquest, called after a spike in drug-related deaths that year, heard that there is 'considerable slippage and overlap' in the use of the terms opiate and opioid however they include morphine, codeine, heroin and fentanyl. The Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame said upon investigating six drug overdoses in a recent inquiry it become 'alarmingly clear' that the deaths were preventable 'Lowering the rate of opioid overdose is clearly achievable but it will require a government willing to listen to health experts and to act decisively on their advice,' Ms Grahame said. 'As former commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Mick Palmer, told the inquest, it will require us to rethink our drug policy - "we can't prohibition our way out of the current problem".' The coroner made a number of recommendations including that the Department of Premier and Cabinet host a drug summit to consider ways of reducing drug overdose deaths and minimising harm to users, their families and the community. Decriminalising personal use of drugs and reducing the stigma and shame currently associated with drug use should be fully and genuinely considered at the expert conference, she said. Ms Grahame further recommended an action plan be developed after the summit with a comprehensive whole of government and community approach to managing illicit drug use. She also made a number of recommendations to NSW emergency services and the state's health and justice departments regarding naloxone nasal spray - a medicine that can be administered to reverse opiate overdose. 'I remain deeply troubled by the evidence arising from this inquest,' the coroner said. 'In my view, it clearly establishes that many opiate and opioid-related deaths are genuinely preventable if we, as a community, are prepared to rethink our approach to drug policy.' NSW Labor has pledged to hold a summit with police, addiction specialists and other stakeholders if elected on March 23. Ms Grahame will oversee an inquest later this year into the deaths of five people killed by suspected drug overdoses at music festivals in late 2018 and early 2019. Premier Gladys Berejiklian commissioned an expert panel to investigate the festival deaths but its terms of reference restricted it from considering pill testing. The first transgender soldier to transition while serving in the Australian Army has revealed how she was kicked out of the force after she underwent gender reassignment surgery. Bridget Clinch, 39, successfully challenged the Australian Defence Force's transgender ban which ultimately led to the abolition of the policy in 2010. However, the former infantry captain has claimed that when she finally made the decision to transition herself after years of service, she was treated like a pariah and was ultimately pushed out. 'I thought everything would be okay because the GPs and psychologists had been supportive and had referred me to a specialist,' Clinch told Daily Mail Australia. Bridget Clinch, 39, transitioned into a woman in 2011 after struggling with gender dysphoria for years 'But when I told them there was bit of delay. They [ADF] had to get their heads around it. I think they just started thinking of ways to get rid of me.' Clinch, from Brisbane, said she joined the force in 1997 to 'fix' the gender dysphoria she had been dealing with since she was a child. By 2009, the infantry captain began seeing medical professionals who paved the way for her transition into a woman. She underwent surgery in 2011. Although transgender people were free to join the army at that point, Clinch said ADF did not embrace her sex change and even tried to keep it a secret. 'It was a bit odd, whenever there's an issue, ADF relocates you somewhere close to your family or somewhere you can get support. I was relocated to Brisbane where my partner's family was,' she said. Clinch said she had researched the policies on transgender soldiers in other countries and was inspired by an article from the UK which said the country had no issue with transgender people in the military as long as they were competent. After successfully fighting to overturn ADF's transgender ban in 2010, Ms Clinch's sex change was still not supported by the organisation in 2011, she claims Wanting to be proactive, Clinch suggested ADF could release something similar by using her story as an example, but her request was immediately shot down, she claims. 'The Canberra bubble told me they weren't going to do anything like that. They even told me not to tell my neighbours and that added even more stress on me,' she said. Clinch said she began to feel isolated and had to rely on trans communities online for support. Clinch was ultimately discharged in 2013 due to problems with depression and anxiety. Six years on, she said she is still reeling from the whole experience. Ms Clinch was discharged in 2013 and now plans to get involved in politics 'I lost faith and trust in the organisation to do the right thing. There was a lot of stress during that time. They didn't want to work with me they just wanted to do their own thing. 'Imagine trying to take on a national organisation that doesn't want to change. I wasn't asking for anything radical, just for them to catch up,' she said. ADF has since become more welcoming of trans soldiers, with Group Captain Catherine McGregor even rising up the ranks after she transitioned in 2013. Six years on, Ms Clinch (pictured) she said she is still reeling from the whole experience But for Clinch, it is too little, too late. 'They didn't wanna jump straight into it, they were avoiding a lot of things. They didn't act on anything. They're doing it now, but it's too little too late for me because I didn't get to keep my career. 'I'll never know what could have been if they actually let me keep my career. It's a bittersweet feeling seeing other trans people do it now.' Clinch said she now plans to get back into studying and getting involved with politics and advocacy. A man has been found guilty of rape after he inserted a dirty beer bottle into a stripper's vagina at a buck's party. Kevin Glenn Willcocks, 41, from the Northern Territory, remained in custody following the verdict made by the jury at his retrial on Thursday. The jury sent a note to Justice Mildren saying that a decision couldn't be made but he urged them to persist, NT News, reported. His barrister Mark Thomas told the court the rape involved 'unusual factual circumstances'. Kevin Glenn Willcocks has been found guilty of rape after inserting a dirty beer bottle into a stripper without permission (file image) Willcocks pleaded not guilty, and the jury sitting on his first trial last year were unable to reach a decision. The 41-year-old alleged things 'got out of hand' during the topless waitresses 'triple X dildo show' in June, NT News reported. During the $1,000 show, the 36-year-old performer projected five-inch sex toys towards the groom and then Willcocks, who caught one of them. It is alleged Willcocks was handing the dildo back to the woman but instead inserted the beer bottle he was holding into her vagina. It is claimed he told police he did not have consent from the woman to commit the act. Willcocks will return to court Friday morning for sentencing. Catherine McCartney, 50, plans to appeal the sentence that was handed down to her on Tuesday by Municipal Court Judge James Devine An animal rights activist who admitted to freeing a bear cub from a New Jersey trap has been sentenced to 15 days in jail. Catherine McCartney, 50, stands by her actions and plans to appeal the sentence handed down to her on Tuesday by Municipal Court Judge James Devine. 'These animals are innocent and so I made the moral decision to let the bear go so he could run back to his mother, and it was the right thing to do,' the Vernon resident said in a statement obtained by NJ.com. Because of previous convictions - McCartney was arrested at bear hunt protests in 2016, 2017 and 2018 - she was given the time behind bars. Last fall, the woman was sentenced to 15 days but was allowed enrollment in the Sheriff's Labor Assistance Program (SLAP) program by the same judge. McCartney and 43-year-old Mark Nagelhout were both given three summons in October after they helped a bear cub escape a culvert trap at the Great Gorge Village condominium complex Because of previous convictions - McCartney was arrested at bear hunt protests in 2016, 2017 and 2018 - she was given the time behind bars McCartney and 43-year-old Mark Nagelhout were both given three summons in October after they helped a bear cub escape a culvert trap at the Great Gorge Village condominium complex. Two culvert traps had been placed inside the condominium by the New Jersey DEP after two residents claimed that a bear charged at them. DEP spokesman Larry Hajna admitted that the bear that was caught in the trap is a lot younger than the one believed to have been in the earlier incidents. Activists in the community have dubbed the mischievous bear 'Momma Bear.' Both McCartney and the Park Ridge resident pleaded guilty to obstructing the administration of law and prevention of lawful taking of wildlife. Both McCartney and Nagelhout (left) pled guilty to obstructing the administration of law and prevention of lawful taking of wildlife While in court, McCartney asserted that the dumpsters at the condominium were not bear-proof. She claimed that caused the bears to come in close proximity. Nagelhout did not receive any jail time as it was his first offense, but both of them were hit with a $1,316 fine. 'We believe the penalties are extremely high and will be appealing,' said Doris Lin, an attorney with anti-hunt Bear Group. She represented both clients. 'This bear cub was crying, and I think a lot of compassionate people would have done the same thing.' Culvert bear traps tend to be about three feet in diameter and are triggered when an animal pulls on a bait bag. A door then closes behind the animal. The sister of a man who claims Cardinal George Pell sexually assaulted him in a public pool in the 1970s has released a statement on behalf of her family following his conviction. Karen Monument, sister of Lyndon Monument, told The Age the four years since her brother came forward publicly with allegations against Pell had been dark and difficult. In her family's first statement since Pell's conviction for sexually assaulting two 13- year-old choirboys in a separate case, Ms Monument slammed those who had come out in defence of Australia's top Catholic in the wake of his conviction, saying it was 'her turn to speak'. Former prime minister John Howard wrote a reference letter to the court depending Pell's character, while fellow former prime minister Tony Abbott said he called Pell following his conviction. Karen Monument (left) sister of Lyndon Monument (right) said the process leading up to trial had been incredibly difficult and taxing for her family Lyndon's trial, often referred to as 'the swimmer's trial', was scheduled to be held after Pell's trial late last year, which was referred to as 'the cathedral trial'. The case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence, but Ms Monument says her family is not upset, as they believe justice has been served. Ms Monument said the process leading up to trial had been incredibly difficult and taxing for her family. 'The impact of child sexual abuse inflicted by members of the Catholic Church began reverberating in my family home almost 40 years ago and culminated in the loss of a brother to suicide just over 10 years ago. 'I did not think that my family could ever experience a pain and a darkness like that ever again. But I was wrong. 'The decision to come forward with allegations against George Pell, almost four years ago, set my brother, myself and my family on a journey that has had equally dark times and inflicted stress that I did not, at times, think we would survive.' She praised the jury of eight men and four women for their dedication to seeing out the trial, and for making the difficult decision. Pell is the most senior member of the clergy to be charged with historical child sex offences. He was found guilty by a jury of 12 people in December, and taken to jail on Wednesday. He will be sentenced on March 13, and his legal counsel are expected to launch an appeal against that sentence immediately after. Ms Monument said Pell's guilty conviction was a win for sexual abuse victims everywhere. Mr Monument claimed Cardinal George Pell sexually assaulted him in a public pool (pictured) in the 1970s 'It can't have been easy, will have taken courage and conviction, caused sleepless nights and returned them to their families changed from their experience,' she said. 'In all of this noise, their message comes through quietly, powerfully and is directed to those who have not yet come forward and sadly to those who are yet to have their experience you are safe, we believe you. Thank you, to the 12, for inspiring me to use my voice and my right to free speech.' In the rest of her statement, Ms Monument slammed the 'men of white privilege and power' who stood up to defend Pell after he was convicted, and Pell's attorney Robert Richter QC who, in an attempt to mitigate the Cardinal's sentence, described his offending as 'nothing more than a plain, vanilla sexual penetration case where a child is not volunteering or actively participating'. 'The words spoken by Robert Richter in court on Wednesday (I will not repeat them) have gone round and round in my mind since I first read them,' she said. 'The impact those words had on survivors is well documented across social media platforms, they will impact survivors for days, weeks and for some months. 'I am sorry you had to endure such disrespect and further harm. I hope that you have the support and care that you need right now.' MAJOR PLAYERS BACKING PELL TONY ABBOTT The former prime minister admitted to phoning George Pell the day his conviction was made public. Mr Abbott, who previously called Pell a fine man told 2GB's Ben Fordham the verdict was a 'devastating result' and referred to Pell's upcoming appeal. 'He's been found guilty by a court of a horrible crime, an absolutely horrible crime. It is going on appeal and let's see what the appeal court ultimately decides,' Mr Abbott said. 'But I absolutely accept that this is a shocking result, a devastating result. But it is subject to appeal.' The Liberal party member admitted to be a friend of Pells and would not answer whether he would still consider Pell a friend if an appeal failed. JOHN HOWARD Mr Howard provided a glowing character reference for the Cardinal as part of a binder of documents lawyer Robert Richter QC submitted to the court on Wednesday. Mr Howard, the second-longest serving Prime Minister of Australia, came to power in 1996, the same year Pell committed his crimes. 'Cardinal Pell is a person of both high intelligence and exemplary character,' the letter said. 'Strength and sincerity have always been features of his personality.' Mr Howard wrote that Pell held himself to his value and beliefs and displayed courage. 'It is my view that he has dedicated his life to his nation and his church,' Mr Howard wrote. Conservative radio broadcaster Ray Hadley has slammed the two former Liberal prime ministers for standing by Cardinal George Pell despite a jury finding he had sexually assaulted two teenage choirboys in the 1990s. ANDREW BOLT Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt said he 'just can't accept' Pell's conviction in a opinion piece aired on Sky News on Tuesday night. He then backed up his opinion again in a number of opinion pieces published in the Herald Sun. 'I just can't accept it, based on what I consider is the overwhelming evidence of this trial,' Bolt said on Sky News. 'Pell it seems to me could well be a man who's been made to pay for the sins made by his church.' Bolt said he based his opinion on 'how many times George Pell has been accused of crimes and sins he clearly did not do'. He also recalled when he previously interviewed Pell and said his demeanour and attitude did not fit the description of a child abuser. 'The man I know, seems not just incapable of this abuse, [he's] so intelligent and cautious, it seems unbelievable to me that he would risk his brilliant career and his name on such an assault on two children, in such a public place with an open door,' he said. Advertisement Pell (pictured left in 2011 and right in 2019) was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape by a jury at the County Court of Victoria The two young boys had 'nicked off' after a Sunday solemn mass at St Patrick's Cathedral (pictured) in 1996 when Pell found them in the priest's sacristy In 'the cathedral trial', Pell's lone surviving victim, who is now in his 30s, told the court via video-link how he and his friend were molested by Pell as teenagers. The victim said he and his friend had 'nicked off' after a Sunday mass in December 1996 and were caught swigging sacramental wine in the priest's sacristy by Pell, who had just been appointed Archbishop of Melbourne. Pell confronted them, told them they were 'in trouble', before exposing his penis from beneath his ornate ceremonial robes and molesting the two young boys. The court was closed for the survivor's evidence of the events that followed - including his recollection of standing frozen, watching his friend 'squirm' as his head was pulled toward Pell's genitals. 'Then he turned to me,' he said. The surviving victim, who cannot be identified, recalled Pell orally raping him and demanding he then remove his pants. Pell then fondled the boy's genitals. The teen put his pants back on and together the boys rejoined their choir. The attack was described by Victorian County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd as 'callous' and 'brazen'. After four days of deliberation, the jury returned to unanimously find Pell guilty. Senior legal counsel have claimed Pell's case may have gone differently had he been allowed to take the stand. This is the sacristy of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, as it looks today and shown to the jury, where Cardinal George Pell molested two 13-year-old choirboys in his ceremonial robes On the other side of the room is a kitchen sink and cabinets next to the altar wine cabinet, a small room with a white door left slightly ajar Silks, who spoke to the Australian Financial Review on condition of anonymity, said the case could have swung in his favour had he taken the stand to deny the allegations. 'You want the accused to be giving credible evidence,' one said. 'Not giving evidence has potential to hurt you, especially when it goes to the possibility of certain things happening.' Pell did not take the stand at all during his lengthy trial - the second to be held after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in September. The jury was instead played a recording of Pell's interview with Australian police in Rome. The Cardinal appeared upset as he denied claims he had caught two 13-year-old choirboys in the sacristy of Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral in December 1996, drinking the sacramental wine, and proceeded to expose himself and pull each boy's head in towards his penis. When officers put to him an accusation he had knelt masturbating while fondling one of the boy's bare genitalia, Pell, who appeared rattled by the nature of the allegations, called the idea 'a load of garbage'. 'After Sunday Mass,' he said. 'Well, need I say any more? What a load of garbage and falsehood and deranged falsehood.' Pell's inability to interact with the jury at all is one of three key points his legal representation will base their appeal on after the former Vatican treasurer is sentenced. In court documents, the defence claims there was a 'fundamental irregularity' in the trial process, 'because the accused was not arraigned in the presence of the jury panel', meaning he was not able to enter his plea of not guilty in front of those who would determine his fate. Robert Richter QC did not have Pell take the stand in his own defence, which some have argued may have hurt his case The Cardinal's attorneys also argue the jury could not have been convinced 'beyond reasonable doubt' based off the complainant's testimony alone, and that the judge 'erred by preventing the defence from using a moving visual representation of its impossibility argument during the closing address'. While some have argued Pell should have taken the stand, others claim taking the stand could have done him more harm than good. 'What if you give evidence and the jury dislikes you?' one senior counsel remarked. Putting an accused person on the stand is not the norm in a criminal trial, and Pell's counsel, Robert Richter QC, has only ever done it twice. He told The Age one of those clients was Mick Gatto, and he had only placed him on the stand 'because he insisted'. Criminal barrister Greg Barns told news.com.au Pell's defence team would not have made the decision to keep the Cardinal out of the stand lightly, and also that is was likely not necessary. 'One reason for that is the accused has nothing to prove, it's up to the prosecution to prove the case,' he said. 'The second is because the client has made a recorded interview [with police] in which they've made denials, and that forms part of the evidence and is essentially your defence.' Pell read out a statement at the beginning of his police interview, having already been informed of the allegations and given some time to prepare. 'The allegations involve vile and disgusting conduct contrary to everything I hold dear, and [which are] contrary to the explicit teachings of the church which I have spent my life representing,' he said. 'They're made against me knowing that I was the first person in the Western world to create a church structure to recognise, compensate and help to heal the wounds inflicted by sexual abuse of children at the hands of some in the Catholic Church.' Pell introduced the Melbourne Response to help support and give compensation to victims of clergy abuse. Payouts, which were made in out-of-court settlements, were initially capped at $50,000, a figure which was then increased to $75,000. The Melbourne Response was established in 1966 - the same year his own offending took place. Married at First Sight intruder Daniel Webb has declared himself bankrupt - on top of being accused of being part of a $20 million telemarketing fraud that allegedly tried to rip off hundreds of people. Webb, 35, made his debut on the top rating Nine Network program last week with the show's experts hooking him up with brunette Tamara Joy. But the self-confessed flirt's search for love has been unfolding at the same time he faces serious criminal proceedings. Webb and six others were charged in 2016 over allegations the group cold called 600 people and tried to manipulate them into investing in a 'software' trial. MAFS contestant Dan Webb was declared bankrupt three years ago - the same year the 'information technology sales professional' was charged over an alleged 'boiler room' scam Dan Webb with his 'bride' Tamara Joy in wedding photos shortly after their pretend matrimony Webb was charged following what has been described as one of the 'biggest' ever investigations by Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission. And now records obtained by Daily Mail Australia have revealed the Nine Network reality contestant was declared bankrupt in the same year he was charged. Webb was declared bankrupt on August 25, 2016, and remains so to this day, an Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) search revealed. Records suggested Webb that could not pay off undisclosed debts and voluntarily declared bankruptcy himself. AFSA records said Webb was an 'undischarged' bankrupt - meaning his bankruptcy continues to this day, likely until later this year. That has consequences, including that Webb may have to make ongoing payments to a trustee, and has to seek permission to travel overseas. The revelation comes as a Brisbane court heard previously undisclosed detail about the alleged scam. Prosecutors said on Friday that it allegedly involved eight 'boiler rooms', or call centres which sell questionable investments over the phone. One of Webb's co-accused, Zoei Keong (pictured), was found dead in her home last Christmas Webb remains on bail while the Nine Network show is aired Police allege the scam was allegedly masterminded by Gold Coast police officer Michael Featherstone. Featherstone's lawyer has said he will be defending the charges. His wife, Zoie Charissa Chong, was also charged but died last year. Webb is on bail. His lawyer Damien Gates today declined to comment on whether Webb's bankruptcy was related to his fraud charge. Lawyers today agreed for an amended statement of facts to be handed to the group's lawyers later this year. Daily Mail Australia sought comment from Webb, the Nine Network and producers Endemol Shine. An enormous seven-foot-long hoodwinker sunfish has been found washed up on a Southern California beach. The giant of the seas is usually found on the otherside of the world but was found beached at UC Santa Barbara's Coal Oil Point Reserve last week. The fish is so rarely seen, it required researchers from California, Australia and New Zealand to weigh in and identify the strange-looking creature. A sunfish that washed ashore in California has been positively identified as the newly discovered hoodwinker sunfish - thousands of miles away from where it is usually found Thomas Turner, an associate professor in UC Santa Barbaras ecology, evolution and marine biologist department, took photos of the sunfish along with his son The enormous fish had only previously be sighted in the Southern Hemisphere The fish was found washed up dead last week at UC Santa Barbaras Coal Oil Point Reserve 'When the clear pictures came through, I thought there was no doubt. This is totally a hoodwinker,' said marine scientist Marianne Nyegaard to CNN. 'I couldn't believe it. I nearly fell out of my chair.' Nyegaard discovered the species in 2017 and spent years searching for it before she finally found and named it. The fish turning up in Southern California is exceptionally unusual. Until now, all of the fish have been found in the southern hemisphere including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile. 'We know it has the temperate distribution around here and off the coast of Chile, but then how did it cross the equator and turn up by you guys? It's intriguing what made this fish cross the equator,' says Nyegaard. 'The fish had gone unnoticed because no one really realized it looked different. There's a long history of confusion about the species in the sunfish family,' Nyegaard said. 'This fish had managed to stay out of sight and out of everybody's attention. It had been taken for mola mola (an ocean sunfish) so it was hoodwinking us all.' Scientists are wondering if the fish is part of a yet undiscovered North American population or if it simply wandered away from the Australian region How this one ended up so far out of its known range is a mystery, but the identification is considered a first crucial step It was named the Hoodwinker Sunfish thanks to its ability to remain hidden Close up of the clavus area, a key diagnostic feature that identifies the hoodwinker Conservation specialist Jessica Nielsen spotted this latest find at the Coal Oil Point Reserve. 'This is certainly the most remarkable organism I have seen wash up on the beach in my four years at the reserve,' Nielsen said. She posted pictured of the fish onto the reserve's Facebook page. When a colleagure saw the pictures, he raced down to the beach to take a look for himself. 'It's the most unusual fish you've ever seen,' said Thomas Turner, an evolutionary biologist and UC Santa Barbara associate professor. 'It has no tail. All of its teeth are fused, so it doesn't have any teeth. It's just got this big round opening for a mouth. 'To discover that it may be the first record in all of the Americas and only the second Northern Hemisphere record for the species, then I got very excited,' Turner said, stunned by the find. Measurements of the hoodwinker sunfishs dorsal ossicles The species was recently discovered by Marianne Nyegaard, a scientist at Murdoch University in Australia The fish measured some seven feet long. Plenty of photographs were taken of the rare sight The pictures were then sent to Nyegaard, who discovered the species, and she was able to confirm their suspicions. It's not clear how the fish came to be in North America. It could be part of a population of hoodwinkers that's yet to be discovered, or it may simply have wandered away from the Australia region where it is usually found. 'It's not uncommon for sunfish to wander really far,' Nyegaard said. 'In the future, we will understand whether this fish occurs regularly off the coast of California or whether this is a one-off. A bizarre species of giant fish spent 130 years evading detection by scientists. It was named the Hoodwinker Sunfish, or Mola tecta, thanks to its ability to hide for so long THE HIDDEN SUNFISH A Japanese research group first found genetic evidence of an unknown sunfish species in Australian waters 10 years ago. Observers from the Australian and New Zealand longline fishery were the first to provide direct evidence of its existence. In 2014, they hauled a tiny fish on board and discovered what they thought was a young fish matching what Ms Nyegaard was looking for. Over a three-year period, the school of veterinary and life sciences student collected data from 27 more specimens of the strange fish. At times she travelled thousands of miles and relied on the kindness of strangers to record samples that they had found stranded on remote beaches. Her findings have now confirmed as the first new addition to the sunfish genus in 130 years. The previously unknown species has been named the Hoodwinker Sunfish, or Mola tecta, thanks to its ability to hide for so long. Advertisement Nyegaard, a PHD student from Murdoch University in Perth, uncovered the new species in 2017 while researching the genetics of ocean sunfish in the Indo-Pacific ocean. She began her search after noticing genetic differences in more than 150 samples of sunfish. This process revealed four distinct species including three known, Masturus lanceolatus, Mola mola, Mola ramsayi, as well as another that didn't fit with the rest. After searching for pictures of sunfish online, she finally found what she was looking for in 2014. After three years of extensive searching to prove the existence of the species, her findings have now been confirmed. Speaking to The Conversation, Ms Nyegaard said: 'Unravelling this mystery was been a huge puzzle. 'Sunfish are huge, largely solitary and fairly elusive, so you can't just go out and sample a heap of them to study. 'Sunfish aren't particularly rare, but it's tricky to study them as they simply live in parts of the ocean most humans don't go. 'They dive hundreds of metres to feed, and then rise to the surface to bask in the sun on their sides, hence their name. 'After four years of work, and the help of many people, it's great to be able to finally share the hoodwinker sunfish with the world!' Sunfish, or Mola Mola, are the heaviest bony fish in the world. The largest specimens can reach four metres (14ft) vertically and three metres (10ft) horizontally, weighing nearly 5,000lb (2,270 kg). Sunfish develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because they are born with a back fin that never grows. Instead, it folds into itself. Marianne Nyegaard (pictured) uncovered the species while researching the population genetics of ocean sunfish in the Indo-Pacific ocean. She began her search after noticing genetic differences in more than 150 samples of sunfish The largest specimens (artist's impression) can reach four metres (14ft) vertically and three metres (10ft) horizontally, weighing nearly 5,000lb (2,270 kg) SUNFISH FACTS Sunfish, or Mola Mola, are the heaviest bony fish in the world. The largest specimens can reach four metres (14ft) vertically and three metres (10ft) horizontally, weighing nearly 5,000lb (2,270 kg). Sunfish develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because they are born with a back fin that never grows. Instead, it folds into itself. Mola in Latin means 'millstone' and describes the sunfish's somewhat circular shape. They are a silvery color and have a rough skin texture. They are found in temperate and tropical oceans around the world and are often mistaken for sharks when their huge dorsal fins emerge above the water. Their teeth are fused into a beak-like structure and they are unable to fully close their relatively small mouths. Advertisement A Japanese research group first found genetic evidence of an unknown sunfish species in Australian waters 12 years ago. But the fish kept eluding the scientific community because they didn't know what it looked like. Observers from the Australian and New Zealand longline fishery were the first to provide direct evidence of its existence. In 2014, they hauled a tiny fish on board and discovered what they thought was a young fish matching what Ms Nyegaard was looking for. Over a three-year period, the school of veterinary and life sciences student collected data from 27 more specimens of the strange fish. At times she travelled thousands of miles and relied on the kindness of strangers to record samples that they had found stranded on remote beaches. Ms Nyegaard added: 'The process we had to go through to confirm its new species status included consulting publications from as far back as the 1500s, some of which also included descriptions of mermen and fantastical sea monsters. 'We retraced the steps of early naturalists and taxonomists to understand how such a large fish could have evaded discovery all this time. 'Overall we felt science had been repeatedly tricked by this cheeky species, which is why we named it the Hoodwinker.' Ms Nyegaard's paper on the new sunfish species has been published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The wife of an Australian firefighter who took his own life in a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland has revealed his final words. Christine Thornton said as she lay down at her husband Troy's side, he turned to face her, told her he loved her before finally saying: 'I'm going now'. Mr Thornton, 54, a firefighter from Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, died last Friday after travelling to Basel, Switzerland, with his wife of 17 years for the lethal injection. Christine Thornton (right) the wife of Australian firefighter Troy Thornton (left) who took his own life in a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland has revealed his devastating last words Christine Thornton (right centre) said as she lay down next her husband Troy's (left centre) side, he turned to face her, told her he loved her before finally saying: 'I'm going now' Mr Thornton, 54, (sitting down on left) a firefighter from Victoria's Mornington Peninsula died last Friday after travelling to Basel, Switzerland, with his wife of 17 years (top-left) for the lethal injection He had battled multiple system atrophy, a rare progressive neurodegenerative disorder, which was slowly depleting his quality of life. Just hours before, the couple had spent four days alone together, sight-seeing around Basel, feasting on coffee and cheese around the Swiss Alps and even visiting the border so he could see France before he died. 'Troy said to me it was a lovely way to spend the last day on this planet,' Ms Thornton, told The Age. Victorian man Troy Thornton met his fate through lethal injection on Friday at a clinic in Bassel, Switzerland, with his tearful wife Christine holding his hand (pictured, Troy Thornton with wife Christine, son Jack and daughter Laura) Ms Thornton and her partner crowd-funded their trip to Europe, but their children were unable to come with them. 'It was absolutely horrible (to say goodbye to their children). It was one of the most gut-wrenching, horrible things - we know they now remember him as a strong person,' she said. A memorial service to remember Mr Thornton was due to be held in Mount Martha, a seaside town fronting Port Philip Bay, on Friday afternoon. Mr Thorton's mother, said she hopes Australian politicians will take notice of her son's death and that change will be his legacy 'It was us, laying down on the bed together and I kept thinking, I have to tell him as much as I could possibly think to say. How much I loved him, and the kids loved him and how much I appreciate everything he's done for us,' Ms Thornton said. The rare disease had stolen his ability to do the things he loved, such as play with his kids, walk to the beach and surf. An avid lover of the outdoors, Mr Thornton chose to end his life last year before he was completely bed-bound. Despite his plight, Victoria's new euthanasia laws do not consider his disease to be terminal, and therefore was forced to fly to Switzerland to carry out the last-resort procedure. Victoria will be the first Australian state to legalise euthanasia when the laws come into effect on June 19. Barbara Spencer, Mr Thorton's mother, said she hopes Australian politicians will take notice of her son's death, The Age reported. Mr Thornton was put in contact with the Swiss clinic through the guidance of euthanasia advocate and founder of Exit International Philip Nitschke 'There has to be something done about this,' she said. 'I hope this is his legacy... I will be proud of that and hopefully one day it will be passed and people won't have to travel.' A broken Mr Thornton initially hoped to be euthanised in Australia and was banking on Victorian assisted dying laws to pull through. In that way he would of at least had his dying wish respected: to be surrounded with family and loved ones. 'My friend's dad, he was 85, died recently. He had his whole family there. They were watching footy and he died with them all around him. That's really nice, that's how you want to go out,' Mr Thornton said. A broken Mr Thornton initially hoped to be euthanised in Australia and was banking on Victorian assisted dying laws to pull through Mr Thornton didn't qualify for Victoria's new laws as he could not find two doctors willing to say with absolute certainty that he would die within 12 months, which in his case is a condition to access the legislation. That left him with Switzerland as his only option, away from his family and lamenting the shortcomings of the Victoria assisted dying law. Mr Thornton was put in contact with the Swiss clinic through the guidance of euthanasia advocate and founder of Exit International Philip Nitschke. Dr Nitschke praised Victoria for the first Australian state to legalise euthanasia but said the legislation was 'onerous, restrictive and unworkable'. Mr Thornton had ultimately decided he'd had enough as the restrictive laws would not help his case. But despite Victoria becoming the first state to legalise voluntary assisted dying, Mr Thornton didn't qualify 'I've just had enough, but unfortunately the laws, while they are a huge step in the right direction, they don't help me. They discount a lot of people,' he said. 'These laws need to evolve. 'The focus is on being terminal is wrong. It's about the right to choose how you die, no matter how old you are, no matter what sickness, or non-sickness you've got. If you are of sound mind - and that's important - you should be able to choose.' Mr Thornton urged Australian voters to tell their politicians what they want when it comes to end of life choices. 'When it's our life, we should have control. We should be able to choose if we are of sound mind. That's what I'd like to say,' he said. Mr Thornton hoped to follow through with assisted dying in Victoria so he would of at least had his dying wish respected: to be surrounded with family and loved ones His two teenage children stayed in Australia with their grandparents. When their children saw their father pack his luggage on Sunday, they knew they would never see him come home again. 'The hardest thing I've ever had to do is say goodbye to them,' Mr Thornton said before his death. 'It just destroyed me.' 'Doctors have always told me that you don't die of it, you die with it. You can live for quite a few years, but ... you end up being a vegetable,' Mr Thornton said before his injection in Basel. 'I've just had enough, but unfortunately the laws, while they are a huge step in the right direction, they don't help me. They discount a lot of people,' Mr Thornton said of Victoria's assisted dying law 'After a while it attacks different systems, breathing, swallowing. I'd end up drowning in my own mucous, that's what happens.' He called his disease a 'beast' - one that takes everything away slowly. 'First you can't swim, then you can't run, walk, kick the footy with your children, you can't surf, drive; eventually it takes your career,' Mr Thornton said. 'Then you end up being a vegetable. It's a pretty grim way to go out.' He described every day as 'like Groundhog Day' - filled with incessant vertigo, double vision and nausea. Mr Thornton was left with Switzerland as his only option for assisted dying, away from his family and lamenting the shortcomings of the Victoria assisted dying law Mr Thornton said he felt a strange mix of gratitude, sadness and an inevitable fear about presenting his arm to Swiss doctors who would administer the lethal injection In the four years since Mr Thornton was diagnosed, he and his family have had a lot of time to come to terms with his planned death 'It's so surreal and sometimes I do think what the hell am I doing here?' Mr Thornton said before his death. He added that it might sound like 'a bit of a w**k' but he believed he'd also worked out the meaning of life, which comes down to two things. 'The first one's a no-brainer. We're here to propagate, to evolve the species, to reproduce. The second one is that you're here to inspire. 'Fundamentally, those two things underpin relationships and life is about people.' Mr Thornton added that it might sound like 'a bit of a w**k' but he'd believed he'd also worked out the meaning of life, which comes down to two things His case attracted attention while he was in Switzerland and several strangers asked if they could join Mr Thornton the day he was going to die The Philippines will be defended against 'armed attack' in the disputed South China Sea, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The senior diploma issued Washington's starkest warning yet against China's claimed ownership of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila on Friday after meeting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's artificial islands in the water were also a threat. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference in the Philippines on Friday where for the first time a US official has announced the country's intent to support its poorly-armed ally in the event of an attack over disputed waterways 'China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States,' Pompeo said at a joint news conference. 'As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack of Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty.' Pompeo's comments marked the first time any US official had publicly stated Washington's intent to defend its poorly-armed ally specifically in the flashpoint sea. A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defence treaty committed Manila and its former ruler to come to each other's aid in case of an 'armed attack in the Pacific area' on either party. This map shows the overlapping areas of the South China Sea disputed by several neighbours on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean. China, in brown, is seen to overlap the vast majority of all disputed territory Senior Duterte officials have called for a review of the pact because they were unsure whether it applied to the maritime row. The bold statement follows a difficult end to the North Korea-US denuclearisation summit with which ended early without a deal after President Trump walked away from negotiations. Secretary Pompeo had arrived in Manila a day earlier from the US' closing press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. President Trump says that Chairman Kim had not been serious about deescalating all of his country's nuclear weapon sites. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: 'We had been working for weeks to find a path forward so we could make a big step at this summit. We made progress and even more progress when the two leaders met over the last 48, or 72 hours. 'But we didn't get all the way. We didn't get something that made sense for the United States,' he acknowledged. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bids farewell to US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim (right) as he departs for Washington DC from the Colonel Jesus Villamor Airbase in Manila The United States has said it is not taking sides in the dispute over waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Philippine troops and fishermen have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces around some of the islands and reefs Manila occupies. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. The Philippines used to be the staunchest critic of China's expansive claims over the sea. Relations with the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte are being rebuilt under US President Donald Trump who has praised Duterte's tough stance on crime and drugs, though this has resulted in a considerable death toll But after his election in 2016 Duterte put the dispute on the back burner in favour of courting Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then President Barack Obama a 'son of a whore'. Relations are being rebuilt under US President Donald Trump, who has hailed Duterte's actions - including a drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives - as a sign of toughness. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin has downplayed his government's suggestions for a review of the defence pact, saying in its 'vagueness lies the best deterrence'. Secretary of State Pompeo had just arrived in Manila from a difficult end to a US summit with North Korea, which ended in President Trump walking away one day early without a firm deal on denuclearisation 'We are very assured, we are very confident that United States has, in the words of Secretary Pompeo and words of President Trump to our president: we have your back,' Locsin said. Secretary Pompeo also used the conference to warn the Philippines and other nations against using technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. US officials suspect that Beijing could use the Shenzhen-based Huawei's products to spy on Western governments. The Philippines' Globe Telecom plans to roll out Huawei commercial 5G services this year, while the Duterte government last year signed an $400 million deal for Huawei to install closed-circuit television cameras in two Philippine cities to deter crime. On Friday, Pompeo said using Huawei technology carried risks. 'We want to make sure that the world has their eyes wide open as to the risks of having that technology be part of the infrastructure or backbone or networks,' Secretary Pompeo said. 'We believe that competition, whether it's in 5G or some other technology, opt to be open, free, transparent and we worry that Huawei is not that.' The company denies the allegations. by Hung Viet North Korea and the United States fail to agree on denuclearisation and sanctions. Hanoi and Washington sign agreements worth more than US$ 21 billion. Trump say he is very proud of what Vietnam has achieved". For Vietnamese economist, Vietnam was smart to settle some trade irritants with the US over its trade surplus. Hanoi (AsiaNews) The second summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald J. Trump ended in no deal but the US presidents visit to Vietnam facilitated the signing of important trade agreements between Vietnam and the United States worth more than US$ 21 billion. Vietnams VietJet Aircraft Company and Bamboo Airways will buy 110 Boeing planes, and will sign a long-term maintenance contract with General Electric. For two days, the eyes of the world were on Vietnams capital where North Korean and US leaders discussed topics such as the denuclearisation and North Koreas economy development. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho today said that his country made "realistic" proposals, including the complete decommissioning of Yongbyon under the watch of US observers, as well as permanently halt nuclear and long-range rocket testing. In return, he said the North would accept only the partial lifting of sanctions "that hamper the civilian economy and the livelihood of our people". "Our principal stand will remain invariable and our proposals will never change, even if the United States proposes negotiations again in the future, Ri said. Despite the summits failure, for Vietnam hosting the summit was a diplomatic achievement and economic relations between Vietnam and the United States got a boost. On the first day of the summit, before meeting Kim, Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong (pictured) attended the signing ceremony of trade agreements. VietJet will buy a hundred 737 MAX planes from the Boeing for US$ 12.7 billion. The airline also finalised a US$ 5.3 billion long-term engine support agreement with General Electric for the LEAP-1B engines in its fleet. Bamboo Airways agreed to buy ten Dreamliner aircraft 787-9. The deals will allow the two Vietnamese companies to expand internationally. Regarding economic cooperation between the US and Vietnam, Trump said he was "very proud of what Vietnam has achieved for years". In light of the latest developments, Nguyen Xuan Nghia, a noted economist and researcher, said that Vietnams diplomacy was quite sophisticated. "Hanoi was very clever to settle some trade irritants with the United States over its trade surplus with that country. This is why it signed these agreements." Vietnam ran a trade surplus of .8 billion with the United States last year, widening from a surplus of .2 billion a year earlier, Vietnamese customs data show. Governor Andrew Cuomo is begging Jeff Bezos and Amazon to come to New York after the tech giant abandoned plans for a new headquarters in the city, according to reports. The Democrat is said to have spoken on the phone with the company's founder in a direct plea to lure them back. The New York Times reports Cuomo has also spoken with other executives and offered guarantees of support for the project. That offer of support was further bolstered by an open letter signed by more than 70 business owners, elected officials and community groups. Governor Cuomo, left, is still pleading with Jeff Bezos, right, and Amazon to move to New York after the tech giant abandoned plans for HQ in the city, according to reports The letter will appear in The Times Friday and is being paid for the pro-business Partnership for New York City. It states: 'A clear majority of New Yorkers support this project and were disappointed by your decision not to proceed. 'Governor Cuomo will take personal responsibility for the projects state approval and Mayor de Blasio will work together with the governor to manage the community development process.' Mr. Cuomo said Thursday: 'Ive had many conversations with Amazon. I hope that they reconsider. It would be helpful if the State Senate said that they would approve it; that would be helpful. But in the meantime I havent heard any changes.' Amazon announced they were pulling the plug on their New York building plans on Valentine's Day, citing a lack of cooperation between local politicians. At the time Cuomo blasted Congress freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her peers for derailing the plans. A small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City the states economic future and the best interests of the people of this state,' Cuomo said in a statement. The letter signed by more than 70 business owners, elected officials and community groups Cuomo blasted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pictured, and her peers for derailing the plans The ambitious sprawling 8million square feet campus would have brought an estimated 25,000 jobs to the city, as the city dangled $3billion in return in tax breaks and incentives. The plan was announced last November and would have created over $10billion in revenue over the next 20 years. Amazon announced its cancelled plans in a statement saying, 'We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion - we love New York.' DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Amazon and Cuomo for comment. A father shot his two young children and his girlfriend dead before killing himself in a murder-suicide at their Illinois home, police said. Brandyn Lee was found dead alongside Jacquelon Gaskin, 28, daughter Gianna Lee, six, and one-year-old Giovanni, on the second floor of their house in Joliet according to WGN TV. Neighbors said they heard screams coming from the home around 10.00pm. 'I just heard a loud scream. A scream that was terrifying. A scream that would bring you to your attention and come outside,' according to Sarah Fox, a neighbor. Giovanni Lee, 1, and his sister Gianna, 6, were both found dead along with their parents in their Joliet, Illinois, home on Wednesday Jacquelon Gaskin (left), 28, was allegedly breaking up with the father of her children, Brandyn Lee (right), making family members believe he was responsible for the slayings While investigators so far are only calling it a murder-suicide, relatives of Jacquelon Gaskin place the blame firmly on the father, Brandyn Lee, who family members say was a 'controlling type of guy.' 'I think she was outgrowing him. She had re-enrolled in school. She was trying to get her nursing degree finished,' said Gaskin's mother, Rusha Brooks. 'I think he felt that he was losing her.' She added: 'My daughter's children's father shot everyone and killed them. He killed everybody.' Boxes and packed items found in the living room suggested that Gaskin was planning on leaving Lee. which her family believe may have sent him over the edge. 'I never seen this coming,' Terrance Brooks, Gaskin's grief-stricken stepfather, told WGN. 'I saw my daughter on Saturday. She was smiling. Same with my grandchildren. We did not expect this at all.' Gaskin's mother Rusha Brooks (left) believes that the couple had been growing apart before the murder-suicide and her stepfather, Terrance Brooks (right), was blindsided by the tragedy Police are calling the incident a murder-suicide and are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths in the Joliet home The bodies of the family were found on the second floor of this Joliet, Illinois, house on Wednesday night A memorial of three crosses with the names of Jacquelon Gaskin, Gianna Lee and Giovanni Lee were placed on the front lawn of the home after the senseless tragedy. 'Innocent lives that didn't do nothing, their innocent,' Gwendolyn Brooks, a relative, said about the family's loss. Police say that no one else is being sought in the deaths of the family, but that the investigation is currently ongoing. A memorial of crosses with the names of mother Jacquelon and the two young children Gianna and Giovanni, were placed on the lawn after the slayings A man who was found guilty of stabbing his childhood sweetheart and partner of 34 years with a kitchen knife 15 times says he doesn't remember attacking her. Kim Ashley Prunster, 57, who attacked his partner Amanda Gibbons, 52, on November 12, 2017, faced a Supreme Court jury in Geralton, Western Australia on Friday. The court heard Prunster stabbed the mother-of-four with a serrated kitchen knife in the bedroom of their home in Dongara, about 350 kilometres north of Perth, the ABC reported. Prunster was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent but was found not guilty of attempted murder. Kim Ashley Prunster (left), who attacked his partner Amanda Gibbons (right), 52, on November 12 2017, faced a Supreme Court jury in Geralton, Western Australia, on Friday Ms Gibbons, who suffered abdominal injuries and a collapsed lung, gave evidence to the court via video link. On the day of the attack, Ms Gibbons said she woke to Prunster centimetres from her face staring at her with 'black' and 'vacant' eyes that weren't focused. Ms Gibbons said she felt a blow to her chest, then stomach and realised she was being stabbed. 'I heard a hiss then felt the blood pumping out,' she said. 'As I rolled away I got one in my arm. I don't know how many times he stabbed me in the back.' Ms Gibbons told the court she walked to her son's room and a neighbour took her to the local medical centre. She was then airlifted to Perth for surgery. Prunster, who said he had been sad in the days before the attack but not angry, admitted to inflicting the wounds but said he did not remember the attack. He said he remembered holding a bloodied knife. 'I don't know what happened. Her face came into focus and she was crying and saying ''please don't hurt me anymore'',' Prunster said. Ms Gibbons told Prunster to call for help but he drove from the scene and only called one person - the man she had formed a relationship with. Ms Gibbons (pictured), who suffered abdominal injuries and a collapsed lung, gave evidence to the court via video link Prunster told him to 'look after the young fella'. Ms Gibbons was leaving Prunster for a man who had been friends with the couple, a local businessman. Prunster then attempted to commit suicide, the court was told. Ms Gibbons testified that three days before the attack, the pair were in an argument after Prunster found a mobile phone she used to contact the man. Ms Gibbons said she slapped Prunster and he dragged her from the room and locked the door. She decided to pack her things and stay in a car overnight but later met up with Prunster after he asked to discuss their separation. They spent Saturday together as a couple, bought supplies, listened to music and drank beers. The attack happened early the next morning. Prunster (left), who said he had been sad in the days before the attack but not angry, admitted to inflicting the wounds but said he did not remember the attack The jury was told by Prunster's lawyer David McKenzie that his client may have been in a 'dissociative state following a psychological blow'. Forensic psychiatrist Gosia Wojnarowska was brought in to interview Prunster and said it was 'highly likely' he suffered dissociation. Psychiatrist Adam Brett, who was called upon by the prosecution, said Prunster purposely went into the kitchen to get a knife, suggesting it was incompatible to being in a dissociative state. Prunster has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on June 4. The judge has requested a psychiatric report. A six-year-old girl was forced into gang rape involving her mother, stepfather and two other men before being plied with meth, it has been revealed. Tracey Coulter, 51, one of the men who took part in the 'depraved' sexual abuse received an unprecedented 21-year prison sentence for his crimes, Perth Now reported. The heinous nature of the abuse, said to be among the worst in Western Australia's history, can only be revealed after a suppression order on identifying Coulter was lifted by the court. A six-year-old girl was forced into gang rape involving her mother, stepfather and two other men before being plied with meth, it has been revealed (file image) Coulter is reported to have met the girl's mother and stepfather as 'swingers' before the child was abused by the group between 2012 and 2013. The girl, who was then aged between six and seven, was forced to watch porn, smoke a pipe believed to contain meth, and shower with the adults. She was forced to watch and partake in sex acts with the group, some of which was recorded, Perth Now reported. Judge Bruce Goetze said the abuse was 'indefensible' on Friday, adding it was among the worst Western Australia's courts had seen. 'This was depraved and perverted conducted inflicted on a young child (you behaved with a) perverted and warped sense of desire and carnal lust,' Judge Goetze said. The girl, who was then aged between six and seven, was forced to watch porn, smoke a pipe believed to contain meth, and shower with the adults (file image) 'It was indefensible, depraved and despicable conduct.' The abuse occurred on three ocassions, with the final episode taking place on the girl's seventh birthday as part of what her stepfather called a 'birthday suprise'. The following year, in 2014, another episode of abuse occurred. Eventually a USB stick containing recordings of the abuse was found by a member of the public at a short-stay rental and handed into police, who began the investigation. Vanessa Trump was all smiles as she headed out in New York just 24 hours after Michael Cohen implicated her estranged husband Don Jr in a criminal conspiracy. Vanessa, who shares custody of their five children with her ex, wrapped up against the cold in hat and a warm jacket. She was seen laughing and joking as she spoke to a friend on the phone wearing black pants and sneakers. It comes at a testing time for her former partner. On Wednesday Michael Cohen implicated the president's eldest son as part of the conspiracy to offer hush money payments to women during the 2016 campaign. Vanessa Trump was all smiles as she headed out in New York on Thursday She was pictured joking on the phone just 24 hours after Michael Cohen implicated her estranged husband Don Jr in a criminal conspiracy Vanessa, who shares custody of their five children with her ex, wrapped up against the cold He said Don Jr signed a check to fund illegal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, potentially placing Trump Jr. in legal trouble. A Trump Organization official told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Donald Trump Jr. was unaware when he signed the check that it was part of a repayment plan for Cohen's hush-money outlay. DailyMail.com also revealed how the former couple withdrew the legal proceedings in their 'contested divorce' case, saying that they finalized their split last year. Court records reveal that they both signed a stipulation of discontinuance, and that the case has now been disposed. The couple said 'I do' in front of family and friends at the Trump family's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach in 2005. They have five children together, Kai, Donald III, Tristan, Spencer and Chloe. 'We finalized our agreement at the end of last year. We are incredibly lucky to have five amazing children and are committed to raising them together,' Don Jr. said in a statement to DailyMail.com. 'Our kids and their happiness will always be our first priority.' Back home: Michael Cohen returned to New York and was seen at a TD Bank branch near his apartment. The bank was not the one which provided credit to him which he used to pay off Stormy Daniels before being reimbursed by the president; that was First Republic Bank Taste of freedom: Michael Cohen is to report to federal prison in May and will be in Washington D.C. again within days to testify for a second day to the House Intelligence Committee The couple signed a stipulation of discontinuance that a judge will finalize, and what could have been a contentious divorce case will officially be moot (couple with Donald and Melania in 2011) Then and now: Don Jr (left at a July divorce hearing with Vanessa) is now dating Kimberly Guilfoyle (right), and despite his decision to withdraw the filing there is no suggestion that the two have split Michael Cohen, former attorney to President Donald Trump testifies before the House Oversight Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on Wednesday Don Jr. and Vanessa have been estranged for close to a year, but their split was amiable. The two have been seen together multiple times on holidays and out with their children. Vanessa, who has long been the more private of the two, has managed to almost completely avoid the spotlight over the past year, while Don Jr. has gone on to have a very public relationship with Kimberly Guilfoyle. The Queen sparked health concerns today after she was photographed with her hand noticeably purple at Buckingham Palace. The 92-year-old monarch was pictured smiling as she joined with Princess Anne to host King Abdullah, Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan yesterday. But eagle-eyed Twitter users noticed that Her Majesty's left hand appeared to be bruised as she posed for official photographs in London. The Queen with King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan at Buckingham Palace yesterday Eagle eyed Twitter users noticed that the Queen's hand seemed bruised or otherwise injured Royal fan Tracy Edgar tweeted: 'I'm concerned. Why does she have such a terrible bruise on her left hand? Did I miss something? But as always, she looks stunning!' Catherine Longstaff said: 'The lady is 92. At that age any little knock unfortunately turns into what can look severe bruises. The Queen is rather fab though isn't she?' Colleen White added: 'Oh my... HM does look like she hurt her hand... Hope it heals quickly', while Nola Hennessy said: 'Best wishes for speedy healing.' The Queen enjoys excellent health, although did have to pull out of a service at St Paul's Cathedral last June because she was feeling 'under the weather'. One month earlier the Queen underwent eye surgery to remove a cataract and wore sunglasses in public to avoid having to cancel long-planned engagements. The Jordanian royals began their UK visit at the Jordan Growth and Opportunity Conference, hosted by International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt. Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz was also in attendance. They also met Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street as part of their visit yesterday. The conference was intended for global leaders of businesses, government and international agencies to get behind Jordan's plans for economic growth. The Queen (centre) is joined by Crown Prince Hussein and Queen Rania (left) and King Abdullah and Princess Anne (right) at Buckingham Palace yesterday Princess Anne curtseys for Queen Rania during a private audience at Buckingham Palace The Jordanian royal couple are parents to Crown Prince Hussein, 24, Princess Iman, 22, Princess Salma, 18, and Prince Hashem, 14. Yesterday, Mrs May said the UK would underwrite a 188million World Bank loan to Jordan to help it borrow money at a lower rate and manage its national debt. Britain will also increase its grant financing to Jordan over the next five years, Mrs May said, to attract the investment needed for creating jobs. US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, the World Bank's Kristalina Georgieva and EU foreign affairs representative Federica Mogherini also attended the conference. A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline today. Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo has confirmed he is going to stand down and retire from politics at the next election. Cabinet colleague Defence Minister Christopher Pyne is also expected to announce his intention to leave politics on Saturday and won't re-contest his South Australian seat of Sturt. The confirmation comes after weeks of speculation, with Mr Ciobo telling The Australian he's ready to move on to something else. 'I've always said that politics is a means not an end. Now is the time to do something else,' Mr Ciobo said. Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo (pictured) has confirmed he is going to stand down and retire from politics at the next election 'I have had the extraordinary privilege of serving my country as trade minister and the contribution I got to make, in particular with the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Indonesian Free Trade agreement.' Mr Ciobo, the defence industry minister and an 18-year parliamentary veteran, tweeted on Friday he was looking forward to travelling to Indonesia within days to sign a landmark free trade agreement. But The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday the Gold Coast-based Liberal MP was ready to quit. The Queenslander was demoted from the trade portfolio after the August leadership spill when he ran for deputy. A Queensland Liberal National Party source told AAP he would be 'surprised' if Mr Ciobo retired from parliament as he was very active in fundraising for the election campaign. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham was asked on Friday if he expected any other frontbench colleagues to resign and he replied: 'No.' Defence Minister Christopher Pyne (pictured) is expected to retire from politics at the next election WHO IS CHRISTOPHER PYNE? The 51-year-old father-of-four was a spear carrier for the Liberal Party's moderate faction. He was elected to the seat of Sturt, in Adelaide, at age 25 after challenging a sitting Liberal moderate MP Ian Wilson. The cabinet minister is a regular on TV and hosts a Sky News program with Labor frontbencher Richard Marles. He was a strong supporter of fellow Liberal moderate and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Advertisement Mr Ciobo told Sky News his decision had nothing to do with the assumption the Coalition may be losing the May election. 'I recognise we are behind, we are the underdog going to this election, it's going to be tough I want to look forward to having a beer on election night and seeing Scott Morrison elected as Prime Minister,' he said. Mr Ciobo is the fifth cabinet minister to quit at the next election, with Mr Pyne, who was a strong supporter of former PM Malcolm Turnbull, bringing the tally to six. The retirements come just two months before Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to face the voters. Former Liberal Party deputy and foreign minister Julie Bishop last week announced her retirement from Parliament. Former Liberal Party deputy and foreign minister Julie Bishop last week announced her retirement from Parliament (pictured in the House of Representatives) The possible retirements come just two months before Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left with Christopher Pyne) is expected to face the voters Her former cabinet colleagues Kelly O'Dwyer, Nigel Scullion and Michael Keenan have also declared they won't be running at the next election, following more than 40 consecutive Newspoll losses for the Coalition government. Mr Pyne recently revealed how hard he took last year's spill and said he did not expect he could ever lead the Liberal Party. Mr Pyne is expected to continue to serve as Defence Minister until he leaves parliament at the next election. Labor leader Bill Shorten said the resignation speculation showed the government had given up. 'Cabinet ministers retiring on the eve of an election shows that this is a government that has given up,' he told reporters in Sydney. 'I say to Australians, if the ministers in the government are giving up on the government, you should too.' Drivers from private hire firms including Uber have accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of discrimination towards ethnic minority workers over the anti-pollution congestion charge. A group taking legal action says the 11.50 charge is discriminatory since 94% of them are from black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds. The basis for their claim is that 'black cab' licensed taxis will remain exempt from the charge. One Uber employee called it a 'tax on poor drivers'. There is currently a major drive to cut congestion and air pollution and as a result as of 8 April, private hire vehicle drivers will have to pay the 11.50 daily congestion charge to drive in central London. Sadiq Khan has been accused of indirect discrimination towards a group of drivers The Mayor's office said the rise in private hire vehicles on London's streets will not be ignored. In the past decade the number of private hire drivers has rocketed from 59,000 to 114,000. There are now 1,000 fewer black cab drivers in the same period. London now has roughly 114,000 private hire (PHV) drivers, who are overwhelmingly from black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds. Uber driver Abdurzak Hadi told the BBC he will have to pay the charge himself and will be almost 60 a week worse off. He told the BBC: 'I will be punished for coming to work. This is a tax on poor drivers.' A report called 'Changes to the Congestion Charge' for City Hall states: 'As the majority of PHV drivers (about 94%) are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (BAME) and many are from deprived areas, there is a disproportionate impact on these groups.' The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), is seeking a judicial review of the mayor's decision. IWGB said it indirectly discriminates against BAME PHV drivers. They will argue under the Equality Act 2010 the Mayor's office has brought in a policy which treats people unfairly. IWGB general secretary Dr Jason Moyer-Lee said the move is 'discriminatory and fundamentally unfair'. He told the BBC: 'We would urge the mayor to adopt one of the many alternative policies which would actually address congestion, instead of just penalising low-paid ethnic minority workers.' Drivers from Uber are among those taking on the legal challenge in a furious backlash In a statement, the mayor's office said: 'The number of private hire vehicles entering the congestion charge zone has shot up from 4,000 a day in 2003, when it first came into operation, to more than 18,000 now. 'Sadiq simply isn't prepared to ignore the damaging impact this has on congestion and increasing air pollution. 'Congestion has a crippling impact on businesses across the capital. 'At the same time, our toxic air in London is a major public health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children, leading to thousands of premature deaths, and increases the risk of asthma and dementia. 'Removing the congestion charge exemption for private hire vehicles is a key part of our plans to both reduce congestion and to protect Londoners from harmful emissions from polluting vehicles.' A French mother and her nine-year-old son have been airlifted to hospital after they were chased by a pack of dingoes and viciously mauled by one of the wild dogs. The young boy and 24-year-old woman suffered horrific islands when they were attacked at Eurong on the eastern side of Fraser Island about 5.45pm on Thursday. A Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the young boy suffered lacerations to his leg and face and his mother received puncture wounds to her arms. A mother and son were airlifted to hospital after being mauled by a dingo on a popular Queensland holiday island (pictured) The victims of the dingo attack are understood to be mother and son, the ABC reported. Michael Augustus, a spokesman for QAS, said the duo came across the dingoes after they got out of a vehicle. 'The couple both panicked and ran back towards the vehicle and it was at that time when the pack actually chased them and attacked,' he said. QAS understands they were attacked by the same dingo. 'Paramedics are at the scene of an incident where it's reported two people have been bitten by a dingo, sustaining arm and leg injuries,' Queensland Ambulance said. The duo, who are in a stable condition, were airlifted to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital by the Bundaberg RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter. Paramedics were called to Eurong on the eastern side of Fraser Island about 5.45pm on Thursday Lifeflight said the aeromedical crew worked alongside paramedics from the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) to stabilise the pair before flying them to hospital. The journey was a six-hour round trip and the crew did not return to the base until midnight. 'Both patients are currently stable, with the rescue helicopter tasked to the area,' QLD Ambulance tweeted. The Department of Environment and Science said the incident would be investigated by parks and wildlife. They will increase patrols on Fraser Island in a bid to search for the dingoes involved in the attack. 'Rangers will also increase patrols at campgrounds and other island arrival points to warn visitors of the dangers associated with dingoes,' a spokesman said. The incident comes a month after a six-year-old boy was attacked by four dingoes on a family camping trip on Fraser Island. The young boy was bitten on the leg and was airlifted to hospital. The nine-year-old boy and 24-year-old woman suffered horrific islands when they were attacked by a dingo (stock image) 'The family had finished swimming when the young boy said he wanted to race up a sand dune,' RACQ LifeFlight Rescue aircrewman Dan Leggat said. 'Unfortunately, when he got to the top, there was a pack of four dingoes.' Paramedics treated and stabilised the boy to be transported by the Bundaberg-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter. Dingoes are a protected species on Fraser Island. 'Wildlife authorities recognise that Fraser Island dingoes may become the purest strain of dingo on the eastern Australian seaboard and perhaps Australia-wide,' the Queensland Department of Environment and Science website states. Thursday's incident was the eight dingo attack at the popular tourist spot in the last 20 years. One attack resulted in the death of nine-year-old Clinton Gage in 2001. His death sparked the culling of 31 dingoes and caused an outcry among residents. A dingo was also responsible for murdering Lindy Chamberlain's baby in the outback in 1980 in a notorious case which divided Australia. Paramedics were called to Eurong, the eastern side of Fraser Island, QLD, at about 5.45pm on Thursday after reports of a dingo attack In the years since she cried out in the night 'A dingo's got my baby!', there were four inquests and a government inquiry into nine-week-old Azaria's death. Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton was jailed in 1982 after being found guilty of slashing her daughter's throat and making it look like a dingo attack. She was released in 1986 after Englishman David Brett fell to his death while climbing Ayers Rock known today by its Aboriginal name of Uluru and landed beside a matinee jacket that was vital to her defence. Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton had told police that no dingo saliva had been found on Azaria's jumpsuit because the baby was wearing a matinee jacket over the jumpsuit, but no jacket was found at the time the child disappeared. A third inquest in 1995 could not determine the cause of death. Mr Chamberlain, who was convicted of being an accessory after the fact of murder but later exonerated, then fought a long legal battle for a fourth inquest. That inquest heard new evidence of dingo attacks, including three fatal attacks on children since the third inquest. Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton was finally exonerated in 2012. Advertisement The Hero: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been hailed for his heroic stoicism after he was surrounded by furious Pakistani locals on Wednesday The Indian pilot captured in Pakistan who ate sensitive documents so they would not fall into his captors' hands has walked across the border with Pakistan as he is set free ahead of a hero's welcome. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over at the Wagah border crossing today in what Pakistan's PM called a 'peace gesture', intended to defuse military tensions between the nuclear-armed nations. Thousands of flag-waving supporters gathered at the border to welcome him home this morning but crowds had dwindled by nightfall as the handover dragged on for hours without explanation. Wing Commander Varthaman has been praised for his stoic professionalism after he fired warning shots as locals went after him on the ground in Kashmir on Wednesday. He parachuted from his burning fuselage and then fled the locals to eat secret documents and destroy military evidence, the Washington Post has revealed. Shortly before 9.30pm Indian time (4pm GMT) he finally appeared at the border checkpoint escorted by military officers and crossed the frontier into India. As Islamabad released him they also published another video of the pilot, in which he apparently praised his 'very professional' Pakistani military captors, who had rescued him from a mob. Despite the move to de-escalate the crisis both sides fired barrages of shells across the frontier today, with reports of attacks on Indian police officers in the province. The pilot finally appeared after darkness had fallen on Friday evening, crossing the border accompanied by a Red Cross representative, before he was driven away again in a convoy. In a brief statement after his release the Indian Air Force, who greeted him on his return, said they were 'happy to have him back'. 'Wing Commander Abhinandan he has just been returned to us as per the standard operating procedure of the IAF,' they said. 'He will now be taken for a detailed medical check up, particularly because he had to eject from an aeroplane which would have put his entire body under great stress.' Captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman (right) standing at Wagah border crossing during his elaborate handover ceremony in eastern Pakistan's Lahore A Pakistani soldier stands guard near the wreckage of Wine Commander Varthaman's plane after it was shot down by the Pakistan military on Wednesday Homecoming: Abhinandan Varthaman, the Indian pilot captured in Pakistan, has crossed the border to return home Return: The Indian pilot captured in Pakistan has returned home after crowds waited for hours to welcome him back. As he appeared at the crossing he was flanked by a Red Cross representative and military officers People burn an Indian flag during an anti-India protest in Karachi on Friday as tempers continued to flare following the clashes between the Indian and Pakistani air forces War Hero: Indians flocked to the streets in anticipation of the Wing Commander's arrival on home soil, waving flags and chanting in celebration While Indians celebrated the return of their hero pilot, Pakistanis burned effigies of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Men gathered on streets of New Delhi to dance and cheer the arrival of the pilot, who was said to have acted quickly to swallow sensitive documents Propaganda: The pilot appeared in this video released by the Pakistani government shortly before his release in which he appeared to praise Pakistan's military for their 'professional' handling of him In the video published by the Pakistani government he appeared to praise its military for looking after him, although it was not clear who was with him when he was speaking. Describing how he was shot down, he said: 'When I opened my parachute and when I dropped down, I had a pistol and there were a lot of people and I only had one way to save myself. So I dropped my pistol. 'So I tried to run and people ran after me. They had a lot of spirit and at that moment two young men from the Pakistani army came and they saved me from there. 'There was a captain from the Pakistani army, he came and he saved me from these people and didnt let anything else happen to me. 'Then he took me to his unit where I received first aid and after that they took me to the hospital for further aid. The Pakistani army is a very professional service.' Varthaman ejected from his burning jet and parachuted down to a crowd of 'spirited' locals who descended him on him with fury when he asked them where he was. In a moment of cinematic drama, he stumbled backwards and fired his handgun into the sky before sprinting from the baying mob. He dived into a nearby pond as they got close to him and was able to swallow some of the sensitive military documents on him, destroying others in the murky water around him. He also appeared to suggest that the episode had been overblown, saying: 'When theres a small matter, it gets turned into a big deal and people get wound up over it.' Appreciation: The captured Indian pilot's father - Air Marshal Varthaman, himself a retired pilot - and mother Shobha Varthaman are warmly applauded by fellow passengers as they board a plane from Chennai to Delhi Transport: The car transferring Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman drives near the border post on Friday evening Convoy: The motorcade carrying the captured Indian pilot arrives at the broder post on Friday evening after a long wait Here for the ride: Motorcyclist carry Indian flags near the Wagah border crossing near the northern city of Amritsar today Bring him home: People shout patriotic slogans before the arrival of the Indian Air Force pilot, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday at the height of the tensions over the disputed Kashmir province By Friday lunchtime thousands of Indians had gathered at the border crossing to welcome him home, singing and waving flags as they prepared to welcome the pilot home. The pilot, who has become the face of the latest Kashmir crisis, had arrived in a convoy from Lahore to the border crossing, escorted by military vehicles with soldiers. His father - Air Marshal Varthaman, himself a retired pilot - and mother Shobha Varthaman had earned warm applause as they took their seats on a flight from Chennai to Delhi to see their son. The pilot's grandfather was also in the Indian Air Force and his wife is a former helicopter pilot, Indian media reported. A group of schoolchildren brandished a painting of the pilot, along with placards reading: 'Hope for peace between India & Pakistan' and 'Thank you Imran Khan'. Speaking to Indian television, some spectators said they would wait until they were sure the pilot had returned, even as the handover dragged on into the evening. There was no official explanation for the delay. Yesterday Pakistan's PM Imran Khan announced the pilot's release as a 'peace gesture', while Islamabad partially re-opened its airspace today, but he warned his country was 'prepared for any eventuality and response'. Patient: Indians hold posters to welcome the Wing Commander back to the country as the handover dragged on for hours Expectation: People and media gather at the Wagah border crossing - usually the site of a military ceremony every day - before the arrival of the Indian Air Force pilot on Friday Arrival? A motorcade - reported by Indian media to be carrying the Air Force pilot - arrives at the border post on Friday Standing guard: Indian police near the border with Pakistan at Wagah on Friday, where the pilot at the centre of this week's military and diplomatic crisis is being handed over in a bid to defuse tensions Delight: Indian residents dance, shout slogans and wave the national flag at a central market in New Delhi on Friday Turnout: Indians hold national flags and shout slogans as they wait to welcome their pilot back at the border crossing Anticipation: Indian men shout slogans and wave the national flag near the India-Pakistan border as they wait for the Wing Commander's return Tension: Despite the 'peace gesture' there were Pakistani religious students rallying against India in Islamabad today Anti-India rally: People shout slogans and burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Peshawar today Ready: People hold Indian national flags as they dance and celebrate while anticipating the arrival of the IAF pilot Today Indian forces fought battles with militants in Kashmir that left seven dead while at least one person was killed by mortar fire in the province. The airman's capture by Pakistani forces - after his plane was shot down in a Wednesday dog-fight - sparked a fresh crisis over the Himalayan province and prompted pleas from world leaders to step back from the brink of war. The pilot from Chennai, who has 16 years of experience, endeared himself to Indians with his calm and polite manner in a Pakistani video after he was shot down. His refusal to proffer more details than necessary - 'I am sorry major, I am not supposed to tell you this' - won him particular sympathy in India. He also asked politely: 'May I request some information. Am I with the Pakistani army?' Face of the crisis: Captured pilot Abhinandan Varthaman pictured in Pakistani custody on Wednesday. Pakistan's PM Imran Khan announced yesterday that the airman would be released on Friday as a 'peace gesture' Media scrum: Photographers gather on the Pakistani side of the Wagah border ahead of the pilot's expected handover today Hero: Indian people hold placards and photographs of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, as they celebrate the announcement of his impending release at a demonstration in Amritsar on Thursday Line-up: Indian policemen stand guard as they prepare to receive the Indian pilot the Wagah border crossing on Friday Border post: A Pakistani security official checks a bus carrying passengers to India amid excitement over the pilot's return Prepared: Indian policemen and media wait for the return of the Indian pilot at the India-Pakistan border at Wagah today A map showing the military clout of Pakistan (left) and India (right) and the volatile disputed region of Kashmir to the north and Jammu and Kashmir to the south Damage: Villagers in Kalal in India's Jammu region examine what they claim is wreckage from a Pakistani mortar shell today The highly symbolic Wagah crossing point, where the handover is due to take place, is famed for hosting colourful rival ceremonies by Indian and Pakistani soldiers each day at sundown - although it has been cancelled today. Patriotic spectators fill stadium-style stands on each side to cheer as goosestepping troops bring down their national flags in elaborate, competing performances. Pakistan complains over 'eco-terorism' Pakistan plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing it of 'eco-terrorism' over air strikes that damaged pine trees. Indian warplanes on Tuesday bombed a hilly forest area near the northern Pakistani town of Balakot. Indian warplanes on Tuesday bombed a hilly forest area near the northern Pakistani town of Balako Pakistan denied there were any such camps in the area and locals said only one elderly villager was hurt. Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam said Indian jets bombed a 'forest reserve' and the government was undertaking an environmental impact assessment. By Reuters Advertisement A ceasefire line divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, but both claim the Himalayan region in its entirety. Pakistan is also set to partially re-open airspace on Friday - allowing flights to and from Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta - after thousands of passengers were left stranded when air travel was shut down. Thai Airways cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. The decision affected services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo. Today there was an Emirates service from Peshawar to Dubai, an Air Arabia flight from Peshawar to Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE and a Qatar Airways trip from Peshawar to Doha. Other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, will remain closed until March 4. However Indian forces remain on a 'heightened' state of alert despite Pakistan's promise to free the pilot, military chiefs said on Thursday. New Delhi also announced it had banned the largest political and religious group in Indian-controlled Kashmir, imposing a security lockdown in several parts of the region on Friday. Both governments had faced domestic pressure not to cave in, as anti-India protesters in Pakistan waved their country's flag and told their military: 'Move forward, the nation is with you'. Some Indian politicians also called for more aggression including 'secret missions' to target suspected terrorists in Pakistan. Party atmosphere: Indian people celebrate with drums and flags as they anticipate the arrival of Abhinandan Varthaman Support: People wear face paint with the colours of the Indian flag and one man holds a sign calling the pilot an 'Indian hero' Resumption: Passengers at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport arrive for their flights after the airspace was partly opened Pakistani passengers gather outside the Jinnah International Airport as they wait for flight operations to resume in Karachi Opposition: Pakistani religious students and other protesters rally against India in Islamabad on Friday Long wait: Indian security forces stand guard near the India-Pakistan border in Wagah as the pilot's crossing was pushed back Hero's welcome: People wave an Indian flag and carry a huge garland as they gather at the border crossing on Friday morning and wait to welcome Abhinandan Varthaman home from Pakistan Strong feelings: Sardar Ateeq, former Prime Minister of Pakistani Kashmir, addresses an anti-India rally in Islamabad today Keeping watch: Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a check post, before the release of Indian pilot On wheels: Pakistani police patrol near the India and Pakistan border on the Pakistani side of the Wagah crossing Captured: Photos shared on social media purport to show the moment when one of the Indian Air Force pilots is arrested in Pakistani Kashmir Rally: Pakistanis wave their national flag in a protest against India in Quetta on Thursday amid rising tensions between them. Pakistan's PM Imran Khan has appealed for caution given the 'nature of the weapons that we have' Evidence: Indian Air Force officials display wreckage of AMRAAM air-to-air missile that they say was fired by Pakistan Air Force fighter jet during a strike over Kashmir Q&A: India, Pakistan and Kashmir WHY IS THIS TENSION SO DANGEROUS? Both India and Pakistan are believed to possess more than 100 nuclear warheads each and have conducted atomic weapon tests. Both countries have test-fired nuclear-capable missiles. Pakistan also has refused to renounce a first-strike option with its atomic bombs should it feel outgunned in a conventional war. It takes less than four minutes for a missile fired from Pakistan to reach India. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists warns that 'computer models have predicted that the physical impacts of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, or even a single strike on a large city, would be devastating . and would reverberate throughout the world.' HOW DID THE DISPUTE OVER KASHMIR BEGIN? When Britain granted independence to the region in 1947, it divided the Indian subcontinent into a predominantly Hindu India and mostly Muslim Pakistan. Some areas could decide their own fate. In Kashmir, the only Muslim majority area ruled by a Hindu monarch, its ruler decided against giving the population a choice. That started the first India-Pakistan war in 1947. The conflict ended in 1949 when a UN resolution established the Line of Control dividing Kashmir between the two nations and calling for a direct vote on which country should control it. That vote has never been held. Indian and Pakistan fought a second war over Kashmir in 1965. WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE? India and Pakistan fought a third war in 1971 over what was East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh. In 1999 and 2000, after Pakistan's military sent a ground force into Indian-controlled Kashmir at Kargil, the two countries faced off and a worried world urged both to pull back from the brink of war, fearing it could escalate into a nuclear conflict. Even in times of relative peace the two nations readily engage in brinkmanship and aggressive rhetoric. Advertisement Despite the peace offering Khan warned New Delhi that Pakistan was 'prepared for any eventuality and response', saying: 'I beseech India not to force us down the path of war.' 'Our efforts to de-escalate should not be considered our weakness. We are indulging our efforts to maintain peace in the region,' he said. 'Pakistan acted with caution and restraint and replied to Indian aggression only to show that we are capable of safeguarding our sovereignty.' Today China said it welcomed Pakistan's decision to 'express kindness' and hand over the captured Indian pilot after four straight days of cross-border attacks. A close Pakistani ally, China has blocked India's attempts to have the U.N. list as a terrorist the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based group that claimed responsibility for the February Kashmir bombing. The latest crisis, which erupted after an Indian airstrike on Tuesday in retaliation for a bombing in Kashmir, reached its highest point in almost 50 years this week as both countries claimed to have shot down war planes. India responded to the bombing with an airstrike inside Pakistan on Tuesday, the first such raid since the two nations' 1971 war over territory that later became Bangladesh. Abhinandan was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday, after a dogfight in the skies over the disputed Himalayan region, and footage of the pilot being beaten by locals went viral in both countries. A video released by the Pakistani military later showed Abhinandan sipping tea, his face swollen and sporting bruises but otherwise collected and calm. His father, a retired air force officer, told the Times of India newspaper, 'Just look at the way he talked so bravely... a true soldier... we are proud of him.' While India has consistently accused its neighbour of supporting extremist groups, Pakistan has equally vehemently denied any role in attacks in India. Kashmir has been claimed by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after their creation in 1947. The countries have fought three wars against each other, two directly dealing with the disputed region. In another sign of de-escalation yesterday Pakistan's foreign ministry said India had handed over its file on the deadly Kashmir bombing earlier this month which sparked the latest tensions. Pakistan has said it will act against those linked to the February 14 Kashmir bombing if actionable intelligence is shared with it, but has denied involvement in the attack. While India has consistently accused its neighbour of supporting extremist groups, Pakistan has equally vehemently denied any role in attacks in India. Kashmir has been claimed by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after their creation in 1947. The countries have fought three wars against each other, two directly dealing with the disputed region. The surging tensions had prompted Pakistan to close down its airspace, disrupting major routes between Europe and South Asia and grounding thousands of travellers worldwide. On Friday morning the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced a decision would be taken on re-opening airspace 'shortly'. Earlier it had said flights would remain grounded until at least 1.00 pm Friday local time (0800 GMT). Firepower: This diagram shows the huge military capabilities of the two nuclear-armed nations Supplies: A train loaded with Indian army trucks and artillery guns is parked at a railway station on the outskirts of Jammu on Thursday amid fears the tension between the two nuclear-armed powers could lead to war Debris: A house in India's Jammu region is damaged by what villagers say was a mortar shell attack from across the border Refugees: Kashmiri women who fled Chakothi - a town near the Line of Control in Kashmir - arrive to take refuge at a school around 25 miles from Mufzafarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir Security: Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers patrol along the fence near the border with Pakistan on Thursday Debris: In India on Thursday night a defence officer holds up part of an air-to-air AMRAAM missile which was allegedly fired by Pakistani Air Force aircraft. India accuses them of violating Indian airspace Slogans: Pakistani activists of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat party shout during an anti-Indian protest rally in Islamabad today Protests: Kashmiris hold Pakistani flag as they shout anti-India slogans during a protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani administered Kashmir by Kamran Chaudhry Approximately 700 mixed marriages have been celebrated since 2017. In Pakistan, many Chinese men work in companies involved in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, one of the flagship projects of Chinas New Silk Road. The story of Muqadas Saddique, drugged and forced to marry a Chinese alcoholic, is one example. Lahore (AsiaNews) The Catholic Church of Pakistan is speaking out against mixed marriages between Pakistani women and Chinese husbands, which have increased recently because of the presence of many Chinese companies in Pakistan. Fr Inayat Bernard, rector at Lahores Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, warns against marrying Chinese men, which can be harmful to Christian families, especially wives. Do not sell your daughters for greed or going abroad, he tells parents. The affected girls are used for prostitution. Marriages between Chinese men and local women are growing in developing countries in Asia. In some cases it is actual trafficking in women, who are used as sex slaves and sold without their knowledge. According to Fr Bernard, this problem stems from the fact that "the Chinese need more women due to one-child policy". In addition, some so-called pastors officiate such weddings. We demand that the government arrest pastors involved in this crime. Several Christian families have filed complaints against the trafficking of women in Lahore with the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan. Several Chinese companies operate in Pakistan to develop the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a key component of Beijings New Silk Road plan. Most of the workers employed by these companies are from China. Since November 2017, some 700 mixed marriages have been celebrated. One of the brides is 19-year-old Muqadas Saddique (pictured with her brother), who last month married Ma Shitao in Islamabad. "Several women in our neighbourhood suggested I get married, she told AsiaNews. I went to meet the groom with my family, but I did not know that they had arranged the wedding for that same day. They had prepared everything with their pastor. They drugged our tea, so we consented to everything that was asked of us." The young bride went home the next day. "I had consented to the marriage to give a better future to my three sisters. But Shitao is an alcoholic. He and other women forced me sign (the marriage papers). I want to get out of this swamp. My husband is blackmailing me." Fr Bernard is incensed that "Pakistani media are knowingly ignoring such stories. The government does not want any criticism that could jeopardise its main project with its old friend (China). However, the socio-cultural repercussions are now evident in society. The Chinese are abusing our trust and our [preferential] visa policy. Poor families are the easiest targets." An underground movement that campaigns against the regime of North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un (pictured) declared itself the 'legitimate interim government' today A shadowy group believed to be protecting the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's assassinated brother declared the formation of a 'legitimate interim government' on Friday. The Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) organisation, which offers to assist people in defecting from North Korea, has dedicated itself to abolishing the 'great evil' of the current regime. The CCD emerged in 2017, when it posted an online video of Kim Han Sol and announced it had guaranteed his safety after his exiled father was killed by two women who smeared him with nerve agent in Kuala Lumpur Airport. The group posted a lengthy statement on its website in both Korean and English on Friday to coincide with the 100th anniversary of a Korean movement against Japanese colonial rule. In the statement, the group announced itself as a provisional government-in-exile called 'Free Joseon'. Joseon is an old name for Korea. The secretive CCD say they are protecting Kim Han Sol (pictured), the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's assassinated brother Kim Jong Nam 'We dedicate ourselves completely to the abolition of this great evil, a stain on the very soul of humanity,' it said, saying it will continue its campaign to 'the day that light is truly restored to Pyongyang'. It claimed to be 'the sole legitimate representative of the Korean people of the north' and said it was establishing 'the basis for building a country that respects human rights and humanitarianism and respects the honor and dignity of all women, men and children.' It added: 'Joseon must and shall be free. Arise! Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!' The group also posted a video of a woman dressed in an old-fashioned black and white hanbok - either turned away from the camera of with her face blurred - reading out the statement in front of a traditional Korean pavilion. Little is known about CCD and it is unclear who is behind the organisation - although some have speculated it has links to South Korea's spy agency. Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, was exiled in 2003 and became an occasional critic of his family's brutal regime. He was assassinated with VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia in February 2017 It is named after a mythical winged horse commonly depicted in East Asian mythology, who is said to be too powerful and elegant to be mounted by a mortal. The group uses South Korean transliteration for the name, while some of the Korean text on its website reads as if it could have been a translation from English. In the past the group has said it responded to urgent requests for protection from 'compatriots' and has thanked countries including the Netherlands, China and the United States for their help. Graphic on the family tree of North Korea's ruling dynasy, including Kim Han-Sol, son of Kim Jong-Nam who was murdered in Malaysia in February 2017 A black activist has been appointed the new leader of one of the country's largest and oldest neo-Nazi groups - and vowed to destroy it from the inside. James Hart Stern, a 54-year-old civil rights activist from Los Angeles, has become the unlikely new director and president of the National Socialist Movement. Stern wants to use his new position to undermine the Detroit-based group's defense against a lawsuit, court documents filed Thursday revealed. James Hart Stern, a 54-year-old civil rights activist from Los Angeles, has become the unlikely new director and president of the National Socialist Movement The NSM is one of several extremist groups being sued after violent clashes at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Stern's filing asks a federal court in Virginia to issue a judgment against the group before one of the lawsuits goes to trial. The civil rights activist replaced Jeff Schoep as the group's leader in January, according to Michigan corporate records. But those records and court documents say nothing about how or why Stern got the position. It's thought that Schoep and other group leaders had been at odds with rank-and-file members over its direction as they wanted to tone down overt racism in the group. Stern also has a track record of duping racist group leaders into handing over power. Stern has been trying for at least two years to disrupt the group. A message posted on his website said he would be meeting with group leaders in 2017 'to sign a proclamation acknowledging the NSM denouncing being a white supremacist group. He served a prison sentence for mail fraud at the same facility as onetime Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen, who was convicted in the 'Mississippi Burning' killings of three civil rights workers. In 2012, Stern claimed Killen signed over to him power of attorney and ownership of 40 acres of land while they were serving prison terms together. A lawyer for Killen asked a judge to throw out the land transfer and certify that Killen and his family owned the property. Stern's appointment has drawn comparisons to the recent Spike Lee movie 'BlacKkKlansman' in which a black police officer infiltrates a branch of the Ku Klux Klan. Jeff Schoep, second right in business suit, was apparently at odds with high-ranking members of the group before Stern assumed power Neither Stern, who lives in Moreno Valley, California, nor Schoep responded Thursday to emails and calls seeking comment. Matthew Heimbach, a leading white nationalist figure who briefly served as the NSM's community outreach director last year, said some members 'essentially want it to remain a politically impotent white supremacist gang' and resisted ideological changes advocated by Schoep. Heimbach said Schoep's apparent departure and Stern's installation as its leader probably spell the end of the group in its current form. Schoep was 21 when he took control of the group in 1994 and renamed it the National Socialist Movement, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. 'I think it's kind of a sad obit for one of the longest-running white nationalist organizations,' said Heimbach, who estimates it had about 40 active, dues-paying members last year. The group has drawn much larger crowds at rallies. NSM members used to attend rallies and protests in full Nazi uniforms, including at a march in Toledo, Ohio, that sparked a riot in 2005. More recently, Schoep tried to rebrand the group and appeal to a new generation of racists and anti-Semites by getting rid of such overt displays of Nazi symbols. It appeared that Stern had been trying for at least two years to disrupt the group. A message posted on his website said he would be meeting with Schoep in February 2017 'to sign a proclamation acknowledging the NSM denouncing being a white supremacist group.' 'I have personally targeted eradicating the (Ku Klux Klan) and the National Socialist Movement, which are two organizations here in this country which have all too long been given privileges they don't deserve,' Stern said in a video posted on his site. The NSM is one of several extremist groups being sued after violent clashes at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia On Wednesday, lawyers for the plaintiffs suing white supremacist groups and movement leaders over the Charlottesville violence asked the court to sanction Schoep. They say he has ignored his obligations to turn over documents and give them access to his electronic devices and social media accounts. They also claim Schoep recently fired his attorney as a stalling tactic. A federal magistrate judge in Charlottesville ruled last Friday that Stern cannot represent the NSM in the case because he does not appear to be a licensed attorney. That did not deter Stern from filing Thursday's request for summary judgment against his own group. 'It is the decision of the National Socialist Movement to plead liable to all causes of actions listed in the complaint against it,' he wrote. A grandmother had to be dramatically rescued in Iceland after the 'ice throne' she was posing on for a photo drifted out to sea. Judith Streng was visiting Iceland's Jokulsarlon Lagoon with her son recently when they came across the chunk of frozen water shaped like a throne on the beach. The 77-year-old, who lives in Flower Mound, Texas, decided to sit on the ice chunk and pose for a photo. But just moments after smiling for the camera, the makeshift seat was carried away from the shore by a large wave. Texas grandmother Judith Streng, 77, was visiting Iceland's Jokulsarlon Lagoon with her son recently when they came across the chunk of frozen water shaped like a throne on the beach Just moments after sitting on the ice chunk to pose for a photo, Streng was swept out to sea when a large wave came along and carried her off 'It was shaped like an easy place to sit... I thought that looks like fun,' Streng said in an interview on Good Morning America of the moment she decided to pose. 'When I got on it started to totter and a wave was coming in, a very large wave came in and made the throne kind of rock and I could tell I was slipping off. 'I thought it was safe. I don't weigh very much so it was a little easier to float off I guess. 'I've always wanted to be queen... that was my chance.' A bystander, who happened to be a boat captain and was trained in water rescue, had to help bring the grandmother back to shore. Judith Streng said she thought it looked like fun when she came across the 'ice throne' on the beach in Iceland. She described a large wave coming in and causing the ice chunk to rock Streng's son texted photos of the mishap to his 24-year-old daughter who later shared them on Twitter. The photos of the 'iceberg queen' quickly went viral Streng's son texted photos of the mishap to his 24-year-old daughter who later shared them on Twitter. The photos have since gone viral. After labeling his mother an 'iceberg queen', Streng's son said she had 'lost her kingdom when she drifted out to sea'. Another text read: 'No joke. A coast guard rescuer had to save her and bring her back to shore.' Streng's granddaughter shared the story on Twitter, saying: 'My grandmother almost got lost at sea in Iceland today lmaoooo.' A celebrity designer and her father have won a court battle with architects over substandard work on their 1.6million home renovation. Natasha Surguladze - one half of identical twin design duo Tata Naka - has been locked in a court fight over unpaid fees with architects Donald Insall Associates. Natasha and her father, businessman Michael Surguladze, commissioned the firm to draw up designs for a 'large scale and unusual project' in Chelsea. The plans involved two adjoining houses being 'effectively demolished' and replaced with a single four-storey double-fronted brick townhouse. The new property was to be home to both Natasha and her father, as well as her twin sister and design partner Tamara, Central London County Court heard. Natasha Surguladze (shown right) is one half of identical twin design duo Tata Naka, along with sibling Tamara (pictured left) The home (shown with natural brickwork) was finally built after the family acquired a new architectural firm However, the architects and the Surguladzes fell out when design drawings failed to pass building regulations, due to issues with a fire escape and disabled access. The family subsequently obtained the consents they needed and completed the 'large and complicated project' after changing architects. But they were then pursued for 40,000 in unpaid fees by Donald Insall Associates. Now Judge David Saunders has ruled the Surguladzes were right to refuse to pay the architects' bill, as the work had 'not met the required standard'. The Tata-Naka label is the imprint of London-based Georgian identical twins, Tamara and Natasha Surguladze, 40. Fans of the the Central St Martin's graduates' fashion creations include Cameron Diaz, Mena Suvari and Sarah Jessica Parker. Tamara Surguladze (left) and Natasha Surguladze (right) were born in Tbilisi, Georgia before moving to London in 1996 and creating their fashion label Pictured are the floor plans for the four-storey townhouse in Chelsea, which reveal a cinema and gym in the basement Over a decade ago, the twins, who lived together with 'family patriarch' Michael in a mews house in Chelsea, decided they needed a bigger living space. But after failing to find a bigger house in a location that suited the family, they decided to buy the house next door to their current home. They then sought permission to knock the two houses through into one, at an estimated cost of 1.6million. They commissioned Donald Insall Associates to create drawings in relation to the planned new house that would pass building regulations. However the submitted design failed to get the green light, with problems relating to fire regulations and disabled access flagged up. Natasha and her father, Michael Surguladze (pictured), commissioned the firm to draw up designs for a 'large scale and unusual project' in Chelsea The family then switched architects, gained consent and have since completed the project, making the house their new home. But Donald Insall Associates later sued them for around 40,000 in unpaid invoices. The architects insisted they should be paid, despite their drawings having failed to pass the regulations. 'The claimant says that it carried out a significant amount of work which in any event should be paid for,' said Judge Saunders. But going on to throw the architects' claim out, he added: 'The plans were of limited value and Building Regulations approval was refused... there has been a consequential lack of care and skill on the part of the claimants. 'I have no doubt that the claimants are - generally - a highly competent and experienced firm of architects, but in this case they have not met the required standard. 'The defendants' instructions to the claimants were to produce plans which would satisfy Building Regulations approval - they did not.' He concluded: 'I find for the defendants and dismiss the claim.' Speaking of the building project in an interview with Harpers Bazaar in 2017, Natasha said: 'It took us 13 years to find our new home. 'We loved our current one and its location, but we needed more space to entertain, more rooms for guests so we looked and we looked and we looked. 'And in the end, after all that looking, we bought the house next door.' The plans involved two adjoining houses (pictured) being 'effectively demolished' and replaced with a single four-storey double-fronted brick townhouse A vicious school brawl involving a 12-year-old boy being attacked by a mob of five students and a teacher being shoved to the ground has been caught on camera. Video of the fight at Doonside Technology High School shows students pushing and punching each other during a fight on Thursday. A violent fracas then breaks out as up to five other students land punches on the boy as he goes to the ground. The mob briefly separates before one of the attackers again rains blows down on the young student as he tries to stand back up. A 12-year-old boy (pictured) throws a punch during a vicious brawl at Doonside Technology High School in Western Sydney on Thursday A student punches the young boy (pictured left) before a mob of up to five boys continue to attack him (pictured right) A teacher finally steps in to pull the boy to safety and ends up being pushed over a bench as another boy continues the attack. Another student can be heard yelling 'f**k him up' as both the teacher and the victim tumble to the ground. Police went to the school about 12pm on Thursday after reports of the brawl and spoke to a 12-year-old boy, a 14 year-old boy, and three other 13-year-old boys, a spokesperson for NSW Police said. The young victim of the attack, and the 59-year-old teacher who stepped in, were both taken to Mount Druitt Hospital for treatment for minor injuries. The spokesperson says police are conducting inquiries into the incident in coordination with the school. A 59-year-old teacher (pictured in white-shirt) stepped in to stop the fight Advertisement Fascinating colourised footage has vividly brought to life one of the most infamous gun battles in British history, showing the future Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the 1911 Sidney Street siege. The remarkable Newsreel film of the then Home Secretary standing alongside armed police as they surround a blazing Latvian gang's hideout in east London has been digitally remastered for a new documentary. Standing just 100 yards away from a raging gun battle between the heavily armed Latvian anarchists and scores of soldiers and police, the astonishing clip shows Churchill peering around a corner as bullets fly - even giving orders to officers. The incredible black and white footage created a media sensation at the time and was the first time an event like this was ever caught on camera, capturing the true horror of the six hour siege which had the nation gripped. Also dubbed the Battle of Stepney, it was the final act of a series of events that began three weeks earlier, when three police officers were shot dead by a gang of anarchists from Latvia who were robbing a jewellers. The shocking scenes in January 1911 came months after Churchill became Home Secretary in Herbert Asquith's Liberal Party government, before he switched to the Conservatives in 1924 and went on to become PM in 1940. The incident is being shown in Channel 5 documentary Edwardian Britain in Colour, which takes audiences back to the early 20th century, and comes after Peter Jacksons extraordinary colourised First World War documentary They Shall Not Grow Old. The event caught on film came three weeks after the killing of the three police officers, dubbed the 'Houndsditch murders' after the street in east London where the shooting took place, which sparked a wave of public revulsion and horror. The police were under enormous pressure to catch their murderers, and the public blamed the Liberal government for allowing immigration to go unchecked and extremists to flourish unsupervised, and MPs needed swift retribution. The East End was seen as a hotbed of political activism at the time, and those in power were determined to stamp out any signs of social unrest. After a tip off, they tracked down two of the gang members to the house in Sidney Street. Churchill arrived to observe the gun battle and authorised the deployment of troops: 74 members of the Scots Guards from the Tower of London, 35 members of the Royal Horse Artillery and 15 Royal Engineers to blow up the house, as well as several hundred police. The remarkable Newsreel film of the then Home Secretary (pictured in the brown coat) standing alongside armed police as they surround a blazing Latvian gang's hideout in east London has been digitally remastered for a documentary Churchill watched from the sidelines as members of the police and Scots Guards exchanged fire with the two men holed up inside the building. In one clip he can be seen peering around a corner as the gun battle waged on He watched from the sidelines as members of the police and Scots Guards exchanged fire with the two men holed up inside the building. The presence of the then 36-year-old future Prime Minister, who can be seen in the film talking to police was an early photo opportunity in what has been claimed as the first ever breaking news story. That evening the film was shown in a West End theatre, and it was one of the earliest news events ever caught on camera. He got so close to the gun battle that there were claims a bullet went straight through his top hat. Historians have since dismissed the story. Churchill, (pictured left, in the top hat and brown coat) then an ambitious young politician, arrived to observe the gun battle and authorised the deployment of troops When a fire started inside the house - it is not known how it began - Churchill refused to allow the fire brigade to put the flames out. When firemen finally entered the building, two charred bodies were found and identified as Latvians Fritz Svaars and William Sokolow. One fireman was killed by falling debris. Former Labour MP Alan Johnson, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, tells the documentary: 'The seige of Sidney Street, something we can relate to today, because it is a terrorist incident. When a fire started inside the house - it is not known how it began - he refused to allow the fire brigade to put the flames out The presence of a 36-year-old Churchill, who can be seen in the film talking to police, even giving them orders, was an early photo opportunity in what was arguably the first ever breaking news story 'Two of them got trapped in the house in Sidney Street, it was an amazing piece of intelligence to track them down. 'The unusual thing was the army were called in. I think the first and only time that the police had called the army in to assist them because they had nothing to match the firepower of these two Latvians who were cornered in this house in Sidney Street. 'Churchill is there as Home Secretary, looking as if he is in charge. 'Well of course he shouldn't be in charge. The whole point of our system was we set up the police that they would be citizens in uniform, not directed by politicians. Churchill had no role there. 'The very presence of a politician could have put the police in more danger. A fireman is brought out of the house as the first burned inside. One fire fighter was killed in the blaze 'They would have to protect him. He went there just because he couldn't resist. The temptation of being in the lead. He was a bit of a showman. 'Now here a fire started in the house were the two Latvians were holding out under seige. 'Nobody knows how that fire started. But Churchill said, no let the fire burn. Either the Latvians will come out or they will die. 'You can read lots of article and books on it, but to actually watching it, seeing it, seeing Churchill turn up, seeing it happening, is fascinating.' Thousands came to watch the siege take place. The black and white footage created a media sensation at the time and was the first time an event like this was ever caught on camera, captured the true horror of the six hour siege which had the nation gripped Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson (left) and historian and author Onyeka Nubia (right) were interviewed for the documentary which is being shown on Channel 5 London at the time had become a magnet for those fleeing persecution in their homeland. Most came to work in the sweatshops of the East End, sending money back to help their families. Britain's tolerant laws meant that they could operate freely in a way that would have seen them imprisoned, tortured or killed in their home countries and to finance their revolutionary activities, they resorted to crime and violence. Many were armed with guns brought in from abroad, they held up banks, shops and factories, bringing terror to the streets of the very country that had given them shelter. On the night of the Houndsditch killings in December 1910, the areas Jewish population were at home preparing for the Sabbath. At 10pm, a shopkeeper who lived in the flat above his luxury goods shops on Houndsditch heard strange noises coming from downstairs. Scots Guards awaiting the command to fire during the siege of Sidney Street in 1911 Marksmen from the Scots Guards during the Siege of Sidney Street Firefighters tackle the blaze during the Siege of Sidney Street. It broke out six hours into the siege, but Churchill refused them direct access, claiming he would wait for the criminals to flee. However the door never opened and two gang members, Fritz Svaars and William Sokolow, perished Fearing a break in at HS Harris jewellers next door, he alerted the City of London Police who sent officers to investigate, armed only with whistles and truncheons. Sergeant Robert Bentley was shot dead after entering the house the burglars were using to gain access to the building. He was blasted in the shoulder and the neck. His spinal cord was almost severed, but he managed to stagger back to the front door and collapse in the street. He was carried to St Bartholomew's Hospital. The bullet in his spine had paralysed his lower body. He regained consciousness long enough to answer questions and speak to his pregnant wife, before dying that evening. Sgt Charles Tucker was hit in the hip and the heart. He staggered to the end of the cul-de-sac and collapsed, dead. Sir Winston Churchill pictured in the witness box during the Sidney Street inquest in 1911. The future Prime Minister was present at the siege and reports suggested a bullet went straight through his hat. Historians have dismissed the story The three policemen killed (from left to right) Sergeant Robert Bentley, 36, Sergeant Charles Tucker, 46, and Pc Walter Charles Choat, 34 Thousands lined the streets of London to watch as the officers' funeral cortege heads to St Paul's Cathedral in 1910. The murdered policemen were all posthumously awarded the King's Police Medal Constable Walter Choate bravely tried to wrestle a gun off one of the gang members, but was shot eight times and died of later of his injuries in hospital. Two other officers, Sgt Thomas Bryant and Constable Ernest Woodhams were disabled for life. The funeral for the murdered policemen, who were all posthumously awarded the King's Police Medal, was held at St Paul's Cathedral on December 22 1910 and attended by Churchill and the Lord Mayor of London. Within days, the police had managed to round up gang members Nina Vassilleva and Jacob Peters, although he denied any involvement. Houndsditch in the City of London, where the three police officers were shot dead in a photo taken after the murders in December 1910 The plaque in east London commemorating the three police officer victims in the incident on December 16, 1910 Churchill v the strikers: How WW2 hero battled civil unrest as young Home Secretary Winston Churchill was elected Conservative MP for Oldham in 1900 before defecting to the Liberal Party in 1904. He spent the next decade climbing the ranks of the Liberal government, and became Home Secretary in 1910. When he took office he had to devote himself to coping with a wave of social unrest and violent strikes. His term was marked by three main controversies. The violent Rhondda coalminers strike, his response to the Siege of Sidney Street and the suffragette movement. In 1910, coalminers in the Rhondda Valley began what has become known as the Tonypandy Riots. One miner was killed and about 580 people, including 80 policemen, were injured after Churchill sent 200 Metropolitan police officers with a detachment of Lancashire Fusiliers held in reserve in Cardiff to stop riots that erupted after police attempted to break the miners picket line. Soldiers were eventually deployed, although it has been long disputed whether Churchill personally sanctioned the decision. He remains deeply unpopular in the south Wales valleys and within the Labour party. Last month Labour's John McDonnell branded him a villain for the way he dealt with the incident. The Sidney Street siege in 1910 saw him visit the scene of the incident as amred police surrounded a house where two Lativan's were holed up. They had been on the run since the Houndsditch murder, where three police officers were shot dead in east London. He attracted much criticism for his decision to visit the scene and was ridiculed by fellow MPs. He later wrote: 'I thought it my duty to see what was going on myself, and my advisers concurred in the propriety of such a step. 'I must, however, admit that convictions of duty were supported by a strong sense of curiosity which perhaps it would have been well to keep in check. He added: I saw now that I should have done better to have remained quietly in my office.' Advertisement Peter the Painter, identified by an informant as one of the gang, managed to flee the country a week after the killings. An informant tipped off police that two of the fellow anarchists - Fritz Svaars and William Sokolow - were hiding out at a house in Sidney Street, Stepney. But in the overcrowded Edwardian East End, they were not the only occupants of the house. There were fourteen occupants of the building including two families with small children. The police managed to evacuate them all, leaving the two gunmen on the second floor. The two Latvians were well armed with the most modern weaponry of the time, Mauser automatic revolvers. The two gang members brought to trial, Vassilleva and Peters, were subsequently acquitted through lack of evidence. Three of the main witnesses were dead, and much of the evidence from that dark, confused night was deemed unreliable. In 1917 Peters returned to Russia following the revolution and became a leading member of the Bolshevik party and deputy head of the Cheka, the Soviet secret police. Thousands of people were killed on his orders during the Chekas brutal reign of terror. Peters took pleasure in personally carrying out many of the death sentences on enemies of the people himself, leading to his nickname of The Executioner. Peter the Painter, whose colourful sobriquet had become synonymous with the killings, was never caught. Historian and author Onyeka Nubia, who is interviewed for the documentary, said: 'In early 20th century Britain, the fear of anarchism was very strong. 'There was a fear that anarchists would take over the country or cause so much disarray that there would be social revolution. 'In many ways the Sidney Street siege shows that we do need army, we do need a police force, that there is a need for law and order, it provides a justification for it. 'At this time Winston Churchill was a very ambitious young politician and his attempt to resolve the Sidney Street siege was an attempt to place his name and picture on the front pages, as some sort of saviour.' Edwardian Britain In Colour is on Channel 5 tomorrow at 8pm. Advertisement From a headless camel to an alpaca that appears to breathe fire, these animals have all - inadvertently - become masters of illusion. These perfectly-timed photographs capture moments when nature falls completely in sync with the photographer - creating unbelievable optical illusions. In one shot from the Ngorongora Conservation Area in Tanzania, a lionness and her cub appear to be performing a move from Dirty Dancing, while in another from Maasai Mara Reserve in Kenya a cheetah looks like it has two heads. Closer to home, a deer's rear-end bore a striking resemblance to an owl's face in North Yorkshire, and two deers in Richmond, south west London, became one in a mind-boggling shot. Shayne McGuire captured this picture of a penguin grooming itself which made it appear as if it has no head in Antarctica Cinnamon the Alpaca appeared to breathe fire in this amazing snap from Rusty Stars Alpaca Farm in Iowa. In the cold -8C air, its steaming breath hit the sunlight in such a way that it created this illusion David Greyo was visiting the Wahiba Sands desert in Oman when he spotted two camels stood next to an object. With one sitting on the ground, and the other bending its neck, the camels look more like a giraffe These giraffes in Mara, Tanzania, looked like one animal thanks to the timing of the shot. The group had been looking at some men who were pumping water out of a river This lioness and her cub and her cub looked like they were performing a move from Dirty Dancing in this picture taken at the Ngorongora Conservation Area in Tanzania This deer at the Studley Royal Deer Park in North Yorkshire has a rear-end that bears a striking resemblance to the face of an owl These two Gemsbok stood next to each other at the Erindi Private Game Reserve in Namibia looked like a mythical creature with two bodies in this incredible image This lion appeared to be getting a piggy back from another male lion at Nairobi National Park in Kenya - but the pair were actually stood apart This hyena looked like it was channelling its inner Narcissus in this shot which appears to show it kissing its own reflection in the Kruger National Park in South Africa Qaderi Sami captured this image which appears to show a double-headed goose while following two Egyptian geese at Al Qudra Lake in Dubai, UAE This fish eagle appears to have completely lost its head while sat next to a friend in Chobe, Botswana, in this perfectly timed shot by Mark Drysdale Photographer Melissa Groo thought she was looking at an angry fish face when she spotted two baby Least Terns cuddling under their mothers' wings in New Jersey This hyena and her cub created a strange cross-eyed beast when they got too close together in this shot from Kruger National Park in South Africa Dan Galati captured two cheetahs walking side-by-side at the Maasai Mara Reserve in Kenya creating the appearance of a two-headed creature Aman Chotani captured this amazing shot of a 'headless' camel at a camel fair in Pushkar, Rajasthan. The camel had stopped to groom itself as he took the picture A lioness appeared to swallow her cub up to its neck in this shot from Maasai Mara in south western Kenya thanks to the camera angle Lauren Cresser managed to capture this incredible image of two stags stood next to each other at Bushy Park, Richmond, south west London LK Bennett, a favourite of Kate Middleton who is pictured wearing a 325 silk cream and green polka dot dress from the brand in December, is set to file for administration Shoppers at LK Bennett claim its clothes became too expensive once Kate Middleton started wearing them, beginning the downfall of the high-end high street fashion brand. Today, MailOnline revealed that the companys founder has told staff it is heading for administration. It puts 500 jobs at risk. The Duchess of Cambridges favourite high street brand is now working with Ernst & Young to help decide the 'best way through' the upcoming 'difficult and unstable times.' Its undoing was blamed by commentators on high prices and a failure to compete well enough with rivals offering same or next day delivery services. The move comes after LK Bennett reported losses of 5.9 million in 2016/2017, compared with a 100,000 profit in the previous 12 months. LK Bennett's founder, Linda Bennett emailed staff today about the intention to file for administration. She thanked staff for their 'hard work and dedication' and added that she didn't regret returning to the brand in 2017 to try and 'reinvigorate' the label. LK Bennett is the latest in a line of big names to become causalities in the bloodbath on the high street. The UK's largest toy shop Toys R Us went into administration in February 2018, leading to an estimated 2,000 redundancies and Marks and Spencer announced plans last May to close 100 stores by 2022. The British brand opened in 1990 and is now well known for its signature kitten heels favoured by celebrities and royals including Kate Middleton who is pictured wearing dresses from the brand during a tour of Australia in 2014 Fashion brand Orla Kiely, which was also loved by the Duchess of Cambridge, also went out of business with debts of more than 7.25m (8.1m) last year. High Street clothing giant Gap also announced today that it will close 230 stores worldwide as its US parent company launches a massive restructuring programme. The closures amount to nearly a fifth of its total shops although the company has not said where stores will shut or how many jobs will be affected. Shoppers have said the brand put prices up after Kate Middleton started wearing their clothes LK Bennett is the latest big name to become a casualty in the bloodbath on the high street Today the brand had a 25 per cent off items in the new collection offer online and in store British affordable luxury brand LK Bennett, which has 41 shops in the UK, was founded in 1990 with the vision of bringing 'Bond Street luxury to the High Street'. How the price tags on Kate Middleton's accessories increased after she wore them Several pieces worn by the Duchess of Cambridge seem to have risen in price since they first made their debut in her wardrobe. In 2012 Kate was pictured wearing the the LK Bennett Sledge court shoe, which did cost 175, and holding the Natalie Straw Clutch bag, which had a price of 140. The Sludge wedge increased by 20 after it became popular with Kate Middleton LK Bennett's Natalie clutch bag also increased in price by 20 in 2012 Both of these items saw their price increase by 20 after the royal was snapped in public with them. Branding expert Claire Shiels told Femail how labels can struggle to keep up with demand after public figures wear their clothes. She said: 'A sudden and unexpected spike in sales and demand' can 'involve huge costs for the label.' Advertisement However customers have said the store 'put their prices up' after Kate started being seen wearing their clothes and got engaged to Prince William. Others have also criticised the brand's prices, saying 'that not many people have 300 spare to buy one dress'. Branding expert Claire Shiels told Femail: 'Celebrity endorsement is the holy grail for any retailer, although it can bring with it as many problems as benefits. 'Having your high street label worn in public by one of the world's most photographed women can prove to be a nightmare if you're not forewarned, which is usually the case with Kate Middleton. Ms Shiels added: 'The problem for labels with Kate in particular, is that she chooses staple wardrobe items that are typically priced at the higher end for high street retailers and wears them more than once. 'This means that typically, her fashion followers will only purchase one item per season, rather than buying into the brand and shopping with them all year long.' Fashion commentator Karine Laudort also told MailOnline: 'The Duchess of Cambridge may be a fan but the everyday woman in Britain may think twice before spending an extra 100 on a outfit, 'Especially when most online retailers now offer free 24-hour or same day delivery.' Today the brand was running an offer for 25 per cent off the entire new season range online and in store. Customers could also enjoy free UK delivery on all orders. Items in the new range that were eligible for the discount included colourful court shoes priced at 195, a gold envelope clutch bag costing 175 and a variety of midi dresses costing around 300. LK Bennett is well known for its signature kitten heels favoured by celebrities such as Holly Willoughby and royals including Kate Middleton. Kate took a two year hiatus from the brand and wasn't spotted wearing it on any public occasions after August 2016. But she reaffirmed her love for it, just a few months ago wearing a green and cream silk polka dot dress for a visit to the Evelina London Children's hospital, in December 2018. Kate, pictured at Kings Cross St Pancras station in London, also chose a teal suit from the brand for her first official engagement with the Queen in March 2012 Holly Willoughby, left in one of the brand's dresses at the Chelsea Flower Show in May and Katherine Jenkins, right in the Izzy dress and Priyanka Courts at her album signing in London in December, are also among the famous fans of the fashion label Linda Bennett, pictured at Buckingham Palace, received an OBE for services to the fashion industry in the New Year Honours list in 2016 Kate also chose a teal suit from the brand for her first official engagement with the Queen during her Diamond Jubilee UK Tour in 2012. This elegant look included the 395 Jude jacket and 225 Davina dress which she paired with a pillbox hat by James Lock. Kate is not the only royal to opt for an LK Bennett piece, with Camilla Parker Bowles having worn a pair of their shoes during her wedding to Prince Charles. The Duchess wore an elegant court shoe at the Windsor Guildhall in pale beige suede, with an almond toe and a 2inch (5cm) heel, designed by Linda Bennett. The Duchess of Cambridge is seen wearing LK Bennett in Leicester during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee UK Tour in 2012, left, and at the opening of the ICAP Art Room at Northolt High School, London in 2014 The brand's founder Linda Bennett emailed staff early today to tell them about the intention to file for administration The Duchess of Cornwall speaks to the LK Bennett founder at a reception to launch the Southbank Centre's Women of the World Festival. Camilla wore a pair of shoes designed by Bennett at her wedding to Prince Charles Founder Linda Bennett came back to the brand in 2017 after leaving in 2008 when she sold a majority stake in the firm for between 80m and 100m. Ms Bennett founded the brand 29 years ago in 1990 with a store in Wimbledon, London. Bloodbath on the High Street: How shops in the UK went from bustling to bust 2018 saw one of the worst years for the UK High Street with retailers shutting their doors and plaguing homes across the country with many job losses. Crisis hit brands such as House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer fought to keep stores open while other retailers such as New Look pushed for a solution to stop store closures and job losses. In 2018 nearly 85,000 retail jobs were lost in the UK as businesses continued to go bust as 1,000 retail business went into administration between January and September. As well as this the number of retail outlets left empty was up by 4,400 in 2018 according to data from the Local Data Company. High Street giant Gap has also announced it will close 230 stores worldwide as its US parent company launches a massive restructuring programme. The pressure on High Street retailers has hit an all-time high as they continue to try and keep up with the ever growing popularity of online shopping. Online retailers are able to keep prices low as they don't face the massive rental costs of physical stores or the staff rates. While retailers battle the rise in online shopping they are also being forced to battle Brexit, as many supply chain routes and whether or not they will be available in a no-deal scenario have put added cost worries onto retailers as many consider stock piling their items or not importing them at all. Here are some of the big name retailers which have lost out as they face fierce competition from the rise of online shopping Carpetright The carpet retailer is closing 92 stores across the UK. These closures represent nearly a quarter of all UK Carpetright stores. Toys R' Us The UK's largest toy shop went into administration in February 2018, leading to an estimated 2,000 redundancies. House of Fraser The department store chain was on the verge of heading into administration but was rescued at the eleventh hour by Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley. Maplin The electronics giant has gone bust, closing shops across the country and putting thousands of jobs at risk. Mothercare The baby and toddler chain is closing 60 shops across the UK putting up to 900 jobs at risk. Poundworld Poundworld announced it was going into administration on June 11 after talks with potential buyer R Capital broke down, putting 5,100 jobs at risk. Homebase The DIY chain set to close 42 DIY outlets shut, putting around 1,500 jobs at risk. Marks & Spencer The retailer announced in May it plans to close 100 stores by 2022, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. In August stores in Northampton, Falkirk, Kettering, Newmarket, New Mersey Speke, Stockton and Walsall all ceased trading. Orla Kiely Orla Kiely, the Irish fashion retailer collapsed in September and closed all its stores after a slump in profits. HMV In December HMV entered into administration with its flagship London Oxford Street having closed earlier this year. L.K Bennett Fashion brand L.Bennett announced it was filing for administration on March 1, 2019. Linda Bennett sent employees an email early in the morning to inform them of the news before it hit news outlets. Advertisement When she was just 26-years-old she saw that no one was producing affordable versions of the shoes being shown on the catwalk and jumped on the opportunity. The idea for LK Bennett was then born and she took it upon herself to spend 13,000 of her savings and a bank loan of 15,000, which she repaid within three months of opening her first store. From then on she was dubbed the 'Queen of the Kitten Heel' and created shoes that were the perfect blend of elegance and comfort that could be worn throughout the day, before launching into clothing and other accessories. However in 2018 it was reported that L.K.Bennett reported losses of 5.9 million in 2016/2017, compared with a 100,000 profit in the previous 12 months. Total sales also fell by 1.8 per cent to 77.4 million. The company blamed the figures on 'exceptional costs' of 28.7 million, spent on corporate restructuring. At the end of the trading period the brand had 130 stores globally and one third of its group-wide sales were made up by online sales, reports retailgazette. Last August the company was hit by an IT glitch, forcing it to cease all online trading for three days. Unhappy customers were stopped from buying anything new from the website, and there was a delay in dispatching existing orders. Last month Ms Bennett drafted in advisers from AlixPartners to oversee a strategic review of the company she had recently returned too. Sources told Sky News at the time that this meant there was a realistic prospect of at least part of the company being sold to an investor. Expert Fashion Commentator, Karine Laudort said: 'It must have been very difficult for Ms Bennett to let go of the brand she built from scratch and that is why she fought back and came back as a consultant in 2017. 'Unfortunately, this time around the economy and customer's behaviours have drastically changed with numerous alternatives which are drastically cheaper on the high street and online. 'Love it or hate it, but big giants who only sell online such as Fashion Nova, Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, ASOS or Farfetch & Net a Porter, for designer brands, to name a few, thrive without investing into brick and mortar and by investing in digital marketing, celebrity endorsements and offline marketing.' Chris Newell, Partner at business advisory firm, Quantuma, also spoke to MailOnline about the difficulties high street stores are facing. He said: 'High street retailers are facing a particularly tough retail environment at the moment, with a rise in business rates, increasing rents and a surge in the living wage of employees. 'This is against the backdrop of the tightening grip of online shopping on the market. 'In the case of Mothercare, and more recently, Debenhams, we are seeing that household names are not adapting quickly enough to compete with the draw of ecommerce. 'The shops that will fare better are those that are transforming their outlets with added "retail experiences". Take the success of Hamleys compared to the fate of Toys R Us as a prime example. 'The internet is not going away, and with these financial pressure points, we will most likely see other big names follow LK Bennetts trajectory. 'The appointed administrators of LK Bennett will most likely look to run the business for a short window of time, whilst they look for potential investors.' Ms Bennett's email to staff today said: 'I came back to the company in 2017 to try and reinvigorate the brand. It was a difficult decision, but I don't regret it for a second. 'I have fought as hard as I can, with all your help to turn the business into the success that I know it deserves to be, and we have had some of our best sales figures and reactions to our recent collections that we have ever had.' The designer then added: 'I know that these are difficult and unstable times, and we are doing everything we can to identify the best way forward. 'I want to thank you for your dedication, hard work and continued support.' The Queen of the Kitten Heel: How Linda Bennett turned a childhood fascination with her Start-Rite shoes into a 100million empire Fashion designer Linda Bennett turned her childhood fascination of fashion into a 100million empire which has helped afford her, her husband and daughter a life of luxury in London's upmarket Notting Hill. The 56-year-old fashionista is the found of premium womenswear retailer L.K Bennett which today said it would be filing for administration. She was born and educated in London before training at what is now the London College of Fashion, where she took the prestigious footwear design course at Cordwainers before working with French designer Robert Clergerie. Her mother was also artistic and practiced Icelandic sculpture while she says most of her inspiration came from her business savvy father who was a successful retail entrepreneur. The British affordable luxury brand was founded in 1990 after Linda Bennett spent 13,000 of her savings and took out a bank loan to open her first store (file picture) At just 26-years-old she saw that no one was producing affordable versions of the shoes being shown on the catwalk and jumped on the opportunity. The idea for LK Bennett was then born and she then took it upon herself to spend 13,000 of her savings and a bank loan of 15,000, which she repaid within three months of opening her first store. From then on she was dubbed the 'Queen of the Kitten Heel' and created shoes that were the perfect blend of elegance and comfort that could be worn throughout the day, before launching into clothing and other accessories. In 2002 Bennet won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, ironically from the same company which is now helping the brand through administration, Ernst and Young. In 2004 she was made an honoury fellow of the London College of Fashion and in 2006 she received an OBE for services to the fashion industry in the New Year Honours list. Linda Bennett, pictured, came back to the company in 2017 after leaving in 2008 when she sold her majority stake for between 80m and 100m Bennett founded the brand 29 years ago in 1990 with a store in Wimbledon, London. The brand grew quickly into an international chain and Bennett decided to sell the business to Phoenix Equity Partners and Sirius Equity in 2008 for around 80-100million. Despite having sold off the brand she retained a stake on the company board, before re-joining in 2017 as a consultant to the management team. In September 2017 Bennett increased her investment in the company and bought out the remaining equity from private equity owner Phoenix Equity Partners and at the time the brand was operating more than 260 shops and concessions in more than 30 countries. After the acquisition by Bennett the company stated that it would continue to expand and subsequently launched stores in China, Russia and the US. The curse of Kate! How the Duchess' endorsement of L.K.Bennett could have contributed to its downfall as the brand struggled to keep up with demand for designs the royal wore LK Bennett, a favourite of Duchess Kate, is set to file for administration Branding expert Claire Shiels told Femail it can be a 'nightmare' if Kate is photographed wearing an item from the high street brand Shoppers more likely to buy one-offs rather than become regular customers For any fashion brand, having a member of the royal family wear your clothes might seem like the ultimate endorsement, but while the 'Kate effect' can boost sales, it wasn't enough to save one of her high street favourites, L.K.Bennett. The high street fashion house, a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, is set to file for administration, putting up to 500 jobs at risk. Branding expert Claire Shiels told Femail: 'Celebrity endorsement is the holy grail for any retailer, although it can bring with it as many problems as benefits. 'Having your high street label worn in public by one of the world's most photographed women can prove to be a nightmare if you're not forewarned, which is usually the case with Kate Middleton. Kate Middleton, 37, pictured in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Wednesday wearing her go-to black boots from LK Bennett. The high street store is set to file for administration 'Retailers must walk a fine line between supply and demand, with production based on a number of factors including historical sales figures, market trends and buyer behaviour. 'A sudden and unexpected spike in sales and demand, which is what happens to a garment when the Duchess is spotted wearing it, often means that another immediate production run is required to satisfy demand and maximise the sales opportunity. 'Unfortunately, this can involve huge costs for the label, which then is unable to forecast when the sales surge is likely to suddenly drop again. 'The science behind production is therefore thrown into disarray and costs can easily spiral.' The Duchess, 37, has been spotted wearing L.K. Bennett numerous times - from a printed blue and white dress to her go-to black booties. Claire added: 'The problem for labels with Kate in particular, is that she chooses staple wardrobe items that are typically priced at the higher end for high street retailers and wears them more than once. 'This means that typically, her fashion followers will only purchase one item per season, rather than buying into the brand and shopping with them all year long. The Duchess of Cambridge sporting an LK Bennett dress for a dinner at Kensington Palace, London, during former US President Barack Obama's state visit to Britain in 2016 Kate, 37, wore a white and blue floral L.K.Bennett dress during a visit to Luton with national charity Youthscape in August 2016 'Despite the financial woes currently experienced by some of her favourite labels however, it is the market not Kate - that is to blame for the mass closure of many high street stores. 'As well as L.K.Bennett; Hobbs, Orla Kiely, Alice Temperley and Issa have all experienced significant financial difficulties.' Although it's a difficult time for retail, Claire claims some lower-priced brands including Zara and Primark have got it right. She said: 'Zara is in the enviable position to have been able to bring its manufacturing process in-house rather than outsourcing abroad, meaning costs are reduced and the brand is able to react quickly to a sudden increase in demand. 'At the other end of the scale, Primark is continuing to thrive due, it is said to its mass market appeal and its focus on engagement with its customers through social media. 'It is the stores which are best able to adapt and have a supply chain flexible enough to cope with fluctuating demand and market trends which will survive. Unfortunately for the likes of L.K.Bennett and Orla Kiely, this realisation has come too late.' A man who set himself on fire in protest over having to wait in line at a bank has been jailed for 11 years for the bizarre arson attack. Nur Islam, 24, poured petrol on himself and the floor of the Commonwealth Bank in Springvale in Melbourne's south-east, before setting it on fire because he was unhappy with the wait time to withdraw money. Islam originally faced 108 charges for the November 2016 arson attack, but successful negotiation by his lawyer saw 97 of these dropped. A man who set himself on fire in protest over having to wait in line at a bank has been jailed for 11 years for the bizarre arson attack Nur Islam, 24, poured petrol on himself and the floor of the Commonwealth Bank in Springvale in Melbourne's south-east, before setting it on fire The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including four counts of arson with the intent to endanger life. He was sentenced to 11 years behind bars on Friday, with the judge describing the attack as 'bizarre and callous', Seven News reported. Four people were injured in the stunt and Islam himself received long-term injuries from his burns. In November 2016, Islam, sick of waiting for service at a suburban Melbourne bank, started a fire which destroyed the branch and burned staff and customers. Islam poured petrol in the doorway of the branch before lighting it, causing a large fire and creating 'pandemonium' as customers and staff stampeded to escape, Melbourne Magistrates Court was told in September. Lawyer Barnaby Johnston said his client admitted setting fire to the bank but never intended to hurt anyone. Subsequently Islam pleaded not guilty to 33 of the charges of intentionally causing injury and serious injury. Islam poured petrol in the doorway of the Commonwealth Bank at Springvale before lighting it, causing a large fire and creating 'pandemonium' as customers and staff stampeded to escape Islam's lawyer said that close examination of the footage showed Islam pouring petrol onto the floor, stepping in the centre of the puddle and appearing to have 'deliberately lit himself' Dozens of people were treated for burns after the blaze, police say. A DVD was played to the court made up of footage from five CCTV cameras inside the bank, where terrified patrons can be seen running away from fireballs. However, Mr Johnston said close examination of the footage showed Islam pouring petrol onto the floor, stepping in the centre of the puddle and appearing to have 'deliberately lit himself'. 'He suffered the most significant and catastrophic injuries as a result of this incident,' the lawyer said, adding that Islam then spent four months in hospital with burns to 60 per cent of his body. The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including four counts of arson with the intent to endanger life He said Islam thought: 'I don't want to hurt other people'. The court was told the bank was destroyed, causing $2.5 million worth of damage, rounded up to $3 million including GST. It is alleged the 'unlawful non-citizen' from Myanmar had intended to withdraw the balance of his account - $442 - but became angry at the length of time he had to wait. Police claim he walked to a nearby service station, buying 11.33 litres of fuel for $14.71. It is alleged he then returned to the bank, pouring the petrol in a trail from the ATMs into the bank's interior before retrieving a cigarette lighter from his pocket and igniting the fuel. The Democratic Unionist Party could be prepared to back a compromise that allows Theresa May to pass a Brexit deal. The Northern Irish party is said to have told allies that it could back a revised deal in the face of efforts by MPs to delay Britain's departure and block no-deal. Arlene Foster's party, which has 10 MPs at Westminster, is 'looking for a ladder to climb down', sources told the Times. A concession by the DUP suggests that all but the most radical Brexiteers are prepared to make concessions and ensure that Brexit happens on time. Theresa May is due to give MPs a vote on delaying Brexit in a fortnight's time if her Brexit deal does not pass the Commons by then. Dominic Raab today became the latest hardline Brexiteer to soften his position in the face of attempts to delay Brexit and avoid a no-deal departure. The former Brexit secretary suggested it was no longer necessary to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement to deal with the Irish border backstop that has prevented a deal passing through Parliament. But much will depend on the contents of the so-called 'Cox Codecil' being hammered out by the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and how many hardliners it will appease. Arlene Foster's party, which has 10 MPs at Westminster, is 'looking for a ladder to climb down'. Reports suggested that Mrs May could seek to hold a Brexit vote as early as next week, but they were downplayed by Downing Street Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab became the latest hardline Brexiteer to show signs of softening his position on how a deal could be changed to allow MPs to back it How it stands in Westminster as Mrs May battles to deliver a Brexit deal. There are signs that all but a hardcore of Tory hardliners are starting to move towards being able to support a new deal. But Mrs May still faces a struggle to get it through the Commons. The move has created a rift in the more hardline Brexiteers. many are softening their stance, leaving a hard core of refuseniks. Earlier this week Jacob Rees-Mogg dramatically jettisoned his demand for the Irish backstop to be scrapped completely. What is the 'Cox Codicil'? What is a 'codicil'? A legal term for an extra document attached to a treaty - a bit like an appendix. What does this one try to do? It won't be clear unless and until it is published, but reports suggest Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is negotiating a codicil on how the backstop works. The obvious intention will be to make clear the backstop can only be temporary. Will it work? Unclear. The EU already says the backstop is supposed to be temporary and that language already in the divorce treaty says so. Cox's legal advice on the original deal was despite this language, if there is no future UK-EU trade deal there was nothing to stop the backstop lasting forever. The intention appears to be negotiating something that allows Cox to change his legal advice. Advertisement The leader of the Tory hard Brexit-supporting European Research Group [ERG] hinted he could back the PM's deal if it is tweaked rather than re-written. Mr Rees-Mogg, who had demanded the EU re-opened the Withdrawal Agreement and axed the backstop, now says he would back Mrs May if there was a time limit on the backstop in a document of 'equal legal standing'. In a major softening of the ERG's stance he said: 'If it were to be an appendix that would be satisfactory. But it has to be of equal legal standing'. Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today he wanted substantial changes to the Withdrawal Agreement, though he said the 'technical device' for making the changes to the backstop was 'second order'. He said: 'The substance rather than the vehicle and means is what matters. We need to see substantial legally binding changes. 'We're not being dogmatic on this.' He also suggested that a delay to Brexit would reduce the chance of securing a deal with the EU. 'The issue with delay is at this point in time it weakens our leverage - why would the EU make concessions now? The chances of a deal get that bit slimmer because they are less likely to compromise,' he told Today. 'I'm strongly against any delay, and I think from the EU's point of view it signals to them that actually their intransigence pays off and that's the wrong message for the UK to be sending to Brussels at this moment.' It came as Mrs May was warned that moderate Tories would block any attempt to leave the EU without a Brexit deal. Simon Hart, the co-leader of the Brexit Delivery Group of more than 50 MPs, said its members would 'struggle' if the Prime Minister were to say 'to hell with all of this, we are going to leave with no deal on March 29'. The Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire warned she would face a 'significant rebellion' including ministerial resignations if she whipped MPs to support no-deal Brexit, in an interview with Politico. But he added that there was a 'pretty good chance' Mrs May would get a deal through the Commons before Brexit day at the end of the month. Simon hart said that 'MPs are beginning to realize that you can hold out so long for whatever your view on what a perfect Brexit looks like' and were more likely to seek a compromise deal He told the website: 'MPs are beginning to realize that you can hold out so long for whatever your view on what a perfect Brexit looks like, but actually if it is going to sacrifice everything in the process, it is probably better to try and find something upon which you can agree,' It came amid reports that Mrs May will attempt a vote on her Brexit deal as early as next week. If it failed again, this would still allow the Pm more time to hold another before her self-imposed deadline of March 12. If no deal has been agreed by then she will allow MPs to vote on a no-deal Brexit and a delay to Brexit itself. However, Downing Street is understood to have played down the chance of this happening. It came as dozens of Brexiteer Tory MPs were said to be planning to back Mrs May's Brexit deal if she sets a timetable for when she will quit as Prime Minister. A number of Brexiteer MPs are now prepared to vote for the deal, even if Mrs May isn't able to secure any significant changes. Mrs May faces a new Commons vote to approve her revised Brexit deal on March 12. One senior MP told The Sun: 'We need her to lay out a timetable for her departure this year.' What is the Irish border backstop and why do Tory MPs hate it? The so-called Irish border backstop is one of the most controversial parts of the PM's Brexit deal. This is what it means: What is the backstop? The backstop was invented to meet promises to keep open the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland even if there is no comprehensive UK-EU trade deal. The divorce deal says it will kick in automatically at the end of the Brexit transition if that deal is not in place. If effectively keeps the UK in a customs union with the EU and Northern Ireland in both the customs union and single market. This means many EU laws will keep being imposed on the UK and there can be no new trade deals. It also means regulatory checks on some goods crossing the Irish Sea. Why have Ireland and the EU demanded it? Because Britain demanded to leave the EU customs union and single market, the EU said it needed guarantees people and goods circulating inside met EU rules. This is covered by the Brexit transition, which effectively maintains current rules, and can in theory be done in the comprehensive EU-UK trade deal. But the EU said there had to be a backstop to cover what happens in any gap between transition and final deal. Why do critics hate it? Because Britain cannot decide when to leave the backstop. Getting out - even if there is a trade deal - can only happen if both sides agree people and goods can freely cross the border. Brexiteers fear the EU will unreasonably demand the backstop continues so EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland MPs also hate the regulatory border in the Irish Sea, insisting it unreasonably carves up the United Kingdom. What concessions did Britain get in negotiating it? During the negotiations, Britain persuaded Brussels the backstop should apply to the whole UK and not just Northern Ireland. Importantly, this prevents a customs border down the Irish Sea - even if some goods still need to be checked. The Government said this means Britain gets many of the benefits of EU membership after transition without all of the commitments - meaning Brussels will be eager to end the backstop. It also got promises the EU will act in 'good faith' during the future trade talks and use its 'best endeavours' to finalise a deal - promises it says can be enforced in court. What did the legal advice say about it? Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said even with the EU promises, if a trade deal cannot be reached the backstop could last forever. This would leave Britain stuck in a Brexit limbo, living under EU rules it had no say in writing and no way to unilaterally end it. Advertisement Today South Koreans mark the centennial of a protest movement against the occupying forces. The massacre in Jeam-ri was one episode in Japans months-long harsh crackdown. We'll keep apologising until you say 'Now that's enough, pilgrims say. Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) A group of 17 Japanese Christians on Wednesday visited the historic site of a 1919 church massacre by Japanese police force and army troops. The pilgrims came to apologise on behalf of their country over the killing of 20 people on 15 April 1919 at the Jeam-ri Protestant Church in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The incident was part of the harsh crackdown by Japanese authorities following the start of the March 1 Movement (Samil undong), a series of protests against the occupying forces, whose centennial South Korea marks today. Rev Reiji Oyama led the Japanese group in a prayer at the memorial built on the site. "Lord, this church is where the worst case was committed by Japanese officials during the colonial period," the clergyman said. "Japan at that time tortured and killed the villagers and set the church on fire just because they took part in the March 1 independence movement." After the prayer, the Japanese watched a video of the Jeam-ri massacre and listened to the testimony of a senior Korean pastor. Visitors bowed down to the chapel floor (pictured). Some held a Korean-language banner reading "We deeply apologise for Japan's colonisation of Korea. We'll keep apologising until you say 'Now that's enough." Oyama, 93, slammed Japanese politicians for refusing to express regret for the past. "Japanese politicians [. . .] have never apologised for this. It's natural to apologise if you do something wrong. Lord, please forgive us, Japanese people," the pastor said. The visitors returned home after holding another prayer meeting for the massacre victims at a Protestant church in Yongin, just south of Seoul, Japan occupied the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. In 1919, following the death of Emperor Gojong of Korea, Korean political exiles and local underground groups drafted a unilateral declaration of independence, which they planned to read on 1st March. The 33 activists who signed the statement met that morning at Seouls Tapgol (Pagoda) Park, attracting a large crowd. A series of protests followed, sweeping across the capital and the country over the next three months. Japanese colonial authorities responded swiftly with harsh repressive measure. In total some 7,000 people were killed, more than 10,000 wounded and an unknown number (perhaps 50,000) jailed. House Democrats are launching an investigation into whether Donald Trump's abused his presidential powers by attacking the courts, FBI and media, it has been claimed. It will probe Trump's public lambasting of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his attacks on reporters as 'dishonest' and 'enemies of the people', and his mocking of the liberal Ninth Circuit Court, a House official told Bloomberg. The investigation is set to be announced in the coming days by the Judiciary Committee led by Democrat Jerrold Nadler of New York. House Democrats are launching an investigation into whether Donald Trump's abused his presidential powers The committee is reportedly preparing to summon witnesses and hold public hearings. Nadler is launching the probe over claims Trump's actions have undermined the rule of law - something the Judiciary Committee is responsible for defending. The public hearings will give Democrats the chance to put forward and explore examples of abuses of power, Bloomberg reports. The investigation - looking into his attacks on the media, courts and FBI - is set to be announced in the coming days by the Judiciary Committee Trump's war against the media and singling out of journalists potentially threatens freedom of the press, the source added. The president has attacked the media since taking office, describing the press as the 'enemy of the people' on Twitter. He's also went after the judiciary system, particularly by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who've ruled against his policies. In his 2016 election campaign, he suggested a judge overseeing a lawsuit against Trump University may be biased against him because of his Mexican heritage. A woman has been caught on camera dramatically throwing herself to the ground in an attempt to pull off a cash-for-crash scam in north China. The woman was filmed targeting a bus at a busy junction in Taiyuan, Shanxi province on Monday night when she rolled towards the vehicle and positioned herself underneath it to make it look like she had been struck. In the video filmed by a pedestrian, witnesses were seen laughing at the shameless fraudster's hilarious scam attempt. The woman was targeting a bus at a junction in Taiyuan, Shanxi province on Monday when she rolled towards bus and positioned herself under it to make it look like she had been struck After the bus came to a stop, the woman rolled towards it and wriggled underneath it The 'crash-for-cash' plot, known in Chinese as 'peng ci', literally means 'bumping porcelain' and is a common way for fraudsters to haggle money out of their victims. As the scammers appear out of nowhere in front of vehicles, drivers usually brake and collide slightly with their victims, who then feign injury and demand compensation for their self-inflicted wounds. The footage shows the woman lying in the middle of the road, waiting for the bus to approach the zebra crossing. Footage shows the woman lying in the middle of the road, waiting for the bus to approach 'It's a peng ci attempt! This is hilarious,' one bystander was heard saying in the video as the woman wriggles herself into the undercarriage. The driver alerted police to the scene She then begins rolling her body towards it, forcing the driver to veer away and stop the bus to avoid running her over. After the bus came to a stop, the woman is seen crawling under the bus and positioning herself to make it look like she had been hit. 'It's a "peng ci" attempt! This is hilarious,' one bystander was heard saying in the video as the woman wriggles herself into the undercarriage. The driver of the bus alerted police to the scene and the woman was handed over to authorities, according to Cover News. No one was injured in the bizarre incident, the report added. A Gibraltar murder trial has heard evidence from a six-year-old girl that her father stabbed his wife to death before injuring himself with the knife. Real Lishman, 43, is accused of murdering 32-year-old Carolina Lishman on the Rock in November 2017, which he denies. The territory's Supreme Court heard the young child's account that she had tried to stop her father from stabbing himself while her mother lay dying on the floor. Real Lishman (right), 43, is accused of murdering his 32-year-old wife Carolina Lishman (left) on the Rock in November 2017, which he denies A forensic pathologist also gave evidence that Mr Lishman had turned the weapon on himself, the Olive Press reported. In evidence read to the court, the child said: 'Daddy stabbed mummy, then daddy stabbed himself. 'I tried to stop daddy from stabbing himself. Blood got on top of me and mummy is in the kitchen. 'Daddy was stabbing himself, mummy on the floor, daddy on the floor.' The young girl was said to have left the house 'crying hysterically' and covered in blood. The medic, Brett Lockyer, told the court that Mrs Lishman had suffered 12 wounds including one into her heart which 'would have been fatal on its own'. The court on Gibraltar (file photo) heard that the child had tried to stop her father stabbing himself and had run from the house covered in blood At the time of the killing in 2017 Mrs Lishman, who was said to have grown up in North London, was described as 'a lovely girl'. It was described as the first murder on Gibraltar since 2015 when a Welsh man slaughtered his young family. John Shannon butchered his partner and two children with a knife before slashing his throat and committing suicide. Shannon, 37, who was suffering from extreme paranoia, was on steroids, cannabis and alcohol at the time of the attack. Mr Lishman denies murder. The trial continues. Hapless Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has been blasted after spending 33 million to settle a legal case over Brexit ferries. The Government announced the payout to Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel over a decision to hand contracts worth 108 million to three ferry companies to run emergency cross-Channel services in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Mr Grayling had already been widely attacked over a 14 million contract for one firm, Seaborne Freight, despite it not owning any boats. It subsequently collapsed weeks before Brexit without any vessel setting sail but before any money changed hands. Labour called for Mr Grayling to be sacked for overseeing 'serial failure and routine incompetence' in everything from Brexit planning to late-running train services affecting large parts of the country last year. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling arrives in Downing Street, London, for a cabinet meeting this week. Eurotunnel has today withdrawn its legal claim against the Department for Transport over post-Brexit ferry contracts after reaching an agreement worth up to 33 million The plan was designed to ease pressure on shipping capacity at nearby Dover if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal next month The Government said the 'primary reason' for reaching an out-of-court agreement with Eurotunnel was to ensure 'vital goods would not be put in jeopardy'. Seaborne Freight, which had been due to run ferries out of Ramsgate, collapsed last month Shadow transport minister Andy McDonald said: 'In any other sphere of life he would have been sacked long ago. I say yet again: this trail of destruction has gone on long enough. It's time for Chris Grayling to go.' People's vote backer Wes Streeting blasted Mr Grayling's 'inexplicable, secretive decision to hand a lucrative contract to a ferry company with no ferries'. He added: 'The amount of money already wasted on Brexit won't be recovered, meaning less money for vital areas like the NHS, education and defence.' Today the Government announced a deal with Eurotunnel to 'deliver improvements which will ensure the Channel Tunnel is ready to continue to keep passengers and freight moving post-Brexit' such as better security and traffic flow at the border. This will protect the 'vital freight capacity' purchased from ferry operators to help ensure the continued supply of 'crucial medicines, medical supplies and veterinary medicines in a no-deal scenario', the Government statement said. Ferry contracts were awarded by the Government in December to DFDS, Brittany Ferries and Seaborne Freight to lay on additional crossings to ports other than Dover. The deal with Seaborne - which was a start-up company with no ships - was terminated last month after its financial backer Arklow Shipping pulled out. Grayling's ferry failure: How the cross-channel no-deal Brexit plan descended into farce Chris Grayling has been widely attacked over his December decision to award ferry contracts to cover the possibility of a no-deal Brexit causing problems at the UK's borders: December 22: Department for Transport awards contracts worth 108 million to DFDS, Brittany Ferries and Seaborne Freight to lay on additional crossings to ports other than Dover in a no-deal Brexit. December 29; The news is revealed and the DfT says there was no time to put them out to tender. December 30: It is revealed that Seaborne Freight had been given a contract worth 13.8 million but owned no ships. January 2: Mr Grayling defended the decision as 'supporting new businesses'. He insisted he had checked Seaborne Freight would be able to deliver goods between Kent and Belgium if needed in a no-deal scenario. January 3; It was alleged the firms website copied its terms and conditions from a takeaway shop, with a long run of small print that featured a section about 'placing an order' that placed an obligation on a customer to check their 'meal'. It was later deleted. January 9: It was revealed Seaborne would not be ready to begin services until April, missing Brexit day on March 29. February 10: The contract with Seaborne is officially cancelled after it backers, Arklow Shipping, pulled out. The Government says no money changed hands. February 11: Eurotunnel launched a legal case against the DfT over the way the contracts were handed out to ferry firms. March 1: The Government agrees a 33 million deal with Eurotunnel and the firm drops the legal case. Advertisement The Government statement said the 'primary reason' for reaching an out-of-court agreement with Eurotunnel was to ensure 'vital goods would not be put in jeopardy'. It added: 'A lengthy legal case and the uncertainty it creates is not in anyone's interest.' A Eurotunnel spokesman said: 'Eurotunnel has concluded an out-of-court agreement with the Secretary of State for Transport, that will ensure that the Channel Tunnel remains the preferred route for vital goods to travel between the EU and the UK. 'The agreement enables the development of infrastructure, security and border measures that will guarantee the flow of vehicles carrying urgent and vital goods and that will keep supply chains essential to both industry and consumers moving.' Best for Britain supporter Layla Moran MP said: 'Another week, another example of why the transport secretary is called "failing Grayling". 'Not satisfied with handing a contract to a ferry company with no ferries, he has now spent millions of taxpayers money to cover the fallout. 'The transport secretary's track record of failure is something to behold.' More than 100 workers at a Bangladesh factory which makes charity T-shirts emblazoned with 'Girl Power' have reportedly been fired after striking over wages as low as 42p an hour. The 28 tops, worn by stars including Holly Willoughby and Emma Bunton, are created at a factory run by Dird Composite Textiles, reports the Guardian. Sold by F=, 10 from each sale goes to Worldreader, a charity which gives people in developing countries access to digital books. After being contacted about the claims, F= pulled sales of the T-shirt, saying they would wait until the issues had been looked into before selling them again. F= do not make the T-shirts themselves, and instead hired Stanley/Stella. The brand make most of their products in Bangladesh, and a recent Fair Wear Foundation audit found they pay the minimum wage to all their workers. More than 100 workers at a Bangladeshi factory which makes 'Girl Power' charity T-shirts, pictured on Holly Willoughby and Emma Bunton in this snap from 2017, have reportedly been fired after striking over low wages In a statement on their website, F= said they chose the Belgium-based company to produce their T-shirts because they had some of the 'best credentials in terms of sustainability and good working conditions'. But one worker at the Dird factory claimed she was beaten after the management ordered the attack, while others have complained of harassment. The machinists who spoke to the Guardian claimed they had been fired after a strike in January over the new minimum wage, which they say is too low at just 8,000 taka (71.34) a month. Union leaders believe 7,500 workers in total have lost their jobs in the area over the action in recent weeks. Dird Composite Textiles told the Guardian that the workers had resigned, rather than been fired. Writing about the claims on their website, F='s Danielle Newnham said they would look for another supplier immediately if there was evidence of mistreatment. She said: 'We print our t-shirts here in the UK but, we are always concerned if anyone is treated badly our entire mission is based on empowerment and if we receive evidence of poor treatment, we would look for another supplier immediately. 'All the research we have done in the past showed Stanley/Stella to be one of the best manufacturers both in terms of sustainability and working conditions they urge their suppliers to uphold, hence we used them. 'However, we are wholly dedicated to empowerment and have therefore closed our entire shop whilst any issues are being looked into.' The machinists claimed they had been fired after a strike in January (pictured) over the new minimum wage, which they say is too low at just 8,000 taka (71.34) a month Bruno Van Sieleghem, Stanley/Stella's PR and Sustainability manager, told MailOnline: 'It is only because we are transparent and give information about our supply chain on our website, and about the complaints solving process on the Fair Wear one that we are attacked. 'I can only tell you that we are doing the best efforts we can to select the right factories, to monitor them closely (physical daily control), and that all raised issues are properly solved with support of NGO Fair Wear Foundation.I believe not many brands in the B2B (or B2C) market can say so. About wages, there is little a small brand can do on its own. This is why we are member of FWF to make things moving the right way. 'It is unfair to let people think that only Dird or Stanley/Stella are paying so little. Our factories pay more than the minimum to most of their workers. 'Some factory probably pay even less than that minimum wage, and that would probably deserve an in-depth investigation. 'I do not say everything is perfect in our supply chain, but I can guarantee that we aim at improving the working conditions in the textile industry, at our modest and small level.' Dird's managing director, Nabeel Ud Daulah, told the Guardian the workers left 'because they were not satisfied with the new wage structure that was announced by the Bangladesh government'. He added that they operate 'with the highest regard for ethical and moral standards'. Neither Holly Willoughby or Emma Bunton were paid to wear the T-shirts in the throwback photo from 2017 shared on Instagram. Their representatives declined to comment. Dird Composite Textiles and F= have been contacted for comment. Joe Biden has a presidential campaign ready to roll but is questioning whether he is the right man for the moment, sources close to him say. Biden, 77, has voiced concerns himself about dragging his family through the primary process if he doesn't have a decent chance of winning. Nevertheless, the former Vice President's longtime advisers Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon have been interviewing Obama-era aides to flesh his the campaign team should he make the announcement, The Hill reports. Joe Biden's close advisers have been interviewing Obama-era aides to fill out his campaign if he decides to run, sources close to the planning have said But Biden has questioned whether he wants to drag his family through the process against a competitive field (pictured with wife Jill and grandaughters Finnegan, left, and Naomi, right) Greg Schultz, who served as his political director in the White House, is expected to be campaign manager. Donilon will take up post as chief strategist while Ricchetti, Biden's chief of staff in the White House, will take an overseeing role. Kate Bedingfield is expected to reprise her White House role as his communications director while Tony Blinken, Biden's longtime foreign policy adviser, will also take on a senior position. But questions remain among strategists over whether Biden is the right man to take on Trump in the presidential race. The clamor for Biden to join the pack has quieted as the Democratic field has grown more crowded and diverse, according to interviews with more than two dozen strategists, activists, party organizers and voters. Opinion polls show Biden, a former U.S. senator from Delaware who served two terms as former President Barack Obama's vice president, remains popular. But the Democratic Party may no longer need him in order to be competitive against Trump. 'I love Joe Biden. He's a great guy and a great politician,' said Jerry Shriner, a Democratic National Committee member from Idaho. 'I wish he were the president right now. But I'm not sure I wish he is president in 2021.' Democrats are in the early stages of an internal debate about how best to challenge Trump in next year's presidential election, weighing factors like electability, ideology and identity. The strength of the field - expected to include at least six sitting U.S. senators, plus several current or former governors, U.S. House of Representatives members and a former Cabinet secretary - is a factor in Biden's calculations, those close to him say. He will be more likely to remain on the sidelines if he feels a strong candidate capable of beating Trump is emerging. Bernie Sanders has emerged as an early heavyweight in the fight to take the Democrat nomination after his unexpectedly successful campaign in 2016 Kamala Harris, who drew national attention during her questioning of Brett Kavanaugh, and Elizabeth Warren, who has campaign against income inequality, both announced early But a source close to Biden said: 'If I had to guess, he's probably going to do it.' Biden associates have held discussions with potential staffers and supporters who could serve political strategy, grassroots organizing and digital campaign roles, according to two sources. One source said those conversations were necessary to quickly ramp up a formal campaign operation should Biden decide to run. Some party activists say, however, that Biden has not reached out to broad donor networks to gauge the level of monetary support he could expect. Biden, who mounted failed presidential campaigns in 1998 and 2008, said at an event in Delaware on Tuesday that he did not want a third bid to be 'a fool's errand.' 'What I don't want to do is take people's time, effort and commitment without there being a clear shot I could be the nominee,' he said. 'I think I can.' Biden chose not to run in 2016 when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was widely considered the heavy favorite for the Democratic nomination. Some political analysts have since speculated he could have won industrial battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that proved crucial to Trump's surprise victory. Biden's high name recognition among Democratic voters means he likely can afford to wait longer than lesser-known candidates to enter the 2020 race. But even that comes with a risk. 'The longer he waits, the more people are going to start to want to follow some of the new and younger voices they're hearing,' said Bret Niles, the Democratic Party chairman in Linn County, Iowa. Biden's age, ideology and record already are drawing scrutiny. If elected, he would be 78 when he was sworn in. 'Joe Biden is too old,' said Mary Donough, 60, a Democrat from Des Moines, Iowa, who plans to participate in her state's crucial nominating caucus next year and wants a younger candidate to challenge Trump. Corey Booker has also thrown his hat into the ring, campaigning on criminal justice reform and calls to unite a divided country 'There is just more energy there,' she said. Biden's backers will argue his age represents experience, said a former aide who asked to speak on background in order to explain internal talking points. 'Voters look at Donald Trump and they look at what we're missing, which is someone who understands the institution, someone who is an adult, someone who is seasoned, someone who respects the institutions,' the former aide said. If Biden does run, the chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, said on Thursday that Trump and the Republican Party would attack his work as vice president under Obama. 'Go ahead and run,' McDaniel told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland. 'Run on your record of stagnant wages, of jobs leaving this country, of manufacturing jobs fleeing United States of America, of bad trade deals, of bad foreign policy. The Democratic Party undoubtedly has moved left since the last time Biden appeared alone on a ballot in 2008, when he was re-elected to the Senate by Delaware voters for his seventh term. 'Times have changed,' said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. 'Does he meet the moment?' Green, whose group supports the candidacy of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, lumps Biden in with white, male, moderate Democrats who have faltered in recent elections, like Phil Bredesen, who lost his U.S. Senate race in Tennessee last year. Biden also will have to answer for his record. He chaired the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and was criticized for not doing enough to protect Anita Hill, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Biden has since apologized and said he should have done more to shield Hill from attacks by Republicans. Unions remain unhappy about the free-trade deals advocated by the Obama administration, and liberal progressive groups point to the bailout of Wall Street banks during the financial crisis that provided no help to distressed homeowners. Sharon Holle, who has been working to organize for Biden in Iowa ahead of his decision, argued his experience would appeal to Democrats nervous about the country's direction under Trump. 'People are scared,' Holle said. 'We're in a crisis right now. We need somebody we can trust.' A student at a secondary school in China has assaulted multiple schoolmates with a knife on campus during the lunch break, killing one and injuring three. The suspect, surnamed Song, had argued with the victims before launching the attacks on them in the classroom building and the dorm building on Tuesday, the police announced yesterday. The injured students are being treated in hospital and their condition is stable, according to the police. The attack occurred at the Pingdingshan Finance and Economics School (pictured) in China The incident took place in the Pingdingshan Finance and Economics School in Pingdingshan, central China's Henan Province, at around 1pm on February 26, according to a statement from Pingdingshan Public Security Bureau. The school is a technical secondary school and its students are in their late teens. It is said a disgruntled Song carried a knife and attacked other students - first in the classroom building, and then in the dorm building. It's not clear if the victims study in the same class as Song. All victims were immediately taken to the hospital. One of them, surnamed Chen, died after resuscitation failed. Further investigation of the case is underway. Knife attacks are rare in China, but fatal assaults have occurred in recent years (file photo) Violent crime is rare in China in general, but there has been a series of attacks launched by students against other students in recent years. These attacks include mostly offensive behaviour from school bullies, and occasionally knife incidents. In January last year, a 15-year-old top student in south-eastern Fujian Province was reportedly stabbed to death by a classmate in the classroom after refusing to help him with his homework. Last June, a student in eastern Shandong Province reportedly died after being stabbed more than 13 times by a 14-year-old classmate. It was said the culprit, who had always been a star pupil, was enraged by the fact that the victim had done better than him in an exam and overtaken him to be the best in his class. January 29, 2019 Smollet is seen with a cut cheek on Jan. 29 Jussie Smollett tells Chicago police he was physically attacked by two men in downtown Chicago while walking home from getting food from a Subway restaurant at 2am. The black and openly gay actor tells authorities the men used racial and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured an 'unknown substance' on him. Smollett told detectives that the attackers yelled he was in 'MAGA country,' an apparent reference to President Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' campaign slogan, which some critics of Trump have claimed is a racist dog whistle. January 30 Chicago police say they've reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance camera footage, including of Smollett walking downtown, but none of the videos show the attack. Police obtain and release images of two people they would like to question. Reports of Smollett's attack draw outrage and support on social media, including from U.S. Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren. Both Booker and Harris called the incident a 'modern day lynching'. Joe Biden said: 'We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts.' Police released this image of 'persons of interest' taken near the reported attack January 31 Trump tells reporters at the White House that he saw a story the night before about Smollett and that, 'It doesn't get worse, as far as I'm concerned.' Smollett's family issues a statement calling the attack a racial and homophobic hate crime. Smollett's family says he 'has told the police everything' and 'his story has never changed,' disputing assertions leveled on social media that he has been less than cooperative and changed his story. February 1 Smollett issues a statement telling people that he is OK and thanking them for their support. He says he is working with authorities and has been '100 percent factual and consistent on every level.' February 2 Smollett gives sold-out concert in West Hollywood, California, opening with an emotional speech, saying he had to play the show because he couldn't let his attackers win. At the end of the set, he announces that he fought back against his attackers, calling himself 'the gay Tupac'. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is in attendance at the concert. Smollet is seen performing on February 2, where he called himself 'the gay Tupac' February 5th: Chicago PD releases incident report which reveals Smollett did not want to call police. There is no mention of the MAGA country remark which he gave in a follow-up interview Brandon Z. Moore, his manager, gives police a screenshot to prove their call. February 11th: Smollett finally hands over redacted phone records to prove the phone call but police label them 'insufficient'. His neighbors say they don't believe his version of events. February 12th: Smollett's rep releases statement to say he is the victim and that he has been telling the truth February 14th: Good Morning America airs the full interview with Smollett, in which he blasts speculation that the attack was staged as itself racist and hateful. Hours later, it emerges that two Nigerian brothers were picked up at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on their return from Nigeria the night before. Cops identify the two men as the individuals seen in the surveillance images released from the night of January 29 but will not share their names. Two television stations in Chicago simul report the widespread belief among investigators that Smollett staged the attack as a hate hoax. Chicago's police superintendent later said that he had no evidence to prove that the attack was a hoax. Producers of 'Empire' dispute media reports that Smollett's character was being written off the show. High-powered criminal defense attorney Michael Monico reveals that he is representing Smollett. Brothers Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo, 27, and Abimbola 'Abel' Osundairo, 25, were detained by police on February 13 Police logs show the items that cops seized from the Nigerian brothers' Chicago home February 15 DailyMail.com confirms they are brothers Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo, 27, and Abimbola 'Abel' Osundairo, 25. Later, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielimi says the two 'persons of interest' are now considered suspects. He says the men are in custody but have not been charged with a crime. Chicago police release two men without charges after arresting them on suspicion of assaulting Smollett and holding them for nearly 48 hours. A police spokesman said the two are no longer considered suspects and that investigators have 'new evidence' to consider as a result of questioning them. February 16 A police spokesman said that the investigation had 'shifted' after detectives questioned the two brothers about the attack and released them without charges. Smollett hired Michael Cohen's high-powered criminal defense attorney, Michael Monico, as the police investigation into the attack he reported last month took a sudden shift amid allegations of a hoax. Smolletts lawyers said on Saturday the actor felt 'victimized by reports he played a role in the assault, and that Smollett would continue cooperating with police. February 17 A police spokesman said that Chicago police have told Smolletts attorneys they want to do a follow-up interview with the actor. A spokesperson for Smolletts lawyers said she couldnt comment on whether Smollett had agreed to another interview. This is the letter Smollett allegedly received at the Fox studio, a week before the January 29 incident. No photographs of it emerged until after the alleged attack. He reported the letter to the police when he received it along with Empire producer Dennis Hammer February 18 Stars and politicians who spoke out in support of Smollett walk back their condemnation of the attack amid growing suspicion that it is a hate hoax February 19 Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself from the Smollett case The Osundairo brothers speak with police and prosecutors in Chicago but are halted at the last minute before going to testify before a grand jury. Smollett hires Colin Kaepernick's attorney Mark Geragos and his legal team present a 'hail Mary' piece of evidence which stops the brothers' testimony State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx recuses herself from the case citing her 'familiarity with potential witnesses' Leaked information from the brothers' meetings with prosecutors and police emerges. They reportedly claimed Smollett was involved in sending himself the letter on January 22 February 20 Fox says Smollett is not being written out of Empire contrary to reports and Smollett's co-stars speak out in support of him. Smollett in his February 21 mugshot He is named as a suspect later in the afternoon and the brothers are seen entering grand jury offices at the courthouse. Smollett is criminally charged with filing a false police report, a Class 4 felony which carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment and a $25,000 fine. February 21 Smollett hands himself in to police at 5am. He is later charged with filing a false police report and posts $10,000 - ten percent of his $100,000 bond - and is released from jail. The actor then releases a statement through his attorneys insisting he is innocent and claiming the prosecutors' office 'trampled' on his presumption of innocence. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into alleged 'sexual aggression' by Catholic priest Luigi Ventura (pictured) France called on the Vatican to take action on Friday and revoke the diplomatic immunity of its envoy to Paris after sex abuse charges were filed against him. French judicial sources said in mid-February that they were investigating 74-year-old papal ambassador Luigi Ventura for allegedly molesting employees at the Paris mayor's office. Italian-born Ventura has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis. From 2001 to 2009 he served as the Vatican envoy to Canada, where he is also being investigated for alleged sexual assault. 'I am waiting for the Holy See to assume its responsibilities,' French European Minister Nathalie Loiseau told CNEWS television when asked if Ventura should see his diplomatic immunity lifted. 'At this stage he (Ventura) has diplomatic immunity, but the Holy See obviously knows about the serious charges against the nuncio, and I have no doubt the Vatican will take the right decision,' Loiseau said. Ventura is accused of molesting a man at the town hall in Paris on January 17 when Mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a New Year's address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures. 'During the ceremony, a city employee was repeatedly groped on the backside, in three instances, once in front of a witness,' a town hall source said. 'It was quickly decided to report the matter to the public prosecutor,' said Patrick Klugman, deputy mayor responsible for international relations. Prosecutors launched a probe into the alleged 'sexual aggression' on January 25 - a day after the mayor's office filed a complaint. The investigation is being conducted by Paris police, according to a judicial source not authorised to speak publicly because the investigation is ongoing. A similar complaint has also been filed by a former Paris city employee for a case that allegedly took place a year ago, city hall officials said. Ventura has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis. He is pictured with French President Emmanuel Macron in January last year 'If the facts are proven, they are very serious because when you are a religious leader you are supposed to have a moral authority, so I would say that's an aggravating circumstance,' Loiseau added. Ventura also faces a groping accusation filed in Ottawa. The man registered his complaint last week at the Vatican embassy in the Canadian capital after learning of the accusations against Ventura in France. According to the Canadian website Presence, which specialises in religious news and first reported on the complaint, Ventura allegedly groped a man in 2008 at the shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre in Quebec province. The alleged victim, then 32, was helping to serve Ventura during a banquet for the Feast of Sainte Anne. The man said that Ventura touched his buttocks at least twice, according to Presence. The embassy said on Thursday that the complaint has been reported to officials in Vatican City. Ventura previously also served in Brazil, Bolivia and Britain before being appointed papal nuncio to Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger, Chile and then Canada. Catholic clerics have been denounced in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ireland and the United States, prompting pledges from Pope Francis to rid the church of a scourge that has done enormous damage to its standing. The pope has vowed that the Catholic Church will no longer ignore abuse allegations, and he removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle late last year after they were tainted by paedophile scandals. The Vatican flag flying on the building of the Vatican Embassy in Paris France's Catholic Church has seen its share of scandals in recent years. On March 7, a court in Lyon is due to give its verdict in the case of Philippe Barbarin, the southeastern city's 68-year-old archbishop, and five former aides, all of whom are accused of covering up the sexual abuse of former boy scouts by a priest. That priest, 73-year-old Bernard Preynat, was charged in 2016 with assault cases going back more than 20 years. He is expected to be tried later this year. French filmmaker Francois Ozon made a film related to the case, and a court will decide on Monday whether it can go on public release ahead of Preynat's trial. In the past, the Vatican - in line with diplomatic custom - has recalled any representatives implicated in scandal. In 2012, for example, Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was secretly recalled as papal nuncio from the Dominican Republic following reports he paid for sexual encounters with children. The Vatican refused to extradite him to Poland for trial, but an ecclesiastical court found him guilty and he was defrocked in June 2014. The Church decided to further try him on criminal charges, but he died following a cardiac arrest in August 2015 before the trial opened. He was 67. In another case however Australian Cardinal George Pell, a close aide to the pope, last year returned from the Vatican to Australia to face child sex charges. Pell was not covered by diplomatic immunity in that case. Christopher Brannan, 31, of Virginia, was sentenced Friday to 34 months in prison for his role in the 2014 'cebegate' hacking scandal A former Virginia high school special education teacher has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for hacking into private online accounts of celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence, as well as 200 other people. Christopher Brannan, 31, was the fifth person charged in the 2014 'celebgate' scandal, in which multiple hackers obtained nude photographs and other private information from Hollywood A-listers like Lawrence, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kate Upton and Kirsten Dunst, who've publicly acknowledged they were victims. 'It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime,' Lawrence told Vanity Fair in 2014. 'It is a sexual violation. It's disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change.' Investigators said Brannan also unlawfully accessed the internet history and email accounts of his students, fellow teachers and even his own sister-in-law, who was a minor at the time, while he was working at Lee-Davis High School in Richmond from August 2013 to June 2015. Brannan was accused of accessing personal information belonging to actresses Jennifer Lawrence (left) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead Kirsten Dunst (left) and Kate Upton (right) have publicly acknowledged that they were victims of the hacking scandal Brannan pleaded guilty in October 2018 to aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer. According to court documents, the Virginia educator intentionally hacked into the victims' Apple iCloud, Yahoo!, and Facebook accounts, and obtained complete iCloud backups, photographs, and other private data. He was able to access email accounts by answering security questions that he could easily research by reviewing his targets' Facebook accounts. Brannan also used phishing email accounts designed to look like legitimate security accounts from Apple, according to federal prosecutors. 'Because of the victims belief that the email had come from Apple, the victims would provide their usernames and passwords,' according to a press release from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. 'Brannan would then access the victims email accounts, and search for personal information such as sensitive and private photographs and videos, including nude photographs.' Brannan also accessed the internet history and email accounts of his students and fellow while he was working at Lee-Davis High School in Richmond from August 2013 to June 2015 At Friday's hearing, the disgraced former teacher apologized before being sentenced to 34 months in prison. He said he suffered from anxiety and depression, and became addicted to pornography. Brannan was fired from his teaching job after FBI investigators alerted school officials of the hacking scheme. Four other men convicted in connection to 'celebgate' have been handed prison terms ranging from six to 18 months. George Garofano, 26, of Connecticut, was sentenced last August to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information. Co-conspirators: Edward Majerczyk (left), 29, from Chicago, was sentenced last year to nine months in federal prison. Ryan Collins (right), 36, a father-of-two from Pennsylvania, was sentenced in 2016 to 18 months in prison Chicago resident Emilio Herrera was sentenced last year to 16 months in prison after federal prosecutors charged him in a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to more than 550 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts. Another Illinois man, 29-year-old Edward Majerczyk, was sentenced last year to nine months in federal prison. Ryan Collins, 36, a father-of-two from Pennsylvania, was sentenced in 2016 to 18 months in prison in connection to the hacking plot. By Catherine Sas Q.C., Special to The Post On February 23, 2019, Canadas Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Ahmed Hussen announced that he would be launching two new 5-year Caregiver immigration pilot programs along with a new interim program for permanent residence for caregivers currently in Canada. This is welcome news for both aspiring caregivers abroad as well as for those currently in Canada. Canadas caregiver program can only be described as utterly confusing over the past five years. This announcement, while welcome, does not provide the much-needed clarity that our caregivers deserve. Lets try and understand the significance of these announcements and what it means for caregivers currently in Canada. First a bit of background: for many years, and up to November of 2014, Canada had the Live-in Caregiver program where caregivers would come to Canada to provide live-in care to families, whether for children or elderly family members. Prospective caregivers needed to have a minimum of one year of previous work experience as a caregiver or completion of a 6 month caregiver course, have the equivalent of a Canadian high school education and basic language proficiency (which was undefined) in order to qualify for a work permit under the program. Upon arrival in Canada, they were required to live in the homes of their employers and needed to complete a minimum of two years of full-time work as a caregiver before they could apply for both permanent residence from within Canada along with an open work permit. Once a caregiver obtained an open work permit, they were no longer required to reside with their employer. While this program worked well for many, there were notable incidents of abuse particularly because of the requirement that the caregiver live in the residence of their employer. In November of 2014 this program was terminated and two new 5-year pilots were introduced - the Caring for Children and the Caring for People with high medical needs pilot programs. These programs increased the both the educational and language requirements for obtaining permanent residence from within Canada after obtaining two years of work experience. They also terminated the need for caregivers to reside with their employers to be able to qualify for this program. However, overseas applicants for work permits were not assessed upon their ability to meet these new residency criteria and came to Canada on the work permits that they were issued thinking that, as in the past, after working in Canada for two years, they would be eligible to apply for permanent residence. Sadly, that was not the case and after working in Canada for two years, or often more, and being away from their families abroad, they were to learn that they were not eligible to apply for permanent residence. Recognizing the confusion about the two caregiver programs and the disconnect between the issuance of the work permit without assessment of the criteria for permanent residence, Minister Hussen has announced an interim pathway for caregivers currently in Canada with significantly reduced eligibility requirements. To be eligible for the Interim Pathway for Caregivers you must demonstrate the following: 12 months of Canadian work experience as a home childcare provider or home support worker or a mix of both obtained after November 30, 2014. Experience as a house keeper or foster parent doesnt count. Your work experience must have been gained while working on a work permit issued pursuant to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). (This means that you were issued a work permit abroad as a caregiver. It is not eligible to persons who may be in Canada on other types of work permits such as post graduation work permit). You must have either a Canadian high school diploma or a foreign education that is the equivalent of a Canadian high school diploma. (You must obtain an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to demonstrate this). You must demonstrate language proficiency in either English or French at a proficiency level of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 for each of the four proficiencies - reading, writing, speaking and listening. (You will need to have an approved language test to confirm your proficiency). The Interim Pathway for Caregivers Program is only in effect for a short time - March 4, 2019 to June 4, 2019. Prospective applicants need to act fast! Obtaining an ECA and an approved language test can take up to two or three months so you need to take immediate action if you intend to access this program! For information on how to obtain an ECA or an approved language test please see the following links: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immig... https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immig... As for the two new 5 year pilot programs for future caregivers to Canada, you will need to stay tuned as the Minister has not provided the full details of these as of yet. His initial announcements indicate that his new pilot programs will replace the former programs and that they will allow caregivers to come to Canada with their families and with a path to permanent residence - both welcome improvements to the program. Hopefully Minister Hussen will provide the details of these new programs soon and with the necessary clarity that Canadas caregiver program deserves. Catherine Sas, Q.C. has over 25 years of legal experience. She provides a full range of immigration services and is a leading immigration practitioner (Lexpert, Whos Who Legal, Best Lawyers in Canada). Go to canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email catherine@sasanding.com. Andrew Clarke (pictured in a court sketch of a previous hearing) is on trial for being an alleged member of National Action An alleged member of the banned neo-Nazi group National Action has told a courtroom that multiculturalism could cause a 'white genocide'. Three men are currently on trial at the Old Bailey, accused of being part of National Action, which was banned by the government after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. One of the man, 24-year-old Jack Renshaw, has admitted preparation for a terrorist act by purchasing a machete to kill Labour MP for West Lancashire Rosie Cooper. But he and two others, Andrew Clarke, 34, and Michael Trubini, 25, deny being members of National Action. Clarke was questioned over his views as he gave evidence from the witness box today. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said to him: 'Renshaw tweeted "#multiculturalism is white genocide". Is that a view you have heard him express?' Clarke replied: 'Yes.' Atkinson the asked: 'Is that a view you agree with?' Clarke replied: 'Yes. It is not a slogan just out there, there is a meaning behind it. If people intentionally flood a country with people from around the world, it can be part of a genocide.' When asked by Mr Atkinson who was 'flooding the country,' Clarke replied: 'I used to just be like "Jews Jews Jews" but that has changed. They are very clever and intelligent people so they get themselves into positions of power.' Clarke is on trial alongside Jack Renshaw (left) and Michael Trubini (right, in court sketch of previous hearing). They also deny being part of the banned far-Right group Mr Atkinson also asked him: 'It was National Action's objective to cause a race war, wasn't it? That is what they said in the speech before you joined, and you agreed with it nearly a year later.' Clarke replied: 'I don't know what you mean by race war, the thought of it is idiotic.' The jury was shown pictures from the 'White Man March' demo held in late 2015, including photos of National Action protestors holding and burning flags. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said: 'Do you know why someone at the demo would be burning the LGBT flag? Was a flag of Israel burned?' Clarke replied: 'I am not on trial for that. I was holding the communist flag. I've got friends who are gay.' 'I was not arrested for burning an Israeli flag. I did not have anything to with that. I do not know what you mean.' Jurors heard Renshaw wanted to kill West Lancashire Labour MP Rosie Cooper Mr Atkinson continued: 'There were two speeches that day that said what the views of National Action were and talked about 'enemies' and 'blood traitors.' 'A gay flag was burned in front of you and an Israeli flag was burned in front of you. Are they the enemies?' Clarke replied: 'I do not remember the speeches. I was not a member because of the speeches. There were just people of a similar age group and similar views.' Jurors also saw screenshots of a conversation between Clarke and his sister Catherine in which he wrote 'fire up the ovens' in reply to a photo of a Star of David on a US flag. Adam Davis QC, defending Clarke, asked him whether his views had changed and he supported the group once it was proscribed by then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Clarke said: 'It was a part of my life that was gone. The group was dead, it was running out of steam even before the ban.' Jurors then saw screenshots of the 34-year-old's Instagram profile where he described himself as a 'real proscribed terror leader with hooks for hands'. He said: 'It was a joke. I like to have a laugh. We are making a mockery of the terror label because there is no terror.' The trial continues. A man in north-west China has been hospitalised after he chopped off four of his fingers during a heated argument with his wife at home. The furious husband grabbed a cleaver and cut off his fingers out of rage during the fight at their home in Lanzhou, Gansu province, according to Chinese reports. The man's horrified wife immediately rushed him to hospital, where doctors were able to reattach the severed digits on his left hand. The furious husband grabbed a cleaver and cut off his fingers out of rage during the fight at their home in Lanzhou, Gansu province. Doctors were able to reattach the severed digits The man said that he knew he couldn't hit his wife so he injured himself out of rage instead The 35-year-old man told video news site Pear in his hospital bed that he cut off his fingers out of rage in an attempt to 'let off steam'. 'I knew I shouldn't hit or hurt my wife, so I grabbed the large knife behind me and chopped off my fingers,' he said. 'I did a stupid thing.' 'The patient's left index, middle, ring and little fingers were completely severed. There was seriously damage to the bone,' a doctor at the Lanzhou Hand & Foot Surgical Hospital told reporters on Friday. Doctors said the man would not be able to attain 100 per cent of normal motion from his reattached fingers. The man is now recovering in hospital after the operation 'The patient's left index, middle, ring and little fingers were completely severed. There was seriously damage to the bone,' a doctor at the Lanzhou Hand & Foot Surgical Hospital said The husband admitted that both he and his wife regret losing their temper after the incident The doctor added that the man would not be able to attain 100 per cent of normal motion from his reattached fingers. 'We performed emergency surgery and successfully reattach his fingers, but permanent partial loss of function is inevitable in the future,' he added. The man is now recovering in hospital after the operation. The husband admitted that both he and his wife regret losing their temper after the incident. Six Labradors have been put down at a Swedish laboratory as part of a medical trial for human dental implants. The two-year-old dogs were killed on Wednesday at the University of Gothenburg which has faced a furious backlash after it declined both animal rights groups' and individuals' offers to re-home them. Some 84,000 people had signed a petition to save the Labradors and the University's Facebook page is now flooded with comments slamming the 'shameful and monstrous' move. As part of the testing, each of the black Labradors had more than a third of their teeth extracted and replaced with implants. Put down: Pictured are dogs used in a previous experiment. Six Labradors were killed at the University of Gothenburg on Wednesday The University of Gothenburg (pictured) said that the research is being carried out by a highly qualified team, which includes vets The team had previously said that the dogs must be dead for researchers to continue to analyse the effects of the implants on their bone, tissue and blood. The Djurrattsalliansen (Animal Rights Alliance), which started the petition, had attempted to prevent Venus, Milia, Mimosa, Luna, Lotus and Zuri being killed as part of the experiment. Comedian Ricky Gervais and Downton Abbey actor Peter Egan had also thrown their weight behind the campaign, as did British activists from the Animal Justice Project. The Local reported Goran Landberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research at the university, as saying: 'It's difficult for us to reach a consensus on these issues, but dialogue is important. Researchers at the University (pictured) have reportedly been subject to threats and extra measures have been taken to protect them since the news that the dog's would be put down went public 'As we see it, animal experiments are still needed in some kinds of research, to develop new medicines and treatment methods and gain basic knowledge.' The case sparked an outcry in Swedish media, with a vet called Mark Collins recently speaking on TV4 to deplore the treatment of the dogs. Mr Collins said 'I do not understand at all' - he described how removing a Labrador's teeth requires great force and would put them in substantial pain. He added that because of the close bond they have with humans the treatment they have received would leave the dogs 'emotionally broken'. One vet told Swedish TV that the dogs would be 'emotionally broken' by their treatment (file photo of a black Labrador) Under Swedish regulations animal testing is allowed only if researchers can prove it is the only way to obtain the information. The university have received this approval and say that the research is being carried out by a highly qualified team, which includes vets. But the Animal Rights Alliance allege in their investigation they uncovered notes relating to the pup called Venus which revealed she was being treated for 'lying sores on her elbows.' They also said the dog was being kept in a cold room. Dogs were selected for the dental tests because of the similarity between their saliva and oral bacteria and that of humans. It also enables researchers to take tissue samples, which is not possible with patients. In a statement on its website, the University said: 'We do understand how animal testing can arouse strong emotions, but we also would like to stress the fact that periodontitis is still a major public health issue, and the research conducted here is crucial to many people. 'It may be difficult to imagine the problems arising from severe periodontitis, or following cancer treatment that causes a loss of speech. Not being able to speak, or eat with other people, frequently leads to complete isolation. 'The animals are always given an analgesic before any potentially painful procedures. The animals are put down by veterinarians.' Jorgen Svensson, security manager at the University of Gothenburg, said last week that the researchers at the university have been exposed to threats. 'They have been terrified and feel bad. We have taken security measures to protect those who have been exposed,' he said. Salisbury has been declared decontaminated of novichok after a year-long military clean-up operation following the Sergei Skripal nerve agent attack. Government environmental experts today handed back the former Russian spy's former house following the clean up of 11 other potentially infected sites. Military teams have spent 13,000 hours on the clean-up after Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were targeted with the nerve agent on March 4, 2018 and left seriously ill. They took 5,000 test samples from across Salisbury and nearby Amesbury, where Dawn Sturgess, 44, was fatally poisoned in July, during the 355-day operation. Following a year-long clean-up campaign, Salisbury has now been declared clean of the Russian nerve agent novichok, which was used in the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Russian secret agents unsuccessfully targeted Mr Skripal (left) and his daughter Yulia (centre). The mess they made meant completely innocent mother Dawn Sturgess (right) was killed after coming into contact with the military-grade chemical weapon The Skripals' house, in Christie Miller Road, was handed from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) back to Wiltshire Council today. Brigadier David Southall said: The incredibly complex decontamination work carried out by the Armed Forces over the past twelve months, in collaboration with their multi-agency partners, reflects the expertise, courage and selfless commitment of our Servicemen and women in getting the job done and done well. 'The handover of the site at Christie Miller Road effectively now concludes the significant military contribution to support Salisbury and Amesbury following the novichok nerve agent attack on 4 March 2018. Along with the house, the sites include the park bench where the Skripals were found collapsed, the Zizzi restaurant where they had dined beforehand, and the home of Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who was exposed to the agent. Lt Gen Urch, commander home command and standing joint commander, said it had been 'the longest running' operation of its kind on British soil. He said: 'Novichok is probably one of the most dangerous and most challenging chemicals in existence today and you don't need very much of it and it's highly spreadable.' The most severely contaminated site was Skripal's home in a suburban Salisbury street. It is pictured in March last year, shortly after the Skripal's collapsed, before investigators realised how badly it was contaminated Experts have now erected scaffolding around the building as they carefully dismantle it An estimated 600-800 specially trained military personnel, including the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear regiment, were involved in the clean-up, named Operation Morlop. Around 190 worked at any one time and there were 250 'deliberate operations' to cross into and decontaminate danger areas. A senior military source said the Skripal house was the 'most complex' but each decontamination effort was 'bespoke' to the site. Other sites were Salisbury and Amesbury ambulance stations, Bourne Hill police station, Ashley Wood vehicle recovery yard and The Mill pub. Ms Sturgess fell ill and died after coming into contact with a perfume bottle believed to have been used in the attack on the Skripals and then discarded. Police are hunting two Russian GRU agents, named as Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga, over the chemical weapons attack Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, was also exposed to the nerve agent but was treated and discharged. Mr Rowley's home, a Boots pharmacy branch and Amesbury Baptist Church were also among the 12 sites. Police appeal for info on perfume bottle The novichok was hidden inside this fake perfume bottle Wiltshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: 'Whilst today marks an important landmark in relation to the decontamination process it does not however mark the end to the police investigation.' Some 250 detectives have worked on the investigation, collecting 11,000 hours of CCTV footage, seizing 3,700 exhibits and taking 1,702 statements. Police are asking anyone who may have seen a counterfeit pink Nina Ricci perfume box or glass bottle in between the two incidents to come forward. Counter Terrorism Policing senior national co-ordinator, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, said officers were 'determined to bring to justice' those responsible. He said one year on there were still parts of the picture being pieced together, adding: 'We cannot account for the whereabouts of the bottle, nozzle or box between the attack on the Skripals and Detective Sergeant (Nick) Bailey on 4 March and when Charlie Rowley said he found it on Wednesday, 27 June.' Advertisement In January, the roof of the Skripals' house and garage were dismantled then removed and disposed of. The roof was removed because the extent of the search 'potentially spread the agent into every nook and cranny', the source said. Lt Gen Urch said ambulances used in the initial response also had to be decontaminated during the 'slow, deliberate and detailed operation'. Special dressing zones were set up near the Novichok 'hotspots' where teams changed into special respirator suits which included equipment not normally used by the military, the general said. 'I think our military personnel have demonstrated genuine courage,' he said. 'This is something which young girls and boys crossing the hot zone have never done before in their lives and it's been an amazing demonstration of physical and mental courage.' He said the attack, believed to have been orchestrated by Russia's secret service, was a 'despicable act', repeating a comment made by the Prime Minister in the aftermath. Teams involved in the clean-up will be 'recognised in due course for their courage', Lt Gen Urch added. A Defra spokesman said: 'The completion of clean-up work at Christie Miller Road, Salisbury marks a significant milestone in south Wiltshire's return to normality following the sickening Novichok nerve agent attack last year. 'The property was declared safe following extensive cleaning and testing by specialist teams. Wiltshire Council will shortly begin to co-ordinate work to refurbish the property, with residents of Christie Miller Road consulted on its future use.' Alistair Cunningham, chairman of the south Wiltshire recovery co-ordinating group, said this was a 'significant moment' for the area which can now 'look to the future'. He added: 'Work will begin shortly to reconstruct and refurbish the house so it can return to being a home again. We are continuing to talk to the residents on the future of the property as it is important their views are taken into account on how it is used in the future. Environment minister Therese Coffey said the 'professionalism' of all those involved in the clean-up had been 'exemplary'. Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey and Charlie Rowley were also poisoned by the nerve agent The body of a 23-year-old mother who was kidnapped from a Boston bar five days ago has been found in the trunk of the suspect's car after he was captured in Delaware. Louis D. Coleman III, 32, was arrested on Interstate 95 in Delaware on Thursday following a multi-state manhunt after police named him as a suspect in the kidnapping of Jassy Correia. Police surrounded Coleman's red Buick Verano sedan on the side of the highway following a short pursuit at about 2pm. Correia's family told multiple media outlets that police had discovered the young mother's body in the trunk of Coleman's car. Louis D. Coleman III, 32, (right in his mugshot) was arrested on Interstate 95 in Delaware on Thursday following a multi-state manhunt after police named him as a suspect in the kidnapping of 23-year-old Jassy Correia Police have not yet confirmed the identity of the body or the cause of death. 'She was a mother, she was brave, she was strong,' Correia's cousin Katia Depina told the Boston Globe. 'She did not deserve this. She went out to celebrate her birthday and never returned home. 'We want justice for her death.' Correia, who is the mother of a two-year-old girl, was last seen on surveillance video leaving a Boston nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and getting into a red car with a man. Police later publicly identified the man in the surveillance as Coleman. Correia's family told multiple media outlets that police had discovered the young mother's body in the trunk of Coleman's car (pictured above) after he was arrested on Interstate 95 in Delaware on Thursday following a multi-state manhunt Police released surveillance video showing Correia leaving the nightclub with a man. They later publicly identified the man (seen left and right) in the surveillance as Coleman Authorities searched the area near Coleman's home in Providence, Rhode Island on Thursday just hours before his capture. They scoured the dumpster area at the apartment complex where Coleman, who worked as a systems engineer for Rayethon, lived. Surveillance video had captured Coleman carrying a woman into his building and later leaving carrying two suitcases. Correia was not found inside the building and was never seen leaving it. Her family became worried when her brother and father tried to contact her for her birthday on Tuesday and were unable to reach her. They filed a missing person's report on Wednesday. Authorities searched the area near Coleman's apartment complex (pictured above) in Providence, Rhode Island on Thursday just hours before his capture. Surveillance video had captured Coleman carrying a woman into his building and later leaving carrying two suitcases Her family set up a GoFundMe page to help raise her two-year-old daughter and it raised more than $45,000 in less than 24 hours Her family became worried when her father tried to contact her for her birthday on Tuesday and was unable to reach her. They filed a missing person's report on Wednesday Her father, Joaquin Correia, had earlier told WBTS-TV: 'If I don't see my daughter, I don't know how I'm going to live. 'I feel bad. She told me, 'Daddy, I'm going to go out'.' Following the discovery of Correia's body on Thursday, her friend Joao DePina told the Globe: 'Women should have a right to go to any nightclub, and wear whatever they want to and not worry about being kidnapped and murdered at the end of the damn night. 'This is not what any family should ever have to go through.' Her family set up a GoFundMe page to help with raising her two-year-old daughter and it raised more than $45,000 in less than 24 hours. This is the horrifying moment a female TV presenter is attacked with a screwdriver by a member of the audience in Thailand. The broadcaster, Thananya Pipitwanichakarn, was assaulted with the five-inch tool while preparing to read out the lottery numbers in the studio in Phatthalung. The 35-year-old female attacker, named only as Prapan, walked in front of the camera and put the screwdriver to the presenter's neck before the crew intervened. The assailant was dragged 'yelling and swearing' into a van as she was arrested by police, while the presenter was fortunately unhurt. Preparation: The female broadcaster, Thananya Pipitwanichakarn, gets ready to read out the lottery numbers on TV in Thailand Interruption: The attacker appears on screen and holds the screwdriver up to the presenter's neck, as the host looks down at her notes The attacker is said to have been on a mission to get the police's attention in order to settle a dispute about her mother. In the clip the presenter is looking down at her notes and speaking into the microphone when the woman appears, obstructing the view of the camera. The attacker reaches up to the host's neck with the screwdriver before the presenter flinches in pain and the assailant is wrestled away by crew members. Police Colonel Wichai Wichayanaruepol said: 'Police had to arrest the suspect inside the TV studio and take her out. 'She was very loud and scolded the police, yelling at officers and struggled to be put inside the vehicle. Struggle: As the presenter realises what is happening she tries to fend off the attacker, who was said to want to get the attention of police in a dispute about her mother Rescue: The presenter's fellow crew members come to her aid and wrestle the attacker away 'She has been arrested and detained in custody while we begin the case against her. 'She has already admitted the attack and said the motive was to get attention for a problem with her mother.' The woman claimed that her mother was wrongly arrested for possession of marijuana and wanted police to clear her name. Police Colonel Wichai added: 'Miss Prapapan has a grievance with police because of a case involving her mother. She wanted to draw attention to that. 'The young news reader has been traumatised and was in shock but she was not hurt.' A Polish man who was unlawfully detained after being found sleeping rough has been awarded nearly 15,000 in damages by the High Court. Mariusz Majewski, 42, was unlawfully held in immigration detention for 38 days after he was arrested in Tottenham, north London, in March 2017. He was detained as part of Operation Gopik, a national policy to deport European Economic Area nationals found sleeping rough in the UK. The operation has since been ruled unlawful in a separate High Court case. Mariusz Majewski, 42, was unlawfully held in immigration detention for 38 days after he was arrested. He was detained as part of Operation Gopik, a national policy to deport European Economic Area nationals found sleeping rough in the UK. Pictured: Rough sleepers in London The Home Office subsequently admitted Mr Majewski's detention under the policy was unlawful. Judges today ruled Mr Majewski was entitled to 14,800 in compensatory damages. Mr Justice Swift said that amount would 'reflect the initial shock of detention, the continuing lack of liberty for the next 38 days and the dislocation to this personal and family life during that period.' He added the damages would also 'take account of the anxiety Mr Majewski must have felt at the prospect of removal from the United Kingdom.' Judges at the High Court (pictured) today ruled Mr Majewski was entitled to 14,800 in compensatory damages Operation Gopik was ruled unlawful by the High Court. It ruled the Home Office's position was contrary to EU law on EEA nationals' rights to reside. The European commission has said EU member states have no right to deport EU citizens for being homeless Mr Majewski first came to the UK in 2003 and was granted recognition of his permanent right of residence in 2013. What was Operation Gopik? Operation Gopik was a Home Office policy to deport rough sleepers who came from countries in the European Economic Area. The government designated rough sleeping as an abuse of EU free movement rights. It was introuced in February 2017. But by December 2017 the policy was ruled unlawful by the High Court. It ruled the Home Office's position was contrary to EU law on EEA nationals' rights to reside. The European commission has said EU member states have no right to deport EU citizens for being homeless and said EU citizens had a right to live in other EU countries 'irrespective of whether they are homeless or not'. Advertisement When he was found sleeping rough by police and immigration officers in March 2017, he was arrested because he was wanted for questioning over alleged threats to kill. Later that day, he was transferred to immigration detention pending removal from the UK and was unlawfully held for 38 days. In his judgment, Mr Justice Swift said Mr Majewski's case was one of approximately 30 claims brought against the Home Office in relation to unlawful detention under Operation Gopik. The ruling follows a decision in a similar case heard in January, in which a Polish couple who were unlawfully detained for more than five months were awarded nearly 90,000 in damages by the High Court. Iwona Deptka, 33, and Henry Sadlowski, 38, were unlawfully held for 154 days after they were found sleeping rough in Lancashire. Advertisement The finishing touches have been put on a floating mansion that can withstand rising sea levels and Category Four hurricanes of up to 155mph after years of development. The Arkup #1 was designed by Dutch architecture firm Waterstudio.NL and will cost a whopping $5.5 million to own. The property - propped up on hydraulic stilts - measures 75ft-long comprising 4,350sq ft of open-plan space including a lounge, dining area, kitchen and bathroom. Upstairs, there are a total of four bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom. This contemporary floating home in Miami - that can withstand rising sea levels and Category 4 hurricanes of up to 155mph- is on the market for a cool $5.5million The Arkup #1 - as it's called - was designed by Dutch architecture firm Waterstudio.NL who say the home is a fusion of cutting edge technology and luxury. It boasts a spacious living area which invites natural lighting to pour in through its many windows The property measures 75ft-long comprising 4,350sq ft of floorspace. Its hydraulic structure means you're guaranteed a good night's sleep, regardless of how choppy the water is outside You can relax in its king-sized freestanding bathtub which overlooks the palm trees and sparkling waters of Miami The hydraulic stilts can be deployed to a depth of 20 ft to stabilize the dwelling or lift it above the water line to avoid waves and reduce hull maintenance. The mansion comes with an outdoor area perfect for catching a tan and hosting parties The stilts can be deployed to a depth of 20ft (6m) to stabilize the dwelling or lift it above the water line to avoid waves and reduce hull maintenance. There's a lot of other tech installed in the Arkup #1 too, including a solar panel array and up to 1,000 kWh battery bank that Arkup says is sufficient to power it off-the-grid. Rainwater is collected from the roof and purified for drinking, and solar panels are used to power the internet, TV and radio. There's a lot of other tech installed in the Arkup #1 too, including a solar panel array and up to 1,000 kWh battery bank that Arkup says is sufficient to power it off-the-grid Rainwater is collected from the roof and purified for drinking, and the solar panels power the internet, TV and electric cookers The inside features an open-plan ground floor layout that looks out onto the spacious balcony area. It also features a lounge, dining area, kitchen, and a bathroom. Upstairs, there are a total of four bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom The model is currently for sale in Miami and Arkup says it plans to build three more in the next 12 months The home is propelled by a pair of 100 kW (134 hp) electric azimuth thrusters, allowing it to reach 7 knots. The Arkup #1 is fronted by a slide-out deck area, and generous glazing. The model is currently for sale in Miami and Arkup says it plans to build three more in the next 12 months. The firm is also looking into the possibility of developing eco-resorts in the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean. Spain plans to grant permanent residency to about 400,000 British citizens living in the country in the event of a No Deal Brexit, the government announced today. The government's Royal Decree of contingency plans includes the guarantee that all Britons legally residing in Spain on March 29 would be offered permanent settled status - even if the UK crashes out of the European Union without a deal. The only requirement for the some 400,000 eligible Brits would be to apply for a foreigner identity card before the end of 2020. The Spanish government made clear that the measure would be conditional on the same terms applying to Spaniards living and working in Britain. Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said one of the most important aspects of Spain's Brexit contingency plan was ensuring free movement along its border with Gibraltar (pictured) The decree says if the UK government does not offer reciprocal guarantees within two months then Spain can withdraw it. Announcing the Royal Decree today, Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said: 'Although it is unilateral measure passed by Spain, we expect that it will be met with reciprocity by the British government.' He measures, which Borrell described as a contingency plan 'in case Britain leaves the EU without securing a withdrawal agreement', will 'assure the continued rights of those British living in Spain.' One of the most important aspects, Borrell said, was to 'ensure the smooth flow at the border with Gibraltar'. The text of the decree guarantees freedom of movement over that border, which around 9,000 Spanish workers cross each day. Borrell further stressed that Madrid must be consulted on the application of any Brexit measure to the peninsula. Spain's plans to offer permanent residency to about 400,000 Brits living in the country if there is a No Deal Brexit on March 29 were announced today by Foreign Minister Josep Borrell (pictured) In what will be a huge relief for tens of thousands of British pensioners living on the Spanish coast, the decree extends ex-pats' current rights relating to issues like pensions, social security and driving licences. Above all however, the legislation states that Brits with S1 certificates will be guaranteed healthcare and British tourists can receive emergency care if they have a European Health Insurance card. All these rights are to be guaranteed during 'a transition period' until December 31 2020. The bill has received cross-party backing as well as approval from Pedro Sanchez's Cabinet. It will be sent immediately to parliament, which is soon to be dissolved ahead of early elections on April 28. It only makes broad references to other issues, such as the fate of Spain's national airline, Iberia, which is majority-owned by Britain-based Anglo-Spanish group IAG. But tourists will be reassured that flights between Britain and Spain will not be affected for at least a year, while the current EU agreement on air travel is still valid. The Spanish government approved a decree last month to hire 1,735 new public workers to deal with the consequences of Brexit, particularly in border and customs control. West Ham star Samir Nasri has avoided a driving ban after he was clocked speeding at 60mph in a 30mph zone - and failed to show up to court. The former French international, 31, pleaded guilty by post last month to a speeding offence over an incident which happened before he signed for the Hammers. Stratford Magistrates' Court heard his Mercedes Benz was caught driving twice the legal limit on a handheld speed gun in Ilford, east London, at 12.45pm on November 16 last year. The former French international, 31, pleaded guilty by post last month to a speeding offence over an incident which happened before he signed for the Hammers Samir Nasri (pictured playing against Manchester City on Wednesday) was today hit with a 400 fine for speeding The ex-Arsenal and Manchester City ace had been warned to attend the court hearing. Chair of the bench Jerome Geoghan endorsed his previously clean French driving licence with six points. Nasri, rumoured to be on 80,000-a-week, was hit with a 400 fine and ordered to pay 184 in cost and other charges within 28 days after the court heard he had not filled in a means form stating his salary. It mean the court had to assume a 'regularly weekly income', as Mr Geoghan added: 'As we have no information, we will assume the income levels, etc proscribed by the court in the matter of Mr Nasri, who has pleaded guilty to speeding.' His fine comes two days after Nasri made a return to former club Manchester City, as West Ham lost 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Nasri was caught on a speed gun going twice the legal limit in Ilford, east London The West Ham midfielder has returned from an 18-month doping ban Nasri was making his fourth appearance since joining the Irons in December - the day he completed an 18-month doping ban. Nasri was banned after he uploaded a picture of himself receiving an intravenous treatment at a Los Angeles clinic in breach of the World Anti-Doping Agency's rules. Nasri, who lives near Hampstead Heath, north-west London, received a six-month driving ban in 2013 after he admitted three charges of failing to provide police with the identity of the driver of his car which was clocked speeding. The founders of a music festival where a young man died are among those who have launched legal action against the government after being labelled 'high risk'. Five companies announced the move on Friday following the NSW government's decision to force 14 festivals to provide a detailed safety plan in order to continue operating. Among those involved are the founders of Lost Paradise, Days Like This Festival, Division Agency, Novel, and Finely Tuned. Joshua Tam, 22, died after a suspected drug overdose at the Lost Paradise festival held near Gosford on the NSW Central Coast on December 29. The founders of music festival Lost Paradise (pictured), where a young man died, are among those who have launched legal action against the government after being labelled 'high risk' Joshua Tam, 22, (pictured) died after a suspected drug overdose at the festival, held near Gosford, on December 29 The group's spokesman Jason Ayoubi told The Daily Telegraph the regulations were unfair 'vilified' the festivals in question. 'There was a real opportunity here for the NSW government to consult with an industry that generates over $1.8 billion a year in revenue to come up with ways we could potentially improve safety at festivals,' he said. '(Instead, the government) have chosen to vilify 14 individual festivals without any discussion.' The reaction follows the deaths of six young adults - five in NSW and one in Victoria - at music festivals in the past six months. Alex Ross-King, 19, died at Sydney's FOMO Festival in January, which was held was held amid increased scrutiny on drug-taking. The group's spokesman Jason Ayoubi (pictured) said the regulations were unfair 'vilified' the festivals in question University student Callum Edwards, 20, fell critically ill at the Beyond The Valley music festival in Lardner, about 100km east of Melbourne in Victoria. He was flown to hospital where he died three days later from a suspected drug overdose. But his family later refuted this as reports emerged Mr Edwards died with tiger snake venom in his blood. Mr Edwards' death came on the same weekend as Joshua Tam died at Lost Paradise. Alex Ross-King, (pictured) died at Sydney's FOMO Festival in January, which was held was held amid increased scrutiny on drug-taking Earlier in December, 19-year-old Callum Brosnan, (pictured) from Baulkham Hills, was found in a 'distressed state' at the Knockout Games of Destiny Dance Party Earlier in December, 19-year-old Callum Brosnan, from Baulkham Hills, was found in a 'distressed state' at the Knockout Games of Destiny Dance Party at Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush, Sydney. He was admitted to Concord Hospital with a suspected drug overdose just before 1.30am on Sunday, December 9 and died little more than three hours later. Nursing student Tina Thanh Truc Phan, 18, later admitted she attempted to smuggle 390 ecstasy pills into the Knockout Games of Destiny festival. The deaths of revellers Joseph Phan, 23, and Diana Nguyen, 21, at Defqon. 1. in September shocked the country and first threw the future of festivals into doubt. Johna Martinez-Meth, 46, pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of 46-year-old Adrian Sepulva, who died in May, 2018 A California woman bearing the now ironic name Meth has been sentenced after she smuggled methamphetamine into a state prison inmate. Johna Martinez-Meth, 46, pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of 46-year-old Adrian Sepulva, who died at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, on May 18, 2018. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, (CDCR) Sepulva had been serving a life sentence at the institution since 1997, on charges of second-degree murder. Martinez-Meth visited Sepulva shortly before his death, the CDCR say. An autopsy revealed the lifer had swallowed 'multiple balloons filled with methamphetamine'. Following the execution of a search warrant, Martinez-Meth's home was searched by police in August, where they found balloons, glue and methamphetamine. Martinez-Meth visited Sepulva at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville (pictured) shortly before his death in May, 2018 An autopsy revealed he'd swallowed 'multiple' balloons filled with methamphetamine (shown in a file photo above) She was immediately taken into custody, and, following a guilty plea, Martinez-Meth was sentenced to two years in prison. Drug abuse and drug smuggling is an on-going issue at prisons in California. Suspected overdoses killed two inmates at San Quentin State Prison in December, after opioids were smuggled into death row. Last year, 35 confirmed drug overdose deaths were confirmed across the state. That number has doubled since 2015. 'CDCR is committed to stopping the flow of drugs into our prisons,' said Bryan Shill, deputy chief of CDCRs Office of Correctional Safety. 'Our investigators will diligently pursue those who smuggle narcotics into any state correctional facility, and we will seek justice through aggressive prosecution of violators.' The Army Reserve's first female brigadier is set to become a cabinet member as two senior Liberals announce their retirement. Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo has confirmed he is going to stand down and retire from politics at the next election while Defence Minister Christopher Pyne will make a similar announcement on Saturday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will reportedly bring Senator Linda Reynolds into the cabinet from the assistant ministry to replace Mr Ciobo on Saturday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The promotion of Senator Reynolds, whose political career has skyrocketed since joining Parliament in 2014, will bring the number of women in cabinet record of seven. Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) will reportedly bring Senator Linda Reynolds (left) into the cabinet from the assistant ministry to replace Mr Ciobo on Saturday Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo (pictured) has confirmed he is going to stand down and retire from politics at the next election This will aid Mr Morrison's task of overcoming criticism that the party mistreats women. The resignations of the two senior members brings the number of serving ministers to walk away from the job at the election to five. During Tony Abbott's leadership, 42 ministers were sworn-in but 26 of them have either left politics, are preparing to leave at the election in May or were dumped from the frontbench. Almost 40 per cent of the ministers brought in post-2016 election under Malcolm Turnbull have already quit, retired or are preparing to resign. Craig Laundy is also expected to announce his resignation from politics which would leave his marginal seat of Reid, in Sydney, vulnerable amid heightened anxiety the government will be defeated by Labor. Mr Morrison will pledge to make Senator Reynolds the actual defence minister permitting the Coalition hold onto power amid the impending election. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne (pictured) will announce his retirement on Saturday Mr Pyne will remain in the role until the poll. 'Linda has the talent, the experience, the knowledge and the determination to get the job done,' Mr Morrison said. Mr Morrison said Mr Pyne was kept in place despite his retirement as a 'responsible course of action'. Mr Pyne, who will announce the end of his 26-year political career on Saturday, said it was the right time to retire, in a statement given to The Advertiser. 'It's time to retire while people are asking me to stay, rather than continue and end up later with people telling me to go,' he said. 'I have every confidence that the Prime Minister will lead the Coalition to victory when the election is held in May. At 51, I still have the opportunity to have a second career beyond politics.' Mr Morrison will pledge to make Senator Reynolds (pictured) the actual defence minister permitting the Coalition hold onto power amid the impending election. Mr Pyne will remain in the role until the poll Mr Pyne is understood to seek a private sector career but is yet to make moves. 'I'm confident that I leave my seat in good shape. I'm sure the Liberal Party will retain Sturt at the coming election,' Mr Pyne's statement said. Foreign minister Julie Bishop and Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O'Dwyer are also preparing to leave Parliament. Mr Pyne and Mr Ciobo, who were elected before the parliamentary pensions scheme closed to new entrants in 2004, would be entitled to pensions. Mr Pyne would reportedly earn an annual pension of about $220,500 a year while Mr Ciobo would earn about $188,000. Ms Reynolds said she was prepared for her new role. 'I understand the challenges we confront regionally and globally. I know what it takes to ensure the men and women who serve our nation in the ADF have the best possible equipment and wherever possible it is made here in Australia,' she said. A woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for viciously beating an elderly man with a brick in an unprovoked attack. Los Angeles woman Laquisha Jones, 30, was sentenced on Thursday following her no contest plea to elder abuse in December. A witness recorded video footage of Rodolfo Rodriguez, then 91, as he sat dazed, his face bloodied, after being beaten. The witness, Misbel Borjas, also took a photo of a woman with a brick in her hand with her child beside her as she yelled out. Scroll down for video Laquisha Jones, 30, is seen wielding a brick during the savage Fourth of July attack. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday after entering a no contest plea to elder abuse Rodriguez (pictured above in hospital) is a legal US resident and 91-year-old grandfather who was attacked with a brick by Laquisha Jones on July 4 Jones is due back in court on April 11 for a restitution hearing. Prosecutors said she severely beat Rodriguez in the face with a brick on July 4, 2018, as the man was taking a walk. They say Rodriguez, a Mexican national, did nothing to provoke the attack. He was hospitalized after sustaining a shattered jaw, several broken ribs and other injuries. As part of the negotiated plea deal in December, a charge of attempted murder was dropped, according to Deputy District Attorney Frank Dunnick. Jones also admitted to a special allegation that she used a dangerous weapon in the crime, and that she had a prior conviction for making criminal threats in 2017, the district attorney's office said. Although a witness claimed that Jones had screamed 'go back to your country' while attacking Rodriguez, prosecutors did not pursue hate crime charges. A GoFundMe account set up for the victim that aimed to raise $15,000 to pay for some of his medical expenses raised almost $330,000. Rodriguez, who now lives in Willowbrook, spoke to KCAL9 after Jones' sentencing and said that he was 'good and happy thanks to God.' He said he understood the law but he believed his attacker should have only gotten two to three years for her crime. A woman in the area caught the terrifying incident on cell phone video and said four men joined the mom in beating the grandfather Rodriguez, who has recovered from his injuries, denied that he had bumped into the girl and said that he believed Jones should have only got two to three years for her crime Speaking in Spanish, Rodriguez, who is a legal US resident, said: 'Everyone makes mistakes, and we have to forgive each other because God forgives us.' However his daughter Aurelia said she hoped the tough sentence served as a deterrent to those who would harm an elderly person. Investigators said that the attack was prompted by Jones' belief that Rodriquez had bumped into her daughter while walking down the sidewalk. Rodriguez, who is now 92 and recovered from his injuries, denied that he had bumped into the girl. Large blood stains can be seen on the pavement after Rodriguez was battered with a brick The vicious attack unfolded at around 8pm in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Willowbrook. Witnesses said Jones exploded in fury, shoving Rodriguez to the ground, picking up a brick and hitting him in the face with it. A woman in the area caught the terrifying incident on cell phone video and said four men joined the mom in beating the grandfather. Misbel Borjas told the Sacramento Bee that the mother told Rodriguez: 'Go back to your country, why are you here?' 'When I tried to videotape her with my cell phone,' Borjas said of the woman pictured holding the brick, 'she threw that same concrete block, tried to hit my car.' Rodolfo Rodriguez thanks well-wishers for their help, as he talks to the media gathered outside his home in Los Angeles on July 11 Rodriguez is seen above aided by his daughter, Aurelia, outside his home in Los Angeles The eyewitness said she called the police and asked the mother why she attacked the man, and was told by the mother that Rodriguez had tried to touch her daughter. The woman who witnessed the attack said that was a lie. His family said Rodriguez suffered a broken jaw, broken cheekbones, two broken ribs and bruises on his face, back and abdomen. In December Rodriquez told reporters that he doesn't know why he was attacked and is grateful for the outpouring of community support and well wishes he's received. 'I'm just a poor old man; I don't deserve it,' he told reporters outside his home. As for Jones, he claimed she was in the right hands. He said in Spanish: 'I'm not qualified to say she deserves five years or 10 years - that's not going to heal anything or heal me. 'What's going to heal me is Jesus Christ. They'll give her the punishment she deserves.' President Donald Trump blasted his former fixer Michael Cohen on Friday, demanding Congress examine a 2018 book proposal revealed Thursday by DailyMail.com that was universally friendly to the president. 'Wow, just revealed that Michael Cohen wrote a love letter to Trump manuscript for a new book that he was pushing. Written and submitted long after Charlottesville and Helsinki, his phony reasons for going rogue. Book is exact opposite of his fake testimony, which now is a lie!' the president tweeted. The Cohen proposal was a written book pitch, not a manuscript. But in light of his scathing congressional testimony Wednesday, it suggests a sudden change of heart about the president after the FBI raided his home and office a few weeks later. 'Congress must demand the transcript of Michael Cohens new book, given to publishers a short time ago,' Trump added Friday in a second tweet. 'Your heads will spin when you see the lies, misrepresentations and contradictions against his Thursday [sic] testimony. Like a different person! He is totally discredited!' Donald Trump attacked his former Michael Cohen on Friday after DailyMail.com revealed that he was shopping a book proposal in 2018 that was universally positive toward the president Trump tweeted that Congress should examine the book proposal; publishers got it just weeks before the FBI raided Cohen's home and office, starting his transformation into a Trump antagonist Back home: Michael Cohen returned to New York and was seen at a TD Bank branch near his apartment. The bank was not the one which provided credit to him which he used to pay off Stormy Daniels before being reimbursed by the president; that was First Republic Bank Taste of freedom: Michael Cohen is to report to federal prison in May and will be in Washington D.C. again within days to testify for a second day to the House Intelligence Committee DailyMail.com broke the news of the Cohen book proposal a day after he delivered scathing testimony to Congress about Trump, who he now calls a racist and a conman Trump tweeted that Cohen perjured himself 'on a scale not seen before,' and suggested attorney Lanny Davis, a longtime adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, was behind a deception calculated to harm him Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, broadcast Thursday night, that he watched some of Cohen's testimony while he was in Vietnam, where the time change would have made it Thursday when he saw the footage. Trump also wrote Friday on Twitter that congressional Democrats should not have listened to 'discredited Michael Cohen ... and the fraudulent and dishonest statements he made on Wednesday.' He later wrote that news of Cohen's book proposal 'shows that he committed perjury on a scale not seen before. He must have forgotten about his book when he testified.' And he threw suspicion on Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, who was previously a longtime Bill Clinton attorney and adviser to Hillary Clinton. 'Is he being paid by Crooked Hillary. Using her lawyer?' Trump asked. In the book proposal DailyMail.com examined, Cohen wrote that Trump isn't 'crazy.' 'dumb or paranoid,' a 'liar,' 'addcted to TV,' or 'in over his head.' The jail-bound and disbarred former attorney shopped the proposal, offering nothing but positive reviews of his longtime former boss who had entered the White House a little more than a year earlier. The working title was 'Trump Revolution: From The Tower to The White House, Understanding Donald J. Trump.' He sent his book pitch to several potential publishers last year. One, Hachette, reportedly was willing to pay him three-quarters of a million dollars for his wise words. In the proposal, Cohen, 52, said his most important job in his role as special counsel to the Trump Organization was 'looking out for Mr. Trump and his family.' Pictured: Cohen with Trump on the campaign trail in 2016 But Cohen, who is due to start a three-year prison term in May for crimes including tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations, thought he could do better and continued to seek more money, DailyMail.com revealed Thursday. 'I doubt he was offered $750,000,' one publishing executive told DailyMail.com. 'If he was, he was a fool not to take it. 'Everything he wanted to say about Trump was positive,' added another executive who discussed the deal with Cohen. 'Even in our meeting he was glowing with praise for the president.' The executive said Cohen did not tell him whether Trump knew about the planned book. The deal with Hachette's conservative imprint Center Street eventually fell apart after Cohen was charged with the crimes that will now land him in prison. In the proposal, Cohen, now 52, said his most important job in his role as special counsel to the Trump Organization was 'looking out for Mr. Trump and his family.' He added: 'Most of my work took place behind the scenes. Unless it was the sort of situation that required me to come through the front door with a wrecking ball, that is in which case my involvement was pretty obvious. 'No issue was too big, too sticky or too oddball for me to tackle. I saw it all, handled it all. And still do.' He started his proposal with a list of unflattering barbs that have been thrown at Trump since he became Commander-in-Chief. 'Crazy'; 'Dumb'; 'Paranoid'; 'In Over His Head'; 'Liar'; 'Addicted to TV'; 'Hates the Media'. 'All of these things have been said about my longtime boss, Donald J. Trump,' Cohen added. 'None of it is true. Except maybe that last one about the media. Trump does believe that reporters are out to get him, and for a very good reason. Many of them are. 'That doesn't make him paranoid,' wrote Cohen. 'That makes him a realist.' The nearest Cohen came to criticizing Trump at the time was when he admitted he is 'an exceedingly tough boss,' adding that could clearly be seen by the 'revolving door' at the White House, which by the time of writing had included the departures of national security advisor Michael Flynn, press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Priebus, communications director Anthony Scaramucci; chief strategist Steve Bannon, deputy national security advisor K.T. McFarland, health and human services secretary Tom Price, communications director Omarosa Manigault Newman, FBI director James Comey and just days before he wrote his proposal - McFarland's successor Dina Powell. Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe and staff secretary Rob Porter would be gone just days later. Cohen said in his proposal that he was the ideal person to write a book about Trump, which he said would be told 'by the guy who actually witnessed this stuff first-hand and lived to tell about it.' '(F)irst and foremost, I think I have a unique point-of-view to offer,' he bragged. 'One that is based not on headlines, brief encounters or armchair analysis from afar, but on my own up-close and personal observations and experiences with Donald Trump and his family over the past dozen years. 'That so many people are confused by Trump is not surprising to me. His world is a highly complex and nuanced place; it also has clear and very specific rules of order. Most people don't understand that or him at all. That's not really their fault. Because here's the thing about Trump: Despite his hyper-public profile Donald Trump is -- and has always been -- an enigma to most people. 'That is by design, and I'll be talking a lot about that, as well,' he said. Cohen promised chapters on both first lady Melania Trump and Trump's children, as well as 'the unfortunate saga' of Stormy Daniels, the porn star to whom Cohen paid $130,000 money which he told the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday that Trump had repaid him in a series of $35,000 checks. Cohen said in his proposal that he was the ideal person to write a book about Trump, which he said would be told 'by the guy who actually witnessed this stuff first-hand and lived to tell about it.' Pictured: Cohen on January 15, nearly 10 days before he wrote his proposal Cohen wrote his proposal on January 24, 2018, less than three weeks after the publication of the first critical book about the Trump presidency, Michael Wolff's 'Fire And Fury,' which claimed the White House was a chaotic place where '100% of the people around him' believe Trump is unfit for office. His book proposal was in stark contrast to his words to the oversight committee and to two other Congressional panels which he addressed in private. On Wednesday he said Trump 'is a racist, he is a con man and he is a cheat.' 'I am not protecting Mr. Trump anymore,' he added. 'My loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost me everything: my family's happiness, friendships, my law license, my company, my livelihood, my honor, my reputation, and soon my freedom. 'I will not sit back say nothing and allow him to do the same to the country.' He even made the startling claim that if Trump loses next year's election 'there may be no peaceful transfer of power.' But in early 2018, Cohen was full of praise for the man he had served for a dozen years. He said he would use the book to 'unravel and explain' mysteries that surround the president. Those would include: 'Trump's communications style, management style, negotiating tactics, combat profile, Twitter battles and family dynamics. Along with the Russia probe and the revolving door at the White House. 'I have a lot to say about all of this stuff, with the understanding that there are some things I simply can't talk about because I am, as I said at the outset, Trump's longtime lawyer. But there's plenty I can talk about, so here I am.' And he signed off on his proposal on a highbrow note. This, after all, would not be a downmarket tell-all, but a serious tome which would help people see what makes Trump tick. 'By offering my point-of-view, it is my sincere hope that I can help close or at least narrow the knowledge gap,' he wrote. 'For reporters, who have the important job of covering Trump; for lawmakers, who need to work constructively with Trump to get things done for our country; for global leaders who aspire to work collaboratively with America; for supporters, who have faith and put Trump into the White House; for critics, whose continued vigilance helps Trump and the Republican party get better at their jobs - Democrats, too. And for anybody else, no matter what your party or affiliation, who has an interest in gaining a better understanding of the world, ways and methodology of the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.' A 19-year-old was critically injured on Thursday in a hit-and-run rollover crash in Florida. Jackson Kelley was driving along US 41 when a minivan turned in front of his black Audi. The van was attempting to turn into a gas station when it clipped the back of Kelley's vehicle and he swerved into the other lane to avoid hitting the other driver. Jackson Kelley, 19, was critically injured on Thursday morning in a horrific rollover crash in Florida. In this photo, Kelley's car is seen in the center, closest to the silver van The van was attempting to turn into a gas station when it clipped the back of Kelley's vehicle (pictured) as he swerved into the other lane to avoid hitting the other driver The impact sends Kelley's car flying into the air and it flips over at least four times In the video, the impact sends Kelley's car flying into the air and it flips over at least four times. The car finally comes to a stop outside the Lantern Inn and Suites where shocked witnesses rush over to help the teenager. A portion of the video shows Kelley's car knocking down a fence surrounding the hotel's pool. Ohio native Don Fuchs was seen in the surveillance video running from his hotel room to help Kelley. He told Fox 13 that the crash 'sounded like a big bomb went off'. 'I wanted to make sure he was all right, get him out of there before it caught on fire or anything,' he said. First responders rushed Kelley (left, with his father, Mike, and right) to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where he is still fighting for his life A portion of the video shows Kelley's car knocking down a fence (circled right) surrounding the hotel's pool. Ohio native Don Fuchs (left) was seen in the surveillance video running from his hotel room to help Kelley The driver (in minivan) immediately drove off after the incident. Officers with the Florida Highway Patrol are still searching for the driver Friends and family set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for Kelley's medical expenses. According to the account, Kelley 'has gone through surgery and is in ICU at the moment'. Kelley's vehicle is seen after the crash According to authorities, Kelley was unconscious and partially ejected from the car. His vehicle has also hit two other cars parked in the hotel parking lot. First responders rushed Kelley to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where he remains in critical condition. Friends and family set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for Kelley's medical expenses. According to the account, Kelley 'has gone through surgery and is in ICU at the moment'. 'All money will go to his family to help in medical expense and aid in his recovery. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers,' the account reads. It's unclear if Kelley was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. Video courtesy WWSB Kelley attended Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton, Florida, where he played basketball. Last summer, he signed with Florida Gateway College, where he's currently a freshman 'Jack has taken the next step in life. Signed to play JUCO ball. He knows what he needs to do to play at university and he is going to put in the work,' his father Mike Kelley (pictured with Jack) shared on Facebook in June 2018 Kelley attended Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton, Florida, where he played basketball. Last summer, he signed with Florida Gateway College, where he's currently a freshman. 'Jack has taken the next step in life. Signed to play JUCO ball. He knows what he needs to do to play at university and he is going to put in the work,' his father Mike Kelley shared on Facebook in June 2018. The driver of the van immediately drove off after the incident. Officers with the Florida Highway Patrol are still searching for the driver. Anyone with information on the identity of the hit-and-run driver is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at 941-751-8350. Lauren Ashley Kavanaugh, 25,has been indicted on three charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl A Texas woman known as the 'Girl in the Closet' after being rescued from a trash- and feces-strewn cupboard as a child has been indicted on child sex abuse charges. Lauren Ashley Kavanaugh, 25, was indicted on three counts of sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl by a grand jury on Thursday. Kavanaugh, who also suffered horrifying sexual abuse as part of her former captivity, has been held in a Denton County jail since her arrest in December last year. She is now facing up to 60 years behind bars if she if found guilty on all three counts. Kavanaugh was arrested after her alleged victim told officers that the pair had been in a 'sexual relationship' for two months, according to Dallas News. The two met through a Facebook account called 'The Lauren Kavanaugh Story' where Kavanaugh offered support and friendship to victims of abuse, according to detectives. That page has since been taken down. Kavanaugh was dubbed the 'Girl in the Closet' after she was rescued in 2001 at the age of eight from her Texas mobile home where she lived in a filthy 4 by 8 ft closet. She is pictured left in 2017 and at high school graduation right When she was rescued from the Dallas, Texas, home in 2001 she was eight and weighed just 25.6 pounds, the same as the average two-year-old, and was potbellied with malnutrition Kavanaugh admitted to detectives that she had a 'sexual relationship' with the teen and was then arrested. The two allegedly got into a relationship and the victim's parents said that Kavanaugh was living with them, according to NBC. Kavanaugh suffered horrific abuse as a child where she lived in a 4 by 8 feet closet in her family's mobile home in Hutchins and was starved, raped, and tortured by her mother Barbara Atkinson and stepfather Kenneth Atkinson. A neighbor tipped off authorities to the abuse and Kavanaugh was rescued in 2001. She weighed just 25.6 pounds when she was found. A doctor later testified the little girl had been sexually abused so badly that she needed surgery, according to People Magazine. The abusive parents are serving life sentences for felony injury to a child and will be eligible for parole in 2031. She was starved, tortured, and raped in a 4 by 8 feet closet (above) by her mother and stepfather who are now serving life in prison sentences A 21-year-old California man has been arrested on child abuse charges after police say he admitted to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he met on the dating app Tinder. According to a press release from Santa Ana Police Department, officers responded on Wednesday to a charter school where a 12-year-old student was reported to have been sexually assaulted by a man. The victim told police she had posed as a 19-year-old woman on Tinder, where she first connected with Sean Rickard, of Anaheim, last year. Scroll down for video Sean Rickard, 21 (left and right), of California, has been charged with multiple counts of child abuse for allegedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he met on the dating app Tinder Rickard was arrested in a sting operation after being lured by an undercover officer pretending to be the 12-year-old to a parking lot in Anaheim (pictured) The victim said that she had posed as a 19-year-old on Tinder, but a couple of weeks before the sex assault, she told Rickard her real age The victim and Rickard had exchanged messages for eight months via social media before she revealed her true age a few weeks ago, but apparently that did nothing to deter the 21-year-old man. According to police, the 12-year-old girl skipped school on Monday and was picked up by Rickard, who then took her to a parking lot in Santa Ana and sexually assaulted her. Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said that they learned of the assault thanks to one of the victim's schoolmates, who saw the girl with Rickard, snapped a photo of the pair and showed it to her parents, who then contacted the authorities. After learning that Rickard communicated with the victim through Snapchat, detectives posed as the victim and began talking to him. Rickard believed he was talking to the 12-year-old girl and sent her video of himself masturbating, according to police. He also allegedly agreed to meet the girl later that evening to have sex again. Rickard is pictured with his parents and two sisters; his neighbor said he's a 'great kid' Detectives set up a sting operation and waited for Rickard as he parked behind a clothing store in Anaheim. As soon as he got out of his car, the suspect was arrested. During an interview with police, the 21-year-old reportedly admitted to knowing the victim was 12-years-old and to picking her up from school for sex. Rickard also allegedly admitted to driving to the clothing store in order engage in sex acts with the child. Rickard was later booked into the Orange County Jail on multiple counts of child abuse. His bail has been set at $100,000. Police have learned of alleged assault from the victim's schoolmate, who saw her with Rickard (pictured with his sisters) and told her parents Rickards next-door-neighbor Maria Aguilar told CBS2 she was shocked by the allegations against him. She said she's always known him to be a kind, friendly young man from a 'great family.' Facebook posts reveal that Rickard's mother works as a dental hygienist, and he has two sisters with whom he appears to be very close. Police believe there could be additional victims out there and are asking anyone with information to contact them at 714-245-8368. A Texas teacher was filmed launching a vile, racist and xenophobic rant against a Muslim woman in a grocery store parking lot, and her explicit tirade cost her job. Mai Mohamed was in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store in west Houston on Sunday when the female teacher approached her and started shouting at her, targeting her hijab. Mohamed has been living in Houston for the past three years on a visa from Egypt with her husband and four children. She says she was filling her water bottle outside the store when the unidentified woman allegedly stared at her, approached, and began to berate her. 'F**k you b***h. f**k you. Get the f**k back to your country, b***h. Get the f**k back to your country, b***h. Ugly b***h...piece of s**t,' the woman said, flicking her off. Muslim woman Mai Mohamed was verbally assaulted as she was standing outside a Kroger grocery store in Houston, Texas on Sunday by another female customer (above) who allegedly took issue with her hijab and said: 'Get the f**k back to your country, b***h' The woman flicked her off and told her 'This lowlife needs to go back to her country' Mohamed whipped out her phone to record the tirade and replies in a shaky voice: 'Again please? Oh, oh, I'll put it on social media.' When an employee says something to the two yelling women, the woman says: 'This lowlife needs to go back to her country'. Mohamed then filmed the store employee stationed at the front of the Kroger saying: 'Did you hear what she said? Did you hear?' The employee asked what she said adding, 'Y'all need to carry along. I need you to get the camera off', rather than listening to her as she shakily tries to explain the verbal assault. 'I'm in Kroger. That's what happened. Bad woman and one also bad worker tell me like this,' Mohamed said to the camera as she walked towards her car. 'I felt hate when she looked at me. I don't know why,' Mohamed said to the Houston Chronicle on the incident. The video was then posted on Facebook by Mohamed's friend Fatima Loughlin-Saleh on Sunday. She reportedly approached Mohamed as she was filling her water bottle outside of the Houston Kroger, eyed her hijab, then started making comments that escalated into the tirade Mohamed has been living in Houston for the past three years on a visa from Egypt with her husband and four children. The woman who launched the verbal attack against her above Mohamed turned the camera to a Kroger employee who watched the tirade go down who simply asked her to put her camera away without intervening The incident took place here at a Kroger in West Houston on Sunday 'Why is there so much ignorance in a city as culturally diverse as Houston? Why is someone as educated as my friend Mai being harassed in the store, told she looks and dresses "funny" then when she records the woman is further cursed and nearly attacked? Why didn't the employee even step in to say that that was not tolerated on the property???' Loughlin-Saleh wrote in her outraged post. The video ha gone viral racking up 33,000 views. The unidentified woman behind the attack was a teacher at Awty International School in Houston and was subsequently fired following the viral video, according to Click2Houston. 'A video that has been shared online features a recent exchange between the teacher and another woman in a grocery store parking lot. The video includes racially offensive or xenophobic language,' AWTY said to DailyMail.com in a statement. 'While the video only captures a portion of the exchange and we do not have all of the facts, it is clear that the teacher's words and behaviors are counter to our school's values,' the statement added. The school said it had not viewed such behavior from this teacher prior and 'as a result of this behavior, the teacher's employment at the school has been terminated, effective immediately.' She has not been charged with a crime for the incident. The video was then posted on Facebook by Mohamed's friend Fatime Loughlin-Saleh on Sunday where it's gone viral racking up 33,000 views The assailant, who hasn't been named, was a teacher at Awty International School in Houston and was fired after her explicit and xenophobic rant went viral Following the incident Mohamed spoke with managers at the Kroger store. She's also working with civil rights attorney Arsalan Safiullah to determine if the verbal attack constitutes as a hate crime. DailyMail.com has reached out to her lawyer for comment. The Council on American Islamic Relations in Houston responded to the incident by calling for other Muslim people in the community to report any bias incidents. 'I mean, clearly it was a shocking incident. Its very hateful. Whether its a hate crime, Im going to have to look at more facts. Its clearly xenophobic. Even when I saw [Mohamed] yesterday she was shaken by the incident,' Safiullah said to Yahoo. 'This hurt me to see Mai, who is so sweet, verbally abused like this when I know who she is as a person,' Loughlin-Saleh added. Kroger is yet reply to DailyMail.com's request for comment, but posted to a user on Twitter: 'We have identified this was an isolated incident involving two customers in the parking lot of our store. 'The incident was upsetting, and our store manager tried to peacefully resolve the negative interaction. We value all our customers and apologize if anyone was made to feel less than welcomed.' He had said party was 'too apologetic' about anti-Semitism, sparking uproar Diane Abbott's local Labour branch has been dragged into a new anti-Semitism row Diane Abbott's local Labour branch has been dragged into a new anti-Semitism row after saying it was a 'scandal' to describe the party as racist. The Hackney North and Stoke Newington Constituency Labour Party (CLP) voted in favour of a measure on Thursday night blasting the idea that Jeremy Corbyn's party was 'institutionally anti-Semitic'. It came the day after Mr Corbyn's friend and ally Chris Williamson was suspended for saying Labour had been 'too apologetic' about anti-Jewish abuse claims, prompting uproar from MPs. The seat, which is home to the countrys largest ultra-orthodox Jewish community, voted 45 to 35 in favour of the motion. Miss Abbott did not speak out against it. Those opposed to it were left in tears, the Jewish Chronicle reported. It said the CLP 'notes with increasing alarm the acceptance of the 'fact' that the Labour Party is 'institutionally anti-Semitic' by not only the media, but the right wing of the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party). 'It is distracting people's attention away from the calamitous consequences of the Tory government's continuing austerity and its disastrous handling of the Brexit issue as it nears the 29 March deadline. 'It is a scandal that we are allowing ourselves to be branded as a racist party.' Derby North's Chris Williamson was suspended from Labour on Wednesday as the party investigates his recent behaviour, following pressure from other MPs It called on Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to immediately implement trigger ballot procedures in all constituencies in order to allow members to decide on the future of their MPs. 'It is unacceptable to allow our representatives to slander the party and its members whilst we put them into office,' the motion said. Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy said the motion was 'disgraceful' and called on Labour's general secretary Jennie Formby to 'investigate for the sake of all'. Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy attacked the decision taken by Diane Abbott's local Labour branch Local Labour member Patrick Moule posted the motion on Twitter and voiced his disgust at what had happened She said: 'What on earth is going on in Hackney North Labour that such a motion can be put forward?' A Labour source said: 'CLPs are not involved in individual disciplinary cases and can't influence them, which would be entirely inappropriate. 'Rather than looking inwards and fueling internal divisions, we should be focusing on campaigning, developing our hugely popular manifesto and working together to fight the Tories.' Local Labour member Patrick Moule posted a picture of the motion on Twitter, saying: 'Hackney North CLP passed this utter disgrace of a motion this evening, 45 votes to 35. 'Jewish members bravely spoke up and their lived experience was ignored and denied. 'I feel ashamed and bereft that my political home of over a decade has sunk so low.' Mr Williamson, the Derby North MP, has vowed to clear his name, saying he had a 'very strong case'. He won support from activists in Sheffield Hallam, where the constituency Labour party passed a motion saying the allegation Mr Williamson was downplaying anti-Semitism was 'totally unfounded' and pledged to write to Ms Formby calling for his reinstatement. Oliver Coppard, who was Labour's candidate in Sheffield Hallam in 2015, said he was 'genuinely saddened' by the motion, adding: 'I know that the 40 members who voted to ignore the genuine concerns of the Jewish community and good people from across our movement do not speak for the majority of the members of our party in Sheffield Hallam or the community itself.' A Labour Party spokesman said that while anti-Semitism complains since April related to 0.1 per cent of its membership 'one anti-Semite in our party is one too many', adding: 'We are determined to tackle antisemitism and root it out of our party once and for all membership.' Northern Australia set to go wild about rice A new Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA) project will lay the foundation for a northern Australian rice sector with the potential to produce more than one million tonnes of specialty rice annually. CRCNA Chair Sheriden Morris announced the CRCNAs latest $505,000 research collaboration will be the first of its kind undertaken in Australia. This project will take a broad look at the whole northern Australian rice supply chain and really zero in on what the opportunities for development are, given the current operational environment, and what can be done to improve this environment to facilitate growth across the industry. We expect this body of work will deliver an action plan for the industry and inform the CRCNAs strategic investment and research planning into the future, Ms Morris said. QAAFIs Professor Robert Henry said northern Australia is well-placed to capitalise on emerging markets for speciality wild rice products and this research will help identify where further efforts and investment is needed. This region has significant potential to meet growing demand for high quality rice products, but what we need is to bring all of the information and research together and identify the right combination of market, varieties, production methods, transportation and processing requirements to develop and deliver a cohesive long-term action plan for the industry. The 18-month research project will evaluate three different northern rice industry scenarios including examining the production of wild rice, the production of a unique northern Australian rice variety and the potential for commercial use of genes from Australian wild rice to support the breeding of rice for global production. Professor Henry said the wild rice industry could be an attractive opportunity for traditional owner-led enterprises, while developing a unique northern Australia rice variety could tap into consumer demand for high-value foods. We estimate by increasing wild rice production to around 100 tonnes a year, the industry would be worth around $10 million per year within 5 years, while a North Australian Rice grade would be worth $50 million annually within seven years. Charles Darwin University Senior Lecturer in Plant Science Dr Sean Bellairs said the regions native wild rice species are overlooked in the current agricultural system. The Canadian wild rice industry shows that we can develop our unique Australian native rices into a globally significant product in a way that supports many Indigenous and other enterprises. The situational analysis project will include desktop and literature reviews drawing on current industry Strategic Plans with research staff based in Darwin, Kununurra, Brisbane and Cairns. An Industry Development Group will be established during the project and is expected to continue progressing the development of a northern rice agenda even after the project wraps up mid-2020. Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said north Queensland was a major centre for horticulture, supplying a significant percentage of the nations fruit and vegetables. A thriving local rice industry would be a welcome addition to our agricultural output, Minister Furner said. The CRCNAs northern Australia rice industry situational analysis project is one of eight industry situational analyses funded by the CRCNA in 2017/18. Other industries the CRCNA will examine as part of its commitment to informing broader discussions on further policy, investment, R & D for Ministerial Forum consideration include the aquaculture, forestry, cropping, horticulture, bush foods, beef, health and infrastructure and communication sectors. The collaboration is being conducted by researchers from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland (UQ), Charles Darwin University, Western Australias Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (WA DPIRD), Queenslands Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Rice Research Australia (SunRice) Olive Vale Pastoral and Savannah Ag Consulting at James Cook Universitys Cairns Institute today. President Nicolas Maduro's regime continues to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching its people by blocking off a bridge that connects Venezuela and Colombia. The ruling socialist party dumped another shipping container on the Venezuelan side of the Simon Bolivar International Bridge early Thursday morning, adding to the two already there. Video images show the moment workers operating a tractor fill up three storage containers with sand. The containers were reportedly welded together to stop opposition and international groups removing them. Colombian officials have raised concerns over the 300-meter long bridge, which was opened in 1962. Embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is still holding on to the presidency despite mounting pressure from the international community asking him to step down A worker (pictured) stands on top of a shipping container while a tractor dumps sand into a container that was placed on the Venezuelan side of the Simon Bolivar International Bridge to block of potential humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela The bridge once served as a primary trade route between the South American neighboring countries before Maduro shut it down to vehicles in 2015. The sand-filled containers have added an additional 30 tons of dead weight to the Simon Bolivar International Bridge. The Colombian government is afraid the structure that connects the city of Cucuta with the Venezuelan state of Tachira could collapse, if Maduro and his regime don't back down. On Friday, the United States Department of Treasury issued sanctions against six Venezuelan security officials loyal to the embattled leader for blocking off the delivery of the humanitarian aid on February 23. It sparked off a showdown between forces loyal to Maduro and supporters of the opposition. Maduro's regime was accused of burning down two trucks filled with food and medical supplies at the Francisco de Paula Santander Bridge connecting Colombia and Venezuela. The shipping containers are seen here blocking the Simon Bolivar International Bridge A third container was placed by the Venezuelan socialist government at the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, which serves as a border crossing with their Colombian neighbors. It has been shut down to vehicles since 2015 by Maduro The sanctions targeted Richard Jesus Lopez, the Major General and the Commanding General of the Venezuelan National Guard; Jesus Maria Mantilla, the Major General and the Commander of Strategic Integral Defense in the Guayana region; Alberto Mirtiliano Bermudez, the Division General for the Integral Defense Zone in the state of Bolivar; and Jose Leonardo Norono, the Division General and Commander for the Integral Defense Zone in Tachira. Also named were Jose Miguel Dominguez, the Chief Commissioner of the Special Unite Force in Tachira; and Cristhiam Abelardo Morales, the Director of the National Police and a Colonel within the National Guard. 'Maduro's border blockades of trucks and ships loaded with humanitarian aid are the latest example of his illegitimate regime weaponizing the delivery of food and critically needed supplies in order to control vulnerable Venezuelans,' Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement. On Friday, Honduran Air Force soldiers loaded humanitarian aid for Venezuela on an aircraft at Hernan Acosta Mejia air base, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras 'We are sanctioning members of Maduro's security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans.' The Trump administration, which is fully supporting Juan Guaido as interim president, also issued a round of sanctions on four pro-government governors, including a close Maduro ally who negotiated the release of an American in jail more than two years. While meeting with the Lima Group and Guaido in Colombia, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged regional partners to freeze oil assets controlled by Maduro, transfer the proceeds to Guaido and restrict visas for Maduro's inner circle. 'It's time to do more,' said Pence. 'The day is coming soon when Venezuela's long nightmare will end, when Venezuela will once more be free, when her people will see a new birth of freedom, in a nation reborn to liberated.' This is the distressing moment a father was beaten by a mob in in Argentina after his ex-girlfriend allegedly falsely accused him of trying to kidnap their daughter. Cell phone video footage captures the moment a man, who identified himself as Nahuel, 21, was brutally attacked outside a train station in the province of Buenos Aires this week. A woman is heard in the background shouting: 'Turn him into s*** until the cops arrive.' A male vigilante is spotted in the disturbing image kicking the defenseless dad's face. Nahuel thought an angry mob was about to kill him when they attacked him outside a train station in Argentina Nahuel was conscious despite the fact he was dragged, punched and kicked in the head and face by vigilantes in Argentina Soon thereafter, another man reaches down and grabs Nahuel by the pants and drags him down the street while residents shout at others with cell phones to take pictures of him. The savage assault occurred Monday night after Nahuel tracked down the woman, who was identified as Soledad, 24, after she allegedly took their 11-month-old child from his home without his permission. The police is still working to locate Soledad to reunite the dad and the baby. Nahuel told Argentine television station Cronica that Soledad showed up drunk at his home and forcefully removed the young girl but left behind the former couple's two-year-old daughter. 'I did not steal the baby. She is my daughter and she is in my care,' he said. 'In fact, I requested a court restriction order against the mother.' The distraught father is seen lying down while vigilantes shout obscenities at him An image from a cell phone video shows the moment a man reaches down and grabs Nahuel by the pants and drags him through a street Nahuel (pictured wearing a white hoodie and lying on the ground) is kicked in the face by a vigilante Nahuel followed her to a train station in the town of Jose C. Paz before Soledad allegedly shouted that he was trying to kidnap the child and that she didn't know him. Nahuel estimated 50 people chased him after he failed to convince them that he indeed was the baby's father. The images show the beaten, barefooted man laid out on the street while the vigilantes continue to strike him in the head. 'They almost killed me,' Nahuel said. Her cousin defended the father-for-two. She said: 'The baby was in the custody of her father. Nahuel is a very good guy. He is educated and hardworking, now he is in a hospital and the ex-wife is on the run with her daughter.' A fearless woman used her own body to shield a child from two huge dogs who were brutally attacking him. Mohamed Ehab was attacked by two vicious dogs in the Madinaty suburb of the Egyptian capital Cairo. In the CCTV footage, the boy can be seen standing in the road with two other youngsters when the two large dogs bound into view. When they notice the youngsters are sprinting away they turn and begin chasing them, and quickly bear down on Ehab as he sprints towards a building. But just as he reaches the top of the steps the dogs catch up with him, and drag him down the steps where he gets to his feet and runs away again. Mohamed Ehab was savagely attacked by two dogs in the Madinaty suburb of the Egyptian capital Cairo A brave woman stepped between the youngster and the two dogs, spinning him around and keeping him away from their bites Ehab's father said his son was 'psychologically better', and his mother added that the youngster does not hate dogs despite the incident They then pull him down - this time tearing at him savagely. The animals can be seen biting him all over when two women come running to the scene. One of the women is believed to be the dog's owner, while the other was a stranger. The unknown woman threw herself on to the child to protect him from further bites, picking the boy up and spinning him round to avoid their attacks. The reported owner then grabs the German Shepherd by its tail but fails to grab the black dog, who only gives up when it gets bored of trying to bite the boy. Ehab was taken to hospital in a 'critical condition' with horrific bite wounds and a fever, according to reports. Ehab's father, Ehab Samaha, filed a criminal complaint against the owner of the dogs, claiming they were careless Police said a fine of 2,000 EGP (86) fine had already been paid by the owner of the dogs The young boy was left with horrific bite wounds on his arms, legs, and head in the attack Images show the horrific bite wounds the boy suffered to his arms, legs, and head in the attack. Ehab's father, Ehab Samaha, filed a criminal complaint against the owner of the dogs, claiming they were careless. The father told reporters he rejected an apology from the owner as he 'wants his son's legal rights to be met'. Police have said a fine of 2,000 EGP (86) fine has already been paid by the owner of the dogs. Local media reports that Egypt's Minister of Justice, Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, has told the boy's parents that the 'necessary steps were being taken' in the case. Ehab's father said his son was 'psychologically better', and his mother added that the youngster does not hate dogs despite the incident. An Egyptian sheik who said the 9/11 terrorist attacks were a 'comedy show' has delivered a sermon to a packed out crowd at a mosque in western Sydney. Sheik Omar Abdel Kafi, 67, spoke to almost 800 people at Masjid As-Sunnah in Lakemba on Friday night during the final stop on his Australian tour. Men and women were required to sit in separate rooms as they listened intently to what he had to say. Scroll down for video An Egyptian sheik who said the 9/11 terrorist attacks were a 'comedy show' has delivered a sermon to a packed out crowd at a mosque in western Sydney Sheik Omar Abdel Kafi (left), 67, spoke to almost 800 people at Masjid As-Sunnah in Lakemba on Friday night during the final stop on his Australian tour Men and women were required to sit in separate rooms as they listened intently to what he had to say Due to the vast amount of people in attendance, his lecture was broadcast on televisions at different levels of the building. Dr Abdel Kafi spoke about Islam and how everyone should be working to become a better Muslim and to always be thankful to God for all the blessings. He also reiterated stories of the Sultan of Egypt and Syria - Saladin - who is a prominent figure in Islam. In 2015, Dr Abdel Kafi told supporters that Muslims were not involved in the 9/11 and Charlie Hebdo terror attacks - calling both massacres 'comedy films'. 'This play to which Muslims are subjected to ad nauseum across the world is the sequel to the comedy film of 9/11,' he said in a video translated from Arabic by the Middle East Media Research Institute. 'The first part took place in New York and the sequel is taking place in Paris.' Dr Abdel Kafi spoke about Islam and how everyone should be working to become a better Muslim and to always be thankful to God for all the blessings He also reiterated stories of the Sultan of Egypt and Syria - Saladin - who is a prominent figure in Islam In 2015, Dr Abdel Kafi told supporters that Muslims were not involved in the 9/11 and Charlie Hebdo terror attacks - calling both massacres 'comedy films' 'Soon you will find out that (the Paris attacks) were a comedy show, in which we played no part.' His Facebook posts have also been translated by the American Centre for Democracy which show his call to get 'revenge' on Jewish people, the publication reported. 'O Allah, the Jews have gone astray and therefore show us the wonders of your might and ability inflicted upon them,' he posted on July 21, 2017. The reasearch director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has called on Australian authorities to be 'more vigilant' before letting the likes of Dr Abdel Kafi into the country Despite his inflammatory comments, Dr Abdel Kafi has been touring Australia as a guest of the Australian Egyptian Society 'O Allah, destroy the Zionists. O Allah, protect our people in Palestine. O Allah, take revenge of the Jews and their assistants,' he posted on September 13, 2015. The reasearch director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Julie Nathan, has called on Australian authorities to be 'more vigilant' before letting the likes of Sheik Omar into the country. The Australian contacted Immigration Minister David Coleman's office and were told by a spokeswoman that they do not comment on 'individual cases'. Despite his inflammatory comments, Dr Abdel Kafi has been touring Australia as a guest of the Australian Egyptian Society. Roger Johnson, 45, has been charged with attempted assault and possession of a destructive device for allegedly trying to blow up his mother using PVC pipe, gunpowder and propane An Alabama man has been arrested on charges of trying to blow up his mother using a propane tank in a booby-trapped storage shed. Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen, of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, said a woman called police on Wednesday saying she was worried her son, 45-year-old roger Johnson, was both on drugs and storing propane in a shed. The woman also said she was concerned her son was refusing to leave the shed and she did not know what he was doing with a propane tank in there. An officer responded to the family's home off of County Road 527 in Woodville, where he was told by Johnson not to go inside the shed behind the house. His mother, however, gave the deputy permission to enter the structure, at which point a small blast went off. According to Harnen, Johnson had build an explosive device using PVC pipe and gunpowder, WHNT reported. A small blast went off when Johnson's mother and a sheriff's deputy tried to enter a shed on this property in Woodville, Alabama Luckily for the deputy and the suspect's mother, the propane tank was not turned on at the time and no one was injured. Johnson was booked into the Jackson County Jail just before 6pm on two counts of first-degree attempted assault and one count of possession of a destructive device. Authorities said the 45-year-old man was apparently angry with his mother, but his exact motive remains unknown. Authorities say the assault charges against Johnson could be upgraded to attempted murder at a later time. Casey Anthony, 32, acquitted in 2011 for the murder of her two-year-old daughter Caylee, is delighted the defamation case from meter reader Roy Kronk was thrown out on Thursday Roy Kronk (pictured) unsuccessfully claimed Anthony had instructed her lawyers to defame him in her murder case, having them suggest he was involved in Caylee's death. Casey Anthony, acquitted for the murder of her young daughter, is celebrating after an eight-year-long defamation suit against her was dropped. Meter reader Roy Kronk, who found her daughter Caylee's body in 2008, sued Anthony when her lawyers suggested during her 2011 murder trial Kronk was involved in the two-year-old's death and had hidden her remains. The 24-page ruling on Thursday by the United States Bankruptcy Court in Tampa, Florida ends the final legal problem Anthony faced following her acquittal. In dismissing Kronk's case, Judge Roberta Colton said there was not enough proof to show Anthony purposefully defamed Kronk. Judge Colton said she felt Anthony had little influence over her lawyers and what they said about Kronk. Anthony (pictured with daughter Caylee) is now free to do deals with television and book publishers. She told DailyMail.com, 'I will one day need to get my side out' She could also find no indication Anthony had told them to defame the meter reader. Kronk's lawyers have appealed the court's decision. Critics are concerned Anthony, 32, will now be able to make deals with TV production companies and book publishers without fear of losing any future earnings to Kronk. 'God is great' - Casey Anthony tells DailyMail.com in Twitter DMs she is delighted with the Kronk case ending and may tell her story in the future 'I will one day need to get my side out' Speaking to DailyMail.com through Twitter direct messages, Anthony said: 'The only statement I have is. It is finally over. It has been a long road. 'My faith in God saw me through. I never doubted for one moment that it would be dismissed. But..he is appealing..God is great! "This is what Cays would have wanted..not this witch-hunt that has followed me since my acquittal. Now maybe others will move on. If not, then they are making it all about them for attention.. not my daughter! 'I have no intentions on capitalizing off of this as of right now. Who knows what the future will hold. I will one day need to get my side out. But as of now, no plans to." Facebook groups such as 'Casey Anthony Boycott Information' sprang up following Anthony's 2011 acquittal. Its organizers warn TV channels and book publishers they will face being boycotted if they do a deal with Anthony for her story. Facebook group Casey Anthony Boycott Information, which was set up following Anthony's 2011 acquittal, warned Anthony 'is free to start cashing in on Caylee's murder' The group writes: 'This is a critical time, as Casey is free to start cashing in on Caylee's murder, which she has been waiting to do for ten years! 'We need to make Caylee's voice heard loud and clear with media! No $$$ to Casey for anything! It will take everyone making phone calls, sending emails/letters, posting on Facebook and Twitter pages to any Media source and their sponsors, to halt this money train heading Casey's way! 'It will be a long hard fight, but with everyone's help, we can be successful. When we are tired and feel that we are fighting a losing battle, we have to remember why it is important to push on...Caylee, the innocent baby who was murdered and thrown in a swamp to rot! Caylee never received justice! We can give her a small piece of that justice! 'Who is ready? Who is willing to fight for Caylee and give her a little justice?" Casey Anthony, pictured looking at a framed photo of daughter Caylee at her home in West Palm Beach, told DailyMail.com she is in fear for life Anthony told DailyMail.com: 'The boycott..I could care less about.' But she said she is worried by fake facebook accounts purporting to be her. She said the inflammatory statements on one particular facebook account bearing her name and face has made her fear for her life. Anthony said: 'I am in fear..yes..when people say things as she does it is like adding water to a grease fire..People want to seriously injure me with some of the things these fakes say.' Anthony told DailyMail.com in Twitter DMs she felt in fear for her life from people 'who want to kill me' after fake facebook pages purporting to be hers publish inflammatory statements On how she feels, she adds: "I would like to say 'free at last'..If the fake pages that are playing me would STOP. 'The statements they're making are unreal..and anyone reading them will think I am a horrible monster, the degrading of my love for God..the mockery of my daughter.. and people are truly believing that is me. 'It is not, I just want some sort of normalcy in my life. I get it..people will always hate me..but this profile could potentially cause me harm with the crap she posts. "It Infuriates me, I know by her 3,800 followers which are more haters of mine, than supporters, it makes them wasnt to kill me, am I really free at last!' Tourists had their holiday ruined within minutes of arriving in Britain after they were targeted by brazen thieves who swiped their bag in an airport. A thieving couple distracted holidaymakers in a phone shop in Heathrow Airport before escaping in a getaway car with money, jewellery and passports. CCTV footage shows Daniel Kennedy, 54, and Denise Blackburn, 45, of Southwark, laughing at their targets, who had just landed on a flight from Ghana, before hatching a plan. When the victims turn their backs to the luggage trolley, the pair make a move to swipe their bags. CCTV footage shows a couple laughing as they watch travellers with mountains of bags in a phone shop in Heathrow Airport Blackburn slowly wanders over to stand next to one of the victims at the shop counter and blocks his view of the luggage. Meanwhile Kennedy holds his jacket to cover his arm as he quickly brushes past the trolley before grabbing a handbag which he stuffs away. The thieves then rush to leave the shop with the valuable belongings, including cash and an expensive watch. Once the the victims realised their bag was missing, they reported it to the police who quickly set about tracing the thieves. Police officers trawled through CCTV from the airport to track the criminals and were able to find them within 48 hours. Officers discovered they had tried to throw off the scent by driving into the airport carpark before their son Ryan Kennedy, 19, drove them out while they hid in the back covered with a jacket. Blackburn slowly wanders over to stand next to one of the victims at the shop counter and blocks his view while Kennedy holds his jacket over his arm and grabs the handbag on the luggage trolley The thieves rush to leave the shop with the valuable belongings, including cash and an expensive watch Police went to the home of the couple to arrest them and found money, an Armani watch - which Blackburn was wearing - and a quantity of cannabis. All three pleaded guilty to the offences against them at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday. Daniel Kennedy was jailed for two years and eight months for theft, driving otherwise in accordance with a license and driving with no insurance. He is also disqualified from driving for 16 months. Blackburn was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, for theft and possession of cannabis. Daniel Kennedy, 54, (left) and Denise Blackburn, 45, (centre) and Ryan Kennedy, 19, (right) of Southwark, pleaded guilty to the offences against them at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday, 25 February Ryan Kennedy was conditionally discharged for 12 months and has been banned from driving for a year, for driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance and possession of cannabis. DCI Sharon Brookes, of the Aviation Policing Command, said: 'I am pleased that my team were able to return some of the stolen items to the victims. 'The Met Police is determined to keep people flying in and out of the UK safe from opportunists like Blackburn and Daniel Kennedy. 'The victims sent a message of thanks to PC Houston for his work and I was delighted to read that, subsequently, they will continue to holiday in the UK.' Metropolitan Police said: 'The footage is a reminder to keep luggage within sight and reach because, in the blink of an eye, it can disappear. 'It's easy to be distracted at an airport as our minds are often on other things, and luggage is cumbersome to carry around, but the benefits of keeping your eyes on your bags far outweigh the distress and disruption caused by them being stolen. 'In this case, the stolen bag contained a large quantity of money, jewellery and both victims' passports.' Tina Rainford (pictured above) was found hanged at her home in Hounslow A mother who believed a wrinkle smoothing cosmetic pen had left her permanently disfigured threw herself out of a second-floor window before she was later found hanged. Tina Rainford had convinced herself that she had been permanently scarred by the 'inconsequential beauty treatment', and her mental health subsequently began to deteriorate. The 43-year-old had used the treatment in order to smooth out wrinkles on her lip but after using the device decided it had left her scarred. The mother-of-one was then left with broken bones when she threw herself out of her second-floor flat window in London. West London Coroner's Court heard that Tina had also tried to overdose twice in a two-month period before her death. Assistant coroner Doctor Sean Cummings said there was a 'missed opportunity' for health workers to contact Tina before her death in September 2017. She was found hanged at her home in Hounslow, west London. Recording a narrative conclusion, Dr Cummings said that Tina 'developed an obsessive and delusional belief she was disfigured by an inconsequential beauty treatment.' Speaking after the inquest, partner Simon Wetherall said: 'Despite all the reassurances we gave her, Tina became more and more convinced that she was disfigured and this was simply not the case.' Tina had been under the care of South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust as her mental health deteriorated, the inquest last month heard. Simon, 45, added: 'We wanted her to receive the help we felt she deserved but felt that her case was not treated with enough urgency. The inquest was heard at West London Coroner's Court (pictured above street view) 'Our only hope now is that the heartbreak we have suffered highlights the need for those with mental health issues to receive swift treatment. 'We hope that the Trust continue to learn from the issues which have been highlighted at inquest to ensure other families are spared the pain we have to endure on a daily basis.' She had taken an overdose in July 2017, but was later discharged from hospital. Three days later she suffered extensive injuries, including a broken leg when she jumped out of the window of her second-floor flat after another attempted overdose. Tina's grieving family were represented by law firm, Irwin Mitchell which has called for lessons to be learned from her death. Specialist medical negligence lawyer, Louise Forsyth said: 'This is an incredibly tragic case and reliving the events of what happened in the lead up to Tina's death has been incredibly difficult for Tina's loved ones. 'The family had a number of concerns about the care Tina received before her death and sadly some of the evidence heard during the inquest has validated this. 'We now join Tina's family in calling for the NHS Trust to learn lessons from this case to improve patient care.' If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article then you can call the Samaritans on 116 123, alternatively you can visit the website at by clicking here. Casino magnate and GOP donor Sheldon Adelson is undergoing treatment for cancer and hasn't worked since December Casino magnate and Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is undergoing treatment for cancer and hasn't been at work since December. Adelson, 85, is still dealing with side effects from the medication hes taking for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, his company spokesman Ron Reese said. His poor health was revealed earlier this week by one of his company's attorneys during a court hearing in a case brought by a Hong Kong businessman. The founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp - who donated $30million to Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016 - did not participate in the casino operator's conference call with analysts and investors following its earnings report in January. Attorney James Jimmerson told the court Monday that he learned last month 'of the dire nature of Mr. Adelson's condition, health.' The comment from the attorney came when discussing whether Adelson could sit for a deposition in the case and was first reported by The Nevada Independent. Las Vegas Sands Corp. on Thursday told The Associated Press that Adelson has cancer. Sheldon Aldeson, (right), CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, and wife Miriam Adelson (right) gave President Donald Trump's campaign $30 million in 2016 'Mr. Adelson is still dealing with certain side effects from medication he is taking for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,' company spokesman Ron Reese said in an emailed statement Thursday night. 'These side effects have restricted his availability to travel or keep regular office hours.' The effects haven't prevented Adelson, 85, from fulfilling his duties as chairman and CEO, Reese said. The company expects he will return to work after he completes treatment. Adelson also suffers from peripheral neuropathy, a condition that affects the nervous system. Associated Press reported that Adelson has not been seen at the company's offices in Las Vegas since Christmas Day. Adelson, 85, is dealing with side effects from the medication hes taking for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He is pictured here in 1997 at a photo call for the Venetian Hotel's redevelopment He is expected to return to work after he completes treatment. He is seen here with music star Cher (right) on a gondola at the Venetian Resort in 1999 The billionaire and his wife, Miriam, gave President Donald Trump's campaign $30 million in 2016. He is considered one of the nation's most powerful Republican donors. They followed that by contributing $100 million to the Republican Party for the 2018 midterm elections. Miriam Adelson, who is is a doctor and philanthropist, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in November. She was born in Israel and earned a medical degree from Tel Aviv University. She founded drug abuse treatment and research centers in Las Vegas and Tel Aviv. The couple own the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Israel Hayom newspapers. Husband Sheldon is Las Vegas Sands' largest shareholder and regularly participates in the company's earnings calls, but was absent when it reported results on January 23. Sheldon and his wife, Miriam, gave President Donald Trump's campaign $30 million in 2016. He is considered one of the nation's most powerful Republican donors Sands President Robert Goldstein said at the time that Adelson was 'a little bit under the weather.' 'We met with him yesterday,' Goldstein said of Adelson during the January call. 'He's taking some medications making him a bit drowsy, so he decided this morning to take a rain check on this one.' Adelson was expected to testify in the case brought by Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen and his company, Round Square Co. He testified in 2013 and 2008 in the case's two previous trials. Suen has been seeking compensation because he said he helped Sands secure business in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau. Sands has argued Suen didn't help get crucial approval to build casinos in Macau and deserves nothing. Sands is the worlds largest casino company and its founder is worth $33.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He was the number one contributor to outside spending groups in the last U.S. election, with all of his $122.3 million going to conservatives, according to OpenSecrets.org. Saudi Arabia has stripped Osama bin Laden's son Hamza of his citizenship, one day after the United States offered a $1 million reward for information that could lead to his capture. The son of the late al-Qaeda leader, who was killed in a U.S. military raid in Pakistan in 2011, has reportedly become an increasingly prominent figure in the terror network. Saudi Arabia's interior ministry announced that they had revoked his citizenship via a royal decree in November, however it is not known why it was only made public today. Hamza, who is thought to be about 30 years old has released audio and video messages calling for 'lone wolf' attacks against the U.S. and its allies. The large bounty, part of the U.S. State Department's 'rewards for justice' programme, is due to renewed fear that another al-Qaeda terror attack on the west is imminent. Hamza bin Laden pictured at his wedding, where he repotedly married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the 'lead hijacker and a mastermind' of the 9/11 attacks. Saudi Arabia publicly announced today that they have stripped Hamza of his citizenship The United States is offering a $1 million reward for information on Hamza bin Laden, seen here in a video grab by the CIA 'Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise,' a State Department statement said, referring to al-Qaeda. The junior bin Laden was named a 'specially designated global terrorist' in January 2017 and has threatened revenge for his father's 2011 killing by U.S. forces, the department said in a statement. Osama bin Laden was killed in a covert operation carried out in Abbottabad, Pakistan at a compound where the al-Qaeda leader was holed up. In addition, Hamza allegedly married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the 'lead hijacker and a mastermind' of the 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden and al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and other notorious actions. Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and other notorious actions Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day, including citizens of roughly 77 countries. US intelligence agencies increasingly see the younger bin Laden as a successor to his father for the mantle of global jihad, especially as the even more extreme Islamic State group is down to its last sliver of land in Syria. In 2015, bin Laden released an audio message urging jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to 'liberating Palestine.' And in a message a year later, following in the footsteps of his father, he urged the overthrow of the leadership in their native Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden was killed in a covert operation carried out in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011, and his son has reported threatened retaliation against the U.S. for his death Osama bin Laden's three surviving wives and his children were quietly allowed to return to Saudi Arabia after his killing. But Hamza bin Laden's whereabouts have been a matter of dispute. He is believed to have spent years along with his mother in Iran, despite Al-Qaeda's strident denunciations of the Shiite branch of Islam that dominates the country. Observers say that the clerical regime in Tehran kept him under house arrest as a way to maintain pressure on rival Saudi Arabia as well as on Al-Qaeda, dissuading the Sunni militants from attacking Iran. One of Hamza bin Laden's half-brothers told The Guardian last year that Hamza's whereabouts were unknown but that he may be in Afghanistan. A frantic mother has not seen her two daughters in 72 days after their father allegedly took them to the Caribbean for Christmas with his new wife - but hasn't returned. After leaving them to spend the festive period with her ex-husband and the self-professed clairvoyant, Jana Khan said she had expected them to return a few days later as agreed. But unbeknownst to her, on Christmas Eve 10-year-old Savannah and eight-year-old Constance were put on a plane and flown nearly 7000 km away to Tobago with her exe's new partner, she said. Ms Khan, from Thornaby, North Yorkshire said the first she knew they were in a foreign country was when she received a text from her former partner Shahdiek Khan. Ms Khan holding portraits of her two daughters, 10-year-old Savannah and eight-year-old Constance Text messages assured her they were safe and well and would be returning at the end of January. But the girls never boarded the plane to return to the UK according to their mother. The children's mother said they are with their stepmother Marina Chetham, an international clairvoyant according to her Facebook page. A picture uploaded to the Facebook of Mr Khan's new wife Marina Chetham in mid-February Mr Khan and his wife pictured with the two girls, 10-year-old Savannah and Constance, eight Cleveland Police and the Foreign Office have both confirmed they are investigating. A child is considered abducted if he or she is removed by one parent without the other parent's consent. What is Parental Child Abduction? Parental child abduction occurs when a person who is connected to a child takes them away from their country of habitual residence, that is the country they normally reside in, without the permission of either those with parental responsibility or the courts, according to The Family Law Co. Under the Child Abduction Act of 1984, it is a criminal offence for anyone connected with a child to take them out of the UK for more than 28 days without the consent of any other person who has parental responsibility for that child or a consenting order from the courts. A person is connected with the child if they are parent of the child, guardian or special guardian, anyone who has a residence order for the child or who has the child living with them. Those required to give their consent would be the mother, the father (if he has parental responsibility), guardian, special guardian or anyone who has the child living with them or has permission from the court. If found guilty under the above act, you could face up to seven years in prison or a fine, or both. Advertisement A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said they have received information that the children are safe and have not come to harm but the disgruntled mother believes they have not yet been located by the authorities. And the Thornaby mother believes her girls would be afraid in a strange country. 'The children have never been away from me or to a place like that,' said the 39-year-old shopworker. 'They must be distraught. They would be scared without me and Savannah has special needs so she will be finding it very hard. 'I've had breakdowns at work and I'm not sleeping. It's horrendous.' The mother said she contacted police as soon as she realised the children had been taken out of the country. She believes they are with her ex partner and his new wife. 'They went on December 19 and then he took off on December 24,' she said. 'He was meant to bring them back on the 29th but he never communicated or anything. 'They traced his car and it showed he drove to Gatwick Airport. They then flew on December 24.' She said the news left her 'devastated' and concerned for the welfare of her children. 'He told me by text they were not coming back until January 24, he said had just taken them on holiday,' she said. 'He said his father was not well and he emailed the school as well saying they would be back on January 24.' Ms Khan said she has received another message stating they would be back on March 24 but has concerns they will not return. 10-year-old Savannah and eight-year-old Constance who are believed to be in Tobago Ms Khan said she has received another message stating her daughters would be back on March 24 but has concerns they will not return The Hague Convention was drafted in the late 1970s to deal with a parent abducting their children across borders after losing custody, or believing they would lose custody. Trinidad and Tobago has acceded to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects on International Child Abduction and Interpol has been contacted. But for the moment, the mother has no idea when she will see her children again. 'Police said they have hit a brick wall,' she said. A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: 'Police received a report in December that two children had been taken out of the country without consent. 'Officers have received information that the children are safe and well and enquiries are ongoing to locate them with the assistance of international law enforcement agencies.' A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: 'We are providing assistance to the mother of two children after they were taken out of the country without her consent.' Priyanka Chopra has been accused of 'glorifying war' after she posted a tweet in support of the Indian Armed Forces amid heightened tensions between her home country and neighbouring Pakistan. Her public statement of support sparked a fierce backlash, with thousands calling for her to be removed from her role as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. The actress, who is friends with Meghan Markle, was criticised by Pakistani actress Armeena Rana Khan for the post which read 'Jai Hind (Long live India) #IndianArmedForces'. 'Hypocrite': Actress Priyanka Chopra roundly criticised for her support for Indian Armed Forces during outbreaks of fighting and breakdown of dilpomatic relations between India and Pakistan 'Long live India': Film star Priyanka Chopra posted this controversial tweet praising the Indian Army for their actions in the conflict Khan said that the Bollywood star was a hypocrite because of her role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and that she could not be taken seriously any longer. Responding to the tweet, Khan wrote: 'What?!!! But aren't you supposed to be Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF? Screenshot this everyone and next time she speaks for peace and goodwill. Let's remind her of this hypocrisy.' Khan also called on other Bollywood actors to be stopped from 'preaching to the world' if they continued to 'call for war' between the two nations. Chopra, who was born in Jamshedpur in western India, is friends with Meghan Markle, now Duchess of Sussex. She was pictured attending the Duchess' wedding last year, but was not seen at her baby shower earlier this month Actress Armeena Khan reacts angrily to Priyanka Chopra's show of support for the Indian Armed Forces, calling her a hypocrite and telling her followers that she should not be listened to in future The Pakistani star had words for other Bollywood stars as well, saying that 'particular individuals' shouldn't be allowed to 'preach peace to the world' Priyanka Chopra and husband Nick Jonas attend the 2019 Vanity Fair post-Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts last weekend Conflict between India and Pakistan has escalated since a suicide bombing on February 14 that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama, part of Indian-controlled Kashmir Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest in the region for 30 years. An Indian pilot shot down over Pakistan has been released by Prime Minister Imran Khan as a 'peace gesture' today as the countries' leaders attempt to avoid growing violence. Relations reached a low on Monday night when India violated the Line of Control, the agreed border line in contested Kashmir, by jets to perform an airstrike on an alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp. A map showing the military clout of Pakistan (left) and India (right) and the volatile disputed region of Kashmir to the north and Jammu and Kashmir to the south Author Atif Tauqeer responded to Chopra's tweet expressing his disbelief that a UN ambassador 'can praise military actions' A tweet by fatiymah asked the UN to 'take back their ambassadorship from Priyanka Chopra', describing her as a 'celebrity who fuels wars' and has no reason 'to be talking about human rights' The strike was a retaliation for the deaths caused by the Pakistan-based group on Valentine's Day. An online petition has been launched to strip Chopra of her UN Ambassadorship, gaining 50,000 signatures at the time of writing. The petition claims that Chopra 'doesn't deserve to be a UN ambassador' after 'expressing her nationalism' by supporting the Indian Army. Chopra had previously visited Rohingya and Syrian refugee camps as part of her partnership with UNICEF. A fox hunter has outraged animal rights campaigners after he was filmed with a fox tail in his hand, saying: 'You can't save them all.' The video is believed to have been filmed on Saturday at Kinnaird Castle, Angus, by hunt saboteurs. Fife and Central Scotland Hunt Sabs posted the video to their Facebook page on Monday, claiming the rider 'taunts hunt saboteurs with a severed fox tail'. They added: 'As he rides past, he says: 'Can't save them all, can you?' A fox hunter surrounded by dogs approaches saboteurs who are filming from the dirt track 'This is the face of fox hunting in Scotland: a smirking, gloating huntsman holding the tail of a fox, openly provoking protesters. 'If this was about "pest control" as they claim, then why the sheer elation surrounding animal death? The excitement? The pantomime? 'This isn't about pest control or whatever flimsy argument they use to justify hunting in 2019, it's tradition and fun for them - end of story.' The video shows the saboteurs walking down a dirt track while a man wearing a hunting pink approaches them on horseback. The fox hunter is surrounded by dogs while another rider and two men on a quad bike can be seen behind him. As the fox hunter trots past the saboteurs he can be seen grasping on to a severed fox tail. The unnamed hunter brandishes a fox tail and says: 'You can't save them all, can you?' The video is believed to have been taken in Kinnaird Castle, Scotland and was posted on Facebook by Fife and Central Scotland Hunt Sabs Many reacted angrily to the video posted by the saboteurs, calling it 'sick' He then looks down the camera and says 'can't save them all can you'. The unnamed person who shot the video said: 'When we first saw him with the tail, a few of us assumed they had killed, so naturally we were distressed. 'However, once it was pointed out that there was no blood and the tail was extremely clean and fluffy, we realised it was likely not from a freshly killed fox. 'Hunters will go to great lengths to try and dishearten or play mind games with us, so although the thought of them whipping out a trophy to wave in our faces is morbid, it's not exactly surprising.' The video has angered many people who follow the saboteurs' work. One person commented on the video: 'Very sick. Thank you guys for your awesome work.' Another named Dennis Wilton said: 'More pressure on the Scottish Government to stop all hunting with horses and dogs. Pest control doesn't need either. Some humans never fail to sicken.' One commented: 'They may get away with it because it's a wealthy man sick sport.' Fox hunting is covered by the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 where it states: 'A person who deliberately hunts a wild mammal with a dog commits an offence.' However, an exception to this offence is where permission is granted by the land owner or lawful occupier for someone to use a dog that is under control to stalk a wild mammal, or flush it from cover for the purpose of controlling the number of a pest species among other reasons. Advertisement One of the world's first propaganda photographs featuring Queen Victoria and Emperor Napoleon III in a show of strength has come to light in a fascinating collection of historic slides. The incredibly rare picture was taken in April 1855 when the British and French were fighting together against the Russians in the Crimean War. Victoria and Prince Albert hosted Napoleon and Empress Eugenie at a reception at Crystal Palace in south London. The black and white picture shows the redoubtable monarch sat on stage alongside her husband and guests in front of thousands of people. This incredibly rare picture was taken in April 1855 when the British and French were fighting together against the Russians in the Crimean War. It shows Queen Victoria (second right) Prince Albert (right) sitting alongside Empress Eugenie (second left) and Emperor Napoleon III (left) at a reception at Crystal Palace in south London The black and white picture, shown here in the historic slide from 1885, shows the monarch sat on stage alongside her husband and guests in front of thousands of people Queen Victoria, on stage, centre, at the re-opening of Crystal Palace in 1854. The Crystal Palace was reconstructed in 1852 after it was moved to Sydenham Hill in south east London. Reconstruction began in 1852 and was opened to the public two years later A rare hand coloured stereoscopic photograph of Crystal Palace around the time of the Great Exhibition in 1951. Over a 50 year period Philip Banham acquired some of the best examples of stereoscopic photographs from antique shops and fairs across the country The archive was amassed by retired university lecturer Philip Banham and is being sold at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood of Exeter. These images show the inside of the Great Exhibition in 1851 when Crystal Palace was in Hyde Park. It featured 100,000 exhibits showing the best of the British empire While photography had been invented 19 years before, it had mainly be used for artistic purposes. This image was intended to record the event and show to the world the British and French were united. The stereoscopic daguerreotype, printed on a metal sheet, was collected by a retired university lecturer in Victorian social history. Over a 50 year period Philip Banham acquired some of the best examples of stereoscopic photographs from antique shops and fairs across the country. Other rare examples include two images of Queen Victoria at the opening ceremony of the new Crystal Palace after it had been moved from Hyde Park to Sydenham, south London, in 1854. The interior of Crystal Palace during the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition, which was spearheaded by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert was a celebration of art in industry for the benefit of All Nations. However in practice it appears to have been turned into more of a showcase for British manufacturing Crystal Palace at the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than half the 100,000 exhibits on display were from Britain or the British Empire. It ran from May to October and during this time six million people passed through its doors Queen Victoria, pictured centre, at Crystal Palace for the Handel Festival in 1857. The festival in June of that year was a precursor to the celebrations which would mark the centenary of the composers death two years later A set of 20 lantern slides showing the relocation and reconstruction of Crystal Palace between 1852 and 1854. Crystal Palace was originally created by Joseph Paxton to house the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations that was staged in Hyde Park, London in 1851. In the summer of 1852 a new site was found for the now redesigned Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill in south east London and reconstruction began. And there are some of her attending the Handel Festival at the same famous exhibition hall in 1857. There is also a set of 20 lantern slides showing the reconstruction of Crystal Palace between 1852 and 1854 and earlier coloured lithograph prints of it during the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park. The images are now being sold by Mr Banham at auctioneers Bearnes Hampton and Littlewood of Exeter, Devon. Brian Goodison-Blanks, of the auction house, said: 'The highlight of the sale is the scarce stereoscopic daguerreotype of the visit of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to the Crystal Palace on April 20, 1855. 'The visit came at a time when England and France were fighting together as allies in the Crimea and this would have been a show of strength. Slides showing the elaborate iron work used in construction of Crystal Palace. After the Great Exhibition in 1851, and in the summer of 1852, a new site was found for the now redesigned Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill in south east London and reconstruction began Egyptian statues inside Crystal Palace when it was moved to south east London. It was reopened by Queen Victoria in 1854 The Crystal Palace at the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The palace was originally created by Joseph Paxton to house the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations that was staged in Hyde Park, London in 1851 'It is estimated between 2,000 and 3,000. 'You needed a hand held stereoscopic viewer to look at these. They were the Victorian version of virtual reality and almost overnight the likes of Queen Victoria became very real to people all over the world. 'Everybody wanted these images. They are still amazing to look at today so you can imagine what it would have been like 150 years ago.' The Crystal Palace was originally created by Joseph Paxton to house the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations that was staged in Hyde Park, London in 1851. When, after six months, the Great Exhibition closed its doors over six million people had visited it. In the summer of 1852 a new site was found for the now redesigned Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill in south east London and reconstruction began. It was reopened in 1854 by Queen Victoria. It contained fountains, statues from around the world, specimens of trees, shrubs, and full size models of prehistoric animals. After being put to a variety of uses in the years that followed, the building was finally destroyed by fire on the 30th November 1936. Very little evidence remains of building except the foundations and stonework. The sale takes place on March 6. Large US firms cannot be allowed to could flood Britain with low-quality food imports after Brexit, campaigners have warned after the Trump administration set out its demands for a trade deal. The US wants 'comprehensive market access' for US agricultural products through the reduction or removal of tariffs and the elimination of 'unwarranted barriers' to food and drink imports according to a document released today. Mr Trump's administration is also demanding full market access for US drug firms and a block on state institutions - such as the NHS - discriminating against American companies when purchasing goods and services. The publication of negotiating objectives for a deal by the office of US trade representative Robert Lighthizer was welcomed by the Department for International Trade as a sign that Washington is keen to start talks soon after Brexit. Securing a free trade deal with the United States is one of the UK's top priorities after Brexit, but the administration of Donald Trump, who made a memorable visit to Britain last year (above), are demanding a high price to do business Liam Fox's department said the UK would insist on maintaining 'high standards for businesses, workers and consumers' in any deal. But the National Farmers' Union raised concerns over food safety and animal welfare standards. 'It is imperative that any future trade deals, including a possible deal with the USA, do not allow the imports of food produced to lower standards than those required of British farmers,' NFU president Minette Batters said. 'British people value and demand the high standards of animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety that our own farmers adhere to. 'These world-leading standards must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of reaching rushed trade deals.' US companies have long complained that EU regulations limit American exports of food products such as chlorine-washed chicken, hormone-boosted beef and genetically modified crops. Mr Trump's commerce secretary Wilbur Ross warned in 2017 that continued adherence to EU standards after Brexit could act as a 'landmine' to UK hopes of a free trade deal with the States. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'We have always been very clear that we will not lower our food standards as part of a future trading agreement.' But Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, a supporter of the Best for Britain campaign for a new referendum, said: 'It's clear that the US ... wants to flood us with chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-pumped beef. 'But the British people won't be force-fed low-quality products or a bad Brexit deal. That's why we need a public vote.' Labour MP Jo Stevens, a supporter of the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum, said the proposed deal - which also requires the removal of restrictions on transfers of personal data - would turn the NHS into 'a playpen for huge US corporate interests'. 'Donald Trump's administration has now made it clear just what it will be demanding from the UK in return for a trade deal - and one of those things is that we let big US companies run riot in the NHS,' said Ms Stevens. The document published by US trade representative Robert Lighthizer was welcomed by the Department for International Trade but attacked by the National Farmers Union Donld Trump's commerce secretary Wilbur Ross warned in 2017 that keeping EU food standards after Brexit could act as a 'landmine' to UK hopes of a free trade deal Proposed measures would require that 'US drug companies - the very corporations that have caused the opioids crisis in their home countries through reckless marketing and pressure on doctors - get full access to the NHS', she warned. Also sensitive for London are demands for the inclusion of currency matters in any agreement. The paper states that the US wants Britain to 'avoid manipulating exchange rates in order to prevent effective balance of payments adjustment or to gain an unfair competitive advantage'. And, in a move which could restrict British room for manoeuvre in future trade talks with countries such as China, Washington is demanding a mechanism allowing the US to 'take appropriate action' if the UK negotiates a free trade agreement with a 'non-market country'. The document also states that a condition of any deal will be that the UK Government should 'discourage politically motivated actions to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel'. The negotiating objectives represent an opening gambit in what are expected to be lengthy negotiations stretching over a number of years. Mr Lighthizer's office stressed the importance of the 230 billion US dollar (173 billion) UK/US trade relationship. But it added: 'Multiple tariff and non-tariff barriers have challenged US exporters in key sectors while the UK has been a member state of the EU and therefore a part of the common trade policy of the EU. 'The UK's decision to leave the EU creates a new opportunity to expand and deepen the US/UK trade relationship... 'Our aim in negotiations with the UK is to address both tariff and non-tariff barriers and to achieve fairer and deeper trade in a manner consistent with the objectives that Congress has set out.' A spokesman for Dr Fox's Department for International Trade said: 'Negotiating an ambitious free trade agreement with the US that maintains our high standards for businesses, workers and consumers is a priority. 'So we welcome the US government publishing their objectives, which demonstrates their commitment to beginning talks as soon as possible. 'As part of our open and transparent approach to negotiations, we will publish our own negotiating objectives in due course.' A predator who abused girls on an 'industrial scale' has been jailed for 12 years for the rape and abuse of girls aged 12 to 17. Gavin Scoular, now 24, used social media sites to make contact with his young victims and offer them affection between 2010 and 2013. Scoular targeted the vulnerable girls at locations in Edinburgh, many of whom were beneath the age of consent, and 'discarded' them afterwards. Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Summers said: 'In most cases you coerced them into unwanted sexual activity by engaging in online grooming. Gavin Scoular, 24, was jailed for 12 years at the High Court in Edinburgh after he was found guilty of the rape or assault of seven victims 'You engaged with these behaviours with a large number of girls within a short period of time. 'You used social media to make contact with them, offer them affection. 'Some of them were vulnerable with unhappy home lives but they succumbed to your advances. 'All you wanted was sexual gratification and each of those girls was discarded by you once you abused them for your own purposes.' During exchanges with Scoular's defence counsel, the judge also spoke of the 'industrial scale' of the offending. Scoular was convicted of seven rapes against four girls, as well as a string of other sexual offences taking the total number of victims to seven. He handed him an extended sentence involving a further five-year period of supervision following release from custody, and placed Scoular on the sex offenders' register indefinitely. The court heard how Scoular's victims, all of whom were younger than him, ranged in age from 12 to 17. Edinburgh High Court off the Royal Mile in Scotland's capital where Scoular was jailed for 12 years The offending behaviour in this case began when he almost 15 and ran until he was 18, covering the period from 2010 to 2013. His offending was only brought to a halt when he was arrested in connection with other offences. Scoular was found guilty of the rapes at a trial at the High Court in Livingston last year. Three of the rape victims were under the age of consent at the time the attacks took place. Scoular, listed as a prisoner in Dumfries, was also convicted of other charges, including unlawful sexual activity with someone under 16, sexual assault and grooming charges. The judge had looked into the possibility of imposing an Order for Lifelong Restriction on the offender, but he ruled that the criteria were not met after experts found that Scoular posed a medium risk of reoffending. Iain Paterson, defending, had urged the court to take Scoular's age and relative immaturity at the time into account when passing sentence. He spoke of the likelihood that the offender could change his ways and said the convictions have had a 'dramatic impact' on Scoular's family. The court heard how knowledge of the offences effectively emerged from the same police inquiry that saw Scoular convicted of charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in 2014 a factor the judge took into account when handing out the sentence. Detective Chief Inspector Martin Maclean said of Scoular: 'The Public Protection Unit investigation into his devices revealed offending on a scale amongst the worst I have ever come across in such a short space of time.' He also said: 'Scoular is an extremely dangerous individual, taking every opportunity he could to go online and exploit young girls it is fair to say he was compelled to do this for his own sexual gratification.' A spokesman for children's charity NSPCC Scotland said: 'In common with increasing numbers of abusers, Scoular used social media to target young girls and carry out his sickening crimes. 'It is clear that children face grave risks in the online world and the NSPCC has called for stricter guidelines to be introduced to keep children safe.' A gang of drill rappers including a gunman in a clown mask have been jailed for 23 years each after they were caught in a car packed with a cache of weapons on a mission to hunt down rivals. Lekan Akinsoji, 20, Darnell Joseph-Newill, 21, Nathaniel Lewis, 23, and Troy Ifill, 22, made drill videos bragging about killing their rivals. The four were 'tooled up' with a sawn-off shotgun as well as a terrifying 'Zombie' knife and a pickaxe as they drove through enemy territory. Their BMW had been kitted out with false plates and they ditched their mobile phones to try and beat any attempt to trace their movements. But they were spotted by an armed police patrol who pursued them during a mile-long chase through the streets of Leytonstone, east London, engaging in a shoot-out. Four members of a drill gang have been jailed for 23 years each after an armed police chase during which one aimed a shotgun at pursuing officers, pictured, ringed Lekan Akinsoji, 20, left, and Nathanial Lewis, 23, right, were involved in the police chase and were found to have a huge cache of weapons in their BMW. Akinsoji and Lewis have links to the Woodgrange Gang from Forest Gate Darnell Joseph-Newill, 21, left, and Troy Ifill, 22, right, who have links to the Stratford Gang, were also involved in the chase and a court heard they had been planning to 'hunt down' rivals from the E11 gang After Akinsoji aimed the gun at officers, one of them shot through the BMW's windscreen four times and a shoot-out was only ended when the rappers were blocked by an oncoming vehicle Akinsoji and Lewis have links to the Woodgrange E7 Gang from Forest Gate while Joseph-Newill and Ifill are affiliated with the Stratford Gang from the same area. The court heard they were looking to find rivals from the E11 gang. Front seat passenger Akinsoji wearing a white clown mask, took aim with the shotgun and the officer behind the wheel pulled out his Glock and fired four shots through the BMW's windscreen. His colleagues also fired their weapons, but the dramatic shoot-out was only ended when the car was blocked by an oncoming vehicle after turning the wrong way down a one-way street. Front seat passenger Akinsoji wore this white clown mask, pictured, while aiming the shotgun at the police car Judge Mark Dennis QC told the defendants: 'It is not without significance that the defendants were driving around the area affiliated with the E11 gang, a gang identified as a rival gang in one of their drill rap videos. 'This was planned and organised violence. 'The offence involved five participants in what was to be a group attack late at night in public streets 'The firearm was a sawn-off single barreled shotgun. It was found to be loaded with a live cartridge, cocked, and ready to fire.' Friends and relatives gasped with shock in the packed public gallery as the sentence was announced. Some supporters burst into tears and wailed loudly as the four were led to the cells. His Honour Judge Mark Dennis QC said: 'The young men were free to make a choice. 'An extended sentence can and should be made today. 'They appeared to embrace gang culture over an extended period of time. They formed part of the Newham Northside Gang - an allegiance between three others including Woodgrange E7. 'It causes the utmost alarm among the public. They embarked on a planned attempt to inflict extreme violence.' The court heard that Lewis was in breach of a 24 month suspended sentence for possession of heroin with intent to supply. Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC said: 'The case is that these four defendants, plus the driver, were on what is known as a 'ride-out'. 'This is where members or associates of one gang drive to the territory of another gang, often in a stolen vehicle, with the intention of causing really serious injury or even death to any member or presumed member of the opposing gang. 'The arsenal of weapons found in the stolen car evidencing, we suggest, their obvious intention that night. A huge haul of weapons were found in their car, including this sawn-off shotgun, pictured Also found in the vehicle were a collection of knives including these two, above and below 'During the pursuit, the front seat passenger of the BMW stuck a shortened shotgun out of his window and pointed it at the following police vehicle.' He added: 'The white face reminded the officer of the Hollywood film 'Heat' and it looked like a clown's face.' Police officers recovered the shortened shotgun with cartridges nearby, the 'Zombie' knife and a pickaxe purchased from the 'knifewarehouse' website. Three other blades were seized from the gang members or from near the car. Mr Orchard added: 'During the last 18 months or so, the Stratford Gang, Woodgrange Gang and a gang called Chadd Green have formed an alliance under the name 'Northside Newham',' he added. The four have appeared in a number of drill videos, with Akinsoji rapping in one: 'We ride, we ride to kill, Woodgrange gang are serious about violence.' In another clip he brags: 'Any rival gang member I see I'll kill, four gang members in a car they are serious guys that will kill rival gang member.' The court also heard how Akinsoji featured on a song called 'Armed And Ready' - which contained lyrics referring to gangs, prison and revenge. Mr Orchard said the men had 'an armoury of weapons ready for immediate usage' and were equipped with gloves and headwear to protect them from being identified. Prosecutors said the gang members were planning to use the weapons, including this axe, to hunt down and attack rivals from the E11 gang Another machete-style knife, pictured, that was found in the drill rappers' BMW A can of petrol was also left in the boot in order to torch the car and destroy any evidence of their planned attack. 'They had prepared carefully but they hadn't banked on being spotted by the three armed officers,' Mr Orchard said. All four men denied possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and conspiring to cause GBH with intent but were unanimously convicted by the jury. Akinsoji was cleared of using a firearm with intent to resist arrest during the same incident on 26 July last year. Lewis and Ifil had earlier admitted possessing a firearm when prohibited. The driver of the BMW managed to flee the scene and has yet to be apprehended. Akinsoji, of Dagenham, Joseph-Newill, of Stratford, Lewis, of Forest Gate, and Ifill, also from Stratford, denied the charges but were convicted of possessing a firearm with intent and conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm. Battleground London: Street by street, map reveals the territories of the capital's 80-plus gangs as violence in the capital spirals By Richard Spillett and Ed Riley for MailOnline Detailed maps lay bare how more than 80 gangs are locked in bitter fights for control of London's streets. More than 100 people have been killed in the capital already this year, with fears gang rivalries and feuds are leading to spiralling numbers of shootings and stabbings. Maps circulated online have now attempted to plot the extent of each gang's fiefdom and flash-point roads where two territories rub up against each other. This map shows the patchwork of gangs who control different streets in London as violence continues to spiral in the capital 1. DBG 2. 9th Street 3. 22GZ (Wood Green) 4. OFB (Broadwater Farm) 5. Sin Squad/ NPK 6. #900 7. #AP / GMG 8. CHINGBLOCK 9. DRIVE 10. #LEYTONSTONE 11. 7th gang 12. 12th Manor Park 13. iLLMADE 14. 8910 15. Barking 16. 6th gang 17. Custom House Gang 18. 13th gang 19. 15th gang 20. #HOMERTON 21. London Fields 22. Holly Street 23. Lisson Green Mandem/ Edgeware Road Boys 24. ER 25. Harrow Road Boys 26. 1011 27. ICB (Ice City Boys) 28. SUSPECT GANG (USG) 29. 12World/12Anti 30. 3rd Set 31. N-GANG 32. Southall 33. Hayes 34. 37/OJB 35. 17/PriceyWorld/Wano Rd 36. KuKu/BP 37. Moscow17 38. AY gang 39. B-Town 40. Ghetto Boys 41. 10th (G-Town) 42. OCB/YCB (Cherry Boys) 43. Woolwich Boys 44. GS (Greenside) 45. AWB (Abbey Wood Boys) 46. Parkside 47. Splash Gang 48. BSIDE 785 49. 23 #GMASH 50. AR (ARMED RESPONSE) 51. Monson Bloodset 52. Queens Road NM/2 53. PR15/NBR 54. Zone 2 55. 198 BLOCK 5 56. 410 gang 57. Cassava 58. MBlock 59. Claptown 60. 67 Gang 61. 417 Tooting 62. #Mitcham 63. CRO 64. CR7 65. M20/SMG 66. Gipset 67. UpTop 68. LTH Advertisement The map shows there are at least 30 gangs in south London, the most notorious of which are Moscow17 in Kennington, the Ghetto Boys in Deptford and the Woolwich Boys on the banks of the Thames. Another 30 gangs are stretched across the west, north and east, from Southall in the west, to Barking in the east. If the maps are accurate, some gangs, such as Croydon's 'CR0' control large swathes of some boroughs, while others, such as the 'China Walk' gang in the Lambeth, have small enclaves of just a couple of roads. The maps show just how specific many territories are, with gangs' zones of influence often locked up against each other around small residential streets. The Elmington Estate in Camberwell, which has been plagued with violence this year, is shown as an 'unoccupied' zones surrounded by the territories of six different gangs; 198 Block, Zone 2, the AY gang, Moscow17, 410 and Cassava. Many of the gangs are named after postcodes or bus routes and some have corresponding drill groups, who post music videos online, sometimes threatening other groups. Kyle Fox (pictured above) was jailed for a total of 22 years today for attacking children and filming it to post videos on the dark web A paedophile who filmed his sexual attacks on a five-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl before he posted the abuse on the dark web has been jailed for 22 years. Kyle Fox was caught by police on a bed with a five-year-old boy he was abusing. The 26-year-old admitted attacking the children and recording his abuse of them, but denied posting any of the horrific footage to the dark web. Fox had been wearing a distinctive wristband in one of the videos, that and examination by a speech analyst of his voice, helped investigators to identify him, Kingston Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Martin Hooper said Fox, also 'gave the impression' of admitting his actions after he was arrested, but in reality they were 'limited and misleading'. Mr Hooper added: 'There is an element of him putting the blame on the children.' When police raided his home in Epsom, Surrey, they found the five-year-old boy naked on a bed in the early hours of September 5, 2018. Mr Hooper said Fox told officers 'I'm willing to talk and make a confession', he then said that the abuse had only happened once at the property. Fox also tried to claim he had lost the memory stick and his computers had been hacked before the videos he filmed were posted online. Judge Georgina Kent, sentencing Fox to 22 years in jail and a further two on licence, told Fox: 'You sexually abused two very young and vulnerable children. 'Your offences were detected when a video of the abuse was uploaded on to a file-sharing website It came to the attention of officers who were able to trace you from the data. 'These are extremely serious and depraved offences. No right-minded person could be other than horrified by this appalling series of offences.' The judge told Fox she was 'satisfied you used drugs to stupefy' the boy, and that tests later showed the child had 'traces of cocaine in his hair'. The trial was heard at Kingston Crown Court (pictured above) where the judge said Fox had undertaken 'appalling offences' Fox, had previously pleaded guilty to all 22 charges. They included 14 charges against a boy who was aged four or five years old, and five counts against a girl between one and three years old. His victims are unrelated. The charges against the boy include seven counts of rape, six counts of assault by penetration and specimen counts of multiple sexual assaults. The charges against the girl include five counts of assault by penetration. Fox was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for his offences against the boy and eight years for the offences against the girl, which are to run consecutively. He also admitted making indecent images of children - including 4,743 category A images or videos (the most severe), 4,263 category B and 3,995 category C. Fox was also jailed for four years, three years and two years respectively, for the indecent images he created. These sentences are to run concurrently. The judge told Fox: 'You recorded your offending so I have full descriptions of the shocking and dreadful abuse that you perpetrated on them. 'I have also read the chat logs in which your repugnant and distorted attitudes towards the children was laid bare. 'I have read descriptions of the dreadful child abuse images and videos found. 'The evidence shows that you uploaded over 6,000 videos to the file sharing website and in return gained credits which enabled you to view other content.' Files discovered on his seized laptop after Fox was arrested included images of the boy being attacked. A sofa bed where the girl had been abused was found in a search of his home. The court also heard that Fox had a large collection of porn involving these two victims and other children. Lionel Blackman, defending, said that Fox did not seek to 'suggest any moral blame to the children' during his police interviews but instead had been 'extremely candid' in his answers. It was also stated that Fox was willing to take part in therapy and had a 'physical and mental past from his childhood which may form the circumstance of his descent in to these offences'. In custody he made a phone call to his mother and the prosecutor added: 'He was overheard to say to her, 'I've had an addiction to child porn for 15 years'. 'He made a reference to her finding photographs on a computer many years ago and he said, 'I've to accept my punishment and get some help'. 'Rather worryingly she also said when he was 16, he studied for a diploma in childcare, although he failed it, and the course involved him undertaking a placement in a nursery. 'There's an element, the Crown say, of the defendant putting the blame in those children. He does possess a high risk of serious harm to children.' After the hearing the National Crime Agency said that its National Cyber Crime Unit, working with partners in South Korea and the United States, had taken down the site which contained 145,000 videos of child sex abuse and had been viewed by offenders millions of times. NCA senior investigating officer Jason Booth said: 'Kyle Fox has committed utterly horrific offences with 'first-generation' images of that abuse appearing online. 'Law enforcement needs to be able to proactively target the highest-risk, hardest-to-tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation offenders, using covert and specialist assets as increasingly required, and focus on areas where there is a greater risk of contact abuse. 'The NCA prioritises these cases to safeguard vulnerable children and prosecute offenders.' An NSPCC spokesperson said: 'Not only will this horrific abuse have a devastating impact on two very young children, images of this depravity have also been used to fuel a sickening online trade. 'Both of Fox's vulnerable victims should continue to receive all possible support to help them overcome their terrifying ordeals. 'It's vitally important that we rid the web of this awful content and tech companies, law enforcement and government must work together to find ways to cut it off at source.' A Virginia high school student was taken into custody after he got into a fist fight with a police officer in his school's cafeteria, after he was ordered to the main office and refused to go. The brawl took place on Thursday during lunch time shortly after 1pm at Dominion High School in Loudoun County, Virginia in front of students and staff. The male student had been told to go to the school's office as he was in the lunchroom but rebuffed an administrator's attempts to take him in. When the school's resource officer tried to take the student to the office himself, the teenager threw punches in protest. A student at Dominion High School in Loudoun County, Virginia threw punches at his school resource officer who tried to bring him to the main office on Thursday The fist fight brawl took place on Thursday around 1pm in the school's cafeteria after the student was ordered to go to the main office but refused to listen Throwing hands: The student aimed for the police officer's face, mercilessly punching the cop School officials say that the administrator and school resource officer made multiple attempts to calm down the student before the fight fight broke out. The shocking video shows the student throws the first punches, aiming right for the resource officer's face, causing the officer to lose his balance and hit the cafeteria doors. The student continues to flail his arms at the officer who punches back right in the student's face and pushes him backwards. All the while students in the lunchroom are heard shouting and yelling, shocked with the fight. The two went back in forth throwing punches as the students in the cafeteria screamed with shock Finally the officer calmed down the student by grabbing a hold of his arms. The student faces felony charges of obstruction of justice by force and assault on a law enforcement officer The student keeps throwing punches until the officer grabs a hold of both of his arms and another administrator is seen approaching. Video of the fight has gone viral, racking up over 100,000 views on World Star. The officer 'defended himself while taking the student into custody,' according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's office. After the fight the deputy was taken to a hospital where he was treated for his injuries. The student refused medical treatment and instead was taken to the Loudoun Juvenile Detention Center. The incident took place here at Dominion High School in Loudoun County, Virginia He faces felony charges of obstruction of justice by force and assault on a law enforcement officer and three misdemeanor charges of assault on a school official, disorderly conduct and destruction of property. Authorities say they'll conduct an investigation to understand what triggered the fight. Dominion High School Principal John Brewer sent an email to parents following the incident saying the school officer was assaulted by a student. 'Earlier today, our SRO was assaulted by a Dominion High School student. The assault occurred during lunch in the cafeteria. Many of our students witnessed it. Because this matter involves possible action by law enforcement, I cannot offer further details. I am reaching out to ask you to remind your student to be respectful of school staff at all times,' the statement said. Vladimir Putin's order to release around 100 sea mammals from a 'whale jail' could lead to their mass annihilation in the wild, scientists have warned. The beluga and orca whales are set to be released from the Primorsky region of Russia following a campaign backed by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio. New footage shows the extent to which the creatures have been trained to be 'affectionate' ahead of their intended export to aquariums in China. The Kremlin leader's spokesman said that Putin had already 'made the relevant order' and that he hoped 'the problem around the killer whales will be resolved in a very short time and that they will be released'. The news comes after the FSB security service began laying charges for ill-treatment against companies controlling the cramped mammal jail and aiming to sell them. Around 100 sea mammals are set to be released from a 'whale jail' (pictured) in the Primorsky region of Russia following a campaign backed by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio But experts have warned that the animals, who were going to be sold to aquariums in China, may be too tame to survive in the wild and could be annihilated The news comes after the FSB security service began laying charges for ill-treatment against companies controlling the cramped mammal jail and aiming to sell them Leonardo DiCaprio, pictured in November, backed the campaign for the mammals to be released Putin has also demanded the swift release of 11 orcas and 87 beluga whales from their 'whale jail' on Russia's Pacific coast, according to reports, but there are now doubts here as to whether this will happen. Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Primorsky region, said: 'Scientists emphasise that at the moment the release into the wild of caged animals is fraught with risks to their lives.' Russia has 'no experience' of returning whales to the wild, he added. The waters off Nakhodka in Primorsky region 'are not their natural habitat' and a release to the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk is both illegal under Russian law and 'extremely complex', he warned, apparently defying Putin, his mentor. 'Besides, their socialisation causes serious questions, whether they can join wild herds or not,' he said bluntly. A scientific analysis he commissioned from Russian experts warned that the mammals are so used to hand feeding that release could lead to their death. He called for cooperation from international experts with experience in restoring whales to the wild. Pictured: An aerial view of the pools the 11 orcas and 90 belugas were being kept ahead of their sale to Chinese aquariums A scientific analysis commissioned by the governor of Primorsky region, warned that the mammals are so used to hand feeding that release could lead to their death Whale tamers at the jail released this clip, showing how affectionate the young beluga whales are. He said: 'They are affectionate, tamed. And for them life without humans will be hard and unbearable' In a newly released clip, a whale tamer caring for the mammals demonstrated how the young beluga whales are unsuited to release. Putin has also demanded the swift release of 11 orcas and 87 beluga whales from their 'whale jail' on Russia's Pacific coast He said: 'Look at our foster children. They absolutely do not want to live without humans. 'They are affectionate, tamed. And for them life without humans will be hard and unbearable.' Head trainer Andrei Nasonov also cast doubt on intentions to release the whales, saying today that training for future use in Chinese aquariums was still ongoing despite the FSB action. 'When they were brought here, they were completely wild,' he said. 'They did not approach people. Now these animals are very active in their contacts with people.' Minister of Nature Resources Dmitry Kobylkin said 'it is absolutely clear that killer whales must be released'. But it must be done so that not one mammal is lost, he added. Head trainer Andrei Nasonov also cast doubt on intentions to release the whales, saying today that training for future use in Chinese aquariums was still ongoing The Kremlin leader's spokesman said that Putin had already 'made the relevant order' and that he hoped 'the problem around the killer whales will be resolved in a very short time and that they will be released' 'The animals have been in captivity for a very long time, just to let them out [is impossible],' he said. Some whales maybe suffering from pneumonia which meant 'lifting them is quite problematic'. He warned 'a lot of time has passed, and the whales have adapted' to captivity, meaning freeing them was 'not easy'. French environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau, 80, has offered his expertise while warning of major difficulties. 'We are hopeful the Russian government will work to release the orcas and belugas back to the ocean where they belong, but the task of doing so is daunting,' he said. 'We are pleased to offer our expertise to this effort in any way that can be useful to the Russian government and scientific community.' Police are searching for the suspect in a fatal shooting at an apartment complex south of Salt Lake City that spurred a shelter-in-place alert for about two hours at nearby Utah Valley University. Other people at the apartment complex in Orem, Utah, witnessed Elbert Paule, 19, shoot a man once in the stomach on Thursday night, said Orem Police Lt. Trent Colledge. Shooting victim Dominique Barnett, 26, died later that night at a hospital, police said. Paule has been charged three times in the last year with drug-related offenses, online Utah court records show. Elbert Paule, 19, was being sought by police in Orem, Utah on Friday after a shooting. A man shot at an apartment complex near Utah Valley University south of Salt Lake City died Paule had pleaded guilty in one case and served jail time, pleaded not guilty in another and had not issued a plea in the third case. Lt. Colledge said Paule knew the man who died but didn't elaborate. He said it is possible the shooting was drug-related, but investigators are still gathering information. Classes resumed as normal on Friday morning at Utah Valley University, a college of 40,000 students with a campus next to Interstate 15 tucked in between businesses, shopping centers and housing. The university tweeted that students should 'continue to use caution.' University spokesman Scott Trotter said he couldn't say if the suspect and man are students at the college, deferring to police. Lt. Colledge said he didn't have that information. The apartment complex is not owned or run by Utah Valley University but most of the residents are current or former students, Lt. Colledge said. Paule's criminal history shows he had been charged with possession of drug or drug paraphernalia in three separate incidents dating back to March 2018. His adult criminal record does not show any violent offenses. He pleaded guilty in May 2018 to possessing marijuana and spice and was sentenced to 180 days and one year of probation. In August 2018, he pleaded not guilty to possession of marijuana and spice and drug paraphernalia. A trial was scheduled for April. His most recent charge came in January, when he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia in Orem. He has not yet issued a plea to that charge. President Trump says his comments on Otto Warmbier's death were 'misinterpreted,' and he holds North Korea responsible, 'of course,' for the young man's 'mistreatment and death.' He said he thinks of Warmbier frequently and believes his family to be a 'tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength' for Americans. 'Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Ottos mistreatment and death. Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain,' he said. 'Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future. I love Otto and think of him often!' Trump showered praise on the Warmbier family and himself in the Friday afternoon tweets following the release of a statement chiding him for his deferential treatment of North Korean autocrat Kim Jong-un. 'I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family,' he said. 'Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch.' President Trump says his comments on Otto Warmbier's death were 'misinterpreted,' and he holds North Korea responsible, 'of course,' for the young man's 'mistreatment and death' He said he thinks of Warmbier often and believes his family to be a 'tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength' for Americans Otto Warmbier died days after he was released into U.S. custody in 2017. A court sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea during a 2016 sightseeing trip gone wrong. Barack Obama was president at the time and his State Department worked to free Warmbier, but the administration was not successful. Months after Obama left office. North Korea agreed to release the student, who arrived home in a vegetative coma. Trump initially claimed that he'd been tortured, yet softened his rhetoric on the death after two days of meetings with Kim at his Vietnam nuclear summit. Fred and Cindy Warmbier were once close to the Trump administration they sat in the first lady's box during the president's State of the Union address in January of 2018. Trump drove a wedge in the relationship with a declaration in Hanoi that he believed Kim's claim that he had no knowledge of their son's condition, the Warmbier family indicated. 'We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto,' Fred and Cindy Warmbier said. 'Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that.' The Parents of Otto Warmbier, Fred and Cindy Warmbier are acknowledged during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 Donald Trump said he spoke with Kim Jong-un about Otto Warmbier, a U.S. student who fell into a vegetative state while in North Korea custody, and the dictator said he was not involved Trump said during a Vietnam presser that he spoke with with Kim about Warmbier, who fell into a vegetative state while jailed in North Korea and came back to the U.S. in a coma. The President admitted that while 'some really, really bad things' had happened to the University of Virginia student, Kim denied any involvement in the case. 'He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,' Trump told reporters in Hanoi after his summit with the dictator collapsed without a deal to eradicate North Korea's nuclear stockpile. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican who represents Ohio in the U.S. Senate, condemned the president's statements in a floor speech on Thursday. He shares his hometown with Warmbier's parents. 'This is an emotional issue for me because through the process of trying to bring Otto home I got to know his family very well,' Portman proclaimed. 'He was a young man with a lot of promise.' Going over the details of the case, he said he supports 'engagement with North Korea' now more than ever before. 'In fact my experience with Otto Warmbier makes me even more convinced that we need to be in communication because we had no good lines of communication.' Portman said, 'I support the ongoing talks with North Korea, specifically about denuclearization. But I want to make clear that we can never forget about Otto. His treatment at the hands of his captors was unforgivable and it tells us a lot about the nature of this regime. 'We cant be naive about what they did to Otto, about the brutal nature of the regime that would do this to an American citizen, and it's not just about Otto and other visitors, it's about how the people in North Korea are treated.' 'But I also want to say today as we discuss these broader issues with North Korea, lets keep Otto Warmbier at the front of our minds. Lets be sure that he is high on our agenda and in our consciousness as we deal with North Korea and again understanding, because of our experience with Otto, the brutal nature of this regime,' Portman said in the floor speech. Ohio's other Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, told ABC News in the hallway of the Senate that he couldn't understand why Trump likes Kim so much. 'I mean the president seems to gravitate toward autocrats like Putin, and the Crown Prince and Saudi Arabia and the North Korean dictator instead of speaking out on human rights,' Brown said. 'I mean you never should go meet up with the North Korean dictator without brining up the name Otto Warmbier, and bring up the whole issue of human rights, over and over,' he asserted. Brown said that past presidents of both parties had made human rights a top focus of their conversations with autocrats and it makes him 'sad' that Trump doesn't appear to be following in their footsteps. He said Trump is sending a message 'that he believes autocrats when they lie or when they cover up' or take malign actions they want to justify. Trump has repeatedly taken foreign adversaries he's built a personal relationship with at their word over the advice of U.S. intelligence that tells a different story. Scans of Warmbier's brain before his death revealed extensive brain damage associated with an unexplained trauma that American neurosurgeons were not able to pinpoint. Warmbier died on June 19, 2017, in Cincinnati at the age of 22 after his parents opted to remove his feeding tube. The student was studying abroad when he was taken into custody in North Korea. He was at the airport, preparing to board a plane when he was arrested for taking down a propaganda poster at his hotel. He admitted to the act, which is considered a serious crime in North Korea, in a taped confession on Feb. 29, 2016. The next month, he was tried and convicted in a North Korean court. The U.S. State Department said at the time that it was evident that North Korea arrested Warmbier to make a political statement. It wasn't until Trump took office that the U.S. secured Warmbier's release, in June of 2017. North Korean officials claimed several days prior to his return that he'd come down with food-borne botulism that he fought off with a sleeping pill. Experts in the U.S. could find no such evidence, although they said they could not rule it out, and determined that he'd most likely experienced a trauma that led to oxygen deprivation in his brain. After his death, Pyongyang claimed that it had been wrongly accused in a 'smear campaign' as Warmbier's treatment in prison had been nothing but 'humanitarian.' 'Although we had no reason at all to show mercy to such a criminal of the enemy state, we provided him with medical treatments and care with all sincerity on humanitarian basis until his return to the U.S., considering that his health got worse,' a regime spokesperson said. Warmbier was returned to the US in a vegetative state (pictured) which North Korean authorities blamed on botulism, a rare bacterial infection that can be fatal Trump claimed in 2017, after Warmbier's release, that the boy had been 'tortured beyond belief' and belittled Kim as Little Rocket Man. The U.S. passed legislation barring Americans from traveling to North Korea after the student's death, and a led a U.N. charge to introduce heft sanctions on Pyongyang for its illicit nuclear program. In early 2018, the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea began to change after Kim extended an olive branch to the South when the neighboring democracy hosted that year's Winter Olympics. By that summer Trump and Kim were exchanging private letters. They met in person for the first time in Singapore in June of 2018 after Trump hosted a North Korean delegation at the White House for talks on nuclear disarmament. The leaders have continued to converse through letters that Trump says turned he and Kim into great friends. 'We had probably the toughest language in the history of diplomacy ... at the beginning, and yet, we became very friendly,' he recalled in Vietnam at the conclusion of their latest summit. Prior to the talks in Vietnam, the president called Kim a 'friend' in a tweet. Asked in Hanoi about the message, in the context of Warmbier's death. Trump said, 'We have talked about it. And I really don't think it was in his interest at all. 'I know the Warmbier family very well. I think they're an incredible family. What happened is horrible. I really believe something very bad happened to him,' he admitted, 'and I don't think that the top leadership knew about it.' Kim expressed remorse for Warmbier's death, Trump revealed. 'He felt badly about it. I did speak to him. He felt very badly' The U.S. president noted that Warmbier 'came back in shape,' while fellow American hostages came home 'extremely healthy.' 'I thought it was horrible,' he said. 'Otto came back in a condition that was just, just terrible.' Trump told the reporter, who'd asked if he confronted Kim about the matter, 'I did speak about it, and I dont believe that he would've allowed that to happen. Just wasnt to his advantage to allow that to happen. 'Those prisons are rough. They're rough places. And bad things happened. But I really dont believe that he was -- I dont believe he knew about it,' the president asserted. Kim expressed remorse for Warmbier's death, Trump revealed. 'He felt badly about it. I did speak to him. He felt very badly.' 'But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later,' the American president explained. 'And, you know, you got a lot of people. A big country. A lot of people. And in those prisons and those camps, you have a lot of people. And some really bad things happened to Otto. Some really, really bad things.' Trump cut the reporter off as he tried to ask a follow-up question about the president's belief that Kim was in the dark. He stated flatly before moving on: 'He tells me that he didnt know about it, and I will take him at his word.' Trump acknowledged that some 'really, really bad things' happened to Warmbier but added: '[Kim] tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word' Trump spent the last two days in meetings with the North Korean leader in an attempt to negotiate a deal for the country to give up its nuclear weapons, but ultimately failed Warmbier decided to go to North Korea from China while completing a study abroad program in Hong Kong at the end of 2015 Warmbier traveled to North Korea from China while completing a study abroad program in Hong Kong at the end of 2015, as part of a tour group that included ten other Americans. The group celebrated New Year's Eve in Pyongyang, and at some point during the stay, Warmbier took down a propaganda poster from the wall of his hotel that he planned to take home as a souvenir. He was arrested at Pyongyang airport shortly after, before tearfully confessing on North Korean television that he had taken the poster after six weeks in detention. A court sentenced Warmbier to 15 years in prison with hard labor for his confessed crime. A man accused of murder looked unrecognizable at a court appearance compared to his arrest months earlier. John D Williams, 30, appeared in court charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Somerset County sheriff deputy Eugene Cole on April 25 in Maine. He looked unrecognizable in the courtroom compared to photos from the day of his arrest, where he appeared emaciated and was wearing only long john pants. He says he was going through drug withdrawal from opioids and other substances at the time. Williams allegedly shot Cole during a confrontation in Norridgewock. He fled and the resulting manhunt involved more than 200 officers from multiple jurisdictions, according to the Portland Press Herald. John Williams appeared unrecognizable at a court appearance on Thursday (left) compared to the time of his arrest on April 25 last year when he was suffering drug withdrawal and had spent four days hiding in a wooded area (right) Williams, 30, has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Somerset County sheriff deputy Eugene Cole (pictured) following an altercation in Norridgewock, Maine He was captured on April 28 after spending four days hiding in the woods. Williams, who is scheduled for trial in June, did not speak during a pre-trial hearing Cumberland County Courthouse. In court he wore a brown suit and gold tie. His hair was cut short, and his face was clean-shaven. Williams has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge with his trial expected to begin in June. His defense lawyers have claimed that he had been beaten and kicked by the officers who arrested him. On Thursday a special agent from the Maine State Police, who found Jones in the woods, told a judge that he struck him because the suspect resisted being handcuffed. He and other members of the search party have denied beating Williams to the extent alleged by his defense lawyers. Williams pictured in a sheriff's booking photo in June (left) and ten months later in Cumberland County Courthouse (right) William's attorney has contended that Williams was beaten and suffering from opioid withdrawal when he spoke to police and confessed to killing Eugene Cole last April Williams talks with lawyer Verne Paradie (right) before pleading not guilty to murder at a hearing on June 12 The defense lawyers also claim that their client only confessed to the fatal shooting to shield himself from further violence and because he was weak from drug withdrawal. Special Agent Glen Lang described ordering Williams to get on the ground, the Portland Press Herald reported. He said he cuffed Williams left hand but struggled with his right. 'I struck him two or three times on the left side of his head to get him to comply,' Lang said. He said he removed Williams pants to search him and had noticed that Williams had defecated down his leg. Williams resisted cops when they tried to take his photo after he was found in the woods. Agent Glen Lang said he later pulled his head up in order to take a shot (pictured) John Williams is led by Maine State Police detectives into a cruiser at 807 Route 139 in Fairfield. He had spent four days surrounding woods before he was caught by agents Williams' attorney said his client was using 'opiates, crack and cocaine' at the time of the incident Lang said Williams resisted and tucked his chin into his chest when the command center asked officers for a photo to confirm the mans identity. Lang said at that point he had pulled Williams head by the hair, with this image widely shared on social media. Game Warden Jeremy Judd testified that he did not see anyone hit or kick Williams at any point. FBI Special Agent David Scullion also said he did not see anyone hit or kick Williams, but he did notice a mark on the side of his head. Williams is led out of Cumberland County Courthouse after pleading not guilty in June Defense attorney Verne Paradie asked the judge to throw out the officers' statements as they contradict his client's testimony that he was kicked, beaten and taunted. Many details on the killing, including a motive for the shooting have yet to be revealed by police. Williams is alleged to have shot Cole and then taken his police pickup, driven to a Cumberland Farms store, which he robbed, and then driven away before he abandoned the pickup, the Portland Press Herald reported. University of Ohio professor Dr Brian Cutle said a number of issues could have reduced Williams ability to make decisions and control his emotions during the interrogation. A Maine State trooper trains his rifle on the home of Williams in Madison on April 25 Williams can be seen leaving a filling station on April 25, shortly after Eugene Cole was shot He pointed to isolation from the four days he spent hiding in the woods, as well as hunger, sleep deprivation and pain. He stated that Williams could have been influenced by earlier violence or suggestions that he could sleep soon. Paradie told a previous hearing that Jones significant withdrawal symptoms and had been beaten pretty badly by the police. 'Opiates, crack and cocaine he was doing quite a bit of everything. He clearly was suffering from withdrawal from the opiates,' CentralMaine.com reported him as saying. Williams is expected to give evidence when the parties reconvene on April 8 for a final hearing day. If convicted, he faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. A New Jersey filmmaker who corroborated with an undercover sting operation to tape his friend confessing to the murder of Sarah Stern has revealed why he did it. Speaking on ABC News' 20/20, 21-year-old Anthony Curry said he doesn't see himself as a hero for his actions - he just thought it was the right thing to do. 'I didn't do it for fame and notoriety... I was doing it to bring closure to a family,' he told anchor Amy Robach. Curry secretly recorded Liam McAtasney revealing how he killed childhood friend, Sarah Stern, 19, for her $100,000 inheritance back in 2016. Anthony Curry (above), 21, agreed to help police secretly record McAtasney talking about how he killed Sarah Stern in December 2016 On Camera, McAtasney admitted to killing Sarah Stern (above), and, with Preston Taylor, threw her body off a bridge before leaving her car there to make it look like the 19-year-old killed herself. Her body has never been found On Tuesday, McAtasney, 21, was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and five other counts including desecration of human remains. His accomplice, Preston Taylor, pleaded guilty to helping McAtasney dispose of the body into Shark River, and testified against him at trial. Prosecutors credit much of the justice served to amateur filmmaker Curry, who came forward to police in January 2017 - a month after the murder - to tell them of a strange interaction he'd had with McAtasney. '[Sarah Stern's father] Michael Stern does not get to know what happens to his daughter without Anthony Curry,' Monmouth County assistant prosecutor Meghan Doyle told ABC. 'I firmly believe that [Curry] is extremely modest about it and uncomfortable with that role, but to me, he will always be the hero and the reason we were able to bring this case to court.' The conversation was filmed just days before McAtasney (left) and alleged accomplice, Preston Taylor (right), were arrested and charged with the murder of Sarah Preston Taylor and Sarah Stern pictured in 2014 as prom dates together Sarah Stern disappeared without a trace in December 2016. Her body was never found, but police did discover her abandoned car with keys still in the ignition on a bridge in New Jersey. On Thanksgiving 2016, a week before Stern disappeared, Curry said McAtasney pitched to him an idea for a grisly film. The plot-line, consisting of murdering a young girl and throwing her off the bridge with his friend, came from an idea that McAtasney had specifically had, Curry said. 'I'm a filmmaker. He used to tell me ideas all the time about films I should make and all that stuff. 'And he told me about this idea he had to kill this girl... that he was going to strangle her and throw her over the bridge with his friend,' he said to ABC. It wasn't until Stern's disappearance that Curry thought he was discussing a real-murder plot. On Tuesday, McAtasney was found guilty of all seven counts against him, including first-degree murder and robbery (pictured: McAtasney looks toward the gallery where his family is seated, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019) He had allegedly been plotting the murder for six months. It's said he wanted to kill his childhood friend in order to take $100,000 of inheritance money she'd received from her mother Preston Taylor (above) pleaded guilty to his involvement in dumping Sarah's body and trying to steal her money The pair left Sarah's car on the bridge to make it look like she killed herself. Police later found her abandoned car on the Belmar bridge, in New Jersey (pictured above) 'I was like, "yeah, he's a little nuts." But I don't know, I just thought it was a movie,' Curry said. Shortly after Stern was reported missing, Curry said McAtasney started contacting him almost daily, leaving him messages saying 'I've got to tell you something'. And after he sent a message to Curry asking 'if the cops had questioned' him about McAtasney's possible involvement in Stern's disappearance, Curry went straight to the police. There, New Jersey investigators asked the then 19-year-old to participate in a sting operation to secretly record conversations with McAtasney and elicit a confession. Curry agreed, fearing his own family could be in danger with McAtasney still at large. 'If somebody is capable of doing that, he could try to hurt my family or somebody I knew... kids wacko,' Curry said during the 20/20 interview. In January 2017, police set up a series of visual and audio bugs in Curry's car, and he drove to meet with McAtasney. 'I pretty much hung her,' McAtasney says in the footage. 'I picked her up and had her dangling off the ground. It took me a half hour to kill her. I set a timer.' McAtasney says in the video that he then shoved a shirt down her throat and placed his finger on her nose. He said the biggest problem was Stern's dog but it just 'laid there and watched as I killed her.' Curry's secretly filmed video captured a full confession from McAtasney. He described how he felt no remorse for the killing and voiced his anguish at only receiving $8,000 McAtasney went onto tell his friend that he needed Taylor's help dumping Stern's body off the Belmar bridge because he didn't realize how heavy she would be. In the video, McAtasney also talks about he thought he was going to get $100,000 by robbing Stern of her inheritance after killing her, but that he only got $8,000. 'The worst part of it is I thought I was going to come out $50,000 to a $100,000 in my pocket. She had one safe that she took money out, and she only had $10,000,' he said. 'And this money, I don't know if it was burnt or something, it's f*****g old money. Terrible quality. I don't even know if I can put any of it in the f*****g bank.' 'I don't feel any different, I really don't think about it,' McAtasney said of the murder. 'You always think you're going to try all these new things and change, but it just doesn't do anything. It's weird.' Curry replied: 'It's a f****** movie, man.' McAtasney replied: 'It's your life. You might as well make it one. What are you going to live some boring a** life?' Days after the footage was captured, police interviewed Taylor where he immediately confessed to his involvement (above) McAtasney pleaded not guilty to all charges. He faces a sentence of life in prison without parole, in May (pictured: McAtasney in a detention hearing, February 2017) On Tuesday, a jury found McAtasney guilty of murdering Stern in an effort to steal the inheritance money left behind by her late mother. With his roommate Preston Taylor, McAtasney then dumped her body off the side of Belmar bridge. Pleading not guilty, McAtasney now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Taylor, who testified against the former as part of a plea deal, could face up to 20 years, with charges including robbery, conspiracy, disturbing or desecrating human remains and hindering apprehension. They will be sentenced in May. 20/20 airs tonight at 9pm EST on ABC. An elderly woman in south China has been awarded a hefty payout for an injury she had sustained after falling to the ground when a poodle walked towards her. The dog owner in Jiangmen, Guangdong province was asked by a court to pay 200,000 yuan (22,480) in damages to the pensioner, surnamed Ou, who became frightened and lost her footing when trying to avoid the unleashed poodle on the pavement. The Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court ruled that the woman, surnamed Gao, did not act responsibly as a dog owner and should be held solely liable for the incident, even though the poodle never showed any signs of aggression. The dog owner in Jiangmen, Guangdong province was asked by a court to pay 200,000 yuan (22,480) in damages to the pensioner, surnamed Ou, who became frightened and lost her footing when trying to avoid the unleashed poodle on the pavement (file photo) The pensioner in her 60s was hospitalised for 13 days after sustaining an injury in the fall during an evening walk with her husband on August 18, 2017, according to a statement released by the Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court today. A recent assessment by a judicial agency declared her condition a Grade Nine disability. The scale, where one is the highest and 10 the lowest, is determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. This is the second trial for the case as a previous judge determined that Gao should be held 30 per cent responsible in the incident. Both parties appealed against the decision. 'In the second trial, the court believes that Gao is fully responsible for the accident. She did not obtain a certificate of registration for her dog, did not put her dog on a leash and did not fulfill her duties as a responsible pet owner during the evening rush hour,' the court said in its statement. Multiple cities in China have set new rules on dog-keeping in bid to improve safety (file photo) 'Although the poodle did not chase, bite or bark at the pensioner, it's sudden movement to approach her caused fright and prompted her to fall down,' it said. The hefty package to be paid by Gao includes the pensioner's medical expenses, follow-up treatment fees and 'disability compensation'. The case comes as Chinese authorities are ramping up efforts to crack down on 'uncivilised dog-keeping behviour' displayed by pet owners. Multiple cities in the country have implemented new rules and policies on dog-keeping in a bid to improve public safety and ease tensions between those who have pets and those who don't. Chinese people are still learning to appreciate dogs as life companions - whether they own dogs or not. At the same time, many people are unaware of the responsibility that comes with a dog. Some of the most frequent complaints against pet dogs in China are that they are noisy, they bite people and their owners don't clean after them. The case comes as Chinese authorities are ramping up efforts to crack down on 'uncivilised dog-keeping behviour' displayed by pet owners The city of Jinan in east China in 2017 launched a dedicated 12-point scoring system on dog owners to ensure their pets 'behave well' while in public. Jinan residents are expected to always keep their dogs on a leash, carry their dog license and prevent the animals from barking excessively; or points would be taken from their 'dog owning account'. Once a dog owner loses all 12 points, the authority has the right to detain the dog and send the offender to a class to learn how to become a good pet owner. In November, a new policy to ban pet owners in Wenshan city from walking their dogs from 7am to 10pm sparked a nation-wide outcry. Government of the southern Chinese city claimed the rule could improve the living conditions of its residents and maintain public safety. As of 2017, Chinese families have 27 million pet dogs in cities and nearly 100 million in the countryside, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Vice President Mike Pence told a crowd of fired-up conservative activists on Friday that he's proud of second lady Karen Pence for withstanding criticism after she began teaching at a Virginia school that enforces an anti-gay ideology for students, parents and employees. In a red-meat speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington, the vice president said American Christians are coming under attack because of beliefs that run counter to those of 'media elites and Hollywood liberals.' 'My own family recently came under attack just because my wife Karen went back to teach art to children at a Christian school,' he said. 'Let me say before all of you: I couldn't be more proud of my wife.' The line drew a standing ovation. Mrs. Pence, who walked on stage with the vice president before sitting in the well of the first row, stood and waved. She began a part-time job in January teaching art to children at Immanuel Christian School in Northern Virginia, which explicitly bans all connections with gay and transgender students and parents who don't adhere to strict Christian teachings about homosexuality. Vice President Mike Pence forcefully defended his wife on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, criticizing her detractors who object to her teaching students at an anti-gay Christian school in Virginia Second Lady Karen Pence (left) started a twice-a-week job in January, teaching art to students at a religious elementary school that bans homosexuals and transgender children Immanuel Christian School in northern Virginia explicitly bans gay and transgender students and employees, and won't enroll children of parents who don't adhere to strict Christian teachings about homosexuality The vice president said Friday that the controversy underscores 'the sincerely held belief of millions of Americans who cherish their Christian faith and Christian education.' 'And so I'll make you a promise,' he said. 'Under this president and this administration, we will always stand with people of faith. We will always defend the freedom of religion of every American of every faith, so help us God.' Mrs. Pence was a teacher for 25 years before returning to Washington, including 12 teaching art at Immanuel Christian before her husband, then a congressman, was elected Indiana's governor. The Pences' daughter Charlotte attended the school. During a National Prayer Breakfast speech last month, President Donald Trump praised her for 'teaching art classes at a Christian school. Terrific woman.' The move made the quiet, unassuming Mrs. Pence an even more potent cultural lightning rod. Her twice-a-week employer's positions on homosexuality are explicit. In a 'parent agreement' posted on the Immanuel Christian School's website, the school declares that it can 'refuse admission to an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student if the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home, the activities of a parent or guardian, or the activities of students are counter to ... the biblical lifestyle the school teaches.' 'This includes, but is not limited to contumacious behavior, divisive conduct, and participating in, supporting, or condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity, promoting such practices, or being unable to support the moral principles of the school.' Charlotte Pence (second from right) graduated from Immanuel Christian School; Mrs. Pence taught there for 12 years while her husband was a member of Congress These documents are part of the Immanuel Christian School's application process; parents must agree to support policies that enforce religious opposition to gay marriage, 'homosexual or bi-sexual activity' and 'promoting such practices' Job applicants are also required to sign a pledge not to participate in homosexual activity or acts that are contrary to the 'unique roles of male and female.' 'Moral misconduct' listed as a disqualifier includes ' heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g., premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, any other violation of the unique roles of male and female.' '[M]arriage unites one man and one woman,' Immanuel's job application reads, adding that 'a wife is commanded to submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ.' A spokeswoman for Mrs. Pence told reporters in January that '[i]t's absurd that her decision to teach art to children at a Christian school, and the school's religious beliefs, are under attack.' Pence drew a standing ovation by defending his wife, who listened form the front row of a capacity-crowd ballroom in suburban Maryland The Pences walked onstage together on Friday at the CPAC convention; Mrs. Pence listened from the front row of the audience and stood to acknowledge the ovation when he defended her publicly The vice president didn't mention gays, lesbians or transgender Americans on Friday. He did, however, forcefully defend American Jews against discrimination. 'Anti-semitism isn't just wrong. It's evil,' he told a cavernous ballroom packed with activists, declaring that 'it must be universally condemned.' Pence also framed political conservatism as a bid to promote 'freedom' with a minimum of government interference. 'Freedom is about enabling people to live their lives as they see fit,' he said, appearing to defend the Virginia school that employs the second lady. 'Freedom is more generous, more helpful and more humane than any other social or economic model ever attempted, because it's the only philosophy that respects the dignity and worth of every single life and sees every man, woman and child as made in the image of God,' he said. Before he became vice president, Pence was known as one of the country's most conservative governors. He argued as a congressman that sanctioning gay marriage would lead to a 'societal collapse,' and suggested during his first congressional campaign that AIDS research dollars would be better spent assisting 'those seeking to change their sexual behavior.' The University of South Dakota has changed one of its Hawaiian themed social events after students called out the party for cultural appropriation. The Student Bar Association of the University of South Dakota's School of Law announced a campus social event called Hawaiian Day where students would wear floral shirts and leis and enjoy free food as a morale booster in the middle of the winter semester. But this week the university's interim administration advised the Student Bar Association that the event was in appropriate and violated the school policy of inclusiveness. SBA leaders were approached by student leaders of another law group who said they were concerned about the use of indigenous cultural symbols, according to Michelle Cwach, the university's director of university relations. A student group at the University of South Dakota has changed the name its 'Hawaiian Day' social event to 'Beach Day' after students called out the institution for cultural appropriation on Wednesday A concerned student submitted an essay to the school administration calling for the Hawaiian Day theme to be changed, slamming the event for cultural appropriation. In response, an SBA leader met with the school administration to discuss the controversy of the event name and review that essay, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. On Wednesday, the Student Bar Association posted on Facebook saying that the Hawaiian Day would be renamed as Beach Day. 'We greatly apologize to those we offended; it was unintentional,' the group said. 'It was determined that these are culturally insensitive by the administration after doing research based off of the essay written by the initial complainant,' the student group posted on Facebook. On Wednesday, the Student Bar Association posted on Facebook saying that the Hawaiian Day would be renamed as Beach Day, adding 'We greatly apologize to those we offended; it was unintentional'. This post has since been deleted On Wednesday the group followed up saying 'no leis will be handed out' at the party 'All in all please try to just enjoy the event tomorrow - no matter what side you are on. Free food is still food,' the group said. That post has since been deleted. Still, SBA encouraged students to don floral shirts. However, later on Wednesday the group followed up with another Facebook post saying 'Update on "Beach Day" No leis will be handed out,' meaning the traditional flower garland used in Hawaii would be factored out of the party. No police cordon was thrown around the Mulberry Bush pub before an IRA bomb went off inside, despite officers responding to a coded warning in the building, an inquest heard. Jurors at hearings into the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings were told there was no evidence of attempts to clear the premises or its immediate area, in spite of an 8.11pm warning call pin-pointing the iconic Rotunda where the pub was located. Two blasts then ripped apart the Mulberry Bush and the nearby Tavern In The Town, between 8.15pm and 8.20pm, on November 21. The jury heard how casualties were 'crawling over bodies' to escape the devastation within the Mulberry Bush, on the ground floor of the Rotunda. No police cordon was thrown around the Mulberry Bush pub (aftermath, above) before an IRA bomb went off inside, despite officers responding to a coded warning in the building, an inquest heard Jurors at hearings into the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings were told there was no evidence of attempts to clear the premises or its immediate area, in spite of an 8.11pm warning call pin-pointing the iconic Rotunda where the pub was located On Friday, it also emerged that some of the police logs detailing the immediate responses on the night of the incident were still missing. Inquests at Birmingham Civil Justice Centre into the 21 victims killed in the blasts got under way this week after a 44-year wait for the bereaved families. Opening the proceedings, coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC told jurors they would hear evidence of how the two bombs ripped apart two pubs on what was a 'perfectly ordinary evening'. More than half of the victims were under 30. L-R: Stephen Whalley, 21, Jane Davies, 17, Maureen Roberts, 20, and Eugene Thomas Reilly, 23, lost their lives in the atrocity L-R: Pamela Palmer, Desmond Reilly, James Craig, and Maralyn Nash were killed that night On Friday, it also emerged that some of the police logs detailing the immediate responses on the night of the incident were still missing. Pictured, a body is carried from the Mulberry Bush The devices, detonating in 'massive explosions' just minutes apart inside the pubs brought 'devastation', jurors heard. Earlier this week, jurors were told how police numbers had been cut to just 15 officers across 'busy' Birmingham city centre, that night. Other officers had been drawn away to provide security for the funeral transportation arrangements of IRA bomber James McDade, at Birmingham airport. On Friday, Anthony Mole - an ex-counter terrorism police commander with 30 years' police experience - continued giving expert evidence to the inquest, and was asked about whether he had seen any evidence of a cordon. Jurors heard how that night, young friends 16-year-old Neil Marsh, known as Tommy, and Paul Davies, 17, had been walking past the Mulberry Bush when the 25lb (11kg) device detonated. Above, Neil's mother, Hilda, at his grave Family members of the victims of the bombings gather in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral around a memorial to the 21 killed Jurors heard how that night, young friends 16-year-old Neil Marsh, known as Tommy, and Paul Davies, 17, had been walking past the Mulberry Bush when the 25lb (11kg) device detonated. Lawyer Kevin Morgan, representing Mr Marsh's family, asked: 'We have not identified any evidence of a police cordon being erected at the location we have just seen?' Opening the proceedings, coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC (above) told jurors they would hear evidence of how the two bombs ripped apart two pubs on what was a 'perfectly ordinary evening' Mr Mole replied: 'I've not seen anything within the papers.' Asked if he had seen any evidence the area was 'sealed off by the police the night of the bombing', Mr Mole replied: 'I haven't seen anything that would suggest it was.' Lesley Thomas QC, asking questions on behalf of Mr Davies' family, said: 'Between the warning call being given and the explosion, there's a period of time - and I'm not gong to touch on that period of time - but police officers had attended the Rotunda building before the bomb went off?' Mr Mole replied: 'Correct.' Mr Thomas then asked: 'And you've seen no evidence that despite the fact the police arrived at the building before the bomb went off, there was never any cordons put in place outside the building. The former police officer replied: 'Correct.' Asked about whether there were any police logs other than two 999 calls for the Tavern and the Mulberry Bush, Mr Mole said he had not seen any, other than 'statements from police officers at the time'. John Ashurst, a passenger on a bus driving past at the time of the explosion, said: 'I was looking at the Mulberry Bush, and I just saw the front of it disintegrate and fly towards the bus.' Jurors also heard an account from the now deceased wife of the pub's landlord, Mary Jones, who described the detonation as 'a flash of light'. Earlier this week, jurors were told how police numbers had been cut to just 15 officers across 'busy' Birmingham city centre, that night. Above, pedestrians walk past the memorial to the 21 victims 'I didn't realise what had happened at first and thought I had been electrocuted,' she said. Mrs Jones added: 'I must have crawled over some bodies to get out of the pub but I don't remember this at all.' Families' fight for justice Relatives of the victims have been waiting for decades to find out officially what happened to their loved ones. Inquests were opened but never resumed after the 1975 conviction of the Birmingham Six. They were freed in 1991 after evidence of a botched police investigation and no-one else has been charged. In 2011, campaign group Justice4the21 was launched, calling for a public inquiry into the bombings. In 2016 coroner Louise Hunt said the inquests could resume but Sir Peter Thornton QC later said identifying the culprits would be unlawful. Bereaved families fought a legal battle against this but last September the Court of Appeal upheld his decision. Advertisement Solicitor David McVeighty, now 70, was a young man catching a post-work drink in the pub with his brother Raymond and three friends that night. He described a 'bright flash' and 'a very loud bang' which blew out every window in the pub. Mr McVeighty grabbed his brother by the arm, got out through the shattered window, and they ran. But the pair went back to the pub after a few moments to check on their friends - who were, by then, standing outside. He said: 'It seemed natural to go and help. So I went back in. 'I remember bodies. I remember the smell of burning and I remember screams and moans. 'I think I tried to pull some people or help and by then the emergency services were on the scene and a fireman told me to leave.' Becoming emotional, he told jurors: 'I will never forget that evening. 'My recollections are vivid, as you can gather, and I count myself, unlike the other unfortunate people who are the subject of this inquests, as a very lucky and fortunate man.' 15 police on duty for Birmingham bombs on day 1,680 helped to guard IRA coffin By JAMES TOZER for the Daily Mail Only 15 police officers were on duty in Birmingham city centre at the time of the 1974 pub bombings, an inquest has heard. The unit covering the area had sent 135 officers to join a 1,680-strong security operation before the funeral of an IRA bomber killed by his own device, a jury was told. But while a phone warning was made on the night of the attacks, it was not until an hour later that officers were recalled from the funeral detail. Jurors were told on Thursday that police numbers had been cut to 15 officers across the busy city centre that night. Seven days earlier on November 14, provisional IRA terrorist James McDade had been killed while planting a bomb at the Coventry telephone exchange. Security arrangements for the cortege taking his remains to Birmingham Airport for a flight back to Ireland on the day of the pub bombings meant police leave and training were cancelled and shift manpower cut, jurors heard. West Midlands Police had gathered 1,680 uniformed officers for the operation, while 352 from the Staffordshire, West Mercia and Warwickshire forces were held in reserve. The inquests heard 135 of those officers were taken from A division that policed the city centre where both pubs were. That night, ten officers were at the nearest police station in Digbeth and five more at the divisions other base in Steelhouse Lane. The inquests continue. Thomas Hogh, in his mid 50s, told the jury he and his wife would have struggled to find even 100 in cash A City fund manager and his wife told a judge of their terror when their 'expensive' family home was stormed by six men armed with what looked like a sawn-off shotgun. Thomas Hogh, a successful portfolio manager at Capital Group, was Skyping his brother in the kitchen of his home in Sevenoaks, Kent, at 10pm on a bank holiday Monday when two men who said they were police officers arrived at their electric gate. His wife, who was getting ready for bed, answered the intercom call which went through to her mobile and asked her husband to let them in. But when the electric gates opened four masked accomplices wearing balaclavas, gloves, carrying two rucksacks and armed with what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun jumped through a hole in a neighbour's fence. The gang of six thugs planned to rob the 'substantial' family home by sticking a 'police' sign on a private ambulance and pretending they had been called to a disturbance, Maidstone Crown Court heard. Two of the gang arrived in the vehicle at the Hogh family home at 9.40pm on May 1st, 2017, wearing high-visibility jackets. They told the occupants through the intercom that they police officers investigating a disturbance. Inge, Mr Hogh's wife, had been getting ready for bed when she answered the intercom call and asked her husband to talk to the men. But when the electric gates opened she looked out from her bedroom's balcony and saw the masked thugs push her husband to the ground. She hit their panic alarm and hid in the wardrobe where she called the police. Mr Hogh was standing by the front door of his home in an affluent avenue in Sevenoaks (pictured) to greet the two 'officers' when the rest of gang 'burst' in Mrs Hogh, who was at her home with her husband, their twin 18-year-old daughters, and 21-year-old son, gave evidence from behind a screen. She said: 'When the call came I answered in the bedroom. 'I told them they must be wrong, it couldn't be, I have just seen all my family. 'I told my husband to see what the police wanted to do. I looked down from the balcony and my husband opened the door. 'I just remember a big tall guy attacked my husband, he flew over my husband. I have never seen such a big man. 'My husband flew over towards the staircase - I thought it was the worst thing I have ever seen.' When the panic button sent a piercing alarm through the house the men turned around and fled. Mr Hogh told the jury he and his wife would have struggled to find even 100 in cash and when the raiders struck he was 'extraordinarily pleased' when they reacted to the alarm by fleeing. 'One of my worries was what would they do when they discovered that we could probably have scraped hardly 100 together,' he said. 'We don't have cash lying around. In my safe they would have found my certificates from when I graduated university and high school. They would have been disappointed with that. 'It was like they all turned 180 degrees and ran out, as if they had an agreement beforehand that if the alarm sounds, let's run. They just all literally turned and ran out of the house.' Mr Hogh was standing by the front door of his home in an affluent avenue in Sevenoaks to greet the two 'officers' when the rest of gang 'burst' in. Giving evidence from behind a screen, Mr Hogh said: 'Four men dressed in balaclavas basically piled in - it was very quick. 'When I opened the door the first person was much taller than me, a very tall man. 'He was looking down on me, he pushed me back into the entrance. 'They just burst in and two people pushed up the stairs on my right - the speed with which they ran up the stairs was pretty amazing. 'I looked to the right and saw a person with a shotgun. He was holding it and pointing it up.' Mr Hogh added that when the real police arrived 'the first concern was if they were real or not'. 'You trust them when they say 'It's police.',' added Mrs Hogh. The court heard Mr Hogh was in the kitchen making a Skype call to his brother and Mrs Hogh had gone upstairs to get ready for bed when the intercom buzzed. Their 21-year-old son was in his bedroom studying for university exams, an 18-year-old daughter was in the study, and her twin was exercising in the ground-floor gym. Mrs Hogh said the intercom call came through to the house phone, alerting everyone, and then went to her mobile. 'I answered and asked who was at the gate. The man said "This is the police. We have been called to the property. There has been disturbances.",' she told the jury. 'I said to the man "No, that must be wrong. It can't be because I have just seen all my family." I tried to look out of the window but because of the trees I could just see somebody was down there. 'I asked again and then I heard my husband coming out of the kitchen. I said "See what the police want. They are here and I don't know what they want." 'I went to the balcony and stood, looking down. He opened the gate and the front door and I just remember a tall guy came in first, all covered in black, and attacked my husband.' All six made their escape either to Canterbury, in Kent, or South Ockendon in Essex, the court was told. The disguised ambulance, the type of Skoda Octavia often used by private ambulance firms, had a sign with the word 'Police' attached to the bonnet and bore false number plates. It is alleged these were fitted en route to the raid after it arrived on the Kent-side of the Dartford River Crossing from Essex. The court heard they were then swapped back after 'it all went wrong' but before the ambulance made its return trip through the tunnel. Two days later it was found burnt out on farmland in Nottinghamshire. On trial accused of conspiracy to rob and possessing an imitation firearm with intent are Nicholas Hamill, 35, Malcolm Maxted, 45, and Joseph Mezen, 28. Hamill, of Carlton Hill, Herne Bay, Kent, is the owner of a medical supplies firm and was said to run a company called Southern England Ambulance Service. The prosecution allege he played an 'organisational' role and was involved in 'putting the plan together' in 2017. Maxted, of Daiglen Drive, South Ockendon, is an ambulance driver instructor. He admits collecting the vehicle on the day of the robbery attempt from Hamill's business in Canterbury and driving it to his home in Essex. But it is alleged he then drove it as part of the raid attempt before taking it north to Nottinghamshire where he had a pre-arranged training course the following day. A fourth man, Ronnie Mead, 30, of Lucerne Drive, Seasalter, Kent, denies assisting an offender by setting fire to the ambulance. It is alleged he also drove Maxted's personal car, a Renault Clio, to Nottinghamshire, picked up the ambulance and set it alight. The court heard Mead had also been 'tasked and trusted' by the gang to return to Sevenoaks and retrieve the Police sign which had fallen off the bonnet as they fled. A fifth man, John Moys, also 45, of Old Tree, Hoath, near Canterbury, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob and the imitation firearm offence. It is also alleged that Hamill purchased the ambulance with Moys, using a fictitious name and business address, on March 21 that year. Prosecutor Christopher May said those involved in the robbery plot went 'to considerable effort'. 'The prosecution suggest the Hoghs were targeted by a robbery gang who thought that they would be able to steal cash and or other property from them to a high value,' he told the court. 'Thinking that there would be potentially high rewards, a great deal of planning went into this. 'Masquerading as police officers to try to gain entry through the external gates, the use of an ambulance disguised as a police car to gain the confidence of the occupiers, putting that vehicle on false number plates to make it hard to identify, the wearing of masks, and even carrying a weapon that had all the appearance of being a sawn-off shotgun, a very frightening article. 'But in fact what happened was that their plan was thwarted because when they managed to get through the front door, the lady of the house, Mrs Hogh, who was upstairs, immediately sounded the alarm when she realised the attackers were in the house. 'It was very loud, it clearly panicked them, and the gang fled empty-handed.' Evidence against the men is said to come from CCTV footage, mobile phone data and ANPR cameras. Cameras at the Hoghs' home showed the four masked men running away from the front door and back down the side of the detached house. They initially over-shot the hole in the fence before rapidly retracing their steps to find it and escape into the grounds of the neighbouring house. Other CCTV footage from a property opposite showed what the prosecution allege was three of the men, dressed in dark clothing, arriving on foot just under an hour before the raid to assess whether it was 'a good time to attack'. Hamill denies any involvement while Maxted claims that on the night of the failed robbery, the ambulance was collected from his home by others before being returned. The jury was told that Mezen, from Whitstable, admitted after his arrest that he had been at the house, but claimed the raid was 'a put-up job' and carried out with the homeowners' knowledge. However, his account, said the prosecutor, was a 'convoluted and utterly implausible' explanation. 'When you consider the sheer scale and detail of the planning that had gone into this attempted robbery, the lengths people had gone to to try to make this work, it simply doesn't make sense,' added Mr May. 'The Hogh family were enjoying a peaceful bank holiday Monday at home, with their children, one of whom had exams starting the next day. 'The account put forward by Jimmy Mezen is far-fetched in the extreme.' Mr Hogh also denied any alleged involvement. He told the court: 'It's really impossible for a person like me to actually get cash. I don't have any cash in my work, it's all done electronically. All the money I see, is just a number on the computer screen. 'I work for a reputable American company and we have never lost any money of our clients.' The trial continues and is expected to last five weeks. US-backed troops will resume their deadly siege on the last ISIS stronghold after evacuating thousands in recent weeks. A spokesman for the SDF said they would continue their assault on Baghouz in eastern Syria where the once proud 'caliphate' has been brought to its knees. Mustafa Bali said there were 'only terrorists left in Baghouz' and announced his forces would resume their efforts after halting last month. Experts believe their are still hundreds of IS militants who have cowered behind their wives and children in caves and tunnels in their last bastion. On their knees: A Bosnian man suspected of being an ISIS fighter kneels before SDF men as he surrenders from Baghouz on Friday Men and boys suspected of being Islamic State group fighters raise up their hands as they await to be searched by members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Two injured boys suspected of being Islamic State supporters lay on the back of a truck Thousands of men - many of them suspected terrorists - women and children have limped from the ruins in the last three weeks. They have been painstakingly driven out into the desert, separated and screened by the Kurdish forces before being moved north to camps in al-Hol. The military campaign to drive out the the militants from the eastern banks of the Euphrates began in September, pushing them down toward this last corner in the village near the Iraqi border. The military operation was halted on February 12 after the SDF discovered there was still a large number of civilians and hostages in the territory, which sits atop caves and tunnels where they had been hiding. The evacuees said food was running low and clean water and medicine were scarce. Many defended what remained of the extremist group's territorial hold, which once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria. An SDF militia man raises the hat of a Bosnian man suspected of fighting for the brutal Islamic State terror group Filthy and distraught looking children are loaded onto the back of truck as they await transport by the SDF on the outskirts of Baghouz A girl waits to be screened on neutral ground away from the miserable last stronghold at Baghouz Heavily shrouded women in the niqab, one holding a small child, wait to be screened by the SDF forces after making a last minute surrender Bali would not speculate on how long the military operation might take but said he expects a 'fierce battle.' He said the battles are expected to take place in a very small area that includes a complex network of tunnels, as well as suicide bombers and land mines. 'The battle to finish off what is left Daesh has started,' said SDF commander Adnan Afrin, using the Arabic acronym for IS. The capture of the last pocket still held by IS fighters in Baghouz would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq - their so-called 'caliphate' that at the height of the group's power in 2014 controlled nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria. It would allow U.S. President Donald Trump to begin withdrawing the estimated 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, as he declared in December he would do. Though last week he partially reversed course and agreed to keep a residual force of perhaps a few hundred troops as part of an international effort to stabilise northeastern Syria. A little girl gazes up at an SDF fighter who holds his assault rifle fast as his comrades work to screen those fleeing ISIS Boys clamber up the sides of a truck while women sit in the back as they await transport, hoping to be taken to safety at the camps in al-Hol Yezidi boys share a meal in a area held by the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces In the last week alone, 13,000 people, most of them women and children, arrived at the al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province which now houses approximately 45,000 people, according to the United Nations. In a statement Friday, the U.N. cited reports that more than 84 people, two thirds of them young children under five years of age, have died since December on their way to al-Hol camp after fleeing the extremist group in Syria's Deir el-Zour province. 'Many of the arrivals are exhausted, hungry and sick,' according to Jens Laerke, spokesman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at a news briefing in Geneva. Great news for Connecticut and New England as The University of Connecticut launches a new Cybersecurity Instructional Lab funded by alumni brothers Samuel 50 and Stephen Altschuler 54, who earned bachelors degrees in electrical engineering. The Altschuler brothers with scholarship recipients. The $1 million Altschuler Cybersecurity Lab will be located on the first floor of the Information Technology Engineering (ITE) Building, this summer. We chose to make this gift because of the support we received from UConn when we were engineering students in the early 1950s, said the brothers in a joint statement. Our training enabled us to advance our careers to the point where we are financially able to make a gift of this size. Connecticut has been a major focus for us our entire lives, and we are proud to be able to make a meaningful contribution to its flagship university. We believe that cybersecurity is among the most critical issues of this age. In order to assure that society will be able to safely continue to use the ever-accelerating advancements of technology, the study of cybersecurity is crucial to the maintenance of peaceful cultures. The Altschuler Cybersecurity Lab will be the cornerstone of UConns effort to graduate engineers with expertise in cybersecurity, said School of Engineering Dean Kazem Kazerounian (pictured), who joined Donald Swinton, director of development for the School of Engineering, in pursuing the labs establishment. We are in an age where the threat of cyberattacks has gotten more pervasive. As an institution, we need to be training the next generation of engineers to combat this threat, which is why this gift from the Altschuler brothers is so important for the School of Engineering and the University, said Kazerounian. When launched, the lab will teach hands-on cybersecurity to all Computer Science and Engineering Department freshmen, as well as additional members of the departments 800 undergraduate and 150 graduate student population. The Engineering School at the University of Connecticut is very well-regarded throughout the country and the school is constantly looking to improve. This great news and a credit to Dean Kazem Kazerounian and Donald Swinton and all students should benefit. In related news, last week we learned UCONN Health was hacked leaking hundreds of thousands of health records in a cybersecurity breach related toa phishing attack. Finally, last year, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy put a new Cybersecurity Action Plan in place to better protect state government, education and private companies. The pilot of a small plane has died after crashing into a condo along a Florida beach in a heavily trafficked tourist area. The small banner plane hit an 18-story condominium building in Fort Lauderdale just before noon on Friday. The aircraft then fell several floors onto an outdoor pool deck. The pilot of the small banner plane died on Friday after hitting an 18-story condominium building in Fort Lauderdale, Florida just before noon Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Stephan Gollan said the pilot was killed, but no other injuries were reported. The building's residents were evacuated as a precaution. Television footage showed the yellow, single-engine Piper PA-25 crumpled with its wings snapped off. Authorities have not released the pilot's name. The plane's markings show it is owned by Aerial Banners Inc. The company's website says it has more than 50 planes at locations around the country, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, and Alaska. The plane hit the 18-story condominium building just before noon and then fell several floors onto an outdoor pool deck Television footage showed the yellow, single-engine Piper PA-25 crumpled with its wings snapped off The company's Fort Lauderdale office declined comment about the fatal crash. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating. Vacationer Jim McHugh of New York City told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he was on the beach with his wife when the plane flew past heading north. He said the engine was not sputtering, but the plane banked hard to the left toward the tall buildings that line the area. He said he realized the plane was too low and told his wife it was going to crash just before it did. 'It's a shame the poor guy didn't bank to the right and to the water,' he said. Scotland Yard has asked that the Home Office provide another year of funding in the search for Madeleine McCann. The Home Office received the official request from detectives today as funding for Operation Grange begins to run out. More than 11million has so far been spent on trying to find Madeleine who went missing in Portugal on May 3, 2007, while her parents were dining in a nearby tapas restaurant. It is hoped the extra funding, which will see investigations continue until March 2020, will bring new hope in finding Madeleine. In December, the Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick had reportedly backed the long-running Operation Grange, which has so far cost some 11.75million, and defended the ongoing search for the British girl. Scotland Yard has requested that the Home Office provide another year of funding in the hunt for Madeleine McCann, Sky News has said A month earlier, the probe into the missing girl's disappearance had also been granted 150,000 more funding by the Home Office. In a statement last year the Home Office had said: 'We have received and are considering a request from the Metropolitan Police Service to extend funding for Operation Grange until the end of March 2019. 'The Home Office maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS regarding.' So far more than 11million has been spent on the search for Madeleine, who disappeared in 2007 as she slept with her twins Sean and Amelie in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Following a request by Home Secretary at the time Theresa May, the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine was launched in May 2011 and some 600 'persons of interest' were examined. During the investigations, officers also translated 40,000 documents produced by Portuguese police. However in 2015 the British investigations into the disappearance of Madeleine were scaled down from a team of 29 officers to just four. At the time Scotland Yard had insisted that they would be continuing the search but with a 'smaller team'. At the end of last year parents Kate and Gerry McCann, both 50, from Rothley, Leicestershire, had vowed to never give up hope in finding their daughter in an emotional online message. The Home Office will now have to decide whether to fund another year of investigations into the hunt for Madeleine, who disappeared more than 11 years ago as she slept in a holiday apartment in Portugal. Pictured: Parents Kate and Gerry McCann The couples spokesperson Clarence Mitchell said: 'Kate and Gerry are extremely grateful to the Metropolitan Police for making a new funding application and whilst they know it is not guaranteed they are hoping it will be approved. 'It shows that officers are still doing everything they can to get a resolution after all this time. And it gives them hope that one day they may finally find out what happened to their daughter. It gives them belief there is still work left to be done.' But Scotland Yards bid for a special grant is not automatically approved and will need to be 'carefully considered on possible orders of Home Secretary Sajid Javid. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We have received and are considering a request from the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) to extend funding for Operation Grange until the end of March 2020.' Chlorine gas was used in an attack on a Syrian town that left dozens dead in 2018, a chemical weapons watchdog said. The United States condemned President Bashar al-Assad over the suspected use of poison gas on the housing block in Douma in April. Friday's report was swiftly batted away by Syria's main ally Russia, after the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released their findings. The Hague-based watchdog said in a statement that there were 'reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place on 7 April 2018. People stand in front of damaged buildings, in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria Douma in the middle of April 2018 after the Syrian army declared that all anti-regime forces had left following a blistering two month offensive on the rebel enclave President Bashar al-Assad delivering a speech at a meeting for the heads of local councils in the capital Damscus last month 'This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine.' The findings confirmed an interim report released last July, in which local sources quoted by the OPCW said at least 43 people were killed in the attack. The watchdog said it found no evidence of the use of nerve agents in Douma, which had been previously alleged by some parties in the conflict. The report does not place blame because it was not in the OPCW's remit at the time, although the watchdog has since been given powers to investigate responsibility for all chemical attacks in Syria back to 2014. Russia palmed off the OPCW report and claimed the attack had been 'staged' by Syrian rescue volunteers known as the White Helmets. 'In spite of all the evidence presented by Russia, Syria, and even British journalists that the Douma incident is no more than 'White helmets' staged provocation, Technical Secretariat of OPCW states in today's report that chlorine was used in Douma as a chemical weapon,' the Russian Embassy in The Hague tweeted. A team of OPCW inspectors took more than 100 samples from some seven sites in Douma when they gained access to the town several weeks after the attack. It said it reached its conclusions based on 'witnesses' testimonies, environmental and biomedical samples analysis results, toxicological and ballistic analyses from experts'. The report said 'two yellow industrial cylinders dedicated for pressurised gas' were found at the scene, one of which had landed on top of the housing block and crashed through it. It said it was 'possible that the cylinders were the source of the substances containing reactive chlorine.' A banner depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Douma months after his warplanes rained down terror Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) meets Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in Tehran, Iran earlier this week - Iran and Russia have been key allies to the regime The OPCW said witnesses reported to the inspection team that there were '43 decedents related to the alleged chemical incident, most of whom were seen in videos and photos strewn on the floor of multiple levels of an apartment building and in front of the same building.' The watchdog also rejected claims by the Syrian regime that the gas had come from an alleged rebel chemical weapons facility and storehouse in the area, which inspectors were allowed to visit. 'From the analysis of the information gathered during the on-site visits to the warehouse and facility suspected of producing chemical weapons, there was no indication of either facility being involved in their manufacture,' it said. A man with bipolar disorder was arrested for allegedly killing his service dog by stabbing him more than 100 times. Police said Jacob Bushkin, 27, called family members on Monday morning to tell them that his four-year-old service dog, a Golden Retriever named Cub, was dead at his home in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. Cub's body was found in a trash can and his family members took it to the veterinarian, police said. The vet then called both the Arizona Humane Society (AHS) and Scottsdale Police Department. Cub was an Arizona State Qualified Service Animal. Jacob Bushkin, 27, was arrested for allegedly killing his service dog Cub (right) by stabbing him more than 100 times. Police said Bushkin has bipolar disorder and was off his medication at the time of the incident Bushkin (pictured) allegedly posted a picture with Cub as a pup to his Facebook page AHS took custody of the dead dog and transported the body to Midwestern University in Glendale for a necropsy, which is an autopsy for animals. A spokesman for Scottsdale Police Department told Dailymail.com that Bushkin has mental health issues including bipolar disorder. It is understood that he told police that he was off his medication at the time of the incident. Bushkin allegedly posted a picture of Cub when he was a couple of weeks old in July 2014 A necropsy on the dog revealed he was stabbed more than 100 times and a veterinarian said the dog's throat had been cut The necropsy on the dog revealed he was stabbed more than 100 times and was alive when the attack occurred, police said. Detectives attempted to contact Bushkin by phone, but he refused to talk with them, the police statement said. A search warrant was executed at the home where evidence of the crime was reportedly found. Bushkin was taken into custody Thursday night on charges of killing a service animal and animal cruelty, both felonies. Bushkin allegedly called family members Monday morning to tell them his 4-year-old service dog, a Golden Retriever named Cub, was dead at the home One Facebook image shows the adorable dog with two others with the caption: 'Cub getting a nap in after playing with his new friends Kobe and Dakota' Police say Bushkin declined to speak with investigators and that detectives arrested him at the office of his lawyer, Ryan Tait. Tait declined to comment on the allegations. Several pictures on Bushkin's Facebook page show the dog posing adorably from the time he was a puppy. Bushkin posted a picture online of Cub when he was a couple of weeks old in July 2014. There is also a picture of Bushkin holding Cub while sitting on a couch in December 2017. A service dog refers to any type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have physical disabilities as well as emotional and behavioral disorders. Bernie Sanders says he won't be calling up his old opponent Hillary Clinton and asking her for advice on how to beat Donald Trump. He nearly toppled her three years go in the presidential race, and he indicated Friday he believes he has a better chance than she did of defeating Trump. Under questioning from Meghan McCain on 'The View,' who asked about advice-seeking calls he could have with Clinton, Sanders said: 'I suspect not. Hillary has not, you know, she has not called me.' Bernie Sanders says he won't be calling up his old opponent Hillary Clinton and asking her for advice on how to beat Donald Trump Under questioning from Meghan McCain on 'The View,' who asked about advice-seeking calls he could have with Clinton, Sanders said: 'I suspect not' Clinton bested Sanders in the Democratic primary in 2016, but they buried the hatchet deep enough to provide a united front against Trump that fall Sanders complimented Clinton's political career but did not attempt to hide the bad blood lingering between them. 'Look, we have differences,' he acknowledged. 'Hillary has played a very important role in modern American politics.' Asked by McCain if he's saying he's not interested in Clinton's advice he told her point blank: 'I think not.' McCain was referring to a DailyMail.com article revealing other candidates' outreach to Clinton before they launched their bids. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris consulted the former New York senator before they entered the 2020 presidential race. Her endorsement and the associated donor base would be a boon to any candidate. So far, both she and former President Barack Obama, another towering figure in Democratic politics, have withheld their support for any candidate. The first set of states will not hold the Democratic contests for another year. Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill fired back at Sanders in a Friday afternoon tweet, however, casting his comments as unhelpful to booting Trump from office. 'I dont know who our nominee is going to be but I am d*** sure that beating Trump & getting America back on the right footing is going to require a unified Democratic Party, so c*** like this 613 days before Election Day is irresponsible, counter-productive, & sets us all back,' Merrill said. Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Clinton who remains close to her operation, latched on to Merrill's statement and said: 'I know who its not going to be. ' Clinton bested Sanders in the Democratic primary in 2016, but they buried the hatchet deep enough to provide a united front against Trump that fall. Sanders campaigned for Clinton in 13 states, holding 39 rallies, in the last three months of the general election, according to a record provided to Politico one of his spokeswomen. Spokeswoman Arrianna Jones told the publication, as Sanders came under assault from Clinton's network for the number of private jets he chartered, that the senator stumped for Clinton at 17 events in one week alone at the end of the last presidential election. Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill fired back at Sanders in a Friday afternoon tweet, however, casting his comments as unhelpful to booting Trump from office Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Clinton who remains close to her operation, latched on to Merrill's statement and said: 'I know who its not going to be' Clintonworld viciously attacked Sanders as he entered the race for the amount of money he spent on private jets at their expense at the tail end of the race. He has continued to rack up considerable fees since then, they pointed out. The gas-guzzling private travel flies in the face of a platform to reduce environmental stress that contributes to the warming of the planet. Jones said that Sanders only travels by private jet when commercial flights are not available to and from his destinations. Clinton has not personally commented on Sanders' second bid for the presidency. Her current and former staffers have not been shy about sharing their disdain for him. They believe that Sanders' could have and should have worked harder to convince his supporters after he was out of the race to get behind Clinton. 'Those criticisms come from out political opponents,' he argued on Friday. 'I knocked my brains out working to get Hillary Clinton elected president.' He'll have another shot at the White House next year as he competes for the presidency against a group of women senators, several mayors, a governor and an assortment of other candidates. Clinton became the first woman to represent a major party as the nominee, but she wasn't able to crack the 'highest, hardest glass ceiling,' she put it. She won the Electoral College and went on to lose the all-important popular vote to Trump. Sanders said Friday as he was asked about their match-up that he wasn't 'enthusiastic' to go back to 2016 before claiming that Clinton didn't do enough to reach out to white working class voters. 'Hillary and I have .... fundamental differences,' he said, declining to elaborate. Sanders presented himself as a candidate who can beat Trump in states that Clinton lost. 'We are going to run an unprecedented grassroots campaign which is going to bring our people together doing exactly the opposite of what Trump is trying to do,' he said of his second act. 'This time itll be stronger, well be involving more people, itll be more diverse, and most importantly, this time, were gonna win.' Theresa May admitted to the European Council President Donald Tusk she would need a delay to Brexit last weekend, an EU diplomat has claimed. The Prime Minister met Donald Tusk on Sunday to discuss the UK's March 29 deadline on the sidelines of an EU-Arab summit in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh. The diplomat's note from a briefing made to Ambassadors of the EU's 27 remaining members on Friday morning in Brussels is said to reveal Mrs May asked for a delay. Prime Minister Theresa May poses with European Council President Donald Tusk at their sideline meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt last wekeend Negotiations are supposed to resume in Brussels next week, between EU negotiator Michel Barnier and the latest set of U.K. negotiators The PM told the EU chief she would need more time, phrased as a 'short and technical extension' in the note obtained by Buzzfeed News. This week she threatened for the first time that she would put the option of an extension to Brexit to MPs if they fail to back any revised withdrawal agreement by March 12. There has also been talk that Brexit may not actually happen at all after the Labour Party said it would back a second vote on Britain's decision to leave the EU. Until Mrs May conceded the possibility of an extension - the EU Council President Donald Tusk said it would be a 'rational solution' - there were growing fears about a 'no-deal' Brexit and what its impact would be on both sides of the English Channel. The prospect of a 'no-deal' Brexit did not look appetiaing though some of the keenest Brexit supporters in Parliament insist that the warnings are just another element of 'Project Fear.' For now, everyone is waiting to see what Mrs May - and her attorney general, Geoffrey Cox - comes back with from her discussions with the EU. Until that becomes clear, the Brexit deadlock should continue. Negotiations are supposed to resume in Brussels next week, between EU negotiator Michel Barnier and the latest set of U.K. negotiators. Meanwhile President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker complained this week of 'a certain Brexit fatigue' which will resonate with the British public. Mrs May's original deal was overwhelmingly defeated in a vote in January with many in her own party opposed to a provision to guarantee there are no customs posts or other barriers along the Irish border. The backstop is a safeguard that would keep Britian in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks until a permanent new trading relationship is in place. News of a delay will not excite the President of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker who described 'a certain Brexit fatigue' this week Emotions remain raw. That was evident Friday when Britain's former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC about 'the dishonourable way that (the EU) tried to bully us and shove us around.' If a deal is agreed, the two sides will have to live and work together side-by-side. Discussions won't just end because a withdrawal agreement is finally secured. Discussions about how the two sides will trade with each other in the future can only start after Britain formally has left the EU. When super-flexible Ellie Fergusson was crowned the first winner of The Greatest Dancer, she had another surprise move in store for her new fans. The shy but elastic 14-year-old promptly offered to hand over half of her 50,000 prize money to her long-time dance teacher. After last week's shock win on the BBC1 talent show, she announced: 'I want to give half of it to my dance teacher and I want to use it to help me get to dance school.' Jenni Inglis (pictured with Ellie Fergusson) has politely declined half of the Ellie Fergusson's prize money after her win on The Greatest Dancer The 14-year-old was awarded 50,000 after her win on the BBC1 talent show The Greatest Dancer But now her selfless teacher and choreographer Jenni Inglis has politely declined the offer. She said: 'She did offer me half, which is just typical of Ellie, but there's no way. She won that money herself, and I've told her I won't take a penny. She'll use it to put herself through dance school.' She says it is reward enough to see her protegee having done so well, adding: 'It's something you never imagine. I mean, I go to dance contests all over, and you are so proud when they do well. 'But prime-time TV, and an audience like that? You just don't even think that it's possible.' Miss Inglis, who first took Ellie on six years ago at The Edinburgh Dance Academy, was there every step of the way, not only travelling to London with her every week, but choreographing every move of those spectacular routines. At times, they even had her mentor, Strictly's Oti Mabuse, in tears. For six weeks, though, Miss Inglis had to put her own life on hold as Ellie wowed the judges, then the studio audience, then finally the viewing audience at home which hit a peak of 4.5million for the final. Five months pregnant, with a five-year-old son, Lucas, at home and a busy dance school to run, this was quite an ask. 'Ellie didn't know I was pregnant for the first trip down to London, which was before Christmas,' she said. 'I was practically being sick out of the window.' Meanwhile, modest Ellie, from Livingston, West Lothian, said she had no clue she might win. Ellie Fergusson began training with Miss Inglis six years ago at The Edinburgh Dance Academy Upon winning the show, Ellie, from Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland, had said: 'I want to give half of it to my dance teacher and I want to use it to help me get to dance school' 'I just didn't want to be the first to go out,' she admitted. 'But winning wasn't even in my head. Even when they called my name out I was still thinking 'Who? Me?'.' But she knows she still owes her teacher. 'I couldn't have done it without Jenni, no way,' she said. Even her mother Aileen conceded that they make a winning pair. 'We call them the Dream Team,' she revealed. Even more viewers will see Ellie in action when she accepts the second part of her prize ('the most important part, for me' she revealed): a starring role in Strictly. She will be a special guest on the next series. Miss Inglis will do the choreography for that too, as she did for the routine in which Oti and Ellie took to the stage together. Dance, Ellie says, has consumed her since she was first hooked aged three. 'It's all I have wanted to do. Even when I find a move hard, I don't think 'I can't do this'. I know that if I just keep trying, I will be able to.' A key part of the Government's 'hostile environment' immigration policy was in tatters last night after judges ruled it breaches human rights. The High Court condemned measures forcing landlords to check whether tenants have a right to be in the UK, ruling the so-called 'right to rent' scheme has a 'disproportionately discriminatory effect'. Mr Justice Martin Spencer said: 'MPs who voted for this would be aghast to learn of its discriminatory effect. High Court judges have condemned measures forcing landlords to check whether tenants have a right to be in the UK, ruling the so-called 'right to rent' has a 'discriminatory effect' 'In my judgment, the evidence strongly showed not only that landlords are discriminating against potential tenants on grounds of nationality and ethnicity but also they are doing so because of the scheme. 'The scheme does not merely provide the occasion or opportunity for private landlords to discriminate, but causes them to do so where otherwise they would not.' The rules were introduced in 2014 and meant landlords could face fines or imprisonment for failing to check if tenants had a right to be in the UK. But the High Court ruled that this policy clearly breached human rights laws. The rules were introduced in 2014 but now the High Court has ruled the police breached human rights laws The court ruled in favour of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). The Home Office had argued the scheme was neither 'directly or indirectly discriminatory' and would discourage illegal residence in the UK. While the Home Office was given permission to appeal, critics said the law should be immediately repealed. Chai Patel, legal adviser of the JCWI said: 'Today's judgment demonstrates why the hostile environment must be dismantled.' Johnny Depp has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard after she accused him of domestic violence. The 55-year-old actor described Heard's 2016 abuse allegations as 'an elaborate hoax', according to the lawsuit obtained by The Blast. The lawsuit references an article Heard, 32, wrote for the Washington Post in December last year in which she said she had received death threats and lost out on work after accusing Depp of domestic abuse. 'The op-ed's clear implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser is categorically and demonstrably false,' Depp's lawsuit states. Johnny Depp has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard after she accused him of domestic violence American actress Amber Heard (pictured) looks casually fashionable while pictured arriving in London Stepping out: Amber Heard was spotted in London after her ex-husband Johnny Depp filed a defamation lawsuit Shocking claims: The 55-year-old actor described Heard's 2016 abuse allegations as 'an elaborate hoax' (Heard in London on Friday) 'Mr Depp never abused Ms Heard. Her allegations against him were false when they were made in 2016. 'They were part of an elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity for Ms Heard and advance her career.' The lawsuit goes on to say that the allegations made by Heard against Depp were refuted by 'two separate responding police officers, a litany of neutral third-party witnesses, and 87 newly obtained surveillance camera videos'. 'Ms Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator,' the lawsuit states. Heard was pictured in London on Friday as news of the lawsuit broke. The Aquaman actress filed for divorce from the Pirates of the Caribbean star in May 2016 stating that he had been 'verbally and physically' abusive towards her. Their divorce was finalized in January 2017, with Heard later donating a portion of her $7 million divorce settlement to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. They were married for 15 months before she filed for divorce. The Aquaman actress filed for divorce from Depp in May 2016 stating that he had been 'verbally and physically' abusive towards her. Images emerged at the time (above) showing Heard with a bruised eye and face Heard was spotted leaving a California court in 2016 with facial bruising (above) after she was granted a temporary restraining order against Depp just days after claiming he attacked her Images emerged at the time showing Heard with a bruised eye and face. She claimed Depp threw a phone at her face and struck her in their home. Depp has long denied the allegations and has instead claimed that his ex-wife repeatedly violently attacked and severely injured him. In the defamation lawsuit, Depp claims Heard threw a glass vodka bottle at him and caused the bones in the tip of his right middle finger to shatter. He claims the incident occurred one month into their marriage and resulted in him having to have his finger 'surgically reattached'. 'Ms Heard then disseminated false accounts of this incident, casting Mr Depp as the perpetrator of his own injury'. Depp claims in the lawsuit that he was dropped from Pirates of the Caribbean just four days after Heard's op-ed was published in the Wasington Post. 'Ms Heard also knew that her elaborate hoax worked: as a result of her false allegations against Mr Depp, Ms Heard became a darling of the #MeToo movement, was the first actress named a Human Rights Champion of the United Nations Human Rights Office, was appointed ambassador on womens rights at the American Civil Liberties Union, and was hired by LOreal Paris as its global spokesperson.' Prosecutors have called for French far-right leader Marine Le Pen to be tried for tweeting pictures of atrocities committed by the Islamic State group, judicial sources said Friday. This could hike further pressure on Le Pen, 50, who already faces legal problems over alleged misuse of EU parliamentary funds. Le Pen shared the gruesome images in December 2015, a few weeks after ISIS jihadists killed 130 people in attacks in Paris. Her move sparking widespread condemnation in France. French far right political leader Marine Le Pen, pictured at a Paris agricultural show on Thursday is facing prosecution over some tweets she shared online featuring the murder of US journalist James Foley by ISIS She is facing a possible three year jail term and a fine of 65,000 if an investigating magistrate decides a trial should take place for 'circulating violent pictures liable to bee seen by children' Prosecutors demanded that another member of her National Rally party, Gilbert Collard, also be tried on similar charges. It will be up to an investigative magistrate to decide whether a trial takes place, with a conviction for 'circulating violent pictures liable to be seen by children' carrying a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of 65,000. Le Pen, who lost to Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 presidential elections, was stripped of her parliamentary immunity over the pictures and charged with circulating violent messages. Last year, she expressed outrage after the investigative magistrate called for her to undergo psychiatric tests in connection with her tweeting. She has denounced the case against her as a violation of her freedom of expression. Le Pen shared the images after a French journalist drew a comparison between the jihadist group and her party. One of the pictures showed the body of James Foley, an American journalist beheaded by the Sunni extremists. Another showed a man in an orange jumpsuit being run over by a tank and the third showed a Jordanian pilot being burned alive in a cage. 'Daesh is this!' Le Pen wrote in a caption, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. She later deleted the picture of Foley after a request from his family, saying she had been unaware of his identity. Le Pen, whose father Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the National Front party, since renamed National Rally, and other members of her party are also being probed in Brussels over allegations that they defrauded the European Union parliament out of 5.9m in funding between 2009 and 2017. The funds were allegedly used to pay for support staff not directly linked to EU work. Le Pen has insisted she and the party are 'completely innocent' and portrayed the case as politically motivated. The National Rally is running a close second to Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party in the European parliamentary elections to be held May 23 to 26. An Ifop Fiducial opinion poll in January found that 23 per cent of voters said they would back LREM in the elections, with 21 per cent saying they would support the National Rally. With visitors known to queue in the streets waiting for a table, it is fair to say that fish and chips are taken very seriously in Whitby. But it seems locals in Britains unofficial chip shop capital have had enough of the frying frenzy. When news spread that the towns three-storey NatWest bank building was to be converted into a 180-seat fish and chip chain restaurant, a rebellion ensued. With visitors known to queue in the streets waiting for a table, it is fair to say that fish and chips are taken very seriously in Whitby, North Yorkshire The new restaurant, which has been approved by the council, will compete with 21 other chip shops in the town centre including the famed Magpie Cafe, which opened in 1939, and is renowned for its queues Residents were so angry that another takeaway was to open that 486 members of the small community wrote to Scarborough Council to object to the plans. They complained that Whitby did not need another fish and chip shop and there was a demand for something different. The new restaurant, which has been approved by the council, will compete with 21 other chip shops in the town centre including the famed Magpie Cafe, which opened in 1939, and is renowned for its queues. It will also come up against Trenchers, which was named Best in the UK in its category in January. If that was not enough, other seafood restaurants in the area include The Star Inn The Harbour, opened by Michelin-starred chef Andrew Pern in 2017. Letters to the local newspaper revealed how residents are desperate for new amenities in the North Yorkshire seaside town. Best in the UK: It will also come up against Trenchers, which was named Best in the UK in its category in January Letters to the local newspaper revealed how residents are desperate for new amenities in the North Yorkshire seaside town Michael Kilpatrick wrote: At least give us something that will enhance the town... not another chippy, for cods hake! Margaret Hall, one of the hundreds who wrote to the council, described the plans for the bank building as an insult to the town. She added: The very last thing Whitby is in need of is another fish and chip shop. The universal reaction from by far the majority of people on hearing what the NatWest might become is a resounding, say it isnt so. But with no legal reason to refuse the change of use application for the building, the scheme was given the go-ahead last month without even a vote by councillors. Beachside Cafe Bar: When news spread that the towns three-storey NatWest bank building was to be converted into a 180-seat fish and chip chain restaurant, a rebellion ensued The new fish and chip shop will compete against 21 other established fish bars in the town Royal Fisheries has been in the town for 50 years and won the Good Chippy Awards' Good Food Award for Fish & Chips Gold Seal for 2019 Railway Chippy on Fishburn Road offers home delivery for residents in the seaside town. Residents were so angry 486 members of the small community wrote to Scarborough Council to object Carly Radford, 29, who works in a butchers, said: There are loads of chip shops and hardly any clothes shops. We have to go to York or Middlesbrough to shop. Shirley Newsome, 60, whose family have run Alexanders chip shop next to the bank for 40 years, now faces more competition. She says most residents agree its gone too far. Its absolutely ridiculous, she said. Everywhere you go they are doing fish and chips. Local people want clothes shops, a cinema or ice cream parlour, but not another fish restaurant. There are more now than there has ever been. Adrian Fuscos family have been in the business for half a century and they own four of Whitbys chip shops, including a national award winner. Its a saturated market and the locals dont want any more fish and chip shops, he said. The High Street is going backwards, shops are replaced by fish and chip restaurants. Margaret Hall, one of the hundreds who wrote to the council, described the plans for the bank building as an insult to the town Carly Radford, 29, who works in a butchers, said: There are loads of chip shops and hardly any clothes shops. We have to go to York or Middlesbrough to shop. Despite having a population of just 13,200, tens of thousands of tourists flock every year to the once-booming fishing port. Some visit to climb the 199 steps leading up to Whitby Abbey and the windswept headland that inspired the opening scenes of Bram Stokers novel Dracula. But many come to eat. This week families on half-term trips queued out the door of the most popular chip shops, suggesting business is not likely to dry up any time soon. Gemma Astbury, 29, was visiting with relatives to celebrate her birthday. Its the reason you come here, she said. I wanted to go to the seaside to eat fish and chips on my birthday and theres no better place. Councillor Dennis Collins is aware of the problem, but claims the authorities are powerless. Some visit to climb the 199 steps leading up to Whitby Abbey and the windswept headland that inspired the opening scenes of Bram Stokers novel Dracula. But many come to eat He said: Everybody who comes here wants fish and chips but residents have to go elsewhere to shop. 'The Homebase closed and Marks & Spencer arent coming here any more. They were going to hang me in town when I told them this scheme had passed. 'Even the former public toilet block next to the beach is to be demolished so that a restaurant can be built. But to the relief of locals, the developer behind the project plans to serve something other than fish and chips as theres far too many of them already. Residents complained that Whitby did not need another fish and chip shop and there was a demand for something different Despite having a population of just 13,200, tens of thousands of tourists flock every year to the once-booming fishing port Councillor Dennis Collins is aware of the problem, but claims the authorities are powerless Saras Mister Chips is a family run establishment that opened in 1981 A 22-year-old Google software engineer, who was found dead inside the companys New York City headquarters in December 2018, suffered from cardiac arrhythmia. Chief Medical Examiner Dr Barbara Sampson issued the cause of death for Scott Krulcik on Friday. Krulcik died from 'cardiac arrhythmia' that was likely caused by a gene mutation, Sampson said in a statement. Scott Krulcik (pictured), a 22-year-old Google software engineer, who was found dead inside the companys New York City headquarters in December 2018, died from 'cardiac arrhythmia' 'This young man died of an abnormal heart rhythm, which developed due to a genetic abnormality in an ion channel of the heart,' she added. Krulcik was found unconscious at his work station on the sixth floor of the building in Chelsea by a janitor around 9pm on December 7. First-responders attempted CPR but were not able to revive him. He was pronounced dead at the scene. At the time, police said that his body showed no signs of trauma. Authorities also said Krulcik did not have any known history of medical conditions or substance abuse problems at the time. Krulcik's LinkedIn page said he began working at Google in August after serving as an intern in the summer of 2017. The native of Saratoga Springs, New York, scored a perfect 2400 on the SAT and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in computer science. He lived in Manhattan's West Village. Krulcik was found unconscious at his work station on the sixth floor of the building in Chelsea by a janitor around 9pm on December 7 The native of Saratoga Springs, New York, scored a perfect 2400 on the SAT and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in computer science. He lived in Manhattan's West Village Advertisement Billie Wayne Coble, 70, was executed by lethal injection on Thursday night as his son and grandson lashed out Prison officials say emotions boiled over during a Texas execution, resulting in the arrests of the inmate's son and grandson after they swung and kicked at others witnessing the lethal injection. Gordon Wayne Coble, 45, was led out in handcuffs from the prison in Huntsville during his father Billie Wayne Coble's execution on Thursday night. The son became emotional and banged on the chamber windows as the lethal dose of pentobarbital was administered. Prison officials say he lashed out, as did his wife and his son, 21-year-old Dalton Coble. Billie Wayne Coble was executed for the 1989 murders of his estranged wife's parents and brother near Waco. The 70-year-old Vietnam War veteran spoke his final words from inside the death chamber, telling people in an adjoining room that he loved them. 'Yes sir, that will be five dollars,' he added in the moments before death, in a cryptic remark that might have referred to his own nickname, 'Five Dollar Bill.' The doomed man's son and grandson were eventually taken outside into a courtyard, where they were handcuffed and arrested. Gordon Coble, center, is led out of the of the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, after reacting to the execution of his father, Billie Wayne Coble. Chaos erupted outside Texas' death chamber Thursday night when the son of the condemned inmate pounded on the chamber windows, shouted obscenities and threw fists after his father spoke his final words Coble's son Gordon, left, and grandson Dalton, right, were arrested and held in jail after banging on the windows of the death chamber during the execution Coble is a convicted murderer who shot dead his wife's parents and her brother in 1989. He is seen during a 2004 interview Both men were being held in the Walker County Jail on Friday on charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. The execution came thirty years after the August 1989 shootings of Robert and Zelda Vicha, and their son Bobby Vicha, at their homes in Axtell, northeast of Waco. Coble is the third convict executed this year in the United States and the second in the Lone Star state, which puts to death the most inmates. He is the oldest man executed in Texas since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The oldest in the US is serial bomber Walter Moody, put to death last year in Alabama at the age of 83. Coble's attorneys asked the US Supreme Court to delay the execution, arguing his original trial lawyers were negligent for conceding his guilt by failing to present an insanity defense before a jury convicted him of capital murder. A state appeals court rejected Coble's request to delay Thursday's execution and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles turned down his request for a commutation. Video courtesy KCEN Members of the victim's family, the Vichas, are greeted with a salute from current and former McLennan County law enforcement officers as the head toward the entrance of the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville for the execution Coble 'does not deny that he bears responsibility for the victims' loss of life, but he nonetheless wanted his lawyers to present a defense on his behalf,' his attorney, A. Richard Ellis, said in his appeal to the Supreme Court. In Coble's clemency petition to the Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ellis said his client suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his time as a Marine during the Vietnam War. Ellis claims Coble was convicted, in part, due to misleading testimony from two prosecution expert witnesses on whether he would be a future danger. J.R. Vicha, Bobby Vicha's son, said it will be a relief knowing the execution will have finally taken place after years of delays. 'Still, the way they do it is more humane than what he did to my family. It's not what he deserves but it will be good to know we got as much justice as allowed by the law,' said J.R. Vicha, who was 11 when he was tied up and threatened by Coble during the killings. Prosecutors said Coble, distraught over his pending divorce, kidnapped his wife, Karen Vicha. He was arrested and later freed on bond. In August 1989, Coble drove to the homes of Robert and Zelda Vicha (pictured), and their son Bobby Vicha, in Axtell, northeast of Waco, before going on a shooting spree Nine days after the kidnapping, Coble went to Karen Vicha's home, where he handcuffed and tied up her three daughters and J.R. Vicha. He then went to the homes of Robert and Zelda Vicha, 64 and 60 respectively, and Bobby Vicha, 39, who lived nearby, and fatally shot them. After Karen Vicha returned home, Coble abducted her and drove off, assaulting her and threatening to rape and kill her. He was arrested after wrecking in neighboring Bosque County following a police chase. Coble was convicted of capital murder in 1990. In 2007, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial on punishment. On retrial in 2008, a second jury sentenced him to death. Crawford Long, the former first assistant district attorney in McLennan County who helped retry Coble in 2008, said his 'heart full of scorpions' description of Coble was fitting. His attorneys asked to delay execution, arguing trial lawyers were negligent for not presenting an insanity defense 'He had no remorse at all,' said Long, who retired in 2010. J.R. Vicha, 40, still lives in the Waco area. He eventually became a prosecutor for eight years, a career choice inspired in part by his father, who was a police sergeant in Waco when he was killed. His grandfather was a retired plumber and his grandmother worked for a foot doctor. Vicha, now a private practice lawyer, is working to get a portion of a highway near his home renamed in honor of his father. 'Every time I run into somebody that knew (his father and grandparents), it's a good feeling. And when I hear stories about them, it still makes it feel like they're kinda still here,' Vicha said. They look so cute, it is hard to imagine they would ever feel unloved. But these five pups could be among the last of their kind. They are Sussex spaniels and their breed is struggling because of the modern fashion for 'designer' dogs. Only 34 Sussex spaniel puppies were registered in the UK last year and three of those were imported. Only 34 Sussex spaniel puppies were registered in the UK last year and three of those were imported - down from 56 in 2017- making them Britain's rarest native breed That is down from 56 in 2017 and makes it Britain's rarest native breed. Sussex spaniels, along with other endangered native breeds such as otterhounds and Scotties, are being overlooked by owners in favour of labradoodles, cockapoos and similar trendy crossbreeds popular with celebrities. Now their royal namesakes may be asked to help save them from extinction. The Sussex Spaniel Association plans to ask the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to adopt a pair of puppies. Sheila Appleby, vice president of the association, said: 'We desperately need to raise the profile of the breed before it's too late. 'Hopefully the Sussex link will strike a chord with Harry and Meghan, and they can lend their considerable support to help save this wonderful and charismatic breed of dog. When you compare it to the 36,000 labradors born last year, this is a very rare British breed. 'Sussex spaniels are actually a really attractive dog a medium-sized spaniel with an appealing expression, sturdy legs and a unique golden liver coat. The Sussex Spaniel Association plans to ask the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to adopt a pair of puppies 'They're full of character. They actually grin at you, even when they have been naughty. They're a very tactile breed, they love company. But they seem to have gone out of fashion and been swamped by 'designer' crossbreeds. 'We had a stand at a Sussex Country Fair and we'd get people from the county say, 'Oh I didn't know there was a Sussex spaniel'. As numbers decline we lose the genetic diversity. 'It's important we raise awareness of the plight of this forgotten breed and hopefully the royal couple can help.' Sussex spaniels were first bred as gun dogs in the late 1700s or early 1800s in Rose Hill, East Sussex, by Augustus Fuller, a shooting estate landowner. They were very popular in the 19th century. But breeding was discouraged in wartime and by the end of the Second World War their numbers dropped to just seven. They were saved from extinction largely thanks to English breeder Joy Freer, who devoted her life to breeding them. All today's Sussex spaniels are descended from the dogs she saved. The breed was put on the Kennel Club's vulnerable native breed list in 2004. A violent road-rage altercation was caught on video in Washington state on Thursday, showing one driver repeatedly attacking another in rush-hour traffic before a police officer intervenes. Brian White was on his way to the gym and was waiting at the light at the intersection of Broadway and Thierman Road in Spokane Valley when he says a black Subaru came speeding on the wrong side of the road and stopped in front of a white pickup truck at a 45-degree angle, blocking its way. In a video recorded by White on his cellphone camera, and obtained by the station KHQ, the driver of the Subaru jumps out of his car, runs towards the pickup truck and begins hitting the drivers side window. Scroll down for video Brian White was driving in Spokane Valley, Washington, Thursday, when he spotted a man jumping out of his black Subaru (seen left) and attacking a white pickup truck The assailant is seen breaking driver's window in evening rush hour traffic at Broadway and Thierman Road The attacker appears to punch the other driver through the broken window before the pickup truck drives off, dragging the aggressor's feet across the road Footage shows the irate motorist eventually smashing the window, which prompts his victim to hit the gas pedal and attempt to drive away. Undaunted, the driver of the black Subaru continues thrusting his fist through the shattered window while holding onto the pickup truck as it drives away, dragging the attackers feet across the roadway. What the alleged culprit of the road-rage incident did not realize, however, was that there was a police officer in a patrol vehicle standing in traffic nearby. The man who recorded the video said a police officer who happened to be nearby detained the road-rage attacker Although his video does not show it, White said the officer turned on his lights, raced towards the white truck and detained the suspected assailant, apparently allowing the victim to leave the scene. DailyMail.com on Friday reached out to the Spokane Valley Police Department seeking comment on the incident and was awaiting a response. It remains unclear at this time what might have sparked the violent confrontation between the two motorists as seen in the video. More immigrants will be sent back to Mexico to await entry to the U.S. after the Trump administration announced a massive expansion of the program that will reach more cities along the Southern Border. The number of migrants required to stay in Mexico while awaiting asylum hearings will likely 'grow exponentially' as the expansion gets under way over the next several weeks, Department of Homeland Security officials said Friday in conference call with reporters. The program is officially called 'Migrant Protection Protocols,' but is commonly referred to as 'Remain in Mexico,' according to CBS News. It does not apply to unaccompanied children. The policy will 'reduce threats to life, national security and public safety, while ensuring that vulnerable populations receive the protections they need,' officials said. Immigrants walk past tents set up outside a closed migrant caravan camp on December 5, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. Now near the U.S.-Mexico border after traveling more than six weeks from Central America, thousands of migrants are waiting in Mexico for their day in immigration court before they can enter the United States Previously, immigrants were allowed to live in the U.S. wearing an ankle monitor while they await their day in immigration court. Rollout of the effort has taken 'longer than anticipated,' officials said, declining to provide numbers on how many immigrants mostly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, a violent region known as the Northern Triangle have been affected by the policy. Officials also didn't say which border towns would be included under the expansion. 'Everything is on the table; there isn't any location we've deemed non-operational,' one official said on the call. 'We want to make sure we do this right. We want a location that works for both sides of the border.' Currently, the policy is only established in San Ysidro, the port of entry between San Diego and Tijuana. Shelters in the Mexican border city are at capacity, and violence is widespread, raising concerns among many pro-immigrant advocates that people will be harmed and even killed as they await a chance to enter the U.S. The Trump administration announced the 'Remain in Mexico' policy in December, a move that drew criticism from advocates who warned that the practice would lead to the spread of disease, violence and violations of human rights. Immigrants spend the afternoon inside the Barretal migrant camp on December 4, 2018 from Tijuana, Mexico. After traveling more than 6 weeks from Central America, thousands of immigrants from the migrant caravan remain in Tijuana, many awaiting asylum interviews and others deciding whether to cross illegally into the United States Several immigrants' rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a lawsuit in February against Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and the agency she leads. The organizations argue that the policy is violating the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, as well as international human rights laws. DHS officials said the policy is 'a toll that Congress has given us,' though the protocol was announced by Nielsen and did not go through Congress for approval. Currently, some immigrants seeking asylum at San Ysidro decide to return to Tiujana to wait for their court date. In the interim, they must dial a 1-800 number each day to learn about the status of their case and when they must return for their claim to be processed. It can be difficult for immigrants to find legal representation while still in Mexico, though many legal volunteers have descended on the border city to help and DHS officials said access to legal counsel hasn't been affected by the change in policy. It is one of the most politically correct shows on radio. But now Woman's Hour has been hauled over the coals for being too PC by showing bias in favour of a woman who accused a Donald Trump - supporting judge of sex assault. The BBC has forced staff members behind the Radio 4 show to take 'impartiality' training after presenter Jane Garvey broke rules in a programme about US judge Brett Kavanaugh. Jane Garvey (right) and Jenni Murray present Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. The BBC forced staff members to take 'impartiality' training after show on US judge Brett Kavanaugh Miss Garvey, who has led protests over the BBC's gender pay gap, was ticked off by bosses after she gave 'the impression of sympathising' with a guest who believed Mr Kavanaugh, 54, was guilty of sexual assault. Last year he was accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women, including psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, 52, who said he groped her at a party when she was a teenager. She tearfully testified against him before he was confirmed as a member of America's Supreme Court, but Mr Kavanaugh made emotional denials. Garvey's 30,000 pay rise Jane Garvey has admitted she was afraid to fight the BBC in an equal pay case but told how bosses handed her a 30,000 pay rise anyway. The Woman's Hour host claimed the BBC makes things 'difficult' for women who try and pursue a legal complaint and she 'lacked the courage' to do so. She told an event hosted by industry campaign group The Radio Academy: 'Frankly I lacked the courage to fight an equal pay claim, because it just seemed like too much work.' In an indictment of the BBC's attempts to deal with the problem, she told corporation radio chief Bob Shennan it was difficult for women to fight equal pay claims. Miss Garvey questioned what she had done to deserve the 30,000 pay rise she was handed in 2017. Advertisement In a Woman's Hour programme before the Supreme Court confirmation, Miss Garvey, 54, said it was 'horrifying' that some people interpreted his response as 'entirely right'. She insisted: 'What is horrifying well, I suppose if you are a feminist it's horrifying is the way that Kavanaugh's indignation, his outrage, his frankly peculiar almost hysterical demeanour... has been interpreted by some as entirely right. Exactly how a man would react in those circumstances.' The presenter, who is paid around 160,000 a year, agreed with a guest, law professor Kimberle Crenshaw, who drew parallels between the Kavanaugh case and allegations of sexual assault by judge Clarence Thomas before he was appointed to the Supreme Court in the 1990s. Accused: Last year Mr Kavanaugh was accused of sexual misconduct by psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, 52, who said he groped her at a party when she was a teenager Miss Crenshaw argued that both men tried to convince people to ignore 'these women and the facts' as part of a smear campaign driven by other issues. Miss Garvey agreed with her, saying, 'Same thing, yes'. Woman's Hour was accused of pushing the parallels too far. A listener complained to the BBC that the Thomas case was 'immaterial and prejudicial' to the Kavanaugh hearings. Case that split America Sex assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh polarised opinion in the US last year. Professor Christine Blasey Ford told a Senate hearing he attacked her when she was 15 and he was 17. Many were convinced by her tearful account, but others were swayed by Mr Kavanaugh's furious denials. President Donald Trump, who supported Mr Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, claimed he was the victim of a 'hoax'. He said: 'It was all made up, it was fabricated and it's a disgrace. He's a great person.' A second woman claimed Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were students. However, a brief FBI investigation failed to support the women's claims. Advertisement They claimed it was biased of the BBC to invite Miss Crenshaw on the programme and Miss Garvey had broken the rules by expressing 'her own views on a controversial topic'. The BBC rejected some allegations, but it accepted Miss Garvey had not been impartial. The broadcaster said in its judgment: 'The presenter gave the impression of sympathising with that viewpoint and did not challenge the interviewee in a manner which would have ensured due impartiality.' Accuser: Christine Blasey Ford, 52, tearfully testified against Mr Kavanaugh before he was confirmed as a member of America's Supreme Court, but Mr Kavanaugh made emotional denials It added that the programme's editor Karen Dalziel has 'briefed the whole team about the importance of impartiality in their programmes' and put them through extra training. The BBC stressed: 'The Woman's Hour team (along with other production staff) have attended a BBC radio briefing session on impartiality.' BBC bosses insisted that all of the Woman's Hour team underwent extra training, including Dame Jenni, 68, who has presented the show since 1987, and editor Miss Dalziel. Miss Garvey declined to comment. The row comes after the BBC issued Dame Jenni Murray with an impartiality warning in 2017 after she claimed in a newspaper article about transgender issues that a sex change can't make a man a 'real woman'. An Australian ex-motorcycle gang president has survived a targeted car bomb attack. Amad 'Jay' Malkoun's pristine white Mercedes was engulfed in flames when he tried to start it in up-market suburban Athens on Friday at about 10am local time. The 56-year-old ex-president of the Victorian chapter of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang was rushed to hospital with 'serious' injuries. The attack took place out the front of the very same gym notorious Australian gangster John Macris worked out at before he was shot to death last November. Former Comanchero bikie president Amad Malkoun (pictured) was injured in a car explosion Local police and the bomb squad cordoned off the area surrounding the blast (pictured) Local police and the bomb squad cordoned off the area surrounding the blast. Three adjacent cars were also damaged in the explosion, though no other injuries were reported, according to local media. The police bomb squad did find residue of an explosive device, potentially dynamite, in front of Malkoun's car. Malkoun was only saved by a pair of passing young men, who opened the burning car door and dragged him out, reportedly conscious. He was left with extensive burns to his legs and arms and his clothes were in tatters. He was taken for immediate surgery at the Asklipieio General Hospital in Voula, south of the Greek capital, for serious burns. Post-surgery, doctors said he was in a serious but stable condition. Detectives are understood to have found dynamite residue out the front of the Mercedes Malkoun was saved by a pair of young men who opened the door of the burning car and dragged him out Malkoun is a convicted heroin trafficker and headed the Victorian faction of the Comancheros from 2009 to 2013. He then left Australia with his family before moving to Greece in 2017, reportedly living in 'exile'. The attack has a disturbing resemblance to the murder of notorious Sydney gangster John Macris, who was also attacked in Greece. The millionaire nightclub tycoon, who once dated PR maven Roxy Jacenko, was shot and killed outside his home in Voula last November. Voula is only less than six kilometres from the gym where Malkoun's car was blown up, and he is believed to have also frequented it. The attack against Malkoun draws parallels to murdered gangsters Mahmoud Hawi (left) and John Macris (right of right) A trio of gunmen allegedly attacked Macris in his car, with one overheard by neighbours shouting: 'I'm going to finish him off.' The 46-year-old was also in his car during the attack. A police inquiry remains open into Macris' murder, and authorities are yet to determine whether the two attacks were intertwined. The attack also draws parallels to another against a former Comanchero boss - Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi - who was shot and killed in 2018. Hawi was shot at least six times in broad daylight while sitting in his own luxury car outside a Fitness First gym in Sydney, in February. About six months later, two members of a rival gang known as the Lone Wolf motorcycle club were charged. Detectives found traces of dynamite near the wreckage of the car and are now investigating Police had speculated Malkoun had gotten caught up with a local gang war since his arrival in Greece. He is believed to have established a base in Greece to align with Russian gang members, The Age reported. However, he has no official police record in Greece. Police are reviewing CCTV footage from the scene to attempt to determine who laid the explosive and how they made their getaway. They are also working to clarify whether the explosion was triggered by the ignition of the car, or whether it was detonated remotely. Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has pleaded with his victim's family in a scribbled jailhouse letter ahead of his extradition hearing next week. Shepherd, 31, went on the run and was convicted in his absence last year of killing Charlotte Brown, 24, on a Champagne-laden first date when his speedboat overturned in the Thames. Scrawled on a scrap of lined paper Shepherd says he wants to look them in the eye and explain what happened that day. He writes in the letter obtained by the Sun: 'From TV I have learned that you suspect that this was something else than an accident. I cannot Imagine how it feels to have this suspicion. Jack Shepherd appeared in Tbilisi Central Court, in Tbilisi, Georgia after turning himself into the authorities in January 'I hope that from our meeting you will be able to understand better how your daughter lost her life.' The victim's father Graham Brown, 55, said their family would not 'dignify' the letter with a response, after Shepherd failed to apologise. He faces an extradition hearing starting next week after the CPS submitted an official request to Georgia. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it had prepared a request which has been sent to Georgian authorities by the Home Office. He has been held at a prison in Tbilisi, Georgia, having turned himself on January 23. His lawyer, Tariel Kakabadze, posted on Facebook saying a court hearing on the extradition was expected to start next week. A heavily-bearded Shepherd was seen smiling as he entered a police station in Georgias capital Tbilisi in January, telling reporters: 'I was in a tragic accident.' Last month the web designer described in handwritten notes his time in prison in the former Soviet state, saying he was living under very great fear. One note read: My family, lawyers and people close to me have been subject to threats and psychological pressure. Shepherd claimed he had received a threatening call after a court appearance. He wrote: I received a call, the man didnt say his name. He said my time in prison would be very bad. The killer linked the threat to Miss Browns father Graham, 55, a semi-retired Prison Service data analyst. Victim: Charlotte Brown, 24, died after a speedboat crash on the Thames, Jack Shepherd was found guilty of her death at the Old Bailey Shepherds lawyers have claimed his life would be in danger if he was returned to a British jail because of Mr Browns career. Mr Brown, of Sidcup, south-east London, has dismissed the fugitives claims as a preposterous fabrication. In January Shepherds Georgian lawyer, Mariam Kublashvili, indicated that he may no longer fight being returned to the UK if his safety here could be guaranteed. It came after a judge in Georgia ruled against a petition to fast-track Shepherds extradition after his lawyers argued he would be tortured in Britain. But in Shepherds notes, written during his stay at Gldani Number Eight maximum security prison and seen by The Times, he expressed a wish to remain in the country if Georgia will have me. Referring to his extradition battle, he said: I am still in conversation with my legal advisers about options. We need to consider every detail... for or against extradition. Jack Shepherd's Georgian lawyer, Mariam Kublashvili, indicated in January that he may no longer fight being returned to the UK if his safety here was guaranteed The fugitive claimed he was suffering from depression before being convicted of Miss Browns manslaughter in his absence at the Old Bailey. The father of ones comments are likely to further infuriate his victims family, who have expressed disgust at Shepherds failure to apologise unreservedly for her death. Her mother Roz Wickens, 53, has urged him to stop lying and tell the truth about what happened. Shepherd has claimed that Miss Brown was driving the speedboat when it flipped on the Thames in December 2015 following a date. He fled the UK before a jury found him guilty in July last year of causing her death. He was sentenced to six years in prison in Britain. He was condemned when he claimed legal aid to appeal his conviction while still a fugitive. After ten months on the run, and following a Daily Mail campaign for justice, Shepherd turned himself in to police in Georgia last month. He fled last March after his wife threw him out of the family home when she discovered he was on the tragic date with Miss Brown. In the months before her death, Shepherd had entertained up to ten other women on the ageing and badly-maintained speedboat. Georgian law states that extradition is granted over convicted individuals if they have been sentenced to at least four months imprisonment. Zoran Tadic (pictured), an accused war criminal, had been hiding in Sydney for 26 years An alleged war criminal who hid in plain sight in Sydney for 26 years has fled to Serbia, it has been revealed. Zoran Tadic, 59, was due to face charges in Croatia after allegedly fronting a paramilitary group responsible for the torture and mass killing of 43 villagers in Skabrnja in November 1991. In January, Croatian police made charges against Tadic public and the Australian Federal Police (ADF) had been working with war crime investigators in Zadar. But Croatian authorities had failed to sanction a formal arrest warrant to stop Tadic from leaving Australia because they believed he was too fat to go on the run, The Australian reported. That theory has now been disproved as it is now thought that Tadic left Australia on February 9. Tadic arrived in Australia seven months after the massacre in which victims had their ears hacked off or were dragged behind horses prior to their brutal deaths. For more than two decades Tadic, who initially spoke very little English, has been hiding out in Heckenberg, a south-western Sydney suburb. While living in the NSW capital Tadic managed to purchase his own home for $87,000, and since 2001 he's held down a job in a liquor store. Tadic (pictured top centre) is accused of took place when he was in command of a paramilitary force, organised by the former Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj The Croatian war crime investigators believe Tadic participated in the torture and mass killing of 43 villagers in Skabrnja (pictured) a village in southern Croatia In January Tadic's new life came under threat when Croatian police released details of the charges against him, with the plan to issue an extradition request to Australia. But the ADP had no power to stop Tadic leaving the country as it wasn't in receipt of an arrest warrant nor an extradition request from the Croatians. Seven months after the massacre, Tadic (pictured, far left) arrived in Australia, although authorities are still unclear on how Tadic arrived in the country It's believed that Croatian authorities had known Tadic was involved in the massacre for years, but until January had not been able to track down which of the many men with the same name had been involved. Savo Strbac, a political leader of the Serbian group Veritas, who knew Tadic, claims when Tadic was made aware of the charges against him he had suffered a 'minor heart scare'. It's understood he immediately made arrangements to leave Australia, and left around February 9. It's believed that friends of Tadic help fund his escape plan. Crime suspects are carrying out thousands of further offences despite being under police investigation. Alleged killers, rapists and burglars are among those who offend again after being arrested. They are taking advantage of new rules that have led to suspects being released without any restrictions on their liberty. Burglary suspects let loose were later accused of carrying out between them four murders, six attempted murders, 68 assaults, ten rapes and nine kidnaps in London One in every seven is re-arrested for allegedly committing another offence, according to figures obtained by the Daily Mail. In one shocking case, a thief was accused of carrying out 107 offences within three months of his initial arrest. These included robbery, kidnap, car theft, assaulting a police officer, possession of an offensive weapon and dangerous driving. Ministers have brought in the new rules to limit police bail to 28 days and stop officers taking months to decide whether to levy charges. DJ Paul Gambaccini was on bail for almost a year before a sex abuse probe was dropped. But the shake-up means most suspects are now 'released under investigation' without any restrictions. By contrast those subject to police bail can be made to surrender passports, stay away from victims and witnesses and notify officers of a change of address. They also face tougher sentences if they reoffend. 'Released under investigation has been a disaster,' said Greg Powell, a former head of the London Criminal Court Solicitors Association. 'It has reinforced the idea for offenders that there are no consequences for your actions and police are also putting the public at risk if they just carry on offending. These prolific offenders need intervention and the public needs protection.' Police bail is now used in just 4 per cent of investigations, compared with 30 per cent before the reforms were introduced in 2017 Chris Henley, who chairs the Criminal Bar Association, said: 'These offenders should have already been prosecuted but are instead free without any restrictions on their activity. Victims and witnesses are being badly let down'. Police bail is now used in just 4 per cent of investigations, compared with 30 per cent before the reforms were introduced in 2017. Obtained through freedom of information requests, the figures show that the Metropolitan Police Service re-arrested for a separate incident almost a quarter of the 48,202 suspects it released under investigation between April 2017 and July 2018. Across nine police forces the average re-arrest rate was 15 per cent. A 22-year-old thug went on a crime spree while he was under investigation, committing 20 offences in a year, including domestic assaults, shoplifting and driving offences. He was released without bail conditions each time. Burglary suspects let loose were later accused of carrying out between them four murders, six attempted murders, 68 assaults, ten rapes and nine kidnaps in London. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary revealed this week that there had been a 65 per cent drop in the use of bail in domestic abuse cases. Some officers are now advising women to apply for non-molestation orders to protect themselves. Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Zoe Billingham said: 'I'm concerned that changes to the use of pre-charge bail could be making it easier for perpetrators to return to the abusive relationship, with more being released under investigation and not having bail conditions set, exposing victims to further potential harm.' Chris Henley, who chairs the Criminal Bar Association, said: 'These offenders should have already been prosecuted but are instead free without any restrictions on their activity. Victims and witnesses are being badly let down' Responding to the Mail's figures, Victims Commissioner Baroness Newlove said: 'The data gives me cause for concern. I am aware from talking to those working with victims of domestic abuse that perpetrators are being questioned and then released unconditionally. Some are back on the doorstep as soon as they leave the police station.' Chief Constable Darren Martland, who leads the National Police Chiefs Council on bail issues, said he was very concerned by the Mail's findings and promised to undertake a national review. The Police Federation, which represents the rank and file, warned that 'potentially dangerous individuals are at best left without sanctions or conditions and at worse able to evade justice altogether'. Spokesman Andy Ward said: 'When suspects continue to offend while on police bail this should be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to remand or sentencing decisions. 'The same considerations are not applied when suspects are released under investigation; this is likely to lead to instances where those accused walk free from court, and those who are convicted not being appropriately sentenced. 'The current 28-day bail limit is unrealistic when officers are dealing with complex and often protracted inquires.' Commander Julian Bennett of the Met said: 'Each investigation is individually considered on its merits to determine if bail is more suitable than releasing a suspect under investigation.' They're wailing into their quails eggs, choking over their ciabattas and weeping bitter tears onto the wagyu beef. Ocado, the deity of Middle England, has jumped ship. For millions, it is more than just an online delivery service its a way of life. How could it? For the past 19 years, it has been in a perfect partnership with Waitrose. But, in a dramatic shake-up, all that is about to change. This week, Marks & Spencer Waitroses main High Street rival bought a 50 per cent share in Ocado. The 1.5 billion deal means that, from September next year, the delivery giant will ditch Waitrose products in favour of M&S food and drink. Scroll down for videos So just how do M&S staples stack up against Waitrose own-brand produce? From truffles to pepperoni pizzas, we put the two high-end outlets head-to-head in the ultimate taste test While M&S chief executive Steve Rowe claims Ocado customers will benefit, as M&S products are cheaper than their Waitrose equivalents, well-heeled shoppers arent so sure, branding it a shame and a crisis. My mums in tears, wrote one online commenter. Shes absolutely devastated. Luckily, loyal Waitrose customers will still be able to order from waitrose.com. So just how do M&S staples stack up against Waitrose own-brand produce? From truffles to pepperoni pizzas, we put the two high-end outlets head-to-head in the ultimate taste test ROAST CHICKEN You can cook Waitrose's chicken in a bag which means there's no mess and juices are locked in Waitrose Whole British chicken with ras el hanout marinade (1.5kg) PRICE: 6 TASTE: Succulent and tender, with a hint of spice, this is delicious and roasts in just 80 minutes. You can cook it in the bag, so theres no mess and the juices are locked in. M&S Whole British chicken with sweet and sticky marinade (1.55kg) PRICE: 6.98 TASTE: The chicken is sweet and caramelised on the outside, but in the 98 minutes recommended on the packaging the meat inside has dried out. Drenched in gravy, its just about palatable. Winner: Waitrose, by a mile. Its chicken is cheaper, less calorific and tastes better. PORK SAUSAGES M&S sausages shrivel up when grilled, but they're still a generous size and made of 77% pork Waitrose 6 sweet and succulent sausages with caramelised red onion confit (400g) PRICE: 3.29 TASTE: The sausages are fat, juicy and full of confit chunks or is it gristle? They taste sweeter than I expected, and the onion almost overpowers the 80 per cent pork. M&S 6 caramelised onion sausages (400g) PRICE: 3 TASTE: These shrivel up when grilled, but theyre still generous-sized sausages, made with 77 per cent pork, onion and plenty of seasoning. Far better than your average supermarket banger. Winner: M&S. You get more meat for your money. Flavour-wise theyre hard to tell apart. CHICKEN KIEVS Waitrose chicken kievs are hefty and stuffed full of garlicky butter. The breadcrumbs are made from individually baked loaves Waitrose 2 British breast fillets with garlic and parsley butter (320g) PRICE: 3.90 TASTE: These are hefty, stuffed full of garlicky butter. The breadcrumbs made from individually baked loaves, which seems unnecessary are crisp and the meat is juicy. M&S 2 Gastropub kievs with Cornish butter and wild garlic centre (450g) PRICE: 7 TASTE: The creme de la creme of kievs, these are made with chicken breasts on the bone, which seems a real waste of breadcrumbs. They could be a little more generous with the garlic butter inside. Winner: Waitrose. Its smaller than the M&S version but nearly half the price and just as tasty. PEPPERONI PIZZA Smaller than it appears on the outside of the box, Waitrose's pepperoni pizza is pretty average Waitrose Stonebaked and hand-stretched (385g) PRICE: 4.50 TASTE: Smaller than it appears on the outside of the box, this is a pretty average pizza. The sprinkling of parsley on top is a nice touch, but the meat itself tastes bland and processed. M&S The American hand-stretched and stonebaked (440g) PRICE: 4 TASTE: The base is thin and crisp, the toppings are generous and the pepperoni is spicy. The cheese is spread right to the edges, too. Winner: M&S. Its cheaper, bigger and tastes like an authentic Italian pizza. CRISPS Waitrose win: They're better value and taste more like posh nibbles than mass-produced snacks Waitrose Essential salted tortilla chips (200g) PRICE: 95p TASTE: Theres a generous portion of crisps in the bag, and theyre not too greasy. In fact, theyre incredibly moreish before I know it, Ive scoffed the lot. M&S Lightly salted tortilla chips (175g) PRICE: 1 TASTE: This is a smaller serving, and to my disappointment lots of the crisps in the bag are crushed. They are saltier than the others, and after a few mouthfuls Im craving a drink. Winner: Waitrose. Not only are they better value, but they taste more like posh nibbles than mass-produced snacks. ROAST MEAL FOR ONE For a roast dinner that's ready in 20 minutes the Waitrose meal is hard to beat. The M&S portion is significantly smaller Waitrose Classic beef dinner (390g) PRICE: 4.50 TASTE: For a roast dinner thats ready in 20 minutes, this is hard to beat. The meat is succulent, the potatoes are golden and fluffy, and theres even a Yorkshire pudding. M&S Roast beef mini-meal (250g) PRICE: 2.70 TASTE: This takes 20 minutes to cook in the oven, or just three minutes in the microwave. But the portion is significantly smaller than the Waitrose offering, and it tastes like a bad school dinner. Winner: Waitrose. You get what you pay for the M&S meal is soggy and bland. VEGETARIAN From M&S' new 'Plant Kitchen' range their lasagne is tasty, indulgent and healthy Waitrose Italian roasted vegetable lasagne (400g) PRICE: 2.75 TASTE: Made from spinach pasta, vegetables, tomato and a creamy cheese sauce, this is a good lasagne. However, it could do with more seasoning. It also comes in a recyclable tray. M&S Plant Kitchen lasagne (400g) PRICE: 3.20 TASTE: This is from M&Ss new Plant Kitchen range, meaning its suitable for vegans, too, with soya bechamel. It is tasty, indulgent and healthy. Winner: M&S its veggie and vegan dishes are generally top-notch. The lasagne is flavourful and comes out of the oven golden on top. BURGERS Unveiled last year, the Best Ever burger contains prime beef and a hint of bone marrow Waitrose 30-day dry-aged hand-pressed beef burgers (340g) PRICE: 4.99 TASTE: Plump, juicy and made from finely marbled Hereford beef, these are melt-in-the-mouth. When grilled, however, Im shocked by the amount of fat that drips out. M&S Best Ever beef burger (340g) PRICE: 4.25 TASTE: Unveiled last year, the Best Ever burger contains prime beef and a hint of bone marrow, which gives it a game-like flavour. The calories are hefty, but worthwhile. Winner: M&S. Decadent, delicious and cheaper than Waitroses poshest patties. INDIAN There's more of a kick to the M&S chicken tikka masala. It's full of chunky chicken and tomato Waitrose Indian chicken tikka masala (350g) PRICE: 3.99 TASTE: Billed as marinated chargrilled chicken in a tandoori-spiced cream and tomato sauce, this Indian classic sounds mouth-watering. The reality is a let-down: insipid sauce and barely any meat. M&S Chicken tikka masala (400g) PRICE: 4 TASTE: Theres more kick to this, which is full of chunky chicken and tomato. Its also less fatty, so I dont feel guilty tucking in. Winner: M&S. So good it could have come from my favourite local Indian takeaway. CHINESE The Waitrose meal is not as 'rich' or 'intense' as I hoped. There is plenty of beef, peppers, water chestnuts and spring onions Waitrose Rich and intense beef in black bean sauce (350g) PRICE: 3.99 TASTE: This looks appetising, but its not as rich or intense as I hoped. There is plenty of beef, peppers, water chestnuts and spring onions. M&S Wok-fried beef and black bean sauce (350g) PRICE: 4.50 TASTE: At the higher price point, and with all the extra calories, I was hoping for a decadent dinner. But the sauce is cloying, and the slices of beef are pitifully thin. Winner: Waitrose, by a whisker. Both are pricey options, and neither lives up to expectations. APPLE PIE Waitrose's is made with whole apples, blackberries and apple puree. It's packed full of fruit, but is also very sweet Waitrose Apple and blackberry lattice (545g) PRICE: 3.25 TASTE: Made with whole apples, blackberries and apple puree, this is packed full of fruit, but its also very sweet. Even the pastry lattice is dusted with demerara sugar. M&S Bramley apple pie (485g) PRICE: 3 TASTE: A deeper pie, filled with tart apple, this has a homemade feel to it and Im sure I could pass it off as my own. The pastry puffs up beautifully in the oven. Winner: M&S, which just pips Waitrose on price, and triumphs in taste and appearance. BIRTHDAY CAKE M&S' is much denser and more artificial-tasting than the Waitrose birthday cake Waitrose Sponge for ten, hand-decorated with raspberry jam and buttercream filling (630g) PRICE: 7 TASTE: The sponge is fluffy, and the icing melts in the mouth. It is packed with jam and cream, which squidges out of each slice. M&S Star sponge for eight, with raspberry jam and buttercream (630g) PRICE: 6.75 TASTE: Much denser and more artificial-tasting, this would never pass muster on Bake Off. Theres barely any filling and the icing comes away at the sides. Winner: Waitrose. Neither cake is cheap, but for a special occasion theres a clear winner. DELUXE TREATS Waitrose's chocolates are softer than expected and more like chunks of chocolate than truffles Waitrose Belgian milk chocolate truffles (150g) PRICE: 4 TASTE: Softer than expected, these are more like chunks of chocolate than truffles. Theres a generous coating of flakes over each one. M&S Belgian flaked truffles (200g) PRICE: 4 TASTE: These look identical to the Waitrose chocolates, but are chewier and slightly bigger. You also get 16 in a box, rather than 12. Winner: M&S, which wins on quantity alone. AND THE OVERALL WINNER IS... M&S Triumphing in nine out of 16 categories (including most of the alcohol ones above), it looks like M&S is a worthy replacement. Long-serving Ocado customers have nothing to fear. For the most part, theyll save on shopping bills and end up with tastier food. She's shattered an ex-MP and his family with her wild, unproven claims of ritual sex attacks. So why, on Monday, will this bookie's clerk be helping influence the most controversial investigation of all? On Monday morning, a truly remarkable scene will unfold inside a hearing room at an office building just south of the River Thames in London. Over 15 days, spymasters, top civil servants, government ministers and senior police officers past and present will be asked if they shielded paedophiles in the political world of Westminster over the course of six decades. These matters will be examined as the next part of the sprawling multi-million-pound Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. It was set up in 2014 by Theresa May, then the Home Secretary, to probe historical allegations of paedophilia in several walks of life from the church to children's homes following revelations that TV icon Jimmy Savile was a serial paedophile. Waived anonymity: Esther Baker (pictured) - a chain-smoking 36-year-old blonde divorcee who works in a Liverpool betting office - claimed in 2015 that she was a serial victim of sex assaults as a child during the Eighties and Nineties So secret are the names of some shadowy figures appearing in the coming weeks they include those from the security service MI5, its foreign counterpart MI6 and the Cheltenham spy centre GCHQ that many of them will be given anonymity. Some will be identified only by a digital cipher and will have their voices camouflaged as they tell their revelations. All will be flanked by teams of top lawyers, some of them on thousands of pounds a day, courtesy of the public purse. Another aspect of these latest proceedings will be the honours system operated by a powerful Westminster committee of 15 senior politicians and civil servants which will be scrutinised after public concerns that those already suspected of child abuse, such as the late MP for Rochdale, Sir Cyril Smith, received knighthoods. On Australian TV, Ms Baker was shown photographs of people, and asked to identify two of her main abusers at Cannock Chase wood. Although viewers could not see who was identified, it was soon to leak onto the internet that one of them was a multimillionaire businessman called John Hemming (above), who, until 2015, was Lib Dem MP for South Yardley in Birmingham. He has since publicly and flatly denied he has ever met Esther Baker For these reasons, the inquiry, chaired by former social worker Professor Alexis Jay, will undoubtedly garner prominent headlines and prime-time TV coverage, which makes the involvement of one particular woman all the more puzzling. Her name is Esther Baker, a chain-smoking 36-year-old blonde divorcee who works in a Liverpool betting office. In 2015, Ms Baker claimed she was a serial victim of sex assaults as a child during the Eighties and Nineties. In lurid terms, she said she was abused in a Staffordshire wood by a group of men, including a judge, a now deceased political grandee (whom the Mail has chosen not to name) and a man who would later become a Lib Dem politician. All while police, some in uniform, stood watching or taking part. She says she has memories of being assaulted at Dolphin Square, a block of flats near the Houses of Parliament used by politicians. It is a place where others have said they were abused as children, although, following police investigations, none of their allegations have been substantiated. Ms Baker is unusual because she unlike most of those speaking of such recollections has elected to be named on television, both in the UK and Australia, and gave a series of interviews waiving her anonymity to a now-defunct investigative news website called Exaro. On Australian TV, Ms Baker was shown photographs of people, and asked to identify two of her main abusers at Cannock Chase wood. Although viewers could not see who was identified, it was soon to leak onto the internet that one of them was a multimillionaire businessman called John Hemming, who, until 2015, was Lib Dem MP for South Yardley in Birmingham. He has since publicly and flatly denied he has ever met Esther Baker. Ms Baker's interviewer, on an Australian 60 Minutes programme called Spies, Lords And Predators, asked her if she was certain that the two photographs were of the two men who abused her as a child. She answered yes four times, before finally saying, by way of explanation: 'You don't forget those faces, no way.' Ms Baker says she has memories of being assaulted at Dolphin Square (file image), a block of flats near the Houses of Parliament used by politicians. It is a place where others have said they were abused as children, although, following police investigations, none of their allegations have been substantiated She has since said her decision to go public was to stop her being attacked, either physically or on social media, by those who didn't believe her. The police have taken her claims seriously. In all, Ms Baker has been interviewed by a team of 11 officers over nearly 100 hours. There are more than 1,000 pages of transcript from those interviews and other material running to 7,000 more pages. In other words, it has taken a huge amount of time and effort. Yet, after two years, the police have found insufficient evidence to charge Mr Hemming or anyone else. However, Ms Baker set a hare running. Mr Hemming, 58, has become the victim of significant abuse himself in the wake of her allegations. A year ago, a Birmingham man called Declan Canning was convicted of sending threatening and libellous emails to him which said he was a rapist and a paedophile. In a settlement in January, Mr Hemming received damages and an apology from a child protection campaigner and an investigative reporter, who had each seemed to give credence on social media to allegations of serious sexual offences by him. It's been a nasty business. Mr Hemming has asked, unsuccessfully to date, for the police to investigate Ms Baker to see if she has perverted the course of justice. He has called her a 'fantasist', which she denies. Meanwhile, she has become a campaigner in the fight to stop child abuse, and is preparing herself for a key role as a 'core participant' in the Westminster segment of the sex abuse inquiry. Crucially, this means she will be one of 16 individuals and representatives of institutions allowed to ask questions of politicians and others who appear at the inquiry. She will also have the right to request free representation by a lawyer, as well as an early sight of sensitive documents relating to the inquiry. Given her position, she will play a part in actually moulding the proceedings, the cost of which, last year alone, was 17 million. By its conclusion in 2021, it is expected to reach nearly 100 million. Her prominent role in the controversial inquiry comes as her bitter war of words with Mr Hemming continues. The probe will centre on the lives of six men, all of whom are now dead. First, there is Sir Peter Morrison (left), once deputy chairman of the Tory Party and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Mrs Thatcher, who was rumoured to have had a 'dangerous sexual appetite for young men'. Then there's British diplomat and intelligence operative Sir Peter Hayman (right), who is now known to have been a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, a group promoting sex between adults and children As for the late Labour peer Lord Janner (left), he first faced accusations of sexually abusing children in 1991, but strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Rochdale MP Sir Cyril Smith (right) was reputed to be a predatory paedophile who, for more than four decades, used his influence to get into children's homes in the North and prey on hundreds of boys, some of them as young as eight The inquiry is also expected to dredge up the names of Sir Edward Heath (left), the former Prime Minister, and Lord Brittan (right), a former Home Secretary, despite the fact that both men are now dead and cannot defend themselves In a recent High Court claim, Ms Baker is asking Hemming to pay damages for defamation for also calling her a fantasist. He, in turn, is counter- claiming, saying that her allegations are 'malicious and deliberate lies'. A key part of this legal spat are two distinguishing features of Mr Hemming's body which Ms Baker has admitted to mentioning to police during their inquiries. They include a peculiarity in his private parts and a birth mark on his back. In court papers, Mr Hemming's lawyer states that the former MP and father of five 'does not have either feature and never has. 'He does have another prominent feature (a burn on his upper leg), which she did not describe and which was present in 1988-92, which is at the time she said the events took place.' The lawyer added, 'Mr Hemming asks the court to conclude that Baker's allegations against him are untrue.' For her part, Ms Baker, in legal papers seen by the Mail, admits to making the 'birthmark claim' and insists that Mr Hemming has a 'curve' to his manhood. Fighting her ground, she says that he, and others who abused her, have caused her to suffer post- traumatic stress and psycho-sexual trauma disorder. Mr Hemming, she adds, has damaged her reputation by insinuating she is not a 'respected' anti-child abuse campaigner. She rejects this, citing as evidence of her highly-regarded status, her visit in January 2016 to speak to special advisers to the then Home Secretary Mrs May; meetings with various cross-party MPs and Directors of Children's Services; and her significant role at the upcoming inquiry. A few days ago, she told the Mail, outside the bookies' shop where she works, that she is looking forward to Monday's hearing. As for Mr Hemming, and his partner Emily Cox, 43, they say they have been through nearly five years of hell since Ms Baker pointed her finger at him. Emily, who was close to tears when the Mail talked to her about Ms Baker's 'out-of-the-blue' allegations, says: 'Our young daughter says she dreads someone turning around at school and calling her father a paedophile. 'Some families have pulled away from us. Children who used to come to visit don't any more. Not because they don't like my daughter, but because they don't like her dad for something he hasn't done. It is very hard on her.' When Ms Baker's accusations first emerged, Emily sat Mr Hemming, her long-time partner, down and looked him in the eye. 'I asked him once. He said no, and that was enough. I immediately began to investigate myself. I wanted to prove he was telling the truth and feel I have done.' John Hemming adds: 'In the late Eighties and early Nineties, I was in London building a business. I have five huge files of dated documents, from rail tickets to diaries, showing that I was not in Staffordshire when she says I was. I have never even met Ms Baker.' At the worst moments of the past five years, he says he turned to 'a bottle of wine and four beers a night for starters', as he spent his days fighting to protect his reputation. He is still bewildered as to why or how his name came to be mentioned by Ms Baker. He remembers, when he was an MP, that she approached him by email about her memories of child abuse, and that he advised her to go to the police with her worries, and wonders whether this played a part. Against this background, the inquiry chair has ruled that Ms Baker has a 'significant interest' in the Westminster investigation. Her allegations against Mr Hemming will not form part of the hearing although she has requested they should be because of time considerations and legal constraints. Instead, the probe will centre on the lives of six men, all of whom are now dead. First, there is Sir Peter Morrison, once deputy chairman of the Tory Party and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Mrs Thatcher, who was rumoured to have had a 'dangerous sexual appetite for young men'. Then there's British diplomat and intelligence operative Sir Peter Hayman, who is now known to have been a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, a group promoting sex between adults and children. There's also Rochdale MP Sir Cyril Smith, reputed to be a predatory paedophile who, for more than four decades, used his influence to get into children's homes in the North and prey on hundreds of boys, some of them as young as eight. It has been claimed by victims and whistle-blowers that Smith was protected by his own Liberal party, as well as the police and even the security services. As for the late Labour peer Lord Janner, he first faced accusations of sexually abusing children in 1991, but strenuously denied any wrongdoing. The claims against him re-emerged three years ago, when the Crown Prosecution Service considered there was enough evidence to merit prosecution. Janner died before the allegations could be tested in court, and his family insist his 'good name' is about to be trashed, with no redress, during the 'Kafkaesque' Westminster inquiry. The inquiry is also expected to dredge up the names of Sir Edward Heath, the former Prime Minister, and Lord Brittan, a former Home Secretary, despite the fact that both men are now dead and cannot defend themselves. Allegations against them of child abuse have been exhaustively investigated by police, who dismissed them after no corroborating evidence could be found. The inquiry has stressed that it is not in the business of seeking to prove their guilt or otherwise its purpose is to investigate whether those in Westminster's corridors of power concealed or covered up allegations of child abuse. Secret reports, records and prime ministerial papers linked to the six have been called in from Parliamentary archives, the Cabinet Office, police forces, the intelligence services, Oxford University's Bodleian library and retired politicians' private homes. In short, no stone is being left unturned by the biggest statutory inquiry in British legal history. Amid all this, Esther Baker with a highly-paid lawyer at her side will be able to make opening and closing statements or suggest lines of inquiry that the investigation should pursue. What a curious position of power for a woman currently battling damning claims from a respected former MP that she herself is a fantasist. Advertisement 'Sunburn' scars have been discovered on the surface of the moon created by particles travelling across space from the sun. These white regions indicate areas of natural 'sunscreen' that protect the Earth's natural satellite against damaging radiation from the sun. Dark marks are created when the solar wind reacts with the lunar surface, while white patterns can be seen in areas protected from these damaging particles by the moon's magnetic field. Nasa scientists hope studying these areas could help astronauts from the sun's powerful rays on future explorations of the moon. Areas with natural protection could one day be used as landing zones for missions to the moon - or even areas where permanent colonies may be established. Scroll down for video 'Sunburn' scars have been discovered on the surface of the moon created by particles travelling across space from the sun. The dark marks are created when the solar wind reacts with the lunar surface, while white swirls can be seen in areas protect from these damaging particles by the moon's magnetic field Unlike the Earth which is entirely surrounded by a magnetic field that protects all the living species, the moon has localised 'spots' of magnetic field. John Keller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland that spotted the patterns, said: 'These patterns, called 'lunar swirls,' appear almost painted on the surface of the moon. 'They are unique; we've only seen these features on the moon, and their origin has remained a mystery since their discovery.' As part of the project, Nasa's scientists created computer models of how the moon's magnetic shield interacts with the sun's solar winds to create these swirling patterns. Nasa said: 'The new models reveal that the magnetic field can create a strong electric field when the solar wind attempts to flow through. 'It is this brawny electric potential of many hundreds of Volts that could deflect and slow particles in the solar wind.' These white regions are indicate areas of natural 'sunscreen' that protect the Earth's natural satellite against damaging radiation from the sun. Nasa scientists hope studying these areas could help astronauts from the sun's powerful rays on future explorations of the moon The sun releases a continuous flow of charged particles that produces a solar wind which washes over our solar system, creating a space called the 'heliosphere' that extends past Pluto. Planets, moons and other bodies that have magnetic fields reflect these winds and protect themselves by doing so. The flow of liquid metal in the Earth's outer core as well as its rotation causes electric currents that create a strong magnetic field all over the planet. It is the interaction of the solar wind with this magnetic field that creates the aurora borealis, better known as the Northern Lights. The moon, however, doesn't have either of these. Its fields are instead created by magnetised rocks near the lunar surface that create small magnetic 'spots' which can span from hundreds of meters to hundreds of miles. Areas with natural protection could one day be used as landing zones for missions to the moon - or even areas where permanent colonies may be established (file photo) Dr Andrew Poppe, a scientist at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley who researches the Moon's crustal magnetic fields using data from NASA's ARTEMIS mission, said: 'The magnetic fields in some regions [of the moon] are locally acting as this sunscreen. Referring to the so called 'sunspots' on the moon, Dr Poppe added: 'You know, sometimes you put on sunscreen and you miss this little bit and then you have a really bright red spot on your skin. 'That's in some ways an analogy of [the regions of the moon without magnetic protection] that are extra-exposed. 'The leading hypothesis is that the magnetic fields are blocking some portion of the solar wind from reaching the surface.' Scientists at Nasa made the proposals after looking at the reflection paths of the sun's charged particles over the last five years. Understanding more about the moon's natural protection mechanisms could help decide where astronauts land in Nasa's next moon mission, even though the fields themselves won't provide enough protection to humans. The scientists however say that studying the structure of these zones could help advance techniques that protect explorers from the sun's harsh atmosphere. Advertisement SpaceX is preparing for its first test flight of the firm's Crew Dragon spacecraft which will travel to the International Space Station tomorrow on the Falcon 9 rocket. The unmanned flight will mark the first time a commercially-built American craft designed to carry astronauts will travel to the space station from US soil. There will be no astronauts aboard but in their place will be a mannequin called Ripley, named after the main character in the 'Alien' science fiction franchise. Ripley is equipped with sensors designed to record details of the trip and provide data vital for future manned missions. Scroll down for video Elon Musk tweeted this image of Ripley, the mannequin named after the lead character in Alien. NASA and SpaceX are working together as public-private partnerships to build on the success of American companies already delivering cargo to the space station, NASA wrote in a blog post SpaceX is preparing for its first test flight of its Crew Dragon spacecraft which will fly to the International Space Station tomorrow on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The unmanned flight will mark the first time a commercially-built American craft designed to carry astronauts will travel to the space station from US soil The rocket will launch at 7.49am GMT (2.49am EST) tomorrow from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and is scheduled to dock at the station at around 11.05am GMT (6.05am EST). Crew Dragon is part of NASA's $8 billion (6bn) Commercial Crew Program, which was created to restore the agency's ability to launch astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX are working with NASA as a public-private partnership to 'build on the success of American companies already delivering cargo to the space station'. The space agency retired its space shuttle program in July 2011 and has been sending astronauts on Russian Soyuz spacecraft since then. Future tests will see the first launch of US astronauts from American soil in eight years, paving the way for a series of manned missions. Tomorrow's test will inform the system design and operations of future versions of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to be made ahead of crewed flights. SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, revealed yesteday that the mannequin has a female body covered by a spacesuit and will serve to verify that the craft is safe to fly humans. Crew Dragon will carry about 400 pounds (180kg) of crew supplies and equipment to the space station and return some critical research samples to Earth. There will be no astronauts aboard but in their place will be a mannequin, named Ripley after the character in the 'Alien' movies, which is equipped with sensors that will provide key data for future missions. The rocket will launch at 7.79am GMT (2.49am EST) tomorrow from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and is scheduled to dock at the station at around 11.05am GMT (6.05 a.m EST) Crew Dragon is part of NASA's roughly $8 billion (6bn) Commercial Crew Program, which was created to restore the agency's ability to launch people to the International Space Station. NASA retired its space shuttle program in July 2011, and has been sending astronauts on Russian Soyuz spacecraft since then. It would be the first launch of U.S. astronauts from U.S. soil in eight years Teams in the space station Mission Control Center will monitor station crew members opening of the spacecraft hatch and unpacking the capsule. The spacecraft will remain docked to the space station for about two weeks but on future missions, Crew Dragon will be able to stay docked to station for up to 210 days during NASA crew rotation missions. 'Demo-1 is a demonstration of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft, ground systems and overall operations - basically just about everything that needs to be operating and operating well before we want to put our astronauts on-board, said NASA officials in the post. 'Our main goals are to validate as many aspects of the spacecraft's systems as we can without a crew on-board, monitor its approach and docking to the space station, and then monitor the undocking, deorbit, entry and splashdown.' The company posted this image of the Crew Dragon yesterday. Nasa described the manned missions as the 'dawn of a new era' of space exploration, with plans to eventually send astronauts to Mars Space X has been making space station shipments since 2012 but the first manned mission will be the first it will dock at the ISS using new mechanisms to attach itself and return astronauts to the US. NASA described the future manned missions as the 'dawn of a new era' of space exploration, with a view to eventually send astronauts to Mars. The agency also plan to take man back to the moon by 2028 for the first time since 1972 and claim that they will go back and forth regularly. Previous cargo Dragon vehicles have been attached to the space station after capture by the station's robotic arm. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled to the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Demo-1 mission The Crew Dragon will fly in all the way to dock using new sensor systems, new propulsion systems and docking mechanism to attach to station. Previous SpaceX launches have been postponed because of poor weather conditions but meteorologists predict an 80 per cent chance of favourable conditions. No launch date has been set for the manned missions to the ISS, though they say that they could take place from April this year. Live coverage of the launch will be broadcast by both NASA and SpaceX on their websites. A probe sent by to the far side of the moon by China's space agency has been reactivated after two weeks spent hibernating. Chang'e-4, the moon lander, is back to work after 'sleeping' during the second lunar night, which is equivalent to 14 days on Earth. The lander woke from its slumber a few hours before its companion rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) and both are once again operating as normal. China's National Space Administration (CNSA) says it is now continuing their exploration of the lunar surface. Scroll down for video China's latest space shuttle mission to the far side of the moon has been reactivated after a two week hibernation. The lander Chang'e-4 is back to work after 'sleeping' during the second lunar night. Night time on the moon can be freezing and plunge as low as -180C (-292F) China's lunar rover also got back to work on the far side of the moon after waking from a 14-day hibernation, a few hours after lander woke up in the morning. Both are operating normally, says China's space agency China's space agency previous said the current mission 'lifted the mysterious veil' from the far side of the moon, which is never seen from Earth, and 'opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration'. Because the space craft is solar powered, it has to switch off during a lunar night on the moon, during which there will be no sunlight. The temperature on a lunar night is about -180C (-292F) and can get high during the day, where 'insulating' components like the gold coloured layers outside the lander and rover keep them cool. There are variable heat conduction pipes, controllable two-phase electric fluidic circuits, etc. and they can control my temperature to under 55C. Yutu-2 has a host of instruments and will be powered by solar panels. Unlike the similar probe on-board the Chang'e-3 mission this rover has no robotic arm. It announced afterwards it will be taking a 'nap' to protect against the sun's immense heat on the moon During the mission's last lunar night, Yutu-2's account on China's popular social media account Weibo posted a message explaining that the machine will not actually turn off during the snooze. It will simply enter a standby mode. In this form it will be charged up via solar panels, write a 'diary', send monitoring footage and provide readers with stories about the moon. The post concluded: 'I didn't expect to take a break after working only for one day, but it's an important mission to protect oneself. 'Master, remember to wake me up early when the work starts again.' Zhang Yuhua, deputy chief commander of the mission, told Chinese state media: 'After that, the rover will go to its planned area and start a series of scientific exploration projects in the Von Karman crater as planned by scientists.' A never-before-seen 'close range' image taken by the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e-4 of the surface of the far side of the moon. It appears to take on a reddish hue in some of the images released by China, an effect of the lights used by the probe The rover is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments to help it analyse the surface of the moon, including a panoramic and infrared camera, ground-penetrating radar and a low-frequency radio spectrometer A TIMELINE OF HOW CHINA REACHED THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON Chang'e-4 launched from the Xichang satellite launch centre in Sichuan, south-west China at 6:30 GMT on December 7 October 24, 2007 - China launches Chang'e-1, an unmanned satellite, into space where it remains operational for more than a year. October 1, 2010 - China launches Chang'e-2. This was part of the first phase of the Chinese moon programme. It was in a 100km-high lunar orbit to gather data for the upcoming Chang'e-3 mission. September 29, 2011 - China launches Tiangong 1. September 15, 2013 - A second space lab, Tiangong 2, is launched. December 1, 2013 - Chang'e-3 launched. December 14, 2013 - Chang'e-3, a 2,600 lb (1,200 kg) lunar probe lands on the near side of the moon successfully. It became the first object to soft-land on the Moon since Luna 24 in 1976. April 1, 2018 - Tiangong-1 crashes to Earth at 17,000mph and lands in the ocean off the coast of Tahiti. May 20, 2018 - China launches a relay satellite named Queqiao which is stationed in operational orbit about 40,000 miles beyond the Moon. This is designed to enable Chang'e-4 to communicate with engineers on Earth. The Chang'e-4 lunar rover is lifted into space from the Xichang launch centre in China's southwestern Sichuan province on December 7 December 7, 2018 - Chinese space agency announces it has launched the Chang'e-4 probe. December 12, 2018 - Retrorockets on the probe are fired to stabilise the spacecraft and slow it down. December 31, 2018 - The probe prepares for the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon. January 4, 2019 - It lands the Chang'e-4 lander on the far side of the moon Planned for 2020 - Tiangong 3,a follow-up mission to the Tiangong-2 Before 2033 - China plans for its first uncrewed Mars exploration program. 2040 - 2060 - The Asian superpower is planning a crewed mission to Mars. Advertisement Results of these experiments by the Chang'e-4 could lead to new understandings of the challenges faced by settlers who may one day colonise our natural satellite. 'It's a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation,' Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project, told state broadcaster CCTV. 'This giant leap is a decisive move for our exploration of space and the conquering of the universe.' The rover is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments to help it analyse the surface of the moon, including a panoramic and infrared camera, ground-penetrating radar and a low-frequency radio spectrometer. The mission is formed of three basic parts - the rover, the lander and the relay satellite. They will work in unison to study, analyse and send information back to the scientists on Earth Professor Crawford added: 'While operational, it will rove around studying the composition of rocks, and the sub-surface using its ground-penetrating radar. 'It will just be left on the Moon once it ceases to function, unless one day it is collected and brought back to a museum.' The rover will use its panoramic camera to identify interesting locations and its Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) will help analyse minerals in the crater. This includes what scientists call 'ejecta' - rocks that have churned up from deep to the surface from impacts meteors. Its Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) instrument will take a look down into the depths of the moon with a maximum vertical distance of approximately 300 feet (100 metres). The landing site on the Moon of space shuttle Chang'e-4 has also been officially named 'Statio Tianhe' or The Milky Way Base, at a Beijing conference today. The landing site on the Moon of space shuttle Chang'e-4 has been officially named 'Statio Tianhe' or The Milky Way Base, at a Beijing conference today The name, along with others for three craters and a peak nearby, were agreed by the China National Space Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Astronomical Union. Naming landing locations on planets is common practice, led by the United States and the former Soviet Union on their lunar explorations. The Chinese names allude to ancient folklore, with the term Tianhe meaning Milky Way, its literal translation being 'sky-river' in Mandarin. The Latin 'Statio' which means base, is also part of the landing site name. The names, which were also given to three craters and a peak nearby, were agreed upon by the China National Space Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Astronomical Union. 'Hegu' (pictured) which means River Drum Naming landing locations on planets is common practice, precedented by the United States and the former Soviet Union on their lunar explorations. Tianjin (pictured) The Chinese names allude to ancient folklore, with the term Tianhe meaning Milky Way, its literal translation being 'sky-river' in Mandarin. Taishan or Mount Tai (pictured) is the peak found near the landing site and the name of a famous Chinese mountain Three craters close to landing site were also named Zhinu (weaver girl), Hegu (river drum) and Tianjin,after three constellations of ancient Chinese astrology. The names all allude to an ancient folklore tale about the 'weaver girl' and her banished lover, a 'cowherder boy'. They are separated by the Milky Way and can only meet once a year on a bridge formed by magpies, known as Queqiao, the name given to China's relay satellite on the dark side of the moon. This special day, Qixi falls on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar each year, often referred to as 'Chinese Valentine's Day'. China successfully achieved a global first with its trip to the far side of the Moon when it landed in the Von Karman crater on January 4, 2019. The country has claimed it wants to be the first country to establish a base on the moon and says it will build it using 3D printing technology. Officials from the Chinese space agency also said the country will return to the moon by the end of the year with the Chang'e-5 mission. There have been numerous landings on the moon as a result of the 20th century space race between the US and the USSR - including the famed Apollo 11 mission which saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans on the moon Three successive missions will further explore the barren surface and the viability of building houses there. China is swiftly establishing a reputation as one of the forerunners in the renaissance of the space race with its continued investment in both Martian and lunar missions. After Chang'e-5 returns lunar rocks from the surface the next mission, Chang'e-6 will be the first mission to explore the south pole of the moon. Chang'e-7 will study the land surface, composition and space environment in a comprehensive mission, it was claimed, while Chang'e-8 will focus on technical surface analysis. Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for a potential lunar base as it strives to verify the technology earmarked for the ambitious project. China National Space Administration (CNSA) said they also have plans to go to Mars in 2020, a timeline that would likely make them the first to do so, beating out the US, Russia and the plethora of private firms looking to colonise space. Reports of Amazon planning to open its own low-cost supermarket chain across the country have sent rival grocery retailers' stocks sharply lower. The tech behemoth is doubling down on its move into the grocery industry with plans to launch dozens of stores across several major cities in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Amazon acquired grocer Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion in 2017 and, since then, has ramped up its focus on brick-and-mortar stores, as well as the grocery industry as a whole. Scroll down for video Amazon is doubling down on its move into the grocery industry with plans to launch dozens of stores across several major U.S. cities. The news sent rival grocery retailers' stocks lower The news of Amazon expanding its grocery footprint pushed shares of the tech giant higher as much as 1.9 percent on Friday. Amazon's new grocery chain will open its first location in Los Angeles by the end of this year, the Journal said. Additional stores will open in 2020 and the firm is reportedly considering locations based in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. The reaction was less-than-stellar among supermarket stocks, however, with shares of Cincinnati-based retailer Kroger sliding 4.4 percent, while Arizona-based grocery chain Sprouts Farmers Market saw its stock drop 0.5 percent. Retail giant Walmart's stock also declined 1 percent, while other retailers' stocks, including Costco and BJ's, slid lower earlier in the day but had recovered by the market's close. The reaction from the Amazon news was less-than-stellar among supermarket stocks, however, with shares of Kroger sliding 4.4 percent and Walmart down just over 1 percent Amazon's competitors in the grocery industry have a right to be scared. The new chain would be 'distinct' from the Whole Foods brand, which is known for being upscale, gourmet and largely centered around metro areas. It's not yet clear whether the new chain will include Amazon's name or branding, the Journal said. Additionally, its expansion might not take very long, as Amazon is reportedly considering acquiring regional grocery chains that oversee at least a dozen stores. Amazon's new grocery chain will reportedly open its first location in Los Angeles by the end of this year. Other locations are being scouted in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other areas The Whole Foods brand shuns products with artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and sweeteners. But Amazon's new chain would likely incorporate more of those items, allowing it to work with bigger brands, the Journal explained. Amazon hasn't commented on the Journal report, saying it won't 'comment on rumors or speculation.' The company has broadened its reach into physical stores in the last few years, most notably through its acquisition of Whole Foods. It has also opened a '4 Star' store in New York City, which offers the highest-rated products from its site in store. Additionally, Amazon now operates 10 of its cashierless Go stores around the country, which allow shoppers to peruse and purchase items without having to pay for them in front of a cashier. Maternal instinct is powerful in soapland: mothers are the quickest to forgive and the last to give up on their offspring. In Coronation Street alone, last week, weve seen Abi desperate to make amends with Seb, Tracy taking responsibility for her lack of decent mothering in Amys life, and Shona, despite her son being a killer, shouting, Im your mother! His view of her was different an old slut ho used to live on the estate but you cant have it all. EastEnders mums have always stuck up for their young no matter what Peggy, Bianca, Kat, Kathy, Dot (the most loyal in history) because fairm-ly is fairm-ly, even if the kids are liars, adulterers and murderers. In Emmerdale, mothers have had a more difficult time with their children. The reaction and aftermath of Moiras struggle with Hollys drug addiction and death is one of the most powerful storylines in soap history. In this week's Coronation Street Seb finds himself out of a job after getting in a scuffle with Gary over Sarah Increasingly, though, to quote Wordsworth, the child is father of the man or, in this case, woman. When parents falter or grow sick, theres nothing more touching than when roles are reversed and the parents become the vulnerable children. CORONATION STREET: UNBUILDING BRIDGES Poor Sebs been through a lot in his young life and, with his 18th birthday upon us, we can only fear his being of legal drinking age will make matters worse. Or is life about to get a whole lot better when Sarah promises him a birthday surprise? Is the written invitation to meet her in the bath for Seb or Gary and who is about to benefit? Lets just hope the notes not intercepted by Ken. Anyway, the week is all too much for Seb, who ends up in a scuffle with Gary over Sarah and finds himself out of a job. That might not be bad. Gary is proving himself to be a real rogue trader, telling Carla repairs to the factory roof would cost her upwards of 60,000. For starters, shed have insurance; and Ive seen a barbecue cause more damage on a hamburger than the boat blaze inflicted on Underworld. Whats with the bail hostel idea suddenly upon us? Claudia is horrified to discover the new build will be opposite her new flat. Given how often the locals are banged up, itll be home from home for most of them. A point of educational pedantry, Cathy: Brian cant have a First in his Master of Arts degree; gradations are for Bachelor of Arts. EASTENDERS: GIRL POWER(LESS) Evie ploys to convince Tiffany that her family doesn't love her in EastEnders Yet another drugs storyline. How many more can they do? Now theyve thrown the Evie/Tiffany girl-on-girl stuff into the mix and its still as boring as ever. Mitch admits he caught Keegan with drugs in the past, Keegan says he got them from Tiffany and lets be honest, she has enough room to hide them in that gold puffer jacket. How long before the police become involved and interfering Whitney tries to get the troof? Evies ploy is to convince Tiffany that her family dont love her (that shouldnt be hard: everyone usually hates everyone in Walford) and, feeling alone, Tiffany accepts Evies invitation to go to a party (please, please tell me she gets to be excavated out of that wretched jacket before going). After another argument with Whitney, Tiffany agrees to leave home for good, but will she follow through? Im sceptical. You have to be really quick to catch one of just three trains that leave Walford East every week, and Im not sure shes up to an inconspicuous getaway when shes dressed like a poor mans Oscar. Kerry (pictured with Jessie) goes to Belfast along with Paddy in search of Amy in Emmerdale Theres an attempt at levity (doubtless another doomed one) when Tina organises a pancake race at the Vic (dont get excited; you wont be rocking in the aisles). Iqra and Habiba then plan their own rival event. Toss all the pancake storylines right out of the script, I say. EMMERDALE: THE HONEYMOONS OVER When Faith and Eric returned from the pub last week, youd think Eric wouldve noticed his door was wide open. But no: it even took him 30 seconds to notice the papers scattered everywhere (still no mention of the door he didnt even have his key out) and surmise that Kerry (Shes behind you!) had been there, looking for evidence of Amy. Its a search that this week takes Kerry to Belfast, tagging along with Paddy on Marlon and Jessies honeymoon. Will Kerry find Amy, and will Paddy find Bear Wolf, whos touring Belfast (lucky, that; saves on the shows budget)? Her husband Oliver Curtis presented her with a new ring when he re-proposed marriage in 2017 following his release from jail for insider trading. Now it seems PR queen Roxy Jacenko has upgraded her engagement bling yet again. The 38-year-old showed off a stunning new 10-carat diamond ring as she jetted off to Hong Kong on Friday. New diamonds: PR queen Roxy Jacenko , 39, showed off her new diamond accessory - a stunning 10-carat engagement ring on Friday Still got the old! It appears that Roxy has placed her other engagement ring on her other hand Taking to Instagram, the blonde businesswoman shared a picture of her prized possession, alongside the caption: 'How amazing is this ring?' The jewel, a design by Nicholas Haywood Jewellery, sparkled as Roxy moved her hand to catch the light. The ring features a large seven-carat centre stone set in a three-carat band. Roxy and her 33-year-old husband have been married since 2012 and share two children - daughter Pixie, seven, and son Hunter, four. The couple have shared their ups and downs over the past few years. Their relationship was tested back in 2016 when Oliver served a year in prison for conspiracy to commit insider trading. Still going strong: The PR queen and her husband Oliver Curtis, 33, (left) have shared their ups and downs over the years. Their relationship was tested back in 2016 when Oliver served a year in prison Dazzling: The ring, a design by the exclusive Nicholas Haywood Jewellery, sparkled as Roxy moved her hand to catch the light in an Instagram video He was released in June 2017 after serving 12 months of a two-year sentence. During this time, Roxy was diagnosed with breast cancer and briefly reunited with her ex, Nabil Gazal. But back in September, Roxy reaffirmed their marriage was rock solid. New accessory: Roxy's ring features a stunning seven-carat centre stone set in a three-carat band Family life: Oliver and Roxy have been married since 2012 and share two children - daughter Pixie, seven, and son Hunter, four (pictured) 'We learnt a lot about life during that time. It was a very testing and very challenging time,' she told Daily Mail Australia 'I really realised how wonderful a father he is, how dedicated to his family he is, and he's always had my back,' she said. Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has played many hilarious characters over the years. From arrogant wanna-be rapper Ali G, to misfit Kazakhstani journalist Borat Sagdiyev and gay Austrian fashion expert Bruno, Sacha has worn many hats. And now it has been revealed that his wife of nine years, Isla Fisher, still has the fire of passion for him when he's in character - but with some notable exceptions. 'He looks so cute!' Isla Fisher has said she finds husband Sacha Baron Cohen attractive even when he's dressed as his famous character Borat, Bruno and Ali G Isla, 43, appeared on Busy Tonight on Thursday to answer questions about which character of Sacha's she would sleep with. When host Busy Philipps held up a picture of Ali G, Isla answered without hesitation: 'I've got the biggest b*ner. I've got a b*ner.' Isla grabbed the photo and said, 'That's my hall pass right there.' 'I've got the biggest b*ner': The actress appeared on the US show Busy Tonight on Thursday to answer host Busy Philipps's questions about which character of Sacha's she would sleep with Busy then held up a photo of Sacha, 47, as the dandy Adolfo Pirelli in the Sweeney Todd movie. 'Are you going to smash this guy?' asked Busy. Isla winced and said, 'My vagina just closed over.' Would you? Busy held up a photo of Sacha as the dandy Adolfo Pirelli (pictured) in the Sweeney Todd movie. 'Are you going to smash this guy?' asked Busy. Isla winced and said, 'My vagina just closed over' When shown a photo of Sacha as dictator Admiral-General Aladeen from The Dictator, Isla grinned and said: 'Yes he's so cute, I really fancy him! I love him in that character!' But when it came to see a picture of her husband as anti-terrorism expert colonel Erran Morad, Isla gasped and said, "No, I can't! I mean he doesn't even look like him. That would be honestly cheating. The prosthetics are too good.' Her reaction to the character of Austrian fashion expert Bruno, however, was much warmer: 'Of course. I love Bruno. I love Bruno. And he looks so cute as Bruno.' Yes please! When shown a photo of Sacha as dictator Admiral-General Aladeen (pictured) from The Dictator, Isla grinned and said: 'Yes he's so cute, I really fancy him! I love him in that character!' After answering yes for 'right wing truther' Billy Wayne Ruddick, no to King Julien from the movie Madagascar ('I don't know whether beastiality is legal,'), Isla showed she most had eyes for Borat - even when he is dressed in his lime-green mankini. 'I love Borat. I find the handlebar moustache really cute,' said Isla. 'In this suit though?' asked Busy Isla stammered her answer before conceding with a laugh, 'Yeah.' Jennifer Saunders was seen for the first time as Meryl Streep's well-loved character Donna in her trademark dungarees for Comic Relief's Mamma Mia spoof. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again tells the story of how young Donna Sheridan met the three men who would eventually become potential fathers to her daughter Sophie. The Absolutely Fabulous actress, 60, was the spitting image of Meryl as she donned Donna's characteristic blue one-piece and a chic blouse for the hilarious sketch. Pictured: Jennifer Saunders was seen for the first time as Meryl Streep's character Donna in trademark dungarees for Comic Relief's Mamma Mia sequel spoof Mamma Mia fans would be forgiven if they mistook Jennifer for Meryl when she transformed into her iconic film character with her flowing golden curls. The original Mamma Mia sketch was a celebrated moment for fans as it marked the moment that French and Saunders reunited after parting ways a year earlier. It was also a reunion for the Absolutely Fabulous duo Saunders and Joanna Lumley, years before they appeared in anniversary specials and a 2015 feature film. Jennifer said: 'If I could have lived on the fake Mamma Mia set for the past year, I would have been very happy. This is one of the silliest things I've done. But, my God, I enjoy it.' Double take: The Absolutely Fabulous actress, 60, was the spitting image of Meryl as she donned Donna's characteristic blue one-piece and a chic blouse for the hilarious sketch Dancing Queens: Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again tells the story of how young Donna Sheridan met the three men who would eventually become potential fathers to her daughter Sophie So similar: Mamma Mia fans would be forgiven if they mistook Jennifer for Meryl when she transformed into her iconic film character with her flowing golden curls The sketch will see Jennifer reprise her role as Meryl playing Donna, while Alan Carr is reportedly set to reprise his role as Colin Firth/Harry Bright, and Phillip Glenister will be back as Piers Brosnan/Sam Carmichael. Sue Perkins and Miranda Hart will return as the Producer and Director, though it has been reported that Dawn French will not be getting into character as Julie Walters/Rosie Mulligan due to scheduling conflicts. Fans will be hoping that Joanna Lumley reprises her role as Christine Baranski/ Tanya Chesham-Leigh, and whether Sienna Miller will be back as Amanda Seyfried/Sophie Sheridan, and whether Stellan Skarsgard will be swapped out for a Swede. Throwback: The sketch - ten years after the original film - will spoof the sequel which hit cinemas in July, with many of its cast returning Back together again: The original sketch which aired in Comic Relief 2009 saw French and Saunders reunite for the first - and last - time after parting ways in 2008 Old face: Jennifer was also reunited with her Absolutely Fabulous co-star Joanna Lumley for the sketch As well as spoofing some of the film's most famous moments, the sketch will also see the cast take on more of ABBA's greatest hits. Here We Go Again earned a thunderous reception from fans when it hit cinemas in July 2018, as it saw much of the cast reunite, along with Cher as Donna's mother Ruby. Comic Relief 2019 could prove a trip down memory lane for film fans, as it will also see a sequel to the Hugh Grant favourite Four Weddings And A Funeral, which also saw a majority of the cast return. Meanwhile it has also been reported that the BBC are pulling out all the stops for the all-night telethon, with stars such as Emma Willis, Joe Sugg, Zoe Ball and Paddy McGuiness and co-founder Sir Lenny Henry being lined up to host. Comic Relief airs on Friday 15th March on BBC One and Two. Hilarious: Dawn French will reportedly not be back for the follow-up sketch as Julie Walters due to scheduling conflicts Tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy, the 15th Season 15 episode entitled We Didn't Start the Fire, will make the hit show the longest-running primetime medical drama. To celebrate this momentous occasion, series creator Shonda Rhimes took to her official Shondaland website to share 23 new behind-the-scenes photos. The creator, 'popped open her laptop and chose a few of her fave photos,' according to the site, which go all the way back to the pilot episode in 2005. Behind-the-scenes: Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes shares new behind-the-scenes photos as the show becomes the longest-running primetime medical drama Helipad: She also shared snaps of the helipad at Komo Plaza in Seattle, which stood in for the helipad at the fictional Seattle Grace hospital. The first photo features series stars Ellen Pompeo, T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl and Sandra Oh, during, 'one of their first fancy photo shoots with a real photographer. 'I snapped this photo of the moment. It's blurry, but that somehow made it feel slightly magical to me,' Rhimes said. She also shared snaps of the helipad at Komo Plaza in Seattle, which stood in for the helipad at the fictional Seattle Grace hospital. Producers: Executive producers Betsy Beers and Rob Corn on the set during the pilot Sandra and Peter: 'Sandra is an intense actress,' Rhimes said. 'She and Peter would have long conversations about her character before each scene. That intensity is how she made Cristina so amazing Rhimes added that these, 'early and important helipad shots helped us sell the hospital as a part of the city of Seattle.' Along with photos of executive producers Betsy Beers and Rob Corn on the set during the pilot, she shared a shot of Peter Horton and Sandra Oh on the set. 'Sandra is an intense actress,' Rhimes said. 'She and Peter would have long conversations about her character before each scene. That intensity is how she made Cristina so amazing. Laughing on the set: The image showed Rhimes laughing with Knight and Issaiah Washington, 'in between takes of George's first big moment in the OR' 007: She also shared photos from the infamous '007 Surgery Day,' which refers to T.R. Knight's George O'Malley performing a surgery that almost killed a patient, earning him the nickname 007 like James Bond, because he has a 'license to kill' She also shared photos from the infamous '007 Surgery Day,' which refers to T.R. Knight's George O'Malley performing a surgery that almost killed a patient, earning him the nickname 007 like James Bond, because he has a 'license to kill.' The image showed Rhimes laughing with Knight and Issaiah Washington, 'in between takes of George's first big moment in the OR.' 'They're completely in wardrobe, fake bloody hands and all, and nothing but jokes. These guys used to do everything to make me laugh on set,' Rhimes said. Meredith and George: Rhimes also shared her 'favorite scene' from the pilot, where Grey and O'Malley, 'console each other after making mistakes' On set: Another shot featured Pompeo and Rhimes hanging out between takes with Beers and Horton Rhimes also shared her 'favorite scene' from the pilot, where Grey and O'Malley, 'console each other after making mistakes.' 'It's their first moment of friendship and one of my favorite scenes of the pilot,' Rhimes added. Another shot featured Pompeo and Rhimes hanging out between takes with Beers and Horton. Real life: Another shot featured Patrick Dempsey, along with Knight, Oh, Pompeo and Washington, chatting between takes, with Rhimes adding, 'these were their moments to get to know each other in real life Cutest pic: There is also what Rhimes calls, 'the cutest pic ever,' featuring Pompeo seemingly smiling with her faced covered by a surgical mask Another shot featured Patrick Dempsey, along with Knight, Oh, Pompeo and Washington, chatting between takes, with Rhimes adding, 'these were their moments to get to know each other in real life.' There is also what Rhimes calls, 'the cutest pic ever,' featuring Pompeo seemingly smiling with her faced covered by a surgical mask. There is also another photo with Pompeo with her mask down after her first surgery. Grey's Anatomy continues its 15th season with We Didn't Start The Fire on Thursday at 8 PM ET on ABC. First surgery: There is also another photo with Pompeo with her mask down after her first surgery She's a Hollywood legend with a career spanning more than four decades. And Susan Sarandon looked every inch the movie star as she turned out for the premiere of the film Ma Vie Avec John F. Donovan, also known as The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, at Mk2 Bibliotheque in Paris on Thursday. The actress, 72, was joined by her co-star Kit Harington, 32, and director Xavier Dolan, 29, at the red carpet event in the French capital. Style: Susan Sarandon , 72, looked every inch the movie star as she turned out for the premiere of the film Ma Vie Avec John F. Donovan at Mk2 Bibliotheque in Paris on Thursday Susan donned a knee-length coat with blended colours including a bright red centre. She paired it with a two-tone shirt and a pleated dress with a similar blended style, completing her look with a golden, bejeweled necklace. Kit looked dapper for the evening in a grey blazer and matching trousers, pairing it with a black top and matching shoes. Canadian filmmaker Xavier looked suave in a grey suit with a white shirt and red tie. Co-star: The actress was joined by her co-star Kit Harington, 32, at the red carpet event in the French capital Suave: Kit looked dapper for the evening in a grey blazer and matching trousers, pairing it with a black top and matching shoes Film: Also joining them was the director, Canadian filmmaker and actor Xavier Dolan, 29 Susan has long been known for her political activism and has not been one to shy away from expressing her opinions on hot button issues. She previously caused a stir with her comments on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election and, speaking to Australia's Sunday Extra, Susan admitted her views came at a price. Speaking of her future, Susan expressed that she didn't want to look back in hindsight and wish she had done something about a particular cause. Outfit: Susan donned a knee-length coat with blended colours including a red centre Ensemble: She paired it with a two-tone shirt and a pleated dress with a similar blended style, completing her look with a golden, bejeweled necklace In demand: Susan chatted with fans and signed autographs at the French premiere She said: 'The things that I regret are only things I didnt say or do, even though I went through a pretty scary time leading up to Iraq, and I certainly - in not supporting Hillary Clinton - ended up getting an enormous amount of heat about that. Clear in her views, the Thelma and Louise star continued: 'I just know for all the unkind or hurtful things, or scary things that have happened because of an unpopular stand with the war or whatever, I dont regret it.' Last year, Susan announced she was glad Hillary Clinton lost the election because she's 'very dangerous' and America would be 'at war.' Premiere: Kit, Susan and Xavier posed with other guests at the event, with the film having its debut last year at the Toronto International Film Festival Honest: Susan has long been known for her political activism and has not been one to shy away from expressing her opinions on hot button issues Tough: She previously caused a stir with her comments on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election and admitted her views came at a price The outspoken star faced a furious backlash from the left who accused her of allowing Donald Trump to win because she'd refused to vote for Clinton in the US election. Sarandon hasn't always been such a staunch Clinton opponent. In 2001, she even backed her for the Senate and posed with the former First Lady during her run. But that all changed when Clinton voted for the war in Iraq. Since then Sarandon has refused to support the former Secretary of State - even if that meant alienating herself from her fellow liberals. And while Susan has been adamant that she no regrets for her Clinton opposition, she was slammed from others in Hollywood and even found herself in a war of words with Will and Grace star Debra Messing on Twitter. She said: 'The most harsh punishment is isolation from your tribe.' Ariel Winter bundled up while heading to a hair salon Wednesday in West Hollywood, California. The 21-year-old actress wore a blue North Face quilted jacket over a black top and matching leggings. The Modern Family star completed her casual outfit with black trainers. Fresh-faced star: Ariel Winter bundled up Wednesday while heading to a nail salon in West Hollywood, California Ariel had her dark hair up in a high bun and accessorized with a red purse. The actress had her flawless complexion on display without makeup. The Los Angeles native has been portraying Alex Dunphy on Modern Family since its premiere in 2009. Ariel also provided the voice for the title character in the Disney Channel animated series Sofia The First from 2012 to 2018. TV star: The 21-year-old Modern Family star wore a blue quilted jacket along with black top and matching legging Sofia The First had its final episode in September 2018. Ariel celebrated her 21st birthday last month with a casual pizza party surrounded by friends. She and boyfriend Levi Meaden, 31, also celebrated her milestone earlier this month at Drai's Beachclub in Las Vegas. Recent birthday: Ariel, shown on January 6 in Beverly Hills, California, turned 21 on January 28 Ariel and Levi have been in a relationship for two years and live together. Modern Family will conclude its 10th season on ABC on March 20. The mockumentary family sitcom was renewed earlier this month for an eleventh and final season. She's a Hollywood legend with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1970's Cactus Flower. And Goldie Hawn looked every inch the movie star as she was spotted out in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 73-year-old stunner draped her famous figure in a grey puffy jacket and Ugg boots for some retail therapy in the tony neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. Stunner: Goldie Hawn, 73, looked every inch the movie star as she was spotted out in Los Angeles on Thursday Daring to impress, the blonde bombshell looked happy and healthy as she smiled during her afternoon jaunt. Not seen was Goldie's partner of over 35 years Kurt Russell. The The Thing alum spoke to Dailymail.com recently about how the two kept a successful family life while being working actors. We were very aware of what would happen had we both pursued our careers full-on, he said. I very rarely worked when I knew Goldie was going to be working. And vice-versa. Which meant we could be together. I never thought that what the business could provide would ever take precedence over us. Money is great, but youve got to say no. You really do. Draped: She draped her famous figure in a grey puffy jacket and Ugg boots for some retail therapy in the tony neighborhood of Pacific Palisades Impressive: Daring to impress, the blonde bombshell looked happy and healthy as she smiled during her afternoon jaunt Indeed, he claims there was at least one occasion when he turned down the chance to star in a major Hollywood production. There was a movie I was going to be paid a lot of money for. Id rather not say what it was, but it came when Id just done two pictures in a row and Goldie was about to go to work, so I had to turn it down. The two lovebirds recently starred in Netflix's The Christmas Chronicles. Goldie's 42-year-old son Oliver Hudson from her marriage to musician Bill Hudson also starred in The Christmas Chronicles. Solo: Not seen was Goldie's partner of over 35 years Kurt Russell Kurt and Goldie only have one biological offspring 32-year-old son Wyatt from their relationship. Oliver's younger sister Kate Hudson considers Kurt her father, while Goldie is also de facto stepmom to Kurt's oldest son Boston, 38, whom he shares with ex wife Season Hubley. 'Certainly, as a mother, Ive made mistakes,' Goldie admitted recently to People. 'We all do, we all will. But the most important thing is to stay authentic and true to yourself and hope that you show by example, not by what you say but by what you do.' Family affair: Kurt and Goldie only have one biological offspring 32-year-old son Wyatt from their relationship Standing by her man: Later, Goldie and husband Kurt Russell too to the red carpet at The Women's Cancer Research Fund event in Los Angeles Hollywood heavyweights: Goldie posed with mega-director Stephen Spielberg at the star-studded event Lovely ladies: [L-R] Kate Hudson, Hawn, Sharon Stone and Demi Moore Happy days: Goldie waves happily as she steps out in leggings and Ugg boots Windswept: The winter breeze wreaked havoc with Goldie's golden tresses as she walked Nova radio host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli defeated Married At First Sight's Dino Hira in a hilarious on-air rap battle on Friday. The challenge was judged by Dino's MAFS bride Melissa Lucarelli, who previously dated Wippa back in the late 2000s when they worked together. Dino, 34, began his rap: 'I'm meditating, I'm levitating, Wippa's heart's about to stop circulating.' Rap battle: Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli (pictured) dominated Married At First Sight's Dino Hira in a hilarious rap battle on Sydney radio station Nova 96.9, on Friday The reality star continued: 'Meeting you has been quite a journey, now I'll say goodbye to radio's Bert and Ernie,' referring to Wippa's co-host Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald. Dino ended his slam with: 'I'm the meditation master, you're a Kung Fu disaster.' Next up was Wippa, kicked off: 'Stop. Meditate and listen. Dino's in the house for my demolition.' 'I'm meditating, I'm levitating, Wippa's heart's about to stop circulating,' rapped Dino The radio host, 39, delivered: 'Sure we both lived in WA, but for what it's worth there was only one of us named the Prince of Perth.' He ended his rhyme with the final blow: 'I'll dance on your rap grave with great delight, because I was the one who got Mel at first bite!' At the end of the battle Melissa declared Wippa as the winner, calling his rhyme 'funny' and explaining that Dino was 'not meant for rapping'. The segment ended with the trio awkwardly gathering together for a group hug. Decision maker: At the end of the battle Melissa declared Wippa as the winner, calling his rhyme 'funny' and explaining that Dino was 'not meant for rapping' That's awkward! The rap battle segment ended with the trio awkwardly gathering together for a group hug Mel and Dino's appearance on the radio show comes after the couple's falling out during a dinner party on a recent episode of Married At First Sight. The bubbly brunette broke down when she revealed to other couples that her 'husband' had recorded her private phone call with her sister. 'I'm so done. I am so done. I am so sick of this!' the upset blonde said to Dino while sobbing uncontrollably. Fall out: Mel and Dino's appearance comes after the couple's falling out during a dinner party on a recent episode of Married At First Sight Tearing up in the emotional confrontation, the brunette yelled: 'Youre just creepy and youre recording me,' and later cried: 'I'm sick of you playing the victim!' Dino explained that he had intended to play the audio back at a later stage during a counselling session with the experts. The couple are expected to split over in Married At First Sight's upcoming commitment ceremony. Married At First Sight continues on Sunday at 7.00pm on Channel Nine Hollywood legend Glenn Close lost out to Olivia Colmans Queen Anne in Film4 jewel The Favourite for the best actress Oscar her seventh nomination without winning Hollywood legend Glenn Close lost out to Olivia Colmans Queen Anne in Film4 jewel The Favourite for the best actress Oscar her seventh nomination without winning. But the actress wont let the disappointment hold her back. I can reveal that production will begin in October on her next big project: the long-awaited film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard. Lloyd Webbers show was itself based on Billy Wilders seminal 1950 picture, which told the story of Norma Desmond, a delusional, faded silent era movie star, and her predatory behaviour towards an impoverished scriptwriter. Wilders film, set in Desmonds decrepit shadow-filled Gothic mansion, starred Gloria Swanson and William Holden, and is preserved as part of cinema history by the U.S. National Film Registry. Its happening at last! Close told me at a reception at the Armani boutique on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills. Paramount Pictures, the studio behind Wilders movie, have contracted British writer Tom MacRae, who wrote the book and lyrics for acclaimed show Everybodys Talking About Jamie, to write the script for the new film. MacRae has been told to make old Hollywood a big character in the picture, which Rob Ashford will direct and choreograph. It will be the second film using a score by Lloyd Webber to go before the cameras. Close, pictured played Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Weber's stage adaptation I can reveal that production will begin in October on her next big project: the long-awaited film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard Lloyd Webbers show was itself based on Billy Wilders seminal 1950 picture, which told the story of Norma Desmond, a delusional, faded silent era movie star, and her predatory behaviour towards an impoverished scriptwriter Director Tom Hooper is in the final weeks of shooting a movie of Cats for Working Title and Universal Pictures. Although Ms Close didnt take home the Oscar on Sunday, she has scored several wins throughout the awards season the last being her best actress award for The Wife at Film Independents Spirit Awards last Saturday. After the Academy Awards show, Close changed out of her 42lb gold beaded gown into a dress tailor-made for dancing at the after-parties where she proved that shes more than ready for her next close-up and perhaps her eighth Oscar nomination. She is always fashionable, no matter the occasion. And on Thursday, Kate Beckinsale did not disappoint as she put her stunning beauty on display at DuJour Media's Spring Issue Party in New York City. The 45-year-old star looked incredible in a cut-out black ruffled gown, revealing glimpses of her toned form. The magazine was celebrating it's Spring 2019 issue with Kate on the cover. Shining star: Kate Beckinsale looked incredible at the DuJour Media's Spring Issue party in New York City on Thursday The British-born beauty sent photographers into a frenzy when she hit the red carpet in a black-laced collar gown. The sleeveless number showed off her toned figure with its revealing design that showcased her arms, back and parts of her midriff. The design also put emphasis on her pert derriere with the open-back design. Black lace around the collar and the waist added to the flare of the piece. For the festive event, the actress pulled her brown tresses back into a stylish bun, but left some hair loose and had a part in the middle. Covergirl: The party celebrated Dujour's Spring 2019 issue with Kate on the cover Working it: The 45-year old stunned in a black-laced collar gown that showcased her arms, back and parts of her midriff with its revealing design Elegant: The Underworld actress pulled her brown tresses back into a stylish bun, but left some hair loose and had a part in the middle Media darling: Beckinsale had photographers in a frenzy Beckinsale has had a career out of playing vastly different characters during her time in front of the camera, both in her native London and Hollywood. But it's her portrayal as the tough catsuit-wearing Selene, in the Underworld franchise, that helped put her on the map in the US. She starred in four of the franchise's five feature films beginning in 2003, until 2017's Underworld: Blood Wars. And even with the 14-year gap between the first and the last movies, Beckinsale's figure looked flawless in that shiny black vinyl ensemble. Stunning: Kate added a slick of make-up which included a smokey eye, pink lipstick and sun-kissed bronzer Glowing: The Love & Friendship star flashed a big beaming smile in front of the cameras Wow: The design also put emphasis on her pert derriere with the open-back design Festive: The actress also posed with Jason Binn, the founder of DuJour Media In recent months, the actress put to rest any notion of seeing her slip into that edgy outfit one more time. 'I wouldnt return,' she confessed to Variety in an interview. 'Ive done plenty of those.' Beckinsale's lengthy acting resume also includes: Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Emma (1996), Serendipity (2001), Van Helsing (2004), Nothing But The Truth (2008), Contraband (2012), Total Recall (2012) and Love & Friendship (2016). She is currently working on the upcoming comedy film El Tonto, which co-stars Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Jullian Bell and Ray Liotta. Best pals: Kate was later spotted deep in conversation with her assistant Stephen Simbari Fun times: The actress appeared in good spirits as she posed up a storm at the event Details: Later in the evening, Kate layered her ensemble with a black coat with an oversized tortoise shell buckle detail and fluffy scarf Popular: The star was swarmed by fans outside the venue as she signed autographs She showcases her typically feminine look when she treads the red carpet and the hottest celebrity haunts. And Laura Whitmore, 33, looked the epitome of style in a semi-sheer black dress as she joined her pal Caroline Flack, 39, for a girly night out in London on Thursday. The duo headed to Pacha club to watch x-rated Cabaret show Lio and got a fit of the giggles as they witnessed some very raunchy dancers perform on stage. Chic: Laura Whitmore, 33, looked the epitome of style in a semi-sheer black dress as she joined her pal Caroline Flack for a girly night out in London on Thursday Laura put on a leggy display in the thigh-grazing midi-dress which featured a slit with scalloped hem. She added a boost to her height with black suede court shoes and styled her blonde locks in soft, tumbled curls. Accentuating her Irish beauty with a rosy palette of make-up, the television presenter looked preened to perfection as she posed inside the swanky nightclub. Stunning: Caroline looked equally as stylish in a leopard print maxi dress with sheer lace overlay on the waist Beauty: Laura put on a leggy display in the thigh-grazing midi-dress which featured a slit with scalloped hem Girls' night out: She added a boost to her height with black suede court shoes and styled her blonde locks in soft, tumbled curls (pictured with Portia Freeman) All partied out: Caroline looked a bit bleary-eyed as she left the Cabaret club Hometime: Laura donned a tailored black coat as she walked alongside a pal Late night: The television star looked worn out as she exited the club in the early hours Caroline looked equally as stylish in a leopard print maxi dress with sheer lace overlay on the waist. She complemented her dress with a tailored black blazer and pink sandals. The pair appeared to be having the time of their life as they watched the Cabaret show unfold. Caroline couldn't resist sharing some videos of the performers dancing erotically on stage while she waved notes around. Laura and Caroline have been friends for years, with the Irish presenter dating Love Island's narrator Iain Stirling. She's got the rhythm: Caroline couldn't resist showing off her impressive dance skills on Instagram Risque: The duo headed to the Pacha Group club to watch x-rated Cabaret show Lio X-rated: The pair got a fit of the giggles as they witnessed some very raunchy dancers perform on stage Partytime! Laura and Portia appeared to be having the time of their life as they watched the Cabaret show unfold Happy days: Caroline's love life has been on everybody's lips recently, with the latest report claiming she locked lips with a music mogul at a party Caroline's love life has been on everybody's lips recently, with the latest report claiming she locked lips with a music mogul at a party. A source told The Sun that the Caroline, who was rumoured to be taking her personal trainer Bradley Simmonds, was having a lot of fun during the night. The insider said: 'Caroline and the manager are old friends. They had been flirting all night and shared a cheeky kiss. She was having lots of fun.' In the candid interview, the Love Island host, who was recently linked to AJ Pritchard, 24, also admitted she will 'never apologise for dating younger men'. Lads: Joe Cole & Alfie Allen appeared in high spirits as they posed for a snap at the dinner table Having a blast: The whole group posed for a photo from L-R Toby Huntington Whiteley, Cicely Brown, Claire Dobner, Azim Majid, Caroline, Portia, Laura, Joe Cole and Nick Stea Cheeky! She flashed a hint of abs through the sheer panel She was one of the highlights of the runway after taking part in the fashion show with her sister Bella. But Gigi Hadid donned a far more understated ensemble as she attended the Off White Paris Fashion Week Party on Thursday. The supermodel, 23, donned a sleek brown trench coat and black turtleneck as she arrived for the bash following a triumphant performance on the runway. Casual: Gigi was oozing sophistication as she arrived for the Off Whit Paris Fashion Week bash on Thursday night, donning a sleek brown trench coat Still looking as stylish as ever, Gigi donned low-key grey trousers underneath the simple brown coat as she arrived for the fashion show, teamed with a simple black turtleneck. The daughter of Real Housewives star Yolanda Hadid sported dramatic orange eyeshadow for the event, with her blonde tresses styled into loose curls. Gigi's look was simple but sophisticated as she made a low-key entrance to the party, just hours after storming the runway in a sensational performance. The fashion favourite looked amazing in a dramatic black gown as she made her way down the catwalk. Low-key: The model, 23, donned the sleek cover-up with a black turtleneck and grey trousers, while her brunette were styled into loose curls Gigi has been ruling the runway alongside Bella as well as the likes of Irina Shayk, Kaia Gerber and Candice Swanepoel in Paris. It's been a tough time for the world of fashion, who paid their respects to designer Karl Lagerfeld following his death in Paris ten days ago. Gigi referenced the 85-year-old's 'genius mind' and 'indescribable presence' after his passing following a short illness Party time: Gigi made her way into the bash after delivering yet another triumphant performance in the Off White fashion show She wrote on Instagram: 'Karl, I will miss your indescribable presence, watching your calm, quiet genius mind working, your little jokes, amazing stories, and experience the clothes, sets, and productions only you could dream up.' 'Thank you for believing in me and for the beautiful, incredible opportunities you brought to my career, but mostly thank you for giving me the honor of knowing the magic behind the myth. 'There will never be another Karl Lagerfeld. I am overwhelmed with sadness today, but also with so much love, admiration and gratitude for you. 'To all his beloved friends and colleagues, and his favourite girl Choupette, my heart is with you. Rest in Peace King Karl. I didn't want this day to come.' Sheridan Smith is returning to the West End for the first time in three years, as the Narrator in a new version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice classic, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Sheridan Smith is returning to the West End for the first time in three years, as the Narrator in a new version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice classic, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I was nervous about going back into theatre in London, the award-winning actress told me, referring to the time she had to drop out of her run in Funny Girl, back in 2016. But her life has changed since that troubled period. She is engaged to boyfriend Jamie Horn, and they own a farm just outside London, where they keep donkeys, pigs and horses as well as several dogs. Its like Noahs Ark, she joked. Once upon a time, she recalled, she would fall out of the Groucho Club in Soho in the early hours. Now, when shes not filming or on stage: Im often in bed by eight. Most importantly, my sanity has returned, the actress said. Sheridan, 37, can remember her parents saving up so she could go on a school trip to see Phillip Schofield play Joseph at the Palladium. For me, its like the most nostalgic show, she says. Later, we did it at school. I wore a purple T-shirt. Its all coming back . . . I remember singing Go-Go-Go Joseph with the other children. Sheridan was attracted to the musical (which will start previews on June 27) for several reasons: one being that she has never played the London Palladium. Also, director Laurence Connor and producer Michael Harrison are going to expand the role of the Narrator, and introduce more comedic elements for her, while staying true the original version. But theres another factor, too. If you sign for a musical, youve got to do a year. But this is a summer season, for ten-and-a-half weeks, she explains. .She is engaged to boyfriend Jamie Horn, and they own a farm just outside London, where they keep donkeys, pigs and horses as well as several dogs. Its like Noahs Ark, she joked Sheridan, 37, can remember her parents saving up so she could go on a school trip to see Phillip Schofield play Joseph at the Palladium Plus, its lovely to be part of an ensemble its a nice way of going back into the West End where there wont be the pressure of me carrying a show. I cant believe that theres no talking just singing. And the songs are catchy! Everyone knows that because we all did Joseph when we were at school. Life on the farm has helped soothe her soul, she said. Me and my fella have turned into a bit of a grandma and grandad. We get up really early. We feed the donkeys, then go feed the pigs. Sometimes Ill take the horses out and go hacking. Its so different from what I used to get up to a couple of years ago, she adds, marvelling at her good fortune. Sometimes Im in bed by eight. Gone are the days of me falling out of the Groucho Club at three in the morning. I feel that its my little sanctuary, away from the madness. Having to care about things other than yourself is healing. Animals dont judge you. Sheridan said she and her fiance have been discussing the idea of starting a family something she would never have contemplated a couple of years ago. I just never pictured myself as a wife and mother, but Jamie is making me so happy that were able to have these conversations about our future. Well see what happens. Producer Michael Harrison said its a major coup to be bringing Smith back to the London stage I love being a farmers wife, though. And Jamie calls himself a farmers husband. Were not married yet, but were enjoying being engaged and marriage is the next step, Sheridan told me on the phone from Manchester, during a break from preparation for her role in TV drama The Barking Murders. The BBC series is about the serial killings carried out by Stephen Port, who was jailed for life last year. Sheridan will portray the mother of one of Ports four victims. She will be filming until the end of April, and then begin rehearsals for Joseph in May. Producer Michael Harrison said its a major coup to be bringing Smith back to the London stage. They co-starred in the CBS drama Stalker, before getting engaged in 2015. But Dylan McDermott. 57, and Maggie Q, 39, are 'going their separate ways', according to People on Thursday. The pair became engaged 'after seven weeks' of dating, according to the website. Happier times: Dylan McDermott. 57, and Maggie Q, 39, are 'going their separate ways', according to People on Thursday. The couple seen here in October 2018 The pair stated in interviews that they were never able to lock down a date for the wedding due to their busy schedules. So, yeah, [its] because of work,' the Designated Survivor actress told People. 'You gotta balance everything.' Work romance: The pair co-starred in the CBS drama Stalker [pictured], before getting engaged in 2015 The actor married actress Shiva Rose in 1995 and had two daughters, Colette, 22 and Charlotte, 12, but split in 2008. He met Maggie on the set of TV series Stalker in 2014 and they became engaged in January 2015. 'She took my breath away,' said McDermott after proposing, 'I knew immediately she's my soulmate.' Memories: 'She took my breath away,' said McDermott after proposing, 'I knew immediately she's my soulmate'. Seen here in October 2018 Sibling love: On Tuesday, McDermott took to Instagram to honor his little sister, Robin On Tuesday, McDermott took to Instagram to honor his little sister, Robin. He captioned a throwback photo of the hugging siblings, 'My little sister and I @robinlynne2039 struggled to make a life for ourselves. We rose from the ashes of poverty and violence and never gave up!' 'She is an incredible mother and a tower of strength. Im lucky to have her...' According to a 2007 Esquire profile on the actor, their mother died under mysterious circumstances in 1967, killed by a bullet from a gun owned by her 'heroin addict' boyfriend at the time. She is usually inseparable from her daughter, and clearly shares a strong bond with her little girl. And Farrah Abraham enjoyed even more quality time with her 10-year-old daughter Sophia over a mother-daughter lunch date in Los Angeles on Thursday. The reality star, 27, was seen outside of Le Pain Quotidien in West Hollywood with her little girl by her side. Let's do lunch! Farrah Abraham enjoyed even more quality time with her daughter Sophia over a mother-daughter lunch date in Los Angeles on Thursday Farrah strolled alongside her daughter wearing a stylish all-black look. The former Teen Mom 2 star wore black knee-high boots, a plunging blouse, and a puffy winter coat with a backpack slung across her body. She wore her honey hued tresses down sleek and straight, with a healthy coat of makeup upon her complexion. Sophia really was her mother's shadow that day. Winter style: The star wore black knee-high boots, a plunging blouse, and a puffy winter coat with a backpack slung across her body Farrah took to Instagram to share a snap from her dentist appointment, thanking her doctor for the teeth cleaning. Sophia sat on her mother's lap as the reality star flashed a bright smile. The youngster enjoyed a glamorous day out with her mother earlier this week too. Smile! Abraham flashed a bright smile after getting a teeth cleaning on Thursday Clad in coordinating yellow ball gowns, the ladies attended the fourth annual Roger Neal Oscar Viewing Dinner Icon Awards and after-party together in Hollywood. 'Absolutely love this ... we need more fashion days like this!' Farrah raved on Instagram as she posted a photo from the red carpet. Farrah shot to stardom after appearing on Teen Mom 2 back in 2011, but fans can currently catch her on the reality show Ex On The Beach. She fuelled speculation of a reconciliation with husband Sam Burgess by cheering him on during a recent NRL game. And it seems Phoebe Burgess is in a much happier place after her shock split with Sam back in December. The 29-year-old rugby WAG took to Instagram on Friday to share photos of herself beaming as she cradled her 12-week-old son Billy. All smiles: Phoebe Burgess smiled while cradling her 12-week-old son Billy on Friday In another photo, the mother-of-two hid her post-baby body beneath a glamorous floral maxi dress, which she paired with black sandals. Also in the frame was her baby bag, a stylish straw tote with leather straps with a green dinosaur toy sitting on top. It's unclear whether the blonde beauty was back at her family's home in Bowral or in her martial home in Maroubra. She's got style: In another photo, the mother-of-two hid her post-baby body beneath a glamorous floral maxi dress, which she paired with black sandals. This comes after she publicly supported her husband Sam Burgess by attending the South Sydney Rabbitohs star's game against the Penrith Panthers at Redfern Oval. 'Return to Redfern,' she captioned an Instagram photo taken from the stands at the annual rugby league match. The photo showed players on the field during the match and a rainbow backdrop. Back in her happy place: Her happy demeanour in the pictures come after rumours she recently reconciled with her estranged husband Sam after shock split back in December The couple split last year after Sam was embroiled in a highly publicised 'sexting' scandal. Sam moved out just before Christmas, leaving Phoebe at the home with their two-year-old daughter Poppy and Billy. The pair met at a music concert in January 2014 and married in December 2015 in Bowral. She's known for playing tough prison inmate Bea Smith on the Australian TV drama Wentworth. And on Friday, Danielle Cormack, 48, looked remarkably different from her famous character. The Kiwi actress attended the International Women's Day Long Table Luncheon at Sydney's Hyatt Regency, showing off her new light pink hair and flaunting her flawless and tight visage. My, how you've changed! Danielle Cormack looked remarkably different to her Wentworth character Bea Smith (left) as she stepped out in Sydney on Friday (right) Danielle looked incredibly stylish on the day, wearing a cream button-up blouse with a chic brown plunging dress over the top. She finished the look with cream socks and tartan heels, giving her outfit an edge. Danielle was made up with natural-looking makeup, including dewy foundation and a soft pink lip. She had her pale pink locks pushed back off her face and straightened. Suits you! Danielle looked incredibly stylish on the day, wearing a cream button-up blouse with a chic brown plunging dress over the top Fancy seeing you here! She joined the likes of Married At First Sight stars Cameron Merchant and Jules Robinson (pictured) at the event Stylish! She finished the look with cream socks and tartan heels, giving her outfit an edge Danielle - who has starred in shows including Underbelly: Razor and the soap, Shortland Street - appeared in high spirits on the day. She joined the likes of Married At First Sight stars Cameron Merchant and Jules Robinson at the event. Danielle's Wentworth character Bea was killed off in season four of the show. Last year, Foxtel officially renewed the prison drama amid speculation it would end after season seven. The network delighted fans by announcing 20 new episodes have been green lit for the show. The show also stars Aaron Jeffrey, Nicole da Silva and classic Australian actors, Catherine McClements and Sigrid Thornton. There's new developments in the casting process for the upcoming 25th James Bond film, Bond 25, as Rami Malek is expected to be in the film, while Lupita Nyong'o is not. Reps for the 36-year-old actress told Deadline on Thursday that it's unlikely Nyong'o will be able to come to a deal to be in the film, while Malek is getting closer to sign. According to a previous report from the outlet, producers had hoped to ink the Academy Award-winning 12 Years A Slave star into one of the key female roles they are looking to cast; the roles are of an MI6 agent and a villain, Variety reported Wednesday. The latest: There's new developments in the casting process for the upcoming 25th James Bond film, Bond 25, as Rami Malek, 37, is expected to be in the film, while Lupita Nyong'o, 36, is not While the Kenyan-Mexican beauty is out, it appears as if Malek is in line to be the next Bond villain. The 37-year-old actor, who triumphed at Sunday's Oscars, would play the chief antagonist of Daniel Craig's titular character. Producers have been determined to sign up Malek for months, sources told the outlet, with the main obstacle being his availability to shoot the film this spring concurrent with his work on Mr. Robot's last season, which he's slated to shoot. Producers have been looking into whether they can tailor a schedule to the actor's availability so he can film both, insiders told the outlet. Malek's career is at a fever pitch in the wake of his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the film Bohemian Rhapsody, which landed him the Best Actor Oscar. Beaming: Lupita was a vision in a feathered white gown she wore to the Oscars afterparty A-lister: The Black Panther actress was the focal point of hundreds of photographers on Oscar night Stylish: Reps for the Oscar-winning actress said that she was not likely to be in the movie, as producers had looked at her for one of the key roles The gold statue marked the end of a fruitful award season for Malek, who also captured a BAFTA Film Award, a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as the Queen frontman. Also linked to the milestone motion picture is actor Billy Magnussen, who sources told the outlet looks to be the favorite to play a CIA operative. Magnussen has previously worked with the film's writer-director Cary Joji Fukunaga on Netflix's Maniac. Milestone: Daniel Craig will reprise the role of James Bond for the upcoming movie Insiders told Variety that a recent draft of the film Fukunaga submit earlier this year was agreeable with Craig and producers. The cast of the film currently features Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, and Ben Whishaw as Q. Bond 25 is tentatively slated to hit theaters April 8, 2020. Taite Radley is one of Australia's most ripped reality television stars. But the Melbourne bank manager, 28, revealed that hasn't always been the case, sharing a rare throwback photograph on Thursday evening. In the picture posted to his Instagram Story, Taite looked completely unrecognisable before he shredded all his body fat and got ripped at gym. A whole new man! The Bachelorette's Taite Radley revealed his jaw-dropping transformation in an Instagram photo on Thursday night. He is pictured on the left, eight years ago, and right, after training to compete as a professional bodybuilder It is believed the 'before' photograph was taken around eight years ago, before Taite started competing in events across Australia as a professional bodybuilder. After initially shredding his body, the hunk then decided to purposely gain weight to increase his muscle mass in 2014, eventually tipping the scales at 115kg. In one unearthed social media post from then, Taite explained he consumed tens of thousands of calories every single day to reach his goals. Who knew! Prior to finding fame in 2018, Taite spent years competing as a professional body builder in several events across Australia after discovering he had a passion for fitness Since then, he has relaxed his training somewhat while enjoying a more balanced life with girlfriend, Ali Oetjen. The pair met while filming The Bachelorette in September last year and have been going strong ever since. Most recently, the happy couple announced that Ali had moved in with Taite in his apartment in Melbourne. New priorities! Since then, Taite has relaxed his training somewhat while enjoying a more balanced life with girlfriend Ali Oetjen after they met on The Bachelorette last year 'SHE said yes,' teased Taite in an Instagram post announcing their big step. 'Ali has moved to Melbourne. Living together sharing cupboard space and dreams.' In her own gushing post, Ali added: 'I feel like "home" in your arms and it won't change.' Vanessa Sunshine is best known for failing to find love with Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins on the 2018 season of The Bachelor. But on Thursday, the 28-year-old, who is of a mixed Asian and European ethnic background, shocked fans by revealing she has 'experienced racism firsthand' in a social media rant. 'In terms of racial slurs, I know first-hand how much that hurts, how upsetting and how confusing that can be,' she said in a lengthy video clip posted to Instagram. Scroll down for video Confession: Asian-Australian Bachelor star Vanessa Sunshine has revealed she's been the victim of racism in a social media video. Pictured in the video (left) and on The Bachelor (right) In an impassioned speech, the Victorian legal secretary laid bare her disgust for bigotry. 'Racism is something you learn, you're taught, you're not born a racist. It's a habit you've picked up and it's a really really disgusting habit,' she said to camera. In captioning the post, the reality star added that 'no human race is superior. No religious faith is inferior.' 'Racism is something you learn, you're taught, you're not born a racist!' In an impassioned speech, the beauty, 28 laid bare her disgust form bigotry. Pictured in the Instagram clip She added: 'I personally think racism is the absolute lowest of low acts; it is ugly, it is cruel and it is wrong. Racism is never justifiable. Never.' Once labelled as the 'token villain' of the Bachelor, the raven-haired stunner earned an army of supporters for her brutal honesty and withering put-downs. And Vanessa famously didn't hold back when she told former Wallabies star Nick, 31 he needed a makeover after she met him for the first time. Outspoken: Once labelled as the 'token villain' of the Bachelor, the raven-haired stunner earned supporters for her brutal honesty. Vanessa famously told former NRL star Nick Cummins, 31 (left) he needed a makeover. Nick and Vanessa are pictured on The Bachelor 'I'm like, 'Who's this dude?' Blond, curly mullet with this, like, curling moustache,' she said to a stunned Nick. Rumoured to be starring on the new season of Bachelor in Paradise after being spotted flying out to the show's Fiji location in November, Vanessa has even voiced her desire to become the next Bachelorette. 'Look, I am open to any opportunities that come my way,' she told E! News in August. She added: 'It's probably something people haven't seen before. I think I would be good. I'm pretty cutthroat and honest.' Miley Cyrus gave her husband Liam Hemsworth a big bear hug on the fuchsia carpet of the Women's Cancer Research Fund's An Unforgettable Evening Benefit Gala in Beverly Hills on Thursday. The suited-up newlyweds - who split in 2010 and 2013 - tied the knot December 23 at their $5.9M 33-acre, five-bedroom Franklin, TN farmhouse. The 26-year-old pop star certainly had the look of love as she embraced the Australian 29-year-old, who beamed right back at her. Squeeze! Miley Cyrus gave her husband Liam Hemsworth a big bear hug at the Women's Cancer Research Fund's An Unforgettable Evening Benefit Gala in Beverly Hills on Thursday PDA: The suited-up newlyweds - who split in 2010 and 2013 - tied the knot December 23 at their $5.9M 33-acre, five-bedroom Franklin, TN farmhouse The 'survival partners' have had quite a dramatic year together with a wedding a month after their $2.5M Malibu compound burned down in the Woolsey Fire. Cyrus and Hemsworth first fell in love in 2009 while co-starring as rebellious teen Ronnie Miller and volleyball player Will Blakelee in The Last Song adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel. Miley (born Destiny) looked sophisticated in a black double-breasted pantsuit featuring pastel pink lapels and black pumps selected by stylist Simone Harouche. Make-up artist James Kaliardos brought out the Grammy and Golden Globe nominee's baby blues with lots of mascara. Honeymooners: The 26-year-old pop star certainly had the look of love as she embraced the Australian 29-year-old, who beamed right back at her Holding hands: The 'survival partners' have had quite a dramatic year together with a wedding a month after their $2.5M Malibu compound burned down in the Woolsey Fire Still going strong! Cyrus and Hemsworth first fell in love in 2009 while co-starring in The Last Song adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel And hairstylist Aleksey Bishop coiffed the goddaughter of Dolly Parton's waist-length flaxen locks for the breast cancer benefit. Liam dressed his strapping 6ft3in form in a dapper black suit and necktie with a silver pocket square. Once inside the Beverly Wilshire gala, the showbiz couple posed with one of the Women's Cancer Research Fund founders, Mamma Mia! producer Rita Wilson. Strike a pose! Miley (born Destiny) looked sophisticated in a black double-breasted pantsuit featuring pastel pink lapels and black pumps selected by stylist Simone Harouche Wide awake: Make-up artist James Kaliardos brought out the Grammy and Golden Globe nominee's baby blues with lots of mascara In the spotlight: Hairstylist Aleksey Bishop coiffed the goddaughter of Dolly Parton's waist-length flaxen locks for the breast cancer benefit GQ smooth! Liam dressed his strapping 6ft3in form in a dapper black suit and necktie with a silver pocket square Hey girl! Once inside the Beverly Wilshire gala, the showbiz couple posed with one of the Women's Cancer Research Fund founders, Mamma Mia! producer Rita Wilson (R) Earlier that same day, Cyrus - who boasts 183.6M social media followers - reunited with her band for rehearsal and Insta-storied that it felt 'f***ing good!' Miley also posted b&w footage of herself rocking a bikini in a recording studio. The video was technically shot back on January 25 at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan by famed German lensman, Ellen von Unwerth. 'It feels 'f***ing good!' Earlier that same day, Cyrus reunited with her band for rehearsal Thursday also marked the 11th season premiere of VH1 competition RuPaul's Drag Race in which the 'gender-fluid' LGBTQAI advocate debuted her drag king persona 'BJ' as guest judge. The Nothing Breaks Like a Heart hitmaker is already beloved in the gay community for founding the non-profit Happy Hippie Foundation in 2014, which has served nearly 1,500 homeless youth in Los Angeles. Fans can next catch Cyrus' guest stint in the six-episode fifth season of British sci-fi anthology Black Mirror streaming soon on Netflix. Guest judge: Thursday also marked the 11th season premiere of VH1 competition RuPaul's Drag Race in which the 'gender-fluid' LGBTQAI advocate debuted her drag king persona 'BJ' 'I play one character': Fans can next catch Cyrus' guest stint in the six-episode fifth season of British sci-fi anthology Black Mirror streaming soon on Netflix 'I play one character, but I play a lot of different sides of that character and theres a lot of dimension to it,' Miley revealed on The Howard Stern Show on December 12. 'It was the first time I've left somewhere feeling really proud of my work...but you know if I like it that might mean it's horrible.' And starting Thursday, UK audiences can finally catch the Hunger Games alum as Blake in Rebel Wilson's dismally-reviewed concussion rom-com satire Isn't It Romantic. Former Married At First Sight star Davina Rankin has made sensational claims that the show's relationship experts are only there to make the social experiment look 'legitimate'. The 27-year-old Instagram model said that John Aiken, Dr Trisha Stratford and Melanie Schilling never spoke to the participants off-camera when she appeared on the show last year. She also alleged that producers tell the trio of experts what to say through earpieces at the commitment ceremonies - a claim that her co-star Dean Wells also made last month. Sensational claims: Former Married At First Sight star Davina Rankin has claimed the show's experts are only there to make the experiment look 'legitimate' and never speak to the participants off-camera Davina told The Daily Telegraph, 'We never spoke to them one-on-one off camera,' she said, adding, 'we didn't have anything to do with them ever.' Rankin claimed that at the commitment ceremonies, the experts are 'guided' by producers to elicit the 'right answers' out of participants. 'Even when you speak to them at the commitment ceremonies they're not actually talking to you, they're talking through the earpiece with the producers,' she said. Hmm: The 27-year-old model said of John Aiken, Dr Trisha Stratford and Melanie Schilling: 'We never spoke to them one-on-one off camera. We didn't have anything to do with them ever' 'So they're not actually giving you advice, they're getting guided as to what to ask or to tell us so they can get the right answers out in front of the cameras.' Rankin also claimed that she needed therapy after the show, so producers put her in touch with someone whose advice was to get antidepressants from her GP. A spokesperson for Endemol Shine Australia, the production company for Married At First Sight, responded: 'The wellbeing of our participants is always our first priority, so medical support is naturally provided when required and psychological support is fully available to all participants at any time throughout production, broadcast and beyond through an off-screen psychologist dedicated to the show.' Davina's one-time love interest Dean Wells also accused the program's 'relationship experts' of being fed lines by producers. Is it true? She also alleged that producers tell the trio what to say through earpieces at the commitment ceremonies 'There's a lot more about this show that no one knows about,' Dean claimed in a Youtube video. 'For example, there's a scene where you sit down on this couch and talk to these so-called experts,' he added, referring to the show's commitment ceremonies. 'These experts are supposed to give you information and guide you through stuff and whatnot. But when you actually sit down and talk to them, you ask them a question, they don't answer you straight away.' He continued: 'They stop, pause and go to their little headset, wait for the producers to tell them what to say, and then they talk to you. Not impressed: Davina's one-time love interest Dean Wells also accused the program's 'relationship experts' of being fed lines by producers, claiming 'it's all coming from a headset' 'It's not actually really talking to you. It's all coming from a headset. They just sit there and get told what to say by the producers.' Married At First Sight's dating gurus have come under fire in the past. Last year, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that they were billed as 'relationship experts' for the first time, after being described as 'psychologists' in past seasons. Emails leaked to Daily Mail Australia in February 2018 revealed that the decision to change their official titles was the result of a complaint made against John Aiken. They're two of Hollywood everlasting A-listers. Sean Penn and Demi Moore were snapped chatting Thursday at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, attending the Women's Cancer Research Fund event called An Unforgettable Evening. Penn, 58, was clad in a black suit with a white button-down shirt with the sides of his head shaved with a brown goatee. Starry night: Sean Penn, 58, and Demi Moore, 56, were snapped chatting Thursday at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California Moore, 56, looked elegant in a long-sleeved black gown with her long dark locks down and parted. The Ghost actress accessorized with a bejeweled red clutch, black frame glasses and dangling earrings. The stars previously worked together 30 years ago, on the 1989 comedy We're No Angels with Robert De Niro. The event on Thursday was chaired by two enduring show business power couples, in Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks and Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, with Miley Cyrus set to perform for the well-heeled crowd. The organization said the swanky event is meant to bring 'together the Hollywood community with leaders in the field of cancer research, united by WCRF's mission to support innovative research directed to the early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of women's cancers.' Elegant: Moore, 56, donned a long-sleeved black gown with her long dark locks down and parted Way back when: Moore previously worked with Penn 30 years ago, on the 1989 comedy We're No Angels with Robert De Niro Matching: Demi posed with Kate Hudson, who was to receive The Courage Award Thursday Two prominent Hollywood actresses were slated to be honored at the event, as Kate Hudson was to receive The Courage Award, while Gabrielle Union was getting The Unsung Hero Award. Stars who have past been honored by the charitable organization for their efforts toward funding and spreading awareness in the fight against breast cancer include Jennifer Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Courteney Cox. The benefit drew a number of celebrities, including Sharon Stone, Ken Jeong, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey and Paris Hilton. Glimmering: The Ghost actress accessorized with a bejeweled red clutch, black frame glasses and dangling earrings Pals: Demi posed between cinematographer Patrick Hilgart and florist Eric Buterbaugh She's a red carpet fixture at events all over the world. And Paris Hilton brought her star power again on Thursday, when the 38-year-old heiress hit the red carpet at An Unforgettable Evening, hosted by The Women's Cancer Research Fund in Los Angeles. The heiress wore an all black ensemble for her charitable cameo. Lighting up the carpet: Paris Hilton brought her star power again on Thursday, when the 38-year-old heiress hit the red carpet at An Unforgettable Evening, hosted by The Women's Cancer Research Fund in Los Angeles Paris slipped her svelte form into a black dress that boasted a high collar and ruffled hem. The chic garment was adorned with rows of pearls. Paris continued the all black theme with dark black pumps, while her shapely legs were clad in tan stockings. The House Of Wax actress wore her wavy blonde tresses loose and cascading down her shoulders. Dressed to impress: Paris slipped her svelte form into a black dress that boasted a high collar and ruffled hem Good heir day: The heiress wore her wavy blonde tresses loose and cascading down her shoulders Legs for days: Paris continued the all black theme with dark black pumps, while her shapely legs were clad in tan stockings This year's gala brought out some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, as they showed their support for the research of women's cancers. The event features honorary chairs Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Kate Capshaw. Newlyweds Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth enjoyed a date night out, and even matched for the occasion. While Liam sharpened up in a dark suit, his wife sported a similar look with a few feminine touches. She's one of the world's top models. And while her peers dream of designing their own fashion lines, Karolina Kurkova had something much more down to earth in mind. On Thursday the Czech beauty, 35, was the star attraction at a launch event for her custom collection of baby strollers. Designs: Karolina Kurkova couldn't contain her excitement as she celebrated the launch of her new line of baby strollers at a special event in New York on Thursday Kurkova partnered with German brand Cybex which was founded by Martin Pos and produces car seats, baby strollers and carriers. The former Victoria's Secret Angel and Vogue cover star is married to actor and producer Archie Drury and they have two sons - Tobin, nine, and Noah, three. Drury and the boys attended the launch event to support the model. Also supporting her were Australian models Nicole Triunfo and twins Jordan and Zac Stenmark as well as designer Rachel Roy. Leggy look: The Czech supermodel, 35, showed off her style credentials in a blue suit and silver heels Parent: The former Victoria's Secret Angel juggles her career with being a mom. She posed for photos with her youngest son Noah, three Personal experience: Being a mom inspired her desire to design baby accessories and she partnered with German brand Cybex for the collection Family: Kurkova was also supported at the event by her husband Archie Drury and their eldest son Tobin, nine Good genes: Among the celebrity guests were Australian model twins Jordan and Zac Stenmark In an interview posted to the Cybex website, Kurkova talks about her new baby buggy design. 'When it comes to a stroller, you need something simple, but with personality; something safe, but stylish,' she explained. 'The collection is fun and about love and happiness,' Kurkova added. 'I liked it, not just coming up with something black, white or blue. I like the color and fun of the pattern, and the big kissing mouth.' 'Sustainability has become very important to me....... So, we included recycled plastic in the collection and I am super excited that we were able to create a stroller cover using 31 plastic bottle,' she said. Collaborators: Kurkova changed into a stylish striped dress with black corset on top and posed for pics with Cybex founder Martin Pos Visionary: 'When it comes to a stroller, you need something simple, but with personality; something safe, but stylish,' she explained in an interview on the Cybex website Going green: 'We included recycled plastic in the collection and I am super excited that we were able to create a stroller cover using 31 plastic bottle,' she said On the guest list: Australian model Nicole Triunfo showed up in a black strapless crop top decorated with ostrich feathers and matching trousers Famous friends: She also posed with designer Rachel Roy Movers and shakers: Laura Kim and Victoria Lee came out to help celebrate, left, as did Sylvana Ward Durrett, right The week didn't start great for Glenn Close, but things are getting better. The Wife actress - who missed out on an Academy Award she was heavily favored to win on Sunday in a shocking loss to The Favourite's Olivia Colman - will star in an adaptation of Sunset Boulevard. The 71-year-old actress will star in the Paramount project, which is based on the musical originally based on the 1950 motion picture that starred William Holden and Gloria Swanson. The latest: Glenn Close, 71, will star in an adaptation of Sunset Boulevard. The actress was snapped Sunday at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party Tony Award-winning stage director and Rob Ashford will be the director in what will be his feature film debut, according to The Hollywood Reporter, while composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is on as a producer. In the motion picture, Close will play the Swanson role of Norma Desmond, a silent screen film star, in a relationship with a screenwriter. Close has extensive experience playing the role, as she won a Tony Award after performing as Desmond in the Broadway production in 1994. She most recently played the role three years ago in a production in both London and New York. Update: The film will be based on the musical originally based on the 1950 motion picture that starred William Holden and Gloria Swanson On board: Broadway ace Rob Ashford is on to direct, while famed composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is a producer on the motion picture Producers are looking to commence with production on the film this autumn, according to the outlet. Close told Deadline in December that the wheels were in motion on the project, saying, 'I dont know if I even should be talking about it. But I think we have a great team forming, and I have my fingers crossed ... its just a delicious feast of a story.' She said that the recent revival 'was quite different and it opened up a lot of peoples eyes,' adding, 'The story is just brilliant.' Close said of Norma Desmond: 'Shes one of the great characters ever written. If I have the privilege of doing that on film, that would be thrilling to me. Im fascinated by the challenge of putting something on film that originated on the stage. Its a tricky proposition.' Close has been nominated for seven Academy Awards - including one for her role of jilted mistress Alex Forrest in 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction - but has yet to come away with a statuette. Swanson was nominated at the 1951 Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role for playing Desmond, but did not win. The MAFS star was recently accused of faking his trip to Bali by fans. But on Thursday, Bronson Norrish was spotted on the tropical island enjoying a romantic holiday with his pole dancer girlfriend Melissa Dobson. The loved-up pair looked completely smitten with each other as they put on a cosy display over a dinner date. That's love! MAFS' Bronson Norrish (left) enjoyed a date night with his pole dancer girlfriend Melissa Dobson (right) during their romantic Bali escape on Thursday The couple were dressed casually for their low-key outing, as they sat outdoors on wicker cane chairs. At one point, Bronson fed his ladylove with a spoon, with the blonde soon returning the favour as the continued their meal. On the table there were also wine glasses in view. Holiday romance! MAFS' Bronson Norrish spoon fed his pole dancer girlfriend Melissa Dobson while they enjoyed a meal together in Bali on Thursday It's official: The couple appeared to be relaxed and happy while they enjoyed their meal together On Thursday, Bronson and his new flame opened up about their romance for the first time. During an exclusive chat with Daily Mail Australia on Thursday, Perth-based pole dance instructor Melissa revealed the pair actually met 17 years ago. 'I was his high school crush,' said Melissa, while revealing Bronson tracked her down last year after his TV 'marriage' to Ines Basic ended in October. After Bronson unexpectedly reached out to her, Melissa joked: 'I had no idea who he was, and I had to ask him, "Who are you? Sorry I don't remember [laughs]."' 'It was 17 years since we last seen each other. We caught up and had a connection straight away and spoke about the old days. 'I was his high school crush 17 years ago': Married At First Sight's Bronson Norrish and his new girlfriend Melissa Dobson shared candid details about their romance for the first time in an interview with Daily Mail Australia on Thursday 'Every time we caught up, there was more and more we learnt about each other that we had in common. From there he swept me off my feet.' Melissa, who is also a passionate charity worker in Western Australia and animal rescue advocate, added: 'It's all about timing and he really is an amazing guy.' The beauty concluded: 'I feel like I'm the most luckiest girl in the world.' Sharing his thoughts on their relationship, as they currently enjoy a romantic trip to Bali together, Bronson added: 'I am extremely happy.' Due to contractual restrictions attached to his appearance on Married At First Sight, Bronson said he is unable to say anything more. The Victoria's Secret model suffered a dramatic wardrobe malfunction at Sunday night's 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. But on Friday, Shanina Shaik looked effortlessly chic as she walked the red carpet for the 'La Nuit' by Sofitel Party at Pavillon Cambon in Paris. The Australian stunner, 28, oozed sex appeal in a black satin mini-dress that had long-sleeves and a ruched-detail. Thigh's the limit! Victoria's Secret model Shanina Shaik (PICTURED) flaunted her trim pins and svelte waistline in a black micro-mini dress as she attended the 'La Nuit' Sofitel party in Paris on Thursday The brunette beauty flaunted her svelte frame and endless pins in the thigh-skimming ensemble. Shanina accessorised with a red belt with a gold buckle and a matching handbag. She finished off her look with a pair of black ankle strap stilettos. Letting her natural beauty shine, Shanina opted for a soft makeup palette, adding a bronzed eyeshadow and nude lipstick to her perfect pout. Glam! The brunette stunner accessorised with a red belt with a gold buckle and a matching handbag She left her long wavy tresses to cascade past her shoulders. Earlier on the week, Shanina nailed her look at the annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards viewing party in Los Angeles. The model looked the picture of Hollywood glamour in a floor-length black velvet Galia Lahav gown, complete with a thigh-high split and glittering red detail. Va-va voom! Shanina flaunted her figure in a daring split gown at Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscars viewing party earlier in the week The dazzling frock featured long-sleeves and a low neckline, which highlighted her decolletage. It comes after Shanina Shaik was let down by her corseted gown on Sunday as she suffered a dramatic wardrobe malfunction. While the stunner looked exquisite in the dazzling gown, she wound up baring too much with a flash of her bare chest on the red carpet in the gaping design. She doesn't shy away from bright colours or quirky ensembles. And Zendaya was impossible to miss when she burst onto the stylish scene where she joined forces with the models during Paris Fashion Week on Friday. The actress, 22, looked striking on arrival in a bright orange checkered coat matched with a coordinating skirt and trousers. The Greatest (Showman) outfit: Zendaya was a vision in a vivid orange blazer matched with a coordinating skirt and trousers during Paris Fashion Week on Friday Little slits in her trousers cut up to the ankles flashed a glimpse of The Greatest Showman star's pointed white heels embossed with glittering rhinestones. The Spider-Man: Homecoming actress oozed confidence as she clashed her checkered orange jacket and trouser-skirt combo with a navy silk blouse. An extravagant velvet black bow was fastened around her neck in the style of a neckerchief to bring a feminine quality to her look. Out-there in orange: The Spider-Man: Homecoming actress oozed confidence as she clashed her checkered orange jacket and trouser-skirt combo with a navy silk blouse A procession of models, from the Hadid sisters to Cindy Crawford's daughter Kaia Gerber, have descended on the city of love for the fashionable affair. Recently, it was announced that the actress is in talks to play Chani, the love interest for Timothee Chalamet's character Paul Atreides in Dune. The film is based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel of the same name, which was adapted into a feature film in 1984, starring Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides and Sean Young as Chani. She's bow-tiful: An extravagant velvet black bow was fastened around her neck in the style of a neckerchief to bring a feminine quality to her look The story is set in a distant future, following the Atreides family, which Chalamet's Paul is poised to take over. When the family is sent to take over the desert planet known as Arrakis, known for its valuable spice commodity, they face growing resistance from the planet's noble families. The original novel by Frank Herbert is considered to be the best-selling sci-fi novel of all time, winning the Hugo and Nebula awards when it was published in 1965. Zendaya joins a cast that also includes Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac as Paul Atreides' parents, Lady Jessica and Leto. Strutting stuff: Little slits in her trousers cut up to the ankles flashed a glimpse of The Greatest Showman star's pointed white heels embossed with glittering rhinestones The cast also includes Stellan Skarsgard as the primary villain, Baron Harkonnen and Dave Bautista as his dangerous nephew, Glossu 'Beast' Rabban. Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) is directing from a script he co-wrote with Eric Roth (A Star Is Born) and Jon Spaihts (Passengers). Production is slated to begin sometime in 2019, with author Frank Herbert's son Brian and his daughter Kim serving as producers. Elsewhere, Zendaya recently revealed she struggles to stay off social media if she has her phone on her person. One to watch: The actress was a vision in orange when she burst onto the stylish scene where she joined forces with the models Big break: Recently, it was announced that the actress is in talks to play Chani, the love interest for Timothee Chalamet's character Paul Atreides in Dune The Instagram sensation, with 54,300,000 followers, told Bustle: 'I just don't even bring my phone so I can stay in my work zone and not worry about it at all. 'I can definitely say I use social media on a daily basis, but I definitely think its important to enjoy it but also enjoy real life too. 'Be able to know when you can take a break or should take a break and be comfortable with yourself when your phone isnt involved in the equation. So its all about a balance.' On the scene: A procession of models, from the Hadid sisters to Cindy Crawford's daughter Kaia Gerber, have descended on the city of love for the fashionable affair Blac Chyna is reportedly set to attend court over allegations of cyberbullying by her ex-boyfriend Pilot Jones. The model, 30, and her ex-fiance Rob Kardashian have been accused of ruining Pilot Jones', real name Justin C. Jones, life after they 'leaked' his private phone number online. According to documents obtained by The Blast, Jones, a Louisiana-born entertainer, informed a court on February 27 that his former lover has been handed legal papers by a process server. Court: Blac Chyna is reportedly set to attend court over allegations of cyberbullying by her ex-boyfriend Pilot Jones Jones claimed that the server located Chyna at her Woodland Hills home and she has now been 'served', meaning she will have to respond to the allegations in court. In the lawsuit, Jones accused the former couple of publicly exposing him as bisexual and releasing his private phone number in retaliation to a leaked picture of him making out with Chyna. Jones, who denied leaking the picture, went on to claim that he began to receive threatening messages after they released information about him online. 'Cyberbullying': The model, 30, and her ex-fiance Rob Kardashian have been accused of ruining Pilot Jones', real name Justin C. Jones, life after they 'leaked' his private phone number online (Pilot Jones pictured in 2017) Former flames: According to documents obtained by The Blast , Jones, a Louisiana-born entertainer, informed a court on February 27 that his former lover has been handed legal papers by a process server (Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna pictured in 2016) He went on to accuse the former couple of 'ruining his life' and even attempted suicide after the incident. It is believed Chyna and Kardashian are yet to file an official answer to the allegations made against them in the lawsuit. MailOnline has contacted both their representatives for comment. In the past, Jones previously told US Weekly that he and Chyna had grown 'really close' romantically 'around the end of 2015'. 'Served': Jones claimed that the server located Chyna at her Woodland Hills home and she has now been 'served', meaning she will have to respond to the allegations in court (Pilot Jones pictured in 2017) He went on to claim that his issues with the model and Kardashian occurred in October of 2016. It was then when a shot of him kissing Chyna, whose real name is Angela Renee White, circulated online, according to TMZ. Chyna announced she was engaged to Kardashian in April 2016 after whirlwind three months as she flashed a huge $325k diamond ring online. The former couple welcomed a daughter seven months later called Dream Renee, who is now two, yet just weeks after her birth they split. Georgia Love and Lee Elliott fell in love on the 2016 season of The Bachelorette. And now the couple have revealed that they were almost spotted at a Melbourne bar together, before the highly-anticipated finale aired. Speaking on the Seize the Yay podcast on Friday, Georgia said a drunken Lee almost gave away TV's biggest secret early. Almost ruined! Georgia Love, 30, revealed the moment Lee Elliott (both pictured) almost blew the finale of the 2016 season of The Bachelorette, while speaking on a podcast on Friday. Pictured in Melbourne in 2017 With The Bachelorette filmed six months ahead of the air date, Georgia, 30, explained how the pair had to ensure they were never spotted together. 'We had to talk to each other about what we were doing so we wouldn't run into each other - because we weren't allowed to be seen together,' she said. Georgia revealed that on a night out with friends, a drunk Lee had planned on surprising his new girlfriend. Pact: 'We had to talk to each other about what we were doing so we wouldn't run into each other': Georgia revealed the lengths the couple went to in order to keep their romance a secret. Pictured on set 'He got so drunk with his friends, in his drunken mind he thought, "You know what would be a cute thing to do",' she added. Lee, 37, turned up to see Georgia, who then had a number of her friends immediately come up to tell her 'Lee from the show is here'. 'So, I had to run from the venue without being seen with him,' she said, adding the sighting could have ruined the show for devoted fans. Georgia admitted that it actually threw her friends off, as they thought Lee's 'coincidental appearance' meant he wasn't the eventual winner. 'He got so drunk with his friends, in his drunken mind he thought, 'You know what would be a cute thing to do'': Lee turned up to a club where Georgia was, prior to the finale of the show airing 'All of my friends were putting all their money on Lee [to lose],' she said. Since the show's finale, Georgia and Lee's romance has gone from strength to strength. Bachelorette fans are now waiting to see when Lee and Georgia will tie the knot together, with Lee previously indicating they would wed. Strength to strength: Fans of the pair are now waiting to see when the couple will walk down the aisle, with Lee previously indicating the pair would wed Speaking to NW magazine in August 2017, the plumber said: 'I've already started saving for the ring.' While a ring has not yet been seen, the couple have made progress towards a united future. In August last year, they reached another milestone in their fairy tale romance by purchasing their first home. Georgia revealed the news by sharing a photo to Instagram of herself and Lee outside the Melbourne property. Chloe Green looked glum on Friday as she was pictured for the first time in public since a tearful bust-up with fiance Jeremy Meeks in Dubai and sparking split rumours by not wearing her engagement ring. The Topshop heiress, 27, hid her engagement ring finger as she took a morning stroll in Monte Carlo, but seemed a little out of sorts. Wearing a long-sleeve blue denim jacket with grey leggings and black trainers she was spotted heading back to her luxury beachside apartment. Low key: Chloe Green looked glum on Friday as she was pictured for the first time in public since a tearful bust-up with fiance Jeremy Meeks in Dubai and sparking split rumours by not wearing her engagement ring When asked if she wanted to comment about the row or pass on a message to Meeks, 35, Chloe said simply: No thank you. Sources close to the couple say their 18-month relationship was under strain after they had a row in Dubai. They are understood to have had a public spat on February 19 at the Cavalli Club in Dubai where Meeks stormed out of the venue, leaving Chloe on her own. Sombre: The Topshop heiress, 27, hid her engagement ring finger as took a morning stroll near to her luxury beachside apartment in Monte Carlo but seemed a little out of sorts Casual: Chloe dressed down in a long-sleeve blue denim jacket with grey leggings and black trainers Trouble in paradise: Sources close to Chloe and Meeks say their 18-month relationship was under strain after they had a row in Dubai The daughter of billionaire Sir Philip Green has since posted two pictures onto her Instagram account showing her without her engagement ring. Her shaven- headed ex-con beau, meanwhile, has flown back to his native California and has recently been spotted partying in LA. The model was photographed shopping at XIV Karats in Beverly Hills on Wednesday with his half-sister Carmella Jesus. No thank you: Chloe declined when asked if she wanted to comment on her relationship with Meeks Alone: Chloe looked tired during her first appearance since a reported split with model Meeks Don't mind me: But the daughter of Sir Phillip Green was hard to miss during hr appearance in the south of France When he was asked about the status of his relationship he replied: 'Of course we're still together. However, speaking to MailOnline, a source close to the pair said: She is on her own in Monaco while he is living it up in LA. These ups and downs are part of every relationship but they are usually settled, particularly when one of the parties is worth so much money. I expect them to sort it out. Spat: Chloe and Meeks reportedly had a public spat on February 19 at the Cavalli Club in Dubai Controversy: Meeks is believed to have stormed out of the venue, leaving Chloe on her own Claims: They were spotted having a heated exchanged and Jeremy walked out of the club without Chloe,' a source later revealed A party-goer at the launch of streetwear clothes label EXTREMEDY in Dubai, where Meeks was modelling, said the couple who were sitting at a table with Bella Hadids property developer father Mohammed smiled for the cameras but appeared to be tense in each others company as the night wore on. Jeremy was in his element, they said. The real life and soul of the party and socialising with the other guests. Chloe was barely noticeable and in his shadows most of the night. They were all smiles posing for the pictures for the photographers but things turned sour later in the night. Still on! The model revealed on Wednesday in Beverly Hills he's still with Topshop heiress Chloe after news of their recent tearful bust up in Dubai emerged Separate: However sources told MailOnline he is 'living it up in Los Angeles' while she is alone in Monaco Unknown: It is yet to be established if Chloe has permanently split from the American model They were spotted having a heated exchanged and Jeremy walked out of the club without Chloe. You couldnt hear what they were saying but it was obvious they were having a row from their body language. Chloe tried to shrug it off but you could see she was upset and she left with a friend shortly after. She had her engagement ring on in Dubai and now its clearly missing from her Instagram shots. In one photo she is displaying both of her hands in a clear message to him that their relationship is in trouble. Welcome back: Chloe returned to France in the immediate aftermath of her reported fracas with Meeks in a Dubai nightclub Good company: In spite of the recent apparent drama, Meeks appeared in good spirits as he enjoyed some quality family time with his sister on Wednesday Socialite Chloe, who has a ten-month-old baby son Jayden with Meeks, is keeping a low profile at her 7 million penthouse apartment. Meeks jetted to the US where he was turned away from Beyonce and Jay Z's Oscar after-party at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles on Sunday because he wasnt on the guest list. They are spending some time apart to think things through, said the source. Chloe was very upset and hurt by what happened in Dubai and is trying to work out what she wants. Oh no! Chloe has posed in two pictures on Instagram without her rumoured engagement ring in an apparent message to the ex-con that their 18-month relationship is strained Meeks is an American model and former gang member who found fame thanks to a flattering mugshot picture, which saw him nicknamed 'the hot felon'. The former gang member received a 27-month jail term in 2015 after being charged with illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm in public and criminal street gang activity. He was released from prison in 2016 saying that he had 'found God', before quickly securing a six-figure modelling job. Glam: The heiress was dripping in lavish jewelry as she posed with her beau in a recent snap His wife Melissa claimed to have been blindsided when pictures emerged of him kissing Chloe on a yacht in Turkey in June 2017. Since then he and Chloe have been inseparable jet-setting all over the world and spending time on her fathers 115 million mega-yacht Lionheart in Monaco. Meanwhile her mother Tina, and retail tycoon Sir Philip, 66, worth an estimated 5 billion, have reportedly been busy planning their daughters wedding Amanda Abbington has revealed she took inspiration from a painful split for her latest theatre role, three years after her split from Martin Freeman The Sherlock actress, 45, who was with the actor for 16 years before their split in 2016, candidly discussed her inspiration for her latest stage role in The Son on Friday's episode of Good Morning Britain. The Mr Selfridge star said: 'I'm playing a mum going through a divorce with a depressed child.' Scroll down for video Candid: Amanda Abbington has revealed she took inspiration from a painful split for her latest theatre role, three years after her split from Martin Freeman Happier times: The Sherlock actress, 45, was with the actor for 16 years before their split in 2016 (pictured July 2014) 'Life and my age now, you always draw on your past experiences. There was points in the play where I remembered my past, but I do think actors do that. 'It is about a break up, I've been through a break up. It's about a teenage boy, I have a teenage boy, all these things factor in to it and make it in to a more emotional piece.' The mother of two also said she fears being 'too happy' even though she is content in her life now. She said: 'I never like to say I'm too happy because then it gets scuppered. I'm lucky that I have a job that I love and I have two kids and I have a lovely life personally so I feel very lucky but then I'm going to say, it all could change. 'I should get a badge of honour. I get quite outspoken about things and people don't like it so they report me. The star also opened up about social media, revealing she had been banned from Twitter on three separate occasions. She said: 'Trophy hunting, women's rights but mainly about animals. I send [my tweets] to my friend and go "Is that alright?" and they go, "Please, god, don't send that".' 'The ones I send that I've got banned for, they are nothing like the ones I've shown to my friends. They go, "You can't do that, you can't say that".' She said: 'Life and my age now, you always draw on your past experiences. There was points in the play where I remembered my past, but I do think actors do that. 'It is about a break up, I've been through a break up' However in contrast to the play's plot, which sees Nicolas, 17, spiral out of control following his parents' split, where he begins to self-harm and lie, Amanda said her children are 'okay' following their separation. Discussing a scene where she reflects on the good times with her on-screen husband John, she told the Evening Standard: 'Divorce is only a good thing because you both want it or one of you needs it, and so I did draw on particular times in my past. You access them and it makes it easier to do the scene. As an actor you draw from life experience.' Amanda, who said she and Martin are 'mates who support each other still', added that they play particularly resounded with her because of her own 13-year-old son. Although she doesn't consider herself to be a method actor and typically leaves her character after leaving a scene, she said in this case it did stay with her. She said: 'My kids are a product of separation and this play deals with separation, and you think about your kids, and the people closest to you and hope you're giving them enough. My children are, touch wood, okay at the moment.' Split: Amanda did not specifically mention Martin during the interview, although a photograph of their TV wedding in Sherlock was displayed behind her The interview comes two days after she revealed that she drew on her own experiences following her separation from Martin for her role in the new play. She said that she felt the play echoed her own experience because her own son Joe, 13, and daughter Grace, 10, are 'products of separation', following her split from Martin. Martin has previously described their split, which occurred 'in the early part' of 2016, as very amicable in an interview with the Radio Times. 'We split up a while ago,' he told the publication. 'I mean, we're very friendly and it's all lovely and cool. Yes, we've not been together for a while. I mean, we did the series not together.' During the interview, Martin, who had been with the actress since 2000, was careful not to spill too many details about the shocking split - but he appeared to be taking things in his stride. 'I'm all right, yes,' he said. 'I mean, we're honest to God doing it [separating] in about as civilised a manner as I've ever heard of, you know. 'I love Amanda's work. I think she's brilliant as an actor and she's brilliant as a woman and, yes, I love her. I will always love Amanda, but, yes, we're you know, that's what's happened.' She made numerous stylish appearances at London Fashion Week last month. And Millie Mackintosh put a chic foot forward as she took part in a shoot for beauty brand Lancome at Annabel's private members' club in London's Mayfair on Thursday. The former Made In Chelsea star, 29, looked sophisticated in a pair of jeans and striking pink heels embellished with pom poms. Stop and smell the roses: Millie Mackintosh put a chic foot forward as she took part in a shoot for Lancome at Annabel's private members' club in London's Mayfair on Thursday The aspiring fashion designer completed her classy look with a blush pink blouse and covered up with a long-line beige fur-look coat. Millie shaded her eyes from the London sunshine with grey-tinted sunglasses, while opted for low-key hair and make-up. The TV star's dazzling engagement ring and wedding band sparkled as she grasped onto a bunch of pastel pink roses as she stepped out of the venue. Millie gave fans an insight into her time with the beauty brand by uploading a snap onto her Instagram account as well as a string of clips . Classy: The former Made In Chelsea star, 29, looked sophisticated in a pair of jeans and a pastel pink blouse The image that was shared on her grid showed her smiling over her shoulder as she held a mascara wand. She hinted that there were great things to come from the partnership with the luxury cosmetics company in her caption. Millie penned: 'Take time to smell the roses. Today I got to work with a brand that I have loved ever since I first used make up. 'Often I am so busy thinking about the next thing I forget to be in the moment and enjoy things while they are happening. Stylish: Millie covered up with a long-line beige coat and held a bunch of roses Behind the scenes: Millie gave fans an insight into her time with the beauty brand by uploading a snaps onto her Instagram account as well as a string of clips on her story 'Today I had a real pinch me moment, feeling very lucky that I get to call this work. Thank you @lancomeofficial for having me #adv #comingsoon.' Millie's husband, Hugo Taylor, 32, made an appearance on a recent episode of E4 series Spencer, Vogue and Baby Too where he discussed starting a family with his wife. Reflecting on how his life has changed since meeting Irish model Vogue Williams, Hugo's best friend Spencer Matthews said: 'I would hate me a year ago now. It's not all because of the kid - finding Vogue, I've really just found my place and I love it.' Taking the opportunity to grill his best pal, Spencer then turned the attention on Hugo as he pointed out that, like himself, Hugo is now a married man. Pushing his pal on the subject of children, Spencer probed Hugo until he confessed: 'We talk about [babies] all the time, we love kids but right now we're very happy seeing all our friends having babies.' Stunning: Millie flaunted her flawless skin and glossy locks as she posed for photos alongside the venue's floral interior Made-up: The star shared selfies that showed off her make-up for the shoot Hugo and Millie initially dated in the early series of Made In Chelsea back in 2011, in which they starred alongside Spencer - who back then was known as the show's resident Lothario. While their relationship didn't work out first time round, Hugo and Millie rekindled their love following Millie's split from rapper ex-husband Professor Green in 2016. Hugo proposed to Millie during a romantic break in Greece in July 2017, with the pair tying the knot in June the following year. They wed in an official ceremony at Chelsea Town Hall, a few days before hosting a lavish celebration, where they received a religious blessing, in front of their family and friends at Whithurst Park - which is owned by Hugo's uncle - in West Sussex. She's been wowing the style brigade with her sartorial displays while promoting her new flick On The Basis Of Sex. And Felicity Jones, 35, looked sensational as she was spotted outside BBC Radio 2 on Friday in a statement cream wool coat. The Rogue One actress layered her ankle-length coat over a complementing cream cable knit jumper which she tucked into her high-waisted denim flares. Wrapped up: Felicity Jones, 35, looked sensational as she was spotted outside BBC Radio 2 on Friday in a statement cream wool coat The British beauty added inches to her petite frame in a pair of snakeskin print pumps and accessorised her look with a pair of drop-earrings. She continued her chic display as she styled her brunette hair into a tousled look for the media outing. Her appearance comes as she promotes her new flick On The Basis Of Sex in which she undertakes the role of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Felicity recently detailed just how much work went into transforming into the character as she spoke on The Graham Norton Show. Walk this way: The Rogue One actress layered her ankle-length coat over a complementing cream cable knit jumper which she tucked into her high-waisted denim flares The actress revealed she had her 'gnarly and pointed' British teeth capped with dental crowns to replicate the judge's 'perfectly formed American teeth'. Felicity told the studio audience: 'I kept looking at Ruth and she had the most perfectly formed American teeth.' She continued: 'Then I would look at mine, which are distinctly British and a little bit gnarly, so I had my pointy ones capped while I was shooting. It sounds painful but it wasn't too bad.' Felicity went on to praise Ruth, who became the second female justice of the Supreme Court, admitting she was under a lot of pressure to live up to the character. Dedicated: Felicity revealed how much went into transforming into Ruth Bader Ginsburg for On The Basis Of Sex as she spoke on The Graham Norton Show Starring role: Felicity (left, in character) is starring as gender equality advocate Ruth (right) in her latest film On The Basis Of Sex She added: 'She is so beloved that really the only person that could play Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Ruth Bader Ginsburg so I definitely had a lot to live up to.' Meanwhile, her on-screen husband Armie Hammer, 32, spoke to Lorraine Kelly about his role in the film portraying Martin 'Marty' Ginsburg and how he impacted his real-life relationship. He said: 'Their relationship was extremely aspirational, so seeing how good of a partner he was and an equal structure. 'I've got an amazing intelligent smart powerful wife, so getting to walk in Martin's shoes for a couple of months made me think how can I be like that?' Under the knife: Felicity revealed she got her 'pointy' teeth capped while shooting for the film to look more like Ruth Co-stars: On-screen husband Armie Hammer, 32, spoke about his role in the film portraying Martin 'Marty' Ginsburg and how he impacted his real-life relationship He added: 'Their relationship was incredibly progressive by the standard of the 50s and 60s. He was willing to do whatever it took to support her.' Armie also revealed what made the film different from other accounts of Ruth's life: 'That's the beautiful thing about this movie, it was written by Ruth's nephew [Daniel Stiepleman]. 'If anyone else wrote this movie it would have been the courtroom the drama, but we had access to the woman behind the frock.' Vicky Pattison is enjoying her first holiday with new boyfriend Ercan Ramadan as she endeavours to move on from her painful split with former fiance John Noble. The TV personality has flown to Hungarian capital Budapest with her new man, little more than a fortnight after the couple celebrated their first Valentines Day. Taking to Instagram, Vicky, 31, shared a series of images and videos from their current stay in the historic city, and her undeniable chemistry with Ercan suggests their blossoming relationship is going from strength to strength. Happy couple: Vicky Pattison is enjoying her first holiday with new boyfriend Ercan Ramadan as she endeavours to move on from her painful split with former fiance John Noble In one shot the former Geordie Shore star looks completely taken with Essex based Ercan during a trip to Budapest's High Note Skybar. Offering breathtaking views of the city's architecture, the venue provided an appropriately romantic backdrop as she placed a hand on his chest while gazing into his eyes. The pair later paid a visit to the Hungarian Houses of Parliament, but Vicky admitted her boyfriend was less than impressed with its sprawling, palatial ground. Good times: The TV personality has flown to Hungarian capital Budapest with her new man, little more than a fortnight after the couple celebrated their first Valentines Day Cheers! Vicky posted a shot pf herself enjoying a cocktail after taking in the sights with Ercan during their current stay in Budapest Evidently amused, the reality star admitted Ercan was unhappy because they 'didn't match up' to London's own historic Houses of Parliament. After taking in the sights with her boyfriend Vicky shared a snap of herself enjoying a much needed cocktail. Captioning the shot, she wrote: 'Boozy Budapest.. This city does have some of the most beautiful spots!! Just spent a lovely afternoon in @mazeltovbudapest and I can honestly say Im sooooo full and incredibly tipsy!! (One of my favourite combinations!)' Smitten: In another image Vicky wraps her arms around her boyfriend while admitting she's struggling to keep her hands off him Sightseeing: But Vicky admitted Ercan was unimpressed with the Hungarian Houses of Parliament In another image Vicky wraps her arms around her boyfriend while admitting she's struggling to keep her hands off him, writing: 'I look like I've kidnapped you... this has to stop.' The brunette recently admitted she got together with TV personality Ercan, whose previous screen credits include Life On Marbs and The Only Way Is Essex, after he 'slid into her DMs' following her split from businessman ex John. She told new: 'We've followed each other for a long while on Instagram. It was one of those ones where you just follow good looking fellas.' New man: The brunette recently admitted she got together with TV personality Ercan, whose previous screen credits include Life On Marbs and The Only Way Is Essex, after he 'slid into her DMs' Vicky said nothing ever came to fruition between the pair because Ercan got a girlfriend and she met John, but both of them split from their respective partners in the space of a month. She added: 'He [Ercan] slid into me DMs over Christmas and it's gone from there. He's lovely and fun.' Vicky went public with her new man in February during a trip to Dubai - three months after calling off her engagement to John. She's is known for her jaw-dropping sultry displays on the red carpet and at glitzy soirees. And Caprice was back to her old style tricks as she launched her luxurious By Caprice Home bedding line with Dunelm in London on Friday in a head-turning ensemble. The 47-year-old model commanded attention in a yellow midi dress, which featured a daring sheer mesh panel in the midst of her cleavage. Yellow there! Caprice was back to her old style tricks as she launched her luxurious By Caprice Home bedding line with Dunelm in London on Friday in a head-turning ensemble The blonde bombshell's glamorous attire accentuated her svelte figure as she worked an array of poses for the cameras at the launch. Adding to her head-turning look, she sported a pair of nude stilettos and accessorised with glittering statement necklace. Caprice oozed sophistication as she worked her blonde locks into a sleek wave and sported a glamorous beauty look. The American native wasn't alone at the launch and was joined by Love Island's Olivia Buckland, 25, who looked stylish in a khaki-coloured mini dress, as well as Lydia Bright, 29. Having fun: The 47-year-old model commanded attention in a yellow midi dress, which featured a daring sheer mesh panel in the midst of her cleavage Here comes sunshine: The blonde bombshell's glamorous attire accentuated her svelte figure as she worked an array of poses for the cameras at the launch All that glitters: Adding to her head-turning look, she sported a pair of nude stilettos and accessorised with glittering statement necklace Meanwhile, mother-of-two Caprice resides in London with her four-year old twin sons Jax and Jett and partner Ty Comfort. Caprice revealed she has been left 'vulnerable' by her shock brain tumour operation in March 2017. Speaking on Lorraine a year later, the model admitted she was terrified she may not wake up from the surgery, and that while she is fit and healthy, she is still not back to her usual self. Posing up a storm: The American native was joined by Love Island's Olivia Buckland (L) and Lydia Bright (R) Picture perfect: The 25-year-old looked stylish in a khaki-coloured mini dress The price is Bright! Lydia donned a patterned coords for the occasion Fantastic in floral: Hayley Sparkes looked radiant in a floral wrap dress and a pair of suede knee-high boots as she attended the event However, the businesswoman is now focused on being a doting mother to her sons and is raising awareness for charity Brain Tumour Research. Caprice discovered the brain tumour after suffering a string of headaches during training for Channel 4 reality show, The Jump. In a bid to grow her By Caprice Home brands, the designer recently announced a global licensing deal with world textiles suppliers Sadaqat. The model shot to fame in the 1990's when she was on the cover of Vogue Magazine and went on to feature in a number of films and magazine covers. Abs-olutely: She shared a glimpse of her taut abs in the eye-catching look He is settling into his new-found responsibilities as a dad to his newborn little girl whom he shares with his wife Francesca Abbott. And Ashley Banjo was every inch the doting dad as he shared a montage of touching Instagram snaps with his daughter Rose in recent days. The shirtless Diversity dancer, 30, cradled his small child in bed as he smouldered to the camera while he took the selfie in the morning. Sweet: Ashley Banjo cuddled his newborn girl Rose in a slew of affectionate snaps as he got to grips with his new parenting duties on Friday In another heartwarming snap shared on Thursday, the hunk watched on adoringly as his daughter slept blissfully in her cot at night time. The dad-of-one was nurturing a close bond with his offspring as he has remained inseparable from Rose since her birth in recent weeks. Ashley was very honest about parenting as he cataloged the list of his dad duties: Feed, power nap, nappy change, make sure dog is alive and repeat. It's love, love, love: In another heartwarming snap shared on Thursday, the hunk watched on adoringly as his daughter slept blissfully in her cot at night time He wrote in the caption: 'It comes in stages - Feed, Power Nap, Nappy Change, Make sure dogs are alive - Repeat... This here is the sleep and dog phase rolled Into one efficient bundle.' In recent weeks, the married couple Ashley and Francesca welcomed their first child into the world together. The dancer proudly took to his Instagram, with a sweet black and white snap, which was artistically edited with their newborn in pink. Top parent! Ashley was very honest about parenting as he cataloged the list of his dad duties: Feed, power nap, nappy change, make sure dog is alive and repeat 'Our beautiful daughter came into the world at 6:45pm on 21st February 2019 - weighing a healthy 8lbs 13oz. Her name is Rose Adura Banjo. I am in the deepest love ever with my little family @francescabanjo I love you and am so proud #nextchapter,' he gushed in the accompanying caption. Days earlier, Ashley revealed he and his wife Francesca were 'patiently waiting' for their little one to arrive in a sweet social media post. The Diversity dancer and his long-term love were seen cosying up in bed, with Francesca clutching her baby bump while planting a kiss on Ashley's head. 'The next chapter': Ashley, 30, and his wife Francesca Abbott have welcomed their first child, a daughter named Rose, together Waiting game: Days earlier, Ashley revealed he and his wife Francesca were 'patiently waiting' for their little one to arrive in a sweet social media post So sweet: Ashley's brother Jordan's partner Naomi Courts later took to her Instagram to share a picture of her son, Cass, meeting his newborn cousin, Rose, for the first time Ashley captioned the snap: 'Waking up early every morning - Just patiently waiting for the bump to become a baby... Any moment now... #babybanjo'. The star's followers inundated him with well-wishes, enthushing about what great parents the pair will make. The BGT winner has been keeping his fans updated about Francesca's pregnancy, recently paying tribute to her on Valentine's Day. He penned: 'Not long now until I get to have more than one crazy Banjo female rocking around the house So blessed to have created a little human with you! 'Im sooo excited Now hurry up and do your hair so we can go out for dinner Happy valentines @francescabanjo X #family'. Tender moment: Another heartwarming post showed Ashley resting his head of Francesca's moving stomach Another heartwarming post showed Ashley resting his head of Francesca's moving stomach as he tried to communicate with his baby girl. He wrote: 'The bump decided to wake us up at 3am - She was full of it last night! I think this counts as her first dance lesson from me!? 'I AM IN LOVE ALREADY! She signed off by kicking me in the face just to let me know whos boss#5678 #gobabygobaby #baby'. Ashley recently discussed the couple's 'tough' journey to conceive and his excitement at becoming a father during an interview on Lorraine. The star, who wed Francesca in 2015, has previously spoken about the couple's 'difficult' journey to become parents. Excitement: The dancestar who wed Francesca in 2015, has previously spoken about the couple's 'difficult' journey to become parents Speaking of his excitement out of 10 at the impending birth, he said: 'There's no number. Honestly, it's already quite surreal for me to think there's a little baby Banjo on the way, little girl.' The star has reprised his role as a judge on Dancing On Ice this year but said his Diversity pals Perri Kiely and Jordan Banjo were poised to step in should Francesca go into labour. He said: 'I'll have to get Perri in. Perri or Jordan to sit there. On standby!' Speaking of being on the Dancing on Ice panel, he said: 'I'm loving it. Great show, it's a classic.' Speaking previously of his excitement out of 10 at the impending birth, he said: 'There's no number. It's already quite surreal for me to think there's a little baby Banjo on the way, little girl' The interview comes three months after Ashley showed off his wife's baby bump for the first time in a sweet Instagram post uploaded from Bristol. The dancer just announced the lovebirds were overjoyed to be expecting a baby girl after the pair had a 'difficult journey'. Choreographer Ashley looked ecstatic as he cradled his wife's blossoming baby bump in the first picture revealing pregnant Francesca's maternal curves. He captioned the post: 'Time for the tour bus with Two and a half Banjo's #babybump #tourlife #family.' In the cute snap, Francesca displayed her baby bump in her figure-hugging khaki green knitted dress. 'Time for the tour bus!': The interview comes three months after Ashley showed off his wife's baby bump for the first time in a sweet Instagram post uploaded from Bristol Ashley and Francesca, with the unborn baby in tow, were climbing on board the tour bus from Bristol. The TV host thanked his 312k followers for their support since the announcement that he is expecting a baby girl with his wife following a 'difficult journey'. 'Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the love for our little one!! We are overwhelmed xx.' The Instagram comes just one day after the dancer confirmed his wife Francesca is pregnant with the couple's first child. Alongside a sweet selfie of the couple holding a picture of their ultrasound scan, eh wrote: 'I am so excited to finally share the news that we are having a baby!! Now the time has come to finally say this out loud I have no idea what to say! 'We are overwhelmed': The TV host thanked his 312k followers for their support since the announcement that he is expecting a baby girl with his wife following a 'difficult journey' 'I don't know if words alone can explain how full of joy and happiness we both are. It has been a more difficult journey to this point than most people know but we are now here with one of the most precious gifts in the world... A little girl! 'I have so many strong and incredible women around me, I know she will have great examples to follow. 'Especially this woman right here - my wife and my rock. You are going to be the best mum in the world. 'I'm so excited to see our little one grow up and if by any chance she wanted to be like her daddy and bust a few moves, I've already got the dancing shoes covered! Can't wait to meet you little sweetie.' Parents to be: This comes after the dancer took to his Instagram page to reveal the childhood sweethearts are 'so excited' to be expecting a baby girl Set to follow in their footsteps? Ashley also explained he will support his daughter if she wanted to 'bust a few moves' in the future Ashley's brother Jordan also took to Instagram to post a gushing message about the exciting announcement, alongside a snap of the dancer cradling his nephew. The Dancing On Ice presenter penned: 'My big bro is going to be a DAD @ashleybanjogram & @francescabanjo I'm so proud of you guys, you're already the best aunty and uncle to my little Cass (as you can see Ash's huge smile holding his nephew). 'I can't wait to see the banjo family get even bigger! Love you guys, and I know Cass is buzzing to have a beautiful little cousin to play with', he concluded. Ashley and Francesca are childhood sweethearts and have been together for 13 years; they got engaged in 2014 and tied the knot in 2015. Francesca is a member of another dance troupe called Out of the Shadow. Ashley shot to fame when his dance troupe, Diversity, won the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009. He later became a co-judge on Sky1's Got To Dance, and joined the judging panel of ITV1 celebrity skating show Dancing On Ice in January. It was recently announced that Ben Mitchell would be returning to EastEnders, with a brand new face. And now the first pictures of actor Max Bowden, 24, on set, while in character as Phil Mitchell's son have been released as he shoots scenes for the iconic BBC soap. Ben's first explosive storyline will see him meeting up with dad Phil and Keanu Taylor at a cafe, after he returns from living abroad. First look: The first pictures of actor Max Bowden on set in the role of EastEnders' Ben Mitchell emerged on Friday as he shoots scenes for the iconic BBC soap Back for good? Pictures reveal that Ben's first explosive storylines will include him meeting up with dad Phil and Keanu Taylor at a cafe, following his return from living abroad Dressed in a black jacket, red shirt and dark skinny jeans, the character was seen looking rather shifty as he heads to a seemingly secret meeting at the eatery. Ben will be returning to Albert Square with ex Lola Pierce and daughter Lexi, after actress Danielle Harold reprised her role. His comeback comes over a year after he fled Walford after stealing the New Year's heist money, which Phil and his pals stole from Ciara Maguire. However, the loot was secretly switched at the last minute by Ben's step-mum Sharon Mitchell, with the character only leaving with a small proportion of the cash. The character hadn't been seen on screens since, although he's often referred to by his onscreen family. Comeback: Dressed in a black jacket, red shirt and dark skinny jeans, the character is seen looking rather shifty as he heads to a seemingly secret meeting at the eatery Return: Ben is also set to return to Albert Square with ex Lola Pierce and daughter Lexi, after actress Danielle Harold reprised her role Meanwhile, Max is the sixth actor to play the role of Ben, after taking the helm from previous star Harry Reid. Speaking about his role after it was announced earlier this year, Max said: 'Im so excited to be joining the cast of EastEnders and taking on the role of Ben Mitchell.' The actor, who played Justin Fitzgerald in Waterloo Road until 2015, added: 'Ive always been a fan of the show so to be joining one of the most iconic families in soap is beyond exciting. I cant wait to get started and see whats in store for Ben.' On the run: Ben's comeback comes over a year after he fled Walford after stealing the New Year's heist money, which Phil and his pals stole from Ciara Maguire Teaming up: Max is seen filming scenes with Danny Walters' character Keanu Taylor, (right), who is Phil's employee Shady business: Ben and Keanu arrive to meet Phil at a cafe, with the trio's secretive business as yet unknown Back in action: Max is hard at work in his new role as Ben, with the actor taking over the character from former star Harry Reid Meanwhile, senior executive producer Kate Oates shared: 'A character like Ben, with his rich history, complicated family and complex psychology, is pure gold. 'With Max in the role, we will be exploring the aspects of Bens character that have been allowed to develop during his time away from the Square: unfettered by old loyalties, and out of the long shadow of his father, Phil.' The original Ben was played by Matthew Silver, who portrayed baby Ben from 19961998, while Morgan Whittle played Ben as a toddler from 19992001. New beginning: Speaking of his new role, Max said: 'Ive always been a fan of the show so to be joining one of the most iconic families in soap is beyond exciting' Baby Ben: The original Ben was played by Matthew Silver, who portrayed baby Ben from 19961998 Just a tot: Young Morgan Whittle played Ben as a toddler from 19992001 Following the character's absence from Albert Square for five years, young actor Charlie Jones then took over the role in 2006 and remained until 2010. Joshua Pascoe then played him from 2010 until 2012, with Harry the starring as the character from 2014 until his exit in 2018. EastEnders airs Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One. Young star: Following the character's absence from Albert Square for five years, young actor Charlie Jones then took over the role in 2006 and remained until 2010 Ben number four: Joshua Pascoe then played Phil Mitchell's son from 2010 until 2012 Bethenny Frankel is in love with her new denim collection. The 48-year-old mogul stepped out in a bold look of her own design in New York on Thursday. Taking to Instagram later, the reality star flaunted some sexy moves in the mirror to showcase the stretch in the denim from her Skinnygirl brand. Bold look: Bethenny Frankel was spotted rocking a tight pair of Skinnygirl jeans on the streets of New York on Thursday Bethenny rocked some ruched over-the-knee black leather boots with high heels over a skin tight pair of teal waxed denim jeans. She matched the colors with a teal and black fur coat which featured a thick leather belt that cinched her waist. For an exotic twist, the Bravolebrity donned a leather Gucci cross body bag with a colorful snake clasp and some heart shaped sunglasses. On Instagram the Real Housewife of New York praised her label and said she was 'obsessed' with the shiny coated pair she was wearing in the color Midnight Pine. Style goals: The 48-year-old opted for some ruched over-the-knee black leather boots with high heels over a skin tight pair of teal waxed denim jeans Skinnygirl! The Bravo star was a walking billboard for her fashion label Brrr: The mother of one matched kept warm in a teal and black fur coat which featured a thick leather belt that cinched her waist As the mogul showcased the garment, she gushed about how stretchy they were claiming she could 'do lunges' in them. To prove her point, Bethenny dropped it low and got down into an impressive squat. The star filmed herself in the mirror of what, at first blush, looked like a high end boutique but actually turned out to be her own luxurious closet. Hot stuff! On Instagram the Real Housewife of New York said she was 'obsessed' with the jeans Backside: The star went out of her way to make sure fans got to see how good her bottom looked Bold tones! The coated denim Skinnygirl jeans were in the color Midnight Pine Later, the star went makeup free to show off a pair of distress denim jeans from her brand with rips and tears fashionably scattered down the leg. 'I'm very excited, they're phenomenal,' the mother of one wrote on social media. Adding: 'Most jeans suck.' The star recently arrived back to chilly New York City after a sun soaked vacation in Florida. Wow! The jeans were so stretchy, the star said she could 'do lunges' in them Drop it low: To prove her point, Bethenny got down into an impressive squat in the mirror 'I'm very excited, they're phenomenal,' the mother of one wrote on social media. 'Most jeans suck.' The reality star was enjoying some rest and relaxation with her boyfriend of several months, 41-year-old Paul Bernon. Hopefully the television personality enjoyed her time off since she is about to embark on the new season of the Real Housewives of New York. Season 11 of the Big Apple franchise of the popular Bravo series debuts next week on Wednesday March 6. She has been keeping to her jam-packed schedule filled with the hottest fashion shows and glamorous parties. And Bella Hadid showed no signs of slowing down as she sauntered out of her hotel all in black during Paris Fashion Week, in France on Friday. The runway stunner, 23, opted for casual chic as she wore an oversized shirt over a black turtleneck and tight trousers. She Hadid it again! Bella Hadid looked effortlessly casual in an oversized shirt as she enjoys a low-key outing during Paris Fashion Week on Friday Always looking polished on the runway, the catwalk queen applied a glossy lip and topped up her make-up. Although there was no signs of sunshine, Bella didn't give up hope on catching some rays as she protected her eyes with aviator sunglasses. Proving she doesn't stop, the brunette haired model toted her iPhone while on the move through the streets of Paris Fashion Week. Seeing the world: Although there was no signs of sunshine, Bella didn't give up hope on catching some rays as she protected her eyes with aviator sunglasses Amidst her busy schedule, Bella has found time to rekindled the burning flames of her romance with The Weeknd since the spring last year. The couple initially dated through 2015 and 2016 before they parted ways for a period of time; The Weeknd romanced Selena Gomez while they were apart. Meanwhile, Bella threw herself into her modelling career as she worked through her heartbreak on her own without a new man. Solo outing: Amidst her busy schedule, Bella has found time to rekindled the burning flames of her romance with The Weeknd since the spring last year Recently, Bella has been jet-setting across the globe as she plays a focal part in the four A-list fashion weeks of the year from Milan to Paris. The model has been hard at work as she has joined the bevy of beautiful models on the designer catwalks including her sister Gigi, Kaia Gerber and Irina Shayk. With all the travelling that leaves her exhausted, Bella laid bare her beauty secrets that keeps her looking fresh-faced on arrival. Out on her own: The model has been hard at work as she has joined the bevy of beautiful models on the designer catwalks including her sister Gigi, Kaia Gerber and Irina Shayk She told VOGUE last year: 'I travel a lot and I often work directly after landing. I use my mom's advice, keeping my skin as good as it can be. 'So on a plane, I wash my face as soon as I get on, I have all my serums and my night cream. And then I fall asleep and do it again when I wake up. 'So by the time I get off the plane my face is well rested and moisturised. And I always have a concealer with me, especially when Im super-tired to get those dark eye bags away.' She's a busy working mother with two children under two. And Amy Childs has revealed that her number one priority is raising her daughter Polly, 23 months, and her six-month-old son, so regaining her pre-baby figure has taken a backseat. The former TOWIE star, 28, spoke exclusively to MailOnline on Friday as she launched her new range with leading nursery furniture brand, Obaby, confessing that she wasn't stressing herself out by trying to snap back into shape. Doting mother: Amy has revealed that her number one priority is raising her daughter Polly, 23 months, and her six-month-old son, so regaining her pre-baby figure has taken a backseat Amy revealed: 'I haven't snapped back into shape at all! I have two children under two, I have done the most amazing thing. 'Ive carried two children, so what if I have a little bit of weight. It'll come in the future. I feel good in myself. I look after myself, I'm always feeling glam!' The revelation will no doubt come as a shock to fans, who have followed her on her weight loss journey in the past. Throwback: The former TOWIE star, 28, spoke exclusively to MailOnline on Friday as she confessed that she isn't stressing herself out by trying to snap back into shape Yummy mummy: Amy shares daughter Polly, 23 months, with ex-boyfriend Bradley Wright and welcomed her son with boyfriend Ritchie on September 1, 2018 The starlet also famously released a workout DVD in 2012, Fit In 30 Days: Zero to Hero. But in a candid confession, Amy admitted that she's never been truly happy with her appearance, even at the peak of her fitness. Discussing why she won't pressure herself to look a certain way now, she reasoned: 'I wasnt happy with my body in the past, even in my TOWIE days - will you ever be?' Despite her insecurities, Amy has revealed she has no plans to have any more plastic surgery as she is 'comfortable' with how she looks, yet has vowed to remove her FF breast implants. Unhappy: The starlet famously released a workout DVD in 2012. But in a candid confession, Amy admitted that she's never been truly happy with her appearance (pictured in 2010) Working mother: The former TOWIE star, 28, spoke exclusively to MailOnline on Friday as she launched her new range with leading nursery furniture brand, Obaby Not fazed: Amy revealed 'I haven't snapped back into shape at all! I have two children under two, I have done the most amazing thing. Ive carried two children, so what if I have a little bit of weight' Confident: Discussing why she won't pressure herself to look a certain way now, she reasoned: 'I wasnt happy with my body in the past, even in my TOWIE days - will you ever be?' Amy, who confessed she 'wouldn't change motherhood for the world', is now putting her focus into parenting projects, revealing she would like to help charities that support parents of stillborn babies and get back on television with her own parenting show. The star is also considering having another child, making her a mother-of-three, but admitted she changes her mind constantly about whether now is the right time. Amy welcomed her son - whose name she has chosen not to disclose publicly - with her boyfriend, Ritchie on September 1. She previously revealed that her partner enjoys living a private life, with The Sun reporting he was a 'high-flying businessman' who wants to stay out of the limelight. Amy shares her eldest child, daughter Polly, with ex-boyfriend Bradley Wright. Candid: Discussing why she won't pressure herself to look a certain way now, she reasoned: 'I wasnt happy with my body in the past, even in my TOWIE days - will you ever be?' Surgery: Despite her insecurities, Amy has revealed she has no plans to have any more plastic surgery as she is 'comfortable' with how she looks, yet has vowed to remove her implants Amy was speaking on the Obaby stand at The Baby Show as she introduced parents to her new range, The Madrid. She was showing off her new capsule range for Roma prams which will launch in the next few weeks She said: 'I love the range, its classic, affordable and has something for every lifestyle. For me personally with my busy lifestyle, it makes my life so much easier to know the kids adore the range. 'Polly is obsessed with her cot and wont sleep in any other. Its so easy to use and looks amazing.' Amy's range is available at obaby.co.uk Snap it up: Amy was speaking on the Obaby stand at The Baby show as she introduced parents to her new range, The Madrid. She is a brand ambassador for the nursery furniture brand Hollyoaks star Lauren McQueen has reportedly quit the popular soap after two years so she can 'spread her wings.' The actress, 22, is said to have handed in her notice so she can pursue other acting roles. A source told The Sun: 'Lauren is one of the show's biggest talents so it's a big loss but it's only natural she wants to spread her wings,' Goodbye: Hollyoaks star Lauren McQueen has reportedly quit the popular soap after two years so she can 'spread her wings' Acting sensation: The actress, 22, is said to have handed in her notice so she can pursue other acting roles 'It's not been an easy decision but it's the right one for her. 'Lily's exit is being kept under wraps but it's Hollyoaks so it's bound to be explosive and emotional.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Lauren and Hollyoaks for comment. Lauren joined the soap in January 2017 and has been involved in some of the soap's biggest storylines. Farewell: A source told The Sun : 'Lauren is one of the show's biggest talents so it's a big loss but it's only natural she wants to spread her wings' Drama: Lily has recently been involved in a racy love triangle after falling in love with her best friend Romeo Quinn (Owen Warner) behind her husband Prince McQueen's back Her self-harm storyline, after she was badly scarred in a car crash, was critically acclaimed, with the special standalone episode winning a British Soap Award. Lauren narrowly missed out on the Best Newcomer Award to EastEnders' Lorraine Stanley. Lily has recently been involved in a racy love triangle after falling in love with her best friend Romeo Quinn (Owen Warner) behind her husband Prince McQueen's back. Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) is set to return to the village to find out Lily is still with Romeo, with a punch-up ensuing between the two men. He departed on Christmas Day (with Malique appearing in I'm A Celebrity) after finding out Lily was planning to leave him - but remained clueless over her affections towards Romeo. Jordyn Woods has seen the Kardashian and Jenner family turn against her after she kissed Khloe's beau Tristan Thompson on the lips on February 17. And during a Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith on Facebook that aired Friday, she suggested she is no longer friends with Kylie Jenner. 'At this point its gone too far and enough is enough,' said the 21-year-old model. And after the interview aired, Kylie did not react, but Khloe called her a liar on social media. 'Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story. BTW, You ARE the reason my family broke up!' Done: Jordyn Woods has seen the Kardashian and Jenner family turn against her after she kissed Tristan Thompson on February 17. And during a Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith on Facebook that aired Friday, she suggested she is no longer friends with Kylie. Seen in 2016 No more: 'At this point its gone too far and enough is enough,' said the 21-year-old model She also broke down in tears as she said the whole scandal is not fair to Kylie, 21, who had nothing to do with it. Kylie made Jordyn a star by having Khloe cast her as a Good American model and also recruiting her as a sidekick on Life Of Kylie. During the sit down, Woods admitted to kissing Tristan but said it was not 'intimate.' The Life Of Kylie said: 'On the way out he did kiss me. No passion, no nothing, he just kissed me... No tongue kiss, no making out.' She added: 'I'm no homewrecker.' And she added she is not the reason Khloe and Tristan are no longer together. Sad loss: She also broke down in tears as she said the whole scandal is not fair to Kylie, 21, who had nothing to do with it Not me: And when Jada asked her if she slept with Tristan she said no and offered to do a lie detector test And then the pinup added: 'And I don't think he's wrong either because I allowed myself to be in that position.' She also said she was drunk and didn't know how to feel. And when Jada asked her if she slept with Tristan she said no and offered to do a lie detector test. Will Smith has known Woods since she was a baby as he worked with the beauty's father on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. And on Friday, the action star was seen during a FaceTime video with Woods and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith at a mansion before the Red Table Talk on Facebook. 'This world is not going to break you, I won't allow it,' the A lister told the star. Cheer up: Will Smith has known Woods since she was a baby as he worked with the beauty's father on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. The action star was seen during a FaceTime video with Woods and his wife at a mansion before the Red Table Talk There was a kiss: During the talk, Woods said, 'On the way out he did kiss me. No passion, no nothing, he just kissed me... No tongue kiss, no making out' The clip started with Jada saying, 'Her father John Woods was a sound engineer on Fresh Prince. Their sons became close.' Then Jada's son Jaden and Jordyn became friends. 'Three families together, many bonds were made,' said Jada. The families are the Smiths, the Kardashians and the Woods. She added Jordyn reached out to Jada. 'She wanted her story to be heard,' said Pinkett. 'This is grown woman mess on another level,' said Jordyn. Will then came on the line. Oh no: Jordyn added, 'I'm no homewrecker.' And she added she is not the reason Khloe and Tristan are no longer together 'I didn't think I'd be coming to the table like this,' he said. He added, 'Jada's table has healing powers.' 'Jordy's father worked on Fresh Prince before she as born.' Will says it was hard when he passed. She sold a sexy image: Here the star is seen in a bikini on social media So much pain: After the interview aired, Khloe called Jordyn a liar Ouch: 'Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story,' she said Khloe invited the girl into her life: Woods is seen here near Kylie, as Khloe and Tristan are behind them in March 2018 'The world attacks, it just happens, you will never get around the world attack,' he said. 'I for you.' 'That means the world to me,' said Jordyn. 'Take your medicine and tell your truth, this is a part of what growing up is, this is a part of what learning is, a part of what family is,' he added. 'This world is not going to break you, I won't allow it.' 'Everyone has done something that they wish they had done different,' said Jada in the Red Table room. 'The best way to deal with this stuff is just to come clean,' said Jada. 'There is a family that feels betrayed by you and you are clear about that right?' Jordyn said, 'After the club, normal LA culture when you're young we all go to a house after. We're not thinking who's house or where. They say it's Tristan's house, cool feels like a safe environment. They had a good thing going: Jenner made the LA native a star in many ways 'He didn't even personally invite me here, it's like come y'all. We pull up walk in, I didn't notice anyone's phone, I have no clue who told them to take away the phones - dancing, drinking, enjoying the time. I never thought I should not be here, that was where I first went wrong.' She admits she should not have been hanging out with Khloe's boyfriend 'I should not have even been there.' 'Never once was I giving him a lap dance, making out with him, sitting all over him. Never once did we leave the public area, go to the bathroom go to the bedroom. 'I was with friends. Never anything intimate.' Jordyn kissed Tristan on February 17 at an LA house party. When Khloe found out she split from Tristan, who cheated on her in April 2018. Jordyn Woods came off as more angry than sad during her Facebook Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, which aired on Friday. The 21-year-old Good American model said that trolls have been very hard on her - at one point she even got death threats - after it was leaked that she kissed Khloe Kardashian's baby daddy Tristan during a house party in LA on February 17. And the LA native added that things are so bad for her family that her sister has to stay home from school and her brother is not able to go to work. She has suffered: Jordyn Woods said during her Red Table Talk that she worries about the safety of her family after the Kardashian scandal. Seen with sister Jodie Woods and mother Elizabeth Woods in September 2018 in Los Angeles Not the right tone? The budding star came off as defensive and angry at times She has brothers Joshua and John Woods III. Joshua is a tattoo artist. John works as a model and is represented by his mother Elizabeth Woods. Her sister is Jodie, aged 12, who goes to school in the Los Angeles area. The Instagram model also touched on how she worries about the safety of her family. And she added that she has heard about online bullying in the past, but has never experienced it first hand. Jordyn also said if she wasn't so 'strong' she would have 'harmed' herself after the nasty comments she has received. Her family: In March 2018 she was seen with her mother, two brothers and sister Woods has seen the Kardashian and Jenner family turn against her after she kissed Khloe's beau. And her friendship with Kylie appears to be over too. 'At this point its gone too far and enough is enough,' said the model. And after the interview aired, Kylie did not react, but Khloe called her a liar on social media. 'Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story. BTW, You ARE the reason my family broke up!' Done: Woods suggested she is no longer friends with Kylie. Seen in 2016 No more: 'At this point its gone too far and enough is enough,' said the 21-year-old model She also broke down in tears as she said the whole scandal is not fair to Kylie, 21, who had nothing to do with it. Kylie made Jordyn a star by having Khloe cast her as a Good American model and also casting her as a sidekick on Life Of Kylie. During the sit down, Woods admitted to kissing Tristan but said it was not 'intimate.' The Life Of Kylie said, 'On the way out he did kiss me. No passion, no nothing, he just kissed me... No tongue kiss, no making out.' She added, 'I'm no homewrecker.' And she added she is not the reason Khloe and Tristan are no longer together. Sad loss: She also broke down in tears as she said the whole scandal is not fair to Kylie, 21, who had nothing to do with it Not me: And when Jada asked her if she slept with Tristan she said no and offered to do a lie detector test And then the pinup added, 'And I don't think he's wrong either because I allowed myself to be in that position.' She also said she was drunk and didn't know how to feel. And when Jada asked her if she slept with Tristan she said no and offered to do a lie detector test. Will Smith has known Woods since she was a baby as he worked with the beauty's father on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. And on Friday, the action star was seen during a FaceTime video with Woods and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith at a mansion before the Red Table Talk on Facebook. 'This world is not going to break you, I won't allow it,' the A lister told the star who is best friends with Kylie Jenner. Cheer up: Will Smith has known Woods since she was a baby as he worked with the beauty's father on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. The action star was seen during a FaceTime video with Woods and his wife Smith at a mansion before the Red Table Talk There was a kiss: During the talk, Woods said, 'On the way out he did kiss me. No passion, no nothing, he just kissed me... No tongue kiss, no making out' The clip started with Jada saying, 'Her father John Woods was a sound engineer on Fresh Prince. Their sons became close.' Then Jada's son Jaden and Jordyn became friends. 'Three families together, many bonds were made,' said Jada. The families are the Smiths, the Kardashians and the Woods. She added Jordyn reached out to Jada. 'She wanted her story to be heard,' said Pinkett. 'This is grown woman mess on another level,' said Jordyn. Will then came on the line. Oh no: She added, 'I'm no homewrecker.' And she added she is not the reason Khloe and Tristan are no longer together 'I didn't think I'd be coming to the table like this,' he said. He added, 'Jada's table has healing powers.' 'Jordy's father worked on Fresh Prince before she as born.' Will says it was hard when he passed. She sold a sexy image: Here the star is seen in a bikini on social media So much pain: After the interview aired, Khloe called Jordyn a liar Ouch: 'Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story,' she said Khloe invited the girl into her life: Woods is seen here near Kylie as Khloe and Tristan are behind them in March 2018 'The world attacks, it just happens, you will never get around the world attack,' he said. 'I for you.' 'That means the world to me,' said Woods. 'Take your medicine and tell your truth, this is a part of what growing up is, this is a part of what learning is, a part of what family is,' he added. This world is not going to break you, I won't allow it.' Jada says people need compassion.' 'Everyone has done something that they wish they had done different,' said Jada in the Red Table room. 'The best way to deal with this stuff is just to come clean,' said Jada. 'There is a family that feels betrayed by you and you are clear about that right?' Jordyn said, 'After the club, normal LA culture when you're young we all go to a house after. We're not thinking who's house or where. They say it's Tristan's house, cool feels like a safe environment. They had a good thing going: Jenner made the LA native a star in many ways 'He didn't even personally invite me here, it's like come y'all. We pull up walk in, I didn't notice anyone's phone, I have no clue who told them to take away the phones - dancing, drinking 'enjoying the time. I never thought I should not be here, that was where i first went wrong She admits she should not have been hanging out with Khloe's boyfriend 'I should not have even been there.' 'Never once was I giving him a lap dance, making out with him, sitting all over him. Never once did we leave the public area, go to the bathroom go to the bedroom. 'I was with friends. Never anything intimate.' Jordyn kissed Tristan on February 17 at an LA house party. When Khloe found out she split from Tristan, who cheated on her in April 2018. She's been showing off her sensational style during Paris Fashion Week. And Friday was no different for Naomi Campbell who worked her chic new do while heading to house of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy in the heart of the French capital. The supermodel, 48, showed off her new bob to perfection as she made sure all eyes were on her in a brown trouser suit complete with a matching oversized coat for the star-studded soiree. Eyes on you: Naomi Campbell who worked her chic new do while heading to the LVMH flagship store in the heart of the French capital on Friday She paired the look with a printed handbag and added a touch of glamour with a glittering black pendant on her chest. The catwalk queen added a mysterious air to her ensemble as she clad her eyes in heavy sunglasses to match her mesh heels. Naomi was in high spirits as she headed to the store amid rumours she is enjoying a 'mind blowing' time with ex-One Direction star Liam Payne, 25. Style: The supermodel, 48, worked her new bob to perfection in a brown trouser suit complete with a matching oversized coat for the star-studded soiree High fashion: The look was a sophisticated one, to match her new bob haircut New look: Naomi's do comes as she displayed a shorter hairstyle while attending London Fashion Week last month (R) Also at the house of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy were model sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid. Bella, 22, showed off her unique style as she headed to the store in a full-length beige trench coat with chunky gold buttons. She paired the look with patent beige boots and wrapped a delicate black scarf around her neck. Chic: Sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid also headed to the LVMH house of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy Playful: The duo put on a cute display with one another at the bash Fashion family: The duo posed with Louis Vuitton's executive vice president Delphine Arnault Joking: They made light of their colourful and creative outfits Posing: The Hadids were on-point with their co-ordinating styles Leather looks: The shiny looks made them the talk of the event on Friday The style queen added black leather gloves to her ensemble while scraping her hair back into a tight bun. Meanwhile her elder sister Gigi, 23, nailed androgynous chic in a motor-inspired white boiler suit. She completed the look with black gloves and white trainers while adding a splash of colour with bright blue armbands. Catching up: Inside the event, Naomi was spotted speaking to Delphine, too The future: She spent time speaking to stylist of Enrealage Made up: The model was beautifully made up with shadowy eyes and manicured nails Can'th hide away: The catwalk queen added a mysterious air to her ensemble as she clad her eyes in heavy sunglasses to match her mesh heels Blinged up: The diva sported plenty of dazzling rings and a bejewelled bracelet to go with her look Stylish: Bella wore a long trench with matching boots and black gloves Style queen: Meanwhile her elder sister Gigi, 23, nailed androgynous chic in a motor-inspired white boiler suit Fashion: Bella, 22, showed off her unique style as she headed to the store in a full-length beige trench coat with chunky gold buttons The model daughter of Yolanda Hadid wore her long locks in a high ponytail and made sure all eyes were on her as she painted her lips a bright red shade. The stunning sisters have been ruling the runway as well as the likes of Irina Shayk, Kaia Gerber and Candice Swanepoel in Paris. It's been a tough time for the world of fashion, who paid their respects to designer Karl Lagerfeld following his death in Paris ten days ago. Gigi referenced the 85-year-old's 'genius mind' and 'indescribable presence' after his passing following a short illness. Style star: Model Jasmine Sanders also exited the event later that night Parisian style: Caroline Daur looked typically chic in a monochromatic look Influencer: Chiara Ferragni wore a bright red jacket top turn heads Quirky: She completed the look with black gloves and white trainers while adding a splash of colour with bright blue armbands Accessorising: Bella paired the look with patent beige boots and wrapped a delicate black scarf around her neck Catwalk queens: The stunning sisters have been ruling the runway during Paris Fashion Week and looked sensational in their outfits for the Off White show on Thursday She wrote on Instagram: 'Karl, I will miss your indescribable presence, watching your calm, quiet genius mind working, your little jokes, amazing stories, and experience the clothes, sets, and productions only you could dream up.' 'Thank you for believing in me and for the beautiful, incredible opportunities you brought to my career, but mostly thank you for giving me the honor of knowing the magic behind the myth. 'There will never be another Karl Lagerfeld. I am overwhelmed with sadness today, but also with so much love, admiration and gratitude for you. 'To all his beloved friends and colleagues, and his favourite girl Choupette, my heart is with you. Rest in Peace King Karl. I didn't want this day to come.' Three-piece: Her suit comprised a matching jacket and trousers with an overcoat Chic: She wore a colourful bag to offset the ensemble Flying solo: There was no sign of Naomi's model beau Liam Payne Flash flash: She was pictured coming out of the Louis Vuitton party later that night Shady lady: The model wore a pair of massive sunglasses after dark Short hair, don't care: Her new fringed bob was sleek and stylish Party time: Paris Fashion Week will soon come to a close in the French capital Lady Gaga shut down talk of her rumored affair with co-star Bradley Cooper this week during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Following her stint on the late night show, the newly minted Oscar winner stepped out for an Italian dinner. The star and her platinum locks were seen outside of a Los Angeles restaurant as she grabbed a quick smoke break. A Star is Out: Lady Gaga was spotted having a smoke break outside of an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles on Thursday after dispelling rumors about her co-star Bradley Cooper The 32-year-old stunned in an edgy black ensemble near the valet stand while puffing away on a cigarette. Her blonde tresses were blown out into a voluminous style that brushed beneath her shoulders. Gaga showcased her slim physique in a pair of tight black leggings and a black top. To complete the look, the award winner rocked a modified black leather moto jacket with shoulder pads. Smoke break: Gaga was seen puffing away on a cigarette outside of the restaurant as she chatted with a pal Big week: On Sunday, the blonde beauty scored her first Oscar for the hit song Shallow A pair of hoop earrings glittered in the light as she stood and chatted with a male companion. Gaga's five foot two stature seemed statuesque in a pair of sky-high lace up platform booties. Earlier she rocked the same boots with a rocker-glam look on Jimmy Kimmel Live wearing a black body suit under a sheer black beaded dress. Wow! The five foot two star navigated a tiled walkway in a pair of sky-high platform lace-up boots Glam: The award winner looked edgy in a modified black leather moto jacket with shoulder pads and hoop earrings Speaking out: Gaga addressed rumors that she was having an affair with Bradley Cooper during a Wednesday appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live While chatting with Jimmy about her big Oscar win, the rockstar spoke out about the rampant rumors swirling around her performance with Bradley Cooper. The blonde bombshell scoffed at the suggestion that she and her A Star Is Born colleague were more than just friends. The internet was a-buzz following the pair's romantic duet of Shallow during the Academy Awards on Sunday night. No way: The blonde bombshell scoffed at the suggestion that she and her A Star Is Born colleague were more than just friends giving Jimmy a massive eye-roll when he asked Rumor has it: After the pair shared a romantic duet on stage while performing Shallow, the internet caught fire with affair rumors When Kimmel asked about the rumors, Gaga responded first with a dramatic roll of her eyes. 'That is what we wanted you to see,' she declared when asked about their intense chemistry, adding that Bradley himself directed all the musical numbers. The star continued: 'This is a love song. It is a love story and we worked so hard. I knew he had the vision for how it should go.' 'That is what we wanted you to see,' she declared when asked about their intense chemistry, adding that Bradley himself directed all the musical numbers 'This is a love song. It is a love story and we worked so hard. I knew he had the vision for how it should go.' She described how even for the racy Sunday performance, Bradley was specific with how he wanted the stage and audience lighting to look, using Gaga's famed lighting guru LeRoy Bennett. The songstress then further dispelled rumors by highlighting her previous work with musical legend Tony Bennett. She said: 'I've had my arms wrapped around Tony Bennett for the last three years. It's what you do when you sing love songs'. She touched down in Paris earlier today. And shortly after her arrival in the French capital, Winnie Harlow made her presence known as she headed to the Birman Presentation during Fashion Week on Friday. The 24-year-old model showcased her enviable style as she arrived at the event wearing snakeskin co-ords, which were belted around her svelte waist. Commanding attention: Winnie Harlow made her presence known as she headed to the Birman Presentation during Fashion Week on Friday Winnie rocked a fitted jacket in the animal print pattern, which was split down the middle to reveal her matching flared trousers in the same print. She added a pair of peep-toe sandals to her look, giving her statuesque frame some added height in the towering heels. The America's Next Top Model star opted for a bronze pallet of make-up, which further enhanced her model looks, as she applied a shimmering smokey eye and plenty of mascara. Sss-sensational: The 24-year-old model showcased her enviable style as she arrived at the event wearing snakeskin co-ords, which were belted around her svelte waist Winnie wore her naturally curly locks in a loose style, appearing to go for a wet-look effect, leaving her locks to cascade down her back and chest. Having made her presence felt on the catwalks of New York, London and Milan over recent weeks, Winnie caught the eye as she arrived in the French capital with her designer luggage in tow on Friday. Winnie is among old friends in Paris, with Kaia Gerber and supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid already in town on behalf of the biannual fashion parade, however they appeared absent from the presentation. Happy to be here! Winnie caught up with shoe designer Alexandre Birman (L) who was hosting the event Winnie was discovered by America's Next Top Model host Tyra Banks, 45, on Instagram and competed on cycle 21 of the show in 2014. She went on to finish in sixth place on the show and has since walked in London Fashion Week and in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The model, who was born Chantelle Brown-Young, recently defended herself over comments she made about her time as a contestant on the show and perceived criticism of host Tyra Banks. Making an appearance: Olivia Palermo wore a sequined top with a fur gillet and leather trousers Showcase: Some of Birman's designs included a pair of delicate strappy heels with gold detailing and a pair of chunky snakeskin boots 'After being on the show no one would book me and no agency would sign me because of the reality TV stigma,' she wrote on Instagram. 'It has nothing to do with being ungrateful, and more over nothing to do with "shade" to Tyra. 'She was the first person of higher status to make me feel like I could be a model and not only am I grateful for that, it's something I'll never forget.' Away from fashion she has also become a public speaker about her experiences with vitiligo and also speaks out against bullying. Khloe Kardashian looked far from relaxed when she stepped out in Los Angeles on Friday. The star had a tense expression as she wore a grey Playboy hoodie and a True nameplate necklace as she carried a pink purse while walking to her car. This comes just after the 34-year-old reality TV star branded Jordyn Woods a 'liar.' During a Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, the 21-year-old model said she only kissed Khloe's beau Tristan Thompson on the lips and did not sleep with him. She also said she was not to blame for breaking up the star's family. A hard 2019: Khloe Kardashian looked far from relaxed when she stepped out in Los Angeles on Friday Grim days: The star had a tense expression as she wore a grey Playboy hoodie and a True nameplate necklace as she carried a pink purse while walking to her car Not a home run performance: This comes just after the 34-year-old reality TV star branded Jordyn Woods a 'liar' What she thinks: During a Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, the 21-year-old model said she only kissed Khloe's beau Tristan Thompson on the lips and did not sleep with him. She also said she was not to blame for breaking up the star's family Khloe's reaction was swift. The 34-year-old mom of one said: 'Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story.' Adding: 'BTW, You ARE the reason my family broke up!' When her followers commented that Tristan was also at fault, Khloe posted a second tweet writing: 'Tristan is equally to blame but Tristan is the father of my child.' She continued: 'Regardless of what he does to me I won't do that to my daughter. He has been addressing this situation PRIVATELY. If Tristan were to lie publicly about what conspired, then yes I would address him publicly as well.' No thanks: Khloe's reaction was swift. The 34-year-old mom of one said: 'Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story' Her vision: When her followers commented that Tristan was also at fault, Khloe posted a second tweet writing: 'Tristan is equally to blame but Tristan is the father of my child' Speaking out: Khloe blasted her former friends in a very strong email Facts: Khloe shared a second tweet soon after where she placed blame on Tristan as well Interestingly, after initial reports of Tristan and Jordyn came out on Tuesday, February 19, Tristan, 27, did go public. He took to Twitter just shy of 2pm on the 19th with: 'FAKE NEWS.' However, he quickly deleted his reaction. Tristan, who plays on the Cleveland Cavaliers, has not said anything else about the scandal. He was seen late Wednesday night catching dinner with a mystery brunette in New York City at Carbone Italian restaurant. Very public: Interestingly, after initial reports of Tristan and Jordyn came out, Tristan, 27, took to Twitter on Tuesday just shy of 5 pm with: 'FAKE NEWS' During the sit down with Jada, Jordyn admitted to kissing Tristan but said it was not 'intimate.' Jordyn admitted she had gone to a party at his house with friends after a night out of partying and drinking. Jordyn said: 'After the club, normal LA culture when you're young we all go to a house after. We're not thinking who's house or where. They say it's Tristan's house, cool feels like a safe environment. 'He didn't even personally invite me here, it's like come y'all. We pull up walk in, I didn't notice anyone's phone, I have no clue who told them to take away the phones - we were dancing, drinking, enjoying the time. I never thought I should not be here, that was where I first went wrong.' She admits she should not have been hanging out with Khloe's boyfriend. Going public:Woods broke down in tears as she spoke out about her involvement in the Tristan scandal 'Never once was I giving him a lap dance, making out with him, sitting all over him. Never once did we leave the public area, go to the bathroom go to the bedroom. 'I was with friends. Never anything intimate.' She addressed prior reports that she was blackout drunk when the hook-up happened, maintaining that there was alcohol involved and she was drunk but still conscious. Jordyn explained: 'I was not tipsy, I was drunk but I was not beyond the point of recollection. I knew where I was.' She said she stayed over at his house with other friends. When Jada asked her if she slept with Tristan she said no and offered to do a lie detector test. Jordyn said she left his house the morning after - which she said was the time that he kissed her - as she left. The Life Of Kylie star said, 'On the way out he did kiss me. No passion, no nothing, he just kissed me... No tongue kiss, no making out.' Her side of the story: Jordyn said she left his house the morning after - which she said was the time that he kissed her In her interview, Jordyn referred to Tristan as Khloe's ex, seemingly implying they had already broken up. She said: 'I'm no homewrecker. I would never try to hurt someone's home especially someone that I love and someone that has a beautiful daughter. 'I would never try to steal someone's man, I don't need your situation. I really just hurt so many people by not telling the truth.' She continued: 'No I'm not the reason that Khloe and Tristan aren't together, now this situation may have made it harder to want to be with him and I understand that but I know I'm not the reason.' Jordyn also said she has texted and called Khloe trying to apologize and that she wants to say sorry to her in person, but has yet to have the opportunity. After news of Jordyn and Tristan getting cosy at a house party first surfaced last week, TMZ reported that Khloe found out and THEN broke up with Tristan for good. She previously forgave him for his past infidelities. Here he is: When her followers commented that Tristan was also at fault, Khloe posted a second tweet writing: 'Tristan is equally to blame but Tristan is the father of my child' When they were happy: Jordyn added, 'I'm no homewrecker.' And she added she is not the reason Khloe and Tristan are no longer together In April of last year, Dailymail.com revealed Tristan had cheated on the then-pregnant Khloe with a strip club worker from New York City named Lani Blair. At the time, other outlets reported additional women; however despite the cheating scandal, Khloe remained with Tristan until last week when she split with the athlete. They welcomed daughter True on April 14, 2018. On Thursday, The Blast reported that claims that the night after 'Jordyn made out' with Tristan she 'hooked up' with Khloe's ex-boyfriend James Harden, 29, of the Houston Rockets. Khloe and James dated from 2015 until 2016. Three days before the Jordyn/Tristan kiss, he was also seen sneaking two women into a bedroom at a late night 'singles' party on Valentine's Day, DailyMailTV revealed. Jordyn broke down in tears on Red Table Talk as she said the whole scandal is not fair to her best friend Kylie Jenner, 21, who had nothing to do with it. Jordyn broke down in tears on Red Table Talk as she said the whole scandal is not fair to her best friend Kylie Jenner, 21, who had nothing to do with it Kylie made Jordyn a star by having Khloe cast her as a Good American model and also casting her as a sidekick on Life Of Kylie. She also had a makeup line with Kylie for Kylie Cosmetics - called KYLIE X JORDYN. Jordyn and Kylie were best friends since middle school; she lived at Kylie's home but moved out after the scandal broke. She is now living with her mother, Elizabeth Woods. They were inseparable: Jordyn and Kylie were best friends since middle school; she lived at Kylie's home but moved out after the scandal broke Jada's husband, Will Smith, has known Woods since she was a baby as he worked with the beauty's father on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. The action star was also seen during a FaceTime video with Woods and Jada on the talk show. 'This world is not going to break you, I won't allow it,' the A lister told the star. Also in the interview, Jordyn suggested that she is no longer friends with Kylie Jenner. 'At this point its gone too far and enough is enough,' said the 21-year-old model. Trying to help: Will Smith has known Woods since she was a baby as he worked with the beauty's father on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. The action star was seen during a FaceTime video with Woods and his wife at a mansion before the Red Table Talk 'Just a kiss': During the talk, Woods said, 'On the way out he did kiss me. No passion, no nothing, he just kissed me... No tongue kiss, no making out' The clip started with Jada saying, 'Her father John Woods was a sound engineer on Fresh Prince. Their sons became close.' Then Jada's son Jaden and Jordyn became friends. 'Three families together, many bonds were made,' said Jada. The families are the Smiths, the Kardashians and the Woods. She added Jordyn reached out to Jada. 'She wanted her story to be heard,' said Pinkett. 'This is grown woman mess on another level,' said Jordyn. Will then came on the line: 'I didn't think I'd be coming to the table like this.' He added, 'Jada's table has healing powers.' 'Jordy's father worked on Fresh Prince before she as born.' Will says it was hard when he passed. Drama: Jordyn also said she has texted and called Khloe trying to apologize and that she wants to say sorry to her in person, but has yet to have the opportunity Former times: She said she stayed over at his house with other friends 'The world attacks, it just happens, you will never get around the world attack,' he said. 'I for you.' 'That means the world to me,' said Woods. 'Take your medicine and tell your truth, this is a part of what growing up is, this is a part of what learning is, a part of what family is,' he added. This world is not going to break you, I won't allow it.' Jada says people need 'compassion.' 'Everyone has done something that they wish they had done different,' said Jada in the Red Table room. 'The best way to deal with this stuff is just to come clean,' said Jada. 'There is a family that feels betrayed by you and you are clear about that right?' Tara Reid had the perfect Thursday night as she feasted on pizza and enjoyed glasses of wine while out dining with Vivica A Fox and Joe Fournier in Los Angeles. The American Pie actress hit up LN2 Pizza Shoppe on busy Melrose Avenue in the city of angels with her pals. According to an eyewitness, the trio spent over an hour soaking up each other's company, along with all the carbs they could get their hands on. Fun with friends: Tara Reid and Vivica A Fox reveled in each other's company on Thursday as they headed for a pizza dinner in Los Angeles Tara, 43, wore jeans paired with heels and a white coat, smiling as she entered the restaurant. By her side, Vivica, 54, stunted in a plaid green sweat suit with red stripes down the side. Living it up with the ladies was Joe Fournier, 36, entrepreneur, boxer and billionaire, who wore a black leather jacket styled with a gold chain and dazzling white tennies. Post pizza: Vivica and friend, Joe, leave their delicious meal and head to the car The three friends enjoyed their visit and at one point, Tara even tried her hand at spinning pizzas behind the counter. It appears as though the wine had her feeling good though, because an onlooker said Tara's pizza making skills weren't quite top chef ready. An arena Tara has been shining in though is when it comes to her fitness game. Knotted: Tara rocked a knotted top braid and walked the red carpet with her furry friend by her side at an Oscars pre party last week The blonde was recently caught getting her workout on in the park. And her planks paid off as she showed off her incredible figure on the red carpet at a pre-Oscars party over the weekend. Wearing another fur coat, Tara opted for a long braid, hanging from the crown of her head and bright pink lipstick to go with the fur. Hugh Jackman recently celebrated his 50th birthday. But the Wolverine star is in the best shape of his life, thanks to his extreme exercise regime. On Friday, the Australian actor was spotted inside a gym at Sydney's Bondi, showing off his incredibly muscular physique as he completed a gruelling workout. Ripped and ready! Hugh Jackman, 50, worked up a sweat at a gym in Sydney's Bondi on Friday morning Buff: The Greatest Showman star showcased his muscular build on the day and is seen working out with his personal trainer (L) Hugh looked ripped and ready as he arrived at the gym, wearing a black singlet and shorts. It didn't take long for The Greatest Showman star to break a sweat, as he worked out alongside his personal trainer. The hunk first worked on sculpting his six-pack abs by engaging in a series of sit-ups. Bulging biceps: Hugh was seen lifting a series of heavy weights while being instructed by his trainer Better than ever! Hugh is in the best shape of his life, thanks to his extreme exercise regime Hugh was subsequently seen lifting a series of heavy weights, before he performed a set of chin-ups. Later, the actor looked positively exhausted as left the fitness facility carrying a towel and clad in a black hoodie. However, Hugh looked happy to be back in his home city of Sydney, seen snapping some photos as he walked along outside. Ripped: For his workout, the father-of-two wore an Adidas tank top, which allowed a full view of his bulging biceps Working hard! The New York-based star recently revealed that he'll again be back in Sydney later this year, stopping by on his world tour The Man. The Music. The Show. The New York-based star recently revealed that he'll again be back in Sydney later this year, stopping by on his world tour The Man. The Music. The Show. The Man. The Music. The Show kicks off in Europe in May, before heading to America in June and July. Australian fans will then have the chance to see Hugh up close and personal when he performs the show Down Under in August. What a workout! Hugh looked positively exhausted as left the fitness facility carrying a towel and clad in a black hoodie Philanthropist Roslyn Packer, mother of billionaire entrepreneur James Packer, entered Thailand's exclusive Chiva-Som wellness spa in recent weeks. As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, Roslyn, 80, booked in for a week at the luxurious health retreat. The facility costs between $2000 to $6000 a night and has been frequented by the likes of Kate Moss, 45, and Madonna, 60. Looking after herself: Roslyn Packer (pictured), 80, entered a $6000-a-night luxury wellness retreat in Thailand recently Roslyn however, appeared to be in good health according to one British socialite who told the publication: 'She looked absolutely amazing.' 'I couldn't believe she's 80 years old, she had the energy of someone half her age.' Indeed age doesn't appear to be slowing down the matriarch, who celebrated her 80th birthday in style in November last year with a party at Chiswick restaurant in Sydney's Woollahra. Paradise! Philanthropist Roslyn, mother of billionaire entrepreneur James, entered Thailand's exclusive Chiva-Som wellness spa (pictured) Tranquility: The facility costs $2000 to $6000 a night and has been frequented by Kate Moss, 45, and Madonna, 60 It comes after Roslyn's son James, 51, reportedly checked himself into McLean Hospital in March last year, which is a private psychiatric clinic in Belmont, Boston, in the US. James reportedly booked himself in for a five-week stint at the clinic, which is said to charge its patients a whopping $35,000 a week. Hours after the alarming news broke, Roslyn was pictured jetting to the US to be by her son's side who was being treated for what a spokesperson described as 'mental health issues', according to News.com.au. Strength to strength! Indeed, age doesn't appear to be slowing down the matriarch, with the philanthropist celebrating her 80th birthday in style in November last year Family first: In March last year, James reportedly booked himself in for a five-week stint at a private psychiatric clinic. Pictured from left: Roslyn, James, Erica, and Gretel Packer (back right, seen in 2008) And while said to split his time between Los Angeles and Aspen, Colorado, James is reportedly remaining in the US to be close to his ex-wife Erica and their children Indigo, 10, Jackson, eight, and six-year-old daughter, Emmanuelle. Prior to stepping down as director of Crown Resorts, James told Sydney Morning Herald that he won't be returning to Sydney until new casino, Crown Sydney Barangaroo, is completed in 2020. 'I am not going to blow away Sydney forever,' he said. 'But have no desire to be in Sydney before Crown Sydney is ready for debut. I will come back to Sydney to live but I will do it on my terms.' At 83, Albert Roux clearly still has the recipe for love. The celebrated chef, who turned Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White into culinary stars, has quietly married for a third time. Roux who founded Le Gavroche, the first restaurant in Britain to be awarded three Michelin stars tied the knot in a private ceremony with a woman understood to be three decades his junior. Celebrated chef Michael Roux, 83, still has the recipe for love as he has quietly married for the third time. Roux who founded Le Gavroche, the first restaurant in Britain to be awarded three Michelin stars tied the knot with a woman, Maria, understood to be three decades his junior I can confirm that Alberts wife is called Maria and they married last year, his spokesman told the Daily Mail. The couple made their first public outing this week at a Restaurant Association dinner at the Savoy Hotel in London, where Roux used a walking cane. Maria was very attentive to Albert all evening, a guest said. She has clearly given him a whole new lease of life. The spokesman declined to give Marias surname or any details of the wedding, which came four years after Roux divorced his second wife Cheryl Smith, a statuesque Zimbabwean 21 years his junior. She had met Roux at an International Wine and Food Society dinner, a few years after his divorce from his first wife, Monique. Cheryl, whose business success had earned her a 30million fortune of her own, later recalled how she had spurned his advances initially, at least. Roux married first wife Monique shortly after he turned 17. He had left school intending to become a priest, but quickly thought the better of it When I met Albert, he had seven girlfriends, two of whom believed they were living with him, she said. I told him I would not be part of his harem. But Roux would not be rebuffed, seducing her with same meticulousness for which he was acclaimed in the kitchen. After seven months relentless wooing, during which he assured her he had unloaded his other women, Cheryl capitulated. They married in 2006. But in 2013 the French chef became distracted by Nataliya Lutsyshyna, a 40-year-old Ukrainian who worked as a cloakroom attendant at the Roux restaurant in Parliament Square, Westminster. His weeding to third wife Maria comes four years after he divorced his second wife Cheryl Smith (right) , a statuesque Zimbabwean 21 years his junior Cheryl ordered Roux to leave their house in Belgravia and filed for divorce. Born in Semur-en-Brionnais, Roux left school at 17 intent on becoming a priest but almost immediately thought better of it, marrying Monique, his childhood sweetheart, the same year. On reflection, I would have made a very bad priest, he has remarked. With Monique, he had two children son Michel Roux Jr, who now runs Le Gavroche in Mayfair, and daughter Danielle but the couple divorced in 2001. By then Roux and his brother Michel Sr had achieved dazzling success, opening the Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire, which was also awarded three Michelin stars, and establishing the Roux Scholarship to identify up-and-coming British chefs. AnnaLynne McCord never fails to impress and did so again while wearing a beautiful black and white striped dress at the UN Women for Peace Association annual awards luncheon in New York on Friday. The actress looked extravagant in the elegant ankle length dress with a flower design on the top. Her beautiful blonde hair was styled straight and the look was finished up with red heels and lipstick. A true beauty: AnnaLynne McCord looked classy and simple at the UN Women for Peace luncheon event in New York on Friday Beautiful blonde: AnnaLynne killed it at the luncheon in New York wearing a fashionable striped dress AnnaLynne kept things simple and sweet with a natural makeup look, highlighted with glistening neutral eye shadow. The event, thrown by the UN Women for Peace Association, which works to advance the goals of organizations that offer opportunities for women to play their role in global peace, was filled with celebrities alongside AnnaLynne. Joining AnnaLynne, who's a human rights activist herself, was model Karolina Kurkova and actress Mozhan Marno. All orange: Model Karolina Kurkova turned heads in a long, bright orange dress with a thick black belt around the waist You go girl: Actress Mozhan Marno posed in front of the UNWFPA backdrop while enjoying the event Karolina towered in black heels and a vivid orange dress. The model accessorized with gold dangling earrings. Also at the event, Mozhan looked beautiful in a black long sleeve outfit with her long hair draping over her shoulders. The powerful women paused for pictures before the awards began. An honor: Ben Stiller smiled alongside the UNWFPA members after receiving his award Well deserved: Ben accepted his award from the UNWFPA for his work with refugees Heidi - how do I get rid of this dang box? Thanks! - Kate Other than the powerful women that filled the room, Ben Stiller also made an appearance. Ben was honored with the UNWFPA Advocacy award for his work serving refugees as a UN Goodwill Ambassador. The actor and activist accepted his award wearing a dapper black suit and tie. Sofia Richie went topless in an Instagram post shared on Friday afternoon. The girlfriend of Scott Disick was sitting in front of a fireplace with her arms on her knees allowing for plenty of her chest to be on display. This comes hours after the Kardashian/Jenner world was rocked when Jordyn Woods' tell-all aired on Red Table Talk. The 21-year-old pinup insisted she did not sleep with Khloe Kardashian's beau Tristan Thompson, only kissing him. Soon after, however, Khloe branded her a 'liar.' Only pants: Sofia Richie went topless in an Instagram post shared on Friday afternoon Brave: The girlfriend of Scott Disick was sitting in front of a fireplace with her arms on her knees allowing for plenty of her chest to be on display Drama: This comes hours after the Kardashian/Jenner world was rocked when Jordyn Woods' tell-all aired on Red Table Talk Not having it: The 21-year-old pinup insisted she did not sleep with Khloe Kardashian's beau Tristan Thompson, only kissing him. Soon after, however, Khloe branded her a 'liar' Sofia has a habit of posing for risque photos. Last week the blonde beauty wore a bra and black opaque tights as she leaned on a sofa in her living room. And the Vogue model tried to show some street cred by quoting the 1983 film Scarface which was about Tony Montana's rise from Cuban immigrant to drug lord. 'The eyes Chico they never lie,' she wrote in her caption. Eye-catching: Richie sure is good at garnering attention for herself on her Instagram page. She posed in a bra and black opaque tights as she leaned on a sofa in her living room Eyes on her: And the Vogue model tried to show some street cred by quoting the 1983 film Scarface which was about drug lord Tony Montana. 'The eyes Chico they never lie,' she wrote in her caption Another one: Sofia shared another snap of herself in the same outfit The line was uttered by Al Pacino's Tony as he talked about how Michelle Pfeiffer's Elvira likes him. Sofia could have been referring to how her eyes reveal she likes her beau Scott Disick. The unlikely couple have been dating for nearly two years. Richie also showed off her slender figure in a black-and-white image shared to Instagram on Sunday afternoon. Her inspiration: The line was uttered by Al Pacino's Tony as he talked about how Michelle Pfeiffer's Elvira likes him The 20-year-old model donned a Victoria's Secret bra and matching underwear while boasting about her 'Pre Oscars vibe' to her more than four million followers. Wearing VS may hint that she will be a part of the next lingerie show, Sofia looked every-inch the fashionista in the sultry photograph as she positioned herself in what appeared to be a bathtub. Her ample assets were on display in the padded black bra which featured white straps with the brand's name splashed vertically on her shoulders. Richie flaunted her gym-honed abs in the image and kept her shoulders covered with a silky black blouse. Star power: Richie showed off her slender figure in a black-and-white image shared to Instagram on Sunday afternoon Up close: The daughter of Lionel Richie has been in the selfie mood as of late with a fresh-faced photo posted last week The daughter of Lionel Richie has certainly been in the selfie mood with a fresh-faced photo posted last week. Her star status is on the rise as she's been featured in a number of fashion campaigns, including Chanel, Michael Kors and Adidas. Richie's biggest role as of late has been on the arm of her boyfriend. Scott and Sofia dodged relationship rumors for months before confirming their status on Instagram in September 2017. They've since been staples on each other's social media accounts and are regularly spotted on lavish holidays and at star-studded events. They've since traveled the world together and even vacationed with his ex Kourtney Kardashian, who is the mother of their three children together; son Mason, nine, daughter Penelope, six, and son Reign, four. DAY 19 - Tuesday December 4 A man who says he was one of two choirboys sexually abused by George Pell in Melbourne 20 years ago is all that supports the case against him, Pell's lawyer says. Not a single person can support the allegation except the surviving complainant, Robert Richter told the jury in closing arguments that included a slide show. He derided the complainant's evidence as "fanciful" and possibly embellished to the point he now believed it. It's alleged the boys sneaked away from a cathedral procession after Sunday solemn mass in 1996 and went to the sacristy to drink the sacramental wine, where they were "caught" by Pell and molested. Mr Richter asked jurors to consider "who in their right mind would take the risk of doing what (the complainant) says happened". "There is no support by a single witness for (the complainant's) version of events." The other alleged victim has died. "Only a madman would attempt to rape boys in the priest's sacristy immediately after Sunday solemn mass," he said, standing in front of a large projector screen displaying the same words. He said it was impossible for the incidents alleged by the surviving complainant to have occurred in the six-minute window the prosecution says it did because of the number of adults moving around the cathedral, including through the priest's sacristy. Mr Richter also pointed to Pell having access to private, lockable rooms where he could have taken the boys but is not alleged to have. He said Pell was also not alleged to have warned the boys to keep quiet, not telling them "don't tell anyone else because God will strike you out dead - nothing like that" that might be usual in cases of pedophilia. Mr Richter also took aim at the police investigation, suggesting "political correctness" had prompted them to believe the complainant's evidence and take the accusations to Pell directly without first seeking out others who might dispel the claims. He suggested when one of the victims came forward 19 years after the alleged crime there had been a change in police philosophy to "you have to believe what they say and then try to prove it". Pell volunteered to be questioned by police in Rome after he was confronted with the allegations and Mr Richter told the jury they could see from video footage of that interview that he experienced "genuine shock" and a sense of "I can demonstrate that's impossible". Mr Richter said it was not possible for Pell to have been robed and alone when the incidents allegedly took place. It was impossible for choirboys to have sneaked away from the procession and if Pell was robed it was impossible for him to part them to expose his penis. DAY 20 - Wednesday December 5 With a powerpoint presentation projected onto a screen behind him, Mr Richter continues to outline his case and what he says are flaws in the prosecution's. He claimed 10 "independently impossible" events would have to have occurred within the same 10-minute window in order for the offending to have happened and gone unnoticed. Mr Richter's list included that 40 or more people would have to not notice the two boys slip away from the procession, that Pell must have been alone and robed in the sacristy and that no other priests or altar servers were moving between the sanctuary and the priest's sacristy as was their practice after mass. "You are to assume all of those things are possible in order for (the complainant) to be accepted as relating a truth," Mr Richter said. He also asked jurors to consider why the two alleged victims never discussed what had happened to them with each other or anyone else. Mr Richter said after a second alleged incident in which Pell is said to have pushed one of the boys against a wall and grabbed his genitals that complainant never warned his friend. "Do you think (the complainant) might have said to (the other boy) 'look out for the bastard, he's still at it?'" he asked. "According to (the complainant's) evidence, it did not happen." Mr Richter closed his remarks asking jurors to consider the allegations against Pell as an individual, reminding them that Australia's most senior Catholic and third ranking in the church globally, was not on trial for the failings of various clerics. He said Pell was not to be scapegoated for the sins of others. "He is a man and he is in the dock, and he deserves your consideration in exactly the same way you would give it if it was someone you knew in the dock," he said. DAY 21 - Thursday December 6 Judge Peter Kidd tells jurors to think with their heads not their hearts and to act dispassionately in their decision making. "You mustn't in any way be influenced by knowledge you might have of childhood sexual abuse in the Catholic Church or cover-ups of abuse in the Catholic Church," he said. "You must not scapegoat Cardinal Pell." The jury began deliberating in the afternoon. DAYS 22-23 Jury deliberations continue. DAY 24 - Tuesday December 11 Pell is found guilty of one count of sexual penetration of a child and four charges of committing indecent acts with or in the presence of a child. As the jury foreperson read out the verdicts, Pell frowned and hung head his head low. Judge Kidd allowed Pell's bail to be continued until a plea hearing, after Mr Richter said the cardinal needed surgery to replace both knees. The judge also thanked the jurors for their work. "It needs to be recognised this was an onerous case both in terms of the length of the trial and the issues you had to grapple with," he said. He excused them from further jury service for a period of 10 years. Among the many marching down Sydney's famous Oxford Street this weekend there will be a group dressed as glittering fruit who understand as much as anyone the theme of this year's Mardi Gras. Dressed as strawberries, pineapples and grapes, the Fruits From Brazil float has embraced the Sydney Mardi Gras' theme for 2019 - fearless. The theme acknowledges the way LGBTQI people around the world courageously express who they are. Nina Silva will be marching with almost 60 others from Fruits From Brazil, a not-for-profit which offers support and assistance to LGBTQI Brazilians in Australia. Ms Silva said Brazil feels less safe for the LGBTQI community following the election of right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. "I know we are far away from Brazil now but just being Brazilian and being so out, and putting our faces out there, that's how we relate to fearless," Ms Silva told AAP on Friday. The float will be one of almost 200 to make its way down Oxford Street on Saturday night from 7pm, with 12,500 expected to take part in the parade. The 41st anniversary celebration is expected to attract 300,000 people. James Brechney and his partner Stuart Henshall will be celebrating their one year anniversary this week after marrying on top of a wedding cake-themed float at last year's parade. "It's bringing back all the memories, there was a lot of nerves and pressure last year so actually this year's quite nice to reflect a bit and to enjoy each other's company and just to have a really great night," Mr Brechney said. The couple will be in the parade again this year in a float themed around the song Beauty School Dropout from the movie Grease and will be joined by family and friends who took part in their 2018 wedding. More than 1000 police officers will keep a close eye on revellers around the CBD and Sydney's suburban areas. NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Tony Crandell acknowledged some people may take drugs and stressed the importance of looking after friends. For this year's 41st anniversary festival the state government has relaxed its controversial lockout laws for the night. Children at a primary school in Kongome, Niger, a drought-stricken region where disruption from jihadist violence is common and food shortage is rampant, in April 2010 Jihadist attacks in the Sahel nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have disrupted schooling for more than 400,000 young people, the United Nations' children's agency Unicef said Thursday. Nearly 2,000 schools have had to close, a doubling since 2017, it said in a statement. "Direct attacks on schools, teachers and schoolchildren themselves, and the military occupation of places of learning are serious violations of childrens rights," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. "When children miss out on school -- especially in times of conflict -- not only are they unable to learn the skills they need to build peaceful and prosperous communities, they also become vulnerable to horrific forms of exploitation including sexual abuse and forced recruitment into armed groups." Northern and eastern Burkina Faso, north and central Mali, and the west and southeast of Niger are particularly unstable due to the activities of armed jihadist groups, according to local NGOs. The armed forces in all three countries are struggling to contain the jihadists, including Boko Haram fighters, who attack businesses and livestock, torch schools and evict villagers, according to the NGOs. "At a time where the Sahel is facing growing threats of violence, we must not forget that education is a childs right -- and a powerful force for peace," said Fore. Autralian Minister of Defence and Industry Christopher Pyne is planning to quit politics, local media reported Friday Australia's experienced defence minister is to quit politics, media reported Friday, the fourth cabinet member to announce their retirement as the government braces for a tough election battle. National broadcaster ABC reported that Christopher Pyne, who also serves as Leader of the House for the Liberal government, would step down at the next election, due by mid-May. ABC said he would make the announcement on Saturday. Media reports said junior defence minister Steven Ciobo would also announce his retirement at the weekend. Pyne would become the fourth cabinet member in Prime Minister Scott Morrison's six-month-old government to announce they were quitting politics. Several backbench Liberal MP's have also announced they won't contest the next election, or will do so as independents. First elected in 1993, Pyne has held multiple cabinet positions and was seen as the most prominent moderate in the upper ranks of the Liberal party. Conservatives inside the party ousted centrist prime minister Malcolm Turnbull last August and Morrison has since led the party hard to the right. It now faces a tough battle to win re-election and the prospect of spending time on the opposition benches appears to have hastened the departure of several MPs. Those included former foreign minister Julie Bishop, the most prominent woman in the Liberals and the party's deputy leader under Turnbull. Current polls show the Liberals heading for their worst electoral defeat since 1983 and Australia getting a seventh change of prime minister in ten years. Opposition leader Bill Shorten leapt on the news as more evidence that the government is in trouble. "I say to Australians: If the ministers in the government are giving up on the government, you should too" he was quoted by public broadcaster SBS as saying. Some 75 tonnes of heavy fuel oil has leaked into the sea in the Solomon Islands, experts say with another 600 tonnes still on board New Zealand joined an international effort Friday to limit damage from oil spilling out of a ship that ran aground near World Heritage-listed waters in the Solomon Islands almost a month ago. The MV Solomon Trader became stranded on a coral reef on February 5 while loading bauxite at remote Rennell Island, about 240 kilometres (150 miles) south of the capital Honiara. Efforts to salvage the 225-metre bulk carrier have so far failed and experts estimate about 75 tonnes of heavy fuel oil has leaked into the sea, with another 600 tonnes still on board. "Australia remains extremely concerned by the ongoing risk of a major oil spill," Canberra's High Commission in Honiara said in a statement. Rennell Island is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and includes a UNESCO World Heritage site which extends kilometres (miles) out to sea. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is providing regular aerial surveillance of the stricken ship to monitor the unfolding environmental disaster. Pictures taken during the flyovers show a large oil slick running from the ship into the aquamarine waters and thick clumps of petrochemical sludge on the shore. Rennell Island is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and includes a UNESCO World Heritage site which extends far out to sea New Zealand dispatched two oil spill containment specialists to the disaster zone on Friday and said they would help implement a response plan. Maritime New Zealand said more specialists may be needed as the situation evolved. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has expressed concerns about the grounding said says it is working with local officials on mitigation measures. Australia has advised its citizens to reconsider travelling to Rennell Island, warning the heavy fuel oil leaking from the ship is a toxic substance and exposure to it should be avoided. Australia's High Commission described the area as "ecologically delicate" and said local inhabitants relied on the ocean for their livelihoods. It said Australia would help the Solomons make sure those responsible for the spill were held to account. "Australia stands behind the Solomon Islands government's efforts to ensure that commercial parties responsible for this incident take action," it said. The Solomon Trader is registered in Hong Kong and operated by a Hong Kong-based company, but its ownership is unclear. Some Nigerians have taken shelter in camps for internally displaced people, while others have fled across the border to northern Cameroon Tens of thousands of Nigerian refugees are being forced to return to a remote town repeatedly attacked by Boko Haram, despite lacking security, food, water and shelter, aid agencies said Friday. The United Nations said some 20,000 refugees had returned to Rann from Cameroon on Thursday, taking the numbers who have now gone back to 30,000. Rann is some 175 kilometres (110 miles) northeast of Borno state capital Maiduguri -- the epicentre of the decade-long insurgency that has killed more than 27,000. "Reports from sources on the ground indicate that these people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, including shelter, food and safe water," a UN briefing note said. There were also questions about whether the returns complied with international law on refugees, which require returns to be voluntary. Stephanie Remion, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Rann, which lies just across the border in northern Cameroon, said people were "being told by Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities to leave". "We are extremely concerned over what will happen to them once they go back to Rann as the security situation there is very uncertain and there is no humanitarian assistance." She added: "Many of the patients we treated in Goura told us they fled because they were afraid. They don't want to return." Of particular concern was an outbreak of measles in Goura, which could be a "disaster" if it spread to Rann, she said. - 'Wide open' to attack - Exactly a year ago, three aid workers were killed and three others kidnapped in a Boko Haram attack on Rann. Two of the three hostages were executed. And the town has been hit further violence since then. Some 40,000 people fled over the border to the Goura area after an attack on January 14 in which 14 people were killed and a clinic, warehouses for humanitarian supplies and shelters were burnt down. Pushing the refugees to return to Rann has heaped fresh pressure on aid agencies who are struggling to provide vital services in already congested camps and sites across northeast Nigeria and the wider region. Amnesty International said at least 60 civilians who returned to Rann after the January attack were killed by jihadists, as troops had been pulled out. One aid worker told AFP the town and the camp for the displaced was "wide open" to attack, as it was not protected by a surrounding trench to deter incursions. Shashwat Saraf, the Nigeria director of Action Against Hunger, said it was "difficult to imagine" it being safe for anyone to return. Of those who had fled to Goura, there were "alarming" levels of severe acute malnutrition among children under five, he said. "A premature return of people to Rann could have dramatic consequences," he warned. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference in the Philippines on Friday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against "armed attack" in the disputed South China Sea, in Washington's starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing's actions in waters also claimed by the Southeast Asian nation and other neighbours were a threat. "China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States," he said. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty." Pompeo's comments mark the first time a US official has publicly stated Washington's commitment to defending its poorly-armed ally in the flashpoint sea. A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defence treaty committed Manila and its former colonial master to come to each other's aid in case of "armed attack in the Pacific area". Disputed claims in the South China Sea Philippine troops and fishermen have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces. Reacting to Pompeo, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing was committed to keeping peace and stability in the region. He added that for countries outside the region "such as the United States... it is not necessary to be deliberately provocative, or stir up trouble." The United States has said it is not taking sides in the dispute over waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves. The Philippines used to be a staunch critic of China's claims over the sea. But after his election in 2016 Duterte put the dispute on the back burner in favour of courting Chinese trade and investment. He threatened a split with the United States and called then President Barack Obama a "son of a whore", but relations are being rebuilt under President Donald Trump. Senior Duterte officials have called for clarification on whether the US defence pact applies to the maritime row. But Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said Friday that Manila was "very confident" in US backing. - Huawei - Pompeo also warned the Philippines and other nations against using technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. The Philippines' Globe Telecom plans to roll out Huawei commercial 5G services this year, while the Duterte government signed a $400 million deal for Huawei to install closed-circuit television cameras in two Philippine cities to deter crime. US officials suspect Beijing could use Huawei's products to spy on foreign governments. The company denies the allegations. On Friday, Pompeo said using Huawei technology carried risks. "We want to make sure that the world has their eyes wide open as to the risks of having that technology be part of the infrastructure or backbone or networks," Pompeo said. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman replied: "The government and people of any country probably know better what is good for their country than anyone else". The European Union has been accused of behaving dishonourably in the Brexit negotiations by seeking to use the Irish border issue to lock the UK into the blocs laws. Dominic Raab said it was time for Britain to stand up to the EU, as he warned a delay to the UKs withdrawal would reduce the chance of securing a deal. Britain is due to leave the EU at the end of this month, but Prime Minister Theresa May this week offered MPs the chance to vote to seek an extension to Article 50 to delay its departure if her deal is defeated and a no-deal Brexit is rejected. The former Brexit secretary also suggested a softening of the approach among Eurosceptic Tories over the controversial Irish backstop to prevent a hard border, by saying the technical device for making the changes they require was second order. Referencing the resignation of agriculture minister George Eustice on Thursday, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: (Mr Eustice) referred to frankly the dishonourable way that theyve tried to bully us and shove us around and its time for us to stand up as a Government and as a country. Its very clear that theyve used the Northern Ireland protocol and backstop as a means of trying to press on the sensitive issue of Northern Ireland and with all the sensitivities around that, in order effectively to try and lock us into a range of their laws, really just to undercut our competitive market. Mr Raab said he had no problem with the EU negotiating to protect their interests, and said the Prime Minister had bent over backwards to try and satisfy and respect the equities on the EU side. But I think trying to use Northern Ireland given the history of that conflict, given the secessionist tendencies in other European countries in order to put pressure on us in the way that they have, no, I dont think thats right. Frankly I dont think its right from the point of view of European unity and solidarity. Mr Raab restated his opposition to Theresa Mays withdrawal deal, over which he resigned in November, and called for substantial and substantive changes to it. But in an apparent softening, the MP said: Were not being dogmatic on this on the Brexiteer side we want to see the substance of it change, but the vehicle, the technical device for doing it, is second order. What matters is that we can exit that backstop. George Eustice resigned on Thursday to fight for Brexit (PA) Mr Raab also warned that a delay to Brexit would weaken Britains leverage in the negotiations, and said: The chances of a deal get that bit slimmer because they are less likely to compromise. Im strongly against any delay, and I think from the EUs point of view it signals to them that actually their intransigence pays off and thats the wrong message for the UK to be sending to Brussels at this moment. But Mr Raab said he was open minded about a short delay of a couple of weeks to get the necessary legislation through. The former Cabinet minister expressed his support for Mr Eustice over his decision to quit the Government over Brexit. Mr Eustice said he wanted to return to the backbenches to be free to participate in the critical debate that will take place in the weeks ahead. The SCO has a larger role to play in reducing mounting tensions between the two countries caused by recent developments. A collective, region-wide campaign against terrorism is needed India and Pakistan joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as full member states during its June 8-9, 2017 summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. Before the addition of the two South Asian nations, the SCO consisted of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The now eight-member SCO also has four observer states, including Afghanistan and six dialogue partners, including Sri Lanka. In total and together, they constitute much of the Asian geography with a population of over three billion people. The foundational purpose of SCO as the largest inter-governmental organisation in the world is to strengthen mutual trust and promote good neighbourly relations among member states. This is to be achieved through gradual but consistent efforts by SCO member states to engage in multi-faceted cooperation to advance their collective and common interest in the sustainable human and protective security of the SCO space. Parallel to this, the SCO seeks to establish a more democratic and rational world order. Because sustainable peace makes sustainable development possible in Asia and the rest of the world, the SCO summits continue emphasising the importance of results-driven security cooperation among its member states, observer states and dialogue partners. The addition of India and Pakistan was widely welcomed as a significant opportunity for the SCO to address lingering security threats of terrorism, extremism and separatism in South and Central Asia. Same intertwined threats have provided an enabling environment for organised criminality, while also deepening poverty that denies the youthful populations of Asia the socio-economic opportunities and facilities they need to contribute to the sustainable development and peace of their individual nations and collectively to those of the rest of Asia. That is why Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 18th SCO Summit in Qingdao called on the SCOs expanded membership to move from talk to action. He stated: We need to actively implement the 2019-2021 programme of cooperation for combating the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism; continue to conduct the peace mission and other joint counter-terrorism exercisesWe need to give full play to the role of SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group to facilitate peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan. President Xi added, Countries are increasingly inter-dependent today confronted with many common threats and challenges that no one can tackle alone. Only by enhancing solidarity and partnership, will we be able to achieve lasting stability and development. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the summit as a newly admitted member state, echoed his Chinese counterpart, floating the concept of secure to underpin the work of SCO: S for security for citizens, E for economic development, C for connectivity in the region, U for unity, R for respect of sovereignty and E for environmental protection. He highlighted instability in Afghanistan as an unfortunate effect of terrorism, noting: I hope the brave steps towards peace taken by President Ghani will be respected by all in the region. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the accession of India and Pakistan to the SCO. He stressed that countering terrorism remains the priority for cooperation within the SCO, underlining that the three-year programme of action, adopted at the 18th Summit, envisions holding joint drills and counter-terror operations, streamlining a closer exchange of experience and operational information. He also encouraged the SCO Youth Council to actively participate in the work on preventing the recruitment of young people to participate in terrorist activities. Building on these and other statements from the SCO member states, calling for quick and concrete action to fight and eliminate terrorism, the Central Military Commission of Russia conducted a six-day joint military exercise from August 22-29, 2018, in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. The joint exercise was initiated by the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO (RATS-SCO), which included tactical operations with a focus on strengthening counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency preparedness, coordination and cooperation among the SCO member states. Around 3,000 soldiers, including 748 from China, 167 from India and 110 from Pakistan, participated in the joint drill. Indeed, for India and Pakistan, it was their first such joint military exercise since their independence in 1947. And this raised much hopes about the prospect of the two countries participating in the Peace Mission 2018 and future ones to move beyond decades of routine skirmishes along the Line of Control and to begin building inter-military confidence through SCO measures, thereby easing tensions between the two nations. Commenting on this shortly before the joint exercise, Sun Zhuangzhi, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times, It is a rare opportunity for Pakistan and India, which have long been involved in military conflict, to enhance military exchanges and trust. This could improve regional stability. Contrary to these expectations, however, a rapid escalation of violence between India and Pakistan since February 14, 2019, has been a cause for serious concern in the SCO neighborhood and the rest of the world. On February 14, Pakistan-based terrorist group, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), carried out and later claimed a suicide attack on a bus, carrying Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir. The attack killed 44 CRPF men. This unprovoked act of terrorism was internationally condemned with calls on Pakistan to rid its soil of terrorist networks and to dismantle their support infrastructure, including safe havens and training facilities. India promised retaliation and, on February 26, conducted surgical air strikes that hit the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot, Pakistan. Many militants under training at the camp are reportedly to have been killed by Indias air strikes. Although the international community has called for restraint by India and Pakistan and de-escalation of tensions between them, now is the time for the SCOs founding member states to act on their often-stated common objectives to restore, ensure and maintain peace, security and stability in the SCO space. In the last SCO Summit, President Putin emphasised that one of the SCOs key priorities was to assist in the political and diplomatic settlement of conflicts near the external borders of the organisations member states. Any escalatory moves by India and Pakistan could lead to the breakout of a larger conflict with far-reaching implications within the SCOs own borders. The organisation should lose no time in engaging with the two countries to have them refrain from further retaliatory measures in favour of returning to direct dialogue for a resolution of mounting tensions caused by recent developments. While this should be SCOs immediate goal, the RATS-SCO should be tasked to identify and assess the presence of major terrorist groups and their support infrastructure throughout the SCO region. Then it should map out a results-oriented counter-terrorism plan of action for adoption by the SCO member states, whose counter-terrorism efforts the RATS-SCO should verify to ensure no distinction between and among terrorist groups. In other words, verification by RATS-SCO should expose for correction duplicitous counter-terrorism policies, which remain an impediment to effective counter-terrorism in South Asia. As President Ashraf Ghani said while condemning the February 14 terrorist attack in India, terrorism is a cancer in the region and requires collective efforts to root it out. The SCO can and should initiate to lead a collective, region-wide campaign to fight and eliminate the cancer before it spreads in multiple destructive ways throughout the SCO region. Afghanistan has done more than a lions share in fighting terrorism with regional and transnational roots. Our full accession to the SCO will only enable us to do a lot more, helping our neighbours, including India, Pakistan, China, Russia and Iran, address the intertwined threats of terrorism, extremism and criminality. (The writer is the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Sri Lanka as well as Senior International Security Fellow at the New America in Washington, DC) Stating that creating a situation for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan in such a short span of time was a diplomatic victory, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how India can trust him. Speaking at the 'India Today Conclave' here, Shah said, "The air-strikes after the Pulwama terror attack has now isolated Pakistan globally, this is a victory of our diplomacy. Creating situation for the return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory". The two neighbouring countries came on the verge of war with each other after a human bomb trained by Pakistan based terror outfit Jesh-e-Mohammad (JeM) killed over 40 CRPF personnel and India on Tuesday crossing Pakistan airspace and hitting JeM terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan. In the ensuing air skirmishes following days Wing Commander Abhinandan whose MIG crashed after a dogfight with Pakitani F-16 had parachuted in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and taken in custody by Pakistan authorities. Later, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the Indian Airforce Pilot would be released as a 'goodwill gesture'. India, though, held that it was her diplomatic victory to have the pilot released from Pakistani custody. At the convention, BJP president slammed Pakistan Prime Minister for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how India can trust him. Shah said the Modi Government has been able to create "fear" among those behind terrorism with its actions against Pakistan-based terrorists, and asserted a message has gone that India is no longer ruled by a dispensation that was at the helm between 2004-14, referring to the Congress-led UPA. Asked about Khan's offer for talks with India, the BJP chief said, "He does not have two words of condemnation that the incident (Pulwama attack) was wrong. He should condemn it. How can we trust you? What are you talking?" "You will speak and we will listen without finding out your intentions," he said, referring to Khan's comments that he was ready for talks. In his brief reference to the Pulwama incident in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terror attack, Khan had said on Wednesday, "We know how the families of those killed in Pulwama incident must have felt. We have been the victims of war for decades." Shah said it may be possible that Khan is not in control, but he should have at least paid a "lip service" and condemned the attack. Putting the UPA Government in the dock for not giving a befitting reply to the enemy after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, he said the Modi Government has been the best dispensation since Independence in responding to terrorism. "We have a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and the Modi Government has the will to implement it on ground. Whenever we are attacked, we will give a befitting reply. Enemies will now think ten times before doing something," the BJP chief said. 3 civilians killed in Pak shelling Five security personnel, including a CRPF Inspector and two State policemen, attained martyrdom before eliminating one terrorist during fierce gunfight in Handwara area of North Kashmirs Kupwara district on Friday. In Kupwara security forces suffered heavy losses after one of the two terrorists, presumed dead during the gunfight, rose from the debris and opened fire on the joint team of security personnel who arrived at the encounter site to recover the dead bodies of terrorists. According to official sources, a CRPF commandant also received serious injuries. Earlier on February 18, two senior officers including Army Brigadier and DIG of State police too received injuries at the encounter site in Pulwama as one of the terrorists, hiding under the debris, waited for an opportunity to strike again. Till the time of filing the report operation was still going on in the area. A civilian also lost his life. CRPF commandant and seven other jawans of Army and CRPF received injuries during the fire fight. The search operation was launched by the joint team of security forces past midnight after receiving credible inputs about the presence of terrorists at Khanan Babagund in Langate. Several local residents were also injured during clashes with security forces. Also, on late Friday evening, three members of a family, including two children, were killed in fresh escalation along the Line of Control in Poonch due to heavy shelling by Pakistan Army. Two days after he was captured in Pakistan, Wing Commander Varthaman is back home amid cheers Two days after his Mig-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down and he was captured in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned to India on Friday night via Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar. His release prompted massive celebration across the country. The released pilot dressed in khaki trousers and a dark jacket set foot on Indian soil shortly after 9 pm from Pakistan after being handed over to India on other side, where he was accompanied by Indian air attache and a woman official of Pakistan foreign office. He was whisked away from Attari border to avoid media glare. Hundreds of people had gathered there since morning to have a glimpse of Varthaman. He will undergo a medical check-up at military hospital and then flown in a special aircraft to New Delhi. He will meet his family, including his wife, a retired IAF officer, and father, Air Marshal S Varthaman (retired) now settled in Chennai. The IAF authorities will then debrief the pilot in New Delhi. Sources said the debriefing procedure entails getting first person account from the pilot about the sequence of events during his captivity and details of interrogation by the Pakistan Armed forces. Since Varthaman was in custody for a brief period and most probably blindfolded to prevent him from observing the details of the place of his custody, the debriefing will be short, they said. Reports from Pakistan media indicate that after the IAF pilot was shot down and beaten up by the locals in POK opposite Rajouri sector, he attempted to destroy the documents in his possession by stuffing them in his mouth. His plane was shot down after Varthaman successfully brought down a F-16 of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) which had intruded into Indian airspace in Rajouri sector on Wednesday at about 10.30 am. The IAF pilot was part of combat air patrol which had intercepted the Pakistan jets in Narian in Naushera, Rajouri after it tried to target an ammunition point of the Indian Army. The Pakistani jets earlier had dropped bombs at the brigade headquarters of the Army in Rajouri but there was no damage. During the aerial engagement close to the Line of Control (LoC) between the SU-30 and MIG-21s of the IAF and F-16s of the PAF, Varthaman chased one F-16 and shot it down and it fell in POK. However, his MIG-21 was shot by the air defence of Pakistan and Varthaman ejected before the plane crash and landed in POK where he was captured. The Pakistani action to attack Indian military installations came a day after the IAF jets destroyed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammeds (JeM) biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmirs Pulwama, killing 40 soldiers. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced in Parliament there on Thursday about the decision to release the captured pilot as a peace gesture and the first step to open negotiations with India. In our desire for peace, I announce that tomorrow (Friday) and as a first step to open negotiations Pakistan will be returning the IAF officer in our custody. The IAF said on Thursday it was happy that Varthaman was returning home but dismissed suggestions it was a goodwill gesture insisting it was in line with Geneva Convention. We are very happy Abhinandan will be freed tomorrow (Friday) and look forward to his return Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, assistant chief of staff (space) had told a news conference in New Delhi. Asked if the IAF saw it as a goodwill move, Kapoor had said we see it as a gesture in consonance with the Geneva Convention. Justifying the Pakistani aerial strike, Khan had said in Parliament on Thursday, the only purpose of our strike was to demonstrate our capability and will. We did not want to inflict any casualty on India as we wanted to act in a responsible manner. Meanwhile, reports in New Delhi suggested that Pakistan turned down a request by India to send back Varthaman by aerial route and not through the Attari-Wagah land border, official sources said Friday. They said hours after Khan announced the decision to release Varthaman, India conveyed to Islamabad that he be sent back via the aerial route. However, late in the night, Pakistan conveyed to India that the pilot will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border and Indias request could not be heeded to, the sources said. India was also mulling sending a special aircraft to Pakistan, the sources said. Varthaman was finally driven to the border in a Pakistani military vehicle before being handed over to the Indian officials. The Daily Retreat ceremony held at the Attari-Wagah border front along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab was cancelled for Friday in view of Varthamans release by Pakistan at this frontier, the BSF said. A senior official of the force said the martial ceremony was called off due to administrative requirements. Officials said it was estimated that over 20,000 people could gather on the Indian side to welcome IAF pilot and it could be a security nightmare. Hundreds of people had flocked the Attari border since early Friday morning to catch a glimpse of the IAF pilot. Hence, it was decided to call the ceremony off on Friday so that nothing untoward happens. The Border Security Force (BSF) conducts the ceremony in coordination with their cross-border counterparts Pakistan Rangers. It involves lowering of the flags of the two countries along with foot stomping manoeuvres of the troops. Welcoming Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the soil of Jharkhand the BJP State unit has put forward five questions to him ahead of the AICC presdients March 2 rally here on Friday. In the first question asked by State BJP Spokesperson Pratul Sahdeo the BJP has stated that the Congress has supported Madhu Koda Government, which was involved in a scam of more than Rs 4,000 crore. Today you have again inducted Madhu Koda in your party. Are you planning another scam? he quipped. There is an old relationship of give and take between you and JMM. Make public the deal for Mahagathbandhan between the two parties, he asked the second question. In the third question posed to Rahul Gandhi Shahdeo asked, Your party MP Late Kartik Oroan had presented a Bill in Lok Sabha to bar tribals who have changed their religion from taking benefits of quota. What opinion do you have on this? RJD, which had vehemently opposed formation of Jharkhand, is in the Mahagathbandhan. Then how can it think about the development of the State? Can you go down to any levels for getting power in Jharkhand? the BJP Spokesperson asked. And, finally, Shahdeo asked who will be the leader of the Grand alliance in the State. Because, he said, Babulal Marandis party is finished. If you have accepted Hemnat Soren as your leader, then make an announcement because, JPCC president Ajoy Kumar is also trying to become the CM by backdoor entry. Shahdeo mocked at the Congress party for selecting Morhabadi ground for the rally of its national president and said the grounds sitting capacity is 15,000 to 20,000 only. He said that the partys national president is coming to the State after five years and the party has shown by selecting the small ground that how many people will come in the meeting. The Congress leaders are boasting that two to three lakh people will come in the meeting but the selection of the ground has shown that how many people will come in the meeting as its sitting capacity is twenty thousand only. They have shown their capacity as selecting such a small meeting place for their national president, he added. Shahdeo said that if the Congress has courage then it could have selected Prabhat Tara or any big ground of the State capital. It is clear that Rahul Gandhis interest about Jharkhand. After the last general election Rahul is visiting first time the State while Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited eight times to launch various welfare programmes, he added. Shahdeo said, after five years of long wait it will be first visit of Rahul Gandhi in the State. But in the upcoming general election the Congress will open its account in the State it is in doubt, he added. Extending a warm welcome to IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on his return home, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday also urged Pakistan to admit to, and release, the Prisoners of War (PoWs) still in its captivity from the 1971 war. In an informal chat with media persons as part of his tour of the border areas in the wake of the escalating tensions at the LoC, the Chief Minister also urged the Indian Government to take up the issue with Islamabad. Expressing happiness that talks to further thrash out the modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor were on track despite the tensions, Captain Amarinder Singh requested the central government to allow 5,000-10,000 pilgrims to cross through every day once the corridor becomes operational. He recalled his own familys close connect with the Kartarpur Gurdwara, which his grandfather Bhupinder Singh had helped rebuild after the 1928 floods. On the compensation to the people whose land was being acquired for the Corridor, Captain Amarinder Singh said the state government will thrash out the matter with the Indian government. He hoped that tensions along the border are resolved soon and Sikhs across the globe get the opportunity to have Khule Darshan Deedar of the historic Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara with the fast completion of the Corridor. The Chief Minister, who went around Haruwal village in Gurdaspur district as part of his tour of the border villages to instill confidence among the residents, said he would be the first one to cross the border to pay his obeisance at the historic Gurdwara. The Chief Minister assured the residents that there was no need for panic or fear as the armed forces were fully prepared to deal with the situation. He urged the people not to worry and assured them of his governments full support. He nostalgically recalled his visit to the area as the ADC of General Harbaksh Singh back in 1965, and assured the people, If anything happens, Ill be there with you too. Addressing a gathering at Dera Baba Nanak, the Chief Minister said he was in constant touch with the central government and the state government was well prepared for any eventuality. Amid loud cheers and slogans of Jai Hind, the Chief Minister said that even when he had come here as a serving military officer, what struck him the most was the indomitable courage and enthusiasm of the people. During his tour, the Chief Minister shared a cup of tea with BSF personnel at the BSF border observation post in Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur (10 Battalion BSF sector HQ BSF Gurdaspur). He also interacted with Indian Army officers and men at an army camp in the border district of Gurdaspur to boost their morale and appreciated their courage in these stressful times. Earlier, on arrival in Gurdaspur, the Chief Minister took stock of the situation and was briefed by DIG Border Range and Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur regarding the steps taken for the safety and security of the residents. The Chief Minister asked the Civil and Public administration to keep up the preparedness level and further intensify dissemination of information useful to the public to ensure their safety and security at all costs. Interacting with young students of Government High School Dhyanpur where his chopper landed, Captain Amarinder Singh encouraged them to study diligently, in order to further fortify their knowledge base and apply the same to be a force multiplier in influencing the society. Enquiring about the police preparedness, the Chief Minister asked the PAP Commandos at Dera Baba Nanak Police Station to keep a tight vigil and act as a strong second line of defence to the Army. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, his Media Advisor Raveen Thukral and DGP Dinkar Gupta. Prominent among others present during the visit included MLA Ajnala Harpartap Singh Ajnala, IG border range Amritsar SPS Parmar, Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur Vipul Ujwal, SSP Batala Opinderjit Singh, DIG BSF Sector Gurdaspur Rajesh Sharma, Commandant 10 BN BSF Varinder Vajpai. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Friday that deserving people left out in Ayushman Bharat national health protection scheme would be included in the list as the government was committed to extending health benefits to the people of the state. Launching the Jan Arogya campaign in the state capital on Friday, Yogi said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision to extend quality health facilities to the people who were unable to get treatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme. I assure you that all bona fide people who do not figure in the Ayushman Bharat list will be included, the Chief Minister said. Yogi said that if the government could provide better health facilities in Uttar Pradesh, it would reflect in Indias health index. Keeping this in mind, the UP government has launched the Jan Arogya campaign under which small centres will be digitally connected with specialists of big hospitals. For this, 15 telemedicine centres and equal number of teleradiology centres have been inaugurated across the state, the Chief Minister said. Through telemedicine, we will be able to provide quality health care to people in far-flung areas. Many regions of UP were languishing because of non-availability of better facilities. Our government has initiated the process to extend better medical facilities in rural areas as specialists do not want to go to villages and serve there. We used technology to provide better facilities to the poor, Yogi said. UPs Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said that telemedicine services had started in 15 centres, including the backward regions like Hamirpur, Mirzapur and Bahraich. Considering the fact that there is paucity of radiologists, the state government has also started 15 radiology centres. Jan Arogya centres will also be started at 750 centres across the state, where primary medical facilities will be provided, the minister said. Singh added, In the coming months, over 2,500 centres will be set up across the state. In the next three years, we will have the best health care service in the country. For this, a fleet of 712 ambulances have been added to the existing fleet of 108 Service. Tourism and Child Welfare Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that since the Yogi government came to power, there had been a decline in child mortality rate. We are committed to providing better future to the children of this nation and we will fulfil that promise, Bahuguna said. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican who was elected partly because of his experiences as a public school educator, proposed a budget this year that would slash more than a quarter of the states $1.6 billion education budget. The proposal has outraged the states school officials who say if the budget is passed as it stands now, they will be forced to lay off scores of teachers and cut crucial programs. This is a sad day for Alaska public schools, Tim Parker, the president of the states teachers union said in a press release Feb. 13 shortly after the budget was released. Gov. Dunleavy ran on his background as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. This budget makes a profound statement that our public schools, our educators, and, most importantly, our students futures are expendable. The state is heavily dependant oil revenue and, because oil prices havent rebounded as much as expected in recent years, the state has had to consider ways to reduce its costs. Many of the states residents want to keep the states Permanent Dividend Fund, which results in residents getting a $1,600 check as a share of oil-related tax revenues this year just for living in the state. In order to protect that fund as he promised to do during his campaign, Dunleavy has said he has to cut elsewhere. I want to have effective education. Thats what I want to have, he said in a recent interview with the Alaska Daily News. I want an education where all kids can read and do mathematics at least at the algebraic level. Thats what I want. What does that look like? I think we have lots of room for discussion on what that looks like and how we get there. District superintendents, who have described the cuts as unprecedented, say the cuts, around $300 million, will have a compounding effect on the states schools, especially its many schools in isolated parts of the state. Class sizes will grow, teachers will leave the state, and test scores will ultimately sink, they warn. Prior cuts to the states K-12 spending over the last three years resulted in the states education department laying off more than a third of its staff. Before becoming a politician, Dunleavy served as an elementary school teacher, principal, and as superintendent of the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, an isolated rural district. He later was voted to serve on the districts school board. Most of the nations other states have had large surpluses this year as sales, income and property taxes continue to rebound. Theres a scramble amongst public school advocates in those states for politicians to spend those dollars on states K-12 systems rather than save them in order to prepare for the next recession. Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics. Under Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singhs flagship program Connect to Your Roots (CYR) to connect youngsters settled abroad with the motherland of their forefathers, the second group of youngsters from United Kingdom will visit Punjab from April 6 to 16. Secretary NRI Affairs Rahul Bhandari on behalf of State Government, on Friday reviewed the requisite arrangements and preparedness. An official spokesperson said the Coordinator Officer for UK V.S. Khera called on the Secretary NRI Affairs Rahul Bhandari and discussed various issues regarding selection of beneficiaries, travel plans, detailed Itinerary and other arrangements under CYR program. He apprised that this group consisting boys and girls would visit different historic, religious and prominent places in the state. During the meeting, it was also informed that the coordinator was touring UK to help in identifying eligible youngsters under the CYR. Under this scheme, Punjabi youth settled abroad has been provided with a golden opportunity to visit the land of their ancestors. This unique initiative would go a long way in cementing their age old bonds with soil of their grandparents besides keeping them abreast with the rich culture, traditions and values. The delegation will also stay in their ancestral village for a day or two. Deputy Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India, Sudip Jain, today reviewed the preparedness of the election commission in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Jharkhand through the video conferencing with Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police. On the occasion, he gave necessary guidelines and instructions to the DCs and SPs. Chief Electoral Officer, Jharkhand, L Khiangte, said on the occasion that the minimum required facilities like ramps, toilets, drinking water, electricity, furniture, help desk, signage etc have been arranged at polling stations. If these facilities are not available in any polling station, then it should be done promptly. Training program for EVM-VVPAT voting is being conducted in every village and local markets by electoral workers. Election Literacy Club and Election School have been formed at booth level. With this, promotional material related to voter awareness is being shown on the screen in cinema halls, he added. The Deputy Election Commissioner directed all the DCs to strictly adhere to the basic protocol applicable in respect of maintenance, storage and transportation etc of EVMs before and after voting and during the counting of votes. All the superintendents of the police were instructed to settle matters related to non-bailable warrants in their district as quickly as possible and brought them to zero level. It was also said that the DCs and the SPs have been asked to do so as soon as possible. Additional Chief Electoral Officers Vinay Choubey, Manish Ranjan, Nodal Officer, State Police, Ashish Batra, Nodal Officer, Central Armed Police Force, Sanjay Anand Lathkar , and other senior police officers were present. Transfer of UAD Dept officials oedered Bhopal: The State government on Friday issued orders to transfer a large number of officials of Urban Administration and Development (UAD) Department. Joint Director in Directorate of Urban Administration Mayank Verma has been shifted to Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) as Additional Commissioner Similarly, Commissioner in Morena Municipal Corporation Dhirendra Singh Parihar has been posted as Additional Commissioner in Ujjain Municipal Corporation. CM conducts Mass singing of Vande Mataram Bhopal: Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday conducted mass singing of the national song Vande Mataram and rendition of national anthem Jana-Gana-Mana at Sardar Patel Park in front of Mantralaya at 11 am. Chief Secretary SR Mohanty was present in the programme along with officials/ employees of Mantralaya, Vindhyachal and Satpura Bhavan. Before the singing programme, Law and Legal Affairs and Public Relations Minister PC Sharma joined the mass march at Shaurya Smarak at 10.40 am. A huge crowd voluntarily joined the mass march moving along with the police band. If farmers empowered we will be empowered: Min Bhopal: Public Works Minister Sajjan Singh Verma said that if farmers are empowered we all will be empowered. He said that the state government has fulfilled the promise of loan waiver made to the farmers. Verma was addressing Jai Kisan Crop Loan Waiver Scheme programmes at Ghattiya, Nagda and Khachrod in Ujjain district on Thursday. The state government has waived crop loan of more than Rs 63 crore of over 24,000 farmers in three tehsils. Minister In-charge Verma said that the state government wants to empower farmers financially. Work of opening gaushalas has been started in the gram panchayats in the state. 1-day Swarozgar Mela, awareness camp held Bhopal: A one-day Swarozgar Mela and awareness camp is being organized at Iqbal Maidan near Sadar Manzil on March 5 by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department. Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Arif Aqueel will be the chief guest. The camp will comprise an exhibition of the products of beneficiaries, stalls for information and guidance about 12 departments and their selfemployment schemes besides stalls of branches of various banks. Ex-army personnel nominated Non-official member Bhopal: Major General HS Bedi BSM Retired and Colonel Rakesh Pathak, Retired have been nominated Non-official member in the State Management Committee of the Amalgamated Special Fund formed for the administration and rehabilitation of ex-militarymen. The tenure of the members will be for two years. The new members have been nominated as the tenure of former members Major General PN Tripathi and Air Commodore RK Pal has ended. Delhi students visit IGRMS Bhopal: Students of MSc (Environment Management) and MSc (Natural Resources Management) from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi on Friday visited Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya. The students saw important cultural traditions which are on the verge of extinction in the Rock-art Heritage and Tribal Habitat open-air exhibitions of Manav Sangrahalaya. Office Superintendent gets 4 yrs RI Bhopal: Special Judge CBI Cases, Jabalpur has sentenced Mahendra Singh Thakur, then Office Superintendent (Personnel), West Central Railway, Bina, District Sagar to undergo four years Rigorous Imprisonment with fine of `75,000 in a Disproportionate Assets case. CBI investigation revealed that during the check period from July 01, 2005 to October 25, 2010, Mahendra Singh Thakur had acquired assets which were disproportionate to the extent of `48,67,781 to his known sources of income. After investigation, a charge-sheet was filed on October 31, 2011, against the accused in the Court of Special Judge, CBI Cases, Jabalpur. A jewelry shop was targeted by miscreants at Peepal chowk under Nishatpura police station area on Thursday and decamped with valuables worth lakhs of rupees. According to the police, the victim, Mayan Soni found that he his shop was targeted by miscreants and gold and silver jewelry worth lakhs of rupees were burgled. A complaint was lodged by the victim with the Nishatpura police and in his complaint he stated that he left the shop after closing it late in the night on Wednesday and when he came to open the shop shutter and doors was found broken and valuables were burgled. Investigating Officer Pawan Kumar Sen said that the miscreants wore masked at the time of the burglary and after entering the shop disconnected the CCTV cameras and committed burglary. The miscreants were not able to break cash chest of the shop and escaped with the jewelry and decorative sample jewelry in the shop. The building houses several shops but no security guard is deployed during night and no security measures are taken by the shopkeepers, he added. The police have registered a case under sections 457 and 380 of the IPC and have started further investigation. Meanwhile, miscreants escaped with valuables worth Rs 85000 from Deep Mohini society under Piplani police station area on Thursday. The victim Alok Gokhale had gone to meet relatives in Indore on Wednesday and when he returned on Thursday valuable were found burgled. The police have registered a case under sections 457 and 380 of the IPC and have started further investigation. The neighbors have expressed ignorance over the burglary. Gajapati District Congress Committee (DCC) leaders have requested PCC president Niranjan Patnaik to contest from the Paralakhemundi Assembly constituency in the upcoming election. During a meeting with Patnaik at Bhubaneswar, DCC leaders told him that Paralakhemundi has remained a Congress fort since the Independence. It contributed to the winning margins of Brahmapur Parliament constituency candidates like Jagannath Rao, Gopinath Gajapati, PV Narashima Rao and Jayanti Patnaik. Expressing hope that the Congress would form the next Government in the State, the leaders said the constituency would certainly witness faster development if Patnaik represents the seat to the Assembly. They are also of the view that the candidature of Patnaik for the seat would help the party to bag many Assembly seats in undivided Ganjam, Koraput and Kandhamal districts. Leaders like Dr TIrupati Panigrahi, DCC working president G Tirupati Rao, general secretaries Dasarathi Gomango and Himianshu Lima met Patnaik. In return, the PCC chief promised to consider their proposal. Chhattisgarh government on Friday ordered a probe into encroachment in famous Dalpat-Sagar Lake in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar district. Revenue Minister Jaisingh Agrawal announced this in the assembly following an instruction from Speaker Charandas Mahant. Mahant gave instruction after Congress legislator Mohan Markam raised the issue during question hour. Stating that ancient lake was of a vital importance, the Congress member said that almost one fourth of the lake had been encroached. He also demanded a probe into the matter. JCC (J) legislator and former chief minister Ajit Jogi also in a supplementary question stated the lake was of great importance, and demanded a probe into the entire matter. The Revenue Minister said the probe report would be tabled in the next session of the state assembly. Union minister and former Army chief V K Singh on Friday said he was happy that Pakistan was releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, but the neighbouring country needs to do a "lot more". The Centre is taking "appropriate measures" and "such steps are not revealed", the minister of state for External Affairs told reporters on the sidelines of an event in his Lok Sabha constituency. He was asked about the Centre's next step amid the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. "A lot of things are done in line with the Geneva Convention. We are happy that he is being released. If they call it a gesture of peace, we are happy for that too, but they need to do a lot more," he said. Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, is expected to be released on Friday. On Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi not attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) being hosted by the United Arab Emirates, Singh said, "It's Qureshi's brain, let them do what they want." Qureshi on Friday announced that he will not attend the meeting over the grouping's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. Reacting to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's remarks on India's air-strike in Pakistan, Singh said, "There are a lot of people who don't have any work." Citing foreign media reports that not much damage was done by the Indian Air Force's preemptive strike on terror camps at Balakot, Banerjee on Thursday had said, "The Force should be given an opportunity to come up with facts." On trade relations between the two nations, Singh said, "The MFN (Most favoured nation) status to Pakistan has already been withdrawn. With this, goods imported from there will become costly and obviously people won't go for costly products. Happy with release of IAF pilot, but Pak needs to do lot more: V K Singh Ghaziabad, Mar 1 (PTI) Union minister and former Army chief V K Singh on Friday said he was happy that Pakistan was releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, but the neighbouring country needs to do a "lot more". The Centre is taking "appropriate measures" and "such steps are not revealed", the minister of state for External Affairs told reporters on the sidelines of an event in his Lok Sabha constituency. He was asked about the Centre's next step amid the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. "A lot of things are done in line with the Geneva Convention. We are happy that he is being released. If they call it a gesture of peace, we are happy for that too, but they need to do a lot more," he said. Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, is expected to be released on Friday. On Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi not attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) being hosted by the United Arab Emirates, Singh said, "It's Qureshi's brain, let them do what they want." Qureshi on Friday announced that he will not attend the meeting over the grouping's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. Reacting to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's remarks on India's air-strike in Pakistan, Singh said, "There are a lot of people who don't have any work." Citing foreign media reports that not much damage was done by the Indian Air Force's preemptive strike on terror camps at Balakot, Banerjee on Thursday had said, "The Force should be given an opportunity to come up with facts." On trade relations between the two nations, Singh said, "The MFN (Most favoured nation) status to Pakistan has already been withdrawn. With this, goods imported from there will become costly and obviously people won't go for costly products. After a suspenseful wait lasting hours, Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman finally returned home from captivity in Pakistan Friday, a major step towards defusing a near-war situation triggered by India's retaliation over Pakistan's continued support for terrorism. Hoping to give a hero's welcome to Wing Commander Varthaman, thousands of Indians gathered on the border carrying the tricolour and garlands since morning. But as the day wore on and night fell there was no sign of the pilot, who was captured on February 27 by Pakistan following a dogfight between the two air forces in which his MIG-21 was shot down. He finally emerged at 9.10 p.M. India time at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. He was wearing a civilian clothes -- a dark jacket and khakhi trousers, walking proudly toward the gates that separated his captors' country from his homeland. "Wing Commander Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. He will be taken now for a detailed medical checkup. This check up is mandatory as he had to eject from an airplane which would have put his entire body under stress," Vice Chief Marshal R G K Kapoor told reporters in a brief statement in Attari, near Amritstar, on the other side of Wagah. Addressing a public rally in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "every Indian is proud of brave pilot Abhinandan." Several political leaders, including Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee welcome the IAF hero back home. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir on February 14 by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad. Amid mounting outrage, Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan retaliated with a large air formation, comprising 24 fighter jets, including F-16s. Varthaman was in one of the eight MIG-21s that took on the invader and shot down an F-16, according to officials. During the dogfight, his plane was hit and he bailed out, landing in PoK, where he was taken into custody by the Pakistani army. On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told a special joint sitting of Parliament that his government was releasing the pilot as a "peace gesture". However, India has been maintaining that Pakistani decision is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions. After the pilot's release, the Pakistan Foreign Office described him as a Prisoner of War. The Pakistan government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. As analysts painstakingly debated each nuance of India-Pakistan relations in TV studios, anchors went hoarse keeping up the constant commentary, and journalists looked for information on when and how he would be handed over to India. The government decided to keep it all under wraps. Patriotism was the mood of the day. There was garba in Ahmedabad, dancing in Bangalore, a sand sculpture of the officer in Puri and 'yagnas' in several places. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. US President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with the leaders of Japan and South Korea as he flew back to Washington after his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un ended without a deal, the White House said Thursday. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters traveling with Trump on Air Force One that he spoke for around 15 minutes each with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. "He gave them an update on the meeting," Sanders said. "He told them he will continue the conversation." The US-North Korea nuclear summit ended abruptly in Hanoi earlier Thursday, with Trump saying he had decided to "walk" in the face of Kim's demands to drop sanctions. The much-anticipated second meeting between the two leaders was supposed to build on their historic first summit in Singapore, but they failed to sign a joint statement as initially scheduled and the talks ended in deadlock. Abe earlier said he backed Trump after the talks collapsed. Tokyo has regarded the US-led diplomatic push with Pyongyang with suspicion, and has sought to keep its interests on the table in the discussions by coordinating closely with its ally Washington. At least 23 Afghan security forces were killed in a Taliban attack on a joint US-Afghan base in southwestern Afghanistan, officials said Friday, as fighting continues amid a pause in peace talks between the insurgents and American negotiators. "The operation is over 23 security forces killed, 15 injured and 20 insurgents killed," said Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed, a spokesman with the Ministry of Defence. Ad Investing Trends Why Helium Prices Have Skyrocketed By 160%... And How You Can Tap Into A Rare Opportunity Tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are hoarding helium. And that's because it's about to become one of the rarest, most important gases on Earth. And this small cap company has found what might be the most valuable helium sites on the planet. Novan, Inc., a clinical development-stage biotechnology company, provides nitric oxide-based therapies to treat dermatological and oncovirus-mediated diseases. Its clinical stage dermatology drug candidates include SB204, a topical monotherapy for the treatment of acne vulgaris; SB206, a topical anti-viral gel for the treatment of viral skin infections; SB208, a topical broad-spectrum anti-fungal gel for the treatment of fungal infections of the skin and nails, including athlete's foot and fungal nail infections; and SB414, a topical cream-based gel product candidate for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. The company also develops SB207, an anti-viral product candidate for the treatment of external genital warts; WH602, a nitric oxide-containing intravaginal gel to treat high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV); WH504, a non-gel formulation product candidate to treat high-risk HPV; and SB019 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Novan, Inc. has a license agreement with Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; and a strategic alliance with Orion Corporation. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina. Read More The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small businesses and commercial customers, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides Internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 952 branches and approximately 3,540 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,400 branches, 5,200 ATMs, and 22 contact centers internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada. Read More There is not enough analysis data for Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund. 4.1 Community Rank Outperform Votes Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund has received 110 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund has received 69 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund has received 61.45% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe FAX will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe FAX will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More Vitamin Shoppe, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a omni-channel specialty retailer and contract manufacturer of nutritional products in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Retail and Manufacturing. The company provides custom manufacturing and private labeling services for vitamin, mineral, and supplement products, as well as develops and markets own branded products. It offers vitamins, minerals, herbs, specialty supplements, sports nutrition products, and other health and wellness products of approximately 900 brands, such as own brands comprising The Vitamin Shoppe, BodyTech, True Athlete, Mytrition, plnt, ProBioCare, Next Step, and Betancourt Nutrition; and national brands, including Optimum Nutrition, Cellucor, Garden of Life, Quest Nutrition, Solaray, Solgar, Megafood, and Nature's Way. The company sells its products through Vitamin Shoppe and Super Supplements retail stores, as well as through its vitaminshoppe.com Website. As of November 7, 2018, it operated 775 company-operated retail stores under the Vitamin Shoppe and Super Supplements retail banners. It also operates franchise stores. The company was formerly known as VS Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. in November 2009. Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey. Read More 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 contact@marketbeat.com | (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. Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF's stock was trading at $75.66 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, VYM shares have increased by 44.7% and is now trading at $109.50. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. National Bank of Canada provides various financial products and services to retail, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. The Personal and Commercial segment offers personal banking services, including transaction solutions, mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, consumer loans, payment solutions, savings and investment solutions; various insurance products; and commercial banking services, such as credit, and deposit and investment solutions, as well as international trade, foreign exchange transactions, payroll, cash management, insurance, electronic transactions, and complimentary services. The Wealth Management segment provides investment solutions, trust and estate services, banking services, lending services, guaranteed investment certificates, mutual funds, notes, structured products, and other wealth management solutions through internal and third-party distribution networks. The Financial Markets segment offers risk management products and services; and debt and equity underwriting; advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, and financing. The U.S. Specialty Finance and International segment provides specialty finance expertise; financial products and services to individuals and businesses in Cambodia; and the activities of targeted investments in certain emerging markets. The company also offers credit cards. It provides its services through a network of 483 branches and 1,573 banking machines. The company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Read More United Overseas Australia Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and resale of land and buildings in Malaysia. The company operates through three segments: Investment, Land development and Resale, and Others. The Investment segment is involved in the holding of various investment properties. The Land Development and Resale segment engages in the development, construction, and sale of residential and commercial properties. The Others segment engages in the operation of hotels, and food and beverage outlets; and provision of facilities support, money lending, and management services, as well as car park operations. United Overseas Australia Limited was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Read More Both the SUVs are likely to be showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo in February. Both the SUVs are likely to be showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo in February. Both will compete in the same segment; will rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Kia SP2i, Nissan Kicks and Renault Duster. Kamiq is expected to launch first, in the second half of 2020, followed by the T-Cross. Both the SUVs share the same platform and powertrains, but are completely different in terms of styling. Volkswagen Groups next set of localised, made-in-India products will be compact SUVs from its two mainstream brands: VW and Skoda. Christened the VW T-Cross and Skoda Kamiq, these SUVs are global models and will be launched in India too. Both the SUVs are based on VW Groups MQB A0 platform (pictured below), which will be localised in India. Without further ado, let's take a look at their international spec sheets to give you a fair idea of what to expect. Dimensions: Brazil-spec Volkswagen T-Cross Euro-spec Volkswagen T-Cross Dimensionally, there are two versions of the T-Cross Euro-spec (2,563mm wheelbase) and Brazil-/China-spec (2,651mm wheelbase) unlike the Skoda Kamiq (2,651mm wheelbase). Of the two, India is expected to get the T-Cross with the larger wheelbase, so well compare the Brazil-spec T-Cross and the recently revealed Kamiq. Skoda Kamiq VW T-Cross (Brazil-spec) Length 4,241 mm 4,199mm (-42mm) Width 1,793 mm N.A. Height 1,531mm 1,568mm (+37mm) Wheelbase 2,651mm 2,651mm (0) Underpinned by the same MQB A0 platform, both the SUVs have an identical wheelbase. But the Kamiq is slightly longer than the T-Cross. The T-Cross, on the other hand, is marginally taller. Irrespective of these minor differences, both SUVs should have a comparable road presence. Features: Since both the cars are positioned similarly, we don't expect there to be a drastic difference in terms of features. Here's what's on offer globally. Lights: Both SUVs offer full-LED headlamps and tail lamps with LED elements. The Skoda, however, comes with a split setup at the front and also features dynamic turn indicators. Wheels: Both SUVs offer upto 18-inch wheels globally. The India-spec models are expected to get 17-inch alloys, just like other cars in the segment. Infotainment system and instrument cluster: While the Kamiq can be had with upto 9.2-inch touchscreen infotainment displays, the T-Cross is available with upto 8-inch units. The India-spec SUVs are expected to get an 8-inch system in their range-topping variants. Both the SUVs feature a 10.25-inch fully digital instrument cluster and the India-spec model should get that too. The digital instrument cluster also displays full-screen navigation maps. Pictured: VW's 8-inch unit Comfort features: Both SUVs have nearly the same set of features. Some of the highlights expected on the India-spec models are sunroof, dual-zone climate control and wireless Qi charging. Volkswagen T-Cross Skoda Kamiq Boot space: The Kamiq has a 400-litre boot which can be expanded to 1395 litres with the rear seats folded down. The VW T-Cross, on the other hand, features variable boot space, thanks to the sliding second-row seats. Depending on the position of the second row, the boot space of the T-Cross varies between 373 and 420 litres. Moreover, like the Kamiq, the rear seats also fold flat to expand the space further. The Kamiq has a 400-litre boot which can be expanded to 1395 litres with the rear seats folded down. The VW T-Cross, on the other hand, features variable boot space, thanks to the sliding second-row seats. Depending on the position of the second row, the boot space of the T-Cross varies between 373 and 420 litres. Moreover, like the Kamiq, the rear seats also fold flat to expand the space further. Safety features: The India-spec SUVs are expected to pack multiple airbags, electronic stability control (ESC), hill hold control, tyre pressure monitoring system and fatigue detector. Features like dual front airbags, ABS and reverse parking sensors will be standard. Engines: So far, Volkswagen Group has confirmed that its MQB A0-based cars will be powered by an all-new, locally manufactured 1.0-litre TSI turbocharged petrol. Available in two states of tune (95PS and 115PS), these SUVs are expected to get only the more powerful version. The 1.0-litre turbocharged engine is also available with a CNG fuel option overseas, which VW might consider for India too. Theres no clarity on the diesel engine for India as Volkswagen is rumoured to ditch its 1.5-litre TDI engine once BSVI emission norms are implemented in April 2020. The Euro-spec SUVs, however, get the option of a 1.6-litre TDI engine. 115 TSI 1.0-litre TGI Fuel Type Petrol CNG/Petrol Displacement 999cc 999cc Power 115PS @ 5,000-5,500rpm 90PS @ 4,500-5,800rpm Torque 200Nm @ 2,000-3,500rpm 160Nm @ 1900-3,500rpm Transmission 6-speed MT/ 7-speed DSG 6-speed MT Expected India launch and competition: Both the Kamiq and T-Cross will be launched in India in 2020-21. Both are expected to feature minor cosmetic changes for the Indian market and might look more rugged. The Kamiq is expected to launch first, around Diwali 2020, followed by the T-Cross. Both SUVs will compete in the compact SUV space and will rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Kias upcoming SP2i SUV, Nissan Kicks, Renault Duster and Captur. Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho. Mexican Government Unveils Six-Year Tourism Strategy The Mexican government announced a new six-year tourism strategy on Sunday that would focus on five key goals, including building the Mayan Train and enticing tourists to spend more money. According to Mexico News Daily, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said during an event in Quintana Roo that tourism was the nation's third largest foreign exchange earner, contributing $22 billion to the economy. Lopez Obrador also revealed during his speech the Mayan Train project will begin soon and the federal government would be investing 600 million pesos to improve living conditions for tourism workers in Playa del Carmen, with similar spending expected in Acapulco, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta over the coming months. Another primary focus of his administration will be the safety of top tourism destinations, with Lopez Obrador ordering the secretariats of Security (SSPC), National Defense (Sedena), the Navy (Semar) and Tourism (Sectur) to work together on a comprehensive plan to combat insecurity. "That's why it's very important for us to maintain economic growth and continue creating jobs in the sector," Lopez Obrador told Mexico News Daily. "We're going to implement a plan to grow the whole country but we want to support tourism and at the same time support regions that are lagging behind in terms of growth, employment and well-being." All of the changes planned are meant to help Mexico build on its position as the world's sixth most visited country, which welcomed a record 41.4 million international tourists in 2018, a 5.5 percent increase from the previous year. Lopez Obrador is also looking to increase tourism spending by focusing advertisement campaigns toward wealthy countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Japan, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Korea. In addition, the administration plans to develop less-visited destinations, stimulate domestic tourism and ensure that federal, state and municipal governments work together to improve the industry. The Mexican Senate is also getting involved in the tourism industry following Lopez Obrador's plans for the industry. According to PasilloTuristico.com, officials want Tianguis to continue with Acapulco hosting every other year, a funding increase for Pueblo's Magicos Program, promotion of medical and wellness tourism and more. New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches against former ICICI bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot in connection with a bank loan fraud case, officials said. They said the raids are being carried out in at least five office and residential premises in Mumbai and a few other locations. The agency had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) earlier this month against Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, Dhoot and others to probe alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning of Rs 1,875-crore loans by the ICICI bank to the corporate group. A team of ED sleuths, assisted by the police, is looking for more evidences in the case and the raids were launched early Friday morning, officials said. The ED's PMLA case was filed after taking cognisance of a CBI complaint lodged in the matter last month. The CBI had named Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, and Dhoot and his companies -- Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) and Videocon Industries Limited (VIL). The central probe agency also named Supreme Energy, a company founded by Dhoot, and Nupower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak Kochhar, in the FIR. It is alleged that Dhoot had invested in Deepak Kochhar's company Nupower through his firm Supreme Energy a quid pro quo to loans cleared by ICICI Bank after Chanda Kochhar took over as the CEO of the bank on May 1, 2009. The ownership of Nupower and Supreme Energy changed hands through a complex web of shared transactions between Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot, the CBI alleged. New Delhi: A ride-sharing company has partnered with the government's flagship healthcare insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, to facilitate free healthcare for several drivers associated with the firm. The National Health Authority (NHA), the apex body implementing the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has inked an MoU with Uber. According to the agreement, Uber, under its Uber CARE initiative for driver and delivery partners, will facilitate the setting up of common service centres (CSC's) at Partners Seva Kendras across India. The CSC's village level entrepreneurs at these centers will help verify eligibility and issue e-cards to drivers for the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, which provides healthcare benefits worth Rs five lakh to each eligible family per year in government and empanelled private hospitals. CEO of NHA, Dr Indu Bhushan said, Reaching out to the last mile beneficiary lies at the core of the goal of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY of providing cashless quality inpatient care for serious illnesses with a view to protect more than 10 crore economically vulnerable families or 50 crore people from catastrophic healthcare expenditure that impoverishes more than 6 crore people every year. "Through this partnership with Uber, we hope to reach out to lakhs of people and their families in the driver and delivery community to bring them benefits of this transformative scheme and help secure their health and economic security." Drivers and delivery partners will pay only Rs 30 to obtain an Ayushman Bharat card to provide access to the services under the scheme. They will not be required to pay any charges or premium for pre-hospitalisation, hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses, which are all covered under the scheme. Each empanelled hospital is staffed by 'Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Mitras' or frontline healthcare workers to assist patients and facilitate their care at the hospital. They will also run a help desk and check documents to verify eligibility for the scheme. Pradeep Parameswaran, President, Uber, India and South Asia said, "Driver partners are at the heart of what we do and during our engagements with them, they have repeatedly mentioned the need for a stronger safety net, especially good healthcare." "Our partnership with Ayushman Bharat, the largest government healthcare scheme in the world, caters to such a requirement. It underscores our commitment not just to driver and delivery partners, but also our resolve to facilitate healthcare benefits for their family members," he said. Brunei and India share a fair degree of commonality in their perceptions on major international issues. (Photo: Twitter) New Delhi: India and Brunei signed an agreement on Thursday for exchange of information in tax matters which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance. The pact enables exchange of information, including banking and ownership information, between the two countries for tax purposes. It is based on international standards of tax transparency. The Tax Information and Exchange Agreement (TIEA) was signed by Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, and Dato Paduka Haji Sidek Ali, Brunei's High Commissioner to India. The agreement also provides for mutual assistance in collection of tax revenue claims between both countries, according to an official statement. Brunei and India share a fair degree of commonality in their perceptions on major international issues. The South East Asian nation has been supportive of Indias Act East Policy and expansion and deepening of cooperation with the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc. Singapore: Oil prices climbed on Friday as markets tightened amid output cuts by producer club OPEC, but surging USD supply and concerns of global economic slowdown kept a lid on further gains. International Brent crude futures were at USD 66.73 per barrel at 0557 GMT, up 42 cents, or 0.6 per cent, from their last settlement. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at USD 57.51 per barrel, up 29 cents, or 0.5 per cent. Traders said oil markets were currently tightening. In Venezuela, oil exports have plunged by 40 per cent to around 920,000 barrels per day (bpd) since the US government slapped sanctions against its petroleum industry on Jan. 28. This drop comes as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Venezuela is a founding member, has led efforts since the start of the year to withhold around 1.2 million bpd of supply to prop up prices. Global (oil) markets appear tighter than many anticipated for this time of year, but scores of unsold barrels can pile up quickly and saturate regions, Canadas RBC Capital Markets said in a research note on oil markets. Despite this, there are signs that point to a more amply supplied market heading further into 2019. The US Energy Department said on Thursday it was offering up to 6 million barrels of crude from national emergency reserves to raise funds to modernize the US strategic oil reserves. On the demand side, a Reuters poll showed analysts expect global fuel demand to slow this year amid a broad economic slowdown. Persistent economic weakness ... will prevent exponential gains in crude oil futures amidst existing bearish pressures on global petroleum demand, said Benjamin Lu, commodities analyst at Phillip Futures, said on Friday. Chinas February factory activity fell for a third month as the worlds second-largest economy continued to struggle with weak export orders, a private survey showed on Friday. The weakness is being felt across the region. South Koreas exports contracted at their steepest pace in nearly three years in February as demand from its major market China cooled further in yet another sign of faltering momentum in Asias fourth-largest economy. Despite this, fuel consumption especially in Asias developing economies, which are key drivers of global oil demand, is so far holding up. Indias diesel consumption, for instance, is expected to rise to a record this year amid a strong expansion of its heavy duty vehicles amid economic growth of around 7 per cent. 70.86 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday on increased demand for the US currency from importers and foreign fund outflows. (Photo: DC) Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 14 paise to 70.86 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday on increased demand for the US currency from importers and foreign fund outflows. Besides, strength in dollar against major rival currencies on stronger US economic data also kept pressure on the Indian rupee, dealers said. However, a higher opening in domestic equities helped in restricting the slide in the Indian unit to some extent, they added. On the macro-economic front, a caution prevailed after official data showed that country's economic growth slowed to a 5-quarter low of 6.6 per cent in the October-December period. Also, economic growth estimate for the current fiscal year ending March 31 has been revised downwards to 7 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.2 per cent. This is the lowest growth in the last five years. On Thursday, the rupee rebounded by 52 paise to close at 70.72 against the US dollar as sentiments revived on signs of de-escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was quoting higher by 206.19 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 36,073.63 in opening deals. For years, the media and the film industry has speculated about Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Aroras closeness. While the two have never publicly acknowledged their relationship, the couple finally threw caution to the winds at designer Kunal Rawals show at the Lakme Fashion Week last year. Ever since then, the couple has been spotted at dinners and events together. The 'Ishaqzaade' actor reportedly flew to Dubai to ring in his ladyloves birthday and ever since then the talk about the two tying the knot has been doing the rounds. But every now and then there have been reports about the two settling down in the month of April. Well, if a source close to the couple is to be believed, the two who were in Switzerland for Akash Ambanis pre-wedding bash, will be tying the knot in April. Malaika and Arjun have decided to get married in April, in a church wedding, said a source. Malaikas younger sister Amrita too had a church wedding with her husband Shakeel Ladak in 2009. But, when Karan Johar asked Kareena Kapoor Khan on his chat show if she plans to be Malaikas bridesmaid, the actress didnt confirm or deny. Malaika was earlier married to actor Arbaaz Khan. After living together for 18 years Malaika and Arbaaz got divorced in 2017. Mumbai: Akshay Kumar is one of the most socially aware actors. He was among the first to come forward to declare that he will be donating Rs 5 crore to the families of Pulwama martyrs. In the midst of this, the actor made time to attend another charity event. Akshay was present at a samuh vivaah (mass wedding) of lesser-privileged persons along with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Around 100 couples tied the knot under the same roof. He is said to have given each bride a gift of Rs1 lakh. The money was deposited into their individual accounts. It was the actors way of ensuring that these newly-married couples have something substantial to begin their lives with. On the work front, Akshay will next be seen in Kesari which is slated to release on 21st March, 2019. After regaling their fans on the big screen, many Bollywood celebrities have now started sprinkling their stardom inside radio studios, playing roles as varied as love guru, hands-on parent, or even agony aunt. Many films in the past have already broached the issue. Like Salaam Namaste (2005), which shows Ambar, a medical student in Melbourne portrayed by Preity Zinta, supporting her education by working as a regular morning show host at the radio station Salaam Namaste. And who can forget the Good morrrniiing, Mumbai! greeting from Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006) with Vidya Balan as radio jockey RJ Jahnvi. The actress subsequently went on to play RJ Sulu, the host of a late night relationship advice show in 2017 film Tumhari Sulu. Among the B-town biggies who have made the transition from reel-time to real-time RJs are Karan Johar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Neha Dupia and Vidya Balan, with a few more in the fray. Are these purely celebrity shows or is there a hidden motive behind them? Commenting on the trend of Bollywood celebrities turning radio jockeys, Indian ad guru Prahlad Kakkar says, I think everybody has understood that radio has a huge reach. There are a lot of people who cant afford television, yet can afford a radio and listen to music, news and shows. The industry has realised the importance of radio as an important tool to communicate. Karan Johar, also known as KJo is widely regarded as the king of talk shows where he and his guest celebrities go candid over a cup of coffee. Karan plays love guru on show Calling Karan which airs on Ishq 104.8 FM and provides a platform to express problems pertaining to love and relationships. He is best known for drawing on experiences from his own life and giving straight-up, crisp and to-the-point advice. The show also has a reverse rapid fire round, where the listeners get to ask KJo whatever they feel like with regards to relationships, break ups etc. While the show has wrapped up its second season, fans are hopeful that there is a third one down the line. In 2016, actress Neha Dhupia took to hosting a radio show on Indian Music App Saavn titled #NoFilterNeha. On the show, she chats with her friends and digs out stories that have never been heard before. The show received great reviews with over 2.3 million listeners, prompting the actress to return with a third season in October 2018. The other prominent B-town celebrity who is currently dominating the airwaves is Kareena Kapoor Khan, who has a show titled What Women Want, featuring conversations with celebrities while encouraging women to break barriers and pre-conceived notions. Ask why she wanted to do this show, and Kareena says, There is very little importance given to what women actually want even today, and I am glad to have got an opportunity to be a part of a radio show which aims to talk about it and promote the same. In its short course, the show has gained immense popularity as it deals with a wide range of topics from women handling divorces to tips for motherhood. Meanwhile, Vidya Balan is also getting ready to host her own chat show on radio channel Big FM 92.7 from March called Dhun Badal Ke Toh Dekho with Vidya Balan. The show is likely to feature conversations with celebrities and challenge stereotypes usually associated with women. It is believed Vidya will also share some of her experiences with the invitees. An excited Vidya Balan says, After having played several interesting characters in my film career including being an RJ twice, I am really looking forward to being a radio jockey in real life and directly connecting with people through this medium. The shows concept is bound to create positive conversations around current social developments and changes. I am glad to have this opportunity to encourage a positive mindset by reaching out to millions through 92.7 BIG FM. With radio reaching almost 90 per cent of the population, the film industry seems to have caught on to the importance of this medium. People in rural areas already go to the movies. But if Bollywood celebs are able to gather a fan following through this medium also, they can become even more desirable. When you are a star and you announce a film as it releases, you instantly get a very good fan following. But in rural areas, the preferred medium is radio and not television, explains Kakkar. Rami Malek, who recently won an Oscar for Best Actor, is in final negotiations to play the antagonist in the latest installment of James Bond franchise. The film will be directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who came onboard as a director after Danny Boyle exited the project over "creative differences". It was being reported earlier that Malek was being eyed for the villain role, but his schedule on the last season of his breakout show "Mr. Robot" which shoots from March through July, was a hindrance. According to Collider, the actor's team has successfully managed his shooting schedule to accommodate the Bond film. The yet-untitled film will mark Daniel Craig's fifth and possibly the last outing as the famed British spy. Actor Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw will also reprise their roles in the new film. French star Lea Seydoux, who played psychologist Madeleine Swann in Sam Mendes' "Spectre", is also returning. MGM will distribute the film in partnership with Annapurna Pictures. The film will release on April 8, 2020. Actress and Congress national spokesperson Khushbu has been trolled by netizens for her latest tweet thanking Pakistan Prime minister Imran Khan, besides insisting that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should learn from him. The last few days have been tense with events across the India-Pakistan border and IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan being held as a PoW in Pakistan. In such a situation Kushbhu had tweeted, Dear #WingCommanderAbhinandan we look forward to your homecoming.. thank you @ImranKhanPTI Saab for the kind gesture. Is there anything to learn from @ImranKhanPTI ??? A lesson must for our PM @narendramodi. Netizens did not take kindly to her views. Nayan Nischal said, Its a trap of Pakistan , we should support Indian army , airforce and our goverment despite any political will . Please i request dont break country in two parts. Sunder Ganapathy has replied, Nothing to thank a PM of a terror state. Modi would have bombed the hell out of Pakis if he dint return Abhi. He made a virtue out of a necessity shame on Congress for supporting Pakistan against our own govt. Shame. Karthick Nila replying to @khushsundar @ImranKhanPTI @narendramodi Politics politics politics thu. Meghna replying to @khushsundar @ImranKhanPTI @narendramodi WHAT?!?When are you moving in our neighbours territory? Looks like longing is strong. Baby Boomers are Moving to Mexico for Retirement Morgan Hill, California - A new Expats In Mexico online survey of people who are considering moving to Mexico found that 81 percent of Baby Boomer respondents said they will retire in Mexico, nearly 52 percent within two years. "It's not surprising that so many Baby Boomers, primarily from the U.S. and Canada, are considering retiring in Mexico," said Robert Nelson, Expats In Mexico co-founder and author of Boomers in Paradise Living in Puerto Vallarta. "I discovered this trend 11 years ago while researching my book and it has just continued to pick up steam." The Mexican government reported over 1.2 million expats were living in Mexico through 2017, the latest figure available. The 2000 Mexican census data showed just under 540,000 expats in Mexico. Americans represented over 80 percent of all expats living in Mexico two years ago, nearly 900,000. Retirement is the main reason why Boomers and all respondents want to move to Mexico. Both groups also rated cost of living and better climate as top reasons to move. "Mexico as a retirement destination for Baby Boomers makes sense," Nelson said. "According to a recent report by the Stanford Center on Longevity, U.S. Baby Boomers hold less wealth, are deeper in debt and will face higher expenses than retirees a decade older than them. Why not live better in a nicer climate?" But all is not perfect south of the border. About 45 percent of all respondents and Boomers say security issues in Mexico might be a concern for them. Lack of Spanish language skills and quality of healthcare were less important considerations. Both Baby Boomers and all respondents selected Puerto Vallarta as their destination of choice, followed by the Lake Chapala area and Los Cabos. About 38 percent of all respondents and Boomers chose a wide variety of other locations in Mexico. The self-selected online survey was completed by 337 respondents in January and February 2019. Respondents were primarily Americans and Canadians. You can find more survey results at ExpatsInMexico.com, an online magazine designed for both expats currently living in Mexico and aspiring expats considering moving to Mexico. Nestled in the Western Ghats, where the river Cauvery originates, is a little-known memorial. On it are inscribed the names of 49 soldiers from a village nearby, who lost their lives in World Wars 1 and 2. It's a heroic and elaborate effort by Mottana C. Ravi Kumar, an advocate and the son of an army man. Over the years, officers like Kargil war veteran Major Rakesh Sharma have visited the memorial, much to Kumar's pride, writes Aksheev Thakur Its not what you expect to see in the heart of the Western Ghats around the spot where the river Cauvery originates. But venture deep into the green canopy of the ghats and you come across a war memorial inscribed with the names of 49 soldiers from a village here, who lost their lives in World Wars I and II. Cherangala village in Kodagu has an advocate, Mottana C Ravi Kumar, the son of an army man, to thank for the memorial that pays tribute to its patriotic sons killed in the two wars. Its an elaborate memorial, the statute having come from Mohali. It nearly got a T-55 tank too, but the bridge in the village was not strong enough to carry it, forcing that plan to be abandoned . Next to the statue stands an Ashok Stambh with each side inscribed with Kavi Pradeeps famous Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon Iqbals Sare Jahan se Accha, Rabindranath Tagores Where the Mind is Without Fear and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyays Vande Mataram. The songs and the memorial are meant to inspire the young of the village , the advocate tells you. Soldiers serve in inhospitable conditions and this is my little ode to them, he says. Distinguished officers of the the countrys armed forces like Field Marshal K M Cariappas son, Air Marshal (retd) KC Cariappa, Lt. Gen. (retd.), G S Nanda, and Kargil war veteran, Major Rakesh Sharma have visited the memorial over the years, much to the pride of the villagers, who continue to honour the memory of the men they sent off to war. The army man that he was, Mr Ravi Kumars father wanted him to join the armed forces too, but he insisted on becoming a doctor. Ultimately, I did not become either a doctor or a soldier, but an advocate and moved to Bengaluru to practice, he smiles. But he did flirt with the idea of joining the army, spending some time at the Dholpur Military School near Agra as a young man. Father joined the army in 1941. When I joined the military school, the 1962 Indo-China war erupted. The principal often gave five and six-year-old children news of their fathers achieving martyrdom on the battlefield and I saw them crying. The scene was repeated in the 1965 war and this drew me emotionally close to the armed forces, he recalls. But the idea of the memorial in the village was born quite by chance. Being an advocate, he once filed a writ petition in court on the lack of road connectivity to his village and the resulting disadvantage this placed its families in when it came to getting brides for their sons as parents were reluctant to send their daughters away to such a remote spot in the ghats. Children had to travel five miles to go to school. So when I became an advocate I filed a writ petition in the high court and it was passed by Justice Gopal Gowda, he adds . During one of their meetings, Justice Gowda pointed out to him that he had not invited him to the village after the road was built to connect it to the rest of the state. It was then that the idea of the war memorial came up as I could not have invited him for just the road, he says. And he went on to build it at the spot where it still stands in memory of the villages bravehearts. A strong believer in the words of Swami Vivekananda that, They only live who live for others, rest are more dead than alive, the advocate has fought several cases of defence personnel too over the years. But he has not stopped there. Unlike many in Kodagu, who run homestays, Mr Ravi Kumar runs an orphanage as he feels someone has to take care of children with no one to turn to. There over 25 million orphans in India according to the United Nations and of them 10 lakh sleep on the streets of Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi. We have not even done an independent census of orphans although countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka have. But if we take the statistics of the UN into account, they form 2 per cent of the population and are not receiving any attention. The SCs, STs and OBCs have reservation, what about the orphans, who dont know what their religion or caste is? he asks pertinently. Mr Ravi Kumar takes care of the children not only till they turn 18, but till they make their own way in life. At least they can then go on to become soldiers in the Indian Army, if not officers, he concludes. Varthaman spent almost three days in the Pakistani captivity after he was shot down on Wednesday. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Mumbai: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the Wagah-Attari border post into India from Pakistan on Friday evening, at 9:20 pm on Friday, after a four-hour delay. The IAF pilot was seen on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah crossing around 9:15 pm. He spent almost three days in the Pakistani captivity after he was shot down on Wednesday. He hit a Pakistani F-16 before he was forced to eject and landed across the Line of Control. A little over 58 hours later, the 38-year-old pilot walked to his freedom at the heavily-guarded border post manned by the Border Security Force that guards the international border with Pakistan. After Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the border, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said, Wing Commander Varthaman has been handed over to us. He will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. IAF is happy to have him back. BSF officials, prepping for the return of the IAF pilot, had canceled the retreat ceremony at the border post. Also Read: Daily Retreat ceremony along Indo-Pak border cancelled: BSF Varthaman became the human face of the conflict between the two countries when Pakistan Army put out a series of videos that showed him in its custody. Read: A true soldier, look how bravely he spoke: IAF pilot Abhinandans father The decision to release Varthaman was announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly, who described it as a peace gesture. Poland Consul General Damian Irzyk has remarked that he would like to see greater visibility of his country in Indian films. BENGALURU: Poland Consul General Damian Irzyk has remarked that he would like to see greater visibility of his country in Indian films. During an interaction on the last day of 11th edition of BIFFes, he said popular director Raj Kumar Hirani has shot his films in Poland and actors Salman Khan and Aamir Khan have figured in it. Renowned Polish Director Krzysztof Zanussi said if Indian culture films are released outside India and audience can relate to them. Chinese film maker Chen Rui Rui, who is also the screenwriter of the film The Rib, said that there are two issues with censorship in China, which concerns LGBTQ and religion. As per her observations in France where she studied has the similar issues relating to LGBTQ community as in China. She said she was inspired to know more about the community and she researched intensively to make a film on them. The funeral of pilot Ninad Mandavgane, who died in an IAF helicopter crash in Jammu and Kashmir two days back, was held with full military honours in Nashik on Friday. (Photo: Twitter/ @currenttrendng) Nashik: The funeral of pilot Ninad Mandavgane, who died in an IAF helicopter crash in Jammu and Kashmir two days back, was held with full military honours in Nashik on Friday. The pilot was also given a 21-gun salute. Ninad Mandavgane (33) was cremated on the banks of Godavari. He and six others died on Wednesday in an IAF chopper crash in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district. A civilian was also killed in the crash. The pilot's body was brought to Ojhar airport from New Delhi by a special IAF plane on Thursday night. Air Force officials, including Air Commodore Samir Borade, commanding officer of the IAF Station Ojhar, and Nashik Collector Radhakrishna B, paid tribute to the pilot there. The body was later taken to Nashik. A large number of people gathered at the crematorium to pay respects to the pilot. When the body was brought to the crematorium around noon, people present there raised slogans of ''Vande Mataram'' and ''Bharat Mata Ki Jai''. Ninad Mandavgane's has left behind his father, wife and their two-year-old daughter. Before joining the IAF, Ninad Mandavgane studied at the Bhonsala Military School in Nashik, Services Preparatory Institute (SPI) in Aurangabad and the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune. Islamabad: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday announced that he will not attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) being hosted by the United Arab Emirates over the grouping's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. Swaraj has been invited to the OIC meeting as a guest of honour despite strong protest from Pakistan. Qureshi informed Parliament that he would not be attending the conference in the UAE on March 1-2. Reiterating his protest against the OIC's decision to invite to Swaraj to attend the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi, Qureshi said he will not attend the session due to the inter-governmental organisation's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart. Mentioning that the "UAE has always helped Pakistan in difficult times", Qureshi noted with regret that despite Pakistan's protest, the OIC's invitation to Swaraj was not rescinded. "There was no consultation over the OIC invitation to Indian foreign minister. India is neither a member nor an observer of the OIC," Qureshi pointed out, adding that he sent two letters - the latest by Friday - to the UAE calling upon the body to withdraw its invitation to the Indian foreign minister. Qureshi informed Parliament that he requested the OIC to either rescind the invitation or postpone the session in view of the prevailing situation, neither of which was done. "I have [therefore] decided not to attend OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi," the foreign minister announced. However, a lower-level delegation from Pakistan will attend the OIC session, Qureshi said. The delegation will also staunchly oppose any move to grant observer status to India at the OIC. Qureshi's remarks came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the February 14 Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that left 40 CRPF personnel dead and forced India to conduct airstrikes on JeM's training camp in Pakistan's Balakot. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism. (File Photo) New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how can India trust him. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence... Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. Questioning Khan's silence on the Pulwama attack, he said, "The Pakistan PM should have criticised the Pulwama attacks at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service". 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. The BJP President also said that the return of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was a diplomatic victory. "Creating situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory," he said. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Coming down hard on Opposition parties which alleged the government was "politicising" the sacrifices of the armed forces, Shah said their joint resolution post the air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan. "The opposition's accusation against the BJP that it was politicising the sacrifices of our forces has given happiness to Pakistan," Shah said. "The message has gone that now it is the Modi govt at the helm which is resolute in implementing its policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and has the political will to act," he said. Criticising former PM Manmohan Singh's call for restraint to India and Pakistan, Shah asked how he could compare a country, which has been sponsoring terrorism, with India. He also criticised Singh for his government's "lack of response" after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Now with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists Modi government has been able to create fear in the minds of those behind terrorism that they will face grave consequences for their actions. Tirupati: Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe will be offering prayers to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala during his two-day visit to the temple city scheduled on March 2 and 3. In connection with the visit of the Sri Lankan PM, sub-collector Mahesh Kumar along with SP K.K.N. Anbur-ajan inspected the arrangements being made at the airport on Thursday. The PM will arrive at the Chennai international airport on March 2 at about 3 pm and from there, the PM would reach Tirupati in a special flight by 4.30 pm. The PM along with his family members will reach Sri Padm-avathi guest house at Tirumala by road and stay there overnight. On March 3, Ranil Wickremesinghe along with his family members will offer prayers at Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala and would fly back from the Tirupati airport at 1.15 pm the same day. Earlier in the day Sushma Swaraj spoke about India's civilisational links and close partnership with the Muslim countries across the world. (Photo: File | ANI) Abu Dhabi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met her Maldives' and Bangladesh counterparts, Abdulla Shahid and Dr AK Abdul Momen, respectively on the sidelines of 46th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers Meeting here on Friday. The Foreign Ministers of India and Maldives discussed follow up to Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's maiden visit to India last year and exchanged their views on the regional situation. "A close friend and a maritime neighbour. EAM @SushmaSwaraj met #Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on the sidelines of #OIC Foreign Ministers Meeting in #AbuDhabi. Discussed follow up to Maldives President's visit to India and exchanged views on the regional situation," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Swaraj and her Bangladeshi counterpart had a "good exchange" of views on bilateral issues, Kumar further informed. "Good exchange of views on issues of bilateral importance in EAM @SushmaSwaraj meeting with Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr AK Abdul Momen on the sidelines of #OIC Foreign Ministers Meeting in #AbuDhabi. #NeighbourhoodFirst," Kumar tweeted. Earlier today, Swaraj addressed the plenary session of the conference as the Guest of Honour which was boycotted by Pakistan as a protest against the invitation to India for the first time in the groupings 50-year-old history. In her speech, Swaraj said the fight against terrorism is not against any religion but underlined that the countries providing shelter and funding to it must be asked to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism based in their countries, in an apparent reference to Pakistan. The minister also underlined that those indulging in terrorism are resorting to distortion of religion and giving different names to the menace to justify it. Swaraj asserted that senseless terrorist violence was destroying lives, destabilising regions, and putting the world at great peril as its lethality was increasing and toll rising. She also spoke about India's civilisational links and close partnership with the Muslim countries across the world. EAM Sushma Swaraj had a series of bilateral meetings with her counterparts including Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Maldives etc. EAM to also call on Foreign Minister of UAE, said TS Trimurti, Secretary ER in Abu Dhabi. On being asked if any OIC member country offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, he said No OIC member has offered to mediate. Swaraj is currently on a two-day visit to the UAE, which would conclude on Saturday. If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country, said Swaraj. (Photo: ANI) Abu Dhabi: As India waits to welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in middle of India Pakistan tension External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressed at Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conclave as the Guest of Honour in Abu Dhabi on Friday. OIC members constitute 1/4th of the United Nations and almost a quarter of humanity. India shares much with you, many of us have shared dark days of colonialism, said Sushma Swaraj. I'm honoured to join colleagues from nations that represent a great religion and ancient civilisations. I stand here as a representative of land that has been mountain of knowledge, beacon of peace, the source of faith and traditions, home to many religions and one of the major economies, said Swaraj. Many of us saw the light of freedom and ray of hope at the same time, we have stood together in solidarity in our quest for dignity and equality, said Swaraj. Terrorism is destroying lives, destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril. Terror reach is growing and the toll it is taking is increasing, said Swaraj. "Terrorism in each case is driven by distortion of religion. Fight against terror is not a confrontation against any religion. Just as Islam means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah means violence. Similarly, every religion stands for peace," said Swaraj. Read: Swaraj discusses bilateral issues with her Maldivian, B'desh counterparts at OIC meet I carry the greetings of my PM Narendra Modi and 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslim brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India, said Swaraj. Indian Muslims practice their respective beliefs and live in harmony with each other and with their non-Muslim brothers. It's this appreciation of diversity and coexistence that has ensured that very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies, said Swaraj. India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text The Rig Veda and I quote "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadhanti", which means God is One but learned men describe him in many ways," said Swaraj. I come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi where every prayer ends with a call for 'shanti' that is peace for all. I convey our best wishes, support and solidarity in your quest for stability, peace, harmony, economic growth and prosperity for your people and world. If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country, said Swaraj. "Recognising India's engagement with the Islamic world. EAM Sushma Swaraj arrives in Abu Dhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour', Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Raveesh Kumar had written on Twitter. The Punjab Chief Minister has been reviewing the security in the areas near border in the last two days amid heightened tensions with the neighbouring country. (Photo: File) Chandigarh: As the nation prepares to welcome Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he wanted to receive Varthaman at the border on his arrival from Pakistan. Punjab CM is in Amritsar as a part of his tour of the border areas to take stock of the ground situation, tweeted a request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard shortly after Pakistan PM Imran Khan announced that IAF pilot would be released on Friday. Dear @narendramodi ji, Im touring the border areas of Punjab & Im presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am (sic), he posted on his Twitter handle. Dear @narendramodi ji , Im touring the border areas of Punjab & Im presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) February 28, 2019 Imran Khan, in the Pakistan National Assembly, made the announcement about the release of Pilot Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan. "We have an Indian pilot. As a peace gesture, we will release him tomorrow," he said. Amarinder Singh was accompanied by his media advisor Raveen Thukral, DGP Dinkar Gupta. The Punjab Chief Minister has been reviewing the security in the areas near border in the last two days amid heightened tensions with the neighbouring country. Ten Interesting Things You Should Know About Mexico Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Virtually worldwide, Mexico is known as the land of delicious Mexican food, culture, Mariachi music, and tequila. 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(Photo: Representational/File) SRINAGAR: Presuming both the militants holed up in a private house have been killed in an overnight gun battle in Jammu and Kashmirs frontier district of Kupw-ara, the security forces began a combing operation in the area early Friday. While the operating was underway, one of the two gunmen rose from the rubble and opened indiscriminate fire, killing a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Inspector and J&K policeman and injuring five other security personnel, the police sources said. One more CRPF jawan and a J&K cop were killed in subsequent exchange of fire. A civilian also died during the encounter, the sources said. They said that the gunfight broke out during a cordon-and-search operation launched jointly by the Armys 22 Rashtriya Rifles, 92 Battalion of the CRPF and J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group in Baba Gund village of Handwara area of the district. The security forces used floodlights to ensure the militants trapped in the area do not escape taking the advantage of darkness, the locals said. Wing Commander Abhinandan, an Indian Air Force official with Dr Fareha Bugti, director (India) at the Pakistan foreign office, before crossing over the Wagah Border. (Via Web) New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the Indian Air Force, who had ejected into Pakistan after his MiG-21 fighter jet had got hit on Wednesday morning, walked back into India across the Wagah-Attari border late on Friday evening, sending a wave of joy across the country. He was handed over to the BSF at around 9.20 pm by the Pakistani Rangers. Initially, Wg Cdr Varthaman was expected to be released at 5.30 pm, but finally emerged at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side at only at 9.10 pm, accompanied by the Indian air attache posted at the high commission in Islamabad and the director (India) at the Pakistan foreign office, Dr Fareha Bugti. Wing Commander Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. He will be taken now for a detailed medical checkup. This checkup is mandatory as he had to eject from an aircraft which would have put his entire body under stress, Air Vice-Marshal R.G.K. Kapoor, assistant chief of air staff, told reporters in a brief statement. After the checkup, the IAF plans to fly him to New Delhi. Wg Cdr Varthamans family is in Delhi. As per process he will meet his family for a brief period and then will be taken for debriefing, sources had said during the day. New Delhi/ Abu dhabi: In a major diplomatic achievement, India on Friday for the first time addressed the OIC meeting in Abu Dhabi, and asserted that the war against terrorism, which was destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril, was not against any religion. Indias participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to address the grouping of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistans foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary. Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion, Ms Swaraj, who is the first Indian minister to address the meeting of the 57 Islamic countries, said. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, a senior minister in Indira Gandhis cabinet who later became President, was invited to attend the Rabat conference in 1969 and then disinvited at Pakistans instance after he arrived in the Moroccan capital. Since then, India has been excluded from all OIC deliberations. Ms Swaraj during her address read a verse from the Holy Koran which says La Ikrah fiddeen Let there be no compulsion in religion. And Sura Al Hujurat says O Mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know one another, not that you may despise one another. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood, she said. In a veiled attack on Pakistan, Ms Swaraj said countries who provide shelter and funding to the terrorists should be globally told to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to the terror organisations based in their country. In comments significant in the context of the Indo-Pak tension after the Pulwama attack, Ms Swaraj pointed out that terrorism is destroying lives, destabilising regions, and putting the world at great peril, adding that as its victims in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and, India, we see the terrible face of terror. She added this menace could not be fought, only through military, intelligence or diplomatic means but through the strengths of our values, and the real message of religion. Significantly, in a marked departure from the hostility between India and the OIC as a forum previously due to the Kashmir issue, Ms. Swaraj, in a new beginning, hailed the OIC as an organisation, that has a key role in shaping our world, adding that It is therefore a matter of pride for me, and for India, to be invited in this special year, to be your guest of honour, and to be extended a hand of friendship. New Delhi also made sure to reach out and appreciate individual several Islamic countries such as close west Asian friends Saudi Arabia and host UAE, close friends in the neighbourhood Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran and the Maldives, and even Pakistans trusted friend Turkey. India also did not forget to mention its solidarity with the Palestinian cause which has always been a key issue within the OIC. There was also no mention of the Kashmir issue nor any direct reference to Pakistan which for the past five decades had poisoned Indias ties with the OIC till now. Referring to the diversity in India including in its 185 million Muslims who live in peace with their fellow-countrymen, she said that very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies. Kanyakumari: India will no longer be helpless in the wake of terror, declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who blamed that some Opposition parties have been suspicious of the surgical airstrike of our airforce in the wake of the Pulwama terror incident. Addressing at a public rally in Kanyakumari, where projects to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore were inaugurated on Friday, the prime minister said the current NDA government unlike the previous governments would never tolerate terrorism that remained a big menace for the country for long. Referring to the air strike on Pakistan-based terror camps by our airforce, Mr Modi said the events of the past few days had once again demonstrated the strength of our armed forces. He too added that he bow before every Indian for extending an extraordinary support to the armed forces. However, sadly a few political parties guided by Modi hatred started hating India and they suspect the act of our air force complained the PM, who too blamed that the statements of those peple help Pakistan harming India. The statements of those political parties were happily quoted by Pakistan parliament and by their radio against India, regretted the PM, who too appealed to those suspicious of our armed forces to stop weakening the could try for their politics. Mr Modi however, did not mention the names of the parties he was blaming. Criticising the previous congress government of pat-ronaging corruption, Mr Modi said, corruption would be acceptable to them but not to him. Taking the chance of addressing the government function at Kanyakumari, the BJP bastion in the state, the PM asked the people to choose between strength and stability which BJP represents and the Opposition representing weakness and vulnerability. SRINAGAR: Kashmiri political parties on Friday came down heavily on the Centre over its banning the Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir for a span of five years on the plea that the rightwing partys activities are prejudicial to internal security and public order. The Home Ministry officials have said that the move has been prompted also because of the fact that the Jamaat-e-Islami is the main organisation responsible for the propagation of separatist and radical ideology in the State particularly Kashmir Valley. The decision came days after more than 250 of its activists including the entire leadership were arrested from different parts of the Valley. The MHA declared the Jamaat as an unlawful association having the potential to disrupt the unity and integrity of the country. It said that if the partys activities are not curbed immediately, it is likely to escalate its subversive activities including an attempt to carve out an Islamic State out of the territory of Union of India. New Delhi: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the Indian Air Force, who had ejected into Pakistan after his MiG-21 fighter jet had got hit on Wednesday morning, walked back into India across the Wagah-Attari border late on Friday evening, sending a wave of joy across the country. He was wearing civilian clothes - a dark jacket and khaki trousers, walking proudly toward the gates that separated his captors country from his homeland. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!, tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hoping to give a heros welcome to Wg Cdr Varthaman, thousands of Indians had gathered on the border carrying the Tricolour and garlands since the morning, but as the day wore on and night fell there was no sign of the pilot. He finally emerged at 9.10 pm India time. Wg Cdr Varthaman had shot down a Pakistani F-16 jet which had intruded into India on Wednesday and got hit during the dogfight and ejected into PoK. The sources said that during debriefing, Wg Cdr Varthaman will give the sequence of the events. He will give details on how he was hit, where he landed, how he got caught and what he told the Pakistanis, as well as what documents they recovered from him and how he was treated, the sources said. He is likely to give a briefing on what was the mood there and other things he sensed while in custody. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber killed 40-plus CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama on February 14 by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Amid rising outrage, the IAF carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a major JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan, on February 26. The next day, Pakistan retaliated with a large air formation, of 24 fighter jets, including F-16s, in a bid to hit Indian military targets, which was unsuccessful. Pakistan PM Imran Khan told a special joint sitting of Pakistans Parliament that his government was releasing the pilot as a peace gesture. However, India said Pakistans decision was only in compliance with the Geneva Conventions. After the pilots release, the Pakistan foreign office described him as a prisoner of war. The Pakistan government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. Hyderabad: Wing Commander Abhinandhan Varthaman was released in three days after being taken into custody by Pakistan. Then Flight Lt K Nachiketa, who later retired as Group Captain was in a Pakistani jail for eight days after being taken prisoner during the Kargil conflict. For 10 prisoners of the 1971 war with Pakistan, it took 362 days to reach the Wagah border. There was no war on when Wg Cmdr Abhinandhan was caught; it was a short aerial battle. There was tremendous international pressure on Pakistan to get him released in record time and our own diplomatic efforts were instrumental too, said Wing Commander V.K. Chatti (retired), who was one of 10 military personnel taken prisoner by Pakistan in 1971. Wg Comdr Chatti played a key role in the prison break led by Flt Lt Dilip Parulkar, helping the three Indian Air Force pilots escape from a Pakistan jail in 1971. The celebrated officer, a resident of Vayupuri in Hyderabad, showed the officers the route map of the Rawalpindi PoW camp that helped them escape. He collected stuff like dinner spoons, nails and even needles which helped the officers break out of prison. Speaking to this newspaper, he recollected that in 1971, 12 IAF officers were prisoners of war. While two were returned to India on medical grounds within two months, after the International Red Cross intervened, 10 of them were prisoners for 362 days. We attempted once to escape, but we were caught and released a few weeks later. For the first six months, we were in Rawalpindi prison. Because we attempted to escape, we were shifted to a jail where Indian Army PoWs were jailed. Life became slightly better to live among our own in the jail. For the PoWs, it is very important to escape from the angry mob of Pakistan and initial days of torture. In case of Wg Cmdr Abhinandhan, he was brutally hammered by the mob, Wg Cmdr Chatti said Ft Lt K. Nachiketa was captured during the Kargil war in 1999. My parents were shattered and lived in fear for the eight days that I was in Pak custody. As pressure mounted from India, I was handed over to the Indian High Commission after eight days. I wasnt attacked by a mob like in the case of Wg Cmdr Abhinandhan. But those eight nights were unforgettable. Like a thorough IAF pilot, I resumed duty as per orders from my commanders (after returning). In 2017 I retired as a Group Captain and now work for a private airline. Life after custody turned normal in no time. Chennai: Even as IAF fighter pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan crossed over to his motherland on Friday night, people began discussing his bravery and valour, commending the way he conducted himself while being a Prisoner of War. Many credit his behaviour to his upbringing, especially his father, Air Marshall Simhakutty Varthaman. Only a few may know that a lot may actually come from his mother Dr Shobha Varthaman, a doctor who served in conflict zones across the world like Iraq, Haiti and Laos. A graduate from Madras Medical College, and a post-graduate in anaesthesiology from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Dr Shobha was a volunteer-member of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - 'Doctors Without Borders'. Dr Shobha's career with MSF began at Ivory Coast in 2005, where she recalls, only AK-47s and machetes ruled. She then went on to volunteer in Liberia, Nigeria, and especially the Iran-Iraq border. "Her forays as an MSF Medical Director on the Iran-Iraq border also gave her an insight into the Persian civilisation and the Iranian attitude to life. She wonders how the Iranians who were at war with Iraq for 11 years, were willing to accept that the common Iraqis were only suffering the consequences of a bad decision by a leader. She was also witness to raw courage of Iranian youths who lost their lives to Iraqi-laid landmines," writes Captain Tarun Kumar Singha. a retired IAF fighter pilot from Assam in Dr Shobha's praise. There is nothing Shobha had not seen or treated. Sexual violence, HIV projects in Papua New Guinea saw her treat women who often got raped and did not get medical aid, suffering HIV infections or STD unnecessarily. "Her stay in Papua New Guinea gave her an opportunity to live in tribal areas where people still wore grass skirts, had feathers in their hats and carried a scabbard, chopping people without a second thought, for pigs, land and women," Captain Tarun says. Her next exploration mission was in Laos. She travelled about 1,800 km in a four-wheel drive in the northern parts where there were no roads and discovered that despite the World Bank and Asian Development Bank presence, many areas did not have access to healthcare. "Abhinandan's mother also perfectly played the role of a wife," Captain Tarun says, "she once turned down an offer to train anaesthetists in Trinidad and Tobago with the UN because she felt her obligation as a wife of a senior IAF officer on a diplomatic mission in Paris was important." He said the Centre once again ''cheated'' the state by giving away the Rs. 6,500 crore revenue earning KK Line to Raigada Division. (File Photo) Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he was not ashamed to visit the state with ''empty hands'' and said he owed an explanation to ''five crore people'' over unfulfilled promises,vis-a-vis the AP Reorganisation Act,2014. In a letter to the Prime Minister on the eve of his scheduled visit to the port city of Visakhapatnam on Friday, the Chief Minister said the Reorganisation Act came into being 59 months ago while PM Modi assumed the high office 57 months ago. About five years had elapsed, but no promise made to Andhra Pradesh has been fulfilled, he said. "I personally visited New Delhi 29 times and made numerous pleas to you, but to no avail," the Chief Minister noted. Chandrababu Naidu said the people of Andhra Pradesh were seething over ''your betrayal, injustice and cheating'' in the last five years. Though the entire country responded to the ''dharma poratam'' (just fight) of Andhra Pradesh seeking its rights, neither the Prime Minister nor the BJP reacted, he added. "On the eve of your visit to Visakhapatnam, I would like to remind you how angry people of Andhra Pradesh are. As a representative of five crore people, I am questioning you on your betrayal and reminding you of our responsibility as public representatives to understand the sentiments of people," the Chief Minister said. In the letter, a copy of which was released to the media, the Chief Minister raised issues like Special Category Status, funds for the Polavaram project, Amaravati city, bridging of revenue deficit, metro rail for Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada cities and increasing number of seats in the Legislative Assembly. "Are you not ashamed to visit Andhra Pradesh with empty hands, by not implementing the promises made by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and also those enlisted in the Reorganisation Act? As a person holding a high office, you owe an explanation on all these issues. I am demanding that you answer the five crore people of the state on these," the Chief Minister said. Referring to the Railways announcement of establishment of a new South Coast Railway zone at Visakhapatnam, he said the Centre once again ''cheated'' the state by giving away the Rs. 6,500 crore revenue earning KK Line to Raigada Division, leaving only the ''paltry income earning region'' to the state. Meanwhile, addressing a meeting of senior TDP leaders, the chief minister directed them to stage protests state-wide on Friday against the Prime Ministers visit. "I will wear a black shirt. Everyone should wear a black shirt and protest with black flags," he said. The father of Abhinandan Varthaman, Air Marshal S Varthaman (pic) is a highly-decorated officer and his mother Shobha Varthaman is a doctor. (Photo: Twitter) New Delhi: The nation observed a moment of joy on Thursday after the Pakistan Prime Minister announced the release of the Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday. The co-passengers expressed their gratitude with a standing ovation to Varthamans parents, who were on the Chennai-Delhi flight late on Thursday night to welcome their son. When the flight was about to land in Delhi, co-passengers realised who Retd Air Marshal S Varthaman and his wife were, they stood up in respect to them, cheered, clapped for the Varthaman familys bravery, ignoring the seatbelt announcement made by the crew. Also, they waited on their seats and allowed Varthamans parents first to exit. Wing Commander #AbhinandanVartaman 's parents reached Delhi last night from Chennai. This was the scene inside the flight when the passengers realized his parents were onboard. They clapped for them, thanked them & made way for them to disembark first. #Respect #AbhinandanMyHero pic.twitter.com/P8USGzbgcp Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) March 1, 2019 Soon after landing to Delhi, Varthaman family left for Amritsar to receive their son, who will be released by Pakistan as a gesture of peace through the Wagah-Attari joint check-post around 2 pm. Air Marshal S Varthaman, a recipient of several honours, including a Param Vishisht Seva Medal, said in a message, "Abhi is alive, not injured, sound in mind, just look at the way he talked so bravely... a true soldier... we are so proud of him." Wing Commander Abhinandan comes from a family which has served Indian Air Force since the World War II days, when his grandfather Simhakutty was a member of the force. The father of Abhinandan Varthaman, Air Marshal S Varthaman is a highly-decorated officer and his mother Shobha Varthaman is a doctor. Read: A true soldier, look how bravely he spoke: IAF pilot Abhinandans father The 35-year-old Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was flying the MiG-21 Bison that shot down the PAF F-16 in the aerial engagement with Pakistan on Wednesday morning. Xem them ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that creating a situation for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan was a diplomatic victory, ahead of the expected arrival of the captured pilot. (Photo: File) New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that creating a situation for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan was a diplomatic victory, ahead of the expected arrival of the captured pilot. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said, "Creating a situation for the return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, told a news conference on Thursday. Visakhapatnam: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that leaders of the opposition alliance, the Mahagathbandhan, were anti-national because they had raised doubts over the Pulwama terror attack. He said that the opposition wants a weak government while he is determined to give a strong and decisive government. The Mahamilavat alliance wants a majboor government which will dance to their tunes and not a mazboot government which can work for peoples interest. These corrupt people are coming together to remove Modi to save the corrupt and dynasties as they are not able to approve of the good work by NDA government. They want to remove Modi because he is taking strict and bold decisions. They want to remove Modi because New Indias culture and policy both are changing. They want to remove Modi because he is bringing about a positive change in the lives of the poor, middle class and the marginalised sections, Mr Modi said. He further said that If India has strong government we will have both Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan. It is due to our efforts of the PM-KISAN that 12 crore farmers will be getting Rs 75,000 crore every year. This is just the beginning. India, he said, has 7,500 km of coastline and the BJP has started a project like Sagarmala with the vision of making Ports for Prosperity. Through blue revolution, we are empowering our fishermen by giving them training, equipment, loans, technology-based support and implements to bring prosperity to them, he said. Children welcome CPM State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan with red roses during the last day of Left Democratic Fronts Kerala Samrakshana yatra in Kochi on Friday. (SUNOJ NINAN MATHEW) KOCHI: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the BJP was unleashing a propoganda that criticising Narendra Modi amounts to sedition. I have only criticised Modi and will do so again. I am not afraid of going to prison on that count. Let them prove if they have any charge of sedition, he added. Mr Kodiyeri said that international pressure forced Pakistan to release hostage Abhinandan Vardhaman. When asked if the party supported the stand of China on Indo-Pak issues, he said the CPM held the party flag with the flag of the country and not that of any other nation. He alleged that the BJP was trying to cash in politically on the Air Force strike against Pakistan terror camps. The statement of Yeddyurappa is proof of that. It was not an achievement of the BJP. It shows the strength of the military and the nation, he said. Mr Kodiyeri said that the most wanted terrorist now, Mazood Azhar, was released during the regime of previous BJP government during the Kandahar plane hijack crisis. He also came down on RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat for his statements that belittled the Indian military. He had said that Indian forces needed six months to prepare for the war while RSS men need three or four days. No one else had said anything like that, said Mr Kodiyeri. Reiterating his charge that Congress leaders tend to join the BJP once they are elected, Mr Kodiyeri cited the examples of several turncoat leaders. It has happened not just in Manipur, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh, or in the case of the likes Rita Bahuguna and S.M. Krishna. Back in Kerala former Travancore Devaswom Board president G. Raman Nair, former PSC chairman K.S. Radhakrishnan and former Womens Commission member J. Prameela Devi, all of them Congress leaders, have now become BJP leaders. It is a reality only, said Mr Kodiyeri. He was clarifying on his charge that hands if elected will bloom into lotuses when questioned. The CPM secretary was asked if the statement was aimed at pocketing minority votes. Asking Gautam Adani to step back from his bid to take over the Trivandrum International airport, he said that cutting party lines, all should come together to resist the move. Adani should not think that without the co-operation of the state government, he would be able to take over and run the airport, he said adding the Central government completely ignored the proposals of the state government to run the airport. The CPM state secretary said that the results of the byelections to the local bodies recently showed that the LDF is on firm wicket and there was no negative fallout of the Sabarimala issue. On the twin murders at Periya, he said the party had already condemned it and the government is taking strong actions too. He also said that LDF is in a position to declare party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in no time once the elections are declared. Visakhapatnam: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that leaders of the opposition alliance, the Mahagathbandhan, were anti-national because they had raised doubts over the Pulwama attack. Addressing a large gathering at Praja Chaitanya Sabha here, the Prime Minister said, Why are the parties of Mahamilavat indulging in petty politics that is benefiting the enemy? In their hatred for Modi, they have started hating the country. When whole world is questioning Pakistan, some people inside our country are using such language, which is hurting the sentiments of our forces. They must think that Pakistan is taking advantage of their statements. Pakistan parliament is quoting the irresponsible statements of leaders here to counter us. This is unfortunate. These leaders anti-Modi attitude has become anti-India attitude. Visakhapatnam: Stating that the National Democratic Alliance government had fulfilled a long-cherished dream of Andhra Pradesh and especially of Visakhapatnam by announcing the South Coastal Railway zone, which had been rejected by the earlier United Progressive Alliance government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Telugu Desam supremo and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has been spreading lies and falsehood to hide his failures. Addressing a huge gathering of Praja Chaitanya Sabha at the Railway Grounds in the city on Friday, Mr Modi said that Mr Naidu is a U-turn specialist and has done nothing for the state. U-turn specialist Chief Minister has done nothing for AP. Had they done anything, they would not have resorted to spreading lies. Since they did nothing, they are now busy spreading lies and falsehood. To hide their failures, they are abusing me to fool the public. Mr Modi said, They are now forming alliances by pledging Telugu pride to remove Modi. These corrupt leaders of AP are trying to remove Modi because I am taking strong decisions in the interest of the people and not their whims and fancies. A few corrupt people have obstructed the development of Andhra Pradesh. These are the same people who are interested in establishing their own sons and daughters. He said such people were spreading misinformation against the NDA government. We do not fear corruption cases and dynasties, unlike the ruling party leader here. Which is why we are taking decisions without fear in the best interest of the people, he said. Mr Modi said the new railway zone will bring economic development to the state. I have brought sweet news to you in the form of the South Coastal Railway zone with headquarters in Vizag. We have moved one step closer to fulfilling our commitment beyond what is mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act. This will create jobs, improve the economy and develop the region. It must be deeply disappointing that the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Koreas overlord Kim Jong-un in Hanoi broke down. As a potential nuclear flashpoint, Pyongyangs relations with Washington was causing great unease in global politics long before tensions between India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, boiled over recently. The Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi earlier this week was eagerly awaited as it was expected to take off from the pathbreaking Singapore meeting in June last year. The first meeting was more about optics, and the Hanoi talks could have made real progress in North Korea shutting its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon. Reports from Hanoi on the abandoned talks hint at a basic misunderstanding over a North Korean demand for relief from sanctions in return for real action on nuclear disarmament. Mr Trump said that dispute was the deal-breaker and that Mr Kim asked for too much in terms of lifting of all UN sanctions on one of the worlds most sanctioned nations. If the US President had gone into the second round with his old approach of a real estate magnate trying to strike a deal, it only exposes his immaturity as an international negotiator. It is more likely though that given domestic pressure following the charges by his former lawyer Michael Cohen, Mr Trump may have wanted a big deal from Mr Kim or none at all. Mr Kim was said to be seeking a more normal life for his citizens, which would be possible if the economically crippling UN resolutions were lifted and free trading enabled for North Korea. All the hyped-up friendship between the despot and the authoritarian may have come to nought. The significance of the invitation by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to India to attend its 46th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi (March 1-2) lies in the fact that it came after the Pulwama terrorist strike by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, which boastfully took credit for the outrage. This was a clear indication that the organisation of 57 Islamic nations was expressing its aversion to terrorism, even when it emanated from a member state (Pakistan) to target a non-member (India). More, the OIC walked the further step to invite Indias external affairs minister as its guest of honour. Nor was India disinvited when Pakistan threatened not to attend if the invitation to New Delhi was not withdrawn even after the Indian Air Force struck at Balakot, violating Pakistans airspace. Thus, Pakistans foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi decided to absent himself from the gathering in the UAE. Perhaps he did not wish to embarrass himself as the issue of terrorism, and its threat to regional peace and stability, was bound to have a high profile at the meeting as India would be present in a special capacity. The theme of the OIC ministerial now underway is Roadmap for Prosperity and Development. Terrorism, which eats into the vitals of any society, stands in stark contrast to this goal. External affairs minister Sushma Swarajs address at the meeting pointed to this with clarity. Ms Swaraj noted that the young would not be satisfied with roadmaps, but would press for roads. It was left unsaid that the existence of terrorism serves as a roadblock in fulfilling such aspirations. Since ministerial meetings serve as planning bodies for upcoming summit meetings, it would seem that Pakistan has weakened its case to be a significant voice in preparing for the OICs golden jubilee celebration. Of course, it is to be seen if the Abu Dhabi ministerial includes terrorism as a subject for a longer-term conversation. India had been invited at the Rabat (Morocco) inaugural conference of the OIC in 1969. Pakistan managed to scuttle the invitation on the ground that India was in conflict with it, an Islamic country and a member state. Much has changed since then. If in the 1960s, Indias engagement with the developing world was of an intensely political nature around the subject of decolonisation through the nonaligned movement, of which this country was a founding leader, India today intensively deals on the economic front with all parts of the globe, not least key Islamic states in the Gulf and West Asia. This convergence explains the OICs solicitousness in giving India space on the question of terrorism, of which they too are victims. The OIC opportunity to us will also help cool hyper-nationalist ardours in some quarters that recommend broadening of the conflict with Pakistan. The 28 draft questions, each with a suggested score attached, begins with a potential five points if a countrys constitution had a provision to protect privacy or has been interpreted to encompass such a protection. A U.N. human rights expert has published a draft list of questions to measure countries privacy safeguards, a first step toward ranking the governments that are potentially doing the most snooping on their own citizens. Joseph Cannataci, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to privacy, submitted the draft questionnaire - touching on everything from chatrooms to systematic surveillance - to the U.N. Human Rights Council, and invited comments by June 30. Cannatacis role investigating digital privacy was created by the council in 2015 after Edward Snowdens revelations about US surveillance, and he has strongly criticised surveillance activities by the United States and other countries. As the first person in the job, Cannataci set out an action plan for tackling the task and said he planned to take a methodical approach to monitoring surveillance and privacy laws to help him to decide which countries to investigate. The councils 47 member states are not be obliged to agree with his findings, but special rapporteurs reports are generally influential in a forum where governments are keen to appear to have an unblemished human rights record. The 28 draft questions, each with a suggested score attached, begins with a potential five points if a countrys constitution had a provision to protect privacy or has been interpreted to encompass such a protection. Under the first version of Cannatacis scoring system, systematic monitoring of private communications could subtract 55 points, as could intensive policing of the internet and monitoring of chatrooms. Other questions focus on subjects ranging from parliamentary and judicial oversight of surveillance and intelligence activities, profiling of civilians, and the use of bulk powers such as downloading an entire set of phone records rather than getting a judges permission to listen into one call. The last question asks: Does your country have a police and/or intelligence service which systematically profiles and maintains surveillance on large segments of the population in a manner comparable to that of the STASI in the 1955-1990 GDR (East Germany)? Any country answering yes to that would forfeit 1,000 points and should abolish its system and start again, he wrote. Cannataci stressed that the questionnaire was incomplete and very much a work in progress, and more questions might be added on open data, health data and privacy and gender. The intention would be to use such metrics as a standard investigation tool during country visits, both official and non-official, Cannataci wrote in his report. He will report to the Council on Friday. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Two witnesses said the blast ripped off part of the roof of Omar's house. (Photo:AP) Nairobi: A powerful explosion killed at least 11 people in the Somali capital Thursday, police said. An Islamic extremist group claimed that a Mogadishu hotel was the intended target, but a police officer said militants detonated a bomb while trying to assassinate a judge. The car bomb went off near the residence of appeals court chief Judge Abshir Omar, and security forces stationed outside the judge's house fought off gunmen who tried to force their way inside, police officer Mohamed Hussein said. More than 35 were wounded in the attack, said Hussein, who raised the death toll to 11. Shortly after the detonation, at least four gunmen running on foot opened fire at nearby buildings and business, sparking clashes with security forces stationed nearby and hotel guards, he said. Two witnesses said the blast ripped off part of the roof of Omar's house. The witnesses, shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamed and area resident Fatima Nur, reported hearing gunfire after the explosion and said smoke billowed from the site of the attack. Al-Shabab, which is considered the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa, claimed responsibility for the attack. The al-Qaida-linked group said the Maka Almukarramah hotel, not the judge's house nearby, was the intended target. Another witness, Sabir Abdi, said the hotel suffered significant damage and several people inside were injured. Dozens of cars were on fire along Maka Almukarramah Road, which is in a busy part of Mogadishu where restaurants and hotels are located. Al-Shabab has targeted the Maka Almukarramah hotel multiple times in the past, including a March 2015 attack in which at least 18 people died. The hotel is frequently patronised by government officials. Many of victims of Thursday's attack suffered horrific injuries and local hospitals were said to be struggling to cope with causalities. Some of the wounded lost limbs, said Sadiya Yusuf, a nurse at Daru Shifa, one of the hospitals treating victims. The militant group, which opposes Somalia's federal government and wants to impose sharia law, has carried out many deadly attacks inside Somalia and elsewhere in the region, including in neighbouring Kenya. It was behind the deadliest attack in Somalia's history, a massive truck bombing that killed well over 500 people in Mogadishu in October 2017. Al-Shabab also said it was responsible for a January attack on a hotel and shopping complex in neighbouring Kenya's capital of Nairobi that killed 21 people. The US has dramatically increased airstrikes against the extremist group since President Donald Trump took office. The US military command for the African continent reported carrying out 50 strikes in Somalia in 2018. This year, US strikes targeting al-Shabab fighters have come at an even faster pace. The military command in Africa reported 23 as of Tuesday, including one in central Somalia that killed 20 militants and another the day before that killed 35. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed. (Photo:AP) Washington: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday he had "good conversations" with Indian and Pakistani leaders and was hopeful that the rising tension will come down between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Over the last two days, Pompeo spoke to the leaders of the two countries including External affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. "We were and continue to be very engaged with the issue between India and Pakistan," Pompeo told reporters travelling with him from Hanoi, Vietnam to Manila in the Philippines. "I spent a good deal of time on the phone last night talking to leaders in both countries, making sure there was good information exchanged, encouraging each country to not take any action that would escalate and create increased risk," he said. "I had good conversations, and I am hopeful that we can take down the tension there, at least for the time being, so they can begin to have conversations that don't portend risk of escalation to either of the two countries. So we're working hard on that," Pompeo said. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Forty CRPF soldiers were killed in the on February 14 suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir. India carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested an Indian Air Force pilot. Canada's opposition leader formally asked federal police on Thursday to investigate a claim of political meddling by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government. (Photo:AP) Ottawa: Canada's opposition leader formally asked federal police on Thursday to investigate a claim of political meddling by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in the criminal prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. The House of Commons scheduled an emergency debate Thursday on the deepening controversy, the most serious faced by Trudeau since assuming office in 2015. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer accused the Liberal prime minister's inner circle of possibly attempting to obstruct justice, in a letter to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Brenda Lucki -- which the RCMP confirmed to AFP it has received. "The matter at hand appears, on its face, to be a gross violation of the law," Scheer wrote. He pointed to "explosive testimony" by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, who told the House of Commons justice committee on Wednesday that Trudeau's staff and other senior officials applied undue pressure on her to settle a criminal case against SNC-Lavalin. The Montreal-based company was charged in 2015 with corruption for allegedly bribing officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts during former strongman Muammar Al Gaddafi's reign. Wilson-Raybould, after resigning from cabinet, testified that she experienced a "consistent and sustained effort" to politically interfere in the prosecution of one of the world's top engineering firms. She added that she faced "veiled threats," and described the intense pressure on her to comply as "inappropriate," but stopped short of suggesting it was illegal. In the end, Wilson-Raybould refused to ask prosecutors to settle, and the trial is set to proceed. Trudeau has rejected her characterizations of events, saying Wednesday that he had made clear to his former attorney general that the "decision around SNC-Lavalin was Jody Wilson-Raybould's and hers alone to make." Thursday morning, dodging calls to resign, he said: "My team and I have always acted in a professional manner." "Canadians expect their government to look for ways to protect jobs, to grow the economy, and that's exactly what we've done every step of the way ... in a way that has respected our laws and respects the independence of the judiciary," he added. For weeks, Trudeau's Liberal government has been rocked by the allegations first reported by The Globe and Mail newspaper, only eight months before elections. Canada's ethics commissioner has launched an investigation into the matter. US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned he could walk away from a trade deal with China. (Photo:AP) Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned he could walk away from a trade deal with China if it were not good enough, even as his economic advisers touted "fantastic" progress towards an agreement to end a dispute with the Asian country. The United States and China have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of each others' goods, roiling financial markets, disrupting manufacturing supply chains and shrinking US farm exports. "I am always prepared to walk," Trump said in Hanoi, after cutting short a summit meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un that failed to reach a nuclear deal. "I'm never afraid to walk from a deal. And I would do that with China, too, if it didn't work out." The United States had been poised to hike tariffs on some $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent after Friday if no deal was reached by then. But on Sunday, Trump announced that he would delay the hike in duties due to progress in negotiations with Chinese officials last week. Since then, Trump administration officials have offered few details on the discussions. "The progress last week was fantastic," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on CNBC on Thursday, noting that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer read Chinese officials "the riot act" in talks last week. "We are heading towards a remarkable, historic deal," he added. Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, was similarly upbeat, saying on Fox Business Network that Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He drafted "sketches of an agreement on intellectual property theft and trade ... that really makes sense for both parties." "If you look at the paperwork we've got and the line-by-lines that people have sketched out, it's just about as favourable as you could hope for," Hassett said, adding that final details would need to be approved by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Lighthizer, Trump's chief trade negotiator, on Wednesday was more cautious about the negotiations in testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee, saying much more work needed to be done to nail down an agreement and it was too soon to predict the outcome of talks. He also said the United States would need to maintain the threat of tariffs on Chinese imports for years, even if the two countries strike a deal, a gloomy prospect for companies seeking to end trade war uncertainty. Lighthizer had said the United States is seeking an agreement that prohibits China from competitively devaluing its currency as part of trade talks, following past manipulations of the yuan. Adding more details, Kudlow said China would need to report any intervention in the foreign exchange market. "The documents are very clear: I mean, even things like the currency deal ... got no manipulation; they've got to report any interventions in the market. That's part of it," Kudlow said. His comments came as the United States won a World Trade Organization ruling that China's domestic price supports for wheat and rice were excessive and violated WTO obligations. Trump administration officials have frequently criticized the Geneva-based WTO for its inability to rein in China's trade practices and non-market economic policies. The location of Hamza bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," has been the subject of speculation for years. (Photo:AFP) Washington: The United States on Thursday offered a USD 1 million reward for information on a son of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, seeing him as an emerging face of extremism. The location of Hamza bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria or under house arrest in Iran. "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise," a State Department statement said, referring to Al-Qaeda. The State Department said that it would offer USD 1 million for information leading to his location in any country. Bin Laden, who according to the United States is around 30, has threatened attacks against the United States to avenge the 2011 killing of his father, who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, by US special forces. US intelligence agencies increasingly see the younger bin Laden as a successor to his father for the mantle of global jihad, especially as the even more extreme Islamic State group is down to its last sliver of land in Syria. In 2015, bin Laden released an audio message urging jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to "liberating Palestine." And in a message a year later, following in the footsteps of his father, he urged the overthrow of the leadership in their native Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden's three surviving wives and his children were quietly allowed to return to Saudi Arabia after his killing. But Hamza bin Laden's whereabouts have been a matter of dispute. He is believed to have spent years along with his mother in Iran, despite Al-Qaeda's strident denunciations of the Shiite branch of Islam that dominates the country. Observers say that the clerical regime in Tehran kept him under house arrest as a way to maintain pressure on rival Saudi Arabia as well as on Al-Qaeda, dissuading the Sunni militants from attacking Iran. One of Hamza bin Laden's half-brothers told The Guardian last year that Hamza's whereabouts were unknown but that he may be in Afghanistan. He also said that Hamza bin Laden married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed some 3,000 people and sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan. The US reiterated its call to Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. (Photo:ANI) Washington: The United States on Thursday welcomed Pakistan's decision to release a captured Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, in their custody. In a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday that the captured IAF pilot Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. Pakistan detained Varthaman Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. We welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's commitment that Pakistan will release on Friday the Indian pilot held in its custody, a State Department spokesperson told PTI responding to a question on the announcement made by Khan in the Pakistani parliament. Simultaneously, the US has urged both India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions. The United States continues to urge both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, including through direct communication. Further military activity will exacerbate the situation, the State Department spokesperson said. The US reiterated its call to Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. We reiterate our call for Pakistan to abide by its United Nations Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds, the spokesperson said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Thursday joined other lawmakers in expressing concern over the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. "This is a result of a Pakistan-based terrorist group's brutal attack, he said. I urge both countries to de-escalate the mounting tensions, Hoyer said. Beijing: China Thursday appeared non-committal about its stand on a fresh proposal moved by the US, the UK and France in the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. China, a close ally of Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds. Asked whether China will block the move to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar as a global terrorist - a listing that will subject him to global travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo-Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang almost reiterated Beijing's oft-repeated stand at a media briefing here. "As we have said on many occasions, the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council has clear norms on the listing of terrorist organisations or individuals and relevant procedures," he said. China will continue to take a responsible attitude and participate in the discussions of the Security Council's relevant sanctions committees and other subsidiary bodies, he said. Beijing's constant blocking of the move has become a major issue of discord between India and China. China's approach this time is closely watched in view of the transformation of India-China relations after last year's Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. China has taken a more guarded approach since the Pulwama terror attack claimed by Pakistan-based JeM which killed 40 CRPF soldiers. Beijing backed the recent strong statement issued by the UN Security Council condemning JeM for the attack. It is to be seen what stand China would take this time about the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist. Such a designation of Azhar by the UN's top organ could be seen as a major setback for Pakistan as it had opposed it all along. China is also trying to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan with Foreign Minister Wang Yi interacting closely with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in recent days. Qureshi made an "urgent" phone call to Mr Wang on Thursday to update him about the tensions between Pakistan and India, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. During the phone call, Mr Wang briefed Qureshi on China's efforts to promote peace talks and reiterated his hope that Pakistan and India would exercise restraint and "earnestly fulfil" their commitment to prevent the escalation of the situation, the ministry said in a statement. Qureshi's phone call came as tensions between India and Pakistan rose Wednesday after Pakistan claimed it shot down an Indian fighter jet over Pakistani air space and arrested a pilot in response to Indian counter-terrorism in Balakot. Qureshi made the phone call after Wang held extensive talks with Ms Swaraj on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in the Chinese city of Wuzhen. Mr Wang told Qureshi that China will continue to play a "constructive role" in easing the current tension. "Wang also stressed that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be truly respected. China does not want to see any behaviour that goes against the norms governing international relations," it said. At the RIC Ministers meeting on Wednesday, India won the support of China and Russia in the fight against terrorism as China and Russia agreed to step up policy coordination. Briefing the media after the RIC Ministers talks, Mr Wang said, "We agreed to jointly combat all forms terrorism through closer policy coordination and practical cooperation. Especially important is to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism". But at the same time Wang tried to cautiously tread a fine line, highlighting that Pakistan, which is its close ally, is also opposed to terrorism. "China, Russia and India have reaffirmed our strong opposition to terrorism in various forms and manifestations. At the same time, we believe that Pakistan has always been opposed to terrorism," he said at the joint press conference with Ms Swaraj and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Elaborating on China's stand, Mr Wang said, "on the recent developments between India and Pakistan, China appreciates the statements from Indian and Pakistani friends saying that they will exercise (restraint) and avoid escalation of the situation". He said China for its part was playing a "constructive role as a mutual friend". Separately China's military on Thursday said it was "closely watching" the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan and called for restraint by both the neighbours. Terming India and Pakistan as "friends of China", it also said both the countries should resolve the issue through dialogue and properly handle the differences to prevent further escalation of tensions. "We have noted the latest developments and we are closely watching the situation," Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Col Ren Guochang told reporters here when asked about the prevailing tensions between India and Pakistan. The highly anticipated meeting in Vietnam was supposed to build on the leaders' historic first summit in Singapore last year. (Photo:AP) Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump have agreed to continue "productive" discussions on denuclearisation, Pyongyang's state media said Friday, hours after a summit between the two leaders in Hanoi ended abruptly with no agreement. The highly anticipated meeting in Vietnam was supposed to build on the leaders' historic first summit in Singapore last year, but the latest talks ended in deadlock with Washington and Pyongyang giving starkly different accounts of the reasons behind the impasse. On Friday however, the North's official KCNA news agency said that Kim and Trump had "agreed to continue having productive talks to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the improvement of US-North Korea relations". "Chairman Kim and President Trump have expressed their confidence that North Korea-US relations can achieve groundbreaking improvements if they collaborate together with patience and wisdom, although there are many unavoidable obstacles ahead", KCNA said, making no mention of the breakdown of the high-stakes summit. The report came hours after North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho held a highly unusual late-night press conference, denying Trump's claims that Pyongyang was seeking a complete lifting of sanctions imposed on it. Ri told reporters the North had offered to dismantle its Yongbyon nuclear plant in exchange for partial sanctions relief, while Trump had earlier said that Pyongyang had demanded the lifting of all sanctions imposed over the country's banned nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes. Two security officials confirmed that members belonging to foreign forces present at the base were safe as the Taliban could not breach walls of their compound. (Photo: AP | File)) HELMAND/KABUL: At least nine Taliban insurgents, including three suicide bombers, were killed by the Afghan forces in a bid to prevent a complex attack by the hardline Islamist group on a US-Afghan military base in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Friday. The 215 Maiwand Army Corps situated in Helmand province came under attack in the early hours of Friday, said a senior security official in Kabul, adding the attack was Talibans third attempt to overrun the strategic military installation in the past 48 hours. Afghan soldiers of 215 Maiwand Corps stopped the Taliban from gaining control of the military compound, we have reports that six Afghan soldiers were killed during the clashes, said a senior Afghan security official on condition of anonymity. Two other security officials confirmed that members belonging to foreign forces present at the base were safe as the Taliban could not breach walls of their compound. The United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led mission, known as Resolute Support, and a separate US counter-terrorism mission largely directed against militant groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda. But US President Donald Trump told Congress last month he intended to reduce US forces from Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban insurgents, saying: Great nations do not fight endless wars. In addition, some 8,000 troops from 38 other countries in Resolute Support provide training and support for Afghan forces. Helmand is seen as a strategic target for the militants as large stretches of the province provides a source of much of the worlds illegal opium supply. During more than a decade of international intervention, Helmand was the deadliest province for foreign troops, claiming nearly 1,000 lives. The governor of Helmand province in a statement said nine attackers including three suicide bombers were killed and Afghan commando forces were busy with clearing the area. An officer of the Afghan security forces in Helmand said a suicide bomber had blown himself up in a dining room inside the military corps compound and clashes continued. The Taliban said their fighters were engaged in clashes with US and Afghan forces at the Shorab airbase in Helmand province. Heavy clashes continue as tens of members of the enemy forces had been killed or were wounded, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman said in a statement. Security officials in Kabul said clashes between the Taliban and the government forces who are backed by foreign forces have not subsided even as US and Taliban officials were holding talks in Qatar to find a negotiated solution to end the war in Afghanistan. The Afghan soldiers in the past week thwarted a Taliban attack in Zabul province, killing 28 Taliban fighters and at least 15 members of the insurgent groups were killed in air strikes conducted by the Afghan air force in Kandahar province, a senior security official said. Qureshi added that Pakistan will take action against Azhar if India provides 'solid, inalienable evidence' against him. (Photo: File) Lahore: Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is very unwell, Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has confirmed. He (Masood Azhar) is in Pakistan. According to my information, he is very unwell. Hes unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house because he is really unwell. So, thats the information I have, Qureshi told CNN in an interview. Qureshi added that Pakistan will take action against Azhar if India provides solid, inalienable evidence against him. If they give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan after all we will have to justify they will go to the court. If they have solid, inalienable evidence, share it with us so that we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan, he said. Talking about the decision made by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday where he announced that Islamabad will release Indian Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan as a peace gesture, Qureshi said, This was a goodwill gesture and we feel this should be an expression of Pakistans willingness to deescalate. We are willing to hand him over as soon as possible. Abhinandan, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir yesterday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was taken to the custody by Pakistani Army. Qureshi thanked US President Donald Trump for taking an interest to deescalate tensions between the two Asian nations. He (US President Trump) can play a significant role. United States can play a significant role. US and Pakistan have had good relations for decades. We have been close allies and today we have a shared objective to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan. I have had a telephonic conversation with United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo in which we discussed this evolving situation. I am happy that they have taken note of this rising tension and they want to play a constructive role to deescalate. This is a very welcomed development, Qureshi said. When Pompeo came to Islamabad when had a very constructive and engaging meeting. He invited me to Washington DC and (there) we had another positive meeting, he added. During the interview with CNN, Qureshi stated that he could not envision an all-out war between India and Pakistan. I hope not Pakistan never wants to escalate. Pakistan never wants to be in a hostile position. From day one when this government came to power, (Pakistan) Prime Minister Imran Khan said if you take one step towards peace, we will take two. He wrote to the Indian Prime Minister to let the two Foreign Minister meet on the sidelines in New York so that they can chart a way forward, he claimed. When this Pulwama tragic incident took place, the Prime Minister placed a very balanced and reasonable offer. This is a new government with a new mindset (in Pakistan). We want to live in peace. We have a people-centric agenda. We want to concentrate on fixing the economy. We want to improve governance in Pakistan. We want to eradicate corruption in Pakistan. Thats the mandate given to us by the people of Pakistan. We want to see peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Western front is consuming us. We do not want an Eastern front. We want to put an end to the 17-year-old war thats going on in Afghanistan, he added. Qureshi said that the Pakistani government is open to any step that leads to de-escalation. If they have good solid evidence, please sit and talk. Please initiate a dialogue and we will show reasonableness, he said. Islamabad: Pakistan Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has opposed the release of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, expressing apprehension that India could launch an offensive after he is sent back. In a speech in Pakistan Parliament, Ahmed, who is the chief of Awami Muslim League, admitted that Masood Azhar's terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed has a camp in Jabba in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. "During (former Prime Minister) Vajpayee's time this was not the situation. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi has a different thinking. People say Modi planned this attack keeping in view the Lok Sabha elections. What if India attacks us again after we hand over to them the IAF pilot. I want to tell you, Modi is sitting there. What if he attacks tomorrow. Every Muslim residing in India is looking towards Pakistan," he said. Pakistan Railway Minister was on Thursday addressing a Joint Session of Pakistan Parliament on Indian Aggression. Ahmed said, "During the Kargil War, one plane crashed and dropped on the Pakistan side but Indian jets didn't cross Kargil. But (this time) their 14 jets entered Jabba in Pakistan, where (Masood) Azhar Sahab's Madrasa is located... Madrasa Taliban is there. Yes, it is..." Jaish-e-Mohammad, led by Azhar Masood, had taken responsibility for the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Kashmir in which 40 personnel were killed. Reacting to Ahmeds speech, Naveed Kamran, a Pakistani citizen, tweeted, "Sheikh Rasheed should resign and treason case against him should be registered against him for releasing this information in Parliament. India used diplomatic and military pressure to ensure that Pakistan releases Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman unconditionally, top sources said in New Delhi on Thursday. Soon after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Pakistan Parliament that the pilot will be freed tomorrow as a "peace gesture". Prime Minister Modi made no compromises on the Pakistani proposal for holding talks, the sources said. India mounted pressure on Pakistan through the international community, with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval holding talks with the US and other P-5 countries, the sources said. The External Affairs Ministry also exerted pressure on Pakistan through the Arab world, they said. Wing Commander Varthaman, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was taken to the custody by the Pakistani Army. At least three commercial flights departed from Pakistan on Thursday. (Representational Image) Islamabad: Thousands of air travellers stranded worldwide heaved a sigh of relief as Pakistan announced that its airspace will be fully re-opened by Friday, as the aviation authorities allowed some flights to operate Thursday a day after closing the air traffic over the country in view of escalating tensions with India. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday temporarily restored Pakistani airspace for commercial aviation, allowing some flights to depart. At least three commercial flights departed from Pakistan on Thursday. The three flights included Emirates flight number EK637 from Peshawar to Dubai, Air Arabia G9825 from Peshawar to Ras Al Khaimah, and Qatar Airways QR601 from Peshawar to Doha. The CAA in its latest Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said the airspace would remain closed until 1 PM Pakistan Standard Time on Friday. Following the announcement, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announce that its flights to Jeddah, Dubai, Madina and Dammam will be departing this evening. "After the decision to temporarily open Pakistan's airspace, PIA has taken the decision to fly their UAE and Saudi Arabia bound flights," PIA tweeted. The closure of Pakistan's airspace in response to escalating tensions with India disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia and left thousands of air travellers worldwide stranded. Various airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines Wednesday announced they were rerouting their flights as Pakistan closed its airspace. Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. "All THAI flights from Bangkok to Europe departing near midnight of 27 FEB through early 28 FEB and from Europe to Bangkok departing on 27 FEB have been cancelled due to Pakistan airspace closure," the airline wrote on its Twitter page. The decision affected its services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo. Singapore Airlines was forced to direct flights to Europe to re-fuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Emirates also cancelled 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has said that due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, air traffic was significantly heavy over the Mumbai region on Wednesday night. Islamabad: Before he announced the release the captured pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to the world, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had tried to contact his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi over the telephone three times but failed, media reports said. Mr Khan wanted to tell Mr Modi about his decision to release Mr Varthaman. Later, during a joint parliament session, Mr Khan announced that Pakistan will release the captured Wing Commander, as a peace gesture to India. Reports said Mr Modis office was sent a message for a telephonic conversation between the leaders, but there was no positive response. During his speech in the Parliament, the Prime Minister reiterated that Pakistan desired peace and stability in the region as it was essential for the governments efforts to pull the people out of poverty and attract investment and revealed that he tried to reach out to Mr Modi for the sake of peace in the region. Tension is not in the interest of both the countries, he said. I tried to talk to Prime Minister Modi yesterday, the PM added. HAVERFORD Magisterial District Judge Robert Burke cleared the courtroom Thursday for a case he labeled as sensitive, denying media members access to the public proceeding. Burke said he would note a reporters verbal objection on the record, though following the hearing for defendant Yang Lee, the judge would not confirm if he had done so. Burke did provide the affidavit of probable cause for Lees arrest before closing the courtroom. Lee, 74, of Jacalyn Drive in Havertown, was charged in an incident that occurred at the YMCA on North Eagle Road back on Dec. 15, 2018. According to the affidavit, Officer Colin Patrick was dispatched at 5:20 p.m. to the YMCA for a report of an indecent act that just occurred. Delaware County Emergency Services reported that an Asian male was masturbating in the coed sauna. Patrick made contact with an employee, identified in the affidavit as Paul Hackett. Hackett told the officer he was working the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. supervisory shift and was on the computer when a Haverford Area YMCA member approached him and said another member, later identified as Lee, was behaving inappropriately in the sauna. Hackett said he immediately went into the sauna and caught Mr. Yang Lee masturbating while he was sitting on the top sauna bench, states the affidavit, authored by Patrick. Hackett said he approached Lee and explained to him that what he was doing was not appropriate. Lee was charged with disorderly conduct, indecent exposure and open lewdness. His bail was set at a preliminary arraignment at $20,000 unsecured. After the hearing, which required the use of an interpreter, Burke said Lee was held on all charges. When specifically asked, Burke said both Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Cassandra Taylor and defense attorney Edward J. Schwabenland had requested that the court be closed for the hearing. Later, Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland said, The commonwealth did not ask for the courtroom to be closed or for the press to be removed. An attempt to reach Schwabenland after business hours Thursday was unsuccessful. ROSE QUINN SALT LAKE CITY Elsa and Anna fighting elemental foes, Kristoff riding into battle on the back of a reindeer, two mysterious characters we havent been introduced to yet Disney gave us a lot of things to unpack earlier this month in the first trailer for Frozen 2. Now were getting the first real idea of what the film will be about, thanks to a rumor circulating on multiple film websites this week. The rumor: According to the podcast Fine Tooning, the Frozen sequel will be about Anna and Elsa searching for what actually happened to their parents. The first Frozen film suggested that the sisters parents passed away in a shipwreck. We see them boarding a ship that is later overwhelmed by massive waves. The film then switches to a scene of their portrait being covered in black and theres a shot of what appears to be their gravestones, but their deaths are never actually confirmed. Fine Tooning said that the first scenes of the Frozen 2 trailer, which show Elsa attempting to crest monstrous waves with her magic, hint at a storyline that follows her parents supposed watery demise, as the imagery is pretty similar. With Anna and Elsa exploring beyond the bounds of Arendelle, it makes sense that they may be searching for their parents if their parents did not die. Other rumors about the film: Collider reported this week that the official poster for Frozen 2 also contains hints about the films direction. Josh Gad, who plays Olaf in the film, said that surprises are in store for fans who inspect the snowflakes, according to Collider. The spikes of the snowflakes contain four symbols, similar symbols to those seen throughout the trailer. Its rumored that the symbols could represent the elements, the Gregorian seasons and even imply that Elsa has more power than previously imagined, maybe having, including extended control over the elements, according to Fine Tooning. If you look hard enough, this teaser poster will reveal quite a few surprises (like how pretty a snowflake is up close). #Frozen2 #November pic.twitter.com/b6WYL368zL Josh Gad (@joshgad) February 13, 2019 /Film sat down with co-writer/co-director Jennifer Lee last March to discuss why Disney was returning to the Frozen universe. According to Lee, We werent going to do a sequel. (Co-director) Chris (Buck) and I were like, That storys done. But then one day we just made the mistake of talking about something and going, Oh my gosh. Thats the thing we still havent explored, and its important. Frozen 2 is slated to be released Nov. 22. SALT LAKE CITY Utah Opera knows how to keep things interesting. Announcing its 2019-20 season on Thursday, the opera company proved, thanks to the successes of 2018's "Moby Dick" and this season's "The Little Prince," that they are still dedicated to presenting contemporary operas as well as delivering opera all-stars. Sponsored by the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, the opera company will stage four operas between the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2020, kicking things off in October in the newly restored Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre with Verdi's "La traviata," which contains one of opera's most famous songs, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici," also known as "The Drinking Song." From the grand opera tradition of Verdi, Utah Opera will move to more contemporary fare in January, with the company premiere of Kevin Puts' and Mark Campbell's 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winner "Silent Night." Based on the 2005 film "Joyeux Noel," "Silent Night" tells the World War I tale of French, German and Scottish soldiers who instituted a temporary truce during Christmas of 1914. Supertitles for all five of the opera's sung languages English, French, Italian, German and Latin will be projected above the stage. After the international success of Moby-Dick, I am delighted that Utah Opera is deepening its commitment to the very best new American opera with the Utah premiere of Silent Night, a prize-winning work that captures a momentary glimpse of hope and humanity amidst the horrors of World War I," said Utah Symphony and Utah Opera President and CEO Paul Meecham in a press release. Following "Silent Night," the company will return to tradition once more in March by staging Rossinis "The Barber of Seville," where audience members can hum along as the titular barbers, performed by baritone Michael Adams, sings Figaro! Figaro! Figaro! To close out the 2019-20 season, Utah Opera will present yet another company debut Jules Massenets opera "Thais." Now over 100 years old, this French opera is based on Anatole France's novel of the same name and tells the story of the Egyptian courtesan Thais and the Christian monk who attempts to convert her. In this production, Thais considered one of the opera world's most difficult roles will be played by soprano Nicole Heaston, who Utah Opera audiences saw in 2017 as Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. Each of the coming season's four productions will include the Utah Opera Chorus, directed by Michaella Calzaretta, and members of the Utah Symphony in the pit. Capitol Theatre, which will close this April for renovations to improve leg room and sightlines on the floor level, is scheduled to be completed in time for Utah Opera's 2019-20 season opener "La traviata." Utah Opera is thrilled to open the newly renovated Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre , said Artistic Director Christopher McBeth in a press release. The productions range from the sumptuous and traditional, to a fresh look at an old favorite, to an award-winning theatrical spectacular. In the 2019-2020 season, Utah Opera shows the breadth of what this terrific art form can offer. Season subscriptions are currently on sale at 801-533-6683 or utahopera.org, while individual opera tickets go on sale to the general public June 14. A TUBA TO CUBA 3 stars Ben Jaffe, Charlie Gabriel, Walter Harris, Ronell Johnson, Clint Maedgen; NR; Broadway; running time: 84 minutes SALT LAKE CITY A Tuba to Cuba is a portrait of a band and a celebration of the way music can bring people and cultures together. Directed by T.G. Herrington and Danny Clinch, Tuba to Cuba follows New Orleans beloved Preservation Hall Jazz Band on a historic trip to Cuba. Guided by band leader Ben Jaffe, the film examines the connections between American Jazz and traditional Cuban music as the band travels throughout the country performing in formal and informal venues. As the film opens, Jaffe offers a brief history of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which was founded by Jaffes father, Allan, in the turbulent atmosphere of the 1960s and stood as one of the few open venues that allowed whites and blacks to interact socially in New Orleans. Decades later, Jaffe has taken up the torch (and the tuba) from his father and is the de facto leader of a collection of talented jazz musicians. The documentary comes together as the band prepares for a long-planned trip to Cuba, where band members hope to make a connection to music they see as foundational to their craft. Over the films comparatively brief 84-minute run time, Tuba to Cuba interviews different members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, visits seasoned Cuban musicians and craftsmen and captures the joy and passion of its musical subject matter. The story is pretty linear, but certain scenes elevate the emotional resonance of the journey. One especially striking moment came as Preservation Hall drummer Walter Harris explained how playing in prison gave him a redemptive shot at a future. From there, Tuba to Cuba shifts to a scene of band members seeing for the first time a set of special percussive chairs that a group of slaves in Cuba built to get around slave owners' ban on slaves owning traditional drums. We also see the music crossing cultural and language barriers, as musicians who speak different languages are able to find connection on the keys of a piano, and different kinds of music meld and merge in street jams in between more formal performances. Tuba to Cuba is packed full of toe-tapping musical moments. But the impact of the percussion-heavy music is amplified by the rhythm and pace of the films editing, intercutting clips of performers with the vibrant and active culture on the streets of Havana and other Cuban locales in a way that often makes the film itself feel like a performance. Throughout the journey, Tuba to Cuba cuts back to scenes of Jaffe quietly taping the name of the band into his tuba horn, a custom he explains goes back decades. Herrington and Clinchs film has a special reverence for the power of music not just jazz and viewers should especially appreciate the subject matters tone of unity. Jazz fan or not, A Tuba to Cuba should resonate with anyone with an appreciation for the power of music. Rating explained: A Tuba to Cuba is not rated but might earn a PG for some adult content (such as people drinking alcohol). PROVO The former associate dean of students at Utah Valley University and his wife were charged Thursday with using school money to fund nonschool-related projects. Phil Lynn Clegg, 47, of Lindon, was charged in 4th District Court with four counts of communications fraud, and one count of engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, all second-degree felonies. Jennifer Clegg, 42, of Lindon, was charged with two counts of communications fraud, a second-degree felony; communications fraud, a third-degree felony; and engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony. According to charging documents filed by the Utah Attorney General's Office, the Cleggs were "utilizing UVU funds for personal use and misrepresenting expenses as being work related." The university says it has lost about $384,000 due to the Cleggs. Charging documents point to $28,000 that was allegedly taken from the school. The investigation began due to "personnel complaints" against Jennifer Clegg not related to university funds, the charges state. She was employed by the school for over 15 years and last worked as an assistant to the dean of the College of Technology and Computing, where she oversaw the college's finances. But during the course of the investigation, the school found "financial inconsistencies" involving the American Association of Community Colleges, United Scholarship America, and the Towne Cinemas Movie Theatre in Provo, the charges state. Phil Clegg held prominent positions with each of those entities, according to court documents. The university in a statement Thursday said the school first started looking into the Cleggs when a complaint was sent in to its anonymous hotline. The complainant claimed Jennifer Clegg "was misusing her position to conduct private business during work hours and that her co-workers feared retaliation from her if they spoke up about it." "In the course of immediately investigating these allegations, the university uncovered suspected financial misconduct by Ms. Clegg and by her husband Phil Clegg, former associate dean of students. As a result, in April 2016 Ms. Cleggs employment was terminated, and in May 2016 Mr. Clegg resigned from his employment while his conduct was under investigation," school officials said. The school then made sure "procedures and practices" were in place to prevent similar events from happening in the future. UVU hasn't shared information associated with the case until now "to protect the integrity of the investigation and to comply with a court order requiring confidentiality," school officials said. Phil Clegg is accused of signing a contract with USA Today to have newspapers delivered on campus by students with the company reimbursing the university, which would pay the students, the charges state. The school paid the students more than $32,000 from 2012 to 2016 but was never reimbursed, according to charging documents. Those payments, instead, went to the United Scholarship America Foundation, the charges state. The Cleggs are also accused of organizing student trips but not reimbursing the school, court records state. Phil Clegg also created an account called "Citizens and Students" in which he was the only member and no students were ever involved, according to charging documents. "Clegg regularly transferred funds from other student organization/club accounts within UVU to this account," the charges state. "This account was used to make payments to ASACC and USA Foundation, both of which are entities controlled by Phil Clegg." That money was used for promotional items for ASACC such as tote bags, pens, notebooks and T-shirts, the charges state. "None of the expenses were related to UVU business or would have been authorized," according to charging documents. Clegg worked for UVU for 15 years before resigning in 2016. Contributing: Ashley Imlay SALT LAKE CITY Noting that "you can't solve your financial problems in a day, a week or a month," the state treasurer is hoping that Utahns develop better savings habits to ensure a better future. "It happens over a long period of time," State Treasurer David Damschen said. He added that individuals are best served if they can develop long-term goals for savings and financial stability. Of particular importance is trying to plan for retirement. This week, Damschen's office and a financial advocacy collaborative are launching a statewide effort to get people to become savings-focused this year. Utah Saves Week urges Utahns to examine their savings habits and work to develop ways to improve their financial situation. The effort is being led by Damschen, who chairs the Utah Council on Financial and Economic Education an organization made up of over 50 private and public entities with the mission to increase Utahns' financial abilities. Utah Saves is a tool that helps Utahns hold themselves accountable to their savings goals and receive free professional advice from online resources, a news release stated. Utahns are urged to pledge to create a savings plan at utahsaves.org where they can receive advice designed specifically toward their savings goals, according to the release. "Younger Americans are facing likely cuts to Social Security benefits," he said. "Health care costs are making it much more difficult for people to save. The cost of higher education has risen dramatically and so anyone who has not factored that in and is not saving adequately for that is (in trouble)." He noted that various factors have made maintaining financial stability very challenging in today's economic climate, but being disciplined and accessing the proper resources can help individuals reach their savings goals. "You can't solve these problems overnight, you have to take baby steps that one step in the right direction," Damschen said. "With the technology that we have, there is no reason why people can't keep themselves very well-informed about money and money issues." He urged Utahns to tap into the sources available through reputable podcasts or credible online resources to become financially informed and eventually self-reliant. Regarding saving for the long term, Thomas Brady, director of the Utah Division of Securities, encouraged Utahns to focus their efforts on becoming a "proactive saver," which will translate into becoming a "proactive investor." "If people would pay themselves first in the way of their savings account or retirement account, that would save them a lot of heartburn," Brady said. "Be a little self-centered on your savings and putting something aside for yourself. That would curb a lot of the problems that we see today (regarding individual finances)." He said finding the right resources is a significant part of creating smart financial habits and "a little bit of out of sight, out of mind doesn't hurt either." "When doing automatic savings, to separate your paycheck sometimes it's better to do a direct deposit directly into a retirement account or directly into a savings account so that you don't even see it," he explained. "That way you get into the practice and the rhythm of saving and living within your means." He acknowledged the difficulty in being disciplined enough to manually move money into various accounts every paycheck, but direct deposit can help remedy some of that challenge. To look for resources, the Utah Division of Securities website has free information to help Utahns find the help they need to become financially well-educated, he said. "If people live below their means and start living that way, they'll start making better savings decisions, which will lead to better investing decisions," Brady said. SALT LAKE CITY After months of assessment, a pair of competing proposals now before Utah lawmakers are set to determine the fate of the Utah Science, Technology and Research initiative. One reads much like a gallow's call and the other a reprieve. Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Trementon, is the sponsor of SB212, which proposes to dissolve the USTAR governing board and move the agency's remaining programs, downsized over the past several legislative sessions, under the umbrella of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. The bill is scheduled to be discussed Friday morning by the Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee. "For at least the past year, we have been looking at this, that USTAR was no longer accomplishing the objectives it was begun under," Sandall said. "Last year, we pushed the pause button and this year, this legislation dismantles the program." But Rep. Mike Winder, R-West Valley City, said his bill, HB264, is addressing issues raised by legislators, including potential overlap with other work being done by GOED, while keeping the agency intact. "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." How we got here Former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. announced the creation of the research initiative in 2005. The new program, Huntsman said, was designed to leverage Utah's homegrown scientific innovation into a powerful economic catalyst that would make the state a "haven" for forward-thinking researchers and create a system of returns that would expand with each year. In its initial incarnation, USTAR was tasked with recruiting "rock star" academics and placing them at the state's top two research institutions, Utah State University and the University of Utah, and provide funding to fast-track research with commercial potential. The new agency would also create a system of grants to help accelerate entrepreneurial pursuits with science innovation at their core an area, because of its long development arcs, routinely shunned by private capital markets. But in 2013 a scathing legislative audit revealed issues with reporting practices, including inflated performance numbers, and led to a wholesale recalibration of the agency overseen by former Lt. Gov. Greg Bell. Another reset took place in 2016 with legislators severing the agency's ties with state universities and slashing its budget and programming. By many accounts, that last adjustment put USTAR in a sort of performance sweet spot, administering grants aimed at bolstering biotech and life science commercial efforts and hosting programs aimed to build the state's portfolio of successes in so-called "deep-tech" innovation industries an arena facing bigger challenges in attracting investment than companies focused on software and information technology that had shorter product development arcs. A third-party assessment of the agency, completed in August 2018, gave it stellar marks and noted five-year benchmarks, established by Utah lawmakers, had been met in just two years. The evaluation, performed by TEConomy Partners, based in Columbus, Ohio, described the agency as "a lean, effective, and outcomes-driven organization" and underscored the high level of performance shown by companies that received its support. "The data and analysis presented in this evaluation find that USTARs current portfolio of programs are strategic, aligned to the states technology-based economic development goals, and focused on an important market gap that is constraining deep-technology startup growth and economic diversification," the report reads. "Since the 2016 legislative reset, USTAR program data indicate strong demand for USTAR grant programs and good investment and sales growth performance by USTAR companies." Last fall, the agency's board distributed copies of the TEConomy report to a group of Utah business and economic experts in hopes of getting their thoughts on the findings. Here are some excerpts from the feedback the agency received in response. These comments represent the opinions of the individuals and not necessarily their respective companies or agencies. "The new model seems to be working well. It would be extremely unfortunate for the Legislature to back away from continued support of the program at this point." Stan Albrecht, president emeritus, USU "USTAR has evolved over time to address changing needs and opportunities as noted in the TEConomy report. The 2016 changes and new programs have been well-received and I believe that USTAR will play an increasingly important role in the future. This effort should continue, knowing that new opportunities may require further refinements to existing programs." Pat Jones, former Utah state senator, CEO of Womens Leadership Institute Pat Jones, former Utah state senator, CEO of Womens Leadership Institute "While the current data is positive it is too early to make a proper assessment of the new direction established by the 'reset.' This kind of economic development takes time and it is too soon to make good judgments and change directions." Nolan Karras, former speaker of the Utah House "The purposes and strategies of USTAR were changed by legislative mandate in 2016. The 2018 TEConomy report indicates that progress is being made consistent with the new purposes and metrics. More time is needed to make a proper evaluation." Spencer P. Eccles, CEO Cynosure, former executive director of GOED "Never in human history has the evidence been clearer economies that invest in science and technology will be on the economic leaderboard of the future. ...Utahs long-term prosperity will be fueled by smart investment in science, research and technology." Natalie Gochnour, associate dean of the David Eccles School of Business and executive director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the U. Months of discussion Over the 2018 interim, legislators on the Business, Economic Development and Labor Appropriations Subcommittee dug further into the work of the Utah Science, Technology and Research initiative, as well as the tasks of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, seeking to identify program redundancies and make some changes. But discussions at committee hearings reflected concerns among some about whether USTAR should continue to exist at all. Last summer, Rep. Marc Roberts, R-Salem, mused whether the agency's budget would be "better spent on roads and other infrastructure that are more, in my mind, justifiable government operations." Others on the committee raised the question of whether funding the agency was the "highest and best use" of taxpayer dollars. Gov. Gary Herbert's staff told the Deseret News during interim meetings last year that Herbert had impaneled a blue-ribbon working group to explore the best path forward for the agency, concurrent with lawmaker's ongoing discussions. But a report expected from that effort, scheduled for an October meeting of the legislative committee considering the agency's fate, was canceled at the last minute. Sandall, who was vice chairman of the appropriations subcommittee when the review was under way, said the committee was "looking for input from them but we did not receive any report." When asked this week about the findings of the panel, a Herbert spokeswoman said the work turned out to be inconclusive. Gov. Herbert has not received a consensus recommendation for the best way for the state to support the research and development of deep technology," the spokeswoman said. Last fall, in the midst of the multiple assessments, USTAR Director Ivy Estabrooke, a research scientist with a long history in the public sector including a position with the U.S. Department of Defense where she oversaw deep-tech research, resigned, noting the overt politicization of the agency in her resignation letter. "After four years, I had done what I felt what I could do to right the ship at USTAR," Estabrooke said. "Implementing the programs, ensuring that the returns on the programs were good and that we were exceeding our metrics. "I truly believe that, as much as possible, the fundamental processes of discovery, invention and innovation should not be politically driven. 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." USTAR deputy director Brian Somers would assume the role as interim director, but followed Estabrooke out the door earlier this year. The agency's current interim director, Barbara Araneo, shared a statement with the Deseret News about the possibility of the agency's dissolution should Sandall's bill find favor with lawmakers and the governor. "We understand the motivation to consolidate economic development agencies under one entity," Araneo said. "Further, we are dedicated to working with the governor and the Legislature to garner full endorsement for science-based technology and commercial enterprises." Richard Kendell, a USTAR board member and former commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education, said he and fellow board members were not consulted by Sandall before his proposal was drafted and was unhappy with the direction of the legislation. "As a member of the governing authority, Im disappointed that there would be an effort to dismantle USTAR given the fact that it is an important part of the ecology of tech-oriented economic development in the state." "Im also disappointed to see that the idea to eliminate USTAR got very little discussion. The proposal, as presented by Sen. Sandall, was never shared with the board. In effect, we were left out of the loop. It would have been good, and productive, to have included board members, a group of knowledgable people that at least have the benefit of familiarity with the day-to-day work of USTAR and the strengths of the agency." Downsized, not deleted? While SB212 sponsor Sandall described what his bill does as a "dismantling" of the agency, he acknowledged that some programs administered by the agency would live on under the auspices of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, should his proposal become statute. BioUtah Executive Director Kelvyn Cullimore said he's been in communication with legislators about SB212 and interprets the goal of the proposal as a reset, rather than a wrecking ball. Cullimore works closely with Utah biotech and life sciences companies through BioUtah, a trade group for the industry, and believes lawmakers are supportive of the sector overall, just not with the approach that USTAR has been taking. "This bill should not be interpreted as a lack of support among legislators for biotech," Cullimore said. "More a dissatisfaction with a methodology rather than the mission. "While I do believe USTAR has shown significant improvement in the last year, and a model that was working better, I think the momentum was already in place to make a change." Cullimore also expressed his hope that the diminished support of Utah biotech and life sciences efforts that would result should SB212 come to pass will be short-lived. "What we need to do in this next year is evaluate what has worked, what has not worked and how we can craft that into a uniquely Utah solution," Cullimore said. "The good news is theres an appetite at the Legislature and governor's office for a properly structured, technology-based economic development program." Theodor Herzl wasnt the first Zionist, the first to dream of a Jewish return to Palestine, but he gave that dream life. Born in 1860 in Hungary, in what is today eastern Budapest, Herzl grew up in a secular, German-speaking Jewish family. He was, in fact, a passionate lover of German culture, and his youthful hope was that, through education, Hungarian Jews like himself could shed what he regarded as their shameful Jewish characteristics, acquired over centuries of poverty, humiliation and persecution, and become fully European. In his late teens, his family moved to Vienna, where he studied law at the university and even joined a German nationalist fraternity. After a brief legal career, he became a successful Paris-based journalist and a moderately successful playwright. He didnt write about Jewish topics. However, although some biographers dispute this, according to Herzl himself it was in Paris that the focus of his life changed. The notorious Dreyfus affair, in which a French Jewish army officer falsely accused of spying for Germany was framed, convicted and imprisoned on Devils Island, convulsed France from 1894 until 1906. Prominent figures such as the great stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, the poet Anatole France, the mathematician Henri Poincare, and, most spectacularly, the novelist Emile Zola (whose vocal outrage brought the governments wrath down upon him, forcing him into hasty English exile), denounced the blatant anti-Semitism of the case. Eventually, Captain Dreyfus was exonerated. But Theodor Herzl later recalled mobs outside his hotel during the trial, chanting Death to the Jews! Concluding that anti-Semitism would never go away, that it could only be fled, and that, therefore, an independent Jewish state was urgently necessary, he embraced Zionism and his own Jewish identity. In 1896, he published a short but pivotal book titled Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), contending that Jews should leave Europe for Argentina or, even better, for their historic homeland in Palestine. There, free from bigots, they would be able to practice their religion and express their culture without oppression. (Late in life, Herzl also considered the east African territory of Uganda as a possible Jewish homeland.) Enormously influential from the start, his book was also controversial. Many secular Jews feared that Zionism endangered their efforts to integrate into European society. (They didnt see Hitler coming.) Many religious Jews saw in it as an attempt to usurp the role of God and the Messiah. (Jewish opposition would shortly prevent Herzls first Zionist Congress from meeting in Munich.) To Herzl, though, Zionism was the Jews only realistic hope. The Jewish question, he wrote, persists wherever Jews live in appreciable numbers. Wherever it does not exist, it is brought in together with Jewish immigrants. We are naturally drawn into those places where we are not persecuted, and our appearance there gives rise to persecution. This is the case, and will inevitably be so, everywhere, even in highly civilised countries. We have sincerely tried everywhere to merge with the national communities in which we live, he said, seeking only to preserve the faith of our fathers. It is not permitted us. In vain are we loyal patriots, sometimes superloyal; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow citizens; in vain do we strive to enhance the fame of our native lands in the arts and sciences, or her wealth by trade and commerce. In our native lands where we have lived for centuries we are still decried as aliens. Although his congress finally convened in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, electing him president, Herzl never saw his dream realized. He died of heart disease in 1904, shortly after his 44th birthday, and was buried in Vienna. I wish to be buried in the vault beside my father, he declared in his will, and to lie there till the Jewish people shall take my remains to Israel. In many respects, his short life must have seemed a failure. His widow died only three years after him. She was cremated and her ashes were misplaced. Of the three children produced by their unhappy marriage, one died of a heroin overdose, another by suicide, and the third was executed in the Nazi death camp at Theresienstadt. In 1946, his only grandchild jumped to his death from Washington, D.C.s Massachusetts Avenue Bridge. In 1949, a year after Israels founding, Theodor Herzls remains were moved from Austria to Jerusalems Mount Herzl, which had been named in his honor. Daniel Peterson founded the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, chairs The Interpreter Foundation and blogs on Patheos. William Hamblin is the author of several books on premodern history. They speak only for themselves. SALT LAKE CITY The Department of Public Safety on Thursday released documents related to a former Brigham Young University police lieutenant accused of giving protected police reports to the school's Honor Code Office, among others. The new information comes two days after the Department of Public Safety announced the BYU Police Department will be decertified in September, stating that the police department had failed to comply with open records rules that all other law enforcement agencies are subject to. Tension between the state agency and the school's police force has been brewing for a few years. In 2016, BYU came under public scrutiny after students claimed their efforts to report sexual assaults led to disciplinary investigations under the school's honor code, a set of standards and personal conduct requirements that students agree to adhere to in order to attend the school. Concerns were raised that the university's treatment of sexual assault victims created a climate that made students wary of reporting crimes for fear they themselves would be penalized. Following a review that led to 23 recommendations for change from the Advisory Council on Campus Response to Sexual Assault in October 2016, BYU adopted an amnesty policy for students who report they are victims of crimes. According to the documents released Thursday, one-time Lt. Aaron Rhoades "accessed private, protected or controlled police reports from the Orem City Police Department, the Utah County Sheriff's Office, and the Provo City Police Department" between August 2014 and June 2016. An investigation by Utah's Peace Officer Standards and Training investigations bureau which is part of the Department of Public Safety found that Rhoades gave information from those police reports to the BYU Dean of Students Office, the Title IX Office and the Honor Code Office. That alleged misuse of protected information is a class B misdemeanor, the investigations bureau said. The Utah County attorney declined to file charges against Rhoades, according to the documents, who gave up his police certification in November following the investigation. A statement issued Thursday evening by Rhoades' attorney says Rhoades was planning to retire "following a nearly 40-year distinguished career as a Utah law enforcement officer." He retired in October, the statement says, and his peace officer certification would have lapsed "as a matter of course." He chose to voluntarily relinquish it because he had no further plans to use it, according to the statement. "Lt. Rhoades believes that he always complied with state laws, regulations and standards. Published reports speculating about Lt. Rhoades conduct while at BYUPD are inaccurate. As with the criminal investigation, Lt. Rhoades believes that he would have been successful in showing the POST Council that he did not violate any of the POST certification standards," the statement said. According to a letter dated Feb. 20 given to the school, BYU police "failed to comply with the certification criteria specifically, between 2016 and April 2018, BYUPD failed to conduct an internal investigation into specific allegations of misconduct by a BYUPD officer and failed to report any findings found to be true to Peace Officer Standards and Training" as required by law. The department also "failed to comply with a subpoena issued by POST" on June 28 into allegations of misconduct by a BYUPD officer," the letter states. That subpoena was a command for BYU Police Chief Larry Stott to appear before the investigations bureau to testify as a witness in Rhoades' case in July, according to documents released Thursday. BYU says it will appeal the decertification decision and believes its police force is an "internal department" of a private institution. However, university officials on Monday also spoke in favor of SB197, which would clarify in state law that agencies like BYU's police force are subject to Utah public records law. The question is at the heart of an ongoing lawsuit between BYU police and the Salt Lake Tribune, after the newspaper sued when BYU declined to release emails regarding rape allegations made by a 19-year-old student in 2016, arguing it is a "privately funded, managed and operated police department within a private university." Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. SALT LAKE CITY Computer-generated or manipulated photos and videos that appear to be living people known as "deepfakes" can be so realistic that they have raised concerns about international security and personal privacy. Fake videos of former president Barack Obama calling President Donald Trump a bad word or depicting celebrities in pornographic scenes have demonstrated the potential nefarious uses of this technology. But what about creating a deepfake of a person that doesn't exist at all? A new crop of websites is displaying a lesser-known application of deepfake technology. Instead of using an archive of photos and videos of a real person to produce a convincing fake, computer programs can now create a composite of clothing, hair and facial features to build a brand new person altogether. ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com offers an endless stream of realistic looking images of people old, young and of every race. Except the people in the images don't actually exist. The photos are completely computer-generated. ThisCatDoesNotExist.com and ThisWaifuDoesNotExist.net use similar technology to spit out fabricated animals and anime characters, respectively. And ThisRentalDoesNotExist.com shows computer-generated bedrooms and kitchens to mimic Airbnb listings. It's not a scam; the website won't actually take your money. But it demonstrates the ability of deepfakes to fool people. In the future, it's possible deepfakes could be used to create fake identities for "catfishing," promoting radical ideology or framing a politician to influence an election. Or a scammer could convince consumers to pay for a product that doesn't exist. So far, no such crimes have been committed. "It may be that we all need to think a little harder going forward before deciding something is real," software engineer and creator of ThisRentalDoesNotExist.com, Christopher Schmidt, wrote on the website. According to Business Insider, websites like ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com use something called a generative adversarial network, which pairs an algorithm that generates photos with an algorithm that judges whether those photos are real. The resulting images are all convincing enough to fool the computer and, for the most part, to fool humans as well. ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com uses a specific algorithm called StyleGAN, which was developed by artificial intelligence company Nvidia, according to Business Insider. The code was first published in December in a research paper and is also publicly available on GitHub. Schmidt created ThisRentalDoesNotExist.com in part because he wanted to see if it was possible for someone without any real experience in deepfakes and with no access to specialized computer resources to create something convincing enough to fool people, according to the website. "None of the pictures, nor the text, came directly from the real world. The listing titles, the descriptions, the picture of the host, even the pictures of the rooms: They are all fevered dreams of computers," Schmidt wrote. "This is something that people should know about the state of the art of neural networks and AI: that theyre now sufficiently advanced that they can often fool folks, especially if theyre not looking very hard." Schmidt said he was inspired by Philip Wang, former Uber software engineer, who released ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com earlier this month. "I have decided to dig into my own pockets and raise some public awareness for this technology," Wang wrote in a public Facebook post. "Each time you refresh the site, the network will generate a new facial image from scratch." Despite the fact that many are wary of the ability to create realistic photos of fake people, productive uses for the technology exist. "Programs like this could create endless virtual worlds, as well as help designers and illustrators. Theyre already leading to new types of artwork," James Vincent wrote for The Verge. For example, a generative adversarial network was used to create "Portrait of Edmond Belamy," a piece of artwork depicting a fictional man that sold at an auction last year for $432,500, according to Christie's. Gwern Branwen, the creator of ThisWaifuDoesNotExist.net, used StyleGAN to make new cartoon characters. I picked anime out of a mix of intrinsic amusement factor, availability of high-quality, data, and genuine difficulty for machine learning, Branwen told Digital Trends. Anime is not something you see in many published papers, and is something everyone can appreciate: bad results are funny, while good results are even funnier. While the results are far from perfect (several images on ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com show glitches in the skin or background), concerns about deceptive uses are real. "Deepfakes are one of the newest forms of digital media manipulation, and one of the most obviously mischief-prone," Kevin Roose wrote in a 2018 New York Times article. "Lawmakers have already begun to worry about how deepfakes could be used for political sabotage and propaganda." Glimpses of the tech's capabilities provide an "unsettling peek into the future," Roose added. In other cases, the ability to deceive could come in handy. On Tech blog TNW, Tristan Greene suggested, the next time your grandmother asks when youre going to settle down with someone nice, you can conjure up a picture to show them. If you want to test your ability to discern between real faces and fakes, you can visit WhichFaceIsReal.com. MURRAY With his backyard literally ablaze with the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires, Salem Hills High School senior Hyrum Devenport put his stage tech know-how to work. "They held town hall meetings at Salem Hills High School and I was able to run the technical elements of that. That was really fun," he said. Never mind that Devenport was under evacuation himself from what became the largest wildfire in Utah in 2018. Devenport said he didn't plan to be pressed into service. But as a finalist in the 2019 Deseret News/KSL Sterling Scholar program, knowing how to perform under pressure can come in handy, he said. Devenport was among 168 finalists who showcased their academic achievement, community contributions and other talents to judges Thursday during the final round of Wasatch Front region judging at Cottonwood High School. The program, which was started by the Deseret News in the 1960s, encourages academic excellence by awarding scholarships and publicly recognizing some of Utah's top high school seniors. Nominees are judged for their academic achievements as well as their leadership and service to their communities. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony March 15 at the Little Theater of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Conference Center. The General Scholarship winner will be named among winners of 14 categories. The contest also has two special awards, the Gail Miller Community Service Award and the Governor's Philo T. Farnsworth Award, which recognizes innovation. Prior to meeting the panel of judges in his category, Devenport confessed that making it to the finals was "surreal, honestly. When I did this initially, I wasn't expecting to make it this far. So to know the judges thought I was good enough was both affirming and also kind of surprising." In the final competition, finalists in 14 categories ranging from mathematics to dance met individually with a panel of judges where they underwent interviews. Those in performing arts categories also sing, dance, play instruments or give a speech for the judges. Herriman High School's Kate Joy Darton, a finalist in visual arts, said the final round was "nerve-wracking." But the judges "are all so nice. You can tell they're all here because they want to and they really appreciate the kids who come through this program. They're almost trained to make it very nonchalant, easy to talk to so it's really just fun. I'm having the time of my life right now," she said. Darton, who packed in several pieces of her artwork to present it to the judges, said "visual arts has kind of been my best friend through all of my hard times and all of my good times. I almost like to make journal entries through all of my art so I look back and see 'Oh, this is where I was at this time' and how much I've progressed. I really like looking back and it's my own history book through the arts." Math finalist Zach Sabey, a senior at Westlake High School, said the Sterling Scholar program has given him a lot more confidence in his abilities. "Before this, I always knew I was good in math but I never really knew that I was that good. As I've succeeded in this competition and been able to look and reflect on all the different things I've been able to do, it's been a really good thing for myself self-confidence," he said. Sabey said he plans to serve a Latter-day Saint mission and then return to Utah to attend Brigham Young University to study actuarial science. "I've always been interested in mathematics, especially statistics. I really like the idea I can kind of predict the future based on the past," he said. Then again, the past is sometimes no predictor of where life will take a person. Leslie Bennion, who competed in skilled and technical sciences education in agriculture, spent most of her childhood in "high-density housing, trampolines and small backyards." At the end of her ninth-grade year, her family moved 4 miles to the other end of Herriman. "It's really interesting how you can have a culture shock moving from one end to the other of the same city," she said. Her new neighbor had a horse and asked her if she would like to ride it. That was a pivotal moment that led to her joining 4-H, Americas largest youth development organization, participating in the National FFA Organization, and competing and winning equine judging contests. She now owns two horses, Cinch and Renegade 6. Herriman High School is so large that it's easy to get swallowed up and not feel connected, she said. It's likely more so for students with disabilities, said Bennion, who has been a peer tutor in a special education classroom. "I saw they were getting lost in the shuffle of the school. I thought 'What can I do for them? What can I do to give back?' That's when I started a club called Special Mustang Activity Club," she said. The club meets monthly and members are hosted by other school clubs. It provides a "safe space" for students with and without disabilities to learn about and from one another, she said. "They've made so many friends and have been such a big part of our high school. I always say our Special Mustangs are the heart of Herriman High School. They are truly what a true Mustang should be like," she said. Bennion said she hopes to merge both of her passions as she attends college to study equine therapy. "Horses, they just have special powers," she said. Correction: Kate Joy Darton's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story as Dalton. SALT LAKE CITY Utah senators voted against a bill that would prohibit officers from turning body cameras off for discussion with supervisors or other officers after force has been used. The bill received a 12-13 vote on the second reading. The vote split parties with three Senate democrats voting for the bill and three against. The sponsor of SB160, Sen. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, said the bill is an effort to find a balance between when the camera should be on and when it should be off, tweaking the body camera legislation passed in 2016. He said turning the camera off after force is used disturbs the record. Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, said that as a sponsor with McCay on the 2016 bill, they worked hard to come up with a consensus law enforcement and other stakeholders agreed with. He expressed concerns they were not involved in and are not in favor of this amendment. "I think if this is good policy, its good policy even if you sit down and work with your partners," Thatcher said. Thatcher and others expressed concern that when officers discuss how to proceed after using force it could bring lawsuits against them in court, particularly with new officers and officers in training. "I do not believe the exemption allowing consultation with a supervisor violates the public trust, I think it allows our officers to do their jobs," Thatcher said. Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said he was concerned officers who had been through traumatic events may not feel comfortable talking to their supervisors while in a stressful situation. McCay said body cameras most often exonerate the officers and the bill would be a move toward government transparency. OREM Police spent Friday searching for a 19-year-old man who they believe shot and killed a 26-year-old man at an apartment complex near Utah Valley University late Thursday. Dominique Barnett succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital, Orem police said. Detectives believe he confronted Elbert Paule, 19, at Paule's apartment after the two spoke on the phone, but little was said in person. About 8 p.m., Paule allegedly fired a shotgun at Barnett in the breezeway of the Parkway Lofts Apartments, 1225 W. 1000 South, before dropping the weapon and taking off on foot, said Orem Police Lt. Trent Colledge. Police don't know if Barnett was armed at the time of the shooting and were still trying to piece details together. "The problem is, we have two individuals who know what took place. One is deceased and the other fled the scene," Colledge said. Police believe the suspect and victim may know each other and the attack was not random. The shooting prompted university officials to issue a "shelter in place" advisory for several hours Thursday and issue alerts to students as police searched for the gunman. Erin Petersen, who lives in the complex, was among those unsettled by the shooting and the following manhunt. Police questioned her neighbors and searched through cars, she said. Paule was last seen wearing yellow sweat pants and a dark sweatshirt. Orem police offered a reward Friday for information leading to his arrest. According to court records, Paule was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia in January, convicted of misdemeanor drug possession in May 2018, and is scheduled to go to trial in April for charges out of Vernal. In December, Paule was arrested for investigation of failing to stop for a police officer, according to Utah County Jail records. Anyone with information can call Orem Police at 801-229-7070. MILLCREEK A 46-year-old man was arrested early Friday in connection with a stabbing. Fahim Abaid Albakawi was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of two counts of aggravated assault. About 10:15 p.m. Thursday, a man was stabbed in the back near 3365. S. 900 East, according to Unified police. He was taken to a local hospital in serious condition. Another person witnessed the stabbing and was then allegedly confronted by Albakawi, according to a jail booking report. Albakawi chased the witness - who is also his neighbor - with a knife until the witness was able to get back into his residence safely, the report states. Just before 3 a.m., officers were called back to the same area, near 3100 South 900 East, on a report of a prowler who was "knocking on someone's back door, smiling at them," according to the report. Officers responded and found Albakawi and arrested him. A large knife was also located and recovered, the report states. In January, Albakawi was charged with being a restricted person in possession of a weapon and shoplifting for an incident in December, according to court records. But the case was dismissed this week because the case was filed incorrectly, according to court documents. SALT LAKE CITY A proposal aimed at dissolving a long-running state program created to bolster economic growth through support of research-intensive startups is sailing through the Senate while the sponsor of a competing bill conceded defeat. Sen. Scott Sandall's SB212, aimed at "dismantling" the Utah Science, Technology and Research initiative launched over a decade ago, found unanimous support from the Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee following a hearing Friday morning. The Tremonton Republican said no succinct proposals to revamp USTAR came to light during months of interim work last year by legislators, who were evaluating the agency's effectiveness as an economic development strategy. Sandall used an agricultural metaphor to note the time had come to take a pause and rethink best approaches to bolstering the state's biotech, life science and so-called "deep-tech" industries. "We hope to take this field and leave it fallow for a time and see if we can decide what seeds we should plant back into that field," Sandall told committee members. In the morning, the committee recommended the bill and moved it to the Senate floor for debate. Later Friday afternoon, the full Senate gave it unanimous preliminary approval on the second reading. A third yea vote will send it to the House. While numerous Utah business and economic experts noted a third-party assessment of USTAR completed last year lauded the agency for its efficiencies and successes and encouraged state leaders to keep the effort alive, some believe the momentum to eliminate USTAR was too great to overcome. Kelvyn Cullimore, biotech entrepreneur, former Cottonwood Heights mayor and executive director of life science/biotech trade group BioUtah, told the Deseret News ahead of Friday's hearing that he believes legislators are still supportive of supporting deep-tech industries, just under a different guise. "This bill should not be interpreted as a lack of support among legislators for biotech," Cullimore said. "More a dissatisfaction with a methodology rather than the mission. "While I do believe USTAR has shown significant improvement in the last year, and a model that was working better, I think the momentum was already in place to make a change." Rep. Mike Winder, R-West Valley City, the sponsor of competing HB264 that proposes to keep USTAR, its governing board and current programming essentially intact, also noted momentum among legislators was on the side of eliminating the agency. HB264 has been languishing in the House Rules Committee since Feb. 5 and has yet to be assigned to a House committee for a hearing. "The Senate has been clear to me that my bill will fail there and their plan (SB212) will prevail, as it already has tremendous momentum," Winder wrote in a text to the Deseret News. "I'm going to back off of my original direction with HB264 and rework it into a (Governor's Office of Economic Development) cleanup bill." Utah lawmakers are considering a bill that would dangerously erode the states Open Meetings Act, allowing members of a public board to review the preliminary findings of an audit regarding their agency in secret with legal counsel to counter what are perceived to be errors. The result could be secret deals to resolve inconvenient matters privately, without public knowledge or input, before the final draft of an audit becomes public. Unfortunately, HB74 passed the House on Thursday, 55-16. For the good of responsible and accountable government in Utah, it should go no further. Despite the lopsided vote, a number of lawmakers rose in impassioned opposition to the bill. One of these was Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Highland, who argued that the states default position always has been to do the publics business in the open and to expose every wart and uncomfortable thing we do before the people. The bill, he said, would allow an opportunity for a public body to huddle up before something uncomfortable comes out and to craft a public relations response to manage bad publicity. I am not in favor of making us a less Open Meeting Act state, he said. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Syracuse, said she had declined to sponsor similar legislation in the past because it would be outside the scope of state policy as written in the Open Meetings Act. Staff members and elected officials already may discuss drafts of audits in private, just not in numbers that would constitute a quorum. These and other clear-minded lawmakers understand that openness is essential for accountability and good governance, no matter how inconvenient it may seem. The people have a keen interest in knowing what those they elect as representatives are doing in office. HB74 originated with the State School Board, a 15-member body whose members expressed frustrations over a recent audit. Their desire was to meet in private to speak candidly about its perceived accuracy before it became public. The people have a keen interest in knowing what those they elect as representatives are doing in office. Think about that. Why should they not speak candidly about perceived errors in front of you, the public that elected them? What would they like to say in private that you can't hear? If an error can be exposed by facts, why worry about perceptions? The truth is, state law already allows many avenues for boards and their attorneys to discuss such reports. Not only can they speak in numbers smaller than a quorum, audits could be emailed to board members for their input. However, if they meet together to discuss it, or anything else that falls outside the laws few, narrow exceptions, they must do so in the light of day. That seems like a small concession to public involvement. That basic premise that meetings should be open to the public except for narrowly defined exceptions has served Utah taxpayers well through the years and needs to continue. Neither the State School Board nor any other public body can point to a governance problem here that needs to be fixed. If some elected leaders had their way, the states Open Meetings Act would die by a thousands small exceptions. This year it may be audits. Perhaps next year some group will lobby for an exception to preliminary budget reports. Governments tend to naturally gravitate toward ways to preserve power and protect against bad publicity. The public needs to draw a line in the sand. Defeating HB74 would be a good first step. SALT LAKE CITY A bill that would criminalize selling or possessing fake urine to cheat a drug test has cleared its final legislative hurdle and is now on its way to Gov. Gary Herbert's desk. The Utah House of Representatives on Friday consented to technical changes made in the Senate to give final passage to HB16 on a 57-3 vote with no debate. The bill's final passage comes after the House previously discussed the bill and passed it on to the Senate with a 61-8 vote. The Senate then approved it with a 26-1 vote, specifying the law wouldn't apply to a person currently under the supervision of the Board of Pardons and Parole. If signed by the governor, the bill will make it an infraction to use synthetic urine to defraud a drug test. Under current Uta law, it is not illegal to cheat a drug test or sell materials for the purposes of cheating a drug test. SALT LAKE CITY Gov. Gary Herbert endorsed HB399, a bill that would ban the practice of conversion therapy on minors in the state of Utah, the bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Craig Hall, R-West Valley City, announced during a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Friday. The definition of conversion therapy, or therapy intended to change a child's sexual orientation or gender identity, was the subject of debate at the hearing, but no vote was held. In its original form, the bill defines conversion therapy as "any practice or treatment that seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity." The definition includes therapy that "seeks to change, eliminate or reduce behaviors, expressions, attractions or feelings related to a patient or client's sexual orientation or gender identity." But some legislators found that definition to be too restrictive, especially as it limits what therapists are allowed to say when they are administering talk therapy. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Syracuse, and Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Highland, both proposed substitution bills that altered how conversion therapy is defined. However, all legislators who spoke at the hearing agreed the practice of trying to change a child's sexual orientation by force, or suggesting to a child that something about them is flawed or broken and needs to be fixed, is dangerous. "It's encouraging to see that the substitute bills agree that conversion therapy is ineffective and harmful and it must be banned, at least some forms of it," said Clifford Rosky, a law professor at the University of Utah and member of gay rights advocacy group Equality Utahs advisory council, who testified at the hearing on behalf of the bill. "Unfortunately, we don't think (the substitutes) work. ... Although well-intended, they have the wrong definition of conversion therapy and as a result they would not actually prohibit any conversion therapy. They wouldn't prevent it, and they wouldn't prevent a single suicide." Brammer proposed a substitute bill that focusses on pain-inducing techniques, like aversion therapy and electric shock therapy, and excludes talk therapy from the definition of conversion therapy. He pointed out that if the original version of the bill passed, it would be the first time the state has outlawed a specific form of talk therapy. "It is not a small step for us to take to say this speech which is still protected, even professional speech is no longer allowed. I want to make sure I am understanding the gravity of that," Brammer said. Brammer also questioned why there have not been more lawsuits brought against therapists or doctors who have practiced conversion therapy. "This seems like a civil damages issue," said Brammer. "If the lawsuits aren't being brought, I'm wondering, why? Because that seems to be a fairly significant portion of the puzzle to preventing the behaviors ... moving forward." Rosky said the shame and trauma associated with conversion therapy as well as statute of limitations laws have prevented many individuals who have suffered because of conversion therapy from pursuing legal action. He added that practices like electric shock therapy and aversion therapy are no longer common and therefore prohibiting them would have little significance. On the other hand, including talk therapy in the definition of conversion therapy is critical, he said. "Words are just as damaging to children as these more physical methods," Rosky said. Lisonbee proposed another definition for conversion therapy that focuses on whether a therapist promises a client that their techniques will result in a "complete and permanent change" to his or her sexual orientation, or otherwise leads the client to believe such an outcome is likely. Lisonbee said she was contacted by therapists in the state who said the prescriptive language of the original bill would have a "chilling effect" on their ability to respond to clients' needs. Rosky disagreed with Lisonbee's proposed definition, saying that even if a therapist tells a client conversion therapy is not likely to lead to a permanent change, that will not stop them from performing the therapy and causing harm. Lisonbee's recommendation was to include more description of best therapeutic practices in the bill. Her substitute adds language that says conversion therapy does not include therapy that "explores the patient or client's assumptions and goals and maximizes self-determination by permitting a patient or client to decide how to self-identify and live out the patient or client's sexual orientation." Lisonbee also pointed to a 2009 American Psychological Association report that said therapists who reject a client's request for a sexual orientation change evaluation at the onset of treatment, without exploring why the client may wish to change, could instill hopelessness in the client who may already feel discouraged by the lack of options available to them. Rep. Eric K. Hutchings, R-Kearns, questioned how he would respond personally if his child came to him and was distressed about their sexual orientation, saying, "I don't want to be this way." "How do you tell a child, 'That's not an issue we can discuss, or not a therapy we can provide? I'm sorry, there's no hope for that,'" Hutchings said. Lisa Hansen, a marriage and family therapist at Flourish Counseling Services in Provo, testified on behalf of the bill, saying it will help families and prevent suicides. Hansen said effective therapy does not start with the therapist saying, "change is or isnt going to happen, or should or shouldnt happen." Rather, effective therapy starts with exploring what is going on with the client and how that is making them feel, she said. SALT LAKE CITY A bill that would strengthen Utah's stand-your-ground law has one more legislative hurdle to clear before going to Gov. Gary Herbert's desk. The bill, HB114, advanced out of a Senate committee Friday after previously winning wide support from the Utah House of Representatives. Its final legislative test will be in front of the full Senate. The bill would make it clear in Utah's existing stand-your-ground law that a person who doesn't retreat during an attack is "not a relevant factor in determining whether" a person using violence to defend themselves acted reasonably, according to the bill. The aim, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, is to "end that cycle of victimization." "If you have to defend yourself and you end up in court, you do not have to go through additional questioning that asks questions like, 'Why didn't you retreat? Why didn't you run away?'" Maloy told the Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee on Friday. Despite Democrats' opposition, the bill advanced out of the committee with a 3-2 vote. The Senate panel approved the bill despite urging from gun violence prevention advocates and a Trolley Square shooting victim saying Utah shouldn't have a stand-your-ground law in the first place. Carolyn Tuft was wounded during the 2007 shooting at Trolley Square, where she was shot and her daughter killed. Now a volunteer for the Utah chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Tuft called Maloy's bill "dangerous" and "unnecessary" and one that "will make it easier to shoot first and ask questions later." "The only true purpose of this bill is to further game Utah's self-defense laws to make it easier to shoot to kill in situations that do not call for it," Tuft said, adding that Utah's stand-your-ground law "emphasizes confrontation over de-escalation." Ed Rutan, of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, urged lawmakers not to support the bill, and instead direct a study of whether Utah's stand-your-ground law is "actually causing more harm than good." "One thing I can assure you of is the stand-your-ground laws are not evidence-based. In fact, the evidence is quite to the contrary," Rutan said, citing a 2012 National Bureau of Economic Research study that concluded crimes including robbery are unaffected by the law, while homicide rates increased by 8 percent. "What you really should be doing instead of tinkering with the language is studying whether the effect is harmful or good for the state of Utah," Rutan said. SALT LAKE CITY One of Utah's largest grocery store chains is banning the use of one of America's most popular credit cards to buy products in their stores. Citing excessive usage charges, Smiths Food & Drug Stores Friday announced the company will stop accepting Visa credit cards as a form of payment beginning April 3. But Smiths and all Kroger Stores will continue to accept all other forms of payment, including Visa debit cards and prepaid cards. According to a news release, Smith's stated that Visa imposes significantly higher interchange and network fees on its retailers that drive up food prices for all customers. A spokesman for the grocer said Visas fees are the highest of any credit cards accepted in their stores, and exceed the revenue and profit margins prevalent in the highly competitive grocery industry. "Our commitment is to our customers to provide quality products at low costs," said Aubriana Martindale, division corporate affairs manager for Smith's Food & Drug. "To do that means controlling costs, and we're not able to do that with the excessive fees that Visa has charged." She said Smiths stores will continue to accept all other forms of payment, including major credit cards like American Express, Discover and Mastercard, as well as cash and checks. Customers can also use electronic benefit transfer cards from SNAP and WIC programs, as well as health savings account cards. Smiths is the second Kroger subsidiary to stop accepting Visa credit cards, following Foods Co. Supermarkets in California, which stopped in August 2018. Smiths operates 55 stores in Utah, along with 87 total stores in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Arizona and Wyoming, while employing more than 20,000 associates across the region. Martindale noted that as a way to help consumers, Smiths will offer all customers double rewards points toward fuel purchases through May 21. In addition, qualifying customers can receive added savings in groceries and fuel. And customers who qualify for the Smith's 1-2-3 Mastercard can receive $100 in free groceries and a 55-cent per gallon discount on fuel for one year. While Smith's is optimistic a resolution can be met with Visa, for now, the grocer's plan is to do what it can to keep prices low for customers despite the slight inconvenience the latest decision may cause in the short term, she said. "We hope Visa will negotiate in good faith. There is no option that's off the table," Martindale said. "Unfortunately, the fees that they are charging us now do not fit into our business model to maintain low prices." She noted Visa charges different fees to its different retail business customers, which results in an unfair playing field "when it comes to Visa charging these fees to retailers." Meanwhile, Visa said cardholders are the credit card giant's "first priority." "Our goal is to ensure that every cardholder can use their Visa card wherever they wish to shop," said Visa spokeswoman Shannon Reed. "When consumer choice is limited nobody wins." The Visa network delivers significant value for merchants including access to more customers, increased sales, security and fraud protection, a quick and convenient checkout experience, and ongoing innovation and implementation of the latest technologies," she said. "Kroger enjoys all of these benefits and there is a cost for these services like any other." It is unfair and disappointing that Kroger is putting shoppers in the middle of a business dispute," she added. Reed said Visa has offered solutions to allow its cardholders to continue using their preferred Visa credit cards at Foods Co. and Smiths without Kroger-imposed restrictions, and the company continues to work toward a resolution. As for the impact on consumers, one local Smith's shopper supported the grocer taking a stand against the high cost of doing business with the creditor. "I've heard that Visa does charge some pretty steep fees so I actually think it's good for a big chain like Smith's to have that fight with Visa and say that 'We're not going to pass off those costs to our consumers,'" said East High School teacher Andrew Platt. "If Smith's just rolled over and would accept any fees that Visa would put forward, Smith's would just pass on those costs to us, the customers." He acknowledged that not being able to use a Visa credit card could be inconvenient for some consumers, but in the end, the consumer could receive a benefit if prices stay low. "Ultimately, the fight is going to be worth it because in the long run companies like Visa will realize they have to back off and they have to lower some of those fees," Platt said. Google Chrome is turning to the dark side. Highlights: The Canary build of Chrome browser gets a dark mode on Android The dark mode renders the content within the browser windows dark A system-wide dark mode could be introduced in the next version of Android Chrome will soon join the long list of applications that support dark mode by default. Two months ago, wed reported that Google had been working to bring native dark mode support to its popular browser on Windows 10. A fresh update from 9to5Google tells us that dark mode has now been included in the latest build (ver. 74.0) of Chrome Canary for Android and that one need only toggle a Chrome flag to see it in action. Unlike previous demos of dark mode on Chrome Canary, the updated feature in the latest build renders only the content in the browser window dark and not the browser UI. To enable this dark mode in the latest build of Chrome Canary, you have to toggle a feature flag called #enable-android-web-contents-dark-mode. To do this, visit chrome://flags and search for Dark Mode using the search bar. Once youve found it, click on the dropdown button below the flag and change it from Default to Enabled. Chrome will then prompt you to relaunch the application so the changes can take effect. Hit Relaunch and expect to see no change to the homepage however. Curious to see how far Google had come with the new feature under test, we fired up our resident Google Pixel 2 XL and opened Chrome Canary. With the new dark mode enabled, we saw the Google search results page appearing well-rendered. When we opened a news article from our website, the background went from being full black to dark grey. Sadly, some elements within the page flashed white as we scrolled up and down. Naturally, we dont expect the rendering to be perfect at this point but we do expect it to get better by the time the feature rolls out to the stable version of the browser. Youll notice that enabling this dark mode only renders the content of pages dark and not the UI of the browser itself, which is what a dark mode in most applications does. In fact, Google has even named the flag ...web-contents-dark-mode so users dont get the wrong idea. That said, Google is expected to roll out a system-wide dark mode feature in the next version of Android, which should decide the colour scheme of the browsers UI as well. We expect this dark mode for content on pages to roll out to the stable version of Chrome in the coming weeks. Related Read: Google working to bring native dark mode on Windows 10 Subscriber content preview NORTH BEND, Ore. (AP) The Coast Guard rescued a 73-old man stranded on a forest hill south of Eugene near Drain after a snowstorm blocked access to roads. The Coast Guard says a helicopter crew hoisted the man to safety Wednesday afternoon and took him to a Eugene hospital for hypothermia treatment. . . . Subscriber content preview By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer Disney Parks/Lucasfilm via AP [enlarge] The world of Star Wars will come to life at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the 14-acre themed land set to open this summer at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, then in the fall at Disneys Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. LOS ANGELES The world of Star Wars is coming from a galaxy far, far away to become the largest single-themed land created in a Disney park. . . . Subscriber content preview Photo by GSAM [enlarge] The seller was Bailey Farm Owner LLC, associated with Kennedy Wilson, which acquired the complex in 2014 for $91.5 million. Bailey Farm, a 372-unit apartment complex at 1225 183rd St. S.E. in Botthell, has been sold to Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which announced the deal. . . . Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal to step down as chairman Naresh Goyal, founder and chairman of Jet Airways, has finally agreed to step down as chairman and allow the board to move ahead with a debt recast plan for rescuing the cash-strapped airline, reports citing sources close to the development said. He would, however, continue to be a part of the company in some capacity even after stepping down as chairman. The decision comes after a meeting of lenders that continued past midnight on Thursday . Goyal, who founded the full-service carrier 25 years ago, has also agreed to reduce his 51 per cent stake. Jet Airways has defaulted on loans and has not paid pilots, leasing firms and suppliers for months as its debt problem mounted. Jet could not hold on amidst rising oil prices and the rising dominance of low-cost carriers like IndiGo in a price sensitive market. Last week Jets board approved a rescue deal which will make its lenders, lead by State Bank of India (SBI), its largest shareholders. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, includes an equity infusion, debt restructuring and the sale or sale and lease back of aircraft. Gulf-based carrier Etihad, which owns a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways, is still in discussions to raise its stake in Jet, but will not shoulder any management responsibility, reports quoting sources said. Forced by rising cash shortage, Jet Airways rationalised its route network, cancelled hundreds of flights as part of its plan to save up to Rs2,000 crore in costs over two years The airline had cancelled about 60 flights scheduled for 28 February alone. It has also informed customers and the regulator DGCA about the cancellations. Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airways CEO Tony Douglas on Wednesday met top officials of State Bank of India to finalise the restructuring plan. Etihad owns 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways. Jet Airways, which has over Rs8,000 crore in debt, is looking for urgent liquidity infusion to pay its pilots, engineers and make payments to its lessors. Real hero Abhinandan Vardhaman comes home Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistani forces after he parachuted down from his MiG-21 Bison fighter jet that was hit by Pakistan Air Force jets near the LoC and landed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, is back in India after three days in captivity. Crowds gathered at the Attari check post greeted the pilot as he touched India soil by about 6 pm. A large number of people have assembled at the Attari Joint Check Post (JCP) to receive the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot following news that he will be released by the evening on Friday. People started arriving in Attari, around 30 km from Amritsar, since 6 am. Their numbers swelled by afternoon and security forces had to cordon off the area to ensure safe passage for the Wing Commander returning from captivity in Pakistan. "We have come here to welcome our country's hero back home. We will give him a grand welcome. He showed a lot of bravery in the air combat and even after being captured by the Pakistanis," Jitender, a resident of Amritsar, who arrived in Attari with his friends, said. Wing Commander Abhinandan's parents, Air Marshal S. Varthaman (Retired) and mother Shobha Varthaman, who is a doctor, were also present to greet him. The parents were greeted with cheers and claps by passengers when they boarded a flight from Chennai to New Delhi on Thursday evening. Briefing a parliamentary panel, foreign secretary said the IAF pilots return is a diplomatic victory for India. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was at a height of 15,000 feet in his MiG-21 jet when he spotted a Pakistan Air Force F-16 at 8,000 feet, near Nowshera, close to the Line of Control (LoC), on Wednesday morning. I am going after him, the Wing Commander said over the secure radio to his mates flying in the patrol. With this started an 86-second intense chase in the sky called dogfight or close combat in military parlance at a speed of 1 km in 4 seconds, roughly 900 km per hour. The two pilots were literally eye to eye and trying to get a lock for the missile to home in. The dogfight rose to an elevation of 26,000 feet and then swooped down a few thousand feet and then rose again. Meanwhile, an air-to-air missile called R-73 fired from the MiG-21 hit an F-16 jet that was downed. Both pilots were trying to get a lock- 60 angle, in air force parlance. This angle provides the widest spectrum to be hit by a missile, explained a pilot. The IAF plane was hit by a missile fired by another pilot. He was by then a couple of kms on the other side of the LoC. The entire thing was being tracked through an airborne radar. The Wing Commanders mates flying the Sukhoi- 30 MKI and Mirage 2000 in patrol were busy chasing away other intruding PAF jets. The Wing Commander ejected at a fairly high altitude. He did so after judging that the plane could not be recovered. The parachutes fighter pilots adorn are not manoeuvrable and the wind draft took him at least 7 km on to the Pakistan side. All this took around 86 seconds, said a top source. The IAF said Pakistans gesture of releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan was in consonance with the Geneva Convention. Its up to the political leadership to decide on releasing evidence of Balakot strike success, it added. Pakistan, meanwhile, rejected reports about the shooting dwn of an F-16 jet and said no F-16 fighter jet was used. Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor of the IAF said Pakistan might have used F-16 provided either by Turkey, a key NATO ally, or the ones among the last tranche from the US Senior officials said Pakistan was trying to hide the use of F-16 as the US bars the use of that plane in any offensive operation. We have told the US, sources said. Pakistan had turned down a request by India to send back the Wing Commander by aerial route and not through the Attari-Wagah land border. Officials said hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the decision to release Varthaman, India conveyed to Islamabad that he be sent back via the aerial route. However, late in the night, Pakistan conveyed to India that the pilot will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border and India's request could not be heeded to, the sources said. Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor is likely to address a press briefing soon at the Attari border. Arrangements are being made for the media briefing. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh earlier said that he chose not to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman at the Wagah border to ensure that the defence protocol that is usually followed in such cases is not violated in any way. IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has reached the Attari border. He was accompanied by Indian high commission officials from Lahore to Wagah-Attari border. He is on the Indian soil and will be taken to Amritsar soon. The daily Retreat ceremony held at the Attari-Wagah border front along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab was cancelled for Friday in view of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's release by Pakistan at this frontier, the BSF said. Pakistani media reports that IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman underwent a medical test at the Wagah border. The IAF Wing Commander has been taken to Amritsar airport, from where he was flown to Delhi. Fraud-hit PNB tops list of best-performing banks: report Punjab National Bank (PNB), the second-largest among state-run lenders, has topped the list of best-performing public sector banks in the country just a year after the lender was hit by a $2 billion fraud. PNB has emerged the best performing bank based on the government's Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE) reform index. PNB is followed by Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India (SBI), and Oriental Bank of Commerce in that order. The EASE index, which is prepared jointly by the Indian Banking Association (IBA) and Boston Consulting Group, is a framework that was adopted by the finance ministry last year to strengthen public sector banks, and rank them on metrics such as responsible banking, financial inclusion, credit offtake and digitisation. Punjab National Bank, headed by Sunil Mehta, also topped the list of PSBs in three out of six key areas of strong performance assessed by the report Incidentally, Sunil Mehta is also the chairman of the IBA. PNB also topped the list of PSBs in three out of six key areas of strong performance assessed by the report. These include responsible banking, credit offtake, or increase in credit growth, and customer responsiveness. The report also found PNB to follow the best practices in terms of stressed asset management, the EASE Index report noted bank's creation of war chest for tracking non-performing assets and a mobile app for recovery officials. The EASE Index report also noted PSU banks' strengthening of the bad-loan recovery process, pointing to the success of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in fast-tracking the resolution process. NPA recovery stood at Rs98,493 crore for current financial year till December, up 27 per cent from Rs77, 563 recovered in FY18. According to data shared by IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India), PSU banks have recovered about Rs80,000 crore from 66 debtors so far. Out of the 11 banks originally placed under the RBI's Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework, only five now remain, with the two most recent exits being Allahabad Bank and Corporation Bank, and lending restrictions being raised from Dhanlaxmi Bank. Delhi HC dumps AJL's plaint against eviction in National Herald case The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a petition by Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), publisher of the National Herald, challenging a single judge order to vacate the newspaper premises near the Income Tax Office (ITO) in New Delhi. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao rejected the appeal of Associated Journals (AJL) challenging the Centre's order to vacate the ITO premises. The AJL, an outfit headed by Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, have been complaining about the BJP government targeting National Herald, and through it the Congress party and its leaders. The publisher of the Congress-linked National Herald newspaper must vacate its office in the capital, the Delhi High Court said on Thursday, while dismissing a petition by the publisher against a December order to vacate. National Herald is defunct and Associated Journals, which claims to the publisher of the newspaper, cannot hold on to the premises as per lease terms. The government had informed the court that no press had been functioning in the premises in central Delhi for at least 10 years and it had been used only for commercial purposes, which is a violation of its lease terms. The government, in October last year, cancelled the publisher's 56-year-old lease for the building in Delhi's ITO and asking it to vacate it. In its 21 December 2018 order, the Delhi High Court asked Associated Journals Limited to vacate the premises within two weeks, after which eviction proceedings would be initiated. The order came on a case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleging that Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, who is also president of the Congress party, set up a company to buy AJLs debts worth Rs90 crore, In his petition, the BJP leader alleged that the Gandhis used Congress party funds to pay off AJLs debts even though the publisher has real estate assets worth thousands of crores. Subramanian Swamy had filed a case in 2012 against then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, alleging irregularities related to a loan of Rs 90 crore given by the Congress to the AJL. AJL was the publisher of three newspapers, including National Herald, which was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi's grandfather. In 2008, Associated Journals had shut down over its debts. But, in November last year, National Herald claimed a growing digital footprint and alleged targeting by the BLJP. COAI says DoT may use USOF funds for a $30 bn telecom infra bank: report The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering a recommendation made earlier by the industry to set up a specialised bank for the telecom sector. The bank will have an initial corpus of about $30 billion, transferred from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has suggested. . At the time when DoT was formulating the National Telecom Policy 2018, we had made a recommendation that the excess amount in the USOF be put in a specialised bank that lends specifically to the telecom industry, reports quoting Rajan S Mathews, director-general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, said. Speaking on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress 2019, here, Mathews said, I think DoT has taken it up, and its very much in support of it. Now, it should be cleared by DoTs finance department. DoT sources also confirmed its plan to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and move all infrastructure assets such as fibre, spectrum and towers to it. The bank (SPV) thus created will lend at a rate that will be comparatively lower than what is being charged by other lenders. The idea is to fund the SPV that lends money to telecom companies. The infrastructure bank will provide loans like an infrastructure provider-1 (IP1) bank to SPVs setting up infrastructure, said Mathews. Telecom companies are increasingly looking at sharing infrastructure so as to bring down rollout and operational cost, as well as to reduce time. On Tuesday, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said he had reached out to rival Vodafone Idea for a possible partnership for an independent optical fibre company. The driver who admitted dangerous driving causing the deaths of three women from Donegal in a road collision in Co Louth in 2017 has been jailed for four years. Margaret McGonigle,69, of Castlereagh in Bruckless, her 37-year-old daughter Mairead Mundy of Ballyloughan in Bruckless and their friend, Rachel Cassidy Battles, 39, of Ballyloughan in Bruckless were travelling home from Dublin Airport, when they were involved in the collision at Aclint near the Louth/Monaghan border on July 21, 2017. Jason Rowntree of Plantation House, Kingscourt, County Cavan entered a guilty plea to the charge in December at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court. His sentencing hearing heard he had consumed between three and five pints before the collision, and had no recollection of the incident. The three women were travelling home from Dublin Airport after a holiday in Turkey when their Toyota Yaris car was in a head-on collision with a black Volkswagen Passat being driven by Rowntree. Judge Patrick Quinn suspended the final two years of the six-year sentence on conditions that included Rowntree attending alcohol awareness and counselling programmes. The judge noted that Rowntree drunk between three and five pints of stout in a pub prior to the crash. He said Rowntree crossed a continuous white line onto the other side of the road, and collided with the car in which the women were travelling. The judge said he could not ignore a statement from a lorry driver who told gardai that a black Volkswagen Passat pulled out in front of him from a side road and then pulled up onto the hard shoulder. The lorry driver was wary of how the car was being driven near where the crash happened. The judge said the collision was not a case of a momentary lack of attention, but he accepted that the accused did not intend to cause the resulting damage. Judge Quinn said Rowntree had accepted responsibility for the incident, had a clear record and that he accepted his remorse was genuine. 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Wheeler has run the agency since July, when he replaced former administrator Scott Pruitt following a resignation prompted by numerous scandals. As acting administrator, Wheeler has confirmed the fears of environmentalists that he would be a "smarter" threat, pursuing President Donald Trump's deregulatory agenda without the distraction of Pruitt's more obvious corruption. "Unlike with some nominees, we do not have to speculate about what Mr. Wheeler will do in office," Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) senior vice president for political affairs Elizabeth Gore told The Washington Post in an email. "From his actions as acting administrator for the past eight months, we have clear evidence of his agenda: undermine rules to limit toxic mercury, allow more smog and water pollution, and roll back protections against the threat of climate change. The senators who voted to entrust Mr. Wheeler with our environment know exactly what he will do with that power." The Senate voted to confirm Wheeler 52 to 47, almost entirely on party lines. Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins was the only member of her party to vote against Wheeler's confirmation. "I believe that Mr. Wheeler, unlike Scott Pruitt, understands the mission of the EPA and acts in accordance with ethical standards; however, the policies he has supported as Acting Administrator are not in the best interest of our environment and public health, particularly given the threat of climate change to our nation," Collins said in a statement. Some of Wheeler's most controversial acts include rolling back Obama-era emissions standards for cars and light trucks, replacing Obama's landmark Clean Power Plan with a version that would both increase greenhouse gas emissions and cost more than a thousand lives a year due to air pollution, weakening the protections of the Waters of the United States rule, and allowing coal plants to emit more mercury. "His actions worsened the air we breathe, jeopardized the water we drink and increased our exposure to toxic chemicals," Natural Resources Defense Council senior director of federal affairs John Bowman said in a statement. California Air Resources Board leader Mary Nichols, who has negotiated with Wheeler over changes in vehicle emissions standards and whether the EPA would challenge California's waiver under the Clean Air Act to make its own, stricter regulations, said the difference between Pruitt and Wheeler was all style and no substance. "I have to say that I don't find him materially different than Scott Pruitt in his policies or the mission that he has taken on," Nichols told The New York Times. "The only difference really is that he is more polished and more professional to deal with." Many Republicans and industry representatives, on the other hand, praised Wheeler's efforts. "He's been a very solid follow on to Scott Pruitt." Republican energy lobbyist Michael McKenna told The New York Times. "He's followed through in a fairly aggressive fashion on everything Scott started." By Julie Dermansky On February 21, the New Orleans City Council unanimously voted to uphold approval of Entergy's proposed natural gas power plant, which faces a growing number of lawsuits, and passed a resolution to impose a $5 million fine on the company for its role in a paid-actors scandal. Before the vote, in nearly three hours of often emotional testimony mostly against the plant, many contended that the $5 million fine was not a sufficient punishment. This was in light of the council's commissioned investigation, which concluded the company "knew or should have known" that a subcontractor was paying actors to support its proposed power plant at council meetings. Opponents called for the contentious project's permitting process to start again, in the interest of fairness, and questioned the council's integrity, given several members' past ties to Entergy. Members of a coalition against the plant, including residents from New Orleans East, where the plant is slated for construction, community activists, and environmental justice groups, argued that the council had yet to make its case the gas-powered plant was needed in the first place. New Orleans regulates its own utilities, giving the City Council direct oversight of Entergy, the company that provides power to the city. The council's advisors, consultants from the DC-based utility law firm Dentons US LLP, concluded the project, which would provide electricity during peak use, was in the city's best interest. Monique Harden with The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice youtu.be "The council decision is corrupted by the influence that Entergy and the advisors have on members," Monique Harden, assistant director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, said via email after the meeting. "It is shocking that Entergy and the advisors can make a side deal for a peaking gas plant and ram it through to approval by the council without any concern for the serious health, safety, and flood risks the gas plant would have on New Orleans East residents, and no demonstration of need, evaluation of alternative options, or meaningful ratepayer protections." Legal Challenges to Entergy Gas Plant During the council meeting, Harden said that her organization and the Alliance for Affordable Energy had filed a lawsuit the day before against the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), challenging an air quality permit the agency renewed for Entergy on Feb. 1. The lawsuit seeks to revoke the "unlawful permit and seeks injunctive relief." The lawsuit asserts that the challenged permit would allow Entergy's gas plant to release more than 1 million pounds of toxic air pollution and more than 1.5 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the suit claims DEQ should not have renewed Entergy's permit because the company submitted its application to renew 18 months before it expired, but later substantially changed the application. The lawsuit argues that the changes are significant enough that Entergy should have submitted an entirely new application. In addition, because the changes were made a month after the deadline for new applications, the permit should have been denied. Councilmembers Kristin Palmer, Jay Banks and Joseph Giarrusso speak among themselves while a member of the public speaks to the council. Julie Dermansky for DeSmog Beverly Wright, executive director of Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, speaking at the city council meeting. Julie Dermansky for DeSmog At a Feb. 14 meeting, Councilmember Jay Banks, who backs the project, cited DEQ's assertion that the plant would not have adverse health impacts on the New Orleans East community when he voiced support for the council's decision to grant Entergy's air quality permit renewal application. Beverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, challenged DEQ's assertions, saying, "We don't have enough information to move forward on this." She reminded the council that the "DEQ is the entity that brought us 'Cancer Alley,'" the 85-mile industrial corridor stretching from Baton Rouge to New Orleans that is home to a large portion of the nation's petrochemical production. Wright and Harden were among a chorus of voices that challenged the city council's reliance on advisors who favored Entergy's project instead of investigating alternative solutions. Wright challenged the council to impose length-of-contract limits on its advisors. For example, Clint Vince, lead attorney for Dentons US LLP, has advised the council for 30 years. "Thirty years is a long time," Wright said. "The advisors at this point have failed us and, speaking as a college professor, they would get an 'F' at this point." New Orleans City Council Ties to Entergy "We cannot ignore the atmosphere of illegitimacy in this process that goes beyond Entergy's use of paid actors," Harden said at the meeting. She pointed out various potential conflicts of interest between councilmembers and Entergy. Councilmembers Banks and Cyndi Nguyen acknowledged their prior connections with Entergy after potential conflicts of interest had come to light. Banks admitted that he worked for Entergy as a governmental relations consultant a decade ago and Nguyen acknowledged accepting money from Entergy while running a nonprofit. But neither heeded the call made by opponents for them to recuse themselves from the vote. Others testifying also complained about regulatory capture, which refers to a regulatory agency meant to act in the public interest instead advancing the commercial or political concerns of special interest groups that dominate the industry it is charged with regulating. Rev. Manning at New Orleans City Council Meeting youtu.be "When we talk about immorality, we must talk about how sitting councilmembers have been in the pockets of Entergy at one time or another," Rev. Gregory Manning said, admonishing the council before using his public comment time to lead a prayer. The Lens, an investigative news site, reported that the majority of the council has either worked for Entergy or received campaign donations from their political action committee, ENPAC Louisiana: "Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen's non-profit, the Vietnamese Initiatives in Economic Training, received at least $27,625 in grants and payments from Entergy between 2016 and 2018. Some of those payments were for work done on Entergy's campaign to gain approval for the power plant. Helena Moreno received $4,250 from ENPAC from 2010 to 2014, while she was in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Jared Brossett received $3,250 between 2009 and 2013, while he was in the state House of Representatives." Opponents Question Gas Plant's Need and Impacts Some at the city council meeting reiterated that the proposed plant won't fix New Orleans' energy reliability issues. Instead, they said, Entergy needs to fix the deteriorating transmission and distribution system that has caused thousands of power outages. Renate Heurich stands in prayer with members of the Vietnamese community from New Orleans East at the New Orleans City Council meeting Feb. 21. Julie Dermansky for DeSmog Renate Heurich, a member of the climate activist group 350 New Orleans, told the council that its notion that natural gas is a "clean energy" source was wrong. Recent reports, including a 2018 study in the peer-reviewed journal Science, show that leaks of the powerful greenhouse gas methane throughout the natural gas supply chain are much higher than previously estimated, effectively wiping out almost any climate advantage over coal. Ella Stolier Speaking at New Orleans City Council Meeting on Feb. 21, 2019 youtu.be Echoing a growing number of youth concerned about climate change worldwide, high school student Ella Stolier asked the council if they were really listening. She wondered how the council could vote for a project despite being presented with facts about how their decision would be detrimental to not only the city, but the planet as well. "I fear for my generation and all of those to come, that they will grow up facing the consequences of this travesty," she told them. Though the council's ultimate decision gave Entergy a green light, the battle against the plant is not over. Next, the battleground moves from city hall to the courthouse, where multiple legal challenges already are pending. Reposted with permission from our media associate DeSmogBlog. More than 56 million people work in the global fishing industry or depend on fish for their main source of food, but that livelihood is already being threatened by climate change, a groundbreaking University of Rutgers led study found. The study, published in Science Friday, looked at the impact of increased ocean temperatures on sustainable catches around the world over an 80 year period and found they had declined on average by 4.1 percent. "We were stunned to find that fisheries around the world have already responded to ocean warming," study co-author and Rutgers' Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources associate professor Malin Pinsky told Rutgers Today."These aren't hypothetical changes sometime in the future." While 4.1 percent might not sound like a large amount, lead author Chris Free explained to The New York Times that it was still a big loss. "That 4 percent decline sounds small, but it's 1.4 million metric tons of fish from 1930 to 2010," Free said, referring to the 80-year-period covered by the study. Further, some regions of the world saw a steeper decline. In both the northeast Atlantic and the Sea of Japan, sustainable catches declined by 34 and 35 percent respectively over the study period. Scientists not involved in the study lauded it as an important contribution to the knowledge of how climate change impacts marine life. "This is going to be one of those groundbreaking studies that gets cited over and over again," University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences Associate Professor Trevor Branch told The New York Times "Most of what I've seen before in terms of climate-change impacts have been speculative, in terms of, 'We think this is what's going to happen in the future.' This one's different." The researchers looked at 235 populations of 124 species in 38 regions, according to Rutgers Today. Here are some of their key findings by region, as reported by The New York Times: About a quarter of the regions studied saw fish populations increase; black sea bass catches increased by six percent off the U.S. Atlantic coast. About of a quarter of the regions studied saw no changes, including the northwest Atlantic. Half of the regions studied saw fish populations decline. Fish in colder areas responded better to warming generally than fish in already warm water. However, the scientists warned that populations that had benefited from warming so far could still be harmed by it in the future. "Fish populations can only tolerate so much warming, though," senior author and Rutgers' Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences associate professor Olaf Jensen told Rutgers Today. "Many of the species that have benefited from warming so far are likely to start declining as temperatures continue to rise." The scientists said that ultimately the solution was to curb climate change, but also recommended actions to mitigate its impacts on global fisheries. "We recommend that fisheries managers eliminate overfishing, rebuild fisheries and account for climate change in fisheries management decisions," Free, who started the research as a doctoral student at Rutgers and is now a post-doctoral scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Rutgers Today. "Policymakers can prepare for regional disparities in fish catches by establishing trade agreements and partnerships to share seafood between winning and losing regions." By Susan Cosier On the final day of the Illinois State Assembly's 2016 session, a bill was passed that environmentalists can celebrateone that significantly increases incentives for renewable energy and energy-efficiency requirements. Though the Democratic-led congress debated the Future Energy Jobs bill for months, legislators and Gov. Bruce Rauner worked together on a bipartisan compromise. And just in time. Since the November election, the incoming Trump administration has threatened to cut back federal funding for clean energy and climate change initiatives, pull out of the Paris climate agreement and drop the Clean Power Plan (currently stalled in the Supreme Court). But a handful of midwestern states are refusing to abandon their growing clean energy and efficiency industries, which support roughly 113,900 jobs in Illinois, 87,600 jobs in Michigan and 100,800 jobs in Ohio. Soon after the Prairie State passed its promising energy bill, Michigan enacted two of its own. And in late December, when a bill that threatened to kill Ohio's renewable dreams appeared on Gov. John Kasich's desk, he gave it the ol' Hell-naw veto. "We have a very interesting message coming from the heartland," said Henry Henderson, director of Natural Resources Defense Council's Midwest program. "These policies come from the most energy-intensive part of the country, and there has been a bipartisan embrace of clean energy as good for the public, good for the economy and good for states." The broad appeal of the new bills is indeed hopeful. According to Henderson, they won support from moderate Republican governors and Democratic and Republican lawmakers who were making practical, not ideologically driven, decisions. Gabe Pacyniak, a climate change mitigation specialist with the Georgetown Climate Center, agrees that there is broad public support for clean energy. "Many states see significant economic benefits from clean energy, including in-state jobs," he said. Here's a closer look at how Midwesterners have been sticking up for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Illinois Aside from California's energy policies, the Future Energy Jobs bill "might be the most significant state energy legislation passed in the U.S. in decades," wrote David Roberts on Vox. Though several media outlets have called the legislation a bailout for two Illinois nuclear plants, it does much more than that. Of the money coming from various provisions in the bill, just 30 percent will go to the nuclear plants. The remaining 70 percent will go toward clean energy and energy-efficiency programs, including retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient, green jobs training, and money for communities to access solar power. Wind turbine tower segments being transported. Heritage Wind Energy The bill keeps the state's existing requirement that utilities get 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025, but it fixes certain structural barriers within the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) in order to help Illinois reach that goal. For instance, the revamped RPS now redirects dollars to developing in-state renewable projects (instead of buying renewable credits from out-of-state operations) and will, at a minimum, bring 3,000 megawatts of solar and 1,300 megawatts of wind to Illinois. The bill also protects people who generate their own renewable energy (think rooftop solar panels). Energy companies wanted to prohibit the sale of such electricity back to the utility when the homeowner wasn't using it. The practice, called net metering, doesn't just make for a more stable electric grid, but it also helps encourage more small-scale renewable energy installations. The new legislation allows net metering to continue. And that nuclear power provision? It gives the plants money to operate for another decade, allowing time for investments in efficiency and renewables to scale. This would ease the eventual transition away from nuclear power to a more distributed grid. Previously, they were going to be phased out over the next six years as natural gas facilities, which emit more carbon, took their place. Michigan Just two weeks after Illinois made its climate intentions known, Michigan lawmakers also passed two pieces of legislation that boost the state's solar and wind industries. Michigan's laws are more modest than its southwesterly neighbor's, but in a state where energy efficiency and renewable standards were almost removed, these bills are strong steps in the right direction. Senate Bills 437 and 438 increase Michigan's renewable energy standard, requiring the state to generate 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2021. The state reached its previous goal of 10 percent renewables in 2015 and Pacyniak said it already looks like it's on track to hit the new target. Stoney Corners Wind Farm in McBain, Michigan. Heritage Wind Energy The bills also offer bigger incentives for energy efficiency. The goal there is to meet 35 percent of the state's energy needs through a combination of energy conservation and renewable energy by 2025. Although this target is non-binding, it shows that Michigan is looking ahead and optimistic about its renewable energy future. Ohio The bill Gov. John Kasich vetoed at the end of 2016 would have given electric utilities a pass for not complying with renewable energy and efficiency requirements. Ohio requires energy companies to get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewables and cut consumer energy use 22 percent by 2025. In 2014, however, the state froze that mandate for two years. A bill passed by the state legislature in November would have extended the time frame of that clean energy freeze, but Kasich vetoed it, saying the bill "amounts to self-inflicted damage to both our state's near- and long-term economic competitiveness." When more than 60 green energy businesses and advocates testified against the freeze before the Ohio Senate in November, they said the state needed to be more hospitable to renewables if it wanted more alternative energy companies to move there. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, 227 solar companies employ 4,800 people in the state. By vetoing the bill, Kasich said he's also encouraging the growth of energy options prized by high-tech firms, ones that could bring jobs to the state. On top of ending the freeze, Kasich also vetoed a bill that would have given $264 million in tax breaks to oil and gas companies. The message behind Kasich's double whammy is pretty clear: Ohio is ready for a change. Susan Cosier is OnEarth's Midwest correspondent. Cosier previously worked at Audubon magazine and has written for a number of science and environmental publications. She's a graduate of New York University's science journalism program. My organization, the Elephant Action League (EAL), spent 14 months investigating and infiltrating the illicit totoaba swim bladder supply chain, from Baja California in Mexico to Southern China. We released a public report on what we called Operation Fake Gold in July 2018. Since then, we have continued to submit intelligence to Mexican, U.S. and Chinese authorities in order to facilitate disruption of the totoaba supply chain. As a result, further review of the situation surrounding the totoaba trade and its effect on the extinction of the vaquita is warranted. According to various sources in the Sea of Cortez, the price of raw totoaba swim bladder in Baja California is currently about $2,500 per bladder. This is down from highs of $5,000 to $8,000 per bladder in past years. Although this is a positive and promising development, a development that needs to continue and be supported, it is relatively unnoticed and undervalued by the media, other NGOs and government agencies currently trying to save the vaquita. A reduction in profit for the Totoaba Cartels is an important key to ending totoaba poaching in the Sea of Cortez. A dead vaquita Elephant Action League More importantly, according to our sources on the ground in Baja California, recent arrests of totoaba traffickers in China and pressure on the Chinese traders in Mexico are beginning to have an effect on the supply chain. Illegal fishermen in Baja have started complaining about a lack of income from the trade. The fishermen claim that the Chinese traders in Mexico are becoming fearful of the possibility of arrest and much less money is flowing to their shores. They are saying that it is not worth the effort and possible danger associated with setting new illegal gillnets the same nets that kill vaquita and other important marine life to poach totoaba. This is the most important news for the vaquita in years and a result of and proof that intelligence activities and law enforcement can disrupt these criminal enterprises and significantly slow their illegal operations. Intelligence operations produce results. This still from the documentary film 'Sea of Shadows' shows a Mexican navy soldier searching for poaching vessels in the Sea of Cortez. Richard Ladkani / Malaika Pictures Unfortunately, as is the case with many other wildlife crime-related issues around the world, governments agencies, NGOs, and donors are disproportionately focused on the extremities of the supply chain poaching and consumer awareness campaigns. There is very little focus and funding for the most important part of the problem, the trafficking networks and middlemen driving the trade. The only activities that can truly move the needle are investigation and intelligence collection like that performed during EAL's Operation Fake Gold, filmed as part of the feature documentary Sea of Shadows, which recently won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. A few large, U.S.-based NGOs, with the intent of forcing the Mexican government to save the vaquita, filed and won a lawsuit to ban imports of gillnet-caught seafood from Mexico. EAL publicly opposed this effort as being counterproductive. As expected, the ban has exacerbated the already complex and violent situation in Baja California. According to first-hand sources, the ban not only pushed the last few honest independent fishermen into poaching, but also created a parallel illegal shrimp trade run by local criminal organizations. The ban has done nothing but create more conflict on the shores of Baja California and more illegal fishing in the Sea of Cortez. It is now very hard to find a legal fishery in the area. Fresh totoaba swim bladder seized in Mexico Elephant Action League Again, the most significant pieces of any illegal supply chain, the trafficking networks and middlemen, can only be tackled through intelligence operations, investigations and resulting law enforcement. Intelligence operations work to decrease the militarization of conservation and the violence that now pervades the Sea of Cortez and its shores. Without knowledge of the criminal players within a wildlife trafficking network, conservation is impossible, and the rule of law is irrelevant. Totoaba on sale in China Elephant Action League In Baja, among pervasive corruption, attacks on NGOs, widespread violence and still incredible profits for totoaba traffickers, only serious intelligence and undercover operations along the entire supply chain, including on the flow of money, create any hope for achieving an upper hand over the current chaos. Without these efforts aimed at direct disruption of the supply chain itself and the operations of the wildlife crime networks involved, there is absolutely no chance to win the war in the Sea of Cortez, save the vaquita, and save the rest of the region's extraordinary marine life. Without a serious effort in terms of intelligence collection, investigation and law enforcement to thwart totoaba traffickers, we can say goodbye to the vaquita. The money spent to-date to protect the vaquita will have been wasted. This still from the documentary film 'Sea of Shadows' shows a totoaba caught in a net. Richard Ladkani / Malaika Pictures Andrea Crosta is executive director and co-founder of international wildlife trade watchdog group Elephant Action League. Reposted with permission from our media associate Mongabay. The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous. Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo. Borderland Beat? We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email! Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter forBorderland Beat?We love to have you in our team, sendoran email! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. Sao Paulo, Mar 1 (efe-epa).- One of the six grandchildren of Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva died Friday of a meningitis infection, the erstwhile head of state's Workers Party (PT) said. Lawyers for Lula are planning to request that their client, who is serving a sentence for corruption, be granted furlough from prison to attend his grandson's wake. Seven-year-old Arthur Araujo Lula da Silva died at Hospital Bartira in Santo Andre, Sao Paulo state. His death comes a little more than month after that of Lula's older brother, Genival Inacio da Silva, known as Vava, at the age of 79 after a long battle with a rare form of cancer. Lula, 73, asked to be allowed to attend Vava's funeral, but was turned down after the Federal Police argued that transporting him to the funeral site in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo, and ensuring his security there would cause logistical problems. Following the funeral, Lula was offered a furlough to meet with his family at a military base in Sao Paulo state. But the ex-president, who governed from 2003 to 2011, opted to remain at his cell at the Federal Police headquarters in the southern city of Curitiba and receive a visit from his family there. PT lawmaker Paulo Pimenta said at the time that Lula regarded the denial of his request to attend the funeral was a continuation of his political persecution. The PT chairwoman, Gleisi Hoffmann, mourned the death of Lula's grandson on social media. "Strength president. We are at your side, feel our embrace and solidarity. We will do everything we can for you to see him. Strength to the family, to the parents Sandro and Marlene. A very sad day," Hoffmann wrote on Twitter. Lula said he believed the decision to keep him from Vava's funeral was made by Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro, who as a federal judge initially convicted him in 2017 of charges of accepting bribes from a construction company in the form of renovations to a seaside condo that the former president never owned or occupied. The conviction was upheld on appeal and the prison sentence was lengthened from nine years and six months to more than 12 years. Lula has been behind bars since last April, which led to his being barred from the 2018 presidential election amid polls showing that he would have won by a wide margin. With Lula excluded from the contest, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the presidency and went on to offer Moro a Cabinet post. The case against Lula, who denies any wrongdoing, was based largely on plea-bargained testimony from people already convicted of corruption offenses. Mexico City, Feb 28 (epa-efe).- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador presented Thursday a plan to guarantee rights and protection for the estimated 11.3 million Mexicans living in the United States, nearly half of them without documents. During his daily morning press conference, the president emphasized the need to give "support to our migrant compatriots." Noting that the emigrants were driven by "necessity" to seek opportunities north of the border, he called them "exemplary" citizens for the more than $30 billion in remittances they send back to Mexico annually. "It's a fundamental support for the popular economy, for the economy of communities. That's the reason for our commitment to support them, to protect them and support them," he said. Joining Lopez Obrador in front of reporters was Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who said that Mexico planned to devote 3.93 billion pesos ($205 million) to the effort. He said that at least 2,163 people will be part of the program and possible as many as 2,800 if the number of mobile consulates is increased. Currently, 11.8 million Mexicans live outside of Mexico, according to official figures. More than 97 percent of them reside in the US, with the largest concentrations in the states of California, Texas and Arizona. While 8 percent of them have visas, 17 percent are dual citizens and 27 percent are legal permanent residents, the remaining 48 percent of Mexicans in the US are undocumented. "These are the most vulnerable, the ones we have to support the most," Ebrard said. Among the complaints of Mexicans abroad are the deficiencies of Mexitel, the official digital platform for consular procedures. The plan presented Thursday includes enlisting more attorneys to represent migrants and creating mechanisms to involve expats in development projects in Mexico. Ebrard also pledged to streamline the workings of consulates and the Foreign Affairs Secretariat to reduce delays and red tape for routine procedures such as passport renewal and casting absentee ballots. There will also be an emphasis on the defense of Mexican culture abroad that is "different from the narrative presented in film, television and series of the last 20 years, which always tends to be very negative," the foreign secretary said. Mexico will coordinate with Spain and other Latin American countries on cultural activities in the United States to promote the Spanish language and the shared Ibero-American culture. "The government wants Mexican citizens of the United States to have identity and rights," Ebrard said. The administration of Lopez Obrador, who assumed the presidency on Dec. 1, is addressing the migration phenomenon in a structural manner by investing in disadvantaged areas. Though Lopez Obrador has persuaded Washington to support the idea of investment in Central America as a way of stemming migration, President Donald Trump continues to insist on the need for a barrier on the US-Mexico border. "It is their decision, but I believe that walls are not required," Ebrard said in response to a question. Volunteers to help tackle knotweed problem Its hoped grants will enable a local charity to train more people to tackle Japanese knotweed on the Island. Environment Minister Geoffrey Boot has been asked what his department is doing to remove the plant locally. The invasive, fast-growing weed is difficult to eradicate, often taking several years of treatment. Part of a grant will be used to train volunteers and to buy equipment to tackle problem areas. The University of Botswana is hosting an international conference on race, identity and globalisation in Southern Africa and beyond today (February 22nd) and tommorrow at the Library Auditorium. It is a collaboration between the Department of French at the University of Botswana and two French research laboratories GRER-ICT (at the University of Paris Diderot) and CREA (at the University of Paris Nanterre). The theme of the conference has attracted participants from Africa, Europe and beyond given that the issue of identity affects everybody in spite of social, economic or political background, but instead, as stated by head of French department at UB Rodah Nthapelelang, It calls for introspection of the individual and introspection of the collective in order to define the self. Nthapelelang says that as individuals we are called every day to define our identity, be it through subtle means or in administrations. The individual has to know their identity. A nation has to know its identity. Identity therefore, is not stagnant; it evolves over time, it changes on the basis of contexts and at any given point in time, identity can be problematised, she said. The main question is how one defines their identity in a globalised world. How does the individual define their identity within a collective? How do states manage to keep their particularity and avoid being engulfed in this monster which is globalisation? The conference is bilingual- with some presentations in French and others in English. Prof Kwesi Prah, an author of several books including Beyond The Color Line (1997), public speaker, and Sociology professor will provide a keynote address on Nurture and Nature: Race and Culture, Myth and Reality. In the context of Botswana, presentations will revolve around Ethnicity in Botswana; Racial and National Identity in Botswana; Cultural Supremacy and Politics; Linguistic and Cultural Diversities of Botswana; Botswana amidst hostile settler regimes of Southern Africa; Marginalised communities and identity politics; Race, gender, class and ethnicity in Botswana; Dual and complex identities of Batswana in Botswana and the Diaspora; Cultural Fluency and the politics of Belonging or not Belonging; and Performing the Botswana Identity. The research outputs are aimed at informing policy locally and even beyond. Nthapelelang said that as a Centre of Excellence, the University of Botswana has got numerous partnerships with Universities over the world and that this confertence is an example of the networking that forms the basis of a solid academic foundation. Russia, China veto US push for UN action on Venezuela Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a US push for the United Nations Security Council to call for free and fair presidential elections in Venezuela and unhindered aid access. The US draft resolution garnered the minimum nine votes, forcing Russia and China to cast vetoes. South Africa also voted against the text, while Indonesia, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast abstained. "VENEZUELAN AFFAIRS SHOULD BE DECIDED BY VENEZUELAN PEOPLE" Russia and the United States have been at loggerheads over a US-led campaign for international recognition of Juan Guaido, the Venezuelan opposition leader and head of the country's elected National Assembly, over President Nicholas Maduro. "We are seriously concerned about the fact that today's meeting may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real, not humanitarian, intervention ... as a result of the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela," Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. The United States and dozens of other nations have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president, but President Maduro still controls the military, state institutions and oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, which provides 90 percent of the country's export revenue. "The Venezuelan affairs should be decided by the Venezuelan people," China's Deputy UN Ambassador Wu Haitao said. The United States targeted Venezuela's government with new sanctions on Monday and called on allies to freeze the assets of state-owned PDVSA after deadly violence blocked humanitarian aid from reaching the country over the weekend. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is still working on plans to get humanitarian aid delivered to Venezuela. Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their home country Turkey's Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch operations clear northern Syria of terrorists, enable locals to go back home. More than 300,000 Syrians living in Turkey returned voluntarily to their home country upon Turkish-led counter-terror operations in the war-torn country, an official said on Thursday. TURKISH FORCES CREATED SAFE AREAS "A total of 313,213 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country following Turkeys operations to secure peace and safety in Syria, Aydn Keskin Kadoglu, head of migration office in Interior Ministry, told an event in the southeastern Sanlurfa province. Our security forces have created a safe area by carrying out the anti-terror operations of the Euphrates Shield and the Olive Branch for those who wish to return to their country, Kadoglu said. Also addressing the event, Gokce Ok, deputy head of the migration office, said that Turkey hosts 4.7 million foreigners from 192 nations. We would like Syrians to return their home as soon as their country attains peace, but Turkey will lend a hand to our friends who would like to stay with us just as we did since 2011, Ok added. Deputy Governor Ali Ylmaz, for his part, said that nearly 500,000 Syrians live in Sanlurfa We see them as guests. We expect them to be aware of their rights, but fulfill their responsibilities duly, he added. Since 2016, Turkeys Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northern Syria have liberated the region from the YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, including Al-Bab, Afrin, and Azaz, making it possible for Syrians who fled the violence there to return home. Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas. Turkish navy drill aims to contribute to NATO goals 4-day Blue Homeland 2019 military exercise in seas surrounding Turkey seeks to provide trust, stability around the country. Turkey's largest navy drill in its history aims to provide trust and stability around Turkey and contribute to the shared goals of NATO rather than threatening its neighbors. THE BLUE HOMELAND Turkish military sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that the Blue Homeland 2019 military drill is a joint military exercise conducted with the attendance of other forces to test the weapons and military systems of Turkish Naval Forces. NAVY'S VISITS TO CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE It began on Wednesday with the participation of 103 navy ships in the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean surrounding the country as Turkish military is testing its warfighting capabilities. The drill also aims to boost the efficiency of the systems of command and control. As part of the four-day drill, Turkish navy is visiting 33 Turkish harbors and seven others abroad in the Black Sea. The visits seek to contribute to friendship and peace. Meanwhile, 50 press members are following the drill on the ground. Separately, the Blue Homeland 2019 is a military exercise mutually declared by Greek and Turkey as its location and time were declared to the Greek authorities in December 2018. The flotilla included 13 frigates, six corvettes, 16 assault boats, and seven submarines, seven mine hunting vessels, 14 patrol boats, as well as other navy vessels. The drill, coordinated by the Naval War Center Command, was planned six months in advance in line with the NATO rules and regulations. To access this article please sign-in below or register for a free one-month trial. Private equity firm Ardian has agreed to invest 300 million ($342 million) in a project to build a wind farm in Sweden. To access the premium content on Environmental Finance, you must first sign in to your account Not registered? Take a free no obligation one-month trial. Register for a trial New research from the NIHR Guy's and St Thomas' Biomedical Research Centre has found a way to predict rejection of a kidney transplant before it happens, by monitoring the immune system of transplant patients. The researchers have found that a signature combination of seven immune genes in blood samples can predict rejection earlier than current techniques. Monitoring these markers in transplant patients with regular blood tests could help doctors intervene before any damage to the organ occurs, and improve outcomes for patients. A renal transplant offers the best treatment for patients whose kidneys have failed, with around 3,000 carried out annually in the UK. Acute rejection occurs when the body's immune system begins to attack the donated organ. This is a common complication in the first year after the transplant, affecting around 2 in 10 patients. It can affect the lifespan of the transplanted organ. Currently, acute rejection can only be confirmed by taking a biopsy of the transplanted organ. While acute rejection can be treated, this can only be done when the organ is already affected and damage has already occurred. Once the new technique is validated further, it has the potential to offer clinicians the use of a simple blood test to predict rejection. Being able to intervene before the event will help prevent damage to patients, and extend the life of the transplanted organ. Dr Paramit Chowdhury, a consultant nephrologist at Guy's and St Thomas' and author on the paper said: "This advance could make a huge difference to our ability to monitor kidney transplant patients and treat rejection earlier. It may also save some patients from an unnecessary biopsy. It is a first step in getting a better insight into the status of a patient's immune system, allowing better tailoring of the patient's anti-rejection treatment. "A big challenge at the moment is that even the best transplanted organ has a limited lifespan of up to 30 years. By being able to pick up signs of rejection early, we might increase the lifespan of the organ and help patients have a better quality of life, for longer." The team recruited 455 patients who received a kidney transplant at Guy's Hospital and followed these patients over the first year of their transplant, collecting regular blood and urine samples. Using these samples and analysing the data over time, they developed a signature combination of seven genes that differentiated patients who developed rejection from those who did not. They then tested for the signature via a blood test in a separate cohort of patients, and validated that it predicted transplant rejection. The team also identified a six gene signature for a less common form of complication. BK-virus nephropathy can look clinically similar to acute rejection, but requires a very different therapy - reducing immunosuppression. Being able to distinguish between these complications would mean clinicians can ensure that patients receive the most appropriate treatment. Dr Maria Hernandez Fuentes, visiting senior lecturer at King's College London and author on the study, said: "Biomarkers are naturally occurring genes or proteins that appear in the blood, which can tell us what is happening in the body. This is vital in determining the best course of treatment for patients. We were able to monitor the genes that were being expressed in transplant patients and map how these reflected their clinical outcomes. "Being able to tell the difference between BK-virus nephropathy and acute rejection, which can look very similar in patients, just shows how we can use these molecular techniques to complement clinical practice. "Further evaluation will be needed to fully validate the technique is reliable enough for clinical use, and it will be exciting to develop this research further." The research is published in the journal EBioMedicine. It was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London, the Medical Research Council Centre for Transplantation and the EU (Framework Programme 7). Anonymised clinical data was also provided by the NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative. ### Contact: Anna Perman, Communications Manager, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London tel: 07717 817 714 or e-mail: anna.perman@gstt.nhs.uk Notes to editors: About the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London works to develop and deliver new medicines and diagnostics to patients, drive research and innovation into the NHS, and provide national systems leadership for maximum impact to patients. With our research activity organised into nine themes, each holding an individual Athena Swan Silver award highlighting our commitment to equality and diversity, and supported by our interdisciplinary, world leading infrastructure, we are poised to deliver the next step change for the health and wealth of our nation. http://www.guysandstthomasbrc.nihr.ac.uk/ About the NIHR The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR: Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR commissions applied health research to benefit the poorest people in low- and middle-income countries, using Official Development Assistance funding. This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support and would not have been possible without access to this data. The NIHR recognises and values the role of patient data, securely accessed and stored, both in underpinning and leading to improvements in research and care. http://www.nihr.ac.uk/patientdata King's College London King's College London is one of the top 10 UK universities in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2018/19) and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 31,000 students (including more than 12,800 postgraduates) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 8,500 staff. King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), eighty-four per cent of research at King's was deemed 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent' (3 and 4). Since our foundation, King's students and staff have dedicated themselves in the service of society. King's will continue to focus on world-leading education, research and service, and will have an increasingly proactive role to play in a more interconnected, complex world. Visit our website to find out more about Vision 2029, King's strategic vision for the next 12 years to 2029, which will be the 200th anniversary of the founding of the university. World-changing ideas. Life-changing impact: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/headlines.aspx Overall, breast cancer rates in the United States have stabilized since the 2000s. But according to the results of a new study led by a researcher from the University of California, Riverside, a subset of women living in the U.S. may be at higher risk for breast cancer than previously observed. The study, published earlier this month in the medical journal Preventing Chronic Disease, identified differences in how Asian American women experience breast cancer risk. More specifically, it found that Asian American women who had immigrated had significantly higher risk for breast cancer than their U.S.-born counterparts. Brittany N. Morey, a postdoctoral fellow in UC Riverside's School of Public Policy and one of the study's co-authors, said the findings are surprising because they run counter to established research that associated lower breast cancer risk with racial/ethnic minority populations born outside the U.S., including Asian American women. According to the researchers, immigration patterns could have something to do with the phenomenon. The U.S.'s current immigration climate favors highly skilled Asian immigrants "who perhaps have a higher socioeconomic status than previous immigrant groups" arriving in the country, the researchers wrote. Prior research, meanwhile, has linked high socioeconomic status with increased risk for breast cancer in numerous populations; thus, the higher-socioeconomic-status Asian Americans who have immigrated to the U.S. in recent years could be arriving "with higher risk for latent breast cancer than previous immigrant cohorts," the researchers explained. To tease out some of the nuances surrounding breast cancer risk and nativity, Morey and her co-authors collected data from 570 Asian American women living in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to the highest concentration of Asian Americans in the U.S. outside Hawai'i. From that 570-person set, 132 women had breast cancer and 438 did not. The researchers separated the women in their sample into three groups: U.S.-born, immigrants who had lived 50 percent or more of their lives in the U.S., and immigrants who had lived less than 50 percent of their lives in the U.S. After comparing the women's cancer rates, Morey and her co-authors discovered that both categories of Asian American women who had immigrated had noticeably higher risk for breast cancer than their U.S.-born counterparts. In particular, immigrant Asian American women who had lived in the U.S. for more than 50 percent of their lives were three times as likely to have breast cancer. Those who had lived in the U.S. for less than 50 percent of their lives were only slightly less likely -- 2.46 times, to be exact. "Other findings in our study coincide with previous findings on breast cancer among Asian American women," the researchers wrote. For example, they observed higher risk for breast cancer among women of higher socioeconomic status; among women who had given birth to a first child over the age of 35; and among women who had a family history of breast cancer. Morey said the study should be viewed as preliminary evidence of breast cancer's greater risk to immigrant Asian American women, although further research is needed to clarify its results. It also underscores the need for clinicians who serve immigrant Asian American women to be especially prepared to address their higher breast cancer risk through preventative interventions, among other forms of treatment. "With groups as diverse as Asian Americans, it is important for future research to examine the differences in breast cancer risk that exist by nativity and national origin," Morey said. "Furthermore, this diversity means that clinicians who detect and treat breast cancer should be prepared to offer in-language services and culturally sensitive care to their Asian American patients, especially as breast cancer risk in this group is on the rise." ### In addition to Morey, the study's co-authors include Gilbert C. Gee and Ondine S. von Ehrenstein of UCLA; Salma Shariff-Marco, Alison J. Canchola, Juan Yang, Laura Allen, and Scarlett Lin Gomez of UCSF and the Cancer Prevention Institute of California; Sandra S-J. Lee of Stanford University; Roxanna Bautista of Rise Up Solutions; Trish La Chica of the Hawai'i Public Health Institute; Winston Tseng of UC Berkeley; and Pancho Chang of Ravenswood Family Health Center. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder study fast-growing python hearts, which could provide insights to aid those with diseased heart growth; their latest work reveals ways to study python heart cells BALTIMORE, MD - Burmese pythons have an amazing response to fasting and feeding. They can go without eating for months, and when they do eat, they can consume twice their body mass or more. Their hearts then nearly double in size in response to such a feeding, and after digestion most of that new tissue is broken down in a short amount of time. Leslie Leinwand's lab at the University of Colorado Boulder is working to better understand these dramatic changes in python hearts, which are relevant to enlargement of the human heart. Claudia Crocini, a postdoctoral fellow in the Leinwand lab, will present their latest research at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held March 2 - 6, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. Human hearts get larger in response to pregnancy or chronic exercise, both of which are normal, healthy processes. But the human heart also enlarges in response to chronic high blood pressure, or to certain genetic diseases, which presents health risks and can lead to heart failure. The processes involved in quickly growing and shrinking python hearts may provide insights that could help humans with these conditions. "The Leinwand lab previously found that the increase in python cardiac size is triggered by a combination of fatty acids in python serum. That combination of fatty acids was able to induce hypertrophy in mice," Crocini said, and added, "now we want to understand the fundamental mechanisms of python cardiac growth at the cellular level, and how this healthy heart growth and regression could help redirect or regress a pathological heart growth in mammals." But studying pythons isn't easy--there isn't much information about their genes, and it's difficult to isolate their cells because they're surrounded by a lot of tough collagen. "A python heart is 15-18 percent collagen. In a healthy mouse, it's one percent," Crocini added. But in order to understand how python hearts function at the cellular and molecular levels, isolating their cells is crucial. Crocini painstakingly developed a technique, involving an enzyme to break down the collagen, to isolate python heart cells (cardiomyocytes), while maintaining their normal structure. As compared to mammalian cardiac cells, python cardiomyocytes exhibit a long and thinner shape with one single nucleus. She and her colleagues were also able to isolate individual cardiac contractile units from python tissue, and measure the tension and rates of activation and relaxation of these units. Python contractile units are faster but generate less maximal force than those in humans. "We now have the tools to study single python cardiomyocytes and understand the mechanics of python cardiac growth at the cellular level", Crocini explained. ### The Biophysical Society, founded in 1958, is a professional, scientific Society established to encourage development and dissemination of knowledge in biophysics. The Society promotes growth in this expanding field through its annual meeting, monthly journal, and committee and outreach activities. Its 9,000 members are located throughout the U.S. and the world, where they teach and conduct research in colleges, universities, laboratories and government agencies. http://www.biophysics.org. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute use novel tools to reveal that cancer gene MYC causes global changes in gene activation, with subtle differences between individual cells BALTIMORE, MD - MYC is one of the most potent cancer genes, contributing to almost every kind of cancer--yet it is still not known how it causes tumors to form. Though higher levels of MYC are present in a wide range of tumor types, MYC alone does not usually lead to tumors. Simona Patange, a Ph.D. candidate in biophysics with the UMD-NCI Partnership for Integrative Cancer Research in Daniel Larson's lab at the National Cancer Institute, is using novel tools to track MYC and its activity in individual cells. Patange will present their latest developments at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held March 2 - 6, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. MYC is a transcription factor, meaning it activates other genes leading them to transcribe more RNA that drives other cell processes, including growth and division. For a long time it was assumed that MYC turned on a set of target genes that lead to cancer. However, in recent years, scientists learned that all genes are responsive to MYC. "MYC is like a volume knob for gene transcription--it doesn't turn genes on, but it does turn up the activity of genes that are already active," Larson explained. To see how MYC's changes in gene expression might lead to tumors, Patange and colleagues employed recently-developed imaging techniques to look at the RNA produced from gene transcription in individual cells. They noticed that cells with extra MYC had a global increase in RNA, and also that there were subtle differences in gene transcription between cells. "The fact that MYC allows more gene expression and can lead to minute differences in RNA levels between cells might allow an individual cell to go down a path towards cancer," Patange said. One difficulty with studying MYC is that it's always working to turn on genes, so it's hard to decipher if it has a preference for certain genes or to know how much RNA message is transcribed from those genes. To address that challenge, Patange and colleagues engineered a version of MYC that uses light to control its physical location in the cell, and has oncogenic capacity like normal MYC. Now they will be able to control when MYC enters and exits the nucleus and see what genes immediately respond, and how much message those genes go on to produce. "Now we have a system where we can precisely look at how genes are being transcribed in response to MYC, that's a major advance," Larson said. They hope this new toolkit will allow them to reveal precisely how MYC drives cancer. ### The Biophysical Society, founded in 1958, is a professional, scientific Society established to encourage development and dissemination of knowledge in biophysics. The Society promotes growth in this expanding field through its annual meeting, monthly journal, and committee and outreach activities. Its 9,000 members are located throughout the U.S. and the world, where they teach and conduct research in colleges, universities, laboratories and government agencies. http://www.biophysics.org. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University researchers are advancing knowledge about how bacteria build their cell walls that could contribute to the search for new antibacterial drugs. They have created a new tool to observe living cells in real time under a microscope. "If you look at the history, no one's really discovered a fundamentally new class of antibiotic for the past 40 to 50 years," said IU chemist Michael VanNieuwenhze, who led the study. "Antibiotic resistance is a significant and urgent public health threat, and we think that new ways to address it -- including this -- have significant value." The need for new ways to study bacteria is driven in large part by the threat of bacterial resistance. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million people in the U.S. get an antibiotic-resistant infection each year, and at least 23,000 people die. "This new technology takes advantages of specific cellular enzymes to stick colored dyes -- or 'probes' -- into the walls of bacterial cells," VanNieuwenhze said. "Since these same enzymes are inhibited by other well-known antibacterial compounds -- most notably, penicillin -- we could theoretically also use these probes to seek out entirely new classes of drugs that inhibit the same reaction." VanNieuwenhze's lab has already created two other cellular probes patented through IU -- called FDAAs (fluorescent D-amino acids) and DAADs (d-amino acid dipeptides) -- which are in use in laboratories across the globe. Their new class of probes, which build upon these earlier advances, are called rotor-fluorogenic D-amino acids, or RfDAAs. IU has also filed for a patent on this technology. The main advantage of RfDAAs is their ease of use and ability to show cellular activity in real time.This is because the probes don't require washing steps to remove unincorporated chemicals that blur the distinct boundaries between bacterial cells and their surrounding environment. Instead, RfDAAs only light up when they're integrated into bacteria's cell walls as part of the regular growth process. The probes illuminate cell walls faster and clearer without the steps that can stop cellular activity. It's the difference between a snapshot and a video, VanNieuwenhze said. A video provides much more information about how cell walls grow, change and interact with their environment. Already, VanNieuwenhze has launched a collaboration with IU School of Medicine to apply these methods to the search for new inhibitors of bacterial cell wall synthesis, and the probes are also in use to study bacterial cell division, which may unveil new targets for antibiotic discovery. In addition, the biotechnology company ThermoFisher Scientific recently purchased exclusive rights to market the two earlier probes as commercial products; other industrial groups have reached out about applying the technology to high-throughput screens designed to identify new drug leads. ### VanNieuwenhze is the Standiford H. Cox Professor of Chemistry in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Chemistry. Other authors on the paper include IU Distinguished Professor Yves Brun; Brennan Murphy of the IU Department of Chemistry; and Yen-Pang Hsu, Garrett Booher and Jacob Yablonowski of the IU Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. Additional authors are Edward Hall of Hanover College, Erkin Kuru of Harvard University and Atanas Radkov of UC-San Francisco, who all began work on the project as IU Ph.D. students, and Caitlyn Mulcahey, an IU undergraduate student who joined VanNieuwenhze's lab as a rising freshman through IU's STAR program. Laura Alvarez and Felipe Cava of Umea University in Sweden also contributed to the study. The work was reported Feb. 25 in the journal Nature Chemistry. It was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Spider silk, already known as one of the strongest materials for its weight, turns out to have another unusual property that might lead to new kinds of artificial muscles or robotic actuators, researchers have found. The resilient fibers, the team discovered, respond very strongly to changes in humidity. Above a certain level of relative humidity in the air, they suddenly contract and twist, exerting enough force to potentially be competitive with other materials being explored as actuators -- devices that move to perform some activity such as controlling a valve. The findings are being reported today in the journal Science Advances, in a paper by MIT Professor Markus Buehler, head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, along with former postdoc Anna Tarakanova and undergraduate student Claire Hsu at MIT; Dabiao Liu, an associate professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China; and six others. Researchers recently discovered a property of spider silk called supercontraction, in which the slender fibers can suddenly shrink in response to changes in moisture. The new finding is that not only do the threads contract, they also twist at the same time, providing a strong torsional force. "It's a new phenomenon," Buehler says. "We found this by accident initially," Liu says. "My colleagues and I wanted to study the influence of humidity on spider dragline silk." To do so, they suspended a weight from the silk to make a kind of pendulum, and enclosed it in a chamber where they could control the relative humidity inside. "When we increased the humidity, the pendulum started to rotate. It was out of our expectation. It really shocked me." The team tested a number of other materials, including human hair, but found no such twisting motions in the others they tried. But Liu said he started thinking right away that this phenomenon "might be used for artificial muscles." "This could be very interesting for the robotics community," Buehler says, as a novel way of controlling certain kinds of sensors or control devices. "It's very precise in how you can control these motions by controlling the humidity." Spider silk is already known for its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, its flexibility, and its toughness, or resilience. A number of teams around the world are working to replicate these properties in a synthetic version of the protein-based fiber. While the purpose of this twisting force, from the spider's point of view, is unknown, researchers think the supercontraction in response to moisture may be a way to make sure a web is pulled tight in response to morning dew, perhaps protecting it from damage and maximizing its responsiveness to vibration for the spider to sense its prey. "We haven't found any biological significance" for the twisting motion, Buehler says. But through a combination of lab experiments and molecular modeling by computer, they have been able to determine how the twisting mechanism works. It turns out to be based on the folding of a particular kind of protein building block, called proline. Investigating that underlying mechanism required detailed molecular modeling, which was carried out by Tarakanova and Hsu. "We tried to find a molecular mechanism for what our collaborators were finding in the lab," Hsu explains. "And we actually found a potential mechanism," based on the proline. They showed that with this particular proline structure in place, the twisting always occurred in the simulations, but without it there was no twisting. "Spider dragline silk is a protein fiber," Liu explains. "It's made of two main proteins, called MaSp1 and MaSp2." The proline, crucial to the twisting reaction, is found within MaSp2, and when water molecules interact with it they disrupt its hydrogen bonds in an asymmetrical way that causes the rotation. The rotation only goes in one direction, and it takes place at a threshold of about 70 percent relative humidity. "The protein has a rotational symmetry built in," Buehler says. And through its torsional force, it makes possible "a whole new class of materials." Now that this property has been found, he suggests, maybe it can be replicated in a synthetic material. "Maybe we can make a new polymer material that would replicate this behavior," Buehler says. "Silk's unique propensity to undergo supercontraction and exhibit a torsional behavior in response to external triggers such as humidity can be exploited to design responsive silk-based materials that can be precisely tuned at the nanoscale," says Tarakanova, who is now an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut. "Potential applications are diverse: from humidity-driven soft robots and sensors, to smart textiles and green energy generators." It may also turn out that other natural materials exhibit this property, but if so this hasn't been noticed. "This kind of twisting motion might be found in other materials that we haven't looked at yet," Buehler says. In addition to possible artificial muscles, the finding could also lead to precise sensors for humidity. ### The work included collaborators at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Hubei University, both in Wuhan, China, and Queen Mary University of London. It was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Science Foundation of Hubei Province, the Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by CAST, the National Institutes of Health, the MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, and the Office of Naval Research. ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: ARCHIVE: How to build better silk ARCHIVE: Spinning a new version of silk ARCHIVE: How spider webs achieve their strength HAMILTON, March 1, 2019 - McMaster researchers, working with partners at other universities, have created a motion-powered, fireproof sensor that can track the movements of firefighters, steelworkers, miners and others who work in high-risk environments where they cannot always be seen. The low-cost sensor is about the size of a button-cell watch battery and can easily be incorporated into the sole of a boot or under the arm of a jacket - wherever motion creates a pattern of constant contact and release to generate the power the sensor needs to operate. The sensor uses triboelectric, or friction-generated, charging, harvesting electricity from movement in much the same way that a person in socks picks up static electricity walking across a carpet. The sensor can track the movement and location of a person in a burning building, a mineshaft or other hazardous environment, alerting someone outside if the movement ceases. The key material in the sensor, a new carbon aerogel nanocomposite, is fireproof, and the device never needs charging from a power source. "If somebody is unconscious and you are unable to find them, this could be very useful," says Ravi Selvaganapathy, a professor of mechanical engineering who oversaw the project. "The nice thing is that because it is self-powered, you don't have to do anything. It scavenges power from the environment." The research team - from McMaster, UCLA and University of Chemistry and Technology Prague - describes the new sensor in a paper published today in the journal Nano Energy. The researchers explain that previously developed self-powered sensors have allowed similar tracking, but their materials break down at high temperatures, rendering them useless, A self-powered sensor is necessary in extreme heat because most batteries also break down in high temperatures. The researchers have successfully tested the new technology at temperatures up to 300C - the temperature where most types of wood start to burn - without any loss of function. "It's exciting to develop something that could save someone's life in the future," said co-author Islam Hassan, a McMaster PhD student in mechanical engineering. If firefighters use our technology and we can save someone's life, that would be great." The researchers hope to work with a commercial partner to get the technology to market. ### Selvaganapathy and Hassan are available for interviews at the following contacts: Ravi Selvaganapathy: 905-525-9140, ext.27435 and selvaga@mcmaster.ca Islam Hassan: 905-525-9140, ext. 20738 and hassai6@mcmaster.ca McMaster provides a high-definition broadcast studio for television interviews. A new measurement approach proposed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could lead to a better way to calibrate computed tomography (CT) scanners, potentially streamlining patient treatment by improving communication among doctors. The approach, detailed in a research paper in the journal PLOS ONE, suggests how the X-ray beams generated by CT can be measured in a way that allows scans from different devices to be usefully compared to one another. It also offers a pathway to create the first CT measurement standards connected to the International System of Units (SI) by creating a more precise definition of the units used in CT--something the field has lacked. "If the technical community could agree on a definition, then?the vendors could create measurements that are interchangeable," said NIST's Zachary Levine, a physicist and one of the paper's authors. "Right now, calibration is not as thorough as it could be." An object's ability to block X-rays--its "radiodensity"--is measured in Hounsfield Units (HUs), named for the Nobel Prize winning co-inventor of CT. Calibration of a CT machine, something every radiology facility has to perform regularly, involves scanning an object of known radiodensity called a phantom and checking whether these measurements give the right number of HUs. A problem is that a CT scanner's tube--essentially its X-ray generating "light bulb"--creates a beam that is the X-ray version of white light, full of photons with different wavelengths that correspond to their energy. (If the human eye could see X-rays, you could run the tube's beam through a prism and see it break into a spectrum of colors.) Because a photon's penetrating power depends on its energy, the beam's overall effect on the phantom has to be averaged out, making it challenging to define the calibration. Further complicating the situation is the way the tube's X-ray light has to change depending on the type of scan. Denser body parts need more penetrating X-rays, so the tube has a sort of color switch allowing its operator to adjust the tube voltage to match the job. Adjusting the tube's voltage alters the spectrum of the beam, so that it ranges between something like a "cool white" and a "warm white" light bulb. The variable spectrum makes it tougher to ensure that the calibration is correct for all voltages. Add these complications to the differences that exist among various CT machine manufacturers, and you get a lot of trouble for anyone who wants to link the calibration of any given scanner to a universal standard. But if it could be done, there would be far-reaching benefits to both industry and medicine. "You want interchangeable answers regardless of what CT machine you use and when," Levine said. "For one thing, you want doctors to be able to communicate between hospitals. Let's say a patient needs a follow up but is somewhere far from home, or the same scanner got a software upgrade that changes the number of HUs. If you can't measure accurately, you can't improve your technology." Better calibration could make diagnosis more efficient and less costly as well, Levine said. "Better comparisons among scanners might allow us to establish cutoff points for disease--such as emphysema getting a particular Hounsfield score or lower," he said. "It's also common for CT scans to turn up suspicious growths that might be cancerous, and a doctor commonly orders an MRI as a follow up. We might eliminate the need for that second procedure." The NIST team had to overcome the uncertainties created by the tube's broad X-ray spectrum and tube voltage setting. Their idea was to fill several phantoms with different concentrations of powdered chemicals that are common in the body, and compare the phantoms' radiodensity using CT. The comparison would help link HUs to the number of moles per cubic meter, which are both SI units. "Executing this idea was tricky, because the volume of a mole depends on the size of a given chemical molecule," Levine said. "A mole of salt takes up more space than a mole of carbon, for example. And the air in the powders represented a further complication." The trickiness would make all but a math aficionado wince: Each chemical in the mixture could be characterized by two numbers, but the entire phantom created a 13-dimensional space that complicated the data analysis. Fortunately, the team was able to use a linear algebra technique well-known to data science to simplify the data down to two dimensions, which was far more manageable. "Basically, we've shown that you can create a CT scanner performance target that any design engineer can hit," Levine said. "Manufacturers have been getting different answers in their machines for decades because no one told their engineers how to handle the X-ray spectrum. Only a small change to existing practice is required to unify their measurements." ### Almost all land plants employ an army of editors who correct errors in their genetic information. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now transferred parts of this machinery into a bacterium. Their results confirm a controversial thesis on the functioning of this widespread mechanism. They have now been published in the journal Communications Biology of the Nature Publishing Group. One might think that the genetic machinery of higher plants was invented by a bureaucrat who likes to pick the most complicated option: Much of the plants' genetic material contains small errors. The DNA in the power plants of the plant cells, the mitochondria, is particularly affected. The plant must correct these errors, otherwise its energy supply would collapse. And it does make these corrections, but in a very complicated way: It does not improve the DNA, i.e. the actual building instructions of the mitochondria. Instead, it corrects the copies made of these instructions. This is like printing an erroneous newsletter a thousand times and then correcting the misspelled word in each of these printouts. More than that: The editors who make these corrections are absolute specialists. They usually only recognize one specific error. Some plants therefore have 500 or more different proofreaders. "The DNA transcripts consist of RNA; we therefore call this mechanism RNA editing," explains Prof. Dr. Volker Knoop from the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Botany at the University of Bonn. "We are only just beginning to understand why it exists and how it functions in detail." Knoop and his coworkers have at least come one step closer to answering the second question. For this purpose, they transported some editors from the moss Physcomitrella patens to the intestinal bacterium E. coli. "We wanted to find out whether they edit the bacterial RNA there," said Knoop's colleague Dr. Mareike Schallenberg-Rudinger. "Until now it was disputed whether they can do this alone or whether they need help." Most researchers assume that RNA editing is usually a two-step process: The editors (the so-called PPR proteins) recognize the error. To correct it, they then call on a kind of RNA 'correction fluid' - an enzyme called cytidine desaminase - for help. RNA 'correction fluid' also works in E. coli However, some PPR proteins have a certain sequence of amino acids at their end which are known to theoretically act as cytidine desaminase, which means they may always carry their bottle of correction fluid with them. "We were in fact able to show that this group of PPR proteins is able to edit the RNA of E. coli," said Mareike Schallenberg-Rudinger. "So it does not need a separate desaminase to do this." However, if the scientists changed even one of the important 'correction fluid' amino acids, the PPR protein lost its ability to correct. The researchers also succeeded in programming PPR proteins in such a way that they were able to detect specific errors. "Experiments such as these help us to better understand RNA editing," explains Volker Knoop. "The model organism E. coli also helps us in this process, as it would be much more difficult to carry out these experiments in plants." In the medium term, the scientists also hope to find an answer to the question as to why this elaborate editorial machinery developed in the course of evolution. There are some theories on this: For example, RNA editing might enable plants to "collect" mutations. Over time, combinations of many different changes may form that would individually be harmful or even fatal, but in their sum provide the plant with a survival advantage. The cumbersome process would therefore have an important purpose: as a playground for evolution. ### Publication: Bastian Oldenkott, Yingying Yang, Elena Lesch, Volker Knoop and Mareike Schallenberg-Rudinger: Plant type Pentatricopeptide Repeat proteins with a DYW domain drive C-to-U RNA editing in Escherichia coli; Communications Biology; https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0328-3 Contact: Prof. Dr. Volker Knoop Institute for Cellular and Molecular Botany University of Bonn Tel. +49(0)228/736466 E-mail: volker.knoop@uni-bonn.de Dr. Mareike Schallenberg-Rudinger Institute for Cellular and Molecular Botany University of Bonn Tel. +49(0)228/736464 E-mail: mrueding@uni-bonn.de Pound Sterling Euro (GBP/EUR) Exchange Rate Unshaken Despite Slumping Deteriorating Business Confidence Following a suite of mixed Euro zone purchasing managers index (PMI) releases which prompted the Pound-to-Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate marginally lower with the cross dipping to lower bound of the overnight range, the on-forecast UK manufacturing PMI held muted market impact. Delivering an as-expected 52.0, the UK manufacturing purchasing managers index declined from the previous 52.8 printing to a four-month low but remained in growth territory (above 50) with record-levels of stockpiling inflating the figure. Above: IHS Markit UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) According to the IHS Markit release, manufacturers ramped up their preparations for Brexit-related disruption, stockpiling raw materials at record high levels. Business optimism and employment were dented with confidence levels at an all-time survey low and job losses within the sector accelerating to a six-year high. Director at IHS Markit, Rob Dobson, provided supplementary commentary. He wrote With Brexit day looming, UK manufacturers continued to implement plans to mitigate potential disruptions. Stockpiling of both inputs and finished products remained the order of the day, with growth in the former hitting a fresh record high. Looking ahead, Dobson added Apart from the uncertain outlook, manufacturers also face a darkening backdrop of a domestic market slowdown and weakening inflows of new export business, as global growth decelerates and trade tensions bite. Manufacturing and the broader UK economy therefore face a difficult 2019, with the slowdown being exacerbated later in the year as inventory positions are unwound and Brexit-related headwinds likely to linger. Duncan Brock, group director of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), also provided notes on the release. He wrote The UK manufacturing sector continues to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as the harsh realities of Brexit uncertainty, challenges in the global economy and a weak pound affected confidence, jobs and overall activity. He noted that business optimism was its lowest level since 2012 with a resolution of the current Brexit uncertainty seen as the only way for the sector to escape the current rut, In summary, the march of the makers has turned into a painful crawl where only certainty about the Brexit way forward can ease the sectors pain. The IHS/CIPS PMI comes just days after the European Commission Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) release which suggested that overall economic sentiment within the UK had declined to its lowest level since 2013. The GfK consumer sentiment release provided further colour with regard to consumers levels of confidence, suggesting that while muted, consumers remained stoic amid fear of the unknown Despite a slowdown in overall growth and concerns about the impact of Brexit uncertainty on the UK economy. The UK PMI echoed the findings of the latest Lloyds Commericla Banking UK business barometer, released on Thursday which suggested growing Brexit-related pessimism across all business sectors while highlighting that as many as 40% of UK firms had failed to implement any form of Brexit preparations with smaller firms in particular (63%) having no Brexit contingency plans. Given the centrality of Brexit uncertainty highlighted by all of the above releases, including Fridays PMI, firms will be intensely focused on developments over the coming weeks. While it seems likely the UK could be heading for a Brexit extension, the length thereof could have significant ramifications for UK businesses. On the one hand, a short (circa 3 month) extension represents a shorter relative period of continued uncertainty. On the other hand, a short extension is unlikely to prompt firms to alter their current plans and doesnt offer enough time to free up capital for investments or hiring. As ING analysts wrote For businesses, a series of small extensions would also mean they are theoretically never more than 3-4 months away from no deal, which will increasingly take its toll on investment. A longer delay, while potentially meaning an extended period of uncertainty could potentially allow firms to unlock some hiring and capital spending. While the PMI release appears to have muted market impact, looking ahead, Danske Bank analyst, Daniel Brdsgaard, anticipates muted price action for the Euro-to-Pound (EURGBP) ahead of the March 12th meaningful Brexit vote, highlighting the centrality of Brexit developments in institutional forecasts. Brdsgaard wrote EUR/GBP recovered somewhat yesterday following the recent slide below 0.86 as the risk of no deal has dropped markedly. Next votes are due mid-March and we expect EUR/GBP to stabilise below 0.86 as we are unlikely to get much news over the next two weeks. Given Danske Bank predict a negotiated deal or a second referendum to be the most probable outcomes, the GBP is expected to appreciate further either way, We still hold the view that either we will see a Brexit deal passing eventually or a second referendum, and either of these scenarios is likely to result in more GBP strength. Friday, March 1, 2019 Todays big news is that New Yorkers are pleading with Amazon to reconsider its decision to halt its HQ2 project in their city. The Wall Street Journal reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been in contact with Amazon executives, urging them to rethink their decision to abandon plans for a headquarters campus and 25,000 jobs in Queens. My recommendation to Amazon: Dont spend even a second reconsidering your decision. I say that because Amazons decision to spread growth among its existing facilities is more sensible than staying in New York. Amazon was jeered at a public hearing in December, including shouts that Amazon has got to go!." and opponents show no signs of compromising. Being a target for scathing attacks today means that treatment is likely to escalate once leases are signed, employees are hired, and the company is locked in place.." Who needs to endure long-lasting attacks? I wonder what Amazons representatives who appeared in New York and experienced boos and shouts are thinking as they read todays New York Times headline that says, Andrew Cuomo Speaks With Jeff Bezos, Furiously Trying to Win Back Amazon. And Bloombergs version, New York Leaders Urge Bezos to Reconsider Amazons Dumping City The Partnership for New York City, a business group, drafted an open letter to Amazon, appearing today as a full-page ad in the Times, saying: We know the public debate that followed the announcement of the Long Island City project was rough and not very welcoming. Opinions are strong in New York sometimes strident. We consider it part of the New York charm!." Really. You think its charming." to hit an incoming company with an almost instant wave of condemnation; to see vile anti-Amazon banners being waved in a public hearing, and to ignore the companys worries that the opposition would be unrelenting? If you call that charming, I wonder what your definition of hatefulness is. Everyone who signed that letter should have done an open letter to all New York state and city politicians urging them to change their anti-business, high-tax ways. New Yorks harsh treatment of businesses is legendary and companies have been leaving for decades. One recent example is Wall Streets AllianceBernstein moving its Manhattan headquarters and more than 1,000 jobs to Nashville. I remember when American Airlines in 1978 said it was considering moving its headquarters to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Mayor Ed Koch tried to halt the project by offering incentives identical to the Texas package, but the company moved anyway. Tax savings to American were enormous and employees were delighted that in Texas they would have more disposable income. As Amazon launches projects elsewhere, it is in effect taking a u-turn." to a business-friendly location, which happens a lot in another business-unfriendly state, California. Amazon might take comfort knowing that those who reversed their California plans and went to greener pastures include Chobani, HomeGoods, Schwabe North America and Tesla Motors. Last year, in a speech before economic development officials in Texas, I predicted that Amazon would avoid locating its HQ2 in one metro area but would split the project in two, primarily because of workforce availability issues. A few months later, Amazon announced it would do just that by placing offices in New York, in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, and Arlington County, Virginia. But I was only half right in my prognostication. What I underestimated was the extent of jaundiced views in New York. Organized labor launched a campaign to discredit Amazon as being anti-worker because of its coolness to union organizing. State Sen. Jessica Ramos said the company must not oppose any effort to organize a union. No union, no Amazon,." she said. That attitude alone was reason to flee New York. At least a dozen of the finalist cities that competed for Amazons project wouldnt think imposing such a requirement. Also, New York city council members objected to the state overriding the local zoning process. But city approvals are notoriously difficult so the state offered Amazon an escape clause the same that the New York Times received in 2001 in moving to a new building in Times Square. Sparks flew in December when during a public hearing critics called for Amazons plan to be abandoned. They believe gentrification will be to the detriment of low-income residents of Long Island City which can be mitigated with some smart planning and that transportation problems will worsen, which is hard to believe considering the miserable condition of New Yorks subway system. Neither reason was cause to kill the project. And when Amazon asked for future discussions to be held in private, members said, no, there will be more public hearings or, shall we say, public beatings. When Amazon withdrew, a predictable corporate-bashing tweet by Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) said: Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.." Oh? She celebrates the fact that New Yorkers will now find at least 25,000 fewer job openings? Peter Kauffmann, a former spokesman for Hillary Clinton and longtime Queens resident, noted in The Wall Street Journal that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was elected with fewer votes than Amazon was promising in jobs. It seems that she inspired others the energy that radical opponents poured into their activities was summarized by the Philadelphia Inquirer, to wit: Activists, including some with the Democratic Socialists of America, had begun canvassing neighborhoods in Queens and in the subway cars to educate people about the deal.." Her opposition inspired the Job Creators Network to post billboards in Manhattan highlighting Ocasio-Cortezs role in the economic consequences of Amazons pullout. Amazons critics said the company didnt deserve government incentives totaling $3 billion. As one who has negotiated incentives, I understand and respect such controversy because, well, it goes with the territory. I think Amazon had signaled that the $3 billion incentive package was not the key factor in deciding to locate there. Other cities offered much more Newark and New Jersey offered $7 billion, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania offered $5.7 billion and Amazon doesnt seem to be in a hurry to re-engage those communities. About economic incentives, a conservative view is that they amount to crony capitalism. As the Tax Foundation put it, they represent an attempt to gloss over problems with a states tax code, which would be better addressed through comprehensive tax reform. A liberal view is held by Michael Gianaris, a Democrat who represents Amazons proposed location, who warned in USA Today that In an era of historic income inequality, granting massive subsidies to a very wealthy corporation does not mean we were smart: It means we were played.." The Senate nominated him to the Public Authorities Control Board, where if seated he could kill the states deal. Love incentives or hate them, the fact is New Yorks competitors also offered such enticements to Amazon. I visualize mayors calling Amazon and saying, If New York doesnt want you, we do.." In retreating, Amazon was gracious in thanking Mayor Bill de Blasio who supported us during the process. Mr. de Blasios thin-skinned response: Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon cant recognize what thats worth, its competitors will.." Speaking of competitors, 18 metro areas lost out on the half-headquarters project. Not all, but many are working diligently to grow the number of workers with the talents Amazon is seeking. Many also take great satisfaction in their cultural and recreational assets, as well as their excellent schools, affordable housing and friendly people. Economic development officials in those finalist locations can say more they can cite Chief Executive Magazines latest survey, which found New York to be the next-to-the-worst state in which to do business. California holds the bottom spot. Business taxes? The Tax Foundation ranks New York at 48, with only California and New Jersey being worse. Workers compensation costs? The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services in a new report finds New York has the nations most expensive workers comp rates. For employees, the cost of living is lower in 48 states, with New York ranking 49 and Hawaii at the bottom, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Its hardly a surprise that mayors in Americas heartland are calling Amazon and saying, If New York doesnt want you, we do.." Their people are ready to greet Amazon not with insults and threats but with open arms. Joseph Vranich provides location advisory services whose motto is Helping Businesses Grow in Great Locations.." His company is Spectrum Location Solutions LLC, but he also has been known as the Business Relocation Coach. He recently issued a report on business relocations entitled, Why Companies Leave California." which can be found at https://spectrumlocationsolutions.com/california/ Share this: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Again and again the liberal media, politician, and activists have derided the Wall on the border as being a fantasy solution to the problem of illegal immigration. They have claimed the Wall will have little effect in keeping anyone out, because most immigrants come through regular ports of entry, even by air. Or they come by sea or tunnel under walls. However, criminal justice expert Paul Brakke, who has published seven books on the subject through American Leadership Books, including Crime in America and Dealing with Illegal Immigration and the Opioid Crisis, has pointed to new evidence and thinking that shows why the Wall will help to stem the flood of illegal immigrants. For example, Brakke points out, citing a June 2017 article by the late great conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, "Build the Wall" on the Prager University website, every sensible immigration policy has two goals. One is to "regain control of our borders so that we decide who enters." The second is to "find a humane way to deal with the 11 million illegal immigrants who now live among us." According to Brakke, these are reasonable goals that both liberals and conservatives can agree on, so the issue is more about what works to achieve these goals. "While liberals decry the ideal of building a wall, it actually works as one of a number of strategies to reduce illegal immigration." According to Brakke, agreeing with Krauthammer, it is not practical or moral to expel 11 million immigrants. But there is a way to both legalize them and reduce future illegal immigration, which is what most Americans who oppose legalization actually fear. And that's where the wall or other methods to regain control of the border come in. "Of course, the wall by itself is not the only way," says Brakke, "since we also need cameras, sensors, drones, and beefed up border patrols. But walls help to reduce the number of people who seek to get through the border." To illustrate, Brakke cites a July 2017 article, "Beyond the Good News of the Wall" by Brandon Judd in the Washington Times. In the article, Judd points out that a secured border fence, such as the double-layered fencing called for in the bipartisan Secure Fence Act of 2006, which President Trump pledged to build, would be another level of deterrence to those seeking to enter illegally. "Having the wall helps to convince people not to break the law in the first place," says Brakke. "As a result, it reduces the number of people trying to come to the U.S. to get jobs or public benefits, since they feel they are less likely to succeed. With fewer immigrants trying to enter, this means the Border Patrol can focus more on keeping the people who are more dangerous and violent from getting into the country." As an example, Brakke points to the dangerous criminal cartels which can be discouraged from entry, such as that headed up by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is now on trial in Brooklyn for leading one of the biggest cartels in Mexico. "Yes, the drug traffickers use cars, boats, tunnels, and other means to get their drugs into America. But if a strong wall or border fence can discourage the vast number of economic migrants from coming in, this enables the agents to respond to and arrest the people who are truly dangerous." In other words, Brakke agrees with Judd that the huge number of migrants seeing the U.S. as a land of economic opportunity provides cover for the small number of dangerous migrants. Additionally, Brakke offers another reason to build the wall, along with increasing the number of families and other immigrants admitted legally, as proposed by James D. Miller in a Fox News article, "To Solve the Immigration Crisis, Build the Border Wall and Admit More Legal Immigrants." As Brakke notes, this approach will discourage the coyotes and traffickers in human slavery who are exploiting the illegal immigrants by taking advantage of their desperation in trying to cross the behavior. Still another reason to build a wall is because they help to control a border. For example, all over Europe, countries are building fences on the border to keep out the millions of Middle Eastern refugees. Among the countries building them are Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Greece, Spain, and Norway. And of course Israel has put up a wall on the West Bank. Plus, to cite Krauthammer's report, building a triple fence outside of San Diego resulted in reducing migrants crossing the border by 90 percent. In short, according to Brakke, there are many reasons that walls do work. Moreover, they stand as a symbol of the country's resolve to secure its borders. No, the border alone won't be the sole solution, and there will be ways to breach it. But the wall doesn't have to be completely secure. It mainly has to reduce the huge influx of migrants to a more manageable level, which makes it possible to take other steps, such as creating a more foolproof electronic verify system that makes it very difficult for illegal immigrants to work in the U.S. Also, the U.S. should have a better visa tracking system, since a very large percentage of illegal immigrants -- about 40% of them according to Krauthammer -- overstay their visas. "Thus, in contrast to the liberals' dire warnings that building the Wall is a folly," says Brakke, "it really makes good sense to build it, along with taking other measures to regain control of our country by reducing the illegal immigration mess." Brakke has become especially concerned with this immigration crisis as part of his research on criminal justice in America for the past year, which he has reported in a chapter in Crime in America and in Dealing with Illegal Immigration and the Opioid Crisis. He is also planning a future more in depth analysis of this problem. In writing his books and 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 more based on an economic business model of doing what works most efficiently to both cut down costs and create more productive citizens. He is now bringing his unique approach to his forthcoming book Fractured America, dealing with the many divisions that are tearing America apart and how to heal these divisions. It will be published in early February. 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://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfHgXXiW3jgODnaypgcYZFw To learn more, you can get a copy of Crime in America, with a chapter on the opioid crisis. The book is available through Amazon, Kindle, and major bookstores. It is currently available on Kindle at a 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. 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 Ever since Jimmy LeFlore started posting images of his artwork on Instagram, his friend Jesus Toro Martinez has been pestering him about showing it. Martinez, who runs Lone Star Art Space, said LeFlore, the public art manager for the citys Public Art San Antonio program, fits perfectly into the gallerys mission. Im trying to find these artists in town who have been working for years but never had an opportunity to bring their work out because theyve been so engaged in their everyday work, Martinez said. Thats what Im trying to do bring out people we know, but we dont know their work. LeFlore, whose friendship with Martinez goes back 30 years, finally gave in a few months ago. His exhibit Late Bloomer, Spring 2019 opens March 9 as part of the Second Saturday Art Walk in the Lone Star Art District. The show includes a handful of drawings as well as pieces that transform such everyday items as blue tape and packing materials into lively collages. Vital info What: Opening of the exhibit "Jimmy LeFlore: Late Bloomer, Spring 2019" When: Reception 6-9 p.m. Saturday; exhibit runs through March 29 Where: Lone Star Art Space, 107 Lone Star Blvd. See More Collapse Its electrifying, Martinez said. I still call them paintings, but theyre not. Its painting in a very nontraditional way that really pushes the boundaries of what painting can be. On ExpressNews.com: Capturing the Moment at SAMA features iconic photographs All of the work in the show was made in the past few months. LeFlore, 48, had set much of the working artist part of himself aside when he went to work for the city nearly 20 years ago. My focus for such a long time has been to keep one foot in the art world and one foot employed that kind of happens, he said with a chuckle. Because Ive had one foot firmly planted in employment, I havent really had the financial connection to making art physically, so Ive made a lot of artworks that are in sketchbooks or theyre digital drawings. I didnt have the desire to just create stuff that I would collect and amass, so I just cut that part of my brain out. For the past few years, LeFlore said, he filled notebooks with drawings, creating abstract images laced with references to things he saw on his walks. When he was finished, he said, he would post photos of what he had created on Instagram. Its a way for me to stop working, he said. I post it, its done, Im not going to touch it. He also didnt really want to show the work beyond the social media posts. Some changes in his personal life, coupled with the encouragement of Martinez and other friends, helped nudge him back to showing his work. He and his wife are almost empty nesters. Their older daughter has graduated from Trinity University and is on her own, and their younger daughter is a senior in high school. And so, the family has been downsizing, moving to an airy skinny house in Mahncke Park last August. The garage in their new home isnt quite big enough for a car, he said, but its ideal for a cozy studio, giving him a place to work. The basic elements of moving cardboard boxes and colored packing tape also helped fire is imagination. Before, he said, he had been working a lot in black and white, and was interested in working with color. He starting thinking about color theory and how manufacturers use color in their packaging to draw the eyes of consumers and, ideally, convince them to buy whatevers inside it. So I kind of was thinking about what is left over in terms of a box and thinking that rather than just treat it as a waste product, maybe I could look at it as a raw good, he said. On ExpressNews.com: Guide to Contemporary Art Month He transformed a cardboard bottle carrier from Central Market into a couple of small sculptures that evoke natural forms. A reflective silver square from a birthday package became the platform for another piece, giving it an additional dimension: The base is integral to the work so that you have the sculptural dimension is on both planes, he said. He plans to keep working in this vein, creating and showing his own work while continuing his work for the city. Ideally, I would like to become a practicing studio artist, he said. Im going to try to have more of a balance to my approach. Its a matter of being part of the (art) community in a different way. Ive been part of the community, but Ive been kind of one dimensional in regard. And as you get older, you realize that you only have so much time. So I do think about all the work that I havent made that I could have made. And I think that also makes me more apt to go for it. Some of that thinking sprang from his experience working with his siblings to help their aging parents. My parents were really proud that I went into art and that I went into public art and did so much for the city they knew, he said. And I also think they would want me to not forego making art of my own, too. So its also reconnecting things that are threads throughout my life. Jimmy LeFlore: Late Bloomer, Spring 2019 opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. March 9. It can be seen through March 29 in the Lone Star Art Space, 107 Lone Star Blvd. Deborah Martin is an arts writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN A proposed agreement with city officials seems likely to clear the way for the San Antonio Independent School District to demolish its century-old Beacon Hill Elementary School in exchange for teaching more about local cultural heritage. If approved Thursday by the City Council, the deal would end months of wrangling over the citys efforts to designate the structure as historic and resolve an escalating showdown with SAISD, school parents and neighbors who want it razed. District 1 City Councilman Roberto Trevino, who had been vocal on the need to restore the old school, said he began working with the Office of Historic Preservation and SAISD administrators in January on a new cultural heritage curriculum that could be implemented across the school district. He said hell make the motion Thursday to approve the agreement, which he predicted will receive overwhelming support. I still stand strong on preservation, Trevino said. I believe what this does is, it creates more preservation activists, more preservation-minded people, and we gotta start young. The city Historic and Design Review Commission in November recommended a historic landmark designation for the school on West Ashby Place, which would create obstacles to demolition. The City Council has the final say. Beacon Hill Elementary, built in 1915 and designed in the collegiate Gothic revival style by prominent local architect Leo M. J. Dielmann, has been vacant and deteriorating in the two decades since the newly built Beacon Hill Academy opened next door. Some parents and neighbors complain the old building is an eyesore. SAISD has said it is not salvageable and that Beacon Hill Academy, which now includes middle-school grades, needs more outdoor space. City Council will have to balance the historic significance of the building against its condition and SAISDs needs, said Shanon Miller, director of the Office of Historic Preservation. It is a loss to the fabric of the community, Miller said. The idea (behind the proposed agreement) was to create something that is meaningful, that would create mitigation for that loss. Because of the historic commissions recommendation, City Council will have to decide whether to designate the property a historic landmark. Alternatively, Miller said, the council could approve a memorandum of agreement with SAISD, which would grant a demolition permit if the district completes visual documentation of the old school and an inventory of all its buildings to identify historic resources. Once the inventory is complete, SAISD would be required to discuss possible historic designation for other schools with city preservation officials. The school district also would include preservation classes in its career and technical education program. The proposed cultural heritage curriculum is hands-on and meets state requirements across a number of different subjects. The goal, according to the proposal, is to develop cultural literacy and empathy for the diverse communities of San Antonio. Students at all grade levels would be introduced to careers and topics in the arts, architecture and preservation. Under the current draft, the curriculum would be rolled out next school year at Briscoe Elementary, Woodlawn Academy and Jefferson High School, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. All grade levels would incorporate preservation lessons and students would research their schools history for presentations in the spring. I suspect the council will support an opportunity that will move SAISD forward and really create a stronger preservation ethic in our city, Miller said. The agreement would support preservation by educating students rather than saving one building, Trevino said. We think it will help to create or influence the relationships that school districts have with the city, he said. This one is a way to increase our investments in people, especially our youth. Leslie Price, SAISD spokeswoman, also expressed hope the council would approve the agreement rather than the historic designation. The district is excited about the new curriculum, she said. Weve never wavered from our desire to get a demolition permit, but weve really had some meaningful discussions with the city on this matter, and I think a lot of those discussions helped to give greater understanding to how much we also have in common around wanting to preserve history, she said. I think everyone really heard the families, understands the situation. I think they understood that we, too, value preservation and we have many buildings in our district where we work hard to do that. Alia Malik covers several school districts and the Alamo Colleges District in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | amalik@express-news.net | Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN AUSTIN Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is blaming the Texas Department of Public Safety and its director for major errors in a list of suspected non-citizen voters that has drawn a wave of lawsuits from civil rights groups and a sharply-worded order from a federal judge. Abbotts criticism of the department comes as he stands up for his appointee, Secretary of State David Whitley, whos at risk of losing a Senate confirmation vote that could cost him his job. The Secretary of State was hamstrung by faulty information from the Department of Public Safety from the beginning and did not know that, Abbott said on the KFYO radio program Thursday. And so part of the fault goes to Steve McCraw, the director of the Department of Public Safety, for causing the error in the first place. In the Senate most of the blame has fallen on Whitley, with all 12 of the chambers Democrats vowing to oppose his confirmation. The Secretary of States office compared driver license data from DPS with voter registration records in a months-long analysis that sought to identify non-citizens on the voter rolls. But the final list naming roughly 95,000 registered voters mistakenly flagged tens-of-thousands of U.S. citizens. Some of those on the list have already been sent letters threatening to nullify their voter registrations unless they can prove their citizenship. A judge on Wednesday ordered a halt to the voter purge, saying state officials created a mess that intimidated immigrants. Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday A Senate committee voted along party lines Thursday to advance Whitleys confirmation, despite Democrats stated opposition, which would be enough to block his confirmation. He needs a two-thirds vote. Still, Abbott sounded optimistic Thursday, saying he wouldnt be surprised if some reconsider and that conversations are ongoing. A top Senate Democrat, however, had a different take. I still dont feel he will be confirmed, said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. This whole situation is sad for everyone, starting with the people who were scared by their government into thinking they didnt have the right to vote. The Department of Public Safety didnt respond directly to Abbotts critique. Instead, a spokeswoman said the department will work closely with the Secretary of States Office to provide them the data they need to ensure voter integrity in Texas. Civil rights groups urge Senate to reject Whitley Earlier this week, a top DPS official told state senators the department provided the information that was requested. He said a miscommunication led to the inclusion of people who had shown proof of citizenship. A spokesman for the Secretary of States office, however, said the office made clear to DPS early in the process that it didnt want U.S. citizens in the data file. The confusion likely explains why county election officials found people on the list who had registered to vote at DPS offices, whose citizenship had never been in question. Others mistakenly flagged include those who registered to vote at naturalization ceremonies. State Elections Director Keith Ingram acknowledged in federal court that the secretary of states office knew there might be problems with the voter list because those flagged as non-citizens could have become naturalized after obtaining a drivers license. About 50,000 Texans are naturalized each year. Special Assistant Harris County Attorney Douglas Ray said anyone familiar with DPS records knows they arent 100 percent reliable. Only the secretary of state is at fault, he said. Once they got the information they didnt properly review and vet it to see what it was. Whitley in mid-February sent an apology letter to state lawmakers. He said more time should have been devoted to additional communication with the counties and DPS to further eliminate anyone from our original list who is, in fact, eligible to vote. RELATED: Texas Senate inches forward with Whitley appointment Abbott on Thursday defended Whitley, who is his former deputy chief of staff. I think he is advancing something that we can all agree on, and that is no one who is in the country illegally, who is illegally registered to vote, should be capable of voting, he said. Abbotts remarks drew a quick response from a coalition of Texas voting rights groups, including Common Cause Texas, the League of Women Voters of Texas, Progress Texas, the Texas AFL-CIO, the Texas Civil Rights Project, the Texas Freedom Network, and the Workers Defense Action Fund. The groups issued a statement addressed to the 12 Democrats in the Senate: "We demand that they hold the line and follow through on their promise to protect voting rights in Texas." While Whitley was appointed directly by Abbott, McCraw was appointed by the Texas Public Safety Commission, whose five members are named by the governor. McCraw has been director of the Department of Public Safety since 2009. ELDORADO Polygamists, with their blonde child brides and 19th-century doctrine of plural marriage being the pathway to heaven, were forced out their compound here in 2014, and scattered to the west. Their prophet and absolute leader, Warren Jeffs, 63, once on the FBIs 10 Most Wanted List, is serving a life sentence in a Texas state prison for raping young girls at the site. And for most residents of this one-stoplight farming town three hours west of San Antonio, the whole traumatic story that began 15 years ago is fading into history. But just a few miles north of town, the abandoned Yearning for Zion Ranch looks much like it did when hundreds of followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints called it home. The broad streets, orchards, water treatment plant and more than 40 large buildings, including a massive white temple, remain intact and functional. After years of legal entanglements, the property soon will belong to ETG Properties LLC. The Dallas-area company intends to use it as a military and law enforcement training base. On a recent flyover, James Doyle, 82, a pilot and former Schleicher County justice of the peace, noted important landmarks. That big house down there is where Warren Jeffs lived. He had 15 to 20 wives there, he remarked, pointing out an elongated structure that resembles a small motel. He also pointed out a huge concrete amphitheater from which Jeffs reportedly planned to address the leaders of the free world after his prison walls crumbled. And if the fear and anxiety triggered by the arrival of polygamists from Arizona and Utah has ebbed, the unnerving presence of the prophet lingers. He is terrible, horrible. He caused a lot of heartache for a lot of kids and other people. He separated wives from their husbands and all kinds of things, Doyle said. The ranch and all of its improvements were forfeited to the state in 2014 after Jeffs and nine other men were convicted or pleaded guilty to bigamy and sex crimes committed on the property. In October, ETG Properties, based in Addison, agreed to buy the ranch for $4.17 million. While waiting for the sale to close, ETG has been leasing the property for $5,000 a month. Already, Border Patrol and Defense Department personnel have come for training, and neighbors are getting used to the sounds of helicopters and other aircraft moving after dark. Repeated attempts to reach the principals of ETG Properties and related companies were unsuccessful. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran is the most eager for the story to end. This has consumed my life since 2004. There has not been a day that did not involve something to do with this bunch or this land, he said. For a decade, Doran was the countys liaison with the polygamists and he still maintains contact with one of them. After the group left in 2014, Doran and his wife, Lenette, moved into a two-bedroom apartment on the ranch as caretakers. It was the cheapest way for the county. At first, it was creepy because of everything that happened there. Now there is nothing there that bothers me, he said. He used inmate labor to maintain the property and structures, once valued at $34 million on county tax rolls. During his watch there, the ranch has experienced flooding, a wildfire and scattered attempts to break into the property. Along the way, he said, he had to learn how everything worked, including the municipal water system. Bigamy, sexual assaults Before the YFC Ranch turned this town upside down, people here talked more about cotton, cattle and high school sports. Doran still remembers the shock of learning that the reclusive polygamists were building a community just to the north. It was baptism by fire. We were trying to wrap our minds around what this group was about, he recalled. Me personally, I barely knew what polygamy was. On March 25, 2004, as stunned townspeople gathered with Doran outside the courthouse to hear the news, one local woman held up a sign that read The Devil is Here. Flora Jessop, an apostate whod left the polygamist colony at Short Creek, Ariz., and Buster Johnson, an official from Mohave County, Ariz., spoke to the crowd. They are not a danger to your children. They are a danger to their own children, said Jessop, who said she had 28 brothers and sisters. Johnson spoke graphically about how the FDLS women received almost no education and some begin bearing children as young teenagers. Randy Mankin, publisher of the Eldorado Success, which was first to report the sale of the ranch property, likened the polygamists arrival to that of a UFO. Its still fresh to me, like yesterday but Im one of the old geezers, Mankin said. It just felt like a cloud was hanging over the town. No one knew what the future would be. Some people left because they were afraid a group would come and take over, he said. Things reached a chaotic peak in April 2008, when the state raided the ranch, prompted by an anonymous complaint to Child Protective Services of child abuse. The call later proved to be a hoax, but not before hundreds of women and children were removed. There were 13 satellite television trucks parked at the courthouse, Mankin recalls. More than 400 children were taken into temporary custody by the state. They were returned seven weeks later after the Third Court of Appeals ruled the state had not met its burden for an emergency removal. Still, the evidence obtained, including DNA from the children, led to indictments of Jeffs and 11 other men on charges of bigamy and sexual assault. In August 2011, Jeffs was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sexual assault of a child. His victims were 12 and 15 years old. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years. In November 2012, the Texas attorney generals office began legal proceedings to seize the ranch. In April 2014, the last polygamists left peacefully and Texas authorities took possession. Opinions still divided As Eldorados improbable polygamist ordeal now finally is ending, opinions about the place among community leaders differ. Johnny Griffin, 74, who was county judge through 2008, still thinks the state was wrong to forcefully remove more than 400 children. I was really opposed to that whole operation. It was a political stand for (then-Attorney General Greg) Abbott. He was going to run for governor. In my opinion, it was the worst of the state being Big Brother, Griffin began. He also disagrees with the state using the criminal convictions of a handful of polygamist men to justify seizing the Yearning for Zion Ranch, and forcing everyone who lived there to leave. Why in the hell didnt they leave the mommas and the kids in there, and get rid of the men? When you see your momma get drug off, its got to affect you. I thought it was terribly handled, he said. Former County Commissioner Matt Brown, however, thinks that state officials handled the situation appropriately. Were just glad that they are gone. There was a lot of turmoil and unrest in the county. When they move in, they can certainly ruin a community, he said. Brown said the abuses that occurred within the polygamist community outweigh any arguments about religious liberty or criticism of the states abrupt removal of the children. It was the child abuse and the brainwashing that goes on in that cult. And its sad that its still going on. Its pretty much a slave state, he said. Were glad to have new owners. Were glad someone was interested in the property and its being put to good use, he added. jmaccormack@ express-news.net Immigration advocates say theyve noticed that more infants under age 1, most of them sick, are being held at Dilleys family detention center. Eleven mothers with babies ranging from 5 to 11 months have arrived at the South Texas Family Residential Center since last week, according to the Dilley Pro Bono Project. Two were released this week. Weve almost never seen this, and definitely not in this number, said Katy Murdza, advocacy coordinator for the group. If we know of that many, then theres likely more than that. The Dilley facility, which can hold up to 2,400 people, has held families and children most of them recently apprehended at the border since it opened in December 2014. Typically, the federal government, which has the discretion to detain undocumented immigrants or release them with a court date, has chosen to not detain parents with infants, as well as pregnant mothers. Theres been an unspoken rule for ICE to not have babies under 1 in the detention center, Murdza said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Thursday, the organization and Physicians for Human Rights sent a formal complaint to the Homeland Security Department and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The Dilley pro bono group has a staff of about 12 people and brings in large groups of volunteers each week. They provide immigrants with information about the U.S. legal process and help them prepare for their initial interviews in the asylum application process. The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a statewide nonprofit that advocates for immigrants, said that in the past five months, it has documented more than 24 clients who were under 3 years old at the Karnes Detention Center, the only other family detention center in the country. Most were under 18 months, and two were a year old. This is the youngest population we have ever documented in immigrant detention, RAICES, which has a family detention program, said in a statement. The projects staff has interviewed eight of the mothers, all of whom said their babies are sick. They are losing weight; vomiting; coughing; crying from head, ear and throat pain; and having difficulty breathing, they said. We dont think its an appropriate place for any child, but the younger the child is, the scarier it is, Murdza said. One mother told Murdza that her baby cant make any noise when he cries because hes so congested. Physicians for Human Rights said its alarmed about the inherent health risks for infants in detention, as infants have specific health needs which detention centers are ill-equipped to meet. The Homeland Security Department said in a statement to the San Antonio Express-News that comprehensive medical care is provided to all individuals in ICE custody. Staffing includes registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, licensed mental health providers, midlevel providers that include a physicians assistant and nurse practitioner, a physician, dental care and access to 24-hour emergency care. It said ICE spends more than $250 million annually on health care services for those in government custody. The physicians group said in its letter that it was concerned also about the long-term effects of infant detention. Infancy is a time of critical brain development. A large body of research demonstrates that early childhood adversity and stress, such as conditions infants are exposed to in detention, can have significant detrimental impacts on the developing infant brain, with long-lasting and negative consequences, the physicians said. In the Pro Bono Projects letter jointly signed by the American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network the staffers said one baby has been at the facility for longer than 20 days, the maximum legal length of stay for children in detention. ICE is required to meet basic standards of care for minor noncitizens in its custody. It repeatedly has demonstrated an inability to do so, the groups letter reads, noting that two children died last year in Homeland Securitys custody. The group is demanding that the mothers be released. In the year and nine months that Murdza has been on staff, she recalled one other time when there were infants at Dilley: when a migrant caravan arrived at Tijuana, Mexico. This time, the mothers interviewed by the Pro Bono Project staff said they were coming from Piedras Negras the border city in Mexico reached by the most recent publicized caravan. Theres definitely a connection. The two times weve seen babies under 1, it has been that theyre coming from where the caravan just arrived. So it seems like theyre prioritizing the detention of caravan participants and not wanting to release them even when they normally would, Murdza said. Mothers are also having difficulty getting through their asylum interviews with crying babies on their laps, she said. All of this is traumatizing people and putting people in danger, Murdza said. But its not going to work to deter someone if the reason they left their country is they think their child could be killed where they are. Silvia Foster-Frau covers immigration news in the San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF After years of impasse followed by weeks of haggling over minor issues, representatives of the city and the firefighters union finally got to the heart of their contract dispute Friday, exchanging proposals on pay and health benefits. The discussion of economic issues at the downtown Weston Centre office tower was a breakthrough in itself after a bitter, four-year standstill. Yet it served to underscore the stark divide between the two sides. On ExpressNews.com: City of San Antonio and local fire union renew icy negotiations with sniping match The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association requested a new five-year contract and the right to manage its own health care. It also asked for increases in pay and health care expenses totaling 27.5 percent, in part to make up for the pay freeze that firefighters have been under since their contract expired in 2014. The city countered by offering a one-time, 2-percent lump-sum bonus for all firefighters but no increase in base pay. City negotiators also proposed that firefighters contribute to the cost of their health insurance for the first time. And the city called for a contract lasting just one year. Officials said anything longer would be too risky until they know what action the state Legislature will take on property tax reform during its current session and the effect on city revenue. At the start of the bargaining session, union attorney Ricky Poole said: "We see this as a new opportunity for the city and the firefighters, who represent the citizens of this city, to have a healing process that hopefully results in a new contract." Afterward, each side expressed disappointment in the other. "This was the first day to discuss economic items, and we're very far apart," said Jeff Londa, the city's chief negotiator. He called the union proposal a "non-starter." On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio, firefighters union meet to start contract negotiations after four-year standoff Former City Manager Sheryl Sculley loomed large at the session, as the union blamed its fractured relations with the city on the retired executive, whose final day in office was Thursday. "We are saying goodbye today to a city administration that was bent on breaking the firefighters union and its president," Poole said. Most provisions of the contract that expired in 2014 have remained in force under an "evergreen clause" intended to protect firefighters and their benefits until a new agreement could be negotiated. But firefighters have not seen a raise during that time, a hiatus that affects their pension calculations. The city sued in an attempt to have the evergreen clause declared unconstitutional, contending that it removed any incentive for the union to bargain. The city lost in several courts and dropped the suit late last year. The dispute infiltrated city politics. The union pushed for three city charter amendments that targeted city hall. In November, voters approved two of the amendments. One put limits on the pay and tenure of future city managers, restrictions widely seen as a swipe at Sculley even though they did not apply her. The other amendment gave the union sole authority to declare an impasse and submit the contract dispute to binding arbitration. The political dimensions of the dispute have not abated with Sculley's departure. Councilman Greg Brockhouse, a former consultant for the union and its staunchest ally at City Hall, is running against Mayor Ron Nirenberg in the May municipal election. Union president Chris Steele, in a recording made during a union meeting and publicized last fall, was heard saying he wants to make Brockhouse mayor. And the union said Friday, as it has before, that a letter to the leadership from Brockhouse persuaded the union to return to the bargaining table. Former City Attorney Michael Bernard, a member of the city's bargaining team, said city officials repeatedly tried to persuade the union to negotiate before resorting to the lawsuit. He also defended Sculley, who he said acted in keeping with the wishes of elected officials. "No one has acted on their own, nobody has gone rogue...," Bernard said. "We look forward to continuing negotiations, but I didn't want it to go unchallenged that somehow the city does not care about its firefighters. We do. We have tried to negotiate a new contract since 2013 and we are grateful that we are here now." Union proposal In its 70-page proposal, the union asked for an independent health trust, millions of dollars in back-pay and wage increases, and a long-sought acknowledgement from the city that firefighters have elevated risks of cancer. The idea of a union-controlled health care fund was the heart of the proposal. Firefighters and their families receive medical coverage without having to pay monthly premiums. Taxpayers bear the full cost. Under the current system, the city sets aside a pool of money for employee health care and hires an administrator currently Blue Cross to manage the fund and process claims. The union wants the city to carve out a separate pool solely for firefighters, which the union would manage. The union did not specify how much money it was looking for. The city has expressed concern that the trust would not be able to cover firefighters health care costs, requiring a taxpayer bailout. If you look at their proposal, they say theyre ready to run a health care plan, but they dont have any specifics, said Londa. Everything was just Well see, well see, well see, just pay us a bunch of money, so that was disappointing. Union officials also asked for $50.4 million to make up for ground lost since their contract expired. The money represents a 2.5 percent increase in firefighters total compensation for each of the last four years. In addition, the union proposed annual increases of 3.5 percent in firefighters wages and health benefits over the next five years. The cost of those increases would be roughly $121 million, according to the union. The union said the citys reserve fund could help pay the bill. Citys pitch City officials long have maintained that rising health care costs for public safety employees are unsustainable. The cost of health care per firefighter is about $19,655, compared with $16,000 for police and $8,000 for civilian employees, city officials said. Two years ago, city officials reached a new contract with the police union that helped rein in those costs. They offered a similar but less generous package to the fire union Friday. It would offer two plans a consumer-driven plan that continues premium-free coverage with higher deductibles, and a value plan in which firefighters would pay premiums for their spouses and children. The consumer-driven plan has proven a success for police, according to Londa. Sixty-eight percent of the force selected that plan and it has been well-received, he said. Under that plan, the firefighter would have higher deductibles ($3,000 for individuals, $6,000 for families), but the city would contribute $1,500 each to a health savings account. The city wants to reduce the length of the evergreen clause from 10 years in the old contract to 60 days. It also wants to eliminate the trust fund that helps firefighters pay personal legal expenses. Poole said he was disappointed in much of the citys presentation. Its a start. Well see where it goes from here, he said. The two sides are scheduled to meet again Tuesday. Dylan McGuiness covers City Hall and local government in San Antonio. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness The San Antonio Zoos newest experience invites guests into the heart of a rhino habitat, set in verdant landscaping on a natural dirt surface similar to the grassy plains of Africa. At a recent visit, Nyota and Ophelia, the 2-year-old southern white rhinos who arrived in the Alamo City several weeks ago, appeared to be settling in well at their new home. They will be joined by a young male in hopes of restarting a breeding program for the endangered mammals. The habitat is part of The Savanna exhibit, which includes zebras and giraffes. A waterfall spills into a creek for the pair of rhinoceroses to splash in and roll around. The landscape includes Palo Verde trees and colorful flower beds, flush with snapdragon and dianthus blooms. A viewing deck extends over the rhino exhibit, allowing visitors to get a closer look at the zoos newest mammals. The deck was built with posts of local timber and planks made of recycled plastic called Trex. Invisimesh lining at the top gives the viewer an open view that appears invisible from side angles. Zoo officials have set the formal opening for the exhibit at 9 a.m. Saturday for members. The first 500 annual pass holders will receive a rhino mold-a-rama figure. General admission opens at 10 a.m. Animals in the different habitats that make up The Savanna will be able to roam freely across the grasslands. Zebras already have peered at the rhino habitat through gates underneath the deck. Other animals who also live on the African savannah will be introduced in the months to come. At the time the plans for the new habitat were announced last summer, rhino advocates were pleased. It will be a very rich environment for those animals with lots of stimulation, said Susie Ellis, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation. Its much like the wild. At the entrance to the exhibit is the striking 17-foot-tall bronze sculpture of endangered northern white rhinos brought in from New York. Created by artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, its named The Last Three in honor of the last three living northern white rhinos. Sudan, the last male and one of the models for sculpture, died last March at the age of 45. His daughter and granddaughter are the last living northern white rhinos; they are the other two in the artwork. Unless theres a miracle development with in vitro fertilization, their species will go extinct when they die. Rhino populations are dwindling worldwide due to habitat destruction and poaching, said Tim Morrow, the San Antonio Zoos president and CEO. Future rhino births will carry on a decades-long tradition of successes in San Antonio that will greatly contribute to the association of zoos and aquarium special survival plan for this species. In 1972, the San Antonio Zoo was the first facility in the nation to have a successful birth of a white rhino. Morrow said the $1 million rhino habitat project was a year in the making. He said the habitat is part of the zoo's mission to have a new or upgraded exhibit each year. People will see something different every time they come, Morrow said. Zoo officials said the availability of the two young females last month accelerated the renovation plan. We had a window and we had to take it, said Jonathan Reding, director of mammals. If we waited too long they would go some where else. In August, when the renovations began, the zoos lone southern white rhino, 21-year old Kuto, was relocated to Natural Bridge Wildlife Park, where zoo keepers said he has found a girlfriend. Kuto will stay there, officials said. Morrow said he and Reding penned the design for the new rhinoceros exhibit on a napkin while waiting for a flight from the Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Sol Studio Architects developed a blueprint from the sketch. One of the key features of the exhibit is the huge rhino sculpture, which was brought here from Brooklyn. The artwork is linked to an augmented reality app that allows viewers to protect and adopt the Northern white rhinos. After downloading the app, visitors will be able to see the likeness of rhinos wandering within the area of the sculpture. More than 75 percent of the apps proceeds will benefit the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, where the remaining two northern white rhinos make their home. Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis A 9-year old murder case is coming back to a Bexar County courtroom. A San Antonio woman convicted of soliciting the kidnapping and slaying of her ex-boyfriend in 2010 and sentenced to 70 years in prison, is going to be retried. On ExpressNews.com: 70 years for 'murderess' in life insurance scheme The defendant, Vanessa Cameron, is the daughter of a now-retired San Antonio police sergeant. She was said to be the mastermind in what was called a failed scheme to collect a hefty life insurance payout by orchestrating the death of her childs father, VIA bus driver Samuel Allen Johnson Jr. She was convicted in 2012, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted her a new trial, ruling that her constitutional right to a public jury trial was violated. Jury selection will begin on March 11 in her upcoming retrial. On ExpressNews.com: Murder conviction, 70-year sentence tossed for daughter of SAPD sergeant Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 Spring Break will be in high gear in a couple of weeks, just as voters are summoned back to the polls for a runoff election to determine who will represent District 125 in the Texas House of Representatives. Spring Break notwithstanding, voting needs to take a priority on their to-do list. Gov. Greg Abbott has scheduled the runoff in the House race for March 12. Early voting runs starts Monday and runs through March 8. The Texas 86th Legislature will be about half over by the time someone is finally sworn in, but that should not be used as an excuse to sit out this very important election. The term of office for a state representative is two years. The victor in this race will serve an unexpired term that ends in December 2020, before the Legislature meets again, but that does not mean the candidate elected to this post will just be a place holder. Much work gets done after the Legislature adjourns. Often, issues tackled between legislative sessions set the agenda for the following biennial meeting. Voter apathy is always a big issue in all elections, but it is more so in special elections, especially runoffs. The voter turnout for this race, held Feb. 12 with five candidates, was a pitiful 6 percent. It is likely the runoff between the two top vote-getters Republican businessman Fred Rangel and Democrat Ray Lopez, a former San Antonio city councilman will attract even fewer voters. We urge the 101,146 registered voters in this district to go to the polls. Only 6,140 of them cast ballots in February. Rangel, the top vote-getter, garnered only 2,323 votes. The vote difference between the second- and third-place candidates was only 22 votes. This runoff is the kind of race in which the final outcome could be determined by a single vote. The 125th District House seat was left vacant by Justin Rodriguez in December when he was appointed as Bexar County Precinct 2 commissioner following the death of Paul Elizondo, who had held the post for decades. The governor has been moving the process along at an expedited pace because the Legislature, which only meets every two years, is in session. Even so, Bexar Countys newest freshman state representative will only have a few weeks on the job before the regular session is over. The timing on this election may be awkward and inconvenient for some Texas House District 125 voters and election fatigue may be setting in, but it important to cast a ballot in this one. Croatia Airlines registered a net loss of eleven million euros in 2018, ending its run of five consecutive years in the black. It marks the carrier's worst financial performance since 2012. The company blamed its results on higher fuel prices, which were up 29% year-on-year, as well as the announced industrial action by its staff over the summer, which did not materialise following a court injunction. Revenue amounted to 229 million euros, while expenditure was up 2.9%, totalling 239 million euros. It spent most on flight operations, primarily due to the higher cost of fuel, followed by aircraft leasing, as a result of the wet-lease for two Air Nostrum Bombardier CRJ1000 jets, as well as a number of short-term leases due to the protracted time it took to service the airline's aircraft. The carrier also increased its expenditure on maintenance by 5.2%, while revenue from cargo declined. Croatia Airlines handled a record 2.168.863 passengers during the year, an increase of 2%. Of those, 1.642.285 travellers were handled on international flights, up 3% on 2017, while 526.578 travelled on domestic services, which is on par with figures achieved the year before. The company operated 28.003 flights during 2018, which was up 1.9% compared to the year before. The average cabin load factor, a measure of seat capacity utilisation, stood at 73.5%, down from 74.4% in 2017. Passenger carrying capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), amounted to 2.3 billion, up 3.4% year-on-year. The airlines cargo operations recorded a decline of 0.4%, with 2.264 tonnes of mail and freight uplifted in 2018, compared to 2.273 tonnes the year before. Croatia Airlines' market share on its home turf averaged 25% during the year, down from 38% in 2017, although it grew up to 56% over the winter months (January). Its lowest market share was recorded in July when it averaged just 16%, marking its smallest monthly share on record and down 1% on the year before. "The high level of seasonality on the Croatian aviation market continues to pose a major problem for the company and its business. During the summer season, there are almost 100 airlines operating flights to Croatia, with more than a half of all passengers carried during the third quarter, while competition is minimal in winter. Croatia Airlines maintains flights throughout the entire year, providing Croatian airports with year-round connectivity", the carrier said. In May 2018 Croatia Airlines' CEO, Jasmin Bajic, said he anticipated for the carrier to record an annual profit of one million euros, however, this did not materialise. Last week, Mr Bajic noted the airline was in need of 33 million euros in order to launch a new investment cycle and better compete against its rivals. The comments came after the Croatian government set up a multi-member, inter-agency committee whose main task will be to seek out potential investors for Croatia Airlines. Mr Bajic noted the company would not go bankrupt if it fails to secure a new partner but warned it would likely downsize its operations. HARTFORD Members of the Connecticut beer, wine and distilled spirits industry packed a public hearing room Thursday to offer their opinion on a number of bills seeking to modernize Connecticuts liquor laws. Seven years ago, Connecticut got rid of its Blue Laws and allowed Sunday alcohol sales, then it followed up by modifying the minimum pricing laws to allow for one item to be priced below a wholesaler-established and posted bottle price. The pricing structure of Connecticuts liquor laws, according to those who support them, protects the 1,256 smaller package stores because it doesnt allow larger package stores to increase its customer base by lowering its prices. Rep. Michael DAgostino, D-Hamden, who co-chairs the General Law Committee, said a lot of our liquor laws are 20, 40, 80 years old, and some of them have not been looked at in decades. He said that needs to change. Many of parts of the industry, like the craft beer segment didnt exist even a decade ago and Connecticuts laws, according to DAgostino, need to be modified and updated to reflect their needs with the needs of the existing market participants. Earlier this month an appeals court ruled that the minimum-bottle pricing and other restrictions by Connecticut on liquor sales compel only vertical pricing arrangements among private actors. This means they are not pre-empted by federal law. DAgostino believes the laws should be updated and modernized. He said hes pondered Connecticuts three-tiered system of alcohol distribution system and concluded that wholesale distributors have a monopoly. He also threatened to subpoena the wholesalers if they didnt provide him with information about their territories and products. Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said it was unacceptable for the chairman of a committee to threaten members of the public in that manner. Legislation that would have required craft breweries to decide between selling their products off-site or operating their taprooms was swiftly killed earlier this year after an uproar from the craft brewing industry. The industry blamed the wholesalers for encouraging two Hartford lawmakers to introduce the legislation. The wholesalers say they want to work with the new emerging craft industry to distribute their products. No one is too small to be with a distributor, Jude Malone, executive director of the Connecticut Beer Wholesalers Association, said. Malone said the craft brewers get to control all four segments of the industry. They make the product, they distribute the product, they sell the product, and they get to have a taproom. Asked if wholesale distributors wanted to open taprooms, Malone said its not that. As we change things the fabric of our industry changes. So how do we grow and make sure were all growing together. The craft breweries want to be allowed to sell more of their product and some of the legislation debated by the General Law Committee Thursday would allow them to sell an unlimited amount to customers. John Kraszewski of Armada Brewing said there are now 80 brewers in the state and they opened their brewery to focus on their products. But in order to grow they are happy to work with wholesalers to distribute their products. Phil Pappas, executive director of the CT Brewers Guild, said they dont have any information about how many of their breweries use wholesalers to distribute their products. However, being allowed to open taprooms allows brewers to build their brands and popularity to the point where they need a distributor to get their product to the market. He said hes still perplexed as to how being able to sell more product would impact the wholesale distributors. They are also looking to be able to sell more than 9 liters on site at the breweries. Pappas said neighboring states dont have any limits on direct to consumer sales. Pappas said there are now 85 taprooms in the state and the breweries employ 5,000 people and produce 166,000 barrels of beer. He said in the first five month of their CT Beer Trail Passport program where enthusiasts can collect stamps by visiting their local brewery they generated $330,000 in five months and 9 percent of that was generated from out-of-state visitors. Pappas said they support the ideas proposed in HB 7148 which would allow Connecticut breweries, wineries, cideries, and distilleries to sell each others products. There are 40 wineries in Connecticut and most of the sales of their wine happen in the tasting rooms. Jonathan Edwards of Edwards Winery said he would like to sell craft beers to their male clientele who are not always as enthusiastic about wine as their female companions. The craft beer industry is booming, Edwards said. STAMFORD Three city homicides last year mar what city officials predict will otherwise be a drop in violent crime in Stamford for 2018. Months ahead of when the FBI is scheduled to release its crime stats for Stamford and other cities around the state and nation, the Stamford Police Departments preliminary crime statistics for three-quarters of 2018 show reductions in crime in the city. While there were no homicides in 2017 a more than 30-year low for killings in Stamford 2018 saw three. The first was Antonio Robinson, 18, who was shot and killed two weeks before his high school graduation on West Avenue on May 30, snapping a 18-month streak without a murder in Stamford. Sirus Dixon, 15, has been arrested for Robinsons death. Two weeks after Robinson was killed, 74-year-old Eden Claxton was stabbed to death in her upper middle-class Westover home. Police say she was killed by her husband, 75-year-old Allen Claxton, who committed suicide in the home the two shared six weeks after her death. Then on Sept. 20, Marcus Hall, 16, was shot while standing with a group of friends at the Southwood Square apartments. No one has been arrested for his killing. Police investigators say besides the shooting deaths both occurring on Stamfords West Side, they know of no connections between the two murders. Our homicide rate is so historically low, that while the number seems like a great increase, it is still a number that is way ahead of anybody else, Assistant Police Chief James Matheny said. We are not happy with three homicides, but I feel we are well ahead of the curve with other cities our size, not just in the state or New England, but nationally. Last year New Haven, whose population is comparable to that of Stamford, had nine homicides. Hartford, which has fewer residents, had 20 homicides in 2018. I commend Police Chief Jon Fontneau for his exceptional leadership and credit the men and women of the Stamford Police Department for their dedication to proactive and community policing, which has helped lead to this reduction in crime, Mayor David Martin said. After 18 months without a single homicide, unfortunately, we have tragically had three (in 2018), but preliminary data for the first nine months of 2018 show a continuing significant downward trend for all other violent crimes. Building trust Matheny said there are a number of programs that have helped keep homicides down, including the Gun Stoppers hotline program, which pays a $1,000 reward for anonymous tips leading to the arrest of someone in possession of an illegal gun. In the first year of its use in 2017, 30 guns were taken off the street. 2018 took 19 guns off the street with 21 arrests. As a result of that program as well as others that include community partnerships with the Boys and Girls Club of Stamford, the NAACP, the Yerwood Center and Chester Addison Community Center, violence is kept down significantly, the assistant chief said. Stamford NAACP President Jack Bryant agreed with Matheny that the relationship between the police and his organization plays a role in reducing crime. We see community organizations and the police department working in accord to make sure the city is safe and empowering, and educating people and engaging with police officers will have a good effect in reducing crime, he said. Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Michael Cotela said it is important to arrange meetings between officers and teenagers, such as through visits by the police in the summertime with their cruisers, motorcycles and police dogs. It helps break the barriers down so the first interaction a child has isnt someone they know getting arrested, Cotela said. The kids get to know that police officers are there to help them and hopefully that carries over into their adulthood. Building up positive relationships between the police and community is essential, the assistant chief said. I dont think we are viewed as an occupying force like other city police departments are. I think that people have a genuine trust for us and they tell us what is going on, Matheny said. Gun crimes are down significantly from about two years ago when police were receiving many reports of shots fired around the city and especially on the West Side. Matheny said that stopped because the police department acted aggressively and the community reacted positively. Now if we get a guy capping off a couple rounds somewhere, the response is overwhelming, Matheny said. While crime appears to be on the decrease in Stamford, Fontneau said he sees every crime as one too many. Our police officers work very closely with the Stamford community, engaging regularly at neighborhood meetings and our schools, the citys police chief said. We continue to work hand in hand with the domestic docket, our juvenile court, as well as the adult docket, impressing upon offenders that committing a crime is just not worth it. Preliminary stats While police are finishing their tabulations for the calendar year, Matheny discussed the departments preliminary crime stats for the first three quarters of 2018. Comparing the first nine months of 2017 with 2018 shows an increase in homicides, a decrease in aggravated assaults by about 16 percent, a decrease in burglaries by about 6 percent, a decrease in robberies by just over 30 percent, and a decrease in forcible sexual assaults by just over 30 percent. But figures also show an increase in larcenies of about 10 percent and an increase in motor vehicle thefts of about 4 percent. In summation, preliminary figures show crimes against people dropped about 20 percent, while property crime rose around 8 percent. From the increased proactivity of the Patrol Division to the exceptional investigation techniques of the Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the great work of specialized units such as the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad, the Stamford Police Department has done an extraordinary job safeguarding the residents and visitors of Stamford, said Public Safety Director Ted Jankowski. Projections for the future Where aggravated assaults are concerned, police reported that there were 171 in all of 2017 and 98 were reported up to Sept. 30, 2018. If that trend holds steady for the rest of the year, 2018 would end up with 131 aggravated assaults, a large drop from 171. While there were 241 burglaries reported in 2017, 183 were reported through September, a drop of about 1 percent if the trend continues through the last three months of data for 2018. Although the number of burglaries in Stamford is sobering, Matheny said any decline is a positive for the department. That is pretty good because the opioid epidemic has made property crimes the biggest driver in criminal statistics in a lot of communities, simply because addicts need to constantly steal to feed their habits and that is why we see these waves of car break-ins, burglaries and smash-and-grabs, Matheny said. The decline also means that the property crimes officers are doing their jobs, patrol officers are helping to prevent crimes and the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad have not allowed the impact of that addiction wave to hit Stamford like it has in other communities, Matheny said. Preliminary figures for larcenies, however, look as though they are on the rise. In 2017 there were 1,490 thefts; through September 2018, 1,303 had been reported in Stamford, setting the city up for a 17 percent increase. Motor vehicle thefts are pretty even. In 2017 there were 257 and for the first three quarters of 2018, there were 195. If the pattern holds, there would be 260 cars stolen, a slight increase. Arson is also down. In all of 2017 there were five arson fires reported. Through Sept. 30, 2018 there were three deliberately set fires reported in Stamford, which could represent a 20 percent decrease. We always strive for zeros but we continue to set the standard in New England for crime fighting, Matheny said. It is borne out by our numbers year after year and when you dive a little deeper into the programs, it goes to show you how progressive we are, how forward leaning we are. I think we are doing a fantastic job. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com Some recent costume problems from decades back have recently come to light for Virginia politicians, and it caused me to look at my own personal history of dressing up to see if my behavior was offensive. It was. A few of the Halloween episodes make me cringe a little even now. Actually, in two of the more troubling costumes, I was told I was offensive by at least one person at the time. By way of background, the current governor of Virginia had a medical school yearbook photo of someone in blackface with someone in a KKK outfit. At first, he said it was him, then he said it wasnt, but he admitted to putting on blackface to dress up like Michael Jackson. The lieutenant governor then had rape and assault allegations leveled against him. The next in line for governor, the attorney general, admitted that he had also dressed in blackface. What is unclear is whether these were for Halloween costumes or for other reasons. I have looked back on my adult life (over 18) and concluded a few things: I have rarely dressed up when it wasnt Halloween; What I thought were incredibly clever, hilarious costumes do not stand the test of time; and There were four times I dressed up like a woman, which may be a red flag. I thought I looked good, but the photos tell a different story. 1983. The movie Flashdance came out and I dressed like the star/ welder-exotic dancer. No photo exists (I hope), and I found out it is impossible (this is pre-internet) to find womens high heels in a mens size 14. 1985. I went to a party as Grant Woods American Gothic painting. Incredible costume. The only problem was I wore a cardboard picture frame. I am a large man, and you would think the picture frame would have shredded if I walked into a room with a ceiling fan. The opposite is true. The blades of the fan snapped off and the pieces showered on everyone in the room. The party was over right then and there. 1987. This was my first costume where people at the party thought it was offensive (the people at the Grant Wood party were cursing me as hell rained down from above, but they werent offended). I went as Baby Jessica, the little baby girl that was rescued from the well she fell into just days earlier. Now that I have had children, I would agree with my detractor. At the time, I thought it was clever. It was offensive, especially my hat which was a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket made into a wishing well with a little roof. 1992. Soon-Yi Previn. This, I think is offensive on two levels, maybe more. My girlfriend at the time, now wife and mother of my children, and I were looking for a duo Halloween costume that was topical and trendy as we were invited to a hip party. Woody Allen was in the news as he had a relationship with his romantic partners daughter. We decided to go as them, and a friend suggested we add a twist. That Laura go as Woody Allen, and I go as Soon-Yi. The first thing I got was a wig. I wanted long Asian type hair so I got a Halloween witchs wig which my girlfriend trimmed to look like Soon Yis. Soon-Yi attended Drew University, the alma mater of my girlfriend, so I put on a big Drew sweatshirt, a large Goodwill skirt, kneesocks, a students back pack, and added what I thought was extremely clever, but now am horrified by in light of recent allegations about Mr. Allen. I had a teddy bear hanging out of the backpack in reference to Soon-Yis young age. We stopped in Norwalk on the way to the party in New York, and handed out Halloween candy to trick or treaters. We had the parents guess who we were. It was all fun and games until a woman came to the door with her grandchildren. She was the first one to accurately guess who we were and then her face got very angry. That is not funny. I was the social worker that handled the Previns adoption of Soon Yi, and I find that very offensive. We shrugged her off and went to our party where we were a huge hit. As we had our own children, we discovered any costumes we had were just supporting characters to our childrens costume. So not really offensive. I was the scarecrow to one daughters Dorothy, and the evil Diesel to my other daughters Thomas the Tank Engine. But now that our daughters are out on their own, I hope we dont repeat the sins of the past. Thomas Lawlor lives in Southport with his wife and two daughters. He can be reached by email at Tlawlor@mcommunications.com. To the editor: Colorado, Oregon and Washington conduct all elections by mail. All registered voters are mailed ballots ahead of election day to be returned, by mail, before election day. In-person voting at the polls is a thing of the past in those three states. In person voting at the polls should be a thing of the past in Connecticut, too. Unknown to most, Fairfield town taxpayers bear the full cost of an election, too. Whether it be a town state or federal election, Fairfield property owners foot the bill. If the state constitution is to be changed on the issue of voting, let all voting be early, by mail, and less costly, too. Jim Brown Fairfield Lost sense of security To the editor: When I was a kid, the street was our domain, and our Maine neighborhood was free to roam, safely; that was in the early 1930s and later, too. When I moved my family from grad school in Maine to my first teaching job, in Port Washington, L.I., our children played and grew, if not on the street, at least, they were able to safely play in the neighborhoods. When I took a job in Darien, it was with the help of the wife of my best friend that we found a home in Fairfield. Since then we have grown in place, three times. First, we raised our own four kids here. They not only had the neighborhood to play in, but, as I had been able to do grow up free to roam, they had the range of the whole neighborhood to enjoy, and, in particular, what was then the fields and woods and old Fairfield estate dumps on the Fairfield University property. They proudly brought home an assortment of old, light bulbs, empty, green or brown medicine bottles, old metal razors, and more, all of which the kids valued. Later, our grandkids came to live with us, and they, too, enjoyed the community, but the playfields were no longer what their uncles and mother had enjoyed, they were far more restricted, although, not completely. There were still the bicycles to take them around, and there was the park, nearby. Nowadays, kids grow up to play in their own backyards or with their friends, in the yards that their homes have to play in. And, they have their moms, dads, or nannies to watch over them. Thats what we have lost over the year, common sense of security just because the world is smaller, but, ironically, shrinking still more, and there is more evil lurking about than we ever knew, depriving our kids of the life experiences we had had growing up. G. Coulombe Fairfield Schools should have longer winter break This letter was originally sent to the Fairfield schools superintendent and first selectman, and is reprinted here at the request of the author. Dear Dr. Toni Jones/ First Selectman Tetreau, I am writing you concerning our towns winter vacation. It is only two days instead of five days. I am a dedicated skier and student. Because I work so hard at school, it would be nice to have a longer break to ski. It seems like all my friends in other towns have weeklong winter vacations. I would like to see them and play. My dad always says it is hard to take days off in different weeks. It would be nice to spend the whole week with my family. I am Allegra Early and I am a third-grader at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School. Can you pleae let me know if you can change this for next year? Allegra Early Fairfield third-grader iShares MSCI Austria ETF's stock was trading at $15.26 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWO shares have increased by 67.0% and is now trading at $25.49. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Fairfield, MT (59436) Today Partly cloudy. High 39F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy with gusty winds developing after midnight. Low 32F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. The National Dairy Shrine is again looking for applications for its annual scholarship program. Applications are accepted from March 1 until the deadline of April 15. Official scholarship application award forms are available on the NDS web site, www.dairyshrine.org under the youth tab and then scholarship applications. Scholarships The National Dairy Shrine Student Recognition Program recognizes and rewards graduating seniors planning a career in the dairy industry. There will be a $2,000 cash award given to the winner, a $1,500 reward for second place, and three to seven $1000 cash awards depending on the number and quality of applicants. National Dairy Shrine/Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) Milk Marketing-Dairy Products Scholarships are available to encourage students to pursue careers in the marketing or development of dairy products. The winner receives a $1500 scholarship while the other winners receive $1000 scholarships. Up to five winners are recognized annually. National Dairy Shrine/Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) Education & Communication Scholarships are available to encourage students to pursue careers in the education or communication of the value of dairy products and the dairy industry. The winner receives a $1500 scholarship while the other winners receive $1000 scholarships. Up to five winners are recognized annually. Kildee Scholarships are offered in two categories. Graduate study applicants may include the top 25 All-American contestants in one of the past three National Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Contests plus the First and Second Place teams in the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge National contests. These students are eligible to apply for up to two $3000 graduate school scholarships. Undergraduate students may apply in their junior or senior year of college for one $1000 Kildee Undergraduate scholarship. Applicants for this scholarship must have been one of the top 25 contestants at the National 4-H or FFA Dairy Judging Contests. NDS Merton Sowerby Junior Merit Scholarship recognizes and rewards current college juniors planning a career in the dairy industry. There will be a $1,500 cash award given to the winner and two to five more $1000 cash awards depending on the number and quality of applicants. NDS Mike Lancaster Sophomore Merit Scholarship recognizes and rewards current college sophomores planning a career in the dairy industry. There will be a $1,500 cash award given to the winner and two to five more $1000 cash awards depending on the number and quality of applicants. Depending on number and quality of applicants there will be two to four Maurice Core Freshman Scholarships awarded in the amount of $1,000 to a freshman college student attending a four-year agricultural college. This scholarship is sponsored from a fund created in honor of Maurice E. Core long-time industry leader and past Executive Director of National Dairy Shrine. Two NDS Marshall McCullough scholarships of $2000 and $1,500 are awarded annually to high school seniors intending to enter a four-year college or university and major in Dairy/Animal Science with a Communications emphasis or Agriculture Journalism with a Dairy/Animal Science emphasis. Up to two NDS Iager Dairy Scholarships will be awarded in the amount of $1,000 to second-year college students enrolled in a two-year agricultural college. This scholarship is sponsored by a fund created by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Iager of Fulton, Maryland. There are three Klussendorf scholarships given in the amount of $1,500 to students in their first, second, or third year at a two or four-year college or university. Applicants need to major in Dairy or Animal Science with intentions to enter the dairy cattle industry. There are four McKown scholarships given in the amount of $1,500 to students in their first, second, or third year at a two or four-year college or university. Applicants need to major in Dairy or Animal Science with intentions to enter the dairy cattle industry. More information If you would like to apply for any of these scholarships, please visit the NDS website at www.dairyshrine.org to download the applications. If you have any questions, please contact the NDS office at info@dairyshrine.org. Winners of these awards will be announced this summer, with the presentation of awards to be held at the annual NDS awards banquet in Madison, Wisconsin on Oct. 3. Arla has agreed to pay out over 252 million in profit to farmers on March 8th following a board meeting which stamped their approval. Last week, Arla's Board of Directors proposed a pay-out of the full net profit for 2018 of EUR 290 million (252m) to its 2,400 British farmer owners. Arlas Board of Representatives approved this proposal in a vote late on Wednesday night (27 February). This now sets up an extraordinary pay day on March 8th when millions of pounds will be wired to Arla's farmers as a supplementary payment. Normally, the profit is allocated as a 13th payment and retainment, however, Arla's strong balance sheet enables the board to deviate from its retainment policy and propose that representatives pay an amount of 2.3 Euro cents, per kilo of milk (2 pence per litre), to farmers. As a farmer-owned company, we are aware that this summer's drought in Europe was extraordinary and affected the feed situation for many of our members, said Arla's Chairman, Jan Toft Nrgaard. We are satisfied with the positive result of the companys balance sheet, which makes it possible for us to pay out the entire profit. Our balance sheet has improved significantly over the past five years. Our financial goals will remain within the target ranges, provided that the representatives intend to return to the normal retainment policy after 2018. The national flower of Wales has found a new role this St Davids Day helping scientists to better understand the value of plant extracts as an alternative to antibiotics in animal feed. Researchers have investigated the effects of daffodil extracts as natural antimicrobials on the digestive systems of cattle and sheep. Plant extracts have the potential to improve growth performance and health, as well as decrease methane produced by enteric fermentation a digestive process that sees carbohydrates broken down by micro-organisms. However, the effects of feeding plant extracts to animals can be inconsistent. This has been attributed to differences in the composition of the extracts, even when prepared from the same source and using the same methodology. The study, which has been published by Scientific Reports, found that very small differences made to the chemical structure of the bioactive compounds in the daffodil extract haemanthamine made a considerable difference to digestion in the rumen the first stomach of ruminants such as cattle and sheep. 'Positive effects' The scientists concluded that if plant extracts are to replace traditional antibiotics in animal feeds, then a joint approach linking chemistry and biology will be required to describe the effects of novel plant extracts. Dr Eva Ramos-Morales from Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), said: It was very surprising to find that apparently similar compounds could have such different impacts on rumen digestion. This study highlights the need to standardise processes and obtain plant extracts with consistent chemical composition in order to maximise the positive effects in animals. Dr Paddy Murphy from Bangor University added: The role of organic chemists in separating naturally occurring compounds from agricultural waste products is key to developing new environmentally sustainable materials. In the future we hope to extract metabolites from daffodil by-products that will be of interest to the pharmaceutical industry. The research follows news of a Welsh sheep farmer who grows daffodils which have been found to contain a higher-than-usual amount of galantamine, a compound known to slow Alzheimer's disease. Overseas customers interested in British meat are now cancelling orders and buying their produce elsewhere due to the lack of clarity around Brexit. The 'axe has already fallen' for some meat exporters despite Brexit being under a month away, the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has warned. Its members are concerned that such cancellations will cause major disruptions to the supply chain and have severe financial consequences, who may struggle to win back lost business. The BMPA have described how they have been 'inundated' with inquiries from exporters wanting information on what is going to happen with the current political situation. Nick Allen, Chief Executive said: Despite numerous crisis meetings with government officials, we are still no closer to getting definitive guidance on tariffs, certification and health marks that our members desperately need. Unfortunately, the disruption has already started and damage is already being done. Tariff uncertainty The lack of clarity around Brexit is now causing orders to be cancelled and effectively closing-off once lucrative export markets to British firms. Delays in announcing what tariff rates will apply in the event of a 'no-deal' Brexit mean that shipments to overseas markets that set off tariff-free will arrive at their destination after 29 March and be subject to an, as yet, undetermined tariff. Those overseas customers have no way of knowing how much extra they will be required to pay. The insurers that cover these consignments and facilitate the movement of goods between countries are refusing to indemnify against losses related to a 'no-deal', the BMPA said. Health mark confusion The organisation said that there is also confusion about which health mark should be used. The health mark is the stamp that indicates which plant meat has been processed at and is a key factor in insuring traceability and provenance. So far, no decision has been made by government over what this mark should be, and no formal acceptance of change of status as the UK ceases to be an EU member state has been received from major export markets. The BMPA said that this means that there is a 'real danger' that any product that gets shipped bearing the wrong mark will be turned away at its destination. Meat processors are now faced with the conundrum of buying animals to process without any understanding of what the market may look like post-Brexit. Selling more to the UK market isn't an option, because most of the 1 billion worth of meat exported is made up of cuts that are popular overseas but not domestically. Resignation The warning follows the resignation of Defra's farming minister George Eustice after the Prime Minister promised to allow MPs a vote on extending the Brexit date. His resignation comes after Theresa May's statement to parliament on 26 February, saying that the government has planned to hold the next meaningful vote on her Brexit deal by 12 March. If it is defeated again, it will be followed by a vote on 13 March on leaving the EU with 'no deal'. If this is rejected by MPs, a vote on 14 March will take place looking to extend the date the UK leaves the EU. Three men who were filmed kicking pigs in the face and head in over 100 incidents have been given suspended jail terms. The footage was taken in April 2018 via a number of secret cameras left on Fir Tree pig farm in Goxhill, Lincolnshire, following an anonymous tip-off to animal welfare charity Animal Equality. The farm is owned by Elsham Linc one of Britains largest pig producers. Gavin Hardy, 39, of Greengate Lane, South Killingholme, pleaded guilty earlier in February to causing unnecessary suffering to animals. Troy Wagstaff, 30, of Chantry Lane, Grimsby, and Artirs Grogprkevs, 32, of Goxhill, both pleaded guilty in January. The farm owners sacked the men following an investigation, saying the actions were 'abhorrent behaviour that does not represent our business'. 'Inadequate punishment' The men were sentenced at Grimsby Magistrates' Court on Thursday (28 February) to eight-week suspended jail terms and were given community orders. However, Animal Equality UK said they are 'extremely disappointed' with what they say is a 'wholly inadequate punishment'. We are extremely disappointed that these pig farm workers have not been jailed immediately for the disgusting attacks on vulnerable animals revealed by our investigation, said Dr Toni Shephard, Animal Equalitys UK Director. A suspended sentence and community order is wholly inadequate punishment for these disturbing acts of cruelty. The National Pig Association (NPA) said that as an organisation it does not tolerate or condone violence towards animals in any way. Such behaviour is abhorrent to all pig farmers and the business involved, which has acted responsibly and immediately by terminating employment of the members of staff following a thorough investigation and is cooperating fully with the authorities, the NPA said. The NPA will take the lead in investigating what further measures can be put in place to prevent any similar incidents from occurring on British pig farms. Brexit could lead to a 'fresh approach' to food and farming in Wales which could set the standard for the rest of the UK, a new report argues. Much has been made of the risks Brexit poses to Welsh food producers, especially its upland lamb and beef farmers. However, the briefing, by Food Research Collaboration (FRC), argues that Wales has a 'forward-looking' government with several 'innovative' pieces of legislation that could support a transition to 'fairer and more environmentally sustainable' farming. The FRC, which seeks to improve UK food policy, said such a transition can only happen if political authority and public support can be 'mobilised to link them together'. The organisation emphasise two key factors that enable Wales to be the leader in the field: networks of grassroots organisations building local food enterprises and 'radical' pieces of legislation introduced by the Welsh government that could be used to engineer a 'new food economy'. One of the report's authors, Caorinne Castle of Wales' Food Manifesto, said Brexit gives Wales an opportunity make a 'step-change' into a new approach to food and farming. It will only happen if there is a wholesale realignment of all those involved with the food system, and a willingness to see ourselves differently. Old oppositions, say between food production and wildlife, or between supermarkets and community initiatives, will have to transform. Above all, we will need to bring back more trust and respect to the vital business of feeding a nation, she said. The report recommends that the public funding which will replace the Common Agricultural Policy must be for farming that integrates food production with care for the environment. Subsidy should be based on what farmers do, not how much land they manage, with support for new entrants. New high-path bird flu outbreak confirmed in Wales Third case of avian influenza in Wales so far 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. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Meghan Markle's Baby Shower In New York City According to Page Six, Meghan Markle invited Priyanka Chopra for her baby shower in New York City and PeeCee chose to ditch the ceremony and headed to California on the same day instead and posted a picture on her Instagram handle from the sunny state. Priyanka Chopra Wants Meghan Markle's Apology? "Their friendship is over unless Meghan apologises. Priyanka is a huge international star with a tremendous social media following. She is probably more famous worldwide than Meghan is. She feels Meghan didn't respect her, and didn't respect their friendship," said a source to Page Six. Priyanka Chopra Felt Crushed When Meghan Markle Ditched Her Wedding! The source also said to Page Six that "Priyanka was crushed" when the Duchess of Sussex Meghan couldn't make it to the wedding and now she chose to skip her baby shower held at the Mark Hotel in NYC. Priyanka & Meghan Are Still Good Friends, Says A Source The same publication quoted a close friend of Priyanka Chopra by saying that there's no bad blood or mood for revenge between the two. "There are no issues between the two women. They are friends, and anything you're being told otherwise is inaccurate and untrue." I Can Go To The Border & Destroy Pakistan, Says Rakhi Sawant "I can also die for the nation, I will willingly go to the rival's territory with 50-100 bombs and destroy them if needed," said an overexcited Rakhi Sawant. I Pray For Abhinandan Varthaman's Safe Return! Rakhi Sawant also said that she prays for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's safe return to India and will be extremely happy when he steps foot back to the country. PM Narendra Modi Has Given A Perfect Reply To Pakistan Rakhi Sawant also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for acting swiftly and wisely post the Pulwama terror attacks. "Modi ji has given the right answer to Pulwama attack. I pray that our pilots reach safely." Wing Commander AbhinandanVarthaman Expected To Touch Foot In India Soon! The entire country is glued to their screens waiting for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to arrive at the Wagah border and step inside India. A billion prayers have been heard! Rating: 3.0 /5 Star Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi, Atul Srivastava Director: Laxman Utekar Luka Chuppi Movie Review: Kartik Aaryan|Kriti Sanon|Pankaj Tripathi |Aparshakti Khurana|FilmiBeat "Humein bhi try karna chahiya naa, Aajkal toh sab log kar rahe hain," quips Kriti Sanon's Rashmi suggesting a live-in relationship when her beau Guddu (Kartik Aaryan) goes down on his knees to pop the question. She is a spunky young girl who insists that she wants to know her boyfriend before taking the martial plunge. Guddu, on the other hand, is a charming lad who is keen to exchange nuptials at the earliest. The duo may be chalk and cheese in few aspects. But it's their love for each other which is a major constant in their relationship. Set in Mathura, Guddu (Kartik Aaryan) is a star reporter in a local news channel. It's love at first sight for him when he comes across Rashmi (Kriti Sanon) who joins his work-place as an intern. She is the daughter of an aspiring politician (Vinay Pathak) who also heads a culture protection group. Soon, Rashmi also reciprocates his feelings. When Guddi proposes Rashmi for marriage, the latter convinces him about the joy of being in a live-in relationship instead. The lovebirds rent a place in Gwalior. When one of their nosy neighbours there try to blow off their bluff, Rashmi and Guddi fake their marriage which takes a hilarious turn after a surprise visit from Guddu's folks. While the theme of live-in relationships has been previously explored in films like Salaam Namaste and Shuddh Desi Romance, director Laxman Utekar brings in his own novel take on it without being preachy about it. He binds together a socially relevant message with threads of breezy humour and pleasant performances. The wry comedy works in the film's favour. On the flipside, Luka Chuppi needed a tight writing in the first half to make things even more enjoyable. However, the film picks up pace post interval and serves you moments of bouts of laughter. Writer Rohan Shankar stumbles a bit when it comes to treading carefully between 'modern' and 'too progressive'. Kartik Aaryan is easy on the eyes and his child-like charm will definitely woo the ladies. Kriti Sanon delivers her small-town girl act with a bang. The duo share an endearing chemistry on the big screen. Aparshakti Khurrana is lovable as Kartik's buddy in the film. Pankaj Tripathi as the sleazy, conning brother-in-law gives you plenty of 'ha-ha' moments with his loud, dramatic act. Vinay Pathak is effective as Trivedi. Milind Jog's cinematography beautifully captures the small-town locales of Mathura and Gwalior. Manish Pradhan's editing is crisp. Luka Chuppi staggers a bit when it comes to the music department. Barring 'Tu Laung Main Elaachi' and 'Photo', the other tracks fail to create a lasting impact. Luka Chuppi is a light-hearted film which leaves you with a smile on your face. It doesn't insult your intelligence and subtly raises a pertinent issue in today's times. I am going with three stars. @Sharath "YajaMana is a commercial family entertainer with a good message to society.Vintage @dasadarshan is back with his dialogues, looks and acting.@iamRashmika, thakooranup, Devraj are opt and acted well.Comedy works big time. Go for it. My rating 4 out 5." - (sic) @Geethamadam "This is why you got for a First Day First Show, listen to the whistles for @iamRashmika madam's introduction. Loved the massy steps in the introduction scene. Too good #PaisaVasool #Yajamana #RashmikaMandanna" - (sic) @NaveenY70093442 "#Yajamana same old story.Buildups.1st half torture.Dont know why kannada actors accepting meaning less stories 1.5/5" - (sic) @cineloka "No matter how much the villains brag about their power, it is the hero who wins at the end. Think before you question the man".Powerful Dialogues Elevate Mass Sequences to the Core. THEY CALL HIM MASS #ChallengingStar #Yajamana - (sic) @vijaykalyana13 "#Yajamana..Laggy second Half. One time watch..Final verdict - 2.5 / 5" - (sic) tv9kannada "#Yajamana : Most Expected Movie Yajamana Release. Good Response From Fans. Challenging Star #Darshan Fans Mass Celebration At Theater.#YajamanaMovie #DarshanFansCelebration #ChallengingStarDarshan" - (sic) The Tamil film industry is all set to witness a celebrity wedding as Arya and Sayyeshaa are all set to enter the wedlock soon. Earlier, on the special occasion of Valentine's Day, the couple came forward and announced that they are all set to tie the knot and the wedding will be held in March 2019. The fans and followers have been eager to know more details about Arya-Sayyeshaa wedding and now, a few reports have come out regarding the details of the wedding ceremony of the couple. Reportedly, the ceremony will be a grand affair and will be conducted in two days. The reports also suggest that the function will be held in Hyderabad on March 9 and 10. If reports are to be believed, the Sangeet Ceremony will be held on March 9th evening whereas the wedding ceremony will be held on March 10, 2019. Further details regarding the venue are being awaited. The wedding functions are expected to be a star-studded one with the top celebrities of the industry attending the grand event. The couple is expected to invite the prominent members of the film fraternity. Earlier, Vishal took to his Twitter account to share a picture with Arya, which was taken when Arya had come to invite Vishal for the wedding. Arya and Sayyeshaa had acted together in the film Ghajinikanth, which had released last year. They will also be seen sharing the screen space in the upcoming movie Kaapaan, directed by KV Anand. (Source: Indiaglitz) Salman & Katrina To Judge Nach Baliye 9! A source was quoted by Mumbai Mirror as saying, "It is slated to go on air in the next few months and the channel has plans to make this season grander. While celebrity couples and judges are being shortlisted, the channel is keen on having Salman come on board." It is also said that Katrina might be in the judges panel! Jennifer Winget As A Host The latest report is Jennifer Winget will be seen on the dance reality show. No, she won't participate, but she will be seen as the host! A source was quoted by DNA as saying, "Jennifer is charming and versatile and she loves dancing." Jennifer Will Add Glamour Quotient To The Show! The source added, "She was ranked 14th in a poll conducted by a magazine on the top TV personalities of 2018. Getting her on board will certainly increase the glamour quotient of the show." Sunil Grover To Co-host The Show With Jennifer! Earlier, the makers were on the lookout for a male host who would accompany Jennifer. Now, it is being said that Kanpur Wale Khuranas' Sunil Grover will co-host the show with Jennifer! Exes Also To Participate! The interesting part of the show is, this time, apart from couples who are dating and married, the makers have apparently approached exes like Juhi Parmar and Sachin Shroff! La pubblicazione di contributi, approfondimenti, articoli e in genere di tutte le opere dottrinarie e di commento (ivi comprese le news) presenti su Filodiritto e stata concessa (e richiesta) dai rispettivi autori, titolari di tutti i diritti morali e patrimoniali ai sensi della legge sul diritto d'autore e sui diritti connessi (Legge 633/1941). La riproduzione ed ogni altra forma di diffusione al pubblico delle predette opere (anche in parte), in difetto di autorizzazione dell'autore, e punita a norma degli articoli 171, 171-bis, 171-ter, 174-bis e 174-ter della menzionata Legge 633/1941. E consentito scaricare, prendere visione, estrarre copia o stampare i documenti pubblicati su Filodiritto nella sezione Dottrina per ragioni esclusivamente personali, a scopo informativo-culturale e non commerciale, esclusa ogni modifica o alterazione. Sono parimenti consentite le citazioni a titolo di cronaca, studio, critica o recensione, purche accompagnate dal nome dell'autore dell'articolo e dall'indicazione della fonte, ad esempio: Luca Martini, La discrezionalita del sanitario nella qualificazione di reato perseguibile d'ufficio ai fini dell'obbligo di referto ex. art 365 cod. pen., in "Filodiritto" (https://www.filodiritto.com), con relativo collegamento ipertestuale. Se l'autore non e altrimenti indicato i diritti sono di Inforomatica S.r.l. e la riproduzione e vietata senza il consenso esplicito della stessa. E sempre gradita la comunicazione del testo, telematico o cartaceo, ove e avvenuta la citazione. By the time you reach the end of this sentence someone somewhere deep in the jungles of Myanmar will have suffered what experts at the World Health Organisation call an envenoming. In other words, they will have been bitten by a snake whose venom will either kill them quickly, condemn them to a slow, lingering death or require the amputation of a poisoned limb. Obviously, after such an event, your first call would be to a doctor and in Myanmar chances are the second would be to your insurance agent. After fire and vehicle cover, insurance against snake bites is one of the most popular policy types... Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - February 28, 2019) - Divestco Inc. (TSXV: DVT) ("Divestco" or the "Company") announces that its Board of Directors has approved the Company's initiation of proceedings at the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta to seek creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (the "CCAA"). After careful consideration of all other available alternatives, Divestco's Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders to apply for creditor protection under the CCAA and has, therefore, instructed Divestco to initiate proceedings under the CCAA at the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta as soon as possible. In recent years Divestco has been significantly impacted by the ongoing financial downturn affecting the oil and gas industry in Canada, which Divestco operates within. The loss of revenue experienced by Divestco as a result of industry conditions coupled with legacy administrative overheads has placed significant stress on the Company's cash flow. Consequently, Divestco has needed to raise significant amounts of capital to fund the business losses due to its profitability being affected by the downturn. This has placed Divestco at a competitive disadvantage and Divestco has effectively been operating under increasing financial distress. As part of the CCAA application, Divestco intends to seek approval of the appointment of Grant Thornton Limited as the Monitor to oversee the CCAA proceedings and report to the Court. Further, Divestco expects to secure commitments for up to an aggregate amount of $1,500,000 of debtor-in-possession financing ("DIP Financing") from certain of its directors, officers and existing shareholders to assist it with meeting its ongoing operating obligations while a restructuring plan is executed. As at the time of this news release, Divestco has obtained an initial advance of $200,000 of DIP Financing. The DIP Financing is being provided on the basis that all amounts borrowed by the Company thereunder will be secured by a priority security interest over all of the property of Divestco and will accrue interest at a rate of 18% per annum. Divestco is required to pay an initial facility fee in the aggregate amount of $25,000. During the CCAA proceedings, as a result of the DIP Financing, it is expected that every day obligations to employees, key suppliers of goods and services and Divestco's customers will, after the filing date, continue to be met. While under CCAA protection, management of the Company will remain responsible for the day- to-day operations of the Company under the general oversight of the Monitor. At this time, there are no intended changes to the management team or the composition of the Board of Directors of the Company and the Company anticipates that such individuals will continue in their respective roles throughout the CCAA process. The Company intends to seek approval to initiate a sale and investment solicitation process to be conducted in conjunction with the CCAA proceedings, intended to generate interest in the business and/or the assets of the Company, with the goal of maximizing value for all stakeholders of the Company. CCAA protection is the form proposed by Divestco as the Company believes that it will provide Divestco the additional time and access to funds required to address the financial challenges, and to pursue its reorganization. There can, however, be no guarantee whatsoever that the CCAA Proceedings and any restructuring thereunder will resolve Divestco's financial issues or result in the realization by Divestco stakeholders of any particular value. In accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V"), as a result of the commencement of a CCAA process, Divestco's exchange listing and tier classification will be downgraded from the TSX-V to the NEX. About the Company Divestco is an exploration services company that provides a comprehensive and integrated portfolio of data, software, and services to the oil and gas industry. Through continued commitment to align and bundle products and services to generate value for customers, Divestco is creating an unparalleled set of integrated solutions and unique benefits for the marketplace. Divestco's breadth of data, software and services offers customers the ability to access and analyze the information required to make business decisions and to optimize their success in the upstream oil and gas industry. Divestco is headquartered in Calgary and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "DVT". Additional information on Divestco is available on its website at www.divestco.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. For more information please contact: Divestco Inc. (www.divestco.com) Mr. Stephen Popadynetz CEO and President Tel 587-952-8152 spopadynetz@divestco.com Mr. Steve Sinclair-Smith Chief Operating Officer Tel 587-952-8184 steve.s@divestco.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain information that constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. All information other than statements of historical fact is forward-looking information. In some cases, forward- looking information can be identified by terminology such as "will", "expect", "plan", "intend", "should", "plan", "estimate", "potential", "continue", or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. The forward-looking information included in this news release includes, without limitation, information concerning Divestco's plans to implement CCAA proceedings, the availability and terms and impact of the DIP Financing, the appointment of Grant Thornton Limited as the Monitor, the downgrade of Divestco to the NEX, the management and ability of Divestco to continue to operate its business in the manner contemplated above and the investment solicitation process. The forward-looking information included in this news release is based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions, which the Company believes are reasonable but which may prove to be incorrect and therefore such forward- looking information should not be unduly relied upon. The forward-looking information provided by Divestco in this news release is based on a number of assumptions regarding, among other things: industry activity; the general stability of the economic and political environment; the effect of market conditions on demand for the Company's products; the level of interest Divestco may receive during its investment solicitation process; that the DIP Financing will be sufficient to meet Divestco's forecasted and budgeted expenses and that such expenses will not exceed the level of financing received; the ability of Divestco to obtain and retain qualified staff, equipment and services in a timely and cost efficient manner; continuity in the management of Divestco; the ability of Divestco to operate its business in a safe, efficient and effective manner; the effect of current plans; the timing and costs of capital expenditures; and the ability of the Company to successfully market its products. The forward-looking information contained herein also involves a significant number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties which may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from any future results or performance expressed or implied herein. These risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to the Company include, but are not limited to: the level of indebtedness of the Company; the implementation and impact of obtaining any reorganization or restructuring of the assets, business and financial affairs of the Company; future co-operation of the creditors of the Company and the ongoing willingness of its lenders under the DIP Financing to provide funds to Divestco; the Company's ability to generate sufficient cash-flow from operations or to obtain adequate financing on an ongoing basis to fund capital expenditures and working capital needs and to meet the Company's ongoing obligations during the CCAA process and thereafter; the downgrade of the Company's listing to the NEX is likely to have a significant and negative impact on the liquidity of Divestco's shares and there can be no certainty as to Divestco's ability to meet the listing requirements of the NEX; the ability to maintain relationships with suppliers, customers, employees, shareholders and other third parties in light of the Company's current liquidity situation and the CCAA proceedings; the success of the investment solicitation process; as well as other general risks including issues relating to the ongoing industry and political climate in Alberta. Additional risks and uncertainties affecting the Company and its business and affairs are described in further detail in the Company's ongoing continuous disclosure documents, including its Annual and Interim Reports, as filed under the Company's profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval. Any forward looking information included in this news release is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Any forward looking information included herein is made as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43144 ODEM Announces Early Access Launch of its Decentralized Education and Employment Marketplace. VILNIUS, Lithuania and ZUG, Switzerland, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ODEM announces today its first public access to the ODEM Platform , its blockchain-based education and employment marketplace. ODEM is offering early onboarding for students and educators with functionality to create and offer educational programs on the Platform. The education portal uses blockchain technology to streamline the organization and delivery of education programs and award blockchain-based digital certificates upon completion. "We're very excited to show the world how ODEM is making education and employment more accessible, affordable, transferable, and verifiable," CEO Richard Maaghul said today. "To begin with, students will be able to 'stake' and enroll in trending education programs initially using a credit or debit card." In this first early release, ODEM is showcasing a unique feature of blockchain and smart contracts called "staking." This model of staking allows ODEM educators to test demand for specific educational programs by staking a percentage of the overall program's value to reserve network space and offer the program to students leveraging blockchain-based smart contracts. In turn, students stake a small deposit on the Platform to commit to a program. Once minimum viable participation is reached, the program is made live and final payments are requested from students to run a program through to completion and issue student certificates through ODEM on the Ethereum blockchain and the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). For student registration on the Platform, click here . To register as an educator, click here . ODEM's technology is built on a combination of proprietary cloud-based and blockchain technologies. The company is excited to see its ERC-20 Ethereum token adopted as one of the first Ethereum applications to conduct business on the blockchain. During initial early access, participants can make and receive payments by using a credit or debit card through Stripe, our fiat based payment gateway. We will not yet be offering remittance directly via the ODEM Token (ODEM-T). We will, however, be using this phase of development to stake ODEM-T privately on behalf of participants to process commitments, program and certification fees through the ODEM smart contracts and jointly through our payment gateway via credit or debit cards. ODEM will 1) rigorously test end-to-end its utility token, ODEM-T, as fuel for ODEM's smart contracts on the Ethereum Mainnet and 2) ensure all contracts perform correctly, are secure, and can handle transaction volumes. ODEM is committed to ensuring all participants experience a safe, secure, and efficient token remittance process upon completion of successful testing and the meeting of all requirements of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). ODEM officially launched its version of the ODEM Platform today at the SWITCH! Educators Forum in Vilnius, Lithuania, pledging to use blockchain technology to transform education and employment. ODEM CEO Maaghul and Chief Technology Mentor Dr. Adel ElMessiry unveiled the blockchain-based marketplace before thousands of dedicated European educators, administrators, and students to show appreciation to educators worldwide for their efforts to lift up and inspire students everywhere. The Platform: Inspires students to become lifelong users and create sustainable employment opportunities. Empowers educators using the education marketplace to become more impactful. Allows employers to more effectively and efficiently fill trending employment needs. Enables universities to better serve their students through blockchain technology. ODEM is already unleashing the power of blockchain in education, through: Issuing blockchain-based academic certificates to students at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology . . Integrating the European-wide ESCO skills and occupation framework to match job seekers with employment opportunities. skills and occupation framework to match job seekers with employment opportunities. Activation of its live, global education marketplace. In addition to today's launch, ODEM will showcase the Platform at an invitation-only two-day conference on March 4-5 at the American University in Cairo . Join the ODEM conversation on Telegram , LinkedIn , Facebook , and Twitter . For additional resources: Super Nova, Feb. 28, 2019 release notes ; educator and student incentives ; ODEMHelp ; and FAQs . MEDIA CONTACT ODEM Katherine Banks, Sr Director, Marketing kat@odem.io press@odem.io Tel: +1 (657) 254-7526 Bahnhofstrasse 10 6300 Zug, Switzerland Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/828815/ODEM_Launches_Platform.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/639718/ODEM_IO_Logo.jpg Energent Media is a leading PR firm that focuses on the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Offering strategic media outreach for placement in major online publications and developing content marketing strategies, Energent Media is one of the few PR firms with specific experience in blockchain PR. Novel technological spaces present unique challenges in growth and marketing strategies. Adapting to the pace of content trends and distribution is often an untenable position for companies looking to focus on their project's development. The cryptocurrency and blockchain sector moves at unprecedented space and is packed with competition in developing innovative solutions on the underlying technology. Energent media focuses on providing businesses with the content creation, content marketing, and marketing growth strategies that blockchain companies need to separate themselves from the crowd. Energent Media has worked with some of the top online publications in the world, including Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc Magazine -- offering media outreach and the connections to build the online presence of startups and established enterprises. Their team understands the blockchain and crypto industry and have an extensive track record to prove their consistent delivery of successful results. With cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at the edge of innovation, understanding the nuanced technical components of the industry and continually evolving trends is pertinent to a robust PR tact. Energent's niche expertise has enabled them to work with over 50 blockchain companies and decentralized applications at the forefront of discovery in the blockchain era. Conventional PR firms and marketing agencies don't explicitly concentrate on an esoteric field like crypto and blockchain. Energent Media has tailored its PR talent towards blockchain and crypto since its inception -- building a portfolio of clients who can tap into short-term contracts without retainers. Navigating the PR and marketing nuances of blockchain and crypto is an arduous task. Energent Media is the organic content growth and marketing PR firm that blockchain companies need to excel in a consistently evolving sector. For more information on blockchain PR services, contact Energent Media. Media Contact Company Name: Energent Media Email: info@energentmedia.net City: San Francisco State: CA Country: United States Website: https://www.energentmedia.com SOURCE: Energent Media View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537446/Energent-Media-Develops-Leading-PR-Services-for-Blockchain-Companies WISeKey International Holding SA / OISTE.ORG to address the 40th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Right to Privacy . Processed and transmitted by West Corporation. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. OISTE.ORG to address the 40th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Right to Privacy Geneva, 01 March 2019 Foundation OISTE, whose acronym is given by its original name in French: Organisation Internationale pour la Securite des Transactions Electroniques, organises a panel during the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council, right after the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy delivers his report to the Council on Friday the 1st March 2019. OISTE holds special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC) and is an accredited member of the Non-commercial Users Stakeholders Group (NCSG) of ICANN as part of the Not-for-Profit Operational Concerns (NPOC) constituency. The panel will dwell on critical issues underlined by the Special Rapporteur: "more than a third of United Nations Member States have no privacy laws at all while most of the other 125 states have laws which cover some of the contexts where privacy may be threatened but not all. Some important threats to privacy especially those arising on the context of national security, intelligence and surveillance are inadequately regulated in most countries of the world" (A/HRC/37/62) This comes at a moment when the general public starts to realise the reach of "Surveillance Capitalism" in our daily lives. As pointed out by the Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff. "We are trapped in an involuntary merger of personal necessity and economic extraction, as the same channels that we rely upon for daily logistics, social interaction, work, education, healthcare, access to products and services, and much more, now double as supply chain operations for surveillance capitalism's surplus flows. The result is that the choice mechanisms we have traditionally associated with the private realm are eroded or vitiated." (The Guardian, 20.01.2019) It is our free-will that is increasingly challenged by the information and communication technologies that we carry on our pockets. Our moral condition as human beings will be confronted to more and more dilemmas arising from the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and we need to be prepared for it. The raw material is our personal data, our digital identity that is not yet completely protected by the law, although the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) marks a milestone on balancing the fundamental right to privacy with economic priorities concerning the free flow of personal data considered as a "resource". Do we need more of that? In its "Declaration of the independence of Cyberspace", John Perry Barlow claimed in 1996 that Cyberspace had to remain independent of State regulation. However, the panel will raise the question. are governments still unwelcome in cyberspace? To what extent is State regulation welcome, where is it dangerous, and how do we draw the line? The OISTE Foundation signed The International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance right after they were launched at the 24th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva) in 2013. About OISTE FOUNDATION Founded in Switzerland in 1998, OISTE was created with the objectives of promoting the use and adoption of international standards to secure electronic transactions, expand the use of digital certification and ensure the interoperability of certification authorities' e-transaction systems. The OISTE Foundation is a not for profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, regulated by article 80 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code. OISTE is an organization in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations . Mission: transfer the control and management of technologies dealing with digital identities to neutral authorities working for the public interest. Vision: an Internet where users engage in online transactions and communications under systems of digital identity management that offer robust protection against fraud and theft, while protecting the fundamental right to privacy. Company Contact : Dourgam Kummer Foundation Council Member dourgam.kummer@oiste.org (mailto:Dourgam.kummer@oiste.org) Regulated Information Press Release Mid-Stabilisation Period Announcement Ghent, BELGIUM - 1 March 2019 - Within the framework of the initial public offering of new shares of Sequana Medical NV ("Sequana Medical" or the "Company"), with the admission of all of its shares to trading on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels under the symbol "SEQUA" (the "Offering"), KBC Securities NV/SA has been appointed by the Company as stabilisation manager (the "Stabilisation Manager"). Further to the start of the Stabilisation Period on 11 February 2019, KBC Securities NV/SA (contact person: Stephanie Van Heyste, telephone number: +32 2 429 98 43) hereby gives notice that the Stabilisation Manager undertook stabilisation (within the meaning of Article 3.2(d) of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU 596/2014)) of the following securities within the framework of the Offering: Issuer: Sequana Medical NV Securities: Common shares (BE0974340722) Size of the Offering: 3,235,294 common shares without nominal value Offer price: EUR 8.50 per share Regulated market: Euronext Brussels Ticker: SEQUA Stabilisation Manager: KBC Securities NV/SA Stabilisation transactions(1): Date Quantity Price (EUR) Number of transactions Stabilisation Trading Venue 20/02/2019 200 6.500 3 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 50 6.480 2 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 300 6.440 2 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 400 6.400 2 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 300 6.300 3 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 100 6.260 1 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 200 6.200 3 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 25 6.160 1 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 200 6.100 1 Euronext Brussels 20/02/2019 200 6.000 1 Euronext Brussels DAY TOTAL 20/02/2019 1,975 6.302 19 Euronext Brussels 21/02/2019 12 6.620 1 Euronext Brussels 162 6.440 5 DAY TOTAL 21/02/2019 174 6.452 6 Euronext Brussels 22/02/2019 50 6.500 1 Euronext Brussels 22/02/2019 200 6.400 1 Euronext Brussels DAY TOTAL 22/02/2019 250 6.420 2 Euronext Brussels 25/02/2019 200 6.400 1 Euronext Brussels 25/02/2019 200 6.200 1 Euronext Brussels 25/02/2019 100 6.300 1 Euronext Brussels DAY TOTAL 25/02/2019 500 6.300 3 Euronext Brussels 26/02/2019 150 6.280 2 Euronext Brussels 26/02/2019 100 6.100 1 Euronext Brussels 26/02/2019 500 6.000 4 Euronext Brussels 26/02/2019 200 5.980 1 Euronext Brussels 26/02/2019 400 5.900 2 Euronext Brussels DAY TOTAL 26/02/2019 1,350 6.006 10 Euronext Brussels 27/02/2019 50 6.320 2 Euronext Brussels 27/02/2019 50 6.260 2 Euronext Brussels 27/02/2019 50 6.000 1 Euronext Brussels DAY TOTAL 27/02/2019 150 6.193 5 Euronext Brussels 28/02/2019 205 6.300 2 Euronext Brussels DAY TOTAL 28/02/2019 205 6.300 2 Euronext Brussels Note All data contained in the table above has been provided by the Stabilisation Manager. Banks involved in the Offering: KBC Securities NV/SA and Kempen & Co N.V. acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners in the Offering, with Mirabaud Securities Limited as Lead Manager. For more information, please contact: Sequana Medical Lies Vanneste Director IR Tel: +32 Consilium Strategic Communications Alexandra Harrison, Marieke Vermeersch, Sukaina Virji Tel: +44 About Sequana Medical Sequana Medical is a commercial stage medical device company focused on the development of innovative treatment solutions for the management of liver disease, heart failure, malignant ascites and other fluid imbalance disorders. Sequana Medical's alfapump is a fully implantable, programmable, wirelessly-charged, battery-powered system that is CE-marked for the management of i) refractory ascites (chronic fluid build-up in the abdomen) due to liver cirrhosis and ii) malignant ascites (with a life expectancy of six months or less). The number of patients with liver refractory ascites is forecast to increase dramatically due to the growing prevalence of NASH (Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis). Over 650 alfapump systems have been implanted and since April 2018, the alfapump has been included in the EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver) clinical practice guidelines for decompensated cirrhosis. In January 2019, the FDA has granted Breakthrough Device designation for the alfapump for the treatment of liver recurrent or refractory ascites. The alfapump MOSAIC North American IDE feasibility study in patients with liver refractory or recurrent ascites has been completed and results were presented at the AASLD (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases) annual meetings in October 2017 and November 2018. The alfapump has not yet received regulatory approval in the U.S. The alfapump is one of the first safe and effective, long-term alternatives to large-volume paracentesis which is a lengthy, invasive and painful procedure, only providing short-term symptomatic relief, requiring hospital visits and placing a significant burden on the healthcare system and patient quality of life. By automatically and continuously moving ascites to the bladder, where the body eliminates it naturally through urination, the alfapump prevents fluid build-up and its possible complications, improving patient quality of life and nutrition, and potentially reducing hospital visits and healthcare costs. The alfapump DirectLink technology allows clinicians to receive pump performance information and more effectively manage patients treated by the alfapump. Sequana Medical is developing the alfapump DSR, built upon the proven alfapump platform, to deliver a convenient and fully implanted system for Direct Sodium Removal ("DSR") therapy, a novel and proprietary approach for the management of volume overload in heart failure. Data from animal studies presented at EuroPCR 2018 and HFSA 2018 indicate that DSR therapy is effective and safe. A first in human study for DSR therapy is ongoing. Treatment of volume overload in diuretic-resistant heart failure patients is a major clinical challenge. There are an estimated one million hospitalisations due to heart failure in the U.S. each year, of which 90% are due to symptoms of volume overload. The estimated cost of heart failure-related hospitalisations in the U.S. is $13 billion a year. Sequana Medical is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. For further information, please visit www.sequanamedical.com . Important Regulatory Disclaimer Any statement in this press release about safety and efficacy of the alfapump does not apply to the U.S. and Canada because the device is currently undergoing clinical investigation in these territories. Important Information This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for shares of the Company. Any purchase of, subscription for or application for, shares in the Company to be issued in connection with the intended offering should only be made on the basis of information contained in the prospectus in connection with the intended offering and any supplements thereto, as the case may be (the "Prospectus"). This announcement is not a prospectus. The information contained in this announcement is for informational purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. Investors should not subscribe for any securities referred to in this document except on the basis of information contained in the Prospectus. The Prospectus contains detailed information about the Company and its business, management, risks associated with investing in the Company, as well as financial statements and other financial data. This announcement cannot be used as basis for any investment agreement or decision. This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the U.S. or to any U.S. person within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). It does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the U.S. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the U.S., except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. The Company has not registered, and does not intend to register, any portion of the intended offering of the offered shares in the U.S., and does not intend to conduct a public offering of securities in the U.S. This announcement is only addressed to and directed at persons in member states of the European Economic Area ("EEA") other than Belgium who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive (Directive 2003/71/EC and amendments thereto, including Directive 2010/73/EU, to the extent implemented in the relevant Member State of the EEA, and together with any implementing measure in each relevant Member State of the EEA, the "Prospectus Directive"). In addition, in the United Kingdom, this announcement is only addressed to and directed at (i) persons having professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within the definition of "investment professionals" in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), (ii) high net worth entities, etc. falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order, and (iii) any other person to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The intended offering, as the case may be, will only be available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe for, purchase, or otherwise acquire securities will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents. This announcement and the information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy securities of the Company and it does not constitute a prospectus or a similar communication within the meaning of article 752, 652a and/or 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. This announcement and the information contained herein are not for publication, distribution or release in, or into, the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction where to do so would be prohibited by applicable law. Acquiring investments to which this announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing the entire amount invested. Persons considering such investments should consult an authorised person specialising in advising on such investments. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the intended offering. The value of the shares can decrease as well as increase. Potential investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the intended offering for the person concerned. No action has been taken by the Company that would permit an offer of Company's shares or the possession or distribution of these materials or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction outside of Belgium where action for that purpose is required. The release, publication or distribution of these materials in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which they are released, published or distributed, should inform themselves about, and observe, such restrictions. The issue, the subscription for or purchase of shares of the Company can be subject to special legal or statutory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. The Company is not liable if the aforementioned restrictions are not complied with by any person. The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words "believes", "estimates," "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", "plans", "continue", "ongoing", "potential", "predict", "project", "target", "seek" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology or by discussions of strategies, plans, objectives, targets, goals, future events or intentions. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the Company's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, its results of operations, prospects, growth, strategies and dividend policy and the industry in which the Company operates. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. New risks can emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all such risks, nor can the Company assess the impact of all such risks on its business or the extent to which any risks, or combination of risks and other factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader should not rely on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Without prejudice to the Company's obligations under applicable law in relation to disclosure and ongoing information, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update forward-looking statements. KBC Securities NV/SA, Kempen & Co N.V. and Mirabaud Securities Limited (the "Underwriters") are acting for the Company and no one else in relation to the Offering, and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections offered to their respective clients nor for providing advice in relation to the intended offering. In connection with the Offering, KBC Securities NV/SA acts as Stabilisation Manager on behalf of itself and the Underwriters, and may engage in transactions that stabilise, maintain or otherwise affect the price of the shares or any options, warrants or rights with respect to, or other interest in, the shares or other securities of the Issuer for up to 30 calendar days from the Listing Date (the "Stabilisation Period"). These activities may support the market price of the shares at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. Stabilisation will not be executed above the Offer Price. Such transactions may be effected on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels, in the over-the-counter markets or otherwise. The Stabilisation Manager and its agents are not required to engage in any of these activities and, as such, there is no assurance that these activities will be undertaken; if undertaken, the Stabilisation Manager or its agents may discontinue any of these activities at any time and they must terminate at the end of the 30 calendar day period mentioned above. Within one week of the end of the Stabilisation Period, the following information will be made public in accordance with article 5, 2 of the Belgian Royal Decree of 17 May 2007 on primary markets practices: (i) whether or not stabilisation was undertaken; (ii) the date on which stabilisation started; (iii) the date on which stabilisation last occurred; (iv) the price range within which stabilisation was carried out, for each of the dates on which stabilisation transactions were carried out; (v) the trading venue(s) on which the stabilisation transactions were carried out (where applicable) and (vi) the final size of the Offering, including the result of the stabilisation and the exercise of the Over-allotment Option and the Increase Option, as the case may be. 1 March 2019 Altona Energy plc ("Altona" or the "Company") Business Update Appointment of Non-Executive Director Delist from AIM Altona (NEX: ANR) is pleased to provide an update to shareholders following its transition to the NEX Exchange Growth Market ("NEX") on 1 February 2019. The Company's shares have today delisted from trading on AIM and now can only be traded on NEX. The Company's Executive Director, Qinfu Zhang and Chi Ma, the Board appointed representative of the Company's joint venture partner, Sino-Aus Energy Group Ltd, visited London in early February to meet with its UK advisers and certain shareholders. The main purpose for the visit was to discuss a potential new business opportunity, namely, an investment into a China-based vanadium mining company, as announced in an RNS on 14 January 2019. Possible Vanadium Mining Investment The Company continues to evaluate an investment into a significant Chinese vanadium mine, in which Qinfu Zhang is the beneficial owner of 40%, as announced on 14 January 2019. This investment, should it come to fruition, would be through a joint venture agreement and could take many months to reach its conclusion due to the strict laws in China regarding foreign company investments. The main product of the mine is Vanadium Pentoxide (V 2 O 5 ) which is currently in very high demand in many industries, including steel strengthening, energy storage in industrial batteries, thermal imaging equipment, nano-fibre applications and as a catalyst in many industrial chemical reactions. The Board believes that an investment by Altona into such a company represents an excellent opportunity for shareholders. The benefit to the vanadium mining company is that by having a UK-based joint venture partner, it would be able to sell its product outside China where the price of vanadium is currently higher. The Board is planning a visit to the mine during April. Arckaringa UCG Project Altona is committed to the continued investment into its South Australian mining licences, with a longer-term view to execute its Underground Coal Gasification ("UCG") strategy at Arckaringa. Following the success of its neighbouring mining company, Leigh Creek Energy, which carried out a sygas test burn in October 2018, with the full support of the South Australian government, the Company is confident that it can achieve similar results in the future. The Board is cognisant of the challenges it faces to succeed in this project, having to obtain the necessary Petroleum Exploration Licence ("PEL") and environmental permits to allow it to commence testing. The Company believes that income generated from the proposed vanadium investment would be instrumental in moving the project forward. Sino-Aus Energy Group Ltd has reiterated its commitment to the Arckaringa project, where it has promised an investment of approx. AUD$30 million, should the licences be acquired. Through its wholly owned Australian subsidiary Arckaringa Energy Pty Ltd, Altona holds a 100% interest in three exploration licences covering 1,944 sq. kms in the northern portion of the Permian Arckaringa Basin in South Australia including three coal deposits - Westfield (EL5676), Wintinna (EL5677) and Murloocoppie (EL5678). Non-Executive Director Appointment The Company is pleased to announce that Philip Sutherland has rejoined the board as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect, to look after the Company's interests in Australia. Mr Sutherland previously had resigned from the board in December 2018, after deciding he did not support the strategic direction the previous management team was taking Altona. Mr Sutherland fully supports the new Board's decision to reappraise the UCG project in Australia and the possible investment into the vanadium mine in China. Further information on Mr Sutherland, in accordance with paragraph 21, appendix 1 of the NEX Rules, is found at the end of this announcement. A UK-based Non-Executive Chairman is expected to be appointed in March. New Financial Team Altona has appointed Orana Corporate to provide the accounting and finance function for the Company. In addition, Orana have been appointed as the Company Secretary. The Company, in conjunction with Orana, is performing a thorough review of its historical financial operations during 2018, in order to be compliant with the rigorous corporate governance measures as set out by the various UK authorities, and to ensure it can move forward into 2019 with a clean bill of health. Orana is currently reviewing the Company's working capital requirements for the next 12 months in conjunction with the Board. Qinfu Zhang, Executive Director of Altona, commented, "We have a great deal of work to focus on during the year, which we hope will lead to Altona being a profitable and successful company. Whilst we are evaluating the possible vanadium project and continuing our progress in South Australia we wish to reassure shareholders that our focus is also on strong corporate governance and investor communications. Whilst both projects will take a long time to come to fruition, with many issues to overcome, we will provide updates to the market as often as possible." -ends- For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or contact: Altona Energy plc Qinfu Zhang, Executive Director +44 (0) 7795 168 157 Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Ltd (NEX Corporate Adviser) Jon Isaacs / Nick Michaels +44 (0) 20 3772 0021 Leander (Financial PR) Christian Taylor- Wilkinson +44 (0) 7795 168 157 Further information on Mr Sutherland: Philip George Sutherland, aged [xx], is or has been in the last five years a director of the following companies: Current Directorships Directorships in the last 5 years Altona Australia Ltd Altona Energy Plc Arckaringa Energy Ltd Arckaringa Coal Chemical Joint Venture Company Ltd Save as disclosed above, there is no additional information relating to Philip Sutherland which falls to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph 21 of Appendix 1 of the NEX Exchange Growth Market - Rules for Issuers. Company Information Altona is an exploration company focused on the evaluation and development of its significant coal resource exceeding 7 billion tonnes (1.3 billion tonnes historic JORC compliant) in the northern portion of the Permian Arckaringa Basin in South Australia. Through its wholly owned Australian subsidiary Arckaringa Energy Pty Ltd, Altona holds a 100% interest in three exploration licences covering 1,944 sq. kms in the northern portion of the Permian Arckaringa Basin in South Australia including three coal deposits - Westfield (EL5676), Wintinna (EL5677) and Murloocoppie (EL5678). All three deposits lie close to the Adelaide to Darwin railroad and the Stuart Highway. The Company was admitted to trading on AIM on 10 March 2005. A copy of its admission documents dated 4 March 2005 can be accessed on its website, www.altonaenergy.com. This website is where items can be inspected under Rule 75 of the NEX Rules for Issuers, from 1 February 2019. OPL 245 - RDS plc informed of DPP preparing to prosecute We have been informed by the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office (DPP) that they are nearing the conclusion of their investigation and are preparing to prosecute Royal Dutch Shell plc for criminal charges directly or indirectly related to the 2011 settlement of disputes over Oil Prospecting License 245 (OPL 245) in Nigeria. As appropriate, we will provide updates as this matter progresses. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations", respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest. This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "aim", "ambition", ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2017 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, March 1, 2019. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. This Report contains references to Shell's website. These references are for the readers' convenience only. Shell is not incorporating by reference any information posted on www.shell.com. We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. US investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. This announcement contains inside information. March 1, 2019 Contacts: - Linda Szymanski, Company Secretary - Investor Relations: International + 31 (0) 70 377 4540; North America +1 832 337 2034 - Media: International +44 (0) 207 934 5550; USA +1 832 337 4355 LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 Classification: Inside Information CAMBRIDGE, England, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of food & beverage industry leaders tuned in to a webinar from Science Group company, Leatherhead Food Research, on 28 February for a briefing on the impact of Brexit on this critical market sector. The attendees represented a complete cross-section of the UK and European food & beverage industry, including large and small organisations, with particularly strong representation from operating managers who will be directly responsible for guiding their businesses through this substantive change. The webinar, entitled "What does Brexit mean for the food and beverage industry?" addressed the timeline and potential implications for the industry from a hard or soft exit, and of a 'no deal' scenario. Leatherhead Food Research helped delegates unravel the impact of each scenario, the effect on retailers, manufacturers and ingredient suppliers and the challenges and opportunities for each. The presentation also assessed the relationships between regulatory policy and regulatory delivery in a post-Brexit world and how enforcement approaches really matters. This was identified as one of the top concerns across organisations of all sizes. As Europe's leading membership-based regulatory advisor to the food & beverage industry, Leatherhead is uniquely positioned to assist its members navigate the Brexit challenge. Other key questions from those attending reflected concerns around product labelling and recalls, along with clear direction on the opportunity to influence future policy and delivery regimes in the event of a transitional period. The webinar was hosted by Dan Edwards, Group Managing Director of Science Group plc and Erica Sheward, VP of Business Development at Leatherhead Food Research. After the event, Erica stated: "We anticipated that there would be significant interest for the event as the topic is extremely impactful and we have a very strong membership base. Yet even we were pleasantly surprised and delighted at the number of registrations (700+) and attendees (370+), which demonstrates Leatherhead's leading position as a trusted and independent partner for insight and guidance on the big issues challenging many businesses in the food & beverage industry today." The Leatherhead Food Research event was the second webinar focusing on Brexit run by Science Group plc. Nearly 300 people attended sister company TSG Consulting's European webinar "Brexit - staying compliant with REACH regulations" on 23 January. That webinar provided similar insights into the regulatory and commercial implications of Brexit for chemical companies, large and small. Science Group continues to provide consulting and regulatory services to the science community, cross-industry, on the major topics of the day. With Brexit potentially just days away we are partnering with our members and others in the industry to ensure they are well-prepared. Science Group plc Science Group plc (AIM:SAG) provides independent advisory and advanced product development services focused on science and technology initiatives. Our specialist companies, Sagentia, Oakland Innovation, OTM Consulting, Leatherhead Food Research and TSG Consulting, collaborate closely with their clients in key vertical markets to deliver clear returns on technology and R&D investments. With more than 400 staff worldwide, primarily scientists and engineers, the Group has R&D centres in Cambridge and Epsom with more than ten additional offices in Europe and North America. info@sciencegroup.com www.sciencegroup.com About Leatherhead Food Research Leatherhead Food Research provides expertise and support to the global food and drink sector with practical solutions that cover all stages of a product's life cycle from consumer insight, ingredient innovation and sensory testing to food safety consultancy and global regulatory advice. Leatherhead operates a membership programme which represents a who's who of the global food and drinks industry. Supporting all members and clients, large or small, Leatherhead provides consultancy and advice as well as training, market news, published reports and bespoke projects. Alongside the Member support and project work, our world-renowned experts deliver cutting-edge research in areas that drive long term commercial benefit for the food and drink industry. Leatherhead Research is a Science Group company. Science Group provides independent advisory and leading-edge product development services focused on science and technology initiatives. It has 12 European and North American offices, two UK-based dedicated R&D innovation centres and more than 400 employees. Other Science Group companies include Sagentia, Oakland Innovation, OTM Consulting and TSG Consulting. www.leatherheadfood.com Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc (the "Company") The Board of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Davidson as Chairman of the Company with effect from 28 February 2019, following the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting. As previously announced on 25 January 2019, Paul Trickett, who had been a non-executive Director since January 2013 and Chairman since October 2014, retired as a Director of the Company at the Annual General Meeting held on 28 February 2019. Aberforth Partners LLP, Secretaries (Tel: 0131 220 0733) 1 March 2019 The European Investment Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares The European Investment Trust plc ("the Company") The Company announces that on 28 February 2019 it purchased the following number of its ordinary shares of 25 pence each on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Ordinary Shares: Date of purchase: 28 February 2019 Number of ordinary shares purchased: 17,500 Lowest price per share 805p Highest price per share 805p The Company intends to cancel the purchased shares. Following the above transaction, the Company has 40,777,769 ordinary shares in issue. Each of the Company's shares carries one vote. Accordingly, the total number of voting rights of the Company is 40,777,769. 1 March 2019 LEI: 213800QNN9EHZ4SC1R12 Enquiries: Kenneth J Greig Edinburgh Partners AIFM Limited Tel: 0131 270 3800 The Company's registered office address is: Beaufort House 51 New North Road Exeter EX4 4EP CHICAGO, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Switchgear Monitoring System Market by Switchgear Type (GIS, AIS), Component (Hardware, Software) End-User (Utilities, Industries, Commercial, Others), Voltage (Medium, High), Monitoring Type (Temperature, PD, Others), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Switchgear Monitoring System Market is projected to reach USD 2.0 billion by 2023 from an estimated USD 1.4 billion in 2018, at a CAGR of 7.83%. As the global demand for electricity is increasing at a very high rate, to meet the rising power demands, new power plants are being installed at a rapid pace. This would drive the demand for switchgear monitoring system. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=69776366 The high voltage segment is expected to hold the largest share of the Switchgear Monitoring System Market, by voltage, during the forecast period. The high voltage segment is estimated to dominate the Switchgear Monitoring System Market in 2018 and is projected to have the largest market share during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the fact that high voltage switchgears are primarily used in power transmission over long distances. In the case of critical substations and switchyards of large power generation plants, switchgears are used for reliability and protection of the grid infrastructure. Browse in-depth TOC on "Switchgear Monitoring System Market" 95 - Tables 36 - Figures 137 - Pages View detailed Table of Content here: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/switchgear-monitoring-system-market-69776366.html The partial discharge monitoring segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment of the Switchgear Monitoring System Market, by monitoring type, during the forecast period. The partial discharge monitoring segment accounted for the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Partial discharge monitoring adopts various methods to detect cracks and defects in insulations such as Transient Earth Voltage (TEV), Ultra-High-Frequency (UHF), and Acoustical Emission (AE). Partial discharge monitoring includes partial discharge sensors, local readers such as RTU/PLC, HMI, data storage, and communication protocols. This system enhances operator safety and provides confidence in the reliability and safety of electrical equipment. Asia Pacific: The leading market for switchgear monitoring system. In this report, the Switchgear Monitoring System Market has been analyzed with respect to 5 regions, namely, North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. As per the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA), the electricity generation capacity is expected to increase from 200 GW in 2010 to over 800 GW by 2032 to fulfil the increasing demand. Thus, there is a need for a huge investment of approximately USD 300 billion in the next 3-4 years. Also, India is undertaking a lot of smart grid and substation projects to fulfill the growing demand for energy. This would create demand for the switchgear monitoring system in the region. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=69776366 To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the Switchgear Monitoring System Market. Some of the key players are Schneider Electric (France), Siemens AG (Germany), ABB (Switzerland), General Electric (US), and Emerson (US). The leading players are adopting various strategies to increase their shares in the Switchgear Monitoring System Market. Browse Adjacent Markets: Energy and Power Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Switchgear Market by Voltage (< 1 KV, 1-36 KV, 36-72.5 KV, > 72.5 KV), End-User (Transmission & Distribution Utilities and Manufacturing & Process Industries), Equipment (Gas Insulated, Air Insulated, and Circuit Breakers) - Global Forecast to 2022 Gas Insulated Switchgear Market by Type, Voltage (medium, high, extra high, ultra-high), Installation, End-User (Transmission Utilities, Distribution Utilities, Generation Utilities, Transportation, Industry & OEMs) and Region - Global Forecast to 2023 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/switchgear-monitoring-system-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com 1 March 2019 Karoo Energy plc ("Karoo Energy" or the "Company") AIM UPDATE AND GENERAL MEETING UPDATE Karoo Energy is pleased to announce that the Company intends to admit to AIM as soon as practically possible. Any fundraising is conditional upon the Company having sufficient authorities to issue shares. In order to facilitate the proposed Placing, pursuant to its intended AIM move, it is necessary for the Directors to seek authority from Shareholders, under the Companies Act 2006, at the General Meeting, to, inter alia, issue the Placing Shares. Therefore a general meeting notice is being posted and notified to shareholders so that they can approve the necessary fundraising and the corresponding allotment of shares in return for cash. As previously announced in January 2018, the Company progressed, particularly with our exploration programme. We announced that exploration work in the Gemsbok Basin covered by the Company's Prospecting Licences EL001/2012 and PL171/2015 had produced results which confirm the geological model for the Company's exploration programme. This model, based on multiple research projects, including deep boreholes and seismic surveys, undertaken by the Department of Geological Survey of Botswana and other published academic works, predicts a deep sedimentary basin, the Gemsbok Basin, infilled by Karoo Supergroup sedimentary rocks underlain by Nama Group sedimentary rocks. Both groups of rock, Karoo and Nama, are known to contain organic shales which form the target for this exploration project. GENERAL MEETING The General Meeting of the Company will be held at the offices of Peterhouse Capital Limited, 3rd Floor, New Liverpool House, 15 Eldon Street, London, EC2M 7LD on Monday, 18 March 2019 at 11.00 a.m. Notice of the General Meeting has been posted to shareholders and is available on the Company's website at the following link https://karooenergyplc.co.uk/ The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the content of this announcement. ENQUIRIES: Company Karoo Energy plc Noel Lyons Telephone: 020 3130 0674 Corporate Adviser Peterhouse Capital Limited Guy Miller / Mark Anwyl Telephone: 020 7220 9795 WALLIX, the European PAM[1] expert, opens their offices in Boston, Massachusetts, taking a new step in the implementation of their international development strategy announced in the "Ambition 21" Plan. The American team will present the "Bastion", WALLIX's flagship access security solution, from March 4th to 8th in San Francisco at the RSA Conference, which brings together international experts in cyber security. Strong growth and an international turnover up 53% in 2018, WALLIX continues to expand their geographic reach to achieve their goal of covering 80% of the global market by 2021. A team of ten distributed between a commercial office in Boston, MA and a service center in Montreal, Canada is now operational across the entire North American territory. In support of the overseas sales team, the service team makes possible a 24/7 support offering, ensuring service continuity around the world. WALLIX's PAM solution is the most efficient, simple, and cost-effective in terms of cost of ownership (TCO) in the market. Thanks to an easy user experience, WALLIX has positioned itself as one of the leaders in privilged access management for enterprises. By strengthening its presence in the United States, WALLIX will naturally address companies of all sizes, in particular those of medium size in the health, finance, industrial, and cloud sectors to assist in their digital transformation. By significantly accelerating the growth of their network of reseller and integrator partners, WALLIX now offers the North American market several solutions for the security and governance of privilged access and the protection of data, allowing organizations to approach with confidence the implementation of digital tools in compliance with the regulations in force. Through their European approach to management of sensitive and personal data management (GDPR Directive), WALLIX is the new alternative for North American companies wishing to strengthen their cybersecurity or develop their business activities in Europe and must comply with new regulations. Today, more than 770 customers in more than 55 countries secure their access and data with WALLIX. Their solutions' ease of implementation and use are the keys to WALLIX's success, which is as responsive to the cybersecurity constraints of global multi-site groups as it is to medium-sized companies. Sales models (perpetual license or subscription) are scalable and adapted to the constraints of each organization, regardless of their sector of activity (health, finance, industry, retail, cloud service providers, or governmental organizations), their regulatory constraints, the management of their risks or the specificities of their domestic market. By intensifying their international presence, WALLIX accelerates the momentum initiated in the "Ambition 21" plan to become a benchmark cybersecurity software publisher in the global market. Visit WALLIX Booth #3225 at the RSA Conference March 4-8, 2019- Moscone Center - San Francisco USA. ABOUT WALLIX A software company providing cyber security solutions, WALLIX Group is a European specialist in privileged account governance. In response to recent regulatory change (NIS/GDPR in Europe and OVIs in France) and the cyber security threats affecting all companies today, Bastion helps users protect their critical IT assets: data, servers, terminals and connected objects. It is the first market solution to have been awarded first-level security certification (CSPN) by France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and thus meet all of the criteria for regulatory compliance WALLIX accompanies more than 770 companies and organizations on a day-to-day basis. Its solutions are marketed through a network of more than 160 resellers and trained and accredited integrators. Listed on Euronext under the code ALLIX, WALLIX Group is a leader on the PAM market with a strong presence throughout Europe and EMEA. Alain Afflelou, Dassault Aviation, Gulf Air, Maroc Telecom, McDonald's, Michelin, and PSA Peugeot-Citroen trust WALLIX to secure their information systems. WALLIX Bastion was a winner at the 2016 Computing Security Awards and has been rated Best Buy by SC Magazine, as well as being named among the PAM leaders in the Product and Innovation categories of the KuppingerCole 2017 Leadership Compass report. The company is a member of Bpifrance Excellence, a champion of the Pole Systematic Paris Region cluster and a founding member of the Hexatrust grouping of cyber security companies. In 2017, WALLIX Group was included in Forbes France's Futur40 ranking of fastest-growing listed companies. For more information, visit the WALLIX website at: www.wallix.com A PROPOS DE WALLIX ACTUS finance & communication Investor Relations Theo Martin Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 75 / wallix@actus.fr Financial Press Relations Nicolas Bouchez Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 74 / nbouchez@actus.fr WALLIX Edwige BROSSARD Tel. +33 (0)1 81 70 16 03 / ebrossard@walllix.com USA Office WALLIX 10 Liberty Streer Danvers,MA. 01923 Phone:978-716-1444 [1] Privileged Access Management ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Recevez gratuitement par email les prochains communiques de la societe en vous inscrivant sur www.actusnews.com Communique integral et original au format PDF:Telecharger le PDF dunnhumby and its shareholder Tesco plc are delighted to announce the appointment of Julie Woods-Moss as Chair of the company's Board of Directors from March 1st, 2019. Julie is an Independent Director at Grosvenor Liverpool Ltd and a senior advisor at Agent3, a leading digital marketing and technology agency within the AIM listed Next15 Communications group. Julie's previous roles include President at Tata Communications where she was CMO, Chief Innovation Officer and CEO of the Nextgen Business, and President of Strategy, Marketing and Product at BT Global Services. She has also held senior positions at Liberty Media and IBM. Dave Lewis, Tesco Chief Executive, said, "I am delighted that Julie is joining dunnhumby to chair its board of directors at an important time for the business. Julie's wide-ranging skills and experience will be of significant benefit to dunnhumby as it implements its strategic growth plan." Julie Woods-Moss said, "I am excited to have the opportunity to support dunnhumby and its management team in the next phase of the company's development." About dunnhumby Ltd. The world's first Customer Data Science platform dunnhumby is the global leader in Customer Data Science, empowering businesses everywhere to compete and thrive in the modern data-driven economy. We always put the Customer First. Our mission: to enable businesses to grow and reimagine themselves by becoming advocates and champions for their Customers. With deep heritage and expertise in retail one of the world's most competitive markets, with a deluge of multidimensional data dunnhumby today enables businesses all over the world, across industries, to be Customer First. The dunnhumby Customer Science Platform is our unique mix of technology, software and consulting, enabling businesses to increase revenue and profits by delivering exceptional experiences for their Customers in-store, offline and online. dunnhumby employs over 2,000 experts in offices throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas working for transformative, iconic brands such as Tesco, Coca-Cola, Meijer, Procter & Gamble, and L'Oreal. Visit www.dunnhumby.com to find out more. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190301005191/en/ Contacts: Lenore Gibson lenore.gibson@dunnhumby.com HONG KONG, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Organised by UBM Asia since 2012, JNA Awards invites qualified companies and individuals to take part in the highly anticipated JNA Awards 2019. The annual awards programme is officially open and will accept entries until 26 April 2019. Interested enterprises and individuals may self-nominate or nominate others in the JNA Awards 2019 Awards categories. Full list at https://www.jnaawards.com/en-us/Enter/Entering/Categories Entries will be evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges comprised of six international industry experts, namely: Albert Cheng , Advisor to the World Gold Council and former Managing Director, Far East (WGC) , Advisor to the World Gold Council and former Managing Director, Far East (WGC) James Courage , former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) , former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) Nirupa Bhatt , Managing Director of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in India and the Middle East , Managing Director of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in and the Yasukazu Suwa , Chairman of Suwa & Son, Inc , Chairman of Suwa & Son, Inc Mark Lee , Research Director of Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy Albert Cheng shared, "Having been part of the judging panel for the past seven years, I have seen the discovery of many 'glittering gems' in our industry. If you are nominated and eventually win an award in your category, it would be like a hidden, beautiful rough stone transforming into glittering precious gemstones or diamonds. Are you ready? We are waiting for you." "Be part of an exclusive list of outstanding jewellery companies that have won or become Honourees in the JNA Awards -- the only one that exclusively covers the jewellery industry," James Courage added. Letitia Chow, Chairperson of the JNA Awards, and Director of Business Development -- Jewellery Group at UBM Asia, said, "The JNA Awards has established itself as an influential platform for the international jewellery and gemstone industry to come together and share success cases for the advancement of the trade. We hope to attract more innovators and pioneers to take part in this prestigious awards." JNA Awards 2019 is supported by Headline Partners Chow Tai Fook, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, and DANAT, together with Honoured Partners KGK Group, China Gems and Jade Exchange, and Guangdong Land Holdings Limited. Kent Wong, Managing Director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, said, "Chow Tai Fook is honoured to have been the Headline Partner of the JNA Awards since it was first staged in 2012. We sincerely hope that more players in the sector will support our cause and be our partners in advancing the jewellery industry." Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of SDE, shared, "The honour hall of the JNA Awards opens grandly again in 2019. I look forward to the delightful surprises and brilliant performances of the brilliant enterprises bringing us through this amazing opportunity." Kenneth Scarrat, CEO of Danat added, "Competition, from wherever it comes, drives the future. It is time to come forward and participate through the JNA Awards programme and show the world what it means to be an industry leader." Edward Johnson, Director of Business Development of Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) also shared, "RJC is proud to work in collaboration with UBM Asia to promote the JNA Awards, and we encourage eligible jewellery businesses to participate, which is an effective step in improving the reputation of their business, and that of the gem and jewellery industry." To enter the JNA Awards, interested parties must complete and submit their entry forms no later than midnight (Hong Kong time) of 26 April 2019. For more information, visit http://www.jnaawards.com/ or contact: JNA Awards Marketing UBM Asia (Hong Kong) +852 2516-2184 marketing@jnaawards.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/829086/JNA_Awards.jpg Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/470744/UBM_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/774742/JNA_Awards_logo_2019_CMYK_Logo.jpg TSX: JAG TORONTO, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX: JAG) is pleased to report Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves estimates as at December 31, 2018 for its Pilar Gold Mine ("Pilar") and Turmalina Gold Mine ("Turmalina"), each prepared in accordance with CIM definitions (2014) as required by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves updates are supported by NI 43-101 Technical reports that twill be filed on SEDAR within 45 days. Year End 2018 Consolidated Jaguar Mineral Reserves Highlights Consolidated Pilar and Turmalina Mines Proven and Probable (2P) Reserves increased 81% year-over-year (net of 2018 depletion) to 439,000 oz's of gold at a weighted average grade of 4.39 g/t Au (Table 1) Turmalina Proven and Probable tons increased by 74% and grade increased by 12% to 1408 tons at 5.05 g/t containing 228,000 oz's of gold Pilar Proven and Probable Reserve tons increased by 83% and grade decreased by 8% to 1784 tons at 3.68 g/t containing 211,000 oz's of gold Consolidated Proven Reserves increased 123% to 245,000 oz's of gold at a weighted average grade of 4.01 g/t Au Consolidated Probable Reserves increased 47% to 194,000 oz's of gold at a weighted average grade of 5.00 g/t Au At both Pilar and Turmalina now have 4 years of Proven and Probable Reserves at current mining rates and over 3 years at target production rates Ben Guenther, Interim CEO of Jaguar Mining stated: "We achieved solid growth in our 2018 year-end Proven and Probable gold ounces that increased by 81% to a large base of 439,000 ounces compared to 2017, in addition to depletion. We are especially pleased that results have delivered a meaningful increase in both Proven and Probable tons and grade at Turmalina. Turmalina Orebody A and Orebody C both have significant life at favorable grades of 5.47 and 4.73 g/t respectively. Both Turmalina and Pilar have over 4 years of Proven and Probable Reserves at current mining rates and over 3 years at our target production rates. The 2018 focus was on Resource-Reserve Conversion via infill drilling at both operations after significantly increasing our Resource Inventory in 2016-2017 through the growth exploration program." "Looking forward, the increase in Mineral Reserves greatly improves our confidence in the production capability to support a return to a growing gold production profile and the potential to extend the mine life at Turmalina and Pilar." Table 1. Consolidated Jaguar Mineral Reserves Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Jaguar (Pilar and Turmalina Gold Mines) - Change in Mineral Reserves 2017-2018 Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Proven Reserves 245 110 123% 4.01 4.18 -4% Probable Reserves 194 132 47% 5.00 4.26 17% Total 2P 439 242 81% 4.39 4.22 4% Year-End 2018 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Highlights (Refer to Tables 2 - 5 below) Total Pilar Measured Resources increased 37% to 435,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion, grading 4.40 g/t Au Total Indicated Resources increased 7% to 231,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion, grading 3.87 g/t Au Total Measured and Indicated ("M&I") Resources increased 25% to 666,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion grading 4.20 g/t Au Prioritizing resource - reserve conversion in 2018, Inferred Resources decreased 63% to 161,000 oz's of gold grading 3.61 g/t Au Total Proven and Probable ("2P") Mineral Reserves of 211,000 oz's of gold, up 69%, grading 3.68 g/t Au Significant increase in 2P reserves reflect replacement of 2018 Mineral Reserve depletion through production and addition of new Mineral Reserves via infill drilling and development and confirm more than years of future production at current production levels 38,000 oz's of the above 2P Mineral Reserves reflect reserves contained in remnant material located in upper portions of the mine accessible from the existing ramp and level development Year- End 2018 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves and Resources Highlights (Refer Tables 6 - 9) Total Measured Resources increased 15% to 305,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion, grading 5.37 g/t Au Total Indicated Resources increased 75% to 272,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion, grading 5.70 g/t Au Total Measured and Indicated ("M&I") Resources increased 37% to 577,000 oz's of gold, grading 5.52 g/t Au Prioritizing resource - reserve conversion in 2018, Inferred Resources decreased 51% to 148,000 oz's of gold with a 21% decrease in grade to 4.31g/t Au Total Proven Mineral Reserves increased 252% to 102,000 oz's of gold, grading 4.33 g/t Au Total Probable Mineral Reserves have increased 43% to 126,000 oz's of gold, grading 5.82 g/t Au Total Proven and Probable ("2P") Mineral Reserves have increased 95% to 228,000 oz's of gold, grading 5.05 g/t reflecting replacement of 2018 Mineral Reserve depletion through production and addition of new Mineral Reserves via infill drilling Orebody C grade and tonnage increases underpin an 81% increase in shallow, high-grade Mineral Reserves to 123,000 oz's at 4.73 g/t Au which now surpasses the Orebody A 2P Mineral Reserve of 105,000 oz's at 5,47 g/t Au (refer Table 8) 47,000 oz's of the above 2P Mineral Reserves reflect reserves contained in remnant material located in upper portions of the mine accessible from existing ramp and level development Jaguar Mining prepared the Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates under the supervision of Reno Pressacco, P.Geo, and Jeff Sepp, P.Eng. of Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("RPA"). RPA is an independent mining consultant and Mr. Pressacco and Mr. Sepp are Qualified Persons within the definition of NI 43-101. The effective date of the estimates is December 31, 2018. An independent technical report documenting the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves estimates for the Pilar mine, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of this press release. About Pilar and Turmalina Pilar is an underground gold mine and is part of the Caete Gold Complex that also includes the underground Roca Grande gold mine (currently on care and maintenance) and mill operation. The Caete Complex is located in the municipalities of Caete and Santa Barbara, respectively, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and is approximately 100 km from Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the state of Minas Gerais. Turmalina is an underground gold mine and plant complex, also located in the state of Minas Gerais; approximately 130 km northwest of Belo Horizonte (see Figure 1). Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimates as at December 31, 2018 (Refer to Tables 2-5 below) Proven & Probable Reserves: 1,784 million tonnes grading 3.68 g/t Au, containing 211,000 oz. Au 1,784 million tonnes grading 3.68 g/t Au, containing 211,000 oz. Au Measured & Indicated Resources: 4,934 million tonnes grading 4.20 g/t Au, containing 666,000 oz. Au 4,934 million tonnes grading 4.20 g/t Au, containing 666,000 oz. Au Inferred Resources: 1,385 million tonnes grading 3.61 g/t Au containing 161,000 oz. Au Table 2 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Reserves Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Pilar Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Reserves Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Proven Reserves 143 81 77% 3.79 3.78 0% Probable Reserves 68 44 55% 3.47 4.45 -22% Total 211 125 69% 3.68 3.99 -8% Table 3 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Pilar Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Resources Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Measured Resources 435 317 37% 4.40 4.47 -2% Indicated Resources 231 216 7% 3.87 4.22 -8% Total - M&I 666 532 25% 4.20 4.37 -4% Inferred Resources 161 433 -63% 3.61 5.69 -37% Table 4 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Reserves Summary as at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Pilar Gold Mine - Mineral Reserves, December 31, 2018 Ore Body Proven Reserves Probable Reserves Proven and Probable Reserves ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) BA 81 5.16 13 23 2.89 2 104 4.66 15 BF 383 3.72 46 239 3.98 31 622 3.82 77 BFII 633 3.71 75 304 2.97 29 937 3.47 104 TORRE 43 3.72 5 42 4.58 6 85 4.15 11 Others 36 3.05 3 - - - 36 3.05 3 Total 1,176 3.79 143 608 3.47 68 1,784 3.68 211 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Reserves 2. Mineral Reserves were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 1.90 g/t Au 3. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,300 per ounce 4. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Numbers may not add due to rounding 7. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Reserve estimates. Table 5 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Pilar Gold Mine - Mineral Resources, December 31, 2018 Ore Body Measured Resources Indicated Resources Total Measured & Indicated Resources Inferred Resources Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) BA 521 4.13 69 82 3.62 9 603 4.03 78 98 3.03 9 BF 815 4.47 117 459 5.24 77 1 274 4.78 194 398 3.29 42 BFII 953 4.96 152 161 3.49 18 1 114 4.77 170 533 4.43 76 BFIII 16 3.97 2 25 3.22 3 41 3.79 5 4 3.71 1 Torre 373 3.99 48 273 3.95 35 646 4.00 83 300 3.02 29 Others 401 3.65 47 855 3.24 89 1256 3.37 136 52 2.39 4 Total 3 079 4.40 435 1 855 3.87 231 4 934 4.20 666 1 385 3.61 161 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions are followed for Mineral Resources 2. Mineral Resources were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 1.8 g/t Au 3. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,500 per ounce 4. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Gold grades are estimated by the Ordinary Kriging interpolation algorithm using capped composite samples 7. Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves 8. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability 9. Numbers may not add due to rounding 10. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimates. Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Reserves and Resources Infill Drilling and evaluation of remnant material completed in 2018 successfully replaced depletion. Mineral Reserves are now equivalent to more than three years of production at current and planned production rates resulting in total 2P Mineral Reserves of 211,000 ounces of gold (1,784,000 tonnes at an average grade of 3.68 g/t Au) which are 69% higher compared to 2P Reserves of 125,000 ounces as at December 31, 2017 . . Mineral Reserves at Pilar are based on the main orebodies currently in production centered on Levels 9, 10 and 11 (BA, BF and BFII). Further work is in progress to convert the M&I Resource inventory to 2P Reserves on material from other orebodies and remnant material that are accessible from ramp and access development throughout the mine. The database, used to prepare the estimates, with a cut-off date of December 31, 2018 , comprises 1,658 drill holes and 20,698 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value varying from 10 to 60 g/t Au was applied for all eight orebodies. Wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Pilar were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was prepared for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. , comprises 1,658 drill holes and 20,698 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value varying from 10 to 60 g/t Au was applied for all eight orebodies. Wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Pilar were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was prepared for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. Mineralized material for each orebody was classified into the Measured, Indicated, or Inferred Mineral Resource categories based on the search ellipse ranges obtained from the variography study, the observed continuity of the mineralization, the drill hole and channel sample density, and previous production experience from these orebodies. The Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves. For those portions of the Mineral Resources that comprise the Mineral Reserve, stope design wireframes were used to constrain the Mineral Resource reports. Additional Mineral Resources are present that reside beyond the Mineral Reserves. For these areas, 3D clipping polygons were prepared to aid in the estimation of the Mineral Resources. The clipping polygons were prepared in either plan or longitudinal views, as appropriate. The clipping polygons were drawn to include continuous volumes of blocks whose estimated grades were above the stated cut-off grade, and were not located in mined out areas. The clipping polygons were used to appropriately code the block model and estimate the Mineral Resources. For the December 31, 2018 , estimates, the Company prepared an updated geological and block model under the supervision of RPA. The Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves for 2018 will be supported by a NI 43-101 technical report to be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release. Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves and Resources (Refer to Tables 6-9 below) Proven & Probable Reserves: 1,408 million tonnes grading 5.05 g/t Au, containing 228,000 oz. Au 1,408 million tonnes grading 5.05 g/t Au, containing 228,000 oz. Au Measured & Indicated Resources: 3,253 million tonnes grading 5.52 g/t Au, containing 577,000 oz. Au 3,253 million tonnes grading 5.52 g/t Au, containing 577,000 oz. Au Inferred Resources: 1,066 million tonnes grading 4.31 g/t Au containing 148,000 oz. Au Table 6 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Turmalina Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Reserves Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Proven Reserves 102 29 252% 4.33 5.90 -27% Probable Reserves 126 88 43% 5.82 4.18 39% Total 228 117 95% 5.05 4.50 12% Table 7 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Turmalina Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Resources Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Measured Resources 305 265 15% 5.37 5.70 -6% Indicated Resources 272 155 75% 5.70 3.86 48% Total - M&I 577 420 37% 5.52 4.86 14% Inferred Resources 148 305 -51% 4.31 5.49 -21% Table 8 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves as at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Turmalina Gold Mine - Mineral Reserves, December 31, 2018 Ore Body Proven Reserves Probable Reserves Proven and Probable Reserves ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) Ore Body ANW 116 6.40 24 192 6.60 40 308 6.52 64 Ore Body ASE 229 4.64 34 65 3.36 7 294 4.36 41 Ore Body CSE 388 3.53 44 418 5.85 79 806 4.73 123 Total 733 4.33 102 675 5.82 126 1,408 5.05 228 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Reserves 2. Mineral Reserves were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 2.5 g/t Au 3. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,300 per ounce 4. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Numbers may not add due to rounding 7. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Reserve estimates. Table 9 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary as at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Turmalina Gold Mine - Mineral Resources, December 31, 2018 Area Measured Resources Indicated Resources Total Measured & Indicated Resources Inferred Resources Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) Ore Body A 894 6.86 197 339 7.61 83 1,233 7.06 280 372 4.81 58 Ore Body B 353 3.34 38 192 4.26 26 545 3.65 64 18 6.46 4 Ore Body C 520 4.20 70 955 5.31 163 1,475 4.91 233 676 3.97 86 Total 1,767 5.37 305 1,486 5.70 272 3,253 5.52 577 1,066 4.31 148 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions are followed for Mineral Resources 2. Mineral Resources were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 2.1 g/t Au 3. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,500 per ounce 4. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Gold grades are estimated by the Ordinary Kriging interpolation algorithm using capped composite samples 7. Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves 8. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability 9. Numbers may not add due to rounding 10. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimates. Infill Drilling and evaluation of remnant material completed in 2018 successfully replaced depletion. Mineral Reserves are now equivalent to more than three years of production at current and planned production rates resulting in total 2P Mineral Reserves of 228,000 ounces of gold (1,408,000 tonnes at an average grade of 5,05 g/t Au) which are 95% higher compared to 2P Reserves of 117,000 ounces as at December 31, 2017 . . Orebody C grade and tonnage increases underpinned an 81% increase in shallow - high grade Mineral Reserves to 123,000 oz's.at 4.73 g/t Au which now surpasses the total Orebody A 2P Mineral Reserve of 105,000 oz's. (refer to Table 8). Mineral Resource estimates at December 31, 2018 , reflect an updated geological and block model prepared by Jaguar staff under the supervision of RPA. This updated block model incorporates the results from the on-going diamond drilling campaigns completed since late 2017. , reflect an updated geological and block model prepared by Jaguar staff under the supervision of RPA. This updated block model incorporates the results from the on-going diamond drilling campaigns completed since late 2017. This Mineral Resource includes total Measured and Indicated Resources of 577,000 ounces of gold (3,253 million tonnes at an average grade of 5.52 g/t Au) and Inferred Resources of 148,000 ounces of gold (1,066 million tonnes at an average grade of 4.31 g/t Au). Orebody C Mineral Resource grades have increased following new infill drilling intercepts and from development channel sampling completed in 2018, in particular on Levels 3 and 4. (Please refer to Press Release 27 th February 2019 ). ). Increases in Measured and Indicated Resources (and concomitant decrease in Inferred Resources) compared to the previously reported resource inventory is in line with the Company's target of replacing reserves mined in 2018 and establishing a significant increase in M&I Mineral Resources mainly below Level 11 on Orebody A and Level 4 on Orebody C (refer to Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9). The database used to prepare the estimates, with a cut-off date of December 31 st 2018, comprises 3,980 drill holes and 16,246 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value of 50 g/t Au was applied for all three orebodies. The wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Turmalina were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was built for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. 2018, comprises 3,980 drill holes and 16,246 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value of 50 g/t Au was applied for all three orebodies. The wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Turmalina were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was built for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. The mineralized material for each orebody was classified into the Measured, Indicated, or Inferred Mineral Resource categories based on the search ellipse ranges obtained from the variography study, the observed continuity of the mineralization, the drill hole and channel sample density, and previous production experience from these orebodies. The Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves. For those portions of the Mineral Resources that comprise the Mineral Reserve, stope design wireframes were used to constrain the Mineral Resource reports. Additional Mineral Resources are present that reside beyond the Mineral Reserves. For these areas, 3D clipping polygons were prepared to aid in the estimation of the Mineral Resources. The clipping polygons were prepared in either plan or longitudinal views, as appropriate. The clipping polygons were drawn to include continuous volumes of blocks whose estimated grades were above the stated cut-off grade, and were not located in mined out areas. The clipping polygons were used to appropriately code the block model and estimate the Mineral Resources. Qualified Persons The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved (i) in respect of the estimated Mineral Reserves and the Life of Mine Plan (LOM) by Jeff Sepp, P.Eng., of Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("RPA"), and (ii) in respect of the estimated Mineral Resources by Reno Pressacco, P.Geo., of RPA. RPA is an independent mining consultant and Mr. Sepp and Mr. Pressacco are each Qualified Persons within the definition of NI 43-101. Quality Control All sampling and samples utilized at Jaguar for mineral resource and or mineral reserves estimation uses a quality-control program that includes insertion of blanks and commercial standards in order to ensure best practice in sampling and analysis. HQ, NQ, and BQ size drill core is sawn in half with a diamond saw. Samples are selected for analysis in standard intervals according to geological characteristics such as lithology and hydrothermal alteration. Rock channel sampling of the underground development follows the same standard intervals as for the drill core. All diamond drill hole collars are accurately surveyed using a Total Station instrument, and down-hole deviations are surveyed using non-magnetic equipment (SPT Stockholm Precision Tools with GyroMaster Solid State North Seeker). Half of the sawed sample is forwarded to the analytical laboratory for analysis while the remaining half of the core is stored in a secure location. The drill core and rock chip samples for resource-reserve conversion and grade control samples are transported for physical preparation and analysis in securely sealed bags to the Jaguar in-house laboratory located at the company's Caete Complex, Caete, Minas Gerais. Growth exploration samples are sent to the independent ALS Brazil (subsidiary of ALS Global) laboratory located in Vespasiano, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The analysis of these exploration samples is conducted at ALS Global's respective facilities (fire assay is conducted by ALS Global in Lima, Peru, and multi-elementary analysis is conducted by ALS Global in Vancouver, Canada). ALS has accreditation in a global management system that meets all requirements of international standards ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015. All major ALS geochemistry analytical laboratories are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 for specific analytical procedures. For a complete description of Jaguar's sample preparation, analytical methods and QA/QC procedures, please refer to "Technical Report on the Roca Grande and Pilar Operations, Minas Gerais State, Brazil", a copy of which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The Iron Quadrangle The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar Mining is the second largest operating gold company tenement holder in the Iron Quadrangle, holding just over 25,000 hectares. About Jaguar Mining Inc. Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes, and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 64,000 hectares. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Gold Mine Complex. The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking information set forth in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements below and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected," "is forecast," "is targeted," "approximately," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "continue," "estimate," "believe," or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might," or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, may be considered to be or include forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and the dates of technical reports, as applicable. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding potential and, among other things, expected future mineral resources, potential mineral production opportunities, geological and mineral exploration statistics, ore grades, current and expected future assay results, and definition/delineation/exploration drilling at the Pilar Gold Mine and the Turmalina Gold Mine in Brazil, as well as forward-looking information regarding costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of projects and new deposits, success of exploration, development and mining activities, capital requirements, project studies, mine life extensions, and continuous improvement initiatives. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the estimated timeline and for the development of the drill program at the Pilar Gold Mine (and its expanded exploration footprint) and the Turmalina Gold Mine; its mineral properties; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; and political and legal developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations including, without limitation, the impact of any potential power rationing, tailings facility regulation, exploration and mine operating licenses and permits being obtained and renewed and/or there being adverse amendments to mining or other laws in Brazil and any changes to general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involves a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others: the risk of Jaguar not meeting its plans regarding its operations and financial performance; uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labour disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, weather delays and increased costs or production delays due to natural disasters, power disruptions, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations; uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general (including the sometimes volatile valuation of securities and an uncertain ability to raise new capital) and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development, mining and production, including without limitation environmental hazards, tailings dam failures, industrial accidents and workplace safety problems, unusual or unexpected geological formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, chemical spills, and gold bullion thefts and losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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 forward-looking information. Ben Guenther, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar Mining Inc., bguenther@jaguarmining.com, 416-847-1854; Hashim Ahmed, Chief Financial Officer, Jaguar Mining Inc., hashim.ahmed@jaguarmining.com, 416-847-1854 Initial Holes from Ice Surface Intersect Shear Zone with Visible Gold Bearing Quartz Veining ST. JOHN'S, NL / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: SIC) (OTCQB: SICNF) (the 'Company' or 'Sokoman') is pleased to announce that diamond drilling operations are ongoing with two rigs, including the proposed drilling on North Pond, which began late last week. Highlights: To date, 12 holes, totaling approximately 2,500 m, have been completed utilizing two rigs, including two holes (MH-19-52 and 53) from the surface of North Pond. MH-19-52 cut a 2.50 m* wide visible gold bearing quartz vein starting at 91 m down-hole, in a broader section of weak to moderate deformation up to 10 m* thick. MH-19-53, drilled on the same section approximately 50 m up-dip, encountered a more intense structure over a 12 m* width beginning at 28 m down-hole that carried broken and disrupted sections of visible gold bearing quartz veining up to 0.30 m thick. The rig has been moved 25 m north of MH-19-52 and 53 and will begin drilling a three-hole section through the shear zone focusing on depths between 50 and 100 m below surface and will attempt to extend northwards, the mineralization believed to have been largely missed by the section hosting MH-18-19 and 20. MH-19-50, drilled on the same section as MH-18-01, intersected approximately 5 m of quartz veining with disseminated sulphide mineralization and at least 1 speck of VG beginning at 146.50 m down-hole. MH-19-45, 46 and 48 were drilled from the East side of North Pond targeting the down dip extension of the shear zone hosting mineralization intersected in MH-18-34 and 37; all three holes intersected the east dipping shear zone with thicknesses of up to 24 m with variable amounts of quartz veining and sulphide mineralization; locally, mafic dikes have intruded along the shear zone. Two holes were also completed (MH-19-43, 44) in the vicinity of historical hole MH-04-02, 500 m south of the main Eastern Trend, where previous operators noted the presence of fine visible gold in irregular veined zones hosted by strong shear/fault zones up to 10 m in thickness (maximum assay of 0.27 m @ 2.19 g/t Au). Both holes intersected sheared and veined rock similar to 04-02 (no VG noted) and samples have been submitted for assay. (*Drilled thicknesses reported from Phase 3 holes are believed to be nearly 100% of true thicknesses. Logging and sampling of many of the noted holes is ongoing, therefore sections will be provided once logging and sampling has been completed). Diamond drilling on North Pond is currently drilling the third hole from the ice surface. The first two holes (MH-19-52 and 53) were designed to verify the location and thickness of the section containing the discovery hole MH-18-01 at approximately the same level as the discovery intersection (approximately 70 m below surface). The mineralization observed in MH-19-52 and 53 is typical of the high-grade veins in previous holes, includes multiple (>20 specks in MH-19-52) sights of mm size visible gold, associated with stylolitic veining with minor amounts of pyrite, sphalerite, boulangerite and arsenopyrite. There are currently between 24 and 27 inches of ice over most of the southern portion of North Pond, sufficient to support a single rig and limited support equipment. Ice thickness and its condition are being monitored continuously during the drilling operations as a safety precaution. The Company is also pleased to report that a detailed magnetic survey covering all of North Pond, which was commissioned after receipt of the Earth Tectonics structural report, has outlined potentially significant anomalies that may represent extensions and/or repetitions of the gold mineralized Shear Zone identified by Earth Tectonics in January 2019 (see attached map). The high-grade intercepts to date all appear to have a strong spatial relationship to magnetic lows as shown on the magnetic plot (i.e. MH-18-17, etc.). The Shear Zone, as defined by Earth Tectonics, shows a close spatial relationship to an area of magnetic low intensity (lighter colours). The land-based rig is currently testing the pair of subparallel structures defined by the magnetic survey under the northern portion of North Pond with 50 to 100 m spaced sections. A total of four holes (MH-19-47, 49, 51 and 54) have been completed by the land-based rig to depths of 268 m testing the magnetic anomalies, and have intersected significant zones of deformation and wide zones (up to 20 m drilled thickness) of intense quartz veining with variable sulphide content spatially associated with the linear magnetic anomalies (lows). No assays have been received to date and detailed logging and sampling is ongoing. Timothy Froude, P. Geo., President and CEO, stated: 'After a slow start to the ice-based program due to unseasonably mild temperatures and rain in January, we have finally begun testing the Eastern Zone mineralization and the geological model put forth by Earth Tectonics. We are also excited about the recent magnetic survey which has defined multiple structures that could represent extensions or repetitions of the high-grade shear zone. The limited drilling to date (two holes) on North Pond has shown that the shear zone is variable in intensity and thickness. It appears to 'weave' with fluctuating dips, and in certain sections, it appears to feather or become branch-like. These are characteristics common to shear zones and continued drilling will allow for better definition of the fault system.' QP This news release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Froude, P. Geo., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of Sokoman Minerals Corp. About Sokoman Minerals Corp. Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: SIC) is a discovery-oriented company with projects in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. The Company's primary focus is its portfolio of gold projects in Central Newfoundland on the structural corridor hosting the 4.2 million ounce Valentine Lake gold project 150 km southwest of the Company's high-grade Moosehead gold project. The Company also has a 100% interest in an early-stage antimony project in Newfoundland recently optioned to White Metal Resources, as well as a 100% interest in the Iron Horse (Fe/U/REE) project in Western Labrador. To learn more, please contact: Timothy Froude, P. Geo., President & CEO 709-765-1726 tfroude@sokomaniron.com Cathy Hume, Director, Investor Relations 416-868-1079 x231 cathy@chfir.com Website: www.sokomaniron.com Twitter: @SokomanMinerals Facebook: @SokomanMinerals 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. Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of the Corporation should be considered highly speculative. Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Sokoman Minerals Corp. will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect financial results is included in the documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities by Sokoman Minerals Corp. SOURCE: Sokoman Minerals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537444/Sokoman-Minerals-Provides-Phase-3-Drilling-Update-at-Moosehead-Gold-Property-Newfoundland XUZHOU, China, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/-- Leading Chinese construction machinery manufacturer XCMG is delivering the first order of the XSL7/350 water-air deep well drilling rig to Russia, following the sendoff of the first truck-mounted 3,000-meter deep well drilling rig from Shandong, China. The XSL7/350 boasts a humanized design, high-level of maneuverability and high-level of endurance. By offering the options of slurry and aerodynamic forces, the model can adapt to well drilling in different geological environments, which significantly improves the rig's deploy-ability. The design was created following a comprehensive review of clients' construction requirements by XCMG Foundation technicians who offered multiple uniquely designed solutions. "As a leader of the Chinese construction machinery industry, XCMG Foundation has promoted the development of several core technologies, including reverse circulation drilling, adjustable power heads, automatic loading and unloading of drill pipes as well as adaptive drilling pressure systems, creating an industry standard to lead systematic and sustainable development at scale," noted Qinghua Kong from XCMG, "meanwhile XCMG provides a one-stop solution with a full set of comprehensive construction method solutions." XCMG's deep well drilling rig sector has experienced a robust expansion in the past two years, achieving year-on-year sales growth of 182 percent in 2018. Last year, XCMG delivered 17 water well drilling rigs to the Nobao Group's ground source heat pump (GSHP) project in Qinhuangdao, China, the biggest order of water well drilling rigs in China to date. The XSL7/350 deep well drilling rig has also been sold and exported to Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, Russia and other regions through XCMG's e-commerce platform. In January 2019, XCMG Foundation held the first drilling rig trade fair in Shandong, China to showcase the company's "Advanced and Endurable" products to international buyers. The water well drilling rig was created with a wide array of application and construction scenarios in mind, including agricultural irrigation, small-scale piling, foundation treatment, dewatering and ground source air-conditioning. About XCMG XCMG is a multinational heavy machinery manufacturing company with a history of 75 years. It currently ranks sixth in the world's construction machinery industry. The company exports to more than 183 countries and regions around the world. For more information, please visit: For more information, please visit: www.xcmg.com , or XCMG pages on Facebook , Twitter , YouTube , LinkedIn and Instagram . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/829116/XCMG_XSL7_350.jpg User Experience to Get More Personalized and Contextual, Says Frost & Sullivan LONDON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan, the growth partnership company, announced today that it will host a live, complimentary Growth Innovation Leadership (GIL) briefing, "Connected Car Outlook-Growth Opportunities, Technology, and Trends," on Thursday, 7 March, at 3 p.m. CET. The webinar will offer Frost & Sullivan's expert insight from Krishna Jayaraman, Program Manager, and Niranjan Manohar, Research Manager, Mobility Team at Frost & Sullivan. The webinar will also feature expert commentary from Raj Paul, Regional Industry Business Leader, Automotive Americas, at Microsoft. The global connected car market is at a dynamic junction with several interesting offerings like intelligent digital assistants, in-vehicle commerce marketplace and on-demand features gaining traction in the market. "Automotive OEMs, suppliers and technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google are working together to create next-generation experiences that will be an extension of your smart home and be ready for the autonomous future as well," said Manohar. Join us to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the trends impacting the global connected car market across all key areas such as navigation, infotainment, telematics services, I/O HMI systems, connected location-based services and IOT offerings. Frost & Sullivan will provide a detailed overview of what transpired in 2018 across these key areas and our expectations for 2019. The briefing will also provide an assessment of regional market trends across Europe, North America and China. Our focus will be on outlining the opportunities across the regions for key product segments. Key Questions the Webinar Will Answer: What were the key product and technology trends that OEMs adopted in 2018? What is the status of the different features offered by OEMs? What are the uptake rates and comparative analyses of OEMs offering these features across different regions? What are the new innovations emerging from a business model perspective in the connected car space, e.g., data monetization? For more information and to register for the webinar, please click here. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion First and only therapy approved for FCS, a serious and rare disease with no approved treatment options BOSTON, Mass. and CARLSBAD, Calif., March 01, 2019to read the EMA's press release. The positive opinion will now be referred to the European Commission (EC), which grants marketing authorization for medicines in the European Union for the adoption of a decision on an EU-wide marketing authorization. As part of the conditional marketing authorization, Akcea and Ionis will conduct a non-interventional post-authorization safety study (PASS) based on a Registry. "This positive CHMP opinion is an important step forward as we work to bring WAYLIVRA to people living with FCS who currently have no treatment options. Once approved, WAYLIVRA will be the first and only therapy for people living with the devastating challenges of FCS. We are now anticipating approval in Europe in the coming months. We will build on the strong infrastructure we have in place for TEGSEDI (inotersen) in Europe as we prepare for the launch of WAYLIVRA," said Paula Soteropoulos, chief executive officer of Akcea Therapeutics. "This is a testament to the European Regulatory Authorities' commitment to facilitating access to innovative medicines for patients in need." WAYLIVRA's Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) is based on results from the Phase 3 APPROACH study and the ongoing APPROACH Open Label Extension study and supported by results from the Phase 3 COMPASS study. Results from the Phase 3 APPROACH trial, the largest study ever conducted in patients with FCS, show that in comparison to placebo, treatment with WAYLIVRA reduced triglycerides by 77 percent after 3 months of treatment. The most common adverse events in the APPROACH study were injection site reactions and reductions in platelet levels. In addition to the OLE study, there are also ongoing global Early Access Programs for WAYLIVRA. "The FCS community is encouraged by the positive CHMP opinion and we remain very hopeful that people living with FCS will soon have an approved treatment available in the EU," said Jill Prawer, founder and chair, LPLD Alliance "Without a treatment, people living with FCS have debilitating daily symptoms as well as the constant fear of pancreatitis. This is a positive step forward for people living with FCS who currently have no treatment options. Patients around the world need and deserve a treatment for FCS." "WAYLIVRA will be the third medicine for which we will have received approval in the last two years. Our antisense technology platform continues to deliver many important scientific and medical advances that should support continuing growth," said Brett P. Monia, Ph.D., chief operating officer of Ionis Pharmaceuticals. "We look forward to continuing to work with the community of patients and the dedicated clinicians and researchers around the world to make this treatment available to patients who need it as quickly as possible." ABOUT WAYLIVRA AND FCS WAYLIVRA, a product of Ionis' proprietary antisense technology, is designed to reduce the production of ApoC-III, a protein produced in the liver that plays a central role in the regulation of plasma triglycerides and may also affect other metabolic parameters. WAYLIVRA is under regulatory review in the E.U. for the treatment of people with familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS). Akcea is working to confirm a path forward for WAYLIVRA in the US and in Canada. FCS is an ultra-rare disease caused by impaired function of the enzyme lipoprotein lipase, through the LPLD Alliance at www.lpldalliance.org and through the FCS Foundation at http://www.livingwithfcs.org . For a full list of organizations supporting the FCS community worldwide, please click here . WAYLIVRA is also currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of patients with familial partial lipodystrophy, or FPL. Akcea anticipates reporting top-line data from this study in mid-2019. ABOUT AKCEA THERAPEUTICS Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., an affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing drugs to treat patients with serious and rare diseases. Akcea is commercializing TEGSEDI and you can follow us on twitter at @akceatx. ABOUT IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. As the leader in RNA-targeted drug discovery and development, Ionis has created an efficient, broadly applicable, drug discovery platform called antisense technology that can treat diseases where no other therapeutic approaches have proven effective. Our drug discovery platform has served as a springboard for actionable promise and realized hope for patients with unmet needs. We created the first and only approved treatment for children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy as well as the world's first RNA-targeted therapeutic approved for the treatment of polyneuropathy in adults with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis. Our sights are set on all the patients we have yet to reach with a pipeline of more than 40 novel medicines designed to treat a broad range of diseases including cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, infectious diseases, pulmonary diseases and cancer. To learn more about Ionis follow us on twitter @ionispharma or visit? http://ir.ionispharma.com/ . AKCEA'S AND IONIS' FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the business of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the therapeutic and commercial potential of WAYLIVRATM (volanesorsen). Any statement describing Akcea's or Ionis' goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions or beliefs, including the commercial potential of WAYLIVRA or other of Akcea's or Ionis' drugs in development is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, particularly those inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of building a business around such drugs. Akcea's and Ionis' forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Akcea's and Ionis' forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by Akcea and Ionis. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning Ionis' and Akcea's programs are described in additional detail in Ionis' and Akcea's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual reports on Form 10-K, which are on file with the SEC. Copies of these and other documents are available from each company. In this press release, unless the context requires otherwise, "Ionis", "Akcea," "Company," "Companies" "we," "our," and "us" refers to Ionis Pharmaceuticals and/or Akcea Therapeutics. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is a trademark of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Akcea Therapeutics, TEGSEDI and WAYLIVRATM are trademarks of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. Akcea Investor Contact: Kathleen Gallagher Vice President of Communications and Investor Relations (617)-207-8509 kgallagher@akceatx.com Akcea Media Contact: Bill Berry Berry & Company T: 212 253-8881 bberry@berrypr.com Lynn Granito Berry & Company T: 212 253-8881 lgranito@berrypr.com Ionis Investor Contact: D. Wade Walke, Ph.D. Vice President, Investor Relations 760-603-2741 wwalke@ionisph.com Ionis Media Contact: Roslyn Patterson Vice President, Corporate Communications 760-603-2681 rpatterson@ionisph.com Debuts Comprehensive Video of Operations in Spain and Bolivia TORONTO, Mar. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX:ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") is pleased to announce that it will be exhibiting at the 2019 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) International Conference being held in Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from March 3 to 6, 2019. Orvana cordially invites shareholders, investors, brokers, analysts, and interested parties, to learn more about its operations and growth perspectives via brownfield and greenfield exploration programs, by visiting booth #2243 in the Investors Exchange area of PDAC. Orvana will be presenting a full-length video of its operations, showcasing highlights of OroValle's site in Spain, and EMIPA's site in Bolivia. The video presentation will also be made available on the Company's website at http://www.orvana.com About Orvana Orvana is a multi-mine gold-copper-silver producer with organic growth opportunities. Orvana's current operating properties consist of: the El Valle and Carles underground mines located in Asturias, northern Spain , where copper concentrates and dore bars are produced; and , where copper concentrates and dore bars are produced; and the Don Mario Mine Complex, which includes the Cerro Felix satellite open pit, the Las Tojas ore body, and the previously mined Lower Mineralized Zone and Upper Mineralized Zone, located in Bolivia , where dore bars are produced. Orvana's strategic focus is on initiatives and opportunities that deliver long-term shareholder value. In that regard, Orvana is currently working to optimize its operations, reduce its unitary operating costs and realize growth in its future production base through exploration within, and in proximity, to its existing operations. ABOUT PDAC The PDAC International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange is the world's leading convention for people, companies and organizations in, or connected with, mineral exploration. For more information about the conference, visit: http://pdac.ca/convention Cautionary Statements - Forward-Looking Information Certain statements in this information constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, potentials, future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "believes", "expects", "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "are projected to" be taken or achieved) are not statements of historical fact, but are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements herein relate to, among other things, Orvana's ability to achieve improvement in free cash flow; the potential to extend the mine life of El Valle and Don Mario beyond their current life-of-mine estimates including specifically, but not limited to in the case of Don Mario, the mining of the Cerro Felix deposit, the processing of the mineral stockpiles (including the implementation of the SART circuit) and the reprocessing of the tailings material; Orvana's ability to optimize its assets to deliver shareholder value; the Company's ability to optimize productivity at Don Mario and El Valle; estimates of future production, operating costs and capital expenditures; mineral resource and reserve estimates; statements and information regarding future feasibility studies and their results; future transactions; future metal prices; the ability to achieve additional growth and geographic diversification; future financial performance, including the ability to increase cash flow and profits; future financing requirements; and mine development plans. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained or incorporated by reference in this information, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to, the various assumptions set forth herein and in Orvana's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis and Annual Information Form in respect of the Company's most recently completed fiscal year (the "Company Disclosures") or as otherwise expressly incorporated herein by reference as well as: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, whether due to labour disruptions, supply disruptions, power disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; permitting, development, operations, expansion and acquisitions at El Valle and Don Mario being consistent with the Company's current expectations; political developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; certain price assumptions for gold, copper and silver; prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; production and cost of sales forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; and labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Orvana's current expectations. A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include fluctuations in the price of gold, silver and copper; the need to recalculate estimates of resources based on actual production experience; the failure to achieve production estimates; variations in the grade of ore mined; variations in the cost of operations; the availability of qualified personnel; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals and licenses; the Company's ability to use cyanide in its mining operations; risks generally associated with mineral exploration and development, including the Company's ability to continue to operate the El Valle and/or Don Mario and/or ability to resume long-term operations at the Carles Mine; the Company's ability to successfully implement the SART circuit to process the current oxides stockpiles at Don Mario; the Company's ability to acquire and develop mineral properties and to successfully integrate such acquisitions; the Company's ability to execute on its strategy; the Company's ability to obtain financing when required on terms that are acceptable to the Company; challenges to the Company's interests in its property and mineral rights; current, pending and proposed legislative or regulatory developments or changes in political, social or economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates; general economic conditions worldwide; and the risks identified in the Company's disclosures. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's Disclosures for a description of additional risk factors. Any forward-looking statements made in this document with respect to the anticipated development and exploration of the Company's mineral projects are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this information are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future operating activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Nuria Menendez, Chief Financial Officer, E: nmenendez@orvana.com; Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer, E: jjobin@orvana.com, T: 647 964 0292 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Nicola Mining Inc. (TSXV: NIM) (the "Company") is pleased to announce final results on its 39-hole Reverse Circulation drill program on the 3060-Portal ("3060 RC Program" (Table 1). This program is designed to evaluate the copper equivalent grade and volume of historical material excavated from underground workings of the Craigmont Mine and piled at 3060-Portal (Figure 1). These results confirm significant grades of copper and magnetite, which are combined to create a copper equivalent ("CuEq")1. The historical mine terraces, which equate to approximately 80-90 million-tonnes, surrounding the Craigmont Mine Open pit (Figure 2) and 3060-Portal benefit from having previously incurred all costs associated with mining, which is greater than 50% of the cost of production2. The Company previously announced positive 3060-Portal RC drill results, however these results did not incorporate the CuEq contribution from magnetite3. The second phase of RC drilling, conducted in 2018, use an updated CuEq calculation4 for both 2017 and 2018 RC drill holes. The highlights of these results include: An average grade of 2424 ppm Cu and 0.4% CuEq for the 39 drill holes An average grade of 9095 ppm Cu (1.03% Cu) and 1.08% CuEq for Hole CC-RC-18-63 An average grade of 10,332 ppm Cu (1.03% Cu) and 1.27% CuEq for Hole P-34 An average grade of 8632 ppm Cu (0.86% Cu) and 1.03% CuEq for Hole P-72 Assay results from the drill program are summarized in Table 1. All results are calculated from surface. Table 1: Composite of Reverse Circulation ("RC") Drill Results at Portal 3060 To view an enhanced version of Table 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4873/43140_e51408d4c4c55912_002full.jpg Figure 1: Map of Reverse Circulation ("RC") drill locations proximal to the 3060 Portal. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4873/43140_e51408d4c4c55912_003full.jpg Figure 2: Map of completed RC Drill Program (Phase 1 and Phase 2) on historic terraces. To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4873/43140_e51408d4c4c55912_004full.jpg Results on the Phase 1 and Phase 2 targets of the historic terraces will be released in 1H of 2019. Peter Espig, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "The Phase 1 RC Program proved extremely valuable as it provides us with insight into the significant economic potential of the material surrounding the historic pit, historically considered to be non-economic based on a $0.60/lb. copper price. We are encouraged that the Cu and magnetite grades of these terraces are associated with location and not depth, which limits amount of material that needs to be processed and allows the Company to focus on areas of most economic potential. In addition, because the largest cost of mining, which includes engineering, infrastructure, surveying, and blasting have all been incurred, the value of the historic terraces is significant. Quality Control The Company implemented a quality control program for this program to ensure best practices are utilized for sample collection and analysis of RC cuttings. Samples were collected at 2.0 m intervals down hole with lithology, alteration and mineralization documented for each interval. Quality control measures include insertion of standards and duplicates into the sample stream at a frequency of 1 blank and 1 standard for every group of 20 samples, and field duplicates at a rate of 3 per 100 samples. Activation Laboratory (ISO 17025 Certified) in Kamloops, British Columbia conducted sample analysis using ICP Aqua Regia 38-element (IE3) and fire assay gold (IA2) packages. Certified reference standards and rock blanks were placed in the sample stream with a ratio of approximately one sample out of 10. Qualified Person Kevin Wells, P.Geo, a consulting geologist to the Company is the independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for the technical disclosure contained in this news release. About Nicola Mining Nicola Mining Inc. is a junior mining company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and is in the process of recommencing mill feed processing operations at its 100% owned state-of-the-art mill and tailings facility, located near Merritt, British Columbia. It has already signed four mill profit share agreements with high grade gold producers. The fully-permitted mill can process both gold and silver mill feed via gravity and flotation processes. The Company also owns 100% of Treasure Mountain, a high-grade silver property, and an active gravel pit that is located adjacent to its milling operations. About New Craigmont The New Craigmont Project (the "Property") is a wholly-owned copper property with an active mine permit (M-68), located within the world-class Highland Valley porphyry district. It benefits from excellent infrastructure. The Property is at the corner intersection of the Nicola and Guichon batholiths, of which the latter is the precursor to mineralization at Highland Valley. In November of 2015, Nicola became the first group in decades to consolidate ownership of the Property and has been actively conducting mineral exploration since. There are currently no mineral resource estimates on the Property. Historical "non-NI 43-101" resource calculations are recorded in internal memos and geological reports for Placer Development. An internal memo written by J.F. Bristow on October 30, 1985 to Craigmont Mines Ltd. reported a zone known as Body No. 3 containing a historic estimate of 1,290,000 tons (1,170,268 metric tonnes) of copper grading 1.53% copper. * This estimate assumes a 0.7% copper cut-off and a 20-foot mining width between drill sections 6565E and 8015E. The material in Body No. 3 contains mineralization primarily in silicate-rich rocks. Additionally, J.F. Bristow reported in an internal memo on July 22, 1985 to Craigmont Mines Ltd., a rough calculation of +60,000,000 pounds (1.6 million short tons or 1.45 metric tonnes) of +1.5% copper from an original ore estimate of 27,754,000 short tons (25,178,005 metric tonnes) of copper grading 1.79% copper left behind in the sub-level cave. The material is from the previously mined out No.1 Body and No.2 Body. It should be noted that these historical estimates do not meet the requirements needed to conform to National Instrument 43-101 standards. The Company notes that an independent Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to verify and classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources and is therefore not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. For further details on the Property, see the technical report entitled "TECHNICAL REPORT on the THULE COPPER - IRON PROPERTY, Southern British Columbia, Canada", filed on May 8, 2013 on Sedar at www.sedar.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Peter Espig" Peter Espig CEO & Director For additional information contact: Peter Espig Telephone: (778) 385-1213 Email: peter@nicolamining.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. ____________________ 1 Magnetite contribution to CuEq used the average of four values: high-grade / high recovery, high-grade / low recovery, low-grade / high recovery and low-grade / low recovery. 2 U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1988). Copper: Technology and Competitiveness-Chapter 9 Production Costs [online] Available at: https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk2/1988/8808/880811.PDF [2019-02-25] 3 Nicola Mining Inc. (2017) Nicola Mining Announces Results Of Reverse Circulation Drilling On 3060-Craigmont Portal Terraces [News Release] 26 September. Available at: http://nicolamining.com/nicola-mining-announces-results-of-reverse-circulation-drilling-on-3060-craigmont-portal-terraces/ 4 Nicola Mining Inc. (2018) Nicola Mining Announces Test Results From Magnetite Recovery Which Results In An Increase In Copper Equivalent Grades Of Up To 34% [News Release] 19 February. Available at: https://nicolamining.com/nicola-mining-announces-test-results-from-magnetite-recovery-which-results-in-an-increase-in-copper-equivalent-grades-of-up-to-34/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43140 Formation Group Plc - Result of AGM and Board Change FORMATION GROUP PLC ('Formation' or the 'Company') Result of AGM and Board Change Formation Group PLC announces the results of the annual general meeting ("AGM") of the Company held yesterday, 28 February 2019. All resolutions proposed at the AGM were passed, other than resolutions 4 and 5, to reappoint Grunberg & Co. Limited as the Company's auditors and to authorise the directors to determine the auditor's remuneration. In addition, Formation confirms that Michael Kennedy ceased to be a non-executive Director of the Company at the conclusion of the Company's Annual General Meeting held on 27 February 2018. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. --ENDS-- Enquiries: POLSINELLI team will participate in Opportunity Zones panel discussions NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Am Law 100 firm POLSINELLI's Dan Flanigan, Managing Partner of the firm's New York office, will moderate a panel titled, "Understanding the Ins and Outs of Opportunity Zones," at the IMN Inaugural Opportunity Zones Forum. Additional members of POLSINELLI'S Opportunity Zones Practice Group will also participate in discussions at the Forum which will be held Tuesday, March 12th, at The Union League Club in New York. Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 Time: 8:25 AM ET Title: Understanding the Ins and Outs of Opportunity Zones Location: The Union League Club - New York, NY Immediately following Flanigan's panel, Korb Maxwell, the leader of POLSINELLI'S Opportunity Zones Practice Group, will lead a Fireside Chat and in-depth discussion with Steve Glickman, Founder & CEO of Develop Advisors, an advisory dedicated to Opportunity Zones Funds. This will be followed by a panel discussion, titled, "Fundraising, Administration & Finding the Right Structure," in which Brian Bullard, POLSINELLI Shareholder, JV, Fund Formation & Operations, will participate. Flanigan commented: "Interest in Qualified Opportunity Zones investment remains strong and the need to share ideas and evaluate the continually evolving OZ landscape is especially important as we await the next clarifying pronouncements from the U.S. Treasury Department. This IMN Forum will provide an excellent opportunity for POLSINELLI to provide insights from our dedicated Opportunity Zones Practice Group, as well as exchange perspectives with other key industry leaders." About POLSINELLI POLSINELLI is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 850 attorneys in 22 offices. Ranked #30 for Client Service Excellence1 and #10 for best client relationships2 among 650 U.S. law firms, POLSINELLI was also named among the top 30 best-known firms in the nation3. The firm's attorneys provide value through practical legal counsel infused with business insight, and focus on health care, financial services, real estate, intellectual property, mid-market corporate, labor and employment, and business litigation. 12019 BTI Client Service A-Team Report 22017 BTI Industry Power Rankings 32018 BTI Brand Elite For more information, contact: Cathy Loos at cathy@adam-friedman.com, 347-334-4135 SOURCE: Polsinelli View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537477/Dan-Flanigan-of-POLSINELLI-to-Moderate-Panel-at-IMN-Inaugural-Opportunity-Zones-Forum-on-March-12th-in-New-York TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / PJX Resources Inc. ("PJX") is pleased to announce that preliminary drilling to test a shallow Magnetotelluric ("MT") target has intersected massive sulphide mineralization consisting of pyrrhotite/pyrite (iron sulphides) with minor sphalerite (zinc sulphide), galena (lead sulphide), and chalcopyrite (copper sulphide). The massive sulphide mineralization is conductive and occurs as a 0.8 m thick vein in sediments near the top of the shallow MT target. As previously announced, MT geophysics have identified both shallow and much larger deeper conductive targets on PJX's Vine Property located near Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. "The massive sulphide vein is 0.8 metres thick and is faulted along the footwall (bottom side) of the vein," states Dave Pighin. "The current hole entered a thick gabbro rock unit following the fault which suggests that the sulphide vein has been faulted away with the possibility that there is more of the vein or additional veins that the hole missed in the gabbro unit at the center of the MT anomaly. Additional drilling is recommended once all the data has been compiled and assessed." "This is an important finding as a proof of concept that MT is working and identifying massive sulphide," states the President and CEO of PJX, John Keating. "PJX's primary target is a potential massive sulphide body possibly similar to a Broken Hill type deposit. Intersecting massive iron sulphide with minor zinc, lead and copper sulphide mineralization as a vein provides greater confidence that MT is identifying sulphides rather than other sources of conductivity, such as graphite. The deeper MT target is much larger, with a coincident magnetic signature and possible gravity response as compared to the shallow target. This larger, more conductive MT anomaly may be similar in style of mineralization to the Broken Hill deposit as it appears to be associated with the favourable folded phyllite and breccia rock units that host zinc mineralization above a regional fault. This will be the next target area to drill." (see MT with Geological cross sections at http://pjxresources.com/PJX_Vine-X_Sections.pdf). Background Three-Dimensional ("3D") Modeling of MT and Magnetic data has identified a shallow MT target and a larger more conductive MT target with coincident magnetic signature at depth on the Vine Property. The large conductive MT anomaly can be traced for 800 metres (m) horizontally along strike, starts at about 600 m deep and can be traced down dip to the west to a depth of at least 2 kilometres (km). Two-Dimensional Modelling of gravity data suggests the potential for large dense bodies of massive sulphide at depths coincident with the large MT and magnetic anomalies. Anomalous zinc and lead mineralization have been intersected in holes drilled up dip and on strike with the anomalies. The large MT anomaly is interpreted as representing a folded massive sulphide body, or multiple bodies, along the regional Moyie fault and suggests a mineralization style similar to the Broken Hill type massive sulphide deposit in Australia. Drilling will test the deep, larger and more conductive target followed, if necessary, by downhole geophysics to assist additional drilling. The road-accessible Vine Property is located approximately 140 km east of Teck's Metallurgical Complex and about 35 kilometres south of the Sullivan Mine, which operated for over 90 years before being closed in 2001. The property is at an elevation with terrain amenable to drill at any time of the year. It is crossed by two power lines as well as a rail line and is only a 20-minute drive south along Highway 3 from Cranbrook, British Columbia. The foregoing geological disclosure has been reviewed and approved by Dave Pighin P.Geo. and John Keating P.Geo. (qualified persons for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Pighin is the consulting geologist for PJX on the Vine Property. Mr. Keating is the President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of PJX. About PJX Resources Inc. PJX is a mineral exploration company focused on building shareholder value and community opportunity through the exploration and development of mineral resources with a focus on gold and base metals. PJX's properties are located in the historical mining area of Cranbrook and Kimberley, British Columbia. Please refer to our web site http://www.pjxresources.com for additional information. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Linda Brennan, Chief Financial Officer (416) 799-9205 info@pjxresources.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information This News Release contains forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements which relate to future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to exploration results, the success of exploration activities, mine development prospects, completion of economic assessments, and future gold production. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "appears to", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential", or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking-statements. Although PJX has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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 forward-looking statements. SOURCE: PJX Resources Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537406/Drilling-Supports-Potential-for-Massive-Sulphide-Body-on-PJX-Resources-Vine-Property SpendEdge, a well-known procurement intelligence solution provider, has announced the completion of their latest risk management framework for a retail companyThe study highlights how developing a risk management framework helps companies to identify and categorize risks without dwindling their profit margins. It also gives a detailed analysis of how companies can analyze supply chain costs and implement suitable measures to improve them. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190301005324/en/ Risk management framework for a retail company. (Graphic: Business Wire) While global supply networks have been an integral part of the retail sector managing risks associated with them has always been a task for companies. Their procurement officials and market leaders have always been on a lookout to improve the efficacy of the risk management process to mitigate risks and supply chain disruptions. According to the procurement experts at SpendEdge, "Companies must profile their global supplier base and measure the supply chain vulnerability to evaluate the implications of risks in the supply chain." The Business Problem: The client is a leading retail company with operations spread across different geographical locations. With the changing customer expectations, the client was finding it challenging to meet customer demands while maintaining the profit margins. They also lacked an effective risk management process that would help them anticipate supply chain risks. This compelled the client to leverage SpendEdge's expertise in formulating a robust risk management framework to identify and categorize risks based on their priorities. Anticipating risks in the supply chain can be a difficult task for companies. Talk to our experts and know how our experts can help you analyze risks and address them. The Solution Offered: The supply chain risk management experts at SpendEdge conducted a detailed analysis to identify opportunities for mitigating risks. They also devised a potent six-step risk management framework for the retail company to help them deal with potential supply chain disruptions. This not only helped the retail company to meet consumer demands but also enabled them to save $80 million. Devising an effective risk management framework requires a comprehensive understanding of the supply chain. Request a free proposal and know how our portfolio of risk management solutions can assist you. SpendEdge's risk management framework helped the client to: Achieve savings of $80 million. Devise and implement risk mitigation strategies. Request a free demo and know how our experts can help you reduce costs. SpendEdge's risk management framework also offered predictive insights on: Addressing concerns of stakeholders. Devising cost-effective measures to manage supply chain risks. Read the complete article to know more: https://www.spendedge.com/casestudy/risk-management-retail-company About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. Request free proposal to know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190301005324/en/ Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 630 984 7340 UK: +44 148 459 9299 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us NORWICH, England, Mar. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BizClik Media, the innovative Norfolk-based digital media firm, had published its latest issue of the Europe edition of Business Chief. AXA Group features in this month's edition of Business Chief. The company's Global Program Director for Move to the Cloud, Ash Shah, discusses how the firm is undergoing its digital transformation journey with Olivia Minnock. Ultimately, AXA aims to become a customer-driven, technology-led organisation. The CEO of Belgium's BICS, Daniel Kurgan, tells Sophie Chapman about global customer trends and the operations the company has underway to meet new demand. The business is embracing digitisation by extending its offerings and preparing for new technologies, such as 5G. Within the March edition of the magazine you can find exclusive interviews with AirMalta, Croda, Emmerson PLC, Hapimag, IBS Software, Siemens, Travelex, and Uniper. Each company tells Business Chief about transformation within their respective industries. This month, Business Chief looks at Frankfurt as its city focus. The city is the largest financial sector in the Eurozone, and is home to Germany's tallest buildings, largest airport, and biggest inner-city forest. The smartest cities on the continent are revealed in the March edition - from Oslo to London, these metropolises have updated their infrastructure and focused on sustainability. The issue can be read here. About Business Chief Business Chief is a media brand fit for the digital age, providing cutting-edge content tailored for company executives, business pioneers and industry thinkers. Divided into eight separate regional titles, Business Chief tells the stories that matter to business leaders and professionals on their way to the top. Through our expertly-crafted digital magazines, websites, videos and social media, those stories reach the right people. Our flagship features are the Leadership Showcases; exclusive interviews with key decision-makers at some of the biggest companies on the globe, documenting their journeys to business transformation and the lessons they've learned along the way. With further themes focused on technology, talent and sustainability, Business Chief has insight on the trends that matter to C and V-level executives, while also delivering consumer-friendly lifestyle content to reflect their interests and wider ambitions. On top of all that and more, Business Chief showcases in-depth digital reports on companies every month, ensuring it covers every angle in the world of business. www.businesschief.com About BizClik Media BizClik Media Ltd is a diverse, multi-platform digital media company focusing on the global B2B marketplace. We have a passion for great content and we collaborate with the world's most inspiring and innovative business leaders to deliver only the best, most engaging and relevant content to you. With a trusted and recognised publishing portfolio that is home to over 16 brands, including e-magazines and web platforms, combined with our social media marketing and data marketing tools, we have the experience, approach and know-how, to deliver your brand in front of the people that matter. https://europe.businesschief.com/ Media Contact: Sophie Chapman Editor-in-Chief of Business Chief Europe Deputy Editor of CSO Magazine Tel: +44-(0)-1603-215-079 Email: sophie.chapman@bizclikmedia.com BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (the "Company") LEI: UK9OG5Q0CYUDFGRX4151 Voting Rights and Capital (Article 15 Transparency Directive, DTR 5.6) In conformity with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 5.6.1R, the Company would like to notify the market of the following: As at 28 February 2019, BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust plc's capital consists of 39,259,620 Ordinary Shares of 10 cents each, carrying one vote each, excluding 2,181,662 ordinary shares held in treasury. As at 28 February 2019, the total number of voting rights for Ordinary shareholders in BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust plc is 39,259,620. Shareholders should use 39,259,620 as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company. All enquiries: Kevin Mayger Company Secretary BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited Tel: 0207 743 1098 1 March 2019 MEXICO CITY, MEXICO / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Royal Holiday Vacation Club recently new traveling dates to a very popular destination in Mexico for travelers through their company. Effective immediately, people can begin booking the Grand Park Royal Puerto Vallarta, located in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for various dates in 2019. For the last several years, Mexico has continually been one of the most popular travel destinations for Royal Holiday club members. Travel dates to the area always fill up quickly with the company, and they expect that to be the case once again. This part of Mexico is known as one of the most popular places to explore all the Pacific Coast has to offer. Royal Holiday worked very hard to offer this through their company. Puerto Vallarta continually ranks as one of the top tourist destinations for travelers all over the world looking to experience Mexico. Initially known almost entirely for the bay and beaches, the city has grown quite a bit to provide a number of other attractions as well. A ton of outdoor activities, such as sailing and whale watching, constantly bring in people who live an active lifestyle. Growth in the area has also attracted art exhibits, shopping and a vibrant nightlife for people to enjoy. The international vibe of the area makes it a very welcoming place for travelers from all corners of the world to visit. Amenities offered by The Grand Park Royal Puerto Vallarta include an international buffet for breakfast hours, lunch and dinner from the La Veranda restaurant, refreshments throughout the day from Munchies and drinks from a number of bars and lounges. For dinner options, a number of speciality restaurants are featured, including Andiamo, Frida Kitchen and El Pescador. Along with food and beverage amenities, visitors can enjoy meeting rooms, multiple swimming pools, a spa, a fitness center and even a place specifically for kids to enjoy. For Royal Holiday Vacation Club, providing traveling options to the area of Puerto Vallarta dates back to the early 1980s. It was originally a very popular area for people who live on the West Coast of the United States to visit, but it has since grown to bring in people from all over the globe. Other than Cancun, Puerto Vallarta is the most popular destination for international travelers in Mexico. There are now 25 total destinations in Mexico offered by Royal Holiday Vacation Club. The vast majority of them are located along the west and east coast of the country. There are also a handful of destinations in Mexico City for travelers to check out. Bookings are available through Royal Holiday Vacation Club on a first come, first serve basis. Those interested in trying out The Grand Park Royal Puerto Vallarta should act quickly to secure a preferred date. Those who have any questions about traveling to the area are encouraged to talk to their specific sales agent, or to reach out the Royal Holiday directly for additional assistance. The company offers help during normal business hours for those attempting to book. CONTACT: info@royal-holiday.com SOURCE: Royal Holiday Vacation Club View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537492/The-Grand-Park-Royal-Puerto-Vallarta-Bookings-Now-Available-Through-Royal-Holiday-Vacation-Club VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / EastWest Bioscience Inc. (the "Company" or "EastWest") (TSX-V: EAST) announces that the Company has received several new purchase orders for its hemp-based consumer goods from global retailer The TJX Companies, Inc (NYSE: TJX), the leading mass retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide. "With this new purchase order and our success at introducing two new hemp-based consumer product lines at the CHFA West natural health foods show in Vancouver last week, we continue to broaden our sales and reach into Canadian consumer markets," says Rodney Gelineau, EastWest's CEO. "With this important renewal of the TJX sales order, new orders placed at the CHFA, as well as the continued introduction of our unique hemp products to several new retail channels, we are very pleased with the steadily increasing sales growth of our family of hemp health products across Canada and the outlook for our retail distribution channels in 2019." TJX is a global retail giant that has built a distinguishable and competitive brand with a strong foothold in Canada's consumer goods market under the banner TJX Canada, which comprises popular home goods and fashion apparel stores Winners, HomeSense, and Marshalls. TJX Canada has grown exponentially with four distribution centers in Ontario and British Columbia. It has 454 stores Canada wide and estimates store growth of up to 600 stores following their fiscal 2019-year end. EastWest's purchase order with TJX exemplifies the Company's focused development as a trusted premium consumer goods brand into global market distributors and retailers. This major distribution channel continues to validate EastWest as a leading brand in the Canadian natural health market and helps illustrate the Company's growing significance as a global consumer goods manufacturer within the mass market. Since its inception in 2016, EastWest has been recognized as the leading manufacturer of premium hemp retail consumer goods in Canada. The Company continues to expand its family of natural health brands and its premium hemp consumer goods, which will soon be available in TJX stores across Canada. About The TJX Companies, Inc. The TJX Companies, Inc. is the leading mass retailer of apparel, home fashions and consumer goods in the U.S. and worldwide. TJX ranked No. 85 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. As of February 3, 2018, the company recorded a net income of $2,607,948,000. The Company operated a total of 4,194 stores in nine countries: the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Australia and employs more than 235,000 employees worldwide. About EastWest BioScience Group EastWest Bioscience is a seed-to-sale organization that offers world class manufacturing and premium hemp-based consumer goods. Since it was founded in 2016, EastWest continues to grow as a high-quality producer, manufacturer and distributor of multiple lines of premium hemp products. EastWest is strategically positioned in mainstream consumer markets with wholistic natural products and has developed distribution channels into mainstream stores and markets in Canada. The Company has a Health Canada licensed, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certified manufacturing facility and produces premium brands offering natural products for a preventive care lifestyle. EastWest consumer product lines are divided into four distinct brands: 1) Natural Advancement - natural biopharmaceutical health supplements; 2) Earth's Menu - all-natural hemp superfoods; 3) Natural Pet Science - pet food and pet supplements; and 4) Chanvre Hemp - all-natural health and beauty products. The organization will continue to focus on ongoing development of innovative, hemp-based consumer products through advanced science with clean, natural ingredients to complement its current product offerings. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS EASTWEST BIOSCIENCE GROUP "Rodney Gelineau" Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director For further information, please visit www.eastwestbioscience.com or contact EastWest Bioscience Investor Relations at 1-647-394-7383 or email us at investors@eastwestscience.com. This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities described in this press release have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended) absent registration or an exemption from registration. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction where such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. 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. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the terms and conditions of the Acquisition. 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. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; and delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. SOURCE: EastWest Bioscience Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537496/EastWest-Bioscience-Receives-New-POs-from-Global-Retailer-the-TJX-Companies-Inc-to-Increase-Canada-Wide-Distribution ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Findit, Inc. (OTC PINK: FDIT) a Nevada Corporation provides online marketing services through Findit Social Networking Content Management Platform to LayzieGear.com. Layzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony takes new strides in providing Officially marketed BTNH and L-BURNA merchandise online through the officially verified LayzieGear.com. With the help of Findit marketing assistance for LayzieGear.com, Layzie Bone (Steven Howse) is providing fans of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Mo Thugs super-groups high end merchandise, access to new mixtapes, tour dates and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony videos. Findit who assists in the marketing of Layzie Bone and LayzieGear.com to provide online marketing services for the official home of Mo Thugs, L-BURNA, Harmony Howse and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony merchandise. Findit creates content and assists in development of LayzieGear.com, while providing social marketing assistance to the LayzieGear brand. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony is a titan of the Hip Hop industry having worked with some of the most influential artists of the past (such as 2Pac and Eazy-E), while inspiring and producing music with many of the largest Hip Hop rappers of today. Fans of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have come to expect excellence from the brand, which they may not always receive should they purchase merchandise through off-brand or third party suppliers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8O6_mHwZ_U LayzieGear.com is the officially verified online storefront of Layzie Bone, and provides High Quality Official merchandise to Bone Thugs fans. The following categories of merchandise may be purchased from LayzieGear.com. * Hats (including Snapback, Bucket, Military style hats and Visors) * T-Shirts and Hoodies * Accessories (including Keychains, Pins, Dog Tags, Pendants, Cufflinks and Chains) * CD's & Mixtapes True BTNH, L-BURNA, Mo Thugs and Harmony Howse fans will find official merchandise through LayzieGear. All proceeds from LayzieGear.com are the sole property of Layzie Bone, and go on to supplement his earnings so that he can continue to produce, write and tour with the legacy of music fans have come to adore. New information concerning mixtapes and tours such as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's Puff Puff Pass tour will continuously be updated on LayzieGear.com, reinforcing its status as the Official home for fans interested in Layzie Bone and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony news and merchandise online. About Layzie Bone and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Having gone by both L-BURNA and The #1 Assassin, Layzie Bone is the unwavering face of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Formed in Cleveland Ohio in 1991, the original group B.O.N.E Enterpri$e rebranded to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony shortly after Eazy-E took the group under his wing. Throughout the years Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (BTNH) has worked with a variety of artists across the music industry to produce some of the most memorable tracks of all time. Layzie Bone and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have served as an inspiration to many artists today through their hard hitting beats and smooth flows, cementing a strong foundation in in rap history and elevating themselves to the most recognizable group in Hip Hop through their lasting legacy. Follow Layzie Gear on Findit @layziegear Peter Tosto stated "Findit is proud to be working Layzie Bone to make sure fans know his authentic site is LayzieGear dot come. It is so important that artists are receiving the money off of their hard work over the years and that their fans know where to go to purchase these items to support their favorite artists. Findit offers everyone out there the ability to set up their own site withing the Findit platform to post and share the content they want others to see." 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 success of the company's business, as well as statements that include the word believe or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Findit, Inc. to differ materially from those implied or expressed by such forward-looking statements. This press release speaks as of the date first set forth above, and Findit, Inc. assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to factors such as the lack of capital, timely development of products, inability to deliver products when ordered, inability of potential customers to pay for ordered products, and political and economic risks inherent in international trade. Contact: Peter Tosto Findit.com 404-443-3224 SOURCE: Findit, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537493/Findit-Highlights-Member-Layzie-Bone-of-Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony-Launch-of-Official-Online-Website Barclaycard merchants to accept Discover, Diners Club International and affiliate network cards As spending by tourists and business visitors to the UK grows, merchants will benefit by offering these additional payment methods Shoppers will be able to pay in-store and online with these cards at Barclaycard merchants Barclaycard, which processes nearly half of the UK's credit and debit card transactions, today announces that it will start accepting cards that run on the Discover Global Network across its UK merchant network. Barclaycard and Discover Global Network have reached an agreement whereby Barclaycard's merchants are now able to accept Discover, Diners Club International and affiliate network cards both in-store and online. Accepting these payment methods allows Barclaycard's merchants to process transactions from the customers of Discover Global Network's more than 10 network alliance partners and 55 countries where Diners Club cards are issued. Cardholders are now able to pay at over 110,000 of Barclaycard's UK merchants both in-store and online, with thousands more merchants set to start accepting Discover Global Network cards over the course of the year. With growing numbers of overseas tourists and business travellers coming to the UK, Barclaycard's extensive business customer base which covers hotels, restaurants, travel providers, retail outlets and many other sectors stand to benefit by offering these additional payment methods. Overseas visitors and international shoppers are an ever-increasing customer segment for merchants. In 2017, the 39.2 million overseas visitors to UK spent a record of 24.5 billion, which marked a nine percent increase in value compared with the previous year*. "This partnership marks an important milestone for our business," said Rob Cameron, CEO of payment acceptance at Barclaycard "Following the significant investment we have made in our platform, UK merchants are now able to seamlessly accept new payment methods. "For the first time, Discover Global Network's extensive cardholder base will be able to purchase from our UK merchants whether they're in-store visiting the UK or shopping online from abroad. It also benefits our business customers as they can serve a wider audience, which ultimately could boost sales." "The UK continues to be a top destination for our cardholders who travel from around the world," said Amy Parsons, senior vice president of global acceptance at Discover. "Partnering with Barclaycard will provide merchant acceptance at the places where they are most likely to shop and create a more positive experience." Discover Global Network has more than 44 million merchant acceptance locations and two million ATM cash access locations across 190 countries and territories. Discover has established network to network alliances across the globe, including relationships in China, Japan, Korea, India, Brazil, Turkey, Nigeria and throughout Europe. Notes to editors *https://www.visitbritain.org/visitor-economy-facts Merchants wishing to find out more should contact their Barclaycard Account Manager. About Barclaycard Barclaycard is a leading global payment business that helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and take payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit and point-of-sale finance. In 2017 we processed over 250bn in transactions globally. Barclaycard is a pioneer of new forms of payment and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting-edge forms of payment for the future. We also partner with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit. home.barclaycard Follow us on Twitter @BarclaycardNews About Discover Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its direct banking business. It operates the Discover Global Network comprised of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in 190 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190301005418/en/ Contacts: Phillipa Russell Barclaycard +44 (0) 207 116 5473 phillipa.russell@barclaycard.co.uk Sarah Grage Silberman Discover/Diners Club International +1-224-405-6029 sarahgragesilberman@discover.com @Discover_News CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: "EPL") has received notice from optionee Roughrider Resources Ltd. ("Roughrider"; TSX-V: "REL") that it wishes to terminate the option agreements relating to the Brownell Lake (VMS-polymetallic) and Olson (gold) exploration properties located 120km east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan in order to focus efforts elsewhere. Brownell Project Summary: See the Brownell project map here. The Brownell Lake Project is host to regionally-sheared, highly-strained meta-volcanic rocks which are considered to be prospective for volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") mineralization. Highlight drilling results include 3.35 m of 0.48% Cu, 2.28% Zn, 1.46 g/t Au; 2.2 m of 6% Zn; and 20.5 m of 0.49% Cu. Historic work has delineated a 2600m mineralized EM/magnetic anomaly, with an additional 1700 m of prospective magnetic anomaly that remains untested by electromagnetics and diamond drilling. Results are historical in nature and have not been confirmed by Eagle Plains, but are considered to be reliable and will form a basis for ongoing work. During 2018, Eagle Plains and Roughrider completed a comprehensive geological compilation of all existing data on the property, followed by a $100,000 exploration program consisting of ground geophysics, geological mapping, soil sampling, resampling of historic core and sampling and survey of existing collar locations. As a result of this work, Eagle Plain's geologists consider the property to be drill-ready, with the objective of expanding the known mineralized trend and defining a maiden NI 43-101-compliant resource. The 2018 ground magnetic-VLF surveying agreed well with historical data and was successful in extending the magnetic-conductive trend associated with the Brownell Lake Cu-Zn Zone ~1.2 km to the east. Analysis and correlation of whole rock geochemical results from both surface sampling and drill core indicate the presence of alteration signatures consistent with base-metal-rich hydrothermal systems. Past drilling was successful in establishing mineralization near-surface, but only one fence tested the zone to any moderate depth. In this area, drilling indicated that not only did the deposit continue down-dip to a depth of at least 134 m, but also that the grade and thickness of the mineralization increased (Saskatchewan Assessment Report 63M04-0007). In addition, historical drilling by INCO in the late 1950's to early 1960's only assayed for Cu and Ni, whereas more recent drilling indicates that copper mineralization is associated with significant Zn, Ag and Au grades, which were not considered in early resource estimates. Olson Project Summary: See the Olson project map here. The Olson project is host to regionally-sheared, highly-strained meta-volcanic rocks which are considered to be prospective for orogenic gold mineralization. The Olson project area is host to 29 mineral occurrences defined by historical geological mapping, prospecting, trenching and 4700 m of diamond drilling. Historical drilling has intersected 7.5 m grading 2.07 g/t Au including 13.00 g/t Au over 0.65 m and grab samples of up to 105.52 g/t Au. The project is considered to be significantly underexplored, with known gold occurrences open at depth and along strike. Results are historical in nature and have not been confirmed by Eagle Plains but are considered to be reliable and will form a basis for ongoing work. In 2018, Eagle Plains and Roughrider completed a detailed compilation of existing data, followed by a 2- Phase, $150,000 field program which consisted of geological mapping and prospecting and the collection of a total of 862 soil samples and 126 rock samples. The 2018 field program verified the results of historical work and identified additional targets in areas that were previously unexplored. Grid soil geochemistry highlighted two main areas with extensive gold in soil anomalies. Soil geochemical values ranged from below detection to a maximum of 2704.6 ppb Au, with 6 samples returning greater than 1000 ppb Au. In the Jena area, soil geochemistry delineated a 1.4 km strike length of anomalous soil results greater than 80 ppb Au with a maximum of 1346 ppb Au. The Ackbar-Tuscan-Point area also returned promising results, with a 300m by 100m zone returning values greater than 80 ppb Au and a maximum of 2704.6 ppb Au. Soil geochemistry at the Olson and Juba showing areas returned lower values, likely related to thick clay and soil cover in these areas. Prospecting in the areas of anomalous soil geochemistry identified gold mineralization associated with shear-hosted quartz veins. Analytical results ranged from below detection to a maximum of 45.1 g/t Au, with 20 grab samples returning greater than 1000 ppb Au. The Olson area had a maximum assay of 41g/t Au from a grab sample of sheeted veins. The Jena area had 20 samples in excess of 1000 ppb Au with a maximum assay of 15.7 g/t Au from quartz-arsenopyrite veins. At the Juba occurrence, a grab sample returned 13.1 g/t Au. Mineralization at the Point and Tuscan area returned maximum values of 9.8 g/t Au at the Point and 45.1 g/t Au at Tuscan. The next phase of work will focus on defining targets for diamond drilling. Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has prepared, reviewed, and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release. Analytical and QA/QC Procedures All samples were shipped to Bureau Veritas in Vancouver BC for analytical work. Soil samples were analyzed for 37 major and trace elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. For Brownell project work, rock and drill core samples were analysed using total whole rock characterization. Major oxides, precious metals and base metals were analyzed using ICP-ES and MS methods with a total of 65 elements analysed. For Olson project work, rock samples were analyzed with ICP-MS analysis for 35 major and trace elements. Gold was analysed using fire assay atomic absorption analysis. A 30g split for gravimetric fire assay was also used for gold analysis for samples that had over 10 ppm Au. Quality control and assurance (QA/QC) was done using in house Bureau Veritas protocols consisting of reject duplicates, blank and certified reference materials. About Eagle Plains Resources Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team. Managements' current focus is to preserve its treasury while advancing its most promising exploration projects. In addition, Eagle Plains continues to seek out and secure high-quality, unencumbered projects through research, staking and strategic acquisitions. Since 2012, Eagle Plains has added to its portfolio a number of new projects exceeding 130,000 ha targeting mainly gold, uranium and base-metals in Saskatchewan, a highly-prospective mining jurisdiction which was recently recognized by the Fraser Institute as the second best place in the world in terms of Investment Attractiveness. Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices. Expenditures from 2011-2018 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $20M, most of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 30,000 m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim J. Termuende" President and CEO For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673) Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. SOURCE: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537502/Eagle-Plains-Updates-Brownell-Lake-Olson-Projects Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - The Securities and Exchange Commission celebrated African American History Month with events in its Regional Offices and a presentation by scholar and award-winning filmmaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to discuss his latest documentary series, "Reconstruction: America After the Civil War," at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. This year's African American History Month theme, "Black Migrations," focuses on the movement of African Americans throughout the United States from the early 20th century to today. Hosted by the SEC's African American Council and the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, Dr. Gates' presentation culminated a month of events throughout the agency. Dr. Gates has written a number of books and created documentary films and educational programming, including "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross" and the television program, "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." In introducing Dr. Gates, Chairman Jay Clayton remarked, "I believe in our quest for a pluralistic and inclusive society where opportunity and support are broadly and fairly distributed and our past failures-particularly in the area of race-are faced head on and provide us with the tools to do better. It is people like Dr. Gates who give us that context and enable us to communicate better, who help us on this journey." During a discussion about the importance of expanding economic opportunity for everyone, Dr. Gates noted the larger implications of these efforts, "If people think that they have no hope, then they do hopeless things." He added, "We have to reshape the economy such that people believe in the future again." Dr. Henry Louis Gates (center) answered questions during a fireside chat with Chairman Jay Clayton (left) and Glenn Hutchins (right), Chair of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. Staff at the SEC's headquarters in Washington, D.C. watch a presentation by Dr. Henry Louis Gates in honor of African American History Month. The SEC also celebrated the important contributions of African Americans in law, culture, and history with events at its Regional Offices. The Atlanta Regional Office hosted Christy Garrison, teacher at Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Samuel T. Livingston, associate professor and director of the African American Studies Program at Morehouse College and Deryl Bailey, professor and admissions coordinator, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services in the University of Georgia's College of Education for a program about the movements of Americans of African descent to new locations throughout the United States and the new economic and social realities they experienced. The staff of the Chicago Regional Office heard the fascinating history of gospel music from its beginnings to the present, along with recordings and sung examples, as explained by E. Patrick Johnson, PhD, Chair of the Department of African American Studies and Carlos Montezuma Professor of African American Studies and Performance Studies at Northwestern University. The presentation included technical descriptions and demonstrations of musical characteristics of gospel music from its origins in nineteenth century hymns of the south through present day. It explored melodic lines and harmonic structures that are indicative of past and modern day gospel music as well as its influences on modern day blues and jazz. Dr. Johnson explained the use of syncopated instrumentation to the "worrying" of notes, made famous by gospel greats such as Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, Shirley Caesar, and the father of gospel music, Mr. Thomas Dorsey. The New York Regional Office hosted Rob Fields, president and executive director of the Weeksville Heritage Center. He discussed the history of Weeksville, the second-largest slavery-free African American community in pre-Civil War America. The Philadelphia Regional Office hosted Mark C. Alexander, Esq., dean and professor of law at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law. Mr. Alexander shared experiences from his legal career and highlighted a few current legal issues in the election law arena. "Thank you to all who contributed to the SEC's celebration of African American History Month, particularly those at the African American Council and the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion," said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. "On a personal note, it was a great honor to host Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and, in particular, to hear his insight about how our world has been shaped by matters of race and by economic circumstances, and that widely-distributed economic opportunity is important to the betterment of our society. This reminded all of us at the SEC of the significance of our responsibility to America's investors." Dr. Henry Louis Gates (center) with Naseem Nixon and Olawale Oriola, Co-Chairs of the SEC's African American Council. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 1 2019 / Entrepreneur Chris Frederick has announced that he is hosting a networking event entitled 'Branding Bootcamp' in Miami, Florida on March 8th through the 11th. The purpose of this event is to teach young entrepreneurs what it takes to be successful and to provide them with the skills necessary for them to achieve success. Anyone interested in attending this event can still purchase tickets, but they are selling out fast. People have described Frederick as a 'serial entrepreneur,' and they would be right. He has established several successful businesses over the years. A big reason for his success can be attributed to networking. At this upcoming event, he will be talking about how to generate multiple streams of income by using practical networking strategies. The ideal target audience for the Branding Bootcamp event is aspiring entrepreneurs who need inspiration and knowledge. Chris Frederick will be joined by co-hosts Jeremy Bishop and Cody Kerns. Kerns is the CEO of ICOMEUP, and Bishop is the Vice President of Marketing at ICOMEUP. Aside from being a serial entrepreneur, Frederick has also established himself as a bigtime influencer on Instagram. At ChrisFrederick.com, Frederick assists entrepreneurs with their networking endeavors by utilizing his Instagram following, which includes over 300 million connections. When these entrepreneurs attend the event, they'll learn how to build their brand and take their business to the next level. There is one philosophy which comes out of making money, according to Frederick. You need to spend a little money in order to make a lot of money. If you can learn to do that, success will follow. This is what Frederick will talk about at Branding Bootcamp. He'll also reveal the income streams which made him the most money. Most importantly, he'll go over everything there is to know about increasing productivity and networking. Anyone who attends the event can write it off as a tax deduction. It is open to entrepreneurs of several levels, starting from entry level all the way to the VIP level and Super VIP level. For each person who attends, a private session will be available to them which teaches things like content creation, detailed sales training, customizing and editing photographs and videos, 2-day access to a mansion, and brand development. Those who are at a higher level of entry will receive additional bonuses too. About Entrepreneur Chris Frederick Chris Frederick is both an entrepreneur and a father, and he works hard at both. He tries to be better at both every single day to inspire Carter Frederick, his son. As of 2019, Frederick has over 7 different income streams and businesses. His most notable one is an exotic car rental company. As an Instagram influencer, he sells promotional advertisements for his clients. They usually see substantial growth to their businesses after just 3 days, resulting in thousands of new connections and followers. It helps that Frederick is a direct sales representative who is a top producer in his field. His expertise is to train other people and show them how to sell valuable items over the internet. Outside of his own businesses, Frederick invests in several other start-up businesses too, such as Core 22. You may contact Chris on Instagram or email: cfmagic@icloud.com SOURCE: MentionWorth View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537431/Entrepreneur-Chris-Frederick-to-Host-a-Miami-Networking-Event-in-March-2019 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Highvista Gold Inc. (TSXV: HVV) ("Highvista" or the "Company") announces that the Board of Directors of the Company has appointed John L. Burns as a director to fill one of the vacancies on the Board of Directors. The Board has also appointed Mr. Burns as the acting CEO of the Company. Mr. Burns is a former senior partner of the national law firm of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP where he was head of the National Corporate / Commercial Law Practice Group. John brings his considerable expertise, gained in over 35 years in the practice of corporate and commercial law in Canada for both private and public companies. John is currently Corporate Counsel to Prince Arthur Capital Corporation, a real estate investment company, and Corpfinance International Inc., a boutique investment bank. In 1992, in recognition of his significant volunteer work with community-based organizations, John was awarded the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada by the Governor General of Canada. John holds a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and an LLB from the University of Ottawa. The current Board of the Company will now consists of Gerald P. McCarvill, G. Edmund King, Dr. Ruben Shiffman and John L. Burns. "We are fortunate to have someone of John's caliber and experience step up to lead Highvista in the next phase of Highvista's development," said Dr. Ruben Shiffman. "We are at a critical moment and we need competent leadership to successfully implement our strategy ahead. John has a strong understanding of capital markets and the legal process required to restructure the company and move it forward. " For further information, please contact: Highvista Gold Inc. John L. Burns, Acting Chief Executive Officer Tel: (416) 420-9129 Fax: (416) 504-4129 Reader Advisory This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "will", "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Highvista Gold Inc.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.highvistagold.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS PRESS RELEASE. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43171 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Andrew Thomson (the "Acquiror") has today filed an early warning report (the "Early Warning Report") advising of his acquisition of units (the "Units") of Palamina Corp. (the "Company"). Pursuant to a private placement of Units of the Company, the Acquiror purchased 70,000 Units at a price of $0.30 per Unit, each Unit comprised of one Common Share and one Common Share purchase warrant (the "Warrants"). Each Warrant is exercisable to acquire one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.50 until February 28, 2021, provided that, if after four months and one day after the Closing Date the closing price of the Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange is equal to or greater than $0.90 for a period of 10 consecutive trading days, the Reporting Issuer may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by disseminating a press release and in such case the Warrants will expire on the 45th day after the date on which such press release is disseminated. As indicated in the Acquioror's prior early warning report dated December 3, 2018 the Acquiror beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, directly or indirectly, (a) 2,690,369 Common Shares; (b) 700,000 Options; and (c) 196,667 Warrants, representing 12% of the outstanding Common Shares of the Reporting Issuer on an undiluted basis. Following the disposition of 4,167 Common Shares and 300,000 stock options of the Company and immediately before purchasing the Units, the Acquiror beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, directly or indirectly: (a) 2,686,202 Common Shares; (b) options to purchase 400,000 Common Shares (the "Options"); and (c) Warrants to purchase 196,667 Common Shares, representing an aggregate of 3,282,869 Common Shares owned, controlled or issuable, or 10.72% of the outstanding Common Shares immediately prior to the acquisition of the Units, on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of the Options and Warrants. After purchasing the Units, the Acquiror beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, directly or indirectly, 2,756,202 Common Shares, 400,000 Options and 266,667 Warrants, representing 9.4% of the outstanding Common Shares of the Reporting Issuer on a partially diluted basis. The Units were purchased for investment purposes. The Acquiror may, from time to time, take such actions in respect of its holdings in securities of the Company as it may deem appropriate in light of the circumstances then existing, including (i) acquiring, exercising, converting, exchanging, selling or otherwise disposing of securities of the Company or securities exercisable for, or convertible or exchangeable into, securities of the Company, and (ii) developing plans or intentions or taking actions which relate to or would result in one or more of the transactions or matters referred to in paragraphs (a) through (k) of Item 5 of the Early Warning Report filed on SEDAR. This news release is being issued as required by National Instrument 62-104 - Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids and relates to the Company, whose head office is located at 145 King Street West, Suite 2870, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 1J8, and to the Acquiror. A copy of the Early Warning Report can be obtained at www.sedar.com under the Company's company profile, or by contacting Andrew Thomson at 145 King Street West, Suite 2870, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 1J8, telephone: (416) 204-7536. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43170 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Enforcer Gold Corp (TSXV: VEIN) (FSE: N071) ("Enforcer" or the "Company") announces a proposed non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $450,000 comprised of up to 9,000,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit (each such unit being comprised of one common share and one warrant) (the "Offering"). Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share for $0.10 at any time within 3 years after closing. All securities issued pursuant to this private placement will be subject to a four (4) month hold period. The Company proposes to pay to eligible finders a finder's fee in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. Completion of the Offering is subject to receipt of all required regulatory and TSX Venture Exchange approvals. The Company intends use the proceeds of the Private Placement for general working capital purposes. About Enforcer Gold Corp Enforcer Gold Corp is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company and is earning a 50% interest in the royalty-free Roger project from SOQUEM. Roger hosts the Mop-II gold-copper deposit located 5 km from the historic mining center of Chibougamau, Quebec. For further information, please visit www.enforcergold.com or contact: Steve Dunn, President & CEO T: (416) 361-2827 E: contact@enforcergold.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release contains "forward-looking statements" that are based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's plans with respect to completion of a share consolidation, the ability to raise the funds to finance its ongoing business activities including the acquisition of mineral projects and the exploration and development of its projects. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to, the results of exploration activities; the ability of the Company to complete further exploration activities; the ability of the Company to complete transactions on terms announced; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms and those risk factors outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis as filed on SEDAR. Enforcer Gold does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43172 Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Benchmark Metals Inc. (TSXV: BNCH) (OTCQB: CYRTF) (WKN: A2JM2X) (the "Company" or "Benchmark") - is pleased to report a large radiometric geophysical anomaly covering approximately 50% of its newly acquired ~20km2 Lawyers Extension Property. Together with the adjoining ~100km2 property of the Lawyers Gold & Silver Project, this extension brings the known length of Lawyers Trend to at least 20 kilometres. The Lawyers Trend is located in the prolific Stikine Terrane of the Toodoggone Mineral District, which also hosts the Golden Triangle region of British Columbia, Canada. CEO John Williamson commented: "The radiometric anomaly is coincident with historical and recent gold and silver results at the Lawyers Extension, further supporting our hypothesis of a regional scale gold and silver system. In addition, the north-south striking E-Grid Target that lies outside of Lawyers Trend is also coincident with a radiometric anomaly and gold and silver mineralization. The emergence of such a widespread regional mineralized system contained within our property area is another great milestone for our team and it bodes well for the investors who share in our successes as we continue to systematically identify and explore large land packages for multimillion ounce resources." The following location map and geophysical signatures across the Lawyers Trend. Geophysical Anomalies To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6169/43158_31a2416594c8faf3_001full.jpg At the Cliff Creek (CC), Dukes Ridge (DR), Phoenix (PX) and ABG zones, a large 5km by 4km radiometric anomaly is coincident with potassic alteration, anomalous soil and rock geochemistry and high-grade gold-silver drill results. The K/Th ratio from the radiometric aerial survey highlights areas of known mineralisation. The strong response is due to the addition of potassium to the rock when they are altered by the mineralizing fluids, making radiometrics a very powerful targeting tool. The magnetic response also highlights the areas of alteration and potential structural trends, and is useful when used in conjunction with the radiometrics and field mapping. Drill intersections of 5.76 g/t Au, 128.65 g/t Ag over 33.52m, including 52.02 g/t Au , 846.44 g/t Ag over 3.05m at Dukes Ridge, will increase the maiden resource estimate. As well, Marmot Zone has provided anomalous gold-silver rock samples at surface, including up to 61.3 g/t gold and 3,890 g/t silver in selective samples (reported November 22, 2018). Radiometrics have expanded the Marmot signature to an area of ~1.5 km2. The new magnetic, electomagnetic and radiometric data will aid in delineating new targets for drilling and focussing resource expansion drilling in 2019. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Benchmark Metals Inc. Benchmark is a Canadian mineral exploration company with its common shares listed for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the OTCQB Venture Market in the United States and the Tradegate Exchange in Europe. Benchmark is managed by proven resource sector professionals, who have a track record of advancing exploration projects from grassroots scenarios through to production. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS s/ "John Williamson" John Williamson, Chief Executive Officer For further information, please contact: Jim Greig, President jimg@BNCHmetals.com Tel: (604) 260-6977 Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain "forward looking statements". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43158 (2) Reflects the number of positions in issuers in which the Company has previously publicly disclosed an investment, which occurs after the Company has completed its accumulation. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. Multiple financial instruments (for example, common stock and derivatives on common stock) associated with one (1) issuer count as one (1) position. A position that is included in the number of positions will be removed from the table only if the investment becomes 0.0% of the portfolio. (3) For the purpose of determining the equity and debt exposures, investments are valued as follows: (a) equity or debt is valued at market value, (b) options referencing equity or debt are valued at market value, (c) long call options and short put options (or vice-versa, short call options and long put options) held on the same underlying issuer and with the same strike and same expiry are grouped together and treated as synthetic equity positions, and are valued at the market value of the equivalent long equity position (or vice-versa, the equivalent short equity position), and (d) swaps or forwards referencing equity or debt are valued at the market value of the notional equity or debt underlying the swaps or forwards. Whether a position is deemed to be long or short is determined by whether an investment has positive or negative exposure to price increases or decreases. For example, long puts are deemed to be short exposure. (4) Includes all issuer equity, debt, and derivatives related to issuer equity and debt, and associated currency hedges. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. The market values of associated currency hedges are included as part of the associated investment. In the event that there is a change in market cap category with respect to any non-publicly disclosed position, this information is not updated until such position is publicly disclosed. (5) Portfolio composition is reflective of the publicly disclosed portfolio positions as of the date of this report. A position in an issuer is only assigned to a sector once it has been publicly disclosed. (6) "Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. AUM" equals the assets under management of Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. Any performance fees crystallized as of the end of the year will be reflected in the following period's AUM. (7) "Total Strategy AUM" equals the aggregate assets under management of Pershing Square, L.P., Pershing Square International, Ltd., Pershing Square II, L.P. and Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (collectively, the "Core Funds"). Redemptions effective as of the end of any period (including redemptions attributable to crystallized performance fees/allocations, if any) will be reflected in the following period's AUM. (8) "Total Firm AUM" is the aggregate of Total Strategy AUM and the assets under management of Pershing Square VI Master, L.P. which operates as a co-investment vehicle investing primarily in securities of (or otherwise seeking to be exposed to the value of securities issued by) Automatic Data Processing, Inc. ("PSVI") without double counting investments by any Core Fund in PSVI. Update on Scout Drilling in Ecuador Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARU) ("Aurania" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will be attending the PDAC 2019 International Convention being held March 3rd - March 6th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) in Toronto, Canada. A list of events in which the Company will be participating in, is listed below. The Company is also pleased to provide an update on its initial scout drilling program in southeastern Ecuador. Booth Location Aurania will be exhibiting at booth 2905 in the Investors Exchange from Sunday, March 3th - Wednesday, March 6th at the MTCC. The Investors Exchange is located in the South Building, Level 800. Members of the Management team will be available at the booth to discuss the Company's Lost Cities - Cutucu Project in Ecuador. New this year: a virtual reality experience in the field! Ecuador Day Presentation Aurania's CEO and Chairman, Dr. Keith Barron will be speaking at Ecuador Day on Sunday, March 3rd during Session 2- Project Updates between 4:50-6:00pm in Room 205D at the MTCC. Ecuador Day will run from 2:00-6:00pm and will include an update on Ecuadorian Government Mining Regulation & Permitting from Mr. Fernando Benalcazar, Vice-Minister of Mining. This event is open to all registered attendees of PDAC and should provide an excellent update on various government initiatives. A session titled "Update on Ecuador Mining Policies" will be held on Sunday March 3rd from 8:00am-12:30pm in Room 205D at the MTCC. This event is being organized by Government of the Republic of Ecuador and Solaris Copper Inc. The Government of Ecuador's update on mining policies session will provide a comprehensive political, legal, social, economic and practical perspective of the opportunities, experiences and challenges for the mining industry in Ecuador. For more information visit the PDAC website. Shareholder Meet and Greet with Management The Company is hosting a meet-and-greet on Sunday, March 3rd from 5:30 - 8:30pm in Salon 1, 19th Floor, at The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, 100 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario. Corporate Presentation Forum for Investors Aurania's President, Dr. Richard Spencer will be speaking during the Gold Exploration 1 Session on Monday, March 4, 2019 from 2:30-2:45pm in Room 802, MTCC. Dr. Spencer will provide an overview and update on the Company's Lost Cities - Cutucu Project in Ecuador. The Corporate Presentation Forum for Investors is open to all registered attendees of PDAC. The PDAC International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange is the world's leading convention for people, companies and organizations in, or connected with, mineral exploration. For information on registration for PDAC, visit http://www.pdac.ca/convention/registration/registration-information Update on Drilling The Company's drilling authorization at Crunchy Hill has been issued, the drill is on site at the first drill platform and is expected to commence operations within the next couple of days. The Company has put together a short video to describe how field mapping and analytical results have been combined to define the first drill target at Crunchy Hill: http://www.aurania.com/investors/media/target-series/from-field-mapping-to-drill-concept/ About Aurania Aurania is a junior mineral exploration company engaged in the identification, evaluation, acquisition and exploration of mineral property interests, with a focus on precious metals and copper. Its flagship asset, The Lost Cities - Cutucu Project, is located in the Jurassic Metallogenic Belt in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountain range of southeastern Ecuador. Information on Aurania and technical reports are available at www.aurania.com and www.sedar.com, as well as on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/auranialtd/, Twitter at https://twitter.com/auranialtd, and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/aurania-resources-ltd-. For further information, please contact: Carolyn Muir Manager - Investor Services Aurania Resources Ltd. (416) 367-3200 carolyn.muir@aurania.com Dr. Richard Spencer President Aurania Resources Ltd. (416) 367-3200 richard.spencer@aurania.com Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the control of Aurania. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe Aurania's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that Aurania or its management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to Aurania, Aurania provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, Aurania's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the corporation's portfolio, treasury, management team and enhanced capital markets profile, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, failure to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, regulatory, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, inability to fulfill the duty to accommodate indigenous peoples, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in Aurania's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Aurania believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Aurania disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43175 TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / AurCrest Gold Inc. (the "Company" or "AurCrest") (TSX-V: AGO) (FRANKFURT: TM8A, WKN: A0YG1K) wishes to announce that Mr. Russell Wesley has resigned as a Director of the Company. Mr. Wesley will be focusing on his work with indigenous education. Christopher Angeconeb, President and CEO, states, "Mr. Wesley is a highly-regarded community leader and policy-maker in the indigenous landscape of Ontario, and an invaluable resource to the shareholders, Board, and management of this Company. Therefore, the Company will retain Mr. Wesley in a consultancy capacity when and as needed, to ensure that his unique wealth of knowledge, experience and understanding of the indigenous viewpoint toward governance and economic development is available to the Company and our shareholders." About AurCrest Gold Inc. AurCrest is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold properties. AurCrest has a portfolio of properties in Ontario, which include the Richardson Lake and Bridget Lake gold properties. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: AurCrest Gold Inc. Christopher Angeconeb President and C.E.O (807) 737-5353 christopherangeconeb@gmail.com Ian Brodie-Brown Director of Business Development (416) 844-9969 ianbrodiebrown@gmail.com Forward Looking Statement: Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: changes in the world wide price of mineral commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risks associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events may differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. AurCrest undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking 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. SOURCE: AurCrest Gold Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537529/AurCrest-Announces-Resignation-of-Russell-Wesley-as-a-Director Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - EMX Royalty Corporation (TSXV: EMX) (NYSE American: EMX) (the "Company" or "EMX") is pleased to announce the execution of an exploration and option agreement (the "Agreement") for the Rstvangen volcanogenic massive sulfide ("VMS") property and Vakkerlien nickel-copper-cobalt property in Norway (collectively the "Project") with Playfair Mining Ltd. ("Playfair") (TSXV: PLY). The Agreement provides EMX with immediate share equity in Playfair, and upon Playfair's completion of the option terms and other consideration, a 9.9% interest in Playfair, a 3% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty on the Project, and advance royalty payments. The Rstvangen property hosts a >30 kilometer long trend of geophysical anomalies and VMS-type mineralization, as well as the Kvikne copper deposits, that occur in one of Norway's oldest mining districts. On the directly adjoining Vakkerlien property, nickel mineralization was discovered in the 1870s, and was the subject of drill campaigns from the 1970s through the early 2000s that led to the discovery of nickel-copper-cobalt mineralization. Commercial Terms Overview. Pursuant to the Agreement, Playfair can earn 100% interest in the Project by the issuance of shares to EMX and performance of work during the one-year option period, as described below (all dollar amounts in CDN): On signing the Agreement, subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance, Playfair will issue to EMX 3 million common shares of Playfair stock. As a condition to the exercise of the option, Playfair must complete work commitments of at least $250,000 on the Project, and must raise such capital by May 15, 2019. Upon exercise of the option, Playfair will issue to EMX an additional 3 million shares of Playfair stock, and EMX will receive a 3% NSR royalty on the properties comprising the Project. Within six years of the execution of the Agreement, Playfair may purchase 1% of the NSR royalty in 0.5% increments for a total of $3,000,000, leaving EMX with a 2.0% NSR royalty. EMX will also receive annual advance royalty ("AAR") payments of $30,000 commencing on the second anniversary of the option exercise, with the AAR payments increasing by $5,000 per year until reaching $80,000 per year. AARs may be paid in cash or Playfair shares, subject to certain conditions. After the exercise of the option, further conditions of the Agreement include: Playfair will use commercially reasonable efforts to raise an additional $2,750,000 for advancement of the Project and other activities, and will drill at least 2,000 meters on the Project before the third anniversary of the Agreement effective date. Within two years of the execution date, Playfair will issue to EMX that number of common shares of Playfair that will increase EMX's equity ownership in Playfair to 9.9%. Thereafter, Playfair will have the continuing obligation to issue additional shares of Playfair to EMX to maintain its 9.9% interest in Playfair, at no additional cost to EMX, until Playfair has raised a cumulative $3,000,000 in equity; thereafter EMX will have the right to participate pro-rata in future financings at its own cost to maintain its 9.9% interest in Playfair. Playfair will issue the equivalent of $250,000 in common shares of Playfair to EMX upon the earlier of: the filing of a Preliminary Economic Assessment technical report, the filing of an initial Resource Estimate technical report, the fifth anniversary of the option exercise date. The issuance of additional shares of Playfair to EMX will be limited to a maximum 9.9% equity ownership in Playfair by EMX. The issuance of Playfair shares to EMX as set forth in the Agreement is subject to receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval. Overview of Project. The Rstvangen property is located approximately 300 kilometers north of Oslo, and hosts the "Kvikne Copper Works", one of Norway's oldest base metal mining districts. Copper mineralization was discovered at Kvikne in 1629, followed by 150 years of mineral production. The mineralization at Kvikne is VMS-type, with enrichments of copper and gold. The Kvikne deposits are positioned along a >30 kilometer long trend of geophysical anomalies and VMS-type mineral occurrences that form multiple parallel belts across the property. These belts have seen little modern exploration work, and only a few historic drill holes, despite the widespread VMS occurrences and historic mining activities. The Vakkerlien nickel-copper-cobalt property directly adjoins the Rstvangen exploration licenses. Nickel was discovered on the property in the 1870s, when small scale mining was conducted in the district. Further exploration by Falconbridge Limited and Blackstone Ventures Inc. from 1975 through the early 2000s led to the drilling and discovery of nickel-copper-cobalt mineralization to the southeast of the historic workings. The mineralization is associated with, and hosted by, a mid-Proterozoic gabbroic intrusive complex, and is interpreted to be a magmatic sulfide deposit type. Gold and platinum group element ("PGE") content remains poorly understood and in need of further assessment. EMX and Playfair are planning to commence exploration programs in the upcoming spring and summer months, which will include property-scale sampling, reconnaissance mapping and geophysical surveys. The intent of the programs is to rapidly identify additional exploration targets for drill testing. Dr. Eric P. Jensen, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified and approved the disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release. About EMX. EMX leverages asset ownership and exploration insight into partnerships that advance our mineral properties, with EMX receiving pre-production payments and retaining royalty interests. EMX complements its royalty generation initiatives with royalty acquisitions and strategic investments. Please see www.EMXroyalty.com for more information. -30- For further information contact: David M. Cole President and Chief Executive Officer Phone: (303) 979-6666 Email: Dave@EMXroyalty.com Scott Close Director of Investor Relations Phone: (303) 973-8585 Email: SClose@EMXroyalty.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain "forward looking statements" that reflect the Company's current expectations and projections about its future results. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding perceived merits of properties, exploration results and budgets, mineral reserves and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, timelines, strategic plans, market prices for precious and base metal, or other statements that are not statements of fact. When used in this news release, words such as "estimate," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "will", "believe", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which, by their very nature, are not guarantees of the Company's future operational or financial performance, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors may include, but are not limited to: unavailability of financing, failure to identify commercially viable mineral reserves, fluctuations in the market valuation for commodities, difficulties in obtaining required approvals for the development of a mineral project, increased regulatory compliance costs, expectations of project funding by joint venture partners and other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date otherwise specifically indicated herein. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified in this news release, and other risk factors and forward-looking statements listed in the Company's MD&A for the nine month period that ended on September 30, 2018 (the "MD&A"), and the most recently filed Form 20-F for the year that ended on December 31, 2017, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. More information about the Company, including the MD&A, the 20-F and financial statements of the Company, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the SEC's EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43166 Accordingly, as many as 21 private firms have been identified for negotiations to obtain permission for getting eligible employees registered in the Ayushman Bharat health care scheme. The government plans to rope in the huge employee base of big private firms to bring them under the cover of its ambitious health care plan, Ayushman Bharat, said a media report. Accordingly, as many as 21 private firms have been identified for negotiations to obtain permission for getting eligible employees registered in the Ayushman Bharat health care scheme, said a report in Business Standard. As an initial move towards this, Ayushman Bharat has inked a pact with Uber India for offering health cover to its deserving driver-partners after identifying them, said the report. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in September last year, reported PTI. The insurance scheme aims to provide an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. The programme will benefit about 10 crore poor households, or 50 crore people. The scheme is estimated to cost about 12,000 crore annually. It will cover 1,300 illnesses, including serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, and pre-existing illnesses. Private hospitals, too, will be part of this scheme. The amount of Rs 5 lakh will cover investigations, medicine and pre-hospitalisation expenses, etc.," Modi had said during the launch of the health care scheme. Last month, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had said the government might provide more funds for Ayushman Bharat next year. In the last four months of its launch, the scheme has already benefited over 10 lakh people, he said. "The government has already provided half-a-billion dollar funding for the programme. We expect to provide much more funds in the next year," he said. The interim Budget presented last week has raised the allocation for Ayushman Bharat scheme to Rs 6,400 crore for 2019-2020. Improvement of infrastructure of health care also opens up huge opportunities for companies around the world to participate in effort to expand the health care system, he said. In January this year, the railway ministry had said that its hospitals across the country would soon provide treatment to eligible families under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The the apex body implementing the insurance programme, National Health Authority (NHA), had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Railways in this regard. As per the MoU, identified medical establishments having inpatient hospitalisations under the Ministry's Railway Health Services department across its 16 zones will be empanelled with the PMJAY to implement the scheme. With PTI inputs Turmeric prices hovered around Rs 85,000 ($1,200) a tonne in December and started sliding in January New Delhi: A bumper harvest has led to a crash in turmeric prices in India, the worlds biggest producer and exporter of the bright yellow spice, causing furious farmers to stage protests in key growing regions demanding government help, growers and traders said. Turmeric, which holds antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, has been gaining in popularity among health-conscious consumers around the world in recent years. But it is still predominantly used in a variety of tangy curries, aromatic biryani and other food products. It is also considered auspicious and it is smeared onto the faces of both the bride and groom ahead of weddings in a ceremony meant to bring good health. This years bumper crop is the result of a boom in last years planting after prices soared in 2018 due to lower output and depleted stocks. Now, prices have slumped nearly 24 percent since the beginning of 2019 thanks to mounting stocks at wholesale markets. Turmeric prices have dived and desperate farmers have hit the streets to highlight their plight, said Punam Chand Gupta, a trader from Nizamabad, a key market in Telangana. Prices have been falling since January and farmers are forced to sell at really low prices. Turmeric takes nine months to mature so crops planted in June mainly show up for both domestic consumption and exports in January. Turmeric prices hovered around Rs 85,000 ($1,200) a tonne in December and started sliding in January, when the new season crop started trickling in, farmers and traders said. Prices continued to slide through January and February, and have dived now to Rs 65,000 a tonne, said another farmer in Nizamabad who only goes by one name, Abijith. The government should come to our help by either ensuring that turmeric prices go up a little or buy some of our produce at a government-set price, he said. Officials at the state-run Spices Board of India were not available for comment. Millions of Indian farmers are reeling from low farm gate prices and accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modis government of overlooking their plight. The country produces an average 6.5 million bags of 70 kg each of turmeric each year and exports about 1 million bags to countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. India accounts for about 80 percent of global turmeric exports but its overseas sales pale in comparison with its annual consumption of around 6 million bags. This years turmeric production has touched 7 million bags, up from 6 million bags in 2018, farmers and traders said. The rising production has pushed carryover stockpiles to 4 million bags through this year, they said. The crash in prices could prompt farmers to switch to other crops. Turmeric competes for acreage with crops such as soybean, pulses and tobacco that take less time to grow. The government has been working on ways to revive the fortunes of Air India, which is estimated to have a debt burden of Rs 55,000 crore. New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its "ex-post facto approval" for the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and joint ventures, a government statement said. The cabinet also gave its approval for the development of new greenfield airport at Hirasar in Gujarat's Rajkot district. An SPV named Air India Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL) was set up on 22 January last year as part of financial restructuring of the debt-laden national carrier. The statement on Thursday said, "The government has decided to transfer...to the newly-created SPV the debt of Air India Limited amounting to Rs 29,464 crore as well as non-core assets, painting and artifacts and other non-operational assets of Air India Limited". Moreover, the government said that the "subsidiaries which are not part of Air India strategic disinvestment viz. AIATSL (Air India Air Transport Services Limited), AIESL (Air India Engineering Services Limited), AASL (Airline Allied Services Limited) are to be shifted to the SPV". The government has been working on ways to revive the fortunes of Air India, which is estimated to have a debt burden of Rs 55,000 crore. The board of directors of the SPV includes director finance as well as the chairman and managing director of Air India. It also has joint secretaries of the following government departments corporate affairs, investment and public asset management, expenditure, economic affairs as its board directors. The government will provide a total of Rs 3,900 crore for servicing Air India's loans transferred to the SPV, according to interim Budget presented on 1 February. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "For disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and its remaining assets, a special purpose vehicle (SPV)'s incorporation has got the approval." According to the documents presented in the interim Budget for 2019-20, the government has decided to allocate Rs 1,300 crore for the SPV this fiscal. Besides, Rs 2,600 crore would be provided in the next financial year. "The Union Cabinet has been given ex-post facto approval for the creation of the SPV and associated activities for the disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries/JV (joint ventures)," stated a government press statement Thursday. The national carrier has been in the red since its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007. Air India is staying afloat on a bailout package extended by the previous UPA regime in 2012. The institutional framework for monetisation of the assets could also be used by other CPSEs, PSUs, government organisations and loss-making or sick CPSEs. New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday approved laying down procedure and mechanism for monetisation of non-core assets of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and immovable enemy properties assets. "The Union Cabinet has approved laying down of institutional framework for monetisation of identified non-core assets of the CPSEs under strategic disinvestment and assets relating to immovable enemy property under the custody of Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI)," an official statement said. Enemy property refers to the assets which were left behind by people who migrated to Pakistan or China and are no longer citizens of India. The institutional framework for monetisation of the assets could also be used by other CPSEs, PSUs, government organisations and loss-making or sick CPSEs. "The multi-layer institutional mechanism envisages constituting of alternative mechanism, core group of secretaries on asset monetisation and inter-ministerial group as main decision bodies," the statement, issued after the meeting of the Cabinet, said. The 'Asset Monetisation Framework', drafted by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), will help the administrative ministries to fast-track hiving off and sale of non-core assets of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) under their administrative control. The exact model for monetisation of any particular asset and model contact document shall be approved by the competent authority based on the recommendations of the technical consultants, respective administrative ministry, CPSEs, NITI Aayog, it added. The independent external monitor set up for strategic disinvestment shall oversee the process of asset monetisation as well. The approved framework shall be reviewed after two years for instituting any change including delegations on financial limits, the statement added. DIPAM, after consulting ministries and CPSEs, has already identified huge tract of land and other assets of nine state-owned companies which will be hived off before they are put on the block for strategic sale. The nine CPSEs whose non-core assets have been identified for hiving off are Pawan Hans, Scooters India, Air India, Bharat Pumps & Compressors, Project & Development India Ltd (PDIL), Hindustan Prefab, Hindustan Newsprint, Bridge and Roof Co and Hindustan Fluorocarbons. In the current financial year, the government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore, which includes strategic and minority stake sale in CPSEs. The government already 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. So far this fiscal, the government has raised over Rs 56,064 crore by divesting stakes in state-owned companies. Through the scheme, the government plans to support 10 lakh electric two-wheelers, five lakh three-wheelers, 55,000 four-wheelers and 7,000 buses. New Delhi: Automobile industry players Friday said the government's announcement of Rs 10,000-crore FAME-II scheme brings clarity and policy stability, and will provide a big fillip to the popularisation of electric vehicles in India. Industry bodies SIAM, SMEV, along with companies like Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, lauded the phase-II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME) saying it will create an environment for all players to commit investments on the journey of sustainability. "This will provide a big fillip to our joint efforts to introduce higher levels of electric mobility in the country," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Rajan Wadhera said in a statement. He further said the industry has been eagerly waiting for more than two years for announcement of a long-term policy, including finalisation of the FAME-II scheme. The three-year scheme, with significantly enhanced financial allocations, will instil tremendous confidence in the auto as well as the component industry while making long-term investment decisions in electric vehicle (EV) development and manufacturing with minimum risk, he added. Echoing similar sentiments, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) Director General Sohinder Gill said, "The support would encourage associated industry players to invest in the sector, which will further help in creating an ecosystem, locally." On Thursday, the Union Cabinet cleared Rs 10,000-crore programme under the FAME-II scheme to be implemented over a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2019. Through the scheme, the government plans to support 10 lakh electric two-wheelers, five lakh three-wheelers, 55,000 four-wheelers and 7,000 buses. In three-wheeler and four-wheeler segments, incentives will be applicable mainly on vehicles used for public transport or registered commercial purposes, while the focus will be on private vehicles in the two-wheeler segment. "The new outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over a period of three years provides a stable policy to promote green mobility in India," Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka said. Fame-II addresses key issues, including national energy security, mitigation of adverse impact of vehicles on the environment and growth of domestic technology and manufacturing capabilities, he added. "The revised FAME-II removes all the uncertainty and will put EVs in the fast lane," he said. While expressing support to the Central government's focus to boost EVs in public transportation, he also asked "local authorities to help facilitate plying of electric vehicles on Indian roads." Tata Motors President - Electric Mobility Business and Corporate Strategy Shailesh Chandra said the industry saw FAME-II as the key intervention in accelerating penetration of EVs. "It brings clarity and policy stability in the industry, thus creating an environment for all the ecosystem players to commit to the journey of sustainability," Chandra said. Lohia Auto CEO Ayush Lohia said the government support under FAME II will give electric vehicles the much-needed push in India. "It will make two and three-wheeler electric vehicles very attractive to customers as it would end up bringing down their costs viz-a-viz petrol vehicles. It will also increase sales push, consumer acceptance and help build a customer base," he added. (Reuters) - Gap Inc said on Thursday it would separate its better-performing Old Navy brand into a publicly traded company and close about 230 stores of its struggling namesake apparel business, sending its shares surging about 25 percent. Old Navy has been a bright spot for the company in recent years as its wide range of budget apparel made it more appealing to a broader base of consumers. (Reuters) - Gap Inc said on Thursday it would separate its better-performing Old Navy brand into a publicly traded company and close about 230 stores of its struggling namesake apparel business, sending its shares surging about 25 percent. Old Navy has been a bright spot for the company in recent years as its wide range of budget apparel made it more appealing to a broader base of consumers. "It's clear that Old Navy's business model and customers have increasingly diverged from our speciality brands over time," Gap's Chairman Robert Fisher said. In contrast, the Gap brand has struggled to keep up with competition from fast-fashion retailers, forcing its parent company to offer deep discounts to clear inventories. The store closures will happen over the next two years, with about 130 in fiscal 2019, the company said, adding that nearly 40 percent of sales will come from online after the restructuring. Gap, Athleta, Banana Republic and the remaining brands will be part of a yet-to-be-named company. The separation, which the company said will be tax free to investors, is likely to be completed by 2020. Gap Inc's current Chief Executive Officer Art Peck will hold the same position with the new company, while Old Navy CEO Sonia Syngal will continue to head the standalone firm. Old Navy has annual sales of about $8 billion, while the company's other brands have a combined revenue of $9 billion. Separately, the company reported a surprise drop in fourth-quarter overall same-store sales, down 1 percent compared with analysts' average estimate of a 0.3 percent rise, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The company's shares were up 24.8 percent at $31.70 in extended trading. (Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Last month, the board of directors of Vodafone Idea Ltd had approved Rs 25,000 crore fundraising plan by way of rights issue to the existing eligible equity shareholders. New Delhi: The government on Thursday cleared an foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal of telecom giant Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) ahead of its proposed up to Rs 25,000 crore rights issue. "The Cabinet has approved the proposal of Vodafone Idea Ltd, which had proposed FDI of more than Rs 5,000 crore which may extend up to Rs 25,000 crore," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after announcing the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The CCEA has also approved to take on record the proposed changes in the indirect foreign investment in the subsidiaries of VIL that will take place on account of non-residents subscribing to the equity shares in the fund raise, an official statement said. Foreign direct investment up to 100 percent is allowed in India's booming telecom services sector with 49 percent allowed under the automatic route and beyond that through government route subject to observance of stipulated conditions by the licensee and investors. "However, in consideration of the extant FDI policy and procedure, it is necessary to take the government approval for FDI beyond Rs 5,000 crore even if there is no change in the percentage of foreign/ NRI equity already approved," the statement said. Last month, the board of directors of VIL had approved Rs 25,000 crore fundraising plan by way of rights issue to the existing eligible equity shareholders. The promoter shareholders Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group have told the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore, respectively, as part of such rights issue. The proposed rights issue will arm Vodafone Idea Ltd with ammo to take on market competition intensified by Reliance Jio. Also, Vodafone Idea has recently approached the the telecom department seeking two-year moratorium on its annual spectrum payment of about Rs 10,000 crore, citing high debt levels and stress on the balance sheet. British telecom major Vodafone holds 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group controls 26 percent and Idea shareholders own 28.9 percent. The mega merger was announced a few months after the entry of the deep-pocketed Reliance Jio, whose aggressive pricing and freebies have impacted the financials of the entire industry that has even seen bankruptcies and asset sell-offs. The CCEA decision comes on a day when another telecom operator Bharti Airtel's Board has approved fundraising plans of up to Rs 32,000 crore through a mix of rights issue and bond. The trade was carried out by the portfolio manager without the knowledge of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw New Delhi: Infosys said on Thursday its Lead Independent Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw had inadvertently through her portfolio management services sold 1,600 shares of the company without obtaining pre-clearance of trade. Following a review by the audit committee of the company's Board of Directors that determined that there was a violation of the Infosys Insider Trading Policy and the Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, a penalty of Rs 9.5 lakh has been imposed on Mazumdar-Shaw. "On 13 February, 2019, it was brought to the attention of the Compliance Officer of Infosys Ltd that Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Lead Independent Director of the company, had inadvertently, through her portfolio management services, sold 1,600 shares of Infosys Ltd without obtaining pre-clearance of trade," it said in a regulatory filing. It added that the transaction occurred when the trading window was open. "The Trade was carried out by the portfolio manager without the knowledge of Ms Mazumdar-Shaw," it said. The filing explained that in portfolio management services, the investor does not generally monitor the day-to-day investment decisions and in this case too, Mazumdar-Shaw had given no instruction to conduct the trade. "... she also had no knowledge of the trade having occurred. The portfolio manager unilaterally took the decision to conduct the trade," it added. The penalty amount of Rs 9.5 lakh will be payable to a charitable organisation of her choice, the filing noted. Shares of Jet Airways Ltd jumped as much as 6 percent on Friday, a day after two sources told Reuters that founder Naresh Goyal had agreed to step down as chairman. Lenders of Jet Airways have reportedly asked airline's founder and chairman Naresh Goyal and partner Etihad Airways to contribute to the bailout, a media report said. The State Bank of India (SBI) led consortium said there cannot be only a bank-driven bailout and both Jet and Etihad will have to a play an equal role in the resolution process, Business Standard reported. Shares of Jet Airways Ltd jumped as much as 6 percent on Friday, a day after two sources told Reuters that founder Naresh Goyal had agreed to step down as chairman. Goyal, who founded the full-service carrier 25 years ago, has also agreed to reduce his 51 percent stake in the airline but would continue to be a part of the company in some capacity even after stepping down as chairman, one of the sources said. The move came a day after an urgent meeting of lenders with Goyal and Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer Tony Douglas to resolve various issues between the two promoters as well as lenders and Etihad. The Gulf-based carrier holds 24 percent stake in the Mumbai-based full-service airline. SBI is the lead lender of a consortium that has extended loans to Jet Airways, which has been grappling with financial woes and is looking to rejig debt as well as raise funds. On 14 February, Jet Airways' board had approved a Bank-Led Provisional Resolution Plan (BLPRP), whereby lenders would become the largest shareholders in the airline. Its shareholders have also approved the conversion of loan into shares and other proposals during the extraordinary general meeting on 21 February. On Thursday, loss-making Jet Airways said six more aircraft had been grounded due to non-payment of lease rentals. With this, the total number of aircraft taken out of operations due to a severe liquidity crunch in the airline and its subsequent failure to pay rentals to various lessors now stand at 19 so far, as per the airline. The carrier also said it is making all efforts to minimise disruption to its network due to the grounding of these planes and is "proactively" informing and re-accommodating its affected guests, it said. --With PTI inputs Etihad Airways has been insisting that Jet Airways' founder and Chairman Naresh Goyal must step down from the company's board and his stake should be slashed to 22% from 51% as a precondition for its heightened stakes. In 1983, Swraj Paul, the NRI billionaire from the United Kingdom stirred the pot with his bid for two staid Delhi-based companies DCM and Escorts. Endowed with deep pockets and a strong currency vis-a-vis the Indian rupee, he stormed Corporate India like a bull in the proverbial china shop and nearly ousted the promoters of these two companies from their perch and presented shares he had bought from a clutch of brokers from the Delhi stock exchange to the respective boards for registration. But the Guptas of the Shriram group controlling DCM and Nandas of Escortsboth Congress loyalists, cried on the shoulders of Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister and parried off the incipient mutiny. There is a sense of deja vu now. Naresh Goyal, the promoter of the down-in-the-dumps Jet Airways has at last agreed to quit as the chairman of the board of directors kicking and screaming, but has not agreed to exit completely as demanded by Etihad Airways as a precondition for upping its equity stake up to a maximum of 49 percent as permitted by the governments FDI policy in the civil aviation sector. Currently, Etihad has a 24 percent stake in the company Etihad has been insisting that Jets founder and Chairman Naresh Goyal must step down from the company's board and his stake should be slashed to 22 percent from 51 percent as a precondition for its heightened stakes. To be sure, Naresh Goyal is not facing mounting and relentless charges of corruption like his now-grounded Kingfisher Airlines counterpart Vijay Mallya, the fugitive economic offender. A company can be ruined, especially the one witnessing fierce competition and belonging to a capital intensive industry, by corruption and inefficiency. If Mallya belongs to the first genre, Goyal seems to belong to the second. But both deserved to be ousted from their perch. Promoters do not have the birthright to stay put come what may especially when their companies have courted public or taxpayers money. A clutch of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) are nursing an unpaid loan of Rs 8,000 crore in part repayment of which they are driven to accepting equity stakes in the beleaguered airline. SBI should prevail upon Goyal not to cling onto Jet Airways like a leech. It should not repeat the mistake the late Indira Gandhi did in 1983 with regard to DCM and Escorts. A promoter does not have the divine right to stay in the saddle come what may. A hostile takeover is all about fluttering the dovecots of the somnolent promoters who allow grass to grow under their feet. A lot of water has flown down the bridge since DCM and Escorts promoters were coddled by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. First, the SEBI takeover code allows anyone to mount a hostile or negotiated takeover, subject to buying out minority stakes to the prescribed extent at the same attractive price the promoters got. Second, the Narendra Modi government-enacted Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) permits ousting of bank defaulters from their promoter cocoon by a Johnny-come-lately even if he is a foreigner. SBI should be on the side of Etihad and demand complete vacation of space by Naresh Goyal and not make it merely into an ornamental post but arguably the commanding post of chairman of the board of directors. That alone would ensure that its dues are paid off sooner or later. For incorrigible defaulters, IBC is the ultimate reform weapon. If Goyal remains defiant, he should be hauled to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under IBC where he would get far less favorable terms than the ones offered by SBI and Etihad for a decent exit. Non-performing assets (NPAs) are frowned upon and rightly so. Likewise non-performing promoters should also not be countenanced. They should be shown the door. Cloying sentimentality and nostalgia should not come in the way. (The writer is a senior columnist and tweets @smurlidharan) Naresh Goyal, who founded the full-service carrier 25 years ago, has also agreed to reduce his 51 percent stake in the airline Mumbai: Shares of Jet Airways Ltd jumped as much as 6 percent on Friday, a day after two sources told Reuters that founder Naresh Goyal had agreed to step down as chairman. Goyal, who founded the full-service carrier 25 years ago, has also agreed to reduce his 51 percent stake in the airline but would continue to be a part of the company in some capacity even after stepping down as chairman, one of the sources said. Jet, saddled with over $1 billion debt, had a rough 2018 as competition intensified in the Indian skies, the rupee depreciated and high oil prices squeezed margins. Jet did not respond to an email seeking comments. The company had said last week that its board had approved a rescue deal which will make its lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), its largest shareholder. The airline was also forced to ground another six planes on Thursday due to non-payment of dues to lessors, taking the tally to 19 which is about 15 percent of its fleet. It has a fleet of about 123, mainly Boeing Co planes, including 16-owned aircraft. The stock posted its biggest daily percentage gain since 15 February, hitting a high of Rs 237.05. It was last up 4.4 percent as of 0347 GMT. The appointment of Gill, will be subject to approval of shareholders' at the ensuing annual general meeting of Yes Bank to be held in June, 2019. New Delhi: Yes Bank Friday said Ravneet Gill has taken charge as its MD and CEO with immediate effect for a tenure of three years. "Ravneet Gill has joined Yes Bank as MD & CEO today. His tenure as approved by RBI is 3 years from the date of his joining, i.e. 1 March, 2019 to 28 February, 2022," Yes Bank said in a regulatory filing. The appointment of Gill, will be subject to approval of shareholders' at the ensuing annual general meeting of the Bank to be held in June, 2019. Gill is not related to any of the directors of the bank and he has affirmed that he is not debarred from holding the office of director by virtue of any order of Securities and Exchange Board of India or any other such authority, the private sector lender said. Yes Bank further said that Ajai Kumar has ceased to be an Interim MD & CEO of the Bank with effect from the close of business hours of 28 February, 2019. Kumar continues as a non-executive non independent director on the board of the Bank, it added. With this, bank's new composition of the board of directors has ten members. The others members are -- Brahm Dutt, part-time chairman; Mukesh Sabharwal independent director; Subhash Chander Kalia, non-executive non-independent director; and Pratima Sheorey, independent director. Four additional (independent) directors are -- Uttam Prakash Agarwal, TS Vijayan, Maheswar Sahu and Anil Jaggia. The stock of Yes Bank was trading 2.72 percent up at Rs 237.50 on BSE. Wearing blue blazer and grey trousers, he crossed over into India from the Attari-Wagah border at 9.20 pm. He was handed over by the Pakistan Rangers to the Border Security Force (BSF) following paperwork. Attari-Wagah: Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned to India from Pakistan on Friday, two days after he was taken into custody by Pakistan Army when his MiG 21 fell in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Wearing blue blazer and grey trousers, he crossed over into India from the Attari-Wagah border at 9.20 pm. He was handed over by the Pakistan Rangers to the Border Security Force (BSF) following paperwork. Abhinandan was accompanied by an officer of the Pakistan Foreign Office and Indian defence attache Group Captain Joy Thomas Kurien. Announcing the release, Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor said that as per standard operating procedures, Abhinandan will be taken for a detailed medical checkup as he had to eject after his plane was shot and his body would have suffered "deep stress." "Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. As per standard operating procedure of IAF, he will now be taken for detailed medical check-up, this is mandatory because the officer had to eject from an aeroplane which would have put his entire body under great stress. IAF is happy to have Wing Commander Abhinandan back," he told media at Attari border. Thousands of people waited for hours at the Attari-Wagah border to greet the IAF officer. Waving the tricolour, they kept chanting slogans praising his bravado. Initially, Varthaman was to be released earlier in the day. However, sources said that Pakistan changed the timing of handover twice. Sources also said the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is keeping a close watch on proceedings. Upon arrival, Varthaman was expected to be taken to Delhi by an Air Force plane, following which would be debriefed by the IAF on his detention in Pakistan. On Wednesday, Abhinandan, flying the MiG 21 Bison, was chasing Pakistani F-16 fighters which had transgressed into the Indian airspace, and in the process, his plane crossed over to the Pakistani side and was shot down. Abhinandan ejected safely but was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army upon landing. Before his plane was shot, he had hit a Pakistani F-16. On Friday, Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan announced the release of Varthaman, calling it a peace gesture. India used diplomatic and military pressure to ensure that Pakistan releases Varthaman unconditionally, top sources said in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made no compromises on the Pakistani proposal for holding talks, the sources added. India mounted pressure on Pakistan through the international community, with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval holding talks with the US and other P-5 countries, the sources said. The Ministry of External Affairs also exerted pressure on Pakistan through the Arab world, they said. Hours before Abhinandan's return, Prime Minister Modi told a rally in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu: "Every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu." The fact that majority of the people in the northeastern states came out vehemently against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 (now lapsed in Rajya Sabha), is a strong indication that they saw through the ulterior design of the religion-based legislature The Citizenship Act of 1955, stipulates that in order to get Indian citizenship by naturalisation one must have resided in India for eleven of the previous fourteen years. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (now lapsed in the Rajya Sabha) tried to lower that eleven-year stipulation to six years, but only for those belonging to six religious communities Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, even if they had entered India as late as, December 14, 2014. This gives a religious twist to the purely political, legal and humanitarian perspectives usually associated with citizenship laws. The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights including the right to equality before the law (Article 14) even to non-citizens. If we keep that essence of Indian Constitution as expressed through the fundamental rights in view, we are bound to oppose any religion-based discrimination in giving citizenship whether fast-track or not. It is heartening to note that such misguided attempt to play a religious card in creating and appeasing a particular vote-bank by excluding a particular religious community is not accepted by the people at large in the northeastern region where the said amendment was seen to have the greatest impact. The very fact that majority of the people of Assam, as well as those of the neighbouring states like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, came out vehemently against such religion-based law of citizenship is a strong indication that they saw through the ulterior design in such a law to allow illegal migrants to remain in India under the garb of religious persecution of minorities in the neighbouring countries. It is another million-dollar question altogether as to how one will prove such religious persecution when leaders like Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed of Bangladesh has already denied that any such persecution of minorities prevails in her country. Assam has seen decades of agitation against illegal migrants from Bangladesh and thousands lost their lives in those years. Ultimately all agitating parties, as well as the people of the state cutting across religious lines, agreed upon the Assam Accord (1985) which says that illegal migrants entering India after March 25, 1971, will be expelled from the country irrespective of their religious identity. Majority of the people of Assam, Hindus and Muslims, in an act of both humanitarian considerations as well as exigencies of the circumstances, accepted the cut-off date. They agreed that those who entered the country before that date be accepted as citizens through the due process of law. Such a considerate view of the Assamese society was uniquely secular and not soaked in religious sectarianism. Granting fast track citizenship to non-Muslims illegal migrants goes against this basic sentiment of the people of Assam as well as of the other northeastern states. In fact, though Christians are included in the proposed amendment, it is the largely Christian people of a state like Mizoram who could see through the long term impact that such a religion-based citizenship law. The society and culture of the North East at large do not tow the religious fanaticism of the North and on the contrary, it reignited the faultiness that made placard saying Hello Independent Republic of Mizoram hit the headlines. Proposers of this kind of citizenship law make the same mistake that followers of the two-nation theory made years ago. Pakistan soon saw the birth of Bangladesh underlining the fact that cultural and linguistic ties are much stronger than any whipped up religious sentiments. The founding fathers of India rejected any religious overtones in building this nation and our constitution emphatically bears that proof in all its provisions. The Citizenship Act, 1955, though amended more than once since, has maintained the same non-discriminatory principle while laying down the process by which one can genuinely acquire citizenship of India. In the words of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as spoken at the World Economic Forum or at the United Nations, India has always espoused the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole world is one single family) and believed in the unity of the humanity rather than dividing it. If we believe in that core value, then, one can see that any law to grant fast-track citizenship to non-Muslims runs against that idea of India as a nation. The writer did his PhD on post peace agreement societies and is an international fellow of the KAICIID Dialogue Centre in Vienna From Februarys crisis, both India and Pakistan ought to learn that the walk from the status quo to the apocalypse isnt as long as we imagine Editor's Note: This article first appeared in Firstpost Print on 2 March, 2018 *** In 415 BCE, the high noon of the power of the greatest empire the world had known, Athens dispatched its massive naval forces to punish the rebellious citizens of Syracuse. For the next several years, Thucydides, son of Olorus, owner of gold mines and survivor of the great plague of Athens, fought weapon in hand for the city he lovedand watched as its wealth, power and values were slowly extinguished in a relentless march to annihilation. In exile, he would reflect on the lessons in a work that, today, ranks among the greatest works of the philosophy of war: Think, too, of the great part that is played by the unpredictable in war, Thucydides wrote, and think of it now, before you are actually committed. The longer a war lasts, the more things tend to depend on accidents. Neither you nor we can see into them; we have to abide their outcome in the dark. But when people are entering upon a war, they do things the wrong way around. Action comes first, and it is only when they have already suffered that they begin to think. Februarys India-Pakistan crisis has taken both countries on to pathways littered with minefields and traps. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modis decision to strike at terrorists across the Line of Control in 2016, Pakistan responded with well-tested covert toolsratcheting up the levels of violence against Indian forces in Kashmir to levels not seen in over a decade. The 26 February air strikes were meant to demonstrate that India was willing to inflict pain on Pakistan in returnbut that country has demonstrated it is willing to risk all by escalating even further. Modi has shown an instinctive grasp of Thucydides realism. Holding promises from the international community that it will now compel Prime Minister Imran Khan to act against terrorists, he has chosen to step back from the brink. For both India and Pakistan, though, the infinite darkness of war still lies ahead. This much is certain: the end of this crisis does not herald the coming of peace. Epics do not have neat beginnings: the story of India-Pakistan war can be traced just as easily to 1971, or 1947, or even pre-colonial communal hatred. Late one night in the summer of 2009, four improvised 107-millimetre rockets arced over the Pul Kanjari border outpost, and exploded in the wheat-fields outside the Punjab village of Attari. For the first time since the war of 1971, there was an attack across the India-Pakistan border. In September that year, four more rockets were fired; then, in January 2010, there was a third assault. For the first time since the war of 1971, there had been an attack across the India-Pakistan border. The march to the 26 February airstrikes had, unnoticed by almost anyone, begun. In 2001, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had mobilised the army, threatening war against Pakistan to punish the Jaish-e-Muhammads attack on Parliament. The decision wasnt a casual one. Even though India had won the Kargil war in 1999, Pakistan had stepped up covert warfare in Kashmir. Fatalities of security force personnel, inside Kashmir, surged from 183 in 1999, to 241 in 2000 and 248 in 2002. Ten months later, India backed downapparently deterred by Pakistans nuclear weapons. But then, something unexpected happened. Fatalities of Indian forces in the Kashmir conflict fell every year to 2008, all the way down to 39 in 2008. Firing on Indian troops on the Line of Control ceased, making infiltration difficult for terrorists. Pakistans military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, had turned off the terror tapdespite apparently winning the showdown. From his confidante General Moinuddin Haider, we have the only inside account of why that happened. In an interview to scholar George Perkovich, General Haider said the long-term costs of continuing to back jihadists would be higher than the potential losses from taking them on. I was the sole voice initially, Haider said, saying, Mr. President, your economic plan will not work, people will not invest, if you dont get rid of extremists. From 2007, though, new army chief General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani turned the screws on India againa bid to heal the rift General Musharraf had created between the military and its jihadist allies. There were 28 ceasefire violations in 2009, 44 in 2010, 60 in 2011rising to a staggering 2,936 last year. Even worse, from Indias point of view, terrorist strikes in Kashmir intensified. Fatalities of Indian forces rose steadily, from 39 in 2008, to 62 in 2009and on to 136 last year, the worst since 2004. In a strategic sense, these attacks achieve little. Tragic as each loss of life is, Indias economic growth, or its military capabilities, arent significantly eroded by terrorism. The question is: why does the Pakistan army risk war for vanishingly meagre gains? In 1918, Hungarian-born magician, Erik Weisz, better known by his stage name Harry Houdini, premiered the Make-the-Elephant-Vanish Trick. An elephant was shut into a box with raised wheels, thus ruling out the use of a trapdoor. When the box opened, the elephant had disappeared. The key to the trick was rediscovered by author and magician Jim Steinmeyer. The elephant was, in fact concealed behind a diagonally-placed mirror: what the audience saw as the entire empty box wasnt one. The Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate has mastered the vanishing-elephant trickand now, as Imran offers Modi action against terrorists, this is worth remembering. In 2002, as war loomed, General Musharraf cracked down the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. In 2008, President Asif Ali Zardari did the same thing. And in 2018, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif again moved against terrorists. Each time, the Pakistan Army ensured they emerged, magically, from the box. Early in 1939, on the eve of the great war that would lead on to the death of the British empire and the birth of his homeland, the politician and religious ideologue, Abdul Ala Maududi, delivered a lecture that has become a foundational text for South Asia Islamism. Faith, Maududi insisted, was more than a hotchpotch of beliefs, prayers and rituals. Islam was, in fact, a revolutionary ideology which seeks to alter the social order of the entire world and rebuild it in conformity with its own tenets and ideals. Pakistans 1956 constitution declared the country an Islamic republica notion unknown to classical theologyand mandated that no laws repugnant to the Koran be passed. General Ayub Khan appointed a council of clerics to guide the state. The hard-drinking General Yahya Khan allied with Islamists in Bangladesh and Kashmir. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, profoundly influenced by Maududi, rebuilt the state on the foundations of his ideas. The Pakistan Armys jihadism, diplomat and scholar Husain Haqqani has argued, was not just the inadvertent outcome of decisions by some governments. Instead, the Pakistani states use of Islam gradually evolved into a strategic commitment to jihadi ideology. In The Green Books, classified internal volumes where Pakistan army officers are invited to discuss strategy and geopolitics, the influence of the Islamist world-view is evident. Brigadier Saifi Ahmad Naqvi, writing in the 1994 Green Book, argued Pakistan is an ideological state, based on the ideology of Islam. In his view, the Army is responsible for the defence of the country, to safeguard [its] integrity [and] territorial boundaries, and the ideological frontiers to which the country owes its existence. Fighting against India, thus, isnt just a tactical imperative for Pakistans army; its a core ideological value.The Generals arent about to give up the belief-system that sustains their primacy in Pakistan. And that has profound implications for what comes in the next India-Pakistan crisis, whenever it breaks out. The most fantastic wargame the world can ever have seen, an excited magazine called it. In the summer of 1955, the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, along with the United States Sixth Fleet and 49th Air Division, hurled itself at Belgian, British and Dutch forces, supported by the Second Tactical Air Force. Exercise Carte Blanche was the first effort to simulate what would happen when NATO used its new tactical nuclear weapons to beat back Soviet armour driving towards the heart of Europe. In less than a week, the answers were in: 1.7 million dead, 3.5 million injured, large swathes of Europe levelled by 335 nuclear bombs. Four years ago, after terrorists struck in Gurdaspur, the United States held out a stark message to Pakistans visiting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Prime Minister Modi, he was warned, was almost certain to authorise strikes against jihadist infrastructure inside Pakistan in the event of a mass-casualty terrorist strike. The Generals didnt listen: Pulwama followed Pathankot, in grim succession. Prime Minister Modis 2016 cross-Line of Control strikes were premised on the belief small air strikes or shallow infantry actions would not give Pakistan enough reason to escalate a conflict, mired as it is in economic meltdown and internal crisis. Last week, Pakistan demonstrated that assumption was misplaced. From private messages sent by Lieutenant-General Tariq Khan, former commander of the Mangla-based I Corps, we know what the Generals were thinking. Each Indian cross-border strike, General Khan argued in notes obtained by Firstpost erodes our position of deterring war through our nuclear capability. General Khan argued that meant we become more and more vulnerable to an asymmetric conventional threatin other words, to future Indian strikes. Deterrence, General Khan argued, is a mindset and never a tangible posture, It is an outcome of a possibility [emphasis added]. Islamabad, General Khan went on, needed to ensure that this possibility remained on Indian mindsand for that,our response should be to escalate and push the envelope of hostilities so that nuclear war is a likely outcome. Through their own cross-Line of Control strikes on February 27, Pakistans military planners have done just that: India knows that, unlike in 2016, the Generals are now willing to raise the stakes. The thing is, no one knows how far theyll go. For demagogues in India, theres an easy answer: call Pakistans nuclear bluff. But Prime Ministers and Generals, unlike Twitters armchair brigades, have responsibility for the consequences of their actions. There are obvious lessons for India from how the February crisis has played out, key among them that the goddess of the battlefield is fickle with her favours. If the military art could be reduced to arithmetic, Soviet nuclear theoretician General Andrian Danilevich observed, we would not need any wars. You could simply look at the correlation of forces, make some calculations, and tell your opponent, we outnumber you 2:1, victory is ours, please surrender. But Pakistan, too, needs to ask hard questions. Faced with enough provocation, Indian leaders may take their chances, and risk escalation. Although cultivating ties with anti-India jihadists may seem attractive to a military establishment whose legitimacy is under challenge from hostile Islamists, it is a high-risk strategy. From Februarys crisis, both countries ought to learn the walk from the status quo to the apocalypse isnt as long as we imagine. Islamabad needs to ask if forcing India to walk that road is truly in its interest. BJP president Amit Shah on Friday slammed Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and questioned whether he was trustworthy. New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday slammed Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and questioned whether he was trustworthy. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Narendra Modi-led government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence... Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under the BJP government led by Modi," he said. Questioning Khan's silence on the Pulwama attack, he said, "The Pakistan prime minister should have criticised the Pulwama attacks at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service". 40 CRPF personnel were killed on 14 February in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. The BJP president also said that the return of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was a diplomatic victory. "Creating a situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory," he said. Abhinandans MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Abhinandan would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Coming down hard on Opposition parties which alleged the government was "politicising" the sacrifices of the armed forces, Shah said their joint resolution post the air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan. "The Opposition's accusation against the BJP that it was politicising the sacrifices of our forces has given happiness to Pakistan," Shah said. "The message has gone that now it is the Modi government at the helm which is resolute in implementing its policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and has the political will to act," he said. Criticising former prime minister Manmohan Singh's call for restraint to India and Pakistan, Shah asked how he could compare a country, which has been sponsoring terrorism, with India. He also criticised Singh for his government's "lack of response" after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. "Now with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists Modi government has been able to create fear in the minds of those behind terrorism that they will face grave consequences for their actions, he said. When the Bandipur fire broke out, the Karnataka forest department was ill-prepared. Neither precautions nor emergency measures were taken. Bengaluru: Finally, the embers are dying out. The forest fire which raged through Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka, spreading rapidly through the dry ranges, was contained after six days. The fire primarily affected three ranges Gopalaswamy Betta, Bandipur and Kundikere. Forest minister Satish Jarkiholi, who visited the Bandipur forest and inspected the affected area, stated that 2,000 hectares of forest were affected and burnt. The unofficial estimate of the area damaged in the Bandipur forest fire is almost 7,000 hectares. When the fire broke out, the state forest department was ill-prepared. Neither precautions nor emergency measures were taken, though it is fire season. As Bandipur is a dry forest, the wildfire wreaked havoc, and there weren't enough staff members to douse it. It was left to volunteers, wildlife activists, firemen and locals to come together to contain the blaze. Only after four days did the government send two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters to spray water and put out the fire. Asked about the delay in sending a request for assistance to the Indian Air Force (IAF), Punathi Sridhar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, said the decision to engage the IAF was taken at the chief minister's level. "We have to pay money to engage the IAF, so the decision is taken at a higher level,'' says Sridhar. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy announced the decision to take the IAF's help on 25 February, five days after the fire started in Bandipur. By then, it had destroyed thousands of acres of forest. According to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, fire lines play a key role in containing fires. "Generally, fire lines are supposed to be ready by December-end. I came to know that there were no fire lines in some parts of Bandipur forest. We have to investigate,'' he said. As part of preventive measures, the forest department has recruited more than 100 fire watchers, apart from 100 anti-poaching staff. Nakul M Dev, wildlife activist, was at ground zero since the day it started, helping to put out the fire. The Nagarhole fire was in a very small portion of the forest. Immediately, fire trucks and about 100 forest and fire personnel came to douse the fire. Forest watchers, too, reported the fire promptly. But in the case of Bandipur, basic fire lines were not in place. We need more fire watchers, but they are paid low wages. We also need to invest in better methods of dousing fires, like fire engines and pump blowers. The department should act as soon as we get the satellite warning for hotspots," said Dev. Besides, Bandipur didn't have a dedicated park director when the fire broke out, which led to more chaos, and was also the reason why the Air Force came in so late, Dev added. Another activist, who is volunteering in Bandipur and has been fighting to bring in change, claims, A few officials are making money by creating fake bills and filling their pockets. To save money, they are not employing additional hands even during the fire season. We have lost almost 70 percent of Bandipur. This is complete negligence of officials. A senior IFS officer said Bandipur did not have a dedicated field director and a person who was holding two posts was stationed in Mysuru. According to a source, A field director for Bandipur was assigned only on Friday, that too after over two months. The forest department took the decision to fill the vacancy only after five days of continuous wildfire damage. T Balachandra, who was Conservator of Forests and Director for Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Hunsur, was posted as Conservator of Forests and Field Director, Project Tiger, Bandipur. After the fire was completely contained by Tuesday, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy conducted an aerial survey on Wednesday to assess the damage. Kannada film actor and social activist Chetan came down heavily on government's stepmotherly attitude towards the state's forest and tree cover. "Major political parties disregard environmental issues, taking Mother Nature for granted, since it is devoid of a vote bank. From the steel bridge flyover in Bengaluru to increasing the height of the Narmada Dam and displacing tribals, parties have consistently undermined ecological concerns for capitalistic and infrastructural advancement," he said. He also listed five major reasons that led to the massive annihilation of the Bandipur forest. -No fundamental fire lines: Fire lines are spaces in the forest where there is no vegetation or anything combustible, and they prevent the spread of forest fires. In Bandipur, long stretches of forest lacked such lines. -Forest fire watchers: During summer, several individuals are employed to look out for forest fires. Unfortunately, corruption often takes over. Some officials pocket funds meant for fire watchers, fabricate bills and fail to hire watchers. -Lack of improved technology: Due to financial mismanagement and lack of technological advancements, water tankers and pump blowers are not purchased and age-old machinery continues to be utilised. -Satellite warnings overlooked: Several sources claim that satellite warnings and information sent by the Indian Forest Survey were not given due importance by forest officials. Officials only realised the gravity of the situation via media reports. -No team captain: Bandipur lacked a specific field director. In fact, 112 out of 165 forest officers are stationed in Bengaluru. "Let's hope the government and forest personnel will learn from this failure and ensure that such devastation is not repeated, Chetan said. Another activist and naturalist who is disturbed by the situation says, Proper precautions were not taken, or there weren't enough firemen or staff when the incident happened. Bandipur being a dry forest, the fire spread sooner, helped by the hilly terrain and high winds. This was tough for the few staffers to handle. It was much harder to convince locals to join us, though volunteers came rushing on seeing the news on television. Its pure negligence by the forest department. People who are not allowed to enter the forest at night have done this on purpose, and strict action must be taken. Investigation must go on and the culprits punished. Proper staff strength and precautions are a must to avoid such fires. Officials who have concern for nature and animals must be in charge. Its going to take years before Bandipur returns to life." (The author is a Bengaluru - based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com) Sushma Swaraj's presence, clearly initiated by UAE and Saudi and backed by other member countries, is seen as a major diplomatic coup and an opportunity to put forward India's case to members who represent a quarter of the global population and also represent India's 185 million Muslims in this conclave. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Abu Dhabi on Friday to a very warm and gracious welcome. She later addressed the plenary session of the 57 member Organisation of Islamic Co-operation despite protests from Pakistan, who too is a full-fledged member of the OIC. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi boycotted the event where Swaraj spoke, even though there was no official word on whether Qureshi would attend the two-day event. An empty chair at the Pakistan table was eloquent testament to his absence. Swaraj's presence, clearly initiated by UAE and Saudi and backed by other member countries, is seen as a major diplomatic coup and an opportunity to put forward India's case to members who represent a quarter of the global population and also represent India's 185 million Muslims in this conclave. Attending the meeting in the shadow of heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, Swaraj, who is the first Indian minister to address the meeting of the 57 Islamic countries, said "very few" Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies. Wearing a fawn coloured saree, Swaraj spoke sitting down but with clarity and strength of conviction in her voice invoking the fact that there is one God but learned men mention him in different ways. Her opening caught the attention of the conclave and set the tone of her speech. "I stand here as a representative of a land, that has been for ages a fountain of knowledge, a beacon of peace, a source of faiths and traditions, and home to religions from the world and now, one of the major economies of the world." "I carry the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself." She frontally said that in the 99 names given to Allah not one indicates violence. Having reiterated Islam as a religion of peace, Swaraj segued seamlessly into her main subject which is terrorism and how it is alien to everything that the Muslim world stands for. She warned that the specter of terrorism is increasing and has to be dismantled. She called upon the OIC to warn against those who harbour or give refuge to terrorists and said, Terrorism is destroying lives,destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril. Terror reach is growing and the toll it is taking is increasing. States which provide support to terrorists must stop." Without specifically naming Pakistan, Swaraj stressed the point of allowing terrorist camps by saying, "If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country." Striking a positive note, Swaraj underscored personal ties with many members and added, "Nations represented at OIC have shown the diversity. We have worked together in spite of many challenges. We have excellent political ties with many of you." Earlier, the external affairs minister had meetings with OIC secretary general Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen and Minister of Foreign Affairs UAE and Chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan who addressed the audience prior to inviting her on stage. Swaraj also reiterated the need for the world and its safety to ensure that funding of terror groups is ended. Swaraj is expected to engage in bi-lateral talks with other foreign ministers through the day. Sushma Swaraj at OIC Summit, 2019, said, 'We are living in times where the reach of terror is rising. We are seeing the senseless violence that terrorism can result in. We must act together, stand together to combat global terrorism.' She emphasised, 'We must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists to stop providing the same to terror organisations'. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj addressed the Council of Foreign Minister at the plenary session of the ongoing Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Swaraj spoke about India's 185 million people strong Muslim community and the country's ties with West Asian nations and other Muslim countries while sending out a strong message against terrorism. "We are living in times where the reach of terror is rising. We are seeing the senseless violence that terrorism can result in. We must act together, stand together to combat global terrorism," Swaraj said as she emphasised that "We must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists to stop providing the same to terror organisations". Swaraj started her addressing by thanking India's "friends" at OIC for hearing it. "I stand here as a representative of a land, that has been for ages a fountain of knowledge, a beacon of peace, a source of faiths and traditions, and home to religions from the world and now, one of the major economies of the world," Swaraj said. She said that she carries the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. "Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself", she remarked. Swaraj then made a point as to how despite India being one of the most diverse nations in the world, people of all faiths and religions live in harmony in the country and very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to radicalisation. Speaking on terrorism, Swaraj said that we are living in times where the reach of terror is rising and there is senseless violence emanating from. "We must act together, stand together to combat global terrorism," she said. "The reach of terror is growing, its lethality is increasing and its toll is rising," Sushma remarked. She mentioned how terrorism was destabilising the South Asian region. Sushma said that it was necessary that nations funding terror are isolated. She further said that it was not possible to win against terrorism only through military action but it is task faiths, cultures, communities, youth, teachers and saints must take together. "Counter the language of hate with a message of harmony," Swaraj said. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But, in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," the external affairs minister said. Sushma also emphasised that the fight was against terrorism and not against any religion. "Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood," she remarked. Sushma also recited verses from the Quran, the Guru Granth Sahib and the Rig Veda to send across a message that India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism. Quoting the Rig Veda, she said: " " ("God is One but learned men describe Him in many ways"). She quoted the Quran and said: "Let there be no compulsion in religion". Talking about India's ties with the OIC members, Swaraj said: "The nations represented here bring together multi-ethnicities, culture, heritage and history In that way, India shares a lot with you," as she shared specifics of India's relationship with countries like Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Afghanistan, UAE, Africa, Maldives and others. She specifically mentioned India's warm ties with UAE and said that "the Gulf region is our largest market". "As India grows, our political ties grow," Swaraj said mentioning how India has excellent political ties with the OIC nations. "In the past four years, few relationships have seen as much engagement or has been so transformed, as India's relationship with UAE and, indeed, with the entire Gulf and West Asia Region," Swaraj remarked. "Many of us have experienced the dark days of colonialism. Many of us saw, the light of freedom and the bright ray of hope at the same time. We have stood together in solidarity, in our quest for justice and dignity," Swaraj said as she talked about India's "deep" political, cultural, diplomatic, trade and defence ties with the members. "The central shift in the global economy is moving to Asia," Swaraj remarked. Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi did not participate in the meet owing to Sushma's presence amidst the escalation of India-Pakistan ties in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. "I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for (them) having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj," Qureshi told the joint session of parliament, adding that Pakistan would send envoys to represent its interests and oppose any favour to india. A division bench at the Bombay High Court, headed by Justice AS Oka, said it was of the prima facie opinion that these political parties had committed a breach of previous court orders that prohibited the display of hoarding or banner without requisite permission. Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday issued show cause notices to the Congress, the BSP and the Shiv Sena, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for putting up illegal hoardings and banners across Maharashtra. A division bench, headed by Justice AS Oka, said it was of the prima facie opinion that these political parties had committed a breach of previous court orders that prohibited the display of hoarding or banner without requisite permission. "There is material to show that these political parties have indulged in a display of illegal hoardings, banners and so on. "We issue notices to these parties asking them to show cause as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them," the court said. The bench sought the parties' responses by 27 March. The bench warned that if the parties fail to take appropriate action on the matter, it will issue notices to their leaders. "Today, we are issuing notices to the political parties, but if we feel that proper action has not been taken on the issue then we will issue notices against the leaders," Justice Oka said. The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed before it, raising the issue of numerous hoardings and banners put up on public roads illegally. Today's top stories: Wing Commander Abhinandan is set to be released by Pakistan after a tense two days' captivity; Sushma Swaraj will attend the OIC's meeting in Abu Dhabi, PM Narendra Modi will address rallies in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; and more. Pakistan to release IAF pilot today Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is set to return after two days in Pakistani captivity. The announcement by Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday evening brought relief to Indians. The IAF pilot was captured on Wednesday after his MiG-21 fighter jet crashed in an aerial combat with a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet. Soon, videos surfaced showing him being captured and in the custody of the Pakistani army. The information technology ministry has directed YouTube to remove 11 videos showing the Wing Commander. The Wing Commander's family is expected to receive him, along with Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Sources have told News18 that the pilot will be brought from Rawalpindi to Lahore by a special plane and then handed over to the Indian side. Sushma to attend OIC conclave today Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj will attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's Foreign Ministers Conclave as guest of honour in Abu Dhabi on Friday. After initially saying that he would boycott the meet, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced on Thursday that he would attend too. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. This is the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting as a guest of honour. India alleges Pakistan used AMRAAM missiles The Indian Air Force on Thursday showed parts of Advanced Medium Range Air-To-Air Missile (AMRAAM) missiles as proof that F-16 aircraft from Pakistan attacked the Indian military. New Delhi has alleged that Pakistan resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violations in response to the counter-terror strike carried out by India. Bilateral ties between the two countries has deteriorated in the wake of the 14 February Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and India's subsequent strikes on the organisation's camp at Balakot. Pakistani authorities have suspended the Samjhauta Express train service between Pakistan and India until further notice. Reports say Indian Railways too has plans of scrapping the train service. Modi to address rallies in AP, TN; Rahul in Maharashtra The Praja Chaitanya Sabha, a public meeting organised by the Andhra Pradesh chapter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Visakhapatnam will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The prime minister will also address people at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, where he is set to launch and lay the foundation stones for highway projects worth Rs 2,995 crore. Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be launching the party's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Maharashtra from Dhule. He will also address rallies in Mumbai. Benjamin Netanyahu may be indicted on bribery charges Israel's attorney general is set to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery, breach of trust and fraud, media reports said Thursday ahead of a widely expected announcement. Various Israeli outlets said Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit would move to indict the premier pending a hearing, where Netanyahu would be given a chance to defend himself before charges are filed. However, Netanyahu's Likud party dismissed corruption allegations against him as "political persecution" after media reported that the attorney general was set to move to indict him for bribery. No nuclear agreement between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un The nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Hanoi ended without an agreement Thursday, the White House said after the two leaders cut short their discussions. They had "very good and constructive meetings" and "discussed various ways to advance denuclearisation and economic driven concepts", White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. But she went on, "No agreement was reached at this time," adding that their "respective teams look forward to meeting in the future." No joint communique was issued, despite high expectations beforehand for progress. YouTube takes steps to protect children from predators Following several disturbing reports of flourishing paedophile networks on YouTube and of harmful content on videos for kids, YouTube has started taking steps to protect minors. The first of these steps involves comments, which will now be disabled by default on videos featuring minors. A new classification system for comments will also be introduced and stricter policies will be put in place for dealing with content creators who cause egregious harm to the community. RBI approves DBS Bank amalgamation The Reserve Bank of India approved the amalgamation of " DBS Bank, India" with "DBS Bank India," the entity which has been granted permission to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) of the Singaporean lender. DBS used to operate in the "branch model" and is among the first foreign lenders to come forward and operate as a WOS. In a press release, the RBI said the scheme of amalgamation between the two entities has been sanctioned under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The scheme will come into force with effect from today (1 March) and all the branches of DBS Bank in India will function as branches of DBS Bank India, it added. DBS has 12 branches in the country at present and has drawn up plans to take it to 50 branches in 30 cities. The daily Retreat ceremony held at the Attari-Wagah border front was cancelled for Friday Abhinandan Varthaman's release, the BSF said. New Delhi: The daily Retreat ceremony held at the Attari-Wagah border front along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab was cancelled for Friday in view of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's release by Pakistan at the frontier, the BSF said. A senior official of the force said the martial ceremony was called off due to administrative requirements. Officials said it was estimated that over 20,000 people could gather on the Indian side to welcome IAF pilot and it could be a security nightmare. Hundreds of people had flocked the Attari border since early on Friday morning to catch a glimpse of Abhinandan. Hence, it was decided to call the ceremony off on Friday so that nothing untoward happens. The Border Security Force (BSF) conducts the ceremony in coordination with their cross-border counterparts, Pak Rangers. It involves lowering of the flags of the two countries along with foot stomping manoeuvres of the troops. The decision was communicated to the Pak Rangers by the BSF, he said. It is expected that the Rangers will also issue directions to suspend the ceremony and not allow people to congregate on their side, he said. Senior officers of the BSF have already reached the border front to ensure that the handing over procedure of the IAF pilot is conducted smoothly and a general directive has been issued to all the security units of the force to remain alert. Abhinandan was captured by the Pakistan Army after his fighter jet crashed in an air duel with a Pakistani F-16. He shot down the plane before his own went down, forcing him to eject. He fell into Pakistani territory. On Thursday, Khan announced that the IAF pilot would be released as a "gesture of peace". An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale hit Dahanu town of Maharashtra's Palghar district on Friday, the tremors of which were felt in Mumbai as well. The earthquake hit at around 11 am. An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale hit Dahanu town of Maharashtra's Palghar district on Friday, the tremors of which were felt in Mumbai as well. The earthquake hit at around 11 am, ANI reported. According to News18, no casualty or damages have been reported so far. The depth of the earthquake was 5 kilometres, the report said. Following the earthquake, the district administration has put all the government machinery on high alert, DNA reported. Palghar district collector, Dr Prashant Narnaware, said: All our officials and I are on the spot and have put the entire administration on high alert. Even ambulances have been dispatched to the spot." Our education officers are also visiting schools to pacify school children that there is nothing to worry about, he added. There are at least 25 public and private schools in the area, the report said. For the past few months, Palghar district has been a hotbed of seismic activity. A two-year-old girl died when three consecutive earthquakes hit Talsari taluka in Palghar on 2 February. Three earthquakes measuring 4.1, 3.6 and 3.5 on the Richter scale hit the district on that day at 2.06 pm, 3.53 pm and 4.57 pm respectively. According to the National Center of Seismology (NCS), the region has been experiencing such tremors regularly since November last year and more than 10 earthquakes have occurred in the Talsari taluka. An exchange of fire broke out between militants and security forces in Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district An exchange of fire broke out between militants and security forces in Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. Reportedly, the gunfight in the Langate area of the district has ended and a search operation is underway. Two to three militants were believed to be trapped in the area. The encounter broke out between the security forces and militants in the wee hours of Friday. No causalities have been reported so far. More details are awaited. On Wednesday, at least two Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the state's Shopian district. One of them was a Pakistani national, PTI reported. "On specific information, this operation was launched. Two terrorists were killed. These terrorists belonged to proscribed terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad," Kashmirs Inspector General of Police SP Pani confirmed after the operation had concluded. He added, "Arms and ammunition have been recovered. From the material we have recovered, it is ascertained that one terrorist belonged to Pakistan, and the other is from a local area." With inputs from agencies Given the relatively short period of time within which these three developments broke, confusion reigned on social media where journalists, news portals and those following the news traded various versions of the yet unverified reports of the three air crashes. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed that its air force had shot down two Indian aircraft and that an Indian pilot was arrested by troops. Minutes later, reports arrived a F-16 jet of Pakistan, that had violated Indian air space, was shot down by India in the Lam valley, in Nowshera sector. Meanwhile, a Mi-17 transport chopper has crashed in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam. The exact cause behind this attack has not been determined. Given the relatively short period of time within which these three developments broke, confusion reigned on social media where journalists, news portals and those following the news traded various versions of the yet unverified reports of the three air crashes. A number of the images and videos circulated in the immediate aftermath were claimed to be fake, with many pinning the blame for the circulation of fake images on Pakistan. Pakistan army spokesperson Asif Ghafoor's tweet, that set off the cycle of claims, mentioned that of the two Indian aircraft that Pakistan reportedly hit, one fell inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir while other fell inside the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Shortly afterwards, videos of what was claimed to be the wreckage of the aircraft were shared by several people on Twitter, among them the Pakistani dailies Dawn and Express Tribune and the channel, the Pakistan Television Corporation. The latter claimed that a video of a man blindfolded and another of a pilot lying wounded on the ground were both "exclusive" videos that showed Indian pilots who had been flying jets that were allegedly struck down by Pakistan. However, the time stamp of the videos, uploaded to YouTube, was 26 February, 2019. Both videos were widely shared on Twitter and shown on Pakistani television channels. Many have since claimed that the video of the soldier lying on the ground was shot at the Yemlur grounds of Bengaluru, after one of the pilots on the Surya Kiran fell to the ground after the crash. He was later identified as Wing Commander Vijay Shelke, one of the pilots who had ejected safely after the two aircraft crashed. Some said Kannada could clearly be heard in the background, causing both "Kannada" and #PakFakeClaims to trend on Twitter. 2nd Indian Pilot Arrested Alive... pic.twitter.com/TaYWNCCljY Dr Shahid Masood (@Shahidmasooddr) February 27, 2019 The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that there has been an air-to-air engagement between Pakistan and India and a pilot of a MiG 21 is missing in action. However, there is no clarity on whether the widely shared video of a man who is injured and is standing upright, blindfolded, does indeed show the Indian pilot who is missing. In the circulating video, the captured man can be heard identifying himself as "Wing Commander Abhinandan" but there is no clarity yet on whether he is the man missing in action. The two IAF jets shown on Pakistani media had the tail numbers TU657 and A3492. The first was an IAF Mikoyan MiG-27MU which crashed in a residential area of the city on 12 June, 2016. The aircraft was on a routine training sortie when it crashed and around three people had been injured. Two houses in the area had been damaged. The second, A3492, was a Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer which crashed on 3 June, 2015 in Odisha's Mayurbhanj. Since the Hawk A-3492 crashed in a paddy field about 200 metres from human habitation around noon, there were no reports of any civilian casualties or loss of property, The Hindu had reported. Both the Dawn and the Express Tribune have taken down the contentious images and instead run with two images attributed to Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations. Those have not been proven to be fake yet. The spread of misinformation regarding flights continued on Thursday when it emerged that photographs of a jet being circulated as a felled MiG-21 were actually that of the Pakistani F-16 that had been brought down by India and were found in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. ANI reported that the Commanding Officer of Pakistan's 7 Northern Light Infantry was also visible in the photograph. The discrepancies in terrain between the sites of the MiG-21 and F-16 crashes are evident from the photographs shared, even though many claimed that both jets were Indian. Pakistani social media accounts also shared what appeared to be a manufactured video of an Indian Air Force jet being shot down, reported the fact-checking website Alt-News. The video has been picked up from a 2015 video uploaded by a YouTube channel "Pakistan Defense." Paksitani website The News claimed that the Indian government has removed a senior air force officer reportedly after Pakistans successful strikes and capturing of a pilot on 27 February. ANI clarified on Friday that Western Air Command Chief Air Marshal C Hari Kumar retired on 28 February, the day he was scheduled to retire, after completing more than 39 years of service. Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar took over as his successor Fake news of IAF strike In India, fake images of JeM camps which were struck by Indian Air Force jets on Tuesday were circulated too. According to Alt-News, a bunch of images showing the destruction caused by the IAF jets in Balakot and circulated on social media, were fake. Some of these images, which were shared on social media, including on 'I Support Amit Shah' a fan group on Facebook dedicated to BJP president Amit Shah and on WhatsApp were, in fact, from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake which caused maximum damage in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The fan group shared the image of the devastation caused in Balakot after the earthquake as damage caused by IAF jets. Another image, which has been circulating on social media is that of a crowd mourning their dead. This image was (presented as victims of IAF strikes in Balakot), but was originally from a bomb blast in 2014, which took place near the India-Pakistan border. According to Reuters, which published the image in 2014, 57 Pakistanis were killed in the attack. Another image which shows rescue workers in Pakistan carrying dead bodies on a stretcher (below), was in fact, from a 2017 blast in Lahore, Pakistan. The image was taken by AFP. According to Dawn, which published the image, at least "26 people, including nine policemen, were killed while 58 others were injured in the bombing attack near the Arfa Karim IT Tower on Lahore's Ferozepur Road". Tensions between India and Pakistan have been escalating since the 14 February terror attack at Pulwama, killing 42 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers. After the IAF carried out air strikes on terror training camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan has convened two high-level meetings involving Prime Minister Imran Khan. While Pakistan has acknowledged the IAF operation in Balakot, it has denied that the effort resulted in any casualties. Follow LIVE updates on tension between India and Pakistan here The idea of losing my family to war terrifies me every day. I dont know from which side a shell could hit our house,' a border resident in Jammu and Kashmir said. Editor's Note: A network of 60 reporters set off across India to test the idea of development as it is experienced on the ground. Their brief: Use your mobile phone to record the impact of 120 key policy decisions on everyday life; what works, what doesn't and why; what can be done better and what should be done differently. Their findings straight and raw from the ground will be combined in this series, Elections on the Go, over a course of 100 days. Read more articles from the series here *** Ranbirsingh Pora: These days, the radio is Madan Lals constant companion. He listens to hourly news from All India Radio to keep himself up to date on the mounting hostilities between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack. This 35-year-old farmer, a father of three, is anxious about what will happen if the two countries decide to wage a full-scale war against each other. And he has every reason to worry he is a resident of Suchetgarh, a small village in RS Pura sector in Jammu and Kashmir, close to the border with Pakistan. From his lawn, Lal can see Pakistani soldiers moving about and, sometimes, if they shout at each other, he can even hear their voices. Nobody knows what will happen the next moment. You can taste the fear, it is thick in the air at this village. The minute a war begins, our entire village will be destroyed in a flash, he says. Going by how tensions between the two countries are escalating, one can only imagine what Lal and his fellow villagers are going through senior officers on Thursday said the armed forces remained deployed in a high state of readiness poised in all three dimensions land, sea and air." While India has accused Pakistan of unprovoked ceasefire violations and factually incorrect statements, the latter says India has been trying to establish what it calls a new normal, which, according to Pakistan, is a thinly veiled term for doing acts of aggression at whatever pretext they (India) wish on a given day. In the line of fire Lal vividly remembers how, in January 2018, a mortar shell fired from the Pakistani side had struck his single-storied house in the middle of the night, destroying a major portion of his dwelling. Fortunately, there was no loss of life as Lal and his family had gone to their relatives' house in another village just a day before skirmishes between the two sides had begun at the border. The idea of losing my family to war terrifies me every day. I dont know from which side a shell could hit our house and kill us all in an instant. Thats the only reason I keep the radio glued to my ears, so that I can flee with my family if a war starts. Similar concerns are echoed by other inhabitants of the village, who say they are the ones who feel it the most when relations between India and Pakistan worsen. Ratan Lal is another villager whose house was damaged during the shelling in January 2018. He and hundreds of other villagers had fled from their homes, when the two countries had started trading fire, and taken shelter in a government school far away. When he returned, he found his half-acre land virtually blanketed with shell splinters, completely destroying his basmati crop. There was no harvest for me that year. I lost almost everything, he recalls. To make matters worse, Ratan is yet to get any compensation for the damage. Pointing towards the blown-up portions of his house, he says he hasnt been able to carry out repairs because he has no money. The 44-year-old adds that he had to sell his two buffaloes to clear the loan he had taken from his relatives. My house and my land were destroyed by the shelling, but I am yet to be compensated. Some government officials had come; they assessed the damage and left, and havent returned since. No bunkers, no healthcare, no protection Last March, the Centre had approved the construction of 14,460 bunkers along the Line of Control and the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, in a bid to protect the border dwellers. One such bunker was constructed at Lals home too last June. However, according to him, it is built so badly that it might just prove to be a death well instead of a secure hiding place during shelling. You can see there is no cover over the stairs. Also, it has no water or electricity. If we take shelter inside it, it will kill us anyway, he scoffs. Another villager, Bhaga Ram, says the governments half-hearted approach in constructing the bunkers shows that it cares the least for the lives of border dwellers. Please see for yourself the dilapidated condition of this concrete structure, a so-called bunker. Rainwater has inundated it. One cannot survive inside even for an hour. How can the government expect us to stay inside it for days together? he asks. Ram adds that the best possible thing for the villagers would be to relocate elsewhere. Unless the bunkers are properly covered and have water and power facilities, they are useless for us. This small hamlet also has a dispensary, which was renovated by the Suchetgarh MLA, BJPs Sham Choudhary, in 2015. Inside it are a few chairs, closed almirahs and single beds for medical examination. Pharmacist Ramesh Chander says that besides him, there is one staff nurse from National Health Mission (NHM) posted there. However, the nurse didnt report to work that day due to the NHM employees statewide strike against the government over pending wages. There isnt even a doctor on the premises. So in case of an emergency, we shift the patients to the district hospital after administering first aid, he adds. Chander says there isnt any latest medical equipment at the dispensary, and even something as basic as a blood pressure measuring device is missing. This is because the place is yet to be upgraded to a full-fledged medical centre. It also doesnt have an ambulance to ferry patients. What do locals want? Usha Devi (29), a local, says she wants the government to ensure dedicated focus on the women living in the border areas. There should have been vocational training institutes where women could get trained to earn a livelihood. However, we have been left in the lurch with no focus on our upliftment, she rues. According to her, there are no livelihood opportunities available to the people there, except traditional farming. Our crops are destroyed every time tensions between the two sides rise. We have sacrificed a lot in the past, but the government doesnt seem to be interested in listening to our woes, she adds. On the other hand, Anil Kumar, who is pursuing his graduation in a Jammu college, says there should be a special quota for youths living in border towns in army recruitment. It is strange that Rs 10 lakh and a government job is given to a militant who surrenders in Kashmir, but those who are guarding the borders are left at the mercy of the situation. Shouldnt the government think of our betterment, knowing full well the predicament that surrounds us all days of the year?, Kumar questions. The area comes under the Jammu Lok Sabha constituency, where BJPs Ashok Khajuria secured more than 1.66 lakh votes. From Suchetgarh, 19,000 votes were polled in the BJPs favour. Earlier, the seat was considered a Congress bastion, as the party had won it in nine of the total 14 Lok Sabha elections. According to Bhupinder Singh, a local youth working in a private firm, the area voted unanimously for the BJP in the 2014 elections, hoping the partys pro-development agenda would benefit border towns as well. However, five years down the line, he adds, not much has changed and the locals continue to struggle every day to make ends meet. We will now vote for whichever party gives ample assurances of protecting our lives and properties and compensates us for past losses. In defence of the government Choudhary, who has won two back-to-back terms (2008 and 2014 Assembly elections), admits there is an urgent need to make the bunkers more secure and that he has already taken up the matter with the deputy commissioner. According to him, the government has also taken up the matter of giving special quotas to border residents in police recruitment and more compensation to those whose houses get damaged in shelling. He says the Centre in last June took a series of major steps for the border dwellers and also raised the compensation bar damage to crops is now approved at Rs 37,500 per hectare and compensation for loss of livestock is Rs 30,000 for large animals and Rs 3,000 for small animals; Rs 1,01,900 is for fully damaged pucca houses and Rs 75,000 for partially damaged ones. Choudhary, who beat Taranjit Singh Toni of the National Conference in 2008 as well as 2014, is confident that the people will vote for his party in the upcoming elections. (The author is a Srinagar-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters) Property records of a seminary said to be the headquarters of the JeM, a claim denied by Pakistan in recent days, does indeed belong to the internationally proscribed terrorist group. Returning Abhinandan unlikely to help Pakistan; using F-16s against India, Pulwama attack dossier will add to its troubles Imran Khans decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, welcomed by media on both sides, could have been a huge diplomatic advantage for Pakistan. That advantage was squandered away when Imran, in his address to a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament, chose to wax eloquent on Kashmir advising Indians to ponder on the 'aazadi' sentiment there. Property records nail Pakistani lie on Jaish-e-Mohammed HQ in Bahawalpur, finds Firstpost investigation Property records of a sprawling seminary said to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, a claim denied by Pakistan in recent days, does indeed belong to the internationally proscribed terrorist group, an investigation by Firstpost has found. Sonchiriya movie review: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar and a band of fine artistes deliver aching, desolate beauty Sonchiriya, which is written by Chaubey and Sudip Sharma, rarely misses a step. Like Chaubey's three previous directorial ventures Ishqiya, Dedh Ishqiya and Udta Punjab it is rooted in the soil from which it emerges. All England Championships: Revisiting Pullela Gopichands unexpected 2001 triumph which sparked Indian badminton's rise Between 1997 and 2001, Pullela Gopichand concentrated all his energies on singles, and cut out doubles from his regimen. After winning the national singles title for the fifth time in 2000-01, he was ready to conquer the world. Burying the massacred: In the shade of Kalandari If you were to hear the testimonies of those who survived the dhamaal of 2002, especially the survivors from Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patiya, Kalandari Kabristan will be an oft-named place, because it is here that they buried their dead. India's participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to address the OIC. In a major diplomatic achievement, India on Friday for the first time addressed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Abu Dhabi, and asserted that the war against terrorism, which was destabilising regions and putting the world at great peril, was not against any religion. India's participation came despite a strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the OIC invite to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion," Swaraj, who is the first Indian minister to address the meeting of the 57 Islamic countries, said. Here is the full text of Swaraj's address: Your Highness, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, newly elected Chair and Foreign Minister of UAE, Your Excellency Dr AK Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Your Excellency Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, Secretary General, OIC, Foreign Ministers Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen I am honoured to join my colleagues from nations, that represent a great religion and ancient civilisations. I stand here as a representative of a land, that has been for ages a fountain of knowledge, a beacon of peace, a source of faiths and traditions, and home to religions from the world and now, one of the major economies of the world. I carry the greetings of my Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modiji and 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India. They speak Tamil and Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi, Bangla and Bhojpuri or any of the numerous languages of India. They have diverse culinary tastes, myriad choices of traditional attire, and they maintain strong cultural and linguistic heritage of the regions they loved and have lived for generations. They practice their respective beliefs and live in harmony with each other and with their non-Muslim brethren. It is this appreciation of diversity and co-existence, that has ensured that very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies. Your Highness and Excellencies, 2019 is indeed a very special year. In this year (i) The OIC is celebrating its Golden Jubilee. (ii) The United Arab Emirates is celebrating Year of Tolerance, and (iii) India is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a global symbol of Truth and Non-violence. It is therefore a matter of pride for me,and for India, to be invited in this special year, to be your Guest of Honour, and to be extended a hand of friendship. I convey my deep appreciation to Foreign Minister His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed for his sagacious leadership and for his invitation. Thank you your Highness. Your Highness and Excellencies, In the past four years, few relationships have seen as much engagement as Indias relationship with UAE and indeed, with the entire Gulf and West Asia Region. It is a return of history. UAE has shown, how a nation can power its progress, (i) with a grand vision, (ii) with the openness of the world, (iii) with an embrace of technology, (iii) with investment in human resources and (iv) with an environment, that nurtures talent and cultures from around the world. We also express our special gratitude to Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and others friends,for their strong support for,hearing Indias voice in this forum. Your Highness and Excellencies, The OIC members constitute more than one fourth of the members of the United Nations, and nearly a quarter of the humanity. It is an organisation, that has a key role in shaping our world. It brings together nations, on the foundation of a common faith, but also by a shared desire for a better future for their people. (i) From Southeast Asia to the shores of Latin America; (ii) from the steppes of Central Asia to the vast expanse of the African continent; (iii) from South Asia to the great arc of West Asia and North Africa, the nations represented here, also reflect a magnificent diversity of language and literature, customs and culture, history and heritage. Your Highness, Excellencies, India shares much with you. Many of us have experienced the dark days of colonialism.Many of us saw, the light of freedom andthe bright ray of hope at the same time. We have stood together in solidarity,in our quest for justice, dignity and equality of all people, regardless of race and religion. We have worked together, to fashion global institutions, into representative platforms, defined not by the interest of a few, but the voice of all sections of humanity. We have together struggled for a world, where access to resources, markets and opportunities is fair and balanced.And, with so many nations here, India has forged deep bonds of friendship and close partnerships. As Indias economy has grown and become more integrated with the world,these partnerships have become stronger. We have excellent political ties, marked by warmth, respect and goodwill. With many,we have expanding defence and security cooperation. Our economic engagement is robust and growing rapidly. Our digital partnerships are shaping the course of our future. And, our ties have the warm glow of deepening human and cultural links. Nations to our east, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are important pillars of Indias Act East Policy, and of our broader engagement in the Indo Pacific Region. In our neighbourhood, with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Maldives we have ties, forged in (i) our shared struggles and sacrifices, (ii) in the immeasurable warmth of our hearts, and (iii) in our unwavering commitment to the security and prosperity of our people and region. In Central Asia, where human aspirations linked us across the mightiest mountains since ancient times, we are rebuilding our relationship along new routes of possibilities. We do this, especially with and through Iran, a country, with which we not only share civilizational and cultural links, but a partnership, that is vital for stability and prosperity in our region. In West Asia, our solidarity with the aspirations of the Palestinian people have remained unwavering. Our international journey was often pursued in close partnership with Egypt. Iraq and India have stood together in our triumphs and trials. We have with great admiration supported Jordans efforts in strengthening the voices of moderation andbuilding bridges of understanding between faiths. Further to the West, with nations like Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria we work for a shared desire for a more inclusive world. With Turkey, a nation, with which, we have many strands of connected history, we are imparting new momentum to our ties.Our many friends from Africa are here. It is a friendship of deep emotional bond that comes from shared struggle for freedom, and for a voice and a place in the world. Today, on the foundations of that extraordinary heritage, India and Africa have launched a new partnership of prosperity in the dynamic African continent. Here in our neighbourhood of the Gulf Region, our relationships are as old as time. The tides of Arabian Seas have carried forth,our timeless links of trade, culture and religions. Presently, the Gulf Region is our largest market, supplier of energy and source of remittances. More than 8 million Indians living in the region, are the 8 million vibrant threads of this partnership.But now our relationship is much more than that, thanks to the extraordinary effort and attention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of the region. It is an indispensable strategic and security partnership, and a natural economic partnership, of immense value, to our nations, and for our shared region. Your Highness and Excellencies, Today, we all live in a world of sweeping changes, and multiple challenges, that happen, but rarely in history.We see global shifts in power. The centre of gravity of the global economy is moving to Asia. The international order we are familiar with, is changing. Freedom, opportunities, connectivity, health, education and prosperity are more widespread than ever before. The time it takes nations to lift people out of poverty, is getting shorter. Digital revolution has created unprecedented opportunities to empower people and transform our economies. We have affordable and accessible technologies that give us hope, for a sustainable energy future.Yet, we also live on the edge of uncertainty.Tensions, turbulence, disputes, violence, dislocation, displacement are also at a high. Conflicts, within and between societies are rising. We are also seeing the human and economic costs of climate change. And, we are witnessing the terrible daily destruction, in senseless terrorist violence. It is destroying lives, destabilising regions, and putting the world at great peril. The reach of terror is growing, Its lethality is increasing and The toll it is taking, is rising. In the rich diversity of Southeast Asia, In West Asia, and the Gulf, In North Africa, and Sahel region, In Europe, and North America, In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and, India, We see the terrible face of terror; Excellencies and your Highness Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels.It uses diverse causes.But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed.The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be.Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood. It is a verse in the Holy Koran which says La Ikrah fiddeen - Let there be no compulsion in religion And Sura Al Hujurat says "O Mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know one another, not that you may despise one another. The founder Guru of Sikkhism Guru Nanak dev, gave the similar message to the mankind and I quote, awwal allah noor upaaya, kudarat ke sab bande ek noor te sab jag upjeya, kaun bhale kaun mande This means: "First, Allah created light; then, by his creative power, he made all mortal beingsFrom that one light, the entire world came into being, So, who is good, and who is bad? Your Highness and Excellencies, India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text "The Rig Veda and I quote , which means "God is One but learned men describe Him in many ways. Our great philosopher Swami Vivekananda,said that this phrase from the Rig Veda has "given the theme to all subsequent thoughts in India, and one, that will be the theme of the whole world of religions. Your Highness and Excellencies, This is not a clash of civilisations or cultures, but a contest of ideas and ideals.As Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has often said, it is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity. If we want to save the humanity then we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to the terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to the terror organisations, based in their countries. At the same time I would like to say that this menace could not be fought, only through military, intelligence or diplomatic means. It is also a battle, that must be won through the strengths of our values, and the real message of religions. This is a task that states, societies, sages, scholars, spiritual leaders, and families must pursue, through personal contacts and on social media. And, for this - Faiths must speak to faiths. - Cultures must engage cultures. - Communities must build bridges, not erect walls. - The youth must shape the future, not destroy lives. I am particularly pleased to participate in a conference, whose theme is a road map for prosperity and development. However, I may enter a caveat: the young are not going to be content, with only road maps. They want roads as well. They also want them to be built fast. It must be our common objective to ensure, that we leave them a world, that is infinitely better in terms of equitable economic growth and social justice, than the one, we inherited. That is the mission, which has brought us together in Abu Dhabi, a city that has matured into a landmark of Asia and the world. Your Highness and Excellencies, India is the worlds third largest economy on Purchasing Power Parity; and, is the fastest growing one. We are prepared to share our market, resources, opportunities, and skills with our partners. We will do what we can within our capacity to ensure that the path to development remains open to all and the global trade regime is open, stable and fair. Your Highness and Excellencies, At 50, Organisation of Islamic States is making a new beginning. The choices you make, the direction you set, will have a profound impact on humanity. The OIC has a huge responsibility and a great opportunity to lift humanity to a higher level of peace and prosperity, and to make this planet a better place, not just for your people, but for rest of the world. And, we will work with you to (i) spread the true meaning and mission of all religions; (ii) promote respect for and between faiths; (iii) counter the language of hate with the message of harmony; (iv) advocate moderation over extremism and pluralism over exclusion; (v) inspire youth to the path of service, than of destruction; (vi) build bridge of understanding and reduce barriers across cultures and religions. Your Highness and Excellencies, The late President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, popularly referred to as the Peoples President, said and I quote, "Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world. Your Highness and Excellencies, I come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi, where every prayer ends with the call for Shanti or Peace for all. I convey our best wishes, our support and our solidarity in your quest for stability, peace, harmony, economic growth and prosperity for your people and the world. Thank you. Shukran The full text has been reproduced from website of Ministry of External Affairs and has not been edited by Firstpost for style and clarity. Abhinandan Varthaman LIVE updates: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to Indian authorities at Wagah-Attari border on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. 'The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians,' he said. Auto refresh feeds The IAF pilot was captured on Wednesday after his MiG-21 fighter jet crashed in an aerial combat with a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet. Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is set to return after two days in Pakistani captivity. The announcement by Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday evening brought relief to Indians. Soon, after Wing Commander Abhinandan's MiG21 jet crashed in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, videos of him in Pakistan's custody surfaced. Some clips showed him being captured and in the custody of the Pakistani army. The information technology ministry has directed YouTube to remove 11 videos showing the Wing Commander. Sources have told News18 that the pilot will be brought from Rawalpindi to Lahore by a special plane and then handed over to the Indian side. Responding to a question regarding Azhar's location, Qureshi said "he is in Pakistan, according to my information". "He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his house, because he's really unwell," the foreign minister said. Speaking to CNN, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said: "We are open to any step that leads to de-escalation and if they have good, solid evidence, please sit and talk, please initiate a dialogue and we will show reasonableness." The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan said it would keep airspace shut until at least 1:30pm on Friday local time (0800 GMT), disrupting major routes between Europe and South East Asia. Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. Singapore Airlines was also forced to divert Europe-bound flights to Mumbai and Dubai to refuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. - AFP Thousands of air travellers worldwide were left stranded on Thursday as the closure of Pakistan's airspace continued in the aftermath of tensions with India. One civilian was injured Friday in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing towards Indian posts and villages in Kamalkote area of Uri in Baramulla district on Thursday evening, the officials said. There were no reports of any casualties so far in the operation, the officials said. PTI They said the search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened firing towards the security forces, who retaliated. An encounter broke out on Friday between militants and security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Babagund area of Kupwara following information about presence of militants there, the officials said. "There is enough evidence to show that F-16s were used in this mission and Pakistan is trying to hide this fact. Also, parts of AMRAAM air-to-air missile which is carried only on the F-16s in Pakistan Air Force were recovered East of Rajouri within the Indian territory," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, assistant chief of Air Staff, told a news conference. The Indian Air Force on Thursday displayed parts of an AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile as evidence to "conclusively" prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian military installations in Kashmir. Pakistan had on Wednesday categorically said that no F-16 fighter jets were used and denied that one of its planes had been downed by the IAF. Two militants were killed in an overnight encounter at Babagund village of Langate, Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. The bodies of the slain militants have been recovered from the spot on Friday morning, Times Now reported. A delegation of IAF team will on Friday receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat, at the Wagah border, official sources said. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Recounting the dramatic events leading to the capture of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry, the chief of Horran village in Pakistan, told the BBC. Varthaman's first question on landing was whether he was in India, and the villagers tricked him with an affirmative response, leading the pilot to raise patriotic slogans about India. However, he was in for a shock as the hostile mob turned on him. IAF pilot Abhinandan was tricked to believe he landed in India by PoK locals, claims eyewitness The move led to more hostility and the villagers began pelting stones at Varthaman who by then was on the run. "The boys chased him until he fell into a stream and one of my nephews who was also armed shot him in the leg," Chaudhry said. "Our boys were angry and continued to force their way closer to him to punch and slap him, though some of them tried to stop the aggressors. I also told them not to harm him, to leave him alone until the army officers arrived," Chaudhry said. "My objective was to capture the pilot alive. I had seen the Indian flag on his parachute and knew he was Indian," Chaudhry was quoted as saying. He was first led to believe that he had landed in India so he started raising patriotic slogans. "The boys around him responded by saying, 'Long live Pakistan'!" Chaudhury told the BBC, adding that Varthaman then pulled out his gun and fired in the air to intimidate them." Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry, the chief of Horran village in Pakistan where IAF officer Abhinandan Varthaman was captured, told the BBC that he ran to the spot along with other villagers when he saw the MiG 21 crashing to the ground. Reprots claimed that IAF pilot Abhinandan has been kept in Rawalpindi, where Pakistan Army Headquarters are based. He will be flown to Lahore in a special flight, from where he will reportedly be handed over to the Indian side. A delegation of IAF team will go there to receive him. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. IAF pilot Abhinandan in Rawalpindi, to be handed over to India at Wagah, claim reports Reports have claimed that Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman will cross over to the Indian side around 12 noon at Wagah border. A delegation of IAF team will be there to receive him. Sources said he was currently in Rawalpindi, from where he would be brought to Lahore, and would be handed over to India at Attari-Wagah border Abhinandan to be received by IAF team at Wagah around noon, say reports Whether it was the tenets of the Geneva Conventions that prevailed upon the Pakistani prime minister or concerns about escalating the situation is unknown, and more to the point, irrelevant. What needs to be noted is how Khan owned the narrative of the whole episode and demonstrated that he was taking the moral high ground in an increasingly volatile situation. But his announcement in the Pakistani Parliament that the pilot is to be released was no flash-in-the-pan or a one-off. He's been carefully managing the narrative ever since Abhinandan was captured. All arrangements for IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan's release, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, have been finalised, Pakistan government sources have told the state media. He will be accompanied by the Indian air attache to Pakistan, media reported . "On a day when our country is grappling with another crisis of mad rush of mutual self destruction played between India and Pakistan, our basic problem is to get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflicts citizens in our two countries," said former prime minister Manmohan Singh. "Fingers started pointing towards Pakistan for Pulwama attack in less than half an hour of the incident. This came at a time on the eve of an important visit of Saudi Crown Prince. Why would we sabotage such an important visit? What would Pakistan gain from the Pulwama incident? I asked India to give us actionable intelligence and we will act on it. We debated whether to respond after the India attack since there were no casualties. We did not want to cause any Indian casualties and be responsible for an escalation. The next day, we demonstrated our capability and will to respond but there was no collateral damage. There is no victory in a war. We shouldnt even think of war. War is not a solution. If India takes any action again now, we will again have to retaliate. Pakistan wants peace. Our interest lies in peace and de-escalation... [But] we are prepared for everything." Yesterday, at joint session of Pakistan Parliament, Imran Khan questioned India's intent to de-escalate the situation. "They sent Pulwama dossier today two days after launching an attack. The question is: could they not have sent it earlier and if Pakistan had not acted upon it, then taken action against us?" We want peace, but we are prepared for everything: Imran Khan's Parliament address Scores of people assembled at the Attari Joint Check Post with Indian flags on Friday to receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who is likely to be released by Pakistani authorities later in the day. People started arriving in Attari since 6 am, News18 reported. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence... Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. BJP President Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and said how could India trust him. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that he will not attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit. He had initially threatened to boycott the meeting when UAE had invited India to be present as the guest of honour at the event. However, later some reports claimed that he will attend the event. However, now Pakistan has said that it will send some envoys to the summit. Shah Mahmood Qureshi once again changes stance on OIC, says will send envoys He had initially threatened to boycott the meeting when UAE had invited India to be present as the guest of honour at the event. However, later some reports claimed that he will attend the event. However, now Pakistan has said that it will send some envoys to the summit. He said: "I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj." Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that he will not attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit. Shah Mahmood Qureshi once again changes stance on OIC, says will send envoys IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman has been handed over to Indian High Commission in Pakistan, from where he will be brought to the Attari-Wagah border. He is expected to cross over between 3 to 4 pm, Hindustan Times reported. India, on Wednesday sent a dossier to Pakistan. This includes evidence of set of activities that Jaish-e-Mohammed and Azhar Masood undertake in Pakistan. These include, on blogs, websites, Facebook accounts and Twitter accounts apart from banners and pamphlets inviting people to join their training camps in Pakistan. Many of the listed blogs and websites openly declare association of Jaish-e-Mohammad with terror attacks. Locals say 400 to 500 people live locally, scattered across hills in mudbrick homes. Reuters spoke to about 15 people, none of whom knew of any casualties apart from Nooran Shah. "I havent seen any dead bodies, only a local who was hurt by something or hit by some window, he was hurt," said Abdur Rasheed, echoing numerous others. "It shook everything," said Abdur Rasheed, who drives a pickup van around the area. He said there werent any human casualties: No one died. Only some pine trees died, they were cut down. A crow also died. A sign which had been up earlier in the week identifying the madrassas affiliation to Jaish-e Mohammad had been removed by Thursday and soldiers prevented reporters from gaining access. But it was possible to see the structure from the back. It appeared intact, like the trees surrounding it, with no sign of any damage of the kind seen near the bomb craters. People in the area said Jaish-e Mohammad did have a presence, running not an active training camp but a madrassa, or religious school, about one km from where the bombs fell. "It is Taleem ul Quran madrassa. The kids from the village study there. There is no training," said Nooran Shah Reuters report says any damage to JeM installation at Jaba top seems unlikely Hinting indirectly at Pakistan, Sushma said that the nations which support terrorisms must be warned that such pursuits give no benefit to anyone. She then urged the world to help them dismantle terror hotbeds, and their funding mechanism to bring an end to the menace. "Terrorism is destroying lives,destabilizing regions and putting the world at great peril. Terror reach is growing and the toll it is taking is increasing," Swaraj said at OIC event. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke about the menace of terrorism, however, she stopped short of naming Pakistan. Khan had announced that Pakistan was freeing Varthaman, unconditionally, as a gesture of peace. Some other trending topics in the neighbouring country included, #GoBackModi, and #PaksitanLeadsWithPeace. In the hours before the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan on Friday, the hashtag #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan was trending in Pakistan on Twitter. "I would have loved to go, since both he and his father were from the National Defence Academy, like me, and it would have been an extremely happy and nostalgic moment for me to receive the brave officer, said Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday in a statement. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will not receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthman at the Waghah border to ensure that the defence protocol that is usually followed in such cases is not violated in any way. If we want to save humanity,we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing shelter & funding to the terror organisations based in that country. Hours after Pakistan announced its decision to release Abhinandan Varthaman, India conveyed to Islamabad that it wants him to be sent back via aerial route and not through the Wagah land border, official sources told PTI. However, late in the night, Pakistan communicated to India that he will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border. Dismissing the plea, the Islamabad High Court gave a go-ahead to the repatriation of IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The petitioner said the Indian pilot had violated the airspace of Pakistan to bomb the country and therefore he committed crime against Pakistan and should face trial here. The Border Security Force has asked the Punjab Police to make the border ceremony as low key an affair as possible. Following this, the police has removed the crowd from the area and the Beating Retreat ceremony has been closed for the public for today. CNN-News18 reported that this has been done to ensure that the repatriation process of the IAF pilot does not turn into a public spectacle. CNN-News18 reported that the 30-minute long Beating the Retreat ceremony that takes place every evening at India-Pakistan border at Attari checkpost stands canceled today. However, the customary lowering of flags will take place but the ceremony will not be open to public. However, there were some mischievous reports in Pakistani media that used his pre-scheduled retirement date to insinuate that India removed the senior officer from his post following "Pakistans successful strikes and capturing of a pilot on 27 February." Western Air Command Chief Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, a decorated officer of the Indian Air Force, retired Thursday on the due date of retirement after completing more than 39 years of service. Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar took over as his successor. This is the way the forces will gauge Pakistans preparedness. Then, the pilot will be debriefed by multiple agencies namely the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will be made to reconstruct the event. Owing to the news of crowds cheering in the region, there are speculations that he was taken to the army base in Bhimber in PoK. Once the IAF pilot reaches Indian shores, he will be sent in for a medical examination. A committee of the Indian Air Force will reconstruct the events of the crash to learn what was fired, the frequency and intensity of the firing. This is the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directly spoken about Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman since his capture by Pakistani officials in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir on Wednesday after his aircraft was downed. Campaigning for Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Everyone is proud that brave Wing Commander Abhinandan is from Tamil Nadu... I am proud that Indias first woman Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is from Tamil Nadu." Everybody is proud IAF pilot Abhinandan is from Tamil Nadu, says Modi at poll rally Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that Indian Punjab Police personnel distribute food to Pakistani passengers stranded outside Attari Railway station near Amritsar, following the temporary suspension of the Samjhauta Express rail services. In Kanyakumari, Narendra Modi said, "India has been facing terror for a long time, but not anymore. The nation expected the people responsible for terror to be punished but that was never done before. Mumbai attack happened but nothing was done against it. When Uri and Pulwama happened, you saw what our brave soldiers did. There was a time when news reports said that air force wanted to take action, but UPA did not want them to do anything. Now reports say that armed forces have all the power to do what they want. This is 'New India'." "These are the same people whose statements are helping Pakistan and harming India. They are the same people whose statements are being happily quoted in Parliament of Pakistan and in the radio of Pakistan. I want to ask them, do you support our armed forces or suspect them?" As India awaits the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Kanyakumari, "Few parties, guided by hatred, have started hating India. No wonder, while the entire nation supports our armed forces, they suspect the armed forces. The world is supporting Indias fight against terror, but a few parties suspect our fight against terror. Wing Commander Abhinandan will be flown to New Delhi from Amritsar, sources told CNN-News18. Air vice marshals RGK Kapoor and Sreekumar Prabhakaran are expected to receive him at the Wagah border. Pakistan violated ceasefire in Nowshera sector in Rajouri district at 4.15 pm. The Indian Army is currently retaliating, ANI reported. CNN-News18 reported that the procedure has been completed at the Pakistan side of the border. Wing Commander Abhinandan Vathaman is expected to cross over to India shortly. The visuals of the official handover of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to the Indian authorities is unlikely to be available as media has been barred from accessing the area. CNN-News18 reported that the handover has taken place at the Wagah-Attari border. In the next 30 minutes, he is likely to complete formalities on the Indian side. Reports said that Air Vice Marshal Ravi Kapoor will make a statement before the media at 5:35 pm. CNN-News18 reported that a statement is likely to be issued by Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor and that Wing Commander Abhinandan is likely to step out for the media. According to CNN-News18, an issue with the documents is delaying Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's exit to Attari. CNN-News18 reported that the officials who had come to receive Abhinandan Varthaman are still inside the integrated checkpost. Quoting sources, ANI reported that Pakistan has changed the timing of handover of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman twice. Indian defence minister is keeping a close watch on proceedings and the handover might now take place at 9 pm, it reported. In a brief statement, Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor said at Attari-Wagah border, "IAF wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman has just been handed over to us. As per the standard operating procedures, he will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. IAF is happy to have him back." Speaking to media, Amritsar district-commissioner SS Dhillon said, "He (Abhinandan) was happy to be back and smiling. He said that he was happy to be back to his country." He further said that he will be flown to Delhi from Amritsar in a special plane. 'Abhinandan said he was happy to be back to his country' In a statement issued minutes after the pilot crossed over to India from the Wagah-Attari border, the foreign office said, "While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. The captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India today." It described him as "India POW". Pakistan's foreign office on Friday announced the returning of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India, but described him as a "prisoner of war" (POW). Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday. "The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians," he said. According to ANI, IAF wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman was accompanied by IAF group captain Joy Thomas Kurien, Defence Attache to Indian High Commission in Pakistan. In a brief statement, Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor said at Attari-Wagah border, "IAF wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman has just been handed over to us. As per the standard operating procedures, he will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. IAF is happy to have him back." Speaking to media, Amritsar district-commissioner SS Dhillon said, "He (Abhinandan) was happy to be back and smiling. He said that he was happy to be back to his country." He further said that he will be flown to Delhi from Amritsar in a special plane. 'Abhinandan said he was happy to be back to his country' In a statement issued minutes after the pilot crossed over to India from the Wagah-Attari border, the foreign office said, "While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. The captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India today." It described him as "India POW". Pakistan's foreign office on Friday announced the returning of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India, but described him as a "prisoner of war" (POW). The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted shortly after Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released by Pakistan. "The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us," he wrote. Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love. Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's "dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud". "Welcome back and much love," he wrote. At 8.30 pm (local) time, the Pakistan government released the pilot's video message to the local media in which he said as to how he was captured. "Recording of his video message caused delay in his handing over," a source said. It was not clear whether he was made to record the video under duress. The video also had several jump cuts indicating that it had been edited heavily, apparently to fit Pakistani propaganda. The handing over of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to India at Wagah was delayed on Friday as he was asked to record a statement on camera by Pakistani authorities before he was allowed to cross the border, according to sources. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday. "The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians," he said. Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future. BJP national president Amit Shah said, "Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back." Abhinandan Varthaman LATEST updates: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to Indian authorities at Wagah-Attari border on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday. "The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians," he said. In a brief statement, Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor said at Attari-Wagah border, "IAF wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman has just been handed over to us. As per the standard operating procedures, he will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. IAF is happy to have him back." Quoting sources, ANI earlier reported that Pakistan has changed the timing of handover of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman twice. Indian defence minister is keeping a close watch on proceedings and the handover might now take place at 9 pm, it reported. According to CNN-News18, an issue with the documents is delaying Varthaman's exit to Attari. Wing Commander Abhinandan Vathamanhas been officially handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah-Attari border. CNN-News18 reported that in the next 30 minutes, he is likely to complete formalities on the Indian side. The Border Security Force has asked the Punjab Police to make the border ceremony as low key an affair as possible. Following this, the police has removed the crowd from the area and the Beating Retreat ceremony has been closed for the public for today. CNN-News18 reported that this has been done to ensure that the repatriation process of the IAF pilot does not turn into a public spectacle. IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to Indian High Commission in Islamabad, has left for Lahore. From there he will be brought to the Attari-Wagah border checkpost, from where an IAF team will airlift him to Delhi. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke about the menace of terrorism, however, she stopped short of naming Pakistan. "Terrorism is destroying lives,destabilizing regions and putting the world at great peril. Terror reach is growing and the toll it is taking is increasing," Swaraj said at OIC event. IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman has been handed over to Indian High Commission in Pakistan, from where he will be brought to the Attari-Wagah border. He is expected to cross over between 3 to 4 pm, Hindustan Times reported. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that he will not attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit. He said: "I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj." Latest reports suggest that the IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has left for Lahore from Islamabad. He is expected to reach the Attari-Wagah border around 2 pm. Scores of people assembled at the Attari Joint Check Post with Indian flags on Friday to receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who is likely to be released by Pakistani authorities later in the day. People started arriving in Attari since 6 am. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting. Earlier he had said that he would boycott the meeting if Swaraj participates. All arrangements for IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan's release, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, have been finalised, Pakistan government sources have told the state media. He will be accompanied by the Indian air attache to Pakistan, media reported. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman raised patriotic slogans, fired in the air and stuffed his mouth with documents when he landed on Pakistani soil after ejecting from his fighter jet, says the headman of a village on the other side of the border. He was attacked by locals who pelted him with stones and even shot him in the leg, the eyewitness revealed. Reports have claimed that Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman will cross over to the Indian side around 12 noon at Wagah border. A delegation of IAF team will be there to receive him. Sources said he was currently in Rawalpindi, from where he would be brought to Lahore, and would be handed over to India at Attari-Wagah border. Recounting the dramatic events leading to his capture, Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry, the chief of Horran village in Pakistan, told the BBC. Varthaman's first question on landing was whether he was in India, and the villagers tricked him with an affirmative response, leading the pilot to raise patriotic slogans about India. However, he was in for a shock as the hostile mob turned on him. Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman downed a F-16 fighter jet of Pakistan Air Force by firing an R-73 air-to-air missile before his MiG-21 Bison was hit during a fierce dogfight on Wednesday, official sources said. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and he is unwell. Qureshi said, "He is in Pakistan, according to my information". "He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his house, because he's really unwell," the foreign minister said. A delegation of IAF team will on Friday receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat, at the Wagah border, official sources said. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening, the sources said. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. India on Wednesday demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot. "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, told a news conference. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has offered to receive Wing Commander Varthaman at the Attari border. The Congress leader tweeted his request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Dear @narendramodi ji, I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am," he wrote. As Wing Commander Abhinandan looks increasingly likely to return, the focus of the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan has shifted to the reported venue where the handover of the prisoner will take place, the historical Wagah-Attari border. On Thursday afternoon, Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan announced that captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be released on Friday. In the two days during which the pilot was in Pakistani custody, an atmosphere of charged exchange of information and misinformation had prevailed between India and Pakistan on social media. This turned sombre as many began hoping instead that the Wing Commander returns home safely. As this looks increasingly likely to happen, the focus has shifted to the reported venue where the handover of the prisoner of war will take place -- the historical Wagah-Attari border. Sources have told News18 that Abhinandan has been kept in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistan Army Headquarters are based. He will purportedly be flown to Lahore on a special flight, from where he will be handed over to the Indian side, through the Wagah-Attari border. A delegation of the Indian Air Force will be there, even though it is not clear whether he will be handed over directly to India or first to the International Red Cross. Two villages Wagah (also spelt Wahga) is a significant village in the story of India and Pakistan. Located on the border of the two nations, in territory that belongs to Pakistan's Punjab province, it is a goods transit terminal and key railway station between India and Pakistan. Attari, three kilometres from the Wagah border, in Punjab's Amritsar district, is the last Indian station on the rail route connecting Lahore to New Delhi and one of the main access points to Pakistan from India. Every Wednesday and Sunday, until operations were suspended, the Samjhauta Express would travel the three kilometres between Attari and Wagah on its way to and from Delhi and Lahore. The only transport service to do so. The Indian Railway Board, however, has also suspended all operations of the Attari Special Express that ran between Delhi and Attari as part of the Samjhauta Express. The road between Wagah and Attari is also the only functional road link between Pakistan and India. The "Wagah-Attari border" is an informal term that has taken on a significance since the Partition of the subcontinent in 1947, in the aftermath of which crores walked into Pakistan and India through these villages. The political implications of the line on a map were ones which both countries are dealing with to this day. Nonetheless, the border has traditionally signified accord between the two countries and has been relatively devoid of the grisly tension surrounding the neighbours. A daily ceremony The most notable example of this is the daily flag-lowering ceremony held there at sunset. The ceremony sees the participation of both the Indian and Pakistani paramilitary troopers, in addition to an audience of hundreds who turn up to witness the spectacular show of bravado and bonhomie. The tradition of the ceremony has endured since 1959, through times of peace and war. Similar border traditions are also followed by the Pakistan Rangers and the Border Security Forces at the Ganda Singh Wala-Hussainiwala and the Sulaimanki-Fazilka borders, yet it is the Wagah-Attari border one that draws the most people. In the ceremony, soldiers on both sides attempt to put on a show fuelled by patriotism where an exercise in mock intimidation is carried out by staring, kicking in the air and loud stomps on the ground. A flag retreat happens at the same time. A BBC report notes the necessary role the crowd plays at the event. "For 45 minutes every sunset they high kick, stamp, speed march and shout their way through a choreographed routine that ends in the lowering of both flags and the slamming of the border gates. The "retreat ceremony", the traditional way to end hostilities for the day, is a lot less aggressive than it used to be - and any tension is cheered away by the baying crowd of thousands who pack the stadiums on either side every night." Not always peaceful Even though no cases of armed conflict between India and Pakistan have been seen on the Wagah-Attari border, instances of violence have taken place in the region. On 30 November, 2014, more than 50 people were killed and at least 100 injured in a suicide bombing near the checkpoint at the Wagah border crossing. The Pakistani Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack, although other militant groups also said they were responsible. Three members of the Pakistani border force had been among those who died. The blast took place at an eatery that was crowded with the day's visitors who had come to attend the flag-lowering ceremony. In the backdrop of the 2016 showdown between the two countries, with claims and counter-claims of border violence being made by both, the retreat ceremony continued but was marred by the ban on Indian spectators for 10 days. In that time, the BSF did not exchange sweets nor shared greetings with the Pakistani Rangers, defying a long tradition of displaying friendship on the respective Independence Days, Eid and Diwali. When the doors were reopened to visitors, reported Hindustan Times, few seats had remained empty. The historic border crowds headlines once again at another crucial point in Pakistan and India's history. Follow LIVE updates of the situation between India and Pakistan here A recognition of this dynamic in the India-Pakistan conflict is essential in understanding the position of strength from where India is operating. It is also crucial to recognize that the Indian public primarily its vocal and expanding middle class is fed up with Indias strategic restraint and running out of patience with Pakistans perfidies. Now that Pakistan has decided to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from its custody, it is important not to get carried away and lose sight of Indias larger objective achieving the end state against Pakistans low-cost asymmetric war that led to India effecting a radical shift in its strategic calculus. If, in a state of euphoria over the IAF's officer's release a welcome step in more ways than one we again get sucked into Pakistans psy-op over dialogue and peace process, the Balakot strike instead of being a valid deterrence strategy will be reduced to an exercise in futility. The well-executed IAF operation on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror facility deep inside Pakistan territory will become an aberration and Rawalpindi would have re-established its deterrence strategy. In an age of televised war where social media performs the role of a force-multiplier and raises the audience costs for a leader it is easy to miss the woods for trees. Audience costs, a term in international relations coined by professor James Fearon, an American political scientist, refers to domestic political costs a leader may pay for escalating an international dispute, or for making implicit or explicit threats, and then backing down or not following through. Since Narendra Modi was under considerable pressure following Pakistan's capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan that seemingly reversed the gains over Balakot operation and made for terrible optics for a strong leader, that too right before general elections there will be a temptation to talk up the release as a tactical win for India from an apparent setback last night. It may also soften Indias resolve to ratchet up the pressure on Pakistan and New Delhi might feel inclined towards taking up the Pakistani offer for talks in lieu of the release. That could be self-defeating and a terrible mistake. At the other end of the spectrum, Imran Khan's announcement of the IAF pilots release should not be interpreted as some sort of a grand gesture for peace. Theres no need to elevate the Pakistan prime minister to a semi-Mahatma status. This is a ridiculous narrative. Lets be clear on certain facts. Wing Commander Abhinandan's upgraded MiG-21 Bison was chasing a Pakistani formation that had violated Indian airspace. As he shot down one Pakistani F-16 (according to evidence furnished by India on Thursday) in an aerial engagement, his aircraft also took a hit from ground strike. Wing Commander Abhinandan ejected and drifted onto Pakistans side of LoC and was eventually taken into custody. According to the rules of Geneva Convention, of which Pakistan is a signatory, Wing Commander Abhinandan is a prisoner of war (PoW) and enjoys certain rights and privileges clearly spelt out under the Convention. These rights are wide, detailed and not incumbent on a formal declaration of war. Pakistan, therefore, is obligated under the treaty to treat him with dignity and respect and is required to hand him over to India at the earliest. Doing so won't be a 'peace gesture', as Imran has claimed, or a gesture of magnanimity but a responsibility. Making a virtue out of this necessity is as futile as claims of an Indian "diplomatic victory". Those with short memory need be reminded that Pakistan had handed over Group Captain K Nachiketa after eight days even at the height of Kargil War in 1999 after his jet had crash-landed on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. That wasn't a 'peace gesture.' Pakistan was required to do so, and it did. To the extent that our neighboring country has mistreated, tortured and even killed an Indian PoW (Captain Saurabh Kalia), we should note a welcome change in its behavior if Wing Commander Abhinandan returns home safe, sound and in good health. But there is no reason for India to express gratefulness towards Pakistan for releasing the IAF pilot, nor tub-thump and tom-tom his return. It should also not goad us into straying from our stated goal of forcing a change in Pakistani behavior by imposing greater costs on its proxy war. Let us also not forget that Pakistan's "offer" for release of the IAF pilot might be an obligation dressed as a "peace initiative", but the real motivation behind Imran's announcement is to obtain a face-saver to de-escalate from a position of military crisis. In light of the considerable diplomatic pressure that was brought to bear on Pakistan from the international community including P5 powers and even Arab nations, it would have been difficult for Pakistan to keep Wing Commander Abhinandan in custody. The Pakistani 'gesture' is an attempt, therefore, to ensure that the crisis did not escalate. The longer Pakistan would have tried to use the captured IAF pilot as a bargaining chip, the more it would have compelled Indias hands in going for the next rung in escalation ladder. Indias position wouldnt have been treated as 'war-mongering', but compellence, justice and obligatory action from a nation acting in self-defence since it was Pakistan that had escalated the crisis by targeting Indias military installations in retaliation against Indias counter-terrorism operations (see how US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacted) A recognition of this dynamic in the India-Pakistan conflict is essential in understanding the position of strength from where India is operating. It is also crucial to recognise that the Indian public primarily its vocal and expanding middle class is fed up with Indias strategic restraint and running out of patience with Pakistans perfidies. As professor C Christine Fair writes, the old model of Pakistan hitting India with terror strikes and a hapless India wringing its hands before international community only to be told to remain restrained no longer works. Indian millennials have been raised in a post-Kargil media environment. Kargil was Indias first televised war. Prior to Kargil, few beyond north India cared about developments in far away Kashmir. The media coverage of the casualties, of bodies being returned to their homes for cremation, and nonstop reportage from Kashmir helped to create a national narrative about Pakistani predation. Indian millennials are fed up with Pakistan. A Rubicon has been crossed," writes professor Fair. It is this dynamic that has enabled the Narendra Modi government to change its security architecture and embark on new red lines. India has now proven before the world and to Pakistan through Balakot strikes that Islamabads nuclear threshold is higher than claimed, and it will no longer deter India from using sub-conventional military action against Pakistan to mitigate terror strikes. Indias national security posture will now include such strikes, even deep into Pakistan mainland, into its calculus. Therefore, in this context, true de-escalation will only be possible if Pakistan takes credible and verifiable action against terror infrastructure on its soil by degrading and dismantling it, or the world will have to somehow find a way to compel Pakistan to do so instead of lecturing India on how to defend itself. Failure to understand this scenario will mean that South Asia is just one terror strike away from reigniting the crisis that seems to have been just averted because India will not back down, nor anyone should expect it to. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's announcement that the captured pilot would be returned elicited jubilation on both sides. In Pakistan, thinkers claimed a diplomatic victory and lauded Imran for his meditated responses in the scenario. India too hailed this as its own victory Not for the first time have tensions risen between India and Pakistan. And not for the first time has the rhetoric differed so vastly on either side on the border. The 14 February strike by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed that killed 42 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers, followed by India's air strike at a JeM camp in Balakot, the eventual capture of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman and now his return led the countries down a road where both cried victory with every new development. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's announcement that the captured pilot would be returned elicited jubilation on both sides. In Pakistan, thinkers claimed a diplomatic victory and lauded Imran for his meditated responses in the scenario. India too hailed this as its own victory, with many facets of media removing Pakistan's agency in the pilot's safe return and instead lauding the Modi government for it. Dawn's Lahore editor Asha'ar Rahman said it was nice to be on the "right side of war." In his column in Pakistan's oldest newspaper, Rahman wrote, "Patriotism aside, it is also good to be recognised for once by many as being the lesser suspect or less suspicious of the two parties to an imminent armed conflict." Rahman put the focus on the daily Pakistani experience of bearing the brunt of terrorist activities in the world's eyes, mentioning how India was quick to pin the blame of the Pulwama attack on Pakistan. "But a reading from across the border or simply a Pakistani reading, if you must of the scene brings out the stark reality that, if anything, Modis modern rule in this vastly experienced democracy, with its particular emphasis and its certain thrusts, has left large number of Indians (especially in the countrys cow belt) most vulnerable to the beat of war drums," he added, highlighting the role the upcoming elections might have had to play in the cries emerging out of India for a war. The letters to the editor section of the newspaper too had effusive praise for the way Pakistan dealt with things. "Now that Prime Minister Imran Khan has read the riot act to the Indians, New Delhi should realise that Pakistan's patience has finally worn out," writes one M. Haris Zohaib Akbani from Karachi. One Mansoor Ahmed Jamali echoes Rahman laconically, "...the situation is very tense, to put it mildly. The reason as everyone knows is that it is election time in India and this is Narendra Modi's election strategy to win the next elections." Follow LIVE updates on the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict The Daily Times labelled Pakistan's decision to free Abhinandan a "MAGNANIMOUS GESTURE" (emphasis theirs). The editorial said, "On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan demonstrated that Pakistan doesnt just talk about restraint and the need for peace but that it has the will to walk the talk too." The overarching tone of the country's English language dailies was that of appreciation for Imran. Long since believed to be a puppet in the hands of the country's military, the Pakistan prime minister's repeated pleas for dialogue and the shunning of the kind of rhetoric that many political figures in India have resorted to, gave The Express Tribune the chance to note that the responsibility to react sensibly is now Prime Minister Modi's. "PM throws ball in Modi's court," said the paper's Friday lead headline. Inside, opinions editorials by Karachi University professor Dr Moonis Ahmar and security analyst Dr Ahmed Saeed Minhas noted how Pakistan has "restrained" itself from being violent in the scenario. "Why is there a lack of sanity and wisdom on the part of the Indian leadership to deal with popular revolt by the Kashmiri Muslims in the Valley and committing an act of aggresssion against Pakistan?" Ahmar wrote. The weekly paper, The Friday Times ran several opinions editorials on the situation. Almost all of them focused on the telltale hypocrisy of the censure of Paksitan. "While most world leaders have asked both countries to exercise restraint, we have not seen much condemnation of the Indian intrusion on Tuesday morning," wrote former Radio Pakistan director Murtaza Solangi. On the Pakistan Observer, retired Pakistan army General Mirza Aslam Beg hailed the "befitting response" given by Pakistan. Among journalists, Mehr Tarar called out actor Veena Mallik's joke on the captured Wing Commander's moustache as "utterly tasteless" and retweeted Special Assistant on Youth Affairs Usman Dar's observation on Imran's stance. "Never has any leader in his speech ever asked for heart wrenching emotions to calm down and give peace a chance," Dar had tweeted. Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah was not alone in calling Abhinandan's return a "diplomatic victory" for India. The phrase, far removed from the concept of a real victory, also dominated headlines of newspapers and bulletins of news channels. Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai was one of the few who noted the global perception swaying in Imran's favour while calling out the rabid nationalism on display on many news outlets. We in India may not like this, but in terms of pure optics, @ImranKhanPTI at the moment is winning the day by taking the moral high ground .. we have a strong case on terror but too many of our leaders busy calculating votes at the moment.. Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 28, 2019 The idiocy of our commando tv news media will reach a point where we will force the two countries to war. Wont even wait for the brave Wing Commander to come back before embarking on another bout of hysteria. Utterly embarrassing. Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 28, 2019 Calls were made from various sectors to notch down the euphoria in India. Former Indian Administrative Service officer Shah Faesal, wrote that it was time to refrain from announcing quick victories. "Those who are claiming a diplomatic victory here rather than appreciating IK's statesmanship, should wait till the pilot reaches home," Faesal wrote on Twitter. WGBH series examines "Caste in America, including at Brandeis "Caste in America" focuses on discrimination faced by low-caste Indian immigrants in the U.S. Photo: Phillip Martin, WGBH News Laurence Simon , Professor of International Development and Director of the Center for Global Development and Sustainability at the Heller School, served as an advisor to a major new radio and web series looking at the impact of caste, the religious and social hierarchy of Indian society. Caste in America, launched on Feb. 25, focuses on the discrimination low-caste Indian immigrants face in the U.S. as a result of the importation of this ancient hierarchical system of human classification. Simons research and teaching center on critical issues of social exclusion, including caste, and he is joint editor-in-chief of a new academic journal to be published by the Brandeis Library, CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion . In part four of the series: Caste bias isn't illegal in the United States. But this university is trying to fight it, Brandeis staff member Jaspreet Mahal, MA17, talks about hearing students of higher castes make derisive comments about Dalits, people formerly known as untouchables, not realizing her husband is a member of that group. Mark Brimhall-Vargas, chief diversity officer and vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at Brandeis, also discusses university efforts to oppose caste discrimination. "When a university has a non-discrimination policy, obviously it will contain protected categories of identity that are prohibited from discrimination based on federal or state law, Brimhall-Vargas tells WGBH. But there are other categories of identity that are prohibited based only on the will of the campus, that in this campus community we shall not discriminate against certain people. WGBH News and PRIs The World worked in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center to report and produce the multi-part examination of Caste in America. Parts one and two of the series focus on members of the Indian outcaste group formerly known as untouchables or Dalits. In India, many cite limited employment and marriage options , differing treatments in educational and work settings, and in some cases the denial of housing by more upper caste and dominant caste groups. In the U.S., casteism is compounded by a lack of specific legal protection; and by caste organizations that perpetuate caste divisions rather than integration. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Dalit Martin Luther King, Jr. of the mid-20th century, said that caste will only disappear once inter-caste marriages become commonplace. In part three , a reporter discusses her parents mixed-caste marriage, and attends a convention of members of her fathers caste. In the week of March 4, PRIs The World takes listeners to Ambedkar Street in New Jersey to report on the impact of Dalit pride in the United States and the increasing numbers who are refusing to change tell-tale surnames in growing displays of resistance. Award-winning journalist Phillip Martin had a lead role in developing the series. He traveled to India with a Dalit man, Suraj Yengde, to report on his life simultaneously as a Dalit and a Harvard scholar. He returns with Yengde to the US to explore local Indian immigrant communities and the impact of caste in America. Yengde is also a member of the editorial team for CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion . Martin developed the series with assistance from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Reporters Kavita Pillay, Tinku Ray and Arun Rath each contribute episodes to the series, which was edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ken Coopera former Washington Post reporter based in Indiaand award-winning WGBH Executive Editor Aaron Schachter. The capture and detainment of Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan on Wednesday is being perceived as a turning point in the rising hostilities between the neighbours in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in February. The capture and detainment of Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan on Wednesday is being perceived as a turning point in the rising hostilities between the neighbours in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in February. Varthaman was captured by Pakistani troops and treated as a 'peacetime' prisoner of war. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Wednesday had briefed the media about Varthaman, who at that point was a "pilot missing in action", whose MiG 21 Bison had been shot and fallen in Pakistani territory following an aerial engagement with aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force after they violated Indian airspace over Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. Pakistan claimed that their troops had arrested the IAF pilot, whose identity was later confirmed, as the Indian public clamoured for Varthaman to be brought back. The hashtag #BringBackAbhinandan became a top trend on Twitter, with netizens urging the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to bring the pilot back home to safety. Many also encouraged Pakistan to extend to him relevant protections under the Geneva Convention. On Thursday, as a "peace offering", Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that Varthaman would be released on Friday. The international community also called for de-escalation of tensions in the region, and back home, the Geneva Conventions which dictates the rules in dealing with a 'prisoner of war' was evoked to ensure Varthaman's smooth return. Who is a prisoner of war? The status of 'prisoner of war' can apply to a member of the armed forces who is in the custody of the adversary during an international armed conflict. The treatment of prisoners of war, or POWs, is dictated by Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which were laid down in 1929 and modified after World War II. The convention states that a POW must be handed back to the native country and repatriated after the hostile situation is over. What are the Geneva Conventions? Officially called the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the agreement is a set of international treaties put in place to ensure that states engaged in conflict maintain the human rights of the non-combatants like civilians and medical personnel. However, combatants who are not actively involved in warfare like POWs or wounded personnel, are also covered under the conventions. All member countries of the United Nations are signatories to the Geneva Conventions. There are four conventions, of which the third deals with the conduct with a POW. The provisions apply in peacetime situations along with declared wars, and also in conflict situations which are not declared as war by the parties. Therefore, Varthaman has rights as a POW under the Geneva Conventions. What are the rights of POW under the Geneva Conventions? The Third Convention, with 143 articles, deal with everything to do with the prisoner, "including the place of internment, religious needs, recreation, financial resources, the kinds of work that captors can make PoWs do, the treatment of captured officers, and the repatriation of prisoners", according to a report by The Indian Express. Article 13 of the convention says, "Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power (state) causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention. "In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest. Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity. Measures of reprisal against prisoners of war are prohibited." The POW also cannot be prosecuted for participating in war-time activities. "Their detention is not a form of punishment, but only aims to prevent further participation in the conflict. They must be released and repatriated without delay after the end of hostilities," the conventions state. The international treaties also state that a POW cannot be forces to give information of any kind under "physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion". India also objected to the circulation of a "vulgar" video clip of Varthaman, released by the Pakistan government. "India also strongly objected to Pakistans vulgar display of an injured personnel of the Indian Air Force in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention. It was made clear that Pakistan would be well advised to ensure that no harm comes to the Indian defence personnel in its custody. India also expects his immediate and safe return." "Prisoners of war who, owing to their physical or mental condition, are unable to state their identity, must be handed over for medical treatment. It also states that all personal effects except for military equipment and military documents must remain with the POW. The POW must always have identity documents on his or her person," a report by The News Minute explained, adding, "POWs must be evacuated to a site far away from the site of capture and the evacuation must be done in a humane way." Follow LIVE updates on the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict With inputs from agencies With a lull in the Indo-Pak stalemate, political parties now have very little time to operate within, with the 2019 general elections on schedule, and the model code of conduct (MCC) set to kick in late next week. One of the most repeated criticisms of Narendra Modi in the time since the Pulwama attacks, when tensions between India and Pakistan have risen enough to exclude every other concern, has been his presence at public meetings. In situations where heads of states are usually seen heading into closed door meetings, Modi stood on dais after dais, laying a foundation stone here, washing feet there and promising money elsewhere. Modi's conduct would not have been considered out of place had the situation with Pakistan not deteriorated so rapidly. It is, after all, the 2019 general elections the festival that looks to return to the agenda of political parties now that the situation between Pakistan and India looks to de-escalate with the return of captured Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The 14 February attack on Pulwama, killing 42 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers, had jolted the campaign machinery of political parties into silence. While promises not to politicise the issue for political gains were soon broken, what failed to take off in the aftermath of back-to-back developments starting with the funerals of the soldiers, the Indian air strike on Balakot, the Pakistani strike in India and the capture of the Wing Commander, was the efforts of parties and governments to court voters. Break from practice A day after the Pulwama terror attack, reported The Economic Times, the government had decided that though political programmes should be suspended, development projects should not take a hit. Modi, as the face of both the government and conveniently the BJP, flagged off the Vande Bharat Express and announced projects at Jhansi on 15 February, launched new projects or spoken at party functions at Pandharkawada and Dhule on 16 February, and at Barauni and Hazaribagh on 17 February. On 24 February, he launched the PM-KISAN programme, so that the first installment of the Rs 6,000 promised in the interim Budget could be paid to farmers. He has also launched the Khelo India app, compared the 85 percent productivity of the 16th Lok Sabha with the eight percent productivity of the non-BJP majority Rajya Sabha, washed the feet of cleaners at Prayagraj, addressed BJP booth workers through the NaMo app and made a veiled reference to the Wing Commander's capture by saying he had taken up a "pilot project". While some (like the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka chief BS Yeddyurappa) would argue that the events itself offered enough political mileage to the ruling party, clearly missing has been the loudspeakers, exuberant promises and the atmosphere of festivities that political parties hope will result in a vote for them. With the notable exceptions of Modi and to a diminished extent, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, most leaders have held off on making public displays of themselves and their political intent at this time. That the Indian is emotional at times when the country is threatened, especially by Pakistan, is a truth universally acknowledged. That this Indian will not be receptive to promises laden with election victory hopes is a truth the parties seemed to have grasped. Except that with a lull in the Indo-Pak stalemate finally here, they now have very little time to operate within, with the general elections on schedule, and the model code of conduct (MCC) set to kick in late next week. Rush before Model Code of Conduct begins The MCC is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission to regulate political parties and candidates prior to elections, to ensure free and fair polls. This is in keeping with Article 324 of the Constitution. It comes into force once the election dates are announced and stays in force till the results are announced, says PRS India. Added in 2013, these guidelines prohibit parties from making promises that exert an undue influence on voters, and suggest that manifestos also indicate the means to achieve promises. This week, therefore, promises to launch political participants into the blitzkrieg that election campaigns usually are. Modi himself will visit Visakhapatnam (to speak at the BJP's Praja Chaitanya Sabha) and Kanyakumari (to launch projects worth Rs 2,995 crore) on 1 March, the same day when Rahul will launch his party's poll campaign from Dhule and speak at multiple locations in Mumbai. On 3 March, Modi will go to Rahul's home constituency in Amethi, and later to Patna to kick off the poll campaign of the BJP and Janata Dal (United) alliance at the Gandhi Maidan. On 4 March, Modi will lay the foundation stone of the metro rail services in his home turf of Ahmedabad. In what was probably its penultimate meeting, the Union Cabinet and cabinet committee on economic affairs pushed over two dozen decisions, reported Times of India. There were fresh sops for the sugar sector with a "soft loan" to help clear arrears of farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The 19.3-km Dubri-Phulbari bridge is to be built at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore in Assam and Meghalaya. Three Metro Rail corridors are to come up in Agra and Kanpur at an investment of over Rs 19,000 crore. Rs 1,299 crore was earmarked for an AIIMS at Manethi in Haryana. Another key approval was reservation benefits to economically weaker sections and for promotion in government jobs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir. The government had enacted a law last month to provide 10 percent reservation in jobs and education for the general category poor. Other parties too would look to make the most of the welcome de-escalation of India-Pakistan tensions. The time may have finally come for the rhetoric to shift from the one fuelled by anti-Pakistan nationalism right now. Even in normal times, WhatsApp, Twitter and television are often abuzz with news of the most incendiary kind. When India and Pakistan came to the brink of war, it wasn't a surprise that the rhetoric was loud and poisonous. The bulk of loudness and the poison seemed to have emanated not from ordinary people on social media but from television channels in India and Pakistan, and professional propagandists in both countries. Even in normal times, WhatsApp, Twitter and television are often abuzz with news of the most incendiary kind. When India and Pakistan came to the brink of war, it wasn't a surprise that the rhetoric was loud and poisonous. The bulk of the loudness and poison seemed to have emanated not from ordinary people on social media but from television channels in India and Pakistan, and professional propagandists in both countries. Propaganda is an old tool of leaders and countries everywhere. The history of this dark art is a fascinating one, and goes back in time to the ancient world, predating the invention of the printing press and mass media. It has changed and adapted with technological advances and become increasingly more powerful and sophisticated. During the World Wars, it was elevated to science and art by the warring Western powers. Among those who contributed to its growth was the man known as the father of spin, Edward Bernays. His success in transforming propaganda, which came to have negative connotations, into public relations, is itself a fine example of spin. The meaning of propaganda according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is the spreading of ideas, information, or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. Naturally, this is useful, and necessary, to politicians, corporations and countries. Democracy and the free market require use of these tools of persuasion. Until the proliferation of the printing press, and the advent of radio, it was hard to reach large masses of people with propaganda messages. Technological advances and the spread of mass education in the latter half of the 19th Century and early years of the 20th Century changed that. When the World Wars came, governments reached out to psychological manipulators such as Bernays and master storytellers such as Rudyard Kipling to manipulate the masses. Kipling was recruited by his countrys intelligence service during World War I to help with propaganda. George Orwell, the man who gave the world the thought police and newspeak, described him as a jingo imperialist. At the height of World War II, Orwell, who like Kipling was born in India, began to work for the BBC on countering German propaganda and producing British propaganda. What we are witnessing and experiencing now is the next level in the development of propaganda, which uses the tools of psychology and psychoanalysis to manipulate masses of people in a professional way. The written word has given way to video and image, and television is the main source of propaganda material, which is then pushed out through social media such as WhatsApp and Twitter. The top propagandists today are not writers; they are television anchors and social media stars. The material they generate is quick, customised to mould opinions, and not restricted to television. For instance, the news of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announcing the decision of unconditional release of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was greeted on an English news TV channel with a screen whose headline was Pak cracks under pressure, and the subhead was Pak caves in. This screenshot was passed around via WhatsApp and Twitter and soon found its way into Pakistani social media. Efforts to depict the Indian airstrikes as a great success in which 300 or more terrorists have been killed have been strenuously made by nationalist media in India and dismissed by Pakistani media and much of the Western media which suggest that one villager was injured, and no terrorists were killed. Truth is always an early casualty in war and conflict, and it is difficult to judge whether either version is wholly correct. Realtime satellite images and site visits may set doubts to rest eventually. The propaganda of warmongers has been countered by the propaganda of peaceniks in both countries. Images of people in Pakistan holding placards calling for the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan also circulated in India. The calls for peace from citizens, including journalists in India and Pakistan, also did the rounds. Now, however, there are images, clearly created by the propaganda wing of some organisation, that depict those in India calling for peace with Pakistan as somehow akin to those who called for peace with Nazi Germany. This conflict between India and Pakistan is occurring in election season, with India heading towards what was already an extremely bitter political battle between the ruling dispensation and the opposition. Fake news and heavily slanted news, which were already major problems before the conflict, are now going international. The battle for hearts and minds being waged via media and social media is complicated by a multiplicity of warring parties from both sides of the border. Apart from the usual suspects in India and Pakistan, there are the Kashmiri separatists, and security establishments of both countries. With such a multiplicity of conflicting interests, it would be safe to assume that the propaganda wars on television, WhatsApp and Twitter will only intensify in coming days. Citizens interested in knowing the facts, rather than in becoming enthusiastic victims of propaganda of one side or another, would do well to check any news they hear, see or read from multiple and diverse sources before arriving at any conclusions. It is always tempting to believe whatever one finds most comforting. That is exactly the temptation propaganda exploits. The propagandists message typically aims for the heart rather than the head. Beware of messaging that puts josh above hosh in times of trouble. The writer is an author and journalist and a former editor of newspapers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chandigarh The last three days of high tension between India and Pakistan now seem to be defusing. The last three days of high tension between India and Pakistan now seem to be defusing, with Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan having announced the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan to India. Moreover, MEA handed over a dossier on the Jaish-e-Mohammed to Pakistan deputy high commissioner along with the demarche on Pakistan incursions through air strikes, clearly sending out a signal that India is not willing to up the military ante for the present. The dossier lists out specific details of JeMs complicity in the Pulwama terror attack and the presence of JeMs terror camps in Pakistan. There are a slew of defence experts who believe that Indias punitive action, by bombing the Balakot terror camp, has sent out a strong signal that India is not afraid of a full-fledged war. Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak (retd) emphasised, "These very daring and successful strikes have demonstrated our capability. It has shown we can operate independently and also use long range weapons. Not only is refuelling possible but the entire operation has taken place practically bloodlessly. Balakot is known to be a launch pad for terrorists who, following their training, use four routes from there to enter J&K." Kak said, "The Indian government has not publicised the battle damage caused by the bombing in order to maintain a certain degree of confidentiality, though, in order to win the war of optics, we need to combine confidentiality with transparency." "But my question is what will be achieved by a slow motion limited war? Some sections of the Indian media have been stating that Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has been begging for negotiations. On the contrary, he is making a very rational statement, a very brave statement. Now that we have made this pre-emptive strike by targeting their camps, we have paid them back with their own coin. What is the purpose now of continuing this low intensity conflict?" Kak also said, "India-Pakistan wars have been reasonably friendly wars. There have been no civilian casualties on a large scale. We have respected what we have said to each other unlike say the Vietnam and other wars." On the subject of tension along the LoC, he believes that "bombardment along the LoC has been going on for years but the general atmosphere has been reasonable. The cancellation of the Samjhauta Express has been unusual but the Muzaffarabad bus service saw passengers travelling on both sides. Our threshold of tolerance had been breached post Pulwama and the public put pressure on the government to act, which it did after exploring multiple options," Kak said. But other military men are not convinced. Leading this charge have been former army chiefs including General Bikram Singh and General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, both of whom insist that any "knee jerk" response to the Pulwama style attacks can at best mitigate, not eliminate, terrorism. "What India can do much more is to equip and protect its security forces," said General Bikram Singh. Singh said India's military went in to Pakistan to rein in JeM but Pakistan reiterated by attacking Indian military installations. "If we have to negotiate, we must do so from a position of strength, but are we in a position of strength?" he asked. He also warned against falling into the old trap of finding a diplomatic route to what has been an intractable problem all these decades. Defence expert Wing Commander Vinod Nebb (retd) insisted that "we started this operation with a set aim and objective and I do not believe that by closing the operation, this will see the end of terrorism. We should be prepared for a long drawn out war," he said. "The end of the Bangladesh war saw India having 90,000 POWs in our custody. After such a major victory, our own political will collapsed and we let go of that opportunity. We had broken the back of Pakistan but we let that country off. Imagine the mayhem we could have caused with those POWs in our custody." "We have lost around 26,000 lives post independence, with the majority of our wars having been fought with Pakistan. We need to take this conflict to its logical conclusion by using all the weapons in our control military, diplomacy and social media. We should cross over to the LoC if need be for tactical reasons. Look at the number of training camps in the PoK where 30,000 to 40,000 people are known to being trained against us. We need to take this fight to its logical conclusion," said Nebb. Another defence analyst Col Shivdan Singh (retd) warns that Pakistans 6,000 madrassas are presently nurturing 25 lakh students who are being radicalised everyday. We need demonstrable evidence to show that Pakistan is clamping down on these groups which have earned a place in Pakistani society. "Let us not be euphoric that the release of the IAF pilot will change the situation on the ground. Handing over the dossier or keeping diplomatic channels is all very well, but what we have to keep in mind is that we have started an initiative and we need to take it to its very end. As a nation, we need to understand what our final objectives are," said Singh. There are other strategic analysts who question the manner in which the IAF strikes were conducted. A senior retired IAF pilot has reiterated on the futility of attacking "terror camps" as they do not yield any strategic enemy assets. He has gone to the extent of stating that using "conventional forces to strike at low-value tactical targets against an adversary that uses asymmetric warfare is an ill-advised action purely for propaganda purposes without achieving any strategic or tactical goal." He further pointed out that the JeM strategic assets are in Bahawalpur, which has three airfields in its vicinity whereas India attacked a low-value target in Balakot that was undefended. He further said, "The choice of ammunition delivering 1,000 kg bombs makes it clear that we did not have a point target in mind. It is obvious the Indian government did not want to face the embarrassment of having one of their planes shot down." Another defence analyst Brig Virender Sehgal (retd) also believes that "we need to finish what we have started. Otherwise, terrorist groups are going to recoup and re-strategise with new tactics, he said. Sehgal agrees that Modi has opened the envelope and crossed the red line but in order to achieve some levels of success, "we need to reach out to the Kashmiri people and start a dialogue with them. Dialogue with the Kashmiri public is one of the key ways to undermine the efforts of the terrorists and the Pakistani army and that must take place simultaneously to deterrent action," said Sehgal. Strategic analyst and swayamsevak of the RSS, Seshadri Chari, pointed out that both countries are in an awkward position and so, "good sense will prevail". "In all probability, Pakistan will release our pilot. All of a sudden, Pakistan is a responsible country, which is difficult to believe. I must emphasise that escalation can be done only by India, not Pakistan. But the question to be asked is: escalation at what cost? I believe that the political establishment is planning to soon hold a cabinet meeting and ask the president to announce elections. Parliament is not going to meet again." Chari believes India has succeeded to a large extent in its objectives. "It has imposed a heavy cost in Pakistan by destroying their terror infrastructure," he said. He also claimed that "India has also demonstrated that we can do what the US has not been able to do, and that is to penetrate deep into Pakistan. We have demonstrated our war capability. We have also avenged the Pulwama attack. Also, the IAF has demonstrated that the next generation of war will be fought by the air force because of the speed of their attack." On the question of whether the Modi government has achieved its objectives of dismantling terror camps, Chari said, "That will require the dismantling of terror training camps and that in turn will require a long drawn out military engagement. For the present, the western powers led by the US and the Saudis are putting pressure on both India and Pakistan not to escalate the situation any further." Click here to follow LIVE updates on IAF pilot Abhinandan's return to India. The outfit, which was formed in 1942 as a chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and separated in 1953 due to differences over political ideology with the parent body, was banned in 1990. The previous ban lapsed in 1995 and wasn't invoked again. The Indian government on Thursday banned the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir organisation for five years under the anti-terror law on grounds that it was "in close touch" with militant outfits and is expected to "escalate secessionist movement" in the state. A notification, banning the group under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs after a high-level meeting on security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The notification said the Centre is of the opinion that the Islamic organisation operating in Jammu and Kashmir is "in close touch with militant outfits" and is supporting extremism and militancy in the state and elsewhere. It said the outfit claims "secession of a part of the Indian territory from the union" and supports terrorist and separatist groups fighting for this purpose. The notification, which came a few days after the Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested around 100 cadres of the group in the state, said that the organisation has been indulging in activities intended to disrupt the territorial integrity of India. During the intervening night of 22 and 23 February, the police had carried out a crackdown on Jamaat-e-Islami cadres and arrested 100 members across the Valley, including its chief Abdul Hamid Fayaz and advocate Zahid Ali, who is also the group's spokesperson. The action in the aftermath of the 14 February terrorist attack in Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. There have been allegations in the past that the group was a political outfit of banned terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, but the group has denied this claim. According to a report by Scroll, the Jamaat distanced itself from the Mujahideen in 1997. The Centre is also of the opinion that the group is "involved in anti-national and subversive activities in the country intended to cause disaffection". While banning it under the anti-terror law, the Centre reasoned that the group was intending to escalate its subversive activities, including an attempt to carve out an Islamic state out of the Union of India by destabilising the government established by law. The outfit, which was formed in 1942 as a chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and separated in 1953 due to differences over political ideology with the parent body, was banned in 1990. The previous ban lapsed in 1995 and wasn't invoked again. It was founded during British India in 1941 by Abul Ala Maududi, an Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher. Along with the Muslim Brotherhood, ('Ikhwan al-Muslimin', founded in 1928 Egypt), JeI was a first of its kind organisation to develop "an ideology based on the modern revolutionary conception of Islam. Maududi strongly believed that Islam is essential for politics and soon JeI became the first organisation to develop "an ideology based on the modern revolutionary concept of Islam. The Islamist theologist believed secularism, nationalism, and socialism to be products of western imperialism and thought it necessary to establish sharia (Islamic Law). A constitution for the Kashmir branch was drafted a year later and an 'amir' (president) was elected. The new 'amir', Sa'aduddin Tarbali, began preaching the Jamaat ideology, creating its base first in Shopian, Moneycontrol reported. However, following the partition of India in 1947, JeI split into separate independent organisations in India and Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind respectively. Some reports also state that following Partition, the group branched out in various places across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Mauritius and the UK, and most of these branches found an identity of their own. Moreover, after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Bangladesh banned the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan as it had collaborated with the Pakistan army. But, it got a new lease of life under the name of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which later joined mainstream politics in the country, reports said. In 1990, when militancy erupted in the Valley, the Hizbul Mujahideen called itself the military wing of JeI. While hundreds of its activists were killed by the counter-insurgent force Ikhwan in the mid-90s, JeI distanced itself from militancy in 1997, said The Indian Express' report. The party, which had a pro-Pakistan leaning during the Plebiscite Front days and during the eruption of militancy, pitches itself as a socio-religious organisation working mainly in the field of education and awareness about Islam. It was also an influential founder member of the undivided Hurriyat Conference from its inception in 1993 till 2003 when the amalgam suffered a vertical split led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani over alleged proxy participation in 2002 Assembly polls by some leaders of the People's Conference led by Sajjad Gani Lone. Thereafter, the Jamaat withdrew from the Hurriyat and decided to focus on its social work while maintaining its separatist stand on the Kashmir issue. The cadre-based party has a powerful 'Majlis-e-Shoora' (an advisory council) which takes decisions on important issues through consensus. The second tier of the organisation consists of 'Rukn-e-Jamaat' (pillar of Jamaat), who in turn elect the 'Majlis-e-Shoora'. The number of 'Rukn-e-Jamaat' can vary from 100 to 300 but for getting into this elite group, one has to fulfil certain criteria which can take a decade at least. Brush with politics During Tarbalis tenure, several schools were built and charitable trusts formed, alongside an expansion the activities of the group, which then made a silent foray into the political arena. The group participated in the 1971 general elections, hoping to get a larger platform to propagate their ideology and a means to implement them through legislation. However, it couldnt win a single seat. It again contested Assembly elections in 1972, this time with the hopes to challenge the notion that politics and religion are separate and won five seats. Jamaats popularity grew manifold after it played the anti-sheikh card when Sheikh Abdullah signed an accord with Indira Gandhi in 1975, dropping his demand of right to self-determination for Kashmiris. At this time Jamaat was the only major organisation talking about the right to self-determination of Kashmiris. Shortly after, Emergency was declared and Jamaat became a banned outfit for the first time. Jamaat contested its last elections in Jammu and Kashmir in 1987 in alliance with few other religious organisations like the Muslim United Front in 1987. It has a separate Kerala chapter as well. Alleged terror link After allegations of mass rigging in the 1987 polls, MUF activists were arrested for staging protests. Among those arrested was Mohammad Yousuf Shah, who was the groups then Srinagar head. He later joined Hizbul Mujahideen as its supreme commander and came to be known by his alias Syed Salahuddin, Moneycontrol reported. By 1990s, when many Kashmiri youths were taking arms training in Pakistan, Jamaat also allegedly begun supporting the insurgency. In the same year, Ahsan Dar, founder and chief commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, dubbed the outfit a "sword arm of Jamaat". In 1997, Jamaat claimed they have no ties with the Hizbul and that it never backed the insurgency. The Falah-e-Aam Trust was created in 1988 to run JEI schools following its ban. The products of these schools were targetted by their Pakistan masters, exfiltrated to Pakistan, trained in arms and ammunition, and infiltrated back to carry on their subversive activity, the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) reported. During 1988-89, the Jamaat supported militancy only indirectly, but it got directly involved when, under the influence of Pakistan's secret service, ISI, it accepted the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) formed in 1989 as its militant wing. The Hizbul Mujahideen assumed ascendancy among other major groups and mercilessly slaughtered the innocents until the emergence of counter-insurgency groups in the Valley in the later half of 1994 and their targetted attacks on JEI/HUM activists, the TRAC website mentions. Arrests of Jamaat leaders Despite all claims, security agencies believe that the structure of Jamaat is used in Kashmir for pro-Pakistan and militant activities. According to the report, K Rajendra, ex-DGP, Jammu and Kashmir Police, had said: They are the root cause of the problem in Kashmir. According to a News18 report, there is a belief that most terrorists are influenced by Jamaats ideology and their leaders are responsible for instigating the masses. Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan is a political party there, presently headed by Siraj Ul Haq (Ameer), who is also a member of the Pakistan Senate. His speech in the National Assembly on the recent tension enthralled Pakistani media and audiences. Group calls crackdown 'political vengeance' Meanwhile, the organisation has termed the government's crackdown as "absolute political vengeance". A statement released by the group after the arrests of several of its members said: "The state government while misusing its power is trying to appease BJP and other communal forces and have unleashed atmosphere of terror across the valley wherein hundreds of young and old having religious tilt have detained under baseless grounds. The repressive policy adopted by the state authority clearly smells bad and thus are trying to choke every peaceful political exercise in and around." "Jamaat vehemently condemned the arrest spree by police and terms it undemocratic and gross violation of human rights," it read. Terms it a murder of democracy, the organisation has appealed to the Human Rights Groups, the United Nations Organization and OIC to intervene into the grave situation prevailing in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and use their influence to stop the lawlessness at the hands of forces. With inputs from PTI An earlier version of this article carried an incorrect image. It has been updated to correct the mistake Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which was responsible for the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, had resolved in a conference over a year ago that its 'Ghazwa-e-Hind' (Holy War Against India) will continue irrespective of India-Pakistan ties, according to an intelligence report. New Delhi: Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which was responsible for the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, had resolved in a conference over a year ago that its "Ghazwa-e-Hind" (Holy War Against India) will continue irrespective of India-Pakistan ties, according to an intelligence report. Citing the report, officials said the conference organised in Okara district in Pakistan on 27 November, 2017 saw more than 2,000 participants showering praise on organisational activities of JeM and the role played by its chief Masood Azhar, the mastermind of the 14 February Pulwama strike in Jammu and Kashmir, among other terror attacks in India. According to the intelligence report prepared on the basis of inputs from across the border, JeM resolved at the conference to continue what it called its 'Ghazwa-e-Hind'. The conference was addressed by JeM leaders Abdul Rauf Asghar, Md Maqsood and Abdul Malik Tahir. Asghar said the India-Pakistan friendship and bilateral trade would not end 'jihad' as there were many youths ready to sacrifice, the report said. It further said that another six-day meeting, held in February 2018, saw the JeM's 'Shoba-e-Taaruf' (Department of Introduction) conducting 13 interaction sessions in which 700 people, including 65 'Ulemas' (religious scholars), participated. The JeM terrorists had carried out a suicide attack on 10 February, 2018 on Indian Army's Sunjwan camp in Jammu and Kashmir in which five Army officers were killed and many more were injured. Five JeM terrorists took part in the attack in which three were killed and two escaped. The report said it was described by the JeM as a pre-planned operation carried out on the Sunjwan Camp by JeM as part of "revenge" operations launched by the 'Afzal Guru Shaheed Squad' in Kashmir. The intelligence report also mentioned a four-day visit to Sialkot district in March 2018 of JeM's 'Shoba-e-Taaruf' delegation, comprising Mujahid Abbas, Rashid Mushtaq and Abid Mehmood, during which it organised 17 sessions attended by 1,500 people, including 50 'Ulemas'. The delegation recruited 22 people for training course and 91 for 'Daura-e-Tafseer' (Training on Jihad and Quran). The participants also promised to take part in religious events organised by the JeM and the 'Ulemas' expressed satisfaction over the schedule for training prepared by JeM chief Masood Azhar. They also appreciated religious services rendered by Masood Azhar and prayed for JeM 'Mujahideen'. The delegation held five separate sessions with JeM activists, which were attended by 28 'Ulema' and activists, the report said. Day after Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan announced that IAF's captured pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace and the 'first step' to open negotiations with India, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told CNN that Pakistan never wanted to escalate issues, adding that it was when India attacked Pakistan is when matters escalated Day after Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan announced that IAF's captured pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace and the "first step" to open negotiations with India, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told CNN that Pakistan never wanted to escalate issues, adding that it was when India attacked Pakistan is when matters escalated. On a question regarding putting Jaish-e-Mohammed's Masood Azhar on the list of UN-designated terrorists, Qureshi said: "We are open to any step that leads to de-escalation and if they have good, solid evidence, please sit and talk, please initiate a dialogue and we will show reasonableness." Regarding Azhar, Dawn quoted Qureshi from the CNN interview where the foreign minister said, "He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his house, because he's really unwell." When asked about taking action against JeM chief, Qureshi said Pakistan wants evidence that can stand in a court of law, adding that Pakistan follows a legal process and will have to fulfill those requirements if action is to be taken against Azhar. "This is a new government with a new mindset. We want to live in peace. We have a people-centric agenda. We want to improve governance in Pakistan. We do not want to fight on the eastern front. We want to put an end to this 17-year-old war that's going on in Afghanistan. We want peace and stability in the region. After a very long time there is a government in Pakistan which supports the Pakistan Armed Forces. The civil and political leadership is on the same page. The policy of this government is that we will not allow our soil to be used by any organisation or individual for terrorism against anyone and that includes India," Qureshi told CNN. On the matter of de-escalation of the crisis and the conversations Qureshi had with the United States, the foreign minister said "I'd like to thank President Trump for taking an interest in order to de-escalate" and praised America's role in diffusing the situation. Pakistan says will release Abhinandan as a gesture of peace Imran on Thursday announced that IAF's captured pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace and the "first step" to open negotiations with India. The surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament came barely an hour after Qureshi said that Imran is ready to talk to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to de-escalate Indo-Pak tensions. As the opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif took the floor of the House, Imran apologised for interrupting him and said he wishes to announce that the Indian pilot captured by Pakistan Air Force on Wednesday will be released Friday as a peace gesture. "In our desire for peace, I announce that tomorrow (Friday), and as a first step to open negotiations, Pakistan will be releasing the Indian Air Force officer in our custody," Imran said. The announcement was greeted by thumping of desks by Pakistani lawmakers. India on Thursday made it clear that IAF pilot Abhinandan cannot be a bargaining chip and New Delhi will not strike any deal with Islamabad for his release. The joint session of Parliament was held on Thursday to discuss rising tension with India. The Pakistani Air Force on Wednesday carried out a retaliatory strike, a day after Indian struck inside Pakistan, destroying the biggest terrorist training camp of the JeM. Addressing the House, Imran said, "The only purpose of our strike was to demonstrate our capability and will." "We did not want to inflict any casualty on India as we wanted to act in a responsible manner." He warned if India moved ahead with the "aggression", Pakistan will be forced to retaliate and urged the Indian leadership not to push for escalation as war is not solution to any problem. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will be briefed on the current India-Pakistan relations by the MEA on Friday. New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will be briefed on the current India-Pakistan relations by the foreign affairs ministry on Friday. The committee, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, will meet in Parliament House on Friday afternoon. "The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will receive a briefing from the MEA on the current situation with Pakistan..." Tharoor tweeted earlier. The briefing will be on the present India-Pakistan relations in the light of the recent strain in relationship after the Pulwama attack and an air strike by India, officials said. The committee will also be briefed on the "new regime" in Pakistan led by Prime Minister Imran Khan and its relationship with India in light of the recent developments, they said. Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday. It came 12 days after the Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. 'Terror funding is a big factor in promoting terrorism. The way NIA performed its role, the result is that there has been a decline in terror funding compared to earlier,' Rajnath Singh said. Hyderabad: The government has approved a proposal of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to open a research cell on terror group Islamic State, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Friday. The minister also said 100 new posts have been created in the NIA for effective investigation and supervision. "Terror funding is a big factor in promoting terrorism. The way NIA performed its role, the result is that there has been a decline in terror funding compared to earlier," Rajnath said. The circulation of fake Indian currency notes has also declined due to the combined efforts of the NIA and other central and state agencies, he said. "We have also given approval to the NIA to set up a research cell on the Islamic State," Singh said. "The conviction rate of the NIA is 92 percent. It's a matter of pride for all us," he added. The NIA, he said, has been successful in establishing coordination with other agencies like state police and the anti-terror squads of different states. The Union home minister was speaking after inaugurating two new office-cum-housing complexes of the NIA here and Guwahati, built by NBCC India at a cost of about Rs 77 crore. The Hyderabad NIA complex is an "all-inclusive" project and spread over 12,572 square metres. It has been constructed at a cost of about Rs 37 crore and consists of both administrative offices and residential flats for its staff. The Guwahati project entailed a cost of Rs 40 crore and has a built-up area of 9,830 square metres. Besides various office buildings and residential quarters, it also has barracks for jawans and a community centre, according to NBCC India. The Balakot air strike shows that India has moved away from the policy of strategic restraint, a shift that will have enormous impact on the region and beyond. Pakistan has always fetishised the tactical element of surprise to achieve near-term ends while paying no heed to the strategic consequences as they evolve. When Pakistan ordered the Jaish-e-Mohammed to attack a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans in Pulwama using a vehicle-borne suicide bomb on 14 February, it likely succeeded in its short-term objectives. Pakistan, however, spectacularly misunderstood how the attack, which left 40 jawans dead, would reverberate throughout India and across its political classes to produce a resounding demand that Pakistan pay for this outrage. India could have responded as it did at Uri by inserting small force packets across the Line of Control (LoC) to hit shallow targets on the Pakistani side. It could have used stand-off weapons to hit targets deeper within Kashmir controlled by Pakistan without crossing the de facto border. But India surprised everyone by dispatching 12 Mirages across the LoC to take out a Jaish camp in Balakot in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistan did not expect this response. There is reason to believe that it withdrew Jaish fighters from launch pads near the LoC expecting an Uri-like attack. However, there was no evidence that the dozen fighter aircraft encountered any resistance during their sorties despite Pakistani contrarian claims. The confused menagerie of responses in Pakistan ranged from army claims that the air force chased them out and they prematurely deposited their ordinance without causing harm. Civilians, on the other hand, demanded a fitting response. The cacophony was reminiscent of what followed the Abbottabad raid in which US special operators in several stealth helicopters invaded Pakistani airspace from the east, descended upon Osama bin Ladens lair, killed him and absconded with hard drives and other evidence before the dauntless Pakistan air force rousted from its slumber. In an equally surprising turn of events, Pakistan escalated by dispatching fighter aircraft to bomb targets on the Indian side of the LoC. How this situation unfolds in coming days, weeks and months is anyones guess given the unprecedented nature of this crisis in South Asia or elsewhere. But one thing is clear: after Balakot, there will be little appetite in India to return to the status quo of strategic restraint. Unless this crisis spirals out of control and leads to a war in which Pakistan defeats India, there will be a demand to respond to subsequent Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks. Pakistan has not changed but India has and Pakistan has only itself to blame. The implications of India and Indians becoming comfortable with power projection will have an enormous impact on the region and beyond. Groundhog Roz We have seen Pakistani miscalculations before. There are important parallels to Pakistans conduct of Kargil, which similarly demonstrated Islamabads penchant for the tactic of surprise while also highlighting its inability to anticipate long-term consequences. In the spring of 1999, taking advantage of a seasonal retreat from holding forward positions, Pakistan executed a broad incursion across the LoC in Kashmir using three to four thousand men equipped primarily with small arms from the then-paramilitary organisation, the Northern Light Infantry. Ostensibly, the Pakistani forces sought to make small territorial gains at tactically significant locations near the Indian town of Kargil. By May, the Indians finally became aware of the intruders and initially mistook them for so-called mujahideen. The Indian ground forces took heavy casualties dislodging them and ultimately inducted airpower to do so. By the fourth of July, Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had flown to Washington DC with his wife in the hope that President Bill Clinton could find an honourable way out. Clinton told him to withdraw forces and respect the LoC. Sharif pledged to bring the intruders back to Pakistans side of the LoC. As this withdrawal was executed in July, public sentiment turned against the civilian government for selling out the brave mujahideen. The pusillanimity of the Sharif government imposed a defeat on the mujahideen that they did not deserve and gave India a victory that it did not earn. Public anger was even more apparent as the so-called mujahideen casualties mounted after the withdrawal agreement. The army manufactured this outrage to save itself and to impugn the civilian government. By October 1999, army chief General Pervez Musharraf ousted Sharif. While the Pakistan army thought it had won the day, in fact, it had lost in ways it would not come to appreciate. Kargil had an enormous impact on Pakistani foreign relations for the first several years following the conflict. Pakistan was completely isolated because it pursued the destabilising intrusion and because it persisted in clinging to a falsehood that no one found credible: that the mujahideen did it. The United States, the G-8 and even China took positions that were concordant with Indias preferred position: that Pakistan was the aggressor and that Islamabad needed to act to restore the LoC. Pakistan was perceived as a rogue state, veering dangerously towards becoming a bastion of radicalised Islamists increasingly similar to its neighbour under the Taliban. Whereas in 1998, India emerged as the regional pariah responsible for nuclearising the subcontinent, Pakistan squandered on the heights near Kargil the goodwill it had accumulated in the wake of the nuclear tests. At one point, the US state department even suggested that sanctions be imposed on Pakistan if it persisted with its posture of intransigence. The absurdity of Pakistans cover story and Islamabads tenacity in maintaining it further diminished its credibility. This credibility deficit continues to complicate Pakistans external relations. When Pakistan-based and Pakistan-backed militants attacked the Indian Parliament in December 2001, few believed that Islamabad was innocent of the incident. Kargil was an important turning point in Indo-Pakistani relations in several ways. One, it confirmed Indias belief that Pakistan was a reckless, adventuristic, and risk-acceptant state, capable of behaving astrategically and irrationally. Two, because Kargil was planned and prosecuted at the same time as the Lahore process, India concluded that it simply could not do business with Pakistan. Third, India assessed that Pakistans ongoing civil-military rivalry would make normalisation of ties exceedingly difficult. Fundamentally, the Kargil conflict raised questions about the basis for substantive engagement with Islamabad. Even if it did manage to reach an agreement with Islamabad, India had little guarantee that such an accord could endure. Rather, any such agreement would be hostage to the vicissitudes of Pakistans ever-changing internal dynamics. The Kargil shift Kargil also changed how Indians understood Pakistan. It was Indias first televised war. Prior to Kargil, few people in the south or Northeast cared about what happened in distant Kashmir. The non-stop coverage of the mounting casualties as soldiers fought to retake territory helped knit a national narrative about Pakistan and its nefarious designs. India emerged from Kargil as a front-line state against Islamist terror, a mantle that it has further claimed in the aftermath of the 11 September terrorist attacks. The Kargil conflict also prompted massive changes within defence and intelligence infrastructures, which transformed India as an adversary. Because of Kargil, India undertook a sweeping review of its defence infrastructure to explain how such an intrusion could have happened without detection and how future Kargils might be avoided. The Kargil review committee and the subsequent ministerial report proposed wide-ranging reforms across the intelligence communities. India realised the imperatives of an effective strategic warning system: broad investments in better technology, a commitment to better intelligence assessment and dissemination procedures at the highest diplomatic and political levels. To counter the problem of infiltration, India began fortifying its forward defences to mitigate the possibility of Kargil-like adventures. To mitigate these vulnerabilities, India hungrily acquired a range of technologies to augment thermal, infrared, acoustic imaging as well as image-intensification capabilities, including high-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles and space-based systems, along with their concomitant ground-based command and control and image processing facilities. In addition, India sought out military training to better confront the challenges it faced in Jammu and Kashmir. This was apparent in the emphasis that India laid on special operations within the Indo-US army-to-army training exercises. The Indian Army also re-outfitted its special forces-specific equipment such as night-vision goggles, special rifles, assault vehicles, kayaks, masks and protective gear for operating in nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare environments. It enhanced secure communications and the ability to intercept militant communications. To state the obvious, Kargil taught India that limited war was possible. It motivated India to rethink its entire strategy for dealing with Pakistan. It altered the bilateral relationship as well as how Indian officials portrayed Pakistan at multilateral fora. In short, because of Kargil and its sequelae, the kind of adversary that Pakistan will face in future conflicts has evolved in manifold dimensions. Towards a Naya India? On February 26, 2019, Pakistanis awoke to a different India. Whereas Pakistanis celebrated their surprise land grabs in Kargil, Indians had the surprise. When Pakistan retaliated a day later, Indian jets intercepted them. Pulwama seemed to have awakened a somnambulant giant. After this week, there will likely be no turning back. It took years for Pakistan to understand the gravity of Kargil and the sweeping changes it ushered in. Will Pakistans security managers be quicker to grasp the changes they have unleashed this time? India has been a repeated victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism for over 30 years. New Delhi has all along tried to persuade Islamabad to stop non-state actors (read: terror organisations) operating against India from its soil. Pakistan badly lost to India in the 1971 war, leading to the dismembering of our western neighbour, the liberation of East Pakistan and the birth of a new nation in Bangladesh. Over 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to India. After this debilitating experience, Pakistan realised that it cannot afford to militarily challenge India. In its bid to avenge the ignominious defeat, Pakistan started waging a proxy war against India by infiltrating terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir from the late 1980s. India has been a repeated victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism for over 30 years. New Delhi has all along tried to persuade Islamabad to stop non-state actors (read: terror organisations) operating against India from its soil. Weve been providing voluminous dossiers of evidence to Pakistan about terrorist actions against us emanating from its soil. For instance, a terror strike by four terrorists on an Indian Army camp at Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) on 18 September, 2016, killed 19 soldiers. In retaliation, India, for the first time, on 29 September, 2016, conducted a surgical strike against terrorist launch pads across the LoC in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, killing nearly 50 terrorists. It was hoped that Pakistan would learn its lesson and rein in cross-border terrorism. But, that was not to be. A fidayeen attack on a CRPF convoy at Lethpora near Awantipora in Pulwama district on 14 February, 2019, killed over 40 jawans. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation led by Maulana Masood Azhar, instantly claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on the CRPF convoy in what is being seen as the worst terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in over 30 years. The attack agitated the entire nation, which demanded immediate retribution against the perpetrators of this dastardly terrorist act. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was decisive, and gave his nod to the Indian Air Force (IAF) to carry out strikes against JeM camps across the LoC. Based on credible intelligence, which indicated that the JeM was planning to conduct similarfidayeen attacks in other parts of India, the IAF made a pre-emptive strike at its biggest training camp in Balakot, located in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces Mansehra district. The JeM training camp in Balakot is located almost 80 km inside Pakistan. The aircraft executing the strike were in danger of being detected by Pakistan air defence radars, which could have tried to intercept our fighters by their surface-to-air missiles and air defence interceptors. Consequently, it was imperative to retain the element of surprise and give minimal reaction time to Pakistan. The IAF meticulously planned the mission, which started with collecting credible intelligence and images of the target and its vicinity. It was crucial for the IAF to only hit the assigned target without any collateral damage to any civilian or military installation or personnel. Considering the threats involved in the mission coupled with the need for a precise attack, the IAF chose to deploy Mirage 2000 aircraft primarily because it has the capability to attack ground targets from long stand-off ranges with assured accuracy of few metres. The aircraft has good electronic warfare suite to enhance its survivability and has very potent Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missiles. Intelligence had revealed that in addition to terrorists and fidayeens undergoing training, all terrorists close to the LoC were pulled back and made to assemble at the training camp. In order to obliterate the JeM training camp, it was decided to execute the attack on 26 February at 03:30 am with 1,000 kilogram precision-guided bombs. The timing of the strike was the key as all terrorists were to be fast asleep at this small hour. The IAF launched a non-military, pre-emptive air strike against JeM training camp at Balakot with 12 Mirage 2000 aircraft. To retain the element of surprise, the mission took off from an interior base and followed tactical routes to avoid detection by Pakistani radars. It was expected that Pakistan would scramble its interceptors to engage our air strike aircraft and prevent them from executing the mission. Accordingly, the formation of 12 Mirage 2000, besides the dedicated strike aircraft, also included aircraft configured for air defence and offensive electronic warfare role to handle all contingencies that were likely to be encountered during the mission. In addition, four Su-30 MKI were airborne to draw out Pakistani interceptors. Su-30 MKI synchronised a safe passage for 12 Mirage 2000 to their target. Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) had taken position to monitor the Pakistani airspace to guide and control our air defence fighters to neutralise any interceptor trying to interfere with our strike mission. The entire mission was supported by flight refuelling aircraft. Pakistan launched few F-16 interceptors who were overwhelmed by the threat posed to them by our air defence aircraft and retreated without interfering with our strike mission. IAF strike followed the planned route and struck the target on time. The attack annihilated the JeM training camp in Balakot. It is believed that the air strike eliminated over 350 JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and jihadis. The mission was a great success, and it credibly proved the efficacy of air strikes to neutralise terrorists. Real-time intelligence is the need of the hour for planning such air strikes and the success of the mission also demonstrates our excellent intelligence-gathering capabilities. The networked operations of the IAF also contributed immensely in coordinating all aspects of mission planning and its execution among numerous agencies within our air force units spread over hundreds of km apart. The accomplished mission has contributed immensely towards the global war on terror, and put India among few select nations that have the demonstrated capability to carry out such a bold air strike. It has also shown the national resolve coupled with bold and decisive political leadership towards eliminating terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil. India could carry out more similar air strikes against terrorist outfits operating from Pakistani soil in the near future based on credible intelligence. Having repeatedly suffered dastardly terrorist attacks for over 30 years, the successful execution of an air strike against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot, located almost 80 km inside Pakistan, shows a paradigm shift in Indias war against terrorism. The change was possible primarily due to the bold and decisive leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, excellent diplomatic outreach, credible inputs from intelligence agencies, commendable IAF leadership and outstanding professionalism of our air warriors. Air Marshal SBP Sinha (Retd.) is an ex-commander-in-chief of Central Air Command, IAF Pakistan Air Force Wing Commander Shahaz-ud-Din, the F-16 pilot shot down in a dogfight over the Nowshera sector, is reported to have been lynched by a mob who mistook him for an Indian airman New Delhi: Even as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman walked across the India-Pakistan border on 1 March, a family in Pakistan is in mourning silent, blacked out from the public view, their sacrifice unacknowledged. Pakistan Air Force Wing Commander Shahaz-ud-Din, the F-16 pilot shot down in a dogfight over the Nowshera sector, is reported to have been lynched by a mob who mistook him for an Indian airman. Both men, in one of those strange twists history revels in, come from illustrious military families: Wing Commander Varthamans father, S Varthaman, as Air Marshal; Shahaz-ud-Dins father, Waseem-ud-Din, is also an Air Marshal of the Pakistan Air Force, who has flown F-16 and Mirages. The two sons engaged each other in the air; one was taken a prisoner of war and has returned home, while the other was killed by his own people. The goddess of war, it is said, is fickle with her favours but few twists of fate exist in the annals of history to match this one. The news that Shahaz-ud-Din's plane was shot down was first reported by London-based lawyer Khalid Umar, who says he received it privately, from individuals related to the F-16 pilots family. Umars account says that Shahaz-ud-Din parachuted out of his aircraft safely, but was then attacked by a mob after the F-16 crash-landed possibly in the Laam valley, stretching out westward from Naushehra into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Shahaz-ud-Din, Umar has claimed, was hospitalised, but succumbed to his injuries. The PAF Wing Commander flew for the 19 Squadron, also known as the Sher-Dils, who served with distinction in the war of 1965 and 1971. Pakistani military spokesperson Major-General Asif Ghafoor had asserted, on the morning of 28 February, that two Indian jets had been shot down and two Indian pilots injured one of whom was in army custody, and the other in the hospital. Later in the evening, Major-General Ghafoor stated that only one Indian pilot was in Pakistan Army custody, without explaining his earlier comments. Its extremely improbable the Pakistan Army just made up the second plane and pilot, an Indian military source says. "The more likely explanation is that troops were unable to identify the destroyed aircraft or the battered, broken body to be their own. There was probably miscommunication up the chain of command. In the 1999 Kargil War, Pakistan had denied its troops were involved leading to protests in Pakistans northern areas, from where the Northern Light Infantry is drawn. Eleven years after the Kargil War, Pakistans army officially acknowledged its role, naming 453 soldiers and officers killed in the 1999 conflict. Captain Karnal Sher and Havildar Lalak Jan, who were both killed on 7 July, 1999, were awarded Pakistans highest honour, the Nishan-e-Haider, but were not acknowledged as Kargil war casualties until November 2010. A committee of the Indian Air Force will reconstruct the events of the crash to learn what was fired, the frequency and intensity of the firing. Compared to his brothers-in-arms in the past, who were in Pakistan's custody at different points in time, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is definitely the quickest one to return home. Abhinandan was taken into custody by Pakistan Army on Wednesday when during a dogfight with incoming Pakistani fighters, his MiG-21 Bison was shot down and the IAF pilot ended up parachuting into Pakistani territory. Once his captivity was officially confirmed, there was a flurry of activities at various levels of diplomacy in both, India and Pakistan, including backdoor negotiations, to get the pilot released as soon as possible. It was on Thursday when Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan officially confirmed that Abhinandan will be returned to India on Friday. The Wing Commander's quick return, which is being hailed by many as a diplomatic win for India, has to go undergo an immense amount of protocols and procedures before he gets back to active duty. In the wake of the international pressure from countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan felt compelled to release him sooner than they would have, said Lt Gen (retd) Rakesh Sharma, who is of the view that had it not been for the international media gaze on Pakistans every move, they would have kept him there longer. Once the IAF pilot reaches Indian shores, he will be sent in for a medical examination. Follow LIVE updates on the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict A committee of the Indian Air Force will reconstruct the events of the crash to learn what was fired, the frequency and intensity of the firing. This is the way the forces will gauge Pakistans preparedness. Then, the pilot will be debriefed by multiple agencies namely the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will be made to reconstruct the event. Owing to the news of crowds cheering in the region, there are speculations that he was taken to the army base in Bhimber in PoK, which is 48 kilometres from Gujarat and 166 kilometres from Islamabad. "It could take anywhere between one day to a week," said Col Vivek Chadha of the IDSA. He shared that one critical aspect of the debriefing will be to establish if there was any documentation on the pilot that has now in the hands of the Pakistani forces. There were reports of IAF pilot chewing paper. Chadha explained that the armed forces are trained to destroy all equipment when they fall into the hands of the enemy. In such a scenario, a map of the pilot's own area is among the first things to be destroyed and probably that was what IAF pilot chewed up and destroyed. Remedial actions like changing security codes are taken once the authorities establish what documents pertaining to our military and security are in the hands of the enemy, the former army officer said. Lt Gen (retd) VK Chaturvedi said that in this particular debriefing, the authorities will also find out how much of what was being projected by the Pakistani sources on social media is actually true. In the debriefing, the authorities will ask him questions on whether he overheard their conversations, the names of officers he met and the details of the battalion he landed into. There are speculations that it was the Northern Light Infantry, said Lt Gen Chaturvedi. Since the pilot is a serving officer, he will then be sent back to his unit as soon as the debriefing is done. The R-73 is a short-range air-to-air missile was developed by Russian research and production firm Vympel NPO to replace the earlier R-60. The missile is an infrared homing (meaning it uses infrared light emission from a target to track and follow it) weapon with a minimum engagement range of of 300 metres. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's captivity in Pakistan came soon after he had shot down a Pakistani F-16 with a short-range R-73 missile during the fierce dogfight on Wednesday morning. The MiG-21 Bison that he was flying had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to retain the lockin on the target and got shot down either by a surface-to-air missile or another Pakistani jet. Abhinandan was subsequently held captive by Pakistani forces. A report by The Economic Times cites sources which said that the engagement started when at least 10 Pakistan Air force (PAF) aircraft were seen heading for military along the LoC. Subsequently, a combat air patrol, with at least two MiG21 fighter jets and Su30MKI fighters, was launched from the Indian side to engage them. The jets were heading towards the Naushera sector in Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to target an Indian brigade headquarter and some other army installations. Since Thursday evening, moments after news about Abhinandan's release was conveyed by Pakistan, the whole of India has been awaiting his return and perhaps shed light on what exactly happened that day, how he downed the jet or better yet, let people know if he was indeed treated well in the neighbouring country. For now, let's understand what is an R-73 missile that had brought down the Pakistani F-16. R-73 Missiles The short-range air-to-air missile was developed by Russian research and production firm Vympel NPO to replace the earlier R-60. This missile is an infrared homing (meaning it uses infrared light emission from a target to track and follow it) weapon with a minimum engagement range of 300 metres. It is employed against highly manoeuvrable targets by MiG-29, MiG-31, Su-27/33, Su-34 and Su-35. The advanced R-73 missile features Thrust Vectoring Control (TVC) that offers unprecedented manoeuvrability in air-to-air engagement. India is also looking to use the missile on their HAL Tejas. On 24 February 1996, two Cessna 337s of the Brothers to the Rescue, the group known for its opposition to the Cuban government, were shot down while flying illegally over Cuban airspace by a Cuban Air Force MiG-29UB. Each of the aircraft was downed by an R-73 missile. Again, during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War from May 1998 to June 2000, R-73 missiles were used in combat by both Ethiopian Su-27s and Eritrean MiG-29s. On 18 March 2008, a MiG-29 Fulcrum of the Russian Air Force intercepted a Georgian Elbit Hermes 450 UAV over Abkhazia. The MiG-29 destroyed the UAV with an R-73 missile. Imran Khans decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan, could have been a huge diplomatic advantage, but he squandered it away by advising Indians to ponder on the 'azadi' sentiment in Kashmir Nothings over until the paperwork is done, says a poster on the wall of a washroom at a popular eatery at Khan Market in Delhi. Another Khan may be pondering on just this as he wonders what to do next as India shows no signs of backing off, as a late meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security seemed to indicate. Prime Minister Imran Khan and his colleagues, most of them in olive green, have now been presented with several separate problems that will probably tighten the net around Pakistan that remains in absolute denial of its patronage to terrorism. Khans decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, welcomed by media on both sides, could have been a huge diplomatic advantage for Pakistan. That advantage was squandered away when Khan, in his address to a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament, chose to wax eloquent on Kashmir advising Indians to ponder on the 'azadi' sentiment there. Even the most uninformed among his audience would have advised him in turn, to stop torturing and killing the Baloch, Pashtuns and the sundry persons who challenge the Pakistani state, before proffering any advice to others. The decision to release the Wing Commander Abhinandan seemed almost an afterthought, announced after the Pakistan prime minister had sat down and apparently finished his address. That leads to the conclusion that the decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan was not a spontaneous act of humanity, but the result of someone somewhere advising him with a good deal of emphasis that Islamabad better send the pilot back before Indians react. It seemed that for all his eloquence, Khan simply doesnt get the plot. A second mistake was in retrospect. The combined presser by the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and Indian Navy made it evident that Pakistan had used F-16s in the attack against India. In his briefing, Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor pointed to not only the electronic signatures of the F-16s that were evident but also showed parts of an AMRAAM missile that is only fitted on the American aircraft. That could prove to be a costly mistake. The US Arms Export Control Act, 1976, as codified by Congress requires that such weapons be used only in self-defence and further states that decisions... under this section shall take into account whether the export of an article would contribute to an arms race, aid in the development of weapons of mass destruction, support international terrorism, increase the possibility of outbreak or escalation of conflict, etc. Those are the basic requirements according to the 22 US Code 2778. Specific to Pakistan were another set of requirements put in place in 2006 for the purchase of 36 new F-16s. Though the Bush Administration sanctioned the sale at a time when Pakistan was considered as part of the Global War on Terrorism ( GWOT)", it still emphasised that the sale was to meet legitimate defence needs and was to be used in missions for GWOT. The F-16s' entry into India was a clear case of aggression and was clearly an attempt to hit a military target. Certainly, it was not against terrorist camps since there are none within several hundred miles of Bhimber Gali or anywhere else in India for that matter. New Delhi will certainly raise this with Washington, who is already looking for issues to twist Pakistans arm in Afghanistan. Another issue that requires far more than only paperwork is that of the dossier on the Jaish-e-Mohammed handed over to Islamabad by New Delhi. Clearly, the NSA Ajit Doval had precise knowledge of the terrorist leaders present in the camp, with a reported 22 top commanders killed. There are publicly available photographs and material of the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur, and a plethora of intelligence inputs on just what the group is up to in Kashmir, apart from specific audio tapes linking it to the Pulwama attack. All of this would have been shared with not just Islamabad, but also other major countries like the US, and possibly Russia and China. While there are reports that the Punjab administration has taken over some facilities in the Bahawalpur, Pakistan will be required to shut them down and arrest the major leaders. Islamabad need not wait for actionable intelligence linking the group to the Pulwama strike. Remember that Jaish-e-Mohammed was responsible for assassination attempts on General Pervez Musharraf and probably an attack on Pakistan army headquarters as well. Any of these cases will do in a military court. Imran and his team would do well to tick the box closing all terrorist camps and institutions, as much for its own sake than that of regional peace. Terrorists have a nasty habit of biting the hands that feed them. The key here is that Khan, as much as Rawalpindi, needs to understand the main sentiment underlying the fact that all major actors are now ranged alongside India. They need to understand the simple fact that the use of terrorism as a currency of power has simply no takers. No number of Ghauri and Babur missiles can change the fact that Islamabads time is up. Remember that Bangladesh, once also known to have been a base for all shades of terrorist groups has managed to nearly wipe them out in the space of fewer than five years. The result as Pakistani scholar Pervez Hoodbhoy notes is that Bangladeshs foreign reserves are four times that of Pakistan and it is steadily eating into Pakistans share of textile exports. It's all possible. It just needs a little gritting of teeth and filling up the forms. The suicide bombing that rattled Kashmir in the afternoon of 14 February was carried by a local recruit of Jaish-e-Mohammed. Since the 14 February suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 42 CRPF troopers, a massive operation has been carried out by the Jammu and Kashmir Police along with other security agencies in the Valley. The result of this effort is already showing up with at least 10 Jaish-e-Mohammed militants killed across south and north Kashmir since the Pulwama attack. The total number of militants killed since 1 January 2019 has reached 40. On Friday, at least two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district. Acting on a tipoff, security forces on Wednesday morning launched a cordon and search operation in Meemendar area of Shopian. In a search operation that ensued encounter broke out between the two entrapped Jaish-e-Mohammed militants and the security forces. The militants were killed in the gunfight. Its a coordinated effort to clear the territory of Jaish, a top police official, who did not want to be identified, told Firstpost. It started from their sympathisers and ended in the elimination of the terrorists. Both were from JeM and one belongs to Pakistan and one is local, IGP Kashmir, SP Pani, said. Wednesdays operation was one of the successive and successful counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir, coming on the heels of a massive crackdown on dissenters and National Investigation Agency (NIA) raids on the separatists in Kashmir after the Pulwama attack. The suicide bombing that rattled Kashmir in the afternoon of 14 February was carried by a local recruit of Jaish-e-Mohammed. As soon as the NIA took over the investigation of the Pulwama attack, many JeM militants both local and Pakistani were killed in different encounters in Kashmir. In one case an overground worker was caught by forces when he was preparing to run away, the police official said. On 18 February, in an intense 17-hour encounter, security forces killed the mastermind of the Pulwama attack. A Pakistani national Kamran was killed along with his two associates in Pinglena village of south Kashmirs Pulwama district. Following the Pinglena encounter, security forces killed two more Jaish militants in north Kashmirs Sopore and subsequently killed three more JeM militants in Turigam village of Kulgam district. These encounters took place in the Valley when tension between India and Pakistan heightened following the Balakot strikes. With around 200 active militants, the Valley is apparently bracing up for more such encounters. Among the militant outfits active in the valley, Masood Azhars JeM has now emerged as the new go-getting nemesis for the security grid. Since Azhars outfit rely on fidayeen attacks and is capable to inflict larger damages, it becomes even more important to go after them, said a top police officer, whose track record as counter-insurgent officer is well-known. And to prevent another Pulwama, theres no other way than to methodically pursue these human bombs and neutralise them. Even as security forces killed around 10 JeM militants after the Pulwama attack, the security establishment is reportedly still up against two dozen odd active Jaish militants in the valley. Unlike others, JeM recruits are not sitting ducks, the officer added. This is where one has to be on extra alert mode. In fact, after Pulwama attack, the security forces have suffered some major losses during a gunfight with JeM militants. Among the personnel they lost are an army major and a DSP rank officer. Notably, in Kashmirs post-2010 military-militant clashes, JeMs resurgence was based on its old fidayeen-style attacks. The outfits activities had come down after it was banned by Pakistan in the early 2000. It resurfaced with Pathankot, Uri, Pulwama and Srinagar airport fidayeen attacks. The outfit even attacked the Indian consulate in Afghanistans Mazar-i-Sharief. After the Pulwama attack, now even Hizbul Mujahideens operational commander Riyaz Naikoo warned about more suicide attacks in Kashmir if the present impasse over Kashmir issue continues, said Basharat Amin, a political commentator. It tells you how the strike at Pulwama has now influenced an otherwise AK-47 warring outfit. This is where it might get uglier. Ever since its founder, Masood Azhar was released from Indian jail in the 1999 Kandahar hijacking case, JeMs suicidal method made it a ruthless outfit. During the fidayeen phase of Kashmir insurgency, between 1999 and 2002, it majorly mounted attacks on military installations in and around Kashmir Valley. Now when the same outfit is announcing its comeback with the same old methods, it has once again put security establishment on high alert in Kashmir, said a police officer. Fearing the same attacks, the security camps have been put on additional cover and vigilance mode across the valley. But, in its second coming, Jaishs sudden and violent strikes on military installations seem following the global suicide bombing methodpre-recording videos. Aadil Dar, the suicide bomber from Pulwama, was the second fidayeen to shoot a pre-recorded video before ramming his explosives-laden vehicle onto CRPF bus. He had followed the path of Fardeen Khanday of Tral, who earlier attacked a paramilitary training centre in Lethpora on 31 December, 2017, killing five CRPF men. By the time you see this, I will be in heavens... Aadil only repeated the words of Fardeen. Such things are new in Kashmirs 30-year-long militancy, the police officer said. I think security establishment has an extra task on their hands now. If it becomes a norm, then we are looking at the grave situation in Kashmir. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will raise the issue in Abu Dhabi where she is to attend the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic coutwntries, as the guest of honour. India's engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The ties strained further after Indian fighter jets bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid on Wednesday. "EAM SushmaSwaraj arrives in Abu Dhabi for the Ministerial Meeting of OIC. India has been invited by HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of UAE as the 'Guest of Honour'," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Pakistan, a member of the OIC, tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has decided to skip the meeting, News18 reported. Earlier he had said that he would boycott the meeting if Swaraj participates. Qureshi on Thursday said the OIC is "our home" so he will go there but will not hold talks with Swaraj. The OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the 14 February Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Forty CRPF soldiers were killed in the attack. With inputs from PTI From Uttar Pradesh to Kerala, the jihadist tides which led Alam to Iraq has left behind a detritus of grieving parents and shattered homes. Mamma shaheed ho gayi (my mother has been martyred), a little girl says. There is the music of war: gunfire, explosions, screaming. Then, there is another voice, perhaps her father. Entry to paradise isnt cheap, he intones, it takes sacrifice. Great blessings, he says, are promised to those who give their lives for Islam. He has no regrets: this blood-soaked hell was also his home, a paradise where he could live as his God ordained. These are excerpts from 21 minutes of despatches from the last 100 square metres of Mosul to fall in the summer of 2017, as Iraqi and Kurdish forces dismantled the Islamic State: the testament of Shahnawaz Alam that also includes a message to his mujahideen brothers in Hindustan. From Uttar Pradesh to Kerala, the jihadist tides which led Alam to Iraq has left behind a detritus of grieving parents and shattered homes. For all the suffering its caused across India, though, the jihadist idea has refused to go away. Now I know what a ghost is, wrote Salman Rushdie in The Satanic Verses. Unfinished business, thats what. The Islamic States story in India is about global wars, epic ideological currents, terrorists and spies. But, it is also a story about cycle of hate that has pitted Indians against their most intimate enemies. Waging war Even as Alam was making his way to Iraq, passing from New Delhi to Karachi, and on through the Pakistan-Afghanistan borderlands, a young cleric from Ghaziabad had begun his own jihadist journey, online. In 2011, angered by violence and discrimination against Muslims in India, Muhammad Suhail began trawling the internet in search of vengeance. He reached out to everyone, from Pakistani jihadist groups to al-Qaeda, National Investigations Agency (NIA) detectives who have studied his digital records say. For five years, NIA officials say, no one heard his pleas. Then, in the winter of 2015, a ghost popped up in his Facebook messages: Peshawari, an Islamic State recruiter with an assumed name, was looking for soldiers to wage war in India. The two men spent weeks discussing ideology, NIA investigators say. Suhail thought the Islamic State was a Western conspiracy. Peshawari had to struggle to persuade him it was, in fact, a genuine jihadist group that drew its legitimacy from Gods word. In 2017, Peshawari handed over Suhail and his small group of recruits from Ghaziabad and Amroha to another Islamic State operative, code-named Akhi Umesh. Now, the NIA says, the conversation conducted through encrypted chat was taken over by al-Bengali, who instructed the group in the art of fabricating improvised explosive devices. There is at least some reason to believe all these Islamic State recruiters were, in fact, police officers sitting in Hyderabad. Two intelligence officials separately told Firstpost that the recruiters were likely fictions espionage-jargon for make-belief identities for Telengana Polices cyber-cell. Arguably Indias most sophisticated online counter-terrorism operator, the Telengana Police has been responsible for a string of anti-jihadist successes over the past two years. Entrapment operations of the kind they are alleged to have carried out are controversial, with critics arguing they entrap individuals who might not otherwise have proceeded from ideological anger to actual criminal planning. This is a stock-in-trade of global counter-terrorism operations, which the Federal Bureau of Investigations has used to bring about dozens of arrests. Indian law, though, has no body of precedent to serve as guidance for lawful police entrapment. Bar the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, no law allows authorities to conduct such operations. In 2014, the NIA asked the government to introduce appropriate legislation but there has been no forward movement. Left behind In September 2008, days after a Delhi Police team climbed up the steps to the second floor of L-18, Batla House, Shahnawaz Alam disappeared into the bowels of Pakistans jihadist underworld. The chief of the Indian Mujahideen, Atif Amin, was shot dead, and dozens of arrests followed. But, there were two other men, Mohammed Sajid and Abu Rashid, who disappeared with Alam. All three were from the same village: Sanjarpur in Azamgarh. The men, alleged to have played a key role in multiple strikes, from the Mumbai train bombings of 2006 to the Delhi blasts of 2008, werent quite at the end of their jihadist journey. In Pakistan, they broke with the new Indian Mujahideen chief Riyaz Shahbandari, also known as Riyaz Bhatkal, and headed to al-Qaeda and then the Islamic State. Friends and family remember all the three men as simple, studious boys who kept their heads down, hoping for job prospects abroad like other many Azamgarh residents. Sajid had done a course in jewellery polishing in Mumbai and was in Delhi looking for admission in an English-speaking course. None was known for particularly strong ideological or religious convictions. Last year, the police summoned Shadab Ahmad, local Samajwadi Party politician and Alams father, to listen to his sons testament. The voice sounded similar, Ahmad says, but I cant be certain. It has been 11 years since he spoke to his oldest son. Father to 14 children 10 sons and four daughters Ahmads life is focused around the ongoing trial of Saif, his second oldest son who was arrested from the Batla House. Saif was then 21. In our village, the police visiting a household is a matter of great shame. People stop talking to you, acquaintances snub you. No one wanted to marry their children to ours, says Shadab. He does not know who the child in the recording is. The first wedding in my family was only in 2013. Shadab refuses to let Firstpost meet Alams mother. You will go away but she will not stop weeping for a week." There is no television in home many of Azamgarhs deeply pious families reject one, for religious reasons so she is shielded from the news. In 2016, an Islamic State video featuring Muhammad Sajid and Abu Rashid, among other Indian jihadists, surfaced online. Both men, Indian intelligence believes, died in the fighting around the Islamic States capital in Raqqa, Syria. Muhammad Shakir, Sajids brother, says he last spoke to him on the day of the Batla House shootout. Eid was coming and he wanted to know if he should buy some new clothes. For Shakir, the memories of his brother are now filtered through the lens of police questioning and the media. Sometimes he is responsible for a blast in Varanasi, sometimes he is in Afghanistan, Iraq or Pakistan. Which report do I believe? Which do I discard? Saads sons are now the same age as Rashid was when he disappeared. One is a physiotherapist while another is preparing for his medical entrance. I am always scared but that doesnt mean I will compromise on their education, says the father-of-five. The families in Sanjarpur, however, are not the only ones dealing with missing family members. Eighteen Kerala residents, all members of an Islamic State-inspired cult, left for Afghanistans remote Nangarhar province in 2017. Ejaz Kettiyapuraiyil, his wife, Rahaila, who was pregnant, their two-year-old child, along with his brother, Shihaz, and his sister-in-law Ajmala, were among them. The group lived, and worked with Shajeer Mangalassery Abdullah, a civil engineer-turned-Islamist activist who had links to al-Qaeda in Nangarhar. Most of them are now thought to be dead. Hamsa Sagar, the Rehman familys comfortable home near Kasaragod, isnt anyones conception of a jihad incubator. Ejaz practised medicine; his younger brother was an engineer. Their father, Abdul Rehman, worked hard overseas to lay solid middle-class foundations for his family, and by all accounts, had little to do with religious chauvinism. They rejected this life, this life I had built for them," says Rehman. Rehmans wife misses the occasional phone calls her children made when they first moved to Nangarhar. Her husband disagrees. I hated their phone calls, he says. I used to ask them to come back, and theyd tell us they were living as every true Muslim should. It was a lecture, not a conversation. Ejaz told his family about the birth of twins. A third child was born to Bexin Vincent, who named himself Issa after converting to Islam. Theres no word on these children. A circle of hate Ever since 2009, around 91 jihadist cells have been dismantled by the NIA, which deals mainly with cases with pan-India significance; 63 of those have come since 2015. The Islamic State has been the biggest single contributor with 24 cases. Twenty-three of these cells were from Kashmir, while 43 included other jihadist groups put together. The message is clear: even though the caliphate has collapsed, its jihadist message still survives. But, bar the 17 March, 2017 bombing on board a Bhopal-Ujjain bus, there has been no operation of significant scale. Even in that case, the cell was infiltrated by the NIA, which, in a rare error of judgment, held back from arrests hoping to gather more evidence. The truth is that as long as there isnt a political resolution to communal conflict in India, well continue to face this problem, an NIA official admits. This is about whats happening next door, not in Iraq." From its earliest days, jihadist violence in India has been linked to communal violence. In testimony to police, the Lashkar-e-Taibas founding patriarch in India, Abdul Karim Tunda, described how Zafar Rahman, one of his in-laws, and seven other relatives were burned alive in communal violence in Bhiwandi. Feroze Ghaswala told police he had volunteered to join jihad training after witnessing the mass burial of 40 Gujarat riot victims. In a November 2007 manifesto, Indian Mujahideen explained its terrorism thus: They demolished our Babri Masjid, it argued, and killed our brothers, children and raped our sisters, especially in Maharashtra, and this all happened with the support of [the] Congress party. If you want to be a successful person in India, the manifesto went on, then you should be (an) idol worshipper and kill Muslims. A Hindi film on the Batla House encounter starring John Abraham is being made. The families in Sanjarpur are not aware of the development and even if they were, they couldnt care less. We want to forget what happened but no one lets us, says Abu Saad. The Kerala factor People of the southern state have been at the forefront of volunteers to the Islamic State Nashidul Hamzafar: In NIA custody. Was deported to New Delhi from Afghanistan in 2018 where he was detained for illegally entering the country. Was reportedly on his way to join ISIS. Abdul Kayoon: Believed to have gone to Syria in 2017 Abdul Manaf: Believed to have been killed in 2018 in Syria UK Hamza: Believed to be one of the top recruiters for ISIS in Kerala Abdul Khyaoom: Believed to have gone to Syria in April 2017 Shahjahan VK: Believed to have visited Turkey/Syria for carrying out terrorist activities Abdul Kasak KV, Rashid MV: Believed have travelled to Syria and Turkey with the intention of joining ISIS Manaf Rahman: Arrested Midhilaj: Member of ISIS Also under investigation for trying to travel to Syria with intention of joining ISIS Muhadis, Safeer, Ashraf Moulvi, Fajid, Shanad, Mansoor, Shaibu Nihar, Shabeer Muhammed Shafi, Suhail Source: ORFs Tracking ISIS Influence in India; data for the year 2017-18 Caught in crossfire India has also suffered civilian casualty at the hands of ISIS. 39 Indians went missing in Iraq in 2014, believed to have been kidnapped by the ISIS. The government confirmed only in 2018 that 38 of them were dead (one escaped and came back to India). Their remains were found in a mass grave and identities were confirmed through DNA matching. 46 Indian nurses were held captive in the Iraqi city of Tikrit for more than a week by the ISIS. They were eventually released. Islamic State Other names: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, which is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State The origin 1999 Set up as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, pledges allegiance to al-Qaeda The rise 2014 The group drives Iraqi government forces out of western Iraq and captures Sinjar and Mosul in a push that began in June Massacres thousands of Yezidis in August Declares parts of Iraq and Syria under its control as a caliphate and begins referring to itself as the Islamic State 2015 By December, the extremist group gains control of western Iraq and eastern Syria, enforces Sharia on an estimated 2.8 to 8 million people. At its peak, Islamic State had an annual budget of more than $1 billion and a force of more than 30,000 fighters. The slide 2017 In July, Islamic States loses its largest city, Mosul, to the Iraqi army. Losses pile up and by November, the group has no meaningful territory to call its own. A By year-end, Islamic State was left with just 2 percent of the territory it once held, say military analysts. February 2019 Islamic State is confined to Baghouz, a Syrian village on the Euphrates, where its foreign fighters are believed to be hiding among civilians Leave it to the armed forces and their senior representatives would have held the press conference with style and grace and a certain military precision Leave it to the armed forces and their senior representatives would have held the press conference with style and grace and a certain military precision. Hand over the authority to the ministry and its bureaucrats and you get a sad and sorry caricature of a media conference so poorly arranged that a rural school PTA would have done it with more class. You bring in three flag officers from the three services and in the vast expanse of Vijay Chowk you manage to give them one microphone to share in what is widely described as a 'rare event' when the armed forces speak to the press. One microphone to share? So now in this so-called major meet we have these starred officers shuffled around like a pack of cards as they are nudged up and in and out and threaded through a bunch of rubberneckers who want to be seen on camera and no one seems to care about this incredible breach of security. And all through these very senior officers are standing like totem poles without any arrangements to make this more military in its optics. Your turn, now your turn, now yours. Seeing how the conference itself was delayed by two hours, the question of it being an emergency meeting does not arise. There was enough time to get this act together. In times like these, why aren't the armed forces given free rein to hold their own conference without being shepherded by a bureaucrat who was more keen to please half a dozen members of the media whose names he knew by choosing them for a rather vanilla 'question and answer' session. Major-General Surendra Singh Mahal, Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor and Navy Rear Admiral DS Gujral looked more like school students standing outside the principal's study waiting to be chastised, rather than men in command. Now, you might say this is all nitpicking and so what if the arrangements were poor, it isn't that important. Yes, it is. These videos are seen around the world and they project the image of our forces and their muscle. It counts for a lot, and the pomp and ceremony at various levels makes for the right impression. There is no need for an ad hoc arrangement in a nation that sets up stages for politicians on a daily basis. If a simple regiment was conducting this conference, it would have first ensured that the flag officers arrived in accustomed style and were thus received, rather than as if they were out for a stroll. The table would have been laid with three chairs and nameplates in front of them. Each officer would have explained who he is and his role. The media would have been asked to sit. If we seat thousands for the Beating of the Retreat in the same venue, why not now at this exceptional briefing? The piece de resistance, the crumpled part of an AAMRAM missile from an F-16 would have been placed on a separate table with a military guard in ceremonial gear. A weaponry expert should have been present with a PowerPoint presentation and a simulated video demonstration of what, how and where this wreckage was discovered. Since no great new data was presented and only already-running stories were confirmed, this conference was a shabby affair not so much for the content because security calls for discretion, but for the absence of any organisational skill in presenting and projecting our armed forces. It was truth-be-told a civilian function with three senior officers force-fed into it. If this sort of clumsiness had occurred in a battalion or a brigade event, everyone would have been called up on charge and asked to explain what they thought they were doing. At Vijay Chowk, the melee that ensued to take shots of the missile wreckage would have made the Marx brothers proud.The conference started with babble and ended with it. If we have to do it, do it well. With polish and not in this babu fashion, especially at a moment when our armed forces are at centre stage. At least two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmirs Handwara on Friday. At least two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district on Friday. The operation, in the Handwara area of the district, has ended and combing operations are underway, ANI reported. The bodies of the militants have been recovered. Their identities are yet to be ascertained, an official was quoted by India Today as saying. Contingents of the armys 22 Rashtriya Rifles, 92 battalions, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Special Operations Group (SOG) conducted a cordon and search operation in the Babagund village in Langate on Thursday night, according to the report. Jammu and Kashmir: Visuals from Kupwara district's Handwara area where an encounter took place between terrorists and security forces earlier this morning; search operation is underway. (Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/Y35hCeo1i9 ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 The encounter broke out soon after security forces intensified the search for the militants. On Wednesday, at least two Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the state's Shopian district. One of them was a Pakistani national. "On specific information, this operation was launched. Two terrorists were killed. These terrorists belonged to proscribed terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad," Kashmirs Inspector General of Police SP Pani confirmed after the operation had concluded. He added, "Arms and ammunition have been recovered. From the material we have recovered, it is ascertained that one terrorist belonged to Pakistan, and the other is from a local area." With inputs from agencies The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay has declared the result for the Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design (UCEED) 2019. Candidates can check their result at the official website uceed.iitb.ac.in UCEED result 2019 | The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay has declared the result for the Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design (UCEED) 2019. Candidates can check their result at the official website uceed.iitb.ac.in. Of the 12,414 candidates who appeared for UCEED 2019, 2,930 students have qualified. Vishwaprasanna Hariharan from Thane has topped the exam with a score of 213.96. Top three rank holders are Sanat Prasad from Gurgaon with a score of 208.81 and Aditya Agarwal from Chandigarh with a score of 203.24 at second and third rank respectively, The Indian Express reported. The exam is conducted for admissions to the Bachelor of Design (BDes) programmes at IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati and IIITDM Jabalpur. Here is how to check your result for UCEED result 2019: Step 1: Log on to the official website uceed.iitb.ac.in Step 2: Under Announcements, click on the candidate portal link Step 3: Click on login Step 4: In the provided fields, enter the required details Step 5: Your result will be displayed on the screen Step 6: Download your scorecard The UCEED is a test centre based, computer examination with a duration of three hours. However, UCEED qualified candidates will have to apply for the B Des admissions separately. Asked whether the Secretary-General spoke with the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan amid the escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours, Dujarric said: 'contacts have been had with both sides at various levels'. United Nations: The release of an Indian pilot by Pakistan would be a "very much welcomed step", spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday, stressing that the message to India and Pakistan from the world body and the international community is to de-escalate tensions. In a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. Pakistan detained Wing Commander Varthaman on Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. "The reports of the promise of the release of the Indian pilot by the Pakistani authorities would be a very much welcomed step," the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "We would encourage both parties to do whatever they can to de-escalate the situation and this is the message that has been passed on by the UN and by the international community as a whole," he said. Asked whether the Secretary-General spoke with the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan amid the escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours, Dujarric said: "contacts have been had with both sides at various levels". He did not give further details. Guterres has been following with "deep concern" the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, calling on both sides to urgently take steps to lower tensions through "meaningful mutual engagement". The Secretary-General is "obviously, following the situation as we see it even today with deep concern, and the United Nations' message, both publicly and privately, to both sides is to urgently take steps to lower tensions through meaningful, mutual engagement and meet their responsibilities to maintain peace and security in the region," Dujarric had said on Wednesday. Guterres had received a call Tuesday from Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. When asked if the Secretary-General is planning to get involved to try and mediate a de-escalation, Dujarric had said "as always", the Secretary-General's offices are "available should both parties or all parties, depending on the situation, agree to do that". The spokesperson said the UN chief, through his contacts and others, is in touch with the relevant parties to pass along the message of the need to take steps to lower tensions and exercise maximum restraint. Dujarric said contacts have been made at various levels between the UN, India and Pakistan, but did not give further details as to which officials in India were contacted. Asked about the UN's role at this point in the situation, he said that the Secretary-General is "kept apprised" of the situation and he is following it. Tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Forty CRPF soldiers were killed in the suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir. India carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested a pilot. The only confirmed victim of India's air strike against Pakistan is still unsure why he was shaken awake in the early hours of Tuesday by an explosion that rocked his mud brick house and left him with a cut above his right eye. Jaba, Pakistan: The only confirmed victim of India's air strike against Pakistan is still unsure why he was shaken awake in the early hours of Tuesday by an explosion that rocked his mud brick house and left him with a cut above his right eye. They say they wanted to hit some terrorists. What terrorists can you see here? said 62-year-old Nooran Shah, a resident of Jaba village, near the northeastern town of Balakot in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. We are here. Are we terrorists? India says Tuesday's raid destroyed a major training camp of Jaish-e Mohammad, a militant group that claimed responsibility for a 14 February attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 40 members of a paramilitary police unit. Indias Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the strike killed a very large number of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists, trainers, senior commanders, and groups of jihadis who were being trained for Fidayeen action were eliminated. Fidayeen is a term used to describe Islamist militants on suicide missions. Another senior government official told reporters that about 300 militants had been killed. On Thursday, though, a senior defense official appeared to backtrack on the claims. Asked about how much damage the warplanes had caused, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said it was premature to provide details about casualties. But he said the Indian armed forces had fairly credible evidence of the damage inflicted on the camp by the air strikes. Indias previous death toll estimates have been rubbished by Pakistan, which says the operation was a failure that saw Indian jets bomb a largely empty hillside without hurting anyone. It isnt clear whether the discrepancy in claims will become a factor as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a second term in Indias general election, which must be held by May. There has been little sign as yet of the opposition pushing the government and the armed forces for more evidence of the missions results. On the wooded slopes above Jaba, villagers pointed to four bomb craters and some splintered pine trees, but could see little other impact from the series of explosions that blasted them awake at around 3.00 a.m. "It shook everything," said Abdur Rasheed, who drives a pickup van around the area. He said there werent any human casualties: No one died. Only some pine trees died, they were cut down. A crow also died. Religious school appears intact Jaba is set in a thickly wooded area of hills and streams that opens the way to the scenic Kaghan valley, a popular holiday destination for Pakistani tourists. It is a little over 60 km (37 miles) from Abbottabad, the garrison town where Osama Bin Laden was killed by American Special Forces in 2011. Locals say 400 to 500 people live locally, scattered across hills in mudbrick homes. Reuters spoke to about 15 people, none of whom knew of any casualties apart from Nooran Shah. "I havent seen any dead bodies, only a local who was hurt by something or hit by some window, he was hurt," said Abdur Rasheed, echoing numerous others. In Basic Health Unit, Jaba, the nearest hospital, Mohammad Saddique, an official who was on duty on the night of the attack, also dismissed claims of major casualties. "It is just a lie. It is rubbish," he said. "We didnt receive even a single injured person. Only one person got slightly hurt and he was treated there. Even he wasnt brought here." In Balakot, a town largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 2005, Zia Ul Haq, senior medical officer in Tehsil Headquarters Hospital said no casualties had been brought in on Tuesday. People in the area said Jaish-e Mohammad did have a presence, running not an active training camp but a madrassa, or religious school, about one km from where the bombs fell. It is Taleem ul Quran madrassa. The kids from the village study there. There is no training, said Nooran Shah. A sign which had been up earlier in the week identifying the madrassas affiliation to Jaish-e Mohammad had been removed by Thursday and soldiers prevented reporters from gaining access. But it was possible to see the structure from the back. It appeared intact, like the trees surrounding it, with no sign of any damage of the kind seen near the bomb craters. Western diplomats in Islamabad also said they did not believe the Indian air force hit a militant camp. There was no militant training camp there. It hasnt been there for a few years they moved it. Its common knowledge amongst our intelligence, said one of them. India and Pakistan have been told to calm things down but nobody is getting too worked up about the situation The initial international reaction to the India-Pakistan crisis has been a study in the technique called pursed-lip breathing. Everyone exhaled platitudes about restraint through tightly pressed lips and then inhaled the reality of the situation through the nose, mouth closed. This has meant less noisy intervention than in crises past, notably Kargil, though US President Donald Trump on Thursday made a bold statement from Hanoi, saying he had some reasonably decent news from India and Pakistan. Consider this. The Pentagon said acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan was focused on de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan and had urged them to avoid further military action. That was the exhalation. Then, the US sat back and neither said nor did anything. Inhalation. The US state department called on India and Pakistan to cease all cross-border military activity and for a return to stability even as it urged Pakistan to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. Exhalation. The US suggested nothing to facilitate either measure. Inhalation. The European Unions foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned the crisis "has the potential to lead to serious and dangerous consequences for the two countries and the wider region" and both India and Pakistan should take "urgent measures". Exhalation. Mogherini didnt elaborate. Inhalation. British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed deep concern, called for restraint and said We are in regular contact with both countries urging dialogue and diplomatic solutions to ensure regional stability. Her foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said the situation is going to take really critical restraint in the days ahead. Exhalation. The UK offered no ideas for the way forward. Inhalation. Australia and France were perhaps the only ones to take a deep breath and speak clearly. In a strong statement, Australias foreign minister Marise Payne demanded that Pakistan take urgent and meaningful action against terrorist groups in its territory, including Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e Taiba. "Pakistan must do everything possible to implement its own proscription of Jaish-e-Mohammed. It can no longer allow extremist groups the legal and physical space to operate from its territory," she said. France's ministry of Europe and foreign affairs said Paris recognises India's legitimacy to ensure its security against cross-border terrorism and asks Pakistan to put an end to the operations of terrorist groups established on its territory". The spokesperson added, "France, which stands by India in the fight against terrorism in all its forms, is fully engaged in mobilising the international community to sanction terrorists responsible for this attack (Pulwama) and freezing their financing networks. Pursed-lip breathing is often recommended during asthma attacks because it helps slow down breathing and induces calm. Its probably just as effective when foreign observers are confronted with bad-tempered exchanges between faraway nuclear-armed neighbours. What else can they usefully do but exhale and inhale in a measured way? That said, when much of the western world woke up on Tuesday to news of an Indian airstrike on Pakistani soil the first such transgression since the 1970s pursed-lip breathing suddenly became a geopolitical signalling mechanism. The Europeans urged de-escalation but did not condemn India. Trumps national security adviser John Bolton had already tweeted support for Indias right to self-defence after the Pulwama attack. Few governments rushed to Islamabads defence. Strategic breathing with long periods of silence suddenly seemed to have become a viable policy option. To be fair, world attention has been somewhat distracted this week, with Season 2 of the Trump-Kim show in Vietnam and Trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, assailing the presidents character before the US Congress. It has, therefore, been left to experts in Western universities and think tanks and other talking heads to fill the gap. Many have drawn parallels between the India-Pakistan military escalation and the essential purpose of Trumps second summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi. As India and Pakistan tried to manage rising tensions retaliatory strikes, a captured pilot, public bellicosity North Korean denuclearisation became an even more urgent issue for the wider world. The uncertainties of the situation in South Asia, experts said, illustrate the perils of accepting North Korea as a de facto nuclear weapons state, as happened with India and Pakistan. Joseph DeTrani, a former US intelligence official who engaged in talks with Pyongyang in 2017, recounted the North Korean argument for a Pakistan solution to the denuclearisation issue. They said it very clearly. Accept us as a nuclear-weapons state and we will be a good friend of the United States. Youve done it with Pakistan. George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recalled the North Koreans asking for the India option a decade before DeTranis discussions. What North Korean officials said to me is Were going to keep our nuclear weapons, and youre going to end the sanctions and normalise relations and make a peace treaty with us. But neither nuclear-capable India nor Pakistan offer a good template for North Korea, argued the authoritative Atlantic magazine. New Delhi and Islamabad see the possession of nuclear weapons not only as cementing their rightful place in the world as powerful nations, but also as providing a credible deterrent against threats, real and perceived, the magazine said. That, in effect, is the underlying reason few believe Kim will ever give up nuclear weapons. So while the military escalation in South Asia has sparked little public discussion in Hanoi, its implications have nevertheless been felt there. Pursed-lip breathing clearly has its limits. The author is an international affairs columnist based in London The BJP had earlier announced an alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. New Delhi: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will contest on 10 seats and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on three out of total 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, it was announced on Thursday. The two parties announced the seat sharing arrangement. The decision was taken after SAD leaders including Sukhbir Singh Badal met BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday at his residence in Delhi. Later while talking to media, Badal said, "We have also formed a coordination committee which will hold strategy sessions every week." The BJP had earlier announced an alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who has been vocal regarding events in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, on Friday condemned the 'crackdown' on the separatist group Jamaat-e-Islami (Jammu and Kashmir). Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who has been vocal regarding events in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, on Friday condemned the "crackdown" on the separatist group Jamaat-e-Islami (Jammu and Kashmir). The People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief was reacting to the Centre's decision to ban the group on Thursday. "Democracy is a battle of ideas, (a) crackdown followed by the banning of Jammat Islami (JK) is condemnable. Another example of high handedness and muscular approach of the Government of India to deal with the political issue of Jammu and Kashmir," Mufti tweeted on Friday. She further asserted that "ideas cannot be banned or jailed", but needs a "better idea" in place of it. "India is a democracy with different ideologies battling it out democratically. Steps like this choke the space for dissent and lead us to violent times," Mufti said. Mufti later appeared to have deleted the second tweet. On Thursday, the Centre banned the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for five years under the anti-terror law on grounds that it was "in close touch" with militant outfits and is expected to "escalate secessionist movement" in the state. A notification, banning the group under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs after a high-level meeting on security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The notification said the Centre is of the opinion that the Jamaat is "in close touch with militant outfits" and is supporting extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kahsmir and elsewhere. It said the outfit claims "secession of a part of the Indian territory from the union" and supporting terrorist and separatist groups fighting for this purpose. The notification, which came barely a few days after the Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested around 100 cadres of the group in the state, said Jamaat has been indulging in activities intended to disrupt the territorial integrity of India. During the intervening night of 22 and 23 February, the police had carried out a crackdown on Jamaat cadres and arrested 100 across the valley, including its chief Abdul Hamid Fayaz and advocate Zahid Ali (spokesperson). The action came following the February 14 terrorist attack in Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. There have been allegations in the past that the group was a political outfit of banned terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen but the group has denied the charges. The Centre is also of the opinion that the group is "involved in anti-national and subversive activities in the country intended to cause disaffection". While banning it under the anti-terror law, the Centre reasoned that the group was intending to escalate its subversive activities, including an attempt to carve out an Islamic state out of the Union of India by destabilising the government established by law. The group is also expected to escalate secessionist movement, support militancy and incite violence in the country, the notification said. The group has been banned for five years. It has to be ratified by a tribunal constituted by the home ministry. The outfit, which was formed in 1945 as a chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and separated in 1953 due to differences over political ideology with the parent body, was banned in 1990. The previous ban lapsed in 1995 and since then it has never been invoked again. With inputs from PTI At a rally in Mumbai later, Rahul Gandhi challenged Narendra Modi to hold a press conference and answer questions of the public. Dhule/Mumbai: Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for criticising the Congress despite talking about the need for unity after the Pulwama attack, party chief Rahul Gandhi Friday said the prime minister can't refrain from engaging in public relations exercise "even for five minutes". Speaking at a rally in north Maharashtra's Dhule district, the Congress chief also ridiculed industrialist Anil Ambani, saying he cannot make even paper planes. At a rally in Mumbai later, Gandhi challenged Modi to hold a press conference and answer questions of the public. "After the Pulwama attack, I told my party leaders and workers to ensure that nobody criticised the government and (said) the country should stand together in this fight," Gandhi said at the Dhule rally. Political attacks on the government could be made once the tensions between India and Pakistan eased, he said. "Modi tells media that India is united after the Pulwama terror attack. Immediately after that, he criticises us during the war memorial opening (in Delhi). This country's prime minister cannot stop his public relations even for five minutes. That is the difference between him and Congress," Gandhi said. When demonetisation was announced, the country was made to believe that it was a fight against black money, but only the common man had to stand in queues in front of banks and not Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi or Vijay Mallya, Gandhi said. Referring to the announcement of Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme for farmers during the Union Budget, Gandhi said the BJP MPs thumped their desks to welcome the scheme. Under the scheme, farmers with land-holding of two hectares or less will get Rs 6,000 per year. The Congress chief reiterated his promise to give a "minimum guaranteed income" to the poor if Congress is voted to power in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP wants to create two Indias, one of 20-25 industrialists and the other of the poor, farmers and unemployed youth, Gandhi said. "We want a government where all are given equal space. This is a country of love. Wherever the BJP goes, they spread hatred. Wherever they go and spread hatred, we spread love," he said. Mobile phones, shirts and shoes are made in China, but the Congress wants them to be "made in India" and "made in Maharashtra", he said. At the Mumbai rally, Gandhi dared Modi to hold a press conference. Since he became the prime minister in 2014, Modi has not held a press conference, he added. "I address press conferences; have you seen the 'chowkidar' addressing a press conference? He is not only a 'chor' (thief) but also 'darpok' (coward)," Gandhi said. The Congress leader claimed Modi speaks falsehood all the time. "If you want to hear truth, come here but if you want to hear lies, then go to Narendra Modi's rallies," Gandhi said, addressing the crowd in suburban Bandra. He also slammed the prime minister for 'protecting' the likes of absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi. "Modi will call Mehul Choksi as Mehul bhai (brother) but call you (people) 'Mitron' (friends)," he said. Gandhi said the Congress will give 500 sq feet houses to slum dwellers in Mumbai under the slum development scheme if voted to power. He expressed joy over IAF officer Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman coming back home from captivity in Pakistan. "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, welcome back to the country," the Congress chief said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is sending feelers to the Congress leadership for a pre-poll tie-up and it might happen, sources said. New Delhi: The Congress is preparing to contest the Lok Sabha polls on its own in Delhi, though a section within it feels that the party should be open for an alliance with the AAP to achieve the larger goal of defeating the BJP, sources said Friday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is sending feelers to the Congress leadership for a pre-poll tie-up and it might happen, but till now no decision has been taken by the Congress's Delhi unit, they said. "The AAP is sending feelers to the Congress leadership for a tie-up and a section within the Congress feels that it should be open to having an alliance with the AAP, to achieve the larger purpose of defeating the BJP in Delhi. "Our purpose is to defeat the BJP and ensure that the BJP does not win any seat in Delhi," a senior Congress leader said. A senior AAP leader, in the know of things, claimed that "the tie-up will happen. But, it will not come so fast and easily". Top leaders of the two parties are yet to talk about an alliance in Delhi, which has seven Lok Sabha constituencies, the sources said. The BJP won all the seven seats in Delhi in the 2014 general elections. "The party is preparing for contesting all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and the process of selecting the candidates is on," Congress general secretary PC Chacko said. On an alliance with the AAP, he said, "There have been no talks yet". The AAP leader said," We ready to leave one seat for Congress in Delhi. The Congress must give us the four seats we won in Punjab and the Chandigarh seat." "We are ready support Congress in Goa and Haryana," he said. Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit on Friday held meetings with three working presidents of the party to discuss the issue of alliance with AAP, but there was no outcome. "Dikshit and the three working presidents were of the firm view that no alliance should be entertained with AAP and decided to convey this message to the party high command," a senior Delhi Congress leader said. Dikshit had earlier also asserted that the Congress is capable of contesting the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi on its own and had accused AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal of spreading lies on the alliance issue. Delhi chief minister Kejriwal had in a recent public meeting said that he was "tired" of convincing the Congress for an alliance in the Lok Sabha elections to defeat the BJP, but it was not understanding the issue. "We are tired of convincing the Congress to form an alliance, but they do not understand. If there is an alliance, the BJP will lose all the seven Lok Sabha seats it currently has in Delhi," Kejriwal said at a recent rally. "I don't know what they have in their minds," he further said RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has rejected Congress' seat-sharing formula for the grand alliance, saying Congress should focus on states where it was capable of taking on BJP alone and not Bihar Patna: The swell of the Grand Alliance in Bihar is proving to be a disadvantage for the RJD. Nobody is sure when the seat-sharing formula is going to be announced. "It's just a matter of time. The number of seats does not count. Defeating the BJP is the thrust," remarked Congress legislator and spokesperson Premchandra Mishra. However, RJD leaders claim that unreasonable "demands" are being made by its allies Congress, RLSP, HAM(S), Sharad Yadav and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaaf Party. "Last Sunday former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi met Lalu Prasad Yadav in Ranchi and demanded four of the 40 seats. Laluji asked him to name his candidates. Manjhi was unable to provide the names," revealed an ex-MP of RJD stressing that at present if the demands of all the allies are to be met 70 Lok Sabha seats would be required. "Unfortunately, Bihar has only forty seats", he added. The impact of having "too many allies" is already unfolding as the two main left parties CPI and CPI-ML have already announced candidates in a number of seats. The RJD had hoped to rope in former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in the hope to gain strength in areas located near the Uttar Pradesh border and had offered the Gopalganj parliamentary seat to BSP. However, BSP has decided not to join the crowd and fight it alone in Bihar. The two main parties of the Grand Alliance RJD and Congress still have to agree on numbers. According to sources in Congress, the party had put forward the same formula BJP and JD(U) have adapted contesting an equal number of seats and leaving the rest to other allies. Its proposal was to give 15 seats each to the two parties and divide the rest 10 seats among the other allies. "The proposal was rejected by Lalu stressing that Bihar was the only state where his party can hope for seats and that the Congress should focus on states where it was capable of taking on the BJP alone," said a senior RJD leader stressing that the RJD would like Congress to contest in only 8 of the 40 seats because the latter does not have sufficient winnable candidates. "Laluji has stressed that the seats won by RJD would be helping Congress to form the government at the Centre if BJP is defeated," he added. Congress' demand for more seats is being mocked by other allies. "My party and Congress should be given an equal number of seats as the Congress does not have a base in Bihar," remarked Manjhi. However, Congress leaders are questioning Manjhi's inflated demand for four seats. They pointed out that Manjhi failed to deliver in the NDA when he was given more than 22 seats in the 2015 Assembly polls and managed to win only one seat which he contested. The chief of RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha has been demanding at least five seats stressing that he was already offered three seats in the NDA camp and that he was the leader of Kushwaha caste, the second largest backward caste after the Yadavs in Bihar. However, RJD leaders stress that the former Union minister is yet to establish his credentials as a leader as he failed to deliver in the 2015 Assembly polls as well when he was with the NDA. Meanwhile, Mukesh Sahani, a son of Mallah whose rags to riches story has been an inspiration to many, has also demanded three seats but the RJD is reluctant to give him more than just the Darbhanga seat. "The ground reality is that all the allies depend on RJD's vote bank for victory. The RJD should be allowed to play the major partner in Bihar," said the RJD ex-MP. He pointed out that allies like Manjhi and Kushwaha are looked at with suspicion because they were with the NDA and there is no surety they will not switch sides if there is a hung Parliament. Three months ago when RLSP, HAM and Mukesh Sahani deserted the NDA to join the Grand Alliance, the RJD had claimed that the alliance was gaining strength before the Lok Sabha polls. But today, with the NDA already finalising its seat-sharing, they are worried. The man who will make the final call is in Ranchi. "He is still holding his cards close to his chest. His track record is that he announces his seats so late that it leaves the allies little alternative but to take what he has offered. He is likely to do the same this time also," said a close associate of Lalu expressing hope that Congress will not repeat the folly of walking out as it did in 2009 when Lalu offered it only three seats. Reuters Facebooks lead regulator in the European Union expects to conclude the first of seven investigations into the companys use of personal data this summer and the remainder by the end of the year, Irelands Data Protection Commissioner said on Thursday. The commissioners office last year launched three investigations into aspects of a massive cyber attack in which hackers stole login codes that allowed them to access nearly 50 million Facebook accounts, including 3 million in Europe. Since then it has launched a separate probe into a large number of other breaches, including Facebooks disclosure in December that a bug may have exposed private photos of up to 6.8 million users. The other probes relate to complaints by users in relation to how Facebook processes personal data. We are looking at different aspects of the collection, the transparency and the use of data at Facebook, Commissioner Helen Dixon told Irelands RTE radio in an interview. I think the first of those will possibly conclude over the summer - that is our anticipation - and further of the inquiries will conclude in the latter part of the year, she said. The commissioner is also probing Facebook subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram as well as Twitter, LinkedIn and Apple in relation to their processing of personal data and the transparency of their data processes. All of the inquiries should reach the decision and adjudications stage later this year, Dixon wrote in her offices annual report, which was published on Thursday. Ireland hosts the European headquarters of a number of U.S. technology firms. Under the European Unions General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) One Stop Shop, the Irish commissioner is also the lead regulator for Microsoft, Dropbox, AirBnb and Yelp. To oversee its increased workload, the commissioners office expects to hire 50 staff in 2019 to bring its total to around 165, the annual report said. Reuters Google, Facebook and Twitter have fallen short of their pledges to combat fake news, three months before key European elections, the European Commission said on Thursday. The tech companies and trade bodies representing the advertising industry signed up to a voluntary code of conduct in October to tackle the spread of fake news, aiming to stave off more heavy-handed legislation. Brussels is keen to address the threat of fake news or foreign interference during campaigning for the European Parliament elections in May and also for national elections in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine in the coming months. Europes Security Commissioner Julian King criticised the lack of progress on cracking down on fake news made by the three companies based on their monthly reports. Sadly they have fallen further behind. They need to live up to the standards we are asking of them, and that they signed up to, King said in a tweet. Facebook has not provided details of its actions against political ads in January nor the number of fake accounts deleted due to malicious activities targeting the European Union, the Commission said. The Commission also found that Googles measures on political ads were not specific enough nor did the company clarify the extent to which its actions were taken to address fake news or other reasons. It did not provide concrete evidence to show that it had carried out its policies in January, the Commission said. The EU executive also criticised Twitter for failing to provide benchmarks to measure its progress on monitoring political ads. Reuters On a busy day, contract employees in India monitoring nudity and pornography on Facebook and Instagram will each view 2,000 posts in an eight-hour shift, or almost four a minute. They are part of a 1,600-member team at Genpact, an outsourcing firm with offices in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad that is contracted to review Facebook content. Seven content reviewers at Genpact said in interviews late last year and early in 2019 that their work was underpaid, stressful and sometimes traumatic. The reviewers, all in their 20s, declined to be identified for fear of losing their jobs or violating non-disclosure agreements. Three of the seven have left Genpact in recent months. I have seen women employees breaking down on the floor, reliving the trauma of watching suicides real-time, one former employee said. He said he had seen this happen at least three times. Reuters was unable to independently verify the incidents or determine how often they may have occurred. Genpact declined comment. The working conditions described by the employees offers a window into the moderator operations at Facebook and the challenges faced by the company as it seeks to police what its 2 billion users post. Their account contrasts in several respects with the image presented by three Facebook executives in interviews and statements to Reuters of a carefully selected, skilled workforce that is paid well and has the tools to handle a difficult job. Ellen Silver, Facebooks vice president of operations, acknowledged to Reuters that content moderation at this size is uncharted territory. We care deeply about getting this right, she said in January. This includes the training reviewers receive, our hiring practices, the wellness resources that we provide to each and every person reviewing content, and our overall engagement with partners. While rejecting the Hyderabad employees assertions about low pay, Facebook has said it had begun drafting a code of conduct for outsourcing partners but declined to give details. It has also said it would be introducing an annual compliance audit of its vendor policies this year to review the work at contractor facilities. The company is organising the first-ever summit in April to bring together its outsourcing vendors from around the world, with the aim of sharing best practices and bringing more consistency to how moderators are treated. These efforts were announced in a blog post on Monday by Justin Osofsky, Facebooks vice-president of global operations. Facebook works with at least five outsourcing vendors in at least eight countries on content review, a Reuters tally shows. Silver said about 15,000 people, a mix of contractors and employees, were working on content review at Facebook as of December. Facebook had over 20 content review sites around the world, she said. Over a dozen moderators in other parts of the world have talked of similar traumatic experiences. A former Facebook contract employee, Selena Scola, filed a lawsuit in California in September, alleging that content moderators who face mental trauma after reviewing distressing images on the platform are not being properly protected by the social networking company. Facebook in a court filing has denied all of Scolas allegations and called for a dismissal, contending that Scola has insufficient grounds to sue. Some examples of traumatic experiences among Facebook content moderators in the United States were described this week by The Verge, a technology news website. Pressure, Lack of Experience The Genpact unit in Hyderabad reviews posts in Indian languages, Arabic, English and some Afghan and Asian tribal dialects, according to Facebook. On one team, employees spend their days reviewing nudity and explicit pornography. The counter-terrorism team, meanwhile, watches videos that include beheadings, car bombings and electric shock torture sessions, the employees said. Those on the self-harm unit regularly watch live videos of suicide attempts and do not always succeed in alerting authorities in time, two of the employees said. They told Reuters they had no experience with suicide or trauma. Facebook said its policies called for moderators to alert a specially trained team to review situations where there was potential imminent risk or harm. The moderators who spoke to Reuters said in the instances they knew of, the trained team was called in when there was a possibility of a suicide, but the reviewers continued to monitor the feed even after the team had been alerted. Job postings and salary pay-slips seen by Reuters showed annual compensation at Genpact for an entry-level Facebook Arabic language content reviewer was 100,000 Indian rupees ($1,404) annually, or just over $6 a day. Facebook contended that benefits made the real pay much higher. The workers said they did receive transport to and from work, a common non-cash benefit in India. Moderators in Hyderabad employed by another IT outsourcing firm, Accenture, monitor Arabic content on YouTube on behalf of Google for a minimum of 350,000 rupees annually, according to two of its workers and pay slips seen by Reuters. Accenture declined to comment, citing client confidentiality. Facebook disputed the pay analysis, saying Genpact is required to pay above industry averages. The outsourcer, while declining to comment on its work for Facebook, said in a statement that its wages are significantly higher than the standard in the industry or the minimum wage set by law. Massive Targets The Genpact moderators in Hyderabad said Facebook sets performance targets, which are reassessed from time to time, that are called Average Review Time or Average Handling Time. We have to meet an accuracy rate of 98 percent on massive targets, one of the moderators told Reuters. It is just not easy when you are consistently bombarded with stuff that is mostly mind-numbing. They said they often took work home on their laptops to keep up. Silver said handling time was tracked to assess whether Facebook needs more reviewers and whether its policies are clear enough. But she acknowledged some older procedures may have led moderators to feel pressured. The company also said it was increasing restrictions on workers remote access to its tools. Reuters Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd, a company backed by Indian ride-hailing platform Ola, said on Friday it raised Rs. 400 crores (roughly $56.4 million) in a funding round led by several of Ola's early investors including Tiger Global and Matrix India. This is the first round of investment for Ola Electric, which currently runs several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions. The announcement comes a day after India's cabinet approved a scheme to spend $1.4 billion to subsidise sales of electric and hybrid vehicles as part of efforts to curb pollution and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Ola last year said it planned to bring 1 million electric vehicles to Indian roads in a few years. In a press statement, Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder & CEO, Ola said, "At Ola Electric, our mission is to enable sustainable mobility for everyone. India can leapfrog problems of pollution and energy security by moving to electric mobility, create millions of new jobs and economic opportunity, and lead the world." He added, "I'm excited to partner with Lee and Avnish again, and look forward to recreating a very successful partnership and a transformative business!" Lee Fixel, Partner, Tiger Global Management added, "We are excited to invest in Ola Electric Mobility, which we believe is the early front-runner in this space and well-positioned to build the ecosystem for electric mobility. As Ola's first institutional investors, we are excited to begin this new journey with Ola Electric and partner in creating yet another impactful mobility business." Avnish Bajaj, Founder and MD, Matrix India also said, "We couldn't be more excited in repeating our successful early partnership with Ola, with our investment in Ola Electric Mobility. Ola's vision about the role of electric mobility, especially in India for sustainable development, and the approach to making it work at scale is unique. We are privileged to be a partner on this journey!" Anand Shah, Head of Ola Electric Mobility said, "The first problem to solve in electric mobility is charging: users need a dependable, convenient, and affordable replacement for the petrol pump. By making electric easy for commercial vehicles that deliver a disproportionate share of kilometres travelled, we can jumpstart the electric vehicle revolution." tech2 News Staff Just a few days ago, TikTok celebrated the one billion downloads on iOS and Android milestone, but the popular video sharing app is now facing severe criticism for violating children's privacy law in the US. TikTok agreed to pay a fine of $5.7 million to the US Federal Trade Commission following the accusation of illegally collecting personal information from children under the age of 13. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that the social network, which had been known as Musical.ly and later was acquired and 'incorporated' into TikTok, knowingly posted content published by users who were underage. While FTC is concerned about the number of underage users that are there in the estimated one billion user-base, the regulators alleged that the social media network was aware that a "significant percentage" (from among the 65 million users in the US) were below the age of 13. While the lip-syncing app is gaining popularity among millenials and threating Facebook's hegemony, TikTok failed to adhere to its own rules. FTC officials said that the operators of TikTok knew that many children were using the app, but they still failed to seek parental consent before collecting names and other personal details from underage users. FTC strongly pointed out that this record penalty should be a reminder to online services and sites who breach the law and illegally target children. This record penalty should be a reminder to all online services and websites that target children: We take enforcement of COPPA very seriously, and we will not tolerate companies that flagrantly ignore the law, FTC's Chairman Joe Simons stated. As per the FTC regulators, TikTok would be fined because of what the US agency saw as Musical.ly's failure to adhere to the basic principles of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Apparently, Musical.ly users' accounts were public by default and adults were able to contact users irrespective of their age. FTC noted that until 2016, the app allowed users to view other users within a 50-mile radius. But while, teenagers are claimed to be flocking to the service all because it allows users to lip-sync popular videos for 15 seconds and share the clips with friends, to comply with regulations 'in future,' TikTok announced a separate app for users under 13. The app will not permit users to share personal information and put limits on the kind of content posted in the platform. "In working with the FTC and in conjunction with todays agreement, weve now implemented changes to accommodate younger US users in a limited, separate app experience that introduces additional safety and privacy protections designed specifically for this audience," a BBC report citing TikTok said. While China's ByteDance owned app is forced to make significant changes to its platform, TikTok is not the only one facing criticism for violating laws. Recently, a dozen of children's advocacy groups called on FTC to investigate Facebook's violation of consumer protection and child privacy law. The consumer groups accused Facebook of knowingly deceiving children into racking up fee from online games on its social media platform. tech2 News Staff Between the lousy quality of air and the scarcity of water in Delhi, its residents have close to no environmental bliss to look forward to, it seems. While there's a tirade of news that sweeps the web every winter on the capital's toxic air quality levels, there's now another severe crisis brewing that the state has to prepare for: an apocalyptic water shortage. The state is losing water from both, its reserves on the surface as well as underground. In recent years, Delhi has lost roughly 3 centimetres of water from these reserves every year, according to a new report by the National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog. "Delhi lost more than 1 meter of groundwater in the past 10 years, Virendra Tiwari, director of the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) told Quartz. This is quicker than any other major Indian city, he added. NGRI a government research facility studied how groundwater levels fluctuated over a 15-year period between 2002 and 2017. Curiously, the entire northern region in and around the capital is seeing a similar (but less extreme) dip in groundwater levels. One of the biggest culprits for this is agriculture. Some practices and kinds of farming rice cultivation in particular are very water-intensive. This is the single biggest reason for thinning groundwater levels in the north, according to Tiwari. Another reason for the problem is scant monsoons. Groundwater gets replenished by rainfall. Places like Delhi that are landlocked and don't have access to large bodies of water are the worst affected when rainfall patterns are disturbed. According to Tiwari, losing groundwater in these areas also messes with soil moisture, air temperature and the risk of heatwaves in dry weather. The city of Cape Town in South Africa made headlines in early 2018 for launching a countdown to the day its citizens would run out of groundwater the city's "Day Zero". All taps were to be cut off to mark the beginning of a three-year drought, which Cape Town will experience sometime this year, according to a Reuters report. Niti Aayog believes Delhi could see its own day zero as soon as 2020. tech2 News Staff It's straight out of a science-fiction movie. The ability to see things in infrared light is something that's easy to associate with hardware, like a pair of night-vision goggles. But it may not be long before that's possible with no hardware at all. Chinese researchers at the University of Science and Technology have injected really tiny nanoparticles into eyeballs of mice. These nanoparticles can interact with the retina the back wall of the eye where light falls and is converted to a signal that can be processed by the brain. What they were hoping to do with the experiment was to give the mice "supervision" and they claim to have succeeded. It gets even better, though. The effect was temporary wearing off roughly 10 weeks after the injection without causing any serious damage or side-effects. They're calling the magical material "ocular injectable photoreceptor-binding upconversion nanoparticles". The supervision given to the test mice opened up the range of things that were visible to them. While mice can normally see objects in the visible light of the spectrum (like us), the shot of nanoparticles tweaked their vision to also see things in the near-infrared spectrum. A series of tests showed that the mice were, in fact, able to see in both visible and infrared. The nanoparticles work by attaching to the cells on the retina and helping convert the infrared light into electric signals. Scientists pointed an infrared light right into the eyes of the mice to check if they might react. The pupils of the mice that were injected with the nanoparticles pupils contracted, but the other didn't. And just like that, the mice were able to "see" infrared light that they naturally or otherwise couldn't. The researchers say that human eyes are more sensitive but not remarkably different from those of mice. So there's definitely a chance that this won't stop at being just fantasy for humans it could work in humans too in the near future! Everything around us in the world people, food, cars, even ice cubes can both absorb and give off infrared radiation as they exchange heat with the air or other things around them. Without having to carry around infrared-vision goggles or have your genes altered, this new technology looks all-the-more sweeter. No doubt, the research is also something with huge potential in the military. But there are also other applications. Scientists believe these nanoparticles could also help compensate for poor vision in humans with retinal problems. It is also a lot less invasive than conventional vision repair. What's next, China? Bottled quick-heal juice? Afghan forces killed at least nine Taliban insurgents, including three suicide bombers, during the attack by the hardline Islamist group, the provincial governor said in a statement. Afghan commando forces were clearing the area, he said. HELMAND/KABUL: At least 25 Afghan soldiers were killed as they repelled an attack on Friday by the Taliban on a military base in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, officials said. Afghan forces killed at least nine Taliban insurgents, including three suicide bombers, during the attack by the hardline Islamist group, the provincial governor said in a statement. Afghan commando forces were clearing the area, he said. The 215 Maiwand Army Corps came under attack in the early hours of Friday, said a senior security official in Kabul, adding the attack was the Talibans third attempt to overrun Camp Shorab, a strategic military installation, in the past 48 hours. An Afghan security forces officer in Helmand said one of the suicide bombers had blown himself up in a dining room inside the military corps compound, and clashes continued. The US advise and assist mission, which works alongside Afghan troops, operates from the base. Foreign forces present at the base were safe as the Taliban could not breach the walls of their compound, two other security officials said. Security officials in Kabul say clashes between the Taliban and government forces backed by foreign forces have not subsided even as US and Taliban officials are holding talks in Qatar to seek a negotiated solution to end Afghanistans long war. Repeated raids on Camp Shorab, a sprawling base situated on what used to be Camp Bastion, the former British airbase, and Camp Leatherneck, the old US Marine Corps base in Helmand, have underlined the Talibans ability to target critical security installations. The Taliban said their fighters were engaged in clashes with US and Afghan forces at Shorab base. Heavy clashes continue as tens of members of the enemy forces had been killed or were wounded, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said in a statement. Taliban commanders based in Helmand said their suicide bombers who stormed the Shorab base had worked in the same camp previously. It is the same military base which we attacked in 2012 with a plan to kill Prince Harry. In recent months we provided special training to these attackers and arranged a visit to the base several times, said a commander. A second Taliban commander said some members of the Afghan national army had helped the suicide bombers conduct a reconnaissance of the camp. Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeths grandson, was in Afghanistan in 2012 on a four-month tour as a British Army officer. He was based in Camp Bastion on the front line in the NATO-led war against Taliban insurgents who said at the time that they were doing everything in their power to kidnap or kill him. The United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led mission, known as Resolute Support, and a separate US counter-terrorism mission largely directed against militant groups like Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. US president Donald Trump has said he plans to reduce US forces as talks with the Taliban progress. In addition, some 8,000 troops from 38 other countries in Resolute Support provide training and support for Afghan forces. Helmand is seen as a strategic target for the militants as large stretches of the province provide a source of much of the worlds illegal opium supply. During more than a decade of international intervention, it was the deadliest province for foreign troops, claiming nearly 1,000 lives. In the past week, Afghan soldiers also thwarted a Taliban attack in Zabul province, killing 28 Taliban fighters and at least 15 members of the insurgent groups were killed in air strikes conducted by the Afghan air force in Kandahar province, a senior security official said. Around 7,40,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. 'Here, I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar,' said Haque. United Nations: Bangladesh told the UN Security Council on Thursday that it will no longer be able to take in refugees from Myanmar. Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a council meeting that the crisis over the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from "bad to worse" and urged the council to take "decisive" action. Around 7,40,000 Rohingya Muslims are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. "Here, I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar," said Haque. Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. "Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighbouring country?" asked the foreign secretary. After five trips to Myanmar, UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener reported: "Slow progress" in efforts to help hundreds of thousands of Rohingya return home and warned that Myanmar's elections next year could worsen the crisis. The Swiss diplomat, who was appointed in April as UN envoy for Myanmar, said UN agencies had been given "insufficient" access to help prepare the return of the Rohingya. Myanmar's Ambassador Hau Do Suan insisted his government was taking steps and appealed for patience. He spoke of "huge physical as well as psychological barriers" in the way of allowing the refugees' return and stressed that "it takes time and patience as well as courage to build trust and confidence among different communities in Rakhine." China, which has close ties with Myanmar's former military junta, insisted that development aid could help ease tensions in Rakhine and made clear the council should not get involved in addressing the refugee crisis. "It is up to the two countries to work out a solution," said Chinese Deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao. In December, Britain circulated a draft resolution that would have forced Myanmar to roll out a strategy for addressing the Rohingya crisis, but China threatened to veto the measure, according to diplomats. "We are very disappointed that there hasn't been more progress on getting the refugees back," said British Ambassador Karen Pierce. "The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far," said Pierce. The UN envoy warned that the election campaign "could add to the domestic complexities" in Myanmar, which is still struggling with a democratic transition after 50 years of military rule. Myanmar's de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticised for failing to speak out to defend the Rohingya, is seeking to consolidate her position ahead of the 2020 vote. Myanmar's military dominates the Buddhist-majority nation, holding a quarter of seats in parliament and controlling three ministries, making their grip on power firm despite political reforms which began in 2011. Islamic extremist group claimed that a Mogadishu hotel was the intended target, but a police officer said militants detonated a bomb while trying to assassinate a judge Nairobi: A powerful explosion killed at least 11 people in the Somali capital on Thursday, police said. An Islamic extremist group claimed that a Mogadishu hotel was the intended target, but a police officer said militants detonated a bomb while trying to assassinate a judge. The car bomb went off near the residence of appeals court chief Judge Abshir Omar, and security forces stationed outside the judge's house fought off gunmen who tried to force their way inside, police officer Mohamed Hussein said. More than 35 were wounded in the attack, said Hussein, who raised the death toll to 11. Shortly after the detonation, at least four gunmen running on foot opened fire at nearby buildings and business, sparking clashes with security forces stationed nearby and hotel guards, he said. Two witnesses said the blast ripped off part of the roof of Omar's house. The witnesses, shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamed and area resident Fatima Nur, reported hearing gunfire after the explosion and said smoke billowed from the site of the attack. Al-Shabab, which is considered the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa, claimed responsibility for the attack. The al-Qaida-linked group said the Maka Almukarramah hotel, not the judge's house nearby, was the intended target. Another witness, Sabir Abdi, said the hotel suffered significant damage and several people inside were injured. Dozens of cars were on fire along Maka Almukarramah Road, which is in a busy part of Mogadishu where restaurants and hotels are located. Al-Shabab has targeted the Maka Almukarramah hotel multiple times in the past, including a March 2015 attack in which at least 18 people died. The hotel is frequently patronised by government officials. Many of victims of Thursday's attack suffered horrific injuries and local hospitals were said to be struggling to cope with causalities. Some of the wounded lost limbs, said Sadiya Yusuf, a nurse at Daru Shifa, one of the hospitals treating victims. The militant group, which opposes Somalia's federal government and wants to impose sharia law, has carried out many deadly attacks inside Somalia and elsewhere in the region, including in neighbouring Kenya. It was behind the deadliest attack in Somalia's history, a massive truck bombing that killed well over 500 people in Mogadishu in October 2017. Al-Shabab also said it was responsible for a January attack on a hotel and shopping complex in neighbouring Kenya's capital of Nairobi that killed 21 people. The US has dramatically increased airstrikes against the extremist group since President Donald Trump took office. The US military command for the African continent reported carrying out 50 strikes in Somalia in 2018. This year, US strikes targeting al-Shabab fighters have come at an even faster pace. The military command in Africa reported 23 as of Tuesday, including one in central Somalia that killed 20 militants and another the day before that killed 35. BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP >> A Lackawanna County man has been charged with setting a fire at a Buckingham Township home early Sunday morning, Dec. 5 that killed an 81-year-old man inside and sent his wife fleeing from the home. Christopher George Gillie, 61, of Scranton, was charged with criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide, theft by unlawful taking, aggravated arson, criminal mischief,... US president Donald Trump framed the breakdown of his nuclear summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un as wisely knowing when 'to walk.' But the stunning collapse revealed the limits of his unique brand of personal diplomacy and raised concerns about future efforts to disarm a global threat. Hanoi, Vietnam: US president Donald Trump framed the breakdown of his nuclear summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un as wisely knowing when "to walk." But the stunning collapse revealed the limits of his unique brand of personal diplomacy and raised concerns about future efforts to disarm a global threat. Eyeing the history books and a much-needed political victory, Trump bet big on the two-day Vietnam summit only to be forced to explain away its sudden failure. The president and North Korea gave conflicting explanations of what went wrong, though the result actually was a relief to some critics and even some Trump supporters who feared he might give too much away in pursuit of a deal. "I'd much rather do it right than do it fast" Trump, the businessman who was elected in part on his boasts of deal-making prowess, said a proposed agreement was "ready to be signed." But he said he refused to accept what he described as North Korean insistence that all U.S. sanctions be lifted without the North committing to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. "I'd much rather do it right than do it fast," the president said. "We're in position to do something very special." The North said it had demanded only partial relief from the punishing sanctions. Trump had pushed for the summit, telling wary aides that his personal chemistry with North Korea's young and reclusive leader outweighed any need for detailed, staff-level talks to iron out differences before either head of state set foot in Hanoi. Hoping to take a "big swing" didn't work Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who along with his special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, had been leading the preparatory effort, said staff work had achieved some results but that negotiators had intentionally left some of the most contentious issues unresolved. "We were hoping we could take another big swing when the two leaders got together," he told reporters as he flew from Vietnam to the Philippines after the summit collapsed. "We did. We made some progress. But we didn't get as far as we would have hoped we would have gotten." Pompeo noted that "when you are dealing with a country that is of the nature of North Korea, it is often the case that only the most senior leaders have the capacity to make those important decisions." "No deal is better than a bad deal" Echoing the refrain that "no deal is better than a bad deal" often used during the Obama administration by critics of its Iran negotiations there was relief in some quarters that the president had not impulsively agreed to concessions without much in return. "Kudos to him for walking away from the table," said Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think-tank that has been highly skeptical of Trump's efforts with Kim Jong Un. "No deal is, in fact, better than a bad." And White House aides stressed that Trump stood strong. Some observers evoked the 1987 Reykjavik summit between Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev, a meeting that ended without a nuclear weapons deal but laid the groundwork for a future agreement. Trump continues to want "flexibility" Longstanding U.S. policy insists that U.S. sanctions on North Korea will not be lifted until that country commits to, if not concludes, a complete, verifiable and irreversible end to its nuclear weapons program. Trump, who did not consult with allies South Korea and Japan before breaking off the talks, declined to restate that goal Thursday, saying he wanted to retain flexibility with Kim. But North Korea's foreign minister, in a rare news conference, said that Trump wasted an opportunity that "may not come again" and that the North's position wouldn't change even if there was another round of dialogue. Hanoi failure lays bare Trump's weakness The failure in Hanoi laid bare a risk in Trump's negotiating style: Preferring one-on-one meetings with his foreign counterparts, his administration doesn't always do the staff-level advance work intended to make a summit more of a victory lap than a negotiation. "The developments over the past 48 hours highlight in stark fashion the inherent weaknesses of President Trump's preference for summit diplomacy international media spectacles that have failed to achieve substantial progress on the key issues, especially denuclearization," said Paul Haenle, the director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. Unsurprisingly, former Obama administration officials agreed. "At every step of the way, Trump has placed himself, rather than professionals, at the center of this process and as a result, he's been outmaneuvered every step of the way," the National Security Action, a group of mainly Obama-era foreign policy practitioners, said in a statement. Who benefits from the summit spectacle? Kim, of course Michael Fuchs, who worked on Asian issues as a State Department official under Obama, said there should be no more summits until the two sides are ready to announce a concrete agreement. "Let the real negotiators from both sides get to work," he said. "Until then, no more reality TV summitry." One beneficiary of the Vietnam summit may have been the North Korean leader. The first Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore gave the reclusive nation's leader an entry to the international stage. The second appeared to grant him the legitimacy his family has long desired. Kim, for the first time, affably parried with the international press without having to account for his government's long history of oppression. He secured Trump's support for the opening of a liaison office in Pyongyang, without offering any concessions of his own. Trump's backing for that step toward normalization provided the sort of recognition the international community has long denied Kim's government. Experts worried that the darker side of Kim's leadership was being brushed aside. That includes massive human rights abuses, prison camps filled with dissidents, an absence of religious and speech freedoms and the executions of government and military officials. Trump also appeared to accept the North Korean leader's assertion that he had nothing to do with the 2017 death of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who was imprisoned for taking a propaganda poster while on a visit to the country. The president said he took Kim "at his word" that he was unaware of the mistreatment Warmbier was subjected to in custody, a remark that drew widespread criticism, even from Trump's former U.N. ambassador. "Americans know the cruelty that was placed on Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime," former Ambassador Nikki Haley said. Still, Robert Gallucci, who negotiated with North Korea as a senior State Department official during the Clinton administration, said the unorthodox way in which the two North Korea summits were organized, may not have been a mistake given the unusual nature of the two leaders. "It does have its down sides, and we just experienced the down side," Gallucci said. However, Hanoi wasn't a total disaster as long as the two sides are willing to keep at it. "I'm feeling good because nothing really bad happened, and we have a prospect of using the momentum of the meeting of heads of state to propel working-level discussions, with the understanding here that both sides have invested politically in this, and leaders have invested personally in this, and they want it to work," Gallucci said. The highly anticipated meeting in Vietnam was supposed to build on the leaders' historic first summit in Singapore last year, but the latest talks ended in deadlock with Washington and Pyongyang giving starkly different accounts of the reasons behind the impasse. Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump have agreed to continue "productive" discussions on denuclearisation, Pyongyang's state media said on Friday, hours after a summit between the two leaders in Hanoi ended abruptly with no agreement. The highly anticipated meeting in Vietnam was supposed to build on the leaders' historic first summit in Singapore in 2018, but the latest talks ended in deadlock with Washington and Pyongyang giving starkly different accounts of the reasons behind the impasse. On Friday however, the North's official KCNA news agency said that Kim and Trump had "agreed to continue having productive talks to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the improvement of US-North Korea relations". "Chairman Kim and President Trump have expressed their confidence that North Korea-US relations can achieve groundbreaking improvements if they collaborate together with patience and wisdom, although there are many unavoidable obstacles ahead", KCNA said, making no mention of the breakdown of the high-stakes summit. The report came hours after North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho held a highly unusual late-night press conference, denying Trump's claims that Pyongyang was seeking a complete lifting of sanctions imposed on it. Ri told reporters the North had offered to dismantle its Yongbyon nuclear plant in exchange for partial sanctions relief, while Trump had earlier said that Pyongyang had demanded the lifting of all sanctions imposed over the country's banned nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes. US president Donald Trump appeared to side with Kim-Jong un about the 2017 case of Otto Warmbier, drawing outrage from incredulous Democrats. Washington: Donald Trump took Kim Jong-un's word that he knew nothing of the torture of an American college student while in North Korean custody, an about-face that sparked a bipartisan backlash back home on Thursday. The US president appeared to side with the reclusive leader about the 2017 case of Otto Warmbier, drawing outrage from incredulous Democrats who accused Trump of repeatedly aligning with tyrants. The 22-year-old Ohio native was returned to the United States in a coma and died shortly afterwards. A United States judge concluded Warmbier was tortured by North Korean authorities. At the conclusion of his Hanoi summit with Kim, Trump told reporters he talked with Kim about the "horrible" Warmbier case. "He knew the case very well, but he knew it later," Trump said, adding that "some really bad things" happened to Warmbier while he was detained. Kim "tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word." Trump took credit for the release of Warmbier and other US hostages in 2017, saying at the time that "Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea." At his January 2018 State of the Union address, the president praised Warmbier and spoke directly from the podium to the young man's parents seated in the audience. "You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength truly inspires us all," Trump said, as lawmakers gave them a standing ovation. But as Trump presses for Korean denuclearisation, betting heavily on his relationship with Kim, the hard line he signaled that night in Congress has largely evaporated, prompting angry reactions across the political spectrum. "I do not see the leader of North Korea as somebody who's a friend. We know what happened to Otto, we know what this country has done," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the most senior Republican to break with Trump on the issue. "I support the president's effort to denuclearise them, but I do not have a misbelief of who this leader is." 'Detestable' Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, snapped about Warmbier's brutal treatment. "Of course Kim knew about it," he tweeted. "Apparently, the President of the United States is the only one who believes this obvious lie." An angry House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff branded Trump's acceptance of Kim's denial "detestable," while Senator Chris Van Hollen said the United States "cannot give Kim Jong-un a free pass for torturing and murdering one of our own." Senator Rob Portman, from Warmbier's home city of Cincinnati, delivered a five-minute floor speech highlighting his "unforgiveable" treatment and the "brutal" nature of the regime, though he made no mention of the president's reversal. And Trump's former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, a Republican Party luminary, said that "Americans know the cruelty that was placed on Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime." But she too stopped short of criticising Trump. Several Democrats took the president's position as just his latest embrace of autocratic leaders. They pointed to his acceptance of President Vladimir Putin's 2018 insistence that Russia did not meddle in the US election, and Trump refusing to accept CIA conclusions that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she thought there was "something wrong" with Trump choosing to believe "thugs" like Putin and Kim over the US intelligence community. "Why does he keep sticking up for dictators over his own people??" Senator Tim Kaine asked. Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in killing 189 Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 at weekly protests in Gaza last year, United Nations investigators said on Thursday. Geneva/Jerusalem: Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in killing 189 Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 at weekly protests in Gaza last year, United Nations investigators said on Thursday. The independent panel said it had confidential information about those it believes to be responsible for the unlawful killings, including Israeli army snipers and commanders. It called on Israel to prosecute them. The Israeli security forces killed and maimed Palestinian demonstrators who did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to others when they were shot, nor were they directly participating in hostilities, it said, adding that the protests had been civilian in nature. The victims included children, journalists, and a double amputee who was in a wheelchair. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the report and accused the UN Human Rights Council, which launched the probe, of hypocrisy and lies fueled by an obsessive hatred for Israel. Israel has said its forces opened fire to protect the border from incursions and attacks by armed militants. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the findings confirmed that Israel conducts war crimes against our people in Gaza and the West Bank, including in Jerusalem. The International Criminal Court should act immediately and investigate the matter, he said in a statement. Protests at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip began in March last year, with Gazans demanding Israel ease a blockade of the enclave and recognition of their right to return to lands their families fled or were forced from when Israel was founded in 1948. The panel found that 183 of the 189 protesters were killed with live ammunition. It voiced deep concern at the undisclosed rules of engagement drawn up by Israeli civilian and military leadership that apparently permitted live fire at demonstrators as a last resort...and to shoot at the legs of main inciters. Israels notion of main inciters does not exist in international law, it said. Some 122 wounded have had a limb amputated, including 20 children, it said. No Israeli soldier was killed at the protests, although one was killed on a demonstration day but not at a protest site, while four were injured, the panel said. An Israeli military spokeswoman disputed this, saying the soldier was killed during a riot nearby that was designed to draw in soldiers so as to attack them. The report, covering 30 March-31 December 2018, was based on hundreds of interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as medical records, video and drone footage, and photographs. On 14 May, Israeli forces killed 60 demonstrators, the highest one-day death toll in Gaza since a 2014 military assault, the report said. Amnesty International said in a statement: Those responsible for these deplorable crimes must not go unpunished. The findings of this report must pave the way for justice for victims of war crimes. International criminal court UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet should share the findings with the ICC, the investigators said. Israel is not a member of the ICC nor recognizes its jurisdiction, but the Hague-based court opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of Israeli human rights abuses on Palestinian territory in 2015. The Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, is home to 2 million Palestinians. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but maintains tight control of its land and sea borders. Egypt also restricts movement in and out of Gaza. Some of these violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity and must be immediately investigated by Israel, said panel chair Santiago Canton, an Argentine legal expert. Our investigation found that the demonstrators were overwhelmingly unarmed even if they were not at all times peaceful, he told a news briefing. Thirty-five children, two journalists and three clearly-marked paramedics were among those killed by Israeli forces, in violation of international humanitarian law, it said. We are saying that they have intentionally shot children. They have intentionally shot people with disabilities, they have intentionally shot journalists, said panel member Sara Hossain, barrister at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. We found that one person, a double amputee, was shot and killed as he sat in his wheelchair. On two separate days, two people visibly walking on crutches, were shot in the head. They were killed, she added. Israel says its forces have at times come under gun or grenade attacks during the protests. Panel member Betty Murungi also said Gaza authorities should stop the use of incendiary kites and balloons, devices that destroyed Israeli farmland. The call by a UN panel to bring Israeli occupation leaders to justice is evidence that occupation forces conducted crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, Hamas official Ismail Rudwan told Reuters in Gaza. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars in the last decade. The Muthana case illustrates the dilemmas. In November 2014, Hoda Muthana left the US without telling her parents, and travelled to the Islamic States capital of Raqqa. Hoda Muthana put out this message on Twitter soon after her husband was killed, calling on Islamic State supporters in the United States to grant her vengeance: You have much to do while you live under our greatest enemy, enough of your sleeping! Go on drivebys, and spill all of their blood, or rent a big truck and drive all over them. Veterans, Patriots, Memorial, etc day. Kill them. Now, one of the estimated 1,500 foreign women and children living in the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria, Muthana has been petitioning the US government to let her return. She isnt the only one. Britains Shamima Begum, Germanys Linda Wenzel and Frances Emilie Konig have issued appeals to be brought back to serve their prison sentences at home. Perhaps unsurprisingly, governments have been less than euphoric at the prospect, and that is opening up complex questions involving security, criminal justice and citizenship. The Muthana case illustrates the dilemmas. In November 2014, Hoda, then just 16, left the United States without telling her parents, and travelled through Istanbul to the Islamic States capital of Raqqa. There she married Australian national Suhan Rahman, one of the estimated 40,000 foreign fighters who served with the Islamic State. In 2015, Rahman was killed fighting Kurdish and United States forces during the battle of Kobani. In most cases, the survivors of the Islamic State are expressing contrition for their actions. In an interview to The Guardian, Muthana blamed her turn to jihadism on her conservative parents, saying their decision to wall her off from society led her to rebel against her homeland. You want to go out with your friends and I didnt get any of that, she said. I turned to my religion and went in too hard. Theres no way to tell how genuine the repentance is, and with their crimes having been committed halfway across the world, its hard to bring successful prosecutions. Last year, Interpol chief Jurgen Stock warned the world could soon be facing a second wave of other Islamic State linked or radicalised individuals that you might call ISIS 2.0. Many of those who left, for instance from Europe or Asia, have not yet returned. Some of them have been killed on the battlefield but some of them are missing. In addition, Stock said, Islamic State supporters were arrested for their roles in pre-empted attacks. Because they were not convicted of a concrete terrorist attack but only support for terrorist activities, their sentences are perhaps not so heavy, he said. Even though some countries, like the United Kingdom and United States, are stripping naturalised citizens of their acquired nationalities, that isnt an option for the 6,000-odd cases of European jihadists, almost 20 percent of them women. United States-born Muthana went on to marry two more Islamic State jihadists in quick succession. Her child, fathered by her second husband, is by law a United States citizen, too. The most endangered are Arab countries, whose citizens made up the bulk of the Islamic States foreign fighter contingent. Large numbers have joined units of the Islamic States fighting units in Libya and Afghanistan, potentially providing a foundation for those countries to turn into regional threats. Thousands have, however, returned to their homelands and, hidden away from the view of law-enforcement, could be potential sources of long-term disruption. Mokhtar Ben Nasr, the head of Tunisias national counterterrorism commission, recently warned parliamentarians that 1,000 Islamic State terrorists returned to the North African nation between 2011 and 2018. Though some were arrested and are awaiting prosecution, he said, a majority re-entered the country clandestinely. This could well be true of India, too, a National Investigations Agency official said. We have no firm idea of how many Indians actually served with the Islamic State or al-Qaeda, how many survived, and where they are now. In one case pending in a court, Tamil Nadu resident Subhani Haja Moideen is alleged to have travelled to Turkey to join the Islamic State after being recruited online. He served briefly in Mosul, NIA officials say, but fled the battlefield after two men alongside him were blown apart by a missile. Following his desertion, Moideen was held for 40 days in an Islamic State prison, but eventually allowed to return home, with a $200 payment for the time he had served. The Indian consulate in Istanbul issued Moideen with an emergency certificate, allowing him to return home since he had lost his passport. Police and intelligence services were not notified though Moideen was unable to account for his activities in Turkey, government sources say. Following his return, the NIA alleges, Moideen contacted the Islamic States top Indian operative Muhammad Sultan Armar, also known as Yusuf al-Hindi, and was plotting strikes on foreigners visiting south India. Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a US resolution in the UN Security Council on addressing the crisis in Venezuela, while a rival draft put forward by Moscow failed to win enough votes. United Nations: Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a US resolution in the UN Security Council on addressing the crisis in Venezuela, while a rival draft put forward by Moscow failed to win enough votes. The failure to take action on the two competing drafts laid bare divisions among world powers over the way forward in Venezuela, which is mired in a political standoff and an economic meltdown. The proposed US text which called for new presidential elections in Venezuela and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian aid won the required nine votes at the 15-member council, but Moscow and Beijing joined forces to block it. Resolutions at the council, which are legally binding, must garner nine votes to be adopted, with no vetoes from the five permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. France, Germany and Britain were among those that backed the proposed measure. South Africa voted no while Indonesia, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast abstained. Russia's draft resolution which urged a settlement "through peaceful means" and insisting that all humanitarian aid be agreed by President Nicolas Maduro's government won only four votes: Russia, China, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea. Seven countries including the United States, European countries and Peru opposed the Russian measure and there were four abstentions. After the double vetoes, US envoy Elliott Abrams took an implicit swipe at Russia and China, lamenting that countries "continue to shield Maduro and his cronies and prolong the suffering of the Venezuelan people." Abrams expressed satisfaction that "a clear majority of the council" had supported the US stance. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia shot back that Washington was staging an "illegal theatre of the absurd" by seeking to install opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's president. Battered by economic collapse, Venezuela descended into a major political crisis when Guaido declared himself interim president in January and asserted that Maduro was no longer legitimate. The United States is leading a push for recognition of Guaido, who heads the National Assembly. He is now backed by more than 50 countries. Russia is ready to mediate between India and Pakistan to try to calm tensions between the two nuclear powers, Russian government officials said on Thursday, warning of the risk of further clashes between the two countries. Moscow: Russia is ready to mediate between India and Pakistan to try to calm tensions between the two nuclear powers, Russian government officials said on Thursday, warning of the risk of further clashes between the two countries. Moscow made the offer after Pakistan said it was going to return captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman and as US president Donald Trump said American mediation was helping to defuse the crisis. Russia has particularly close relations with India which buys large quantities of Russian military equipment and its relationship with Pakistan has warmed in recent years. When asked on Thursday if Russia was ready to help mediate between the two countries, the TASS news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying, If they want this, then of course. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later said Moscow was ready to do anything it could to help. We are concerned about the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan and the dangerous manoeuvring of the two countries armed forces near the line of control, which risks direct military clashes, Zakharova told reporters. Lavrov spoke to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday on the sidelines of an event in China after which he said he hoped tensions could be de-escalated and that both countries would show restraint. Earlier, on Thursday in Hanoi, Trump had told reporters the North had demanded a full removal of sanctions in exchange for shutting the Yongbyon nuclear facility Hanoi: North Korea is disputing President Donald Trump's account of why the summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un collapsed, insisting the North demanded only partial sanctions relief in exchange for shutting down its main nuclear complex. Trump, who was on his way back to Washington on Thursday, said before leaving Hanoi that the talks broke down because North Korea's leader insisted that all the punishing sanctions the US has imposed on Pyongyang be lifted without the North committing to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. The president made no mention of the disagreement as he addressed US troops during a stopover at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho commented on the talks during an abruptly scheduled middle-of-the-night news conference. Earlier, on Thursday in Hanoi, Trump had told reporters the North had demanded a full removal of sanctions in exchange for shutting the Yongbyon nuclear facility. Ri said the North was also ready to offer in writing a permanent halt of the country's nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests and that Washington wasted an opportunity that "may not come again." He said the North's position wouldn't change even if the United States offers to resume another round of dialogue Trump had said in Hanoi that there had been a proposed agreement "ready to be signed." However, he said after the summit was cut short, "Sometimes you have to walk." Asked about the North Koreans' claim that they only demanded partial sanctions in exchange for shutting down its main nuclear facility, White House press Secretary Sarah Sanders said: "I'll refer you back to the president and Secretary Pompeo's remarks at the press conference" in Hanoi. Mere hours after both nations had seemed hopeful of a deal, the two leaders' motorcades roared away from the downtown Hanoi summit site within minutes of each other, their lunch cancelled and a signing ceremony scuttled. The president's closing news conference was hurriedly moved up, and he departed for Washington more than two hours ahead of schedule. The disintegration of talks came after Trump and Kim had appeared to be ready to inch toward normalising relations between their still technically warring nations and as the American leader dampened expectations that their negotiations would yield an agreement by North Korea to take concrete steps toward ending a nuclear program that Pyongyang likely sees as its strongest security guarantee. In something of a role reversal, Trump had deliberately ratcheted down some of the pressure on North Korea, abandoning his fiery rhetoric and declaring that he wanted the "right deal" over a rushed agreement. For his part, Kim, when asked whether he was ready to denuclearise, had said, "If I'm not willing to do that I won't be here right now." The breakdown denied Trump a much-needed triumph amid growing domestic turmoil back home, including congressional testimony this week by his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who called Trump a "racist" and "con man" and claimed prior knowledge that WikiLeaks would release emails that would damage Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016. Trump insisted his relations with Kim remained warm, but he did not commit to having a third summit with the North Korean leader, saying a possible next meeting "may not be for a long time." Though both he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said significant progress had been made in Hanoi, the two sides appeared to be galaxies apart on an agreement that would live up to the US stated goals. "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that," Trump told reporters. Kim, he explained, appeared willing to close his country's main nuclear facility, the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, if the sanctions were lifted. But that would leave him with missiles, warheads and weapon systems, Pompeo said. There are also suspected hidden nuclear fuel production sites around the country. "We couldn't quite get there today," Pompeo said, minimizing what seemed to be a chasm between the two sides. Longstanding US policy has insisted that US sanctions on North Korea would not be lifted until that country committed to, if not concluded, complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation. Trump declined to restate that goal Thursday, insisting he wanted flexibility in talks with Kim. "I don't want to put myself in that position from the standpoint of negotiation," he said. White House aides stressed that Trump stood strong. The failure in Hanoi laid bare a risk in Trump's unpredictable negotiating style: Preferring one-on-one meetings with his foreign counterparts, his administration often eschews the staff-level work done in advance to assure a deal and envisions summits more as messaging opportunities than venues for hardline negotiation. There was disappointment and alarm in South Korea, whose liberal leader has been a leading orchestrator of the nuclear diplomacy and who needs a breakthrough to restart lucrative engagement projects with the impoverished North. Yonhap news agency said that the clock on the Korean Peninsula's security situation has "turned back to zero" and diplomacy is now "at a crossroads." The two leaders had seemed to find a point of agreement when Kim, who fielded questions from American journalists for the first time, was asked if the US may open a liaison office in North Korea. Trump declared it "not a bad idea," and Kim called it "welcomable." Such an office would mark the first US presence in North Korea and a significant grant to a country that has long been deliberately starved of international recognition. There had long been skepticism that Kim would be willing to give away the weapons his nation had spent decades developing and Pyongyang felt ensured its survival. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended their second summit in Hanoi with no deal after Pyongyang demanded a full lifting of sanctions. Guterres 'appreciates the effort that was made in those discussions, regardless of the results, of the outcome that we saw,' UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the US-North Korean summit as "courageous diplomacy" on Thursday even though no agreement was reached, and expressed hope that talks will continue. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended their second summit in Hanoi with no deal after Pyongyang demanded a full lifting of sanctions. Guterres "appreciates the effort that was made in those discussions, regardless of the results, of the outcome that we saw," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "Courageous diplomacy has established the foundation to advance sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." "We all very much hope that these discussions will continue in that direction." The UN spokesman stressed that world diplomats were clear-eyed about the prospects for a quick deal on dismantling North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "No one and that includes the secretary-general, ever thought that this process of engaging with the DPRK would be an easy one," said Dujarric. The leaders walked away with no set plans for a third meeting, though Trump said he hopes to see Kim again soon. "Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that," Trump said before leaving Vietnam aboard Air Force One to head back to Washington. Before the summit, there was talk that there could be a political declaration ending the 1950-53 Korean War which finished technically with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. There were also hopes Kim could pledge to destroy North Korea's decades-old Yongbyon nuclear complex, which has long been at the heart of Pyongyang's atomic development but remains shrouded in secrecy. The location of Hamza bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the 'crown prince of jihad,' has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria or under house arrest in Iran. Washington: The United States on Thursday offered a USD 1 million reward for information on a son of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, seeing him as an emerging face of extremism. The location of Hamza bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria or under house arrest in Iran. "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise," a State Department statement said, referring to Al-Qaeda. The State Department said that it would offer USD 1 million for information leading to his location in any country. Bin Laden, who according to the United States is around 30, has threatened attacks against the United States to avenge the 2011 killing of his father, who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, by US special forces. United States intelligence agencies increasingly see the younger bin Laden as a successor to his father for the mantle of global jihad, especially as the even more extreme Islamic State group is down to its last sliver of land in Syria. In 2015, bin Laden released an audio message urging jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to "liberating Palestine." And in a message a year later, following in the footsteps of his father, he urged the overthrow of the leadership in their native Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden's three surviving wives and his children were quietly allowed to return to Saudi Arabia after his killing. But Hamza bin Laden's whereabouts have been a matter of dispute. He is believed to have spent years along with his mother in Iran, despite Al-Qaeda's strident denunciations of the Shiite branch of Islam that dominates the country. Observers say that the clerical regime in Tehran kept him under house arrest as a way to maintain pressure on rival Saudi Arabia as well as on Al-Qaeda, dissuading the Sunni militants from attacking Iran. One of Hamza bin Laden's half-brothers told The Guardian last year that Hamza's whereabouts were unknown but that he may be in Afghanistan. He also said that Hamza bin Laden married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in Al-Qaeda's 11 September, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed some 3,000 people and sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan. By Daniela Desantis ASUNCION (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, visiting Paraguay on Friday to raise support for a change of government in his country, said that 600 members of the military had abandoned the government of President Nicolas Maduro in recent days. By Daniela Desantis ASUNCION (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, visiting Paraguay on Friday to raise support for a change of government in his country, said that 600 members of the military had abandoned the government of President Nicolas Maduro in recent days. Guaido, head of Venezuela's National Assembly, has invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro's re-election last year was fraudulent. Guaido has since been recognised by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela. However, Maduro still retains the loyalty of the bulk of Venezuela's armed forces and controls state institutions. "In the next few hours we will announce new protest marches," Guaido said in Asuncion at a news conference, after meeting with Paraguayan leader Mario Abdo, who received the opposition figure as a head of state. "We have spoken clearly to the Armed Forces of Venezuela. They have seen more than 600 officers in recent days switch to side with the constitution," he added. "There is a very clear process of transition to democracy." His press team said he was scheduled to go to Argentina later on Friday to meet with President Mauricio Macri, a strong critic of Maduro. Argentina's foreign ministry confirmed the two would meet in Buenos Aires and hold a news conference. Guaido has been travelling around the region, seeking to drum up support. He has visited Brazil and Colombia this week, but said he would return to Caracas by Monday, where he faces possible arrest for disobeying a Supreme Court order that he should not leave the country pending an investigation. The United States, which backs Guaido, will continue to take "appropriate actions" against the government of Maduro, including restricting travel visas for dozens of his associates, U.S. special envoy Elliott Abrams said on Friday. (Reporting by Daniela Desantis, writing by Hugh Bronstein, editing by Matthew Lewis and Rosalba O'Brien) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Ive said it many times before: Im stunned at how it seems we will simply never run out of previously untold stories of World War II. And thats even given how narrow the perspective of Western cinema tends to be, prioritizing the POVs of white men. (My god, if we suddenly decided that the stories of nonwhite nonmen were worth telling, wed be finding new tales of the war for the rest of human existence.) Its a measure of the all-encompassing devastation that conflict created, of how wide its impact was, that we are able to continually rediscover horrible new angles on it. Thats no bad thing. We shouldnt forget how awful this war was. Stories of the specific human impact are important, and need to be heard, as widely as possible. And here we have ostensibly yet another of those new stories, one fictionalized from reality, but still. British novelist Rhidian Brook was inspired to write what would become his bestseller The Aftermath by his grandfathers experience in Germany in the immediate postwar period. Apparently it was not common for British officers to be billeted the homes of German nationals during the reconstruction, but it did happen at least occasionally and thats the setting for this cinematic adaptation of the book (which I have not read). The film opens with Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley: Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazars Revenge, Collateral Beauty) arriving in Hamburg reduced to rubble by the war in 1946 to join her British army officer husband, Lewis (Jason Clarke: Serenity, First Man), who has something to do with the British cleanup effort (its never really clear what his job is, and this will be part of the problem with this movie; stay tuned). The Morgans will be living in the stately manor of architect Stefan Lubert (Alexander Skarsgard: Big Little Lies, The Legend of Tarzan) and his teenaged daughter, Freda (Flora Thiemann); his wife, Fredas mother, was killed in the firebombing of the city, but the beautiful house, in the forested countryside, survived. (The house will be fetishized by the film in precisely the same way that the suffering of survivors in the city will be all but ignored.) Initially Stefan withdraws with Freda to the bigger-than-any-apartment-youve-ever-lived-in (so: hardly awful) attic while they wait to be moved to ominously referenced the camps (another thing that is rather oblique here, and another problem), until the evidently softhearted Lewis suggests that the Luberts just stay, and that they all share the house. Rachael is appalled by this, and who can blame her, for not wanting to live side by side with an only-just-defeated enemy who was bent on world domination? Although, also, who can countenance this, what with Stefan being no Nazi, just a poor hapless defeated bystander?The Aftermath exists in a strange limbo between winners and losers of the war, and yet it doesnt want to deal with such matters as happenstance of birth no one gets to choose which country and which culture theyre born in or the vagaries of conflict. Its just waiting to get down to the sexytimes between Rachael and Stefan. The Aftermath exists in a strange limbo that doesnt want to deal with the happenstances of birth no one gets to choose which country theyre born in or the vagaries of conflict. I mean, its not even a matter of suspense that this is what is in the offing, that this is what the movie is going to be about, in the limited sense that it is about anything at all. You can practically feel director James Kent (Testament of Youth) and screenwriters Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse itching to get to the soft-core nonsense of Rachael and Stefan being so drawn to each other in spite of all the bad feelings on both sides that they just cant help themselves. The postwar upheaval feels like nothing so much as a cheap backdrop to two beautiful people getting it on. I mean, I would be one hundred percent one thousand percent into a legit sexy, romantic, tormentedly tragic movie about Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard enjoying hot steamy unapproved bedplay. But The Aftermath aint it. The Aftermath dont know what it is. There is way too much going on here, rushed through by way too many characters who are way too underdeveloped which is not at all unexpected when a novel is adapted for the big screen. (So, like, dont adapt novels into sub-two-hour movies. They are meant to be prestige BBC or HBO series, ten or twelve hour-long episodes at a minimum. I thought we all understood this by now.) The Aftermath is trying to tell too many stories all at once, and they all suffer for it. The film only just touches on the deprivations of ordinary Germans after the war, and the lingering resentment of being on the losing side; we need more than just Rachael and Lewis staring sadly from their passing car at starving children scrambling over rubble. We need to feel a bit more the loss that poor Freda is experiencing, not just of her mother at such a vulnerable age but why she would also latch onto Albert (Jannik Schumann: Barbara), the desperate young man clinging to Hitlers ideology even now that it has been so utterly crushed. Albert who is barely a character at all will set in motion a chain of sidebar events that should feel a helluva lot more important and have a helluva lot more emotional impact than they do. Facebook, Instagram, Signal are said to be planning to roll out new cryptocurrencies over the next year which are aimed at allowing users to send money to contacts on their messaging systems like Venmo or PayPal that can move across international borders. Facebook is silently working on a coin that user of WhatsApp could send to friends and family instantly, according to a latest report from The New York Times. The social media giant has held conversations with cryptocurrency exchanges about selling the Facebook coin to consumers. On the other hand, Telegram which was an estimated 300 million users worldwide is also working on a digital coin. Signal, an encrypted messaging service has its own coin in the works. So do other big messaging applications South Korea and Japan, Kakao, and Line. If had the right idea, Facebook and Telegram could make the digital wallets used for cryptocurrencies available, in an instant, to hundreds of millions of users. Most of the companies are said to be working on digital coins that could exist on a decentralized network of computers, independent to some degree of the companies that created them. Like Bitcoin, the new cryptocurrencies would make it easier to move money between countries. The current designs being discussed generally do away with the energy-guzzling mining process that Bitcoin relies on. However, these and other companies that are hoping to implement this are likely to face many of the same regulatory and technological hurdles that have kept Bitcoin from going mainstream. Facebook has more than 50 engineers working on its project. The companys efforts in the crypto wallet run by a former president of PayPal, David Marcus, started last year after Telegram raised an eye-popping $1.7 billion to fund its cryptocurrency project. Facebook is looking at several ways to use the blockchain, the technology introduced by Bitcoin that makes it possible to keep shared records of financial transactions on several computers, rather than relying on one big central player like PayPal or Visa. Facebook could guarantee the value of the coin by backing every coin with a set number of dollars, euros and other national currencies held in Facebook bank accounts. On the other hand, Telegram which is also working on cryptocurrencies said to have sent letters to investors saying that it was 90% done with the key components of the network that would house the Gram, the name for its digital token. The company has told investors that it hopes to have some version of the system out in the next few months. The privacy-focused messaging application Signal has raised $30 million last year and is trying to raise another $30 million. Source BirthdayPak CEO Paul Berman Celebrates One Million Birthday Wishes - and a Milestone Birthday of His Own March 01, 2019 // Franchising.com // Whether it's backpacking along the Appalachian Trail, entrepreneurship or life in general, BirthdayPak CEO Paul Berman has always looked to the future to stay on course. And he's certainly had his share of storms to weather and difficult terrain to navigate. A self-described "serial entrepreneur" for over 30 years, Paul has experienced many "up, down and sideways" moments. As BirthdayPak surpasses the one-million mark in birthday wishes sent annually and Paul approaches a milestone birthday of his own - he turns 60 in March! - this entrepreneur and CEO reflects on what he's learned along the way. "Never fail without giving 100%." In the span of two years, Paul went from being a financial planner, to filing for bankruptcy after a bad real estate investment, then investing only $400 towards the purchase of a 40% interest in a Valpak franchise in Fort Worth, Texas. It all started with $400. That decision paid off and landed Paul on his ultimate career path. But it wasn't without another major hurdle. In 1993, Paul used the proceeds from the sale of the Ft. Worth franchise to purchase an underperforming Valpak franchise in his hometown of Philadelphia. Making the move with his wife Mary Jo and their oldest son Jake, the plan was for Mary Jo to get a job as a nurse until the franchise became profitable. "Except Mary Jo couldn't find a job - there were no jobs in Nursing at that time in Philly, we had $35 left in our checking account, an insolvent business, a young son, and a car in the shop that needed repairs." "It was a 'put everything down on the table, Texas hold' em' situation," he says. Fierce determination compensated for Paul's temporary financial instability. "I never gave up and kept going. I told myself I never want to fail without giving 100%." After years of incredibly hard work and long hours (which continues today), Paul made a tremendous turnaround on his new Valpak franchise, growing the number of sales representatives from 5 to 27 and business revenue grew from 1.1 million to 10 million per year. His wife now manages the business and the couple is in a unique position as a franchisee and franchisor within the same industry. "Find your ikigai." Ikigai is a Japanese concept that loosely translates in English to "the thing that you live for." Paul also refers to it as his "mojo" - it's what keeps him motivated. After buying his first ValPak franchise, he realized he loved helping businesses grow. Time and again, being in the direct response industry with Valpak, as well as offering direct mail, SEO and other services, it worked and had a great impact on a lot of businesses. "To me it was simple, I would tell business owners give me a dollar, I need to give you more than a dollar back and cover your costs or I get fired." In 2010, Paul had the opportunity to go from franchisee to franchisor and assume the role of CEO of BirthdayPak. The goal was to turn it into a national franchise, but it took staff, capital and a strategic use of resources to get there. "I put everything into it, we took it from one market to four states, debugged and scaled it," he says. With the assistance of Mike Spinka, Vice President of Technology & Production, he was able to reconfigure the product and develop BirthdayPak as a profitable franchise model. Paul describes his ikigai as "business, entrepreneurship, systems and processing and putting BirthdayPak on the path to becoming an Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Traction company." As a result, everyone at BirthdayPak has a laser focus on goals, BirthdayPak has grown to 36 markets in 21 states and is achieving year-over-year growth. In addition, BirthdayPak is developing a mobile platform that will bring gifting to a whole new level. "If you want people to take the hill with you, understand their hearts and heads." As an avid listener of audio books, Paul draws lessons on leadership from books about the training and missions of special forces, as well as some of the business greats such as Verne Harnish, Jim Collins and many others. "The same constructs hold true as an entrepreneur - if you're there for your employees, they will be there for you. With discipline, focus and the right culture of collaboration, you can build a great business with threads of excellence," he says. "Be an optimist." It can be difficult to stay optimistic during tough times, but for Paul, staying positive gave him the strength to endure the low points. He refers to his youngest son, Sam, as "the toughest human being I know" after he defied the odds of surviving stage 4 cancer and is now in remission. He worked his way out of a wheelchair 4x persevering over 3000 therapy sessions. "We never talked about how horrible it was, and always looked to the future." The power of positive thinking contributes to happiness, and happiness can have a ripple effect. Paul's positivity not only reaches his immediate circle, but the broader BirthdayPak community. "We get to deliver happiness to women," he says. With over 60,000 FaceBook followers we hear all kinds of stories about peoples' connection with our brand, not all good. "We hear stories of loneliness after a recent divorce or death of a spouse. Recipients thank BirthdayPak and say, 'if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have received anything for my birthday.' It's an honor to serve our community and our valued franchise owners - I really love what I do." Birthday Wishes Abound! Paul Berman has always remembered birthdays, long before Facebook and BirthdayPak. Now the tables are turned as Paul celebrates his 60th and reflects on his life's work and sources of inspiration. He says, "I'm not excited about turning 60, but I'm happy with my life - my family has never been better, I love BirthdayPak, our brand and the people I work with. And I get to wish a million people a happy birthday." His goals for this year? "I am only 200 miles away from completing the Appalachian Trail - need to get that done as well as grow our company by 25% or more and launch our new digital gifting platform with the eventual goal of helping 20 million people in the USA celebrate life all year long, not just affluent women celebrating their Birthday." To learn more about BirthdayPak, please contact us at 1-888-206-0083 or schedule a call. ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus The Dog Stop Continues To Put Down Pawprints In Louisiana All-inclusive dog care facility will open second facility in Metairie March 01, 2019 // Franchising.com // PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The professional pet care industry is worth $70 billion and the ways that pet owners are caring for their furry family members is rapidly changing, and dog owners are always looking for a way to keep their furry friends happy and healthy. With that being said, The Dog Stop - an award-winning, all-inclusive dog care facility offering daycare, boarding, grooming, obedience training, in-home services, dog walking, and retail store - is preparing for the opening of its second Louisiana location set to open in Metairie. Located at 3201 Transcontinental, the new dog care facility will be owned and operated by the Krake family. This family-owned business will be led by Abby Krake, who will serve as the store's General Manager; followed by her mother, Lisa, who will be responsible for finances; her father, Allen, who will be the head of operations; and lastly her sister, Amy Vanderhooft, who is in charge of marketing. The Krakes plan for their facility to open during in spring 2019. "We are excited to bring The Dog Stop to Metairie, and operate a business that will not only become deeply rooted into the community but also be the go-to trusted care facility for dogs," expressed Abby. "The Dog Stop is a revolutionary one-stop-shop business that caters to everyone's four-legged family members, and this is something that Metairie has been in need of." Entrepreneurship is truly a family trait. Lisa's entrepreneurial background began as a cashier for Popeyes, where she worked her way up to the corporate level, learning many managerial and franchisee best practices along the way. Allen's journey began when he co-founded Philly's Cheesesteak, and then went on to grow the business to four new locations. The couple also previously owned four Smoothie King franchises throughout the New Orleans metro area. Now, the Krake family currently owns and operates Supreme Automotive Group, a collection of five dealerships across southeast Louisiana. Abby's passion for animals, and experience previously working for a local veterinary clinic ultimately guided the family to their next business venture. "The Dog Stop understands that dogs are more than just pets - they're members of your family, and I think that's what makes them as successful as they are," said Lisa. "This is a cutting edge company that knows what dogs and their owners need. You have a retail store, groomer, day care, boarding, and training facility combined in one - what more can you ask for?" The Dog Stop's clean, safe, 100% climate controlled facilities feature premium boarding accommodations, social and interactive daycare experiences, spa-like grooming retreats, in-home services, and a retail store featuring premium dog food, treats, toys and accessories. Other features include separate and secure play areas for dogs of all sizes and energy levels, including outdoor space with special anti-microbial?turf "grass." Unlike many of its competitors, The Dog Stop charges a flat standard fee, no matter the breed or size of the dogs. However, for those owners who prefer a more tailored experience for their dogs, the "Dog Stop Delights" program offers extra activities such as cuddle time, one-on-one play, leash walks, training sessions and puzzle time. The Pittsburgh-based franchise plans to open as many as 10 total locations throughout the greater area over the next several years. Today, there are 15 locations open and operating in six states, with more than 40 additional stores in various stages of development across the country. "Our facilities exist to promote healthy and happy dogs through socialization, physical and mental exercise and a holistic retail approach," said Chris Kane, co-founder and CFO. "We're excited to have the Krake family join The Dog Stop family. They're passionate about the brand and have a successful business record. We're excited to see their facility flourish, and for the brand to become a part of the Metairie community," said Jesse Coslov, co-founder and CEO. For more information about The Dog Stop franchise opportunity, please visit www.thedogstop.com/franchising/franchise-opportunity. About The Dog Stop Founded in 2009 and franchising since 2014, The Dog Stop is an award-winning, all-inclusive indoor/outdoor dog care facility offering daycare, boarding, grooming, obedience training, in-home services, dog walking, and retail store. Today, there are 15 locations open and operating in six states, with numerous others in various stages of development across the country. For more information, visit www.thedogstop.net. ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Tough Mudder Bootcamp Signs Agreement to Bring Second Fitness Studio to Denver Leading Global Sports, Active Lifestyle and Media Brand to Open Bootcamp-style Studio Fitness Concept in Southeast Denver in 2019 March 01, 2019 // Franchising.com // DENVER - Tough Mudder Bootcamp, active lifestyle and media brand, continues to tackle obstacles as its Tough Mudder Bootcamp studio fitness concept announced today a signed agreement to bring a second location to Denver serving the Southeast side of the city, which will offer the brand's signature high-intensity interval training workout classes. The second Tough Mudder Bootcamp location in Denver will be locally owned and operated by husband and wife franchisees Dustin and Denise Warner, based on the Tough Mudder mission that centers on teamwork, camaraderie, courage, personal accomplishment and fun. "I've always been a big fan of Tough Mudder and the organic sense of community it creates," said Dustin. "Tough Mudder Bootcamp is more than just a place to get a good workout - it makes you feel like you're part of something bigger. I'm excited to extend Tough Mudder Bootcamp's presence in Colorado and introduce an entirely new legion of fitness enthusiasts to our workout." The Tough Mudder Bootcamp signed agreement in Denver will focus on community as it increases accountability and enjoyment. Each Bootcamp class will act as a "community center" to motivate members to achieve their fitness goals through realistic benchmarks and Tough Mudder events. "Dustin and Denise are the perfect people to further expand Tough Mudder Bootcamp's reach in Denver," said Dan Henry, director of franchise sales for Tough Mudder Bootcamp Franchising. "This signed agreement is an integral part of our strategic franchise expansion in Colorado, beginning with finding franchisees like Dustin and Denise - experienced entrepreneurs who understand Tough Mudder and their markets in order to best introduce our unique workouts to motivate and inspire a new wave of fitness enthusiasts of all skill levels." Tough Mudder Bootcamp's 45-minute HIIT classes are usually less than $10 a class with an unlimited membership and will deliver a full-body workout that is fun, customizable - to challenge all fitness levels - and highly motivating and social. Classes are designed around four pillars: Strength, Power, Agility and Endurance. Tough Mudder Bootcamp leverages Tough Mudder's proprietary technology platform to deliver highly effective, fun and safe workouts. All classes are drop-in ready; single classes are $20 each and membership packages range from $56-160 per month. In addition to the signed agreement in Denver and agreements in place for new locations this year and next, Tough Mudder Bootcamp has prioritized several key U.S. markets for further expansion, including Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Nashville and Phoenix. Locations opening in each market will be able to tap into an enthusiastic fan base, which includes more than 3 million participants who have competed in obstacle course races across the country. New franchisees will be able to access a motivated tribe even as they build their customer base with new devotees. To inquire about franchising opportunities with Tough Mudder Bootcamp, please visit https://bootcamp.toughmudder.com/own-a-tmb. About Tough Mudder Bootcamp Tough Mudder Bootcamp is the new brand expansion into the fitness studio sector by Tough Mudder, Inc., the leading sports, active lifestyle and media brand. Established in 2016, Tough Mudder Bootcamp is a 45-minute HIIT class that delivers a full-body workout that is fun, customizable - to challenge all fitness levels - and highly motivating and social. Based on the Tough Mudder Mission that centers on teamwork, camaraderie, courage, personal accomplishment and fun, Tough Mudder Bootcamp focuses on interval training and community. ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus South Africa: Public Protector calls on departments to implement remedial actions A lack of implementation of remedial actions renders a constitutional institution toothless, thats according to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. The Public Protector said this on Thursday, as she informed the public about a number of government institutions that have not implemented remedial actions as contained in several of her reports. Mkhwebane said this is despite the 2016 landmark ruling by the Constitutional Court affirming that the Public Protectors powers are binding. I have investigated, reported and taken appropriate remedial action and yet the complainants in the matters concerned are still waiting for implementation of those remedies. In most cases, those left high and dry are those very people at the grassroots -- a section of society that does not have the means to take government to court as a way of protecting themselves from prejudicial decisions of the state, said the Public Protector. Among those fingered by Mkhwebane is the National Treasury, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), Eskom, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the Department of Higher Education and Training, and the City of Tshwane. Treasury and GEPF The Public Protector highlighted the Vhembe Concerned Pensioners case, in which pensioners complained that National Treasury and GEPF had acted improperly while privatising the Venda Pension Fund. Mkhwebane described the case as one that best demonstrates the gravity of the problem faced by her office. Following an investigation in 2011, the Public Protector made findings in favour of the complainants. It found, among other things, that the complainants suffered prejudice as they were influenced to privatise their pension benefits but were not properly informed about the consequences of privatisation. uMzimkhulu Local Municipality In the matter involving alleged corruption and maladministration at uMzimkhulu municipality in KwaZulu-Natal in 2018, Mkhwebane said the Police Minister failed to provide protection to two whistle blowers, who exposed the use of public funds. As we speak, we have two whistle blowers in KZN who are on the run, having fled their homes after several threats were made on their lives. Their crime is lifting the lid on the maladministration that took place in uMzimkhulu, she said. SANDF In the case of SANDF, the Public Protector said the Defence Minister failed to implement the remedial action in the case of Babalo Mvithi, a former Lieutenant-Colonel in the South African National Defence Force. The former Lieutenant-Colonel and his family are without a source of income because of maladministration on the part of the Department of Defence and Military Veterans. We confirmed the finding of the Ombudsman and took remedial action, all in vain. Now and again, Mr Mvithi writes to me, complaining that my office is doing nothing about his plight when in fact we have done all that we could, said the Public Protector. Concluding her briefing, the Public Protector said her act of naming departments that have failed to comply with her remedial action was an appeal to ensure justice for those affected. "This is an act of appealing to the conscience and morality of the culprits by publishing details of their misdeeds, said Mkhwebane. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The rover and the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe have resumed work after "sleeping" during their second lunar night on the far side of the moon. Photo taken by the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) on Jan. 11, 2019 shows the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe. [File photo: Xinhua] The lander woke up at 7:52 a.m. Friday, and the rover, Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2), awoke at about 10:51 a.m. Thursday. Both of them are in normal condition, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration. China's Chang'e-4 probe, launched on Dec. 8 in 2018, made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3. A lunar day equals 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is the same length. The Chang'e-4 probe switched to a dormant mode during the lunar night due to the lack of solar power. As a result of the tidal locking effect, the moon's revolution cycle is the same as its rotation cycle, and it always faces Earth with the same side. The far side of the moon has unique features, and scientists expect Chang'e-4 could bring breakthrough findings. The scientific tasks of the Chang'e-4 mission include low-frequency radio astronomical observation, surveying the terrain and landforms, detecting the mineral composition and shallow lunar surface structure, and measuring neutron radiation and neutral atoms. The Chang'e-4 mission embodies China's hope to combine human wisdom in space exploration, with four payloads developed by the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. 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. Travel with ID cards launched between Georgia and Ukraine - GeorgianJournal Salome Zourabichvili meeting with the President and the First Lady of Azerbaijan - GeorgianJournal NASA releases breathtaking image of Dragon northern lights over Iceland News oi-Vishal Kawadkar NASA shares an image of the night sky spectacle. The Iceland locals witnessed a magnificent display of light, all thanks to a hole in the corona of the Sun. A few photographers didn't miss the opportunity and captured some breathtaking images of the aurora borealis, also called the northern lights. The northern lights are a result of energetic particles from the sun that travel to the Earth in a steady stream known as the solar wind. These particles mix with the upper atmosphere, reflecting beautiful lights in the night sky. On February 18, the northern lights happened to take the form of a dragon. NASA posted the image of Dragon Aurora over Iceland as the "Astronomy Picture of the Day." The space agency said that the sight is even more special as it was supposed to be a quiet month for aurora sightings. This isn't the first instance that auroras appeared over Iceland. Different shapes have appeared previously as lights in the night sky. Back in 2017, lights took the form of a griffin and appeared over the city of Reykjavik. The Iceland Monitor mentions that the Icelandic coat of arms has a dragon, a griffin, a giant, and a bull as its protectors. The Iceland Guide notes that night sky spectacles are visible starting September until the end of April. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Xiaomi may bring washing machines, refrigerators and water purifiers to India: Report News oi-Priyanka Dua The newly launched supports 6P lens and 1.6um and equipped with the 5-megapixel secondary. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is now planning to bring washing machines, refrigerators and water purifiers for the Indian market, Mint reported. "This year we will probably enter big categories such as water purifiers, laptops, and washing machines. Additional launches will include two to three small categories as well," Mint quoted Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain. Meanwhile, India's second largest telecom player Bharti Airtel has announced its new offer and special benefits on Xiaomi's newly launched Redmi Note 7 series. With the exclusive offer, Airtel customers can now enjoy 100 percent more data at existing prices on select Airtel prepaid recharge packs on the latest 4G smartphones. Customers can get data benefits of up to 1120GB along with Airtel Thanks benefits like free Airtel data secure (Norton antivirus), free access to Airtel TV premium and much more. He said, "We now have nearly 30 percent market share in smartphones, which was till now our fastest-growing business," Jain said. "However, if we launch categories such as washing machines, fridges, and water purifiers, we can disproportionately grow that and capture a bigger market share." According to a report the company is planning to bring some of these consumer durables before the end of this year."We are working on each one of them but I do not know which one will be ready first," Manu Jain was quoted. The newly launched supports 6P lens and 1.6um and equipped with the 5-megapixel secondary. It has a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 2.5D curved glass. It is powered by Qualcomm's mid-range focused Snapdragon 660 processor. 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 Feb. 28, 2019 News By Jim Garamone Defense.gov NATO Secretary General Touts Trans-Atlantic Unity at Slovakian Convocation WASHINGTON -- As NATO approaches its 70th anniversary, the alliance sustains its relevance by maintaining the trans-Atlantic bonds in the face of different challenges, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today in Kosic, Slovakia. The alliance was founded after World War II to prevent World War III. "For 40 years since NATO was established back in 1949, until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, NATO did actually only one thing: and that was to deter the Soviet Union," the secretary general said at a "Bucharest 9" meeting, an initiative begun by Romania in 2014 as a platform for strengthening cooperation among Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The mission to deter the Soviet Union was serious, and it was the only priority for the Western alliance, Stoltenberg said. "We were able then to end the Cold War without one single shot being fired on European soil," he added. The fall of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact led to calls for the alliance to disband on the grounds that NATO was outdated and unneeded in a post-Soviet Europe. NATO turned its attention toward the Balkans and helped end the unrest that threatened the continent. "We helped to end two wars in the Balkans -- Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Kosovo," the secretary general said. "We started to also address the global fight against terrorism with our mission in Afghanistan." Beyond NATO's Borders For 25 years, the alliance's focus was "beyond NATO territory, beyond Europe, fighting terrorism, managing crises beyond our borders," he said. Then came Russia's actions in Georgia, followed by its illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. A more aggressive Russia is now using force in Eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, the alliance still has to continue its part in the fight against terrorism and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The alliance still supports training Afghan security forces, and alliance service members have missions to the south. "We don't have the luxury of either fighting terrorism or focusing on collective defense in Europe. We have to do both things at the same time," Stoltenberg said. "I am actually quite impressed by NATO, by the way we have been able to adapt -- again -- to respond to a changing and more unpredictable security environment." Changing Security Environment The security environment is changing again. "We see Russia using force against neighbors as they have done in Ukraine," he said. "But what really is also of concern now is that Russia is violating a cornerstone arms control agreement, the [Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty]." That treaty bans all intermediate-range weapons and has served the people of Europe well, he said. Russia is again developing and deploying these intermediate-range weapons in Europe. "We continue to call on Russia to come back into compliance with this treaty," the secretary general said. "We don't want a new arms race. We don't want a new Cold War. We actually want dialogue with Russia, because Russia is our neighbor. Russia is here to stay." The NATO allies responded as one to Russia's INF provocation, he said, and have also united around the eastern partners. Still, he added, NATO upholds the values of the member states. "We see differences on trade issues, on climate change, on issues like, for instance, the Iran nuclear deal. We have seen internal discussions in NATO about burden-sharing, defense investments," Stoltenberg said. "But the lesson we have learned is that NATO has always been able to overcome them and to unite and stand together, again, around our core task, to defend and protect each other because we know that we are stronger together than alone, and by preserving peace, we create a foundation for stability." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel forces may be guilty of war crimes in Gaza: UN IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Feb 28, IRNA -- Zionist regime security forces may have committed war crimes over the killing of nearly 200 Palestinians at protests in Gaza last year, the United Nations said in a report released on Thursday. The investigative committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council that has been looking into the 2018 Israeli attacks on Gaza protestors said in the report it found that Israeli forces violated international law, Palestine News Network said. The committee's chairman, Santiago Canton, said at the beginning of the session that his panel had found that the vast majority of the Palestinian protesters were unarmed. The council found that many children were killed, some directly by live fire, and that the Israelis directly shot journalists who were, according to the council, clearly marked as such. When asked whether Zionist regime intentionally shoots children and journalists, Council member Sara Hussein confirmed saying the council believes Israel knew they were children and journalists and shot them nonetheless. "There is no justification for shooting children and disabled people that pose no risk," Hussein said. "While some deaths may have been examined by the Israel Defense Forces' internal 'fact-finding assessment,' criminal investigations were opened in only five cases, including the deaths of four children," the report says. According to data in a United Nations report released last month and confirmed by Israeli officials, 295 Palestinians have killed and about 6,000 wounded by live ammunition since the demonstrations' inception. 9191**2044 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan welcomes regional efforts to defuse Pak-India tensions IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Islamabad, Feb 28, IRNA -- Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson has welcomed efforts by international community to defuse tension between Pakistan and India. Mohammad Faisal, while responding to a question of IRNA at his weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, said that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has spoken to his counterparts from 20 countries, including Iran, on recent tensions with India. "We support any kind of mediatory efforts to defuse tension with India but our diplomacy is deliberate and carefully measured," he said. Spokesman added Pakistan wishes to de-escalate the situation and is ready to engage in dialogue. "Pakistan is not looking towards any country for its defense, but we have very good detailed interaction with our friends in international community especially with Islamic world to whom we have decade old ties" he said. Earlier Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif in a phone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi had urged Islamabad and New Delhi to show self-restraint following the escalation of tension between the two states. The Iranian foreign minister said that Iran is ready to help achieving a peaceful resolution of dispute between Islamabad and New Delhi. He called for dialogue between the two neighboring states. 272**1420 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Secretary General stresses importance of transatlantic unity on visit to Slovakia NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 28 Feb. 2019 Visiting Kosice on Thursday (28 February) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with President Andrej Kiska for an exchange of views on regional issues and thanked him for his country's continued commitment to the Alliance. Mr Stoltenberg joined the meeting of the Bucharest-9 presidents. He stressed that this will be a year of celebrations for NATO, noting that the Alliance will celebrate its 70thanniversary. In addition, this year also marks the anniversary of twenty years since the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland became members of NATO, as well as fifteen years since Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia joined the NATO family. "We have cause for celebration. But at the same time, we cannot afford to be complacent. The world is more complex and unpredictable than ever before," Mr Stoltenberg said. He stressed that "the only way to deal with a more unpredictable world is to stay strong, stay united, and keep adapting." Together with the presidents from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia present at the event, he discussed NATO's continued adaptation to current security challenges and the need to ensure fair burden-sharing within the Alliance. He welcomed that all 9 countries are either spending 2 % of their GDP on defence, or have clear plans to achieve that goal in the next years. In Kosice, the NATO Secretary General also addressed students at a GLOBSEC event called "NATO Engages - the 2019 Kosice Dialogue," together with Slovakia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajcak. "NATO created conditions for unprecedented peace and prosperity for 70 years. NATO's aim is to preserve the peace and prevent conflict." In the 21st century, this means that NATO needs to maintain effective defence and deterrence and become more agile, more responsive, and even more effective. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Harrison Talks About 'Not Quite Dead' Ships Navy News Service Story Number: NNS190228-09 Release Date: 2/28/2019 10:31:00 AM By Brooke Marquardt, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division Public Affairs WEST BETHESDA, Md. (NNS) -- James Harrison, the director of the Expeditionary Warfare Ship Division at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), was at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division on Feb. 13 presenting a brown-bag lecture on damaged ships that just were not ready to sink. Titled "I'm Not Quite Dead Yet," the lecture focused on ships that sustained large amounts of damage and kept operating. In addition to the presentation being interesting and humorous, Harrison hoped that it would also highlight why survivability is an important factor to consider in naval ship design. One of the first ships Harrison discussed was USS Squalus (SS 192). A submarine commissioned in the late 1930s, she was running test dives off the coast of New Hampshire in 1939. Before submerging, they did not close the main induction valve, which ultimately flooded half of the submarine, including compartments like the torpedo room, the engine room and the battery shop. One of the Sailors who was closing the door recalled that they saw a close friend of his coming towards the door, but they had to close the door before he got there to prevent further flooding. Out of the crew of 59, 26 Sailors were lost. The sub bottomed out in 243 feet of water, where her sister ship saw the emergency buoy and had enough information to know that there were survivors. USS Falcon (AM-28) was rushed from Groton, Connecticut, and set up a rescue effort with a McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber, a bell-shaped chamber that was lowered to the submarine and attached. The first ride brought up seven Sailors, the second and third brought up nine, but on the fourth run, the line partially parted and the chamber sank back down. The crew of the Falcon then hand-over-hand pulled this chamber back to the surface and rescued the final eight survivors, including the commanding officer (CO). The concern then became that one of the U.S. Navy's newest submarines was sunk just off the coast of New Hampshire, and the Navy launched a salvage effort. The first effort involved attaching pontoons to the submarine and bringing her to the surface, but once on the surface, the pontoons detached and she sank again. It took 628 dives to get her back to dry dock. She was recommissioned in 1940 as USS Sailfish (SS 192), and the CO later made it a punishable offense to use the name Squalus, although the nickname for the ship among the fleet was "Squailfish." "Arguably, it is one of the most successful rescues of submariners from a sunk submarine, and one of the reasons we keep the submarine-rescue research efforts going. It is one of the international standards that we have, not only with our Allies, but also our enemies; everyone agreed on how you would get submariners out of a submarine that sank," Harrison said. In addition to U.S. Navy ships, Harrison also discussed German navy ships like the Schamhorst and Gneisenhau. For these two battlecruisers, the primary mission was for them to act as commerce raiders, not to fight other battleships. Harrison compared the lives of these ships to video games: once you get past the introductory level, the levels get harder and harder. The British ship HMS Rawalpindi was a converted ocean-liner, had eight six-inch guns, completely unarmored and was in the Iceland gap between the Norwegian Sea and the Atlantic Ocean on blockade duty in November 1939 when she came across these ships. The Rawalpindi CO's final message was, "We'll fight them both, they'll sink us and that'll be that. Good-bye." The ships later suffered structural damage due to rough seas and were repaired. They went on to take torpedo damage and need repairs. When they were sent on missions in seas near France, they took on bomb after bomb from air raids, continually needing repairs. In February 1942, they were called back to Germany, where they could be better protected. This was Operation Cerberus, also known as the "Channel Dash," and despite numerous attacks from aircrafts and ships, the British and their Allies caused no further damage to these passing ships. "Not their best day," Harrison said of the Allied forces. Once the Schamhorst and Gneisenhau made it out of British danger, they promptly ran into mines. Both damaged, they needed to be repaired yet again. A cautionary tale emerged from the attempted repair of the Gneisenhau: do not go into dry dock with the magazines loaded. A bomb went off in one of the magazines and finally ended Gneisenhau's career. Both of these ships spent more time damaged than not during the course of their careers. The Schamhorst was then sent to Norway alone and was again damaged by the rough seas and repaired. Here she entered her final action, the Battle of North Cape. She fought a battleship, a heavy cruiser, three light cruisers and nine destroyers in a blizzard over three engagements. The first engagement knocked out her radar; she survived the second engagement, but did not survive the third. Out of a crew of 1,968 Sailors, only 36 were picked up by the enemy. Also during World War II, the U.S. Navy's USS Enterprise (CV 6) was attacked in six separate events over the course of three-and-a-half years, and the Japanese reported her sunk four or five of these times. Enterprise sustained bomb damage from multiple battles, to include the Battle of Santa Cruz in October 1942, where the Japanese were introduced to new technology the U.S. Navy hadradar-fused anti-aircraft shells. These were designed to sense when they were approaching something and when it was at the right distance, it exploded. "This is one of the greatest secrets that the U.S. Navy had during World War II. This set the stage for U.S. anti-aircraft efforts from then on, as surface ships became able to largely defend themselves in a way that they were incapable of before," Harrison said. The Enterprise was damaged a few more times before March 1945, when she was damaged again by friendly fire. In May 1945, off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, she was hit with two kamikazes and was taken out of service two months before the end of the war. She earned 20 battle stars, more than any other battleship. The success of this ship left a lasting legacy, even today. First, her namesake lives on in Starship Enterprise from the Star Trek movie franchise. When NASA created their first space shuttle, Star Trek fans created a campaign that it be named after the Enterprise and so it was. Jack C. Taylor, founder of the Enterprise car rental company, was a World War II veteran who had served on the Enterprise. The name Enterprise will live on as the third aircraft carrier of the Ford Class, CVN 80, which is scheduled to be operational by 2027. It will be the ninth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Enterprise. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia, China use veto to defeat US resolution on Venezuela at UN Security Council Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 10:55PM Russia and China have vetoed a US-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Security Council, which called for early presidential election in Venezuela amid ongoing unrest in the Latin American country. The resolution, which supported Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido, came up for vote at the 15-member council on Thursday and received the minimum nine "yes" votes. The draft called for "the peaceful restoration of democracy" as well as "free and fair" presidential elections in Venezuela. After months of economic and political clashes, Venezuela plunged further into chaos in January after Guaido, the former head of the country's National Assembly, proclaimed himself "interim president" and urged President Nicolas Maduro to resign. This while Maduro had just begun his second six-year term in office after a decisive election victory over the US-backed opposition. Washington rushed to support Guaido and imposed sanctions against Venezuela's oil industry. US President Donald Trump and other American officials have also threatened Caracas with military action. Guaido has welcomed the support and has openly tried to contact the Trump administration and other regional governments to cement his position. The US resolution on Thursday also called for unhindered delivery of "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela. Maduro's government has closed borders with Brazil and Colombia in order to block what US insists are aid shipments. Russia, which supports Maduro, has warned that Washington is using the aid scenario as a cover to arm Guaido and his supporters and lay the foundation for a military intervention. To ward off that possibility, Russia drafted its own UNSC resolution on Thursday but failed to get the required votes to pass it. Moscow's draft expressed concern at US threats to use force against Venezuela and its interference in the Latin American country's domestic affairs. The measure also stated that it was only in the Maduro government's power to decide whether any international assistance was needed. Only four council members voted in favor of the Russian draft, seven opposed it while four other members abstained from voting. Besides Russia and China, countries like Iran and Turkey have also backed Maduro. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas: Israel must be held accountable for Gaza crimes Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 07:24PM The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says Israel must be fully held accountable for crimes it has committed in the besieged Gaza Strip. The request came after an investigation mandated by the UN Human Rights Council found that Israeli troops may have committed "crimes against humanity" in response to Palestinian protests in Gaza. In the UN report released on Thursday, chair of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry Santiago Canton said Israeli soldiers have breached international human rights in confronting the Gaza protest rallies. Tensions erupted in Gaza in March 30, 2018, which marked the start of a series of protests dubbed the "Great March of Return," demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland. The clashes reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds. The violence left 189 Palestinians dead and more than 6,100 others injured between March 30 and December 31, 2018, the report said. Palestinian sources say nearly 270 protesters have been killed by Israeli troops since the beginning of the rallies. Later on Thursday, Hamas issued a statement on the UN report, denouncing the Tel Aviv regime for the crimes it has committed against Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip. "The report indicates beyond any doubt that the Israeli occupation has committed clear war crimes against the Palestinians who came out to protest peacefully to demand the right of return and lift the siege," said Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official. He also called on "the international community to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for the war crimes that it continues to commit against the Palestinians." The "March of Return" demonstrations are held every week to demand the right to return for the Palestinians driven out of their homeland by Israeli aggression. They also demand a halt to Israel's inhumane blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities. Israeli forces use live ammunition against protesters in Gaza which has been under a crippling siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia offers to mediate between India, Pakistan amid mounting clashes Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 05:10PM Russia says it is prepared to mediate between archrivals India and Pakistan, amid heightened cross-border tensions between the two neighbors and the threat of an all-out conflict. "If they want this, then of course," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday when asked if Moscow would take over the intermediary role, Russia's TASS news agency reported. Lavrov spoke with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday on the sidelines of an event in China after which he hoped tensions could be de-escalated and that both countries would show restraint, AFP reported. Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also reaffirmed Moscow's readiness to act as a go-between. "We are concerned about the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan and the dangerous maneuvering of the two countries' armed forces near the line of control, which risks direct military clashes," she told reporters. The standoff between the two neighboring countries has escalated dramatically since February 14, when Indian paramilitary forces on the India-controlled side of Kashmir were hit by a deadly bomb attack orchestrated by Pakistan-based militants. The tensions reached a peak on Tuesday, when India said it had conducted "preemptive" airstrikes against what it described as a militant training camp in the town of Balakot in western Pakistan. Both Islamabad and New Delhi have also claimed to have shot down each other's fighter planes near the disputed border of Kashmir, accusing one another of violating each other's airspace. Pakistan denies that it has lost any warplanes, but says it has captured at least one Indian pilot after shooting down his fighter jet. Most recently, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged his countrymen to "stand as a rock" in the face of the "enemy," while his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan said his administration would return the captured pilot "as a peace gesture." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM: Pakistan to return captured Indian pilot Friday Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 03:45PM Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan says his administration will return a captured pilot "as a peace gesture" to India as recent cross-border tensions fuel fears of an all-out war. "As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow," Khan told a parliament session in Islamabad on Thursday. The pilot, identified by Pakistani authorities as wing commander Abhi Nandan, became the human face of the latest flare-up following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody. Khan had already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a "miscalculation" between their nuclear-armed armies. On Wednesday, he offered talks with India and said better sense should prevail in relations between the two countries. "Let us open the corridor of negotiations and settle all outstanding issues." Separately on Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that it was prepared to release the captured Indian pilot if doing so would settle growing tensions with India. "We are ready to hand over the Indian pilot if it leads to de-escalation," a ministry spokesperson said. Tensions between the two neighbors have drawn international attention. Russia, China, the European Union, the US and other countries have urged restraint from the two nations. China's State Councillor Wang Yi spoke by telephone with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmoud Qureshi and expressed "deep concern". Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also offered to facilitate talks between the two sides. Indian and Pakistani troops on Thursday traded fire along the contested border in Kashmir on at least three occasions. Troops from India and Pakistan first exchanged fire in the Poonch district for over an hour at 6 a.m. "The Indian army retaliated strongly and effectively," said Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand, a defense ministry spokesman. Aijaz Ahmad, a resident in the section of Kashmir that is administered by the Indian government, said he was still hearing heavy firing on Thursday afternoon. "Loud sounds of mortar shells are being heard from a distance. Shops... are open but there is a lot of tension." Earlier on Thursday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a rally of supporters that New Delhi would unite against its enemies. "The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn't do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us," he said. Pakistan's military sources said four civilians had been killed and two wounded in what it called a "deliberate" attack along volatile frontier by India during the past 48 hours. The escalation follows a car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14. On Wednesday, the two countries claimed to have downed each other's jets and each accused the other of breaching ceasefire agreements. Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since partition in 1947. Both countries claim all of Kashmir and have fought three wars over the territory. Indian troops are in constant clashes with armed groups seeking Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan. India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants and allowing them across the restive frontier in an attempt to launch attacks. Pakistan strongly denies the allegation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indians should 'stand as rock' against enemy: PM Modi Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:21AM India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged his countrymen to "stand as a rock" in the face of the "enemy," as recent cross-border military tensions with neighboring Pakistan fuel fears of an all-out conflict between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The standoff between the two neighboring countries has escalated dramatically since February 14, when Indian paramilitary forces on the New Delhi-controlled side of Kashmir were hit by a deadly bomb attack orchestrated by Pakistan-based militants. The tensions reached a peak on Tuesday, when India said it had conducted "preemptive" airstrikes against what it described as a militant training camp in Pakistan's Balakot. Both Islamabad and New Delhi have also claimed to have shot down each other's fighter planes near the disputed border of Kashmir, accusing one another of violating each other's airspace. Pakistan denies that it has lost any warplanes but says it has captured at least one Indian pilot after shooting down his fighter jet. "In the face of their objective, every Indian should stand as a wall, as a rock," Modi said, referring to unspecified enemies. "The entire country is one today and standing with our soldiers. The world is looking at our collective will and we have faith in our forces' capacity," the Indian prime minister further said, adding, "India will live as one. India will work as one. India will grow as one. India will fight as one. India will win as one." Modi, however, did not mention Pakistan by name during his address to party workers, in his first remarks since the two countries claimed to have shot one another's warplanes. Pakistan argues that its incursion across the heavily-militarized border was in response to Indian fighter jets bombing Balakot, well inside its territory, on February 26. Pakistan 'ready to free Indian pilot' Separately on Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that it was prepared to release the captured Indian pilot if doing so would settle growing tensions with India. "We are ready to hand over the Indian pilot if it leads to de-escalation," a ministry spokesperson told AFP, attributing the statement to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmoud Qureshi. On Wednesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan offered talks with India and said better sense should prevail in relations between the two countries. "Let us open the corridor of negotiations and settle all outstanding issues." Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since partition in 1947. Both countries claim all of Kashmir and have fought three wars over the territory. Indian troops are in constant clashes with armed groups seeking Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan. India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants and allowing them across the restive frontier in an attempt to launch attacks. Pakistan strongly denies the allegation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli 2018 killings in Gaza may constitute war crimes: UN probe Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:03AM A UN Human Rights Council-mandated investigation into Israel's deadly crackdown on the 2018 anti-occupation rallies in the Gaza Strip says the regime's forces may have perpetrated "war crimes" or "crimes against humanity"in the campaign against Palestinians. In a statement released on Thursday, Santiago Canton, chair of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said Israeli soldiers have breached international human rights during the Gaza unrest. "Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity," the statement read. Tensions erupted in Gaza in March 30, 2018, which marked the start of a series of protests, dubbed "The Great March of Return," demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland. The clashes reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds. The violence left 189 Palestinians dead and more than 6,100 others injured between March 30 and December 31, 2018. Elsewhere in its statement, the UN probe said that over 6,000 unarmed demonstrators had been shot by Israeli military snipers at protest sites. There were reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli troops killed and wounded Palestinians "who were neither directly participating in hostilities, nor posing an imminent threat," it added. "The Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers shot at journalists, health workers, children and persons with disabilities, knowing they were clearly recognizable as such." It further stressed that Gaza protesters "were civilian in nature" and that the demonstrations "did not constitute combat or military campaigns." It also complained that Israeli authorities had not responded to the UN inquiry's repeated requests for information and access to the occupied lands. The inquiry's statement is based on 325 interviews with victims, witnesses and other sources as well as reviews of over 8,000 documents, drone footage and other audiovisual material. Israel irate The UN probe's statement infuriated Israel, with Acting Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz calling it "hostile, deceitful and biased." "Israel rejects the report outright," he said. Gaza has been under a crippling siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008. The Tel Aviv regime carries out regular attacks on the coastal enclave under the pretext of hitting positions belonging to the Hamas resistance movement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nicaragua government, opposition restart long-stalled peace talks Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 08:13AM The Nicaraguan government of President Daniel Ortega and opposition have restarted long-stalled talks on resolving the country's political crisis, following the release of dozens of people who had been arrested in anti-government protests last year. The meeting between the two sides was held behind closed doors in the south of the capital, Managua, on Wednesday. Mediated by the Catholic Church, the talks lasted for about seven hours and will continue on Thursday. The talks were aimed at easing tensions that began last April with deadly protests over the government's now-abandoned pension reform. According to photos released by the opposition, the government was represented by six prominent officials, including the Nicaraguan foreign minister, a magistrate, and several lawmakers. The Vatican's representative in Nicaragua, Stanislaw Waldemar Sommertag, told reporters that the two sides had agreed to nine of the 12 points on a preliminary "road map" for the talks, without providing further details. The opposition has accused Ortega, in power since 2007, of establishing a corrupt dictatorship with his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo. During the anti-government protests last year, the opposition called on Ortega to step down and bring forward presidential elections, which prompted a crackdown by security forces and armed pro-government civilian groups. The violence left at least 325 people dead, 2,000 others wounded, and more than 750 arrested, according to human rights groups. The Nicaraguan president has vehemently dismissed culpability for the deaths of the protesters, accusing the United States and opposition parties of fomenting the unrest in an effort to topple his government. The previous round of peace peace talks broke down last May. One of the opposition's primary demands was the release of the estimated 770-plus people regarded as political prisoners jailed for participating in demonstrations. Political prisoners freed before talks The Wednesday meeting was held a few hours after the Nicaraguan Interior Ministry announced in a statement that 100 imprisoned protesters had been conditionally released. Photos released on social media showed busloads of jubilant inmates leaving the La Modela prison outside Managua, waving Nicaraguan flags, and singing the country's national anthem. Human rights organizations said no major opposition leaders were among the detainees and that about 670 opponents still remained in prison. Political tensions have exacerbated Nicaragua's economic crisis, with a 315-million-dollar deficit. The country's gross domestic product shrank four percent last year, and some economists say it could contract 11 percent in 2019. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S., Taliban Pause Peace Talks In Doha For Two Days By RFE/RL February 28, 2019 The U.S. envoy who is meeting with Afghan Taliban delegates says the latest round of peace talks in Qatar have been put on hold until March 2 so that both sides can conduct "internal deliberations." "Both sides will take the next two days for internal deliberations, with plans to regroup on Saturday," Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted on February 28 following three days of talks with Taliban negotiators in Doha, aimed at finding a negotiated solution to Afghanistan's 17-year war. After the February 27 session, both sides decided to adjourn in order to hold consultations and prepare for their next session, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement. The Taliban statement said the latest round of talks included "extensive" discussions on how foreign troops could be withdrawn from Afghanistan, and on how to guarantee the country will not be used again by outside forces to attack other countries. Describing the talks as "solid" and "productive," Khalilzad wrote on Twitter: "We continue to take slow, steady steps toward understanding and eventually peace." In the past, Khalilzad has tried to convince the Taliban to hold direct talks with representatives of Afghanistan's government. The Taliban has rejected that proposal. In Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on February 28 reiterated that an Afghan-led peace process would provide lasting stability in the country. "Afghanistan wants cooperation and collaboration, but Afghans and the legitimate government of Afghanistan should own the peace process," he said. According to Mujahid, the Taliban's newly appointed political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar did not take part in the latest round of talks in Qatar. But Mujahid said Baradar did meet with Khalilzad and General Scott Miller, the top NATO and U.S. commander in Afghanistan, as well as with Qatari officials in Doha. Baradar, a co-founder of the Islamist group, was released from a Pakistani jail in October. His appointment to the post was widely seen as the sign of a new push by the Taliban to achieve political and diplomatic legitimacy. During a previous round of talks in Doha in January, U.S. and Taliban negotiators said they reached a "basic framework" on how to take the peace process forward. That framework agreement calls for the Taliban to prevent international terrorist groups from basing themselves in Afghanistan and for the United States to withdraw all of its military forces from Afghanistan. But details on the timeline for a complete U.S. withdrawal have not been agreed upon. U.S. troops are known to have been in Afghanistan since U.S. special forces were killed in the downing of a helicopter in October 2001 following Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States. U.S. support for anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan -- including air strikes on Kabul and front-line Taliban positions -- led to the downfall of the Taliban government after it refused to hand over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other terrorists blamed for orchestrating the September 11 attacks. With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-taliban-pause-peace-talks -in-doha-for-two-days/29795615.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan Says It Will Release Captured Indian Pilot To Ease Tensions By RFE/RL February 28, 2019 Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan says Islamabad will release an Indian pilot captured by Pakistani forces on February 27 after his warplane was shot down in the disputed region of Kashmir. Khan said in a speech to Pakistan's parliament on February 28 that "the captured Indian pilot" will be released on March 1 as "a gesture of peace." In New Delhi, however, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was defiant in his first public remarks since both Pakistan and India claimed they shot down each other's fighter planes near Kashmir's Line of Control -- the de facto border that divides the Himalayan region between Indian and Pakistani rule. Modi said citizens of India should "stand as a wall, as a rock," and unite "as the enemy seeks to destabilize India." "The entire country is one today and standing with our soldiers," Modi said. "The world is looking at our collective will and we have faith in our forces' capacity. India will live as one. India will work as one. India will grow as one. India will fight as one. India will win as one." The remarks from the Pakistani and Indian leaders came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington was mediating to help defuse the crisis and that he expected "reasonably decent news." The United Nations and world powers -- including the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union -- have expressed concerns that escalating tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi could spiral out of control. In another sign of easing tensions, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said India had handed over intelligence it has about a deadly February 14 attack on Indian security forces in Kashmir that sparked the crisis. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan will examine the Indian "dossier" on the bombing that Islamabad received through diplomatic channels on February 28. Faisal did not provide details about the information New Delhi shared. Pakistan's military said its air force shot down two India Air Force jets in its airspace and captured a pilot on the ground in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India confirmed the loss of one of its MiG-21s and the capture of its pilot. It said it also foiled an attack by Pakistani warplanes over Kashmir and shot down one Pakistani plane. Islamabad denies any of its aircraft were shot down. The aerial confrontation came a day after India on February 26 struck what it said was a militant camp in northeastern Pakistan in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed at least 41 Indian troops in the India-controlled part of Kashmir A Pakistan-based group, the Jaish-e Muhammad (JeM), claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack -- the deadliest to take place during a three-decade insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir. India has accused Pakistan of having a "direct hand" in the attack and providing sanctuary to the militants. Islamabad denies involvement. India's air strikes in Pakistani territory on February 26 were the first since the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on February 27 that the escalation of violence "has the potential to lead to serious and dangerous consequences for the two countries and the wider region." China, a close ally of Pakistan, expressed hope that Islamabad and New Delhi will "earnestly fulfill their commitments to prevent the expansion of the situation." Russia also urged calm and offered to act as a mediator. With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-europe-china-russia-call- for-calm-india-pakistan/29795110.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China Denounces US Freedom of Navigation Talk as 'Pretext to Provocative Moves' Sputnik News 22:04 28.02.2019(updated 22:10 28.02.2019) Just days after a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait and two sailed near the Spratly Islands, China's Defense Ministry accused Washington of "stirring up trouble" in the region, denouncing the US' freedom of navigation operations "as a pretext to conduct illegal and provocative moves." "China always respects the freedom of navigation and flights over the South China Sea in accordance with international law, but that should not be conducted in a wayward or illegal manner," Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Ren Guoqiang said at a press conference, Xinhua News Agency reported. "China resolutely opposes any country taking such freedom as a pretext to conduct illegal and provocative moves in the South China Sea, undermining sovereignty and security of littoral countries, and doing harm to regional peace and stability," Ren said. "We demand that the US side earnestly respect the sovereignty and security of China, as well as the strong and common will of countries in the region to preserve peace and stability in the area, and stop making trouble in the South China Sea." "The Chinese military will take resolute measures to safeguard national sovereignty and security, and to safeguard peace and stability in the region," the spokesperson continued. Ren's comments come only days after the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Stethem and the USNS Cesar Chavez, a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship, passed through the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China from the self-governing island of Taiwan. Beijing claims Taiwan is a rebellious province that is a part of China, but Washington backs Taipei's bid to remain independent of the People's Republic, which Taipei claims is not the legitimate government of China. Two weeks before, two US destroyers sailed near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which Beijing also claims are its territory. Beijing claims the islands because they were surrendered to China by the Japanese Empire at the end of World War II, but other nations in southeast Asia do not recognize those claims or any made by Beijing over islands in the waterway, especially those that overlap with their own. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also claim parts of the waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade pass each year and underneath which are believed to lay substantial hydrocarbon reserves. The US doesn't recognize these claims either, saying the waters around islands like the Spratlys are international waters. By sailing through the waters and brazenly ignoring Chinese claims and threats when the US ships get too close the US Navy and its allies conduct "freedom of navigation operations" (FONOPS) to demonstrate Washington's contempt for Beijing's claims. "We strongly call on the US party to immediately stop these provocative actions The Chinese party will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its sovereignty and security as well as the stability in the South China Sea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on February 11, noting that China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the Spratlys. Ren said that China was sorting out its problems in the South China Sea with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members independent of the US' "disregard for international laws and rules" there. China and Taiwan aren't members of ASEAN, but every other claimant to South China Sea territory is, and they cooperate with the ASEAN community closely. Prior to ASEAN's 33rd summit last November, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said he hoped a rules-based code of conduct "will be finished in three years' time so that it will contribute to enduring peace and stability in the South China Sea. We are not and we will not seek hegemony or expansion. That is something that we will never do." Indeed, earlier this month the head of US Naval Operations said essentially the same thing. Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson told the Atlantic Council foreign policy think tank on February 7 that interactions with Chinese ships in the waterway often took place is a "gray zone" between open hostility and peaceful coexistence. "[T]he Chinese navy is growing; there's going to be more opportunities where we meet," Richardson said, noting that "we do have an operational construct that is designed to minimize the chance of miscalculation when two of our ships meet on the high seas So let's not be obstructing one another, driving our ships in front of one another, throwing obstacles in front of the ship. Let's just be biased towards making it easy." Perhaps the extreme example of China's growing impatience with FONOPS was made by Dai Xu, president of the Institute of Marine Safety and Cooperation, as well as a colonel commandant in China's air force, at the Global Times' annual conference in Beijing last December. "If the US warships break into Chinese waters again, I suggest that two warships should be sent: one to stop it, and another one to ram it," he said, Sputnik reported. "In our territorial waters, we won't allow US warships to create disturbance." Dai was certainly prompted by an incident in September of 2018 when a Chinese destroyer intercepted a US destroyer engaging in FONOPS, coming only a couple of dozen meters from the ship at their closest. Other US Navy actions this year have included sailing a destroyer and an oiler through the Taiwan Strait on January 24 and joint drills in the South China Sea with Britain's Royal Navy just a week prior. The French Defense Ministry indicated last week that when its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier deploys to the Indian Ocean later this year, it will also engage in FONOPS, as did London when its new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth heads there in 2020 or 2021. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM Modi Urges Citizens to 'Stand as Rock' as Indian-Pakistani Standoff Escalates Sputnik News 17:24 28.02.2019(updated 17:28 28.02.2019) On Wednesday, India and Pakistan engaged in an air battle with both sides reportedly losing a fighter jet, a day after the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out an airstrike against what it said was a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist group camp located in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir. In an address to his Bharatiya Janata Party members on Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged each and every compatriot to "stand as a wall, as a rock in the face of their objective". Modi stressed that his countrymen should unite as "the enemy seeks to destabilise India", without mentioning Pakistan by name. "The entire country is one today and standing with our soldiers. The world is looking at our collective will and we have faith in our forces' capacity," Modi said, pledging that India will "fight and win as one". The statement comes after UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric urged New Delhi and Islamabad on Wednesday to "urgently take steps to lower tensions through meaningful, mutual engagement and meet their responsibilities to maintain peace and security in the region". Earlier on Wednesday, India and Pakistan engaged in an air battle, just a day after the IAF carried out an airstrike against a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist camp located in the Pakistani-controlled part of the Kashmir region. The Pakistani Army arrested an Indian pilot whose jet was shot down after entering Pakistani airspace. Tensions between the two sides escalated on 14 February when at least 45 Indian paramilitary officers were killed after a car carrying over 100 pounds of explosives detonated next to a security convoy in Kashmir. India named JeM leader Maulana Masood Azhar as the person responsible for ordering the attack and accused Pakistan of having a "direct hand" in the bombing. Islamabad has rejected the allegations, blaming New Delhi for human rights violations in Kashmir. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indian Military Confirms to Press That IAF MiG-21 Shot Down Pakistani F-16 Sputnik News 16:46 28.02.2019(updated 18:58 28.02.2019) Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated this week after Pakistan reportedly shot down a pair of Indian Air Force (IAF) warplanes which flew into Pakistani-controlled territory in the contested province of Kashmir. Speaking at a tri-services press briefing on Thursday, IAF Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor confirmed that an air force MiG-21 Bison shot down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 on Wednesday, 27 February in a dogfight. The IAF also showed the remnants of a US-made AMRAAM missile found on the Indian side of the border in Kashmir which was said to have been fired by a Pakistani F-16 during an attack on Indian military bases. Pakistan had earlier denied that it had used F-16 aircraft on Wednesday, and maintained that no Pakistani Air Force aircraft had been hit. The AMRAAM is a medium-range, all-weather, day-night air-to-air missile used by Pakistan and manufactured by US defence giant Raytheon. The MiG-21 is a legacy fighter first introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1959 and exported to dozens of countries around the world. India has upgraded versions of the plane, known as the MiG-21bis, which were produced until 1985, and which are expected to be retired in the early 2020s. India to Continue Strikes if Necessary At the briefing, Indian military officials warned that New Delhi remained prepared to continue targeting terror camps inside Pakistan unless Islamabad agreed to support its campaign against jihadists. The Indian Air Force noted that it was pleased with Pakistan's decision to return Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, and said that it looked forward to his safe return to India. The MiG-21bis pilot was captured by the Pakistani military on Wednesday and saved from an angry mob after Pakistan reported that it shot down two Indian warplanes operating in its airspace over Kashmir. "We are extremely happyto have him back, we want to see him back[but] we only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with all Geneva conventions," Vice Marshal Kapoor said. India's Navy said it was put in a high state of readiness amid tensions between the two countries, with its surface, submarine and air components ready to 'deter and defeat' any 'misadventure' by Pakistan. Air Force Boasts of Anti-Terror Strike's Success The air force reported that it had "fairly credible evidence" that its earlier raids on a Jaish-e-Mohammed* camp led to "massive damage," but said it would be premature to estimate casualties. According to Indian armed forces figures, the past two days have seen some 35 ceasefire violations by the Pakistani side on the line of contact separating Indian and Pakistani forces in the contested province of Kashmir. Simmering tensions between India and Pakistan escalated on Tuesday after Indian Air Force fighters struck a camp belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group on the Pakistani side of the border without Islamabad's permission. Tensions escalated Wednesday, when Pakistan reported that it had shot down two Indian jets on the Pakistani side of the border during a raid. The IAF confirmed having lost one of its jets. Islamabad accused New Delhi of violating its sovereignty with the air attacks, while the Indian side has charged Pakistan with refusing to tackle jihadist extremist groups on its territory. Earlier this month, dozens of Indian security personnel were killed in a bombing attack in contested Kashmir. The Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group took responsibility for the attack. India has requested that Pakistan extradite the group's leaders. On Wednesday, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley suggested that his country's special forces should have the right to conduct operations against terrorist leaders in Pakistan, just as the US did in 2011 when it captured and killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to "stand as a wall, as a rock" and unite as "the enemy seeks to destabilise India," without mentioning Pakistan by name. *An al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Has Right to Fight Terrorists in Pakistan Just Like US Does - Minister Sputnik News 15:28 28.02.2019(updated 15:37 28.02.2019) Tensions between South Asian nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan spiked this week after Pakistan reportedly shot down a pair of Indian Air Force warplanes which flew into Pakistani-controlled territory in Kashmir on Wednesday following a terrorist attack on an Indian army convoy earlier this month. Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has suggested that the country's special forces should have the right to carry out operations against terrorist leaders in neighbouring Pakistan, just as the US did when it launched an operation to kill al-Qaeda* leader Osama bin Laden in 2011. "I remember when US Navy Seals went to Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden, then why can't India?" Jaitley said Wednesday, as quoted by The Asian Age newspaper. "This used to be only an imagination, a wish, a frustration and disappointment. But it's possible today," Jaitley, who previously served as India's defence minister, warned. New Delhi is demanding that Islamabad extradite the leaders of several terrorist groups thought to reside in Pakistan, including Masood Azhar, leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed* terrorist group, and Hafiz Saeed, co-founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba* extremists. New Delhi has accused these groups of carrying out multiple terrorist attacks on Indian territory, and charged Pakistan with harbouring the jihadists. Pakistan has denied the charges and refused to comply with India's demands. On Wednesday, the Pakistani military claimed to have downed two Indian warplanes flying over its airspace over the disputed region of Kashmir. A day earlier, Indian jets crossed the border to bomb a Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistani-controlled territory. India believes the group is responsible for a deadly attack on an Indian military convoy in Kashmir earlier this month, which killed over 40 troops, and justified the strikes by claiming Islamabad had proven unable or unwilling to act "to destroy terrorist infrastructure." Pakistan blasted India for violating its territorial integrity. Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader believed responsible for a series of deadly attacks against US civilian and military targets throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, DC in 2001, was killed during a special operation by US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan on 2 May 2011. Pakistani authorities were not alerted to the raid, and only scrambled F-16s after the US strike team had left the compound where bin Laden was holed up. The compound was situated in a suburb housing many retired military officers, with bin Laden's residency leading to considerable embarrassment for Pakistan's intelligence services in the aftermath of the operation to kill him. In the 1980s, Moscow accused Pakistan of harbouring multiple Mujahedeen groups, including bin Laden, in their war against the Soviet-backed government in neighbouring Afghanistan. *Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Plan to Break Through Venezuelan Border Failed - Russian Foreign Ministry Sputnik News 15:28 28.02.2019(updated 15:30 28.02.2019) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US plan to break through the Venezuelan border under the pretext of delivering humanitarian aid failed, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday. "The illegal attempt on February 23 by US-inspired radical part of the Venezuelan opposition, supported by extremist groups with Molotov cocktails in hands, to break through the border under the pretext of carrying so-called humanitarian aid was doomed to failure from the very beginning. Its organizers were well aware that any violation of the state border always should and would be stopped, because this is a direct attempt on the country's sovereignty," Zakharova said. "Fortunately, the criminal plan of pseudo-humanitarian officials failed," she said at a briefing. Russia will not support the draft resolution proposed by the United States in the UN Security Council, Maria Zakharova stressed. "Of course, Russia can not support such a project," Zakharova said, adding that there was nothing new in the draft resolution. The spokeswoman added that the situation in Venezuela remained alarming with Washington willing to remove the legitimate authorities in Caracas from power. In the draft resolution, the United States is seeking a new presidential election in Venezuela. The council is expected to vote on the document Thursday night New York time. On 23 February, the Venezuelan opposition tried to forcefully bring the US-sponsored aid into Venezuela from Brazil and Colombia. The failed attempt resulted in clashes between the Venezuelan National Guard officers, who prevented trucks with aid from crossing the country's border without permission, and pro-aid protesters, who tried to help force the aid into Venezuela. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan to Release Indian Pilot on Friday as 'Peace Gesture' - Prime Minister Sputnik News 14:13 28.02.2019(updated 14:55 28.02.2019) Earlier, India called upon Pakistan to release and return the Indian MiG-21 fighter jet pilot who was arrested by the Pakistan Army after his warplane had been shot down. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the Indian pilot who was captured by Pakistani forces will be released on Friday. "As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow," Khan told parliament in Islamabad on Thursday. Imran Khan, making the announcement in an address to both houses of Parliament, added that he tried to reach Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday with a message that he wants to de-escalate tension. Talking about the incident, he said that he had feared that India could have launched a missile attack, but the situation was later calmed. This week, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated as the two countries engaged in an air battle, resulting in the confirmed downing of at least one warplane. Pakistan claimed on Wednesday that it had downed two Indian warplanes which entered its airspace over the disputed Kashmir border, and captured an Indian pilot. This came a day after Indian jets crossed into Pakistan to bomb a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in the Kashmir region. India's air raids in Pakistan came after a deadly terrorist attack when a car carrying over 100 pounds of explosives detonated next to a security convoy, killing 45 Indian paramilitary officers. India named Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group residing in Pakistan, as the person responsible for ordering the attack and accused Pakistan of harboring and protecting terrorists. In turn, Pakistan has rejected the allegations of its involvement in the attack. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Ships Fuel to Kashmir Airfields as Tensions With Pakistan Spike - Reports Sputnik News 13:26 28.02.2019 This week, nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan aerially engaged with one another in the disputed Kashmir region for the first time since their last war in 1971. A chain of 500 Indian tankers loaded with motor fuel and kerosene are on the way to the Kashmir region where Indo-Pakistani tensions flared up this week, The Times of India reports. According to the newspaper, state-run oil companies were asked to carry out a similar delivery of fuel to airfields and storage depots in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir six days before Indian jets bombed an apparent terrorist training camp inside Pakistan. A senior government source was quoted as saying that the oil companies maintain fuel supplies at proper levels for the military, while civil supplies have been limited, particularly due to the closure of the strategic Jammu-Srinagar Highway following a major landslide. On Thursday, a spokesman for the Indian Defence Ministry confirmed that Pakistani troops shelled India's position across the Kashmir border for nearly an hour, with the Indian army responding in kind. The recent spike in tensions between the two countries came after India's Tuesday bombing of an apparent Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) training camp in Pakistan. JeM is a Pakistan-based Islamist terror group which seeks to break Kashmir away from India, and the organisation was behind the suicide attack on Indian paramilitary police two weeks ago, which claimed over 40 lives. Wednesday saw the two countries engage in an aerial incident over the disputed region of Kashmir. According to Pakistan's account, Indian warplanes entered its airspace and it shot down two of them and captured one pilot. India's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Pakistan's Air Force targeted military installations inside India in retaliation to the air raid on a JeM camp, adding that a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet and an Indian MiG-21 were downed during the confrontation. While India has accused Pakistan of supporting the militants and having a "direct hand" in the incident, Pakistan has rejected the allegations, accusing India, in turn, of being responsible for human rights violations taking place in Kashmir. This escalation has affected global investors, who on Wednesday sought "safer havens" such as the yen and the Swiss franc instead of the US dollar. Pakistan said it was ready to cooperate, with Prime Minister Imran Khan voicing concerns that the situation could spiral out of control. Washington, which believes that Islamabad has not been doing its best to eradicate the terrorist threat, praised India's airstrike on the terror camp, irking Pakistan. Pakistani envoy to Washington said on Wednesday that the US' take on India's actions is "an endorsement of the Indian position and that is what emboldened them even more". Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Maduro Withdrew 8 Tonnes of Gold From Venezuela's Central Bank - Reports Sputnik News 10:45 28.02.2019(updated 10:47 28.02.2019) Two weeks ago, the president of crisis-ridden Venezuela suggested that the Bank of England had frozen some 80 tonnes of Venezuela's gold and expressed hope that his country would not be robbed of the gold that legally belongs to it. At least eight tonnes of gold have allegedly been taken from Venezuela's central bank at the behest of President Nicolas Maduro. Critics insist that he had done this in a bid to smuggle it out from the country. Lawmaker Angel Daniel Alvarado Rangel from the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), the opposition coalition in Venezuela's parliament, told Reuters that the gold had been taken away in government vehicles between Wednesday and Friday last week. Alvarado and three other government sources were quoted as claiming that at the time of the alleged extraction, the bank's president Calixto Ortego was traveling abroad and there were no regular security guards in the building. Alvarado contended that the gold would be sold abroad illegally, but did not clarify where it would be transported or who would buy it. The deep constitutional crisis in Venezuela reached its pinnacle last month when opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president, calling for Maduro's resignation and fresh elections. The United States, along with a spate of other Western countries that have long opposed the leftist leadership of Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, immediately recognised Guaido as the nation's leader unlike Russia, China, Mexico, Turkey, and some other countries who support Maduro. Washington has slapped sanctions against high-ranking Maduro allies and the country's state-run oil giant PDVSA, seizing $7 billion in its assets. The move would cost Maduro's government an additional $11 billion in lost export proceeds, US National Security Adviser John Bolton. US Secretary of State Mike Pence called for members of the Lima Group, a bloc of nations aiming to tackle the presumed erosion of democracy under Maduro, to block PDVSA's assets and to transfer ownership of Venezuelan assets in their countries to Guaido. Late last month, reports emerged that the Bank of England the UK's central bank had rejected Maduro officials' request to withdraw over $1 million worth of gold after US officials lobbied their counterparts in the UK to help cut Maduro's government off its foreign assets. Maduro believes that the Bank of England has blocked access to "more or less 80 tonnes" of Venezuela's gold. In an interview with the BBC on 12 February, he expressed hope that his country "is not robbed of the gold that legally belongs to the central bank of Venezuela". Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's UNSC Resolution Reaffirms Maduro's Role in Coordinating Aid Deliveries Sputnik News 07:33 28.02.2019 UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has the primary role in the organization of foreign humanitarian aid deliveries and this assistance should be provided at the request of the country's authorities, the Russian-sponsored draft UNSC resolution, obtained by Sputnik, read. According to the text of the Russian-sponsored document, obtained by Sputnik on Wednesday, the draft resolution "reaffirms the primary role of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the initiation, organization, coordination and implementation of international assistance efforts and initiatives within its national territory, and recalls that such assistance should be provided with the consent of and on the basis of an appeal by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela". The document also stresses the need to conduct political dialogue, aimed at settling the current crisis in the Bolivarian Republic, including the implementation of the Montevideo mechanism. The Montevideo mechanism, which was proposed by Mexico, Uruguay and the Caribbean Community, envisages four stages the immediate launch of a dialogue between the Venezuelan sides on the situation in the country, negotiations process, drafting of an agreement and implementation of the deal. The settlement of the current situation in Venezuela should be achieved through peaceful means and the threats to use force against Venezuela raised concern, the text of Russia's draft resolution reiterated. On Wednesday, the United States requested the UN Security Council to hold a meeting to vote on its draft resolution calling for new presidential elections in Venezuela and the unhindered delivery of the alleged humanitarian aid to the Latin American country, which was coordinated with the Venezuelan opposition. The Venezuelan authorities, however, have been opposing the aid deliveries, suggesting they were a US ploy to topple Maduro's government. Russia subsequently introduced its own draft resolution at the UN Security Council. The United Nations and the Red Cross have urged Washington not to politicize humanitarian assistance and not to deliver aid without the consent of the Venezuelan government. The vote on the UNSC draft resolution is set to take place later on Thursday. Venezuela is currently going through a political crisis. On 5 January, lawmaker Juan Guaido was elected as the president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which all other government branches have been refusing to recognize since 2016. On 23 January, two days after the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled his election, Guaido declared himself the country's "interim president". Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in for his second presidential term on 10 January after winning the May election, which part of the opposition boycotted, called Guaido's move an attempt to stage a coup orchestrated by Washington. The United States immediately recognized Guaido, and around 50 other countries followed suit. Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Cuba, Bolivia and a number of other countries have meanwhile voiced their support for the legitimate government of constitutionally elected Maduro. Mexico and Uruguay have refused to recognize Guaido, declaring themselves neutral and promoting crisis settlement via dialogue. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan and India Exchange Fire in Kashmir - Indian Defence Ministry Sputnik News 10:12 28.02.2019(updated 12:37 28.02.2019) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Pakistani servicemen shelled on Thursday morning India's positions located across the so-called Line of Control (LoC) separating the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of the disputed Kashmir region, having violated the ceasefire, Lt. Col. Devender Anand, the spokesman for the Indian Defense Ministry said. "At about 0600 hours [00:30 GMT], Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing small arms along LoC in Krishna Ghati Sector. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. The firing stopped at about 0700 hours," Anand said, as quoted by the Hindustan Times newspaper. The Indian army returned fire "effectively and strongly", and both sides stopped shooting at around 0700 (IST), he added. Local authorities have shut down all educational institutions within 5 km of the LoC and the international border in Rajouri, Poonch and Samba districts. Meanwhile, the Indian government convened an urgent security meeting with the three service chiefs in New Delhi amid the escalation at the Line of Control and talk of another major strike against Pakistan.The first meeting, chaired by Indian defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is underway, while the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will meet at 1830 (Indian Standard Time) on Thursday evening, a senior government official told Sputnik. The meeting has been called against the backdrop of several reports that indicate the movement of troops and equipment on both sides towards the border. A media report citing Pakistan Foreign Minister SM Qureshi reads that Pakistan feared another attack from India and it can do from the air, sea and land border. Meanwhile, another report based on a document issued by Pakistan said that all hospitals near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan would be reserved for emergency services. Unverified videos circulated in social media indicate that troop movement has been underway since yesterday on both sides towards the international border. This week, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated, as the two countries engaged in an air battle and lost jets in it. It followed an air strike by the Indian Air Force on what it said was a camp of the militant Jaish-e-Mohammad group, considered terrorist by India, which was located on the Pakistani soil across the LoC. The strike came after a deadly attack by Jaish-e-Mohammad on the Indian paramilitary police force in Kashmir in mid-February. While India has accused Pakistan of supporting the militants and having a "direct hand" in the incident, Pakistan has rejected the allegations, accusing India, in turn, of being responsible for human rights violations taking place in Kashmir. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Secretary travels to the Gulf to boost momentum on Yemen peace process Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will visit Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE later this week to inject fresh urgency into Yemen's peace process. 28 February 2019 The Foreign Secretary's visit is part of sustained UK diplomacy to bolster the Yemen peace process. The Foreign Secretary's discussions will build on the meeting of Quad UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK and US foreign ministers he chaired on 13 February and come after the Prime Minister's recent announcement of 200million of new UK aid for Yemen. The UK is putting its weight behind the efforts of the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths to accelerate implementation of the actions agreed at the Stockholm peace talks. For the third time in three months the Foreign Secretary will engage senior Government of Yemen figures, Houthi leaders and politicians in Oman and Saudi Arabia to press for the progress that Yemen badly needs. Ahead of the visit the Foreign Secretary said: "I will travel to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates later this week to add further impetus to the peace process in Yemen." "My aim is to build on the UN-backed agreement reached in Stockholm in December. The peace process has allowed a sustained reduction in fighting in Hodeidah. But more needs to be done. In my discussions with the Houthis and the Government of Yemen I will urge all sides to accelerate the redeployments they agreed at Stockholm and ensure the flow of humanitarian relief." "Moving these forces away from the ports is necessary to prevent a return to fighting, prepare the road for the next round of peace talks and ensure desperately needed humanitarian aid is able to reach those who need it most." In wider meetings with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates the Foreign Secretary will reinforce the UK's continued commitment to regional security, prosperity and human rights issues. In Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Secretary will also address a global conference on patient safety. In Oman, the Foreign Secretary will agree a new Joint Declaration to accelerate UK-Omani partnership. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mine ban agreement 'has saved countless lives', but 'accelerated efforts' needed to end scourge for good: Guterres 28 February 2019 - Although a landmark convention banning Anti-Personnel Mines has saved "countless lives" and limbs over the past 20 years, "accelerated efforts" are needed to ensure that they are removed from the face of the earth forever, the UN chief said on Thursday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention coming into force, on 1 March, 1999, saying it was a welcome milestone, but more countries needed to sign up and ratify "as soon as possible". The statement said that the Convention had "saved countless lives, stopped mutilation and injury and enabled the revitalization of livelihoods." His Spokesman added that the UN chief "commends the commitment of the States parties to rid the world of a weapon that kills and maims indiscriminately, while seriously impeding peace and development. He added that Mr. Guterres He congratulated the 31 States who have been able to declare their land mine-free, and "urges all States that have not done so to accede as soon as possible to the Convention." Mines must become 'a relic of the past' The Convention was concluded at an international conference in September 1997 in Oslo, Norway, in September 1997, and bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines, and calls for their total destruction. It's also referred to as the Ottawa Convention, as it was opened for signature in the Canadian city, at the end of 1997. It remained open at UN Headquarters in New York, until its entry into force, but in December 1997 a total of 122 Governments signed the treaty, with Burkina Faso becoming the 40th country to ratify the agreement, triggering its entry into force in 1999. "The Secretary-General calls for accelerated efforts to render anti-personnel mines a relic of the past. He also appeals to States to ensure access to sustainable assistance and services for the thousands of mine victims," said the statement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Service and Sacrifice: For Ghana, UN peacekeeping is a 'noble opportunity to serve humanity' 28 February 2019 - Ghanaian men and women have served as United Nations peacekeepers since the early 1970s, participating in operations that stretched from the Sinai to the African continent. The West African Nations is now among the top 10 contributors to UN peacekeeping, with nearly 3,000 personnel serving on eight missions. Brigadier General (Dr) Emmanuel Wekem Kotia, the Commander of the Western Sector in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), spoke with UN News about his decades-long service, which includes participation in the Organization's ground-breaking transitional operation in Cambodia a launch pad for key UN peacekeeping activities such as disarmament and reintegration, and electoral support component and the post-electoral security landscape in the DRC. UN News: How would you characterize the current situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Brig. Gen. Kotia: The situation remains calm. The President is continuing the transition by nominating his prime minister and other key ministers. Security wise, there Western sector remains relatively calm, except for a few ethnic problems within the Yumbi area and the Kasai regions. However, on the Eastern front, there continue to be a number of activities by armed elements. MONUSCO, jointly with the armed forces of the DRC [known by the French acronym FARDC], are continuing to monitor the situation [there]. Also, one must not discount the issue of human rights abuses sporadically being perpetrated in various parts of the country. In addition, the continuing increase [in the number of cases] of the Ebola virus disease in the eastern part of the country, specifically Butembo (in North Kivu) and the other areas in the east, is cause for concern. So far, more than 700 Ebola cases have been identified. However, MONUSCO, humanitarian and other UN agencies, and the local authorities, are continuing to work very hard to contain the situation. The relationship between the [ FARDC]and MONUSCO has been very cordial. Even in the Eastern sector where we have the armed elements who are fighting against the Government. MONUSCO personnel are jointly working out plans and fighting alongside the FARADC against the rebel groups in those areas. However, it must be noted that the Congolese Government may need to enact a host of measures to be able to facilitate the operational capability of the FARDC, as well as provide logistic facilities or resources for the civilian police to be able to undertake their duties within local communities. It is also very important for the Government to take ownership of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process for all the rebel factions that are turning in their weapons or voluntarily disarming themselves, especially in the areas around the Kasais. UN News: What are some of the highlights and some of the challenges you have encountered while serving with a UN mission? Brig. Gen. Kotia:My participation in UN missions began when [they] were based on the traditional concepts. Now, from those traditional concepts, the UN moved to integrated operations from dependence purely on a military force, towards a greater level of mixing the police, military and the civilians. The UN then moved ahead to a more international dimension, by which, in addition to these components that I've mentioned, the issues of human rights and humanitarian support were introduced as part of its missions. The UN has sustained itself very well in such multidimensional operations for some time. However, as a result of the report issued by the high-level panel that was set up by the former UN Secretary-General and the realities on the ground, in contemporary UN peacekeeping, we have moved from a combination of multidimensional to high risk peacekeeping operations a situation that is now very dynamic and fluid. Using MONUSCO as an example, we have the core MONUSCO troops who are working or maintaining peace by protection through projection. However, we also have a Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) that has a mandate to undertake offensive operations to protect civilians due to the [activities] of various armed elements in the region that have attacked MONUSCO, as well as other civilians. To protect civilians in the DRC and elsewhere, it is important to underline that higher risk peacekeeping missions must move towards more offensive operations. Indeed, the FIB in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could serve as a template for setting up similar capacities in Mali and the Central African Republic, or other high-risk areas that we are might have peacekeeping operations. One key issue is that in most conflict areas, we operate in very difficult environments, and that is a very big challenge. Peacekeepers come from different countries and they need to get accustomed to these environments. Another challenge has to do with the background of conflicts. Most conflicts, especially those in Africa, are not well-understood by peacekeepers before they are deployed. Since the concepts of operation are not specific, peacekeepers most often must adjust their activities to deal with on-the-ground challenges. Additionally, we sometimes have inadequate numbers of peacekeepers to fulfill a mandate that is very big and that has a very wide scope. UN News: What are the factors that have helped troops succeed in missions you have participated in? Brig. Gen. Kotia:There are various factors. First, one must understand that peacekeeping mandates are set [as a matter of] international law. So, adherence to that mandate and policy guidelines and directives are among the key things that have helped troops succeed. Another area that has helped peacekeepers to succeed, and my troops specifically, is that we've had a very intensive pre-operational training before deployment. This training prepares [the troops] through, among others, a simulation of the areas concerned. You get to have a feel for it before you are deployed and so the conditions [on the ground] don't look so different from what you might have seen in training. Moreover, training continuous training and in-mission training is key. In addition, ensuring that troops have equipment to match the mandate of a specific mission is also key to success. Apart from that, sharing the experience of Ghanaian troops, especially in other UN missions, has also helped, and has reiterated the success of our troops in peacekeeping missions. UN News: What is an essential element in maintaining professionalism in peacekeeping? Brig. Gen. Kotia:First, peacekeepers must understand the dynamics of conflicts. Without an analytical understanding of the conflict, one might not be able to come up with plans or strategies in which to be able to succeed in a peacekeeping mission. So that is very key. Respect for the culture of local communities is also vital. Let's remember that we are helping to stabilize an area or to create a secure environment for the people. We are not there to dictate to them what we want. We are there to support them or to assist them. So, we must first, understand their culture so that we'll be able to operate within the country and assist them to achieve peace. Now another aspect that has helped with professionalism is the deployment of more women. In MONUSCO for instance, the introduction of the female engagement team has been very successful. In my sector, especially, when female engagement teams are sent in to assist people in deprived communities, they are very well received. These teams interact with children and other women to help them understand the essence of why peacekeepers have been deployed. UN News: Can you share with us anything specific that has stuck with you throughout your time in the field? Brig. Gen. Kotia:If I were to select one special instance or peacekeeping mission to talk about it would be the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, which I consider one of my biggest stories. The Cambodia mission was the first transitional authority mission set up in the history of UN peacekeeping operations. The mandate of that mission set the stage for several groundbreaking policies. First, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) was first introduced in Cambodia, and it took place in my battalion. So, for Ghana to be one or the first countries to experience the integration of a DDR programme was quite interesting. In addition, the UN operation in Cambodia was the first time an electoral component was established as part of a UN mission. That was very useful, and I have been able to share that experience at other missions in which I served. It was also the first time a mission was set up to begin and end within a specific timeframe in this case, the mission wrapped up within the time set out by the first mandate. UN News: What advice or information would you give to men and women in Ghana who are considering serving in a UN Mission? Brig. Gen. Kotia:I would tell them that it is noble opportunity to serve humanity. It gives you a chance to assist people in need to have a safe environment. One must consider [it] an opportunity to work in the service of global peace. It means that you are an ambassador from your country working for peace. UN News: How would you describe Ghana's contribution to UN peacekeeping? Brig. Gen. Kotia:Ghana's contribution to UN peacekeeping is quite interesting. Incidentally, it started in the Congo. Ghana was the first country to deploy in the then Congo now DRC, in 1960, with a brigade of troops. After President Patrice Lumumba was killed, the Ghana battalion was redeployed to the Kasais. Since then, Ghana has become one of leading contributors of peacekeeping in the world. We've seen Ghana deployed in 1973 in the Sinai, and then later with a battalion deployed to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Ghana also found itself serving in, among others, Cambodia, Rwanda, Chad, Liberia, and Bosnia. Ghana's participation has been very tremendous so far as global peace is concerned. Our country has served as a mentor to other countries in this field. We have gone on to establish the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, which serves as a global training center for various aspects of peacekeeping. Ghana is considered as a mentoring country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address F-35A maintainers, special ops team up for forward refueling 388th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published February 28, 2019 CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- America's most advanced aircraft integrated with a variant of one of its oldest and truest airframes this week to provide more combat flexibility to the Air Force. For the first time, Airmen from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah and Airmen from the 26th Special Tactics Squadron and the 27th Special Operation Logistics Readiness Squadron at Cannon AFB, trained and carried out a Forward Air Refueling Point operation from the MC-130J Commando II to the F-35A Lightning II. During this forward refueling scenario, an MC-130J lands at a remote airfield secured and managed by Air Force combat controllers. The C-130 crew, made up of loadmasters and fuels troops quickly set up equipment and fuel lines, then transfer fuel from the MC-130J to other aircraft landing behind them in this case, an F-35A. The training is a building block in adaptive basing development. Adaptive basing is a key component to providing air power in highly-contested modern warfare. To succeed, Airmen from different platforms and different specialties must train to work together effectively, planners said. "We're really experienced at FARP operations with fourth-generation aircraft like the F-16 (Fighting Falcon) and the A-10 (Thunderbolt II) but this is the first time we've done it with the F-35," said Maj. Meghan O'Rourke, an MC-130J combat systems officer with the 9th Special Operations Squadron and one of the organizers of the exercise. The 9th SOS has refueled F-22 Raptors and is traditionally a place where new operations are given a trial run, O'Rourke said. Expanding FARP operations with the F-35A will provide commanders more options in a near-pear fight where other support may be limited. "Setting up a FARP gives us flexibility in planning because we now have the capability to land in a remote location, refuel, potentially re-arm and go take the fight to the enemy, and the F-35 can bring a lot to the fight." said Lt. Col. Matthew Olsen, director of operations for the 421st Fighter Squadron and one of the F-35 pilots who flew to Cannon AFB. The training brought together pilots, maintainers, special operators and planners. The maintenance footprint for the training was adaptive too. A small group of Blended Operational Lightning Technicians from the 388th Maintenance Group traveled to Cannon AFB to provide training and support to the special operations airmen. "It's been very valuable to interface with the refueling troops and special-ops guys," said Master Sgt. Dantorrie Herring, 388th MXG. "A lot of lessons learned and we demonstrated that we can do this with a small group of BOLT Airmen." Instead of bringing a group of 12 F-35A maintainers, Herring brought three F-35 BOLTs who are trained in multiple aspects of maintenance. In scenarios like FARP operations, the BOLT program can reduce manpower by more than 65 percent. "If you think about doing this 'real-world,' we want the smallest footprint we can have," Herring said. "With adaptive basing and BOLT you don't have to send the whole unit." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Sees Possible Easing of India-Pakistan Tensions By Ayesha Tanzeem February 28, 2019 U.S. President Donald Trump signaled there might be an easing of tensions between nuclear-armed South Asian rivals India and Pakistan after days of escalation that resulted in skirmishes between their air forces and fears of all-out war. "I think reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India. They've been going at it and we've been involved in trying to have them stop. Hopefully, that's going to be coming to an end," the U.S. president said at a press conference in Vietnam after he finished a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Later in the day, Pakistan's prime minister, Imran Khan, announced his country was going to release "as a peace gesture" an Indian pilot captured Wednesday when Pakistan shot down an Indian war plane. Welcoming Pakistan's announcement, Indian Air Force Vice Marshal R.G.K Kapoor said that the "IAF (Indian Air Force) is happy and looks forward to return of Wing Commander Abhinandan" (Varthaman). Asked if it was being seen as a goodwill gesture, he said, "We see it as a gesture in consonance with Geneva Conventions." The pilot's return, however, could be "a kind of breakthrough. That could create the conditions for any diplomatic discussion, dialogue," says Manoj Joshi, a strategic affairs expert at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. Many analysts on both sides said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not afford to lose face ahead of a tough election soon, so Pakistan might have to offer him something to present to his public. Khan, according to Lahore-based political analyst Rasool Bakhsh Raees, had already made one such concession by offering to have a dialogue with India on terrorism. "Pakistan's policy for a decade-and-a-half has been that they were willing to discuss terrorism with Kashmir and a host of other issues," Raees said, calling it a big change and saying that if Modi were wise, he would seize the opportunity. So far, Modi has avoided taking calls from the Pakistani prime minister, who said he tried to reach out. Even if the hostilities between the South Asian rivals subside under international pressure, the head of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, Ajai Sahni, feared that aerial combat along their disputed border in Kashmir could become the "new normal." "What I see basically is that this is going to turn into the new normal, that as we have the incessant cycle of cross-border firing, in which hundreds of lives are lost, we will also have now the possibility of occasional or frequent aerial air skirmishes in which more lives will be lost." The Line of Control, the de facto border in Kashmir, is already volatile, with thousands of instances of cross-border shelling in the last few years, disrupting lives in villages close to it. The shelling was so heavy Tuesday night, according to residents in the border town of Chakothi on the Pakistani side, that they were forced to flee their homes to nearby Muzaffarabad to take shelter. Tensions between the two countries mounted after an attack earlier this month in Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed more than 40 security personnel. A Pakistan-based group, Jaish e Mohammad, claimed responsibility. Even though Pakistan claims it does not support militant groups and Prime Minister Khan has offered to cooperate in the investigation of the attack, the international community's reaction seems to indicate the country might face long-term pressure over the issue, even after the current crisis is over. In the wake of the attack, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed Pakistan to take "meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil." The European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, said Pakistan needed to take "clear and targeted action related to all forms of terrorist activity," saying "[t]errorism can never be justified." United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for "accountability under international law and the perpetrators of the terrorist acts be brought to swift justice." British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said his country would work to ensure "those responsible for the attack are held to account." A fresh proposal is expected to be tabled by the United States, Britain and France in the U.N. Security Council to designate the head of JeM, Masood Azhar, as a global terrorist. This has been a long-standing demand of India but previous bids have been blocked by China, ostensibly on behalf of Pakistan. JeM is already on the U.N.'s list of terrorist organizations. Pakistan's leader said the country was already taking action against all terrorist groups in compliance with the Financial Action Task Force requirements. The international terror funding monitor has placed Pakistan on its watch list. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan to Release Captured Indian Fighter Pilot as 'Peace Gesture' By Ayesha Tanzeem, Anjana Pasricha February 28, 2019 Pakistan will release the Indian fighter pilot captured after his plane was shot down earlier this week in the disputed Kashmir region. Prime Minister Imran Khan announced Thursday during a parliamentary speech that it will turn over Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday as a "peace gesture" toward its nuclear-armed neighbor. "In our desire of peace, I announce that tomorrow [Friday], and as a first step to open negotiations [with India], Pakistan will be releasing the Indian Air Force officer in our custody," Khan said. Varthaman was captured Wednesday after flying over the Line of Control, the de-facto border in the disputed Kashmir region, and into the airspace of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. A second Indian fighter jet was also shot down during the skirmish, but crashed in India-controlled Kashmir. New Delhi also claims it shot down a Pakistani fighter jet, a claim denied by Islamabad. The announcement came just a few hours after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated to reporters in Hanoi that the United States was playing a role to help lower tensions between the South Asian nuclear armed rivals. "We have reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India. They have been going at it, we have been involved in trying to help them stop. And we have some reasonably decent news. I think, hopefully that will be coming to an end," Trump noted. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Thursday on a flight from Vietnam to Manila he "spent a good deal of time" speaking Wednesday night with the leaders of India and Pakistan. Pompeo said the conversations were aimed at "making sure there was a good information exchange" between the leaders and encouraging them "not to take any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk." The recent developments involving both countries was likely to be discussed Thursday during a meeting between U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale and the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Asad Majeed Khan, at the State Department. Despite Pakistan's announcement that it would return the captured Indian pilot, India remains on a "heightened" state of alert, according to Indian army Major General Surendra Singh Mahal. "We are fully prepared and in a heightened state of readiness to respond to any provocation from Pakistan," Mahal said at a news conference in New Delhi. Indian police also tightened security Thursday in states bordering Pakistan. Barricades were erected and additional officers were deployed in India's northern Punjab state, the Ludhiana District, the state of Gujarat and the desert state of Rajasthan. Pakistan closed off its civilian airspace after the aerial firefight, a decision that forced Thai Airways to cancel a number of flights, leaving nearly 5,000 passengers scrambling to find other flights. Thai Airways later received permission to fly over China's airspace. Pakistan and India have moved closer to the brink of war since 40 Indian paramilitary forces were killed in a suicide attack in the town of Pulwama in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14. New Delhi has accused Pakistan of shielding militant group Jaish e Mohammad, which has claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says it has received a dossier from India about the attack. Indian jets entered Pakistani airspace Tuesday for the first time since 1971, when the two countries went to war to destroy what they said were JeM's training camps in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The rivals have gone to war three times since achieving independence from Britain in 1947. The two sides briefly exchanged fire across the contested border in Kashmir on Thursday. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his Saudi counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir, would arrive in Islamabad later Thursday carrying a special message from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Group Behind India-Pakistan Flare-up Profiled By Madeeha Anwar February 28, 2019 The tension between India and Pakistan that led to both sides flexing their military muscles this week was triggered by a terror attack claimed by a U.S.-designated terror group based in Pakistan. India blames Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) for the suicide attack in Indian-administered Kashmir this month, which killed about 40 Indian paramilitary troops. India justified its airstrikes this week inside Pakistan by saying it targeted the JeM training camp. Here is what is known about the group: What is Jaish-e-Muhammad? JeM, or the Army of Muhammad, was founded in 2000 with an aim to liberate the Indian-administered Kashmir area and to ultimately unite it with Pakistan. Indian officials and international terrorism authorities consider JeM a lethal terror group and accuse it of launching numerous assaults in India, including on an Indian Parliament building, local residents and Indian army bases. Both the U.S. State Department and the United Nations have designated JeM as a terrorist organization. Pakistan outlawed the group in 2002 after JeM attacked India's Parliament in December 2001. The group then changed its name and has continued to operate under the new name of Tehreek-ul-Furqan. Where is JeM based? Jaish-e-Muhammad reportedly is based in the Peshawar region of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkwha province, and Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. The group follows strict Sunni ideology and has ties with other Sunni terror groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). LeT and LeJ are both U.S.-designated terror networks based in Pakistan that are strong proponents of the liberation of India-controlled Kashmir. JeM also had close ties with the al-Qaida terror group and the Taliban. Additionally, it is believed al-Qaida provided funds to JeM to carry out terror acts in Kashmir. India has long accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence of covertly providing support to the JeM network and its leader, Masood Azhar a claim denied by Pakistan. Who founded the group? Azhar, from Pakistan's Punjab province, founded JeM. The Muslim cleric started the hard-line Islamist group after being freed from an Indian prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 hostages from an Indian Airlines plane that had been hijacked by militants and taken to Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province in the 1990s. Azhar reportedly received his militant training from a jihad camp in Afghanistan in the 1980s and later fought against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Before founding JeM, Azhar was an active member of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a U.N.-designated terror group that rebranded itself as Harkat-ul-Ansar in 1993 following a ban. In recent years, India repeatedly has proposed having the JeM leader designated as a global terrorist through the U.N. Security Council. But China, a Pakistani ally, has blocked the move several times. In a video message released in 2014, Azhar claimed he had more than 300 suicide bombers at his behest who could attack India if Narendra Modi were to become India's prime minister. Modi was sworn in as prime minister on May 26 of that year. Attacks in India Jaish-e-Muhammad is responsible for carrying out several deadly attacks in India over the years. In October 2001, JeM's operatives carried out a car bomb attack on the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar, killing more than 35 people. In December 2001, militants belonging to JeM and LeT attacked the Indian Parliament in New Delhi. Six Indian police personnel were killed. The attack escalated tension between India and Pakistan to an extent that prompted the archrivals to deploy troops along their border. JeM militants also attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in India in January 2016. Three members of India's security force were killed. JeM also has carried out attacks inside Pakistan. It twice attempted to assassinate former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2003 after being declared a terrorist group by the government the prior year. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US to Withdraw All Troops from Afghanistan in Five Years Report Sputnik News 02:50 01.03.2019 The newly proposed peace plan suggests cutting the US contingent in half immediately and withdrawing the remaining forces in three to five years. The US would withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan in three to five years, under a new peace plan proposed during the talks between US officials and the Taliban. Under the peace plan, the US will reduce its military presence by half from 14,000 to 7,000 in the coming months, a report by The New York Times says. The remaining 7,000 troops will withdraw together with the remaining 8,600 European and international troops within three to five years. Until then, US forces will refrain from training the Afghan military, delegating this task to the Europeans, while focusing primarily on counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda and Daesh remnants in the country. "The Europeans are perfectly capable of conducting the training mission," James Stavridis, a retired American admiral and former top NATO commander, told reporters. "It is a smart division of labor to have the United States shift the bulk of its effort toward the special forces mission and having the Europeans do the training mission." The plan has reportedly been well received in both the Pentagon and the NATO HQ in Brussels. However, US officials close to the talks warned journalists that due to his erratic nature, US President Donald Trump may cancel the plan at any moment. Speaking of the president's erratic nature, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has been discussed with European military authorities, unlike Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw from Syria, the report says. On Monday, US diplomats met with Taliban officials in Qatar in what the Times describes as the highest-level negotiations yet, in order to develop a framework plan for a withdrawal agreement decided in principle last month. As a prerequisite for total withdrawal, the US reportedly seeks guarantees from the Taliban that the group will take responsibility for thwarting terrorist groups that may seek to attack the United States and who view Afghanistan as a safe haven. The Western-backed Afghan government has not been a part of negotiations because of the Taliban's reluctance to speak with President Ashraf Ghani or his envoys. The prospect of US military withdrawal has raised fears that Ghani's government will collapse, giving the Taliban known for their hardcore view of Islam full power over the country. The Taliban are not thrilled with the prospect of having US troops around for five more years, the New York Times writes. Besides, the US wants to include the Afghan government in the negotiation process. Some officials believe continued funding for the Afghan military is more important than an enduring international troop presence for the survival of Afghanistan's government. So far, the US has poured billions of dollars into the Afghan military for more than a decade. Despite $8 billion spent on the Afghan Air Force alone, Pentagon audits show that the force will not be self-sufficient until 2030. The total cost of war in Afghanistan is estimated at $1.5 trillion, according to a 2018 CNBC report. The US military operation in Afghanistan began in 2001, as a part of then-US President George W. Bush's "War on Terror" following the 9/11 attacks. The operation swiftly ousted the Taliban government, but despite that, the group retains control over the majority of Afghan territory. The intervention also failed to thwart Afghanistan's production of opium, which reached a record level of 9,000 metric tons in 2017, according to a Brookings Institution report, despite the US spending $8.6 billion on this particular issue. Afghanistan is currently the world's leading opium producing country, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime monitoring. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Boeing Unveils First Wingman Drone for Fighter Jets Sputnik News 00:38 01.03.2019 Named the "Loyal Wingman" and also known as the Airpower Teaming System, the drone is supposed to fly alongside manned jets and perform a wide variety of missions, from intelligence gathering and surveillance to actual combat. Boeing has presented a first-of-its-kind drone specifically designed to work in conjunction with manned fighter jets by acting as a mechanical wingman. The drone is theoretically capable of handling an unspecified amount of weapons and can be controlled from either a ground control station or from the plane it is escorting, according to Defense News. Boeing's Director of Phantom Works International Shane Arnott says no modifications to the plane are needed in order to accommodate the Loyal Wingman's controls. Very little is known about the drone's parameters. According to a report by Popular Mechanics, the drone is 38 feet long (which is about two-thirds the length of an F/A-18 Super Hornet) and has a range of 2,301 miles. Other than that, Boeing only disclosed that the drone will have "fighter-like" performance. Popular Mechanics provided several possible applications for the drone. "For example, an uncrewed plane could fly ahead of a strike package of manned jets, identifying air defense radars and missile systems on the ground for the crewed planes to avoid," the report reads. "Another Loyal Wingman could fly alongside the strike package, blasting out radar jamming signals that could make it a target." The first machine of this project is now being constructed in Australia, and its first flight is scheduled for 2020. "This is the first [military] aircraft concept that Australia has invested in since the Boomerang [fighter] in 1942 to 1945, so it is a red-letter day," Australian Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne said during a presentation. According to the minister, the Australian government will spend US $28.67 million for development of the drone; the money will be used in conjunction with Boeing's own investment, the Defense News report says. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's second aircraft carrier sets sail for fifth sea trial Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2019/2/28 16:06:20 China's second aircraft carrier reportedly set sail from the Dalian Shipyard Wednesday afternoon for its fifth sea trial, three days after the country's first carrier, the Liaoning, left the same shipyard. Experts believe it indicates a further step toward the final delivery of the second carrier. The domestically made Type 001A aircraft carrier left the shipyard in Northeast China's Liaoning Province under the assistance of multiple tug boats Wednesday afternoon, according to photos and accompanying captions released by IC, a Chinese image and photo provider, on Wednesday evening. The testing of carrier-based aircraft could be the focus of this sea trial, an IC photo caption reads. Photos taken by local residents and uploaded to the internet last week show guide lines and possibly a non-skid coating were being painted on the Type 001A's flight deck, which are considered necessary for the takeoff and landing of aircraft. The warship is said to have already successfully tested its avionics, radar and communication systems in previous trials, so it is likely fighter jets will conduct take offs and landings this time, an anonymous military expert told the Global Times. Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert, told the Global Times that he believes such a test is likely, or at least there will be preparations to enable future tests. "This sea trial will go a step further toward the final delivery of the new aircraft carrier," Li said. Full-sized models of an electronic warfare version of the J-15 warplane and a Z-18 helicopter were also spotted on board the Type 001A as it embarked on the sea trial, Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Wei Po said Wednesday. The Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, was already at sea after leaving the Dalian Shipyard on Sunday. The two aircraft carriers could rendezvous in the northern Yellow Sea near Dalian, Chinese military observers said, as an area has been quarantined for a military exercise from Sunday to March 5, according to a notice the Maritime Safety Administration of China released on Friday. China will conduct a multinational naval activity in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Liberation Army navy on April 23, said spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense Ren Guoqiang at a routine press conference on Thursday. With the Type 001A and the Liaoning both at sea at the same time they could be preparing for the celebration parade, said Li. Chinese military enthusiasts are thrilled by the idea of such a speculation, with some writing online posts that they cannot wait to see China's first pair of aircraft carrier strike groups. However, even if the two carriers train together, it is probably only for parade purposes as the second carrier is still not combat-ready, the anonymous expert said. The Type 001A has not been delivered to the military yet and therefore might not even make it to the parade, he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's been very helpful for both the US and North Korea: Trump Global Times By Yang Sheng in Hanoi Source:Global Times Published: 2019/2/28 22:28:42 No deal reached in Hanoi North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump canceled a planned working lunch after failing to reach an agreement on the North's nuclear issue at their meeting, citing differences over the lifting of sanctions. Despite the setback at the Kim-Trump summit held in Hanoi, venue for the second meeting between the US and North Korean leaders, Trump thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for acting as mediator between the two sides. Due to the abrupt end to the meeting, Trump held his press conference at the JW Marriot Hotel in the Vietnamese capital at 2 pm, one hour and 50 minutes ahead of schedule. Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who both attended the press conference, said that differences on sanctions were the key reason contributing to the outcome. Trump told the press conference that North Korea wants the sanctions lifted entirely, but "we couldn't do that," and that North Korea was "willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that ... We had to walk away from that." Observers from both China and South Korea said the outcome was surprising and disappointing. Lu Chao, a research fellow and expert on the Korean Peninsula issue at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that "the outcome was a surprise, because before the summit the atmosphere was positive and friendly." But it proved that the US still believes sanctions are the most important measure to guarantee complete denuclearization, and they cannot be lifted so quickly. However, the North thinks it is time for the US to show more sincerity, Lu noted. China and Russia have urged the US and the UN Security Council to consider invoking reversible provisions to ease sanctions and encourage North Korea and other relevant parties to make bigger strides toward denuclearization, since North Korea has already shown sincerity after the first Kim-Trump summit, the Xinhua News Agency reported in September 2018. Endorsement of other key players over the peninsula issue means North Korea has confidence to end this summit with no deal and wait for next time, Lu said. "Trump has great pressure inside his country so he really wants Kim to compromise more to help him in the presidential election next year, so Trump might be more nervous and disappointed, while Kim could be very calm." South Korean observers feel disappointed as well since Seoul is eager to hasten the process of boosting ties with Pyongyang. Although the two leaders showed publicly they have a good relationship, the outcome proves a continued lack of trust, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor from the South Korean Dongguk University, speaking at a forum in Hanoi held by the (South) Korea Press Foundation to review the Kim-Trump summit. Kim Kwang-gil, an attorney and member of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation, said the positive take away of the summit is that both sides have at least learned each other's bottom line, and this will pave the way for a more pragmatic round of talks next time. Appreciating China While the outcome was not what many hoped, Trump singled out China's contribution to the issue. "China has been very helpful. President Xi is a great leader," Trump said. "He's a highly respected leader all over the world and especially in Asia and he's helped us, Mike [Pompeo], I would say, that he's helped us a lot, right?" Trump said in answer to a question from the Global Times at the press conference. He continued: "I have called him just recently to say: 'Hey, whatever you can do about this.' He [Xi] has been very helpful at the border and he's been very, very helpful with, I think, North Korea generally. Could he be a little more helpful? Probably. But he's been excellent." Lu said that Trump's words prove that China has fulfilled its commitments to the UN Security Council resolutions and is a responsible major power. "But he said he thinks China is 'very very helpful' with North Korea. This might show that the US believes China is the main source of North Korea's confidence when dealing with it. The US needs to understand that the denuclearization process cannot just rely on compromise from only one side, China's stance is constructive and fair," Lu said. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a daily briefing on Thursday that he believes the Korean Peninsula issue is back on the right track. "It does not come easily and should be cherished." Lu said that the issue cannot be addressed overnight or easily. "We hope the two sides can respect and take each other's reasonable concerns into consideration, and reach a positive outcome that is expected not only from the two countries, but also the world," he said. China hopes North Korea and the US will continue their dialogue in which China is willing to play a constructive role, Lu said. The bilateral negotiation [between North Korea and the US] has entered a "deep-water zone" and difficulties are inevitable, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. However, it is clear now that political means are the solution to the Korean Peninsula issue, Wang said while meeting North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Ri Kil-song in Beijing on Thursday. As Chinese proverb says Good things never come easy," but the outlook is promising, Wang said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Has Chat and Dinner with President Donald J. Trump Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Date: 28/02/2019 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source Pyongyang, February 28 (KCNA) -- Supreme Leader of the Party, state and army Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, had a meeting, one-on-one chat and dinner with Donald J. Trump, president of the United States of America. The historic second DPRK-U.S. summit and talks began in Hanoi, Vietnam thanks to the ardent wishes, active efforts and extraordinary determination of the top leaders of the DPRK and the USA to end the evil cycle of confrontation and antagonism and keep pace with the era of peace and prosperity that has newly arrived. The historic second meeting of the top leaders of the two countries began at 18:30, February 27, local time, followed by one-on-one chat and dinner. Kim Jong Un arrived at Metropole Hotel, the place of the meeting with the president of the USA, on his car, escorted by guard vehicles. The national flags of the DPRK and the USA were displayed side by side in La Veranda conference room of Metropole Hotel where the top leaders of the two countries were slated to meet. Kim Jong Un met Donald J. Trump in 8 months and exchanged firm handshakes with him. They had a photo taken against the national flags of the two countries. The top leaders of the two countries who deepened their friendly feelings through the Singapore summit last year and such occasions as subsequent exchanges of several personal letters exchanged warm greetings and made well-wishing remarks. Kim Jong Un said that mistrust, misunderstanding, hostility and old practices tried to stop our ways but we broke and overcame all of them and again walked towards each other to finally reach Hanoi in 260 days. He added that this period required lots of deep thinking, efforts and patience than ever before and that excellent results wished by all will be made in the talks and he would do his best to this end. President Trump said that he was honored and happy to meet Chairman Kim Jong Un again and that he was sure that the talks would be very successful, noting they had very nice relations with each other. Then they had one-on-one pleasant chat to have a candid and honest dialogue. At the end of the one-on-one chat, they had a social dinner. Present there from the DPRK side were Kim Yong Chol, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and Ri Yong Ho, foreign minister, and from the U.S. side were Mike Pompeo, secretary of State of the U.S., and Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff. The dinner was held in an amicable atmosphere with the top leaders of the DPRK and the U.S. and other figures of the two countries sat at a round table in a friendly way. At the dinner, considerable progress made in the bilateral relations after the Singapore summit were highly appreciated and sincere and deep opinions were exchanged with a view to making comprehensive and epoch-making results in the talks in order to meet the interest and expectation of the whole world for the successful Hanoi summit. Kim Jong Un said goodbye to Trump after the dinner. Kim Jong Un completed the first-day schedule of the historic second DPRK-U.S. summit talks and left for Melia Hotel. The top leaders of the two countries will continue their summit on Thursday. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump holds press conference in Hanoi People's Daily Online (People's Daily) 16:03, February 28, 2019 Hanoi (People's Daily) Trump holds a press conference at the Marriott Hotel, and the big screen of the Hanoi News Center is showing it live. President Trump said North Korea wants the US to lift the entire embargo, but "we are not ready to do thatWe have to avoid this special problem," he said. "We had a constructive time. President Kim is a person with an interesting personality, our relationship is very strong. However, sometimes you have to go slowly," President Trump said referring to the summit with the North Korean president, affirming that the two sides agreed "the signing of the agreement is not really appropriate". After Trump spoke, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went on stage to announce the details. "We have achieved real progress ... in the past 24-36 hours." But added that the two sides "cannot go to the end of the road" yet. Pompeo said he was still optimistic that the US and North Korean teams could continue to meet in the next few weeks. "He has a certain vision, not really the same as our vision, but has come much closer than a year ago," the US president said, answering a reporter's question about the non-vision vision. Reporters asked if President Trump was the one who made the decision to end the discussion with President Kim Jong-Un? "I don't want to say that it's my decision, because what is the purpose of doing that?" The US president answered, "but we will still keep the relationship open." Trump then turned to mention his past achievements, talking about the return of US prisoners in Korea to the US and President Kim's promise of not continuing to conduct particle tests. "I believe he is the same as he said," the president said. President Trump said his discussions with President Kim were "friendly" and no one left in anger. "We still love each other, we have a good relationship," he said. "We did not achieve meaningful things for the US. I think President Kim hoped the two sides could agree. We asked him to do more, but President Kim was not ready to do that. However, I'm still very optimistic," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a news conference. He said the negotiations would be very time consuming. "We will continue to work to make progress and achieve the desired world goal of denuclearization of Korea, reducing threats to the people of America and around the world," Pompeo said. "People talk a lot, but for me it must be you need to be ready to give up nuclear weapons," Trump said. America does not give in to demands from North Korea President Trump said President Kim is ready to remove the Yongbyon base, but wants all sanctions to be removed first, something the US president does not want to do. Secretary of State Pompeo later said that even if the Yongbyon facility was dismantled, North Korea still had many other nuclear facilities and arsenal, making President Trump unable to reach an agreement with President Kim. "There are no plans for the next summit," Trump said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China says North Korea nuclear issue cannot be solved 'overnight' Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 04:17PM China says it hopes the US and North Korea will keep talking after President Donald Trump cut short his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam without reaching an agreement. China is Pyongyang's sole major ally and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing Thursday that he had yet to hear what Trump or the North Korean leader had to say about the meeting. "But I have always hoped that everyone can realize that the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula has been going on for many years, and that solving this problem is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight," Lu said. He said the very fact that the nuclear talks have been held all these years could demonstrate that "it is not a very easy process." The North's leader traveled across China to his second meeting with Trump, but the summit ended prematurely on Thursday after the US president cut it short without sealing any deal or holding a joint press conference with Kim. Earlier on Thursday, both leaders had expressed cautious optimism on reaching an agreement and urged patience. Both Trump and Kim have tried to show diplomatic bromance since their first meeting in June last year, before which they had exchanged acrimonious barbs, calling each other names and threatening military action against their countries. In their first meeting, Trump and Kim broadly agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but while North Korea took several measures to show goodwill, the US refused to offer sanctions relief. Pyongyang says the agreement reached in June last year includes the entire Korean Peninsula and should entail the removal of the US nuclear umbrella over South Korea and the pullout of American forces from the region. Trump stressed on Thursday that the issue of troop withdrawal from South Korea was not "on the table". The US has also said it will not remove its sanctions unless a full denuclearization of the North is confirmed. Lu reiterated Beijing's call for Washington and Pyongyang to "take care of each other's legitimate concerns", expressing hope that both sides could continue "to maintain a dialogue." During the past year, Kim has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping four times, most recently in January, to brief one another before and after the summit with Trump. However, it is not yet clear whether Xi is visited by Kim when he takes the train back across China to return home through a tightly-guarded secret route. On Thursday, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Ri Kil-song met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, saying it was "the right time" to further bilateral relations. "We can discuss how to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the DPRK as an opportunity to promote the healthy and smooth development of bilateral relations," he added, using the acronym for the North's official name. Ri said the aim of the visit was to "put into practice the important consensus reached during the meetings" between Xi and Kim "and to further strengthen communication and exchanges between the two foreign ministries." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump cuts short Kim summit as denuclearization talks fail to yield deal Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 06:35AM US President Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed "dealmaker," has cut short his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Vietnamese capital as they fail to strike a denuclearization deal. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Thursday that denuclearization talks between the two leaders would end early and Trump would soon return to his hotel in Hanoi. "The two leaders discussed various ways to advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts. No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future," the White House said in a statement. Both leaders were seen separately leaving the Metropole Hotel, where the summit was being held. No further joint meetings between them were announced. Sanders also announced that the US president's news conference, which was originally due to be held at 4pm (0900 GMT) local time had been moved up to 2pm. Trump says he had to walk away During the presser, a downbeat Trump told reporters that "he had to walk away" from the talks because of North Korea's demands to lift all economic sanctions against Pyongyang as a prerequisite to denuclearization. "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn't do that ... we had to walk away from it," Trump said. "You always have to be prepared to walk," Trump said, describing the two-day summit as very productive. "We had papers ready to be signed, it just wasn't appropriate." Trump, the author of The Art of the Deal, said North Korea was willing to make some concessions but not in areas Washington had hoped for. "I'd much rather do it right than do it fast," he added. The American president noted that Kim vowed not to resume nuclear or ballistic missile testing, something he had described in the past as a yardstick for success. Reiterating their "close relationship," Trump said he looked forward to a third summit with Kim but didn't give any date. "We just like each other... there's a warmth that we have and I hope that stays, I think it will," said Trump. Trump in 'no rush' The American head of state said earlier that he was in "no rush" to seal a deal over North Korea's nuclear program, downplaying raised expectations of a swift breakthrough in his second set of high-stakes talks with Kim in Vietnam, some eight months after their first historic get-together in Singapore. The two leaders commenced their two-day summit over the so-called denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at the five-star Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Wednesday. Both Trump and Kim show apparent diplomatic bromance since their first meeting in June last year, before which they had experienced an acrimonious relationship, calling each other names and threatening military action against their countries. On Thursday, the second day of formal talks, both leaders expressed cautious optimism on reaching an agreement, and urged patience. Trump stressed that he was in "no rush" to secure a deal with Kim and that he was repeating "from the beginning that speed was not that important" to him as long as the Pyongyang's halt in ballistic missile and nuclear testing "continued." "I can't speak necessarily for today, but I can say that this, a little bit longer-term, and over a period of time, I know we're going to have a fantastic success with respect to Chairman Kim and North Korea," the American president said, as they sat down for discussions in Hanoi. In their first meeting, Trump and Kim broadly agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But, while North Korea had already taken several measures to show its goodwill, subsequent diplomacy was sluggish as the US refused to offer sanctions relief. Kim, for his part, said that despite some skepticism regarding the fruitfulness of the Hanoi summit, he pledged to seek "great, ultimately good results." "I think watching us have a great time will be like watching a scene from a fantasy movie," he added. When asked whether he was willing to denuclearize, Kim said, "If I'm not willing to do that I wouldn't be here right now." He also expressed openness towards having a US liaison office in North Korea. The two countries currently have no diplomatic ties. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump: Talks With Kim Failed Over North Korea Sanctions February 28, 2019 President Donald Trump has said that U.S. sanctions were a sticking point in his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam's capital. "It was about the sanctions," Trump told reporters in Hanoi on February 28 after the two-day summit ended without agreement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that," the U.S. president added. Still, Trump said Kim assured him that Pyongyang will continue to hold off on nuclear and missile tests. However, North Korea contradicted Trump's account, saying that it had only asked for partial sanctions relief. "What we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but the partial removal," North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in Hanoi. "If the United States partially removes sanctions, specifically the articles that affect the civilian economy and, in particular, the livelihood of all people, we will permanently and completely remove all the nuclear production facilities in the Yongbyon area," he said, referring to North Korea's main nuclear site. Earlier in the day, Trump and Kim departed the summit venue in Hanoi in separate motorcades earlier than planned, and a planned joint agreement signing ceremony was scrapped. "Sometimes you have to walk, and this was one of those times," Trump said. As he began his second day of talks with Trump in Hanoi's Metropole Hotel, Kim said: "From what I feel right now, I do have a feeling that good results will come out." The remarks, made through an interpreter, were believed to be the first ever by the reclusive leader in response to a question by a foreign reporter. The two leaders' historic meeting in Singapore in June 2018 -- the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader -- produced a vague statement in which Kim pledged to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. However, there has been little sign of progress since. Based on reporting by Reuters, Reuters, dpa, AP, and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-kim-cut-short-north -korea-nuclear-summit/29795353.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address N Korean FM Says Pyongyang Seeks Partial Not Complete Sanctions Relief - Reports Sputnik News 20:25 28.02.2019(updated 21:00 28.02.2019) According to US President Donald Trump, he decided not to sign an agreement after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un demanded to lift sanctions against Pyongyang. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said Thursday as quoted by the Yonhap news agency that Pyongyang sought lifting five UN sanctions against the country, but not complete relief. According to the senior official, North Korea made a realistic proposal during the summit but Washington insisted Pyongyang take one more step beyond dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear complex. According to Ri Yong-ho, Pyongyang offered to permanently halt nuclear and long-range rocket tests. Earlier on Thursday, the second high-level summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un finished in Hanoi with no agreement reached. The first historic US-North Korea summit was held in 2018 and concluded with a four-point declaration that paved the way toward renewed bilateral relations and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Made Decision Not to Sign Joint Statement With N Korea's Kim - Pompeo Sputnik News 16:12 28.02.2019(updated 17:30 28.02.2019) Earlier in the day, the US and North Korea failed to reach an agreement after the second meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. According to Mike Pompeo, US President Donald Trump has made the decision not to sign a joint statement with North Korea. Pompeo added that a date hasn't been set for next working-level meeting on North Korea, because it may take a little while as both sides need to regroup. "We haven't set a date. My sense is it will take a little while, we'll each need to regroup a little bit. But I'm very hopeful that Special Representative Biegun and that team will get together before too long," Pompeo said. Earlier on Thursday, the second high-level summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un finished in Hanoi with no agreement reached. However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington remained optimistic about nuclear talks with North Korea, adding that the US was closer to reaching an agreement with the DPRK than before. The US-North Korea summit in the Vietnamese capital kicked off on Wednesday with a brief meeting and a social dinner between the two leaders. The historic US-North Korea summit 2018 concluded with a four-point declaration that paved the way toward renewed bilateral relations and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump: US Refused Kim's Demand to Lift N Korea Sanctions Sputnik News 10:17 28.02.2019(updated 16:32 28.02.2019) The US and North Korea failed to reach an agreement after the second meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi. Donald Trump stressed that during talks with Kim Jong-un, they had failed to reach an agreement due to North Korean demands to lift sanctions. "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn't do that.we had to walk away from it," Trump told reporters after summit talks were cut short in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. "All sanctions will remain," Trump added. He also expressed hope that eventually the United States and North Korea would become friends, noting the economic potential of the country. Trump stressed that he really wanted to lift sanctions against the DPRK. "I'd much rather do it right than do it fast," he added. Responding to a question about whether the parties agreed to hold a third summit, Trump said, "No. Let's see what will happen. I did not give commitments." US President Donald Trump, speaking at a press conference after his talks with Kim Jong-un, said that the North Korean leader had promised him that he wouldn't conduct any nuclear tests. The United States will be able to carry out inspections to North Korea's nuclear sites easily and successfully, US president added. US Closer to Reaching Agreement With the DPRK Than Before Pompeo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking at press conference, said that the US had asked Kim Jong-un to do more, but he was not ready. Mike Pompeo expressed hope that in the end it would be possible to achieve the denuclearisation of the DPRK. "I'm still optimistic. I hope that the teams (of negotiators) will meet in the coming days and weeks I hope that when we work in the coming days and weeks, we will make progress and ultimately achieve what the whole world wants the denuclearisation of North Korea," Pompeo told reporters as the summit concluded. The US is closer to reaching an agreement with the DPRK than before, Pompeo said. The US-North Korea summit in the Vietnamese capital kicked off on Wednesday with a brief meeting and a social dinner between the two leaders. The historic US-North Korea summit 2018 concluded with a four-point declaration that paved the way toward renewed bilateral relations and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Lawmakers Back Trump's No Deal Stance at Hanoi Summit By Michael Bowman February 28, 2019 U.S. senators of both parties endorsed President Donald Trump's decision to cut short a summit with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un if no nuclear accord acceptable to the United States was on the table. "No deal is better than a bad deal," West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin told reporters in Washington Thursday. "Part of the art of the deal is knowing when to walk away," Republican Mike Rounds of South Dakota said on Capitol Hill. "I'm glad he [Trump] exercised it that way and had the wherewithal to say, 'Even though I want a deal, this is not the right time.'" The second encounter between Trump and Kim, held in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, ended abruptly Thursday, reportedly amid an impasse over the pace and timing of sanctions relief for North Korea relative to Pyongyang's timeline for denuclearization. "If the president and the team there did not think we were likely to get something good, then it's good that we didn't give up anything," Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine said. At the same time, U.S. senators differed in their assessments of the Trump administration's handling of North Korea, a country whose nuclear program has bedeviled U.S. administrations for decades. "I certainly don't want any president to sign off on a bad deal, but usually enough homework is done in advance to anticipate, if not predict, the outcome in this case, apparently, that wasn't done," the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, told VOA. "Diplomacy by narcissism doesn't work," Hawaii Democrat Mazie Hirono said. "I don't think the president is capable of forcing any kind of a deal on Kim Jong Un. I think Kim is very clear on what he wants he wants our troops out of the DMZ [Korean Demilitarized Zone]." By contrast, Republicans praised Trump's overall effort. "The president should be commended for his personal commitment to persuading Kim Jong Un to pursue a different path," Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said. "It was smart to bring Kim Jong Un to Singapore [for the first summit last year] and to Vietnam to expose the North Korean delegation to the kind of economic prosperity that could be possible if he were to choose a new path." "I think anytime you're talking rather than fighting with one another, there's an opportunity to perhaps make things better," Senator Rounds said. "As [former president] Ronald Reagan used to say, 'Trust but verify.' And I'm very pleased to see this president follow along that same path." Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden disputed any comparison between Reagan and Trump. "Ronald Reagan, though I disagreed often [with him], had real principles you don't see that with these [Trump administration] folks," Wyden told VOA. "You didn't get the sense that the administration went in there [the Hanoi summit] with a clear plan. It was kind of vintage Trump. He was going to wing it [improvise], and it was just a disappointing result all around." Analysts also weighed in. "Trump correctly emphasized principles and long-time allies over a premature peace declaration and his new-found relationship with Kim Jong Un," Korean affairs researcher Bruce Klingner of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation said. "While details remain unclear, it appeared North Korea offered only its Yongbyon nuclear facility in return for removal of all sanctions. While tempting, a bad deal is indeed worse than no deal." "It could have been worse," Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Robert Manning said. "And it also illustrates the perils of top-down diplomacy." Manning said the summit would have yielded better results if U.S. and North Korean negotiators had hammered out the framework of an agreement ahead of the encounter. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference | Hanoi, Vietnam February 28, 2019 JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi Hanoi, Vietnam 2:15 P.M. ICT THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. I want to begin by thanking the Prime Minister and President of Vietnam. We're in Hanoi. It's an incredible city. What's happened over the last 25 years has been incredible for the people of Vietnam, the job they've done economic development. Really something special. So I want to thank all of the people of Vietnam for having treated us so well. We have, I think, reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India. They've been going at it, and we've been involved in trying to have them stop. And we have some reasonably decent news. I think, hopefully, that's going to be coming to an end. It's been going on for a long time decades and decades. There's a lot of dislike, unfortunately. So we've been in the middle, trying to help them both out and see if we can get some organization and some peace. And I think, probably, that's going to be happening. We have Venezuela, as you know, has been very much in the news, and we're sending supplies. Supplies are getting through a little bit more. It's not easy. It's hard to believe somebody would say "let's not do it." What difference would that make, except it's great for its people to let it get through. But we're sending a lot of supplies down to Venezuela. People are starving to death, and you would really think that the man in charge, currently, would let those supplies get through. We are getting them into some of the cities and some of the areas that need them the most. And it's not an easy job. It's very difficult, actually. On North Korea, we just left Chairman Kim. We had a really, I think, a very productive time. We thought, and I thought, and Secretary Pompeo felt that it wasn't a good thing to be signing anything. I'm going to let Mike speak about it. But we literally just left. We spent pretty much all day with Kim Jong Un, who is he's quite a guy and quite a character. And I think our relationship is very strong. But at this time we had some options, and at this time we decided not to do any of the options. And we'll see where that goes. But it was a very interesting two days. And I think, actually, it was a very productive two days. But sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times. And I'll let Mike speak to that for a couple of minutes, please. SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. President. We had been working, our teams the team that I brought to bear, as well as the North Koreans for weeks to try and develop a path forward so at the summit we could make a big step a big step along the way towards what the two leaders had agreed to back in Singapore, in June of last year. We made real progress. And indeed we made even more progress when the two leaders met over the last 24, 36 hours. Unfortunately, we didn't get all the way. We didn't get to something that ultimately made sense for the United States of America. I think Chairman Kim was hopeful that we would. We asked him to do more. He was unprepared to do that. But I'm still optimistic. I'm hopeful that the teams will get back together in the days and weeks ahead, and continue to work out what's a very complex problem. We have said, since the beginning, that this would take time. Our teams have gotten to know each other better. We know what the limits are. We know where some of the challenges are. And I think as we continue to work on this in the days and weeks ahead, we can make progress so that we can ultimately achieve what it is that the world wants, which is to denuclearize North Korea, to reduce risk for the American people and the people all around the world. I wish we could have gotten a little bit further, but I'm very optimistic that the progress that we made both in the run-up to this summit, as well as the progress that the two leaders made over these past two days put us in position to get a really good outcome. And the President and Chairman Kim both felt good that they had made that progress but couldn't quite get along the line any further to make a deal that would have been bigger at this point. I hope we'll do so in the weeks ahead. Thank you, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Q Mr. President THE PRESIDENT: All right, Major, please. Q Has this process been more difficult than you thought? And was the North Korean demand for lifting of some sanctions the real sticking point here THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Q in that you did not want to do that and they did? And will there be THE PRESIDENT: It was about the sanctions. Q Will there be a third summit, Mr. President? THE PRESIDENT: Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that. They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that. So we continue to work, and we'll see. But we had to walk away from that particular suggestion. We had to walk away from that. Q Will all the sanctions that are currently in existence remain, sir? THE PRESIDENT: They're in place. You know, I was watching as a lot of you folks over the weeks have said, "Oh, we've given up." We haven't given up anything. And frankly, I think we'll end up being very good friends with Chairman Kim and with North Korea, and I think they have tremendous potential. I've been telling everybody: They have tremendous potential. Unbelievable potential. But we're going to see. But it was about sanctions. I mean, they wanted sanctions lifted but they weren't willing to do an area that we wanted. They were willing to give us areas but not the ones we wanted. John? Q As we know, I mean, there's an incredibly complex set of issues that are at play here in terms of lifting the sanctions and what denuclearization is. THE PRESIDENT: Right. Q Did you get any distance toward sort of what Kim's vision of denuclearization is? THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we did. We did. Q Because there is a lot a line of thinking that he wants to keep some nukes. THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Q I mean, would you allow him to do that? And if you can't THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don't John, I don't want to comment Q If you can't get THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, I don't want to comment on that exactly, but he has a certain vision and it's not exactly our vision, but it's a lot closer than it was a year ago. And I think, you know, eventually we'll get there. But for this particular visit, we decided that we had to walk, and we'll see what happens. Okay? Oh, look, we have a gentleman nobody has ever heard of. Sean Hannity what are you doing here, Sean Hannity? Should we let him do a question? I don't know. Yeah, John, go ahead. Q If I could just follow up. THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Q So if he wants the sanctions completely off, and you want more on denuclearization, how can you bridge that gap between now and the next time you might sit down with him? THE PRESIDENT: With time. It'll be bridged, I think, at a certain point. But there is a gap. We have to have sanctions. And he wants to denuke, but he wants to just do areas that are less important than the areas that we want. We know that we know the country very well, believe it or not. We know every inch of that country. And we have to get what we have to get, because that's a big that's a big give. Yeah, Sean. Please. Q I work in radio and TV. The mic is on. Mr. President, thank you. Mr. Secretary, good to see you. Mr. President, if you could elaborate a little bit more. We have some history. President Reagan walked away in Reykjavik. A lot of condemnation at the time. And it ended up working out very well in the end for the United States. Was this mostly your decision? Or and what message would you want to send Chairman Kim, as he's listening to this press conference, about the future and your relationship? THE PRESIDENT: Well, Sean, I don't want to say it was my decision, because what purpose is that? I want to keep the relationship, and we will keep the relationship. We'll see what happens over the next period of time. But, as you know, we got our hostages back. There's no more testing. And one of the things, importantly, that Chairman Kim promised me last night is, regardless, he's not going to do testing of rockets and nuclear. Not going to do testing. So, you know, I trust him, and I take him at his word. I hope that's true. But, in the meantime, we'll be talking. Mike will be speaking with his people. He's also developed a very good relationship with the people really, the people representing North Korea. I haven't spoken to Prime Minister Abe yet. I haven't spoken to President Moon of South Korea. But we will, and we'll tell them it's a process and it's moving along. But we just felt it wasn't appropriate to sign an agreement today. We could have. I just felt it wasn't very appropriate. Yeah, Jonathan. Q Thank you, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Q Two questions, if I may. First, did you learn anything new about Chairman Kim, through this meeting? And secondly, of course, while this was going on, the drama back in Washington, your former lawyer, Michael Cohen who worked for you for 10 years; his office right next to yours, right by yours at Trump Tower he called you a liar, a conman, a racist. What's your response to Michael Cohen? THE PRESIDENT: Well, it's incorrect. And, you know, it's very interesting, because I tried to watch as much as I could. I wasn't able to watch too much because I've been a little bit busy. But I think having a fake hearing like that, and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing. They could've made it two days later or next week, and it would've been even better. They would've had more time. But having it during this very important summit is sort of incredible. And he lied a lot, but it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing. He said no collusion with the Russian hoax. And I said, "I wonder why he didn't just lie about that, too, like he did about everything else?" I mean, he lied about so many different things, and I was actually impressed that he didn't say, "Well, I think there was collusion for this reason or that." He didn't say that. He said, "No collusion." And I was, you know, a little impressed by that, frankly. Could've he could've gone all out. He only went about 95 percent instead of 100 percent. But the fact is, there is no collusion. And I call it the "witch hunt." This should never happen to another President. This is so bad for our country. So bad. You look at this whole hoax I call it the Russian witch hunt. I now add the word "hoax." It's a very, very bad thing for our country. But I was impressed with the fact that he when you know, because the most important question up there was the one on collusion. And he said he saw no collusion. So we'll see what happens. But it was pretty shameful, I think. Yes, ma'am. Please. Please. Q President Trump Q President Trump THE PRESIDENT: How about one of you, instead of three? Q Well, actually, I do have the microphone. I guess, so well THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Excuse me. Person in the front. Go ahead. Q Thank you, President Trump, for THE PRESIDENT: No, no. No, not you. Excuse me. Yeah, we'll get to you. Thank you. Q Thank you, President Trump. Jane Tung (ph) from (inaudible) Television. What was the atmosphere like when you walked away from the negotiation table? And THE PRESIDENT: I think it was very good, very friendly. This wasn't a walk away, like you get up and walk out. No, this was very friendly. We shook hands. You know, there's a warmth that we have, and I hope that stays. I think it will. But we are you know, we're positioned to do something very special. This has been going on for many decades. This isn't me. You know, this was this should've been solved during many presidential runs. And, you know, people talked about it; they never did anything. I get a kick out of so many people from past administrations telling me how to negotiate when they were there, in some cases, for eight years; they did nothing. But I think the relationship was very warm, and when we walked away it was a very friendly walk. Mike, you might want to speak to that for a second. SECRETARY POMPEO: No, I agree. I talked with my counterparts as well. But we hope we can do more, but everyone is very focused on how we continue to build on this. We are certainly closer today than we were 36 hours ago. And we were closer then than we were a month or two before that. So real progress was made. I think everyone had hoped we could do it just a little bit better. But the departure was with an agreement that we would continue to work on what has been an incredibly difficult problem. Both sides are resolved to achieve it, and everyone walked away in that spirit. Q And may I add: You and Chairman Kim are from very different political systems. You are from different generations. And what do you find THE PRESIDENT: It's a very different system. I would say that's true. Q How do you find, you guys, in common? Because we saw the atmosphere THE PRESIDENT: We just like each other. I mean, we have a good relationship. Yeah. It's a totally different system, to put it mildly. But we like each other. A good relationship. Go ahead. In the back. Go ahead. Q Mr. President, do you think it was premature to have held the summit when all these things had not been tied down? I mean, in the White House schedule last night, it said signing agreement today. And I wonder whether as a follow-up question, whether you could sketch out what the next few months look like. Thank you. THE PRESIDENT: You always have to be prepared to walk. I could've signed an agreement today, and then you people would've said, "Oh, what a terrible deal. What a terrible thing he did." No, you have be prepared to walk. And, you know, there was a potential we could've signed something today. I could've 100 percent signed something today. We actually had papers ready to be signed, but it just wasn't appropriate. I want to do it right. I'd much rather do it right than do it fast. Yes, please. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go. First. Go. Yeah. Q (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: You have to speak up. Q I'm a reporter from South Korea, and I appreciate your effort to advance denuclearization in Korean Peninsula. And could you elaborate on the options and the various ways that you discussed with Chairman Kim to advance denuclearization? Could you specify? THE PRESIDENT: We discussed many ways. And the denuclearization is a very important it's a very important word. Become a very well used word. And a lot of people don't know what it means, but to me it's pretty obvious: We have to get rid of the nukes. I think he's got a chance to have one of the most successful countries rapidly, too on Earth. Incredible country, incredible location. You're right between if you think of it, you have, on one side, Russia and China, and on the other you have South Korea, and you're surrounded by water and among the most beautiful shorelines in the world. There is tremendous potential in North Korea, and I think he's going to lead it to a very important thing, economically. I think it's going to be an absolute economic power. Yes. Go ahead. Please. Go ahead. Yeah. Q Mr. President, David Sanger from the New York Times. THE PRESIDENT: I know, David. Q Six months ago, when you spoke or eight months ago, in Singapore, you said, if you didn't have something in six months, we should come back and ask you about it. In that time, you have seen Chairman Kim increase the number of missiles he's produced and continue to produce more nuclear material. And that's been a pressure point on you, because he's showing you the arsenals getting larger while this is going on. THE PRESIDENT: Well, some people, David, are saying that, and some people are denying that. They have shots from above way above and some people are saying that and some people aren't. But I could've taken that out today, but I think you and others would've said we didn't get enough for what we'd be giving up. So and, you know, don't forget, we're partners with a lot of countries on this, if you think about it, with the sanctions. We have a whole big partnership with the United Nations and many countries, including Russia, China, and others. And then, of course, South Korea is very important to this whole thing, and Japan. I don't want to do something that is going to violate the trust that we've built up. We have a very strong partnership. Q So can you just give us a little more detail? Did you get into the question of actually dismantling the Yongbyon complex? THE PRESIDENT: I did. Yes. Absolutely. Q And does he seem willing, ultimately THE PRESIDENT: Totally. Q to take all of that out? THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Totally. Q He does? He just wants all the sanctions off first? THE PRESIDENT: He would do that, but he wants the sanctions for that. And as you know, there's plenty left after that. And I just I felt it wasn't good. Mike and I spent a long time negotiating and talking about it to ourselves. And just I felt that that particular, as you know, that facility, while very big, it wasn't enough to do what we were doing. Q So he was willing to Yongbyon, but you wanted more than that? I assume THE PRESIDENT: We had to have more than that, yeah. We had to have more than that because there are other things that you haven't talked about, that you haven't written about, that we found. And we have to have that was done a long time ago, but the people didn't know about. Q Including the uranium THE PRESIDENT: And we brought yeah. Q Including the second uranium enrichment plant? THE PRESIDENT: Exactly. And we brought many, many points up that I think they were surprised that we knew. But we had to do more than just the one level. Because if we did the one level, and we gave up all of that leverage that's been taking a long time to build. And I want to tell you, by the way Q So he was not willing to take out that second THE PRESIDENT: David, I want to take off the sanctions so badly, because I want that country to grow. That country has got such potential, but they have to give up, or we could've done that deal. Mike, you want to speak to that? SECRETARY POMPEO: Only, David, there are also timing and sequencing issues that were associated with that as well, which we didn't quite get across the finish line as well. But remember, too, even that facility, even the Yongbyon facility and all of its scope which is important, for sure still leaves missiles, still leaves warheads and weapons systems. So there's a lot of other elements that we just couldn't get to. Q And the listing of all of them. SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir. And a declaration. So, all of those things, we couldn't quite get there today. THE PRESIDENT: That's right. Go ahead. Q Thank you, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Q I just wanted to clarify, when you talk about what you would willing to give up all of the sanctions for, are you still thinking that you want North Korea to give up everything to do complete, verifiable denuclearization THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don't want to say that to you Q before you lift sanctions? THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Yeah. It's a good question. I don't want to say that to you because I don't want to put myself in that position, from the standpoint of negotiation. But, you know, we want a lot to be given up. And we're giving up. And we'll have to you know, we'll be helping them along economically, us and other many other countries are going to be helping. They're going to be in there. They're prepared to help. I can tell you: Japan, South Korea, I think China. So many. And speaking of China, we're very well on our way to doing something special, but we'll see. I mean, I am always prepared to walk. I'm never afraid to walk from a deal. And I would do that with China, too, if it didn't work out. Q Are you concerned, if you're not able to reach an agreement, that the testing will start again? Or that while all of this time is happening by THE PRESIDENT: Well, he said the testing yeah. Q they are continuing to develop their program? THE PRESIDENT: He said the testing will not start. He said that he's not going to do testing of rockets or missiles or anything having to do with nuclear. And all I can tell you is that's what he said. And we'll see. Yes, go ahead. Please. Go ahead, please. In the back. Red. In the red. Q Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, thank you. Q Jessica Stone from CGTN. I have a question about China, as you were talking about. You talk about China being willing, potentially, to help economically. And the fact that you've talked or will talk to Presidents Moon and Prime Minister Abe, how would you describe China's role in facilitating the engagement that's happened, so far, between Pyongyang and Washington? THE PRESIDENT: I think China has been a big help. Bigger than most people know. On the border, as you know, 93 percent of the goods coming into North Korea come through China. So there's a great power there. At the same time, I believe I happen to believe that North Korea is calling its own shots. They're not taking orders from anybody. He's a very strong guy. And they're able to do things that are pretty amazing. But 93 percent still come in from China. China has an influence, and China has been a big help. And Russia has been a big help too. As you know, there's a pretty small part of the border, but nevertheless significant about 28 miles. And things can happen there too. And they've been a help. Yes, go ahead, please. Q Thanks, President. Jen Chen with Shenzhen Media Group of China. In your meeting with Chairman Kim this morning and yesterday, did the topic of China come up? If so, what can you share with us today? And you probably will have the (inaudible) of Mar-a-Lago summit in March with Chinese President Xi Jinping. What would you like accomplished with your agenda regarding China at that time? Thank you. THE PRESIDENT: We did talk about China today a lot. And he's getting along with China and so are we. And we are you know, we're we're, right now, you look at what's happened to our country; we've picked up trillions and trillions of dollars of net worth. Our stock market is almost at its all-time high. Our economy is incredible. Our unemployment numbers are among the best we've ever had in our history. Individual groups like African American, women you just take a look at any group; Hispanic, you saw that just came out the best in history; African American, best in history. So many different numbers are coming out so good. So we have the strongest economy, probably, possibly that we've ever had. Fiat Chrysler just announced that they're going to spend $4.5 billion right next to Detroit, in Michigan. They're building a tremendous plant. It's actually an expansion of another plant. It's going to be it's going to double up their jobs, and even more than that. A lot of great things are happening. And with China, they're having some difficulty, as you know. But I think that a lot of the difficulty is because of the tariffs that they're having. And in addition to that, we're putting a tremendous amount of money; you saw trade deficits went down last month. Everybody was trying to find out why. Well, we're taking in a lot of tariff money, and it's going right to the bottom line and it has reduced the trade deficits. So we'll see what happens with China. I think we have a very good chance. Their numbers are down. But I don't want that. I want their numbers I want them to do great. But we've been losing anywhere from $300- to $500 billion a year with China for many, many years. And again, like other things, many Presidents should have done this before me, and nobody did. So we're doing it. Go ahead. Go ahead, please. Right here. This gentleman. Q Chad O'Carroll from NK News, (inaudible) with North Korea News. What's your message for President Moon, who has effectively reached the glass ceiling, as far inter-Korean cooperation is concerned, due to sanctions? And what's next for U.S.-ROK military drills? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I like President Moon very much. We have a great relationship. Believe it or not, I have a great relationship with almost every leader. A lot of people find that hard to understand, but I do. But some take advantage of our country like you wouldn't believe. And when they know I know it which I know in every case maybe it sort of freezes them up a little bit. But we do; we have a lot of good relationships. We'll be calling President Moon very soon, as soon as I get by the phone, on the plane. And he'll be one of the first calls. I'll be calling Prime Minister Abe of Japan, telling him about where we are and what we're doing. But I'll be making those calls. No, he's working very hard. President Moon is working very hard. He'd love to see a deal and he's been very helpful. Okay? Thank you. Go ahead, please. Q Thank you, Mr. President. I'm (inaudible), reporter from Global Times China. I would like to ask you, what are you expecting China to do in the next step to mediate your relationship with North Korea? Thank you. THE PRESIDENT: To use China? Q Yeah, from China. THE PRESIDENT: Well, we do. I mean, China has been very helpful. President Xi is a great leader. He's a highly respected leader all over the world and especially in Asia. And he's helped us Mike, I would say he's helped us a lot, right? SECRETARY POMPEO: He has. THE PRESIDENT: We've I actually called him just recently to say, "Hey, you know, whatever you can do on this." But he has been very helpful at the border, and he's been very, very helpful with, I think, North Korea generally. Could he be a little more helpful? Probably. But he's been excellent. Go ahead, please. No yeah, please. Q (Laughs.) (Inaudible) next. THE PRESIDENT: That's okay. You're friends. Q Thanks, Mr. President. Could you did you commit with Chairman Kim to a next summit during your term? THE PRESIDENT: No, we haven't no. Q Okay. THE PRESIDENT: We'll see. If it happens, it happens. I have not committed. Q They are, at this point, some would say, a nuclear power. Do you accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, at least for the time being? And are you thinking about re-imposing the military exercises with South Korea, or will you keep it a freeze-for-freeze? THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, the military exercises, I gave that up quite a while ago because it costs us $100 million every time we do it. We fly these massive bombers in from Guam. And when I first started, a certain general said, "Oh, yes, sir, we fly them in from Guam. It's right next door." Well, right next door is seven hours away. And then they come and they drop millions of dollars of bombs, and then they go back and But we would spend I mean, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars on those exercises, and I hated to see it. I thought it was unfair. And, frankly, I was, sort of, of the opinion that South Korea should help us with that. You know, we're protecting South Korea. I think they should help us with that. So those exercises are very expensive. And I was telling the generals I said: Look, you know, exercising is fun and it's nice and they play the war games. And I'm not saying it's not necessary, because at some levels it is, but at other levels it's not. But it's a very, very expensive thing. And you know, we do have to think about that too. But when they spend hundreds of millions of dollars on those exercises and we don't get reimbursed we're spending a tremendous amount of money on many countries, protecting countries that are very rich that can certainly afford to pay us and then some. And those countries by the way, and those countries know that it's not right, but nobody has ever asked them before. But I've asked them and we're doing we're gaining a lot of money. We've picked up over a $100 billion just in NATO over the last two years. A hundred billion dollars more has come in. And we're doing that with a lot of countries. You'll be seeing that a lot. Yes, sir. Please. Q Mr. President, sir THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, one second, please. Q Yes, thank you, Mr. President. You have a personal relationship and I believe Vice President Pence does with the family of Otto Warmbier. THE PRESIDENT: I do. Q I'm wondering you've talked about, this week, about Kim Jong Un being "my friend" you called him on Twitter. You said you have a great relationship. Have you, in Singapore or here, confronted Kim Jong Un about Otto Warmbier's death THE PRESIDENT: I have. I have. Q and asked him to take responsibility? And what did he say to you? And why do you call him your friend? THE PRESIDENT: I have. And I have, and we have talked about it. And I really don't think it was in his interest at all. I know the Warmbier family very well. I think they're an incredible family. What happened is horrible. I really believe something very bad happened to him, and I don't think that the top leadership knew about it. And when they had to send him home by the way, I got the prisoners back. I got the hostages back. And Otto was one of the hostages, but Otto came back in shape that was not even to be talked about. I find it I thought it was horrible. Now, the others came back extremely healthy. But Otto came back in a condition that was just just terrible. And I will I did speak about it, and I don't believe that he would've allowed that to happen. Just wasn't to his advantage to allow that to happen. Those prisons are rough. They're rough places. And bad things happened. But I really don't believe that he was I don't believe he knew about it. Q Did he say did he tell you that he did not did Kim Jong Un tell you THE PRESIDENT: He felt badly about it. I did speak to him. He felt very badly. But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later. And, you know, you got a lot of people. A big country. A lot of people. And in those prisons and those camps, you have a lot of people. And some really bad things happened to Otto. Some really, really bad things. But he tells me Q Why are you (inaudible) THE PRESIDENT: He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. Please. Please. Go ahead. In the back. Q Me? THE PRESIDENT: No, in the back. Behind you. Thank you. Q Mr. President, (inaudible), Sputnik News Agency. Have you discussed the issue of possible inspections to North Korea's nuclear sites during your negotiations? THE PRESIDENT: You're going to have to speak a little louder. And where are you from? Where are you from? Q Russia's Sputnik News Agency. Have you discussed the issue of possible inspections to North Korea's nuclear sites during your talks with the Chairman? THE PRESIDENT: Why don't you answer that, Mike? I can't Q Inspections. THE PRESIDENT: Good. Q Inspections. Inspections of nuclear sites. THE PRESIDENT: I was worried about my hearing. Q Inspections, sir. THE PRESIDENT: Oh, inspections. Q International inspections. Yes. THE PRESIDENT: Oh, inspections. Inspections on North Korea? Oh, we'd be able yeah. Q Yeah. Inspections to the nuclear sites. THE PRESIDENT: We'd be able to do that very easily. We have that set up, so we would be able to do that very easily. The inspections on North Korea will take place and we'll if we do something with them we have a schedule set up that is very good. We know things that, as David was asking about certain places and certain sites there are sites that people don't know about that we know about. We would be able to do inspections, we think, very, very successfully. Yes, ma'am. Please. Please. Yes, go ahead. Please. Yes. Q Thank you, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: A lot of people here, by the way. A big group of people. Q Yes. THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Q Kann News Israel, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: Good. Good. Q Following this engagement with North Korea, you are trying to bring peace to the Middle East. THE PRESIDENT: Right. Q The peace plan is about to be introduced in the near future. And as you have mentioned before THE PRESIDENT: Well, we hope. We hope. We're working hard on the peace plan and we hope it will be (inaudible). Q I believe you do. But as you mentioned before, it will require Israel to make compromises to the Palestinians. As far as you know, is Prime Minister Netanyahu willing to make these compromises which are very much needed? And a second question: Mr. Netanyahu is about to indicted today with corruption allegations. Do you wish to tell him something on this occasion? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I just think he's been a great prime minister. And I don't know about his difficulty, but you're telling me something that, you know, the people have been hearing about. But I don't know about that. I can say this: that he's done a great job as prime minister. He's tough, he's smart, he's strong. He is very defensive. His military has been built up a lot. They buy a lot of equipment from the United States and they pay for it. Of course, we give them tremendous, as you know, subsidy, also. Four billion dollars is a lot each year. But they are they've been very good. They've been incredible, actually, in many ways. But there is a chance for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And, you know, it's interesting all of my life, I've heard that the toughest of all deals when they talk about tough deals; we all like deals but the toughest of all deals would be peace between Israel and Palestinians. They say it's like the impossible deal. I'd love to be able to produce it. We'll see what happens. You know, we were paying the Palestinians a lot of money. And I ended that about two years ago because they weren't saying the right things. And I said, why would we pay somebody that's not saying nice things about us, and not really wanting to go to the peace table? And they've been much better. And we'll see what happens. Q But has Mr. Netanyahu made concessions? THE PRESIDENT: But I think we really I think we have, actually, a good shot at peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Q Has Netanyahu made concessions? THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, go ahead. Please. Sir. Q Mr. President, I'm from China. My question is: Do you still believe it is possible that the North Korea and U.S. relation could be like the U.S. and the Vietnam relation in the future? THE PRESIDENT: You have to go again. Q Do you believe do you still believe that is it is possible that the relation between U.S. and North Korea, in the future, could be like the relation between U.S. and Vietnam? THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. I think we're going have yeah. I mean, we have very, very good relations. And, by the way, speaking of you mentioned Japan we have a lot of good things happening Japan. We have trade talks started. For years, Japan has been sending millions and millions of cars in, and as you know, it's not been a very fair situation for the United States. We're starting trade talks with Japan. They actually started about three months ago, and I think we'll have a very good deal for the United States. But that's been a very unfair situation. Prime Minister Abe understands that, and that's fine. Yes, sir. Please. Back there. Q Thank you, Mr. President. I'm (inaudible) with Shanghai Media Group. Do you think the next meeting could be soon, or might take some time? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I can't tell you. I mean, it might be soon. It might not be for a long time. I can't tell you. I would hope it would be soon. But it may not be for a long time. I could've done I could've done a deal today, but it would've been a deal that wouldn't have been a deal that it would've been something that I wouldn't have been happy about, Mike would not have been happy about. We had some pretty big options. But we just felt it wasn't appropriate, and we really want to do it right. Yes, in the back. In the back. Yes, ma'am. Please. Q Debi Edward, ITV News. At which point did it become clear to you that you wouldn't be getting a deal here in Hanoi? The language from yourself and Kim Jong Un was very positive last night and even this morning. And therefore, was it a mistake to come here? THE PRESIDENT: No, I think the language was good all throughout. The language has been good even now. But, you know, I don't go by language, because we had probably the toughest language in the history of diplomacy if you call it diplomacy at the beginning, and yet, we became very friendly. I don't believe there was any tougher language ever than that. But, again, this was something that should've been handled by other Presidents long before me and long before they had the kind of power that they have. But it wasn't. It should've been done by many I'm not just blaming the Obama administration, which, by the way, it did nothing. Nothing. Did absolutely on North Korea. It allowed things that happened, and to happen, that were very inappropriate. But I'm not blaming the Obama administration. I'm blaming many administrations. Something should've happened. But I don't think the rhetoric has been bad at all. Initially, it was horrible, but now it's been very good. All right, one more. How about you? Go ahead. Please. Please. Go ahead. Q (Inaudible) from South Korea, (inaudible) South Korean media outlet here. I'd like to ask you: You said that we do not particularly know when there will be North Korean leader will be willing to come to the table and take the actions that's been required. If that's the case, would the U.S. be willing to strengthen the sanctions and perhaps put the pressure on North Korea to move forward? THE PRESIDENT: I don't want to comment on that. I can just tell you this: that we have very strong sanctions. I don't want to talk about increasing sanctions. They're strong. They have a lot of great people in North Korea that have to live also. And that's important to me. And I would say this: My whole attitude changed a lot because I got to know, as you know, Chairman Kim very well. And they have a point of view also. So I don't really want to talk about that. I just think that, hopefully, for the sake of South Korea, for the sake of Japan, and frankly, for the sake of China I was talking to President Xi, who really is a man that gets the respect of a lot of people I say, "You can't love having a nuclear state right next to China." And he doesn't. He really doesn't. I will tell you, he would like to see that problem solved, too. So that's it. Well, ladies and gentleman, I'm about to get on a plane and fly back to a wonderful place called Washington, D.C. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, fellas. Thank you very much. END 2:53 P.M. ICT NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Chief Hopes Denuclearization Talks With North Korea Continue - Spokesman Sputnik News 01:49 01.03.2019 UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes denuclearization dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will continue, SG Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Thursday. "I think he [Guterres] very much appreciates the effort that was made in those discussions regardless of the results, of the outcome that we saw", Dujarric said. "We all very much hope that these discussions will continue". The spokesman added that Guterres did not expect that the process of engaging with the North Korean government will be an easy one. US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had a two-day summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Trump said he decided to walk away from the summit after Kim demanded full sanctions relief. The two were expected to make at least some progress in denuclearization talks. The meeting on Thursday was to end in an agreement signing ceremony, according to the White House schedule, but it was scrapped after the talks wrapped up more than an hour early. Earlier on Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said Puongyang had proposed that the United States partially lift sanctions in exchange for dismantling its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported. The minister said Washington had insisted that Pyongyang make "one more" step beyond the dismantlement of the Yongbyon facility, adding that North Korea's position on nuclear disarmament deal would not change even if Washington sought further talks. Meanwhile, Members of the United States Congress called Thursday on the Trump administration to step up sanctions on North Korea after the second summit between the two countries. "I hope that the Administration will continue to talk to the North Koreans. I also hope we will increase sanctions enforcement and build a stronger sanctions regime", US Congressman Brad Sherman Sherman, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a press release. Sherman noted that the North Koreans were willing to shut down and dismantle their main nuclear facility in Yongbyon in return for full sanctions relief. But he agreed with Trump that this was not a fair trade-off, saying North Korea should instead stop all nuclear production before perhaps getting partial sanctions relief. Senator Cory Gardner agreed that the Trump administration must not offer any kind of normalization without denuclearization, calling for full sanctions, a robust military posture and the international isolation of North Korea in coordination with US allies and partners. At the first historic summit, held in Singapore in June 2018, Trump and Kim agreed that Pyongyang would make steps toward denuclearization in exchange for the potential removal of sanctions and the freezing of US and South Korean military drills. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netanyahu to be indicted on corruption charges, pending hearing Iran Press TV Thu Feb 28, 2019 07:07PM Israel's attorney general says he intends to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption investigations. Avichai Mandelblit announced the decision in a statement on Thursday. The indictment would be handed over pending a hearing, in which Netanyahu will have a chance to refute the charges before they are formally laid. In Case 1000, Netanyahu is suspected of receiving gifts from businessmen overseas. He is also being investigated in Case 2000 for a media bribery scheme to help Yediot Aharonot newspaper against its competitor Yisrael Hayom in return for favorable coverage. Case 3000 surrounds Israel's $2-billion purchase of Dolphin-class nuclear-arms-capable submarines from German shipbuilding company ThyssenKrupp. Netanyahu, who always denies engaging in any corrupt practices, has said he is convinced that the three cases against him will yield "nothing." In January, he said he would not step down even if the attorney general sought to indict him for corruption. The Israeli prime minister is not required to step down if indicted but he would have no option than to resign if he is convicted with all appeals exhausted. Netanyahu has been prime minister for a total of around 13 years. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who has portrayed himself as Netanyahu's supporter by repeatedly recommending him as the regime's next prime minister, has endorsed him again. "I can say this, he's done a great job as prime minister," Trump said earlier on Thursday. Mandelblit's announcement, however, compromises Netanyahu's chances of winning another term in April 9 early elections, in which he is facing a tough challenge from a centrist political alliance headed by Benny Gantz, a former military chief of staff. "Put an end to the nation's shame," Labor party leader Avi Gabbay said, reacting to the announcement, adding, "Don't wage the battle from the prime minister's residence." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel's Attorney General Recommends Indicting Netanyahu By Linda Gradstein February 28, 2019 After two years of investigations, Israel's attorney general recommended that the prime minister be charged with bribery in one case, and breach of trust in two others, subject to a hearing. Netanyahu hit back hard at the attorney general and what he called the leftist media, accusing them of trying to make sure he loses the upcoming election. He said he is 4,000 percent sure all of the accusations against him will be proved false, and that he will continue to be prime minister for many years to come. Earlier, before his announcement, Netanyahu got a boost from President Donald Trump. "I can say this that he's done a great job as prime minister," said Trump. "He's tough. He's smart. He's strong. He is very defensive. His military has been built up a lot." The attorney general's recommendation for indictment comes 39 days before Israel's election and could swing support away from Netanyahu and his Likud party. A new centrist party, including three former army chiefs of staff, is gaining ground. Netanyahu insists he will not step down unless he is convicted. Even a final decision on indicting him after the hearing could take months. At the same time, the attorney general said he was dropping charges against Netanyahu's wife, Sara in a separate investigation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, Audi is showing four battery-electric drive vehicles, the series versions of which will celebrate their premiere by the end of 2020. In addition, four new plug hybrid versions (earlier post) and the fully electric Formula E race car Audi e-tron FE05 will be displayed on the Audi standwhich consists exclusively of electrically driven cars this year. The first member of the new quartet of battery-electric vehicles, the Audi e-tron, will be supplied to customers soon. The company will introduce the series-production version of its coupe equivalent, the Audi e-tron Sportback, later in 2019. Audi e-tron GT concept Another electric car will be presented in a few weeks in China: the Audi Q2 L e-tron, which the first customers will also be able to take receipt of 2019. Two further series-production debuts will then follow in 2020: the Audi e-tron GT and Audi Q4 e-tron. Concept cars at the stand in Geneva provide a look at these two future models. In addition, in 2019, a brand plug-in offensive involving virtually all market segments will take place. New to the range are hybrid versions of the high-volume product lines Audi A6, A7, A8 and Q5. Both of the established plug-in versions of the Audi A3 and Audi Q7 can also be available for order againwith revised technologyin 2019. In the future, a total of four technical platforms and product families will be the foundation for offering electric vehicles in every segment from A to D. Close collaboration between the Technical Development of other Group brands leverages the synergies required for a broad, global range. The Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback use components from Audis modular longitudinal platform. This and numerous innovative technologies, primarily in the area of drive systems, are giving rise to a separate product family of e-SUVs with electric quattro all-wheel drive. Fast charging with up to 150 kW and a range suitable for long-distance journeys promise full everyday use. The Audi e-tron GT concept showcar, a highly dynamic coupe with a low floor, made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The technology in this automobile was developed in collaboration with Porsche; the design and character of the e-tron GT concept are packed full of unmistakable Audi DNA. Another joint project of the development departments at Audi and Porsche is the Premium Architecture Electrification (PPE). It will be the foundation for multiple Audi model families with all-electric drive covering the high-volume B through D segments. Both SUVs and classic body concepts are planned here with a low vehicle floor. A major strength of the PPE is that it was developed exclusively for electric drive. This offers advantages with respect to weight, the package and the proportions of the body. Several Volkswagen Group brands are collaborating on the development of the modular electrification platform (MEB), which serves as the basis for a series of Audi e-models, particularly in the high-volume A segment. Fraudsters gulled Connecticut residents out of $8.5 million last year, according to new estimates by the Federal Trade Commission, with the state in the middle of the pack nationally for the rate of incidence. The FTC received just over 21,000 reports of fraud last year in Connecticut, according to its annual Consumer Sentinel Network report released Thursday. One of every four people reported losing money or other assets as a result of fraud, with the median victim out $311. The FTC tabulates the data relying on consumer complaints as well as those collected by organizations like the Better Business Bureau, PrivacyStar, AARP and Microsoft among others. A spokesperson with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection told Hearst Connecticut Media that DCP enters complaints routinely into the FTCs systems. DCP handles fraud investigations internally or refers complaints to other agencies, with complaint forms online at Portal.ct.gov/DCP or made in writing to the DCP Complaint Center at 450 Columbus Boulevard, Suite 901, Hartford, CT 06103. Multiple more Connecticut offices have investigation arms to help people, including the state Attorney Generals office with information online at www.ct.gov/ag or by calling its consumer assistance unit in Hartford at (860) 808-5420. The FTC takes complaints online directly as well at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov, with the agency not resolving individual complaints but able to refer people to federal, state or local entities that can help. About one of every 200 Connecticut residents filed formal complaints last year they were the victims of fraud, with impostor scams, identity theft and debt collection the three most prevalent incidents. The FTC lumps credit card theft into the larger category of ID theft, with stolen credit card numbers accounting for 40 percent of all ID theft last year in Connecticut. Florida had the highest incidence rate in the nation with one of every 100 residents targeted. The community of Homosassa Springs north of Tampa was ground zero nationally for fraud among metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 residents, with Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Gainesville also in the top 20 locales where fraudsters preyed on victims. New Jersey had the highest preponderance of fraud in the Northeast, the FTC determined, with no single community in the region among the 50 worst nationally. The greater New York City region cracked the top 50 for identity fraud, with Georgia home to the four worst spots in the nation for ID theft including Atlanta. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman STAMFORD Six of the states 10 largest cities, and hundreds of others across the country, have sued OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. So has Connecticuts attorney general and more than 30 of his counterparts. The companys hometown stands apart. While Purdue grapples with more than 1,000 lawsuits tied to allegations that it fueled the national opioid crisis through deceptive marketing of its pain drugs, Stamford Mayor David Martin has so far kept his city on the legal sidelines. He said the strategy neither reflects an indifference to the accusations nor a fear of standing up to the firm. But the lack of action has fomented suspicions that his administration is unable or unwilling to take a leading role in tackling the countrys largest public health crisis. There are numerous lawsuits that will ensure the public-policy issues are addressed, Martin said in an interview this week. I dont think us joining of any of those lawsuits now is going to change the outcome. I want to make a difference not just put our name on a lawsuit. Purdue declined to comment on the citys legal position. It has denied the lawsuits allegations. Watching, but not litigating Democrat Martin was elected to his first term in November 2013. Compared with today, few states and cities had active lawsuits against Purdue. The number of complaints would rocket in the next five years. An explosion in opioid fatalities prompted local and state governments to turn to the courts to find redress for the human and financial toll of the crisis. In 2018, 1,017 people died of drug overdoses in Connecticut, according to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. About 75 percent of those deaths involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl, while heroin contributed to about 40 percent of the fatalities. Users of heroin and illicit types of fentanyl often first become addicted to prescribed pain drugs before moving on to cheaper and more accessible street alternatives. Statistics on the OCMEs website do not show which, if any, prescription-opioid brands, such as OxyContin, that are involved in fatal overdoses. Waterbury led the Connecticut-based legal challenges against Purdue, filing a lawsuit in August 2017. New Haven and New Britain followed in November 2017. In January 2018, a group of 18 towns and cities including Bridgeport, Fairfield and Bristol submitted a complaint. Norwalk and Danbury, joined by Ansonia and Derby, followed five months later. In total, about three-dozen cities and towns in the state have taken legal action against the company. A number of those complaints have also named as defendants other major opioid makers such as Endo, Janssen and Teva. Opioid addiction has had a profound impact on our community in terms of medical-care costs, hospital costs and, of course, the tragedies that you see, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said in a recent interview. We want to be reimbursed, and we want dollars there for education and dollars for enforcement of people who are abusing the system. As a state, Connecticut sued last December one of the final acts of then-Attorney General George Jepsens administration. The case continues under successor William Tong. Connecticut and Massachusetts comprise the first two states to not only sue Purdue as a company, but also its owners, who are members of the Sackler family. More than 30 other states attorneys general have also filed complaints. Martin said that he is deeply troubled by the allegations against Purdue outlined in the Connecticut and Massachusetts cases. But he does not want his city to enter the legal fray at least not yet. If nobody was taking up a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, given what has been discovered, I would take a far more aggressive approach, Martin said. But lots of people are taking up lawsuits. It might make a difference for us (to sue) later. But right now, Ill rely on the attorney general of Connecticut to lead the states effort. Fourteen people died from overdoses of drugs taken in Stamford in 2018, according to the Chief Medical Examiner. All but two of those deaths involved opioids. Pushback So far, Martin has not faced much public pushback from other local political leaders for not suing. Messages left this week for Democrat Matthew Quinones, deputy mayor and president of the citys Board of Representatives; Democrat Rodney Pratt, the BORs majority leader; and Republican Mary Fedeli, the BORs minority leader, were not returned. Similarly, Martins opponents in the 2017 municipal election, in which he won a second term, did not publicly challenge him about the lack of litigation. But others, outside the local government, argue that Martin is kowtowing to Purdue. The company is headquartered in the downtown, at 201 Tresser Blvd. its home since 2000, following a relocation from Norwalk. Purdue employs about 250 in Stamford, according to the most recent count provided by the company. It laid off several hundred last year, as it disbanded its controversial sale force. The mayors position assumes that Stamford will receive compensation whether or not it sues; that is by no means certain, said Paul Hanly, co-lead counsel for local governments that are plaintiffs in a consolidated group of about 1,500 lawsuits against Purdue and several other pharmaceutical companies in federal court in Cleveland. It appears the mayor is trying to appease Purdue, which is not in the best interests of the Stamford residents. Meanwhile, Martins decision to not sue has angered activists such as Fernando Luis Alvarez. The Stamford art gallery owner was arrested last June for his role in a protest involving the installation of an 800-pound spoon outside Purdues headquarters. How can Stamford compete for innovation, jobs, grants ... when we fail to lead in these fundamental events rooted in our city? Alvarez asked. What message does this send to the country? That were beholden to a few billionaires, instead of leading the country. The Connecticut Democratic Party recently disavowed tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in recent years from Sackler family members, whose combined net worth has been estimated at $13 billion. No Sacklers gave to Martins 2017 re-election campaign, according to records on file in the Stamford city and town clerks office. I can understand how people would speculate that were not taking action because Purdue Pharma is located in our city, Martin said. Im mindful theyre here, and it makes me more deliberate about our decisions. But theyre not going to get a free pass because theyre headquartered here. Time to reconsider The clock has not run out on a potential Stamford lawsuit. Pending litigation against Purdue could drag on for many more months, even years before a major settlement is hammered out, if such an agreement is ever reached. In January, a state Superior Court judge dismissed a group of lawsuits that included Bridgeport, New Britain, New Haven and Waterbury. The plaintiffs had not shown the defendants culpability, said Judge Thomas Moukwasher. A credible suggestion on measuring causation might have given this court some pause, Moukawsher wrote in his decision. But during the long hours, spread over two days spaced amply apart, during which this motion was argued in court, it became apparent that the plaintiffs filed these lawsuits without first thinking of a way to sort out the causation conundrum. Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury subsequently filed challenges to Moukawshers decision in the states Appellate Court. His ruling did not cover the Danbury-Norwalk complaint, which is also on his docket. The Stamford mayor is undoubtedly aware that these lawsuits were dismissed and are now being appealed, said Robert Bird, a professor of business law at the University of Connecticut. Even with the appeals, the dismissal places those lawsuits in question because at least one judge thinks theyre not meritorious. Martin cited the dismissal as an example of the challenges that could await a Stamford lawsuit. But he has not ruled out filing a complaint. Absolutely, we are reserving that right for the future, Martin said. But we would want to make certain that we were going to pursue a legal strategy that would give us the maximum benefit for the least cost. That explanation does not sit well with Alvarez. Following his protest last year, he is leading a Spoon Movement to raise awareness about the opioid crisis. Not ruling it out, to me, is just as bad as inaction, Alvarez said. This is not a time to be so non-committal. Peoples lives are at stake. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott Storytellers run in her family, and Pat Wilson Pheanious effortlessly glides into a description of growing up black in Connecticuts Quiet Corner, riffing on a recent discovery by Witness Stones, a students research project in Guilford, that traced her family tree to a freed slave who fought in the Revolutionary War. Her son is a television writer and her sister a novelist, married to a playwright. Her father was a Tuskegee Airman, a fighter pilot who came home from World War II with his own stories and a Distinguished Flying Cross for winning a dogfight over Munich in 1945. At age 68, retired after a career in state government that ended with eight years as the Democratic commissioner of social services under two Republican governors, Wilson Pheanious is early in a new and unexpected job as a state representative. She is one of the 12 freshmen Democratic women elected to the House last year, a class inspired to run for office by Donald J. Trump, albeit unintentionally on the presidents part. I had been very unhappy and dissatisfied since the 2016 election, she said. I could not believe this had happened to us. How could this be? How could the population choose somebody with so little preparation against somebody with so much? It was just bewildering and upsetting. So, I had been stewing about that. Her father was not one to stew. Get up and do it. If it needs doing, then do it, Wilson Pheanious said, channeling her father, the late Lt. Col. Bertram Wilson Jr., a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam and the builder of the house she now occupies, her childhood home. That kind of attitude comes directly from him. Her election came in a year when voters across the U.S. would send eight African-Americans to Congress from white-majority districts, one hugging the New York border on the west side of Connecticut, far from Wilson Pheaniouss home in the eastern woods of Ashford, where a whopping one percent of the population is black. Jahana Hayes, a charismatic national teacher of the year, drew national attention on her way to becoming the first black woman elected to Congress from the state, while Wilson Pheanious charted a far quieter path to another first the election of a black woman to the Connecticut General Assembly from a suburban or exurban district. (A second, Tammy Exum, a Democrat from West Hartford, has declared her candidacy for the state House vacancy created by the resignation of Derek Slap, who won a special election this week for state Senate.) In the case of Wilson Pheaniouss election, there has been little or no examination of What It Means. Is there a subtext to the election of a black Democrat, especially one inextricably linked to the social services bureaucracy of Hartford, in a three-town rural district where guns are popular and opposition to Trump is more or less a 50-50 proposition? Wilson Pheanious has yet to find out, though she already has walked, knocked and talked her way through the 53rd House District of Ashford, Tolland and Willington. Running for a state House seat in Connecticut is an exercise in retail politics, most of it at the front door. Every district has a population of about 25,000, and victories typically require fewer than 6,000 votes. You got to walk up to somebodys door and meet them on their own terms and talk to them and ask them questions and connect with them, she said. Wilson Pheanious makes it sound easy, but the record of black candidates winning in white majority districts is thin, with most of the analysis focused on congressional races. The Gallup poll has tried to measure the shifting attitudes toward the role of race in elections by asking Americans if they would vote for a black president. In 1958, only 38 percent said yes. The percentage grew to 77 percent in 1978 and 96 percent in 1997. Wilson Pheanious lived in Ashford until she was 10, then decamped as a military kid to Europe in the early 60s, returning as a 16-year-old to attend E.O. Smith, a regional high school in Mansfield operated in those days by the University of Connecticut. She recalls one other black girl in her class, who remains a friend. She found voters welcoming in 2018, generally. The day she campaigned with another black candidate, state Treasurer Shawn Wooden, was an exception. Lots of doors went unanswered, unlike any other day of her campaign. It was like day and night, she said. They wouldnt even open the door, and it was such a different experience than the one I was used to having. I was bewildered. Bewilderment gave way to amusement. Wilson Pheanious concluded that many voters in her area probably had one point of reference for assessing two African Americans going door to door with literature on a weekend: They had to be Jehovahs Witnesses, distributing The Watch Tower. Less amusing was the day a man intercepted her in his driveway, holding a rifle. Wilson Pheanious was there to talk with the lady of the house, a registered Democrat. I said to the man, Are you going to get your wife or are you going to shoot me? Wilson Pheanious said. He got his wife. We had a great conversation, she said. We ended up talking about Second Amendment rights and a bunch of other things. Wilson Pheanious ran ahead of most of the Democratic ticket in her district, winning her seat, 52 percent to 48 percent. Im glad the people of the district looked further than the color of her skin and listened to what she had to say, said former Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, who represented the district before her election as comptroller in 1994. She worked so hard to get it. Wilson Pheanious opponent, whose name rarely crosses her lips, was a pugnacious three-term Republican named Sam Belsito. He attributed his victory in a special election in June 2013 to support from gun owners angry over the passage two months earlier of a sweeping gun-control law passed in response to the Sandy Hook School massacre. Wilson Pheanious met Belsito a public event long before she decided to run. She said Belsito struck her as someone who cared to represent only a portion of the district, the voters who belonged to his party and shared his ideas. It just irritated me, she said. Maybe because I am a lawyer, the word representation means something to me. it means that there is a sacred trust, that there is just one of us for 25,000 people, and that one of us gets to represent those 25,000 people, gets to find out whats on their mind, gets to help try to solve their problems, gets to to make this place work for them. And thats the job. You cant ignore half the population because they have the wrong letter behind their name. Her name was Pat Wilson-Coker when Gov. John G. Rowland appointed her commissioner of social services in 1999. The headline in The Hartford Courant was From Welfare Rolls to Welfare Chief. She had dropped out of UConn as a sophomore after getting pregnant with her son, Cheo Hodari Coker. Her marriage to her sons father was brief. Wilson Pheanious returned to UConn, receiving state Aid for Dependent Children until her graduation with a bachelors degree in 1978. With support from her family, she earned a masters degree in social work and a law degree from a dual degree program at UConn three years later. I think youd be hard-pressed to find anybody with her qualifications and her background, Rowland said then. She understands people, she knows how to motivate them, and shes been a great inspiration to many. She remarried after her retirement from the state in 2008. She was weighing an offer from John Hickenlooper, then the mayor of Denver, to run the citys social services department. She was also dating Robert Pheanious, a nurse at Yale New Haven Hospital. The challenge of a move solidified the relationship and nudged it towards marriage. Her son and sister found the engagement abrupt. My son asked me if it was hormones, she said, laughing. It was comic. They stayed in Denver for nearly three years, returning to Connecticut in 2011 after Hickenlooper was elected governor. As a lawmaker in Hartford, she belongs to the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, whose urban members say they understand that positions second nature to them pushing gun control or stronger fair-housing laws are likely to be complicated for her. Thats a political reality for her, right? said Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford. Two of the first bills she filed are purely local: measures seeking funding for an assessment and possible replacement of the Birch Grove Primary School in Tolland, one of the buildings with crumbling foundations attributed to the presence of the mineral pyrrhotite, which expands when exposed to ground water. The other would expand access to a crumbling-foundation remediation fund to homeowners who declined to waive their rights to sue insurers. The biggest issue for me, frankly, is crumbling foundations and education issues, making sure we get as much money as we can and that our towns arent negatively affected by the decisions that are made at the state, she said. Those are my primary issues. Her district has hunters, a constituency that finds some suburban and urban Democrats clueless. One of her 2018 classmates, Rep. Jillian Gilchrist of West Hartford, filed a bill that would impose a 50 percent tax on ammunition. On guns, we may not all be in the same place, Wilson Pheanious said. But that did not keep her from standing with the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, when its chairman, Rep. Brandon McGee of Hartford, outlined an urban-centric agenda focusing on affordable housing, justice reform, decriminalization of cannabis use, and education funding. I dont feel like theres any huge disconnect or difference between any of the issues raised here or what I believe in, she said after the caucus news conference. But some conflicts between her views, the needs of her district and those of the caucus are inevitable, she said. Im making my way, she said. She is vice chair of the Human Services Committee and is a member of the Committee on Children and the Labor and Public Employees Committee, assignments that allow her to pursue interests developed over a lifetime in social services. She was silent for a moment when asked whether her career a stint teaching social work at a college, a time acting as a monitor of a consent decree dictating reforms to the state Department of Children and Families, and a series of posts at the Department of Social Services would shape her interests and actions as a legislator more than her race or membership in a caucus defined by racial identity. Then she laughed. Its hard to separate, either my life experience or my color, she said. In the first weeks of her second act as public official, its an analysis she is not tempted to undertake. She is making her way. GREENWICH The leadership at the Greenwich Boys Club in the late 1970s and early 80s knew a counselor was sexually abusing boys as young as 6 and did nothing to stop it, court documents say. The counselor, accused of molesting and raping multiple boys hundreds of times, was allowed to continue to work alone with children in the clubs locker room after a child told an administrator there about the abuse, according to documents filed in state Superior Court in Stamford. Five men now in their late 40s and early 50s have come forward in a lawsuit to say that Andrew Atkinson, who was affiliated with the Boys Club from 1975 through 1984, permanently damaged their lives through repeated sexual abuse when they were children. The men say Atkinson began abusing them as a Boys Club member, and once he gained a leadership role as a counselor, used his status to isolate them and assault them frequently at the Boys Club facility on Horseneck Lane and at off-site club gatherings at Camp Simmons, Island Beach and the Greenwich Polo Field. Jeffrey Starcher, then-assistant director of the Boys Club under his father, club Director Jim Starcher, had direct knowledge of Atkinsons conduct in 1981, according to the lawsuit, and didnt take any serious measures to end it. Even if (Boys Club administration) including Starcher, did not have direct knowledge of the abuse, they still failed to discover the sexual abuse or seek to prevent it, despite having reasonable opportunity to do so during the protracted period of time in which Boys Club members were being abused by Atkinson while in the care and custody of (the Boys Club), the lawsuit says. Each of the now-grown victims says in affidavits that Atkinsons abuse permanently impacted his life, and each still struggles with processing his trauma. They all say they suffer from depression, embarrassment, humiliation, fear and shame as well as permanent physical injury from the abuse. Several of the victims have struggled with drug and alcohol dependency, according to the lawsuit, and led troubled lives. One man said he is claustrophobic because of the way Atkinson tried to smother him when he assaulted him; others say they have panic attacks and fear authority figures. Most of the men said they still havent told their families about the abuse. Attorney Phillip Russell, who brought the lawsuit, said there are at least two more victims in addition to the five listed in the court documents, but their claims are barred by the state statute of limitations. Jeffrey Starcher did not respond to several attempts to reach him, nor did representatives of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Attempts to reach Atkinson for comment were not successful; Jim Starcher is deceased. The lawsuit names the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich as defendant. Current administrators at the club have not publicly denied the allegations. They say they are not able to comment yet on the case. Attempts to reach the attorneys representing the nonprofit were not successful. But those attorneys have argued in a memorandum filed with the court that the plaintiffs claims that negligent supervision resulted in their alleged abuse are unfounded according to Connecticut case law. Connecticut requires more than that to prove negligent supervision, the memorandum reads. Connecticut law requires that the Plaintiff plead and prove that the Club knew or should have known of Atkinsons propensity to abuse before the Club could be held liable for negligent supervision. Time out One of the plaintiffs, using the pseudonym John Clark, said in an affidavit that he told Jeff Starcher that Atkinson was abusing him at the time, but the only punishment the counselor received from the administrator was a time out. Clark, now 48, said Atkinsons abuse began with smacks on the head, escalated to punches in the upper chest and shoulders for no apparent reason, and eventually became sexual assault. I remember feeling pain from the strikes, and remember not knowing why I was being hit, but thought it was because I was Asian and was more similar to the bullying I was experiencing from my fellow Boys Club members, said Clark. I believe that I never reported this to anyone because I thought I was just being picked on for being different. Atkinson began molesting him when he was about 10, Clark said. More than a dozen times, Clark said Atkinson isolated him in the locker room, where he would corner him, smother him and forcefully grab his penis and testicles, causing severe and lasting pain. The abuse began when the two were alone, Clark said, but began happening in front of other boys, which made him feel like he was never safe. Something changed in me, he said. I remember feeling shocked that I was not safe from Atkinson no matter where I was or who I was with. One day when Atkinson hit him on the chest in front of others, Clark said he snapped. I chased after Atkinson and began kicking him and screaming at him in front of staff and other Boys Club members, said Clark, adding the fight lasted a few moments before the two were separated by staff. I am almost certain that the staff member who pulled me away was Jeff Starcher, though there is a possibility it could have been Jim Starcher, said Clark. When Jeff asked me to explain what happened, I remember crying and telling him that Atkinson was hurting me. I remember now that I could not find the words to explain what was happening, but just kept repeating that Atkinson was hurting me, and that he was hurting me in the locker room. Clark told Starcher that Atkinson was touching his private parts, according to the complaint. Starcher put Atkinson on a time out where he was forced to sit on a stool specifically used for this purpose, in response to Clarks allegation of abuse, the complaint says. Jeffrey Starcher moved up the ranks within the local club until 2002, when he became executive director of Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Connecticut, according to his LinkedIn account. In 2014, Starcher was named director of organizational development for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Starchers social media suggests he still holds the position, but attempts to confirm whether he still works for the nonprofit werent immediately successful. Hundreds of times A 49-year-old man identified in the lawsuit as John Doe said Atkinson sexually assaulted and raped him hundreds of times at the Boys Club starting when he was 6 up until he turned 14. The first time, Atkinson anally raped Doe and forced him to receive oral sex, according to Does affidavit. During the eight years in which Atkinson abused me, I came to believe these incidents of abuse were normal, came to expect them, accepted them, and did not protest them, Does affidavit says. Another victim, now 49 and identified as John Roe, said his sexual abuse began in the Boys Clubs pool when he was 6. At that time, it was custom that younger Boys Club members swam naked while in the pool, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summertime after outings to Island Beach or Tods Point Beach, the lawsuit alleges. It was also common for older boys to swim clothed with the younger boys, according to the lawsuits, and they regularly horse-played during these swims. (According to multiple sources, it used to be in the Boys Club national rulebook that kids swim naked.) During these summertime naked swimming experiences Roe regularly came into contact with Atkinson, who, as an older boy, was wearing a bathing suit, the complaint reads. Roe, while naked and in the pool, was molested, fondled and groped by Atkinson. These incidents of sexual assault were masked by the horseplay. When Roe turned 11, he said in an affidavit, Atkinson performed nonconsensual oral sex on him. Roe said he was in shock and could not move or cry for help during the assault. Atkinson abused Roe dozens if not hundreds of times during a two-year period at the Boys Club, Roe said. A 50-year-old man identified in the lawsuit as John Smith said in an affidavit that Atkinson sexually abused him at least eight times when he was 9, including forced oral sex. A 49-year-old man identified as John White said Atkinson began abusing him in the locker room when he was 10 by ripping off his towel and whipping him with it in front of other boys. Atkinson would then grab the childs genitals, the lawsuit alleges. It was humiliating, White said in an affidavit. I remember that I was scared and ashamed, but I also remember feeling like I was not his main target. I did not tell anyone at the time because I thought it was harassment or hazing, and did not realize this was sexual abuse. About the time White was 10 or 11, he said he overheard Atkinson sexually abusing another boy in the locker room. Though White didnt see the abuse, he said he remembers seeing the other boy come out of the locker room. The boy had tears in his eyes, and looked broken and his head was hanging down, said White. At the time, I remember the feeling that I knew Atkinson was doing bad stuff to boys that were not normal and shouldnt be happening. When Atkinson turned 18, he was no longer eligible to be a member of any program offered by the Boys Club, according to the complaint, yet he was allowed to remain actively involved in a new capacity as an employee or volunteer. Another incident The events described in the lawsuits are not the only claims of sexual abuse alleged to have occurred at what is now the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich. In 2014, Andrew Knapp, a former Greenwich High School teaching aide, was convicted of trying to molest a 10-year-old boy in the clubs locker room showers in 2010. Knapp was convicted of risk of injury to a child and fourth-degree sexual assault after a three-day jury trial. The victim testified that Knapp appeared in his shower stall naked while the two were alone and touched him inappropriately. Prosecutors said Knapp had been previously accused of grooming a child he oversaw for inappropriate an relationship at another school before the incident at the Boys & Girls Club. Greenwich Boys & Girls Club Chairman George Fox this week would not confirm or deny whether the allegations against the club are true. He also said he couldnt comment on what the nonprofit has done to investigate the claims. Were leaving it up to legal counsel to handle this as it proceeds through discovery, he said. We are not taking this lightly. Were taking it very seriously, Fox said. Until it works its way through the system, I cant comment on the substance of the case. Fox said he had no knowledge about whether or not the Boys & Girls Clubs of America has investigated the allegations against Jeff Starcher, and that he had no comment on whether or not the organization has a responsibility to do so. Fox also declined to comment on the abuse committed by Knapp in the same facility in 2010. All I can say about that is we have a very thorough process and protocol at the club and Im very comfortable knowing our children are very safe, Fox said. When asked for specifics about safety protocols and procedures that have changed since the alleged abuse occurred, Fox said the club has installed more security cameras, implemented more staff training and hired a dedicated director of safety who walks the halls making sure everything is in good order. A trial conference for the lawsuit is scheduled for March 15 in Stamford Superior Court. A jury trial is tentatively scheduled for June 2020. DANBURY Mental health professionals and city school leaders will hold the first in a series of forums on adolescent mental health next week in the wake of a local teenagers death in early February. The forum is designed to help parents address the recent trauma with their children and connect them with professionals and service providers who can help families and children struggling with their own mental health. The panel at 6 p.m. Thursday night will include top school district officials, suicide prevention experts, and mental and behavioral health professionals in the new black box theater at Danbury High School. Weve been talking about how to support individuals beginning up at the high school and then extending it out into the community with the incident that happened two weeks ago, Superintendent Sal Pascarella said. Unfortunately, theres a body of knowledge around the incident and we went through the best practices in terms of how we can approach this in a meaningful way. This will be the first step and there will be a second and third step as well. The event will be the first organized public discussion about mental health after 16-year-old Hailey Nailor took her own life outside the Danbury Fair Mall on Feb. 9. The incident and social media fervor that followed shook the Danbury High community. One of Nailors friends originally had proposed a vigil in her memory at the mall after her death, but it was scuttled by dozens of mental health professionals from across the state who determined it would not be a healthy way for students and friends to cope with the sudden trauma. Those same experts and providers have worked with school leaders in the weeks since to devise this new forum as an organized and safe way to discuss the incident with the appropriate resources on hand. It is expected to be the first of several forums to be scheduled throughout the spring to break down the stigma around discussing mental health, in both children and adults, and better connect families to existing services. Amen, amen, this is music to my ears, said Tom Steen, chairman of the Connecticut chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and one the experts who has helped local officials organize their community response after Nailors death. Were glad the community is responding positively for healing purposes, he continued. Mental health is just as important as physical health. Were all afraid to talk about it and shame on us, we cant do that anymore. Mental health and suicide prevention is something everyone should begin to talk about and will save lives. The Wellmore Behavioral Health Adolescent Mobile Crisis Unit will attend the forum and participants include Pascarella, Danbury High School Principal Dan Donovan and district Director of Pupil Personnel Services Kelly Truchsess. They will focus on teaching parents what kind of help is available and how to use referral services for their family, if they need, Truchsess said. The panel also will hold a question-and-answer session to address parents specific questions, she said. School leaders will organize additional sessions for students and eventually members of the general community. District leaders are working with the citys Department of Health and Human Services to organize those events, although specific dates have not been scheduled, Truchsess said. That expansion into the community will be a critical piece of pushing the conversation forward to draw something positive from a tragedy, just as the Nailor family has hoped in the weeks since their daughters death. MORE INFORMATION If you go The parent forum on adolescent mental health will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday in the black box theater on the north side of Danbury High School. Childcare will be available for parents who need to bring younger children with them. Call 203-797-4734 for more information. Suicide prevention lifeline If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or needs emotional support, help is available 24/7 through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The lifeline is free, confidential and available any time by calling 1-800-273-8255 or by visiting www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. See More Collapse Its not only the schools responsibility, its the communitys responsibility to come together to a defeat the stigma around mental health, and more importantly, its to speak as one voice, Steen said. Whether youre the mayor, the police department, social services, the schools or even the mall administration, we all work together to educate people and what do when somebody is in trouble. zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com HARTFORD A bill that mandates that health insurers cover immigrants living in Connecticut was voted to be drafted as a committee by the Insurance and Real Estate Committee Thursday. It still needs to be forwarded to the House before the committees March 21 deadline. Proponents claim the bill will actually save all residents in Connecticut money because currently the cost of health care for uninsured immigrants is being paid by all citizens. The committee voted 9-7 along party lines to draft the bill, which would prohibit certain health carriers from refusing to deliver, issue or renew health insurance policies based solely on immigration status. Its not like people that would be covered by this bill arent currently seeking health care, going to hospitals, Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, said. Currently folks seek health care and that drives up the uncompensated health care cost. If anything this bill might drive down the cost of overall insurance. Despite that pitch from Scanlon and other advocates not everybody on the committee bought it. I am just fundamentally opposed to this, Rep. Kurt Vail, R-Stafford Springs, said. I will be voting to oppose. But proponents worked hard to hammer home the message that the legislation, they believe, will actually save money for the state and everyone who pays for insurance. At a press conference last week trumpeting the bill, Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, who is sponsoring the legislation, said: We can lower the cost for every taxpayer (by passing the legislation). You and I are paying for the cost now - we are subsidizing the system. Lemar said immigrants who are in need of health care still seek it and get it but it comes at an extraordinary cost. During the public hearing, Deborah Brody, a registered nurse who has worked at several hospitals, hammered home that point. People who cannot get primary care because they are being denied health insurance will end up getting primary and emergency care in our emergency departments - the single most expensive environment we have, said Brody. The hospitals must amortize this cost by inflating the prices of all their other services. Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said that legislators in support of the bill have been in discussion with officials from the Connecticut Insurance Department in an effort to craft a bill that would be acceptable to the industry. Proponents said they were also confident that the language of the bill would be limited enough in scope that it shouldnt violate any federal guidelines concerning immigration policies drafted by the Trump administration. So far the insurance industry is taking a wait-and-see approach to the legislation, despite assurances from proponents that there is nothing to worry about on the federal end. It is not clear if there would be some violation of federal law if carriers could offer insurance to undocumented residents, Christine Cappiello, director of government relations for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut, said in written testimony during a public hearing on the bill. Susan Halpin, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Health Plans, said her members are also studying the bill. She, like Cappiello, said the main concern is making sure that it complies with all federal and state laws. The idea isnt exactly breaking new ground. In 2014, the legislature passed a law that allowed undocumented immigrants to earn drivers licenses. The stated goal then was to to get more of the states motorists registered and insured. Editors note: An earlier version of this story reported that it had been forwarded to the House when it had only been drafted as a committee bill. HARTFORD Small-town residents by the hundreds let their opposition to forced school regionalization be known at the state Capitol on Friday, jamming email in-boxes and four legislative hearing rooms. Long before a 1 p.m. Education Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly began at the Legislative Office Building, more than 1,000 pieces of written testimonies were filed in opposition to three bills linked to Gov. Ned Lamonts call for a task force to study consolidation efforts. A line snaked through the LOB rotunda to sign up to speak at the afternoon hearing. Many carried signs or badges that read Hands off Our Schools. More than 200 people signed up to speak. Most were against regionalization, but a number of students and parents many dressed in red were there to strongly oppose a provision of Lamonts bill that would require homeschoolers to register annually with their local school district. Please vote no, urged Olivia Tumenschelt, 12, one of the homeschooled kids. A proposed shift of teacher pension also costs didnt go unnoticed. This proposal represents one of the largest property tax increases in modern history, as it would shift a combined $73 million directly on to Connecticut property taxpayers, testified Joe DeLong, executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. The bulk of the hearing, however, belong to those opposed to efforts to compel districts to merge. A tough sell Lamonts plan calls on school districts to explore ways to share administrative and office costs that he said would be better spent in classrooms. An appearance by Lamont earlier in the week in Weston during which he assured area first selectmen that his push would be with carrots, not sticks did not quell the concern. It will kill this Connecticut town, Andrea Bates, of Wilton, wrote in her testimony. At a news conference before the public hearing, state Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said the bills do nothing to preserve or improve education. These bills hit a nerve with people all over the state, Lavielle said. The opposition has been visceral. Joining her was House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, who said the resistance is not against regionalization, but forcing it on municipalities. I think there are natural connections we can have, she said. She and others pointed to 47 towns that already regionalize services or districts. Lavielle said she would support legislation that removed barriers to more school district sharing such as changes to the states binding arbitration laws. Changes, not elimination, she clarified, of binding arbitration laws that govern teacher contract negotiations. More than 3,500 pieces of testimony were submitted on the bill, all in opposition, Lavielle said, hoisting a petition she said contained more than 8,000 signatures. Written testimony came from all over the state, including a good chunk from residents of Wilton, New Canaan, Ridgefield and other Fairfield County communities. Incentive approach Senate Bill 738, submitted by state Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, proposes to force municipalities with populations smaller than 40,000 to consolidate if they are not already regionalized. Another bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, focuses on districts with 2,000 students or fewer. Lamonts proposal calls for the establishment of a Commission of Shared School Services that would spend two years studying the issue. All three bills heard by the committee emphasize voluntary efforts though Lamonts plan seeks to subtract state funding from small school districts that dont take steps to at least share school superintendents. Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell told the education committee her department supports Lamonts call for more shared school services, emphasizing she was not in favor of forced regionalization. The governors bill uses an incentive approach, Wentzell testified. with almost no sticks. She said 39 districts in the state have just one school. In some of these very small districts, the kids are getting shortchanged, Wentzell said. Melissa McCaw, Lamonts budget director, testified the commission was all about collecting data in a somewhat aggressive fashion that could then be used to make decisions. She added that she would not read too much into the word redistricting, mentioned a couple of times in the bill language. Duff, meanwhile, said he is not out to close or consolidate schools, bus kids long distances or remove local control. Were ... facing a significant budget deficit this year, he said, and though were not going to solve it through any single policy prescription, its our responsibility as legislators to pursue opportunities to encourage efficiencies. We need bold things in the state of Connecticut, said state Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, who co-chaired the committee. McCrory said that while people talk about Connecticuts great education system, right now, we are not great. Siding with him was state Rep. Geraldo Reyes, D-Waterbury, and Madeline Farrell, a UConn senior who earlier in the day told the committee she got short-changed going to a small high school in Westbrook with few of the extracurricular activities a bigger district might have provided. Others challenged efforts they say will erode the quality and character of local schools, and in turn, towns. Steve Brooks, of Darien, called the proposals a heavy-handed bureaucratic measure that would weaken public education. Lonnie de Marco, of New Canaan, said good, small schools is keeping her in the state. If they become regionalized via a mandate from the state, I fear that new families will stop moving to Connecticut and those of us who are currently taking advantage of the localized schools will move away, de Marco said. Quality would suffer, cautioned Lynne Edwards, of the Sandy Hook section of Newtown. Olga Konykhov, of Darien, described herself as appalled by the proposal. Dismantling our school system in the desperate attempt to balance the (state) budget is painfully irresponsible, outrageous and morally wrong, Konykhov wrote. lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck NORTH BRANFORD A man was killed when a fire engulfed his trailer in the Totoket Valley Mobile Home Park early Friday morning. The blaze broke out around 12:45 a.m. Fire Chief Bill Seward said his crew arrived within four minutes of receiving the call. After a neighbor said she believed a resident was still inside the mobile home, Seward said, they forcibly entered the trailer and turned left towards the bedroom. There they found an unconscious, pulseless male victim was located in a rear bedroom, removed and transported to Yale New Haven Hospital, fire officials said. He later succumbed to his injuries, Seward said. Unfortunately, it appeared that the fire had been burning a long time before firefighters arrived, Seward said. When tragedies such as this occur, Seward said, the reality is that victims of fires usually die from smoke inhalationa fate less painful than succumbing to burnshelps a little to put the crew at ease. We historically know that fires in trailers are very challenging because theyre very tight, Seward said, adding that its more difficult to ventilate a mobile home than a traditional house. After the victim was extricated, the firefighters contained the blaze, which did not spread to any other trailers, he said. As of around noon Friday, the victim had been identified, Seward said. Officials did not release his name out of respect to family members. The fire was determined accidental, and was likely caused by careless smoking, Seward said The trailer was unit 10C of Peasant Acres Mobile Home Park at 224 Foxon Road (Route 80) not far from Connecticut Sportsplex. The park has about 40 mobile homes and an area where 15 spaces for RVs can be rented. Weve had incidents there before, thankfully not as tragic as this morning, Seward said. The park is also called the Pleasant Acres Mobile Home Park after a road that circles the trailers. NEW HAVEN The Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy Committee held a public hearing Thursday on how it can improve its Election Day protocols, following a hectic Election Day 2018 with many confused voters and a logjam of people at City Hall hoping to register that day. In particular, the hearing dealt with whether the differing assignments of some polling places on even- and odd-numbered years owing to overlap in voting districts and wards and how the city could alleviate issues around Election Day registration. The city as a whole, and I think the registrars office, will acknowledge there was a lack of staff, said Kevin Arnold, New Havens moderator for Election Day. Arnold said the city is limited by the secretary of the states office by how many computers it can have linked to the state server, with no more than 10 to 12 computers working on the system at a time. Additionally, the city only had two people trained in how to use the state system working that day before reinforcements showed up later. Arnold said same-day registration takes longer to do than voting at polling places, as voters must be registered first, and the ballots themselves are more complex and require more voter information. Also, those people waiting in line to vote are not electors, and do not have the same right to cast a vote before polls close if they are not registered. Since New Haven first adopted Election Day Registration in 2006, Arnold said about 100 people were turned away in the 2008 presidential election; in 2018, it was about 25, although he said others may have left before they had to be turned away. Multiple alders mentioned that the city was warned to expect voter turnout in 2018 similar to a presidential election. We did know it, so no excuse there, Arnold said. We definitely were expecting a lot of people, but I dont know what happened, I still dont know what happened, but the holdup was two people entering the data in the system. We had five to six at the end of the night, which made it much easier. Committee Chairman Alder Sal DeCola, D-18, was adamant that serious problems only arise on even-numbered years, as they coincide with presidential and midterm elections when voter turnout is higher. When Alder Steve Winter, D-21, showed photos of crowded polls in the city in 2014, 2016 and 2018, DeCola said changes had been made to make things much better, such as using the second floor of City Hall to create an easier flow, with pre-registration and registration being done separately. Arnold said he believes adequate staffing, accounting for breaks, would mean about 30 people are hired to do Election Day Registration efficiently. Art Perlo, co-chairman of Ward 24, said he witnessed people at his polling place who had moved and forgotten the last address where they had registered. Ethan Rodriguez-Torrent, a local escape room business owner, said his polling place in 2018 Wexler Grant School had only a small sign indicating that the building was open in the back, where the polling station was. Its not the first election where weve had issues, he said. Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, said there seemed to be a degree of variability of user experience from polling location to polling location. Winter said that, at his polling location at Lincoln Bassett School, he witnessed people leaving when the front doors were locked. Although the polling station was in the back of the school, he said, it had been at the front before. When Gateway Community College Student President Monica Maldonado said she wants students to become better informed, she was concerned with there being consistent issues. Alder Ron Hurt, D-3, said he believes voters have some responsility to read the voter cards mailed to them by the Registrars Office, and he believes the city continues to improve. We have (an election) coming up, so well see, he said. Winter said that, as a city with such a large university presence, he would like to see more partnerships between New Haven and its colleges and universities to increase voter registration before Election Day. Timothy White, president of the Yale College Democrats, said Election Day was a full-blown crisis for the universitys students. Many absentee ballots were not sent to university mailboxes, and many Yale students still decided to exercise their right to vote. Registering to vote online can only be done with a Connecticut drivers license, he said, which means that students, many of them first-time voters, face many obstacles and it wasnt really their fault. The State Elections Enforcement Commission is investigating whether New Haven registrars failed to staff Election Day properly last November. On that day, hundreds of people crowded the atrium of City Hall as they waited to register to vote on Election Day. Amid the confusion, some people waited up to four hours. Almost 700 residents were registered at City Hall on Election Day, many of them Yale University students, and a Superior Court judge ultimately ruled that 64 residents who had their ballots set aside could vote. Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans did not return a request for comment Thursday about what changes, if any, had been made to the citys elections process since November 2018. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com Thierry Monasse | Getty Images Bill Gates has made his fortune, and has given much of it away, thinking about the endeavors that will make our the world a healthier, connected and equitable place. Recently, the MIT Technology Review asked the Gates Foundation and Microsoft co-founder to share the inventions and technologies that he believes will effect real change this year and beyond. Some of the advances he offered up include projects such as Dactyl, which teaches robots how to develop fine motor skills like flipping a block in its hand, and work being done to develop machines that could pull carbon dioxide from the air to lessen the effects of climate change. WASHINGTON The blue tubes that are strung between trees in the forests of Litchfield County are used by maple syrup producers to quickly collect sap thats on its way to being boiled down into syrup. Many maple syrup producers use modern equipment such as vacuum systems and fuel-oil fired evaporators to quickly collect sap and boil it down. But the first producers of maple syrup used a technique that was energy efficient and easy to get. Native Americans used stones, called boiling stones, that were heated in a fire and transferred into a wooden trough full of sap. The hot stones will boil the sap. The heat of the stone has nowhere to go except into the sap, without any loss of energy, said Jeff Kalin of Bethlehem. Kalin and his wife, Judy, will demonstrate the centuries-old process of syrup-making at the upcoming Maple Sugar Festival on March 9 at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington. Metal maple taps that are drilled into trees to access the sap didnt exist when Native Americans were making syrup. Instead they used a splint of wood with a groove in it to direct the sap into a bark bowl, Kalin said. Once the sap was boiled down to a thick liquid, the Native Americans put the syrup in a birch container or a gourd and placed it in the sun. The remaining liquid evaporated and it became maple sugar, a product that is dry and can be easily carried and stored. The Kalins tap 50 trees on their property, and Jeff Kalin turns the sap into maple sugar. I take for granted that sugar comes from trees, but a lot of people have never had real maple sugar, he said. Maple syrup has become a thriving agricultural business in the state. In 2018, Connecticut produced 18,000 gallons of syrup, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture. According to the state Department of Agriculture, production of maple syrup is the oldest agricultural enterprise in the United States. Fruther, state documbents show the Nutmeg state is 10th in the country for maple syrup production. Members of the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut, based in Litchfield, would like more people to know how the uniquely North American product is made, and how to make it themselves. Mark Harran of Litchfield is the president of the 200-member group. He and his wife, Kay Carroll, own Brookside Farm, also in Litchfield. This year, Harran started tapping his trees a few weeks ago, but he said the recent cold weather has slowed down the flow of sap. You have to have a passion for this, Harran said. He uses sap tubes to collect the liquid which then goes into an evaporator. The machine is very state of the art. It saves 85 percent of the sap, its environmentally sound, he said. The producers association offers two syrup-making workshops each year, in November and January. Maple Training 101 is designed for the backyard hobby producer who just want to start out in maple syruping, the description notes. The states largest syrup producer is arguably Lamothes Sugar House in the Whigville section of Burlington. Owner Rob Lamothe, who is a member of the producers group, taps 5,600 trees each year. We started out with seven (collecting) buckets. Then we went to 35 and we got to a point where we had 350 buckets, Lamothe said. They are cumbersome and time consuming, Soon after, he said, the company gradually went to maple syrup tubing. We saw no other choice. The change also included using a vacuum system that collects the sap, even if its flowing slowly, Lamothe said. Its doubled the yield, he said. The tubing doesnt damage the tree, he added, but, you get every drop of sap thats available to you. We dont deplete the tree. We take only 2 percent of the nutrients, Lamothe noted. Trees are my resource. I want them to be there for my grandsons grandson, he said. A number of maple syrup events are planned in March, including the Maple Sugar Festival on March 9 at 38 Curtis Road in Washington from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for children. A pancake brunch will be held from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. There is separate price of $5 for the brunch. Also on March 9, the Maple Festival in Plymouth will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Green at 10 Park St. There is no charge for the event. The Sharon Audubon Center will hold a MapleFest on March 16 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 325 Cornwall Bridge Road. It offers a demonstration of Native American and early colonial sugaring methods. The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for children. President Donald Trump sparred publicly Friday with the parents of Otto Warmbier after they rebuked him for holding North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un blameless in their son's death following 17 months in captivity, as growing tensions between them burst into an open feud. Hours after Fred and Cindy Warmbier issued an emotional statement that directly accused Kim and his "evil regime" of killing their son in 2017, Trump asserted in a pair of tweets that his views had been "misinterpreted" when he defended Kim at a news conference a day earlier in Hanoi. Trump had said, in response to a question from a Washington Post reporter, that Kim felt "very badly" about Warmbier's death and that he took the authoritarian leader "at his word" that he was unaware of the college student's abusive treatment. "Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death," Trump wrote on Twitter, without mentioning Kim. The president blamed the Obama administration for not doing more to secure Warmbier's release and emphasized that Warmbier "will not have died in vain" as he continues to negotiate with Pyongyang. "Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future," Trump wrote. "I love Otto and think of him often." Trump's effort at political damage control came hours after the Warmbiers said they felt compelled to speak out after maintaining a relatively low profile out of respect for the president's sensitive negotiations with Kim, including summits in Singapore last June and in Hanoi this week. The president had sought to forge a bond with the family as part of an international pressure campaign on the Kim regime in 2017 and early 2018 that helped lead to the summits, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Trump called the family several times during that period, and Vice President Mike Pence also maintained contact with the Warmbiers. The parents were among the guests of first lady Melania Trump at the 2018 State of the Union address, during which Trump cited Otto's death to highlight the cruelty of the Kim regime. But the Warmbiers have been growing increasingly exasperated with Trump's embrace of Kim since their first meeting in Singapore, according to a person with close ties to the family. Trump boasted at a campaign rally last fall that he and Kim "fell in love" after exchanging personal letters. And this week, Trump referred to Kim as "my friend" in a tweet and praised him as a "real leader" in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. In December, the Warmbier family won a $500 million federal court judgment against North Korea for the torture and extrajudicial killing of their son. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto," the Warmbiers said in their statement Friday. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuse or lavish praise can change that." The sharp public break between the family and Trump now leaves the White House struggling to deal with growing political backlash over the president's lack of attention on North Korea's human rights abuses at a time when nuclear disarmament negotiations have broken down. The collapse of the talks during the Hanoi summit, which ended early as the two sides failed to reach a deal, has cast doubt on Trump's gamble that his personal rapport with Kim would be enough to bridge large gaps between the two sides. Democrats and some Republicans have criticized Trump over his remarks about Kim and called on the president to take a tougher stand against the North Korean dictator. Trump has also sided with other authoritarian leaders who have denied responsibility for crimes, casting doubt on intelligence findings that Saudi Arabia's ruling regime was responsible for the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and saying he was satisfied with Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials that he was involved in election interference efforts during the U.S. presidential campaign in 2016. "President @realDonaldTrump is once again simply deciding to take a cruel and brutal dictator at his word," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on Twitter Friday. "He owes Otto Warmbier's parents an apology. Now." White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway attempted to tamp down criticism during a Friday interview on Fox News, insisting that "Trump agrees with the Warmbier family and holds North Korea responsible." But she continued to draw a distinction between the North Korean regime and Kim. "The president is talking about Chairman Kim did not know what happened to Otto at the time of when it happened," she said. Conway added that Trump continues to take Kim "at his word" in the matter. "That is right," she said. Foreign policy experts said it was unfathomable that Kim would be kept unaware of the treatment of a high-profile American hostage such as Warmbier, whose case has drawn international attention. Warmbier, then a 21-year-old student at the University of Virginia, was detained in Pyongyang in January 2016 after taking part in an organized tour of North Korea. He was accused of taking a propaganda poster from a wall. In their legal filing, the Warmbiers stated that North Korean officials forced Otto to make a false statement in which he confessed to invented accusations that he was operating as a spy connected to the CIA. He was released more than 17 months later in a deep coma, blind, deaf, with a wound on his foot and damage to his teeth, the lawsuit states. When his parents met him at the Cincinnati airport, Warmbier "had a shaved head, a feeding tube coming out of his nose, was jerking violently and howling, and was completely unresponsive to any of their efforts to comfort him." North Korean officials disavowed responsibility, asserting Warmbier had contracted botulism. In 2017, Trump railed repeatedly against the Kim regime for its treatment of Warmbier, using the case to help make an emotional appeal to the public as part of the administration's "maximum pressure" campaign on North Korea that focused on ramping up economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation. "We were all witness to the regime's deadly abuse when an innocent American college student, Otto Warmbier, was returned to America only to die a few days later," Trump said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2017. He raised the case again during remarks to the South Korean National Assembly that November and in the January 2018 address with the Warmbiers present. Pence invited Fred Warmbier to join the White House delegation at the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February 2018, where Pence met with North Korean defectors. And Trump called the family shortly ahead of his first nuclear disarmament summit with Kim in Singapore last June to emphasize that Otto was in his thoughts. But the president abruptly shifted his tone on Kim after that first summit, making virtually no mention of Warmbier's case or broader North Korean human rights abuses since then. At the news conference in Hanoi, Trump said Kim denied knowledge of Warmbier's treatment "and I will take him at his word." He added: "I really don't think the top leadership knew about it. I don't believe he would have allowed that to happen. It just wasn't to his advantage to allow that to happen." In his interview with Hannity from Hanoi, Trump called Kim "a character" and a "real personality," praising him as "sharp as you can be." "He's a real leader, and he's pretty mercurial," Trump said. ". . .He likes me. I like him. Some people say, 'Oh, you shouldn't like him.' I said, 'Why shouldn't I like him?' We get along great." The Kim regime has been accused of keeping more than 100,000 citizens in hard labor camps, maintaining strict controls over political dissent and free speech and overseeing an impoverished nation while enriching its own family and a powerful elite. 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 Korea's gulags were worse than those of Nazi Germany. During a Senate oversight hearing in January, CIA Director Gina Haspel told lawmakers there is no evidence that the Kim regime has improved its human rights record since Trump took office. In a statement Friday, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, denounced Trump for "letting North Korea off the hook for the death of this young man. In a totalitarian state like North Korea, Kim Jong Un would know every aspect of the trial and imprisonment of a high-value hostage like Otto Warmbier." --- The Washington Post's Susan Svrluga contributed to this report. Teachers striking in Los Angeles, West Virginia, Denver and Oakland, are fighting for more than better school conditions. They are also protesting the privatization that drains resources from public schools and dilutes the democratic power of communities that are already marginalized. This is not the first time teachers have agitated both to secure educational resources and safeguard democracy. In an important book, The Lost Education of Horace Tate, Emory professor Vanessa Siddle Walker chronicles the invisible activities of African-American educator organizations to bring about school integration. She focuses on Horace Tate, the leader of one such group: the Georgia Teacher and Education Association (GT&EA). Though we think of the NAACP as the force behind school desegregation, the NAACP relied on organizations such as GT&EA, who had been fighting for equal educational opportunity since Reconstruction. By advocating for justice for their students, African-American teachers risked their jobs and safety. Thus, GT&EA worked behind the scenes, and on numerous levels. They organized citizens into civic groups and registered them to vote. They provided these groups with detailed documentation about the gross disparities in school resources. While white schools were well-appointed, white officials refused to spend money on African-American schools. African-American students were forced to learn in dilapidated buildings without running water. They had no textbooks, nor school transportation. Some African-American children walked six miles a day to and from school. White students had 176 days of school, while African Americans only received 158. GT&EA showed civic groups how to petition school boards for school resources. When the district refused to provide coal to heat his school, Horace Tate instructed parents to keep their children at home until the district capitulated. When appeals to local and state government failed, GT&EA provided NAACP the factual record it needed to sue. GT&EA financed the legal battles with the contributions from underpaid teachers. GT&EA members were just as dedicated in the classroom. They understood that African-American children required lessons in democracy so they could see the ways in which America violated its own principles. Beyond teaching the state curriculum, they taught democracy, organizing classrooms into branches of government or political parties and conducting mock elections. They also built students self-confidence in the face of the daily humiliations suffered under Jim Crow. They taught the children about African-American history and culture. Tate bought typewriters for his school to prepare students for a future America one without employment discrimination. Teachers valued their status as role models. GT&EA supported integration to ensure equitable distribution of resources. However, they feared that integration without shared power would result in the loss of protection for African-American students and teachers that GT&EA fought for over the years. As Martin Luther King Jr. declared at a GT&EA convention, true integration cannot just be adding a little color to a still predominately white-controlled power structure, or, as one leader put it elimination, tokenism nor a one-way stream. White students had to attend formerly African-American schools, and African-American principals had to lead formerly white schools. Otherwise, it would merely be outergration a term Tate coined. Thus, after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, GT&EA developed an integration plan that included, among other things, sensitivity training, faculty approved curricula with multi-ethnic books, roles for both communities in local integration plans, prohibition on the arbitrary elimination of African-American schools and prohibitions against flying the Confederate flag. However, whites hijacked integration, to the extent they implemented it at all. Integration became less about providing better opportunities for African-American students and more about hoarding those opportunities for whites. The National Education Association pushed for black and white educators associations to merge, without preserving the influence of the African-American organizations. Following the mergers, hundreds of African-American principals and teachers were fired. As Tate predicted, rather than maintaining African-American schools, they were closed or taken over by whites. African-Americans who attended formerly all-white schools were placed in slow groups and subjected to harsh discipline. Had white leaders honored the knowledge and experience of GT&EA, integration may have taken a different path. It could have freed the African-American mind, but the mind of the White South as well, as Morehouse College President Benjamin Mays said. Many of the lessons we are discovering today, about education and activism, were practiced decades ago by these brave African-American teachers. With schools more segregated today than they have been in decades, perhaps we have a chance for a do-over, this time learning from this lost history and listening to those teachers and communities who know their children best. Wendy Lecker is a columnist for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group and is senior attorney at the Education Law Center. On Feb. 5, at a public forum regarding family court reform, one of the participants emphasized the need for a civil discourse. We could not agree more, and in fact appreciate that so many individuals attended the forum to discuss their concerns and experiences with family court. Amid criticism, there are often good ideas. The Judicial Branch and the Legislature as separate but co-equal branches of government intend to work together, as we have done before, to continue improving the system for the Connecticut families we serve. While public discourse is fundamental to our nations democratic process, hate speech in public discourse challenges our ability to have civil debates about important issues. Civil discourse is a two-way street. That does not mean words may not be heated or even harsh. If you are to succeed in public service, a thick skin is required, and we are fully cognizant of the protections provided by the First Amendment. Yet one cowardly voice, driven by malice and petulance, severely diminishes the chorus of those who truly want change. We are talking about a hate-filled blog (thefamilycourtcircus.com), racist, homophobic, misogynistic and anti-Semitic to its core, that has regularly targeted particular family court judges, legislators, attorneys, parties in family court cases, journalists, school officials, mental health professionals, law enforcement and pretty much anyone else who doesnt drink from the bloggers poison pen. Innocent childrens names and personal information have been bandied about without restraint, and its a cause for celebration when the loved one of a targeted person dies. In many ways, it is an equal opportunity blog: no faith, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation is spared from its vitriolic rhetoric chinachink, sambo, cracker, she devil its all there. Its message clearly is intended to incite violent fringe elements, and it casts a wide net for targets: it is anti-Semitic one day, misogynistic another. A few sample posts include: Why is it when black folk get into responsible positions in society they start acting like elite white folk? Our n----r boy Chief Justice Robinson of the Connecticut Supreme Court rose to a position to suck jewish ----. When the laws are ignored by the courts, the Second Amendment holds special purpose. The ultimate fix for Family Court of Connecticut (underneath a photo of a military-style assault rifle.) Proof is in the pudding. The custody law of the jewish state of Connecticut is a page right out of the Talmud. Rabbinical rule over the goyim is codified in state statute to permit the jewdicial authorities to steal children at will. But then there are d-kes [names of female judges] who relish in tearing families apart. And those are some of the tamer remarks. Make no mistake: the words are intended to harass, intimidate and taunt. But not surprisingly, they have had quite the opposite effect we are more determined than ever, in our respective roles, to do whats right. The Judicial Branch and the Legislature have worked collaboratively over the past several years to make changes in how family court matters are resolved. If we are to continue in our effort to improve the delivery of services in family court, or any court for that matter, it is imperative that this blog and any of its ilk be disavowed by anyone serious about change. Anyone who supports, believes, excuses or defends such hate-filled words is not serious about helping to make our courts responsive to the needs of our citizens. This heinous blog is disturbing on so many levels and needs to be exposed for what it is, but we will not let it stop us from engaging in a civil, public discourse on the important matters before us. Richard A. Robinson is chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; Joe Aresimowicz is speaker of the state House of Representatives. NEWTOWN The Sandy Hook memorial contract could have been awarded to architects with a national reputation, or to architects who have done good work here before, such as the firm that designed the new Sandy Hook School. Instead, Newtown chose two unknowns in the architectural world named Ben Waldo and Dan Affleck, whose memorial design of a walk through nature captivated the town. When they came to us, they were humble and passionate, and that really impressed us, said Dan Krauss, chairman of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission, the group that has spent five years helping Newtown decide how best to honor 26 first-graders and educators slain in the Sandy Hook shootings. They obviously thought a lot about this project, and we felt a real connection to them. The architects, in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media, said part of what distinguished them from others whose designs also drew on natures connection to life, death and rebirth is that their motivations were not professional. They were personal. Both men work for San Francisco-based SWA, and have occasionally been on the same design teams for municipal parks or commercial projects. Dan and I had been talking about working on a project together on our own that was meaningful, said Waldo, 29, who grew up playing music before he could read. So this is a project we worked on after hours during weekends and lunches. We wanted to keep this personal, agreed Affleck, 40, a Hartford native who studied painting before focusing on architecture. So when they had the big public meetings for the (semifinalist) designers, we wanted our presentation to be just the two of us. The result was an interconnected design that inspired Sandy Hook families from the start a walk through the 5-acre woods of the memorial site to a circular center, where a young sycamore tree is planted in a reflecting pool. There is something spiritual about it that is aesthetic and emotional, said Alan Martin, a member of the memorial commission. It spoke to us, and we felt good about it. Newtown is in the final phase of a deliberate process to build a monument of commemoration and hope on a semi-secluded site near the new Sandy Hook School, which opened in 2016. First Selectman Dan Rosenthal is negotiating with SWA about a budget that Newtown residents would have to approve, perhaps in a referendum as soon as November. Although its too soon to say how much Newtown is prepared to spend on the monument, Rosenthal has reserved $4 million in the towns multi-year capital improvement fund to be used for the solemn site. The town has also paid SWA $250,000 to develop blueprints for the design created by Waldo and Affleck, known as The Clearing. The words resonate on two levels, Affleck said. There is the natural physical clearing of woods on the site itself, and a spiritual clearing in terms of clarity. Inviting interaction As soon as Affleck and Waldo agreed they wanted to work together on the Sandy Hook memorial, they encountered the overwhelming burden of the task. No piece of design is ever going to heal wounds as deep as a tragedy like this leaves, Waldo said. Added to that was the burden that somehow the monument had to be more meaningful than the sum of its elements. With that in mind, the duo handled the weight of the task in three ways: they tried to erase all of their preconceptions, they spoke with people they knew who lost loved ones, and they thought about the project for six weeks before starting to sketch. Their solution was a walk through nature to a circle with no beginning and no end, animated by a tree planted in water to represent the distance between life and death. People can engage in the mystery by placing an object in the water that embodies thoughts, emotions or reflections, Waldo said. When you give that away and send it across that space, it is like the culmination of a ritual. Affleck agreed, saying a floating object placed at the edge of the reflection pool will be gently carried by fountain hydraulics to the sycamore tree planted in the center. The water can be described as the unknown space between the now and the hereafter, Affleck said. We cannot cross over it, but we can send a candle over it. The hope is construction can begin next spring, and the memorial will be ready to dedicate on Dec. 14, 2020 the eighth anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings. The architects stress they cannot say what someone might feel while walking in that space, except the memorial will have the ability to ground people. It locates you emotionally, Affleck said. By bringing people together in a circular nature, the physical form suggests a way to think about what happened. A Russian Luxury brand called Caviar is offering new custom-made jewelry editions of either the iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max. The company is debuting its latest Prima Collection in honor of three Russian classic ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and La Bayadere. Each one represented by heroines from the respective ballets: Odette, Nikiya, and Aurora. Two of the designs use no fewer than 20 diamonds to decorate the phones exterior and the result is quite extravagant and beautiful. The designs take about 12 days of work to complete and the Prima collection models start from $6,390 and go all the way up to $7,7670 if you opt for the 512GB iPhone XS Max. Caviar has been offering custom-designed electronics (1,2) a while now. You can head over to their website to check out the other dozens of designs offered. The company targets the Prima Collection as an idea gift for a woman, and it ships internationally from Russia. Source The Huawei Mate P30 lite is going through the halls of TENAA and while the certification process isnt complete yet, we have some photos to share. Weve already seen some of the specs and until the full process is complete we wont see more. Still, heres a recap. The phone MAR-AL00, code name Marie Claire will have a 6.15 screen and will measure 15.29 x 72.7 x 7.4mm. Its a dual SIM device with a 3,240mAh battery. And here are the photos we promised. As you can see, the screen has a teardrop notch for the selfie camera and the rear houses a triple shooter. Huawei P30 lite (photos by TENAA) Theres also a MAR-TL00 phone, headed to a different carrier. However, it looks identical (TENAA only photographed the black models so theres nothing more to see here). Earlier rumors have shown that the 6.15 screen will have 1,080 x 2,312px resolution (19.3:9), a 20+16+2MP rear camera, Kirin 710 chipset and 18W fast charging. TENAA will confirm (or refute) these specs soon, the phones will be officially unveiled on March 26. Source 1 | Source 2 (in Chinese) Today we are finally going to see the vivo iQOO arrive officially and you can join in too. The Chinese company is launching the first device of its sub-brand, and it will come with three cameras, Snapdragon 855 and 12 GB RAM and has posted a live stream from Shenzhen, China, which you can follow below. The event begins at 7:30 PM local time, which is 12:30 CET. The new device will be the most powerful vivo smartphone up to date. Aside from the obvious monstrous chipset and RAM, it will also have 44W fast-charging that will top up the 4,000 mAh battery in 50 minutes, and there will be an option with 256 GB storage. Feast your eyes on the official press renders of vivo iQOO The triple camera on the back will be in a 13 MP + 12 MP + 2 MP setup, while the selfie shooter will be 12 MP and will be positioned in a notch on the AMOLED display. The screen will be 6.41 in diagonal and will likely come with a fingerprint scanner underneath. Prices of the new headset will start from CNY3,598 ($540/470) but will go as high as CNY4,998 ($750/655) for the 12/256 GB variant. MOSS POINT, Miss. -- Professionals across Jackson County filled Moss Point High School on Thursday for their Career Expo Day. The day was one where students asked questions about various jobs held by the professionals and opportunities to shadow them while at work. The Moss Point Fire Department, Jackson County District Attorneys Office, barber Eric Barnes, authors, librarians and various entities were on hand informing students of the credentials needed to perform these jobs. Students SaDiamond Alexander and Korleon Wilson were thoroughly impressed with what they heard from Assistant Jackson County District Attorney Cherie Wade and her office. I met a judge, lawyer and district attorney and personally, I wouldnt like to be one because it takes so long to be in school, Alexander said. I want to be a radiology tech and I want to work with X-rays and help medical those in medical school however possible. Even though she does not see either law enforcement in her future, Alexander said she still learned a lot from the DAs office. The things we learned from them I can see them being helpful down the line in life, she said. "If I ever want to change my major, I will know what it takes to be successful in law-related fields. Assistant Jackson County District Attorneys Carolyn Lewis and Cherie Wade explain to Moss Point High School students about what their job entails. Wilson however was thrilled at what he heard and said he plans to become a lawyer. I always wanted to be a lawyer and or district attorney because it seems so eventful and fun, Wilson said. Also, I love arguing so I think this will be the career for me. Principal Joe Griffin said he was thrilled with the turnout of the more than 40 professionals who showed up to the high school to talk with an educate students about career paths they might have shunned initially or never considered. I hope the students walk away from the expo with a spirit of hope and a spirit of knowing that you can be or do whatever you want to in this world, but you do have to work hard to attain anything they aspire to accomplish, Griffin said. Mainly, today is about providing exposure and gaining knowledge from those who set this path before them. Haiti - Humanitarian : The Government launches a 10 billion Gourdes appeal On Thursday, the 2019-2020 Humanitarian Response Plan was launched jointly by the Government of Haiti represented by Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant, the Minister of Planning Jean-Claudy Pierre and representatives of the various key ministries in humanitarian action, and by the entire humanitarian community working in Haiti under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mamadou Diallo, national and international NGOs and in the presence of the donor community and representatives of Member States whose Ambassador of the European Union Vincent Degert. Through the 2019-2020 Humanitarian Response Plan, the Government and the humanitarian community have launched a $126.2 million ( 10.5 billion gourdes) emergency fund appeal to meet the humanitarian needs of 1.3 million Haitians and invited international donors to support its implementation. This plan aims to assist the most vulnerable people identified during the humanitarian needs assessment exercise conducted in late 2018. It will focus on: responding to food insecurity, enabling access to services and protection for the most vulnerable, strengthen the fight against epidemics (cholera, malaria, diphtheria) and strengthen the resilience of the population and national institutions to recurrent crises and natural hazards by working hand-in-hand with development actors. In his speech, Prime Minister Ceant, thanked the joint efforts, stressing "It is a priority to introduce mechanisms of adaptation to deal with possible hazards. It is crucial to find bridges between emergency and development activities and I would like to invite donors to renew their trust and support for humanitarian partners operating in Haiti so that they can continue to support efforts of State institutions." Minister Jean Claudy Pierre underlined "The Humanitarian Response Plan we are launching today is the result of joint, inclusive work that addresses the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable populations in Haiti." Mamadou Diallo recalled "our presence here today, is first and foremost the expression of our sustained and renewed commitment to these populations who have a need for humanitarian assistance : assistance that aims to protect the most vulnerable, rebuild economic and social livelihoods, strengthen resilience and community solidarity." Note that the Humanitarian Response Plan will be implemented over a period of 2 years with the possibility to review the needs expressed if needed, during this period. S/ HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - ALERT : Avoid all transactions on the website of the OAVCT The Watch Center of the Digital Observatory in Haiti (ObNH) deplores that the website of the Office of Insurance Vehicles Against Third Parties (OAVCT), which offers the possibility of making transactions online at https://e-oavct.gouv.ht/oavctPortal/ is not properly secured, as is unfortunately the case for other websites of the Haitian public administration... The ObNH states, "Despite the display of the "https" protocol, characteristic of a secure connection, no encryption (SSL or TLS) has been detected. In addition, despite the presence of the "Secured by GeoTrust" tab, the security certificate has expired since December 1, 2018." Adding "The major concern exists at the level of the payment form hosted on the same site, which does not refer to any "trusted third party ". It is thus possible that the information entered by a taxpayer during a payment by credit card can be used for fraudulent purposes. Note that ObNH informed OAVCT of this security issue on January 29, 2019, in accordance with the internal protocol governing the matter, which requires notifying the public within 30 days of contacting the principal parties. officials. Pending a security patch, as well as upgrading the website, the ObNH recommends that taxpayers avoid any data exchange, including financial transactions, from the OAVCT website. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Arcahaie : Ruthless popular justice Wednesday, February 27, 2019 in Bercy, a locality of the 1st communal section of Arcahaie, an individual known as James, aka "Ti Soumen", suspected of belonging to a gang of motorcycle thieves, was killed by the population and his body dragged by a motorcycle on the public road without intervention of the Police... Note that 6 motorcycle thieves were killed by the population during the month of February in the commune of Arcahaie, where this type of theft is very common... Police officers pledge their weapon The Directorate of the PNH recovered several weapons of services of agents of the PNH which had pledged them for money in a business house... Fanmi Lavalas crisis solution In a note, Fanmi Lavalas party of the radical wing of the opposition, formulates its proposals for a way out of the crisis and proposes a paradigm shift and governance structure. This necessitates the resignation of President Jovenel Moise and of the entire Government as well as the recognition of the lapse of Parliament before setting up an Executive of Transitional Public Safety, which must respect the priorities of the roadmap of its 36-month mandate, in particular to build public confidence in the state and facilitate the holding of honest and credible free elections. It is also about the creation of a Constituent Assembly for a new Constitution that will define the contours of the new Republic. "Don Kato" describs the dialogue as demagogic West Senator Antonio Cheramy, aka "Don Kato", fierce opponent of power in power and a member of the radical opposition, describs as demagogic the new Presidential Committee facilitating inter-Haitian national dialogue installed this week https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27037-haiti-politic-installation-of-the-committee-of-facilitation-of-the-inter-haitian-dialogue-already-a-resignation.html , saying that dialogue is not possible with the Head of State without all the mandates of elected officials being on the table. Clifford Brandt : Judge threatened Judge Denis Pierre Michel, in charge of the Clifford Brandt and consort case, said to be threatened by unidentified individuals who, according to rumors, seek a judgment in favor of some of the alleged kidnappers, indicated the substitute commissioner near the civil court of Gonaives, Adisson Diog. Haiti one of the worst health systems in the world The report, prepared by Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index and published earlier this week, considers sub-Saharan nations and countries like Haiti, Afghanistan and Yemen as countries with the worst health systems in the world... HL/ HaitiLibre By Vasia Orion | Published on 2019/02/28 This week is really out to destroy me with its casting news, and Han Suk-kyu's possible upcoming return to Dramaland after "Dr. Romantic" is no exception to this sweet torture. The actor has been offered a role in OCN's "WATCHER", which would mark his first foray into cable dramas. Advertisement As previously shared in my piece about the channel's 2019 lineup, "WATCHER" is a psychological thriller following three men and women who join an anti-corruption police unit and unravel the reality of power after their lives are ruined by a traumatic event. There doesn't seem to be more information out on the role offered to Han Suk-kyu, but we'll hopefully know more when the actor has made his decision. The premise sounds generic at the moment, so I'm hoping for a cast and crew who can bring out the best in it. With PD Ahn Gil-ho ("Memories of the Alhambra", "Secret Forest"), and writer Han Sang-woon ("The Good Wife") on board, I'm already feeling good about it. "WATCHER" will be out in the second half of this year, and I'll be watching it closely. Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings' Sources (1) (2) Local legislative teleconference with state legislators that normally is held at noon Fridays is canceled for today, but will resume again Friday, March 8, at noon in Conference Room 1 at Northern Montana Hospital. Cold weather expected to moderate but remain through next week Despite some relatively warmer weather in north-central Montana at the start and end of February with March coming in like a lion the month ended up being historically cold, with National Weather Service reporting Havre recording the second-coldest February on record. The monthly average temperature that averages the high and low each day ended up at minus 5.9 degrees Fahrenheit for Havre, edging out the previous second-coldest of minus 4.9 degrees set in 1887. What is now the fourth-coldest average for February, set in 1891, is minus 0.2 degrees. The benchmark for cold Februaries in Havre was set in the bitterly cold year of 1936, at minus 12.8 degrees. The coldest February In the leap-year of 1936, the low in Havre was above zero one day, Feb. 29, at 9 degrees. That day saw a high of 44 degrees, one of nine days with a high above zero. Only two of these days the 29th and the high of 40 on Feb. 27 were above freezing. The high in between those days, Feb. 28, was 12 degrees. The low on Feb. 27, 1936, was minus 3 degrees and on the 28th minus 4. From Feb. 4, 1936, to Feb. 20, 1936, the high never rose above zero the warmest day was Feb 19, 1936, when the high hit zero. The lows were all below minus 20 degrees, with the lows on multiple days colder than minus 30. The low on Feb. 15, 1936, was minus 46, and the coldest day, Feb. 16, 1936, was minus 47. This years data for the February average for other towns in the area was not available at the Weather Service website this morning, but the coldest Februaries all in 1936 were minus 14.3 in Chinook, minus 13.6 in Harlem, and Chester and Big Sandy both had minus 9.5. Chinooks coldest day that month was minus 51 on Feb. 14, 1936, and the lows never rose above minus 20 from Feb. 1, 1936, to Feb. 20, 1936. Those lows included minus 50 on Feb. 15, 1936, and three lows colder than minus 40 and six colder than minus 30. Lots of snow but not near a record Havre also didnt break the record for snowfall for February, set last year on the 21st at 31.8 inches, but came close to getting second in that category, as well. National Weather Service reports the Havre recording station, at the Havre City-County Airport west of town, showed 17.5 inches of snow falling there in February. In 1978, the winter snowfall in Havre for February was 18.6 inches and it was 18 inches in 1994. This years data on February snowfall for other towns in the area was not available this morning, but the records for Big Sandy show February 1942 with the most snow at 14.5 inches. Harlem received its February record of 24 inches in 1951; Chinook set a February record last year at 21 inches; as did Chester with 20.7 inches. More winter this weekend Although February which started in 2019 with highs in the 40s went out with a comparably balmy high of 20 degrees in Havre Thursday, winter is back with a vengeance for the weekend. A blast of arctic air was expected to hit north-central Montana this morning, spreading to southwest Montana by tonight and bringing more snow and near-record cold to north-central Montana. The Weather Service forecast low for Havre is minus 28 tonight and minus 32 Saturday. The record lows for Havre are minus 31 March 1 last year and minus 38 March 2, 1911. Harlems record lows were both set in 1924, with minus 44 on March 1 and minus 34 March 2. Harlems forecast calls for lows of minus 26 tonight and minus 30 Saturday. Chinook saw minus 45 March 1, 1924, and minus 38 March 2, 1991, with the forecast calling for lows of minus 28 tonight and minus 29 Saturday. Chester saw minus 33 March 1, 1952, and minus 37 March 2, 1911. Its forecast calls for lows of minus 25 tonight and minus 29 Saturday. Big Sandys record lows were in 1928, with minus 48 the record for March 1 and minus 35 for March 2. Its forecast predicts lows of minus 19 tonight and minus 32 Saturday. The winter weather advisory it is a more-severe winter storm warning for the western edge of the state for the state from the Rocky Mountains to Blaine and Fergus counties predicts 1 inches to 4 inches of snow falling from this morning through Saturday morning. A winter hazardous weather outlook predicting falling and blowing snow is in effect south of Fergus County with a winter weather advisory in effect for the southeast corner of Montana. A wind chill advisory is in effect east of Blaine and Fergus counties. Whats to come While temperatures are expected to moderate with highs in the single digits to teens and lows to below zero in the single digits to teens by next week, normal March weather should not be expected in north-central Montana until at least the end of the month. Weather Service meteorologist Paul Nutter in Great Falls said earlier this week that the unusually cold weather is expected to stay into the second week of March. At that point, the chance of having above-normal or below-normal temperatures becomes about even. He added that that forecast is true for almost all of the contiguous lower-48 states, with only parst of New Mexico, Arizona and Florida likely to warm up. Later in the month, he said, with longer days and more warmth from the sun hitting the area, the bitter cold that has covered the nation could be broken up. An Amtrak worker peers out the door of an eastbound train as they prepare to head out of the Havre station Thursday in Havre. The federal budget passed in February requires Amtrak stations that cut ticket agents in 2018 add customer service agents. Editor's note: The original version of this story said U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. did not respond to a request for comment for the article. The Havre Daily News emailed a former spokesperson for his office and was unaware the spokesperson no longer worked in his office. His comments are included in this version. This version also corrects information in photo captions about what stations will get customer service agents. In February, President Donald Trump signed a budget agreement which would prevent the federal government from re-entering a shutdown. This legislation included funding for Amtrak, contingent on Amtrak providing a station agent in each of its stations that had ticket agent positions eliminated in fiscal year 2018. Amtrak cut the staffing in June for Havre and Shelby, part of cuts to ticket agent staffing around the country. The service said that, due to the use of internet and automated telephone ticket purchasing, it was cutting staffing at stations that average fewer than 40 passengers a day in order to be "good stewards of taxpayer dollars." Amtrak announced last year that they would be removing the ticket agents from the Havre and Shelby stations effective June 2018 due to low ridership. Amtrak Public Relations Manager Marc Magliari said Thursday that if customers are unsatisfied with the service, they should let them know. He said Amtrak is looking to make the experience for its customers more consistent and make improvements across the system. There are certainly different needs for different communities, he said, adding that people can contact Amtrak through customer relations on the company's website. Some people have said the cuts and changes ignore other services ticket agents perform - for example, a Havre ticket agent helped a passenger get life-saving medical care in April, then helped him get aboard the train and headed onward several days later - and ignores issues ranging from ticket agents telling passengers what is available in the community and collecting baggage to get it onto the baggage car. Other services include answering calls about the schedule and the fact that if no ticket agent is present, children cannot get on the train unless an adult guardian is traveling with them. A Havre couple found that out the hard way in June when they tried to put their grandson on the train to ride home to Glasgow. They then stood in the rain on the station platform using their cellphones to buy tickets so they could take an unexpected trip with him to get him home on the train. Ticket agents also played a role in directing people to tourist attractions, lodging and places to eat in town. In 2017 the Havre Station, according to Amtrak Fact Sheet and the Great American Stations website, had 11,570 passengers, averaging 31.70 passengers a year. In 2018 the station had 11,102 passengers, 468 passengers fewer than the previous year. Shelby in the fiscal year of 2017 had 10,887 passengers, averaging 29.83 passengers a day, and in 2018 had 10,387 passengers, 500 passengers fewer than previous year. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., all submitted letters to the Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson last year, before the ticket agents were removed, advising Amtrak not to remove the agents from the Shelby and Havre stations. Ticket agents were removed but with the federal budget passed in February there may be some changes. Tester's Deputy Communications Director Dave Kuntz said Wednesday that the wording in the budget was unclear on whether Amtrak was required to reinstate the ticket agents who were removed. These positions were replaced by a caretaker, who is subcontracted through a separate company. These caretakers are not Amtrak employees and are unable, currently, to perform the same function as a ticket agent. He said that Tester's office has sent a letter to Amtrak to clarify the company's plans with the stations, although it is not looking very optimistic. Daines Press Secretary Julia Doyle said he is continuing to work on the issue. The senator supports bringing the ticketing agents back and will continue to push Amtrak on making sure this issue is resolved, she said Gianforte's office had not replied to a request for comment as of print deadline. Dan Engstrom, resident of Seattle, and former employee of Amtrak, said that he thinks it is up to constituents to put pressure on their representatives, such as Tester, Daines and Gianforte, in order to make sure that these services are restored, "as they were illegally discontinued," he said. Rail Passenger Association representative Mark Meyer said he has not personally read the wording in the bill, but one interpretation by members of the Rail Passenger Association is that it will only specifically apply to the stations which lost their staff in the 2018 cutbacks. "The other reason that I am skeptical about a place like Havre being restaffed is that I would think we would have heard more about it by now if that was the case," he said. Meyer added he thought the situation was "too good to be true." He said a Rail Passenger Association NorthWest Divisional meeting is set for May 18, in the Elks Lodge in Cut Bank from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Speakers at this event will include Gianforte, Daines' Montana Field Rep. Alison Vergeront, state Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, Rail Passenger Association President Jim Mathews and Cut Bank Chamber of Commerce President Ric Beals. Other speakers which were invited include BNSF Railway Montana Division Superintendent of Operations James Pino, Tester, an unspecified Amtrak representative and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Magliari said Thursday that Amtrak will follow the congressional direction. Magliari shared in an email the language of the legislation: "The conferees direct Amtrak to provide a station agent in each Amtrak station that had a ticket agent position eliminated in fiscal year 2018," it said. "Station agents, which include Amtrak ticket agents or caretakers, assist passengers with their intercity rail travel, provide customer service during all hours that a station is open, and perform building maintenance duties. The conferees direct Amtrak to improve communication and collaboration with local partners and take into consideration the unique needs of each community, including impacts to local jobs, when making decisions related to the staffing of Amtrak stations, and to work with stakeholders to maximize the efficiency of these station agents." Magliari added that this does not mean the Havre or Shelby stations will be rehiring a ticket agent. Instead, Amtrak plans to develop new standards and expectations for the caretaker position, based on the guidelines in the legislation. "We're going to develop some standards and some expectations of the caretakers, based both on the hiring of (Amtrak's Assistant Vice President of Stations Robert Jordan) and this legislation," he said. Magliari said this legislation coincides with the reorganization of Amtrak, which centers customer service at stations under Jordan. His role is to make sure that Amtrak customers who are visiting Amtrak stations get an excellent and consistent experience, Magliari said. Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry An Amtrak employee helps scan tickets and direct passengers to their seats inside the Havre station Thursday in Havre. He added that he cannot forecast if new caretakers will be placed at these stations, although it depends on the level of satisfaction with that caretaker and their performance. "Congress just finished their actions two weeks ago and Mr. Jordan is just now starting in this job, so between those two things we'll be fully compliant with the direction from congress," Magliari said. -- Amtrak Fact Sheet:https://www.railpassengers.org/site/assets/files/1199/mt.pdf/. The Great American Station Shelby Station:http://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/shelby-mt-sby/. The Great American Station Havre:http://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/havre-mt-hav/. Amtrak contact: https://www.amtrak.com/contact-us/. Rail Passenger Association meeting agenda:https://www.aawa.us/events/rpa-nw-division-meeting-5-2019/. Last updated 3/1/2019 at 11:08am Rosalie Ann McCormick Preputin, 73, passed away in Gig Harbor, Washington on Monday, February 25, 2019. A prayer vigil will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 11, 2019, with her funeral Mass celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 12, 2019, all at St. Jude Catholic Church. Memorials in Rosalies honor may be made to Family Life Today, Dr. Jeramiah, or Focus on the Family. Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Holland & Bonine Funeral Home. Please visit Rosalies online memorial page to leave a message of condolence for her family at http://www.hollandbonine.com. A full obituary will follow. William Henry "Bill" Hinebauch of Havre/Dearborn, age 77, passed away peacefully with his wife, Linda by his side on February 18, 2019, at Northern Montana Care Center. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. at Fifth Avenue Christian Church with luncheon to follow. Memorials in Bill's name may be made to the First Lutheran Church Radio Fund, Dearborn Fire Department or the charity of the donor's choice. Holland and Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with services and arrangements. Please visit Bill's online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for his family at http://www.hollandbonine.com/. Bill was born to Martha (Miller) and Walter Hinebauch on December 11, 1941, in Eastend, SK, Canada. The family moved to Montana in 1943 where Bill lived and farmed until 2011 when he retired. Bill graduated from Havre High School in 1960. He later married Karen Ulven in 1963 and they had two sons, Lyle and Mike, of whom he was very proud. The couple later divorced. In 1996 he married his soulmate and best friend, Linda Cline Wagner. After his retirement, he and Linda moved to Dearborn to live on the river. They enjoyed traveling to many places and entertaining at their house on the river. He loved belonging to Friday Night Club and the great friends he made. They spent winters in Yuma, AZ, until last year when Bill's health failed, and they could no longer travel. Bill was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer in January of 2011 and fought a courageous battle, never complaining of his pain or misfortune of having cancer. Bill enjoyed farming, playing cards and spending time with family and friends. He was always ready to lend a helping hand and was active in the community serving on many boards over the years. His smile lit up the room and his laughter warmed the soul. A great and kind man he was and he will be missed by many. He is preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Walter and Roy; sisters Dorothy and Velma; step-son, Sean Figarelle; mother-in-law, Jeanette Cline; brothers-in-law, John Cline and Tim Parry; and his dog, Daisy Duke. Bill is survived by wife, Linda of Dearborn; sons, Lyle (Caryn) of Scottsbluff, NE, and Mike of Havre; special extended family, Rachel (Tom) McKay of Columbia Falls; grandchildren, Jared and Ashtyn Hinebauch of Scottsbluff and Ian (Megan) McKay of Kalispell; great-grandson, Gavin McKay; sisters Gladys Klundt of Whitefish and Linda Hinebauch of Great Falls; numerous nieces and nephews; and many friends. A gathering of friends and family will be held Saturday evening, March 2, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. at the Palace Bar in Havre. VEHICLES and machinery were stolen in a ram raid at Henley Town Councils storage depot. Raiders broke into the locked storage unit, off Reading Road, by driving into the shuttered door on Wednesday evening last week. They then stole a Land Rover, a pick-up truck and machinery including a two-stroke chainsaw, a strimmer and a hedge-cutter. They also took two bicycles belonging to members of the councils parks services staff. Karl Bishop, who manages the team and had a bicycle stolen, said: I first heard about it when one of the members of staff called me as I was on my way to work the next morning. The police were on site pretty quickly so members of the public must have phoned them. It is gutting, really. Nobody wants to be robbed. Its not a nice feeling but if people want to steal from you they are going to get in somehow. We still have a job to do and we will get on with it as well as we can. We are still busy but some jobs we were going to do will have to wait for a while. Mr Bishop confirmed that the equipment was covered by the councils insurance policy. Police are reviewing CCTV footage. Anyone with information should call the Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101, quoting the reference 43190 054904. A plan to knock through the wall of an iconic Georgian building as part of a pub expansion has been refused. Dublin City Council said the plan would "seriously injure" the historical character of the Irish Yeast Company shop. Businessman Declan Doyle wanted to merge the College Street shop with Bowes pub in Fleet Street. Mr Doyle owns both buildings, along with the nearby Doyle's bar. The planning application was made by Capital Estate Management. The plan would have seen the size of Bowes increase significantly. Victorian The pub has been operating since the 1850s and is one of Dublin's few remaining Victorian pubs. It is a regular spot for Dublin supporters following big All-Ireland clashes. The Irish Yeast Company was sold to Mr Doyle last year for a reported 850,000 after its owner, John Moreland, passed away. The shop, which is a protected building, was put up for sale in February last year. Mr Moreland, who was in his 90s when he died, started working in the shop when he was just 16. He spent more than 75 years working in the old shop, and lived above it for more than 60 years. The business, which has been in College Street since 1890, was taken over by his family soon after the outbreak of World War II. Mr Moreland refused previous offers to buy the shop, saying he was happy with the way things were. In its decision, Dublin City Council gave a number of reasons for refusing planning permission. "The proposal would seriously injure the special architectural and historic character and integrity of these significant protected structures," it said. It added that the "demolition of internal walls, the impact on the ground floor shop counter and cabinetry and all associated works would give rise to an unacceptable loss of historic fabric and legibility". It said the demolition would also have "an irreversibly detrimental and seriously injurious impact on the historic fabric, plan form, integrity and architectural character of this rare and important shop and residence". City councillor Mannix Flynn told the Herald that the decision was a victory for the city. He said it showed that the council was prepared to protect buildings with historic significance. Relief Mr Flynn said the shop was one of the last remaining intact and unique buildings. "You couldn't have got more intact," he said. "While Dublin is being demolished, with hotels and construction, this is a must-keep. There is a lot of relief." Last month, it was reported that An Taisce, the National Trust, had objected to the planning application. It said the plan would diminish the legibility of the two buildings as historic structures. Robert Byrne said someone handed him the card A bookkeeper who was stopped by gardai in the city centre was carrying a stolen bank card. Robert Byrne (26) told off-icers he had been "simply handed" the card by someone. Judge Brian O'Shea told him to pay the victim 300 in compensation to avoid jail. Byrne, of New Cabra Road, Dublin 7, admitted possession of stolen property. Dublin District Court heard that a garda who was on patrol in Middle Abbey Street at 12.50am last July 1 saw Byrne acting suspiciously. When stopped, he was found to be carrying an AIB bank card that was not in his name. Byrne knew it was stolen and signed the garda's notebook to that effect, the court heard. He was arrested and taken to Mountjoy Garda Station. Byrne had 39 previous convictions for offences including theft, assault, sale or supply of drugs and garda obstruction. Stable He had a drug problem that "would appear to have resolved itself at the moment", said Niall O'Connor, defending. He was a "very articulate and bright man" who was now stable on methadone. Byrne had three young children and could "contribute positively" to society when not taking drugs, Mr O'Connor told the court. On the day in question, Byrne was "simply handed this card", said Mr O'Connor. Judge O'Shea initially said he would adjourn the case to May and would dismiss the charge under the Probation Act if Byrne paid 300 compensation to the victim. Otherwise, he would sentence him to a month in prison. Byrne asked for more time to pay the money. Judge O'Shea agreed to adjourn the case to July 18. Byrne was remanded on continuing bail. A 32-year-old man has been jailed for six years for dangerous driving that caused the deaths of three women on their way home from a summer holiday. The court heard how Jason Rowntree, of Plantation House, Kingscourt, Co Louth, collided head on with a Toyota Auris on July 21, killing all the occupants. Margaret McGonigle (69), of Bruckless, Co Donegal, along with her daughter, Mairead O'Neill Mundy (37), and their neighbour Rachel Battles (39) died as a result of the accident at Aclint Bridge, Ardee, Co Louth, on July 21, 2017. Holiday They were travelling home from Dublin Airport at around 12.30am after a family holiday in Turkey. The accused had drunk between three and five pints of Guinness in a pub before the accident. Rowntree, who had no recollection of the accident, was seriously injured. He pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving charge before Christmas at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court, and yesterday Judge Patrick Quinn handed down sentence. He sentenced Rowntree to six years with the final two years suspended on conditions that include the accused attending alcohol awareness and counselling programmes The judge said the accused crossed a continuous white line on to the opposite side of the road and collided with the Toyota Auris. The judge, however, remarked that he could not ignore the statement of a lorry driver who told gardai a Black Volkswagen Passat pulled out in front of him from a side road and then pulled up on to the hard shoulder. The judge said it was not a case of a momentary lack of attention, while accepting the accused did not intend the damage that he caused. Rowntree had accepted responsibility for the accident and had a clear record. The judge accepted his remorse was genuine. Roma hooligans outside Anfield in Liverpool before the Champions League game A balaclava-clad Italian hooligan who "destroyed" the life of a Liverpool supporter and his family in a "brutal and vicious" attack ahead of a Champions League tie has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Roma supporter Simone Mastrelli (30) picked out Irish father-of-three Sean Cox (53) from the scarf he was wearing and knocked him unconscious to the ground with a single blow to the face near Anfield. Speaking outside court, Mr Cox's wife Martina said that while the jail sentence was welcome, "he has given Sean and our family a life sentence". Mastrelli, a married man with children, was at the fore of a group of between 50 and 60 "ultras" in distinctive clothing with many covering their heads and faces and some carrying belts in their hands as weapons. As Mr Cox, from Dunboyne, Co Meath, lay motionless, the defendant quickly disappeared into the crowd and then removed his balaclava and hood before he "callously" went into the stadium and watched the match last April 24. Catastrophic Expand Close The violence was led by Simone Mastrelli / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The violence was led by Simone Mastrelli He flew back to Italy the next day and remained at large until he was arrested last October following painstaking enquiries by Merseyside Police to identify his movements from CCTV. Dublin-born Mr Cox suffered catastrophic head injuries after he was punched by Mastrelli ahead of the semi-final first leg. He has been recovering at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire after he spent four-and-a-half weeks at the Walton Centre in Liverpool, a specialist neurological unit. Mastrelli appeared from custody at Preston Crown Court yesterday and entered a guilty plea to unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cox. A separate count of violent disorder was allowed to lie on file. In sentencing, Judge Brown said footage showed Mastrelli and another Roma fan, Filippo Lombardi, approaching Mr Cox, adding that they must have "picked him out because of his distinctive red and white scarf". He said life-long Liverpool fans Mr Cox and his brother Martin "posed no threat to any-body" and that their day ended in "appalling circumstances". Addressing Mastrelli, the judge added: "You then went into the stadium to enjoy the match - which was particularly callous given what had just happened and what you had done to Mr Cox." Lombardi (21) was cleared of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cox last October, though he was jailed for three years for violent disorder. A third man, Daniele Sciusco (29), from Rome, admitted violent disorder ahead of the match and was jailed for two-and-a-half years last August. Footage of the incident in Walton Breck Road was played in court and shows Mastrelli initially aggressively confronting Mr Cox with his arms raised. Lombardi then raises a belt as Mastrelli moves back and then, from Mr Cox's right-hand side, he forcibly punches him in the face. A witness described the attack as "sudden and unprovoked" and a "sickening sight". Keith Sutton, prosecuting, said Mastrelli had flown in from Germany with a friend and later met up with other Roma fans, including Lombardi and Sciusco, at Manchester Airport railway station. Mastrelli was already seen to be wearing a balaclava shortly after the group arrived at Liverpool Lime Street Station just before 5.30pm. They were seen in nearby Hanover Street about 40 minutes later, with a number of them wearing their hoods up and with their faces covered, before the group of up to 60 walked towards Anfield. A witness noticed the group in Venables Street, close to Walton Breck Road, and thought they were "angry" and concluded "there was going to be some trouble". Chanting Shortly afterwards, Martin Cox heard "a lot of noise" in Walton Breck Road in what he described as "shouting and chanting but not in a good way". "He recalls turning to his brother to discover he was already on the floor," said Mr Sutton. "He had not seen what happened but, as he attempted to assist him, he too was kicked and fell to the floor." Sean Cox was transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital on October 3 with a "profound" brain injury. "He is unable to communicate his needs, wants or wishes. He cannot walk and needs assistance with all activities of daily living," said Mr Sutton. "The reality is that he is unlikely to live independently again." Mastrelli has since written a letter of apology to the family, and the defence said he was genuinely remorseful. A woman did not attack her victim with a knife because of "delusional" impulses but because of "anger" and "a sense of entitlement", a consultant psychiatrist has told her trial. Laura Kenna (37), of no fixed abode, is charged with attempting to murder Fionnuala Burke on Lower Drumcondra Road, in Dublin, on January 3, 2017, and assault causing serious harm on the same occasion. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to both counts. Called to give evidence by prosecution counsel Anthony Sammon SC, Dr Harry Kennedy said it was his opinion that the attack would not come "under the definition of insanity". Reading from his psychiatric evaluation of Ms Kenna, Dr Kennedy told the Central Criminal Court that she had the "ability to fabricate for her own interests" by refusing to answer certain questions when being interviewed by gardai. He said Ms Kenna made "flippant" and "misleading" replies for her own benefit, such as saying she had "walked to Belfast following the attack". He added that after carrying out the attack Ms Kenna had argued with a worker at Drumcondra Railway Station about buying a train ticket. Dr Kennedy referred to her as an "inconsistent historian", saying she had "callous" and "unemotional" personality traits. Money He added that Ms Kenna said on the night of the attack that she "followed another woman but let her go", which he said indicated she knew what she was doing in selecting her victim. Dr Kennedy said there was no evidence in his evaluation of the accused that she could "not refrain from the attack". He said that rather it was done in "anger" and involved a "sense of entitlement" as Ms Kenna later mentioned to the gardai on numerous occasions that she "needed money". He also told the court that Ms Kenna said at one point she was "disappointed she didn't kill the victim" and that in his opinion she did not seem to be operating under "delusional" impulses. Dr Kennedy said she was more mentally well when she was on medication for her illness and abstaining from taking intoxicants. He referred to a previous occasion when Ms Kenna attacked a woman at a Luas stop by stabbing her in the face with a pen. He said he believed Ms Kenna was "hearing voices" at this time as she appeared to believe she had been insulted by the victim. Dr Kennedy said that, in regard to the attack on Ms Burke, Ms Kenna was talking about stealing her handbag and did not appear to be suffering from a schizoaffective episode. When being cross-examined by Ms Kenna's barrister, Mr Barry White SC, Dr Kennedy was asked if he was "here to carry a shield for the prosecution". Mad Referring to Dr Kennedy's analysis of Ms Kenna's mental state during the previous attack, Mr White asked if it was likely she would go from being "mad to bad to mad [again]". Dr Kennedy responded by saying "the natural history" of schizoaffective disorder "varies rapidly from day to day". On Wednesday, another consultant psychiatrist, Dr Stephen Monks, told the court that he believed Ms Kenna was not aware of the nature of her actions during the attack. The trial continues. Housing Department officials were accused of "spin" when they appeared before the Dail's spending watchdog to present figures for the number of social homes built last year. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard from Housing Department secretary general John McCarthy that about one in four homes built last year were social housing homes, and that the new-build figure was 85pc up on 2017. However, Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy claimed the department was engaged in "spin". She said the way the figures were presented "give the impression that we're really getting ahead of a crisis that's there". She said the presentation was not a "fair reflection" on the extent of the housing crisis. Mr McCarthy said he "absolutely wouldn't accept that there's any element of spin involved here". Ethical Fianna Fail TD Shane Cassells referred to the use of the department's Rebuilding Ireland Twitter account to share posts by the Taoiseach and Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy that featured the Fine Gael logo and highlighted housing figures. He said that a department retweeting posed "major ethical issues". Mr McCarthy said he was not familiar with the retweets and said there was no directive from Mr Murphy to the department about such posts. He said he would "look into it". The department last night said the tweets were shared "in error" and the retweets have now been removed from the Rebuilding Ireland account. Leo Varadkar was asked about the latest homeless figures - 9,987 in January - by another Oireachtas committee. He said that the numbers were "disappointing" and that he wanted to see them fall rather than stabilise at about 10,000. Oisin McMullin will flex his muscles and his limbs to impress the talent show judges Twisting Louis Walsh's arm is on the mind of most Ireland's Got Talent contestants. However, for young Oisin McMullin, twisting his own body, not Louis', is all part of the act. The 11-year-old Cabin- teely gymnast is set to show off his impressive flexibility in tomorrow night's talent show. Having trained three times a week for the past four years, Oisin has learned to tie himself in knots. Champion He can bend his body backwards into a circle and fold himself in half on a hanging bar. Wy Mac, the daughter of world champion boxer and Olympic silver medallist, Wayne McCullough (48), hopes her singing can pack a punch. The 20-year-old, who once opened for Westlife, decided to give the talent show a go in the hope of gaining a new audience for her music. With a new single, Mind Games, set for release today, Wy is hoping tomorrow night's TV appearance will boost her fanbase. With Bono a big fan of her father's sporting achievements, Wy has already rubbed shoulders with the U2 frontman at his concerts. Wayne accompanied Wy to the Dublin auditions of Ireland's Got Talent when she flew in from the family home in Los Angeles. "Dad always tells me to push through if anyone pushes you down," said Wy. "He was told he wouldn't make it, but he became the best in the world. "He always tells me that God has got you, and to just say a little prayer before I get up on stage." Ireland's Got Talent is on Virgin Media One tomorrow at 7.30pm. Teacher Clodagh Hawe and her three sons Niall, Ryan and Liam were all killed by Alan Hawe in 2016 The family of murdered Clodagh Hawe believes that "changes will come" following their meeting with the justice minister. Cavan teacher Clodagh (39) was killed along with her three young sons by her husband and the children's father, Alan Hawe, in August 2016. Her sister Jacqueline Connolly and mother Mary Coll met Charlie Flanagan yesterday to discuss retrieving a garda file to help them understand why Hawe (41) killed Clodagh, Liam (13), Niall (11) and six-year-old Ryan before taking his own life. Reviewed After the 90-minute meeting, the mother and sister thanked Mr Flanagan for a "satisfactory" discussion and said they planned to meet Garda Commissioner Drew Harris next week. "We discussed over 10 issues that we would like reviewed following the murders," said Ms Connolly . "Mr Flanagan had his officials with him and was very receptive. "We're feeling very positive that changes will come from this. "We have a meeting next week with the commissioner and we're looking forward to hearing from Mr Harris himself. "We're not in a position to comment on an inquiry at the minute but we want to say we're happy with today's outcome." Ms Coll said: "I'm confident now we will have access to the garda files which we haven't been able to access before. "We just want to thank the minister for such a satisfactory meeting." Mr Flanagan described the meeting as "lengthy but satisfactory" and said he was struck by the grace and humanity of the family, who he said had been through a horrific ordeal. "I was very pleased to inform them of an early meeting with the garda commissioner to express their concerns, and a number of concerns were expressed to me in terms of legislative change, and I was very happy to receive their submission," he said. "I've also asked my officials to report back on proposed changes to the Succession Act and coroners legislation." Campaigners have been calling for changes to Ireland's Succession Act, which currently allows the perpetrator of a spousal homicide to become the beneficiary of the couple's joint assets. Inquiry "One of the issues we discussed was to establish national research on family homicide and this is something I'm very keen to pursue," added Mr Flanagan. The family, backed by the National Women's Council of Ireland, have called for an independent review into Clodagh's death. However, Mr Flanagan did not give any confirmation that he would commission such an inquiry. "The independent research that I commissioned will be helpful in that regard, but many of the issues that were put with me can be dealt with through my department or through the garda commissioner and other agencies, and I'd be happy to engage with them," he said. Photo: Contributed Take Strides to End Homelessness on Saturday. The annual fundraising event brings in money to support Kelowna's Gospel Mission. It includes a family friendly five-kilometre walk or a 10-kilometre run. The goal of the walk is to raise $50,000 to continue with shelter programs of beds, meals, outreach, casework and the mission's 12-bed second-stage transitional home for women the Harmony House. For over 40 years, Kelownas Gospel Mission has helped people who are struggling to meet basic needs in the community. The walk leaves from the Gospel Mission with runners leaving the starting line at 4 p.m. So far, more than $27,000 has been raised with top fundraiser Joanne Mckenzie raising $3,970. To donate and learn more, click here. Photo: RCMP Suspect and get away U-Haul vehicle used to flee scene on Feb. 28, 2019. UPDATE: 5 p.m. Investigators are providing more details about a getaway vehicle that a suspect used to flee the scene after trying to break into a Lake Country home. Video surveillance of the U-Haul truck used in an attempted break and enter that occurred on Pretty Road has been found by RCMP. The video seized by our investigators depicts on the side of the truck a graphic for the Province of Ontario commemorating the underground railroad, says Cpl. Meghan Foster. If a U-Haul truck with this specific graphic is seen we are asking that its whereabouts be reported to police. A man at the home sustained minor injuries after he confronted the suspect. Police responded to 11300 block of Pretty Road and tried to find the suspect but he fled on foot and jumped in a getaway U-Haul vehicle that was waiting nearby. He has yet to be found by police. Anyone who witnessed this incident is being asked to call the RCMP immediately at 250-766-2288. UPDATE: 3:40 p.m. A Lake Country resident confronted a man who tried to break in to his home on Thursday afternoon. RCMP responded to the 11300 block of Pretty Road at about 12:40 p.m. for a report of an assault. A man living at the home reported he was the victim of a break and enter and sustained minor injuries after confronting the man. Police officers and the dog service unit immediately conducted patrols of the area to search for the man. The male suspect was described to be in his mid 20s, 58 tall, medium build, dressed all in black wearing an orange and yellow safety vest, says Cpl. Meghan Foster. The suspect fled from the house on foot and jumped in a getaway U-Haul vehicle that was waiting nearby. He was not found by police. The Forensic Identification Section was called in to gather and process evidence at the residence that was broken into. Anyone who witnessed this incident is being asked to call RCMP immediately at 250-766-2288. UPDATE: 3 p.m. RCMP say schools in the area are not on lock down and there is no risk to the surrounding area. Davidson Road Elementary is the school closest to the incident, but Cpl. Meghan Foster says no schools are on lockdown. UPDATE: 2:15 p.m. Four unmarked police cruisers are at the scene of reported assault in Lake Country. Officers are directing traffic away from the area and residents are being asked to avoid the are of 11300 Pretty Road. ORIGINAL: 2 p.m. Police officers have swarmed a Lake Country residential street on Thursday afternoon. Residents near Pretty Road posted on social media saying they were told to stay indoors and keep their doors locked. Cpl. Meghan Foster tells Castanet News that police responded to the 11300 block of Pretty Road for a report of an assault. Members of the Kelowna RCMP frontline are on scene and are working to sort out details and determine what occurred, said Foster. No further details are available right now, but Castanet will update. Photo: The Canadian Press The DP World container terminal is pictured at the Port of Vancouver in Vancouver, Monday, Feb 11, 2019. The Vancouver port saw record cargo numbers in 2018, driven by hunger for grain and potash overseas and a thirst for consumer products in Canada. Cargo volume grew to a record 147 million tonnes last year, up 3.5 per cent from 2017, according to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. "The growing middle class in China is starting to change consumption patterns," said Robin Silvester, who heads the port authority. The last few years have seen thousands of tonnes of soybean and cereals shipped to Asia for use in animal feed amidst a growing appetite for pork and beef, he said. "But what's interesting this year is the more specialty crops, like barley and a lot of that's going to China," Silvester said in an interview Thursday. "One of the things seems to be, just like here, growing craft brew production in China smaller volume, higher quality beers." Barley volumes grew more than 54 per cent year over year in 2018 to 1.8 million tonnes, helped along by a bumper crop, according to the port authority. Bulk grain volume dropped about one per cent last year, but more grain in containers about 15 per cent of the roughly 27 million tonnes of all grain shipped boosted total grain exports to record numbers, Silvester said. The biggest grain terminal in the country is on track to launch at Port Metro Vancouver this year, the first new grain export terminal in the Vancouver area in more than four decades and evidence of the "confidence that grain supply companies have in growth in demand," he said. Potash exports ramped up nearly 28 per cent, hitting an unprecedented 9.2 million tonnes as the growing appetite for meat in Asia fuelled demand for it and other fertilizers to grow crops for livestock. Container volume increased 4.4 per cent year over year in 2018, driven by Canadian demand for clothing, appliances and other consumer products. The port notched the equivalent of 3.4-million 20-foot containers, a new record. "For every 10 containers that come in full to Vancouver, eight leave full. That touches back to the special grain crops a lot of peas and lentils for India go out in containers," Silvester said. Loads of lumber, B.C. seafood and Prairie beef and pork all find their way into containers, he said. Auto sector volumes decreased one per cent to about 425,000 units, with "all the tariffs causing some dynamic ups and down," he said, referring to both the trade war between the U.S. and China and U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. The auto category mainly comprises Asian-made cars exported for Canadian consumption, he said. "So anyone across the country who's driving a car that was built in Asia, it was almost without a doubt imported on the Fraser River and taken across the country by rail." The port authority warned that West Coast container ports could be overloaded within five years, highlighting what it called the "need" for a proposed new container terminal, now undergoing review by a federally appointed panel. Bulk forest products ended the year at 12.1 million tonnes, a 14.5 per cent increase from 2017. The number of cruise passengers increased 5.5 per cent in 2018 to more than 889,000 passengers on 241 cruise ship visits. Wayne Moore/File Photo MP Dan Albas with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer The Conservative MP for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola has joined the list of those demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resign. Dan Albas made the assertion Thursday, a day after former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould spoke before the Justice Committee on the SNC-Lavalin affair. Canadians were shocked to hear the explosive testimony of former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould on the SNC-Lavalin affair, said Albas. Its clear there was inappropriate and potentially illegal pressure brought on her by the highest officials in Justin Trudeaus government, all in a bid to let a Liberal-connected corporation off the hook on corruption charges. During the hearing, Raybould said she experienced a "consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role as the Attorney General of Canada in an inappropriate effort to secure a deferred prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin. Albas states her testimony tells the story of a prime minister who has lost the moral authority to govern. These actions from Mr. Trudeau send a dangerous message," said Albas "that there is one set of rules for everyday Canadians and another for well-connected friends of the prime minister. In our Canada, nobody should be above the law and that is why we believe that Mr. Trudeau must resign. In the meantime, the PM says it will be up to the country's ethics watchdog to decide who is telling the truth in the SNC-Lavalin affair himself, or Wilson-Raybould. No internet? Bad switch caused problems for Antietam At 7:46 a.m., Antietam reported it hoped to have the problem fixed sometime this morning. Photo: Alberta Gov't The Alberta Court of Appeal has dismissed challenges from a Calgary couple found guilty of killing their teenage son, who died in 2013 of complications from untreated diabetes and starvation. Emil and Rodica Radita were convicted of first-degree murder two years ago in the death of 15-year-old Alex. Court heard the boy weighed 37 pounds and had more than 40 bedsores when he died. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Karen Horner found the boy's murder was planned and deliberate and sentenced the Raditas to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. They filed separate notices of appeal the following month. In her verdict, Horner said the couple was in gross denial of Alex's disease and the boy had not received proper care for years, even though his parents knew how to look after him. Three Court of Appeal judges agreed in their decision that the crime was first-degree murder because it happened in tandem with a crime of domination unlawful confinement. "While there was no evidence that the appellants put restraints on Alex, they had absolute control over what Alex ate, who he saw, whether he attended school and what, if any, medical care he received. Alex was extremely vulnerable," the judges wrote in the ruling released Thursday. "The appellants deprived him of education, deprived him of medical treatment, and deprived him of interactions with people who would recognize his plight. The father went so far as to tell his pastor that Alex was suffering from cancer. The appellants exercised complete control over him." The Appeal court judges also said Horner did not misinterpret evidence related to how the boy died. "Instead of considering only the bacterial sepsis, the trial judge properly considered that it was starvation that led to the sepsis. The uncontested medical evidence was that sepsis, neglect and starvation go hand-in-hand," they wrote. The judges cited a video of Alex on his 15th birthday, months before he died. "It shows a bedridden, extremely emaciated and weak boy who struggles to open his cards and gifts. Sores are visible on his nose and forehead. It was a chronic, ongoing process that led to a premature and preventable death." Rodica Radita had argued in the appeal that the judge showed bias by crying during the trial. "I am not guilty of murdering my son, and the judge finding that I am shows that she did not look at all of the evidence,'' she said in a handwritten note when she filed her appeal. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 28) Authorities arrested seven people, including a Health official, in a drug buy-bust operation Thursday in Mandaluyong City. Vanjoe de Guzman, a doctor from the Department of Health-Metro Manila Center for Health Development (DOH-MMCHD), was among suspects arrested during a special operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in a condominium unit. Among the items seized by authorities, a knot-tied transparent plastic that contained suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride locally known as shabu, a plastic sachet containing shabu residue, and five bottles containing suspected ecstasy. The products are estimated to be worth over 300,000. Aside from De Guzman, authorities also arrested Francis Gerald Pabunan Fajardo, alias Rain, Keanu Andrea Flores, Mohammad Abdullah Duga, alias Shenin, Michael Melegrito Tan, Mohammad Arafa Morsy, alias Rafa, and Mark Adrianne Reyes Echauz. De Guzman will be charged with violations of anti-drugs laws. The doctor, a regular DOH employee from February 2015, has been on AWOL (absence without leave) status since November 26, 2018. "We reiterate our full support for President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's fight against illegal drug operation and its use. All DOH-MMCHD employees, regardless of employment status, are subjected to Annual Mandatory Random Drug Testing," the department said in a statement. Photo: Longueuil Police Police have arrested a pastor from suburban Montreal and his wife on charges that over a 45-year period they used corporal punishment on children and encouraged their followers to do the same. Mario Monette and Carole Van Houtte, both aged 65, are scheduled to appear in court Friday. They face 32 charges each, including assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, threats, kidnapping and incitement to commit an indictable offence. Longueuil police say their investigation began in February 2018 after two alleged victims complained about the couple's actions. The acts are alleged to have occurred between 1974 and 2019 on at least eight minors. In addition to inflicting corporal punishment on children, the couple are alleged to have encouraged parents attending their church to punish their own children. The suspects exercised significant psychological control over certain members of the church, police said. Monette is the pastor of the South Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church, located in the St-Hubert borough of Longueuil. On its website, the church is described as an "independent, fundamental, soul-winning church." Photo: The Canadian Press Perry Bellegarde, AFN National Chief Several Indigenous leaders say former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould was deeply brave in her explosive testimony on the SNC-Lavalin affair, but they're steering clear of criticizing the Trudeau government. Wilson-Raybould had been the highest-ranking Indigenous person ever in the Canadian government. Wednesday, she told the House of Commons justice committee she faced relentless, inappropriate pressure from Trudeau and several top aides, the Privy Council Office and the office of Finance Minister Bill Morneau, asking her to politically interfere in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations says he witnessed integrity, strength and courage while watching Wilson-Raybould testify. The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations executive also issued a statement of support, applauding Wilson-Raybould for displaying ethics and integrity and calling her a role model for all First Nations and future generations. Clement Chartier, president of the Metis National Council, said he felt the fact Wilson-Raybould is an Indigenous woman does not make the SNC-Lavalin affair an Indigenous issue and that leaders are focused on reconciliation through measures such as new legislation to revitalize Indigenous languages and keep First Nations children out of foster care. Sufganiyot bursting with dulce de leche and pumpkin cream. Savory babkas swirled with roasted poblano peppers and crema. Mexican-inspired Jewish pastries from a new, online-only bakery are bringing exciting new flavors to Chicagos Jewish food scene and Chicagoans of all backgrounds are already addicted. Founded by two Mexico City natives, Masa Madre offers a limited selection of made-to-order treats, many of which draw on co-founder Tamar Fasja Unikels Jewish heritage. Among Masa Madres offerings are several flavors of babka, challahs and a rotating selection of seasonal treats that change with the Mexican, American and Jewish calendarsfrom Pan de Muerto for the Mexican Day of the Dead to Thanksgiving pecan pies to rugelach and Hanukkah sufganiyot. Mexicans, Americans, and Jewish people are all very excited because there is something that they can relate to, but still try something new, Unikel says. Indeed, although the business is only a few months old, Masa Madre has attracted lots of attention and loyal customers with its unique flavor combinations and personal, artisanal approach to baking. We do everything [to] order, Unikel says. We make every order by hand. Its a different experience. You get a special treat that was packaged just for you. Not only do Unikel and her partner, Elena Vazquez Felgueres, make everything by hand, they put their hearts and their heritage into each of their unique creations. Both women have day jobsFelgueres teaches yoga and Unikel teaches kids cooking classes as well as maintains a food blog called Ssugarpill but they get up early and stay up late to bake for their customers. The longtime friends met at university in Mexico City when both were studying fashion design, but Elena soon switched gears to attend culinary school and then cooked in restaurants in Spain and Mexico. Unikel worked in fashion for a time but eventually moved to Chicago where her husband was pursuing a doctorate in biblical studies. When Elena ended up in Chicago a few years later, the two friends were determined to find a way to work together. They launched a business selling sourdough bread and babka, which Unikel had learned to bake when living in Israel. The sourdough soon fell by the wayside and the friends honed in on a highly curated menu of pastries anchored by the babka. Why babka? My grandmother is a baker and she is Ashkenazi, and I really felt like it was part of my heritage, Unikel says. Babka is something that people here didnt really have. I had tried it in New York and Boston and I loved it and I couldnt really find it in Chicago. Not only is Masa Madres rich, not-too-sweet babka arguably the best in Chicago, like all of Masa Madres other offerings it reflects Unikel and Felgueress Mexican roots. Unikel grew up in Mexico Citys thriving Jewish community with both Ashkenazi and Sephardic ancestry. My grandparents came from Syria on my dads side and Poland on my moms side, Unikel says. Theyve been in Mexico for over a hundred years, so of course theres a lot of mix in the food culture. From the beginning, Unikel and Felgueres knew they wanted Masa Madres treats to mix Mexican and Jewish cuisine. Were both Mexican; were not both Jewish, Unikel says. Elena has shown me the recipes that she grew up with and I [showed her] mine. When I tell her about a holiday or a Jewish thing I want to do, she is quick to understand it. Felgueres professional training and extensive work experience in the pastry field has helped as well. She has a lot more experience in baking than I do, Unikel says about her partner. And she brings a lot of the Mexican flavors. Mixing Mexican flavors into traditional Jewish dishes, at least on the savory side, has been happening in Mexico for centuries. But not in dessert. This isnt something that is happening in Mexico that much, Unikel notes. Among Masa Madres diverse clientele, Jewish Latinos, in particular, have been very excited to see the mix of the two [cuisines]. Even Unikel was surprised to learn how many Jews from Latin America, or with Latin American roots, are in Chicago. The bakers also were influenced by their shared Chicago neighborhood, Pilsen. Unikel calls it amazing. Its mostly Mexican. The interesting thing is that it was started as a Polish neighborhood, Unikel says. So I feel like what we are doing is a mix of those two: an Eastern European and a Mexican thing. In return, the neighborhood has embraced Masa Madre. So far, [the residents of Pilsen] have been very receptive, Unikel says gratefully. Unikel is keeping mum on what unique treats Masa Madre will offer for spring holidays. We think about [holiday items] about a week in advance, Unikel says with a laugh. We are going one step at a time. There is one secret that Unikel is willing to share: She and her husband are expecting their first child in June. But she plans to keep baking. I dont know what is going to be happening with the business then, Unikel says. But I am happy I will be able to keep working from home. Chicago-area babka lovers are counting on it. This article originally appeared on The Nosher. Emily Paster writes the widely admired blog West of the Loop, which is primarily about food but with forays into parenting and family life. She is the co-founder of the Chicago Food Swap and is a national leader in the growing food swap movement (community get-togethers where handmade foods are bartered and exchanged). She is the author of the book Food Swap [Storey 2016]. She has appeared numerous times on food and cooking segments for the major TV network affiliates in Chicago. If you thought that the Jewish National Fund only planted trees, you are way behind the times. JNF was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land for Jewish settlements well before Israel became a nation in 1948. By 2007 it owned 13 percent of the total land in Israel and the nonprofit has planted over 240 million trees. Now JNF is invested in many other ways to support the land and the people of Israel through water solutions, research and development, education and most recently, becoming a key partner in making Israel more inclusive for adults and children with disabilities. Every year, the JNF Orlando chapter chooses two community members to receive the Tree of Life Award. This year, Rabbi Aaron Rubinger eloquently introduced honoree Roz Fuchs, who is truly dedicated to the Central Florida Jewish community. Following her acceptance speech, Tree of Life Award Gala co-chairman Joshua Brown began his introduction of honoree Thad Seymour, Jr. by saying that when it comes to giving a speech "Don't ever follow Rabbi Rubinger or Roz Fuchs." The room burst into laughter. Seymour, who is vice president for Partnerships and chief innovation officer at UCF, didn't skip a beat as he took the mic. "I want to thank JNF for giving me the last half hour to talk," he joked. The keynote speaker at the JNF Tree of Life Award Gala this year was Major General Doron Almog, founder of ALEH-Negev, a rehabilitative center in the Negev that will be home to over 200 adults with disabilities and serve 12,000 children with disabilities-the special needs kids. In his talk, Almog shared that one important "law" woven into the hearts of IDF soldiers is to never leave anyone behind. He knows this well. While in the IDF, he commanded the first force to land in Entebbe airport to rescue 106 Israeli hostages right out from under the Ugandan armed forces' noses. "I was the first soldier to land, and the last to leave," he stated. Of the 106 hostages held, 102 were rescued alive. Three died in the mission and one died later in the hospital. Only one Israeli commander was killed-Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu. They all returned to Israel. Almog shared with the gala attendees, which filled Congregation Ohev Shalom's sanctuary, that he lost his brother at age 22 during the Yom Kippur War. Later he learned that his brother had been thrown from his burning tank, yet lived seven days alone by the tank. He had been left behind and when he was found, he was already dead. This burned in Almog's soul. He learned that not only should you not leave any soldier behind, never leave the weakest behind. He was referring to someone very close to him-his son. In 1984 his child was born with brain damage. At 8 months of age he was diagnosed with autism/retardation (the doctor's words). "How do you continue when your child won't be successful?" Almog asked. But this child, who has never said Abba or Ema taught Almog about values-love, never to discriminate but to break down the stigma and shame. "They are blood from our blood. An integral part of our people," Almog said in his soft, strong voice. Almost as if his son was speaking to him, Almog shared his son's thoughts: "I'm a hostage every single day of my life. You saved 106 from being hostages for one week." He continued, "They are the mirror of ourselves. So, we are for the disabled and must establish the best standard of living for them. We will never forget our disabled." Marc Smith, JNF Orlando Board of Directors, moderates a conversation with Major General Doron Almog. The evening's honorees, Fuchs and Seymour, are people of action, and just like them, Almog's words became actions. In 2003, Almog founded ALEH-Negev. He does not take a paycheck. Half of the money for the facility comes from the government, the other half from donations, of which JNF has contributed $23 million. In addition to a full staff of professionals, there are more than 200 volunteers at ALEH-Negev who help care for more than 750 children with disabilities and medical conditions. They receive medical, educational and rehabilitative care in ALEH's four residential facilities, located on 25 acres in southern Israel. ALEH also provides rehabilitation for soldiers and more than 45,000 outpatient treatments yearly. Almog encouraged the audience to send their children and grandchildren to volunteer at Aleh-Negev when they come to Israel. "It will make them better people," he said. "This is not just about raising dollars. It is about creating a better society." To learn more about ALEH-Negev, visit http://aleh.org To learn more about JNF, visit http://www.jnf.org. Photo: The Canadian Press Gerald Butts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, wants to give his side of the story in the SNC-Lavalin affair. Butts wrote the House of Commons justice committee Thursday, requesting he be called as a witness. His request came one day after former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould testified that she faced relentless pressure and even veiled threats from Trudeau, senior prime-ministerial aides, Canada's top public servant and the finance minister's office to interfere in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Butts was among those she accused of inappropriate pressure tactics. Butts said he believes he has evidence that will help the committee get to the bottom the affair. He added that he will need a short time to receive legal advice and compile relevant documents before testifying. Trudeau's longtime friend and most trusted adviser resigned as his principal secretary last week amid the mushrooming controversy over the government's attempts to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal trial on charges of bribery and corruption related to its bid to secure contracts in Libya. In a statement announcing his resignation, Butts categorically denied that he or anyone else in Trudeau's office pressured Wilson-Raybould. He said he was quitting to avoid distracting from the government's agenda and suggested he wanted to be free to defend himself. "My reputation is my responsibility and that is for me to defend," he said in the statement. On Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould specifically accused Butts and Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford, of pushing for an external legal opinion on the option of negotiating a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin a kind of plea bargain that would force the company to pay restitution but avoid the potentially crippling impact of a criminal conviction. In a Dec. 18 meeting, Wilson-Raybould said Butts told her chief of staff, Jessica Prince, that there was "no solution here that does not involve some interference." Earlier Thursday at an event in Montreal, Trudeau said it will be up to the federal ethics commissioner to decide who is telling the truth in the SNC-Lavalin affair Trudeau or Wilson-Raybould. But Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer argued that it's time for the RCMP to investigate what he contends is possible obstruction of justice by the prime minister. Scheer wrote RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki on Thursday, calling for an investigation. He also reiterated his call for Trudeau to resign. Trudeau said he totally disagrees with how Wilson-Raybould characterized discussions she had with him and others about the case. And he said ethics commissioner Mario Dion can be trusted to settle disagreements over what happened. Dion initiated an investigation into the affair two weeks ago. "Canadians need to know that we have an officer of Parliament who is tasked with a specific role to make sure that in questions where there are disagreements amongst politicians, amongst elected officials, there is an arbiter who is empowered to be like a judge, who is an officer of Parliament, who will make a determination in this issue," Trudeau said after an announcement at the Canadian Space Agency. Over nearly four hours of explosive testimony Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould told the House of Commons justice committee there were 10 meetings and 10 phone calls involving 11 people between September and December 2018, all aimed at getting her to "politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role as the attorney general of Canada." Wilson-Raybould detailed a September meeting she said she had with Trudeau where he brought up the possibility of SNC-Lavalin leaving Quebec and the spectre of job losses during a provincial election campaign. Trudeau did not deny there were "many and broad conversations about the importance of defending jobs" across the country but he insisted those discussions did not cross any legal lines. "Canadians expect their government to look for ways to protect jobs, to grow the economy, and that's exactly what we've done every step of the way," Trudeau said. "We've also done it in a way that has respected our laws, and respected the independence of the judiciary of that there actually is no doubt. There are disagreements in perspective on this, but I can reassure Canadians that we were doing our job and were doing it in a way that respects and defends our institutions." PHILADELPHIA (JTA)During Black History Month, we recognize the historical importance of President Abraham Lincoln as the foremost figure in the battle to abolish slavery. But even as Lincoln, whose 210th birthday we mark on Feb. 12, is widely known for his role fighting for equality, he may still be underappreciated. In fact, as a moral compass and a role model for liberty, his influence extends far beyond the specific events for which he is most well-known. In Lincolns time, like today, the issue of equality was relevant to many minority groups. While Jews had been living in America for centuries by the time of Lincolns presidency, anti-Semitism was widespread, even among the abolitionists. While the Civil War raged in late 1862, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant wanted to stop the trade of Southern cotton. A number of Jews were involved in the cotton trade, including some in black market activity, and on Dec. 17, Grant issued a shocking order calling for the expulsion of all Jews from a wide swath of the South. Fortunately the order had little impact because of faulty army communicationsand to President Lincoln. When Lincoln heard that Grant was attempting to banish Jews, he quickly reversed the order. To condemn a class is, to say the least, to wrong the good with the bad, Lincoln said. I do not like to hear a class or nationality condemned on account of a few sinners. To Lincoln, prejudice was abhorrent, and expelling one minority while fighting for the rights of another was unthinkable. Its noteworthy that Grant, who made the order banishing Jews from the area he commanded, regretted his actions later in life. In fact, when he served as president, Grant actively worked to promote Jewish interests in the United States and abroad, bringing Jews into the federal government at an unprecedented rate. Grant later indicated that he had issued the order without fully thinking it through, but his pro-Jewish actions later in life can perhaps be attributed in part to the moral leadership Lincoln displayed in rejecting the order. On a deeper level, Lincoln can also be seen as the man who truly deserves credit for upholding the idea that all men are created equal. While Thomas Jefferson first expressed the sentiment in the Declaration of Independence in 1776, for some 90 years the principle was selectively applied at best. But Lincoln didnt just speak this value, he practiced it. In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, Lincoln emphasized how applying exceptions to the phrase all men are created equal is a logical fallacy. If one man says it does not mean a Negro, why not another say it does not mean some other man? If that declaration is not the truth, let us get the Statute book in which we find it and tear it out! he said. The notion of limiting equality was, to Lincoln, a clear rejection of the phrases keyword: all. The message of equality that Lincoln fought for was instrumental in abolishing slavery. But it was also a major factor in shaping America into a country that held freedom as a value worth fighting for. And over the following decades, generations of Americans absorbed the values that Lincoln championed and Grant came to appreciate: That oppression against minorities was intolerable, regardless of the minority. The fight to defeat the Axis powers in World War II is often called The Good War because of the atrocities committed by the Nazis and the widespread understanding that the war was a battle for justice. While its true that the America of the 1940s was far from reaching true equality, the underlying values Lincoln stood for were embedded in the hearts of American soldiers. Take the story of Leon Bass, an African-American native of Philadelphia, who served in a segregated unit during World War II. He was conflicted about being asked to risk his life for a country where he only held second-class status. But when Bass liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp with the American troops, he felt compassion for the prisoners he encountered. I began to realize, Bass later said, that human suffering is not relegated just to me and mine. Human suffering touches everybody. Meeting victims of Nazism transformed Leon Bass from a man who was understandably conflicted about his situation to a leader who advocated for social justice for all oppressed people. After the war, Bass spent decades lecturing to audiences about his experiences in the war and the importance of defeating tyranny and hatred. When the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plazaa new public plaza devoted to Holocaust remembranceopened in Philadelphia several months ago, Bass story was included on its Six Pillars, which contrast themes of the Holocaust with American constitutional protections and values. Just one foot away from the pillar devoted to Leon Bass and Liberation stands another pillar, which is inscribed with the Declaration of Independences powerful statement that all men are created equal. In the 1850s and 1860s, President Lincoln served as a bridge between the Declaration and Americans who fought the Nazis in the 1940s. In the 19th century, Lincoln underscored the 18th-century Declarations call for equality, giving 20th-century American soldiers the passion to fight to liberate the oppressed. While many Holocaust survivors may not have heard of President Lincoln when the war ended in 1945, there is no doubt that they benefited from the great strides he took in the cause for liberty. Lincoln may already have his place on Mount Rushmore, but we should also be sure to include him in the pantheon of global leaders who persisted in the cause of freedom. Because if we embrace the spirit of Lincoln, we can hold out hope that government of the people, by the people, for all people, will not perish from the earth. The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society is mourning the Feb. 16, 2019, death of Al Vorspan, a giant in the movement for Social Justice among Reform Jews. He was 95. Vorspan was arrested here in St. Augustine, Florida along with 16 rabbis making for the largest mass arrest of rabbis in U.S. history. Although not a rabbi himself, Vorspan's credentials were considerable. He was a founder of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and served as the longtime director of the Union for Reform Judaism's Commission on Social Action. Ultimately, Vorspan rose to become Senior Vice-President of the Union of Reform Judaism. Early in the second week of June 1964, while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was being filibustered in the U.S. Senate, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called, through his friend Rabbi Israel Dresner, for assistance in St. Augustine, asking "to get as many rabbis down here as possible!" Sixteen rabbis and Albert Vorspan answered the call and were ultimately arrested for "disturbing the peace" while praying with African-Americans at the Monson Hotel on Avenida Menendez along St. Augustine's bayfront on June 18, 1964. From their cell in the St. Johns County Jail, they wrote a letter explaining their actions, declaring "We came as Jews who remember the millions of faceless people who stood quietly, watching the smoke rise from Hitler's crematoria. We came because we know that, second only to silence, the greatest danger to man is loss of faith in man's capacity to act." Rabbi David Saperstein, RAC's director emeritus, in a statement issued after Vorspan's death, called him "one of the g'dolei hador, or 'great ones' of Jewish social justice work." "A true icon, Vorspan shaped much of social justice work of the Reform Jewish Movement, ensuring it lives at the very heart of Reform Judaism," said Saperstein, who is currently a senior adviser to the Union for Reform Judaism. "Beginning in 1953, he helped inspire the creation of congregational social action committees across North America, encouraging Reform Jewish synagogues to partner with their local communities in pursuit of tikkun olam, 'repairing the world.'" Saperstein said Vorspan play "a pivotal role" in founding the Religious Action Center. "A mentor, friend, and inspiration to all who knew him, Al Vorspan was, to many, the personification of Reform Judaism's social justice efforts," said Saperstein. URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs described Vorspan as "one of the towering giants of Jewish social justice." "Al blazed a trail of courage and conscience that so many of us have walked," Jacobs said in a tweet. "Not since the biblical prophets Amos, Hosea, and Micah walked the earth have we been led by such an inspiring justice leader. Our Reform Movement and our world are bereft, for he cannot be replaced." The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society is currently gathering funds to mark the site of the arrest with a plaque commemorating the actions of Al Vorspan and the sixteen Rabbis. The plaque is scheduled to be dedicated on June 18, the 55th anniversary of the arrest. Vorspan was the author of many books, well-known to Jewish students who came of age in the turbulent 1960s. Among his best known works are "Justice and Judaism, Searching the Prophets for Values"; "Tough Choices: Jewish Perspectives on Social Justice"; and "Jewish Dimensions of Social Justice: Tough Moral Choices for our Times," which provides Jewish perspectives and moral policy analysis on issues ranging from abortion to capital punishment and from the Mideast peace process to religious freedom in Israel and the United States. Albert Vorspan Vorspan was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on February 12, 1924. He fought in the US Navy during World War Two. His memory inspires many in the St. Augustine to move from the complacency of the past with regard to Civil Rights to action in defense of the integrity of all human beings. He and his wife, Shirley, were married for 72 years until her death on Aug. 27, 2018. By Mara Beth Sommers We are mourning the passing on Jan. 25, 2019, of a beloved husband, father and zayde. Born Bernard D. Schnipper on May 9, 1928, he was predeceased by his wife of over 60 years, Arlene Sommers, on April 4, 2017. My dad was an amazing person. He was brilliant, kind, loving and giving. He had three degrees. He wanted to be an engineer but his parents wanted him to be an accountant, so he got an accounting degree. When I was a toddler, he went back to NYU and got an engineering degree. After he sold a business, when I was in college, he went to the University of Florida law school. As a lawyer, he was more concerned about helping people than billing them, and he did a lot of pro bono work. He gave generously and was involved in the community. He was instrumental in the building of Kinneret, low rent apartment housing for seniors in downtown Orlando, by the Jewish Community in 1968. He was clever and creative. He could fix almost anything (usually with duct tape), and always was tinkering with things on the workbench that he kept in the garage. He was talented. He could hear a song, sit down at the piano and play it by ear. He was an avid bridge player up until the day he left us. He loved a good joke, and he had some great ones. When I was at the Mayflower taking care of his final business, so many people stopped me and told me how much they loved him and my mom. They talked about his jokes, his songs, his cute names for them, and his love of the Florida Gators. He gave great bear hugs and always gave a high five to the children he encountered. He stood by my mom and supported her in her career and other endeavors. When she was unable to go places and do things due to her back injury, he stayed by her side. He raised two successful children. He will be missed immensely and remembered lovingly. Join with other Jewish women from Orlando for a special Ladies Night Out on Monday, March 4, 7:15 p.m. Enjoy refreshments and fine wines, guest speaker Sigy Laredo in Montreal, explore your Jewish identity as you hear about the message from Queen Esther and the Purim story and how they resonate with Jewish women today. Also prepare Mishloach Manot for the residents of assisted-living facilities visited by the Jewish Pavilion. This event, hosted by Gesher South Orlando and Mkva USA, will be held at the Orlando Torah Center, 8613 Banyan Blvd., Orlando. For ladies for whom Hebrew is a more comfortable language, the Ladies Night Out will also be held in Hebrew on Tuesday, March 5 in a home in the Dr. Phillips area. Please email Elisheva at elishevaRennert@gmail.com for the location address. This even is hosted by the Orlando Torah Academy, Orlando Torah Center and MikvaUSA. Tickets are $25 at the door, $18 in advance. For more information, visit https://gesherladiesnight.eventbrite.com. Celebrate Shabbat on Friday, March 8 with the synagogue that feels like family. Our Shabbat evening service led by Rabbi and Cantor Karen Allen starts at 7pm. Socialize with our members and enjoy refreshments at the Oneg Shabbat following the service. The Rabbis Roundtable Discussion Group on Thursday, March 14 at 11 a.m. with Rabbi and Cantor Karen Allen of Congregation Beth Sholom, will be held inside the library at the Sumter County Administration and Library Building (with the golden dome) at 7375 Powell Rd. (near Pinellas Plaza and 466A), Wildwood. The Rabbis Roundtable series explores the current Torah Portion and how it affects our daily lives. The roundtable provides a unique opportunity to talk with the rabbi as she leads an informal and interactive discussion focusing on topics of contemporary Jewish interest. Shabbat Morning Service on Saturday, March 23 at 10 a.m. is led by Rabbi and Cantor Karen Allen. Socialize with our members and enjoy refreshments at the Kiddush following the service. Celebrate Passover with Congregation Beth Sholom. The public is invited to attend our second night Seder, led by Rabbi and Cantor Karen Allen, on Saturday, April 20th. A traditional Kosher Seder dinner will be served. The reservation form is available on our website: http://bethsholomflorida.org For more information call Burt Kraft at 352-513-3517. The synagogue is located at 315 North 13th St. in Leesburg, with the entrance on Center Street. More information is available on the synagogue website: http://bethsholomflorida.org/ or by calling the synagogue at 352-326-3692. As I-4 traffic became aggravatingly slow on a recent late Friday afternoon, Michelle Bilsky arrived at Cascade Heights Senior Living in Longwood a little breathless from her rush to make it on time from her job downtown at the Lutheran Towers senior complex to the 4 p.m. Jewish Pavilion Shabbat service. She and her husband, Wayne, who live nearby, leave their jobs early one Friday a month and meet at Cascade Heights to lead the service, which is offered weekly with different leaders. "Good Shabbos, everyone! Nice to see you all again," she said as she began the service with "Shalom Aleichem," the traditional song to welcome the ministering angels of Shabbat before the formal Friday night prayers. The residents in attendance, some with family members in tow, joined in with gusto. Bilsky has been leading at Cascade Heights (formerly Brookdale Island Lake and also Chambrel) for about 4 years, at first intermittently, then monthly for the last 2 years, with Wayne joining her for at least the last year. But her association with the Jewish Pavilion began long ago and has evolved in many ways. A native New Yorker, Bilsky moved to Orlando in 1987 as a transfer student at the University of Central Florida. She moved to South Florida for a job in 2000 but returned and settled in the Markham Woods area of Longwood in 2005, with her oldest daughter about to become a bat mitzvah. They joined Temple Israel, which was then located near their home, and their search for a mitzvah project led them to connect with the Jewish Pavilion. Bilsky began driving her daughter around to deliver challah for the Pavilion and continued with her second daughter's mitzvah project. Bilsky's search for a part-time job while the family was getting settled also connected her with the Jewish Pavilion, as she worked for a short time in the office as a bookkeeper and clerical staff member in the early days when the organization was led by Arlene Van de Rijn and housed in the Altamonte Springs offices of co-founder Julian Meitin. As the Cascade Heights service continued, Bilsky invited a resident to lead an English prayer for the congregation and another to lead a prayer for Israel. One resident read a poetic homily, "I Will Never Be Lost," by Abraham Joshua Heschel. After weekly Jewish Pavilion volunteer Shirley Schoenberger led her customary "Bim Bom" to close the service, Bilsky walked among the tables and chatted with everyone as baked goods were passed around. "They really are like family," Bilsky said of her friends at Cascade Heights. "My grandmother passed away, and my aunt, over the last couple of years, and the residents are just so wonderful. They're so supportive." For her, the monthly Shabbat programs are a fulfilling way to unwind after a sometimes stressful week. "Just everything goes away," she explained. "I get as much, if not more, out of it than they do." She and her husband sometimes bring their grandson, Caleb, with them, beginning when he was just a baby. The residents have seen him grow into a toddler of 4 and will continue to see him as he grows up. Their four children, ages 20 to 26, have been joining in to help at holiday and other programs for years as well. Recently, Bilsky began leading the monthly Shabbat programs at Lutheran Towers, where she has worked as director of human resources since February 2018. At that time, Jewish Pavilion program director Walter Goldstein led them. "I would go and listen to Walter sing. He's wonderful and so uplifting," said Bilsky. "When he got sick [late last summer], I just kind of slipped in there and said, 'OK, let's just keep going.'" A handful of Jewish residents gathered there for a Shabbat lunch of pastrami and latkes on a recent Friday, with Bilsky bringing freshly baked challah from her home, a feathery-light recipe learned from her grandmother that she makes each week and that the residents very much look forward to. Sandy, who lives in the independent living building with her husband, Dick, appreciates the opportunity to share a Shabbat meal with other Jews. "It's so nice because I don't have family here," she said. As at the Cascades Heights program, Bilsky began the short service with "Shalom Aleichem," singing with her eyes locked with those of a nursing home resident named Jenny. Bilsky has strongly bonded with the 103-year-old Jenny, who grins broadly and nods her head in time as she joins in the ancient song, her eyes alight. Jenny has not been well recently and her hearing has been affected. "When she can hear and she's comfortable, she tells us stories about how she grew up," said Bilsky. They share a connection of heritage, as Bilsky's paternal great-grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Romania at around the same time as Jenny did. It's such connections that Bilsky has made through the Jewish Pavilion that have meant the most to her. "It's just the people that you meet," she said. "That's really been a blessing for me." (JNS)Jordan has expanded a council that administers Muslim institutions on the Temple Mount, giving Palestinians 40 percent of the seats for the first time in a body previously reserved for trusted individuals close to the monarchy of Jordanian King Abdullah Hussein. According to a report by Haaretz on Monday, the Jordanian government enlarged the Waqf religious trust to include Palestinians, who will now have a significantly larger say on the sight of two Jewish Holy Temples: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque. The seven Palestinians appointed to the council will increase the body from 11 to 18 seats, and includes religious and political leaders from Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. The new members include the Palestinian Authoritys illegal governor in Jerusalem Adnan al-Husayni; P.A. official Khatem Abdel Kader; controversial Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Hussein; President of Al-Quds University in eastern Jerusalem Imad Abu Kishek; and Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, a religious leader with ties to the ruling Turkish regime. The expanded group met on Feb. 14 on the Temple Mount near Shaar HaRachamim (the Gate of Mercy), which was sealed off in 2003 by Israeli security officials due to illegal construction by the Waqf and management by individuals tied to Hamas that allegedly led to the destruction of rare and priceless antiquities from the time of the Temples. They subsequently entered the restricted area and prayed, without any injunction from Israeli authorities, except for calling Waqf head Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib al-Tamimi in for questioning. The interrogation was subsequently canceled due to pressure from Jordan, according to Haaretz. On Monday, the Waqf called on Muslims to converge on the building adjacent to Shaar HaRachamim for a mass-protest prayer rally. Several Arab men proceeded to kick down the gate and illegally infiltrate the building, upon which Israeli police rushed the building and arrested five people in the resulting clashes. In response, Israel closed the Temple Mount on Monday afternoon, a move that resulted in a letter from the Jordanian foreign ministry chastising Israel, and demanding the reopening of the gate and the removal of all Israeli security personnel. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas accused Israeli occupation authorities of temporal and spatial division of the mosque, and said he was warning it against its continued repressive and arbitrary policies, which will only lead to repercussions and fuel the feelings of the Palestinian people. (JTA)Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan blamed the wicked Jews for the crisis over anti-Semitism and the Womens March. The most beautiful sight that I could lay eyes on [was] when I saw, the day after Trump was elected, women from all over the world were standing in solidarity, and a black woman is the initiator of it, said Farrakhan, referring to Tamika Mallory, a leader of the Womens March who has lionized Farrakhan and refused to condemn his pervasive anti-Semitism. The wicked Jews want to use me to break up the womens movement, Farrakhan continued on Sunday during his address at the Nation of Islams Saviours Day conference in Chicago. It aint about Farrakhan, its about women all over the world (who) have the power to change the world. He also praised Mallorys co-organizers Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian American who has been highly critical of Israel, and Carmen Perez, who reportedly made anti-Semitic comments at Womens March planning meetings. Celebrities, activists and community leaders, Jewish and non-Jewish, have distanced themselves from the march and called on the national organizers to step down over claims that they have not done enough to disavow anti-Semitism. During his four-hour keynote address, Farrakhan returned to anti-Semitic tropes and bashed Israel, saying Jews dont let blacks use the term holocaust to describe the slave trade and he criticized Jews for believing that the suffering of six million Jews is worth 7 billion human beings. He explained that Moses taught the Jews tricknology, that the Jewish scholars came up with the Talmud, and that Talmudic Jews are culprits who see themselves as gods. As reported by the Jewish News Service, he claimed that sharecropping and the enslavement of blacks are justified by the Talmud, and that the Jews have exploited the American people through predatory lending practices because the Talmud permits Jews to cheat non-Jews. In addition, Farrakhan said that the Federal Reserve is a family of rich Jewish people, and that things such as pedophilia, sexual perversion, rape culture, casting couches, gay marriage, abortion, sex trafficking, prostitution, anal sex and certain sexual practices that he said are common in Hollywood can all be traced to the Satanic influence of the Talmudic Jews. He added: The Talmud [and its] influence on the Supreme Court in the laws of this land must ultimately be challenged. There were several thousand people in attendance at the speech, which also was livestreamed. Farrakhan was preceded by a known Holocaust denier Michael A. Hoffman II, who suggested that ancient Jewish texts are equivalent to teachings from the church of Satan, according to the ADL. The Saviours Day is a Nation of Islam event that commemorates the birth of Wallace Fard Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam. (JNS)Uri Akavia, a researcher at Kohelet Policy Forum, recently published a new paper titled Is UNRWAs hereditary refugee status for Palestinians unique? In it, of course, he details the origins of the issue since 1948, the year Israel was established, and its ensuing state of affairs. People have finally realized that UNRWA [U.N. Relief and Works Agency], is a very large and important organization that is perpetuating a problem that should not have even existed after 70 years, he told JNS. When U.S. President Donald Trump announced last year that he would pull $300 million in funding for UNRWA, which is in charge of resolving the Palestinian refugee problem, Jerusalems Mayor Nir Barkat realized that he now had an opportunity to kick UNRWA out of Shuafat, a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem the body considers to be a refugee camp. The U.S. decision has created a rare opportunity to replace UNRWAs services with the services of the Jerusalem Municipality, he said. We are putting an end to the lie of the Palestinian refugee problem and the attempts at creating a false sovereignty within a sovereignty. For Akavia, Barkat and those who have followed the situation closely, UNRWA, tasked with resolving the Palestinian refugee problem, has only perpetuated and not solved the refugee problem. They argue, and many Israelis agree, that it has utterly failed in its mission. According to Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, UNRWA has so many problems, he told JNS. The fact is that so many of the worst Hamas terrorists were educated in UNRWA schools, and UNRWA was used as a place where Hamas could store its weaponry in violation of all kinds of U.N. resolutions that prohibit conversion of refugee camps to military facilities. However, Gold pointed to what he thinks is UNRWAs worst sin: The conversion of the Palestinian refugee problem to a challenge locked into perpetuity. In other words, he said, if you look at other refugee situationsEurope after World War IIall those refugees have been settled. Whereas, in the case of the Palestinian refugees who are taken care of by UNRWA, the numbers have only increased from about half a million in 1948 to what UNRWA claims is over 5 million today. That represents a total failure of UNRWA as a refugee organization. Other refugees around the world have been repatriated. Of the millions displaced after World War II, not one is a refugee today. The 15 million Hindus and Muslims forced to move when India and Pakistan split, are no longer refugees. Bosnian and Kosovar Muslims kicked out of Serbia are no longer refugees. Not a single one of the 850,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands is today a refugee. So why are Palestinian refugees treated differently than other refugees? Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has answered this question himself. He has referred to Palestinian refugees everywhere as guests waiting to return to their homes and has refused to allow Palestinians to be repatriated in their host countries so as not to give up their right of return. And P.A. spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina has said, The issue of the Palestinian refugees and their right of return is one of the issues in a permanent arrangement, and no one can make changes to it... The Palestinian leadership themselves, together with other Arab states as well as UNRWA, refuse to allow any repatriation of Palestinian refugees outside of Israel. The responsibility for a just and lasting solution for the Palestinian refugees, as per UN resolution 194, has been laid squarely on Israels shoulders, while ignoring the responsibility of the Arab states that refuse to absorb the Palestinian refugees already residing within their borders. According to many well-documented statements by Palestinian and Arab leaders themselves, the Palestinian refugees have been used as pawns and a weapon in the fight against Israel. In addition, the automatic majority against Israel at the UN has ensured that UNRWA retains the sole responsibility for Palestinian refugees and that the body helps perpetuate the problem. In his report, Akavia explains that there are two separate U.N. agencies in charge of aiding refugees: the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNRWA. UNHCR is responsible for all refugees except the Palestinians, who fall within UNRWAs exclusive jurisdiction. A political actor aimed at perpetuating the problem Akavia compared UNRWAs methods of classification with that of UNHCR to demonstrate how the formers methods perpetuate the problem. There is only one case in the world of a refugee problem that has lasted over 70 years so far. And there is only one case in the world where the sons and grandsons of a refugee automatically are recognized as a refugee, even if he is a Jordanian citizen, he said. However, Akavia explained that there are indeed cases in which the UNHCR recognizes the children of refugees, but only when the children are dependent on their parents and need support. This is called derivative refugee status and, according to Akavia, is a fair thing to do. What UNHCR doesnt do, Akavia emphasized, is allow for other family members to acquire this derivative refugee status. So if a representative of UNRWA tells you they arent the only ones recognizing children of refugees, he is telling the truth, said Akavia. But he is also misleading you because UNHCR recognizes only those who really are in need, that have a humanitarian problem and they dont recognize them after the age of 18. UNRWA, meanwhile, recognizes them automatically for second generation, third generation and so forth. Akavia pointed out other key differences in his report between the two organizations and the clear bias towards Palestinian refugees. UNHCR does not define as refugees people who acquired new citizenship. The Refugee Convention of 1951 has a cessation clause, which clearly says that a person ceases to be a refugee if he acquires a new citizenship. UNRWA acts differently: More than 2 million Palestine refugees hold Jordanian citizenship. According to Akavia, as per the rules applied by UNHCR, most of the Palestinians are not refugees. UNRWAs claim that their policy is identical to UNHCRs is a lie and shows that they are not a neutral humanitarian organization, but rather a political actor aimed at perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem. So is UNRWAs hereditary refugee status for Palestinians unique? The answer is yes, replied Akavia. He believes that today the atmosphere has changed, and people are more aware of the issue. We really have an opportunity to change something, he said. The fact is that refugee organizations are supposed to reduce the scale of refugee problems, and in the case of UNRWA, they have only increased, said Gold. As long as UNRWA is making the refugee problem worse, some fundamental thinking has to be done about the future of that organization. Journalist and New Right party candidate Caroline Glick, speaks at the Oz VeGaon reserve in Gush Etzion, on February 8, 2019. (JNS)-When anti-Israel organization "Combatants for Peace" announced recently that it would protest Israel's alleged annexation of Area C-the Israeli-controlled part of Judea and Samaria-the Sovereignty Movement, an offshoot of Women in Green and headed by Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, immediately responded to the provocation. They mobilized a large group of people to attend a lecture by veteran journalist and Knesset candidate Caroline Glick, of the New Right Party, at the Oz veGaon nature reserve in Judea, outside of Gush Etzion, to "prevent the continuing Arab takeover of Area C." Katsover and Matar told JNS, "If we had sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, these types of incidents would not happen." Glick said it was shocking that, "after four-and-a-half years of Zionist education and tourism work done at Oz veGaon," there are still groups working to expel Jews from their own land. Shortly after the announcement by the Sovereignty Movement, the Israel Defense Forces declared the entire area a closed military zone in order to prevent the anti-Israel activists from entering. Oz veGaon is a nature preserve in the heart of Judea, established in the summer of 2014 by Women in Green in reaction to the murder by Arab terrorists of three teenage boys: Gilad Shaer, 16; Eyal Yifrach, 19; and Naftali Fraenkel, 16. Combatants for Peace falsely claimed that a new access road was opened to Oz VeGaon on the lands of the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Ummar. Organizers called on activists to "plant trees on the access road together with the village residents, with the objective of perpetuating the ownership of the village residents over the lands and the right to cultivate them." The anti-Israel organization called on the activists to express "nonviolent opposition to the daily, creeping annexation of Area C." In a message sent to followers, the Sovereignty Movement wrote: " 'The new access road to the outpost' as defined by the provocateurs who plan to come on Friday, is not a road, is not new and is not on the land of Beit Omar village. This is an escape route on state lands... that we were forced to open after Arabs ... threw a Molotov cocktail at the preserve... It is this path that has so enraged the Arabs and the Jews of the Combatants for Peace." Katsover and Matar explained that "the land of Oz veGaon is approximately 300 dunams [about 74 acres]. It is state land zoned for the construction of vacation cottages. The zoning permit was temporarily delayed in order to undergo small changes because of the security fence that was supposed to be placed there." Katsover and Matar emphasized that when Israel extends its sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, "such things will not happen. It will be clear this is Israeli land." But they also emphasized that there needs to be someone who will actually implement this sovereignty-not only in Judea and Samaria, but also in the Galilee and the Negev. "As long as there is no sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, it gives the Arabs and the Bedouins in the Galil and the Negev the idea that they will also be able to take over Judea and Samaria," they said. Oz veGaon has withstood yet another attempt by anti-Israel provocateurs to deny its right to the land on which it is situated. As Katsover and Matar concluded: "This was a victory." Photo: The Canadian Press NDP MP Murray Rankin After seven years representing Victoria in Parliament as a New Democrat, Murray Rankin says he won't run for re-election this fall. Rankin said in an interview on Thursday his decision was very difficult, and serving as an MP has been the "most rewarding experience" of his life. "I've got to know so many people in our community," he said. "I've got to know so many great colleagues here in Ottawa in the caucus. One of the great benefits of being an MP is in order to do your job and represent people, you have to know people from all walks of life and I've really enjoyed that." The 69-year-old also said his choice is about moving to a new chapter in his life and has nothing to do with the NDP's prospects or Jagmeet Singh's leadership. The party has been lagging in popular support and fundraising. He suggested the New Democrats' fortunes are "definitely going up," adding that Singh won his Burnaby South byelection by "significant margins" over both the Liberal and Conservative candidates. "It looks to me to be a turning point," he said. "We will have a leader in the House ... I think people will be able to see a distinct contrast between us and the Conservatives and Liberals." Rankin joins a growing list of NDP MPs who have announced they are not going to be running again in October's election. The list includes Alberta MP Linda Duncan, Ontario MPs Irene Mathyssen and David Christopherson, Quebec's Helene Laverdiere, Romeo Saganash, Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet and Anne Minh-Thu Quach and B.C.'s Fin Donnelly. Former MPs Kennedy Stewart and Sheila Malcolmson also left their jobs. Stewart is now Vancouver's mayor and Malcolmson is a provincial politician in B.C. Former Quebec MP and leader Tom Mulcair also quit politics to work as a visiting professor at Universite de Montreal. Rankin said Thursday he takes pride in work he's done on issues including fighting for tax fairness and medical assistance in dying and working to ensure Canadians serving jury duty can access psychological supports. "I hope I've made a difference," Rankin said. By Itzhak Levanon (JNS)After eight years, the Foreign Ministrys director general decided to keep Israeli embassy staff in Egypt over the weekend instead of returning them home. This was a welcome decision; the staffs permanent presence in Cairo allows it to develop and maintain continuous diplomatic work, as expected of any embassy. The attack on the embassy by an enraged mob in late 2011 and the staffs consequent hasty withdrawal left Israel without a building for its embassy, with a very minimal team in place, and diplomats who return home to Israel every weekend. As a result, Israels diplomatic mission in Egypt has taken a hit. This unacceptable reality has persisted, as stated, for eight years. And although the Foreign Ministrys decision is a step in the right direction, the embassy will still only function on a semi-normal basis. Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, an authority on Egyptian affairs, says it isnt viable to lean the countries relations on one leg (security-intelligence), and that two legs are needed to ensure stability. The current Egyptian regime, headed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, doesnt hide its good relations with Israel and is fostering a positive atmosphere. This provides a window of opportunity to implement full-fledged, proper diplomatic relations. The Egyptian parliaments decision to extend El-Sisis term in office for many more years opens the window even further, allowing the country time to stabilize its relationship on more than just the one leg. To restore diplomatic relations to pre-2011 normalcy, Israel must quickly find a new building for its embassy and staff, including a consular services department working to encourage mutual tourism and promote Israeli interests in Egyptprecisely as the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv operates. The staff has to be the same size as before, to pursue and strengthen the countries diplomatic ties. In the stormy Middle East, close relations between Israel and Egypt are vitally important. The Foreign Ministry, to be sure, always has to contend with complex challenges across the globe, but Israels relations with Egypt need to be prioritized. We must not miss this window of opportunity or squander the current regional climate to re-establish the Israeli presence in Cairo, as it was before 2011. The Israeli-Egypt peace accord includes agreement on fully operational embassies. With El-Sisi firmly in power for a long time to come, we must move forward with determination to bring this to fruition. Itzhak Levanon is the former Israeli ambassador to Egypt. (JNS)These are dark days for France... days that are giving rise to questions about the future of its Jews. For months, we have witnessed the yellow vests popular protests. The demonstrations, which began because of justified claims against the government, are becoming more radical from day-to-day, and sadly, along with the calls against the establishment and for social justice, we are hearing shouts we never thought we would hear in the streets of Paris in 2019. Some of the yellow vests protests are based on myths and stories that wouldnt shame The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And not a week goes by in which French President Emmanuel Macrons former work with the Rothschild Bank isnt mentioned, hinting at links between wealth, power and the Jews. According to a recent poll, almost half of the yellow vest activists believe in an international Zionist conspiracy. I am calling on the movement to take a look at itself and clean house. The abduction and murder of the late Ilan Halimi, the attacks in Toulouse and at the Hyper Cacher supermarket, the murder of Sarah Halimi, who was thrown out of the window of her Paris apartment, and Mireille Knoll, who was burned to death in her home: we are becoming used to shouts, attacks and violence. They have become routine. Universities are seeing more and more anti-Semitic threats and graffiti. On the Internet, we are witnessing a tsunami of hatred. Just as an example, I receive dozens of death threats on a daily basis. I file complaints with the police, as is my civil duty, but without results. Is it reasonable for a member of parliament to need security just because hes a Jew? The numbers are astonishing. Figures indicate a 74 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2018 after a 26 percent rise in 2017. Seventy-five years after the Holocaust, not much has changed. The only thing that is different is the existence of Israela true defense for all Jews in the Diaspora and a life-insurance policy. As a member of the French parliament and a Jew, I am worried mainly for France itself. Too many are unwilling to call a spade a spade when they talk about anti-Zionism. It doesnt matter if its the left or the extreme righthatred of Israel has become a calling card for those who hate Jews. The hypocrisy reaches new heights when we hear far-left parties defending the recent anti-Semitic incidents. These are the same parties that advocate boycotts of Israel and laud terrorists in street demonstrations. All this is happening as France boycotts the Warsaw summit, which is effectively a meeting about countering Iran. Where is the logic? How can we roll out the red carpet for a regime that espouses hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel, while at the same time condemning anti-Semitism at home? Our leaders are right to worry about the rise in anti-Semitism, but paradoxically, they are trying at all costs to normalize our relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, a jihadist regime that unceasingly calls to wipe Israel off the map and seeks to perpetrate a second Holocaust. Meyer Habib is a French parliamentarian. (The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs via JNS)According to senior figures in the Fatah movement, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan have begun cooperation in anticipation of the announcement of the new U.S. peace plan known as the deal of the century. This new collaboration is based on understandings reached between Jordans King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in August 2017 after the crisis of the metal detectors that were set up at the gates to the Temple Mount. King Abdullah, for his part, made a special visit to the Muqata in Ramallah and agreed with Abbas on setting up a joint committee for strategic coordination on the Mount. The first step was already taken a few days ago and is connected to the Mount. At the behest of King Abdullah, the Jordanian government approved the expansion of the Council of the Islamic Wakf and the Holy Places in Jerusalem from 11 to 18 members. For the first time, the council, which was manned by pro-Jordanian figures, will include senior figures connected to the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, a move that Jordan has avoided since 1994. Senior elements in Fatah call Jordans agreement to the measure a historic change aimed at enabling joint control of the mount. Jordan has special status on the mount, and the 1994 peace treaty with Israel makes it the custodian of the Jerusalem holy places. According to senior Fatah sources, the Jordanians and the Palestinians fear that Trumps Mideast peace plan seeks to transfer responsibility for the Holy Basin in eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, to joint Arab administration and to give Saudi Arabia a special status at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. To scuttle the move, the first step was taken on Feb. 14: the above-mentioned expansion of the Council of the Islamic Wakf and the Holy Places in Jerusalem. It will now include both Jordanian and Palestinian representatives, thereby establishing facts on the ground and signaling to the United States and Israel that Jordan will not relinquish its special status in Jerusalem and will cooperate with the P.A. in administering the Temple Mount. Who are the Palestinian figures in the Wakf? The expanded councils first meeting, which was held in the Old City of Jerusalem, saw the participation of senior representatives of the Jordanian Wakf Ministry, who discussed ways to strengthen control of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Who are the P.A.-connected figures who were added to the new council? The most senior representative is Adnan al-Husseini, who serves officially as the P.A.s minister for Jerusalem affairs. Also added to the council were former P.A. Health Minister Dr. Hani al-Abedin and former P.A. Economy Minister Mazen Sonkrut. Other new members include Khatam Abdel Kader, a senior Fatah figure in Jerusalem and Abbass adviser for Jerusalem affairs; Dr. Imad Faik Abu Kishk, dean of Al-Quds University and an associate of Jibril Rajoub; and Dr. Mahdi Abdel Hadi, a senior Fatah figure and head of the Passia Institute. The new Jordanian-Palestinian move is a clear violation of the Oslo Accords, which prohibit P.A. governmental activity in eastern Jerusalem. Israel can counteract this move, but so far no measures have been taken. At the end of the month, Trump administration senior adviser Jared Kushner and special envoy Jason Greenblatt are slated to visit several Arab states to promote the economic aspects of the plan, which will be announced after the Israeli elections. Abbas has already launched contacts to scuttle the new American plan. He rejected the invitation to the Warsaw Summit and went to Saudi Arabia to enlist King Salmans opposition to the deal of the century and demand adherence to the 2002 Arab peace initiative. The Jordanian-Palestinian collaboration on the Temple Mount issue, alongside the establishment by Jordan and the P.A. of the joint Islamic council to administer the Jerusalem holy places, is a move that spells danger for Israel and compromises its sovereignty in Jerusalem. Israel should act against it immediately, before the U.S. administration publicizes its new plan. Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as Director General and Chief Editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. (JNS)The precise details of the forthcoming Trump administration Mideast peace plan are not yet known, but the basic principle was declared by senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner at last weeks Warsaw conference. Both sides will have to make compromises, he said. Kushners statement follows numerous similar statements by American officials, including the president himself. In his Feb. 9, 2017 interview with Israel Hayom, U.S. President Donald Trump said: I think that both sides will have to make significant compromises in order for achieving a peace deal to be possible. That was followed by a report in The Jerusalem Post on Feb. 20, 2018, quoting Kushner and the administrations other top Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, saying that both sides are going to love some of [the plan] and hate some of it. And then-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said in a Feb. 22, 2017 speech in Chicago: The plan wont be loved by either side. And it wont be hated by either side. Lets take a closer look at what the both-sides-have-to-compromise approach means, both in principle and in practice. In principle, the idea that Israel should have to make additional compromises is outrageously unfair. Since the day the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, all Israel has done is make compromises to appease the Palestinian Authority: Israel allowed the creation of an almost-sovereign P.A. regime in 40 percent of Judea-Samaria. Israel expelled all Jews from Gaza (and four Jewish communities from Samaria), leading to the establishment of a de facto Hamas state in Gaza. Every Israeli government has refrained from authorizing the creation of even a single new Jewish community in Judea-Samaria (except for a still-planned town to house Jewish refugees from other communities). Prime Minister Netanyahu froze all Jewish construction in Judea-Samaria for ten months, and has repeatedly limited Jewish construction in the territories during other periods. Israel has refrained from actively challenging the P.A.s wanton violations of the accords, such as the P.A.s refusal to disarm, outlaw and extradite terrorists. In exchange for all these compromises, what has Israel received? Twenty-five years of suicide bombings, rockets and flaming kites. Twenty-five years of firebombing, stonings and lynchings. Twenty-five years of anti-Semitic incitement. An entire generation of young Palestinian Arabs raised to hate and kill Jews. Thus, the Trump-Kushner-Greenblatt demand that Israel should now make additional compromises is absurdly unfair. Now lets consider what more Israeli compromises will mean in practical terms. Right now, the P.A. has total control over the cities in Judea-Samaria that contain 98 percent of the Arab population. Tulkarm is the third largest of those cities; Qalqilya is the fifth largest. Im singling those two out because if you look at the map, you see they are located on the far western edge of P.A. territory. They are a little more than nine miles from the Mediterranean Sea. In other words, there are just nine miles of Israel between Tulkarm and the Mediterranean Sea. Obviously, the P.A. is never going to agree to those cities becoming part of Israel. Tulkarm and Qalqilya will be under Palestinian rule forever. The only question is whether that will be under the current P.A. regime, or in a full-fledged State of Palestine. We dont know exactly what Israeli compromises the Trump plan will demand. But they obviously will involve moving closer to a Palestinian state. Because theres nothing else left on which Israel could compromise. And theres nothing else the P.A. would ever consider. Certainly, Trump and Kushner are not going to put forward a plan if there is zero chance the Palestinians will even consider it. All of which means that according to simple logic, Israeli compromises must involve Israel moving closer to the creation of Palestine, which will include Tulkarm and Qalqilya, and which therefore would reduce Israel to nine miles wide at its mid-section. Thats not even as wide as Washington, D.C., or the Bronx. A country that size could be cut in two by an enemy army in a matter of minutes. Planes landing at Ben-Gurion Airport would be within range of a terrorist with a shoulder-fired rocket, standing inside the border of the new Palestinian state. And Israeli mothers strolling with baby carriages in Jerusalem could be targeted by Arab snipersas they were before June 1967. Which is why American Jewish and Zionist organizations should not be sitting quietly on their hands, waiting to see what exactly the Trump Mideast peace plan will say. All one needs is a little logic and common sense to understand that whatever the details, the essence of Trumps plan will pose a great danger to Israel. We need to speak out nowto stop the plan from being put forward at allbecause once it is unveiled, there will be a steamroller of pressure that could be impossible to stop. Stephen M. Flatow, an attorney in New Jersey, is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. His book, A Fathers Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror, has just been published. This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services, to personalize ads and to analyze traffic. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. 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No one under 18 can enter our giveaways. No purchase is necessary. All winners have one week to claim their prize. USA shipping only. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Photo: The Canadian Press Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says it makes no sense for Ottawa to use one hand to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion, and another to push legislation that would deter investors from future energy projects. Notley was in Ottawa Thursday giving the Senate her take on Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act, which overhauls the way energy projects are assessed for their effects on the environment as well as contributions to the country's social and economic well-being. When Environment Minister Catherine McKenna introduced the legislation a year ago, she said it was designed to attract new investment by giving the industry certainty about the criteria by which their proposed projects would be assessed and set timelines for reviews. Notley says the bill does the opposite. "I will give (the Liberal government) credit for stepping in to buy Trans Mountain, but I also think there is a high level of investor uncertainty that exists right now in the way in which it's written," she said in a press conference after the committee meeting. "We cannot allow that uncertainty to continue. You can't build trust by saying, 'Trust us.' You build trust by providing clarity." Other provincial governments of different political stripes have joined Notley in calls for changes to the bill before it becomes law. On Thursday, the Senate committee studying the bill heard requests from Newfoundland Premier Dwight Ball and Saskatchewan Energy Minister Bronwyn Eyre. Ontario Energy Minister Greg Rickford presented to the Senate's energy committee earlier this week. Ball agreed with Notley that scrapping C-69 is not the way to go, but asked for amendments to exempt offshore oil exploration. He said the bill will drive capital investments elsewhere, to places where production doesn't have the same environmental protections as Canada does. Rickford told the committee C-69, as written, would make building new or replacing existing pipelines "impossible" and fears it will impede Ontario's nuclear energy policies. The federal government hasn't yet published a list of project types that would be affected by the legislation. The House of Commons made more than 130 amendments before it landed in the Senate. Tim McMillan, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, told the committee last week the changes from MPs made the bill more complicated and provided less clarity. McMillan said the long, drawn-out legal challenges that have delayed the Trans Mountain pipeline will be the norm if the bill passes as-is. In particular, there is too much discretion given to cabinet to interfere in a project's approval, he said. McKenna's spokeswoman Sabrina Kim said in a statement Thursday the government is open to considering additional amendments. She blames the environmental assessment policies of the former Conservatives for the legal challenges delaying energy projects, and said the Liberals are keen to ensure the system protects the environment while still getting Canadian resources to market. Among the amendments Notley wants to see are a hard two-year deadline for the assessment and review process. She noted the proposal to expand Trans Mountain, which would triple an existing pipeline's capacity between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C., was first brought forward in 2013 and remains mired in legal battles. Notley also wants most new Alberta energy projects, including in-situ oilsands developments and petrochemical refineries, exempted from the bill because of existing provincial review processes and her government's climate-change policies. She said the Alberta government has attracted $12 billion in investments for petrochemical and upgrading facilities. "We don't want to see that caught up in duplicative regimes that scare away investors we've worked so hard to attract," she said. Notley told senators Alberta's struggle to get its oil to market has become a national unity issue, noting her government forced oil companies in the fall to cut production because of a collapse in oil prices. "Over in the Maritimes they are importing Saudi oil. Here in Ontario you are importing American oil, both at world prices, and meanwhile in Alberta we are cutting production," she said. "I told (the Senate) very clearly this is not how you build a country." If you are a 90s kid, visuals from one particular episode of RK Narayans TV adaptation of Malgudi Days will flash across the mind The narrative was based somewhere in rural India during British Raj; a foreigner asks a local about a horse sculpture placed in a public space, and ends up buying it for merely a few notes from that local. The episode was a satire on the Indian state of things where people hardly valued countrys heritage. but times have changed. Meet Anuraag Saxena, an activist, author, and founder of India Pride Project (IPP) a citizens group that aims to bring back Indias stolen or pilfered heritage. On his recent visit to Delhi, Saxena shared about the significance of his work, in the backdrop of his memories of Delhi from the 90s. Anuraag Saxena founder of India Pride Project at Ugrasen ki Baoli, Hailey Road in Delhi. (Gokul VS/Hindustan Times) I was pursuing my chartered accountancy in Delhi in the 90s, and would spend a bit of time here at Urgasen ki Baoli At that time there used to be literally just five people here on any day. I would sit there, at that spot, and read a book, says Saxena as he visits the Baoli again with us, and credits the place for aiding him to clear CA in one go. This and Shakuntalam (Theatre) at Pragati Maidan were a few places back then that were peaceful. Otherwise Delhi mei its impossible to find peace, he adds. Later he moved to the US for further education, and is now settled in Singapore. And while he went away from his homeland, the distance brought him closer to his culture in ways more than one. If you leave India and go visit elsewhere, you cant help but notice how much pride everyone takes in their heritage. You cant help but notice that 60 years old General Macarthurs House (in the US) has an audio tour available supported by pictures, to give the visitors an idea of his life story. In India, you have buildings which are 600 years old that are lying unattended. Thats our problem we dont realise that our heritage is the singular reason for which the world comes to India. They dont come to see our ring road or malls, they come for our heritage. America me jitney Dunkin Donuts hai utne India me youll find some or the other heritage location. It could be a fort, mandir, church or a baoli. And that realisation motivated him to start IPP in 2013. So, IPP is a way of reminding people that these spaces and symbols both were an integral part of our life for good reason, which we have now forgotten, says Saxena, who has made #BringOurGodsHome and #SaveOurGods popular on social media. So heres the world respecting our heritage that we dont respect! Historically, what our ancestors have left us, our heritage is the most tangible forms of it, says Saxena, elucidating that his initiative isnt just a religious endeavour to bring back idols of Gods. The reason we call it IPP is because these are symbols of our pride. If you ask any other national about India, they associate it with some sort of heritage primarily; so this is symbolic of our pride. Also, its a matter of pride for the nation that we are now in a geo-political position of strength where we are now able to fight or negotiate with the Western developed countries to bring back what is ours. And, at some level its a matter of pride for indigenous communities as well to see their gods come back home. A lot of urban readers might not appreciate this... [for instance] if you and I have to meet, well meet at a mall or a theatre. However, in most towns and villages in India, the temples have been their only community space. And Im not talking of it from a religious angle at all. Woh toh hai hi, but temples is where people congregate and chat, farmers sell their produce, weavers sell textiles Now, when you take a deity out of a temple, nobody has anything to go back to a temple. And that really tears the social fabric of a village. Imagine in Delhi, if you took away all the public spaces, or community spaces, so theres no CP (Connaught Place), no mall, no restaurant, everyone would literally sit at home and theres no way people will learn and appreciate each other. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter In early 1818, an unfamiliar and intriguing device made an appearance at the royal court of Udaipur, the former the capital of the Mewar kingdom (now Rajasthan). The prince of Udaipur was so enamoured by the apparatus that he described it as Mun-ca-dowa (medicine for the mind). The device that captured the royals imagination was a camera obscura, the ancestor of modern photography. Over the next few decades, Indias royal families from Rajasthan to Tripura, embraced photography with great enthusiasm and passion. They didnt just take photographs, but also collected and commissioned works. This is borne out by the popularity of photographic societies the first one in India established in Bombay in 1854. The Bengal Photographic Society was established in Calcutta in 1856, with Europeans and Indians as subscribers. One of the shining stars among the royal photo-enthusiasts was Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II of Jaipur, who ruled the princely state from 1835 to 1880. Ram Singh, unlike many of his contemporaries, was not only a photo-collector but also a skilled photographer. While princes across India developed a fondness for photography, few mastered it in the way he did or created a collection that so encapsulated a world in which the Victorian and the Indian met constructively, writes historian Manu S Pillai. About 140 samples of the maharajas work are on display at the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur, until April 30, as part of a larger exposition titled Ellipsis: Between Word & Image. (Photo courtesy Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, City Palace, Jaipur / ACP) Ram Singhs albumen prints, the dominant technology of that era, are now part of the collection of the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum (MSMS) at the City Palace in Jaipur. And about 140 samples of the maharajas rich repertoire are currently on view at the Jawahar Kala Kendra, also in Jaipur, until April 30, as part of a larger exposition titled Ellipsis, Between Word & Image. How Ram Singh first encountered photography is not known. But in a museum publication dating to the 1980s, the then Keeper Yaduendra Sahai suggests that [British] photographer T Murrays visit to Jaipur in 1864 provided the impetus, writes Ellipsiss creative collaborator Mrinalini Venkateswaran. Murray has been described as Ram Singhs teacher, which may be an exaggeration, but they certainly collaborated and Ram Singh would have benefited from exposure to the professionals practice, says Giles Tillotson, consultant director for research, publications and exhibitions at the MSMS. Like any enthusiastic photographer, Ram Singh, who was a life member of the Bengal Photographic Society, carried his camera around with him and clicked the world he saw: people, views of Jaipur and other towns and cities. But historians say that it was portraiture that really caught the maharajas fancy. In 1870, for instance, he photographed Queen Victorias son, just as he did his palace doctor. Self-portrait of Ram Singh on horseback. (Photo courtesy Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, City Palace, Jaipur / ACP) The most discussed aspects of Ram Singhs work are his photographic portraits of women who lived in the exclusive zenana section of his household. To photograph such invisibles was without precedent. In a paper on the maharajas photographs, art historian Laura Weinstein writes that in the long history of the visual arts in Rajasthan up to 1860, portraits of women in purdah in any medium were virtually non-existent. Photography was by no means exclusive to the Jaipur court among other enthusiasts were Maharana Sajjan Singh of Udaipur and Raja Bir Manikya of Tripura. But their photos of the zenana, for instance, date to after Jaipurs, says Venkateswaran. The maharajas photography was a boldly modern act. Weinstein argues that he produced these photographs during a period of great interest in and concern over the condition of Indian women in purdah among educated Indians, colonial administrators, British feminists and other communities of the Raj. By forging a new mode of representation of courtly women as decent dignified individuals, these photographs contested a common sentiment of the period: the notion that women in purdah were idle, sexually deviant and oppressed. Paradoxically, Ram Singh violated the most basic principle of Rajput domestic tradition and of the institution of the zenana: the invisibility of its inhabitants. His range of work also reveals a self-reflective persona, and offers visual citations to the practitioners oeuvre, thereby generating a visual autobiography. They make us consider how early photography in the subcontinent reveals a fraught and collusive relationship between the colonial context, a regional counterpoint, and the modern breakthrough of lens-based practices, says Rahaab Allana, curator of Ellipsis. Photographs, it is said, are worth a thousand words. Ram Singhs are actually worth much, much more. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Actor Alok Nath, accused of rape during the #MeToo movement that arrived in India late last year, will star in a film about sexual harassment, in which he will play a judge. The film is reportedly titled #MainBhi (Hindi for #MeToo). The actor told Mumbai Mirror, Im not doing any films at the moment. This was something I shot for a while ago. He continued, Is there a problem? You sound sad that Im doing a film. Its a puny role for poor producers, let it release. Actor Khalid Siddiqui provided more details to Mumbai Mirror about the film and Aloks role. The film deals with child molestation, a subject that hasnt been tapped on screen often, particularly with regard to boys. My character, along with the other, are affected by incidents that change our lives. We hope the film starts a debate on the subject, he said. He said that Alok delivers an impassioned speech towards the end of the film about how molestation is wrong. The film has been directed by Nisar Khan and also stars Sonali Raut, Shawar Ali and Imran Khan. Also read: Alok Nath may have been falsely implicated by Vinta Nanda in rape case: Mumbai court In October, 2018, a case of rape was lodged against Alok after a complaint lodged by writer Vinta Nanda. Actors Sandhya Mridul, Himani Shivpuri and Deepika Amin shared their own stories of having faced harassment at Aloks hands. He has been expelled from the Cine and TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) and has been granted anticipatory bail. Alok has denied the allegations. His lawyer called Nandas allegations imaginary, a fairy tale and comic book. He is seeking Re 1 and an apology from Vinta as compensation. Follow @htshowbiz for more Bollywood is all set to welcome the weekend but first, the stars have a lot of work to wrap up. With the week coming to a close, several actors and filmmakers were seen out and about in Mumbai, attending a promotional event or even at the airport. Actor Sonali Bendre was spotted by the paparazzi at the Mumbai airport. She was looking fresh with her short hair, flashing it off with pride. Sonali was diagnosed with cancer in July last year and left for New York soon after to receive treatment. She arrived back in Mumbai in December. On Friday, she was seen in an all-white outfit and a striped shirt. Actor Raveena Tandon was also seen at an event on Friday. She looked stunning in a blue suit as she extended her support to the noble cause of cleaning Mumbais beaches. The spent the evening with a bunch of volunteers who clean up the Juhu beach every day. Also read: Priyanka Chopra-Nick Jonas collaborate in Jonas Brothers music video Sucker Actor Parineeti Chopra was also spotted with her girlfriends. The actor was all smiles as she posed with her friends outside a restaurant. She wore a denim skirt and a pink jacket to the get-together. Fashion designer Vikram Fadnis also hosted stars like Hrithik Roshan, Kiara Advani, Ameesha Patel, Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Chaudhary at his event on Friday. Fadnis launched his Marathi film in the presence of the actors. Actor Deepika Padukone was also spotted shooting for an ad film in Greece. She was seen in a white suit, flanked by her team in the streets of Greece. Check out more celeb pictures here: Hrithik Roshan and Shweta Bachchan Nanda at Vikram Fadnis event. (Varinder Chawla) Parineeti Chopra with her friends at a restaurant. (Varinder Chawla) Raveena Tandon at the Juhu Beach. (Varinder Chawla) Sonali Bendre at the airport. (Varinder Chawla) Kiara Advani with Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Chaudhary. (Varinder Chawla) Kiara Advani with Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Chaudhary, Ameesha Patel and Maniesh Paul. (Varinder Chawla) Follow @htshowbiz for more Luka Chuppi Director - Laxman Utekar Cast - Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi Rating - 2.5 There is something about Pankaj Tripathi. His presence in a film/web series/advertisement/music video/on a juice stall poster makes you believe that whatever he is a part of will be wholesome and fulsome. You want to order that glass of mix juice because you believe it will be a more honest glass of mix juice. You hope that the political parties dont find out about this superpower of Pankaj Tripathis because who knows how they will use it. And it is when Luka Chuppi takes Pankaj Tripathi, dresses him up in red trousers, a yellow shirt and green sunglasses; saddles him with a cliched role and worse dialogues, that you want to give up. Tripathi still manages to carry it off with great power comes great responsibility, and our actor knows it but just about. Watch the Luka Chuppi trailer here In the above two paragraphs lies the inherent problem with Luka Chuppi it takes good material and excellent performers and turns them into caricatures. Sure, it has its moments and the second half is largely enjoyable, but you have to wait for the fun. After a slew of excellent small-town dramas, my expectations are high and my patience thin. At the heart of the story is the moral policing in India and the refusal of our self-appointed moral guardians to allow any kind of sexual agency to the youth over their own lives. Film actor Nazeem Khan (Abhinav Shukla) becomes the enemy number one of the Sanskriti Raksha Manch the name is self explanatory after he accepts that he is in a live-in relationship. They cant beat up Khan for destroying our sanskriti, so they do the next best thing attack defenceless lovers in the by-lanes of Mathura. Luka Chuppi review: Kartik Aaryans character is a far cry from his earlier misogynistic films. Heading this organization is Vinay Pathaks Vishnu Trivedi, whose religious grandstanding is in the hope of winning the upcoming election. Rashmi (Kriti Sanon) is his daughter, who has returned home to Mathura after finishing her journalism course in Delhi. Kartik Aaryans Guddu, with his spiked hair and the reputation of being a one-star kalaakar, is the star of the local news channel. The two soon become a team, joined by Aparshakti Khuranas Abbas the channels cameraman. The trio scours Mathura -- doing a vox pop of sorts to understand what people largely feel about the divisive topic of live-in relationships; the best comments come from where we least expect it a man clad in saffron. Love soon blossoms between Kriti and Kartik, but instead of taking the saat pheras, Rashmi wants to test their compatibility via a live-in. It is left to Abbas to find a way for the young lovers to find a sanctuary outside the confines of a small-town. They head to Gwalior pronounced Gawalior, as is the wont in the region -- on the pretext of conducting a journalism project and take an apartment, without telling their families. The thorn in Guddus flesh is his meddlesome relative Babulal (Pankaj Tripathi) who finds his love nest and brings the entire family parents, brothers, sister-in-law and nephew -- there. A quickly made-up tale of the two being married spirals out of control as Rashmis father gets involved. The two find themselves living in Guddus family home as a married couple without ever having exchanged vows. Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon are ably backed by the ensemble cast. After a staid first half, the second half lifts off as the ensemble cast gets a bigger role to play and the narrative moves away from the love story to various aborted attempts on the part of Kriti and Kartik to get married. If the first half only attempts to give that lived-in feeling that such small-town social dramas thrive on, after the interval there are a few of those shining moments, with the trio of Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi and Vinay Pathak responsible for most. Kartik is good as the small-time boy who is at the receiving end of a mess he didnt make. With no misogynistic dialogues (cue Pyar Ka Punchnaama 1, 2 and 3, aka Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety) it is a win-win for all. Kriti gets a backstory to explain her urbane mannerisms; and as an empowered Rashmi who refuses to accept the role society forces in her, she is believable. The film has a positive message but it takes its own sweet time coming. However, I will take what we are getting in todays political climate. Aparshaktis Abbas, who has had enough of everyday religious bias, tells a man, Alien nahi hu, Muslim hu. The hypocrisy of vigilante justice in the name of saving our sanskriti is called out, Yeh dharm nahi hai, mudda hai chunaav ke liye. An extra half star, just for that. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @JSB17 Mira Rajput, wife of actor Shahid Kapoor, is fast becoming a star in her own right. Her Instagram pictures and videos are a huge rage. Her latest pictures too are certain to excite her fans. On February 28, Mira posted three pictures wishing her older sister Priya Rajput Tulshan on her birthday. She can be seen wishing Priya in one of the pictures which has all the three sisters together, the third one being Noorjehan Rajput Wadhwani. In another, she calls her sister Mommy No 2, indicating how she actually looks up to her older sister. However, it is the third picture which is sweetest of them all; it has Mira and Priya, holding their respective daughters. In fact, the sisters look so similar, at times, it becomes hard to say, who is who. Around the time of the birth of Miras second child in September this year, a picture of Priya was online where she is seen visiting the hospital with her daughter and needless to say, it is hard to miss the similarity. Mira usually shares pictures from her family life on her Instagram handle. Also read: Have you seen these latest pics of Shahid Kapoor, Mira Rajput, Ranveer Singh and other Bollywood stars? On the occasion of her fathers birthday, she had shared a picture with her father. Some time back, she had also shared another picture of him planting a kiss on her cheek on her wedding day and called him, her strength and weakness. She had also shared a picture of her sister Noorjehan, calling her their sunshine. Meanwhile, actor Shahid has been busy shooting for his next film, Kabir Singh which is a remake of Telugu film Arjun Reddy. The film also stars Kiara Advani and is being directed by Arjun Reddy director Sandeep Vanga. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Ranveer Singh has said that the return of captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India, after two days in Pakistan, is a moment to rejoice. But he urged the public not to forget the Pulwama attack, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF soldiers. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Ranveer said that his latest film, Gully Boy was released on the same day as the attack, on February 14. Gully Boy had come out on the same day as the Pulwama attack. The response to Gully Boy was staggering and overwhelming. I should have been on top of the world. But I was actually down in the dumps. I was disillusioned. I was frustrated and angry, he said. Ranveer noted that he was disturbed by the videos of the pilot that were circulated on social media, which showed him identifying himself, blindfolded and bloodied, while being questioned by authorities. We are rejoicing today. I am very happy, I am elated. I was quite disturbed seeing the imagery that came out. I have been disturbed for a while actually, he said. Abhinandan has been released by Pakistan as a gesture of peace through the Wagah-Attari joint check-post on Friday, two days after he was captured across the Line of Control after shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Thursday that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be freed on Friday after New Delhi sought his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release signalling a de-escalation in the spiralling tension with New Delhi. Wing Commander Abhinandan was brought by Pakistani authorities from Rawalpindi to Lahore and handed over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention before being brought to the check post to return home. Ranveer continued, You dont know what to do with your feelings as a lay man. My way of acting out is to just feed myself vociferously with news. I want to get more and more information. Its been a funky time. Today is a good day, but lets not forget what happened very recently. Welcome home Abhinandan! ! Inspiration to our whole nation . Jai Hind Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) March 1, 2019 The actor tweeted earlier in the day, Welcome home Abhinandan! Inspiration to our whole nation. Jai Hind. He hailed the pilots bravery at the conclave, saying, As far as Abhinandan goes, he is a true hero. The way he conducted himself in the face of adversity, the kind of dignity with which he carried himself... He is an inspiration for a whole nation. So proud of him! Follow @htshowbiz for more Sonchiriya Director: Abhishek Chaubey Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey Rating: 3/5 In Sonchiriya, a policeman and a young boy discuss how inaccurately dacoits are portrayed in Hindi cinema. Imagine, says the boy sitting outside a rundown little theatre, this film shows them on horses! The very idea is laughable to them, even though our cinema, drunk on Westerns, persisted with anachronistic equine imagery throughout particularly in the 60s and 70s, when daku movies ruled the roost. Set in 1975, Sonchiriya tells of rebels and ravines in the Chambal, but without the usual trappings. All is hardcore, from language (Bundelkhandi, which necessitates subtitles) to laughter. The one time a dacoit throws back his head to laugh is nothing like Gabbar Singh of Sholay; the laughter here comes from devastation and heartbreak. Watch: Raja Sens review of Sonchiriya: The one laughing is the optimistically named Vakil Singh, played by a phenomenal Ranvir Shorey, throwing his head back to confront the futility of his life and struggle. The word baaghi is best translated as rebel instead of dacoit or bandit, but what is their cause? The film poses the question early on, one character asking in as many words: If the dharma of the policeman is to catch the rebel, what is the dharma of the rebel? The question is loaded, and while the film does provide possible answers to ponder, it doesnt engage deeply or philosophically with them. Shot breathtakingly by Anuj Rakesh Dhawan, this may be Chaubeys best crafted film, but feels superficial, and is needlessly heavy-handed by way of metaphor. For instance, characters tormented by ghosts of their guilt see these ghosts frequently and simultaneously, as if haunted to the very same degree. Also read: Isnt It Romantic movie review: Priyanka Chopra finally justifies her presence in Hollywood Ashutosh Rana plays the brutal cop chasing down the brigands. The story is simple, about many outlaws on the run. The actors are a thrill. Shorey aces it, as does Sushant Singh Rajput, playing a man called Lakhna a name that may automatically damn the wearer to banditry uncompromising and duty-bound, even if his idea of duty can change on the fly. Manoj Bajpai is excellent as a rebel chief, holding up a wedding with the practiced ease of a professional breaking out his routine, while Bhumi Pednekar, a desperately feisty woman on the run, holds her own strongly. A round of applause for Ashutosh Rana, as the brutal cop chasing down the brigands. Rana, a fine actor, has been reappearing in prominent cinema more often Mulk, Dhadak, Simmba. Its great to have him back in the mix, an actor who makes small parts feel vital. Dare we call this comeback the Rana-issance? Bhumi Pednekar plays a desperately feisty woman on the run and holds her own strongly. Chaubey has always brought us interesting faces. The bandits include a vaguely blonde one, as well as one who looks like Kratos from the God Of War video games, and a terrific pint-sized performer is cast in a most iconic role, and explodes across the screen. (I cant tell you what the part is, but youll know it when you see it. Just watch out for the great line about cowardly men being measured up for lehngas.) The action is choreographed elaborately, with Chaubey continuing to display his love for Mexican standoffs, and the dialogues feel nakedly authentic. There are times the film plays beautifully with tension, but a pretentiously slow pace lets it down. The men may not be on horses, yet the dramatic triggers pulled by the narrative are stubbornly old-school and cinematic. The music by Vishal Bhardwaj is atmospheric and Varun Grovers lyrics evocative, but it feels out of place in this long and otherwise sparse film. The songs work better when heard as an album, particularly the version of the title track sung by Rekha Bhardwaj. Sonchiriya claims to be about a band of outlaws in wild search of a golden bird but that bird may well be a goose. The film skims topics of caste, gender, religion and politics, and proves to be a film about the desperation to belong to something larger than oneself, the all-consuming desire to believe in something. Even birds of prey need to pray. Follow @htshowbiz for more It is shocking how many people are willing to believe that the minor amount of global warming we have experienced is caused by humans burning fossil fuel. That said, warming is going to accelerate soon to a point where life will be difficult and costlier unless we make very significant changes to our lifestyle. Our government, led by Justin Trudeau, is trying to frighten us to the point where we will bend to his will and agree to paying more and more taxes to accomplish the impossible. Part of his strategy is new legislation (Bill C-69) that makes it nearly impossible to have a major resource development approved. This, coupled with previous regulations, forces companies to expend large sums of money to meet the requirements. No company will do this without assurance they will be granted approval to proceed if they meet the requirements. This has discouraged/prevented future resource development investment. In the meantime, jobs and business opportunities are being lost, as are vast sums of government revenue. A change of government is badly needed. If one takes the time to investigate the alternatives, it is obvious that the NDP doesnt offer any hope. The Conservatives offered a prospect, but under their new leader that hope has been lost. The remaining alternative is the Peoples Party of Canada. Maxime Bernier promised when he ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party to honour the constitution, reduce taxes, downsize government and let the provinces decide how they want to deal with climate change. He said he would grant the assurances needed for future resource development investors who met the amended requirements, to proceed with their plans. Bernier offers these changes, and his leadership is what Canada needs. R.J. Reid, Vernon In the times of Indo-Pak tension, several film celebrities took to Twitter to share their feelings on social media. However, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur got emotional on listening to the recent updates of an IAF pilot being held captive in Pakistan and shared his own story of survival. He shared his emotional story about how his family suffered during the partition. He revealed how his mother enacted dead to save his and his sisters life during the massacre on an India-bound train. He tweeted, I was born in Lahore. My mother escaped massacre by hiding me n my sister under her body in a train to india. Playing dead. Most people were killed. One million people died in Partition. 10 million refugees. On both sides. India n Pakistan were created of the blood of one people. I was born in Lahore. My mother escaped massacre by hiding me n my sister under her body in a train to india. Playing dead. Most people were killed. One million people died in Partition. 10 million refugees. On both sides. India n Pakistan were created of the blood of one people. Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 28, 2019 The National Award winning filmmaker is a recipient of the BAFTA Award for his 1998 Hollywood film Elizabeth. He also directed the cult classic Masoom in 1983 and the 1987 Sridevi and Anil Kapoor blockbuster Mr India. He has a daughter named Kaveri Kapur. He had once shared his family photo on Twitter. He had captioned it, Last pic of our whole family together. I was 18. Left for London that night. Since then we have all lead our own lives away from home. Only to come together under the same roof for our parents death. What forces in modern India tear us apart yet a love that binds us together? Last pic of our whole family together. I was 18. Left for London that night. Since then we have all lead our own lives away from home. Only to come together under the same roof for our parents death. What forces in modern India tear us apart yet a love that binds us together? pic.twitter.com/dr1EtCcPDK Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) March 4, 2018 Shekhar had also raised his voice for bringing back Wing Commander Abhinandan. Joining the chorus to bring him back, Shekhar had tweeted, #WingCdrAbhinanadan You have become a beacon of courage patriotism and dignity. And also a beacon of hope. We look forward to welcome you home soon, Sir. #WingCdrAbhinanadan You have become a beacon of courage patriotism and dignity. And also a beacon of hope. We look forward to welcome you home soon, Sir Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 28, 2019 Also read: Comedian Trevor Noah tries to make fun of India-Pak tension, faces Twitter backlash A few days ago, Shekhar had shared a tweet to discourage people asking India to go on war against Pakistan. He had tweeted, Its really important not to fan the flames of war rhetoric. Its not a game. U r not facing bullets or bombs. U r not the family praying and hoping fervently that your husbands brothers or fathers are safe. Nor living in border areas in fear. Its easy to be armchair soldiers. Its really important not to fan the flames of war rhetoric. Its not a game. U r not facing bullets or bombs. U r not the family praying and hoping fervently that your husbands brothers or fathers are safe. Nor living in border areas in fear. Its easy to be armachair soldiers. Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 27, 2019 Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The audacious nature of the strikes within Pakistani territory by the Indian Air Force has pointed to a strategic shift in how New Delhi will approach retaliation for attacks sponsored from beyond the border. Inevitably, the comparisons between 26/2 and 26/11 have emerged. There has been plenty of commentary on how Mumbai wasnt avenged, but Pulwama was. Certainly, the purpose displayed by the Narendra Modi government was a change from exchanging dossiers, and was part of a series of operations beginning with those within Myanmar in 2015 to the post-Uri surgical strikes. That determination, though, does not exist in a vacuum. A more enabling environment exists in the world today, certainly among progressive democracies, due to two principal factors: exhaustion with terrorism and the arrival of the 45th President of the United States. In the decade since 26/11 occurred, the West has become far more aware of the global nature of jihad. That is mainly due to the extreme savagery of the Islamic State (IS) across a large territory of West Asia, and the extent of that brutality is still being literally uncovered. As hundreds of young fighters swarmed into the Caliphate from Western nations, the brotherhood of terror also struck within the capitals and cities of these countries. As other groups vowed allegiance to the IS, the realisation finally arrived that this was one organism with many tentacles. That may be why the ministry of external affairs statement mentioned jihad for the first time, and the world is no longer able to blithely seek out root causes and describe extremists as mere insurgents. Groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba pose a menace to the world, not just India. That may also be why reactions to the action by the Mirages on Tuesday were considered, rightly, in the context of necessary counterterror measures, and the usual prattle of restraint was appended, reversing the approach of previous years. Outside China, which has its own interests in propping up Islamabad, there was a refreshing change in perception, which underscores what a difference a decade can make. Also, that India is increasingly seen as a responsible actor on the global stage only adds to the switch. Obviously, war is the worst option. Thats why de-escalation was the motif of statements released after Pakistans abortive attempt against Indian military installations. Donald Trump has also helped, as his administration withdraws from the world, except when its interests matter. Intervention isnt its calling card, and unlike the situation during the Kargil conflict or the attack on Parliament, American officials werent burning up the lines trying to get New Delhi to calm down. The calls for restraint have come now, as Pakistan commences its practised blackmail, whether of the nuclear war threat or with regard to Afghanistan. It still required determination to proceed with a mission as risky as that on Tuesday, but the fighter jets were operating in a paradigm where patience with terrorists, anywhere, has worn thin. Anirudh Bhattacharyya is a Toronto-based commentator on American affairs The views expressed are personal Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding a mega cadre meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid the heightened tension with Pakistan. Preparing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP on Thursday had organised a mega meeting Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot in which Modi had a direct dialogue with party workers and volunteers via video conferencing. Speaking on the last day of Delhi assemblys budget session, Kejriwal criticised the PM and the BJP for not postponing the meeting despite the tense situation at Indias international border. The entire country was pained with the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in the Pulwama terror attack. Our air force took revenge and made us proud by dropping bombs inside Pakistan on February 26. But the pain returned when yesterday Pakistan captured one of our pilots. At a time when the entire country is with the government and the armed forces, the prime minister is busy strengthening polling booths for his party, instead of strengthening the country, he said The opposition BJP MLAs objected to Kejriwals and interrupted his speech after which speaker Ram Niwas Goel asked legislators OP Sharma and Manjinder Singh Sirsa to be marshalled out of the House. Later, leader of opposition Vijender Gupta and his party colleague Jagdish Pradhan also walked out of the House. Calling the BJP tukde tukde party, Kejriwal said the country was witnessing two types of politics. One is at the Centre that is dividing the people of India along caste and religion. The other is our (AAP) government that is fulfilling the dreams of our soldiers by focusing on health, education, jobs, power and water. They call others tukde tukde gang. But they themselves are tukde tukde party, he said. Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Partys convener, criticised Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa for his comment that Indias air strike on a terror camp in Pakistan on Tuesday had created a wave in favour of PM Modi and would help the party win more then 22 of 28 seats in the state in the Lok Sabha elections. I want to ask them (BJP) how many soldiers will have to die for them to get 300 seats? Shame on such a party and government, the AAP chief said. Kejriwal hoped a solution to the escalated tension between India and Pakistan is found soon. The Speaker said it would be a welcome step if Pakistan released the IAF pilot. The body of a 24-year-old woman, who had left her house in south Delhis Ambedkar Nagar for a job interview on Monday, was found stuffed in a jute sack 14 kilometres away in Sarita Vihar on Tuesday night. The body was found not more than 300 metres from the Sarita Vihar police station. Police ruled out robbery and said the autopsy would find out if there was sexual assault. The womans resume and her mobile phone were found near her body, police said. Her family members said the police turned them away on Monday night when they went to lodge a missing complaint at the Ambedkar Nagar police station. According to the womans father, Someone was repeatedly calling her from an unknown number regarding a job offer. She left the house around 3.30 pm. Her phone was switched off around 4.30 pm. When she did not return home till 9 pm, we started searching for her. We went to the Ambedkar Nagar police station at midnight but they asked us to come back after 24 hours, said the womans 56-year-old father, who works as a security guard. The father said the next day they lodged a missing complaint around 12.30 pm but did not get any acknowledgment receipt. On Wednesday night, police told me they have found a body, which I later identified as my daughters. It was only after then that they registered an FIR to investigate the matter, he said. The womans autopsy was conducted at AIIMS on Wednesday. Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said: The womans body has injury marks on the neck. The womans father said she left her house after a phone call offering her a job. We are verifying the phone number to identify the caller. CCTV footage was being scanned to identify suspects, he said. Biswal said preliminary probe suggested someone known to the woman was involved. We are questioning her friends and former colleagues to know if she had recently befriended anyone, the DCP said. The DCP said they were looking into if there was any delay in filing a missing report at the police station. The Hoerner College campus in Mahanagar area of Lucknow was a happy place after the History and Civics Board Examination paper (ICSE-10) on Friday. The children came out smiling. Examinees Apoorva Gupta, Dushyant Shukla and Aryan Ratan were gleefully seen telling their teacher that the paper had direct questions with no twists or confusion. We will max the paper they said. Hamza and Mohan Rawat were not as gleeful but were satisfied nonetheless. Their teacher Alina said it was a good paper and the supervising examiner, Seema Gupta from City Montessori School Mahanagar branch said the children seemed happy and were seen writing throughout. Being a PhD in History herself the school principal Mala Mehra remarked that the paper was very good and that the Council has taken a very concise approach to the setting of papers. So far she remarked the papers were easy and class appropriate. The girls at the La Martiniere Girls College, Lucknow were apprehensive before the exam but as soon as they saw the paper, their fear disappeared. Part 1 Civics and History questions were easy and well framed. The students said compulsory section was easy overall. The optional questions of part 2 Section A - Civics and Section B - History were on expected lines. The children were happy with the paper. According to students, Palak Sinha it was one of the easiest papers. Samridhi Seth said that the paper was very nice . According to Nirvani Razdan, it was an easy paper. Aafreen Fatima said the paper was not lengthy and there was time for revision after completing it . LHGC girls Nitya Agarwal and Trisha Agarwal were very happy with the paper and it went well. Their teacher A Sahibi of La Martiniere Girls College, Lucknow too expressed satisfaction after the examination was over. Students of St Teresas College, Aashiana were overjoyed after appearing in history and civics examination. Sunidhi Srivastava and Yashasvini Sharma said, We found ICSE Examination 2019, History paper was not very difficult to attempt, based on taught concept. Being a history teacher, Sunita Mishra at St Teresas College, Aashiana said, Most of the syllabus was covered. I found students were happy with the question paper. Most of the questions were direct. The questions in paper were based on the structure as we did in our pre- boards. Beauty is a debatable term, especially now. How do you understand it, accept it, explain it? Genetics, the traditional societal norms, the advanced air-brushed technology or social media approval? Times are changing. The white skin phenomenon that has been the benchmark of beautiful seems to be challenged by the change in the consumers outlook and how they perceive it. India has witnessed a strong movement in terms of the definition of beauty and how we need to evolve in the same direction. Actor Radhika Apte is one such name who is clearly a disruptor when it comes to acceptance of beauty in all forms. She has not only proven herself to be one of the most talented and versatile actors of our times but she has also challenged the pretentious norms of what beauty must look like and how it goes beyond the physical. The Ghoul actor has become the first-ever brand ambassador for Clinique India and she is looking forward to inspiring women to be real, natural and authentic. Since its inception, Clinique has paved the way for the beauty industry in delivering innovative, high-performance skincare ahead of its time, while uploading its foundation of inspiring confidence and embracing natural beauty at the heart of everything it does, says Rohan Vaziralli, General Manager, Estee Lauder Companies India, on this collaboration. He adds, Similarly, Radhika is a trailblazer in her line of work - through the roles she portrays to empowering women to focus on inner beauty. She is fresh, dynamic, young, strong-minded, natural and genuine, making her the perfect expression of Clinique. Radhika Apte talks to us on becoming the first-ever brand ambassador for Clinique India, the changing standards of beauty, the obsession with fair skin and why beauty lies in simply being happy. Some excerpts from the interview: You have become the first brand ambassador of India for Clinique, one of the prominent international beauty brands in the world. In India, even though the standard of beauty is changing slowly, what does this mean to you? I am proud to be living in an age where beauty is about individuality, where women are encouraged to embrace their features and their flaws. Being Cliniques brand ambassador has encouraged me, even further, to inspire young women to be real, natural and authentic in everything they do, without forgetting that beauty lies in simply being happy! There has been a certain level of obsession associated with fair skin across the world, especially in our country. Do you feel this is the beginning of the changing representation/face of beauty? Beauty, today, is all about liberating and unifying men and women. Its in the many shades of our skin, our features that we can truly celebrate something thats real and lasting. Ive long admired Clinique and stand by its philosophy of empowering, inspiring and delivering happiness by celebrating natural beauty through great skin. You are not someone who obsesses over having an image. What is that you care about the most, as a star, as a woman and as an actress? What was the first thing that came to your mind when this association happened? I am somebody who likes to be real in everything I do. I dont like to hide anything. You need to own your skin including your flaws. And thats what Clinique has always been about. I dont think theres a better way of starting this year! To be a part of the Clinique India family is special because its a brand thats authentic and believes in enhancing your natural beauty. Also, because theyve never had an ambassador before, so this is a massive honour. How do you define beauty? Beauty to me is compassion. 5 must-haves in your beauty kit? 72-Hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator and a face spray, Clinique Moisture Surge, my lip balm, a matte red lipstick, a really good make-up remover. What is your beauty regime like? 72-Hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator twice a day. I cleanse, tone and moisturise. I drink a lot of water , sleep a lot and I remember to stay happy. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Four security personnel, including two from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and one civilian were killed in an encounter in north Kashmirs Kupwara on Friday. A statement from the Jammu and Kashmir Police said that the army, state police and the CRPF launched an operation in Babagund village late on Thursday night following information about the possible presence of militants in the area. There was a lull in firing several times during the day but militants would resume firing as soon as the security forces advanced towards the house where the extremists were hiding, the police said. After one such interval, the militants opened indiscriminate fire on an advancing team of security personnel, it added. The Jammu and Kashmir police statement identified the two dead police personnel as Naseer Ahmad Kholi and Ghulam Mustafa Barah and the two CRPF men as Inspector Pintu and Constable Vinod , using only their first names. In the nearby area one individual identified as Waseem Ahmad Mir also sustained bullet injury and consequently succumbed at the hospital, the statement added. It was not immediately clear how many militants were killed as no bodies were recovered. The operation was in progress as of press time and the number of casualties was expected to rise. State police officials said on condition of anonymity that in the middle of the encounter, one militant who was presumed to be dead rose from the rubble and started firing. That led to an unspecified number of deaths and injuries. Officers said eight security personnel were injured, but that their injuries were not serious. Villagers living close to encounter site were asked to stay in their houses while the firing was going on. The search operation was launched late last night and firing began in the morning. In the afternoon, there was again firing and some officials told us that forces personnel have been injured during the search operation when militant who was believed to be dead opened fire on the forces, said Abdul Gaffar, a local resident who lives close to encounter site. As the encounter was underway, clashes broke out in the village between security forces and villagers who were trying to move close to encounter site. Medical superintendent of the district hospital of Handwara, Rouf Ahmad, said a 17-year-old civilian who had a firearm injury was brought dead to hospital. On Wednesday, a Pakistani was among two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants killed in a firefight with security forces in south Kashmirs Shopian. Meanwhile in Jammu, Pakistan violated a 2003 ceasefire on Friday by shelling four sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri and Poonch districts, leaving a woman injured, said the army. Defence officials said Pakistan troops used heavy guns to target civilian areas in Poonch. At about 1800 hours, Pakistan continued initiating unprovoked ceasefire violation by heavy shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along LoC in Mendhar, Balakote and Krishna Ghati Sectors, the defence public relations officer said. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, he said. On Thursday, a woman was killed and a soldier was injured when the Pakistani Army shelled civilian areas and forward posts in six sectors along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch and Rajouri districts. ( with agency inputs) A 27-year-old woman was killed and an off-duty soldier was wounded in shelling from across the de facto India-Pakistan border the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch and Rajouri districts on Thursday. Poonch deputy commissioner, Rahul Yadav, identified the woman as Amina Akhter, who was herding cattle in Chajala village when a mortar exploded and killed her on the spot. Defence spokesman, Lt Col Devender Anand, said India retaliated strongly and effectively to the Pakistani shelling and small arms firing along the LoC for the seventh day. The fresh exchange of firing and shelling comes amid tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad since Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack that left 40 security personnel dead in Kashmirs Pulwama on February 14. Pakistan on Wednesday responded to an Indian airstrike on a JeM camp a day earlier as the two sides claimed to have downed each others jets and Islamabad captured an India pilot, who is scheduled to be handed back to New Delhi on Friday. Yadav said Zakir Hussain, 35, of the Armys 3rd Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, who is posted in Kupwara and is currently on leave, was injured in the shelling at Balnoi Sagra in Poonch district. He added Hussain was cutting wood near his house when he was wounded. Yadav said Hussain was undergoing treatment at Rajouris district hospital. Lt Col Anand said the Pakistani Army resorted to shelling in Sunderbani, Mankote, Khari Karmara and Degwar sectors in Rajouri and Poonch districts at 6 am and 4 pm. Separately, authorities on Thursday ordered the closure of schools within a range five-km from the International Border with Pakistan and the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along the LoC in 2003. The ceasefire has been repeatedly violated over the last few years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Indias most coveted science and technology award to 33 winners of past three years on the occasion of National Science Day in Delhi on Thursday. Dr Aditi Sen De of Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, is the only woman among the 33 scientists who were awarded for the year 2016, 2017 and 2018. De was given the award in the physical sciences category for her contributions in quantum communication. She is the only woman to receive the award in this category.The last woman scientist to receive the award was Dr Vidita Vaidya, a neuroscientist from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. She received the prize in 2015 in the medical sciences category. So far, the award has gone to 16 women and 519 men. The award was instituted in 1958 in the honour of eminent scientist Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, who was also the founder director and chief architect of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a government-funded research and development organisation, which now runs several laboratories and institutes across the country. The prize comprising a citation and 5 lakh in cash is given each year to outstanding researchers in seven disciplines. I feel that the science can be global but the technology should be local, suited to the needs of the people of the country. Our scientists and science organisations should not work in silos, rather they should work together to build a brighter future, said Modi. If this is done, the farmer and the soldier will benefit from science and research, he added referring to the phrase by Lal Bahadur Shastri Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan to which former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had added Jai Vigyan and in January this year PM Modi added Jai Anusandhan during the Indian Science Congress, an annual event. Addressing the scientists, Modi said, You all live your lives in laboratories and you have a tradition of pilot projects. After the pilot, a project is made scalable. So, recently there was a pilot project, now we need to do the real thing. Earlier, it was a practice. And the real thing is: todays winners need a standing ovation. The PM went on to say that scientists and scientific institutes should come together to work for Indias future. Speaking at the event, Union science minister Dr Harsh Vardhan commended CSIR for improving its global ranking. Over the last few years, under the guidance of our prime minister, our scientists have achieved a lot, especially CSIR that was ranked number nine on a list of 1,207 institutes of the world, he said. Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman: President Ram Nath Kovind President Ram Nath Kovind tweets, Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman! India is proud of your courage and sense of duty, and above all your dignity. Wishing you and our entire Air Force every success in the future. President Ram Nath Kovind tweets, "Welcome home Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman ! India is proud of your courage and sense of duty, and above all your dignity. Wishing you and our entire Air Force every success in the future." pic.twitter.com/RwiL1CHuAp ANI (@ANI) 1 March 2019 Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan: PM Modi Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!, PM Modi tweeted. Pakistans Foreign Office describes Abhinandan Varthaman as POW Pakistans Foreign Office announced the returning of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India but described him as a prisoner of war (POW), according to PTI. In a statement issued minutes after the pilot crossed over to India from the Wagah-Attari border, the FO said, While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. The captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India today, it said. Good to be back: IAF pilot told officials Good to be back, Wing Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman told officials after crossing over at Attari check post. IAF is happy to have him back: Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman has been handed over to us. He will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. IAF is happy to have him back, said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor at Attari-Wagah border. IAF pilot Abhinandan received by senior Border Security Force Officers Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, was received by senior Border Security Force officers at Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. IAF Group Captain Kurien accompanies pilot Abhinandan IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was accompanied by IAF Group Captain Joy Thomas Kurien, Defence Attache to Indian High Commission in Pakistan, according to ANI. As Abhinandan returns home, defence minister says Jai Hindi As IAF pilot returns home, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweets Jai Hind. Jai Hind. Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 1, 2019 More visuals of IAF pilot from Attari-Wagah border: Abhinandan Varthaman crosses border IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was released by Pakistani authorities at 9 pm. Here are the first visuals: IAF Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman at Wagah-Attari border, to cross border soon to enter India. pic.twitter.com/a1hVjwroVw ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 WATCH | IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman back home after 2 days in Pak custody IAF pilot Abhinandan returns home Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman gets heros welcome, patriotic slogans rend the air at Attari-Wagah border. Pak changes time of IAF pilots handover: Report According to ANI, Pakistan has changed the timing of handover of IAFs Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The handover might now take place at 9 pm tonight. Indian defence minister is keeping a close watch on proceedings. Welcome back to the country: Rahul Gandhi Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, welcome back to the country: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi at Mumbai rally, according to PTI. Indias brave soldiers made Pak bow under pressure: Sumitra Hailing Indias efforts in bringing back Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan Friday said the brave soldiers of India made the neighbouring country bow under pressure, according to PTI report. It is for the first time in the history of our country that an Indian soldier is returning from Pakistan in such a way. We can understand that our brave soldiers made Pakistan bow and act under pressure. She also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Varthamans release. Pakistan has not done us a favor: Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh It must be understood that Pakistan has not done us a favor by returning Wing Commander Abhinandan. Under the Geneva Convention, a serving soldier captured during conflict has to be returned. We must not forget that after 1971, we released over 90,000 PoW from Pakistan, tweeted Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh. Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor is expected to make a statement Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor is expected to make a statement before the media shortly. Defence forces to remain on high alert across border despite IAF pilots return: Report According to a report in ANI, the Indian Defence forces will continue to remain on high alert across the border despite IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthamans expected return from Pakistan soon. Arvind Kejriwal welcomes IAF pilot Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan. I salute your bravery and the courage of your family. India is proud of you, Arvind tweeted. Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan. I salute your bravery and the courage of your family. India is proud of you Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 1, 2019 Every Indian is proud of Abhinandan: PM Modi PM Modi hailed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman saying every Indian was proud of him and lashed out at political rivals for suspecting the armed forces which, he said, helped Pakistan, according to a report in PTI. After inaugurating several government projects here, Modi said I am proud that Indias first woman Defence Mininster Nirmala ji is from Tamil Nadu. Every Indian is proud that the brave wing commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu. The events of the past two days, an apparent reference to IAFs air strikes and the IAF shooting down a Pakistan jet, have demonstrated yet again the strengths of the countrys armed forces, Modi said. It has also brought our nation closer, the prime minister said, an obvious pointer to the outpouring of support to Abhinandan and Indias armed forces from the people. Also watch | Opinion I Why IAF pilots release may not immediately de-escalate tensions Headline: Opinion I Why IAF pilots release may not immediately de-escalate tensions IAF to brief media soon As people wait for the pilot to return home, Indian Air Force (IAF) will brief the media soon. IAF pilots parents get standing ovation in flight The parents of Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman were given a standing ovation when they de-boarded an IndiGo Chennai-New Delhi flight here. The family In videos, the parents are seen alighting from the aircraft as co-passengers clapped and cheered them. Team of Indian Air Force to receive IAF pilot AbhinandanVarthaman Visuals from Attari-Wagah border: Wing Commander AbhinandanVarthaman to reach the border shortly, to be received by a team of Indian Air Force. Visuals from Attari-Wagah border; Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman to be received by a team of Indian Air Force. pic.twitter.com/C4wv14AEAd ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 IAF pilot Abhinandan on his way to Attari-Wagah border IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman on his way to Attari-Wagah border. Pakistani officials have brought the Indian pilot to border crossing with India for handover. The officer will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border. People gather around and make human chain to welcome officer People gather around and make a human chain along both sides of road to border to welcome IAF pfficer despite restrictions imposed by police due to security concerns. Pakistan court dismisses plea to stop the release of IAF pilot The Islamabad High Court on Friday dismissed a Pakistani citizens plea to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman, according to a report in PTI. Pakistan detained the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot on Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. Pakistan to reopen 4 airports today Four Pakistani airports will begin partial operations on Friday with a full resumption of commercial flights on Monday, following their suspension after military tensions with India erupted earlier this week, the Civial Aviation Authority said, according to news agency Reuters. A spokeswoman said Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta airports would begin some flights on Friday with the remainder opening next week. These four airports will resume flight operations partially today, she said. The countrys airspace for all commercial flights will be re-opened on March 4 at 1.00 pm (0800 GMT). Every Indian is proud of brave IAF pilot: PM Modi Indias first defence minister is from Tamil Nadu and IAF pilot Abhinandan is also from Tamil Nadu, we are proud of them, said PM Modi in Kanyakumari. Elections to be held on time: Chief election commissioner The general elections in the country will be held on time, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said Friday, amid tensions between India-Pakistan, reported news agency ANI. The CEC is in the Uttar Pradesh capital for the past two days to review poll preparations in the state. The election in the country will be held on time, Arora told reporters here when asked about the poll schedule in the wake of tensions between the two countries. He said as per a new notification of the commission, candidates will have to give details of their properties abroad, besides those in the country. Also watch | Opinion I Return of IAF pilot marks a new phase in Indo-Pak relations Release PoWs from 1971 war too: Punjab CM urges Pak Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who had earlier decided to go and receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman at the Wagah border, later said that he will not do so in order to ensure the defence protocol. He has urged Pakistan to Release PoWs still in captivity from 1971 war. 2,000 travellers still stranded in Bangkok after flights disrupted About 2,000 travellers were still stranded in the Thai capital Bangkok on Friday and it will take a few more days to get them home after flights were disrupted by the latest conflict between Pakistan and India, airline officials said. according news agency Reuters. Thai Airways International canceled more than a dozen flights to European cities -- including London, Paris, Milan, Zurich and Frankfurt -- after Pakistan closed its airspace on Wednesday amid rising tensions with India. There are still about 2,000 passengers, Thai Airways President Sumeth Damrongchaitham told reporters at a briefing to announce the companys financial results. China welcomes release of IAF pilot China on Friday welcomed Pakistans decision to release the Indian Air Force pilot and encouraged the two countries to engage in more counter terrorism cooperation and dialogue for the regional peace and stability, reported news agency PTI. Happy with release of IAF pilot, but Pak needs to do lot more: V K Singh Union minister and former Army chief V K Singh on Friday said he was happy that Pakistan was releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, but the neighbouring country needs to do a lot more, reported news agency PTI. The Centre is taking appropriate measures and such steps are not revealed, the minister of state for External Affairs told reporters on the sidelines of an event in his Lok Sabha constituency. He was asked about the Centres next step amid the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. A lot of things are done in line with the Geneva Convention. We are happy that he is being released. If they call it a gesture of peace, we are happy for that too, but they need to do a lot more, he said. Attari-Wagah border beating retreat ceremony cancelled Ahead of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthamans return to India, the Attari-Wagah border beating retreat ceremony has been cancelled, said Amritsar DC, adding, IAF pilot Abhinandan is more important than the retreat ceremony, reported Hindustan Times Surjit Singh. People dance near Wagah border to celebrate IAF pilots homecoming People were seen dancing to Punjabi beats so as to celebrate the homecoming of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, reported Hindustan Times Surjit Singh. The pilot is expected to cross over at the Wagah border at around 3-4 pm. Petition filed in Pak court to stop the release of Indian pilot A Pakistani citizen on Friday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman, saying he committed crime against the country and should be put on trial in Islamabad, reported news agency PTI. Pak says no to Indias request to sent back IAF pilot by air: Report Hours after Pakistan announced its decision to release Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, India conveyed to Islamabad that it wants him to be sent back via aerial route and not through the Wagah land border, official sources said according to news agency PTI. However, late in the night, Pakistan communicated to India that he will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border. The Indian defence establishment was also mulling over sending a special aircraft to Pakistan to bring back Wing Commander Varthaman who was captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat on Wednesday. Varthaman will now return home through the Wagah border which is around 25 km from Lahore in Pakistan. Students skip school, college to welcome IAF pilot at Wagah I want to join the armed forces, I am very impressed with the way Abhinandan Varthaman handled himself specially in the captivity of Pakistani forces. It was commendable. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that. I told my father that I wanted to be at Wagah when he comes back to India, said Saundarya Puri, a 15-year-old class 10th student who came with her father to welcome the IAF officer, reported Mints Gyan Varma. I should be in college today attending my classes but I decided not to go today and instead come to Wagah to see Abhinandan Varthaman. I have seen his videos on social media and it is difficult to believe what he has done for India. If he can do so much, I can at least greet him when he crosses over to India from Pakistan, said Lucky Singh, an 18-year-old student of diploma in electrical engineering. Will not receive IAF pilot at Wagah to ensure defence protocol: Punjab CM Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will not receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthman at the Waghah border to ensure that the defence protocol that is usually followed in such cases is not violated in any way. I would have loved to go, since both he and his father were from the National Defence Academy, like me, and it would have been an extremely happy and nostalgic moment for me to receive the brave officer, said the Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday in a statement. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will not receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthman at the Waghah border to ensure that the defence protocol. ( AFP File Photo ) IAF pilot may be handed over during beating retreat ceremony: Amritsar DC There is uncertainty yet about timing of arrival of Abhinandan, but it seems sure that he will return after 400 pm. He may be handed over to India during the beating retreat ceremony, said Amritsar DC Shivdular Singh Dhillon, reports Hindustan Times Surjit Singh. Amritsar DC Shivdular Singh Dhillon briefs media ( Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo ) In 1999, Pak had released IAF pilot K Nachiketa through Wagah In 1999, during the Kargil War Indian Air Force pilot K Nachiketa was brought back through Wagah border. He was on a bombing mission on 27 May 1999 during the Kargil War, and had ejected after his engine flamed out. He was released eight days later by Pakistan. In 1972, India had agreed to release 93,000 Pakistani prisoners after the two countries signed the Shimla Agreement, almost a year after the 1971 India-Pakistan war. The war also saw the release of then Squadron Leader K.C. Nanda Cariappa (retired as Air Marshal), who was captured during the 1965 war. IAF team from Delhi to receive pilot at Wagah Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will cross the border today, cant tell you exact time since there are certain formalities. A senior Indian Air force team from Delhi is here, they will be the ones to receive him, said Deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar, reported news agency ANI. What if India attacks us again?: Pak minister opposes IAF pilots release In a speech in Pakistan Parliament, minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed opposed the release of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, expressing apprehension that India could launch an offensive after he is sent back, reported news agency ANI. During (former Prime Minister) Vajpayees time this was not the situation. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi has a different thinking. People say Modi planned this attack keeping in view the Lok Sabha elections. What if India attacks us again after we hand over to them the IAF pilot. I want to tell you, Modi is sitting there. What if he attacks tomorrow. Every Muslim residing in India is looking towards Pakistan, he said. State Home Guards in Chennai organise special thanks giving prayer A special thanks giving prayer was organised on Friday by state Home Guards at Kalikambal Temple in Tamil Nadus Chennai ahead of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthamans release by Pakistan. Pak Foreign Minister to skip OIC meet over Indias attendance Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will skip the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meet over Indias attendance. Abhinandan Varthaman handed over to Indian High Commission IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman has been handed over to Indian High Commission in Pakistan. He is expected to cross between 3-4 pm. China opens up airspace in response to India-Pakistan crisis: Chinese media China has permitted foreign airlines to use its airspace after Pakistan shut down its skies following military tension with India this week, a state media report said on Friday. Civilian flights were severely disrupted before being stopped altogether after fighter jets from India and Pakistan engaged near the India-Pakistan border on Wednesday. About 800 flights use the India-Pakistan air corridor every day, according to Reuters. The Civilian Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) stepped in with a contingency plan for both domestic and foreign airlines on Wednesday to use Chinese air space to reroute flights. The notice came after Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday, including connecting flights, the North China Air Traffic Management Bureau, under the CAAC, was quoted as saying by the state-controlled tabloid Global Times. China cancels all flights to and from Pakistan: Report China has cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan and rerouted its international aircraft flying over the Pakistani airspace due to the regional tensions, official media in Beijing reported on Friday, according to news agency PTI. The closure of Pakistans airspace in response to escalating tensions with India disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia and left thousands of air travellers stranded worldwide. Flights from the Middle East that usually overfly Pakistan and the Pakistan-India border will have to re-route over India, Myanmar or central Asia to enter China, civil aviation experts told Global Times. IAF pilots return is our diplomatic victory: Amit Shah Creating situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory, said Amit Shah at a media conclave, reported news agency PTI. How to trust Pak PM, he didnt once criticise Pulwama attack: Shah Pakistan PM should have criticised Pulwama attacks at least once. How can we trust him, said BJP chief Amit Shah at a media conclave. Opposition resolution post air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan. Track record of our government has been best in dealing with terror since Independence, he further said. Security heightened at Attari- Wagah border Punjab Police personnel has been deployed outside Integrated Check Post (ICP) Attari in a huge number. Crowd gathers at Wagah border to receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman People reached Wagah border in Amritsar with drums, garlands and flags to receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. People started arriving in Attari, around 30 km from Sikh holy city of Amritsar, since 6 am. Their numbers swelled by 9 am, reported news agency IANS. We have come here to welcome our countrys hero back home. We will give him a grand welcome. He showed a lot of bravery in the air combat and even after being captured by the Pakistanis, Jitender, a resident of Amritsar, who arrived in Attari with his friends, said. Crowd gathers at Wagah border to receive IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman ( Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo ) US again asks Pak to deny safe havens to terrorists The US has reaffirmed its demand that Pakistan abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny safe havens to terrorists and block their access to funds as it welcomed Islamabads decision to release the captured Indian Air Force pilot. Over in 90 seconds: Officers detail India, Pak air duel along border The dogfight between Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, flying a Russian made MiG-21 and a Pakistan Air Force US made F-16 over the skies of the Nowshera in Rajouri District of Jammu Province on Wednesday lasted just 90 seconds, a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officer said on condition of anonymity. The 90 seconds will perhaps go down in the history of aircraft encounters. In the 90 seconds, the Pakistani fighter fired two US AMRAAM missiles and an aging MiG-21 shot down a fourth generation F-16 fighter a feat that will go into the history books considering the asymmetry between the two fighters. Soon after, the MiG, piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was shot down. Visuals from the Attari-Wagah border Visuals from the Attari-Wagah border. Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will be released by Pakistan today. pic.twitter.com/6x30IQpqbB ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 US welcomes Paks decision to release captured Indian pilot The US on Thursday welcomed Pakistans decision to release captured Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, from their custody. We welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khans commitment that Pakistan will release on Friday the Indian pilot held in its custody, a State Department spokesperson told PTI responding to a question on the announcement made by Khan in the Pakistani parliament. IAF pilot fought captors, swallowed documents before being captured: Report Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman raised patriotic slogans, fired in the air and stuffed his mouth with documents when he landed on Pakistani soil after ejecting from his fighter jet, says the headman of a village on the other side of the border. The Indian Air Force pilot, who has been the centre of global attention since his capture after a MiG 21 Bison he was flying was shot during an aerial dogfight with Pakistani air force on Wednesday, will be released on Friday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced in Parliament. IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to be released today Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman is likely to be released by Pakistani authorities on Friday and brought back home through the Wagah-Attari joint check-post. Photo: Contributed Canadian country performers Jess Moskaluke and Ben Klick have teamed up against multiple sclerosis. Juno and Canadian Country Music Award winner Moskaluke and BCCMA Award and International Country Music Award winner Klick will perform at Kelowna Community Theatre May 5, for the Music Fest MS concert, with all proceeds being donated to the MS Society of Canada. Klick, of West Kelowna, was inspired to organize the event after his father was recently diagnosed with the autoimmune disease of the central nervous system 77,000 Canadians live with MS, and currently there is no cure. My family has always been super close. Once we got the news, I knew I had to do something to help. So I made a few calls to some friends ... and everyone I asked was ready to help in whatever way they could, Klick said. A number of sponsors have come on board to support Klick's goal of raising $50,000, including presenting sponsor BMO Bank of Montreal. Tickets go on sale Monday, March 4, and can be purchased at KelownaTickets.com. Limited $100 VIP tickets will include an exclusive acoustic performance at BNA Brewing. The response from the community has been incredible. The idea is to continue to help build a strong community around MS and to support those diagnosed with the disease and their caregivers. Fight, Play, Feel, Live is our slogan, and Im looking forward to bringing the country music family together with the Okanagan community, Klick said. A Tuticorin-bound private aircraft carrying Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami returned here Friday following a technical snag, airport officials said. Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami was scheduled to travel to Kanyakumari from Tuticorin to attend a government event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be present. According to airport officials, the pilot of the aircraft detected the technical snag and returned to Chennai. The chief minister later travelled to Madurai by a different aircraft, they said. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who yesterday tweeted a request to the Prime Minister offering to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman when he returns home from captivity in Pakistan, today said he wont be going to Wagah to receive the Indian Air Force pilot citing defence protocol. The chief minister said that he thought it over and came to the conclusion that it might contravene the protocols laid out for such cases. When any PoW from the 1965 or 1971 war came back, he was first sent for medical examination, followed by a debriefing, which was likely to be the case with Wing Commander Abhinandan too, he noted. I would have loved to go, since both he and his father were from the National Defence Academy, like me, and it would have been an extremely happy and nostalgic moment for me to receive the brave officer, said the Chief Minister in a statement issued this morning . Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman may cross Attari-Wagah joint check-post between 3pm and 4pm on Friday, sources have told the Hindustan Times. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the IAF pilot will be released as a gesture of peace, two days after he was captured across the Line of Control after shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet. Also read: IAF pilot captured by Pakistan is the son of a retired air marshal Pakistan communicated late on Thursday night that the IAF pilot will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border, 25km from Lahore. According to news agency PTI, India wanted to send a special flight to bring him back from Pakistan, but Islamabad denied permission. The IAF pilot will now be flown to New Delhi from the Amritsar airport. Also read: In Pakistans custody, IAF pilot is all about dignity, courage Singh has been camping in the border areas of the state for the last three days as part of the confidence-building exercise after the tension at the Line of Control (LoC) following the IAFs air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistans Balakot in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. The chief minister extended a very warm welcome to Wing Commander Abhinandan, saying the whole nation was proud of the way he stood up to questioning by Pakistans armed forces during his captivity. It was top-class and I congratulate him and welcome him back home, he said. Also read: Happy officer will return, Pak gesture in line with Geneva Convention, says IAF Amritsars deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon has said that the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah border, where hundreds of people have gathered to welcome the IAF pilot, will not be held on Friday in view of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthamans return. BJP president Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how India can trust him. Speaking at the India Today conclave here, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create fear among those behind terrorism with its actions against Pakistan-based terrorists, and asserted a message has gone that India is no longer ruled by a dispensation that was at the helm between 2004-14, referring to the Congress-led UPA. Asked about Khans offer for talks with India, the BJP chief said, He does not have two words of condemnation that the incident (Pulwama attack) was wrong. He should condemn it. How can we trust you. What are you talking? You will speak and we will listen without finding out your intentions, he said, referring to Khans comments that he was ready for talks. In his brief reference to the Pulwama incident in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terror attack, Khan had said on Wednesday, We know how the families of those killed in Pulwama incident must have felt. We have been the victims of war for decades. Shah said it may be possible that Khan is not in control, but he should have at least paid a lip service and condemned the attack. Putting the UPA government in the dock for not giving a befitting reply to the enemy after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, he said the Modi government has been the best dispensation since Independence in responding to terrorism. We have a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and the Modi government has the will to implement it on ground. Whenever we are attacked, we will give a befitting reply. Enemies will now think ten times before doing something, the BJP chief said. Hitting out at the Opposition over its accusation that the BJP was politicising the sacrifices of the armed forces, Shah said it has become a reason for happiness for Pakistan. The joint statement of opposition parties brought cheers to Pakistan and its media, he claimed. He also attacked former prime minister Manmohan Singh for his statement on Wednesday in which he had hoped that saner counsels will prevail in India and Pakistan, and had noted that they are grappling with another crisis of the mad rush of mutual self destruction. Pakistan and India cannot be equated as one sponsors terrorism and the other is acting in self-defence, Shah said. How can you put the two countries on the same platform? Can the country (India) be run with such a mindset. I am surprised, he said. To a question about the row over BJP leader B S Yeddyurappas claim that air strikes in Pakistan will help the saffron party win 22 of the 28 seats in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said he was doing an analysis of the current situation but added that he should not have said so. Expressing confidence of the BJPs win in the general election, he said Modi has given hope to over 50 crore people that there is a prime minister who thinks about them. The central government has improved living standards of over 22 crore families, Shah said. . In a first, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday addressed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting at Abu Dhabi as a guest of honour. She cited verses from Quran and Rig Veda to stress that the menace of terrorism is caused by distortion of religion and misguided belief. Holy Quran says, Swaraj quoted, Let there be no compulsion in religion and went to add a verse from Sura Al Hujurat of the holy book that reads, O Mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know one another, not that you may despise one another. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood, the external affairs minister said. Watch: States that back terror must be stopped: Sushma Swaraj at OIC meet Follow latest on IAF pilot Abhinandans homecoming here Swaraj, who attended the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi, as the guest of honour, further read out a couplet of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism. Quoting Guru Nanak Dev, Swaraj said, First, Allah created light; then, by his creative power, he made all mortal beings. From that one light, the entire world came into being. So, who is good, and who is bad? In the same vein, Swaraj referred to the oldest Sanskrit text, the Rig Veda to say, God is One but learned men describe Him in many ways. During her speech, Swaraj emphasised that the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. Also Read | States that back terror must stop: Sushma Swaraj at OIC meet boycotted by Pakistan At the OIC meet, Swaraj called for building pressure on the countries that support terrorist groups to dismantle terror infrastructure on their soil and stop funding such outfits. Her comments have come amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan. The air forces of the two countries were engaged in a dogfight for the first time since 1971 war after Pakistan Air Force intruded into Indian airspace and attempted to target military installations. India-Pakistan ties strained further after a terror attack killing 40 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack on CRPF soldiers in south Kashmirs Pulwama. While Pakistan refused to take cognizance of the claim, Indian Air Force carried out a strike at a Jaish terror camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistan responded the attack on terror camp by intruding Indian airspace on Wednesday. In the backdrop of strain in relation and irked by the invitation extended by the 57-member OIC to India as a guest of honour, Pakistan decided not to send its Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to Abu Dhabi. India used its maiden appearance at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday to launch a thinly-veiled attack on Pakistan-backed terror, calling for concerted efforts to end the funding and backing of terrorists by states. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, speaking as the guest of honour at the inaugural session of the meeting of OICs Council of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi, stressed the fight against terror wasnt a confrontation against any religion. Almost 50 years after Pakistan shut out India from meetings held in Rabat, Morocco, which led to the creation of OIC, by threatening a boycott, Pakistans foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stayed away from the meeting in Abu Dhabi after the grouping didnt act on Islamabads demand to withdraw the invitation to New Delhi. Indian officials described the countrys historic presence at the meeting as a new chapter in the engagement with OIC. In her speech, Swaraj highlighted New Delhis robust economic and security cooperation with numerous members of the 56-member grouping, and the role of the countrys 185 million Muslims, a microcosm of the diversity of India. Swaraj then turned to senseless terrorist violence that has wreaked havoc across the world, including in Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and, without naming Pakistan, said: If we want to save the humanity then we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to the terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to the terror organisations, based in their country. Besides using military, intelligence and diplomatic means to fight terror, countries should also use the strengths of our values and the real message of religions, she said. Terrorism and extremism are driven by distortion of religion and the fight against the menace is not a confrontation against any religion, she said. It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence, she added. Swaraj quoted from the Quran, the teachings of Guru Nanak and the Rig Veda while pointing to Indias embrace of pluralism, and said diversity has ensured very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to the poisonous propaganda of radical and extremist ideologies. A statement from Pakistans foreign office said Qureshi had decided not to join the meeting because India has no legal or moral grounds to be present. The statement also said India has unresolved disputes with Pakistan, a founding member of OIC. Almost as a riposte, Swaraj referred to Indias engagement with the UAE and the entire Gulf and West Asia region, and the efforts of Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and others OIC members for hearing Indias voice in this forum. Besides West Asia, India has close partnerships with Asian states such as Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia that are important pillars of the Act East policy, as well as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives in its neighbourhood, she said. Indias partnership with Iran, she added, is vital for stability and prosperity in our region. Swaraj also noted that the Gulf Region, besides being a supplier of energy and source of remittances, is home to more than 8 million Indians. It is an indispensable strategic and security partnership, and a natural economic partnership, of immense value, to our nations, and for our shared region, she said. Bihar plans to ask the Supreme Court (SC) whether it should to keep the sexually abused inmates of a Muzaffarpur womens shelter at the temporary homes to which they have been shifted or allow them to return to their families, a government official said. Seven inmates fled the Childrens Home for Girls, Nazareth Hospital, located in Patnas Mokama neighbourhood and were found and brought back to the shelter last week. Four of the inmates, all minors, were both victims and key witnesses in the Muzaffarpur sex abuse scandal that surfaced last year. Many of the former inmates have expressed a desire to return home, putting the social welfare department in a fix. The trial of suspects in the sexual abuse case, under the Prevention Of Children From Sexual Offences Act (Pocso Act), is underway at a lower court in Delhi. The case is being monitored by the Supreme Court. From the courts point of view, they are key witnesses who have to be protected. We have to ensure that no one tries to manipulate them in a manner that can affect the trial in court. From the girls perspective, they are victims, who now want to go home. They were highly traumatised initially and required expert counselling, which we are providing them, said Atul Prasad, principal secretary of the social welfare department, Bihar. The girls now feel that holding them back in shelters is an infringement of their freedom and rights. We will place all facts before the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the case, and seek a direction. The body of a 45-year-old Pakistani prisoner killed in Jaipur Central Jail on February 20, allegedly by four other inmates after a brawl over watching television, was sent to the Wagah border post on Friday evening, the police said. Shakir Ullah, alias Mohammed Hanif, hailed from Sialkot in Pakistan. He was arrested by the Rajasthan anti-terror squad from a jail in Ferozpur, Punjab, in 2000 after the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) intercepted phone calls from him to some locals in Jhalawar in south-east Rajasthan to expand Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) terror activities in the region. He was convicted of terror activities on December 6, 2017. We received orders from the ministry of home affairs to send the body to Wagah border. Our team will hand it over to the MHA (ministry of home affairs) or MEA (ministry of external affairs) officials at the border, said additional commissioner of Jaipur police, Laxman Gaur. An escort vehicle with one circle inspector and four members of the police quick response team (QRT) accompanied the body, he added. The body, which left Jaipur around 6pm, is likely to reach the Wagah post in 20 hours. The body had been kept in a deep freezer in Sawai Man Singh Hospitals mortuary after the post mortem on February 21, and was embalmed before the dispatch. Documents of the police and competent authorities are also being sent along. The body will be handed over after getting the NOC (no objection certificate) from the high commission, said Jaipur (East) deputy commissioner of police Rahul Jain. About 10 months after complaints from the Prime Ministers Office, the CBI has registered two cases to probe alleged fraudulent use of the letterhead of a joint secretary in the top office in letters seeking favours, including one addressed to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, officials said. It is alleged that one of the fraudulent letters was addressed to the CM on a purported PMO letterhead signed by Debashree Mukherjee, Joint Secretary in the Prime Ministers Office, on November 27, 2017, the agency has said in the FIR. It is alleged in the above said purported letter (was) to favour Vilayati Ram Mittal, Navi Mumbai in connection with the development of plot in Bandra, the FIR said. The agency alleged that the purported letter said that local authorities are biased and helping some developers. Another fraudulent letter also on a purported PMO letterhead under the signature of Mukherjee was directed to the DRDO, Pune and was sent through fax. The said letter was about testing biofuel developed by a company, A N Biofuel, and provide its report to the company, it alleged. Assistant Director PK Issar in the PMO had approached the CBI in April last year with a complaint alleging that none of the letters has been sent to the persons concerned, calling it a case of forgery, officials said. A civilian was injured and two houses were damaged in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmirs Baramulla district as Pakistan continued to fire at Indian posts along the Line of Control on Friday, officials said. According to officials, Pakistani forces started violating the 2003 ceasefire agreement from 11:30pm on Thursday and the Indian Army retaliated to the firing. The shelling is still going in the area, they said. The civilian, who was identified as Riyaz Ahmad, was injured in Kamalkote village. Indian and Pakistani soldiers had on Wednesday exchanged fire and shelling at Kamalkote and Kalgai villages close to the LoC which forced officials to suspend the weekly cross-LoC trade. The shelling spread panic in the villages close to LoC in Uri sector. A girl was killed and a soldier, who was home on leave, was injured as Pakistan resorted to heavy shelling along the border in Poonch and Rajouri districts throughout the day on Thursday. Defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand said on Thursday the Pakistani army resorted to ceasefire violations four times in Nowshera, Sunderbani, Mankote, Khari Karmara, Krishna Ghati and Degwar sectors in Rajouri and Poonch districts. The firings by Pakistan came after the air forces of both the neighbours claimed to have downed each others fighter jets on Wednesday. Pakistan also captured Indian Air Forces Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and its Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that the officer will be released on Friday. The tension between India and Pakistan has escalated after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed rammed his explosive-laden car and blew up a bus killing 40 CRPF troopers on February 14. News agency PTI has reported that 2018 witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations 2,936 by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the India-Pakistan border. A Delhi court on Thursday lashed out at Tihar Jail authorities for failing to justify shifting of Christian Michel, arrested in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, to a high security cell in isolation, saying it will start an inquiry if it does not get a proper response. Special Judge Arvind Kumar said Michel has been lodged in jail for the last 70 days, and asked what happened so suddenly due to which he has now been shifted to the high security ward. Deputy Superintendent of Tihar Jail told the court that Michel was shifted to cell number 2 (high security ward) keeping in mind his safety as it was a high profile case. However, he failed to justify the sudden shifting before the court. Why was there no threat to his security till now? He was kept with other prisoners for 70 days. This was always a high profile case. If that was the case, he should have been kept in a high security ward since the beginning. Tell me why all of a sudden he was shifted to a ward where hardened criminals were kept? the judge asked. The court directed the Director General (DG) of Tihar to file a comprehensive reply on the reasons of Michels sudden shifting to the high security cell and why he was kept with hard-core criminals. The Deputy Superintendent also told the court that hard-core criminals like Chhota Rajan and Shahbuddin have been kept in the same ward. Please convey the message to the DG (Prison) to direct the authorities concerned who is well conversant with the facts to appear before court on March 5 and apprise the court about the specific reasons. Else, I will start an inquiry on it, the judge said. The jail authority denied Michels allegations that he was denied common facilities in the new cell like permission to meet visitors, make phone calls, newspapers and said that though he has been kept in isolation, all facilities were provided to him. Advocate Aljo K Joseph, appearing for Michel, said no security threat was put forward for 70 days since he was in custody. He claimed Michel was permitted to make phone calls only after his counsel met him, nine days since he was shifted to the new cell. The court sought the response of Tihar authorities on this and asked it to submit phone call records if they were contesting the allegations. The court had on Wednesday sought a detailed report from jail authorities on Michels plea claiming that he has been kept in solitary confinement in prison and had asked the superintendent or a competent authority to appear before it to respond to the allegation that he was not allowed to interact with co-prisoners. The plea sought direction to authorities to treat Michel at par with other inmates and provide basic facilities during his judicial custody. It claimed that on February 18, jail authorities conducted a search of Michels cell to look for a laptop computer allegedly being used by him. It said no computer was found in the cell. However, the authorities shifted him to a high-security cell immediately after, it said. It said when Michel asked for reasons for his solitary confinement, the jail authorities told him it was the decision from the top and there was serious threat to his life. The plea sought direction to the authorities to return his personal belongings, including a diary containing contact details of officers of the British High Commission and documents of the case, which were taken away after the search. Michel was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on December 22 after his extradition from Dubai. On January 5, he was sent to judicial custody in connection with a money-laundering case being probed by ED. Later, he was arrested by CBI and is lodged in judicial custody in a CBI case related to the chopper deal scam. Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the scam by ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation. The others are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill on Wednesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to shuffle the federal cabinet on Friday as he looks to fill the void left by the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould, a senior government source confirmed Thursday evening. The source, speaking to The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made, said the shuffle will be "internal to the existing cabinet," meaning no new ministers will be brought in. A small number of ministers will change roles, the source said, primarily so that the Department of Veterans Affairs will have a dedicated minister again. Wilson-Raybould, who was moved from the justice portfolio to veterans affairs in the last federal cabinet shuffle in mid-January, resigned her post Feb. 12. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has been acting as the minister of veterans affairs since then. On Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould testified to the House of Commons justice committee that she was pressured by Trudeau, his senior staff and others to halt a criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. She also testified that she held firm in her conviction not to intervene in the case, telling Trudeau at one point that she would strongly advise him against interfering with her functions as attorney general. When asked by Conservative MP Lisa Raitt whether she thought she was removed as attorney general because she "spoke truth to power," Wilson-Raybould said she was "concerned" that was the case. Trudeau has denied that the SNC-Lavalin affair had anything to do with Wilson-Raybould's being moved out of the justice portfolio in January. That shuffle was precipitated by former Treasury Board president Scott Brison's decision to leave politics. "If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general," Trudeau said Feb. 15. The January shuffle also saw Montreal MP David Lametti take over as justice minister and Nova Scotia's Bernadette Jordan become minister of rural economic development. Ontario's Jane Philpott moved from Indigenous services to the Treasury Board, while Newfoundland and Labrador MP Seamus O'Regan moved from veterans affairs to Indigenous services. Now, for the second time in six weeks, Trudeau's ministers will be on the move again. A gun battle is underway between militants and security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Friday. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in north Kashmirs Kralgund village in Handwara following information about the presence of militants there, the officials said. Two to three militants believed to be trapped in the village. They said the search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened fire at the security forces, who retaliated. According to officials, there were no reports of any casualties so far in the operation. Authorities have suspended mobile internet services in Handwara and Sopore. On Wednesday, a Pakistani was among two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists killed in a firefight with security forces in south Kashmirs Shopian. As many as 11 JeM terrorists have been killed in Kashmir since the Pakistan-based group claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide bomb attack that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Pulwama, around 25km from Shopian. The attack escalated tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad. India launched an air strike on a JeM camp in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Following brief closure of Srinagar International Airport for civilian flights on Wednesday amid heightened cross-border tension, hotels in the Valley opened their doors to the stranded tourists and visitors, offering them free accommodation and food. A number of hotels in Srinagar provided their contact numbers on social media informing tourists to check-in in case they are stranded. Playing a good Samaritan, prominent hotelier and chairman of J&K Hoteliers Club, Mushtaq Chaya welcomed everyone at his Srinagar property. It is a gesture towards our beloved tourists stranded due to the prevailing situation in Srinagar. There are reports that many of them are running short of money as a result of which we have opened our doors for them, he said. Other tourism stakeholders too announced free accommodation to the stranded tourists at a time when the arrivals have remained on the lower side. We managed to accommodate some families after they approached us following our announcement and post on social media. We accommodated them in three rooms. No charges were collected for food or accommodation, said the manager (catering), Nishat on the Dal Lake. As many as 25 flights were cancelled on Wednesday after India closed multiple airports in the wake of heightened tension between India and Pakistan. The highway was also closed due to bad road conditions. They were frightened when the situation turned bad on Wednesday, besides the shutdown. We reassured them and provided them with basic accommodation and food, said Sheikh Kaisar, a hotel owner in the Valley. The gesture was hailed by Kashmiris on social media who appreciated the generosity of their fellow residents. A hotel from Agra wrote dogs are allowed but not Kashmiris. Now, at the time of difficulty, a hotel from Kashmir declares everyone is welcome, free boarding and lodging until flights resume. Salute #Kashmiri hospitality and humanity. Spread love not hate, tweeted Ashok Kumar Pandey, a writer. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned to India on Friday night, two days after he was captured in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, potentially capping for now a week of heightened tension that threatened to snowball into a wider military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Varthaman, dressed in civilian attire, crossed the border at Wagah a little before 9pm and walked across to the Indian side where hundreds of people had gathered since the afternoon to greet him on his return. He was captured on Wednesday after his MiG-21 aircraft was downed in a dogfight over the Line of Control in Kashmir. Wing Commander Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. He will be taken now for a detailed medical checkup. This checkup is mandatory as he had to eject from an airplane which would have put his entire body under stress, said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor in a brief statement to reporters before a fleet of vehicles left the border crossing for Amritsar, from where Varthaman was set to be flown to New Delhi. Also read: PM Modis parakram behind IAF pilots return, says Smriti Irani The release of the 38-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot was announced by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday in a gesture of peace. This was seen as the first sign of a de-escalation after Islamabad retaliated on Wednesday to an Indian non-military preemptive action against a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp deep inside Pakistan. Varthaman had been expected to be repatriated by evening, but his release was delayed by the Pakistani side, which did not offer an explanation, according to Indian officials. Also read: Happy to be back to my country, says IAF pilot after homecoming We had hoped he would have been handed over sooner but it was delayed for some reason by the Pakistanis. At this point, we are happy to have him back, Amritsar district collector Shivdular Singh Dhillon said.He added that Varthaman said it is good to be back in my country when he stepped onto Indian soil. His release coincided with a heavily edited propaganda video that was released to Pakistani TV channels. The video showed the Wing Commander making certain comments, the circumstances of which were not immediately clear. Social media users criticised Pakistan for the video, with some saying it cast doubt over Pakistans claims of the release being a peace gesture. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the IAF pilots return. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! he wrote in a tweet. Opposition leader and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, too, welcomed Varthaman. Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love, he said in a tweet, his first since Wednesday when he had last tweeted about the IAF pilots capture. According to defence officials who asked not to be named, the Wing Commander was set to be flown to the Palam airbase near New Delhi in a special flight and then likely to be taken to the Armys Research and Referral Hospital for a thorough medical examination. If his condition permits, he will then proceed to a debriefing session with senior air force officials. In between, he will get a chance to meet his family, who had earlier on Friday flown from their hometown, Chennai, to the national capital. IAF jets on Tuesday bombed a training camp run by JeM, 12 days after the outfit claimed responsibility for a car bombing that killed 40 troopers in Kashmirs Pulwama. On Wednesday, a fleet of Pakistani combat aircraft entered Indian territory and dropped explosives before being engaged by Indian fighter jets, including the MiG-21 flown by Wing Commander Varthaman. According to officials who asked not to be named, the Wing Commander engaged an F-16 of the Pakistani Air Force (a jet far superior to his) and shot it down before being downed by Pakistani firing. He was captured in PoK after ejecting from his aircraft. Shortly after Khans announcement of the pilots release on Thursday, top generals of the Indian military issued new details of the Pakistani operation on Wednesday, saying they had evidence that the targets were military installations in Kashmir. Indian and Pakistani forces are in a state of alert and both have warned of a strong retaliation if the other launches any operation. World powers have urged both to exercise restraint After a suspenseful wait lasting hours, Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman finally returned home Friday night from his nearly three-day captivity in Pakistan, a major step towards defusing a near-war situation triggered by Indias retaliation over Pakistans continued support for terrorism. Hoping to give a heros welcome to Wing Commander Varthaman, thousands of Indians gathered on the border carrying the tricolour and garlands since morning. But as the day wore on and night fell there was no sign of the pilot, who was captured on February 27 by Pakistan following a dogfight between the two air forces in which his MIG-21 was shot down. He finally emerged at 9.10 p.m(IST) at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. He was wearing a civilian clothes -- a dark jacket and khakhi trousers, walking proudly toward the gates that separated his captors country from his homeland. Amritsars Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon told reporters that the fighter pilot was happy to be back in his country. Asked what Abhinandan told officials upon his return, the DC said he first smiled and remarked, I am happy to be back to my country. Giving further details, the DC said, The Pakistan authorities brought Wing Commander Abhinandan to the Joint Check Post at Attari and he crossed over the Zero Line at around 9:21 p.m(IST). After going through some formalities at the Wagah-Attari border, he was handed over to the BSF authorities. Later, the IAF authorities took him with them. An official was seen putting his arms around the pilot while receiving him. The Wing Commander was then driven away from the Attari border towards Amritsar in an Air Force vehicle which was escorted by Punjab police. The Deputy Commissioner said the officers parents were not present at the checkpost. Varthaman is being flown to Delhi and will undergo debriefing Saturday which will include his physiological as well as a physical check-up in the presence of officials from the military and Intelligence agencies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the return of Varthaman, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians, tweeted Modi. Earlier, addressing a public rally in Tamil Nadu, Modi said, every Indian is proud of brave pilot Abhinandan. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also came out with a Jai Hind tweet. Several political leaders, including Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also welcomed the IAF hero back home. Vice Chief Marshal R G K Kapoor read out a brief statement before a large posse of reporters in Attari, near Amritstar, on the other side of Wagah. Wing Commander Abhinandan has just been handed over to us. He will be taken now for a detailed medical checkup. This check up is mandatory as he had to eject from an airplane which would have put his entire body under stress, said Kapoor, who did not take any questions. The handing over of Varthaman to India at Wagah was delayed as he was asked to record a statement on camera by Pakistani authorities before he was allowed to cross the border, according to sources in Pakistan. It was not clear whether he was made to record the video under duress. The video also had several jump cuts indicating that it had been edited heavily, apparently to fit Pakistani propaganda. At 8.30 pm (9 pm IST), the Pakistan government released the pilots video message to the local media in which he said as to how he was captured. Recording of his video message caused delay in his handing over, a source said. In the video message, Varthaman said he entered Pakistans space to find a target but his aircraft was shot down. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir on February 14 by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM). Amid mounting outrage, Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan retaliated with a large air formation, comprising 24 fighter jets, including F-16s. Varthaman was in one of the eight MIG-21s that took on the invader and shot down an F-16, according to officials. During the dogfight, his plane was hit and he bailed out, landing in PoK, where he was taken into custody by the Pakistani army. On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told a special joint sitting of Parliament that his government was releasing the pilot as a peace gesture. However, India has been maintaining that the Pakistani decision is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions. After the pilots release, the Pakistan Foreign Office described him as a Prisoner of War. The Pakistan government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. As analysts painstakingly debated each nuance of India-Pakistan relations in TV studios, anchors went hoarse keeping up the constant commentary, and journalists looked for information on when and how he would be handed over to India. The government decided to keep it all under wraps. Patriotism was the mood of the day. There was garba in Ahmedabad, dancing in Bangalore, a sand sculpture of the officer in Puri and yagnas in several places. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the Wagah-Attari border post into India from Pakistan on Friday evening, returning home after his capture by Pakistani authorities on Wednesday. Before the IAF pilot ejected from his aging MiG-21 hit in the aerial dogfight over the skies of Jammu, he had shot down a fourth generation F-16 fighter. He was handed over to Pakistan military officials by villagers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where he landed. A little over 58 hours later, the 38-year-old IAF pilot walked to his freedom at the heavily-guarded Attari border post manned by the Border Security Force. BSF officials, prepping for the return of the IAF pilot, had canceled the retreat ceremony at the border post. Abhinandan is more important than the ceremony, a local official said about the IAF officer who Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, had made every Indian proud. It is good to be back, the pilot who was dressed in civilian clothes, wearing a blue blazer and gray dress pants, said, according to Amritsar deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon. Watch: IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman back home after 2 days in Pak custody Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, who had come to receive the pilot, said the IAF was happy to have him back. The officer would be taken for a detailed medical check-up because he had ejected out of the jet, he said. Wing Commander Abhinandan is being flown out of Amritsar to Delhi. Scores of people, many waving flags and singing, had gathered near the Wagah border crossing to give a heros welcome to the son of a decorated air force officer. Also read: Pakistan ignores Indias request to send back IAF pilot by air: Sources Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the country to welcome the return of Varthaman, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians, tweeted PM Modi. The IAF officer has became the human face of the conflict between the two countries when Pakistan Army put out a series of videos that showed him in its custody. In one, he was blindfolded and blood covered and yet, responded to questions from a Pakistan Army with remarkable composure, calm and dignity. Also read: Events over last 2 days demonstrate power of our armed forces, says PM The decision to release the IAF pilot had been announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the national assembly, who described it as a peace gesture to India. The announcement was seen as a diplomatic victory in India that had, minutes earlier, rejected an effort by Islamabad to use him as a bargaining tool. There had been mounting pressure on Pakistan to release the IAF pilot after the Pakistan Air Force tried to bomb a couple of military installations in Jammu and Kashmir to retaliate Indias air strike at terror group Jaish-e-Mohammeds biggest training camp in Pakistan. It was the first time in 50 years that India had ordered Indian Air Force jets to carry out an aerial strike across the Line of Control. Since the escalation, world leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out conflict in the subcontinent. President Donald trump in Hanoi on Thursday said he had been involved in seeking to de-escalate the conflict. Also read: Varthamans a MiG-21 family: Son flies it, dad flew it Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is expected cross Attari-Wagah joint check-post at around 3-4 pm today, sources have told HT. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the IAF pilot will be released as a gesture of peace, two days after he was captured across the Line of Control after shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet. India wanted to send a special flight to bring back captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan, but the Islamabad denied permission, PTI quotes sources as saying. Late on Thursday night Pakistan communicated that the IAF pilot will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border, 25 km from Lahore. Also read | Varthamans a MiG-21 family: Son flies it, dad flew it The IAF pilot will now be flown to New Delhi from the Amritsar airport. The retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border checkpost between India and Pakistan has been cancelled ahead of the return of the IAF pilot. Amritsar deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon pilot Abhinandan is more important than the retreat ceremony. Hundreds of people are camping at the Attari border in Amritsar since 6 am today with drums, garlands and flags to receive Wing Commander Varthaman. The numbers swelled as the news of his release at Wagah spread. Also read | Pakistan ignores Indias request to sent back IAF pilot by air: Sources We have come here to welcome our countrys hero back home. We will give him a grand welcome. He showed a lot of bravery in the air combat and even after being captured by the Pakistanis, Jitender, a resident of Amritsar who arrived here with his friends at Wagah told IANS. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Thursday that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be freed on Friday after New Delhi sought his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release signalling a de-escalation in the spiralling tension with New Delhi. Watch: Parents of IAF pilot Abhinandan get standing ovation in flight < Khans announcement also came amid pressure from New Delhi and other countries to act against terror emanating from his country. The 35-year-old Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was flying the MiG-21 Bison that shot down the PAF F-16 in the aerial engagement with Pakistan on Wednesday morning. Wing Commander Abhinandan will be brought by Pakistani authorities from Rawalpindi to Lahore and handed over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention before being brought to the check post to return home. Also read: Happy officer will return, Pak gesture in line with Geneva Convention, says IAF Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor had said at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday that in the aerial combat that ensued on Wednesday morning one F-16 of the Pakistan Air Force was shot down by IAFs MiG 21 Bison aircraft flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan. The F-16 crashed and fell across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Air Force lost one MiG 21 aircraft. Though the pilot ejected safely, his parachute drifted into PoJ&K (Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir), where he was taken into custody by Pakistan army, Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor said. The aerial dogfight referred to by the air vice-marshal took place after PAF violated Indian airspace and attempted to target military installations following strike by IAF at a terror camp at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The terror camp was said to be the biggest run by Jaish-e-Mohammed. Pakistan has not admitted to either having crossed the LoC on Wednesday or using F-16 jets in the aerial dogfight. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his statements, has maintained that PAF jets remained on the Pakistani side of the LoC. He did not refer to the use of F-16 jets. However, Air Vice-Marshal Kapoor said there was enough evidence to show that F-16s were used in this mission through their electronic signatures. Parts of AMRAAM, air to air missile which is carried only on the Pakistani F-16s was recovered east of Rajouri within the Indian territory, he said. Also read: Parts of Paks AMRAAM missile found in J&K: Proof shown at defence briefing The IAF targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in a pre-dawn operation on Tuesday. India said the operation was carried out on the basis of credible intelligence inputs that Jaish-e-Mohammed was planning to carry out more terror attacks in India. Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack, in which a CRPf convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber on February 14 killing 40 soldiers. Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the Wagah-Attari border post into India from Pakistan on Friday evening, two days after his capture by Pakistani forces. According to officials, the MiG21 fighter pilot told them: Good to be back. President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed him, saying the nation was proud of him. President Kovind said: India is proud of your courage and sense of duty, and above all your dignity. Wishing you and our entire Air Force every success in the future. Prime Minister Modi welcomed him, saying the nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2019 Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hailed his return, saying Jai Hind on microblogging site Twitter. Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said the IAF was happy to have him back. He will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft, he said. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley welcomed him saying, Indias happiness on return of Wing Commander Abhinandan is unprecedented. I salute the courage and resilience of Wg Commander Abhinandan. Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Abhinandans dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love. Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 1, 2019 BJP president Amit Shah said the nation was glad to have him back. Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future. Union home minister Rajnath Singh welcomed Abhinandan saying, The entire Nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan. Varthaman was captured by Pakistani authorities on February 27 after an air combat between the air forces of the two countries, a day after New Delhi had conducted counter-terror operations in Pakistans Balakot. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his release as a peace gesture on Thursday. However, India has been maintaining that Pakistani decision is in consonance with the Geneva Convention. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said: The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us. Congress leader and Sonia Gandhis political secretary Ahmed Patel said: Great to have you back Abhinandan. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said: Abhinandan Bharat! Our Abhinandan is back with us! #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan. Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav saluted him and said the entire nation was proud of him. Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik paid tribute to Abhinandan with a beautiful installation at the Puri beach in Odisha. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it was heartening to know about the release of Abhinandan. He has inspired the entire country with his bravery and conduct. On behalf of the people of Kerala, I welcome him. Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone said it is great see the IAF pilot back. Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said the entire nation was proud of him and welcomed him back. UP Congress president Raj Babbar welcomed him saying, Your story of courage & bravery shall ever make us proud ! The nation stands united in gratitude for our defence forces. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader said: Welcome home Wing Commander. Its great to have you back. Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik welcomed him saying you have made a nation proud with your valour. His Tripura counterpart called him brave son of our motherland. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh said, Your resoluteness and poise in the face of adversity makes me proud as an Indian and former soldier. Welcome back son! Standing ovation, claps and cheers are not seen every day in a flight. But this was how parents of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman were greeted on Thursday night when they took a flight from Chennai to Delhi on their way to receive their son. A video shot inside the Chennai-Delhi flight is being widely circulated on social media. Wing Commander Abhinandan is likely to be released by Pakistan at Attari-Wagah border in Punjab, two days after he was captured by the Pakistan Army. He had landed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after his aircraft fell down following an aerial dogfight with the Pakistan Air Force on Wednesday morning. Watch: Parents of IAF pilot Abhinandan get standing ovation in flight IAF pilot Abhinandans father Retired Air Marshal S Varthaman is a highly-decorated officer while his Shobha Varthaman is a doctor. Wing Commander Abhinandan comes from a family which has served Indian Air Force since the World War II days, when his grandfather Simhakutty was a member of the force. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced in a joint session of the National Assembly of Pakistan that Wing Commander Abhinandan would be released as peace gesture. This comes amid reports of mounting pressure on Pakistan to release the IAF pilot under Geneva Convention. Follow live updates on India-Pakistan developments Wing Commander Abhinandan is likely to be freed at joint check post at the Attari-Wagah border. Responding to a question about the peace gesture claimed by Pakistan, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor on Friday evening said, We see it as a gesture in consonance with the Geneva Conventions. The assistant chief of air staff also said that Wing Commander Abhinandan was flying the MiG 21 Bison which shot down an F 16 Pakistan Air Force jet on Wednesday morning in the aerial combat that ensued after Pakistan violated Indian airspace and attempted to target military installations. Also Read | Airman coming home: IAF pilot being released as a goodwill gesture, says Imran Khan Pakistan has not admitted to having breached the Indian airspace and also kept mum on the use of F 16 jets in the PAF operation, which Imran Khan justified as a retaliation by a sovereign nation after strike by the IAF. The IAF had targeted a terror camp at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The terror camp was said to be the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for February 14 attack on CRPF killing 40 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi hours before the latter was to hold an election rally in Visakhapatnam on Friday, accusing him of betraying and cheating the people of the southern state. You completed 57 months in the office of Prime Minister. But you failed to soothe the wounds inflicted on the state by the bifurcation. Instead of honouring the sentiments and self-pride of Andhra people, Modi, your deeds and words in the last 57 months added salt to our wounds, Naidu said in an open letter to the PM. Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 through the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. For almost a year, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has been accusing Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of reneging on a promise to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh that would have entitled the state to extra central funds. In March 2018, TDP parted ways with the NDA over the issue. Naidu on Friday morning attended official programmes dressed in black, registering his protest over the PMs visit to Visakhapatnam. TDP workers staged black-flag demonstrations in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and the other parts of the state. The Congress and the Left parties also led parallel protests demanding special status to Andhra Pradesh. BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana dismissed Naidus open letter, saying the CM was engaging in a blame game to cover up his own failures in the last four years and nine months. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched the partys Lok Sabha poll campaign in Maharashtra with a big promise 500sqft houses for those living on rent in slums and chawls in Mumbai within 10 days of forming the government. The Congress works in the interest of the poor, unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which acts in the interest of a handful of industrialists, said Gandhi, at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai. We are known to take revolutionary steps taken for common man. During the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in December, we announced a complete loan waiver if elected to power. Forget 10 days, the decisions were taken within two days. I never lie and am not even known to be a habitual liar like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Remember my words, the decision on 500-sqft houses, from the current size of 300sqft, will be taken within 10 days. During his rally at Dhule earlier in the day, Gandhi took a dig at PM Modi for what he said politicising the sacrifices of the armed forces. Within minutes of the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans, Modi got busy in political meetings and later used the developments for political gain. This is the difference between them and us. We restrained ourselves from giving any reaction or making any allegations against the government, he said. Photo: CTV News Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, mixing calls for combating climate change and highlights of his liberal record with an aggressive critique of President Donald Trump. The 68-year-old governor is launching his bid Friday in Seattle, following recent visits to the first primary state of New Hampshire and the early caucus state of Nevada. "We went to the moon and created technologies that have changed the world our country's next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change," Inslee says in a video announcement ahead of a public announcement later Friday in Seattle. Inslee is the first governor to join a Democratic primary that has been dominated by senators. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper also are eyeing presidential campaigns. It will not be easy for Inslee to garner attention with six prominent senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts already running. Former Vice-President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke also are expected to make highly anticipated 2020 announcements in the coming weeks. Inslee acknowledges his underdog status but says his emphasis on combating climate change will set him apart. "Climate change is a unifying issue," Inslee told The Associated Press in a recent interview, calling it a moral necessity and an economic opportunity. He promises substantial investment in clean energy sources that reduce American dependence on fossil fuels. "This issue is connected to virtually every other value system and thing we want to do in our communities," he said, mentioning environmental justice, infrastructure, clean energy, health care and national security. Inslee argues that no presidential candidate has hinged a campaign as heavily on climate and environmental policy as he will. He may have a larger opening since billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer has passed on a national campaign, opting instead to continue his advocacy for impeaching and removing Trump from office. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who has spent millions of dollars on climate issues, may run. Inslee has not specifically endorsed the Green New Deal introduced by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey. Inslee instead advocates for a more piecemeal approach he describes as ambitious but attainable, and he avoids promising specific reductions of carbon emissions under an absolute timeframe. The Green New Deal targets 2030 for the U.S. to become net carbon neutral. Despite his emphasis on climate policy, Inslee says he's not a one-issue candidate. A former congressman, he pitches his breadth of personal and political experiences as ideal to bridge political and cultural divides among the Democratic base and the broader electorate. Inslee is a white male baby boomer who was a clean-cut star athlete and honours student in the turbulent 1960s, when he met his high school sweetheart, Trudi. She is now his wife of 46 years. That puts Inslee closer to the septuagenarian Biden than to the young rock-star-style candidates like O'Rourke or Booker, both still in their 40s. Inslee has nonetheless governed Washington as an unabashed liberal, promoting clean energy, gay rights, abortion rights, environmental preservation, tighter gun restrictions and more spending for education and job training. Most recently, he's called for a state-based public option health insurance plan in Washington that he calls a "step toward universal health care." Republicans have not embraced him, with the state GOP recently deriding his "extreme environmental agenda" and pointing to its price tag. Senate Republican leader Mark Schoesler has quipped that Inslee's policies "may be geared toward Iowa more than Washington." The Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), banned by the government for five years, was responsible for the creation of the states biggest terror group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and is the brain behind the formation of the separatist group Hurriyat Conference, a senior government official who did not want to be named said on Friday. The government is now considering a crackdown on the Hurriyat as well, a second senior official added, asking not to be named. New Delhi banned JeI (J&K) on Thursday for being in close touch with militant outfits and attempting to escalate a secessionist movement in Jammu and Kashmir. The outfit is also accused of providing ideological and logistical support to separatists and terrorists in the state for anti-national activities, the first official said. JeI (J&K) has been banned twice earlier, 1975 (for two years) and 1990 (for three). By banning the organization now, the central government wants to send an unambiguous message at multiple levels. For one, it wants to convey that the practice of non-mainstream, undemocratic ideologies have no place in the Indian political system, the first official said. In addition, security agencies believe that banning of the organisations will also help counter radicalisation of youth in the valley. Radicalisation of youth is growing and needs to be countered, the second official said. The fact that JeI (J&K) was also actively supporting a regional political party has contributed to the governments decision to crack down on the group. JeI (J&K) has a large following in the state, especially in the restive south Kashmir region, the second official said. Its leaders have all along been challenging the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India, which makes its secessionist objective amply evident, the first official said. JeI (J&K) was formed in 1945 as a chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and separated in 1953 due to differences over political ideology with the parent body. It is opposed to participating in the electoral process and has been pursuing the agenda of setting up an independent theocratic Islamic State by destabilizing the government established by law. A third government official said a sizeable section of Jel (J&K) cadres worked for militant organizations, especially the HM, as overground workers. Its cadre are actively involved in subversive activities of the HM, the official added. The presence of the Hizbul Mujahideen in the area of influence of the Jel (J&K) is a clear reflection of the separatist and radical ideology of the latter, the second official said. A day after the Jammu and Kashmir chapter of the Jamaat- e- Islami was banned, restrictions were imposed in several parts of the old city of Srinagar and south Kashmirs Anantnag town over an apprehension of protests. The Joint Resistance Leadership, comprising separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik and Syed Ali Geelani, had called for protests against the five-year ban. I have not been allowed to offer Friday prayers. Jama Masjid locked down and restrictions in most city, while arrests continue and Jamaat-e-Islami declared unlawful. Dictatorship at its best, tweeted Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. The Peoples Democratic Party and the Peoples Conference, both the former allies of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), criticised the government for the ban. Democracy is a battle of ideas, crackdown followed by banning of Jammat Islami (jk) is condemnable , another example of high handedness and muscular approach of GOI to deal with political issue of J&k, tweeted former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. The Union home ministry on Thursday banned the outfit for five years for allegedly indulging in activities prejudicial to internal security and public order and said the group has the potential of disrupting the unity and integrity of the country. Since Saturday, the Jammu and Kashmir police had detained at least 400 to 500 top Jamaat leaders, including its Kashmir chief Abdul Hamid Fayaz, spokesperson Zahid Ali and former secretary Ghulam Qadir Lone. In a statement, the Jamaat-e-Islami termed the arrests a well-designed conspiracy to pave way for further uncertainty in the region. A popular restaurant in north Keralas Kozhikkode district, Calicut-Karachi Durbar has been forced to cover its board on Friday following a threat from some right-wing groups, the owner of the joint said. A couple of days back a similar incident had unfolded in Bengaluru when Karachi Bakery in Indira Nagar was forced to hide its name board after threat from some groups. According to the owner of Calicut Karachi Durbar, M Jamshi, two days after the Pulwama terror attack on CRPF convoy, a group of people, including BJP workers, came to his hotel and demanded that he change the name of the eatery. He said he initially ignored them but after Wing Commander Abinandan Vardhamans capture two days ago, he was threatened again. I cant take any chance now. So I covered KA from the board. Now it is showing Calicut-Rachi Durbar. If they are not happy with it, I am ready to remove the whole board, he said. Jamshi, a photographer by profession, said he started the hotel two years back as hes an ardent fan of Pakistani food. Four years ago, I had visited the famous Karachi Restaurant in Dubai to relish its food. Its tandoor and barbeque cuisines really tickled my palette. Later I thought of starting a hotel on similar lines and we have now three outlets, including one in Bengaluru, he said. Jamshi runs a total of three restaurants, two of them in Kozhikode at Pottammal and on the citys beach and another one in Koramangala in Bengaluru. Only the Kozhikode branches carry the Calicut Karachi Durbar name while the Bengaluru restaurant is just called Calicut Durbar. The nameplates stating Karachi in both Kerala restaurants have been covered. He said after tension between two neighbours subsides, he may think of restoring the Karachi name which he says has brought him luck. However, BJP district leaders termed it a mere publicity stunt. We have no idea who threatened him. The party has no role in it. It seems the whole drama is being enacted to gain cheap publicity. If he was threatened, he could have filed a police complaint, said a district leader of the BJP who did not want to be identified. Police also said no complaint has been filed in this regard till now. Rescuers on Thursday sped up efforts to search five army soldiers who went missing after an avalanche hit their patrolling party near Namgia Dogri outpost along the Sino-India border on February 20. Inclement weather in the region has been the biggest hindrance in operations being carried by the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police to trace the missing soldiers. Today, the operations were scaled up as clear weather gave more window to the search party, said state chief minister Jai Ram Thakur. A team of experts from Defence Research Development Organisation also reached the avalanche site to assist army and ITBP personnel engaged in rescue operations, which resumed at 7am. More men were deployed today. Locals from Khab and Namgia villages are also helping the search parties, said Kinnaur deputy commissioner Gopal Chand. The General Reserve Engineering Force, a wing of the Indian Army, has deployed its machines to clear the track leading to Namgia. The avalanche was triggered on February 20 when a glacier near Namgia Dogri slid, burying six soldiers of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles when they were on a routine patrol. One soldier, Rakesh Kumar, was rescued, but he succumbed to his injuries in a hospital at Pooh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday delivered an acerbic attack on the Congress-led opposition for its response to terrorism when it was in power. PM Modi compared the previous UPA governments refusal to carry out surgical strikes after the 26/11 Mumbai terror to the two that were carried out by the armed forces after terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama. We will no longer be helpless in the face of terrorism This is New India, Prime Minister Modi said, underlining that this had been made possible because his government had given the armed forces a free hand. PM Modi was speaking at an event in Tamil Nadus Kanyakumari. (Follow live updates) The events of the past few days have demonstrated yet again the strength of our armed forces. It has also brought our nation closer, said PM Modi adding, A few parties, guided by Modi hatred have started hating India. He said, These are the same people whose statements are helping Pakistan and harming India. They are the same people whose statements are being happily quoted in Parliament of Pakistan and in the radio of Pakistan. I want to ask them - do you support our armed forces or suspect them? He said the development over the past couple of days have demonstrated the prowess of the armed forces. There was a time when the news reports would read- Air Force wanted to do surgical strike after 26/11 but UPA blocked it. Today, we are in an era where the news reads- Armed forces have full freedom to do what they want, he said in a reference to Indian Air Force strike at a Jaish-e-Mohammed-run terror camp at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan days after Pulwama attack, in which 40 jawans were killed. The prime minister said, When 26/11 happened, India expected action against terrorists but nothing happened. Uri happened and you saw what our brave men did. Pulwama happened and you saw what our brave men did. At his Kanniyakumari rally, PM Modi also spoke about the central schemes saying that the government has worked for the welfare of all sections. He said around 1.10 crore farmers received money in their bank accounts under central government programme while more than 15 crore people benefited from the Mudra Loan scheme. Also read: IAF pilot to be back home today, BSF cancels retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah border The Haryana government on Friday came in for a sharp rebuke from the Supreme Court over its law to allow construction in the ecologically-fragile Aravali region. Upset at the Haryana assemblys effort to overturn the Supreme Courts ban on construction, the top court said it was sheer contempt. The Haryana assembly on Wednesday had passed an amendment to the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 (PLPA), opening thousands of acres of land under the Aravalis and Shivalik ranges for real estate development and mining which could be a major threat to the environment and ecology in Delhi-NCR. Legislature is not supreme At times, court also has to prevail, the Supreme Court said. The bench said we want to say a lot of things, but cannot. The Supreme Court said it wasnt going to stop the government from enacting the law. But no action should be taken under the amended Act It is really shocking that you are destroying the forest It is not permissible, the top court said. The amendment was passed amid uproar in the House with the opposition Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislators demanding that the bill is sent to an assembly committee for re-examination. Members of the opposition said that the new law will only help real estate developers and mining companies. Also read: Amended land bill, passed by Haryana, will impact on Delhi-NCR environment External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is in Abu Dhabi on Friday to attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers meeting where she is expected to raise the issue of terror.It is for the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting. Swaraj will address the inaugural plenary session of the meeting on March 1 as a guest of honour, and officials have described the invitation to India as a key foreign policy success in efforts to strengthen relations with Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Follow highlights here: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Friday voiced confidence that Lok Sabha elections will be held on time notwithstanding this weeks tensions between India and Pakistan, including air skirmishes over the Line of Control in Kashmir. Arora, who is here with a team of Election Commission of India (ECI) officials on a three-day visit to review poll preparations in Uttar Pradesh, told a press conference that the ECI was ready to conduct the elections on time. The schedule for elections to the 543-member Lok Sabha will be announced soon at a press conference in Delhi, Arora said. It is believed that the elections could be announced as early as the end of next week and be held in second half of April and May. The election schedule is prepared taking into consideration the availability of security forces to ensure peaceful voting, transportation logistics, festivals and examination schedules. We already have held several rounds of meetings with the ministry of home affairs on the availability of central paramilitary forces, he said. The CEC also said a committee had been constituted to monitor content on social media during the polls. The election watchdog has been concerned about the possible influence the spread of fake news and biased and inflammatory content on social networks have on the election outcome. Twitter, Facebook and Google have said they had put in place measures to check such content during the elections. They have also put in place norms for political advertising. The CEC said officials have been directed to take action in cases of hate speech even before the implementation of the model code of conduct that comes into effect after the election schedule is announced. He also said the ECI has amended Form 26, an affidavit that is required to be submitted by candidates filing their nomination papers for contesting elections, in terms of details of their assets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lashed out at the opposition parties, claiming their Modi hatred has turned into hatred for India, eventually leading them to even suspect the nations armed forces. The Prime Minister was at an event in Kanniyakumari in the southern tip of Tamil Nadu to launch several projects and to also speak at a political rally and, in the course of his speech, referred to the Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who was released by Pakistan on Friday evening. The pilot was captured after his aircraft was downed across the LoC by Pakistan on Wednesday. Every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander Abhinandan is from Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister said. Modi laid the foundation stone for the restoration of rail connectivity between Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu, which was washed away in 1964. Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi are major pilgrimage and tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu. He also flagged off the high-speed Tejas Express between Madurai and Chennai; laid the foundation stone for the New Pamban Viaduct; launched work on five national highways projects worth 2,995 crore in Kanniyakumari; and inaugurated a road safety park and transport museum. Today India is the fastest growing large economy in the world. India is creating next generation infrastructure at a record pace. The people want honesty, development, progress, opportunities and security from the government, Modi said. Modi congratulated the citys Vivekananda Kendra on being conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize a few days ago. But much of his speech was devoted to attacking the opposition. The world is supporting Indias fight against terror, but a few parties, suspect our fight against terror, Modi added, asking the opposition parties: Do you believe in our armed forces or those who support terrorism on our soil? Modi charged the previous Congress governments with being inept and unable to take decisive action in the wake of terror attacks. This is a new India. This is an India that will return the damage done by terrorists with interest, he asserted. Modi will come and go but India will remain. Please stop weakening India to strengthen your own politics. In matters of national security we are Indian first, he said in comments directed at the opposition. Reacting to Modis comments EVKS Elangovan, former Union minister and Ex TNCC president said: Modi is known for empty rhetoric without any substance. To cover up his colossal failures, he is attempting to paint the opposition as the villain. When he launched demonetisation, the rationale offered was to stop terror financing. Has it stopped? Instead, we have been witnessing more and more terror attacks. In the IAF launching strikes to dismantle terror camps in Pakistan, the credit goes to our forces and not to Prime Minister Modi. Dhanushkodi meaning bows end in Tamil, is a village at the southern tip of Rameswaram Island. It was once a flourishing tourist and pilgrimage centre. There was a 17.20 Km-long railway line between Pamban and Dhanushkodi. A popular ferry service connected Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. In Andhra Pradesh Visakhapatnam, Modi renewed his attack on the opposition and said: My enemies are countrys enemies. Addressing an election rally in the backdrop of railway minister Piyush Goyals recent announcement sanctioning a long-pending railway zone in Andhra Pradesh, Modi accused Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, an architect of the non-BJP opposition front, of compromising on the countrys security in pursuit of his anti-Modi agenda. The opposition makes tough talk against Modi all the time while being soft on external aggressors and Pakistan-sponsored terror groups indulging in blood-letting in Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister charged. He added the opposition lacks a common agenda and ideological coherence. Pakistan minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that he will skip the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meet in Abu Dhabi because India has been invited to the event. I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in parliament, adding that other officials would attend to represent Pakistans interests. Qureshi regrettedthat despite Pakistans protest, the OICs invitation to Swaraj was not rescinded. There was no consultation over the OIC invitation to the Indian foreign minister. India is neither a member nor an observer of the OIC, Qureshi pointed out, adding that he sent two letters to the UAE calling upon the body to withdraw its invitation to Sushma Swaraj. The Pakistan foreign minister informed Parliament that he requested the OIC to either rescind the invitation or postpone the session in view of the prevailing situation, neither of which was done. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj raised the issue of terror when she represented India for the first time at the meeting of foreign ministers of the OIC in the UAEs Abu Dhabi today.We must tell the states which provide funding and shelter to terrorists to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, said Swaraj. Sushma Swaraj was addressing the inaugural plenary session of the meeting as a guest of honour, and officials have described the invitation to India as a key foreign policy success in efforts to strengthen relations with Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Also read: Sushma Swaraj likely to raise terror issue at OIC meet today Islamabad had conveyed its concerns over New Delhis participation at the OIC in the wake of the Indian air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp at Balakot on Tuesday. Acting largely due to pressure from Pakistan, OIC had condemned the air strike as an incursion and aerial violation and urged both countries to seek peaceful solutions to the crisis through dialogue. Photo: The Canadian Press Motorcade of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is driven in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, March 1, 2019 Kim started his official visit to Vietnam following the second summit with U.S President Donald Trump. A day after his stunning summit breakdown with Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiled broadly as he strode down a red carpet with Vietnam's president Friday, a military band playing as stiff-backed soldiers goose-stepped by. With Trump back in Washington, and both countries spinning their version of what happened during one of the most high-profile diplomatic collapses in recent years, Kim seemed confident and poised a world leader taking his place on the international stage as he stepped out of his armoured limousine, embraced President Nguyen Phu Trong, the country's top leader and Communist Party chief, and accepted a bouquet of flowers from a beaming girl. On Saturday he is expected to be driven back to the border with China where he will board his armoured train for a 60-plus-hour trip, through the sprawl of China, back home to Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. But Friday saw his black limousine rolling beneath fluttering Vietnamese and North Korean flags the U.S. ones have been mostly taken down as a large crowd jammed the city's streets and waved flowers. Talks between Kim and Trump broke down on Thursday, the second day of their two-day summit, in a dispute over how much sanctions relief Washington should provide Pyongyang in return for nuclear disarmament steps. Despite a senior North Korean official's suggestion in a rushed, middle-of-the-night news conference called to dispute Trump's version of the summit's end that Kim may have "lost the will" for diplomacy, the North Korean leader seems to have emerged from the diplomatic wreckage as a winner. Kim stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Trump at the summit, an image that allows his propaganda services to portray him to his people and supporters as the leader of a nuclear-armed power, not an international pariah that starves its citizens so it can build nukes and missiles. He answered questions with humour and ease when confronted by an aggressive international media contingent here. And, crucially for his image at home, he stood firm on his demands for the relief of sanctions imposed over a nuclear program North Korea says it built in the face of unrelenting U.S. hostility meant to end its leadership. Kim, as he considers his next move after Hanoi, will also be backed by state-controlled media that were already busy portraying the summit as a victory for their leader, saying Kim and Trump "appreciated that the second meeting in Hanoi offered an important occasion for deepening mutual respect and trust and putting the relations between the two countries on a new stage." North Korea said it had asked for partial sanctions relief in return for closing its main nuclear site at Yongbyon, an important nuclear-fuel production facility but not the only place the North is believed to make bomb fuel. The United States also put its interpretation on the summit breakdown, with senior officials saying that North Korea wanted billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for only partial dismantlement of Yongbyon, and demanded the North scrap more of its nuclear program for such a high level of concessions. It's unclear what will come next: Working-level meetings among experts to close the negotiating gap? Another summit? Or will Trump, consumed with controversy in Washington and burned by the failure in Hanoi, lose interest? Pakistans parliament is reiterating praise for the countrys military in responding to Indias incursion this week by downing two Indian aircraft and capturing a pilot in Pakistani-held Kashmir. The lawmakers in both the 342-seat Assembly and the 104-seat Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Friday, concluding a joint session that began the previous day over the latest escalation between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The resolution also endorses Prime Minister Imran Khans offer of talks to New Delhi, saying this is the only way to solve all outstanding issues, including the issue of Kashmir, which is split between India and Pakistan and is claimed by both in its entirety. Pakistani Defense Minister Perfez Khattak told the parliament Islamabad would give a memorable response to India if it attacks Pakistan again. Parliaments panel on foreign affairs on Friday lauded the efforts of the government and the armed forces during the recent tension with Pakistan but some members also wanted to know why the government is not providing photographic or other evidence of how Indian jets damaged terror infrastructure and wiped out terrorists during their strike inside Pakistan on Tuesday morning. Members of the panel also suggested to foreign secretary Vijay Gokhle that New Delhi must go all out to explain to the international community the reasons behind Indias decision to pound the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp inside Pakistan. According to a few members who spoke on condition of anonymity, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhle read out from the same text he read out on Tuesday while briefing reporters, hours after the air strike. When asked about media reports questioning Indias success in eliminating terrorists and terror infrastructure in the air strike, he chose not to give any detailed reply but said that the defence ministry would be in a better position to explain the issues. When some members asked why the government has not released photographs of the attack by Indian fighter jets, Gokhle pointed out it is not in his purview to speak on this specific issue. The briefing included the MEAs assessment of the Pakistan prime ministers tenure so far, one of the members said. The foreign secretary also told the panel that an attempt by the Pakistan Air Force on to target military installations in India was unsuccessful as it was thwarted by the Indian Air Force, which shot down a Pakistani fighter jet but lost one of its own in the process. A second member said the foreign secretary detailed the diplomatic measures that the ministry has taken, right from immediately after the Pulwama attack to the ensuing air strike, and efforts thereon to seek out the international community to brief them about the issue. Foreign Secretary Gokhale assured the committee that diplomatic overtures to the international community were still underway. He also informed the members on how India got the support of the members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the issue. In a major diplomatic achievement, India on Friday for the first time addressed the OIC meeting in Abu Dhabi where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is a guest of honour. Pakistan boycotted the plenary session of the OIC meet to protest Indias participation there. (With PTI inputs) Union minister Smriti Irani Friday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modis parakram (valour) for Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthamans return from Pakistan within two days of his capture. Sangh (RSS) today can be proud of the fact that a son of India is returning to India in 48 hours due to the parakram of a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer), she said in an apparent reference to Modi. Modi was an RSS pracharak before he joined the BJP, which is affiliated to the Hindutva organisation. She was speaking at the release of a book, RSS: Building India through Sewa, authored by BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal. Speaking on the occasion, RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabole said the nation was with Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday during an engagement between Indian and Pakistan fighter jets. Hosabole said people are feeling an upsurge of patriotism due to the prevailing atmosphere. He also spoke in detail about the nationwide work of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which, he asserted, believes in servicing the society in different fields without any bias and discrimination. Irani also highlighted work of the woman wing of the RSS. Mittal said his book presents facts about the RSS and its works while seeking to explode a lot of myths about it. The organisation has often faced vicious criticism even though it is in reality the biggest nation-building exercise. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a special birthday wish for Bihars hardworking chief minister and BJP ally Nitish Kumar as praised him for ending the years of misrule in the eastern state. Greetings to my friend and Bihars hardworking Chief Minister, @NitishKumar Ji. Nitish Jis persistence ensured Bihar emerged out of the shadows of years of misrule. His pro-people governance has touched the lives of many. I pray for Nitish Jis long and healthy life, the Prime Minister tweeted his wishes on Friday. Wishes also came from several Union ministers and leaders across the political spectrum. Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu, Piyush Goyal and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah also wished Nitish Kumar on his 68th birthday. Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also wished for good health and long life for Nitish Chacha ji (uncle). Nitish Kumar became the chief minister of Bihar for the first time in 2000 but lasted only for a week. And in 2005, he became Bihars 31st chief minister and has held states top post since then. Jitan Ram Manjhi, however, became the chief minister from May 2014 to February 2015. Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he wanted to receive Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman at the border on his arrival from Pakistan. Amarinder, who is in Amritsar as part of his tour of the border areas to take stock of the ground situation, tweeted a request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard shortly after Pakistan PM Imran Khan announced that the IAF pilot would be released on Friday. Dear @narendramodi ji, Im touring the border areas of Punjab & Im presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am (sic), he posted on his Twitter handle. Dear @narendramodi ji , Im touring the border areas of Punjab & Im presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am. Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) February 28, 2019 During his visit to Tarn Taran district, the chief minister welcomed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans announcement to release Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday, terming it a goodwill gesture that would help ease the tension at the border. Interacting with BSF personnel at the Khalra observation post during a tour of the border areas as part of his confidence-building measures for the residents, the CM said the Pulwama attack by Pakistan-backed terror forces was an act of cowardice, necessitating the retaliation by the Indian government. He, however, hoped that normalcy would return soon at the border. He offered the BSF all support from his government to deal with the situation in the aftermath of the IAF strikes on terror hideouts across the Line of Control (LoC). We are there for you, he told the BSF men. He recalled his own days as an armyman in the sector during the 1965 war. During his tour in the Tarn Taran sector to assess the ground situation, Amarinder interacted with residents of at least 15 border villages, including Shaheed Baba Tara Singh Wala, Rajoke, Kalia Shatara, Dholan, Lakhna and Kals. He urged the residents to remain calm and not to be swayed by rumours. Earlier, the CM visited the BSFs 14th Battalion headquarters at Khemkaran and was briefed about the defence preparedness by IG BSF Mahipal Yadav. He was assured that the force was fully prepared to thwart any untoward incident from across the border. Interacting with the bereaved family of Pulwama martyr Sukhjinder Singh of Tarn Taran, he extended his condolences, assuring them of all possible support and assistance. He said he has directed the chief secretary and DGP to stay in touch with the district and police administrations of the six border districts viz. Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Fazilka and Pathankot, and work with them on contingency plans. He was accompanied by his media advisor Raveen Thukral, DGP Dinkar Gupta. Among those present were Patti MLA Harminder Singh Gill, Tarn Taran MLA Dharamveer Agnihotri, Valtoha MLA Sukhpal Singh Bhullar, former minister Gurchet Singh Bhullar, IG SPS Parmar, Tarn Taran deputy commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal and SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal. An earthquake measuring 4.3 on Richter scale hit Dahanu, Dhundalwadi and surrounding areas of Maharashtras Palghar on Friday, officials said, as hundreds of students appearing for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination were shifted to alternate test centres. More than 40 mild tremors have been recorded by the five seismographs installed by the Regional Meteorological Department (RMD), Colaba, since November 3, 2018. The quakes are also being monitored by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), National Centre for Seismology in New Delhi, National Geophysical Research Institute of Hyderabad and other organisations, officials said. Paghars district collector Dr Prashant Narnaware said the quake was felt at around 11:14am, the strongest felt in Dahanu since February 1 when a quake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale was recorded. The mild tremors lasting for a few seconds were reported again in Dhundalwadi and surrounding areas in Dahanu, Narnaware said. Dahanus tehsildar Rahul Sarang said the quakes were measured on the seven seismographs installed in Dhundalwadi in Dahanu, which was the epicentre. The mild tremors were also felt in Sriram Nagar and other parts of Boisar and Tarapur and Vadrai village in Palghar, said Palghars tehsildar Mahesh Sagar. Two engineers from Hyderabads National Geophysical Research Institute are permanently stationed in Dahanu to study the tremors being felt since November last year, said Sarang. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Pune left Dahanu on February 11 after conducting several awareness camps in Dahanu, he said. He said they had provided 200 tents to tribals in Dahanu as they were living in the open due to the tremors. We are also monitoring and assessing the damages of cracks in the mud houses of tribals due to the tremors, he said. Students appearing for the SSC exams in Dahanu area were shifted to venues which have a strong foundation and they need not fear the tremors, said Sarang. The retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border checkpost between India and Pakistan has been cancelled ahead of the return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. Amritsar deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon pilot Abhinandan is more important than the retreat ceremony. (Live updates) Hundreds of people are camping at the Attari border in Amritsar since the morning today with drums, garlands and flags to receive Wing Commander Varthaman. The numbers swelled as the news of his release spread. The BSF, which mans the checkpost and the 553-km International Border with Pakistan in Punjab, is on high alert. Punjab Police and other security agencies stationed additional personnel in the area since Friday morning. Also read: IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman expected to cross Wagah this evening Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Thursday that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be freed on Friday after New Delhi sought his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release signalling a de-escalation in the spiralling tension with Khans announcement also came amid pressure from New Delhi and other countries to act against terror emanating from his country. The 35-year-old Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was flying the MiG-21 Bison that shot down the PAF F-16 in the aerial engagement with Pakistan on Wednesday morning. The beating retreat ceremony at Attari, 30 km from Amritsar has an energetic and patriotic flavour to it. It is conducted jointly by BSF trooperson the Attari side (in India) and Pakistan Rangers on the Wagah side (in Pakistan) every evening before sunset. Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express his deep condolences over the Pulwama terrorist attack and conveyed the solidarity of his country with New Delhi in its fight against terror. Modi thanked Putin for Russias steadfast support for Indias efforts to protect its interests against cross-border terror attacks, a statement from the Prime Ministers Office said. In their telephonic conversation, the prime minister also renewed Indias commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in countering terrorism as a pillar of privileged and special strategic partnership. Both leaders agreed that the concerned should stop all support to terrorism. The two also agreed that the growing cooperation between the two countries will take their special and privileged strategic partnership from strength to strength. President Putin reiterated the invitation to Modi to attend the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok later this year. The Prime Minister welcomed the invitation and underscored the significance of growing economic cooperation, including in the Russian Far East, between the two countries, the statement added. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Thursday stepped up security around the Delhi airport runway and tarmac after a hijack alert that a civilian airport could be targeted by terrorists in 48 hours, officials said. Officials said there was no need to panic and assured they had increased deployment of commandos around the tarmac and stationed spotters and snipers on watchtowers. Access gates to the airside from the terminal and the city were being strictly monitored, a senior CISF official said. The threat was received from a northeastern state following which civilian airports, listed as hyper-sensitive airports, were put on high alert. We have stepped up deployment around the runway and taxiways. Our quick reaction teams increased frequency of patrolling. Our men are patrolling the airport boundary so that intrusions can be stopped, said an officer not authorised to speak to the media. The officer said they were also on the alert against drones. The CISF is scanning vehicles entering the airside, specially catering trucks. Our dog squad is sweeping areas where luggage is stashed before being loaded onto aircraft. A strict watch is being kept on employees of firms responsible for ground duty and those who have access to the airside, the officer said. The CISF stepped up security at cargo terminals also since the airside can be accessed from there as well. This is the second such alert sounded in a week. Days after the Pulwama attack, airports across India were put on high alert on Saturday. Security agencies had asked personnel to check all vehicles entering parking areas, apart from enhancing security at other critical points. The earlier alert was sounded after a threat call was received at Air Indias control room in Mumbai. Airlines of some sectors, including those going to Gulf and Pakistan, were asked to conduct secondary ladder point checks where passengers are checked again just before boarding the plane. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday raised a pitch at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meet to build pressure on the countries that support terror outfits and fund them. Swaraj said the OIC must tell such nations to dismantle terror infrastructure. If we want to save the humanity then we must tell the states who provides shelter and funding to the terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to the terror organisations, based in that country, said Swaraj in her speech as a guest of honour at the OIC foreign ministers conference. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be, said Swaraj quoting from holy books Quran, Guru Granth Sahib and Rig Veda, adding, Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed. This was the first instance when an Indian external minister was invited to the OIC conference. Invitation to India saw Pakistan skipping the event with foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi saying in the joint session of National Assembly of Parliament that India has no legal or moral ground to be present at the meeting. Watch: Hundreds gather at Attari-Wagah post to welcome IAF pilot Swaraj did not mention the name of Pakistan during her address to the OIC conference while calling for a concerted action to mount pressure on the countries supporting terror outfits. But she said the reach of terror is increasing and we are seeing the terrible face of terror in. This comes at a time when India is reaching out to the international community to isolate Pakistan after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama on February 14 when 40 CRPF jawans were killed. Pakistan-based terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack. Nearly two weeks later, Indian Air Force carried out on Tuesday a strike at a Jaish terror camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. India said it was conducted on the basis of credible intelligence input that the Jaish was planning more terror attacks in India. Pakistan responded to the strike at Jaish terror camp by violating Indian airspace as Pakistan Air Force crossed the Line of Control and attempted to target Indian military installations on Wednesday. Indian Air Force foiled the PAF attempt and shot down one F-16 fighter jet. The IAF lost one MiG 21 Bison that was being flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who crash-landed on the other side of the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced in the National Assembly that IAF pilot Abhinandan would be released as peace gesture. In the same joint session, Pakistanis parliament decided to boycott OIC meet in Abu Dhabi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Photo: The Canadian Press Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido waves at the press as he arrives for a meeting with ambassadors and representatives from European Union, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. Canada and Mexico may be united in wanting to bring closure to North America's unresolved trading future, but they are diametrically opposed on how to solve Venezuela's political and economic crisis. The cleavage between Canada and Mexico over the upheaval enveloping their broader hemispheric neighbourhood the meltdown of once prosperous Venezuela that has spawned a three-million-plus refugee crisis was on full display this week as lawmakers from both countries met in Ottawa to discuss their shared interests. Mexico was a charter member of the Lima Group of countries when it formed in August 2017 before socialist firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was sworn in on Dec. 1 as Mexico's new president. Lopez Obrador's government has been conspicuously absent from the Lima Group's recent declarations recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim leader of Venezuela, and the group's calls for the military to switch allegiance to him from the country's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. "It's a very complex issue because we believe the new government believes strongly in not intervening in the internal affairs of other countries," Sen. Hector Vasconcelos, head of the Mexican senate's foreign affairs committee, said in an interview. Part of that complexity involves the other major North American country that was never in the Lima Group the United States. As Canadian officials routinely explain, not having the U.S. in the Lima Group coalition of more than a dozen Western Hemisphere countries is seen as effective. The reason is because it divorces calls for Maduro's ouster from the baggage of what is seen as past American meddling in Latin America. Many don't buy that rationale, pointing to the fact that the U.S. remains in lock-step with the Lima Group while the Trump administration refuses to rule out potential military action in Venezuela. "When you have a major international power trying to impose a solution to a political situation, to a political crisis anywhere in the world, not only in Latin America, the prospects for success are not very good," said Vasconcelos. He cited American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan in this century and Vietnam four decades ago as some U.S. failures. Mexico has offered to mediate between Guaido and Maduro to find a solution that's satisfactory to the Venezuelan people, Vasconcelos said. Canada, its Lima Group allies, the U.S. and dozens of other countries say international support for the opposition is intended to embolden Venezuelans, with the help of a military it wants to see switch loyalties, to take democratic control of their country. Vasconcelos said he's OK if the Venezuelan military switches sides and contributes to Maduro's peaceful ouster. "If the armed forces decide to stop supporting president Maduro, then that would be finding an internal solution," he said, stressing that doesn't mark a departure from the current Mexican position. "Believe me there are reasons for this. And I think that Mexico derives benefits from that position even today after 100 years of trying to follow that line." A Liberal MP who took part in this week's parliamentary meetings with Mexico says Canada is trying to persuade Mexico to support the Lima Group. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is expected to raise the issue of terror when she represents India for the first time at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the UAE, people familiar with developments said on Thursday. Swaraj will address the inaugural plenary session of the meeting in Abu Dhabi on March 1 as a guest of honour, and officials have described the invitation to India as a key foreign policy success in efforts to strengthen relations with Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Islamabad has conveyed its concerns over New Delhis participation to the OIC in the wake of the Indian air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp at Balakot on Tuesday - the first time in 48 years fighters jets from India entered Pakistani air space for an operation. Acting largely due to pressure from Pakistan, OIC had condemned the air strike as an incursion and aerial violation and urged both countries to seek peaceful solutions to the crisis through dialogue. The Indian side, however, is unfazed by this criticism because of the symbolic importance of the invitation from the OIC in the face of opposition from Pakistan, a founding member of the 56-member grouping. There is expected to be a reference to terror by the external affairs minister at OIC, said a person familiar with developments who spoke on condition of anonymity. We will attend. Dont attach much importance to a statement put out by the (OIC) secretariat at the behest of Pakistan to deter us from attending, the person added. India has launched a campaign to mount international pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror groups operating from its soil after a JeM suicide bomber attacked a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Pulwama on February 14, killing 40 troopers. India will also underscore its long-standing political, economic and other ties with members of the OIC and Swaraj will hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from the UAE and some other nations, the people said. According to reports in the Pakistani media, Islamabad officially conveyed to the OIC on Wednesday that it may boycott the meeting in Abu Dhabi if the invitation to India isnt withdrawn. The reports cited a letter written by foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to OIC secretary general Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen that asked the UAE to withdraw the invitation. The letter reiterated Pakistans complaints about violation of the Line of Control (LoC) during Tuesdays air strike on Balakot. However, people familiar with developments said the UAE government had made it clear Swaraj will be received with full honour. The UAE earlier said India is being invited as a guest of honour to the OIC meet because of its great global political stature as well as its time-honoured and deeply rooted cultural and historical legacy and its important Islamic component. India has had, at best, a prickly relationship with OIC, largely because Pakistan often used the forum to target the country over the Kashmir issue. Pakistan and its allies in the Arab world also blocked attempts to give observer status to India, which has the worlds third largest Muslim population. The external affairs ministry described the invitation as a welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos.... Three security personnel and a civilian were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district on Friday. Sources said that during search operation a terrorist, who was presumed dead, suddenly stood up and started firing at the security personnel. During the search operation after the firing exchanges stopped, one of the two militants, presumed dead, stood up and started indiscriminate firing at security forces in which two CRPF personnel and two local policemen were killed. The operation is still on, police said, according to news agency IANS. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in north Kashmirs Kralgund village in Handwara following information about the presence of militants there, the officials said They said the search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened fire at the security forces, who retaliated. Authorities have suspended mobile internet services in Handwara and Sopore. News agency PTI quoted officials as saying that there was lull in firing several times during the day but the militants would resume firing as soon as the security forces advanced towards the house where they were hiding. PTI reported that four people were also injured in clashes between a group of youngsters and security personnel near the encounter site. Authorities had also suspended mobile internet services in Handwara and Sopore. On Wednesday, a Pakistani was among two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists killed in a firefight with security forces in south Kashmirs Shopian. Also Watch: 35 ceasefire violations by Pakistan in the last two days : Indian Army As many as 11 JeM terrorists have been killed in Kashmir since the Pakistan-based group claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide bomb attack that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Pulwama. A tiger in Madhya Pradeshs Kanha has reportedly cannabalised three other big cats in what wildlife experts describe as rare but not unheard of instance of cannibalism among the biggest of the big cats. On Thursday, forest officials confirmed that a male tiger in Kanha national park killed two sub-adults and a tigress in the past month and also eaten some parts of their bodies. Kanha national park field director L Krishnamurthy said: The sub-adults who were about 2 to 2.5 years old were killed by tiger we have named Bajrang, who is around 6 to 7 years and the dominant male of the region. Bajrang was also responsible for killing a tigress on January 19 in the Mundidadar area of the park. Krishnamurthy said that the post mortem of the remains of one of the sub-adults has been done. The post-mortem of the other could not be done, he added, because Bajrang was still eating the remains. Tiger expert and president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust, Anish Andheria said: There have been reports of tiger eating tiger flesh but it is rare. The tiger will do so only if it is extremely hungry. In most cases, tigers will avoid fighting and killing another tiger because they themselves might be injured in the attack, but they do so to protect their territory. He also cautioned against reading too much into the incident. We know very little about tiger behaviour. Due to extensive patrolling nowadays any tiger death is reported and officials reach the spot. It is possible that most tigers would (always) eat flesh of other tigers, but simply dont get a chance because of human intervention. Krishnamurthy agreed with the assessment and said cannibalism is not uncommon among the cat species but it is rare. Former Kanha tiger reserve director Sanjay Shukla recalled that in March 2015 he saw a tiger eating his own cub. Still, given that Kanha has enough prey, a tiger eating one of its own is definitely matter for a study, additional principal conservator of forest (Wildlife) Dilip Kumar said . In a separate incident, a tiger in Sariska is suspected of killing three cubs he fathered. Sariska tiger reserves deputy conservator of forest, Hemant Singh, confirmed that it is possible that a tiger named ST-13 may have killed three cubs. The father of the cubs, tiger ST-13, has been camping in the same area since December 28, and we fear that it has killed the cubs, Singh said. We dont have evidence of this , but the tigress behavior is an indication that she has lost her cubs and that the tiger has killed them. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rebel AIADMK leader and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dhinakaran is all set to challenge the Delhi high court verdict upholding the Election Commissions order, granting the iconic two-leaves symbol of the AIADMK to the faction led by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. We will go in for an appeal against the high court verdict, Dhinakarans counsel, Raja Senthoor Pandian told the media. A bench of justices GS Sistani and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal upheld the ECs decision of November 23, 2017, saying that none of the grounds of challenge raised by the Dhinakaran-Sasikala faction were made out and there was no infirmity in the poll panels order allotting the party name and symbol to the group led by Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam. After the order was pronounced, senior advocate Abhishek M Singhvi, appearing for Dhinakaran and Sasikala, urged the bench to direct the EC not to allot the pressure cooker symbol to anyone during the next 15 days so that they have time to move the apex court and seek an appropriate relief from there. Dhinakaran, a claimant for the legacy of former CM Jayalalithaa, had launched the AMMK after being ousted from the AIADMK along with Sasikala in September 2017. AIADMK claimed that the HC verdict was a moral victory for the party. Truth had triumphed. The verdict is a reiteration of the fact that we are the real AIADMK, was the reaction of chief minister EPS. It is a huge setback for Dhinakaran and it is a victory for AIADMK worker, said fisheries minister D Jayakumar. However, putting up a brave face, Dhinakaran loyalist Thanga Tamilselvan said: More than the symbol, it is the people whose verdict will be the final one. Symbol alone could not ensure victory was proved in the RK Nagar bypoll, he told the media. Two personnel of Odisha State Armed Police were killed and 29 others sustained critical injuries on their way to an official programme of chief minister Naveen Patnaik after a bus carrying them collided head-on with a speeding truck in Odishas Jharsuguda on Friday morning, officials said. Jharsugudas superintendent of police AK Mohanty said the bus carrying the policemen was going to Banharpalli from Jharsuguda when it collided with the truck coming from the opposite direction at around 6.30am. The jawans were on their way to Banharpalli where chief minister is scheduled to inaugurate two units of Odisha Power Generation Corporation today. Jawans Prashant Behera and Shankar Prasad Pant were killed on the spot. We have admitted the injured to the hospital, Mohanty said. The injured policemen have been admitted to TRL Hospital and Central Hospital Mandalia in Brajrajnagar. Traffic movement on the national highway was affected after the accident. Chief minister Patnaik expressed grief over the death of the two policemen and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved families. He also ordered free treatment of the injured men. The US on Thursday welcomed Pakistans decision to release captured Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, from their custody. In a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday that the captured IAF pilot Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. Pakistan detained Varthaman Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. We welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khans commitment that Pakistan will release on Friday the Indian pilot held in its custody, a State Department spokesperson told PTI responding to a question on the announcement made by Khan in the Pakistani parliament. Simultaneously, the US has urged both India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions. The United States continues to urge both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, including through direct communication. Further military activity will exacerbate the situation, the State Department spokesperson said. The US reiterated its call to Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. We reiterate our call for Pakistan to abide by its United Nations Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds, the spokesperson said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Thursday joined other lawmakers in expressing concern over the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. This is a result of a Pakistan-based terrorist groups brutal attack, he said. I urge both countries to de-escalate the mounting tensions, Hoyer said. The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), led by actor-turned politician Vijayakanth, is all set to join the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) front in Tamil Nadu for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, state minister Mafoi Pandiyarajan said. The move comes after the DMDKs attempts to make an alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which has already entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress and several others, failed. Pandiyarajan, who is the minister for Tamil official language and Tamil culture, said AIADMK co-ordinator and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam will make a formal announcement within two days. We have been talking with the DMDK. Everything has been sorted out in our negotiations. Within one or two days, we will sign the poll pact. Our coordinator and deputy chief minister will make the formal announcement, said Pandiyarajan. After a day-long office-bearers meeting, Vijayakanth on Friday decided to enter into a pre-poll alliance with the AIADMK, a DMDK functionary said. The AIADMK had on February 19 struck an alliance with the BJP and Ramadoss Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). Our leader has heard our opinions regarding the alliance. Since many of our party workers expressed the opinion that we must join hands with AIADMK-BJP front, Vijayakanth has agreed to that, said the DMDK functionary speaking on the condition of anonymity. DMK leaders claimed they were unable to meet the demands of the DMDK. We already have too many partners..., said a DMK member of Parliament. Therefore we are not in a position to sacrifice more numbers of seats for DMDK. We were ready to offer a maximum of four seats. However, they have asked for seven seats and assurance for one Rajya Sabha seat. So, we did not proceed with the alliance talks, the DMK leader added. Out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, the BJP has been offered five seats and the PMK seven LS seats with an assurance that one Rajya Sabha seat will also be allotted to it. The AIADMK has already offered the lone seat in Puducherry to its ally All India NR Congress. With talks completed, the DMDK is likely to get five seats and assurance for one RS seat, according to party leaders. Suba Gunarajan, one of the analysts, said DMDKs tie-up with the NDA front in the state was expected. When Vijayakanth launched his party in 2005, he was a major leader. When DMDK had faced the polls alone, it had secured 8% vote share in the 2006 assembly polls and recorded 10% vote share in 2009 LS polls. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said there should not be a war between India and Pakistan for the sake of politics and elections as she demanded that the Centre must share details about the IAFs air strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp. The Trinamool Congress leader also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not holding a single meeting with the opposition leaders after the Pulwama terror attack or the Indian Air Forces strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistans Balakot. We dont want political ends to be pursued. If its for the country, we are with the country, but if its for politics, and for winning elections, then we dont want that, Mamata Banerjee said at the state secretariat on Thursday evening. The chief minister said nobody knows about the facts of the IAFs airstrike on the Jaish camp and that the television news channels were unilaterally fed information. We have the right to know how many people were killed in the air strikes launched by India. Is it 300, or 350? I read in the international media that the bombs landed somewhere else. How many actually perished? Or, did anyone at all, she said. Till today the Prime Minister did not hold a single meeting with the opposition leaders be it after the Pulwama incident or the air strikes, she remarked. The country has a right to know, she remarked. What happened in the past five years? Pathankot (terror strike on the airbase in 2016) happened, but there was no action, she said. Mamata Banerjee had on February 25 lashed out at the Centre, alleging it failed to act on the intelligence input indicating a terror attack in Kashmir. She also questioned why were the CRPF personnel not airlifted and the corridor not properly sanitised. At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers were killed when a Jaish operative rammed his car laden with explosives into the CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14. During her partys core committee meeting, she had also wondered whether the attack was a ploy to do politics over the CRPF soldiers. We dont like war hysteria to be whipped up over the blood of jawans, the Bengal chief minister said on Thursday echoing her earlier comments. Along with his family members and all our countrymen, we are anxiously waiting for the safe return of our pilot #Abhinandhan, she wrote on Twitter in the afternoon. IAFs pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be released by Pakistan on Friday, two days after he was captured by the neighbouring country after he shot down their F 16 jet. The Bombay High Court Friday asked fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya when would he return to India and face the ongoing legal proceedings against him. A division bench of Justices Indrajit Mahanty and Sarang Kotwal was hearing a petition filed by Mallya against a city courts January 5 order declaring him as fugitive under the newly-enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA). Mallyas lawyer Amit Desai said declaring him a fugitive and thereby permitting his assets to be confiscated would only harm the interests of his lenders. Mallya had volunteered to repay the loans of thousands of crores of rupees which he had taken from banks, he said. Desai called the FEOA Act draconian. Prima facie this (the fugitive tag) is unconstitutional...this allows the Centre to confiscate everything, irrespective of whether a property has been bought from the proceeds of crime or not, the lawyer said. At this, the judges said, But this tag will go away as soon as your client comes back and faces the proceedings. The property too will be released....So, when is that happening? Desai said Mallya wants to return, but a British court has prohibited him from leaving the UK without its permission. The bench pointed out that it was only a protective order as Mallya had challenged his extradition proceedings. You can volunteer to return. Have you ever gone to this English court and said you want to return (to India) and face pending proceedings? the judges asked. Mallya was declared as fugitive following a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the special FEOA court. The next hearing on EDs application before the special court, seeking permission to start confiscation proceedings, is scheduled for March 13. Desai said most of Mallyas properties were already attached by some agency or another, and the confiscation will only mean no proceeds from such properties can be used to pay off the lenders and banks. The bench directed ED lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar to file reply to Mallyas plea by March 8. Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been a fighter pilot for 16 years and is the son of a decorated and senior officer of the air force. Captured by Pakistani forces after his MiG-21 aircraft was shot down on Wednesday, Varthamans release was announced by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, as a peace gesture. Varthaman is an alumnus of the Khadakwasla-based National Defence Academy. He was an accomplished Sukhoi-30 fighter pilot before being assigned to the MiG-21 Bison squadron. After his capture, he was seen in a video blindfolded and spelling out his name and service number. In another video, Varthaman was seen sipping tea and saying that he was treated well. In the clip, he described the Pakistani armed forces personnel as thorough gentlemen. This is what I would expect my army to behave, and I am thoroughly impressed, he said. The 38-year-old Varthaman, who is married and has two children, hails from Tamil Nadus Tiruvannamalai district but completed his education in Delhi because his father was posted in the capital. Read: Varthamans a MiG-21 family: Son flies it, dad flew it His father, Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman, was a distinguished fighter pilot and played a significant role during the 1999 Kargil conflict, when he, as a Group Captain, was the chief operations officer (COO) at the Gwalior airbase, home to the Mirage-2000 fighters. A total of 31 Mirage aircraft took part in the conflict. Abhinandans grandfather was also in the IAF, a family friend said. His mother, Shobha is a doctor. Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman retired as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Shillong-based Eastern Air Command. He also held the charge of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence). He has also served as air attache to France. In 2017, the government constituted a committee under the Air Marshal to assess the viability of building stealth fighters jointly with Russia. Also Read: The last time Pakistan captured an Indian pilot was in 1999 Air Marshal Varthaman is also an alumnus of Sainik School Amaravathinagar in Tamil Nadu. He was staying at Tambaram in Chennai when he was doing the flying instructors course there. In Chennai, as news of his capture spread, relatives and local residents thronged his house while on social media, tens of thousands of people, including prominent politicians, prayed for his safety. Several politicians also sent out statements in support of Varthaman. Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore tweeted: As an Air warrior, Wg Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman served the nation by defending it with total disregard to his personal safety. Photo: The Canadian Press Glen Assoun, jailed for over 16 years for the knife murder of his ex-girlfriend in a Halifax parking lot, is seen at his daughter's residence in Dartmouth, N.S. on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. The federal justice minister has quashed a murder conviction and directed a new trial for a Halifax-area man who was jailed for almost 17 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. David Lametti's decision says there was a reasonable basis to conclude a miscarriage of justice occurred in the case of Glen Assoun. It also says a federal inquiry showed "relevant and reliable information" was never provided to Assoun during his trial in 1999. Assoun was convicted by a jury of killing Brenda LeAnne Way, whose body was found in a Halifax-area parking lot on Nov. 12, 1995. The case against him was based largely on the testimony of witnesses whose circumstantial evidence has since been questioned by lawyers who work to free the wrongfully convicted. Kirk Makin, co-president of the Innocence Canada legal group, said Lametti's decision represents the "next development in what we believe is an egregious wrongful conviction case." Assoun has been out on bail since November 2014, based on a preliminary assessment that determined he may have been wrongfully convicted. He was scheduled to be in court Friday with his lawyers Sean MacDonald and Philip Campbell to present arguments for his continued release, based on Lametti's decision. Assoun was found guilty of second-degree murder in Way's death on Sept. 17, 1999. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of applying for parole for 18 years. Court heard her body was found with multiple stab wounds, her top had been pulled up and her throat was slashed. Assoun was arrested and jailed in March 1998, despite having an alibi. He would remain in jail for almost 17 years. That is six years longer than the 11 years that Donald Marshall Jr., a Mi'kmaq leader and Indigenous activist, served for his wrongful conviction for murder in 1971. During Assoun's trial, he fired his lawyer. Though he told the judge he felt he needed counsel, Assoun ended up defending himself in the complex proceedings often struggling to cross examine witnesses and make his arguments that police had tunnel vision in his case. Earlier this week, the father of four told The Canadian Press he's always had hope he could show he is innocent of the crime. However, he said his years in jail and then under bail conditions have robbed him of his health, damaged his family, and left him with recurring nightmares and mental illness. "It was devastating to me. It affected my mind. It affected my overall health. I had several heart attacks in prison," he said. "It took my youth from me. All my younger years. Now I'm 63 and I'll never get back my health and the freedom they took from me ... Life passed me by." Pakistan can act against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar only if India provides solid, inalienable evidence against him that can convince the countrys judiciary, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said. Qureshi confirmed Azhars presence in Pakistan and said he was confined to his home because of poor health. He said in an interview with CNN aired on Thursday that action can be taken against Azhar only through a legal process. His remarks came against the backdrop of a fresh effort by France, Britain and the US to sanction Azhar at the UNs 1267 Committee in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack that was claimed by the JeM. Azhar was designated a global terrorist by the US in 2010 and the JeM has been banned by Pakistan and the US. He (Azhar) is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house because he is really unwell, Qureshi said, remarks that were viewed with consternation in official quarters in New Delhi. Asked if Pakistan will arrest the 50-year-old Azhar, Qureshi replied this will depend on evidence provided by India. If they give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan after all, we will have to justify, they will go to the court and if they have solid, inalienable evidence, share it with us so that we can convince the people and we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan, he said. India handed over to Pakistan on Wednesday a dossier with information on JeM and its top leadership and their involvement in several terror attacks. The Pakistan government has said the dossier is being examined. Replying to a question on whether he doubted the information available about Azhar and his banned organisation, Qureshi said: Its not a question of me doubting. There is a legal process and you have to satisfy that legal process. Pakistan, he added, is open to any step that leads to de-escalation of tensions with India. If they have good, solid evidence, please sit and talk, please initiate a dialogue and we will show reasonableness, he said. Qureshi, who once referred to Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed with the honorific sahib, said India has a historic opportunity to engage with Pakistans current government led by Imran Khan is it has the complete support of the Pakistan armed forces. Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a former diplomat who served in Pakistan and is a distinguished fellow with Observer Research Foundation, said Qureshis response was part of Pakistans routine tactic of obfuscating on the issue of tackling anti-India terror groups. We gave them evidence so many time and we have got the same old response. They arent going to take action against a man and a group that they have trained, nurtured and supported because these guys work in collaboration with the Pakistan Army, he said. Have they prosecuted anyone since the Mumbai attacks? They have no credibility, he added. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will meet Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in the second week of March to iron out differences within Karnatakas ruling coalition over seat sharing for the national elections this summer. The JD(S) has demanded 12 out of Karnatakas 28 Lok Sabha seats as per the formula the two parties had agreed upon when they formed the government in the state in May. The Congress and JD(S) formed the government even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in 224-member house. The Congress got 80 seats while the JD (S) 37. The Congress has offered JD(S) six seats based on winnability but could eventually settle for 8, according to people aware of the developments. The Congress is willing to concede Hassan, Mandya and Shimoga Lok Sabha seats. It appears unlikely to give up its claim on Bengaluru North, Mysore, Tumkur and Chikkaballapur besides two seats in north Karnataka. Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao and deputy CM G Parameshwara held the preliminary round of discussions over seat-sharing this week with the JD(S) leaders HD Revanna and Adagur H Vishwanath. The Congress-JD(S) coordination committee is likely to meet and try to thrash out the issues on Monday. The panel includes Congress leader Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S). Congress has been arguing that winnability should be sole criterion for seat distribution despite the pact between the two parties.Winnability of the candidates will be the only yardstick to decide seat-sharing agreement & we are hopeful that the outcomes of the meetings shall satisfy both the parties, Siddaramaiah tweeted. There is hope that there will be agreement on seat sharing... no ratio, who will win from where is important. JD(S) leader Danish Ali hoped the seat-sharing deal would soon be finalised and added that the two sides will try to resolve all issues at the Mondays meeting. At the time of government formation in 2018, we had signed a written agreement that there will be a pre-poll alliance for the Lok Sabha elections, he said. He added that their main objective is to ensure that the coalition wins maximum seats. A Karnataka Congress leader echoed Ali, saying defeating BJP is the coalitions ultimate aim. Congress president and Deve Gowda will meet and seal the deal in the second week of March. Amidst indications about increase in the number of highly endangered Dolphins in the Ganga, which suggests improvement in the river water quality, there is also a big concern. Experts feel Centres ambitious inland waterway plan, which will make heavy cargo ships ply through the Ganga, will have a detrimental impact on the Mammals, declared the National Aquatic Animal in 2009. The fairway is ready for the ships. In 2016, Bihar government had opposed any move to develop national waterways, as it could further devastate heavily silted Ganga and lead to more flooding. However, with the JD-U and the BJP together now, the issue has died down. But for Dolphin researchers Prof RK Sinha, who got Padma Shree in 2016, and Prof Sunil Kumar Choudhary of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, ship movement would certainly have an impact on the river ecology and the Dolphins, which have just started showing signs of stabilization. They warn against Yangtze river situation, where Dolphins became extinct in 2006 due to heavy traffic. For movement of cargo ships, the Ganga will require constant dredging, which will disturb habitat of Dolphins. The heavy sound of ships and waves may disorient them, as the mammals, being blind, emit ultrasonic waves and use their echoes to identify the location of objects or fish they cannot see. They also collide with objects to form an image in their mind. Colliding with ships can be dangerous. They can also develop physiological disorder, said Choudhary. Vinod Kumar Kureel, chief engineer of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Patna said the fairway (around 35-40 metre wide stretch with average depth of around 2.5 metres in the Ganga with adequate depth) for the ships had been complete and it was for the private operators to use it whenever they feel it proper. We are just a development agency and we have completed the fairway for the cargo vessels to move through it. Our ships are plying and we also spot Dolphins playing. The entire project will be completed in 2022, when ships will get better depth. Work is being done only after obtaining all environment clearances and as per laid down guidelines, he added. On concerns over ecological impact, Kureel said it was natural with any development project, but there is always a conscious effort to minimize it. Making national waterway functional is a conscious decision of the government and all precautions are being taken by various agencies for it. River is a dynamic system, unlike roads, and it requires dredging from time to time. It is a continuous process and we avoid dredging where Dolphins are seen. he added. IWAI came into existence in 1986. However, after 2014 its work gathered momentum as the Narendra Modi government focused on waterways development and now there are 111 declared waterways. This includes seven of the Bihar rivers, including the Ganga. Kureel said that the pilots help vessels go through the fairway so that they dont get stuck in shallow water. New environment-friendly technology is also being worked out to minimise dredging. We also go in for bandalling, which uses bamboo made structure for the river course stabilization. In areas with dolphin population, we are more cautious, he added. River expert Dinesh Kumar Mishra, however, said that he could only hope that an environmental impact assessment had been done prior to pushing for waterway. We dont know what has been done, but we certainly know that ship movement would have impact on river ecology, as the river bed also gets disturbed. The consequences may manifest after some time in more ways than one, he added. Mishra said that Bihar had witnessed the fury of embankments, with the flood-prone area increasing from 25-lakh hectares to around 73-lakh hectares. The focus on river transport is to minimize vehicular pollution, but is there a mechanism to monitor the outcome. Ganga is in bad shape, as it does not have adequate water. With rainfall also constantly falling, it could get worse. Ships can float on water only. What is important is to fix accountability for such huge investments, he added. Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who holds the portfolio of environment ministry also, said all steps would be initiated to protect the highly endangered Dolphins and it was exactly for this purpose that Indias first National Dolphin Research Centre, sanctioned by the erstwhile Planning Commission in 2013, was coming up in Patna. A memorandum between the Patna University and the Bihar state disaster management authority (BSDMA) was signed on February 18 and the foundation stone is likely to be laid soon. Nalanda Open University VC RK Sinha, popularly called Dolphin man for his extensive work on the mammal that fetched him Padma Shree Award in 2016, said at a time when there were encouraging signs about stabilization of Dolphin population and improvement in the Ganga water, it was all the more important to take necessary precautions beforehand. In 2006, the Baiji or Chinese river Dolphin, was declared extinct in the Yangtze river, the first of a large mammal species and scientists attributed it to heavy river traffic. It is important that we keep it in mind, said Sinha. Sinha and Choudhary had also been invited for talks at the IWAI in 2016 and both said that they had raised concerns. There have been instances of Dolphins getting killed due to propellers in the country boats. We had recommended propeller guards. The ships will also need to do some innovation. Flat bottom ships will cause less danger to mammals. Ganga Dolphins are blind, but have strong sense of echo location, said Sinha. The concerns are significant as over half the river Dolphin population is in Bihar, where the state government-sponsored first-ever planned population estimation survey of the mammals in the Ganga and its two main tributaries Gandak and Ghagra by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Zoological Survey of India and TM Bhagalpur University has just been completed, though a final report will be submitted to the Bihar government in March-end only. At present analysis of the data is going on. In the Ganga, the survey was carried out in two stretches. One 300-km stretch was from Buxar to Mokama, done by the team of Gopal Sharma, regional head of the Zoological Survey of India. It recorded around 300 Dolphins. The second stretch was around 278-km stretch from Mokama to Manihari, which found the number to be tentatively around 765. Besides, the third survey covered Gangas tributaries the Gandak and Ghagra. Environmentalist Prof Ashok Ghosh, chairman of the Bihar state pollution control board (BSPCB), said there were clear indicators of improvement in the water quality in the Ganga in the last four-five months. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report has also corroborated the BSPCB report about improvement at three major points along the Bihar stretch of the Ganga at Buxar, Mokama and Munger, vis-a-vis biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO) and fecal coliform (FC). We are yet to release the data, but we will do so soon after further analysis, he added. Ghosh said the improvement in water quality in UP had impact in Bihar and once the Bihar STPs would start functioning, it would improve further. On our part, we have made zero discharge of industrial wastes into the river. Action has also been taken against industries under orange and red categories. We continue with regular monitoring of the river water quality, he added. Experts, however, feel Ganga water quality in the Bihar stretch is relatively better, as four cleaner Himalayan rivers flow into the Ganga from Nepal. In Bihar, not much work under Namami Gange project has been completed till now, but efforts have begun to stop effluents flowing into the river and once all the seweage treatment plants (STPs) start working, water quality could improve further. At present, water quality in UP has improved and that is also contributing to Gangas health, he added. Sameer Kumar Sinha, head of the Species Recovery Division at WTI, said it is a fact that better water quality is conducive to Dolphins growth. We hope for a better count, but the exact figures will be known after the report is submitted, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Film: 90 ML Director: Anita Udeep Cast: Oviya, Masoom Shankar, Monisha Ram, Shree Gopika, Bommu Lakshmi and Simbu Rating: 1.5/5 Anita Udeeps adult comedy 90 ML, which features an all-women cast including Bigg Boss fame Oviya, takes a path less explored in Tamil cinema and deserves praise for that alone. Its the story of a few women who embark on an excess-filled journey of friendship and self-discovery, but end up undercutting feminism in the process. 90 ML is one of those films that flaunt the feminism card for all the wrong reasons. One of the sub-plots celebrates same-sex love but a few scenes later we see a male character pass lewd comments at the girl who accepts her homosexuality. There are scenes where women discuss their sexual encounters with their partners but they make it sound so awkward that it defeats the whole purpose of encouraging a frank discussion about sex, and the fact that women have sexual agency. Some aspects of the film that are supposed to be discussed with sensitivity (even though this is an adult comedy) are reduced to tasteless jokes, especially dialogues involving women losing their virginity and not being sexually active. As a film, 90 ML attempts to be cool but never quite makes sense of feminism and whats even more disappointing is that it has been made by a woman director. The women in 90 ML drink and they have every right to do so. One of the women starts drinking to make her alcoholic husband stop and her efforts pay off in the end. We see the women smoke up, and if the intention is to drive home the point that theyre free to do so, it has already been made in the drinking sequence. We also get scenes where the women get drunk, get into a brawl and create a ruckus because if men can do it then why cant women? And this is where the flawed and limited understanding of feminism comes in. Films like 90 ML encourage the bro culture and refuse to alter the gender roles or expectations in mainstream films. The content keeps it to superficial, forcing women to embrace what is considered cool without wading too deep into what really consists of women empowerment. Also read | 90 ML trailer: Oviya and her gang of girls go wild, celebrate their sexuality Despite the presence of Oviya, who comes across as an upgraded version of wink girl Priya Prakash Varrier, the film needed better actors to convincingly portray the characters. Featuring mostly newcomers, one could easily sense the discomfort with which the actors play their respective parts. Oviya does shine in parts, but even she cant save the film after a point as it heavily relies on the camaraderie between the lead actors, which is never evident throughout the film. For a film that openly talks about booze, getting high and sex, it never utters the word orgasm, which is casually referred to as O. In a shameless attempt to pander to the masses, it prefers using innuendos to refer to body parts instead of encouraging a healthy discussion. 90 ML couldve been a very important film about women coming to terms with their sexuality and freedom, but it simply chooses to be a senseless adult comedy. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop South African comedian Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, during an episode, tried to find humour in the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan and was heavily trolled on Twitter. In a video that is being shared widely on social media, Noah can be seen saying that while he hopes India and Pakistan do not go to war, but it would be the most entertaining war if they did. Commenting on how Indians like song-and-dance, the comedian likened the Indian soldiers war cry to Bollywood songs and the set is now facing a backlash on social media. Twitter users questioned how someone could find the tense situation funny. Others called the joke racist and despicable. Trevor Noah, however, is not new to controversy. The Daily Show host recently introduced the best picture nominee Black Panther at the Oscars and had some fun with the idea that people think the fictional setting of the country of Wakanda is real, reported CNN. Also read: Game of Thrones 8 poster: Night King sits on the Iron Throne and so does everybody else Noah joked about knowing the movies main character, TChalla, played by Chadwick Boseman, and said, that growing up as a young boy in Wakanda, he would see TChalla flying over their village, and he would remind them of a great Xhosa phrase, adding, He says abelungu abazi uba ndiyaxoka -- which means, In times like these, we are stronger when we fight together than when we try to fight apart. However, those who know the dialogue realised Noah actually said, White people dont know Im lying. #trevornoah amazing how you think that a war with a terrorist proxy warring Pakistan will be entertaining. For one who understands the Apartheid to this insensitivity, sad bro. Sad. You still are my favorite but this was bad. PermaFrost (@Frostyallover) February 28, 2019 #trevornoah uneducated premature comedian, sometime lack of creativity Mind lead you towards utter stupidity , here is the example by @Trevornoah Any #Art Form should be practice as a healing therapy not to hurt ! specially when you talking about 1.3 billion people of #india Hitesh Pandya (@Hiteshpandya21) February 28, 2019 (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China has permitted foreign airlines to use its airspace after Pakistan shut down its skies following military tension with India this week, a state media report said on Friday. Civilian flights were severely disrupted before being stopped altogether after fighter jets from India and Pakistan engaged near the India-Pakistan border on Wednesday. About 800 flights use the India-Pakistan air corridor every day, according to Reuters. Also read: Over in 90 seconds: Officers detail India, Pakistan air duel along border The Civilian Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) stepped in with a contingency plan for both domestic and foreign airlines on Wednesday to use Chinese air space to reroute flights. The notice came after Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday, including connecting flights, the North China Air Traffic Management Bureau, under the CAAC, was quoted as saying by the state-controlled tabloid Global Times. The report said 22 flights fly in and out of Pakistan every week, including two from Air China and other flights from Pakistan International Airlines. Flights to Pakistan have undergone major changes in recent days and the CAAC reminded passengers to check flight information before they make plans, said the statement. Flights from the Middle East that usually overfly Pakistan and the Pakistan-India border were being rerouted over India, Myanmar or central Asia to enter China, the Global Times report said. At the request of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the CAAC opened part of Chinas airspace and air routes for foreign airlines to reroute, China National Radio reported. As of 10pm Thursday, 28 domestic airlines affected by the closure of Pakistani airspace adjusted flight plans and 49 foreign flights used Chinese airspace to reroute, it said. Flights from carriers, including Singapore Airlines, Finnair, British Airways, Aeroflot and Air India, had to detour, the report quoted the flight-tracking company Flightradar as saying. There was hope for de-escalation of tension over the weekend with Pakistan deciding to return the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India on Friday. Also read: IAF pilot Abhinandan to come home today, Pak likely to free him at Wagah Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Ren Guoqiang on Thursday called for restraint from both sides, saying that China hoped India and Pakistan would find a solution through dialogue. Israels attorney general on Thursday recommended criminal charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, shaking up an already tumultuous election campaign and threatening to end the Israeli leaders decades-long political career. The potential charges stretch across an array of embarrassing scandals that have painted Netanyahu as a hedonistic, and sometimes petty, leader with a taste for expensive gifts and an obsession over his public image. They include allegations he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, and allegedly used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favourable coverage on a popular news site. While a final decision on charges is still months away, attorney general Avichai Mandelblits recommendations threatened to hurt Netanyahus standing in the heat of a tight re-election battle. Netanyahu quickly faced calls to immediately step aside while he deals with the distraction of trying to clear his name. Appearing on national TV late Thursday, Netanyahu dismissed the allegations as an unprecedented witch hunt by political opponents intent on seeing him lose the April 9 election. He called the timing of the recommendations outrageous and accused prosecutors of caving in to pressure from the left. Appearing emotional at times, he called the case a blood libel, said he would debunk all charges and vowed to remain prime minister for many years. This house of cards will collapse, he said as he addressed voters. Dont let this witch hunt affect you. Mandelblit announced his recommendations after more than two years of intense investigations and deliberations by police, legal experts and financial regulators. The attorney general has reached his decision after thoroughly examining the evidence collected during the investigations, his statement said. Netanyahu was not formally charged. Under Israeli law, he is entitled to defend himself at a hearing before charges are officially filed. That process is expected to take many months and be completed long after the election. Tomer Naor of the Movement for Quality Government, a watchdog group, said the hearing process could take about a year. While charges are not guaranteed, he said most of the cases, particularly the bribery case, appeared to be solid. The recommendations nonetheless plunged Israel into uncharted legal waters, marking the first time in its history that a sitting prime minister is so close to facing criminal charges. While Israeli prime ministers are not required by law to resign if charged, the prospect of a prime minister standing trial while simultaneously running the country could increase calls, even from his allies, to step down. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who spent time in prison for corruption, stepped down a decade ago, months before police completed an investigation against him. As opposition leader, Netanyahu called on Olmert to step down before his indictment, saying he could not devote his full attention to governing. Netanyahu has a solid base of hard-line, nationalist and religious voters who are likely to rally behind him. For now, Likud officials and his current coalition partners are also supporting him. But polls have indicated that the upcoming vote, in which Netanyahu is seeking a fourth consecutive term, could be swayed by a small number of voters who abandon him in favor of a new centrist party headed by a popular former military chief, Benny Gantz. Those voters could well be turned off by Netanyahus lengthy rule and never-ending scandals. Gantz, whose campaign has focused heavily on Netanyahus character, late Thursday called on Netanyahu to resign immediately to deal with his legal problems. He said Israel could not afford to have a part-time prime minister. Lets imagine our reality when the prime minister needs to divide his time between court and dealing with the critical issues facing the state of Israel, he said. Even before Thursdays announcement, Netanyahus campaign had shown signs of trouble. The alliance formed by Gantz and Yair Lapid, another centrist leader, has been welcomed by voters. Their Blue and White alliance enjoys a slight lead in opinion polls, making them the first credible threat to Netanyahus decade-long rule. Lapid also called on Netanyahu to step down. This is a sad day for the state of Israel, he said. If Netanyahu loves the state of Israel as he always says he does, then he needs to do whats best for the country. He needs to resign, immediately. Netanyahu has also come under fire, both in Israel and abroad, for forming a partnership with the political heirs of an ultranationalist party that was banned for its racist views toward Arabs. The campaign now appears to be morphing into a referendum on Netanyahu as he seeks to become the longest-serving premier in Israeli history. Netanyahu has been prime minister since 2009 and served a previous term between 1996 and 1999. Netanyahu had previously tried unsuccessfully to persuade Mandelblit to delay publication of his recommendations until after the election. And on Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Likud Party to block publication. The most serious allegations against Netanyahu involve his relationship with Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israels telecom giant Bezeq. Mandelblit recommended a bribery charge in the case based on evidence collected that confidants of Netanyahu promoted regulatory changes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Bezeq. In exchange, they believe Netanyahu used his connections with Elovitch to receive positive press coverage on Bezeqs popular news site Walla. A related charge against Netanyahus wife, Sara, was dropped. Mandelblits statement said there was a unanimous opinion among investigators that the relationship between Netanyahu and the Elovitches was give or take, constituting bribery. Mandelblit also filed breach of trust charges in two other cases. One involves accepting gifts from billionaire friends, including over $300,000 worth of champagne and cigars from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan. The second revolves around alleged offers of advantageous legislation for a major newspaper in return for favorable coverage. Mandelblits office said the timing of Netanyahus hearing would be set in the near future in coordination with the prime ministers lawyers. President Donald Trump, with whom Netanyahu has forged a close connection, offered the Israeli leader a boost earlier Thursday. I can say this: that hes done a great job as prime minister. Hes tough, hes smart, hes strong, Trump said in Hanoi, where he was holding a summit with the leader of North Korea. Yohanan Plesner, a former lawmaker who now heads the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent think tank, said he does not expect any dramatic changes in voting patterns, but there could be small enough shifts that can actually make the difference. Plesner said from a practical standpoint, Netanyahu should step down due to the severity of the charges. But this will probably not happen, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has admitted that Masood Azhar, the chief of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, is in Pakistan. He (Masood Azhar) is in Pakistan. According to my information, he is very unwell. Hes unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house because he is really unwell. So, thats the information I have, Qureshi told CNN in an interview. The Pakistan foreign ministers comments came as France, the UK and the US have launched a fresh bid at the UN to list Masood Azhar, founder of the Jaish that took responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, as a global terrorist though China remained non-committal on backing the move. Watch: Parents of IAF pilot Abhinandan get standing ovation in flight Qureshi claimed that Pakistan will take action against the Jaish chief if India provides solid, inalienable evidence .If they give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan after all we will have to justify they will go to the court. If they have solid, inalienable evidence, share it with us so that we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan, he said. Also read: China non-committal as push renews for terror tag on Jaish chief Masood Azhar France is leading the latest and fourth attempt to put Azhar on the blacklist of UNs 1267 Committee that already includes the JeM, which he founded after being freed by India in 1999 in exchange for passengers of an Air India flight hijacked to Kandahar. Three previous attempts were blocked by China, which cited the rules under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 and lack of evidence and consensus. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson was non-committal when asked whether Beijing will block the latest move to list Azhar. Qureshi said that Pakistan PM Imran Khans decision to free Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was a goodwill gesture and an expression of Pakistans willingness to de-escalate. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Thursday that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be freed on Friday after New Delhi sought his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release signalling a de-escalation in the spiralling tension with New Delhi. Also read: IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to come home today, hundreds at Wagah to welcome him Imran Khans announcement also came amid pressure from New Delhi and other countries to act against terror emanating from his country. The 35-year-old Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was flying the MiG-21 Bison that shot down the PAF F-16 in the aerial engagement with Pakistan on Wednesday morning. The IAF pilot will be brought by Pakistani authorities from Rawalpindi to Lahore and handed over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention before being brought to the Wagah check post to return home. The US has been monitoring closely Pakistans use of American-made defence equipment in an air strike it carried out on Indian defence facilities on Wednesday disregarding appeals to avoid military actions that could exacerbate tensions and imperil its future arms purchases. Indian defence officials said while speaking to reporters on Thursday that Pakistan used American-made F-16s and Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) in a raid into India in retaliation for its air strikes against a terrorist camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot, Pakistan. The Pakistan-based outfit had claimed responsibility for the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in a suicide bombing in south Kashmirs Pulwama. Watch: IAF displays part of AMRAAM missile as proof Pakistan used F-16 jets India presented parts of an American-made AMRAAM missile used in the raid to reporters at a rare joint defence briefing as evidence that Islamabad was allegedly violating contractual obligations with its chief supplier of subsidised military hardware, apart from flagrantly disregarding an appeal to avoid a military response to Balakot. Read more| MiG 21 pilot took out Paks F16 before capture, says IAF at joint briefing We are aware of the reports and (are) closely monitoring events, a United States state department official told Hindustan Times, in response to a question if Pakistan was in violation of conditions under purchase agreements for using the American-made fighter jets and air-to-air missiles against India. US lawmakers, cutting across party lines, had successfully blocked a sale of eight not new, but refurbished F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in 2016, proposed by the then Obama administration, because among other reasons, they had feared Pakistan would use them against India. These fighter jets were meant to be used, according to Pentagons Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA), to enhance Pakistans ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counterterrorism operations. DSCA is the department that oversees the sale of US military equipment to foreign governments that are funded partly or wholly by America. Read more| Parts of Paks AMRAAM missile found in J&K: Proof shown at defence briefing The sale, to be subsidised by the US federal government, was unpopular with lawmakers. Many members of Congress, including me, seriously question the judgement and timing of such a sale. Additionally, Indo-Pak tensions remain elevated and some question whether the F-16s could ultimately be used against India or other regional powers, rather than the terrorists as Pakistan as asserted, Matt Salmon, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, had said at a congressional hearing then. Brad Sherman, a Democrat, had added, We need to offer to Pakistan those weapon systems well- crafted to go after terrorists and not crafted for a war with India. Predictably, therefore, the sale did not go through. And its collapse was celebrated then as proof of the growing clout of India and the Indian community. As proposed by the Obama administration, a subsidised transaction, Pakistan was free to pay for the eight F-16 fighter jets in full, $699 million, and take them home. It never did. And now, Pakistan might just have put in peril its access, with the offensive strike into India, to US military hardware, specially those it acquired at subsidised costs the high quality stuff it got compared to the substandard alternatives it might have to bank on from China, according to a US defence expert. But a long-time observer of the US ties with Pakistan and the transfer of security and non-security aid, including defence equipment, had doubts if defence purchases were tied to country-specific non-use compliance clauses. Citing an official close to these transactions, the observer said, As a rule, US arms sales contracts do not contain provisions limiting how the recipient sovereign state can deploy purchased equipment. Photo: The Canadian Press President Donald Trump speaks to service members at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska., during a refueling stop as he returns from Hanoi. Senate opponents of President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border have moved very close to having enough votes to prevail, and one Republican suggested the president risks a rebuff by the GOP-led chamber if he doesn't change course. Trump's move would "turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis," veteran Sen. Lamar Alexander said on the Senate floor Thursday. But he stopped just short of saying he'd support a resolution blocking the president's move. Had Alexander pledged his vote, it would probably be enough for the Senate to pass a measure repealing the emergency declaration. Speaking later to reporters, Alexander, R-Tenn., warned what might happen if Trump doesn't settle for using other money he can access without declaring an emergency. "He can build a wall and avoid a dangerous precedent and I hope he'll do that," Alexander said. "So that would change the voting situation if he would agree to do that." The Democratic-led House voted Tuesday to upend Trump's declaration, which he declared to circumvent Congress and funnel billions of extra dollars to erecting his proposed wall. Trump has promised to veto the effort to thwart him, and Congress seems all but certain to lack the two-thirds majorities in each chamber that would be needed to override his veto. But the showdown puts GOP lawmakers in a ticklish spot that party leaders are hoping to ease. Republicans say a Senate vote is likely in two weeks, but exactly what the Senate will vote on remains unclear. Several Republicans said that behind closed doors, they were considering several options for alternative language. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was among those suggesting provisions making it harder for future presidents to divert federal dollars to projects of their choosing by declaring emergencies. "I wouldn't be surprised if some changes are made," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. While the wall elicits wide public opposition, Trump remains wildly popular with hard-right voters and GOP lawmakers cross him at their peril. Trump warned Republicans anew against challenging him. "I really think that Republicans that vote against border security and the wall, I think you know, I've been OK at predicting things, I think they put themselves at great jeopardy," Trump said in excerpts of an interview with Fox News Channel's "Hannity" show released Thursday. While congressional Republicans are reluctant to confront Trump, many say his move tramples Congress' constitutional power to control spending. They say it would set a precedent for future Democratic presidents to declare emergencies for their own purposes, and they worry he would siphon money to barrier construction from home-state projects. China on Friday said the only way to eradicate breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism from the world is to politically resolve current hotspot issues and promoting development for all. Promoting prosperity for all countries would put an end to terrorism, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a written statement to Hindustan Times. According to Beijing, that is the fundamental way to fight terrorism. Foreign minister, Wang Yi had used the phrase eradicating breeding grounds of terrorism after the Russia-India-China (RIC) foreign ministers meet in the town of Wuzhen in eastern China on Wednesday. We agreed to jointly combat all forms terrorism through closer policy coordination and practical cooperation. Especially important is to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism, Wang said while summing up the consensus of the trilateral meet on countering terrorism. Wangs statement had led to speculation that China was seemingly giving India its approval to specifically root out terror camps in Pakistan Indian leaders have described Pakistan as a breeding ground of terrorism at various forums over the years. Responding to HTs questions to clarify Wangs statement, the foreign ministrys answer indicated that Wang was actually speaking in broad terms. Also read | Russias Putin dials PM Modi, supports India in fight against terror The response summarised Chinas oft-repeated stand on terrorism, which it said is a public enemy of mankind. China, the statement said, wants the international community to actively promote political solutions to hotspot issues, strengthen dialogue and exchanges among civilizations, promote common development and prosperity of all countries and fundamentally eradicate the breeding ground of terrorism and extremist ideas. Beijing, the statement added that has always maintained that the international community should foster a sense of common human destiny on issues of counter-terrorism, take comprehensive measures to tackle symptoms (of terrorism) and jointly carry out global security governance. Thats the fundamental way to fight terrorism, the statement added. Regarding hotspot issues like the Kashmir dispute, China has suggested that India and Pakistan have a dialogue to resolve the differences. To India, however, China is a stumbling block in forging a truly united front against terrorism Beijing keeps talking about China has repeatedly blocked Indias and other countrys efforts to designate Pakistan-based Jaish chief, Masood Azhar, as a global terrorist. Closes strategic ties with Pakistan is more important to China than a global united front against terrorism has been Indias takeaway from the UN security council meetings several times in the recent past. Also read | States that back terror must stop: Sushma Swaraj at OIC meet boycotted by Pakistan And, from the foreign ministrys reply to a question on Thursday whether it will continue to block the new effort by Britain, France and the United States to list Azhar at the UN security council, it seems the united front isnt happening anytime soon. We have said many times that the UN Security Council 1267 Committee has clear regulations on the listing and related procedures of terrorist organisations or individuals. China will continue to participate in discussions in the Council on sanctions committees and other subsidiary bodies in a responsible manner, ministry spokesperson, Lu Kang said. On Friday, Lu said China welcomes Pakistans decision to return the Indian Air Force pilot to India. The Chinese side welcomes the above-mentioned decision of the Pakistani side and the initiative to release goodwill to India. India and Pakistan are neighbors. We encourage both parties to continue to move in the same direction and take substantive steps in resolving relevant disputes through consultations and dialogues to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, Lu said. Also read | New India will pay back terrorists with interest, says PM Modi The United States has announced a reward of up $1 million for information on the whereabouts f Hamza bin Laden, one of the sons of Osama bin Laden, who was killed by American commandos in his hideout in Pakistan in May 2011. Announcing the bounty Thursday, the US state department said the younger bin Laden is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise. And he has threatened to avenge his fathers death by attacking the United States and called for his supporters to attack the US and its western allies. The United States had designated Hamza, said to be between 30 and 33 years of age, a foreign terrorist in 2017, and froze his assets in the the US and in its jurisdiction anywhere outside, and prohibited Americans from engaging in any transactions with him. Shortly after the Thursday reward, Saudi Arabia stripped Hamza bin Laden of Saudi citizenship, as it had done with his father, who founded al Qaeda to fight Soviet Union forces in Afghanistan and then went on to carry out several terrorist attacks on the United States and its facilities and assets around the world. The most significant of them were the September 11, 2001 simultaneous attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York and .the Pentagon on the outskirts of Washington DC. Nearly Nearly 3,000 civilians, police, and first responders were killed. The dead included U.S. citizens and foreign nationals from at least 77 countries, including many from India. Hamza bin Laden is married to the daughter of Mohammad Atta, one of the men who carried out the September 11 attacks, and according to material seized from his fathers hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, he was being groomed by his father to take over from him. Ayman al Zawahiri, an Egyptian, has led al Qaeda since Osama bin Ladens death, but he might now be getting ready to pass on the mantle to the younger bin laden, who, it is suspected, could be hiding along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Britain is engaged in feverish talks at the United Nations on efforts to calm tensions between India and Pakistan, besides joining France and the United States in a bid to list Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Masood Azhar as a terrorist under the Security Council Resolution 1267. Mark Field, Foreign Office minister, who left for India on Thursday, told the House of Commons that diplomatic, military and other channels were being worked to help de-escalate the tense situation between the two countries. Several MPs with large Indian and Pakistani diaspora joined a lengthy debate in the House of Commons, after Prime Minister Theresa May expressed deep concern. Field said feverish conversations were taking place at the United Nations over the situation. It is a fluid situation and therefore, I cannot go into specifics regarding the UN other than to say that feverish conversations are taking place there, albeit while trying to instil a sense of calm, he said. I have to say that I have encountered over the last two mornings a blizzard of diplomatic telegrams from Islamabad, New Delhi and, of course, New York recognising the huge amount of work going in from our diplomatic service in trying to keep open lines of communication and trying to speak to individuals in the military and at the political level, he added. Field also revealed that back-channels between military functionaries of Britain, India and Pakistan were also active. The UK has back-channels with both the Indian and Pakistani military, and I am well aware that conversations have already taken place and will no doubt continue at pace, he said. Responding to persistent demands for London to play a greater role, Field reiterated the long-standing policy that it is and must be for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution to this situation, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe, intervene or interfere with a solution or to act as mediator. Noting that Field was walking a fine line, Indian-origin Shailesh Vara (Conservative) asked him to make absolutely clear to that host country that it should not be tolerating terrorists who are engaging in activity in another country and that they must face the full force of law. Field said, (Sometimes) the most effective way to make an argument to our counterparts is not through megaphone diplomacy. There are robust private conversations that will take place. I do not want to go into detail as to what they will say, but let me just say this. We do understand that there is a need and a desire for any country to act proportionately to secure its borders, people and military, but the idea that the UK should be seen to be robustly on one side of this battle rather than another would be entirely self-defeating. I think it is in the interests of us all to take a calm approach, he added. Of course, we will not in any way do anything other than criticise terrorist organisations. That is one reason why the organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed has been subject to a UN listing for almost 20 years and has been proscribed in the UK for that period of time, the Foreign Office minister iterated. The US Navys version of the F-35 stealth fighter jet is ready for combat, officials said Thursday, marking another milestone in the development of the most expensive weapons program ever. The F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win, Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller, who commands Naval Air Forces, said in a statement. We are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force. The F-35 C variant has been developed for the Navy and is capable of taking off and landing from an aircraft carrier. Its wingtips can fold up to create more room on the huge ships. In August 2017, the Air Force announced initial operational capability for their version, the F-35A. The F-35B, used by the Marine Corps, is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, and flew its first combat missions last year over Afghanistan. Launched in the early 1990s, the F-35 program is considered the most expensive weapons system in US history, with an estimated cost of some $400 billion and a goal to produce 2,500 aircraft in the coming years. How a rainstorm and a navigational error led to the murder of two U.S. Army aviators in Mexico. More than a month had passed since U.S. Army Air Service Lieutenants Cecil Connolly and Frederick Waterhouse took off from Calexico, Calif., bound for Rockwell Field, San Diego, and vanished during a patrol flight along the U.S.Mexico border. The mystery surrounding their disappearance captured national attention as fellow Army airmen flew thousands of miles in a fruitless search for them and their Liberty DH-4B. On September 21, 1919, the crew and passengers of the steamship Navari, traveling south from the Colorado River through the Gulf of California to Santa Rosalia, found themselves in need of fresh water. Captain Alejandro Abaro turned the 50-foot boat toward shore at Bahia de los Angeles and dropped anchor. One of the passengers, Joseph Richards, a railroad worker from Chicago, waded ashore carrying an empty water keg. Having filled his keg at a natural spring 200 yards inland, Richards returned to the beach, where Navari rolled gently in the swells. I was the first man back to the boat, said Richards. So, when I got back I began walking the beach looking for sea shells. I smelled an awful strong odor. I seen [sic] a mound of dirt sticking up. I went over there and I seen [sic] a human skull in the sand. I dug the skull up [and] then I took part of a turtle shell and dug in the sand and hit against a boot. I got hold of the boot and pulled on it [and] pulled him clean out of the sand. Richards examined the body and found it dressed in an Army uniform with high-laced boots and gold buttons embossed with wings and a propeller. I went and got a shovel from the boat, continued Richards. He proceeded to dig and uncovered a second body six inches below the sand next to the first. He noted that the second body Had on a pair of oxblood shoes and leather leggings. In a pocket was a lieutenants bar. Richards had discovered the mortal remains of Connolly and Waterhouse. Within weeks the story of their disappearance, the ordeal of their brief survivala diary scratched into the fuselage of their airplaneand the facts surrounding their senseless murder would be revealed to the world. American military personnel examine the partially disassembled DH-4, found 20 miles north of the location of the crews remains. (Aviation History Collection/Alamy) American military personnel examine the partially disassembled DH-4, found 20 miles north of the location of the crews remains. (Aviation History Collection/Alamy) Sadly, 100 years later, more is known about the airmens deaths than about their short lives and military service. Their records were among those destroyed in the disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center near St. Louis, Mo., in 1973. Frederick B. Waterhouse was born on October 1, 1896, in Weiser, Idaho, just a stones throw across the Snake River from Oregon. At some point he joined or was drafted into the Army, and in early 1917 was a private at the Signal Corps Aviation School at Rockwell Field. After completing flight training and being commissioned a second lieutenant, Waterhouse joined the 36th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, while it trained for deployment to France. On September 19, 1917, the 36th joined the American Expeditionary Forces in France, where advanced training continued at the AEF base at Issoudun. Its unknown if Waterhouse deployed with the squadron, and the war ended before it ever saw combat. He was transferred back to Rockwell Field in December 1918. Born in Oklahoma on November 8, 1897, Cecil W. Connolly was an Army brat whose father was a career military musician. Like Waterhouse, Connolly joined or was drafted into the Army and trained as a pilot, earning his commission as a second lieutenant on April 3, 1918. Records for the following months show Connolly in Texas at Camp Dick in Dallas and at Camp Call in Wichita Falls for Duty requiring regular and frequent aerial flights. In October 1918 he was sent to New York to attend radio operators school at Columbia University, and was likely there when World War I ended on November 11, 1918. He was stationed at Penn Field near Austin in February 1919, and the following month joined Waterhouse and other aviators as members of the 9th Corps Observation Squadron at Rockwell Field under the command of Major Henry Hap Arnold, future general of both the Army and the Air Force. Their mission was to patrol the U.S. border with Mexico. 2nd Lieutenants Cecil Connolly (left) and Frederick Waterhouse. (California Historical Society) 2nd Lieutenants Cecil Connolly (left) and Frederick Waterhouse. (California Historical Society) Mexico had been wracked by violence and revolution since at least 1910, and the U.S. had initiated aerial patrols along the border in 1913. Raids into the U.S. by Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and weapons and ammunition illegally flowing south created a national resolve to increase those patrols when WWI ended. The airmen flew war surplus DH-4s and Curtiss JN-4s. Radios, if installed, could only transmit code; compasses were unreliable; maps were sketchy and of little use; and the border country was bleak, rugged and sparsely populated. On August 16, 1919, Waterhouse and Connolly departed Rockwell Field at about 9 a.m. in their compass-equipped DH-4, accompanied by a second DH-4, and headed east, arriving in Yuma that afternoon. Rain showers, fouled plugs and loose fabric delayed their return trip for two days. Departing for San Diego on the 18th, they made it as far as Calexico before the plugs again fouled, forcing them to land in a field, which damaged both wheels. A mechanic and two wheels were dispatched from Rockwell by automobile, and two days later the pair again departed for San Diegoand disappeared. A witness later reported seeing an airplane enter a rainstorm near Jacumba, Calif., and emerge flying roughly southeast. Upon entering the storm it is evident the westbound aviators slowly and inadvertently turned southeast. After exiting the rain they either chose to not believe their compass or the instrument had already failed. Among the messages the pair would later scrawl into the fuselage of their aircraft was one by Waterhouse stating: Hit rain storm got lost. Hit coast in 1 hr. 30 min. Turned to our right [and] flew up coast for 2 hrs. 35 min. Didnt see a sign of civilization all the way. Based upon the DH-4s cruising speed of 90-95 mph, this makes sense. Calexico to Jacumba is 40 miles and would have taken approximately 25 minutes. The distance from Jacumba to the Gulf of California coast on a southeasterly heading is approximately 110 miles, or an additional 1 hour, 9 minutes. From there the message clearly indicates the pair believed they were flying north along the California coast. They apparently missed the fact that Jacumba to the California coast was only 55 miles, which they should have reached in just 35 minutes had they been flying west. As Connolly and Waterhouse flew on, the enormity of their predicament must have gnawed at them. After following what they believed was the California coastline for more than 2 hours, their fuel nearly exhausted, they may have thought their luck had suddenly changed. Saw boat here circled it [and] then landed, wrote Waterhouse. But it went on I guess they didnt see us. The pair had successfully landed their DH-4 on a deserted stretch of white-sand beach about 20 miles north of the coastal settlement of Bahia de los Angeles. With the aviators now overdue and missing, rumors and reports suggested that the pair had likely flown into Mexico. In his history of Rockwell Field, Hap Arnold stated that air patrols were immediately launched, in addition to ground expeditions with the cooperation of Mexican authorities. The country was systematically and thoroughly searched from the air and on the ground for a distance of approximately 120 miles south of the border, Arnold wrote. Indeed, a map drawn of the search by air and land covered thousands of miles and came tantalizingly closewithin 20 milesof the stranded aviators. Meanwhile, at Connolly and Waterhouses encampment, conditions were bleak: We have no food. Drinking water from radiator. Tried to catch fish but after two days gave it up. We have been here 5 days now [and] are pretty weak. Not content to wait and by now keenly aware of their error, the pair decided to try to walk to help. We started walking up the coast. Walked for a day [and] a half. Ran out of water [and] turned back. The search was proving a challenge. On August 26, it was temporarily called off based on a rumor that the pair had been found by Mexican soldiers, but then resumed when the rumors turned out to be false. On September 11, with no solid leads, the War Department called off the search. On October 13 the men at Rockwell Field finally learned the fate of the two aviators when word from Joseph Richards reached them via the U.S. Consulate at Nogales. Three days later an expedition aboard the destroyer Aaron Ward sailed for Angeles Bay and found the bodies of Connolly and Waterhouse as described. Their remains were carefully placed into flag-draped caskets on Aaron Wards deck. Twenty miles north, the partially disassembled DH-4 was discovered where the airmen had landed. Locals had begun to cannibalize the aircraft for useful parts. Its remains were set ablaze after the panels into which the pilots had scratched the record of their ordeal were carefully removed. One entry read, We will put mark for days here on left of this sign. Seventeen hash marks bore silent witness to the tragedy that had unfolded there, along with messages from both men to their mothers: Dearest Mother, We have been here now 10 days. No signs of any help [and] our water nearly gone so I thought I would write a short letter to you while I had the strength. I dont want you to grieve for me. I want you to have everything which is not much. All my love to you + sis + dad. Your loving son, F.B. Waterhouse And from Connolly, My time to die is here. God knows [it] will be welcome enough after our suffering so for 11 days of hunger. Try to forget my fate. What I have is yours. Use it for your comfort and happiness. I tried to live a good life and I do not fear death. I have slighted you in ways I am sorry for now. But cant make it right this late. Please do not wear mourning for me. Love to you, Dad, Nora Hazel and Ethel. God bless you all. Cecil Waterhouse chronicled the pairs flight and struggle for survival on the fuselageof his downed aircraft. (Aviation History Collection/Alamy) Waterhouse chronicled the pairs flight and struggle for survival on the fuselageof his downed aircraft. (Aviation History Collection/Alamy) According to the investigation that followed, the aviators were found in a weakened and emaciated state by two fishermen, Calixto Ruiz and Santiago Fuerte, on or around September 6 and taken the 20 miles to Bahia de los Angeles. There, within days, Ruiz and Fuerte murdered the airmen for the little money in their pockets and crudely buried them. Claiming self-defenseallegedly during a fightin their Mexican court trial, the perpetrators eventually served only five years for their crimes. Connollys and Waterhouses parents met Aaron Ward when it docked in San Diego on the afternoon of October 26. Both men were accorded full military honors as their caskets were carried onto the pier. Second Lieutenant Cecil Connolly, age 21, is buried at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. Second Lieutenant Frederick Waterhouse, age 22, is buried in his hometown of Weiser at Hillcrest Cemetery. In light of the career of their commander, Hap Arnold, theres no telling to what heights these two young airmen might have risen had a cruel fate not intervened. U.S. Air Force veteran Craig Thorson writes from Fort Worth, Texas. He is a Boeing 777 captain with 45 years aviation experience and loves researching little-known aviation history. Recommended for further reading: The History of Rockwell Field to 1924, by H.H. Hap Arnold. This feature originally appeared in the March 2019 issue of Aviation History. Subscribe here! At the 1914 outbreak of World War I Britain rushed cadets of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, from the classroom to sea. Among them was 15-year-old Eric Bush, who shipped out aboard HMS Bacchante, flagship of 7th Cruiser Squadron. Bacchante was present during the August 28 British victory at Heligoland Bight off the northwest German coast. Though the ship saw no action, it took on both wounded British sailors and German prisoners. A few of the wounded who had died in the night were placed behind a screen on the upper deck, so we had a peep at them, Bush recalled. I had never seen a dead man beforequite an experience for a boy of just 15. During the April 25, 1915, landing of the Australian and New Zealand Corps at Gallipoli, Turkey, while Bacchante bombarded enemy positions ashore, Bush helmed a boat tasked with ferrying soldiers to the beachhead. In the predawn darkness he and his seven-man crew collected 150 Australians from the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and towed them ashore aboard three small launches. As casualties mounted, Bush and his men worked around the clock ferrying the wounded back to the ships. Not until midnight on the 26th did they return to Bacchante, having survived a shell strike but lost one crewman to gunfire. Bush remained on boat duty several weeks, and superiors recognized his efforts with the Distinguished Service Cross. Bush later served on the battleship HMS Revenge, witnessing the 1916 Battle of Jutland, the largest naval clash of the war. At wars end the Admiralty sent many prewar cadets back to schoolin Bushs case to Cambridge University. It was a privilege to be there, he reflected. I think it civilized us a bitwe were very young when we went to sea and had manhood thrust on us, as it were, not only prematurely, but violently. Of a great many things that boys and young men learn automatically we knew nothing. In fact, it would not be untrue to say we knew extremely little about life ashore. In 1922 Bush joined the light cruiser HMS Columbo on the East Indies Station, where he secured his first command, captaining the gunboat Ladybird on patrols along Chinas Yangtze River. He then spent two years at the naval intelligence divisions Japanese desk before returning to sea aboard the heavy cruiser Devonshire. Bush was serving as a captain in the antisubmarine Auxiliary Patrol in late May 1940 when the British rallied to evacuate Allied troops from Dunkirk, France. His efforts as beachmaster at La Panne earned him the Distinguished Service Order. A year later Capt. Bush took the helm of the newly commissioned light cruiser HMS Euryalus, which in 1943 provided covering fire for the Allied landings at Sicily and Salerno, earning Bush a second DSO. After returning to Britain, he commanded the leading edge of the naval assault force at Sword Beach during the 1944 invasion of Normandy, for which he received his third DSO. Bush ended out the war as a staff officer in the Far East, witnessing the surrender of Japanese forces in Singapore on Sept. 12, 1945. After the war Bush commanded HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy training establishment for boys, inspiring recruits and fostering their respect for the service through his retirement in 1948. His 1975 book Gallipoli remains one of the most compelling accounts of the campaign by a participant. The storied Royal Navy sailor died at age 85 in 1985. Photo: The Canadian Press A Pakistani soldier stands guard near the wreckage of an Indian plane shot down by the Pakistan military on Wednesday, in Hurran, near the Line of Control in Pakistani Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. Pakistani officials brought a captured Indian pilot to a border crossing with India for handover on Friday, a "gesture of peace" promised by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan amid a dramatic escalation with the country's archrival over the disputed region of Kashmir. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was taken in a convoy that set out from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the border crossing at Wagah earlier in the day, escorted by military vehicles with soldiers, their weapons drawn. The Pakistani military has said his plane was downed on the Pakistani-held side of Kashmir on Wednesday. On the Indian side of the border, turbaned Indian policemen were lined up along the road as a group of cheering Indian residents from the area waved India's national flag and held up a huge garland of flowers to welcome the pilot back. The expected handover comes against the backdrop of blistering cross-border attacks across the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that continued for a fourth straight day, even as the two nuclear-armed neighbours sought to defuse their most serious confrontation in two decades. Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the Kashmir boundary known as the Line of Control, in one of the world's most volatile regions. Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft Wednesday and capturing the pilot. Since the escalation, world leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent. President Donald Trump in Hanoi on Thursday said he had been involved in seeking to de-escalate the conflict. Photo: The Canadian Press After spending three months rowing a small boat across the moody Atlantic Ocean, father-daughter duo John and Libby Beeden say they're wobbly but relieved to have arrived on solid land. It wasn't always a given, John Beeden said. The winds and currents were working against them for the last leg of their 91-day journey from Portugual to the Caribbean island of Antigua. "We're happy to be on terra firma," he said in a phone interview from Antigua. "The weather's been really difficult the whole way. Over the past two weeks things just got harder and harder. So we're just so happy to make Antigua, because for a while it didn't look like we were going to make Antigua." Libby Beeden, 20, described waves as tall as six metres crashing into their six-metre-long yellow boat, made of close-cell foam with shells of kevlar and fibreglass. The frustration was palpable on the blog they updated via satellite phone over the course of their journey. "ARE WE THERE YET?" the headline of one blog post screams. "WHAT THE B****Y HECK HAVE WE DONE TO DESERVE THIS?" another reads. "Desperate to get off this boat," Libby Beeden wrote in the days leading up to their journey's end. "It's too hot, I'm melting!" The elder Beeden, who is from the U.K. but now lives in Collingwood, Ont., was already a record-setting rower when he set out in November. In 2015, he became the first person to row solo, non-stop from North America to Australia in a journey that took 209 days. His daughter had considerably less experience. "I look at things from a jaded old man's approach, and Libby's only 20," John Beeden said. "She conquered all these fears of high waves and rowing at night." They took turns rowing in a bid to keep moving forward 24 hours a day. Would you like to receive our daily news? Signup today! Sign up to receive notifications when a new Columbia Gorge News e-Edition is published. Error! There was an error processing your request. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. News and Info from our Community Partners Information from the News and our advertisers (Want to add your business to this to this feed?) Photo: The Canadian Press A federal housing agency hopes to see every Canadian with an affordable home by 2030 with a plan that lays out a path of experimentation to make it happen. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says today that meeting that 2030 target will take help from governments and the economy hence the aspirational nature of the goal. An estimated 1.6 million households are considered in "core housing need," meaning that people live in places that are too expensive for them or that don't meet their needs. The plan says hitting the mark will also require removing barriers to housing based on gender, race, sexual orientation and gender identity. The target is one that the corporation had talked about with stakeholders for months as it took the lead on delivering most of the money in the federal government's 10-year, $40-billion housing strategy. Over the next year, the agency plans to dole out some $2.4 billion in loans and funding as part of the strategy and to build 8,300 units and repair 15,000 more by this time next year. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, the city has released its annual rental guidelines on "for-profit affordable housing," CTV News reports. In the city's West Side, $2,056 for a one-bedroom is considered affordable rent. In East Vancouver, it's $1,869. Photo: Destination BC Oyama Lake Eco Lodge British Columbia's tourism industry is outpacing provincial economic growth, contributing $9 billion to the economy. Destination BC, the Crown corporation that co-ordinates tourism marketing, released the latest figure from 2017, saying it's a 6.7 per cent increase over the year before. The Tourism Ministry says in a news release that the industry generated $18.4 billion in revenue the same year, an 8.4 per cent leap in one year and over 41 per cent since 2007. It says statistics show tourism added the largest value to the provincial economy between 2007 and 2017, relative to industries, such as oil and gas, mining, forestry, logging and fishing. The figures were released at the Tourism Industry Association of BC conference in Vancouver at the same time as the ministry announced a new strategic framework that it says will guide year-round tourism growth while protecting the province's natural environment. Walt Judas, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of B.C., says the framework will allow the industry to reach its full potential as one of the province's leading business sectors. "The province's new strategic framework for tourism provides a blueprint for both the growth and sustainability of B.C.'s visitor economy for the foreseeable future," he says in the release. B.C. greeted nearly 6.1 million international visitors in 2018, which the ministry says is a new record and an increase of 6.4 per cent in just twelve months. Marsha Walden, the CEO of Destination BC, says the trend for the coming year appears just as promising. "By all accounts, 2019 is going to be another strong year for tourism across the province, bringing jobs and opportunities to communities across British Columbia." Budget 2019 included a funding increase of $1 million for Destination BC over the next three years. Barco Presents Latest Displays at 2019 European Congress of Radiology By HospiMedica International staff writers Posted on 27 Feb 2019 Image: The Coronis Uniti display system (Photo courtesy of Barco). Barco (Kortrijk, Belgium) presented its new clinical review displays built with healthcare specialists in mind at the 2019 European Congress of Radiology held February 27 through March 3 in Vienna, Austria. The company also demonstrated how the value of Barco display systems can be optimized with its latest service offering, Advanced Care, at ECR 2019. At ECR 2019, Barco presented its unique Coronis Uniti display system has shown up to 30% increased detection probability of microcalcifications at increased display luminance levels with I-Luminate and 10% higher detection of small details in moving images with RapidFrame. The Coronis Uniti 12MP diagnostic display system delivers the first unified workflow combining PACS and breast images on one workstation. The solution replaces all display configurations, eliminating the need for a multi-head display set-up or to move to another workstation to view additional exams. Among Barcos new clinical review displays highlighted at the show was the MDRC-2324 24-inch near-patient surgical display with LED backlight, featuring full HD resolution and a wide color gamut. Purpose-built for the operating room, the MDSC-2324 offers an easy-clean design, smart mechanics and the most detailed images in the procedure room today. Thanks to its high brightness, high contrast and high resolution, it presents surgeons with accurate, realistic images and excellent depth perception, along with fast, lag-free transmission. Barcos other concepts on show included the Nio 5.8 MP high-bright color display that offers super bright, color calibrated and detailed medical images, including mammography and breast tomosynthesis; the Nio 3 MP high-bright color display system with LED backlight that provides excellent image quality for confident diagnoses; the MDSC-8255 4K UHD large-screen surgical display purpose-built for ultra-high resolution, multi-image viewing in the digital operating room; and the Eonis 21-inch clinical display for clinical image review that offers a 40% higher calibrated luminance and almost twice the contrast ratio of the previous generation. At ECR 2019, Barco also showcased its MediCal QAWeb, the industrys first online service for high-grade Quality Assurance. The all-inclusive secured system guarantees consistent image quality and uptime of all PACS display systems throughout the facility and is compatible with Barco diagnostic and clinical displays as well as non-Barco displays. Event The global hospitality market is experiencing an unprecedented period of growth, made all the more interesting by new competition, innovative products, and disruption from new players. How are hospitality investors adapting to current market conditions to keep growing? Every year over 2,000 senior figures from over 80 countries come together at the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) for three days of educational panels, open debate, unrivalled networking receptions and ample opportunities to meet with colleagues, old and new. In 2019 the conference will be held from 4 to 6 March at the InterContinental, Berlin. International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) 2019 is organized by Event Kinseth Hospitality Companies (KHC), an Iowa based hotel development and management company, has announced plans for their 2019 leadership conference and vendor tradeshow. Vendors who attend the tradeshow will be able to meet with top level management from nearly 80 hotels and restaurants, as well as corporate-level management. Debbi Malik, of Mill Distributors, Inc. who attended a previous Kinseth tradeshow stated, "We appreciate that you entice the GM's and Construction people to visit every booth. It is always nice to see the people we have worked with and meet those we have spoken with." Robbie Brzymowski of Verdant shared his thoughts about his Full Event Access Sponsorship from a previous tradeshow, "LOVED IT. ... The awards ceremony was fun, we really enjoyed seeing how a great organization treats it's valued employees. Much like ours, it's like family." Robbie continued, "Great people drive results as a result of a great event, we feel very confident about being part of Kinseth's road to success towards 100 (properties)." The 2019 KHC Leadership Conference and Tradeshow will be held Sunday, March 3, to Tuesday, March 5, in Urbandale, Iowa hosted at the Holiday Inn & Suites Des Moines Northwest. If your company has products and services that would bring value to our hotels and restaurants, this is your invitation to share those with Kinseth Hospitality Companies at our 2019 KHC Leadership Conference and Tradeshow, please visit the Conference Website at:www.KinsethHospitalityTradeshow.com. Interested businesses can participate in the event through sponsorship opportunities, tradeshow booths, and/or full event access. After you review the website, if you should have specific questions about the tradeshow, please feel free to contact Scott Lockwood at [email protected]. 2019 KHC Leadership Conference and Tradeshow is organized by Supplier News 1 March 2019 SV Hotel, a selection of 10 hotels throughout Germany and Switzerland (eight branded, two own branded), announced today that it has successfully introduced apaleo, the world's most open property management systems (PMS), at Amaris, one of its own branded hotels. After working with inflexible, complicated, legacy property management systems, SV Hotel realized that it was time to adapt its digital strategy. The group's new approach was to find a leaner system that was easy to set up, easy to use, and would allow applications to connect seamlessly. Stay KooooK, SV Hotel's new extended stay brand, which will open its first two hotels in 2020, helped to spur on this change. With only one staff member on property, the concept required more automation, freeing up time so that the host could take care of guests. After evaluating many providers, SV Hotel began a pilot with apaleo based on its ease of use, flexibility, and, most importantly, shared vision for the future of hotel technology. "Running a hotel is complicated enough. We didn't need technology to make it more complicated. apaleo takes technology headaches out of the equation. Our first pilot hotel, Hotel Amaris in Switzerland, was set up in a matter of days with pre-integrated systems like a CRM, channel manager and guest facing apps," said Kornell Otto, Director of Project Management of SV Hotel. "apaleo's future-facing system and team has allowed us to make our technology vision a reality." apaleo's open platform and store full of pre-connected applications has provided the perfect environment for Hotel Amaris to connect applications like apaleo's Booking.com Direct Connection and eZee for channel management, HotelAppz for CRM and Code2Order for all guest facing communication. It has also automated many of the tedious tasks at the hotel, including check-in and check-out, and night audits, freeing up countless hours of time for staff and improving the guest experience. "We are excited to partner with SV Hotel as it transitions away from closed, legacy systems to open and nimble technology. SV Hotel shared apaleo's future-forward vision for hotel technology. From the beginning, apaleo has been built as an open platform that allows hotels to connect any and all innovative applications that they want to use," said Philip von Ditfurth, co-founder of apaleo. "Since forming apaleo, our team has been clear in our vision of creating a core PMS and open platform that allows hotels to connect apps with ease. The company's fast growth and enthusiasm from hotels and hotel groups validates that our vision is the right way forward for hotel technology. Hoteliers looking to learn more should visit us at ITB in hall 10.1, stand 113 and can book a meeting here," said Uli Pillau, CEO and co-founder of apaleo. About SV Hotel SV Hotel is part of the SV Group, an innovative catering and hotel management group with three business segments: community catering, public catering, and hotel. The head office is in Dubendorf (CH) near Zurich. As a franchisee, SV Hotel operates the Marriott brands Courtyard, Residence Inn, Renaissance and Moxy in Switzerland and Germany. In addition, individual hotels in Bern (La Pergola) and Olten (Amaris) belong to the portfolio. Ten more hotel projects are currently being planned. These are Moxy Hotels in Bremen, Hamburg, Dusseldorf City, Lausanne and Bern, a Courtyard in Freiburg, the two brands Moxy and Residence Inn in Munich and an extended-stay hotel in Bern and Nuremberg. The openings will take place over the next three years. SV Hotel launches its own brand Stay KooooK for the first time with the Extended Stay Hotels in Bern and Nuremberg. It is aimed at the new generation of contemporary travelers looking for a convenient place to stay for longer stays at a fair price. www.sv-hotel.ch, www.sv-group.com, www.staykooook.com. Opinion Article 1 March 2019 Starbucks has thousands of outlets. Nowadays if you find yourself in nearly a major city center anywhere in the world, you're never more than a few blocks away from your next americano. Advertisements The long-term and strategic vision for Starbucks may surprise you, though. It's not just about coffee and compelling you to consume every ounce of caffeine exclusively from them; it's about the culture. There have been several books written about the brand and their business approach. True, there are issues and growing pains, as there are for any corporation of this size and stature. Let's set those aside for a moment, as well as any personal beverage preferences that you might have, and let's focus on the vision. Start by looking at Starbucks purely as a brand. The logo is easy to identify and reinforced through multiple vectors, while the product is consistent and, for the most part, decent. Moreover, part of the product also includes each outlet's atmosphere which are comfortable and have free WiFi to thereby encourage a social environment that caters to every age group. How about this apply to your property? Firstly, it's not just about the guestrooms, which you can compare to Starbucks coffee. Of course, these should be top-of-class with good variety and some unique offerings, but more importantly you should ask how your vision for the hotel will foster a great culture? And don't let having only one outlet - versus thousands for Starbucks or a major hotel chain - deter you from approaching this question. In fact, this will make the task ahead far easier as the ship you're trying to steer isn't the Titanic. Culture starts with the concept of a sense of place. Think of your lobby as a living room. Encourage guests as well as locals to linger, to check their phones, to chat, to grab a drink, to explore, to enjoy the furnishings, to interact with staff. How are you going to get visitors to sit for a moment and thumb through emails if you don't offer free WiFi with clear signage? How are you going to stimulate conversation with readily access coffee and beverage services? Alcohol consumption isn't critical to this - and it may not be feasible with your local laws - but refreshments of any kind will always help. An example of sheer brilliance in this area is the Library Hotel Collection. Visit any of their four New York City properties and you'll see this 'living room concept' in action. They go even further with complimentary food throughout the day. It's this community approach where 'mi casa es su casa' helps to not only promote casual meetings in their public areas, but also interactions between disparate groups of guests. Alternatively, think of any W Hotel and the work that that brand has done to generate buzz amongst the young and the hip. Their lobby bars and rooftop pool areas are always hotspots, and this atmosphere is complemented by similarly striking decor in the rooms. While I certainly wouldn't want you to create a facsimile of this brand, touring one of its properties will help you to understand how all the little touches compound each other to create a vibrant, symphonic ambience. And from this, you might ask what type of culture you are trying to create? Do you want a fun, electric vibe or are you looking for a more traditional sensibility with perhaps a few art deco or neoclassical flourishes? On that note, I can't stress enough how much interior design and artwork can help to contribute to this sense of place. Visual stimulation helps spark emotions and incites a willingness to interact with such a dynamic space. Moreover, furnishings can activate other senses like touch and smell which good design also takes acoustics into account. In an ideal world, you would have budget to completely redo your lobby bar, making it an impressive hangout spot brimming with colorful art and plush decor, all congruent unto a given theme. Alas, though, this is only possible for 1% of hotels at any given time, so do what you can, knowing that any improvements in this regard will pay off when done right. Aside from physical upgrades, a key factor of this sense of place is your staff and their guest service aptitude. Friendly, helpful, responsive, knowledgeable, insightful, funny, stylish and charming are but a few of the adjectives you want people to ascribe to your team. As well, encourage senior managers to mingle with guests in the lobby area, particularly when you host a regular 'Meet the Managers' social event. If possible, consider moving your concierge to be more visible and a part of this milieu. And if you have an in-house PR or social media team member, this is where they should spend a part of each day - talking and mingling with guests. To conclude again with Starbucks, it came as no surprise when the company announced the closing of its online store. Starbucks isn't in the merchandising business. Even with the excellent mobile app that lets you zoom in and out of the nearest location, the brand knows that it's unique selling proposition is in its great in-person experience. Culture isn't fostered through computer clicks; it's made through human interactions. So, take a page from Starbucks and focus on heightening your sense of place, and then watch as your reputation blooms! Opinion Article 4 March 2019 Over the past year, many of us have been bombarded with emails from companies virtually begging us to allow them to keep our personal details on file. Advertisements That was due to the introduction of new regulations in Europe which imposed in theory at least substantial penalties on any firm breaching the rules. And the penalties were harsh up to four percent of annual global revenues or 20 million euros, whichever figure is greater. According to Timo Kettern, director of information technology at Event Hotels and a member of the HITEC Europe Advisory Council, although the constant bombardment proved somewhat annoying to consumers - Kettern uses a more forthright term - companies were running scared as they realized they did not have the consent needed to handle our personal data. Kettern was part of a HFTP working group preparing for the introduction of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and co-produced a couple of papers to help hoteliers come to terms with the GDPR rules, outlining the steps they would need to take in order to comply. The papers were presented at HITEC Amsterdam a year ago, and this year the conference on the Spanish island of Mallorca will review the progress made. Speaking specifically about the German market, Kettern says that since May last year, authorities have focused on educating businesses and the consumer about data protection rather than enforcement. Consequently, the impact so far has not been as severe as had been anticipated. "I've not seen any fines for larger organizations," he says, adding that several smaller firms had been fined around 20-25,000 euros. Nevertheless, he is now expecting the data protection authorities in Germany to begin looking into complaints. Kettern says that in his own organization, he had previously struggled to convince the leadership team of the importance of data protection or of the need to increase training budgets. "GDPR has changed that. Data protection now has visibility at the C-level and GDPR has helped people like myself to get budgets approved and get working parties started, together with HR for training and for the practical changes we had to make in our operations. So that, for me, was the biggest impact." Had companies overreacted to the introduction of the new digital privacy rules? Although there may be certain parallels with the way in which companies had handled the Y2K 'non-event' nearly two decades ago, Kettern does not believe companies had overreacted, saying that the GDPR had raised awareness in the industry and given professionals like him "the budgets, the freedom and the support needed to deal with the issue because at the end of the day, it's kind of a risk exercise. How much are you prepared to spend to minimize the risk?" As to the action hoteliers should be taking now, Kettern advises they should make staff training a priority, in addition to making sure they update passwords and have firewalls in place. "It's one thing to have the procedures documented and your systems in place, but it's people who need to make those processes work." "It's very simple for someone at the reception desk to leave a guest registration card lying around or spin the (computer) monitor around so that someone else can see the data." 'So, what we're doing, we're attacking this on several levels. First of all, data protection is part of the employment contract. It's also about the consent that we, as an employer, can hold the data." Staff also need to acknowledge formally, as part of the employment contract, that they aware of the guidelines. One complication though is posed by the franchise model in the hospitality industry. This means franchisees have to conduct training and self-audits, in conjunction with a data protection officer who should be part of the HR team. Kettern (pictured right) says one of the major challenges faced in running franchises in Europe for major hotel chains in the US and Canada is that "by default we are exporting guest data to North America." In terms of the GDPR, he says, this is critical. As a hotel operator working with US-based hotel chains such as Marriott and Hilton, "it's our obligation to make sure we get confirmation from the brands that they're dealing with the data in North America in the same way we deal with it in Europe. They're all giving us that (assurance) but we can't control that." As the tension rises again, a second wave will come "We've changed some - not all - of the processes because we always took data protection seriously." "We're in an acceptable position but I think we can still improve." For companies to know whether they are on the right path, they may, however, have to wait for the first court rulings with judges giving their interpretation of the regulations. These rulings will, Kettern says, "influence our future and how we're going to change things in the future for sure." The first wave of activity (and anxiety) has 'calmed down', Kettern says, but with the possibility of the authorities pursuing potential breaches, "the tension will increase again and there will come a second wave." 'Networking, education and finding new things' On HITEC Europe, April 9-11 in Mallorca, Spain, Kettern says: "The networking aspect is very important as I'll be catching up with colleagues. So too are the educational sessions, to see what the trends are. There are lots of subjects around digitalization, robotics, artificial intelligence, as well as to overcome one of the challenges we face in hotel operations which is finding appropriate staff." Kettern says he'll be taking a look at the new technologies on offer and will be meeting suppliers on the exhibition floor, and not just the central aisles as those on the edges can be interesting. "So, it's networking, education and finding new things It's going to be fun." Performance 1 March 2019 The U.S. hotel industry reported mixed year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 17-23 February 2019, according to data from STR. In comparison with the week of 18-24 February 2018, the industry recorded the following: Occupancy: -1.7% to 64.7% Average daily rate (ADR): +1.7% to US$129.05 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): flat at US$83.43 Among the Top 25 Markets, San Francisco/San Mateo, California, registered the largest increase in RevPAR (+14.0% to US$168.54), which was driven primarily by the only double-digit lift in ADR (+11.3% to US$214.73). Denver, Colorado, experienced the highest rise in occupancy (+5.7% to 70.5%) and the second-largest jump in RevPAR (+9.8% to US$85.46). Atlanta, Georgia, reported the second-largest increase in ADR (+6.6% to US$113.56), which resulted in the third-highest rise in RevPAR (+3.6% to US$77.58). Seattle, Washington, saw the steepest decline in ADR (-2.9% to US$130.10) and the second-largest drop in occupancy (-9.4% to 62.1%), which resulted in the largest decrease in RevPAR (-12.0% to US$80.80). Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia, experienced the only double-digit drop in occupancy (-10.9% to 52.2%) and the only other double-digit decline in RevPAR (-11.4% to US$42.80). Overall, 17 of the Top 25 Markets reported decreases in RevPAR. The Zakay brothers' Topland Group has sold its Hallmark Hotels business to a consortium of overseas investors for around A250m. The Zakay brothers' Topland Group has sold its Hallmark Hotels business to a consortium of overseas investors for around 250m. The sale was first revealed by The Times today and has been confirmed by Topland. An Israeli investment fund working with LGH Hotels Management has bought the portfolio of 26 hotels. Topland bought the Hallmark Hotels luxury four star hotel portfolio for circa 75m in 2014, taking Topland's hotel portfolio to 30 hotels across the UK. Hallmark comprised eight four star hotels 730 rooms, with 600 employees across the UK including Croydon, Manchester and Gloucester. Its hotel business includes Bath's Royal Crescent Hotel, the Brighton Metropole, the Glasgow Hilton and a portfolio of Thistle Hotels. Topland added the Hallmark hotels to the platform of the Menzies portfolio acquired in November 2013. In a statement Topland, which is run in the UK by Sol Zakay, said it was 'actively looking for new opportunities on individual or portfolio hotel acquisitions, hotel development, hotel financing and hotel joint ventures as well as to expand the current portfolio of Hilton and Thistle Hotels.' Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource Our federal government created a loophole (in 2018) the size of Texas for elite companies to evade the punishment which was originally (2006) deemed fair to prevent the kind criminal behaviour shown by SNC-Lavalin. And, lo and behold, the government is allegedly pressuring our legal system to try out its brand new "Get Out Of Jail Free Card." What happens if this company is convicted? Theres a good chance it will eventually fail due to loss of confidence. So sad. But the company is a criminal that is the whole point. Crime is not supposed to pay. Yes, people could be laid off over time due to lack of future work. This is an opportunity to start a new company or go to another. For others it will be an embarrassment having worked for a criminal organization, so maybe they should leave, too. What about the poor shareholders, who have been earning from the proceeds of criminal behaviour? Enough said there. It was good for a while. Our government has created a loophole that says crime can pay, if you are a big enough criminal and we will have vigorous discussions on your behalf. Canadians have to stop being so apathetic and tell their elected officials this is not right. Neil Stephenson, Kelowna Delivery of the 242-room hotel is scheduled for early 2021 ASG, which targets special investment opportunities in German and Spanish real estate, has checked Hampton by Hilton in to a new 242-room hotel that will be built in Barcelona. It is the third investment to date in Spain's dynamic hotel sector by ASG funds. Hampton by Hilton Barcelona Fira Gran Via will operate under a franchise agreement with Borealis Hotel Group, which has signed a long lease to operate the new hotel. ASG will build the property opposite the Fira de Barcelona conference center in the Plaza Europa business district. Construction work has started and ASG is scheduled to deliver the new hotel in the first quarter of 2021. The entire project is projected to cost approximately 40 million. Saul Goldstein, ASG's founder and managing partner, said: "Helping strong operating brands establish a footprint in the highly attractive Spanish market is a feature of our hotels strategy. It builds on the successes of our local team in unearthing opportunities in top locations in Spain with a shortage of hotel rooms. We have a good pipeline of projects and expect to make fresh announcements in the coming months as our hotel strategy gains momentum." Hard Rock International signed in October for a hotel that ASG created by converting an obsolete office building in Madrid's museum district. ASG is also upgrading a hotel in the historic center of Malaga to reposition it for the luxury segment of the market. The Hampton by Hilton Barcelona development is an investment by ASG's Iberia Fund I. Barcelona's climate, cultural heritage and excellent transport links have made it one of Europe's most visited cities by tourists after London and Paris. The city is a major destination for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, ranking third globally by number of events after Vienna and Seoul. Barcelona hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key industry metric, has climbed at a cumulative annual growth rate of 6.1% since 2009. Hampton by Hilton targets the value with quality segment of the business traveler market, with more than 3,000 hotels trading or under development, including Hampton by Hilton Alcobendas Madrid, which is currently under development in Spain's capital. Amsterdam-based Borealis specializes in hotel investment, development and management, completing more than 3 billion of transactions since 1997 and working with various international hospitality brands. Brian Betel, managing partner of ASG Iberia, said: "Signing Borealis under the Hampton by Hilton brand is a key milestone for this project. We saw the potential this location would serve for the international conference and exhibitions market because of its location opposite Barcelona's top conference venue, surrounded by large corporate neighbors and its excellent transport connections - to the airport and the rest of the city." Patrick Fitzgibbon, Senior Vice President, Development, EMEA, Hilton said: "Since its arrival in Europe, Middle East & Africa a decade ago, Hampton by Hilton has grown to nearly 150 hotels trading or under development. Barcelona's enduring appeal as a major destination for conferences and events like Mobile World Congress makes it natural choice for the brand, and we look forward to welcoming guests in 2021." Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource Mr. Gianleo Bosticco joins Marriott International as Senior Director of Development for Italy, based in Milan. Working closely with Fabrizio Piolanti (Director of Development for Marriott's select service brands in the region), Mr. Bosticco will be based in Milan and will oversee the development of all Marriott's brands in Italy. Mr. Gianleo Bosticco joins Marriott International as Senior Director of Development for Italy, based in Milan. Working closely with Fabrizio Piolanti (Director of Development for Marriott's select service brands in the region), Mr. Bosticco will be based in Milan and will oversee the development of all Marriott's brands in Italy. "We are delighted to welcome Gianleo to Marriott's European development team," said Tim Walton, Regional Vice President of Development for Western Europe. "He has an excellent professional pedigree and I have no doubt that he'll help drive meaningful growth for Marriott in Italy, which we see as a key market for our European expansion in the coming years." Marriott International currently comprises 62 hotels in Italy with a further 10 hotels in the pipeline. In 2018, Marriott strengthened its position in the Italian luxury hotel market by signing contracts for new Edition and W hotels in Milan and a new Edition hotel in Rome. Gianleo Bosticco was born into a family of hoteliers and grew up in a ski resort in the Italian Alps. Following his bachelor degree in business administration at Turin University, he worked in operations, including at his family-owned property. In 2003, he gained an MBA in hospitality management from IMHI. Following this, he joined Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in Milan where he was responsible valuation assignments, market analysis, feasibility studies and negotiation of operating agreements for projects across Italy. After three years, he moved to the London office of JLL Hotels and worked within the Investment Sales team, where he concentrated on the sale of 4 and 5 star hotels, as well as on development projects and management agreement negotiations. He concluded his experience with JLL Hotels in Paris. In 2012 he joined Melia Hotels as the Development Director for Southern Europe, responsible for the development of all the company's brands throughout France, Italy, Turkey and the Balkans. In 2015, Mr Bosticco moved to a development role at the Rezidor Hotel Group from where he joins Marriott International's team of 23 developers in Europe. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource A month before the release of his new album Rap Or Go To The League, which arrived this morning, 2 Chainz announced that the project would be his Black excellence project -- similar to Jay-Z's 4:44 or Nipsey Hussle's Victory Lap. Throughout the month, he paid homage to African-American leaders who're doing groundbreaking things within their communities who aren't necessarily entertainers or athletes. Yesterday, to close out Black History Month, the rapper paid homage to Jay-Z. "Hope you enjoyed these #BlackNowStory that I sent you," he wrote yesterday (Feb. 28). "Goin to end it with Jay Z the Brooklyn native who went from being in the streets, to be a successful artist, entrepreneur, record exec, philanthropist and more. A big inspiration for the culture. More wins and trophies to you bro. Sincerely Toni." 2 Chainz has always spoken highly of Jay-Z. In his Breakfast Club interview this morning, he revealed that he was trying to get a Jay-Z verse for Rap Or Go To The League but the timing wasn't right. "Id love to work with him. I tried to get him on this album and he told me maybe the next album," he explained. 2 Chainz has been chasing a HOV feature a minute. He revealed in 2013 that he was trying to nab a feature from Jay-Z for B.O.A.T.S II: ME TIME but was advised against it by Kanye West who emphasized the "me time." Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" may have been the first pop song to be accused of biting several popular hip-hop songs at the same time. Princess Nokia and Soulja Boy got at Ariana Grande's neck for supposedly biting their flow. 2 Chainz called her out on Instagram for seemingly biting the pink trap house aesthetic from Pretty Girls Like Trap Music. In a turn of events, Ariana Grande ended up getting 2 Chainz on the remix to the song which arrived a few days after the controversy. 2 Chainz sat down with Genius and explained how the collab came about. "'I want to say it didn't bother me, but once again, you don't want to get caught up into that, man, you're petty," he said. "I've thought that somebody has taken a little something out of my DNA before, and I haven't said anything because I don't want anybody... It's supposed to be... what is it? Flattering, or whatever it's supposed to be. But in this particular case, I've known her manager for a very fucking long time. You know what I'm saying? And I guess it was a lot of slack actually coming on their end as well, not just from me." He explained that they ended up meeting in person which changed his perspective. After she admitted that she thought it was clear she was paying homage, they cleared the air and ultimately worked on two songs -- the "7 Rings" remix and a song for his album. "It was just one of those things where I didn't even know you were a fan of mine, and we built a rapport. And I obviously did the- she did a song for me first, actually, while I was there. And she opened up her mouth and a damn angel came out and I was like, Yo, this little girl can sing! And then I obviously did the remix for them while I was there. And she just was super excited about trying to put it out, clear the space or whatever." Peep the video below. Jordan Brand has not yet introduced their full lineup of sneakers for the Spring season but a handful of upcoming Air Jordans have already surfaced, including the Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom." The kicks, sporting a "Sail/Black-Phantom-University Red" color scheme, are officially slated to launch on March 16. (Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom": Image Via Nike) The all-new 1s, priced at $160, are highlighted by a red stitching that stands out against the neutral, sail colored upper. As seen in the official images provided by Nike, university red also handles the ankle collar, while the black detailing appears on the tongue and wings logo. Click here for a rundown of some of the other highly anticipated sneakers dropping in March, and scroll down for additional photos of the upcoming Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom." (Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom": Image Via Nike) (Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom": Image Via Nike) (Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom": Image Via Nike) (Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom": Image Via Nike) (Air Jordan 1 High OG "Phantom": Image Via Nike) French producer and DJ Gesaffelstein recently collaborated with The Weeknd on his single "Lost In The Fire" that was released back in January, and now he shared his track "Blast Off" featuring Pharrell Williams. Gesaffelstein's forthcoming Columbia Records project Hyperion is set to drop on March 8, and this Electro-meets-R&B single is an up-tempo, yet smooth, dance track that blends genres nicely. It may not be how many Skateboard P fans are used to hearing Pharrell, but the eclectic artist has experimented with sounds throughout his career. Gesaffelstein, who is known for being a mysterious artist, has previously spoken about his reputation saying, People think Im mysterious but Im not thats just what they think. Im just me. For me the real mystery in electronic music is the artists who try to be cool, when they arent cool. When I see a DJ who..." He pauses to make grand gestures. "Thats the real mystery. Quotable Lyrics You've been thinking about this all night All week saying this was right Cross your heart and hope to die Are you sure you wanna pay the price? Do it outside in the night Cause where you going is the life IBM was in hot water this week and for a good reason. It was recently revealed by The Washington Post that the company's online job application featured racially insensitive suggestions when it came to applicants choosing their ethnic background from a dropdown menu. Richard Park broke the story when he tweeted out a video clip that showed options such as "yellow," "coloured," and "mulatto," leaving many feeling as if the company may be capable of unfair hiring practices. The Hill reached out to IBM to get their take on the controversy. The company told the news source that the questions regarding ethnic backgrounds are a "local requirement" in Brazil and South Africa. However, The Post reported that those aforementioned options were listed for an internship in the United States. IBM spokesperson Edward Barbini issued an official statement to The Hill, apologizing on behalf of the company. https://www.instagram.com/p/BjeyoF-ABsG Those questions were removed immediately when we became aware of the issue and we apologize, Barbini said. IBM hiring is based on skills and qualifications. We do not use race or ethnicity in the hiring process and any responses we received to those questions will be deleted. IBM has long rejected all forms of racial discrimination and we are taking appropriate steps to make sure this does not happen again. The apology followed an exchange that Park had with IBM on Twitter. ".@ibm applied for a job on your career site. Arent these ethnic group labels a little antiquated?" Park tweeted. "To make matters worse, I couldnt submit my application w/o selecting an option. I ended up selecting 'Yellow' and 'Coloured.'" https://twitter.com/_/status/1097646702335545344 IBM responded by writing, "Hi Rich. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The insensitive language, which resulted from an auto translation, has been removed from the Brazil recruiting website," IBM Jobs tweeted. They continued on to say, "Some of our recruiting websites have been translated incorrectly, and we apologize. We have removed the insensitive language and are reviewing all sites to ensure there are no further issues." It was just a few weeks ago that we learned SAINt JHN signed a deal with Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Kareem Biggs Burkes new venture Circle of Success Management Company, and now today hes back with his first single under it called Trap featuring ATLs Lil Baby. Over production from f a l l e n, the Brooklyn artist shows off a catchy, high pitched cadence and croons about his trapping lifestyle, while Baby delivers his signature melodic verse and reiterates the same sentiment about life in the streets. TRAP, its self-explanatory, SAINt JHN said. Off his upcoming Ghetto Lenny Love Songs album, take a listen to the melodic collab and let us know what you think. Single available on iTunes. Quotable Lyrics: Trap, only thing we ever had to do was trap I was breaking down barriers and now switched it with rap Lil Shawty was the man, like damn nigga, what happened? Ima keep chasing the money, as far as I ever see Had to kick my double-cup, feel like it was killin' me I was sittin' in the spot, ain't never missed a beat If I'm feelin' in my heart, I'ma put it on a beat, like - Lil Baby The days of spending hours at the car dealership test-driving new vehicles, haggling over price and signing a mountain of paperwork may soon be in the rearview mirror. More automotive dealers are offering the option of buying a new vehicle online in response to changing consumer preferences. Houston-based Group 1 Automotive, the nations third-largest dealer group, recently became the latest to join the fray, allowing drivers to buy a new truck, SUV or sedan without ever stepping foot into a dealership. Whether they reserve restaurants or buy books online, the world is moving there and we need to be able to accommodate that, said Daryl Kenningham, Group 1s president of U.S. operations. Customers like that experience and they want to do business that way. This shift toward online sales is poised to transform the automotive industry, which has long relied on brick-and-mortar dealerships to drive new vehicle sales. Dealers that embrace e-commerce can help expand their market reach while reaching out to shoppers put off by pushy sales tactics and drawn-out negotiations that many say have marred the traditional car-buying experience. To be sure, there will always be customers who are hesitant to buy a car online, said Dan McDowell, president of InfoNation, a Sugar Land-based automotive research firm. Many buyers still prefer getting behind the wheel to see how a car drives and feels. After all, a new car is an emotional purchase for many, he said. For some customers though, going to a dealership to haggle with a salesman is one of their most anxiety-filled experiences, McDowell said. Some people would rather just do away with that anxious encounter and order online. I think its wise for dealers to go after this market and expand their sales via the internet. Changes coming The automotive industry has long been on the cutting edge of technology, adding new safety features, infotainment options and autonomous driving capabilities over the years. The car-buying experience, however, has changed very little since the first dealership opened in 1898. Despite the advent of online car listings, most shoppers still have to schlep to a dealership to close the sale. Thats because buying a new vehicle is costly and complicated, and is governed by a labyrinth of state regulations that have largely shielded auto dealers from the disruptive forces of e-commerce, which have roiled retailers from booksellers to grocers to toy stores. However, as consumers have become more accustomed to buying big-ticket items online think Wayfair for furniture and Casper for mattresses auto dealers are starting to believe theres a market for car shoppers who dont mind clicking to buy without kicking the tires. Group 1 in November began piloting online sales of new and used vehicles at 28 of its dealerships nationwide, and plans to expand its e-commerce platform to all 117 of its U.S. dealerships later this year. Customers will be able to search for vehicles, complete a credit check, in some cases arrange financing and insurance, make a purchase offer and sign most documents all through Group 1 dealer websites. Buyers can pick up their vehicle from a dealership, or have it delivered to their home. The company, which sold a record 318,516 vehicles in 2018, has reported only about 500 online sales during its pilot. However, Group 1 found that customers who start their car purchase online tend to complete their sale at double the rate of a typical customer who walks in to the dealership or calls to inquire about a car listing. We couldnt be happier with the results, Kenningham told analysts during a conference call last month. Our closing rates were outstanding, front and back gross profit levels were better than expected and the customer feedback has been excellent. Group 1 posted record revenue of $11.6 billion in 2018, up 4.3 percent from the prior year. The company, which owns and operates 182 dealerships in the U.S., U.K. and Brazil, has a market capitalization of $1.2 billion. Joining the fray Group 1 isnt the first retailer to sell new and used cars online. Tesla has always eschewed franchise dealers in favor of storefront displays and online sales. The California-based electric vehicle maker last week announced it would close most of its stores and only sell cars online to cut operating costs and skirt regulations that prevent it from operating stores in Texas. The popularity of Tesla vehicles have proven to many dealers that there is customer demand for online car shopping.. Florida-based AutoNation and Michigan-based Penskle Automotive Group began online sales in 2015. Both companies operate new and used dealerships in Texas. Marc Cannon, AutoNations chief marketing officer, said a little more than a third of the companys business today comes from online channels. AutoNation last year invested $50 million into Vroom, a New York-based online used car retailer. Consumers are using digital more and more, Cannon said. People want to shop and buy at their leisure. CarMax, the nations largest used car retailer, recently began testing a home delivery service in North Carolina and Atlanta that will allow customers to skip its used car lots. Shoppers can search for preowned vehicles, choose financing options and get their trade-in vehicle appraised online. CarMax will then bring the vehicle to the customers home for a no-obligation test-drive, after which the buyer can complete the purchase via a personal or certified check. It also offers financing for the purchase of a used vehicle through its online service. Amazon, the worlds most valuable online retailer, also is making forays into the automotive business, although it has yet to sell cars directly to consumers. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant in 2016 launched Amazon Vehicles, an online marketplace for car listings, and recently made a $700 million investment in Rivian, an electric vehicle startup and Tesla rival. Used leadership Although industry data is scant, most online sales today involve used cars, which unlike new vehicles, do not have to be sold through franchised dealers. The open market for used vehicles has allowed upstarts such as Carvana to make inroads into the automotive business. Carvana, an online-only used car retailer famous for its glass car vending machine towers, is the fastest-growing automotive retailer nationally, operating in 85 markets including Houston. Founded in 2012, the Phoenix-based company has been called the Amazon of Auto after selling a record 94,108 used vehicles online in 2018, more than twice its sales from the previous year. Carvana posted 2018 annual revenue of nearly $2 billion, up from $859 million in 2017. The company allows customers to choose their preferred vehicle, arrange financing and have it delivered. Alternatively, customers can choose to pick up their newly-purchased vehicle at one of 15 car vending machines nationwide, including one off Interstate 10 in Houston. Owners have seven days to test-drive the car and bring it to a mechanic, during which they can return or exchange it with no question asked. Carvana will even process title registration so its buyers dont have to set foot into a DMV. People are embracing a new way to buy cars, said Amy OHara, a Carvana spokeswoman. Our goal is the make the car-buying experience customer-centric. Taking a leap Susan Andreini, 51, and her husband, Jeff, 55, in October bought their first car online from Carvana, a 2015 Infiniti Q70. The preowned luxury sedan, priced at $28,877, was about $2,000 less than competing car dealerships, Andreini said. After choosing their preferred model, the Tomball residents spent only about 15 minutes filling out forms online. That was in stark contrast to the four-and-a-half hours they spent earlier last year at a local dealership negotiating a used car purchase for their 24-year-old daughter. Although Andreini was initially skeptical of buying a car online, especially not being able to test-drive it first, the smooth experience has made her a convert. In fact, the online shopper persuaded her neighbor across the street to buy a car from Carvana as well. I would totally do this again in a heartbeat, Andreini said. We buy a lot of things online, so buying a car online wasnt that big of a jump. paul.takahashi@chron.com twitter.com/paultakahashi Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle Canada energy firm Encana said it will cut 274 jobs in The Woodlands after acquiring Newfield Exploration for $5.5 billion in an all-stock deal. Encana is axing much of its workforce in the region now that it has taken over The Woodlands-based Newfield. The job cuts will take place from now through the end of May. Newfield previously employed roughly 600 people in The Woodlands. Amidst the tension between India and Pakistan escalating at the border, Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has claimed that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and he is too unwell to even leave his house. In an interview with CNN news channel, Qureshi claimed Azhar is in Pakistan. According to my information, he is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he cant leave his house, because hes really unwell. Masood Azhar, who heads the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group, has been responsible for various attacks in India like the 2001 Parliament, Pathankot Air base attack, Pulwama blast, which killed more than 40 CRPF soldiers among others. India has been repeatedly trying to blacklist Masood Azhar and put him under the UN list of global terrorist although China has been blaocking Indias attempts by vetoing its power. Pulwama Attack Qureshi said to CNN that they are ready to take action against Masood Azhar if provided with credible evidence that can stand in the court of law. And India has already submitted its dossier to Pakistan about the recent Pulwama attack. If they have solid, inalienable evidence that is acceptable to courts of Pakistan, share it with us so that we can convince the people and we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan, the foreign minister said, adding that there is a need to satisfy the legal process. Now, France, Japan, UK all have agreed to balcklist Masood Azhar in United Nations Security Council and now, it would be seen how China responds to the mounting global pressure to designate Azhar as the terrorist, which China has been shielding from a couple of years. ALSO READ: US welcomes Imran Khan's decision to release IAF Pilot Abhinandan, to return today Exxon Mobil said Thursday it made a major natural gas discovery offshore of the island nation of Cyprus, a find that could increase geopolitical tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. The discovery is one of the worlds largest of the last few years and the biggest in Cyprus history, according to the Cypriot government. Exxon Mobil said the field tapped by its Glaucus-1 exploration well could hold 5 trillion to 8 trillion cubic feet of gas. These are encouraging results in a frontier exploration area, said Steve Greenlee, president of Exxon Mobil exploration. The potential for this newly discovered resource to serve as an energy source for regional and global markets will be evaluated further. The Eastern Mediterranean could become a major gas source for Europe to help nations reduce their reliance on supplies from Russia, but the discovery lies near territorial waters claimed by Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. Turkey, in particular, disputes international boundaries with Cyprus. Turkey and Cyprus have a long history of conflict. Turkey, which invaded Cyprus in the 1970s, occupies much of the northern portion of Cyprus where ethnic Turks are the majority. The other part of the island is held by Cypriots of Greek descent. While Turkey hasnt interfered directly with Exxon Mobils exploration efforts, Turkey has warned it would react to protect natural resources it contends belong to Turkish Cypriots. Exploration hotspot Elsewhere in the region, Houstons Noble Energy is developing natural gas fields off the coast of Israel, while Italys Eni is building out production in Egyptian waters The energy research firm Wood Mackenzie, estimated Exxons discovery at about 5 trillion cubic feet of gas, or the equivalent of 800 million barrels of oil equivalent, which is still a major find. The discovery maintains the East Mediterraneans position as one of the worlds premier exploration hotspots, said Robert Morris, a Wood Mackenzie senior research analyst. The discovery, he added, shows that worlds biggest oil companies are still having plenty of success in their exploration efforts. Morris highlighted Exxon Mobil as being at the forefront of that success with Cyprus and its offshore Guyana development in South America. Outside of West Texas booming Permian Basin, Guyana is Exxons biggest point of emphasis worldwide. The question, however, is how the Cyprus find will be developed. Morris said the discovery may not yet warrant the massive liquefied natural gas plant that Exxon initially envisioned. Exxon Mobil can either keep drilling for more discoveries to further boost the overall potential, he said, or partner with Eni and Frances Total, which teamed up for a sizable Cyprus discovery in another offshore block last year. Exxon Mobils exploration block offshore of Cyprus comprises more than 635,000 acres. Qatars state energy company holds a 40 percent stake in the block. Courtesy of Howard Hughes Corp. Oil giant ExxonMobil and power producer and retailer Entergy have signed leases for office space in Lake Front North, a two-building office complex on the north side of Lake Woodlands at 2103 Research Forest Drive. ExxonMobil, which already leases space in The Woodlands and has a massive corporate campus in Spring, leased 26,103 square feet and Entergy leased 54,010 square feet in the complex. ExxonMobil will move in this month; Entergy recently took occupancy of its space. When Noemie Levy sat down to write her chapter in a new book about young women in government, she knew exactly what she wanted to say and who she wanted to say it to. I think the beauty of this book is that it truly can be for everyone. And as a young adult anthology, it primarily targets young people especially young girls between the ages of 12 and 25, said the Rice University graduate who penned the new book, Yes She Can along with nine other young women, all of whom she worked with in the Obama White House. I think the number one thing we hope this book can do is to show young women everywhere that they belong in government, in public service and that our paths to the White House are really diverse and unique, she said. But really, theres one young woman in particular she would love to grant access to the book: This is everything I wish we could tell our younger selves, she said. The book begins with a short, girl-power-packed prologue, describing the political moment in which its 10 authors all 20-something women came to serve in the Obama White House. The White House was once considered an old boys club, the authors wrote. But beginning in 2009, the Obama administration proved, among other things, that Young women get. Stuff. Done. Give us a task, vague or concrete, big or small: Well complete it. Better than you asked for, and on or ahead of schedule. More Information "Yes She Can," an anthology compiled by Mollie Dillon to be released Tuesday Schwartz & Wade $18.99 288 pages Ages 12 + up See More Collapse Its enough to make any young woman reading want to sit up and sing, Who run the world? From there, each of the authors gets her own chapter to detail her most memorable day in the White House. For Levy, that took place on Oct. 1, 2014, as she worked on a policy that helps Holocaust survivors who emigrated to the United States after World War II access social services in their golden years. An immigrant herself, Levy wrote that she felt deeply empowered and humbled to be able to serve people who had endured so much trauma. For Houston native Jaimie Woo, her most memorable moment stretched for four days in November 2015, when she assisted Vice President Joe Biden on a trip to her hometown to work on his ambitious Cancer Moonshot mission. As a policy analyst in Bidens office, it was Woos job to supply the vice president with key information for his trip. So Woo printed out every piece of material she could possibly need to support Biden, then she filed them into binders, which she lugged with her. Throughout the trip, Woo found herself in the back of the pack, weighed down by what felt like an extra 30 pounds of paper, while other staffers glided seamlessly between meetings, referencing notes they kept digitally. It made her acutely aware that she stuck out. Though that wasnt a new feeling for her. When youre surrounded by some of the smartest, most driven people in the country, working with brilliant minds who have seemed to achieve things with ease, its not unusual to get imposter syndrome, a feeling of not belonging with those around you, wrote Woo, who grew up in Houston, and whose parents have temporarily relocated to Sacramento, Calif., after their home was severely damaged in Hurricane Harvey. My colleagues had years of experience and expertise. As a young Chinese American woman, I didnt often see many people who looked like me in politics. So how had I gotten here? Did I belong? Had they made a mistake? Its a question she asked herself often then. But now, she hopes that her story, and the stories of her colleagues collected in this anthology will encourage young women who want to enter public service to not dwell on these false notions of inferiority. There is a natural fear of being unable to live up to whats expected of you, and it took me a long while to get to this realization: Youre not randomly here, she wrote. The work youve put in and the experiences youve had have led you to where you are, and you were chosen for a reason. This, she said, is the way of thinking she hopes everyone who reads the book will walk away with. And she hopes that the act of writing their experiences as young women in an elite workplace will help other young women imagine themselves in their shoes. Our mission is to inspire and support young girls to consider public service, and to make sure they know that a government job is not just a boring old fat guy with mustard on his shirt, sitting in a cubicle, she said. And its also not excluded to the sons and daughters of rich, famous people who just kind of get swept in there. To this end, the authors include A Girls Guide To Getting Into Government, at the end of the book, pointing out internship opportunities and other resources that could help young women catapult themselves into a job like Woos. Its the idea that you can do this too, Woo said. And we want to help you. maggie.gordon@chron.com; twitter.com/MagEGordon Jim Allison grew up in the tiny South Texas town of Alice, a smart kid enamored of biology. He was curious about how the body works. He was also more than a little sad, with good reason. His mother died of lymphoma when he was 11, leaving a massive hole in his life. The tragedy helped build a steely sense of resolve. That resolve lies at the core of Breakthrough, a documentary portrait of Allison that will have its world premiere March 9 at the South by Southwest Film Festival. There are no scheduled screenings yet for the Houston area. The film shows how Allison, who now plies his trade at MD Anderson Cancer Center, turned his motivation into tireless action, culminating in a 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work revealing the immune systems role in battling cancer. Allison, 70, has also been known to jam on harmonica for Willie Nelson. Well get to that shortly. Hes a man of many hats, a fun-loving Texan who loves country music and the blues and cutting-edge immunology research. In short, hes the perfect subject for a documentary. South by Southwest When: 'Breakthrough' screens March 9, 12 and 14 at South by Southwest in Austin Details: sxsw.com See More Collapse Hes simultaneously everyman and a remarkable talent, says Breakthrough director Bill Haney. Its the irreverence combined with the persistence combined with the penetrating mind. He epitomizes this whole pioneering, blessedly American perspective so beautifully. Entranced by T cells As a young student, Allison was just a scientist fascinated by T cells, a type of white blood cell responsible for hunting down infection and keeping us healthy. T cells were just so cool and mysterious, Allison says from his office at MD Anderson, where he is the chair of the Department of Immunology. I just wanted to understand their role in the immune system. I didnt launch this work to try to cure cancer. A bear of a man who wears his hair long and loves live music, Allison looks like he could spend his work and play time doing any number of things: scientist, Grateful Dead roadie, biker, alpaca farmer. Hes not about to walk up to you and explain that he may be the most important cancer researcher in the world. This is the everyman quality to which Haney referred. RELATED: Jim Allison awarded Nobel Prize for Medicine. Then theres the laser-focused innovator who isnt fond of the word no and inspires intense loyalty. In 2004, Allison relocated from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was director of the Cancer Research Laboratory, to Sloan-Ketterings Cancer Center in New York. Most of his staff came with him, packing up the entire lab and trekking across the country. New York gave him proximity to major pharmaceutical companies, including Bristol-Myers-Squibb and Pfizer. Research, after all, can only go so far. In Breakthrough, Allison s doggedness comes into full focus as he tries to bring his discoveries to market. This process was part of what drew Haney to Allison. The filmmaker is also a prolific entrepreneur. He started his first company as a Harvard University freshman, inventing air-pollution-control systems for power plants; theyre now in use all over the world. One of his present companies, Dragonfly Therapeutics, develops drugs to fight cancer; another, Skyhawk Therapeutics, develops drugs to fight Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases. So he shares some common ground with Allison. But Haney says his primary motivation to make Breakthrough was a desire to bring people together behind a common cause. It helps to have a great protagonist, and Haney is grateful he found Allison. Jammin with Willie Still, he thinks the film can serve a higher purpose. Our society is so polarized right now, Haney says. I was trying to find something we all agreed on, and because we agree, we might find a common foundation on which to think about things. Theres nobody who is pro-cancer. North, South, red, blue, green: We are all anti-cancer. Something else we can all agree on: Jamming with Willie Nelson sounds pretty darn cool. Allison met the Texas music icon in 1975 in San Diego, where they both played in a late-night jam session at a local bar popular with expat Texans. Years later, Nelsons harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, learned of Allisons cancer research and sent the doctor a message: You can play with us anytime. Allison takes him up on the offer as often as he can. Its not every Nobel Prize winner who gets to play with Willie. Then again, theres only one Jim Allison. It seems only right that bizarre, artifact-driven music would demand a bizarre, artifact-driven release model. Thats what happens down in the Houston noise and experimental-music scene. A great many of the albums that have made the most impact by local artists over the last several years have come out in physical form only on cassette, though these performers still tend to use such sites as Bandcamp and YouTube to spread their general message. But why? Cassettes have endured in rap and hip-hop circles because of the importance that mix tapes had on building the scenes. They are part of a living history. Most other music forms have moved on from the clunky packaging and inferior quality, but if you run in local noise circles you better be ready to hand out a tape. People really frown upon CD releases these days, says Tanner Garza. Garza released his latest album, The Man With the Candy last year. It was an eerie composition made up mostly of the confessions of serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley set to a droning atonal series on notes. I make my own cassette loops, says Garza. I love the disastrous quality of them. They can be perfect but there can be a lot of happy accidents. Some people hate tape hiss. I enjoy it. Bad quality can be its own design aesthetic. There are horror video games, such as the ones made by Kitty Horrorshow, that use purposefully degraded graphics and even system crashes to get their themes across. YouTuber Harry Brewis aka H. Bomberguy, released a video essay called Scanline about how many low-budget horror films of the 80s actually benefited from video-cassette darkness and murky presentation. The same holds true with the dark and twisted subjects that often are the hallmark of noise bands like Black Leather Jesus. Artifice is another consideration. Bradley Munoz, who releases music under the name P.L.X.T.X (pronounced Pluto) calls cassettes the poor mans vinyl. He can make his own his own on a boombox, but there are still places like National Audio Company that will help artists make limited cassette runs. Watching the wheels turn Having physical albums is important to an artist like Munoz. His 2013 album Selective Mutism was a master meshing of physical and digital, with liner notes that had to be read in a mirror and lyrics that could only be understood if you had reverse-play apps on your phone. Beyond those gimmicks, he loves the how invested listeners are in music on cassette. The idea that this items holds music you put in in a machine, you push play, you can see it move, says Munoz. Its the action of it that makes it valuable. Doing it on your phone doesnt feel as real as a cassette tape. All we do is push play. The visual aspect is important. You can see it playing. That sentiment is shared by Akchamel whose album The Man Who Drank God was one of the best and weirdest things to come out of Houston music in 2015. The tape is a discordant mixture of chants and beats, and it has a lot to say about how humans become beholden to fancy new technology. Its not surprising that they love cassettes. I think the analog nature is ultimately why people like it, says a member of the band whose members dont use or go by names. Maybe theres some nostalgia in it too. They are these cute little artifacts to hold in your hand especially in the digital age of Spotify exploiting artists out of their own money. It also encourages one to listen to the entire album without skipping around. Something all these tech babies arent accustomed to doing. Like David Lynch, but louder In that regard, noise/experimental cassettes feel like old David Lynch VHS tapes dug out of a forgotten box (Lynch famously used to refuse to allow chapter skips in his DVDs for the same reason Akchamel brings up). The focus on the macabre and strange, and though every once in a while one of them will put out something catchy enough to call a song they are best appreciated as whole experiences filtered through as many odd gates as possible. The cassette remains the preferred medium of Houstons most bizarre artists. If thats baffling, well that is sort of the point. Jef Rouner is a Houston-based writer. Luke Bryan is the only performer to purr like a cat on the RodeoHouston stage and make it work. He did it within five seconds of taking the stage Thursday night inside NRG Stadium, just before kicking into "Country Girl Shake it for Me)." And he did it again at the top of "Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day." Yes, he purrs. And he shakes his hips. And he flashes a movie-star smile and flips his ball cap and makes women scream at every turn. RAVE REVIEW: Selena's sister loves Kacey Musgraves' cover of 'Como la Flor' The country superstar is a favorite on the rotating stage. He is the only act with four shows in the all-time top 20 for paid attendance, each one topping out at more than 75,000. And he has performed every year since 2012. This year's crowd dipped a bit, totaling 67,115. But that's still an impressive number for a cold, rainy week night. Bryan kicks off his second season as an "American Idol" judge Sunday. Look for a few Houston hopefuls in the mix. But first things first. His eighth spin on the stage included everything we've come to expect from Bryan, from hip swivels to hit songs meant for barbecues and pickup trucks. He's a commanding presence and always seems completely at ease. There's some depth there, too. Tucked inside earnest ballad "Most People are Good" is what many consider a pro-LGBT sentiment. ("I believe you love who you love/Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of ...") Bryan has said he hopes people interpret the lyrics in a way that feels personal. He forgot a few words last year during "Crash My Party" and repeated the act this year. He brought a R&B simmer to "Strip it Down," closing it out with a few a cappella lines. And he ran offstage and jumped onto the rails near the crowd during "That's My Kind of Night." If you've seen Bryan before at RodeoHouston, none of this was a surprise. But it was still a lot of fun. Joey Guerra writes about music and pop culture for the Houston Chronicle. He is covering every single RodeoHouston concert. Follow him on Twitter. Send him news tips at joey.guerra@chron.com. Repairing a Torah the Jewish sacred scroll containing divine teachings is no small feat. Simply reading passages from the text requires a ritual. The scroll is housed in an ark, an ornate receptacle, tied with a special sash called a gartel and dressed in a protective cloak, or mantle. After being brought out of the ark, the Torah is held high and paraded around the synagogue before it is read. Carrying, dressing and translating the holy text are all considered to be an honor. When the Torah is read, a yad or ritual pointer is used to trace each line, as the scroll cannot be touched by hand to preserve its surface and lettering. After all, the text is handwritten by a scribe known as a sofer, precisely copied using a quill, dipped in a special vegetable ink on specific types of parchment. Writing a full Torah can take more than a year and if even one letter starts to fade from the scroll, it is no longer considered kosher and becomes unsuitable for use in the Shabbat services. Thats exactly what started happening to the smallest Torah at Congregation Shaar Hashalom, a conservative synagogue in the Clear Lake area at 16020 El Camino Real. Charter member Wendy Kane said the scroll was donated to the temple in 1999 by Melanie Moores grandparents in honor of her bat mitzvah. It was a military Torah, we believe from WWII, Kane said. It was small enough for men on base to use for services. When they were shutting down bases, the Torah was acquired. Its a really neat story. More Information For information about Congregation Shaar Hashalom, visit www.shaarhashalom.org. For information about Rabbi Meir Granitsky, visit www.granitsky.com. See More Collapse The scrolls smaller size made it easier for younger students to carry as part of their bar or bat mitzvah celebrations. That practice had to be stopped a couple of years ago at Shaar Hashalom, when letters started to fade. Sharon Rosenthal, a member of the synagogue for 12 years, reads from the Torah during services. She said the lettering sits on top of the surface of the scroll, almost like resting on a sheet of glass. Its laying on parchment, she said. It doesnt absorb. When it gets old, its starts to flake, and you have letters that start to look like other letters when they are missing a section. Shaar Hashalom has four Torahs, Rosenthal said. About four years ago, the temples Rabbi Stuart Federow brought in an expert sofer to check on all of the scrolls to determine if any were starting to fade. The smallest was in most disrepair, Rosenthal said. The scroll was sent to Miami, where a sofer spent about a year repairing most of the letters. Its very tedious work to go line by line, word by word, letter by letter, Federow said. Its really a form of artwork. At the time, Rosenthal was serving as co-ritual chair alongside Jay Bergman. Repairing the Torah became their top priority, along with Ron Zaguli, who served as president of the synagogue at the time. They came up with an idea for a fundraiser to help cover the expense. When the scribe wrote the last few letters, members could touch the quill with him and experience the process themselves. The synagogue raffled one of the letters and pre-sold 10. Before the Torah was completely restored, Cheryl Siegel became ritual chair at the temple. She found a sofer living in Houston named Rabbi Meir Granitsky who could finish the repairs. Having someone local meant we could afford the last pieces, Rosenthal said. Granitsky said the temple contacted him several months ago. He has been writing new Torahs and repairing older scrolls since 2005. The process can be arduous. When you start writing, you have to get into the rhythm of it, he said. It takes a lot of patience and concentration. Granitsky even makes his own quills out of turkey feathers for the job and follows all of the rules of the process. Everything has to be made in a certain way, he said. Rosenthal said the entire renovation took about five years starting back when the Torah was first examined and ending in December, when Granitsky finished the process and corrected one letter in another Torah at the temple. Now all four of the congregations Torahs are kosher, and Rosenthal enjoys seeing the repaired text and the smallest scrolls return to the ark. Its so much easier to read, she said. Its brighter and sharper. The damage has been repaired. Im so relieved that we didnt lose this treasure. Rosenthal also was able to complete one of its letters as part of the fundraiser for the Torah. She explained that reading the scroll makes her feel her part in Jewish history. To be part of this was to be a part of the process, and thats really special, she said. Hebrew is universal for the Jewish people. I love reading Torahs because it connects me to the past and to everywhere around the world. She also teaches Hebrew and the significance of Torah study in Sunday school at the synagogue. This is a piece of our history, and its still here, she said. Were doing this across the globe and across languages. It goes deep into history, and were going forward and giving this gift to future generations. Kane also helped write a letter. It was a great honor for me, she said. As a charter member, she has watched the temple grow since it was chartered in 1969. She moved to Clear Lake a year earlier and joined the families meeting at various homes and churches until members picked out their own building. You stand by your congregation through the good times and the bad times, through having a rabbi and not having a rabbi, she said. Were really dedicated. When you have a small congregation, you have to do a lot of jobs. Kane decided to have her own bat mitzvah last April and will travel to the U.K. to celebrate her granddaughters special day next year. In bar and bat mitzvah services, a Torah is handed from the grandparents to the parents to the child, Kane said. We symbolically pass the Torah from generation to generation. Its an important act. It means its going to keep going. When Torahs are badly damaged, she explained, the scrolls are buried. This Torah gets to live on for the next generation at our congregation, she said. At Congregation Shaar Hashalom, Rabbi Federow will be able to use the smaller Torah now back in top shape at the next bat mitzvah, which will be held in March. The Torah is the oldest living symbol of the eternal relationship between God and the Jewish people, he said. It is the source of holiness for the people of Judaism. The men accused of slaying two rivals in a rooftop ambush had dinner at Panda Express and went shopping after the east Houston shooting, court documents show. Alleged getaway driver Rene Moreno, 20, and shooter Marlon Valdez, 18, both of whom face capital murder charges in the Feb. 21 shooting, drove two miles to the fast food chain in the black Tahoe used in the attack, police said, citing surveillance footage from the restaurant. The two went to Walmart next so Moreno could buy a phone charger, Valdez allegedly said in a confession. The semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting was stashed in a black plastic bag in the back of the SUV throughout the evening, court papers show. Moreno and Valdez are accused of luring the brothers Josue and Maximo Aguilar to the 12800 block of Eastbrook to get back at them for an earlier fight, according to investigators. The gunman, believed to be Valdez, was perched on the top of a vacant, flooded-out home waiting to ambush their vehicle. He texted the brothers and messaged them on SnapChat. Josue Aguilar, 18, was at one point good friends with Valdez, but their relationship soured, according to police. Marlon Valdez told me the Aguilars had jumped him and he wanted to get revenge on them, the investigator wrote. The shooter opened fire on the brothers around 4:45 p.m. as they arrived. Josue was killed at the scene, while his 20-year-old brother, Maximo, was rushed to a hospital where he died. Their older brother and Josues girlfriend 18-year-old woman were wounded in the gunfire and are expected to survive. Police found several fired cartridge casings on the roof and a rifle magazine on the ground in the backyard after the shooting. Houston police Chief Art Acevedo last week called the shooting an ambush and said the culprits shot these young people like they were deer. Valdez was arrested Feb. 23 at his mothers apartment in the 600 block of Maxey Road. Moreno, a former Galena Park High School student, was apprehended Wednesday. He appeared in court Thursday and was ordered to be held with no bond. nicole.hensley@chron.com Six trustees of the Harris County Department of Educations board have voted to accept an investigation alleging fellow Trustee Michael Wolfe sexually harassed a female job candidate and spread rumors about her sex life after she twice refused to go on a date with him. The report, compiled by Dallas-based labor lawyer Harry Jones at the behest of HCDE Superintendent James Colbert Jr., also says Wolfe and Trustee Eric Dick skewed the interview process for a board secretary in 2018 to favor friends and people who were friendly to their political ideologies. Trustees, who accepted the report Wednesday, will vote on whether to censure Wolfe at a special meeting that has yet to be scheduled. Jared Woodfill, an attorney representing Wolfe, said his client may sue if the board votes to censure. He said Wolfe denies any wrongdoing. Its a politically manufactured hit job by a person upset with the way Mr. Wolfe voted, Woodfill said. The allegations come about a month and a half after HCDE skeptics assumed the majority of the agencys board in January, including Wolfe and Board President Josh Flynn. At a Jan. 16 meeting, the bloc of four voted to nix a $220,000 a year contract with the lobbying firm of HillCo Partners and named Flynn as president during his first regular meeting as a trustee. Those votes and other actions irritated Dick, according to the report. Dick said as much in an interview with the Chronicle about a week after the meeting. I think worst thing that you could do is take something that works and cut it up, Dick said at the time. Soon after that meeting, Jones report states, Dick learned of Wolfes alleged behavior toward a female job candidate months earlier. Unlike traditional school districts, the Harris County Department of Education operates only a handful of specialized schools, including several for students with behavioral issues and one for students with addiction issues. It offers special education therapy services to school districts across the county, as well as after-school programs, and operates Head Start early childhood education programs and adult education classes. Another primary function is its cooperative purchasing unit, which allows districts to pay lower rates for supplies. MORE: READ THE FULL HCDE REPORT HERE A selection committee began searching for a new board secretary in May 2018. According to the report, Wolfe, Dick and former Trustee Louis Evans hand-picked their favorites out of 17 candidates, ignoring objective information collected by the human resources department that awarded each applicant points for prior experience and skill. We wanted to bring people in who were more friendly politically and otherwise to our philosophy, Wolfe is quoted telling Jones. People we could trust. One of the women Dick selected was a woman in her early 30s, who the report refers to as Jane Doe. According to Jones report: Wolfe and the woman first met each other in spring 2017, when they both were guests of Dick at a San Jacinto Day dinner. Dick allegedly tried to set the two up romantically, telling Wolfe that he needed to date an Asian. Nothing came of the dinner, and Wolfe and the woman ran into each other again at an election watch party in May 2018, and the Texas GOP Convention in June 2018. On June 28, 2018, the woman saw Wolfe again when she visited the Harris County District Courthouse and gave him cookies as a peace offering after opposing his candidacy for Justice of the Peace. The report said Wolfe asked her to join him in his office. When she walked inside, he closed the door. it was all really, really bad, the woman told Jones. then he asked me to dinner and then I said uh sure so I could get out of the room Soon after, the woman texted Wolfe and said she had forgotten about other plans and could not go on the date. At this point, she was a finalist for the secretarial position. Wolfe told the investigator he did not know the woman was a candidate for the job, a claim the investigator said lacked credibility. Jones doubted other Wolfe claims, including that he feared the womans cookies could be poisoned. According to his report, Wolfe told Jones he gave the cookies to court employees, snapping a picture of them smiling before taking their first bites. Mr. Wolfe told me he did not want to even touch the bag, out of fear. Yet, he told me: The people (he gave it to) were excited, Jones wrote. This makes absolutely no sense, if he feared poison or some other danger. Jones wrote that after the woman spurned Wolfes advances, the trustee allegedly worked to blackball her. Jeff Yates, former executive director of the Harris County Republican Party, told the investigator Wolfe called him after the woman applied for a job with state Rep. Dennis Paul, R-129, in July or August of 2018. She did not get the job. He called me and said You do not need to hire her, Yates said. He definitely called me and said that. Unsolicited. Came out of nowhere. Wolfe also told the investigator the woman Doe sleeps with people in order to pay her rent but provided no evidence. HCDE has a strong interest in stopping Mr. Wolfe from spreading baseless rumors, and ceasing any efforts to harm Ms. Does career, the investigator wrote. Jones also reserved some criticism for Dick, saying he is prone to irony and drama and seemed to feel some glee at discovering misconduct he could exploit politically. He recommended that Wolfe and Dick never serve on a committee together again and that Wolfe be prohibited from making any hiring decisions at the county department of education. In an interview with the investigator, Board President Josh Flynn questioned Dicks motives for bringing the allegations to HCDE and defended Wolfe. Mr. Flynn flat out told me: Michael is a child. He doesnt even know what he is saying. He may he autistic, the investigator wrote. Flynn did not return requests for comment. The investigative report incorrectly states that Jeff Yates is the executive director of the Harris County Republican Party. While he did serve in that role several years ago, he no longer leads the local party. A Houston woman who was forced to turn a firefighters T-shirt inside out at the polls and a Dallas-area man who tried to vote in his Trump MAGA cap are suing a long list of public officials in federal court here for violating their free speech rights. The lawsuit comes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June invalidating a Minnesota law that banned voters from displaying issue oriented apparel at the polls. The case filed in Houston federal court Thursday on behalf of two Texas voters was brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a California-based nonprofit advocacy group that won the free speech victory in the Minnesota case. The conservative foundation wants a Houston judge to overturn the Texas law that restricts what people can wear when they vote. Texas is one of several states that still have clothing restrictions on the books. The concern is not just that voters wont feel free to express themselves, but also that enforcement by poll workers will be arbitrary and erratic. Douglas Ray, an special assistant overseeing election issues at the Harris County Attorneys Office. said the county will defend itself but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who was also sued will likely take the lead. County officials last dealt with this issue in 2010, when voters showed up at the polls with Obama-related gear, Ray said. President Barack Obama was not on the ballot, but several measures that reflected his policies were, he said. What we tell the election judge is they have the power to adjudicate when they think electioneering is going on and when its not, said Ray. We tell them to make that determination based on a totality of the circumstances and if its consistent with advocacy for somebody or some party thats on the ballot. In the case of the firefighters shirts, Ray acknowledged the county was aware the shirts caused friction at the polls. We had a lot of trouble with that during the last election because there were people wearing these yellow shirts with red lettering that said Vote for Prop B but they were almost identical to a shirt that just said Houston Fire Fighters. He said the shirts had the same colors, logo and lettering but one had Vote for Prop B and one didnt. The county attorneys office advised election judges that the yellow shirts were problematic if they said something specific about voting. But that is just advice, Ray said. The election judge in that situation makes the adjudication. The Harris County District Attorneys Office, also named as a defendant, is reviewing the lawsuit, and spokesman Dane Schiller said, We are focusing on the constitutionality question raised by the lawsuit and will respond in court at the appropriate time. Paxton, the Dallas District Attorney and elections officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Jillian Ostrewich is married to a Houston firefighter and wore a yellow T-shirt with the Houston Fire Fighters image at her polling place last October, during early voting when a proposition on fire fighter pay parity was on the ballot. According to court documents, election officials at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on West Gray Street told her she could not cast her vote with the logo showing. She turned her t-shirt inside out and was able to proceed. Its unconscionable that election judges have the power to infringe on the right to wear something as benign as a Houston Fire Fighters t-shirt, Ostrewich said in a press statement. When people let little things like an election dress code go by, all of a sudden youre losing your freedom. Her co-plaintiff, Anthony Ortiz, of Carrollton, was told by poll workers he could not vote unless he removed his Make America Great Again cap. In his case, President Donald Trump, who made the cap his trademark on the campaign trail was not on the ballot. I just wanted to wear my hat, Ortiz said in the release. There's no name on it, and even if you associate it with the President, he wasnt on the ballot so its silly to ban it. This law is too broad, incredibly unfair and should be challenged. The civil rights lawsuit asserts the Texas law violates their First Amendment and due process rights and those of other voters. Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at University of Houston, said the Supreme Court ruling found that broad restrictions on what voters wear to the polls violated free speech. A more narrow law could pass muster, but Texas has not amended its apparel restrictions since the June ruling, he said. States kept these laws on the books to maintain some degree of order and transparency or minimal advocacy inside the polling places, said Rottinghaus. The courts in Texas would likely find the enforcement of these laws unconstitutional. That may spur Texas to make a move to change the law to comply with the court ruling. I doubt we will see Texas challenge this holding from the Supreme Court, the political science professor added. There isnt a clear political upside to challenging the law on this. The Texas law is more specific than the Minnesota one that the Supreme Court addressed last year, which could help or hurt the case, according to David Coale, a constitutional law expert at Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst in Dallas. The Minnesota law prohibited voters from wearing political badges, buttons or other political insignia to the polls, while Texas law prohibits inside or within 100 feet of the voting site the wearing of badges, insignia, emblems representing any a candidate, measure or political party appearing on the ballot or to the conduct of the election. The Supreme Court said it was a legitimate state interest to have a polling place free of distracting political activity. But by doing so, it still requires the election official to make judgment calls about what relates to the electionand also means that the official can get it wrong, Coale said. The argument that a MAGA hat relates to the subject of this election is not a strong one. I think that is why the Pacific Foundation focused on this case as its test case, to get some law made on how far away from the specific subject of an election you can be and still relate to it. gabrielle.banks@chron.com twitter.com/gabmobanks The program allowing people from eligible, unsafe countries to live legally in the United States has been extended for Salvadorans, according to the Federal Register. Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, has been automatically extended to Jan. 2, 2020, for the hundreds of thousands of people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan living in the United States. An official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services notice is expected to be published Friday. The Trump administration ordered the termination of TPS for people from El Salvador in January last year. But a California-based U.S. district judge blocked the move. In October, the Trump administration said it would comply with the court injunction, extending TPS for Salvadorans through April 2 this year. The government also indicated that if the injunction was still pending as of March, it would extend the status again until next January. Their employment authorization would now be valid through Jan. 2. The Department of Homeland Security has yet to release an official statement on the extension. It did not respond to an immediate request for comment. Silvia Foster-Frau covers immigration news in the San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF Its been more than 45 years, so maybe the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals can be forgiven for not remembering why exactly the Texas Open Meetings Act was strengthened in 1973, and why it shouldnt be cavalierly weakened by rulings such as Wednesdays that make it easier for public officials to act secretly. The Sharpstown Scandal led to the 1972 indictments of several of Texas top political leaders, including House Speaker Gus Mutscher Jr., state Rep. Tommy Shannon and Texas Insurance Commissioner John Osorio. They were accused of making behind-closed-doors deals with Houston developer Frank W. Sharp, head of Sharpstown State Bank, in exchange for stock options. Gov. Preston Smith was also implicated in the scheme. Lawmakers realized Texas open meetings act needed to be strengthened. And the following year, they did just that. Now apparently, it needs to be fortified again if we want to prevent politicians from feeling free to make decisions in secret. On Wednesday, the states highest criminal court said the law was too vague where it prohibited so-called walking quorums, when members of a government body get together in a series of groups small enough to avoid having a quorum so they dont have to deliberate in public session. Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, questioned the courts assessment of the law: Its existed since 1973 and no one over all those years has said that it was unconstitutionally vague, she told the Chronicle Editorial Board. Nevertheless, Shannon said theres still time in this legislative session to file a bill that would address the courts concerns. She said open government advocates were huddling Thursday to figure out how to word an amendment to the act and who might sponsor the legislation. Asking the appeals court to reconsider its decision is also a possibility, said Houston attorney Joe Larsen, a member of the foundations board. The court stuck a knife into the heart of the Open Meetings Act, he said. The consequences are going to be backroom deals hidden from the public. Dallas attorney Paul Watler, who like Larsen has handled First Amendment cases, stressed to the editorial board that the court left 95 percent of the Open Meetings Act intact. He called the ruling a disappointing outcome, but said it didnt mean government boards and agencies no longer have to give notice of upcoming meetings, post agendas and vote in public. Its uncertain whether the courts ruling will have any impact on the Texas Education Agencys investigation of an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act by some Houston ISD trustees. Five school board members Diana Davila, Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca, Elizabeth Santos, Sergio Lira and Anne Sung voted in October 2018 to remove interim superintendent Grenita Lathanwith no advance warning to the public, nor, apparently, to the boards four other members. The board replaced Lathan with South San Antonio ISD superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, who from 2004-2009 was Houstons superintendent. Saavedra told the Chronicle he spoke independently with the five trustees who voted for his appointment. Some of those trustees maintain they never met as a group. The boards dysfunction led Saavedra to back out of the job three days after the vote and the board subsequently reversed its decision and kept Lathan in her post. The TEA has declined to comment on its open investigation of how the matter was handled. Meanwhile, the courts decision to invalidate the walking quorum part of the Open Meetings Act was made in the case of former Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal, who was indicted for allegedly holding secret meetings with a political consultant, Marc Davenport, and two fellow commissioners about a $280 million road bond. Groups representing cities and counties sided with Doyal in arguing that the law was too vague, complaining that public officials need more guidance as to what they can and cannot do when it comes to meeting informally. We agree with Shannon that its simple, If its public business, dont be talking about it in secret. Decisions, even controversial ones, are best made in the full glare of public scrutiny. Given Wednesdays ruling, the Legislature needs to act quickly to make that clear and restore the Open Meetings Act to full strength. If it doesnt it will be inviting trouble this state doesnt need. More than 45 years ago, as a 14-year-old farm kid in Oregon, I watched on a flickering black-and-white television as Richard Nixons former White House counsel, John Dean, testified about presidential misconduct in the Watergate scandal and the second-most-corrupt administration in American history began to crumble. Now, watching Michael Cohen testify before Congress, I sense a similar historic temblor, only this time it may be the No. 1-most-corrupt administration that is beginning to teeter. Cohens testimony was staggering because of the cumulative sum of alleged misconduct, because of the overall portrait it provided of Donald Trump as a mobster. I know what Mr. Trump is, Cohen said, summing up what he learned working at Trumps side for a decade. He is a racist, he is a con man, and he is a cheat. The range of Trump cons that Cohen outlined was extraordinary, from rigging an auction for the sale of a Trump portrait, to apparent bank fraud, to apparent perjury, to secret hush money payoffs to women, to apparent advance knowledge of a WikiLeaks dump of Democratic emails. There was even a tantalizing suggestion of other criminal conduct that the Justice Departments Southern District of New York is investigating that we may know nothing about. Watergate started with a third-rate burglary that Nixon apparently had no advance knowledge of. But the investigation into the burglary led to revelations of a cover-up, of obstruction of justice, of mind-boggling abuses of power. One difference is that Trumps illegal behavior seems to be more broad-ranging than Nixons. Trump may have been so cavalier because he never expected this office or this scrutiny. I wish the hearing hadnt taken place precisely during Trumps summit with Kim Jong Un, because of the risk of undermining nuclear diplomacy, but the irony is that according to Cohen, those Trump-Kim negotiations are a historical fluke. He had no desire or intention to lead this nation only to market himself and to build his wealth and power, Cohen said. Mr. Trump would often say, this campaign was going to be the greatest infomercial in political history. He never expected to win the primary. He never expected to win the general election. What was almost as dispiriting as the range of misconduct alleged was the behavior of Republicans on the committee. They seemed less interested in ferreting out the truth than in covering it up; all they wanted to do was protect Trump and discredit Cohen. It was three hours into the hearing before a Republican even asked Cohen a question about Trump. The Republicans argued that we should not believe Cohen because he is a proven liar. But if a proven liar should not be believed, why do these same Republicans believe Trump? After all, Trump has made 8,718 false or misleading statements since taking office, according to The Washington Posts count. Cohen said he had no knowledge of any sex video obtained by Russia as leverage over Trump, and added that he didnt have proof of collusion with Russia, only suspicions. But he described a kind of kompromat: Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it and then made clear to me that he wanted me to lie to Congress. Cohen shot down some of the rumors going around. He said he has no knowledge of Trump having a love child or paying for an abortion, and Trump would never physically harm Melania. But the sum total of his testimony was devastating; decades from now, historians will continue to analyze it. On his first day testifying to the Senate Watergate committee back in June 1973, John Dean said: To one who was in the White House and became somewhat familiar with its interworkings, the Watergate matter was an inevitable outgrowth of a climate in which expediency trumped law. It was in part Watergate that drew me toward journalism, and in 35 years reporting for The New York Times, Ive known and covered many American presidents and foreign leaders. The American leaders sometimes tried to bamboozle or spin us reporters, but they were tethered to truth and to American values and were fundamentally different from some banana republic leaders who were simply gangsters. Until now. I hope Democrats arent gleeful. This is a sad moment in American history, for Nixon walks again. Squared. And I hope the Republicans listened when Cohen told one of his GOP interrogators: I did the same thing you are doing now for 10 years. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years. He added: People who follow Mr. Trump blindly will suffer the same consequences Im suffering. Kristof is a New York Times columnist. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Defense Chief Delfin Lorenzana on Friday publicly disagreed on the need to review the country's decades-old mutual defense treaty (MDT) with the United States. Locsin stood firm against revisiting the MDT to address the rising tension in the South China Sea, adding the vagueness in the provisions will work in the country's favor. "Some seek a review of the MDT. This requires further thought. In vagueness lies uncertainty: a deterrent. Specificity invites evasion and actions outside the MDT framework. But too much vagueness lends itself to doubt the firmness of commitments," he said in a joint media briefing with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The MDT is an agreement between the Philippines and the U.S. that states that the two countries would assist each other when either of them is attacked by a foreign force. But Lorenzana also stood pat on his move to review the MDT and would still meet with U.S. Defense Deputy Assistant Secretary Joseph Felter tentatively "within the middle of this month" to clear up what he sees as ambiguities in the nearly 68-year-old treaty. He said the review will be good for the Philippines, citing an instance of a collision between Chinese and American frigates in the South China Sea. Among the things he wants cleared up is the "lag time" of U.S. response since its Congress will have to concur with the move to assist the Philippines. He also wants a clearer definition of the term "attack," citing China's expansion and incursion in the West Philippine Sea -- the area of the South China Sea being claimed or occupied by the Philippines. Lorenzana earlier also said the U.S. intepretation of the MDT only covered the "metropolitan" Philippines and not the West Philippine Sea. "Yun pang kanilang (US) belief na they don't want to interfere to our territorial disputes, so nagkaron tuloy ng blanket authority ang Chinese to grab reefs there in the WPS," he added Friday. [Translation: The U.S. belief that they don't want to interfere in our territorial disputes has given rise to China's blanket authority to grab reefs there in the West Philippine Sea.] Pompeo, who made an overnight visit to the Philippines, told a news briefing Friday that "any armed attack on any Philippine forces, aircraft, or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defense obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defense Treaty." It was not clear, however, if by South China Sea Pompeo meant international sea lanes there or if it includes Philippine-claimed areas of the sea. Washington has stuck to a policy not to interfere in questions of sovereignty among countries with competing claims to the hotly-contested waters. China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety. Other claimants include Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and Taiwan. Locsin said that with the conflicting opinions, there is currently a "dynamic exchange that is going on in the government" regarding the call for an update on the MDT. He is holding on to the promise of U.S. that it will protect the Philippines in case of an attack in the disputed waters. "In vagueness lies the best deterrent. How do you flesh out that vagueness? In repeated assurances by the United States that in the event war, an act of aggression is committed against the Philippines, I don't believe going down into the details is the way the sincerity of the American commitment will be shown... They will respond depending on the circumstance," he said. The foreign affairs chief added, "We are very assured, we are very confident that the United States has - in the words of Secretary Pompeo and President Trump to our President - 'We have your back.'" However, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo backed Lorenzana, saying there is still a need to look into the agreement despite Pompeo's assurance. CNN Philippines Senior Correspondent David Santos contributed to this report. 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. 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HRD spoke to Aileen Aumentado, head of HR at AB Heineken Philippines to get her insights on what it takes to be a great HR leader. The key to success in HR leadership today is agility, Aumentado said. In terms of learning and how we are able to continuously adapt, create and be resourceful in an environment that is rapidly changing. The experienced leader said the greatest challenge she faces today involves working in a start-up environment. With limited resources, her team is tasked to establish brilliant basics in terms of a people strategy, processes, systems, technology, and organisation. Additionally, there is also a need for her to have a long-term vision of where she would like to lead the business so that it creates a positive impact on employees, as well as the larger society the company operates in. So how does she stay motivated in todays rapidly changing environment? Hes not even come up today, a Vodafone employee told the Daily Mail. Hes actually sent the lady below him whos his deputy. Inconsiderate photo Shabbir earlier earned the ire of staff after sharing a photo of himself on the companys Workspace intranet wearing a See You Jimmy tartan hat with a red wig while holding an Irn Bru bottle. Getting ready for this months Audience with Antonio some exciting news to share, the caption on the photo read. The post was immediately taken down from the internal communication system after spurring backlash, and the company has since apologised for the gaffe. Employees called Shabbirs action inconsiderate and distasteful. March is Red Cross Month March is Red Cross Month, and the Massachusetts Region asks people to be a hero for families in the Commonwealth by becoming a volunteer, learning lifesaving skills, giving blood or donating to #help1family on Red Cross Giving Day, March 27. "During Red Cross Month, we are proud to recognize our volunteers who make up more than 90 percent of our workforce providing hope and urgent relief to families in need every day," said Lloyd Ziel, chief communications officer for the American Red Cross in Massachusetts. "These heroes are our neighbors who give blood, save lives with skills like first aid and CPR, or provide care and comfort to families devastated by crises like home fires. We honor our volunteers and ask you to join them and make a difference." More than 75 years ago, March was first proclaimed Red Cross Month in 1943 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to raise awareness of the organization and its humanitarian mission. All U.S. presidents since Roosevelt have designated March as Red Cross Month to recognize how the American Red Cross helps people across the country and around the world through its workforce powered by more than 90 percent volunteers. Red Cross volunteer Anne Williams of Middleborough has worked with home-fire victims for more than 10 years, guiding them through the difficult next steps in recovery. Williams offers comfort to those who have lost their home and much of their personal belongings. "I talk with people experience terrible grief. When people lose photographs in a fire, it's often a huge emotional lose and one of the hardest things to replace. I always advise people to have their friends and family share photos with them, in an effort to make things whole again for them. The small things make such an enormous difference in the recovery process," she said. Every eight minutes in the United States, the Red Cross connects with a family who has lost everything to a home fire or other disaster the roof over their heads, their clothes, their most cherished possessions. This past year was no exception and the need continues today. Last year, Red Cross volunteers helped millions of people reeling from a second consecutive year of record wildfires, hurricanes, tragic shootings and other large disasters across the country. More than 300 volunteer heroes from Massachusetts responded to deliver urgent relief and care in people's darkest hours. Local volunteers assisted hurricane victims in the Carolinas and Florida, as well as fire victims in multiple locations in California. Red Cross volunteer heroes worked around the clock to deliver urgent relief and care in peoples darkest hours. Historic U.S. Supreme Court win: World Bank Group is not above the law February 27,2019 | Source: EarthRights International In a historic 7-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court decided today in Jam v. International Finance Corporation (IFC) that international organizations like the World Bank Group can be sued in U.S. courts. The Courts decision marks a defining moment for the IFC the arm of the World Bank Group that lends to the private sector. For years, the IFC has operated as if it were above the law, at times pursuing reckless lending projects that inflicted serious human rights abuses on local communities, and then leaving the communities to fend for themselves. International organizations like the IFC have long claimed they are entitled to absolute immunity, even as they engage in commercial activities, like the coal-fired power plant at the heart of this case. Because the relevant statute only gives the IFC the same immunity as foreign governments, and foreign governments do not have absolute immunity in U.S. courts when they engage in commercial activities, the Supreme Court rejected this position: The International Finance Corporation is therefore not absolutely immune from suit. The case involves an IFC-financed power plant in Gujarat, India. The plaintiffs are members of local fishing and farming communities whose livelihoods, air quality, and drinking water have been devastated by the project. They allege that the IFC and the project developers knew about these risks in advance but nevertheless chose to recklessly push forward with the project without proper protections in place. The plaintiffs originally tried to raise their concerns through the IFCs internal grievance mechanism, but when the IFCs leadership ignored the grievance bodys conclusions, they reluctantly filed suit in the United States as a last resort. EarthRights International represents the plaintiffs, along with the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. The IFC is headquartered in Washington, DC, along with the rest of the World Bank Group, because the U.S. government is by far the largest shareholder in these organizations. The U.S. government has long supported the plaintiffs interpretation of the law: that international organizations can be sued for their commercial activities or for causing injuries in the United States. The U.S. Departments of Justice and State submitted an amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiffs position, as did members of Congress from both parties. The IFC argued that allowing it to be sued would be disastrous, but the Supreme Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, found these concerns to be inflated. The Court noted that, unlike many international organizations, the IFCs founding members did not grant the organization absolute immunity in its charter. The case is Docket No. 17-1011. Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself, because he was on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit when the case was heard there. Justice Stephen Breyer was the sole dissenter, arguing that a broad exposure to liability for international organizations runs counter to Congress original purpose in providing immunity. Now that the Supreme Court has established that the World Bank Group can be sued, the case will return to the lower courts for further litigation. Another case against the IFC is also expected to proceed in the U.S. District Court for the State of Delaware. The case, Juana Doe et al v. IFC, involves IFC projects that have been linked to murders, torture, and other violence by paramilitary groups and death squads in Honduras. EarthRights International represents the plaintiffs, whose identities are kept anonymous to protect them from retaliation. Statements We are extremely happy with the decision of the Supreme Court of US. This is a huge victory for the people of Mundra in particular and other places in general, where World Banks faulty investments are wrecking communities and environment. This is major step towards holding World Bank accountable for the negative impacts their investments are causing. Dr. Bharat Patel, the head of fishworkers rights group MASS, one of the plaintiffs in the case We are delighted with this judgment. This is a victory of all who have fought for a more accountable World Bank since the past many decades world over and has fought valiant struggles against Bank funded projects on the ground, exposing the monumental human and environmental costs of their lending. This judgment will strengthen communities efforts to hold the Bank accountable and is a step in the direction of bringing accountability in financial institutions. Joe Athialy, Executive Director of the Centre for Financial Accountability, India Immunity from all legal accountability does not further the development goals of international organizations. It simply leads them to be careless, which is what happened here. Just like every other institution, from governments to corporations, the possibility of accountability will encourage these organizations to protect people and the environment. Marco Simons, General Counsel, EarthRights International The commercial activities of international organizations such as the IFC can have a significant impact on lives of Americans and others around the world. We welcome todays decision. Prof. Jeffrey Fisher, Co-Director, Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic Background From the start, the IFC recognized that the Tata Mundra coal-fired power plant was a high-risk project that could have significant adverse impacts on local communities and their environment. Despite knowing the risks, the IFC provided a critical $450 million loan in 2008, enabling the projects construction and giving the IFC immense influence over project design and operation. Yet the IFC failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the harms it predicted and failed to ensure that the project abided by the environmental and social conditions of IFC involvement. As predicted, the plant has caused significant harm to the communities living in its shadow. Construction of the plant destroyed vital sources of water used for drinking and irrigation. Coal ash has contaminated crops and fish laid out to dry, air pollutants are at levels dangerous to human health, and there has already been a rise in respiratory problems. The enormous quantity of thermal pollution hot water released from the plant has destroyed the local marine environment and the fish populations that fisherfolk like Mr. Budha Ismail Jam rely on to support their families. Although a 2015 law required all plants to install cooling towers to minimize thermal pollution by the end of 2017, the Tata plant has failed to do so. A nine-mile-long coal conveyor belt, which transports coal from the port to the Plant, runs next to local villages and near fishing grounds. Coal dust from the conveyor and fly ash from the plant frequently contaminate drying fish, reducing their value, damage agricultural production, and cover homes and property. Some air pollutants, including particulate matter, are already present at levels dangerous to human health, in violation of Indian air quality standards and the conditions of IFC funding, and respiratory problems, especially among children and the elderly, are on the rise. The IFCs own internal compliance mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), issued a scathing report in 2013 confirming that the IFC had failed to ensure the Tata Mundra project complied with the environmental and social conditions of the IFCs loan at virtually every stage of the project and calling for the IFC to take remedial action. IFCs management responded to the CAO by rejecting most of its findings and ignoring others. In a follow-up report in early 2017, the CAO observed that the IFC remained out of compliance and had failed to take any meaningful steps to remedy the situation. The harms suffered by the plaintiffs are all the more regrettable because the project made no economic sense from the beginning. In 2017, in fact, Tata Power began trying to unload a majority of its shares in the project for one rupee (a few cents) because of the losses it has suffered and will suffer going forward. At the moment, the plant is operating at only one-fifth capacity in part because India has an oversupply of electricity. The case is Budha Ismail Jam v. International Finance Corp., No. 17-1011. Theme(s): Others. New marine protected area established in the Batangas Province of the Philippines February 26,2019 | Source: Nature World News The global marine community has cause to celebrate a conservation milestone in the Philippines. The Municipality of Tingloy on Maricaban Island in Batangas Province recently designated 22.01 hectares (54.4 acres) of thriving coral reef habitat as a marine protected area (MPA), only the second MPA to be established in the municipality. Located within the most biologically diverse waters on Earth, the new MPA protects against localized threats while bolstering an emerging ecotourism industry. The new protected area was championed by the local government and community of Tingloy, under the leadership of Mayor Mark Laurence F. Alvarez, along with several collaborating institutions, including the California Academy of Sciences, De La Salle University-Manila, and the local non-profits Pusod Inc. and the SEA Institute - VIP. "The establishment of this new MPA--and its long-term monitoring--is significant because it recognizes the need to set aside areas for conservation before the reef is lost or damaged beyond its ability to come back," says Dr. Terry Gosliner, the Academy's Senior Curator of Invertebrate Zoology. "Artificial reefs will never be as diverse and healthy as natural reefs, so it's always better to protect the reefs you have than try to play Humpty Dumpty with a damaged or destroyed reef." Maricaban Island is situated in the Verde Island Passage, a treasure trove of marine life nestled between the island of Luzon to the north and Mindoro to the south. The new MPA--named Pirasan--encompasses a mature, healthy, and resilient reef ecosystem. Like all reefs, however, it faces threats from local pollution, sedimentation, coastal development, and global climate change. The municipality of Tingloy is deeply committed to monitoring the reef's ongoing health. A two-year program designed by Academy scientists Drs. Terry Gosliner and Meg Burke in collaboration with Drs. Wilfredo Y. Licuanan of De La Salle University-Manila, Kent Carpenter of Old Dominion University, and Jeff Williams of the Smithsonian Institution empowers local residents to steward the reef. Residents routinely survey marine species indicative of reef health and monitor trash along the shore. These community-driven survey results are then integrated with additional data collected by program scientists into a "reef health report card" that establishes a baseline of comparison and measures the effectiveness of the MPA over time. In addition to Pirasan, Tingloy is also finalizing plans for three other MPAs based on recommendations from Academy scientists and community input collected during earlier research expeditions in the region. During March of last year, Drs. Terry Gosliner and Meg Burke along with their program partners provided scientific justification for Pirasan's protection when recommending locations to Tingloy government officials that would benefit from MPA status. Due to the success of the only other MPA in Tingloy, which has been in place for over ten years, many local fishermen are now recognizing the positive impact conservation measures have for sustaining fish stocks: Fishermen are now harvesting more fish from the waters surrounding the MPA than they did before the MPA was established. Healthy reefs also open opportunities for earning new livelihoods from ecotourism and provide greater protection from storm surges caused by typhoons. Near Tingloy's new MPA, a sandy beach is becoming a bustling tourist destination and a launching point for visitors to witness the natural beauty of the protected area by boat and snorkeling. "Tingloy is a community like so many in the Philippines and tropical world that is trying to figure out how to feed their families in the face of climate change and diminishing resources," says Dr. Meg Burke, Academy Director of Science Integration and Operations. "It's not always easy to recognize that the short-term sacrifice of establishing a marine protected area, which limits fishing activity and may mean your family has less to eat today or tomorrow, is worth it for the long-term gain of nurturing healthy reef ecosystems. Pirasan is a symbolic step toward recognizing greater future yields, more livelihood opportunities, and a brighter future." Theme(s): Others. In Focus: Small-scale fisheries in Asia by Srey Kumneth February 27,2019 | Source: Khmer Times To strengthen its mission in improving fisheries and aquaculture, WorldFish is currently holding a six-day conference in Penang, Malaysia. The event has gathered representatives from six Asian countries that are experiencing similar issues and concerns in small-scale fisheries, research and policy formulations. WorldFish, Food and Agriculture Organisation/UN, national research institutions, NGOs, research communities and journalists have been in Penang since February 18 to discuss the current challenges in fisheries and aquaculture in all six countries involved and how governments and private sectors adapted feasible and effective solutions to such challenges. For six days, all participants from the countries where WorldFish has engagements with different stakeholders in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture such as Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Malaysia are learning more about ecology, technology, history, economics and politics in the fishing industry. John Kurien, honorary fellow of small-scale fisheries research programme Fish CRP and WorldFish, said that small-scale fisheries should not be advocated exclusively on social and welfare grounds. But rather, small-scale fisheries should be supported for economic, technical, ecological, organisational as well as social reasons. In my opinion, the present dilemmas and the future prospects faced by small-scale capture fishing world are basically the same. However, one important distinction which we can make is between the small-scale fisheries of what I call the tropical-majority countries and the temperate-minority countries, said Mr Kurien. Mr Kurien also emphasised new technology, new conflicts, as conflicts at sea between the trawlers and the small-scale fishers became the norm in Asian coastal waters from the late 1960s and into the 1970s and 1980s. The coasts of Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines saw major spontaneous and organised struggles of fishers. Moreover, several protest meetings of small-scale fishers at the Asian and international levels were held in 1970s and 1980s. The workshop also aimed to initiate big steps towards creating a multi-stakeholder information and communication alliance for support to small-scale fisheries (SSF) in Asia, which can, in turn, potentially link to global policy processes, including the Small-Scale Fisheries Global Strategic Framework (SSF-GSF) of the FAO/UN. Representatives from WorldFish-Cambodia reported that, States and all those engaged in fisheries management should adopt measures for long-term conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources, and to secure the ecological foundation for food production. In addition to successes achieved by RFF II CFR committees in securing funding from commune councils, the Cambodian Governments Strategic Planning Framework for Fisheries prioritises sustainable and effective fish refuges. Seventy-one percent of the earth is covered by ocean and 64 percent of the ocean is considered high seas/national waters, and the high seas cover 45 percent of the earths surface. Philippa Cohen, small-scale fisheries research programme leader who has been studying fisheries in Pacific Islands for almost 12 years, also discussed the importance of doing extensive research on issues involving aquaculture to help find solutions to problems and aid in the development of sustainable programmes. Research provides access for small-scale artisanal fisheries to marine resources and markets. It can help countries progress in the degree of the application of a legal, regulatory, policy, institutional framework which recognise and protects rights for small-scale fisheries, Ms Cohen said. Ms Cohen added, Ways in which households are engaged in fisheries, livelihood or food security can inadvertently increase labour burdens of women. The conference, which ends on Sunday, is WorldFishs way to further enable sustainable increase in livelihoods from aquaculture production without negatively affecting the economy or the environment. Small-scale fisheries are seen to contribute to poverty reduction and food security in developing nations. 2019 Khmer Times Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture. Handline tuna fishery becomes first of its kind in Indonesia to pursue full MSC assessment by Madelyn Kearns February 27,2019 | Source: SeafoodSource North American sushi-quality tuna provider Anova Food, LLC., has put its Fair Trade fishery in North Buru Island, Indonesia, up for full assessment against the Marine Stewardship Councils sustainability standards, the company announced on 26 February. The handline tuna fishery has become the first of its kind in Indonesia to pursue the MSC assessment, Anova Food said in a press release. The company is working closely with its processing partner Harta Samudra as well as NGO Masyarakat Dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI) and the North Buru Fair Trade Committee to compile the documentation required for the assessment. A site visit has been scheduled for March, wherein the compliance assessment body (CAB) will meet with government representatives and other stakeholders to kick off the rigorous process. Years of data collection and sustainable fishery practices by Fair Trade fishermen have set the stage for fulfilling the rigorous demands of MSC certification for this handline fishery and we couldnt be more thrilled, said Blane Olson, managing director of Anova Technical Services. Anova first launched the Fair Trade Capture Fishery in North Buru Island five years ago and while its successfully been Fair Trade certified, weve had our sights set on MSC certification as its extremely important for us and our supply chains to reach the highest available standards. At [Indonesias Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries] MMAF, we are proud and excited to see the first Indonesian handline tuna fishery enter an MSC full assessment, added Pak Zulficar Mochtar, director general of capture fisheries. This assessment sets a precedent not only for Indonesia, but also for small-scale fisheries around the world for which the MSC standard is most challenging to achieve. This has been made possible thanks to the hard work and commitment in the past few years of all parties involved. After tuna first became Fair Trade certified in 2015, Anova has expanded the program throughout its Indonesian supply chains. Last year, the volume of Fair Trade tuna shipped to the U.S. market increased by 75 percent, returning more than USD 100,000 (EUR 87,936) in Fair Trade premiums back to fishing communities, Anova said. The handline tuna fishery in North Buru Island has been involved in a related fishery improvement project (FIP) since 2011, which saw Anova take on a proactive role by supporting the implementation of rigorous port sampling and data collection programs that met international standards for scientific fisheries data requirements, according to the company. The company is confident that its Fair Trade achievements, particularly in the realm of traceability, will translate well during the fisherys MSC assessment. One of the key elements of Fair Trade and MSC certifications is the implementation of a traceability system rigorous enough to trace the fish back to the small-scale fishing vessel that caught it, and more importantly, ensure that no substitution of non-certified product occurs. The traceability system created for Anova by MDPI, Trace Tales, tracks each fish back to the individual fisherman and point of landing, tracing a catchs journey through the entire supply chain, Anova said. It is extremely difficult to meet the MSC standard for a small-scale fishery, composed of thousands of independent one-manned vessels that operate on remote islands, added Saut Tampubolon, Interim Executive Director of MDPI. The Fair Trade Committee (FTC) and Fair Trade Associations, which have been in place in North Buru for five years, give an organized structure for the MSC Unit of Assessment. This major advantage of utilizing an existing FTC makes MSC potentially possible. If the North Buru Island fishery has a successful assessment against the MSCs Fisheries Standard, it join a collective of more than 300 engaged fisheries that supply the world with more than 25,000 seafood products. "We congratulate and support Anova Food USA and the North Buru handline yellowfin tuna fishery as it takes this significant step to enter full MSC assessment, said Martin Purves, Managing Director of the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPLNF). As the first handline tuna fishery to enter this process in the region, this moment highlights the growing momentum behind Indonesia's one-by-one fisheries sector and the drive to demonstrate the value that a well-managed fishery can bring, benefiting the fishers and coastal communities involved." 2019 Diversified Communications Theme(s): Others. Imperial Valley News Center Concern Regarding India-Pakistan Tensions Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo: "Following Indian counter-terrorism actions on Tuesday, I spoke with Indian Minister of External Affairs Swaraj to emphasize our close security partnership and shared goal of maintaining peace and security in the region. I also spoke to Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi to underscore the priority of de-escalating current tensions by avoiding military action, and the urgency of Pakistan taking meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil. "I expressed to both Ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost. I also encouraged both Ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity." Imperial Valley News Center Crimea is Ukraine Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo: "Five years ago, Russia's occupation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula fueled an escalation of Russian aggression. Russia attempted to upend the international order, undermined basic human freedoms, and weakened our common security. The world has not forgotten the cynical lies Russia employed to justify its aggression and mask its attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory. Russias use of force against a peaceful neighbor must not be tolerated by reputable states. The United States reiterates its unwavering position: Crimea is Ukraine and must be returned to Ukraines control. "The United States remains gravely concerned by the worsening repression by Russias occupation regime in Crimea. During the past five years, Russian occupation authorities have engaged in an array of abuses in a campaign to eliminate all opposition to its control over Crimea. As part of this campaign, Russia has arbitrarily detained and wrongfully convicted individuals for peaceful opposition to the occupation, and in some cases has forcibly transferred these individuals from occupied Crimea to Russia. The United States calls on Russia to release all of the Ukrainians, including members of the Crimean Tatar community, it has imprisoned in retaliation for their peaceful dissent. This includes Oleh Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Volodymyr Balukh, Ruslan Zeytullayev, and approximately 70 others. We call on Russia to cease all its abuses immediately, to end its occupation of Crimea, and, in the meantime, to comply with its obligations under international law, including the law of occupation. "In the Crimea Declaration of July 25, 2018, the United States reaffirmed its refusal to recognize the Kremlins claims of sovereignty over Crimea. The United States also condemns Russias illegal actions in Crimea and its continued aggression against Ukraine. The United States will maintain respective sanctions against Russia until the Russian government returns control of Crimea to Ukraine and fully implements the Minsk agreements. The United States reiterates its unbending support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders, including its territorial waters." McAllen Cold Storage, Ltd. Recalls Siluriformes Fish Products Produced Without Benefit Of Inspection Washington, DC - McAllen Cold Storage, Ltd., a McAllen, Texas establishment, is recalling approximately 51,942 pounds of frozen Siluriformes fish products, specifically Basa fillets, that were not presented for import re-inspection into the United States, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Tuesday. The frozen Basa fillet items were imported from Vietnam to the United States on various dates from Aug. 1, 2018 to Feb. 15, 2019. The following products are subject to recall: 22-lb. white cardboard cases containing 5-7 oz. pieces of bwi FROZEN PANGASIUS (BASA) FILLETS SKINLESS & BONELESS with case code BWI 134833 and use by date of 31/05/2020. 22-lb. white cardboard cases containing 7-9 oz. pieces of bwi FROZEN PANGASIUS (BASA) FILLETS SKINLESS & BONELESS with case code BWI 134858 and use by date of 01/06/2020. The products subject to recall were distributed by McAllen Cold Storage, Ltd., the importer of Record, establishment number EST. V21273. These items were shipped to wholesale and retail locations in Texas. Upon arrival at retail locations, the Basa fillets may have been removed from boxes and placed in the seafood display case for consumer purchase. The problem was discovered when an FSIS investigator conducted an inquiry to determine if McAllen Cold Storage received imported Pangasius frozen Basa fillet products originating from the country of Vietnam. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about a reaction should contact a healthcare provider. FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers freezers or refrigerators or both. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. Members of the media with questions about the recall can contact Gerardo Lopez Garza, CEO, McAllen Cold Storage, Ltd. at (956) 843-1004. Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Miguel Alva, sales supervisor, Pro Valley Foods at (956) 800-4019. Rambo: Last Blood has landed an early fall release date. The sequel, marking the fifth instalment of the action franchise, will feature Sylvester Stallones final performance as John Rambo. Lionsgate has revealed the film will be released in US cinemas on 20 September of this year. Plans for a fifth film were originally announced back in 2008, but production only began in October 2018, with Adrian Grunberg in the directors chair. The film is scripted by Stallone and Matt Cirulnick, with Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Yvette Monreal also starring. 35 great films that bombed at the box office Show all 35 1 /35 35 great films that bombed at the box office 35 great films that bombed at the box office Children of Men (2006) While it's now revered as one of the best films of the 21st century, Alfonso Cuaron's dystopian thriller failed to make its money back at the box office at its time of release in 2006. Universal Studios 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) This Robin Williams comedy grossed just $8m against its $46m budget, losing the studio a staggering $38m. Columbia Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Ali (2001) Ali opened in the US on Christmas Day, 2001, and grossed a total of $87.7m worldwide and still lost an estimated $63.1m. Initial Entertainment Group 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) Andrew Dominik's lyrical western only just made back half of its $30m budget in 2007, but found love upon its release on DVD. Warner Bros 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Astronaut's Wife (1999) Despite starring Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron, this drama was a certified bomb at the box office, making a total of $19.6m from a $75m budget. New Line Cinema 35 great films that bombed at the box office The BFG (2016) Steven Spielberg's Roald Dahl adaptation grossed just $183m against its $140m budget a low profit by Disney's standards. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Blackhat (2015) Michael Mann's cyber thriller was a box office bomb, earning only $19.7m at the box office against a budget of $70m. Universal Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Just like Ridley Scott's original flopped, this lengthy sequel from Denis Villeneuve grossed just $259m worldwide and is considered a flop. Sony Pictures Releasing 35 great films that bombed at the box office Citizen Kane (1941) This Orson Welles film may be a beloved classic, but at the time release, it failed to recoup its costs at the box office. Rex Features 35 great films that bombed at the box office Clockers (1995) Spike Lee's Clockers saw one of the director's most disappointing performances at the box office, taking just $13m from a $25m budget. Universal Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Deepwater Horizon (2016) Peter Berg's real-life drama fell more than $30m short of its $156m budget, a shame considering it's one of the Friday Night Lights creator's best films to date. Summit Entertainment 35 great films that bombed at the box office Donnie Darko (2001) Donnie Darko grossed just over $7.5m worldwide on a budget of $4.5m, not helped by its marketing campaign featuring a plane crash weeks before 9/11. Rex Features 35 great films that bombed at the box office Event Horizon (1997) Upon release, this cult horror was a commercial and critical failure, grossing $26.7m on a $60m production budget. Paramount Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Fight Club (1999) There was something of a controversy surrounding David Fincher's Fight Club, which aided in making a modest profit of just under $40m at the box office. It's opening run, though, was markedly underwhelming. 20th Century Fox 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Good Dinosaur (2015) While far from being a catastrophic flop, The Good Dinosaur struggled to reach the heights of other Pixar releases. The film grossed $332m worldwide against a $175m budget. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Hard Rain (1998) This entertaining 1990s thriller had such poor box office takings in the US, it was released straight-to-DVD in other countries, including the UK. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment 35 great films that bombed at the box office Heaven's Gate (1980) Michael Cimino's drama is notable for being one of the biggest box office bombs of its time, losing the studio an estimated $37m (over $114 million when adjusted for inflation). United Artists 35 great films that bombed at the box office Hugo (2011) Martin Scorsese's charming family film was a commercial failure, grossing just $185m against its $150$170m budget. Paramount Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Insider (1999) While acclaimed by critics, Michael Mann's drama starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe never made back its $68m budget. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Iron Giant (1999) Despite being one of the best animated films of all time, The Iron Giant was a victim of Warner Bros scepticism towards the genre after the failure of previous effort, Quest for Camelot. Future Pixar director Brad Bird's film made $31.3m worldwide against a budget of $7080m. Warner Bros 35 great films that bombed at the box office It's a Wonderful Life (1946) While not a major flop, the classic underperformed at the Christmas box office due to stiff competition from other big films. National Telefilm Associates 35 great films that bombed at the box office Ishtar (1987) Elaine May's maligned comedy, which is being reassessed with every passing year, became a notorious failure at the box office. Columbia Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office The King of Comedy (1982) Although Scorsese's drama was well-received by critics, it bombed at the box office. Lead Robert De Niro said that the film "maybe wasn't so well received because it gave off an aura of something that people didn't want to look at or know." 20th Century Fox 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Lone Ranger (2013) This unfairly maligned Disney release was a box office bomb, grossing only $260.5m worldwide against an estimated $225250m production budget and an additional $150m in marketing costs. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Man on the Moon (1999) This Jim Carrey film from Milos Forman cost Universal a lot of money after it failed to make back its $52-82m budget. Universal Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office mother! (2017) While making its money back, polarising reviews meant that Darren Aronofsky's psychological horror settled for a $14m profit. Paramount Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Mulholland Drive (2001) It's considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, but David Lynch's head-scratcher failed to make back its $20m budget. Universal Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) Despite positive reviews from critics, this spoof grossed just $9m, failing to meet its budget of $20m. Universal Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010) Edgar Wright's beloved cult was a box office bomb, grossing $47.7m against its production budget of $8590m. Universal Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office The Shawshank Redemption (1994) This Stephen King adaptation was a box office disappointment, earning only $16m during its initial theatrical run. It would later get re-released and earn $58.3m. Columbia Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Shoot 'Em Up (2007) This fun action film starring Clive Owen recouped far less than its $39m budget. New Line Cinema 35 great films that bombed at the box office A Simple Plan (1998) This Oscar-nominated noir didn't meet its budget despite sitting at a paltry $17m. Paramount Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office This Is Spinal Tap (1984) It wasn't until its home entertainment release that this mockumentary became the beloved classic it is today. Embassy Pictures 35 great films that bombed at the box office Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) Valerian grossed $225m worldwide, but due to its high production and advertising costs, it was considered a commercial failure. EuropaCorp Distribution 35 great films that bombed at the box office Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) This beloved Roald Dahl adaptation starring Gene Wilder made just a $1m profit upon its original release in 1971. Rex Features The plot follows Rambo now working on a ranch as he crosses the US-Mexico border to find a friends kidnapped daughter, going toe-to-toe with one Mexicos most ruthless cartels. T-shirts bearing the "Girl Power" slogan have been removed from sale following allegations that workers were being exploited at the factory where they are made. Sold by the F= website which aims to "provide modern day women with inspiration, motivation, and empowerment through the success stories of women", the garments were retailing at 28, although 10 was donated to Worldreader, a charity that provides people in developing countries with access to a digital library. None of the profits went to F=. While the slogans were printed in the UK, the organic cotton T-shirts were made by Belgian brand Stanley/Stella in Bangladesh in a factory owned by a firm called Dird Composite Textiles. More than 100 workers in the factory were recently relieved of their jobs following a strike this January, which saw thousands of workers in Bangladesh protest low wages, according to an investigation by The Guardian which also claimed that some workers at the factory earn approximately 42p an hour. Surfer girls in Bangladesh Show all 14 1 /14 Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Rifa, who has been working for 4 years, surfs Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Four competitors observe the annual Cox's Bazar surf competition from the beach Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Rashed Alam teaches beach vendors to surf Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Rashed Alam teaches Shuma to surf Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Rashed Alam (center) talks with beach vendors after surfing Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Shumi dances with Shobhemeheraj during the annual Cox's Bazar surf competition Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Rifa looks at items to buy to sell on the beach Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Shuma competes during the annual Cox's Bazar surf competition Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Aisha competes during the annual Cox's Bazar surf competition Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Rashed Alam talks with beach vendors after surfing Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Aisha, who has been working for 4 years, sells jewellery on the beach Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Jahanara, Shuma, and Aisha sell items on the beach Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Shobhemeheraj surfs Allison Joyce/Getty Images Surfer girls in Bangladesh Surfer girls in Bangladesh Shuma and Jahanara smile as they poses for photos with their awards during the annual Cox's Bazar surf competition Allison Joyce/Getty Images It also alleged that a female employee had been beaten under the orders of managerial staff. Responding to the allegations one of the co-founders of F=, Danielle Newnham, posted an open letter on the company's website. Along with her fellow co-founder and twin sister Natalie Bardega, she said she had been assured the factory in which the T-shirts were being made had been certified by the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) - a non-profit organisation committed to helping workers within the garment industry. "To clarify, we print our T-shirts here in the UK but, we are always concerned if anyone is treated badly," she wrote. "Our entire mission is based on empowerment and if we receive evidence of poor treatment, we would look for another supplier immediately." Recommended Children in Bangladesh meet UK peers online The pair had chosen Stanley/Stella as their T-shirt manufacturer following "months of research", and were assured of the company's commitment to sustainability, she added. She also addressed a picture shared on Instagram of Holly Willoughby and Emma Bunton wearing the "Girl Power" T-shirts, stating that neither were paid to endorse or advertise the products. The entire shop on the F= website was temporarily closed following the allegations. In a separate interview with The Independent Ms Newham said that F= have been told that the 100 workers who were allegedly sacked from the factory actually resigned from their jobs. Prior to the investigation "we had no contact with either Stanley/Stella or the factory itself," she said. "We print our T-shirts in the UK - our printer buys them in wholesale from Stanley/Stella in Europe. We did a lot of research when we started four years ago to ensure we found the most green and conscious suppliers we could and Stanley/Stella came out on top." FWF told The Independent that Stanley/Stella was dedicated to "improving working conditions" in the garment industry. "We understand that that is difficult to grasp for consumers who just read about violations in this factory but the garment industry is complex, global, fragmented and rarely transparent," it said in a statement. "Stanley/Stella is one of those brands that want to break the vicious cycle and improve how our clothes are made. And we think they should be supported for that." It added that the along with Bangladeshi factory in question, it was investigating the case and the findings would be published on its website when "all facts are clear". It also clarified that the FWF is not able to certify brands or factories, as previously suggested. "In high-risk countries like Bangladesh, serious problems will inevitably be found in most supply chains," it said. "Harassment and low wages are endemic in Bangladeshi garment factories. When issues arise, FWF requires that its member brands address these problems head-on." Stanley/Stella told The Independent that it was doing the best it can to "select the right factories", to "monitor them closely", and to address any queries raised. Regarding the issue of poor pay at the Bangladeshi factory, it said it was "unfair" to assume that Dird Composite Textiles and Stanley/Stella are the only companies paying its workers low wages. "Our factories pay more than the minimum to most of their workers. Some factories probably pay even less than the minimum wage, and that would probably deserve an in-depth investigation," it said in a statement. "About the 100 workers, we are still investigating this with FWF to understand if it was well by volunteer resignation." Worldreader, the literacy charity that's received donations from the sales of the T-shirts for the past four years, told The Independent that it was "saddened" upon hearing of the investigation. "Prior to accepting donations from the sales of "Girl Power T-shirts, we entered into a contract that ensured the shirts were 'Fair Wear certified'," it said. "Worldreader has agreed with F=, our donor who printed the shirts, that we will cease accepting donations from the sale of these shirts until the situation is resolved." Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events In 2014, gender equality charity the Fawcett Society investigated claims that a T-shirt promoted by the organisation adorned with the slogan: "This is what a feminist looks like" was being made by female workers in Mauritius being paid 62p an hour. The 45 T-shirt was manufactured in collaboration with Elle magazine and was designed and produced by high street brand Whistles. In September 2018, it was announced that the minimum wage in Bangladesh had increased to 8,000 taka a month (72). The Independent has contacted Dird Composite Textiles for further comment. Theres a new way to accessorise this season, and its going to do wonders to your next bad hair day. Hair clips and headbands are in the midst of one of the most impressive sartorial renaissances yet, having matured from kitsch school girl accessories of childhood years to devastatingly cool and sophisticated adornments worn by the likes of Alexa Chung and Bella Hadid. Demand for hair accessories is higher than ever before, with sales up by 250 per cent on luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter in the last year, with designers Jennifer Behr and Prada leading the way in terms of sell-out styles. And if the autumn/winter 2019 runways are anything to go by - with statement barrette clips and pearly tiaras injecting some pizazz at Ashley Williams and Simone Rocha - this a trend thats not going anywhere soon. Hair accessories are having a real moment, says celebrity stylist Alex Longmore, who tells The Independent they boast both sartorial and economical appeal. I think its partly to do with brand accessibility and the current financial climate, she explains. Customers might not want to splurge on an item of clothing but a hair accessory from a named brand is a fraction of the price meaning its much more accessible. Of course, modest price tags are not the only factor at play here. As design history lecturer Dr Harriet Atkinson of the University of Brighton points out, hair accessories have been around for centuries, and their recent resurgence might speak to the industrys increasing penchant for nostalgia. APC 1980s-style cotton-blend jeans: 200, Richard Quinn leopard-print stretch-velvet turtleneck top: 580, Reebok classic leather bold trainers: 100, Sophia Buhai braided velvet and satin headband: 212, Cult Gaia Mira acrylic hoop earrings, 55. Eighteenth century hair adornments ranged from ribbons and jewels to flowers and even stuffed animals, she tells The Independent. The Victorians held their hair in place with combs, some of them ornate, carved bone. Atkinson notes that the rise of padded velvet headbands in particular, as seen everywhere from collections by Los Angeles-based designer Sophie Buhai to Urban Outfitters, is part of the wider eighties revival that has emerged in fashion over the last year. Topshop denim pinafore dress: 36, Valet set of two Kelly tortoiseshell resin hair clips, 45, Vagabond Dioon boots: 89.99, Ganni Julliard mohair and wool-blend cardigan: 970. Theres also something undeniably sentimental about decorating your hair with sparkling clips and headbands you might well have worn as a child, or during your early teens in a bid to channel Blair Waldorf, the famous Gossip Girl character for whom headbands were very much a trademark aesthetic. This association was particularly noticeable at Simone Rocha's autumn/winter 2019 London Fashion Week show, which felt like a sartorial ode to innocence. Models with rose-tinted cheeks of all ages walked the runway wearing sparkling beaded tiaras and jewelled barrettes. A quick look at the runway of full-skirted, tulle girlish gowns (that came in pastel pinks, vivid reds and virginal whites) and it appeared as if Rochas models had raided their childhood dressing up boxes and become princesses for the day. The idea was to continue the embellishment from the Ready-to-Wear collection into the head, creating a full silhouette, Rocha tells The Independent. The pieces engage with the connotations of femininity of the classic hair band shape. Cult Gaia Turband gauze headband: 45, Accessorize Alba statement earrings: 10, Madewell frisco distressed denim mini skirt: 80, Commes des Garcons converse: 115, APC Breton stripe long-sleeved T-shirt: 105. Thats not to say that all hair clips are delicate and demure. Adding some attitude to the trend is the rise of empowering slogan barrettes, which bear words like Boss and Babe. You can now find these across the high street, with options at New Look, Pretty Little Thing and Accessorize. Now the ultimate "cool girl" accessory, statement hair clips are often seen tucked into the well-groomed strands of some of the fashion industrys major players, including model Adwoa Aboah and blogger Susie Lau. But this is largely down to one designer in particular, Ashley Williams, whose silver diamante GIRLS and BOYS pins have become a thing of mythic adoration among the fashion set. Zara blazer with pockets:49.99, Ashley Williams GIRLS hair pins: 60, Ariana Boussard-Reifel Phyta silver ring: 330, Shrimps all-over beaded bad: 450, Zara skinny trousers: 25.99. When I first made the hair clips it was a way of experimenting with jewellery and I felt hair accessories were something that was missing at the time, Williams tells The Independent. It was a call back my childhood in the 1990s when maximum hair accessories were very cool, she added. "SORRY" and "ERROR" are among Williams' latest designs (Ashley Williams) But creating something that is so desirable - the pins almost always sell out on Williams website - has its drawbacks, the designer explains, with counterfeit styles emerging on a weekly basis. Its interesting to see that this was clearly something missing from the market, she adds, and look how people have responded". Dynamo has opened up about the reality of living with Crohn's disease, stressing that a person's appearance isn't necessarily indicative of good health. The chronic condition, which has no known cure, causes inflammation in the digestive system and can lead to symptoms including stomach cramps, fatigue and diarrhoea. The magician, whose real name is Steven Frayne, was diagnosed with Crohn's as a teenager and subsequently had to have half of his stomach removed at the age of 17. On Thursday 28 February, Dynamo spotted an online article in which he was described as looking "fighting fit" as he "continues to battle" the disease. The 36-year-old responded to the article on Twitter, explaining that while he is grateful for the support, the reality of suffering from the lifelong condition isn't quite so simple. NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Show all 18 1 /18 NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, addresses demonstrators following the march AFP/Getty NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Reuters NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images "I'm doing better thanks, but as any Crohn's/RA [rheumatic arthritis] sufferer will tell you, the way someone looks isn't necessarily a great indicator of health," he tweeted. "Like many others, there are times when I look great but feel like absolute dog s*** and vice versa!" Dynamo's tweet received a flurry of responses from many of his two million followers, several of whom thanked the magician for raising awareness about living with a chronic condition. "Well said Dynamo! It's so important to highlight invisible illnesses and combat the stigma," one person tweeted. "So very true," another added. "An illness that shows no obvious physical manifestation is impossible to measure from the outside. "Being well and looking well with Crohn's seldom comply. It's a lifelong battle for those who suffer from it. And there's no medal. It's tough." In March 2018, Dynamo shared a video on Twitter illustrating the impact Crohn's disease has had on his body. The magician revealed that he'd been hospitalised the previous summer due to food poisoning, and outlined how the condition had caused him to put on weight. While there's no cure for Crohn's, the condition can be treated with medication to control or reduce the symptoms, the NHS states. The majority of people diagnosed with the disease take steroid medication to reduce the inflammation in the digestive system. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events For everything you need to know about Crohn's, click here. If you wish to speak to Crohn's and Colitis UK for support or guidance, you can call the charity's helpline on 0300 222 5700. Culinary expert Martha Stewart is launching her own line of cannabidiol (CBD) products for humans and their pets. The 77-year-old has announced that she will be teaming up with Canopy Growth one of the worlds largest marijuana producers to develop a line of CBD health products. However, fans of the Emmy award-winning television show host will have to wait a while until they can try her products because her first venture is going to cater specifically to animals. I am delighted to establish this partnership with Canopy Growth and share with them the knowledge I have gained after years of experience in the subject of living, Stewart said in a statement. Im especially looking forward to our first collaboration together, which will offer sensible products for peoples beloved pets. Cannabis around the world Show all 13 1 /13 Cannabis around the world Cannabis around the world Morocco Farmers destroy cannabis plantations under Moroccan police supervision in the northern Moroccan Larache region, pictured here in 2006 AFP/Getty images Cannabis around the world Colorado Growing business: Cannabis on sale at River Rock Wellness Sam Adams Cannabis around the world Oakland Oaksterdam in Oakland, California, is the world's only university dedicated to the study and cultivation of cannabis Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images Cannabis around the world Seattle A cannabis smoker marks the start of the new law by the Space Needle in Seattle Getty Images Cannabis around the world China Cannabis growing wild in China, where it has been used to treat conditions such as gout and malaria Cannabis around the world Uruguay Uruguay has voted to make the country the first to legalize marijuana AFP/Getty Cannabis around the world Colorado A groundswell of support from the public led to full legalisation in Colorado Getty Images Cannabis around the world Berlin A man smokes licenced medicinal marijuana prior to participating in the annual Hemp Parade, or 'Hanfparade', in support of the legalization of marijuana in Germany on August 7, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. The consumption of cannabis in Germany is legal, though all other aspects, including growing, importing or selling it, are not. However, since the introduction of a new law in 2009, the sale and possession of marijuana for licenced medicinal use is legal. Sean Gallup/Getty Images Cannabis around the world UK The UK latest figures show 2.3 million people used cannabis in the last year AP Cannabis around the world Amsterdam Tourists visiting Amsterdam will not be banned from using the citys famous cannabis cafes Getty Images Cannabis around the world Merseyside These 25 cannabis plants, seized in Merseyside police, could have generated a turnover of 40,000 a year Cannabis around the world San Francisco April 20, 2012: People smoke marijuana joints at 4:20 p.m. as thousands of marijuana advocates gathered at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. The event was held on April 20, a date corresponding with a numerical 4/20 code widely known within the cannabis subculture as a symbol for all things marijuana. Reuters Cannabis around the world Spain A cannabis users' association will pay the town of Rasquera more than 600,000 a year for the lease of the land While Stewarts association with a cannabis company may seem like an unlikely partnership, Canopy Growth said she was an obvious choice. As soon as you hear the name Martha, you know exactly who were talking about, Canopy chairman and co-CEO Bruce Linton said in a statement. Martha is one of a kind and I am so excited to be able to work alongside this icon to sharpen our CBD. product offerings across categories from human to animal. Canopy Growth has revealed that several clinical trials for the pet products are already underway and that Stewart will be advising the company as they develop. With the partnership, Stewart follows in the footsteps of her close friend Snoop Dogg, who invested in Tweed, a Canopy Growth subsidiary, in 2016. The pair currently star together on their cooking-meets-talk show Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party. In 2018, it was reported that the number of CBD consumers doubled following a rise in readily-available cannabis-derived products around the world. CBD is a non-psychoactive chemical compound found in the marijuana plant and doesn't contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the main psychoactive perception and mood-altering component of cannabis. This means that products containing CBD wont lead to hallucinogenic effects like recreational use of marijuana is known to do. Instead, CBD is typically sold in products, like oils, that advertise benefits such as pain relief and reducing anxiety. However, it remains unclear as to how these types of products affect animals. According to Forbes, there are a number of examples where CBD might help a domestic animal including for treatment of anxiety when travelling or going to the vet. There are already a number of pet-friendly products available to buy online but while people may be medicating their pets with CBD, there remains very little research on the subject. In Colorado - the first US state to legalise recreational marijuana in 2012 Dr Stephanie McGrath, a neurologist and assistant professor at Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, has completed two clinical studies on the effects of cannabidiol in dogs with osteoarthritis or epilepsy. An initial investigation involving 30 healthy research animals found that CBD was tolerated while preliminary results of the epilepsy investigation were promising enough that McGrath began a three-year crossover study with a $350,000 (264,358) grant from the American Kennel Club in January 2018. Speaking to The Independent, the RSPCA said that more research needs to be done before CBD can be recommended as an aid to distressed animals. We are not aware of any studies which show proven benefits of CBD oil for pets," said Caroline Allen, chief veterinary officer at the RSPCA. "If anyone has concerns about their pet's health, we would always advise them to contact their vet. A Great British pork scratchings brand has faced criticism after admitting to using foreign pork. Mr Trotters was founded in 2011 by Prince Charles stepson Tom Parker Bowles alongside food writer Matthew Fort, and beer industry expert and farmer Rupert Ponsonby. At the time, Parker Bowles said he had been incensed to discover that most pork scratchings sold in pubs came from Danish pigs and so went on to create a snack made using the rinds of British bred pigs alone. Since then, Mr Trotter's has been branded with an illustration of a hog wearing a Union Jack waistcoat and is now sold in the likes of Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, and John Lewis. Despite pledging to only use British pigs to make the snack, Karyn Walker, director of Mr Trotters has revealed that the brands pork scratchings are now made using rind bought from the global meat processing company Danish Crown, which sources its off-cuts from German and Dutch sellers. Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Show all 13 1 /13 Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg Stunning photos of food by Anett Velsberg We used to make it from British pigs purely, but the supply of that has deteriorated and the demand for our product increased, she told The Times. So we experimented with the product and we had to add to it by getting other pigs from other countries so its a European pig rather than just a British pig. Walker added that Mr Trotters still uses the phrase Great British Pork Crackling on its packaging because the scratchings are still cooked and seasoned in Britain. Recommended This is why crisps are getting more expensive It becomes British, she said. I suppose its like if youre born in India because you are on holiday there it doesnt make you an Indian. In a statement posted on Twitter, Parker Bowles clarified that he and Fort stepped down from the board as soon as the company stopped solely using British pigs. Just to be clear. @matthewfort and me stepped down from the board of Mr Trotters early last year because we could no longer guarantee a regular supply of British outdoor bred pork rinds, he wrote. It was an amicable decision. But since then, we have had no part in running the company. Mr Trotters was found to be using foreign pigs as a result of the Happerley food transparency scheme, an initiative by Mid Counties Co-op which helps consumers find out more about where their food comes from. The brand has since received criticism from fans on social media, with one person calling for more honest food labelling. Mr Trotter, Great British Pork Crackling made from rind imported from Denmark, from Danish, German and Dutch pigs, they wrote on Twitter. Whats the term, economical with the truth? How about fair and honest food labelling? The Independent has contacted Mr Trotters for comment. The fifth consecutive Visit My Mosque Day will see mosques across the country open their doors to people of all faiths. The aim of the annual event is to welcome individuals of various backgrounds to learn more about Islam, all the while forging stronger connections between different religious communities. The initiative has grown substantially over the past few years, with more than 200 mosques across the UK set to take part in the annual event. Heres everything you need to know about Visit My Mosque Day 2019: What is it? Visit My Mosque Day is an initiative facilitated by the Muslim Council of Britain that encourages people of all faiths to visit mosques as part of a nationwide event. While mosque open days have been taking place in the UK for decades, this particular initiative was first held in February 2015. Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London Show all 9 1 /9 Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London DSC05305.JPG Anu Shukla Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London DSC05299.JPG Anu Shukla Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London DSC05286.JPG Anu Shukla Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London IMG-20181231-WA0000.jpg AMYA Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London DSC05311.JPG Anu Shukla Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London DSC05315.JPG Anu Shukla Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London IMG-20181231-WA0005-0.jpg AMYA Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London IMG-20181231-WA0002-(5).jpg AMYA Muslim youth charity AMYA deliver meals to homeless people in London IMG-20181231-WA0004-(2).jpg AMYA The event has grown considerably over the past four years, beginning with 20 participating mosques in its inaugural year. Since then, this figure has increased to include 10 times the number of mosques across the country. In 2018, prime minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and London mayor Sadiq Khan all took part in the day by visiting their local mosques. London mayor Sadiq Khan embraces a Muslim cultural leader during a visit to Al Manaar mosque on Visit My Mosque Day on 18 February 2018 in London, England (Getty Images) [This is] a great opportunity for people here in Maidenhead to come and learn a little more about the Islamic faith, May said during her visit. Theres a lot of mystique around mosques and masjids, Khan stated on the day. The event is run by hundreds of volunteers across the country. When is it taking place? This year, Visit My Mosque Day is taking place on Sunday 3 March. The Visit My Mosque website urges people to get in touch if theyd like to visit a mosque that isnt participating in the event, so that the mosque can be invited to take part or asked to hold an open day on a separate occasion. Where is it taking place? More than 200 mosques are taking part in this years Visit My Mosque Day. To find your nearest local mosque participating in the event, click here. Why is it taking place? The primary aim of Visit My Mosque Day is to make people of all faiths feel welcome visiting mosques and learning about Islam. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the initiative, on Sunday 24 February more than 250 mosques across the UK took part in the Great British Spring Clean campaign in collaboration with Keep Britain Tidy. The event saw volunteers of all ages and faiths pick up litter from 10am until 12pm on the day. We are pleased to be supporting Keep Britain Tidy in their Great British Spring Clean campaign this spring, said Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain. We hope Visit My Mosque going green will spark conversations across the country on what more faith-based and other community groups can be doing to support local environmental causes On Tuesday 26 February, Muslim faith leaders from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland visited churches, synagogues, mandirs and gurdwaras across the country in the lead up to Visit My Mosque Day. It was a privilege to visit the West London Synagogue today, Harun Khan said following his visit. I strongly encourage more of my fellow Muslims to visit other faith institutions as this will only make our bonds stronger as we have more in common than what divides us. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Dr Harriet Crabtree, executive director of The Inter Faith Network for the UK, explained the importance of building close relationships between communities of different faiths. Mutual exchange of visits to community places of worship is an important part of building and strengthening good interfaith relations, Dr Crabtree said. Coronation Street actor Nicola Thorp says she was sexually harassed by a male colleague while working on a documentary about womens rights. The former soap actor claims a man working on the documentary, which was never released, sent her numerous text messages about her attire during the production and revealed he wanted to have sex with her. A man in the public eye approached me to do a documentary about womens rights and then, in the process, he told me how much he wanted to have sex with me, she said of her colleague, whose name she did not disclose. He then started sending me photos of dresses and shoes he thought Id look sexy in at three in the morning. The actor, who recalled the harassment in an interview with The Mirror, said the incident really messed her up. Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Show all 10 1 /10 Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Mary Wollstonecraft, writer and women's rights advocate Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Audre Lorde, writer and civil rights activist Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Bell Hooks, writer and social activist Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Queen Elizabeth I of England Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the suffragette movement Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, co-founders of Ms. magazine Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Malala Yousafzai, human rights advocate and activist for global female education Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and women's rights activist Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Sophia Duleep Singh, princess, nurse and suffragette Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory Feminist murals in London celebrate 100 years of women's vote Virginia Woolf, writer Feminists Don't Wear Pink / Herstory She added: It made me think, well, did I encourage him? Was my worth as a potential presenter of a documentary only gauged by how much I flirted with him? Thorp, who previously played character Pat Phelans long-lost daughter Nicola Rubinstein on Coronation Street, also detailed a time when she was harassed by a theatre director. He was such a creep and luckily hes not working any more she said. He just started messaging me at all times of the night telling me he had feelings for me, trying to coerce me into telling him that I had a crush on him. He started saying quite sordid things to me. Nicola Thorp attends the Inside Soap Awards held at The Hippodrome on November 6, 2017 in London, England (Getty Images) He suggested to me that if I didnt co-operate I would never work again. I told him very clearly I didnt want to hear from him again. He had a wife and kids. Thorp also recalled an incident which saw her locked in a bathroom by a manager who told her he wouldnt allow her out until she kissed him. I was only 19, but I laughed it off, she said. Then I went home and he was probably none the wiser that hed done anything wrong, hed just gotten away with being abusive and coercive. Thorps comments come days before she will take part in Care International's #March4Women rally on Sunday, which will celebrate modern-day campaigners who have challenged the law to change the world. Prior to her role on the British soap opera, Thorp publicly condemned employee outsourcing firm Portico for sending her home without pay from her receptionist job at financial services firm PwC after she refused to wear high heels. In December 2015, Thorp arrived at a London-based PwC office to be told by a representative from Portico, which ran the office's reception desks, that she had to wear shoes with a "2in to 4in heel". When she refused and highlighted that male colleagues were not asked to adhere to a similar dress code, she was dismissed. As a result of the incident, Portico - which outsourced the then temporary worker to PwC - said it would allow all female colleagues to wear plain flat shoes or plain court shoes as they prefer with immediate effect. Meanwhile, PwC stated that the dress code was "not a PwC policy" but that of third party Portico. A spokesperson told the BBC: PwC outsources its front of house and reception services to a third party supplier. We first became aware of this matter on 10 May, some five months after the issue arose." In a statement a spokesperson added: "We are now reviewing our supplier uniform codes to ensure they are aligned with our own values." The Brexit economic shock dismissed by Leavers as Project Fear is already underway. Some startling research by Kantar, the research and analytics company, has found that consumers are engaging in behaviour that was common during the brutal recession that followed the financial crisis of 2008. Its analysis of the nations grocery baskets has, for example, found that the long term and welcome trend of people choosing food for health reasons has plateaued, as it did then. Levels of snacking have increased. More people are taking lunch boxes into work, rather than buying from sandwich shops or the canteen, because its cheaper. The eating out boom of recent years has slowed dramatically. It appears that the well be alright if we just keep calm and carry on propaganda is being taken with a pinch of salt. No wonder. Kantar makes the point that, according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, in 1988 domestic foods accounted for 66 per cent, or two-thirds, of all of what was consumed in Britain. Today, that figure has fallen to 50 per cent, or half. Much of the new consumption has arrived from the European Union, from where 62 per cent of all free foods are imported. In the absence of a deal, or a Brexit delay, in less than a month from now the smooth, uninterrupted flow of that food Britain enjoys through its membership of the single market will come to a juddering halt. Thats a big problem because while UK consumers may say they like the idea of buying locally, their buying habits speak otherwise. For example, just 41 per cent of the strawberries bought in Britain are consumed during their June, July and August season. The remainder is imported out of season, some from Europe or North Africa, some from further afield. Retailers have done their best to respond. Range reviews have been conducted. We dont tend to notice, but they regularly change through the year. They are changing now in ways they dont usually change. Imported ranges have, for example, been simplified. Tesco has stated that it didnt return fridges it rented during Christmas. It and Lidl have said that theyll be hiring extra customs officials to get their produce fast tracked. Investments have been made in software and logistics planning. Money has also been spent on beefing up security too. One of the more specious arguments against a second referendum is it would cause social unrest. A no deal would all but guarantee it. It would brutally expose the lies told by Britains politicians. It would be remiss of me not to note that there will be some positives, and they may persist if Britain avoids the looming cliff edge. They include supermarkets becoming less likely to reject wonky or odd shaped veg (although that was already in train) and their efforts persuade shoppers to eat seasonally. Packaging may reduce, and the top to bottom reviews some retailers have conducted of their businesses will serve them well whatever. However, as a palliative these are rather like taking a paracetamol to deal with the after effects of major surgery. Kantars report is a superlative piece of work. Its authors, Fraser McKevitt and Ray Gaul, are to be commended. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. But reading it is faintly surreal. The things they highlight in their report - things that are happening right now - wouldn't have just been dismissed as Project Fear during the EU referendum. They would have been laughed out of town. So Remain didn't mention them. The report further serves to demonstrate the fallacy of the no dealers simplistic case. Project reality is now fast approaching fast and it's even colder than Tescos Fridges. Unless MPs find the courage to act, it will bite hard. And it will bite them too. Sadly, too few of them read this sort of thing. They need to start. Shell faces criminal charges in the Netherlands over a Nigerian oil licence at the heart of a $1.3bn (1bn) corruption scandal. The Dutch Public Prosecutors Office (DPP) is preparing charges related to Shells 2011 purchase of the valuable offshore oil field known as OPL 245. As appropriate, we will provide updates as this matter progresses, Shell said on Friday. Shell and two of its former senior executives, Peter Robinson and Malcolm Brinded, are in the midst of a separate criminal trial in Italy over the purchase. Italian prosecutors allege that Shell and Italian oil giant Eni, which was also part of the deal, knew $1.1bn of the fee was going to a company controlled by convicted money launderer and former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete. Hundreds of millions of dollars were then distributed to a number of middlemen and well-connected officials, with some of the money being used to buy a private jet, armoured Cadillacs, fine art and luxury shotguns, prosecutors allege. 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 Enis chief executive Claudio Descalzi and his predecessor Paolo Scaroni are among those charged in the case. Both companies and all of the individuals charged deny the allegations. New charges in the Netherlands will open up another front on Shells multiple legal battles. The Anglo-Dutch firm also faces a billion-dollar claim from the Nigerian government over alleged fraud and corruption stemming from OPL 245. Nigeria claims hundreds of millions of dollars were diverted from the public purse for bribes and kickbacks. Swiss, US and French authorities have also investigated the case. Separately, Shell faces legal action from thousands of residents of the Niger delta who say their livelihoods have been ruined by decades of oil spills from the companys pipelines. The amount allegedly distributed as bribes is more than the entire 2018 healthcare budget of Nigeria, a country where vast oil wealth lives side by side with 87 million people in extreme poverty. In total, Nigeria will be deprived of $6bn under the deal because of the terms agreed for future oil revenues from OPL 245, research by Global Witness found. Shell has said it does not believe there is a case to answer. Recommended Shell faces one of the biggest corporate corruption cases in history After years of denials, Shell admitted in 2017 that it knew Mr Etete was behind the OPL 245 deal. In the final days of the regime of Sani Abacha in 1998, Mr Etete awarded the oil field which held around a quarter of Nigerias known reserves to a company called Malabu Oil and Gas, which it later emerged he controlled. When rights to the field were finally sold in 2011, the payments went through the Nigerian government but were then paid into Malabus accounts, much of it via banks in London. Shell says it paid money to the Nigerian state and therefore acted properly. Emails revealed that a former MI6 agent hired by Shell, who is also a defendant in the case, had been in contact with Mr Etete from at least 2009, two years before the deal was sealed. The agent wrote of champagne lunches with Etete in Paris at which the deal was discussed. In one internal email to a senior Shell executive, he wrote: Etete can smell the money. If, at nearly 70 years old, he does turn his nose up at $1.2bn he is completely certifiable and should then probably just hold out until nature takes his course with him. Further correspondence from June 2010 states that Etete claimed to have a letter from Goodluck Jonathan (GLJ), then Nigerian president, that was clearly an attempt to deliver significant revenues to GLJ as part of any transaction. Hundreds of millions of pounds of that money passed through JPMorgan in London, which is being sued by the Federal Government of Nigeria for gross negligence. In court filings, JP Morgan said the UKs top anti-money laundering authority gave the green light for the payments after the bank raised a series of suspicious activity reports. William Hill has plunged into the red and blamed the fallout from the anticipated introduction of a 2 maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBT) next month. The bookmaker reported a loss of 722m for 2018, compared with profits of 147m the previous year. Revenue rose 2 per cent, from 1.59bn to 1.62bn. The company said the huge loss was largely due to an exceptional charge of 883m linked to the governments decision to reduce the maximum stake on FOBTs from 100 to 2. The government announced plans to tighten the rules around the betting machines, which have been dubbed the crack cocaine of gambling, last year in a bid to curb gambling problems. However, the move was met with outcry from bookmakers, who said the tougher regulation would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs in the industry. China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den Show all 10 1 /10 China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY China's sin city: Inside the world's biggest gambling den STEPHEN JB KELLY Philip Bowcock, chief executive of William Hill, said 2018 had been a busy and decisive year. We know the next few years will require careful navigating and investment, but with a clear strategy and diverse, experienced leadership teams in place we are ready to capitalise on the opportunities available to us, he added. However, Emma-Lou Montgomery, associate director at Fidelity Personal Investing, said the companys optimism may not be enough to reassure workers and investors. The restrictions on FOBTs are expected to reduce William Hills profits by between 70m and 100m annually, which is really very broad, Ms Montgomery said. The wide range of estimates shows that the true impact cant be assessed until customers have been given time to play under the new rules, she told the Independent. William Hill is being cautious in setting out how bad the damage could be and with good reason. But it hasnt sat on its hands. The fact that the group has put into play a series of measures to mitigate the impact goes in the gaming groups favour, she said. But for shareholders as well as the 4,500 or so employees in the 900 shops with the threat of closure hanging over them, they can only hope the odds are in their favour. She added: Concerns about FOBTs have been the focus of attention in the sector ever since the cap was mooted. For William Hill to turn this around, replace any income lost from FOBT and move on, it may have to reshape the business. William Hill is not the only company facing a different future due to new gambling regulations. Rivals Ladbrokes Coral, Betfred and Paddy Power are all likely to be affected to varying degrees. Theres no doubt that the reduction in the maximum FOBT stake from 100 to 2 will have an impact., Ms Montgomery said What this suggests is that - as retailers and the pub industry have already found - they need to adapt to changes. And rapidly. And with more attention likely to focus on areas such as gambling as time goes by, and with there also likely to be calls for even greater protection for consumers, the likes of William Hill need to stay one step ahead by developing other income streams, which it is doing in the US. It is hard to think of a government programme more disastrous than Transforming Rehabilitation a botched privatisation scheme that has seen criminals commit rape and murder while supposedly under supervision. A damning report released today said skyrocketing numbers of offenders were being sent back to prison for violating licence conditions. The privatised companies charged with supervising them from 2014 onwards were meant to save the government millions, but it is now expected to pay an extra 467m of taxpayers money to repair the damage. The number of criminals being sent back to prison for violating licence conditions has skyrocketed since the governments dangerous part-privatisation of probation services, a watchdog has found. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that while the 2014 Transforming Rehabilitation programme aimed to reduce reoffending and save money, the government has been forced to bail out failing companies and cancel contracts early in moves expected to cost taxpayers more than 467m. Sir Amyas Morse, head of Whitehalls spending watchdog, said the Ministry of Justice had set itself up to fail as Chris Grayling ignored warnings over contracting out the supervision of criminals. Its rushed roll-out created significant risks that it was unable to manage, he added. These have had far-reaching consequences. Not only have these failings been extremely costly for taxpayers, but we have seen the number of people on short sentences recalled to prison skyrocket. UK prison conditions: in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 UK prison conditions: in pictures UK prison conditions: in pictures A cell covered in graffiti at HMP Liverpool. PA UK prison conditions: in pictures HMP Liverpool has some of the worst conditions inspectors have seen. HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures A broken window in a cell at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA Wire UK prison conditions: in pictures A shower unit with protruding electric cable at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures Litter at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA Wire UK prison conditions: in pictures A wall damaged by damp at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures A pool table at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures A sign for HMP Liverpool, where drones are seized at a rate of more than one a week. The prisons watchdog flagged up the impact of the remote-controlled flying devices at HMP Liverpool. PA The reforms created private Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) to manage low or medium risk offenders and the National Probation Service (NPS) for those deemed more dangerous. From 2015, every criminal released from prison became subject to statutory supervision, which had previously only been required for those serving over a year in jail. The NAOs report said that, between January 2015 and September 2018, the number of offenders recalled to prison for breaching their licence conditions increased by almost half from 4,240 to 6,240. Offenders serving short sentences often find it difficult to comply with license conditions and available supervision has not been appropriate to reflect the diverse needs of these people, it said. Over the same period, the percentage of offenders recalled to custody who had received sentences of less than 12 months increased from 3 per cent to over a third, amid a crisis seeing record violence and self-harm in overcrowded jails. While the proportion of convicts who reoffend dropped by 2.5 per cent, the number of new offences per person rose by a fifth and just six of 21 CRCs consistently achieved significant reductions in reoffenders. Meg Hillier MP, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said the NPS had performed better but was being hampered by a shortage of staff and intolerable workloads. Michael Portillo calls Chris Grayling 'most incompetent minister of all-time' Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: The so-called rehabilitation revolution has actually just put more people back into prison with damaging consequences. The NAO said ineffective contracts meant CRCs could not be held to account for poor services, as judges lost confidence in the community sentences they were supposed to enforce. The government dramatically over-estimated how much work CRCs would take on, causing them to make huge losses under an inappropriate payment by results model. Recommended Failing privatisation of probation services putting public at risk By March 2018 the companies faced collective losses of 294m over the life of the contracts, compared to expected profits of 269m, and earlier this month a firm running three CRCs went into administration. Terminating the contracts early will cost taxpayers at least 171m, the NAO said, and in total the Ministry of Justice is to pay at least 467 million more than was required under the original contracts. Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: Rather than helping to turn lives around, Transforming Rehabilitation has made communities less safe and cost the taxpayer a fortune. Everyone can see that it has failed, now we must seize this moment of opportunity to put things right. Richard Burgon, Labours shadow justice secretary, called it a costly experiment that has failed to protect the public. HM Inspectorate of Probation has found a two-tier system between private CRCs and the NPS Chris Grayling ignored all the warnings from Labour and others about the obvious dangers of privatising probation, he added. The Conservatives now need to drop their dangerous obsession with running probation for private profit and instead bring it back in-house where it can focus on keeping the public safe. The damning report came after a watchdog revealed that CRCs were failing to enforce sentences, leaving convicts to commit more crime or simply disappear. Inspectors warned of a two-tier system letting known criminals kill and rape while supposedly under supervision, and leaving domestic abuse victims at risk. After a Justice Committee inquiry called on the government to overhaul the mess, David Gauke announced a fresh 170m bailout for CRCs, a restructure and new contracts. Sir Amyas said the proposals address some issues but risks remain, calling on the government to pause and think carefully about its next steps so that it can get things right this time and improve the quality of probation services. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Rory Stewart, the prisons minister, said Transforming Rehabilitation was good for public safety because 40,000 more offenders were being monitored. The performance of the CRCs, which look after our lower risk offenders is too often deeply disappointing, he added. That is why we have stepped in to end contracts early and invested an extra 22m a year in services for offenders on release. We take the NAOs findings very seriously and will set out our detailed proposals for the future of probation later this year. Private hire vehicle drivers are mounting a legal challenge against London mayor Sadiq Khan after he proposed new rules which require minicab and Uber drivers to pay the congestion charge. United Private Hire Drivers, a branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, claims that the rule change indirectly discriminates against ethnic minority drivers and breaches their human rights. The drivers are currently exempt from paying the congestion charge while travelling in central London. But under new rules, which come into force from 8 April, they will have to pay the 11.50 daily charge. Black cab drivers, in contrast, will continue to be exempt from paying the charge. The IWGB today issued a pre-action letter giving the Mayor until 6 March to reverse the policy before the union launches a judicial review in the High Court, a spokesperson for the union said. The introduction of the 11.50 congestion charge on minicab drivers is a case of indirect discrimination under the Equality Act. The charge is being imposed on a workforce that is mainly Bame while black cab drivers, who are mostly white, continue to be exempt. Around 94 per cent of Londons minicab drivers are from ethnic minority backgrounds, according to Transport for London (TfL). Uber drivers like myself are being squeezed, said Muhumed Ali, a minicab driver and IWBG member. On one side we have the company that keeps us earning poverty wages and now, on the other, we have the TfL and mayor Sadiq Khan looking to charge us 11.50 when we go into central London. Newsflash Sadiq Khan: private hire drivers are no longer prepared to be the easy target cash cow you and TfL have treated them in the past! James Moyer-Lee, IWBGs general secretary, said on Twitter. The changes to the congestion charge were proposed by Mr Khan and TfL to reduce congestion and air pollution in central London. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The number of Private Hire Vehicles entering the Congestion Charge zone has shot up from 4,000 a day in 2003 when it first came into operation, to more than 18,000 now, a spokesperson for the mayor of London said. Sadiq simply isnt prepared to ignore the damaging impact this has on congestion and increasing air pollution. Congestion has a crippling impact on businesses across the capital. At the same time, our toxic air in London is a major public health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children, leading to thousands of premature deaths and increases the risk of asthma and dementia. Most other motorists, from private cars to small business owners, are liable for the Congestion Charge. Removing the Congestion Charge exemption for private hire vehicles is a key part of our plans to both reduce congestion and to protect Londoners from harmful emissions from polluting vehicles. Leave supporters who want to join Nigel Farages march against Theresa Mays Brexit approach are being charged 50. Core marchers those who walk for two or more days will have to make the one-off payment, which covers accommodation, dinner and breakfast. Other supporters can join the event for free as cheerleaders but would have to fund their own accommodation if away from home overnight. The 50 also pays for an official kit, including a coat, beanie hat, gloves, T-shirt and water bottle. Former Ukip leader Mr Farage will lead the activists marching from Sunderland to London from 16 to 29 March. Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Show all 18 1 /18 Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well These billboards were plastered by campaign group Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well PA Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter The Brexit Betrayal event, organised by the Leave Means Leave group, will culminate in a rally in Parliament Square on the day Britain is due to leave the EU. Leave Means Leave has adopted the slogan Brexit Betrayal for the event the slogan that Tommy Robinson and Ukip used in December for a Brexit rally that drew crowds of thousands. Mr Robinson, the English Defence League founder, hinted then that he could run as a Ukip MP after he became an adviser to party leader Gerard Batten, a move that prompted Mr Farage to quit the party in protest. Marchers at the event will pass through Hartlepool, Wetherby, Pontefract, Doncaster, Leicester, Towcester and Aylesbury. Organisers said it would highlight public opposition to the governments handling of Brexit. A post on the March To Leave website revealing details of the route said for a one-off 50 payment for one or more nights accommodation and food was not a bad deal. It said some supporters were offering sponsorships for core marchers who could not afford to pay. An appeal for sponsorship reads: Help us demonstrate the huge dissatisfaction with the way Brexit has been handled by the out-of-touch Westminster elite. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Meanwhile, next Sunday, hundreds of dogs and their owners, together with MPs and celebrities, will hold what is billed as the worlds biggest dogs dinner to call for Ms May to avoid a no-deal Brexit and offer a new vote. The anti-Brexit Wooferendum group, which is organising the rally near Parliament, warns that leaving the EU will be disastrous for people and pets, leading to a shortage of skilled vets and vet nurses, rising costs for animal health and pet food products and the end of the EU pet passport scheme. A Brexit delay of longer than two months could be illegal unless the UK elects new MEPs, lawyers are warning, appearing to torpedo Theresa Mays strategy. Article 50 cannot be extended beyond the end of May unless the UK takes part in fresh European parliament elections, according to a legal opinion issued by the German Bundestag. The conclusion came amid fresh evidence that the exit talks remain in trouble, with a lack of progress that might persuade MPs to approve the prime ministers deal. The controversy over European elections is crucial because Ms May told MPs a delay to June would be possible without a U-turn on withdrawing MEPs if parliament forces her to abandon the 29 March deadline. A proposal to keep seats in the parliament would trigger uproar among Conservatives who are already angry over the Commons being granted a veto over a no-deal Brexit. However, the EU would almost certainly reject a delay of only two months as pointless, given it has not been possible to agree an acceptable UK divorce deal in two years of trying. The blow came as Michel Barnier, the EUs Brexit negotiator, is believed to have warned there has been no progress in the negotiations designed to secure changes to rescue the agreement. 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 A regular meeting of EU ambassadors was told there was still stalemate over the UKs search for an exit mechanism from the Irish border backstop, which the EU has rejected, it was reported. On Tuesday, Ms May while insisting she remained opposed to delaying Brexit told MPs: An extension beyond the end of June would mean the UK taking part in the European Parliament elections. However, the legal opinion warned of a violation of the active and passive voting rights of British nationals if there was a delay beyond 23-26 May, when the elections are held. British citizens living in the UK would be denied a fundamental right conferred on them by citizenship of the European Union, the German paper Die Welt quoted the advice as saying. They could take action in UK courts in defence of their rights to vote and stand for election in accordance with applicable national rules. And EU citizens in the UK would also be prevented from exercising their right to vote and stand in elections to the European parliament in their state of residence, laying Britain open to possible action by the European Commission. The European Court of Justice could issue a preliminary ruling on whether or not Britains non-participation in the European elections is legally permissible. It is increasingly plausible that the EU will insist on a much longer extension possibly 21 months, to allow a trade deal to be agreed while the UK is a member, avoiding the backstop controversy. This week, Emmanuel Macron hinted at that approach when he said France would block a Brexit delay unless it had a clear objective based on a new choice by the British. Close Brexit: What will happen in 2019? Ministers are up for the fight to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal, a senior Tory has warned the prime minister, saying a disorderly exit is not something we can contemplate. Tobias Ellwood, the defence minister, said he would fight to prevent a no-deal Brexit taking place either on 29 March or after an extension. His warning came after it was revealed the Government had paid 33m to Eurotunnel to settle a legal action over the award of contracts to ferry firms, including one that had no ships. Eurotunnel had accused ministers of awarding the contracts through a secretive and flawed procurement process. Were going to stay, we want to be the party, we dont want to be pushed out in any sense, Mr Ellwood told the BBCs Nick Robinson in a podcast. Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies The Beatles "Brexit is like Liverpool trashing all its links to The Beatles and spending all its time and energy building Esther McVey World." Shutterstock / terry bouch Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies The number seven "Trying to understand Brexit is like trying to figure out what colour the letter seven smells like." Shutterstock / jgl247 Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Pilots "Brexit is like being in a plane hurtling towards the ground with the pilot and co-pilot arguing over who would crash it better." Shutterstock / View Apart Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Operation "Brexit is like going to the doctor, being told you need an operation, agreeing to it, then finding out they are going to cut off your cock & sew it to your forhead... ...but refusing to get a 2nd opinion." Shutterstock / Dmytro Zinkevych Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Wall "My mentions have taught me that Brexit is like Trumps wall. For its devoted fans it has a symbolic value totally unrelated to its workability, its true cost or the glaring self-interest of its proposers, whereas non-believers see nothing but a deranged and costly vanity project." Shutterstock / Tony Craddock Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Skydive "brexit is like a sitcom where at the start of the episode the main character tells a casual lie about being able to skydive to impress someone and now they're at the end of the episode in a plane about to jump" Shutterstock / Mauricio Graiki Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Crumble "Brexit is like if Farage & Johnson said May we make you an *amazing* apple crumble? & then 18 months later handed you a leaking bag of maggots & offal. You shouldnt have to eat it." Shutterstock / CKP1001 Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Punch "Asking me to support Brexit is like asking me to punch my constituents in the face, said Anna Turley, the Labour MP for Redcar, which voted 66:34 to leave. It doesnt make it easier if you tell me my constituents want to be punched." Shutterstock / ZoneCreative Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Fire "Watching this government deal with Brexit is like being locked outside your house while you can see people inside setting fire to the furniture as the laws telling you you cant go in and stop them." Shutterstock / Gorb Andrii Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Villains "Brexit is like living in a superhero movie that has no heroes, just loads of incompetent villains fighting over who is more evil." Shutterstock / Aisyaqilumaranas Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Book "Brexit is like a bad novel. You are so far into it you just want to skip to the end to see if it ended as badly as it had begun. (You throw the book at the wall when you realise it is the first book in a trilogy)." Shutterstock / Stokkete Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Cricket "Watching Brexit is like trying to reverse engineer the rules of cricket by listening to the radio. I have absolutely no idea what is going on." Shutterstock / ChrisVanLennepPhoto Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Car "Brexit is like the UK took a motorway exit, then found the road turning into a rutted grassy track, and now the car's stuck in a muddy field, there's no help in sight, it's getting dark, everyone's shouting at the driver, and the passengers are beginning to worry about food." Shutterstock / Kolbakova Olga Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Cable "Watching Brexit is like watching someone try and plug a coaxial aerial cable into a HDMI port. There is a lot of anger, a lot of swearing, and a lot of remarks about how this used to work before." Shutterstock / Elnur Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Windows "#Brexit is like going back to Windows 3.1" Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Liars "I'm sure most people remember a kid at school who just lied constantly? Who refused to back down, however outlandish the lie, and however it was disproven? Brexit is like all of those kids from every school have got together, and are now running the country." Shutterstock / chairavee laphom Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Donors "Trying to extricate ourselves from the EU, and Brexit, is like a multiple transplant patient attempting to give all the donated organs back." Shutterstock / Luuuusa Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Electricity "Paying my taxes to pay for Brexit is like asking a guy on death row if he has any change to put in the meter for the electric chair." Shutterstock / Fer Gregory Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Bandersnatch "Brexit is like watching Bandersnatch with your bae where bae is 70,000 Conservative party members hogging the PlayStation controller & choosing the most WTF option every time.! Shutterstock / George Dolgikh Brexit is like... The Top 20 Twitter analogies Constipation "Brexit is like the shit that never comes. Total constitutional constipation. Ironically Brexit also sounds like a constipation relief medicine." Shutterstock / sasha2109 This moderate view that were trying to defend has to be where we go in the future or we will not win the next general election. Meanwhile, opposition to Theresa Mays Brexit deal appeared to be starting to soften. Top Brexiteer Dominic Raab signalled his position was moving, saying Eurosceptics were not dogmatic over the divisive Irish backstop. He added: The substance rather than the vehicle and means is what matters. We need to see substantial legally binding changes. Jacob Rees-Mogg, who chairs the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers, also suggested he could be happy with an appendix to Ms Mays deal. The comments offer a glimmer of hope to the prime minister ahead of a critical vote on her deal on 12 March, and come after she opened the door to a short delay to Britains departure from the EU. To read how events developed on Friday, please see what was our live coverage below. Aggressive US demands for a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK will allow in chlorine-washed chicken and ramp up the cost of NHS drugs, MPs have warned. The proposals would also rip up restrictions on shipping personal data out of the country and even sanction the sale of products with dangerous materials including asbestos, they said. The warning came after Donald Trumps administration published negotiating objectives suggesting Britain will not enjoy softer treatment than other US allies in any trade deal. Critics pointed out the blueprint would: * Remove barriers on sanitary and physiosanitary standards in the farm industry a demand to sell chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-pumped beef, they said. * Provide full market access for US products potentially ending NHS controls on medicine costs in favour of US-style direct-marketing of drugs. * Ensure that the UK does not impose measures that restrict cross-border data flows ending current restrictions the UK imposes as a member of the European Economic Area (EEA). * Ensure remanufactured goods for export are not classified as used goods that are restricted or banned not even those containing asbestos fibres, it was argued. * Ensure the UK avoids manipulating exchange rates to gain a competitive advantage including currency policy within UK trade negotiations for the first time. * Allow the US to ditch the trade deal if it objects to the terms of any other UK agreement with a non-market economy, such as China. Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Show all 18 1 /18 Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well These billboards were plastered by campaign group Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well PA Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Theresa Mays spokeswoman attempted to calm the fears, insisting the government had ruled out lowering food standards in any future trade deal. But Jo Stevens, a Labour supporter of the Peoples Vote campaign, said: Donald Trumps administration has now made it clear just what it will be demanding from the UK in return for a trade deal and one of those things is that we let big US companies run riot in the NHS. All of this is just more evidence of how the PMs Brexit deal will deliver the exact opposite of what was promised. British consumers will lose their rights and protections and the NHS will be turned into a playpen for huge US corporate interests. Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers Union, said: We should not accept trade deals that allow food to be imported into this country produced in ways which would be illegal here. And Tim Farron, the former Liberal Democrat leader and backer of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, said Michael Gove, the environment secretary, had promised farmers they would be protected. Now its clear that the US wont allow that in a trade deal and wants to flood us with chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-pumped beef, he added. A spokesman for Liam Foxs department for international trade welcomed the objectives, saying the UKs would follow in due course. Negotiating an ambitious free trade agreement with the US that maintains our high standards for businesses, workers and consumers is a priority, he added. Only a handful of Conservative MPs attended the first climate change debate in two years in the Commons, in the week that saw the UK experience its two hottest ever winter days. As the debate on the UK's progress towards a zero carbon emissions future began on Thursday afternoon, a number of MPs from both sides of the aisle were seen leaving the chamber. Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP who secured the debate, said she did so after being inspired by the thousands of schoolchildren who went on strike last month over the world's failure to adequately tackle the emergency. Despite the issue being hailed incredibly important by energy minister Claire Perry, at times there were as few as 10 Tory MPs sat on the government benches. The apparent indifference among MPs came just days after Theresa May accused protesting children of wasting lesson time and increasing teachers workloads. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton, called on Parliament to adopt measures similar to America's proposed Green New Deal, noting the record-high temperatures being set both in the UK and across the world, including Australia. To be clear, this is not normal. We are not in a time of normal. The implications of these seismic changes for the future of life on Earth and human civilisation are profound, she said. Chair of the environmental audit committee, Labour MP Mary Creagh, said the UK needed to reduce its emissions to net zero rapidly and at scale in every area of our economy and in every area of our lives. Securing a sustainable future for the planet and our children is a responsibility that we simply cannot ignore. I welcome the chance to discuss this issue, because we have spent far too long discussing Brexit in the Chamber and not enough time discussing the thumping alarm that is being sounded all around us on our planet. Students take to streets of Brighton to protest climate change The debate comes just months after the United Nations warned the planet has just 11 years to cut carbon emissions in half in order to avert environmental catastrophe. The government has recently asked its climate advisers to investigate what must be done to cut emissions to zero. Eurotunnel has dropped its legal claim against the government over secretive post-Brexit ferry contracts after ministers agreed to pay out 33m to the firm. Chris Graylings department ended up in hot water after it handed out lucrative contracts to increase cross-Channel capacity in the event of a no-deal Brexit to three firms including one company that did not have any ships. Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel Tunnel, mounted a legal challenge against the government over the move, saying the 108m contracts had been doled out in a distortionary and anti-competitive way. The government announced on Friday it had reached an agreement with Eurotunnel, where the firm has committed to improving access, security and traffic flow in its UK terminal. Recommended Labour demands May sack Grayling amid claims he misled parliament It said in a statement: As part of the agreement, Eurotunnel has also withdrawn its legal claim against the government, protecting the vital freight capacity that the government has purchased from DFDS and Brittany Ferries. This freight capacity will help ensure the continued supply in a no-deal scenario of crucial medicines, medical supplies and veterinary medicines. The latest twist in the ferry contracts fiasco places renewed pressure on Mr Grayling, who has come under sustained criticism since it emerged that Seaborne Freight, one of the firms, did not have any ships and had apparently copied its online terms and conditions from a takeaway restaurant. He was then forced to scrap the 13.8m contract with Seaborne last month after its main backer, Irish firm Arklow Shipping, withdrew its support. In a statement, the transport secretary said: The agreement with Eurotunnel secures the governments additional freight capacity, helping ensure that the NHS has essential medicines in the event of a no-deal Brexit. While it is disappointing that Eurotunnel chose to take legal action on contracts in place to ensure the smooth supply of vital medicines, I am pleased that this agreement will ensure the Channel Tunnel is ready for a post-Brexit world. Grayling's biggest failings Show all 8 1 /8 Grayling's biggest failings Grayling's biggest failings Banning books for prisoners Then Justice Secretary Grayling introduced a ban on sending books to prisoners in November 2013. The ban was later deemed unlawful by the High Court PA Grayling's biggest failings Knocking a cyclist off their bike Transport Secretary Chris Grayling knocked a cyclist off their bike by opening his car door in 2016. The footage was released by the recording cyclist a few months after the incident when Grayling complained about London's cycle lanes Guardian Grayling's biggest failings Train timetables fiasco After an Office for Road and Rail report found that nobody had taken charge during a major change to train timetables that left more than one in ten trains being late or cancelled on Northern and Thameslink, Transport Secretary Grayling insisted he was not to blame PA Grayling's biggest failings Unlawful cuts to legal aid The cuts to legal aid for certain categories of prisoner that Grayling introduced as Justice secretary in 2013 were found to be unlawful by the High Court PA Grayling's biggest failings Private probation reversal Theresa May's government has opted to renationalise the supervision of former prisoners after a part-privatisation program begun by Grayling in 2014 was found to be putting the public at risk PA Grayling's biggest failings Ferry contract for a company with no ferries Grayling handed a 14 contract to Seaborne Freight to deliver goods from Ostend to Ramsgate in the event of a no deal Brexit. The contract fell through after the Irish company that Seaborne was relying on to carry out the shipping pulled out PA Grayling's biggest failings Criminal courts charge In 2015, then Justice Secretary Grayling introduced a policy whereby convicted criminals would have to pay from 150-1200 towards the cost of their case. The policy was criticised for compelling defendants to plead guilty and led to protests by magistrates. The policy was scrapped by Michael Gove when he became Justice Secretary later that year PA Grayling's biggest failings Cyclists not road users As Transport Secretary, Grayling once failed to recognise cyclists as road users PA Labour called for him to resign over the trail of destruction he had caused in various government departments, including the part privatisation of the probation service, which has cost the taxpayer an extra 427m. Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said: On the same day a National Audit Office report highlights that disastrous decisions by Chris Grayling at the Ministry of Justice have wasted nearly half a billion pounds of public money we also learn that the transport secretarys misjudgement over the award of a ferry contract has left taxpayers liable for 33m in compensation to Eurotunnel. This follows a damning Public Accounts Committee report on Wednesday on his mismanagement of the railways. His conduct as a minister is one of serial failure and routine incompetence. In any other sphere of life he would have been sacked long ago. I say yet again: this trail of destruction has gone on long enough. Its time for Chris Grayling to go. Pro-EU Labour MP Wes Streeting said it was clear that Brexit had become a colossal waste of time and money. He said: Another 33m of taxpayers money is now being thrown away thanks to the shambolic mismanagement of leading Brexiteer Chris Grayling and his inexplicable, secretive decision to hand a lucrative contract to a ferry company with no ferries. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The amount of money already wasted on Brexit wont be recovered, meaning less money for vital areas like the NHS, education and defence. This debate is no longer about wild claims, theories or predictions and now that there are new facts about the real cost of Brexit, there should be a new vote that gives people a real say. A Eurotunnel spokesman said: Eurotunnel has concluded an out-of-court agreement with the secretary of state for transport, that will ensure that the Channel Tunnel remains the preferred route for vital goods to travel between the EU and the UK. The agreement enables the development of infrastructure, security and border measures that will guarantee the flow of vehicles carrying urgent and vital goods and that will keep supply chains essential to both industry and consumers moving. Liam Fox has been mocked after his department spent some 107,000 on a podcast series that was only downloaded 8,400 times. The Department for International Trade (DIT)'s "Local to Global" programme, hosted by Apprentice star Nick Hewer, was designed to encourage British firms to export after Brexit, using a blend of "personal stories and memorable moments". However it has emerged that the six-episode series only racked up 8,398 downloads, costing the taxpayer around 12.70 per listen. Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who uncovered the figures through a parliamentary question, told the Daily Mirror: This vanity project is a complete waste of money. "A bit Like Liam Foxs trade deals the government has quite simply poured money down the drain. Wherever you look the Conservatives have made a terrible mess out Brexit , this is the cherry on the cake Rather than wasting its time on poorly executed propaganda projects the Government should be spending money on our struggling public services. Trade minister Graham Stuart revealed there have been "a total of 8,398 downloads/listens of the Local to Global podcast" as of 10am on 22 February, with a total production and promotion cost of approximately 107,000. The podcast included interviews with Brigette Bard, who founded the first HIV self-test kit BioSure, and Alex Johnson, head of communications at clean tech firm Pavegen. Brexiteers have long argued that the ability to strike independent trade deals is one of the key benefits of leaving the EU. However Dr Fox, the international trade secretary, admitted last month that several key trade deals, including one with Japan, will not be ready to be rolled over in time for exit day. A DIT spokesman said: The Exporting is GREAT campaign aims to inspire UK companies to start exporting or to grow their exports. DIT estimates that 400,000 businesses believe they could export, but dont, while demand for British expertise and goods is only growing. 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 Podcasts are an excellent way to engage with current and potential exporters by telling the stories of those who have experience to share. The podcast reached 6th in the UK iTunes business charts, demonstrating real interest amongst business audiences. In 2017, more than 100,000 businesses took steps towards exporting as a result of the campaign, part of the governments commitment to promote a culture of exporting a key pillar of the Export Strategy which aims to rise exports as a proportion of GDP from 30 to 35 percent. At least 29 people were killed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu after al-Shabaab militants detonated two bombs outside a hotel. Many of the victims were civilians. At least four gunmen then opened fire on nearby homes and businesses, Dahir Gelle, the country's Information Minister said. A gun battle between Somali soldiers firing at insurgents hidden in a building next to the Maka Al-Mukarama Hotel. Two soldiers were carried away from the scene. Dozens of cars were also set ablaze by the blasts - one of the worst attacks to hit Mogadishu in months. Officials estimated that the bombing wounded at least 80 people. Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Show all 7 1 /7 Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Flames burning at the scene where a suicide car bomb exploded REUTERS Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack People look at the flames at a scene where a suicide car bomb exploded REUTERS Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Cars burn after the attack in front of a hotel in Mogadishu AP Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Residents walk near a destroyed building after the attack AP Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Damaged cars are seen at the scene where a bomb exploded REUTERS Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Security personnel are seen next to damaged buildings REUTERS Mogadishu gun battle continues after hotel attack Security personnel are seen next to buildings damaged at the scene of the bombing REUTERS The militants also took civilian hostages during the attack. Their fate was unclear, although Army Major Musa Ali said many civilians had been rescued. He added that the militants were fighting with "grenades and Kalashnikov (rifles)". Referring to a truck bomb that killed more than 500 people in the city in 2017, he added: "The scene is fearful ... in magnitude it is similar to the October 14 bombing. The death toll may rise and rise." Hospitals in Mogadishu were overwhelmed with the number of casualties after the attack. Mohamed Hussein, an army captain, said that two soldiers had been killed in the fighting. The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks in East Africa linked to al-Shabaab. It comes days after US forces in Somalia stepped up air strikes against the group, which is fighting to dislodge a Western-backed government protected by peacekeepers. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The hotel has been a routine target for the group as it is often visited by government officials. "The government tried three times to enter the building but we repulsed them," said Abdiasis Abu Musab, the militant group's spokesman. After the bombing frantic residents in the city searched for missing relatives through the night, making countless phone calls to find out if anyone had seen their family members. "I have been running to and fro from blast scene to hospitals since yesterday evening in search of my husband and brother ...I have just seen them in hospital, they are in critical condition," said Halima Omar. "My husband lost his stomach and my brother suffered severe wounds to both arms." Additional reporting by agencies The son of a murderer in Texas began shouting and pounding his fists at his fathers execution on Thursday night, leading to a scene of chaos that ended with multiple arrests. Billie Wayne Coble was sentenced to death for the 1989 killings of his estranged wife's parents and brother. The Vietnam War veteran was executed Thursday night. Before the lethal drug was administered, he told five people in the witness room that he loved them, adding, "That'll be five dollars." As he finished speaking, his son, a friend and a daughter-in-law became emotional. Officers stepped in and eventually moved them to a courtyard, where the two men were handcuffed and arrested on charges of resisting an officer. Why are you doing this? the woman asked. They just killed his daddy. As the men were being subdued outside, a single dose of pentobarbital was being administered to Coble. He gasped several times and began snoring inside the death chamber at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later, at 6.24pm. 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 70-year-old Coble was the oldest inmate executed by Texas since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982. He was condemned for the August 1989 shooting deaths of Robert and Zelda Vicha and their son, Bobby Vicha, at separate homes in Axtell, northeast of Waco. The US Supreme Court turned down Coble's delay request about two hours before his execution.His attorneys had argued that Coble's original trial lawyers were negligent for conceding his guilt. Recommended Muslim inmate asks for stay in execution over religious controversy Coble, distraught over his pending divorce, kidnapped his wife, Karen Vicha. He was arrested and later freed on bond. Nine days after the kidnapping, Coble went to her home, where he handcuffed and tied up her three daughters and nephew, JR Vicha, according to investigators. Coble then went to the homes of Robert and Zelda Vicha, 64 and 60 respectively, and Bobby Vicha, 39, who lived nearby, and fatally shot them. After Karen Vicha returned home, Coble abducted her. He drove away, assaulted her and threatened to rape and kill her. He was arrested after wrecking the vehicle in neighbouring Bosque County following a police chase. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Coble was convicted of capital murder in 1990. An appeals court ordered a new trial on punishment in 2007, but a second jury also sentenced him to death. The Associated Press contributed to this report The US government is offering a $1m (760,000) reward for information that helps trace the son of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The state department said it was seeking Hamza bin Laden, who is widely thought to be emerging as a leader within the extremist group. His exact whereabouts have been unknown for a number of years, although various reports have speculated that he may be living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria or Iran. Saudi-born Hamza, thought to be around 30 years old, was named as a specially designated global terrorist by Washington in January 2017. His father was killed during a US military raid in May 2011 on the secret complex where he had been living in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Since then, Hamza has used audio and video messages on the internet to call for revenge attacks against America and its Western allies. The state department said Hamza married the daughter of Mohamed Atta, the leader of the group of al-Qaeda hijackers on 9/11 who carried out the attack on the World Trade Center. It added letters seized from bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad had indicated he was grooming his son to one day replace him as leader of the group. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Although al-Qaeda has orchestrated a long list of terror incidents across the world, it remains best known for the September 11 attacks in 2001, which killed almost 3,000 people and injured 6,000 more. Members of the group hijacked four commercial aircraft flying two into the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington DC. The fourth plane was heading towards Washington, before it crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers staged a revolt and overpowered the hijackers. Initially, bin Laden had denied he was responsible for the attacks, but later recanted this and admitted prior knowledge of the plans and al-Qaeda involvement. A black activist has seized control of a neo-Nazi group and is now seeking to dismantle the organisation from within. Legal documents filed in Michigan listed James Stern as the new director and president of the National Socialist Movement (NSM). The NSM is one of several extremist groups being sued over violence at the notorious Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, which resulted in the death of one protester. A set of court papers published on Thursday suggests Stern intends to use his new position to undermine the groups defence against the lawsuit. Documents state the activist replaced Jeff Schoep as the NSMs leader in January. The records give no indication of how or why he has been able to wrest control of the group. Charlottesville one year on Show all 15 1 /15 Charlottesville one year on Charlottesville one year on Mary Grace, from Durham, North Carolina, walks through the downtown mall area August 11, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville has been declared in a state of emergency by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as the city braces for the one year anniversary of the deadly clash between white supremacist forces and counter protesters over the potential removal of Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee and Jackson. A "Unite the Right" rally featuring some of the same groups is planned for tomorrow in Washington, DC. Getty Charlottesville one year on Chris Jessee (R) hands out placards to people visiting downtown Charlottesville as the city marks the anniversary of last year's 'Unite the Right rally' in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, 11 August 2018. On 12 August 2017, a bloody clash between white supremacists and counterprotestors in Charlottesville left three people dead and dozens injured Getty Charlottesville one year on A member of the Virginia State Police waits outside the park where a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is located August 11, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville has been declared in a state of emergency by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as the city braces for the one year anniversary of a deadly clash between white supremacist forces and counter protesters over the potential removal of Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee and Jackson. A "Unite the Right" rally featuring some of the same groups is planned for tomorrow in Washington, DC Reuters Charlottesville one year on A woman displays a shirt ahead of the one-year anniversary of 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 10, 2018. Reuters Charlottesville one year on A sign reading "Strength, which was taken down at the request of police officers, hangs by the statue of Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee, ahead of the one-year anniversary of 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 10, 2018. Reuters Charlottesville one year on Law enforcement arrives ahead of the one year anniversary of 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 10, 2018 Reuters Charlottesville one year on A vendor displays wares on the mall as State Police lock down the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. The Governor has declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville AP Charlottesville one year on A Police bike patrol takes a break in the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. State and local authorities framed the weekend's heightened security as a necessary precaution. AP Charlottesville one year on State Police arrest a local resident, John Miska, in the locked down downtown area in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. Miska purchased razor blades, which are banned items, in a downtown drugstore. On the the anniversary of white supremacist violence, state and local authorities framed the weekend's heightened security as a necessary precaution. AP Charlottesville one year on State Police escort local resident, John Miska, red hat, after he was arrested in the locked down downtown area in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. Miska purchased razor blades, which are banned items, in a downtown drugstore. On the the anniversary of white supremacist violence, state and local authorities framed the weekend's heightened security as a necessary precaution. AP Charlottesville one year on A group Anti-fascism demonstrators, march in the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, AP Charlottesville one year on A group anti-fascism demonstrators march in the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., AP Charlottesville one year on People receive first-aid after a car accident ran into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, VA on August 12, 2017. A vehicle plowed into a crowd of people Saturday at a Virginia rally where violence erupted between white nationalist demonstrators and counter-protesters, witnesses said, causing an unclear number of injuries AFP/Getty Charlottesville one year on Alt-right rally members in Lee Park in Charlottesville, VA on Saturday August 12, 2017 White nationalist 'Unite the Right' rally, Charlottesville, USA Rex Charlottesville one year on A counter protester who got hit with a stick by alt-right member covered with blood on his face in Lee Park in Charlottesville, Rex The feat has however drawn comparisons to the work of Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer whose work infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan was depicted in the Oscar-winning Spike Lee movie BlacKkKlansman. Neither Mr Stern, who lives in California, nor Mr Schoep responded to emails and calls seeking comment. Matthew Heimbach, a leading white nationalist figure who briefly served as the NSMs community outreach director last year, said group leaders had been at odds with rank-and-file members over its direction. Mr Heimbach said some members essentially want it to remain a politically impotent white supremacist gang and resisted ideological changes advocated by Mr Schoep. He predicted Sterns installation as its leader probably spells the end of the group in its current form, which had been active since 1994. I think it's kind of a sad obit for one of the longest-running white nationalist organisations, Mr Heimbach added. NSM members have in the past attended rallies and protests in full Nazi uniforms, including at a march in Toledo, Ohio, which sparked a riot in 2005. More recently, Mr Schoep tried to rebrand the group and appeal to a new generation of racists and antisemites by toning down its more overt use of Nazi symbols. Stern has apparently been trying for at least two years to disrupt NSM activities, with references to the group on his website dating back as far as February 2017. On Wednesday, lawyers for the plaintiffs suing white supremacist groups and movement leaders over the Charlottesville violence asked the court to sanction Mr Schoep. They say he has ignored refused to turn over documents and give them access to his electronic devices and social media accounts, also claiming he has fired his attorney as a stalling tactic. A federal magistrate judge in Charlottesville ruled last Friday that Stern cannot represent the NSM in the case because he does not appear to be a licensed attorney. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events That ruling did not deter Stern from filing a request for summary judgment against his own group. It is the decision of the National Socialist Movement to plead liable to all causes of actions listed in the complaint against it, he wrote. While serving a five-year prison sentence for mail fraud, Stern struck up an unlikely friendship with one-time Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen. Following his release, he set up Racial Reconciliation Outreach Ministries, an organisation which aims to promote people from all racial backgrounds working together to achieve freedom for all. Additional reporting by AP In testimony before Congress this week, Michael Cohen cast himself as a central figure in schemes that could threaten the presidency of Donald Trump. But Cohen said he didnt work alone, unexpectedly mentioning by name the involvement of another member of Trumps inner circle, Allen Weisselberg, more than 20 times. The revelations are set to intensify the scrutiny on Weisselberg, Trumps unassuming 71-year-old chief financial officer, who already is a focus for federal prosecutors in New York. On Wednesday, Cohen specifically identified Weisselberg as helping mastermind a strategy to mask reimbursements to Cohen for his payment to Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film actress who said she had an affair with Trump. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said after Wednesdays hearing that he probably will want to call additional witnesses, including Weisselberg, to gather additional evidence about the hush-money payment. A Democratic official said the House Intelligence Committee anticipates calling Weisselberg to testify, as well. Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Show all 20 1 /20 Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet is one the richest in American history, filled with billionaires, conservatives and several career politicians. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pence US Vice President Mike Pence has defended Donald Trump throughout his presidency while walking a fine line to avoid any public involvement in major scandals. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pompeo Secretary of State Mike Pompeo replaced Donald Trump's previous appointment to the post, Rex Tillerson, and has led talks with North Korea in establishing high-profile summits between the president and Kim Jong Un. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Wilbur Ross Secretary of Commerce Wibur Ross raised controversy when he was accused of falsely claiming to have sold stock in a bank and violated a government ethics agreement. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Lighthizer US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been a fixture in Donald Trump's ongoing trade spat with China. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet William Barr Attorney General William Barr replaced Jeff Sessions as the nation's top cop in early 2019 and has refused to commit to recusing himself from the Russia probe despite an unsolicited memo he sent to the Justice Department decrying the investigation. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Rick Perry Energy Secretary Rick Perry has held his post throughout Donald Trump's presidency despite previously undermining the need for the agency he now leads in past public statements. Ken Shipp / United States Department of Energy Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Betsy DeVos Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has also held her post throughout the presidency, despite major backlash to her apparent undermining of the nationwide public school system and advocacy for charter programmes. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Steven Mnuchin Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has faced numerous controversies throughout his tenure as the head of Treasury, including costing taxpayers at least a million dollars in travel expenses. AP Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Veterans Affairs secretary Robert Wilkie was appointed after Donald Trump's White House doctor Ronny Jackson withdrew over allegations he provided prescription drugs to patients without prescriptions. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet David Bernhardt Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt took office in January 2019 after the resignation of Ryan Zinke after previously serving as Zinke's deputy. Before taking office Bernhardt worked for many years as a solicitor for the Department of the Interior. Tami Heilemann / United States Department of the Interior Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Elaine Chao Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has held her post throughout the presidency and has mostly avoided controversy, despite a report claiming her office has been in frequent coordination with her husband's, Mitch McConnell. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Kevin McAleenan Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan took over from Kirstjen Nielsen after she resigned in April 2019. He previously worked as the executive director of the executive director of the Office of Anti Terrorism in the Customs and Border Protection agency United States Customs and Border Protection Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Ben Carson Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was appointed shortly after Donald Trump took office and raised controversy over an exorbitant furnishing bill for his office. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Gina Haspel CIA Director Gina Haspel was appointed in 2018 and faced backlash surrounding her oversight of Guantanamo Bay. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Dan Coats Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats could be the next person to leave Donald Trump's administration over his refuting the president's claims surrounding ISIS. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Sonny Perdue Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has been dogged by ethics questions throughout his tenure and faced controversy when emails showed the agency appeared willing to eagerly work with lobbyists under his leadership. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Alex Azar Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is a former pharmaceutical lobbyist and former drug company executive. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mick Mulvaney Acting Chief of Staff and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has described himself as one of the most conservative officials in the White House. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie has spent his career on Capitol Hill serving in various roles in foreign affairs and defence. He holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve. Gene Russell / United States Department of Veterans Affairs Cohen said in the hearing that the payment was ordered by Trump, which violated campaign finance laws because it was intended to buy Daniels silence so that she could not hurt Trumps prospects right before the election. Cohen said he had paid Daniels with his own money, and then was repaid by the Trump Organisation. Allen Weisselberg made the decision that it should be paid over the 12 months so that it would look like a retainer, Cohen told lawmakers, describing how reimbursements were made monthly. Cohen submitted to Congress a copy of a $35,000 check labelled exhibit 5b that he said was one of those monthly payments. It was signed by Weisselberg and Donald Trump Jr. Weisselberg declined to comment through his lawyers. But it is clear why lawmakers and investigators might home in on him as they examine the Trump Organisations finances. After Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud and other crimes in August, federal prosecutors in Manhattan began focusing on what role the Trump Organisation and its executives, including Weisselberg, played in the campaign finance scheme, according to people briefed on the matter. As part of the investigation, Weisselberg was granted limited immunity to testify before a federal grand jury last year. But there has been no indication that he has cooperated with prosecutors. Weisselberg, an accountant, began his career doing the books for Trumps father in a dingy building in Brooklyn. For decades, he has represented Trump on paperwork for everything from complex real estate deals to the operations of the antique carousel in Central Park, which the Trump Organisation runs. In 2015, a lawyer representing students who alleged they were defrauded by Trumps education venture, Trump University, questioned Weisselberg during a deposition, describing him as Mr. Trumps eyes and ears for his investments. Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate Show all 7 1 /7 Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate President Trump Donald Trump, whose firing of the FBI director James Comey in 2017 sparked concerns among senior government officials Getty Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate James Comey The former director of the FBI, James Comey, whose firing by Mr Trump sparked the crisis in 2017 EPA Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate James McCabe James McCabe, the former acting director of the FBI, who has made the explosive accusations in a TV interview AFP Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate Rod Rosenstein The deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who allegedly discussed which cabinet members might back invoking the 25th Amendment Reuters Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate Lindsey Graham Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a key Trump ally who has pledged to hold an investigation into the affair AFP Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate Christopher Wray The new director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, who took over after Mr Trump fired Mr Comey AP Will Trump fall to the 25th Amendment? The key players in the debate Mike Pence The vice-president Mike Pence, who has dismissed suggestions Mr Trump is not capable of discharging his duties AFP Weisselberg replied, Am I his eyes and ears? From an economic standpoint, court records show. In 2016, Trump settled the case for $25m. Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign official, wrote in a book that he co-authored, Let Trump be Trump that Weisselberg knows of every dime that leaves the building. Aside from Weisselberg, several other Trump associates may now be asked to testify before the House in the wake of Cohens hearing, including three executives at the Trump Organisation: Matthew Calamari, Alan Garten and Ronald C. Lieberman. But Cummings said the committee would have to proceed carefully to avoid interfering with the investigation by federal prosecutors in the special counsels office and the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan. Still in an indication of what may come, Cummings has sent letters to two lawyers he said were involved in preparing Trumps federal financial disclosure filing, which originally omitted payments he made to reimburse Cohen for the payment to Daniels. The letters requested that the lawyers, Sheri A. Dillon and Stefan C. Passantino, appear for interviews with the committee in March. Dillon is a tax lawyer who represents Trump. Passantino was a deputy White House counsel at the time focused on ethics, but has since left and now advises the Trump Organisation on how to deal with House investigations. Weisselberg has previously been questioned under oath, in a lawsuit filed last year by the New York attorney general against the Trump Foundation, Trumps charitable organisation, where he served as treasurer. In late December, the foundation was dissolved after the attorney general accused it of fraud. The US attorneys office in Manhattan and the New York attorney generals office declined to comment. Weisselbergs involvement in the hush money payment to Daniels first surfaced last year, when federal prosecutors seized recordings from Cohens office. On one of the recordings, Cohen was heard saying, Ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. For his part, Trump has expressed confidence that Weisselberg will not turn on the president. 100 percent he didnt, Trump told reporters for Bloomberg when asked last year whether Weisselberg had betrayed him. Hes a wonderful guy. Others are not so certain. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events I am sure Allen does not want to hurt Donald, I am sure there is an affection there, said Barbara Res, a former executive with the Trump Organisation who is a critic of the president. But hes in a terrible position and Donald put him there. Aside from an awkward cameo on the second season of Trumps television show, The Apprentice, Weisselberg has until recently stayed out of the limelight, focusing on serving his boss. In his books and in interviews, the president has described Weisselberg as his go-to man, whether it was to help pick carpet swatches for a development, or to strong-arm firms with which he contracted. In Cohens testimony Wednesday, Trumps reliance on his CFO was on display. When it came to paying back his fixer for the hush money, Cohen said the president turned to Weisselberg. He acknowledged to Allen that he was going to pay the $130,000, Cohen said, And that Allen and I should go back to his office and figure out how to do it. The New York Times The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is an annual gathering of the American right that has become well-known for wild rhetoric from its speakers. This years CPAC in Maryland has already gotten off to a flying start thanks to Sebastian Gorka, Donald Trumps former deputy assistant, who launched an extraordinary attack on popular congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow Democrats. They want to take your pickup truck, they want to rebuild your home, they want to take away your hamburgers. This is what [Joseph] Stalin dreamt about but never achieved. You are on the frontlines of the war against communism coming back to America under the guise of Democratic socialism, he told his audience. While the Soviet Union was indeed opposed to the vulgar excesses of materialistic US consumer-capitalism during the Cold War, Mr Gorka linking Ms Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow blue wave idealists to the Russian dictators reign of terror is as obvious a piece of scaremongering as it is hysterical and disingenuous. He is also incorrect in singling out the humble hamburger as an emblem of Bolshevik disapproval. At one time, the regime positively envied the all-American lunch option and considered it a model meal: simple, affordable and nutritious. Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Show all 20 1 /20 Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet is one the richest in American history, filled with billionaires, conservatives and several career politicians. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pence US Vice President Mike Pence has defended Donald Trump throughout his presidency while walking a fine line to avoid any public involvement in major scandals. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pompeo Secretary of State Mike Pompeo replaced Donald Trump's previous appointment to the post, Rex Tillerson, and has led talks with North Korea in establishing high-profile summits between the president and Kim Jong Un. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Wilbur Ross Secretary of Commerce Wibur Ross raised controversy when he was accused of falsely claiming to have sold stock in a bank and violated a government ethics agreement. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Lighthizer US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been a fixture in Donald Trump's ongoing trade spat with China. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet William Barr Attorney General William Barr replaced Jeff Sessions as the nation's top cop in early 2019 and has refused to commit to recusing himself from the Russia probe despite an unsolicited memo he sent to the Justice Department decrying the investigation. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Rick Perry Energy Secretary Rick Perry has held his post throughout Donald Trump's presidency despite previously undermining the need for the agency he now leads in past public statements. Ken Shipp / United States Department of Energy Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Betsy DeVos Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has also held her post throughout the presidency, despite major backlash to her apparent undermining of the nationwide public school system and advocacy for charter programmes. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Steven Mnuchin Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has faced numerous controversies throughout his tenure as the head of Treasury, including costing taxpayers at least a million dollars in travel expenses. AP Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Veterans Affairs secretary Robert Wilkie was appointed after Donald Trump's White House doctor Ronny Jackson withdrew over allegations he provided prescription drugs to patients without prescriptions. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet David Bernhardt Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt took office in January 2019 after the resignation of Ryan Zinke after previously serving as Zinke's deputy. Before taking office Bernhardt worked for many years as a solicitor for the Department of the Interior. Tami Heilemann / United States Department of the Interior Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Elaine Chao Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has held her post throughout the presidency and has mostly avoided controversy, despite a report claiming her office has been in frequent coordination with her husband's, Mitch McConnell. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Kevin McAleenan Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan took over from Kirstjen Nielsen after she resigned in April 2019. He previously worked as the executive director of the executive director of the Office of Anti Terrorism in the Customs and Border Protection agency United States Customs and Border Protection Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Ben Carson Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was appointed shortly after Donald Trump took office and raised controversy over an exorbitant furnishing bill for his office. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Gina Haspel CIA Director Gina Haspel was appointed in 2018 and faced backlash surrounding her oversight of Guantanamo Bay. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Dan Coats Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats could be the next person to leave Donald Trump's administration over his refuting the president's claims surrounding ISIS. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Sonny Perdue Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has been dogged by ethics questions throughout his tenure and faced controversy when emails showed the agency appeared willing to eagerly work with lobbyists under his leadership. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Alex Azar Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is a former pharmaceutical lobbyist and former drug company executive. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mick Mulvaney Acting Chief of Staff and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has described himself as one of the most conservative officials in the White House. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie has spent his career on Capitol Hill serving in various roles in foreign affairs and defence. He holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve. Gene Russell / United States Department of Veterans Affairs Anastas Mikoyan, a long-serving Minister of Foreign Trade, visited the US on a diplomatic mission in 1936 where he observed the American economic system at close quarters, studying its food industry, meeting with auto tycoon Henry Ford and visiting Macys department store in New York City with a view to improving efficiency at home. Mikoyan - recently portrayed on screen by Paul Whitehouse in Armando Ianuccis satire The Death of Stalin (2017) had already introduced canning to modernise Soviet food plants, his efforts hailed (or satirised, depending on your point-of-view) in Boris Pilnyaks socialist-realist novel Meat (1936), a Soviet answer to The Jungle (1907) by Upton Sinclair. He returned from his trip with a number of souvenirs of American goods he felt had virtue and should be introduced at home. His haul included ice cream, corn flakes, popcorn, tomato juice and hamburgers. You, Anastas, care more about ice cream, than about communism, Stalin joked when Mikoyan encouraged the manufacture of the dessert in the USSR. The food commissar would commission The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food in 1939, a state cookbook intended to encourage homecooking and quell interest in restaurant dining and its associated service culture. It was read by one-sixth of the worlds population at the time. His interest in the mechanisation and mass production of a Russian equivalent to the American hamburger was halted by the Second World War and instead the Mikoyan cutlet emerged, a cheaper burger patty (kotleti in Russian) intended for the common man that was popular for many years after. The Kremlin, of course, preferred gourmet sausages. The New York Times wrote about the dish in a profile of Mikoyan, the man who introduced Eskimo Pie to the Soviet Union, in November 1964: The Mikoyan cutlet nobody knows whether it is pork or beef or perhaps fish or fowl is still the cheapest, most popular if not most revered piece of meat a few kopecks can buy. Russian dictator and burger-tolerator Joseph Stalin (Getty) Speaking of Mikoyan generally, the Times said: If he had emigrated to the United States he would now be a multimillionaire with a Park Avenue penthouse. Today, the biggest McDonalds in Europe stands in Pushkin Square in Moscow, the fast-food chain being one of the first American businesses to enter the new Russian Federation when it opened on 31 January 1990 in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Given that President Trump is such a fan of McDonalds appearing in an advert alongside its mascot Grimace in 2002, devouring Big Macs on Air Force One and serving 300 hamberders to the Clemson Tigers at the White House during the recent shutdown Republicans can surely rest easy about any threat to their lunches from malevolent outside forces. For now. Washington governor Jay Inslee, a fierce climate change activist and former congressman, is joining the 2020 presidential race as a growing pool of Democratic candidates seek to unseat Donald Trump in the White House. Unlike the slate of progressives who have announced their bids before him and rejected the help of Super PACs, the governor will reportedly receive aid along the campaign trail from Act Now On Climate, a group spearheaded by Corey Platt, the former political director of the Democratic Governors Association. Hell be the person to say [climate change] is the number one priority, Mr Platt told HuffPost about the Super PACs support for Mr Inslee. Were here to amplify and support his candidacy. The 68-year-old governor is launching his bid Friday in Seattle, following recent visits to the first primary state of New Hampshire and the early caucus state of Nevada. Mr Inslee governed Washington as an unabashed liberal, promoting clean energy, gay rights, abortion rights, environmental preservation, tighter gun restrictions and more spending for education and job training. Most recently, he's called for a state-based public option health insurance plan in Washington that he calls a step toward universal health care. We went to the moon and created technologies that have changed the world - our country's next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change, Mr Inslee says in a video announcement ahead of a public announcement later Friday in Seattle. 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 It will not be easy for the governor to garner attention with six prominent senators - Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts - already running. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke also are expected to make highly anticipated 2020 announcements in the coming weeks. Mr Inslee acknowledges his underdog status but says his emphasis on combating climate change will set him apart. Climate change is a unifying issue, he told The Associated Press in a recent interview, calling it a moral necessity and an economic opportunity. He promises substantial investment in clean energy sources that reduce American dependence on fossil fuels. This issue is connected to virtually every other value system and thing we want to do in our communities, he said, mentioning environmental justice, infrastructure, clean energy, health care and national security. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Inslee has not specifically endorsed the Green New Deal introduced by New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey. He instead advocates for a more piecemeal approach he describes as ambitious but attainable, and he avoids promising specific reductions of carbon emissions under an absolute timeframe. The Green New Deal targets 2030 for the US to become net carbon neutral. The Associated Press contributed to this report The parents of Otto Warmbier have rebuked Donald Trump for saying he did not think Kim Jong-un was involved in the mistreatment of the US student who died after being detained in North Korea - an admonishment the president later responded to by saying his remarks had been minsinterpreted. Speaking after a summit with Mr Kim in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday, Mr Trump said: He tells me that he didnt know about it, and I will take him at his word. But in response, Fred and Cindy Warmbier said: We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that. Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks Show all 7 1 /7 Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks Donald Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong make their way to a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi Reuters Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks Donald Trump waves a Vietnamese flag as Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc looks on AFP/Getty Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks Donald Trump waves as he leaves the Presidential Palace in Hanoi AFP/Getty Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, is welcomed on his arrival at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi AP Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks Kim Jong-un waves as he arrives by train in the Vietnamese border town of Dong Dang AP Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks North Korean leader Kim Jong-un receiving a situation report before the summit with Trump AFP/Getty Trump and Kim: leaders arrive in Vietnam for talks The motorcade carrying U.S President Donald Trump drives past Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum AP Mr Trump has taken credit for freeing American prisoners abroad and used Mr Warmbiers death as a rallying cry against the Norths human rights abuses before softening his rhetoric in advance of talks with Mr Kim. After the family issued its statement, the president said on Twitter his comments had been misinterpreted. A White House advisor also issued a statement saying Mr Trump agreed with the family that North Korea was responsbile for the young mans death. I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family. Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch. Of course I hold North Korea responsible, he wrote. He added: Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future. I love Otto and think of him often. Mr Warmbier, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student from Ohio, was visiting North Korea with a tour group when he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in 2016 on suspicion of stealing a propaganda poster. He died in June 2017, shortly after he returned to the US in a coma. North Korea's foreign minister disputes President Trump's explanation for summit collapse The US and North Korea offered contradicting accounts of why the summit between the two leaders broke down. Mr Trump claimed it failed because North Korea insisted all US sanctions be lifted. Sometimes you have to walk, he said. Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldnt do that. North Korea challenged the US presidents account, insisting it had only asked for partial sanctions relief in exchange for shutting down its main nuclear complex. Members of Donald Trumps inner circle have publicly and privately expressed worries that federal investigations underway in the Southern District of New York could spell the beginning of the end for his presidency. Chris Christie, the former Republican governor of New Jersey and a friend of the president, said in an interview with Fox News on Friday morning the SDNY probes have no restriction in what they can look at and have been provided a tour guide in Michael Cohen. Cohen said he was in constant contact with the Southern District of New York, and that he believes the president committed other crimes but he cant talk about it because hes working with the Southern District of New York, the governor said about Cohens explosive public testimony on Capitol Hill earlier this week. This is why Ive said all along that the Southern District is much more worrisome than Mueller, he continued. Because they have no restriction in what they can look at. The comments arrived after Mr Trumps former lawyer turned against him in recent months, working with investigators probing the presidents financial dealings and alleged criminal misconduct. Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Show all 7 1 /7 Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump made me threaten his high school Cohen disclosed letters that Trump directed him to send to the President's former schools, threatening them never to release his grades and SAT scores EPA Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump reimbursed me for the hush money Cohen disclosed a cheque from the President that paid him back for the money he paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about her affair with Trump during his presidential campaign Getty Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump directed the Trump Moscow negotiations Referring to the controversial business dealings with Russia that were ongoing during Trump's presidential campaign, Cohen stated "Mr Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations" Reuters Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump is a racist Cohen noted a number of racist remarks that Trump had made, including saying while driving through a poor neighbourhood of Chicago that "only black people could live that way" Reuters Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump knew about the Wikileaks hacks Cohen says Mr Trump knew Roger Stone was talking to Julian Assange about Wikileaks drops of emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign. AFP/Getty Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Nothing went on that Trump wasn't aware of Cohen stated that "nothing went on in Trump world" of the campaign without the President being aware of it AFP/Getty Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump did not provide evidence for why he avoided the Vietnam draft Having long said that he was not drafted to Vietnam due to a medical issue, Cohen claimed that Trump could not provide evidence of this. Mr Trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery," Cohen told the hearing, he also stated that he told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment" Sky During his testimony to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, Cohen revealed additional actions and conversations involving Mr Trump were subject to ongoing SDNY probes, and that he was not allowed to discuss his final conversation with the president. He also submitted a check with Mr Trumps signature allegedly signed after he took office and meant as reimbursement for hush money payments made to his supposed mistresses along the 2016 presidential campaign trail. Mueller has to look at Russia and thats it, these guys in the Southern District can look at anything and they have two tour guides there, guys, they have Michael Cohen and Rick Gates, Mr Christie added. The comments also arrived after Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer at the Trump Organisation, was offered immunity to testify against the president and reveal what he knows to SDNY investigators about MR Trumps alleged crimes. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events His testimony would be the ultimate nightmare scenario for Trump, an anonymous employee of the presidents organisation told CNN. Allen knows where all the financial bodies are buried, they said. Allen knows every deal, he knows every dealership, he knows every sale, anything and everything thats been done he knows every membership. Anything you can think of. Pakistan prepared to release a captured Indian pilot on Friday as the nuclear powers scaled back their confrontation, at least temporarily, while Indian opposition politicians raised doubts over whether an initial airstrike had destroyed a militant camp in Pakistan. World powers have urged restraint from the two nations, as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14. The US has been actively mediating, to avert any risk of the two countries sliding towards their fourth war since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir has been at the root of two of those conflicts. Both governments claimed they downed enemy jets on Wednesday, with Pakistan capturing an Indian pilot whose MiG fighter jet crashed in enemy territory after dogfight with a Pakistani JF-17. The pilot, who India named on Thursday as Wing Commander Abhinandan, has become the human face of the most recent conflict between the two nations. Having attempted to evade capture, he is being portrayed as a hero in India. Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Show all 28 1 /28 Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A Pakistani girl holds a light candle during a vigil for peace in Lahore on March 3 AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures School children react as they celebrate the release of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan at a school in Ahmedabad Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan, stands under armed escort near Pakistan-India border in Wagah Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the border with Pakistan EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A videograb allegedly shows the captured Indian Air Force pilot in the custody of Pakistani military SWNS Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand look on as an Indian army helicopter lands near the site where an Indian Air Force jet was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures An Indian soldier gestures near the wreckage of an Indian Air Force fighter jet that was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of a Pakistani religious group Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba brand Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a terrorist at a rally to condemn Indian aggression AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures India's Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the fenced border with Pakistan on February 26 Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of India's ruling Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures People in India burn an effigy that represents Pakistan as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Kashmiris in the border town of Chakoti walk past India-bound cargo trucks that are parked as the road to India is closed AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Workers enter a concrete bunker that they have built in a residential area near the border Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty Abhinandan is expected be returned at the Wagah border crossing between the two countries on Friday afternoon, Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said. "As a gesture of peace and to de-escalate matters, the Indian pilot who is under arrest with us will be released today in the afternoon at the Wagah border," he told lawmakers. Firing along the contested border dividing Kashmir eased on Friday. But diplomatic relations between the two countries remain strained. Qureshi said he would not attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Abu Dhabi this weekend, because his Indian counterpart had been invited to the event. Qureshi has said the Saudi foreign minister is set to visit Islamabad with a message from Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who visited both Pakistan and India last month. Indian pilots captured after being shot down by Pakistan forces Abhinandan's plane came down on Wednesday after a dogfight with a Pakistani jet, two eyewitnesses told Reuters. The pilot shouted pro-India slogans, and after realising he was in enemy territory, attempted to flee, firing his pistol in the air to deter Pakistani villagers who were chasing him, the eyewitnesses said. "During that half a kilometre run, he fired some more gunshots in the air as well, to frighten the guys but to no avail," said Muhammad Razzaq Chaudhry, 58, one of the eyewitnesses. "Then he jumped into a small stream. Then, he realised that he could not escape, he took out some documents and maps from his uniform and tried to swallow some, tear apart and immerse the rest." Abdul Majeed, 40, said he was one of a number of villagers who had beaten and thrown stones at the pilot. "While in the stream he once again pointed his revolver at us and fearing that he may shoot directly at us, I threw a stone at him," he said. "Some of us did thrash him... because he had given us a tough time. But later we handed him over to the army personnel." The conflict comes at a critical time for India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election that must be held by May. Modi is expected to benefit from the nationalist pride unleashed by his government's announcement on Tuesday that Indian warplanes had destroyed a major training camp of Jaish-e Mohammad, the militant group that claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack. But there were growing calls from opposition parties for more information about just how successful the mission was. India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had said the strike killed "a very large number" member of the group, and another senior government official told reporters that about 300 militants had been killed, but New Delhi had still to provide evidence to support that assessment. Pakistan says the Indian planes missed whatever they were aiming at, and that no-one died in the attack outside Balakot, , a small town in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Villagers on the outskirts of Balakot told Reuters one of their neighbours was wounded during the attack, but there were no other casualties and the Indian bombs caused negligible damage, although there was a madrasa run by Jaish nearby. On Thursday, Mamata Banerjee, one of the main leaders of an Indian opposition coalition attempting to unseat Modi, requested more information about the attack. "We have the right to know how many people died in the air strike and who were they," she said. "We want to know the actual incident as we have not received any details." Amit Shah, the president of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party and one of its most influential figures, sought to dispel any doubt. "People should decide if they trust India's armed forces or not," he said at an event on Friday. "Those who are doubting are helping Pakistan." Pakistan says it is reopening its airspace for commercial flights to four major cities, but that all other restrictions will remain in place until 4 March. The country's civil aviation agency said all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. The airspace above major eastern cities like Lahore, near the border with India, will remain closed. Pakistan closed its airspace entirely to commercial flights after an aerial engagement between its air force and India over Kashmir, in which one fighter jet from each country was shot down. The move has caused significant disruption to travellers, with dozens of flights cancelled and flight paths across Asia rerouted to avoid the country. Though some northern Indian airports were briefly closed on Wednesday, India's airspace has otherwise remained open throughout the crisis, which began with the deadly bombing of an Indian army convoy on 14 February. Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Show all 28 1 /28 Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A Pakistani girl holds a light candle during a vigil for peace in Lahore on March 3 AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures School children react as they celebrate the release of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan at a school in Ahmedabad Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan, stands under armed escort near Pakistan-India border in Wagah Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the border with Pakistan EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A videograb allegedly shows the captured Indian Air Force pilot in the custody of Pakistani military SWNS Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand look on as an Indian army helicopter lands near the site where an Indian Air Force jet was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures An Indian soldier gestures near the wreckage of an Indian Air Force fighter jet that was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of a Pakistani religious group Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba brand Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a terrorist at a rally to condemn Indian aggression AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures India's Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the fenced border with Pakistan on February 26 Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of India's ruling Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures People in India burn an effigy that represents Pakistan as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Kashmiris in the border town of Chakoti walk past India-bound cargo trucks that are parked as the road to India is closed AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Workers enter a concrete bunker that they have built in a residential area near the border Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty India responded to the Valentine's Day attack by conducting airstrikes on what it described as a training camp belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group. Pakistan-based JeM had claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Pulwama, Kashmir, though it was carried out by a young Kashmiri man. Tensions reached a peak on Wednesday when Pakistan responded by sending its air force to target - though not fire on - Indian military outposts in Kashmir. India scrambled its own jets, leading to the dogfight in which the aircraft were shot down. The reopening of airspace was seen as a further seen of reducing tensions, after Pakistan also promised to return a captured Indian fighter pilot on Friday afternoon. And while India has talked down tensions and welcomed the return of the pilot, its government says it reserves the right to repeat strikes on militant targets within Pakistan if it is believed that an attack is imminent. Earlier on Friday, at least 2,000 travellers were still stranded in the Thai capital Bangkok, and officials said it would take a few more days to get them home after the disruption. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Nearly 5,000 passengers - most of them flying on Thai Airways and Taiwan's EVA Airways - scrambled to find alternative flights from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport after Pakistan closed its airspace on Wednesday. Thailand is among the world's most popular tourist destinations, drawing more than 38 million visitors last year, about 6.8 million of them from Europe. Rival carriers like Singapore Airlines re-routed their European flights to avoid the affected airspace, but Thai Airways did not have routes over Iranian or Turkish airspace, a spokesman said. Thailand's national carrier eventually gained permission from China to use its airspace and resumed flights to Europe on Thursday evening. Additional reporting by Reuters Pakistan has handed over a captured Indian pilot, as the two nuclear powers scale back their confrontation. Pakistani TV footage showed the pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, walking across the Kashmir border near the town of Wagah just before 9pm local time. On the Indian side of the border, Indian officials greeted the pilot, who was dressed in a dark blue suit, accompanied by a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Islamabad has said the handover was a gesture of peace that could defuse tensions and avoid another war between the two nations. Mr Varthaman was shot down on Wednesday while flying a MiG-21 fighter jet above Pakistan-controlled Kashmir after a dog fight with a Pakistani JF-17. Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Show all 28 1 /28 Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A Pakistani girl holds a light candle during a vigil for peace in Lahore on March 3 AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures School children react as they celebrate the release of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan at a school in Ahmedabad Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan, stands under armed escort near Pakistan-India border in Wagah Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the border with Pakistan EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A videograb allegedly shows the captured Indian Air Force pilot in the custody of Pakistani military SWNS Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand look on as an Indian army helicopter lands near the site where an Indian Air Force jet was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures An Indian soldier gestures near the wreckage of an Indian Air Force fighter jet that was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of a Pakistani religious group Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba brand Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a terrorist at a rally to condemn Indian aggression AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures India's Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the fenced border with Pakistan on February 26 Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of India's ruling Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures People in India burn an effigy that represents Pakistan as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Kashmiris in the border town of Chakoti walk past India-bound cargo trucks that are parked as the road to India is closed AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Workers enter a concrete bunker that they have built in a residential area near the border Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said earlier on Friday the pilot would be released as a gesture of peace and to de-escalate matters. Before the pilot was released, Pakistani television stations broadcast a video of him, looking cleaned up, thanking the Pakistani army for treating him well. The Pakistani army is a very professional service, he said. Throughout the day, crowds on the Indian side thronged the road to the crossing, shouting nationalist slogans and waving Indian flags. Also on Friday, Pakistans civil aviation authority partially reopened the countrys airspace, allowing travel to four major cities, in another sign tensions with India were de-escalating. There was some firing along the contested border dividing Kashmir over the day, according to a spokesman for Indias defence ministry, but the hostilities fell short of previous days. Indian pilots captured after being shot down by Pakistan forces World powers have urged restraint from the two nations, as tensions escalated following a suicide bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on 14 February. The US has been actively mediating, to avert any risk of the two countries sliding towards their fourth war since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir has been at the root of two of those conflicts. Farmers in India are complaining that parrots seemingly addicted to opium are destroying their poppy crops. Tiny parakeets, which appear to have become hooked on the powerful narcotic, have been spotted raiding fields in Madhya Pradesh dozens of time every day. Crop destruction by birds has exacerbated problems with low rainfall, which is already reducing the yields of legal opium producers in the state. Nandkishore, an opium grower in Madhya Pradesh, said his pleas for authorities to take action had fallen on deaf ears. He told NDTV that producers in the area had resorted to a number of unconventional methods in an attempt to drive the birds away, including firecrackers and loud speakers, all to no avail. Wildlife photographer of the year Show all 26 1 /26 Wildlife photographer of the year Wildlife photographer of the year A polar bear's struggle - Highly Commended Justins whole body pained as he watched this starving polar bear at an abandoned hunter's camp, in the Canadian Arctic, slowly heave itself up to standing. With little, and thinning, ice to move around on, the bear is unable to search for food. Justin Hofman / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Curious Encounter - Shortlisted Cristobal Serrano, Spain. Any close encounter with an animal in the vast wilderness of Antarctica happens by chance, so Cristobal was thrilled by this spontaneous meeting with a crabeater seal off of Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These curious creatures are protected and, with few predators, thrive. Cristobal Serrano / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Bond of brothers - Winner David Lloyd, New Zealand / UK. These two adult males, probably brothers, greeted and rubbed faces for 30 seconds before settling down. Most people never have the opportunity to witness such animal sentience, and David was honoured to have experienced and captured such a moment.The picture was taken in Ndutu, Serengeti, Tanzania. David Lloyd / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Fox meets fox - Highly Commended Matthew Maran, UK. Matthew has been photographing foxes close to his home in north London for over a year and ever since spotting this street art had dreamt of capturing this image. After countless hours and many failed attempts his persistence paid off. Matthew Maran / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Three Kings - Highly Commended Wim Van Den Heever, South Africa. Wim came across these king penguins on a beach in the Falkland Islands just as the sun was rising. They were caught up in a fascinating mating behaviour the two males were constantly moving around the female using their flippers to fend the other off. Wim Van Den Heever / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year One toy, three dogs - Highly Commended Bence Mate, Hungary. While adult African wild dogs are merciless killers, their pups are extremely cute and play all day long. Bence photographed these brothers in Mkuze, South Africa they all wanted to play with the leg of an impala and were trying to drag it in three different directions! Bence Mate / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Clam Close-up - Shortlisted David Barrio, Spain. This macro-shot of an iridescent clam was taken in the Southern Red Sea, Marsa Alam, Egypt. These clams spend their lives embedded amongst stony corals, where they nest and grow. It took David some time to approach the clam, fearing it would sense his movements and snap shut! David Barrio / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year The Orphaned Beaver - Shortlisted Suzi Eszterhas, United States. A one-month-old orphaned North American beaver kit is held by a caretaker at the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, Washington. Luckily it was paired with a female beaver who took on the role of mother and they were later released into the wild. Suzi Eszterhas / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Ice and Water - Shortlisted Audun Lie Dahl, Norway. The Brasvellbreen glacier moves southwards from one of the ice caps covering the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. Where it meets the sea, the glacier wall is so high that only the waterfalls are visible, so Audun used a drone to capture this unique perspective Audun Lie Dahl / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Teenager - Shortlisted Franco Banfi, Switzerland. Franco was free diving off Dominica in the Caribbean Sea when he witnessed this young male sperm whale trying to copulate with a female. Unfortunately for him her calf was always in the way and the frisky male had to continually chase off the troublesome calf. Franco Banfi / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Resting Mountain Gorilla - Shortlisted David Lloyd. The baby gorilla clung to its mother whilst keeping a curious eye on David. He had been trekking in South Bwindi, Uganda, whenhe came across the whole family. Following them, they then stopped in a small clearing to relax and groom each other. David Lloyd / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Painted Waterfall - Shorltisted Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal, Spain. When the sun beams through a hole in the rock at the foot of the La Foradada waterfall, Catalonia, Spain, it creates a beautiful pool of light. The rays appear to paint the spray of the waterfall and create a truly magical picture. Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year The Extraction - Shortlisted Konstantin Shatenev, Russia. Every winter, hundreds of Steller's sea eagles migrate from Russia, to the relatively ice-free northeastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan. They hunt for fish among the ices floes and also scavenge, following the fishing boats to feed on any discards. Konstantin took his image from a boat as the eagles retrieved a dead fish thrown onto the ice. Konstantin Shatenev / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Shy - Shortlisted Pedro Carrillo, Spain. The mesmerizing pattern of a beaded sand anemone beautifully frames a juvenile Clarkii clownfish in Lembehstrait, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Known as a 'nursery' anemone, it is often a temporary home for young clownfish until they find a more suitable host anemone for adulthood. Pedro Carrillo / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Red, Silver and Black - Shortlisted TinMan Lee, USA. Tin was fortunate enough to be told about a fox den in Washington State, North America, which was home to a family of red, black and silver foxes. After days of waiting for good weather he was finally rewarded with this touching moment. Tin Man Lee / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Isolated - Shortlisted Anna Henly, UK. Snapped from a helicopter, this isolated tree stands in a cultivated field on the edge of a tropical forest on Kauai, Hawaii. The manmade straight lines of the ploughed furrows are interrupted beautifully by natures more unruly wild pattern of tree branches. Anna Henly / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Sound Asleep - Shortlisted Tony Wu, USA. This adult humpback whale balanced in mid-water, headon and sound asleep was photographed in Vavau, Kingdom of Tonga. The faint stream of bubbles, visible at the top, is coming from the whales two blowholes and was, in this instance, indicative of an extremely relaxed state. Tony Wu / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year All That Remains - Shortlisted Phil Jones, UK. A male orca had beached itself about a week before Phils visit to Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands. Despite its huge size the shifting sands had almost covered the whole carcass and scavengers, such as this striated caracara, had started to move in. Phil Jones / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Ambush - Shortlisted Federico Veronesi, Kenya. On a hot morning at the Chitake Springs, in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Federico watched as an old lioness descended from the top of the riverbank. Shed been lying in wait to ambush any passing animals visiting a nearby waterhole further along the riverbed. Federico Veronesi / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Gliding - Shortlisted Christian Vizl, Mexico. With conditions of perfect visibility and beautiful sunlight, Christian took this portrait of a nurse shark gliding through the ocean off the coast of Bimini in the Bahamas. Typically these sharks are found near sandy bottoms where they rest, so its rare to see them swimming. Christian Vizl / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Otherworldly - Shortlisted A school of Munk's devil ray were feeding on plankton at night off the coast of Isla Espiritu Santo in Baja California, Mexico. Franco used the underwater lights from his boat and a long exposure to create this otherworldly image. Franco Banfi / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year The Bats Wake - Shortlisted Antonio Leiva Sanchez, Spain. After several months of field research into a little colony of greater mouse-eared bats in Sucs, Lleida, Spain, Antonio managed to capture this bat mid-flight. He used a technique of high speed photography with flashes combined with continuous light to create the wake. Antonio Leiva Sanchez / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Under the Snow - Shortlisted Audren Morel, France. Unafraid of the snowy blizzard, this squirrel came to visit Audren as he was taking photographs of birds in the small Jura village of Les Fourgs, France. Impressed by the squirrels endurance, he made it the subject of the shoot. Audren Morel / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Unique Bill - Shortlisted Rob Blanken, The Netherlands. The pied avocet has a unique and delicate bill, which it sweeps like a scythe, as it sifts for food in shallow brackish water. This stunning portrait was taken from a hide in the northern province of Friesland in The Netherlands. Rob Blanken / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year Family Portrait - Shortlisted Connor Stefanison, Canada. A great grey owl and her chicks sit in their nest in the broken top of a Douglas fir tree in Kamloops, Canada. They looked towards Connor only twice as he watched them during the nesting season from a tree hide 50 feet (15 metres) up. Connor Stefanison / Natural History Museum Wildlife photographer of the year A dog jumps to catch a disc during a dog frisbee competition in Poznan via REUTERS One poppy flower gives around 20 to 25 grams of opium. But a large group of parrots feed on these plants around 30 to 40 times a day and some even fly away with poppy pods. This affects the produce, he said. We are already suffering because of uneven rain, and now this. Nobody is listening to our problems. Who will compensate for our losses? We have tried making loud sounds and even use firecrackers to scare the birds. But nothing has helped. The legal cultivation of opium for medicinal purposes is carried out in several regions of India under special licences. This regulated industry makes India the largest producer of legal opium in the world, according to the CIA World Factbook. The US is to end its major war game exercises with South Korea as part of an effort to ease tensions with the North. Following his first meeting with Kim Jong-un last June in Singapore, Donald Trump ordered the cancellation of several exercise with South Korea, something he claimed were too costly and which North Korea said were a provocation. Now it has emerged two major exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle are to be scrapped and replaced with smaller, more streamlined ones. The Independent understands the announcement will be made this weekend following a conversation between the US and South Korean defence ministers. The Pentagon said it had no comment on the issue. The decision was first reported by NBC News, which said it was part of an effort to ease tensions with North Korea after Mr Trump and Mr Kim failed to secure an agreement during their second summit, in Vietnam. Both sides blamed the other, for coming away empty-handed. War games in Poland Show all 25 1 /25 War games in Poland War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Photos Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato War games in Poland Nato The US has identified ways to mitigate potential readiness concerns by looking at required mission tasks versus having to conduct large-scale exercises, one defence official told the network. When Mr Trump announced the move last year he followed up with a tweet that caught many off guard. Holding back the war games during the negotiations was my request because they are VERY EXPENSIVE and set a bad light during a good faith negotiation. Also, quite provocative. Can start up immediately if talks break down, which I hope will not happen! Mr Trump tweeted. Kim Jong-un's security team dash to get into car in cavalcade Critics of the decision said the move undermined the USs commitment to South Korea, a long-time US ally, and where at least 35,000 US troops are stationed. Talking to reporters this week in Hanoi, Mr Trump said he had made the decision regarding last years exercises he was also looking at the financial cost. We spent hundreds of millions of dollars on those exercises, and I hated to see it, he said. I was telling the generals I said, look, you know, exercising is fun and its nice and they play the war games. And Im not saying its not necessary, because at some levels it is, but at other levels its not. But its a very, very expensive thing. And you know, we do have to think about that too. The US military has long defended the exercises as part of an effort to help South Korea protect itself against any attack from the North. The Solomon Islands are facing an environmental disaster as a result of the slow response to an oil spill which occurred nearly a month ago when a large ship ran aground near a Unesco World Heritage Site. Experts estimate that 80 tons of oil have already leaked into the sea and shore line in the ecologically delicate area of Rennell Island. The ship continues to leak and new footage this week shows that little progress has been made to stem the flow of oil from the vessel. More than 600 tons of oil remains onboard the Hong-Kong flagged ship. It was chartered by Bintan Mining company in the Solomon Islands to transport bauxite, an ore used in aluminium production. 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 Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said there was a high risk that the remaining oil would leak and it was "profoundly disappointed" by the slow response. The Solomon Islands government said the responsibility to salvage the ship and minimise the environmental impact lay with the companies involved, according to Australian officials. King Trader Ltd, the ship's owner, has sent a team to help salvage the ship. Bintan claimed that, as a charterer, it bore no liability for the accident or responsibility for the vessel, according to Radio New Zealand. The southern third of Rennell Island is a Unesco World Heritage site. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Unesco says the island is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and is a "true natural laboratory" for scientific study. The 2,000 people who live on the island rely on the ocean and on the natural resources on the land for their livelihoods. It says the island is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and is a "true natural laboratory" for scientific study. Additional reporting by agencies A lone protester has been arrested in Egypts Tahrir Square after calling for the countrys president, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, to resign. Videos shared online showed the man being led away by police after staging the demonstration on his own, which was reportedly held in response to train crash in the capital this week that killed at least 25 people. I am in Tahrir Square and God willing people will come today and protest for the blood that was spilt yesterday, said the man, who was identified by pro-Islamist website Rassd News Network as Ahmed Mohie, a local pharmacist. Egypt has people who are not afraid of anyone but their creator, he said in the video. The rare protest has stirred a strong reaction online in Egypt, where dissent is not tolerated. Tahrir Square was the focal point of protests during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, which led to the removal of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak from power. It was again the scene of massive demonstrations against his predecessor, Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the current president in a coup just one year into his term Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Fire fighters and onlookers gather at the scene of a fiery train crash in Cairo's main railway station AFP/Getty Images Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures A fire fighter works at the scene AFP/Getty Images Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Fire fighters and onlookers gather at the scene of a fiery train crash in Cairo's main railway station EPA Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Firefighters extinguish flames and cool off the train engine EPA Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Firefighters extinguish flames and cool off the train engine EPA Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Fire fighters and onlookers gather at the scene of a fiery train crash in Cairo's main railway station AFP/Getty Images Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Officials inspect the burnt-out train engine EPA Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Firefighters stand near burnt-out train wagons on tracks EPA Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures A damaged train is seen at the main train station after a fire caused deaths and injuries in Cairo Reuters Fiery train crash Cairo: in pictures Onlookers and journalists gather at the scene AFP/Getty President Sisi, Egypt's former army chief, has cracked down on all forms of opposition to his rule since coming to power in 2014. In the past year, his security forces have escalated a campaign of intimidation, violence, and arrests against political opponents, civil society activists, and many others who have simply voiced mild criticism of the government, according to Human Rights Watch. Mohie, the protester, was seen in another video with a sign that said Leave, Sisi. Social media users reacted by sharing the picture with the hashtag with the same words. Others used the hashtag returning to Tahrir. Egypts transport network suffers frequent crashes, and the government has faced criticism for not doing enough to maintain it. Authorities said they have arrested six people over the deadly crash, including two train conductors, their aides and two other rail workers. Investigators said the crash may have been caused by a fight between the two conductors. Hezbollah has condemned the British government for its decision to list it as a terror group, calling it an insult to the Lebanese people. Earlier this week, the UK proscribed the Lebanese Shia groups political wing as a terrorist organisation, after previously distinguishing it from its military branch. Hezbollah said in a statement that the decision was motivated by servile obedience to the US administration, and said that the British government is but a mere follower in service of its American master." "The British government has insulted the sentiments and the will of the Lebanese people by adopting this decision, it added. The UK move comes amid a new campaign by the US to isolate Iran and its proxies. The ban makes membership of the group or supporting it a criminal offence with a potential jail sentence of up to 10 years. 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 Announcing the decision on Monday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: Hezbollah is continuing in its attempts to destabilise the fragile situation in the Middle East, and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party. The UK provides the Lebanese army with military aid and training, but has grown concerned over Hezbollahs growing role in the government. The Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, said the decision should not affect ties between the two countries. "We consider that this matter pertains to Britain, not Lebanon he said. Hezbollah was founded in the early 1980s with the support of Iran, and spent much of its early existence fighting the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. Following Lebanons devastating 1975-1990 civil war, Hezbollah was the only militia in the country which didnt fully disarm, justifying its weapons as a necessary deterrent to another Israeli invasion. In recent years, it has played a key role in the Syrian civil war, intervening on the side of its ally, Bashar al-Assad. The group said it was motivated by a desire to stop the war spreading to Lebanon, but it also sought to protect the main delivery route for weapons from Iran, and prevent a majority Sunni opposition taking power. Israeli army search and destroy Hezbollah tunnels leading to Lebanon Today, Hezbollah is the most powerful armed group in Lebanon, surpassing even the countrys national army. That military power has given it a significant influence over the governments decision making. But it is also a dominant political force. In the countrys last elections, held in May 2018, Hezbollahs political bloc emerged as the largest in parliament. The group named three cabinet members in the current government, two of whom belong to the organisation. The Trump administration has introduced sweeping sanctions on Iran which it characterises as the worlds biggest sponsor of terrorism and its Shia proxies in the region, Hezbollah being the largest. Key financiers and entities tied to the group have been targeted by the US Treasury in a clear effort of containment, and Mr Trump has urged other members of the UN Security Council to work with America to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear bomb. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may still secure a fourth term in office after coalition partners vowed to stay loyal in the upcoming elections, despite the countrys attorney-general announcing plans to indict him. The declaration of support from various right-wing parties could save Mr Netanyahu in the 9 April polls, where he will be battling a powerful centrist coalition under the shadow of a looming trial. On Thursday, Avichai Mandelblit, the countrys top prosecutor, announced his intention to charge the embattled leader in three corruption cases, pending a hearing, which would mark the first time in Israeli history that a serving prime minister is indicted. Speaking to The Independent, a number of party spokespersons said that they would remain loyal to the right-wing leader at least until the pre-trial hearing, which will likely take place after the elections. According to new polls released on Friday, Mr Netanyahu is likely to secure a razor-thin majority coalition in the 120-seat Knesset, just enough to push him over the finish line. 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 Everyone deserves the presumption of innocence, said a source close to Naftali Bennett, Mr Netanyahus Education Minister and a key coalition partner, who recently formed the New Right party. The decision to back the prime minister remains in place, and to recommend him to the president after the elections. That will remain party policy until there has been a decision by the attorney-general pending the hearing," he added. Mr Bennett's New Right party said in a statement We respect the attorney-general's decision, and just as he stated that he will come to the hearing with an open mind, so too will we wait for its conclusion. His sentiments were echoed by all the other parties in Mr Netanyahus current coalition, bar Moshe Khalons centrist Kulanu party, which has yet to make a statement either way. Kulanu party's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment by The Independent. However, Avigdor Lieberman, Mr Netanyahus former defence minister and head of the Israel Beytenu, said that only the countrys courts were permitted to rule on whether someone was guilty or not. The presumption of innocence is assured for anyone, including the prime minister. Therefore, as far as were concerned, Netanyahu can run in the Knesset elections like anyone else, he said in a statement. United Torah Judaism, Shas and the Union of Right Wing Parties, echoed Mr Lieberman and vowed to back the leader in the elections. There are no legal ramifications if Mr Netanyahu runs in the elections with an indictment over him, but it could impact his allies' decision to sit with him on a government. Mr Netanyahu is facing as many as 10 years in jail on a multitude of charges in three corruption cases dubbed 1000, 2000 and 4000. In Case 1000, he is accused of allegedly receiving gifts from Hollywood and business friends in return for political favours. In Case 2000, he is accused of negotiating a deal with the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper to limit the coverage of rival newspaper Israel Hayom, in return for better coverage. In Case 4000, police alleged that he and his wife granted regulatory favours to Israels leading telecommunications company, Bezeq, in return for more positive coverage on Walla, a news website belonging to Bezeqs owner Shaul Elovitch. He has repeatedly denied all the charges and Thursday night said he was the victim of a Leftist witch hunt. He is due to face a pre-trial hearing in the coming months, after which the attorney-general will issue his final decision. Benjamin Netanyahu stands by his wife Sara on the day Israel Securities Authority recommended indicting them both on bribery and other corruption charges (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images) Despite Thursday's damning recommendation, a new poll conducted by Israeli i24 News and Israel Hayom said Friday that although Mr Netanyahus Likud Party will not win the highest number of seats in the Knesset, his alliance of right-wing parties will be the only bloc capable of forming a majority coalition to rule the country. The poll said Mr Netanyahus Likud Party would secure 29 seats in the elections well below the 38 predicted to be swept by the Blue and White alliance, a party led by the premiers chief rival and the countrys ex-army chief Benny Gantz. But should his right-wing alliance band together, he would be able to form a coalition of 62 seats of 120-seat Knesset, giving him the majority needed to lead. Cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz defended the leader on Israeli radio on Friday saying was "confident that Netanyahu will continue being able to contend with pressure of whatever kind", noting that the previous Likud leader, Ariel Sharon, had won an election in 2003 despite a graft scandal. Benjamin Netanyahus son banned from Facebook in wake of post calling for all Muslims to leave Israel Nevertheless, the leader has faced a torrent of criticism and calls for his resignation from the centre and left. Lt. Gen Gantz, his main rival, urged him to step down Thursday night, saying that he cannot rule the country and be distracted with legal hearings at the same time. Labour party leader Avi Gabbay also urged the leader to resign saying he is embarrassing the state of Israel in order to save himself. The head of Israels leftist Meretz party Tamar Zandberg, meanwhile, called Mr Netanyahus Likud party accomplices in his crime. Shamima Begum and her newborn baby have been moved from a Syrian refugee camp after they were threatened, her familys lawyer has said. Tasnime Akunjee said the teenager and her son were removed from the Al-Hol camp in the north of the country due to safety concerns around her and her baby. Ms Begum, who has been stripped of her UK citizenship but wishes to return, has received death threats since opening up about her plight, The Sun reported. The 19-year-old, who fled from Bethnal Green in east London to join Isis as a 15-year-old, has said she regretted speaking to the media and wished she had kept a low profile. The mother and her baby are said to have since been moved to another camp nearer to the Iraqi border. Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Show all 14 1 /14 Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Men who fled the last Isis-held area of Syria line up to be questioned by American and Kurdish intelligence officials Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate A young girl pulls her belongings after arriving Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate An SDF fighter hands out bread to women and children after they arrive Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Sita Ghazzar, 70, after fleeing from the last Isis-held territory in Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate A family from Russia who recently fled the last Isis-held area of Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Mr Akunjee told the newspaper: I can confirm that it is our understanding that Shamima has been moved from Al-Hol due to safety concerns around her and her baby. We further understand that indeed she and her child had been threatened by others at the Al-Hol camp. The development comes after British officials ruled out any effort inside Syria to extract Ms Begum and her child. Home secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her British citizenship in an effort to block her return. The end of the Isis Caliphate: Timeline of their rise and fall Ms Begums family have pleaded for the mother and her child to be allowed to come back to Britain. They say the teenager should face justice if she is found to have broken the law by travelling to Syria. Additional reporting by PA A toxic chemical containing chlorine was used in an attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year, the global chemical weapons watchdog has said. The attack on the town in April last year, which was held by rebels but besieged by pro-government forces at the time, killed dozens of civilians and prompted airstrikes against the Syrian regime by Britain, France and the US. Footage of young children foaming at the mouth provoked horrified reactions around the world. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said its investigators had found reasonable grounds to believe chlorine was used in the attack. Douma was the final target of Bashar al-Assads campaign to seize back control of the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus from rebels after seven years of revolt. Militants gave up the town days after the attack. Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures A child receiving oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the rebel-held town of Douma AP Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures A child is treated in a hospital in Douma White Helmets Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures An image grab taken from a video released by the Douma City Coordination Committee shows unidentified volunteers spraying a man with water at a make-shift hospital following an alleged chemical attack AFP/Douma City Coordination Committee Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures People cover their faces after an alleged chemical attack in Douma EPA Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures A medical worker giving a toddler oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the opposition-held town of Douma. Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures An image grab taken from a video released by the Douma City Coordination Committee shows unidentified volunteers spraying a girl with water at a make-shift hospital following an alleged chemical attack AFP/Douma City Coordination Committee Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures A child is treated in a hospital in Douma White Helmets/Handout via Reuters Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures Injured victims of an alleged chemical attack in Douma EPA Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures An image grab taken from a video released by the Douma City Coordination Committee shows unidentified volunteers spraying a man with water at a make-shift hospital following an alleged chemical attack AFP/Douma City Coordination Committee Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures A Syrian man mourns after an alleged chemical attack Alamy Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures People stand in front of damaged buildings, in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria AP Photo/Hassan Ammar Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures Rubble lines a street in Douma, at the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack AP Douma chemical attack: Syria war in pictures Rubble fills a street in Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus AP In a statement, the OPCW said the mission visited Douma, analysed samples taken from the scene and from people affected, interviewed witnesses and studied toxicological and ballistics analyses. The data, it said, provided reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon took place. This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine. Evidence of damage caused by two pressurised gas cylinders detailed by the OPCW one crashing through a ceiling and the other found on a roof terrace appeared to be consistent with the items having been dropped from above. Weaponising chlorine is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, ratified by Syria in 2013, and is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law. The investigators mandate does not include laying blame for the attack. Britain, France and the US blamed Syrian government forces for the attack and launched punitive airstrikes. Syria denied responsibility. Russia, a staunch ally of Mr Assad, also rejected claims Syria was responsible for the attack and even took what it called witnesses to The Hague to describe their experiences. Responding to the publication of the report on Friday, Russias embassy in the Netherlands, where the OPCW is based, claims the watchdog had reached its conclusions in spite of all the evidence. Lou Charbonneau of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said the latest OPCW report adds one more case to the scores of illegal chemical weapons attacks confirmed since 2013. She added: Those responsible for the use of these banned weapons should be unmasked and held to account. The OPCW has documented systematic use of the banned nerve agent sarin and chlorine in Syrias civil war, now nearing its eighth year. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events From 2015 to 2017 a joint UN-OPCW team had been appointed to assign blame for chemical attacks in Syria. It found Syrian government troops had used the nerve agent sarin and chorine barrel bombs on several occasions, while Isis militants were found to have used sulphur mustard. In June, the OPCWs member states granted the organisation new powers to assign blame for chemical weapons attacks, but that was not the mandate of the team that carried out the Douma inquiry. The OPCW is also looking into an alleged gas attack last November in Aleppo that reportedly made up to 100 people ill. The Syrian government and its ally, Russia, blamed the attack on insurgents. I spend half my life on the London Underground, scuttling about from gig to gig like a skittering Tube mouse. Missing trains, fielding perverts and shouting WE ARE NOT SARDINES at baffled tourists who neglect to let others get off a crowded train before they board. In the old days Id fall asleep (read: pass out drunk) and only come to when I was deep in the haunted wastelands of zone six. Im sure some people have ended up living in bewildering outposts like Cockfosters simply because they ended up there on the last train of the night and decided that making a new life for themselves was easier than finding a cab home. Ive often considered this myself. Advertisements are a huge part of the Underground experience, down in the dank underbelly of London where there is a captive audience. It was here that Protein World generously invited women to compare themselves to an enormous image of a toned, beautiful, beach body ready model in a bikini as they trudged dejectedly into work. The campaign all but demanded that you buy their products and shed your hideous rolls before you inflict yourself on any poor unwarned beachgoers. Tube users wearily defaced the posters, and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, duly banned the advert. Good move. The challenges of womanhood are quite enough without getting whacked over the head with adverts telling you that you must look a certain way or you dont get to be happy. Thats hard to deal with at any age, but for young girls it can be particularly damaging. 10 most controversial ads Show all 10 1 /10 10 most controversial ads 10 most controversial ads 10. Omega Pharma Ad for XL-S Medical - 136 complaints, upheld. Two women were seen exchanging texts comparing their bodies before heading on holiday in this TV and YouTube ad. The ASA banned it for presenting an irresponsible approach to body image and confidence. 10 most controversial ads 9. Nicocig 145 complaints, not upheld. A TV ad for an electronic cigarette was criticized for potentially appealing to children, however the ASA noted the ad was not scheduled around programmes that would appeal to children and was not in a style that would appeal to them. 10 most controversial ads 8. Department of Health 181 complaints, not upheld. Part of a Public Health England anti-smoking campaign, the graphic and gruesome ads showed a cigarette which contained flesh, but the ASA found they contained an important health message. 10 most controversial ads 7. Booking.com 201 complaints, not upheld. The TV ad showed a story of a couple who met at a hotel and involved wordplay around the word booking. The ASA ruled as before. 10 most controversial ads 6. British Heart Foundation 219 complaints, not upheld. The TV and cinema ad showing a boy sitting in a classroom talking to his father who had died from a heart attack was considered distressing, but the ASA ruled the effect would not be widespread. 10 most controversial ads 5. Protein World 380 complaints, not upheld. The ASA told Protein World that their posters asking people if they were beach body ready could not appear again in their current form, but ultimately found the campaign was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence. 10 most controversial ads 4. Booking.com 683 complaints, not upheld. This TV and cinema ad prompted complaints that the ad was offensive and encouraged bad language amongst children by using the word booking in place of a swear word. The ASA ruled it was a light-hearted play on words. 10 most controversial ads 3. PayPal 464 complaints, not upheld. Viewers were concerned that the TV advert, which shows two children worried that their parents have not bought them Christmas presents, would cast doubt over Santa's existence. 10 most controversial ads 2. Booking.com 683 complaints, not upheld. This TV and cinema ad prompted complaints that the ad was offensive and encouraged bad language amongst children by using the word booking in place of a swear word. The ASA ruled it was a light-hearted play on words. 10 most controversial ads 1. Money Supermarket 1,513 complaints, not upheld. Viewers complained that the TV and internet ad featuring a man dancing in high heels and denim shorts was offensive due to its overtly sexual content. I know, I know. If something offends you, just dont look! Switch it OFF! Fine, but you cant exactly close your eyes and hope for the best when youre negotiating a Tube platform. You are force fed images Clockwork Orange-style, and some are really bloody annoying. I dont think its a lot to ask to live in a world without corporations incessantly telling you that you need to look the part before youre allowed to have any fun at all. TfL, which has a 1.5bn advertising business, is now being more mindful about what images it pastes on its walls and recently ran a competition along with City Hall called The Women We See. The runner-up was McGarryBowen, and their ads are now plastered all over the Underground network. The mighty idea was to feature unfiltered pictures of new mums wearing their underwear, with their post-operation scars, stretch marks, recently vacated bellies and milk-heavy breasts displayed in all their glory while they cradle their babies. The caption splashed below reads: Isnt she beautiful? Well, of course she is. All bodies are intriguing and wonderful things, and one that has recently discharged a full-blown human into the world is self-evidently a wonder and a powerhouse. I dont want to be churlish about this campaign, but is it perhaps a solution in search of a problem? Cant we feel comfortable in our skin and valued for who we are without constantly focusing on our bodies and declaring: I AM FINE WITH THIS? Is it alright if I admit that, after giving birth myself, I really didnt give a stuff that my belly felt like blancmange, and the last thing that I cared about was feeling beautiful? In fact, I found a sweet freedom in not caring. Five years after having my younger child, my belly still looks like its holding a baby inside it. It simply doesnt want to give up that job and theres not much that I can do about it. Its OK, though, because I got a humongous present at the end of it, whos more likely to grab my flab and sing jelly belly than soothe my ego. I know that after a baby your body looks very different. It can sometimes feel like its not your body at all, and that your actual body the one without the stretch marks and boobs that smile up at the sun has just popped out for a bit while you scoff doughnuts during the 3am feed, and will come bouncing back home as soon as you can get off your arse to join the buggy-run mums. You know, the ones who jog briskly past you in the park, pushing their happy babies ahead of them as you do your postpartum waddle a full 10 months after giving birth. Is it just me or is there something a little condescending about fancy-pants ad directors sitting around and asking each other: OK, which group of women are most likely to appreciate a bodily performance appraisal right now? I know! Lets go for the saggy-boob-and-batwing demographic? Sorry to sound like a cable-knit anti-capitalist idealist, but these people are selling us stuff. I dont need a business to tell me that my body looks fine. Every stretch mark, scar, southbound boob and belly overhang led to the scrummy, giggling, wriggling glory of my very own children. Thats all the validation I need. Progress in research is to a large extent driven by technological and analytical advance-ments. This is particularly true for the field of lipid research in the biomedical field, which was hampered for decades by the limited availability of analytical tools to address the enormous complexity of lipids in the human body. Now we are entering the era of lipidomics, which aims at addressing the entire complement of lipids in a biological sample, with wide ranging applica-tions in basic research, biotechnoloy and biomedicine (for the state-of-the-art see also: Opinion articles on Lipidomics, [1]). more I woke up in Islamabad to the knowledge that Pakistan may be on the brink of war. Not an incredible reality given that it is Pakistan. However, my reality living and working in Islamabad differs from the Pakistan presented in the news cycle. Most days when Im not reporting Im frequenting Aussie-style coffee joints for a flat white, hiking on the Margalla Hills and enjoying dinner in the citys bustling restaurant scene. But now I was faced with the prospect of war. Pakistan and India had engaged in airstrikes deep into each others territory. What stood out this time was that never before had either country veered beyond the infamous Line of Control. Not since 1971 has there been such an escalation in tensions between the warring neighbours: the stakes were high and I knew the alert was considerable. As a reporter in this region, it is very important to acknowledge the importance of perceptions. This is a nation living on the edge. I called a Careem, Pakistans equivalent of Uber, to begin my day of reporting and attempt to work out the severity of the situation. The cab driver, as usual, asked me politely where I was from and how long Id lived in Islamabad, due to my Englistani Urdu accent. He asked if I had heard about the Balakot attack, I told him that I had and that I was travelling to report on the situation. Our conversation continued as we chatted about the highs and lows of and labyrinthine nature of the Pakistani parliament. But before I leave the cab, the driver stops me, and says: You know what really annoys us Pakistanis is how much they underestimate us. So please tell the western media, its much more than bombs and biryani here. We are far more capable! As tensions rose throughout the day, you had television news ablaze with patriotism. Talk show hosts shows dressed in military uniforms, the talking heads on news channels affronting the Indian aggression. It is difficult most days to watch Pakistani media but the flag-waving was amplified. Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Show all 28 1 /28 Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A Pakistani girl holds a light candle during a vigil for peace in Lahore on March 3 AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures School children react as they celebrate the release of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan at a school in Ahmedabad Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan, stands under armed escort near Pakistan-India border in Wagah Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the border with Pakistan EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures A videograb allegedly shows the captured Indian Air Force pilot in the custody of Pakistani military SWNS Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani civil society activists hold anti-war signs during a peace rally in Islamabad AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Activists of Al-Badr Mujahideen, an islamic militant group, burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand look on as an Indian army helicopter lands near the site where an Indian Air Force jet was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures An Indian soldier gestures near the wreckage of an Indian Air Force fighter jet that was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of a Pakistani religious group Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba brand Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a terrorist at a rally to condemn Indian aggression AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures India's Border Security Force soldiers patrol along the fenced border with Pakistan on February 26 Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Supporters of India's ruling Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Protesters in Pakistan march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures People in India burn an effigy that represents Pakistan as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Indian soldiers and Kashmiri villagers look on at the smouldering wreckage of an Indian fighter jet after it was shot down by the Pakistani military AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Bhartiya Janta Party workers hold Indian flags as they celebrate the Indian airstrike on allege Pakistan terrorist camp EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Kashmiris in the border town of Chakoti walk past India-bound cargo trucks that are parked as the road to India is closed AP Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani Army soldiers escort journalists to the scene where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace EPA Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Workers enter a concrete bunker that they have built in a residential area near the border Reuters Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty Pakistan shoots down Indian fighter jets: Reaction in pictures Pakistani soldiers and journalists gather at the site where Indian fighter jets struck in a violation of Pakistani airspace AFP/Getty However, on the streets the narrative was different. Young guys on rollerblades were holding placards amongst the traffic shouting say no to war; while juice sellers conversed with fellow shopkeepers arguing for the need for calm in their homeland. Not only for them but also for the sake of their Indian counterparts, one stallholder emphatically told me our calls for peace is not a weakness, the Indian government is hurting us but yet we choose to rise above. Women are often asked to take a back seat in public matters in this pocket of the world. But at Islamabads press club a female reporter held a sign with the words Women Say No To War. Many women are now strongly advocating for joining hands in peace in India, Pakistan and Kashmir. People in Britain are primarily aware of the terror groups that have been slowly shaping the rise in religiosity in Pakistan. Therefore, when the Pulwama attack occurred many would not have been surprised at the news of a Pakistani terror group Jaish e Mohammed claiming responsibility. As a Brit of Pakistani heritage, it has always been a struggle to explain to those back home the complexities of Pakistan. There are a range of tribes of ancient traditions that reside in harmony in the melting pot that is present day Pakistan. But that image of this young country gets very little air time. What does unite Pakistanis is their resilience they are very much aware their politicians have made some suicidal decisions regarding the direction of their nation. But for most people the politicians are not their go-to in matters of crisis. The closure of the airspace had heightened the already tense situation. No longer used by commercial airlines, fighter jets now controlled the skies. Between the journalists and politicians, the conversations became more alarmed. The military is on red alert and ready to respond on short notice. But as the fighter jets swirled around the night sky, the Twitter feeds of the young and old hearing the roar of the Pakistan Air Force were filled with calls for calm and prayer. Pakistanis did not rest easy that night due to the uncertainty of what Modis next move would be. But while political posturing and military might has framed the relationship of these warring neighbours for decades, on this monumental day it was apparent that the Pakistani people are ready to lead with peace. Dispute: Two Northern Ireland-registered fishing boats seized by the Irish Navy moored in the port of Clogherhead in Co Louth. Photo: PA A fresh Brexit row erupted amid accusations from the DUP that the Irish Government ordered a 'warship' to seize two trawlers off Dundalk. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds is demanding the Taoiseach explains why the Northern Ireland-registered vessels were "impounded by an Irish Navy warship". The two fishing boats were seized after crossing into waters reserved exclusively for Irish boats. They were escorted by the LE Orla to Clogherhead and handed over to An Garda Siochana. Mr Dodds accused the Navy of "heavy-handed tactics" which show Ireland "are fair-weather friends to Northern Ireland". "If they have been holding back as some bargaining chip on Brexit, then it utterly exposes the Irish faux concern about a hard Border on the island of Ireland," he said. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is likely to be confronted with questions on the situation when he visits Belfast this evening. Expand Close Demanding explanations: DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds. Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Demanding explanations: DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds. Photo: PA In a statement last night, the Department of Defence described what occurred as "a routine operation". A spokesman said the boats were impounded at the request of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) for alleged illegal fishing in Irish waters. The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it could not accept the "current unequal application" of the Voisinage arrangement. The case has highlighted an ongoing fishing dispute caused by the demise of an informal deal between the UK and Irish governments. The Voisinage agreement, which collapsed months after the Brexit referendum, was a reciprocal understanding between the UK and Irish Republic dating to the 1960s allowing vessels from Northern Ireland to fish in Irish inshore waters and vice-versa. But the agreement hit the rocks in late 2016 when a number of Irish fishermen brought a case to the Supreme Court. The court ruled Voisinage was an informal agreement of insufficient legal standing to formally grant access to foreign-registered boats. That decision effectively banned Northern Ireland boats from fishing in Irish inshore waters - a move that affected fishermen north of the Border who traded in species such as lobsters, crabs, mussels and whelks. The UK has continued to recognise the Voisinage agreement so Irish vessels remain free to fish inshore waters around Northern Ireland. French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pose for the media prior to their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris. AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu The UK will have to give a solid reason for delaying its departure from the EU if it is to get broad support in European capitals, according to French President Emmanuel Macron. The House of Commons has now agreed MPs should vote on whether to rule out a no-deal and extend Article 50 if Prime Minister Theresa May's current deal can't get enough support. It means the prospect of the UK crashing out has receded further, although planning for a no-deal scenario is continuing unabated. In the Dail, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said emergency legislation to take the sting out of a disorderly Brexit needs to be passed. He warned TDs that managing a no-deal Brexit "is an exercise in damage limitation". The key focus has moved back to London though, where MPs took part in another series of votes aimed at reaching some sort of consensus on a way forward. Proposals put forward by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn were emphatically rejected by a margin of 323 votes to 240. He is now expected to throw his party's weight behind demands for a second referendum in order "to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country". Perhaps more significantly though, the House accepted a motion from Labour's Yvette Cooper which means if Mrs May can't get her deal through there will be a vote calling for Brexit to be postponed. A delay will have to be approved by the remaining EU members. Ireland has said it will not stand in the way of a delay but the French president has said there must be a clear reason for delaying it. "If the British need more time, we would support an extension request if it was justified by new choices from the British," Mr Macron told a joint news briefing with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris. "But we would in no way accept an extension without a clear view on the objective pursued," he added. "As our negotiator Michel Barnier said, we don't need more time, we need decisions." French officials have said Paris would agree to delay Brexit only if that came with a credible solution - if Britain called an election, held a second referendum, or presented a new plan that was acceptable to all sides but needed more time to be finalised. Ms Merkel said she was "totally on the same line" as Mr Macron but appeared more willing to show flexibility. "If Britain needs some more time, we won't refuse but we are striving for an orderly solution, ie. an orderly exit of Britain from the European Union," she said. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin told the Dail his party would facilitate the passage of the legislation but added there was "general evidence of the fact that Ireland is not ready for Brexit to occur in 30 days' time". He also complained the Government "has not answered the simple question" of what will happen at the Border in a no-deal scenario. "We have been told repeatedly what is 'not being contemplated' or 'not being planned' - but equally we have been told that a hard Brexit - and a no-deal is the hardest of all Brexits - will cause serious disruption." He argued that the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and Transport Minister have all put forward different "contradictory statements". "According to the Taoiseach, the army may be sent to the Border. According to Minister Ross, there may be security checks. "But according to the Tanaiste, there are no such actions likely or being considered," he said. Mr Varadkar said if the UK chooses to leave the EU without a deal, Ireland and the EU will have responsibilities in term of ensuring protection of the single market and customs unions. He said the EU had been "unambiguous" about its determination to do "all it can, deal or no deal, to avoid the need for a Border and to protect the peace process". "The UK will have its own responsibilities, including meeting WTO requirements. "And we will all have our respective obligations under the Good Friday Agreement," he said. Changes in fertiliser practices and a drive towards anaerobic digesters are expected to feature strongly in a key climate action report going to Government. With agriculture accounting for a third of Ireland's greenhouse gas emission, farming features strongly in the State's mitigation plans. Pat Deering, a member of the all-party Oireachtas Climate Action Committee, said overall the report is taking a more 'carrot than stick' approach towards improving emissions. "There has to be an educational element to it as well, bringing farmers and the sector along the road on climate change and showing people that more efficiencies in every sector can be more beneficial, particularly in the beef sector," he said, adding the impact of the Beef Data and Genomics Programme had been examined. The committee has been considering the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly entitled How the State can make Ireland a Leader in tackling Climate Change and the draft report is expected to go before the committee tomorrow in public session. It is expected the report will be keenly considered by the Government in forming their Climate Action plan. Balance One of the measures expected to be endorsed is a move towards anaerobic digesters. In addition, it is likely that eliminating splash plates over a number of years will be endorsed. It is expected to recommend that contractors be given grant aid for trailing shoe equipment. In addition, a move towards using protected urea in fertilisers will be advocated. Mr Deering said they had worked hard to ensure that it was looked at from a "balanced point of view". However, he admitted that some people may feel that the report has not gone far enough. "There may be criticism of it when it is published, some might argue it is not ambitious enough, maybe a reasonable point, but you have to bring people with you." There's no question but our membership of the EU and the benefits of the CAP have been a huge boost to rural Ireland over the past 35 years. But it's time the EU looked at who it is and isn't supporting. Average farm incomes in Ireland make farmers look like the poor relation, when compared to the average industrial wage, and when the figures of farm incomes are broken down, there's clear divisions around exactly what type of farmers are making an actual living from the land. But one sector that needs to ensure its voice is heard loud and clear are young farmers. It doesn't matter if they are dairy or organic, or farming just 10ha, Ireland and Europe must put young, active farmers at the heart of its future plans. The EU can write all the rules it wants, around what a young farmer is, how 'active' they need to be, how educated they are and what kind of farm income they can or can't have, but it's pointless if farming remains difficult to enter as a career and provide a paltry income and no life. The price and lack of availability of land in Ireland means young farmers face a tough battle from the outset, competing with established farmers, before facing years of building up a holding that probably won't provide a decent income or lifestyle. Young farmers up and down the country are entering the profession because of their love for farming and the lifestyle it can offer. But they must be supported, over and above any other division in the sector, with more bright and talented young people encouraged to consider a career in farming. The sector must simply make itself more attractive and that push must come from all farming organisations, or there is no future for the sector. Shares in Chinas leading pig producers have soared to record levels despite one of the worst disease outbreaks in years, as investors bet on tightening pork supplies and strong government support for leading producers. China is battling the worlds fastest spreading outbreak of African swine fever, an incurable pig disease that has been confirmed in 28 of its provinces and regions. Livestock shares initially slid on the early outbreaks in August and September. But they have climbed since November, even as outbreaks continued and as transport curbs on infected provinces hit prices and hurt profits at most producers. Shares in Muyuan Foods Co Ltd, the No.2 producer, have doubled in the past six months. No. 4 producer Jiangxi Zhengbang Technology Co has surged more than 200pc, while rapidly growing Tech-bank Food Co Ltd is up 143pc. While listed companies still account for only a modest proportion of Chinas annual production of 700m pigs, they are growing quickly as Beijing promotes modern farm techniques. Muyuan produced 11m pigs last year. The share price gains come even as most companies have forecast a plunge in earnings for last year. In a preliminary report, Muyuan said its 2018 net profit slid 78pc to 520.2 million yuan ($77.7 million), after prices fell partly because of African swine fever. But analysts say prices for live pigs have bottomed and could rise from 12 yuan per kilogram currently to as much as 20 yuan in the second half, as supplies plunge and farmers face challenges in restocking farms. Prices could rise quite high, quite quickly, said Xiong Kuan, analyst at Cofco Futures, who expects a 20pc drop in supplies. Others say it could be as much as 30pc. Large players with low-cost modern farms that are better able to resist disease are expected to reap good profits. They will also win support from the government, already worried about supply. China eats half the worlds pork, by far the countrys most popular meat, but much of the production comes from millions of small farmers whose farms have been most at risk of disease. The government sees very clearly, among all the cases of African swine fever, less than 20pc took place on big farms. They are encouraging big farms with good biosecurity measures to expand production, said Feng Yonghui, chief analyst at Soozhu.com. Last month the agriculture ministry urged farmers to quickly replenish their herds as concerns grew that prices will rise rapidly in the second half of the year. And last week, Beijing issued a draft plan aimed at tackling the disease and shoring up supplies. It called for the promotion of high-quality farming companies in southern areas that need to increase supplies and support for large-scale integrated processors across the country. Many big companies have continued to expand, eyeing future bumper profits. Top 10 producer New Hope Liuhe produced 2.5m pigs in 2018, up 50 percent on the prior year. Muyuan raised 5 billion yuan in a share placement in December to add new farms for 4.8m pigs. The expansion would help provide the market with stable supplies and allow the company to firmly grasp the opportunities from market transformation, it said. AIB is likely to baulk at launching another bid to bring back bonuses when it reports today, avoiding a direct confrontation with the Government on the issue. The majority State-owned lender is due to report 2018 financial results today. Earlier this week, Bank of Ireland CEO Francesca McDonagh said the pay restrictions were impacting the bank's ability to retain and attract staff. She said the inability to offer variable pay in particular - rather than the absolute pay cap - was an issue. Last year Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe vetoed an AIB proposal to bring back bonuses there. But he ordered a review by consultants Korn Ferry of restrictions on bankers' pay brought in after the crash, including the 500,000-a-year pay cap and a near-90pc tax on most bonuses. Korn Ferry's report has not been published yet, and any findings will not be binding. AIB has reported profit before tax of 1.25bn in 2018, down from the 1.31bn in profit reported in 2017. Net interest margin a key barometer of a banks performance fell to 2.47pc last year, from 2.5pc the prior year, according to annual results from the group. However, the bank has proposed a 42pc increase in dividends to 461m. As the State owns 71pc of the bank, it is set to receive 327m of the dividends. "Across all the key metrics, by which we judge ourselves, the business has performed well during the year," Bernard Byrne, outgoing CEO of AIB, said. "The quality of the balance sheet continues to improve as we work through our legacy non-performing exposures." The group reported net loan book growth of 0.9bn to 60.9bn. New lending was up 15pc on previous year to 12.1bn, while its new mortgage lending was up 16pc to 2.8bn. Non-performing loans at the bank have reduced by 4.1bn to 6.1bn at 31 December 2018 - which is 9.6pc of gross loans - from 10.2bn at December 2017. AIB said its small and medium business in Ireland is "trading solidly" despite a weaker market backdrop. Its SME lending in the UK is up 9pc off a low base; and the loan book remained static. Separately and further to the announcement on 27 February, AIB said that Donal Galvin, the deputy chief financial officer (CFO) and group rreasurer, has been appointed CFO with immediate effect. Fintech group Revolut has denied that any sanctioned transactions have taken place through the bank due to failings in its systems. The "failings" involved an automated system, which was used to block suspicious transactions, being turned off for months. This comes as users of its banking app experienced difficulty topping up today. A report from the Daily Telegraph found that Revoluts board had launched an internal investigation in 2018 into the "failings" in the banks sanction screening system. The newspaper added that it had seen documents suggesting that thousands of illegal transactions may have flowed through the banks systems between last July and September following a decision to disable the system. Nikolay Storonsky, CEO of Revolut, said: "The [Daily Telegraph] article refers to a systems enhancement project that we were rolling out in parallel with our existing systems and controls. The more technologically advanced sanctions screening system was just one part of the overall enhancement project. Like any technology company, we always seek to improve our systems. The new systems were not calibrated to a standard that we would expect, so we reverted to our existing process until calibration was complete. At no point during this time do we believe that we failed to meet our legal or regulatory sanction requirements, he added. "A thorough review has been undertaken of the transactions that were processed, which has confirmed that there were no sanctioned transactions". Read More Frustrations had grown over 8,000 "false positive" flags, where legitimate transactions had been blocked, led the bank to disable its blocking system and switch to a screening process that allowed suspicious transactions to be made and then reviewed later. At no point did Revolut formally notify the UKs Financial Conduct Authority of the issue. Meanwhile, the chief financial officer of Revolut resigned in January. Former JP Morgan employee Peter OHiggins, who joined the digital bank in 2016, left the company at the start of the year. The London-based banking company has insisted that Mr OHigginss resignation had nothing to do with concerns raised over compliance. In a statement Mr OHiggins said: As Revolut begins to scale globally and applies to become a bank in multiple jurisdictions, the time has come to pass the reigns over to someone who has global retail banking experience at this level. Last month it was reported that Revolut is to establish an Irish base in the coming months as it prepares to take on the country's pillar banks with new current accounts, overdrafts, and personal loans. The group already has more than 200,000 Irish users on its platform - which helps customers manage their finances through a mobile app. Revolut has so far raised $336m from investors including DST Global, Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and Draper Esprit. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) Did President Rodrigo Duterte swear into office a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) he did not actually appoint? This appears to be the case for Arlene Napoles-Sevilla, an Islam convert and civic leader from Tawi-Tawi. In a Facebook post Friday, Sevilla expressed her dismay over what appeared to be a "mistake" to include her among the appointed members to the BTA. Sevilla was among the members of the interim body who took their oaths of office in Malacanang on February 22. However, when the list was made public this week, Sevilla's appointment paper was not included. Sevilla said she passed through coordination processes and security screenings in Malacanang that allowed her to join the ceremony. "I would like to request the person responsible to the alleged "mistake" committed to have the decency to officially write me directly as when i was requested to submit my notarized PDS for my nomination to the BTA, there are personalities who contacted and called me," Sevilla said in her Facebook post. "I was given the program and the laminated Oath of Office given to all other BTA appointees to read during the oath-taking." "It is not about position, it is not only serving the Moro, it is hearing the most unheard voices on the grounds from the unserved Lumad, Moro and Christian settlers," she added. Malacanang on Wednesday released a partial list of members of the BTA, which will serve as the interim government of the newly-established autonomous region in the South. Duterte has yet to appoint four more members of the BTA. It remains unclear if Sevilla will be among the four or if she was outright dropped from the list. Investments in startups are on the rise. In 2017, institutional investors and companies invested 147 billion euros in these enterprises nearly three times as much as in 2012. Bosch, too, is increasing its investment in external startups, providing Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC) with 200 million euros for a fourth fund. Shaping the future also means recognizing good ideas early on and helping them achieve a breakthrough. As a leading IoT company, we want to drive forward select technologies in areas of future relevance, such as artificial intelligence, explains Dr. Volkmar Denner, CEO of Robert Bosch GmbH. RBVC currently has a stake in three of the most promising artificial intelligence (AI) startups worldwide: DeepMap, Graphcore, and Syntiant. We not only invest in startups, we also collaborate with them on open innovation projects. This is one way in which we boost our innovative strength. Open innovation is a concept that brings together customers, researchers, suppliers, and partners and integrates them into a companys innovation activities. RBVC, one of Europes largest corporate investors, specializes in innovative technology startups. Its portfolio includes more than 35 companies active in autonomous driving, AI, the internet of things (IoT), and even distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain. Open innovation: exploiting technology trends at an early stage Each year, experts from RBVC examine over 2,000 startups, but only around a hundred of these make it to the shortlist. We invest in six to ten carefully selected companies each year. In addition to capital, we also offer know-how and operational support. We also connect startups with Bosch operating units, says RBVC managing director Philipp Rose. These alliances benefit the fledgling companies as well as Bosch itself. Startups get the opportunity to become a supplier, technology partner, or even customer of Bosch. Bosch, in turn, receives early access to the latest technologies and can incorporate them into its own innovations. Open innovation is a win-win for startups and Bosch alike, Rose says. It also lets us ensure that the startups expertise stays in the startup. Bosch currently collaborates with more than one hundred companies on open innovation projects. Portfolio: unicorns and successful exits Sunnyvale (U.S.), Frankfurt and Stuttgart (Germany), Tel Aviv (Israel), and Shanghai (China): RBVC maintains a presence in technology hotspots around the world through its own locations and contact persons. We are a global investor that is active at the local level, says Dr. Ingo Ramesohl, managing director and executive vice president of technology at RBVC. We are directly involved on the ground, and we know the markets. At the same time, we offer the startups a global network, since we invest only in companies relevant to Boschs business. RBVCs portfolio comprises thriving companies operating in areas such as machine learning, semiconductor development, and the IoT. One example is British processor company Graphcore, which produces AI components designed to accelerate machine learning. In 2018, the company closed the largest venture capital funding round in Europe and is currently valued at 1.7 billion dollars. We have been supporting Graphcore since its initial financing round, not only financially, but also with our network and expertise, Ramesohl says. Another recipient of early-stage RBVC investment was Sensoro, which today is the leading supplier of urban IoT solutions in China. A third example is the U.S. company DeepMap, which produces highly accurate maps for autonomous vehicles. Like every other institutional venture capitalist, RBVC ultimately aims to sell its stake in a startup at a profit. For instance, Intel acquired Movidius, a manufacturer of processor chips for computer vision, and cybersecurity expert SecurityMatters is now part of ForeScout Technologies, a provider of network security. A SLOWER pace of house building because of construction cost inflation could benefit companies such as Grafton, according to its chief executive, Gavin Slark. The group, which in Ireland owns the Woodies DIY chain as well as builders merchanting outlets Chadwicks and Heiton Buckley, noted yesterday that medium-term demand for housing units here is about 40,000 per annum. Just 18,000 were completed last year. "It's pretty widely recognised that a normalised Irish housing market is probably somewhere between 35,000 and 40,000 homes a year," Mr Slark told the Irish Independent. "Last year the number was 18,000. If it increases at a slightly lower rate, that possibly even makes it more sustainable going forward," he added. "One of the things we need to avoid in the economy of Ireland is what I would call the Hollywood peaks and troughs that maybe we saw during the Celtic Tiger years. "If we see more gentle, sustained growth then that makes it a better bet in terms of the medium term," said Mr Slark. He said that the underlying fundamentals in Ireland are "pretty well set" for the medium to long term, despite the risks from Brexit or issues over labour supply. The Irish construction sector is suffering from a lack of tradespeople as it still emerges from the nadir it experienced during the downturn. Mr Slark was speaking as Grafton reported a robust set of full-year results. Its revenue jumped 8pc on a constant currency basis to 2.95bn (3.43bn). Its operating profit, stripping out gains from a property disposal, was 18pc higher at 189.6m (221m). Grafton generated about 68pc of its revenue last year in the UK, with Ireland accounting for 639m, or about 22pc of revenue. The remainder is generated by its operations in the Netherlands and Belgium. Revenue at its Woodies DIY chain soared 8.8pc on a constant currency basis to 198.2m (231m), with its adjusted operating profit climbing 48.7pc on the same basis to 16.8m (19.6m). Grafton said 2018 saw Woodies experience its third consecutive year of revenue and profit growth. It's been lifted by a strong economy and a business transformation programme. Mr Slark said that expansion of the chain is unlikely, given that it effectively has the required footprint. He added that that any expansion by the group is more likely to be targeted at the UK, where Grafton owns chains such as Selco and Plumbase. Grafton's UK arm performed well last year given the challenges the economy is facing. Mr Slark said that he did not believe Brexit will have any material impact on the group's business there given the size of the market. Conor McGregor and Richard Branson at the Pendulum Summit in 2018. Photo: Conor McCabe The States top finance agencies paid a total of 33,050 for 81 staff to see the likes of Richard Branson and Conor McGregor appear at a business summit last year. New figures show that the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), the Central Bank and the Revenue Commissioners shelled out the money for staff to attend the two-day Pendulum Summit in in Dublin in January 2018. In a written Dail reply, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed to Labour TD Joan Burton that the NTMA last year paid 17,200 to allow 43 staff members to attend the summit. Mr Donohoe further stated the Central Bank paid 12,000 for 30 staff to attend, while Nama paid 2,800 for seven staff to attend with the Revenue Commissioners paying 1,050 for one staff member to attend. A spokesman for Nama confirmed yesterday that eight of its staff members attended the 2019 event staged in January at a cost of 3,400. Separately, a spokesman for the NTMA confirmed that this year the agency purchased a total of 15 tickets at a cost of 12,750 to attend, which provided the possibility of 30 attendees across the two-day event with each participant attending one day. The 21 tickets purchased by the NTMA in 2018 allowed double that number to attend one day each. The NTMA actively encourages the professional development of its staff, including by providing the opportunity to attend relevant external events, particularly events independently accredited for continuing professional development purposes, it said. This year, 3,000 attended the two-day event and it emerged earlier this month that the Pendulum Summit paid Brexiteer Boris Johnson 58,230 to speak at the event. Ceo of the Pendulum Summit Frankie Sheahan said State agencies here could be investing so much more in this event on their doorstep. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. He said: The fees are a great investment for any company. Tullow Oil has appointed Sheila Khama and Genevieve Sangudi as non-executive directors to its board. In addition, Tutu Agyare will resign as a director immediately after the London-listed group's AGM in April. Following the changes Tullow will have reached the 33pc target of women in top roles on listed companies in Britain. A UK government-backed report issued in 2015 made the recommendation on gender representation by 2020. Ms Khama is a policy adviser on the mineral, oil and gas industries at the World Bank in Washington, focusing on host government relations with commercial companies. She took up her position at the World Bank in 2016, having worked in a similar role for three years at the African Development Bank. Genevieve Sangudi is a managing director for The Carlyle Group based in South Africa. Ms Sangudi has more than 15 years of investment experience in Africa in the healthcare, financial services, oil and gas, petrochemicals, agribusiness and telecommunications sectors. Ms Sangudi joined Carlyle in 2011 and played a lead role in launching its maiden Sub-Saharan Africa fund, including fundraising, strategy, origination and execution. Meanwhile, Mr Agyare joined Tullow in 2010 as a director and has provided "significant support and insight" to Tullow, particularly with regards to Ghana during his time as a director, a statement from the group said. Aer Lingus would be capable of expanding even faster than its current blistering pace, but availability of the right aircraft for its transatlantic network has tempered growth, IAG CEO Willie Walsh has told the Irish Independent. He also said that the performance of Aer Lingus's premium seating has been very strong across the Atlantic, bolstered by economic growth in Ireland and the continued investment by multinationals in the country. "We're very comfortable about Aer Lingus's ability to expand," he said. "What we need to do is to ensure it's with the right assets. We identified that the Airbus A321LR was the right asset for Aer Lingus, and that only becomes available this year. "The pace of expansion is more dictated by the delivery of aircraft than it is by the ability of the airline," he said. "Aer Lingus would be capable of expanding faster. But there's no point in locking ourselves into an inefficient asset." Aer Lingus, which IAG acquired in 2015, has expanded significantly since then. Last year, it opened routes from Dublin to Seattle and Philadelphia, and this year starts services to Montreal and Minneapolis-St Paul. It has predicated much of its transatlantic expansion on the Airbus A330, but will take delivery of four Airbus A321LR jets this year, with nine eventually joining the fleet. New Aer Lingus CEO Sean Doyle told the Irish Independent that the airline continues to evaluate a "double-digit" number of possible destinations in North America. His predecessor, Stephen Kavanagh, previously said cities such as Denver and Vancouver were on the airline's radar. Mr Doyle said the A321LRX, with an even longer range, would be capable of reaching some US west coast destinations. Aer Lingus already serves San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. "There are plenty of opportunities for growth and we're pursuing them," said Mr Doyle. "Our business plan has us growing from 17 [long-haul] aircraft today to 30 by 2023. That, by any measure, is significant expansion." Mr Walsh added: "It is very much a case of getting aircraft availability. We've been out there looking for additional availability. It's not a simple thing. We're not adverse to looking at the A330, but we don't think that's necessarily the right aircraft at this time." Releasing 2018 results yesterday, IAG said that Aer Lingus revenue jumped 8.8pc to 2.02bn, while its operating profit was almost 14pc higher, at 305m. It was another record result for the carrier. The airline's available seat capacity rose 10pc last year. IAG also owns British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Level. On a group basis, revenue was up 6.7pc at 24.4bn. Operating profit rose 9.5pc to 3.2bn. Payments technology firm Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) is hiring 50 new staff as part of a planned expansion programme. The roles in the Meath-based hub - in the areas of software development, engineering and data centre support - are available for application immediately. The London-headquartered firm is also looking for a head of technical infrastructure and technical project manager for its Irish office. Group head of HR David Kinnear said that the growth of the company in the last 11 years has been "exceptional". "We continue to expand in our current markets, but we are rapidly developing into new territories," he said. "We believe that we provide some of the most exciting and challenging opportunities combined with outstanding career development prospects." Last year, PFS started to consider a stock market flotation after pre-tax profits hit 4.3m (4.8m) in 2017 and revenue climbed to 45m (50.5m). Inquiry: CCPC boss Isolde Goggin said it had seized 1.4 million emails and other documents TWO watchdogs investigating alleged anti-competitive practices in insurance firms can't say what progress they have made and when they will complete their probes. The European Competition Directorate and the State's Consumer Protection Commission have each spent more than two years investing insurers here. Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath has been told by Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager that there was no timeline for when its probe will finish. Meanwhile, insurer RSA has reported profits of 35m in this country last year, up from 10.5m in the previous year. The powerful European Union's Competition Directorate raided insurance brokers and representative body Insurance Ireland in July 2017 over alleged cartel activity in the motor insurance market. Documents were seized. Ms Vestager, in a letter to Mr McGrath, said her officers were continuing to analyse the material taken in the raids. "Our purpose is to assess whether the motor insurance market in Ireland is suffering from anti-competitive practices that hamper consumers' choice in accessing insurance products and their ability to secure services at competitive terms." She added that there was no precise timeline for when the probe was finished, and no decision had been made on whether formal proceedings would follow. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has been probing allegations of price signalling since the end of 2016. Chairwoman Isolde Goggin told Mr McGrath it has held 55 witness summons hearings and seized 1.4 million emails and other documents from the insurers it is probing. "The investigation is in its latter states, but at this point we are unable to provide a definitive indication as to when the investigation will conclude," she said. Mr McGrath said motorists need to be told if the two watchdogs have discovered anti-competitive practices. Meanwhile, a new group made up of representatives of 85 play centres, pet farms and multi-activity centres has criticised the minister with responsibility for insurance reform, Michael D'Arcy, for what it said was a lack of action. Play and Activity Ireland spokeswoman Linda Murray said its members had met Mr D'Arcy three times "and all we hear about is report after report that shows there is a big issue with insurance for businesses". She said play centres were being forced to close due to a surge in premiums. Members of Play and Activity Ireland were angry the Government was not implementing reforms it had proposed to deal with the insurance crisis. The cashbacks are useful for new buyers to buy the likes of a fridge for their new home, according to Central Bank sources. Stock image The Central Bank has reservations about banning mortgage cashback deals. There are fears that cashback deals are keeping mortgage rates artificially higher, and other concerns the offers mislead borrowers about the true cost of borrowing. Some reports have suggested banks are preparing to pull cashback deals due to regulatory pressure. Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and EBS offer cashback when mortgages are drawn down. The Permanent TSB 2pc cashback means a couple borrowing 300,000 get 6,000 at draw-down. Consumer advocates argue that mortgage rates in this country, which are the second highest in the eurozone, would be lower if cashbacks were banned. But regulators question whether rates would fall, and feel the cashback offers play an important role in helping dual-income first time-buyers who are aware of the risks, and likely to switch mortgage. The cashbacks are useful for new buyers to buy the likes of a fridge for their new home, according to Central Bank sources. Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath has threatened to use a mortgages bill, that is in the committee stage in the Oireachtas, to ban cashbacks. Central Bank senior officials believe cashbacks should remain on the menu of mortgage options. They argue that they are particularly beneficial for those who switch their mortgages regularly. Regulators feel there are more important issues to be addressed in the mortgage market, such as the cost of funds for banks. Permanent TSB indicated recently it may be forced to stop offering cashbacks from the summer. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has warned that cashback deals can be a trap. This is because lenders offering the incentive tend to have higher mortgage rates. Asked for a comment, the Central Bank said it consistently monitored and reviewed consumer protection measures to ensure they remain appropriate and relevant in a changing financial services environment. A blockchain-powered network set up with an aim to assure the quality and origins of products in a supply chain is expanding its hub in Dublin. Founded in 2016 by Angel Versetti and Dr Stefan Meyer, Ambrosus is a community-driven infrastructure which combines Ethereum-based tech with IoT sensors to better track products across a number of industries. The high-tech sensors measure and record information such as temperature, oxygen and sodium content which is stored on the secure network. Transparency for consumers, companies and farmers in terms of the origins and transport path of life-essential products, namely food and medicine, is the Swiss startup's goal. Mr Versetti (26) told Independent.ie that Ambrosus can ultimately help farmers earn fairer prices and improve food distribution, and allow consumers to easily see where their food comes from and what is really in it. "We wanted to build this platform to fulfil a vision to which we all align; an open source project which tracks, stores and transmits assembly-line and sensor data about food and pharmaceuticals," he said. With about 60 people working across a number of countries including Switzerland, Ireland, Estonia, Germany and Poland, Ambrosus is currently looking to fill hubs at its Dublin hub. The highly skilled roles that are currently being advertised include IT and blockchain solutions architects, marketing director, recruitment manager and head of business development. Now working across four different industries - food, commodities, high-value products and medicine - Ambrosus is offering companies an opportunity to record essential data they may require in the future, whether they choose to make that data public or not. Estonian-born Versetti was name checked on this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 list across the European landscape in the 'finance' vertical. In addition to private funding, Ambrosus raised more than $30m in its initial coin offering, the cryptocurrency space's version of an IPO. Pastor Alph Lukau (in blue beside the coffin) claims he brought his man back from the dead. PIC: Pastor Alph Lukau/Facebook A pastor in South Africa who claims to have raised a man from the dead has sparked a viral challenge. A video of preacher Alph Lukau carrying out the supposed resurrection went viral and sparked the challenge which mocks the original video. The viral video shows Mr Lukau, who operates in Johannesburg, placing a hand on the chest of a supposed corpse in a coffin before shouting 'Rise up' which the man does. The #ResurrectionChallenge has been gaining momentum online as people across the country and beyond film tongue-in-cheek recreations of the pastor's dramatic 'resurrection'. Hehehe... so Lukau claimed to have resurrected this guy. . These fake pastors dont take SA serious. #PastorLukau pic.twitter.com/4xR0ae5qAZ Phetolo Malepu (@M_malepu) February 25, 2019 However, the BBC reports that three funeral companies are taking legal action against Pastor Lukau for damage to their reputations. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the government should act against "religious leaders of questionable practices". He added, "We do not want to interfere with people's religious beliefs, but we should have a conversation about how we deal with these bogus pastors." The Sowetan news website reports that Lukau's church, the Alleluia International Ministeries, has since backtracked on the claim that a resurrection miracle was performed. It reports that the church said the "dead" man was actually "already alive" when his body got to the premises and that Lukau had only "completed the miracle that God had already started". Video of the Day Most of the reactions on social media see the funny side... Thanks to Pastor Clement I was risen! #ResurrectionChallenge pic.twitter.com/ROfopjKVVp Mr TT to you! (@iamtsoeu) February 25, 2019 Morris Issacson high went in on the #ResurrectionChallenge pic.twitter.com/8VyqG65Q1B ThamiD (@Kittlesub) February 26, 2019 I know what you did here guys #ResurrectionChallenge pic.twitter.com/m3QYrVUarm Mbulazi Kapa (@kapzan1) February 26, 2019 #ResurrectionChallenge .After you spot your landlord after being ressurected when your rent is due pic.twitter.com/1HVIZoFFqd The Tall Friend (@cytrusdc) February 25, 2019 Horror, a much maligned genre, can achieve moments of pure cinema, and while its aims are simple, their ripples can run deep. As there are only so many ways to scare the sh*t out of people, a certain amount of plagiarism is inevitable, but in Hole In The Ground, writer/director Lee Cronin wears his influences proudly. The 37-year-old's debut feature went down very well at the Sundance Film Festival and is being simultaneously released today in the UK, US and other territories. It's an assured beginning, full of promise. Not so promising are the prospects of Sarah O'Neill (Seana Kerslake) and her young son, Chris (James Quinn Markey) when they move into a creepy old house on the edge of a forest in the depths of the Irish countryside. When we first see them, it's from far above, as their car inches through a rugged landscape to the soaring strains of a bombastically ominous soundtrack. It reminds one of the opening sequence in The Shining: their rural relocation, one suspects, will not go swimmingly. Though we're given few details, they're clearly on the run from someone violent: Sarah has a recent scar on her forehead, and prevaricates whenever the boy inquires after his dad. Initially, though, things don't seem so bad in the countryside. Here, at least, they will be safe, Sarah reckons (LoL), as she gives the old place a lick of paint and heroically strips away half a century's worth of dodgy wallpaper. Though he's nervous about starting in a new school, Chris quickly makes friends and seems content. The neighbours are pretty friendly in the main, but Sarah is troubled by a dishevelled old woman who wanders the back roads muttering to herself and screaming at passing children. Worrying, too, is the discovery of a massive hole in the forest floor just a few hundred metres from the house, which seems to suck in all the air around it and is mired in an ominous silence. Then Sarah begins to notice that her son is acting differently. Expand Close Seana Kerslake / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Seana Kerslake Though she can't put her finger on it, she becomes convinced that something has changed. Chris no longer responds to a joke rhyme she's played with him since he was a baby: he stares at her in a funny way and seems emotionally aloof. At first she thinks she's imagining things, but soon Sarah has installed a hidden camera in the boy's room and watches for something that might confirm her worst fears. The sure way to ruin a horror film is to explain too much, because no matter how clever your supernatural scenario, it will sound silly if you break it down. Cronin does not make that mistake, and spends most of his time establishing and maintaining an atmosphere of dread. He uses light and the lack of it, sparse dialogue, stillness, silence, magnified sound effects and, most especially, music to construct his paranoiac mood. That music can be overbearing, promising more than any lowish budget horror could ever deliver, but Stephen McKeon's soundtrack is stylishly effective at times, and its overt style is thoroughly deliberate, a reference perhaps to the stylised soundscapes of classic 70s films like The Exorcist. Video of the Day Hole In The Ground's biggest asset, though, is Kerslake. Since breaking through in spectacular fashion in Darren Thornton's 2016 tragicomedy A Date For Mad Mary, and showcasing her talents in Stefanie Preissner's Can't Cope, Won't Cope, Kerslake has established herself as one of the most exciting actors of her generation. She has charisma, presence, stillness that belies her years, a face the camera loves, and Cronin has recently said that he pared back his dialogue once Seana came on board, because he knew she'd be able to convey most of what he needed without words. Her character's dilemma is a parental nightmare: she's convinced her son is somehow no longer himself, but who on earth is going to believe her? As long as the story's mystery is maintained, Cronin's film purrs along very nicely, but as is so often the case with horror films, it loses some lustre once the source of all the dread becomes clear. But for the most part, Hole In The Ground is a clever, lean, well-made and nicely photographed chiller, its tone and direction remarkably assured. Cronin is ambitious, no question about it, and his vision will surely find a larger canvas. Hole In The Ground (15A, 90mins) - 3 stars Films coming soon... Captain Marvel (Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Annette Bening, Jude Law); Everybody Knows (Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Inma Cuesta, Ricardo Darin); Border (Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff). The Critics: Your guide to movies, music and more... The Aftermath (15A, 109mins) - 3 stars James Kent's handsome, stately period drama is based on a novel by Rhidian Brook and boasts a fascinating context. It's the winter of 1946, and the city of Hamburg has been all but obliterated by Bomber Harris when Rachel Morgan (Keira Knightley) arrives to meet her husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), an army colonel. They're billeted in a grand mansion owned by an architect called Lubert (Alexander Skarsgard), who must decamp to the attic. But Herr Lubert is handsome, and the Morgans' marriage is troubled. Kent's film is watchable though slow, and throws away its historic potential, but Jason Clarke is excellent. Sauvage (No cert, IFI, 99mins) - 4 stars By turns tender and heartbreaking, Sauvage also administers a stern dose of social realism: its director, Camille Vidal-Naquet, spent three years investigating the demi-monde of male prostitutes who haunt the Bois de Boulogne. Felix Maritaud is Leo, a street hustler who craves real affection. Though we learn little of his past, a trip to the doctor reveals scars and pocks that suggest cruel beginnings. Leo may be streetwise, but he's capable of real tenderness, as we see in a powerful scene when he comforts a lonely widower. Very nicely made, Sauvage never succumbs to sentiment, and retains a fierce focus. Foxtrot (15A, 113mins) - 4 stars Surrounded by enemies dedicated to its destruction, doomed perhaps to violently defend itself, Israel depends on a conscripted army. The enduring effects of constant war are pithily explored by Samuel Maoz in Foxtrot. Tel Aviv couple Michael and Dafna Feldmann are devastated when the military inform them that their son Jonathan has been killed in action. But when our focus shifts to Israel's northern border, we discover that their grim news may have been a case of mistaken identity. For there is Jonathan, bored but safe, though in this part of the world, fate has a way of catching up with you. It's a clever, funny, unsettling film. John Downey arrives for an extradition hearing at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday January 28, 2019. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire Hyde Park bomb suspect John Downey can be extradited from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland to face charges over the murder of two soldiers in 1972, a judge has ruled. Downey, 67, whose trial for the IRA's London bombing collapsed in controversy five years ago, is wanted by prosecutors in Northern Ireland over the 1972 murder of two Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers in Enniskillen. Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly ruled on the extradition in the Dublin High Court on Friday. The judge told the court that Downey had objected to the surrender on a number of grounds over his belief that "it would be oppressive to surrender him". But Ms Donnelly rejected all of his objections. After granting the order for the surrender, Ms Justice Donnelly agreed to hear whether Downey's legal team will lodge an appeal next Wednesday and has permitted him to remain on continuing bail. Downey, from Co Donegal, who was detained in the Republic of Ireland last October under a European arrest warrant, has always denied any involvement in the Hyde Park attack. Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service initiated extradition proceedings last year after determining it had sufficient evidence to charge him with the murders of Lance Corporal Alfred Johnston, 32, and Private James Eames, 33. The two soldiers died when an IRA bomb exploded in a car they were checking on Irvinestown Road, Cherrymount, on August 25 1972. In 2013, Downey was charged with murdering four Royal Household Cavalrymen in a bomb in London's Hyde Park in 1982. He stood trial at the Old Bailey, but the case dramatically collapsed after it was revealed he had received a written assurance from former prime minister Tony Blair's government that he was not actively wanted by the authorities. The letter was issued under the terms of the controversial On The Runs (OTRs) scheme. During an extradition hearing on the matter last month, Downey's barrister Garnet Orange SC made an appeal to Ms Justice Donnelly not to proceed with the hearing until after March 29, when Brexit matters have been clarified. However, Remy Farrell, barrister for the State, said Downey's counsel did not identify how his client would be impinged by Brexit. Denis OBrien has lost his High Court action alleging he was defamed in articles published in the Sunday Business Post. The jury, by a majority, dismissed the case this afternoon. The total legal costs of the case, which ran for 17 days, could run to 1m and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said today his government is carrying out a review of the situation. "Defamation laws in Ireland do seem to be more restrictive than in other countries," he said, when asked if Irish defamation laws are too restricted. "We have to balance the need for free speech and free press, and we also need to protect peoples privacy and peoples reputations. "Where media organisations or journalists do publish things that are untrue or damaging, it can really hurt people. We need to get that balance right," Mr Varadkar told reporters in Belfast. Mr OBrien, who had attended each day of the case up to the 17th day today, was not in court for the verdict. The eight men and three women began deliberations about 12.45pm on Thursday and the foreman told the judge about 12.40pm on Friday, after some five hours deliberation, they could not reach a unanimous decision on some of the nine questions before them. They had gone through the all of the questions twice, the foreman said. In those circumstances, a majority decision was open to them, Mr Justice Bernard Barton told them. That meant at least nine of them must agree on the answers to the questions and it must be the same nine, or ten, who agree on each answer. The jury then resumed considering their verdict and returned to court just after 4pm. Mr OBrien sued Post Publications Ltd, publisher of the SBP, over articles published over six pages in the newspaper of March 15th 2015 in which Mr O'Brien was named as amongst the 22 biggest borrowers from Irish banks in 2008. Their focus was a confidential Price WaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report given to the government in November 2008 which looked at the exposure of Irelands banks in 2008. Journalist Tom Lyons got a copy of the report from a source in early 2015 and shredded it shortly after the articles were published to protect the source. Mr O'Brien claimed the articles, including articles headlined 22 men and 26 billion and The Gang of 22 wrongly meant he was among a gang of 22 borrowers responsible for the destruction of the Irish banking system and that they defamed him and injured his reputation. He also alleged malicious publication and, in that context, sought punitive damages. The defendant denied the words meant what he alleged, denied defamation and malicious publication, and pleaded "fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest". The jury heard evidence from Mr OBrien, Mr Lyons and former SBP editor Ian Kehoe during the 17 day case. The jury had nine questions to consider. They found (1) the articles did not mean Mr OBrien, as one of 22 borrowers, was among those borrowers most to blame for the destruction of the Irish banking system and the subsequent bail out; and (2) was not a recipient of cheap and easy money which was in some way related to improper influence with bankers, politicians and civil servants. They also found (3) the articles did not mean, as a result of what was said about Mr OBriens borrowings, the PwC report was one which he wished to keep secret or top secret and had been suppressed. They found (4) the articles meant the story of Mr OBriens borrowings and the amount thereof was telling and disturbing but that was not defamatory. Question 5 and 6 asked whether the articles meant Mr OBrien was massively overstretched and faced huge financial pressure in November 2008. The jury found they did but that was not defamatory. Given those answers, Mr Justice Barton said the case was dismissed with an order for costs against Mr OBrien. Mr O'Brien was represented by two senior counsel - Paul O'Higgins and Luan O Braonain and junior counsel Marcus Dowling, instructed by Meagher Solicitors. Post Publications was represented by Michael McDowell SC, with junior counsel Shane English, instructed by John Doyle, of Dillon Eustace Solicitors. The Sunday Business Post released a statement this afternoon, saying; "The Sunday Business Post welcomes the verdict of the jury in the High Court today to reject a claim of defamation made against the paper by Mr. Denis OBrien in respect of the papers coverage in 2015 of a matter of significant public interest. "While the article which led to this action predated the purchase of the Sunday Business Post by Kilcullen Capital Partners, the issues raised are of critical importance for the media in Ireland and therefore the new owners were happy to support the papers defence of this claim. "CEO Siobhan Lennon said The Sunday Business Post prides itself on its independence and objectivity. Now more than ever a strong, independent and objective media is essential to a functioning democracy. "The case highlights the extent to which Irelands defamation laws place significant constraints on all Irish media outlets in their efforts to provide robust, objective and fair scrutiny of the stories that matter to Irish democracy. We believe it is time for action to reform the relevant defamation laws and to ensure that the media are liberated from unreasonable pressures which currently exist. "Lennon said she would like to thank Michael McDowell SC, Shane English BL, John Doyle of Dillon Eustace, Tom Lyons former business editor and Ian Kehoe former editor of the paper for their time and robust defence of this case." Separately, the Supreme Court will rule next Tuesday in Galway on Mr OBriens appeal over the rejection of his challenge to statements made in the Dail about his banking affairs. That judgment was to be delivered last Wednesday but, at the request of OBriens lawyers last Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to defer it because of the defamation case. The total legal costs of the case, which ran for 17 days, could run to 1m. Mr O'Brien was represented by two senior counsel - Paul O'Higgins and Luan O Braonain and junior counsel Marcus Dowling, instructed by Meagher Solicitors. Post Publications was represented by Michael McDowell SC, with junior counsel Shane English, instructed by John Doyle, of Dillon Eustace Solicitors. John Cornelius Murphy, known as Con Murphy, of the Children to Lapland Appeal Ltd Pic: Collins Photos A travel agent found guilty of stealing money from a charity which sent terminally ill children to Lapland has lost an appeal against his conviction. John Murphy (69), also known as Con Murphy, had pleaded not guilty to four counts of theft from The Children to Lapland Appeal between June and July 2010 totalling 18,643. Murphy, of Church Road, in Killiney, had founded the charity in 1987. It raised money from donations to bring terminally ill children on trips to see Santa Claus in Lapland. Murphy also operated United Travel, a travel agent based in Stillorgan, in Dublin, before it went out of business in 2012. His defence at trial was that the charity owed him money and it was normal for monies to travel back and forth between the accounts. The prosecution characterised his position as the Father Ted defence. To quote Dermot Morgan, they're trying to say 'the money was simply resting in my account, Garrett McCormack, for the DPP, contended. Murphy was found guilty by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after 42 minutes of deliberations and he was subsequently given a wholly suspended three-year sentence by Judge Pat McCartan on March 16, 2016. The Court of Appeal upheld his conviction today. Giving judgment in the three-judge court, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the evidence that Murphy held a genuine belief that he was entitled to the money was thin. The evidence went no further than an agreement by the prosecuting garda that Murphy's personal bank account was used on occasion to pay wages and expenses of United Travel. She said there was no reference to a belief on Murphy's part that he was entitled to the funds of the charity, during his Garda interviews. Therefore, there was no evidence sufficient to put in issue the question of honest belief. Furthermore, she said the trial judge told the jury that, while he did not think evidence of honest belief was in the case, he advised them it was a matter for them to assess as the judges of fact. She said the Court of Appeal was satisfied that the trial judge did not err in his instructions to the jury, and was right to refuse an application to direct the return of verdicts of not guilty. Ms Justice Kennedy, who sat with President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, said the appeal was dismissed. Together: Patrick Quirke on his way into court yesterday with his wife Imelda. Photo: Collins Courts Patrick Quirke told gardai investigating the murder of DJ Bobby Ryan that his "only crime" was having an affair with Mary Lowry and that his name was "mud" in his home town. The Tipperary dairy farmer claimed he had "never threatened Bobby Ryan in any way", adding: "I challenge anyone to show that I did." "I did not kill Bobby Ryan - there is someone out there who did do it and he is laughing at the moment because you are looking at me," Mr Quirke told gardai, saying he was doing everything he could to clear his name. Patrick Quirke (50), of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan (52), a part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight, on a date between June 3, 2011, and April 2013. Asked how his affair with Mary Lowry began, he told gardai it started after he told her he would have to "pull back" from his involvement in her farm because he was "falling in love" with her. Ms Lowry's exact answer was "I am too", he said. Mr Quirke was interviewed at Tipperary garda station on May 21, 2013. Asked whether it was "widely known" that he and Ms Lowry were having an affair, he said: "Widely known here but not outside." Their relationship had begun after he had leased her farm at Fawnagowan, Co Tipperary, following the death of her husband Martin, and had been instigated "50-50", he claimed. Asked to describe the relationship, Mr Quirke told gardai he and Ms Lowry had generally met at Fawnagowan. They went out to lunch together "but not too much" and did not do much socialising. They went away for a night "three or four times", he said. Asked whether his wife, Imelda had "an inkling", he said: "Probably she did but she never said anything to me." And when asked whether he and Ms Lowry had ever discussed the future, he said he recalled how Mary had said "when the kids grew up". "I remember jokingly saying that was 10 to 15 years' time," Mr Quirke told gardai. Put to him that they hadn't really discussed it then, Mr Quirke replied: "It wasn't practical." Gardai asked him when his wife had become aware of the affair and Mr Quirke said he had told her the previous March, in 2012. "I needed to know if our marriage could survive it, I needed to be honest," he explained of his reason to tell her. Asked how his wife had taken it, he replied: "Not very good." Imelda had not confronted Mary and had never spoken to her since, he said. Gardai asked him whether the women had been close. Mr Quirke said their relationship had spanned 25 years and went through different stages over that time. Since 2008, they had got on well and the two families had gone on holidays and outings together with their children, he said. Asked how Imelda's family had taken the affair, Mr Quirke told gardai that they did not know about it until the previous week. And questioned about how Mary had got on with the Lowry family, Mr Quirke said they would be "wary". He told gardai he and Mary confided in one another. "She'd have told me about her upbringing that was probably difficult for her to tell," he claimed. They had also discussed "day to day things" such as problems she would have at work or with "the boys", as well as financial difficulties. He had advised Mary financially, he agreed, and she had inherited some investments and cash, including investments in a commercial property in Poland, CFD investments and shares. "I advised her to purchase shares in banks and we all know how they got on," Mr Quirke said. Asked whether he had received any loans from Mary over the years, Mr Quirke agreed that he had. Mr Quirke told gardai their affair had ended in mid-December 2010 when he found out Mary was seeing Bobby Ryan. He had known about Mr Ryan since that July, he said, but he thought it was just "a social relationship". Ms Lowry had ended their affair around December 15 2010, he said, after a comment by someone about a night out in Cashel led him to believe she "hadn't been telling the truth of where she had been". At a later stage, he got her mobile phone and scrolled through it, finding texts between Ms Lowry and Mr Ryan. "I texted him then through her phone, more or less pointing out to him she hadn't been honest with him and that she had been seeing me for the last three years," he said. "He rang back and I answered the phone and I just said 'Sorry', that 'I'm the man' - that's all I said and I hung up." He said he was angry and must have accused Ms Lowry of lying. She told him they were finished. Later, it appeared Mary and Bobby had fixed their relationship and Mr Quirke told gardai: "I was angry because she was happy and she didn't care if I was happy, sad or indifferent." Asked whether he thought Ms Lowry had a temper or was "fiery", Mr Quirke said "yes". When asked if he would describe himself as having a temper, he replied: "I think everyone has a temper." On January 6, 2011, he met Ms Lowry and Mr Ryan at Hayes's Hotel in Thurles, as arranged by Mr Ryan. "I was happy enough in the meeting as he didn't perceive me as a person who had it in for him," he said. He said he was impressed by Mr Ryan calling this meeting but was "disappointed" that Mary Lowry "hadn't anything to add" and seemed to consider the meeting "a nuisance". Asked whether he had "warned Bobby off Mary", he replied: "Absolutely not" and had wished them well. Discussing their break-up, he said: "I was disgusted with Mary's whole attitude." "I felt I'd given a lot of time and effort in sorting Mary out after her husband died and it was all forgotten." He felt he had not grieved for his friend Martin Lowry, believing that he had no right "as Mary never grieved". "It all started to hit then and I went for counselling," he said. Asked whether he was jealous of Mary and Bobby as a couple, he said he was not. "I was dealing with getting my own life back together with my wife," he said. After Bobby Ryan went missing, he did not discuss it much with Mary Lowry because she was "indifferent to it". He and Mary Lowry were physically intimate four times after Mr Ryan disappeared but things were "not the same", he said. He said she met "a new guy" in March 2012 and that "brought a stop to it". "I didn't want to go back the road again of being the other man," he said. The trial continues before Judge Eileen Creedon. The Court of Appeal has cut a 10m libel award - the highest ever in the State - against mining company Kenmare Resources to 250,000. The 10m award was made to its former deputy chairman Donal Kinsella by a High Court jury in 2010, against Kenmare and its chairman Charles Carvill. It related to a press release issued by the firm which the jury found was defamatory. Kenmare and Mr Carvill appealed and yesterday a three-judge appeal court said while Mr Kinsella was defamed, the award must be set aside as disproportionate, unjust and unfair. Rather than remit the matter of damages for rehearing to the High Court, it decided 250,000 was just and fair compensation for the wrong visited on Mr Kinsella as a result of the press release. The 10m award - made up of 9m for general damages and 1m for aggravated damages - was made in 2010 after a jury found Mr Kinsella was defamed in a company press release issued on July 10, 2007. Kenmare had to pay 500,000 to Mr Kinsella as a condition of it being allowed to appeal the award. The press release concerned an incident in May 2007 in Mozambique, where a company board meeting was being held, when Mr Kinsella sleep-walked naked to the bedroom door of company secretary Deirdre Corcoran. The press release referred to an "incident" and said Mr Kinsella was being asked to resign from the company's audit committee. An investigation by an independent solicitor on behalf of the company had found there was no conscious attempt on Mr Kinsella's part to enter Ms Corcoran's room. Mr Kinsella was prone to sleep-walking. He sued the company and chairman Mr Carvill. The Court of Appeal judgment was written by all three judges, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, Ms Justice Maire Whelan and Ms Justice Marie Baker. It found Kenmare had not established the existence of any circumstances which would justify the court interfering with the finding of the jury as to the meaning of the press release that it was defamatory. The appeal court respects the role of the jury in coming to its determination. It was satisfied there was no serious error in the manner in which the then High Court judge who heard the case, Eamon de Valera, charged the jury regarding the meaning of the press release. It was satisfied, however, the trial judge erred in law in concluding the publication of the release took place on an occasion of qualified privilege. Mr Kinsella had cross-appealed on the issue of qualified privilege, claiming the company had no legal or moral obligation to publish the press release at the time. The appeal court was further satisfied that no reasonable jury could have considered the 9m award of general damages was necessary to compensate Mr Kinsella for the injury he sustained and in order he might re-establish his reputation. It was further satisfied the manner of Mr Kinsella's cross-examination did not justify the trial judge leaving open to the jury the possibility of aggravated damages of 1m which must also be set aside. "It was an award which no reasonable jury could have considered necessary to compensate Mr Kinsella for any additional hurt or upset caused by the manner in which he was cross-examined concerning the conversation which he maintained he had with Ms Corcoran while they were in a jeep in Moma, Mozambique". The court said both defendants, Kenmare and Mr Carvill, will be jointly and severally liable for the award. The issues of costs and other matters will be dealt with next month. Drew Harris: wants to expand into the Americas and the Far East. Photo: Damien Eagers Garda Commissioner Drew Harris wants more gardai fighting organised crime and terrorism from abroad. The Garda chief has identified the Americas and the Far East as key areas where liaison officers should be deployed to combat international crime affecting Ireland. Mr Harris said Irish people were being targeted by cyber criminals from outside the jurisdiction. Several members of the Kinahan cartel are currently based in Dubai, including gang boss Daniel Kinahan, after living in Spain for several years. The organised crime group are involved in the gangland feud which has claimed up to 18 lives, including murders in Dublin, Meath and Spain. The gang also has connections in the US and South America - all areas where Garda liaison officers are needed. Currently, there are around 15 officers stationed abroad, including with the UN in Cyprus, the UK, France, Spain, as well as with Europol and Interpol. Mr Harris said there was a need to expand the number of officers abroad given the ongoing threats from international crime. "I think it's very evident given the threat from terrorism, organised crime and, increasingly, cyber-crime that we need to expand our presence overseas and the tried and trusted way of doing that is through the liaison officer process. "We need to expand into the Americas and into the Far East as well," Mr Harris told reporters following the Policing Authority meeting. The Garda chief added that he envisaged four or five extra officers being stationed abroad, but said that this could increase depending on work levels. Mr Harris also stated that he has not identified any specific countries or embassies yet and that this is being reviewed. Due to the ongoing Garda crackdown on the Kinahan cartel and its associates, most of its senior members have fled overseas. The 29-year-old Kamara played just one season with the Galaxy, scoring 13 goals in 31 appearances last year. He played a key complementary role up front after the Galaxy acquired Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and was expected to do the same this season. Killed: Clodagh Hawe was murdered along with her children The family of Clodagh Hawe has warned people not to donate to an online fundraising page set up in their family name. Cavan teacher Clodagh, 39, was killed along with her three young sons by her husband and the children's father Alan Hawe before he took his own life in August 2016. Ms Hawe's sister Jacqueline Connolly, who appeared on a Claire Byrne Live special this week discussing the circumstances of her sister and nephews' deaths, said the family would never accept money "on the back of our grief". "It has come to our attention that someone has set up a gofundme page in our name," Ms Connoly said. "Please ignore this as Mam and I would never in a million years accept money from anyone on the back of our grief." A spokesperson for Go Fund Me has confirmed that the fundraising page was suspended "to prevent any further distress for the family". Expand Close Clodagh Hawe with sons Liam (13) Niall (11) and Ryan (6) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Clodagh Hawe with sons Liam (13) Niall (11) and Ryan (6) An inquiry is underway into who established the page. Clodaghs mother Mary Coll and Ms Connolly, who calling for a full inquiry into the deaths of Clodagh and her three sons, met with the Justice Minister yesterday. Expand Close Mary Coll and her daughter Jacqueline Connolly, the mother and sister of murdered mum-of-three Clodagh Hawe, leave a meeting in Dublin with Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan where they discussed the handling of the investigation into the family tragedy. Photo: Frank McGrath / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mary Coll and her daughter Jacqueline Connolly, the mother and sister of murdered mum-of-three Clodagh Hawe, leave a meeting in Dublin with Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan where they discussed the handling of the investigation into the family tragedy. Photo: Frank McGrath They thanked the minister for a "satisfactory" discussion, and said they plan to meet with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris next week. Ms Connolly said: "We discussed over 10 issues that we would like reviewed following the murders, he had his officials with him and was very receptive. We're feeling very positive that changes will come from this. "We have a meeting next week with the commissioner and we're looking forward to hearing from Mr Harris himself. "We're not in a position to comment on an inquiry at the minute but we want to say we're happy with today's outcome." Ms Coll said: "I'm confident now we will have access to the Garda files, which we haven't been able to access before. "We just want to thank the minister for such a satisfactory meeting." The minister described the meeting as "lengthy but satisfactory" and said he was struck by the grace and humanity of the family, who he said had been through a horrific and traumatic ordeal. Mary Coll and her daughter Jacqueline Connolly, the mother and sister of murdered mum-of-three Clodagh Hawe, leave a meeting in Dublin with Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan where they discussed the handling of the investigation into the family tragedy. Photo: Frank McGrath The family of murdered mother-of-three Clodagh Hawe have met the Justice Minister to discuss her murder. Cavan teacher Clodagh (39) and her three young sons were killed by her husband and the children's father Alan Hawe in August 2016. Her sister Jacqueline Connolly and mother Mary Coll met minister Charlie Flanagan yesterday to discuss retrieving a Garda file to help them understand why Hawe (40) killed Clodagh, Liam (13), Niall (11), and Ryan (6) before taking his own life. After the 90-minute meeting, the mother and sister thanked the minister for a "satisfactory" discussion, and said they planned to meet with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris next week. "We discussed over 10 issues that we would like reviewed following the murders, he had his officials with him and was very receptive. We're feeling very positive that changes will come from this," Ms Connolly said. "We have a meeting next week with the commissioner and we're looking forward to hearing from Mr Harris himself. Expand Close Satisfactory: Clodagh Hawes mother Mary Coll (centre) with daughter Jacqueline Connolly (right) and family friend Tamara Nolan after the meeting with Charlie Flanagan. Photo: Gareth Chaney, Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Satisfactory: Clodagh Hawes mother Mary Coll (centre) with daughter Jacqueline Connolly (right) and family friend Tamara Nolan after the meeting with Charlie Flanagan. Photo: Gareth Chaney, Collins "We're not in a position to comment on an inquiry at the minute, but we want to say we're happy with today's outcome." Ms Coll said: "I'm confident now we will have access to the Garda files, which we haven't been able to access before. "We just want to thank the minister for such a satisfactory meeting." The minister described the meeting as "lengthy, but satisfactory". Just one-third of medicines for rare diseases licensed for patients in Europe are available in Ireland, it has been claimed. The figures were highlighted on Rare Disease Day by the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), the representative body for branded medicine firms. It said just 29pc of all available orphan medicines licensed by the European Medicines Agency for use in patients in 27 European countries were available to patients here. It comes as parents and children with spinal muscular atrophy lobbying to secure the drug Spinraza protested outside the Dail. The drug companies said that Ireland ranked in the bottom half of the list of European countries, and behind all other western European Union countries, including Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Italy and Austria. The UK and Germany performed best, according to the figures, scoring 92pc and 96pc for availability of orphan medicines, respectively. The figures, compiled for the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, which includes IPHA, relate to rare disease medicines authorised by the European Medicines Agency in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. The figures released refer to the rate of availability to patients of those medicines at the end of 2018. Rare diseases affect about 300,000 people in Ireland during their lifetime and are among the most difficult conditions to treat. Sharon Traynor and her former husband Peter at the City Hospital in Belfast before their separate surgeries An inspirational woman will today give her ex-husband the gift of life by donating a kidney to him three days ahead of his 44th birthday. Sharon and Peter Traynor, from Co Tyrone, who separated three years ago, spent last night at Belfast City Hospital in preparation for their separate surgeries at 8.30am and midday. Peter needs the transplant because he has a degenerative organ disease. Full-time mum Sharon said she was "excited" about being able to help her former partner "get his life back". Peter said he is "so thankful" to his ex for giving him "the chance of a bright future". Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph hours before Peter's life-changing operation, 40-year-old Sharon said she wanted the father of their six children to be around to see them grow up. She added: "I'm not here for the starlight. When Peter first took ill a few years ago I was devastated and I wanted to help out in any way I could so I immediately put my name on the organ donor list. But then thankfully his condition stabilised. "Suddenly he got the news that his kidney had deteriorated so much that he needed a donor or he would need dialysis. "I volunteered, did all the tests and came back as a match and here we are. "Everybody has two kidneys and they only need one. Even though we've split up, that doesn't matter to me. Everybody deserves a second chance in life, there's enough suffering in the world and enough people dying from illnesses with no cures." Sharon, whose philosophy is "everyone should help each other if they can", said she "can't wait to see the difference in him" afterwards, and joked she's told him "this is all he's getting for his birthday". "I have watched him go downhill health-wise and get really sick and it made me very sad to watch someone suffer like that," she said. "It doesn't matter that we're not still together. People have told me that they think I'm mad for giving a kidney to an ex-husband and others have said they don't think their former partners would do it for them. "There have been different views on it and I think some people are in shock about my decision but it doesn't bother me. "I suppose it is kind of funny for an ex-wife to give the gift of life to her ex-husband." She added: "Lots of people donate [organs] when they're dead but why not come forward and do it when you're alive because then you'll be able to see the positive results of what you've done? " Sharon admitted that their children - Cora (23), Chelsea (22), Michaela (21), Dean (18), Cormac (14) and Molly (8) - are nervous about their mum and dad going through surgery on the same day. But she added: "They're really proud of me stepping forward and helping their daddy out. "It will give him another lease of life and they'll be able to hold on to their daddy and he'll be able to hold on to them." Peter said he was "all ready" for the operation and revealed he's had a lot of backing online from his renal support group in Omagh, as well as friends who've been through the procedure. "I'm a bit anxious, nervous and worried but I suppose that's normal," he said. Acknowledging that he will have a new kidney in time for his birthday on Monday thanks to Sharon, Peter said: "You can't get much better than that." He also paid tribute to his ex-wife's "amazing" act of selflessness and he recalled how she stepped in to offer help as his condition worsened and doctors told him it was time to start looking for a donor. "When Sharon heard how ill I'd become, she just walked into the renal unit in Omagh and asked if she was still on the list to donate a kidney and it all went from there," he said. Their story, first reported by the Ulster Herald yesterday, has been described as inspiring by hospital staff. Peter said he developed health problems at the end of 2011 and by the time he was diagnosed with kidney disease doctors told him he had it for 18 months. For several years he managed the illness with medication, but then he revealed that his "kidneys went in a downward spiral" which now brings him to "a critical stage, needing a donor". "In another two or three months I'll have no kidney function; they'll pack up and, without a living donor, I would be facing years and years of dialysis. "Sharon is a lifesaver. She knows I'm so thankful to her. At the end of the day she is saving my life and you can't do much more for anybody than that." THE Government warned that regional jobs initiatives which have slashed the unemployment rate by 50pc over recent years will now be crucial in Ireland adapting to the challenges posed by Brexit. Enterprise Minister Heather Humphreys stressed that Ireland must adhere to a 'ground up' jobs strategy where the traditional strength of the regions is harnessed and exploited. Jobs growth has been strong in all regions, including the south-west," she said. "There are 29,800 more people at work today in counties Cork and Kerry than at the beginning of 2015, when the Government first launched regional jobs plans, and the unemployment rate has almost halved, reducing from 10.5 percent down to 5.3 percent today." Notwithstanding this huge success, it is clear that there are new challenges emerging for enterprises in the external environment." Ms Humphreys, speaking in west Cork where she launched the South West Regional Enterprise Plan, said it was vital all stakeholders in Ireland's regions now work together. She is unveiling nine new regional enterprise plans aimed at maximising business development and job creation over the next decade. "The regions can adopt a leadership position through driving initiatives from the ground-up," she said. Under the south west programme, six objectives have been identified - build capability and resilience in the regions enterprise base; develop the regions enterprise hubs; leverage opportunities through business clustering and internationalisation; increase the capacity of the tourism sector; support growth in the regions marine and maritime sector; and ensure the availability of skills and talent to underpin growth potential. Ms Humphreys said the Government was providing support funding to ensure such regional goals can be achieved ranging from 1bn under the rural regeneration fund to 500m in the climate action fund and a further 500m under the disruptive technologies fund. She acknowledged that Brexit will pose major challenges both for urban and rural Ireland. My Department will continue to highlight the key issues that businesses need to be aware of in the run up to Brexit, and the Government supports that are available to them to mitigate its impacts, she said. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed, the first Cabinet minister to warn that there was no upside of Brexit for Ireland, said Ireland's regions face impending challenges. It is clear that there are new challenges emerging for enterprises and the agri-economy in rural Ireland, whether it is Brexit or the transition to a low carbon economy," he said. "It is critical that as a Government we do all in our power to support resilience in the businesses that we have and ensure that there is a pipeline of new opportunities so that regions and rural communities can positively cope with changes that lie ahead." He said it was critical that such regional development plans lay emphasis on traditional engines of rural development such as farming, fishing and the maritime sector. A TRALEE hotel is today hosting a meeting of the Irexit group, despite a push from locals to get it cancelled amid allegations the group is racist for pursuing an anti-immigration agenda. The Ballygarry House Hotel, in the Co Kerry town, said a lot of people have called up about the planned meeting of the group, whose main goal is to push for Ireland to leave the EU. It came after a local community activist Bec Fahy, who is associated with the People Before Profit Party, asked people to ring the hotel. This group has been openly promoting anti immigrant policies and has joined with far right groups on Dublin protests. We need to show them that Kerry will not tolerate racism, she wrote on Facebook. A manager of the hotel told Independent.ie the event was going ahead as planned and that the Irexit group were entitled to be allowed to hold a meeting. He said he had looked up the group after the calls started coming in and it seemed to about getting Ireland out of the EU. I dont think it is racist, he said. If it was a racist group or something that was socially unacceptable then we wouldnt be hosting it. He likened the opposition that has been stirred against the group to that of conflicting political positions. It would be like Fianna Fail holding a meeting a Fine Gael calling us up and trying to get it cancelled, he said. As we understand it this is a group calling for Ireland to leave the EU. People have the freedom to have their view point, he said. He confirmed there had been some opposition to the meeting. We have had a lot of people calling up about it, but we wont be cancelling it just because people call, he said. A spokesman for Irexit said there was no evidence for Ms Fahys claim that the party was racist. "The lady doth protest too much and without any evidence whatsoever, he said. We are a liberal party which believes in Irish democracy and freedom. We uphold free speech on all important issues effecting our island. The Tralee meeting will be a great success and the main speaker, Ben Scallan's mother is Jamaican. Surveys have found that around two-thirds of Irish people view the EU favourably. However, in the wake of Brexit there were some who wanted to see Ireland follow suit and the Irexit group was set up in September last year. It drew around 250 people to its first meeting at the Bonnington Hotel in Dublin. Its founder is Hermann Kelly, who is the director of communications for the European Parliaments Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group. The group includes Eurosceptic parties including Ukip and the Italian Five Star movement. Ms Fahy said she was disappointed to hear the event was going ahead and insisted it was a fair characterisation of Irexit to call the group racist. Im not saying everyone who goes to one of their meetings is racist. But thats how they get you. Its populism in its worst form. The platform that they go around on, on issues to such as housing for example, is anti-immigrant. When talking about mass-migration and misrepresenting the facts about the number of people coming to this country, thats racism, she said. An Irish priest who claims he was pushed out of his US parish because he refused to cover up for another priest's sexually inappropriate behaviour with an under-age boy is taking his case to the US Supreme Court. Fr John Gallagher (51), from Co Tyrone, alleges that Bishop Gerald Barbarito and the Diocese of Palm Beach ruined his reputation and career as a priest because he reported the sexual misconduct of another cleric, Joseph Palimattom, who had come to serve in his parish, the Holy Name of Jesus, in December 2014. The Indian priest showed child abuse images to a 14-year-old parishioner, who complained about the cleric's actions in January 2015. Police believe Palimattom was grooming the teenager. The priest was later convicted of showing obscene material to a minor and served a six-month sentence. He was then deported to India. Church officials in India did not tell Fr Gallagher that Palimattom had been previously accused of sexually abusing children in his home country. Fr Gallagher claims he was "frozen out" for being a whistle-blower by the diocese and for passing information on the paedophile priest to the police in Florida. He alleges he was placed on medical leave by the diocese, the locks on his parochial home were changed and his belongings moved while he was in hospital. He also claims that when he contacted the diocese to report the abuse incident the morning after it had been reported to him, the diocesan official told him, "We've dealt with this before, we normally put them on a plane and send them back." When he told the official he was co-operating with the sheriff he was told: "Well, you don't have to give them all the information." The Diocese of Palm Beach has rejected his claims in the past. Fr Gallagher told the Irish Independent that while there have been other priests who have been whistle-blowers, "to my understanding I am the first to bring a case of this nature to the US Supreme Court." Investigating police in Palm Beach have written letters of support for the Irish priest to Cardinal O'Malley but so far, they have had no response. THE mother of an Irishman who was missing in Malaysia for almost two months has said the family's prayers have been answered after he was found safe and well. Tourist Stephen Warde (32) from Kinvara, Co Galway arrived in Malaysia alone on November 15 last and rented a unit along Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpar. He last made contact with his family on January 1st. A Facebook page set up by friends and family to 'help find Stephen Warde in Malaysia' has confirmed that he has since been found. In a statement released this afternoon, his mother Mary Morrissey thanked all who helped in the search for Stephen. "I would like personally to thank everyone that was involved in so many ways in the search for Stephen, including the Staff of the Irish Embassy in Malaysia, and the local Police," she said. "The recent Fundraising efforts of so many in Kinvara and my home parish of Clarinbridge has been a real assistance to help us defray costs and I am indebted to you all for your loving support "Any balance in the fundraising activities will be donated to other worthy causes and we will advise on this presently. "On a personal note I want to thank Stephens brothers and sisters who proved to be so supportive to me in recent weeks, in travelling to Malaysia, searching for Stephen and thank God our prayers have been answered. "At this time we will not be giving any further statements or media interviews and we ask for privacy so that we can deal emotionally with this wonderful development and enjoy the reunion with our son and brother Stephen." His relatives previously said that it was "very out of character" for him to disappear, as he is described as a "placid and quiet" man. Over 19,000 was raised by the public to finance the search for Stephen, to cover "potential medical expenses when he is found, accommodation for his family while in Kuala Lumpur, the cost of a private investigator and a reward for any information leading to his whereabouts." Members of his family, including his mother, had flown out to Malaysia to search for him. "We are extremely worried and concerned for his safety and well-being as this is out of character for Stephen," Ms Morrissey had said. A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs previously said they were aware of the case and providing consular assistance. When we started this, the iPhone was just coming into popular use and I dont think anyone could really imagine what life would be like in todays world, where you have your digital devices with you everywhere, she said. Weve sort of reached a tipping point where people dont know how to take a break. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been "fatally undermined" by the actions of former members, a Labour senator has claimed. Louth Senator Ged Nash, who is a former PAC member, said the Angela Kerins Supreme Court ruling raised serious questions about TDs "playing the man rather than ball" during committee hearings. Mr Nash said ex-PAC members John McGuinness, Mary Lou McDonald and Shane Ross would have to "account for their actions" in the wake of the ruling in favour of the former Rehab chief executive. "The actions of Mary Lou McDonald and the actions of Shane Ross have potentially fatally undermined the Public Accounts Committee," Mr Nash told Independent.ie's 'Floating Voter' podcast. "This really puts a question mark over the future operation of the Public Accounts Committee and other committees as well." Mr Nash said he raised his "unease" about the committee's investigation into Rehab at the time. Dispute: Two Northern Ireland-registered fishing boats seized by the Irish Navy moored in the port of Clogherhead in Co Louth. Photo: PA Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described the seizure of two Northern Ireland fishing trawlers off the east coast as "an accident waiting to happen". Amid accusations that the Irish government was using an anomaly in the law to play Brexit war games, Mr Varadkar has personally contacted the Fianna Fail leader to ask him to help rush legislation through the Oireachtas. The two fishermen were reunited with their boats yesterday but not before they were arrested and brought to Louth District Court. Jack Brown (57) and Kevin Trainor (47) pleaded guilty to breaching fishing regulations. However, Judge John Coughlan said they were people of absolute integrity and he should be as lenient as possible. He applied the Probation Act which means they have escaped a criminal record. The controversy erupted after the LE Orla impounded two small boats that had entered Dundalk bay earlier this week. Until 2016 there was a deal between Ireland and the UK that allowed for mutual access to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland vessels up to six nautical miles off the coast of each country. However, the Voisinage Arrangement was struck down in the Supreme Court as it had no basis in domestic law. The boats seized, Boy Joseph and Amity, were described as modest vessels, with a total of five staff between them. The Boy Joseph had just over 1,200 worth of shellfish on board when it was seized. Amity had a haul of crabs and lobsters worth an estimated 2,000. Speaking in Belfast, Mr Varadkar said the seizures of the vessels was a "really and truly regretful incident". He said the Government was blocked in its efforts to change the law but was now working to build a cross-party consensus. The Taoiseach said he is "confident" legislation will be passed in "the next couple of weeks" so that the status quo can be restored. Mr Varadkar said the navy and gardai had to uphold the law and he "cant fault them for that". But in a comment that is likely to be seized upon by his opponents in Westminster, Mr Varadkar said it "would be helpful" if the UK government gave a commitment not to take Northern Ireland out of London Fisheries Convention after Brexit. The convention is an international agreement which governs fishing rights across the coastal waters of Western Europe. Already the DUP have accused the Irish government of being heavy-handed in their actions. Representative, Jim Wells, said the fishermen weren't doing anything illegal. "There is no need for a gunboat to arrive that had the power to take out both boats with one shot. "That is not required for two little fishing boats from Kilkeel who were carrying nothing more dangerous than a fax machine. "People in the community cannot understand how two little trawlers fishing for crabs started a diplomatic incident, he said. "All that was required was a chat with the two skippers, not something that could've blown them to smithereens if they wanted to. "It's like something Arnold Schwarzenegger would have." Nicola Kenny was killed in motorway crash just one day after giving birth A TIPPERARY coroner's inquest issued a stark road safety warning that tiredness kills after hearing harrowing details of the death of a young mother in a collision as she travelled to see her sick newborn baby in a Dublin hospital. Tipperary Coroner Paul Morris issued a special plea for commercial vehicle operators to comply with all tachograph safety guidelines as he stressed the tragic case of Nicola Kenny (26) underlined the appalling consequences of potential driver fatigue. Ms Kenny suffered fatal injuries as she was a back seat passenger in a parked Ford car struck by a Volvo lorry. The truck driver claimed he was distracted by a bout of sneezing - but a Circuit Court judge assessed last year that driver fatigue was a contributing factor in the tragedy. The young Thurles mother died instantly from multiple injuries after the car in which she was a back seat passenger was struck from behind while parked in the hard shoulder by the lorry. The car had pulled over to allow her take a phone call from a Dublin hospital to say her baby girl was fine and would be transferred back to Tipperary from Temple Street Children's Hospital. Mr Morris confirmed a special recommendation from the Tipperary inquest jury urging road users to be aware of the consequences of driving while fatigued. "It really does highlight the truth of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) campaign which is reflected in signs on the motorways that tiredness kills," he said. "If ever there was a case that highlights the truth of that, this is it. Tiredness can kill. "Drivers in commercial vehicles with tachograph systems should abide by safe driving times and take the appropriate rest periods to avoid fatigue and danger to other road users." Ms Kenny had given birth in Tipperary to baby Lily Rose on September 4 2016. However, the infant was very ill and was immediately transferred to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin for specialist care. Ms Kenny - having just given birth - was unable to accompany the child. She was travelling to Dublin on September 5 to see Lily Rose in a car being driven by her aunt Irene Whelan Slattery and accompanied by her mother, Ann. Between Junctions 10 and 9 of the M8 Dublin-Cork road, Ms Kenny received a phone call from the hospital - and her aunt pulled over onto the hard shoulder so the call could be heard. The call was from Temple Street Hospital to say Lily Rose was fine and that their journey to Dublin was not required. Seconds later, the Ford Focus car was struck from behind by a Volvo lorry and driven down a grass embankment. Last May, the lorry driver, Ciaran McBride (34), pleaded guilty before Tipperary Circuit Criminal Court to careless driving causing death on the M8 Dublin-Cork motorway on September 5 2016. He received an 18 month suspended prison sentence after the court heard that he was profoundly remorseful over what had happened and now suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The Volvo truck driven by McBride of Carna, Keady, Co Armagh ploughed into the rear of the Ford Focus which was parked on the hard shoulder. Mrs Whelan Slattery suffered a traumatic brain injury in the collision. She now suffers from severe memory problems. Ms Kenny died from multiple injuries as, because she was a rear seat passenger, she sustained the bulk of the impact from the truck. Her mother, Ann, suffered minor injuries. Garda Declan Corrigan said the Ford Focus had pulled over onto the hard shoulder around 12.25pm on September 5 2016 to allow Ms Kenny to take an urgent phone call from Temple Street. "The call was to tell Nicola the baby was fine and there was no need to travel to Dublin," he said. Just as the call finished, the Ford was struck from the rear by the Volvo truck. A passing motorist, Pat Foley, told Gardai he saw the lorry "slowly veering off the road and onto the hard shoulder". Mr Foley then saw the tragic collision in his rear view mirror. Gardai confirmed to Mr Morris that the trial judge believed that driver fatigue by the lorry operator was a contributing factor in the tragedy. "It really highlights that lorry drivers should obey their tachograph and take their rest," Mr Morris said. The Circuit Court trial heard the tachograph on Mr McBride's lorry was found not to be working properly because the recording disc had been incorrectly inserted. The truck driver had gone to bed at midnight and got up at 4.30am to go to work. He drove from his Armagh home to Kells, then onto Cork and was on his way back to Kells when the tragic collision occurred. He had driven a total of 470km since he left home. The driver had insisted to Gardai he had taken the required breaks of 15 minutes and 30 minutes during that period. Because the tachograph was not working properly, Gardai could not verify from it all the travel and stoppage details of the lorry. However, the Circuit Court heard that officers disputed the stop periods claimed as the lorry was equipped with a toll scanner - and when Gardai recreated the journey from its details, they found the trip did not match the claimed driver breaks. Mr McBride insisted at the scene and to Gardai that the accident was caused when he suddenly suffered a sudden bout of sneezing and his vehicle drifted out of its lane onto the hard shoulder where the tragic collision occurred. Ms Kenny's father, Paddy, attended the inquest but did not comment. Last year, Nicola's parents, Ann and Paddy, said their lives had been left devastated by the tragedy. "The death of Nicola as a young mother was devastating both for myself and my entire family," her mother said. "Life will never be the same again." Nicola's father, Paddy, said they are now raising Lily Rose. "It has left a huge hole in our lives - Nicola's death is a big loss to our family and Lily Rose will have to grow up without her mother," he said. I spent a year at a German university many years ago and one episode stands out in my mind. I was looking on the noticeboard for student housing ads when I spotted - of all things - handwritten advertisements for Irish language classes and Irish dance classes. What? In Stuttgart? Sure enough, the university hosted regular Irish language classes attended by a committed bunch of German students, many of whom also signed up for Irish dancing. Having got to know the teacher - a young man from Cork - I even sat in on one of the classes. It was some sight as the large group, including about a dozen six-foot-plus German men, tripped over their feet as they gamely attempted basic jigs and reels. What they may have lacked in grace, they more than made up for in zeal. The whole thing was confusing to me back then. How could it be that Germans of my age were somehow more committed to Irishness than I was, or more or less anyone else I knew? What was behind such unabashed enthusiasm? For sure, they had never been forced to rote-learn chunks of 'Peig' at school (this being the standard excuse for those who say they "hate" Irish), but that could not be the full explanation. What was it about Gaeilge that had them so enraptured? Why could I not feel it too? And was it normal for the whole thing to strike me as faintly bizarre? I myself was well able - in theory - to speak Irish, but I simply never did. I considered the matter as I proceeded undeterred with my own chosen classes: German-English translation and Italian. At one point I tried to learn Welsh. Anything but Irish, was my feeling at the time (and for full disclosure, there had been some particular unpleasantness in my own history when I attempted to study Irish at university, but was made to feel deeply unwelcome by those more authentically enmeshed in Gaeilgeoir culture than suburban me). And yet, now, as Seachtain na Gaeilge - the annual celebration of the Irish language in the run-up to St Patrick's Day - kicks off for another year (Bain Triail Aisti, we will be told, over and over for the next fortnight), our national and enduring love-hate relationship with Gaeilge appears alive and well. What can be achieved by an initiative like Seachtain na Gaeilge? Why does it feel to many of us as though it's something for other people, never for us? Are some of us simply condemned to feel like outsiders to what should be a core part of our identity? We cannot only blame the imposition of 'Peig' on generations of students (and I hazard a controversial opinion here: I quite liked 'Peig'). There must be more afoot. No such hang-ups, complexes and qualms seem to deter non-Irish nationals with a yen for Gaeilge. Just the other week we had news of the appointment of new Oifigeach Pleanala Teanga (language planning officer) by Udaras na Gaeltachta as part of the State's 20-year strategy for the Irish language. This might not seem like a major development except that the successful candidate was one Dr Victor Bayda, who is from Russia and has moved to Ballinskelligs in the tiny Kerry Gaeltacht for the post. Reportedly, he speaks fluent Irish with a Connemara 'blas', as well as Dutch, Welsh, Gallic, French, German, Swedish and Icelandic. Before anyone suggests that I have this wrong and that we do indeed embrace our language, let us consider the evidence. The 2016 Census revealed that 1.7 million people said they were able to speak Irish. That's a large number, to be fair. Rather more telling, however, was the far smaller number of people who said they speak Irish regularly. One in four of those who said they could speak Irish never did so at all. The number speaking Irish daily stood at 73,803, representing a rather minuscule 1.7pc of the population. And even this was a decline of 3,382 (4.4pc) on 2011. The number of daily Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht - the burning heart of the language - dropped by a terrifying 11.2pc from 23,175 speakers in 2011 to just 20,586 in 2016. So, yes, there are Irish people who speak Irish. Yes, there are thriving Gaelscoileanna. Yes, there are Pop-Up Gaeltachts and there are the most charming youthful ambassadors for Seachtain na Gaeilge. And yet here's the thing. The most spoken language in this country after English isn't even Irish, it's Polish (the 2016 Census confirmed that there were 135,895 Polish speakers here and it's probably safe to assume the vast majority of these are daily speakers). It's possible things will change. Brexit may have done us a favour in this regard. If we can blame Britain for our loss of Irish as the language of daily life in the first place, perhaps the upcoming schism between Britain and the EU will trigger a fresh interest in defining ourselves through the languages we speak. Changing the way we teach Irish would help as well. For me, nothing would help Irish more than dropping its compulsory inclusion at senior cycle level in our secondary schools. Such a move would mean enthusiasts and natural linguists could make an active choice for our very beautiful language and take pleasure in mastering it, while those less keen could simply move on to focus on topics that bring them joy. To date there's been no appetite for such a change, but one can live in hope. So, cead mile failte to Seachtain na Gaeilge. I wish I could relate to it and yet am happy that it exists, because some half-buried part of my psyche appreciates how amazing it is to have a distinctive national identity and a distinctive national tongue. Irish is surely the ultimate barrier between us, the Kardashians, and K-Pop. I continue to encourage my offspring to give Irish a chance, to appreciate its beauty, to work towards fluency. But will I be dusting off my own cupla focal in the next two weeks? Sadly not. Because it's complicated. Maternal smoking is arguably the most important modifiable risk factor for pregnancy in Ireland. It is important because it is common, it compromises foetal growth and development and it increases the risk of maternal complications. Finally, it is important because if the mother quits smoking before the second half of pregnancy, her baby's growth and development normalise. Nearly half of adults in Ireland smoke at some stage in their lives. The number of current smokers is falling, albeit slower than we would like. Most women start smoking as teenagers and many stop smoking without any medical assistance before they become pregnant or as soon as they realise they are pregnant. In a recent large research project at the UCD Centre for Human Reproduction, Ciara Reynolds and her colleagues found that 12.5pc of women over five years disclosed to the midwife that they were persistent smokers when they first presented to the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital for antenatal care. However, in a smaller study women were given a more detailed smoking questionnaire and were offered a breath carbon monoxide (BCO) test. A BCO test is similar to the breathalyser used to detect alcohol in drivers. It is safe, inexpensive, non-invasive and gives an immediate read out at the point of care. It is a sensitive measure of smoking within the last six hours. This study found that one in 10 women continued to smoke during pregnancy but did not disclose it to the midwives or doctors. Interestingly, women who did not disclose their smoking were more likely to have planned their pregnancy, to be light smokers and to be better educated than women who disclosed. Their reluctance to disclose is unexplained. The research in the UCD centre has shown that, compared with 13.1pc in nonsmokers, women who disclose their persistent smoking during pregnancy have a 19.4pc risk of adverse foetal events. However, women who did not disclose their smoking had a 34.8pc risk of adverse events. Cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 different chemicals and many of them are known to be toxic and to reduce blood flow. After a puff of a cigarette, these chemicals reach the brain within 10-15 seconds, which provides immediate relief in cases of nicotine addiction. Unfortunately, these chemicals also reach the foetal circulation quickly. A woman who takes 10 puffs per cigarette from 10 cigarettes per day, therefore exposes her baby to the different toxins on 100 occasions. It also compromises the placental blood flow to the baby 100 times. The combination of toxins and reduced blood flow restrict the growth of the baby. At its most catastrophic, growth restriction may result in a stillbirth. Any growth restriction, however, reduces birth weight, increases foetal distress and increases the need for admission to the neonatal intensive care unit which may increase the hospital stay for the baby. If a mother is a known current smoker, she should be monitored closely in the third trimester for inadequate foetal growth. The monitoring should include at least one scan to check the baby's weight and well-being. If the scan identifies a problem, it may be necessary to deliver the baby early by induction of labour or caesarean section. If a mother does not disclose her smoking, the inadequate foetal growth may not be identified. Although unintended, non-disclosers are putting their babies at increased risk. In the UK, it is recommended that all pregnant women are offered BCO screening at the first antenatal visit. A recent audit in Ireland found that only one out of 19 units was offering screening. This needs to be remedied nationally. It is important to reassure women that BCO screening in pregnancy is not intended to penalise or to end in a chastisement from their midwife or doctor. The opposite is true. Screening should lead to better support for women to help them stop smoking and prevent relapses. Even if they do not succeed in quitting during the pregnancy, renewed efforts at cessation can be made after delivery. Screening should lead to close foetal surveillance until the end of pregnancy. Many smokers find pregnancy stressful. The staff in the maternity units are there to support women as pregnancy advances. Admonishment of women about smoking and other lifestyle issues is likely to be counterproductive and may lead to a reluctance to disclose risk factors in general. Women who need assistance to quit smoking can contact the HSE Quit service through their website quit.ie, Freephone 1800 201 203 or free text quit to 50100. Professor Michael Turner, UCD Centre for Human Reproduction, Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital A two-year-old lurcher who had spent most of his life in a shelter has finally found a home. Hector spent more than 500 days at the RSPCAs Little Valley Animal Shelter in Exeter after being rescued by the animal welfare charitys inspectors as a puppy in October 2017. His plight had attracted widespread media attention including an appearance on This Morning and was branded the loneliest dog in Britain. Did you catch Hector on This Morning just now? He looked so great and was so well behaved. Well done to Rachel and Kerry... Posted by Little Valley Animal Shelter, Exeter (RSPCA) on Friday, February 15, 2019 But now his hunt for a forever home is over after he was adopted by a dog-loving Devon couple called Alan and Rose. The shelters manager, Jo Evans, said: It gives us such joy to see Hector finally find his perfect home to begin living the life every dog deserves. We hope Hectors story helps to show that all rescue dogs deserve that second chance and encourage anyone who is thinking about welcoming a pet into their lives to find out more about our rescue animals needing homes to find out if they will be a good match. Hector is such a lovely dog with lots of love, energy and enthusiasm. He is still looking for his #foreverhome after spending more than 500 days with @RSPCA_official so why not get in touch with @RSPCAExeter #AdoptDontShop #DogsofTwittter pic.twitter.com/GgwQm4l7vc Chris Sherwood (@RSPCAChris) February 14, 2019 Shelter staff cited various reasons why Hector had proved so tough to re-home, including the fact that he struggled when left alone for any length of time. Standing at around 3ft (1m) tall, he was also seen as being unsuitable for households with small children or other animals. Ms Evans added: Every animal is an individual with a unique personality, and we believe the perfect home and family is out there for every single one, just like there was for Hector. Welcome news: Children hold banners and flags on a street in Mumbai after Pakistan said it would release an Indian air force pilot today. Photo: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters Officials from Pakistan have brought the Indian pilot captured from a downed plane to a border crossing with India for a handover. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was taken in a convoy that set out from the eastern city of Lahore to the border crossing at Wagah, escorted by military vehicles. On the Indian side of the border, policemen lined the road as a group of cheering Indian residents from the area waved the national flag and held up a huge garland of flowers to welcome him back. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday said the pilot would be released, to the relief of many Indians, even as his military reported that four Pakistani civilians had been killed by India firing across the disputed border in Kashmir. "As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow," Mr Khan told Pakistan's parliament yesterday afternoon. Lawmakers thumped their desks in response. "We will celebrate his release tomorrow," said Vinay Bhardwaj (34), a plumber in Nawshera, a border town in Indian-controlled Kashmir. "People are very happy about that here." Welcome news: Children hold banners and flags on a street in Mumbai after Pakistan said it would release an Indian air force pilot today. Photo: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters Indian military officials have welcomed Pakistan's planned return of a captured pilot, but refused to confirm they would de-escalate a conflict between the two nuclear powers. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan, became the human face of the flare-up over the contested region of Kashmir following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody. "We are happy our pilot is being released," said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, at a joint news conference of India's three armed forces yesterday. He did not say when asked by reporters if India considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said the pilot would be released today, to the relief of many Indians, even as his military reported that four Pakistani civilians had been killed by India firing across the disputed border in Kashmir. "As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow," Mr Khan told Pakistan's parliament yesterday afternoon. Lawmakers thumped their desks in response. "We will celebrate his release tomorrow," said Vinay Bhardwaj (34), a plumber in Nawshera, a border town in Indian-controlled Kashmir. "People are very happy about that here." The United States, China, the European Union and other powers have urged restraint from the two nations, as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14. The Muslim-majority Himalayan region has been at the heart of more than 70 years of animosity, since the partition of the British colony of India into the separate countries of Muslim Pakistan and majority Hindu India. It is divided between India, which rules the Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which controls a wedge of territory in the west, and China, which holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north. Attack On Tuesday, India said it hit a training camp for a Pakistan-based group that claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, and a senior government source told reporters that 300 militants had been killed. Pakistan denies this, saying the attack was a failure and no one died, with bombs dropped on a largely empty hillside. It denies any militant camp was in the area. Local people said they had seen no sign of major casualties or significant damage, with only one man known to have been slightly hurt by the bombs. Asked about the damage caused by Indian warplanes in Tuesday's air strike, Mr Kapoor said it was premature to provide details about casualties. But they said they had "credible" evidence of the damage inflicted on the camp by the air strikes. "Whatever we intended to destroy, we did," he said. Pakistan's decision to release the pilot came after several countries offered diplomatic assistance to mediate between two countries that have gone to war three times since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had spoken to the leaders of both countries and urged them to avoid "any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk". Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he expected "reasonably decent news" regarding the conflict between India and Pakistan, adding that the United States was trying to mediate. "They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop," Mr Trump said in Hanoi, where he was attending a summit with North Korea's leader. "We have been in the middle trying to help them both out." Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also offered to facilitate talks between the two sides. Mr Khan has already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a "miscalculation" between their militaries. Earlier yesterday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies. "The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn't do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us," he said. Welcome: Children hold US, North Korean and Vietnamese flags near the hotel holding the summit. Photo: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images Two days of soaring rhetoric and over-the-top flattery between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could not bridge the gap on an issue that has plagued US negotiators for months: the lifting of crippling economic sanctions on the impoverished rogue state. Mr Trump said that North Korea's demand for full sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearisation was the main impediment to reaching an agreement on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic programmes, a centerpiece of the president's foreign policy. The abrupt conclusion of the talks without a future meeting date or a plan to move forward exposed the vulnerabilities of relying on the personal rapport of Mr Trump and Mr Kim to overcome disputes that faceless negotiators had been stuck on for eight months following the two leaders' first summit in Singapore. "Good personal rapport is good, but it's not enough to bridge big gaps in the course of one high-level summit," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association. The collapse of talks aimed at resolving the most pressing security threat in Asia is a disappointment for the US president, who began his summit with Mr Kim saying he hoped it would be "equal or greater than the first". It also raises doubts about whether the two sides can regain momentum in a high-stakes negotiation that has yet to achieve results from lower-level diplomats working behind the scenes. In the absence of progress on the diplomatic front, experts worry that tensions could rise on the military front. In the past several months, lower-level talks have been slow to make progress, as junior North Korean diplomats have lacked the negotiating authority to make concessions, said diplomats familiar with the talks. As talks broke down, US officials cancelled a planned lunch meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim and notified reporters that there would be no joint statement describing what was agreed upon. "They weren't close enough to keep talking about it over lunch. How are both negotiating teams going to figure that out?" said John Delury, a Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul, referring to the lead US and North Korean negotiators. During the news conference, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to sound a note of optimism, saying he hoped the negotiating teams "will get together in the days and weeks ahead and work out. It's a very complex problem". Beneath the president, the issue has divided his top advisers and America's closest allies, who have tried to push the president in different directions. National Security Adviser John Bolton is a staunch opponent of the talks, who is sceptical of Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea appointed by Mr Trump to negotiate an agreement. Mr Bolton and like-minded officials at the Treasury Department and Pentagon had expressed concern that Mr Trump was moving too fast in looking to loosen sanctions or agreeing to an end-of-war declaration, according to people familiar with the discussions. Defenders of Mr Biegun - who drives Trump policy on North Korea - said he is a pragmatist and seasoned negotiator who remains clear-eyed about his challenge and privately acknowledges the steep odds of a successful outcome. Outside the United States, Japanese officials have expressed scepticism about the talks, and are expected to be relieved that the president did not trade sanctions relief for the shutdown of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility, an expansive compound that houses the country's uranium-enrichment facilities but does not encompass the entirety of the North's warheads and missile inventory. But America's other key Asian ally, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, has invested a huge amount of his personal prestige in engagement with North Korea. He is certain to be enormously disappointed in the breakdown of the talks. ( Washington Post) Another candidate is seeking the Democratic Partys nomination for the 2020 presidential election. Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, declared climate change the nations most pressing issue and promising to build his White House bid around it. It is time for our nation to set a new priority, Mr Inslee told supporters gathered at a solar panel business in Seattle. VIDEO: This is our moment, our climate, our mission together, we can defeat climate change. That's why I'm running for president. Join #OurClimateMoment today https://t.co/zg8ILGyk0Z pic.twitter.com/pUZVxyzfc5 Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 This is truly our moment. It is our moment to solve Americas most daunting challenge and make it the first, foremost and paramount duty of the United States, and that is to defeat climate change. The 68-year-old former congressman becomes the first governor to enter a race dominated by senators. Montana governor Steve Bullock and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper are eyeing presidential campaigns. As a candidate, I will not take one dime from fossil fuel companies or executives. And when I'm president, not one nickel of taxpayer dollars will go to subsidize an oil or gas company. #OurClimateMoment Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 It will not be easy for Mr Inslee to garner attention with six prominent senators, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, already running. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Representative Beto ORourke also are expected to make highly anticipated 2020 announcements in the coming weeks. Expand Close Washington governor Jay Inslee (Ted S. Warren/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Washington governor Jay Inslee (Ted S. Warren/AP) But Mr Inslee said his emphasis on combating climate change will set him apart from his competitors and from Republican President Donald Trump. Climate change is a unifying issue, Mr Inslee said in a recent interview, calling it a moral necessity and an economic opportunity. Climate change is just as much a matter of character as it is a matter of science. #OurClimateMoment Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 He promises substantial investment in clean energy sources that reduce American dependence on fossil fuels. This issue is connected to virtually every other value system and thing we want to do in our communities, he said, mentioning environmental justice, infrastructure, clean energy, health care and national security. Mr Inslee argues that no presidential candidate has hinged a campaign as heavily on climate and environmental policy as he will. The winner of the Democratic primary process will be nominated by the party to challenge Mr Trump in the November 2020 election. CT scan taken by doctors in Denmark before they removed a tooth from inside the nostril of a 59-year-old man. Photo: BMJ Case Reports/PA Wire A man has undergone surgery to remove a tooth from inside his nostril, after suffering with an unexplained blocked nose for two years. Doctors in Denmark were astonished to find the rare condition in a 59-year-old man, who had complained of nasal congestion problems, discharge and loss of his sense of smell. The individual experienced a facial trauma when he was young which resulted in a fracture to his jaw and nose, but doctors said there was no evidence to suggest repositioning following the incident was connected to the nasal growth condition. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiled broadly as he strode down a red carpet with Vietnams president on Friday, a day after his stunning summit breakdown with US President Donald Trump With Mr Trump back in Washington, and both countries spinning their version of what happened during one of the most high-profile diplomatic collapses in recent years, Mr Kim seemed confident and poised he stepped out of his armoured car and embraced President Nguyen Phu Trong. On Saturday he is expected to be driven back to the border with China where he will board his armoured train for a 60-plus-hour trip, through the sprawl of China, home to Pyongyang, North Koreas capital. In Hanoi, President Trump held firm on Americas terms: Nothing short of real progress toward verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will result in sanctions relief. Tonights 1600 Daily: https://t.co/A68ueVC88u pic.twitter.com/3PSM69cDQZ The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) March 1, 2019 But Friday saw his car rolling beneath fluttering Vietnamese and North Korean flags the US ones have been mostly taken down as a large crowd jammed the citys streets and waved flowers. Talks between Mr Kim and Mr Trump broke down on Thursday, the second day of their two-day summit, in a dispute over how much sanctions relief Washington should provide Pyongyang in return for nuclear disarmament steps. Despite a senior North Korean officials suggestion in a middle-of-the-night news conference called to dispute Mr Trumps version of the summits end that Mr Kim may have lost the will for diplomacy, the North Korean leader seems to have emerged from the diplomatic wreckage as a winner. Expand Close North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, centre, during a press conference in Hanoi (Vincent Yu/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, centre, during a press conference in Hanoi (Vincent Yu/AP) Mr Kim stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Mr Trump at the summit and answered questions with humour and ease when confronted by an aggressive international media contingent. And, crucially for his image at home, he stood firm on his demands for the relief of sanctions imposed over a nuclear programme North Korea says it built in the face of unrelenting US hostility meant to end its leadership. Mr Kim, as he considers his next move after Hanoi, will also be backed by state-controlled media that were already busy portraying the summit as a victory for their leader. They said Mr Kim and Mr Trump appreciated that the second meeting in Hanoi offered an important occasion for deepening mutual respect and trust and putting the relations between the two countries on a new stage. North Korea said it had asked for partial sanctions relief in return for closing its main nuclear site at Yongbyon, an important nuclear-fuel production facility but not the only place the North is believed to make bomb fuel. The United States also put its interpretation on the summit breakdown, with senior officials saying that North Korea wanted billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for only partial dismantlement of Yongbyon, and demanded the North scrap more of its nuclear programme for such a high level of concessions. At least seven tonnes of gold were reportedly removed from the Venezuelan central bank's vaults by government officials last week, as President Nicolas Maduro seeks to raise capital amid tightening sanctions. The gold was removed in government vehicles between Wednesday and Friday last week, when there were no regular security guards present at the bank. Reuters said the information came from economist and National Assembly representative Angel Alvarado as well as "three government sources". "They plan to sell it abroad illegally," Mr Alvarado said in an interview. Mr Alvarado and the government sources did not say where the central bank was sending the gold. But they said the removal happened while Calixto Ortega, the central bank head, was abroad on a trip. Mr Maduro is struggling to raise funds, as production of Venezuela's biggest export - oil - has collapsed in recent years, plunging the country into a deep economic crisis. Furthermore the US has implemented tough sanctions on the country's oil industry to put pressure on Mr Maduro to stand down. The US is backing opposition leader Juan Guaido who has declared himself "interim president" amid the crisis. Mr Guaido arrived in Brazil on Wednesday to meet with new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro as part of a tour of several countries aimed at ratcheting up international pressure on Mr Maduro. ( The London Independent) Radicalised: Londoner Shamima Begum (19) and baby son Jarrah during an interview with ITN in a Syrian refugee camp on Wednesday. Photo: PA Shamima Begum says she just cares about her son Shamima Begum caught on CCTV as she left the UK to travel to Syria Shamima Begum and her newborn baby are thought to have been moved from a Syrian refugee camp after they were "threatened", her family's lawyer has said. The teenager and her infant son were moved from the Al-Hol camp in the north of the country due to "safety concerns around her and her baby", Tasnime Akunjee said. Ms Begum, who fled from Bethnal Green in east London to join Islamic State as a 15-year-old, recently said she regretted speaking to the media. The 19-year-old, who gave birth days after her discovery by a journalist was first reported, said she wished she had kept a low profile. The Sun reported that Ms Begum, who wants to return to the UK but has been stripped of her British citizenship, had received death threats since speaking out about her plight. The mother and her baby are said to have since been moved to another camp nearer to the Iraqi border. Read More Mr Akunjee told the paper: "I can confirm that it is our understanding that Shamima has been moved from Al-Hol due to safety concerns around her and her baby. "We further understand that indeed she and her child had been threatened by others at the Al-Hol camp." Expand Close Shamima Begum in a photo provided by her family / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shamima Begum in a photo provided by her family The development comes after British officials ruled out any effort inside Syria to extract Ms Begum and her child. Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her British citizenship in an effort to block her return. Ms Begum's family have pleaded for the mother and her child to be allowed to come back to Britain. They say the teenager should face justice if she is found to have broken the law by travelling to Syria. United Nations investigators said Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in killing 189 Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 at weekly protests in Gaza last year. The independent panel said it had confidential information about those it believes to be responsible for the killings, including Israeli army snipers and commanders, and called on Israel to prosecute them. "The Israeli security forces killed and maimed Palestinian demonstrators who did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to others when they were shot, nor were they directly participating in hostilities," it said. In a scathing response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel rejected the report "out of hand" and accused the UN Human Rights Council of hypocrisy and lies fuelled by "an obsessive hatred for Israel". Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the findings confirmed "what we have always said, that Israel conducts war crimes against our people in Gaza and the West Bank, including in Jerusalem". "The International Criminal Court (ICC) should act immediately and open a probe into the crimes conducted (by Israel)," he said in a statement. Protests at the frontier between Israel and the Gaza Strip began in March last year, with Gazans calling on Israel to ease a blockade of the territory and for recognition of the right to return to lands their ancestors fled or were forced to flee when Israel was founded in 1948. Israel has said its forces opened fire to protect the frontier from incursions and attacks by armed militants. No Israeli soldier was killed at the protests, though four were injured, the panel said. The latest report, covering the period from March 30-December 31, 2018, to the UN Human Rights Council, was based on hundreds of interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as medical records, video and drone footage, and photographs. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet should share the findings with the ICC, the investigators said in the report. Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognise its jurisdiction but the Hague-based court opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of Israeli human rights abuses on Palestinian territory in 2015. The Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, is home to two million Palestinians. Thirty-five children, two journalists and three "clearly-marked" paramedics were among those killed by Israeli forces, in violation of international humanitarian law, the panel said. "We are saying that they have intentionally shot children," said panel member Sara Hossain. Natos secretary-general has warned that Russias violation of a key Cold War-era treaty is one of the most pressing security challenges for the alliance. Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which has been the cornerstone for arms control for decades. As #NATO celebrates 70 years of unprecedented peace & stabilty in Europe, we also mark 20 & 15 years since many valued allies joined. Good discussion today on our shared transatlantic bond with #Bucharest9 leaders from pic.twitter.com/yeCQyYlyl3 Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) February 28, 2019 Mr Stoltenberg said after talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in Sofia that Nato does not want a new cold war, we dont want a new arms race and we call on Russia to come back into compliance with the INF Treaty. He added that at the same time Nato needs to be prepared for a world without the INF Treaty, and with more Russian missiles. Mr Stoltenberg was in Bulgaria for the 15th anniversary of the country joining Nato. Activists of Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy rally against any escalation of tension (BK Bangash) Pakistans civil aviation authority has partially re-opened the countrys airspace, allowing travel to four major cities. The move is another sign that tensions with rival India are de-escalating. The agency issued a statement on Friday saying all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. As a true statesman, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan announced that #Pakistan will release Indian Air Force Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman tomorrow as a peace gesture. pic.twitter.com/4nIbd6szk6 Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) February 28, 2019 It says other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, will remain closed until March 4. Islamabad closed its air space on Wednesday after saying that Pakistans military shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot, escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Expand Close The Indian pilot is set to be released later (Pakistan military/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Indian pilot is set to be released later (Pakistan military/AP) The closures disrupted air traffic in the region. The pilot is expected to be handed back to India later in the day, a move Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said was a gesture of peace. Indians wait to welcome the pilot at the India Pakistan border at Wagah (Prabhjot Gill/AP) Pakistan prepared to hand over a captured Indian pilot on Friday while cross-border attacks across the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir continued for a fourth day. Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers faced off along the Kashmir boundary known as the Line of Control, in one of the worlds most volatile regions. Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a February 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops. As a true statesman, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan announced that #Pakistan will release Indian Air Force Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman tomorrow as a peace gesture. pic.twitter.com/4nIbd6szk6 Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) February 28, 2019 Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft on Wednesday and capturing a pilot. Since the escalation, world leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent. US President Donald Trump in Hanoi on Thursday said he had been involved in seeking to de-escalate the conflict. I think hopefully thats going to be coming to an end, Mr Trump said, without elaborating. Its been going on for a long time decades and decades. Theres a lot of dislike, unfortunately, so weve been in the middle trying to help them both out, see if we can get some organisation and some peace, and I think probably thats going to be happening. On Friday Saudi Arabias minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, is expected in Islamabad with a message from the kingdoms powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told lawmakers on Thursday: We are releasing the Indian pilot as a goodwill gesture tomorrow. But India made it clear that the latest escalation has changed its strategy and that going forward, it will strike, including inside Pakistan, if they get information of an attack in the planning. Expand Close A Pakistani soldier stands guard near the wreckage of the Indian plane (Abdul Razzaq/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Pakistani soldier stands guard near the wreckage of the Indian plane (Abdul Razzaq/AP) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier Thursday warned Indias enemies are conspiring to create instability in the country through terror attacks. Meanwhile, Pakistans air space remained closed to most air traffic, although some domestic flights were allowed on Thursday. Residents of the Pakistani border town of Chikhoti reported heavy shelling overnight and Friday morning. Expand Close The Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy rally against any escalation of tension (B.K. Bangash/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy rally against any escalation of tension (B.K. Bangash/AP) More than 200 people had fled to a military organised camp about 16 miles away from the border. Kashmir has been divided but claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after the two countries creation in 1947. They have fought three wars, two directly over the disputed region. This weeks violence marked the most serious escalation of the long-simmering conflict since 1999, when Pakistans military sent a ground force into Indian-controlled Kashmir at Kargil. Royal Dutch Shell is facing potential criminal charges in the Netherlands relating to its operations in Nigeria (Anna Gowthorpe/PA) Royal Dutch Shell has said it is facing potential criminal charges in the Netherlands relating to its operations in Nigeria. The Dutch Public Prosecutors Office (DPP) has informed the energy giant that it is nearing the conclusion of an investigation and is preparing to prosecute Royal Dutch Shell. It is linked to the 2011 settlement of disputes over an oil prospecting licence in Nigeria, known as OPL 245. Shell, along with peer Eni, has been dogged by legal action relating to the lucrative oil bloc. The Nigerian government has filed a billion-dollar claim against the duo over alleged fraud and corruption that it claims diverted millions of dollars from the African nation. The funds were allegedly used for bribes and kickbacks, according to the Nigerian government. It alleged that money used in the deal was paid to a company called Malabu, controlled by Nigerias former oil minister, Dan Etete. A separate criminal trial relating to the deal is continuing in Italy. Shell has said it does not believe there is a case to answer. The firm added on Friday: As appropriate, we will provide updates as this matter progresses. The news comes after Shell in January revealed its biggest profit haul for four years after earnings surged 36% thanks to higher oil and gas prices. The blue chip giant posted underlying earnings of 21.4 billion US dollars (16.3 billion) for 2018, ahead of expectations. Tesla is to close many of its stores to cut costs (Jonathan Brady/PA) Tesla will only sell its electric cars online as it accelerates its cost-cutting so it can realise its long-running goal of selling a mass-market sedan for 35,000 dollars (26,000) The change announced on Thursday will allow the Silicon Valley carmaker to begin selling its Model 3 for 35,000 US dollars (26,335) a price point that Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has been striving to reach in order to appeal to more consumers and generate the sales the company needs to survive. The cheapest Model 3 that could be ordered before Thursday started at 42,900 dollars (32,350). To save money, Tesla will close many of its stores, but leave some open as galleries or information centres in high-traffic areas. This is the only way to achieve the savings for this car and be financially sustainableElon Musk Mr Musk declined to specify how many stores will be closed or how many employees will be laid off. The company has 378 stores and service locations worldwide. This is the only way to achieve the savings for this car and be financially sustainable, Mr Musk told reporters during a conference call. It is excruciatingly difficult to make this car for 35,000 dollars and be financially sustainable. The online sales shift will enable Tesla to lower all vehicle prices by 6%, on average, including its higher-end Model S and Model X. All other major automakers rely on vast dealer networks, but Mr Musk co-founded Tesla in 2003 in an effort to shake up the industry, starting with a focus entirely on a fleet of cars powered by electricity instead of gasoline. Although he said going online-only was a difficult decision, Mr Musk believes it is the right one. Its 2019, he said. People want to buy things online. Model 3s now available Standard Range: 220mi, $35k Standard Range Plus: 240mi, $37k Mid Range: 264mi, $40k Long Range: 325mi, $43k Long Range AWD: 310mi, $47k Performance AWD: 310mi, $58k, 0-60 mph in 3.2s! https://t.co/RNnGdonjSr (prices before incentives) Tesla (@Tesla) March 1, 2019 Base Model 3 available in Europe in ~6 months, Asia 6 to 8 months. Latter contingent on Shanghai Gigafactory. Country-specific taxes & import duties mean price may be 25% or more above US number. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2019 Although he said he did not know for certain, Mr Musk predicted there was enough pent-up demand to sell about 500,000 Model 3s annually at the starting price of 35,000 dollars. But buyers will have to wait far longer than they do when shopping on Amazon. A US consumer who places an order for the Model 3 at its new lower price now will likely get it by the end of June before a tax credit for electric vehicles is scheduled to be reduced, Mr Musk said. The store closures will come on top of a decision to cut 3,150 jobs, or about 7% of Teslas workforce, announced earlier this year. Despite the austerity measures, Mr Musk told reporters Tesla will lose money in the current quarter ending in March, backpedalling on a statement he made last October when he pledged the company would remain profitable from that point on. But Mr Musk said it was likely Tesla will bounce back with a profit during the April-June period. Teslas stock fell 3% in extended trading after the news came out. Exact Tesla Model 3 in my profile pic costs $35k before incentives & takes 1 minute to buy online at https://t.co/46TXqRrsdr Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2019 The Palo Alto, California, company is slashing costs just a few months after paying half of a 40 million dollar settlement of a case that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed against Mr Musk last September after he tweeted that he had lined up financing for a potential buyout for the company. The SEC alleged Mr Musk misled investors after concluding he did not have the money to pull off the deal. The SEC has asked a federal judge to hold Mr Musk in contempt after he posted another tweet about key Tesla information without getting company approval as required in the settlement of its previous case. Mr Musk declined to take questions about the SECs attempt to hold him in contempt. People stand in front of damaged buildings, in the town of Douma (Hassan Ammar/AP) The global chemical weapons watchdog has said it found reasonable grounds that chlorine was used as a weapon in a deadly attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year. The determination was contained in a detailed report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons fact finding mission that investigated the April 7 2018 attack. Medical workers said at the time that the attack killed more than 40 people. The missions mandate does not include laying blame. In a statement, the OPCW said the mission visited Douma, analysed samples taken from the scene and from people affected, interviewed witnesses and studied toxicological and ballistics analyses. The investigators were delayed by several days from reaching the scene by security concerns, leading to fears that evidence could degrade or be cleaned up. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorineOPCW However, the data they eventually amassed and studied provided reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon took place, the OPCW said. This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine. Survivors reached in the aftermath of the attack said they were overwhelmed by the smell of chlorine on the night of April 7. Activists said many of the dead were found with foam around their mouths, an indicator for suffocation. Medical workers said they treated symptoms including difficulty breathing and fainting. Expand Close Ministry of Defence handout photo of a RAF Tornado coming into land at RAF Akrotiri after conducting strikes following the attack in Douma (Cpl L Matthews/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ministry of Defence handout photo of a RAF Tornado coming into land at RAF Akrotiri after conducting strikes following the attack in Douma (Cpl L Matthews/PA) The United States, Britain and France blamed Syrian government forces and launched punitive airstrikes. Syria denied responsibility. Douma was the final target of the governments sweeping campaign to seize back control of the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus from rebels after seven years of revolt. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack. The OPCW said the report has been sent to the United Nations Security Council. Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, rejected claims that Syria was responsible for the attack and even brought what it called witnesses to The Hague to describe their experiences. In a tweet, the Russian embassy in The Hague said the OPCW reached its finding, in spite of all the evidence presented by Russia, Syria, and even British journalists that the Douma incident is no more than White helmets staged provocation. Expand Close Syrias President Bashar Assad (PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Syrias President Bashar Assad (PA) A joint investigative mechanism between the United Nations and OPCW, set up in 2015, was responsible for apportioning blame, but it was disbanded after Russia vetoed an extension of its mandate at the UN Security Council. Moscow claimed the team was not professional or objective in its investigations. The team accused Syria of using chlorine gas in at least two attacks in 2014 and 2015 and the nerve agent sarin in an aerial attack on Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017 that killed about 100 people and affected about 200 others. The latter attack led to a US airstrike on a Syrian airfield. The team also accused the Islamic State extremist group of using mustard gas twice in 2015 and 2016. Background-check bill passes, splitting House and Arizona delegation By Andrew HowardCronkite News WASHINGTON Arizona lawmakers voted along party lines Wednesday as Democrats pushed one of their top priorities through the House, advancing a bill to strengthen background checks on gun transfers. The Bipartisan Background Check Act of 2019 ( H.R.8 ) was just barely bipartisan, with five Republicans among the 233 co-sponsors and only eight GOP votes in the final 240-190 tally . Just two Democrats voted against the bill. It should have happened a while ago, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, said after the vote. Time to move forward and hope the Senate picks it up. But the bills chances are dim in the Senate, where Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, has already said he does not intend to give the bill a full hearing in his committee. Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords joined other victims of gun violence and lawmakers outside the Capitol on February 26, 2019, to rally for a background-check bill by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Califorina, left. Photo by Andrew Howard / Cronkite News While they could not stop the bill in the House, Republicans there were able to add a last-minute amendment requiring gun sellers to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement if an undocumented immigrant fails a background check. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, said that amendment made the bill slightly less bad, but he still voted against the final bill. Rep. Tom OHalleran, D-Sedona, who was one of 26 Democrats to vote for the ICE amendment , ended up voting for what he called a great bill, saying he has been a proponent of background checks for a long time. I used to be a homicide detective, Ive seen too much violence in America and we have to start to stem that tide, OHalleran said. Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria,offered an amendment to the Bipartisan Background Check Act that was rejected in a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Photo by Andrew Howard / Cronkite News But Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Tucson, said she was disappointed by the last-minute amendment because it gives it some ramifications that makes it that much harder to get it through the Senate. Its a half-victory I guess, Kirkpatrick said. The works not over. The bill, which would expand the current federal law to require background checks for any gun transfer, includes numerous exemptions for gifts and transfers of firearms between family members. Those would not need a background check. The House rejected an exception proposed Wednesday by Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, that would have let people in the Transportation Security Administrations Pre-Check program skip the background check process. That amendment failed on a 250-182 vote. Lesko has blasted the overall bill this week as misguided, arguing Tuesday that it would not have prevented any of the mass shootings in the last 20 years. Criminals dont get guns legally, and will not complete a background check to get their guns, she said then. That was echoed Wednesday by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, who said he was not at all in favor of the bill. When we can take away the application of a felon or a criminal from getting a gun, thats fine, Gosar said. But what youre doing here is youre taking guns away from the people that can defend themselves. Guns dont kill people do, he said. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Tucson, greets Gabrielle Giffords, who was representing Tucson when she was shot in a 2011 attack. Giffords was at the Capitol to rally support for a gun background-check bill. Photo by Andrew Howard / Cronkite News The bill was lobbied heavily by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords , a Tucson Democrat who was severely wounded in a 2011 shooting that killed six and wounded her and 12 others. Giffords was in Washington for the introduction of the bill in January and back at the Capitol Tuesday for a pre-vote rally. Kirkpatrick said lawmakers need to keep Giffords story in mind as they press forward on the issue. Its a good thing it passed, she said of Tuesdays vote, but it just makes me think about what happened to Gabby Giffords and that makes me sad. This story originally appeared on Cronkite News and is published via a Creative Commons license . Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University Note: Thumbnail photo of gun show: M&R Glasgow Join the Conversation House OKs open-spaces bill that includes thousands of acres in Arizona By Andrew HowardCronkite News WASHINGTON Its taken two years stretched over two Congresses, but La Paz County should finally be able to get its hands on 5,935 acres of federal land for a proposed solar farm near Interstate 10. Were very excited, La Paz County Supervisor D.L. Wilson said Wednesday. Its going to generate revenue and provide jobs to some of our residents. The La Paz County land deal was one of nine projects in Arizona and scores nationally that got a final OK Tuesday when the House gave overwhelming approval to the Natural Resources Management Act The nearly 700-page bill also reauthorized the multibillion-dollar Land and Water Conservation Fund. The popular fund, which expired at the end of fiscal 2018, directs funds from offshore drilling leases toward state, local and federal parks and recreation projects. The bill, which passed the Senate earlier this month, now heads to the White House where President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law. Cronkite News Graphic by Tyler Peckham: LWCF land swaps Backers called the bill a true bipartisan success story. It passed the Senate 92-8 and passed the House 363-62 , with all Democrats and 133 Republicans voting for it. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, was the only Arizona lawmaker to vote against the bill, which he opposed because it made permanent the LWCF, a program that some have criticized as a slush fund. But fellow Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Prescott praised the bills passage, saying it fixes problems that have been going on for far too long. Arizonans have suffered from poor federal lands policies and overreaching mandates enacted by out-of-touch Washington bureaucrats, Gosar said in a statement Tuesday. This package consolidates multiple checkerboards of land, returns control to the people on the ground, and increases multiple-use as well as economic development opportunities for several communities in Arizona, his statement said. In a rare sign of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill, Congress gave final approval this week to a massive public lands package that includes a number of provisions benefiting Indian Country. #NativeVeterans https://t.co/kb07B3Lpnn pic.twitter.com/iKrkzJPfC5 indianz.com (@indianz) March 1, 2019 Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, praised the bill for the conservation it will achieve. By protecting ecosystems, preserving our cultural heritage and connecting the people to their lands, we demonstrate this Congress commitment to public lands that serve all Americans, Grijalva, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in remarks on the House floor Tuesday. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has collected $40 billion since its inception in 1965 and allocated nearly half that amount on public lands and recreation projects around the country. Arizona has received almost $240 million, according to the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition , for projects at Grand Canyon National Park, Lake Mead and Saguaro National Park, as well as to state parks like Lost Dutchman and Patagonia Lake. The money has also been used for local parks and recreation facilities. The fund is the main part of the catchall bill, which also included sections ranging from a national volcano early-warning system to wildlife conservation measures. But lawmakers and local officials alike were just as excited by the inclusion of the land deals, many of which had been languishing for years. In Arizona, they ranged from the La Paz County solar project to a 25-acre boundary clarification for a Young Life Camp near Flagstaff that dates back to 2005 to a 9.5-acre land offering for property owners in Coronado National Forest. For Grijalva, the bill includes approval of a project he has been pushing since 2007, the creation of a Santa Cruz National Heritage Area. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, said we have a responsibility to protect Arizona and Americas rich natural heritage for the benefit of current and future generations in a tweet announcing his decision to vote yes. For La Paz County, the bill opens the door to the purchase of the federal land that the county has been trying to get for the solar farm project. Weve been waiting for this for two years, said Wilson. He said its too early to talk about jobs and revenues the project might produce, but said the deal is not a giveaway. Still, he said, We are looking forward to the president signing the bill. This story originally appeared on Cronkite News and is published via a Creative Commons license . Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University Join the Conversation Everyone was rooting for Bradley Cooper to win the Best Actors Oscar trophy, but the award went into Rami Maleks kitty. He was on cloud nine when he won the award at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. He was high on happiness. So much so, that the man who played the role of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody so spectacularly, tumbled off the stage soon after his thanking speech. He had a shocked expression on his face too. He apparently didnt care about his surroundings at that point of time. Luckily, the trophy stayed in one piece. He faced no injuries but paramedics were called soon after to treat Rami Malek. Rami Malek is definitely on a winning streak. He is now in talks to play the antagonist in the latest installment of James Bond franchise. Even earlier as well, it was reported that Rami Malek is being eyed for the role of villain in the 25th James Bond movie. However, he was busy with his schedule on the last season of his breakout show Mr. Robot which shoots from March through July. According to Collider, the actor's team has successfully managed his shooting schedule to accommodate the Bond film. The film will be directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who came on board as a director after Danny Boyle exited the project over "creative differences". The yet-untitled film will mark Daniel Craig's fifth and possibly the last outing as the famed British spy. Actor Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw will also reprise their roles in the new film. French star Lea Seydoux, who played psychologist Madeleine Swann in Sam Mendes' Spectre, is also returning. MGM will distribute the film in partnership with Annapurna Pictures. The film will release on April 8, 2020. The current relationship between India and Pakistan is not very cordial after the Pulwama attack. All the Pakistani actors are been banned and vice versa. Actors like Ali Zafar, Mahira Khan are strongly supporting their country Pakistan, but they are being trolled, especially Ali. He was mercilessly trolled for supporting his own country. Twitter Taapsee Pannu who has been his co star came out in his support and said, I dont understand this. Do you expect him, being a Pakistani, to support a country he is not a part of? She further adds, He has already been banned and we are all fine with it but how will it be if I am supporting my country and Pakistanis are trolling me, which they are now when I have tweeted about the Pulwama terror attack. What do you expect? Twitter She even says its obvious for him to support his own country, Its his country. [If he doesnt support his PM], he will be trolled otherwise. We are trolled here when we dont celebrate our victories. It is stupid to expect him to do anything else. Its not like he is not able to work because he is banned in India. He is working there and will. He needs to celebrate his countrys achievements and so do we and we are doing that. Obviously, he will support his country. Whats wrong in that? Twitter Well, let's hope we can find a solution instead of attacking one another. Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has confirmed that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar is in the country and reportedly unwell. While speaking to CNN, Qureshi said that Masood is so unwell that he cannot leave the house. "According to my information, he is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his house, because he's really unwell," he said. India and US have been critical of Pakistan over shielding of Masood. Ever since the attack on CRPF convoy on February 14 that killed over 40 personnel, pressure has been mounting on Pakistan to clear terrorist safe havens across the country. Pakistan, however, has been denying that Masood is in the country. afp Terror organisation Jaish has carried out multiple attacks on India in over two decades. China has been blocking Indias attempt to brand Masood as a terrorist. Qureshi also said that Pakistan is ready to take action against Masood of there is evidence that can stand in stand in a court of law. "If they (India) have solid, inalienable evidence that is acceptable to courts of Pakistan, share it with us so that we can convince the people and we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan," he said. Lakhs of tribals living in forest areas across different parts of the country got a respite from eviction after Supreme Court put hold its earlier order to remove these forest families following a petition by the Centre. The order by apex court was expected to affect around 11 lakh families across 21 states. As the Lok Sabha elections approach, Centre is under pressure to reassure the tribals. Forty-seven seats in the Lok Sabha are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. According to the apex court order, the state governments were directed to carry out the evictions by July 12 and asked the Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India to submit a satellite-image based report on the encroachments removed. BCCL/File Some citizens, including wildlife conservation NGOs, filed a petition challenging the Forest Rights Act. The Act was passed in 2006 and grants forest-dwellers, many of whom belong to marginalised communities, official access to forest places they have called home for centuries. Close to 11,72,931 (1.17 million) land ownership claims made by scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers under the Forest Rights Act have been rejected under various grounds, including lack of proof that the land was under their possession for at least three generations. The law provides for giving land rights to those living on a forest land for at least three generations before December 31, 2005. These families were tagged as illegal residents by the state governments. BCCL/File The Centre argued that the illegal families failed to prove their rights as they were mostly poor and educated and lived in remote, inaccessible areas -- received clamorous criticism from the top court. The Centre has been under extreme pressure from opposition parties and activists working for the rights of the tribals. Activists have argued that tribals see land as communal property and not individual ownership. So far, the restaurant has received rave reviews from its patrons, he said, many of whom have walked in and live in the neighborhood. And while Shakya is still working as a doctor in Ohio, hes either on the phone or traveling to Chicago for the restaurant on his days off. He hopes that people both from the Nepal area and those who may be unfamiliar with it will find the food exciting and impressive. Two weeks after he was injured in the ghastly Pulwama terror attack that left 40 of his colleagues dead, CRPF constable Awadhesh Kumar returned to his native village and celebrated his daughter's birthday. The trooper received a grand welcome at his village Aabadi Sakhni on Wednesday evening as he was greeted by a large number of locals as well as political leaders including those from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Reuters Not willing to speak about terror attack, Kumar said he was happy to celebrate the birthday of his daughter, who turned two on Thursday. "I am very happy that I am celebrating the second birthday of my beloved daughter Jyoti," he said. Asked about his injuries, the CRPF constable who had joined the force in 2011 said, "My head and hands were injured. Now I am better and ready to leave home on call (of duty)." Forty CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 orchestrated by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). BCCL Following the incident, India bombed and destroyed JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC). The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan's father too was overjoyed to see his son back home. "I am feeling very happy, as my son is in front of me and celebrating his daughters birthday," an emotional Satyanarayan Kumar said. "A lot of people including political leaders came to meet us, but no one from district administration came," he rued. "I saw him on television when (Union) home minister Rajnath Singh went to meet the injured soldiers at Srinagar hospital. He called me that time and informed me about Deoria's martyr Vijay Maurya but didn't tell me a word about his injury," he said further. (WIth PTI Inputs) Having failed to understand why both India and Pakistan were fighting time and again despite sharing similar cultural backgrounds and even the problems, the Pakistan bound passengers pleaded to both governments to shed differences and instead work together to bring a new era of peace and love in the region. A total of 42 passengers including 2 Indians were to leave for Pakistan on board Samjhauta Express but they were sent across the border by road after Pakistan unilateral decided to not continue with the international rail service. AFP Worried over future treatment of his daughter in India, Mohammad Amir told TOI on Thursday that his daughter had undergone a heart surgery in a Noida hospital. He said since India had much better medical services than Pakistan it would be difficult for his daughter and other patients to travel to India if the train service was not resumed soon. We are coming here for medical treatment and our government is fighting , I dont understand what is more important for a government he said. Both countries have almost similar cultural background as well as problems, then why and what for we are fighting , why cant we live like a peaceful neighbours and instead help each other to bring prosperity in both the countries said Amir. All the passengers on way to Pakistan were appreciative of the arrangements and treatment meted out to them by the administration for facilitating their journey to Pakistan by road after cancellation of Samjhauta Express. AFP Rizwana Parveen, another Pak national was of view in sab dushmanio say mohabbataen to kam hongi ni, to dono mulko kay hukamran apas may kyun kartay hai ( The love bond between the people wouldnt go away with such skirmishes and bitterness then why the governments of both countries indulge in fight). She expressed hope that good sense would prevail upon the governments of both nations . At least for the sake of people who were divided between two nations, lets live in peace she said. While ruling out any possibility of existence of both countries without each other, Faislabad, Pakistan , resident Mohammad Aziz said There are so many relatives spread across the borders in both countries and no one could even think of existence of one country without the other, we may be divided by man made boundaries but we have our loved ones in both countries. Deputy commissioner Shivdular Singh Dhillon along with senior superintendent of police ,Amritsar , rural, Parmapal Singh were at Attari railway station to ensure that passengers didnt face any problem . Parampal said the administration had provided them with security and escort vehicle up to Attari land border. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the Indian Air Force (IAF) returned to India and was accorded a hero's welcome. Abhinandan was welcomed by the people at the Wagah border who had turned up in huge numbers since the morning. Read more Here's more top news of the day: 1) Indian Army Rescues Over 300 Stranded Tourists In Sikkim's Changgu Amid Snowstorm & Winds easterncomd/Twitter The Indian Army has rescued over 300 tourists who got stranded in Changgu and adjoining areas of East Sikkim due to heavy snowfall, officials said on Thursday. Read more 2) Amid Mounting Diplomatic Pressure, Pak Minister Confirms JeM Chief Masood Azhar Is In Pakistan afp Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has confirmed that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar is in the country and reportedly unwell. While speaking to CNN, Qureshi said that Masood is so unwell that he cannot leave the house. Read more 3) Deceased IAF Officer Siddharth Vashishts Wife, Also A Squadron Leader, Pays Tribute To Him In Uniform The last rites of Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht were performed on Friday with full military honours in Chandigarh. Vashisht died in a helicopter crash in Jammu and Kashmirs Budgam district. Read more 4) Breather For 11 Lakh Forest Families That Faced Eviction After Supreme Court Stays Order BCCL/File Lakhs of tribals living in forest areas across different parts of the country got a respite from eviction after Supreme Court put hold its earlier order to remove these forest families following a petition by the Centre. The order by apex court was expected to affect around 11 lakh families across 21 states. Read more 5) Petition To Stop Release Of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Rejected By Pakistan Court A Pakistani citizen on Friday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman saying he committed crime against the country and should be put on trial but the court has rejected the plea. Read more Mobile World Congress attendees witnessed a milestone on Wednesday, in the fields of both technology and medicine. For the first time, they saw a doctor direct a surgery in a hospital miles away right from the stage in front of them, all thanks to 5G. AFP Of course, this sort of thing has been done before, but there was one important difference. Dr Antonio de Lacy was guiding his team at a hospital almost 5 km away over a 5G connection. That makes a real difference because his instructions were reaching the team almost in real-time. Also Read: We're On The Cusp Of 5G, And Various Companies Are Working To Get The World To Adopt It According to an AFP report, a 4G connection normally used for this type of task has a lag of about 0.27 seconds. However, de Lacy's connection only had a lag of about 0.01 seconds. "I am drawing with my hand on this screen, and at the same time on their screen," de Lacy said during the demo. "Before 5G, we had to freeze the image to draw, but the surgeon is moving on and that is not ideal." What's important here is the possibilities this opens up. While a lower lag time may not be absolutely necessary to guide another surgeon, it's absolutely imperative if a doctor is remotely controlling a surgery robot. There, the slightest bit of delay in commands could mean a severed artery, a sliced nerve, or a brain hemorrhage. Reuters And having surgery robots could offer a lot of people medical help, who would otherwise not have been able to access it. "This is a first step to achieve our dream," said de Lacy, "which is to make remote operations in the near future." After Pakistan PM Imran Khan's announcement of releasing Varthnaman Abhinandan, people on social media have been showering praises on his gesture to the extent of demanding a Nobel Peace Prize. Social media users managed to make #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan the top trend in Pakistan today and also started a petition to nominate Khan to win the prize. According to Gulf News, the campaign started by Rameez Asif on the global petitioning platform change.org. A day after his capture, Khan announced in the Pakistan Parliament that the country will release Varthaman as a peace gesture to de-escalate tensions between the two nations. Take a look at the tweets praising Imran Khan for his gesture: #1 Nobel peace prize for Our Prime Minister Imran Khan! #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan Daniyal Gondal (@daniyalgondal) 1 March 2019 #2 Imran Khan Prime Minister of Pakistan must deserve the Nobel peace prize because his strongly strugle creat a lot of peace in Pakistan, India and also in Afghanistan Talinan & America #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan Nawab Khan Afridi (@NKAfridi55) 1 March 2019 #3 Nobel peace prize winner for 2019 is Mr. Imran Khan, Prime minister of Islamic state of Pakistan . Salute to Pak Army https://t.co/adgndxM9e7 hasan (@hasanchand) 1 March 2019 #4 The petition has gathered almost 28,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.#NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan pic.twitter.com/Rdi28YFSoO Ahsan (@Ahsan56829642) 1 March 2019 Sign the petition for Nobel Peace Prize for H.E. PM Imran Khan.https://t.co/1lI6hL9bGx #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan Baseer A. Piracha (@baseerpiracha) 1 March 2019 #5 #6 https://t.co/lF0gvuD5El: Nomination of Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Ahmed Khan for the Nobel Peace Prize - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/ExI8RTP93L via @Change Muhammad Yaseen (@yaseenpahore) 1 March 2019 #7 #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan Ambassador for Peace Ambassador for humanity Man of big heart Man of Kindness pic.twitter.com/ehZy36PLdV Shahid (@ShahidBannuzai) 1 March 2019 #7 Emotions are at an all-time high in India as Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be sent back home today. Twitter While the nation is eagerly waiting for his safe return, his parents are on their way to Amritsar to receive him at the Wagah border. More recently they were on their way from Chennai to Delhi on an Indigo flight and passengers onboard were ecstatic and cheered for them. Video footage has gone viral on social media showing people on the flight clapping and cheering for them. The Wing Commander's father, Retd Air Marshal S Varthaman is a highly-decorated officer and his mother Shobha Varthaman is a doctor. They left for Amritsar soon after landing in Delhi. According to reports, Abhinandan Varthaman is expected to be handed over by Pakistan to India at about 6pm at the Wagah Border. Dr. Atul C. Mehta, a pulmonologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, was recently recognized as one of the Giants in Chest Medicine by the American College of Chest Physicians. Mehta is seen here giving his acceptance speech when he was inducted to the Cleveland International Hall of Fame. (clevelandinternationalhalloffame.com photo) Congressman Ro Khanna seen here with Sen. Bernie Sanders last September. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Khanna said he will help presidential candidate Sanders frame how Medicare for all and free public-college tuition, two cornerstones of his campaign, will help the tech sector. (Facebook photo) Neomi Rao, President Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. circuit judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifies during a Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 5, 2019 in Washington, DC. Rao would fill the seat left vacant by Brett Kavanaugh after Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images) Maybe youve had this sensation: Youre sipping Scotch whisky, and you suddenly pick up a strong sense for the spirits place of origin. You believe you taste the earthiness of the barley, the sweetness or spice of the barrel, perhaps the saltiness of the sea and peat smoke. We now offer lithium prices and coverage free for reference. Click here to read all about it. Join our growing community of participants who want to learn more about electrification and how this market is developing. ROZSUTEC, a traditional folklore ensemble from Slovakia, completes 55 years and is gearing up with a new production which will celebrate the vibrancy of this European republic. The city was a witness to the flair of the ensemble who performed at Kala Mandir. The director and choreographer of the 60-member group, Stephan Mucha spoke to Indulge about his role in Rozsutec, the dynamic tradition of Slovakia and why he would love to come back to India. Excerpts: A member of Rozsutec playing flute and heligonka Is this the groups first trip to India? Yes, this is our first trip to India and it was an exciting opportunity to perform in a country which is also rich in history, tradition and culture. I have been a professional dancer before and used to work in theatre, and in due course I have seen Indian folk dance but it would be difficult to identify the form. It was very colourful. Tell us about Rozsutec. Rozsutec is a group that was formed in 1965 to preserve the tradition of the Slovaks by its founder who was from the Terchova Valley. The ensemble is named after the beautiful hill of Mala Fatra mountains in the Northwest of Central Slovakia. Slovakian tradition is diverse and we bring flavours of different regions like Terchova, Kysuce, Orava, Liptov, Horehronie, Myjava and Roma (gypsie) minority, etc. In terms of musical instruments, we use the classical violin, double bass and Heligonka, which is very native to Slovakia. Also, now the simbalom and accordion are used. The dance presentation that mainly deals with themes like love is high on energy and very technical in nature. Its inundated with rigor- ous footwork and it requires a lot of discipline to learn the dance forms. We have a total of 60 members in our group but due to logistical constraints, we have 15 performers here. Our costumes weigh more than 45 kgs. You been the director of Rozsutec for seven years now. What new elements have you added to its repertoire? I am from the eastern part of Slovakia and the region is popular for its dance. So, I brought in eastern flavours to the group. Rozsutec performs at Kala Mandir Tell us about the special production for the 55th anniversary of the group. We have planned a production, which will showcase the heritage of Slovakia with four fairy tales, divided on the basis of regions. So, we will have flavours of Terchiva, Goral, Horehroine and one more from the East. Insurance fraud seems like it might be an easy thing to do. Insurance companies are often so huge, one wonders how they might not even notic... Turning the Corner in Style Monica Kingsley - 23 minutes ago S&P 500 bulls delivered, and the revival in risk-on is increasingly getting legs as HYG rebounded sharply. The sharply increasing participation is counterbalanced by still compressing yield curve, but... Pain at the Pump Christmas 2021 Edition. The Corn & Ethanol Report 12/07/2021 The PRICE Futures Group - 1 hour ago We start off the day with Balance of Trade (Oct), Exports (Oct), Imports (Oct), Unit Labour Costs QoQ Final Q3 and Nonfarm Productivity QoQ Final Q3 at 7:30 A.M., Redbook YoY (04/Dec) at 7:55 A.M., IBD/TIPP... AgMaster Report 12/07/2021 The PRICE Futures Group - 1 hour ago JAN BEANS When the ill macro winds blow, you best be paying attention! An emergence of a new Covid variant Omicron has wreaked havoc with all the mkts implying that global economic growth... Tesla's wide swings hitting key Fibonacci retracements on both sides ONE44 Analytics - 1 hour ago Another thing to watch for, if they take out 979.00, is it hits 948.00 and closes back above 979.00, this is 23.6% of the ATH and ATL. Provided this did happen, look for a quick move back to the ATH. 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The sharply increasing participation is counterbalanced by still compressing yield curve, but... Pain at the Pump Christmas 2021 Edition. The Corn & Ethanol Report 12/07/2021 The PRICE Futures Group - 1 hour ago We start off the day with Balance of Trade (Oct), Exports (Oct), Imports (Oct), Unit Labour Costs QoQ Final Q3 and Nonfarm Productivity QoQ Final Q3 at 7:30 A.M., Redbook YoY (04/Dec) at 7:55 A.M., IBD/TIPP... AgMaster Report 12/07/2021 The PRICE Futures Group - 1 hour ago JAN BEANS When the ill macro winds blow, you best be paying attention! An emergence of a new Covid variant Omicron has wreaked havoc with all the mkts implying that global economic growth... Tesla's wide swings hitting key Fibonacci retracements on both sides ONE44 Analytics - 1 hour ago Another thing to watch for, if they take out 979.00, is it hits 948.00 and closes back above 979.00, this is 23.6% of the ATH and ATL. Provided this did happen, look for a quick move back to the ATH. TSLA : 1,037.45 (+2.82%) Yes, there was a film version of "Little Women" out just last year, but it wasn't written and directed by Greta Gerwig. Meanwhile, there have been three "Spider-Man" franchise reboots, a dozen Madea movies, 13 "X-Men" entries and a constant cultural churning of Batmen and Supermen and 007s. So don't you dare ask if we need another "Little Women." The cast is perfect in this follow-up to Gerwig's "Lady Bird," right down to the choice of Streep in the small but key role of acerbic Aunt March. "We're Only Alive For a Short Amount of Time" had its world premiere at the Goodman last September, directed by Falls. Cale tells the shocking story of his childhood growing up in the working-class town of Luton, England, where he escaped his parents fraught marriage by singing in his bedroom and tending to birds in his backyard animal hospital. In his Tribune review, Chris Jones said the work was deeply personal, indisputably courageous, frequently shocking and deeply moving. The play includes songs with Cales musical collaborator Matthew Dean Marsh. Khew will be responsible for driving the continued growth of AXAs health business and aims to provide a better experience for its health customers. She joined AXA in December 2009, bringing substantial experience in life insurance sales and accident & health underwriting. In her over nine years with AXA, she has managed various distribution channels. Meanwhile, Yap will take on the role of chief people officer after over two decades of experience in human resources, risk and assurance, and strategic business planning and partnering, and was most recently head of business execution for Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East at ANZ. We believe strongly in developing talent within the company, and I am proud that we have been able to support Juliets career development over the years and now promote her to the Executive Committee, commented Drouffe. I look forward to working alongside Hayley, Juliet and Kevin, and to their contributions as we continue to evolve and enhance our Singapore business around the changing needs of our customers. Founded in 1987, Westphalen is a long-time family run business, with a focus on property and casualty, personal lines and transportation. The brokerage, led by Jeff Westphalen, has binding authority commitments within each of its core segments with A rated XV carriers, all of which will continue with RT Specialty. Were very excited to have Jeff and his team at Westphalen join RT Specialty, said Tim Turner, chairman and CEO of RT Specialty. The Oklahoma City Market is one that weve been targeting and looking for the right broker; Westphalen is that broker. We couldnt be happier to establish our presence with this team. Federal regulators have given official approval to New Jersey Transit for a two-year extension to complete the implementation of a required emergency braking system. The Federal Railroad Administration sent a letter this week that said NJ Transit met six key criteria by the end of December. NJ Transit and several other railroad operators around the country had sought and received extensions past the original Dec. 31, 2018, deadline mandated by the federal government. The system, called positive train control, can automatically stop a train when its engineer is incapacitated or unable to operate controls. It was mandated by federal regulators after a 2008 commuter rail crash in California that killed 25 people, but it has taken years for the nations freight and passenger railroads to install the complex system on locomotives and trackside infrastructure. NJ Transits installation, which had lagged for several years, gained more impetus after a 2016 crash at the Hoboken terminal killed a woman and injured hundreds. Beginning in early 2018, new Executive Director Kevin Corbett made it a priority but it came with consequences for riders as trains had to be taken out of service, forcing service cutbacks during the second half of the year. Some of the disruptions remain: the Philadelphia-to-Atlantic City line has been out of service since last fall and wont resume service until May 24, NJ Transit announced Wednesday. Among the next steps required by the FRA are that NJ Transit wrap up training more than 900 employees on the new system and, perhaps more important, conduct live testing on its 11 rail lines. Last year, NJ Transit conducted testing on a 17-mile stretch of track in western New Jersey during overnight hours. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New Jersey Rhode Island police have arrested a man they say was driving under the influence when he struck more than 40 other vehicles. Police say 45-year-old Christopher Paolissi, of Foster, was zig-zagging his pickup truck when he struck 41 vehicles in Providence on Tuesday afternoon. Police say Paolissi was intoxicated, and he was driving about 15 mph when officers stopped him. He was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported. Police Chief Hugh Clements says officers are compiling a lengthy report due to the number of vehicles hit. Paolissi is facing multiple charges, including driving under the influence, reckless driving and failure to stop after an accident. His case wasnt listed in state records, and its unclear if he has an attorney. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Personal Auto Law Enforcement Irish drivers have been warned they will need a special insurance document to cross the currently invisible border to Northern Ireland after next month if the U.K. leaves the European Union without a deal. The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland said Wednesday that it has issued insurance firms with 1 million application forms for the internationally recognized Green Card document. British drivers travelling to Ireland or other EU countries will also need the paperwork just one of a host of new rules and hurdles citizens will need to negotiate if Britain crashes out of the bloc without a framework for departure terms and future relations. Currently, auto insurance in any EU country covers the whole bloc. If there is a deal, there will be no change until at least the end of 2020. Britain is due to leave the 28-nation bloc on March 29 but so far its Parliament has rejected the governments divorce deal with the EU, raising the prospect of a chaotic no deal Brexit. Governments in EU countries, as well as in Britain, have warned citizens and businesses to prepare for potential disruption to trade and travel as tariffs, customs checks and other barriers are put up between Britain and its biggest trading partner. But U.K. authorities admitted this week that neither individuals nor businesses are ready for a no-deal departure, and the short time remaining before 29 March 2019 does not allow government to unilaterally mitigate the effects of no deal. British Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking changes to her Brexit deal from the EU, and says U.K. lawmakers will get to vote on it again by March 12. If it is rejected, lawmakers will then vote on whether to leave the EU without an agreement or seek to postpone Brexit by up to three months. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Europe Personal Auto Uk Police say one employee was killed and another was injured at a suburban Detroit car wash when a pickup truck struck them. Troy Police Sgt. Meghan Lehman said the accident occurred Monday afternoon at a Jax Kar Wash as the vehicle was almost finished going through the wash. She says the truck was coming off tracks but still inside the car wash when the truck hit the employees, pinning one against a wall while the other bounced off the truck. The employee who was pinned against the wall was pronounced dead at a hospital. His name wasnt immediately released. Lehman says theres no indication of an equipment malfunction. The car wash closed after the accident, which remains under investigation. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto Michigan Companies rebuilding storm-damaged homes in the U.S. Virgin Islands under a federally funded program say they havent been paid in months and are threatening to place liens on the houses. The dispute highlights what critics call the slow pace at which the Trump administration has distributed aid money to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico following a string of devastating storms in 2017. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency says its simply following the steps required to ensure the money is spent properly. In a letter dated Feb. 22 and obtained by Bloomberg News, the three companies Polaris Engineering Inc. and Lamar Contractors LLC, both based in Louisiana, and SLSCO Ltd. of Texas say theyre owed more than $60 million in severely past due invoices, some of which are nearly one year old. The companies were hired to perform repair work in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck 18 months ago. Without prompt payment, we will have no choice but to assert our rights to assert lien(s) on their property, the letters authors write. We truly hope to reach an amicable resolution to this horrible situation. None of the companies responded to messages seeking further comment. A lien is a claim on a house which typically prevents the homeowner from selling or refinancing the property. Lead Contractor The letter was addressed to AECOM, lead contractor for the rebuilding efforts. AECOM confirmed the authenticity of the letter, and said that it hasnt paid its subcontractors because it has yet to be paid by the Virgin Islands. While we are still waiting for many of our outstanding invoices to be processed and paid, we would like to thank Governor Albert Bryan for diligently working to expedite the release of recovery funds, AECOM said in a statement. Our top priority continues to be helping the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands return to a new normal as quickly as possible, and we are committed to doing everything we can to provide the timely payment of services. Reached by phone on Tuesday, Bryans communications director, Richard Motta Jr., said he would find out the status of that money. He didnt return subsequent calls or emails. Call for Paperwork The construction is being funded by FEMAs Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power program, which since Maria has committed to spending more than $222 million in the Virgin Islands. The territory has so far spent $137 million of that money, according to Abigail Dennis, a FEMA spokeswoman. FEMA will only allow the Virgin Islands to spend the rest of the money once the territory has provided the necessary paperwork, Dennis said. She said that the territory has yet to do so. The work has to be done properly and up to code or no payment is issued, Dennis said by email. The challenges of storm recovery in the Virgin Islands echo those in Puerto Rico, which has become a poster-child for problems in the aid process. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, in an appearance Tuesday before the House Natural Resources Committee, said the island territory had suffered from unequal treatment due to its commonwealth status, badly undermining its recovery prospects. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics USA Windstorm Contractors FEMA When a reward is tempting enough, people will break their own moral codes to gain the desired prize. Afterward, theyll tell you exactly how they were justified: It wasnt as if anyone was harmed, I was only borrowing , My boss told me to or Its our customers responsibility to read the fine print. Its a rationalizing process called moral disengagement that Darden Professors Sean Martin and Jim Detert have studied. People are self-interested, but we dont like to face that about ourselves because we also have a strong need to see ourselves as good people, they argue, so we unintentionally, and quite effortlessly, use a series of cognitive maneuvers to justify self-interested choices that dont align with who we say we want to be or what we want others to think about us. Moral disengagement can accompany small transgressions pocketing extra change given in error at a coffee bar (It was the cashiers fault) and major scandals, such as those that have happened when employees at major U.S., European and Japanese automakers rationalized away behaviors that led to false advertising about fuel efficiency or potential risks to consumer safety. In a series of experiments, Detert, Martin and their colleagues found that the more tempting the potential personal gain is, the more likely people are to break their own internal standards (their conscience) by utilizing morally disengaged thinking to distort the ethical consequences of a behavior. Martin says companies should be aware of this universal human tendency and learn how to challenge moral disengagement before it leads to bad decisions or creates an unethical culture. LISTEN FOR CUES When people are about to do something wrong because theyre morally disengaging, their language often changes. Euphemisms replace plain-spoken language. For example, Wells Fargo employees opening fake banking accounts called it gaming rather than fraud. When people pirate music or break licenses on software they may call it file sharing instead of stealing. When theyre about to distort some accounting or sales numbers, employees may say Everyone does it (diffusion of responsibility) or Its no big deal (distortion of consequences). In a letter to employees, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz reportedly victim-blamed passenger David Dao, who was dragged out of his paid-for seat on an overbooked United flight, by calling him disruptive and belligerent. Thats an example of attribution of blame. Here are eight common moral disengagement strategies and what they sound like: Moral justification (This is actually the morally right thing to do; were actually helping them by doing this.) (This is actually the morally right thing to do; were actually helping them by doing this.) Euphemistic labeling (Im just borrowing this. Its collateral damage.') (Im just borrowing this. Its collateral damage.') Advantageous comparison (Doing A, is not as bad as doing B. Its not like Im doing B.) (Doing A, is not as bad as doing B. Its not like Im doing B.) Displacement of responsibility (My boss told me to do it. Im just following orders.) (My boss told me to do it. Im just following orders.) Diffusion of responsibility (Everyones doing it. Its a group decision. This is just a small part of a bigger system.) (Everyones doing it. Its a group decision. This is just a small part of a bigger system.) Distortion of consequences (This is a victimless crime. No harm done. Its no big deal.) (This is a victimless crime. No harm done. Its no big deal.) Attribution of blame (They brought it on themselves. Buyer beware.) (They brought it on themselves. Buyer beware.) Dehumanization (Theyre a bunch of dogs. Theyre like robots.) A MORAL GUIDE Martin has handed out a laminated list of these rationalizations to his leadership students in the past. They refer to it in class, using it to challenge each other and launch critical discussions. Former students have even taken it to work, hanging it on their office walls to remind themselves. These phrases are verbal indicators that something is triggering our moral circuitry, even if were not aware of it at the time, Martin says. When we learn to stop and identify the mental gymnastics, it gives us an opportunity to step back and ask Why do we feel the need to use these phrases whats underlying this? Is this statement in line with what we believe to be right? Are these choices aligned with who we say we want to be and the values we claim to hold?' Using this guide is not about determining who is good or bad, or condemning a person who uses this framing, Martin emphasizes. Everyone falls prey to these rationalizations at one time or another. Its just part of being a human being, Martin notes. But being aware of what they sound like and when we might be particularly susceptible because we have a lot to gain (or lose) helps remove [self-interested] bias from decision-making so that individuals and companies make decisions that are tightly aligned with their values and with public trust. Says Detert, Because its very hard to consistently catch ourselves from morally disengaging, people who really want to avoid these cognitive traps create systems that involve others lists of common rationalizations on office walls, a trusted co-worker who confronts them when they hear a rationalization, a group decision-making process that includes at least one person who has no self-interest in the decision (and is thus less likely to morally disengage about it). STAYING CENTERED Additionally, this work highlights other ways companies can reduce self-interest in decision-making. In experiments, Detert, Martin and their colleagues showed that when participants were aware of people who would be harmed by their choices, they were less likely to make a self-interested choice. For organizations, this means regularly reminding workers of the connections between their actions and the impact on customers lives, communities in which they operate, and other countries where they source and sell. Requiring employees to analyze potential harm to stakeholders in any new project, product or decision may keep the do no harm standard in the forefront, and thereby reduce moral disengagement, they wrote in a Journal of Business Ethics article. They also found that conscientious workers those who described themselves as always prepared, detail-oriented and diligent were less likely to be influenced by personal gain and thus less likely to make self-interested choices. Conscientiousness isnt a flashy trait, they note, but something companies should consider as they hire and promote. Finally, Martin says companies need to scrutinize the goals they set. When unachievably high goals are combined with tempting rewards or threats (e.g., getting a massive bonus for making sales goals or losing a job for missing them), its far more likely that unethical behavior will occur. For example, Wells Fargo employees were aggressively incentivized to sell eight products to each customer, an unrealistic goal that led to massive cheating. James R. Detert and Sean R. Martin co-authored Situational Influences on Moral Disengagement: The Roles of Personal Gain and Harm to Others, which appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, with Jennifer Kish-Gephart of the University of Arkansas, Linda Klebe Trevino of The Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business, and Vicki Baker of Albion College. Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies is adding a commercial package product that will include coverages for property, general liability, umbrella, and employment-related practices liability insurance (EPLI). The company plans to launch the product in Pennsylvania in early April with other states to follow, according to GUARD CEO Sy Foguel. The new package product has been designed to complement the companys current businessowners policy by addressing the insurance needs of larger, more complex operations or businesses with multiple exposures, said Executive Vice President Lyle Hitt. Initial target markets include light-to-medium manufacturing, wholesalers and distributors, truck stops/travel plazas, resorts, and country clubs. The product will eventually expand into new markets. The product offers discounts when two or more lines are purchased as well as additional discounts based on unique business characteristics. Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies Commercial Package will include: commercial property coverage with built-in equipment breakdown, inland marine, and crime coverage; general liability with base limits of $1 million to $6 million with even higher limits considered; employment-related practices liability insurance (EPLI); and commercial umbrella for added protection. In October of 2012, GUARD was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In 2013, GUARD unveiled a new identity as Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies. GUARD offers a national footprint with a growing list of insurance products, including: workers compensation, property/liability via a businessowners policy, commercial auto, umbrella, professional liability, disability, and homeowners. Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Berkshire Hathaway Channeling the ire of constituents and drawing from personal experience, senators chastised drug company executives Tuesday over the high cost of prescription medications, while the CEOs warned that government price controls could stifle breakthroughs on diseases like Alzheimers. The Senate Finance Committee hearing marked the first time lawmakers have called the industrys top executives to account for rising prices, which are a drain on Medicare and Medicaid and a burden to millions of Americans. The extraordinary public accounting was a sign that Congress and the White House are moving toward legislation this year to curb costs. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who has Parkinsons, said the cost of one of his longtime medications had jumped by $90 when he went to refill it recently. I cant explain it, said Isakson, who credits prescription drugs for allowing him to keep working. He started making calls and found a whole range of prices for the medication. The second-ranking Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, expressed disbelief that Humira, a blockbuster drug for immune system conditions from AbbVie, is protected by more than 130 patents that cumulatively translate to decades of roadblocks for generic competitors. AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez responded that each new FDA-approved use of the drug represents an investment by the company in research, even if the medication is the same. At some point that patent has to end so that the patient can get access to that drug at much cheaper cost, Cronyn said. Drug costs are squeezing Americans in a number of ways: New medicines for cancer and other diseases often launch with prices exceeding $100,000 per year even as employers are shifting more pharmacy costs onto workers. Less expensive drugs for common ailments like diabetes and asthma often see price hikes of around 10 percent annually. Meanwhile some drugmakers have been buying up once-cheap medicines and hiking prices by 1,000 percent or more. The pharmaceutical executives expressed a general desire to lower costs for patients, but made no firm commitments. Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier warned that outrageous solutions could sacrifice industry innovation. He said lung cancer patients in the United Kingdom are still waiting for a drug available here that can cut deaths in half among those newly diagnosed. Sanofi CEO Olivier Brandicourt said using government price controls would not be enough to make medicines affordable. Senators seemed to be looking for a balance between protecting innovation and closing off legal and policy loopholes that have enabled savvy companies to game the markets. New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez, considered an ally of the industry, delivered what he called a friendly warning: If you dont undertake meaningful action to reduce pharmaceutical costs, policymakers are going to do it for you. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Congress intends to respond to the drug price problem in a measured and effective way and he is planning to question other industry actors including health insurance companies and middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers. The CEOs said drug development is a risky and costly undertaking and that prices reflect investment in research and development. But under questioning from Grassley they also acknowledged other factors affecting how they set prices, including public perception and what Medicare and Medicaid pay. In addition to Merck, Sanofi and AbbVie, other companies represented at the hearing included AstraZeneca, which makes the cholesterol drug Crestor, Bristol-Myers Squibb, maker of the blood thinner Eliquis; Johnson & Johnson, maker of Xarelto to prevent blood clots; and Pfizer, maker of Lyrica for nerve pain. All you who are here are here because the way youve been doing business is unacceptable and unsustainable, ranking Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon told the CEOs. Democrats say its time for Medicare to leverage its purchasing power and directly negotiate prices with the industry, a step most Republicans oppose. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. Drugmakers top lobbying arm, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, spent a record $27.9 million last year to sway federal decision-makers, according to records tallied by the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. But Tuesdays hearing seemed to mark a change in direction. President Donald Trumps recurring blasts at drugmakers appear to be closer to finding a pathway to legislation. Drugmakers pointed a finger at other industry players. Rebates paid to pharmacy benefit managers help assure favorable treatment for a medication on an insurers list of covered drugs and help keep premiums lower. But the rebates are not passed on to consumers who use the particular medication, and they can face high copays based on the drugs list price, not the discounted one. The companies offered solutions of their own, some of which echo proposals from the administration or awmakers. Among them: Allow patients to share in rebates when they buy their medication, proposed by the Trump administration. Place a hard limit on cost-sharing and copays for Medicare beneficiaries in the popular Part D prescription program, supported by Wyden. Make greater use of value-based contracts that tie payments to how well a medication works. Promote the introduction of lower-cost generics and biosimilars, competition that brand manufacturers are often accused of impeding. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Drugs Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) Malacanang said President Rodrigo Duterte is not going against court decisions saying the Marcoses amassed ill-gotten wealth, but was only doubting claims that have not yet been proven. In a media briefing Friday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, "Bakit hindi maniniwala kung yun ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema? But with respect doon sa claim na bilyon-bilyon ang ninakaw, eh medyo malabo 'yun." [Translation: Why would he not believe when it was the Supreme Court who made the decision? But with respect to the claim that billions were stolen, that's quite unbelievable.] In a speech at an event with the League of Municipalities Tuesday, Duterte raised doubts over the ill-gotten wealth amassed during former President Ferdinand Marcos' regime. "The other law what they want to say is that Marcos was a dictator that he stole ano. ... Until now you have not proven anything except to sequester and sell - hindi mo nga sigurado kung talagang kay Marcos ba 'yan [you have not yet proven if that is really from Marcos]?" said Duterte. Panelo said the President may made the comment "because there is no court case that has...that convicted the President (Marcos) of any ill-gotten wealth." He added, "I don't know of any case filed against the President (Marcos)." Panelo also doubted the claim that billions were stolen, saying the country did not have that amount when Marcos was in office. "The question now is, where in the hell did the Marcoses get the money?" he said. Panelo did, however, say Duterte was not disputing decisions handed down by the Supreme Court. "The matter of the President being convinced is another thing doon sa Supreme Court has decided that certain amount of money na na-trace which is beyond the salary of the two, agree siya doon [he agrees with that]...As a lawyer, whatever the Supreme Court says, we have no choice but to agree," he said. Panelo also tussled with reporters about an amount he gave during the briefing - $400 billion. When asked how he came up with the figure, Panelo merely said, "Ewan ko, yan lang palagi kong nababasa na billions of billions of dollars ang ninakaw eh...that was the claim. That's what I read ever since...yung 400 billion, matagal ko nang naririnig yon. Nung 70s ko pa naririnig yun eh." [Translation: I don't know, I keep reading they stole billions and billions of dollars...that was the claim. That's what I read ever since...the 400 billion, I've been hearing that for a long time. I've been hearing about it since the 70s.] Vice President Leni Robredo, meanwhile, said court decisions prove the Marcoses did obtain ill-gotten wealth. A statement from the Office of the Vice President Friday quoted Robredo saying, "Hindi totoo na walang proof, kasi marami nang kasong nadesisyunan. Alam natin iyon. Marami nang kasong nadesisyunan, hindi lang dito sa Pilipinas, pero pati mga courts sa Switzerland at saka sa U.S., na mayroon nang judgment." [Translation: It's not true there's no proof, because a lot of cases have been decided upon. We know that. Decisions have been made on cases, not just in the Philippines, but even in courts in Switzerland and the U.S.] The Marcoses and their cronies have an estimated $10 billion or around P530 billion supposedly stolen from government coffers. The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) - which is tasked to collect the stolen wealth - has only recovered P171.359 billion from 1986 to 2017. The government has 255 pending civil, criminal and administrative cases before the Supreme Court, Sandiganbayan, Court of Appeals and other lower courts as part of efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth. In August 2017, Duterte said the Marcos family had offered to turn over part of its questionable wealth. But senatorial candidate and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos said they leave it up to their lawyers. So, the world of the Outcasts might not be perfect, but it feels safe and loving like everyones working toward a common goal. Albrecht is understandably intoxicated by this community, and not just because he loves one of its members. This becomes clearer still when the wall lifts, tilting 90-degrees to reveal the landlords behind it. They are a ravishing group, with Bathilde among them decked out in sparkling haute couture (by set and costume designer Tim Yip) but, for lack of a better description, dont seem that fun to hang out with. Its been said that money cant buy happiness; this lot seems to embody the tenet. As Albrecht must choose between his own happiness and societal and familial expectations, these worlds literally oscillate as Giselle is engulfed by the Outcasts, commanded to death by the landlords when its revealed she is pregnant. Officials with a company that owns an unstable phosphogypsum pile and a lake of acidic water atop it say theyre encouraged by recent efforts to halt a potential environmental disaster in a Louisiana parish. Unexpected movement along the northern face of the waste pile has raised fears that the pile could fail catastrophically and release hundreds of millions of gallons of acidic water laced with heavy metals and trace radioactivity into swamps and waterways around the Uncle Sam plant near Convent, The Advocate reported . Mosaic Fertilizer says it doesnt have sufficient data to calculate the risk that a bulge in the pile wall will give away, but believes its falling. In recent weeks, Mosaic has been trying to drain the 140-acre lakes acidic water held atop the 200-foot-high pile and reduce pressure on the sliding wall of gypsum. It has also trucked in dirt to act as a kind of brake, company officials said. Mosaic said the pile is moving more slowly but is still continuing to shift _ between a foot and 2 feet since Jan. 11. Its modeling shows that any failure would release the acidic water gradually and wont escape company property. The water would be trapped in a few hundred acres of cane fields, according to documents. We are encouraged by the trend showing that the lateral movement on the north slope is slowing, Mosaic spokeswoman Callie Neslund said. However, several environmentalists have said the risk to the nearby Blind River and the surrounding swamps is real should the water ever get out. Philip Bucolo, an aquatic biologist and visiting assistant professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, said the waters high acidity would be harmful to freshwater plants it contacts, though waterways would dilute its acidity farther away from the plant. Although Bucolo couldnt say for certain if the acidic water could penetrate the soil and escape underground if trapped in cane fields, he said the company and regulators should be obligated to prove that it wouldnt. Wilma Subra, a chemist and technical adviser to the nonprofit Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said the metals found in the water dont break down but can accumulate over time and concentrate in plants along with animals if the contaminants escape. Mosaic, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have not affirmatively said that the gypsum wall wont give way eventually. They also havent said how much movement in the northern wall would be necessary for a failure to occur or how much drainage of the lake is necessary to stop the movement. Mosaic said it had insufficient data to compute the daily probability of a failure of the northern face of the gypsum pile or its rate of movement. The company noted that its actions to drain the lake and bring in dirt to brake the walls movement are raising the probability that the rate of movement will slow. The company has suggested that historical data for other mining waste piles show that the annual probability of a sliding failure of the Uncle Sam pile can be expected to drop from less than 0.5 percent on Jan. 11 to 0.0001 percent at an undetermined future date when the safety factor is high enough. Its not clear from documents provided Tuesday by the EPA when that level of safety would be reached at Uncle Sam, the Advocate reported. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Louisiana Pollution Insurance Group of St. Charles County has purchased BLP Insurance Services dba Pelt Risk Advisors, an Atlanta-based insurance company founded in 2010 by Byron Pelt. Insurance Group of St. Charles County, headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., is a member of Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a family of over 120 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois. Founded in 1992, Insurance Group of St. Charles County is a full-service insurance agency that specializes in personal and business insurance. The company is owned by husband and wife Ben and Rhonda Fischer. BLP Insurance Services is an independently owned and locally operated insurance agency offering insurance products from a variety of carriers. It offers vehicle, property, business, health and life insurance in the Atlanta area. Founded in 2006, VIAA generates more than $195 million in written premium and is the regional founding member for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a more than $8 billion national alliance. Topics Mergers Florida officials are looking for assistance from residents of Lake County, Fla., in catching a suspected serial arsonist who is believed to be connected to multiple fires in the Umatilla area, according to a statement from Florida CFO and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis. Arson detectives from the Florida Department of Financial Services believe this suspect is involved in several incidents in the Umatilla area and are considering a possible connection between two structure fires that occurred at the Old Crow Real Pit Bar-B-Q and at Sunoco (793 South Central Avenue) along with multiple vehicle fires that occurring off 685 Saltsdale Road, 39521 East Cemetery Road and 1016 Pine Tree Drive. All fires occurred in the same region and within a 25-hour timespan., As of Monday afternoon, two additional fires occurred at 37000 block of State Road 19 and 933 North Central Avenue. Detectives are treating every fire that occurs within the Umatilla area as suspicious in nature until determined otherwise through the investigative process, the statement said. The Lake County Sheriffs Office and the Umatilla Police Department are assisting with the investigation. Arson is a dangerous crime that not only destroys property but can have deadly consequences. My arson team is working with Sheriff Grinnells teams on the ground to track down this suspect before they strike again. If you have any information, please contact us immediately, so we can bring this criminal to justice, Patronis said. CFO Jimmy Patronis and his detectives encourage anyone who may have information surrounding these fires to contact the Arson Tip Hotline by calling 1-877-662-7766. Any individual that provides information leading to a successful prosecution may be eligible for a cash reward, and callers can choose to remain anonymous. Source: Florida Department of Financial Services Topics Florida Many Southern communities could face weeks of flooding, along with other disruptions, as recent rains have sent many streams over their banks. In one Mississippi Delta hamlet, the mayor says water has cut off all but one road into the town and forced some residents to flee. Runoff is pooling behind a Mississippi levee and could cause record flooding. And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened a spillway to relieve pressure on New Orleans. Nearly the entire state of Tennessee has seen 10-20 inches (25-51 centimeters) of rain this month, the National Weather Service said. The Tennessee Department of Transportation is building temporary lanes on Interstate 24 near Nashville after a landslide closed the highways eastbound lanes Saturday. Authorities Wednesday estimated 800-900 homes flooded in and around Knoxville. The Tennessee River was cresting Wednesday at Perryville, Tennessee, at the third-highest level ever, with waters predicted to fall gradually. Many riverside buildings are submerged in a string of small towns, and drinking water is cut off in a few areas. People are going to be shell-shocked when the water recedes, Hardin County Mayor Kevin Davis told the Jackson Sun. The Ohio River is predicted to crest this weekend at Cairo, Illinois, also at the third-highest level ever. But the flow is far from over downriver, with crests at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and below unlikely until the middle of March. In Glendora, Mississippi, the town of 151 people was caught between the flooded Tallahatchie River and Black Bayou. Water is within inches of covering U.S. 49, the only unflooded route into town. Mayor Johnny B. Thomas told The Associated Press that 12-15 houses in the small Delta town are flooded. A shelter is open, although Thomas said many people are trying to stay home. The water has receded an inch or two. Thomas said, but National Weather Service forecasters are warning of more rain over the weekend. Ive never seen it this bad, he said. Thomas said. Im surrounded with water under my house. Some of that water is pooling up against a closed Mississippi River levee and could cause a 75-mile-long flood in the Mississippi Delta. Mississippi Levee Board Chief Engineer Peter Nimrod said Wednesday that water inside the Yazoo Backwater Levee could reach the highest levels since the levee was completed in 1978. The levee protects thousands of square miles from even worse flooding by the Mississippi River. But when officials close a floodgate that keeps out the big river, water draining down smaller rivers has nowhere to go. That gate is closed now and is unlikely to reopen until late in March. The water just sits there, Nimrod said. Its a dead flat pool. Clay Adcock, who farms 3,800 acres near Holly Bluff, Mississippi, said his home has never flooded in the 34 years hes lived there. But hes worried now. Im building a levee today, Adcock said. All but about 200 acres (81 hectares) of his land will be unfarmable until water recedes, Adcock said, meaning he wont be able to plant corn because of a shortened growing season. Instead, Adcock will turn to other crops. In Louisiana, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened a flood control structure upstream of New Orleans to divert Mississippi River water and ease pressure on levees protecting the city. Cranes lifted wooden timbers from the Bonnet Carre Spillway structure Wednesday. That allows some river water to flow into Lake Pontchartrain. Wednesday marks the first time the structure has operated in consecutive years. Its the 13th time its opened since construction was completed in 1931. ___ Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana and Kevin McGill contributed from New Orleans. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics USA Flood Mississippi Tennessee Teri Simpson, 43, of Napavine, Wash., was charged in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree theft in connection with an insurance claim over an expensive piece of jewelry. An investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidlers Criminal Investigations Unit shows Simpson filed a renters insurance claim with Grange Insurance in January 2018 for a lost Tiffany charm bracelet, valued at $2,400. Grange paid Simpson $1,320 for the bracelet. Simpson told detectives she found the bracelet in her purse five months after she received the payment, but didnt inform the insurer of the recovery. Simpsons renters insurance policy included language stating that the company must be notified if property is recovered after a claim is settled, and the insured has the option to keep the settlement money or the property, but not both. Topics Abuse Molestation Washington Investigations by the California Department of Insurance led to the arrests of insurance agents who allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars from clients and failed to place insurance coverage for those clients. Maria Aquino, 34, of South Gate, was charged with multiple felony counts of embezzlement and theft for allegedly pocketing over $48,000 in insurance premium payments and failing to place insurance coverage for her clients between 2011 and 2018. The premium payments collected by Aquino, while doing business as Kino Insurance and Tax Services, were reportedly never sent to insurance carriers. Aquino allegedly falsified certificates of insurance for more than eight clients in order to hide her embezzlement. Her license was revoked in 2018. In a separate case, Chih Ming Huang, also known as James Huang, 41, of Rowland Heights, was charged with multiple counts of embezzlement, theft and forgery after allegedly stealing nearly $14,000 dollars from more than three clients and also failing to place insurance coverage for his clients. After receiving a complaint from Farmers Insurance, where Huang had been previously employed, the department found that between 2011 and 2013, Huang reportedly embezzled premium payments by placing coverage for clients then canceling the coverage without his clients knowledge. Cancelling the coverage generated refund checks to his clients, which he received because he had changed their address on record to a location he controlled. Huang then reportedly applied the refunds to policies in the names of his aliases and cancelled those polices to get refunds in his own name, which he deposited into his personal bank account. The department is taking action against Huangs license. Both of these cases are being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office. Aquino surrendered on Feb. 27 to the Downey Police Department. Huang will surrender on March 4. Topics California Agencies Fraud Guidance Charter School, of Palmdale, Calif. will pay $8,000 and provide other injunctive relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced. The consent decree was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. According to the EEOC, Guidance Charter School paid a female math tutor a lower hourly rate than her male counterpart despite their jobs being the same. The EEOC contends that the employee complained of the unequal pay and the school failed to address the pay discrepancy. Such conduct violates the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, EEOC v. The Guidance Charter School, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation agreement through its conciliation process. The court will maintain jurisdiction over this case for the term of the two-year consent decree. In addition to monetary relief, Guidance Charter School will review and revise its policies and procedures regarding compliance with the EPA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, implement training to all employees regarding equal pay practices, sex discrimination and retaliation, develop a centralized tracking system for policy dissemination and discrimination, unequal pay, or retaliation complaints, and submit annual reports to the EEOC verifying compliance with the decree. Topics Lawsuits California USA Pollution March 1, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Chen Lin of What Is Chen Buying, What Is Chen Selling? newsletter explains why he has invested in this oil explorer and developer. Pan Orient Energy Corp. (POE:TSX.V) is a simple story; it was clearly described in its Valentine's Day press release and the presentation on its website. Pan Orient has about ~70c CAD in cash per share and Thailand 2P reserve worth about ~70c CAD per share, and it is trading not far from it. Currently, POE is drilling two appraisal wells right now in Thailand. If successful, they can significantly increase the 2P reserve. Pan Orient is also planning to drill a few high impact exploration wells in Thailand in the second half of 2019. The bottom line is that by the end of 2019, the company could significantly increase the existing Thailand 2P reserve. The big upside is the Indonesia drilling by its partner Repsol (50-50). Repsol just made huge discovery not far from the location it is going to drill in MayJune. If it can repeat the success, POE's stock price will be in the double digits. Historically, POE has done little marketing and promotion; its shares have been under the radar for years. Management consistently bought shares from the open market, sold assets and paid shareholders big dividends in past years. I am pretty sure Pan Orient will do it again if it makes any significant discoveries in Thailand or Indonesia this year. If you love promotion, this is not your type of stock. However, if you think it is more important for management to deliver shareholder value than to spend time and money promoting the stories over and over again, POE should be on top of your list. Chen Lin manages a family fund and writes about it in the popular stock newsletter What Is Chen Buying? What Is Chen Selling? While a doctoral candidate in aeronautical engineering at Princeton, Lin found his investment strategies were so profitable that he put his Ph.D. on the back burner. He employs a value-oriented approach and often demonstrates excellent market timing due to his exceptional technical analysis. Disclosure: 1) Chen Lin: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Pan Orient Energy. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: None. I determined which companies would be included in this article based on my research and understanding of the sector. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Pan Orient Energy. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. 4) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. 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Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp March 1, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) As the groundbreaking real-estate industry platform provides "disruption from the inside," the company moves to monetize its asset. Publicly traded small-cap RESAAS Services Inc. (RSS:TSX.V; RSASF:OTCQB) is changing the way real estate professionals do business. Its award-winning cloud and blockchain technology platform enables real estate brokerages, franchises and MLSs to bring real-time communication, simplified transactions and valuable data to their agents on a global basis. This allows RESAAS subscribers to do more business through more connections. Like other successful networking platforms in their early stages, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., RESAAS is aggregating valuable data and beginning to monetize various features that don't exist elsewhere in the real-estate world today, creating multiple revenue streams. RESAAS' platform has been catching on quickly. The world's two largest real estate firms, RE/MAX and Keller Williams, have signed on to use RESAAS' platform. About a dozen of the larger real estate associations in the U.S. also use RESAAS' technology, including the real estate associations in San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Miami, the entire state of Rhode Island, Beverly Hills and the Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors. Real estate professionals have been flocking to the platform. The technology is now used by over 460,000 agents globally, 90% of whom are in North America. Investor and newsletter writer Nick Hodge told Streetwise Reports that RESAAS' platform is "connecting real estate agents, brokers, franchises and Multiple Listing Services, all the various components of the real estate industry. That has never really been done before. RESAAS is disrupting the entire real estate industry by creating a kind of Facebook for real estate agents." "By already being able to sign up two of the largest real estate firms in the world, RE/MAX and Keller Williams, and already having over 400,000 users, that creates critical mass; it already has its customers on its platform and has their attention," Hodge added. And although the company is still young, RESAAS has multiple revenue streams: Agent Referrals RESAAS' technology acts as a matchmaker to enable agent referrals. An agent in one region can use the platform to refer a client to an agent in another region. The referral process has been made easier with the launch at the end of October of a new system called RESAAS Pay to send and receive referral fees, the first of its kind in the real estate industry. "The old system of paying agents referral fees was very clunky, slow and expensive. With RESAAS Pay, an agent can pay another agent with a credit card; it's elegant, secure and quick," Tom Rossiter, CEO of RESAAS, told Streetwise Reports. "It also opens a new revenue stream for the company because we charge a transaction fee." Referrals have the potential to become a major revenue stream, Nick Hodge noted. "The revenue on referrals has the potential to grow from about $1 million to probably $1012 million, so a 10x jump just on that business," he stated. In addition, last summer RESAAS contracted with Realty Universal, a company that provides agent-to-agent services, to develop a private network on its platform for 6,000 members, specifically for conducting referrals in the U.S. Premium Subscriptions "In addition to revenue from referrals, there are a lot of moving components and other sources of revenue that we can call blue-sky that make this investment in RESAAS very exciting, including premium subscriptions and data collection," Hodge relayed. RESAAS is converting some of its users to premium subscribers. For $30 a month, agents gain benefits not available in the no-cost version. "Currently about 1% of users have switched to the premium subscription, but about 10% are anticipated to do so," investor and newsletter writer Nick Hodge told Streetwise Reports. "If RESAAS can convert 10% of its members to premium status, that would create about $14 million in annual revenue," Hodge calculated. Data Collection Many real estate agents sell houses in the pre-market, where the transaction exists between two agents, and the sale will never be available on MLS, Zillow, Trulia or other public sites. In addition to making the connections that make the private sale possible, RESAAS is able to capture the sales data. "That data is extremely valuable because it does not exist anywhere else," Tom Rossiter, CEO of RESAAS, told Streetwise Reports. "Companies like Zillow, Trulia and CoreLogic are interested in this kind of information for data analysis or determining trends in real estate markets on a regional and local level. All this transaction data is very much a big business these days," Hodge stated. In addition, last July RESAAS signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with San Francisco-based Real Estate Consortia Inc. to track and capture household data, such as loans backing the properties and transaction history. Collaboration with Canadian Real Estate Investment Firm RESAAS has an international reach. The company has been working with REIN, a Canadian real estate investment firm, since the spring. "REIN wanted to digitally connect its membership of real estate investors with each other to share investment opportunities. Currently that is done in person at events," Rossiter stated. Initially, RESAAS worked with REIN to see what changes would need to be made to match REIN's needs. Once the spec was complete, "we then engaged with REIN's parent company, LEGACY, to actually do the work our spec defined," explained Rossiter. On January 10, RESAAS announced an agreement with LEGACY to customize its platform to fit REIN's needs. "We have had a tremendous response from our members about our plans to digitize some of the very core fundamentals we provide," said Jean-Guy Francouer, Chief Growth Officer at LEGACY Council of Canada. "Proptech (property technology) will push real estate businesses to the next level, through growth using real estate tools, artificial intelligence, technology and apps." "The value we provide our members will be tremendous, as the basis for the technology is built from RESAAS' award-winning technology platform that already has an enterprise value of approximately $25 million. By extending it for our own specific needs, we will have a best-in-class solution for our members," he added. Analysis by Industry Observers Siddharth Rajeev, an analyst with Fundamental Research Corp., wrote in a report on January 7, "RESAAS Services Inc. has made significant changes to its board of directors and appointed a new chief financial officer; the company has also developed RESAAS Pay, a referral payment processing platform. It has also entered into a joint venture with a San Francisco-based blockchain company, signed an agreement with a 6,000-agent network and increased usage of its RealTimeMLS platform significantly in 2018." "RESAAS will charge a transaction fee on each referral payment processed by the company, opening up a major revenue stream," Rajeev noted. "With the company reporting RealTimeMLS membership increasing over 50% during 2017, it is clear that the company's platform is gaining popularity amongst real estate agents. As a real estate B2B SAAS company, increasing subscribership is a defining growth metric for RESAAS, and we see their continued growth as a bullish sign for the company's growth prospects," he added. Fundamental Research Corp. has a Buy rating on RESAAS and estimates the fair value per share at US$0.67. With 53 million shares outstanding, that infers a value of US$35 million. Currently RESAAS shares are trading at around CA$0.24 on the TSX Venture Exchange, giving it a market cap of CA$12.7 million or around US$9.6 million. Nick Hodge told Streetwise Report, "As an investor, I like that RESAAS has multiple revenue streams. It has transaction fees, premium app revenue, fees from facilitating transactions and data sales. And then you have the blue sky of the blockchain should some of the big real estate companies that it's already partnered with choose to host their transactions with RESAAS software." "As RESAAS increases conversions to the premium version of the app, and it starts facilitating real estate transactions on the blockchain and taking a percentage fee from real estate transactions, I think we could see the company get to a $100 million valuation in three years," Hodge calculated. Technical analyst Clive Maund has also been watching RESAAS. He wrote on CliveMaund.com on January 21, "I want to draw your attention to a stock that looks like it is shaping up for a major bull market. It's very cheap here, having dropped from a high at C$5.00 early in 2014 to the current 34 cents. A fine Double Bottom has formed over the past 6 months with a dramatic buildup in upside volume that is driving volume indicators strongly higher and it is viewed as an immediate buy here after its reaction back of the past week or so, with an awareness that in adverse market conditions it could drift back some more." On February 25, Maund wrote, "the big upside volume kicking in late last week is a sign that it [RESAAS shares] about to break higher againand this is a stock that tends to rally a lot faster than it drops. This is therefore a good point to add to positions or make fresh purchases." Here is how one real estate industry insider summed it up: "Disruption is on-going in the deeply entrenched RE industry. RESAAS is a partner to progressive MLSs who want to keep their organizations thriving and innovating. RESAAS is a company that will help an MLS build tools to modernize and adapt. You might call it 'disruption from the inside,'" stated Jay Pepper-Marten, director of MLS and IT for the San Francisco Association of REALTORS. If you are a licensed real estate agent or broker, you can sign up to RESAAS today here. Disclosure: 1) Patrice Fusillo compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: RESAAS Services. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. An affiliate of Streetwise Reports is conducting a digital media marketing campaign for this article on behalf of RESAAS Services. Please click here for more information. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of RESAAS Services, a company mentioned in this article. Additional disclosures: Nick Hodge of Nick's Notebook owns shares of RESAAS. Clive Maund does not own shares of RESAAS. Fundamental Research Corp.: The Analyst and FRC do not own shares of the subject company. Fees were paid by RSS to FRC. The purpose of the fee is to subsidize the high costs of research and monitoring. FRC takes steps to ensure independence including setting fees in advance and utilizing analysts who must abide by CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. Additionally, analysts may not trade in any security under coverage. Our full editorial control of all research, timing of release of the reports, and release of liability for negative reports are protected contractually. To further ensure independence, RSS has agreed to a minimum coverage term including an initial report and three updates. Coverage cannot be unilaterally terminated. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp March 1, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Sector expert Peter Epstein outlines the ways this lithium junior could rise above competitors, including the details of its Argentinian assets. Portofino Resources Inc. (POR:TSX.V; POT:FSE) suffered through 2018 like most other lithium juniors that have all, or most, of their assets in Argentina. Yet, after a share consolidation and capital raise, the company has 24 million (24M) shares outstanding and about CA$500,000 ($CA500K) in cash to spend on its highest priority project. Although long-standing shareholders like myself are way underwater, Portofino has at least one good thing going for it. It has the right to acquire 100% of a brine project, of reasonable size, in one of the best salars in Argentinathe Salar del Hombre Muerto. Portofino put out a press release on Feb. 26 outlining exploration and other activities for coming months. The plan is to do a geophysical survey in March to help define the extent of brines in the sub-surface at the company's Hombre Muerto West project, which will be used to define targets for exploration drilling later this year. Note: With Argentina lithium projects, there have been a number of drill hole execution problems and delays in getting back assay results. So, patience is required if one invests in this company. If drill results are strong at Hombre Muerto West, or other promising properties can be locked down via option at low upfront cash cost, there could be upside from the current market cap of CA$1.8M. However, readers new to the story beware; this is a highly speculative investment opportunity, and some investors are very unhappy with the management team. But the same can be said of many lithium juniors. Others have seen their share prices fall as much or more than Portofino's, and others still might do share consolidations. The lithium junior sector has been an unmitigated disaster over the past 12 months. I, for one, think it could bounce back this year. An Eye on the Prize, a Cheap Entry Price Portofino Resources' flagship project is the key to this story. The company has the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project located on the west side of the Salar del Hombre Muerto in Catamarca province, Argentina. The project is comprised of two claim blocks, Del Condor and Pucara, totaling 1,804 hectares. Before Portofino got involved, there was no historical exploration on either claim. Hombre Muerto West is within the world-class Salar del Hombre Muerto, where FMC Lithium Corp. (FMC:NYSE) is producing lithium carbonate and Galaxy Resources Ltd. (GXY:ASX; GALXF:OTCMKTS) is developing the high-grade Sal de Vida project. Portofino Resources negotiated a favorable deal (low upfront cash, four-year option term, no royalties) for a project in a sought-after salar. To maintain its option, Portofino has agreed to pay the vendor a total of US$400K and issue 1M shares over a four-year period as follows: An initial US$15K deposit (paid) US$7K within 30 days of execution of a definitive agreement Issue 100K shares upon TSX-V Exchange approval By the first anniversary of TSX-V Exchange approval issue 200K shares and pay US$14K By the second anniversary of approval issue 200K shares and pay US$44K By the third anniversary issue 500K shares and pay US$100K By the fourth anniversary pay US$220K Salar del Hombre Muerto, One of the Best In Argentina Galaxy Resources closed on the sale of 17,500 hectares (17,500 ha) in the Salar del Hombre Muerto to POSCO (PKX:NYSE) for US$280M;POSCO paid US$16,000/ha. The 17,500 ha reportedly contain 2.54 million tonnes of Measured, Indicated & Inferred lithium carbonate equiv. (LCE). So, POSCO paid nearly CA$150/tonne, but further drilling could increase the resource. Another company in close proximity to Portofino's 1,804 hectares has defined a nearly 600k tonne LCE (Measured & Indicated only) resource, with a very high grade of 756 mg/L lithium, on a concession about 400 hectares in size. That company is now working on a preliminary economic assessment (PEA). Think about what's been described so far. It shows three things: 1) Portofino's main project is right in the mix of exploration, development & production activities; 2) 1,804 hectares is not a huge property, but large enough to potentially host a sizable resource; 3) What POSCO paid per tonne and per hectare of LCE bodes well for Portofino and other juniors in and around the Salar del Hombre Muerto that can deliver favorable drill results and attractive maiden mineral resource estimates & PEAs. Portofino recently raised about CA$600K and is in the process of coordinating exploration work that should commence in March. Management is cautiously optimistic about exploration drilling later this year due to strong results elsewhere in the salar, and their own 18 near-surface samples taken across both concessions at the Hombre Muerto West project. Strong Near-Surface Samples at Hombre Muerto West Project Last year, management sampled 18 sites within Del Condor and Pucara. The program included geological mapping and near-surface auger and pit sampling of saline brines to depths of 1.0 to 1.5 meters. The work delivered Portofino's highest-grade brine assay to date of 1,031 mg/L lithium (Li). The range of Li values, however, was quite wide, stretching from 10 mg/L Li to 1,031 mg/L Li. Two samples were over 1,000 mg/L Li, averaging 1,026 mg/L, four samples were over 800 mg/L Li, averaging 935 mg/L, and six samples were over 700 mg/L Li, averaging 871 mg/L. Two of the 18 near-surface samples returned high magnesium (Mg)/Li ratios (9.3:1 & 10.1:1); the other 16 Mg/Li ratios ranged from 1.7:1 to 3.1:1, and averaged 2.0:1. Including the two high results, the average of all 18 samples was 2.8:1, which is still a good outcome. Magnesium is a deleterious element that needs to be removed in lithium brine processing. Feb. 26 Press Release Provides Brief Company Update In addition to upcoming surveys & drilling, other activities are planned or underway at Hombre Muerto West. From the Feb. 26 press release: "The Company also reports that it has engaged an experienced Argentine group (comprised of geologists, biologists, archeologist & naturalists) to commence an Environmental Impact Study ("EIS") for the Hombre Muerto West project. The study is required by the provincial government and will include discussions of the geological & hydrogeological characteristics of the Project area, the flora & fauna of the region, sites of historical value, climate, proposed work plans and proposed impact mitigation measures. The results of the 2018 near-surface brine sampling program will also be submitted to provincial mining authorities as part of the EIS and to support other permit applications which are now underway." Hombre Muerto West project Second Lithium Brine Project in Argentina Portofino can acquire up to an 85% interest in a project called Project II, a brine project located ~10 kilometers (10km) from the Chile border, ~27km east of Wealth Minerals Ltd.'s (WML:TSX.V; WMLLF:OTCQX) Laguna Verde project and ~65km northeast of Neo Lithium Corp.'s (NLC:TSX.V) 3Q project. Project II encompasses a 3,950 ha claim block. Historical exploration work commissioned in 2012 by the vendor included geological mapping, sampling of surface waters, auger sampling of brines, and compilation of the distribution of lithium and potassium grades within the basin. Surface water and auger brine samples were analyzed and results averaged 274 mg/L Li. In June 2017 APEX Geoscience undertook a comparative surface sampling program that validated the results received in 2012. Although not the flagship asset, management kept this project and let a few others go. They like this opportunity, and it covers most of the salar it's in. Conclusion Readers should be reminded that Portofino Resourcesis a highly speculative investment opportunity. However, there are many highly speculative lithium juniors around the world that don't control a meaningful project in a top salar in Argentina. To reiterate, strong near-surface sample results performed by the company last year demonstrated the potential for high-grade lithium on Portofino's Hombre Muerto West claims. Drilling on this high priority project is expected later this year. The project is in a great neighborhood, nearby much larger companies including FMC, Galaxy Resources and POSCO. Patience is a virtue, but Portofino could be in the right place at the right time if they can deliver exciting drill results. Peter Epstein is the founder of Epstein Research. His background is in company and financial analysis. He holds an MBA degree in financial analysis from New York University's Stern School of Business. Disclosures: The content of this article is for information only. Readers fully understand and agree that nothing contained herein, written by Peter Epstein of Epstein Research [ER], (together, [ER]) about Portofino Resources, including but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts, calculations, etc. is not to be considered implicit or explicit investment advice. Nothing contained herein is a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. [ER] is not responsible under any circumstances for investment actions taken by the reader. [ER] has never been, and is not currently, a registered or licensed financial advisor or broker/dealer, investment advisor, stockbroker, trader, money manager, compliance or legal officer, and does not perform market making activities. [ER] is not directly employed by any company, group, organization, party or person. The shares of Portofino Resources are highly speculative, not suitable for all investors. Readers understand and agree that investments in small cap stocks can result in a 100% loss of invested funds. It is assumed and agreed upon by readers that they will consult with their own licensed or registered financial advisors before making any investment decisions. At the time this article was posted, Peter Epstein owned shares of Portofino Resources and Portofino was an advertiser on [ER]. Readers understand and agree that they must conduct their own due diligence above and beyond reading this article. While the author believes he's diligent in screening out companies that, for any reasons whatsoever, are unattractive investment opportunities, he cannot guarantee that his efforts will (or have been) successful. [ER] is not responsible for any perceived, or actual, errors including, but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts & financial calculations, or for the completeness of this article or future content. [ER] is not expected or required to subsequently follow or cover events & news, or write about any particular company or topic. [ER] is not an expert in any company, industry sector or investment topic. Streetwise Reports Disclosure: 1) Peter Epstein's disclosures are listed above. 2) The following companies mentioned in the article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Graphics provided by author. 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March 1, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Paul Cowley, CEO of First Vanadium, speaks with Peter Epstein of Epstein Research about the vanadium market and his company's plan to fast-track its flagship project in Nevada. First Vanadium Corp. (FVAN:TSX.V; FVANF:OTCQB) is one of the better known vanadium companies. Its CEO, Paul Cowley, can be seen in a number of video clips that I linked to at the bottom of the page. Despite being a blue chip name, First Vanadium's market cap is just US$19.5 million. This, for a company that claims to have the highest-grade primary vanadium project in North America, and a plan to fast-track its flagship project in Nevada. To top it all off, management just released a summary of its maiden mineral resource estimate. The maiden mineral resource estimate came in at 303 million Indicated pounds of V 2 O 5 (vanadium pentoxide) @ 0.615% & 75 million Inferred pounds of V 2 O 5 @ 0.52%. That represents a moderate increase in size and grade from the historical resource estimate of 289 million Inferred pounds of V 2 O 5 @ 0.515%. Importantly, 80% of the new resource (in pounds of V 2 O 5 ) is in the Indicated category. At the current vanadium pentoxide price of US$17.60/lb., the in-situ value of First Vanadium's 303 million Indicated pounds of V 2 O 5 alone = US$ 5.33 billion. That's about 275x its market cap. Note: in-situ values can be misleading for early-stage projects, but they can be compared to peers at similar stage. Is vanadium for real? Will Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries cause demand and prices of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) to soar? Will global infrastructure projects demand greatly increased amounts of vanadium-strengthened steel rebar? Please continue reading for answers to these and many other important questions. Note: Peter Epstein and Epstein Research have no prior or existing relationship with CEO Paul Cowley or First Vanadium. Please give readers the latest snapshot of First Vanadium. First Vanadium Corp. is focused on vanadium and its advanced-stage Carlin Vanadium project located in Nevada, the largest and highest grade primary vanadium deposit in North America. The company is run by professional geologists and engineers who have worked for major mining companies in senior positions in exploration, deposit discovery, construction and mining operations. The company has a tight share structure and is well funded. We just released a maiden mineral resource estimate that's 80% in the Indicated category, and that's larger than our historical resource, which was all Inferred. We are very pleased with these results. Why vanadium? Why not lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel or copper? All of these minerals are going to be winners in the near future with the inevitable rapid demand increases for these metals with the commercialization of lithium-ion electric batteries in automobiles and vanadium redox flow batteries in large power storage applications. There is just not enough production of these minerals from existing mines to meet the projected demand of this exciting evolution in battery technology and commercialization. In addition, in the case of vanadium, it is chiefly used as an alloy for strengthening steel in infrastructure: rebar, pipelines, airplanes and car frames. CIBC Mellon has estimated that there will be $35 trillion dollars of global infrastructure projects starting over the next 20 years, which will spark big demand for vanadium. Tell us more about the Carlin Vanadium project. The Carlin Vanadium project is a black shale-hosted sedimentary bed of high-grade vanadium, which is shallow dipping and near-surface, making it ideal for open pit mining. The project's superior location and infrastructure are added benefits, being located less than 6 miles by road to a major rail hub, a major highway, power and mining community. Furthermore, the grades are higher, about double that of other Nevada-based vanadium projects, and there's significantly more vanadium metal in our deposit, also about double that of our peers. Our maiden mineral resource estimate shows the large scale and high grade of the deposit. How significant has First Vanadium's exploration drilling been compared to historical drilling? How many new holes were drilled? The two drill campaigns that First Vanadium did in 2018 totaling 89 holes were extremely strategic and successful in both in-filling and expanding the deposit. We frequently received assay values with higher grades than those found in the older drill data. This is reflected in our maiden mineral resource estimate that shows a 0.615% V 2 O 5 grade in the Indicated category alone. The infill drilling improved the confidence level to justify a high percentage of the resource being in the Indicated category. Please explain First Vanadium's fast-track approach at the Carlin project. In the 15 months we have had the project, we quickly received permits to drill, conducted two drill campaigns, made significant inroads in metallurgy, conducted environmental studies, and delivered a significant maiden mineral resource estimate, with 80% of the vanadium in the Indicated category, all to advance the project and unlock value for shareholders. These steps are the normal steps taken by companies to advance and de-risk projects, but normally it would take three to four years to accomplish what we have done in 15 months. Is there too much talk about VRBs, which only represent 1%2% of vanadium use? Is the VRB opportunity possibly overrated? The Vanadium Redox Flow Battery has only just started to be commercialized over the last two years and currently draws a small percentage of global vanadium consumption. It will ramp up in the short and intermediate time frame to become a much more significant part of vanadium consumption. For example, one project alone in China, the Dalian project, is expected to consume 7,000 tonnes of vanadium, ~8% of annual production, the equivalent of powering 100,000 homes. You can see that the scaling opportunity is eye-opening. The VRB battery is a superior battery for storing large amounts of electricity and they are forecast to last 25 years, whereas the equivalent lithium-ion battery needs to be replaced every three to five years due to its depleting characteristics. The VRB battery is the ideal battery solution for the green energy space for large-capacity electricity storage in power grids and in wind and solar applications. Some have stated that if vanadium prices are too high, the VRB battery will not be competitive, but continuing technical advancements are being made to bring costs down. Some vanadium producers are offering to lease the vanadium in the battery to reduce costs to the end user. What do you make of the sharp decline in vanadium prices in Q4 2018? Vanadium was the best performing metal in 2018, despite the pull back at the end of the year. September and October 2018 saw a rapid increase in vanadium prices leading up to the implementation of the announced November 1, 2018, Chinese law requiring 30% more vanadium in Chinese rebar. Rapid price increases are normally followed by pullbacks as a normal reactionary correction, but eventually that pullback overreaction needed to stabilize and reflect more prevailing supply and demand factors. Naturally, the reason for the run-up in price is real and is expected to add more demand to the stage. The strong demand for the metal, and the tight supply, are still the normforcing prices up. From mid-January to late-February, the Chinese price of vanadium pentoxide is up 12.8% from US$15.60 to US$17.60/lb. (See chart below from vanadiumprice.com). We expect 2019 will be another strong year for vanadium prices. What's the biggest risk to the Carlin project in the next 12 months? Perceptions. In the valuations of vanadium projects and their in-situ assets, and in vanadium price performance and trajectory through 2019 to provide the investor with confidence and interest in the future of this metal. Thank you, Paul, that was very helpful, I think that readers should have a much better understanding of First Vanadium Corp. (TSX-V: FVAN) / (OTCQB: FVANF) after reading this interview. Congratulations on your maiden mineral resource estimate, and continued good luck on fast-tracking the Carlin vanadium project. RECENT Videos of Paul Cowley and/or First Vanadium: Cambridge House Metals Investor Forum Metals Investor Forum Interview Peter Epstein is the founder of Epstein Research. His background is in company and financial analysis. He holds an MBA degree in financial analysis from New York University's Stern School of Business. Disclosures: Note: Peter Epstein and Epstein Research have no prior or existing relationship with CEO Paul Cowley or First Vanadium. Streetwise Reports Disclosure: 1) Peter Epstein's disclosures are listed above. 2) The following companies mentioned in the article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Graphics provided by author. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp March 1, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) With two large copper projects under its belt, one in the U.S. and one in Colombia, and with an Inferred resource of nearly 8 billion pounds of copper, this explorer is now taking on a copper-gold project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. Libero Copper Corp. (LBC:TSX.V:, LBCMF:OTCQB ) is a young company, having been formed in 2016, and since then it has been busy acquiring assets. The first two were copper-molybdenum projects, Mocoa in Colombia and Tomichi in the U.S., in Colorado. "The plan was and is to acquire large tonnage copper porphyry in the Americas, with low holding costs, so we can hold them through to when it's possible to raise capital while minimizing dilution to the shareholder base," Libero Copper Chairman and CEO Ian Slater told Streetwise Reports. "It takes a long time to find good assets that don't have fatal flaws," Slater added. "For example, with Mocoa, our project in Colombia, it took two years of negotiations with B2Gold (BTG:NYSE; BTO:TSX) to acquire that asset." Libero has just added a third asset, Big Red, a 17,000-hectare porphyry copper-gold project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle, which is located about 45 kilometers (45 km) southwest of Telegraph Creek and about 80 km west of GT Gold's (GTT:TSX.V) high-grade Tatogga project. GT Gold noted that in 2017 it made two major discoveries at the Saddle prospect at Tatogga: "a near surface bulk-tonnage and potential deep high-grade underground-style epithermal gold-silver vein system at Saddle South and, close by at Saddle North, a large-scale, richly mineralized and high-grade porphyry copper gold mineralized intrusion." Libero this month closed the option agreement to acquire 100% of Big Red. The deal calls for the issuance of 2 million common shares of Libero Copper and cash payments of $440,000 over four years. The sellers retain a 1% net smelter royalty; 0.5% of the royalty can be repurchased by Libero for $10 million. "Big Red is early-stage exploration, but is really, really exciting," Slater said. "It has recently been flown for magnetics and radiometrics outlining an obvious porphyry target, which was confirmed with high grade rock samples. Big Red never had modern exploration over the entire project before as this is the first time it's been consolidated." The company has started the drill permitting process for summer exploration at Big Red. Until then, the company is analyzing the existing data. "There are many decades of geochemistry data on the project," Slater stated. "And we will analyze all that to make sure we have the best drill targets and places we want to follow up with. That is happening over the next few months." The project meets Libero's criterion of low holding costs. "Big Red features pretty non-dilutive acquisition costs. It's a low-cost option deal; even to buy it outright, the total cost is $440,000 over four years, and only $20,000 this year," Slater noted. "Big Red has really exciting grades, really exciting targets, and we can start working on them in July, which isn't far away," Slater relayed. Libero is also continuing to explore Mocoa in Colombia and has applied for drilling permits. Discovered by the United Nations in 1973, the property has seen exploration by AngloGold Ashanti (AU:NYSE; ANG:JSE; AGG:ASX; AGD:LSE) and B2Gold, before being acquired by Libero in 2018. A 2016 resource estimate, using a 0.25% copper equivalent cutoff, resulted in an Inferred resource of 4.6 billion pounds of copper and 511 million pounds of molybdenum. According to the company, "the Mocoa deposit forms a continuous zone of copper and molybdenum mineralization over an area measuring approximately 1.2 km east-west by 1.4 km north-south and extending to depths of more than 1 km below surface." Slater told Streetwise Reports that Libero is talking with major mining companies regarding a potential joint venture to de-risk and increase the tonnage of its Mocoa deposit. Libero's other project, Tomichi, is located about 50 km east of Gunnison, Colorado, in the same state as Freeport McMoRan's (FCX:NYSE) Climax and Henderson molybdenum mines. Tomichi consists of 49 unpatented claims; numerous companies have conducted drill campaigns between 1957 and 1978. A 2017 Inferred resource estimate using a 0.25% copper equivalent cutoff, resulted in 3.3 billion pounds of copper and 555 million pounds of moly. "Libero offers a base of nearly 8 billion pounds of copper in two projects with extensive exploration, and blue-sky exploration upside in British Columbia's Golden Triangle," Slater concluded. "Plus copper demand, driven by numerous catalysts including renewable energy and electric vehicles, is expected to outpace supply." Libero was founded by Leo Hathaway and Ian Slater. Hathaway is a geologist with extensive experience in the exploration and mining sector, and is the executive vice president exploration for Libero. He also serves as senior vice president of Lumina Gold Corp., and is the former chief geological officer for Lumina Copper Corp. He has also served at the vice president exploration for Northern Peru Copper Corp., Regalito Copper Corp., Global Copper Corp. and Lumina Resources Corp. "Leo is an extremely successful geologist; he has been involved in about $3 billion of asset sales where he has been the primary geologist. He is one of the best geologists around," Slater stated. Libero's board includes Rob Pease, who was the CEO of Sabina Gold and Silver. He was also the founder and CEO of Terrane Metals, which he sold to Thompson Creek Metals in 2010 for $650 million. Samuel Pelaez, who until recently was the chief investment officer and portfolio manager with Galileo Global Equity Advisors, acquired Libero shares for the fund he managed while at Galileo. Pelaez told Streetwise Reports, "Libero Copper is pursuing a business model that has proven successful in the past: accumulate development-stage copper porphyry assets during the downcycle, incubate them with in-house talent to later sell them to a hungry copper market in the upcycle. With the key insight of geologist Leo Hathaway, who was a driver of the success of Lumina Copper in the previous cycle, and the market savviness of Chairman Ian Slater, I believe Libero Copper offers an excellent vehicle to speculate on a long run for copper prices in the years to come." Libero has around 61 million shares outstanding, 68 million fully diluted. Management owns 29% of the shares; B2Gold holds a 17% stake in the company. Shares are currently trading at around CA$0.14 on the TSX Venture exchange. Disclosure: 1) Patrice Fusillo compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with Libero Copper. Please click here for more information 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Libero Copper, a company mentioned in this article. Additional disclosures: Sam Pelaez or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in this article: None. Funds controlled by Galileo Global Equity Advisors hold shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Libero Copper More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp March 1, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Company continues to add technologies, turning it into a total solutions provider. Patriot One Technologies Inc. (PAT:TSX.V; PTOTF:OTCQX), developer of the PATSCAN software and sensor solutions for the covert detection of weapons threats, has spent the last year turning its proof of concept prototypes for threat detection into a commercially viable product. The technology is now ready for prime time, and the company has been running nonstop. In the last few months alone, Patriot One has forged a partnership with Cisco; acquired a company for its complementary video analytics suite; formed a joint venture to commercialize a technology for the stand-off detection of explosives, chemical and biological agents and illicit drugs; and run paid pilots of the PATSCAN technology. Martin Cronin, president and CEO of Patriot One, told Streetwise Reports, "We've been through lots of iterations of the PATSCAN hardware, having had the advantage of working out in the real world in a couple of locations, particularly in Las Vegas at the Westgate Resort. We are now having paid pilots, where clients buy equipment to install in their environments, and we work closely with them." On the paid pilots, Cronin noted, "Our engineers have a full slate of activity doing field deployments and installations. We are being fairly judicious in where we go so that we can blend some high profile organizations across different sectors together with a number of our key distributors." The University of North Dakota has been deploying Patriot One's technology in facilities across campus. Because the university is a microcosm of many communities, with its own police department, health center, stadium, event centers, the company notes that this is providing a real-life test of PATSCAN's capabilities. Patriot One is also stepping up distribution relationships. "We are working with distribution partners so they can start to understand the equipment, showcase it to their clients, and go through a process of training so that we are ready for a broader commercial ramp up as we emerge from the first quarter of 2019," Cronin stated. In addition, the company has been actively increasing its offerings. "There is no single solution for every problem," Cronin told Streetwise Reports. "We've been evaluating a number of complementary technologies that can live on the common PATSCAN platform and have completed the acquisition of a New Brunswick company, EhEye Inc., that developed a video recognition software. If you have camera systems running and a weapon appears in open view, the algorithms identify that and generate an alarm. You can detect weapons in open view at much greater range. We've been integrating that and showcasing it to our clients. We believe it's a tremendous acquisition that has real value to our clients." "We are also evaluating a number of other technologies, some with magnetic resonance, some explosive detection, so over time you will see a much more diverse portfolio as we move from being a technology to being a solutions provider," Cronin stated. In October, Patriot One announced that it had been invited to collaborate with Cisco Systems on its global innovation program. "We are what is called a partner in innovation and we're going through a process now of working out how to put our products into Cisco's product lineup, so that all of Cisco's partners worldwide would be able to access our equipment," Cronin explained. "Cisco has been putting us in front of some of their key clients to talk about how together we can enhance safety in their client environments. It's a very import relationship for us. Cisco has made a really big commitment to support us. It may manifest itself in more ways as we go forward," Cronin stated. Together with Cisco, Patriot One launched a PATSCAN showcase at IBM's Innovation Centre in Montreal. Cisco is also very interested in EhEye's video recognition software. "Partners at Cisco have been hugely supportive of this particular technology and are adding a lot of support to the refinement and development in that area. They are assisting with some of the processing power that is required to run the algorithms, and how to drive down the cost of the GPUs that are required to do that processing," explained Cronin. Patriot One is adding another dimension of threat detection to its portfolio with the announcement at the end of January that it is forming a joint venture with Nano-Bio Detection Systems to commercialize a technology licensed from the University of Texas "for the stand-off detection of explosives and other threats such as chemical and biological agents as well as illicit narcotics, which has been branded as PATSCAN MCS (multi-chemical sensor)." The technology detects airborne molecules, and the JV, called Sotech Secure LLC, will hold a license to develop the technology for "applications relating to defense, security, prohibited substance detection and law enforcement." Craig Micklich, founding CEO of Nano-Bio, will serve as CEO of the JV. "This joint venture is an exciting undertaking," Cronin stated. "Our company has been searching for and evaluating innovations in threat detection for inclusion in our multi-sensor PATSCAN platform and this chemical threat detection technology is truly game-changing. I have no doubt that it will save lives both on the battlefield and in our cities." Patriot One will pay Nano-Bio up to $3 million in three tranches. Analyst Doug Taylor of Canaccord Genuity, in a January 30 company update, stated that the deal is "on point with Patriot's strategy to become a platform offering multiple threat detection sensor technologies." Taylor noted that the company has several upcoming milestones, "which should confirm Patriot's transition from concept to commercialization." Canaccord has a Speculative Buy rating and CA$3.25 target price on Patriot One. Daniel Carlson of Tailwinds Research wrote on February 5, "Patriot One has the potential to be a very big player in threat detection. As well, they have admittedly been late in achieving milestones. Now they are on the precipice of hitting many of these targets. As a result, this should be an exciting quarter for Patriot One and its investors." In October, Patriot One announced the closing of a CA$46 million bought-deal financing led by Canaccord Genuity, that included GMP Securities. "Our very strong treasury," Cronin stated, "will allow us both to ramp up as we start to execute on commercialization and not have to worry about going back to the market for funding. We have got several years of sustainability. That treasury puts us in a very strong position for becoming a total solutions provider rather than a single technology." Patriot One shares are currently trading at around CA$2.30 on the TSX Venture Exchange. The company plans to uplist to the TSX by the end of this quarter. The company was named to the 2019 OTCQX Best 50, a ranking of top performing companies traded on the OTCQX Best Market last year. Disclosure: 1) Patrice Fusillo compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Patriot One Technologies. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Patriot One Technologies, a company mentioned in this article. Disclosures from Canaccord Genuity, Patriot One Technologies Inc., January 30, 2019 Analyst Certification Each authoring analyst of Canaccord Genuity whose name appears on the front page of this research hereby certifies that (i) the recommendations and opinions expressed in this research accurately reflect the authoring analyst's personal, independent and objective views about any and all of the designated investments or relevant issuers discussed herein that are within such authoring analyst's coverage universe and (ii) no part of the authoring analyst's compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed by the authoring analyst in the research. Patriot One Technologies, Inc. currently is, or in the past 12 months was, a client of Canaccord Genuity or its affiliated companies. During this period, Canaccord Genuity or its affiliated companies provided investment banking services to Patriot One Technologies, Inc. In the past 12 months, Canaccord Genuity or its affiliated companies have received compensation for Investment Banking services from Patriot One Technologies, Inc. In the past 12 months, Canaccord Genuity or any of its affiliated companies have been lead manager, co-lead manager or co-manager of a public offering of securities of Patriot One Technologies, Inc. or any publicly disclosed offer of securities of Patriot One Technologies, Inc. or in any related derivatives. Canaccord Genuity or one or more of its affiliated companies intend to seek or expect to receive compensation for Investment Banking services from Patriot One Technologies, Inc. in the next three months. An analyst has visited the material operations of Patriot One Technologies, Inc.. No payment was received for the related travel costs. Disclosures are available here. Daniel Carlson disclosures: Tailwinds is engaged by Patriot One and owns stock in the company. For a complete list of disclosures, please click here. TechSectorStocks.com - investing ideas in tech stocks - mobile payments, social media, AI and Robotics, Drone Stocks, GPS, Internet of Things (IoT) Like Tech Stocks? View our Tech Stocks Directory Get News Alerts on Tech Stocks 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 The Hodges Figgis book store in Dublin is the second best performing across the 183 outlets owned by Waterstones, its managing director James Daunt has said. Mr Daunt was commenting on new accounts that showed that the Irish arm of the bookseller posted a 36% increase in pre-tax profits to almost 3.4m in the 12 months to the end of April. However, revenues in the Republic, where the bookseller also operates in Cork, fell 3% to 13.1m, from 13.4m. The firm cut costs by 11% to almost 9.8m in the year. The directors report in the accounts said that revenues fell in a year absent of significant titles. However, Mr Daunt said that current-year sales of its top titles have come roaring back. He said the business had tapped fantastic sales from a number of titles, including from two Irish authors, Sally Rooney from Co Mayo, and Booker Prize winner, Belfasts Anna Burns. Waterstones made Sally Rooneys Normal People its 2018 Book of the Year and Mr Daunt said that the title had broken records, with sales of 30,000 copies across the chain in December. The sales of Sally Rooneys Normal People have been sensational, he said. They have exceeded all our expectations, and Anna Burns Milkman has also sold really well. Mr Daunt said that sales in the current year have also been boosted by Michelle Obamas memoir, Becoming. The Irish Waterstones business was doing wonderfully, he said. Mr Daunt said that the business will hopefully expand, before cautioning that Ireland was pretty well book-shopped, and so there were fewer opportunities for expansion. Staff numbers at Waterstones Ireland fell to 72 from 77, which saw staff costs decline to 2.17m from 2.2m, the report stated. Shareholder funds at the company totalled 11m that included cash of 5.79m. Thousands of testimonies relating to child abuse in residential institutions and related records are to be sealed and withheld from public scrutiny for 75 years under new legislation. The Retention of Records Bill 2019 will see records from the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, the Residential Institutions Redress Board, and the Residential Institutions Redress Review Committee placed in the National Archives of Ireland and sealed for a minimum of 75 years. Catriona Crowe, the former head of special projects at the National Archives of Ireland, said the decision by the Government to override the 1986 National Archives Act in relation to the records sets a dangerous and unnecessary precedent. The provisions of the National Archives Act have proved perfectly adequate over more than 30 years to protect privacy and deal with sensitive subject matter, she said. There is no reasonable argument for setting them aside in the case of these particular records, which will be extraordinary sources for scholars in the years ahead. The departments action opens the gate for future restricted access to any records the State may not wish citizens to see. The Government approved the legislation at a Cabinet meeting on February 11. Education Minister Joe McHugh said the legislation is required to strike a balance between the original confidentiality provisions around the work of the three redress bodies and the need to preserve records for future generations. This is being achieved by ensuring that the records will be sealed and withheld from public scrutiny for a minimum of 75 years, said Mr McHugh. Retention of the records is essential to ensure that we never forget the abuse that was perpetrated against innocent children in institutions and that future generations can be made aware of and understand what took place. We must learn from the past, he said. The department said the original legislation enacted for the redress bodies provided for their records to be destroyed when their work had been completed. The bill provides that a number of provisions of the National Archives Act will not apply to the records to be sealed. These will primarily cover the exemption of provisions that govern access by individuals and Government departments. Mr McHugh said he is conscious that 75 years is a very long period of time to restrict access to records but that this is essential given the sensitivity of the material. Leaving the documents sealed for a shorter period is not possible given the issue of confidentiality around witness testimony and other sensitive records, he said. The Government has decided to provide for an interim review of the operation of the planned legislation, to take place 25 years after the legislation is commenced. Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was among the mourners as his brother Liam was buried in Letterkenny, Co Donegal this afternoon. Liam Adams, aged 63, was a convicted paedophile who spent six years in Maghaberry Prison and passed away at a hospice in Belfast on Monday last. Hopes of an orderly Brexit are mounting with EU negotiator Michel Barnier signalling an arrangement is close to being agreed ahead of a crunch vote in Westminster later this month. Tanaiste Simon Coveney told his British counterpart David Lidington in Dublin that the withdrawal agreement and Irish backstop would not be reopened, in a meeting which was described as constructive. However, EU and UK officials are engaging in technical talks teasing out assurances sought by London that reinforce the temporary nature of the Irish backstop. It is expected that Britains attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, will travel to Brussels next week to nail down some wording that may reverse previous legal warnings that Britain could be trapped inside an EU customs union indefinitely if the backstop were to be triggered. Irish officials are optimistic that a no-deal is now unlikely. Mr Barniers comments will add to that sentiment. Visiting Vienna, Austria, he said: I dont feel the need to spend a lot more time on it; were working on explanations around the treaty, guarantees, or supplementary assurances, notably on the question of the Irish backstop. He said the March 29 Brexit date can be extended but only for a good reason. A technical extension could last until the eve of the European parliamentary election in May, he said, adding that a longer extension would raise the issue of Britons voting in the European election. Westminster will vote whether to accept British prime minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal on March 12 or to go for an extension in another vote on March 14. The duration of any extension would be linked to the question of what to do with the time, said Mr Barnier. If its to sort out a technical question, it could be a few weeks to go up to the eve of the European elections. Meanwhile, UK agriculture minister George Eustice has quit over Ms Mays decision to allow MPs to vote on extending Brexit negotiations beyond the scheduled withdrawal date of March 29. Mr Eustice said he wanted to return to the backbenches to be free to participate in the critical debate that will take place in the weeks ahead. High Court proceedings brought by the Health Services Executive against a man who allegedly set up a misleading website that is confusingly similar to the HSE crisis pregnancy freephone service 'My Options' has been adjourned for a month. Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds agreed to put back the HSE action against Mr Eamonn Murphy, who it claims has established a website passing off the service known as 'MyOptions' to allow the defendant more to time to obtain legal representation. Last month, the HSE obtained a temporary injunction preventing Mr Murphy or anyone under his control from using a website he allegedly registered last month called www.myoptions.website, or any other variation of a website using the term 'my options' until further order of the court. Mr Murphy denies any wrongdoing and wants the injunction requiring him to suspend the www.myoptions.website lifted. When the matter returned to court today the HSE, represented by Jonathan Newman SC, said it was prepared to proceed with its application to have the injunction kept in place until the full hearing of its action has been determined. Mr Newman said Mr Murphy, who is representing himself, informed the HSE he would only consent to the injunction being left in place if the HSE stopped using the "my options" name. Counsel said the HSE could not agree to that. Mr Murphy, who claims the HSE service is putting women's lives at risk, said he wanted to get lawyers to represent him, but has been unable to acquire any. He asked the court for further time to try to secure legal representation. Ms Justice Reynolds said she was prepared to adjourn the case with the injunction previously granted remaining in place. The Judge, who remarked that the case was concerned with an alleged passing off, could not make an order against the HSE in relation to its use of the name 'My Options' in its information and counselling service. The Judge said that a Mr John McHugh "inappropriately" had sent the court a petition, with more than 200 signatures, entitled "Freedom of Expression in Ireland - Eamonn Murphy hs a right to register his website". The judge asked if Mr McHugh was in court, but received no reply. The Judge said she wanted to make it clear that neither Mr McHugh nor any other party not involved with the action should send in any material about a case to the court. Mr Murphy said he had nothing to do with the petition or Mr McHugh, which the Judge said she accepted. In its action the HSE claims Mr Muphy is inappropriately offering pregnancy scans, is trying to convince women not to go ahead with abortions, or berating those who have chosen to undergo a termination. Mr Murphy with an address at Finglas Road, Dublin 11, allegedly registered that website's domain name days after the Minister for Health announced that the HSE service would be called 'my options'. Minister for Health, Simon Harris The HSE claims Mr Murphy's actions are not a coincidence, are leading to substantial confusion and are damaging the goodwill and reputation of the HSE service. In December, the HSE secured the contract to run the freephone information and confidential counselling service, which is the first point of contact between it and the public. Its website, www.myoptions.ie went live late last year, and the phone service commenced in January. The HSE brought proceedings against Mr Murphy after it became aware of a website called www.myoptions.website which contains Mr Murphy's phone number and promises a free ultrasound. The HSE says that women are finding the defendant when they intend to find the service operated by the HSE. The website is also giving the impression that Mr Murphy is offering services in connection with the HSE, or that objective counselling and information services are being provided, it is claimed. The HSE says it asked him to remove or rename the website, but he has failed to do so. Mr Murphy has denied any wrongdoing and said it was the HSE who was causing the confusion. He claims a service he has been operating has saved the lives of woman and babies. The matter will return before the court in early April. A judge has ordered gardai to release audio of a 999 call in a family law case and has also stressed that under new domestic violence legislation put in place last month any communication between partners where a court has banned it should be treated as a matter of seriousness. The matter emerged at a recent sitting of the District Court in West Cork when the case of a woman and a man against whom she has a safety order was discussed in court. While the substantive matters were discussed in chambers, Judge James McNulty addressed gardai in court on two aspects of the case, raised by each of the parties. He ordered gardai to release audio and/or a transcript of a 999 call made by the woman but requested by the solicitor for the man. Separately, the solicitor for the woman alleged that the man had breached an interim order that had been put in place banning all communication between them, now covered in the new Act. Among the provisions of the newly instituted Domestic Violence Act 2018 is that where a Protection Order, Safety Order or Barring Order is made, it can now include, where necessary, a ban on a person following or communicating with the other person, including by electronic means. On the 999 call Judge McNulty told gardai in court: Gardai are required to assist [the solicitor] so that she has the opportunity to listen to that recording and if there is a written transcript of it, better again. He requested that the call and its contents be made available within seven days. As for the electronic communication alleged by the man, the judge said he had been told gardai were uncertain whether the communication was in itself an offence. The second issue is that [another solicitor] represents the young woman and an interim order has been made some days ago and it contained a direction that the respondent was not to communicate with the young woman, Judge McNulty said. It has been alleged that he has done so and I have been told that the gardai to whom these complaints have been reported seem unsure as to whether these communications constitute criminal offences. I know the gardai are dealing with a new law, the Domestic Violence Act that has been in place since January, so we are all in new territory, but I want to make it clear that it is a clear direction that he is not to communicate [with the woman] and I have to inform officers that if there is a breach of that direction it should be treated as a matter of seriousness that requires attention. A breach of a court order would be prosecutable and can be done at short notice, Judge McNulty added. Latest: A mother-of-three who was stabbed to death in Clondalkin has been named locally. Cathy Ward, who was in her early 40s, was found dead in an upstairs bedroom of the house at Greenfort Drive in Quarryvale at about 12:30 this morning. She was found with serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim was described by neighbours as a quiet lady who kept herself to herself. A man in his 50s was arrested and he is detained at Lucan Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. It is understood he was known to the woman. The house is sealed off and a technical examination of the area will be carried out by Garda Crime Scene Examiners. Mayor of South Dublin County Council Mark Ward lives in the area and has said that residents are shocked. "I'm from the estate, across the road from where that lady passed away and I was talking to a number of residents myself this morning and the shock is felt right through the community," said Mr Ward. Gardai at the house on Greenfort Drive, Clondalkin this morning. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Earlier: Man, 50s, arrested after woman stabbed to death in Clondalkin Gardai in Dublin have arrested a man in his 50s following a fatal assault at Greenfort Drive, Clondalkin this morning. At 12.30am, gardai were called to an incident at a house at Greenfort Drive, Clondalkin. A woman in her 40s was found with serious injuries, believed to be stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The body was removed from the house shortly after midday and a post-mortem is expected to take place later today. A man in his 50s was arrested and he is detained at Lucan Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. The house is sealed off and a technical examination of the area will be carried out by Garda Crime Scene Examiners. Tusla is seeking an urgent meeting with Scouting Ireland amid growing concerns for the safety and protection of children. The abuse survivors support group One in Four raised alarm after Scouting Ireland rejected recommendations made by Tusla around child protection failures in the organisation. The Governments child protection rapporteur said the significant safeguarding concerns strike at the heart of child protection. Tusla wrote to the organisation, which has more than 50,000 members, to highlight significant failings it says it found in ongoing cases. The agency called for an urgent review of how Scouting Ireland manages child protection concerns, questioned the level of supervision provided, and suggested that overnight trips be stopped. Scouting Ireland moved to refute the claims and query the child and family agency after Tusla suggested that young people are being exposed to risk of harm as a result of ongoing child protection failures in the organisation. Launching a strong defence, Scouting Irelands interim safeguarding manager, Ian Elliott, said he was baffled by the Tusla letter and said the organisation is not trying to hide anything. Mr Elliott said Scouting Ireland had met Tusla last Monday and asked if there were any concerns and we were told no, so we are confused by this. We have stringent and robust policies now in place that I believe are best practice, he said. The Governments special rapporteur on child protection, Geoffrey Shannon, said Tusla had highlighted serious concerns that strike at the heart of child protection, the issues raised in the letter are troubling and concerning. Prof Shannon said: What we need to realise is that where we have practices that dont fully comply with the law, there are vulnerabilities for children and this is about protecting children. Maeve Lewis, director of One in Four, said anybody reading the letter would be aghast at the live cases that are outlined and the very inappropriate ways that it appears Scouting Ireland personnel interrogated children about what happened. She said: Tuslas view is that things are still being mishandled, so that is something that Scouting Ireland needs to take very seriously. I am alarmed that there now seems to be a conflict and that Scouting Ireland are not accepting the issues raised in the letter from Tusla. Scouting Ireland said it had been told in an email from Tusla on February 15 that its child safeguarding statement was fully compliant with the Children First national guidelines. Three days later, however, Tusla had sent out a letter raising significant concerns around child protection. Tusla said the later letter had highlighted issues with practice and procedure and was separate to the child safeguarding statement. In the Dail yesterday, Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the Government still has concerns about the safety of children at Scouting Ireland. Last night, Tusla officials invited Scouting Ireland to meet them to discuss the issues and to progress with the eight recommendations outlined in the letter sent last week. In a statement, Tusla said: We wish to acknowledge that there are many people involved in scouting who do good work with children and it is not our intention to undermine that in any way. However, at this time we do have concerns about current practices and procedures in Scouting Ireland and overall compliance with Children First. Timeline There was a 21% increase in the number of self-harm cases among 10 to 24-year-olds between 2007 and 2017. St Patrick's Mental Health Services and Pieta House are calling for greater awareness and education around self-harm as part of Self-Injury Awareness Day. Figures from Pieta House also show there was a 23% rise in the number of self-harm cases among those presenting to their services since 2017. Director of Services at St Patrick's Mental Health Services, Tom Maher, called for more adaptive ways of dealing with the issue. "Over the past 10 years, we've seen an increase in the level of self-harm, particularly amongst younger people. "That highlights the need for further education and training and understanding of self-harm so we can identify the causes of this behaviour and where possible create interventions that help to prevent it and have more adaptive ways of dealing with the issues associated with self-harm." Mr Maher says parents have a huge role to play in helping tackle the issue. I think it's important that parents learn about self-harming behaviour so if they see it in their children they can deal with it as early as possible. "Indeed, parents have a role to play in helping to improve the level of resilience have to deal with the stress and strains of everyday life." Every paper, every study Ive read, patients want a physician who will sit down and spend quality time with them and talk at a level they understand and answer their questions, Simpson said. But were a species where we first judge with our eyes, for better or worse. So when people see someone who looks like them, particularly when theyre in a vulnerable situation, it helps. A psychiatrist who assessed a woman accused of attempted murder and her barrister clashed in court today after the defence lawyer told the witness to "take that smirk off your face". Dr Harry Kennedy was being cross-examined by counsel for Laura Kenna, Mr Barry White SC, on the fourth day of her Central Criminal Court trial. Ms Kenna (37), of no fixed abode, is charged with attempting to murder Fionnuala Burke on Lower Drumcondra Road, in Dublin, on January 3, 2017 and assault causing serious harm on the same occasion. Ms Kenna has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to both counts and is on trial at the Central Criminal Court. Dr Harry Kennedy has previously told her trial that while she "meets the criteria for schizoaffective disorder", at the time of the offence she was not delusional and carried out the attack in anger. Defence counsel Barry White today asked Dr Kennedy if her claim during garda interviews following the assault that she was recording an album with a known record studio owner was evidence of delusion. Dr Kennedy said the person she named is real and does own a recording studio. When Dr Kennedy checked that person's Facebook page he discovered that he did know Ms Kenna. The witness said there is evidence that what she said is "completely true". There was a confrontation as Mr White asked the witness to "take that smirk off your face". Dr Kennedy replied that he was not smirking. "You appear to me to be smirking," Mr White said. The doctor added that there is evidence that Ms Kenna knew this music producer and he has no reason to doubt that what she said was true. "There is nothing to say it is delusional," he added. Mr White pointed to questions and answers in the memo of interview, such as that she walked to Belfast, that she had been living outside the country, had only arrived from France the previous day and differing accounts she gave of the assault. Counsel suggested these answers showed disordered thinking and poor reasoning and judgment. Dr Kennedy said these were not evidence of thought disorder or mental illness but were examples of fabrications, banter, falsehoods and false accusations. They were, he said, "fabricated, misleading replies in her own interest." Mr White said the answers she gave could be interpreted as showing delusional disorder and suggested Dr Kennedy had come in with a "fixed notion" and was acting for the prosecution rather than being objective. Dr Kennedy said it might be helpful to watch the video of her interviews which he said showed she was not "pressured" in her speech and did not make verbal mistakes. These, he said, would be indicators of schizoaffective disorder. Mr White put it to him that he couldn't rule out the possibility that the answers were evidence of a mental disorder. Dr Kennedy replied: "I couldn't absolutely rule it out but it is very unlikely." Dr Kennedy said further claims by Ms Kenna that she had made a music album were "outlandish" and "grandiose" but not delusional. He added that a person who is elated is usually pressured in their speech and can't get their words out fast enough. In her interviews, he said, the accused was "rather slow". When the witness said some of the answers she gave were defiant rather than deranged, Mr White said Dr Kennedy was carrying a "sword for the prosecution" and taking the line that was "most damaging to Ms Kenna." The witness replied: "It is important to be impartial. The jury will decide on the facts." Dr Kennedy said he also observed in videos of the garda interview that Ms Kenna had occasional outbursts of laughter. However, he said these outbursts were not inappropriate in a way that would suggest a mental illness but were rather ironic or sarcastic. Ms Kenna signed one of her statements "Aphrodite" and told gardai this was a name she is now using. Mr White asked if it is usual for people to be calling themselves after Greek gods. Dr Kennedy said she told him she used that name because she called her boyfriend Zeus. She knew his real name and explained that she was using the name Aphrodite to "build herself up". During her interviews, Ms Kenna was asked if she had any remorse and she replied: No, f*ck her, f*ck her. I should have sold the carcass and made money. Dr Kennedy said this might be seen as in keeping with her delusional beliefs about vampires but added that her delusional beliefs about vampires are that she is being pursued or coerced by them. The trial continues on Monday in front of Justice Tara Burns and a jury of six men and six women. It could be the handiest little parking space in Cork, but motorists who chance it do so at their own risk. The removal of a tree stump from an estate on the southside of Cork City has created a quirky little parking bubble. Yellow lines, which swerved around the tree, have yet to be repainted raising the prospect of motorists with the right-sized car squeezing into the space. It was created following the removal of a large tree which had been growing for years at the edge of Mount Carmel Rd in Greenmount. A council spokesman said the tree was removed almost a year ago on health and safety grounds after experts determined it was unstable and unsafe, especially so close to houses. Before: The tree that jutted onto the road. While the tree was felled some time ago, the stump was left in place until its removal in recent weeks. The kerbing which had been installed around the tree was removed at the same time and the area was repaved with tarmac. However, the double yellow lines which were painted around the kerbing have been left in place. The wobble in the lines has created a little pocket between the footpath and the lines potentially large enough for a small car. People took to social media wondering if it is now legal to park inside the lines. Mount Carmel Road, Cork ... @corkcitycouncil you would think they would go the extra foot and take the lines out after taking the old kerbing .! Can you park a small car between the footpath and lines without a fine? Only in @corkcitycentre @BestofCork @CorkSafetyAlert pic.twitter.com/sBgz5XlHg1 Ger O Dea (@GerODea_NAS_CEM) February 28, 2019 One legal expert said he has no doubt that some motorists might chance it but he pointed to section 36 of the Road Traffic Act, which states that a vehicle shall not be parked on the side of a public road where double yellow lines have been provided. He said this section of the legislation makes no reference to whether double yellow lines should run parallel to a footpath or not. And he said while the lines wobble away from the footpath in this specific location, the intention of the lines here is clear, and would override any possible argument about their current positioning rendering parking legal at just this location. A council spokesman said they hope to dispatch road lining crews to the area soon to repaint the double yellow lines against the footpath, and to eliminate any doubt. The chairman of Tusla is calling for a change in the way social workers are trained in Ireland. Former Labour leader Pat Rabbitte says the volume of social workers graduating from traditional universities is not sufficient to meet demand and there is a need to go outside traditional universities. He told RTEs Today with Sean ORourke show that courses in social work should be considered at the institutes of technology around the country, he also called for the establishment of conversion courses. If Ireland were to have the same ratio of social workers as exists in the UK then it would be necessary to recruit 1,500 extra social workers, he said. At present just over 200 social workers are graduating from traditional universities every year, he explained while last year 158 social workers were lost through retirement or leaving the sector. There is an acute shortage of social workers. It is a big problem for us. At any time there are 92 people on maternity leave. Mr Rabbitte added that Tusla has 4,000 employees and had dealt with 57,000 referrals last year. It is a big organisation and the need is big. The former Minister for Children said he views his new role as worthwhile and a great challenge. He had thought long and hard before accepting the position. It is a fascinating area and a worthwhile endeavor. This week Im focusing on Garnacha/Grenache, arguably the most important grape in France and Spain yet also a grape that is less known than it should be given that it only occasionally appears on wine labels. The grape was assumed to be Spanish in origin for centuries (most likely Aragon) but some Italian researchers are now claiming Sardinia as its home (where it is known as Cannonau). The grape has mutated many times over the centuries and is available in rouge, blanc and gris hues and has genetic connections with many old Spanish varieties including Verdejo and Airen, although no certain genetic parentage has been proven. Garnacha thrives in hot dry climates and pairs well in blends with grapes such as Monastrell/Mourvedre, Syrah and Tempranillo. In Rioja it is the second grape after Tempranillo but in Catalonia it is the primary grape and is responsible for the best wines of Priorat (although Carinena also plays a role). Garnacha Tinta is crucial to all that delicious regional Spanish wine under 15 from regions such as Tarragona, Penedes, Carinena and La Mancha and many producers (and wine writers) now regret the replacing of old Garnacha vines with more fashionable Tempranillo. Aside from Priorat, the most famous expression of Grenache Noir is in the Southern Rhone in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In Chateauneuf it should be fat and rich, but do buy from a producer you know as the name is so famous now it is sometimes abused. The neighbouring Cru vilages of the Rhone can also show Grenache off wonderfully and you can buy Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Lirac, Cairanne, Rasteau, etc. with more confidence. At the lowest level in the region plain old Cotes-du-Rhone is rarely anything other than pleasurable but expect lithe red-fruit freshness rather than density. Grenache is also a primary grape in the Languedoc and Provence and is still the workhorse grape of the region. Cannonau di Sardegna is usually the most reliably tasty wine to be found in Sardinia. In Australia look to MacLaren Vale and watch for old vine versions from Chile and Argentina. Grenache Blanc is the main grape in White Chateauneuf-du-Pape where it has floral aromas and good density allowing the better wines to age. BEST VALUE UNDER 15 Honora Vera Garnacha Calatayud, Spain 10 Stockist: SuperValu This is on sale until March 6 as part of SuperValus Spanish sale and is a saving of 4. From a 700m to 900m site and a mature vineyard in good value Calatayud in Aragon this has light spicy aromas mixed with red fruits, vibrant and fresh on the palate with pleasing texture and a solid fruity-juicy character. Grenache le Paradou, Chateau Pesquie, Rhone, France 14.95 Stockists: JJ ODriscolls, Cinnamon Cottage Rochestown, Ardkeen, Bradleys, www.searsons.com This is the entry level wine of Chateau Pesquie located at the base of the Ventoux Mountain in the Rhone all their wines are worth trying. Ripe pleasing spicy red and black fruits, soft and supple and perfect for an omelette or a pizza. Ramon Roqueta Garnacha 2015, Catalunya, Spain 14 Stockists: Mitchells CHQ, Glasthule and Avoca Kilmacanogue or via www.mitchellandson.com From the generic Catalonia appellation where red grenache/ garnacha is king although for white wine production garnacha blanca does compete with Xarel-lo and other grapes. This has pristine floral, apricot and pear aromas, lovely texture and freshness with just enough acidity and length. BEST VALUE OVER 15 Las Rocas Vinas Viejas Garnacha, Calatayud, Spain 17.95-18.95 Stockists: ODonovans, No. 21, Ardkeen Stores, McHughs, Independent NOffLA Off-Licences, Deveneys, Vintry, McHughs. The label on this wine is changing so to clear stock it has been reduced by at least 5. Calatayud is often a source of value this is from old Garnacha vines and has rich spicy fruit flavours and a floral violet character mixed with dark fruits. Rich and satisfying with good depth and character. Domaine la Bouissiere Gigondas, France 33.95 Stockists: Bradleys, Cinnamon Cottage, Ardkeen Stores, 1 Pery Sq. www.searsons.com This family estate is run by brothers Thierry and Gilles Faravel. Both their Gigondas and Vacqueyras are excellent and interesting to compare this has a touch more voluptuousness. Ripe plum fruits and herbal touches mixed with bramble fruits and with shards of red currant. Chateau Mont-Redon Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rhone 35.95 Stockists: OBriens, World Wide Wines, 64 Wines, Independents No discussion of Grenache is possible without mention of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and this is one of my favourites at the affordable end of the spectrum. Aromas of rich red berry fruits mixed with herbs, spices and plums, full flavoured and rich with warm dark fruits and lovely density and a supple richness. - Contact Leslie Williams at wine@examiner.ie A new documentary shows how Irish engineer Peter Rice was involved in such iconic constructions as Sydney Opera House and the Louvre pyramid, writes Esther McCarthy. HES the brilliant, gifted and world-class Irish engineer you may never have heard of. Many of the worlds most revered buildings including Sydney Opera House, the Lloyds Building in London and the Pompidou Centre in Paris were created through the innovative work of Irishman Peter Rice. But his work has not been celebrated by the wider public until now. Marcus Robinsons stunning documentary, An Engineer Imagines, tells the story of Rices extraordinary life and untimely death. Born and raised in Dundalk, he studied in Belfast before going on to blaze a trail around the world. Peter Rice wasnt out to necessarily promote his own name, said Robinson. I think thats part of what the film explores, is why the whole thing of structural engineering was seen as a tweed jacket, slightly dull thing with figures and formulae and principles. In a way whats exciting about Peters story is how much he was a humanist and an artist and a poet. A Francophile, into music and just an amazing delightful human being. What we wanted the film to be was truly showing the incredible wider team effort that goes into the creation of a building. Hopefully his legacy will become better known. Rice was admired for pushing the boundaries of beauty and science, often through impossible-seeming and exposed structural elements. What is distinguishing about Peter, I think, is the fact that he cared enormously about having a human touch in structures, added Robinson. One of the very defining things about the Pompidou Centre is that these beautiful cast iron structures that support the whole of the weight of the building going from side to side. They were very much a non industrial non-standard thing that was made and cast in factories by hand, pretty much. And you know more than ever in this particular sort of social media, strange celebrity culture we now live in, I think his life and his spirit are very much the antidote to that sort of thing. To be committed and dedicated to the integrity of your own process, your own creative process and in his case making sure that his engineering and his approach to life was of service to the wider community. Born in Belfast, Marcus Robinson is an artist, photographer and filmmaker who is self-taught and has worked on projects that have brought him all over the world. After studying modern languages at Cambridge University, he went to live in Paris. Id always wanted to be a photographer and filmmaker, a painter, so basically Ive just learned by doing. I worked as an architectural photographer in Paris for 16 years. Then because I loved music, in a way it was my love of electro, deep house, drum and bass, quite trippy trancy music, that I wanted to make photographic montages to music. Making time-lapse filming seemed like a natural way to do it. After filming some of the construction of the London Eye using the same format, a filmmaker friend helped him put a showreel together and he was commissioned by Channel 4 to make a film. That led to making an amazing film about the construction of Larnaca airport, where Id 13 cameras all around the site for four years. He moved on to the World Trade Centre, making documentaries for Channel 4 and the History Channel. It is a project that is ongoing. Tower 2 is the last remaining building to be constructed and theres some talk about it might be getting the go ahead sometime this year. So theres probably another four to five years building still to go on. Peter Rice died from a brain tumour at just 57 in 1992, and Robinson hopes the film will introduce him to more people. One of the things that I hope comes through in the film, and its something I believe strongly in, is that the seeds of someones life, the spirit of someones life, can be very pervading and present even once they have died. And I think the way he worked with young people and had a very democratising approach, a very non-ego approach, I think those were values that in a way, were way ahead of their time. - An Engineer Imagines opens in selected cinemas today This year marks the 10th anniversary of Unplug Day, which encourages us to take 24 hours out from our hyper-connected world. We challenged three of Corks connected people to take a digital detox. Ciara McDonnell finds out how they got on. HELEN WYCHERLEY Helen Wycherley. Picture: David Keane Helen Wycherley is a director at the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, West Cork and the Marina Commercial Park in Cork City and president of Network Ireland 2019. She recognised a change of pace during her time offline. I started my digital detox on the Friday night and I stayed offline until the Sunday morning. I was due to go back online on Saturday at 10pm and I realised that if I did, all I would do was spend the next hour or so on my phone and screw up the benefit of it. My phone is attached to me at all times on a regular day. I have my email on it and the nature of the hotel business is that it does work around the clock. That, as well as it being a family business, generally means that I am available at any time. My role at Network Ireland is voluntary and this means that people work at different times it might be the evenings or the weekends and I like to be available as much as possible. I use the phone for reminders, note taking and camera. All of my to-do lists go into my phone, and I use the camera for so many things, whether its taking photos of my children or for ideas. I wrote down my shopping list for the first time in a long time this weekend! I didnt feel as though I was missing out. I have three small children and when I am with them I think that I am on my phone a lot, even though I try to limit it as much as possible. I noticed it most on the Sunday morning when I went on my phone. My children were chattering away and I noticed that I was getting annoyed because I wasnt being given this time on my phone. Its definitely something that Ill be way more conscious of in the future. The time goes by so fast and even though it may have been a day since I sent an email or a message to someone, I feel as though its been a few days. I am trying to lessen that pressure. So if there is something that I can get off my desk with ease, then Ill do it, but I am trying to be a little more clever about it, because I am finding that we dont actually have to reply to each other straight away! I have learned that putting my phone away for a few hours is a good thing. I think I lived in the moment, getting on with what was in front of me and knowing that what was on my phone doesnt actually matter, for a short time at least. PATRICK McBETH Patrick McBeth, principal, Ursuline Secondary School Cork, getting a scolding for using his phone in school, from students, Ciara OCallaghan, Magdalena Fidalgo, Lucy OFlaherty, Kelli Oldham and Emma Cooper. Picture: Jim Coughlan Patrick McBeth is principal of the Ursuline Convent Secondary School, Cork. In his role, he sees the importance of a regular digital detox, especially for our young people. I am surprised by how much I enjoyed my unplug day. The first thing I noticed was that I felt a sense of relief. Its not until you know that that phone isnt there, that you realise how constantly it is in use. Not having access to the constant demands of emails and messages coming through gave me the excuse to get up and get out and about. Myself and Frances my wife went for breakfast on Saturday morning in the city and we spent the time chatting away and reading the paper. It was lovely we were talking about how great it was not to have the phones and how much more time it gives you. One thing that surprised me was that I realised I spend a lot of time not doing very much on my phone. I seem to spend ages just browsing through pages. There is a great book by Stephen Covey called First Things First. He talks about our life being made up of boulders, which might be the big things you need to get done, pebbles, which are the jobs you have to get done every day. Lastly you have sand, which is the time you could waste on things that are enjoyable but not important. I see the phone and all that comes with it as being sand and if you fill your life up with all that kind of stuff you will never get interested in other things. I found the organisation side of things a little tricky. I am a musician and we were playing Mass on Sunday morning and I didnt realise but Sean Dunne who arranges the music had sent it out via email. There was a big scramble to try to find photocopies at the last minute! I think that having your phone in the bedroom is not a good idea and that is something I am going to try to carry on. I listen to a lot of podcasts and sometimes that would mean the phone is nearby, but overall its a bad idea. I was highly aware of the pressure that our devices put on us during this experiment. We are constantly switched on, the quality of sleep is not there, and our minds are always racing. Its difficult enough as an adult navigating this, but for a young person who is experiencing this constant interaction, it is extremely difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle. DC CAHALANE DC Cahalane is CEO of Corks Republic of Work and is one of the citys future thinkers when it comes to tech. I work in a very tech-intensive business and have spent most of my life working in software companies where you are reacting to real-time information and of course in terms of social media, you are looking at a constant barrage of information. In terms of my role at Republic of Work, there is probably no circumstance where I could take a digital detox on a weekday it just wouldnt work. On an average weekend, because a lot of people are off work, thats when social media almost ramps up in terms of activity. I have been accused of spending too much of my life on my phone, definitely! I would be one of the very early users of Twitter and I find on a daily basis that I turn to Twitter for my news and all sorts of things throughout the day. What surprised me when I got up on Saturday morning was that I didnt really miss it at all. I found the best thing to do was to distract myself, so I had some Ikea furniture that had been sitting in my home office and I dove into that. The one big thing I noticed was the amount of times that I needed some information that I would normally Google. So, for example, not being able to work out how to put my furniture together I would usually solve that on YouTube, or not being able to remember one of the ingredients for pancakes. I Google the exact same recipe every single Saturday morning, and rather than print it out and sticking it on the fridge, I rely on Google to give it to me every week. I have been actively trying to reduce the amount of time I spend on apps like Twitter for the last few months, and Ill definitely try to continue that. Most of the tools that make my work life easier live online, and will stay online, but taking a digital detox is a great way to focus on what you really need and what you dont. The cost of redeveloping Pairc Ui Chaoimh will not be known for a number of months, stadium board member Michael OFlynn has confirmed. The construction bill for the redevelopment project currently stands at 90.1m, this figure rising to an estimated final cost of 95.8m as OFlynn and fellow stadium board member Tom Gray, when examining the relevant audited accounts, had to provide for some of the variables that will come out [in time]. OFlynn is confident these outstanding issues will be resolved within the next three months, but did warn one particular item could take much longer. Arbitration with a contractor is one of the issues still to be settled, GAA director general Tom Ryan revealed in late January. What should emerge much sooner are the Pairc Ui Chaoimh company accounts, which delegates have been requesting in recent months. Since the stadium reopened its doors in July of 2017, no accounts have been presented to Cork County Board detailing the monies taken in from the sale of Pairc Ui Chaoimh premium tickets and the staging of three Ed Sheeran concerts in May last year, as well as the stadiums day-to-day operating costs. Cork GAA chairwoman Tracey Kennedy was told at a meeting of the stadium board on Monday that the accounts would be furnished to delegates within the next month, but Kennedy and Michael OFlynn both agree this is an optimistic timeframe. Freemount delegate John OFlynn, when querying the availability of these accounts at a board meeting towards the end of last year, was informed it would be late February before they were available. This date has now been pushed back by at least a month. Elsewhere, Cork GAA have announced a new financial planning and advisory sub-committee which will assist the board in increasing its revenue streams. County board treasurer Diarmuid Gowen will chair the committee which includes county board secretary Kevin ODonovan, John OFlynn (Cairde Chorcai representative), Jim Woulfe (Dairygold CEO), Kieran Calnan (former CEO of SWS Ltd and current chair of Bord Iascaigh Mhara), and Brendan Keane (director of Keaneye solutions Ltd, former EMEA operations director FMC). Meanwhile, Kennedy has said a new Pairc Ui Chaoimh pitch, to be laid this summer, is unlikely to be 100% natural grass. We are probably looking at some type of hybrid/supported structure, where, in the event of poor grass growth, you would still have a safe surface where there would be proper traction. A couple of years ago, opponents of Donald Trump 's presidential bid warned that a Trump presidency would be a crazy spectacle. Jeb Bush famously said that Trump was a chaos candidate who would be a chaos president. Some even conjured various wild scenarios that might unfold under a president Trump. They said it might look something like this: As tensions flared in some hotspot -- the Middle East or maybe along the India-Pakistan border -- or as the president conducted perilous negotiations with, say, North Korea, he would be distracted or bedeviled with some sort of domestic scandal. Well, I don't know if anybody predicted the specific details of Wednesday's cavalcade of crazy, but if they did, they should collect their door prize. Michael Cohen , Trump's former "fixer" and vice president of the Trump Organization, owed his career to the fact that he would happily be his boss's pet snake. By his own admission, Cohen proudly did the president's "dirty deeds" (his words), likening himself to the Tom Hagen character in "The Godfather." He threatened anyone who crossed Trump, paid off inconvenient women, and boasted with a loser's false courage how he would take a bullet for his boss. He celebrated, with an alacrity rarely matched by Stalin's henchmen, his employer's near-superhuman genius and empathy. Then, on Wednesday, he stopped by Congress before he heads to prison, he shed his old skin, the way snakes can, and tried on a new role of martyr and moralist. It's possible his professed redemption is sincere. It certainly seemed like it at times. But one needn't be a cynic to doubt it. Regardless, Cohen's testimony seemed designed to simultaneously enrage the president in every way possible way and to ingratiate himself with his left-wing critics. Cohen impugned the president's character, his intelligence, honesty and wealth. He called Trump a draft-dodging racist and grifter. If I had to guess, his testimony was framed in the best way possible to compensate for the fact that Cohen could not corroborate the most extreme versions of the Russia-collusion theory, which is a political Holy Grail for Democrats and much of the media. Meanwhile, Trump was in Hanoi, Vietnam -- a locale he studiously avoided visiting in his youth by claiming to have bone spurs -- to negotiate with the murderous dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. The summit, like the first one, was ill-considered. It rested on the assumption that Trump, the world's greatest dealmaker, could charm Kim and the North Korean regime out of its nuclear program. The worry from foreign-policy experts across much of the ideological spectrum was that Trump would blunder into a deal just for the sake of being able to declare victory. Rumored concessions leaked out in the media as if through an open faucet. And then, it didn't happen. The summit was a failure on its own terms, and ironically, that made it a kind of victory for Trump. The political tumult in Washington gave Trump every personal incentive to come up with any deal he could in order to change the subject and have something to boast about. This was, after all, part of the political rationale for his declaration of an emergency to build the wall at the border -- it changed the subject from his defeat in the post-government-shutdown budget deal. I have long argued that the North Koreans can't be talked out of their nuclear program because their nuclear program is central to the rationale for the regime's entire existence. It would be like talking Hitler and the Nazi regime out of their desire for conquest and their obsessions with the Jews; it's simply the nature of the regime. You cannot reason a leopard to abandon its spots. It's doubtful Trump fully recognizes this yet, but that's irrelevant. He recognized enough: Any deal he could have gotten with Kim would have been worse than doing what he did -- walk away from the table. Whether he came to this conclusion on his own or was cajoled into it by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton is irrelevant, too. One can rightly bemoan or lament the fact that the Trump presidency made the Cohen spectacle possible in the first place. But that doesn't change the fact that the president defied political temptation and did the right thing. (Jonah Goldberg's latest book, "Suicide of the West," is now available wherever books are sold. You can write to him in care of this newspaper or by e-mail at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com, or via Twitter @JonahNRO.) (C) 2019 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC Irelands vision of a better world, as laid out in the Governments new policy for international development, is an ambitious one. It sees a world where women can claim and exercise their rights, enjoy economic opportunities and live free from the horror of violence and abuse, writes Jim Clarken. A world where organisations like Oxfam dont exist because no-one is hungry or enduring the injustice of poverty or living far from home because of conflict, persecution or disaster. A world where we live up to our responsibilities to protect our planet and where communities arent forced to rebuild again and again after unpredictable climates have destroyed their livelihoods. We welcome this strong statement of intent because we know that this is the kind of ambition required to create a better, fairer, more peaceful and sustainable world. Remarkable progress has been made in recent decades in reducing extreme poverty, getting more children into school and ensuring access to essential services. However significant challenges remain. The pace of poverty reduction is slowing, while the geography of extreme poverty is shifting. Some projections indicate that over 80 percent of the worlds poorest communities will live in fragile and conflict-affected states by 2030 places which are extremely challenging to access. Inequality is on the rise. A focus on average rates of progress has masked an alarming trend of large and often growing inequalities, which hit the worlds poorest communities hardest, affecting women and girls the most. Evidence suggests that the poorest 20% in the world receive just 1%t of the worlds growth. And inequality must be addressed there is a consensus, backed by extensive evidence, that more equal societies have more robust and sustainable growth, and achieve greater poverty reduction. Today, across East Africa, 15 million people face devastating hunger, while in Yemen the worlds worst humanitarian crisis is unfolding before our eyes. Climate change is already threatening the lives of millions demanding urgent action - while the biggest number of people (68.8million) since World War II have been forced to flee their homes due to poverty, conflict, persecution and disaster. Civil society across the world is under threat, with over 100 governments around the world introducing laws which restrict the operations of civil society organisations. Detention, harassment and intimidation are some of the very real threats facing social justice activists around the world. The challenges that we face are complex and intersecting, and they demand a step change in international action. Irelands new international development policy is a bold and ambitious agenda which seeks to meet this challenge. It includes a reaffirmed commitment from the Government to reach the internationally agreed target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on official development assistance by 2030, which will mean an average increase of 100 150 million euro each year to the aid budget. It is not just the scale of Irelands aid programme that matters important though it is for addressing global challenges and upholding Irelands international reputation but rather the quality. Ireland has been recognised internationally as a donor that excels in delivering effective aid and A Better World builds on that legacy. The depth of Irelands engagement in Irish Aid partner countries has led to collaborative and constructive relationships which are based on long-term commitment, an openness to programme evolution and an ability to have critical conversations with partner governments. A Better World sets out a series of commitments and initiatives across four primary areas gender equality, reducing humanitarian need, climate action and strengthening governance. The policy seeks to implement the principle which is most fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to the work we are trying to achieve the pledge to leave no one behind and to put the furthest behind first. If actioned, this pledge has the potential to spur unprecedented change for the worlds most excluded communities. Last year, I saw first-hand the transforming impact of this value in action through our Irish Aid-funded work in South Sudan and Malawi. In South Sudan, we worked with local partners to develop an innovative canoe project that has enabled us to reach thousands of people seeking refuge in isolated and almost impossible-to-reach islands in Unity State, driven from their homes because of violence. The most vulnerable among them, including the elderly and ill, would not be able to access essentials like food and medical help without the canoe-drivers and canoes transporting them to and from life-saving aid. In Malawi, were working with partners to ensure marginalised communities get the healthcare they deserve. Malawi has some of the best health policies in the world but limited and badly-managed public funds mean they arent put into practice. This negatively impacts everyone but for people with disabilities this makes life even more challenging. People like Peter Simoni, a wheelchair user and member of a local disability committee. In the local healthcare centre he visits, there is no wheelchair ramp and so he is forced to crawl on his hands and knees to get into the building. With the support of Irish Aid and through our work with local partners, Peter has been able to reclaim his rights and demand quality healthcare for him and his community, including ensuring the ambulance designated to his local healthcare centre was made available for him and others when it previously wasnt. Successful aid helps countries mobilise and sustain financing for their own development priorities; assists citizens to realise their rights and demand the services and investments they need; supports communities to escape poverty sustainably; and provides humanitarian assistance in times of crisis. Ireland can continue to support countries capacity to lead their own development through building strong government institutions and public services and support domestic resource mobilisation through taxation, so that aid leverages more, and more sustainable finance, that can support public budgets to tackle inequality. Martha Nyabany, mother-of-five and canoe expert in South Sudan. Marthas work ensures people access life-saving aid, like food and medicine. Photo: Stella Madete. We were encouraged to see Irelands commitment to supporting and protecting civil society space and call on the Government to be brave in the defence of human rights. As the Government seeks to expand our global footprint through Global Ireland 2025 and implement the vision set out in A Better World, Ireland must continue to place the defence of civic space high on the international human rights agenda. Since the Irish Aid programme began in 1974, it has been an initiative that we all can be proud of. The announcement of the Governments new policy means that we can be even more proud of the contribution that Ireland will make to parts of the world that do not enjoy the stability and safety that we do at home. We look forward to continuing to work together to put the ambition of A Better World into meaningful action that saves and transforms the lives of the worlds poorest and most vulnerable. Jim Clarken is Chief Executive of Oxfam Ireland. Worried parents will now have to deliberate over whether they should allow their children take part in a much-anticipated camping adventure with their friends, writes Elaine Loughlin. If I had a child involved in scouts this weekend I dont think I would be comfortable allowing that child to go off on an overnight camping trip. This was the reaction of Maeve Lewis, executive director of One in Four, to the latest child protection concerns at Scouting Ireland and it is one that will be echoed in kitchens up and down the country. Worried parents will now have to deliberate over whether they should allow their children take part in a much-anticipated camping adventure with their friends. The serious and ongoing failures around child safety raised by Tusla in a letter sent to Scouting Ireland will undoubtedly spark anxiety and alarm. But so too will the defensive response by the organisation which has more than 50,000 members, including 13,000 adult volunteers. Uncertainty only breeds fear and when there are questions around your sons or daughters safety and protection there is much to fear. Parents have been now left in the difficult situation of having to weigh up an accusation versus denial narrative which is all the more worrying when the nub of the argument is about keeping children safe. On Wednesday, Childrens Minister Katherine Zappone brought details of the Tusla letter sent to Scouting Ireland detailing eight specific recommendations where the agency feels urgent action is needed to ensure children are protected. The child and family agency went as far as questioning whether overnight trips which are a fundamental part of scouting should continue. Ms Zappone said she felt compelled to alert parents to the serious concerns that have been raised by Tusla and said it will be up to each family to decide whether they should send their children to scouting events and activities over coming days and weeks. Later, Scouting Ireland published a detailed statement, which refuted, questioned and dismissed the Tusla letter. They asked: What evidence does Tusla have to support the request for an immediate review of the supervision of children involved in scouting? and said it would be helpful to understand what evidence Tusla has for suggesting that Scouting Ireland should consider the viability of continuing with overnight trips. Ian Elliott, who has been tasked with carrying out a review of alleged historic child abuse at Scouting Ireland, yesterday said he is baffled by the letter and speaking on behalf of the organisation said: We have stringent and robust policies now in place, which I believe, are best practice. To add to the confusion, it emerged that an inter-agency meeting between Tusla, the gardai and Scouting Ireland was held last Monday a week after the Tusla letter was sent however, Mr Elliott claimed that no mention of the concerns was raised at this meeting. The contradictory remarks leave both Scouting Ireland and Tusla with more questions to answer. In an age where children increasingly live in a virtual world, organisations like Scouting Ireland provide young people with a breath of fresh air, allowing children to enjoy outdoor adventures and challenges. Scouting Ireland states that its aim is to encourage the physical, intellectual, character, emotional, social and spiritual development of young people so that they may achieve their full potential and, as responsible citizens, to improve society. But while Tusla accuses and Scouting Ireland denies, parents are left in a worrying state of limbo, not knowing whether it is safe to send their children off to climb, camp, explore and simply be a child. How can parents be expected to have a clear view if they are looking at muddied waters? THIS Government preaches fiscal responsibility from a high pulpit but then it can be capable of collapsing like a cheap suit when demands for extra cash are put its way. We saw it this week, somewhat bizarrely, with a decision taken on vitamins. It all raises interesting questions as to the exact centrality of the command structure within Government, and how much autonomy Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe does or does not enjoy. Needless to say the Taoiseach of the day is always seen as the ultimate boss but in each administration there is a different dynamic in the relationship between the Taoiseach and his Minister for Finance. Does Mr Donohoe have his own bottom lines or are they all drawn by Mr Varadkar? Does the fact that the Minister came from a corporate background before entering politics mean he adapts more easily to a hierarchical structure. Back in the day Charlie McCreevy apparently thought nothing of keeping his then boss Bertie Ahern in the dark on some issues right up to Budget day. More recently Michael Noonan managed to maintain an air of mystery about himself and his portfolio, and where he might take things fiscally speaking. Clearly you can argue about the merits of each approach, all involving different personalities, different financial circumstances or indeed if you are dealing with a coalition government or another variation of single party government. In this instance it is unclear as to how things work between this minister for finance and Taoiseach and where the upper hand lies. Certainly both sing the same tune when it comes to the need to avoid the boom and bust politics of the past, and the need for holding steady given all the knowns, and the unknowns and Brexit and all the rest. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of politics could write the script. The Taoiseach favours doing it in a manner where he gets to needle Fianna Fail for their past economic sins bringing the country to its knees financially and all that. The finance minister takes a more thoughtful approach and despite being a nerd when it comes to being on top of all the latest in high brow economic philosophy, manages to break it down in a manner that ordinary people understand in that nicely polite and respectful manner that is his own. Its difficult not to find yourself nodding in agreement as he explains how its important to learn lessons from the difficult times and to mind the money carefully, and that we will all be far happier if we have a nest egg to fall back on when the bad times, inevitably, hit. As mentioned on a number of occasions previously he reminds us often of the importance of the centre ground holding in our politics and that one of the ways of doing that, and getting support from the voters, is maintaining this steady economic course. So far so good. But then we are thrown for a loop when things happen that make it seems like the national purse has, in fact, an elasticated bottom to it and it can be taken from its hiding place down the back of the sofa when the going gets tough, like with the vitamins this week. In brief the Revenue Commissioners has delayed the introduction of Vat of 23% on food supplements until November 21. The planned change, which was announced last December, saw a well-orchestrated campaign from health food stores and their customers with more than 60,000 people signing an online petition urging the Government not to go ahead with the hike. Until now food supplements have been treated as food for Vat, therefore having the zero rate of Vat that has applied to food over four decades. Cue the cave in from the Government. The Revenue Commissioners say it took its decision after getting a letter from Donohoe who is to examine the options for the taxation of food supplements. Its interesting to see the minister say in his letter that he appreciates Revenue must administer tax legislation without fear or favour, independent of outside influences, but added that he had been approached by a wide range of individuals and organisations on this issue. Now there is no one who likes a trip to the health food shop better than I, and despite the fact that in the vast majority of cases there is little scientific evidence of anything that you buy there actually working, the expenditure when you feel under the weather can be wonderfully comforting. This sector is now big business. This was an entirely legitimate move on the part of the Revenue Commissioners. Moving on to the area of actual drugs with scientific research behind them. We learnt in recent days that the HSE has almost exhausted available funding it has for new drugs in 2019 just two months into 2019. This is news that will have upset a number of very sick people hoping for access to a variety of these new, but highly expensive medicines. Link that back to a decision taken in December by Minister for Health Simon Harris to make cancer drug Pembrolizumab (Pembro) available to all women with advanced cervical cancer, not just the 221 affected by the CervicalCheck controversy. Its difficult to argue with that on a human level knowing that if you or a family member of friend was in that position youd want access to it. Except that Prof Michael Barry, in charge of the National Centre of Pharmacoeconomics whose job it is to decide on which of these highly expensive drugs should be made available and to whom, advised the minister should stick with the system already there. Thats what is fair, rather than popular or political. WHILE Pembro, which costs 8,500 a dose up to 140,000 a year has worked incredibly well for campaigner Vicky Phelan, it is not currently licensed in Europe for the treatment of cervical cancer. She received it off licence. However around 85% of people who receive Pembro may not have that same positive result. Continuing with the health theme (without even getting into the budget overruns on the National Childrens Hospital project) there was the recent nurses strike. This was no easy situation for the Government, particularly the minister for finance. The agreement was a deal well done in a number of ways with the nurses getting less than they wanted, but at the end of the day it was just that, a deal. It signalled that no matter what he may say Mr Donohoes wallet has some very deep pockets. Just watch the queue forming now. Its all money, money, money. None of this can be examined without factoring in the growing prospect of a general election and Fine Gaels desire to simultaneously appear economically responsible yet also open to buying votes. Its quite the tightrope to walk when you have such mixed messages. Asia Social Media Fake News Fans Tension Between India and Pakistan People chant slogans as they burn an effigy depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after Pakistan shot down two Indian military aircrafts, according to Pakistani officials, in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Thursday. / Reuters MUMBAI With India and Pakistan standing on the brink of war this week, several false videos, pictures and messages circulated widely on social media, sparking anger and heightening tension in both countries. The video of an injured pilot from a recent Indian air show and images from a 2005 earthquake have been taken out of context to attempt to mislead tens of millions on platforms like Twitter, Facebook and its messenger service, WhatsApp. The spurt of fake news comes after New Delhi this week launched an air strike inside Pakistan, the first such move in more than four decades. India says the attack destroyed a militant camp run by the group that claimed responsibility for killing 40 paramilitary troops in Indian Kashmir on Feb 14. Pakistan denied there had been any casualties in the attack. Tensions between the nuclear-armed nations peaked with both sides claiming they had shot down each others fighter jets on Wednesday, and Pakistan capturing an Indian pilot. As claims and counter claims poured in from both sides, social media became a hotbed of unverified news, pictures and video clips, according to fact checkers. Pratik Sinha, co-founder of one such fact-checking website, Alt News, said it had received requests to verify news from journalists and people on social media. Its been crazy since Tuesday. There is so much out there that we know is fake, but were not able to fact-check all of it, Sinha said. A Facebook group that says it supports Amit Shah, the chief of Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), posted images on Tuesday of the alleged destruction caused inside Pakistan by the Indian air strike. Three photos posted on the group page showed debris from a destroyed building and bodies and have been shared hundreds of times. Alt News said the pictures were from a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir. India, where roughly 450 million people have smartphones, is already struggling with a huge fake news problem with misinformation having led to mass beatings and mob lynchings. Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have begun to take steps to combat the issue, but as India heads toward general elections, due by May, fake news is getting more intensely politicized. Another message circulated on a WhatsApp group supporting the BJP claimed the Indian jet was not shot down, but crashed due to a technical snag and blamed the opposition Congress party for failing to upgrade the jets during its tenure. Similarly in Pakistan, a purported video of a second captured Indian pilot was being widely circulated. Fact-checking website Boom noted the clip was from an air show in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, where two planes crashed on Feb. 19. Everyone has a role to play in ensuring misinformation doesnt spread on the internet, and we encourage people who use Twitter not to share information unless they can verify that its true, a spokeswoman for Twitter said. Burma Over 80 Percent of Village GAD Officials in Northern Rakhine Township Resign The Mrauk-U Township GAD office in northern Rakhine State. / Kyaw Hla Myint / Facebook YANGON Eighty-nine village General Administration Department (GAD) officials from northern Rakhine States strife-torn Mrauk-U Township resigned from their posts on Friday for fear of arrest. The township has a total 103 villages, meaning 86 percent lost their GAD officials today. The mass resignation is the second in as many months in northern Rakhine State, after more than 30 village GAD officials in Rathedaung Township resigned in January. One of the officials who resigned Friday, U Sein Kyaw Aung, of Kyauk Kyat Village, said they stepped down after the arrest of four GAD officials in Mrauk-U on Thursday while attending a monthly township GAD meeting. Owing to its collection of ancient temples, Mrauk-U is among of the more popular tourist destinations in Rakhine, but intense fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) has engulfed the area since early this year. We are afraid of arbitrary detention, like what happened yesterday, U Sein Kyaw Aung told The Irrawaddy. He said two police officers came to the Mrauk-U Township GAD office on Thursday and took the four officials and a fifth person to the township police station for questioning. U Sein Kyaw Aung said the officials were from the villages of Pyaing Gya, Pauk Pin Gwin, Yan Aung Pyin and Kyaukse Pyin, and that the township GAD official, U Maung Thar Sein, claimed no not know that they would be arrested in advance. The Mrauk-U Township GAD office could not be reached for comment. Another GAD official who resigned Friday, U Wai Hla Aung, of Tein Nyo Village, said the four officials arrested Thursday were also sued under Article 17 (1) of the Unlawful Associations Act this morning and being detained in Mrauk-U. We felt unsafe because they detained the village administrators without any reason, so we decided to submit resignation letters, he said. He said they have already handed in the letters at the township and district GAD offices. Rakhine State lawmaker U Tun Thar Sein said the village officials called to inform him of their plans to resign on Thursday and returned various office supplies including documents and stamps today. Village GAD officials are authorized to issue travel documents to people without National Registration Cards, recommendation letter to citizens and household registration documents. They also send weekly and monthly reports about their villages to their superiors. The actions of the police are beyond the procedures. If someone violates the existing laws, they should take action in line with those procedures, said U Tun Thar Sein. It seems the bureaucracy will come to a halt as of today because they returned their GAD stamps and documents, he added. The GAD had been under the authority of the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs until December, when the government moved it to the Ministry of the Offices of the Union Government, which is run by the civilian administration. Mrauk-U resident Ko Zaw Tun said the arrest of the officials without advance notice to the township GAD officials was a sign that the two ministries were not getting along. He suggested that State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urge the militarys Western Command to call a truce with the AA and try to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the rebel group. Burma Imprisoned Reuters Reporter Kyaw Soe Oo Is Ill, His Wife Says Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo prepares to leave court after being sentenced to seven years in prison in September 2018. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy Jailed Reuters reporter Kyaw Soe Oo has fallen ill in prison, according to his wife. Ma Chit Su Win told The Irrawaddy on Friday that her husband had a high temperature and appeared very weak when she visited him at Yangons Insein Prison on Feb. 27. His whole body is covered in a rash and he has a high temperature, Ma Chit Su Win said. Walking left him very tired and he was unable to talk for more than 5 minutes, she said. After being invited to dinner to meet with police to discuss a story, Kyaw Soe Oo and his Reuters colleague Wa Lone were arrested in December 2017 and accused of violating the Official Secrets Act. The journalists were eventually convicted and sentenced to 7-year prison terms. The case drew international attention as many critics of the caseand even a police officer serving as a prosecution witness during the trialclaimed the pair had been framed. Prior to their arrests, they had been reporting about rights abuses committed by the Myanmar Army in Rakhine State, including the massacre of 10 Rohingya civilians. Kyaw Soe Oo has received some treatment at the prisons hospital, Ma Chit Su Win said. He told me not to come on Thursday as the doctor planned to put him on an intravenous drip, she said. She said a doctor from the prison hospital told her he had conducted a blood test on Kyaw Soe Oo on Thursday and found no abnormalities. Nonetheless, Ma Chit Su Win said she was very worried about her husbands condition, adding that she planned to visit to him on Monday. The doctor told us that he was fine, and that we did not need to worry, she said. Reuters office in Yangon said it would help Ma Chit Su Win and her family write a letter to the prison authorities asking that Kyaw Soe Oo be allowed to seek treatment outside the prison. We have requested permission to transfer Kyaw Soe Oo to his doctor for a consultation and to visit him and Wa Lone. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, Reuters said on Friday in an email sent to The Irrawaddy. Ma Chit Su Win visits her husband in prison every day. She said Kyaw Soe Oo was in relatively good spirits and did not appear to be depressed, but complained about missing his family, especially when he was sick. He is my husband. I want to take good care of him. But I cant do it. So Im really worried for him, she said, adding I wish I could get inside the prison to take care of him. World Bangladesh Tells U.N. Security Council Cannot Take More Myanmar Refugees Rohingya refugee children walk along a road in the Balukhali camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, on Nov. 16. / Reuters UNITED NATIONS Bangladesh told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that it cannot take any more refugees from Myanmar, some 18 months after more than 700,000 mainly Rohingya Muslims started pouring across the border fleeing a military crackdown. Attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents in Myanmars Rakhine State triggered the crackdown that the United Nations, the United States, Britain and others describe as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies the accusations. I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said. Haque accused Myanmar of hollow promises and various obstructionist approaches during negotiations on returns. Not a single Rohingya has volunteered to return to Rakhine due to the absence of conducive environment there, Haque said. Myanmar says it has been ready to accept returning refugees since January, but the United Nations says conditions are not yet right for their return. The Rohingya say they want guarantees over their safety and to be recognized as citizens before returning. Western powers on the council on Thursday lamented the lack of action from Myanmars government. Were very disappointed that there hasnt been more progress on getting the refugees back and that obviously includes creating the conditions where the refugees feel able to go back, British U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce told the council. Several council members from Western countries stressed that the return of refugees needed to be safe, voluntary, dignified and secure, and pushed for the Myanmar government to allow the United Nations widespread and unconditional access to Rakhine. U.N. envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner-Burgener told the Security Council that U.N. access was currently insufficient. The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far, she said. The 15-member Security Council has been split over how to deal with the crisis, with western powers pitted against Russia and Myanmar ally China. Chinas Deputy U.N. ambassador, Wu Haitao, said it was mainly an issue between Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh and as such it is up to the two countries to work out a solution. Russias deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, agreed. In December Britain circulated a draft resolution to council members that diplomats said aims to put a timeline on Myanmar allowing the return of refugees and addressing accountability, but China and Russia have boycotted talks on the draft. Deputy U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said: The international community cannot ignore the worlds largest refugee camp. Guest Column Identity Politics and Myanmar's Democratic Transition Ethnic Kachin women participate in an election campaign event in 2015. / Reuters American political scientist Francis Fukuyama said in an interview that the rise of identity politics was an unhealthy situation for democracy to be in when people line themselves up according to these birth categories. The rise of white nationalism and the black lives matter movement in the U.S. was mentioned in his book Identity Politics. In fact, ethnic identity politics has been present in colonized countries since the colonial era. Many ethnic categorizations and ethnic hierarchies still functioning today were the intended or unintended results of European colonialism, said Norwegian anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen. This is also known as divide-and-rule, used by colonial powers to divide the Frontier Areas from Ministerial Burma, Hutu from Tutsi in Rwanda, and during apartheid in South Africa. During a meeting with Britains Labour prime minister, Clement Attlee, in London in 1947, Aung San, leading Burmas delegation to the country, openly accused the empire of a divide-and-rule policy in Burma. The present division between Ministerial Burma and the Frontier Areas is the direct result of the past policy of the British rulers of Burma if not of His Majestys Government to do everything possible to divide the Frontier Areas from the rest of Burma, Vum Ko Hau, an ethnic Chin scholar, wrote in the book Profile of a Burma Frontier Man. When Burma claimed independence from Britain, there was a serious debate between ethnic Bamar and minority leaders about whether or not the Frontier Areas would join. Though Aung San said in his speeches that Burma would ask for independence separately if the Frontier Areas will not join in, he knew very well that it was most ridiculous to divide a country as small as Burma any further. Vum Ko Hau reproduced his conversation with Aung San about the Frontier Areas: The adjacent boundaries with all the important foreign countries would be with the Frontier Areas, and as such the defence of her borders would be in a hopeless position as the Frontier Areas themselves would not be able to defend themselves against their own neighbours, which are also neighbours of Ministerial Burma. On the other hand, it would be difficult for most of the Frontier Areas to stand on their legs with regards to finance when they need it most for improvement in almost all fields. There is definite mutual advantage to join together rather than to divide further as already designed by the imperialists. Identity politics based on nationalism and territorial control was installed in the Frontier Areas in the late colonial period. In 1946 the governor of British Burma, Dorman-Smith, and the officers in the Frontier Areas met with Kachin leaders in Myitkyina, while the director for the Frontier Areas Administration, Henry Stevenson, met with Karenni leaders in Loikaw, to introduce the Frontier Areas Regulation. Author Mikael Gravers highlights the British influence in the Frontier Areas in his essay Nationalism as Political Paranoia in Burma. During the negotiations in Panglong in the Shan states, he writes, the British tried to the last to secure Burmas status as a dominion within the Commonwealth or at the very least to ensure control in Frontier Areas and with the minorities. He notes Britains attempts to mobilise the pro-British leaders against Aung Sans young supporters and the AFPFL in the border areas. The identity politics of the Frontier Areas, where a handful of feudal lords competed for territory and power, was the result of British policy. Military rule in Bamar attire One of the main causes of identity politics in Myanmar today is the Burmanization policy of former dictator Ne Win. Touting a Burmese Way to Socialism, Ne Wins government started to control education services and press freedom. The government terminated the education services provided by Western countries to reduce foreign influence in Myanmar. The teaching of English was limited to middle and high school, and only Burmese language, literature, and history were taught in primary schools across the country. The services of the Peace Corps were rejected and the activities of the British Council and the US Information Service were suspended. The Socialist government imposed a closed-door policy to minimize foreign influence. The recent Rohingya exodus was not the only exodus in Myanmar history. There were several cases after the advent of Ne Wins socialist dictatorship in 1962. Under a nationalization law, Ne Win deported many Indian and Chinese immigrants who dominated much of the countrys business and agriculture sectors in 1963-64, creating an exodus to India and China of some 500,000 to 800,000 people, author Robert Holmes notes in his paper Burmese Domestic Policy: Politics of Burmanization. Whether one calls it the Burmese Way to Socialism or Disciplined Democracy, it was military rule in Bamar attire. While Myanmar managed to overcome feudalism and colonialism, the country spent five decades under military or one-party rule. Ne Wins Burmanization policy and his mismanagement fostered inequality between ethnic Bamar and minority groups and caused great suffering. While Ne Win was imposing socialist rule using nationalist identity politics, the rise of ethno-nationalism in the former Frontier Areas emerged. Ethnic leaders formed armed groups and have been fighting the Myanmar military since independence. Thus Myanmar has had more than 70 years of civil war. Myanmar democracy and identity politics When nationalism emerged in the 19th Century, Burmese nationalists took part in independence movements in Southeast Asian nations. When Marxist ideology was influenced in Asia, it became popular among university students in Myanmar. As with many countries across Asia, Myanmar was heavily influenced by popular ideologies around the world. Fukuyama said 21st Century politics is defined less by economic or ideological concerns than by questions of identity. Now, in many democracies, the Left focuses less on creating broad economic equality and more on promoting the interests of a wide variety of marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities, immigrants and refugees, women, and LGBT people. The Right, meanwhile, has redefined its core mission as the patriotic protection of traditional national identity, which is often explicitly connected to race, ethnicity, or religion. If we look at the Myanmar peace process, the Left and Right have taken hard positions with little willingness to compromise. The ethnic groups want recognition and accommodation, as they have since Myanmar gained independence. At the same time, the majority Bamar want to maintain the countrys sovereignty and to protect the traditional national identity. After 2010, a quasi-civilian government formed by former generals took power with a military-drafted Constitution and ruled the country until 2015. Although the military is no longer officially in charge, it still plays a major role in the duel-governing system the Constitution established and continues to sell itself as the last defence against the countrys disintegration. As a result of the shift from military to quasi-civilian rule after 2010, press freedom has increased. Many civil society groups have been establish that promote democracy. Then the 2015 elections marked a milestone in the peoples political awakening, and a civilian government was formed for the first time in 60 years. Today there are many organizations in Myanmar promoting the rights of women, ethnic minorities, LGBT people and other oppressed groups. During British rule, the colonialists pulled the strings of identity politics in Burma to try to secure their power in the Frontier Areas. Likewise, there are people pulling the string of identity politics now during Myanmar transition to democracy. Sometimes they pull the strings in the name of ethnic identity. Other times they use religion as cover to secure power. Fukuyama writes: Peoples identities are neither fixed nor necessarily given by birth. Identity can be used to divide, but it can also be used to unify. Aung San and ethnic leaders signed the Panglong Agreement in 1947. When people talk about the agreement today, they usually cite its promise of full autonomy in the internal administration of minority areas. The part they usually forget to mention is this: Citizens of the Frontier Areas shall enjoy rights and privileges which are regarded as fundamental in democratic countries. In the meantime, only a politics of democratic identity that protects individual rights and freedoms can help Myanmar with its transition, not the politics of one group, one territory or one identity, because the recognition of ones identity is a basic tenet of democracy. Mon Mon Myat is a freelance writer and journalist and a graduate student in the PhD program on peace building at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. But Colon said this week he would not answer questions despite a grant of immunity from prosecution. Judge Linn found him in contempt of court and said he could sentence Colon to as much as 30 years on top of the 84 years he is already serving. On This Day Gen. Aung Sans Ill-fated Economic Plan for Myanmar Gen. Aung San announces his economic plan for Burma to the British Chamber of Commerce on March 1, 1947. Seventy-two years ago today, at the request of the British Chamber of Commerce looking to know the future economic policies of Burma which was about to be granted independence, Gen. Aung San announced his economic plans for the future government. He planned to nationalize important industries, and revealed that plans had been drawn to revamp the damaged economy. He vowed that the government would not neglect public subsidies and would deal with the financially troubled transportation projects. He said he was not in favor of the excessive growth of capitalism and that conditions of Myanmar workers were not as satisfactory as those in developed countries. Four months later, Gen. Aung San was assassinated. Due to the involvement of some British army officers in the case, Britain itself was on trial in the eyes of the public, as rumors swirled that figures in London supported the plot. Later, in an interview with the BBC, his counterpart from the Thirty Comrades Brig-Gen Kyaw Zaw surmised that it was they who machinated the murder, saying, It was the British Government that actually assassinated Gen. Aung San. It was their conspiracy. Read more stories: Happy Birthday Sir Maung Ba, British Burma Home Affairs Minister Daw Saw Hsa, Myanmars First Female Surgeon and Lawmaker Travel Introducing Indawgyi Lake: Community Tourism With a Social Impact Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2017. / Myanmar Tourism Federation LON TON, Kachin State Face of Indawgyi is a sustainable social enterprise based at Indawgyi Lake in Kachin State. As well as facilitating sustainable, community-based tourism at the lake, Myanmars largest, the project works on four main principles: cultural preservation, environmental conservation, educational opportunities and sustainable business development. The idea for Face of Indawgyi came during US-native Stephen Traina-Dorges visit to Lon Ton Village, on the southeast shore of the lake, while making a video documentary in 2015. He was struck by the tranquility of the lake, the open friendliness of the people and their unique culture. This really all stemmed out of cultural preservation. We were doing a cultural preservation documentary on thanaka and came here to document rural northern Myanmar. Right when we arrived, we felt the same thing this place is incredibly special. We wanted to have more of an impact than the thanaka documentary work, said Traina-Dorge. In July 2017, he moved to Lon Ton and founded Face of Indawgyi. He was joined by a like-minded partner, Patrick Compton, also from the US, who became associate director. Though over 70,000 pilgrims visit the lake annually for the festival at Shwemyitzu Pagoda, a temple that seems to float on the waters surface, visitors to the lake strictly for tourism are few but growing. Travelers who do make their way here are drawn to the lake, part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, for its wealth of birdlife and healthy populations of other endemic wildlife. On a February morning at Indawgyi Motel, one of two basic guesthouses serving the lake in Lon Ton, Burmese, English, German, and Korean languages could be heard from visitors who, in their determination to experience this unique region, undertook the long journey to be here. Tourism with and for the community Face of Indawgyi helps to facilitate visits to the lake and in turn supports the community. It doesnt focus on new activities or experiences, but rather connects visitors to a range of sustainable, community-focused activities that are already available but not widely known. On a boat ride on the 260-square-km lake, you can see some of the 20,000 birds that flock here from Siberia each year to escape northern Russias harsh winters between November and March. You can join shrimp farmers on their wooden boats as they lay out their traps at dusk, the intricate cages dunked quietly into waters colored golden by the setting sun. Kayaks, bamboo bicycles and skateboards made from recycled plastic can be rented. Treks into the surrounding hills and various viewpoints by the lake are other low-impact activities that can bring financial income to local families. Generating income locally and providing employment opportunities for the communitys youth are important positive social impacts of the project, which works in areas plagued by drug addiction and where many young men are lured into work at the notorious jade mines of Hpakant, 80 km away. In other places, its about being a tourist. But here, its about becoming involved in the community through your experiences, said Traina-Dorge at a property on the lakeshore the social enterprise recently acquired and where it plans to build the Lon Ton Social Impact Guesthouse. Were trying to make Indawgyi a kind of hub, an example for other places. Were not trying to do it all ourselves. Were looking for partnerships. If we could bring the best of 21st century ideas, the best of globalization, to solve local challenges, then that would be something special, said Compton. Face of Indawgyi has created a map of Lon Ton that includes useful information on where to eat, lake paths, shops and viewpoints. It has created multilingual menus for restaurants where travelers might eat. Whats more, the wide range of activities can be prearranged on the Face of Indawgyi website, including those already mentioned plus a visit to a traditional Shan-ni fabric weaving workshop, a local alcohol-making business and Shan-ni cuisine cooking classes. Cash generated through tourism activities they organize goes straight into the hands of the locals providing the service. All other funds go into furthering the projects reach around the lake. What sets [Indawgyi] apart from other destinations in Myanmar is that it hasnt been overdeveloped. In fact, its barely developed at all. Theres still a unique identity, said Compton. As Inle Lake struggles with the waste burden of a growing number of visitors and construction projects on its shores, Indawgyi has the opportunity to establish environmentally sound tourism practices before visitor numbers really start to grow. As part of its environmental work, Face of Indawgyi runs an anti-littering campaign that involves signage and awareness-raising and the installation of trash bins around four villages and at Shwemyitzu Pagoda. The simple bins are made locally from recycled fishing nets and set a good precedent for the future. Shan-ni cultural preservation Something Face of Indawgyi is passionate about is preserving and documenting the local culture. The people living around Indawgyi are predominantly Shan-ni, or Tai Laeng in their own tongue, a subgroup of the Shan. Over decades of repression by the military junta and suffering the effects of conflict in the area between Kachin armed groups and the military, the Shan-ni culture is not as strong as it once was. Only a few elderly locals and monks can speak the language, though a number of classes for youth have been started. Face of Indawgyi has been creating a Shan-ni oral archive and video documentation of the language and researched and recorded the unique oral histories of three villages on the lake. Biodiversity at Southeast Asias third-largest lake Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary was established by the Myanmar government in 1999 and listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2017. Of its 73,600 hectares, the lake covers 12,000. Species in the sanctuary include 10 globally threatened bird species, the endemic Burmese peacock turtle and a number of endemic fish species. However, the lakes health is threatened by nearby small-scale illegal gold mines and unmanaged waste from the huge number of pilgrims who come for the annual Shwemyitzu Pagoda festival. Blueprints for a guesthouse with positive social impact Government numbers show foreign visitors to Indawgyi remain below 1,000 per year. Its not easy to get here the fastest way to reach Lon Ton from Yangon is to fly to Myitkyina and hire a car for the four-hour trip to the village. Many travelers make their way here on a long train or bus journey north from Mandalay, stopping off at Katha and Bamaw. What will make the journey more worthwhile, however, is a better quality of accommodation, and Face of Indawgyi is onto that. After a complex yearlong bureaucratic process to lease the land, it has begun making plans for a 10-room guesthouse on the sloping site right at the lakes edge that it hopes to open in March 2020. Set to be the cornerstone of Face of Indawgyi, it will incorporate a hotel training center funded by Luxdev and a community event space. Face of Indawgyis projects are already wide-reaching and ambitious, but with a long list of plans for the future and ventures in the pipeline, this social enterprise holds lots of potential for genuine, long-lasting positive impacts on the community and environment of Indawgyi Lake. As Compton said, We have lofty goals, but figuring out concrete and measurable things we can do at this early stage sets the foundation for great things later on. Friday, March 1st, 2019 (12:02 am) - Score 1,511 The Rural Services Network (RSN) are today leading calls for the UK government to produce an urgent comprehensive strategy for rural areas in preparation for Brexit, which among other things demands more investment to boost the full fibre (FTTP) broadband roll-out and stronger mobile coverage targets. According to Ofcoms most recent report (here), some 94% of the United Kingdom can access a fixed line superfast broadband (30Mbps+) ISP network, which rises to 97% in urban areas and falls to 74% in rural locations. Similarly geographic 4G mobile coverage in rural areas from all operators is 97% in urban locations, but only 62% for rural areas. Clearly some big gaps exist and RSNs new report warns that rural towns and villages simply cannot afford to wait any longer for politicians to take their concerns seriously and act on them. The group adds that the deep-seated challenges to the sustainability of rural communities and service delivery in rural areas have been inadequately addressed by those in power for too long and the situation has become urgent. We should point out that this campaign isnt just looking at broadband and mobile connectivity. The report also highlights problems with higher house prices, the brain drain as skilled people move away from rural communities, the rising withdrawal of bus services, weaknesses in health funding and so forth. But our focus will naturally be on the digital infrastructure side of things. Graham Biggs, CEO of the Rural Services Network, said: Rural Communities are frequently overlooked in a policy environment dominated by urban thinking and policy concerns. This often means communities either miss out on the benefits or experience unintended consequences from policies which are poorly thought-through from a rural perspective. It is time for this rural mainstreaming to stop. People living in ours towns and villages simply cannot afford to wait any longer for politicians to take their concerns seriously and act on them. If rural communities are to be sustainable, the Government must seize this opportunity to work with communities to produce a long-term, funded rural strategy which recognises the contribution rural areas make and have the potential to make to the wellbeing and prosperity of the nation as a whole. In fairness the 1.6bn+ state aid supported Broadband Delivery UK programme is continuing to expand the coverage of superfast broadband lines (potentially reaching 98% by the end of 2020). On top of that Ofcom are in the process of introducing a new 10Mbps+ Universal Service Obligation (USO) to help those in the final c.2% of premises (here). The Government have also committed to extend geographic mobile network coverage to 95% of the UK by 2022 and Ofcoms forthcoming auction of the 5G friendly 700MHz radio spectrum band includes supporting coverage obligations (here). Lest we forget the aspiration to achieve nationwide coverage of ultrafast full fibre (FTTP) broadband by 2033. Nevertheless the campaigners want to see the Government go even further and theyve outlined several key recommendations for digital infrastructure. The Recommendations A USO that is fit for purpose: In the short term, the planned introduction (in 2020) of a broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) is welcome. However, the proposed USO level, at 10 Mbps, risks becoming out-of-date. Ofcom should review this prior to its introduction, not least because there will be pressure to leave the USO unchanged for a while to bed down. When the USO is applied decisions about upgrading networks should be taken on a value for money basis and not just a cheapest solution basis. Whilst the cheap option may get premises or areas just over the 10 Mbps threshold, a value for money solution could deliver much higher speeds that result in more sustained benefits. A focus on full fibre roll out: The Governments Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) is welcome, setting a longer term goal for the nationwide roll out of full fibre networks. That technology should avoid rural areas falling behind again as demand for bandwidth continues to grow. Significant public funding, as indicated by the FTIR, is clearly justifiable given the market failure that would exist otherwise, with many rural areas considered uncommercial for the roll out. The plans for a rural first (or outside-in) approach to using public funds are exactly what are required. Further announcements, how the goal will be turned into practice, will be eagerly awaited. The upcoming Spending Review needs to allocate funding, building on the 200 million mentioned in the 2018 Budget. A drive to connect rural businesses: Evidence from the Rural England and SRUC survey of rural businesses is that those with a superfast connection realise more business benefits and face fewer digital challenges than those still dependent on a slower connection. The survey report concludes that, in order to capitalise on the public investment in superfast networks, more businesses should be encouraged to upgrade (where they have the option to do so). Government and local broadband partnerships should reinforce their efforts to promote the business benefits. This could include finding rural businesses which are already adopters and are willing to act as broadband champions among their peer group. Alongside this should be training and resources to help rural SMEs improve their digital skills. A review of mobile connectivity: Whilst mobile connectivity is improving, rural areas lag behind and there are particular rural issues, such as signal strength inside premises and signal loss for those on the move. Previous targets set for mobile network providers (as part of their licences) proved insufficient. It is imperative the regulator, Ofcom, sets sufficiently stretching targets when auctioning the next round of licenses. These should apply equally to all awarded a licence and ensure many more rural communities gain access to mobile internet/data services (as well as basic voice/text services). The sharing of phone masts by providers, to address gaps in provision, should be supported and, if necessary, regulated for. Looking ahead, it is crucial that rural communities feature prominently in plans to develop 5G networks. On the USO its worth pointing out that 10Mbps is a minimum speed and most of the c.600,000 premises set to benefit from it should generally expect something faster. Setting the USO higher than 10Mbps is also a bit of a tedious game to play as it could result in market distortions (e.g. overbuilding alternative network ISPs) and placing higher costs on the industry, which would invariably be passed on to consumers as price rises. As for the FTIR and calls for more clarity or funding for the proposed outside-in approach to deployment. The Government has just outlined how some of the first 200m will be used in order to bring gigabit broadband to rural schools and hopefully surrounding homes (likely supported by connection vouchers). But this is still short of the up to 5bn in public investment that the FTIR suggested may be needed to tackle rural areas. The difficulty for the Government is that at this point theyre clearly trying to encourage private investment to do as much of the work as possible through strategic funding and softer rules. All this could be undermined by suddenly placing a huge lump of public investment on the table, just as commercial deployments are getting into their stride. On the other hand only a very few providers have managed to create a viable economic model of FTTP deployment in remote rural areas and theres an argument to say that, if left up to them alone, achieving complete coverage could take several decades (an unacceptably long wait). But for now wed expect the current government to continue their approach of encouragement, with gradual but targeted funding increases. Nevertheless, eventually somebody will have to come back to this problem and place a much bigger wad of money on the table, particularly if they intend to achieve the 2033 aspiration on time. The obvious question mark is whether or not this will occur under the current government or be left up to a future administration. As leaders and parties change, so do policies. Friday, March 1st, 2019 (8:32 am) - Score 1,933 Cityfibre has today appointed a former partner at global investment firm Goldman Sachs, Simon Holden, to become its first Group Chief Operating Officer, reporting directly to the CEO, Greg Mesch. Holden will help the operator to roll-out their new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network in the UK. At present the operator is in the process of creating a 2.5bn private investment to help it cover around 1 million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2021 via 10 cities (phase one expected cost of c.500m), which will then rise to 5 million premises across 37 cities and towns by the end of 2024 (here). Generally the operator is aiming to cover roughly 85%+ of premises in each of the urban locations they target. The huge investment has required Cityfibre to scale-up their operation and theyre in the process of recruiting constructing partners, which are expected to create thousands of jobs across the cities in which they are building (one Regeneris study indicated that c.5,000 engineers may be needed). Naturally such a large investment will benefit from having people with experience of operating at that level, which sounds like a good fit for Simon Holden. Simon was previously a partner at Goldman Sachs where he spent 18 years in London and New York, while holding various senior roles in the Investment Banking division including Global Chief Operating Officer and Vice-Chairman EMEA, as well as a number of leadership roles in the Telecom, Media and Technology banking team. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Simon worked for Baring Brothers in London and Hong Kong. Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, said: The Board and executive team are delighted to have appointed Simon as our new Group Chief Operating Officer. His telecoms expertise coupled with the breadth of his business experience will prove invaluable at this transformative stage in CityFibres growth as we scale our business to reach at least 20% of the UK market. Simon Holden added: This is a pivotal moment for the UK fibre market. As a service-based economy, the UK is reliant on the internet and ensuring access to the finest digital infrastructure possible is critical to its ability to compete and succeed on the world stage. Im thrilled to join the CityFibre team at such an exciting time and look forward to helping it cement a position of scale in the UK. Cityfibre, which are being supported by major UK ISP partner Vodafone, is currently still in the early stages of ramping-up their deployment and has so far completed a build to around 25,000+ premises. Friday, March 1st, 2019 (12:01 am) - Score 687 Business ISP RHM Telecommunications has joined the ITS Technology Groups network platform, which among other things will give them access to the operators various wholesale multi-Gigabit capable full fibre services. RHM is understood to have a specific focus on tackling connectivity blackspots in Bristol and West London. At present ITS are known to operate around 22 UK fibre optic and wireless broadband networks across England, particularly in London (Hammersmith & Fulham), Bristol, Hereford, Nottingham and Tameside. However RHM appears to be primarily interested in the coverage gaps that have been left by Openreach (BT) around Bristol and West London. Nick Thomas, MD of RHM, said that the operator provides thousands of internet connections for our clients and have become increasingly frustrated by the lack of availability in certain areas including some cities and major conurbations. Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS, said: We are delighted to welcome RHM Telecommunications onto our partner programme. Our growing network footprint complements the areas where RHM has demand to supply services, but also gives the business the opportunity to expand into new territories quickly. Connectivity blackspots are not the sole domain of rural areas many urban locations are still overlooked. Our duct and asset reuse models mean that we can install customers quickly with minimum disruption which is an appealing proposition both for our partners and their end customers. End. February 28, 2019 POCATELLO The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have announced that Steve Chiu, Idaho State University associate professor and director of electrical engineering, has received a Fulbright Scholar Grant to Iceland. Chiu was selected to participate in the bi-national program of educational exchanges between the United States and Iceland. His appointment is under the category of Fulbright-National Science Foundation Cyber-Security and Critical Infrastructure Scholar, according to the Iceland-U.S. Fulbright Commission. This is a great opportunity to develop collaborative relations with researchers and educators of Iceland to help address the scientific and engineering problems arising from cyber-physical systems within critical infrastructures, such as the Smart Grid, Chiu said. Smart Grids are electrical grids that can include a variety of operation and energy measures including smart meters, smart appliances, renewable energy resources and energy efficient resources. The management and security of the Grid rely significantly on the design and application of control systems and computational intelligence. The University of Icelands Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will host Chiu during his appointment. Chius work will focus on four areas: reliability analysis for electrical networks; control strategy for energy infrastructures; analytics based cyber-security methods; and machine learning for grid simulation. These are among the core areas of critical energy systems management, with each of them consisting of pedagogical methods and research specializations. Chiu developed three prototype courses to cover resiliency in critical infrastructure control, embedded systems engineering and data-driven analysis using high-performance computing. Chiu is one of more than 800 U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research, and/or provide expertise abroad for the 2018-2019 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. "Cyber security for the electrical grid is of critical importance to our nation and our allies around the world, said Scott Snyder, dean of the ISU College of Science and Engineering and ISU's interim vice president for research. "Dr. Chiu's work will advance our knowledge in critical infrastructure and allow him to bring that knowledge back to our students at ISU. This area is also of great interest to our partners at Idaho National Laboratory, so Steve's Fulbright is a big win for all of Eastern Idaho. We are very proud of Dr. Chiu's accomplishment. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given more than 380,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Fulbrighters address critical global issues in all disciplines, while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 82 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government. For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Press Office by telephone 202-632-6452 or e-mail ECA-Press@state.gov. I had a chance to talk with Shane Wall, CTO for HP, at some length before he published his blog on the future and the megatrends that will define it. One interesting position I share is that while automation, if not done right, may result in massive unemployment, it will also result in massive numbers of new job types, making retraining critical to a non-dystopian future. Lets talk about Wall and his teams vision for our future, what we must look forward to, and why we should be far better prepared for it than we are. Urbanization Urbanization is a world-wide event but most noticeable in parts of Asia at the moment, where families raised on farming move to cities in alarming numbers as farms become automated and jobs continue to shift to factories. Along with this is an anticipated growth in spending at a 2 percent rate (on average) through 2030. That seems like a huge move, but it is well behind the job growth figures, which suggest, given current trends, well have 85M unfilled jobs by that time. It wont be that we dont have enough people, it will be because the people we do have will have obsolete skills and these jobs will require unique skills you cant acquire overnight. Wall argues that the industry will need to resource retraining at a massive scale by 2022 or well have serious problems in job matching, unemployment, and stalled growth by 2030. This suggests a lot of companies that are doing well now wont be competitive by 2030 due to this skills shortage. Back in 1969, Paolo Soleri anticipated this problem and came up with the concept of an arcology. This is the idea of building a company or even a city with offices and homes all tightly integrated with education, social interaction, security, and services into a single all-encompassing structure. Frank Lloyd Wright, years earlier, came up with the Broadacre City project, which was similar, and even earlier than that, Buckminster Fuller came up with the Old Man Rivers City Project. My personal favorite concept was Walt Disneys EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). Sadly, Disney died, and the vision was lost, but the promise has never been more important, based on HPs prediction. Clearly, different forms of mixed/extended reality (it would be nice if the industry picked one name) will play a huge role, but I think we also need to rethink our cities. Automation There continues to be a huge concern that automation will result in unprecedented levels of unemployment. That is a likely outcome if we dont start retraining a lot of folks currently at risk immediately. We dont have a ton of time here and a lot of old jobs are about to become obsolete just as a massive number of new jobs become available. One of the areas to watch is 5G and the massive impact it will have on the worlds networks. You see, weve been shifting data centers to a central model for some time and that just isnt going to work when we move to 5G because the networks leading to these data centers, and the data centers themselves, are likely to bottleneck. This isnt just HP raising the red flag here. At IBM Think earlier this month, both IBM and AT&T raised the same troubling flag. We need to shift back to a far more distributed data structure, or a lot of our cloud services will fail to perform adequately. Given our increased reliance on these servers for everything from the connected IoT products in our offices and homes, to our increasingly dependent autonomous vehicles, if this shift isnt timely, the result could be catastrophic failures across several ecosystems. (Autonomous cars, for the most part, are being designed to anticipate this, but other IoT efforts not so much.) Software 2.0 Software 2.0 is really a massive change in how computers work and if it isnt done properly, the movie Terminator might be a relatively benign outcome compared to what will really happen. Deep learning has the potential to create computers that dont need apps, they just learn what needs to be done from the user and the ecosystem and then do it on the fly. This happens at machine speeds, so mistakes can become catastrophic far more quickly than a human could react to the emerging problem. There is a working concept to prevent the dire outcome called AI Shield out of the Lifeboat Foundation and people are working in several of the largest companies and defense organizations on the concept. A related and better-funded commercial product called Shield AI also exists with a far more targeted agenda. But without these protections, a mistake by a deep learning system tied to some critical piece of infrastructure could escalate into a catastrophe at machine speeds, making it critical that we have protections in place that can respond just as rapidly. Those protections, in and of themselves, must have controls so they dont become a bigger problem. This is far from easy to accomplish, particularly when we have no real idea what the first emergence of a hostile AI will look like. But Software 2.0 is coming, and we arent ready. Sustainability (and the problem with the Green New Deal) Whether you want to believe in global warming or not, the problems connected with the pollution we create are resulting in massive changes to what kind of power we utilize, with a massive shift from fossil fuels to electricity. However, this shift is a bit of a head fake because power generation is still not very clean at all, particularly for dealing with electrical power requirement spikes, (we are only at 18 percent renewable energy right now and we need to be well over 50 percent for this shift to really make sense). If you shift massively to an electric power model but dont first fix those generating plants, many of which are old and relatively dirty, you could end up doing more harm than good. In addition, shifting old buildings to energy efficiency standards that came decades later is wicked expensive, often far more than just building a Leed certified building from scratch. The move to sustainable energy is undeniable, and likely critical to the survival of the race, but if we go about it the wrong way, we could do more harm than good. And the Green New Deal (which has an estimated $1 trillion dollar price tag) starts at the wrong end. You must deal with generation, grid capacity, grid security, and management before you start shifting a nation massively to electricity or it will likely go very badly for both the effort and the environment. Even energy conservation, if it also forces a shift to high polluting sources, may not be the answer and understanding how the ecosystem currently works will be critical to fixing it. Wrapping Up: HPs Pivot to the Future HP does this report to help the company define a strategy for the future. Its efforts to fully automate manufacturing with 3D printers, which should eventually turn factories into massive, exceptionally agile printers, producing everything from processed food to automobiles, is part of the resulting vision. Getting people trained to design, provision and manage these mega assets then becomes the critical path, as does the energy needed to run them. And I didnt mention one part of the change, which is that the massive influx of millennials and younger generations into major decision roles in places like Asia will cause changes in staffing and office/factory placement in their future. Part of this change is an age shift as boomers age out and millennials step in with very different needs and expectations that will drive very different product choices. And it isnt just millennials but geographic population changes, as Asia moves to eclipse the U.S. as a market in the latter half of the next decade. HP is performing the role of canary in a coal mine and pointing out that the world we have this decade will be very different from the world we will have in the second half of next decade. Being prepared for it will make a huge difference in whether we even have a job next decade, let alone where we live, work and shop. This could be far bigger than Y2K was, yet we are less prepared. That doesnt bode well for our future. More companies should be looking at the future, moving strategic programs to the front burner to deal with it, and instead most are still operating tactically like things wont change. I dont expect that will cause this to end well. HP may well be ready, but we need the world to be ready with it, and we are far from that now. As a result, Mad Max may be a tad more predictive than wed like. Shane Wall did us all a service with his report. We now need to listen and shift our plans to assure a better future. Rob Enderle is President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, a forward-looking emerging technology advisory firm. With over 30 years experience in emerging technologies, he has provided regional and global companies with guidance in how to better target customer needs; create new business opportunities; anticipate technology changes; select vendors and products; and present their products in the best possible light. Rob covers the technology industry broadly. Before founding the Enderle Group, Rob was the Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, and held senior positions at IBM and ROLM. Follow Rob on Twitter @enderle and on Facebook Hickey is set to have an annual budget of $2.85 million to monitor the implementation of the hundreds of changes laid out in the 229-page court order. Under the judges ruling, monitoring personnel are to have largely unfettered access to department officials, buildings and data as they oversee changes to training, supervision, discipline and other elements of policing. New Zealand marketplace and insights company 9 Spokes has entered into, and launched, a co-sell partner arrangement with Microsofts One Commercial Partner programme. Under the deal, the ASX-listed 9 Spokes (ASX:9SP) will be listed on the Microsoft AppSource Marketplace, providing a channel to grow its own platform base of small business users. Microsoft AppSource is an online cloud marketplace offering tailored line-of-business solutions. As part of the One Commercial Partner program, Microsoft incentivises its sales teams to co-sell the 9 Spokes platform into key global banking communities. Microsoft says the model is specifically designed to help approved partners like 9 Spokes enter new markets, and scale quickly, by tapping into the deep customer relationships and technical expertise of Microsofts enterprise sales teams around the world. Microsoft New Zealand country manager, Barrie Sheers, explained the benefit: Were helping our partners get to the same space as we are, and where our customers are. We want to help our partners build intellectual property that creates demand in the market, either by bridging a technology gap or serving a customer need. We have a strong go-to-market team which provides advice to our channel partners and demonstrates how they can embrace digital and scale up their marketing efforts. We are a platform company and we bring value to our partners and customers through the ability to build IP on top. Therefore, we co-sell with our partners to provide our channel with scale as part of the Microsoft sales engine, spanning enterprise, mid-market and small business. When a partner solution has been built, tested, proven and credentialed, we can take this offering to markets across the world by tapping directly into our global customer base. Kirsten Edmondson Wolfe, senior director, AppSource Product Marketing, Microsoft, said that through Microsoft AppSource, customers around the world could easily find tailored line-of business partner solutions that work with the products they already use. Were pleased to welcome 9 Spokes to the growing AppSource ecosystem, she said. Adrian Grant, chief execuitive of 9 Spokes, said: Microsoft has identified some of the challenges that new and innovative technology companies like 9 Spokes experience when accessing new markets. Were incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with Microsoft directly in our global go-to market strategy. The depth of their relationships with global banking clients will prove key to bringing the benefits of the 9 Spokes platform to more banks around the world, many of whom are looking for innovative solutions to drive proactive engagement with their own small business. The joint-selling partnership with Microsoft also completes our strategy to align with Microsoft, following our movement to the Microsoft Azure infrastructure in late 2018. Our new Microsoft Azure infrastructure provides us with capability and flexibility to deploy the 9 Spokes platform to new banking customers faster. It also enables us to leverage the extensive range of services in the Azure platform, like Al and machine learning, to build greater depth in our product offering for banks and small businesses. More than a week after it was hit by a self-admitted cyber attack, Toyota Australia's corporate IT systems are still offline, the company says on its website. The company continues to say that it does not believe that customer and employee data has been compromised. The attack is said to have been noticed on 19 February. The notice seen on Friday said the company's guest experience centre was back online. The attack was made public on 21 February. The notice on the home page of the Toyota Australia website on Friday morning. After a media statement was issued on 22 February, Toyota has not made any public statement about what now looks like a ransomware attack. Toyota Australia has no media contact number or email address on its website. iTWire has sent in a query, asking for an update, using the general inquiry facility. Apple will increase its reach into services this year as they are much more profitable than hardware, with one such service being video streaming, a veteran technology journalist has predicted in his annual forecasts. But more importantly, Apple would increase its profile in the finance industry, something which it had already started by financing iPhone sales in China and launching a credit card along with Goldman Sachs, according to Robert X. Cringely, one of Apple's first employees and and the author of Accidental Empires, the only history of the US computer industry. The market was always bothered about Apple, he said, adding that this year, the worry was that the smartphone market may have peaked or that Apple was building its products too well so that they lasted too long. "Wall Street tends to see growth as vital," Cringely said. "Funny, they never really explain why that is so. If Apple stopped growing completely but just continued to bank its normal US$127 million in profit per day, would that be so bad?" Cringely likened the steps chief executive Tim Cook was taking to those taken by GE's Jack Welch in 1981. Welch guided GE into financial services and increased its market cap by more than 4000% in 20 years, he pointed out. Apple had done even better than that when the late Steve Jobs was chief executive but Welch's techniques didn't need someone of Jobs' capabilities to be heading the company. "Look for Apple to start financing lots of things in 2019," Cringely said. "Remember your car dealer would rather lend you money than have you pay cash for that ride because financing is its own profit centre. "So iPhone prices will continue to rise, but iPhone payments will probably decline as Apple cuts out middlemen and efficiently sucks up that aspect of the phone supply chain. "This is how Apple will arrest iPhone market share declines by assisting sales and making even more money in the process." In order to calculate how big a financial player Apple could be, Cringely said the company had about US$200 billion which it did not need for day-to-day activity. "Apple is not a bank. That US$200 billion isnt customer deposits carrying with them some obligation to return the money when asked," he pointed out. "Apple has no branches and beyond iPhone financing and ApplePay is unlikely to have a financial retail presence. What Apple is probably closest to becoming is a hedge fund a very big hedge fund, in fact." Given this, Cringely said those who were claiming that Apple was in decline or had no idea what to do next in order to stay profitable had no clue what they were talking about. "Apple will continue to compete in its established technology markets as well as new ones," he said. "But Apple has also found a US$200 billion hobby that will keep it growing for the next decade no matter where the IT market goes." Cringely issues a list of predictions every year but has said this will be his last year of doing so. It's tough to talk about Project Treble without getting lost in a forest of technical gobbledygook. And it's no wonder: Project Treble (take a deep breath) is Google's ambitious effort to rearchitect Android in order to establish a modular base in which the lower-level code created by silicon vendors is separated from the main Android operating system framework so that device manufacturers can update the OS code without having to rely on silicon vendors to refresh the lower-level code for every release. Whew! See what I mean? In reality, though, Project Treble doesn't have to be so complicated. Let's break down what Treble is actually all about, in real-world terms and what it actually means for you, as someone who uses Android and doesn't necessarily speak the language of mumbo-jumbo. We'll start at the beginning: What is Project Treble in plain English? I just fed the technical explanation into my patented Geek-to-English Translation Machine, and here's what came out: Project Treble, at its core, is all about making it faster, easier, and cheaper for phone makers to process Android software updates and get them out to users. That's the short version. Now, the context: In the past, every time a new Android version came along, phone makers had to wait for the chipset vendors the companies like Qualcomm, which supply the processors and other pieces inside the devices to update the areas of the code related to all of that internal hardware. It was only when that effort was finished that the phone-maker was able to start its part of the process: integrating the new Google-provided software with its own interface customizations and feature additions, then testing it all thoroughly and getting it ready to roll out. What Treble does is separate that lower-level stuff the areas of the code related to a phone's processor, modem, and so on from the rest of the operating system. That way, those lower-level elements don't have to be updated every time a new Android version comes along; they just exist as a constant foundation beneath everything else, and that first part of the process is no longer required. IDG / Computerworld Project Treble separates the hardware-specific code (the pie crust) from the main Android OS code (the filling). Android apps are the delicious topping. (Click image to enlarge.) To borrow an analogy from an earlier analysis, you can think of the whole thing like a pie: Up till recently, all of Android was mixed together, and that meant each ingredient had to be updated and stirred into the batter from scratch with every single OS update. Thanks to Treble, all the hardware-specific elements now exist as a crust one that remains in place for a device's entire life. And so whenever a new Android release arrives, the phone maker can focus solely on its part of the process the filling without first having to wait for someone else to provide a freshly made foundation. Google actually started this process with its Android 8.0 Oreo release, in 2017, by creating the initial boundary between the operating system and the lower-level code. Rather fittingly, however, 2018's Android 9 Pie software marked the first time the setup was complete and operational with chipset vendors ready to support it and with a significant number of Treble-ready devices out in the wild and waiting. Why is Project Treble even necessary? Over the past several years, Android upgrades have devolved into a big, hot mess and that's putting it mildly: Aside from Google itself, with its Pixel line of phones, no Android device maker provides consistently timely and reliable software updates. And it's the users who suffer, getting stuck with dated software that lacks not only features and interface improvements from newer releases but also privacy and security enhancements and a variety of other under-the-hood improvements that only OS updates can provide. While Google has taken significant steps to make OS updates less all-important on Android unbundling most system-level apps and services from the operating system so they can be updated regularly and universally, directly through the Play Store, and providing an increasing array of device options that come with timely update guarantees it can't remove all of the importance from the core system software. And the vast majority of Android users remain on devices that receive OS updates painfully late, if ever. And that's why Project Treble came about to try to cut out some of the time and cost associated with processing OS updates so that manufacturers would step up their games and users could start getting current software more quickly. How much difference is Project Treble actually making? That's the million-dollar question and with two years of Treble-aided updates now in front of us, the answer isn't especially uplifting. According to my interview with one of Google's Treble architects, Treble should shave about three months off the typical upgrade process by eliminating that initial lower-level phase. But scrutinizing the data from device-makers' performance with both the Pie upgrade and the more recent Android 10 rollout, it's clear that hasn't exactly happened. Let's start with Pie: As my February 2019 analysis of that rollout makes all too apparent, nearly every major Android flagship device-maker (from a U.S. perspective) saw little to no improvement with the first true Treble test. Some companies even did meaningfully worse with the initial post-Treble rollout than they did with earlier, non-Treble-affected Android releases. Samsung, notably, did a touch better with Pie than it did with Oreo, the year before but it's hard to frame its success as a Treble-related victory. The company went from 213 days between the software's release and its first U.S. flagship phone rollout with Oreo to 177 days with Pie. That's an improvement of 36 days, which is certainly something but it isn't nearly enough to account for the estimated 90 days of work Treble was supposed to save. Plus, looking back even further, Samsung took 179 days to deliver Nougat to its then-current flagship the previous cycle basically the same amount of time it took with Pie. Before that, the company took 155 days with Marshmallow and 105 days with Lollipop. So all that really happened was that Samsung had an especially bad year with Oreo and then went back to its still-underwhelming Nougat-level performance a year later without even going as far as to match its slightly less embarrassing Marshmallow- or Lollipop-era performances from the years before that. One company actually did achieve the 90-day improvement window Treble was designed to provide: OnePlus, the relatively small-scale maker of phones that have long been popular within the Android enthusiast community and have just recently started to see some more mainstream success. That's a promising indication of the type of improvement Treble can theoretically enable but the success is somewhat diminished by the fact that OnePlus simultaneously took 47 days longer to get Pie out to its previous-gen flagships than it did with Oreo the previous year (and in the case of OnePlus, those phones were indeed all Treble-ready). So that's year one of living in a Treble-enhanced world, in a nutshell. In year two, with 2019's Android 10 update, some device-makers managed to improve their delivery times a bit further but the results are rather scattered and still don't seem to point specifically to any Treble-connected success. Samsung, for instance, got about a hundred days faster with both its current-gen and previous-gen flagship rollouts in the Android 10 cycle certainly nothing to write off. But at the same time, that level of improvement actually just brought the company back (almost) to its 2014 performance, with Lollipop. So can we really credit a return to a six-year-old standard one that wasn't even particularly impressive back then to a change that came about in the last couple of years? It seems like a stretch. LG also almost matched its 2014 level of mediocrity with the Android 10 rollout, on the current-gen flagship front, and is doing significantly worse than it did in 2014 with its previous-gen flagship phone support. (As of this writing, the company has yet to send Android 10 to its previous-gen flagship in the U.S. and is already two months and counting behind its 2014 standard.) HTC and Motorola, meanwhile, have yet to send Android 10 to any U.S. flagships, well over six months after the software's release. Again, the one exception to the rule is OnePlus, which brought its current-gen flagship delivery down to a mere 18 days with Android 10 compared to 47 days with Android 9 and 138 days with Android 8. OnePlus did better with its previous-gen flagship, too, with a 93-day delay for Android 10 delivery. That's still too long of a wait to be commendable, though, and it's also essentially just bouncing back from a bad year to match the company's previous-gen upgrade performance in 2017. JR It took many Android manufacturers longer to roll out Pie to current-gen devices than it did to deploy Oreo, though some have improved with Android 10. (Click image to enlarge it or here to see a detailed analysis.) All these numbers are a lot to process, but the main takeaway is that it's tough to square the data even in areas where improvements are present with any sort of narrative about Treble being the driver of the change. More than anything, what we're seeing serves to highlight a stark reality of the Android upgrade situation: Regardless of what improvements are made to the technical part of the process, most manufacturers simply aren't motivated to make timely and reliable upgrades a priority. And why should they? Post-sales software support requires a fair amount of time and resources, even with Treble's adjustments in place, and all of that effort brings little tangible benefit to the typical third-party Android device maker. In fact, one could argue that providing timely and reliable software enhancements actively works against most companies' interests, as it makes phone owners less likely to feel the need to spend money on a new device. Treble, unfortunately, can't address that part of the equation; if phone makers see no reason to take post-sales software support seriously, all the optimization in the world won't make an ounce of difference. All considered, what we can say is that Treble absolutely does cut out a significant portion of the work required for phone makers to process and deliver OS updates and that can and should make it possible for upgrades to be delivered faster without any additional investments. How things play out from there, however, is ultimately in each manufacturer's hands, as these first two years of evidence illustrate. This article was originally published in September 2018 and most recently updated in April 2020. The decade-old Qbot financial malware has resurfaced with an improved version in a new attack against businesses that has infected thousands of systems so far. Researchers from data security solutions provider Varonis have uncovered the attack after a customer alerted them about suspicious activity on a computer. The culprit turned out to be an infection with a new strain of Qbot, also known as Qakbot, that was trying to spread to other systems on the network. Qbot is one of the most successful malware families of the past decade, in part because its source code is available to cybercriminals, so it can be easily modified and extended. The malicious program started out as a Trojan designed to steal online banking credentials, but has received many improvements over the years. Qbot interestingly is a semi-polymorphic threat because its command-and-control servers re-scramble the code and configuration periodically to evade signature-based antivirus detection. The threat also has worm-like capabilities that allow it to move laterally through corporate networks by brute-forcing Windows domain credentials. How the new Qbot attack works In the attack investigated by Varonis, the initial installer or "dropper" was likely delivered as an email attachment with the extension .doc.vbs. VBS is a scripting language that's natively supported on Windows. If executed, the malicious script downloads the Qbot loader from a command-and-control server using the Windows BITSAdmin command-line tool. Previous Qbot versions used PowerShell for this purpose, but since PowerShell has become a common malware delivery method, its use is closely monitored on enterprise systems. "The loader, which executes the core malware, has multiple versions and is constantly updating even after execution," the Varonis researchers said in their report . The version received by the victim depends on a parameter hard-coded in the VBS file, so there are possibly different email campaigns targeting different types of users and organizations. Furthermore, Varonis has found loaders that were digitally signed with eight different code-signing certificates that were likely stolen from various entities. If a file is digitally signed, it does not mean that it's not malicious, just like if a website uses HTTPS, it does not mean that it's not hosting malware or phishing pages. However, digitally signed files trigger less scary warnings in Windows and are sometimes trusted automatically by poorly configured endpoint security agents or file whitelisting solutions. Once installed, Qbot creates scheduled tasks and adds entries to the system registry to achieve persistence. The malware then starts recording all keystrokes typed by users, steals credentials and authentication cookies saved inside browsers, and injects malicious code into other processes to search for and steal financial-related text strings. Varonis gained access to one of the command-and-control servers used by the attackers and found logs showing 2,726 unique victim IP addresses. More than 1,700 were located in the U.S., but victims were also found in Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Brazil, South Africa, India, China and Russia. Since computers inside an organization typically access the internet through a shared IP address, the researchers believe the number of individually infected systems to be much larger. Also, logs showed that many of the compromised systems had antivirus programs from various vendors installed, highlighting once again Qbot's ability of evading antivirus detection. The possibility of full marijuana legalization has stirred up a robust lobbying effort from many of the states 16 licensed growers, who have said that absent proof to the contrary, they believe they are capable of meeting demand. Their industry group, the Medical Cannabis Alliance of Illinois, has said adding more cultivators could lead to a marijuana glut that would encourage illegal diversion. Mohan Receives Second Fulbright Award March 1, 2019 Wendell and Loretta Hess Professor of Chemistry Ram Mohan BLOOMINGTON, Ill. Wendell and Loretta Hess Professor of Chemistry Ram Mohan has been named a recipient of the United States Fulbright-Nehru Award to India, in support of his work to promote green chemistry at Indian undergraduate colleges and universities. Overseen by the United States Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright Award honors individuals at the top of their fields, including dozens of Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur Fellows and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. The program was founded to strengthen international relations by sending recipients abroad to work as cultural ambassadors in educational, economic, scientific and various other fields. This is Mohan's second Fulbright Award, which is a rare achievement. I'm deeply honored and humbled, but also shocked to receive the Fulbright-Nehru grant a second time, said Mohan. It is an honor to go as a representative of America to the country where I was born. Mohan will spend the spring of 2020 as a Fulbright-Nehru Teacher Scholar, teaching the principles of green chemistry the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances to undergraduate and graduate students at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. In addition to offering a green chemistry course at IIT Delhi, he will visit numerous undergraduate colleges to give lectures on green chemistry. He will also help these small college incorporate green chemistry experiments into their curriculum. Because of increasing environmental concerns, it is imperative that the coming generation of scientists in India be educated on the practice of green chemistry to prevent pollution and improve human health, Mohan explained. In 2012, Mohan received his first Fulbright-Nehru Award, which enabled him to introduce green chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Mohali, India. During his second visit as a Fulbright-Nehru Teacher Scholar, Mohan plans to reach a broader student audience by travelling outside major metropolitan areas. During a 2015 visit to a small college in western India, Mohan met with students from tribal communities who routinely travel over 20 miles daily to attend college, and he hopes that his upcoming visit will provide him with more opportunities to work with students in such remote areas. This experience was eye-opening and humbling, said Mohan. This single visit has motivated me to want to visit many such remote corners of the country. Mohan looks forward to returning to India to share his expertise on how green chemistry can be implemented to reduce pollution and improve environmental conditions in India. Over the last 20 years, as I have incorporated green chemistry principles into my own teaching, research and practice of chemistry, I have gradually developed clear ideas on how I can help change things, said Mohan. As an American with Indian roots, I will find this an exciting opportunity to serve as a U.S. cultural ambassador to a country that has changed significantly since I left in 1987. By Rachel McCarthy 21 Measles is highly contagious, said state health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike in the release. However, two doses of measles vaccine are about 97 percent effective in preventing measles. We urge everyone to make sure they and their family members are up-to-date on measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine and all other age-appropriate immunizations, especially if you are traveling to other countries where measles is regularly found. Getting vaccinated not only protects you, it protects others around you who are too young to get the vaccine or cannot receive it for medical reasons. Burks told the jury that when he received the message from Robinson that she was in trouble, he was able to arrange a brief video call with her. Robinson appeared to be talking from a room in front of a stark, white wall, he said. She said she was basically in a situation where she was being pimped, Burks said. Maybe people got massively confused with all the candidates. Or people may have been overwhelmed by the choice, Mooney said. Look, its hard to vote. We ask a lot of our voters. Were asking them to make decisions about judges, though not this season. We had an election in November, weve got one now, weve got another on in April. People have to go to work. And when theyve got 14 candidates jabbering around at each other and they dont know who to vote for, its difficult. In November, a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl was charged as an adult in the killing of an infant, according to a report from The Associated Press. The girl was a foster child living at a home that also served as a day care. The girl dropped a baby who was at the day care and stomped on the crying child's head, the AP report said. TORONTO, March 1, 2019 /CNW/ - Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX: JAG) is pleased to report Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves estimates as at December 31, 2018 for its Pilar Gold Mine ("Pilar") and Turmalina Gold Mine ("Turmalina"), each prepared in accordance with CIM definitions (2014) as required by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves updates are supported by NI 43-101 Technical reports that twill be filed on SEDAR within 45 days. Year End 2018 Consolidated Jaguar Mineral Reserves Highlights Consolidated Pilar and Turmalina Mines Proven and Probable (2P) Reserves increased 81% year-over-year (net of 2018 depletion) to 439,000 oz's of gold at a weighted average grade of 4.39 g/t Au (Table 1) Turmalina Proven and Probable tons increased by 74% and grade increased by 12% to 1408 tons at 5.05 g/t containing 228,000 ozs of gold Pilar Proven and Probable Reserve tons increased by 83% and grade decreased by 8% to 1784 tons at 3.68 g/t containing 211,000 ozs of gold Consolidated Proven Reserves increased 123% to 245,000 ozs of gold at a weighted average grade of 4.01 g/t Au Consolidated Probable Reserves increased 47% to 194,000 ozs of gold at a weighted average grade of 5.00 g/t Au At both Pilar and Turmalina now have 4 years of Proven and Probable Reserves at current mining rates and over 3 years at target production rates Ben Guenther, Interim CEO of Jaguar Mining stated: "We achieved solid growth in our 2018 year-end Proven and Probable gold ounces that increased by 81% to a large base of 439,000 ounces compared to 2017, in addition to depletion. We are especially pleased that results have delivered a meaningful increase in both Proven and Probable tons and grade at Turmalina. Turmalina Orebody A and Orebody C both have significant life at favorable grades of 5.47 and 4.73 g/t respectively. Both Turmalina and Pilar have over 4 years of Proven and Probable Reserves at current mining rates and over 3 years at our target production rates. The 2018 focus was on Resource-Reserve Conversion via infill drilling at both operations after significantly increasing our Resource Inventory in 2016-2017 through the growth exploration program." "Looking forward, the increase in Mineral Reserves greatly improves our confidence in the production capability to support a return to a growing gold production profile and the potential to extend the mine life at Turmalina and Pilar." Table 1. Consolidated Jaguar Mineral Reserves Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Jaguar (Pilar and Turmalina Gold Mines) - Change in Mineral Reserves 2017-2018 Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Proven Reserves 245 110 123% 4.01 4.18 -4% Probable Reserves 194 132 47% 5.00 4.26 17% Total 2P 439 242 81% 4.39 4.22 4% Year-End 2018 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Highlights (Refer to Tables 2 5 below) Total Pilar Measured Resources increased 37% to 435,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion, grading 4.40 g/t Au Total Indicated Resources increased 7% to 231,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion, grading 3.87 g/t Au Total Measured and Indicated ("M&I") Resources increased 25% to 666,000 oz's of gold, net of depletion grading 4.20 g/t Au Prioritizing resource reserve conversion in 2018, Inferred Resources decreased 63% to 161,000 oz's of gold grading 3.61 g/t Au Total Proven and Probable ("2P") Mineral Reserves of 211,000 oz's of gold, up 69%, grading 3.68 g/t Au Significant increase in 2P reserves reflect replacement of 2018 Mineral Reserve depletion through production and addition of new Mineral Reserves via infill drilling and development and confirm more than years of future production at current production levels 38,000 oz's of the above 2P Mineral Reserves reflect reserves contained in remnant material located in upper portions of the mine accessible from the existing ramp and level development Year- End 2018 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves and Resources Highlights (Refer Tables 6 9) Total Measured Resources increased 15% to 305,000 ozs of gold, net of depletion, grading 5.37 g/t Au Total Indicated Resources increased 75% to 272,000 ozs of gold, net of depletion, grading 5.70 g/t Au Total Measured and Indicated ("M&I") Resources increased 37% to 577,000 ozs of gold, grading 5.52 g/t Au Prioritizing resource reserve conversion in 2018, Inferred Resources decreased 51% to 148,000 oz's of gold with a 21% decrease in grade to 4.31g/t Au Total Proven Mineral Reserves increased 252% to 102,000 ozs of gold, grading 4.33 g/t Au Total Probable Mineral Reserves have increased 43% to 126,000 oz's of gold, grading 5.82 g/t Au Total Proven and Probable ("2P") Mineral Reserves have increased 95% to 228,000 oz's of gold, grading 5.05 g/t reflecting replacement of 2018 Mineral Reserve depletion through production and addition of new Mineral Reserves via infill drilling Orebody C grade and tonnage increases underpin an 81% increase in shallow, high-grade Mineral Reserves to 123,000 oz's at 4.73 g/t Au which now surpasses the Orebody A 2P Mineral Reserve of 105,000 ozs at 5,47 g/t Au (refer Table 8) 47,000 ozs of the above 2P Mineral Reserves reflect reserves contained in remnant material located in upper portions of the mine accessible from existing ramp and level development Jaguar Mining prepared the Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates under the supervision of Reno Pressacco, P.Geo, and Jeff Sepp, P.Eng. of Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("RPA"). RPA is an independent mining consultant and Mr. Pressacco and Mr. Sepp are Qualified Persons within the definition of NI 43-101. The effective date of the estimates is December 31, 2018. An independent technical report documenting the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves estimates for the Pilar mine, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of this press release. About Pilar and Turmalina Pilar is an underground gold mine and is part of the Caete Gold Complex that also includes the underground Roca Grande gold mine (currently on care and maintenance) and mill operation. The Caete Complex is located in the municipalities of Caete and Santa Barbara, respectively, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and is approximately 100 km from Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the state of Minas Gerais. Turmalina is an underground gold mine and plant complex, also located in the state of Minas Gerais; approximately 130 km northwest of Belo Horizonte (see Figure 1). Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimates as at December 31, 2018 (Refer to Tables 25 below) Proven & Probable Reserves: 1,784 million tonnes grading 3.68 g/t Au, containing 211,000 oz. Au 1,784 million tonnes grading 3.68 g/t Au, containing 211,000 oz. Au Measured & Indicated Resources: 4,934 million tonnes grading 4.20 g/t Au, containing 666,000 oz. Au 4,934 million tonnes grading 4.20 g/t Au, containing 666,000 oz. Au Inferred Resources: 1,385 million tonnes grading 3.61 g/t Au containing 161,000 oz. Au Table 2 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Reserves Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Pilar Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Reserves Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Proven Reserves 143 81 77% 3.79 3.78 0% Probable Reserves 68 44 55% 3.47 4.45 -22% Total 211 125 69% 3.68 3.99 -8% Table 3 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Pilar Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Resources Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Measured Resources 435 317 37% 4.40 4.47 -2% Indicated Resources 231 216 7% 3.87 4.22 -8% Total - M&I 666 532 25% 4.20 4.37 -4% Inferred Resources 161 433 -63% 3.61 5.69 -37% Table 4 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Reserves Summary as at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Pilar Gold Mine - Mineral Reserves, December 31, 2018 Ore Body Proven Reserves Probable Reserves Proven and Probable Reserves ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) BA 81 5.16 13 23 2.89 2 104 4.66 15 BF 383 3.72 46 239 3.98 31 622 3.82 77 BFII 633 3.71 75 304 2.97 29 937 3.47 104 TORRE 43 3.72 5 42 4.58 6 85 4.15 11 Others 36 3.05 3 - - - 36 3.05 3 Total 1,176 3.79 143 608 3.47 68 1,784 3.68 211 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Reserves 2. Mineral Reserves were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 1.90 g/t Au 3. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,300 per ounce 4. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Numbers may not add due to rounding 7. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Reserve estimates. Table 5 Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Pilar Gold Mine - Mineral Resources, December 31, 2018 Ore Body Measured Resources Indicated Resources Total Measured & Indicated Resources Inferred Resources Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) BA 521 4.13 69 82 3.62 9 603 4.03 78 98 3.03 9 BF 815 4.47 117 459 5.24 77 1 274 4.78 194 398 3.29 42 BFII 953 4.96 152 161 3.49 18 1 114 4.77 170 533 4.43 76 BFIII 16 3.97 2 25 3.22 3 41 3.79 5 4 3.71 1 Torre 373 3.99 48 273 3.95 35 646 4.00 83 300 3.02 29 Others 401 3.65 47 855 3.24 89 1256 3.37 136 52 2.39 4 Total 3 079 4.40 435 1 855 3.87 231 4 934 4.20 666 1 385 3.61 161 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions are followed for Mineral Resources 2. Mineral Resources were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 1.8 g/t Au 3. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,500 per ounce 4. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Gold grades are estimated by the Ordinary Kriging interpolation algorithm using capped composite samples 7. Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves 8. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability 9. Numbers may not add due to rounding 10. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimates. Pilar Gold Mine Mineral Reserves and Resources Infill Drilling and evaluation of remnant material completed in 2018 successfully replaced depletion. Mineral Reserves are now equivalent to more than three years of production at current and planned production rates resulting in total 2P Mineral Reserves of 211,000 ounces of gold (1,784,000 tonnes at an average grade of 3.68 g/t Au) which are 69% higher compared to 2P Reserves of 125,000 ounces as at December 31, 2017 . . Mineral Reserves at Pilar are based on the main orebodies currently in production centered on Levels 9, 10 and 11 (BA, BF and BFII). Further work is in progress to convert the M&I Resource inventory to 2P Reserves on material from other orebodies and remnant material that are accessible from ramp and access development throughout the mine. The database, used to prepare the estimates, with a cut-off date of December 31, 2018 , comprises 1,658 drill holes and 20,698 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value varying from 10 to 60 g/t Au was applied for all eight orebodies. Wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Pilar were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was prepared for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. , comprises 1,658 drill holes and 20,698 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value varying from 10 to 60 g/t Au was applied for all eight orebodies. Wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Pilar were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was prepared for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. Mineralized material for each orebody was classified into the Measured, Indicated, or Inferred Mineral Resource categories based on the search ellipse ranges obtained from the variography study, the observed continuity of the mineralization, the drill hole and channel sample density, and previous production experience from these orebodies. The Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves. For those portions of the Mineral Resources that comprise the Mineral Reserve, stope design wireframes were used to constrain the Mineral Resource reports. Additional Mineral Resources are present that reside beyond the Mineral Reserves. For these areas, 3D clipping polygons were prepared to aid in the estimation of the Mineral Resources. The clipping polygons were prepared in either plan or longitudinal views, as appropriate. The clipping polygons were drawn to include continuous volumes of blocks whose estimated grades were above the stated cut-off grade, and were not located in mined out areas. The clipping polygons were used to appropriately code the block model and estimate the Mineral Resources. For the December 31, 2018 , estimates, the Company prepared an updated geological and block model under the supervision of RPA. The Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves for 2018 will be supported by a NI 43-101 technical report to be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release. Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves and Resources (Refer to Tables 6-9 below) Proven & Probable Reserves: 1,408 million tonnes grading 5.05 g/t Au, containing 228,000 oz. Au 1,408 million tonnes grading 5.05 g/t Au, containing 228,000 oz. Au Measured & Indicated Resources: 3,253 million tonnes grading 5.52 g/t Au, containing 577,000 oz. Au 3,253 million tonnes grading 5.52 g/t Au, containing 577,000 oz. Au Inferred Resources: 1,066 million tonnes grading 4.31 g/t Au containing 148,000 oz. Au Table 6 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Turmalina Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Reserves Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Proven Reserves 102 29 252% 4.33 5.90 -27% Probable Reserves 126 88 43% 5.82 4.18 39% Total 228 117 95% 5.05 4.50 12% Table 7 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary December 31, 2018, compared to December 31, 2017: Turmalina Gold Mine - Change in Mineral Resources Gold Ounces (000's) Gold Grade (g/t) As at December 31 2018 2017 Change (%) 2018 2017 Change (%) Measured Resources 305 265 15% 5.37 5.70 -6% Indicated Resources 272 155 75% 5.70 3.86 48% Total - M&I 577 420 37% 5.52 4.86 14% Inferred Resources 148 305 -51% 4.31 5.49 -21% Table 8 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Reserves as at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Turmalina Gold Mine - Mineral Reserves, December 31, 2018 Ore Body Proven Reserves Probable Reserves Proven and Probable Reserves ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz ROM (t) Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) Ore Body ANW 116 6.40 24 192 6.60 40 308 6.52 64 Ore Body ASE 229 4.64 34 65 3.36 7 294 4.36 41 Ore Body CSE 388 3.53 44 418 5.85 79 806 4.73 123 Total 733 4.33 102 675 5.82 126 1,408 5.05 228 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Reserves 2. Mineral Reserves were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 2.5 g/t Au 3. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,300 per ounce 4. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Numbers may not add due to rounding 7. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Reserve estimates. Table 9 Turmalina Gold Mine Mineral Resources Summary as at December 31, 2018, by Orebody: Turmalina Gold Mine - Mineral Resources, December 31, 2018 Area Measured Resources Indicated Resources Total Measured & Indicated Resources Inferred Resources Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz Tonnes Au Oz (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) (000's) (g/t) (000's) Ore Body A 894 6.86 197 339 7.61 83 1,233 7.06 280 372 4.81 58 Ore Body B 353 3.34 38 192 4.26 26 545 3.65 64 18 6.46 4 Ore Body C 520 4.20 70 955 5.31 163 1,475 4.91 233 676 3.97 86 Total 1,767 5.37 305 1,486 5.70 272 3,253 5.52 577 1,066 4.31 148 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions are followed for Mineral Resources 2. Mineral Resources were estimated at a break-even cut-off grade of 2.1 g/t Au 3. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US $1,500 per ounce 4. Mineral Resources are estimated using an average long-term foreign exchange rate of 3.7 Brazilian Reais: 1 US Dollar 5. A minimum mining width of 2 m was used 6. Gold grades are estimated by the Ordinary Kriging interpolation algorithm using capped composite samples 7. Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves 8. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability 9. Numbers may not add due to rounding 10. There are no known environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-economic, political or other risk factors which could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimates. Infill Drilling and evaluation of remnant material completed in 2018 successfully replaced depletion. Mineral Reserves are now equivalent to more than three years of production at current and planned production rates resulting in total 2P Mineral Reserves of 228,000 ounces of gold (1,408,000 tonnes at an average grade of 5,05 g/t Au) which are 95% higher compared to 2P Reserves of 117,000 ounces as at December 31, 2017 . . Orebody C grade and tonnage increases underpinned an 81% increase in shallow high grade Mineral Reserves to 123,000 ozs.at 4.73 g/t Au which now surpasses the total Orebody A 2P Mineral Reserve of 105,000 ozs. (refer to Table 8). Mineral Resource estimates at December 31, 2018 , reflect an updated geological and block model prepared by Jaguar staff under the supervision of RPA. This updated block model incorporates the results from the on-going diamond drilling campaigns completed since late 2017. , reflect an updated geological and block model prepared by Jaguar staff under the supervision of RPA. This updated block model incorporates the results from the on-going diamond drilling campaigns completed since late 2017. This Mineral Resource includes total Measured and Indicated Resources of 577,000 ounces of gold (3,253 million tonnes at an average grade of 5.52 g/t Au) and Inferred Resources of 148,000 ounces of gold (1,066 million tonnes at an average grade of 4.31 g/t Au). Orebody C Mineral Resource grades have increased following new infill drilling intercepts and from development channel sampling completed in 2018, in particular on Levels 3 and 4. (Please refer to Press Release 27 th February 2019 ). ). Increases in Measured and Indicated Resources (and concomitant decrease in Inferred Resources) compared to the previously reported resource inventory is in line with the Company's target of replacing reserves mined in 2018 and establishing a significant increase in M&I Mineral Resources mainly below Level 11 on Orebody A and Level 4 on Orebody C (refer to Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9). The database used to prepare the estimates, with a cut-off date of December 31 st 2018, comprises 3,980 drill holes and 16,246 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value of 50 g/t Au was applied for all three orebodies. The wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Turmalina were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was built for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. 2018, comprises 3,980 drill holes and 16,246 channel samples. The estimate was generated from a block model constrained by three-dimensional (3D) wireframe models. A capping value of 50 g/t Au was applied for all three orebodies. The wireframe models of the mineralization and excavated material for Turmalina were constructed by Jaguar and reviewed by RPA. A separate wireframe was built for each orebody and was used to constrain the grade estimates into the block model. The mineralized material for each orebody was classified into the Measured, Indicated, or Inferred Mineral Resource categories based on the search ellipse ranges obtained from the variography study, the observed continuity of the mineralization, the drill hole and channel sample density, and previous production experience from these orebodies. The Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves. For those portions of the Mineral Resources that comprise the Mineral Reserve, stope design wireframes were used to constrain the Mineral Resource reports. Additional Mineral Resources are present that reside beyond the Mineral Reserves. For these areas, 3D clipping polygons were prepared to aid in the estimation of the Mineral Resources. The clipping polygons were prepared in either plan or longitudinal views, as appropriate. The clipping polygons were drawn to include continuous volumes of blocks whose estimated grades were above the stated cut-off grade, and were not located in mined out areas. The clipping polygons were used to appropriately code the block model and estimate the Mineral Resources. Qualified Persons The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved (i) in respect of the estimated Mineral Reserves and the Life of Mine Plan (LOM) by Jeff Sepp, P.Eng., of Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("RPA"), and (ii) in respect of the estimated Mineral Resources by Reno Pressacco, P.Geo., of RPA. RPA is an independent mining consultant and Mr. Sepp and Mr. Pressacco are each Qualified Persons within the definition of NI 43-101. Quality Control All sampling and samples utilized at Jaguar for mineral resource and or mineral reserves estimation uses a quality-control program that includes insertion of blanks and commercial standards in order to ensure best practice in sampling and analysis. HQ, NQ, and BQ size drill core is sawn in half with a diamond saw. Samples are selected for analysis in standard intervals according to geological characteristics such as lithology and hydrothermal alteration. Rock channel sampling of the underground development follows the same standard intervals as for the drill core. All diamond drill hole collars are accurately surveyed using a Total Station instrument, and down-hole deviations are surveyed using non-magnetic equipment (SPT Stockholm Precision Tools with GyroMaster Solid State North Seeker). Half of the sawed sample is forwarded to the analytical laboratory for analysis while the remaining half of the core is stored in a secure location. The drill core and rock chip samples for resource-reserve conversion and grade control samples are transported for physical preparation and analysis in securely sealed bags to the Jaguar in-house laboratory located at the companys Caete Complex, Caete, Minas Gerais. Growth exploration samples are sent to the independent ALS Brazil (subsidiary of ALS Global) laboratory located in Vespasiano, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The analysis of these exploration samples is conducted at ALS Global's respective facilities (fire assay is conducted by ALS Global in Lima, Peru, and multi-elementary analysis is conducted by ALS Global in Vancouver, Canada). ALS has accreditation in a global management system that meets all requirements of international standards ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015. All major ALS geochemistry analytical laboratories are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 for specific analytical procedures. For a complete description of Jaguar's sample preparation, analytical methods and QA/QC procedures, please refer to "Technical Report on the Roca Grande and Pilar Operations, Minas Gerais State, Brazil", a copy of which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The Iron Quadrangle The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar Mining is the second largest operating gold company tenement holder in the Iron Quadrangle, holding just over 25,000 hectares. About Jaguar Mining Inc. Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes, and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 64,000 hectares. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Gold Mine Complex. The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking information set forth in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements below and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected," "is forecast," "is targeted," "approximately," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "continue," "estimate," "believe," or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might," or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, may be considered to be or include forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and the dates of technical reports, as applicable. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding potential and, among other things, expected future mineral resources, potential mineral production opportunities, geological and mineral exploration statistics, ore grades, current and expected future assay results, and definition/delineation/exploration drilling at the Pilar Gold Mine and the Turmalina Gold Mine in Brazil, as well as forward-looking information regarding costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of projects and new deposits, success of exploration, development and mining activities, capital requirements, project studies, mine life extensions, and continuous improvement initiatives. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the estimated timeline and for the development of the drill program at the Pilar Gold Mine (and its expanded exploration footprint) and the Turmalina Gold Mine; its mineral properties; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; and political and legal developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations including, without limitation, the impact of any potential power rationing, tailings facility regulation, exploration and mine operating licenses and permits being obtained and renewed and/or there being adverse amendments to mining or other laws in Brazil and any changes to general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involves a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others: the risk of Jaguar not meeting its plans regarding its operations and financial performance; uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labour disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, weather delays and increased costs or production delays due to natural disasters, power disruptions, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations; uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general (including the sometimes volatile valuation of securities and an uncertain ability to raise new capital) and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development, mining and production, including without limitation environmental hazards, tailings dam failures, industrial accidents and workplace safety problems, unusual or unexpected geological formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, chemical spills, and gold bullion thefts and losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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 forward-looking information. Figure 1: Locations of Jaguars Mining and Mineral Rights Figure 2: The distribution of Mineral Resources at Pilar Gold Mine as at December 31, 2018, and December 31, 2017, seen from the hanging wall looking west HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD; MSE:ERDN) ("Erdene" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement raising gross proceeds of $2,533,345 (the Offering). The Offering, announced on February 12, 2019, was oversubscribed from the initial targeted proceeds of $1.75 million. Erdenes management, directors and employees subscribed for 10% of the Offering. Pursuant to the Offering, Erdene has sold 11,014,544 units of the Company (the Units) at a price of $0.23 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (the Warrant). Warrants are exercisable by the holder into one common share of the Company within two years of the closing date, at a price of $0.40 per share if exercised within twelve months of the closing date and at a price of $0.50 per share if exercised more than twelve months after the closing date. Erdene paid finders fees in the aggregate of $62,116 and issued 270,070 finders warrants in connection with the Offering. The finder's warrants are exercisable on the same terms as the unit Warrants. Proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund the independent Pre-Feasibility Study of the Company's Khundii Gold Project (the Project), the mining license applications for the Projects properties, potential acquisitions, including areas of interest recently opened through the Mongolian Governments license tender process, and for general working capital purposes. Securities issued under the Offering are subject to a four month hold period from the closing date of the Private Placement. Background on the Khundii Gold Project Erdenes deposits are located in the Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. Although epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold deposits are well documented across the border in China and along the Belts westward trend, exploration in Mongolia was limited until the mid-1990s, when the country opened its lands to foreign exploration. Exploration since that time in southeast Mongolia led to the discovery of the world-class Oyu Tolgoi gold-copper deposit. Erdene has been the leader in exploration in southwestern Mongolia over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District. The District is comprised of multiple high-grade gold and gold/base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar. The Company has to date invested US$17 million in exploration and resource development on the Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects which are referred to collectively as the Khundii Gold Project. About Erdene Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in four exploration licenses and a mining license in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Gold District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and Mongolia stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE North Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2019) - Lion One Metals Limited (TSXV: LIO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (ASX: LLO) ("Lion One" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Dr. Quinton Hennigh has been appointed as Technical Advisor for the Company's 100% owned and fully permitted high grade Tuvatu Gold Project in Fiji. Dr. Hennigh is an internationally-renown economic geologist, with over 25 years of exploration experience and expertise with major gold mining companies such as Homestake Mining Company, Newcrest Mining Limited, and Newmont Mining Corporation where he last served as senior research geologist in 2007. He has since made a number of significant gold discoveries for Canadian exploration companies such as the 5 million oz. Springpole alkaline gold deposit near Red Lake, Ontario, for Gold Canyon Resources, and the Rattlesnake Hills gold project for Evolving Gold. He is currently Chairman and President of Novo Resources Corporation, which he helped start in 2010. "Quinton is the ideal person to direct our Fiji exploration activities in conjunction with Lion One Managing Director Stephen Mann, and VP Exploration Darren Holden," said Lion One Chairman and CEO Walter Berukoff. "We're excited about him joining our team as we advance this project towards production. He clearly shares our thesis that Tuvatu is a gold system of similar potential scale to the world-class Vatukoula gold deposit 40 km away where 7 million ounces of gold have been produced." "I recently visited Walter Berukoff and his Fiji exploration team and I'm very excited to provide strategic technical advice to Lion One on Tuvatu", said Dr. Hennigh, "After completing my site visit and technical review I believe that Tuvatu has similarities not only to Vatukoula and other large alkaline systems in the South Pacific, but also to several multi-million oz. alkaline gold systems I'm familiar with in North America. Given that only a very small volume of the overall system has been explored, I see excellent potential for growth at Tuvatu." Dr. Hennigh holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Missouri, and M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in geology and geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. He is a member of the Society of Economic Geologists, the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America and the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario. The Company also announce it has granted a total of 3,285,000 stock options exercisable at a price of $0.75 and 100,000 stock options exercisable at a price of $1.00 for a period of 5 years from the date of grant to various advisors, directors, officers, employees, and consultants. About Tuvatu The Tuvatu Gold Project is located 17 km from the Nadi International Airport on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Discovered in 1987, Tuvatu was advanced by previous owners through underground exploration and development from 1997 through to the completion of a feasibility study in 2000. Acquired by Lion One in 2011, the project has over 110,000 meters of drilling completed to date, and 1,600 meters of underground development. Tuvatu is a high grade gold deposit associated with alkaline magmatism, located in the Navilawa Caldera, on the Viti Levu lineament, Fiji's gold corridor. In January 2016 the Hon. Prime Minister of Fiji, Mr. V. Bainimarama, formally presented the Tuvatu Mining Lease to Lion One, concluding the permitting process for the development of an underground gold mine and processing plant at Tuvatu, demonstrating strong government support for Fiji's 85 year-old gold mining industry. Qualified Persons Stephen Mann P. Geo, Managing Director, is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information included in this News Release. About Lion One Metals Limited Lion One Metals Limited is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on advancing its 100% owned and fully permitted Tuvatu Gold Project towards production. Lion One envisions a low-cost high grade underground gold mining operation with district-scale exploration upside, located near the Nadi International Airport on the island of Viti Levu in the South Pacific island nation of Fiji. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Lion One Metals Limited's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Lion One Metals Limited and on assumptions Lion One Metals Limited believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the actual results of exploration projects being equivalent to or better than estimated results in technical reports, assessment reports, and other geological reports or prior exploration results. 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 Lion One Metals Limited or its subsidiaries to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the early stage development of Lion One Metals Limited, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current research and development or operational activities; competition; uncertainty as to patent applications and intellectual property rights; product liability and lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting mining, timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; not realizing on the potential benefits of technology; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Lion One Metals Limited 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Lion One Metals Limited does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. For more information On behalf of the Board of Directors of Lion One Metals Limited "Walter Berukoff" Chairman & CEO Contact Investor Relations Toll Free (North America) Tel: 1-855-805-1250 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: www.liononemetals.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Attends PDAC, Booth 3145 Provides Corporate Update NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Velocity Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: VLC) (Velocity or the Company) announces that, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Kibela Minerals AD, it has entered into a shareholders agreement (the Agreement) with Gorubso-Kardzhali AD (Gorubso). The Agreement governs the operation and management of Tintyava Exploration EAD (Tintyava Exploration), the corporate joint venture company that holds the Prospecting and Exploration Licence for the Tintyava property (the Tintyava Property). The Tintyava Property hosts the Rozino gold deposit (see news release dated October 29, 2018), as well as a number of untested exploration targets. Velocity now holds a 70% interest in Tintyava Exploration, with Gorubso holding the remaining 30%. The execution of the Agreement and the acquisition of a 70% interest in Tintyava Exploration are important milestones for Velocity as we continue to explore the Rozino deposit with our partner Gorubso, stated Keith Henderson, Velocitys President & CEO. Next steps include the advancement of Rozino towards feasibility utilizing proceeds from the recently announced $9 million strategic investment by Atlantic Gold. Planned Exploration at Rozino and Regional The 2019 drill program at Rozino is now fully permitted and drilling is expected to begin in March 2019. A total of 12,000m to 14,000m of drilling is planned to be completed at Rozino, which will include exploration drilling to expand the resource base as well as resource definition and infill drilling. Through the drill program, the Company aims to convert the existing Inferred Resources to Measured and Indicated Resources, as such terms are defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). The drill program is also intended to support additional metallurgical and comminution studies as well as hydrogeological and geotechnical work, all of which will be carried out in parallel. Environmental data collection is ongoing and will continue. The Company plans to complete an additional 1,000m of drilling regionally to begin testing structural targets, located close to the Rozino deposit. It is anticipated that discoveries within several kilometers of the Rozino deposit could potentially add value by utilizing common infrastructure. PDAC The Company will be attending the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto from March 3 to March 6, 2019. Interested parties are encouraged to visit Booth 3145 at the Investors Exchange where Velocitys management will be happy to answer questions and discuss the Companys long-term strategy and goals. Strategic Investment Update Velocity entered into an investment agreement on January 16, 2019 (see news release dated January 17, 2019) with Atlantic Gold Corporation (TSXV: AGB) (Atlantic Gold) for a C$9,000,000 strategic investment (the Strategic Investment), comprised of a $3,906,000 equity investment for 18,600,000 units of Velocity and a C$5,094,000 principal amount of secured convertible debentures of Velocity (the Convertible Debentures). Upon closing of the Strategic Investment, Atlantic Gold will own approximately 19.9% of the outstanding common shares of Velocity on a non-diluted basis and approximately 39.2% on a partially-diluted basis. The Strategic Investment is expected to close in early March 2019 and the Company has obtained TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV) approval to extend the closing of the Strategic Investment by up to 30 days. The securities issued under the Strategic Investment will be subject to a four-month hold period from the date of closing. The closing of the Strategic Investment is subject to customary items including, among other things, final approval from the TSXV and the delivery of certain closing documents. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Qualified Person The technical content of this release has been approved for disclosure by Stuart A. Mills, BSc, MSc, CGeol, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and the Companys Vice President Exploration. Mr. Mills is not independent of the Company. About Velocity Minerals Ltd. Velocity is a gold exploration and development company focused on Bulgaria. The Company envisions staged open pit mining of satellite deposits and processing in a central, currently operating CIL plant. The Companys management and board includes mining industry professionals with combined experience spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas as employees of major mining companies as well as founders and senior executives of junior to mid-tier public companies. The team's experience includes all aspects of mineral exploration, resource definition, feasibility, finance, mine construction and mine operation as well as a track record in managing publicly listed companies. About Rozino The Rozino gold deposit is located within in the Tintyava Property which is one of six exploration projects located within an Exploration and Mining Alliance between Velocity and Gorubso. Velocity began exploring and drilling at Rozino in August 2017 and completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment in September 2018 (the PEA). The PEA provides a base case assessment of developing Rozino by open pit mining and on-site crushing, milling and simple flotation to produce a 30 g/t gold concentrate. The concentrate would then be trucked 85km on existing roads to the currently operating carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant where saleable gold dore would be produced. Mineralization remains open for expansion. The Company holds a 70% interest in the Tintyava Property. About Bulgaria Bulgaria is a member of NATO (2004) and a member of the European Union (2007). The local currency (BGN) has been tied to the Euro since 1999 (1.956 BGN/EUR). The country is served by modern European infrastructure including an extensive network of paved roads. Bulgaria boasts an exceptionally low corporate tax rate of only 10%. The countrys education system is excellent with good availability of experienced mining professionals in a favourable cost environment. Foreign mining companies are successfully operating in Bulgaria. The countrys mining law was established in 1999 and updated in 2011. Mining royalties are low and compare favourably with more established mining countries. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Keith Henderson President & CEO For further information, please contact: Keith Henderson Phone: +1-604-484-1233 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Web: www.velocityminerals.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the closing of the Strategic Investment, the conversion by Atlantic Gold of all or some of the Convertible Debentures, future exploration and testing carried out on the Tintyava Property, including the planned drilling at the Rozino project; use of funds; and the future business and operations of Velocity and Tintyava Exploration. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can be identified by words such as pro forma, plans, expects, may, should, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, believes, potential or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development and mine development activities for the Tintyava Property (including the Rozino project) and the Companys projects generally, including the geological mapping, prospecting and sampling programs for the projects, actual results of exploration activities, including the program, estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, the availability of a sufficient supply of water and other materials, requirements for additional capital to fund the Companys business plan, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, possible failures of plants, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the TSX in respect of the Strategic Investment), the failure of Atlantic Gold to proceed with the Strategic Investment as a result of the inability of the Company to meet the conditions precedent to the closing of the Strategic Investment, issues rising from Atlantic Golds due diligence or otherwise, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, hedging practices, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, risks related to joint venture operations (including the Tintyava Exploration), and risks related to the integration of acquisitions, as well as those factors discussed under the heading. Risk Factors in the Companys annual managements discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2019 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX.V: SKE, OTCQX: SKREF) ("Skeena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), for the Eskay Creek Project ("Eskay Creek"), which has been reviewed and validated by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc ("SRK"). The updated 2019 MRE has a larger component of pit constrained resources than the 2018 MRE which was principally reported as underground resources. Remaining mineralization below the optimized resource reporting pit shell with reasonable prospects of economic extraction by underground mining methods is reported accordingly. The effective date of this MRE is February 28, 2019 and a new technical report will be filed on the Company's website and SEDAR within 45 days of this disclosure. Updated 2019 Pit Constrained Resource Estimate The pit constrained Indicated resource includes 2.46 million gold equivalent ounces within 12.7 million tonnes at an average gold equivalent grade of 6.0 g/t. The pit constrained Inferred resource includes 1.23 million gold equivalent ounces within 13.6 million tonnes at an average gold equivalent grade of 2.8 g/t. Table 1: Indicated and Inferred pit constrained resources reported at a 0.7 g/t AuEQ cut-off grade. GRADE CONTAINED OUNCES TONNES AUEQ AU AG AUEQ AU AG (000) G/T G/T G/T OZ (000) OZ (000) OZ (000) TOTAL INDICATED 12,711 6.0 4.5 117 2,455 1,818 47,791 TOTAL INFERRED 13,557 2.8 2.2 42 1,230 984 18,455 Updated 2019 Underground Resource Estimate The underground Indicated resource estimate includes 218,000 gold equivalent ounces within 819,000 tonnes at an average gold equivalent grade of 8.2 g/t. The underground Inferred resource estimate includes 78,000 gold equivalent ounces within 295,000 tonnes at an average gold equivalent grade of 8.2 g/t. Table 2: Indicated and Inferred underground resources reported at a 5.0 g/t AuEQ cut-off grade. GRADE CONTAINED OUNCES TONNES AUEQ AU AG AUEQ AU AG (000) G/T G/T G/T OZ (000) OZ (000) OZ (000) TOTAL INDICATED 819 8.2 6.4 139 218 169 3,657 TOTAL INFERRED 295 8.2 7.1 82 78 68 778 2019 Resource Estimate - Additional Considerations To constrain the pit optimization, the Company requested the application of a Mining Cost Adjustment Factor (MCAF) to certain blocks in the resource model to limit the ultimate depth of the resource reporting pit. The applied MCAF resulted in a tightly constrained resource reporting pit shell with a maximum depth of only 230 meters below surface. Due to the resource being advantageously located below a topographic ridge, the average maximum depth below surface of the pit constrained resources is only 180 meters resulting in a modest strip ratio of 7.5:1. Table 3: Combined pit constrained and underground resources. GRADE CONTAINED OUNCES TONNES AUEQ AU AG AUEQ AU AG (000) G/T G/T G/T OZ (000) OZ (000) OZ (000) INDICATED PIT CONSTRAINED 12,711 6.0 4.5 117 2,455 1,818 47,791 UNDERGROUND 819 8.2 6.4 139 218 169 3,657 INFERRED PIT CONSTRAINED 13,557 2.8 2.2 42 1,230 984 18,455 UNDERGROUND 295 8.2 7.1 82 78 68 778 TOTAL INDICATED 13,530 6.1 4.6 118 2,673 1,987 51,448 TOTAL INFERRED 13,852 2.9 2.3 43 1,308 1,052 19,233 The majority of remaining mineralization at Eskay Creek is hosted in the rhyolite facies feeder structures which are not enriched in the exhalative epithermal suite of elements (Hg-As-Sb). Preferential historical development and mining of the bonanza grade mineralization hosted in the mudstone has resulted in extensive depletion of resources in this rock type. The 2019 pit constrained MRE indicates that on a tonnage weighted basis, 70% of the contained gold equivalent ounces are hosted within the rhyolite facies with only 30% hosted in the remaining unmined mudstone. The metallurgical process recovery assumptions which were applied to the pit optimizations and to the calculations to determine cut-off grades for reasonable prospects of economic extraction are well founded from historical Eskay Creek mill recoveries. Averaged across all rock types, gold recovery was 80% and silver recovery was 92%. It is noteworthy that liberation of free milling gold is excellent as demonstrated by the historical gravity gold recoveries which ranged from 10-30%. The 2019 MRE was derived from 7,583 historical surface and underground diamond drill holes totalling 651,332 meters, with an additional 46 surface diamond drill holes completed by Skeena in 2018 totalling 7,738 meters. Eskay Creek Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate Notes: The mineral resources disclosed in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") standards on mineral resources and reserves definitions, and guidelines prepared by the CIM standing committee on reserve definitions and adopted by the CIM council Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources estimated will be converted into mineral reserves. As defined by NI 43101, the Independent and Qualified Person for the Eskay Creek MRE is Sheila Ulansky P.Geo., of SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. who has reviewed and validated the Eskay Creek MRE. The effective date of the MRE is February 28, 2019. Resources are reported in-situ and diluted for the pit constrained scenario and undiluted for the underground scenario; both are considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction. In accordance with NI 43-101 recommendations, the number of metric tonnes was rounded to the nearest thousand. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects. Metal prices used for the AuEQ calculation are US$1,275 per ounce of gold, and US$17.00 per ounce of silver. AuEQ = Au (g/t) + [Ag (g/t)/75]. Historical metallurgical recoveries of 80% AuEQ were utilized in the determination of cut-off grades for underground resources. The calculated pit constrained cut-off grade was determined to be 0.7 g/t AuEQ and the underground cut-off grade was determined to be 4.5 g/t AuEQ. Cut-off grades must be re-evaluated considering prevailing market conditions (including gold prices, exchange rates and costs). At the request of the Company, the underground resources are reported at a higher cut-off grade of 5.0 g/t AuEQ as opposed to the calculated 4.5 g/t AuEQ. Block tonnage was estimated from volumes using a bulk density formula that was applied using interpolated lead, zinc, copper and antimony grades. This density formula was derived from the historic operator based on comparisons between actual measurements and analyses at the Eskay Creek Mine. SG = (Pb + Zn + Cu + Sb) x 0.03491 + 2.67 (where all metals are reported in percent). Two models were constructed in a two-stage process: a pit constrained model using a 9 x 9 x 4 meter block size using 2 meter capped composites was estimated in stage one, and an underground model using a 3 x 3 x 2 meter block size using 1 meter capped composites was estimated in stage two. All ten mineralization domains were estimated in stage one and that proportion of mineralization captured in the optimized pit were reported as pit constrained resources. The mineralization domains below the level of the optimized pit were estimated in stage two and reported as resources amenable for underground extraction. Mineralization domains were created in Leapfrog GeoTM (Seequent) using Indicator RBF Interpolants and utilizing a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t AuEQ and a probability of 50%. The domains were split according to two primary lithology types: (1) rhyolite and (2) mudstone and andesite combined. Domains were further refined by means of separating into major fault block and historical mining zones. Each domain was modified or reassessed individually to consider presiding mineralization features. A 3.0 meter hard boundary around all underground working was constructed so that high grade composites from within mined out areas had limited influence. The 3.0 meter limiting domain was utilized in both the pit constrained and underground estimation models. Grade capping was performed on each lithology-split domain using 1.0 meter down the hole composites that honoured mineralized domain boundaries. Small composites less than 0.5 meters were merged with the previous sample. Gold capping values ranged from 10 to 900 g/t and silver capping values ranged from 600 to 30,000 g/t. A total of 190 and 418 samples were capped for gold and silver, respectively. Preliminary Ordinary Kriged (OK) block models were run using (1) capped and (2) uncapped 1.0 meter composites to determine the percent metal lost per estimation domain. Capping values were subsequently readjusted to ensure that capping was neither too severe nor too lenient. The 2.0 meter composites utilized for the pit constrained model inherited the capped values established from the 1.0 meter composites. Gold and silver variograms were used to determine the spatial relationship of composites over distance. One-meter composites established the primary orientation, nugget, sills and ranges per domain, and were used to estimate the mineralization domains in the underground model. Variograms for 2.0 meter composites were updated for nugget and first sill and were used to estimate the domains in the pit constrained model. Ordinary Kriging was used for the estimation of gold and silver in all domains. Resources were estimated using Maptek VulcanTM 11.0.1 using sub-blocking capabilities of 3 x 3 x 2 meter cell sizes for the pit constrained model, and 1 x 1 x 1 meter cell sizes for the underground model. Search orientations were modified with Dynamic Anisotropy using a surface which mimicked the local lithological units. Dynamic Anisotropy was used for all domains except for Zone 22, Pumphouse and Zone 109 where the variogram model was appropriate. The mineral resources were estimated using two passes with increasing search radii based on variogram ranges. Pass 1 approximated 90% of the range of the variogram; Pass 2 equalled two times the range of the variogram. In the pit constrained model, Pass 1 used a minimum of 5 composites and a maximum of 15 composites. Pass 2 used a minimum of 3 composites and a maximum of 15 composites. In the underground model Pass 1 used a minimum of 5 composites and a maximum of 10 composites. Pass 2 used a minimum of 3 composites and a maximum of 10 composites. For both models, a maximum of 2 composites per hole were specified. Hard boundary interpolations were honoured except for domains having the same orientation and structure but split by lithology; between these zones soft boundary estimation was applied. A waste model was estimated using Inverse Distance Squared (ID2) methodology using 2 meter capped composites. Five waste domains were partitioned and anisotropy and ranges within each waste domain were inherited from the nearest mineralization domain. One estimation pass using 100% of the range was allocated using a minimum of 3 composites and a maximum of 10 composites. A maximum of 2 composites per hole were specified. Only coherent waste zone blocks were included into the Inferred category. Indicated and Inferred resources were classified according to interpolation Passes 1 and 2, respectively. The Indicated category is defined by blocks interpolated from Pass 1 for gold using a minimum of 3 holes and a maximum distance of 43 meters to a drill hole showing reasonable geological and grade continuity. In areas where blocks were interpolated during Pass 1 where continuity is lacking, or blocks were isolated, the blocks were reclassified to Inferred on a visual basis. The Inferred category is defined by blocks interpolated from Pass 2 for gold using a minimum of 2 holes and a maximum distance to a drill hole composite of 95 meters. In consultation with SRK's geotechnical team who reviewed the documentation on fill-type used previously at the Eskay Creek Mine, an exclusion buffer of 3.0 meters surrounding the underground workings for the underground model was specified, whereas a buffer of 1.0 meters surround the underground workings in the proposed pit constrained model was adopted. Estimated mineralization that occurs within these buffers is not included in this MRE. Estimates use metric units (meters, tonnes and g/t). Metal contents are presented in troy ounces (metric tonne x grade / 31.10348). Neither the Company, nor SRK, is aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issue that could materially affect this mineral resource estimate. The abundance and significance of As, Hg and Sb are unknown but currently under evaluation. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred mineral resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to re-define the Inferred mineral resources as Indicated mineral resources. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to the Indicated mineral resources category. Table 4: Pit constrained scenario assumptions for determining cut-off grades with reasonable prospects of economic extraction. INPUT PARAMETERS VALUE UNIT PIT WALL ANGLES 45 DEGREES REFERENCE MINING COST $ 2.00 US DOLLARS PER TONNE MINED MINING RECOVERY 95 PERCENT MINING DILUTION 5 PERCENT PROCESSING COST $ 15.00 US DOLLARS PER TONNE PROCESSED GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATION $ 5.75 US DOLLARS PER TONNE PROCESSED PROCESS RECOVERY AU 80% PERCENT PROCESS RECOVERY AG 90% PERCENT SELL PRICE AU $ 1,275.00 X (0.95) US DOLLARS PER OUNCE (95% PAYABLE) SELL PRICE AG $ 17.00 X (0.95) US DOLLARS PER OUNCE (95% PAYABLE) TRANSPORTATION/REFINING COSTS $ 25.00 US DOLLARS PER OUNCE AUEQ COMBINED STRIP RATIO 7.5:1 UNITLESS Table 5: Underground scenario assumptions for determining cut-off grades with reasonable prospects of economic extraction. INPUT PARAMETERS VALUE UNIT REFERENCE MINING COST $ 79.25 US DOLLARS PER TONNE MINED PROCESSING COST $ 15.00 US DOLLARS PER TONNE MILLED GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATION $ 5.75 US DOLLARS PER TONNE MILLED PROCESS RECOVERY AU 80% PERCENT PROCESS RECOVERY AG 90% PERCENT SELL PRICE AU $ 1,275.00 X (0.95) US DOLLARS PER OUNCE (95% PAYABLE) SELL PRICE AG $ 17.00 X (0.95) US DOLLARS PER OUNCE (95% PAYABLE) TRANSPORTATION/REFINING COSTS $ 25.00 US DOLLARS PER OUNCE AUEQ Eskay Creek Mineralization The Eskay Creek deposits represent a shallow water, bimodal volcanic sequence hosted in a fault bounded basin with an epithermal VMS signature. Rhyolite facies volcanics are overlain by mafic volcanics with a clastic mudstone occurring at the contact between the two volcanic episodes. This mudstone represents the period of quiescence between the two volcanic events and is spatially and temporally related to the main mineralizing event at Eskay Creek. The epithermal suite of elements (Hg-Sb-As) and bonanza precious metal grades dominantly occur at this interface but are not homogenously distributed throughout the mudstone. Rather, they are spatially associated with vents fed from underlying synvolcanic feeders. Due to the higher precious metal tenor of the mudstone-hosted mineralization, the vast majority of historical production at Eskay Creek occurred within this rock type whilst the rhyolite-hosted feeder style mineralization was less developed due to its lower Au-Ag grades. Rhyolite-hosted mineralization is not enriched in Hg-Sb-As and was often blended with mudstone-hosted zones to reduce smelter penalties for the on-site milled concentrates and Direct Shipped Ore (DSO). Qualified Persons The Independent and Qualified Person for the Eskay Creek MRE is Sheila Ulansky P.Geo., of SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. (Vancouver), who has reviewed, validated and approved the Eskay Creek MRE as well as the technical disclosure in this release. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo. Vice President Exploration and Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has validated and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting its activities on its various exploration projects. About Skeena Skeena Resources Limited is a junior Canadian mining exploration company focused on developing prospective precious and base metal properties in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company's primary activities are the exploration and development of the past-producing Snip mine and the optioned Eskay Creek mine. In addition, the Company has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the GJ copper-gold porphyry project. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited, Walter Coles Jr. President & CEO Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements Certain statements made, and information contained herein may constitute "forward looking information" and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to the Company and there is no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "targets", "estimates", "plans", "expects", "may", "will", "could" or "would". Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and other matters. While the Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable as of the date hereof, forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue importance on such statements as actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or information except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Toronto, Canada / TheNewswire / February 28, 2019 - Savary Gold Corp. (TSX-V: SCA) ("Savary" or the "Company") announces the start of a drill program, as part of an ~US$2 million exploration program on the Karankasso JV Project, Burkina Faso, West Africa. The 2019 exploration program consists predominantly of the following: Auger Drilling: 798 holes totalling 7,365 metres completed in 2019 with numerous, good quality, gold-in-auger anomalies to 3,065 ppb gold (see Figure 1 for summary results) Reverse Circulation Drilling: Approximately 15,700 metres of reverse circulation drilling budgeted, with approximately 120 holes totalling 9,000 metres planned, in the first phase program, that commenced on February 23 (see Figure 2 for currently planned hole locations) Drill testing to continue to extend zones, with current estimated mineral resources and, Drill testing to systematically test the extent of nine zones that have not been subject to resource estimation Drilling to test numerous, new, strong, gold-in auger anomalies Metallurgical Testing: 26 metallurgical samples, representing the bulk of the current estimated mineral resources, are undergoing test work with results expected in several months Don Dudek, President and CEO states "This exploration program represents a continuation of our work on the Karankasso project where we are focussed on adding value with work on the ground. During this program, we are systematically adding to, and defining, more than 10 mineralized zones, one hole at a time, with new holes planned as results come in. As well, we continue to develop, new, good quality targets with the auger data and refined geological interpretations." Don Dudek, further states "this program is being carried out even as we work towards a binding agreement to formalize Semafo's expressed interest in acquiring Savary, in order to fulfill previous commitments with regards to the drill program and its timing, as approved by the Karankasso JV." The field portion of this program commenced in the middle of January and is expected to continue through to the end of June, 2019. Assay results from the completed auger drilling, returned 41 sites with weathered rock samples (saprolite) returning >100 ppb gold to a maximum of 3,065 ppb gold, and an additional 30 sites containing from 50 to 100 ppb gold. Sites with >100 ppb Au are generally considered first pass exploration drill targets. Previous auger surveys, have led to the identification of nine new gold zones that are being further delineated in the current program. UPDATE ON SEMAFO TRANSACTION Savary has entered into a non-binding letter of intent pursuant to which SEMAFO Inc. has expressed an interest to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Savary (see joint news release dated February 11, 2019). Savary and SEMAFO remain committed to completing the proposed transaction and continue to work towards entering into a binding agreement by March 11, 2019. QA/QC Comments Savary's procedure for handling auger chip samples comprises random sampling of one metre drill length return into approximately 1.5 to 3.0-kilogram samples, as well as description and logging into a database. Representative samples of each metre of the auger hole are also preserved in chip trays for future reference. An assay blank or standard was inserted sequentially every 22-26 samples This sampling procedure was periodically reviewed by Savary's President and CEO, and the Company QP, Don Dudek, P. Geo. All assay samples were delivered to Savary staff who then arranged delivery to BIGS laboratory in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where sample preparation and analysis were performed. Auger samples, would be sorted, weighed and placed on stainless trays and dried at 90?C until dry. The samples would then be jaw crushed to <2mm using a Boyd Crusher, if necessary, and the crushed material will then be split using a riffle splitter unit to create 2 samples of approximately 1 kg of mass, each. One of the two samples would then be pulverised using an LM2 pulveriser system to give a product of 90% passing 75um. This pulverised product will then be weighed for Fire Assay determination of the Au content using an Aqua Regia digestion followed by a Flame AAS finish. The samples would be treated in batches of 50, consisting of (from the lab) 1 Blank, 2 QC Standards and 2 repeats. Under normal conditions, a repeat portion will be selected at a 1:20 ratio, and these "preparation" repeats would be included in the sample batch of 50 as discussed earlier. Thus, each batch of samples would include 1 blank, 2 QC standards and 4 repeats (including the 2 preparation repeats). Each sample would be subjected to a process using the "Leachwell" is based on a typical digest for a 12-hour leach with fluid analysed for gold after 12 hours. Most standards and blank control samples returned results within expected ranges. Those batches that returned standard values outside an approved range are being re-assayed. None of the re-assayed batches impacted the results presented here-in. About Savary Gold Corp. Savary is a Canadian exploration company focused on exploring and developing the Karankasso Gold Project in Burkina Faso. The Company holds an approximate 75.2% deemed joint venture ownership at year end 2018 and is the operator of the joint venture. The project is located within the Hounde Greenstone Belt, which hosts SEMAFO's Mana mine, Roxgold's Yaramoko Mine and Endeavor's Hounde Mine. The project contains an inferred mineral resource estimate (November 2, 2017) of 12.3 million tonnes (Mt) grading 2.03 g/t gold for 805,000 ounces. For additional information please visit www.savarygold.com. Don Dudek, P.Geo., President and CEO of the Company and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release. SAVARY GOLD CORP. On behalf of the Board "Don Dudek" President & Chief Executive Officer For more information, please contact: Don Dudek, President and CEO T: 647-259-2097 E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; www.savarygold.com Figure 1 - Summary 2019 Auger Results Figure 2 - Currently planned 2019 Phase 1 drill holes Cautionary Notes Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the timing and amount of estimated future exploration; costs of future activities; success of exploration activities; the likelihood that the SEMAFO transaction will progress to a binding commitment on the timeline estimated or at all; the details of the potential value growth of the JV, the upside of the property, and our expectations with respect to lower costs, cross marketing and funding synergies resulting from the JV, the drill program, the company's exploration plans, the focus on existing drill targets and new targets. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. That legal process could stretch for years. In the case of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, seven years passed after the initial announcement of his indictment on corruption charges before he exhausted his appeals and was jailed. Olmert, however, had stepped down as prime minister before the attorney general announced a decision to indict. QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nemaska Lithium Inc. (the Corporation) (TSX: NMX) (OTCQX: NMKEF) (Frankfurt: N0T) is pleased to announce that it has started the qualification of its high purity lithium hydroxide monohydrate products with more than 20 customers globally. The Corporation began shipping samples within 60 days of installing drying and bagging equipment at its Shawinigan Phase 1 demonstration plant. Sample sizes range from 450 g to 350 kg and have been requested by customers ranging from cathode manufacturers, to battery makers to industrial grease users, in addition to our existing offtake customers, which include LG Chemicals, Johnson Matthey and Northvolt. We have just achieved a major milestone in our vertically integrated project from mine to plant. This first delivery, completed in less time than expected, confirms our ability to produce superior quality battery grade lithium hydroxide from our Shawinigan Phase 1 plant facility. I want to take this opportunity to commend the efforts of our employees in delivering such a high-quality product, says Guy Bourassa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nemaska Lithium. Product specifications of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate shipped and a picture of Nemaska Lithiums team are joined to this press release. About Nemaska Lithium Nemaska Lithium Inc. is a developing chemical company whose activities will be vertically integrated, from spodumene mining to the commercialization of high-purity lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate. These lithium salts are mainly destined for the fast-growing lithium-ion battery market, which is driven by the increasing demand for electric vehicles and energy storage worldwide. With its products and processes, the Corporation intends to facilitate access to green energy, for the benefit of humanity. The Corporation will be operating the Whabouchi mine in Quebec, Canada, one of the richest lithium spodumene deposits in the world, both in volume and grade. The spodumene concentrate produced at the Whabouchi mine will be processed at the Shawinigan plant using a unique membrane electrolysis process for which the Corporation holds several patents. The Corporation is a member of the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index, S&P/TSX Global Mining Index, S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index, S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals Index, and the MSCI Canada Small Cap Index. For more information, visit www.nemaskalithium.com or twitter.com/Nemaska Lithium. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws and are based on expectations and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, those related to (i) the Corporations ability to produce superior quality battery grade lithium hydroxide from Shawinigan, (ii) the commercial operations of the project, and (iii) generally, the above About Nemaska Lithium paragraph which essentially describes the Corporations outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Corporation as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the Whabouchi mine and/or the electrochemical plant in Shawinigan will be commissioned and will begin production, as future events could differ materially what is currently anticipated by the Corporation. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about managements expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators of Canada including, but not limited to, the cautionary statements made in the Risk Factors section of the Corporations Annual Information Form dated October 10, 2018, and the Risk Exposure and Management section of the Corporations quarterly Management Discussion & Analysis. The Corporation cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and new, unforeseeable risks may arise from time to time. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. Further information regarding Nemaska Lithium is available in the SEDAR database (www.sedar.com) and on the Corporations website at: www.nemaskalithium.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Since Gambias Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) began its public hearings, Yahya Jammehs name has been kept out of the narratives, despite shocking tales about brutal killings of his perceived enemies. Though he was the leader of the military junta that ruled the country between 1994 and 2016, it is the vice-chair of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC), Sanna Sabally, who has been mentioned as calling the shots in the early executions under the regime. This narrative has begun to shift in the latest hearings. And the key actor in this shift is Demba Njie, Jammehs former chief of staff, who testified before the TRRC. Njie said he was with Jammeh on November 11, 1994, when the junta is accused of having killed close to two dozen soldiers allegedly involved in planning a coup. Jammeh appeared nervous and moving up and down the stairs at the countrys seat of power, the State House in Banjul, said Njie. At the time, the eccentric leader had already heard of the plot and his men, as he referred to them, were advancing on the countrys biggest camp, the Yundum barracks. Kill them all Njie recalled that, at 6 a.m., a call came and the order from Jammeh, sitting on a separate couch about three meters away, was clear: Kill them all, the ring leaders. Njie broke into tears before the nine commissioners and looked down on the table. He was a lieutenant in the army before the July 1994 coup. The coup had brought him into the State House as both chief of staff and commander of the State Guard battalion but he couldnt forget that day. I heard Yahya Jammeh say kill all the ring leaders and that I did not forget. I realized that they had arrested some people and they were going to kill them, said Njie, crying. This was the first time I heard an instruction to kill. November 11, 1994 is described as the darkest moment in Gambias military history. The Commission dedicated a special section of its hearings to this event. And as testimonies are gathered, it is becoming clearer who participated in the killings, how it happened and why. According to Sait Darboe, a private who fought on the side of the coup leaders in July 1994, a large section of the army became disgruntled because of the betrayal of the agenda of the coup by the leaders. This version of the story was confirmed by other witnesses including Lieutenant Binneh Minteh, one of the organizers of the November coup who later fled to the United States after it had failed. I would say they [the junta] failed us. I remember Edward Singhateh told us that we were going to be promoted and have a plot of land, said Darboe, the Commissions 20th witness. Described by many as a sadist, Lieutenant Singhateh was one of the leaders of the coup. He later became the vice-chair of the AFPRC. And nothing had been done, continued Darboe. We got frustrated. We were the men who fought for them. Those who supported the coup were not up to forty soldiers. Most of us were junior soldiers. This frustration was what precipitated the November 11 coup attempt. The confession of Alagie Kanyi The junta, however, had already learned of the plot and they attacked the Fajara and Yundum barracks, where the counter coup was conceived. They captured the two camps, arrested the coup leaders before they even started it, and executed them. They were butchered. They killed them nastily. I saw dead bodies and they were killed with bayonets, said Sait Darboe. On that fateful day, Darboe was at the Yundum barracks from 8 a.m. to late evening. He had pledged his loyalty to November 11 coup leaders but this was not known. Thus he was never arrested. Alagie Kanyi ( Mustapha K. DARBOE) However, one person who was arrested but managed to live was Abdoulie J. Darboe. When he testified before the TRRC, Abdoulie Darboe named Edward Singhateh and Alagie Kanyi among those killing the soldiers. Before the Commission, Alagie Kanyi nicknamed by his tormentor mofala Kanyi, meaning killer became the Commissions first witness confessing to killing. He confessed to opening fire at Basiru Camara and Fafa Nyang on two soldiers who had been arrested and taken away in a green Land Rover, with their hands tied from behind. At the execution ground Kanyi said Sanna Sabally would arrest anyone who wouldnt do what they were instructed. I am instructed to kill my own brother and at that point I dont have a choice, said Kanyi. Kanyi said they were standing in an extended line and so were the soldiers who were about to be executed. Sanna Sabally said: Say your last prayers. Buba Jammeh [one of the killed soldiers] said: Dont kill us, take us to jail. Sanna gave an order to fire and we fired on them, said Kanyi. The firing was rapid and each person was hit with multiple bullets. Five soldiers were killed there. The murder of the Finance Minister According to Kanyis testimony, senior members of the junta present at the execution were Lt Yankuba Touray, Lt Sadibu Hydara, Lt Edward Singhateh, Lt Peter Singhateh, and Colonel Babucarr Jatta. As Kanyi testified in the small hall of about 8 by 8 meters, his brothers were seated in an audience of about 20 people. Some of Kanyis relatives were in tears. Kanyi admitted participating in three main execution events, of which one was the execution of the countrys former finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay. In June 1995, Ceesay was killed by state operatives allegedly led by Edward Singhateh. Kanyi testified that they killed Ceesay at the Kololi residence of Yankuba Touray, one of the military leaders. Ceesay was beaten with pestle and sticks until he finally died. He would later be found dumped in a wrecked car set ablaze. This is another crime in which Demba Njie, the former chief of staff of Jammeh, has implicated the former ruler. And Kanyis story corroborated the testimony of Njie who claimed the orders came from his former boss, Jammeh. Kanyis story corroborated the testimony of Njie who claimed the orders came from his former boss, Jammeh. Ceesay was killed while Jammeh was away in Ethiopia but Jammeh was seen discussing with his vice-chair, Edward Singhateh, at the Banjul International Airport, prior to his departure in unusual circumstances, said Njie. Njie was then with Jammeh in Ethiopia. He said Jammeh never said a word about the death of Ceesay. A state minister died under such circumstances and Jammeh never mentioned his name to me, Njie said. According to him, a former state guard commander, Lang Tombong Tamba, called him while he was in Ethiopia to tell him that his friend the minister had been killed. He told me there was foul play, said Njie. With his testimony and that of Kanyi, the evidence given before the TRRC has never got closer to the former head of the military regime, who is in exile in Equatorial Guinea. Veterinary students chosen for American Veterinary Medical Foundation scholarships Friday, March 1, 2019 Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine recipients of the Auxiliary to the AVMA Legacy Endowed Scholarship are, from left, Katya Luckenbach, Rebecca Tomasek, Danielle Pickering and Katelyn Guill-Sanchez. | Download this photo. MANHATTAN Four Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine students are recipients of the Auxiliary to the AVMA Legacy Endowed Scholarship. AVMA stands for the American Veterinary Medical Association. Receiving the $1,000 scholarship are Danielle Pickering, third-year veterinary medicine student, Los Angeles, California; Rebecca Tomasek, second-year veterinary medicine student, China, Michigan; Katelyn Guill-Sanchez, third-year veterinary medicine student, Hudson, New Hampshire; and Katya Luckenbach, second-year veterinary medicine student, Woxall, Pennsylvania. "I am so excited to receive this award for the second year in a row, Guill-Sanchez said. "This scholarship has provided wonderful mentorship opportunities to allow me to expand my large animal experience and has taken off a considerable amount of financial pressure as I approach my fourth year." "This scholarship will help me relieve some of the financial burden of veterinary school as I pursue a career in small animal or mixed medicine and eventually a doctorate," Pickering said. The scholarships are awarded to students at each of the 32 American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited veterinary colleges in the United States, the Atlantic Veterinary College in Canada and St. George's University and Ross University in the Caribbean to support their educational endeavors. "As a veterinary student who is interested in public health and international veterinary medicine, I am always looking for educational opportunities to travel to other countries to experience what the field of veterinary medicine is like in them," Luckenbach said. "Being an out-of-state student at my university, it is hard to justify borrowing extra money for electives that involve international travel, so having the privilege of being awarded this scholarship will help to fund my upcoming international veterinary tours elective." "This scholarship reinforces the importance of participating in organized veterinary medicine, servant leadership and supporting the community while pursuing my career goals," Tomasek said. "I am incredibly grateful to have received this scholarship." The Auxiliary to the AVMA Legacy Endowed Scholarship is offered through the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, the charitable arm of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The foundation is committed to helping offset the cost of veterinary medical education. Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, testifies in Washington on Feb. 27, 2019. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP/Getty Images) "I think it's probably good that the president, if he has to get this done, go ahead and do it on an emergency - but not at the expense of the military," Inhofe said. "And if it ends up at the expense of the military, that it's going to inflict damage on the military, then I have to act accordingly." The plan submitted to Congress calls for phasing in a Space Force over five years beginning with the 2020 budget year. This would add an estimated $2 billion in costs beyond what is spent on existing military space activities. Many details of the new service have yet to be worked out, including whether it would have its own boot camp for recruits and whether it would have its own uniform design. On Thursday, Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., wrote to Attorney General William Barr, asking him to investigate whether Cohen had perjured himself this week when he insisted during his testimony that he had not wanted a job in the Trump administration and had been content to serve as Trump's personal lawyer. ASHLAND, Ore. Southern Oregon's entrepreneur advocates at SOREDI just wrapped up one of their LAUNCH talks at Plexis Healthcare Systems in Ashland, with a panel of experts focused on local businesses looking for ways to raise money both for fresh new start-ups and established businesses. The panel featured Melissa Brandao, CEO and founder of HerdDogg; Jeff Roberts, founder of MASSIF and current head of Rifton Capital; William McCurry, an SBA loan expert at First Interstate Bank; and Stephanie Hirche, a business and non-traditional lender with Craft 3. SOREDI's Venture Catalyst Alex Palmer gave the following summary of the panel's thoughts at this LAUNCH talk: 1. Know which type of financing you need. Our panel featured a pretty even split between those on the debt finance and equity finance side. We looked at the differences between each type of financing in detail. As Melissa from HerdDoggs experience showed, the type of finance that is the right fit, depends largely on the growth stage of your company. In HerdDoggs case, they are an early stage start-up that is still pre-revenue, but they have some really groundbreaking technology in the AgTech space that is protected by patents. In this situation, equity financing in the form of capital from friends and family was critical to helping the company gain traction. Melissa has been successful in raising over $2M in equity financing, including a significant amount from a Venture Capital firm (more on that below) and this form of financing is ideally suited to a tech enabled company that has big potential, a defined market with lots of potential, but little or no revenue just yet. For many early stage companies (including HerdDogg) debt financing is not as accessible without any revenue or regular cashflows, but this is where its ideal for more established businesses that can show this. So, if you have an existing business, or are considering acquiring an existing business, and you have regular cash flow, then debt financing from a bank such as First Interstate or a community lender such as Craft 3, is ideal. It means you dont have to give away any equity or ownership. In many cases its a trade off between giving away some ownership to get the capital to grow rapidly, or retaining ownership and not having quite as much capital to fuel growth. 2. Use your network and industry expertise. Raising equity finance is hard, requires persistence, tenacity and, of course, connections. Being able to work your own network to get that first round of finance is critical. This is often referred to as the Friends, Family and Fools route. But in addition to this, using connections and knowledge within your own industry is vital. Melissa explained that this was critical to her successful round of Venture Capital (VC) funding from Serra Ventures, who specialize in AgTech investments, amongst others. The panel talked about some useful tools for this, such as CrunchBase and AngelList. These are great resources for seeing activity in your industry, such as which VC firms are investing in which companies. Another resource I use regularly, is FinSMES which provides daily updates on deals in the VC & Private Equity space. This sort of knowledge is also really useful when it comes to establishing valuations for fundraising rounds or exits, which can be used as benchmarks for your own business plan. Showing solid M&A activity such as acquisitions or other liquidity events in your sector is important when convincing a potential investor to put money in. 3. Know/Research your potential investors. Jeff gave us some great insight into what he looks for in potential investors at Rifton Capital, a small Private Equity firm based in Ashland. His criteria are pretty specific; he looks at companies with over $1M in revenue, typically in product-based industries, since he gained much of his expertise as a co-founder of MASSIF. Perhaps the most striking thing that came from Jeff was his laser focus on the gross margin in potential deals. In his view, having a high margin (in the region of 70%) is critical to the companys ability to be profitable and grow. Jeffs views are very specific to just one investor. It goes without saying that every investor or firm will have their own requirements. As investing becomes more competitive, investors also need to work hard to differentiate themselves and appeal to specific niches (sector, revenue, gender, ethnicity, technology etc). The bottom line is to do your homework and find this stuff out! It will save you time and effort in the long run and ultimately make sure that your investment search is laser-focused on those investors that have the closest match to your business. 4. Get your personal finances in order. This one applies whether you are looking at debt or equity financing, although its may be more relevant when applying for debt financing. Bill & Stephanie both explained the application process for bank-style financing, whether an SBA loan or one from Craft 3. While both of these type of loans (and indeed our own SOREDI loan program) can be a little more risk tolerant than a typical bank loan, they will all require a very similar application process, which will include a consideration in regard to collateral for securing the loan. This is also where you cant escape the value of having a good credit score (650-670+). Along with solid personal finances, a strong business plan demonstrates your ability to repay the loan. This is maybe one of the hardest parts about starting a business, which inevitably places a lot of strain on personal finances. Many entrepreneurs max out credit cards and other lines of credit to get their business off the ground. Being upfront, honest and transparent with your lender is really important. Its far better to build a great relationship with your lender in this way, rather than burying your head in the sand! Get to know your banker before making an application, in the same way you would a mortgage lender for a house purchase. That way they can explain to you what sort of things you need to work on in order to give your application the best chance of success. 5. Be persistent. Hustle! Raising funds is an incredibly competitive exercise and those who are successful show large amounts of determination, ability to keep going despite setbacks and persistence/belief in their vision to see it through until the end. Its true that doing your homework, being prepared, having a solid plan & pitch and knowing your investor can all get you a long way, but for many investors it still comes down to personality and your ability to deliver a convincing pitch time after time. Many successful entrepreneurs pitch hundreds of times before securing the funds they need to go on to achieve great things. 6. Ask for advice. Theres a ton of resources out there to help entrepreneurs and business owners with all aspects of starting and running a business including: SBDC for help putting together your business plan & financials. First Interstate Bank for SBA loans or other forms of commercial lending. Craft 3 for community based lending programs. SOREDI Business Development Loan Fund. Your local Venture Catalyst for advice & mentoring on getting equity investment from local or state-wide resources. 5K Shares Share In my clinical practice, I have encountered patient aggression typically with narcotic medications, in particular with the refusal of a refill due to evidence of concerning behavior, like a positive drug screen for drugs not prescribed. Aggressive behavior can include yelling, threatening physical violence or intimidation. I have had less trouble with narcotic-related aggression nowadays especially with media coverage of the dangers of narcotic abuse and especially since a lot of my patients who are on chronic narcotic therapy are managed by pain specialists. In the past couple of years, however, I have started to experience this level of aggression with another type of medications: antibiotics. Until recently, I have dreaded fall and winter months because they are peak months for demand for antibiotics for a common cold. My established patients are aware that I do not give antibiotics for the common cold. These patients trust that I care about their health; its what I do. But then there are the new patients or the patients of other providers that bring back the need to have this challenging conversation about the correct use of an antibiotic. I have had to endure the frustrated look of disbelief, the accusations of being a bad doctor who does not care about them feeling better and who wants them instead to wait until they feel worse to get treated. Month after month, however, I do endure these insults because it is my duty not only to care for my patients but to educate them about their health. We would not have this level of demand for antibiotics (and the resulting acceleration of antibiotic resistance crisis) if physicians or advanced care practitioners do not prescribe medications inappropriately or against their own documented assessment: it is not uncommon for me to see a patients urgent care visit note that says viral infection and yet the management plan is followed by a prescription for azithromycin or augmentin. The nocebo effect is real, and a patients perception of their ability to heal correlates positively with their clinical recovery. A patient who does not believe they will get well with the non-antibiotic you have prescribed may not get better, leading them (and you) to conclude that they need an antibiotic to get better. We must break this vicious cycle, this inappropriate dependence on antibiotics, and help patient trust in their care plan which, for a routine common cold, should not include an antibiotic. Health care providers need to understand that integrity and ethical behavior are compromised when medications are prescribed inappropriately and specifically when directly against ones clinical judgment. The inappropriate antibiotic prescription has some serious negative implications and does cause tangible harm. I am starting to see patients where I have needed to give parenteral antibiotics for simple infection just because of prior multiple exposures to unnecessary antibiotics. According to the CDC and WHO, antibiotic resistance has been associated with increased mortality, prolonged hospital stay, increased health care cost, and increased morbidity. Of course, if you practice medicine long enough, you will have the occasional patient who seemed to have a viral URI for a few days and who, a few days later, develops full-blown pneumonia or other complication. It is important to acknowledge to ourselves and to patients that we are doctors, not God. We use our best clinical judgment at the time based on information that we have about the patients current presentation and we cover for the most likely cause and we re-assess if the patient is not progressing as expected. The patients that have something else develop will usually be detected if they follow their discharge instructions. Now, in the age of convenience care and consumerism where patients get care at the time that works best for them, I am aware that patients are also demanding care their way, with their plans. This new trend has some possibly dangerous consequences, especially when physician quality and productivity metrics are now often tied to patient ratings and patients perception of care. Physicians, though they do serve their patients, are not, however, to be confused with a waiter who takes your order and delivers them just the way you like it, with a smile. It took over ten years of training to be able to bear that title of physician, and I daresay that even the formidable Dr. Google is not able to surpass the clinical expertise of a well-trained physician. The commercialization of medicine and the consumerist focus should have some limits, for patient safety sake. It is incongruous to want physicians to practice good, evidence-based medicine and yet link their compensation, bonuses, or facility privileges to the patients perception of the providers care and plan. Of course, patient feedback is important and provides opportunities to improve a facility or clinics practice. I have been a patient, too, and I want my opinion to matter to my health care team. My dissention is when this consumerist shift places undue stress on the physician to please the patient as this may lead to detrimental care. Physicians are human and they have their own families and financial interest to take care of. It can be very tempting to give a patient an antibiotic that they do not need just to please the patient and get them out of your office so you can see the next patient (production bonus, anyone?) than to spend an additional 15 minutes talking to the same (discontented) patient. I am a doctor; as such, I try to be a patient advocate and patient educator. I love what I do, and it is a privilege to live my childhood dream. In this age of consumerism and patient satisfaction scores, I do not want to forget who I am and the importance of the role I play. Let us, as health care providers, encourage one another towards good deeds and take the pledge to educate our patients. Rosemary Eseh-Logue is an internal medicine physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com HARRISBURG, Ore. -- Students in Harrisburg High Schools advanced welding class are learning skills and techniques that put them on the same level as professionals in the industry. Its the latest example of whats happening in our community to prepare people for jobs in skilled trades. Im working on tig welding because thats one of the new processes that were learning about, senior Victor Hesser said. I did some last year, but Im trying to get better because thats the career I want to go into. Another student told KEZI 9 News hes gained a lot of confidence in the course. I have learned so much, senior Spencer Tucker said. And if I was to take a welding course in college, Id already be so much more prepared for whats upcoming. And I wouldnt have to learn so much from that. Every week KEZI 9 News highlights career technical education in western Oregon. To learn more about our Skilled to Work segment, click here. LEBANON, Ore. -- A Lebanon woman is accused of first-degree manslaughter in the death of a 1-year-old boy, Lebanon police said. Amber Scott, 20, was arrested at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Police said the childs breathing had been restricted while in Scotts care which led to his death. Lebanon Fire officials responded to a residence in Lebanon Feb. 19 to a report of an unresponsive child, and the toddler was taken to Lebanon Community Hospital and then flown to Doernbecher Childrens Hospital in Lebanon. The boy died on Monday. Scott is in the Linn County Jail. If found guilty, she faces a minimum of 10 years in prison. The investigation is ongoing. DRAIN, Ore. -- The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a man on Wednesday who had been stranded in the snow for several days, and now the man is speaking out about the challenges he faced. Lloyd Cline, 73, was a watchman working as security for Double S Logging when he became stranded in the Elk Creek area off Upper Smith River Road due to the snow. Rescue efforts were attempted Monday and Tuesday, but hazards and severe weather hampered rescuers from reaching Cline. Air assets could not be utilized due to limited visibility and heavy snow falling. Cline told KEZI 9 News he ran out of food and had to eat snow. He said he was able to make calls but not recieve them because there was no service. "That third day was the worst day. I told them I couldnt stay any longer. It was really getting to me, and it was like there was so much snow it was like you had claustrophobia and the pressure was getting so great," Cline said. Cline said that the highest temperature it got to was 28 degrees. Douglas County Search and Rescue notified the Oregon State Search and Rescue coordinator of the rescue mission. On Wednesday, SAR ground search personnel were again attempting to make their way to Clines location. A brief break in the weather provided a window for a helicopter rescue attempt. The Oregon State SAR coordinator along with the Oregon Office of Emergency Management coordinated a helicopter rescue with the U.S. Coast Guard station in North Bend. The flight crew flew to Cline's location and was able to successfully rescue him. Cline was flown to RiverBend Hospital in Springfield for treatment. "I wouldn't wish that on anybody," Cline said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) The Philippines ranked 90th among the 126 countries and jurisdictions surveyed by the World Justice Project for its 2019 Rule of Law Index. The standing is a slight improvement from last year, when the Philippines ranked 93rd among 113 countries. The 2018 ranking was adjusted by the WJP, taking into consideration that the previous survey covered only 113 countries. Still, the country landed near the bottom at 13th place out of 15 countries surveyed in the East Asia and the Pacific region, and 14th out of the 30 lower middle income countries. "Effective rule of law reduces corruption, combats poverty and disease, and protects people form injustices large and small. It is the foundation for communities of justice, opportunity and peace- underpinning development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights," the WJP defined in its report. The WJP said that the Philippines' improved global ranking was driven by an improvement in its "order and security" score. "Significant trends included an improvement in 'Order and Security,'" the WJP said in a statement. Nevertheless, the Philippines still ranked 15 out of the 15 countries of the East Asia and the Pacific region in terms of order and security. It has a global rank of 115 out of 126 on that aspect. The WJP also factored in constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice to the Philippines' overall Rule of Law ranking. The top three performers in the 2019 survey were the Northern European countries of Denmark, Norway and Finland respectively. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Cambodia, and Venezuela were the bottom three nations in the survey. Global rise of Authoritarianism The WJP said that the 2019 survey suggested a rise in authoritarianism, as the factor score for "constraints on government powers" declined in 61 countries. "This slide in rule of law in general and checks on government powers in particular is deeply concerning," said Elizabeth Anderson, executive director of WJP, in a statement. The think tank reported that 60 percent of countries, including the Philippines, have shown a decline in constraints on government powers in the last 4 years. The country ranked 71st out of 126 globally, and 10th out of 15 regionally, when it came to constraints on government powers. Kilkenny headquartered Modular Construction Company, Modubuild have opened a brand new Regional office in Amsterdam Netherlands, to support their ongoing rapid expansion in the Benelux Region. Irelands Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr. Kevin Kelly recently visited the brand new offices to officially mark the opening. Modubuild have been very active in The Netherlands since 2015 having completed multiple projects for leading global information technology and Biotechnology companies in the country. The company plans to double its turnover in the Netherlands this year and will also use the Amsterdam office as local hub to support ongoing expansion across the Benelux Region. Welcoming the announcement Irelands Ambassador to Netherlands Mr. Kevin Kelly said It is great to see Irish Companies such as Modubuild expanding in the Netherlands and beyond. By opening this regional office Modubuild are showing that they are fully committed to further growth in this market and beyond. Richard Engelkes, Senior Market Advisor Construction Products and Services, Logistic/SCM at Enterprise Ireland said Modubuild opening an office here on Dutch ground is a natural next step for the company whose impact in the market has gone from strength to strength, highlighting the Irish Advantage through their world class service offering. Modubuild Managing Director Kevin Brennan added We are so excited to have our new Amsterdam office up and running. We have been extremely successful in the Netherlands over the past few years and this move will further drive our ambitious business growth plans in this region. Modubuild is an Irish owned Specialist Modular Construction company whose head office is located in Kilkenny. The company was founded by business partners Kevin Brennan and John Comerford. The company has also recently opened a state of the art off-site Modular Building manufacturing facility in Castlecomer, Ireland following a multi million euro investment. Modubuild is producing hi-tech Modular Buildings for Global Biopharmaceutical and Technology companies in the Castlecomer facility. Modubuild has a large design, project management, project administration and engineering team working from their Kilkenny Headquarters. Modubuild is undergoing a phase of rapid expansion across Europe having successfully completed multiple projects in countries such as Ireland, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland and they have plans to enter further markets over the coming year. The fourth nationally co-ordinated Local Enterprise Week takes place around the country from March 4 to 8. Organised by the Local Enterprise Offices, these events are aimed at anyone thinking of starting a business, new start-ups and growing SMEs. The Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny has a number of events and training programmes planned. The highlights of the week include an afternoon Master class with Seanie Walsh, a highly successful disruptive e-commerce and social media; the County Final of the Student Enterprise Programme and finally culminating in a celebratory evening event for International Womens Day on Friday, March 8, the Local Enterprise Office in conjunction with Network Ireland Kilkenny, Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Bank of Ireland are hosting a panel discussion based on the theme Making it Happen followed by a evening meal in Anocht Restaurant, Kilkenny Design Centre. As part of Local Enterprise Week, the Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny is presenting an opportunity for business to learn how they can boost ecommerce sales and improve their digital strategy by offering the Ecomm Maze Masterclass by Seanie Walsh. The half-day, fully immersive, digital consulting session which will take place on Tuesday, March 5 from 1.45 to 5.30pm in the Newpark Hotel will be led by V353s Creative Director Seanie Walsh, will be part masterclass and part workshop. Social media enigma Seanie Walsh will host this disruptive talk to help Irish businesses understand how to properly exploit e-commerce and online marketing when building their business. Seanie, a Castlebar native, is Creative Director of Los Angeles based, Business Rockstars and recently CMO for Irelands first Crypto Currency, Mingo. From the age of 13 he has been a highly successful disruptive e-commerce and social media entrepreneur. On Wednesday, March 6 over 100 enterprising students will participate from across the County will compete in the Student Enterprise Programme in the Lyrath Estate Hotel. Each school hosted their own final and a number of businesses were chosen to represent their school in the County Final. There are three categories - Junior, which is a competition for first year students, Intermediate (second and third year students) and Senior (fourth, fifth and sixth years). This event will be broadcasted live on KLCR96Fm and is open to the public from 1pm. The successful winners here will progress to represent Kilkenny at the Student Enterprise Programme National Final which will be held on Friday, May 3 in Croke Park. The week will around off with a celebratory event as part of International Womens Day on Friday, March 8 at 4pm in Anocht Restaurant, Kilkenny Design Centre. This event will be all about empowering women to step up to the challenge, be ready to seize opportunities and the panel of speakers will outlining how they did just that both in their careers, businesses and within the community. Making It Happen is the theme of the event and each speaker has their own story to tell. The panel includes Siobhan ODwyer; Global Marketing Director, Kingspan and formerly 3sixty Marketing, Kilkenny; Marguerite Brosnan; Managing Director, Bank of Ireland Insurance Services & Director of Transformation, Noreen Murphy Co-founder Billys Tearooms Ballyhale and finally just back from the Oscars Ceremony in Los Angeles Yvonne Ross, Yvonne Ross Jewelers. The event will take place in Anocht Restaurant Kilkenny Design Centre from 4pm and will be followed by a celebratory evening meal. The event is open to female across all walks of life including budding entrepreneurs, SME owners, professionals, people involved in non-profits, charities, arts and the public sector. Fiona Deegan, Head of Enterprise Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny advises that We would encourage every start-up and small business owner to make it their business to check out and participate in the events taking place in their locality, he said. It is important that anyone starting or growing a business is fully aware of the extensive range of enterprise supports that are available to them. Small businesses continue to be the backbone of our local economy, with huge potential to grow and create jobs. For further details see the Local Enterprise Office website. This week marks the start of Irelands largest fundraising campaign, the Trocaire Lenten Appeal, which will see more than 1 million Trocaire boxes reach households and schools across the country. Local Trocaire worker, Lauren Lennon from Kilkenny, is appealing to people of her home county to get involved in the campaign, which will allow Trocaire to help more than 2 million of the poorest and most vulnerable people across the world over the coming year. Trocaires 2019 Lenten Appeal highlights how the loss of land in the developing world is leading to devastating consequences for millions of families. Lauren Lennon from Trocaire explained: Land is such an important factor in combating poverty. It allows people to grow food to feed their families and to make a living, and it offers much-needed safety and stability for children. Sadly though, for many reasons, land and homes are being taken from millions of families across the developing world and means they are facing hunger, the threat of violence as well as a lack of access to education and basic medical care as they struggle to survive. This year, the Lent box tells this story through three young girls. Maria is from Guatemala where vulnerable communities are being violently evicted by large businesses and left with nothing. In Uganda, Patricia has lost her home because her father died. Her mother, like many others, lacks any basic rights to her land simply because she is a woman. While Maya, who now lives in a refugee camp in Lebanon, was forced to flee her home with her family to escape the Syrian war. Trocaire is working in over twenty countries across the developing world and supports thousands of families like those of Maria, Maya and Patricia by providing food, shelter and medical care as well as fighting for justice and land rights, Lauren added. This would not be possible without the support of the public. We are incredibly grateful for the generous donations we receive from parishes, schools and families from Co Kilkenny each year and I would appeal to people across the county to support this vital campaign. This can be done by collecting your loose change in a Trocaire box, making a donation online or over the phone, or organising fundraising activities throughout Lent. Every donation makes a difference. The Trocaire Lent Campaign runs from Ash Wednesday (6 March) to Easter Sunday on 21 April 2019. Trocaire boxes are available from local parishes, by visiting www.trocaire.org or by phoning 1850 408 408. MASON CITY, Iowa - After nearly three weeks in some of the most brutally cold and snowy weeks the area has seen this winter, a German shepherd mix named Duey is back home. Melanie Houston remembers the day when Duey and his brother Dovahkiin ran away, on February 6th. "We had a friend who came over, and it was kind of unexpected where I was in the middle of me getting ready for work the next day and feeding dinner, and he came in and I warned him the dogs were behind me, and unfortunately they rushed past and they got outside and they ran." After a search, she spread the word on social media, asking the public for help locating the dogs. While Dovahkiin was found safe a few days later, Duey was nowhere to be found. He was spotted a few times in the same area of town, though, and those updates were shared on Facebook. On Tuesday, he was found alive inside an old barn near NIACC. Houston says it was a big relief, especially for her 4-year old son, who considers Duey to be his best friend. "Our son's super happy. He saw him and you can tell he was so worried about the way he looked. And he said, 'what are those red marks on his nose?' And I'm like 'he's gonna be OK', and he's like 'are you sure?' 'Doctor says he's gonna be OK buddy, he's gonna be OK.'" She credits her community and social media for helping to bring him home. "Honestly, if it wasn't for social media, we probably wouldn't have found him. Or even had half the sightings we had where we could go try to find him. None of that would've came there. That's where we got the majority of them, where people were calling us from the number on social media." Duey is now doing some recuperating. He suffered frostbite on his paws and nose, and lost nearly 20 lbs., but is expected to make a full recovery. ROCHESTER, Minn.- Rochester continues to grow, a community forum held in the med city today was focused on health care and participate in the Community Health Needs Assessment or CHNA questions. The concerns were documented for county leaders to look at later, so they'll know what issues to spend more time and resources on. A lot of times we'll have anecdotal information and it doesn't really represent the broader communities so this is a way for us to hear those, Said April Sutor. She attended and volunteered at the forum today. She says the county should address racial disparity and create a more welcoming community. We need people to be healthy we need people in the workforce we need people to be able to contribute to the level to maximize their lives, she said. There will be more listening sessions in March but the next community health forum will be held on June 6th. MANKATO, Minn. The woman attacked Saturday night in Blue Earth County has died. The Sheriffs Office says the investigation into the attack on Evelyn Adams, 76, is continuing. Investigators say Adams was injured by an unidentified male in her South Bend Township home. She was taken to the hospital in serious condition but is now dead. The Sheriff's Office says this appears to be an isolated incident with no danger to the public at large. There have been no similar incidents leading up to, or since the report. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has joined this case. No description of the suspect has been released. Anyone with information is asked to contact Blue Earth County Dispatch at 507-304-4863. When a woman engages in prostitution (or stripping or porn movies), it may very well be because she has assessed her options and decided its the best, or the least bad. Making it a crime doesnt improve her circumstances; it merely forces her to choose an even worse option or risk going to jail. ROCHESTER, Minn.- Rochester is now home to a James Beard Award winning chef, Paul Berglund. He joins the Med City after working in Minneapolis for years, in order to be closer to his fiance, and her little pup. He is joining the Fiddlehead Coffee Co. team where they will focus on sustainability in the community. Chef Berglund says he's excited to be working in Southeast Minnesota. "There are a lot of really amazing farmers here in Southeast Minnesota. We're really blessed with a rich agricultural heritage here so I think they're really the heroes of this story to me so if I can just help to amplify their voices, I'll go home happy." Co-owner Patrick Phelan tells KIMT sustainability is a very achievable goal, "Just by returning to best practices that were established hundreds of years ago and we're aiming to establish best practices so that Fiddlehead and the companies that Fiddlehead works with are sustainable for the next 200, 300 years." Those best practices he's speaking of include using locally sourced foods, and rewarding farmers who restore our Earth and soil. Chef Berglund says by doing this, we're raising a healthier community as a whole. "Through creating a more sustainable food system, we are nurturing the environment and the earth that we live on as well as our neighbors." Fiddlehead is rolling out a new monthly event called 'Season & Place'. Chef Berglund will feature a multi-course meal that is made completely of ingredients that are locally sourced and in season. You can grab tickets to that here. MASON CITY, Iowa - A Mason City woman is accused of mailing a controlled substance to an inmate. Erin Hanson, 35, is facing a felony charge of introducing contraband (Suboxone, schedule 3 controlled substance) into a jail by mail to an inmate. According to court documents, it happened May 31 of 2018. She is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $5,000 bond. AUSTIN, Minn. Mayo Clinic Health System is temporarily opening Saturday clinics in Albert Lea and Austin. The move is intended to deal with the many appointments that had to be cancelled due to severe winter weather in February. Those who missed appointments during the winter storms will be contacted directly to see if these extended hours will work for them to come in and be seen, says Dr. Deepi Goyal, regional chair of clinical practice for Mayos Southeast Minnesota Region. Our staff is working diligently to make this happen. They are enthusiastic about the chance to offer care to these patients as quickly as possible. The temporary clinics will be open from 8 am until noon every Saturday from March 2 through March 23. In addition to primary care teams, Mayo says nurses, registration staff, and radiology and laboratory services will be available for patients. Dr. Goyal says if you were affected by this months storms and havent been contacted yet, please feel free to contact your clinic for details about rescheduling your appointment. ROCHESTER, Minn. A Rush City man is sentenced after pleading guilty to being a significant drug dealer in Rochester. Andre Lorenzo Dee, 27, was arrested in January 2017 and charged with 14 drug felonies involving the sale of marijuana and cocaine. He eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of 3rd degree drug sales. On Thursday, Dee was sentenced to six years in prison with credit for 606 days already served. Dee is already serving three years in prison for a predatory offender registration violation in Olmsted County and the sentences will be served at the same time. * GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with official prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Zinc rose on Friday on concern about shortages after inventories slid, but some other industrial metals were softer after factory activity in top metals consumer China contracted. Zinc mines have been ramping up, but smelters have not been able to keep up, so shortages of refined metal have persisted. "Most if not all Western smelters are probably working flat out, but in China, with the environmental scrutiny clampdown, capacity is being cut and new capacity has been delayed," said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Societe Generale in London. "The deficit in the refined market is being met by the drawdown in stocks, so that's lending a lot of support to the zinc price." On-warrant zinc inventories in warehouses registered with the London Metal Exchange, material that is not earmarked for delivery, fell to 46,000 tonnes this week, LME data showed. That was the lowest since at least 1998, having more than halved so far this year. Benchmark LME zinc rose 0.6 percent to trade at $2,793.50 a tonne in official open outcry activity, after climbing 13 percent so far this year. * CHINA PMI: Some metals were pressured after China's factory activity contracted for a third straight month in February albeit at a slower pace, helped by improvements in domestic manufacturing, a private survey showed on Friday. "There's still a lot of caution because of trade tensions, China slowing and physical premiums are tracking sideways," Bhar said. * COPPER: Three-month LME copper rose 0.2 percent to trade at $6,524 a tonne in official rings, and was on course to end the week up 0.7 percent due to tight inventories. * COPPER STOCKS: Earlier this week, available LME copper stocks fell to 21,600 tonnes, their lowest since 2005. "The fact that spreads are not insanely backwardated at these levels of stocks tells you that there is some metal around but it isn't necessarily on the LME," said Guy Wolf, head of global market analytics at Marex Spectron. The backwardation - the premium of cash copper over the three-month LME contract - was at $42 a tonne on Friday, compared to a discount of $23.25 a month ago, but far from a peak premium of $149 seen in 2012. * PREMIUMS: China's Yangshan copper import premium fell to as low as $48 a tonne, the lowest since April 2017, suggesting weak physical demand. * NICKEL: LME nickel , used to make stainless steel, failed to trade in official activity. It was bid up 1.3 percent at a three-week high of $13,225 a tonne, tracking the surging Chinese ferrous complex. * PRICES: Aluminium was bid down 0.1 percent at $1,910 a tonne in official rings, lead gained 0.6 percent to $2,164 and tin dipped 0.2 percent to $21,605. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Tom Daly in Beijing; Editing by Edmund Blair and Mark Potter) Reuters Messaging: eric.onstad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))LME price overview COMEX copper futures Base metals news All metals news All commodities news Foreign exchange rates SPEED GUIDES )) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States imposed new sanctions on six Venezuelan security officials and revoked the visas of dozens of associates and their families with ties to President Nicolas Maduro, in the latest move to pile pressure on him to step down. The U.S. Treasury said the six current or former security officials controlled groups that blocked humanitarian aid from reaching people in Venezuela last weekend from neighboring countries Colombia and Brazil. We are sanctioning members of Maduros security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. The United States will continue to target Maduro loyalists prolonging the suffering of the victims of this man-made humanitarian crisis, Mnuchin added. Separately, the U.S. envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said the United States had revoked visas of dozens more Venezuelans, although declined to elaborate, saying U.S. laws prevented him from discussing details about visas. We continue to look at close associates of Maduro, who with their families have visas to the United States, Abrams said at a news conference. Fridays action is the second set of sanctions by the United States this week. On Monday, Washington targeted four Venezuelan state governors allied with Maduro and called on allies to freeze the assets of state-owned oil company PDVSA. U.S. sanctions block any assets the individuals control in the United States and bars U.S. entities from doing any business or financial transactions with them. The Trump administration and dozens of other countries have recognized opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president. Guaido, head of Venezuelas National Assembly, has invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduros re-election last year was fraudulent. Guaido has since been recognized by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela. Maduro still controls the military, state institutions and oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, which provides 90 percent of the countrys export revenue. Russia has accused the United States of preparing to intervene militarily in Venezuela and this week, along with China, blocked a U.S. bid to get the U.N. Security Council to take action on Venezuela. Abrams said he was in talks with Russia on Venezuela. Both Moscow and Beijing were unlikely to provide additional financial support to Maduros government although they continued to give him diplomatic and political cover, he said. We have made the argument, unsuccessfully to date, to both Russia and China that they are not helping themselves, Abrams said. If they are concerned ... about the recovery of money they have lent or invested, a bankrupt Venezuelan economy will never be able to repay those amounts, only a Venezuela in recovery will be able to do so. LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - The pound slipped on Friday after survey data showed British factories slashing jobs in February but is headed for its biggest weekly rise in a month on receding fears that Britain will leave the European Union without a deal. The British currency surged to multi-month highs this week after Prime Minister Theresa May said lawmakers would get to vote on a delay to Brexit if they choose not to approve her withdrawal agreement. Traders backed off forecasts for a no-deal Brexit and began to expect a delay of the departure date beyond March 29. That has ignited a rally in the pound and traders said barring a surprise, the pound was set to extend gains in the near term. "Barring any major negative surprises in the near term, we could see Cable heading into the 1.36, 1.37 region with limited downside risk," said Fritz Louw, a currency strategist at MUFG. The pound edged 0.2 percent lower at $1.3240. For the week, it is up 1.5 percent. Against the euro, the pound was down by a similar magnitude at 85.88 pence. Adding to the general tone of optimism over the near term were comments by British policymakers. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said this week the central bank would probably give more support to the economy if it suffers the shock of a no-deal Brexit, though its options are limited. With the risk of no deal dwindling, implied volatility gauges, a measure of expected swings in the pound, extended their drop across the board. Implied volatility usually rises when market participants hedge their positions before an event which may have a negative impact on a currency. In the pound's case, the countdown to Brexit day on March 29 has prompted companies and hedge funds to buy implied volatility, bracing for a sharp rise in price moves. Three-month sterling/dollar implied volatility - a measure of expected price swings - is approaching five-month lows. Similar moves were seen in the far end of the curve, especially one-year segments. But some market strategists advised caution after some lawmakers signaled their opposition to May's offer of a vote on a delay. British farming minister George Eustice resigned from the government on Thursday and former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said May's Brexit deal with the European Union needs to change, particularly on the issue of the Northern Irish backstop. "Sterling had to retrace some of its spectacular gains recorded earlier on in the week ... a postponement is not something that the UK can chose as it pleases," Commerzbank strategists wrote in a note. Britain cannot unilaterally delay Brexit but needs the agreement of the other EU member states. Weak data is also a factor. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a gauge of activity in British industry, fell to 52.0 from 52.6 in January, as expected in a Reuters poll of economists. (Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Janet Lawrence) ASUNCION (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, visiting Paraguay on Friday to raise support for a change of government in his country, said that 600 members of the military had abandoned the government of President Nicolas Maduro in recent days. Guaido, head of Venezuelas National Assembly, has invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduros re-election last year was fraudulent. Guaido has since been recognized by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela. However, Maduro still retains the loyalty of the bulk of Venezuelas armed forces and controls state institutions. In the next few hours we will announce new protest marches, Guaido said in Asuncion at a news conference, after meeting with Paraguayan leader Mario Abdo, who received the opposition figure as a head of state. We have spoken clearly to the Armed Forces of Venezuela. They have seen more than 600 officers in recent days switch to side with the constitution, he added. There is a very clear process of transition to democracy. His press team said he was scheduled to go to Argentina later on Friday to meet with President Mauricio Macri, a strong critic of Maduro. Argentinas foreign ministry confirmed the two would meet in Buenos Aires and hold a news conference. Guaido has been traveling around the region, seeking to drum up support. He has visited Brazil and Colombia this week, but said he would return to Caracas by Monday, where he faces possible arrest for disobeying a Supreme Court order that he should not leave the country pending an investigation. The United States, which backs Guaido, will continue to take appropriate actions against the government of Maduro, including restricting travel visas for dozens of his associates, U.S. special envoy Elliott Abrams said on Friday. But there also were instances of soaring love. In the most powerful moment of the General Conference, a gay college student named J.J. Warren, who plans to become a pastor, spoke about sharing his faith at his secular campus: We have brought people to Jesus, because they say they have not heard this message before. They didnt know God could love them because their churches said God didnt. His address brought the room to applause and tears, compelling even the bishops, who were not supposed to show support one way or another, to break protocol by rising to their feet. Yet when the initial legislative council votes were taken Feb. 25, on the second day of voting, the traditionalists revealed themselves to be unaffected. They had come to make their will known, not to listen and be swayed. Only the Traditional Plan moved forward into the final day, with 461 votes in favor and 359 against. Against the backdrop of Burkes federal criminal case an indictment is expected by May 3, before the next council is seated every alderman should feel empowered to demand changes. The allegations against Burke elevate the stature of aldermen who prioritize ethics reform. They could overhaul the committee structure even further by downsizing the current 17-committee bureaucracy that slows down council business. Chicago aldermen do not need to legislate sidewalk cafes and driveway permits and restaurant awnings, for example. Yet those issues get shoved into the grind of day-to-day committee affairs. Its silly. What was the source of the open flame? Might evidence left in or near the porch connect a person or persons to the ignition? The children nine first cousins and a family friend were having a sleepover, and there were no survivors. But had anyone else visited the apartment beforehand, anyone who could provide clues to what touched off the blaze? Does any evidence suggest malicious intent, and if so, what would have prompted it? Some of the noise surrounding Trump is inevitable. His brash temperament makes him divisive and surprising. The three preceding, more conventional presidents didnt aggressively try to stop Pyongyang from developing atomic bombs. Trump instead has risked success and failure by bringing the Hermit Kingdom into the worlds limelight. How much of this weeks walk-off is theatrics, none of us knows. Trump may wind up with nothing more than what his predecessors unfortunately permitted: a North Korea with nuclear weapons and improved missile capabilities. Or perhaps, by force of will, Trump eventually will achieve a breakthrough with Kim. As an illustration of why he described his former boss, President Donald Trump, as a racist, Cohen recalled a day when they were riding through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago. He commented that only black people could live that way, Cohen said. And he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid. Though people are forced to wear nametags, you should never feel comfortable enough to actually call them by their names, Tomsky wrote. Gluing a nametag to anyones chest makes him or her subordinate. Using it without permission implies that you are aware of this fact and dont mind rudely pointing it out. To pick the name off a tag and use it, whatever your intention, makes employees acutely feel they have lost their personal worth; that they themselves are included in the price. Their mothers use that name What right do you have to use it? Just because you walked into the lobby? My advice is to ask for permission. Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that a campaign ad produced by candidate Toni Preckwinkle and a Chicago Reader article quoted in the ad were factually incorrect. In fact, the ad and the Chicago Reader story accurately asserted that candidate Lori Lightfoot worked on two lawsuits brought by Republicans challenging congressional redistricting. The online version of this article was corrected on Saturday, March 2, 2019. More after-effects from the big earthquake are being seen, this time in Alaska's military bases. The 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, held combat training at JBER, but they almost weren't able to due to quake damage. The Arctic Warrior gym was damaged after the November 30 earthquake, leaving the brigade with no safety gear to train with. However, thanks to some help with loaned training equipment from the 1st Infantry Brigade at Fort Wainwright, the training went forward as planned. "We needed equipment to operate the school. We didn't have really anything," said Staff Sgt. Donovan Galbreath. "It was locked up in the building and we couldn't get to it." RTHK: China welcomes Pakistan decision to return pilot China welcomes Pakistan's decision to "express kindness" and hand over a captured Indian pilot after four straight days of cross-border attacks in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said during a regular news briefing on Friday that "the alleviation of tensions between the two countries serves their fundamental interests". Pakistan said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot on Wednesday. A close Pakistani ally, China has blocked India's attempts to have the UN list as a terrorist the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based group that claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing on Indian troops earlier in February in Indian-Controlled Kashmir. Pakistan's civil aviation authority has partially re-opened the country's airspace, allowing travel to four major cities, another sign that tensions with archrival India are de-escalating. The agency issued a statement on Friday saying all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. It says other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, will remain closed until March 4. The airspace closure disrupted major routes between Europe and South Asia, with mounting frustration from passengers stranded at international airports. Thai Airways cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. The decision affected services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo. Singapore Airlines was also forced to divert Europe-bound flights to Mumbai and Dubai to refuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Emirates, Qatar Airways, Saudi Airlines, and Air Canada were all also among other carriers forced to cancel and divert flights. (AFP, AP) This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. People are dying after procedures in NJ surgery centers and it's not always made public Patients expect the safety of a hospital. But the centers differ in resources and oversight. And that can be the difference between life and death. Read the story The four wards Joyce won the 13th, 19th and 23rd on the Southwest Side, and the 41st on the Northwest Side cut significantly into a historic constituency of the Daley family. Had Joyce not been on the ballot, Daley possibly could have made up the difference of about 7,000 votes that separated him from Preckwinkle and even the 14,400 votes that separated him from Lightfoot. Most of the demonstrators have never met Bakala, who has spent most of the time since he asked the U.S. for protection in November 2017 in an immigration detention center in Georgia. They feel connected to him through his wife and seven children who live in southeast San Diego and have become active participants in St. Luke's Episcopal Church in North Park, where Mathewson is a pastor. Sharon Rice-Minoso and Charlie Rice-Minoso, the wife and son of the late Chicago White Sox great, discussed Minnie Minosos election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. "I was in tears before the sentence was really uttered, just sort of recognizing what that call meant, Charlie said. The evening of Nov. 19, 2017, several months after the victim ended the relationship, the victim got into her car, which was in the driveway of her Front Street home, according to the release. As she was checking messages on her cell phone, Lawson opened the car door, grabbed her phone and tried to pull her out of the car, but she fought him off, prosecutors said. In a TIF district, assessed value is frozen for the purposes of taxation at the time of the formation of the district. As redevelopment occurs and assessed value of the property increases, the difference between the frozen value and the increased value goes into a fund, known as the increment. Each mural project that I received was a juried competition, like a contractor placing a bid for a job, estimating how much it would cost, what you proposed, etc. I won the contract for the Geneva mural based on the strength of my previous murals, he wrote. Basically, with the Section of Fine Arts, it was a business contract between you and the United States. Unless someone can demonstrate a clear and convincing case how adopting this ordinance would help the health, safety and welfare of citizens of Kendall County, I am not going to pass any ordinance that to me could be questionable in violating people's Second Amendment rights, Prochaska said. I was shocked. Because of the warning we were already vigilant, but I couldnt believe he was stupid enough to come back here. Its like he was asking for a confrontation with the police, he said. We were already kind of scared. - INEC has finished distribution the sensitive electoral materials in Kano state - This is less than 24 hours after several people were killed in Bebeji LGA of the state - The commission embarked on distribution of the sensitive materials on Wednesday and finished today, February 22 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano state says it has completed the distribution of sensitive materials to all the 44 local government areas in the state on Friday, February 22. The Public Relations Officer of the commission in the state, Alhaji Garba Lawal, confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Kano. According to Lawal, the commission embarked on distribution of the sensitive materials on Wednesday following the postponement of the elections earlier scheduled for February 16. READ ALSO: APC Reps member Jibrin reportedly arrested over attack on Kwankwaso Since Thursday night we have completed the distribution of sensitive materials to all our local government offices across the state, and at the end of today (Friday) we are hoping to distribute them to all the Registration Area Centres (RACs). By tomorrow morning, as early as possible, we are going to start the distribution of both the non-sensitive and the sensitive materials to polling units where the election will commence, Lawal said. He explained that the commission had done everything possible to ensure the welfare and safety of the corps members serving as ad-hoc staff for the elections. NAN recalls that the electoral body had last week confirmed that all the non-sensitive materials have been distributed to all the 44 local government areas. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, described the frequent clashes between the supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as unfortunate and worrisome. Sanusi spoke on Friday, February 22, while addressing newsmen at his palace in Kano, following the clash that erupted between APC and PDP supporters at a political rally in Bebeji local government area of the state. He appealed to party supporters and politicians in the state to shun politics of violence and thuggery, to ensure peaceful conduct of the forthcoming general elections. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better. Sowore, Fela Durotoye, Buhari; who will Nigerian youths vote for? | - on Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, says 2019 presidential election is the freest in the country since 1951 when he started voting as an adult - Edebiri says since he started voting in 1951, he has not failed to vote in any election including the 1993 election - The Benin chief says none of the elections could stand the transparency and fairness of the 2019 presidential election The presidential election held on Saturday, February 23 in which President Muhammadu Buhari emerged winner has been described as the freest in the country since 1951. Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri on Thursday, February 28, said the election is the freest in the country since 1951 when he started voting as an adult, Vanguard reports. Legit.ng gathers that the Benin chief called on President Buhari to be magnanimous in victory. He also advised the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to congratulate the president. READ ALSO: Bakare, Buhari hold meeting at Aso Rock He said: I voted in the election. I started voting since December 1951 and that is exactly 68 years ago. Since I started voting in 1951, till date, I have not failed to vote in any election including that which was conducted by Babangida in June 12 1993, there was none of these elections that has been as free as the one we held on the 23rd. "I say that from my own personal knowledge, this is not history that you read from book, this is something in which I participated, there was none of these elections that was as transparent, free and fair as the one we have just held so to that extent, Muhammadu Buhari should be praised. "He promised the world that there would be no interference in the electoral process and that is exactly what has happened, he told Nigerians that he will continue to fight corruption and all corruptive tendencies and that is what he has done. Edebiri added: I want to assure you that but for the coming of Buhari in 2015, many of us here now would have been looking for where to seek exile, this country would have gone haywire but people did not seems to realise that but because the man is fighting corruption head-long, all the people who are involved in some scandals, exploitation of our people, stealing of our money, ganged up to prevent this day from coming but today we are grateful to God almighty that we all lived to see it and I want to assure you that the second coming of Buhari will take Nigeria to a higher level both in economy and in defence as he has said. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a 5-point demand was presented to the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded presidential election. The former vice president presented his demands to the president during a meeting with a delegation led by the former head of state and chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC), General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd). Atiku, who met Abdulsalami in the presence of his running mate, Peter Obi, and other PDP chieftains, warned that tensions were building up in the land. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? - on Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - The federal govt has concluded plans to establish a military and paramilitary clothing and accessories factory in Kaduna - The venture requires N4 billion capital and when operational, will provide 1,300 direct employment opportunities - According to the minister of defence, once completed, the venture is expected to sufficiently meet the accoutrement needs of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other uniformed paramilitary organizations In order to reduce reliance on foreign supply, the Nigerian federal government has concluded plans to establish a military and paramilitary clothing and accessories factory in Kaduna state. The director general of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Chidi Izuwa, on Thursday, February 28, presented the minister of defense, Mansur Dan-Ali, with the Full Business Case (FBC) compliance certificate for the establishment of the factory, Leadership reports. READ ALSO: Bakare, Buhari hold meeting at Aso Rock Legit.ng gathers that Izuwa said when operational, the venture, which requires a N4 billion investment and is a Public-Private-Partnership initiative between Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and Sur Corporate Wear, will become a huge revenue earner for the government. He said the venture will take off between eight months to one year. The director general of DICON, Major General BO Ogunkale, speaking earlier, said when operational, the factory will provide 1,300 direct employment opportunities. He reportedly said the venture will require N100m starter capital. Ogunkale said the sharing formula for profit is 50-50 percent. The minister of defense, in his response, regretted that over the years, Nigeria had relied heavily on importation of not just military hardware and ammunition but also clothing and accessories. He said the venture would meet the uniform and other accessories needs of the military and other paramilitary organizations. He said: The issuance of the Full Business Case compliance certificate for this project has lent credence to the potential of the project to herald the rival of a once thriving sector in Nigeria. Once completed, the venture is expected to sufficiently meet the accoutrement needs of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other uniformed paramilitary organizations. This will further help in creating direct and indirect job opportunities for the teeming youth in the country as well as conserving our foreign exchange. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Peugeot, in a joint venture with Aliko Dangote and five state governors in Nigeria will see the production and assembling of cars in the country by French car-maker, PSA Peugeot Citroen in 2019. A partner with the firm, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), said that it will assemble 3,500 units in 2019 and increase the number to 10,000 units later on at a plant that will be built in Kaduna. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! I was wrongly arrested as a soldier, the uniform belongs to my roommate - on Legit TV: Source: Legit - King Salman bi Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for winning the 2019 presidential poll - The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, also congratulated the president on his re-election - Al Thani wished President Buhari success and the Nigerian people further development and progress King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election for a new presidential term which will last for another years. Legit.ng gathers that the disclosure was made on Thursday, February 28, by the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina. READ ALSO: We invaded anti-Tinubu rally to prevent hoodlums from hijacking it - Police Adesina said: "In a telephone conversation with President Buhari on Thursday, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques wished the Nigerian President success and good health in his second term in office. "The Saudi King extended good wishes of steady progress and prosperity to the government and people of Nigeria. "President Buhari expressed appreciation to the King, affirming his readiness to enhance aspects of cooperation between the two countries in various fields." According to Adesina, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, also congratulated President Buhari on his re-election, wishing the Nigerian President success and the Nigerian people further development and progress. Russian ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin, also sent a congratulatory message to the president. Shebarshin was quoted as saying: ''I am honoured to extend my congratulations to you personally, Mr President, and the people of Nigeria on the successful conduct of free, transparent and credible Presidential and National Assembly elections on February 23, 2019, that will shape the destiny of this nation for the upcoming four years and beyond.' ''It is my conviction that your decisive victory will pave the way for yet stronger and more prosperous Nigeria that you will be able to deliver on the people's mandate." The Russian Ambassador expressed the hope that the Nigerian Presidents second term in office will be associated with further enhancements of bilateral cooperation and closer contacts between the two countries. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the presidential election held on Saturday, February 23 in which President Muhammadu Buhari emerged winner was described as the freest in the country since 1951. Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri on Thursday, February 28, said the election is the freest in the country since 1951 when he started voting as an adult. The Benin chief called on President Buhari to be magnanimous in victory. He also advised the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to congratulate the president. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? - on Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - The presidential candidate of the Peoples Coalition Party (PCP), Felix Nicolas, has expressed his appreciation to Nigerians who voted him - Nicholas emerged third in the just-concluded presidential election in his quest to become the countrys number one citizen - At 37, he was also the youngest of all the presidential candidates who contested in the election The presidential candidate of the Peoples Coalition Party (PCP), Felix Nicolas, who emerged third in the just-concluded presidential election, has expressed his appreciation to Nigerians who voted him. In a message posted on his Facebook page on Thursday, February 28, Nicolas said history shall bear record of those who voted for him, and posterity shall thank you all for it. He also described his participation in the process as a huge step out of dark ages into the age of enlightenment; civic and social awareness. READ ALSO: Some of your ministers should be sacked - APC chieftain tells Buhari Part of the statement read: History will bear witness to the valiant efforts of patriotic Nigerians in this sensitive period of elections. Votes were cast, words were spoken, journeys were made and inevitably, in some cases, blows were exchanged. All these have gone to show the passion we sustain to see a better Nigeria; to craft a paradise for ourselves in the land of our birth and pride. I will not fail to express a resounding gratitude to everyone that saw this political process through. Truly, we have been able to show every observer from the international community, to purported political bigwigs and godfathers, even to the poor masses that must have lost faith in the process, that power indeed belongs to the people. I wish to reiterate that the reason for holding a public office at any level is to effectively provide a sustainable progress in the country of which the people will benefit. The people; the pinnacle of our service. To every Nigerian, I once again tender my appreciation for your unwavering support to myself and as well as my co-aspirants. We have definitely stepped closer to an inevitable political liberation. At 37, Nicolas was the youngest of all the presidential candidates who contested in the election. READ ALSO: Atiku presents 5-point demand to Buhari Meanwhile, the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said President Muhammadu Buhari's victory in the just concluded presidential election symbolizes the triumph of the ordinary Nigerians over the elite. The minister made the remarks in Abuja on Thursday, February 28, when he received the management of his ministry, who came to congratulate him on the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at last weeks presidential and National Assembly elections. The minister said the president's victory is a confirmation that ordinary Nigerians appreciate Buhari and his administration's pro-people policies. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | Legit TV Source: Legit Nigeria The former governor of Oyo state, Adebayo Alao-Akala, has reportedly returned to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after meeting with ex-governor of Lagos and national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu. The former governor dumped APC in October 2018 after the party's governorship primaries in Oyo state, Vanguard reports. Legit.ng gathers that Alao-Akala's wife, Oluwakemi Alao-Akala, his son, Olamiju, and the director general of his campaign, Wale Ohu, accompanied him to Tinubu's residence on Thursday, February 28. READ ALSO: Presidential poll: Saudi king, emir of Qatar congratulate Buhari for being victorious He said: It is true. Both of us have been meeting and we will continue to meet. I will call you in 24 hours to let you know the state of things." A source close to Tinubu said: Tinubu and Alao-Akala met on Tuesday. Tinubu asked Alao-Akala, who has many supporters in Ogbomoso, to collapse his structure into that of Adelabu. We know that if Alao-Akala was in our camp, there was no way Atiku would have had such a good outing in Oyo State, especially Ogbomoso. The PDP governorship candidate, Seyi Makinde, is popular and he is also an Ibadan guy like Adelabu, which means that they will both split the votes in Ibadan. The APC will need to forge an alliance with elements in Ogbomoso to get an advantage. We knew that the people were not too happy with the governor as far back as June 2018 when the PDP candidate, Adebo Ogundoyin, won Ibarapa-East Constituency by-election which was held to fill the vacant position created by the death of former speaker of the House of Assembly, Michael Adeyemo. Alao-Akala had made some demands but Ajimobi did not play the politics right. Also, Ajimobis decision to convert some chiefs to full monarchs was unpopular among many people. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that The presidential election held on Saturday, February 23 in which President Muhammadu Buhari emerged winner was described as the freest in the country since 1951. Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri on Thursday, February 28, said the election is the freest in the country since 1951 when he started voting as an adult. The Benin chief called on President Buhari to be magnanimous in victory. He also advised the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to congratulate the president. He said: I voted in the election. I started voting since December 1951 and that is exactly 68 years ago. Since I started voting in 1951, till date, I have not failed to vote in any election including that which was conducted by Babangida in June 12 1993, there was none of these elections that has been as free as the one we held on the 23rd. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app "I say that from my own personal knowledge, this is not history that you read from book, this is something in which I participated, there was none of these elections that was as transparent, free and fair as the one we have just held so to that extent, Muhammadu Buhari should be praised." NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? - on Legit TV Source: Legit.ng POTUS con job: Well, old Don Juan the Con Man got you. He got you when he said you were going to get more money in your paycheck. He was right about that. Some of you saw about $25 to $40 bucks more each week in your paychecks. But now its tax time. And you will pay. Its the people who were used to getting money back each year that owe the IRS. They say you just didnt have enough taken out of your paycheck. All the con man did was give you more money out of your paycheck to make you believe what he was saying. He put one hand out to feed you but put his other hand behind his back so you couldnt see what was in it. - Some political parties are reportedly meeting to upstage the APC in the forthcoming governorship election in Oyo state - The parties named include the PDP, ZLP, ADP and the ADC - The party leadership are looking to pick one candidate ahead of the election Ahead of the governorship election in Nigeria, major opposition political parties in Oyo state met on Thursday, February 28, and commenced moves to fuse against the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adebayo Adelabu. Among the political parties at the meeting were the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Action Democratic Party (ADP). They met at the Bodija, Ibadan home of a former governor of the state, Rashidi Ladoja, where they reportedly assessed the popularity of the candidates ahead of the election as well as who, among them, would be most acceptable. READ ALSO: Some of your ministers should be sacked - APC chieftain tells Buhari The Nation reports that the various political parties earlier suspended talks shortly before the presidential election. The report said those at the meeting further discussed how portfolios would be shared in the event that their anointed candidate won the governorship election. It was learnt that apart from Ladoja of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Adebayo Alao-Akala, governorship candidate of the ADP, Olufemi Lanlehin of the ADC and Seyi Makinde of the PDP were present. Also present at the meeting were the ZLP governorship candidate Sharafadeen Alli and that of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Bolaji Ayorinde. They agreed to continue the meeting on Friday, March 1. Legit.ng earlier reported that Governor Abiola Ajimobi's hope of becoming a senator representing Oyo South senatorial district was dashed during the recent election. The Oyo state governor whose tenure is coming to an end lost to Kola Balogun of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In the February 23 National Assembly election held in the state, Ajimobi was beaten to second by Balogun, who polled 105,720 votes. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app It also reported that the minister of communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, dismissed media reports quoting him as saying he would work against the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Oyo state. The minister said he never mocked Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state, over his failure to secure the ticket to the Senate on Saturday, February 23. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. 2019 Election: Nigerians reveal what Buhari did to them| Legit TV Source: Legit.ng A number of Ghanaian showbiz personalities, especially in the movie and music industries, are known and often described as celebrities. However, a highlife musician identified as Kwaisey Pee has stated that there is no real celebrity in Ghana. In an interview on Hitz FM on Thursday, February 28, 2019, the Mehia Odo hit maker explained that the financial and social status of people referred to as celebrities in the west and those in Ghana clearly show that no Ghanaian qualifies to be called so. For him, not even the likes of Daddy Lumba, Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, and Stonebwoy had the wherewithal to be called celebrities. Kwaisey Pee (Photo source: Adomonline.com) READ ALSO: Shatta Wale flaunts mansion and cars despite possible seizure "We dont have celebrities in Ghana. I have lived in the western world and when we talk about celebrities we know. Its the other way round here. I dont consider myself as one. I wanna get to where they will call you that. Its self-professed in Ghana. There is no celebrity in Ghana. They dont have what it takes, Kwaisey Pee insisted. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app According to him, the only person who came close to being a celebrity in Ghana was Menzgolds Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known as NAM1, because he had a private jet and all the luxurious cars. Apart from the CEO, Pee also felt some pastors are close to attaining the celebrity status because they have the bodyguards, mansions and luxurious properties. The artistes are only trying [to catch up the celebrity status], he added. PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously gathered the report of three Ghanaian actresses that are set to work together on a movie project for the first time in 10 years. Yvonne Nelson, Yvonne Okoro and Jackie Appiah will finally reunite in Nelson's movie which is scheduled for release later in 2019. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better Nigeria Celebrities: How Much Do They Spend On Luxury Life? | Legit TV Source: Legit Nigerian cross-dresser and openly gay man, Bobrisky, has finally put the controversy surrounding his gender, to rest. Bobrisky whose real name is Idris Okuneye has continued to remain a constant topic of discussion among many Nigerians. From putting on makeup and weaves to allegedly doing a cosmetic surgery, the effeminate leaves people wondering whether he is male or female. Well, he has finally come out to reveal he is a transgender. Sharing a photo of himself, he wrote: "Who is Bobrisky ? She is a goddess with a soft heart She sn*tch the men of her choices so far he has money She f*cks your man, clean mouth and also pretend not to know him in public. Politicians spends on her like never before READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com) "She is beautiful Nigeria first trans. She is classy.No one compete with her and win. She is @tontolet bestie. She is rich. She is an entertainer. She put smile on people face. Haters kiss my ass." PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App Screenshot of his post with him/@bobrisky222 Source: Instagram Get the hottest gist on Africa Love Aid In another news, if there is anything Nigerian cross-dresser and openly gay man, Bobrisky, loves other than bragging about his mystery 'bae', it is the opportunity to slay at all times, no matter how much it may cost him or her as the case may be. Bobrisky seems to be swimming in money these days and some of the people benefiting from it are his staff members. The effeminate shared a video of his personal makeup artiste whom he flew to Dubai on an all expense trip. HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better Bobrisky bares it all | Legit TV Source: Legit Newspaper More council housing should not be built on Laois local authority owned sites in Castletown but the council should farm out the sale sites so that families can be homed, according to a Fianna Fail TD. Sean Fleming said Laois County Council struck an 'absolute' agreement with the community a number of years back that social housing would not be built at the Ardon Edmund site. He said part of the agreement allowed 40 social houses to be built in a nearby estate. However, the council retains ownership of 10 serviced sites in Ardon Edmund which are valued at 300,000. Dep Fleming said the council must abide by the original deal but should outsource the sale of the sites. "What needs to be done now is very simple - the council needs to give the selling of those sites to an auctioneer to sell. They are on the council's website but nobody knows they are for sale. "It is the best value in Ireland and I would encourage people to buy the sites," he said. Laois County Council's acting director of services for housing said the houses had been on the market for a number of years. Job applications have opened for a new round of recruitment for prison officer jobs which will also allow some officers working in Dublin move to prisons in Portlaoise and other parts of the country. The recruitment competition is being run by the Public Appointments Service and the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service intends to recruit up to 216 Recruit Prison Officers in 2019. Laois TD and Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan welcomed the news. I am delighted that the 2019 Recruit Prison Officer competition has now opened, giving people the opportunity to join this very important frontline service. Being a Prison Officer is a very challenging and rewarding role. Prison Officers are required to undertake increasingly complex and diverse tasks, balancing the traditional security focussed role with a renewed emphasis on facilitating rehabilitation. Prison staff have the potential and the skills to positively influence prisoners to engage with the many services available in our prisons including training, education and addiction services and as a result makes our communities safer, he said. The positions to be filled by the Irish Prison Service will help to bring the overall staffing compliment of the Irish Prison Service close to full strength. In addition, their appointment will facilitate existing staff, who have been based in Dublin, to transfer to positions closer to their homes. This will be a great benefit to our current prison staff, their families and their communities, he said. The Minister went on to say the Irish Prison Service is inviting applicants who have the capacity to relate to and engage with prisoners, act with professionalism, tolerance and humanity and the ability to role model positive social behaviour to apply for these important posts in the criminal justice system. A statement said applicants must also have the ability to think on their feet in dealing with situations which require security and control. Prison officers train in Portlaoise before spending a period of time in Dublin. The 2019 Recruit Prison Officer Competition is open until Thursday, March 21 at 3pm. Information on the competition can be found by visiting the Public Appointments Service website at www.publicjobs.ie PRISON OFFICER RECRUITMENT BOOKLET HERE At Maple Fest, participants will learn how to tap a tree and get the chance to sample the product. There will be a brief presentation on maple trees before people hike through the woods to learn how people through the years have tapped maple trees and collected the sap. Maple-themed snacks will be available for purchase. Participants are asked to register on the Fox Valley Park District website. Large groups are strongly encouraged to call the Nature Center to set up a private program. People First Credit Union is holding a free practical information evening for parents and students of TY, 5th & 6th Year. Speakers will give advice on how financial planning, SUSI funding and making the correct career choices can ease the burden of heading to college. Guest speaker on the night is Irelands favourite online funny man, Rory OConnor, otherwise known through his social media sketches as Rorys Stories. The hosts say it promises to be an informative evening, covering lots of interesting topics relevant to both parents and students who are coming to the end of their secondary school education. From comedy sketches to more serious pieces about mental health, Rory O'Connor has been producing regular content on social media since 2013 and his popularity has grown through stand-up comedy, writing bestselling books and social media. Most GAA fans will have come across Rorys Stories when scrolling through their Facebook news-feeds. Rory is all about believing in yourself, taking risks, seeing opportunities and above all being happy and content with who you are. Sean Dunne is the CEO of People First. He has in-depth knowledge of the costs involved in financing 3rd level education and the Student Loan options available from People First. He has over 30 years experience of working within financial services. Sean will speak about the cost of financing third level education and how People First Union can help through their on-line facilities. Hell also give details about the People First Bursary Award, where a lucky student wins 4,000 cash prize to help cover the cost of their third level course. Read also: CREDIT UNION BEGINS JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS Mary Quirke returns again this year. Mary, owner of Career Confidence is a qualified career guidance counsellor with over 20 years experience. What is unique to Mary is both the familiarity and understanding of the world of work today and her in depth knowledge of learning, courses, colleges, universities and IOTs, not just in Ireland, but further afield. She has co-authored a book Sorted, published academic papers on career guidance and appeared on TV3. She has also experience in guidance roles with the HSE, REHAB, FETAC and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. This combination together with the engagement she has had with 1000s of students over the last 20+ years is the basis for her insight into what every teenager needs to know as they plan for their future. Mary has experience of most situations where teenagers face choices, challenges and unexpected opportunities, where they must learn from failure and turn a negative into a positive. Read also: PEOPLE FIRST REOPENS VILLAGE OFFICE Another great speaker on the night is Damian Butler, who is the Budgetary Advisor in UCC. Damian has spoken at the People First student and parent events in the past and he brings a wealth of experience with him. He has previously worked for SUSI Grant Funding and has extensive knowledge on educational supports and funding for college life, Damian will discuss on the night SUSI Grant Funding, coping with college life and securing college accommodation in a housing crisis. The event takes place on Wednesday, March 13, Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise at 7.30 pm The Minister for Defence Paul Kehoe has confirmed two additional staff have now been recruited to assist with the land management of the Curragh Plains, according to Deputy Martin Heydon. Having pushed for additional resources, to be put into the active management of the Curragh Plains for some time I am pleased that Minister Kehoe confirmed that the recruitment process for the appointment of additional Curragh Plains land management staff to support the work of the Curragh Maor has been completed and that two new employees commenced work this week," he said. These additional resources will assist the Maor with the management of the Curragh Plains and share in the task of overseeing activities on the ground including, but not limited to, litter, sheep branding, patrolling, monitoring users of lands, inspection of property boundaries, illegal encampments and engagement with the public." He said the Minister also highlighted that his Department has had discussions with Kildare County Council to explore the potential for collaboration on addressing issues and identifying opportunities for the improved management and presentation of the Curragh Plains. "As part of these discussions, it was agreed that a multi-disciplinary consultancy team should be appointed to examine current and future challenges arising for the area in the context of conservation and management of the Plains and any scope for the development potential of the areas as a high value visitor and cultural amenity attraction," he said. I will continue to work to ensure the development of an overall conservation management plan for the Curragh Plains." The Department of Defence and the Curragh committee have come under fire from councillors, in particular Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy, in recent times concerning illegal dumping at the landmark. She is also concerned about it's future and the protection of the plains. This week marks the start of Irelands largest fundraising campaign, the Trocaire Lenten Appeal, which will see more than 1 million Trocaire boxes reach households and schools across the country. Read also: Two new staff to be recruited to support the work of the Curragh rangers Local Trocaire worker, Noreen Gumbo from Maynooth, is appealing to people of her home county to get involved in the campaign, which will allow Trocaire to help more than 2 million of the poorest and most vulnerable people across the world over the coming year. Trocaires 2019 Lenten Appeal highlights how the loss of land in the developing world is leading to devastating consequences for millions of families. Ms Gumbo, head of humanitarian at Trocaire explained: Land is such an important factor in combating poverty. It allows people to grow food to feed their families and to make a living, and it offers much-needed safety and stability for children. Sadly though, for many reasons, land and homes are being taken from millions of families across the developing world and means they are facing hunger, the threat of violence as well as a lack of access to education and basic medical care as they struggle to survive. This year, the Lent box tells this story through three young girls. Maria is from Guatemala where vulnerable communities are being violently evicted by large businesses and left with nothing. In Uganda, Patricia has lost her home because her father died. Her mother, like many others, lacks any basic rights to her land simply because she is a woman. While Maya, who now lives in a refugee camp in Lebanon, was forced to flee her home with her family to escape the Syrian war. Trocaire is working in over twenty countries across the developing world and supports thousands of families like those of Maria, Maya and Patricia by providing food, shelter and medical care as well as fighting for justice and land rights, Noreen added. This would not be possible without the support of the public. We are incredibly grateful for the generous donations we receive from parishes, schools and families from Co Kildare each year and I would appeal to people across the county to support this vital campaign. This can be done by collecting your loose change in a Trocaire box, making a donation online or over the phone, or organising fundraising activities throughout Lent. Every donation makes a difference. The Trocaire Lent Campaign runs from Ash Wednesday (6 March) to Easter Sunday on 21 April 2019. Trocaire boxes are available from local parishes, by visiting www.trocaire.org or by phoning 1850 408 408. Two brothers from Kildare are set to appear on the Irelands Got Talent stage. Daniel (Dan) and Jonathan (Jono) Frawley grew up in Leixlip but now live in Monasterevin and Celbridge respectively. Jono has recently returned from Canada, where he was working and travelling for two years. We hadnt played for so long, we used to do pub gigs all the time, our voices work well together so we always liked doing that, Dan told the Leader. So when he came back in late August/early September, I could see the closing date for Irelands Got Talent, and said lets give that one a go. And we had a week left to get a video together and send it in, and it was our first time playing together in over two years. Dan (34) works for Imagine Broadband, while Jono (32) is a student. Both have a busy few months ahead as Dan prepares to marry fiancee Lorna in July, while Jono and his partner are expecting a baby this month. As a teenager, Dan was a member of pop band No Way Out who supported Westlife on their World of Our Own tour. Dan said he had played in front of a million people before the age of 21. That was an experience and a half, it was incredible, we became so close and unfortunately it didnt get all the way." Irelands Got Talent was an opportunity for the brothers to get back out on the music scene together. This is an opportunity to get out there and sing again, and what better person to do it with, Jono's absolutely brilliant. It was incredible, it was so different because we hadnt done anything like that before. Wed only do our pub gigs and we do our musicals and weve done a few musicals in Kildare before for different societies and we love that so if were singing were happy but that was a crazy experience, to be able to get on stage in front of the judges, it was incredible. The lads main influence growing up was their father, Fran Frawley. "Hes the main influence that weve had, hes been in bands for years and we loved every second of it so as soon as we were old enough to play something we both got the guitar. Catch the duo on Irelands Got Talent on Saturday, March 9 on Virgin Media One. SEE ALSO: Naas woman tells of daily nightmare commute Drumshanbo native Sean Wynne announced last week that he intends to run in both the Carrick and Ballinamore Municipal Districts in the local elections on Friday the 24th of May as an independent candidate. The well known community activist in his media release confirmed his convection that the country is in the age of mono government where anyone or group who expresses a view which is not consistent with the group think is not in touch with their real world. The Secondary school vice principal resigned from Fine Gael after the referendum last May in protest to the celebrations at Dublin Castle which described as being disrespectful to those voted against the abortion referendum. Mr Wynne feels that "In politics the winning side must always consider the others view and the over the top celebrations of some of his former colleges was not appropriate due to the fact that the result was on such a sensitive issue and will require continued planned legislation for further changes in society in the coming years." Rural development is also included in Sean Wynnes manifesto, he focuses on once off planning permission as a major issue in the decline of the numbers living in rural parts of the county. Sadly Rural communities continues to decline and we need interventions now. For example there was only two one off housing granted permission in Leitrim last year while Cavan county Council granted over to two hundred one off houses with the same soil structure. Sean Wynne is also a member of the Save Leitrim movement and he holds strong views on forestry plantations that is covering a large percentage of the county. Wonderfully positive news came to the North Leitrim area recently, as Gaelscoil Chluainin received the news it has been awaiting for 10 years. The Department of Education and Skills has informed the school that it is now actively seeking a green-field site for a new school. This news was received with much delight by all stakeholders in the school, board of management, staff, children and parents alike. In a statement to leitrimobserver.ie a spokesperson said "It is important to note that the new build will be a state-of-the art building and will undoubtedly prove to be a major attraction to parents and prospective pupils in the Manorhamilton, Rossinver, Dromahair, Killargue, Drumkeerin / Creevelea and other areas. "The building will not only be an educational one and a hub for the promotion of the Irish language, but it is envisaged that it will also be to the forefront of promoting all things musical and cultural for the North Leitrim area. "The announcement of the new-build is further affirmation of the continued success of Gaelscoil Chluainin and its investment in education and in the Irish Language and culture in the north of the county." Gaelscoil Chluainin featured on RTEs Nationwide with Anne Cassin recently. The presidential visit to celebrate the schools 10th Birthday in April 2018 was featured on the programme and the children, staff, parents and board all received much acclaim and praise following the airing on Monday January 14. On that programme our Uachtaran Micheal D O hUigin stressed the importance of the Irish language and indeed alluded to the widespread research which evidences that bilingualism leads children and adults to acquire a third or fourth language much easier. He also told the children that Learning Irish is now COOL! Strong influential words from a very wise man! Gaelscoil Chluainin is accepting enrolments immediately from any prospective parents/pupils for the years 2019-2022. Anyone wishing to enrol should contact the school office for an enrolment pack and return it before March 29th. 2019. Relax, unwind and slip into the Leitrim way of life with a cruise of the Shannon, taking in villages and vibrant towns on your journey. Forget traffic jams and queuing for seats and instead become the captain of your own vessel sailing through Leitrim's historic landscape which is perfect for discovering treasures and tasting local delicacies. Carrick-on-Shannon is both Leitrim's party central and a cultural hub with history, food and music top of the list and easy to access. Ireland's well known 40 shades of green are most vibrant in the Leitrim countryside during Spring. A journey down the Shannon Erne canal will clear your head and revitalise your soul. Head to Leitrim Village, a snug location with a few cosy bars and some superb food options to get you started. Electric Bikes are available here to help you conquer any hills along the Blueway. All 16 Leitrim locks are self operated but they are automatic so there is no hard work once you have your cruise card. Keshcarrigan is worth a stop and a walk around and do not miss the floating boardwalk in the pretty traditional town of - Drumshanbo. If you play an instrument then this is the spot to join a session and make new friends. Ballinamore is a town to take stock in, get your supplies and enjoy the delights of the canal town. Almost every businesses is promoted in Irish here and the border town is the place to climb Sliabh an Iarainn, ride a horse at Drumcoura or visit Solas Art Gallery. This area is well known for angling so whether it is your first try or you are an experienced fisher, throw a line, sit back and relax as your catch swims towards you. Dromod Harbour and Jamestown Lock are picture perfect, you can't return home without an instagram worthy shot from here. Once you have de-stressed, you can look for a little more adventure. Take a kayak out, stand up paddle, cycle the Blueway, take a walk on the wild side on the Tree Canopy Trail at Lough Key Forest Park or dunk the whole family in water sport activities at Acres Lake, Drumshanbo. You can hire a cruise boat in Carrick-on-Shannon or a traditional barge in Ballinamore, then all you need is your sea legs and a captain's hat! Raymond Leuser, 49, pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm in the Cook County courthouse in Chicago on Tuesday. Leuser had been charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm after prosecutors said he shot his son four times in the stomach, shoulders and thigh in his home on the 6200 block of South Nashville in Chicago in the early-morning hours of Dec. 12, 2017. THE CRUCIAL 19.5m 60-bed modular block at University Hospital Limerick is expected to built and ready by June 2020, the HSE has indicated. This Friday, the HSE informed management that 2m has been allocated to the enabling works for the 60-bed block, which is expected to commence in mid- to late March. It was originally hoped that the 60-bed block would be ready by autumn 2019. However, the financial framework for the project--and other capital projects--had to be revisited due to the Governments controversial overrun in the National Childrens Hospital. Minister for Health Simon Harris, who survived a motion of no-confidence last week, sent an email this Friday morning informing them of the capital allocation. The HSE said that the 60-bed block has been included in the HSE Capital Plan for 2019, and has been granted at this time 2m to facilitate the completion of enabling works. Min @SimonHarrisTD & HSE have advised me today that the 60 Modular Bed unit at UHL has got the formal approval & go-ahead. Site excavation works to now get underway @Live95fmNews @Limerick_Leader @limerickpost @SPINSouthWest pic.twitter.com/LiDadOiRjx Kieran ODonnell (@kodonnellLK) March 1, 2019 Allocations for the project will be reviewed later in 2019, the HSE said. Senator Kieran ODonnell told the Limerick Leader that the 60-bed project will be included in its entirety in the upcoming capital plan. It is understood it will be announced later this month. Senator ODonnell said he has told Taoiseach Varadkar, Minister Harris and Minister Donohoe that any further delay with hospital project would not be acceptable. He said the 2m allocation shows that it is a priority for the Government. I am interested in getting the physical structures on the ground as quickly as possible. Because of the delays in planning, that was always going to be early 2020 before it was completed. The HSE are now saying June 2020, something I will be holding them too. Just received confirmation from @SimonHarrisTD that he has approved funding of 2million for the next phase of the development of 60 bed unit for the University Hospital in #Limerick @merrionstreet @HSELive Patrick O'Donovan (@podonovan) March 1, 2019 Though the delivery of the project is a couple of months later than I would have liked, he said that it is now shovel-ready. Great news for Limerick and the Mid West the confirmation by Minister @SimonHarrisTD to me that 2m has been approved and formal letter of approval will issue today to start the enabling works for the 60 modular beds @ULHospitals. #health #limerick @HSELive Senator Maria Byrne (@senatormbyrne) March 1, 2019 I went to the Taoiseach on this project because I felt how important it was to the region. I have had ongoing discussions with the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach is well aware of it, he has been in Limerick. He understands the capacity issues. He said that he will be working to ensure that we deal with the capacity issues at University Hospital Limerick, and all the other hospitals working together. We have to have the extra beds, the 60 modular beds is a critical mass of beds. Its now happening. There are no further delays. Its in writing. The next step in the project is that a commencement notice has to be issued to Limerick City and County Council, at least 14 days in advance of works. The 60-bed block will act as an interim measure to assuage overcrowding at UHL, prior to the delivery of a 96-bed block on-campus. However, there is delivery date for the 96 beds which is under the Governments 2040 development plan. THE SUPPORT for a 12-year-old Limerick girl who has been left in a critical condition following a rowing incident, has been a help to her loved ones during this difficult time. Amy Mulcahy, a primary school student from Annacotty, remains in a very serious condition in Temple Street Childrens Hospital following the incident last weekend. A fundraiser launched by her rowing club, to help support her family who remain by her side in Dublin, has raised almost 14,000 just two days after its launch. Donations have been made by almost 300 people, with multiple donations pledged from different rowing clubs across the country. Amy is a kind and caring child, one member of her community told the Limerick Leader. She is willing to help, and considerate in every way of other people and of her friends. On Saturday morning, five young people, including four girls and one boy, were assisted by rescue crews after their row boat overturned near the Thomond Salmon Weir. They were accompanied by a safety boat, operated by their rowing club at the time. While four of the young crew members were unharmed physically during the incident, Amy became trapped by the overturned boat. She is a lovely girl and this is just so sad, that this unfortunately has happened to her, the source said. The family needs prayers and support at this time. It has understandably been a very difficult and traumatic time for them, the person added. The campaign, launched by Athlunkard Boat Club on Tuesday evening, has had an overwhelming response, one member told the Limerick Leader. At the time of going to press, more than 9,500 had been raised within less than 24 hours. The campaign had an initial goal to raise 5,000 for Amys family but that has been now been increased. The campaign has also been shared across social media more than 1,300 times. Thinking of you all at this really difficult time, one person commented on the campaign. You are in the thoughts of the whole of Irish rowing. It is great to see that support from the public, a member of the boat club told the Limerick Leader. It has given everyone a bit of a boost at a much needed time. It's a difficult situation, but the support has helped. That is the one thing that has been very strong, and it's helping everyone pull together. The support has been huge and that has helped. In a statement Athlunkard Boat Club said: We would like to thank everyone for the support that they have shown to Amy, her family and our club over the past few days. In particular we are very grateful to the Irish rowing community for their continued help and support. An investigation into the incident is currently ongoing and the matter has been referred to the Marine Casualty Investigation Board. THE Shannon Group has recognised the contribution of EI Electronics, which is marking its 55th anniversary in the area. More than 700 people work at the firm, which manufactures fire and carbon monoxide detection products for the residential market. It is the Shannon Free Zones largest employer. Its also celebrating another anniversary 30 years since becoming a fully fledged Irish firm after a management buyout under the direction of its chief executive Mick Guinee. Shannon Commercial Properties managing director Ray ODriscoll has hailed the companys success and impact, describing it as one of the regions great success stories. While Ei Electronics started out life under GE, we see this as a fantastic home-grown success. 30 years-ago, its CEO Mike Guinee seized an opportunity to lead a management buyout of the business from GE and it has become one of the most important employers in Shannon and the wider region since. Mike and his team initially set a goal of maintaining manufacturing jobs in Shannon and thirty years later it is clear that this goal has, through the hard work and commitment of everyone at Ei Electronics, been achieved. They are celebrating an anniversary on the double and I have no doubt but we will see the growth trajectory of this company continue into the future. Presenting Ei Electronics CEO Mike Guinee with a commemorative sculpture by Irish artist Liam Butler, Shannon Group Chairman, Rose Hynes, applauded the companys commitment to the region. Ei Electronics is an integral part of the manufacturing industry here in Shannon. Under the vision and stewardship of Mike and its management team, it has become a key global player in this market. I wish Mike and everyone here the very best and I want to thank them for their contribution to Shannon and this region. EI Electronics is an acknowledged market leader and is one of Irelands largest indigenous electronic companies. The Company has achieved continuous growth through the development of a stream of innovative new products manufactured on state of the art process technology and delivered to the highest customer service standards. This is very impressive by any standard. We in Shannon are all very proud of their achievements. A SEVENTEEN-year-old boy who stole two mobile phones from a gym in County Limerick was in breach of a High Court curfew at the time. However, despite a garda objection and evidence of several other breaches of bail Judge Mary Larkin agreed to release the defendant pending the completion of a probation report. The youth, who will turn 18 before the summer, has admitted breaking into the premises at Dungeeha, Newcastle West at around 12.30am on January 4, last. The two mobile phones were never recovered by gardai. Detective Sergeant Mike Reidy said the youth was identified as a suspect after a blood sample found at the gym was found to match his DNA. He was arrested on Monday and brought before a sitting of the local court on Tuesday to face a burglary charge. Solicitor Kate Cussen said her client, who cant be named because his age, has a drug problem and that he had consumed a considerable quantity of Xanax tablets on the night of the break-in. His memory of the incident is vague, she said. Judge Mary Larkin was told the defendant accepts he has not fully complied with the conditions of his High Court bail which relates to separate matters including assault and criminal damage. Opposing bail, Det Sgt Reidy said the 17-year-old failed to sign on a number of occasions and was not on home on various dates since last August when gardai called. By way of explanation, Ms Cussen said her client is working as a labourer and that he was prioritising work over signing on. Judge Larkin described the evidence before her as incredible and asked if the defendant has any concept of whats going on? Granting bail, she warned she will withdraw his bail if he messes around again before the next court date. As a condition of bail, he was ordered not to associate with another named youth pending the outcome of the proceedings. HEALTH Minister Simon Harris has confirmed the allocation of 2m to get works under way on the next phase of the new 60-bed unit at University Hospital Limerick. And it looks like preparatory works will kick off on site in the next month. The funding boost was confirmed this morning, and has been welcomed by local Fine Gael Senators Maria Byrne and Kieran ODonnell. This is good for Limerick, and good for the Mid-West, Ms Byrne said, Its positive for patients, their families, the nurses, doctors and staff of the University Hospital Likmerick. Mr ODonnell has revealed the HSE has instructed the hospital group to proceed with the development of the 60 modular beds and to get the excavation works underway straight away. He believes it will will take pressure off the emergency department at the busy hospital. While it is happening slightly later than I would have liked, this is excellent news for staff and patients at the hospital, and the people of Limerick and surrounding areas, he said, I have worked tirelessly to ensure this project got underway, raising my concerns with my Fine Gael colleagues the Minister for Health, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Taoiseach himself, stating that we had to get this project underway and that means had to be found to ensure works begin soon. Mr ODonnell says with the project now approved and included in the 2019 Capital Plan, there is absolutely no uncertainty about providing these 60 beds. Now that the money is available, the HSE locally will put in a commencement notice with the Local Authority. This has a 14-day notice period, so works cant commence physically before mid-March but they will commence then, the Fine Gael man said. TROY Studios is in the final stages of securing a major deal to host the production of a new sci-fi television series which is to be distributed on Apples new video streaming service, the Limerick Leader has learned. It is understood that the Castletroy studio, which was host to Netflixs Nightflyers last year, is close to finalising the deal to host new Apple sci-fi drama Foundation, an adaptation of the classic novel trilogy namesake by Isaac Asimov. According to reports, principal photography is set to take place at Troy Studios in late July this year. However, the Leader understands that the deal is not yet set in stone but is 90% across the line. Foundations executive producer and writer is David Goyer, the world famous American screenwriter behind Man of Steel, Batman Begins and Blade series. The production company behind the project is Skydance Television, responsible for the popular Netflix series Altered Carbon. If the deal goes ahead, it will be a major coup for Troy Studios and the region, as the production forms part of Apples $1bn masterplan to rival Netflix, Amazon and Disney. Additionally, the Foundation trilogy novels, written by influential Isaac Asimov in the 1950s, have proven to be among the most seminal in the literary genre. It tells the story of a mathematician and psychologist who predicts the demise of the Galactic Empire, and makes it his mission to avoid this dark inevitability. When contacted by the Limerick Leader, a spokesperson for Troy Studios said it was in discussion with a number of exciting potential projects considering Ireland and Troy Studios as their production base. It is a particularly exciting time in the industry as the demand for studio space is more buoyant than ever. We anticipate securing another major production for Troy in the near future. The spokesperson said that the studios is focused on adding a fourth sound stage on site, bringing the studio space to a massive 100,000 square foot. Construction works have commenced. When complete it will position Troy as the largest international standard film and TV studio in Ireland. Troy Studios has more than 280,000 square foot of support buildings including workshops, props storage, costume, dressing rooms, production offices, hair and make-up rooms. Additionally, a backlot of five acres is available for exterior set construction. Netflixs Nightflyers, which finished shooting at Troy in June, brought an estimated 50m to the region. However, shortly after the Netflix broadcast, the sci-fi drama was cancelled and will not return for a second season. IN THE midst of the presidential election last September, Limerick auctioneer Pat Kearney told John Kiely he should run for president. He certainly would have topped the poll in County Limerick! John, his management team, Limerick hurlers, family and friends, and members of the county board were welcomed by President Michael D Higgins and Sabina to Aras an Uachtarain on Tuesday. President Higgins, who had a foot in both camps on All-Ireland final day as he was born in Limerick city but is best known as a Galway man, described the hurlers as role models. The excitement and enjoyment of Limericks win stretched far beyond the borders of that county, enthralling hurling enthusiasts up and down the country. It has also ensured that you have become inspiring role models for a new generation of young hurlers and thus you are playing a significant role in encouraging the participation of young people in sports, said President Higgins. He said the rapturous homecoming reception in Limerick, where tens of thousands of people lined the streets to welcome them home, was a joyous occasion that brought a spirit of celebration to the county that lasted for many weeks. Your achievement is one of which you can all be very proud. It is, of course, not an achievement that came lightly or easily. The road to great sporting success is always a challenging and often a difficult one. It is not a journey for the fainthearted. Those who seek accolades are required to put in the hard work, and to persevere through the setbacks and difficulties that so often stand between us and our goals, he stated. Success is earned and those who have closely followed your journey to victory will have seen the sacrifices you have made and the relentless commitment you have always given to be the best you possibly can. Equally impressive to witness is the special bond of friendship and the inspirational teamwork that I know has carried you through testing games and through training sessions on long cold winter nights, said President Higgins. Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely By Andrew S. Curran Other. 520 pp. $28.95 --- Freedoms that Americans too easily take for granted - freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion - are the legacy of a relatively few daring thinkers in 18th-century Europe who risked their own freedom to voice forbidden ideas. None was more daring, none challenged a wider range of beliefs and institutions, than French philosopher Denis Diderot, subject of this engrossing biography by Andrew S. Curran, professor of humanities at Wesleyan University. During a life that spanned most of the century, 1713 to 1784, Diderot wrote or edited a prodigious amount of literature, much of it published posthumously. In "Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely," a narrative sustained with appealing clarity and energy, Curran reveals how this son of devoutly Catholic parents came to question the existence of God and how, from that radical premise, Diderot went on to question the legitimacy of the established church, the monarchy, sexual mores, aristocratic privileges, the slave trade and European colonization. Not surprisingly, some of his writings were burned, and others were placed on the Catholic Index of Prohibited Books. Accused of heresy for his first major publication, "Pensees philosophiques" ("Philosophical Thoughts"), he spent a few months in prison. To protect himself and his manuscripts from the authorities, he often hid out in shadier sections of Paris. At times, he considered leaving France for a more tolerant haven elsewhere. The wonder is that he escaped execution and survived to die a natural death at the age of 70, while reaching across his dining table for another helping of stewed cherries. Diderot managed to escape more severe penalties through the intervention of sympathizers in high places, including Madame de Pompadour, mistress to Louis XV, and through his own wiles, including a willingness to lie when asked by the police if he was the author of certain inflammatory books. While he valued honesty as highly as did any Enlightenment sage, he saw no point in giving truthful answers to the censors. Along with other dissidents, he could be denounced at any moment by guardians of the status quo - gendarmes, priests, Sorbonne theologians, rival intellectuals, the Paris Parliament, every "regulator of dangerous beliefs" up to and including the pope and king. He dodged and battled the censors for a quarter-century as lead editor of the "Encyclopedie," a massive project that eventually filled 17 volumes containing some 74,000 articles, several thousand of which Diderot wrote himself. The full title of this monumental work, in English, is "Encyclopedia or Reasoned Dictionary of Science, Arts and Crafts." Curran calls it "The Enlightenment Bible," an apt label for a work that champions observation and reason, rather than revelation and tradition, as the most reliable sources of knowledge. Behind it lay the influence of John Locke's epistemology and Isaac Newton's dazzling demonstration of the scientific method. Of the 150 or so contributors to the "Encyclopedia," none was more willing to question the scriptures or flout received opinion than Diderot. In one article, for example, he casts doubt on the existence of the soul, and in another, Curran observes, he "puts forward the perilous idea that the real origin of political authority stems from the people, and that this political body not only has the inalienable right to delegate this power, but to take it back as well." This idea was indeed perilous, as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and other delegates to the Continental Congress well knew when they defied the British crown and Parliament by adopting the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, four years after publication of the final volume of the "Encyclopedia." The keepers of church and state were understandably dismayed by this challenge to their authority, none more so than Louis XV. He considered throwing Diderot and a co-editor into the Bastille but chose instead to order that all unpublished "Encyclopedia" articles be confiscated. By the time police showed up at the print shop, however, Diderot had managed to spirit away the manuscripts, and he eventually saw them all through to publication. When he concluded his heroic, quarter-century effort on this revolutionary publication, Diderot regretted having sacrificed so much of his life to this enterprise and having been forced to make so many concessions to the censors. "What Diderot did not fully realize," Curran writes, "was that he had carried the ideas of the Enlightenment forward in a way that no person, not Voltaire, and certainly not Rousseau, had done before." Those ideas included freedom of thought and expression, in all domains, including religion; a vision of democracy based on popular sovereignty; and a vision of justice based on human equality. While at work on the "Encyclopedia," Diderot continued writing subversive plays, novels, satires and histories, many of which he chose not to publish. Instead, late in life, intending for these secret manuscripts to be published after his death, he arranged to have three copies made, one for his daughter, one for his literary executor and one for Catherine the Great of Russia, his longtime patron. Curran examines several of these "improbably modern books and essays," including "D'Alembert's Dream," a novel that offers an evolutionary view of human origins, foreshadowing Darwin, and two fictional dialogues, "Rameau's Nephew" and "Jacques the Fatalist," which debate the meaning of life and morality in the material universe revealed by science. In these and other writings, Diderot condemned economic inequality in ways that anticipate Marx, and he anticipated Freud by diagnosing sexual repression - a malady he avoided by indulging in a series of mistresses. His book on acting influenced Konstantin Stanislavsky, and his art criticism drew the attention of Catherine the Great, who commissioned him to acquire paintings and sculptures for her collection in the Hermitage. "To become familiar with the range of Diderot's work is to be stupefied," Curran remarks. Indeed, readers of this biography are likely to be impressed by the scope of Diderot's thought and by his courage, as he risked persecution to ask and answer taboo questions, thereby making it easier, and safer, for us to do the same. --- Sanders is the author of "Earth Works: Selected Essays," among other books. Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future By Pete Buttigieg Liveright. 352 pp. $27.95 --- "Shortest Way Home" was written by a man who is seeking the shortest route to the White House. Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind. (pop. 102,245), is running for president, having decided against stops in the Senate or at the statehouse on his way to the top. With young voters becoming an increasingly powerful force inside the Democratic Party, he sees his age and freshness as features, not problems. And given the mess we baby boomers have left the country in (this includes especially the current baby boomer in the Oval Office), Buttigieg's presidential candidacy certainly does not lack for a plausible rationale. You might think that 37 years on this Earth wouldn't provide a lot of grist for a memoir, but then Barack Obama wrote "Dreams of My Father" when he was only 34. The comparison is probably not lost on Buttigieg, who canvassed Iowa farm counties on Obama's behalf in 2008. I should say that I got to know Buttigieg (pronounced, roughly, "Buddha-judge") seven years ago through academic links and have spoken with him from time to time. When I first met him, I had much the same reaction as I had after my initial encounter with a young Obama in 1997: This guy's trajectory is definitely upward. Nothing in this book changes my mind about that. Still, membership in the pundits union requires me to state the obvious: No matter how much I like him, it's still hard to see how Buttigieg will manage to skip even more political grades than Obama did. And the very small-town normality of Buttigieg's life - he springs from a loving academic family - means there is far less personal drama in his story than in Obama's Indonesia/Kansas/Hawaii/New York/Chicago saga of growing up without a father. There are moments here where Buttigieg seems to be pushing things a bit: The story of his piano recital with the South Bend Orchestra is cute but not the stuff of greatness. On the other hand, his candid discussion of what it's like to come out as gay while serving as a small-city mayor and, especially, his warm and engagingly hokey description of falling in love with the man who would become his husband break important new ground in a pre-presidential autobiography. He uses his love story to make a good point along the way: His aspirations, like those of many LGBTQ people, are to a rather old-fashioned form of family life, which shows, as he writes, how "mystifying" it is to hear it said that being gay is "a lifestyle." It's not a "lifestyle." It's just who people are. And in his description of his military service in Afghanistan as a Navy Reservist, the lack of drama is admirable. He identifies himself with the rank-and-file; there is no puffed-up heroism here. He is, however, properly critical of the failure of those who share his elite educational pedigree to join the military in a time of war. He writes that "whole communities" in the rural Midwest "seemed to be emptying out their youth into the armed services, while so few people I knew had served at all." In a sense, Buttigieg's book is a kind of antidote to J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy," a story of broken people in a broken place. Buttigieg is a local politician, so he is not about to put down his constituents. But there is unforced affection here for the stuff of everyday life in South Bend - "everyday life" being one of his favorite phrases - including its ethnic festivals, its social clubs and its people. This is a comeback story of a place that got hit hard, survived and then began thriving again. For those interested in why some battered places come back and others don't, the evidence here is of a community that maintained a thriving civil society even in the most difficult years, as well as a local media strong enough to pay serious attention to city government. I would often joke with my brilliant departed colleague David Broder that while he loved governors, I was devoted to mayors because their problems (and their voters) were right in their faces. This is a book for mayor lovers. Policy wonks will appreciate Buttigieg's descriptions of "smart sewers" (there are such things) and how data really and truly helps politicians make better decisions. He speaks joyfully of "a mayor indulging his inner geek." An enlightening example of his practical geekiness is his explanation of how "responsiveness" and "efficiency" are often sharply at odds. But a mayor steeped in metrics is at his best describing the limits of data, the importance of experience and the fact that "mercy" must sometimes prevail over everything that formal rules and analysis tell you. He speaks of an old-school City Council member reminding him that Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and his whiz kids made a mess of Vietnam policy. He also describes wrestling with racial division and issues around policing. You sense that he still struggles with these questions. His humility and tentativeness are far more appealing than false confidence. The other trait that comes through in these pages is Buttigieg's interest in sympathetically understanding those who disagree with him. It shows up most clearly in his account of the 2015 battle against then-Gov. Mike Pence's "religious freedom" bill. The measure, which was promptly repealed after an outcry from the business community, effectively enabled discrimination against LGBTQ people. Buttigieg was unabashed in opposing Pence's law, but he also worried that the bitterness of the controversy might turn off those struggling with how rapidly attitudes surrounding sexual orientation had changed. What was "exhilarating" for him, he acknowledges, could be disorienting for others. His book does not make the case for his candidacy directly, but the core argument of his campaign, if it gets off the ground, is summed up by the title of his last chapter, "Not 'Again.'" The "again" he is targeting is the last word of President Trump's slogan calling America back to greatness. Buttigieg insists that the rearview mirror is a poor guide to future triumphs. "There is no going back," he writes. He makes his case using the story of his hometown, home to Notre Dame, where his Maltese immigrant dad was a distinguished humanities professor and his mom, a linguistics Ph.D., taught in the English, business and art departments. It is a classic story out of flyover country. Buttigieg uses the term as a matter of pride but also as a rebuke to the coastal elites whose ranks he could easily have joined after making the requisite stops at Harvard, Oxford (as a Rhodes Scholar) and McKinsey, the consulting firm whose name conjures (often young) outsiders firing analytics at experienced managers and CEOs by way of telling them what to do. South Bend was once an industrial hub that hosted, among other enterprises, Studebaker, a legendary and now-defunct auto company that most members of Buttigieg's generation have never heard of. The young mayor totally gets, without any condescension, why the city's older residents yearn for the old days. For industrial workers and for cities like his, those old days were pretty damned good. It is thus probably easier for someone of his age to see that there can be no return to the economy of old. He grew up not with bustling factory buildings but with abandoned, decaying hulks crying out for repurposing. Lacking any memories of a buoyant past, he had no nostalgia for it and could thus focus on bringing his city into the new economy. The old days, he points out, were also a long way from Nirvana for African-Americans and LGBTQ folks, for women and religious minorities. The air and water were dirtier, the technologies slower, the availability of knowledge more limited. "We don't actually want to go back," he writes. "We just think we do, sometimes, when we feel more alert to losses than to gains." At the end of a book of this sort, you inevitably ask: Should this politician be seeking the presidency or not? For all the improbability of his candidacy, Buttigieg's campaign could be powerfully useful by showing that standing up for the heartland - yes, "flyover country" - is an act of faith in the future, not a tribute to a glorious past. And he can argue, from very gritty experience, that while government will never be perfect, it can help make it a little more likely that more people will thrive. Mayors have to be both practical and visionary, and they don't need high-powered consultants to point out when they're failing. Citizens are right there, on the streets or knocking on their office doors, telling them that they're bums. It's entirely true that a leap from mayor to president has been impossible in the past. But these pages make a pretty good case that city halls just might be better training schools for the presidency than attendance at any five years of congressional hearings combined. --- Dionne is a Washington Post columnist, a professor at Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. His most recent book (with Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann) is "One Nation After Trump." The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America Edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman Little, Brown. 324 pp. $28 --- Two years before the election of President Trump and the bitter politics of border walls, Muslim bans and s---hole countries, the American publishing industry was facing an identity crisis. A viral social media movement led by writers of color called #WeNeedDiverseBooks began pushing the industry to acknowledge and address its resounding whiteness. The failure to cultivate and nurture the voices of American writers of minority and immigrant backgrounds was the failure to tell a full national story, writer Junot Diaz explained in a New Yorker essay. Soon after the 2016 election, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen published a piece in the New York Times arguing that the outcome was partly the failure of writers. "The struggle over the direction of our country," he wrote, "is also a fight over whose words will win and whose images will ignite the collective imagination." Immigrants needed to tell their story - and tell it better. "The Good Immigrant" is a culmination of the current political moment and a natural extension of the ongoing work to integrate American publishing. The 26 essays in this anthology are deeply personal reflections on adolescence, family, love and identity as experienced and felt by the American immigrant artist. From published heavyweights like Teju Cole and Alexander Chee, to newer voices like Muslim American punk-rocker Basim Usmani and Pakistani Kashmiri American poet Fatimah Asghar, this banquet of writing is a triumphant celebration of American multiplicity. The book was inspired by an original British edition, which was published at the height of the Brexit debate with a largely different roster of writers. In the introduction to the American edition, the editors, Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman, explain that what both collections share is their desire to amplify the voices of immigrants through a kind of collective literary activism. In a cultural climate defined by xenophobia and anti-immigrant policies, this book seeks to showcase the gifts and humanity of immigrant artists. It's a noble mission that my own intersectional immigrant self can certainly appreciate. And yet, as a reader, I worried that a collection defined by politics could crumble under the weight of good intentions. Essays lifted from social media outrage or powered by reactionary rage can satisfy in the instant but fade as the moment passes. Thankfully, this collection is a resounding success on multiple fronts. Its righteous rage is perfectly matched by its literary rewards. The American edition of the "The Good Immigrant" is best heard as a surround-sound chorus that bristles with an unpredictable, electric energy. Language, style and rhythm shift with each piece, keeping our attention. In "Luck of the Irish," Maeve Higgins explores how white privilege helped her, an undocumented Irish immigrant, as brown families in similar conditions are prosecuted. In a love letter to her mother, Indian American writer Krutika Mallikarjuna finds humor in the ridiculous conundrum of dating in the multiracial mayhem of Brooklyn. "Of the many pitfalls of being a queer desi woman swimming through Tinder," she writes, "I never expected to find myself getting trashed in a bar trying to forget that I was on a date with a white girl named India." Several of the essays are by first-time authors who work in other artistic mediums. My favorite essay is by Nigerian American fashion designer Wale Oyejide. The African-inspired textiles and silhouettes of his celebrated fashion line Ikire Jones are regularly shown on global runways and featured prominently in the Oscar-winning blockbuster "Black Panther." In an essay about his artistic coming-of-age, Oyejide explores the struggles of stay-at-home fatherhood with biting humor and then widens his lens to a crisis of masculinity that fails to allow men to be more than conventional breadwinners and pursue the arts. He writes about his designs as a political instrument to restore dignity and beauty to black bodies draped in shades of violence and suffering in popular culture. "Our uprisings don't always come in the guise of smashed windows, overturned cars or respectable slave owners forcibly torn from their stone housings in front of Capitol buildings. Sometimes they come in the form of building-sized brown faces broadcast on cinema screens, portraying characters who are miles away from the token mistress we have to come to accept for want of more inspiring alternatives," he writes. Immigrant creativity is about imagining new possibility, he explains: " There will be endless stories to write. And, increasingly, there will be audiences filled with us waiting to hear them being told." Like Jones' essay, the best work here offers reflections on the creative process, alongside the fear of family, society and failure that keeps many immigrant artists from expressing themselves. The collection concludes with a call to arms by novelist Jade Chang, with a practical step-by-step guide to embracing one's voice titled "How to Center Your Own Story." As I finished "The Good Immigrant," my mind was buzzing with the multitude of voices, stories, heartbreaks and dreams featured in its 300-plus pages. The book is a welcome corrective to the nationalist calls for walls, borders and exclusion that seek to narrow the boundaries of what it means to be American. Each essay is a tantalizing introduction - and invitation - to the larger body of work these artists have already created and will continue to make long after this moment passes. What unites this defiant chorus of immigrant voices is best expressed in this variation on an enduring line by Langston Hughes: "We, too sing America." --- Qureshi is a culture writer and radio journalist whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, the New York Times and Newsweek, and on NPR. WASHINGTON - In his January 1941 address to Congress, as World War II loomed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a streamlined statement of American principles, defined as "four freedoms": freedom of speech; freedom of religion; freedom from want; and freedom from fear. By the time the war ended, those national aspirations were probably best known from a series of four paintings by magazine illustrator Norman Rockwell that is the centerpiece of an exhibition at the George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum. The show's title, "Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt and the Four Freedoms," suggests a collaboration between the president and the painter. In fact, the two men met only once, for about 10 minutes. That parley happened after the popular appeal of Rockwell's artwork had already been well established. Initially, some government policymakers were unimpressed with Rockwell's 1943 paintings. But the "Four Freedoms" went on to help sell millions of war bonds to people who were rewarded with prints of the paintings, or, in some cases, with a chance to gaze at the originals. The vision of American life that Rockwell exalted in his four canvasses was drawn from the small-town New England the painter revered. A native New Yorker, Rockwell moved in 1938 to Vermont, where he painted the famous foursome, and lived the rest of his life there or in Massachusetts. He wasn't the only storyteller of that period to present the United States as a kind of idealized Vermont. Such Hollywood filmmakers as Frank Capra also tended to situate their version of authentic America in New England and upstate New York. While Capra never actually lived in the region, Rockwell was literally at home there. In "Freedom of Speech," the painter depicts himself among the listeners at a Vermont town meeting. The farmer who holds the crowd's attention was a real person whom Rockwell painted more than once. The artist's first version of the scene, which has a less dramatic composition, is included in this show. Several such outtakes are on display here, along with the jacket that the subject of the painting wore in the scene, and other artifacts. "Enduring Ideals" also includes other paintings executed by Rockwell in the same period, most notably a series of illustrations of a young G.I. dubbed Willie Gillis - an everyman thrust into war. Also on display are two variations of a home front scene in which several older men follow news of the war. These paintings were made for the Saturday Evening Post, a magazine that was extremely popular at the time but not known for its daring. "Enduring Ideals" supplements the Post's timid coverage of the era with edgier illustrations and photographs. There are photos that reveal the effects of the Great Depression and strong anti-Nazi magazine covers from Time and Life. One depicts a pile of corpses, an image the Post wouldn't have touched. In 1963, Rockwell left the Post and began contributing to Look magazine. There, he turned toward more controversial subjects, including the civil rights movement. In 1963's "The Problem We All Live With," grade-schooler Ruby Bridges is shown walking to the New Orleans school where she was the only African-American student, escorted by four federal marshals. Unlike Willie Gillis, Bridges is not a composite character. Her story is specific and real. So, too, 1965's "Murder in Mississippi" imagines an actual event: the 1964 killing of civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The crime is rendered in a brownish near-monochrome - as if to substitute for photographic documentation that doesn't exist - and heightened by a touch of blood red. These later paintings lead to a gallery of contemporary works by other artists that raise issues Rockwell never did. Sarah Fukami reminds us of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II - a war the United States fought for freedom. Jonathan Monaghan, who works in digital imagery, updates "Freedom from Fear" to encompass electronic surveillance. Maurice "Pops" Petersen addresses the same theme, with a largely faithful likeness of Rockwell's painting. What's the main difference between it and Rockwell's painting of a family tucking their children into bed? In Petersen's version, the family is now African-American. The artist also slaps a new headline on the newspaper clutched by the concerned dad: "I Can't Breathe." Seventy-six years after the paint dried on Rockwell's pictures, freedom from fear remains an unrealized ideal. --- IF YOU GO: "Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt and the Four Freedoms" George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum, 701 21st St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202-994-5200. museum.gwu.edu. Dates: Through April 29. Price: $8 suggested donation. When people learned that San Antonio Folk Dance Festival founder Nelda Drury had entered hospice care, dozens reached out to her children in hopes of coming to see her at least one last time. On what turned out to be her final day, 16 people stopped by to visit, her daughter Elizabeth Newton said, and three other people called to talk to her over the phone. Newton teased her mother about the turnout. By that afternoon, she said she wanted to rest, and I said, Im sorry, Mom, people want to see you. Youre very popular, and thats the price you pay for popularity, Newton said. Her last visitor was from her pastor. They prayed together, Newton said, and within two hours, Drury had died. I guess that must have been the perfect time, Newton said, noting that her mother greeted each day by speaking to God. Every day, she would say, Thank you, Lord, for a new day of living. That was her mantra. Drury died Feb. 21, about two months shy of her 101st birthday. A memorial service will be 2 to 4 p.m. March 9 at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 211 Roleto. Drurys family has requested that donations to the folk dance festival be made in lieu of sending flowers. Wed really rather have donations to the festival to help promote the arts, Newton said. Mother had plenty of flowers from family members and friends during her lifetime. On ExpressNews.com: Folk Dance Festival celebrates 60th anniversary Drury got her first taste of folk dancing when she was 5 years old. A student from the teachers college in San Marcos came to her school to teach the youngsters some dance steps, Newton recalled in an interview with the Express-News last year in advance of the 60th annual festival. I remember Mother saying she got to swish her skirt and they put lipstick on her, Newton recalled then. She said, This is living! Drury created the dance program at San Antonio College, where she taught for 25 years. And she taught dance all over the world, including a memorable stint in Japan that she particularly loved. In an interview last year, Drury recalled that instead of having a written exam at the end of her classes, she had her students take part in a dinner dance: At first, they didnt want to do it Do we have to? And I said, No, but this is in lieu of a written final. If you dont do this, you have to take the written final. And, at the end of the night, they would say, Can we do this next month? On ExpressNews.com: SA flamenco icon Teresa Champion looks back The folk dance festival paid tribute to Drury last year as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations. This years festival takes place March 14-17 at Our Lady of the Lake University. Plans are being paid to salute her during the event, Newton said. The festival has established a scholarship fund in Drurys honor to help dancers participate in the event, which includes workshops as well as performances. Drurys husband, Douglas, died in 2010. She is survived by her children, Elizabeth Newton and James Drury; and by one grandson, four great-granddaughters and one great-great granddaughter, Newton said. She loved kids, so that was a real blessing, Newton said. Shed be real weak, saying, Oh, I cant do this, and Id bring in the baby, and all of the sudden, shed be superwoman. dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN Deborah Martin is an arts writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN A woman attempted to stab some dogs and threatened to harm their owner, according to Laredo police. Rosalinda Vargas, 62, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Laredo police recently seized marijuana valued at about $7.8 million and arrested three people in connection with the case. The incident unfolded at about 7:49 p.m. Feb. 21, when LPD officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Andy Ramos Road by Tex-Mex Drive. The Facebook post was illustrated with an image of an IV. "Went to the ER in Taiwan," it began. Kevin Bozeat, a 25-year-old student, wrote about coming down with severe gastrointestinal symptoms while studying in Taiwan: stomach cramps, bouts of vomiting that would not abate and perhaps worst of all, he couldn't keep any fluids down. Around 3 a.m., he decided it was time to go to the hospital for treatment, not knowing what to expect having never been to a hospital in Taiwan - a country that has a national health care system, or as Bozeat wrote, "socialized medicine." He was checked-in and given IV fluids within 20 minutes of his arrival. Phlebotomists drew blood which the lab ran tests on. Hospital techs performed an ultrasound to make sure he didn't have gall stones or appendicitis. And eventually they diagnosed him with a stomach flu, gave him two prescriptions and discharged him. "Each day since I've gotten progressively better and am now pretty much back to normal," Bozeat wrote. "The bill for the ER visit? . . . U.S. $80.00." He sarcastically titled his tale "The Horrors of Socialized Medicine," noting he didn't even have health insurance - in Taiwan or the United States. If he had Taiwan's national health insurance, his costs would have been a fraction of that, he wrote. The post struck a nerve, as debates about health care and whether to move toward "Medicare for all" loom over the 2020 presidential race. More than 200,000 people shared it. Taiwan has a so-called single payer health system - meaning the government controls health-care payments, though most of the service providers and hospitals are privatized. Liberal groups and officials are increasingly looking to single-payer systems to address both the United States' woefully high health-care expenses, and the millions of people who are uninsured. Some 17 percent of the United States GDP in 2017 went to health care - nearly twice the average 8.8 percent for other developed countries, according to data cited by Health Affairs. And that number is projected to increase as health care spending rises to nearly 20 percent of the GDP by 2020, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Bozeat estimated his treatment in the United States, without insurance, would have likely cost thousands of dollars. "But here in Taiwan I was able to receive speedy, quality care comparable to what I would have gotten in a U.S. hospital for relatively small amount of money," he said. According Health Affairs, by Tsung-Mei Cheng, a health policy research analyst at Princeton, Taiwan instituted a single-payer health care system in 1995. (Cheng's late husband, Uwe Reinhardt, a Princeton economist and health care expert, had been the one to recommend a single-payer system to the country in the 1980s.) The country is home to about 24 million people and is the world's 19th-largest economy; 99.9 percent of its residents are enrolled in the national health care program, regardless of preexisting conditions. "Comprehensive benefits include inpatient and outpatient care, mental health care, prescription drugs, dental care, Chinese medicine, dialysis, and day care for the elderly," Cheng notes. She continues: - - - "Patients in Taiwan can choose their doctors and hospitals freely, in sharp contrast to the US where patients often have limited choice of both insurers and providers. There is no such thing as in- or out-of-network providers, a distinction which in the US not only restricts patients' access but also subjects them to vastly different charges. Patients in Taiwan do not receive the "surprise medical bills" that many Americans do after their inpatient- or outpatient treatment. The NHI's copayments and coinsurance are low, and generous ceilings and exemptions safeguard access to needed care." - - - Only around 6.1 percent of the GDP in Taiwan is spent on health care; in the United States, one of the highest levels of a developed country, it's around 17 percent. In an interview, Cheng gave some examples of price disparities between the United States and Taiwan, based off statistics from insurance companies and government agencies. Harvoni, a drug to treat hepatitis C, costs $2,132 for a course of treatment in Taiwan; in the United States the same amount costs an average of $32,114, she said. An MRI exam costs $288 in Taiwan; in the United States, it's $1,119. A C-section procedure costs $1,404 in Taiwan; in the U.S. it's $15,106. Interest in Taiwan's health care system has been surging in recent years. Chen said she briefed Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., on the system, and will speak to state lawmakers in California Friday amid a broader push for universalized health care in the state. "People envy [Taiwan's] system because they're spending a third of we're spending," she said. "It's very high-performing in terms of cost coverage and benefits. Many, many countries that are looking to cover everyone - they are looking to Taiwan's model as a guide." Doug Holtz-Eakin President of the American Action Forum, conservative think tank and a former director of the CBO, said inflated U.S. health care costs were due in part to a "pattern of overutilization of some things like excessive testing and under utilization of preventive care." "You add it all up it costs a lot," he said. Holtz-Eakin said a recent study of prices looked at 23 drugs and found they cost 80 percent more in the United States than other places. Still only 11 of those drugs were available in every other country in the study, Holtz-Eakin said. "So one of the prices you pay in another country is you don't get access to some diagnoses and therapies," he said. "It's hard to put a price tag on that." While a few countries with socialized medicine systems, like Canada and the U.K., are known for long wait times for some procedures, Taiwan does not experience this problem, Cheng wrote. She highlighted another significant disparity between the Taiwanese and American health care systems: administrative costs were much lower in Taiwan than in the U.S. ("A staff of fewer than 3,000 administer the NHI for Taiwan's population of 23.8 million," she noted.) Bozeat said in a brief direct message exchange that he thought his post had gone viral because it was likely "shocking to most Americans who saw it, particularly the price." "I received a ton of direct messages and comments from people sharing their higher bills, WITH insurance," he wrote. "Some people also attacked me and called me a liar. Even though they know nothing about Taiwan or its health care system. Interestingly I received a lot of support from Taiwanese people who thanked me for praising their health care system." He had followed up the viral post with another with a plea for universal health care. "Taiwan is less wealthy than the U.S., yet it spends less and gets more out of its health care system. We see the same story repeat itself," he said. "This debate is all so tiresome, because there is no debate. Universal health care works, it can be done here, it can be done in any country with sufficient resources. All we need is political will and an implementation plan." Stubbs said at the time of her arrest that she was walking into the store when she heard a store employee tell the petition circulator to move along because solicitation was not permitted on store property. Stubbs, a retired Cook County correctional officer, said the woman later approached her about signing a petition, and at that point notified a store employee about the continued solicitation. Chelsea Manning has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in the investigation of Julian Assange, officials said, one of several indicators that prosecutors remain interested in WikiLeaks' publication of diplomatic cables and military war logs in 2010. Prosecutors in Virginia have been pursuing a case based on conduct that predates WikiLeaks' publication of hacked emails during the 2016 presidential campaign, and it's not clear investigators are interested in that activity. Officials discussed the investigation of Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury process. Manning, whose subpoena was first reported by the New York Times, is a former Army private who served seven years in a military prison for passing secret State Department cables and military documents to WikiLeaks before receiving a commutation from President Barack Obama. Manning's attorneys have filed a motion to quash the subpoena. "I object strenuously to this subpoena, and to the grand jury process in general," Manning said in a statement. "We've seen this power abused countless times to target political speech. I have nothing to contribute to this case and I resent being forced to endanger myself by participating in this predatory practice." The subpoena was signed last month by Gordon Kromberg, a national security prosecutor on the Assange case. Kromberg last month persuaded a judge to leave sealed an indictment against Assange despite its inadvertent exposure in an unrelated court filing last year. Under Obama, Justice Department officials had decided not to pursue charges against Assange and WikiLeaks after concluding that to do so could set a precedent that paved the way for prosecuting news organizations for publishing classified information. But the case got a fresh look under President Donald Trump. Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, said the Justice Department likely indicted Assange last year to stay within the 10-year statute of limitations on unlawful possession or publication of national defense information, and is now working to add charges. "There's nothing else that would make sense," he said. "The heart of the controversy is, there's never been a successful prosecution" for publishing classified information, Vladeck said. "There has always been the specter of a First Amendment defense." Peter Zeidenberg, a national security defense attorney, said he cannot see grounds for Manning to refuse the subpoena. "She's already been prosecuted, she's been convicted, she served a sentence," he said. "She has no Fifth Amendment privilege over self-incrimination. If she doesn't testify then she'll be held in contempt." Manning appears to be the latest individual subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury investigating Assange in the Eastern District of Virginia. Last July, computer expert David House, who befriended Manning in 2010 at a hacker space in Boston he founded, testified for 90 minutes before the grand jury. In an interview, House said he met the WikiLeaks founder in January 2011 while Assange was under house arrest at Ellingham Hall, a manor house 120 miles northeast of London. Assange was fighting an extradition request by Sweden, where he faced an inquiry into allegations of sexual assault. Assange asked House to help run political operations for WikiLeaks in the United States. "Specifically, he wanted me to help achieve favorable press for Chelsea Manning," he said. House, who testified in exchange for immunity, said the grand jury was interested in his relationship with Assange. "They wanted full insight into WikiLeaks, what its goals were and why I was associated with it," he said. "They wanted explanations of why certain things occurred and how they occurred. . . . It was all related to disclosures around the war logs." The grand jury seemed interested in whether Assange had solicited Manning to hack on WikiLeaks' behalf, but did not press "very hard" on that, he said. During her trial, Manning testified that she acted on her own to send documents to WikiLeaks and no one associated with WikiLeaks pressured her into giving more information. He was not asked about WikiLeaks' 2016 release of Democratic emails, which U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed were hacked by Russians. Nor did he have personal knowledge of that, he said. He was never told what charges prosecutors were contemplating. House said his last contact with Assange was in 2013 and his last contact with WikiLeaks was in 2015. House said he fears retribution for being associated with WikiLeaks and Manning in 2010 and does not believe the U.S. prosecution is warranted. "This is not an investigation borne out of a concern for national security," he said. "It is an investigation borne out of retribution and revenge against Mr. Assange over the [2010] leak that he precipitated, and how this leak impacted the careers of politicians in Washington, D.C." Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a onetime WikiLeaks spokesman who has grown estranged from Assange, said in an interview he was contacted by the German federal police in October 2017 and told that U.S. authorities wished to talk to him "about the Manning-Julian connection." He also received a March 2018 letter repeating the request from then-U. S. Attorney in the Eastern District, Dana Boente. He said the German police told him the FBI was interested in "what possible contact - possible coordination'' occurred between Assange and Manning, he said. The Americans appeared to be interested in "possible solicitation" by Assange of Manning, he said. Domscheit-Berg told the German police he was not interested in speaking to the FBI. HANOI, Vietnam - Two days of soaring rhetoric and over-the-top flattery between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un turned to finger-pointing Thursday after their second summit ended in stalemate and confusion, an outcome the president's critics say he should have seen coming. Trump said North Korea's demand for total relief from sanctions in exchange for partially dismantling its nuclear weapons program was the main stumbling block to an agreement. "Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that," Trump said at a news conference before leaving Vietnam. "You always have to be prepared to walk." Trump said Kim promised he would not conduct missile launches or test nuclear weapons, and U.S. officials said the two sides would continue to talk. But North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho was noncommittal. Holding a separate news conference with international reporters - a remarkable step for the secretive authoritarian state - Ri blamed the United States for the breakdown. He also disputed Trump's characterization of North Korea's request. "What we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but a partial removal," Ri said through an interpreter. In exchange, Ri said, North Korea would "permanently and completely dismantle all the nuclear material production facilities" at the Yongbyon nuclear facility. The compound houses the country's main nuclear reactor, which is the regime's only source of plutonium, as well as some -but not all -of its uranium-enrichment facilities and not its warheads and missile inventory. A senior administration official, who briefed reporters after Ri's press conference, disputed his account, saying that North Korea wanted virtually all U.N. sanctions lifted, in exchange for what was only a partial closure of the many-faceted Yongbyon compound. The sanctions request, first made during the past week in working-level talks, included "metals, raw materials, transportation, seafood, coal exports, refined petroleum imports, raw petroleum imports... it was basically all the sanctions except armaments," the official said. "The dilemma we were confronted with," the official said, was effectively to subsidize "the ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction in North Korea." Trump "encouraged Chairman Kim to go all in. And we were prepared to go all in as well," the official said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States hadn't softened its demand for a full accounting of North Korea's nuclear program and that Trump had walked into the session clear-eyed about how far Kim was likely to go. The two-day summit ended a few hours early and without a planned joint statement memorializing progress. "We worked through the night," Pompeo said. "We were very hopeful we'd make enough progress that it would justify a signing statement at the ultimate concluding, and we didn't. The president made that decision." It was not until a half-hour before the two leaders were to have a celebratory lunch - with the table already set - that the White House announced "a program change." The chicken-and-egg problem of when the strapped North Korean regime is rewarded, and for what, is the central element of a deal that has eluded previous U.S. presidents. North Korea wants more up front than U.S. negotiators are willing to give, and it fell to Trump and Kim to try to meet in the middle. That was never going to work without more preparation and bottom-up planning, said Scott Snyder, a Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. "I think the failure was an admission of a need for more time and working-level talks to achieve an agreement," Snyder said. "It lets the North Koreans know that summitry has to be accompanied by process and that an end-run around working-level talks and exclusive focus on the leader-level won't necessarily yield results." Pompeo insisted that the United States has put in that grunt work and was not sandbagged. Asked why the two sides did not come to an interim agreement, Pompeo said, without elaboration, that "you should not assume that we didn't come to agreement on a whole number of issues." Pompeo said that no date had been set for ongoing talks. "My sense is, it'll take a while," he said. "We'll each need to regroup a little bit." The abrupt end to the summit may have exposed the limits of Trump's strategy to appeal directly to Kim, whom he used to ridicule as "Little Rocket Man" but now praises as a savvy leader who could preside over his country's economic transformation. Trump said the two parted on friendly terms, but he did not dangle a White House invitation or other perks as he did following their first meeting last year. "Good personal rapport is good, but it's not enough to bridge big gaps in the course of one high-level summit," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association. Trump could claim success after the leaders' first summit in Singapore simply because the historic meeting had happened at all, said Bruce Jentleson, a professor of public policy and political science at Duke University and a former State Department adviser. This time, they needed more than the symbolism of grins and handshakes replacing threats of "fire and fury," Jentleson said. "You don't set up a summit this way and be surprised like that," Jentleson said. "You do the prep work, you have a degree of agreement beforehand." To some extent, Trump backed himself into a corner last year by saying that any deal with North Korea must be all or nothing - complete denuclearization in exchange for any lifting of sanctions. "It was a good tactical position to start with . . . but an untenable position to maintain throughout negotiations," said a former U.S. intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid becoming involved in the politics of the issue. "The question was always going to be, when do we soften, and how do we do it in a way so that we can say with a straight face that we're not lifting sanctions, but make enough modifications so that we can actually get something back" from the North Koreans. Kim came with a step-by-step proposal that included the verified shutdown of Yongbyon, which the former official said was "a big thing, it's not a little thing," and asked for partial sanctions relief in return. But such agreements "require negotiations," and the summit apparently ran out of time. "It's a disappointment, and maybe a step backwards, but it doesn't feel like they're breaking off the entire process," the former official said. "The fact that they couldn't meet unrealistic expectations shouldn't divert us from understanding that apparently they may try this at the working level." Sue Mi Terry and Lisa Collins, fellows on Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, assessed the summit as a failure that could "make it very difficult to move negotiations forward at the working level since the discussions on even basic principles have failed at the highest leadership level." Until it is clear how North Korea's state media will play the summit, they wrote in a CSIS briefing paper Thursday, there is no clear way forward from an apparent stalemate. "North Korea is the land of lousy options," they said. "So far President Trump has been no more successful than his predecessors." In the absence of progress, experts worry that tensions could rise again. "How are Stephen Biegun and Kim Hyok Chol going to close a gap that Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un couldn't?" said John Delury, a Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul, referring to the U.S. special representative for North Korea appointed by Trump to negotiate an agreement and his North Korean counterpart. In the past several months, lower-level talks have been slow to make progress, as junior North Korean diplomats have lacked the negotiating authority to make concessions, said diplomats familiar with the talks. The issue has divided Trump's top advisers and America's closest allies, who have tried to push the president in different directions. National security adviser John Bolton is a staunch opponent of the talks and skeptical of Biegun. Bolton and like-minded officials at the Treasury Department and Pentagon had expressed concern that Biegun was moving too fast in looking to loosen sanctions or agreeing to an end-of-war declaration, according to a people familiar with the discussions. Defenders of Biegun said he is a pragmatist and seasoned negotiator who privately acknowledges the steep odds of a successful outcome. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has invested a huge amount of his personal prestige in engagement with North Korea. He is certain to be enormously disappointed in the breakdown of the talks. Trump spoke by phone to both Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose government had expressed skepticism about the talks, as he flew home Thursday. Moon spokesman Kim Eui-keum called it "regrettable" that Trump and Kim Jong Un were not able to reach "complete agreement" at the talks and said he hoped the two sides would continue to talk. But a South Korean presidential adviser offered a franker assessment. "I was flustered," said Kim Kwang-gil, a sanctions expert on the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation. "So many people in South Korea who took hopes in this summit . . . are left heart-broken." - - - Gearan reported from Washington. Karen DeYoung, also in Washington, and Philip Rucker and David Nakamura in Hanoi contributed to this report. Juan Guaido's first stop after he skipped out of Venezuela last week was Colombia. But after he failed to push food and medicine across the borders to hasten the end of autocratic President Nicolas Maduro's rule, he headed to Brazil. Now, he's in Paraguay, later he'll be in Argentina, and Ecuador is extending an invitation. The opposition leader insists he'll be home soon, but his lengthening regional tour raises questions about just how and when he intends to get back to Caracas. Guaido, head of the opposition-dominated National Assembly, risks not only being blocked from re-entering Venezuela, but being tossed into jail after violating a foreign-travel ban. Meanwhile, the amnesty he promised military officers who join him languishes in his own legislature and resurgent street protests have lost their focal point. The United States, which along with some 50 other nations recognizes Guaido as Venezuela's rightful leader after sham elections, has threatened severe repercussions if Maduro takes direct action against his chief rival. Still, Venezuela's ruling socialists have already exiled and thrown hundreds of dissidents behind bars. Guaido, a 35-year-old congressman, says his tour is meant to deepen ties with allies and plan how to defeat a dictatorship. Yet the longer he stays abroad, the more the likelihood that his movement to unseat Maduro will lose momentum after the effort to bring humanitarian aid into Venezuela was brutally crushed last week. "We will be back in Caracas very soon to continue the work we swore to do for all of Venezuela," he said in Asuncion following a closed door meeting with President Mario Abdo Benitez. He did not offer specifics on his upcoming travel plans. Shortly after the event, Argentine daily La Nacion announced that President Mauricio Macri would receive him later Friday. Guaido's aides confirmed the visit. Guaido is analyzing the effect of a potential jailing, while the government considers the repercussions of throwing him behind bars, said Felix Seijas, head of the Caracas polling firm Delphos. "For the government, the best-case scenario is that Guaido doesn't return," Seijas said. In visiting allies, "Guaido is trying to raise the stakes of being imprisoned." The opposition billed last Saturday as a day that would break Maduro's grip by ushering aid into a hungry nation. But still-loyal police and soldiers repelled thousands of activists moving food and medicine stockpiled at international crossings, heeding the Maduro government warning that the effort was a the precursor to an invasion. They loosed volleys of tear gas, plastic pellets and bullets, killing at least four, injuring hundreds and leaving Guaido stuck outside his country. On Friday, the Trump administration sanctioned six security officers "in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. More than 500 members of the security forces have deserted to Colombia since Saturday, but not a single high-ranking officer who commands troops has switched sides. Further complicating matters, a bill to give members of the military amnesty for corruption and rights abuses if they defect has stalled in Guaido's own National Assembly amid a backlash from hard-line lawmakers who say it's too forgiving. As Guaido travels, the regime has extended carnival holidays, urging Venezuelans to leave the cities for the beach. Guaido, meanwhile, says he will rally supporters when he arrives and is promising to announce another wave of protests. "We will continue to occupy the streets of Venezuela despite the threats to our lives," he said in Asuncion. --- --Bloomberg's Alex Vasquez contributed to this report. At the height of World War II, as darkness descended on the battlefields, a nightmare would appear in German skies. The "Night Witches." That's the name the Germans came up with for their nightly terror - 80 or so female aviators from Russia dropping bombs from rickety wooden planes that sounded like brooms sweeping the sky. These pilots, who flew more than 30,000 sorties, were among the bravest fighters in that terrible, long war. "One girl managed to fly seven times to the front line and back in her plane," Irina Rakobolskaya, chief of staff for the Night Witches, said in a short documentary for the NBC News education division. "She would return, shaking, and they would hang new bombs, refuel her plane, and she'd go off to bomb the target again. This is how we worked, can you imagine?" The Night Witches, despite their fierce air prowess, have been mostly lost to history. But now, due to New York Times best-selling author Kate Quinn, their story is being revived. Quinn's new historical novel "The Huntress," published last month, highlights the exploits of the Night Witches and is being heavily promoted on social media. Quinn stumbled across the story of the Night Witches during a late night Google hunt for potential story lines. She was hooked immediately. "It's a story about women of the past who have done some truly amazing things," Quinn said in an interview. "What's especially cool about the Night Witches is that of all the allies during World War II, the Russians were the only country who put women into combat officially." To create her fictional Night Witches, Quinn relied, in part, on a collection of interviews with real Night Witches titled "A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II." The women described their fascination with flight in the days after Amelia Earhart captured the world's attention. Also, they wanted revenge. Nadezhda Vasiliyevna Popova, one of the pilots interviewed, said she volunteered after her brother was killed in battle. "I saw the German aircraft flying along our roads filled with people who were leaving their homes, firing at them with their machine guns," she said. "Seeing this gave me feelings inside that made me want to fight them." The Night Witches were led by Marina Raskova, a famous Russian aviator who convinced Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to use female bomber pilots after Germany invaded Russia. Furious attacks by the Germans left Stalin short on men. The female pilots were treated like male bomber pilots - well, sort of. The witches were forced to wear old uniforms and boots discarded by their male counterparts. Their planes were rickety biplane crop-dusters - "a coffin with wings," as another writer told the History Channel. But none of that mattered to the Night Witches. In reading about their missions and examining pictures of them, Quinn was astounded by just how far they'd go to drop their bombs. "It's quite astounding when you're looking at a picture of this Russian babushka," Quinn said, "and she's saying something about 'Oh yes, you know, when the bomb gets stuck on the rack you just climb out on the wing at a thousand meters and, you know, you just lay flat and you give it a push.'" Quinn's assessment of their tenacity: "You women are crazy. You're incredibly brave, but my god you're crazy." The bonds between the female bomber pilots resembled the bonds formed between men in the trenches. They'd sing and dance on the airfield while waiting for the sun to set. They'd help each other with laundry. They'd complain to one another about the misery of wearing men's underwear. And then, as darkness descended, they became killing machines. At least 30 Night Witches never returned from sorties. Those who did make it home alive spent the rest of their lives marveling at what they had done. "I look up into the dark sky," Popova said, "close my eyes and picture myself as a girl at the controls of my bomber, and I think, 'Nadya, how on earth did you do it?' " Andre Previn, who blurred the boundaries between jazz, pop and classical music and between composing, conducting and performing in an extraordinarily eclectic, award-filled career, died Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 89. His death was confirmed by his manager, Linda Petrikova. Previn wrote or arranged the music for dozens of movies and received four Academy Awards. Audiences knew him as well as a jazz pianist who appeared with Ella Fitzgerald, among others, and as a composer who turned out musicals, orchestral works, chamber music, operas and concertos, including several for his fifth wife, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. He was also the music director or principal conductor of a half-dozen orchestras. Critics described Previn as a "wunderkind in a turtleneck" and the "Mickey Mouse maestro" when he was in his 20s and 30s. He was often compared to Leonard Bernstein, a similarly versatile conductor, composer and pianist. And like Bernstein, Previn was no stranger to a life of glamour and media attention, particularly when actress Mia Farrow left Frank Sinatra, her husband, and married Previn after an affair that had become grist for the gossip columns. Previn himself considered Bernstein an idol. "Bernstein has made it possible not to specialize in one area of music," he said. "You no longer have to do just Broadway shows, or movies, or conduct you can do any or all of them." And Previn did. In the 1960s, he appeared in sold-out classical and jazz concerts. Dizzy Gillespie marveled at his performances. "He has the flow, you know, which a lot of guys don't have and won't ever get," he said. He was born Andreas Ludwig Priwin on April 6, 1929, in Berlin. After his parents realized he had perfect pitch his father had been an amateur pianist in Berlin Andre entered the Berlin Conservatory when he was 6. His father, Jacob, a Polish-born lawyer who was Jewish, moved the family to Paris in 1938 to escape the Nazis. Andre studied with Marcel Dupre at the Paris Conservatory for about a year before the family left for Los Angeles. There, he studied with composer and conductor Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, violinist and composer Joseph Achron and composer Ernst Toch. Previn became a U.S. citizen in 1943, and in 1950 he was drafted into the Army and served with the Sixth Army Band. He also studied conducting in San Francisco with Pierre Monteux, whom he later followed at the London Symphony. A relative worked in the music department at Universal Studios, and Previn wrote music for movies even before he went into the Army. He collected Oscars for scoring "Gigi" (1959), "Porgy and Bess" (1960), "Irma La Douce" (1964) and "My Fair Lady" (1965). He did not write classic songs like "Summertime" and "I Could Have Danced All Night"; rather, he arranged and orchestrated them. Like Bernstein, Previn also tried Broadway. With Allan Jay Lerner, he wrote "Coco," a musical about designer Coco Chanel that starred Katharine Hepburn and ran for 329 performances in 1969 and 1970. Also like Bernstein, Previn was a crowd-pleaser as a conductor. He remained principal conductor of the London Symphony until 1979; he was also the principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1985 to 1988. In the United States, he held the Pittsburgh job from 1976 to 1984 right before taking over in Los Angeles. As he approached 70, Previn turned to opera, writing "A Streetcar Named Desire" based on the Tennessee Williams play. Previn also won 10 competitive Grammys from 1958 to 2004 and a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2010. This year, Tanglewood had planned events to celebrate Previn's 90th birthday. Tanglewood said the events would now be framed as a celebration of his life and work. The collapse of talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un in Hanoi means Pyongyang's nuclear program will continue - and so, too, will the still unresolved Korean War, now nearly 70 years old. The war, which ended with a truce but not a peace treaty, is famously forgotten in the United States, but it is invoked as legal authority every time a president sends U.S. troops overseas without congressional authorization. The war was the first large overseas U.S. conflict without a declaration of war, setting a precedent for the unilateral presidential power exercised today. The Korean War has helped to enable this century's forever wars. A peace deal, which Trump has talked of reaching, would not undo this forgotten legacy, but renewed American attention to the Korean War should be an occasion to rethink the president's war powers. Trump's Office of Legal Counsel drew upon the Korean War precedent as authority after he ordered targeted military strikes on an air base in Syria from which the Syrian regime had launched chemical weapons on its own people in 2017 and 2018. In 2011, President Barack Obama also relied on the Korea precedent when, without congressional authorization, he ordered airstrikes in Libya in an effort to prevent civilian deaths by the government of Moammar Gadhafi. Similarly, it was authority for President George W. Bush when - again without congressional authorization - he sent Marines to Haiti for the purpose of peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. In late June 1950, American leaders were caught by surprise when North Korean forces invaded South Korea, a country established after World War II with United Nations and U.S. support. The administration of Harry Truman believed North Korean action was directed by the Soviet Union. Decades later, Soviet archives would show that North Korea pushed the Soviets to go along, but Truman and his advisers saw the invasion as a possible template for Soviet military action elsewhere in the world. They believed they needed to act quickly and forcefully. On the evening of June 24, when news of the crisis first trickled into Washington, Dean Rusk, assistant secretary of state for Far Eastern affairs, and others rushed to the State Department and began planning to bring the issue before the U.N. Security Council. That "was just automatic," John D. Hickerson, assistant secretary for U.N. affairs, remembered, not something they debated. Truman agreed to this. The council required convincing, however. The United Kingdom cautioned against going "beyond the bounds of the evidence," and some members questioned whether the conflict was a civil war, which the U.N. should stay out of, rather than an act of aggression. Consequently, a resolution passed on June 25 was limited, and it was too early to contemplate the use of force. It called upon North Korea to cease hostilities and withdraw, and asked member states to render assistance. The Soviet Union was absent and unable to use its veto. Over the next two days, conditions in on the Korean Peninsula deteriorated. Lacking weapons that could stop the Soviet tanks used by North Korean forces, the South Korean army could not hold the line. The capital city of Seoul quickly fell. North Korean soldiers pushed south, and hundreds of thousands of civilians became refugees. The war looked like a rout. The Truman administration again turned to the U.N. Security Council. On June 27, it passed a resolution calling upon member states to assist South Korea in repelling the North Korean attack. It was a historic moment: the first time the U.N. Security Council had authorized the use of force. The council resolution provided international authority, but the U.S. Constitution required more: authorization from Congress. Within the first 24 hours, members of Congress raised concerns about whether Korea was a civil war, and whether the president intended to use American ground troops. The president conferred with selected lawmakers but not Congress as a whole. On the evening of June 26, after meeting with military and State Department advisers, Truman authorized the Navy and Air Force to offer "fullest possible support" to South Korea below the 38th parallel that divided the North and the South. Military targets were "cleared for attack." This was the night before the U.N. Security Council Resolution authorizing force was approved. Truman met with a handful of congressional leaders the morning of June 27, and he released a public statement announcing his decision to use force. Truman had sufficient support at the time, and Congress would have probably passed a war declaration had he sought one. Truman aide George Elsey, who closely recorded the events, recalled that June 27 would have been the right time to seek a war resolution, "but apparently nobody thought of it at that time." They were "too busy thinking of military action and United Nations action to try to cover up their tracks with congressional resolutions." In other words, the administration took a tremendously consequential step - launching a major military action while ignoring the authority of Congress to declare war - without actually thinking about it. Sen. Robert Taft, R-Ohio, loudly objected to Truman's decision, insisting there was "no legal authority for what he has done." Most members of Congress initially closed ranks with the president, however, as American troops headed into harm's way. As time went on, Secretary of State Dean Acheson urged the president to seek a resolution to respond to criticism. Truman was reluctant. By early July, it seemed improbable that he could get the near-unanimous vote he would have liked. But a war resolution only required a simple majority. Truman viewed Congress as a political stumbling block, rather than his constitutional partner charged with the authority to declare war. Truman declined to address Congress until three weeks after the invasion out of concern that it would appear he was asking for a war declaration. He insisted, oddly, that it was not up to him, but to Congress, to propose a war resolution. In the end, the most important legal document on presidential power in Korea was not a war declaration, an informal congressional resolution or even a formal legal opinion by the attorney general. It was a State Department memo, which has been cited ever since. The memo argued, in part, that the very survival of the United Nations was at stake in the conflict. The U.N. was only five years old at the time. Defiance by North Korea of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the memo said, "would have meant that the United Nations would have ceased to exist as a serious instrumentality for the maintenance of international peace." Protection of the U.N. was an American "interest" that justified intervention under the president's power as commander in chief. The memo also listed 85 instances when American forces had been deployed without congressional authorization. They were identified as "peacetime" examples, and were minuscule in scope compared with the Korean War. U.S. troops were sent to Puerto Rico in 1824 "to atone for insult to the flag and procure apology;" to Haiti in 1888 to free a captured American merchant vessel; and to Paris in 1914 to guard the U.S. Embassy. More significant, but still limited actions, included President Woodrow Wilson's order sending troops to Mexico to pursue revolutionary general Pancho Villa in 1916. Notably left off the list was the Philippine-American war from 1899 to 1902, in which the United States fought a bloody undeclared war against the Philippine independence movement after the Spanish-American War. To justify this, Truman refused to call Korea a war. Instead it was a "police action." Conditions on the ground belied this ruse. The first American ground troops deployed to the Korean Peninsula met with disaster. Underequipped and outmanned, they were ultimately forced to flee, abandoning their dead and scores of injured. Napalm was used extensively but sometimes fell on U.S. and U.N. troops, burning them to death. With no quick victory, the war lasted through brutally cold winters - one of the most common war injuries was amputation resulting from frostbite. American families waited at home, often without word. "Do you have a son in Korea, outnumbered 10 to 1?" a father asked Taft. The war's greatest burdens fell on Korean civilians. Millions perished. Many were killed by U.S. and U.N. aerial bombing, which particularly decimated the North. There was so much carnage that some refugees returning home in the aftermath could not avoid walking over bodies in the forest. The fighting ended with an armistice signed by North Korea and the United Nations in 1953. In the years that followed, Democratic and Republican administrations crafted a defense of presidential unilateralism in opinions by the Office of Legal Counsel, sometimes in secret. The conflict in Korea showed that it was "deeply rooted historical practice" to send troops to war without congressional authorization, according to the Office of Legal Counsel opinion that gave Trump a green light in Syria. In addition, starting with Korea, supporting U.N. action counted as a national interest the president could protect militarily. The Korean War precedent converged with and informed another practice. After Korea, authorizations for the use of military force became the primary way for Congress to exercise its constitutional power. This method has been around since 1798, when President John Adams sought authority to use the Navy to protect American ships during an undeclared naval war with France. Authorizations replaced war declarations for even large-scale wars like the one in Vietnam. In 2001, Congress passed an Authorization for Use of Military Force approving armed conflict "against those nations, organizations, or persons" who had "planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001," and those who had harbored them. Like the Korean War precedent, this had unexpected aftereffects. It was later interpreted to apply to groups that did not even exist at the time it was passed. Through this process, presidential war power has become a one-way ratchet. By failing to step in, Congress has acquiesced in the loss of its own power. If Trump's peace initiative ultimately fails, it should at least rekindle attention to a crucial pivot point in the decline of democratic restraints on war powers. One of the most surprising aspects about Truman's decision to bypass Congress was that he thought so little about it. Still, the war became part of the historical practice of presidential power, enabling the commander in chief to act alone, and cutting political restraint out of decisions to go to war. --- Dudziak is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University, and the author of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences. WASHINGTON - President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen is due back on Capitol Hill next week to continue what's been a dramatic series of public and private hearings as he apologizes for lying to lawmakers and divulges what he says Trump knew about financial infractions and Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Cohen on Thursday spent almost eight hours behind closed doors with members of the House Intelligence Committee. One point of interest was the subject of pardons, according to people familiar with the interview. They were not authorized to disclose their knowledge of the meeting and spoke on the condition of anonymity. While it is not clear what precisely was discussed, Trump's pardon power - and how he has attempted to wield it - has been an area of interest for lawmakers and investigators exploring obstruction of justice allegations involving the president. During his public hearing earlier this week, Cohen said he had never asked for nor would he accept a pardon. Lawmakers also have expressed interest in the timeline associated with efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and Cohen's contention that Trump had advance notice of WikiLeaks' plan, in the summer of 2016, to release emails damaging to his opponent, Hillary Clinton, people familiar with the matter said. They want to know more, too, about whether any foreign actors have financial leverage over the president, the people said. Cohen is scheduled to complete his testimony with the House Intelligence Committee on March 6. After Cohen, the panel intends to interview more of Trump's associates, including Trump Organization CFO Alan Weisselberg, with whom the House Oversight Committee also has expressed an interest in speaking. Trump's former business associate Felix Sater, who played a key role in Trump's efforts to pursue construction of a Trump Tower in Moscow, is scheduled to appear before the Intelligence Committee in a public hearing scheduled for March 14, Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Thursday. "Just to set your expectations: Not every hearing is going to be like the open hearing with Michael Cohen," Schiff told reporters, adding: "We are going to try to do as much as we can in the open." Cohen pulled no punches during a public hearing before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, when he offered scathing anecdotes, insights and a paper trail that he said shows Trump to be a "con man," a "racist" and a "cheat." The drama was amplified by challenges from Trump's allies, including Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that Cohen misrepresented his past in an effort to clean up his public image. On Thursday, Jordan and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., wrote to Attorney General William Barr, asking him to investigate whether Cohen had perjured himself when he insisted during his testimony that he had not wanted a job in the Trump administration and had been content to serve as Trump's personal lawyer. That claim contradicts reporting and statements by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who stated in court documents that in private communications, Cohen had told friends that he wanted a job in the Trump administration - and that when he didn't get one, he "found a way to monetize his relationship with an access to the President." In their letter to Barr, Jordan and Meadows also accused Cohen of participating in illegal lobbying, trying to obscure foreign contracts on disclosure forms and misrepresenting his prowess as a lawyer. Cohen pushed back on all those accusations during Wednesday's hearing, in which he also frequently apologized for "mistakes" he made while working for Trump. He has stressed that he wants to correct the record of lies he told lawmakers when he last came to testify in 2017. Cohen told lawmakers Wednesday that some of Trump's lawyers, including Jay Sekulow, edited those statements before he delivered them to Congress, changing details about the timeline of Trump's efforts to build a tower in Moscow. Sekulow has denied the assertion. Intelligence Committee Democrats said Thursday that Cohen was a "fully cooperative" witness and that they want to press him for further details about the president's dealings. Democrats believe Cohen has details about how long into the 2016 campaign Trump pursued plans to build a tower in Moscow, the extent to which Trump knew what WikiLeaks had planned, and whether Trump committed financial crimes with banks or campaign finance violations. During his public testimony Wednesday, Cohen gave lawmakers some information about those topics, showing them copies of checks, bank records and other agreements. Intelligence Committee Democrats believe they can probe those questions more deeply. But how credible lawmakers find Cohen, and the new information he is providing them, appear to differ along party lines. When asked, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a member of the intelligence panel, said Cohen appeared to be "liberated." Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, another Intelligence Committee member, said simply that Cohen's testimony was "interesting." - - - The Washington Post's Tom Hamburger and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report. KABUL - Jaish-e-Muhammad, a secretive Islamist militia based in Pakistan, is known mostly in the West for its involvement in the abduction and gruesome, video-recorded beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl while he was working in Pakistan in early 2002. But Jaish's main target is India, and its stock in trade are suicide bombings, like the one it claimed Feb. 14 in Pulwama, Kashmir. The attack, which killed 40 Indian paramilitary police officers, triggered two days of military skirmishes between India and Pakistan this week and raised the specter of full-scale war between the nuclear-armed rivals. The deadly bombing in Kashmir, a region claimed by both countries, was one of scores of militant attacks on the Indian-controlled side that have taken thousands of lives in the past quarter-century. India has blamed them on guerrilla groups with covert Pakistani support; Pakistan has routinely denied such charges and focused instead on alleged abuses by Indian troops. But behind those denials is a complicated mix of reasons that Pakistani officials are unwilling or unable to challenge the violent sway of underground, anti-India groups. India and Pakistan have been at odds for 70 years, and the "Kashmir freedom struggle" is a proxy for the existential threat Pakistanis see in their larger, more powerful neighbor. Public sentiment is reinforced by patriotic media and military propaganda. The annual Kashmir Solidarity Day holiday features posters of Indian repression, not militant-bomb victims. A succession of Pakistani governments have banned militant groups, usually after international protests following especially shocking attacks; Jaish was banned in 2002 after it attempted to assassinate the country's military ruler at the time, Pervez Musharraf. But prosecutors and judges have been reluctant to aggressively pursue or punish militant leaders because of their religious influence and military ties. Imran Khan, who took office as Pakistan's prime minister in August, is a secular-minded liberal who campaigned against religious extremism but was careful not to challenge the armed forces on foreign policy, especially its core mission of competing with India. In the current crisis, Khan has walked a line between politician and statesman, calling on India to "settle this with talks" and offering to investigate the Pulwama bombing if India provides evidence of a Pakistani connection, while also echoing domestic bravado and warning that Pakistan is prepared to respond forcefully if attacked. The contradiction has been more awkward for some of his aides. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was asked in a televised interview about Jaish and the whereabouts of its reclusive leader, Islamist cleric Masood Azhar, 50. He answered vaguely that Azhar was in Pakistan but was "unwell . . . That is the information I have." Qureshi also said that if India had "solid evidence" linking Azhar to the bombing, it should share that proof "so we can convince the judiciary and the people." Qureshi's answer was as telling as it was terse. It spoke to the broad popularity of the Kashmir cause and the triumphal mood of the moment. It also pointed to the historic reluctance of Pakistani courts to crack down on militancy. In recent years, a number of militant leaders have been arrested and charged with crimes, only to be released for lack of evidence or on technicalities. The best-known anti-India militia is Lashkar-e-Taiba, founded in 1989 with the goal of toppling Indian rule in Kashmir. Its longtime leader, a fiery cleric named Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, is a popular religious figure who has been periodically detained but then freed. Laskhar was banned in Pakistan in 2002 but is believed to have carried out numerous attacks in Kashmir since then. In 2008, it was blamed by Indian and U.S. officials for orchestrating a shooting spree by commandos in Mumbai, which killed 160 people. It has changed its name several times, rebranded itself as a humanitarian and disaster relief organization, and recently established a political party that ran candidates for Parliament. Jaish is a much smaller, more secretive group, founded in 2000 by Azhar. Over the next few years, it carried out many high-profile attacks, including the storming of India's Parliament building in 2001, then shifted its focus to Kashmir with a suicide car bombing at the gate of an army headquarters. Unlike Lashkar, Jaish has no political or social arm and no high-profile leader. It is also said to be internally divided, and some Pakistani experts said the Pulwama bombing could have been carried out by a faction or spinoff group. A third militant group once active in Kashmir, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, comprised former Islamist fighters in Afghanistan who switched to the anti-India cause. The United States designated Jaish as an international terrorist organization in 2001 and was joined by several European governments in asking the U.N. Security Council to do the same. The moves were reportedly vetoed by China, an emerging ally of Pakistan. This week, after India bombed what it said was a Jaish militant training camp, the Western governments again asked the U.N. body to take action. Last year, the Pakistan government enacted a law to ban all internationally sanctioned militant groups, but it lapsed and was replaced by an administrative measure with less teeth. "Pakistan has taken some measures to put pressure on militants, but that pressure should be sustained and expanded," said Muhammad Amir Rana, a Pakistani analyst. "It has to reflect the state's resolve that no militant group will be allowed to operate here, that they will not be allowed to hide behind the state's religious-nationalist paradigm." Rana said that in the past, "Pakistani intelligence agencies have been blamed for ties with militant bodies, but I feel now there is a realization that these groups are a major problem." - - - The Washington Post's Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report. OXON HILL, Md. - Vice President Mike Pence warned Friday that "socialist" policies embraced by Democrats, including presidential candidates, risk throwing the country into the kind of economic free-fall and autocratic grip ravaging Venezuela. Pence also said President Donald Trump was right to leave the negotiating table with North Korea on Thursday, and vowed that the United States will insist on eradicating the nuclear weapons threat in future talks. Pence mocked Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a Democratic candidate challenging Trump in 2020, as an out-of-touch socialist and the health-care and energy policies endorsed by several others among the 2020 Democratic field as big government. "Democrats openly advocate an economic system that has impoverished millions of people around the world," Pence said in an address to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. "Under the guise of 'Medicare-for-al' and a Green New Deal, Democrats are embracing the same tired economic theories that have impoverished nations and stifled the liberties of millions over the past century," Pence said. "That system is socialism." Trump also labeled Democrats as socialists, and accused them of wanting to turn the United States into Venezuela. Pence broadened that charge Friday, tying the 2020 field to liberal agenda items that not all Democrats endorse. Trump will address the annual conference on Saturday. "What Medicare-for-all really means is quality health care for none," Pence said. "And the only thing green about the so-called Green New Deal is how much green it's going to cost taxpayers if these people ever pass it into law." The idea that the new Democratic agenda constituted "socialism" - and that if enacted, it would send the United States tumbling toward the fate of Venezuela - was dominant throughout the conference. Pence invoked "socialism" 18 times, warning that Sanders, who leads in polls of declared candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, was writing the party's agenda. Pence got louder applause for references to Trump's promised border wall and antiabortion policies, and also received sustained applause for declaring that anti-Semitism "must be universally condemned." Trump drew criticism in 2017 for an equivocal response to anti-Semitic and white nationalist marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia. Pence urged Latin American leaders in Colombia on Monday to do more to oppose the socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and met with opposition leader Juan Guaido. The United States and most Western nations recognize Guaido as the country's legitimate leader, but Maduro retains control. "We know where socialism leads. You want socialism? Just look at Venezuela," Pence said Friday. "Venezuela was once one of the richest and most vibrant democracies in the Western Hemisphere, but under Maduro's socialist rule, it has become one of the poorest and most despotic," Pence said, citing the country's 90 percent poverty rate and millions of refugees who have fled. "The struggle in Venezuela is between dictatorship and democracy, between socialism and freedom," he said. The Trump administration announced new sanctions Friday against six high-ranking government officials tied to Maduro. The Treasury Department accused the six of obstructing delivery of humanitarian aid. The State Department also imposed new visa restrictions on dozens of Maduro government officials and their families, restricting their travel to the United States. Although Pence and Trump have repeatedly said that military force remains an option to deliver humanitarian aid or defend U.S. interests, the administration appears to have stepped back from its most bellicose rhetoric this week. Pence did not repeat the "all options" language at CPAC. Elliott Abrams, the State Department's special envoy for Venezuela, rejected criticism from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggesting that the United States is gunning for military intervention. "I don't think he actually believes that we're attempting to do that, and I think, as you know, we are not attempting to do that," Abrams said. "We continue to say and we always will that all options are on the table because they always are. But I think anyone who actually looks at American policy in Venezuela could not reach that conclusion." Abrams also declined to comment Friday on a tweet from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., suggesting that Maduro could meet the same fate as Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was executed. "I'm not going to get into that other than to say that I think that dictatorships come to an end. Some last for a very long time, others a much shorter time," Abrams told reporters. "This one in Venezuela will also come to an end. We hope that it comes to an end quickly and peacefully." The Trump administration is not concerned about any perceived loss of momentum for the opposition after Maduro's show of force in turning back aid trucks last weekend, and Guaido's decision to leave the country for talks with Pence and other leaders, Abrams said. "What underlies all this is not anything the United States is doing. What underlies it is the desire of the Venezuelan people to escape from the condition of dictatorship and economic misery that they are suffering, and that has not diminished," Abrams said. Guaid0 was in Brazil on Thursday, attempting to solidify support for his challenge to Maduro. He vowed to return to Venezuela by Monday, despite threats of imprisonment. Abrams said the United States is concerned about his welfare as he returns. "I think that if he were arrested on his return, you would see a very large reaction on the part of the Venezuelan people and on the part of the international community." Also Thursday, the United States and Russia presented rival measures on Venezuela in the U.N. Security Council. The council rejected both the U.S. version backing Guaido and the Russian one backing Maduro. - - - The Washington Post's David Weigel in Oxon Hill, Maryland, contributed to this report. Philip Corfman, a physician and the director of the Center for Population Research at the National Institutes of Health, was testifying in 1970 before a Senate panel convened to investigate the safety of birth-control pills when a clamor erupted in the gallery. "Why isn't there a pill for men?" members of an activist group known as the District of Columbia Women's Liberation, demanded to know. "Why are 10 million women being used as guinea pigs?" The protesters were escorted out, according to an account by Barbara Seaman, an advocate whose 1969 book "The Doctors' Case Against the Pill" helped spur Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis., to call the hearings. When the proceedings resumed, Dr. Corfman sided with the women. "The questions were and are important; no one can deny it," he said years later in an interview published in the volume "For Women Only! Your Guide to Health Empowerment" by Seaman and a co-author, Gary Null. "The activists were women worried about the safety of the pill and had a right to be heard. They also had a right to be wary of the predominance of men on the committee and the fact that almost all of those giving expert testimony were also men." Corfman, who later helped remove high-dose birth-control pills from the market when safer versions were available, and whom Ms. Magazine once named a "hero" for his efforts on behalf of women's health, died Feb. 18 at a retirement home in Bowie, Maryland. He had progressive muscular atrophy, a condition related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, said his son Stan Corfman. He was 92. Cindy Pearson, executive director of the nonprofit National Women's Health Network, said in an interview that the "range and safety of contraceptive methods available to women today" in the United States is owed more to Corfman than to "any other one person." Trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist, he helped shape reproductive research at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, where he worked from 1964 to 1984 and where he was the first chief of the population center, and later at the World Health Organization and the Food and Drug Administration. He retired from the FDA in 1998. "We wouldn't have had a women's health movement without Phil Corfman," Seaman, who died in 2008, once said. "He was our mole. He was our inside contact. When we needed to get reliable information, we could always get it from him. When we needed to object to something, he saw that we were heard." Corfman was credited with using his authority to improve the safety of existing contraceptive methods and expanding research on new ones. He helped lay the groundwork for the emergency morning-after pill, and the National Women's Health Network credited him with guiding mifepristone - the drug also called RU-486 that in combination with another drug can induce miscarriage - "through a complex and politically charged approval process." Women's health activists praised him for his efforts to provide patients with detailed information about the risks and benefits of their prescriptions and to involve them in regulatory matters. As a member of the FDA committee that reviewed obstetric and gynecological drugs, he saw women's health activists sitting in the hallway and invited them into what had previously been a closed-door meeting about the safety of birth-control pills. "At a time when doctors were like kings, to have a sympathetic voice made all the difference," said Alice Wolfson, who was one of those activists and one of the protesters at the Senate hearings. "He was that person." Philip Albert Corfman was born in Berea, Ohio, on July 19, 1926. He traced his outlook to figures including his grandmother, who boasted that she could "drive a team of horses like a man"; to his mother, who insisted that, as a housewife, she earned half of the family income; and to his father, the president of the real estate division of Union Carbide, who participated in household chores. Corfman served in the Navy in the Pacific at the end of World War II, then completed his bachelor's degree in premedical studies at Ohio's Oberlin College in 1950. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1954. During his early career as a practicing obstetrician, he said, he sought to involve fathers in the delivery of their babies. Corfman was a longtime resident of Bethesda, Maryland. His wife, the former Eunice Luccock, died in 1980 after three decades of marriage. Their daughter Caris Corfman died in 2007. Survivors include three sons, Stan Corfman of New York City, Timothy Corfman of Walnut Creek, California, and Mark Corfman of Poolesville, Maryland; and six grandchildren. His partner of 32 years, Harriet B. Presser, the founder of what is now the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland, died in 2012. Corfman brought to his work an egalitarianism that some activists argued had long been absent from contraceptive research. "We need better methods for women," he once said, "but I think even more importantly they need some reasonably modern methods for men." In the decades after he was sentenced to die for a triple murder, Billie Wayne Coble had plenty time of time to consider how his final moments alive might play out. There was a run of appeals to commute Coble's death sentence following the 1989 killing of his estranged wife's parents and her brother, a Texas police officer. And there was a last-minute plea to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his Thursday execution. It was denied that same day, and prison staff in Huntsville, Texas, readied a slate of lethal-injection drugs to kill the 70-year-old. Coble left a long, baffling trail of wreckage over the killings and the kidnapping of his estranged wife, Karen Vicha, whose children he tied up in their home before the abduction. On Thursday evening, he was asked if wanted to provide any last words, the Associated Press reported. He did. "That'll be $5," Coble said, a possible reference to his nickname, Five Dollar Bill. He told gathered family that he loved them. "That'll be $5," he repeated and nodded, adding, "take care." He began to gasp and snore, the AP reported. The cryptic words still hung in the air when chaos overtook the chamber observation room. Coble's son Gordon pounded on the observation glass window, cursing and shouting "No!" the Houston Chronicle reported. Soon Gordon Coble's son Dalton Coble joined the fray, along with a woman the AP described as a daughter-in-law. The three were "yelling obscenities, throwing fists and kicking at others" before they were moved to a courtyard and handcuffed by police, the AP reported. "Why are you doing this?" the woman asked police. "They just killed his daddy." As the scuffle continued outside the chamber, a single dose of pentobarbital hit Coble's bloodstream, the AP reported. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later at 6:24 p.m., becoming the oldest prisoner Texas has executed since it resumed the death penalty in 1982. Gordon and Dalton Coble were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, Walker County Jail records show. The fracas was an exclamation point at the end of a 30-year legal odyssey for a man who one former prosecutor said had a "heart full of scorpions." Coble, distraught over a coming divorce, kidnapped his estranged wife before he was arrested and freed on bond, the AP reported. But nine days later, he arrived at Vicha's home, where he handcuffed and tied up her three daughters and her nephew, J.R. Vicha. Coble shot Karen Vicha's parents, Robert Vicha, 64, and Zelda Vicha, 60, at their home in suburban Waco, and her brother, Bobby Vicha, 39, at his home near his parents. He returned to Karen Vicha's home to wait for her return, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing court records. "Karen, I've killed your momma and your daddy and your brother," he told her upon arrival, the paper reported. "They are all dead, and nobody is going to come help you now." He allowed her to kiss her children goodbye before he kidnapped her again, drove her to a deserted field and threatened to rape her. The commotion got the attention of a sheriff, who followed in a patrol car. Coble stabbed Vicha in the chin and face as he drove and crashed into a parked car in an effort to kill himself to avoid prison, the paper reported. He was arrested at the scene and sentenced to death by a jury decision in a McLennan County court the next year. In 2007, an appeals court ordered a new trial on his punishment, but a second jury convened and handed down a death sentence the following year, the AP reported. Crawford Long, a former first assistant district attorney in McLennan County who helped in the second trial, described Coble as a man with a "heart full of scorpions," according to the AP. Coble's attorneys criticized the outcome of the second trial, citing the state's reliance on a witness who said Coble posed a threat despite good behavior while on death row, the Chronicle reported. Earlier this year, they pleaded with the state to take him off death row because of his age. "He is now 70 years old, in poor health, and has an almost blemish-free prison record for the past 30 years," attorney Richard Ellis wrote, according to the Chronicle. "His execution would serve no valid purpose." Some family members of the victims disagreed with that notion. J.R. Vicha was 11 when Coble tied up and threatened him and his cousins. He told the AP the execution brought a sense of relief. "Still, the way they do it is more humane than what he did to my family. It's not what he deserves but it will be good to know we got as much justice as allowed by the law," Vicha said. Vicha later became a prosecutor, inspired by his police-officer father. He operates a private law practice and has worked to get a stretch of highway near Waco renamed after his father. "Every time I run into somebody that knew [his father and grandparents], it's a good feeling. And when I hear stories about them, it still makes it feel like they're kinda still here," Vicha told the AP. HANOI, Vietnam - President Donald Trump flew for 20 hours to this bustling Vietnamese capital determined to earn a place in history as the American statesman whose personal charm overcame decades of intransigence and erased the North Korean nuclear threat. But the self-proclaimed master dealmaker left Hanoi on Thursday empty-handed by his failure to coax an erratic and reclusive dictator into giving up his arsenal. Trump was so certain that he could broker an accord with Kim Jong Un, even if an incremental one, that the White House announced it had scheduled a joint signing ceremony at which the two leaders would triumphantly conclude their two-day nuclear summit. But that event, along with a working luncheon, was abruptly canceled amid a standoff over Kim's demand that the United States remove all economic sanctions against North Korea without Pyongyang completely ending its nuclear program. "Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times," Trump told reporters at a news conference before flying home to Washington. The unexpected collapse of talks here was a setback for a president who has invested more than a year in cultivating a friendship with Kim - in so doing holding his tongue on Kim's record of brutality and human rights abuses - and whose signature foreign policy aim has been his unconventional strategy for denuclearizing North Korea. It also came at a traumatic moment for the president. On Wednesday, his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, delivered hours of extraordinary testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington alleging in gripping detail a years-long pattern of deception, lies and criminality by Trump. The attention the hearing garnered will likely only fuel House Democrats efforts to investigate the president and his administration. Trump also could soon face the ramifications from the findings of the special counsel's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 president election and any role the Trump campaign may have played. The Hanoi summit underscored the limits of Trump's ability to translate the charisma and hustler instincts that made him a wealthy star in New York real estate into the more nuanced realm of international diplomacy. He has faced sharp criticism - including from within his own administration - for his approach, which relies more on style than substance. "It exposed Trump's overreliance on personal relationships and it highlighted his tendency to badly under prepare," said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Haass added that Trump "weakened his own hand by brimming with optimism. It signaled that he wanted an agreement too much, which then, I expect, only increased Kim's instinct to ask for too much." Trump's efforts are not dashed entirely, however. The president said he was hopeful that negotiations would continue and that he and Kim eventually could find agreement, although he said the two had not committed to holding a third summit. "This wasn't a walk away like you get up and walk out," Trump told reporters. "No, this was very friendly. We shook hands . . . There's a warmth that we have and I hope that stays. I think it will. But we're positioned to do something very special." Trump appeared chastened and unusually subdued in his 37-minute news conference here, a marked contrast to the celebratory and freewheeling postgame show he staged in Singapore last summer at the conclusion of his historic first summit with Kim. He did not joust as he often does with reporters, although he called on a number of journalists from China whose questions were docile relative to some of the ones he fields from the White House press corps. Even a friendly question from Sean Hannity, the Fox News Channel host who stood with senior White House officials against the wall before Trump encouraged him to inquire, did not perk the president's mood. Trump had Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flank him onstage, and even called his top diplomat to the microphone to explain the inability to secure a deal with North Korea, as if he wanted to mount a defense. Trump considers Pompeo his favorite Cabinet member, according to current and former administration officials, who say the secretary of state has a special touch in handling the president. Trump said that Pompeo was opposed to the deal from the North Koreans. Trump was asked only one question here Thursday about Cohen's testimony, from Jonathan Karl of ABC News, and answered by dismissing Cohen's hearing as "fake." "I tried to watch as much as I could," Trump said. "I wasn't able to watch too much because I've been a little bit busy, but I think having a fake hearing like that and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing." Trump went on to accuse Cohen of "shameful" and false testimony - except in one area, which the president spun as evidence that he did not conspire with the Russians. "He lied a lot, but it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing, he said no collusion with the Russian hoax," Trump said. "And I said, 'I wonder why he didn't lie about that, too, like he did about everything else? I was actually impressed." Some of Trump's advisers and aides, including national security adviser John Bolton, warned the president not be so eager for a deal with North Korea as to hastily make an unwise concession, according to people familiar with the internal discussions. Within some quarters, including among some critics of the president, there was a palpable relief that Trump was willing to walk away. After all, he left without lifting economic sanctions, agreeing to remove U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula or causing an international incident with an incendiary tweet or stray comment. Evelyn Farkas, a former Obama administration defense official, said the Hanoi summit was "a disaster for Trump personally and, for America, a diminution of our stature." But, she said there was a silver lining: "He didn't make a bad deal, and a lot of people feared he would." Even as Trump and Kim disagreed on North Korea's nuclear future, the president showered praise on his counterpart. He called the 35-year-old dictator "my friend" and gushed about his leadership and intelligence. They strolled on the grounds of the luxurious Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel here and bantered over a dinner Wednesday night of grilled sirloin and chocolate lava cake. Trump said he trusted Kim when the North Korean leader said he would not fire any more missiles, even as he builds his stockpile. And he defended him in the brutal torture of American Otto Warmbier in North Korea over 17 months, saying he took Kim at his word when the dictator told him that he did not know about the treatment of the college student, who died at age 22 after being returned to Cincinnati. "He's quite a guy and quite a character," Trump told reporters. "I think frankly we'll be good friends with Chairman Kim and North Korea, and I think they have tremendous potential." Joseph Yun, who served as U.S. special representative for North Korea from 2016 to 2018 under President Barack Obama and Trump, said, "Trump tried to be nice-nice. It's a page out of his book, relying on one-on-one negotiations, face-to-face negotiations. But that's doesn't work, especially with North Koreans." Yun added, "Trump is beginning to realize that North Korea's not going to completely denuclearize, not now and probably not ever." Trump claimed as a victory the assurance from Kim that North Korea will no longer fire nuclear tests, but he seemed to hedge on the definition of denuclearization, and U.S. intelligence agencies have evidence that Pyongyang has sought to conceal its weapons programs despite publicly engaging in denuclearization talks. "He has a certain vision and it's not exactly our vision but it's a lot closer than it was a year ago," Trump said. Some analysts and administration officials questioned the wisdom of a summit that could hinge on Trump's impulses as opposed to carefully-negotiated details worked out in advance by subordinates. Trump said his relationship with Kim is his greatest area of progress, and the North Korean leader seemed to agree. "There would be people welcoming, and people viewing our meeting with skepticism," Kim said, "but there would also be people who would look at us spending a great time together, like a scene in a fantasy movie." So it was that a festive table at the Metropole was set for lunch for the two on Thursday. But the meal was suddenly canceled around noon. Trump and Kim's name cards were still on the tables minutes later, but away the leaders went, their motorcades were whisking them back to their hotels. Trump, who dislikes long flights and prefers to sleep in his own beds, took off from Vietnam two hours ahead of schedule. - - - The Washington Post's Simon Denyer and John Hudson contributed to this report. I want to say very clearly, we have not changed our minds regarding Lt. Jensens return to work regardless of the outcome of upcoming this investigation, she said. We do not feel Lt. Jensen should not be allowed to return to work for the EPD under any circumstances or in any capacity. We stand together on that. We believe Lt. Jensen showed a lack of judgement regarding the use of force in the shooting death of Decynthia Clements. If you were planning on driving Pat Booker Road in Northeast San Antonio this weekend, the Texas Department of Transportation would like to convince you otherwise. As part of a project expanding Loop 1604s main lanes between FM 78 and Interstate 35, workers will use heavy machinery to demolish a bridge at the Pat Booker overpass, requiring the shutdown of Pat Booker from 9 p.m. today through 5 a.m. Monday. Express-News Subscribers: Even longtime backers of light rail in S.A. have given up "We'd like to encourage you to avoid the area and seek alternative routes," TxDOT said in a message on its website Thursday. The construction also will require the closure of Loop 1604s main lanes in both directions at the Pat Booker intersection on a nightly basis. Theyll close from 9 tonight to 9 a.m. Saturday, then 9 p.m. Saturday to 11 a.m. Sunday and 9 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday. Loop 1604 will remain open during the day. The turnarounds on Loop 1604 at Pat Booker also will be closed. The northbound-to-southbound cloverleaf will be closed from today at 9 a.m. through Wednesday noon, while the southbound-to-northbound oval will be shut from today at 9 a.m. to Monday at 5 a.m. and again Wednesday through Friday, noon to 3 p.m. If the bridge demolition isnt completely finished, TxDOT says additional closures of Pat Booker Road and the turnarounds will take place nightly, Monday through Friday, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. The 3-mile, $46 million project on Loop 1604 started this January and is estimated to be completed in late spring 2021. The area covered by the project currently sees a daily average of 70,000 cars, projected to grow to nearly 90,000 by 2040. Beyond the widening of 1604s main lanes, the project will rehab frontage roads and change their configuration to provide continuous coverage, reconfigure ramps and add auxiliary lanes between ramps. The Pat Booker overpass-bridge dates to the early 1970s and this weekends demolition is the first phase of replacing it. The second is scheduled for late 2020. Some vehicle-magnets in the area that could be adversely affected by the construction include Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, the new Ikea store and The Forum shopping center. An unrelated closure will shut the Sonterra Boulevard exit ramp on northbound U.S. 281 beginning Monday and it may go through late summer so workers can construct the overhead direct connector (or flyover) from westbound Loop 1604 to northbound U.S. 281. Drivers wishing to access Sonterra will take the frontage road exit from northbound U.S. 281 and proceed through the Loop 1604 intersection. All closures are dependent upon weather. Bruce Selcraig is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read his stories on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | BSelcraig@express-news.net A suspected conman was arrested on Wednesday after authorities said he scammed a San Antonio resident out of more than $300,000. Jonathan Keith Yost, 34, was taken into custody on suspicion of theft, Bexar County Jail records showed. Yost's scam began in January 2018, when he met the victim on the set of movie called "Angry Men" that was being filmed in San Antonio, according to his arrest affidavit. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Yost, an extra in the film, identified himself to the victim as "Dr. Jay Lopez" and "presented himself as a Hollywood insider with connections to well-known actors," according to the affidavit. Because Yost's social media pages had "tons of followers," according to the affidavit, the victim didn't question his credentials. Yost told the victim his company was bringing a comedy tour to San Antonio as well as an acting workshop, and presented the victim with a chance to invest in the opportunity, police said. The victim invested a total of $377,500, according to the affidavit. Soon after, Yost began avoiding the victim, changing his number and blocking the person from his social media accounts, authorities said. RELATED: Where SAPD picked up 14 credit card skimmers in January Investigators began looking into Yost and discovered he opened several bank accounts with fraudulent social security numbers, according to the affidavit. They also found a Facebook post from Yost's "Dr. Jay Lopez" alias that read "wondering if I should pay the people that I owe," the affidavit says. The affidavit also mentions Yost has a history of conning people across the country. In October 2018, Yost allegedly scammed a Houston resident out of $5,000 by making similar promises using his alleged Hollywood connections, according to a KPRC news story. The story also mentions Yost was wanted in North Carolina after he allegedly defrauded a church out of $9,000. Yost was released from jail on Wednesday after posting his $35,000 bail, 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 16-year-old girl was arrested Friday after she stabbed two teenagers, one fatally, who attacked her in the driveway of her Northeast Side home, San Antonio police said. Officials identified the 18-year-old killed as Kaitlin Leonor Castilleja. She graduated from James Madison High School in 2018, according to NEISD spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor. Officials: Slain former student was an NEISD employee Authorities have not identified the suspect due to her age. According to Chancellor, she is a current student at Madison High School. She has been booked into a juvenile detention facility. Castilleja's aunt, Marie Fernandez, said the two girls had been arguing on social media long before their confrontation Friday morning. "She isn't able to give you her side of the story, but its been ongoing bullying on both sides," she said. "It's social media. There's so many factors that have contributed to this, and at the end of the day, whether it was wrong, in all aspects my niece had no intentions of hurting anyone." RELATED: S.A. schools had the highest number of fights during the 2017-18 academic year According to a preliminary police report, Castilleja and Vivian Foster, who is also 18 and graduated from Madison High School in 2017, went to the suspect's house near Judson and Stahl roads at about 1 a.m. During the fight, the suspect stabbed both of the girls, causing superficial cuts to Foster but mortal wounds to Castilleja, police said. The suspect then called police to "report she had been assaulted in her driveway when she arrived home from work" and that the two alleged victims had been messaging her on social media "stating they want to fight her," authorities said. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox According to Live Oak Police Lt. Matt Malone, the victims went to Northeast Methodist Hospital. They told officers they had been "stabbed after 'jumping' a girl at her house," the report from San Antonio police says. On the Express-News: NEISD explains how they track threats on social media Paramedics took Castilleja to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 2 a.m. San Antonio police went to the suspect's home and found the crime scene in the driveway. They discovered the "murder weapon" at the scene, according to the preliminary report. The 16-year-old suspect was then arrested in connection to the stabbings and charged with murder. Police were not immediately available to comment further. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns We are requesting anyone who may have been exposed to this measles case to monitor for symptoms and contact their health care provider immediately if they experience any symptoms to arrange for evaluation, Kane Countys Director of Disease Prevention Uche Onwuta said. The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results Two of the county's most prolific anglers were part of the Irish tourism team who went to the Northern Angling Show in Manchester last weekend to promote Longford angling to over 20,000 UK anglers. Aaran Carr from the Camlin Angling Club has taken part in multiple pike-fishing competitions and led a team of four people who met up with the UK anglers at the show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and distributed over 4,000 new colour brochures on what the county has to offer to the visiting angler. This promotion was organised by the Lough Ree Angling Hub with the support of Longford Tourism officer, Dympna Reilly, the Upper Shannon Erne Future Economy project and Failte Ireland's Development officer Sarah McCarthy who is working with the hub to promote the angling paradise within the new Ireland's Hidden Heartlands Region. "We got a tremendous reaction from the UK anglers," Philip Gordon, secretary of the Angling Hub said. This show was one of the top shows in the world for anglers and we invited hundreds of fishermen and women to come to Longford and the Hidden Heartlands region to see what we have to offer." Aaran Carr said there was a fantastic response to the new colour brochure the hub produced and the Hidden Heartlands imagery. "We produced a special slide show and video which was also shown on the stand," Aaran said. "And we are now confident we will see dozens of these anglers coming over to us in the coming years." Support for attending the show came from Failte Ireland, Longford County Council and the Upper Shannon Erne Future Economy Project. This is a partnership project between four local authorities, (Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford and Cavan) ESB, as well as Bord na Mona and has a number of working groups including tourism. In recent years, the working group has focused on promoting the angling offering of the region. In March, the Lough Ree Angling Hub will be teaming up again with the tourism authorities to attend another major show in Farnborough UK, where coarse fishing will be the theme. Young people are always bursting with ideas and that is certainly the case in Granard where students from Cnoc Mhuire have been funnelling their ideas into the SEAI One Good Idea Competition. Every year, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) challenges students to put their energy-saving ideas to good use by entering the One Good Idea competition, allowing them to share their thoughts on a national scale. The Power of One Good Idea for schools was established in 2008 on the back of a national campaign to get people thinking about ways in which we can reduce our energy use. It started with 20 schools and, in the space of ten years, it has grown to over 200 applications. In Cnoc Mhuire Granard, a large emphasis is put on the importance of caring for the environment. The school has been receiving green flags since 2004 so the group involved in the competition was full of ideas when the competition came up. Daily carbon footprints and shopping local are the topics of discussion in the project, which was worked on by Sarah Doyle, Shauna Monaghan, Kate Murphy, Lily Hemus and Ellen Deneher. We aim to determine peoples everyday carbon footprints, taking into account their clothes, cosmetic products, food, drinks, shoes, jewellery, books, cleaning products, household appliances and stationary, the girls told the Longford Leader recently. We are going to compare the carbon footprints of a young, middle-aged and elderly person and give recommendations on how to reduce their daily negative impact on the environment. The idea came to fruition when the girls were in their Environmental Studies class and discovered that many of the activities they carry out on a daily basis are detrimental to the wellbeing of the earth. As humans, we are all creatures of habit and this causes us to carry out activities automatically without giving thought to the consequences. We want to invoke thought in people with the hope that this will affect their choices in what products they use, they explained. This year, the competition has opened itself up to the digital era. Students are now required to make a one-minute video about their project to create larger awareness about their idea. This enables students to be more creative with their projects while helping others to understand their vision more clearly. We are going to take a video of a child, an adult and an elderly person. We will video a day in their life and analyse the effects of everything they use on the environment. We are then going to give examples of alternatives that can be sourced closer to home. Our slogan for the project is getting vocal about shopping local as we feel that everyone needs to start getting more vocal about their choices in order to keep our planet safe for the generations to come, the girls concluded. The video for Granards One Good Idea project is now available to view on the Cnoc Mhuire Granard Facebook page. For more information on the competition, see www.seai.ie. A farmer has brought High Court proceedings against several parties, including KBC Bank, over an attempt to evict him, along with his two siblings, from their Co Roscommon home last December. In proceedings recently lodged in the High Court farmer David McGann, from Falsk, near Strokestown is seeking various orders and declarations from the court including an order preventing any party from taking possession of or interfering with the Co Roscommon property. The eviction, gained national media attention, particularly after private security operatives were forced from the property by a group of masked men. The incident, which resulted in an alleged attack on the security personnel who left the property, vehicles being burnt and the death of a dog, is the subject of an ongoing Garda investigation. The eviction was conducted on foot of possession orders alleged obtained against Mr Anthony McGann, Mr David McGann's brother. The McGanns subsequently returned to the property. As well as suing KBC Bank Mr David McGann's action is against parties including related firms Trinity Asset Managerial Services Ltd, GS Agencies Ltd and Local Authority Services Ltd and Mr Aidan Devlin with an address in Summerhill Co Meath, who the plaintiff alleges are agents of the bank. The action is also against the County Registrar of Roscommon. Mr McGann, who is represented by solicitor Donnacha Anhold of Carter Anhold & Co Solicitors, along with Eanna Mulloy SC and David Browne Bl seeks several declarations from the court including that the defendants actions on December 11 last at the property were unlawful, and breached his constitutional rights, and rights under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights ECHR. He seeks a declaration that the agents acted without lawful authority and in breach of the 1926 Enforcement of Court Orders Act in attempting to access and gain entry to the property on foot of execution orders for possession dated August 8 and September 4, 2018 last. He also seeks declarations that the county registrar had not lawfully delegated his power to a designated court messenger when the defendants attempted to access and gain entry to the property at Falsk. Another declaration sought is that rules of the Superior and Circuit Courts relation to possession orders breaches his rights because they enable an order for possession to be executed against the occupier of a property without the occupier being named in the proceedings. He further seeks a declaration that the defendants have committed slander of title by attempting to take possession of the property in circumstances where they had no lawful authority to do so. If necessary he seeks a declaration that the 1926 Enforcement of Court Orders Act breaches provisions of the Irish Constitution and Article 8 of the ECHR. He further seeks damages and aggravated and exemplary damages for alleged trespass, breach of his constitutional right to private property and defamation. "If we must die, so be it," a Syrian refugee says with a forlorn look before getting on a bus in Bourj Hammoud that will take him back to his country. Its 6 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, and people are gathering at the stadium in Bourj Hammoud, one of many departure points for buses organized by General Security that will carry refugees towards the Syrian-Lebanese border. For months now, General Security has been organizing these returns. Groups of hundreds of refugees have put their names down on lists to be vetted by the Syrian regime. Once approved, they are able to go back. Suitcases, plastic bags and cardboard boxes are piled up on the pavement while families and single men wait in front of the General Security office in Bourj Hammoud. Most of the people returning decided to go back with a heavy heart, to escape the misery of life as a Syrian refugee in Lebanon. But risks await them across the border. Chief among them is that all men between the ages 18 and 40 will become de facto reservists in the Syrian army. Ali, 33 from Raqqa province, is waiting to board a bus. He has decided to enlist in the army and says that he is only relying on God. Ali is accompanied by three friends from his hometown who are around the same age. They too know that they will have to join the army. The refugees waiting in Bourj Hammoud came from all over Lebanon: Nabaa, Sabra, Aley, Dbayeh, Tripoli. Most of them will first head to the Masnaa border crossing before traveling to Damascus and its suburbs. Fifteen will travel on another bus to Tripoli and across the northern border. General Security officers treat the refugees well, helping them carry their children onto the bus and patiently checking their names against the lists of people approved to return home by the Syrian authorities. But despite the courteous treatment and the reassuring presence of representatives from the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, the return is not a joyous or happy occasion. Instead, the anxiety about what awaits them shows in the mens eyes and voices when they speak about the Syrian army and is revealed by the womens tears when they express concern for their son or husband who is traveling with them. "No more opponents or loyalists in Syria" The only refugees who will speak about the security situation in Syria request to do so anonymously. "Sometimes they take the men as soon as the bus arrives at the Syrian border. Other times, customs officers would let everyone pass, a woman from the suburbs of Damascus says. She is concerned that her husband will be forced to join the army, but their 14-year-old son has not attended school in Lebanon where the family has lived for the past four years. "I had to work to live, help the family pay rent, buy food," the teenager says, sounding like an adult despite his young age, while his father checks with General Security to see if his family has been given the green light to go back. Mashur, in his thirties with a mustache, kisses his four-year-old son as if it might be the last time. He has lived in Sabras refugee camp in Beirut for three and a half years. "I am a deserter, but I want to return to Syria. The names of my wife and my son are on the list of departure, but not mine, he says. I have a solution: Im going to surrender to the Syrian authorities. I will go to the (Syrian) embassy in Hazmieh." Originally from Idlib, Mashur lived in Damascus for a long time. He is not afraid, he says, and will rejoin the army if the Syrian authorities allow him to do so. "No choice" "There is no work in Lebanon. We can no longer afford to eat or pay the rent. We are going home because we do not want to end up begging in the street, a man named Mohammed says bitterly. Mohammed is a carpenter and has lived in Lebanon with his family for 13 years, since well before the war in Syria began. When he and his family return to Aleppo, where he is from, his 19-year-old son will join the Syrian army. "I hope God will protect him, his mother sighs. Many of the families LOrient-Le Jour spoke to said they will not return to their villages because their homes have been destroyed. Instead, they plan to settle in large cities or their suburbs, such as Damascus or Aleppo, where some of the families have relatives who are living in rented houses. "There are no more opponents or loyalists in Syria. In Lebanon, it is now very difficult to find work and rents keep increasing. That's why so many of us decide to go back, a man from Homs says, who probably once believed that it was possible to change the regime in his country. The man came to see his friends leave on the bus. "Yes, we are aware that they might be enlisted in the army or disappear when they return to Syria. We are also aware that they can die in combat. But they have no choice. God only knows what their future will be like, he sighs. The buses that roll out of Bourj Hammoud mark the second voluntary return organized so far this year. Several thousand Syrian refugees have already gone back as part of these operations, despite the uncertainties regarding their safety. According to numbers given by UNHCR, Lebanon hosts just over 970,000 officially registered Syrian refugees. (This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 1rst of March) You are here: Independent Study Students at Lycoming College have the option to add even more diversity and flexibility to their education by completing independent studies. Independent studies usually involve students studying a topic on their own, guided by frequent one-on-one meetings with a faculty member who supervises the student's project. At Lycoming, the following independent study options are available: Independent Study: students research a topic of interest to them that is not part of the regular course catalog, and discuss their progress with a professor. Recent Independent Studies have ranged from Machine Learning to Cameroonian Drumming. students research a topic of interest to them that is not part of the regular course catalog, and discuss their progress with a professor. Recent Independent Studies have ranged from Machine Learning to Cameroonian Drumming. For-credit Internships and Practica: Students are able to merge theory with practice, and gain credit for real-world experience in their chosen field while continuing to learn academic content closely related to their internship experience. In addition to the professional supervising their internship, students also have a faculty supervisor who helps track their academic progress. Students are able to merge theory with practice, and gain credit for real-world experience in their chosen field while continuing to learn academic content closely related to their internship experience. In addition to the professional supervising their internship, students also have a faculty supervisor who helps track their academic progress. Honors Projects and Haberberger Fellowships: Advanced students have the opportunity to carry out original research projects in their field of study, working closely with a faculty mentor. These projects have led to student-authored publications and presentations at regional, national, and even international conferences. Advanced students have the opportunity to carry out original research projects in their field of study, working closely with a faculty mentor. These projects have led to student-authored publications and presentations at regional, national, and even international conferences. Independent Study of Catalog Courses: Occasionally, a student might not be able to take a required course in their major or minor when it is normally offered. To help all our students maintain their progress, some catalog courses may be taken as independent studies. Students cover the course content discussed in the catalog course and have regular one-on-one meetings with a professor. Lycoming College is passionate about maintaining academic quality for every student, in every course, so all independent study projects are pre-approved by a faculty supervisor, by that faculty member's academic department, and by the college's independent study committee of professors in a wide variety of disciplines. About the production, I really hope that the audience gets a show that takes them away from their problems and reality, Graff said. I think that all of us working on the show want to do a great job in entertaining, and to give the audience a show that will make them glad that they took time out of their day to come see. We have always known there would be an assessment in the spring and so, we have kept our focus on teaching and learning in the classrooms, Rubinstein said. The workers entered the back room and were able to lock the door before the robbers could get into the room. A third employee already was in an office at the rear of the store. Global Critical Care diagnostics Market to reach USD 1.4 billion by 2025. Global Critical Care diagnostics Market valued approximately USD 0.9 billion in 2017 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 6.0 % over the forecast period 2018-2025. Rising acceptance of these tests by patients and physicians and improvements in healthcare technologies are some factors triggering the growth of the critical care diagnostics market over the forecast period. Key driving factors for the critical care diagnostics market are high prevalence of chronic diseases along with the technological advancements in critical care diagnostics products. For instance: According to British Heart Foundation, more than one fourth of the deaths in UK are due to CVD, accounting around 3.9 million deaths each year. There are 7 million people living with CVD in the U.K. Also, coronary heart diseases are the leading cause for deaths in U.K. and nearly one in six men and one in ten women die from coronary heart disease. CHD is responsible for around 73,000 deaths in the UK each year. In UK, CHD affects the aging population and around 23,000 people under the age of 75 die from CHD each year. In addition, the Fight Chronic Disease Organization estimates that in 2015, in United States around 133 million deaths are caused and disability due to chronic diseases. It is estimated that 45% Americans populations are suffering from at least one chronic disease. Since, critical care diagnostics tests allows clinicians to identify and detect organism accurately and helps to offer proper guidance to clinicians thereby, promoting the demand for critical care diagnostics tests over the forecast period. Furthermore, growing adoption of electronic health record (EHR) coupled with the telehealth services is offers lucrative growth prospects for the critical care diagnostics market. However, high cost associated with molecular diagnostics tools are expected to hinder the growth of the market during the forecast period. On the basis of segmentation, the critical care diagnostics market is segmented into type and end-user. The type segment of global critical care diagnostics market is classified into flow cytometry, immunoproteins, routine and special chemistry, hematology, coagulation test, microbial and infectious diseases and others of which immunoproteins diagnostic test is also to dominate the market with largest share due to growing demand for accurate preventive healthcare services. On the basis of end-user segment, the market is classified into intensive care units, emergency rooms, operating rooms and others of which emergency rooms are anticipated to witness lucrative growth owing to the growing need for ER service as it offers initial acute care treatment and diagnosis to critically ill patients. Request Sample Report at https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3741221-global-critical-care-diagnostics-market-size-study-by The regional analysis of critical care diagnostics market is considered for the key regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and ROW. North America holds the leading position in critical care diagnostics market owing to the high research and development activities along with presence of well-established healthcare infrastructure. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region in terms of market share. The growth of Asia-Pacific region is witnessed owing to high prevalence of chronic diseases along with rising geriatric population. Also, improving healthcare infrastructure and services in rural areas is also expected to supplement the growth of Asia-Pacific region over the forecast period. The leading market players include- Abbott Laboratories Alere, Inc. Beckman Coulter, Inc. Becton Dickinson and Company, Bayer AG Siemens Healthineers F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Bio-Rad Laboratories BioMerieux, Inc. Nova Biomedical The objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below: By Type Flow Cytometry Microbial and Infectious Diseases Routine and special chemistry Hematology Immunoproteins Coagulation Test Others By End-user: Emergency rooms Intensive Care Units Operating Rooms Other End Users By Regions: North America o U.S. o Canada Europe o UK o Germany o ROE Asia Pacific o China o India o Japan o ROAPEC LAMEA o Brazil o Mexico ROW o Middle East & Africa Furthermore, years considered for the study are as follows: Historical year 2015, 2016 Base year 2017 Forecast period 2018 to 2025 Target Audience of the Global Critical Care diagnostics Market in Market Study: Key Consulting Companies & Advisors Large, medium-sized, and small enterprises Venture capitalists Value-Added Resellers (VARs) Third-party knowledge providers Investment bankers Investors TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Global Critical Care diagnostics Market Definition and Scope Chapter 2. Research Methodology Chapter 3. Executive Summary Chapter 4. Global Critical Care diagnostics Market Dynamics Chapter 5. Global Critical Care diagnostics Market, By Type Chapter 6. Global Critical Care diagnostics Market, By End-user Chapter 7. Global Critical Care diagnostics Market, by Regional Analysis Chapter 8. Competitive Intelligence About Us: Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Contact Us: NORAH TRENT sales@wiseguyreports.com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) Pericardial disease is a medical condition which involves the swelling and irritation in the pericardium or says, fibroelastic sac. The pericardium is a two-layer sac that separates the heart from surrounding structures and protects it from vibration and external shocks. The patient with heart surgeries and other related surgeries become more vulnerable to such diseases. The rising number of geriatric population and prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is the major factor for the growth of the market. The exposure to radiation and infectious diseases can be attributed as another factor motivating the market growth. The high cost of diagnoses such as cardiac MRI and cardiac CT scan, however, hinders the market growth. Moreover, lack of awareness regarding the treatment of such disease is another factor that restrains the market growth. The technological advancement for providing more cost-effective and minimally-invasive diagnosis such as the introduction of grafts developed with dCELL technology is expected to create room for the growth of the market. the government funding in R&D, especially in emerging economies such as India and China, contributes to market growth. The extended support of the government in terms of funding and technological advancement for development of more precise and cost-effective diagnostic device further anticipated propelling the market growth in the near future. Geographically, the market is analyzed into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World. North America contributes the largest share in the global pericardial disease market, followed by Europe. This is mainly due to its advanced medical facilities and the rising number of cases for cardiovascular disease. Moreover, the region has a large number of geriatric populations; hence, propelling the demand for minimally-invasive cardiac disorder treatment in the region. Asia-Pacific is projected to witness the fastest growth in the global pericardial disease market due to the rapid development of the healthcare industry and the rising cases of diseases due to sedentary lifestyles. Some of the key players operating in the global pericardial disease market are AliveCor, Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Bayer AG, CardioComm Solutions, Inc, Integra LifeSciences Corp., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., PerkinElmer Inc., Pfizer Inc., and VectraCor, Inc., among others. Product launch, merger & acquisition, and partnerships are some of the key strategies adopted by the market players and sustain and capture the major market share in the pericardial disease market. Research methodology The market study of global pericardial disease market is incorporated by extensive primary and secondary research conducted by a research team at OMR. Secondary research has been conducted to refine the available data to break down the market in various segments, derive total market size, market forecast, and growth rate. Different approaches have been worked on to derive the market value and market growth rate. Our team collects facts and data related to the market from different geography to provide a better regional outlook. In the report, the country-level analysis is provided by analyzing various regional players, regional tax laws and policies, consumer behavior and macroeconomic factors. Numbers extracted from Secondary research have been authenticated by conducting proper primary research. It includes tracking down key people from the industry and interviewing them to validate the data. This enables our analyst to derive the closest possible figures without any major deviations in the actual number. Our analysts try to contact as many executives, managers, key opinion leaders, and industry experts. Primary research brings the authenticity of our reports. Secondary sources include Financial reports of companies involved in the market Authentic Public Databases Whitepapers such as research papers and news blogs Company websites and their product catalog. The report is intended for researchers in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, healthcare providers, investment companies, government organizations for overall market analysis and competitive analysis. The report provides an in-depth analysis of market size and will serve as a source for 360-degree analysis of the market thoroughly delivering insights into the market for better business decisions. Request Sample Report at https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3739575-global-pericardial-disease-market-research-and-forecast-2018-2023 Market segmentation Global pericardial disease market is segmented on the basis of various regions and below mentioned segments: Global Pericardial Disease Market Research and Analysis by Type Global Pericardial Disease Market Research and Analysis by Diagnosis Method Global Pericardial Disease Market Research and Analysis by Treatment Approach Global Pericardial Disease Market Research and Analysis by End-Users Global Pericardial Disease Market Research and Analysis by Region The report covers Comprehensive research methodology of global pericardial disease market. This report also includes a detailed and extensive market overview with key analyst insights. An exhaustive analysis of macro and micro factors influencing the market guided by key recommendations. Analysis of regional regulations and other government policies impacting the global pericardial disease market. Insights about market determinants which are stimulating the global pericardial disease market. Detailed and extensive market segments with regional distribution of forecasted revenues. Extensive profiles and recent developments of market players. Companies Mentioned Abbott Laboratories AliveCor, Inc. Amnis Theraputics AstraZeneca PLC Bayer AG CardioComm Solutions, Inc Coloplast Corp CryoLife, Inc. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. General Electric Co. Integra LifeSciences Corp. LivaNova PLC Merck KGaA Novartis AG PerkinElmer Inc. Pfizer Inc. RTI Surgical, Inc. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. VectraCor, Inc. Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. Table of Content REPORT SUMMARY MARKET OVERVIEW AND INSIGHTS MARKET DETERMINANT MARKET SEGMENTATION COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE REGIONAL ANALYSIS COMPANY PROFILES About Us: Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Contact Us: NORAH TRENT sales@wiseguyreports.com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) Orphan drugs form a niche yet considerably profitable segment of the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, the market exclusivity periods enjoyed by these drugs owing to favorable government legislations especially in the U.S. and Europe add to their value and profitability. The major players profiled in the orphan drugs market include AbbVie Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Celgene Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Pfizer Inc., Novartis AG, and Sanofi. They have adopted various strategies including expansions, mergers & acquisitions, collaborations, and others to gain the major market share and sustain in the industry The global orphan drugs market is estimated to reach $169 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2016 to 2022. The oncology disease segment contributed to nearly one-third of the total market share in 2017. Download the Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/204 The oncologic disease type segment contributed the highest market share in the market, owing to prevalence of different types of rare cancers including myeloma, leukemia, angiosarcoma, and others in the patient population. However, the renal cell carcinoma indication would register the highest growth rate, owing to rise in investments in R&D across the world along with increase in awareness regarding kidney cancer. Multiple myeloma is a lucrative sub-segment in the indication segment. moreover, it is expected to register a CAGR of 7.8% from 2016 to 2022 The factors driving the global orphan drugs market include supportive government regulations, increase in prevalence of rare diseases, and market exclusivity for orphan drugs. Moreover, rise in innovative indications given for orphan drugs and untapped potential in emerging markets offer lucrative opportunities for the growth of the market. However, limited patient population available for clinical trials & product marketing and high costs for treatment hinder the market growth. Key findings of the report Metabolic diseases type segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period, 20162022. Neurologic disease type segment would experience the highest growth rate from 2016 to 2022. Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma indication garnered the highest revenue in 2015 and will maintain its dominant position throughout the forecast period. Based on regions, North America contributed the highest revenue in the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is expected to experience the highest growth rate during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific and LAMEA together constituted for nearly two-fifths of the total market share in 2015 and will continue this trend throughout the forecast period. This is due to increase in awareness about orphan drugs in India, China, and other developing economies. Favorable legislations by Different governmental and non-governmental organizations supplement the growth in the region. Moreover, rise in investments in R&D for development of drug by public and private sectors create opportunities in the region. About Us:- Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of Market Research Reports and Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact Us:- David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 The market in the Americas is expected to dominate the global nurse call system market during the forecast period owing to the speedy adoption of new technologies and the presence of many large hospitals. According to an article published by the American Hospital Association in 2018, the US has a total of 5,534 registered hospitals. The European market is expected to be the second-largest due to the well-developed healthcare infrastructure and rising geriatric population in the region. Moreover, the market in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing during the assessment period owing to rising expenditure on the improvement of healthcare infrastructure and a growing aging population which is increasing the patient population. The market in the Middle East & Africa is likely to account for the smallest share of the global nurse call system market. The market growth in this region can be attributed to the improving healthcare infrastructure. To Get Sample Report visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5631 Nurse Call System Market Overview Nurse call systems are intended to alert the nurses in case of medical emergency or need for care. These systems are also used to track a patient or to give an indication of an untoward incidence. The increasing geriatric population, technological advancements in the nurse call systems and growing need for better-integrated hospital platforms are expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. Additionally, preference for mobile devices among people is likely to boost the market growth. On the other hand, high costs of implementation and lack of skilled professionals who can coordinate IT and healthcare both may hinder the growth of the market during the forecast period. The global nurse call system market is currently dominated by many market players. The key players in the market are engaging themselves in new product launches and strategic collaborations to strengthen its market position. For instance, in July 2017, Austco Communication Systems Pty Ltd. launched Pulse Mobile, which is a nurse call alarm management component for smartphones. Key Players for Global Nurse Call System Market Market Research Future (MRFR) recognizes the following companies as the key players in Nurse Call System Market: There are plenty of large and small market players which operate in this market all over the globe. Some of the key players in the global nurse call system market are Austco Communication Systems Pty Ltd., Honeywell International Inc., Hill-Rom Services Inc., Ascom, Johnson Controls., CSINC, AMETEK, Inc., STANLEY Healthcare, West-Com Nurse Call System, Inc, Azure Healthcare, Cornell Communications, Jeron Electronic Systems Inc., Vigil Health Solutions Inc., BEC Integrated Solutions, LLC, and Systems Technologies. Segments for Global Nurse Call System Market The global nurse call system market has been segmented into type, technology, applications, and end-users. The market, on the basis of type, has been segmented into nurse call buttons, nurse call integrated communication systems, nurse call mobile systems, nurse call intercoms, and others. The market, by technology, has been segmented into wired systems and wireless systems. Wired systems are anticipated to account for the largest market share by technology, owing to its low cost and its fast speed of transmission. Wireless systems are expected to be the fastest growing due to their high level of system integration, better patient mobility and changing trends in the field of communication technology. The market, by applications, has been segmented into a medical emergency, alarms, workflow management, and others. The market, by end users, has been segmented into hospitals & nursing homes, assisted living centers, ambulatory care centers, and others. To Browse Complete Report visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/upcoming-reports/nurse-call-system-market-5631 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), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Us: Market Research Future Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Key Players Dashboard Market Research Future (MRFR) recognizes the following companies as the key players in Saliva Collection Devices and Diagnostic Market: There are plenty of large and small market players which operate in this market all over the globe. Saliva Collection Devices and Diagnostics Market Sketch Detection devices are seeing an uptick in demand currently due to the general awareness of end users about various health ailments and their readiness to seek appropriate treatment for those diseases. Market reports linked to the medical device industry have been made available by Market Research Future which creates reports on other industry verticals that outlines the current market scenarios. The market is forecasted to achieve a CAGR of 10% while netting revenues worth USD 2630.8 million approximately by the end of the forecast period. To Get Sample Report visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2522 As saliva is an optimal translational research tool and diagnostic mode for diagnostics, the demand for saliva collection devices and diagnostics is gaining substantial momentum globally. The application of saliva collection devices in the detection of breast cancer, periodontitis, salivary gland diseases, oral cancer, HIV, hepatitis, and HCV is expected to boost the demand of the market in the coming years. The approval of approval of salivary disease biomarkers is a key factor that will add further push to the markets growth. Competitive Analysis The fruitful integration of supply chain management is firmly growing the progress of the market. The key success factors and participants tendencies are increasingly rising by the strategies being used by market competitors. The alterations seen in terms of strategy execution and creation are altering the development pace of the market. The evolution patterns are revised in tandem to the customer preferences to realize the greatest growth, and in the long run, viability. The framework for growth plans has stimulated the market for potential new entrants. The improvement in the products and services is the foremost factor intensifying the markets productivity and leading the trends that are achieving intensity in the market. The inequalities in the market are filled due to the application of apt supply chain strategies. The improved level of emphasis on the diversity of products is increasing the number of customers in the market significantly. The eminent contenders in the saliva collection and diagnostic market are AboGen, Inc., Neogen Corporation, Quest Diagnostics, Oasis Diagnostics Corporation, OraSure Technologies, Inc., Alere, and others Industry Updates: Oct 2018 The Edmonton Police Service has declared they will be buying roadside testing devices to assess marijuana consumption. Edmonton police will be procuring the Drager DrugTest 5000, a device that measures THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis), amphetamines and cocaine levels in saliva. The device was green-lit by the federal government in Canada recently. Market Segments The saliva collection and diagnostic market globally has been segmented on the basis of collection, application, end user and regions. On the basis of site of collection, the market comprises of parotid gland collection devices, submandibular/sublingual gland collection devices, minor salivary glands collection devices among others. On the basis of application, the saliva collection and diagnostic market consists of forensics, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and others. On the basis of end users, the saliva collection and diagnostic market consists of general practice, dentistry, laboratories among others. The regions that are included in the market are Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. Detailed Regional Analysis The regional analysis of the saliva collection and diagnostic market comprises of regions such as Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. The North American region is the major market for saliva collection and diagnostic market. The North American market for Saliva collection and diagnostic is anticipated to develop at a rapid CAGR of 10.7 percent. This is owing to the growing prevalence of diabetic patients in the region. The European region is the second principal market for saliva collection and diagnostic market. Whereas, the European market is anticipated to be the next major market for the saliva collection and diagnostic market which is anticipated to attain revenues worth US$ 7,008.4 by the end of the forecast period. To Browse Complete Report visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/saliva-collection-devices-diagnostics-market-2522 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), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Us: Market Research Future Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com The New York Timesis testing a harder paywall, which means using incognito or private mode in a web browser is less effective at seeing the newspapers online stories for free. Thats a welcome development, especially since publishers face declining ad sales as Facebook, Google and Amazon take over the digital media economy. Joshua Benton, director of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard, this week confirmed with a Times spokesperson that the newspaper was piloting a stricter paywall. Benton observed the popular hack of using Googles Chrome browser in incognito mode which temporarily blocks a website from tracking a browser with cookies was less effective at getting around the Times' metered paywall. advertisement advertisement Good, its time that publishers demanded a better return on their investment in original content. Publishers also should read the book Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back by Robert Levine, the former executive editor of Billboard. The book, first published in 2011, reads like a manifesto demanding anyone who creates an intellectual property should be adequately compensated for it. As Levine explains, for too long the internet has thrived on the ethos that information wants to be free, the memorable phrase that influential technology thinker Steward Brand coined at a hacker convention in 1984. Brand was a former member of author Ken Keseys Merry Pranksters and publisher of the counterculture magazine the Whole Earth Catalog. People tend to forget that Brand said in the same speech: Information wants to be expensive, because its so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. Brand was making a bigger point that technology makes the distribution of information less expensive, not that it should be given away. As much as I respect paywalls, Ive also spent an inordinate amount of time trying to defeat them in the practice of trying to see what other publications have reported about a topic. Ive also worked at news organizations where reporters shared tips on how to get articles for free by setting up ghost Gmail accounts and using them to register as new users at a website. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have stricter paywalls that are almost impossible to pole vault in incognito mode or by using a virtual private network thats supposed to disguise a web users digital fingerprints. The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Dallas Morning News also have digital tollbooths impassible without payment. The New York Times may face criticism that paywalls are bad for society because they prevent lower-income people from accessing news and information, exacerbating disparities between rich and poor. That may be the case, but until the revolution comes, publishers should harden their paywalls. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 1, 2019 Google plans to ask federal appeals court to rule that a landmark Illinois biometric privacy law doesn't apply when the company uses facial recognition technology on photos. The company briefly sketched out its plans in court papers filed this week with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, but hasn't yet filed a substantive argument in the high-stakes battle -- which could affect Facebook, Shutterfly and other companies facing lawsuits over facial recognition software. The fight dates to 2016, when Illinois residents Lindabeth Rivera and Joseph Weiss sued Google for allegedly violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by deploying facial recognition technology on photos uploaded by users. That law, passed in 2008, requires companies to obtain written releases from people before collecting biometric data like fingerprints, voiceprints and scans of face geometry. The law provides for damages of up to $5,000 per violation. advertisement advertisement Rivera said in her complaint that she doesn't have a Google Photos account, but that photos of her were uploaded to the service after they were taken by someone else. Google then allegedly scanned the photos, extracted "geometric data relating to the contours of her face and the distances between her eyes, nose, and ears," and created a template of her face. Weiss alleged that he uploaded 21 photos of himself to his Google Photos account, and that Google used data from those photos to create a faceprint of him. U.S. District Court Judge Edmond Chang in Illinois threw out the lawsuit earlier this year on the grounds that Rivera and Weiss didn't suffer any concrete injury from Google's alleged faceprint practices. Rivera and Weiss then appealed that ruling to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. (The pair also are pursuing the same allegations against Google in state court.) Google then filed its own cross-appeal to the 7th Circuit, where the company will argue that Chang should have dismissed the case for separate reasons -- including that the Illinois statute doesn't apply to face templates that were derived from photos. The company previously argued to Chang that the Illinois law contains a provision excluding photos, and information derived from photos, in its definitions of biometric identifiers and biometric information. Google argued to Chang that those exclusions required dismissing the lawsuit. Chang rejected that position, ruling that the law covers "scans of facial geometry" regardless of how they are created. Google also plans to argue to the 7th Circuit that requiring online photo services to follow an Illinois privacy law is unconstitutional on the theory that only Congress can regulate interstate commerce. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 1, 2019 A new federal privacy proposal would require companies to obtain consumers' explicit consent before collecting sensitive data, including information about people's precise locations and biometric data. The Digital Accountability and Transparency to Advance (DATA) Privacy Act, unveiled Thursday by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), would also require businesses to obtain consumers' opt-in consent before disclosing data outside the context of their relationship. The proposed bill also allows consumers to opt out of having their data used at all. Another provision would prohibit companies from using data for discriminatory targeted advertising, or for price, service, or employment opportunity discrimination. advertisement advertisement The proposal is one of several privacy measures currently before Congress. Last month, Senator Rubio (R-Florida) proposed a law that would empower the Federal Trade Commission to craft recommendations governing digital data. Last year, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) unveiled a draft of a bill creating a national do not track regime that would give consumers the right to prevent information about them from being shared or sold by ad-tech companies. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, is also expected to unveil a proposal this year. The new proposals come as tech companies and the ad industry are urging lawmakers to pass a federal privacy bill that would override state laws, including California's sweeping new privacy bill. Privacy advocates are also calling for new laws -- but want Congress to allow states to maintain their own stronger measures. Older people who want to preserve their faculties may wish to consider rationing their TV time. A large new study of older adults found that those who spent at least 3.5 hours per day watching TV experienced a greater decline in verbal memory. Share on Pinterest The passive activity of watching TV may impair memory in older people. Researchers at University College London in the United Kingdom analyzed data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) on 3,662 adults aged 50 and older. In 20082009, and again in 20142015, the ELSA participants had answered questions about the time they spent watching TV. At these times, they also completed tests of verbal memory and fluency. The analysis revealed that those who watched TV for 3.5 hours or more per day had an average decline of 810 percent in word- and language-related memory over the 6 years the study covered. This is compared with a lower 45 percent average decline in those who watched fewer hours of TV per day over the same period. The study, which now features in the journal Scientific Reports, found no such links between TV viewing time and differences in semantic fluency. The verbal memory tests asked the participants to memorize and then recall lists of words within a given time, while the semantic fluency tests asked them to list as many examples of a category (such as a type of animal) as they could think of within a given time. The study authors note that while there has been a lot of research into the effects of watching TV on cognition, most of it has focused on children. Much less attention, says study co-author Dr. Daisy Fancourt, who works in the Department of Behavioural Science and Health, has been paid to the effects of television viewing at the other end of the lifespan, despite it being hypothesized for over 25 years that watching excessive television could contribute to the development of dementia. TAMPA, Fla. Feb. 28, 2019 Samuel Joseph Andrew Moulton Dominican Republic Samuel Joseph Joseph Spine Tampa Salvatore Zavarella New York Joseph Spine Tampa Salvatore Zavarella New York Andrew Moulton Joseph Spine St. Petersburg, FL /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Dr.and Dr., along with a dedicated team of volunteers traveled to theover Valentine's week to save the lives of children and young adults with severe spinal deformities.The volunteers had a grueling schedule which included 4 to 5 surgeries daily for the week, along with patient screenings and lectures to orthopedic residents. The team performed 23 scoliosis and kyphosis cases and he stated seeing one of the most severe cases they had ever come across. Dr., founder ofofand neurosurgeon Dr.fromperformed the most severe case. The patient was suffering from extreme kyphosis. This patient was actually a somewhat rare instance of the team taking on an adult case, a 36-year-old female that said to her husband less than 12 hours post op when looking in the mirror sitting up, "I feel like a supermodel".Although the days were long the team was energized by the work they were doing and the gratitude of their young patients."It felt amazing to have a direct effect on a child's life and not only improve their appearance but improve their quality of life and life expectancy," stated Dr. Joseph. "Thinking about how many people this child will then affect in their life makes you really take a step back and be humbled by what we as a team are so fortunate and blessed to be able to do."Many of these young patients travel great distances to receive surgery. Most of the patients have been long suffering from adolescent or congenital scoliosis or in need of kyphosis correction. These young patients are heroes themselves, braving the travel and unfamiliarity with their surgeons. The surgeons and other volunteers take extra time with these children to help them cope with the upcoming days."Meeting strangers and allowing them to perform dangerous and painful surgery was a great leap of faith," Dr. Moulton.Many of these cases were quite severe. Dr. Joseph, the founder ofin, performed an eight-hour surgery, along with neurosurgeon Dr.from. The patient was somewhat of a rare instance of an adult with a severe kyphosis case. The patient had lived with this severe deformity since childhood and it had devastating social consequences for her throughout her life. She stood up the day after surgery holding Dr. Joseph and looked straight forward without craning her pelvis and neck essentially for the first time in her life. "We have seen these hundreds of times before, she is now the butterfly escaping the bound up cocoon and with thrive," Dr. Moulton.The Butterfly Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the sharing of spine surgery technology, expertise, and care to patients and to teaching spinal deformity surgery in developing countries. Local physicians work alongside establish deformity corrective surgeons such as Dr. Joseph and Dr. Moulton as they perform life-saving surgeries while promoting the advancement of spine deformity treatment technology by training local surgeons.The Butterfly Foundation was founded by Dr. Moulton in 2003. He was inspired to start the foundation as he realized the mission trips could only provide help to a small percentage of the population. In order to make a real difference for the population, it was necessary to train local surgeons."Teach a man to fish and he feeds his community for a lifetime is our motto," states Dr. Moulton.Dr. Moulton explains how the name "Butterfly Foundation" was chosen."Because of society's attitudes toward their deformity, we saw how these kids would come in, bundled up, socially withdrawn, embarrassed, even outcast. Once they have their surgeries and heal, they stand up straight, they run, and they jump and play. There's such a profound joy to see them move so freely, without pain. Their transformation reminded us of how a butterfly is born and the name stuck."About the Butterfly FoundationEstablished in 2003, The Butterfly Foundation (Fundacion Mariposa in Spanish) is dedicated to not only fixing spinal deformity but training others to do it as well. Dr., from, was inspired to form the foundation to help people complete the metamorphosis needed to live again- much like that of a caterpillar into a butterfly.SOURCE Tampa Bay Spine Surgeons The #MeToo movement in India brought about a certain level of awareness and power, which was much needed in order to break the silence of the victims and declare to the world that silence is not a sign of weakness. Actress Tanushree Dutta led the fight when she accused Nana Patekar of harassing her during a movie shoot. While Bollywood stayed quiet for a long time, it eventually opened a can of worms after many celebrities were called out in the light of the movement. One such name which surprised and shocked everyone in equal measure was that of Alok Nath's. Twitter He was accused of harassment by director-producer Vinta Nanda which the actor clearly denied. However, in a bizarre incident of irony being lost somewhere, as per the latest report, Alok Nath will be essaying the role of a judge in a movie titled '#MainBhi' which is about fighting against sexual harassment. Yeah, weird right? The movie is directed by Nasir Khan and in an interview, actor Khalid Siddiqui explained the concept. The film deals with child molestation, a subject that hasn't been tapped on screen often, particularly with regard to boys. My character, along with the other, are affected by incidents that change our lives. We hope the film starts a debate on the subject. When Alok Nath was contacted by Mirror, he said, I'm not doing any films at the moment. This was something I shot for a while ago. Is there a problem? You sound sad that I'm doing a film. It's a puny role for poor producers, let it release. Twitter Well, looks like irony will get crushed under his gavel in the movie for sure. Everyone has been waiting with bated breath for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, since his return back to Indian soil was promised by the Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan. The peace gesture has made a big impact on the current situation between the two countries and we hope the tension slowly dies away with the very kind and amicable step taken by Pakistan towards solidifying positive ties between India and Pakistan. (c)Twitter In the wake of the current tensions, while I write this, Wing Commander Abhinandan would have already reached the Wagah Border, ready to come back home to his parents who're frantically waiting to see him. But before his parents made their way to Amritsar to receive their son, they were on an Indigo flight from Chennai to Delhi and something wonderful happened in-flight! Abhinandan's parents were recognised by the passengers who'd boarded the flight with them and there was nothing less than ecstatic cheering and benevolent greetings throughout the trip, for them. (c)Twitter A video on social media has gone viral showing the passengers cheering and clapping for the parents. (c)Twitter The parents made their way to Amritsar from Delhi, once the flight landed. The Wing Commander's father Retd Air Marshal S Varthaman is a well-respected officer and his mother Shobha Varthaman is a doctor. This is surely a day of relief and pride for the parents of a courageous and valorous Wing Commander. On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that his government will release captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman today as a 'gesture of peace'. Since then, the nation's happiness and excitement knew no bounds as people from across the country geared up, like one big family, to welcome their hero. Facebook Reportedly, the convoy of vehicles carrying Varthaman reached the Attari Wagah Border late afternoon, from where he was handed over to India moments ago as he crossed the LoC. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was kept in the custody of the Pakistan Army since Wednesday, after his aircraft crashed on the other side of the LoC, during aerial combat between Indian and Pakistani fighter planes. Twitter When the news of Varthaman's captivity made headlines, the nation had only one prayer on their lips, 'Bring Back Abhinandan'. Furthermore, the hashtags #SayNoToWar and the happiness in both the countries over the release of Varthaman, prove that both people across the border stand united for peace and against war. Pakistan: Visuals from Wagah in Lahore; IAF Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border pic.twitter.com/xEPghVgNzi ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 In fact, earlier today, in a truly heartwarming gesture, Varthaman's parents were given a standing ovation by the passengers as they deboarded the flight in Delhi. While expressing his gratitude to Varthaman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said every Indian is proud of him. IAF Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returns to India from Pakistan Read @ANI story | https://t.co/L9i9Veuty5 pic.twitter.com/pi4LcFaPzg ANI Digital (@ani_digital) March 1, 2019 Now that the nation's hero is back, people can't stop rejoicing and the insane crowd at Wagah Border cheering for him and his return reiterates the same. Bravest of brave Wing Commander Abhinandan return backs to India pic.twitter.com/vHqjLaVy8W Shubhi (@shubh_i_am_87) March 1, 2019 Welcome back Abhinandan sir the entire nation is proud of your selflessness and bravery ! We salute you Jai Hind!#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/cMOm69uf7p Ritesh Pandey (@RiteshPandeys) March 1, 2019 Welcoming home a true fighter, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) March 1, 2019 Welcome back #Abhinandan ...a true war hero! And pathetic propaganda attempts by Pakistan - again. They keep doing it, and some people in India, and indeed around the world, keep falling for it :( Hope folks in India and other countries get a little wiser after this episode. Amit Paranjape (@aparanjape) March 1, 2019 In the wake of the troubled times, both India and Pakistan are facing, a lot of Bollywood celebrities are coming forward and talking about their experiences with war and turmoil and sharing a thought or two on the prevailing situation. Shekhar Kapoor too came forth to talk about his experience during the partition between India and Pakistan when he was a child and how his mother struggled to keep him and his sister safe, during the imminent violence that took place in August 1947. Twitter Although the tensions haven't died down at large between India and Pakistan, these memories and untold stories by people who've experienced the wrath between the two countries, come in handy momentarily. And that's because we believe with these stories a longing hope is built to sustain peace and harmony. Twitter Shekhar Kapoor took to Twitter to narrate an incident with his mother and sister during partition and this is what he had to say: "I was born in Lahore. My mother escaped massacre by hiding me n my sister under her body in a train to india. Playing dead. Most people were killed. One million people died in Partition. 10 million refugees. On both sides. India n Pakistan were created of the blood of one people. I was born in Lahore. My mother escaped massacre by hiding me n my sister under her body in a train to india. Playing dead. Most people were killed. One million people died in Partition. 10 million refugees. On both sides. India n Pakistan were created of the blood of one people. Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) 28 February 2019 While we can't even imagine the atrocities bestowed upon him, his family and the rest of the people there, we're sure the incident definitely made him more resilient and tolerant towards the ongoing animosity between the two nations. Twitter The BAFTA awardee also tweeted about Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's return to India, after Pakistan initiated a 'peace gesture' amidst the stifling tensions between the countries. He said #WingCdrAbhinanadan You have become a beacon of courage patriotism and dignity. And also a beacon of hope. We look forward to welcome you home soon, Sir, #WingCdrAbhinanadan You have become a beacon of courage patriotism and dignity. And also a beacon of hope. We look forward to welcome you home soon, Sir Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) 28 February 2019 A few days ago, he'd tweeted again, asking people in India to not think of war against Pakistan, hinting at practising peace instead. He said It's really important not to fan the flames of war rhetoric. It's not a game. U r not facing bullets or bombs. U r not the family praying and hoping fervently that your husbands brothers or fathers are safe. Nor living in border areas in fear. It's easy to be armchair soldiers. It's really important not to fan the flames of war rhetoric. It's not a game. U r not facing bullets or bombs. U r not the family praying and hoping fervently that your husbands brothers or fathers are safe. Nor living in border areas in fear. It's easy to be armachair soldiers. Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) 27 February 2019 Twitter In a time of serious crisis, it's always good to find relatable context, so we can ensure some peace within us and around us. With Pakistan seemingly moving towards a non-violent approach and Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming, here's hoping peace and calm prevails soon enough. Earlier this month, testing for asbestos at McGill Hall at the University of Montana raised concerns about the safety of students, particularly preschoolers who actively attended school in these classrooms. Abatement specialists found concerning levels of asbestos, well above the recommended limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to law, permissible amounts of asbestos should not exceed 5,000 fibers per square centimeter. After swiping a table in one of the classrooms, which had been used and cleaned regularly, specialists found over 15,000 fibers per square centimeter. Other areas of the classrooms contained even higher concentrations of asbestos. Though 47 preschoolers were eventually moved from the classrooms, parents criticized the school for not taking action early enough. The EPA states that no level of asbestos exposure is considered safe, and it can be decades before health effects from exposure may surface. Recently, new reports came out showing the school last had asbestos inspections and abatement work done in 2011. Asbestos Abatement at UM According to public documents available, the most recent asbestos abatement work done at the University of Montana was completed in the summer of 2011. Between that summer and the testing conducted in December 2018, its unclear if the school had any other asbestos inspections or testing for the toxin completed, though no public documentation is available. The 2011 visual inspection notes that the abatement specialists noted a risk of asbestos from various asbestos products in a number of locations at the school including wallboard, sheet vinyl flooring, and mastic, joint compounds and window putty. At the time of the inspection, specialists noted that materials were considered non-friable, meaning they were intact and not releasing any fibers into the air. The specialists took various samples of materials from suspect areas of the building, including bathrooms, a kitchen and several classrooms. Varying amounts of chrysotile and amosite asbestos, ranging from about 3 50% were found in some of the samples in the corridor, kitchen and bathroom. Once asbestos was confirmed, the school followed through with abatement work to have the asbestos removed or properly concealed to prevent fibers from becoming airborne. Following abatement, as per federal and state asbestos regulations, certified professionals performed a visual inspection to ensure all areas were clean of any potential asbestos debris, as well as took air samples for analysis. From their samples and visual inspections, abatement specialists concluded that the abatement work was completed satisfactorily and there were no longer asbestos threats in the previously noted areas of the school. Though all the proper regulations were followed by the abatement specialists, the University of Montana only released these documents for a limited area of the school that was inspected prior to potential renovations. Based on the events earlier this month that likely exposed preschoolers to dangerous amounts of asbestos, the toxin is still a problem in many other areas of the school and continues to be a health risk. The Need for Better Regulations to Prevent Asbestos Exposure at Schools Unfortunately, the events at the University of Montana are not isolated incidents. Studies have shown thousands of schools across the United States, and even more globally, are still contaminated with dangerous asbestos products. With recent estimates, studies suggest about 15 million students and 1.4 million faculty at these contaminated schools are at risk of asbestos exposure. Though there are a number of regulations in place to help protect students and teachers alike from asbestos, colleges are not regulated by the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), which requires all school districts to perform inspections in their buildings for asbestos-containing materials and have management plans in place for any asbestos that is found. Per AHERA, asbestos inspections should take place at least once every three years. While colleges do not have to adhere by regulations in place from AHERA, they still must abide by other EPA and OSHA regulations to prevent exposure, like the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), as well as specific state laws like Montanas Asbestos Control Act. According to the school website, the University of Montana does have an asbestos maintenance plan in place that was last updated in 2009. The document explains that the school has undergone one full asbestos survey in 1984, which is available for review. The plan further details how asbestos inspections must be completed before any renovation or construction work, with special considerations for certain buildings on campus that already underwent asbestos abatement work. The plan also states personnel will complete periodic surveillance of areas with known asbestos materials, though does not specify the frequency. Overall, incidents like the dangerous levels of exposure at UM highlight the need for more strict asbestos regulations and an asbestos ban. Until the toxin is no longer used and old uses of the mineral are better monitored, the public continues to face exposure and serious health risks like mesothelioma. On Wednesday 27 February at the Kranidiotis Amphitheatre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a conference took place on the occasion of Greece's taking over the Chairmanship of the International Tracing Service. The purpose of the conference was to present the work of the International Centre on Nazi Persecution to the Greek public. The International Tracing Service, which this year was renamed the Arolsen Archives, maintains the most significant Archive of Nazi camp prisoners, whose mission is to seek information related to the fate of the victims of Nazi atrocities on behalf of their families. Commencement of the conference was declared by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Bolaris, who also inaugurated the exhibition #Stolen Memory in the space of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This pertains to an exhibition-campaign to find the families of victims of the Nazi atrocities whose personal items have been found and are stored at the Arolsen Archives. Among them 8 Greeks. At the conference, the Director of the International Tracing Team, Ms. Floriane Azoulay, was present, as well as officials of the Arolsen Archives, who answered question by the Greek public, while on the part of Greece, the Chair of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service participated, Ambassador Photini Tomai-Constantopoulou, as well as the Director of the Jewish Museum of Greece, Ms. Zanet Battinou, and historian Stratos Dordanas, who has conducted research on the Arolsen Archives. During the course of the conference, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the International Tracing Service and the Jewish Museum of Greece, while there was a presentation of the capability for remote access to the digital material of the Arolsen Archive, a system which, as it was announced, Greece will be first among the other nations on the International Committee in installing this coming summer through a terminal which will be installed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Service of Diplomatic and Historical Archives. Ambient air monitoring is the logical next step in this developing situation. This testing would help us determine what levels of ethylene oxide may be occurring in our communities, Pfister said Friday. Together with Gurnee and Waukegan, we continue to urge our state and federal officials to take this step. In the meantime, we are exploring independent air monitoring as an option to assure the protection of our residents health. Valadez came to District 60 from Chicago Public Schools, where he started in 2014 as a miscellaneous assistant for CPSs Network 7, providing support for attendance clerks, school-level administration and other staff, according to a district biography. He then worked in Chicago for two years as a special education classroom assistant. The city of Waukegan is looking for vendors for its public beach perhaps an umbrella rental or a concierge service to carry belongings to and from the parking lot as part of its larger goal of making Waukegans lakefront the northern Navy Pier of Lake County, the mayor said. The abrupt unscheduled end of the summit between the two colorful national leaders really is no surprise. As with their first meeting, this one was scheduled but not seriously planned. True summit meetings reflect careful preparation, and any important concluding agreement results from lengthy negotiation by experienced diplomats and other skilled professionals. In Waukegan, public discussion about doing something beneficial with the overload of offshore sand has been going on for years. Back in 2013, a consultant told city officials that 72,000 cubic yards of sand collects every year off the harbor even more following events like 2012s Superstorm Sandy, which churned the Great Lakes along with the East Coast and recommended that it be sent to beaches that have the opposite problem. HURON COUNTY Last year, three local schools received a portion of $25 million in state grants to purchase equipment and/or technology to improve the safety and security of school buildings, students and staff. With another round of $25 million in additional grants set aside for the Michigan State Police sponsored Competitive School Safety Grant Program, Sen. Dan Lauwers is encouraging area schools to apply for a new set of state grants to make important safety improvements. A Congolese national man, who at one time lived in Bridgeport, has been indicated by a grand jury on asylum fraud. Federal authorities said Kaseba Katambwa did not disclose on immigration documents that he had been previously convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned in the U.K. for rape, entering into an arrangement to facilitate the acquisition or use of criminal property and dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. The indictment alleges that, in April 2018, Katambwa stated in an asylum application that his name was Patrick Ndaya Katambwa, Katambwa Patrick Ndaya, and Patrick Katambwa Ndaya, with a specific date of birth; that he had resided in the Democratic Republic of Congo from February 1969 to January 2018; and that he had been arrested, convicted and sentenced, or imprisoned solely in the DRC, and not in any country other than the U.S. These statements were false, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John H. Durham said in a release. In addition to failing to state his true name and date of birth, Katambwa failed to state that he had resided in the United Kingdom for multiple years between February 1969 and January 2018, and that, under the name of Kaseba Katambwa, he had been previously convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned in the U.K. for rape, entering into an arrangement to facilitate the acquisition or use of criminal property, and dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. Katambwa, who was residing in Bridgeport, has been detained since his arrest on a federal criminal complaint on Feb. 1. The indictment was returned on Feb. 13. Katambwa appeared Thursday before U.S Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. If convicted of making a false statement in an immigration document., Katambwa faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. BRIDGEPORT Four stop work orders were issued in Bridgeport this week at the construction site of Main Street Lofts. The Connecticut Department of Labor issued the stop work orders at the site, 1188 Main St., for being in violation of state wage laws. According to State Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby, federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requested help from the agencys Wage and Workplace Standards Division unit after getting calls about alleged safety and wage violations. Four companies involved in the construction were found not to be in compliance with the laws, with violations including lack of workers compensation and the payment of employees in cash without proper payroll records being maintained. Jorge Drywall, of 239 Harral Ave. in Bridgeport, was issued a stop work order for misrepresenting employees as independent contractors and failure to get workers compensation coverage. KCT General Contractors, of 91 McVeigh Ave. in Staten Island, N.Y., was issued a stop work order for not having a Connecticut registration and not having Connecticut workers compensation. RCN Home Improvement, of 5 Woodside Ave. in Danbury, was issued a stop work order for misrepresenting employees as independent contractors and failure to get workers compensation. Wood Pro & Development, of 40 Armeridge Drive in Bridgeport, was issued a stop work order for misrepresenting employees as independent contractors and failure to get coverage that meets state requirements. When a stop work order is issued, the company cannot continue work until proof is provided that all deficiencies have been corrected. Under state law, companies are fined for any day it has operated in violation of the law. Under state statue, that is a $300 fine per worker per day of the violations. Westby said in a prepared statement that its essential that employers follow the necessary laws. While we want to promote a strong economy and keep employers and their employees on the job, our first obligation is to ensure that workers have the proper protections should they get injured while on the job, Westby said. He said honesty, proper tax payments and providing workers compensation and unemployment insurance are needed. Ultimately, state taxpayers are burdened with the cost of protecting these employees, which created a financial loss for Connecticuts residents and those employees that do play by the rules, Westby said. MIDDLETOWN After impassioned public input at two city meetings this week addressing the future of the former Green Street Arts Center, common council members will be considering the controversial proposal to move the soup kitchen into the facility next week. At issue is the plan to place St. Vincent De Paul Middletowns administrative offices on Main Street into the building operated by Wesleyan University for 14 years, something the neighborhood and others have adamantly opposed. The arts facility, at 51 Green St. in the citys North End, was run by Wesleyan from 2005 until 2017. The school leased the building from the city for $1 annually. The plan was that, over time, the programs would become self-sustaining through private and foundation support, Wesleyan spokeswoman Lauren Rubenstein said in 2017. Wesleyan spent over $4 million on the facility. Wednesdays finance and government meeting and subsequent planning and zoning session were packed with those who passionately back both ideas. At the first meeting, where public comment took an hour and a half to hear, the panel took no action. The zoning board voted 6-1 not to send the St. Vincent De Paul proposal onto the council, showing its lack of support for the plan. The council will hear the plan anyway, as it has to vote on any potential sale of a city building. A group of citizens calling itself the Middletown Green Community Center, now incorporated, wants to take over the building for health and wellness, technology and arts programming. In mid-December, the Economic Development Committee chose to move forward with the St. Vincent De Paul request instead, denying both the community group and Community Health Centers bid to move its New Britain office to 51 Green St. in Middletown. Zoning Chairman Stephen Devoto said his groups charge is to weigh issues relative to the citys Plan of Conservation and Development: the desire for a vibrant Main Street, which would be achieved if St. Vincent De Paul moves off Main Street, a prime location for businesses. Also, we want to foster a multitude of diverse residential options, which would encourage and impact downtown residents lives, particularly in the North End, Devoto said. The MGCC hasnt demonstrated its capability to handle a plan of its proposed magnitude, Devoto said. Id like to see them do a class or training on a small scale to demonstrate a long-term commitment to its proposed mission, he said, thereby creating an extensive track record. He is also dissatisfied with the way the city and soup kitchen apparently did not consult residents, the North End Action Team and other community organizers in coming up with a plan for the building. Maybe some concerns would have be assuaged, so there would not be as much opposition, Devoto said. St. Vincent De Paul is calling the situation a crisis. In appealing to the public to turn out for Mondays Common Council meeting to support its move, the agency released a five-minute video which addressed misconceptions about the work it does. More for you Middletown health center, soup kitchen want to occupy former arts center The soup kitchen has run out of space after occupying 617 Main St. for 40 years, Executive Director Ethel Higgins has said. Points made in the short film include the sentiment, I dont want those people in our backyard, as well as the question about how the soup kitchen will benefit North End youth. The Green Street building is just 282 feet away from St. Vincent De Paul, the agency said. How many times in history have we been ashamed of ourselves for not wanting those people near us? Who those people are has changed over the years. So what separates us from those people? Being born into the right circumstances? Mental illness? Losing a job? the video said. MGCC Executive Director Jeff Hush said his organization and North End residents arent opposed to the work St. Vincent De Paul does. The issue is very simple, he said. The building is already on Main Street. We have no desire to move them. We understand they want to expand, but not into our community center building. He said his group is very excited at the vote by the planning and zoning board and the lack of a vote by finance and government. No one wants convert a $2.3 million asset of the city [into the soup kitchen and offices for a $1 sale price], but they also dont want the city to make a decision [on the fly], he said. The city entered into a non-binding agreement with the soup kitchen pending the Common Councils approval, Middletown Mayor Dan Drew has said. Once complete, ownership will be transferred from the city to the agency. Common Council Minority Leader Sebastian N. Giuliano, also a finance committee member, acknowledged the publics negative perception of the soup kitchen and those who use it. We may know its not true, but its out there, he said. You cant dismiss their fears unfortunately for them, its real. We need to show the neighborhood we will protect it. Councilor Mary Bartolotta, who also sits on the finance panel, said if the soup kitchens plan is not backed by the council, members would ask for a new review of its proposal. City Democrats are working to figure out how to serve the community by filling some of the needs of both groups. We want to make sure everyone feels theyre heard on the issue, she said. e look forward to having the best possible solution for the community. Giuliano said hell be working all weekend to come up with an equitable solution. If we cant resolve it Monday, it will move to a next meeting, postponed to a special meeting or postponed indefinitely, he said. Then its back to the drawing board. Im going to do my darnedest to put something in front of (fellow councilors) that might work. If everybody will operate in good faith, everyone give up a little to get a little, we could make something good happen here, Giuliano said. The council meeting is Monday at 7 p.m. in City Hall council chambers at 245 deKoven Drive in Middletown. NEW BRITAIN - New Britain School officials left touching tributes on social media to the student and his brother who perished in an intense blaze late Sunday afternoon. Police identified the men as brothers Elijah Little, 17, and Shaheen Davis, 29, both of Elam Street. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled their deaths as accidental. Both died of smoke inhalation, police said. The brothers were home with their sister late Sunday afternoon when the blaze broke out on the first floor of the single family house, fire officials said. Their sister was able to make it out unharmed. Friends believe Little went back in to get his brother out as well and the two became trapped. Fire officials have not confirmed those reports. Little was always smiling, said New Britain High School Principal Damon Pearce. "Elijahs friends described him as someone who had an infectious personality that exuded warmth and caring," Pearce said quoting students. "He was, first and foremost, a happy soul. he was never mad, always smiling, and spread good cheer as he entered the room." "In the words of one student, he always knew how to put a smile on peoples face, Pearce added."Indeed, Elijah was famous for folding his arms across his chest, leaning back slightly and sharing a wry smile while issuing his famous expression, 'Hey baby!'" Little was known as a person who transcended peer groups," Pearce said. "He got along with everybody, treated everyone as equal, was a peacemaker, and his presence lent an air of confidence that made other kids popular," the principal added quoting students who had shared their recollections of the teen. Dean of Students, Tasha Manzie shared her thoughts on Little and the lessons to be learned from his death. There is always a lesson. Elijah was a huge presence on this earth, and his impact will forever be felt in the lives of all that have had the pleasure of meeting him," Manzie said. "We are devastated to hear the news regarding the tragic passing of Elijah Little and his brother Shaheen Davis," said Superintendent of Schools Nancy Sarra. "Elijah was a senior at New Britain High School and attended New Britain Schools throughout his educational career. This past week, we took steps to ensure that students at NBHS, Satellite Careers Academy, and Brookside School are supported during this difficult time." Students will hold a vigil for the two men in front of 73 Elam St. this evening. A GoFundMe for the family has raised more than $16,000. MIDDLETOWN Transportation is a notoriously big issue in our state, and can be especially troublesome for our most vulnerable citizens who often do not own a vehicle or are unable to drive. The 2-1-1 hotline, a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week health and human services number funded by United Way, hosts a comprehensive database of health and human services, and also includes information on bus, rail and ride opportunities, as well as financial assistance for transportation needs. There, contact specialists receive hundreds of calls each day from Connecticut residents seeking information, services, and help connecting to resources. The transportation page on the 211ct.org website provides resources, including local bus and rail information, disability-related transportation, family prison visitation support, rides to and from medical appointments, senior ride programs and ride-sharing programs. 2-1-1 has been keeping track of all calls received, and is paying specific attention to transportation-related concerns. The 2-1-1 barometer utilizes 2-1-1 data and other information to explore issues affecting Connecticut residents. The division tracks the type of information callers are looking for, and the referrals that are made, creating a database that serves as a gauge of the needs present in the state. Transportation barriers, such as income, age, disability, access to a car, proximity to public transportation and distance from destinations, have the potential to prevent Connecticut residents from getting where they need to go. In fiscal year 2018, United Way of Connecticut 2-1-1 received nearly 3,000 transportation-related service requests from individuals seeking access to and information on transportation resources across the state. In all, 84 percent of callers were successfully referred to programs and services able to assist them with their transportation struggles. In Middlesex County, the most common requests were medical appointment transportation, disability-related transportation and local bus services. Of the 1,875 total service requests for nonemergency medical transportation statewide, 94 percent were connected with a resource. Data about requests for transportation services can be used to demonstrate the degree to which services are needed and, in instances when a request for services is unfulfilled, can reveal where there are unmet needs, as well as help direct the deployment of resources to meet those needs. Simply dial 2-1-1 from anywhere in Connecticut, and you will reach a highly trained contact specialist who will assess your needs and provide referrals to the resources in your community. Every day, contact specialists help callers find assistance for complex issues, such as financial problems, substance abuse and suicide prevention. Also, 2-1-1 is available for nonemergency questions, such as finding volunteer opportunities and donation options. 2-1-1 maintains a database of 4,100 health and human services providers offering approximately 40,000 services. Multilingual assistance and TDD access is also available. By supporting United Way, you are also helping support these incredible programs. Local human service agencies are making a major impact in assisting our neighbors, but there is clearly still more work to do. To learn more about 2-1-1, call or visit 211.org. Kevin Wilhelm is president and CEO of the Middlesex United Way in Middletown. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson painted a grim picture two years ago of the eroding readiness levels plaguing her service in the wake of sequestration and budget cuts, including aircraft atrophying on flight lines and pilots getting too few flight hours. It didn't mean that the Air Force wouldn't step up to fight in a conflict, she said. "It means fewer will come back. I think we need to understand that," she told reporters at the Pentagon in 2017. But after plus-ing up end strength and distributing resources across the force, Wilson sounded more hopeful Thursday that the service is ready to "fight tonight." "We are more ready for major combat operations today than we were two years ago, and more than 90 percent of our pacing squadrons, those squadrons that are required for either a China or a Russia fight, are ready to fight tonight with their lead-force packages," she told airmen at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. Related content: Citing the National Defense Strategy, Wilson said "the Air Force will be at the forefront" of any new conflict, regardless of where or with whom. In the last two years, the Air Force has added nearly 9,000 active-duty airmen to its end strength across squadrons that needed them most, she said. That includes the logistics, maintenance and cyber career fields. Wilson reiterated recent comments that there is no longer a shortage of active-duty maintainers, with 4,000 positions filled in that same timeframe. That said, "We've got a heck of a lot more work to do," she added. For example, the Air Force added 1,200 new pilots -- roughly 150 more than expected -- last year, with the help of efforts like Pilot Training Next, a first-of-its-kind program that tests the ability of students to learn faster and absorb more through cutting-edge technology aids and cockpit simulators, Wilson said. But the service has still come up short. In written testimony before the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on personnel, Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, said Wednesday that the Air Force ended fiscal 2018 with a total force pilot shortage of 1,937. The service said it was roughly 2,000 pilots short in 2017. "Shortfalls in the fighter pilot inventory are the most acute," Kelly said, adding that airmen aren't overly interested in some of the offered bonuses. "After four straight years of steady decline, the overall take rate for the aviation bonus stabilized and went up slightly from 44 percent in 2017 to 45 percent in 2018," he said. The "take rate," or accepted bonus, for fighter pilots increased from 35 percent to 44 percent, and bomber pilots went from 46 percent to 53 percent, he said. "Unfortunately, we saw a decrease in our largest category, mobility pilots, where the take rate went down from 44 percent to 38 percent. Overall, we are below the retention target of 65 percent needed each year and within each pilot category to sustain a healthy inventory," Kelly said. The Air Force is also rushing to reach 80 percent readiness levels in its F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter communities, all while looking to add at least 74 additional squadrons over the next decade. Then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued a memo in September directing the Air Force and Navy to raise mission-capable rates for four key tactical aircraft to 80 percent by the end of fiscal 2019. Wilson has pledged to get 204 of the service's 312 operational squadrons to 80 percent readiness by 2020, with the remainder reaching those levels by 2023, she recently told Defense News. Chief of Staff Gen David Goldfein, Chief Master Sgt of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright and she "will continue to work together to get the people and the training and the equipment and the spare parts so that, if called upon, you can fight and win and come home again," Wilson said Thursday. "Threats are emerging, and our generation must respond," Wilson said during a video monologue preceding her speech. She cited Russia's increased Arctic patrols and surface-to-air missile stations in Syria as significant hazards, "threatening U.S. airpower." Chinese forces, meanwhile, have finished a month's worth of unannounced live-fire exercises in the South China Sea, "and they are pushing into the Pacific," she said during her speech. "It takes all of us to get that combat power ready and able to fight. A fist is nothing without the weight of the body behind it." -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Nearly 9,000 Marines Didn't Get Vaccinated By the Deadline. Many Risk Getting Kicked Out of the Corps. The Marine Corps reported that 5% of the force had not gotten even one shot before the deadline passed. The Army will present the Distinguished Service Cross on Friday to family members of a paratrooper who sacrificed his life for his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, one of 12 upgrades to the nation's second-highest award for valor the service plans to make following a detailed award review. The 173rd Airborne Brigade's Maj. Thomas Gordon Bostick, who was killed March 27, 2007, protecting his soldiers in an enemy ambush, is one of five upgrades from the Silver Star to the DSC the Army has announced so far. Army officials told Military.com recently that the service plans to upgrade the Silver Stars of seven more soldiers to the Distinguished Service Cross These award upgrades are the final set of actions for the Army in light of a Pentagon-wide review of combat awards given after Sept. 11, 2001, launched in 2016 by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter. The review, intended to ensure that acts of valor from contemporary conflicts receive appropriate recognition, included an estimated 1,100 awards. Army officials would not disclose how many service awards were evaluated as part of the review. "In recognition of their gallantry, intrepidity and heroism above and beyond the call of duty, 12 Soldiers will receive the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor," Army spokesman Lt. Col. Emanuel Ortiz said in a written statement. "Previously recognized for their bravery by award of the Silver Star, the Department of Defense upgraded the soldiers' medals as part of a comprehensive review of commendations for heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan." In addition to Bostick's posthumous award, the Army has scheduled medal upgrade ceremonies for: Capt. Andrew L. Bundermann on March 7 at the University of Minnesota Sgt. Daniel E. Cowart on March 20 at Fort Hood, Texas Sgt. Robert K. Debolt on March 28 at Fort Riley, Kansas Family members of Staff Sgt. Stevon A. Booker, posthumous, on April 5 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Army officials declined to release the names of the other seven soldiers who will receive medal upgrades. "To preserve the integrity of the review, we do not release specific details about the internal staffing process," Ortiz said. During a vicious enemy ambush in the mountains of Afghanistan, Bostick positioned himself between the enemy and his exposed soldiers, according to an Army summary of the action. Bostick continued to fight off the enemy under "continuous small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire" until he was killed, the summary states. "Bostick's selfless actions ensured his soldiers had sufficient time to retreat through the hazardous terrain in order to seek cover and survive the attack." Bundermann received the Silver Star for his actions on Oct. 3, 2009, during the attack on Combat Outpost Keating. Then a first lieutenant, he was acting commander of B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment. He directed indirect fire on enemy positions that were attacking Keating from a nearby village, according to an Army summary of the actions that day. But as the battle wore on, Bundermann had to make quick decisions to deal with enemy fighters within Keating's perimeter. "Realizing his soldiers were distributed in extended outer positions and the enemy had control of several positions in the combat outpost, he reallocated his forces and made the tactical decision to focus the attack on the enemy forces within the perimeter of the outpost," the summary states. "Having redirected his forces, he led a bold counterattack, which cleared the enemy from several critical positions and ultimately led to a successful defense of Combat Outpost Keating." Bundermann served five years in the Army before being honorably discharged in August 2012. Cowart, a former member of the 1st Cavalry Division, is receiving his upgrade to DSC for saving three fellow soldiers from a suicide bomber on a May 13, 2007, combat patrol in Iraq. At a traffic stop, Cowart wrestled the suicide bomber away from his unit members before the bomb exploded. He was severely wounded in the blast, but his actions saved the three soldiers' lives, according to an Army summary of the action. "Due to his ability to discern the threat to his comrades and his utter disregard for his own safety, Sgt. Cowart was able to prevent further injury to his fellow soldiers and nearby civilians," the summary states. Debolt, an infantryman with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, showed "extraordinary heroism" during an enemy attack on his convoy on Sept. 4, 2008, in Afghanistan. The attack started when the lead elements of the convoy began receiving enemy small-arms fire. "Debolt maneuvered his vehicle off the main road in order to provide effective supporting fire," according to an Army summary of the action. "While maneuvering, his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device and was almost immediately engulfed in flames." Debolt, while on fire himself, extracted one of his fellow soldiers, pulling him away from the flaming wreckage, the summary states. Despite his own burns, Debolt "extinguished the flames that were rapidly engulfing his comrade's body" while they remained under heavy enemy gunfire. Debolt then pulled another soldier from the burning vehicle, extinguished his burning clothing and continued to engage the enemy despite his own burns, the summary states. "His courage under fire and disregard for his own well-being at the start of a concerted enemy ambush helped save the life of one of his fellow soldiers while helping to prevent serious injury to another, the summary states. Debolt served four years in the Army before being honorably discharged in 2011. Booker is credited with giving his own life to protect his platoon's flank during the 3rd Infantry Division's Thunder Run assault on Baghdad in April 2003. Under heavy enemy fire, Booker took up an exposed prone position on the top of his tank after both his and his crew's machine guns malfunctioned, according to an Army summary of the action. "As he remained exposed, SSG Booker identified an enemy troop carrier, which was attempting to bypass his tank, but within seconds engaged the enemy vehicle and destroyed it prior to the enemy troops dismounting," the summary states. "SSG Booker's fearless attitude and excitement over the communications network inspired his platoon to continue the attack and assured them and leadership that they would defeat the enemy and reach their objective safely." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Jen Choi is a senior systems engineer at MITRE, a not-for-profit technology company. Last year was undoubtedly the year of defense acquisition change in the U.S. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, OUSD(A&S), was formally established, and it began disrupting the status quo by digitizing acquisition policy, launching digital acquisition tools, and publishing the "Other Transactions Guide." Much more change is certainly still to come, so what can we learn from recent developments in the rest of the acquisition world? Last July, the French government announced it also needed acquisition transformation, to focus on its priorities of efficiency and responsiveness. The Direction Generale de l'Armement (the French procurement office) outlined its multi-pronged approach to transformation, which includes standing up a new innovation agency; halving the number of phases arms programs must go through; and switching to payment upon delivery rather than time-based, phased payment (regardless of delivery or not). Although these declarations may be short, they are far from simple: These are fundamental changes that demonstrate France's commitment to modernize acquisition strategy and invest in defense innovation. Only six months since the declaration, the new French Agency for Innovation in Defense hosted its first Forum for Innovation in Defense, where 160 projects were showcased for their applicability in both defense and civilian problem spaces. From the swift pace of action and growing momentum, it's clear the French government is committed to change. Also last July, France and Germany unveiled the European Main Battle Tank, a joint venture between them. The program took only three years to develop from agreement to prototype. By leveraging proven and tested French and German technologies, the two nations were able to respond to an operational need by quickly designing and building a new weapons system. On the flip side, the deputy director of acquisition for the NATO Communications and Information Agency wrote an article calling for more flexible and innovative approaches for IT acquisition. Due to the cross-cutting and full-spectrum applicability of IT resources, these acquisitions are subject to three differing procedures and authorities, depending on which stage of the IT system's life cycle they're operating in. In addition, one of the three relevant IT acquisition strategies requires Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contracts even though more flexible and innovative approaches exist. Also problematic: The top two criteria in evaluating best-value FFPs are price and technology. In the world of constantly changing IT, the latest and more advanced products often come with a higher price tag. This quickly creates a paradox for any acquisition professional. Advanced technology may offer the best solution, but the ability to pursue these approaches is constrained by regulation. Looks like it's not just the U.S. experiencing acquisition policy pains. What can the U.S. acquisition professional take from these examples? First, encouragement. Members of the U.S. acquisition community can take heart that they are leaders. The introduction of the first follower is what transforms an individual into a leader. Although the Pentagon's recent acquisition reorganization came with growing pains, the U.S. is leading a movement. France has also decided to uproot its acquisition structure and embrace defense innovation. As time goes by, other countries likely will begin disrupting their own acquisition worlds. So, U.S. acquisition professionals can take solace and find encouragement from knowing that their actions and willingness to change are having a truly international impact. Second, awareness that the U.S. is not alone! It's easy to get frustrated and feel overwhelmed by overlapping, confusing and byzantine acquisition rules and regulations. However, weapons development is an extraordinarily difficult endeavor, and other countries struggle too. Defense acquisition will always be complex. It's "normal" to feel frustrated that the U.S. acquisition community doesn't have it completely figured out, but OUSD(A&S) is putting improvements into place and is committed to making forward progress. And lastly, inspiration. If France and Germany, two countries with different needs, cultures and languages that fought wars against each other in the past century can now work together to quickly and efficiently build a joint battle tank, then surely acquisition professionals worldwide can cooperate to find better ways to acquire defense products and technology. As you set new goals for the calendar year, take time to reflect on the United States' newfound role as an agent of change. OUSD(A&S) is improving the ability to bring top-quality systems to the warfighter faster. How can you serve as a leader for the international acquisition community in 2019? -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren made a pitch for her universal child care plan in an unexpected setting this week: a congressional hearing with the military's top personnel chiefs. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, laid out her vision to give all American families access to affordable child care during a Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee hearing Wednesday. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps' personnel bosses were on Capitol Hill to testify about military career and family policies. "I think it's great that any child of a military family has access to high-quality care at a price they can afford," Warren said. "... I believe every child in America should have that same kind of opportunity." Warren, who formally announced her presidential bid earlier this month, said her plan to provide universal child care and early education to families across the country is based on the military's system. Her plan would cap families' child care fees at 7 percent of their annual income. Related: Infant Girl Dies at Unlicensed Day Care at Army Housing in Hawaii All children under the age of 5 could attend free or discounted care under her plan. The costs for Warren's program would be offset by a new proposed tax on "ultra-millionaires," which her campaign says would raise $2.75 trillion in 10 years. About 200,000 children use the military's $800 million child care service, which employs about 23,000 workers, according to the Congressional Research Service. Military families' child care fees are based on their income, meaning those on the low end of the wage scale pay as little as $222 per month, while top earners owe closer to $1,000. The Defense Department foots the rest of the bill. It's not just the access and affordability of the military's child care system Warren said she wants to duplicate. It's also the high standards to which the military holds its day care providers. "The military child care program is open to every military family regardless of rank," she said. "It has high standards and is designed to be affordable for every military family." Ninety-five percent of the military's child care providers are nationally accredited, Warren said, compared to 11 percent on the civilian side. The system isn't perfect, though. Thousands of kids are on wait lists to get into military child care centers, defense leaders told lawmakers last month. The demand for child care is greater than the services can currently provide. The general and flag officers testifying Wednesday said funding to improve accessibility is vital to keeping the military ready to fight. The services ask a lot of troops, said Marine Lt. Gen. Michael Rocco, deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Ensuring they have quality day care is just one way to help their families. "When the family is happy and secure, [troops] are much more apt to work, and readiness is impacted in a positive way," Rocco said. "It's very helpful to the family members to know they've got quality, affordable child care on base where they're protected and secure." Air Force Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, agreed. "For retention, we have to do that," he added. Other Americans deserve the same peace of mind, Warren said. Working professionals and students finishing their educations worry about their children's well-being too, she said. "They all need access to the kind of care you're making sure our military families have." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. During its return from an annual supply run to the McMurdo research station in Antarctica, the US Coast Guard's only heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, had a fire break out inside its incinerator room as it sailed about 650 miles north of McMurdo Sound. The incident occurred on February 10, after the icebreaker had left Antarctica, where it had cut a channel though nearly 17 miles of ice that was 6 to 10 feet thick to allow a container ship to offload 10 million pounds of supplies that will sustain US research stations and field camps in Antarctica. According to a Coast Guard release, four fire extinguishers failed during the initial response, and it ultimately took two hours for the ship's fire crews to put out the blaze. While damage from the flames was contained inside the incinerator housing, water used to cool nearby exhaust pipes damaged electrical systems and insulation in the room. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is still being investigated. "It's always a serious matter whenever a shipboard fire breaks out at sea, and it's even more concerning when that ship is in one of the most remote places on Earth," Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, commander of the US Coast Guard's Pacific Area, said in a release. "The crew of the Polar Star did an outstanding job -- their expert response and determination ensured the safety of everyone aboard." Point Nemo, the most remote spot on earth, is also in the South Pacific -- 1,670 miles from the nearest land, which is Ducie Island, part of the Pitcairn Islands, to the north; Motu Nui, one of the Easter Islands, to the northeast; and Maher Island, part of Antarctica, to the south. The Polar Star was commissioned in 1976 and overhauled in 2012, but it is operating well beyond its 30-year service life. Many of the ship's parts are no longer in production, and crew members have stripped parts from its sister ship and ordered them from eBay to keep the Polar Star running. The Polar Star is the Coast Guard's only heavy icebreaker, capable of smashing through the thick ice that builds up in the Arctic and around Antarctica. As such, it makes the run to McMurdo every year in the winter months and then goes into dry dock for maintenance and repairs in preparation for the next trip. Having just one working heavy icebreaker has hindered the Coast Guard's ability to meet request from other government agencies. The service could only do 78% of heavy icebreaking missions between 2010 and 2016, according to a 2017 Government Accountability Office Report. Retired Adm. Paul Zukunft, who was Coast Guard commandant between mid-2014 and mid-2018, said in December that he turned down a request to carry out a freedom-of-navigation exercise in the Arctic out of concern the Polar Star would break down and need Russia to rescue it. The Polar Star had $7.6 million in repairs done during its most recent dry-dock stint, overhauling auxiliary systems, upgrading generators, and replacing propellers. Repairs related to the fire are already being planned. "The incinerator will need to be full functional before next year's mission," the Coast Guard said. The Polar Star left its home port in Seattle on November 27 to make the 11,200-mile trip to Antarctica for the sixth time in as many years. It suffered a number of mechanical problems on the way there, including smoke damage to an electrical switchboard, ship-wide power outages, and a leak in the propeller shaft. Repairing the propeller-shaft leak required the ship to halt icebreaking operations and deploy divers to fix the shaft seal. The Polar Star also had a number of mechanical issues during its 2018 run to McMurdo. The Polar Star sailed into Wellington, New Zealand, on February 18 for a port call, the first time those aboard had set foot on land in 42 days, according to New Zealand news outlet Stuff. The ship is currently on its way back to Seattle, the Coast Guard said in its release. The Coast Guard's only other heavy icebreaker, the Polar Sea, was commissioned in 1978 and has been out of service since 2010 due to engine failure, leaving the Polar Star and the Coast Guard only medium icebreaker, the Healy. The Coast Guard has been pushing to build a new heavy icebreaker for some time, setting up a joint program office with the Navy to oversee the effort. Funding for the new ship had been held up in Congress, but lawmakers recently approved $655 million to start building a new one and another $20 million for materials for a second. In summer 2018, the Senate approved $755 million for the new icebreaker, but the House of Representatives instead authorized $5 billion to build the US-Mexico border wall sought by President Donald Trump, cutting a number of programs, including that of the icebreaker in the process. But Congressional staffers told USNI News this month that the Homeland Security Department's fiscal year 2019 appropriation would include $675 million for new icebreakers. More From Business Insider: Before the Florida VA hospital shooting Wednesday night, Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, went to the House floor to argue that a gun control bill to expand background checks would restrict the 2nd Amendment rights of veterans with mental health problems. On Wednesday at a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees, and later on the House floor, Roe, the former chairman and now ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said a clause in the House gun control bill could affect more than a million veterans. The bill to expand background checks on gun purchases and transfers passed by a vote of 240-190 but is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Senate. President Donald Trump has already said that he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk. On the House floor, Roe said that the bill includes a "little understood" clause that would make it illegal for anyone to possess firearms who has been "adjudicated with mental illness, severe developmental disability, or severe emotional instability." It would also be illegal to sell firearms to such an individual. "To put this in perspective, there are over 1.6 million disabled veterans with a service-connected adjudication by VA of mental illness, including one million veterans with PTSD," he said. All could potentially end up on the FBI's NICS list (National Instant Criminal Background Check System), Roe added. He said he offered an amendment in the Rules Committee to exempt veterans, but it was ruled out of order. "I am concerned that the expanded definition proposed in H.R. 1112 would infringe on the 2nd Amendment rights of over a million veterans, solely because they receive benefits from VA that they have rightly earned through their service to our country," Roe said. The discussion comes the same week a shooting at a VA medical center in Florida made national headlines. At the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center in Riviera Beach, Florida, Wednesday evening, a gunman identified by the FBI as Larry Ray Bon, 59, of Michigan, allegedly fired off at least six shots, wounding a doctor in the neck before being subdued. On Thursday, a statement issued by the Republican side of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on behalf of Roe, a physician and Army veteran, said, "Dr. Roe is aware of what occurred at the Palm Beach Medical center and his thoughts are with all those impacted." Bon, a double amputee, is believed to be an Army veteran and was at the hospital for mental health treatment, the FBI said. It was not immediately known how he obtained the handgun. Several previous gun control bills that would have restricted the sale or ownership of firearms to those with mental health issues have been offered, but all have failed. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. The U.S. Air Force has stopped accepting deliveries of its brand-new KC-46 Pegasus tanker only weeks after the first aircraft was transported from manufacturer Boeing Co.'s Washington state facility to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) halted deliveries Feb. 20 because of foreign object debris found in the aircraft, Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Malinda Singleton said Friday. The Seattle Times first reported that the debris, which could damage the aircraft, led to a week-long grounding of the tankers and safety concerns from top service officials. "The Air Force takes Foreign Object Debris (FOD) contamination very seriously," Singleton said in a statement. "The combined Air Force, Defense Contract Management Agency and Boeing team is working together to resolve these concerns as safely and quickly as possible." The Air Force will not accept deliveries of the tanker until the production aircraft are cleared, and the service and DCMA have approved a corrective action plan by Boeing "that will prevent FOD in the future," she said. Related content: The Air Force took its first delivery of the tanker at McConnell on Jan. 25. According to the Seattle Times, Boeing has delivered six tankers total to McConnell and Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Another delivery was scheduled for Friday. Roughly 45 more production tankers remain at Boeing in the final stages of completion, the paper said. According to a management memo from Boeing's factory managers obtained by the Seattle Times, eight tools were found in aircraft delivered to the Military Delivery Center (MDC) at Paine Field, about 25 miles north of Seattle. The MDC approves and completes the aircraft. All aircraft under construction are supposed to be swept routinely for debris. Loose objects are dangerous because they can cause damage over time. The MDC declared a "level 3" alert on the assembly line. "Does anyone know what a level four is?" the management memo said, according to the papers report. "A level four ... will shut down our factory. This is a big deal." The Pegasus already had problems. The Air Force announced last month that it would accept the tanker, based on the 767 airliner, despite the fact it still has deficiencies that Boeing has agreed to fix after delivery. "We have identified, and Boeing has agreed to fix at its expense, deficiencies discovered in developmental testing of the remote vision system [RVS]," Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Hope Cronin said last month. The RVS, which is made by Rockwell Collins and permits the in-flight operator to view the refueling system below the tanker, has been subject to frequent software glitches. The first tankers will be delivered despite that problem. The systemic issue, which will require a software and hardware update, may take three to four years to fix, Cronin told Defense News last month. "The Air Force has mechanisms in place to ensure Boeing meets its contractual obligations while we continue with initial operational testing and evaluation," she said. The company has contracted for 52 of the 179 tankers the Air Force intends to buy. Boeing is responsible for any cost overruns, which had climbed to $3.5 billion as of October, the company said. The service awarded Boeing a fixed-price, $4.9 billion contract in 2011. The company was supposed to deliver the initial 18 aerial refueling planes by August 2017. But with ongoing issues throughout the program since its start in 2013, including design problems in the refueling boom, Boeing and Air Force officials pushed the first delivery to February 2018. Last March, the service announced that "predicted impacts associated with airworthiness certifications and slower-than-expected flight test execution" would delay delivery to the "latter part of 2018." Then, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' unexpected exit in December presented yet another problem. Sources told Defense News and Reuters that Mattis' signature was required to finalize delivery plans. But President Donald Trump's announcement that Mattis would leave by the end of 2018 instead of his planned departure in February caused another delay for the program. The KC-46 is meant to replace older tanker fleets, such as the KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-10 Extender. The total current inventory of KC-10s and KC-135s sits at 455 aircraft. The Air Force plans to retire part of its legacy aerial refueling fleet and meet its 479-tanker total force requirement with a mix of KC-46s and KC-135s in the future. All three tankers are manufactured or have been upgraded by Boeing. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. The first line of defense is simply to not answer calls from unrecognized numbers, Bisch said. If a charity calls, he suggests residents tell the caller they do not make donations over the phone and ask that the charity send information by mail. He also urged residents to contact police when in doubt about a call. The U.S. Navy's F-35C Joint Strike Fighter is officially combat ready. Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller III, commander of Naval Air Forces, and Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, declared Thursday that the Lightning II aircraft carrier variant has "met all requirements" to achieve initial operational capability (IOC), the Navy said in a release. "The F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win," Miller said in the statement. "We are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force." As the last of the three U.S. services that fly the aircraft to declare its combat-ready status, the Navy has been working to make its expected February 2019 timeline. Related content: To reach the milestone, the first operational squadron had to be "properly manned, trained and equipped to conduct assigned missions in support of fleet operations," officials said Thursday. "This includes having 10 Block 3F, F-35C aircraft, requisite spare parts, support equipment, tools, technical publications, training programs and a functional Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS)," the release states, referring to the latest software variant and software and sustainment system. The Defense Department's F-35 Joint Program Office is overseeing efforts to move to the even more advanced Block 4 software, which would give the F-35 an enhanced sensor range and a larger weapons suite sometime in the early 2020s. In December, the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 "Argonauts" out of Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, completed a critical milestone aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, a turning point in reaching IOC with a "safe for flight" operation certification. Officials said declaring IOC was predicated upon the Vinson being equipped with "proper infrastructure, qualifications and certifications." The Argonauts are slated to become the service's first operational F-35C squadron. VFA-147's first deployment is scheduled aboard the Vinson in 2021. In 2013, the Joint Program Office detailed in a report to Congress when each variant would reach IOC. The "Navy F-35C IOC shall be declared when the first operational squadron is equipped with 10 aircraft, and Navy personnel are trained, manned and equipped to conduct assigned missions," the report stated. "Based on the current F-35 JPO schedule, the F-35C will reach the IOC milestone between August 2018 (Objective) and February 2019 (Threshold)." The Navy reached its goal on the last day of the month. "We congratulate the Department of the Navy on achieving Initial Operational Capability with its fleet of F-35Cs," said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 program, in a statement. "As we celebrate this achievement demonstrating the progress of the F-35 program, we're also setting our sights forward to ensure the U.S. Navy is ready for its first F-35C deployment." The Marine Corps was the first service to reach IOC, declaring its F-35B short take-off and vertical landing variant ready for combat in 2015. The Air Force's F-35A reached the milestone in 2016. The F-35 made its combat debut in the Middle East when Israel's variant conducted strikes in 2018. That September, the Marine Corps' F-35B had its first combat outing, conducting its first strike in Afghanistan against the Taliban. The Navy's milestone comes as it plans to deactivate its F-35 squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and move operations to NAS Lemoore, concentrating its Joint Strike Fighter operations on the West Coast. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Kay Shelton will discuss Illinois role in the womens suffrage movement at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 10, at the Century Memorial Chapel in Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St. When you work in hospice care, you have a team around you, which helps you stay neutral, she said. Your job is to help others, so you have to be client-centered. They have needs which have to be met so their life can move in the direction it needs to go. This involves a lot of legacy work with honest, difficult conversations with family members. This particular family had deep faith, so the parents used the time to teach spiritual beliefs to their children. A Republican Party group has been forced to apologize after its comparison of Bernie Sanders and Adolf Hitler sparked cries of anti-Semitism and reminders that members of Sanders family were killed in the Holocaust. The Clay County Republican Party of Minnesota Facebook page shared a post warning, Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat its mistakes. The post featured photos of Vermont Senator Sanders and Hitler and listed similar beliefs held by the two. These include: calls himself a socialist, (although Sanders is a democratic socialist) proposes gun control, and promises a political revolution. The most ridiculous comparison was that Sanders blames rich for Americas problems, just like Hitler, who blamed Jews for Germanys problems. Unlike Hitler, Sanders doesnt appear to have a plan to round up and murder all rich people just yet. Curiously, the post appeared to miss the fact that, as a Jew, Sanders would not have done so well in Nazi Germany. Sanders own relatives on his fathers side died in the Holocaust. The post was met with disgust online, with Jewish groups accusing the party of anti-Semitism. It was soon deleted and a statement was issued explaining it had been shared by a volunteer. Whether its the Democrats comparing Donald Trump to Hitler or Republicans comparing Bernie Sanders to Hitler, it is wrong, stupid, and inappropriate, it said. We sincerely apologize. Also on rt.com #StandwithIlhan: Social media users defend Ilhan Omar after her forced apology over anti-Semitism Jewish Community Action accused the party of hypocrisy as its chair Jennifer Carnahan called for Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar to be stripped of her congressional duties over her alleged anti-Semitism just weeks before. Like this story? Share it with a friend! The release of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan has likely reduced the odds of war between the two nuclear powers, but never mind that Varthamans mustache is the real hero of the story. The pilot of a downed IAF MiG-21 was returned to India on Friday in a peace gesture by Pakistan, as the two countries teetered on the brink of all-out war over Kashmir. In addition to a heros welcome, Varthaman sparked a conversation about his fierce facial hair. Also on rt.com First VISUALS of Indian pilot handover by Pakistan released Abhinandan Varthaman's Gunslinger: Tamil moustache all of India wants, declared a headline in India Today, describing it as beautifully crafted in a manner that ensures that neither his radiating smile, nor his proud face gets covered with it. It heavily resembles the gunslinger, but also has some characteristics of the horseshoe, the Hungarian, and the wild west moustache. Much of Twitter was likewise impressed. The wing commander IAF rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel in the army comes from a family of pilots. His father, retired Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman, also flew the MiG-21 when it was first introduced. Varthamans facial hair originally caused some to declare that his capture by Pakistan was fake news, due to the conviction that IAF pilots are not allowed facial hair. While it is true that the IAF forbids beards with the exception of Sikhs, who do not shave or cut their hair for religious reasons the air branch does allow mustache. In India, however, facial hair is a cultural marker. In some rural areas such as the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where Varthaman is from adult married men expected to have a mustache, while beards are reserved for grandparents, for example. Military and civilian pilots around the world face restrictions on facial hair motivated primarily by the need for proper fit of oxygen masks. A 2018 Canadian study showed that a clean shave is not necessary for a proper mask fit, but the findings have not yet influenced widespread policy change. Like this story? Share it with a friend! A dozen survivors of genocides from the Holocaust to the 1980s' US-backed slaughter in Central America have demanded US diplomat Elliott Abrams be removed from the US Holocaust museum's "Conscience Committee." "We cannot fathom how Abrams a proven supporter of some of the world's most nefarious perpetrators of genocide and mass murderers for nearly 40 years could be a member" of the US Holocaust Memorial Council and Committee on Conscience, they wrote in a letter to the museum on Tuesday, adding that "his presence on that committee and his affiliation with the Museum runs contrary to everything that you and your mission stand for." Also on rt.com PR stunt to justify intervention in Venezuela: Experts slam US regime change gangsterism Abrams' resurrection as special envoy to Venezuela by US President Donald Trump "sent shock waves in our communities," the group wrote, spurring them to research what the convicted felon had been up to at which point they learned about his committee appointment. "How can the Committee on Conscience prevent future genocides if it has not come to terms with the involvement of one of its own members in supporting such atrocities?" the survivors pleaded, warning they would "take [their] concerns to the broader public" if the Museum did not respond. Survivors and relatives of those tortured, killed and disappeared under the Guatemalan dictatorship of General Efrain Rios Montt joined relatives of Holocaust victims and survivors of repression in El Salvador in adding their names to the letter. Abrams "unconditionally supported" Montt, whom the Guatemalan courts convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity in 2013. Abrams also backed the Salvadoran military government that massacred tens of thousands of people during his tenure in the Reagan administration, as well as the brutal anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua, whom the CIA notoriously funded with the profits of illegal drug trafficking. Also on rt.com Venezuela crisis: Border clashes, masked thugs, torched aid & fake Red Cross Naming an abettor of convicted war criminals to a "Committee on Conscience" may stretch the bounds of irony, but Abrams was appointed to the Holocaust Memorial's board in 2009 as one of then-President George W. Bush's last acts before leaving office a fitting quid pro quo, given that Bush's dad pardoned him after he was convicted of lying to Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal, and Abrams returned the favor by helping George W. Bush wage his devastating war in Iraq. Trump's appointment of Abrams as special envoy has introduced a whole new generation to the envoys ruthless tactics, making the US involvement in Venezuela that much less defensible including aid trucks that were reportedly loaded with barricade materials and alleged use of agents provocateurs to gin up violence at peaceful protests. If you like this story, share it with a friend! Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the European headquarters of state oil company PDVSA be relocated to Russia, Venezuelas Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said. President Maduro ordered to close the Lisbon office of PDVSA and move it to Moscow, Rodriguez said on Friday at the joint news conference with Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during her visit to the Russian capital. The decision comes as Venezuela expands energy cooperation with Russias oil and gas giants Gazprom and Rosneft, according to the official. Its the perfect time, as we are reshaping our relations, said Rodriguez. Also on rt.com US imports of sanctioned Venezuelan oil surge fivefold Over recent months, there has been a battle over Venezuelas oil industry, which contributes greatly to the countrys budget. The United States has sanctioned PDVSA in an attempt to cut off funds to the Maduro-led government while giving support to the opposition led by Juan Guaido. President Maduro broke diplomatic ties with the US after President Trump recognized Guaido as interim president. In late January, the US froze $7 billion of assets belonging to PDVSA and its US subsidiary Citgo. Guaido pledged to appoint an alternative board of directors for both PDVSA itself and Citgo as well. According to Vice President Rodriguez, Venezuela is planning to broaden the countrys trading opportunities. We will purchase food and medicines necessary for our people from Russia, she said, quoting the words of the Venezuelan President. Also on rt.com US sanctions help India become No.1 buyer of Venezuelan crude Caracas will continue attracting investments into the Venezuelan economy with the help of the Russian government, said Rodriguez, stressing that Russia is an important strategic partner. Russia and Venezuela have agreed to increase trade and investment in industries and finance as part of agreements signed in December during President Maduros visit to Moscow, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia will further help the Venezuelan government to solve social and economic problems, which includes lending support via legitimate humanitarian aid, added Lavrov. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Attacks by cheap, yet efficient, mini-drones will be the future of warfare and lasers look like the best response to the threat, a retired colonel told RT as Germany announced a successful military laser test. Imagine an attack on an important facility with several hundred AI-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), equipped with warheads the size of a hand grenade and capable of flying into an open window or a cockpit of an aircraft, Mikhail Khodarenok, military analyst and retired colonel in Russian missile defense forces, told RT. Mini-drones cost relatively little, but can do significant damage by striking a modern airplane, priced at more than $100 million, at an airfield or destroying a very expensive long-range anti-aircraft missile system, he said. How do you stop those UAVs? Fire anti-aircraft guided missiles, worth $200 thousand each, at them? Khodarenok wondered. Effective means of combating micro- and mini-UAVs are currently nonexistent and lasers look like a very promising area of research in this regard. Firing a laser costs pennies, but the effect can be huge. He pointed out that such attacks are not sci-fi, but near future of armed struggle and reminded that terrorists have already targeted Russias Khmeimim Air Base in Syria with small makeshift drones on numerous occasions. On Thursday, German arms maker, Rheinmetall, announced a successful test of a laser weapon. During the tests at a range outside the Swiss city of Zurich in December, the system demonstrated its speed and precision by hitting drones and mortar shells, it said. According to the company, its laser weapon, which is designed to fit with the German militarys MANTIS air-defense system, boasts an extremely accurate mechanical aiming function, coupled with an unlimited, 360 traversing zone. Despite the German companys bravado, the analyst said that one must understand that the true test of the effectiveness of a military system is actual combat and the statistics after the conclusion of warfare. Also on rt.com WATCH Peresvet combat laser system enter test duty in Russia (VIDEO) Germany isnt the only country developing a military laser, with the US, Russia, and others also working on such technologies. The Peresvet laser weapon system was mentioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speech before the Federal Assembly a year ago as part of a wide range of brand new state-of-the-art military hardware. The expert said its currently difficult to compare Rheinmetalls laser with Peresvet because theres almost no open data on the Russian system. Theres so far no clarity if its a powerful jamming device or a weapon to engage airborne targets. However, there are grounds to believe that the developers [in Germany and Russia] are moving in roughly the same direction, he added. Also on rt.com From hypersonic glider to nuke subs: Meet Russian arms on brink of deployment (PHOTO, VIDEO) Combat lasers arent without disadvantages, Khodarenok stressed. Its now hard to say how this type of weaponry will operate in Russias climate where there arent so many sunny days. But the shortcoming will be eradicated and lasers will certainly change not just the tactics of engagement, but the very substance of future warfare, especially, when it comes to air defense, and, over time, missile defense, he said. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Islamabad is ready to hold talks with New Delhi after Russia offers mediation help, the Pakistani foreign minister said as cited by local media. It comes as tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations are running high. Russia expressed its willingness to help ease hostilities between the two arch rivals on Thursday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow will provide a place for Indo-Pakistani talks if they wish to. Tipping his hat to the Kremlin, Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced his country is ready to talk. Lavrov has offered to mediate. I dont know about India but I want to say this to Russia that Pakistan is ready to come to the table and de-escalate tensions, Qureshi said. Also on rt.com All-out war with India would be mutual suicide, Pakistan FM says India and Pakistan have been engaged in several air and ground skirmishes over the disputed region of Kashmir this week, raising fears over further escalation in the long-standing conflict. Several nations, including the US, China, and Russia, called for restraint from both New Delhi and Islamabad. Apart from Russia, Turkey and Iran have also volunteered to mediate. Like this story? Share it with a friend! After several months of verbal sparring and rumor, the hotly anticipated debate between Slavoj Zizek and Jordan Peterson has been arranged, with the philosophers scheduled to go tete-a-tete later this year. Announcing the intellectual bout in a YouTube video on Thursday, the media-savvy Peterson said he would face off against the reclusive Slovenian Marxist in Torontos Sony Center on April 19. The topic? Happiness: Capitalism versus Marxism. The philoso-fight comes after Zizek fired the first shots against Peterson during a Cambridge Union event last November. Labeling the Canadian best-selling author as his enemy, Zizek went on to slam Petersons ideas as pseudo-scientific, and took umbrage with Petersons obsession with cultural Marxism. Peterson responded to the Cambridge broadsheet by tweeting he would meet Zizek any time, any place to debate their differences in public, much to the delight of fans and detractors. The callout followed an earlier attempt to contact Zizek via Twitter only for Peterson to discover he was conversing with a Zizek quote bot account. However, not everyone is as excited about the event, lamenting it pales in comparison to when veteran anarchist Noam Chomsky debated the French postmodernist Michel Foucault in the 1970s. Chomsky has previously slammed fellow leftist Zizek. Speaking in 2013, he said: I dont see anything in what hes [Zizek] saying. He also took aim at Zizeks hero, Jacques Lacan, by calling him a total charlatan. Who knows, maybe hell take on the winner. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! RT provided extensive coverage of the Skripal poisonings by exploring a number of theories, is critical of NATO, and writes stories about Western political dysfunction, a report from Kings College London (KCL) has found. The Policy Institute (TPI) at KCL published a range of hard-hitting findings under the title Weaponising news: RT, Sputnik and targeted disinformation. Its a piece of work which can stand proudly alongside the countless other reports which have reached the same conclusions using almost the same language. TPI describes itself as combining the rigour of academia with the agility of a consultancy and the connectedness of a think tank. Sounds like an organisation with no vested interests. TPI analysed the English language sites of RT and Sputnik (its not immediately clear whether researchers are aware they are two separate organisations) across two four-week samples from May-June 2017 and March 2018 to produce a set of findings which are profound in their familiarity. Here are just a few of the most incisive conclusions. Its claimed that RT and Sputnik provided extensive coverage of the Skripal poisonings in Salisbury last year. A fact that is hard to deny, considering it was the biggest news story on earth at the time, and involved Russia. Also on rt.com Trolling Russia, or mocking British paranoia? HUGE Russian flag flies from Salisbury Cathedral It found Russian news outlets inserted over 130 competing and often contradictory narratives into their extensive coverage. An RT study (Google search) found that non-Russian outlets also reported a number of possible scenarios which is common when an event is still unfolding. The same RT study also found many UK-outlets were happy to rely on whatever the British government told them. RT responded to the report by saying: We are amazed that it took some in the UK this long to jump on the tried-and-true bandwagon: blame RT for the journalistic audacity to demand facts and ask questions. Questions such as: why was the British media so eager to forget the lies of its own Foreign Minister Boris Johnson on the Skripals matter? The TPI analysis noted that RT and Sputnik generate a large volume of coverage critical of NATO and extensive reports on the potency of Russian prototype weapons. Its not made clear whether the TPI team believe that NATO is beyond criticism. Also on rt.com First responder in Skripal poisoning turns out to be Britains most senior military nurse The report found a steady stream of articles about domestic politics and events in the USA and Europe that focus on political dysfunction, institutional failure, social division and the negative effects of immigration. The report does not explain why it regards it as strange that a news organisation would focus on these newsworthy subject areas. TPI also criticized stories claiming evidence of widespread Russophobia, while at the same time suggesting the use of quotes from Russian politicians and pro-Russia analysts was not to be trusted. One particular highlight is the summary that Russian media depicts NATO as being aggressive but weak, dangerous yet incompetent. Now, doesnt that sound familiar? to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you. Russian, Japanese diplomats to discuss peace treaty in Moscow on March 5 report Russian, Japanese diplomats to discuss peace treaty in Moscow on March 5 report Russian and Japanese deputy foreign ministers will hold consultations in Moscow on March 5, Kyodo reported on Friday, citing Japans Foreign Ministry. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori will take part in the consultations, according to the report. They are expected to share their positions on the development of the peace treaty between the two states. On February 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono agreed that their deputies will hold consultations on the peace treaty in the coming weeks. A round of strategic dialogue between the first deputy ministers is scheduled for April 2, TASS said.Source : RT - Daily news Saudi Arabias crude oil exports to US are falling sharply, with shipments so far this month at just 1.6 million barrels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, versus 5.75 million barrels a year ago. For the whole of January, Saudi Arabia exported just 2.69 million barrels of crude to the United States. The decline follows Saudi Arabias decision to cut its crude oil production primarily heavy crude grades by more than it agreed to at the December OPEC+ meeting as it seeks higher oil prices. One analyst told Bloomberg oil exports from the Kingdom to US refiners could even fall to zero but that was unlikely to happen. "We could see Saudi oil imports declining to zero into the US Gulf Coast, Andy Lipow from Lipow Oil Associates said. OPEC and non-OPEC members feel prices are too low, and they will do what it takes to put the market back in balance. Yet refiners from the US West Coast have a limited choice of suppliers, so some Saudi oil will continue going there, at least. While shipments to the United States fall, however, the amount of Saudi oil going to China will increase this year, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing an unnamed source in the know. Last year, Saudi shipments of crude to China averaged one million barrels per day but this year this may rise to 1.5 million bpd by the end of the first quarter as the Saudis aggressively seek a larger market share in the worlds second-largest oil consumer, which, unlike the United States, has not got abundant local production and has to rely on imports to satisfy demand. Total Saudi oil exports next month are slated to fall further to seven million bpd, with production cuts by the Kingdom at half a million barrels daily more than their quota, seen at 9.8 million bpd next month. This article was originally published on Oilprice.com A shadowy group known as the Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) has declared itself North Koreas government-in-exile while decrying the government of Kim Jong-un as an immoral and illegitimate regime. CCD released a statement Friday, declaring their government, which they have dubbed Free Joseon, as the sole legitimate representative of the Korean people of the north. A video of a woman dressed in a traditional black and white hanbok with her face blurred out reading out the groups manifesto was also released. Joseon is an old name for Korea. The term is sometimes used by North Koreans and Koreans living in China based on a kingdom on the peninsula which lasted from 1392 1897. The group, named after a winged mythical horse, is believed to be harboring and protecting Kim Han-sol, the son of Kim Jong-un's assassinated brother, Kim Jong-nam, who was killed with VX nerve agent in Malaysia on February 7 2017. An expert on the region told RT.com that he is highly skeptical of the group and suspects it is backed by South Korea or the USA. Also on rt.com Man claiming to be Kim Jong-nams son records video address The CCD organization, which has assisted people defecting from the North in the past, is now attempting to revive a sense of peninsular pride on the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement launched in 1919 which sought Korean liberation from Japanese occupation. Little is known about the shadowy group, though there is speculation that it is tied to South Korea's intelligence services. Some of the text on the group's website appears as though it has been translated directly from English, adding further questions as to its authenticity and origin. Also on rt.com 'No agreement was reached' at Trump, Kim summit - White House The announcement comes just one day after the Hanoi peace summit between the US and North Korea failed. Tim Beal, author, researcher and Asia specialist told RT that he doesnt give much credence to the groups claim to power and questioned who actually supports them. [It is] some sort of fantasy constructed by South Koreans, Americans what have you, Beal told RT.com. There's no reason to suppose that this is anything more than some sort of fantasy. No reason to think they have any support. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Electric car maker Tesla has announced a $35,000 version of its Model 3 sedan and a switch to online-only sales, in hopes of cutting costs while boosting demand and stock price before having to repay nearly $1 billion in debt. To achieve these prices while remaining financially sustainable, Tesla is shifting sales worldwide to online only. You can now buy a Tesla in North America via your phone in about 1 minute, and that capability will soon be extended worldwide, the company announced in a blog post on Thursday afternoon. The new $35k version of the Model 3 will have a top speed of 130 miles per hour (209 km/h) and accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, with a range of 220 miles. Delivery of the budget model will take two to four weeks. Also on rt.com Musks trigger-happy Twitter finger draws fire from SEC & drags down Tesla stock For a Standard Range Plus model with a 240-mile range, slightly higher speed and acceleration, and fancier interiors, customers can pay $2,000 more a six percent higher price for 9 percent more in features, as the company put it. The switch to online sales is going to mean layoffs and closures of Teslas retail stores at upscale shopping centers, but the company hopes to reduce overhead to break even in the first quarter of 2019. CEO Elon Musk told investors on a conference call Thursday that the company does not expect to be profitable in Q1, but will return to profitability in the second quarter, per CNBC. Tesla also announced it was developing a Model Y SUV that would begin production in 2020, and starting to build a factory in Shanghai, hoping to solve the problem of delivering vehicles to China. Musk reportedly blamed delivery problems and the expiration of a US tax credit for some of the companys woes. A federal tax credit for Tesla buyers started to expire last month, raising the price of the cars by almost $4,000. Also on rt.com Tesla killer? Volvo spin-off unveils Google-powered all-electric sedan Tesla went so far as to urge customers to abuse the new return feature, which lets buyers return cars within 7 days or 1,000 miles for a full refund. Quite literally, you could buy a Tesla, drive several hundred miles for a weekend road trip with friends and then return it for free. On Friday, Tesla is due to repay a $920 million convertible bond, and will have to do so from its $3.7 billion cash on hand unless stocks somehow rise $50 above the current values. The companys stock fell 3.6 percent in after-hours trading. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Washington plans to buy weapons including mortars and portable air-defense systems in an Eastern European country and send them close to Venezuelas border, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said citing internal sources. It looks like the US is considering a military intervention in Venezuela, Moscows top diplomat said during a press conference with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday. In this scenario, Washington would be buying arms in Eastern Europe and sending them via cargo plane to locations near Venezuelas borders. According to the information that we have, in the upcoming future the US is planning to buy light weapons, mortars, air-defense systems and other arms in one of the Eastern European countries and send it close to Venezuela using an airline from one of the Post-Soviet states absolutely loyal to Washington. On Thursday, Washington proposed a UNSC draft resolution blaming President Nicolas Maduro for causing an economic collapse in the country and calling for new elections. The bid was vetoed by Russia and China who accused the US of interfering in Venezuelas internal affairs. A rival Russian draft also failed. Also on rt.com Russian, US resolutions on Venezuela fail at UN Security Council The US has openly supported Venezuelan National Assembly leader Juan Guaido who proclaimed himself interim president in January following violent clashes on the streets of Caracas. Venezuelas opposition is also backed by US Latin American allies as well as many European countries including the UK, Germany, France, and Spain. Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and a number of other countries stand by Maduro who was re-elected in 2018. Supporters of both the president and the opposition leader rallied in Caracas over the past weeks. Also on rt.com US amasses special ops in Puerto Rico, army in Colombia to oust Maduro Russian Security Council In February, US president Donald Trump confirmed that military intervention in the conflict-torn country is an option. In response, Maduro said that his country is prepared for the David against Goliath fight and hinted that the military adventure could become the next Vietnam for Washington. If you like this story, share it with a friend! Venezuelas state-run energy giant PDVSA will relocate its European office to the Russian capital because of high risks of potential confiscation of oil revenues amid US sanctions against the countrys energy sector. Venezuela is worried about further sanctions and asset seizures of PDVSA, Mehmet Ogutcu, chair of the Bosphorus Energy Club, told RT. Hence the decision to relocate its European headquarters to Russia so that the assets could not be risked. According to the expert, the Venezuelan government is struggling to find new buyers for heavy crude, which had been previously sold to US refineries. The US purchased around 500,000 barrels oil per day from Venezuela before Washington introduced economic penalties against PDVSA, freezing $7 billion of the companys assets. Ogutcu stressed that under the current circumstances, revenues from oil sales could easily be confiscated by the US. As part of the recent sanctions, the White House blocked payments to PDVSA accounts with buyers of Venezuelas oil directed to deposit all transactions in a separate account, to which the company doesnt have access. Moreover, Washington completely supports Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido who earlier declared himself interim president. Russian energy corporations might easily purchase Venezuelan crude, aiming to further re-sell the shipments. Russia has already extended loans to Venezuela and has been receiving crude oil to compensate the debt repayment, Ogutcu said. At the same time, Moscow and Caracas could establish barter cooperation with Russia providing humanitarian goods to Venezuela in exchange for crude, according to Anton Pokatovich, chief analyst at investment bank BKS Premier. Russia could develop the same mechanism the European Union is trying to currently deploy not to halt trading with Iranian crude sector, the analyst told RT. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Here in the trenches, the Church has done much work to provide safe environments for the people we serve, he said. I think the present summit highlights some of the hierarchy's lack of responsibility and calls them to task. They must take responsibility for their action as well as their inaction or they will not regain lost credibility. Officials envision goods being brought in by ships and then being transferred to trains or trucks and sent to various places around the country. Some of those trucks could make a quick trip to the Gary/Chicago International Airport located just one mile away so that some goods could be loaded onto airplanes. Isoms trial team should have interviewed Dr. Gary Durak and called him as a witness, the brief states. Durak evaluated Isom two times in 2008, closer in time to when Isom was charged than two other doctors who did testify, according to the brief. Durak had noted that Isom may be on the schizophrenia spectrum, according to court records. Thomas Spisaks children had to be home at a certain time, even if their friends were still out. Elsa Spisak makes sure her children regularly check in. She also gets updated IDs for her children to give police in case they go missing. Dave Spisak keeps photos of his children on his phone. They all have a habit of not throwing things away. Monica Spisak said shes kept all the letters shes received over the years. I admire our president for holding the line on trying to make for a better America for all of us earning an honest living. He tries so hard, but has so many sore losers against him. Who would take the job? He has the sore losers from when he beat Hillary trying to block everything he does if he had the cure for cancer, they would block it. These people go after his family and his children just to try and add some misery to his life. Then on border security, who would be against it? The whole Democratic party as well as Republicans are jealous of the president. The president shouldnt have made the mistake of putting his kids in his administration. Because all he did was give the haters more fuel to bad mouth his family, even though they get so offended when someone say something bad about the former presidents wife, kids, or even the former president. Being such great people who care so much, what kind of fool would take the opportunity to bad mouth somebodies kids to begin with? I hope somebody gives your kids the same treatment because you earned it, and don't think you didn't. Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal founder has agreed to step down as chairman. For someone who created and nurtured Jet Airways with so much passion, it is time for him to hand over the baton. Over the course of the past 25 years, Goyal has piloted Jet through several storms, financial and otherwise. He negotiated each of these thanks to his superb negotiating abilities. With Goyal's innings concluding, here's his back story. The journey Goyal entered the travel business after starting a ticketing agency in the 80s. Fiercely ambitious, as India liberalized its economy, he set his eyes on the prize: he wanted to open the nations first private airlines. In this, he was beaten by Thakiyudeen Wahid, who launched East-West Airlines in 1992. Jet Airways commenced operations in 1993. A tumultuous relationship between the private rivals ensued, as both accused each of resorting to dubious practices and funding. East-West collapsed after Wahid was shot dead in 1995, with the airline succumbing to its debt, and ceasing all operations in 1996. The theory then was that Wahid was eliminated by gangster Chhota Rajan as his airline was funded by the rival D-Company. This cleared the path to dominate the budding airline industry. It became India's premier airlines, modelling itself after Singapore Airlines with best-in-the-industry planes, food, livery etc. About 5 years later, Goyal himself came under the scanner over alleged links to Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel. In 2002, the IB said that the airline had received large, questionable investments from Gulf countries and laid out his connections with the two underworld dons. The airline dismissed these allegations as baseless. The charges, however, werent a major setback for Goyal, who navigated the troubled waters thanks to his political connections, and despite a long-running feud with the then divestment minister Arun Shourie who called him the "so-called owner" of Jet Airways. It was fairly smooth sailing after that as Jet soon gained a majority market share, with Goyal earning the sobriquet The King of Air. This was around 2005. Around the same time, liquor baron Vijay Mallya's (now defunct) Kingfisher Airlines came into existence. To protect its position in the market, Jet acquired minor rival Air Sahara in a deal valued at $500 million, which later became low-cost sub-brand JetLite. The deal backfired as the complications of operating two airlines of completely different models, combined with high oil prices took a toll. The 2008 financial crisis proved particularly severe for Jet, with the company's market cap falling to a low of Rs 800 crore. Goyal pulled through this, cutting costs sharply, and even attempted to lay off 1,900 employees in one go. (Following a public furore, he apologised to the sacked staff and asked them to report to work again.) He inked a code-sharing agreement with Etihad that start of a relationship that would deepen later. In September 2012, Etihad picked up 24 percent in the carrier after the government liberalized its FDI policy. In between, news continued to emerge about Goyal's political connections and the way he used them. Such as when it emerged that Goyal may have scuppered the Tatas' plan to form a joint venture with Singapore Airlines in the early 90s an allegation he denied. (Decades later, Tata and SIA would come together to form Vistara.) The beginning of the end Etihad's stake buy in Jet provided a breather to Jet but it did not realise that the market had now fully turned against it as low-cost carriers such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir continued to acquire market share. Jet's debt burden continued to pile up between 2014 and 2017. The company went into a tailspin last year, as the impact of high oil prices and a depreciating rupee hit home. With not enough money left to pay staff salaries, Naresh Goyal faced a stark challenge. It needed to raise money through stake sales even as if that would mean his hold on the airline weakens. Reports said a round of discussions began with various parties, including Tatas, who made it clear they will be interested in buying a stake only if Naresh Goyal steps down. The last straw was when Etihad, which had backed Goyal previously, offered the same deal. Left with no choice, Goyal may have decided to step down, bloodied and weary from one battle too many fought over the course of 25 years. But even as he goes, he will be remembered as, as Captain Gopinath put it -- the classic first-generation entrepreneur who epitomises Indian capitalism in all its glory and rough edges. Note: The copy was updated to reflect the latest developments on March 25. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Tata group is reportedly evaluating multiple options to tide over the challenges at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). According to a CNBC-TV18 report, the group is considering options such as a minority stake sale or even a joint venture and is in preliminary talks with advisors. The report said the discussions are at an early stage and may not necessarily lead to a transaction, adding the Tata group prefers to keep control of JLR. Tata group, however, said there is no truth in the rumours of a potential stake sale in JLR. Tata Motors-owned JLR reported a loss (at 3.1 billion pounds) for the third straight quarter in December with sales declining 1 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 6.2 billion pounds and volumes down 11 percent YoY. EBITDA margin stood at 7.8 percent. JLRs total debt increased to 4.66 billion pounds in Q3FY19 from 3.8 billion a year ago. The fall in operating profit led the debt to EBITDA ratio of the company to shoot up to 2.1 times from 1.3. According to an ET report, while the solvency ratio (a metric to measure a company's ability to meet its debt obligations) may not necessarily be alarming as rivals, what appears to have proved unfavourable for JLR is that the capital expenditure is growing faster than operating cash flows. That is leading to increasing debt at JLR even as the cash position is weakening. At 14:58 hours, Tata Motors was quoting at Rs 180.40, up Rs 2.55, or 1.43 percent. This article has been updated to incorporate the company's response. The Indian Banks Association has released a somewhat self-congratulatory report on the progress of reforms in public sector banks in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group. The report details steps taken by banks under the finance ministrys Enhanced Access & Service Excellence (EASE) framework and ranks lenders based on a so-called EASE index. This reform agenda is also linked to government recapitalisation of banks. State-owned banks have taken a number of steps to clean up their credit culture and improve accountability. They now use 5-6 independent data sources for large credit appraisals, have identified gaps and strengthened the lending process, and decided that each member of a lending consortium holds a minimum 10 percent share. The report further says that PSBs are setting up in-house techno-economic valuation cells to gauge projects instead of relying on third-party assessors. At least 20 PSBs have ensured that different employeesacross roles such as credit appraisal, monitoring and recovery for large loansare in charge before and after a loan is sanctioned. Thats the good news. On the flip side, it is a reflection of the sad state of affairs in Indian public sector banking that the government/external agencies have to hand hold lenders to ensure that this basic hygiene is followed when extending loans. (One can argue here that private sector banks have also faced bad loan problems. But the sheer weight of soured loans and frauds at state-owned lenders point to bigger problems there.) In any case, only baby steps have been taken. "They [PSBs] have made early-stage progress in a few Action Points such as adoption of enhanced policies and processes for credit appraisal and monitoring, consortium-based lending and risk management," says the report. The fact that government handholding has extend to things such as improving customer service also speaks of the distorted incentives for PSB management. One would think that a government prod would not be needed for simple things such as ensuring customers can speak in their regional language in bank call centres (congratulations, 87 percent can do so now), and home/mobile banking services are consumer friendly. The EASE framework takes a crack at resolving this distorted incentive structure by asking bank boards to evaluate whole-time directors on their performance in implementing this reforms agenda. But that is only a start. PSBs need to utilise their human resources better. They need to link pay to performance and reward merit. Moreover, as BCG points out, PSBs should allow for lateral inductions in key specialist positions and compensation should be market-oriented and benchmarked to the best. When merit is rewarded and managers are paid well, mismanagement would automatically go down. It will eliminate the sloppy lending habits of PSBs, which as a CVC analysis of bank frauds showed, was mostly owing to incompetence, laziness or corruption. Thats not all. The government would do well to remove the Reserve Bank of India representatives from the board of PSBs and give the central bank the same regulatory powers it holds over private lenders. Boards need to be strengthened by inducting more professionals rather than career bureaucrats and a long-term strategy of bringing down the governments holding is also essential. Else, PSBs stand in the danger of falling into the same rut as the economic cycle turns. I guess I am a climate change skeptic. Do we do things that effect the climate. Probably. Are we the major reason for climate change? No I don't think so. Climate has had major changes over millions of years but now we think it's all us. Ever heard of Pangea? What caused that to break apart. As great as we like to think we are, we are not responsible for everything that happens on this earth. If climate changes kills us all, so be it. There use to be dinosaurs too. Times change. After a search that took more than 12 hours, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has bought the Chairman of Videocon Industries Venugopal Dhoot to agency's office for interrogation along with Mahesh Pungalia on March 1. Mahesh Pungalia was a director on Nu power renewables, and a close aide of Dhoot. Former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were questioned on February 28 by the ED after raids were carried out at their offices and residences. This was the first time that Chanda Kochhar was questioned by the ED, which has also seized documents and electronic articles in raids carried out at 5 locations in Mumbai and Aurangabad. The agency will summon Kochhar and other suspects once again in connection with the case. The ED conducted searches at the residences and offices of Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Industries in relation to the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case on the morning of February 28. A team from Delhi is conducting the searches in Mumbai. In February, the ED had registered a criminal case of money laundering against former ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak, Dhoot and others and initiated a probe into alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning of loans worth Rs 1,875 crore by the bank to the corporate group. Its Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act takes cognizance of the Central Bureau of Investigations FIR filed last month. An ECIR is the ED's equivalent of a police First Information Report or FIR. The agency is probing whether the alleged kickbacks generated in the loan deal were laundered to create tainted assets, sources told Moneycontrol. The CBI had earlier named Chanda and Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot and his companies -- Videocon International Electronics (VIEL) and Videocon Industries (VIL) in its complaint. It also named Supreme Energy, a company founded by Dhoot, and Nupower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak, in its FIR. Indias premier investigating agency has slapped sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on all accused. It may be noted that CBI had also conducted raids in this case on January 24. However, at that point in time, it had not conducted searches at the Chanda residence. Todays searches would be the first by any investigation agency at the Chanda Kochhars residence. It is alleged that Dhoot had invested in Nupower Renewables through his firm Supreme Energy in a quid pro quo for loans cleared by ICICI Bank after Chanda Kochhar took over as the CEO of the bank on May 1, 2009. It suspects that the ownership of Nupower and Supreme Energy changed hands through a complex web of shared transactions between Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot. During its preliminary enquiry, the CBI found six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore were sanctioned to the Videocon Group and companies associated with it between June 2009 and October 2011 in an alleged violation of laid-down policies of ICICI Bank, which have now become part of the probe. The loans were declared non-performing assets in 2012, causing a loss of Rs 1,730 crore to the bank, it claimed. Exim Bank of India, which provides long-term trade finance, said it was bullish on the African continent and some south Asian countries. Managing director of Exim Bank David Rasquinha said the financing entity was engaged in some infrastructure projects in Africa where the quantum of finance extended was close to USD 2.5 billion in aggregate. "Africa is one of the fastest growing parts of the world and the need for developing infrastructure like railways was immense," he told reporters on the sidelines of a BCCI event here on Monday. Exim Bank said a railway project in Ghana was already underway where it was having an exposure, adding that it was also financing companies doing trade with Africa. Besides railways, he said, the bank was bullish on renewable energy, power transmission, agriculture, textiles and sugar. Regarding south Asia, he said countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal were of interest to the bank as well as Myanmar. Rasquinha said out 54-odd countries in Africa, the bank was doing business in 45 of them. "We are also reaching out to the remaining countries", he added. During fiscal 2018-19, the bank's balance sheet was expected to cross Rs one lakh crore, he said, adding that the likely growth during the financial year would be 10 per cent over the previous.. Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Textile company Himatsingka Seide shares rallied nearly 9 percent intraday Friday after the company signed a licensing agreement with Iconix Brand Group. "..100 percent wholly owned step down subsidiary Himatsingka America Inc entered into a licensing agreement with the Iconix Brand Group, Inc. for the Royal Velvet brand," the company said. The exclusive licensing rights to the Royal Velvet brand is for the territory of North America, it added. At 15:08 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 172.60, up Rs 5.75, or 3.45 percent on the BSE. Oil prices rose on Friday as markets tightened amid output cuts by producer club OPEC, but surging US supply and a global economic slowdown prevented crude from climbing further. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $57.41 per barrel at 0350 GMT, up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude futures were at $66.59 per barrel, up 28 cents, or 0.4 percent. Traders said oil markets were currently tightening. In Venezuela, oil exports have plunged by 40 percent to around 920,000 barrels per day (bpd) since the U.S. government slapped sanctions against its petroleum industry on Jan. 28. This drop comes as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Venezuela is a founding member, has led efforts since the start of the year to withhold around 1.2 million bpd of supply to prop up prices. "Global (oil) markets appear tighter than many anticipated for this time of year, but scores of unsold barrels can pile up quickly and saturate regions," Canada's RBC Capital Markets said in a research note on oil markets. Despite this, there are signs that point to a more amply supplied market heading further into 2019. The U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday it was offering up to 6 million barrels of crude from national emergency reserves to raise funds to modernize the U.S. strategic oil reserves. Additionally, U.S. crude output has hit a record of more than 12 million bpd, pushing exports to an unprecedented 3.6 million bpd in February. Investment bank RBC estimated that oil from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico port of Houston "can economically move anywhere globally when priced at a discount of $1.70 per barrel relative to the waterborne Brent benchmark". Crude loading from Houston last traded at $6.60 a barrel over WTI, which still put it at a discount of more than $2.15 per barrel to Brent. On the demand side, a Reuters poll showed analysts expect global fuel demand to slow this year amid a broad economic slowdown. China's February factory activity fell for a third month as the world's second-largest economy continued to struggle with weak export orders, a private survey showed on Friday. The weakness is being felt across the region. South Korea's exports contracted at their steepest pace in nearly three years in February as demand from its major market China cooled further in yet another sign of faltering momentum in Asia's fourth-largest economy. Despite this, fuel consumption especially in Asia's developing economies, which are key drivers of global oil demand, is so far holding up. India's diesel consumption, for instance, is expected to rise to a record this year amid a strong expansion of its heavy duty vehicles amid economic growth of around 7 percent. The Indian rupee has opened marginally lower at 70.74 against the US dollar on Friday, against Thursday's close of 70.72 a dollar. Yesterday the rupee consolidated in a narrow range for the whole day but rose in the last hour of the day after Pakistan Prime Minister announced that his country will release captured IAF Wing Commander. "These were early signs of de-escalation between the two nations and this could further depreciation for the rupee," Motilal Oswal said. On the domestic front, data showed India grew at a slower pace in Q3 compared to the previous quarter. India's economy in Q3 grew at 6.6 percent compared to downwardly revised growth of 7 percent in the previous quarter. Today, USDINR pair is expected to trade in the range of 70.70 and 71.40, the research house said. Dollar rose against its major crosses after data showed the US economy grew at 2.6 percent compared to estimates of 2.2 percent growth. Today, market participants will be keeping an eye on the ISM manufacturing PMI; expectation is that the index could drop to 55.6 compared to 56.6 in the previous month thereby keeping gains capped for the greenback. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More As things stand today, unlike 2014 there appears a very slim chance of a single party coming to the majority after the general election. The market is factoring a coalition led by BJP and that remains the most likely scenario, Shailendra Kumar, Chief Investment Officer at Narnolia Financial Advisors said in an interview to Moneycontrol's Sunil Shankar Matkar. Edited excerpts: Q: Do you expect the Nifty to rally 300-400 points from here on before elections or is it going to be rangebound amid geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan? A: Nifty is trading in a narrow 5 percent range between 10,500 and 11,100 for the last four months. A decisive breakout beyond this range would require clarity on elections, geopolitical situations, money market liquidity and earning trajectory for FY20. Other global triggers namely economic stress in Europe and disappointment during the current earnings season in the US are added issues that market has to factor in before making a decisive move. Fundamentally there are enough green shoots in terms of rising capacity utilisation and cleaner corporate lending environment that would help the market to climb various walls of worries. Q: Considering the current political situation of all parties, what are your expectations for general elections? A: We are in a highly fluid political situation and lots can change to the run-up to the election. As things stand today, unlike 2014 there appears a very slim chance of a single party coming to the majority after the general election. The market is factoring a coalition led by BJP and that remains the most likely scenario. Q: How do you read the December quarter earnings season? Have you changed your estimates for Q4 and FY20? A: Just concluded Q3 results were mixed. Whereas topline growth has remained robust, the margin picture has further deteriorated. Falling margin and subsequent lower net profit growth have surely necessitated a downward revision in earnings estimate for FY19. Now we factor 9 percent earnings growth in FY19. But most of the downward margin revisions have been on account of cyclical factors like global commodity prices, extra provisioning by corporate lenders and some one-offs. So going forward once these cyclical factors stabilise, the margin would recover and earnings growth will be robust in FY20. Q: What are the major sectors to look at after December quarter earnings season and why? A: December results have seen continued volume growth particularly on the rural side for FMCG, IT has shown good growth on the back of better deal wins and rise in digital revenue contribution. But the stand out sector had been corporate lenders both on the public and private side. Advances are showing good growth, net interest margin is stabilizing and more important slippage has reduced. Most of the slippage is from the stressed book and the difference between the stressed asset and GNPA has narrowed. Also, these corporate lenders very prudently have kept their provisioning higher to make their balance sheet strong enough to meet any fresh pocket of non-performing assets in the coming years. Q: Considering positive development between the US and China, do you feel trade war will end between both countries soon? A: After two successful rounds of talks between Chinese and US officials, the United States is extending the fresh rounds of tariff that was set to be imposed from March 1. Also, there are indications that the Presidents of both nations would be meeting shortly to finally conclude a deal. If reforms in China particularly related to intellectual property rights are part of the deal, it would be highly beneficial to a balanced global growth with positive impact on emerging economies like India. Q: What are the top five picks to look at for double-digit return in next one year? A: ICICI Bank: Buy | Target: Rs 445 | Return: 29 percent Gross non-performing assets (NPA) continues to improve after peaking at 8.84 percent in Q4FY18. Provisioning Coverage Ratio (PCR) has strengthened to 76 percent and remains one of the highest in the industry. NIM has been gradually improving due to lower slippages, change in assets mix and reset of yield at higher MCLR. Strong liability franchise (CASA at 49 percent) remains strongly positive. Loan growth is expected to inch up going ahead. Management had earlier guided for 15 percent RoE going forward. The stock could be bought on a decline for the price target of Rs 445. Infosys: Buy | Target: Rs 856 | Return: 17 percent Infosys' continued performance in last four quarters has reflected that the strategy (scaling an agile digital business, energizing Infosys' core businesses, re-skilling employees to help them achieve their aspirations and localising within its operating markets) is resonating well for the company. Going forward, revenue growth looks all intact seeing the digital demand (30 to 50 percent growth), continued growth in BFSI segment in the US and stable tech spend. Total contract value that has grown 53.5 percent in 9-month FY19 is continuously increasing. Infosys is set to post revenue growth of 16 percent CAGR over FY18 to 20E. Near term target price is Rs 856(20x FY20EPS). Larsen & Toubro: Buy | Target: Rs 1,798 | Return: 40 percent Execution across verticals continues to remain robust with strong growth in the services business. Revenue is growing at double-digit from the last four quarters with significant improvement in operating margin. Execution is likely to remain strong going ahead with a focus on improvement of return ratio. On order inflow front, current bid pipeline of Rs 1,60,000 crore provides strong visibility. L&T is expected to report 12/16 percent CAGR growth in revenue/PAT over FY18-20E. The target for L&T is Rs 1,798, standalone business at Rs 1,233 (24x FY20 EPS) and subsidiaries at Rs 565 per share. Marico: Buy | Target: Rs 460 | Return: 36 percent The company is expected to clock 8 percent and 9 percent volume growth for FY19E and 20E led by better growth in value-added oil and Parachute Rigid backed by improvement in rural demand. Tailwinds in terms of lower copra prices (expect 15-20 percent correction in FY20e) and premiumization will help in margin improvement although the company will keep investing in brand building. Marico has a high return on equity at 33 percent, higher payout of 64 percent and strong management. Near term target price is Rs 460(50xFY20E EPS). State Bank of India: Buy | Target: Rs 348 | Return: 30 percent Assets quality has been improving with the declining stress additions. PCR of 75 percent gives comfort in lower credit cost in FY20. Management expects Rs 34,000 crore of NPA resolution to be completed in near term. While slippages are set to decline to Rs 24,000-30,000 crore, NIM is on improving trend led by an increase in yield and low-cost deposit franchise. MCLR reset and lower slippages will further provide support to margins. Near-term target for the stock is Rs 348. : The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Here are stocks that are in the news today: Results on March 1: ABB India (CY18), Ceenik Exports, Resurgere Mines DHFL: CARE withdraws rating of the company. CRISIL downgrades commerical papers & short-term deposit rating to A1 from A1+. Nitin Castings: Company has fixed March 15 as the record date for the purpose of sub-division of each equity share of the face value of Rs 10 each fully paid-up into two equity shares of Rs 5 fully paid-up. Brigade Enterprises: Company appointed Rajendra Joshi as Chief Executive Officer Designate - Residential [SBU]. Metalyst Forgings Q3: Loss at Rs 63.82 crore versus loss Rs 137 crore; revenue rises to Rs 89.4 crore versus Rs 79.62 crore YoY. Nu Tek India: Company announced resignation of Ashish Bankar from the post of Chief Financial Officer. HDFC Bank: The bank has executed an agreement for subscribing to 37,993 equity shares of face value of Rs 1,000 each to be issued by CSC E- Governance Services India Limited (CSC) at Rs. 3,848 per equity share. Bharti Airtel: Board approved the fund raising of upto Rs 32,000 crore through rights issuance of upto Rs 25,000 crore; and Perpetual Bond with equity credit upto Rs 7,000 crore. Kotak Mahindra Bank: The bank revises marginal cost of funds based lending rate downwards by up to 5 bps. Forbes & Company: Board approved the sale of 50 percent business undertaking in Project Vicinia, on a going concern and as-is-where-is basis by way of slum sale for a consideration of Rs 155 crore to Paikar Real Estate Private Limited. Jet Airways: Additional six aircraft have been grounded due to non-payment of amounts outstanding to lessors under their respective lease agreements. Central Bank of India: Board allotted 38,74,39,390 equity shares to President of India (Government of India) on preferential basis, aggregating upto Rs 1,678 crore. Rossell India: ICRA revised its long term rating on company's line of credit facilities to BBB+ with stable outlook from A- with negative outlook. Majesco: Company announces major update for distribution management. National Steel & Agro Industries Q3: Loss at Rs 151.5 crore versus profit Rs 6.26 crore; revenue falls to Rs 196.90 crore versus Rs 1,029 crore YoY. Infosys: On February 13, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Lead Independent Director of the company, had inadvertently, through her portfolio management services, sold 1,600 shares of company without obtaining pre-clearance of trade. The trade occurred when the trading window was open. Audit Committee imposed on Mazumdar-Shaw, a penalty of Rs 9.5 lakh which amount shall be payable to a charitable organisation of her choice. EPC Industrie: Name of the company has been changed to Mahindra EPC Irrigation with effect from February 28. Kedia Construction: Company fixed March 15 as the record date for the purpose of sub-division of each equity share of the face value of Rs 10 each fully paid-up into two equity shares of Rs 5 each fully paid-up. Orient Tradelink: Board approved sub-division of face value of equity shares from Rs 10 to Rs 2 per equity share of the company. Circuit Limit Update: BSE revised circuit limit for SREI Infrastructure Finance, Reliance Communications, Adroit Infotech, Andhra Cements, Transwarranty Finance to 20 percent; Sankhya Infotech to 10 percent; Orient Green Power Company to 5 percent; and Ejecta Marketing to 2 percent. RPP Infra: Promoter sold 2.55 lakhs shares on February 26 IndusInd Bank: Buyback opens on February 28 & closes on March 14 REC: Company extended the consent fee deadline from March 1 to March 8. Chambal Fertilisers: Voluntary liquidation of India Steamship International FZE WOS in UAE, was not having any business operations Motherson Sumi Systems: Company announces acquisition of Bombardiers UK rolling stock electrical component and systems business Vedanta: Board meeting March 3 to consider second interim dividend L&T: Post February 18 clarification - the company also briefed the Audit Committee of the management-initiated investigation conducted by leading law firms in USA and India with the help of forensic experts from Hong Kong in 2017 Zydus Wellness: Promoter pledged 6.3 percent stake with Kotak Mahindra Investment Hathway Cable: Promoters bought 20.61 percent stake in company via open offer Orissa Minerals Development Company: Company will pay Rs 400 crore as a penalty to Odisha Government due to violation of environmental clearance and other norms. The market capitalisation of the company stands at Rs 493 crore as on February 28. Emami: Promoters pare share pledge to 40 percent from 47.5 percent - ET Coal India: Company set to miss output target by huge margin: BS DBS Bank: RBI approves amalgamation of DBS Bank's India operations with DBS Bank India Vodafone Idea: Cabinet approves company's rights issue MFs reduce exposure to pledged shares, Sebi may tighten norms to curb lending to promoters against pledged shares: Mint Bulk Deals on February 28 C & C Constructions: Alpha Leon Enterprises LLP bought 1,39,271 shares of the company at Rs 11.51 per share on the NSE. Nagarjuna Oil Refinery: Zuari Investments sold 34,33,321 shares of the company at 30 paise per share. PG Electroplast: Vicky Rajesh Jhaveri purchased 1,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 84.79 per share. Reliance Infrastructure: STCI Finance sold 18,24,602 shares of the company at Rs 123.8 per share. Tata Motors DVR 'A' Ordinary: SBI Mutual Fund bought Rs 37,31,600 shares of the company at Rs 87.74 per share. Viji Finance: Vijay Kothari sold 4,90,323 shares of the company at 70 paise per share. (For more bulk deals, click here) Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings Mphasis: Company is participating in the India Corporate Day Event, organized by Nomura in New York, USA on March 4. Jyothy Labs: Company's officials will meet JP Morgan on March 6 and Credit Suisse on March 8. Hero MotoCorp: Company's officials will attend Investor Meet organised by UBS on March 5. Tube Investments of India: Company's officials will meet analysts/investors on March 1. Allied Computers International (Asia): Board meeting is scheduled on March 7 to fix day, date, time and venue and approve draft of notice for Extra Ordinary General meeting. : Institutional investors meetings of the company are scheduled between March 1 to March 15 in India, Hong Kong, Singapore and London. HDFC: Board meeting is scheduled on March 6 to consider payment of interim dividend, on the equity shares of the corporation for the financial year ending March 31, 2019. TCS: Company's officials will meet Somerset Capital Management on March 12. : Reliance Industries Ltd., which owns Hathway Cable, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. Image: Facebook live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Yes Bank shares gained more than 3 percent intraday on Friday after Ravneet Gill has taken a charge as Managing Director and CEO of the bank. His tenure as approved by RBI is 3 years from the date of his joining, i.e. March 1, 2019 to February 28, 2022. "The appointment of Gill will be subject to approval of shareholders' at the ensuing Annual General Meeting of the Bank to be held in the month of June 2019 on the terms and conditions including remuneration as approved by the Reserve Bank of India, the private sector lender said. The bank further said Gill is not related to any of the Directors of the Bank and he has affirmed that he is not debarred from holding office of Director by virtue of any order of Securities and Exchange Board of India or any other such authority. Hence, Ajai Kumar ceased to be an interim MD & CEO of the bank. He continues as a Non-Executive Non Independent Director on the board of the bank. Meanwhile, CIMB has upgraded Yes Bank to add and also raised price target to Rs 300 (from Rs 230 earlier) as concerns abated on asset quality and the top management of the bank. These were the biggest overhangs on the stock. The global research house said the nil divergence report of RBI and appointment of MD & CEO will result in a rerating of the stock as valuations remain attractive at 1.5x FY20F P/BV. The fundamentals of the bank remain strong with robust loan growth, stable NIMs and asset quality, it added. At 13:52 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 236.45, up Rs 5.25, or 2.27 percent on the BSE. Moneycontrol Disclaimer: The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms.advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Highlights: - CPC volume impacted by delay in permission to import a key raw material- High cost inventory impacts margin; expected to normalise by H1 CY19-end- India CPC business under transition for lack of import allowance- Capex projects on track; new SEZ facility would be optimally utilised ------------------------------------------------- Rain Industries reported a weak set of Q4 CY18 earnings. Its earnings were anticipated to be subdued due to delayed permission to import a key raw material, green petroleum coke (GPC) and a continued import ban of calcined petroleum coke CPC) used for blending key product. But what really caused the disappointment was the adverse impact of high-cost inventory. High-cost inventory continues to impact profitability of most chemical products in carbon (68 percent of total sales) and advance materials (25 percent of total sales) segments. This is attributed to purchase of raw materials when oil derivative prices were elevated. Recently, some of the finished product prices have declined, which has also contributed to the contraction in EBITDA margin. The company expects a gradual phase out of high-cost inventory and expects normalisation in margin (around 18 percent) towards the end of H1 CY19. Secondly, given the import ban of CPC, the company is not able to undertake blending in India. This doesnt augur well for the capacity utilisation of the companys CPC plant in USA from where it imports. This definitely has an implication for companys business strategy. The management believes that blending can be done outside India as well but it would take time to transition the business and scout for newer clients. Thirdly, the company witnessed a decrease in CPC volumes sold due to delay in lifting the ban on GPC import by the Supreme Court. Read: Adverse SC action has material impact on business model In addition, the advance materials segment witnessed lower volumes due to sluggish growth in the end-market - European automotive industry - and a rather cautious purchasing by clients at elevated price levels. Revenue in the carbon segment increased 13 percent year-on-year, aided by favourable currency effect and higher blended realisation. Higher volume growth for CTP (around 30 percent of carbon segment sales) were observed due to increased demand from North American aluminium smelters and European graphite industry. Better realisation was also observed in the advance materials segment -- 12 percent YoY, excluding currency impact. The company is undergoing reorganisation of its European operations, closing some operations and pursuing a strategic project in the advance materials segment. On account of these initiatives, the company expects an annual cost saving of $4 million from mid-CY19 onwards. Rain Industries' business is under transition, wherein a few aspects have a material change on its business strategy. While reorganisation in its European operations is a long-term positive, transition of the CPC blending business is necessitated by regulatory requirements. The transient impact of high inventory is expected to fade in another three months. Thereafter, the management is hopeful of a sustainable margin profile of about 18 percent. While the current GPC import quota only covers 72 percent utilisation for the Indian plant, the company is hopeful of optimum utilisation by sourcing Indian GPC and utilising existing inventory. Similarly, the management said the Visakhapatnam expansion plan for CPC is on track and the company would be able to operate even that plant at an optimum level despite the current GPC import quota. Visakhapatnam facility, being under SEZ, also accrues some flexibility to the company in terms of sourcing banned materials. While we expect next two quarterly results to be subdued, we estimate that it is largely in the price as the stock trades at an inexpensive valuation (five times CY19 estimated earnings). We are encouraged by the fact that business is under mend and carbon product prices are expected to stabilise by mid-CY19. The management expects price stabilisation in the end-market (aluminium) as the current cost of production doesnt justify aluminium prices. Two factors which go in its favour, in the context of regulatory challenges, is that it has one of the most stringent environment compliance among carbon companies and its multinational plant presence helps it to make the business transition relatively smoothly. On account of such factors, we advise accumulating the stock on every decline during the course of the next 3-6 months. Follow @anubhavsays For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page Moneycontrol Research analysts do not hold positions in the companies discussed here File image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Yes Bank on Friday said Ravneet Gill has taken charge as its MD and CEO with immediate effect for a tenure of three years. "Ravneet Gill has joined Yes Bank as MD & CEO today. His tenure as approved by RBI is 3 years from the date of his joining, i.e. March 1, 2019 to February 28, 2022," Yes Bank said in a regulatory filing. The appointment of Gill, will be subject to approval of shareholders' at the ensuing annual general meeting of the Bank to be held in June, 2019. Gill is not related to any of the directors of the Bank and he has affirmed that he is not debarred from holding office of director by virtue of any order of Securities and Exchange Board of India or any other such authority, the private sector lender said. Yes Bank further said that Ajai Kumar has ceased to be an Interim MD & CEO of the Bank with effect from the close of business hours of February 28, 2019. Kumar continues as a non-executive non independent director on the board of the Bank, it added. With this, bank's new composition of the board of directors has ten members. The others members are -- Brahm Dutt, part-time chairman; Mukesh Sabharwal independent director; Subhash Chander Kalia, non-executive non independent director; and Pratima Sheorey, independent director. Four additional (independent) directors are -- Uttam Prakash Agarwal, TS Vijayan, Maheswar Sahu and Anil Jaggia. Stock of Yes Bank was trading 2.72 per cent up at Rs 237.50 on BSE. Our first, most important, thing is to get more and more people using the library, Dagli said. As Im finding out on the board, the library is a complex organization with people, materials, staff and programs, and it takes a great deal of effort to get it running. We, as a board, have to be vigilant and make sure everything is being done property, while at the same time, not trying to micromanage. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Friday announced it will start 10 new flights under regional connectivity scheme UDAN between March 31 and April 15. While, eight of these will connect Gwalior to different cities across the country, two will fly on the Bhopal-Udaipur route, the airline said. Additionally, the budget carrier stated that it will start a new flight on the Bhopal-Chennai route from March 31.The Bhopal-Chennai-Bhopal route does not come under the UDAN scheme of the central government. The regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying affordable. The airline said passengers can book tickets at an "introductory promotional fare" starting at Rs 3,701 (all inclusive) on the Hyderabad-Gwalior, Gwalior-Hyderabad, Gwalior-Jammu, Jammu-Gwalior, Bengaluru-Gwalior, Gwalior-Bengaluru, Kolkata-Gwalior and the Gwalior-Kolkata routes and Rs 2,293 on the Bhopal-Udaipur and Udaipur-Bhopal routes. The bookings for all the flights will begin from March 4, the airline said. ? With the addition of these new flights from Gwalior, Bhopal and Jharsuguda (announced during the week), SpiceJet will be operating 39 daily flights under the regional connectivity scheme. The airline will be deploying its Bombardier Q-400 aircraft on all the 10 UDAN routes and will be using its fleet of Boeing 737 for the non-UDAN route of Bhopal-Chennai-Bhopal, it said. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Cholamandalam Securities' research report on KEC International In 3QFY19, KEC posted a consolidated revenue growth of 10.1% YoY to INR 26.5bn, led by strong growth in railways segment (constituting 21% of Consol. Revenue). Total T&D revenues remained muted on account of delays in environmental clearances in some international projects and in SAE Brazil, despite good growth seen in India and South Asia. There was also moderation in order execution of private players due to irregularity seen in payments. Non T&D revenue doubled to INR 6.8bn from INR 3.3bn in 3QFY18, of which revenues from railway segment jumped 165% YoY to INR 5.5bn, revenue from civil & water segment grew by 27% YoY to INR 1.1bn and that from Solar fell 54% YoY to INR 0.2bn. The cables segment registered a revenue growth of 14% YoY to INR 3.1bn backed by higher export and HT/EHV cable. Outlook Strong outlook for Railways & Civil segment coupled with healthy international T&D order pipeline are expected to aid company post healthy revenues going forward. At the current market price KEC is trading at a P/E of 9X its FY21E. We assign a P/E of 12X to its FY21 EPS to arrive at a target price of INR 323 and rate the stock a BUY. For all recommendations report, click here Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Read More Highlights: - Strong earnings set by the vertically integrated specialty chemicals co- Methanol sourcing and key raw material volatility a near term watch- Resumption in China production to taper abnormal margin- Sustainable operating margin is still well ahead of industry- Massive capacity expansion on track six times current capacity ------------------------------------------------- Seya industries, a vertically integrated benzene-based specialty chemicals company, reported a steady result, which continues to garner attention as it undergoes an expansion plan on a global scale. Source: Company The company reported a year-on-year sales growth of 18.4 percent, led by better product price realisations. While gross margin slightly improved on a YoY basis, EBITDA margin shrunk on account of higher operating expenses. The company is debottlenecking all product plants by setting up parallel capacities for select products. On account of this, it expects benefits in terms of better operating margin in FY20. Prices of key raw material -- benzene -- had declined in Q3 but has picked up in February. It is noteworthy that sharp volatility in raw material pricing has impacted chemical companies adversely in terms of their ability to pass through prices. According to management, it has a transfer pricing mechanism under which 60-70 percent of the contract is based on spot pricing. Other 30 percent of the contract is based on monthly pricing against which it has a secured raw material sourcing. There has been some concern with respect to methanol sourcing in India due to possible Iran sanctions. However, the company has clarified that they are not impacted as they source it from vendors who get their methanol from multiple sources: Iran, Thailand and China. In recent times, methanol spot prices have been quite volatile. China factor: In the chemicals space, the management said some of China's production has resumed post the interim ban of about 15-18 months. Its is noteworthy that due to Chinas ongoing supply-side reforms, many chemical units had shut down for lack of environmental compliance. Recently, some units have started production after appropriate compliance or re-location and in some cases 30-40 percent of earlier supply has resumed. Only one product - para nitro aniline (PNA) -- of Seya has been impacted. In this case, the supply resumption is 15 percent of what used to prevail earlier. As per management, there has been some impact on pricing, which has now stabilised in the current quarter. Capacity expansion projects on track: The companys Rs 735 crore mega capacity expansion programme is expected to complete by H2 FY20. Already 72 percent of the site completion has been achieved. The project would lead to more than a six times jump in finished product capacity. Topline contribution from the new capacity is expected to reach Rs 1,0001,200 crore by FY23 at an optimum utilisation of 80 percent. The company is undergoing a brownfield expansion of its key product, PNA, which contributes about 20 percent of its current revenue (end-market: hair dyes). This expansion would double the capacity to 8,000 tonne of PNA by end of the current fiscal year and hence increased exposure to the hair dyes end-market. Management guidance (lower end of the range) implies revenue CAGR of 33 percent for the next five years. EBITDA per tonne is expected to moderate due to product mix and normalisation in Chinese production disruptions (worst case: 10-15 percent margin impact) though partially offset by vertical integration benefits. Based on management inputs and our understanding, 25-28 percent could be sustainable operating margin in the long run, which would still be higher than prevailing specialty chemicals sector margins. We remain positive on massive capacity expansion, which is ambitious in scale and comparable to the largest player in the segment like Aarti Industries and hence speaks volumes about the companys objective to achieve global scale. We remain enthused by the companys foray into product range, where there has been a high import intensity and serves a strong domestic demand for varied industries. Keeping a conservative assumption of 20 percent utilisation for new capacity in FY21 and assuming that the operating margin moderates to 31 percent, the stock is currently trading at 12/8 times FY20 and FY21 estimated earnings, respectively. While the ambitious capex plan by itself presents an execution risk, projects progress so far and its debt-to-equity profile (peak expectation of 0.45 times) provides comfort. Follow @anubhavsays For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page Disclaimer: Moneycontrol Research analysts do not hold positions in the companies discussed here Vistara Airlines on Friday announced that it will start daily flights from Dibrugarh in Assam to Bagdogra in West Bengal from April 3 this year. Moreover, from April 3, the airline stated that the same aircraft would then head to Delhi daily, making it a Dibrugarh-Delhi flight via Bagdogra. The airline said booking is now open and tickets for Bagdogra-Dibrugarh flight as well as Dibrugarh-Bagdogra flight are available at an all-inclusive fare of Rs 2,399. The airline added that tickets for Delhi-Dibrugarh as well as Dibrugarh-Delhi are available at an all-inclusive fare of Rs 4999. The Dibrugarh to Bagdogra flight would depart at 12.25 pm daily and arrive at 1.35 pm. This aircraft would then leave from Bagdogra at 2.10 pm daily and would arrive at Delhi on 4.30 pm, according to the airline's press statement. The Delhi to Bagdogra flight would leave at 7.55 am and arrive at 10.am daily. This aircraft would then depart for Dibrugarh at 10.35 am daily and arrive at 11.50 am, according to the airline's press statement. Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara, said, "Hot on the heels of our announcement of service to Raipur, this announcement of service to Dibrugarh is the second in a series of flight additions Vistara has planned starting this summer. Representative Image The Asian Development Bank will provide a record $926 million (around Rs 6,500 crore) to operationalise two lines of the Mumbai Metro Rail System, said an official statement Friday. The two lines are expected to ease the distress of millions of commuters each day and help provide a cleaner, less congested city, the release said after the loan agreement was signed between ADB and the central government here. "The single largest infrastructure project loan in ADB history - approved by the ADB Board on February 26 will help fund lines 2A (Dahisar to D.N. Nagar), 2B (D.N. NagarBandraMandale), and 7 (Dahisar [East] to Andheri [East]), totaling about 58 kilometers (km)," it said. The project will fund 63 six-car trains, signalling and safety systems, and help establish a new dedicated metro operations organisation to manage the entire metro network in Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will implement the project. Once operational by the end of 2022, an estimated 2 million passengers a day will use the two new lines, travelling in improved safety and comfort. It will also reduce emissions from vehicles, with carbon dioxide emissions expected to fall by about 1,66,000 tonnes a year. The government has developed a plan for 12 metro lines with a total length of 276 km. Line 1, completed in 2014 on a public-private partnership model, carries about 4 lakh passengers a day and has reduced travel time along its east-west route from 71 minutes to 21 minutes. Other new metro lines will ease travel and make the city more livable and competitive. Since access to the stations is sometimes difficult, ADB is also assisting MMRDA to improve last mile connectivity by piloting electric vehicles and non-motorised transport at select stations, the release added. Representative Image At least four security personnel and one civilian have been killed in an encounter in Handwara, Jammu and Kashmir. Two militants have also been eliminated in the encounter, CNN News 18 has reported; while at least ten security persons have been injured. An Indian Army jawan has also been killed in the encounter which has now been going on for 16 hours. The encounter was a joint operation of the CRPF and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Earlier the news channel had reported that a militant hiding in the rubble fired indiscriminately at security personnel, critically injuring them. Official sources told CNN News 18 that the security forces had gone to retrieve militant bodies amid a lull, when one of the two militants, earlier believed to be dead stood up and fired indiscriminately. All the injured were taken to district hospital Handwara for treatment. This is a developing story. More details awaited. Viju Cherian In the ongoing fight for proprietary rights over the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the latest round has gone to the faction headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and his deputy O Panneerselvam (OPS). The Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that the election commissions 2017 decision to give the Two Leaves symbol to the EPS-OPS faction was right and dismissed the petition filed by AIADMK former interim general secretary VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran. For the AIADMK, which has been plagued by faction wars and setbacks since the demise of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016, this is a big boost. The win gains more significance as it comes close to the general elections. However, will this be enough to lift the fortunes of the ruling party? The importance of the Two Leaves party symbol is that it is synonymous with AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran (MGR) and Jayalalithaa. Elections watchers will agree that for party sympathisers, fans of MGR and Jaya, and many more, its the symbol (two leaves) that counts the candidate seldom matters. In such a scenario, for EPS and OPS the Delhi courts decision is a major relief. However, the AIADMK governments performance over the past two years has eroded much of the goodwill and confidence the people had in it. That the party will be contesting for fewer seats than what it had won in 2014 shows the lack of confidence the party has in itself. Moreover, by now it is clear that though the BJP is a smaller party than the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, the alliance will be an NDA alliance. Another challenge the AIADMK will be facing is from Dhinakaran. Contesting the RK Nagar bypoll on his own, he showed the AIADMK (and its allies) that he was a force to reckon with in Tamil Nadu politics. He has the support of many AIADMK MLAs and also among local leaders and cadre across Tamil Nadu; especially in the southern part of the state. The MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has tied up with the Congress for the general elections and this alliance is expected to have an edge over the AIADMK-BJP alliance. Taking into account these factors, it is clear that while regaining the two leaves symbol is a shot in the arm, the AIADMK will need more to come its way to win the Lok Sabha polls in a convincing manner. For more Opinion articles, click here Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, laid foundation stone for the six lane, access controlled National Highway that will act as interchange for Delhi-Mumbai expressway. "Work on the highway will begin within two months and the entire project will be completed in two years' time" Gadkari said, adding that projects worth Rs 5,000 crore are being implemented to decongest the national capital, including 3 km signal free corridor from Dhaula Kuan to Airport (Rs 280 crore), 22 km elevated corridor on Gurugram-Sohna Road (Rs 2,000 crore), 8-lane Delhi-Panipat highway on NH-1 (Rs 2300 crore), 29 km long Dwarka Expressway (Rs 9,500 crore) and remaining part of Delhi-Meerut Expressway (Rs 5,900 Crore) among other projects. The project will be 59 kilometers long and will start at ring road-DND junction in Delhi and will pass through Kalindi bypass and Faridabad-Ballabhgarh bypass to finish at the interchange of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway at KMP. The Rs 3,580 crore project is expected to reduce vehicular pollution by "decongesting Delhi with at Ashram-Badarpur-Faridabad-Ballabhgarh region". The union minister further said that Haryana state government must consider "development of new townships" of Faridabad and Gurugram on the lines of Navi Mumbai. According to the statement released by the ministry, the NH project will be access-controlled with 3+3 lane service roads on either sides, 7.350 km of elevated section, 18 new underpasses, and nine interchanges with improved junctions. Gadkari has set a target of constructing 20,000 km of national highways in 2018-19 and awarding 16,410 km of highway project. Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan after an engagement with Indian forces on February 27, will be released by Islamabad on March 1, Prime Minister Imran Khan has confirmed. The pilot was captured by Pakistani forces after his MiG 21 Bison crossed the Line Of Control (LoC) and fell into the neighbouring country's territory. PM Imran Khan told parliamentarians during a joint session, "As a peace gesture we are releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan tomorrow," Pakistani news channels have reported. Sources have told CNN News18 that Wing Commander Abhinandan will be coming from the Wagah Border and that he will be accompanied by the outgoing defense attache. Click here to catch LIVE updates. Earlier on February 28, India had made its stand clear and said that they were not looking to strike any deal with Pakistan, and were not even negotiating for consular access, but demanding immediate release of the pilot. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, reportedly said that Pakistan is "willing to consider returning the Indian pilot if it means de-escalation of ties between the two countries." Reiterating the same sentiment, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson, Dr Muhammad Faisal had earlier said that the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot held captive by Pakistan is "safe and healthy". "We will decide in a couple of days what convention will apply to him and whether to give him Prisoner of War status or not," Faisal had said on February 28. India had on February 27 summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan, Syed Haider Shah, and demanded the immediate and safe return of an IAF pilot who was detained by Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. The Indian External Affairs Ministry had also made it clear to Pakistan that no harm should be caused to the IAF pilot, adding that it has conveyed strong objection to the neighbouring country at the "vulgar display" of an injured personnel in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions. The decision to hand over Wing Commander Abhinandan is a great gesture & shouldnt be seen in isolation. It also comes at a time when Pak couldve chosen to further escalate an already tensed situation. I see it as a mark of reconciliation . Our leadership should reciprocate. https://t.co/i2RZINyIbk Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 28, 2019 Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh told ANI, "I'm very happy, I had demanded his release earlier too. This is going to be a step towards goodwill and I hope this will be lasting."Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted: pic.twitter.com/UzuAs6rJxN Keshav Prasad Maurya (@kpmaurya1) February 28, 2019 Along with his family members and all our countrymen, we are anxiously waiting for the safe return of our pilot #Abhinandhan Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) February 28, 2019 I pray and hope brave son of India Wing Commander Abhinandan will be reunited with his family tomorrow. The country is proud of his courage. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 28, 2019 To the news of homecoming of Wg Cdr Abhinandan, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said that "this great gesture shouldn't be seen in isolation". She tweeted:West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the "entire country" and Wg Cdr Abhinandan's family is "anxiously waiting" for the pilot's return.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: Abhinandan Varthaman A delegation of IAF team will on Friday receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat, at the Wagah border, official sources said. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening, the sources said. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. India on Wednesday demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot. "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, told a news conference. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has offered to receive Wing Commander Varthaman at the Attari border. The Congress leader tweeted his request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Dear @narendramodi ji, I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid_gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am," he wrote. You are here: Arts China's Ministry of Education has issued a circular banning commercial advertisements and activities from entering campuses, according to the ministry. The circular was released after reports of commercial activities sneaking into kindergartens, primary schools or secondary schools in the provinces of Shandong, Sichuan and Hubei. Local education administrations should inspect all schools and kindergartens in the region, ensuring that all exam papers, certificates of merit, uniforms, textbooks, teaching materials, stationery and apps sent to campuses are strictly inspected, the circular said. School administrators should pay particular attention to outsiders that distribute things with commercial advertisements on campus under the disguise of holding activities. The circular called for establishing a long-term mechanism for school management, ordering that any activities intended for students must be approved by education administrations at county level or above. senior commanders were eliminated# Political leaders in India, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, have praised the strikes# PM Modi held a high-level security meeting and has briefed the President and the Vice President# Pakistan has claimed that the IAF jets violated the Line of Control (LoC)# It is violation of ceasefire. We will give a befitting reply: Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi # Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, currently held captive by Pakistan, will be released tomorrow. The announcement was made by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other top officials of the government are meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Multiple Indian Air Force (IAF) jets on the night of February 25-26 crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and carried out limited strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist camp. A ceasefire violation by Pakistan Army was also reported in the Gulpur sector of Poonch late night on February 25. The Indian Army also reportedly retaliated. The firing started at around midnight and stopped at around 2.00 am. No casualties were reported. However, it is unclear if the incidents are related. Hundreds of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) across 50 districts in nine states filed FIRs against Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to non-payment of promised wages under the rural employment scheme, CNBC-TV18 reported. FIRs have been filed in 150 police stations under Sections 116 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The workers said between October 2018 and February 1, 2019, Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) were not processed in many states due to lack of available funds for the scheme. According to the NREGA portal, payments worth Rs 9,573 crore are due for material and employed labour as of February 2018. The interim budget of 2019 had allocated Rs 55,000 crore for the scheme, after additional funds worth Rs 6,084 crore had been released for it in January 2019. However, that didn't prove to be enough as over Rs 5,745 crore of the additional outlay was spent on paying liabilities that were pending before October 2018. Therefore, there are no funds left to fulfill the demands of January-March 2019 period, activist group NREGA Sangarsh Morch told CNBC-TV18. "As funds dried up, the system has stopped accepting any more fund transfer orders. So the payment dues are adding up. Apart from labour payments, even material payments have not been made in many states," Anuradha Talwar of the West Bengal Farm Workers Union is quoted in the report as saying. Workers have moved the Ministry of Rural Development to release Rs 25,000 crore, which would be utilised till June 2019, till the full-term budget is announced by the new government. Experts have claimed that this delay is from the government's end. Some states have huge pending liabilities. Rajasthan, for instance, has liabilities worth Rs 778 crore. Out of this, FTOs of Rs 668 crore have been approved but the processing of these payments has been halted due to a dearth of funds. A report by People's Action for Employment Guarantee group stated that actual wages paid on time in 2017-18 will be around 32 percent instead of the 85 percent projected by the Centre. Representative Image One civilian was injured on Friday in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing towards Indian posts and villages in Kamalkote area of Uri in Baramulla district on Thursday evening, the officials said. They said the intermittent firing continued through out the night. One civilian has been injured in the firing. Indian Army has responded to the Pakistani firing in adequate measure, the officials said. The ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops comes as tensions between India and Pakistan rose following the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack. Abhinandan Varthaman A Pakistani citizen on Friday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman, saying he committed crime against the country and should be put on trial here. Pakistan detained the Indian Air Force pilot on Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. The Pakistan government on Thursday decided to release him as "a first step" to open negotiations with India to de-escalate tension after a terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead. The petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) sought the court's order to stop Prime Minister Imran Khan's government from handing over the Indian Air Force pilot. The petitioner said the Indian pilot had violated the airspace of Pakistan to bomb the country and therefore he committed crime against Pakistan and should face trial here. The court has admitted the petition for hearing. IHC chief justice Athar Minhallah will hear the petition ahead of the Indian pilot's handing over to India. Abhinanadan is likely to be handed over to the Indian authorities at Wagah border on Friday afternoon. "The Indian pilot will be handed over to Indian likely around 4pm," a source in Pakistan Rangers told PTI. Strict security measures have been taken at the Wagah border. Police and Rangers are deployed enroute to Wagah. Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a press conference and answer questions of the public. Since he became the PM in 2014, Modi has not held a press conference in all this time, Gandhi said, addressing a public rally here. "I address press conferences; have you seen the 'chowkidar' addressing a press conference? He is not only a 'chor' (thief) but also 'darpok' (coward)," Gandhi said. The Congress leader claimed Modi speaks falsehood all the time. "If you want to hear truth, come here but if you want to hear lies, then go to Narendra Modi's rallies," Gandhi said, addressing the crowd in suburban Bandra. He also slammed the PM for 'protecting' the likes of absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi. "Modi will call Mehul Choksi as Mehul bhai (brother) but call you (people) 'Mitron' (friends)," he said. Gandhi said the Congress will give 500 sq feet houses to slum dwellers in Mumbai under the slum development scheme if voted to power. He expressed joy over IAF officer Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman coming back home from captivity in Pakistan. "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, welcome back to the country," the Congress chief said. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Friday held bilateral talks with her counterparts from Islamic countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives and Bahrain and exchanged views on the regional situation. After addressing the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting here, Swaraj held talks with host UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and thanked him for inviting India as a 'Guest of Honour' for the first time in the history of the OIC and that too on the occasion of the grouping's golden jubilee. Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir also welcomed India at the OIC meeting as the guest of honour and discussed bilateral issues with Swaraj. Swaraj held talks with Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and discussed follow up to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's visit to India in December last year and exchanged views on the regional situation, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. On the sidelines of the OIC meeting, Swaraj also held talks with Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and discussed follow up to the first India-Central Asia Dialogue in Samarkand as well as took stock of progress in bilateral relationship. She held bilateral meetings with Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and Bangladesh's AK Abdul Momen. Swaraj was the first Indian minister to address the meeting of the 57 Islamic countries. India's participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to Swaraj to address the grouping which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on March 1 said it is required of countries that provide a safe haven to extremists to dismantle the infrastructure of terror camps and stop providing shelter and funding to terror organisations. The Union Minister was addressing the 46th session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi on March 1. Although Swaraj did not take the name of Pakistan, her statement made an indirect attack at the country which is said to back banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is led by the notorious Masood Azhar. The JeM claimed responsibility of the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans on February 14 this year. Swaraj, who was invited to the OIC meeting as a Guest of Honour, said she carried the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself, she added. Catch LIVE updates here. In her speech, Swaraj highlighted that the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. Swaraj said, Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood. Abu Dhabi: Empty Pakistani chair at OIC as Guest of Honour Sushma Swaraj gives her speech. pic.twitter.com/wzbmCg0CSz ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 India's engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The ties between the neighbouring nations have strained further after Indian fighter jets conducted an air strike on JeMs biggest training camp near Balakot, deep inside Pakistan, early on February 26. Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid on February 27. The decision to invite Swaraj was strongly protested by Pakistan. Its Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi did not even attend the meeting over the OICs failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart Swaraj. Short video app TikTok said on Thursday it is ready for large-scale business exploration in North America after the company agreed to settle with the United States Federal Trade Commission for $5.7 million as its sister app was accused of violating local rules. The US government agency launched an investigation on Musical.ly, a popular lip-sync video app in 2016, suspecting it has violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires that developers or websites targeted at children under 13 must require parental consent to share personal information. The app was later acquired by Chinese multimedia giant Bytedance in 2017 and merged with TikTok the next year. "While we were 'accidentally' embroiled in this case, we've been actively in touch with the FTC," said a TikTok representative for North America in a written reply to China Daily. "With the current settlement, we are given green light to expand our business scope." Due to the investigations, TikTok did not introduce personalized ads services in the US. According to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, TikTok's monthly downloads have been frequently higher than those of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube in the US since late last year. Meanwhile, total download of Douyin (the Chinese mainland version) and TikTok on App Store and Google Play have topped 1 billion, including 663 million downloads recorded in 2018. That of Facebook reached 711 million and Instagram were 444 million last year. According to a report released by the United States of America, heated Indo-Pak relations were anticipated by the US intelligence ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which are scheduled in a few weeks. The report titled Worldwide Threat Assessment, released by US Director of National Intelligence Daniel R Coats on January 29 this year, said cross-border terrorism, firing across the Line of Control (LoC) will continue to strain India Pakistan relations at least through May 2019, the deadline for the Indian election, and probably beyond. The report also attributed divisive national elections in India and Islamabads perception of its position with the US relative to India to strained ties between the two nations. Despite India and Pakistans effort to build confidence and re-committing to the 2003 ceasefire along the disputed Kashmir border, cross-border firing and continued terrorist attacks is resulting in reduced political will to seek rapprochement, the report pointed out. Political manoeuvering resulting from the Indian national elections will further constrain opportunities for improving ties, the report further said. Click here to get LIVE updates In addition, the study has anticipated increased risk of communal violence during the Lok Sabha elections if Prime Minister Narendra Modis BJP stresses on Hindu nationalist schemes. It was of the view that Hindu nationalist state leaders might view a Hindu nationalist campaign as a signal to incite low-level violence to animate their supporters. The report emphasized, Increasing communal clashes could alienate Indian Muslims and allow Islamist terrorist groups in India to expand their influence. The US Intelligence report seems to hold water in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack killing 40 CRPF jawans. The terror attack, that took place in the afternoon of February 14, was carried out by Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The JeM is a banned terror outfit said to operate from the Pakistani soil and allegedly backed by the Pakistani authorities. The Pulwama attack heated tension between the two neighbouring countries with India resorting to an unprecedented air strike in Balakot, deep inside of Pakistan, targeting a JeM training centre and killing several terrorists. In response to the February 26 Balakot air strike, Pakistan retaliated by sending its aircraft in the Indian airspace. In the engagement that ensued between the countries, an Indian MiG fell into the Pakistani territory, leading to Wing Commander Abhinandan being captured. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was in the custody of Pakistan after his MiG 21 Bison crashed into the neighbouring countrys territory, successfully returned to India late on March 1. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had declared that the IAF pilot will be released 1 as a gesture of peace, while the Ministry of External Affairs had said Pakistans move was in consonance with the Geneva conventions. After his return from the Wagah-Attari border, the IAF pilot will be taken by a convoy to the Amritsar airport, a distance of 20 kilometres from the border. From there, he will fly to Delhi where he will reunite with his family. While the nation anxiously waited for Wg Cdr Abhinandan to come back home, itll be a while for him to get back to his routine life. When a Prisoner of War (PoW) is sent home, there is a list of modalities and thorough protocol that he has to go through before his arrival is formalized. While the MEA has not officially made it clear if the IAF pilot is indeed a PoW, he will have to go through a comprehensive procedure, which has been listed below: # Wg Cdr Abhinandan will be directly taken to the Indian Air Force Intelligence Unit as soon as he arrives after his handover at the Integrated Check Post. # He will be made to undergo a thorough medical examination in order to gauge his physical as well as mental health. # Scans will be conducted to check if he has been bugged by Pakistani army. # He will need to undergo psychological examination too, considering that he might have been projected to traumatic conditions in the enemy territory in order to elicit intel from him. # The IAF pilot may even be questioned by the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing. (R&AW). # Then comes the most rigorous step the IAF debriefing. The debriefing is carried out by seniors in the Indian Air Force to find out what information was obtained from him during his captivity and ensure that he hasn't been recruited by the other side. After the procedure, the forces will take the decision if Wg Cdr Abhinandan is fit to fly again. Rakshita Madan Hello & welcome to 'The Market Podcast'. We get you-up-to speed with all that transpired on Dalal Street during the week, in just under five minutes. I am Rakshita Madan. After falling for 3 straight days, the benchmark indices closed in the green today. But it was the broader market that outperformed on strong breadth. Joining me now is Moneycontrol's markets editor Kshitij Anand. Welcome Kshitij. Q: The market has been seeing 2-step ahead, 1-step behind kind of moves. There have been geopolitical concerns, tensions across the border and many more factors. So what dominated on D-Street this week? A: Yes, there has been many domestic as well as global concerns which weighed on the market sentiment this week. Indian equity markets ended the week mildly positive in a news driven week led by India-Pakistan confrontation, stalemate over US-China trade talks and lack of progress at US President Donald Trumps second meeting with North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. The Sensex and the Nifty were up about half a percent each. The broader market fared better, with the small cap index rising over 3 percent, indicating that risk aversion is falling. Among other asset classes, rupee strengthened a little bit. Oil was flat and remains below the comfortable $70 level. Analysts believe that the short-term outlook is bullish. The Nifty closed the week at 10,863. Chartists say that the next level to watch out for is 11,000. However, markets will be closely watching developments around the India-Pakistan conflict and any escalation will prove to be a negative. Q: It was an eventful week, Kshitij. So what were the important business and economic news? Fiscal deficit touches 121.5% of full-year target in January The December quarter GDP came at 6.6 percent, slowest in five quarters Core sector growth fell to 19-month low of 1.8 percent in January RBI removes Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank from PCA framework US economy grew 2.9 per cent in Q4 2018, highest in 13 years Kotak Mahindra Board approved raising the foreign shareholding limit to 45 percent from 43 percent. Bharti Airtel board approved a Rs 32,000 crore fund raising plans via right issue, bond to pare its debt, which stands at Rs 1.06 lakh crore. The Cabinet cleared Vodafone Idea right issue of Rs 25,000 crore. Coal India rose sharply after brokerage Jefferies put out a strong buy on the stock, saying it has an upside of 44 percent. A Reuters report, quoting sources, said Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal had agreed to step down as Chairman. A: There was a lot of macro data in the past week. Q: Now, before I let you go, do share with us what investors can look forward to in the coming week. A: Next week is a truncated week, as markets will remain shut on Monday because of Mahashivratri. The big announcement next week could come in the form of the dates for general elections. Today, the chief election commissioner said the elections would be held on time. Expect to have a new government in place by May end. In terms of macro data, the Nikkei Services PMI for Feb will come out on March 5. Alright Kshitj, we will be looking out for all those triggers. Thanks for joining me. With that its a wrap on this show. A very happy long weekend to our listeners, and do stay logged on to Moneycontrol.com for more news, views & updates. BJP President Amit Shah on Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and said how could India trust him. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence... Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. Shah questioned the Pakistan Prime Minister's silence on the Pulwama attack. "The Pakistan PM should have at least criticised the Pulwama attacks, at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service," he said. 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. The BJP seems to be wooing the boatmen of UP to sail through the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising them during his recent Allahabad visit and Amit Shah opting for the river route to attend a party programme in Ghazipur. According to party leaders, the boatmen community is spread evenly across the state and constitutes nearly 13 per cent of the electorate. "Some of the major sub-castes of the boatmen community are Nishad, Bind, Mallah, Kewat, Kashyap, Dhuria, Raikwar, Dheemar, Batham, Manjhi and Saini. "As far as Lok Sabha seats are concerned, the community can swing the poll fortune in around 20 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state," said UP Backward Class Finance and Development Corporation chairperson Baburam Nishad. Prior to taking up this charge, he was the vice-president of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit. Some other party leaders said the affinity for the boatmen also stem from the fact that it was a Nishad candidate, fielded by the Samajwadi Party, which had defeated the BJP in Gorakhpur bypolls. "Some of the Lok Sabha seats, where the boatmen and fishermen community could swing the polls are Firozabad, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Kairana, Machhlishahr and Jaunpur," Baburam Nishad said. In Ghazipur, Phulpur, Sitapur, Jalaun, Fatehpur, Unnao, Gorakhpur, Ballia and Deoria the Nishad community has a significant presence. Modi, while addressing the Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar programme in Allahabad on February 24, had described himself as the boatmen's 'pradhan sevak'. "Boatmen play an important role during Kumbh. There is a strong relationship between Prayagraj and boatmen. They are the dedicated soldiers of Maa Ganga. Without them, the Ramayana of Lord Ram is incomplete," the prime minister had said. "Lord Ram, by whose benevolence everyone's boat sails through, his boat was ferried by our naavik friends. I share a deep relationship with you... You call yourself 'Gangaputra', I have come on the call of Maa Ganga to serve you," he had said. Shah, in his speech at a village in Ghazipur had mentioned that he reached the venue on a boat. Referring to the provisions in the interim budget of the Centre, Baburam Nishad said in order to provide sustained and focused attention towards development of fisheries sector, the government has decided to set up a separate fisheries department. He also claimed that the BJP has paid special attention for the upliftment of the boatmen community. Slamming the previous BSP and SP governments, Baburam Nishad alleged that they did not carry out any actual welfare activity for the targeted beneficiaries, but doled out money without any verification. However, Sanjay Nishad, the president of Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) claimed that the BJP "failed" to fulfil the promises made to the boatmen and fishermen before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. "The Nishad community wants education and employment. We want to rise above the boats, ponds and fishes," he said. Sanjay Nishad also said that if the BJP is so much concerned about the welfare of the boatmen and fishermen, then a fisheries ministry should have been set up. "The fisheries department comes under the agriculture ministry. If a separate ministry for fisheries is made, it will certainly help the fisherman community," he said. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Amit Shah said Karnataka party chief BS Yeddyurappa should not have politicised the Pulwama attack. A day after the February 26 air strike, former Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa had said that India's pre-emptive strikes on terror camps in Pakistan had created a wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and would help the party win over 22 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. After his comments drew flak for linking India's air strike with BJP's prospects in Lok Sabha polls, Yeddyurappa had said there was no question of seeking electoral gains and the nation came first to him. "I would like to clarify that my statement yesterday has been completely misinterpreted," he had said. Asked about Shahs comment over his remark at India Today conclave on March 1, Shah said Yedyurappa should not have politicised the issue. Earlier, Congress slammed the BJP over Yeddyurappas comment, saying it revealed the "most deceitful and shameless motive" of the party. Congress leader KC Venugopal on February 28 said: "To use the supreme valour and commitment of armed forces for petty political gain is totally shameful and condemnable. The statement made by Yeddyurappa has clearly revealed the most wicked political agenda well supported by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah." (With inputs from PTI) Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More A sharp boost in retail demand across January coupled with buoyancy from new model launches has helped some car makers report double-digit growth in February. For others, the growth remained sombre. The month saw price hikes carried out by most car makers leading to sustained weakness in consumer sentiments. Maruti Suzuki, the countrys largest car maker, posted 0.9 percent growth in wholesale (sales from company to dealers) to 139,100 units in February as against 137,900 units sold in the same month last year. Wagon R, new Ertiga, updated Baleno along with Omni and Eeco are few of the models that have helped Maruti surpass sales of the same month last year. The increase in sales has come on the back of a price hike of up to Rs 10,000. Utility vehicle specialist Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) posted 17 percent growth in passenger vehicle sales to 26,109 units in February as against 22,389 units. The XUV 300 and Marazzo were the two new models that the Mumbai-based company had launched in recent months. Both models have been well received in the market, said M&M. Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, M&M said, The month of February has augured well for Mahindra. We have witnessed a strong double-digit growth of 16 percent in our UV portfolio, on the back of our newly-launched XUV300 model. Tata Motors, the countrys fourth-largest carmaker, posted 2 percent growth in passenger vehicle volumes to 18,110 units during February as compared to 17,771 units. The Mumbai-based company had launched the Harrier in January which the company said has been received well and plans are afoot to raise its production. Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said, "We have strived to maintain our growth trajectory at a time when the market is under stress. Despite the challenging environment last month, we witnessed a growth of 2 percent, fueled by the good performance of our new generation products. Japanese giant Honda, which is readying the relaunch of Civic sedan recorded 16 percent growth in February to 13,527 units as compared to 11,650 units sold in the same month last year. Rajesh Goel, Senior Vice President and Director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Cars India said, The overall market sentiment is not overtly buoyant at this stage, however, we hope the market will revive soon. The all-new Civic which is slated for launch next week has received an overwhelming response in the pre-launch phase and we are confident that it will bring excitement in the executive sedan segment. Sales of Toyota Kirloskar continued to remain weak despite a new launch during the year. The company, which had launched the mid-segment sedan Yaris, recorded a drop of 1 percent in sales to 11,760 units during February as compared to 11,864 units. Maruti Suzuki WagonR EV | An all-new updated WagonR will be launched in India sometime towards the end of next year. Further, the car is expected to have a range of 130 km and a fast charging capabilities. The car thats been testing in India has been the Japanese market car but the one to launch will be based on the India-spec model. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Hybrid and electric vehicles (EV) manufacturers have greeted with cheer the 10-fold rise in the assistance package announced by the Centre to promote greener mobility.' On February 28, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a Rs 10,000 crore package under the second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (FAME) for three financial years. FAME-I, which had started in 2015, had a total outlay of Rs 895 crore. Besides providing direct subsidy to buyers of electric vehicles, the total outlay also encompasses setting up of allied ecosystem such as a charging station, technical know-how and testing facilities. Shailesh Chandra, President Electric Mobility and Corporate Strategy, Tata Motors, said, We welcome the government's move on FAME II. It brings clarity and policy stability in the industry, thus creating an environment for all players to commit to the journey of sustainability. We see this as the key intervention in accelerating penetration of electric vehicles and realisation of the governments Vision 2030. Following a steady rise in prices of petrol and a sustained launch of new models, demand for electric two-wheelers have been encouraging for manufacturers. As per data available, nearly 55,000 electric two-wheelers were sold during 2017-18, a growth of 138 percent compared to 2016-17. FAME-I provides incentives ranging between Rs 7,500 to Rs 22,000 on battery powered 2Ws. Sales of electric cars, however, has shown a sharp dip to 1,200 units during 2017-18, a drop of 40 percent compared to 2016-17. Only two electric cars (e-Verito and E20) are on sale at present and both are from Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M). Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, M&M, said, The new outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over a period of three years provides a stable policy to promote green mobility in India. It addresses the key issues including National Energy Security, mitigation of the adverse impact of vehicles on the environment and growth of domestic technology and manufacturing capabilities. The revised FAME II removes all uncertainty and will put adoption of electric vehicles in the fast lane. In all, more than 2.65 lakh vehicles were provided support under the FAME I scheme through subsidy, creation of charging stations and providing technological support. FAME II plans to support 1 million e-two-wheelers, 500,000 e-three-wheelers, 55,000 four-wheelers and 7,000 buses. Around 2,700 charging stations will be established in major cities, cities with million plus population, smart cities and cities in hilly states. There will be at least one charging station in a grid of 3 km x 3 km. Charging stations are also proposed on major highways on both sides of the road at an interval of around 25 km each. In February, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise constituted NATRIP Implementation Society (NATIS), an autonomous body for the execution of National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP). NATIS has been entrusted to set-up state-of-the-art automotive test facilities at seven locations across the country at an investment of Rs 3723.30 crore. The ministry is inviting tenders for the same. As for actual monetary support, government of India slashed subsidy on electric vehicles for 2019-20 by 25 percent to Rs 195 crore as against Rs 260 crore allotted in the current financial year, as per Union Budget documents. Whats 7 doing in 3? https://t.co/xw6shendPE Madhav Sheth (@MadhavSheth1) February 27, 2019 Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer RealMe might launch two new smartphones in India on March 4. The two devices Realme 3 and Realme 3 Pro could be launched at an event in India and will take on the recently launched Redmi Note 7 . Realmes official Twitter handle posted a teaser video stating the launch of a new smartphone. The video had the number 3 written in the form of a lightning bolt.Realmes CEO Madhav Seth retweeted the tweet and said, Whats 7 doing in 3?, taking a dig at the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7. While the company has already confirmed through various posts that it would launch the Realme 3, the teaser video indicates the launch of a Pro variant. The video ends with a Be Proactive caption, with the Pro highlighted in bold text. The caption and the teaser clearly suggest that Realme would be launching the two smartphones together to compete with its Chinese counterpart in India directly. The devices succeed popular smartphones Realme 2 and Realme 2 Pro which were launched in India last year. The company also posted a teaser video further providing information about the camera. The teaser video shows a dual-camera setup at the back. Currently, it is unclear which device will sport the dual camera setup or whether both the variants would get dual-cameras at the rear. But based on a few speculations; it is assumed that the Pro variant could include a 48 MP sensor, just like the Redmi Note 7 Pro. The video also starts a countdown and stops at 3 with a water-bubble like effect on the number. This could mean that the Realme 3 would have some sort of water-proofing. Though not much information is available on the specification and features of the Realme 3 or the Realme Pro, the Realme 3 is expected to have a water-drop notch display. It may be powered by a MediaTek Helio P70 SoC paired with Mali G72 GPU. It is also expected that the devices would have a diamond-cut design, a fingerprint sensor at the back and would be running on ColorOS 6 skin based on Android 9 Pie. Pricing of these two devices is not available, but they are expected to be in line with the Redmi Note 7 lineup which is under Rs 20,000. Realme currently offers five devices in India - Realme 1, Realme 2, Realme 2 Pro, Realme C1 and Realme U1 and the company has promised to update all Realme devices with Android Pie by June 2019 Representative image When a fleet of 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force destroyed terror camps in Pakistan to avenge the Pulwama IED blast, the whole country rejoiced and lauded the mettle of the combat planes too. While some took to social media to express their gratitude, some others arrived at peculiar ways to ensure the victory against terrorism and the valour of the mighty IAF remains etched in their hearts forever. A day after the attack, on February 27, a Rajasthani couple hailing from Dabra village in Nagaur district in Rajasthan decided to name their baby Mirage to pay tribute to the jet planes used in the covert, non-military operation. Some members of the family serve in the Indian Armed Forces. SS Rathore, the childs father, said the family wishes that the newborn grows up to join Indian security forces someday. They stated that they named the baby so as a tribute to the IAF. Rathore told ANI, We named our child Mirage Rathore to commemorate the strike on Pakistan by the Mirage jets. We hope he will join the security forces when he grows up." The father believes, when Mirage Rathore grows up, he'll always have an interesting anecdote to share with his friends. Speaking to Tribune, the father, who is a school teacher by profession, said: Nothing could be a celebration of the IAFs feat better than eternalising it. As the feat was commanded by Mirage fighter jets and the child was born exactly when the jets were engaged in the strike, we decided to name the child after the jets. The name was reportedly suggested by Mirages uncle, who himself serves the Indian Air Force. Now, the Mirage-2000 fighter jets were also instrumental in turning the course of the 1999 Kargil War. Interestingly, a valiant young officer who was martyred in the war, was also named after war equipment. Captain Vijayant Thapar, who hailed from a defence family, was named after a war tank Vijayant. When he was born, his father was posted in Pathankot. He decided to name his son 'Vijayant' after the main battle tank of the army. You are here: Business Chinese technology giant Huawei has garnered a series of 5G deals with global mobile operators during the MWC Barcelona, a telecommunications industry's prominent get-together which ends on Thursday. Huawei, a leading global provider of digital infrastructure, smart devices, telecommunications equipment and services to mobile operators, has won big during the MWC Barcelona (formerly Mobile World Congress) in terms of both awards and business contracts. The Chinese telecommunications company won five separate awards, including for Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough (awarded to companies with an annual global revenue exceeding 10 million U.S. dollars) for its 5G radio access network innovation. And the multiple contracts Huawei signed with global mobile operators during the MWC Barcelona held between Monday and Thursday also show the active role of Huawei in promoting the 5G development globally through cooperation. VIVA Bahrain, the leading telecommunications provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain, signed a nationwide 5G service launch Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei, the Chinese company said. VIVA Bahrain will upgrade their existing infrastructure based on non-standalone 5G core and 4/5G dual mode radio unit and high capacity backhauling technologies, which will enable VIVA customers to access 5G services across Bahrain by June 2019. Also in the Middle East, Saudi Telecom Company signed an "Aspiration Project" contract with Huawei, which contains E2E wireless network modernization and 5G network construction, the Chinese company said. Etisalat, another Middle East-based mobile operator, announced in a press release that it inks a strategic partnership with Huawei to deploy end-to-end 5G network in UAE in 2019. In Asia, XL Axiata, a leading mobile telecommunications service operator in Indonesia, decides to partner with Huawei to build Southeast Asia's first 5G ready simplified transport network, said Huawei. Maxis, a leading converged communications and digital services company in Malaysia, signed with Huawei an MoU about collaborating to accelerate 5G in Malaysia. In Europe, Huawei and mobile operator Nova signed an agreement on the first project on 5G testing to be executed in Iceland. Monaco Telecom and Huawei signed a new strategic agreement on IoT (Internet of Things) to support "5G Nation" project initiated by Monaco, Huawei said. Rain, South Africa's mobile data-only network operator, announced that it has launched the first 5G commercial network in South Africa in partnership with Huawei. In a seldom display of unity and bonhomie, social media users of both India and Pakistan joined hands to celebrate Pak Prime Minister Imran Khans announcement of releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan on Friday. And just like #BringBackAbhindandan, #WelcomeBackAbhinandan has now started trending on Twitter. After days of tension amid escalation of the ongoing conflict, people from various walks of life from both countries pressed and prayed for a peaceful resolution. From jubilant netizens celebrating on Twitter to artists dedicating their work to the hero of the hour, social media was flooded with tributes for Wing Commander Abhinandan. A cup of tea can stop the WAR..... Peaceful_world_Forever #WelcomeBackAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/3MFufbdTye Vignesh Sivam (@Vgnesh_Sivam) February 28, 2019 Heres how the people celebrated. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan My sand art with message Salute to our brave Hero at Puri beach . pic.twitter.com/eUdW3GY8WB Close March 1, 2019 Brings tears to my eyes to see this. Our nation is proud of our braveheart. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/dnJuOroOHT Srinivas B V (@srinivasiyc) March 1, 2019 People of pakistan protested outside Lahore press Club for release of Abhinandan. Imagine if ppl in India did the same for a Pakistani soldiers, bhakts wud hav branded them as terrorist sympathiser, Urban naxal #WelcomeBackAbhinandan #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan #MeraJawanSabseMajboot pic.twitter.com/uvwmwI2AiA Mranal Mandhane (@MranalM) March 1, 2019 MWC 2019 has been a hotbed for innovative technologies in smartphones. Manufacturers are no longer content with simply featuring a flagship. Their tireless desire to get their flagship offerings to stand out from the rest is what continues to push the boundaries of innovation in the industry. Our list narrows down the best concepts on display at the Mobile World Congress this year. The front Time-of-Flight camera on the G8 ThinQ features Hand ID, which unlocks the phone by scanning your veins. Hand ID also builds into another feature called Air Motion. Air Motion lets you control multiple aspects of the phone making calls, adjusting music volumes, openings apps using different gestures. Image Source: Thinkingtech.in The Energizer Power Max P18K POP looks more like a brick than a smartphone. The phone weighs a whopping 472 grams and stands thicker than three flagship phones stacked on top of each other. With an 18,000 mAh battery capacity, the Power Max P18K boasts the world's largest battery on a smartphone. According to Energizer, the phone can deliver 40 hours of gaming, 90 hours of call time and a staggering 50 days of standby time. The Nokia 9 PureView smartphone boasts a five-camera setup on the back of the phone. Two of the five cameras on the PureView shoot pictures in colour, while the other three are monochrome. Each of the five cameras features a 12-megapixel sensor and an f/1.8 lens. Nokia has partnered with Light to develop a chip that can manage the five cameras as the Snapdragon SoC is only built to handle three lenses out of the box. The Sony Xperia X1 is touted as the worlds first handset with a 4K OLED display. The smartphone features a unique 21:9 aspect ratio. The device boasts a 6.5-inch OLED display with 3840 x 1644 resolution, the Bravia X1 mobile engine, and Gorilla Glass 6. The X1 which replaces Sonys XZ series also supports Atmos 3D surround sound, Sonys Digital Sound Enhancement Engine, Hi-Res audio, and LDAC. Oppo recently announced that it was ready to release a commercial product with the new 10x optical zoom smartphone camera system. The new handset is equipped with three extra-refined camera lenses. The phone will feature an ultra-wide camera, a 48-megapixel high-res camera and a third camera that achieve 10x lossless zoom. A bigger sensor coupled with improved optical image stabilisation ensures photos remain clear no matter how much you zoom in. The United States on Thursday offered a USD 1 million reward for information on a son of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, seeing him as an emerging face of extremism. The location of Hamza bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria or under house arrest in Iran. "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise," a State Department statement said, referring to Al-Qaeda. The State Department said that it would offer USD 1 million for information leading to his location in any country. Bin Laden, who according to the United States is around 30, has threatened attacks against the United States to avenge the 2011 killing of his father, who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, by US special forces. US intelligence agencies increasingly see the younger bin Laden as a successor to his father for the mantle of global jihad, especially as the even more extreme Islamic State group is down to its last sliver of land in Syria. In 2015, bin Laden released an audio message urging jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to "liberating Palestine." And in a message a year later, following in the footsteps of his father, he urged the overthrow of the leadership in their native Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden's three surviving wives and his children were quietly allowed to return to Saudi Arabia after his killing. But Hamza bin Laden's whereabouts have been a matter of dispute. He is believed to have spent years along with his mother in Iran, despite Al-Qaeda's strident denunciations of the Shiite branch of Islam that dominates the country. Observers say that the clerical regime in Tehran kept him under house arrest as a way to maintain pressure on rival Saudi Arabia as well as on Al-Qaeda, dissuading the Sunni militants from attacking Iran. One of Hamza bin Laden's half-brothers told The Guardian last year that Hamza's whereabouts were unknown but that he may be in Afghanistan. He also said that Hamza bin Laden married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed some 3,000 people and sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan. Ten years ago, while discussing pervasive corruption in India, an industrialist from the engineering industry, with a very high reputation for integrity, candidly told me that when it comes to my personal earnings, I am scrupulously correct, but if I insisted that my managers follow the same standards, they would not be able to do business. This is probably why the Indian investors seem so nonchalant about Larsen & Toubros (L&Ts) role as facilitator of the bribe paid on behalf of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, for projects in Chennai and Pune. Cognizant settled the bribery charge by paying up $25 million (without admitting or denying guilt) to the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) . Two senior executives, who have since left the company, have been indicted on criminal charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of the USA. But L&T, which is the construction firm responsible for building Cognizants 2.7 million square foot campus in Chennai, referred to in the SEC release, simply brushed off the charge with a brazen statement that it will not comment on Cognizants decision to enter into a settlement. It told the stock exchange that it is not aware of any evidence that supports our involvement in making the alleged improper payments. We confirm that neither we nor any of our employees are a party to the proceedings brought in the United States. We have no further comments to make on this issue. Is anyone really shocked that a government official or a politician in India demanded a bribe? Hardly. Some political parties in Chennai have demanded details, but even proxy firms seem to be dismissing the Cognizant-L&T bribery episode as a cost of doing business in India. But what does it signal when a government, which promised zero tolerance of corruption, fails to even order an inquiry? The National Democratic Alliance has amended the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) to give it more teeth and ensure faster investigation and resolution of cases. But no inquiry has been ordered in this casenot even by the capital market regulator. There is, indeed, a big element of blackmail when a politician or bureaucrat demands a bribe or needs his palms greased to issue permissions, licences, approvals or legitimate payments for work done. Companies, often, have to pay to escape harassment, meet project deadlines and production targetsusually with a clock ticking on loan repayments, payment of salaries, dividends, etc. Refusing to pay a bribe to an obdurate official has, sometimes, destroyed companies and, often, led to revengeful government officials entangling them in expensive and never-ending litigation. So, I am not advocating moralistic action aimed at inflicting further punishment and humiliation on companies that are forced to bribe, but one that signals a resolve to end such extortion. This is important for ensuring real Ease of Doing Business, by allowing fast-growing companies to invest and create employment opportunities instead of being bogged down by bureaucracy and corruption. In this case, we need action against the government official whose demand for bribes held up a large project. Incidentally, this is not a local Chennai (Chennai) issue, because investigations had apparently revealed that Cognizant had to pay in Pune as well. A serious effort at ending corruption requires the government to signal that all corruption and extortive actions will be investigated and punished. It cannot be selective or on a case-by-case basis. Admittedly, such an expectation seems incongruous when top officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been embroiled serious corruption charges and one was even convicted for contempt of court. Unfortunately, that episode, and a few others, has overshadowed one of the biggest achievements of the Narendra Modi governmentits seriousness about resolving the biggest issue of non-performing assets in Indian banking Apart from bringing in the bankruptcy law (Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code), banks were allowed to pursue recovery without pressure or interference. Industrialists, auditors and central bankers all admit that the governments firm commitment not to buckle under corporate pressure has, for the first time in decades, led to a change in management of large and viable companies through a judicial process. At a recent seminar that I attended in Kochi, a top auditor described how bankers and regulators were fully co-opted in the process of ever-greening bad loans. He said, every time the auditor flagged a large account for slippage on payments, bankers rushed to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and, together, they formulated new schemes (CDR, SDR, CDR2, S4A, 5/25 or flexible structuring of long-term projects, etc.) to allow banks to avoid classifying them as bad loans. The industrialists usually lobbied the finance ministry to nudge RBI into helping with the cover up. The NDA government had inherited a humungous problem with public sector banks (PSBs) which were on the brink. They were desperately in need of large capital infusions with bad loans running in excess of Rs8 lakh crore. But it needed great resolve and determination to permit investigation agencies to do their job. Even industrialists perceived to be close to the ruling government have been forced to liquidate assets and pay up and the only delaying tactics that have had limited success are efforts at gaming the judicial system. This led to Neeraj Singal, promoter of Bhushan Steel, being the first big industrialist to do jail time. CBI caught him bribing the chairman of Syndicate Bank in August 2014. He was again arrested in August 2018 in an action by the serious frauds investigation office (SFIO) on the charge of allegedly having siphoned off Rs2,500 crore through scores of shell companies. Interestingly, Moneylife has reported the Singal familys involvement in market manipulation for tax evasion through a network of shell companies. The Singals are also the only industrialist family to have actually lost two large companiesBhushan Steel and Bhushan Power (under bankruptcy resolution)under the IBC process. Bhushan Steel alone owed over Rs40,000 crore to 51 banks. This happened, despite the Singals trying every trick in the book to derail the process including proxy litigation. If Essar Steel is finally sold to the LN Mittal group later this week, it will be another big achievement. The fact that so many realty magnates (Unitech, Aamrapali, DS Kulkarni and others) have faced jail time is also because ready funding from banks and shadow banks, finally, came to a halt. It is interesting to note that the political opposition has had no role to play in demanding action against corruption. In fact, barring a letter from Mamata Banerjee on the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (ILFS) collapse, they have been largely silent about the shenanigans of big industry. The only exception is Anil Ambani and that, too, is limited to the Rafale jet purchase. Why has this not translated into big perception gains for the government? Well, partly because new scams have erupted. Some of these, like Gitanjali Gems, IL&FS, Nirav Modi and Suraj/Winsome Diamonds, are also a legacy of the previous governments. But the perception issue persists because the government hasnt done enough to signal to the bankers that they will be accountable for new scams. The finance ministry has been touting its achievements of loan recovery (Rs2.75 lakh crore last year, tweets the secretary, department of economic affairs), but senior bankers tell us that loan write-offs continue to be very high and were at Rs2 lakh crore last year. Also, the bankruptcy process is not working beyond the top few accounts and recovery is 13.7%, according to the RBIs report on Trends and Progress of Banking in India 2017-18. While PSBs are emerging out of the prompt corrective action phase, nothing has been done to stop the creation of new bad loans, putting in place stricter evaluation process or making heads of PSBs more accountable. It was chilling to hear past and present PSB heads, at a recent financial conclave, exude bumptious confidence about the worst being over without any mention about how or why things will be different, now that they have a big infusion of public money (Rs48,000 crore most recently). Rooting out corruption is not about empowering the same corrupt officials with draconian powers to harass ordinary people and well-run businesses but sending a signal that every case of perceived corruption will be investigated and handled in a non-partisan manner. And that is why the complete silence over the Cognizant-L&T bribery issue and the failure to order even an investigation is disappointing and sends contrary signals about the fight against corruption. My eyes narrowed when the woman on the voice message told me to call about my Top Doctor award. They needed to make sure everythings accurate before they sent me my plaque, she said. It was a titillating irony. I dont have a medical degree, and Im not a physician. But I am an investigative journalist who specializes in health care. So I leaned forward in my seat with some anticipation when I returned the call last year. I spoke to a cheerful saleswoman named Anne at a company on New Yorks Long Island that hands out the Top Doctor Awards. For some reason, she believed I was a physician and, even better, worthy of one of their awards. Puzzled and amused, I took notes. I asked how I had been selected. My peers had nominated me, she said buoyantly, and my patients had reviewed me. I must be a leading physician, she said. At this point, of course, itd be tempting to dismiss the call, and the award, as ridiculous. But I knew such awards are the perfect dovetail of doctors egos and patients desperate need to find a good physician. Many patients assume that the awards are backed by rigorous vetting and standards to ensure only the best doctors are recognized. Hospitals and physicians lend credibility to the facade by hanging the awards in their offices and promoting them on their websites. And now, for reasons still unclear, Top Doctor Awards had chosen me and I was almost perfectly the wrong person to pick. Ive spent the last 13 years reporting on health care, a good chunk of it examining how our health care system measures the quality of doctors. Medicine is complex, and theres no simple way of saying some doctors are better than others. Truly assessing the performance of doctors, from their diagnostic or surgical outcomes to the satisfaction of their patients, is challenging work. And yet, for-profit companies churn out lists of Super or Top or Best physicians all the time, displaying them in magazine ads, online listings or via shiny plaques or promotional videos the companies produce for an added fee. On my call with Anne from Top Doctors, the conversation took a surreal turn. It says you work for a company called ProPublica, she said, blithely. At least she had that right. I responded that I did and that I was actually a journalist, not a doctor. Is that going to be a problem? I asked. Or can you still give me the Top Doctor award? There was a pause. Clearly, I had thrown a baffling curve into her script. She quickly regrouped. Yes, she decided, I could have the award. Annes bonus, I thought, must be volume based. Then we got down to business. The honor came with a customized plaque, with my choice of cherry wood with gold trim or black with chrome trim. I mulled over which vibe better fit my unique brand of medicine: the more traditional cherry or the more modern black? Theres a nominal fee for the recognition, she said, reverting to the stilted cadence of someone reading a script. Its a reduced rate. Just $289. We accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express. That sounded a little spendy to get past the ProPublica bean counters, even as a unique reporting cost. I hesitated. The plaque commemorates your achievements and more importantly communicates the achievements to your patients, she said, moving in to close the sale. Its a great achievement. I would hate for you to miss it. I can get it to you right now for $99. I accepted the offer, and thats how I became a Top Doctor. It beats years of hard work and drowning in debt from medical school. And it gives me just that right amount of heft when I dole out advice to snuffling colleagues in the newsroom: Go home before we all get sick. Updated on 29 March 2019 to include response from Lodha Group. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has ordered Lodha Crown Buidlmart Pvt Ltd and its present directors, Ramandas Pandey and Pranav Goel, to refund a homebuyer over Rs2.52 crore with interest, which includes his deposit and other expenses, after they failed to deliver the promised 60th floor flat in Worli. A consumer complaint had been filed by Jagannath and Baby Hiray on the basis that Lodha had continued to demand payments from them, even after realising the fact that Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) would not give the permission to construct beyond 55 floors. The complainants had booked a 3BHK flat on the 60th floor of Lodha Dioro costing Rs4.46 crore with a duly registered agreement on 9 May 2012. They also claimed to have paid Rs14 lakh as parking charges for two parking spaces. The Hirays said that on 19 July 2013 they were informed for the first time by Lodha that the building would be constructed with 55 floors, in order to ensure the completion and possession of flats by the end of 2015. However later in 2014, Lodha revealed that the reason for this was that they did not get permission from the competent authority, which was contrary to their earlier reason. Counsel for the Hirays argued that the commencement certificate was granted by MMRDA on 20 February 2013 in which permission is granted only up to ground plus 53 floors. It was further argued, that the developer was fully aware that no permission would be granted by MMRDA for a building having more than 55 floors prior to accepting the payment for allotment of flat on the 60th floor to the Hirays. Furthermore, Hirays stated that Lodha continued to demand payments from them, with dishonest intentions, deliberately and knowingly misrepresenting facts with regards to the number of floors in the building and induced them to book a flat on the 60th floor, consequently charging more for floor rise, view premium, VAT, service tax, and stamp duty. It was claimed in the complaint that even after receiving the commencement certificate, Lodha neglected to inform the buyer on reduction in number of floors and kept demanding balance amount as per agreement for a flat on the 60th floor. The buyer finally received a cancellation letter in 2015, after which they filed a consumer complaint seeking Rs2.81 crore along with 18% interest, if the flat could not be given and damages of over Rs1 crore. In this consumer complaint, Lodha had offered to refund the deposit amounts or a new flat in the same building (on the 50th floor) with the same carpet area, without any extra cost, which the complainant refused. Lodha claimed that they were proactively making their best efforts to provide the complainant equal benefits, which is being repeatedly refused by them. However, it later came to light that the builder did not have sanction for a flat on the 50th floor either and had misguided the Commission by filing false and fabricated written version on record. Lodha had received permission to build only 45 floors due to a restriction on height placed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The developer had also initially counter argued that the buyers cannot be considered as consumers as they have deposited amounts by way of cheques and payment vouchers issued by Hiray Enterprises Builders and Developers and have the intentions to use the flat for commercial purposes. In response, Presiding NCDRC member Prem Narain said, The assertion of the learned counsel for the opposite parties may have some substance in his argument, but the question is whether the said booking was made for commercial purpose. Even, if the amount has been paid by the Hiray Enterprises Builders and Developers, the booking may be and is for the complainants, as the allotment has been made in the name of Jagannath D Hiray. Though the opposite parties state that they are ready to allot some other flat, however, no specific proposal has been given to the complainants or has been indicated before this Commission. In such situation, when the booked flat cannot be delivered by the opposite parties as the opposite parties could not get permission to build the flat, clearly, the opposite parties are guilty of deficiency in service, the Commission observed. Accordingly, they ordered that a refund of Rs2.52 crore along with simple interest of 9% per annum be paid by Lodha within 45 days from the date of the order. While several experts have been pointing out vulnerabilities in the chips used in every information & communications technology (ICT) device, the government was not even prepared to listen to the dangers of these chips. Finally, Aruna Sundararajan, secretary of telecom, admitted that data security is the paramount concern in the world today and India cannot remain secure in terms of data, unless it manufactures its own chips. Manufacturing an integrated circuit or chip used in microprocessors is not an easy task. It involves huge amounts of money to design a microprocessor and then build a plant that needs to be upgraded regularly by spending more money. Rough estimates suggest that designing a single high-end microprocessor would cost over $300 million, while setting up a plant would cost almost $10 billion. This explains why there are very few players in microprocessor manufacturing business. At the same time, producing own chips and, thus, microprocessors is just one part of the entire ecosystem. A microprocessor cannot function on its own and requires programing or software code to make it work. This is where the problem really lies, when we think about data security. Last year, in January, researchers announced a series of major security vulnerabilities, named Spectre and Meltdown, in the microprocessors (central processing unit-CPU), made by Intel, AMD and ARM that are used in all computer systems since the past 15-20 years. Using these vulnerabilities, anyone can steal user data from such systems or devices. Many people believe that the microprocessor of a chip cannot be hacked or manipulated. For example, electronic voting machines (EVM) and the VVPAT (voter verified paper audit trail) system, both use some type of microprocessor which can be made to follow instructions embedded in the chip. Unfortunately, despite several security experts pointing out to this vulnerability, our government and the election commission are not ready to even accept the existence of such risks, forget about rectification. For many common citizens and governments, things that they can see are the only real or ultimate truth. In the case of chip-level manipulation, they cannot see it with their naked eyes and, hence, are forever in a denial mode. As I pointed out in my previous article, any device that uses a software code or program to carry out stipulated tasks can be made to perform other permitable tasks as well. For example, if you have a toy car that is programmed to move in forward direction only, by changing the code in the microprocessor, it can be made to move in reverse, or in any other, direction. ( Microprocessors under Attack The vulnerabilities in chips or CPUs are not normal and patching a system or updating firmware can only protect you from the threat detected at the moment. This means the chip will continue to remain exploitable for threats through new loopholes. The Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, discovered by researchers last year, only affect the confidentiality of data. However, new loopholes in the chips and its firmware could allow hackers or attackers to delete or manipulate entire data including virtual memory and CPU cache contents. This is where it becomes very dangerous for the user. Last year, in October, Bloomberg Businessweek had reported that malicious chipsas small as a sharpened pencil tipwere planted in motherboards in data servers bought by Apple and Amazon by a unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to gain access to the supply chain of a firm called Super Micro, known as the 'Microsoft of the hardware world'. Both, Apple and Amazon, denied the 'supply chain attack' as reported by Bloomberg. However, in a statement, Steve Schmidt, chief information security officer at Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is Amazon's Cloud unit, made an interesting comment. He stated, "We further strengthen our security posture by implementing our own hardware designs for critical components such as processors, servers, storage systems, and networking equipment." This is where the comment by the Indian telecom secretary assumes significance. Especially considering that almost all the chips used in India are imported, it is time for us to think about manufacturing them in the country. While talking about chips and data security, I will give you an example about how seriously things can go wrong. There is a tussle going on over alleged security threats, especially backdoor vulnerabilities, between the Chinese mobile equipment maker Huawei Technologies and the US. Huawei has been accused of providing backdoor for the Chinese government through equipments it supplied in the US. This drift even resulted in arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, by Canada. According to a report from Al-Jazeera , ahead of the rollout of that faster Internet technology, several countries have warned against using Chinese hardware because of security concerns which stem from the Chinese government's use of Huawei's products to spy on people around the world. So far, four countries have officially said they will not allow Huawei to take part in the 5G trials. In 2012, Huawei and ZTE Corp, another Chinese telecom company, were the subjects of an investigation that looked into whether their equipment could pose a threat to US interests. Last year, in September, there were reports about Huawei being banned from participating in 5G trials in India. However, Huawei later clarified that it was invited to test its equipment in the second-largest mobile market in the world. Even in the past, intelligence agencies from the US and UK colluded with makers of microprocessors to weaken the security of processors sold in India, as leaks by Edward Snowden had shown. Both the above examples support what Mr Sundararajan had said about manufacturing chips in India. But the ecosystemfrom research to manufacturingwill have to be highly developed to support it. Its a pipedream for us. Of the four defaulting business groups that mutual funds (MFs) have been exposed to, the most surprising one was the Zee/Eseel, mainly known for its media and entertainment business plus a clutch of other businesses such as packaging, education and so on. The general public, who had entrusted MFs with their money, knew little about the vast infrastructure projects of Essel,... Sit back and imagine this Youre looking across a sprawling room full of traders. Some are standing with a phone to either ear, while others yell stock prices to colleagues. Its a chaotic scene full of noise and activity. Then, above the commotion, you hear: Whoo! I just bagged the elephant! Clenching his fist, a young trader jumps to his feet. He then turns and high-fives a colleague. Its the unmistakable sign of success. Hes just had the biggest win of his career. You may recognise the scene Its from the 1987 movie Wall Street. The film may be fictional, but it captures the look and feel of the dealing room perfectly. Its a setting I remember well. The previous quote is from up-and-coming broker Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen). You see, Bud had just landed his biggest ever client the infamous Gordon Gekko. So how did Bud bag the elephant? Well, it came down to two things: persistence, and a good idea. These are the key ingredients to just about every success story no matter what the challenge. In a moment, Ill show you how to bag the elephant. No, I wont be talking about winning a Gekko-style client. Instead, Ill be telling you how to potentially land a triple-digit stock gain. But first, this is where many traders go wrong Free report: Aussie stock picker, Sam Volkering (with gains as high as 1,431% in the last 18 months) reveals what he believes are his next four big potential winners. Topsy-turvy trading Many people believe it takes expert financial analysis to make big profits. Others say you need a whiz-bang technical indicator to identify when a stock is about to rise. But do you know what? Theyre wrong. You see, both of these methods centre on one thing: when to buy. And this is where many traders focus their attention. They believe the entry point is the most important part of the trade. Sure, entries matter. But theyre not the most critical factor. What really matters, in my view, is your selling strategy. This has the greatest impact on your trading results. Its the swing factor that separates the best traders from the pack. I talk a lot about letting winners run and cutting losers. The idea is to resist the urge to sell your profitable trades, while being relatively quick to exit when a stock falls. But many people do the opposite: they sell their winners early, and let their losers run. And the research supports this One study examined 78,000 accounts at a US broker. It found that between 1991 and 1996, traders were 1.8-times more likely to sell a stock that was up 20%, versus one that was down 20%. Another study using data from 10,000 accounts between 1987 and 1993 backs this up. It found traders lock in profits at a 50% greater rate than losses. Then theres a study on 4,330 accounts at an Israeli brokerage. It found the holding period for losing trades was roughly double that of winning trades. Think about that for a moment. People were running their losses, and cutting their profits. This is the exact opposite to how many of the most profitable traders operate. Local research follows the same pattern One study analysed trading volume on new company listings. It turns out volume was lighter when a stock opened below the offering price people were hesitant to sell at a loss. I could go on, but Im sure you get the point. The fact is that many people are quick to sell their winners, and slow to cut their losses. This is a key reason why they dont get the triple-digit winners. Elephant hunting A few weeks back I did a survey of Quant Trader members. One of the sections was about the challenges they face as traders. It turns out the biggest issue by far is: when to sell. And I can understand why Selling is a highly uncertain time for many people. They wonder if they should hold out for a better price or risk lower levels. The result is often smaller profits and bigger losses. Ill talk about exiting losing trades another time. Thats a big topic on its own. But today, Im going to focus on selling a profitable trade. I believe that getting this right is one of the quickest ways to improve your trading results. OK, so the stock youre about to see is one of Quant Traders live signals. Its an example of how the system trades a big trend. I trade this way myself and I want you to be able to do the same. Check this out: [Click to open new window] This is the share price chart for Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd [ASX:PNI]. The company operates a financial services business, and is currently in the ASX 300. PNI is a pin-up stock for trend following. It shows why Quant Trader doesnt take profits. The strategy is about letting profitable trades run for as long as possible. The initial buy signal was at $2 on 26 September 2016. There were also entry signals at $2.32 and $2.54. The eventual sell signal was at $5.76 locking in gains of 188%, 148% and 127%. Sure, the entry points were good. It certainly helps to buy early in a trend. But that alone wasnt enough. The key to making three triple-digit gains was to resist an early profit. Ask yourself this: Have you ever sold for a quick 20% gain? I know I have. A quick-fire profit can be hard to turn down. But do you know what? Traders who take small gains never get a Pinnacle. It simply isnt possible. Thats because they sell their winners before the shares really get going. This caps a trades potential. A reason I often hear for quickly selling a winning trade is fear. People worry about giving back their profits. And I understand this its no fun watching a gain whittle away. But heres the thing: You have to risk losing a small profit to potentially get a larger one. Theres no way around this. The rewards for accepting this risk are the trades like PNI. Quant Trader uses a trailing stop to exit a trade. You can see it on Pinnacles chart. Its the dotted red line below the share price it looks a bit like a set of stairs. A trailing stop wont get you out at the high. But it does the next best thing: It helps keep you in a trade for longer. This is how you potentially bag the elephant. Ill tell you more about trailing stops next week. Youll see why theyre a crucial part of my trading strategy. Hopefully theyll be an equally important part of your strategy, too. Until next week, Jason McIntosh, Editor, Quant Trader Free Report: In this just released report, Matt Hibbard shows you his top five dividend picks for 2019. Click here to claim your copy today. Donald Trump is extremely refreshing. Hes what the people want. A pollie thatll speak his mind and doesnt pull punches. Of course, he has a history. He doesnt always say the right things. A lot of the time hell make contradictory comments. A man has created a whole new business off the latter by the way. Just another American job created by the Donald Source: President flip flops [Click to open new window] Trump also has a superpower. One that all other pollies want. His superpower is that hes made of Teflon. Nothing sticks to the man! Well, nothing bad at least. The Chicago Tribune likens it to another celebrity turned pollie, Ronald Reagan. People my age remember Reagan as the Teflon president. The reason was that his personal charm and glibness enabled him to fend off mistakes and criticism, so much so that few of the barbs or accusations against him seemed to stick, just as nothing sticks to the bottom of a Teflon frying pan. In just one example, when the nation was struggling with a poor economy in the early eighties, ABC journalist Sam Donaldson thought he had him on the hot seat: Mr. President, in talking about the continuing recession tonight, you have blamed mistakes in the past. You have blamed the Congress. Does any of the blame belong to you? Yes, Reagan answered, because for many years I was a Democrat! Free report: Aussie stock picker, Sam Volkering (with gains as high as 1,431% in the last 18 months) reveals what he believes are his next four big potential winners. Aussies firm no matter what Trump does Trumps latest flip-flop has got Aussies in a bit of hot water. You might remember last year, the Trump administration banned any government communication infrastructure from housing Huawei tech. At the time, an FBI director said, Companies like Huawei pose a dual threat to both our economic and national security, and the magnitude of these charges make clear just how seriously the FBI takes this threat. Trump then encouraged allies to follow suit. So both Australia and New Zealand banned Huawei shortly after the Donald. Germany and the UK still seem to be on the fence about it. But now Trump is flipping againpotentially. Heres what the President told reporters just days ago: I want to have competition with ChinaFair competition. I dont want to block out anybody if we can help it. Now if theres going to be a security reason or something, then we have no choice, but that is one of the things well be discussing today. We want to have open competition. Weve always done very well in open competition. The Australian Financial Review (AFR) also wrote this on Tuesday: Little-noticed Oval Office remarks by Mr Trump on Friday [Saturday AEDT] as he hosted Chinas Vice-Premier Liu He have sent shudders through the diplomatic and intelligence community. Reporters asked Mr Trump whether potentially dropping a series of US criminal charges against the Chinese telecom giant announced late last month to great fanfare by a phalanx of top cabinet officials would be part of the pending trade deal. Is Trump going to reverse his ban on Huawei and leave Australia out in the cold? Hes done a far bit of flip-flopping before. This time, however, I think Trump will stick to his guns. Even while meeting Chinese officials, the Trump administration continued to use words like security risk and threat, when talking about Huawei. Whether Trump changes his mind or not matters little to Aussie pollies anyway. Theyre firm on the Huawei ban and dont seem to be going back. Again, from the AFR: Australia will stick to its guns on banning Huawei from the 5G telecommunications network even if the US backs down, and is encouraging a divided British government to step up to the plate in the Indo-Pacific region, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said during a visit to London. As a result, its forced Aussie telco TPG Telecom Ltd [ASX:TPM] to write down a bunch of assets and waste a whole lot of money. Aussie 5G turns into the Big Three In a market announcement, TPG said the Huawei ban will force them to write down their mobile network by approximately $228 million. TPG, like many other telcos use Huawei equipment throughout their network. Its cheaper than the alternatives offered by Ericsson or Nokia. Problem is TPG was depending on Huawei equipment to buildout their 4G network. The plan was to spend $600 million rolling this network out. TPG was about $100 million deep when management decided to pull the plug. The principal equipment vendor selected for use in the network [TPGs 4G network] was Huawei, TPG told the market. A key reason for the selection of the vendor and the design of TPGs network was that there was a simple upgrade path to 5G, using Huawei. In light of the governments announcement in late August 2018 that it would prohibit the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks, that upgrade path has now been blocked. Since that announcement, TPG has continued to roll out equipment which it had ordered from Huawei prior to the government announcement, but the company has now reached the decision point for whether to place orders for additional Huawei equipment. What you might find odd is that we have a bunch of Huawei tech in our 4G network already. But its off the table for 5G. Seem a bit strange. If Aussie pollies knew Huawei was a risk, why would they allow 4G to start with? Anything to win votes I guess. TPGs sunk costs might not be all for nothing. The telco is waiting to hear back from regulators about their proposed merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA). The merger might be rejected because TPG and VHA together could reduce competition. But now, TPG doesnt even have a fully functioning network. That could give them some leeway to argue that their unfinished network is complementary and not in competition with VHA. If the merger does go through, Aussie 5G will become a network of the Big Three: Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Huawei tech or not, whatever we get will probably be better than the NBN. Your friend, Harje Ronngard, Editor, Money Morning Free Report: Insiders guide to trading options for profit on the ASX: Discover how to potentially boost your stock returns with options. Download now. A Shanghai ocean park said Thursday that its most popular stars, two female beluga whales, were being prepared to be relocated to an open water sanctuary in Iceland, about 9,000 km away, this Spring. "Little Grey" and "Little White," both 12 years old, made their final public appearance at the Changfeng Ocean World on Thursday, attracting many fans to bid farewell, according to the park. The park said the duo would take a 30-hour-plus journey by air, land and sea to arrive at the Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary. The sanctuary was created by the Sea Life Trust and Whale and Dolphin Conservation, in a bay at Heimaey Island, located off the southern coast of Iceland. Sea Life Trust said on its website that the two whales would be the first residents in the sanctuary, which encourages the rehabilitation of captive whales into their natural environments. The departure date will be settled according to the physical condition of the whales and other factors such as weather, the park said. The whales have been trained to improve their physical abilities and swimming skills in open water in the past few months. They will also receive special training to prepare for aquatic plants and animals in their new home, according to the park. Special menus have also been prepared for them to gain more fat and weight to adapt to the cooler water at the sanctuary. The park said both whales had gained 90 kilos in weight to reach nearly one ton. At nearly 4 meters in length, the whales have become the most welcomed animals in the park since their arrival in April 2011. Real Energy Corporation Ltd [ASX:RLE] has seen its share price rally end this morning after the 22.22% nosedive at the beginning of trade today. The share price fell three cents to trade at 10.5 cents per share. The oil and gas exploration and development company has seen solid growth in its share price over the past 12 months, returning 40% since March 2018. Whats gone wrong for Real Energys share price? Real Energy entered a trading halt on Wednesday pending a potential capital raising, according to an announcement released by the company. This morning, RLE confirmed it had completed a $5 million placement to advance its Windorah Gas Project. Insiders guide to trading options for profit on the ASX: Discover how to potentially boost your stock returns with options. The new placement will see capital raised via approximately 47.6 million new fully paid ordinary shares at an issue price of 10.5 cents per share and approximately 15.8 million 1-for-3 options. RLE said the placement was well supported by new and existing sophisticated and professional investors, together with a number of Australian and international institutional investors. The company said the funds raised will be used for ongoing testing on several gas wells, progress pre-construction works for a gas pipeline, and updating resource assessment for the Windorah Gas Field. Real Energys managing director Scott Brown said he was pleased by the support for the new placement and was confident the new funds will advance the project to production. Despite the fall in todays share price to the placement price, investors will likely be buying up shares at the discounted price. Meaning we might see losses reduced throughout the day. What now for Real Energy? This new placement of shares marks at least the third capital raising by Real Energy to fund their Windorah Gas Project since October 2017. In total the company has raised at least $11.04 million from investors to fund its project. While funds have largely been collected from professional and institutional investors, support for each placement has seemed strong. Mr Brown said the company is of the view that the asset has the potential to be a large gas field that could make a significant contribution to the eastern states gas markets. We now have the financial flexibility and the balance sheet to add considerable value in the near term and it provides us with greater optionality in securing the best path going forward for the Company. It assists us with potentially securing funding on favourable terms for the pipeline build and/or securing a potential farm out. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward, For Money Morning PS: Take a look at what our three in-house small-cap experts top picks for 2019. Download the free guide today. March 01, 2019 Justin Trudeau Is Finished The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is finished. A long simmering scandal did him in. Between 2001 and 2011 the Canadian construction and engineering company SNC-Lavalin bribed officials in Libya with tens of millions to get contracts in that country. In 2015 the company was charged by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. It tried to avoid a trial and argued instead for a negotiated settlement since it had cleaned shop by changing its chief executive officer. In 2016, SNC-Lavalin admitted that some former executives had illegally arranged donations of more than C$80,000 to Trudeau's Liberal Party from 2004 to 2011. The company had revenues of some C$10 billion in 2018. Some 9,000 of its 52,000 employees work in Canada. The headquarter and 3,400 of its employees are in the province of Quebec where the Liberals need to pick up votes in October's federal election to keep their majority. It was the task of the Justice Minister and Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to decide if the case should go on trial as the law demands, or if it could be settled out of court. A trial would likely end with SNC-Lavalin banned from all public contracts in Canada for 10 years. It would cost jobs and votes. The company lobbied the Liberal government which brought in a remediation agreement regime in 2018 as part of a massive budget bill. During the fall of 2018 Trudeau and his allies tried to press the attorney general, a Canadian aboriginal, to overturn the decision of the director of public prosecutions, to apply the new law and to thereby drop the criminal charges against SNC. She would not do that. In January Trudeau fired her from the justice minister and attorney general job and gave her a minor position as veteran's minister. Under solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidences Wilson-Raybould could not speak out about the issue. On February 7 the scandal leaked from anonymous sources. Five days later Wilson-Raybould resigned as veterans minister. She hired a retired Supreme Court judge as her lawyer, to advise her on what she could say. On February 18 Gerald Butts, Trudeau's friend and principle secretary, was made the fall guy. He resigned even while he denied that he tried to influence the attorney general. Under pressure, the House of Commons Justice Committee invited Wilson-Raybould to testify. Trudeau had to wave some privilege which allowed her to finally speak out about her time as attorney general. Yesterday Wilson-Raybould testified. Jody Wilson-Raybould - bigger From her long opening statement: For a period of approximately four months between September and December 2018, I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role as the Attorney General of Canada in an inappropriate effort to secure a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with SNC-Lavalin. These events involved 11 people (excluding myself and my political staff) from the Prime Ministers Office, the Privy Council Office, and the Office of the Minister of Finance. This included in-person conversations, telephone calls, emails, and text messages. There were approximately 10 phone calls and 10 meetings specifically about SNC-Lavalin that I and/or my staff was a part of. Wilson-Raybould gave all the details: who, when, where and how. There is a paper trail. She made detailed notes of everything that happened. Pressuring the AG to drop charges can be a offense under Canada's criminal code (pdf), section 139(2): Every one who wilfully attempts in any manner other than a manner. described in subsection (1) to obstruct,pervert or defeat the course of justice is guilty of an in-dictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years. During her testimony Wilson-Raybould noted that she was not yet allowed to speak out about what happened after she was fired as attorney general. There is likely more to come from her. She says that she believes that no law was broken but that Trudeau behaved inappropriately. A jury and court may see that differently. Trudeau responded in a news conference that he "completely disagreed" with Wilson-Rayboulds version of events. He claimed that that neither he nor his staff had done anything wrong. The issue is under investigation of the independent ethics commissioner and Trudeau hopes that he will be found not guilty of any wrongdoing. Justin Trudeau during his much ridiculed 2018 trip to India - bigger Even if he did not break any law Trudeau will be unable to escape the storm he is now under. With the case pending it will be difficult for the Liberals to win the October elections. It would be best for the party if Trudeau would step down and let someone else take the lead. There is potential candidate with more credibility than the former media darling Justin Trudeau ever had. Ezra Levant - @ezralevant - 2:24 utc - 28 Feb 2019 10. Last detail. Jody Wilson-Raybould's father was an Aboriginal activist who butted heads with Justin Trudeau's father. Here they are bantering. Bill Wilson tells Pierre Trudeau that his daughter Jody wants to be PM one day. Maybe she will be? Posted by b on March 1, 2019 at 10:16 UTC | Permalink Comments next page Actor Luke Perry has been hospitalised after having a stroke. Paramedics were called to Riverdale star's LA home around 7:40am on Thursday (local time), TMZ reports. It is reportedly unclear what his condition is. Perry's representatives told Variety the actor was currently "under observation" in hospital. The stroke coincidentally struck on the same day a Beverly Hills 90210 reboot was announced - the show which shot him to fame. Original cast members Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green, and Tori Spelling will star, but Perry had not been announced to return. Spelling previously told Access Live that Perry's production schedule on Riverdale would prevent him from being a regular, but he would do as many episodes as possible. Newshub. You are here: China Approved by the Central Military Commission, a multinational navy event will be held to commemorate the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, a spokesperson for the Chinese military said Thursday. The event will be hosted in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, said Ren Guoqiang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and April 23 is the 70th founding anniversary of the PLA Navy. Fujian province has completed early preparations to supply electricity to the Taiwan islands of Jinmen and Matsu, a spokesman for the Chinese mainland said on Wednesday. The mainland will also push forward the work of supplying natural gas to the two islands, which lie near the mainland, and linking them with bridges, said An Fengshan, spokesman of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. People on the two islands have long hoped the mainland would help solve their shortages of water and electricity, and have repeatedly expressed a desire to have gas and bridge connections with the mainland, An said. "To meet their needs, the Chinese mainland is willing to make every effort to create opportunities and provide conditions for them to have more and better development," he said. In January, President Xi Jinping spoke at a gathering marking the 40th anniversary of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan and stressed that Chinese people should help each other. The two sides should be connected in all aspects, he said, noting that it is necessary to improve economic and trade cooperation, infrastructure connectivity and sharing of energy resources. He proposed that Fujian coastal areas can take the lead in connecting Jinmen and Matsu with water, gas and electrical supplies. "Xi's words show that we always think about the people and the common interests of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits," An said, adding that sharing opportunities with Taiwan will help solve practical problems in the local economy and people's welfare. Fujian has been supplying water to Jinmen through a pipeline that went into operation in early August. It brings 34,000 cubic meters of water daily from Jinjiang's Longhu Lake, the second-largest lake in Fujian. In 2002, a tanker shipped 2,300 metric tons of fresh water from Fuzhou, Fujian, to Matsu to alleviate the drought. In addition to sharing resources, the Chinese mainland has stepped up efforts in recent years to treat Taiwan compatriots equitably. Last year, the mainland released 31 measures related to economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan, offering the same opportunities as mainland residents enjoy in education, doing business and living on the mainland. To date, 72 local authorities in 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have formulated implementation measures, with many publishing more details, including policy interpretations, public services and contacts, An said. Over the past year, more than 2,000 enterprises from Taiwan on the mainland have benefited from a new favorable tax policy. More than 100 Taiwan companies have received special funds to support green, intelligent manufacturing and upgrades. A number of companies joined major mainland projects including Beijing's new airport and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. More young people in Taiwan have chosen to pursue their dreams on the mainland, with the number of students who apply for university admission or who seek careers on the mainland showing steady growth, An said. He said the mainland will continue to implement the 31 measures and expand opportunities and equal treatment for Taiwan compatriots and enterprises. "We will initiate more measures to benefit Taiwan compatriots and make it more convenient for them so that they will feel more sense of gain while developing on the mainland," he said. Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. For condominium apartments, non-resident ownership is higher. Its 10% for Metro Vancouver as a whole, and for condominium apartments built in the last two years, the share of the stock owned by non-residents is 15%, said Bond. Its 20% in the City of Vancouver, and it increases to 25% in Richmond and Coquitlam. So if every one in five to one in six new condominium apartments are owned by people who dont live or work here, non-residents are an important component of housing demand, and the question for society, then, becomes whether this matters and whether we want to do anything about it. While Bond did not infer an opinion one way or the other, he did note that the non-resident buyer phenomenon should be studied further to determine whether or not they distort housing prices for locals who live, work and pay taxes in the region. Most of the concern is around whether demand from non-residents is creating a distortion and shutting others out of the housing market, he said. So theres an element of equity, and that could impose costs on other parts of the economy, but we dont, unfortunately, have data to answer that question. Also on the panel was Dominion Lending Centres Dave Teixeira, who noted that Canada receives thousands of newcomers every year that brokers should take advantage of. He also questioned any adverse impact non-resident buyers actually have on local housing prices. The recent ban on ordinary tourists entering the core zone of Qomolangma National Nature Reserve is aimed at restoring the area's vulnerable ecosystem after years of rapid tourism development, a spokesman from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Thursday. Liu Youbin, spokesman with the ministry, said that travelers bound for Qomolangma (or Mount Everest) registered remarkable growth because of local tourism development in recent years. However, the mushrooming number of tourists and the litter they left behind put great pressure on the environment. The ministry will therefore strengthen its environmental inspections and make more stringent waste disposal requirements for the region, he said. To restore Qomolangma's ecological balance, the ministry amended mountaineering regulations and environmental protection rules enforced by local authorities under which the number of climbers is restricted. Climbers will also be required to receive ecological protection lectures and carry out 8 kilograms of waste when they depart. In early December, the Tibet autonomous region announced a ban on ordinary travelers entering the reserve's core area and said it would move a tourism center previously in that area to the outside. Liu said the new tourism center near Rongpo Monastery is just 2 kilometers from the previous one. Travelers can still take in broad views of Qomolangma. The ban accords with the protection regulation and is an effective measure for safeguarding Qomolangma's fragile ecosystem, he said. "Qomolangma is a dream destination for many travelers, but its vulnerable ecosystem requires care by every visitor," he said. "The ministry will consolidate the reserve's waste disposal and strictly review violations of the rules to better protect the natural reserve." Also, inspections have been enhanced to regulate tourist attractions at altitudes below 5,200 meters, and regular cleanups are underway to remove waste around the base camp. Ecological infrastructure has been added along routes from the reserve's north entrance to the base camp, including trash bins, eco-friendly toilets and restrooms. Mountain climbers were also offered portable toilets, Liu said. So far, the trash cleanup is going well, Liu said. Junk heaps and waste water along routes from the region's Dingri county to the reserve were cleared by the local government, and waste disposal along hiking routes are also under control, he said. A 44-year-old Chinese man has concluded a drive around five continents, ending the last leg in Ushuaia, southern Argentina. Chen Yong, a former technician from Yibin, in southwestern China's Sichuan province, started his journey through North and South America on Aug 2. He arrived in Ushuaia on Feb 17 after 200 days of travel. It took him three trips over four years to drive through Asia, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. "I didn't know how far I could go when I started this adventure, because it was a challenging and almost impossible goal for me," Chen said. "I used up 20 years of my savings to realize a dream I had when I was young. Of course, it took a lot of effort to succeed. "I now know that no matter how big or small your dream is, you can make it come true as long as you take action." Before starting his trip, Chen worked at a State-owned enterprise in Yibin. He left his job in 2014 and became a traveler. He runs a drivers' club and leads interested participants on driving tours across the globe. An ardent traveler, Chen traveled extensively in China before making his first overseas trip in 2012 to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Though Chen can hardly speak any foreign languages, he has set foot in 77 countries and regions. He started his first cross-continental adventure on June 18, 2014, taking his 14-year-old son with him as he drove from Yibin to Beijing and then through Russia to Milan, Italy, in two months. His wife complained about him being away for such a long time, but Chen was insistent on continuing his adventures. On Feb 13, 2015, Chen left Milan bound for the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, which he reached 10 months later. "I received a lot of help getting the necessary documents as I traveled across countries," he said. "I planned to go to America from Africa, but I ran out of money and had to go back home." Chen started to plan his third cross-continental trip in July. He shipped his SUV from China to San Francisco, and flew to the city with two travel companions - a friend and a freelancer - who are both intrepid travelers. Chen said each of them spent close to 200,000 yuan ($29,400) for their journey across North and South America. As Chen drove through unfamiliar landscapes, he shared pictures and videos on his WeChat and Douyin accounts. A video of a bear that he filmed at Yellowstone National Park in the United States was viewed 6 million times. His next goal is to set foot in Antarctica. "There is never an end to the journey of life, as there is never an end to one's dreams," he said. A new take on the beloved "National Beer of Texas" hits Houston shelves on Tuesday, according to a news release. "Lone Star 24|7" is now available in the Bayou City, Austin, Dallas, Forth Worth and San Antonio, and will roll out to the rest of the state in the upcoming weeks. The American-style light lager with a golden malt color and bubbly effervescence, comes in an eye-catching bright gold can or bottle complete with Lone Star's signature shield. It offers beer lovers a crisp, smooth, fresh flavor at 2.1% ABV and only 68 calories. Also on shelves: Ghost in the Machine, more Louisiana brews available in Houston "Texans are looking for lighter beers that they can enjoy while coming together and spending time outdoors, gathering with friends and family, or maintaining an active, more health-conscious lifestyle," Lone Star Beer brand manager Elkin Vasco said in the release. "We are thrilled to launch Lone Star 24|7 and feel Texas beer advocates will be too." In November, Pabst Brewing Company, which produces 21 beer labels including Lone Star, won a legal battle against MillerCoors. The latter, under contract to brew all of Pabst's labels, was not looking to extend the deal past its 2020 expiration, according to the Houston Chronicle. The two parties reportedly reached an amicable agreement. Lone Star Brewing Company originally launched in 1940. Over the years, Lone Star Beer achieved iconic status, even being featured in the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy" starring John Travolta. Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter specializing in social media, the famous, and food. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message Courtesy Photo Feeding America has honored West Texas Food Bank Executive Director Libby Campbell with the 2019 Dick Goebel Public Service Award, which is presented to an individual who exemplifies service to their community, public policy advocacy and creativity in developing solutions to ending hunger, according to a press release from the food bank. The award was announced Monday in Washington, D.C., at the annual National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, which is sponsored by Feeding America and the Food Research Action Center. BALMORHEA Balmorhea State Parks iconic San Solomon Springs pool has reopened to the public in time for swimming season following several months of restoration work. The pool was closed last May after damage to the concrete apron under the diving board was discovered during the pools annual cleaning. We are thrilled to have the pool at Balmorhea open once again. The pool is a natural wonder that is enjoyed by visitors far and wide, said Rodney Franklin, Director of Texas State Parks. This renowned desert oasis is not only important for our West Texas community but for all of Texas. The work done during this project will help preserve this unique aquatic habitat for generations of Texans to enjoy. The extensive repair project included the creation of cofferdams, salvaging of the historic diving board and brick around the pool edge and demolition of concrete around the diving board area. In addition, the existing distressed wall and backfill was removed, a new footing foundation was installed, backfill was replaced and a new wall was constructed. The cofferdams were constructed in the pool to ensure the protection of the endangered species and maintain water flow in the canals and cienegas throughout construction. RELATED: Apache Corp. creates endowment for iconic West Texas state park Due to the cultural sensitivity of the site and the presence of endangered species, no heavy equipment was used during construction. After initial evaluations from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff, the project was estimated to cost $2 million. Apache Corporation partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) to help fund the repairs to the spring-fed pool at Balmorhea State Park. The fundraising effort was jump-started with a $1 million challenge grant announced by TPWF and Apache in August 2018. Apache pledged to match all donations dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million. Donations poured in, and by Jan. 17, more than $1 million had been raised. More than 575 donations were received from all corners of the state, with 60 percent of the donations under $100. Several Texas companies made significant contributions, including Texas Pacific Land Trust, Saulsbury Industries, McCoy Remme Ranches, Legend Energy Services, Pioneer Energy Services, and Garrison Brothers Distillery. In addition to their initial $1 million match effort, Apache Corporation contributed a $1 million endowment to benefit Balmorhea State Park in perpetuity. We are deeply grateful for Apaches generosity in establishing the challenge grant and for stepping up again with a $1 million endowment to ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy the Balmorhea State Park pool, said TPWF Executive Director Anne Brown. The overwhelming response from Texas citizens and companies who chipped in demonstrates just how much people love this iconic West Texas oasis. Apache is proud to have been one of the many companies and individuals who stepped up to support the treasured pool at Balmorhea State Park in its time of need, said Apache Corporation CEO John Christmann. Texans from far and near, including our employees and partners in the region, can once again enjoy the pool with friends and family thanks to the leadership of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation and the generosity of so many. In addition to TPWF and Apache, this project was assisted by the TPWD Inland Fisheries division, the Texas Historical Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Reeves County Water District, just to name a few. RELATED: Popular Texas state parks still have availability for spring break 2019 We are grateful for the numerous partnerships that assisted with the completion of this project, said Franklin Generations have enjoyed the pool and thanks to the generosity of Texas donors it will be enjoyed by generations to come. This project is only one of the three major developments at Balmorhea State Park. Renovations to the San Solomon Springs Courts and campgrounds continue and overnight facilities at the park will not be available until later this summer. As the home to one of the most unique aquatic environments in Texas, Balmorhea State Park is dedicated toward water conservation, and the ongoing repairs to the septic system will require that extra measures be taken to limit water use. The Civilian Conservation Corps era structure was built in the mid-1930s and is the worlds largest spring-fed swimming pool. More than 15 million gallons of water flow through the pool each day, gushing from the San Solomon Springs. The 1.3- acre pool is up to 25 feet deep, holds 3.5 million gallons of water and the water temperature stays at 72 to 76 degrees year-round. Additionally, the Balmorhea State Park pool is home to numerous species of aquatic animals, including two small, endangered desert fishes- the Pecos gambusia and the Comanche Springs pupfish. For more information about the park, or to buy a day pass to Balmorhea State Park, visit the TPWD website. Internet security problems, including online frauds, fell in the past three years, thanks to Chinas efforts to safeguard the cybersecurity and netizens increasing awareness, a report of the nations top cyberspace regulator said on Thursday. The Chinas Internet Network Information Centers report showed that about 50 percent of internet users said they did not face security attacks, such as being cheated or attacked by computer virus, over the past six months. Online frauds, the biggest problem previously, also declined in 2018, according to Zeng Yu, head of the center. It is the third year that the online frauds have fallen, he said, adding that credit goes to the countrys greater efforts against the cybersecurity risks in the past few years. Introducing the report, he said cases of computer viruses and Trojans also reduced in 2018, adding the online environment was becoming cleaner. The center as the countrys authorized institute on the internet studies issues report on the internet development every six months. According to the latest report, the number of Chinese internet users reached 829 million by the end of last year, up 7.3 percent from the previous year. Among them, 817 million surfed the internet via mobile phones. It said mobile phone applications of instant messaging, news media and videos were frequently used by the netizens, adding the time that Chinese netizens spent online in 2018 also went up, reaching 27.6 hours every week. Besides, the number of the netizens who dealt with government-related affairs, including searching information about traffic violations and submitting applications, also increased in 2018, the report said. MOUNT STERLING The Tracy Family Foundation plans to establish a center to meet the childcare needs of families living and working in Brown County and neighboring communities, the foundation said Thursday. A location for the center is being chosen. Organizers hope to have it open by the end of 2020. The Brown County Early Childhood Education Center will serve about 80 children infants, toddlers and preschoolers and operate from early morning to early evening. Tuition rates will be comparable to those in neighboring communities and will vary depending on the age of the child, according to the foundation. There are about 270 children in Brown County age 5 and under, and 89 percent of those children have working parents, including single-parent families. In 2018, the number of Brown County home childcare providers dropped from 12 to eight. West Central Child Care Connection, a resource and referral agency dedicated to supporting children, families and the child care community in west-central Illinois, estimates a deficit of at least 50 percent in terms of licensed capacity for childcare in Brown County. According to a 2018 Brown County community survey, those who live or work in Brown County cited lack of childcare options as the thing they are most dissatisfied with. Many families in Brown County are struggling to find childcare because existing providers are already at capacity, Tracy Family Foundation Board President Jean Buckley said. We saw an unmet need in Brown County and we are happy to be able to move forward with plans to establish an early childhood education center. Foundation members said establishing an early childhood education center in Brown County aligns with several of its focus areas, including education, youth and families, and economic development for the county. We hope the Brown County Early Childhood Education Center will ease the burden on working parents frantically searching for childcare. The goal is to provide high-quality early childhood education in Brown County, boost kindergarten readiness, and ultimately help make Brown County a community where more people want to live or work, Tracy Family Foundation Executive Director Dan Teefey said. Mount Sterling City Manager Vada Yingling welcomed the news. A quality early education prepares children for ongoing success, while providing parents with safe, reliable childcare, Yingling said. The community has always been committed to educating Brown Countys youngest citizens, which helps support the well-being of all of our children, giving them a solid start to realize their full potential in school and beyond. The Tracy Family Foundation was established in 1997 by the Robert and Dorothy Tracy family to advance innovative, collaborative and sustainable change in Brown County and the surrounding region. It is funded by Dot Foods. The slogan Hanoi, City for Peace would have seemed unimaginable when I was a correspondent in Saigon at the height of the Vietnam War nearly half a century ago. This capital of what we then called North Vietnam was the heart of a desperate surge southward that is still not entirely understood. The face of the drive was communist but the motivating force was a historic nationalist desire to reunify a nation that had inexorably expanded southward centuries before. So doing, the Vietnamese had resisted Chinese control, had overrun the Cambodian or Khmer kingdom in the Mekong River delta, and then all but destroyed the Cham civilization that had also once flourished in the south. The fierce instinct for unity fed the war against the French colonialists that culminated in their defeat at Dien Bien Phu, the artificial division of Vietnam between two Vietnams in 1954 and unremitting warfare against U.S. forces and the Saigon regime that finally collapsed nearly half a century ago. Against this background, it is almost unreal to be visiting here in an atmosphere not only of peace but of U.S.-Vietnamese friendship that had once seemed totally impossible. The atmosphere is made all the more incredible by the sight of the flags of Vietnam, the United States and North Korea testifying to Vietnams emergence as a strong and prosperous country eager for friendship on all sides. It would be a mistake, however, to compare the experiences of Vietnam and North Korea. Yes, they are both communist countries, dominated by powerful central party rule, but Vietnam has long since gone capitalist with private enterprise flourishing on innumerable levels. The GDP of Vietnam increased by an amazing 7 percent last year even as the government expanded relations with the United States, seen as a foil against Chinese domination. North Korea, in stark contrast, remains so tightly controlled that private markets have to flourish illegally or semi-legally for the sake of survival while legitimate large-scale private enterprise is largely unknown. Kim Jong Uns switch to emphasis on economic development is more talk than substance even if hes not ordering nuclear tests. The contrast is even more striking when one considers the differences between latter-day South Korea and the entity we knew as South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. South Koreas economy is now the 12th-biggest in the world, defended by a military establishment thats capable of withstanding attack from the North. South Vietnam was never more than an economic dependency of the United States even if the Vietnamese entrepreneurial spirit was evident then, as now, in the South as well as the North. South Korea today is so strong economically that for sure North Korea is going to need lots of aid and investment beginning with construction of roads and railroads. All the while Kim Jong Un holds a club over the South in the form of a nuclear and missile program that threatens the region. Which leads to the overwhelming difference between North Korea and Vietnam today. North Koreas nuclear program makes it a rogue nation, breathing defiance for no reason other than to bolster the ego of a despotic dynastic ruler. Unlike North Korea, Vietnam has never wasted its resources on nukes and missiles or left its people to go hungry while sending tens of thousands into prison camps and kidnapping hapless victims from South Korea and Japan. In theory, North Korea might share Vietnams suspicions, sometimes hostility, toward the overweening power of China. While Vietnam stood up against the Chinese in a border war 40 years ago, however, Kim has prostrated himself before Chinas President Xi Jinping in visits to Beijing with his wife, sister, aides and advisers, looking for Chinese assurances and support. Besides defying China decades ago, Vietnam has sought to counter Chinas claims over the South China Sea. Thats a bold, risky policy in which Vietnam is ill-equipped to compel the Chinese not to exploit resources of oil and gas within its territorial waters. For that reason alone, Vietnam needs military ties with the United States that would have seemed the stuff of fantasy when I was writing about the war from Saigon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Yes, Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh City, named for the founder of modern Vietnam, but its a commentary on life in Vietnam these days that a younger generation that never knew the war still tends to call it Saigon. Vietnam may not be a free country politically, but the Vietnamese enjoy a degree of real freedom that North Koreans can only fantasize. Donald Kirk has been a columnist for Korea Times, South China Morning Post many other newspapers and magazines. Your talent can bring you more ... Until approximately the end of 2017, tensions in the Korean Peninsula were of constant issue to the international community. The American dogma of isolating and sanctioning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its frequent missile and nuclear tests fueled skepticism about where it would all lead. China is among the countries seriously affected by rising tensions because a potential military crisis in its neighborhood might entail dramatic consequences. Although China despite conventional Western wisdom was not in a position to shape the stance of DPRK, it was openly advocating constructive engagement of the country under dialogue mechanisms such as the "six party talks." At the beginning of his presidency, President Donald Trump did not largely differ from his predecessors in approaching the DPRK, regularly targeting its top leader Kim Jong-un in his compulsive tweets. However, following the 2017 South Korean election that produced the takeover by Moon Jae-ing, Trump adjusted his policy to the new developments. Moon was elected with the mandate of exploring the possibility of closer ties with Kim that might lead to the reconciliation of their countries and perhaps even to the long-term reunification of the Korean Peninsula after many decades of separation and frequent tension. The majority of South Koreans, exhausted by years of uncertainty and the risk of a war, believed the vision of their peace-promoting president could yield some results. The initial results certainly have been positive. Not only are Seoul and Pyongyang making important steps to work together, but the international community is benefiting by the good momentum and is giving Kim the opportunity to have his voice heard and hopefully negotiate a final settlement. It is China that has led the way through enhanced ties with the DPRK leadership. For its part, the U.S. decided in 2018 to break the taboo, abandon previous foreign policy frames and opt for diplomacy. The personal stamp of President Trump is evident here. He is currently disagreeing with the "bottom up" approach where the foreign policy establishment is preparing the details of an accord and the heads of state seal it. Rather, he believes the heads of states themselves are the ones who should have control of the situation. This is how he made the decision to establish personal contacts with the DRPK leader. The first meeting between Trump and Kim held in Singapore in June 2018 was very important, but rather exploratory due to the unprecedented nature of the initiative. The second one taking place in Hanoi this week was designed to flesh out the details. Denuclearization remains Washington's objective but the timeframe for its realization as well as its linkage to the lifting of sanctions are still debatable and difficult to anticipate. Pyongyang could be prepared to accept the process of denuclearization as defined by Trump, but it is playing tough in the negotiation. Inter alia, it is asking for a reduced U.S. military presence in the region. Pyongyang wants to avoid the scenario in which it will become militarily weaker and the U.S. stronger. Security certainly drives its negotiating style. Against this backdrop, Trump is being criticized in his country for defying traditional foreign policy goals and giving in to Kim's demands. His critics argue the DPRK is making promises without delivering and is able to escape from necessary verification tests and even continue its nuclearization. Trump, they say, undermines Washington's strategic priorities in East Asia and does not take lessons from the failure of some diplomatic efforts in the past. It is premature to draw conclusions about the future of the Korean Peninsula. The process of denuclearization is difficult and complicated whereas continuity in the U.S. approach should not be taken for granted with a potentially divisive 2020 presidential election. However, someone doesn't have to be an expert in international relations to diagnose that an aura of calmness has returned to the Korean Peninsula over the past year. The U.S., as Trump himself suggests, does not now feel threatened by DPRK. Meanwhile, the DPRK is endeavoring to chart its own opening-up development course, China counts on stability, and the international community hopes one of the most complex international problems will be successfully handled. Patience is now required. George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. Flash Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Ri Kil Song, vice foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Beijing on Thursday. Wang welcomed Ri on his visit to work with the Chinese foreign ministry to plan activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of China-DPRK diplomatic relations. Both sides should jointly implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two countries on developing ties in a new era, and raise friendly relations to a new level with new prospects, Wang said. Ri said the DPRK is willing to work with the Chinese side for the development of bilateral ties in the new era. Wang said the international community paid close attention to the just-concluded summit between the leaders of DPRK and the United States in Hanoi, Vietnam. "Difficulties are unavoidable as DPRK-U.S. negotiations have touched deep-seated issues," Wang said, noting that seeking political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue has been recognized as a general direction. The consensus reached by the leaders of DPRK and the U.S. in the Singapore summit, which is to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establish a peace mechanism on the peninsula, is in line with the common aspiration of the international community, he said. "China hopes that the DPRK and U.S. sides can consolidate the faith, remain patient, continue talks, meet each other half way and make unremitting efforts for the goal," Wang said, adding that China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in the process. Flash Senegal's incumbent president Macky Sall was re-elected as president of the West African country after he won 58.27 percent of the vote in the presidential election held on Feb. 24, according to the preliminary results announced Thursday by President of the National Commission for the Census of Votes (CNRV) Demba Kandji. Kandji, who is also the first president of the Court of Appeal of Dakar, announced that among the votes validly cast, Macky Sall obtained 2,554,605 votes, or 58.27 percent. Idrissa Seck came second with 898,674 votes, or 20.5 percent. Of the more than 6.68 million registered voters, more than 4.38 million showed up for voting, representing a turnout rate of 66.23 percent. Five candidates contested the president election, including Macky Sall who is seeking a second term, former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, former Foreign Minister Madicke Niang, former tax inspector Ousmane Sonko and academician Issa Sall. According to the constitutional revision of 2016, the presidential term would be reduced to five years from seven years previously. The inauguration date of the newly elected president will be known after the proclamation of the final official results by the Constitutional Council where the provisional results will be examined. Heavy Snow In Arnold View Photos The Winter Storm Warning is now in effect for the Sierra Nevada, through 4 AM Sunday. According to the National Weather Service, several inches of snow are expected this morning into the early afternoon. Total snow accumulations of one to two feet are expected above the 7,000 foot elevation. Winds will continue to gust as high as fifty-five mph over the ridge tops and along the crest of the Sierra Nevada. A Winter Storm Warning means there will be snow covered roads and limited visibilities. Travel is not recommended while the warning is in effect. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. A convicted murderer is refusing to sign a waiver the district attorney says it needs to release the remains of an 8-year-old East Texas boy. Without the waiver, the family of Chad Choice cannot hold a funeral, although the boy was killed more than a decade ago. Patrick Horn's attorney has made repeated efforts over the past month to get the man now serving a life federal prison sentence in Georgia for unrelated crimes to sign the waiver. But those efforts have been ignored, and state District Judge Diane DeVasto could use videoconferencing equipment installed this week to ask Horn if he objects to the release of his victim's remains. Chad was shot in 1991, and buried in a shallow grave behind a house where Horn's family lived. Horn then tormented the Choice family for years, sending ransom notes and placing Chad's skull on the doorstep of the Choice's home on the fourth anniversary of the boy's disappearance. The boy's fate wasn't revealed until 1996 while Horn was in Smith County Jail serving time for other crimes. The waiver is necessary because the body parts were found five years after the boy's death, and those remains were crucial evidence used to convict Horn. A jury sentenced him to death for Chad's murder. Horn had signed a waiver, indicating he did not object to the release of Chad Choice's bones. But the document was lost somewhere between his attorney's office and the judge's office. In what initially appeared to be a formality, DeVasto announced in a December hearing that she would order the release of 30 exhibits, including Chad's skull and other bones, to his family for burial after Horn signs another waiver. Horn's appellate lawyer, Toby Wilkinson of Greenville, sent Horn the document via Federal Express and expected it back in a day with a signature. But a month has gone by, and Horn has not answered several letters from his attorney and messages to him through officials at the Atlanta federal prison, court officials said. Assistant District Attorney Ed Marty said if the remains are granted without the waiver, they may have to be exhumed sometime in the future. Marty said Thursday he fears Horn, deemed a psychopath and sociopath by experts, realized the importance of the waiver after the first one was lost and is using it as a control factor. "The last thing this family needs, or the district attorney's office needs, is to have him interfere with the release of those remains," Marty told the Tyler Morning Telegraph in Friday's editions. "We have found ourselves in a very, very strange position where the sociopath basically has all the cards." Karen Choice has declined to make any public comments until after she buries her youngest child. Information from: Tyler Morning Telegraph A woman accused of assaulting a man wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat in a Massachusetts restaurant now faces possible deportation after being detained by federal agents. Rosiane Santos faces charges including assault after the confrontation in the Mexican restaurant. Video from the event was posted to Facebook on Feb. 15 by Bryton Turner, the man who was wearing the red cap. Flash Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that Pakistan will release a detained Indian pilot on Friday for the sake of peace and de-escalation of tensions between the two neighbors. Addressing a joint session of the two houses of the parliament, Khan said the Pakistani government has decided to hand over the pilot to Indian authorities as a goodwill gesture. "In our desire of peace, I announce that tomorrow (Friday), and as a first step to open negotiations, Pakistan will be releasing the Indian Air Force officer in our custody," Pakistani prime minister's office also announced at twitter quoting Khan. The Indian pilot was arrested by Pakistani ground forces in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after his fighter jet was shot down by Pakistan in Pakistani airspace on Wednesday morning. India on Wednesday confirmed that Pakistan downed one of its fighter jets MiG-21 and the pilot had gone missing. India also summoned Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah in New Delhi and appealed for the safety and safe return of the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot at the earliest date. Tensions between the two neighbors have been running high after the Feb. 14 suicide attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which killed over 40 Indian paramilitary troopers. India blamed Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a militant group which has been banned in Pakistan in 2002, for the attack and some Indian leaders had pointed fingers at Pakistan, which had denied the allegations. On Tuesday Indian air forces aircraft crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed area of Kashmir and claimed to have bombed a compound allegedly in the use of JeM. In response, Pakistan said Wednesday that its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets inside Pakistani airspace and ground troops arrested a pilot of the destroyed aircraft. Khan said he had tried to talk to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to de-escalate the prevailing situation, but could not get any positive response. "War is not a solution. Escalation is not the answer. If India escalates, then so shall we," said Khan, adding that "our efforts to de-escalate should not be considered our weakness. We are indulging our efforts to maintain peace in the region." Khan said the war cannot bring forth any plausible solution to the issues as Pakistan desires peace to work for poverty alleviation, investment, and job creation. Khan urged the Indian government not to force Pakistan for retaliation because "two nations with weapons of mass destruction should not divulge on the path of war," saying "I seek peace with India." "Pakistan acted with caution and restraint and replied to Indian aggression only to show that we are capable of safeguarding our sovereignty," said Khan. The international community has urged the two countries to exercise restraint. San Antonio's chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners is honoring six leaders in enterprises ranging from restaurants to real estate. NAWBO-SA selected six of more than 53,000 women business owners in San Antonio and surrounding areas for the the annual awards. Each of the honorees underwent a "rigorous" nomination and interview process, according to a news release. RELATED: People who shook things up in San Antonio this year "We are so thrilled to present the winners with their coveted awards at our 2019 ceremony," NAWBO-SA President Shirley Crandall said. "It's always an honor to recognize the achievements of women business owners who assist not only in our community, but who work so tirelessly for our economy and the thriving enterprises they operate." The chapter honors women with designations like a Lifetime Achievement Award, Women Business Owners of the Year and a Legacy Award. Deborah Bauer, who founded Drake Commercial Group, is the Lifetime Achievement Award winner for earning local and national acclaim in real estate. RELATED: Photos: Women who run San Antonio Dawn Lafreeda, Denny's franchisee of 81 locations, WaterFleet Co-founder Allison C. Pyle, The Energy CFO's Paula Waggoner-Aguilar and RVK Architects' Judith K. Zimmerman will all be recognized as Women Business Owners of the Year. Sally Cheever, a lifelong Girl Scout and former president of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, will be honored posthumously with the Legacy Award. Each of the women will be honored during a March 28 ceremony at the Security Service Federal Credit Union Events Center. Meet the six women in the gallery above. Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump sought to attack the credibility Friday of his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen by pointing to a book that he has reportedly proposed that depicts Trump far more favorably than did the scathing testimony he delivered to Congress this week. "Book is exact opposite of his fake testimony, which now is a lie!" Trump said in morning tweets, in which he accused Cohen of committing perjury during a congressional hearing and called on Congress to demand the book manuscript, which Trump claimed was recently finished. "Your heads will spin when you see the lies, misrepresentations and contradictions against his Thursday testimony," Trump wrote. "Like a different person! He is totally discredited!" Cohen spent three days on Capitol Hill this week in a dramatic series of public and private hearings in which he apologized for previously lying to lawmakers and divulged what he said Trump knew about financial infractions and Russia's interference in the 2016 election. In a public hearing before a House hearing on Wednesday, Cohen also attacked Trump's character, calling him a con man and a racist and voicing deep regret for working by his side for more than a decade. In the wake of Cohen's testimony, the president and his Republican allies have aggressively sought to discredit the former Trump loyalist, who has been sentenced to prison in part for lying to Congress last year. On Thursday, Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., wrote to Attorney General William Barr, asking him to investigate whether Cohen had perjured himself this week when he insisted during his testimony that he had not wanted a job in the Trump administration and had been content to serve as Trump's personal lawyer. In a statement Thursday night, Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, said that he had testified truthfully during the Wednesday hearing before the House Oversight Committee. "It may not be surprising that two pro-Trump Committee members . . . known now have made a baseless criminal referral," Davis said. "In my opinion, it is a sad misuse of the criminal justice system with the aura of pure partisanship." Davis did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment on Trump's morning tweets. In his Friday tweets, Trump highlighted Davis's associations with the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, whom he referred to as "Crooked Hillary." The president also referenced a description of Cohen's book as a "love letter to Trump." That echoed a characterization of a Cohen book proposal by journalist Liz Plank of Vox Media during a February 2018 appearance on MSNBC. During that broadcast, MSNBC host Ari Melber said Cohen had confirmed to him that he was working on a "tell-all book" about Trump. In other tweets Friday, Trump suggested Democrats were using Cohen to investigate his business dealings and finances because a two-year investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign "has fallen apart." Trump repeated his call to "stop this corrupt and illegally brought Witch Hunt" and said prosecutors should start looking at Democrats "where real crimes were committed." Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Russian election interference and whether Trump obstructed the probe, is expected to deliver a report to the Justice Department in coming weeks on his findings. Republicans seeking to discredit Cohen also seized Friday on a video clip that has recently resurfaced from a November 2016 appearance by Cohen on CNN. During the interview, Cohen is pressed by CNN's Chris Cuomo about whether he would move from New York to Washington with Trump. Asked if there's a chance Trump would ask him to take a job on either "the political side" or the "governmental side," Cohen says, "I certainly hope so." Asked if he'd go to Washington, Cohen says, "One hundred percent." During Wednesday's congressional testimony, Cohen told lawmakers he was "extremely proud" to be the personal attorney for Trump as he became president. "I did not want to go to the White House. I was offered jobs," he said. Davis issued a statement Friday calling the focus on the video a "classic Trump tactic we have seen for a long time - divert and disparage rather than confront facts and tell the truth." "The fact is, early on, Michael speculated about a possible position in the Administration," Davis said. "But he consulted with his family and friends and decided he preferred to stay at home in New York City and be 'personal attorney to the President.' " --- The Washington Post's Matt Zapotoksy and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report. San Antonio-area schools reported more than 2,800 incidents of fighting between students during the 2017-18 academic year, according to Texas Education Agency records. The total number of fights documented in the report, 2,828 is about 19 percent lower than the previous academic year's total of at least 3,491 but student privacy regulations prevent schools from disclosing information for schools with small numbers, making year-over-year comparisons difficult. RELATED: Nearly 3,500 S.A.-area students were disciplined for fighting during the 2016-2017 school year In 2017-2018, more than 170 schools in Region 20, which contains all San Antonio-area schools, were not counted in the finally tally of fighting incidents because they recorded fewer than 10. Three middle schools across the city saw the highest number of fighting incidents: Davis Middle School had 86, Dwight Middle School had 81 and Jones Middle School had 74. Each of these schools, and many others that had high numbers of reported fights, also have a significant population of economically disadvantaged students, which are students that qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches. For example, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in the middle schools above is 96, 90 and 89, respectively, according to the Texas Education Agency. The same held true for high schools. Lanier High School reported 71 fights and 92 percent of its student body is economically disadvantaged. Memorial High School had 68 fights, while 88 percent of its student body is economically disadvantaged. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Schools with the lowest number of documented fights appear to show a corresponding decrease in economically disadvantaged students. Jefferson Middle School only reported 11 fights. Only 34 percent of its students are considered economically disadvantaged. Folks Middle School also reported 11 fights, and 26 percent of students economically disadvantaged. Northside ISD documented the most fights with 957. San Antonio ISD followed with 787. Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns The San Antonio City Council will decide Thursday whether to designate the deteriorating century-old Beacon Hill Elementary School as historic or allow the San Antonio Independent School District to demolish it in exchange for teaching more cultural heritage in its schools. The local history curriculum is part of a proposed agreement between SAISD and the citys Office of Historic Preservation. Its the latest action since November, when the city Historic and Design Review Commission recommended a historic landmark designation for the building on West Ashby Place, which would create obstacles to demolition. Immigration advocates say theyve noticed more infants under the age of 1, most of them sick, are being held at Dilleys family detention center. Eleven mothers with babies ranging from 5 to 11 months old have arrived at the South Texas Family Residential Center since last week, according to the Dilley Pro Bono Project. Two were released this week. Weve almost never seen this, and definitely not in this number, said Katy Murdza, advocacy coordinator for the group. If we know of that many, then theres likely more than that. The Dilley facility, which can hold up to 2,400 people, has held families and children most of them recently apprehended at the border since it opened in December 2014. Typically, the government, which has the discretion to detain undocumented immigrants or release them with a court date, has chosen to not detain parents with infants, or pregnant mothers. Theres been an unspoken rule for ICE to not have babies under 1 in the detention center, Murdza said. On Thursday, the organization and Physicians for Human Rights sent a formal complaint to the Department of Homeland Security and Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The Dilley pro bono group has a staff of about 12 people, and brings in large groups of volunteers each week. They provide immigrants with information about the U.S. legal process and help them prepare for their initial interviews in the asylum application process. RAICES, a statewide nonprofit that advocates for immigrants, said in the last five months, it has documented more than 24 clients that were under 3 years old at the Karnes Detention Center, the only other family detention center in the country. Most were under 18 months, and two were 1 year of age. This is the youngest population we have ever documented in immigrant detention, RACIES, which has a family detention program, said in a statement. The projects staff has interviewed eight of the mothers, all of whom said their babies are sick. They are losing weight; vomiting; coughing; crying from head, ear, and throat pain; and having difficulty breathing, they said. We dont think its an appropriate place for any child, but the younger the child is, the scarier it is, Murdza said. One mother told Murdza her baby cant make any noise when he cries because hes so congested. Physicians for Human Rights said its alarmed about the inherent health risks for infants in detention, as infants have specific health needs which detention centers are ill-equipped to meet. The DHS said in a statement to the Express-News that comprehensive medical care is provided to all individuals in ICE custody. Staffing includes registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, licensed mental health providers, mid-level providers that include a physicians assistant and nurse practitioner, a physician, dental care, and access to 24-hour emergency care. It said ICE spends more than $250 million annually on health care services for those in government custody. In its letter, the physicians group also said it was also concerned about the long-term effects of infant detention. Infancy is a time of critical brain development. A large body of research demonstrates that early childhood adversity and stress, such as conditions infants are exposed to in detention, can have significant detrimental impacts on the developing infant brain, with long-lasting and negative consequences, the physicians continued. In the Pro Bono Projects letter which is jointly signed by American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network the staffers said one baby has been at the facility for longer than 20 days, the maximum legal length of stay for children in detention. ICE is required to meet basic standards of care for minor non-citizens in its custody. It repeatedly has demonstrated an inability to do so, the groups letter reads, noting that two children that died last year in DHS custody. The group is demanding that the mothers be released. In the year and nine months that Murdza has been on staff, she recalled one other time when there were infants at Dilley: When a migrant caravan arrived at Tijuana. This time, the mothers interviewed by the Pro Bono Project staff said they were coming from Piedras Negras the border city reached by the most recent publicized caravan. Theres definitely a connection. The two times weve seen babies under 1, it has been that theyre coming from where the caravan just arrived. So it seems like theyre prioritizing the detention of caravan participants and not wanting to release them even when they normally would, she said.Mothers are also having difficulty getting through their asylum interviews with crying babies on their laps, she said. All of this is traumatizing people and putting people in danger, Murdza said. But its not going to work to deter someone if the reason they left their country is they think their child could be killed where they are. Silvia Foster-Frau covers immigration news in the San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF Flash Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming has said that he hoped that the UK will remain open and inclusive, resist disruptions and continue to foster a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Huawei and other Chinese companies. The ambassador made the remarks here Wednesday night when delivering a speech at the Chinese for Labor Gala Chinese New Year Banquet 2019 in London's Phoenix Palace Restaurant. Liu recalled that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, as well as the 65th anniversary of the establishment of China-UK diplomatic relationship at the level of charge d'affaire. He expressed his appreciation and thanks to the Labor Party for its contribution to the development of China-UK relations. Liu said China and the UK should stay committed to exchanges and mutual learning, so as to gain more support for China-UK friendship. "We should follow the principles of mutual respect and equality, and view each other's development as opportunities, rather than challenges, still less threats," said the Chinese diplomat. "Moreover, we should enhance exchanges and cooperation between our parties, legislatures, media, youth and women. This will enhance mutual understanding, deepen friendship and cement public support for our bilateral relations." He said the two countries should also stay committed to peaceful development and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind. He noted that in China-UK relations, putting the people first and working for the many is not only the goal but also the foundation. "In the new year, we stand ready to work with the Labour Party to make new and greater contribution to the steady development of China-UK relations and to deliver more benefits to the peoples of our two countries," said Liu. Madison High School administration has addressed the fatal stabbing of a former student that happened early Friday morning in an email sent to parents. A 16-year-old girl was arrested Friday after she stabbed two teenagers, one fatally, who attacked her in the driveway of her Northeast Side home, San Antonio police said. Officials identified the 18-year-old killed as Kaitlin Leonor Castilleja. She graduated from James Madison High School in 2018, according to NEISD spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor. Authorities have not identified the suspect because of her age, but Chancellor said she is a current student at Madison High School. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox "I would like to reach out to you to address a news story concerning an incident involving a former Madison student," Principal Steve Zimmerman said in a community letter sent to parents via email. "While I do not have many details to share, it has been confirmed that a former Madison student and NEISD employee with KIN, was the victim of a violent incident last night. I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of this former Maverick." KIN is the Kids Involvement Network, an NEISD after-school enrichment program for students in grades kindergarten through 8th grade. On the Express-News: NEISD explains how they track threats on social media According to a preliminary police report, Castilleja and Vivian Foster, who is also 18 and graduated from Madison High School in 2017, went to the suspect's house near Judson and Stahl roads at about 1 a.m. During the fight, the suspect stabbed both of the girls, causing superficial cuts to Foster but mortal wounds to Castilleja, police said. RELATED: Family: Social media feud between San Antonio teens preceded fatal stabbing The 16-year-old has been booked into a juvenile detention facility. Zimmerman said additional staff will be available Friday and Monday should students feel the need to speak about their emotions tied to the news. The principal also invited anyone with concerns to contact him. "I would ask that you let us work together in assisting them to a positive outcome while addressing the issue," he added. Staff writer Caleb Downs contributed to this report. Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye A man was hospitalized in critical condition after he was alleged to have pulled a shotgun on a deputy Friday afternoon on the Northwest Side. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the suspect, a 35-year-old man, was pulled over by a deputy at about 3:45 p.m. at Military Drive and Loop 1604. The suspect ran from the deputy, who chased him through a small wooded area and into the Blazing Star RV Resort, 1120 W Loop 1604 N, Salazar said. The suspect was wearing a heavy jacket and the officer was not able to determine if the suspect was armed at that point, Salazar said. Once inside the RV park, the suspect turned on the deputy and pulled out a shotgun, authorities said. The suspect fired several rounds from the shotgun, but did not hit the deputy, Salazar said. They appear to be slug rounds, Salazar said. He described the rounds as being the diameter of a nickel, which make a hole the size of a quarter on impact and a much larger exit wound. He said the deputy, a seven-year veteran, and the suspect were about 20 feet apart. Its quite clear that this suspect intended to kill this deputy, Salazar said. Authorities said the man was hit several times in the lower extremities and upper body. Deputies applied first aid to the suspect until medical personnel arrived and he was airlifted to University Hospital. Salazar said the suspect has a lengthy criminal history, and that he was out on bond when the incident occurred. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA The affidavit filed against two suspects accused of shooting at three teenagers in Converse in July uncovered new details about the evidence against them. On Thursday, Converse police announced the arrests of Carlos Romero Jr., 21, and Dimitri Lavalais, 24, on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The shooting, which happened on July 8, went viral after one of the teenagers recorded the shooting. Police said the teens were going home in the 8500 block of Jaybrook Drive when they found the suspects hiding along the shrubs outside the home. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox The suspects fired multiple shots at them before fleeing the scene. According to police, the Mazda the teens were in was struck by gunfire more than seven times, according to the suspects' arrest affidavits. Police also identified six homes and six other vehicles struck by gunfire during the incident while recovering 9 millimeter and 40 caliber shell casings from the scene. While reviewing footage, officers discovered three suspects fled in a black Chevy Cruze and white sedan from the shooting, according to the affidavit. The first big break in the case came on Sept. 20, when Romero arrived to the Northeast Baptist Hospital with a gunshot wound, police said. Detectives noticed that Romero's car matched the car that fled the crime scene and attempted to question him about it. Romero did not allow officers to search his car, nor did he cooperate with their investigation, according to the affidavit. A month later, officers obtained a warrant to search Romero's car after he was arrested on a drug charge. Inside his car, they found a 9 millimeter Luger shell casing. Ballistics testing showed the cartridge was fired from the same gun used at the crime scene, according to the arrest affidavit. "The cartridge was also linked to four other shootings throughout Bexar County," investigators wrote in the affidavit. READ MORE: 2 arrested in connection to Converse shooting caught on video Police identified Ali as their second suspect after his .40 caliber Glock was recovered during a traffic stop in Live Oak on Sept. 26, according to the affidavit. The ballistics matched the evidence fount outside the Jaybrook Drive home and three other shootings, according to the affidavit. Investigators also noted that Ali's car, a white Kia Forte, had three bullet holes on its roof. Converse police are still searching for a third suspect and have already identified a person of interest, Lt. Jeff Shook said Thursday. Shook also said that the affidavit is only part of the evidence against the suspects. "I truly believe it'll be a matter of time until we announce the third individual was ultimately arrested as well," Shook said. Two drug dealers hired a hitman earlier this month to kill a 39-year-old man who was giving them diluted drugs, according to court records. Now the alleged dealers, 34-year-old Christina Rodriguez and 43-year-old Manuel Cantu, and the accused hitman, 39-year-old John Cantu, are facing charges of capital murder in the death of Michael Angelo Perez on Feb. 23. They remain in the Bexar County Jail. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox According to arrest affidavits for the three suspects, Rodriguez and Manuel Cantu are drug dealers who operate out of their home in the 300 block of Illg Avenue. Perez supplied them with at least some of the drugs they sold, but buyers had recently started complaining the drugs were diluted. Another dealer for whom Rodriguez and Cantu work confronted them about Perez's drugs. He told them to "take care of the problem," according to the affidavit. A witness told police that the pair then developed a plan to hire a hitman to kill Perez, authorities said. On Feb. 22, Rodriguez went to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo with a witness. She withdrew $500 from an ATM, then she and the witness met up with John Cantu, her brother-in-law and the alleged hitman, police said. The three got into Rodriguez's car. She asked Cantu if "he was ready to do this and if he had everything," the affidavit says. In response, Cantu lifted his shirt to reveal a handgun. Rodriguez drove the witness and the hitman back to her home on Illg Avenue. Manuel Cantu showed up after midnight asking where Perez was. The witness and Rodriguez went to Perez's residence and convinced him to come over to Illg Avenue, the affidavit says. When he arrived, the affidavit says, Manuel Cantu attacked him. He forced Perez into a carport adjacent to the home and began punching him, authorities said. The witness told him to stop. John Cantu then shot Perez multiple times, killing him, according to the affidavit. RELATED: 2 arrested in connection to Converse shooting caught on video Manuel and John Cantu then loaded Perez's body into a vehicle, drove him to the 400 block of Bloom Avenue and dumped his body there to make it look like he was a victim of a drive-by shooting, the affidavit says. Police found Perez's body at about 3:15 a.m. after receiving a call about a man lying face-down in the roadway. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene. A few days later, on Feb. 27, a San Antonio police officer spotted Rodriguez and Manuel Cantu stop at a known drug house, conduct a transaction and then drive off, the affidavit says. The officer pulled them over in front of their home in the 300 block of Illg Avenue. Rodriguez was driving without a license and Cantu was found carrying drug paraphernalia, police said. Both were placed under arrest. During the traffic stop, Rodriguez told the officer she had information on a murder. She told the officer that her brother-in-law, John Cantu, had killed Perez. The witness to the murder then came out of the home and told police that she too had information about the killing. After interviews with homicide detectives, authorities secured arrest warrants for both Cantus and Rodriguez. If convicted, the three could face life in prison. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns Bernie Sanders catalyzed the Democratic Partys post-Barack Obama move to the left, and if he were elected president in 2020, it would represent a truly historic swing in the countrys orientation. Yet among the flaws on Bernies resume for many progressives is an unalterable one he is a white male, and an old one without a cute Spanish nickname. The straight, cisgendered Sanders is burdened by his utter lack of intersectionality, unless being a Vermont senator from Brooklyn counts. In his announcement interview on Vermont Public Radio, he was pushed on how he can lead a diverse Democratic Party. Sanders cited the famous Martin Luther King Jr. quote about judging people by the content of their character and replied: We have got to look at candidates, you know, not by the color of their skin, not by their sexual orientation or their gender and not by their age. I mean, I think we have got to try to move us toward a nondiscriminatory society which looks at people based on their abilities, based on what they stand for. For expressing a sentiment that would have been considered jejune just a few years ago, Sanders was roundly denounced. Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress thundered, At a time where folks feel under attack because of who they are, saying race or gender or sexual orientation or identity doesnt matter is not off, its simply wrong. Former Hillary Clinton aide Jess McIntosh added, This is usually an argument made by people who dont enjoy outsized respect and credibility because of their race, gender, age and sexual orientation. Stephen Colbert snarked, Yes, like Dr. King, I have a dream a dream where this diverse nation can come together and be led by an old white guy. But what Sanders is getting at here should be completely uncontroversial. Of course it is important that we look beyond the demographic characteristics of candidates, to their views and their merits. Do we want to live in a society where no one can represent people different from them? By this logic, given a choice between South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Bernie Sanders for president, progressives would want all African-Americans to vote for the black Republican (of course, in that scenario many progressives would pronounce Scott not really black). Bobby Kennedy, lionized for his unifying campaigning, would be retroactively deemed just another straight white male. In effect, we would become a society of Shiites and Sunnis, conducting a census every election cycle by automatically voting for our own. Anyone who looks at, say, Steve Forbes and Bernie Sanders and thinks, Oh, just a couple of white guys is disregarding every political and philosophical difference in favor of a racialist reductionism. In a recent interview with GQ, Sanders described his vision as bringing together a coalition of people of black and white and Latino and Asian-American and Native American around a progressive agenda which is prepared to take on an extraordinarily powerful ruling class in this country. Once upon a time, this would have been considered an inclusive view. Today, though, Bernie is not race- and sex-obsessed enough for the identity-politics hall monitors of the Democratic Party. At bottom, Sanders is an old-school socialist who attributes primacy to a class struggle that crosses racial boundaries, rather than to race as such. A starker version of his worldview can be seen in Adolph Reed, the University of Pennsylvania professor who complains, as he put it in an interview last year, Any claim or proposal concerning durable patterns of economic inequality is now taken as being tantamount to making excuses for white supremacy. If Sanders ever said anything like that, hed have to drop out of the campaign the next day. Its an odd turn of events when unreconstructed socialists are, in at least this one respect, more broad-minded than the Democratic Party. But its true, and Bernie will have trouble living it down. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com More than 45 years ago, as a 14-year-old farm kid in Oregon, I watched on a flickering black-and-white television as President Richard Nixons former White House counsel, John Dean, testified about presidential misconduct in the Watergate scandal and the second-most-corrupt administration in American history began to crumble. Now, watching Michael Cohen testify before Congress, I sense a similar historic temblor, only this time it may be the No. 1 most-corrupt administration that is beginning to teeter. Cohens testimony was staggering because of the cumulative sum of alleged misconduct, because of the overall portrait it provided of Donald Trump as a mobster. I know what Mr. Trump is, Cohen said, summing up what he learned working at Trumps side for a decade. He is a racist, he is a con man, and he is a cheat. The range of Trump cons that Cohen outlined was extraordinary, from rigging an auction for the sale of a Trump portrait, to apparent bank fraud, to apparent perjury, to secret hush money payoffs to women, to apparent advance knowledge of a WikiLeaks dump of Democratic emails. Watergate started with a third-rate burglary that Nixon apparently had no advance knowledge of. But the investigation into the burglary led to revelations of a cover-up, of obstruction of justice, of mind-boggling abuses of power. One difference is that Trumps illegal behavior seems to be more broad-ranging than Nixons. Trump may have been so cavalier because he never expected this office or this scrutiny. I wish the hearing hadnt taken place precisely during Trumps summit with Kim Jong Un, because of the risk of undermining nuclear diplomacy, but the irony is that according to Cohen, those Trump-Kim negotiations are a historical fluke. He had no desire or intention to lead this nation only to market himself and to build his wealth and power, Cohen said. Mr. Trump would often say, this campaign was going to be the greatest infomercial in political history. He never expected to win the primary. He never expected to win the general election. What was almost as dispiriting as the range of misconduct alleged was the behavior of Republicans on the committee. They seemed less interested in ferreting out the truth than in covering it up; all they wanted to do was protect Trump and discredit Cohen. It was three hours into the hearing before a Republican even asked Cohen a question about Trump. The Republicans argued that we should not believe Cohen because he is a proven liar. But if a proven liar should not be believed, why do these same Republicans believe Trump? After all, Trump has made 8,718 false or misleading statements since taking office, according to the Washington Posts count. Cohen said he had no knowledge of any sex video obtained by Russia as leverage over Trump and added that he didnt have proof of collusion with Russia, only suspicions. But he described a kind of kompromat: Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it and then made clear to me that he wanted me to lie to Congress. Cohen shot down some of the rumors going around. He said he has no knowledge of Trump having a love child or paying for an abortion, and Trump would never physically harm Melania. But the sum total of his testimony was devastating; decades from now, historians will continue to analyze it. On his first day testifying to the Senate Watergate committee back in June 1973, John Dean said: To one who was in the White House and became somewhat familiar with its interworkings, the Watergate matter was an inevitable outgrowth of a climate in which expediency trumped law. It was in part Watergate that drew me toward journalism, and in 35 years reporting for the New York Times, Ive known and covered many American presidents and foreign leaders. The American leaders sometimes tried to bamboozle or spin us reporters, but they were tethered to truth and to American values, and were fundamentally different from some banana republic leaders who were simply gangsters. Until now. I hope Democrats arent gleeful. This is a sad moment in American history, for Nixon walks again. Squared. And I hope the Republicans listened when Cohen told one of his GOP interrogators: I did the same thing you are doing now for 10 years. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years. He added: People who follow Mr. Trump blindly will suffer the same consequences Im suffering. Much of the cross-examination of Michael Cohen while he was testifying before a House committee Wednesday were efforts to discredit the witness not to substantively challenge the charges made against Donald Trump. The nation would have been better served with the latter. Serious allegations were made that demand answers. The public needed these questioners to move beyond partisan posturing, much of it for the sole purpose of protecting the president. Some of the most serious questioning came from freshman Democratic representatives, including Alexandria Octavia-Cortez of New York. Attacking the messenger was, of course, the obvious play, given Cohens admission of lying to Congress earlier. He also pleaded guilty to other charges, resulting in a three-year prison sentence. Cohen is a liar and a scammer himself? OK, but in the employ of a boss who, if Cohens testimony is accurate, actively directed him to use those skills to protect Trump and his brand. Much can be said about the Trump-Cohen relationship, but that each didnt intimately know who and what the other was isnt credibly among them. And when Cohens testimony is weighed against what is already known from court documents and journalistic investigations, and against Trumps own long record of mendacity, what were left with are further indications that the president committed felonies. And even if these dont result in criminal prosecution because the Justice Department doesnt cause sitting presidents to be indicted and because of the complexities of the law in proving intent Cohens testimony was disheartening. It was disheartening in particular to anyone hoping that the ballot box and not impeachment would be the tool brought to bear in this process. Those hopes just became dimmer, and might dim even more, after special counsel Robert Muellers report is released, if, indeed, Attorney General William Barr allows a public examination. Americans have become inured by the drip-drip of revelations of alleged Trump and Trump campaign misconduct for a few years now. Even so, this testimony was shocking. There is simply no historical equivalent of which were aware of someone in a presidents inner circle calling the president a racist, con man and a cheat in congressional testimony. The closest we come is John Dean in the Watergate years, and it still took the Watergate tapes to sink President Richard Nixon. The fact is that much of what we knew before Cohens testimony does little to contradict the former Trump fixer. Simply, already facing a prison sentence and knowing that lying again to Congress could lengthen his stay, why would he lie? Among the criminal acts Cohen alleges: Cohen said he was in Trumps office when he put Roger Stone on speakerphone during the campaign. Stone told Trump he had just gotten off the phone with Julian Assange and that a data dump was imminent. Trumps alleged reply: Wouldnt that be great. This is serious if active collusion is proven. The president has reportedly told the special counsel that he did not talk to Stone about the WikiLeaks plans or about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised to deliver dirt on Clinton. Others in the Trump orbit have already been indicted for lying to the FBI or the special counsel. And the fact that no usable dirt from a foreign power was delivered is not mitigating if there was a conspiracy to get such information. Cohen said Trump directed him to pay hush money to a porn star because of a previous affair and produced a check from the Trump organization to partially reimburse him. This violates campaign finance law. Cohen produced other documents revealing that Trump inflated assets when that served him and diminished them for tax purposes. But perhaps the most serious allegation is that Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress. Cohen said this wasnt a direct ask. It came in the form of mobster-speak in which he looked Cohen in the eye and said there was no effort underway to get a Trump Tower in Moscow, though both clearly knew there was. Plausible deniability, in other words. Prosecutors need not prove a direct ask if the actions amount to the same. This was troubling testimony that will not go down in the history books as either one of the nations or the presidencys finer moments. Yes, it is testimony from a tarnished witness, but buttressed by what we already know, it is testimony that points to a tarnished presidency. And more crisis ahead. Cohens testimony opens other lines of inquiry. Editors note: A longer version of this editorial was published in the Express-News sister paper, the Houston Chronicle. It is a view with which the Express-News Editorial Board is in full consensus. Some religious people say everybody finds God in the end. Weve all heard stories of deathbed baptisms and conversions. Maybe the converted are motivated by fear, maybe by an elementary risk assessment. If God exists, even a devout atheist has much to gain by accepting him. On the other hand, the guy dying has nothing to lose in saying a quick prayer. Lets apply that logic to another existential pickle: global warming. Politics has made the term radioactive in some parts of this country, including Texas, even as the warnings from climate scientists grow more dire by the week. Of course, we all wish this warming stuff really was a hoax, that our great-grandkids will some day breathe clean air just fine. Maybe even take an Alaskan vacation and spot a real live polar bear. Nice thought. But we cant stake our future on wishful thinking. Seems better to err on the side of caution on the side of science. If human behavior increases global warming and more than 97 percent of climate scientists say it does weve got everything to gain by taking action, including the survival of our planet and mankind. In the unlikelihood that its an elaborate hoax or a gross miscalculation, what do we have to lose by ridding the air of some heat-trapping gases? Industries and economies built on fossil fuels will lose money initially, but nothing they cant make up with investments in forward-thinking technology and alternative energy. The rest of us earthlings will get cleaner air to breathe; more sustainable energy infrastructure; burgeoning new energy industries, some hopefully based in Texas, employing thousands; and species saved from mass extinction. Thats why its so curious when politicians refuse to even entertain the idea of a deathbed conversion on climate. Take Gov. Greg Abbott. In December, he spoke of the urgent need to future-proof the Gulf Coast after a sweeping report by his Commission to Rebuild Texas recommended dramatic reforms in a state where sea levels are rising and storms are becoming more frequent and more severe. But asked by a reporter whether human impact on climate change affected Texas weather disasters, Abbott replied: Listen, Im not a scientist. Impossible for me to answer that question. The next month, 27 climate scientists, researchers and professors from schools such as Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Austin and Rice University sent the governor a letter offering to brief him on climate science and what Texas needs to do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to warming. No one ever contacted us, Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric sciences at A&M, told the Houston Chronicle editorial board. And what is science telling us? The scientists letter hit the highlights. By midcentury, the Southern Great Plains, which includes Texas, will experience 30 to 60 more 100-degree days each year. Higher temperatures could result in an additional 1,300 deaths per year by centurys end. Up to $20.9 billion in coastal property is projected to be flooded at high tide by 2030. Whats their source for such gloomy predictions? The National Climate Assessment, by more than a dozen federal agencies. Texas, as one of the biggest U.S. wind energy producers, can play a key role in reducing emissions and drive future changes. The only thing missing is leadership, the scientists wrote. Even in Washington, were seeing leadership among Republicans. The top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently wrote Democrats a letter asking to work together to find bipartisan climate solutions. A climate change caucus last Congress counted 45 Republican House members. Republicans from the late John McCain to former Secretary of State James Baker have called for aggressive action. George H.W. Bush campaigned on the greenhouse effect back in 1988. In the end, it was lip service. As president, Bush squandered a precious chance to stop climate change. Abbott is squandering Texas chance. Not because he doesnt get it because he prioritizes votes from skeptics who seem to think an occasional snowball negates warming trends spanning a century. What a legacy. Someday, history books may note that the governor of Texas had a chance to help heal the planet and build new, sustainable energy industries in the process. Salvation sent him an invitation and he never responded. President Mnangagwa says he has opened the avenue for dialogue with other political parties in Zimbabwe to ensure that they also have an input in the countrys governance discourse. Further, the Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said the fiscal and monetary policies introduced by Government were already yielding positive fruits. President Mnangagwa said this while officially opening the inaugural session of the Zimbabwe-Botswana Bi-National Commission in Harare yesterday. So far two meetings involving political parties that participated in the July 30, 2018 general elections had been held. Four committees were set at the last meeting and they are expected to report their feedback today. My administration continues to push for greater national peace, unity and harmony and cohesion, said President Mnangagwa. Fully aware that a nation at peace with itself is a nation that can achieve socio economic development. As such, a national dialogue platform has been established to allow a broader cross section of the political players to express their views and input into the governance discourse of this country. We are therefore committed to dialogue at home, across the entire region and beyond. Together we shall create a new reality for our people. Today Zimbabwe is in a process of transformation and national renewal. We are making steady progress with regards both economic and political reforms in Zimbabwe. The fiscal and monetary policies we have introduced in Zimbabwe are also humble successes of where want to go. Turning to global issues, President Mnangagwa said: At the international level, there is an ever growing demand for strengthening of global governance and transformation of the global governance system. The constant challenges in the international balance of power heighten the need to foster an international order that is fair, equitable and more rational to ensure that the common interests of our countries and other developing countries are assured. We remain convinced that the United Nations should always be guided by its Charter and serve the interests of all its member states, without prejudice. To this end, we continue to advocate for the reform and democratisation of the United Nations Security Council so that it serves as the pedestal of international justice, peace and security. I am aware that Botswana will hold its general elections during the course of 2019; a process that will deepen democracy in your country and the region at large. We wish you, Your Excellency, and people of Botswana, great success during your elections. Chronicle Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News A 34-YEAR-OLD unemployed man yesterday appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with unauthorised access to a computer linked to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) Paynet server where he allegedly paid himself $2 385 073, through a fraudulently registered company. Manase Manjovha was not asked to plead when he appeared before magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa, who remanded him to today for bail application. The complainant, Zimra was represented by its information communication technology security manager Ebrahim Makunganya. The State alleges that sometime in April last year, Manjovha and an accomplice Stephen Moreka, who has since been arrested, opened three bank accounts with POSB Bank in the name of Talent Mandebvu 4 of Mandebvu village, Chief Mashayamombe, Mhondoro. The duo also allegedly opened two corporate bank accounts in the name of bogus companies called Limpstone Investments and Del Computers (Private) Limited. It is alleged on May 4 last year, Manjovha, working in connivance with Moreka, remotely accessed the Zimra Paynet server and uploaded three files into the paynet system with a total value of $2 385 073,20 without authority and then cleared all server logs to cover the trail. After accessing the Zimra server, they allegedly paid out $2 385 073, 20 to the accounts. Manjovha is also facing another charge of acquiring a fake birth certificate. It is alleged that on January 2 this year, Manjovha went to the United States Embassy while misrepresenting as Sean Chiyangwa born on April 22, 1985 and applied for a visa to the US. The State alleges that upon verifying the particulars he had tendered, it was established that Manjovha had fraudulently acquired a birth certificate, which he used to obtain the passport in the name of Sean Chiyangwa and was red-flagged on the Interpol wanted list. He was arrested on February 25. NewsDay Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News ZIMBABWE National Army (ZNA) solder has been sentenced to 16 months imprisonment for illegally entering former president Robert Mugabes Blue Roof mansion in Harares Borrowdale area. Gunman Ngonidzashe Kapasura, 26, and accomplice Raymond Chahwanda, 23, were jailed by Harare magistrate Victoria Mashamba on Thursday. They will however, serve an effective 6 months each behind bars after the rest of their respective sentences were suspended on conditions. The complainant in the case was Gushungo Holding Security which was represented by security guard Fredson Peter, 25. Court head that the incident occurred just before midnight on the 6th of January this year. According to prosecutor, Lancelot Mutsokoti the complainant was on duty and carrying out perimeter checks when he came across Kapasura and Chahwanda. The two had illegally entered the property which is a protected area. The duo claimed they were caught while only looking for traditional herbs inside the former Presidents orchard. They told magistrate Victoria Mashamba that they were only looking for traditional herbs which he used to see while guarding the premises during the tenure of the former President. I went inside the Blue Roof searching for herbs and while in the middle of searching, I saw security guards who asked me what I was looking for, Kapasura pleaded. When the security guards apprehended us, we were not holding anything. We just told them that we were looking for traditional herbs. Court heard that Kapasura and Chahwanda were found in possession items which had been stolen from the property. They were apprehended and later handed to the police, leading to their arrest. NewZimbabwe Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Yves here. This article has a significant finding. It contends that while the shift of manufacturing jobs from the US to China did create a tremendous number of jobs in China, it did not lead to an increase in manufacturing wages. This would seem implausible until you remember that China had (and still has) hundreds of millions in the hinterlands working in substance farming. These workers could move to industrializing areas and get higher wages, which kept manufacturer from having to compete for workers to fill demand from the US. To put it another way, the great increase in living standards in China was due to hundreds of millions from the countryside being able to earn manufacturing-level incomes, and not to global demand for Chinese goods also increasing those incomes. By Harald Hau, Professor of Economics and Finance, University of Geneva, Difei Ouyang, Ph.D. candidate in Economics, University of Geneva, and Weidi Yuan, PhD Candidate in Economics, University of Geneva. Originally published at VoxEU Trade between the US and China is widely thought to have contributed significantly to the decline in US manufacturing employment between 1999 and 2007. Flipping the point of view, this column examines the impact on China of the growth in trade and finds that for every US manufacturing job lost, almostsix new Chinese manufacturing jobs were created. International trade did not contribute to faster wage rises for Chinese industrial workersbut instead channelled agricultural and non-participating workers into the industrial labour market. The last two decades of trade globalisation generated a large rise in imports from low-income countries like China to the developed world. While its negative effect on manufacturing employment in high-income labour markets is well documented (Autor et al. 2013, Bloom et al. 2016, Dauth et al. 2014, Pierce and Schott 2016) and frequently referred to as the China Syndrome, its flip-side effect on labour markets in China has not been subject to much empirical scrutiny. New research by two of us (Ouyang and Yuan 2019) relates the surge in Chinese industrial exports to changes in Chinas local labour markets. Analogous to research on the import exposure of US commuting zones by Autor et al. (2013), we divide China into prefecture-level cities and construct measures of export exposure based on a citys initial industry specialisation. This method yields a detailed map of geographic export exposure depicted in Figure 1. Figure 1 Geographic distribution of export exposure per worker, 1999-2007 Similar to Americas commuting zones, trade exposure varies greatly across Chinese cities. The 17% most-export-exposed cities (in red) witnessed on average an increase of US exports by $830 million between 2000 and 2006. This compares to only $22.76 million in additional US exports for the 17% least-exposed cities (in beige). Many of the most-exposed Chinese cities are concentrated in coastal regions, but they can also be found inland with stark differences between neighbouring prefectures. Methodological Issues As export growth can influence local economic activity and vice versa, any causal analysis requires a so-called instrument, namely, variables that proxy for export exposure without being influenced by Chinese labour market outcomes. Calculating export exposure based on the export growth from other emerging economies to the US provides such an instrument because other emerging countries also benefited from strong US product demand. A methodological concern is that Chinas dominance for some manufacturing exports may generate negative externalities on the export growth of other emerging countries, which would invalidate the estimates. We address this issue by showing that variation in Chinas potential export taxation the NTR gap documented by Pierce and Schott (2016) significantly alters Chinese sectoral export growth without a corresponding effect on the export growth of other emerging countries. Export externalities across emerging markets therefore appear to be of limited economic significance. Manufacturing Employment Growth: China Versus the US The main analysis draws on Chinas annual survey of industrial firms (available for the period 1998-2007). In Figure 2, we rank 112 different manufacturing industries by the strength of their US export growth. Red circles denote the industry-specific employment growth in China and blue crosses denote the corresponding employment change for the US. Two-stage least square regressions show that a one-standard-deviation increase in export exposure per worker is associated with a 0.38 standard deviation in the change in industrial employment as a share of working-age population. Figure 2 Employment growth in China versus the US by industry rank in export growth, 1999-2007 In the paper, we also undertake a city-level analysis using aggregate city-level statistics a Chinese city (i.e. prefecture) at the 75th percentile of export exposure experiences an increase in the ratio of manufacturing employment to the working-age population by 4.5 percentage points compared to a city at the 25th percentile. The aggregate analysis reveals that Chinas export growth created approximately 12.2 million new manufacturing jobs. For comparison, the corresponding decline for US manufacturing employment is only about 2 million (Autor et al. 2013). This means that every US manufacturing job lost to trade with China came with the creation of up to six new manufacturing jobs in China. The much lower labour productivity of Chinese workers accounts for a large part of this important asymmetry between job destruction and job creation. Industrial wages are roughly ten times higher in the US than in China. The Big Local Labour Reallocation Interestingly, Chinese regions with a surge in manufacturing employment do not show a significantly higher population growth to the extent that we measure it correctly. This may be explained by Chinas hukou system, which imposes tight controls on migration flows. So where do Chinas new manufacturing workers come from? City-level labour statistics show that cities more exposed to the US export surge experience an additional expansion of service-sector jobs (presumably due to higher demand from an increased working population) each new manufacturing job contributes approximately 0.68 new service jobs. In the absence of economically significant (measured) migration, this overall increase in the local workforce coincides with a strong decline in local agricultural employment and non-participation in the labour market. However, we cannot exclude that clandestine migration flows also play a role in sustaining a highly elastic labour supply. Employment Growth Without Sectorial Wage Growth Surprisingly, a citys export exposure has only a small and negative effect on the average local manufacturing wage. The differential (log) wage growth is -1.2% for the period 1999-2007 when comparing the 75% and 25% quantile of export exposure. Yet, this negative average-wage effect does not imply that Chinas low-skill workers are worse off due to increased exports. The small negative wage effect of exports suggests a very elastic labour supply as well as a net labour market entry at (or near) the minimum wage. Previous research has documented a large income gap between agricultural (rural) and non-agricultural (urban) sectors in China (Meng and Zhang 2001, Sicular et al. 2007, Brandt and Zhu 2010, Meng 2012). Low-skill agricultural or unemployed workers benefit most when their city of residence experiences a positive export-demand shock their income and welfare gains are substantial even if they find employment at (or below) the average manufacturing wage. Summary The annual value of Chinas exports to the US increased by $240 billion from 1999 to 2007, whereas Chinas imports from the US grew by only $40 billion. Such a rapid and asymmetric surge in trade influenced not only the US labour market as highlighted by a growing literature, but similarly transformed the Chinese labour market. The data suggest a dramatic employment increase in export-led industries and cities where these industries were initially located. Partly due to a much lower Chinese labour productivity, each job lost in the US is associated with up to six new manufacturing jobs created in China. Much of the new manufacturing employment in China goes to local workers previously employed in agriculture or not participating in the workforce at all. A highly elastic local labour supply also explains why the export surge did not create any pressure on the average industrial wage. This contrasts with the strong negative wage effects of trade identified in the US manufacturing sector. See original post for references Dear patient readers, There has been an upsurge of readers using the term ad hominem and treating it as a cudgel. Ad hominem does not mean being caustic about crappy reasoning or dubious evidence. An ad hominem attack is when the personal assault is a premise of the argument, like calling Sanders supporters Bernie Bros or depicting people who want a Green New Deal as children who want rainbows and unicorns. The critical distinction is that an ad hominem argument is meant to avoid discussing an issue on its merits. People sometimes include caustic personal attacks with arguments about the positions their opponents have taken. Even a personal attack is NOT ad hominem if it is decoration and not the basis for rebutting what someone has said. For instance, many readers loved a recent Caitlin Johnstone dig about Diane Feinstein: Feinstein is 85 and looks like shes held together by nothing but formaldehyde, contempt for the working class, and a wig. But Johnstone didnt argue that Feinstein was off base because she has too much plastic surgery and a bad rug (which would be ad hom) but because she is a politician who represents only a narrow slice of her constituency, and is so rich she is removed from most voters. This was the balance of the para and the next para: She is also worth an estimated 94 million dollars and married to a billionaire, and when she took office in 1992 news networks were running segments about the internet that looked like this: So it is quite believable that she has been so pervasively cocooned within an elitist beltway echo chamber that she hadnt the faintest inkling how ordinary people have been communicating with each other online for years, nor the curiosity to find out. But what does that tell you about the kind of life US senators live, and how distant they are from the citizenry whose interests theyre meant to be advancing? In other words, Johnstone is tying Feinsteins actions (her dogged support of the military-surveillance complex, her pandering to the young climate change activists, and then switching into the fallback of trying to coopt one with the offer of an internship) as predictable given how she is situated. So we reluctantly moderating all comments that use ad hominem and freeing only those that use the term properly. So please go look at Wikipedia if you need a refresher. We are serious about the standards of discourse. And dont test us by trying to evade this notice by using ad hom or some other variant. We will rip the comment out even if the usage was correct for trying to evade our policy and put offenders in moderation. US: Family pug seized by town over unpaid debts and sold on eBay BBC Andre Previn dies at the age of 89 BBC. EM: Link to YouTube of the now-legendary Andrew Preview sketch described in the Beeb obit; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7GeKLE0x3 Booker prize: Silicon Valley billionaire takes over as new sponsor Guardian (J-LS). Lovely. What is the Book of Changes? Big Think (David L) The Monster Pell Has Been Caged At Last Caitlin Johnstone. Chuck L: The Cardinal Pell case is personal for Caitlin. University of California boycotts publishing giant Elsevier over journal costs and open access Science Magazine (David L) $200 Million Dollars a Year Could Reverse Climate Change, Says Wave Energy Pioneer BBC Breakdowns in Air Quality Environmental Integrity (resilc) Americans Are Literally Flushing Canadas Forests Down the Toilet Motherboard (resilc) US Bars Lithium-ion Batteries From Passenger Aircraft Cargo CNET Department of Energy moves forward with controversial test reactor Science Magazine (David L) What the hell is a blockchain phoneand do I need one? MIT Technology Review (David L) China? North Korea Kashmir, Korea, Venezuela, Iran: hot, cold, hybrid war Asia Times (J-LS) Pakistan to Release Captured Indian Pilot, Easing Tensions Wall Street Journal Brexit Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould: The scandal that could unseat Canadas PM BBC. Above the fold. New Cold War Syraqistan Big Brother is Watching You Watch China is rushing facial and voice recognition tech for pigs. Heres why. Boing Boing JOHN KIRIAKOU: Neither Rain, Sleet, nor Snow Will Stop the Post Office From Spying on You ConsortiumNews (UserFriendly). One approach to this issue: my accountant has his mailing address as the return address on his pre-printed envelopes for clients. Police in Canada Are Tracking Peoples Negative Behavior In a Risk Database Motherboard (resilc) From Bill B: Good Morning New York Times, Paul Mozurs column, Limiting Your Digital Footprints in a Surveillance State, creates the impression that users can defend their privacy with a mobile app like Signal. Despite the reality that applications like Signal are, in fact, a beacon to security services that youre doing something interesting which merits their attention. Since 2011 domestic security spending in China has rivaled the militarys budget. Journalists may view Chinese authorities as somewhat incompetent, but the unravelling of Central Intelligence Agency operations in China from 2010 to 2012 offers a compelling counterexample. One C.I.A. source was killed in public. Right in front of his colleagues. This should serve as a potent reminder that in high risk scenarios Mozurs approach borders on professional negligence. The Russian military has recently banned smartphones. Thus highlighting an inconvenient truth: you cant have your cake and eat it too. Meeting security objectives often entails sacrificing the convenience of technology. Trump Transition 2020 Senator Sanders urges FDA to allow older versions of $375K drug Reuters (EM) Musk Warns of Loss as Tesla Shuts Stores, Cuts Model 3 Cost Bloomberg Tesla finally launches base Model 3 for $35,000 with shorter range and new interior Electrek. Shorter range? After we just found out that electric cars burn through their charge super fast when its cold outside? Good luck with that in the northern half of the US. A Tesla Burned to a Crisp on a Vermont Lake. We Walked Out There and Found It. Popular Mechanics Uber and Lyft to offer shares to drivers as part of IPOs Financial Times. Hoo boy. Class Warfare Antidote du jour (crittermom): And a bonus (guurst): Rescued Leopard Loves Head Scritches pic.twitter.com/7cVcIMUNLM Nature is Amazing (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 14, 2019 See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Yves here. After years of lagging pay and demonization (when teachers are held in high esteem in virtually all of the rest of the world), the West Virginia strike is yet another successful step towards improving teacher working conditions. By Jeff Bryant, a writing fellow and chief correspondent for Our Schools, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He is a communications consultant, freelance writer, advocacy journalist, and director of the Education Opportunity Network, a strategy and messaging center for progressive education policy. His award-winning commentary and reporting routinely appear in prominent online news outlets, and he speaks frequently at national events about public education policy. Follow him on Twitter @jeffbcdm. Produced by Our Schools, a project of the Independent Media Institute West Virginias most recent statewide teacher walkout came and wentso quickly there was too little time and attention to comprehend and appreciate the impact the teachers actions will likely have long-term on changing the narrative of the teacher movement and how politically progressive advocates and candidates relate to it. In the very first day of the strike, teachers squelched new state legislationthey objected to and then held out an additional day to ensure it would die. The day after schools reopened, the teachers got what they wanteda clean bill increasing teacher pay five percent. But, unlike their largely successful labor action from last year, this time the teachers werent making pocketbook issues the focal points of their demands. Instead, it was all aboutstopping school privatization through charter schools and a new voucher program. The point of the strike was to oppose a Senate bill that included bringing charters and a voucher program to the state even though the measure included the pay raise teachers wanted. Teachers accompanied their protestsin the capitol building with chants of Hey-hey, ho-ho, charter schools have got to go. This was a huge gamble for the teachers, not only because they risked a confrontation with the wealthy establishment that backs charters and vouchers but also because they could alienate the coalition of progressive activists who had supported teachers in the past but had never forcefully opposed charter schools. Teachers Take a Risk There had been no widespread debate on charter schools in West Virginia until now, Gary Zuckett tells me. Zuckett and the West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WVCAG) for which he serves as executive director gladly joined with other social, economic, and environmental justice movements across the state last year to back West Virginia teachers in their demands for a pay raise and a fix to the states broken public employee health program. But neither WVCAG nor the groups national affiliate Peoples Action had ever before made opposition to school privatization a major policy point. Its trueat the national level, progressives dont talk a lot about K-12 and charter schools, says Ryan Frankenberry, executive director of the West Virginia Working Families Party, a hyper-local political party that backs candidates largely for their stances on social, economic, and environmental values and their opposition to big money in politics. So it was never a sure thing should West Virginia teachers make their stand on opposition to charters that the progressive coalition that backed last years strike would have their backs. Clarifying the Politics of Privatization When teachers began walking off the job across the country last year, their demands were similar to those that progressive policy activists have long supported, such as workers rights, higher wages, and better funding for public services like education. But for years, the politics of school privatization efforts have been confusing. Charters and school voucher programs have been falsely framedas a civil rights cause. Former President Barack Obama gave charter schools a big boostin his administrations Race to the Top program. Popular Democratic politicians like New Jersey U.S. senator and presidential candidate Cory Booker have strongly backedvoucher programs and taken campaign donations from the charter school industry. Progressive leaders like Vermont U.S. senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders have been vague on their viewsabout charters. And progressive advocacy groups have eithergenerally supported chartersor declined to take a position. But in this years walkouts, teachers have raised the stakes in challenging progressives to come down firmly on their side to oppose further expansion of privatization efforts. Teacher Strikes Change Minds Beginning with the strike in Los Angeles, teachers began adding opposition to charter schoolsto their other demands and making a casethat these taxpayer-funded, privately operated schools are harmful to public schools. The flavor of the teacher strikes has changed, writes Education Week reporterMadeline Will. Unlike last year, when teachers across the country shared a similar narrative of crumbling classrooms and stagnant paychecks, the strike demands now are far-reaching. Now, teachers are pushing back against education-reform policies, like charter schools Theres no clearer evidence of the shift in teacher activism than in West Virginia. In the Mountain State, progressives shifted into the anti-privatization column because of these strikes, says Frankenberry. Teachers were able to convince people that resisting charters and vouchers was about fighting for the future of public schools. Progressive organizers in the state also cant deny what they see and hear about the conditions in their public schools and how theyd be affected by the introduction of charters. Teachers already know their schools are strapped for cash, says Zuckett. The state is already losing its population of school-aged children, he notes, adding that the school where his wife works as a counselor lost 10 percent of its students this year alone. Any loss of resources is going to hurt our schools. Strikes Spread to Oakland As soon as the walkout in West Virginia resolved, a teacher strike in Oakland, California, quickly flamed up. That strike resembles the strike in Los Angelesin which teachers demanded better pay, smaller class sizes, more nurses, counselors and other support staff, as well as an end to the spread of charter schools. But the negative impact of charter schools is likely even worse in Oakland, where the charters enroll 30 percent of the studentsin the district and siphon over $57 million from the public schools. To further accommodate the charters, the district has announced plans to close 24 public schools. As of this writing, Oakland teachers are still on strike, declaring in their latest press release, When 19 out of every 20 teachers [are] walking the picket line joined by parents, when our rallies attract thousands, when 97 percent of our students stay homeits clear that this community wants what [the teachers union] demands. As the opposition to charters surges to the front of teacher strikes in Oakland, a new billswiftly moving through the state legislature, with the strong backing of Governor Gavin Newsom, will tighten oversight of charter schools and demand more financial transparency of them. The growing opposition to charters spurred by teacher strikes has the charter industry worried. As Politico reports, the success teachers have had in blaming charter schools for squeezing traditional schools has raised alarm among charter school backers who see it as unfair to blame the charter sector for financial woes. The growing conflict and sharply contrasting points of view will likely pressure political candidates and progressive activists on the left to take sides. The Fight Is On Democrats in West Virginia are absolutely solidified against charters, says Frankenberry. Even more solidified on this than they are on gun control. He concedes, however, there are still unresolved issues in how progressives will coalesce on charters elsewhere. His progressive colleagues in states with lots of charters still feel an urge to not totally reject charters because parents whose children attend the schools are often from marginalized communities. And teachers who work in charters are potential targets for labor unions who want to organize the workers. But he finds in places such as West Virginia, and neighboring Virginia and Kentucky, where there are very few or no charters, opposition to the schools is about saving public education. Opponents are quick to point to high-profile charter school scandals in Ohioand Pennsylvaniaas examples of what would befall their states. Its been 20 years of experimenting, he says, and experiments often fail. Frankenberrys hope is that the solidarity shown by progressive opposition to school privatization in West Virginia can rub off on his colleagues in states where charters are more abundant. Were showing that were not going to accept these schools, he says. Maybe the progressive organizers in places where they already have them can get inspiration from us to rein charters in. Zuckett foresees opposition to charter schools and voucher programs continuing to be more of a point of contention that progressives will push in their policy positions, and not just in West Virginia. The fight is on, he says. Shame on us if it isnt. To learn more about school privatization, check out Who Controls Our Schools? The Privatization of American Public Education, a free ebook published by the Independent Media Institute. Click here to read a selectionof Who Controls Our Schools? published on AlterNet, or here to access the complete text. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised Bulgarias commitment to NATO during a visit to Sofia on Friday (1 March 2019). After talks with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the Secretary General thanked Bulgaria for its strong contributions to NATO missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq, and its strategic role in the Black Sea and Western Balkans regions. The Secretary General noted that this year the Alliance will celebrate its 70thanniversary, as well as the 15thanniversary of Bulgarias accession to NATO. Bulgaria has contributed to strengthening the Alliance, he said. Mr. Stoltenberg welcomed Bulgarias support for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to NATO. I welcome that just last week the Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously to ratify the accession of North Macedonia into NATO, he added. Mr. Stoltenberg also thanked the government for its commitment to reach the NATO goal of spending 2% of GDP on defence. The Secretary General and Prime Minister Borissov discussed current security challenges, including Russias violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Mr. Stoltenberg stressed that NATO does not want a new arms race and called on Russia to come back into compliance with the Treaty. While in Sofia, the Secretary General also held separate talks with President Rumen Radev, and other representatives of the Government. Visiting Portugal on Friday (1 March) the NATO Deputy Secretary General Ms. Rose Gottemoeller met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva and with Minister of Defence Joao Gomes Cravinho to discuss defence investment and the challenges facing the Alliance. Ms. Gottemoeller visited the NATO Communications and Information Academy (NCIA) and the NATO Naval Striking and Support Forces (STRIKFORNATO) headquarters in Oeiras. She also paid a visit to NATOs Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC) in Monsanto. In Lisbon Ms. Gottemoeller met with members of the Parliamentary Committee for National Defence. Earlier on Thursday (28 February), Ms. Gottemoeller addressed the conference The Future of NATO at the Catholic University of Lisbon and said that as a founding member of NATO, Portugal has always been at the heart of the transatlantic Alliance, sitting at the edge of the ocean that binds us together. The Deputy Secretary General said that today Portugal continues to contribute to transatlantic security on land, at sea, in air and in cyber space with the new cutting-edge cyber defence training academy NCIA in Oeiras. She said that in April Allied Foreign Ministers will meet in Washington on the same day and spot that the North Atlantic Treaty was signed 70 years ago and it will be a chance to reflect on what we have achieved and where we are going. The Deputy Secretary General stressed that Allies will continue to strengthen NATO and our shared security and that she is sure that Portugal will continue to play an integral part today and in the future. (As delivered) Prime Minister Borissov, Boyko, Thank you so much for hosting me and my delegation here in Sofia. It is really a great pleasure to meet you again. As you said we met in New York during the reception hosted by President Trump, and then you invited me and its a great pleasure for me to be here and meet with you and your delegation. I am pleased to be here also a few days before your national day. And I would like to start by thanking Bulgaria for being such a committed and highly valued Ally in the Alliance. And we appreciate your loyalty, your commitment to the Alliance. Bulgaria contributes to our shared security in many different ways. You participate in different NATO missions and operations. You play a strategic role in the Black Sea region, you contribute to our mission in Afghanistan, fighting international terrorism, you have played a key role for many years in Kosovo, in our KFOR mission, and youre also part of the NATO training mission in Iraq, and you also have a presence in other NATO missions and operations, and we are extremely grateful for that. This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of NATO, but we also celebrate the 15th anniversary of Bulgaria joining NATO and the enlargement of NATO with Bulgaria has contributed to strengthening the Alliance and has helped us to strengthen our collective defence and is important both for Bulgaria, for the region, and for NATO. We very much appreciate also the way you have supported the process which has enabled North Macedonia to sign an accession protocol with NATO and now North Macedonia is on the way to become a full member of the Alliance. The fact that you signed the friendship treaty with Skopje in 2017 helped build the confidence and pave the way for the Prespa Agreement. And now North Macedonia is set to join NATO. Allies have already started to ratify the Accession Protocol. And I welcome that just last week the Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously to ratify the accession of North Macedonia into NATO. Once that process has been completed by all Allies, North Macedonia will become the 30th member of NATO. This is good for the region. And its good for Euro-Atlantic security. And I thank you very much for playing a key role in making that process possible. In a more unpredictable world, it is important to have friends and Allies. Together, we are more effective in dealing with our most pressing security challenges. And that includes the Russian violation of the INF Treaty. This Treaty has been the cornerstone for arm control for decades. NATO does not want a new cold war, we dont want a new arms race and we call on Russia to come back into compliance with the INF Treaty. These new Russian missiles are nuclear capable, they can reach European cities, they are hard to detect, and they have little warning time so they reduce the threshold for any potential use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict and therefore its important that we continue to call on Russia to come back into compliance. At the same time we need to be prepared for a world without the INF Treaty and with more Russian missiles. In a more uncertain world we must invest in our security, so I welcome the fact that Bulgaria has started to invest more in defence. And also the great commitment of Bulgaria to reach the NATO goal of spending 2% of GDP on defence. And also the fact that you have stated that you will report all your expenditures, including pensions. This enables Bulgaria to report defence spending in the same way as other Allies and that is important because then we get the full picture of what Bulgaria does when it comes to investing in defence. So we continue to count on Bulgaria as a committed and loyal NATO Ally. We are extremely grateful for your contributions and its always great to see you Prime Minister. Thank you. (Natural News) Have you had your dose of vitamin D today? If not, consider going out of the house for some sun more often. It doesnt have to be somewhere scenic (though that would be swell); you can prop up a chair right in your yard and soak up those rays. Your body will thank you for it particularly your belly. The connection between vitamin D deficiency and belly fat Vitamin D deficiency has been traditionally linked to poor bone health, which then exposes you to worse health problems like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Aside from the usual suspects for larger waistlines such as consuming highly processed foods or a lack of physical activity, a new study shows that vitamin D deficiency is a key driver to unwanted belly fat. Scientists from Leiden University Medical Center and VU University Medical Center examined total body fat and belly fat among subjects of a previous study. After adjusting for other factors such as levels of exercise, alcohol consumption, and chronic illnesses, the researchers found that lower levels of vitamin D were linked to both total and abdominal fat in women, with the latter having a greater impact. In men, this association was observed in the abdomen and liver. Overall, higher amounts of belly fat coincided with lower levels of detected vitamin D. Lead researcher Rachida Rafiq explained, [T]he strong relationship between increasing amounts of abdominal fat and lower levels of vitamin D suggests that individuals with larger waistlines are at a greater risk of developing deficiency, and should consider having their vitamin D levels checked. The next step for the researchers is to determine how this connection works: Does vitamin D deficiency cause fat accumulation in the belly, or does belly fat decrease levels of vitamin D? Rafiq noted that this will take further research. In the meantime, their findings were presented in the 2018 European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting in Barcelona. This particular risk factor comes with huge financial risk. For every inch of belly fat, the cost of healthcare was found to increase by five percent in men and three percent in women every year. A Danish study reports that women with over 37 inches around their waist are likely to pay more for healthcare compared to their peers with a healthy waistline. This health concern applies to men as well. Too much fat in the belly poses a serious health risk because fat cells fuel the growth of cancer cells. Replenish your vitamin D levels A person with vitamin D deficiency will display the following symptoms: Tiredness Aches and pains Malaise or a general sense of not feeling well Severe bone or muscle pain or weakness that can affect physical activity such as climbing stairs Stress fractures, especially in the legs, pelvis, and hips The best way to increase your vitamin D levels is a full body exposure to sunlight for about 20 minutes. However, most people live at elevated latitudes, where the suns rays have limited reach, and in turn, dont offer enough direct sunlight to generate the desired outcome. Other factors can affect your ability to get sufficient amounts of vitamin D through sunlight, including: Being in an area with high pollution Using sunscreen Spending more time indoors Living in big cities where buildings block sunlight Having darker skin (higher levels of melanin prevents the absorption of vitamin D) You can obtain vitamin D from certain foods, though there arent many options. This is why some foods may be fortified with vitamin D. These foods include: Egg yolks Salmon Sardines Shrimp Milk (fortified) Cereal (fortified) Yogurt (fortified) Orange juice (fortified) It can be hard to get adequate amounts of vitamin D each day through sun exposure and food alone; thats why so many integrative healthcare providers recommend supplements to increase vitamin D levels in the body. Sources include: NaturalHealth365.com Healthline.com EurekAlert.org Karger.com MedicalNewsToday.com (Natural News) If youre planning to vote Democrat in 2020, just know that youll also be voting in favor of murdering newborn babies who survive botched abortions. In case you havent been paying attention to the news over the past week, there isnt a single Democratic candidate running for president in 2020 who sees new human life whether inside or outside the womb as having any value whatsoever. As reported by Life Site News, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts all voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have required that health care workers provide proper medical care for newborn children whose birth mothers try, but fail, to have them murdered through abortion. By voting down this important bill, every single Democratic candidate in 2020 announced to the world that he or she wants innocent newborn babies to be left for dead as they scream and cry in fear on the operating table following an abortion gone wrong. These same Democratic candidates also see nothing wrong with these live babies then being murdered by abortion doctors and discarded as unwanted medical waste infanticide being the new core value of the Democrat Party. The Act would have required health care practitioners to ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital and it also exempted the mother who gave birth to the child from prosecution, reports Life Site News. For more news about how Democrats hate human life and want to see as much of it as possible exterminated in the name of womens health, be sure to visit Abortions.news. Leftists dont care about human rights they only care about their evil selves While the Republican-controlled Senate voted 53-44 in favor of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, it needed 60 votes to actually pass. Nearly all Democrats, save for Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Doug Jones of Alabama, voted against the bill. President Trump was quick to condemn the death-loving monsters in the Democrat Party who voted against the bill. In a tweet, Trump wrote: Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children. The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they dont mind executing babies AFTER birth. In a follow-up tweet, Trump added: This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress. If there is one thing we should all agree on, its protecting the lives of innocent babies. The Trump-haters on Twitter responded to these tweets in usual form, casting profanity-laden aspersion on the Commander-in-Chief simply for his standing up in defense of human life. These same death-loving satanists, many of them Hollywood celebrities, emphasized their position that babies somehow deserve to die because this represents reproductive rights. Many Democrat Catholics also voted against protecting newborn human life Along with the six Democrat senators running for president in 2020, nine Democrats who identify as Catholic also voted against the bill. These include: Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Patty Murray of Washington, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island. The good news is that this sharp left turn by Democrats into full-on support for infanticide has driven many ordinary Americans sharp right into pro-life territory. While a mid-January poll found that 55 percent of Americans identified as pro-choice compared to 38 percent as pro-life, that percentage has since changed to an equal 47 percent in each category, suggesting that Americans are becoming increasingly anti-abortion. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Japanese and Dutch researchers demonstrated a new technique to extract an important plastic-making chemical from non-edible plant matter in large quantities. Their method of getting furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from a renewable source of material could displace the fossil fuel equivalent that is used to make plastic bottles and other plastic products. There is a growing demand for eco-friendly products that are made from renewable resources, use clean energy during the production process, and produce little in the way of toxic waste and byproducts. Some experts believe that non-food plants could provide the raw resources needed by these products. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is one such biomaterial. Derived from glucose found in non-food plants, it will undergo oxidation if certain metal catalysts are added. The ensuing chemical reaction produces polymers like FDCA, which in turn can be used to make bioplastic products. Oxidizing a diluted solution of HMF biomaterial that measures up to two weight percentage (wt percentage) or less will yield large amounts of FDCA. Many types of different metals can be used to catalyze this reaction, which makes this a very promising approach. (Related: Researchers develop blend of bioplastics that can decompose under diverse conditions.) Unwanted chemical side reactions reduce the efficiency of polymer production However, in order to be considered for industrial uses, a chemical process needs to work on a concentrated solution that ranges from 10-20 wt percentage. And current oxidation methods are unable to achieve a yield that is high enough to fulfill commercial requirements. In earlier experiments involving the minimum 10 wt percent concentrated solution of HMF, only 30 percent of that biomatter got oxidized into FDCA. This is a huge drop in efficiency compared to its effectiveness on 20 percent. Furthermore, many of the formyl groups present in the biomaterial transformed into solid byproducts. These byproducts cannot be used for making plastic products and are considered as waste. To make matters worse, the unwanted side reactions do not just waste biomaterial. They also use up catalysts, which are often expensive metals like gold. Using the acetalization process to boost the efficiency of oxidation The joint team of researchers at Hokkaido University and Eindhoven University of Technology found a way to suppress the wasteful side reactions in HMF. First, they added an organic compound called 1,3-propanediol to HMF, triggering a chemical reaction called acetalization. The formyl groups in HMF are also called aldehyde groups. Acetalization attaches a chemical side chain to these volatile aldehyde groups, turning them into aldehydes that will not be affected by other reactions. When HMF undergoes acetalization, it turns into HMF-acetal. The aldehydes in this new organic compound are much more stable than their precursor; they will not be triggered by the side reactions during the oxidation process. The new process uses 1,3-propanediol as the catalyst for acetalization. The chemical is highly reusable; 80 percent of it can be recovered from every use. Two chemical reactions are more efficient than one The researchers used a gold (Au) catalyst to trigger oxidation in the much more stable HMF-acetal. They reported getting high yields of FDCA polymers from industrial-grade concentrations. Furthermore, they made big improvements to the HMF concentration. It now takes smaller amounts of 1,3-propanediol to trigger oxidation in HMF-acetal, which adds to the materials and energy savings. These results represent a significant advance over the current state of the art, overcoming an inherent limitation of the oxidation of HMF to an important monomer for biopolymer production, explained Kiyotaka Nakajima, a Hokkaido University researcher. Controlling the reactivity of formyl group could open the door for the production of commodity chemicals from sugar-based biomaterials. Sources include: Phys.org OnlineLibrary.Wily.com (Natural News) Despite the grand conspiracy to keep the medicinal benefits of cannabis inaccessible, its growing ever more obvious that marijuana prohibition exists solely to benefit the pharmaceutical industry. Cancer patients around the world are beginning to forego chemotherapy, and instead, are turning to cannabis or cannabis oil to treat their cancer. And as the success stories continue to pile up, some researchers are starting to take note. The U.K.s Daily Mail reported that a grandmother-of-ten from the English city of Derby used cannabis oil to treat her breast cancer. Sixty-nine-year-old Lin Coxon said she opted to start taking cannabis oil while she was waiting to receive an aggressive cancer treatment regimen recommended by doctors. But the cannabis oil worked so well, Coxon said shes now opted out of chemotherapy. After being diagnosed with a 33-millimeter breast tumor that had invaded nearby lymph nodes, doctors told Coxon shed need aggressive treatment they suggested eight rounds of chemo, followed by a lumpectomy, removal of all lymph nodes and subsequent radiotherapy. While waiting to start treatment, Coxon began doing her own research and discovered many stories of people using cannabis oil to treat cancer. After purchasing her own bottle of cannabis oil for a mere 39 ($50.99), Coxon seemingly became a believer. According to her, the cannabis oil caused her tumors to shrink so much, she is no longer planning on following conventional treatment. Coxon commented, The doctor at the Nuffield Hospital was staggered when he saw the tumour had shrunk from 33mm to 11mm and my lymph nodes had gone from 25mm to 10mm. After speaking with her consultant, Coxon decided to hold back on chemotherapy and continue taking cannabis oil instead and says her tumors are still shrinking. The tumour is now down to 7 mm with no medical treatment and the lymph nodes are down to 4mm, she explained. And its not just Ms. Coxon whos had a positive experience with cannabis oil; earlier this year, cannabis oil helped shrink a brain tumor in a four-year-old with brain cancer. As Metro reports, William Frost was first diagnosed with an ependymoma brain tumor in 2014. Even after surgery and chemotherapy, doctors said there was little hope for the young boy. His parents turned to a private clinic, which prescribed cannabidiol (CBD) oil. Within a few short months, Williams tumor had been reduced by two-thirds. He was even well enough to go back to school. While Williams battle with brain cancer isnt over, his consultant Professor Richard Grundy says there is a great need to better understand how CBD oil could work for children with brain cancer. And at St. Georges University in London, researchers are examining the potential health benefits of CBD particularly when it comes to cancer. Dr Wai Liu, senior research fellow, told Daily Mail, Cannabidiol, which is just one element of the cannabis plant and one that does not have any psychoactive effect on people, has been shown to target communication signals that are malfunctioning in cancer cells. It is thought that by correcting these signals we can enable cancer cells to essentially die rather than duplicate. So it may hold the key to understanding how to defeat cancer in some areas, Liu explained further. While scientific research into the undoubtedly vast number of health benefits afforded by cannabis is still lacking, there is no shortage of anecdotal evidence. There are countless stories of CBD oil or other cannabis-related products being used to treat children with seizure disorders, cancer and other ailments. Many adults have also had success with cannabis oil and yet, this natural plant medicine remains under prohibition. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk Metro.co.uk (Natural News) A January 2018 study published in Liver International concluded that cannabis may reduce the incidence of liver disease in alcoholics. The study found that using cannabis correctly significantly lowered the odds of various liver diseases such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer. These findings were based on the analysis of data of more than 320,000 patients who had a history of alcoholism. The exact mechanisms as to why cannabis reduces liver disease risk remain unclear; however researchers suggest that it may have something to do with the proven anti-inflammatory properties of the plant. The authors, who hailed from the University of Quebec, built on a previous study which showed that there was an inverse relationship between cannabis use and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This 2017 study published in PLOS ONE concluded that active cannabis use provides a profound protective effect against NAFLD, independent of other known metabolic risk factors. As with the current study, researchers were unable to pinpoint the precise way cannabis benefits the patients. Nevertheless, these are just two of the more recent studies that prove the necessity of viewing cannabis as an alternative natural therapy. Cannabis remains a controversial topic today, with many people still operating under the misconception that the plant is bad because it gets its users high. But you can blame mainstream media for that there is a lot of misinformation still being passed on today about cannabis, hemp, CBD oil, and the industry in general. It is important to get the facts straight so that people can start benefiting from this truly miraculous plant. First: When science journals refer to cannabis, they mean both hemp and marijuana, two varieties of the plant. However, the two are not interchangeable, as they differ in compounds known as cannabinoids. Hemp varieties of cannabis have almost negligible amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the intoxicating cannabinoid that gets its users high but are rich in the medicinally beneficial cannabidiol (CBD). This doesnt mean that hemp is completely absent of psychoactive compounds, but they do not produce enough THC to have an intoxicating effect. It is CBD that many scientists are looking at as a natural medicine. Studies have shown that medicinal marijuana (what researchers also call hemp to differentiate it from its recreational cousin) is quite effective in reducing chronic pain, particularly pain associated with multiple sclerosis, because of its CBD content. (Related: CBD oil almost miraculous in its ability to prevent pain in MS sufferers.) It is important to note that THC and CBD have the same chemical formula, but only differ with how the atoms are arranged. This nuance explains why THC has a psychoactive effect, while CBD does not. Second: The demonization of both hemp and marijuana is based more on politics rather than actual science. A smear campaign which began in the 1930s to protect certain businesses successfully banned the production and use of cannabis in the U.S. Several of these laws that destroyed the future of hemp are still in place today. Lastly: Despite the proven health benefits of hemp or medical marijuana, mainstream media still denies its usefulness. An example of this would be the banning of the sale of cannabis-infused alcoholic beverages in many states. Concerned government officials said that these beverages were a danger to the public, citing that it was the cannabis that made the drink unhealthy, rather than considering that alcohol may be the problem. Incidentally, a 2015 study published in Scientific Reports suggests that smoking medical marijuana is 114 times safer than drinking alcohol. In the same study, alcohol was considered as the most dangerous drug of all, but remains still very much legal today. Authors of the study concluded with, The results confirm that the risk of cannabis may have been overestimated in the past [emphasis added]. At least for the endpoint of mortality. Interested in learning more about cannabis? Visit MedicalMarijuanaUpdate.com to learn more. Sources include: WakingTimes.com OnlineLibrary.Wiley.com NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov 1 NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov 2 Health.Harvard.edu CBDOilReview.org WeedMaps.com HandsonHemp.com MJBizDaily.com (Natural News) The political establishment throughout the West is growing increasingly concerned that they are losing influence another word for that is control over the masses, as evidenced by the harsh, undemocratic treatment they are meting out against populist firebrands who are mobilizing the masses against them. In the United States, the populist uniter-in-chief without question has been President Donald Trump, rising from the biggest comedic punchline of the 2016 GOP primaries to lead the party into the White House. In Britain, that figure is Tommy Robinson. Jailed last year for months on charges of breaking the peace that is, for daring to speak out publicly against his countrys tainted, biased, globalist-supporting media hes now being targeted by Leftist establishment types in social media and the tech industry as a means of deplatforming him and depriving him of earning a living. Both of these tactics have been employed against leading conservative/populist figures in the United States as well, but the way the British establishment is treating Robinson has caused much more of a stir and is leading the country down a path of unrest and violence. As noted by James Delingpole at Breitbart News, the recent banning of Robinson on Facebook and, earlier, Amazon, Twitter, PayPal, and other platforms represent, collectively, a terrible day for freedom of speech but also possibly even a worse one for the future of social cohesion in Britain. (Related: Twitter now bans people for posting FACTS that offend liberals.) It doesnt matter what Facebook said in banning Robinson because it was a pre-ordained act. The speech Nazis who run the place had already decided to act on behalf of the British media establishment and government, whom Robinson regularly calls out, no matter what he did or what he posted. Officially, he was accused of calling for violence targeted at Muslims, but what that really means is Robinson was critical of radical Islam (as everyone should be, including Muslims), which gave the speech Nazis their excuse. Robinson lays all of this out in a documentary called Panodrama, in which he exposes the BBC and all of British media and the establishment for plotting against him and every other British citizen who opposes the authoritarianism and tyranny of the establishment (see video below). The establishment creates a narrative and punishes anyone who questions it Before he released his documentary, Robinson held a demonstration attended by tens of thousands of people at the BBCs headquarters to protest the fake news BBCs Panorama investigation of him Panorama being, supposedly, an investigative news wing. The BBC, like their American mainstream media counterparts, isnt interested in telling people the truth and allowing them, as fully informed citizens, to make up their own minds about the issues of the day. Like their American counterparts, the BBC picks various narratives that it pushes for its establishment masters. The modern Western media has become the kind of disinformation apparatus that Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels could only dream about. Working in cahoots with the political and globalist establishment, the only truth is their version, and they try to get you to believe it by disbelieving your own eyes. In the U.S., President Trump is the boogyman; racist, bigoted, and authoritarian, despite the fact that our own eyes tell us that hes not. In Britain, Delingpole notes, Robinson is the boogyman. Convicted by the lying press in the court of public opinion, there is no evidence to support the establishments allegations, but there doesnt need to be because the narrative is enough. As for the way Robinsons being treated, could this kind of censorship end up creating more of the violence and hatred which it is professing to suppress? Delingpole writes. I hope not. But I believe it could. The globalist Western establishment has decided we populists and nationalists are a threat to their way of life. We certainly are. And Delingpoles right; if they push us too hard, they will cause us to push back harder. Watch Panodrama: Read more about the coming civil unrest and uprisings throughout the West at Uprising.news. Sources include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Not long ago, it was discovered that the worlds sea levels were substantially higher than they are today. However, this fact seems to have gotten lost amidst the cries of global warming and concerns about rising sea levels. In 2008, an archaeological dig at a fort in Kent revealed a medieval boating dock miles from where the British coast now lies. This means that the ocean levels 2,000 years ago were significantly higher than they are today, and reached much further inland than previously thought. An English Heritage archaeologist named Tony Wilmott commented, It is widely known that Richborough Roman Fort was the gateway to Roman Britain 2,000 years ago. But what is really exciting is that we have actually found the Roman foreshore while digging in a deep trench alongside the remains of a Roman wall. Wilmott went on to say that there had been a strong sense of curiosity surrounding the fallen Roman fort, and that the finding of the Roman harbor was quite engaging. According to Wilmott, this Roman coastline was the original shoreline back in 434 AD, when the Romans first invaded Britain two miles inland from the countrys current coastline. But, if modern climate alarmists were to acknowledge this fact, it would undermine their current efforts at convincing the world that rising sea levels are dangerous and are completely the fault of humanity and modern technology. For example, the rising sea levels are caused by three factors, which can all be attributed to global warming. However, global warming and the factors that allegedly cause it did not exist 2,000 years ago when sea levels were much higher than they are today. Regardless of this fact, the mainstream media continues to rely on climate change scare tactics to frighten the masses. A recent article published by Good on May 10, 2017 was titled, See How Much Seas Will Rise In Your Area While You Still Can classic fear-mongering at its finest. Scientific American also recently published a hit piece on rising sea levels, claiming that areas of Miami and other coastal cities will soon be underwater. Of course, while the article hits on climate change, it fails to mention the fact that studies show that climate change is not new, and the current phase has been going on for centuries. An analysis of the last 150,000 years of sea level history also shows that our current sea level is in the same ballpark as past periods of warming. In other words, while it may be happening, it is likely part of the Earths natural cycles of warming and cooling. Robert W. Endlich, who served as a weather officer in the US Air Force for 21 years and as a US Army meteorologist for 17 years, explains, The facts of history are clear. Sea level was 400 feet lower at the end of the Wisconsin Ice Age, 18,000 years ago. Sea levels rose rapidly until 8,000 years ago. As recently as 1066, when the Normans conquered England, sea levels were quite a bit higher than today. Endlich goes on to note that since the Little Ice Age ended 160 years ago, sea levels have risen at a fairly consistent rate independent of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Sea level change is undoubtedly a part of Earths natural climate cycles, and humans have had little impact on the outcome of these events. As Endlich states, taxes and other such endeavors will not prevent the Earth from changing shape. Sources include: News.BBC.co.uk SkepticalScience.com Good.is WattsUpWithThat.com DNREC.Delaware.gov (Natural News) Last night, Senate Democrats blocked a bill called the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act. The media tells us that this was an anti-abortion bill. The blood-drenched scumbags of NARAL call it an extremist and anti-choice bill. Elizabeth Warren calls it an attack on women. It was none of those things. (Article by Matt Walsh republished from DailyWire.com) The legislation would not restrict abortion at all. It had nothing to do with reproductive rights or choice or fetuses or any handy euphemism. The point was simply to protect those children who are born after a failed abortion. Let me emphasize: the bill in question would have given legal protection to born, living, infant humans. Under the law, had it passed, hospitals would have been required to deliver basic medical care to these children: If an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the infant is a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States, and entitled to all the protections of such laws. Any infant born alive after an abortion or within a hospital, clinic, or other facility has the same claim to the protection of the law that would arise for any newborn, or for any person who comes to a hospital, clinic, or other facility for screening and treatment or otherwise becomes a patient within its care. Criminal penalties were also prescribed for anyone who kills a born infant. It is quite a sad statement that such a law would even need to be proposed in the first place, but thats the state of things. With Democrats in Virginia proposing infanticide and Democratic legislatures across the country pushing the boundaries of abortion legalization further and further toward the point of birth, it became necessary to build a legislative wall protecting, at the very least, any child who manages to escape the gauntlet of the modern womb. Yet Democrats, who are famously opposed to walls, would not support this one, either. With one vote last night, the Democratic Party finally and officially endorsed infanticide. We have come plummeted is probably the better word a long way since 2002, when the Born Alive Infant Protection Act passed unanimously through the Senate. That bill recognized all born children as human persons, which is a position that has since fallen out of favor in the Democratic Party. In just over a decade and a half, Democrats have gone from safe, legal, and rare abortions to kill em all and dont stop when theyre born. Many of us warned that the first slogan would lead eventually to the second. We take no pleasure in our vindication. But the question of how we arrived at this point is academic. The most immediate and practical point is that we are here now in a place where every Democrat in the Senate, save three holdouts, supports fourth-trimester abortion. The Democrat Party has been for a long while, and is now inescapably, an evil institution. A decent person cannot in good conscience remain affiliated with it. That isnt to say that every decent person must be a Republican. The Republican Party, after all, is hardly a bastion of moral courage. But a person with any sort of moral foundation, a person with any ethical sense whatsoever, cannot and will not align himself with a political institution that passionately defends abortion through every stage of pregnancy and beyond. This is not about ideology or opinions or politics. This is just about basic humanity. The Democrat Party could be right about everything else it espouses (it isnt), and its performance on this issue would still be enough to repel all men and women of virtue. There are some lines that simply cannot be crossed. A political party may have a lot of good ideas but it will still be a hideous blight on the Earth if it advocates slavery. Infanticide (and abortion, which is morally and physically indistinguishable from infanticide) belongs in that same category. It is probably not a coincidence that the Democrat Party, through its long and sordid history, has supported both of those peculiar institutions. What a force for evil it has been. But what amazing consistency to always fall on the wrong side of every human rights issue. Read more at: DailyWire.com Two broken windows at the Salesforce Tower have experts looking for a cause. The Department of Building Inspection said the inside pane of the two double-paned windows broke last week, a little over a year after the tower opened. One of the 12th floor broke last Tuesday followed by a break on the 14h floor Thursday. People walking in the area said the development is alarming because of where the tower is, right across the street from the dinking and twisting Millennium Tower and next to the Transbay Terminal thats clsed because of a cracked beam. "The fact that windows would break it doesn't matter something is off I hope they take care of it," said San Francisco resident Mahtab Nikoo. In a statement, Boston Properties said, "Because the cracks were on the interior panes of the double-paned windows, there was never any danger of glass falling to the street. We acted immediately to retain top glass safety consultants to help us determine the cause of these isolated failures and to take all necessary preventative steps." The windows will be replaced in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the property managers placed temporary barricades in front of the windows. California's 1,300 charter schools will soon face stricter transparency requirements under legislation pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. State lawmakers sent Newsom, a Democrat, the bill Thursday, on the sixth day of a teachers strike in Oakland, the second major teachers strike for California this year. California law has until now been unclear on whether charter schools must hold public meetings, respond to public records requests and adopt conflict-of-interest policies. Teachers unions have demanded more transparency and argued charter schools drain money that should go to traditional public schools. "More transparency and higher ethical standards for charters is certainly needed, but the charter schools transparency bill doesn't go far enough," said Ismael Armendariz, 1st vice president of the Oakland Education Association, in a statement. Charter schools groups are split on the measure. The California Charter Schools Association doesn't have a formal position, while the Charter School Development Center said the bill sets onerous restrictions designed to "cripple" the state's charter schools. California passed its charter school law in 1992, calling public charter schools a way to increase student opportunity, promote innovative teaching methods and provide "vigorous competition" for public schools. Beyond California, a debate has raged nationally over whether charter schools enhance student opportunities or diminish the overall quality of public schools. Beyond holding open meetings, the bill would require charter schools to adopt conflict-of-interest policies aimed at preventing board members from profiting. It says teachers can still serve on charter school boards, as many do, but may not vote on anything that would directly affect their employment. Carlos Marquez, senior vice president of the California Charter Schools Association, told The Sacramento Bee that many charter schools already open their meetings and that he hoped the law would end "falsehoods" that people who run charters are "looking to line their pockets." He praised Newsom for finding compromise. But the Charter School Development Center, another charter lobbying group, said the bill sets onerous restrictions that in some cases go beyond what's required of public schools. The conflict of interest requirements, in particular, may be difficult for charter schools to navigate, the group said on its website. A representative from the group did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. Whether or not charter schools are subject the same transparency laws as public schools is a yearslong debate. Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued an opinion saying they were in December -- seven years after Lassen County's district attorney requested a ruling on the matter. Robert Burns, a former district attorney, didn't immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment about what prompted the question. Newsom's spokesman, Nathan Click, said the governor plans to sign the law. Similar efforts in the past died in the Legislature or were vetoed by former Gov. Jerry Brown. "The governor took a leadership role in helping get this bill to the finish line," Click said in an email. "He is pleased that this effort has received support from a broad coalition of teachers, parents, charter school supporters and open government advocates." Democratic State Sen. Connie Leyva, the bill's author, said it will provide communities and parents "fair and open access to participate in the decisions and collective missions of their charter schools." The Mountain View Police Department released a sketch of a suspect in a violent assault on the Stevens Creek Trail that left a woman seriously injured Monday night. A woman visiting from Massachusetts said she was walking along the trail near the bridge to Creekside Park just before 10 p.m. when an unknown man, who introduced himself as Jerry, approached her from behind and attempted to interact with her. The woman said she refused and the suspect then grabbed her and pushed her into the bushes before punching her multiple times in the face, police said. People walking along the trail spotted him and yelled at him. The woman then reportedly bit him while he tried to muffle her screams. The victim was able to escape the suspect and was treated for serious injuries to her face. The suspect, described as a 6-foot man between 20 and 30 years old, got away. He was last seen with short hair, wearing a gray Golden State Warriors sweater and was described as having a Caribbean accent. Police are actively investigating the incident and ask anyone with information contact Detective Robert Medina at robert.medina@mountainview.gov. More teachers and protesters packed the State Building in Oakland Thursday as negotiations between the Oakland teachers union and the school district appeared to go nowhere on the sixth day of the strike. Security personnel at Elihu M. Harris State Office Building were unable to stop hundreds of demonstrators carrying picket signs, playing instruments and shouting demands of better pay for teachers, smaller class sizes and more resources for students. "We are Oakland educators. We want justice for our students. Were not asking anymore, were demanding," the union said. Earlier in the day, protesters gathered at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza with giant banners that listed their demands. Comedian W. Kamau Bell joined them after he was walking around and saw the large crowd, he said. "We need to support our public schools. I'm right here with you. Look, I know it doesn't matter whether your kids go to public schools or not, whether you have kids, whether you like kids, because stronger public schools leads to a stronger, better society," Bell said. On Day 6 of our historic strike, we took our power to the State Building, and took it over to demand the schools our students deserve. Oakland educators, students, parents do you feel your power? #OUSDstrike #Unite4OaklandKids #WeAreOakland pic.twitter.com/WGsfwfqOVV Oakland Education Association (@OaklandEA) February 28, 2019 The group was able to get the Oakland school board to postpone a scheduled Wednesday meeting to Friday. At the meeting, the board is expected to vote on the district's proposal to make $21.75 million in budget cuts for the 2019-20 school year, as the district says it faces a $56 million budget shortfall by 2020-21 if no reductions are made. The district said in a statement, "These reductions are needed to prioritize investing in a raise for our Oakland Education Association members that will help students and teachers return to school as soon as possible. "We are disheartened by tactics that directly interfere with the district's ability to give the teachers a raise and get students and teachers back into classrooms." The teachers' strike began last Thursday after two years of failed negotiations between the union and the school district and likely will continue for a seventh day on Friday. [BAY]'On Strike': Oakland Teachers Strike in Photos The teachers' union is seeking a 12 percent pay raise over three years, and the district previously offered a 5 percent raise over three years. But last week, the district made a new offer of 8.5 percent over four years. However, OEA President Keith Brown has said that's still not enough to meet the union's demand for a living wage that addresses the high cost of living in Oakland. The district said that on Monday it increased its offer to an 8 percent ongoing raise plus a 2 percent bonus for a total increase of 10 percent. The district said, "Collectively, we could end this strike now. We look forward to receiving a new proposal from the OEA and remain hopeful that we will reach an agreement soon." What to Know Smartphones have replaced all but a few point-and-shoot camera models, and camera stores draw slim profit margins on high-end digital gear Some camera stores have survived by adapting, in part to a growing demand for high quality video A new fixed-lens camera from Ricoh and an uptick in used film camera sales could signal renewed interest in more traditional photography In a nondescript office at the edge of San Francisco's financial district, a few reporters were invited for an early glimpse of a hotly anticipated new camera that, at first glance, looks like a museum piece from days gone by. The Ricoh GR III resembles dozens of cameras that came and went during the 1990s and early 2000s: black, pocket-sized, with a few knobs and a fixed 28mm wide-angle lens that retracts into the body. "Folks that don't know the history of the GR would consider it a point and shoot camera," said travel photographer William Hereford, who presented the camera to reporters. "Historically, the GR is the ultimate street camera." Jonathan Bloom/NBC Bay Area Prized by a veritable cult of street photographers for its speed, one-handed controls and unassuming looks, the GR is among the last fixed-lens pocket cameras still made. Now, the latest version of the camera has to contend with a formidable competitor: the smartphone that's already in your pocket. "They need to sell cameras to people who've decided, 'Well, I have a camera which is 99 percent good enough. Why do I need to buy a separate camera?'" said SlashGear editor Chris Davies, one of the journalists reviewing the GR III. The search for answers to that question led us to explore how camera makers and local camera stores are surviving in the age of the smartphone. We started to find the answers when we met Jerry Grossman, who's the executive director of an industry group called The Imaging Alliance. "Smartphones are good cameras we can't argue with that," Grossman said. "Real cameras take different kinds of pictures that people might be missing." [NATL-BAY] A Photo Walk With Ricoh's New GR III Camera What Grossman told us is the crux of a new industry-wide push to show people the pictures they're missing, right on the very device that's nearly spelled the point-and-shoot camera's demise. His group is promoting an Instagram hashtag #RealCamerasRock that brings up pages of beautiful photographs that would be difficult or impossible to reproduce with a phone. The photos feature long exposure times, shallow focus and extreme telephoto shots the kinds of photographs where a smartphone often falls flat. It's a sales technique that's familiar to Spencer Pon one of the co-owners of Fireside Camera on San Francisco's Chestnut Street. Inside the store, the walls are lined with printed photos that show off what "real" cameras can do. Jonathan Bloom/NBC Bay Area "That was the blood moon from a couple Sundays ago," Pon said as he pointed to a framed print of a red moon on the wall of the store. "With a phone, you'd see a little dot in your picture, which is completely useless." Fireside Camera is among the last of the Bay Area's neighborhood camera stores now recognized by the city as a Legacy Business. A Yelp search for "camera store" in San Francisco yields 63 results, but many of those are actually businesses that take passport photos, or electronics stores catering to tourists in Fisherman's Wharf. Outside of that neighborhood, fewer than a dozen San Francisco stores list camera sales as their primary offering. "We've had people come in here that say, '(The) first time I came in here, (I was) 4 or 5 years old,'" Pon said. "We've seen them grow up, and they actually have their own kids now." Pon said family tradition is an important part of the photo business: Kids who grew up with parents who were into photography are likely to take to the hobby themselves as adults. And once they have their own kids, he said, they often come looking for new ways to document family memories. "They want to take pictures of their kids, they want better quality," he said. "Those are a lot of the people who are driving sales now." Pon said Fireside Camera, which was opened by the Fireside family in 1954, has steadily changed with the times even selling drones for a short while, and most recently becoming one of the Bay Area's biggest repositories for GoPro action camera accessories. But he said the latest hot seller is something no one expected: used film cameras. Jonathan Bloom/NBC Bay Area "There's a lot of young people who are trying to get into photography. They're taking classes, and they want that photo experience," he said. "The cameras that were your basic cameras back in the 70s are what's selling, and they're selling for more than they sold for new, in some cases." Samy's Camera, the South-of-Market superstore that's well known to pro photographers, has also seen an uptick in film camera sales, and even in darkroom supplies, said rental manager Quin Boreen. "20-30 years later, here we have bell bottoms again," he said. "Things go in circles." But at the same time as it stocks up on film for those rediscovering the art, Boreen said Samy's is catering to an entirely different crowd: YouTubers and Instagrammers looking to up their photo and video game. "For a lot of these younger generations," he said, "I think Instagram, social media, YouTube that is the new art form." Israel's attorney general on Thursday recommended criminal charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, shaking up an already tumultuous election campaign and threatening to end the Israeli leader's decades-long political career. The potential charges stretch across an array of embarrassing scandals that have painted Netanyahu as a hedonistic, and sometimes petty, leader with a taste for expensive gifts and an obsession over his public image. They include allegations he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, and allegedly used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favorable coverage on a popular news site. While a final decision on charges is still months away, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's recommendations threatened to hurt Netanyahu's standing in the heat of a tight re-election battle. Netanyahu quickly faced calls to immediately step aside while he deals with the distraction of trying to clear his name. Appearing on national TV late Thursday, Netanyahu dismissed the allegations as an "unprecedented witch hunt" by political opponents intent on seeing him lose the April 9 election. He called the timing of the recommendations "outrageous" and accused prosecutors of caving in to pressure from "the left." Appearing emotional at times, he called the case a "blood libel," said he would debunk all charges and vowed to remain prime minister for many years. "This house of cards will collapse," he said as he addressed voters. "Don't let this witch hunt affect you." Mandelblit announced his recommendations after more than two years of intense investigations and deliberations by police, legal experts and financial regulators. "The attorney general has reached his decision after thoroughly examining the evidence collected during the investigations," his statement said. Netanyahu was not formally charged. Under Israeli law, he is entitled to defend himself at a hearing before charges are officially filed. That process is expected to take many months and be completed long after the election. Tomer Naor of the Movement for Quality Government, a watchdog group, said the hearing process could take about a year. While charges are not guaranteed, he said most of the cases, particularly the bribery case, appeared to be solid. The recommendations nonetheless plunged Israel into uncharted legal waters, marking the first time in its history that a sitting prime minister is so close to facing criminal charges. While Israeli prime ministers are not required by law to resign if charged, the prospect of a prime minister standing trial while simultaneously running the country could increase calls, even from his allies, to step down. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who spent time in prison for corruption, stepped down a decade ago, months before police completed an investigation against him. As opposition leader, Netanyahu called on Olmert to step down before his indictment, saying he could not devote his full attention to governing. Netanyahu has a solid base of hard-line, nationalist and religious voters who are likely to rally behind him. For now, Likud officials and his current coalition partners are also supporting him. But polls have indicated that the upcoming vote, in which Netanyahu is seeking a fourth consecutive term, could be swayed by a small number of voters who abandon him in favor of a new centrist party headed by a popular former military chief, Benny Gantz. Those voters could well be turned off by Netanyahu's lengthy rule and never-ending scandals. Gantz, whose campaign has focused heavily on Netanyahu's character, late Thursday called on Netanyahu to resign immediately to deal with his legal problems. He said Israel could not afford to have a "part-time prime minister." "Let's imagine our reality when the prime minister needs to divide his time between court and dealing with the critical issues facing the state of Israel," he said. Even before Thursday's announcement, Netanyahu's campaign had shown signs of trouble. The alliance formed by Gantz and Yair Lapid, another centrist leader, has been welcomed by voters. Their "Blue and White" alliance enjoys a slight lead in opinion polls, making them the first credible threat to Netanyahu's decade-long rule. Lapid also called on Netanyahu to step down. "This is a sad day for the state of Israel," he said. "If Netanyahu loves the state of Israel as he always says he does, then he needs to do what's best for the country. He needs to resign, immediately." Netanyahu has also come under fire, both in Israel and abroad, for forming a partnership with the political heirs of an ultranationalist party that was banned for its racist views toward Arabs. The campaign now appears to be morphing into a referendum on Netanyahu as he seeks to become the longest-serving premier in Israeli history. Netanyahu has been prime minister since 2009 and served a previous term between 1996 and 1999. Netanyahu had previously tried unsuccessfully to persuade Mandelblit to delay publication of his recommendations until after the election. And on Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Likud Party to block publication. The most serious allegations against Netanyahu involve his relationship with Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israel's telecom giant Bezeq. Mandelblit recommended a bribery charge in the case based on evidence collected that confidants of Netanyahu promoted regulatory changes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Bezeq. In exchange, they believe Netanyahu used his connections with Elovitch to receive positive press coverage on Bezeq's popular news site Walla. A related charge against Netanyahu's wife, Sara, was dropped. Mandelblit's statement said there was a unanimous opinion among investigators that the relationship between Netanyahu and the Elovitches was "give or take," constituting bribery. Mandelblit also filed breach of trust charges in two other cases. One involves accepting gifts from billionaire friends, including over $300,000 worth of champagne and cigars from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan. The second revolves around alleged offers of advantageous legislation for a major newspaper in return for favorable coverage. Mandelblit's office said the timing of Netanyahu's hearing would be set in the near future in coordination with the prime minister's lawyers. President Donald Trump, with whom Netanyahu has forged a close connection, offered the Israeli leader a boost earlier Thursday. "I can say this: that he's done a great job as prime minister. He's tough, he's smart, he's strong," Trump said in Hanoi, where he was holding a summit with the leader of North Korea. Yohanan Plesner, a former lawmaker who now heads the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent think tank, said he does not expect any dramatic changes in voting patterns, but there could be small enough shifts "that can actually make the difference." Plesner said from a "practical standpoint," Netanyahu should step down due to the severity of the charges. "But this will probably not happen," he said. CORRECTION (Feb. 28, 2019, 1:05 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Netanyahu had been charged. Charges were recommended but a final decision will only come after a hearing. The House Intelligence Committee intends to call Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, to testify, a source with direct knowledge of the situation tells NBC News. The committee's intention to call Weisselberg was first reported by the Daily Beast. The move comes after Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime fixer, repeatedly cited Weisselberg as having firsthand knowledge of alleged financial irregularities in his public testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. The chairman of that committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., also expressed interest in hearing from Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives. Note: You can watch the forum in its entirety on NBC 5 and in the video player above beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. CST. Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle will square off Thursday in the first televised forum of the final two candidates for Chicago mayor ahead of the runoff election. NBC 5 and Telemundo Chicago, in partnership with the Union League Club of Chicago and the Chicago Urban League, will host the forum beginning at 6 p.m. on March 7. The entire event will be broadcast live on NBC 5, on NBCChicago.com and on the NBC Chicago app. It will also be simultaneously translated live in Spanish on Telemundo Chicago, TelemundoChicago.com and on the Telemundo Chicago app. The hour-long event will be broadcast live from NBC Tower and moderated by NBC 5 political editor Carol Marin, with NBC reporter Mary Ann Ahern and Telemundos Benjamin Zamora taking questions from the audience. Lightfoot and Preckwinkle advanced to the runoff election after garnering 17 and 16 percent of the vote, respectively, to finish first and second of the 14 candidates running in the municipal election on Tuesday. The runoff election, held when no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote outright, is scheduled for April 2. "We look forward to Chicagos top political team questioning the candidates about the issues facing our city," said Frank Whittaker, NBC 5 station manager and vice president of news. "It promises to be a lively and informative hour for our viewers." "It is important to bring each mayoral candidates stance on the issues to the Spanish-speaking audience so they can make an informed decision on April 2," said Diana Maldonado, vice president of news for Telemundo Chicago. Both stations previously hosted the first forum of the candidates for governor ahead of the November election, plus the first forum of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates before the March 2018 primary, as well as a 2014 forum of Republican candidates for Illinois governor and the award-winning Chicago Mayoral Debate in 2015. You can join the conversation about Thursday's mayoral forum on social media using the hashtag #ChiMayorForum. DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick was on-site at the mass shooting at an Aurora factory Feb. 15, where five employees were shot and five police officers critically wounded. Returning to the office, he says he set about to immediately pursue the FOID cards and guns of those who shouldnt have them. In policing, youve got to try something different every once in a while, Mendrick told NBC 5. Im hell bent to do whatever it takes to get these guns out of the homes and out of possession of people who could harm someone else or themselves. Its a tall order. Aurora gunman Gary Martin should not have had any weapons. His Illinois Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card had been revoked in 2014 but no one ever checked to see if he surrendered his card or his weapons. In fact, that virtually never happens. The Illinois State Police will typically only revoke a FOID card if new or previously unreported felonies are discovered, or if the holder has a disqualifying mental condition. But of last years 10,818 revocations, only 3,469 people surrendered their cards. And an abysmal 2,616 filled out the required forms, informing the state how they were disposing of their guns. That means most, like Martin, probably kept their guns. It happens every year---and almost no follow-up is ever done. In 2018, only 10 people were prosecuted for failing to obey the law. As a sheriff, I say we do whatever it takes to get it done, said Mendrick. I mean there comes a point where we say the violence outweighs the archaic, systematic law structure that now exists. Starting last week, Mendrick assigned social workers to immediately start contacting those who have had their gun privileges revoked, to ask for voluntary compliance in surrendering their FOID card and any weapons. Believe it or not, our first letter, that enhanced letter that we put out with the changes, we had our first one was voluntarily brought in, guns and the card, he said. If that first approach doesnt work after 48 hours, Mendrick says he will send officers to knock on the door. The demands will be the same---surrender your FOID card and do you have any guns? But that second question is a thorny one. Police have no way of determining how many weapons that FOID holder ever bought. And even if the gun-owners FOID card has been revoked, Mendricks officers cant just walk in and search. We need probable cause, he says. We cant just assume you have guns. Somebody could give you one gun and still have 12 more. Thats because of the secrecy built into the system. When purchases are made, gun store employees are required to access the states F-TIP database, to check a buyers background for disqualifying conditions. But the actual purchase information is kept confidential. Cook County sheriff Tom Dart says he will introduce legislation in Springfield, calling for F-TIP information to be shared with law enforcement. Do they have a hundred guns? We have no idea, says Dart. Wed be able to then take the gunsthey would either go to a responsible person or law enforcement. Mendrick said he agreed with Darts sentiments, but he intends to start now in addressing the issue. But he agreed, hes been given a flawed law to work with, one which emphasizes voluntary surrender of a firearm card over any actual system of getting guns out of the wrong hands. Theyre sending us to pick up a piece of plastica cardand not giving us much, I would say teeth, to get the guns, he said. I hate to see so much discussion about a small rectangular card, when the goal is not the card, its the guns! Post-Aurora, Mendrick said his office is also contacting local businesses, asking for the layouts of their buildings. The Aurora shooter hid out for nearly an hour while police searched a giant warehouse, potentially exposing themselves to fatal scenarios. Were collecting floor plans of all the buildings so we know where the rooms are, he said. Were also asking that businesses and schools have numbers designating which doors are ingress or egress. He said his office is also exploring technology which would allow officers to have live video feeds from surveillance cameras forwarded in real time to their phones. You can actually address the threat on your terms, he said. And much more quickly. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois on Thursday sued the Chicago Police Department for the release of information related to the department's expanded social media monitoring task force announced last summer. The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges that CPD violated the Illinois Freedom of Information Act when it "failed to release any requested records regarding its expanded social media monitoring task force" to the ACLU last year. Our redesigned local news and weather app is live! Download it for iOS or Android and sign up for alerts. With the lawsuit, the ACLU is seeking an order requiring Chicago police to release said records, pay civil penalties and attorney fees, among other relief. At issue is the social media task force Chicago police and Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced in August 2020 following protests in Chicago and around the world after a police officer killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly 9 minutes in Minneapolis in late May. Chicago also saw multiple rounds of looting throughout the city in the summer months, after which Lightfoot and police unveiled the new task force to monitor online activity that could indicate any future plans. "As we've seen over these past few months, social media platforms have repeatedly been used to organize large groups of people to engage in illegal activity," Lightfoot said in announcing the task force on Aug. 14. Lightfoot said the 20-person unit within the Crime Prevention and Information Center would be focused on 24-hour social media monitoring of all open source information, reviewing key term searches and relevant pages or accounts. The ACLU said it sent CPD a FOIA request on Aug. 26, 2020, seeking public records related to the department's expanded social media monitoring, including the purpose for the initiative, the criteria under which they would monitor particular accounts, how that information would be used and more. The ACLU and CPD corresponded multiple times over the scope and nature of the request, culminating in CPD's denial of the FOIA request on the grounds that it was exempt because complying would "compromise" law enforcement's investigative work and effectiveness. In its lawsuit, the ACLU argued that the exemptions Chicago police cited don't justify withholding the records requested and that as such, CPD has violated FOIA. CPDs record on respecting personal privacy is abysmal, attorney Ariana Bushweller, who was was part of the legal team filing the lawsuit, said in a statement. With that history, CPD must provide public records that answer basic questions about why the City is monitoring social media accounts, who has access to the information collected, and how the information is being used. The public needs this information to learn whether this latest surveillance is wrongfully targeting Black and Brown people, as has too often been the case across the country, including the surveillance of Black activists. The ACLU of Illinois has previously expressed concerns over police monitoring of online activity, criticizing CPD in 2019 over the department's use of aggregation companies such as Dunami and Geofeedia, which can comb through vast amounts of data from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many others, and can plot them on a map to look for trends. Despite the criticism, Chicago police have expressed their support for the continuing use of such software, saying it's particularly key to gang enforcement efforts as communication has shifted online. Employees at an Illinois Tollway customer service center say the building has a bed bug problem--even though an exterminator says otherwise. Smithereen says its never found a resident population of bedbugs in the building and a Feb. 11 inspection showed no evidence of them. The tollway is customer service center is in the lower level of the student center at 750 South Halsted. "I was told this issue has been going on for years and they don't seem to do anything to resolve it and many employees admit they have been bitten too," employee Gina Garcia said. She claims that management and human resources refused to help her. "One coworker found a bedbug on the table," she said. Garcia says she and her coworkers at the Illinois Tollway call center have repeatedly been bitten by bed bugs at work. "Almost every week somebodys complaining that theyre scared," she said. "And in the coat room theyve seen some on their coat." NBC 5 reached out to the Chicago Lighthouse, and on Friday night, Dr. Janet Szlyk, the President and CEO of the group, provided the network with the following statement: It is heartbreaking that an agency that works so hard to take care of people, including offering in-home assistance when needed, and provides meaningful employment to people from disadvantaged communities, is unfairly and inaccurately portrayed as being uncaring and non-responsive to our workers concerns about insects at the Illinois Tollway Customer Service Center. We take every possible step to provide a safe, comfortable workplace for our valued workers at the call center, including using two separate pest control companies to conduct 6 inspections monthly, and even paying for a company to visit workers homes to eliminate insect issues there to prevent those workers from inadvertently bringing insects into their workplace. We will continue to pursue our critical core mission of providing social services and job opportunities to thousands of Illinois residents annually. Garcia says that while working at the center, in the lower level of UIC Chicago, she might have two hundred employees beside her on any given day. They said, in their twice monthly inspections, with monitors and canines, they believe that the occasional bedbugs found in the space are most likely brought in from the outside environment. The letter goes on to say that Smithereen has never found a resident population of bedbugs in the center. "Even if its our fault or not, (there are) other ways to get rid of the infestation," Garcia said. "They said its not infestation but still there should not be bedbugs in a work area." Empire actor Jussie Smollett reportedly wrote on a check to one of the brothers he is accused of paying to stage an attack on him that he was paying for a nutrition and workout program. Images of the check, first published by TMZ, show a $3,500 payment to Abimbola Osundairo, the same amount police allege the actor paid Osundairo and his brother to stage a racist, anti-gay attack on him. A memo line on the check read "5 week nutrition/workout program (Don't go)." The check was dated Jan. 23, six days before Smollett claimed he was attacked in Chicago. TMZ also published text messages between Smollett and one of the brothers in January discussing grocery lists, meal plans and music video shoots. The publication reported Smollett was looking to lose weight before shooting the music video for his song "Don't Go," which would feature him shirtless. Sources familiar with the material told NBC News the images are authentic, but it remains unclear if they are related to the case against Smollett. NBC News has not reviewed the check or texts. Police say Smollett, who is black and gay, claimed two masked men attacked him last month in downtown Chicago, hurling slurs and looping a rope around his neck. Investigators say he planned the hoax, soliciting the help of a friend and the friend's brother, because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career. Smollett denies the allegations and has maintained his innocence. "The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election," Smollett's legal team said in a statement last week. "Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence." Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told NBC Sunday the department stands behind its investigation. Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson told "Good Morning America" Monday "there's a lot more evidence that hasn't been presented yet and does not support the version [Smollett] gave." "It's important for people to recognize that it's not the Chicago Police Department saying he did something, it's the evidence, the facts and the witnesses that are saying this," Johnson said in the interview. A Naperville man was charged this week with stealing the identity of a west suburban couple after their personal information was compromised during a 2015 data breach at the University of Chicago, police said. Rehan Arif, a 21-year-old from Plainfield, was charged with felony counts of financial identity theft after he was arrested Tuesday in an investigation on behalf of a Riverside couple who reported thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases made in their names, according to a news release from Riverside police. The woman, 58, and her husband were former employees at the UChicago Department of Medicine, which was hacked in 2015, police said. Arif allegedly snatched the 58-year-olds identity after it was taken from the breach and posted on the dark web that year. He used her name, address and bank info to order items to her Riverside home before swapping the address out for a home that was for sale, foreclosed or vacant, police said. While monitoring tracking numbers on his laptop, Arif stooped out the empty home in his vehicle, police said. He then scooped up the packages from the front door. The most recent address used was that of a vacant property in the 5600 block of Bergamot Court in Naperville, police said. That was where Arif was arrested. The investigation began Feb. 19 when the 58-year-old called police to report fraudulent charges on her bank card and a delivery of a bass guitar she did not order, police said. She also logged on her bank account and saw over $500 in charges to a guitar store in Santa Monica, a California technology center and clothing stores. The 58-year-old relayed that between Feb. 14 and 19, she lost over $2,000 in fraudulent purchases, police said. About 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the 58-year-old told police she received an alert that packages she did not order were arriving at a Naperville address, police said. It was traced to a vacant home in foreclosure. Riverside and Naperville police staked out the building and saw Arif walk up to a bundle of packages recently delivered by FedEx, police said. He threw them inside his 2005 Nissan Sentra and drove away. Naperville police pulled Arif over in the 4000 block of 111th Street, police said. He was arrested, and the packages as well as his Nissan were seized. This is a very complex identity fraud scheme and detectives are still working this case even though the defendant has been arrested, Riverside police chief Tom Weitzel said in the news release. Police said detectives are combing through phones and electronic devices to find more evidence. Edgerton, Wisconsin, police are also working with Riverside officers to investigate $16,000 in fraudulent purchases made under the names of the couple in that state, police said. This Riverside resident had been victim of fraud repeatedly until the arrest occurred this Tuesday, Weitzel said. Authorities in Northern California have reopened the roads into two towns cut off for days by a rain-swollen river and residents and work crews have started cleaning up the muck that flooding left behind. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Friday it lifted evacuation orders issued for about 3,500 people, allowing residents of Guerneville and Monte Rio who left to return home. The statement urges people to be careful because crews are still clearing roads of debris. Along the main road in Guerneville, residents and business owners are inspecting muddy restaurants, hardware stores and homes inundated when the Russian River broke its banks Wednesday. On Wednesday, television news footage showed muddy brown water nearly swallowing his ground-level unit and much of the tiny town of Guerneville, part of Sonoma County's famed wine country and a popular tourist destination. Residents awoke Thursday to sunshine and began assessing the damage while the water started receding. Tom Orr, 48, was among those still unable to get into his house after the rain-swollen Russian River reached nearly 46 feet Wednesday night, its highest level in more than 20 years. "I feel so helpless just sitting here and waiting before I can go back and start salvaging whatever I can," Orr said in text messages to The Associated Press before preparing for a friend to take him by canoe to work at the Main Street Bistro, one of the few places in town that did not flood. Sonoma County officials said they expected the communities of Guerneville and Monte Rio to be accessible by car Friday. The two-day storm rendered the towns reachable only by boat on Wednesday. One National Weather Service station measured 20 inches of rain in 48 hours. Lifelong Guerneville resident Cynthia Bush, who lives in an elevated home, was one of the people who decided not to evacuate. "Even in the other floods we stayed here. We pulled our trailer in the backroad and stayed in the trailer," Bush said. "Its just a river. When you live on a river all your life. You just learn to go with flow," she continued. But some locals and business owners are frustruated by the constant flooding. Michael Hagan, an owner of a Guerneville auto shop, said his business got flood twice in one year. "That means you put all your money from the flood into it and you lose every dime youve ever had," Hagan said. "Every business in this town just scratches by anyway. Everybody in this town goes to Santa Rosa to spend their money anyway. How do you recover when people dont even recognize youre back in business?" Hagan continued. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Sonoma County Thursday, as well as in counties of Amador, Glenn, Lake and Mendocino, in response to flooding, mudslides and storm damages While no flood-related serious injuries or deaths were reported in Sonoma County, a man about 150 miles to the north in Ferndale died trying to reach three children. The unidentified man was trying to walk from a barn to his home through up to 5 feet of water Wednesday evening when he was carried away by the fast-moving current, said Samantha Karges, a spokeswoman with the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office. Two adults and a child tried to rescue the man, but their tractor stalled in the water. Deputies in a boat then rescued them and the three children from the home, Karges said. The missing man's body was found Thursday morning. He was the father of a 12-year-old trapped in the home with two children under 4, Karges said. She was not sure if all three children were related. The low-lying rural area about 215 miles north of San Francisco is home to many dairy farms and flooded when the Eel River went over its banks. In Sonoma County, Guerneville and Monte Rio remained cut off by floodwaters that swamped the communities. Water was chest-high in some places, several feet in others. In downtown Guerneville, some residents stood on the roofs of their flooded two-story houses, watching neighbors and others paddling kayaks, canoes and rowboats down watery streets. Oversized National Guard truck occasionally sloshed by. Drone video showed a sign reading "Monte Rio awaits your return" hanging over muddy water that hid any trace of the road beneath. In Sonoma County, Sheriff Mark Essick said Thursday that three women had to be rescued. Two were on a boat without paddles, and one was rescued from a tree after driving her car into floodwaters, he said. About 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures were flooded by water up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) deep. About 3,500 people were under evacuation orders. In addition, two wastewater treatment plants were not working, leading to concerns about sewage spills, said Briana Khan, a Sonoma County spokeswoman. Guerneville, a town of 4,500, is a former logging community now popular with day-tripping tourists, including gays and lesbians who flock to the town's resorts and fine restaurants. Throughout the storm, residents with canoes and kayaks gave rides to neighbors and documented the rising water with photos posted to social media. Locals are accustomed to the Russian River flooding in rainy weather, but not like this. In Monte Rio, 28-year-old Michael Super watched helplessly as water seeped in from five different entry points, including doors and walls. He grabbed the cat and dog and found higher ground. He said the landlord has insurance, but the silt and dirty water are a mess to clean. "A lot of the furniture will have to go into the dump," he said. "We've seen oil and gas sheens and alcohol bottles so the water is unsafe." Orr moved to Guerneville about five years ago, driven out of San Francisco by rising costs. He helped create a dinner theater show at a local restaurant. It didn't work out, but he stayed on, unable to move back to the city. He started moving items out of his house Tuesday afternoon, humming a version of "My Funny Valentine" called "My Floody Valentine" to keep up his spirits. By 10 p.m., the water was too high for him to get inside. He doesn't have insurance, but the items he hopes survive are not easily replaceable: computers, floppy disks and videotapes containing decades of essays, performances, ideas for musicals and "sassy satirical parodies of Broadway show tunes." He's a cabaret performer accustomed to cracking jokes to keep the grief at bay. "This is the most serious thing that's ever happened to me, but I don't know the punchline," he said. "For now, I'm trying to do my best to keep everybody laughing." Colchester is the latest Connecticut town to fall victim to hackers, according to the town's first selectman. Colchester First Selectman Art Shilosky confirmed that computers on the town networks are infected with ransomware. He would not say how many departments are affected or when the issue was discovered, but said that Connecticut State Police and their insurance carriers are investigating. Colchester is far from the first town to suffer a cyberattack. Back in October, the City of West Haven paid $2,000 in digital currency to unlock its servers. A local tech expert said money is the main motive behind attacks like these "They're not taking the files. They're basically leaving the files where they are. They're encrypting those files, making them inaccessible until the ransom is paid, explained Lon Seidman. Last year, a dozen state agencies were hit by ransomware attacks, but no sensitive data was compromised. Seidman said the best defense against a ransom attack is a good backup system. He also said its important to train employees on how to spot suspicious emails, because thats usually how malware gets into a system. From homicides to bank robberies to kidnappings, Connecticut State Police Major Crime Squad investigations run the gamut, and when they're called to a scene, all the tools they need have to be on standby. NBC Connecticut received an exclusive look inside Central District's crime van and learned what happens once investigators arrive at a scene. State Police have three districts: Eastern, Central, and Western. For CSP Central District Major Crime Squad, the crime van holds everything investigators need to process a scene. The crime van becomes their home away from home. But before they can enter a scene, they may need to wait. "If we have to get a search warrant in order to process a scene, it could take anywhere from two, four, six hours," said Sgt. Ralph Soda. Major Crimes works closely with the State's Attorney to review warrants. They need to be specific with what they're looking for. Once that's done, the documentation begins. PHOTOS: Inside a Connecticut State Police Crime Scene Van "The first thing we want to do is document the scene. We'll document it with photography, two sets of photography and also video. We do the whole crime scene," Soda said. That includes the interior and the exterior. Once that's complete, investigators can begin to look for evidence. "We have to identify things that don't belong or things that might have obviously been utilized in the crime," said Soda. Soda said detectives will work to figure out what is pertinent to the case and mark each item. It will be photographed and mapped in a sketch of the crime scene. The evidence will then be collected and packaged. Detectives have to make sure they're not contaminating a scene, which is why gloves and foot coverings are their constant companions. They even have to be aware of contaminants from within the scene. Soda said if they handle a piece of evidence, they'll need to put on new gloves before handling anything else. "You're bringing something in, you're taking something out every time you enter and every time you leave. We try to minimize that as much as we can," Soda explained. Investigators need to be very thorough and detail-oriented. Missing something could jeopardize a case. Supporting good detective work, investigators have several tools at their disposal that'll help them piece together what happened. They can spray a certain chemical that reacts with the iron in blood but won't affect the DNA. The spray reveals those trace amounts that detectives may otherwise not be able to see. Soda showed us a picture of a shoeprint. "This was not visible to the naked eye, and once we sprayed it, we were able to come up with these shoe sole patterns which was very crucial to finding the person responsible for it. Because they still had the shoes on," Soda said. Another photo showed a fingerprint with a small dark spot on it. The fingerprint originally was not visible to the naked eye. "You can see the dark spot within that print. There was blood there, so we sprayed around it, and unbeknownst to us until it was sprayed, there was a very viable fingerprint right there. That was crucial as well," Soda explained. And investigators said even is someone tries to clean up a scene before they arrive, they'll be able to see it with the chemical. "You're still able to if someone tries to clean up a crime scene because what they're doing is pushing the blood around. It'll be swipe marks, but it'll still react with the mineral in the blood. Another chemical used will make blood luminesce. That's especially useful if the blood is on a dark background. Major Crimes will process the scene and anything that needs to be examined will be sent to the forensic lab. That includes DNA, which detectives gather with something as simple but crucial as a DNA swab. The crime van also includes tools to determine the trajectory of a bullet. The FBI asked Central District Major Crime Squad to assist with the Meriden Mosque shooting from several years ago. "From the outside where the bullet entered, we were able to put a laser on it and it went back down to the residence from which the gunshot originated," said Sgt. Soda. Blood spatter can also give investigators a lot of information. It can give a good indication of what transpired and where. And digital forensics play a big part in the investigation. Detective Christopher Meier says they submit a lot of items to the forensic lab but that the lab isn't always open when they're working on a case. In the middle or the night or on the weekend if detectives need something quickly to follow up on a lead to identify a potential suspect or potential motive, they have a mobile device that can do some of the work on scene. "We're able to extract the information we need, and once we take it from here, we plug it into the computer. We have some software that decodes the information," Meier said. Every scene will dictate exactly what they're looking for and it can be a crucial component in an investigation, he added. "In addition to not only getting information like text messages and whatnot, you can identify location history. We can conduct interviews and know right away if someone is lying or not. Because you can tell me, 'Hey, I didn't visit them yesterday.' We can pull up your location history and say, 'Yep, actually we have that your phone was there,'" said Meier. On top of working their own cases, CSP Major Crimes will assist local and federal agencies. They'll also investigate officer-involved shootings. For those cases, they'll do the investigation and turn everything over to the State's Attorney. Soda said detectives make no conclusions or recommendations or opinions for officer-involved shootings. They just hand the facts over and let the State's Attorney decide the rest. There's one crime van per district, which means investigators are working several cases at once. "We never stop. We keep going and we make sure we get our reports done, prioritize, keep things going. Everybody's got multiple cases going at once, right now we have about 22 cases going at once," Soda said. While the tools inside a crime van are critical, good detective work and long hours are what will solve a case. It was really a crisis it was a voting crisis, Timothy White said. Nearly four months after what he would call a November nightmare, Yale student Timothy White can still see the long lines that plagued New Haven City Hall on Election Day. Students, friends and people posting on Facebook about how insane it was, lines reaching three to four hours long, White said. A lot of people were in that line because their absentee ballots were not received from other states, White said. While White was able to get his vote in, dozens of other voters, including many Yale students, who waited to register to vote on Election Day didnt. With only an hour and a half left until polls close, dozens of people are still waiting to register to vote in the same-day registration lines in New Haven. Its really clear to me that we need to have more people here for election day registration, Mayor Toni Harp said. This is not the first time the Elm City has had this issue - they had long lines for same-day registration in 2014 and 2016. Harp announced on Thursday some additional funding to the registrar in her proposed 2020 fiscal budget, suggesting more staffing for the next Election Day. Harp also suggested a push for additional locations for students to register to vote including on campuses. "When your city is like ours that has so many young people who are new to our community that want to be able to register and vote on that day then maybe having more than one place that they can do that is a real solution, Harp said. White was back at City Hall Thursday night to tell alders what improvements hed like to see especially come November 2020. I urge the registrars office to make sure that there are more people on site on that day to register people, White said. Police have arrested a Connecticut College student in connection with a series of voyeurism incidents at the New London school. Carlos Alberti, 21, of Richmond, Massachusetts, was arrested on Friday. Police began an investigation after several women at Conn College reported that they saw a cellphone pointed at them while in the changing areas of dormitory bathrooms. Three of the victims, who are all female students, told police that they were in the changing area when they noticed a cellphone camera above or below the stall. Two of the incidents happened in October 2018 and the others happened in November, December, and in late January. The incidents took place in "gender-inclusive" bathrooms in two residence halls, which anyone can use. Police identified Alberti as a suspect in the early stages of their investigation. According to court documents, Alberti admitted to recording approximately 30 different women in as many as eight campus buildings. He said he also shot up-skirt videos on the New York City subway, and kept the videos saved on his phone and laptop, according to the documents. Upon a search of his devices, investigators found 213 shower stall videos and 72 up-skirt videos. Alberti is charged with seven felony counts of voyeurism. A judge set a $150,000 bond. It is not clear if Alberti was able to post the bond. Police are continuing their investigation. The town manager in Tolland said Friday that the town will immediately have to begin the process to design repairs for the crumbling foundation problem at its elementary school. The town and the Board of Education first noticed cracks in the concrete at the Birch Grove Primary School more than a year ago, according to Town Manager Steve Werbner. They hired an engineering firm to test the concrete and a report delivered to town leaders in January concluded the school foundation had substantial cracking from the presence of pyrrhotite in the concrete. Pyrrhotite is a naturally occurring mineral in some stone used in concrete that was mined in parts of Connecticut that causes the concrete to deteriorate over time. Tolland town leaders said Friday they will begin the process immediately to design a plan to replace the crumbling foundation at Birch Grove Primary School. Now the town has to ask its cash strapped taxpayers, many already suffering with crumbling concrete basements, to help pay for the public school's problems. Werbner and School Superintendent Walter Willett, in a news release on Friday, said in order to make repairs to the crumbling foundation at the Birch Grove School, they will have to find alternative classroom space for students at the pre-K through second-grade school beginning with the next school year in September. That could include portable classrooms, they said. The hope would be to begin construction in early 2020, Werbner and Willett said. According to Tolland officials, Birch Grove Primary School was built in two phases beginning in 1999 and then again in 2003. The section built in 1999 is showing the most deterioration. The section built in 2003 is not as damaged and school officials believe they can repair the foundation in two phases. That would allow them to house students in the area of the school built in 2003 as they retrofit the 1999 section first. We cant be in the middle of year one and a half or two and then suddenly have to move the children, Willett said. Early estimates for repair costs put the price tag at $46 million. Tolland officials said Friday they have worked out an agreement with the state that will have the state cover 52-percent of the repair costs. The federal government may also step in. The town will foot the rest of the bill. Town leaders hope proposed federal legislation may one day allow them to seek federal money to help cover the cost. Congressman Joe Courtney announced legislation this week targeting aid for towns that have schools with failing foundations. The amount of aid, and prospects for the bills passage remain unknown. School officials have scheduled a meeting for parents at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the school to provide more information about the situation. A town meeting is scheduled for March 27 at 7 p.m. at Tolland High School to discuss the effects on the town. Tolland will have to hold a referendum in May to appropriate the full amount of money for the Birch Grove Primary School repair project. The mother of a migrant toddler who died shortly after being released from the nation's largest family detention center sued the tiny Arizona city on Thursday that for years was paid by the U.S. government to run the facility in name only. The lawsuit from Yazmin Juarez of Guatemala alleges that her 1-year-old daughter, Mariee, developed a respiratory illness at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, and medical staff provided inadequate treatment before releasing her three weeks later. The lawsuit targets Eloy, Arizona, which collected $438,000 a year from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to officially run the Texas facility for four years even though the city is roughly 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) away. Eloy then paid the private prison operator CoreCivic to operate Dilley, in an arrangement questioned by ICE's own lawyers. Mariee's death in May underscored the complaints advocates have long had about medical care for detained immigrants, as the Trump administration has sought to detain more migrant parents and children for longer times. At least nine infants under one year of age are currently detained at Dilley, according to lawyers who work with migrant families detained there. Legal groups filed a complaint Thursday with the Department of Homeland Security about what it described as an "alarming increase" in detained infants. Democrats in Congress have called for investigations into Mariee's death as well as other recent incidents, including a woman delivering a stillborn baby while in custody last week and the deaths of two children detained by the Border Patrol in December after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with their parents. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment on Juarez's lawsuit, but said it takes the welfare of detainees "very seriously." "ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agency's custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care," the agency said. The lawsuit alleges that Mariee developed a severe fever a week after entering Dilley on March 5, 2018. As her mother repeatedly tried to seek medical treatment, the lawsuit alleges medical staff at Dilley misdiagnosed Mariee's illness and did not prescribe the correct medication, before releasing both mother and daughter on March 25 and clearing them to travel. Juarez took Mariee to an emergency room almost immediately, the lawsuit alleges. She remained hospitalized for the rest of her life, dying in May. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened the facility in 2014, during the administration of former President Barack Obama, so it could detain more parents and children together during a previous surge of migrant families trying to enter the United States. ICE used Eloy to expedite the opening with so many migrants coming into the system. The agency modified an existing detention agreement with Eloy to quickly open the Texas facility. Under the setup, ICE paid the Arizona city several million dollars per year, and it in turn funneled the money to the private prison company that ran the facility. Eloy kept a cut, to the tune of about $400,000 per year. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general leveled harsh criticism against ICE, Eloy and the private prison operator CoreCivic, formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America. The pass-through arrangement was long criticized by advocates and the DHS inspector general, which said it violated budget guidelines and wasted money. ICE replaced Eloy last year with the city government in Dilley, which now collects the same fees. Stanton Jones, a lawyer for the Juarez family, said Eloy deserved blame for what happened to Mariee "precisely because they did so little." "Eloy never lifted a finger to exercise any sort of oversight or participation in the operation of the facility," Jones said. Eloy city manager Harvey Krauss declined to comment, and it remains to be seen how much legal liability the city of nearly 20,000 people between Tucson and Phoenix will face. CoreCivic agreed as part of the previous arrangement to assume any legal liability on Eloy's behalf. A CoreCivic spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday that it will "defend and indemnify any lawsuits with respect to allegations related to the operations of the facility for which CoreCivic is responsible." But CoreCivic said ICE was responsible for medical care at the Dilley facility. Associated Press journalist Astrid Galvan in Phoenix contributed to this report. President Donald Trump said he walked away from his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because Kim demanded the U.S. lift all of its sanctions, a claim that North Korea's delegation called a rare news conference in the middle of the night to deny. So who's telling the truth? In this case, it seems that the North Koreans are. And it's a demand they have been pushing for weeks in lower-level talks. Trump's much-anticipated meeting with Kim, held in the Vietnamese capital Wednesday and Thursday, ended abruptly and without the two leaders signing any agreements. Trump spoke with reporters soon after the talks broke down and said the dispute over sanctions was the deal breaker. "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that," he said. "We had to walk away from that." Hours later, two senior members of the North's delegation told reporters that was not what Kim had demanded. They insisted Kim had asked only for partial sanctions relief in exchange for shutting down the North's main nuclear complex. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said the North was also ready to offer in writing a permanent halt of the country's nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Sun Hui said Trump's reaction puzzled Kim and added that Kim "may have lost his will (to continue) North Korea-U.S. dealings." The State Department then clarified the U.S. position. According to a senior official who briefed the media on condition he not be named because he was not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly, the North Koreans "basically asked for the lifting of all sanctions." But he acknowledged the North's demand was only for Washington to back the lifting of United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed since March 2016 and didn't include the other resolutions going back a decade more. What Pyongyang was seeking, he said, was the lifting of sanctions that impede the civilian economy and the people's livelihood as Ri had claimed. The U.N. Security Council has imposed nearly a dozen resolutions targeting North Korea, making it one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. So Kim was indeed seeking a lot of relief including the lifting of bans on everything from trade in metals, raw materials, luxury goods, seafood, coal exports, refined petroleum imports, raw petroleum imports. But Kim wasn't looking for the lifting of sanctions on armaments. Those were imposed earlier, from 2006, when the North conducted its first nuclear test. For Pyongyang, that's a key difference. While it claims that its nuclear weapons are needed for self-defense, it was offering to at least for the time being accept sanctions directly related to nuclear weapons and missile technology. But the North has always considered the imposition of sanctions on other areas of trade even more nefarious and was singling them out as their negotiation point. The State Department official said Trump and his negotiators deemed that to be a bridge too far because they had already determined that lifting the post-2016 sanctions would be worth "many, many billions of dollars" for the North and could essentially be used to fund their continued nuclear and missile programs. So it was definitely a robust demand. But it wasn't, as Trump claimed, all the sanctions. It also didn't come as a surprise. He said the North had been pushing that demand for weeks in lower-level talks. Even so, both sides seemed determined to put a good face on the summit, which Trump said was generally friendly and constructive. In a much softer tone than the officials at the late-night news conference, the North's state-run media made no mention of Trump's decision to walk away without any agreements and indicated that the North was looking ahead to more talks. "The top leaders of the two countries appreciated that the second meeting in Hanoi offered an important occasion for deepening mutual respect and trust and putting the relations between the two countries on a new stage," it said. "They agreed to keep in close touch with each other for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the epochal development of the DPRK-U.S. relations in the future." It said Kim expressed his thanks to Trump for making positive efforts for the successful meeting and talks "while making a long journey and said goodbye, promising the next meeting." The Senate on Thursday confirmed former coal industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, despite concerns by Democrats and one Republican about regulatory rollbacks he's made in eight months as the agency's acting chief. Senators voted 52-47 to confirm Wheeler, who was nominated by President Donald Trump after former administrator Scott Pruitt resigned last year amid a series of ethics allegations. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate environment committee, called Wheeler "uniquely qualified" to lead EPA and said that under Wheeler the agency is putting forward proposals that "both protect our environment and allow the country's economy to flourish." But Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said Wheeler was failing to protect the environment and human health and was "nominated to unravel and undo the environmental protections that are now in place." Wheeler, 54, was confirmed as deputy administrator last April and became acting chief in July after Pruitt resigned. He worked at the EPA early in his career and was a top aide at the Senate Environment Committee before becoming a lobbyist a decade ago. Maine Sen. Susan Collins was the sole Republican to oppose Wheeler. She said in a statement that, unlike Pruitt, Wheeler "understands the mission of the EPA and acts in accordance with ethical standards. However, the policies he has supported as acting administrator are not in the best interest of our environment and public health, particularly given the threat of climate change to our nation." Collins said she was particularly concerned that EPA has proposed to roll back rules regulating mercury emissions from power plants and moved to replace the Clean Power Plan, former President Barack Obama's signature proposal to combat climate change. "There is no doubt that the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change pose a significant threat" to Maine and the nation, Collins said, adding that pollution from coal-fired power plants threatens Maine's natural resources, "from our working forests, fishing and agricultural industries, to tourism and recreation." Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who supported Wheeler's nomination as deputy last year, voted against his promotion. Wheeler was not making "meaningful progress" on clean water standards, Manchin said, citing the agency's failure to limit the amount of highly toxic chemicals contaminating drinking water in West Virginia and around the country. The EPA has announced plans to place legal limits on the chemicals but has not yet done so. The perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS, have been linked to health threats ranging from cancer to decreased fertility. "I believe immediate action must be taken, and these efforts lack a sense of urgency," Manchin said. Like Collins, Manchin also said he was concerned at EPA's attempt to undo rules designed to limit emissions of mercury, which can damage the brains of infants and young children. Environmental groups, meanwhile, slammed Wheeler, saying that while his behavior is "less cartoonish" than Pruitt, he supports the same policies. "Wheeler wants to turn the EPA into a wish-granting service for polluters, no matter the cost to public health or wildlife. But it's only a matter of time before his dirty dealings land him in the same trash heap as his predecessor," said Emily Knobbe, EPA policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based environmental group. America's Power, a trade group that represents coal producers, applauded Wheeler's confirmation. "During his time as acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler has been seen as a thoughtful leader who understands the need for sensible environmental policies," said Michelle Bloodworth, the group's president and CEO. Wheeler's "long experience in public service demonstrates his integrity in serving EPA's mission," she said. A Texas inmate was executed Thursday evening for the killings nearly 30 years ago of his estranged wife's parents and her brother, who was a police officer. Billie Wayne Coble received lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the August 1989 shooting deaths of Robert and Zelda Vicha and their son, Bobby Vicha, at separate homes in Axtell, northeast of Waco. Coble, 70, once described by a prosecutor as having "a heart full of scorpions," was the oldest inmate executed by Texas since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982. Asked to make a final statement, Coble replied: "That'll be $5." He told the five witnesses he selected to be in attendance that he loved them, then again said: "That'll be $5." Coble nodded to the witnesses and added, "take care." He gasped several times and began snoring. As Coble was finishing his statement, his son, a friend and a daughter-in-law became emotional and violent. They were yelling obscenities, throwing fists and kicking at others in the death chamber witness area. Officers stepped in and the witnesses continued to resist. They were eventually moved to a courtyard and the two men were handcuffed. "Why are you doing this?" the woman asked. "They just killed his daddy." While the witnesses were being subdued outside, the single dose of pentobarbital was being administered to Coble. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later at 6:24 p.m. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel said the two men were arrested on a charge of resisting arrest and taken to the Walker County Jail. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier Thursday turned down Coble's request to delay his execution. His attorneys had told the high court that Coble's original trial lawyers were negligent for conceding his guilt by failing to present an insanity defense before a jury convicted him of capital murder. A state appeals court had previously rejected Coble's request to delay Thursday's execution and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles turned down his request for a commutation. Coble "does not deny that he bears responsibility for the victims' loss of life, but he nonetheless wanted his lawyers to present a defense on his behalf," his attorney, A. Richard Ellis, said in his appeal to the Supreme Court. In Coble's clemency petition to the Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ellis said his client suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his time as a Marine during the Vietnam War and was convicted, in part, due to misleading testimony from two prosecution expert witnesses on whether he would be a future danger. Coble was the third inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the second in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. "This is not a happy night," McLennan County District Attorney Barry Johnson said. "This is the end of a horror story for the Vicha family." J.R. Vicha, Bobby Vicha's son, said it would be a relief knowing the execution finally took place after years of delays. "Still, the way they do it is more humane than what he did to my family. It's not what he deserves but it will be good to know we got as much justice as allowed by the law," said J.R. Vicha, who was 11 when he was tied up and threatened by Coble during the killings. Prosecutors said Coble, distraught over his pending divorce, kidnapped his wife, Karen Vicha. He was arrested and later freed on bond. Nine days after the kidnapping, Coble went to Karen Vicha's home, where he handcuffed and tied up her three daughters and J.R. Vicha. He then went to the homes of Robert and Zelda Vicha, 64 and 60 respectively, and Bobby Vicha, 39, who lived nearby, and fatally shot them. After Karen Vicha returned home, Coble abducted her and drove off, assaulting her and threatening to rape and kill her. He was arrested after wrecking in neighboring Bosque County following a police chase. Coble was convicted of capital murder in 1990. In 2007, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial on punishment. On retrial in 2008, a second jury sentenced him to death. Crawford Long, the former first assistant district attorney in McLennan County who helped retry Coble in 2008, said his "heart full of scorpions" description of Coble was fitting. "He had no remorse at all," said Long, who retired in 2010. J.R. Vicha, 40, still lives in the Waco area. He eventually became a prosecutor for eight years, a career choice inspired in part by his father, who was a police sergeant in Waco when he was killed. His grandfather was a retired plumber and his grandmother worked for a foot doctor. Vicha, now a private practice lawyer, is working to get a portion of a highway near his home renamed in honor of his father. "Every time I run into somebody that knew (his father and grandparents), it's a good feeling. And when I hear stories about them, it still makes it feel like they're kinda still here," Vicha said. Lozano reported from Houston. Saudi Arabia announced Friday it had revoked the citizenship of Hamza bin Laden, the son of the late al-Qaida leader who has become an increasingly prominent figure in the terror network. There was no immediate explanation why the royal decree stripping his citizenship, signed in November, was only becoming public now. However, the announcement comes after the U.S. government on Thursday offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture as part of its "Rewards for Justice" program. The kingdom similarly stripped Osama bin Laden's citizenship in 1994 while living in exile in Sudan when Hamza bin Laden was just a child. Where he is now remains in question. "This is an example of history rhyming," said Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies who studies al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. "He's basically born right after al-Qaida is founded, so his life is totally consumed in the establishment, the formation of al-Qaida and the launching of its war against the West and America." Saudi Arabia revoked Hamza bin Laden's citizenship in November, according to a circular by the Interior Ministry quietly published Friday by the country's official gazette. State-run media in the kingdom did not report on the decision. Bin Laden is believed to have been born in 1989, the year of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, where his father became known among the mujahedeen fighters. His father returned to Saudi Arabia and later fled to Sudan after criticizing the kingdom for allowing U.S. troops to deploy in the country during the 1991 Gulf War. He later fled Sudan for Afghanistan in 1996, where he declared war against the U.S. As leader of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden oversaw a series of attacks, including the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen. He and others plotted and executed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, which led to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. U.S. Navy SEALs ultimately killed bin Laden in a raid on a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011. For Hamza bin Laden, now believed to be around 30, his father initially worried for his safety and thought to send him away for study, but his son instead "wants to get into the fight," Joscelyn said. He's then sent away for explosives training in Pakistan. Video released by the CIA in 2017 that was seized during the Abbottabad raid shows Hamza bin Laden with a trimmed mustache but no beard, at his wedding. Previous images have only shown him as a child. The State Department said in its announcement Thursday about the $1 million bounty on him that it believes he married the daughter of Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks. Hamza bin Laden began appearing in militant videos and recordings in 2015 as an al-Qaida spokesman. "If you think that your sinful crime that you committed in Abbottabad has passed without punishment, then you thought wrong," he said in his first audio recording. In recent years, the Islamic State group, which began as al-Qaida in Iraq before breaking away from the terror group, has taken much of the international attention. However, Joscelyn warned al-Qaida remains a transnational threat, something that authorities may now pay more attention to as the Islamic State group withers away in Syria. A United Nations report published last year noted that Hamza bin Laden "continued to emerge as a leadership figure in al-Qaida." It suggested both he and Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over al-Qaida after Osama bin Laden's death, "are reported to be in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas." "Al-Qaida's leadership demonstrates strategic patience and its regional affiliates exercise good tactical judgment, embedding themselves in local issues and becoming players," the U.N. report warned. "While there is as yet little evidence of a re-emerging direct global threat from al-Qaida, improved leadership and enhanced communication will probably increase the threat over time." Tesla will only sell its electric cars online as it accelerates its cost cutting so it can realize its long-running goal of selling a mass-market sedan for $35,000. The change announced Thursday will allow the Silicon Valley automaker to begin selling its Model 3 for $35,000 a price point that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been striving to reach in order to appeal to more consumers and generate the sales the company needs to survive. The cheapest Model 3 that could be ordered before Thursday started at $42,900. To save money, Tesla will close many of its stores, but leave some open as galleries or "information centers" in high-traffic areas. Musk declined to specify how many stores will be closed or how many employees will be laid off. The company has 378 stores and service locations worldwide. "This is the only way to achieve the savings for this car and be financially sustainable," Musk told reporters during a conference call. "It is excruciatingly difficult to make this car for $35,000 and be financially sustainable." The online sales shift will enable Tesla to lower all vehicle prices by 6 percent, on average, including its higher-end Model S and Model X. All other major automakers rely on vast dealer networks, but Musk co-founded Tesla in 2003 in an effort to shake up the industry, starting with a focus entirely on a fleet of cars powered by electricity instead of gasoline. Although he said going online-only was a difficult decision, Musk believes it's the right one. "It's 2019," he said. "People want to buy things online." That is particularly true of younger, technologically fluent consumers who already are accustomed to buying almost everything at Amazon and having it delivered to them quickly, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Kelley Blue Book. Musk "doesn't need the whole world to buy into this," Brauer said. "All he needs is the same basic demographic that has been interested in his cars from Day One." Although he said he didn't know for certain, Musk predicted there's enough pent-up demand to sell about 500,000 Model 3s annually at the starting price of $35,000. But buyers will have to wait far longer than they do when shopping on Amazon. A U.S. consumer who places an order for the Model 3 at its new lower price now will likely get it by the end of June before a tax credit for electric vehicles is scheduled to be reduced, Musk said. The store closures will come on top of a decision to cut 3,150 jobs , or about 7 percent of Tesla's workforce, announced earlier this year. Despite the austerity measures, Musk told reporters Tesla will lose money in the current quarter ending in March, backpedaling a statement he made last October when he pledged the company would remain profitable from that point on. But Musk said it's "likely" Tesla will bounce back with a profit during the April-June period. Tesla's stock fell 3 percent in extended trading after the news came out. The Palo Alto, California, company is slashing costs just a few months after paying half of a $40 million settlement of a case that the Securities and Exchange Commission filed against Musk last September after he tweeted that he had lined up financing for a potential buyout for the company. The SEC alleged Musk misled investors after concluding he didn't have the money to pull off the deal. The SEC has asked a federal judge to hold Musk in contempt after he posted another tweet about key Tesla information without getting company approval as required in the settlement of its previous case. Musk declined to take questions about the SEC's attempt to hold him in contempt an action that legal experts say could culminate in him being forced out as CEO in a worst-case scenario. Actor Luke Perry has been hospitalized after the Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to his Sherman Oaks home Wednesday morning for an unspecified medical request. The Beverly Hills: 90210 star, who played Dylan McKay in the 1990s teen drama, was treated by paramedics and is currently under observation at the hospital," his spokesperson confirmed. It was not immediately clear what the medical emergency was and his spokesperson did not provide any additional information on Perry's condition. Perry, who currently stars on The CW drama series "Riverdale," is not slated to join the rest of his former "Beverly Hills, 90210" co-stars in the Fox revival of the soap opera. The network announced plans Wednesday to reunite Tori Spelling, Jason Priestly, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris and Brian Austin Green for a six-episode event series. Actress Shannon Doherty, who famously played Dylan's love interest Brenda Walsh in the show, has also not yet signed on to join the lineup. The father of two 21-year-old Jack Perry and 18-year-old Sophie Perry with ex-wife Rachel Sharp revealed during a "Today" show appearance in 2017 that he would jump at the change to play Dylan again, especially if he could style his hair in Dylan's famously retro pompadour. "I'm gonna see if I can get that hair standing," he said, raking his fingers through his mane to fluff it up. "Yes, if I get the hair back up." As news of Perry's hospitalization spread, celebrity friends of the star shared their concerns on social media. Praying hard for Luke Perry today. May he have a full and fast recovery. Dean Cain (@RealDeanCain) February 28, 2019 Perry has had roles in a handful of films, including "The Fifth Element," ''8 Seconds" and "American Strays." He appeared in HBO's prison drama "Oz" and voiced cartoons like "The Incredible Hulk" and "Mortal Kombat." In recent years he starred in the series "Ties That Bind" and "Body of Proof." What to Know Neal was arrested in Colorado Springs in connection with the strangulation death of Linda Ann O'Keefe. The 11-year-old girl disappeared while walking home from summer school in 1973. The body was recovered the following morning in a ditch in the Back Bay area. A Colorado man charged with killing and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in Newport Beach in 1973 waived extradition Thursday. Orange County authorities have until March 14 to pick up James Alan Neal, 72, from the jail in Colorado Springs to have him face charges in Orange County. Neal was arrested about 6:30 a.m. Feb. 19 in Colorado Springs in connection with the strangulation death of Linda Ann O'Keefe, who lived in Corona del Mar. The girl disappeared while walking home from summer school on July 6,1973, and her body was recovered the following morning in a ditch in the Back Bay area. Police said she was last seen standing near a man in a blue or turquoise van. Newport Beach police Chief Jon Lewis credited "the latest in DNA technology" for helping crack the case that stymied investigators for more than four decades. "We have never forgotten Linda or the tragic events of July 1973," Lewis said at a news conference announcing the arrest, noting that the victim's photo had long been displayed in the offices of his department's detectives as a daily reminder of the unsolved case. He said the girl's death changed the community, making parents think twice about letting their children outside alone. Neal has been charged with murder with special circumstances alleging kidnapping and lewd acts on a child. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the suspect could potentially face a death sentence if convicted, although there is some question about whether capital punishment could be applied in the case given the date of the killing and the laws that were on the books at the time. Newport Beach police last July mounted a Twitter campaign, releasing information about the killing to try to spur new leads, but that was not what led to Neal's arrest. Investigators submitted the DNA collected from the victim to the Family Tree website and it gave them leads pointing to Neal, Spitzer said. From there, police put the defendant under surveillance and collected his DNA and matched it to the evidence collected from the victim, Spitzer said. The police tweets detailing the last hours of Linda's life included photographs from the crime scene and a newly created "snapshot" of the suspect that was put together by scientists at Parabon NanoLabs. The tweets concluded with a video that included interviews with the detectives who have worked on finding the girl's killer through the years. Newport Beach police last year hired Parabon, a Virginia-based DNA technology company specializing in a process using genetic material, to build a sort of composite sketch of the suspect at 25 years old and how the killer might look today. Neal moved to Southern California with his family from Chicago, Spitzer said, and was a construction worker at the time of the crime. He moved to Florida soon after the killing, but after an unspecified criminal incident there, he changed his name from James Albert Layton Jr. to Neal, Spitzer said. What to Know Saturday, March 2, rain or shine Mile Square Regional Park 9 a.m. to noon Tackle boxes aren't quite lining the front shelves at the local sporting goods shop just yet, and Fishmas, the much-anticipated kick-off of the fishing season in the Eastern Sierra, is still two months away, happening, as it always does, near the end of April. But spring is but a few weeks away, and March is here, which means cast-a-line events will begin showing up, with fish-tastic frequency, on the schedules of nature-based locations. And coming up on the first Saturday in March? Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley will be the gill-filled go-to for kids hoping to reel in some fun, alongside their families. Make that free fun, for the annual Kids' Fishing Derby isn't a pay-to-join kind of thing. It's just a fishing-focused community to-do, one that gives participants between the ages of 6 to 15 the chance to enjoy the sport. Behind this popular happening? OC Parks, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Anglers Chronicle. And while there are "multiple prizes for different age groups," the big fish is the chance to get your name inscribed forever on the Mile Square Fishing Derby Trophy. In the lake? Over 1,000 pounds of recently stocked trout and catfish. In the loaner area? A limited number of fishing rods, if your kid doesn't have her own. Is there a tot around your house that likes to fish or has wanted to give it a go? Fishing clinics, chances to pick up tips, and lakeside camaraderie, shared by people with a shared interest, are all on the docket. Or "dock"et, perhaps? Best unreel all of the fishy puns you have, for your kids, before Saturday, March 2, when fishing season begins for lots of local kids at Mile Square Regional Park. CHRISTMAS? It wrapped over two months ago, of course, but for some people, the holidays don't ever truly end. Not when there are craft boxes to organize, and discounted wrapping paper bins to explore, and various gifts to purchase months in advance (all to avoid that hectic rush-rush of December). If you fall more on this side of celebrating, and you prefer to jump into the most joyous time of year on the earlier side, there's a long-running, huge-of-size spectacular that wants nothing more than to help you out. It's the Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show, a mega on-the-road event that can trace its origins back to the early 1970s. Indeed, that means its... 50TH ANNIVERSARY... is but a few years away, and it also means that the show has taken the time to build a devoted fan base and a line-up of over 300 top-notch painters, photographers, jewelry artisans, bakers, woodworkers, and a host of artisans that create one-of-a-kind goods. The kind of goods that are perfect for your mom's stocking, or under the tree of a good friend, or your own closet. It's such a big thing, the Harvest Festival, that it doesn't wait for July or August to reveal its schedule. In fact, that happened earlier in February 2019, which means you can plan your September through December accordingly. LAS VEGAS... is up first, the only outside-of-California stop, on the second weekend of September, then a whole host of Golden State towns will follow, with Costa Mesa, Ventura, San Mateo, San Jose, and Pomona all on the map, as well as a few others. Should you follow the tour, like you might do with a rock band? That's up to you, but one stop should fill up your craft-loving heart for a good long while. Need more harvest-y beauty in this heart of winter? Click. What to Know Laquisha Jones, 30, faces 15 years in state prison for the beating of Rodolfo Rodriguez. Jones pleaded no contest Dec. 27 to a felony elder abuse charge stemming from the attack. Rodriguez suffered several broken bones, including a shattered jaw and a pair of broken ribs. A Los Angeles woman was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in state prison for beating a 91-year-old grandfather with a brick in Willowbrook last summer. Laquisha Jones, 30, pleaded no contest Dec. 27 to a felony elder abuse charge stemming from the attack, which occurred on the Fourth of July last year. Jones attacked the man without provocation near 118th and Robin streets, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The aftermath of the attack was captured on cell phone video that showed Rodolfo Rodriguez on the ground, with blood covering much of his face. Rodriguez suffered several broken bones, including a shattered jaw and a pair of broken ribs, and a GoFundMe page established by his family has raised more than $327,000. Jones was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies six days later, and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records. Along with the elder abuse charge, Jones admitted the allegations that she used a brick, inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim and had a 2017 conviction for criminal threats, according to the District Attorney's Office. Sini Mathews, the mother of Sherin Mathews, the North Texas 3-year-old girl found dead in a culvert in October 2017, is a free woman after the child endangerment charges filed against her were dismissed Friday. Mathews was charged after prosecutors said she left her adopted daughter home alone while she and her husband Wesley went to dinner with their 4-year-old biological daughter on the night before the child was reported missing. Two weeks later Sherin's body was found in a drain pipe near the Mathews family home. Sini Mathews, the mother of Sherin Mathews, the North Texas 3-year-old girl found dead in a culvert in October 2017, is a free woman after the child endangerment charges filed against her were dismissed Friday. The charges against Sini Mathews were dropped Friday after the district attorney said there was not enough evidence to proceed. Had she been convicted, she would have faced between two and 20 years behind bars. The charge was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it is possible the same or different charges could be leveled against her at any time. Leaving the jail Friday, Sini told NBC 5's Maria Guerrero she felt "blessed" the charges were dismissed and that she's looking forward to being reunited with her biological daughter, who has been living with family members in Houston. She said the past 15 months she spent in jail awaiting trial were "challenging." Leaving the jail Friday, Sini told NBC 5's Maria Guerrero she felt "blessed" the charges were dismissed and that she's looking forward to being reunited with her biological daughter, who has been living with family members in Houston. Asked if she left Sherin home alone, Sini responded "no comment." In a letter to the 282nd Criminal District Court, the Dallas County DA wrote that "after extensive investigation it has been determined that the state cannot prove this matter beyond a reasonable doubt at this time ... the state respectfully requests that this case be dismissed without prejudice." Richardson police, who investigated Sherin's death and charged Sini with child endangerment, were apparently frustrated the charge was dropped. In a statement released Friday afternoon, the department said they developed sufficient probable cause to obtain the arrest warrant against Sini and that the case was approved by the district attorney and an indictment was returned by a grand jury. Richardson police also noted that several attempts to reduce Sini's bond were also unsuccessful. "While we are disappointed with this turn of events, we will continue to work with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office to ensure justice is done," Richardson police said. Asked if she loved Sherin, Sini responded: "Yes, absolutely. No doubt." Sini's husband, Wesley Mathews, still faces a capital murder charge in connection with his daughter's death and he's being held on a $1 million bond. His trial is set for May. Harris said he does not expect Sini to testify against Wesley. "Absolutely not," he said. "This has been a tragic accident for this family and now she's just trying to get back to her other child." Sini's attorney, Heath Harris, said he next plans to fight to get his client's passport returned and to restore visitation with her biological daughter who is living with family in Houston. Eventually, Harris said, they'll work to restore Sini's parental rights. However, the spokesperson for CPS tells NBC 5 once parental rights are terminated it is permanent. It is possible Sini may be able to visit with her daughter, if the girl's adopted parents who are Sini's family allow it. Sini's attorney tells NBC 5 his client said she wanted to eat Indian food after leaving jail. What to Know Its Friday, March 1st and NBC 6 has the top six stories you need to know for the day. Its Friday, March 1st and NBC 6 has the top six stories you need to know for the day. Weather wise, the warm temperatures stick around to start the new month with highs in the mid-80s before a front arrives to help cool things down toward the middle of next week. No. 1 - A South Florida gymnastics instructor is behind bars on charges of possessing and compiling child pornography, and authorities are concerned there may be other victims. Hassan Jawad, 27, of Deerfield Beach, was arrested Thursday after a month-long investigation that a computer had been advertising or sharing images of child pornography since January, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. No. 2 - Three corrections officers at a Miami-Dade prison are facing charges after an inmate was falsely accused of having a "shank" in his possession, officials said. Dade Correctional Institution workers Capt. Eric Peavey, Jr., Sgt. Lizandro Rodriguez and Correctional Officer Ellen Day were all arrested on charges including official misconduct and falsifying an official record, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office said Thursday. No. 3 - Today marks the first day of spring break season and officials in Miami Beach are enforcing several rules that include no coolers, tents, tables on the beaches as well a new limit on live or amplified music and no alcohol or marijuana on beach property. Spring break runs through the first week of April. No. 4- Congresswoman Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel Powell are trying to drum up support for national gun reform. The two South Florida Democrats are meeting about gun legislation passed by the house that closes several gun purchasing loopholes and require universal background checks. No. 5 - The annual Carnival on the Mile festival kicks off tomorrow in Coral Gables. The fun includes a ton events from food to art and world class musicians and runs from Saturday to Sunday. No. 6 - A South Florida native is officially a true titan. James Jean-Louis was named one of two winners of the NBCs "Titan Games", a show that puts contestants through grueling physical challenges. Jean-Louis says he wants to give back to the community by creating a non-profit for people looking for a second chance at life. What to Know Dr. Bruce Goldfeder suffered a gunshot wound in the back of his neck in his struggle Wednesday night with 59-year-old Larry Ray Bon., An emergency room doctor says he created a distraction to tackle a double-amputee Army veteran who opened fire inside a Florida hospital. Dr. Bruce Goldfeder suffered a gunshot wound in the back of his neck in his struggle Wednesday night with 59-year-old Larry Ray Bon at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Riviera Beach. In a Palm Beach Post report, Goldfeder says he heard gunshots and then he heard Bon yell something about cigarettes. Goldferer says he yelled, "Police have cigarettes over there," to distract Bon as he approached other doctors and patient rooms. Either he gets an opportunity to shoot everyone or I get the opportunity to tackle, I chose the latter, Goldfeder said to NBC station WPTV. Goldfeder says he then tackled Bon. The gun went off before he could wrestle it away from Bon. Another hospital employee was grazed by a bullet in the shooting. Bon is in federal custody on assault charges. Goldfeder, who said he was covering another doctor's shift that night, says he does not consider himself a hero and has sympathy for the shooter. I think the heroes are the veterans. I think we need to advocate more for their well-being," he said. What to Know A police chase on the FDR lead to a dangerous confrontation -- with two officers hospitalized and part of the roadway shutdown Police fired shots at the vehicle, which took off and was later found abandoned near East Houston Street; whoever was inside ran off An officer in the car hit by the suspect vehicle was treated for injuries and released, police said; a second cop was treated for tinnitus A 23-year-old woman is in custody in connection with Thursday's wild chase and shooting on Manhattan's FDR Drive that left two cops hospitalized and part of the roadway shut down for hours, authorities said. The woman, identified as Veronica Jagdeo, was taken into custody Friday; charges are expected to be filed against her in connection with the FDR fray. Cops allege she was the driver police pulled over near 96th Street and Second Avenue; there was a smell of marijuana, and four people inside the car. When plainclothes anti-crime cops approached, she allegedly backed up and rammed their car, hitting one in the elbow and the other in the hand, then sped off. One of the injured officers fired six shots, but the vehicle had already sped away. Body cam footage shows the car driving past him as he fires one shot after another, authorities said. That officer who fired the bullets has been placed on modified duty as authorities look into whether his actions violated guidelines, police officials said. A cop can fire at a moving vehicle if he or she believes it is about to hit people, but not at one driving down an open highway, officials said. No one was hurt in the gunfire. Both of the injured police officers were OK. A 26-year-old passenger in the suspect's vehicle was also taken into custody Friday on a previous warrant. Officials say he was questioned after walking into Queens General Hospital; he has a history of weapons and larceny-related charges. Authorities say they're still searching for two more passengers. Information on an attorney for Jagdeo wasn't immediately available. The investigation is ongoing. What to Know A number of New York state politicians are calling for the legalization of prostitution Senators Jessica Ramos, Julia Salazar and Brad Hoylman, as well as Assemblyman Richard Gottfried are working with Decrim NY The group hopes to introduce a bill to rewrite the state's penal code to decriminalize sex trades in the state of New York A number of New York state lawmakers are calling for the legalization of prostitution. Senators Jessica Ramos, Julia Salazar and Brad Hoylman, as well as Assemblyman Richard Gottfried are working with Decrim NY to introduce a bill to rewrite the states penal code to decriminalize sex trades in the state of New York. Decrim NY is a coalition to decriminalize, decarcerate and destigmatize the sex trade in New York City and state. In a Daily News op-ed, Ramos and Salazar urged for the end of criminalization of sex work while Gottfried and Hoylman spoke out about the Decrim NY in a series of tweets where they expressed their support. Decriminalization is critical to protecting the rights and safety of people who trade sex, no matter where they are on the spectrum of choice, circumstance, and coercion. #DecrimNY Senator Brad Hoylman (@bradhoylman) February 25, 2019 "We aim to repeal statutes that criminalize consensual sexual exchange between adults and create a system that erases prostitution records for sex workers and sex trafficking survivors so they can move on with their lives," the opinion piece reads in part. Ramos represents Corona, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights and Salazar represents Bushwick, Greenpoint and Williamsburg in the state Senate. Criminalization does not address why people trade sex, because most people trade sex out of economic need: to pay bills, make rent, and put food on the table. People often turn to sex work after a life event such as a major health-care bill leaves them economically vulnerable. LGBTQ, black and brown, immigrant and disabled communities engage in sex work at higher rates because they are locked out of jobs in the formal economy, according to the opinion piece. Top Tri-State News Photos Ramos and Salazar say that 9 out of 10 people arrested in sex-work-related massage parlor raids are immigrants, with most being undocumented Asians. LGBTQ youth, who often run away from home seeking acceptance, trade sex at 7 to 8 times the rate of other youth in New York City, Ramos and Salazar say. Nevada is right now the only U.S. state where prostitution is legal in some counties. What to Know Trump ordered officials to grant top-secret security clearance to his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, according to a NYT report Attorneys for Kevin Spacey are seeking surveillance footage, text messages and other records they say they need to defend the actor Actor Luke Perry has been hospitalized after officials said they responded to his home for an 'unspecified medical request' Get the top headlines of the day in your morning briefing from NBC 4 New York, Monday through Friday. Sign up for our newsletter here. Trump Demanded Top-Secret Clearance for Jared Kushner, Report Says President Trump last year ordered officials to grant top-secret security clearance to his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, according to a report published by The New York Times. Kushner was granted the high-level clearance last May after a lengthy background check. The Times, citing anonymous sources, said Trump demanded Kushner's clearance despite the concerns of intelligence officials, then-Chief of Staff John Kelly and then-White House counsel Don McGahn. The newspaper said Kelly wrote in an internal memo that he had been "ordered" to give top-secret clearance to Kushner. McGahn wrote a memo in which he advised against such clearance. Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Kushner lawyer Abbe Lowell, responded to the Times story with a statement, saying: "In 2018, White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushner's security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time." White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders declined to comment on the Times story. US, North Korea Offer Dueling Accounts of Talks Breakdown The U.S. and North Korea offered contradictory accounts of why the summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un broke down, though both pointed to punishing American sanctions as a sticking point in the high-stakes nuclear negotiation. President Trump, who has returned to the White House, said before leaving Hanoi the talks collapsed because North Korea's leader insisted all the sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Pyongyang be lifted without the North firmly committing to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. But North Korea challenged that account, insisting it had asked only for partial sanctions relief in exchange for shutting down its main nuclear complex. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho commented on the talks during an abruptly scheduled middle-of-the-night news conference after Trump was in the air. Ri said the North was also ready to offer in writing a permanent halt of the country's nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests and Washington had wasted an opportunity that "may not come again." He said the North's position won't change even if the United States offers to resume another round of dialogue. Kevin Spacey Lawyers Seek Accuser's Cellphone, Other Records Attorneys for Kevin Spacey are seeking surveillance footage, text messages and other records they say they need to defend the disgraced actor against accusations he groped a young Massachusetts man at a Nantucket bar in 2016. Spacey's lawyers asked the judge in court documents filed this week to order the accuser to turn over his cellphone so they can retrieve messages, photos and other data. They also want documents from the accuser's civil attorney, including fee agreements with the accuser's family. The lawyers say they believe the accuser intends to file a civil lawsuit against Spacey, which they say would bolster the defense's argument that the accuser has a "substantial financial motivation to falsify his claims." Spacey pleaded not guilty last month. 'Beverly Hills: 90210' Star Luke Perry Hospitalized Actor Luke Perry has been hospitalized after officials said they responded to his home for an unspecified medical request. The Beverly Hills: 90210 star, who played Dylan McKay in the 1990s teen drama, was treated by paramedics and is currently under observation at the hospital," his spokesperson confirmed. It was not immediately clear what the medical emergency was and his spokesperson did not provide any additional information on Perry's condition. Perry, who currently stars on The CW drama series "Riverdale," is not slated to join the rest of his former "Beverly Hills, 90210" co-stars in the Fox revival of the soap opera. The network announced plans Wednesday to reunite Tori Spelling, Jason Priestly, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris and Brian Austin Green for a six-episode event series. Actress Shannon Doherty, who famously played Dylan's love interest Brenda Walsh in the show, has also not yet signed on to join the lineup. Andre Previn, Oscar-Winning Composer, Dies at 89 Andre Previn, the pianist, composer and conductor whose broad reach took in the worlds of Hollywood, jazz and classical music, always rejecting suggestions that his bop 'n' blues moonlighting lessened his stature, has died. He was 89. His manager Linda Petrikova said Previn passed away in his Manhattan home. His ex-wife Mia Farrow tweeted, "See you in the Morning beloved Friend. May you rest in glorious symphonies." Previn was a child prodigy whose family fled Nazi Germany. As a teenager, he found work as a composer and arranger in the musical sweatshops of Hollywood, mostly at MGM, winning four Oscars for his orchestrations of such stylish musicals as 1964's "My Fair Lady." What to Know Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is looking at office space amid presidential campaign speculation, a source said Bloomberg's team is looking at multiple locations for a period of about two years, the source added Bloomberg had said in early February that he would decide on a campaign within weeks Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's team has made inquiries about substantial office space amid speculation he could be making a run for president, a real estate industry source told News 4 New York. The source said Bloomberg's team inquired about 30,000 square feet of office space at 7 World Trade Center for a period of about two years, which would roughly correspond with the length of a presidential campaign. His team is considering other space as well, the source indicated. Bloomberg's team declined comment. At 30,000 square feet, his potential campaign office would be less than half the size of the space Hillary Clinton initially rented in Brooklyn for her 2016 run. The former mayor told The Associated Press in early February that he would make a decision on a run within about three weeks. The 77-year-old multibillionaire would immediately shake up the Democratic field for 2020, given his deep resources. The parents of the late Otto Warmbier, an American college student who was held captive in North Korea and eventually sent home in a vegetative state, spoke out Friday, after Trump's comment this week that he takes Kim Jong Un "at his word" that he was unaware of alleged mistreatment during the young man's 17 months of captivity. Warmbier died at age 22 soon after his return in June 2017. Fred and Cindy Warmbier, who have expressed appreciation of Trump in the past and were guests at his 2018 State of the Union address, said in a statement Friday they had been respectfully silent while Trump and Kim met in Vietnam. But no longer. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity," they said. "No excuses or lavish praise can change that." White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Friday on the Fox News show "America's Newsroom" that Trump has "deep affection" for the Warmbiers, shares their grief and agrees North Korea is responsible. But, she said, Trump is saying "there's no indication Chairman Kim knew what happened to Otto Warmbier when it happened." Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, of New York, said in a tweet that Trump owes the Warmbiers an apology for "simply deciding to take a cruel and brutal dictator at his word." Trump did not apologize to the Warmbiers, though he responded to the criticism by tweet later Friday. Claiming he had been misinterpreted, the president attempted to clarify that he "of course" holds "North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death." This does not directly contradict his earlier statements saying he does not think Kim himself had knowledge of the treatment of Warmbier while imprisoned in his country. During a news conference Thursday, Trump was asked if he and Kim had discussed Otto and whether he had asked the North Korean leader to take responsibility for what happened to him. Trump said that "something very bad happened" to Warmbier, but that he didn't believe Kim knew about it or would have allowed it to happen. "He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word," Trump said. Some people who have followed the Warmbiers' ordeal were stunned. "Trump offers Warmbiers a slap in the face," read a headline on a column by Byron McCauley in The Cincinnati Enquirer. Warmbier's parents have accused North Korea of torturing the University of Virginia student, who was detained for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster as he prepared to end a visit to the country with a tour group. Fred Warmbier described to Fox News in 2017 Otto's condition when he returned: making an "involuntary, inhuman sound," ''staring blankly into space, jerking violently," and was blind and deaf, with his head shaved. Doctors in Cincinnati said he had suffered severe brain damage, although they weren't sure what led to it. North Korea denied mistreating him, saying he fell into a coma that resulted from botulism and a sleeping pill. A federal judge in December ordered North Korea to pay more than $500 million in a wrongful death suit filed by Warmbier's parents. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell harshly condemned North Korea for "barbaric mistreatment" of Warmbier. Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, who like the Warmbiers lives in the Cincinnati area, has kept in contact with them since Otto's detention began. "His treatment at the hands of his captors was unforgivable, and it tells us a lot about the nature of this regime," Portman said Thursday on the Senate floor. "We can't be naive about what they did to Otto, about the brutal nature of the regime that would do this to an American citizen." Another Cincinnati-area Republican, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, said: "Otto Warmbier's imprisonment and death were heinous crimes at the hands of the brutal Kim Jong Un regime." Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said Friday that the man accused of raping at least three women in South Philadelphia is HIV positive. "That is an issue and we are doing the best we can to make sure people get what they need in terms of treatment and information," Kenney said in response to a question from NBC10. "Thankfully, this guy is off the street." Kenney's comments came less than 24 hours after NBC10 first reported new developments in the case. Safien Williams, a 37-year-old Philadelphia Streets Department employee, was charged with multiple counts of rape, aggravated assault, sexual assault, false inprisonment, criminal trespassing, unlawful restraint and burglary, among other charges. The rapes occured on Mifflin, Morris and Bancroft streets; an indecent assault also occurred on South 16th Street. Philadelphia police indicated Williams might be responsible for other attacks. In each known case, Williams followed the victims during late-night or early-morning hours, investigators said. Surveillance video showed a man on a bicycle approaching homes and circling South Philly streets. At least one victim might be an undocumented resident of Philadelphia, according to police. Officials encouraged other victims, including those concerned about approaching law enforcement authorities because of their immigration status, to report assaults. "Irrespective of what you're status may be or whether you're not a resident of this country, don't worry about that. You're a victim," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said earlier this week. "Come forward." The Philadelphia Police Department, however, and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office did not comment on Williams' HIV diagnosis. Williams was assigned a public defender but the Defender's Association of Philadelphia declined to comment for this story. More than 30 states across the country have laws that make it a crime to not disclose an HIV-positive status prior to sexual contact. Pennsylvania, however, does not. Criminalizing the spread of HIV would only add to stigma, according to Ronda Goldfein, executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania. "In a case like this, there is an allegation of a very serious crime and we don't need to add an added element," she said. "A person's health status does not become an element of that crime [because] we dont know the impact of a persons health on an alleged victims health." HIV is no longer the death sentence it once was, she added. "With access to medication, [HIV] is a chronic and manageable condition. We don't want that important factor to get lost," Goldfein said. "We have made great progress in regards to science and medicine, but stigma still runs rampant." The Philadelphia Department of Public Health did not comment on the Williams case, but said in a statement that "all the victims who have come forward are being offered the appropriate counseling and medical care." Sexual assault victims who seek medical treatment immediately or shortly after an assault are less likely to transmit the virus, according to Dr. Sara Schultz, an infectious disease specialist at Drexel University College of Medicine. "Time is of the essence," she said. "After a sexual assault, it is unlikely but possible to transmit HIV depending on various factors ... including how much HIV [the attacker] had." An estimated 1.1 million people in the United States are currently living with HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Philadelphia, about 19,000 people have the virus. Advancements in medicine have also made it possible for HIV-positive patients to live into their 70s. The average life expectancy for a patient undergoing treatment is 71 years compared to 79 years for Americans who are not infected, according to the CDC. HIV is spread through blood, semen, breast milk and other bodily fluids. Sharing needles or having unprotected anal sex puts people at especially high risk of infection. If an HIV patient's status is undetectable, then transmission is less likely, according to Schultz. But if someone with HIV is not on medication, has not been diagnosed or very recently contracted HIV, then the transmission risk increases. People exposed to the virus can drastically reduce their risk of transmission by taking a medication every day for 28 days. Nonoccupational postexposure prophylaxis, or nPEP, is most effective when taken within 72 hours. "The sooner this is started after an assault, the better," Schultz said. Go to the City of Philadelphia's website for more information and available resources. What to Know Pennsylvania has begun issuing drivers' licenses and identification cards that comply with the federal REAL ID Act. You will need a REAL ID or alternate identification to board domestic flights, visit a military base or enter other federal facilities. The deadline to get a REAL ID for those uses above is Oct. 1, 2020. Pennsylvania on Friday began issuing drivers' licenses and identification cards that comply with the federal REAL ID Act. Under that act, all states must meet Department of Homeland Security standards for their licenses and ID cards to be accepted for such things as boarding domestic flights or visiting military bases or other federal facilities. In other words, if you don't want to bring along your passport, you'll need a REAL ID to fly domestically. Why is the government making people get a REAL ID? The new form of ID is a result of the REAL ID Act. The act, passed by Congress in 2005 in response to the 9/11 attacks, establishes "minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards" and prevents federal agencies from accepting those forms of identification from states that don't meet the DHS's standards. Can non-citizens apply for a REAL ID? Yes. Pennsylvania allows non-citizens to obtain driver's licenses, and the requirements are similar to the requirement for getting a REAL ID. When will REAL ID enforcement begin? The final deadline for all states is Oct. 1, 2020. What happens after Oct. 1, 2020? After this date, you won't be able to use your regular driver's license/ID card for boarding domestic flights. To do these things, you will need a REAL ID or alternative forms of approved identification. How can I get a REAL ID? You have three options: 1. Get pre-verified online: If you got your first Pennsylvania driver's license, photo ID or learning permit after Sept. 1, 2003, you will have received a postcard from PennDOT telling you that you're eligible for online pre-verification. Once you've gone through the online pre-verification process, PennDOT will let you know if you're verified and you can then officially order your REAL ID online and wait for it to come in the mail. (Again, that link is here.) 2. Take required documents to any PennDOT driver's license center: Once your documents are verified at the license center, you should receive your REAL ID in the mail within 15 business days. 3. Take required documents to a REAL ID Center: This works the same as taking your documents to a driver's license center, but it has the added advantage of letting you walk away with a REAL ID the day-of, instead of having to wait the 15 business days. You can find your nearest REAL ID Center here. What documents do I need to show to get a REAL ID? Whether doing it online or in person, your quest for a REAL ID starts with having the required documents in order. Here's what you'll need: 1. Proof of Identity: You'll need one of either your U.S. birth certificate with a raised seal or a certified copy of the certificate, a U.S. passport or passport card, a certificate of U.S. citizenship or a certificate of naturalization. If you're a non-citizen, you'll need either a green card, a passport with an I-551 stamp, an immigrant Visa or an I-327 re-entry permit. 2. Proof of Social Security Number: This would be your original Social Security card. If you've lost your Social Security card, you can get a free replacement from the Social Security Administration. 3. Proof of Pennsylvania residency: To prove residency, you'll need to provide two of the following options: your current license or ID, a Pennsylvania vehicle registration card, a car insurance card, a utility bill, post-marked mail through USPS, UPS, FedEx or others, a lease agreement or mortgage documents, or your W-2 form. 4. Proof of name, date of birth, or gender change: This only applies if you've changed your name, date of birth or gender and it differs from your birth certificate or legal status document. If that's the case, valid name change documents would be a marriage certificate, divorce decree, court order approving a name or birth date change, or an original or certified copy of an amended birth certificate showing a name change. Is a REAL ID mandatory? Technically, no. You don't need a REAL ID to vote, apply or receive federal benefits or even drive. Also, though a REAL ID might make it easier and more convenient for you to board domestic flights or visit federal facilities, you can also use alternative forms of identification instead. What are the alternative forms of identification I can use to fly domestically and enter military bases or federal facilities? U.S. passport U.S. passport card DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST) U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents Permanent resident card Border crossing card DHS-designated enhanced driver's license Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID HSPD-12 PIV card Foreign government-issued passport Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card Transportation worker identification credential U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766) U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential So if it's not mandatory, why should I get a REAL ID? For one, a REAL ID could be the cheaper option. "It's definitely cheaper to get a REAL ID than a passport," PennDOT Community Coordinator Alexis Campbell said. She's right, too. The cost to renew your passport can cost upwards of $100, whereas a REAL ID will run you $30 plus an applicable renewal fee. A REAL ID can also be more convenient. For example, if you're someone who travels domestically, it might just be easier to use your license to get through TSA instead of having to remember to bring along your passport, meaning a REAL ID might make sense for you. "It's really up to the user to consider their own travel habits are and what they want," Campbell said. An Australian state prosecutor has sent letters threatening to charge media organizations and dozens of journalists with breaching a gag order that banned reporting of Cardinal George Pell's convictions on charges of sexually molesting two choirboys, lawyers said Thursday. Reporting in any format accessible from Australia of details of the former Vatican economy chief's convictions in a Melbourne court in December was banned by a judge's suppression order that was only lifted this week. Such suppression orders are commonplace in the Australian and British judicial systems, and breaches can result in jail terms. But the enormous international interest in a criminal trial with global ramifications has highlighted the difficulty in enforcing such orders in the digital world. Victoria state Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd has written more than 100 letters to journalists and media organizations advising that she intends to charge them with offenses relating to reporting on the Pell case, said Jason Bosland, the deputy director of the Center for Media and Communications Law at Melbourne University. Bosland, a leading expert on suppression orders, said he was told the number by media sources. A lawyer involved in several cases, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed more than 100 letters were sent. Some individuals received two or three letters, so the number of media employees facing charges could be fewer than 100, the lawyer said. He and Bosland said the charges were aiding and abetting breaches of the suppression order by international media, breaching the suppression order, scandalizing the court and sub judice contempt. Anthony Loncaric, a spokesman for the Office of Public Prosecutions, declined to comment. Two of Australia's largest media organizations, Nine and Australian Broadcasting Corp., confirmed that they had received letters. News Corp., another major media organization that was criticized by a Pell lawyer for running a headline saying "CENSORED" following the conviction, declined to comment. Nine spokeswoman Miranda Ward said the company had received a letter accusing it of breaching the suppression order. Australian Broadcasting Corp. confirmed the public broadcaster had received a letter from Judd. The ABC declined to provide details of the content of the letter, except to say it was related to ABC's coverage of the Pell trial. "We stand by all of our coverage and our actions in this matter," the broadcaster said in a statement. "We have responded to the DPP strongly contesting any suggestion of wrongdoing on our part." Boland said the number of journalists facing prosecution was unprecedented. "I've never seen a situation where such a huge number of people have been shown show-cause notices," Boland said. "Normally it's sent to one or two media outlets. But this is an extraordinary approach in extraordinary circumstances." Boland said he had never heard of a charge of aiding and abetting being used to enforce a suppression order. He said it was a novel approach to target media outside the court's jurisdiction. "What they're doing is instead of going after the international organizations themselves because obviously they can't they are potentially going after the local people within the jurisdiction that they think have aided and abetted these international breaches," Boland said. The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment would prevent such censorship in the United States, so attempting to extradite an American for breaching an Australian suppression order would be futile. As soon as Pell was convicted on Dec. 11 for oral rape and indecent acts involving two 13-year-old boys while he was archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s, news began to spread around the world on social media. Some overseas-based media outlets and websites also began reporting the verdicts, although the sparsity of detail and factual errors suggested they had little if any help from professional journalists inside the court. Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper ran a black front page under the white headline "CENSORED" as the story was trending on Twitter. Melbourne's The Age newspaper reported a "high-profile figure" had been convicted of a serious crime. Both mastheads have been put on notice by the state's chief prosecutor. The Age, which is owned by Nine, reported that 30 journalists employed by Nine had been told in letters in February to show cause why they should not be charged. Authorities' responses to breaches of the suppression order like the order itself had been banned from publication until the order was lifted on Tuesday. Two days after the verdict, trial judge Peter Kidd convened a court hearing with Judd to set the prosecutions in motion. "A number of very important people in the media are facing, if found guilty, the prospect of imprisonment and indeed substantial imprisonment," Kidd said. "It may well be that many significant members of the media community are in that potential position." Breaching a suppression order carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The suppression order was designed to prevent the December conviction from influencing the jury in a trial that was to be held in April on allegations that he groped two boys in a swimming pool as a young priest in the 1970s. Those charges were dropped on Tuesday, so the suppression order was lifted. But reporters still face the potential of charges for sub judice contempt, which alleges the reporting of the first trial interfered with the administration of justice in the second trial. Scandalizing the court is a form of contempt and aiding and abetting a breach of the suppression order recognizes that helping the commission of a crime is itself a crime. Contempt of court is a common law offense with no prescribed maximum penalty. Associated Press reporter Kristen Gelineau contributed to this report. Casino magnate and GOP donor Sheldon Adelson has cancer and has not been at his company's offices in Las Vegas since around Christmas Day. Adelson's poor health was revealed earlier this week by one of his company's attorneys during a court hearing in a years-old case brought by a Hong Kong businessman. The founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. did not participate in the casino operator's conference call with analysts and investors following its earnings report in January. Attorney James Jimmerson told the court Monday that he learned last month "of the dire nature of Mr. Adelson's condition, health." The comment from the attorney came when discussing whether Adelson could sit for a deposition in the case and was first reported by The Nevada Independent. Las Vegas Sands Corp. on Thursday told The Associated Press that Adelson has cancer. "Mr. Adelson is still dealing with certain side effects from medication he is taking for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma," company spokesman Ron Reese said in an emailed statement Thursday night. "These side effects have restricted his availability to travel or keep regular office hours." The effects haven't prevented Adelson, 85, from fulfilling his duties as chairman and CEO, Reese said. The company expects he'll return after he completes treatment. Adelson also suffers from peripheral neuropathy, a condition that affects the nervous system. The billionaire and his wife, Miriam, gave President Donald Trump's campaign $30 million in 2016. They followed that by contributing $100 million to the Republican Party for the 2018 midterm elections. Adelson is Las Vegas Sands' largest shareholder and regularly participates in the company's earnings calls, but was absent when it reported results on Jan. 23. Sands President Robert Goldstein said at the time that Adelson was "a little bit under the weather." "We met with him yesterday," Goldstein said of Adelson during the January call. "He's taking some medications making him a bit drowsy, so he decided this morning to take a rain check on this one." Adelson was expected to testify in the case brought by Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen and his company, Round Square Co. He testified in 2013 and 2008 in the case's two previous trials. Suen has been seeking compensation because he said he helped Sands secure business in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau. Sands has argued Suen didn't help get crucial approval to build casinos in Macau and deserves nothing. Senate opponents of President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border moved within a hair Thursday of having enough votes to prevail, and one Republican suggested he could face a rejection by the GOP-led chamber if he doesn't change course. Trump's move would "turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis," veteran Sen. Lamar Alexander said on the Senate floor. But he stopped just short of saying he'd support a resolution blocking the president's move. Had Alexander pledged his vote, it would probably be enough for the Senate to pass a measure repealing the emergency declaration. Speaking later to reporters, Alexander, R-Tenn., warned about what might happen if Trump doesn't settle for using other money he can access without declaring an emergency. "He can build a wall and avoid a dangerous precedent and I hope he'll do that," Alexander said. "So that would change the voting situation if he would agree to do that." The Democratic-led House voted Tuesday to upend Trump's move, which if left standing would let him circumvent Congress and funnel billions of extra dollars to build his proposed wall. The Senate is considering the measure. Exactly what the Senate will vote on remains unclear. Several Republicans said that behind closed doors, they were considering several options for alternative language, including making it harder for future presidents to divert federal dollars to projects of their choosing by declaring emergencies. Republicans say a Senate vote is likely in two weeks. Trump has promised to veto the House-passed resolution. He confirmed that Thursday. Congress appears all but certain to lack the two-thirds majorities in each chamber that would be needed to override his veto, but the showdown carries risks for GOP lawmakers. Underscoring that, Trump warned Republicans against challenging him. While the wall and other Trump moves curbing immigration elicit wide public opposition, he remains wildly popular with hard-right voters and GOP lawmakers cross him at their peril. "I really think that Republicans that vote against border security and the wall, I think you know, I've been OK at predicting things, I think they put themselves at great jeopardy," Trump said in excerpts of an interview with Fox News Channel's "Hannity" show released Thursday. While congressional Republican are reluctant to challenge Trump, many say his move tramples Congress constitutional power to control spending. They also say it would set a precedent for future Democratic presidents to declare emergencies for their own purposes, and they worry that he would siphon money to barrier construction from home-state projects. Alexander, a three-term senator who will retire in 2021 and is known for reaching across the aisle, has no re-election worries. "I support what the president wants to do on border security, but not the way he has been advised to do it," said Alexander, 78. "It is unnecessary and unwise to turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis about separation of powers." Presidents have declared 58 national emergencies under a 1976 law. But never has one declared an emergency after Congress had explicitly denied the money in question. GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have said they will vote to derail the emergency declaration. Just four would be needed to send the measure to Trump for his promised veto, assuming that all 47 Democrats and their independent allies vote as expected to confront the president. By law, the resolution cannot be filibustered and would need just a majority of 51 votes to pass the Senate. Congress has voted to limit spending for barriers to just under $1.4 billion. Trump featured the wall as a central plank of his presidential campaign and repeatedly said Mexico would pay for it, which hasn't happened. Trump has said he needs additional barriers to halt drugs, human traffickers and unauthorized immigrants from slipping into the U.S. Opponents say there is no crisis. The emergency declaration would let Trump divert $3.6 billion from military construction to erect more border barriers. He's invoking other authorities to transfer an additional $3.1 billion to construction. Lawsuits have been filed aimed at derailing the declaration, which could at least prevent Trump from getting the extra money for months or more. Meanwhile, Collins and three other moderate senators introduced their own resolution blocking the emergency. The proposal is identical to the one-sentence, House-approved measure. The new legislation gives the Senate and the four centrist sponsors two Republicans and two Democrats a chance to put their stamp on congressional opposition to Trump's move. The other sponsors are Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Only Murkowski does not face re-election next year. Fifteen-month-old Liam was being pushed in a stroller by his aunt in a crosswalk in Hawthorne when a 72-year-old drunken driver plowed into the two. The crash ripped through the South Bay community, and the lives of Liam's parents. Since his death, the couple has pushed to change the laws around drunken driving. Last Friday, an Inglewood assemblywoman introduced Liam's Law, pushing to lower the blood alcohol level from .08 to .05. Liam's parents, former MMA fighter Marcus Kowal and his wife Mishel Eder, fully support AB 1713. They've previously said they are hoping to eventually lower the legal blood alcohol content to 0.02 percent, like in Sweden. Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Inglewood, introduced the bill Friday, citing that it could save as many as 1,500 lives each year if the national blood alcohol level was .05. Similar legislation has been passed in other states, with Utah being the first to officially lower the blood alcohol level to .05 Jan. 1. On Sept. 3, 2016, Liam's 15-year-old aunt was pushing him in a stroller when 72-year-old Donna Marie Higgins' SUV struck them, and did not stop, police said. Witnesses followed her and stopped her from running until police arrived. Liam sustained internal injuries as a result of the crash, and he was pronounced brain dead. His parents made the unbearable decision to take Liam off life support. They also donated his organs. Higgins was immediately sentenced to six years in state prison after pleading guilty to one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Kowal and his wife have since been trying to change the drinking culture in the U.S., saying that in his home country of Sweden, DUI's are taken much more seriously. "I grew up in a society where drinking and driving was very looked down on," Kowal said in a previous interview with NBC4. "Here in the U.S. it is very common; many people have one, sometimes two, three, four DUI's." He and his wife have workd on a soon-to-be released documentary called "Letters to Liam" as they aim to end drunken driving. "Our fight is not with the alcohol industry; it is just about not getting behind the wheel when you've been drinking," Kowal said. The couple previously met with Gavin Newsom's chief-of-staff to help them navigate the legislative process as they try to draft a bill to lower the legal blood alcohol content in the United States from 0.08 percent to 0.04 percent. Sweden is the country with the second-fewest road traffic deaths, with a rate of 2.8 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization. In 2012, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System reported that 31 percent of road traffic deaths in the United States involved alcohol. Meanwhile, the Swedish Transport Administration reported 19 percent of road traffic deaths involved alcohol in Sweden in 2013. Since the death of their first-born, Kowal and his wife have welcomed another son named Nico. For more information on the family's petition or Liam's story, visit LiamsLife.org. The city of San Diego is suing companies that manufacture or distribute prescription opioids. The lawsuit announced Thursday by City Attorney Mara W. Elliott is expected to involve hundreds of other cities, counties and states in an effort to recover costs spent on emergency services and police calls. Opioid manufacturers have profited handsomely from the human suffering they intentionally inflicted through manipulation and deceit, Elliott said in a written release. The 210-page complaint alleges that for the last decade opioid companies misled doctors with ill advice and false marketing, telling them the painkillers weren't addictive. Former President of the California Medical Association, Ted Mazer, M.D., claims misinformation from opioid companies led to doctors overprescribing the medicine to patients. He used Oxycontin, the most abused drug of its kind and the pain killer at the center of the growing legal battle, as an example. Doctors were told its a 12-hour drug and it was promoted as a 12-hour drug, then when it wasnt giving the relief over 12 hours, one of the allegations, anyway, is that doctors were then told to just increase the dose, not the interval," Dr. Mazer said. Mazer says increasing doses only fueled addiction. As doctors continue to move away from opioid prescriptions, studies show a flattening in the overdose death rate but opioid overdoses overall are rising due in part to a growing underground market. Some who used to get the highly-addictive pain killers legally as patients have been forced to turn to the black market to get the same drugs. Chief Deputy City Attorney Mark Ankcorn says that the manufacturers' initial deceptive marketing is what created today's black market demand. In the search for profits, these manufacturers have created a market for opioids that didnt exist before and have pushed it into uses where it doesnt belong," Ankcorn said. "They knew that what they were saying was not grounded in good science," he added. "They knew that they were over reading some very small study results and blowing things out of proportion and misrepresenting to the doctors." The full list of defendants numbers almost 30 individuals and companies including Purdue Pharma L.P., the maker of Oxycontin, and members of the Sackler family. "They were the ones who profited over the years from seliing the drugs in a deceptive way and theyre the ones weho should have to pay to clean up the mess," Ankcorn said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that the rising rate of deaths and addiction due to opioids is a crisis for the nation. Purdue Pharma's defense team blames opioid addicts and overprescribing doctors for the crisis. Potential settlement money awarded to San Diego would go towards treatment facilities and rehab programs. The City Attorney's office said that even if San Diego never sees a dime, the lawsuit sends a strong message that battling opioid addiction is a top priority. Nearly eight out of every 100,000 people die from an opioid overdose in San Diego County, according to the State of California Department of Public Health. Data shows Native Americans are up to three times more likely to use the potentially deadly narcotics. The Pala Tribe of Mission Indians filed a similar lawsuit in November of 2018. You've probably seen the terrifying nightmare fuel: a woman's face elongated into a beak, with bug eyes and stringy black hair. You might have seen it shared on Facebook with a warning from parents or local police, accompanied by the scary story that some kids have been sent the image with a challenge to take drugs, hurt or even kill themselves. And you've seen coverage of those police warnings on NBC10 and other local news stations. But is the Momo Challenge real? And is it something you need to be concerned about? Under all the hype, it's hard to find any proof that the "challenge" is more than an urban legend. But that image has gotten plenty of attention, and it has frightened some kids. In the latest round of coverage, some parents claimed on social media that Momo messages were being inserted into children's videos on YouTube, including Peppa Pig and Fortnite videos. This led Kim Kardashian West to take to her Instagram story Tuesday with a plea asking YouTube to help. "Parents please be aware and very cautious of what your child watches on YouTube and KIDS YOUTUBE," she said. Kardashian West's Instagram has more than 129 million followers. It didn't take long for YouTube to issue a response. The company said they had seen no evidence of the challenge on its site. YouTube also noted that anything that encourages self-harm violates the platform's policies and "would be removed immediately." We want to clear something up regarding the Momo Challenge: Weve seen no recent evidence of videos promoting the Momo Challenge on YouTube. Videos encouraging harmful and dangerous challenges are against our policies. YouTube (@YouTube) February 27, 2019 The Atlantic and fact-checking website Snopes have both looked into the Momo challenge. They found no evidence that Momo pops up in Peppa Pig and found no evidence the Momo challenge has led anyone to harm themselves or to kill themselves. Despite reports of suicides, the Today show reported that so far, no law enforcement officials have reported any injuries or deaths related to the so-called challenge. But here's where things get complicated, especially for parents. Just as scary urban legends have spread at sleepovers long before the internet began (Bloody Mary, anyone?), the "Momo" image is something that many kids have heard about -- and may have seen. A guidance counselor at Central Bucks West High School is under fire for allegedly threatening protesters outside Lincoln Financial Field via a Facebook post that said she would shoot anyone who got in the way of her child attending the Eagles game. NBC10s Doug Shimell is in Doylestown with the latest. NBC10 spoke to a young New Jersey boy who was sent the photo by a classmate. The Cape May Police Department had enough concerned parents reaching out that they posted a Facebook message to parents warning, "This 'game' is believed to be a way for people to hack accounts and is psychologically manipulative towards kids and teens." Local police in Gloucester, Massachusetts posted a similar warning Tuesday. A mom in Lowell told the local NBC station that her 10-year-old had seen the image. "I said, 'Evan, do you know who this is?'" the mom said. "And he said, 'Dont show me. Dont show me.' He knew exactly who it was. He had seen it before." Just this week, Today interviewed a mom who said her three-year-old knew that Momo was the "scary lady" with "big eyes, long black hair and a white face." The Momo image is actually a cropped photo of a sculpture created by the artist Keisuke Aisawa for Japanese special-effects company Link Factory, the Atlantic reported. It's called "Mother Bird" and was displayed at a Tokyo gallery that specializes in horror art in 2016. Someone snapped photos for Instagram, a Reddit called "Creepy" picked them up -- and Momo was born, ready to alarm parents and get shared around by teens. Even if Momo is more viral than vicious, the picture can be scary. Meghan Walls, a pediatric psychologist, told NBC10 that parents should take preemptive action and gently ask their younger children if they know about the image. "Say something like, 'There's some scary things that pop up on phones and tablets, and if you ever see something like that, come get me,'" Walls said. The parents of a 3-year-old girl are demanding answers after they say a chunk of their daughters hair was ripped out around nap time at a suburban day care. Robin Reddick said she dropped her daughter Ariana off at a Kindercare in Oswego, Illinois, Tuesday morning. Hours later, she received a call from the day care saying something happened to the child but it wasnt an emergency. When she picked her daughter up, she said she saw an entire braid had been ripped from her scalp. It looked very painful, Reddick said. I can see hair follicles of her hair. Reddick said Arianas teacher and the day care only told her they noticed the hanging braid after nap time. The couple took the child to a doctor, where they said they were told something forceful had been used on their daughters hair. They also spoke with DCFS and filed a report with police. How does something like this happen in the care of the facility? Reddick said. In a statement, Kindercare said it became aware of the loose braid and called the childs family. Although no injury occurred, we also reported the incident to state licensing, so that they may look into the matter for themselves, if they so choose, the statement read. The family said they want answers. I just want justice for my daughter, Reddick said. And I just want to know what happened. What happened to her at day care that day. Family members of a missing rideshare driver have come to D.C. in hopes of finding the man, who has been missing for five weeks. Musba Shifa, 43, originally from Ethiopia, is a rideshare driver for Uber and Lyft. His brother told News4 that Shifa disappeared about 3 a.m. Jan. 19 after picking up a passenger. His brother traveled from Syracuse, New York, to D.C. Thursday to help the search. Shifa was last confirmed seen on Jan. 18 on the 1300 block of W St. NW, near where he lives, police say. Shifas phone was turned off and his car is missing. His family asks the public to look out for the car, a black Honda HR-V similar to a CR-V with D.C. tags FK 6855. The car may have been parked in one place for a long time. If you have any information, contact the D.C. Police Department at 202-567-6768 or 202-727-9099. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has signed a package of bills aimed at reducing the state's eviction rate. Northam announced Thursday he'd signed several pieces of tenant-friendly legislation that's part of his affordable housing priorities. Among the legislation are bills that give tenants more time to pay rent and fees ahead of an eviction notice and limit the number of legal actions a landlord may file. The bills were recommended by the Virginia Housing Commission after compromises were reached between landlord groups and tenant advocates. Some cities in Virginia have some of the nation's highest rates of orders for eviction. Northam said he plans to sign other bills aimed at reducing evictions in coming weeks. What to Know The family of Jassy Correia who was last seen at a Boston nightclub on Saturday night says she has been found dead in a car trunk. Thirty-two-year-old Providence resident Louis D. Coleman III had been wanted in connection with the kidnapping of Correia. Correia was seen leaving Venu Nightclub in Boston just after midnight on Sunday, getting into a red car with a man, believed to be Coleman. Family members say the body of a Massachusetts woman who was last seen at a Boston nightclub on Saturday night has been found in the trunk of a car in Delaware, where her alleged kidnapper was captured on Thursday. "We received some devastating news today and Jassy is no longer with us," Katia Depina, the cousin of Jassy Correia said on Thursday night. A Rhode Island man wanted in connection with the kidnapping of 23-year-old Jassy Correia of Lynn was taken into custody Thursday in Delaware, according to law enforcement sources. Boston Police said a body had been recovered and they were awaiting positive identification. Thirty-two-year-old Providence resident Louis D. Coleman III had been wanted in connection with the kidnapping of Correia. Providence Police said that Coleman was apprehended in Delaware and that a body was found in the trunk of his vehicle. Earlier in the day, Joel Correia told NBC10 Boston that his sister Jassy was dead. Depina said she received news from police on Thursday that the body was identified as Correia. "She was a mother, she was brave, she was strong. She did not deserve this. She went out to celebrate her birthday and never returned home. She did not deserve this," she said. "We want justice for her death." "Women should have the right to go to any nightclub and wear what they want and not worry about being kidnapped and murdered at the end of their night," said family friend Joao Depina. Family and friends say they've never heard of Coleman and don't think Correia knew him, either. Authorities said Coleman had previously been seen in the Providence area on Thursday. A search warrant was conducted at his Chestnut Street apartment, but Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements said he could not give details on what was found. Clements said the case was being treated as a homicide investigation. He said police in Providence and Boston are investigating in collaboration with the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Attorney General's Office, as well as local offices of the FBI. "We don't know right now whether it will be Boston, Providence or a federal agency who eventually takes the case," Clements said. Correia, the mother of a 2-year-old girl, told her family she was going out on Saturday night and didn't respond to messages on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, which is when her family began to fear the worst. She was last seen leaving Venu Nightclub in Boston just after midnight on Sunday, getting into a red car with a man, believed to be Coleman, near Tremont Street and Herald Street. The family could not reach her on her birthday on Tuesday, and she was reported missing Wednesday. At just 16 miles per hour, it's safe to say Uber Eats courier Jesus Cassiano has one of the fastest delivery times in Miami, Florida. He beats the downtown traffic on his retrofitted wheelchair and takes pride in his ability to get customers their food fast and fresh. "Hot and fast. It's important," Jesus said. "I love the face of the customers." At age 18, Jesus was in a car accident in Brazil that led to paraplegia and the need to adapt to life in a wheelchair. Upon arriving in the United States, he knew without a doubt he had to work not just for the money, but also for his mind. "I love the life my life," he said. "I love to work and the freedom." "Uber allows people and allows courier partners to really get access to making money in a way that maybe they wouldn't have been able to otherwise," said Rachael Jaye, General Manager of Uber Eats. Uber Eats requires couriers to have a smartphone, a bike or a motorized mode of transportation. So Jesus' ingenuity kicked in and he modified his wheelchair and added an electric motor to it. "I have my mind. I have two hands," Jesus said. "Thank the Lord. There's opportunity, and when opportunity comes, you take it and go on." Jesus usually delivers within a four-mile radius and focuses on the Brickell, Downtown and Little Havana areas. His peak time is lunch. And Jesus has an impressive track record he has done over 1,200 delivers and has a 5.0 rating. "So it's actually pretty impressive," Jaye said. "So, a perfect rating, which is actually pretty much unheard of unless you are a very new partner." A perfect rating fit for a positive person who doesn't let anything get in the way of living a fulfilling life. "There's many problems in the world, many problems in your life but you can. You can," Jesus said. The U.S. military is preparing to announce that annual large-scale joint exercises conducted with South Korea every spring will no longer be held, two U.S. defense officials told NBC News. The move is part of the Trump administration's effort to ease tensions with North Korea, according to the officials. Exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle will be replaced with smaller, mission-specific training, they said. President Donald Trump has often complained about the large-scale exercises, saying they're too costly. But some experts on North Korea questioned whether they can be suspended without significantly affecting troops' ability to counter threats. U.S. officials insist the exercises and scenarios need to adapt to adjust to the changing situation in the region. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment. No, you're not smoking something. Martha Stewart is really joining the cannabis craze. The domestic diva said Thursday she is partnering with Canopy Growth Corp. to assist in developing new products that contain non-psychoactive CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids. First to come will be offerings for pets. Stewart didn't specify what those products might be. Ontario, Canada-based Canopy Growth is one of the most high-profile companies in the rapidly growing cannabis market. It sells marijuana, oils and other products for medical and recreational users. Canopy said it will benefit from Stewart's decades of experience marketing consumer products. Canopy also makes products for rapper Snoop Dogg's Leafs by Snoop cannabis line. Stewart and Snoop are friends who co-host the VH1 talk show "Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party." Michael Cohen gave Congress a who's who of President Donald Trump's allies and business associates during his testimony on Wednesday. Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer rattled off more than a dozen names, giving the House Oversight and Reform Committee a potential roadmap for future hearings. Here's a look at Cohen and the key people he mentioned. MICHAEL COHEN For more than a decade, Cohen was a loyal Trump aide. He spoke to the press on Trump's behalf, wrangled business deals, threatened detractors and occasionally helped suppress unfavorable news stories for him. Cohen broke with Trump last year and pleaded guilty to charges including that he lied to Congress about a Trump real estate project in Russia and made prohibited campaign contributions in the form of payments to two women who say they had affairs with Trump. Cohen spoke to the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday and is scheduled for another closed-door session on March 6. He's due to start a three-year prison sentence in May. DAVID PECKER The chief executive of the National Enquirer's parent company and a longtime Trump ally, helped kill potentially embarrassing stories about Trump over the years by paying hush money in a practice known as "catch-and-kill." In 2015, Pecker agreed to assist Trump's run for president by squelching damaging stories, federal prosecutors say. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan agreed not to prosecute Pecker's company, American Media Inc., for its secret assistance to the campaign. That promise is now under review after the company was accused of threatening to publish revealing photos of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unless he stopped investigating how the company obtained them. DYLAN HOWARD Cohen said Howard, the executive editor of the Enquirer, was personally involved in coordinating "catch-and-kill" payments to two women who said they had affairs with Trump. Howard has come under fresh scrutiny for an email he sent threatening to publish the Bezos photos. KAREN MCDOUGAL The ex-Playboy model said she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. American Media Inc. paid McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story in August 2016 three months before the election. Cohen made a secret recording of Trump talking about how he wanted to buy the story from the media company to make sure it remained secret. STORMY DANIELS The porn actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she had a one-night-stand with Trump in 2006. Days before the 2016 election, Cohen said Trump instructed him to pay Daniels $130,000 to keep her from talking about it. KEITH DAVIDSON The Los Angeles attorney who initially represented Daniels and McDougal in their dealings with Cohen and American Media Inc. and negotiated their payments. ALLEN WEISSELBERG The chief financial officer of Trump's business empire, Weisselberg began working for the company as an accountant for Trump's late father, Fred. Cohen said Weisselberg helped him "figure out how to" pay off Daniels after Trump allegedly instructed him to do so. Cohen testified that Weisselberg told him he'd be reimbursed for the payment in 12 monthly installments totaling $420,000, which included a bonus and covered some of Cohen's taxes and other work he'd done for Trump. Weisselberg received limited immunity last year related to his grand jury testimony he gave in the Cohen case about the hush money allegations. MATTHEW CALAMARI Cohen mentioned the longtime Trump security chief turned Trump Organization's chief operating officer while alleging Trump inflated the value of his assets on financial reports provided to an insurance company. Cohen named Calamari, Weisselberg and the company's executive vice president, Ron Lieberman, when asked who might know more about that alleged practice. FELIX SATER Sater, a Russian-born former Mafia informant and stock fraud scheme convict, was a business adviser to Trump off-and-on for several years. Cohen said Sater once had an office on the same floor as Trump in Trump Tower. Sater was involved in trying to jump start a Trump Tower project in Moscow. Cohen pleaded guilty to telling Congress that the Moscow venture was dead by January 2016 when, in reality, work on it persisted deep into the presidential campaign. Cohen said Sater also talked with him about having Trump visit Russia during the campaign. Sater was also involved in trying to get the White House to look at a Ukrainian peace proposal that favored Russia. The House Intelligence Committee plans to have Sater testify at a public hearing March 14 to talk about Trump's effort to build a Moscow skyscraper. JAY SEKULOW One of Trump's lawyers. Cohen said Sekulow reviewed his false congressional testimony and made changes pertaining to what he was going to say, "about the timing of the Moscow Tower negotiations." The testimony was also reviewed by Abbe Lowell, a lawyer representing Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, Cohen said. Sekulow said the allegations that he "edited or changed" Cohen's testimony to alter the duration of the Moscow negotiations "is completely false." What to Know This species of sunfish, the first to be discovered in 125 years, was just recently found in New Zealand. The hoodwinker sunfish -- clearly an interesting looking swimmer -- can reach up to 10 feet in length and weigh up to 4,000 pounds. It wasn't clear how the fish, never seen before in the Northern Hemisphere, ended up in Southern California. A rare fish that looks more alien than aquatic washed up in Santa Barbara County, scientists said Wednesday. The mola tecta, or hoodwinker sunfish, has never been seen before in the Northern Hemisphere, let alone Southern California. It wasn't that long ago that the fish was discovered to exist at all. This species of sunfish, recently found on a New Zealand beach, was the first to be discovered in the last 125 years. UC Santa Barbara/ Thomas Turner The fish out of its normal waters washed up in Goleta, at UC Santa Barbara's Coal Oil Point Reserve. "This is certainly the most remarkable organism I have seen wash up on the beach in my four years at the reserve," said Jessica Nielsen, a conservation specialist at Coal Oil Point. UC Santa Barbara/ Thomas Turner An intern found the funny fish, which had already been dead, and told Nielsen. An associate professor from UC Santa Barbara came to the beach to inspect the sunfish, and after sharing photos on social media, scientists on the other side of the globe saw the specimen. Marianne Nyegaard of Murdoch University in Australia, who's the world's primary expert in the species, saw the post, and was hesitant to identify it. "I just couldn't be sure due to pixilation and kept thinking I was totally being hoodwinked by this stranded sunfish," she said. [NATL] Unbelievable Animal Stories: Dog Befriends Abandoned Baby Giraffe But the hoodwinker turned out to be just that. "I literally, nearly fell off my chair (which I was already sitting on the edge of!)," she said after examining more photos from UC Santa Barbara's naturalists, Nielsen and Tom Turner. It still wasn't clear why the sunfish was so far from home. The Board of Supervisors approved a $10,000 reward Tuesday for information that helps investigators track down a man who sexually assaulted a woman jogging on a bike path in the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in South El Monte. Republican support of President Donald Trump these days ranges from those who love everything about him to those who are appalled by him, but stay with him because they are afraid of what they see as the alternative: Democratic socialism. What they all agree on is that Republican strategy going forward needs to change. Those who watched the House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday heard a recurring theme among Republicans as they sought to discredit Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as nothing but a convicted liar. Republican political consultant Rob Gray says Republicans were in a tough spot. "I didn't think they had much of a strategy for the hearing," he said. Gray says they were unwilling to defend Trump against some of Cohen's explosive allegations, but that they wanted to protect him against a rehash of negative stories. "Stormy Daniels, campaign-finance violations, people already believe that," Gray said. "It's already come out. So Cohen didn't provide much that was new, he just confirmed negatives that people already believe about Trump." Janet Fogarty of the Republican National Committee says Republicans need to work on their strategy. "They should have a more in-line, more unified message," she said. But she is still strongly behind Trump because she likes what he's doing for the country on tax reform, China trade relations, jobs and the economy. "He's rough around the edges. Maybe he's not the most moral person. But if he does the job for the country, that's what matters to me," she said. "As we get closer to 2020, the Republicans are going to have to take a stand and going to have to step away from Donald Trump and not protect him," said former Massachusetts GOP Chair Gene Hartigan. "Because it's either that, or they're going to lose their seats." Hartigan says it's not the Republican base Trump needs to worry about. "It's the independent voters. Those are the people who are going to give up on him in the next election," he said. A Massachusetts school is dealing with another racial incident after several were reported in recent years. Freshman Alex Abokocole says the incidents at Framingham State University have been down right discouraging. "I know a lot has happened to the point where it's just like, 'What is going on?'" said Abokocole. Authorities say the most recent incident at the school involved a "bias note," slipped under the door of a dorm room at Corinne Hall Towers. "We don't know the person's motivation," said Willie Gonzalez, the school's chief diversity and community engagement officer. The note, written on a napkin, contains the Spanish word for "to die" and a derogatory term for Hispanic people. Freshman Michael Delrosario said Wednesday was also Dominican Independence Day. He doesn't believe it was a coincidence. "It seems like everyone gets along, but when you really dig into the school, come to see what everyone is about, everyone is, like, separated," said Delrosario. Earlier this month, a student discovered a racist message targeting black people, written in a residence hall bathroom. And back in 2017, school leaders held an all-campus forum to fight racism after several messages of hate targeting African-Americans rattled the school community. Gonzalez says this is a setback. "It hits us particularly harder because we were moving in the right direction," he said. Authorties say there are still no suspects in any of these racial incidents. Monday, the school is hosting another campus-wide forum to hear from students regarding these issues. One Boston army veteran is teaching minorities about gun use and safety in an effort to diminish the negative stigma surrounding gun owners of color. Pierre Salomon became fascinated with firearms during his service in the U.S. Army. "I did active duty when I was deployed to Afghanistan," Salomon said. "That's kind of how I fell into, you know guns. I love the culture." He runs his own company called Salomon Firearms Training, where he teaches people how to use guns safely. Salomons family is originally from Haiti, but he has lived in Boston since he was a young child. While Salomon was growing up in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, he didnt see many gun owners who looked like him. Most people associated minorities who owned guns with crime. "You'll hear terms like 'black on black crime,'" he said. "Gang violence. You know if youre a black guy with a gun you have to be in a gang." He blames the stigma on years of discrimination during and after slavery when blacks were either limited in or prohibited from owning guns. That explains why he wears a T-shirt that reads, "BLACK GUNS MATTER." "So for me, 'black guns matter' is the equivalent of black gun owners matter," he said. It is also part of the reason he teaches free firearms classes to African Americans and other minorities in his spare time. "It's not really common to get a free class like this, especially for the African American community," said Sayquan Arthur Vance, who is also in the army. Vance is the only man in a Saturday class in Dedham that Salomon taught when NBC10 Boston interviewed him. "I do have a son so I would love to be able to protect myself and my family," said Gabrielle Bouquet, one of Salomon's students. Once a student, Tayla Gamache now helps Salomon teach his class. "The first class I took I instantly fell in love with Pierres teaching," she said. While some believe Salomon is doing justice to firearm owners who have been stigmatized, others have criticized his work. One Facebook user called his class "racist" in a post about them. Another suggested said it encourages segregation. Salomon said he has received many similar messages. However, he insists his classes are meant to unite, not divide. Salomon said he is a proud member of the National Rifle Association, though he hopes his classes bring more diversity to the organization. "Often times, you dont see many people of color in there or theres maybe one individual through all the classes," he said. A Maine firefighter has died from injuries sustained while battling a blaze at an apartment building in Berwick. The fire started at a multi-family home at 10 Bell St. just before 11 a.m. Friday. Maine Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland says Capt. Joel Barnes was one of two firefighters who encountered a wall of flames on the third floor and had to be rescued. Barnes and four other firefighters were taken to an area hospital for treatment. Barnes later died from his injuries. "Obviously, you can see this was a difficult situation, for all of the fire departments that responded to this event," said Maine Fire Marshal Joe Thomas. "When we lose one of our own, it's a difficult time." The other four firefighters were treated and released from the hospital. Authorities said crews from 16 fire departments in Maine and New Hampshire remained on still into the afternoon battling the blaze. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. State police in Rhode Island are heading to Delaware to bring back a Providence man facing numerous charges in connection with the kidnapping of a young Boston mother whose body authorities say was discovered in the suspect's trunk. Louis D. Coleman has been charged with being a fugitive from another state in Delaware, and will be moved to Rhode Island to face multiple charges, including kidnapping, refusal to report a death with intent to conceal a crime and mutilation of a dead human body. It's unclear if he'll face charges in Boston, where authorities say 23-year-old Jassy Correia was last seen enjoying birthday celebrations with her friends just after midnight on Sunday at the nightclub Venu in the city's Theater District. At a news conference Friday afternoon, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said the case is complicated "with evidence in three jurisdictions." "There are moving parts in all of them. To protect the integrity of the evidence we have gathered, there are many aspects we simply cannot discuss today," said Rollins. "Whatever this case is ultimately charge, wherever it's charged and tried will be based on the evidence of the law." Her body was discovered inside the trunk of a vehicle in Delaware on Thursday, authorities said. "She was a mother, she was brave, she was strong, Correias cousin, Katia Depina, said. "She did not deserve this. She went out to celebrate her birthday and never returned home. She did not deserve this. We want justice for her death." Rollins said authorities hope to bring the case either to Boston -- either in Suffolk County or in the U.S. District Courts in Massachusetts. "Right now, for the people who love Jassy most and for the entire Suffolk community, this isn't about jurisdiction," said Rollins. "This is about a daughter. This is about a mother whose 2-year-old daughter doesn't understand where she's gone and will no longer have a mother. It's about devastating loss for family members who lost a central part of their lives." Thirty-two-year Coleman, of Providence, was taken into custody on Thursday in Delaware. He was considered a person of interest in Correias disappearance and then later a kidnapping suspect. At the Friday news conference with Rollins, Boston Police Commissioner William Gross said no woman should fear going out in the city. "No family deserves this. Women should be able to traverse anywhere without fear of being harmed," said Gross. "We've had tragedies in the past but we just want the folks of ill-intent to know that this just won't be tolerated in the city." Correia, who was the mother of a 2-year-old girl, was last seen leaving the nightclub just after midnight on Sunday. Surveillance footage captured her getting into a red car with an unknown man, who is believed to be Coleman. "Women should have the right to go to any nightclub and wear what they want and not worry about being kidnapped and murdered at the end of their night," said family friend Joao Depina. Her family had been trying to reach her for days and increasingly became worried. They were unable to get in contact with her for her birthday on Tuesday and filed a missing persons report on Wednesday. Now, Correias family is seeking answers as they process the devastating tragedy. The womans relatives said they had never heard of Coleman and do not believe Correia knew him, either. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh offered his condolences to the Correia family via Twitter. He said the city is mourning the loss of Jassy Correia. What to Know Attorneys for Kevin Spacey are seeking surveillance footage, text messages and other records they say they need to defend their client. Spacey's lawyers also want documents from the accuser's civil attorney, including fee agreements with the accuser's family. Last year, former WCVB-TV news anchor Heather Unruh publicly accused Spacey of groping her son at a Nantucket restaurant in July of 2016. Attorneys for Kevin Spacey are seeking surveillance footage, text messages and other records they say they need to defend the disgraced actor against accusations that he groped a young Massachusetts man at a Nantucket bar in 2016. Kevin Spacey's lawyers asked the judge in court documents filed this week to order the accuser to turn over his cellphone so they can retrieve messages, photos and other data. They also want documents from the accuser's civil attorney, including fee agreements with the accuser's family. The lawyers say they believe the accuser intends to file a civil lawsuit against Spacey, which they say would bolster the defense's argument that the accuser has a "substantial financial motivation to falsify his claims." Spacey pleaded not guilty last month. A hearing is scheduled for Monday, but the judge said Spacey doesn't have to attend. Sex assault resources are available at the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673. Since it was first created in 1994, the National Sexual Assault Hotline has helped more than two million people, according to its website. A woman who grabbed a "Make America Great Again" hat off a man's head in a Massachusetts restaurant faces deportation, but her immigration lawyer says she is in the U.S. legally. Rosiane Santos was charged with assault and battery for grabbing Bryton Turner's hat bearing President Donald Trump's campaign slogan in a Falmouth restaurant Feb. 15. She pleaded not guilty. Turner recorded the encounter and posted it online. The 41-year-old Santos was taken into custody Tuesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and released pending removal proceedings. ICE says the Brazil native is in the U.S. illegally. Immigration attorney Katarina Kozakova says Santos married a U.S. citizen and has applied for a green card. Turner says that he "never would've assumed she was illegal" and that "now she has to suffer the consequences." Two storms will impact New England between Saturday morning and Monday morning, making for a busy and messy few days regionwide. A disturbance that brought early morning snow to Connecticut Friday left sunshine behind and a rather comfortable afternoon with highs in the 30s and little wind. The melting that results from daytime thawing will result in patchy Friday night black ice with a refreeze, but otherwise the weather will feature only increasing clouds ahead of the next storm center, expected to spread snow and mixed precipitation over Southern New England after midnight, from south to north, eventually reaching Central New England Saturday morning, but unlikely to spread much snow into the North Country. The heaviest snow with this first storm falls Saturday morning to midday, tapering thereafter and gone except for flurries by mid-afternoon, after dropping 3 to 6 inches in much of the Boston area, greater amounts in Southeast New England with less to the north, and less on Cape Cod where some mixing with sleet and rain occurs. After a breather Saturday late day through Sunday, another storm comes calling Sunday night, starting after dark and continuing through Monday morning, likely to bring delays and cancellations to start the new workweek with accumulations of snow to be determined but likely to bring plows out for most of us again. Once again, the storm should move along, departing by later Monday and, this time, giving way to a few days of quieter but cold weather before perhaps another storm toward next weekend in our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast. The latest poll by the University of New Hampshire shows Granite State Democratic voters so far favor Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. The Granite State Polls results were released on Thursday and show the Vermont senator had the most support out of the Democrats who have announced themselves as 2020 candidates or are expected to do so. Sanders received 26 percent of the participants support in February while the former vice president had 22 percent. Sanders announced his ambitions for the presidential race on Feb. 19 and said he plans to champion the ideals he had during his 2016 presidential run. However, Biden has not formally announced a run for the presidency. Sources have said hes spoken with longtime supporters about whether or not the 76-year-old is too old for the position. Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren had seven percent of the participants support, according to the Granite State Poll. When asked which candidate they wouldnt support under any circumstances, Warren took the lead. About 13 percent of participants said they would not support the Massachusetts senator. Sanders followed in second, with 8 percent. The poll shows Sanders was considered the second most likable candidate, after Biden. Meanwhile, Warren came in sixth place in that category. Nearly half of the Democratic primary voters who participated in the survey believe Sanders is the most progressive candidate in the party. Warren trailed behind with 10 percent of voters believing shes most progressive. While extremely early, the results are disappointing for Warren supporters, many of whom were hoping she'd have a stronger start coming from neighboring Massachusetts and with high name recognition. "I like Elizabeth Warren, but for me right now I'm leaning a little bit more towards Bernie just because I liked his more left-wing approach," said Shaylin Deignan, of Londonderry. Southern New Hampshire University professor Dean Spiliotes says Warren is progressive, though not as progressive as Sanders. He says she is likable but not as likable as Biden. "She certainly is going to be in the mix but it's going to be a tough fight here in New Hampshire," said Spiliotes. Among the three announced Republican candidates, 68 percent of GOP voters in the survey would vote for President Donald Trump. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld holds 3 percent of the participants support. However, 57 percent of Republican voters are still trying to decide who they will cast their ballot for. Weld announced on Feb. 15 he formed a presidential exploratory committee. UNH said 604 New Hampshire adults were randomly selected and interviewed via phone call for the survey between Feb. 18 and Feb. 26. The survey was taken by 240 likely 2020 Democratic primary voters and 218 likely Republican primary voters. Congressional Democrats are trying to increase pressure on Labor Secretary Alex Acosta over his handling of a secret plea deal with a wealthy financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. A group of House Democrats sent a letter to the attorney general on Friday asking the Justice Department to reopen the deal with Jeffrey Epstein to allow further investigation. They also want the department to make public the results of a department review into federal prosecutors' management of the case, which happened when Acosta served as U.S. Attorney in Miami. "It is at this critical juncture that the agency has an opportunity to foster greater transparency and accountability with the American public," says the letter, which was led by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Lois Frankel of Florida and Jackie Speier of California, and signed by other Democrats. The fresh push from Democrats underscored their efforts to keep the heat on the official whom President Donald Trump has chosen to oversee labor issues. But so far the White House has not signaled great urgency in reviewing the case or in changing Acosta's standing. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is examining whether professional misconduct took place in the case. The department declined to comment on the letter. Epstein, now 66, reached a non-prosecution deal in 2008 with Acosta's former office to secretly end a federal sex abuse investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls that could have landed him behind bars for life. He instead pleaded guilty to state charges, spent 13 months in jail, paid settlements to victims and is a registered sex offender. A federal judge has ruled that prosecutors in Florida violated the rights of victims by reaching the non-prosecution agreement with Epstein. In that decision, the judge stopped short of invalidating the non-prosecution agreement but asked prosecutors and victims' lawyers to recommend how to move forward. The victims have called for the deal to be put aside and want prosecutors to charge Epstein federally, but it is unclear when or if that would happen. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said last week that the administration was "looking into the case," but it has not provided any additional information. Between his diplomatic venture to Vietnam, the border funding showdown with Congress and the Capitol Hill testimony of his former personal lawyer, it's not clear this case is currently a priority for the president. Trump recently said he didn't know much about the case but volunteered that Acosta has done "a great job" as labor secretary. On the Epstein case, Trump added, "That seems like a long time ago." Trump was friendly with Epstein in the past, telling New York Magazine in 2002: "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy." He added: "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." The White House did not answer questions about Trump's relationship to Epstein. Acosta has defended the deal as appropriate but has not commented since a recent series of articles in the Miami Herald about how the agreement came about. The Labor Department issued a statement recently saying the secretary welcomes the Justice Department probe. Democrats as well as a few Republicans have pushed for more. A group of Democratic lawmakers have called on Trump to seek Acosta's resignation and some have been in touch with the House oversight committee about the possibility of congressional hearings on the case. "This is not a person who deserves the authority nor should be holding the trust of enforcing our labor laws," said Wasserman Schultz. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia tweeted last week that Acosta "never should have been confirmed as Labor Secretary." The loudest Republican voice raising concerns has been Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee, who called on the Justice Department to look into Acosta's role and to reopen the agreement. But others have expressed support for Acosta. In a statement, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said of the case: "This was a prosecutorial judgment that was made by Secretary Acosta and was vetted by our committee. The Justice Department under the last three presidents - Trump, Obama, and Bush - have all defended his handling of the case." A senior Republican aide dismissed the calls for Acosta to step aside. During the confirmation process, Acosta privately stressed that he felt he had gotten the best deal he could, given the evidence at hand and the resources he was up against. Acosta, who was confirmed by the Senate in a 60-38 vote in 2017, is the nation's 27th labor secretary, leading a sprawling agency that enforces more than 180 federal laws covering about 10 million employers and 125 million workers. In addition to working as a federal prosecutor, he has been a civil rights chief at the Justice Department and a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Eight years ago, Facebook launched the Open Compute Project (OCP), an open-source hardware initiative to design the most energy-efficient server gear for massive, hyperscale data centers. The promise was flexibility of hardware and software and designs for greater power efficiency. Very quickly, Intel, Rackspace, Goldman Sachs and Sun Microsystems' co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim joined with Facebook to launch the OCP project, with Microsoft joining in 2014. The project has hummed along quietly with no sales figures until now, thanks to supply chain market research specialists IHS Markit. It surveyed both Facebook, Microsoft, and Rackspace, as founding partners, and looked at sales to customers beyond those three. Among the preliminary findings: Sales to non-board members (Facebook/Microsoft/Rackspace) in 2017 was $1.16 billion, just shy of the original forecast of $1.18 billion. Non-board revenue in 2018 is forecast to reach $2.56 billion, compared to a forecast of $1.84 billion, with year-over-year growth of 120 percent. Non-board revenue in 2022 is expected to climb to $10.7 billion, with a CAGR of 56 percent. Now, compared to the $127 billion data center hardware market in 2017, $2.56 billion is a rounding error, but its still a good showing given there is minimal input from the big four (Dell, HPE, Lenovo, and Cisco). OCP hardware comes from a variety of Taiwanese hardware vendors, according to Cliff Grossner, the executive director of research and analysis at IHS Markit's cloud and data center research practice. These include vendors such as Wiwynn, Quanta Computer, Edgecore Networks, and Delta. But there are non-Taiwan vendors, such as Ericsson, that are also making gear. Thats not to say there is no interest from the big players. For the most part, on the server side, we dont see much interest, said Grossner. But on the networking side, Dell and HPE have OCP certified lines, were already seeing Cisco and others starting to use their silicon, and Mellanox has a good line of open network switches. The primary customers are tier-two cloud service providers and non-hyperscale data center vendors, as well as telcos, finance, automotive, manufacturing, and government. Grossner said government purchases surpassed finance this year, while telcos will eventually surge past the rest by 2022. In a study done last year by IHS, the top three drivers for customers are cost reduction, power efficiency, and flexibility in terms of selecting the features they wanted. Customers can order specific designs, assuming they have the purchasing scale to justify the customization. However, Grossner said the sample size wasnt large enough or deployed long enough to get a good measure of the OCP equipment vs. standard hardware. It was just anecdotal discussions at this point. How companies are using OCP equipment The customizations are often in the software, not the hardware. For instance, the London Internet Exchange wanted to add features that did deeper packet inspection to better understand when things were going well or problems with packet stream. It couldnt do that with the closed network operating systems of other vendors. For large data center operators, software written to manage the hardware often breaks past a certain point and they just write their own. So they didnt need that feature in their hardware. The reason telcos are so keen on OCP hardware, he said, is it gives them the ability to quickly deploy new service. Want to drive more automation in their networks and tune them with automation and they get that more from OCP hardware than from closed box vendors, said Grossner. While hyperconverged infrastructure is very popular in some circles, other like the disaggregated systems like OCP gear because they have access to the software, since it is all open source and can see whats in there, he said. The OCP and IHS Markit will release the full results of the market research at the Annual OCP Global Summit, which takes place March 14-15 at San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. 3 1 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Charles A. Gardner, author of Dannemora: Two Escaped Killers, Three Weeks of Terror, and the Largest Manhunt Ever in New York State, is slated to speak at Stamfords Ferguson Library Monday, March 18. Dannemora is an account of the notorious 2015 escape from Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York known more familiarly as Dannemora by convicted killers David Sweat and Richard Matt with the help of a female employee they seduced and a correctional officer who unknowingly provided them with the tools they needed to break out. On June 28, 2015, after 22 days on the run, Sweat was shot and taken into custody near the New York-Canada border, ending what was the largest manhunt in New York State Police history. Matt had been shot and killed by a border patrol SWAT team days earlier. DANBURY A longtime Danbury High School safety advocate is under investigation by school district officials after a bizarre altercation with Danbury Police ended in her arrest late last week. Sueanna Lamontagne, 50, was arrested just before midnight Feb. 22 after police said she repeatedly hit a police officer in the face and screamed profanities at officers during an incident on Forty Acre Mountain Road. Lamontagne has been a safety advocate, helping patrol the halls of Danbury High for the past 13 years, school officials confirmed. Danbury Public Schools administrators have reviewed the incident but would not comment on the pending personnel matter, district human resources director Kim Thompson said Friday afternoon. Attempts to reach Lamontagne were unsuccessful Friday and she is not being represented by an attorney, according to court records. District and high school officials would not confirm whether Lamontagne was still working at the school. Events leading to Lamontagnes arrest began just after 11 p.m. Feb. 22 when police were called to the intersection of Forty Acre Mountain Road and Old Forty Acre Mountain Road along Candlewood Lake. Officers arrived to find a yellow Chevy Malibu parked diagonally across the road, blocking several cars from passing, according to the police report. Those drivers had exited their vehicles and were pleading with the occupant of the Chevy Lamontagne to move the car. Basically, she had the road blocked off the way we would, Sgt. John Krupinsky said. Lamontagne was sitting in the front passenger seat of the car, which was not running, and was clearly intoxicated, according to the report. Witnesses told officers the man who had been driving the Chevy had walked away from the scene. Officers tried unsuccessfully to coax Lamontagne out of the car as they dispatched a tow truck to move it, but she refused and hurled a series of profanities at the officers. When one officer attempted to unbuckle Lamontagne from her seat, she repeatedly punched him in the face with a closed fist, according to police. She probably could have just gotten a ride home, but once the officer was struck in the face, obviously that changes, Krupinsky said. Lamontagne was charged with second-degree breach of peace, disorderly conduct, interfering with an officer and assault of public safety or emergency medical personnel the latter of which is a class C felony. She was released on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at state Superior Court for arraignment on March 7. A Painesville man was sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in a July 2018 Painesville Township armed burglary. Manson Bryant, 32, was sentenced by Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Eugene A. Lucci March 1 after being found guilty last month by a jury on all charges. Bryant was one of three people involved in the July 6, 2018, robbery. According to the Lake County Sheriffs Office, Bryant and 41-year-old Jeffrey Bynes of Bedford entered the victims Painesville Township residence at about 4:50 a.m., July 6. One of the men pointed a gun at the victim. The victim believe the trigger was pulled because he heard a click from the gun. The victim also told the Sheriffs Office the gun was physically placed on his head and around the same time one of the men covered the victims head with a blanket that was taken from his bed. The blanket was held over his face and one of the men struck him. The victim said the gun was then placed on his ribcage and his wallet was stolen from his pants. Two more wallets were stolen, totaling about $800 in cash, along with a gold nugget ring, a cell phone and an Apple laptop. Bynes, who was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty for his role, said he originally entered the victims home to get back his laptop. Lindsey Medina, 32, of Madison Township, who was arrested along with Bynes on July 8 had previously sold a laptop to the victim. Bryant was charged with two counts of first-degree felony aggravated burglary, first-degree felony aggravated robbery, first-degree felony kidnapping, third-degree felony abduction, third-degree felony having weapons under disability and fourth-degree felony carrying a concealed weapon. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the Lake County Prosecutors Office, the victim suffered serious psychological and economic harm. To have unknown people enter your home without your permission and terrorize and while there, would leave a lasting impression, the sentencing memorandum stated. Also according to the memorandum, Bryant has a lengthy criminal history dating to his youth. As an adult hes served four prior prison terms. He was last released from prison in November 2017 and was on probation at the time of the burglary. In the defenses sentencing memorandum, Bryants attorneys said that it was not Bryant decision to commit the robbery. The victim was assaulted during the robbery, but it does not appear that he suffered any significant or lasting physical injuries, attorneys Daniel J. Williams and Jerome Emoff wrote in their memorandum. The evidence at trial was unclear with regard to which robber actually struck the victim. What is clear, however, is that the robbery was committed by individuals who existed in a world in which the next fix was the most important consideration for each day. The attorneys said it was Bynes, not Bryant, who at all times possessed the firearm. It is likely that Bynes committed any assault against the victim, they wrote. Bynes conceived the idea to commit a robbery. Bryant is distinguished from Bynes in this manner. They continued that, while accepting responsibility for ones misconduct should be afforded credit in terms of punishment, an accused should not pay a penalty for exercising his right to trial. As the aider and abettor, and as the person whose involvement was secondary to the principal actor, Bryants sentence should be similar or lesser than that received by Bynes, they said. Medina, 32, previously pleaded guilty to complicity to burglary. She was sentenced in February to five years of community control and must serve an additional 45 days in jail with no jail credit. WASHINGTON Michael Cohens testimony is just the beginning. The House oversight hearing with President Donald Trumps former attorney, coming in advance of special counsel Robert Muellers report, heralds what Democrats in Congress view as the long days ahead providing checks and balances on the Oval Office. For some, the outcome may or may not lead to grounds for impeachment. For others, impeachment cannot come fast enough. What is certain, though, is the mounting tension. As the hearings and investigations unfold, Democrats, particularly those running for the White House, may be speeding toward a moment when they have no choice but to consider the I-word. Newly elected Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, among the most outspoken lawmakers on impeachment, says that as the 2020 presidential candidates visit her Detroit-area district, most residents are going to ask where they stand on this issue. Voters are less concerned with Muellers Russia investigation, Tlaib said, than with the day-to-day White House operations and whether or not theres a crooked CEO in the Oval Office. Hours into Cohens testimony Wednesday, New Hampshires statehouse Speaker Steve Shurtleff, a Democrat, said that impeaching the president was becoming a realistic option. Theyre putting a lot of meat on the bone, Shurtleff said in an interview. It could be a one-two punch, he said of the Cohen hearing and Mueller report. I think itll connect a lot of dots. Trump allies have tried to use the prospect of impeachment as a political weapon. The presidents former chief counselor, Steve Bannon, had warned before the 2018 elections that Democrats would impeach the president if they won control of Congress. Republicans are taking up that mantle. At the start of the Cohen hearing, the top Republican on the panel, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, said the only reason for the session was so Democrats could pursue impeachment. Another committee Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, called the hearing a circus not worth Americans time. And newly elected Republican Rep. Carol Miller of West Virginia said the sole purpose was discrediting the president. If it was not already obvious, Miller said, there are members here with a singular goal in Congress to impeach President Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has kept calls for impeachment at bay by insisting that Mueller first must be allowed to finish his work, which reports suggest could happen in the coming weeks, and present his findings publicly though its unclear whether the White House will allow its full release. Pelosi says the House shouldnt pursue impeachment for political reasons, nor should it hold back for political reasons. Instead, she says lawmakers need to do their jobs as a co-equal branch of government and go wherever the facts lead. The American people expect us to hold the administration accountable, said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I, a member of House leadership. And if during the course of that we come upon sufficient evidence that warrants his removal, I think they expect us to do that. But Democrats are not there yet, at all. So far, the Democratic Partys potential 2020 class has tried to avoid the impeachment question altogether, fearful that calling for impeachment before the Mueller report is out could undermine the process and trigger a voter backlash. Among them, only former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke has directly called for Trumps impeachment. Others approached the Cohen hearing in more cautious and creative ways. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, used the hearings as a fundraising opportunity. Are you watching Michael Cohen testify before Congress today? campaign manager Juan Rodriguez wrote. Theres a lot to unpack, but its abundantly clear: if we are finally going to get to the truth, Congress must act to protect Robert Mueller from being fired before his findings in the Russia investigation are made public. He asked for donations of between $10 and $250. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sent an email during the hearing promising, if she becomes president, not to pardon anyone implicated in the Trump investigations. She set down a challenge for others running to do same. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota tweeted that Cohens testimony is a big deal. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said in a brief chat that he wasnt watching the hearing but was looking to digest it. And Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO considering an independent bid, said the testimony is another stark reminder of President Trumps utter disregard for honesty and decency. The liberal base is restive, though. A new group, By the People, launched a pledge drive urging members of both parties in Congress to show leadership by extending the legislative branchs oversight to the next step of impeachment. We already know Donald Trump has committed impeachable offenses, said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, a spokesperson for the group. We cant wait any longer and want our representatives to move forward now. So far only Tlaib and fellow newly elected Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota have signed on. Another new Democrat, Rep. Joe Cunningham of South Carolina, said impeachment was not central to his campaign for office. Our constituents back home sent me up here to do a job and focus on certain issues and thats not something Im focused on right now, he said. Surveys show impeachment has merit for some voters. In a January Washington Post-ABC News poll, about as many Americans said Congress should begin impeachment proceedings (40 percent) as said they approved of the job Trump is doing as president (37 percent). Billionaire liberal activist Tom Steyer, who has poured millions of dollars into a campaign calling for Trumps impeachment, said Cohens testimony marked a turning point in the debate because its clear Trump broke the law. His group is launching a TV ad over the next week to highlight that point. It ended the argument. It didnt end the fight, Steyer said in an interview. Steyer says Democrats can only wait on the Mueller report for so long before they have to make their own decisions. His group is hosting town halls in the hometown districts of key House chairmen including Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who presided over the Wednesdays hearing. But as the Oversight Committee chairman exited the hourslong sessions, Cummings told reporters the only people using the I-word were the Republicans. Not one person on our side mentioned the word impeachment, the chairman said. AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro has covered Congress since 2010. AP National Political Writer Steve Peoples has covered presidential politics for The Associated Press since 2011. Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Emily Swanson contributed to this report. After a heart attack, the cells in the heart muscle cannot get enough nutrients and oxygen to survive, so they die. A structural support network in the heart's wall can help those cells regenerate, however, two enzymes that break down the network are naturally increased after a heart attack, leaving the heart in a fight for its life. Jianjun Guan, an engineer at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, is developing a new material that would deliver drugs directly to the damaged part of the heart to preserve the support network, or extracellular matrix, while blocking the two enzymes. He will conduct the research with a four-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "When these enzymes are upregulated, they degrade the extracellular matrix, then the heart muscle becomes thinner," said Guan, professor of mechanical engineering & materials science. "The heart function decreases because the muscle is thinner, so the muscle cannot pump as much blood as before. We want to save the extracellular matrix and decrease the bioactivity of these enzymes." Guan plans to deliver the drugs directly to the damaged heart tissue through a specially developed hydrogel, similar in consistency to Jell-O gelatin dessert. The gel would be given shortly after a heart attack and slowly release the drugs until dissolved, which would take about four weeks. One of the drugs his hydrogel will deliver prompts the creation of blood vessels in the dead tissue so that it can regenerate. The other is a peptide that will stop the activity of enzymes, called matrix metalloproteinase-2 and 9, that break down the extracellular matrix. Because this method delivers drugs directly to the damaged part of the heart via injection, it would eliminate certain side effects and prevent cardiac fibrosis, caused by increased accumulation of extracellular matrix that impacts the function of the heart. "We want to make sure we are working on projects to control the scar formation, because after a heart attack, there is scar tissue, and that tissue becomes bigger over time," Guan said. "Scarring is too stiff, and a muscle is soft. The stiff material will gradually damage the healthy soft tissue." Current efforts to deliver the enzyme-blocking drugs have been inconsistent in clinical trials, Guan said. "The drugs are given in a pill, and very little makes it to the heart," Guan said. Based on their preliminary work, Guan and his team expect that injecting these drugs directly into the heart will reduce the degradation of the cardiac extracellular matrix, introduce new blood vessels in the heart and prevent cardiac fibrosis, all leading to improved cardiac function. "This project is innovative because it creates translational drug delivery systems," Guan said. "It is relatively simple, inexpensive and multifunctional." The McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis focuses intellectual efforts through a new convergence paradigm and builds on strengths, particularly as applied to medicine and health, energy and environment, entrepreneurship and security. With 96.5 tenured/tenure-track and 33 additional full-time faculty, 1,361 undergraduate students, 1,291 graduate students and 21,000 alumni, we are working to leverage our partnerships with academic and industry partners -- across disciplines and across the world -- to contribute to solving the greatest global challenges of the 21st century. Overall, breast cancer rates in the United States have stabilized since the 2000s. But according to the results of a new study led by a researcher from the University of California, Riverside, a subset of women living in the U.S. may be at higher risk for breast cancer than previously observed. The study, published earlier this month in the medical journal Preventing Chronic Disease, identified differences in how Asian American women experience breast cancer risk. More specifically, it found that Asian American women who had immigrated had significantly higher risk for breast cancer than their U.S.-born counterparts. Brittany N. Morey, a postdoctoral fellow in UC Riverside's School of Public Policy and one of the study's co-authors, said the findings are surprising because they run counter to established research that associated lower breast cancer risk with racial/ethnic minority populations born outside the U.S., including Asian American women. According to the researchers, immigration patterns could have something to do with the phenomenon. The U.S.'s current immigration climate favors highly skilled Asian immigrants "who perhaps have a higher socioeconomic status than previous immigrant groups" arriving in the country, the researchers wrote. Prior research, meanwhile, has linked high socioeconomic status with increased risk for breast cancer in numerous populations; thus, the higher-socioeconomic-status Asian Americans who have immigrated to the U.S. in recent years could be arriving "with higher risk for latent breast cancer than previous immigrant cohorts," the researchers explained. To tease out some of the nuances surrounding breast cancer risk and nativity, Morey and her co-authors collected data from 570 Asian American women living in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to the highest concentration of Asian Americans in the U.S. outside Hawai'i. From that 570-person set, 132 women had breast cancer and 438 did not. The researchers separated the women in their sample into three groups: U.S.-born, immigrants who had lived 50 percent or more of their lives in the U.S., and immigrants who had lived less than 50 percent of their lives in the U.S. After comparing the women's cancer rates, Morey and her co-authors discovered that both categories of Asian American women who had immigrated had noticeably higher risk for breast cancer than their U.S.-born counterparts. In particular, immigrant Asian American women who had lived in the U.S. for more than 50 percent of their lives were three times as likely to have breast cancer. Those who had lived in the U.S. for less than 50 percent of their lives were only slightly less likely -- 2.46 times, to be exact. "Other findings in our study coincide with previous findings on breast cancer among Asian American women," the researchers wrote. For example, they observed higher risk for breast cancer among women of higher socioeconomic status; among women who had given birth to a first child over the age of 35; and among women who had a family history of breast cancer. Morey said the study should be viewed as preliminary evidence of breast cancer's greater risk to immigrant Asian American women, although further research is needed to clarify its results. It also underscores the need for clinicians who serve immigrant Asian American women to be especially prepared to address their higher breast cancer risk through preventative interventions, among other forms of treatment. "With groups as diverse as Asian Americans, it is important for future research to examine the differences in breast cancer risk that exist by nativity and national origin," Morey said. "Furthermore, this diversity means that clinicians who detect and treat breast cancer should be prepared to offer in-language services and culturally sensitive care to their Asian American patients, especially as breast cancer risk in this group is on the rise." A new Johns Hopkins study offers promise towards someday being able to non-invasively examine changes in cancerous tumors to determine whether they'll respond to radiation treatment, before treatment even begins. The findings, published Feb. 28 in Cancer Research, can potentially help identify subsets of patients that are best suited for radiation treatment, thereby reducing medical overtreatment and helping patients avoid the adverse effects of radiation. "Our eventual hope is to be able to predict a patient's response before radiation therapy even begins, thus sparing patients whose tumors can't be treated with radiation from going through the arduous multi-week process, saving them both time and money," says Ishan Barman, a Johns Hopkins University assistant professor of mechanical engineering and one of the study's corresponding authors. In typical radiation therapy, small doses of radiation are delivered over a period of five to seven weeks and there's currently no definitive way of determining treatment response before or in the early weeks of therapy. The earliest clinicians can examine tumor shrinkage is two to three weeks after therapy with CT and MRI scans. While other studies have investigated molecular changes in tumors as a way to preemptively identify tumors that won't respond to radiation treatment, the researchers say their study is unique because they studied multiple types of cancers and used smaller doses of radiation, which more accurately reflects current radiation therapy practices. "Previous researchers used a single large dose of radiation, resulting in biomolecular changes that don't accurately mimic the subtle changes caused by smaller doses delivered over longer periods of time," says Santosh Paidi, a Johns Hopkins University mechanical engineering graduate research assistant and the study's first author. In this study, the Johns Hopkins, University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences researchers used Raman spectroscopy, a method which uses light from a laser to examine how molecules vibrate, to characterize the changes in the biochemical composition of the tumor and its environment. This method, the researchers say, requires only a low-power laser and doesn't need any additional sample preparation; such technologies enable holistic examination of the complex biological processes of radiation treatment. To test the different responses between tumors that are sensitive to radiation and those that are resistant to radiation, the researchers used cell lines of both resistant and sensitive tumors from human lung as well as head and neck cancers to grow tumors in mice. After the tumors grew to a certain size, the research team removed them and scanned them with a Raman spectroscopy system. All four tumor types showed changes in response to small doses, meant to replicate clinical radiation therapy practice in humans, given over the course of two weeks. The researchers also found consistent changes in lipid and collagen content in both lung, and head and neck tumors. For the second part of the experiment, the research team examined untreated lung tumors. Raman spectroscopy provided data that allowed the research team to distinguish between radiation-resistant and radiation-sensitive tumors, thus providing key insight into the roles different molecules may play in making tumors resistant to radiation. The research team found subtle differences in each tumor type's spectrographic signature; by analyzing these patterns, the researchers created an algorithm that could identify radiation resistance and sensitivity with a 97 percent success rate. "This is only the first step of a larger research endeavor to determine how head and neck cancer tumors respond to radiation," says Barman. "The ultimate goal is to build a miniature probe that can fit into a laryngoscope. Hopefully in the future, then, when a clinician performs an endoscopy and looks at a patient's cancerous tumor, they'll be able to determine whether that tumor will even respond to radiation therapy, and that can improve treatment plans." Neuroscientists will no longer have to track neural activity by hand thanks to invaluable open-source software CaImAn, which automates the process with near-human accuracy. This is an image of neurons (white) taken using calcium imaging techniques. An innovative software dubbed CaImAn can automatically differentiate between individual neurons (yellow outlines) with nearly the same accuracy as a human (red outlines). Credit: Giovannucci et al./eLife 2019 Tracking neural activity manually is a laborious process that sees some scientists gather up to one terabyte of data in an hour using calcium imaging. But in January, a paper published in eLife announced that software CaImAn (an abbreviation of calcium imaging analysis) could achieve near-human accuracy while automating the entire process. One experimenter can fill up the largest commercially available hard drive in one day, Michael Hausser, a University College London neuroscientist. Additionally, while at the Flatiron Institute in New York City, Dmitri Chklovskii, leader of the neuroscience group at the Center for Computational Biology (CCB) said that people spent more time analyzing their data to extract activity traces than actually collecting it. But it isnt only the volume of data that can overwhelm teams tracking neural activity. Identifying individual neurons can be a highly challenging process, with fluorescent signals from different neurons overlapping and confusing the process, along with movement from the brain tissue itself also making it difficult to track single neurons using calcium imaging. Calcium imaging uses dye that binds to calcium ions that are responsible for activating neurons. When under ultraviolet light, the dye is illuminated. It is necessary for the dye to bind to a calcium ion to achieve fluorescence so that researchers can track neurons activity visually. The latest version of CaImAn can be used on standard laptops and analyzes data in real time, allowing researchers to run experiments while carrying out analysis at the same time. The software utilizes a mix of standard computational methods and machine-learning techniques. The study states that CaImAn provides automatic and scalable methods to address problems common to pre-processing, including motion correction, neural activity identification, and registration across different sessions of data collection. It also achieves all of this with minimal user intervention. CaImAns accuracy was tested against a dataset generated by humans. Not only was the software proved to be almost as accurate as humans, it also proved to be much more efficient. This increased efficiency frees researchers up to adapt their experiments as they work, leading to improvements in studies investigating how specific groups of neurons contribute to different behaviors. CaImAn also tackled the issue of standardizing image data analysis, with datasets often revealing variations between researchers. Machine-learning-based tools were also developed using human-generated datasets as training. These datasets are available publicly to allow the wider research community to develop CaImAn further and make new tools. More than 100 labs use the software, which has been freely available for a number of years. In an effort to better manage the incredibly large datasets produced by calcium imaging, Dmitri Chklovskii initiated the project, with Eftychios Pnevmatikakis and Andrea Giovannucci later leading the effort. It was first developed by Pnevmatikakis while working as a postdoc in Liam Paninskis lab at Columbia University. Pnevmatikakis said: It was elegant mathematically and did a decent job, but we realized it didnt generalize well to different datasets. We wanted to transform it into a software suit that the community can use. Joining the CCB neuroscience group for three years to develop the software further, Giovannucci said existing analysis tools were not powerful enough to disentangle the activity of this population of neurons and implied that they were all doing the same thing. He explained that the softwares algorithm subtracts the background voices and focuses on a few. The software is suited to two-photon and one-photon imaging, and Duke University Neuroscientist John Pearson said his lab was excited about being able to use a tool like this. The University of Oxford and University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, today announced a multi-year affiliation to establish a global center for rare diseases. The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre will bring together the capabilities, resources and expertise of both institutions to deliver new treatments for rare diseases, for which therapeutic options are lacking. More than 350 million people worldwide are living with a rare disease, and approximately 50 percent are children. There are about 7,000 known rare diseases, with new diseases being discovered every day. A rare disease affects one in 10 Americans, or 10 percent of the US population. Similarly, Europe has approximately 30 million people who suffer from a rare disease. The majority of all rare diseases are genetic in origin, which means they are present throughout a person's life. Only five percent of rare diseases have a treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar estimates have been made for treatments approved by the European Medicine Agency (EMA). Therefore, someone with a rare disease today faces a lifelong, often life-threatening, condition with little hope for a cure, or even an effective treatment option. In this partnership, the University of Oxford and Harrington Discovery Institute commit to addressing unmet need in rare disease. Through their combined resources, the new Centre will set the science and innovation agenda to support cutting-edge breakthroughs across the UK and US with the greatest chance for clinical impact. The University of Oxford is a world-renowned academic institution with more than 250 Principal Investigator scientists working on over 350 rare diseases. The Oxford Rare Disease Initiative, established in 2012, is a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Oxford University Hospitals Trust, which provides the opportunity to combine pre-clinical and clinical expertise in areas such as neurology, inflammation and immunology, hematology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and has created an extensive rare disease network. Since its founding in 2012, Harrington Discovery Institute - part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development - has supported more than 100 drugs-in-the-making across disease areas and academic institutions, with a concentration in diseases where unmet need is greatest. The Harrington Project was established to advance scientific discoveries over the 'Valley of Death' - the stage in the drug development process when a new discovery is seen as promising, but is insufficiently validated to attract the funding necessary for clinical trials. Harrington Discovery Institute advances these promising discoveries towards the clinic by aligning, through mission and structure, scientific and drug discovery expertise into a new model for drug development. "Our partnership with Harrington Discovery Institute recognizes the combined experience needed in world-class science and drug development if we are to change the rare disease landscape in a meaningful way - and Oxford is committed to doing so through this unique, open model supporting the most impactful innovation throughout the UK," said Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford. "Advancing breakthroughs in rare diseases will require bold, new approaches that can overcome scientific challenges and create new medicines. This affiliation represents a commitment to patients first and a tremendous opportunity to improve the health and outcomes of those living with a rare disease," said Jonathan S. Stamler, MD, President, Harrington Discovery Institute and Reitman Family Distinguished Chair of Cardiovascular Innovation at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre has been several years in planning through efforts of Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, and with the help of David U'Prichard, ex-Global Head of Pharma R&D and Advisor to The Harrington Project. The Centre will be headquartered both in Oxford, under the leadership of Professor Georg Hollander and Professor Matthew Wood, and in Cleveland within the Harrington Discovery Institute, and managed by its leadership. The Centre will be leveraged by researchers worldwide, and raise awareness for rare diseases. "Our family is thrilled to see the incredible evolution of the Harrington Project in only 7 years. Our US program has generated interest from disease foundations to biotech and pharma, and we are so pleased to see it extend to the UK. We are honored and privileged to be collaborating with perhaps the most illustrious university in the world, and we welcome them as true partners in our efforts to cure disease," said Ronald G. Harrington, whose family co-founded the Harrington Project with Dr. Stamler at University Hospitals. "Our Centre promises to advance the best scientific breakthroughs not only at Oxford but also across the UK. This is a unique feature of our commitment to science and patients and one I am most proud of," said Georg Hollander, Head of the Department of Paediatrics. Matthew Wood, Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Centre remarked, "The enormous challenge of bringing new medicines into the rare disease space requires not only scientific excellence but also mechanisms to share knowledge and ambitious approaches to translate this successfully into new drugs for patients. We are thrilled that the new Centre will partner with Harrington Discovery Institute and benefit directly from their extraordinary track record in new drug development and commitment to patients." "This is a wonderful example of the synergy in science and innovation that is needed to move discovery forward, and it is gratifying to see our institutions in Cleveland and Oxford combine their strengths to this end," said University Hospitals CEO Thomas F. Zenty III. The Centre is supported in part by a grant from the Cleveland Foundation. "This is a phenomenal opportunity for Cleveland to further distinguish itself as a leader in biomedical innovation," said Cleveland Foundation President and CEO Ronn Richard. "We are excited by the capabilities of Harrington Discovery Institute, which will support medical breakthroughs across the US and UK through its affiliation with one of the world's premier medical institutions." Source: https://www.uhhospitals.org/locations/uh-cleveland-medical-center In the current issue of Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications (Special Issue on Women's Cardiovascular Health, Volume 3, Number 4, 2019, Guest Editor Gladys P. Velarde) pp. 375-389(15); DOI: https://doi.org/10.15212/CVIA.2019.0007 Viviany R. Taqueti from the Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Heart and Vascular Center, Division of Cardiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA reviews novel imaging approaches for the diagnosis of stable ischemic heart disease in women. This article provides a valuable provocative insight into the importance of advanced noninvasive imaging tools like CCTA, PET, and CMR in enabling very sensitive assessments of anatomic atherosclerotic plaque burden, macro and micro-vessel related ischemia, and myocardial fibrosis respectively. The author emphasizes the importance of low coronary flow reserve (CFR) as a potential link to understanding the hidden biological risk of stable IHD among women where abnormal coronary reactivity often co-exists with diffuse, nonobstructive CAD, a phenotype more prevalent in women and less amenable to focal revascularization. The author explains how the pathophysiology of obstructive and nonobstructive coronary disease renders itself to a more accurate diagnosis with the appropriate utilization of these novel modalities. Conventional recommendations for diagnostic testing for the evaluation of stable ischemic heart disease in women have largely paralleled those in men. Although they are designed primarily for the identification of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), traditional approaches can lead to overtesting in women without differentiating who is truly at risk. Several unique factors related to the presentation, diagnosis, and underlying pathophysiology of stable ischemic heart disease in women necessitate a more specific approach to the assessment of their risk, complete with separate guidelines when appropriate. This article highlights how advanced noninvasive imaging tools, including cardiac computed tomography angiography, positron emission tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, are enabling very sensitive assessments of anatomic atherosclerotic plaque burden, macrovessel- and microvessel-related ischemia, and myocardial fibrosis, respectively. Moving forward, effective diagnostic testing will need to identify women at high risk of adverse cardiovascular events (not anatomically obstructive CAD per se) without overtesting those at low risk. Judicious application of novel imaging approaches will be critical to broadening the definitions of CAD and ischemia to better reflect the whole spectrum of pathological phenotypes in women, including nonobstructive CAD and coronary microvascular dysfunction, and aid in the development of needed evidence-based strategies for their management. This article forms part of a special issue on Women's Cardiovascular Health, guest edited by Gladys P. Velarde. Recent decades have witnessed great progress in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Due to improved therapies, preventive strategies and increased public awareness, CVD (stroke, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, peripheral arterial disease and congenital heart disease) mortality has been on the decline over this span of time for both genders. Unfortunately, the decline has been less prominent for women, especially women of color. Once viewed as a man's disease, CVD remains the leading cause of mortality for women in the United States and is responsible for a third of all deaths of women worldwide and half of all deaths of women over 50 years of age in developing countries. In the United States, CVD far outpaces all other causes of death, including all forms of cancer combined. The statistics are sobering with about one female death in the United States every 80 seconds from CVD. That represents close to 400,000 deaths per year according to the more recent statistics. Of these, more than one quarter of a million women will die this year from ischemic heart disease (IHD) which includes obstructive and non-obstructive coronary disease, and about 64% of women who die suddenly of IHD have no prior symptoms. Despite a significant number of females with known CVD and increased awareness among women of heart disease as their major health threat, a substantial proportion of women (46% as per the most recent American Heart Association survey) remain unaware of their cardiovascular risk and continue to fail to recognize its significance. This lack of awareness is more profound (over 60% unaware) among women in higher-risk groups, racial and ethnic minorities, and has changed little in decades. Poorly understood sex/gender differences in pathobiologic mechanisms, clinical presentation, management and application of diagnostic and therapeutic and preventive strategies have contributed to this gap. A critically important factor has been the underrepresentation of women in CVD research to date. In fact, only one-third of CVD clinical trials report sex-specific results despite The Food and Drug Administration regulations requiring sex stratification data, as well as the National Institute of Health recommendations of increased inclusion of women in clinical trials. This makes it difficult for researchers and clinicians to draw accurate conclusions about sex differences in mechanisms of disease, accuracy of specific diagnostic modalities and risks or benefits of a particular drug or device for the treatment of women with CVD. Furthermore, physicians and other healthcare providers continue to underestimate women's cardiovascular risk, in part because of utilization of traditional approaches which can lead to over-testing or inappropriate risk assessment without accurate differentiating who is truly at risk and inadequate use of preventive therapies for women. The goal of this special edition Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications is to shed some light on specific topics that dominate the spectrum of CVD in women. A UMass Lowell researcher who analyzes the causes and impacts of violence fueled by drug trafficking has won critical acclaim for her work and is bringing a fresh understanding of these issues from the streets into the classroom. When teaching, UMass Lowell's Angelica Duran-Martinez, assistant professor of political science, draws on 15 months of extensive fieldwork she conducted in five cities in Colombia and Mexico experts have considered for decades to be centers for drug-trafficking organizations. "Through my research, I began to better understand the political factors that contribute to variations in the frequency and type of violence committed, whether it be hidden or visible in the community," she said. Her investigation took her to Cali and Medellin in Colombia, and Ciudad Juarez, Culiacan and Tijuana in Mexico several times. While in each city, she interviewed crime victims' families, drug dealers, government officials, law-enforcement officers, community organizers and journalists. For historical perspective, she pored over news accounts, police reports and court records of drug-related murders from 1984 through 2011. Duran-Martinez found that patterns of violence are tied to three main factors: whether the drug cartels had a market monopoly or were fighting for turf, whether they were outsourcing the violence to street gangs or performing criminal acts themselves and whether the security forces provided by the government in each city were cohesive or fragmented. She discovered that the frequency of violence escalates when trafficking organizations are fighting for turf or when the violence is outsourced to street gangs. "I also found that drug traffickers who face a cohesive and effective security apparatus, as well as those protected by corrupt state actors, often have an incentive to minimize and hide their violence, so as not to cause a public outcry and force a crackdown," she said. "On the other hand, trafficking organizations in areas with fragmented security forces may have incentives to maintain control through visible violence, including public assassinations, bombings and shootouts." Duran-Martinez's research is detailed in her first book, "The Politics of Drug Violence: Criminals, Cops and Politicians in Colombia and Mexico." The work has won praise from the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime, which commended the quality and relevance of her findings and will honor her later this year as part of the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology. A native of Colombia, Duran-Martinez has been committed to understanding and finding effective responses to illegal drug trafficking for much of her life. She began examining these issues while working for the United Nations as a graduate student. Her students are benefiting from her firsthand account of her experiences. At UMass Lowell, Duran-Martinez has created courses that specifically address drug enforcement policies and theories of political and criminal violence. She teaches undergraduate courses in comparative and Latin American politics, along with courses in research design and methods for Ph.D. candidates in the global studies program. Duran-Martinez's findings suggest military might is not effective in stemming the drug trade, as military operations against organized crime increase both direct and collateral violence and deaths, leading to bloody battles for control, she said. A better approach, she finds, is for governments in drug-producing countries to put more resources into long-term social and economic solutions, including education. "And, although it's not a popular idea, decriminalization or legalization of drugs in consumer nations would help a lot by removing the financial incentives that drive illegal markets," she said. "We're already seeing this with the legalization of marijuana in some states and the decriminalization of all drugs in Portugal." Situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, LabCentral is one of the countrys leading co-working laboratory launch-pad for life-science start-ups that demonstrate strong potential. It can provide all the necessities required for new companies to start lab operations almost straight away after moving in, allowing them to accelerate their science forward more quickly and cost-effectively. While the scientists based in the center are working on cutting edge technologies, LabCentrals laboratory operations team takes care of all other necessities, from managing permits and lab maintenance, to administrative duties, such as purchasing lab supplies. LabCentral has been supported by their proud sponsor, Elemental Machines, since 2015. Before the Elemental Machines Solution The Elemental Machines Solution has shown itself to be a highly valued service for the laboratory operations team at LabCentral. The solution is comprised of Elements, wireless sensor units that gather high-resolution environmental data from lab equipment, including refrigerators, freezers, incubators, ovens, etc. as well as localized zones within the facility. The web-based Elemental Insights dashboard displays the aggregated Element data for monitoring and alerting at any time, day or night. Before they employed the Elemental Machines solution, LabCentral lacked a thorough and centralized system for monitoring and alerting. The result of this was three key areas of difficulty for the laboratory operations team: Long, periodic walk-throughs of the 70,000-square-foot facility to make sure that its force of over 300 items of equipment was fully operational. Conveying information on equipment issues to residents of LabCentral. Insufficient transparency in relation to the operation of laboratory equipment. Figure 1. Prior to the introduction of Elemental Machines solution, regular walk-throughs of the 70,000 sq foot LabCentral facility were the only ways to detect lab equipment issues Photo courtesy: LabCentral Paul Avis Photography. After Elemental Machines Solution With the help of the Elemental Machines solution, LabCentral was able to address the three key difficulties in the following ways: The establishment of personalized alert systems removed the requirement for periodic walk-throughs. The Elemental Machines solution offers LabCentral team members valuable freedom to make equipment monitoring a remote task. This process allows team members to take action to correct problems instantly, even when working remotely. The eventual outcome of this is that the quantity of materials scrapped as a result of equipment failures and power outages - a common issue during winter in the region - is significantly reduced. Many of our residents produce time- and cost-intensive samples whose loss can impede the scientific advancement that our organization fosters. Celina Chang, LabCentral Sr. Director, Laboratory Operations Figures 2a(left) and 2b(right). Elemental Machines solution monitors the LabCentral facility during inclement weather. Photos courtesy: David Van Horn licensed via CC and LabCentral Paul Avis Photography respectively. 2. This system enables greater communication in relation to equipment issues/failures via access to the Elemental Insights dashboard, shared with LabCentral residents. The LabCentral laboratory operations team utilizes the Elemental Machines solution to manage the full array of equipment, while residents are given specific access to the dashboard, allowing them access to equipment and areas that are related to their particular companys functions. This gives resident scientists the ability to monitor and be sent alerts for any environmental factors that may have an impact on their studies. Whether they are a resident scientist or a member of the LabCentral team, each user set up personalized alert thresholds tied to specific equipment varieties, locations, environmental parameters other significant categories. Where equipment performance deviates from expected parameters with color-coded views on the Elemental Insights dashboard. The Elemental Machines solution enables numerous groups within a larger organization, each of which specific requirements, to attain a signification degree of personalization. Figure 3. Elemental Insights Dashboard provides an overview of issues at the LabCentral facility based on user-defined parameters. 3. Machine details found on the Elemental Insights dashboard have offered increased transparency and insight into the facility. After gaining the ability to monitor the laboratory environment across the entire system, the LabCentral team were able to detect problems with the HVAC system that had affected several areas of the facility. The ability to monitor the temperature and relative humidity of the zones which suffered the effects was vital in defining precisely the impact the HVAC failure had had on the everyday operations of resident companies. LabCentral was able to identify the impacts of substandard operating conditions and avoid further harm by monitoring both the equipment and its environment. Prior to this insight from Elemental Machines, we had challenges tracking the laboratory atmosphere in real-time. This new data drove us to invest in temporary solutions while our HVAC system was repaired. Lyndsey York, Senior Lab Manager, LabCentral As well as assisting with these three main points of difficulty experienced by LabCentral, the Elemental Machines solution also delivered unexpected advantages: Scalability: In order to support their dynamic and quickly growing organization, Elemental Machines was able to provide LabCentral with a scalable combined monitoring/alerting solution. Since LabCentral has increased in size from the time of its launch, Elemental Machines has also offered smooth integration of new equipment and laboratory space onto its Elemental Insights dashboard as an additional part of its scalable solution. Figure 4. Both the number and types of Elements at LabCentral has grown with time. As LabCentral expanded, Elemental Machines equipped new facilities with additional Elements. Additionally, LabCentral has welcomed new Elemental Machines technology over the years. Clockwise from top left: Element-T (temperature), Element-A (ambient environment), Element-D (data capture from incubators, balances, etc.) Facilitate repair or remediation decisions: Examination of data from a specific freezer showed a cyclic pattern which, based on knowledge of earlier incidents, suggested an impending compressor failure. With this information, the LabCentral team was able to take action prior to the freezers failure, saving time and money on identification of the problem. With the usual rush and panic of an emergency avoided, the freezers contents were safely transported to another freezer and no materials were lost. Data for GLP: A company resident at LabCentral was creating formal Good Laboratory Practices. As a part of this program, the company created procedures for storage of thermally sensitive materials. Being scientists, they required data to rationalize choices for material storage location, equipment maintenance plans, etc. Thanks to the Elemental Insights dashboard, this data was easily accessible for the team. The resident company now has further plans to make use of this data for internal audits and to set up further laboratory processes. Conclusions The Elemental Machines solution, which allows users to focus on their fundamental missions, is seen as a vital tool by both the LabCentral team and their residents. With the help of personalized and scalable features, Elemental Machines has enabled the LabCentral laboratory operations team to maintain an increasing quantity of vital lab equipment, while also offering their residents peace of mind and the ability to capture real-time data that holds implications for their important research. Elemental Machines is proud to provide support for both small and large organizations that are catalyzing radical scientific developments. About Elemental Machines Elemental Machines is helping scientists improve experimental reproducibility and accelerate scientific discovery. From early research and discovery to manufacturing, everyone in biology and chemistry-based industries knows that the physical environment can affect the entire product lifecycle. What they dont know is exactly how, or the cumulative cost of not knowing -- higher R&D expenses, slower time to market for innovative products and life-saving therapies, yield loss during manufacturing, and more. With a deep understanding of these issues, Elemental Machines is delivering unprecedented insight into complex processes, helping customers refine and accelerate their work across all phases of product innovation. By gathering and synthesizing environmental data into actionable information, Elemental Machines provides critical insights that improve transparency, repeatability and outcomes, and save customers time and money. Track contextual variables (temperature, humidity, air pressure and light) in the research lab or monitor critical equipment performance (freezers, refrigerators, ovens, and incubators) for easy access to performance data, as well as alerts if readings are out of range. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. New Delhi: Leaders cutting across party lines welcomed the return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from captivity in Pakistan on Friday and lauded him for his poise and courage and for making the country proud. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the IAF Wing Commander, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. He said the country's armed forces are an inspiration for the 130 crore Indians. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram," he tweeted. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted, "Proud of you Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. Jai Hind." Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad too lauded the pilot for his bravery and welcomed him back to the country. "Welcome home. The entire nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan," Singh, the Minister for Home Affairs, tweeted. Prasad tweeted, "Proud of your courage Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back home. Abhinandan to you. Jai Hind. Bharat Mata Ki Jai." BJP president Amit Shah said Friday that the entire nation is proud of the courage and valour of the pilot and that India is glad to have him back. "Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future," Shah said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan said his dignity, poise and bravery have made all in India proud. "Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love," he said on Twitter. Varthaman returned home from Pakistan on Friday to a hero's welcome, two days after he was captured following a dogfight when his MiG 21 was shot down. Pakistani officials handed over Varthaman to Indian officials, including from the IAF, at the Attari-Wagah Border. Union minister Smriti Irani Friday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "parakram" (valour) for Varthaman's return from Pakistan within two days of his capture. "Sangh (RSS) today can be proud of the fact that a son of India is returning to India in 48 hours due to the 'parakram' of a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer)," she said in an apparent reference to Modi. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Welcome home Abhinandan Varthaman Welcome home sweet home". Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a series of tweet, called the pilot an inspiration for the nation. "Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan. I salute your bravery and the courage of your family. "India is proud of you. The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us," he tweeted. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, "Very happy to see the safe return of IAF wing commander Abhinandan. AP salutes the brave and spirited patriot." Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Welcome home Wing Commander. It's great to have you back." Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted, "Relieved and glad that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is back home. I welcome him on Indian soil and salute his valour. The nation is proud of its armed forces." The Congress also put up a picture of Abhinandan on its Twitter handle and tweeted, "Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan. We are happy to have you back. You have been a true hero to all of us. Salute. Jai Hind." RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, "India Salutes you Wing Commander Abhinanand! Welcome Back! You are the real hero." Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said, "Join the nation in warmly welcoming back our hero Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman! Your resoluteness and poise in the face of adversity makes me proud as an Indian and former soldier. Welcome back son! Jai Hind." Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "The nation salutes you Wing Commander. Welcome home!" CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, "Home, finally, Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back." Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also tweeted, "Abhinandan' Bharat ! Our Abhinandan is back with us!" Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said, "Extremely happy that Our Hero #IAF pilot Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman is back. The grace, grit, and commitment he showed during the toughest time is really admirable. We are proud of him. The nation salutes his bravery. Welcome Home Abhinandan." New Delhi: The Congress on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for referring to Nirmala Sitharaman as the countrys first woman defence minister. Urging the Prime Minister to brush up his history, the partys Twitter handle reminded him that Indira Gandhi was the first defence minister of India. Taking potshots at the Prime Minister, the grand old party wondered if he had missed this chapter during his entire Political Science degree. FYI, Smt Indira Gandhi was the first woman Defence Minister of India you should brush up your history in case you missed this chapter during your entire Political Science degree, the Congress wrote on Twitter. FYI, Smt Indira Gandhi was the first woman Defence Minister of India - you should brush up your history - incase you missed this chapter during your Entire Political Science degree. https://t.co/w3QEjkUpHH Congress (@INCIndia) March 1, 2019 Gujarat University vice-chancellor MN Patel had earlier claimed the Prime Minister had passed his post-graduation in political science with 62.3 per cent marks. The reaction from the Opposition party came hours after Modi called Sitharaman the first womans defence minister while hailing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was then in Pakistans captivity and is also a resident of the southern state. He said every Indian was proud of him and lashed out at political rivals for suspecting the armed forces, an act that helped Pakistan, he said. After inaugurating several government projects in Kanyakumari, Modi said "I am proud that India's first woman defence mininster Nirmala ji is from Tamil Nadu. Every Indian is proud that the brave wing commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu." The events of the past two days, an apparent reference to IAFs air strikes and the IAF shooting down a Pakistan jet, have demonstrated yet again the strengths of the country's armed forces, Modi said. "It has also brought our nation closer," the Prime Minister said, an obvious pointer to the outpouring of support to Abhinandan and India's armed forces from the people. However, he said, it was sad that a few political parties "suspected our fight against terror." When the entire nation supported the country's armed forces, they "suspected the armed forces," he said. "These are the same people whose statements are helping Pakistan and harming India. They are the same people whose statements are happily quoted in the Parliament of Pakistan and in the radio of Pakistan," Modi said. He also hit out at the previous Congress-led UPA government for allegedly "blocking," surgical strikes post 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more New Catwoman run delves into some Dangerous Liaisons (or is it Cruel Intentions) in first look preview Two top Marvel creators jump to DC for Catwoman Sorry! This content is not available in your region Gorakhpur: An advocate on Thursday was shot dead inside a court campus in neighbouring Basti district, police said. Citing eyewitnesses, police said Jagnarayan Yadav (63) was working in his chamber when the incident took place. At around 3.30 pm, two youths came to him and after talking to him for some time, took out a pistol and fired at him. The other advocates and people present at the spot tried to chase the culprit, but they managed to escape. The police reached the spot and rushed Yadav to a hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. "The body has been sent for autopsy. The reason behind the murder is not clear at this stage. The deceased was a native of Kaptanganj village," Additional Superintendent of Police, Basti, Pankaj Kumar said. The officer said CCTV footage was being examined and family members of the deceased were being questioned. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: With more and more companies adopting analytics and data-based decision making has given rise to 45 percent increase in jobs over last year, a study has revealed. Close to 97,000 positions related to analytics and data science are currently vacant due to a dearth of qualified talent, which is 45 percent over last year, a study done by online ed-tech company Great Learning said here. "A 45 percent increase in the supply gap in just one year indicates the pace at which businesses are adopting analytics and data-based decision making. In the last few years, many large players have been forced to acquire talent to keep the wind in their sails," Great Learning co-founder Hari Krishnan Nair said. The data for the study was gathered from leading job portals and through interactions with over 100 companies and survey with over 1,000 professionals from leading cities on employment trends, salary structure and their outlook towards tools and skills.' The study further said, a majority of these job openings are for junior level roles for candidates with less than five years of experience, which has widened the talent gap in the industry. Opportunities for freshers have also increased with openings for them accounting for 21 percent of analytics jobs, compared to 17 percent last year, it said. About 31 percent of the job openings in the sector this year are for professionals with over 5 years of experience, it added. "At the same time, for those looking to enter the sector, a surplus of jobs is a great opportunity. The need of the hour is for professionals to reskill themselves and get job ready. Companies are also looking inwards to identify talent to capitalise on new opportunities. Here, skill development programs will play a critical role in updating analytics capabilities and preparing the workforce for newer roles," Nair added. Meanwhile, the study also noted that Bengaluru continued to be the hub of analytics professionals accounting for 24 percent of total analytics jobs. Financial centres like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai have increased their share of analytics jobs this year with Delhi and NCR contributing 22 per cent of analytics jobs in India,Mumbai contributing 15 per cent and Chennai 7 percent, it added. About 38 percent of all jobs posted are from the banking sector while retail has more than doubled its share of jobs to 7 percent from 2 percent last year. E-commerce, pharma and automobiles have contributed 12 per cent, 13 percent and 6 percent of the jobs, respectively. Telecom on the other hand, has seen the biggest fall in demand with just 4 percent of job postings as opposed to 8 percent last year. Chennai engineer to padle 8,500 kms to raise awareness about human trafficking For all the Latest Education News, Jobs News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman will be released today. The IAF wing commander was held captive after the pilot landed in Pakistan over aerial combat of the two nation's fighter planes. After the incident, India had summoned Pakistani envoy on Wednesday and demanded "immediate and safe return" of the pilot.A Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that they would release captive Indian Air Force pilot on Friday as a 'big peace gesture'.A The entire nation along with Bollywood celebs are rejoicing the news and praying for his safe nation. Vicky Kaushal last seen in Uri tweeted, "I bow down to the bravery and dignity of #WingCommanderAbhinandan . Praying for your safe return. YYY" I bow down to the bravery and dignity of #WingCommanderAbhinandan . Praying for your safe return. YYY a Vicky Kaushal (@vickykaushal09) February 27, 2019 A Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar tweeted, "Great News" A A joyous Tapsee Pannu, "Now this really brought smile to my face !!! Waiting for tomorrow ..... with bated breath ai" Now this really brought smile to my face !!! Waiting for tomorrow ..... with bated breath ai https://t.co/EOGISL26ec a taapsee pannu (@taapsee) February 28, 2019 A Vivek Oberoi tweeted, "So glad to hear about the release of #WingCommanderAbhinandan. Our hearts swell with pride and joy and we are all waiting to welcome our braveheart backY Jai Hind" So glad to hear about the release of #WingCommanderAbhinandan. Our hearts swell with pride and joy and we are all waiting to welcome our braveheart backY Jai Hind YY YY #WelcomeBackAbhinandan a Vivek Anand Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) February 28, 2019 A Veteran actress Hema Malini tweeted, "Happy to hear our pilot is going to be released tomorrowY God bless!" YYYYYYYYYYYYYY. Happy to hear our pilot is going to be released tomorrowY God bless! a Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) February 28, 2019 A Nimrat Kaur tweeted, "Excellent to know braveheart #WingCommanderAbhinandan will be home tomorrow. May this be the beginning to the end of all war murmurs. #AboutTime" Excellent to know braveheart #WingCommanderAbhinandan will be home tomorrow. May this be the beginning to the end of all war murmurs. #AboutTime a Nimrat Kaur (@NimratOfficial) February 28, 2019 A Bestselling author Chetan Bhagat tweeted, "Thank you Mr @ImranKhanPTI for releasing #WingCommanderAbhinandan and caring for an Indian soldier's life. Please also genuinely work towards combating terrorism with us that hurts innocents and halts progress of both countries. We only want progress and our safety, not war." Thank you Mr @ImranKhanPTI for releasing #WingCommanderAbhinandan and caring for an Indian soldier's life. Please also genuinely work towards combating terrorism with us that hurts innocents and halts progress of both countries. We only want progress and our safety, not war. a Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) February 28, 2019 A Meanwhile, people have gathered at the Wagah Border since early in the morning and are cheerfully awaiting the arrival of Wing Commander Abhinandan, who is expected to be released by noon. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: After keeping their relationship under wraps for a while, Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora are now often spotted hanging out and spending time together. If the grapevine is to be believed, things are getting pretty serious between the two, and they are planning to tie the knot in the near future. According to a report in India Today, Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora are set to get married in less than two months from now. A source close to the couple revealed that the duo is planning a traditional Christian wedding. "Malaika and Arjun have decided to get married in April, in a church wedding," the source informed. For the uninitiated, Malaikas sister Amrita Arora also tied the knot with Shakeel Ladak in a Christian ceremony. Also Read: Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora planning to buy their dream house post-marriage? Recently, there were reports that Arjun and Malaika are on a house hunt where they can live together as husband and wife. An insider had told a leading publication, "Arjun and Malaika are looking for real estate to set up a home together in 2019 after they get married." Talking about being open to the idea of marriage, Arjun had recently said on Koffee with Karan, "Yes, now I am. Earlier, I wasn't" on his appearance on Koffee With Karan 6. When KJo asked Malaika about Arjun's KWK appearance, she said, "It was hot, it was honest and I loved every bit of it!" When Malaika was recently asked by Hindustan Time about the reports of her tying the knot with Arjun Kapoor in 2019, she was quoted as saying, I never answer personal questions. Not that I shy away from answering or whatever. I just dont feel comfortable talking about my personal life. And whatever my life has been, everyone is aware of it. I dont need to be talking about it. I am just enjoying my life - its beautiful and precious. On the work front, Arjun will be next seen in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, opposite Parineeti Chopra. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is prepping up to welcome the new member of the Royal family of Britain. She has already organised a baby shower in New York a couple of weeks back and reports suggest the Kate Middleton will host the other one in the UK. But amongst all the guests, Priyanka Chopra who attended her summer wedding went missing. A source close to a US-based celebrity magazine Page Six revealed that the 'desi girl' Priyanka is miffed with the former 'suit's actress for failing to attend the former's wedding with Nick Jonas. She, therefore, decided to give the baby shower a miss. "Their friendship is over unless Meghan apologises. Priyanka is a huge international star with a tremendous social media following. She is probably more famous worldwide than Meghan is. She feels Meghan didnt respect her and didnt respect their friendship, an insider said. However, a source close to PeeCee refuted such claims and said that the information is untrue and there are no issues between the two women. Some magazines also reported that the 'Quantico' actress was pre-occupied with work commitments and meetings for her upcoming book and therefore couldn't attend the baby shower. On the work front, Priyanka is shooting for her Bollywood movie, 'The Sky Is Pink'. She turned head early this week with her appearance at the Vanity Fair Oscar party with husband Nick in tow. She is now in India to celebrate her brother Siddharth Chopra's engagement. Meghan Markle is due to deliver in April. She was in Morocco recently. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. highlights IAF looks forward to the return of Wg Cdr Abhinandan, Air Vice Marshal said. 8 IAF fighters including MiG-21, Su-30 , Mirage were scrambled. PAF aircraft attempted to target military installations in border areas. New Delhi: On Thursday, when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan surprised everyone by announcing return of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman during joint session of Pakistan Parliament, the big thought on Indias mind was what exactly will the top commanders of three services say at the unprecedented joint press conference at the South Block. Minutes into the conference, it was clear that the focus was not exactly on the pilots return but how Pakistan broke several international protocols during February 27 airspace violation. Air Vice Marshal Ravi Kapoor said that, at around 1000 hrs IAF radars detected a large package of PAF aircraft heading towards the Indian territory towards general area Jhangar. Now, various media reports say that the large package of the Pakistan Air Force consisted as many as 24 fighter jets. According to an NDTV report, that Pakistans strike squad included eight F-16s, four Mirage-3 aircraft, four Chinese made JF-17 "Thunder" fighter. It is here that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman historic bravery comes in picture. According to the NDTV report, which was also concurred by Air Vice Marshal Kapoor, one F-16 of PAF was shot down by an IAF MiG-21 Bison. For the uninitiated, MiG 21 is a Russian aircraft, which was inducted by India 56 years ago. Whereas Pakistan has F-16, which was given to it by the US. In simple comparison, F-16 is much superior than MiG-21 both in terms of technology and capacity. So, what ensued on that fateful day was Wg Cdr Varthaman chasing down the F-16 and ultimately shooting it down. All this lasted for just 90 seconds, says The Hindustan Times report. But this dogfight in the Subcontinental skies will go down in the history of aviation as not just an unparalleld feat but also proves the superb training at skills of the Indian Air Force pilot. Just like Pakistan's F-16 fighter jet, MiG-21 has been continuously upgraded and witnessed extensive combat use by nations that purchased them from the US and the USSR, later Russia. The fact that India has nailed Pakistans lie and exposed the F-16 strike squad shows that the Imran Khan government violated the agreement with the US that it will not use the aircraft on its neighbours or in peace time for any attack. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Five activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special NIA court in Bhopal for carrying explosives, on Thursday. The court awarded life term to Abdul Aziz, Javed, Abdul Wahid, Jubar and Mohammad Adil. Special NIA judge Girish Dixit also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 each. In 2014, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had recovered huge cache of explosives including dynamite, gelatin rods, bombs, pipes and other destructive materials from the possession of them. Of the total 12 accused in the case, two were killed in an encounter with the police in October two years ago. Five others namely Umar, Sajid, Sadiq, Abu Faizal and Irfan Nagori were acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence against them. The SIMI members allegedly posed as farmers and labourers while running their unlawful activities.The ATS recovered 800 gelatin sticks, 540 detonators, a pipe bomb and some other kinds of explosives from their hideout during the raid by STF. The arrest was not smooth as locals had opposed the STFs action in Topkhana area of Ujjain. The administration had somehow controlled the hostility. Public Prosecutor Rajendra Upadhyay claimed that the seized explosives were lethal and could have caused massive damage and hence, pushed for maximum punishment for the arrested accused. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and said how could India trust him. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create "fear" in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists. "I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence... Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi," he said. Shah questioned the Pakistan Prime Minister's silence on the Pulwama attack. "The Pakistan PM should have at least criticised the Pulwama attacks, at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service," he said. 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. While speaking in Parliament, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that they would release captive Indian Air Force pilot on Friday as a 'big peace gesture'. Khan's surprise announcement to a joint session of Parliament, that Varthaman will be released Friday, was greeted by loud thumping of desks by the lawmakers. Earlier, his foreign minister said Khan was also willing to talk to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the phone to talk peace. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Ahead of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming from Pakistan, the Beating the Retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border has been cancelled for the day, according to reports.A Briefing theA media on the development, Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar, said the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah Border will not be held today, adding that Senior team of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will receive the Wing Commander this afternoon. Pakistan Prime Minster Imran Khan on Thursday announced their decision to release the wing commander as a gesture of peace and the "first step" to open negotiations with India. The development came afterA India on Wednesday summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan and demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot who was detained by Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. As per the latest reports, Varthaman will return to India via Attari-Wagah border by this afternoon. A delegation of IAF officers along with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will receive the Wing Commander on Friday. Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar: The Beating the Retreat ceremony (at Attari-Wagah Border) will not be held today. Senior team of the Indian Air Force will receive Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. pic.twitter.com/n40CcJX7H6 a ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 On recieving Abhinandan, Amarinder Singh said, "Would love to go to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman but there's laid out protocol whenever anybody comes back like happened to Prisoners of war in '65 and '71, they had to first go for medical and then be debriefed". Early in the day, all eyes were on Varthaman's parents - Air Marshal (retired) S Varthaman and Dr Shobha Varthaman - as they were given a standing ovation in a Chennai-Delhi flight. They were on their way to the national capital to receive Abhinandan from the Attari-Wagah border this afternoon. In a show of respect, passengers made way for them ensuring that the couple gets off first. The Beating the Retreat ceremony is the continuation of the century-old military tradition when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset with the sounding of the Retreat. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Abhinandan Varthaman, IAF pilot Wing Commander who was captured by Pakistan, has been handed over to officials of the Indian High Commission at Wagah border near Lahore on Friday evening. Pakistan had detained him following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed on February 27. "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been handed over to us. He will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. The IAF is happy to have him back," saidA Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor at Attari-Wagah border.A India on Wednesday summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan and demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot who was detained by Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of the parliament on Thursday announced that Pakistan will release the pilot. The government due to security reasons had not announced any time or place to hand him over to Indian authorities.A Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of different projects in Kanyakumari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said every Indian is proud of Abhinandan Varthaman. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early on Tuesday.A It came 12 days after 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. Following the bombing of the JeM training camp, the Pakistan Air Force carried out a retaliatory aerial combat, unsuccessfully targeting several Indian military installations. Wait for Abhinandan They waited, hundreds of media personnel at the Attari border that separates India from Pakistan and millions of Indians glued to their TV sets and social media accounts for some news, any news about IAF officer Abhinandan Varthaman coming back home from captivity. IAF Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman at Wagah-Attari border, to cross border soon to enter India. pic.twitter.com/a1hVjwroVw a ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 The day slipped into sunset and then night but the wait for Wing Commander Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday and was released on Friday, continued. Long after nightfall, as the skies opened up and drenched Amritsar, there was no sign of the Indian Air Force pilot.A A As analysts painstakingly debated each nuance of India, Pakistan relations in TV studios, anchors went hoarse keeping up the constant commentary and journalists looked for information on when and how he would be handed over to India, the government decided to keep it all under wraps. Patriotism was the mood of the day. There was garba in Ahmedabad, dancing in Bangalore, a sand sculpture of the officer in Puri and 'yagnas' in several places. Frenzied celebrations broke out at the Attari-Wagah border checkpost in the morning itself with hundreds of people waving the tricolour, getting their faces painted and shouting slogans in anticipation of his safe homecoming and hoping to catch a glimpse of the brave-heart.A The daily retreat ceremony at the border front was cancelled for the day by authorities, worried that it could become a security nightmare with an estimated 20,000 people gathering at the spot. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Indian Air Force Wing CommanderA Abhinandan Varthaman on Twitter as the fighter pilot, who was captured by Pakistan on February 27, reached India via Attari-Wagah border on Friday. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!," Modi tweeted on Friday night soon afterA Abhinandan was handed over to India by Pakistan.A Earlier in the day, Modi hailed Abhinandan Varthaman, saying every Indian was proud of him and lashed out at political rivals for suspecting the armed forces which, he said, helped Pakistan. After inaugurating several government projects, Modi said "I am proud that India's first woman Defence Mininster Nirmala ji is from Tamil Nadu. Every Indian is proud that the brave wing commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu."A A A "It has also brought our nation closer," the prime minister said, an obvious pointer to the outpouring of support to Abhinandan and India's armed forces from the people. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2019 Pakistan had detained him following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed on February 27. "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been handed over to us. He will now be taken for a detailed medical checkup because he had to eject from an aircraft. The IAF is happy to have him back," said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor at Attari-Wagah border.A India on Wednesday summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan and demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot who was detained by Pakistan following an aerial engagement by air forces of the two countries. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of the parliament on Thursday announced that Pakistan will release the pilot. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan forces once again violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmirs Nowshera sector in Rajouri district around 4.14 pm on Friday as Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan on February 27, returned to India via Attari-Wagah border. The Indian Army is retaliating to the Pakistan firing. Earlier in the day, one civilian was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. They said the intermittent firing continued throughout Thursday night. One civilian has been injured in the firing. The Indian Army has responded to the Pakistani firing in adequate measure, the officials said. The ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops comes as tensions between India and Pakistan rose following the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, in Kupwara, militants and security forces engaged in an encounter early on Friday. All India Radio reported two militants had been killed in the encounter. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Five security personnel, a CRPF officer, were killed when a terrorist who was hiding in debris of a house damaged in a joint operation in Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district opened fired on them on Friday. The operation is still underway. Earlier, it was reported that two terrorists were killed in an overnight encounter at Babagund village of Langate, Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. The terrorist was presumed dead, suddenly emerged from debris and started firing which took the security personnel by surprise. One civilian was also killed during a clash with security forces following a stone-pelting incident at the spot. Earlier, on Thursday night at around 9:00 pm, the contingents of Army's 22 RR, 92 battalions, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and SOG conducted a cordon-and-search operation at Khanu-Babagund hamlet in Langate. Reports said that the forces had also installed lights to prevent the terrorists from escaping in the darkness of the night. As of now, there is no information on which group the terrorists were affiliated with. Security forces had launched a cordon and search operation following information about presence of terrorists there, the officials said. During the searches, the terrorists opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated, they said. There was lull in firing several times during the day but the terrorists would resume firing as soon as the security forces advanced towards the house where the ultras were hiding, the officials said. Clashes between a group of youngsters and security personnel took place near the encounter site, leaving four persons injured, the officials. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In yet another ensuing gunfight, two terrorists have been killed by security forces in Babagund village near Langate area of Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. However, police is yet to confirm the identity and affiliation of the slain. The encounter which broke out in the wee hours of Friday, came to an end following the recovery of the terrorists' bodies from the spot. Though firing is now stopped in the area, a search operation was still underway when the last reports came in. According to sources, the joint forces of Armyas 22 RR, 92 battalion CRPF and SOG of police launched a cordon-and-search operation following specific input about the presence of terrorists at Khanu Babagund hamlet in Langate at around 9 pm on Thursday. Artificial lights were installed to prevent the terrorists from escaping owing to darkness. With the searches being intensified in the area, terrorists opened fire at the forces around 1:00 am on Friday, leading to a gunfight which is yet to be concluded. The army has already rushed more reinforcements in the area. "UPDATE: The firing has now stopped. A search operation is underway," the news agency ANI reported. Jammu and Kashmir: Visuals from Kupwara district's Handwara area where an encounter took place between terrorists and security forces earlier this morning; search operation is underway. (Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/Y35hCeo1i9 a ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a civilian has been injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector on Thursday. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing towards Indian posts and villages in Kamalkote area of Uri in Baramulla district through out the night. However, Indian Army has responded to the Pakistani firing in adequate measure. These movements come days after the Indian Air Force (IAF), in a pre-dawn airstrike, had on February 26 bombed terror camps at multiple locations across the Line of Control on the Pakistani side, 12 days after Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group carried out the dastardly Pulwama attack in Kashmir. They said the IAF's Mirage 2000 fighter jets pounded the terror camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti in the well-planned strike destroying Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camps. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the operation. Adding fuel to the already worse situation, Pakistan retaliated with sending its US-made F-16 across LOC, targeting India's military establishment. MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were sent to engage with comparatively advanced F-16s. MiG-21 of the IAF even managed to bring down one F-16 of Pakistani Air Force, before being shot down. On Wednesday, two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists were gunned down by security forces during an encounter in Memander area of Shopian district in the state. On February 25, a deputy superintendent of police, an army jawan and three Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed during another encounter in the Turigam area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: After banning Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, Narendra Modi government is likely to ban Hurriyat Conference - a united political front to raise the so-called cause of Kashmiri separatism. According to sources, the intelligence agencies have submitted a report on Hurriyat Conference to the Home Ministry. Earlier, the government has banned Jammu and Kashmir based Jamaat-e-Islami as an "unlawful association" under Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Last month, investigation agencies had raided several leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and arrested them for their involvement in unlawful activities. The arrested leaders of the controversial socio-religious organisation included its Chief Dr Abdul Hamid Fayaz, Advocate Zahid Ali (spokesperson), Ghulam Qadir Lone (former secretary general), Abdur Rouf (Head, Anantnag unit) and Mudasir Ahmad (Head Tehsil Pahalgam). The security agencies had said that "Jamaat-e-Islami is the reason behind pro-Pakistani and anti-national activities in the valley". The controversial organisation, however, rejected the claims and said that the arrests were part of a conspiracy to further uncertainty in the valley. "JeI is supporting claims for secession of a part of the Indian territory from the Union and supporting terrorist and separatist groups fighting for this purpose by indulging in activities and articulations intended to disrupt the territorial integrity of India," the Union Home Ministry said in a notification. The government reasoned that if the activities of Jamaat-e-Islami are not curbed, it will "escalate its subversive activities including attempt to carve out an Islamic State out of the territory of Union of India by destabilising the Government established by law." The government said that it was highly significant to control the controversial organisation else it will propagate anti-national and separatist sentiments prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country and escalate secessionist movements, support militancy and incite violence in the country. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's parents, who were on their way to receive their son, got a standing ovation as they boarded a flight from Chennai to Delhi on Friday. Abhinandans father retired Air Marshal S Varthaman and mother Shobha Varthaman took a Chennai-Delhi flight on Wednesday morning to receive their son who will arrive at Attari-Wagah border in Punjab. Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan Army on Wednesday, is likely to return home. He was taken into custody by Pakistan Army after his aircraft was fell down following a dogfight with Pakistan Air Force jets. Following India's demand for Abhinandan's immediate release, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced that the IAF pilot will be handed over to India as a "gesture of peace". "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will cross the border today. Can't tell you exact time since there are certain formalities. A senior Indian Air Force team from Delhi is here, they will be the ones to receive him," said Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon. On February 26, India had carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot in response to the terrorist attack in Pulwama, in which over 40 Indian soldiers were killed. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were eliminated. The facility at Balakot was headed by Yousuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of the JeM chief. Pakistan also accepted that Indian Air Force planes entered its territory but denied that they struck JeM camp. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan handed over IAF pilotA Abhinandan Varthaman through Wagah Border on Friday. While speaking in Parliament, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that they would release captive Indian Air Force pilot on Friday as a 'big peace gesture'. Khan's surprise announcement to a joint session of Parliament, that Varthaman will be released Friday, was greeted by loud thumping of desks by the lawmakers. Earlier, his foreign minister said Khan was also willing to talk to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the phone to talk peace. Here are the LIVE updates: 12.12 pm:A Aircraft carrying IAF wing Commander Abhinandan reaches Palam Airport. 11.29 pm: Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan to reach Delhi's Palam airport shortly. 10: 20 pm 10:06 pm:A "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan," tweets PM Modi. Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2019 9:50 pm:A Proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, tweets Nirmala Sitharaman Proud of you Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. a Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 1, 2019 9:47 pm:A Proud of your courage Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back home. Abhinandan to you. Jai Hind Bharat Mata Ki Jai, writes Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. 9:46 pm:A Welcome back soldier. You have made us all very proud. I salute your valor, courage, conviction, calmness and selflessness, tweets VK Singh 9:45 pm:A Air Commander handed over to us as per standard procedures, he will now be taken for a medical check up: IAF. 9:45 pm:A 9:44 pm:A Welcome Home! The entire Nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan. a Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 1, 2019 9:43 pm:A Welcome home #BraveheartAbhinandan! Admire your courage that you have shown behind enemy lines. Thank you Honable PM @narendramodi Ji for securing release of our brave fighter pilot unscathed. pic.twitter.com/6dx0nXXXJu a Pema Khandu (@PemaKhanduBJP) March 1, 2019 9:42 pm:A #WelcomeHomeAbhinandan A proud moment for all of us!! aa aaa aaa aa 'aaaaaaa' aa 'aaaaaaa' aaaa aaa !#SaluteOurForces a Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) March 1, 2019 9:41 pm:A 9:40 pm:A aaaaaaa aaaaa aaaaaaaa a ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) March 1, 2019 9:40 pm:A aAbhinandana Bharat ! Our Abhinandan is back with us!#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan a Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) March 1, 2019 9:39 pm:A 9:38 pm:A Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future. a Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 1, 2019 9:37 pm:A YY Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love. YY a Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 1, 2019 9:35 pm: Abhinandan was extremely happy that he is back to country: IAF. 9:35 pm: We are extremely happy that Abhinandan is back to India: IAF. 9:34 pm:A Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been handed over to us. He will now be taken for a detailed medical check-up because he had to eject from an aircraft. IAF is happy to have him back, says Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor at Attari-Wagah border. 9:21 pm: IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman accompanied by IAF Group Captain Joy Thomas Kurien, Defence Attache to Indian High Commission in Pakistan. 9:15 pm:A IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crosses border to enter India. 9:10 pm:A Documents are being exchanged ahead of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan's entry in India. 9:05 pm:A IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman handed over to India. 8:55 pm:A IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's handover likely at around 9 pm: Reports Sources: Pakistan has changed the timing of handover of IAF's Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman twice. Indian defence minister is keeping a close watch on proceedings. The handover might now take place at 9 pm tonight. pic.twitter.com/2GUIzhrP89 a ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 7:50 pm:A Sania Mirza hails IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan as he returns to India. 7:45 pm:A "In my time alive on this planet, I havenat seen a bigger hero," tweets Ashwin Ravichandran. In my time alive on this YZ planet, I havenat seen a bigger hero. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan a Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) March 1, 2019 7:17 pm:A Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC in Mendhar, Balakote, Krishna Ghati sectors. 7:15 pm:A Pakistan extends airspace shutdown till March 4, operations on few airports allowed. 7:00 pm:A Pakistan blames India for damaging pine trees, plans to move UN accusing it of aeco-terrorisma. 6:25 pm:A Convoy, that will take Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman the Wagah Border to the airport, is currently on standby. 5:50 pm:A Virender Sehwag praises IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan for his courage. How proud we are to have you ! Bow down to your skills and even more your grit and courage Y #WelcomeBackAbhinandan . We love you and are filled with pride because of you.#WeAreSupposedToTellYouThis pic.twitter.com/IfqBFNNa3T a Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 1, 2019 5:45 pm:A West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomes IAF pilot's homecoming. 5:35 pm:A Air Vice Marshall Ravi Kapoor will address media shortly: Reports. 5:29 pm:A IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan handed over to Indian authorities: Reports. 5:22 pm:A Heavy security at Attari-Wagah Border ahead of IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman's return. 5:16 pm:A Earlier, Pakistan had turned down a request by India to send back Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman by aerial route and not through the Attari-Wagah land border: PTI. 5:10 pm:A BSF will shortly receive IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah-Attari border. 5:07 pm:A Pakistan completes the handover process with BSF: Reports. 5:01 pm:A Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court on Friday dismissed a Pakistani citizen's plea to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman. 4:48 pm:A Pakistan to release IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after its beating retreat ceremony. 4:39 pm:A Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to be received by a team of Indian Air Force: ANI. #NationSalutesAbhinandan | Team of Indian Air Force at the Attari-Wagah border waiting to receive Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman Photos: ANI Follow LIVE updates: https://t.co/RNJIRWcmCl pic.twitter.com/yvTPAjmIPg a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 1, 2019 4:30 pm:A Shah Rukh Khan tweets for Abhinandan: "There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan (sic)," he tweeted.A There is no better feeling than Coming back Home, for home is the place of love, hope & dreams. Ur bravery makes us stronger. Eternally grateful. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/NFTRINu6Mw a Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 1, 2019 4:28 pm:A IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman set to return home. Pakistan: Visuals from Wagah in Lahore; IAF Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will soon be handed over to the Indian Air Force at Attari-Wagah border pic.twitter.com/xEPghVgNzi a ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 4:20 pm:A IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman reaches Wagah border, will be released shortly. 4:18: pm:A A large crowd has gathered at the Attari-Wagha border. 4:15 pm:A IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan set to return home shortly.A 4:10 pm:A Air Vice Marshals RGK Kapoor and Sreekumar Prabhakaran are likely to receive him atA A Attari-Wagah Border. 4:05 pm:A Wing Commander Abhinandan will be flown to New Delhi from Amritsar: Reports. 4:00 pm:A Celebrations across India ahead of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan's return. 3:30 pm:A Every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander Abhinanadan is from Tamil Nadu: PM Modi in Kanyakumari. 2.15 pm:A The Beating the Retreat ceremony (at Attari-Wagah Border) will not be held today. Senior team of the Indian Air Force will receive Wing Commander, saysA Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar. 2.15 pm:A Beating Retreat at Wagah border cancelled due to IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming today. 1.30 pm:A IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman begins the journey back home. Starts from Islamabad to Lahore. A celebratory scene at the Wagah Border. (Photo: News Nation) 12.43 pm:A Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will cross the border today. Can't tell you exact time since there are certain formalities. A senior Indian Air Force team from Delhi is here, they will be the ones to receive him, says Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon. #IndiaFirst | Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman will cross the border today, can't tell you exact time since there're certain formalities, says Deputy Comm. Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, Amritsar. Y: ANI#NationSalutesAbhinandan#WelcomeHomeAbhinandanhttps://t.co/ZedcNPoZeZ pic.twitter.com/yoDQQyqHVR a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 1, 2019 12 pm: India wanted to send IAF plane to get back Wing Commander Abhinandan, but Pakistan has refused it, say sources to NDTV. 8 am: The area around the Wagah Border is buzzing since Thursday evening after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman would be released on Friday afternoon. People have gathered at the Wagah Border since early in the morning and are cheerfully awaiting the arrival of Wing Commander Abhinandan, who is expected to be released by noon. Pictures from Wagah-Attari border. (Photo: ANI) 7 am:A Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's parents welcomed with cheers, claps on board flight to Delhi from Chennai on Thursday night. 6.55 am:A The United States has welcomed Pakistan's decision to release Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who is currently in their custody after his fighter jet crashed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Amid rising tension following the fierce engagement between India and Pakistan across LoC, the Border Security Force (BSF) in Ferozepur on Friday apprehended an Indian national with a Pakistani SIM card from the border areas of Punjab. "Punjab: BSF in Ferozepur has arrested an Indian national near border out post, Maboke and seized a mobile phone with Pakistani SIM card, in use, from his possession," the news agency ANI reported. Punjab: BSF in Ferozepur has arrested an Indian national near border out post, Maboke&seized a mobile phone with Pakistani SIM card, in use, from his possession. The number is added to 8 Pak groups. 6 other Pak phone numbers also retrieved from him. The man is from Moradabad (UP) ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 The number, which was in use at the time of apprehension, is added to 8 Pakistani groups. However, the police has retireved the SIM along with a mobile phone and six other Pakistani numbers from his possession. The mystifying man, who hails from Muradabad, has been questioned and handed over to police for further investigation. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has put all air defence systems on alert to deal with the intruders along the international border and Line of Control (LoC). Security in several states sharing the border with Pakistan has also been beefed up. Police in Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra issued a high alert following the air strikes. Read | How Indian Air Force's ancient MiG-21 shot down Pakistan's technically superior F-16? Border districts were put on high alert after the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday, in a pre-dawn airstrike, bombed terror camps at multiple locations across the Line of Control on the Pakistani side, 12 days after Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group carried out the dastardly Pulwama attack in Kashmir. Adding fuel to the already worse situation, Pakistan retaliated with sending its US-made F-16 across LOC, targeting India's military establishment. MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were sent to engage with comparatively advanced F-16s. MiG-21 of the IAF even managed to bring down one F-16 of Pakistani Air Force, before being shot down. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: From Indian Air Force (IAF)'s captured pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming to incessant encounters across the LoC amid Indo-Pak tensions, the Internet is buzzing with latest and breaking news from across the globe. While Pakistan on Friday will release IAF pilot Abhinandan as a "gesture of peace", the security forces is believed to trap 2-3 terrorists in another round of gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj arrived in Abu Dhabi to attend the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states, an influential grouping of 57 countries. In other news, 'desi girl' Priyanka Chopra is reportedly upset with her best friend Meghan Markle and is likely to give a miss to the former's baby shower. Moving on to sports, ace Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik will take on Henna Johansson of Sweden in the gold-medal clash in Dan Kolov 2019. From international to sports to entertainment to India, here are the latest news and updates from across the globe: 15:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday attended duties wearing black shirt as a sign of protest for PM Narendra Modi's visit to Vizag. 14:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Pakistan Army Friday heavily shelled areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, leaving a woman injured, officials said. 12:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi. She will shortly address the session as the Guest of Honour. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi. She will shortly address the session as the Guest of Honour. pic.twitter.com/petmBhEidg ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 12:36 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tamil Nadu: A special thanks giving prayer was organised today by state Home Guards at Kalikambal Temple in Chennai ahead of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's release by Pakistan. Tamil Nadu: A special thanks giving prayer was organised today by state Home Guards at Kalikambal Temple in Chennai ahead of Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman's release by Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/Dz3F24vaxn ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 12:35 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Earthquake with a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter scale hit Palghar district of Maharashtra at 11 am today. 12:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sitting judge of Delhi High Court Justice Valmiki Mehta passes away due to cardiac arrest. 11:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi appeals to UN General Secretary and Russia to play a mediation role to de-escalate tensions in South Asia. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi appeals to UN General Secretary and Russia to play a mediation role to de-escalate tensions in South Asia. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/CiIgTUzFR0 ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 11:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi: I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj. 11:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Vistara Airlines is all set to start daily flights from Dibrugarh in Assam to Bagdogra in West Bengal from April 3. Moreover, the airline stated that the same aircraft would then head to Delhi daily, making it a Dibrugarh-Delhi flight via Bagdogra. 11:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Mathura: The mortal remains of Air Force's Corporal Pankaj Nauhwar have been brought to his residence at Jarelia Bajna. He lost his life in the crash of a Mi-17 V5 helicopter near Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam on 27 February. Mathura: The mortal remains of Air Force's Corporal Pankaj Nauhwar have been brought to his residence at Jarelia Bajna. He lost his life in the crash of a Mi-17 V5 helicopter near J&K's Budgam on 27 February. pic.twitter.com/ufzmNwjyqG ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 1, 2019 11:18 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Accident between a truck and police van in Jharsugud, Odisha: CM announces ex-gratia Rs5 lakh each and a govt job to next of kin of deceased policemen. In case of serious injuries which might lead to disability in future, ex gratia Rs1 lakh has been announced for the policemen. 11:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Supreme Court dismisses petition filed by Lieutenant General Ravi Dastane challenging the appointment of Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag as head of Eastern Command, which had made him eligible for the post of Army chief. Supreme Court dismisses petition filed by Lieutenant General Ravi Dastane challenging the appointment of Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag as head of Eastern Command, which had made him eligible for the post of Army chief. pic.twitter.com/NXm5ylMVlX ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 11:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Supreme Court today asked lawyer, Manohar Lal Sharma, to mention his matter in connection with the issue of eviction of tribals from forests before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Court on March 4. 10:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Odisha: Two policemen killed and 17 others injured when an overspeeding truck rammed into a police van near Belpahar on NH-49 of Jharsuguda district earlier this morning. Odisha: Two policemen killed and 17 others injured when an overspeeding truck rammed into a police van near Belpahar on NH-49 of Jharsuguda district earlier this morning. pic.twitter.com/iG5PO4RsU9 ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 09:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Union cabinet on Thursday approved the Kanpur and the Agra metro rail projects, a move to boost public transport connectivity in the two Uttar Pradesh cities. 09:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Five SIMI activists get life sentence for possession of explosives. 09:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Punjab: BSF in Ferozepur has arrested an Indian national near border out post, Maboke and seized a mobile phone with Pakistani SIM card, in use, from his possession. The number is added to 8 Pak groups. 6 other Pak phone numbers also retrieved from him. The man is from Moradabad. 08:15 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Pakistan violates ceasefire in Uri sector: One civilian was injured Friday in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir. 08:13 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Encounter, which broke out between security forces and terrorists in the wee hours of Friday in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, concludes. However, the search operation is still underway in the area. 08:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Delhi: Major pollutants PM 2.5 at 123 and PM 10 at 153, both in 'Moderate' categories, in Lodhi Road area according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) data. Delhi: Major pollutants PM 2.5 at 123 and PM 10 at 153, both in 'Moderate' categories, in Lodhi Road area according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) data. pic.twitter.com/ikKkmak6g4 ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2019 08:13 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Sushma Swaraj reaches Abu Dhabi to address OIC conclave: Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting as guest of honour. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : Days after India targeted Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps across Line of Control (LoC), Pakistan on Friday accused New Delhi of eco-terrorism. Islamabad is reportedly planning to lodge a complaint against it for forest bombing. Pakistan said that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had damaged pine trees and brought the nuclear-armed nations to blows, according to a Reuters report, quoting a Pakistan minister, published in Dawn.com. Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam said IAF fighter jets bombed a forest reserve and the government was undertaking an environmental impact assessment on the basis of which a complaint will be lodged at the United Nations. "What happened over there is environmental terrorism," Aslam told Reuters, adding that dozens of pine trees had been felled. "There has been serious environmental damage." Earlier, Indian Air Force carried out strikes on terror camps across the Line of Control on the Pakistani side, 12 days after the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group carried out the dastardly Pulwama attack in Kashmir. The IAF jets pounded terror camps Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti in the well-planned strike involving a fleet of IAF jets and other military jets. The development comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan after the February 14 suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Amid tension over India's air strike on terrorist hideouts in its territory, Pakistan on Friday extended the closure of its airspace until March 4 with operations allowed at few international airports under restricted airspace. In a fresh NOTM (Notice to Airmen), Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said, "Flight operations only to/from Karachi international, Peshawar international, Quetta international and Islamabad international airports with restricted entry/exit as follows will be available." Earlier on February 27, a day after Indian Air Force's strike on JeM terrorists inside its territory, Pakistan had closed its airspace for commercial flights and indefinitely suspended flight operations at many of its major airports. The closure of Pakistans airspace in response to escalating tensions with India disrupted major routes between Europe and South East Asia and left thousands of air travellers worldwide stranded. Various airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines Wednesday announced they were rerouting their flights as Pakistan closed its airspace. Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. All THAI flights from Bangkok to Europe departing near midnight of 27 FEB through early 28 FEB and from Europe to Bangkok departing on 27 FEB have been cancelled due to Pakistan airspace closure, the airline wrote on its Twitter page. The decision affected its services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo. Singapore Airlines was forced to direct flights to Europe to re-fuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Emirates also cancelled 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has said that due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, air traffic was significantly heavy over the Mumbai region on Wednesday night. (With Inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan indulges in cross-border shelling in the Kamalkote sector of Uri along the Line of Control (LoC) on Friday morning even as Pakistan has agreed to release captive Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman through the Wagah border on Friday.Ceasefire was violated in the Gawahalan, Chokas, Kiker and Kathi areas. Heavy shelling is on and one civilian identified as Riyaz Ahmed was injured during the ceasefire violation. Indian Army has responded to the Pakistani firing in adequate measures, the officials said. On Thursday, too, Pakistan had violated ceasefire by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms in Sunderbani, Mankote, Khari Karmara, and Degwar sectors across the Line of control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. Shelling and firing which started at 6 am paused for some time and resumed at 3 pm. Earlier in the day, heavy firing between Indian and Pakistan Poonch district was reported. "At around 6 am today, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling mortars and firing small arms along the Krishna Ghati sector," Defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand said. The Indian army retaliated effectively and strongly. Firing exchanges stopped around 7 am, he added. Authorities had shut down all educational institutions within 5 km of the LoC and the international border in Rajouri, Poonch and Samba districts. The ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops comes as tensions between India and Pakistan rose following the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : Three members of a family were killed and two others injured as Pakistani forces heavily shelled areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Friday, officials said. Pakistani forces targeted civilian areas with mortar bombs and heavy guns, including Howitzer 105 mm, they said, adding that Indian forces retaliated effectively. In the heavy shelling, three members of a family were killed and another was injured in Salotri in Poonch district, where shells hit several houses, they said. Twenty-four-year-old Rubana Kosar and her son Fazan (5) and nine-month-old daughter Shabnam were killed in the shelling. Rubana's husband Mohd Yunis was injured, they said. Earlier in the day, a woman, identified as Naseem Akhtar, was injured in the firing by Pakistani forces in the Mankote area of Poonch, officials said. Besides Salotri and Mankote, shelling also took place in Krishnagati and Balakote areas in Poonch district. Pakistan has heavily shelled areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri and Poonch districts. Officials said Pakistan troops used heavy guns including Howitzer 105 mm to target civilian areas in Poonch. "Pakistani troops resorted to firing and mortar shelling along the LOC in Krishnagati sector and it ended around 0130 hour," an official said. The firing and mortar shelling continued overnight in several sectors of Poonch and Rajouri districts, the official said adding the Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. "About 1615 hours Friday, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along LoC in Nowshera sector," the defence public relations officer said. The Pakistan Army has violated the ceasefire for over 60 times during the last one week by targeting over 70 civilian and forward areas along the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir, in which one woman was killed and 9 persons were injured. In view of the prevailing situation, authorities have ordered temporary closure of educational institutions in a 5-km radius along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts. They have asked all border dwellers to remain inside their homes. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to India by Pakistan on Friday after he was captured by the Pakistan Army. He was received by the top officials of the Indian Air Force at the Wagah border. Abhinandanas parents a his father is an IAF veteran a had travelled to Amritsar from Chennai this morning to meet him on arrival. However, the pilot was whisked away in a convoy by Indian officials away from the public glare. Soon after his release, politicians from different parties took to Twitter and wished Abhinanda on his return to India. President Ram Nath Kovind welcomes Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, tweets "India is proud of your courage and sense of duty" Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman! India is proud of your courage and sense of duty, and above all your dignity. Wishing you and our entire Air Force every success in the future #PresidentKovind a President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 1, 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, aWelcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!a Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram! a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2019 Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah tweeted, aDear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future.a Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future. a Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 1, 2019 Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, "Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love." YY Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, your dignity, poise and bravery made us all proud. Welcome back and much love. YY a Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 1, 2019 Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also took to Twitter and wrote, "Proud of your courage Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back home. Abhinandan to you. Jai Hind. Bharat Mata Ki Jai." Proud of your courage Wing Commander Abhinandan! Welcome back home. Abhinandan to you. Jai Hind Bharat Mata Ki Jai#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan a Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 1, 2019 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wrote, "A Indiaas happiness on return of Wing Commander Abhinandan is unprecedented. I salute the courage and resilience of Wg Commander Abhinandan." Indiaas happiness on return of Wing Commander Abhinandan is unprecedented. I salute the courage and resilience of Wg Commander Abhinandan. a Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) March 1, 2019 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wished Abhinandan on his return and wrote, "Welcome home Abhinandan Varthaman Welcome home sweet home."A Welcome home #AbhinandanVarthaman Welcome home sweet home a Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 1, 2019 'You are our HERO in the truest sense': Sania Mirza hails IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan as he returns to India. Welcome back Wing Commander Abhinandan .. you are our HERO in the truest sense.. The country salutes you and the bravery and dignity you have shown YY #Respect #WelcomeBackAbinandan Jai Hind a Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) March 1, 2019 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said,"A The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us." The hero finally walks back. A grateful nation salutes Wing Commander Abhinandan. You are an inspiration for all of us a Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 1, 2019 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj on Friday addressed the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states where she raised the issue of terrorism, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the gruesome terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14. Early in the day, Swaraj reached UAE's Abu Dhabi to attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day conclave. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour. Minutes before her address Sushma was greeted by the present Chair of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers - UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who invited her for the meet. India's engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The ties strained further after Indian fighter jets bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid on Wednesday. The intense aerial engagements came in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). As many as 42 CRPF jawans were killed and dozens of others injured in the attack. Pakistan, a member of the OIC, tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he will not attend the meeting over the grouping's failure to rescind invitation to Swaraj. The OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. Here are the Highlights from Sushma Swaraj's address at OIC conclave: 13:53 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I come from land of Mahatma Gandhi, where every prayer ends with the call for Shanti or Peace for all: Sushma Swaraj while concluding her address at the Inaugural Session as 'Guest of Honour' at Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC. History is made! EAM @SushmaSwaraj concluded her address at the Inaugural Session as Guest of Honour at Council of Foreign Ministers of @OIC_OCI - first time by India : I come from land of Mahatma Gandhi, where every prayer ends with the call for Shanti or Peace for all. pic.twitter.com/ntyC32y5Fa Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 1, 2019 13:22 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In This is not a clash of civilisations or cultures, but a contest of ideas and ideals. As PM Narendra Modi has often said, it is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity: Swaraj at the OIC conclave in Abu Dhabi. 13:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text The Rig Veda and I quote "aaa aaaaaaaaa aaaaa aaaaaa", which means God is One but learned men describe Him in many ways": Sushma Swaraj. 13:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace,none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood, says the EAM. 13:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed: Sushma Swaraj in UAE. 13:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In India shares much with you. Many of us have experienced the dark days of colonialism. Many of us saw, the light of freedom andthe bright ray of hope at the same time. We have stood together in solidarity,in our quest for justice and dignity, says the External Affairs Minister in Abu Dhabi. 13:10 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In the past four years, few relationships have seen as much engagement, or has been so transformed, as Indias relationship with UAE and, indeed, with the entire Gulf and West Asia Region. In a sense, it is a return of history: MEA Sushma Swaraj. 13:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I carry the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself, said Swaraj. EAM @SushmaSwaraj at #OIC: I carry the greetings of 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslims brothers and sisters are a microcosm of the diversity of India itself. pic.twitter.com/kMdkistoFp Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 1, 2019 13:10 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I stand here as a representative of a land, that has been for ages a fountain of knowledge, a beacon of peace, a source of faiths and traditions, and home to religions from the world AND now, one of the major economies of the world: Sushma Swaraj at OIC. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Last year, Greenpeace Philippines launched a 50 ft sculpture of a dead whale made out of plastic waste in a campaign to raise awareness about the effects of plastic dumping in the ocean, the Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS) is following suit this year. According to Latestly, the MSInS joined hands with art-based startup Floating Canvas Company to install a aPlastic Monstera at the Bandra Worli Sealink Promenade. The artwork made out of plastic resembling the Dark Spiderman was inaugurated on Friday with a sole aim to draw attention towards the problem of plastic disposal. The installation titled, aIt Never Goes Awaya stands 27-foot-tall and is conceptualised by Mumbai-based visual artist SAGE along with execution partner Arthat Studio. The project facilitated by Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS) is also supported by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC). aaWhen addressing a problem that has attained truly critical proportions, my aim was to come up with an intervention that conveyed the seriousness of the situation in a stark and upfront fashion. I hope it serves the purpose, asays SAGE, visual artist and Co-Founder of Floating Canvas Company. Maharashtra State had introduced a statewide plastic ban from April 2018 stringently in Mumbai and other cities.A The installation of the aplastic monstera will be on display until March 15, 2019. For all the Latest Lifestyle News, Others News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan will boycott the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit to be held in Abu Dhabi later today, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced during the joint session of Pakistan Parliament on Friday. According to Geo News, Qureshi said that Pakistan was forced to take the decision after organisation's failure to rescind invitation to Indian FM Swaraj. Earlier, Qureshi on Wednesday had said that Pakistan will not attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) if Swaraj participates in it. Swaraj has been invited as "guest of honour" at the inaugural session of the foreign ministers' conclave in Abu Dhabi. "I have no reservations with OIC or any other Islamic country. My reservations are with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's attendance at the OIC meeting," Geo news quoted Qureshi as saying. "If Swaraj attends the meeting then I will not participate in it," Shah Mehmood Qureshi said. The OIC is a 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations. United Arab Emirates had invited Swaraj to attend the foreign ministers meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) States, set to take place in Abu Dhabi on 1-2 March the first such invite in five decades. Swaraj has been invited by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, foreign minister of the UAE, to address the plenary. Welcoming the move, the statement said: We see this invitation as the desire of the enlightened leadership of the UAE to go beyond our rapidly growing close bilateral ties and forge a true multifaceted partnership at the multilateral and international level." India shot down Pakistan Air Forces F-16 fighter jet after an airspace violation in Jammu and Kashmirs Nowshera sector on Wednesday morning. The fighter jet was shot down in Indian retaliatory fire 3 KM within Pakistan territory in Lam valley, Nowshera sector, news agency ANI. The latest development comes amid reports of Pakistan violating airspace in the Rajouri district. According to news agency PTI, "The jets entered into Indian air space over Nowshera sector this morning." The Pakistani jet was immediately pushed back by Indian planes on air patrol but not before dropping bombs. Nowshera is a border town in Jammu. While details of this retaliation are yet be ascertained by either the Indian Air Force or the Ministry of Defence, contrary claims are being made by the officials across the border. Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson Pakistan armed forces, claimed that, PAF shot down two Indian aircraft inside Pakistani airspace. Another starling claim Maj Gen Ghafoor said that, One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: China on Friday welcomed Pakistans decision to release the Indian Air Force pilot and encouraged the two countries to engage in more counterterrorism cooperation and dialogue for the regional peace and stability. Pakistan is set to release captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as a first step to open negotiations with India. Pakistan detained the pilot following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. Asked how China views Pakistans decision to release the pilot and whether Beijing played any behind-the-scenes role in it, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters - Well, from the start China has been calling upon the two sides exercise restraint and take measures to ease tensions, engage in dialogue to resolve the differences. I have taken note of the developments. China welcomes the goodwill signals released by the Pakistani side. De-escalation serves the common interests of both the countries. We encourage the two sides to engage in more dialogue for the peace and stability in the region, he said. About Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans offer to investigate the Pulwama terror attack if credible evidence is provided, Lu said: we encourage the two sides to take more measures to create favourable atmosphere for the joint efforts to deal with the relevant issue. "The cooperation on counter-terrorism and jointly uphold the regional peace and stability, this is what China hopes to see". Chinas call for more India-Pakistan cooperation on the counter-terrorism comes in the backdrop of Beijing endorsing Indias demand for elimination of breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism and agreeing to have joint policy coordination under the aegis of Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers mechanism. Briefing the media after the RIC ministers talks held on February 27 at the Chinese city of Wuzhen, Wang said: we agreed to jointly combat all forms of terrorism through closer policy coordination and practical cooperation. Especially important is to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who attended the meeting, held talks with Wang before the RIC meeting. Wang, in his concluding remarks, tried to strike a balance by backing Pakistan, saying we believe that Pakistan has always been opposed to terrorism. But at the same time, he said China would play a constructive role to de-escalate the tense stand-off between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mahammed (JeM). China, however, is yet to disclose the stand it would take in the UN Security Council when the US, the UK and France resolution to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist comes up for discussion. China has blocked previous three attempts by India and the three countries on the same issue. On Thursday, it sounded no-committal about the US, the UK and France resolution to list Azhar as a global terrorist. As we have said on many occasions, the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council has clear norms on the listing of terrorist organisations or individuals and relevant procedures, Lu said in response to a question on the issue. China will continue to take a responsible attitude and participate in the discussions of the Security Councils relevant sanctions committees and other subsidiary bodies, he added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan has done it again! Islamabad has brazenly defended Jaish-e-Mohammed Masood Azhar saying that India must provide solid evidence against him. In an interview to CNN, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that, Masood Azhar is in Pakistan, he is very unwell, he's unwell to the extent that he can't leave house because he is really unwell. That's the information I have. If they have evidence share with us so that we can convince the people and the judiciary. The statement comes amid heightened tension between the two nuclear powers following the dastardly attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Hours within the February 14 attack, Jaish had claimed responsibility for the blast. 12 days later, India destroyed a major terror camp belonging to Jaish deep in Pakistans Balakot. Despite India providing numerous evidences against him, Islamabad has always maintained that Azhar is heading a seminary and it has no proof that he is involved in any terror activities. The statement comes on a day when Qureshi is likely to meet his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of OIC meet in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, the United States, Britain and France have proposed that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) blacklist Masood Azhar. They have asked the 15-member Security Council sanctions committee to subject Azhar to an arms embargo, global travel ban and asset freeze. However, the move is likely to be opposed by China, which previously prevented the Security Councils Islamic State and al Qaeda sanctions committee from sanctioning JeM leader Masood Azhar in 2016 and 2017, as reported by Reuters. Chinas UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new proposal. The Security Council condemned the February 14 attack in a statement last week, which was agreed after several days of negotiation. Diplomats said China had been opposed to a reference of JeM, however, the agreed statement did eventually note that JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday addressed Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi even as Pakistan - one of the founding members of the group skipped the conclave over India's presence. During her historic address, Swaraj raised the issue of terrorism and radicalisation of Muslims. She said that the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion as every religion stands for peace. India's participation at the Islamic nations meet came amid tensions with Pakistan, which is a founding member of the OIC. Pakistan has even objected the invitation sent to India but the OIC members paid no heed to its protest following which it decided to skip the event. Below are the top quotes of Sushma Swaraj's landmark OIC address I carry the greetings of my PM Narendra Modi & 1.3 billion Indians, including more than 185 million Muslim brothers and sisters. Our Muslim brothers and sisters are the microcosm of the diversity of India. They practice their respective beliefs and live in harmony with each other and with their non-Muslim brothers. It's this appreciation of diversity and coexistence that has ensured that very few Muslims in India have fallen prey to poisonous propaganda of radicalistic and extremist ideologies. I'm honoured to join colleagues from nations that represent a great religion and ancient civilisations. I stand here as a representative of land that has been mountain of knowledge, beacon of peace, source of faith & traditions, home to many religions and one of the major economies. OIC members constitute 1/4th of the United Nations and almost a quarter of humanity. India shares much with you, many of us have shared dark days of colonialism. Terrorism in each case is driven by distortion of religion. Fight against terror is not a confrontation against any religion. Just as Islam means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion stands for peace. Terrorism is destroying lives, destabilizing regions and putting the world at great peril. Terror reach is growing and the toll it is taking is increasing. India has always embraced and found it easy to embrace pluralism since it is embedded in the oldest Sanskrit religious text The Rig Veda and I quote "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadhanti", which means God is One but learned men describe him in many ways". I come from land of Mahatma Gandhi where every prayer ends with call for 'shanti' that is peace for all. I convey our best wishes, support and solidarity in your quest for stability, peace, harmony, economic growth and prosperity for your people and world. If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country. The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion & brotherhood. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: The United States has welcomed Pakistan's decision to release captured Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, in their custody. In a surprise announcement during a joint session of Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday had announced that the captured IAF pilot Varthaman will be released on Friday as a gesture of peace. Pakistan detained Varthaman Wednesday following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. We welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's commitment that Pakistan will release on Friday the Indian pilot held in its custody, a State Department spokesperson told PTI responding to a question on the announcement made by Khan in the Pakistani parliament. Simultaneously, the US has urged both India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions. The United States continues to urge both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, including through direct communication. Further military activity will exacerbate the situation, the State Department spokesperson said. The US reiterated its call to Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds. We reiterate our call for Pakistan to abide by its United Nations Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds, the spokesperson said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Thursday joined other lawmakers in expressing concern over the escalating tension between India and Pakistan. This is a result of a Pakistan-based terrorist group's brutal attack, he said. I urge both countries to de-escalate the mounting tensions, Hoyer said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media / New Milford and Southbury are among the towns that received federal money to support the Senior Corps RSVP program, which is one of the countrys largest volunteer programs for Americans who are 55 and older. The state received $395,355 in grant funding for the program from the Corporation for National and Community Services. DANBURY Landon Jack Verissimo Santos will not graduate from high school or go to college, but he will help give that opportunity to two other Danbury students this year. A memorial scholarship in the name of the little boy whose life ended last summer, less than a week after he was born with a brain anomaly, will offer one graduate of Danbury High School and one from Henry Abbott Technical High School up to $1,000 each toward college tuition this fall. The fund is a small start toward making something positive from a family tragedy, said Landons parents, Farley and Kathleen Santos. I feel like we have so much love to give that we would have given to Landon, but we cant, Kathleen Santos said. So what better way to do it than to give it to a child in need whos going to start this new journey in their life? I knew I wanted to give back because of him. I want him to be proud of us and to do anything we can in his memory. A scholarship was a natural fit for the passionate public education advocates Kathleen works in the administrative offices at Danbury High School and Farley is a Democrat on the school board who will be appointed to the City Council next week. This is something that as a parent you dont want any other parent to go through, Farley Santos said. Losing your child is the most difficult thing you can have happen, and at some point, you realize you want to have a legacy built for that child. Landon Jack was born July 27 at Danbury Hospital weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Doctors discovered his brain abnormality and he was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at the Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford. Thats where he met his older sister Khloe, now 5, and was baptized while doctors tried to treat him. But his brain could not sustain him and his life lasted only six days, Farley Santos said. Although the young family was devastated, their extended family, friends and community rallied around them to show support, Kathleen Santos said. Friends and family donated more than $2,400 to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a nonprofit that offers professional family portraits for families with dying infants. They have collected dozens of dresses for Angel Gowns, a nonprofit that turns them into baptismal or burial outfits for infants. Kathleen Santos is adding her wedding dress to the donations this month. Creating the Landon Jack Verissimo Santos Memorial Scholarship fund to help other children has become a way for the Santoses to process their grief. I just dont want his six days of life to just not be for anything, Kathleen Santos said. I want his life to have purpose, have a reason, whether its donating gowns or giving money to children who need it. The scholarship is specifically dedicated to low-income graduates who demonstrate academic excellence and a commitment to community service. Although they initially had planned to offer $500 scholarships, an outpouring of donations in the five days since the fund was announced has upped that figure to $1,000 for each winner this year, Farley Santos said. The couple hopes it might grow from an idea in their kitchen to a much larger annual scholarship program, much like The Hord Foundation has grown into a major community institution that has given out millions in scholarships over 26 years, he said. You never get over the loss, you always carry it with you, Farley Santos said. But something that we keep saying is Through a tragic loss, we find purpose. If our purpose is to be able to help graduating students that just need that extra push, we definitely look forward to being able to do that. Just being able to help people. If nothing else, the Santos hope talking about their experience can help break the stigma around discussing infant loss, which can affect one in four pregnancies, Kathleen Santos said. Kathleen has been, for me, a role model, Farley Santos said. Shes been able to talk about this with people. For a while, I had more of a struggle with that. If were able to help people understand this a little bit more; yes, its a tragedy, but there is a tomorrow, he said. Believe in your community because your friends and your family and your community will pick you up. zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com What is the plan? Brookfield aims to build a new Huckleberry Hill Elementary School on the existing campus. This would put pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in one building, allowing the town to demolish the current Huckleberry and vacate Center Elementary School. How much will it cost? A new school would cost $78.1 million, but Brookfield plans to apply for a state grant that would cover 22.5 percent of eligible costs. This means the town would need to spend $63.3 million. How will this affect taxes? The average homeowner is projected to see a $367 hike in their taxes in 2023 thanks to the new school, but annual tax increases would decline gradually after that. The town has detailed projections on its website. When and where do I vote? Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 5. District 1 votes at Huckleberry Hill Elementary School, while District 2 votes at Brookfield High School. How old are the schools? Huckleberry is 58-years-old, while Center is 81-years-old. What problems do the schools face? Plumbing, heating and a lack of energy efficiency are problems school officials have cited. Flexible space, storage areas and additional classrooms are also needed. What do supporters see as the benefits of the plan? Supporters say by building a new school, the town will deal with the deficiencies in Huckleberry and Center in one swoop. The plan will put all elementary-age children in one building. This includes fifth-graders, who the district has long wanted to bring down from Whisconier Middle School. This would save the district from spending $700,000 for new portable classrooms for fifth-graders at Whisconier Middle School. What other plans did the town consider? Officials examined 10 possible options, before deciding to build a new school. One option included renovating Huckleberry for $69.6 million, but this would have doubled construction time. How long has Brookfield been working on this? The town has been talking about this project for about 20 years, but started studying it seriously in the last three. How would a new school affect education budgets in the future? School officials predict saving $400,000 annually with a new school because of energy efficiency and staff consolidation. Whats up with this state grant? If voters approve the proposal, the town plans to apply for a grant from the state that would cover 22.5 percent of eligible costs of the project. The extensive grant application is due June 30. If the town does not earn the grant, it is not obligated to continue with the project. The town could scale back the plan or hold another referendum to request more money. How will Center Elementary School be used if it is vacated? The town hasnt figure that out exactly yet, but officials have long said more community space is needed in Brookfield. Where can I find answers to my other questions? The school board has answered a host of other questions about the plan on the projects website. You can also read more stories on the issue. Bathrooms hold storage, cafeteria doubles as gym among other Brookfield school problems Referendum set for March on Brookfields Huckleberry project Brookfield to hold special town meeting Tuesday on Huckleberry project Brookfield finance board approves Huckleberry Hill school project Brookfield selectmen approve Huckleberry project New Huckleberry Hill school is best option, officials say Board OKs $78.1M Huckleberry Hill plan New Huckleberry, renovated Whisconier proposed in Brookfield Survey seeks input on options for Brookfield schools Heating systems, handicap accessibility problems at Brookfield schools Brookfield considers: Renovate or replace Huckleberry school Who is covering this story? The News-Times Brookfield reporter, Julia Perkins, can be reached at 203-731-3337, by email at jperkins@newstimes.com or on Twitter at @JuliaPerkinsHP. Affordable housing may seem a distant goalpost in a town like Ridgefield, where single family homes dominate and 330 houses sold in 2018 had an average price of over $716,000. Even the 69 condominiums that changed hands in Ridgefield last year averaged $309,000. But town officials remain hopeful that continuing growth can be guided to include some well-located, less-costly housing an oasis of affordability where seniors, longtime residents who are downsizing, and maybe even the working young can find places to live in Ridgefield. Much of the lower-cost housing built recently has been rental units added as part of developments under the states 8-30g statute, which allows developers to ignore most zoning rules if 30 percent of units are set aside to meet state affordability rules. New affordable units go quickly, and it seems clear is that there is still need despite Ridgefield offering a fairly broad mix of housing types for an affluent suburb. Basically, affordable can have many different definitions to as many people as you speak with, First Selectmen Rudy Marconi said. Theres always the 8-30g statute, but we want to look beyond that in terms of the overall housing mix in our community. And I do think we have a good mix of housing availability for our community, he said. ...With Casagmo and Fox Hill, we have many condominiums. And beyond those two, we have facilities that offer certainly, compared to Ridgefield housing prices affordable living. The demand exists Casagmo, with 307 units, and Fox Hill, with 287, were both built in the 1970s and are by far the towns largest multifamily developments. They are also pockets of relative affordability, with two-bedroom units advertised recently at $2,200 in Fox Hill and $2,300 a month in Casagmo, while one-bedroom units were offered at $1,575 in Casagmo and $1,800 in Fox Hill. An overview table put together by the town planning department in December 2015 listed 1,795 multifamily units built and occupied, under construction, or approved in town. Of the 1,795 units, 339 were listed as affordable a total that included the Ridgefield Housing Authoritys 78 units at Ballard Green, 54 units at the Prospect Ridge Congregate Housing, and 20 units at the Prospect Ridge affordable apartments. It doesnt seem to be enough, as waiting lists for the affordable units testify. Its one of the reasons the selectmen have begun appointing people to the towns long dormant Affordable Housing Committee. For senior housing, theres always been a list, Dave Goldenberg, a former chairman reappointed to the new affordable housing committee told the selectmen last month. The list in general has been three to five years which is a lot. When 8-30 units come on, theyre snapped up right away, Goldenberg added. But encouraging more affordable housing is a challenge. Because of the cost of land, what drives a lower price is higher density, Marconi said. And thats not always what people want to see. Affordable forever? The situation prompted Steve Zemo who is a selectman, and also one of the towns largest affordable housing developers and landlords to say at a recent Board of Selectmens meeting that the states 8-30g law should be changed to require that the 30 percent of units set aside as affordable remain that way forever. Currently, the requirement for new 8-30g developments is that the set aside units remain affordable for 40 years. This legislation has been tweaked since it was enacted. Originally, the affordable component was mandated for 20 years, then 30, now its 40. I always thought for the benefit of a community, that the units should be affordable in perpetuity, Zemo said. The overall community, two or three generations from now, would be better served if these products were earmarked affordable in perpetuity. The opinion is one that can be debated, he admits. Its an unexpected position for someone who owns numerous units that would otherwise, eventually, be eligible to move from affordable rents to market rate. Its not good for the development community, but its good for the general community, Zemo said. Planning and Zoning Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Mucchetti is supportive although changes to the 8-30g statute are up to the state legislature, not the local zoning commission. Affordable in perpetuity is an interesting concept and not a bad idea, Mucchetti said. The 8-30g statute allows developers to ignore most zoning regulations, and if their plans are turned down by the local Planning and Zoning Commission and the developers appeal, the case goes to a special housing court where the burden of proof is on the commission not, as is usual, on the applicant bringing the appeal. Towns are exempt from 8-30g applications if 10 percent of all housing units in the town meet the state affordability requirements. Its a difficult goal for Ridgefield, with some 9,000 households, 10 percent would mean 900 affordable housing units and the town has about 250 with 148 of those Town Housing Authority units at Ballard Green and Prospect Ridge. If older units are reverting to market rate, as is happening with some in Ridgefield, getting to 10 percent looks even tougher. I'm not sure what the original intent of the (8-30g) statute was when the legislature passed it, but affordable units do fill a need in town, Mucchetti said. Ridgefield is an expensive town to live in and we hear from those who have built and own 8-30g properties that the units are rented very quickly, often before the buildings have been completed. The commission created its own avenue to affordable developments that it hopes builders will pursue. Need hasnt changed Danbury-based developer Mark Nolan built the 25-unit Halpin Court project on the corner of Prospect Ridge and Halpin Lane 30 years ago not under 8-30g, but using the towns multifamily zone and a Department of Agriculture rural rental assistance program. Nolan recently asked Marconi if hed be interested in talking about the future of the property. Were sort of figuring out our options, Nolan said. The demand for affordable housing hasnt changed since the place was built in 1988, he said. Town Social Services Director Tony Phillips recommends people to Halpin Court or, to its waiting lists. I get emails all the time, people say Tony told me to call you because Im looking for an apartment, Nolan said. Theres 67 people on the two-bedroom list, and 36 people on the one-bedroom list, with applications going back to 2014. People have been waiting even longer for the developments units for the handicapped, he said. People dont realize that aging seniors, dwindling assets, your interest income from assets is not producing the income it used to, Nolan said. The economy is such that seniors are on a very limited, fixed income...Being in a more expensive community like Ridgefield and Danburys not too far behind makes it very difficult and they have to relocate or go without, sometimes, essential services. The demand for the affordable rentals are just beyond capacity, he added. Anything the towns can do to enhance affordable rental opportunities is good. Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo A second person was charged Thursday in connection with a larceny investigation reported by AT&T last year. Arvydas Samis, 33, of Green Glen Terrace in East Haven, was charged with first-degree larceny. Ohio-based Sonic superfans, you might need to find a new fast food fix because three locations in the Buckeye State just lost their entire staff of employees and are temporarily shut down. On Feb. 23, the "ex-Sonic crew" left a note at the Circleville drive-in notifying bummed customers that "due to terrible management, the whole store has quit." Later shared to social media, the letter detailed staffers' dissatisfaction over new management and their reasoning behind the drastic move. "The company has been sold to people that don't give a about anyone but themselves," they continued. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but our team refused to work for a company that treats their employees like when they put everything into this story . We have worked too hard for to long. We are all off to better things," they wrote. Victory, at times, must be measured incrementally. The first significant piece of gun legislation to pass the House of Representatives Wednesday in at least 25 years is a victory to be noted. But the chances of the Senate adopting the bill are shaky and President Donald Trump has vowed to veto it. The hard work to make the country safer from gun violence is hardly over. The bill for universal background checks, passed by 240-190 in the Democratic majority House, was first proposed in 2013 in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting Dec. 14, 2012, that killed 20 first graders and six educators. That year it failed in the Senate and was never raised for a vote in the House, until the Republicans lost the majority in the 2018 mid-term elections. With more than 95 percent of Americans favoring universal background checks, the failure to even vote on the bill all those years amounted to an abdication of responsibility. To have the merits of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 debated is a step forward from the stony silence of previous years. The common sense proposal mandates background checks for all gun purchases, and closes the loophole that had exempted sales at gun shows. Though the National Rifle Association had argued the bill would turn family members into felons if they shared guns at, say a firing range, that is not the case. Family members can transfer firearms to each other without a background check. Let us keep the debate on the facts, and not obfuscate with scare tactics. That gun violence is rife in our nation should be obvious. Nearly 40,000 people die of gun-related injuries per year, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, whose Connecticut 5th District includes Newtown, said on the House floor in support of the legislation. Far too often innocent lives are claimed due to gun violence, she said. More than 1,200 children were killed by guns since the Parkland tragedy on Feb. 14, 2018, the Newtown Action Alliance said. Inaction to address the violence is inexcusable. Yet, in the Senate where Republicans hold a 53-vote majority and 60 votes are needed on legislation, the numbers are challenging. But not impossible. This is the time for concerned citizens to contact Republican senators in other states and urge them to support the common sense legislation. Universal background checks are not a threat to the Second Amendment. Another piece of legislation that can help is H.R. 1112, which would close the Charleston Loophole that allows the sale of a firearm if a background check is not completed by the FBI within three business days. This loophole allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used to kill nine parishioners at a Baptist church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015. The bill extends the FBI deadline to 20 business days. Again, no ones rights are violated. No one should be able to obtain a gun on a technicality. The House votes this week have been called historic. But the victory is incremental and not complete. OTTAWA, March 1, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Several Quebec labour and civil society organizations are urging the federal government to implement a real public, universal drug insurance plan. According to them, Ottawa would be making a mistake by wanting to reproduce the hybrid model in Quebec, where the existence of private and public insurance plans has caused spiralling costs and profound inequities. "Canada is the only OECD country with a universal health care program that doesn't include a universal prescription drug plan, pointed out the president of the FTQ, Daniel Boyer. In this respect, we welcomed the creation of the Advisory Board on the Implementation of a National Pharmacare Program in 2018. However, we are concerned that the federal government will succumb to the temptation to reproduce the Quebec hybrid model, which has serious weaknesses." The public drug insurance plan set up by the Quebec government is only accessible to citizens without access to a group insurance plan at work, stated the vice-president of the CSN, Caroline Senneville. "This coexistence of a public plan among several private plans deprives us of a powerful bargaining tool with the pharmaceutical companies. The same medication can be ten times more expensive in Canada than in New Zealand. Studies show that the implementation of a drug plan that is completely public and universal can lower the cost of medications from 20 to 40%. This can represent savings in the range of 1 to 3 billion dollars for all of society, just in Quebec." While median expenditures in medications per resident is $603 for the OECD countries, the expenditures per resident for medications in Quebec are $1,087, pointed out the organizations. Today, the expenditures for prescribed medications reach nearly 9 billion dollars annually in Quebec alone. "The cost of drug coverage in our private group insurance plans is spiralling, stated the secretary-treasurer of the CSQ, Luc Beauregard. Drug insurance premiums have risen from 5 to 8% a year over the last few years. The result? An increasing number of unions decide to discontinue their group insurance plans which is the only way to have access to the public drug insurance plan, thus losing their salary insurance, dental insurance and other benefits coverage. In short, the current Quebec hybrid model threatens many of our social safeguards." The organizations deplore the many inequalities in the hybrid model in Quebec. "The contributions required, the amount of the deductibles, even the list of medications covered, differs from one plan to another, denounced the president of the APTS, Carolle Dube. While everyone should be equal regarding access to the public healthcare system, access to medications is clearly not equitable for everyone. The Canadian plan must avoid this pitfall and be decisively universal." "Because of the rising costs of medications, many citizens can simply not afford them, stated the spokesperson for the TRPOCB, Mercedez Roberge. Nearly 10% of the population in Quebec do not have access to the medications prescribed for them, because they lack the means to pay for them. This particularly affects the most vulnerable people in terms of health, like the elderly, those with a handicap or living with a chronic disease. This is a real public health problem which has a negative impact on our entire health network." "Several employers already contribute to varying degrees to their employees' group insurance plan, stated the vice president of the FIQ, Denyse Joseph. It is not a question of exempting them from their obligations. The financing of a public, universal drug insurance plan must be based on the repatriation of these contributions, just like those of the employees." For the Union des consommateurs spokesperson, Elisabeth Gibeau, the Quebec hybrid model goes completely against insurance logic. "The private plans cover the insureds who are considered "good risks", the people who work and who, generally, are in better health. The majority of those who are unemployed or retired, who tend to take more medication, are covered by the public plan. Therefore, the additional costs fall on the government, while the insurance companies reap the profits", she deplored. The organizations are cautioning the federal government about the powerful lobby which is organizing to stop the implementation of a public, universal plan. "A completely public and universal drug plan would benefit everyone, including the government, employers and citizens.", stated the spokespersons. About The Federation des travailleurs et travailleuses du Quebec (FTQ) represent more than 600,000 workers in Quebec. Present in both the public and private sectors, the Confederation des syndicats nationaux (CSN) represents 300,000 workers, mainly in Quebec. The Centrale des syndicats du Quebec (CSQ) represent more than 200,000 members, nearly 130,000 of them in the Quebec public sector. The Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique du reseau de la sante et des services sociaux (APTS) represents about 55,000 members in Quebec. The Federation interprofessionnelle de la sante du Quebec (FIQ) represents 76,000 nursing and cardio-respiratory healthcare professionals working in Quebec healthcare institutions and social services. Union des consommateurs is a non-profit body which represents 13 consumer-protection groups. The Table des regroupements provinciaux d'organismes communautaires et benevoles (TRPOCB) is formed of 44 provincial groups with more than 3,000 community groups in health and social services across Quebec. SOURCE FTQ For further information: Isabelle Gareau; FTQ; 514 953-0142; Francois L'Ecuyer; CSN; 514 949-8973; Claude Girard; CSQ; 514 237-4432; Sonia Djelidi; FIQ; 514 268-1676; Raynald Banville; APTS; 514 207-6486; Karina Sanchez; Union des consommateurs; 514 521-6820 ext. 257; Marie-Sophie Villeneuve; TRPOCB; 438 497-3092 Related Links http://ftq.qc.ca/ STAMFORD New results from a study sponsored by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma highlight the importance of safe opioid disposal, but the findings have been met with skepticism by a number of health care experts. The publication of the survey in the peer-reviewed Journal of Pain Research is intended to inform the design of drug take-back programs to help prevent abuse of prescription opioids such as OxyContin, according to Purdue officials. But the embattled companys rationale has not convinced some observers, who question the firms motives for supporting the initiative and the impact of the research. I see this as a public-relations strategy on the part of Purdue to be perceived as being part of the solution rather than as a major player in the opioid crisis, said Angela Mattie, a professor in the schools of business and medicine at Quinnipiac University. And while theres no direct evidence that its a biased study, the potential for bias always has to be considered in light of whos funding the research. One-third of patients disposed of their unused opioid medications, and those who received education about the importance of safe disposal were about three times more likely to do so, according to the study. Purdue is pleased to support and participate in this important research that shows a clear need to continue patient education and increase awareness of proper opioid-medication disposal methods, Thomas Alfieri, Purdues director of strategic research for medical affairs and a study co-author, said in a statement. The survey was conducted from September 2016 to October 2016 and assessed the self-reported behaviors of 152 respondents. All of them had a history of acute or chronic pain, had been treated with prescription opioid medication during the past two years and had unused opioid medication. I appreciate Purdue is sponsoring research looking into this topic, but its not new information coming out, said Dr. Jeff Gordon, a former president of the Connecticut State Medical Society. Were being reminded about things that we already should know and be talking about with patients. A proliferation of painkillers is widely linked to the explosion of opioid abuse in recent years. From 1999 to 2016, more than 200,000 people in the U.S. died from overdoses related to prescription opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdose deaths involving prescription opioids in 2016 totaled five times the toll in 1999, while sales of those drugs quadrupled, the CDC said. Research has a place, but the major parts in fighting the opioid crisis are public education, prevention and treatment, Gordon said. All of those components will require a lot of time and effort over the years. If anybody, including Purdue, is serious about helping, thats really whats needed front and center. Among its initiatives launched in the past few years, Purdue has partnered with the National Sheriffs Association to give officers across the country overdose kits and training for the naloxone drug, which can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses. Last September, Purdue announced an approximately $3.4 million grant to support a nonprofit pharmaceutical companys development of an over-the-counter form of naloxone. The company has also allocated $2 million to support prescription-drug education for several thousand high school students around the country between 2017 and 2020. The total includes $500,000 for the programs expansion in Connecticut. But the company and its owners, members of the Sackler family, remain deeply controversial for their creation and distribution of opioids such as OxyContin. More than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed by local and state governments against Purdue, alleging the company has fueled the opioid crisis through deceptive marketing of its drugs. Those who have sued include the attorney generals of Connecticut and Massachusetts. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott Orchestra New Englands 45th ambitious anniversary (or birthday, if you will) will be marked in a concert March 9 amid a season that follows the profound loss of the organizations (Mary) Anne Mauro. Mauro, who died in September 2018, was everything to Orchestra New England its driving spirit, said maestro James Sinclair, as a director, fundraiser, event planner, organizer, decorator, hostess and creative thinker. ONEs 45th-year event its 781st concert and featuring its 71st-73rd musical premieres, will include a memorial piece honoring Mauro. The concert will take place in Battell Chapel in New Haven. Former members of the orchestra have been invited to join the current orchestra members for festivities in New Haven. Joseph Russo, ONEs longtime bass player, said he composed the Remembrance piece in June 2018 after the moving response from the audience to my overture Forever Young at the New Haven Memorial Day concert at the end of May. The piece became more relevant when, sadly, my good friend ... Anne Mauro passed away. ... The one-movement piece expresses the various emotions associated with remembering our loved ones who have died. It begins with the emotion of upset and ends with the feeling of joy and happiness our memories bring us. The orchestra will also perform Russos Third Symphony and composer Neely Bruces Rhapsodie for Horn, written for Robert Hoyle, ONEs principal French hornist. Storied ONE founder and conductor Sinclair said in an email that Russos Symphony No. 3 was written in 2015 and receives it first performance (at) our anniversary concert. Its our 17th new piece from Joe, an ambitious, large piece with lots of attractive tunes and orchestration. Russo said it will be the first public performance of the symphony that he composed in 2015, a four-movement piece expressing strength, sadness, majesty and joy/happiness. Those emotions match Russos feelings about the orchestra these days: I have played with Orchestra New England for many decades it is a very special orchestra since the talented group not only excellently performs music but is also made up of dear friends who truly enjoy making music together. And this special musician connection ... has also spread to our audiences over the years... If Mauro and husband Jean Mauro were key figures, theres one more who even looms larger, said Russo. That would be the Charles Ives scholar at the baton, Sinclair. I attribute this special orchestra and the beautiful connections it creates to the vision, talent and caring of its founder and music director James Sinclair, said Russo. Composer Bruce, said Sinclair, is a longtime personal friend and friend of Orchestra New England. We premiered his wonderful opera Americana back in 1985. Wesleyan University faculty member Bruce, in an email exchange, said he admired the playing of colleague Hoyle for years. He is one of the best horn players I have ever heard, and Wesleyan and UConn are most fortunate to have him on their respective faculties. I have thought for years I would write a concerto for him, although I kept the idea to myself until Christmas 2016. Hoyle, in an email, said, In the past few seasons, Neely has been on a whirlwind of composing and performing. During this very active time, he approached me and said that he would like very much to write a piece for Horn and Orchestra. They collaborated on sketches and ideas so (Neely) would be able to decide exactly what would sound most characteristic on the horn. By December, he had a working copy of the piece ready. Bruce said Rhapsody for French Horn and Orchestra has shifts of mood and colorful touches of orchestration. Rhapsodies are typically pieces with lots of tunes, lots of changes of mood and tempo and free formal structures, Bruce explained. Think of the Liszts Hungarian rhapsodies, or, closer to home, George Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue. This is a virtuoso piece for the French horn, said Bruce, and Robert Hoyle is handling its considerable difficulties like the consummate virtuoso he is. Fast, tricky passages; long soaring melodic lines; long, long notes; brilliant rips; blaring high notes he does it all! Hoyle responds that It is very challenging, but also very satisfying to play. The family-feel orchestra will close out the concert, writes Sinclair, with a blockbuster performance of Beethovens original overture to his only opera, Leonore Overture No. 2. Beethoven revised the piece as Leonore Overture No. 3, explains Sinclair, then revised it wholly as Leonore Overture No. 1, and finally realized these works were over the top as an opera opener and penned his Fidelio Overture. Leonore is the original name of the opera; Fidelio the revised name. More Information Battell Chapel, Elm Street on the Green, New Haven. Saturday, March 9, 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25 general admission, $40 reserved and $5 students. 203-777-4690, tix.com, 24-hour hotline 800-595-4849. See More Collapse To me, for a concert piece, said Sinclair, the earliest overture is the best: it is a dramatic tone poem Beethoven at his freest, most characteristic inspiration. jamarante@nhregister.com; @Joeammo on Twitter. HARTFORD Allowing hunting of black bears in certain areas of the state has become an annual debate at the state Capitol and Friday saw that conversation renewed on two different bills raised by the Environment Committee. One of the bills, SB 586, would allow the hunting of black bears in Litchfield County. The other, SB 894, is to to identify non-lethal management practices that can be employed to deter black bears from habituating in areas densely populated by humans. As with a lot of issues, whether Connecticut is experiencing an increase in the black bear population seems to depend on which side of the issue you are on. To those who believe that they state statistics backing their belief and to those who dispute those numbers, they often state that black bear sightings are different than black bear population numbers i.e. the same black bear can be sighted in multiple towns/locations. Although the bill that would allow bear hunting is written to allow it in Litchfield County, much of Fridays testimony centered around the growing bear population in a town in Hartford County Simsbury. I think Simsbury is getting close to Farmington as far as having the highest bear population, Rep. John Hampton, D- Simsbury, told the committee. Simsbury Animal Control Officer Mark Rudewicz said that from early spring to fall he is hammered by calls concerning black bears wandering in peoples backyards. There are days when I have been on 14 different calls (for bears), Rudewicz told the committee. People are very concerned for their safety, for the safety of their property. Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, asked Rudewicz whether any humans had been hurt by the bear interactions. Rudewicz said: Fortunately we havent had anybody seriously hurt. But you cant minimize that as beautiful as these animals are, they are wild animals, dangerous animals. Rudewicz was asked by Cohen whether he was in favor of the non-lethal bill or the one that allowed bear hunting. He said he didnt want to speak for anyone other then himself, but he found the problem is that the bears have lost their fear of humans, adding that he thinks states that have allowed bear hunting have seen some success in thinning the population. Sen. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield, has been pushing for a black bear hunting season for years. Miner said that while he is not opposed to trying to do everything the state can to better educate members of the public on protecting themselves from black bears, it might be the right time for the state to take that next step to allow hunting. Department of Environmental and Energy (DEEP) Commissioner Designee Katie S. Dykes submitted testimony in support of allowing hunting. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection supports this bill because it provides a valuable tool to address the growing public safety concern associated with the continuous expansion of Connecticuts black bear population, Dykes said. UConn reports that, as of 2015, there were between 397 and 457 black bear in northwestern Connecticut and bears were most abundant in towns with moderate housing density like Farmington, Simsbury, and Avon, Dykes said. UConns results complement DEEPs findings that the statewide black bear population continues to grow at a rate of nearly 10 percent per year, and is now more than 800 bears aged one year or older. Both studies conclude that, without controls, the population will continue to grow, eventually reaching a statewide total of around 3,000 animals, Dykes said. Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, thinks the hunting bill should be expanded to other areas, using Simsbury again as one of his main reasons. According to data compiled by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, seven of the top 10 communities with bear sightings are located in Hartford County, Witkos testified. Of these towns, five are a part of the 8th Senatorial District which I represent. This legislation needs to take that information into account and expand the scope of this proposal to include these areas of Hartford County. The Town of Simsbury has been particularly hard hit by the overpopulation of bears, Witkos added. In data compiled by the Town of Simsbury, from 2017 to 2018 there has been a 69.9 percent increase in calls for black bears in that community. On the other side, there are plenty of voices who say allowing black bear hunting is the wrong direction to go to address the problem if it is a problem at all. The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) submitted testimony strongly opposing the bear hunting bill. It said, in part: Though some may fear bear-human interaction, study after study has shown that recreational hunting does little to reduce attacks. Furthermore, Connecticut already has existing legislation allowing residents to deal with problem bears that threaten humans or destroy crops and property. CTLCV and numerous others opposed to bear hunting embraced the intent of the non-lethal management second bill. Rather than resort to a knee jerk response and threaten our small bear population with overhunting, Connecticut should focus on education-based strategies to reduce bear-human conflicts: teaching people how to remove attractants like spilled garbage and overflowing birdfeeders, keeping their pets on leashes or indoors and wearing a whistle while hiking, CTLCV said. Anti-hunting advocates, however, repeatedly stated that numbers can lie. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection reported 8,922 black bear sightings last year, said Fran Silverman, communications director for Friends of Animals, a wildlife advocacy organization headquartered in Connecticut. The report, however, doesnt acknowledge that every sighting is not a different black bear, Silverman said. The non-lethal management bills stated purpose is to have the Commissioner of DEEP submit a plan on best practices to deter black bears from habituating in areas that are densely populated by humans. Those practices, the bills states, could include: attractant management practices and recommendations; non-lethal hazing devices, including noises and physical deterrents that decrease black bear use of densely populated human areas; education programs that instruct and encourage the general public to improve their use of attractant management practices; and community planning strategies that consider black bear territory in making land use and waste management plans within municipalities. Suffield police are looking for the person who tied a dog to a tree in a local park overnight in a snowstorm. The dog was found tied to a tree off a trail in Stony Brook Park Thursday, police said in a Facebook post. NEW HAVEN Two city residents were injured by bullets in a shooting Thursday afternoon. Just before 4:30 p.m., New Haven police officers were sent to Eldert and Pendleton streets for a ShotSpotter activation for gunfire. Arriving officers determined there had been gunfire and that several individuals had fled the area, said Police Capt. Anthony Duff. Shortly after, two gunshot victims arrived at Yale New Haven Hospital by a car. A 29-year-old New Haven resident sustained a gunshot wound to the hand and a 30-year-old New Haven resident was hit multiple times by gunfire, Duff said. The 29-year-old had been released from the hospital as of Friday morning, police said. The 30-year-old remained hospitalized in stable condition Friday, according to police. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the New Haven Police Department Detective Bureau at 203-946-6304. HAMDEN Councilman Justin Farmer isnt sure why a North Haven police officer was called to monitor his visit to the animal control facility on Terminal Drive. In his mind, it could have been ageism, an example of institutional racism, or a purposeful attempt to intimidate him from doing his job. No matter the issue, the optics are terrible, said Farmer, who is black. Either it was a direction to use the police to intimidate me ... or it was a lack of cultural competency. Farmer, who detailed the visit in a recent column for the New Haven Independent that was published by the Register Tuesday, said he went to the facility to aid his constituent, Kim Miller, and visit her dogs, Kato and Kleo, in December 2018 . The dogs have been held there since an October 2012 incident in which they either attacked a Hamden resident or were attacked themselves and fought back in self-defense. Miller has campaigned for their release for years. Farmer said he worked to set up the visit beforehand, working with town officials to ensure that the visit wouldnt be a problem. But when Miller called just before going, Animal Control Officer Christopher Smith reacted with alarm, he said. When he arrived, Smith barred him from going inside the facility to visit the dogs. A few minutes later, a North Haven police officer arrived, came over and explained that he would oversee the visit to make sure no issues occurred. Smith and his sergeant had decided to call police and inform them about his visit, Farmer said. But other members of the council had been allowed to visit the dogs without such restrictions. Somehow, they ended up calling the police on me, said Farmer. I dont see why that would happen. Farmer wants the department to create a standard policy for visits to the animal control facility. The rules and regulations need to be clear, he said they cant change on a case-by-case basis. He also would like a more robust procedure to handle complaints. His attempts to understand the decison-making at play had not been fruitful, he said. In a statement, Police Chief John Cappiello and Mayor Curt B. Leng said interaction with quarantined animals at the shelter is forbidden, although the policy has not always been enforced. They said ACO Smiths call to police was prompted by a recent incident concerning an individual who entered the cage. The animal control officers have now been required to wear body cameras, according to the statement, and the departments approach to visitors to the shelter is under review. Implications that the Town, the Office of the Mayor, or Hamden Police have not taken Councilor Farmers inquiries and complaints seriously is simply not accurate. Implications that police were called as a method of intimidation, on the basis of race/ethnicity is not consistent with the history of the Shelter, the statement from Leng and Cappiello said. Visitors of all races and ethnicities regularly visit the facility. Throughout our mutual careers in public service, we have dedicated ourselves as advocates for all members of our community and hold equality as a core value. There is no question that racial injustice exists. Acting Chief Cappiello and I remain actively committed to doing everything within our power to ensure equitable treatment of all members of the community. Farmer said later Thursday he did not understand why Cappiello and Leng could not have told him that a police presence would be required before he made the visit, as he sought to set it up. But that was not mentioned, he said. He is unsure what he could have done to avoid it. In his police report about the incident, Smith said he called for a North Haven officer to prevent a breach of peace or a trespass and make sure that Farmer was not allowed into the cage. In the past, Miller had brought people inside, potentially putting them at risk, he said. Farmer said he had been mild-mannered and soft-spoken when dealing with the officer from North Haven and planned to follow the rules. But Smith called the officer to the scene before he arrived. I think theres a perception problem on what danger is and what would warrant the police to be there, said Farmer. Smith did not return messages seeking comment. Farmer said his attempts to communicate about the matter had been strained, as well. His written questions were not answered directly; Leng declined to talk over the phone, insisting on text or email. His concerns regarding the Police Department go beyond this incident, he said. He said he plans to hold a community hearing in March to allow residents to discuss their concerns and hopes about the future of town police. There have been issues in recent months, he noted officers arrested and cited for steroid use; an investigation concerning overtime abuse; the assault of an individual in custody in another community. His constituents in southern Hamden regularly say they feel unsafe. We cant have community policing if people dont trust the police, said Farmer. There needs to be a baseline of trust and there needs to be accountability. Editors note: This story has been updated to make clear that Farmers visit to the shelter was in Dec. 2018, not 2017. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com HAMDEN A police officer was not needed and should not have been called when a councilman recently visited the North Haven animal control facility, the mayor said in a statement. Police presence was not and is not required, Mayor Curt B. Leng said in the statement about the visit to the facility. Only the Animal Control Officer needs to be present per North Haven facility rules. Councilman Justin Farmer questioned the rationale for the officers presence earlier this week. He said he went to the facility to aid his constituent, Kim Miller, and visit her dogs, Kato and Kleo, in December 2018. More News Black Hamden councilman questions police presence at animal control facility visit The dogs have been held there since an October 2012 incident in which they either attacked a Hamden resident or were attacked themselves and fought back in self-defense. Miller has campaigned for their release for years. According to a letter sent by attorney Scott Ouelette, the town has allowed Miller to visit and play with the dogs as a courtesy during this period to the point that they pay overtime for animal control officers to enable weekend visits although an order for them to be put down has been received. In the past, others have been allowed to enter the cage and interact with the dogs. This is against the rules of the facility, Leng and Police Chief John Cappiello said in a statement Wednesday, but that policy hasnt been enforced consistently. Animal Control Officer Christopher Smith called for a North Haven police officer to attend Farmers visit, a police report says, after being told about it by Miller minutes before she and Farmer arrived. Smith said he called the officer to prevent a breach of peace or a trespass, and reinforce the importance of the guidelines that Farmer would not be allowed to interact with the dogs or go inside of the fenced area where they are held and ensure the guidelines were upheld. In the past, Miller has disobeyed these guidelines, Smith said, placing others at risk. Farmer repeatedly questioned why three other (visitors) were allowed to have contact with the dogs, but now he was not allowed during his December visit, Smith said in the report. Smith said he pointed to the guidelines and said the animals were dangerous, and that Millers allowing others in previously could have caused injury and liability to the town. Farmer said both at the time and Thursday that he had no intention of disobeying the guidelines. But the North Haven officer already was on scene when he arrived, he noted Thursday. I think theres a perception problem on what danger is and what would warrant the police to be there, Farmer said at the time. Farmer said he was not informed a police officer would be present during the visit ahead of time, even though he tried to set it up and clear it with town officials, including Leng and Cappiello, beforehand. He said it was unclear whether he would be allowed to visit the dogs in the cage. He had received contradictory answers when asking ahead of time and been directed to Town Attorney Sue Gruen to discuss the matter. Miller had brought a number of people to visit the dogs over the years without significant incident, he noted. Afterward, Farmer said he sought to understand the situation, including asking whether there was a rule about requiring that an officer present. He said he was asked what the town should do to address the issue, including consulting with Gruen to come up with rules. In an email, Cappiello pointed to Smiths report as an explanation, but did not say that the police officer was not required there. Leng and Cappiello also did not say that in their joint statement Wednesday. Leng said Friday that the Police Department and Animal Control Division are working on updates to the policy to make the rules more clear. He said the police chief and former chief, out of compassion, allowed the Miller direct contact with her animals. Farmer and Leng differ as to whether their post-visit level of communication has been appropriate. Farmer said Thursday he was disappointed with lack of transparency, direct answers, and that the mayor had not taken his phone calls, insisting on texts or emails. My frustration is to say that the mayor has been in regular contact with me is a fallacy, said Farmer, noting that he had not been able to get Leng on the phone for two months. I dont know what to make of it. Frankly, Im disappointed. ... Its apparent to me theres a lack of transparency. He said Leng and Cappiello had not admitted that the polices presence at his visit was a problem - they could have joined him in fixing it instead. He said Friday he was pleased that Leng noted there was an issue in his Thursday statement. Leng said he and Cappiello had offered sincere apologies several times that this ever happened in his Thursday statement. He said he and Cappiello have been in regular contact with Farmer. Leng also said he and Farmer have communicated many times the day of the incident and have discussed the matter both in-person at meetings and via correspondence. I will absolutely meet again with the Councilor to further discuss this matter, Leng said. I want to make my position crystal clear, I am 100 percent committed to meeting with and working with anyone in our community who feel they have been treated inequitably or inappropriately, its unacceptable. Equality and tolerance are core values that Ive always stood up for and couldnt be more important to me. Farmer said Friday he raised the issue at a leadership meeting that included Leng weeks after the fact. Beyond that, Leng has declined to meet in person, he said. Farmer plans to hold a community forum in March to allow town residents to discuss their concerns regarding the police department. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com NEW HAVEN Court recording monitors gathered on the steps of the Elm Street courthouse Thursday to express their displeasure with the Connecticut judicial branch wanting to outsource the responsibility for producing transcripts of legal proceedings. Under the current system, court recorders are allowed to produce transcripts for anyone who asks, whether judges, state agencies, or private people and attorneys, including on state time, as long as they are not required in court. The recorders say they want to preserve the integrity of record-keeping theyve gone above and beyond to ensure and maintain, as well as continue bringing in revenue. We spend a tremendous amount of time, both in and out of the courtroom, ensuring that the words that are placed in these transcripts are verbatim accountings of what happened. Errors in that can have catastrophic results for litigants, for victims, for anyone that has a reason for being interested in what goes on in the courts, said Kathy Darling, a court recorder in Bridgeport and New Haven for more than 25 years. Darling said the base pay for court recorders is not high, but they have been allowed to supplement their income by producing these transcripts. It provides about one-quarter of what she takes home, she said. Were being told sure, you still have a job - youre just going to make a whole hell of a lot less, she said. While they are supposed to be retrained to perform other responsibilities, the move could put her job at risk, she said. We are on the very lower end of the pay structure that can be had here at the branch. Most of us are going to find ourselves in the position of needing a second job; having to give up certain things give up homes, give up cars restructure our entire lives, said Darling. Its a catastrophic blow, both financially and emotionally. Sotonye Otunba-Payne, a court recorder in New Haven, said she and her colleagues have accepted a responsibility for the judicial system, taking time away from their families on nights and weekends; they were told that the extra income they received through producing transcripts was part of the job. She said she takes care of relatives in Nigeria with that money; Susan Dikranian, a court reporter in New Haven, said she pays for her granddaughters day care. And if the plan to outsource this job is enacted, the quality of the work, described as crucial, will suffer, Otunba-Payne said. Apparently, the state doesnt care about the integrity of the transcripts. This is what it boils down to, said Otunba-Payne. Theyre telling us that all of the things that have mattered for decades that we have all worked, alone and collectively (to do) that it does not matter. Judicial branch officials said they are striving to comply with auditor recommendations that pointed to possible ethical concerns about allowing recorders to produce transcripts for outside parties on state time. The judicial branch sent out a memo indicating it was seeking to end this practice in 2021, when a current Memorandum of Understanding expires with ASFCME Local 749, which represents the court recording monitors. If it is determined court recorders cannot keep up with demand after-hours, the responsibility may be outsourced to a private company, according to Melissa Farley, executive director of external affairs for the judicial branch. Farley said the judicial branch does not want to cut the livelihood of the court recorders or lay off anyone . The work is important she described the transcripts as the backbone of the court system. The goal is just to comply with the audit, she said. In a potential RFP, she said, the state may ask the company that takes on the responsibility to hire the court reporters, she said. We understand, said Farley. Its difficult. Change is very, very difficult. The system for compensating court recorders for producing transcripts is enacted through state statue, and thus can be changed without bargaining with the union. The Memorandum of Understanding prevents the judicial branch from expanding the pool of people that can type up transcripts. Charles DellaRocco, president of AFSCME Local 749, said the court recording monitors would like a seat at the table, as police or firefighters would have if major changes were made to their professions. Darling quipped darkly about the possibility. The only time that we are ever able to asked to participate in the solution to anything is when it is giving concessions, she said. Editors note: This article has been updated since it was first posted. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com Surprise, there is a Frank Gehry in New Haven. Starchitect Frank Gehry had his 90th birthday this week. It may be one of his most notable plaudits that very few of us in New Haven know that the Pritzker Prize winner designed a building here. He did in 1989. For Yale (who else?). Who knew? New Haven boasts the work of architects Louis Kahn, Eero Saarinen, Paul Rudolph, Philip Johnson and so many more. There are scores of significant Modern Masterpieces in a city of 120,000. You could argue that these great builders of the Modern Era have left New Haven with more statement buildings per capita than any other place in the world. But Frank Gehry, equally famed in our culture, has one too. The Yale Psychiatric Institute built a residence and treatment center for 66 adolescents and young adults in 1989. The building had a paltry $13 million cost and had a goal that was starkly distinct from virtually all the other palaces of fame Gehry has made all over the world. Why dont we know about it? Think about the privacy of who this complex was built for. The Yale Psychiatric Institute is closed to the public. The buildings fill a small block at the intersection of Cedar Street and Congress Avenue at the edge of the campus of the Yale Medical School. Paul Goldberger in his New York Times review says that there are occasional moments when the building positively bursts into glory. but these parts are fully obscured from view by any but those who use the building. Goldberger judges that the building suffers from its intentional anonymity. Created with local architect Allan Dehar, the irony of the architectural superstar Gehry being dissed as being too modest is simply hilarious. Compare this buildings visible anonymity, using blank brick boxes facing the street, hiding an expressive gym and courtyard behind them, with Gehry 2003 effervescing Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles where the outside explodes into its context. Architects can walk and chew gum at the same time. Making a designer fit a box, a one trick pony, is a shallow as the verdicts we all inveigh on first impression. (According to an item the New Haven Register published in 1989: The three new buildings, consisting of 76,000 square feet, were designed as a village community complex. The new YPI facilities comprise a cluster of geometric shapes, creating an upbeat avant-garde effect, using an unusual collection of materials, including lead-coated copper, chain-link fabric and dryvit, a stucco material. "Light and Hope for Many," the theme of the YPI opening celebration, is exemplified in the high ceilings, window walls, centrally located glass enclosed nursing stations, more spacious patient and community rooms and other unique window designs bring an abundance of natural light into the buildings. The architects hope that this design, while minimizing the sense of institutionalization and claustrophobia, will foster in patients a sense of both protection and connection to the world beyond. The general contractor was E&F Construction Co. of Bridgeport.) Compare the Yale Psychiatric Institutes intentional stealth, following its essential mission, to welcome and protect its tender users, to the The Yale Health Center, designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, a black sculpture expressing itself next to the sculpted whiteness of the Yale Whale and the large Xeroxing of Gothic Revival/neo-traditionalist architect from the first half of the 20th century, James Gamble Rogers by Robert A.M. Stern at the Franklin and Murray Colleges. Whether channeling an ocean mammal, Darth Vader or Hogwarts, those buildings, designed by Saarinen, Scogin/Elam and Stern are all about projecting themselves, for good or ill. Maybe Gehrys psychiatric institute shows non-architects like Goldberger that designing buildings is not just breast-beating genius, it is also about who is using the building you design, and where that use is. Here, Gehry (and Dehar) protect those who need protection. If buildings were birthday presents, we could simply rip off the Yale Psychiatric Institutes brick wrapping paper to reveal the complexs sculptured interior. But successful buildings are not birthday gifts, buildings are not just about their designers. Successful buildings fuse where they are, who uses then, and who designed them. Even though you may miss it, unlike the Yale Whale, or the Yale Art Gallery or the nearby Knights of Columbus Tower, we have a Gehry Building right here in New Haven, for everyone to simply ignore a gift every day of the year. NEW HAVEN A psychiatrist who oversaw LeRoya Moores treatment at the York Correctional Institution after Moore allegedly killed her two children testified Thursday that Moore was sometimes paranoid and had delusions about some of the people around her. Dr. Vinneth Carvalho said the staff at the prisons psychiatric unit diagnosed Moore as suffering from schizoaffective disorder the same diagnosis of another psychiatrist who testified earlier this week, also for the defense team. But after the defense rested its case Thursday morning, New Haven States Attorney Patrick Griffin called in a rebuttal witness, Moores sister. She testified Moore was upbeat and happy just several days before she allegedly killed her kids in their East Haven home. The defense attorneys are trying to persuade a three-judge panel that Moore should not be found guilty of two murder counts because she was in a psychotic state at the time of the crimes. Police discovered the bodies of 6-year-old Aleisha Moore and 7-year-old Daaron Moore when they came to the home on Strong Street June 2, 2015. But Griffin has sought to show that Moore, now 39, had exhibited aggressive behavior throughout her life and was not at those times, nor at the time of the homicides, in a psychotic state. Carvalho, who now works at Whiting Forensic Hospital, supervised Moores treatment after Moore arrived at York until Carvalho left York in December 2017. Moore came to the prison following eight days of treatment at Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. Carvalho told Supervisory Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Bourn that the prison staff usually kept Moore medicated. When the medication was temporarily halted, Carvalho said, Moores symptoms of psychosis grew more pronounced. In the early days of her treatment, while Moore was medicated, she talked to herself in her cell, Carvalho recalled. She said the voice of God had told her to protect her children. That is why she killed them. She didnt understand why God had left her (alive). Moore had said she tried to kill herself by repeatedly slitting her wrists. Carvalho testified that as Moore tried to understand why she had survived, she thought that maybe God had left her here to memorialize her children. During one period when Moore was taken off medication, Carvalho said, she became paranoid about a nurse who was trying to treat her. She threw a cup of water at the nurse. She believed the nurse was a voodoo preacher, Carvalho said. She thought the nurse was trying to poison her. Carvalho testified Moore also thought another patient was spying on her for the FBI. When Bourn asked what Moore said about her children, Carvalho replied, She said they were in a good place, that God told me to do this. Griffin asked Carvalho whether Moore had felt bereaved about what had happened. Carvalho answered, To feel bereavement, one has to appreciate the loss. She felt justified in what she had done. When Griffin asked whether Moore said how she killed her children, Carvalho recalled her saying she gave them medication, turned on the gas and then slit her wrists. Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue then asked Carvalho: Did she ever say she drowned her children? Carvalho said she doesnt remember Moore saying that to her or anyone at the prison. Blue had noted Tuesday while questioning another witness that an associate with the state office of the chief medical examiner had not given the cause of death for either child as drowning, although Moore reportedly told another psychiatrist she drowned the kids in the bathtub as a baptism. During his cross-examination, Griffin showed Carvalho some notes from a York clinician in an effort to refresh Carvalhos memory about a reportedly violent act by Moore. After reading that portion of the notes, Carvalho agreed Moore allegedly had threatened to assault a member of the prison staff. Griffin called to the witness stand Moores sister in an effort to call into question Moores report to another defense psychiatrist that she had been sexually abused by an older boy living in their home for about six years, starting when Moore was 5 or 6. The sister, who said she shared a bedroom with Moore for about 10 years, testified Moore had never said anything to her about being sexually abused. The sister also said she never witnessed such acts. Under cross-examination by Bourn, the sister said she is four years younger than Moore and so would have been about one year old when Moore was 5. The sister told Griffin that she and Moore spent a relaxed hour or two together in the witness home several days before the kids were killed. She was upbeat and happy, the sister said. She had gotten her life together. The sister said Moore was happy because she had just met a man she liked, was working at a couple of jobs and had bought her own house. The sister acknowledged under Bourns questioning that in previous periods Moore had been depressed and attempted suicide, once by trying to hang herself in a closet. But the sister said of these incidents, she wanted attention. randall.beach@hearstmediact.com Haley Lutar / Contributed photo Robert Colangelo, a lifelong first responder, was officially sworn in Jan. 30 as the Wallingford Fire Departments newest Chief Battalion Officer, replacing John Duffy, who has retired. Colangelos career began in 1986 at the age of 15 with the North Branford Junior Volunteer Fire Department, Company 1. Colangelo later went on to become an EMT, MRT, firefighter and paramedic, lieutenant, and in 2005 Colangelo was appointed Deputy Chief Training Officer for the town of North Branford. In 1997, Colangelo became a career firefighter and paramedic for the town of Wallingford, where he was promoted to lieutenant before earning his current rank. He has received numerous awards and recognitions throughout his career as a first responder including, among others, the American Red Cross 911 Response Award, Heroes of New Haven County in 2002 and Official Citations from the State of Connecticut General Assembly in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. Colangelo also served after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City in 2001. NEW HAVEN The former child care provider for LeRoya Moore testified Friday that Moore seemed neither depressed nor upset in the days just before she allegedly killed her two children. The witness was called by state prosecutors in an effort to rebut testimony by a defense-hired psychiatrist who said Moore went into a psychotic state sometime within the several days before the children died. The psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Amble, said Moore was in that state at the time of the childrens deaths. Moore, 39, is charged with two counts of murder. Police found the decaying bodies of 6-year-old Aleisha Moore and 7-year-old Daaron Moore in their East Haven home on June 2, 2015. The psychiatrist quoted Moore saying they had died May 28. According to an associate in the state chief medical examiners office, Aleisha died from acute intoxication of diphenhydramine and alcohol and Daaron died from acute intoxication of diphenhydramine. Moore reportedly told Amble she drowned her children in a bathtub but there has been no medical evidence presented to verify that . The child care provider testified she took care of the two children for 21/2 years during the hours of the day when Moore was working at several jobs. She said they regularly communicated via cellphone texts and calls. The provider said she cant recall the exact date on which she last saw the children but she stated it was probably May 27, 2015. The witness told Senior Assistant States Attorney Stacey Miranda their conversations were routine during that period and nothing seemed amiss. The witness said she noticed nothing unusual about Moores demeanor when she picked up the children on that final day. Miranda showed the witness a list of her cellphone records, including text messages, from late May through June 2. On the afternoon of Friday, May 29, she texted Moore and said: The kids arent here yet. The witness said Moore did not respond to this or a follow-up text. The provider next tried to contact Moore on Monday, June 1, at 4:25 p.m. She texted this to Moore: They didnt come today. Are they supposed to come? I thought they were due Friday as well. She testified Moore still did not answer. On June 2 (the day the bodies were discovered), the provider again texted Moore, this time at 7:34 a.m. The providers text: Hope all is OK. Ill keep you guys in my prayers. Why did you say that? Miranda asked. Because I thought maybe there was a family issue, the provider replied. I hadnt heard anything; in case something was going on. But that time, the provider recalled, Moore finally did respond: My dad died. Were going to be home this week. (It turned out her father was still alive but had moved away.) The provider responded to Moore: Im so sorry. Im glad you and the kids are safe. She said she also tried phoning Moore May 29, June 1 and June 2 but Moore never picked up the phone on her end. Miranda asked the provider whether during those final days she saw Moore, she had seemed upset or depressed or said anything out of the ordinary. Three times the provider said no. During a cross-examination by Senior Assistant Public Defender Scott M. Jones, he asked the provider whether she recalled saying to Moore: Are you OK? You look depressed. The provider, clearly surprised by the question, replied no. The trial will be on hiatus until March 20 because one or more of the three judges have scheduling conflicts involving other cases. randall.beach@hearstmediact.com The most commonly heard counter to a call for diversity in hiring is to say that, instead of bringing in people from a variety of backgrounds, the only choice is to hire the best person for the job. No other criteria should matter. In some cases, that might even be true. If were selecting a position where the qualifications are so stringent that one and only one person can do the job, then of course thats who we must choose. Most jobs arent like that. There is no one best person to run the Department of Motor Vehicles. There is no one person who best exemplifies the characteristics needed to be the states budget chief. Theres not even one person most qualified to be governor. There are, instead, many people who could do the job. To that end, it behooves everyone to select a team from a variety of backgrounds, cutting across race, gender, sexual orientation and national origin. People from different backgrounds might approach a problem differently, or see a problem where others see smooth sailing. People from diverse backgrounds may have more empathy for someone caught in a system not of their making. It may be easier for people of a certain background to see where a client is coming from when no one else in the bureaucracy seems to understand. Gov. Ned Lamont took some criticism last year for choosing former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz to be his running mate. The move forestalled a potentially damaging primary fight but also once again ensured that, were he to win, the top two state officials would lack diversity in an increasingly diverse state. Lamont promised then that he would put together an administration that better reflected what Connecticut looks like, and he has held true to that. Lamont has hired the most diverse collection of department heads the state has seen, and he should be commended. Individually, his nominees appear eminently qualified and would be worthy of the job in any context. Collectively, they reflect changing state demographics and represent a look toward the states future. Leaders including Vannessa Dorantes, commissioner of the Department of Children and Families; Chris Soto, director of Legislative Affairs; Melissa McCaw, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management; and Seila Mosquera-Bruno, commissioner of the Department of Housing; and many others are prepared to bring Connecticut into a new era, combining experience with a fresh outlook on state affairs. To some people, increasing diversity is a threat. Some may feel like positions that were once rightfully theirs are now up for grabs. In reality, thats as it should be. When diversity is key to the hiring process, the top candidates will still stand out, to everyones benefit. The difference is that everyone has a chance to shine. The state of Connecticut has many issues and Lamont does not lack for challenges. But for hiring a diverse leadership team, he deserves credit. Contributed photo In a few days, many western Christians will observe the beginning of Lent. It is a period of 40 days that marks a time of preparation culminating in the memorial of Jesus suffering, death and resurrection. This season of the Christian calendar begins on Ash Wednesday; a day in which Catholics and others not only fast and abstain from food, but sign their foreheads with ashes in the shape of the cross. These ashes serve as an outward sign of an interior commitment to embark on a period of penance not in some self-aggrandizing or self-punishing sense, but rather in order to allow Christians a structured time to reevaluate their lives and reexamine their priorities. Were called to let go of all those things that hold us back from being fully committed to a loving and graced relationship with God and our neighbor. For many Christians, Ash Wednesday is a day on which we reengage with some of the most fundamental signs of our religious community. The use of the cross on the forehead is a reminder of baptism. But this time, rather than water or oil, we use ashes. They are a symbol of repentance and conversion that the early Christians brought with them from the Jewish tradition out of which they came. Likewise, we fast for the same reason. It is ancient, concrete expression of an interior disposition by which we take responsibility for the times we fail and fall. In a word, the times that we sin. NORTH BRANFORD The North Branford Planning & Zoning Commission is considering a proposal for construction of a medical complex at 28 Branford Road on Route 139. The 5-acre parcel currently contains a single-family home but is otherwise mostly vacant. Town Planner Carey Duques said the parcel, owned by Shoreline Commerce Park Limited Partnership, has sat undeveloped for more than two decades. Two new buildings connected by a footbridge would comprise the health center. Kenneth Boroson Architects, the firm behind the project design, described the complex in an email: Both of the twin structures (approximately 24,000 square feet each) are designed to provide multiple direct entrances to individual practices and to maximize the daylight within the offices by minimizing the suite depth and providing numerous windows. With the project, 4 of the 5 acres on the lot would be developed, Duques said. Property owner Shoreline Commerce Park is coordinating with the project applicant, Duques said. According to a draft of the zoning minutes from a Feb. 7 meeting, the application is by Connecticut Center for Health and Wellness. If the plan were to go through, the home on the property which is occupied by tenants who rent from the property owner, Duques said would be demolished. Located at the Branford border, the property presents a gateway to North Branford, said Duques, who hopes a medical facility will draw people into the community. Its a way that were trying to spur economic growth, Duques said, adding that theres a sense of excitement around the project. While there is still work to be done, the prospects for the development are looking good, Duques said. However, a few issues still need to be resolved for the proposal to go forward. Stormwater drainage is one such consideration. The site is wooded, and planners need to figure out where stormwater will go when that area gets paved, Duques said. The proposal includes subsurface stormwater infiltration system that would sit underneath the parking lot to collect and treat stormwater, Duques said, a set-up which is common among large developments. The town also needs to approve the proposed parking plan for the property. According to a draft of the Planning and Zoning Commissions Feb. 7 meeting minutes, the plan includes 172 parking spaces. Duques said based on the development, zoning regulations call for 223 parking spaces, but if the applicant were to demonstrate that an additional 51 spaces could be added later on if necessary, the parking plan would be approved. The applicant has based the proposed number of parking spaces on other existing medical facilities, Duques said. In addition, the town needs to coordinate with the state Department of Transportation to maintain adequate driving visibility, since construction would take place on a state road. Though uncertain of the timeline, Duques guessed that if all goes smoothly, the complex would be finished sometime next year. Robert Sachs of Cherry Hill Construction, Inc., is involved with the project, but more information about the applicant was not available. Sachs did not respond to multiple requests for comment. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Kenneth Boroson Architects. meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com DERBY There seems to be some friendly ghosts haunting the Twisted Vine Restaurant downtown. Thats the word from Nick Grossman, a clairvoyant, head ghost hunter and founder of the Norwalk-based team of paranormal investigators, Ghost Storm. The team spent the night Saturday at the 127-year-old building at 285 Main St., which once housed the Olde Birmingham Bank. Grossman said the spirit of a 19th century banker was spotted, among some other unexplained phenomena inside the historical city landmark. This place is definitely haunted, said Grossman. I believe the spirits are pretty friendly and like it there. The spirits are a nice bonus to the restaurant, along with the penne alla vodka that will blow your mind. Grossman and his team, along with Twisted Vine owner Michael Picone and some restaurant employees, began their ghost hunting adventure after the restaurant closed for the night. The crew came equipped with digital and night vision cameras, and stayed awake from 10:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. in hopes of capturing some of the weird things customers and employees have reported happening there. According to Grossman, those reports are true. It was a huge success, Grossman said. We got the bartender communicating with the spirit using the light bulb on the bar on video. The light bulb responded to her questions and conversation by fading out and going on and off in unison to her voice. The team dubbed the spirit who was doing the communicating Sam the Spirit. I got my flashlight and challenged Sam to a drinking contest, even though I dont drink, and I asked him to respond by turning my flash light, said Grossman. I put my camera on the flashlight for 15 minutes and left it recording by itself. Sam the Spirit spun the flashlight around 360 degrees twice. Grossman said at one point during the night he felt a poke and saw what appeared to be a little girl. Several customers have reported seeing the image of a child inside the restaurant. The overnight adventure was wild, Grossman said, and he hopes to host a ghost hunter tour at Twisted Vine so others can experience the eerie happenings there. Grossman said photos and videos of the findings are on the teams website at https://vagaparanormal.com and also on YouTube. Ghost Storm has big plans and we wont stop until we prove that paranormal is real and right next door, Grossman added. Ghost Storm was established in 2004 and has investigated many supposedly haunted places around the East Coast, including the famed Dudleytown. Picone was a believer, even before Ghost Storm came to call. He has experienced previous activity at the restaurant, including furniture moving, sightings of a ghost-like image of an old man and unusual plumes of smoke appearing out of nowhere. Picone stayed at the restaurant with Ghost Storm until about 2 a.m., and said some ghosts from the past paid a visit. There was a photo showing an image on the dance floor, and in my opinion, it strongly resembles Edward N. Shelton, the (banks) first president, said Picone. Picone isnt worried that Twisted Vine is haunted. It has been good for business, said Pincone. It has brought new people and people we havent seen in a while to the restaurant. A lot of people often refer to us as The Valleys Hidden Secret. Newsfrom Japan Tokyo, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)--Otsuka Kagu Ltd. <8186> said Friday that it will raise some 3.8 billion yen in fresh capital by issuing new shares to third parties including an investment fund. The struggling Japanese furniture retailer will sell 13.11 million new shares for 290.11 yen apiece, with payments set for between March 4 and June 30. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Jasdaq market for startups on Thursday, the company's shares closed at 460 yen. Otsuka Kagu will use the proceeds to promote warehouse automation and store reform designed to reinforce e-commerce operations. The decision by the company to receive an injection of outside capital came as its free cash flow has dropped sharply due to sluggish sales. President Kumiko Otsuka expressed his intention to remain at the helm of the company for the time being. Otsuka Kagu also said it has reached a basic agreement to form a business tie-up with Japanese electronics retailer Yamada Denki Co. <9831>. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] The Indian High Commissioner to Uganda Shri Ravi Shankar has advised Ugandans to exploit opportunities available in India for Ugandas products. Shri Ravi Shankar noted that Uganda has more comparative advantage to do business with India as compared to other countries in the region because of the favourable environment between the two states. In East Africa, Uganda has strong working relationship with India; let Ugandas business community exploit such opportunities by exporting more products to India where the demand is high due to its population. This will lower the countrys trade deficit, Shankar said. Stories Continues after ad The High Commissioner made the call to Ugandans during the awarding ceremony organized by the Indian Business Forum in Uganda which took place at the Kampala Serena Hotel on February 26.The ceremony was recognizing Indias enterprises that are excelling in doing business in Uganda. Products with ready market Agro related products especially fresh food and milk were cited among products that will have ready market in India. Shri Ravi Shankar said Uganda should not only focus on reducing the volume of imports from India but on how Ugandan products can access the non-exploited markets in India. To ensure that Uganda products have access to the Indias market, the commissioner noted that India has softened the process of applying for Visas to India, especially for the business communities. Among the interventions put in place include applying for Indias Visa on online which he said saves the applicants, time and transport cost. Trushar Upadhyay, the general secretary of the India Business Forum in Uganda, asked government to create a conducive environment for the private sector to develop. Entrepreneurs in India are willing to expand their businesses to Africa, particularly East Africa but the challenge is the cost of doing business in the region being high. Governments need to ensure that the environment is conducive; that is when some countries like Uganda will attract more foreign direct Investment, he said The key issues which the Indian business community wants government to work on are related to taxation, poor infrastructures especially in most up country towns and the high cost of power. The challenges notwithstanding, the Indians business community has played a big role in the growth of Ugandas economy. Woman accused of fatally stabbing man in Treme hotel left 2 hours after checking in with man, says hotel owner Megan Hall, 25, is not wanted on charges in the mans death, but police believe she has information pertinent to the investigation, the NOPD said in a Thursday (Feb. 28, 2019) news release. The LSU Ag Center and GB Sciences Louisiana, the company it has contracted with to grow medical marijuana, have been given permission from state regulators to move marijuana plants out of a temporary facility and into two rooms in their permanent grow facility in Baton Rouge. The LDAF said in a letter addressed to Dr. Ashley Mullens, the coordinator of LSUs Medical Marijuana Program, that after careful consideration and in an effort to get product to the pharmacies for the citizens of Louisiana LDAF commissioner Mike Strain was giving them permission to move plants into two rooms, the Mother room and Vegetative room, in the main facility. Regulators added that the LSU AgCenter would not be able to move into the full facility until both had signed a suitability agreement that was emailed attached with the letter on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 28) outlining terms and conditions. LDAF spokesperson Veronica Mosgrove said that the suitability portion relates to rule and regulations including criminal, financial and civil background checks of anyone who has five percent or more interest in or significant influence in GB Sciences Louisiana. What to know about Louisiana's medical marijuana program heading into 2019 Mullens said that her team at the LSU Ag Center had only just received the letter and suitability contract from LDAF and needed time to consult with their legal team before issuing a formal statement regarding the update. GB Sciences Louisiana harvested their first crop of medical marijuana plants in October but had to set up a temporary grow pod that was custom built to sustain all stage of production from planting to harvesting to extraction while the main facility was built and approved by the LDAF. Regulatory hurdles have created a series of delays pushing back the availability date of medical marijuana in Louisiana by months. At a stakeholders meeting in LDAF headquarters in January, GB Sciences estimated that the delays had pushed back availability of medical marijuana until at May at the earliest. The letter from the LDAF is available below: 17-year-olds accused of nonviolent crimes in Louisiana will now go through juvenile system Today Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 67F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Increasing clouds with showers arriving overnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Tomorrow Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 68F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. "An Hour Until Dusk" is one of many works by Kenneth Hawkey on exhibit at Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham. A reception with the artist will be held on Sunday, March 10 from 2 to 4 pm. Kenneth Hawkey March 1, 2019 EASTHAM, Mass. Artist Kenneth Hawkeys paintings will be featured at Cape Cod National Seashores Salt Pond Visitor Center in March. The exhibit is part of the seashores ongoing series -Perspectives: Seeing Cape Cod National Seashore Through Art.Thirty Years in the National Seashore celebrates Hawkeys 30th anniversary painting scenes in Cape Cod National Seashore. Hawkey lives in Truro, where the national seashore encompasses nearly 70% of the town. Dunes, waterways, woodlands, beaches, wildlife habitats, and the private residences found within the national seashore are the foundations of Hawkeys exhibit. The exhibit, which consists primarily of new works, will include one painting from 1989 to show how the national seashore inspired Hawkeys development as an artist.Hawkey is active in the arts across Cape Cod. He is represented by Larkin Gallery in Provincetown and Post Office Gallery in North Truro. He was the recipient of two Massachusetts Cultural Council Grants by benefit of which he created and presented two series of paintings that beautifully depict the development and the heritage of the Outer Cape. In addition to his many solo shows, Hawkeys work has been exhibited in juried shows and invitational exhibitions at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Chathams Creative Art Center, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Falmouth Art Center, Fine Arts Work Center, Art League Rhode Island, Attleboro Art Museum, various venues in New York State, and several corporate exhibits. He has been featured in Cape Cod Magazine and has had several reviews of his exhibits in the Provincetown Banner. This is his first exhibition in Eastham.A public reception with the artist will be held at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham on Sunday, March 10, from 2-4 pm.IF YOU GO: Salt Pond Visitor Center is located at 50 Nauset Road at the intersection of Route 6 in Eastham, and can be reached at 508-255-3421. The center is open daily from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, with staff to assist with activity planning. Visit the museum, view the new park movie, enjoy panoramic views of Salt Pond and Nauset Marsh, and shop in the gift and bookstore featuring national seashore-related items. Volunteers lined up for the Civil War Encampment NPS Photo/Patrick Christman 2018 February 28, 2019 Contact: Visitor Center, 505-757-7241 Pecos, NM: The annual Civil War Encampment at Pecos National Historical Park will take place Saturday, March 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This free, family-friendly event will bring to life the experience of the Civil War in New Mexico. Interact with living history participants, see black powder demonstrations, and hear speakers share their expertise on life during the Civil War in the West. Children of all ages can make their own corn husk toys, play historical games, and meet raptors from the New Mexico Wildlife Center. Western National Parks Association, the parks non-profit educational partner, will be selling Battle of Glorieta Pass collectibles including postcards, magnets, collectibles t-shirts and a brand new challenge coin commemorating the battle. Schedule of Events: Black Powder Demonstration 10:00 a.m. 10:45 a.m. See, hear and experience the power of black powder weapons like rifles, cannon and muskets. Kids activities 10:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. Stop by the kids tent to try your hand at decorating corn husk birds and dragonflies, or burn off some energy playing popular Civil War era games like trap ball and quoits. Lecture: The Civil War in the New Mexico Territory 11:00 a.m. 11:45 a.m. In the winter of 1862, a small army of Confederates under the leadership of a charismatic brigadier general invaded New Mexico with grand visions of establishing a Western Confederacy. The Confederates were opposed by a Union army composed of volunteers, militia, and some regulars. Civil War Historian John Taylor will explore the story of that invasion, the major battles at Valverde and Glorieta Pass, and the consequences, some of which lasted well beyond the actual fighting in 1862. Live Raptor Presentation 12:00 p.m. -12:45 p.m. Join the New Mexico Wildlife Center for a live raptor presentation. Learn more about the vital role that hawks and owls play in this rugged environment, the challenges each species faces, and what we can do to help preserve this unique landscape and the creatures that call it home. Lecture: Forlorn Hope 1:00 p.m. 1:45 p.m. The surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi to Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant in July of 1863, was the culmination of one of the most significant campaigns of the Civil War. More Medals of Honor were awarded for actions that ultimately led to Vicksburg's defeat than for any other military engagement in United States history. Kim Hyatt will share the eyewitness account of his ancestor's part in a daring, but doomed assault that was ordered by General Grant in an effort to avoid a prolonged siege of the city . Black Powder Demonstration 2:00 p.m. 2:45 p.m. See, hear and experience the power of black powder weapons like rifles, cannon and muskets. Lecture: Civil War Era Medicine 3:00 p.m. 3:45 p.m. Discover more about Civil War era medicine with Dr. Bob Mallin. A Vietnam veteran, historian, and surgeon, Dr. Mallin offers a rare opportunity to see and learn more about the medical and surgical instruments that were used to treat battle wounds in the field. All events are free and open to the public. Civil War Encampment will take place at the park, though the final location will be determined after park staff evaluates weather and encampment field conditions later in March. Please be sure to check in at the information tent upon arrival to confirm event locations and times. Many thanks to park partners including the Friends of Pecos National Historical Park, Western National Parks Association, the Artillery Company of New Mexico, and the 3rd NM Volunteers Living History Unit from Fort Union National Monument for their invaluable help with this event. A Triassic frog clings to the snout of a phytosaur Andrey Atuchin, with permission February 27, 2019 Contact: Dr. Adam Marsh, 928-524-6228 x263 Petrified Forest, AZ In a research article published today in Biology Letters, a collaborative group of paleontologists from Virginia Tech, the Florida Museum of Natural History, and Petrified Forest National Park, led by Dr. Michelle Stocker, announced new discoveries that represent the oldest fossil frogs in North America. The fossils were found in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation (~213 to 220 million years old) at Petrified Forest National Park, a neighboring ranch, and a quarry near St. Johns, AZ, and they belong to a group called Salientia, that includes living frogs and their closest evolutionary ancestors. These frogs are small (~15 mm long) and are identified by their hip bones. Luckily, the fossils that were collected by washing fossiliferous rocks through metal screens of various sizes are characteristic of frogs and not the other amphibians present at the time, the metoposaurs. Earlier frogs exist from Lower Triassic rocks (~250 million years old), but they are from higher-latitude sites (todays Poland and Madagascar) in Pangaea, the mega-continent that existed during the Triassic Period. The new frog fossils described by Dr. Stocker and her colleagues are the oldest frogs in North America and are the first frog fossils to be found from a location that was near the equator during the Triassic. These fossils, along with others from Lower Jurassic rocks on the Navajo Nation suggest that in what is now the southwestern U.S. frogs survived the drier climate and hypothesized mass extinction at the end of the Triassic Period. The research was funded by David B. Jones, the National Science Foundation, the Petrified Forest Museum Association, the Friends of Petrified Forest National Park, and the Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences. February 25, 2019 Jessica Kusky , 5409993500 x.3181 Luray, Virginia: Shenandoah National Park is seeking applicants for its summer Shenandoah Youth Corps (SYC) program. This program provides youth, ages 16-18, a hands-on and educational experience in the conservation of the parks natural and cultural heritage. SYC participants work to maintain park trails, roads, buildings and campgrounds while learning about Shenandoah National Park. The program consists of two, four-week sessions, June 10 to July 5, and July 15 to August 9. During the first session, the participants will spend weekends at their home, but will camp in the park during the week. The second session is a residential session with the participants remaining in the park for the entire four weeks. Participants will also earn a $290 per week allowance for participating in the program. Youth are encouraged to apply for one session. The Shenandoah Youth Corps is a partnership with Shenandoah National Park, the Great Appalachian Valley Conservation Corps and the Shenandoah National Park Trust. Applications are being accepted through the Great Appalachian Valley Conservation Corps until positions are filled. Students are encouraged to apply early. Visit the Great Appalachian Valley Conservation Corps website at www.gavcc.org to apply for this program and specify Shenandoah Youth Corps in the application. For more information contact Jessica Kusky, the Volunteer and Youth Program Coordinator at Shenandoah National Park: e-mail us or 540-999-3500 x 3181 or visit our website at https://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/management/ycc.htm. March 1, 2019 Bob Parmenter , 575-829-4850 Kimberly DeVall , 505-412-0826 Members of the public are invited to the 2019 All Hands meeting for a comprehensive update on the largest landscape-scale forest restoration project in New Mexico on March 28-29 in Santa Fe. Both days are fee and open to the public. The Southwest Jemez Mountains (SWJM) Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project is a long-term collaborative effort to restore forest ecosystems at the landscape scale and improve resilience to major disturbances, including forest fires, insects, diseases, and climate warming. The project covers 210,000 acres in the Jemez Mountains, including Valles Caldera National Preserve and most of the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest. On Thursday, March 28 (8:30 a.m. 5 p.m.), project managers will give updates on implementation, including forest thinning, prescribed fire, and riparian and wetland restoration. Scientists and natural resource specialists will address the effects and benefits on watershed hydrology, vegetation and soils, fisheries and wildlife. Other topics include monitoring cultural and archaeological resources, and socioeconomic impacts. The March 28 meeting will be at the Santa Fe Community College, 600 Richards Ave, Santa Fe, NM 87508; the meeting will be held in the Jemez Rooms next to the cafeteria. Parking is free, and the college cafeteria will be open for lunch. The campus is ADA-accessible. On Friday, March 29 (8:30 a.m. 12 p.m.), the meeting moves to the Santa Fe National Forests Supervisor's Office at 11 Forest Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87508. Collaborators and public will discuss restoration projects for the 2020 season. Lead partners in the SWJM project include the Santa Fe National Forest, Valles Caldera National Preserve, U.S. Geological Survey, Forest Stewards Guild, New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute, New Mexico Forest Industry Association, Pueblo of Jemez, WildEarth Guardians and The Nature Conservancy. For additional information, contact: Bob Parmenter, Chief of Science & Resource Stewardship, Valles Caldera National Preserve, at 575.829.4850 or e-mail us. Thursday, March 28: Santa Fe Community College - Jemez Rooms, 600 Richards Ave, Santa Fe, NM 87508 8:30 AM -- Welcome and Introductions : Bob Parmenter (VALL), Karl Buermeyer (SFNF) : Bob Parmenter (VALL), Karl Buermeyer (SFNF) 8:45 AM -- Goals & Objectives of CFLRP : James Melonas (Supervisor, SFNF) and Jorge Silva-Banuelos (Superintendent,VALL) : James Melonas (Supervisor, SFNF) and Jorge Silva-Banuelos (Superintendent,VALL) 9:00 AM -- Implementation overviews of projects completed through 2018 Forest and fire projects on the SFNF: Dennis Carril (SFNF) Forest and fire projects on VALL: Marla Rodgers/Fabian Montano (NPS) Forest thinning operations: Terry Conley (TC Company) Jemez Pueblo: Paul Clarke, Aaron Cajero Jr (Pueblo of Jemez) Santa Clara Pueblo: Lindsey Quam (Pueblo of Santa Clara) In-stream structures: Cecil Rich (USFS) Stream riparian projects: Jim Matison (WildEarth Guardians) 10:15-10:30 AM -- BREAK 10:30-3:20 AM -- Monitoring Results : 10:30 - Vegetation: Martina Suazo (VALL) 11:00 - Wildlife: Elk and deer habitat change Sharon Smythe (Texas Tech University) 11:30 - Wildlife: Bears James Cain (USGS/NMSU) 11:45 - Wildlife: Cougars Mark Peyton (VALL) Art Anaya (NMSU) : 12:00 PM -- BREAK FOR LUNCH 1:00 - Birds Amanda Schluter and Katrina Hucks (Hawks Aloft) 1:20 - Soil biota and physical properties Kara Gibson (Northern Arizona University) 1:40 - Monitoring: Arthropods Sandra Brantley (University of New Mexico) 2:00 - Monitoring: Stream water temperatures Dan Guevara (NM Environment Department) 2:20 - Monitoring: Fish and stream invertebrate populations Colleen Caldwell (USGS/NMSU) 2:40 3:00 PM -- BREAK 3:00 - Wetland restoration Steve Vrooman (Keystone Restoration Ecology) 3:20 PM -- Socio-economic Impacts : Matt Piccarello (Forest Stewards Guild) : Matt Piccarello (Forest Stewards Guild) 3:40 PM -- Cultural Resources : Rebecca Baisden (SFNF) and Stephanie Bergman (VALL) : Rebecca Baisden (SFNF) and Stephanie Bergman (VALL) 4:00-5:00 --PM Poster Session & General Discussions 5:00 PM -- Adjourn Friday, March 29, 2019 Santa Fe National Forest Supervisors Office, 11 Forest Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87508 You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person. Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else. Thank you for reading The Cascadia Advocate, the Northwest Progressive Institutes journal of world, national, and local politics. Founded in March of 2004, The Cascadia Advocate has been helping people throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond make sense of current events with rigorous analysis and thought-provoking commentary for more than fifteen years. The Cascadia Advocate is funded by readers like you and trusted sponsors. We dont run ads or publish content in exchange for money. Help us keep The Cascadia Advocate editorially independent and freely available to all by becoming a member of the Northwest Progressive Institute today. Or make a donation to sustain our essential research and advocacy journalism. Your contribution will allow us to continue bringing you features like Last Week In Congress, live coverage of events like Netroots Nation or the Democratic National Convention, and reviews of books and documentary films. Become an NPI member Make a one-time donation LOS ANGELES You keep insisting that this citys artists dont need New Yorks approval, and then what happens? When the whole world shows up at the biggest coming-out party yet for the Los Angeles art market, it takes place against a Manhattan facade. Over half a century, L.A. has nursed its own practice of artistic experimentation, steered by the best art education programs in the country, with its own traditions of airy minimalism, wily conceptual projects, abject installations, and politically engaged performance and public art. The galleries and collectors around it have matured to the point that Londons Frieze Art Fair staged its first West Coast edition in late February on a Hollywood backlot built to resemble a New York street. [View some of the memorable moments from the Frieze and Felix art fairs.] Audiences did not need an advanced degree in semiotics to get the joke. As Travis Diehl, among the most perceptive young art critics in this rambling city, wrote in 2017, NY thrills to style LA as a golden-hour dreamland that never quite wakes up; LA gladly concedes to NY the status of the overbearing and immutable reality it rejects. Theyre thoroughly codependent, New York and Los Angeles, and affirm their cultural identities by looking at the other with oscillating dismissal and envy. So as the latest New York Times critic to go spelunking in this citys museums, galleries, studios and alternative spaces, from Brentwood to Boyle Heights, let me get my verdict out of the way fast. Is Los Angeles, in 2019, the equal of New York as a center for contemporary art? Sure, of course it is. WAYWARD LIVES, BEAUTIFUL EXPERIMENTS: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval, by Saidiya Hartman. (Norton, $28.95.) This exhilarating social history begins at the cusp of the 20th century, with young black women in open rebellion. They claimed sexual freedom, serial partners, single motherhood or opted out of motherhood entirely. Hartmans rigor and restraint give her writing its distinctive electricity and tension, our critic Parul Sehgal writes. She pushes past the social workers, the psychologists, the policemen and the scandalized moralists standing in our way to reveal the women for the first time, individual and daring. THE BORDER, by Don Winslow. (William Morrow, $28.99.) This stunning conclusion to a trilogy that began with The Power of the Dog and The Cartel concerns subjects that put it right on the cultures front burner: the Mexican-American border, the handling of migrant children, the opioid crisis and some barely fictionalized claims about how foreign money has bought influence at the highest level of the United States government. Winslow means to journey deep into a new kind of hell this time, and to suggest that his readers recognize the sensation, our reviewer Janet Maslin writes. This is a book for dark, rudderless times, an immersion into fear and chaos. SILENCE: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives, by Jane Brox. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27.) To parse the role of silence in Western history, Brox examines very different institutions where quiet dominated: prison and the monastery. In each, she says, silence both liberated and terrorized. Brox writes beautifully about the silence woven through daily tasks and between prayers in the medieval monastery, our colleague Gal Beckerman declares in an essay devoted to two books on the subject. Silence for her is a force of nature, awe provoking, like lightning, capable of electrocuting us and of illuminating the night. IF WE CAN KEEP IT: How the Republic Collapsed and How It Might Be Saved, by Michael Tomasky. (Liveright, $27.95.) In this sweeping, sometimes breezy volume, Tomasky unearths bits of forgotten American history to explore how our system became so broken as to elect someone like Donald Trump. He does so in the service of making two main points about our current predicament, Jason Zengerle writes in his review. The first is that American politics have always been polarized but that the polarization of today is qualitatively different. His second point is that will is the most overrated commodity in politics. Zengerle concludes that Tomaskys sharpest (if sobering) argument is that while our current troubles created the conditions that brought us a President Trump, those troubles would exist no matter who was in the White House. SEPARATE: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and Americas Journey From Slavery to Segregation, by Steve Luxenberg. (Norton, $35.) This history, full of surprises, absurdities and ironies, traces the doctrine of segregation before and after the Civil War, which culminated in the notorious 1896 Supreme Court decision that made separate but equal the law of the land. Luxenberg focuses on three key figures from the Plessy case the plaintiffs lawyer and two of the courts justices but also expands his range to devote many lively and illuminating pages to race and politics in New Orleans, James Goodman writes in his review. Segregation is not one story but many. Luxenberg has written his with energy, elegance and a heart aching for a world without it. Gap, one of the largest operators of mall stores in the United States, said on Thursday that it planned to spin off Old Navy into a separate public company, drawing a line between the family-friendly apparel chain and its classic, more expensive brands. The separate company would contain Gaps namesake label, Banana Republic, Athleta, Intermix and its new Hill City brand. Gap is aiming to complete the transaction in 2020, and the two companies will end up similar in size. Old Navy brought in about $8 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year while the brands that will make up the new entity combined to take in around $9 billion. Art Peck, Gaps chief executive, said on an earnings call that the proposed split was an opportunity to write the next chapter for specialty retail. He said that, over time, Old Navys needs have differed from those of the rest of the brands. It shares fewer customers with the other labels, has a smaller international footprint and uses different in-store technology. Old Navy is a little bit more fast-fashion, move quick, lower price point, said Greg Portell, lead partner in the global consumer and retail practice of A. T. Kearney, a consulting firm. If you think about the more mall-based brands, they are foundational, theyre classic, theyre not as quick to turn. Athletas a little bit different, but it still targets that consumer that is looking for a different experience than the Old Navy, price-based, go-now shopper. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] In testimony before Congress this week, Michael Cohen cast himself as a central figure in schemes that could threaten the presidency of Donald J. Trump. But Mr. Cohen said he didnt work alone, unexpectedly mentioning by name the involvement of another member of Mr. Trumps inner circle, Allen Weisselberg, more than 20 times. The revelations are set to intensify the scrutiny on Mr. Weisselberg, Mr. Trumps unassuming 71-year-old chief financial officer, who already is a focus for federal prosecutors in New York. On Wednesday, Mr. Cohen specifically identified Mr. Weisselberg as helping mastermind a strategy to mask reimbursements to Mr. Cohen for his payment to Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film actress who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said after Wednesdays hearing that he probably will want to call additional witnesses, including Mr. Weisselberg, to gather additional evidence about the hush-money payment. Patrick McCarthy, who spent his entire glamorous reporting and editing career at the Fairchild media company known for the fashion industry bible Womens Wear Daily and W magazine and who succeeded his mentor, John Fairchild, as its chairman and editorial director, died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 67. Anne Marie Gustin, his sister and only survivor, confirmed the death but gave no cause. Impeccably dressed in Armani suits, Mr. McCarthy successfully led the company for 13 years without being as famously irascible and capricious as Mr. Fairchild, whose family had founded the business. Where Mr. Fairchild had feuded with designers, Mr. McCarthy was calmer. But he shared his patrons competitive fire especially if WWD did not get a story first. And he did not shrink from criticizing people in the industry. I will kill for a story, and if I dont have it, I will get angry, Mr. McCarthy said in a profile of him in New York magazine in 1997. He conceded that he could be arbitrary in punishing designers, big and small. SANTA ANA, Calif. Nearly two months after a federal jury decided that a notorious motorcycle club must forfeit the rights to its trademarked emblem, a judge on Thursday nullified the verdict, finding that seizure of the intellectual property was unconstitutional. In a 51-page ruling, Federal District Judge David O. Carter said the governments strategy of trying to devastate the Mongols motorcycle club by confiscating its treasured Genghis Khan-style logo would violate the groups First Amendment right to free speech and the excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment. The decision upended years of efforts by prosecutors to weaken the Mongols, which a federal jury in January deemed a criminal enterprise after finding the group guilty of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy for the crimes of murder, attempted murder and drug dealing. In the second phase of that wide-ranging, eight-week trial, the jury found that the Mongols must give up their rights to the emblem, which is emblazoned on the vests, T-shirts and motorcycles of hundreds of members. But Judge Carter declined to order the Mongols to forfeit the logo until he had a chance to review their arguments and consider their free speech rights. WASHINGTON Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst convicted in 2013 of leaking archives of secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks, revealed in an interview that she had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury and vowed to fight it. The subpoena does not say what prosecutors intend to ask her about. But it was issued in the Eastern District of Virginia and comes after prosecutors inadvertently disclosed in November that Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been charged under seal in that district. Ms. Manning, who provided a copy of the subpoena to The New York Times, said that her legal team would file a motion on Friday to quash it, arguing that it would violate her constitutional rights to force her to appear. She declined to say whether she would cooperate if that failed. Given what is going on, I am opposing this, she said. I want to be very forthright I have been subpoenaed. I dont know the parameters of the subpoena apart from that I am expected to appear. I dont know what Im going to be asked. Hi. Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics. Im Lisa Lerer, your host. Four years ago, the Conservative Political Action Conference featured a parade of Republican stars. There was Ted Cruz! Chris Christie! Marco Rubio! Rand Paul! Even the reality TV personality Donald J. Trump made an appearance. Fast forward to 2019. Now, theres only one attraction: President Trump. This year at CPAC, attendees can pose at a fake White House podium, admire an enormous mural of Mr. Trump with a bald eagle, and buy MAGA gear at an official Trump store set up at the front of the convention center. Wandering the halls are once-high-profile supporters of Mr. Trump like Kris Kobach, who lost his bid for governor of Kansas, and the former White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Founded in 1974 as a protest of sorts against President Richard Nixon, the conservative confab used to be a wild event, a mash-up of religious leaders, Tea Partyers in colonial garb and all kinds of fringier parts of the right. From the stage, rising Republican stars fought for their support. This is where Ronald Reagan, as governor of California, tested early versions of his message of a shining city on a hill. Where Newt Gingrich celebrated becoming House speaker. Where Mitt Romney described himself as severely conservative as he tried to win over the base in 2012. And where Mr. Trump first alluded to running for president as a Republican eight years ago. This body is going to continue to change as more people of a diverse background come, Mr. Lewis said. America is changing. We all need to get on board. But a generational divide could be emerging, especially with some African-American elders who have been in the House for decades. I think they certainly bring a different perspective in some ways, said Representative Danny K. Davis, Democrat of Illinois. I think the wording sometimes is a little different. The level of what might be called professional civility may be a little different, but I think the individuals are expressing in many ways the same feelings and are saying the same things. For the House Republican Conference, 90 percent of whom are white and male, some uncomfortable moments are inevitable. Mr. Meadows called the birther videos old news on Thursday and said he had previously apologized. He also appeared to reconcile with Ms. Tlaib; the two shared a hug and a seemingly cordial talk on the House floor. She said she didnt mean it yesterday, so there was no need to apologize, he told reporters afterward. I wanted her to know, and she wanted me to know, that our relationship is one that will hopefully provide real good results going forward. Mr. Meadows and Ms. Tlaib are political and cultural opposites. Mr. Meadows, 59, a well-to-do real estate developer, is the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and one of Mr. Trumps most ardent defenders on Capitol Hill. Ms. Tlaib, 42, made headlines on her first day in office after she was captured on video using an expletive to describe Mr. Trump as she spoke of her desire to impeach him. A lawyer and social justice advocate from Detroit, she is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and one of the first two Muslim women in Congress. But in more than two years in the Oval Office, the president has demonstrated an unmistakable pattern: He tends to believe what strongmen say. These arent leaders who are frenemies, said Derek Chollet, the executive vice president of the German Marshall Fund and a State Department official under President Barack Obama. These are folks where the presumption is that they are not on the level and we have to go into these conversations with deep skepticism and eyes wide open. Instead, Mr. Chollet said, Mr. Trump seems to accept the statements of foreign leaders at face value when it meshes with his own political interests. In the case of Russia, Mr. Putins denials of election meddling fit with Mr. Trumps claims that the investigations into whether his campaign conspired with Russia were nothing more than a hoax. After investing heavily in a diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia, it worked for Mr. Trump to accept the denials by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of any role in Mr. Khashoggis killing. The pattern continued in a 2017 call to Rodrigo Duterte, the authoritarian president of the Philippines who is accused of ordering extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, when Mr. Trump ignored those claims and instead told Mr. Duterte what a great job you are doing. It is not hard to detect more than a bit of jealousy in Mr. Trumps encounters with leaders like Mr. Duterte, Mr. Kim, Prince Mohammed and Mr. Putin. He seems to long for the efficiency of their style of government, under which they have sought to bend institutions and the law to their benefit. Mr. Trump has lamented the stupidity of an American system that allows asylum seekers to have their day in court even as he has lauded the Chinese for being able to simply put drug dealers to death with minimal fuss. In China, he noted this month, a drug dealer gets a thing called the death penalty. MEXICO CITY Mexicos Congress on Thursday approved the creation of a 60,000-member National Guard to tackle the nations public security crisis, a force that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has made a cornerstone of his plan to confront organized crime and curb soaring violence. The vote capped months of legislative wrangling over the nature of the force and who would control it, with human-rights activists and civil society groups lobbying fiercely to limit the militarys influence on it and warning it could represent the further militarization of policing in Mexico. In the end, Congress decided the National Guard would have an explicitly civilian, rather than military, character, with the new force lodged under the authority of the civilian Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection. The makeup of the force would be a hybrid, combining officers from the Federal Police with members of the army and navys policing units. While military members of the force would be able to maintain their ranks, those accused of abuses would be tried in civilian courts. The forces top commander could be a military official but would report to a civilian boss. Calling it a mere pretext for sinister intent, Russia vetoed an American resolution in the United Nations Security Council on Thursday for new elections and unhindered distribution of humanitarian aid in Venezuela. It was the latest clash in a Cold War-style quarrel playing out amid the chaos unfolding in Venezuela, once Latin Americas most prosperous country. From the outset, there was little hope the American measure would surmount opposition from Russia, which proposed a rival resolution that was roundly rejected by the Security Council. China, another permanent member of the council, also opposed the American resolution. The Kremlin has aligned closely with President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela even as the United States and about 50 other countries, many of them in Latin America and Europe, have renounced relations with him. JERUSALEM By turns angry and choked up, sneering and defiant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a lengthy, emotional response Thursday night to the decision by Israels attorney general to indict him on bribery and other corruption charges. He spoke on national television in prime time, his voice breaking when he alluded to the trial of his wife, Sara, on charges that she misused about $100,000 of state funds, and to their son Yair, a right-wing provocateur on social media. They were also investigated, but the attorney general said neither would be charged. Here are excerpts from Mr. Netanyahus remarks, and what we think he meant by them. TEXT Citizens of Israel, last night I met in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. I made it clear to him that we would continue to act with all our might against Irans attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria. I thank my friend, President Putin, who accepted my remarks. When I returned to Israel I heard this morning the words of support for me by U.S. President Donald Trump. He praised, and I quote, my strong, intelligent and resolute leadership of the State of Israel. I thank my friend, President Trump, for his remarks . That unique relationship with the leaders of the world powers isnt a trifling matter. It isnt self-evident. Ive been building it for many years, and it has helped me ensure our security and our future. Its helped me safeguard our country. SUBTEXT The presidents of the United States and Russia are my friends, and no one running against me can say that. Its taken me years to build those relationships. Dont throw them away. I am keeping you safe. WASHINGTON President Trump declared on Thursday that we just took over 100 percent of territory controlled by the Islamic State in Syria a claim that reports from the battle front suggested was 100 percent untrue. You kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now its 100 percent, we just took over, Mr. Trump said in remarks to American troops in Alaska. Now its 100 percent, we just took over 100 percent caliphate. That means the area of the land. We just have 100 percent. So thats good. Over the past month, American forces have been working with Syrian fighters to seize the last square mile of Islamic State territory the riverside village of Baghuz on the border with Iraq. Taking and holding terrain in any military operation can be a difficult task, especially against extremists who are willing to face death instead of surrender. [Update: ISIS caliphate crumbles as last village in Syria falls.] The battle was continuing on Thursday when officials with the Syrian Democratic Forces, an American-backed militia of Kurdish and Arab fighters, were told of Mr. Trumps announcement. Mr. Nissinen said he was initially a little surprised by Mr. Forsythes musical choices. Then I thought, why not?, he said. I think its his reaction to being back in America. He wants to connect with people, bridge to broader audiences. Working to music you would listen to on a train, said Chyrstyn Fentroy, a second soloist, has allowed the dancers to loosen up and find a swing to their technique. It forces you to rethink how you do a tendu or use your epaulement, she said, referring to the complex relationships between head, shoulder and hips that are vital to ballet. I love the challenge of ballet, Mr. Forsythe said one day as he constructed a complicated, overlapping ensemble sequence. Its like inventing a knot. You have the rope or cord, and you have to find the right relationships. Its much harder than people think! Now and again, that was evident in the studio. Stymied one afternoon by a difficult passage in a pas de deux, Mr. Forsythe got out his phone: Siri, whats the next step? he asked. You dont appear to be heading anywhere, she answered. Laughter all around. Mostly, though, he seemed to know exactly what he wanted, reeling off strings of ballet steps as he demonstrated, the dancers picking up the movements with uncanny speed. (Once he went to consult photographs of M&M candies, lined up in color-coded formations that represented different stages of a section.) Mr. Forsythe maintained he wasnt aiming for anything groundbreaking or revolutionary. I like being part of the big ballet conversation, he said. This is a celebration of everything ballet has brought to me in life. Its just another way to love ballet and there are so many ways. Yukultji Napangati Through March 2. Salon 94 Bowery, 243 Bowery, Manhattan; 212-979-0001, salon94.com. The Pintupi artist Yukultji Napangati lives and works in Western Australias Gibson Desert, and you can see it in her paintings. Each of the 10 untitled canvases in her first solo show at Salon 94 is covered with a dense network of wavy lines reminiscent of topographical maps. Alternating at first between a deep, earthy red and a brown thats almost black, Ms. Napangati painstakingly covers the red stripes with tiny, overlapping dots that range from pale, sandy yellow to bright orange. Often she alternates the color of the dots, too, using lighter and darker shades in groups of five or six to create patterns that could pass for grassy plains or for those same grassy plains on fire. The close-set lines even produce an optical glare very much like a desert mirage. That said, what really evokes the earth in Ms. Napangatis paintings is the relentless way she applies her ancient colors and motifs. Unlike in a figurative painting with its foreground, background and empty spaces, or even an Op Art design that glides confidently across its gessoed surface like a figure skater on ice, every one of Ms. Napangatis marks seems equally hard won. Its as if they are creating their own ground as they move across the canvas, and any pause would leave artist and viewer alike falling into the abyss. WILL HEINRICH The composer Vivian Fine wrote acclaimed dance scores for Martha Graham and Jose Limon; brash, skillfully constructed orchestral pieces; and a raft of unusual chamber works. And if youve never heard of her, youre not alone. Fine, who died in 2000, is among a sizable group of American composers from the middle of the 20th century who remain inexplicably overlooked today. Consider this: Though Fine taught for years at the Juilliard School and New York University, the New York Philharmonic has never performed her music. What explains this neglect? It might be collateral damage from a period when American composers squared off in opposing stylistic camps. On one side were those whose complex modernist languages involved various atonal and serial methods. On the other were self-described postmodern composers, who experimented with minimalism and found common ground with rock, jazz and ethnic music. The idea that the diaspora experience is central to Americas narrative is famously expressed in Emma Lazaruss sonnet at the Statue of Liberty, with its celebrated line, Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Our immigration ethos, and an exploration of immigrants contributions to American arts and culture, are at the heart of Carnegie Halls Migrations: The Making of America festival, which is set to begin on March 9 and run through May 19, and will include concerts at the hall, as well as programming at 80 partner institutions around New York. (Each organization produces its own events.) [Check out our Culture Calendar here.] The goal, according to Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Halls executive and artistic director, is to examine the indelible link between the mass movement of people over the past century and American history. We are inviting audiences to look more closely at how the migrations of people to and within this country, and the evolution of art forms that they have developed here, have been powerful influences on the creation and development of American culture, he said in a statement. Carnegie Hall will amplify the musical legacies of three migrations: the arrival of Eastern European and Russian Jews between 1881 and 1924; the Irish and Scottish migrations of the 18th and 19th centuries; and the Great Migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the big cities of the Northeast, Midwest and West between 1917 and the 1970s. O terra, addio, the doomed lovers sing at the end of Verdis Aida, bidding the earth adieu. Now, after 31 years and 245 performances, the time has come for the Metropolitan Operas sprawling, sturdy, utterly traditional, utterly delightful Aida production to join them in farewell. The well-worn, well-loved show will play just twice more, on March 4 and 7 (numbers 246 and 247). Then its weathered hieroglyphics, its applause-garnering live horses, its looming walls of craggy stone-esque plaster and its gold-sprayed props will all be sealed in storage, as securely as Aida and Radames in their tomb at the operas end. Peter Gelb, the companys general manager, confirmed in an interview that when Aida returns, it will be to open the 2020-21 season in a new production directed by Michael Mayer and designed by Christine Jones, the pair that updated the Mets Rigoletto to 1960s Las Vegas. Yannick Nezet-Seguin will conduct a starry cast: Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczala and Ludovic Tezier. It took 14 years, beginning with The Power of the Dog in 2005, but Don Winslow has finally finished his monumental trilogy about the Mexican drug cartels and, on the other side of the border, the American dealers, fixers and addicts who keep the trade flourishing. THE BORDER (Morrow/HarperCollins, $28.99) is a mighty book, overflowing with dramatic subplots populated by characters who come and go and are killed off with alarming frequency. In one disturbing sequence, inspired by a real-life atrocity, 43 Mexican students are dragged from their tour buses and immolated. At the other end of this devastating spectrum, a college freshman on Staten Island gets hooked on heroin and prostitutes herself for a fix. A D.E.A. agent named Art Keller is both our guide through this world and an active player in its scenes of unflinching violence as well as surprising tenderness. Since he emerged from an operation in the jungles of Guatemala in 2012, he has been obsessed with bringing down Adan Barrera, the ruthless fictional godfather Winslow has placed at the head of the real-life Sinaloa drug cartel. With its rival, the Zetas, wiped out, Sinaloa rules the trade. When Barrera falls, caravans of narcos make their way up twisted country roads to pay their respects at his funeral; then they fight to the death to succeed him. Winslow writes like someone whos been to hell and back and cant wait to talk about the experience. He especially wants to make the point, as one Mexican woman puts it, that her government (and, by implication, ours) is not serious about shutting down the drug trade, its serious about managing the drug trade. Whether good, bad or altogether hopeless, his characters are full of life and hard to forget. Among the most lethal: Ruben Ascension, called El Cachorro, the Puppy, and Belinda Vatos, adored as a narco rock star. Although Winslows plot is epic-scaled and intended to raise serious issues about the drug trade as a major American industry, its those multiple generations of crazy narco families that really make his case. Venetians love to gossip, Donna Leon advises us in UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN (Atlantic Monthly, $26), her latest mystery featuring that most compassionate of policemen, Guido Brunetti, commissario di polizia. ZULEIKHA By Guzel Yakhina Whenever I have taught Andrei Platonovs hallucinatory masterpiece, Soul, a novella about the Soviet expansion into Central Asia, Ive noticed that many of my otherwise knowledgeable undergraduates have only a vague idea of what happened in Eastern Europe between the Russian Revolution and the 1980s liberalizations of Glasnost. It often seems that the terror and mass murder orchestrated by Stalin and his henchmen have somehow acquired, at least in the West, a weirdly kitschy, ironic patina. In Manhattan, a charming bar called KGB hosts literary readings in a space decorated with Communist-era memorabilia; one can hardly imagine similar events in a swastika-festooned Cafe Gestapo. Nor can one envision Hitlers final days in the bunker portrayed with the zany slapstick that animated Armando Iannuccis 2017 film, The Death of Stalin. As we watch its heroines existence devolve from an oppressive domestic servitude into something disastrously worse, Guzel Yakhinas sprawling, ambitious first novel, Zuleikha, reminds us just how brutal the Soviet system was. A devout Muslim living in a Tatar village in the Kazan region, Zuleikha is married to the much older Murtaza and is in thrall to her blind and deaf mother-in-law, a sadistic bully Zuleikha thinks of as the Vampire Hag, who in turn refers to Zuleikha as a pitiful hen. Zuleikha begins her day by emptying the old womans chamber pot and after gathering wood, feeding the livestock, cooking, cleaning and being beaten by Murtaza is finally allowed to sleep on the tin trunk, studded with protruding nails, that serves as her bed. Having borne four daughters who died in infancy, Zuleikha is lonely and unhappy, but patient, submissive and unable to imagine a life significantly better or worse than her own. Among her unpleasant duties is the task of hiding food from the Red Army soldiers who periodically arrive to raid the family larder: At first they collected only grain. Then potatoes and meat. And during the Great Famine, in 1921, they began making a clean sweep of everything edible. Poultry. Cattle. And everything they could find in the house. Now the government has decreed that the kulaks the wealthier peasants need to be wiped out. Their land is to be seized and turned into collective farms, while the farmers are to be slaughtered or deported to prison camps. In the middle of February 1930, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of Peoples Commissars of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic approve the decree On the liquidation of kulaks as a class in Tataria. When Murtaza refuses to surrender some seed grain to the cavalryman who demands them, he is shot and killed. Zuleikha as a kulak element of the first category. Active counterrevolutionary is evicted from her home and sent on the long, punishing journey that will occupy much of the novel. HOW TO BE LOVED A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship By Eva Hagberg Fisher Image As a new Ph.D. student at Berkeley, Hagberg Fisher, who has abused drugs and alcohol, encounters Allison at support-group meetings. What she notices first are the differences between them: I was almost 30, and well, Hagberg Fisher writes. She was nearly 60, and sick. She was dying and I would never die (so I believed, so we all believe, until we cant anymore, until we never will anymore). Hagberg Fishers carefully constructed narrative of her own life is swiftly upended. Where she had once approached friendship almost strategically, Allisons approach is that of a person who no longer has time to waste. Before, Id never felt truly close to someone, not the way Id seen other people be close to their friends. With Allison, Id never seen someone show that much of her soft belly and receive that much respect. Allisons breast cancer, in remission when Hagberg Fisher meets her, soon metastasizes to her liver. Hagberg Fisher gets sick herself: A brain scan reveals a hemorrhage and a mass, as well as a thickened pituitary stalk, suggesting that cancer might be in her own future. Proximity to death is isolating; it nudges her into greater openness, into seeking connection and finding it. Its been 20 years since the publication of Laurie Halse Andersons debut novel, Speak, about a high school freshman reckoning with the trauma of her rape. Anderson credits Speak, which became widely recognized as a Y.A. landmark, with helping her find her voice. Now, she wields the full force of it in SHOUT (Viking, 291 pp., $17.99; ages 13 and up), a memoir told through a series of short poems. Anderson not only reflects on her own rape at the age of 13, she also examines an adolescence and adulthood marked by her veteran fathers PTSD and her mothers powerlessness over the situation, resulting in her parents shared struggle with alcohol. (I thought I was the only kid with a house on fire, but I wasnt.) Shout effectively paints the complexities of coming of age in a household mired in inherited silence and shame. The consequences are viscerally punctuated by a three-part poem about Andersons rape, its immediate aftermath and its long-lasting emotional repercussions. (I did not know / that the haunting / had just begun.) When it becomes clear Anderson cannot cope with her trauma while under her parents roof, she spends 13 months in Denmark as a foreign exchange student. The experience provides a critical step forward in her recovery. Coming back to America and starting college at Georgetown offers another; its there that her shame, pain and rage slowly begin to crystallize. Image After a fish-out-of-water college experience that included dealing with predatory professors, Anderson married, had children and became a reporter, while also working on fiction. As a reporter, she witnessed the brutal character assassination of a rape victim in court (which she recounts in a poem called if it please the court) and then, one night, awoke to the sound of a girl crying. It was a book idea born of a nightmare (the crying girl was lost in my head). The crying girl was Melinda and the book, of course, was Speak. The Nuclear Option To the Editor: In his review of A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow, by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist (Feb. 10), Richard Rhodes correctly notes that nuclear power should be part of a future carbon-free energy mix. However, he doesnt present quite enough of the math to fairly evaluate their proposal. First is the sheer number of reactors. Nathan Lewis at Caltech estimates that on the order of 20,000 new 1-GWe plants will be required to meet projected demands in the second half of the 21st century. Just 10 percent of Professor Lewiss estimate still represents a lot of construction and an enormous amount of money. How does this actually happen? Second, who is going to build, operate and regulate these plants? Despite the disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, the commercial nuclear industry, clustered in the developed world, actually has been remarkably safe over its lifetime. Yet much of the developing world, where energy demand is growing most rapidly, struggles to deliver basic services such as clean water and human waste disposal. Are big, centrally located power plants the real solution for the energy demands of the developing world? These plants require clustered high demand and extensive transmission capacity; this is perhaps fine for megacities, but much of the demand in the developing world is dispersed and more efficiently served by distributed power sources such as wind and solar that can be delivered in stages as demand increases. I suspect I was dropped on my head a lot as a child. Im honestly not sure where the ideas come from, Lisa Gardner writes on her website. They simply come to me, particularly creepy, scary ones. I guess its a good thing I can turn ideas into novels, because being an ax murderer doesnt pay nearly as well. But Gardner is also inspired by true-crime cases, and the kernel for Never Tell which enters the list this week at No. 3 was the story of Amy Bishop, a University of Alabama biology professor who shot six colleagues, killing three, after she was denied tenure. To make things even more curious, when she was a teenager, she accidentally shot and killed her own brother, Gardner says. Of course, in the wake of the second shooting, people immediately questioned the childhood tragedy. Was her brothers death an accident, or did she get away with murder? It got me thinking, could an accidental death as a child lead to an intentional murder as an adult? Gardner calls herself a research junkie. Over the years, shes interviewed county sheriffs, F.B.I. agents and police detectives about how they solve cases; shes spent time at the University of Tennessees famed Forensic Anthropology Center, known as the Body Farm, to study how corpses decay; shes talked to fugitive trackers about how they find people in the wilderness. For Never Tell, she studied female mass murderers (theyre incredibly rare!) and worked with a computer forensic technician to understand the dark web: According to her, dark web users are 50 percent predators and 50 percent undercover investigators trying to catch the predators, Gardner says. The challenge for both sides is knowing which is which. [ Listen to Lisa Gardner, Lee Child, Megan Abbott, Meg Gardiner and Lisa Scottoline discuss the art of thriller writing in this bonus edition of the Book Reviews podcast. ] South Africa: Mining records a drop in occupational fatalities The Mineral Resources Department has recorded a 10% decrease in occupational fatalities. In 2018, a total of 81 fatalities were reported versus 90 in 2017, said Chief Mining Inspector David Msiza on Tuesday. Msiza was speaking at a briefing where Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe released statistics on the health and safety performance of the mining industry for the 2018 calendar year. The release included statistics on fatalities, injuries and occupational diseases. Announcing the statistics, Msiza said the platinum sector recorded a commendable decrease of 59% in the number of fatalities reported. In terms of occupational injuries, there was a 12% decrease in the number of injuries, from 2 669 in 2017 to 2 350 in the 2018. Occupational diseases The DMR noted some slight increases in occupational diseases, although no medical deaths were recorded. Occupational diseases decreased by 3%, from 4 632 cases in 2016 to 4 483 cases in 2017. Annual Medical Reports increased by 8% from 902 in 2016 to 975 in 2017. Diamond Mines reported no medical deaths in 2017 compared to one (1) medical death reported in 2016. This proves that the slogan of Zero Harm in the mining sector is attainable, said Msiza. Noting fatalities according to the commodity, the gold sector recorded 40 fatalities in both 2017 and 2018. The coal and platinum sector, however, showed a decrease in fatalities, with nine deaths recorded in 2018 in the coal sector, compared to 10 in 2017. In platinum, 12 deaths were recorded in 2018, a drop from the 29 recorded in 2017. The number of fatalities in other mines increased from 11 in 2017 to 20 in 2018. Highlighting the major contributors to the fatalities, Msiza said 31 of the deaths were as a result of fall off ground injuries, with nine caused by transportation and seven were recorded as general. Breakdown of injuries per commodity year-on-year (2017 versus 2018) Giving a breakdown of injuries according to commodity year-on-year, the gold sector recorded a decrease from 1 021 in 2017 to 880 in 2018. The number of injuries in the coal sector decreased from 202 in 2017 to 167 in 2018. The number of injuries in the platinum sector decreased from 1 154 in 2017 to 1 048 in 2018. Occupational health statistics Msiza also gave a breakdown of medical deaths due to occupational diseases per commodity year-on-year comparing 2016 and 2017. Gold decreased from 26 in 2016 to 15 in 2017. Coal decreased from 2 in 2016 to 1 in 2017. Platinum increased from 5 in 2016 to 7 in 2017. Other mines increased from 1 in 2016 to 2 in 2017. Noise induced hearing loss cases increased from 966 in 2016 to 1 141 in 2017. Silicosis cases increased from 635 in 2016 to 653 in 2017. TB cases decreased from 2 580 in 2016 to 2 247 in 2017. To improve health and safety in mines, the DMR issued two directives in 2018. The first is to eliminate fire, heat and oxygen deficiency related accidents. The second is to eliminate rock-burst and rock-fall related accidents. Answering questions on Xolobeni, where there is a dispute on the granting of mining rights in the area to Australian-owned Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources (TEM), Mantashe said an informed decision must be taken. Xolobeni has been on the table from 2002. Im going to take a final decision. If we say yes or no to Xolobeni, we must say yes or no based on scientific facts, said Mantashe. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-01. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Subscribe: iTunes | Google Play Music | How to Listen No spoilers on this weeks podcast, we swear. Patrick Radden Keefe talks about his new book, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. The book begins in December 1972, when 38-year-old Jean McConville, a mother of 10 and recently widowed, was taken from her home by a group of masked intruders who abducted her in front of her children. Say Nothing uses the central mystery of what exactly happened that night, and why, to also investigate the history of the Troubles in Ireland and write about the lives of many people involved on each side of the conflict. Keefe eventually reveals (in the book, not on the podcast!) exactly what happened to McConville. In doing that, he says of detailing McConvilles fate, Im drafting on an incredibly brave effort by her children, starting in the 1990s, to come out and break the code of silence in Ireland, and say: We need to know what happened to our mother. Weve been waiting decades for answers, for a body. And I think it took great courage for them to do that. Image Frans de Waal visits us this week to discuss Mamas Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves. I think animal intelligence and emotions are completely intertwined, he says. Also in humans, I think, you cannot separate the two. You can barely think without emotions, and you can barely have emotions if theres not some cognition involved. John Kelly, then the White House chief of staff, wrote an internal memo saying he had been ordered to grant the clearance. The top White House lawyer at the time, Donald McGahn, also wrote a memo outlining his reservations. The president told The Times in January that he had taken no role in Mr. Kushners receiving his clearance. Background: Mr. Kushners initial background check took more than a year. Officials had raised questions about his ties to overseas governments and investors, and about his initially unreported contacts with foreigners. Response: A spokesman for Mr. Kushners lawyer said on Thursday: In 2018, White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushners security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. That was conveyed to the media at the time, and new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time. A separate study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics showed that while the cash-bail system penalizes poor people, it also discriminates against African-Americans, who tend to be treated more severely than white people by judges who set bail, regardless of the judges race. Two scholars Will Dobbie, an economist at Princeton, and Crystal Yang, a law professor and economist at Harvard were co-authors of both studies. Jacob Goldin, a law professor and economist at Stanford, was also a co-author of the first study, The Effects of Pretrial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges. David Arnold, a graduate student in economics at Princeton, was a co-author of the second, Racial Bias in Bail Decisions. Both studies analyzed the bail system in two counties, Miami-Dade in Florida and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. By subjecting judicial bail-setting decisions to statistical analysis, the first study found that some judges tended to be stricter in their bail rulings, and some more lenient. Which judge a defendant was assigned to was, for the most part, a matter of luck. In most court cases, judges, whether lenient or strict, made the same decision as their peers, the study found. All of them set bail high for violent felonies, for example. But in about one-seventh of the cases, whether the defendant ended up detained or released hinged on which judge made the bail determination. Zeroing in on this group of close-call cases in which the leniency of the judge was the decisive factor enabled the researchers to go a long way in establishing causation in the effects of cash bail on a persons future. Consider two defendants with similar backgrounds who were accused of a nonviolent property crime or misdemeanor. By the luck of the draw, one faced a lenient judge and was released, and the other got a different judge who set an unaffordable bail amount. Such an unlucky defendant was detained until trial, typically for about two weeks, the study found. The most anticipated but secretive project is underway at Facebook. The company is working on a coin that users of WhatsApp, which Facebook owns, could send to friends and family instantly, said five people briefed on the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. The Facebook project is far enough along that the social networking giant has held conversations with cryptocurrency exchanges about selling the Facebook coin to consumers, said four people briefed on the negotiations. Other platforms are working on similar initiatives. Telegram, which has an estimated 300 million users worldwide, is also working on a digital coin. Signal, an encrypted messaging service that is popular among technologists and privacy advocates, has its own coin in the works. And so do the biggest messaging applications in South Korea and Japan, Kakao and Line. The new cryptocurrencies would make it easier to move money between countries, Mr. Popper and Mr. Isaac write. But the messaging companies are likely to face many of the same regulatory and technological hurdles that have kept Bitcoin from going mainstream. The economy has cooled. It could still get cooler. The American economy slowed at the end of 2018. But there may be worse to come. Gross domestic product growth slowed at the end of last year. It grew at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the final three months of 2018, Ben Casselman of the NYT reports, compared to a rate of over 4 percent in the middle of the year. This year seems to be starting at an even slower pace, Mr. Casselman writes. Many economists expect growth to drop below 2 percent in the first quarter, in part because of the partial government shutdown, which began in December and extended through most of January. But the final quarter slowdown wasnt as severe as many economists had expected. Even with the loss of momentum late in the year, 2018 as a whole was among the best years of the decade-long recovery from the Great Recession, Mr. Casselman writes, adding, Most economists do not expect a recession this year. Technology and public purpose is the issue of our time. Has this been, in a sense, a growing up moment for Snap? To say the least. There will be a day in the future when this technology will help American soldiers rescue hostages. I deserve the right to know that I am not contributing to weapon systems that, as perhaps a non-US citizen, would harm my family. The goal is to inject a little bit of empathy and emotional intelligence into our machines and digital experiences. Do we think we can design a world that looks different, a world that is food secure, a world that is more sustainable? Yes, we can. A society that is designed to pay a large number of people for not working is going to be a very unhappy society. These companies have also created like intensely secretive, insular, almost cult-like Correct. cultures. Ive actually spent years going into cults to study how they operate. And the parallels are really pretty crazy. Yeah, like [inaudible]. In cults, they call it a love bomb. So when you enter, they basically give you so much love, you feel so welcome and so supported, and its like the family you never had that now, you dont want to leave. We cant have a productive conversation where we talk about the nuance in all this. I think well be in a bad place. They know how to teach a machine to do something new. Then the question is, have they been able to apply that in a way that is going to be profitable for them? In this new world of technology innovation, we are all immigrants, right? We are not immigrants physically in this new geography. But in this conceptual world, we are immigrants. Lets take on that mentality. HALF MOON BAY, Calif. With the continued pressure to regulate Silicon Valley, many wonder when, and how, the United States will act. Sam Altman, president of the start-up incubator Y Combinator, said the onus was on the government. The idea that these companies who are not accountable to us or elected by us should get to decide sort of the new safeguards of society, that seems like the wrong way to do it, Mr. Altman said last week at The New York Timess New Work Summit in California. I think we should let our flawed as they may be democratically elected and enforced institutions update the rules for the world. He suggested restrictions around how user-generated content was amplified or distributed, as well as the classifications of hate speech or fake news. LONDON Royal Dutch Shell, which is on trial in Italy over alleged corruption stemming from a $1.3 billion oil deal in Nigeria, now appears likely to face legal proceedings over the same issue in its home country, the Netherlands. Shell said on Friday that the Dutch Public Prosecutors Office had warned that it was preparing to prosecute the giant oil company for criminal charges directly or indirectly related to a Nigerian oil deal that occurred in 2011. A spokeswoman for the Dutch prosecutors office, Valentine Hoen, said that based on the investigation so far we concluded there are prosecutable offenses. However, she said, inquires were continuing, and no decision had been made on what if any actions would follow. A trial in the Netherlands would mark a significant expansion of the corruption case, and risk damaging Shells reputation as a major player in the global oil business. The legal woes might also further complicate Shells operations in Nigeria, where for years it has been a major producer of oil and gas. Southwest Airlines sued its mechanics union late Thursday for what the airline claimed was an illegal work slowdown that grounded planes and has resulted in as many as 100 flight cancellations a day since mid-February. The carrier said its mechanics had taken an unusually high number of planes out of service in recent weeks, a move seen as a negotiating tactic in a contract dispute. Negotiations most recently broke down over how much maintenance the airline would be allowed to outsource. Last month, mechanics pulled as many as 62 planes from service in one day, resulting in schedule disruptions across Southwests network, according to the lawsuit. By comparison, the airline said, it expects to have about 14 planes out of service on an average day, and can operate a normal schedule with as many as 35 grounded aircraft, out of a fleet of 752. The mechanics, who are members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, have cited safety concerns as the reason for taking the aircraft out of service. The airline argued in its suit that many of the planes had been taken out of commission for relatively minor issues that did not affect their ability to fly. Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter. WASHINGTON In the summer, when heat waves scorch cities or heavy rains flood the coasts, some climate scientists and environmentalists will point out any plausible connections to global warming, hoping todays weather will help people understand tomorrows danger from climate change. Then winter comes. And, like clockwork, those who want to deny the established science that humans are warming the planet will try to flip the script. In January, when large swaths of the country were gripped by bitter cold, President Trump took to Twitter to mock climate fears: Wouldnt be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now! Welcome to the weather wars. As battle lines harden between supporters and opponents of climate action, both are increasingly using bouts of extreme weather as a weapon to try to win people to their side. Weather, after all, is one of the easiest things for people to bond over or gripe about, a staple of small talk and shared experience that can make it a simple but powerful opportunity to discuss global warming. But, as Mr. Trumps words show, its also a framing device that can be easily abused. That raises the stakes for how scientists, who have long tried to distinguish between short-term weather fluctuations and long-term climate shifts, draw out and discuss the links between the two. Ask anyone in San Francisco for a restaurant recommendation, and chances are Zuni Cafe will be near the top of the list. Zuni isnt the trendiest place with the splashiest fare, but the Market Street restaurant, celebrating its 40th anniversary, has been a hip destination since it opened in 1979. Housed in a quirky triangular brick building, with tall, tall windows that let in the brilliant Pacific light on clear days and misty, gray light on cloudy ones, it has always attracted an eclectic crowd: near-penniless students and opera divas, lawyers and socialites, artists and performers, first-daters and anniversary-celebrators, youngsters and oldsters, locals and travelers, politicians and free spirits, serious foodies and serious tipplers. In the beginning, when it was little more than a storefront with a minimal kitchen, Zuni veered Mexican. Billy West, the founding chef, served a stellar guacamole, prepared table-side in molcajetes, the volcanic stone mortars. The place was packed. A shop next door, Red Desert, sold giant potted cactuses. When the restaurant expanded, doubling in size, it was time to hire a real chef. The kitchen was taken over and transformed by Judy Rodgers, a talented young cook with the perfect resume for a somewhat-oddball restaurant like Zuni. How wonderful! she said. His donation he would not reveal the amount except to say it was expensive has financed an overhaul of the grand hall, the atrium, the two oval rooms and the library, which contains screens by Jean Dunand, one of the most respected lacquer artists of the Art Deco era. Teams of restorers cleaned the frescoes, parquets and mosaic floors in the main spaces, and artisans with the Mobilier National, a government service agency that oversees decor in public buildings, restored the furniture. This museum is a masterpiece for its decor, of course, Ms. Orain said, as she gave Mr. Louboutin a tour of the finished rooms last week. The white-piped tobacco leather and ebony chairs in the Africa room were designed by the Art Deco master Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann. The Asia rooms four cantilevered desks, in Gabon palm wood and bronze, were made by the master woodworker Eugene Printz. But the building also tells the story of colonization and tells it properly, she continued. We were a colonizing country we must own up to that. The museum recounts what colonizing was about: beauty and desire the desire of the other, and the domination of the other. Both applied to medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where they were accepted. But before medical school began in 2015, Ms. Ryles and Mr. Lee made yet another international voyage, a sentimental trip back to China and Japan, where they revisited the Tameike-Sanno subway station in Tokyo to recreate their first kiss. The next year, Mr. Lee proposed to Ms. Ryles in John F. Collins Park across from where they now live in Philadelphia in front of close friends and family. Mr. Lees parents and his younger brother, Jamie, as well as Ms. Ryless sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and Scott Downie, were all there to witness the moment. Afterward, everyone sat around a photo album that Ms. Ryles had been putting together since the day she met Mr. Lee, flipping through pages filled with pictures of their days in middle school, high school and college, and many other images from across a decade filled with more than 100,000 miles worth of sacrifice, commitment and dedication. Its like no other fairy tale I have ever heard of, Mr. Lees father, Yu-Ching Lee, said. In May, Ms. Ryles will graduate from medical school and begin applying for obstetrician/gynecological residency programs, while Mr. Lee completes his Ph.D. in genomics and computational biology at the University of Pennsylvania. Every day when I see Hannahs beautiful face, Mr. Lee said, Im reminded that life is an exciting, happy, sad, inspiring, scary, wonderful, beautiful adventure. Their adventure continued on Feb. 2 in Philadelphia, where Ms. Ryles and Mr. Lee were married in a self-uniting ceremony at Union Trust, an events space where the reception was also held. Research that could make flu viruses more dangerous, and that the government suspended in 2014 because of safety concerns, has been approved to begin again, federal officials have confirmed. The government did not publicly announce its decisions in recent months to allow two labs to resume their projects. The new go-ahead was first reported in the journal Science. The lack of information about the decision and how it was made have provoked outrage from some scientists, who oppose the research because they say it could create mutant viruses that might cause deadly pandemics if they were unleashed by lab accidents or terrorism. The research sparked worldwide fears when it was first revealed in 2011. Two research teams, in Wisconsin and the Netherlands, have been told by the Department of Health and Human Services that their work is eligible for research funding from the United States government. The Wisconsin group was notified in October, and the Dutch group in January, a spokeswoman for H.H.S. said in an email. Its an act of defiance, an act of resistance, really, he said in a telephone interview. We live in a climate of fear which is the very situation where these voices need to be voiced to be able to provide strength to those who are still scared in the situation Mr. Alam was released on bail in November after 107 days of imprisonment. But since the charges have not been dropped, he potentially faces 7 to 14 years in prison under a law that lets the government arrest people who criticize it online. Despite his release, it has been a struggle to put on the festival, which opened this week. All but one of the local corporate sponsors withdrew, while public museums and other venues used in previous festivals became unavailable. But Mr. Alam and his team improvised and by the skin of our teeth put together a program which has turned out to be the best festival weve had, he said. The following report compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan from the past seven days. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases these cannot be independently verified by The Times. Similarly, the reports do not include Taliban claims for their attacks on the government unless they can be verified. Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents. At least 28 pro-government forces and one civilian were killed in Afghanistan during the past week, in the quietest week of attacks since The Times began counting casualties in September 2018. The deadliest attack took place in Ghazni Province, when an airstrike mistakenly targeted an outpost of pro-government militia members, killing nine and wounding three others. It was not clear that the airstrike was carried out by Afghan or American air power. The war in Afghanistan killed almost 4,000 civilians last year, including a record number of children, according to United Nations annual report on Afghan civilian casualties, making it the single deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the U.N. began documenting casualties in 2009. The single biggest cause of civilian casualties was suicide bombings and related attacks by insurgents, the report found. [Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.] Feb. 28 Kandahar Province: two police officers killed Two unknown armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on police in the Barodarwaza area of Kandahar City, killing two officers and wounding another. One of the attackers was shot and killed by police, the second one managed to escape from the area. Mar Targarona is a tricky filmmaker, and in the middle stretch of her Spanish-language concentration camp drama, The Photographer of Mauthausen (now on Netflix), she pulls something of a bait and switch. The opening scenes provide what weve come to expect from these stories: an inventory of barbaric rituals, the dramatization of heartbreaking separations and moments of sudden, bloody brutality. We meet Francesc (Mario Casas), a Spanish communist prisoner who has made himself useful as assistant to the camp photographer (Richard van Weyden). He does this work to stay alive but knows he is complicit in a propaganda operation. When he is ordered, in the last days of the war, to destroy the camps photos, he and his fellow prisoners realize they must protect them as evidence. Their carefully coordinated attempts to smuggle those negatives out of the camp is closer to The Great Escape than to Schindlers List, resulting in deceptions, distractions, close calls and a suspense sequence with a hidden film strip thats downright Hitchcockian. But just as the viewer relaxes into such genre-adjacent pleasures, Targarona wallops us with a pair of chilling scenes, dramatizations of pure evil, served up as reminders that the horrors of this time and place cannot, and will not, be trivialized. Such tonal shifts arent always easy to sustain, and occasionally Targarona lets the picture get away from her (particularly the ending, which lays it on a little thick). But she builds her beats well, and the cinematography is striking: Taking cues from the photographs in question, she uses a muted color palette to hint at the desaturation of those black-and-white images. One day in the spring of 2017, an art exhibit of sorts went up at 344 Main Street in Beacon, N.Y. A local artist had festooned the fence surrounding the building, under construction, with printouts of a Facebook post that had generated 1,000 comments. The post concerned the front wall of the building, which encroached six feet into the sidewalk. The comments were not positive. The sidewalk was reduced to two feet, said Dan Aymar-Blair, a resident of Beacon. A woman with a baby carriage wouldnt even be able to get past it. It was a flash point, he recalled recently. A bunch of our neighbors started looking into what construction is planned, whats at the planning board, what kind of projects are being discussed, and we discovered that there were a thousand new units coming online. Beacon, recently remade from a faded industrial city on the Hudson River into a bohemian weekend destination around 2003 with the arrival of Dia:Beacon, one of the largest modern art museums in the United States, is now either selling out to gentrification or reclaiming its midcentury stride, depending on whom you ask. About 200 people gathered at the edge of a snow-covered park in Midtown Manhattan on Friday to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the start of the Korean independence movement. Waving South Korean flags and chanting Manse! (which roughly translates to Long live Korean independence!), the crowd celebrated the students and other protesters who fought to shake Korea of Japanese colonial rule a century ago. In honor of those student demonstrators, particularly Yu Gwan-sun, who became the face of the fight for freedom, dozens of women donned replicas of the white-and-black uniforms once worn by Yu and her peers at the Ewha Haktang school for women in Seoul. The Anti-Defamation League reported last year that the number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in New York State rose by about 90 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year, and the number of such incidents in K-12 schools doubled to 36, from 18. The Pine Bush district, which is about 18 miles west of Newburgh, N.Y., serves about 5,000 children from Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties. In the 1970s, Pine Bush was the home of a Ku Klux Klan chapter president. About a dozen current and former Pine Bush students interviewed off school grounds this week said the climate of harassment and bullying had improved, and programs and other steps taken by the district had helped. But the students said problems of insensitivity remained, and not all of them thought Pine Bush school officials handled bias complaints satisfactorily. The students spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of harassment from other students or reaction from teachers. One 18-year-old said he had not seen anything like the racism and harassment described in the lawsuit. He recalled taking the survey and thought it was good because it helps gauge what was going on in the school. He said that teachers lessons on anti-Semitism had influenced his behavior. He admitted that he and his friends sometimes made bigoted statements, always in jest, he said. But since teachers have been impressing upon students that their words could cause unintended hurt, he said he had tried to avoid such talk and to police his friends. I jump in and say, O.K. this isnt cool, he said. Another student, who is 17, recalled a history class in which a teacher had discussed the Holocaust and tied the lesson to anti-Semitism at Pine Bush, which the student said had a big impact on his thinking. He said he felt anti-Semitism had largely disappeared from Pine Bushs schools. It was a dramatic moment in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and a pivotal one for Jean Fairfax, then a community organizer in Mississippi. Ten years after Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in the nations public schools unconstitutional, many schools were still segregated. Under federal court order in 1964, the all-white Carthage Elementary School in rural Leake County, Miss., was forced to accept black students. Eight enrolled. But whites were pressuring them to stay home. They threatened to remove the black families from their sharecropper shanties, fire them from their jobs and call their loans due if their children went to school. BEIJING Li Xueqin, whose political savvy and intellectual brilliance helped shift the field of Chinese history toward emphasizing the wonders of the countrys past, a traditionalist approach in line with the Communist governments efforts to identify itself with ancient China, died on Feb. 24 in Beijing. He was 85. His death was confirmed by a government obituary. The official newspaper Guangming Daily paid tribute to him in an article headlined, A Lifelong Pursuit of History; He Also Wrote Himself Into the History Books. That was hardly an exaggeration. For more than 20 years Mr. Li was deputy director and then director of the Institute of History, part of the Chinese Academy of Social Science positions of unusual influence in a country that has alternately gloried in its history and rejected it as a burden. He headed projects to prove that early Chinese dynasties really existed and were not just myth, as part of a Communist Party endeavor to ally itself with ancient China. While he was the United States attorney for the Southern District of Florida in 2007, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta oversaw a plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein, the New York financier accused of sexually abusing more than 80 underage girls. Rich and well-connected his friends and acquaintances included Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Woody Allen and Donald Trump Mr. Epstein faced a 53-page federal indictment that could have put him in prison for life, according to The Miami Herald, which ran a blockbuster expose in November. The F.B.I. was also investigating him on suspicion of masterminding an international sex-trafficking operation. But Mr. Acostas office, working closely with Mr. Epsteins high-priced defense team stocked with legal stars such as Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr, Jay Lefkowitz and Roy Black put together a non-prosecution agreement that let Mr. Epstein avoid federal charges, plead guilty to two state counts of felony prostitution, and serve less than 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach County jail, with most days spent on work-release in his office in West Palm Beach. Mr. Epstein was required to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to some of the young women , but the agreement shut down the F.B.I. investigation and gave immunity to all potential co-conspirators including any of Mr. Epsteins rich and powerful buddies who may have taken a turn with his victims. It was a deal so sweet it would rot your teeth. It also turned out to be illegal. Last Thursday , after a decade-long court battle begun by two of Mr. Epsteins accusers, a federal judge ruled that Mr. Acosta and his team violated the federal Crime Victims Rights Act by hiding the details of Mr. Epsteins deal from his victims many of whom didnt know a deal had been in the works until they heard about it on the news. This denied the young women an opportunity to appear at Mr. Epsteins sentencing hearing. The victims were also led to believe that the F.B.I. investigation would continue. It was a betrayal of countless young women the full tally of Mr. Epsteins victims remains unknown whod already had their bodies violated and their innocence destroyed. If even a fraction of the accusations against him are true, Mr. Epstein was no ordinary predator. (Those with a weak stomach may want to skip ahead.) For years, he allegedly turned his Palm Beach mansion into a sex den, luring in teenagers whom he paid and coerced into an array of sexual behavior . Mr. Epstein reportedly groomed some of the teenagers to recruit even younger, fresher victims. He was said to like his girls white and prepubescent looking. One victim has recalled that Mr. Epstein praised her as pure she was 14 at the time before molesting her. Like many predators, he preferred his victims troubled, making them easier to manipulate and less likely to be believed if they reported him. A perjurer soon to be serving three years in prison had a great many charges to level against President Trump on Wednesday. Michael Cohen, once the presidents personal lawyer, told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform of misbehavior and possibly criminal conduct on the part of his former client ranging from paying off mistresses and lying about a real estate deal in Moscow to inflating the value of his assets for insurance purposes and deflating them when paying his taxes. Yet Mr. Cohen testified that he had no evidence of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia and was never explicitly ordered by Mr. Trump to lie to Congress. Mr. Cohen had inferred, however, that Mr. Trump wanted him to lie. Mr. Cohens lies under oath are one of the reasons he is headed to a federal prison. For all the sensationalism and political excitement of Mr. Cohens testimony, it is worth remembering that Mr. Trump has not, in fact, been found guilty of any crime, something that cannot be said about his former lawyer. Would any of the presidents critics credit Mr. Cohens veracity if he were testifying in support of his former employer, rather than against him? Whatever you think about Donald Trump, Michael Cohen simply is not an honest person. The idea that he suddenly becomes one as soon as he has something bad to say about the president is far-fetched, to say the least. Opinion Debate Will the Democrats face a midterm wipeout? Mark Penn and Andrew Stein write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. Tory Gavito and Adam Jentleson write that the Virgina loss should "shock Democrats into confronting the powerful role that racially coded attacks play in American politics." write that the Virgina loss should "shock Democrats into confronting the powerful role that racially coded attacks play in American politics." Ezra Klein speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. Ross Douthat writes that the outcome of the Virginia gubernatorial race shows Democrats need a new way to talk about progressive ideology and education. High-profile congressional hearings are show business, and this one was no exception. It bears comparison with the highly politicized hearings that a Republican-controlled Congress held during the Obama administration, looking into such matters as arms sales to Mexican drug cartels as part of a botched sting strategy by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (Operation Fast and Furious) and conflicting State Department claims about the circumstances of the 2012 attack by Islamist militants on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. The latter saw Republicans in 2015 call the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton to testify before the House Select Committee on Benghazi. The political significance of the hearing was obvious. There are several parallels between my testimony before Congress in 1973, about President Richard Nixon and his White House, and Michael Cohens testimony t his week about President Trump and his business practices. Setting aside the differences regarding how we got there, we both found ourselves speaking before Congress, in multiple open and closed venues, about criminal conduct of a sitting president of the United States. This is not a pleasant place to be, particularly given the presidents involved. There are some differences: Unlike Mr. Cohen, who testified in public for a day, I testified for five days. His prepared statement was about 4,000 words; mine was some 60,000 words. Nielsen reports over 16 million people watched his testimony. I am told over 80 million people watched all or part of mine. Polls varied widely after my testimony. One said 50 percent of Americans believed me, 30 percent did not, and 20 percent were not sure. Another poll had 38 percent believing the president, who denied my statement, and 37 percent believing me. The instant polls on Mr. Cohens testimony vary by party affiliation, as was the case with my polls. But 35 percent found him credible. I believe that number will grow. While my testimony was eventually corroborated by secret recordings of our conversations made by Mr. Nixon, before that it was other witnesses who made the difference. I was surprised by the number of people who surfaced to support my account. The same, I suspect, will happen for Michael Cohen. The Mafias code of omerta has no force in public service. I have heard no one other than Roger Stone say he will go to jail for Donald Trump. To the Editor: Re The Moderates Take a Grilling Back at Home (front page, Feb. 25): Well, saints be praised! The New York Times ran an article about moderate Democrats! Youd think by your coverage that we had all vanished from the earth. Please start giving fair time to the middle-leaning voices in our party. Too many articles about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the progressives. Not all of us lean that far left. Start talking about what the moderates are doing and where they stand on issues. Your coverage matters in this next presidential election. Dont blow it. Cara Schirrmeister New York This article is part of David Leonhardts newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday. Now that people have had a day to digest Michael Cohens testimony, its possible to put together a working list of questions that congressional investigators should pursue. These questions revolve mostly around Trumps business dealings with Russia and his attempts to hide information from the public and from investigators. Opinion Debate Will the Democrats face a midterm wipeout? Mark Penn and Andrew Stein write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. Tory Gavito and Adam Jentleson write that the Virgina loss should "shock Democrats into confronting the powerful role that racially coded attacks play in American politics." write that the Virgina loss should "shock Democrats into confronting the powerful role that racially coded attacks play in American politics." Ezra Klein speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. Ross Douthat writes that the outcome of the Virginia gubernatorial race shows Democrats need a new way to talk about progressive ideology and education. Here goes: What role did Allen Weisselberg, an executive at the Trump Organization, play in reimbursing Michael Cohen for hush payments made to a porn star who claimed to have had an affair with Trump? The answer could help clarify Trumps role in making and covering up the payments. Did Trump commit fraud by misrepresenting his wealth in documents provided to financial firms? Both Weisselbergs testimony and Trumps tax returns could shed light. Was there Russian money coming into the Trump Organization or into Mr. Trumps personal finances, and was he inflating the numbers [to] get loans? in the words of Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat. That is, did the Russians have leverage over Trump in 2016? Did Donald Trump Jr. lie to Congress in 2017 about Trumps business ventures in Russia? And what role did he play in the hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, the porn star with whom Trump allegedly had an affair? Did Jay Sekulow, a Trump lawyer, and Abbe Lowell, who represents Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, review and edit Cohens false testimony about Trumps business dealings in Russia? Cohen claimed so on Wednesday, and Sekulow has denied it. Lowell has not commented. Can Rhona Graff, Trumps longtime secretary, confirm Cohens allegation that Roger Stone called Trump in 2016 to discuss WikiLeaks-hacked Democratic emails? Did Donald Trump Jr. confer with his father about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with several Russians? If so, did the president commit perjury by reportedly claiming otherwise in written answers to the special counsel Robert Mueller? Did Trump use his now-defunct charitable foundation to avoid paying taxes? Did Trump lie about his taxes being under audit as an excuse to avoid releasing his tax returns? What does Felix Sater, a Russia-born former business associate of Trumps who was part of talks to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, know about Trumps business dealings in Russia? And beyond Cohens testimony: What do Trumps tax returns show about his activities in Russia? What other potential crimes are prosecutors either in New York or at the Justice Department investigating? (Thanks to Dan Friedman of Mother Jones for some of the above.) [Listen to The Argument podcast every Thursday morning, with Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.] How to get answers The key next steps for the House include: demanding Trumps tax returns; serving subpoenas to people whom Cohen mentioned in his testimony; serving subpoenas to obtain documents that can clear up any of the above; and, of course, following up on any new questions raised by the Mueller report. When the final chapter on Benjamin Netanyahus political life is written and it may be a long time from now he is likely to go down as the Richard Nixon of Israel: politically cunning, strategically canny, toxically flawed. The flaws came further to light on Thursday when Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that he would indict the prime minister on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu called the inquiry a witch hunt and accused Mandelblit of being weak, sounding (surely not by coincidence) just like Donald Trump on the subject of Jeff Sessions and the Russia investigation. Israeli law allows Netanyahu to contest the indictment through a hearing, a process that could take as long as a year. He has no intention of resigning and hopes to win a fifth term when elections are held on April 9. Perhaps he will. He shouldnt. Thats not because Netanyahu is necessarily guilty, or guilty of much. Previous Israeli leaders, including Yitzhak Rabin, have been subject to legal inquests that hinge on relatively trivial crimes. The charges against Netanyahu the most serious of which involves the claim that he helped a businessman obtain favorable regulatory decisions in exchange for positive media coverage are still far from conclusive. The scope of their adventures has preoccupied me for much of the last seven years: their dramatic, overlooked role in the 1948 war; their creation of Israels first foreign intelligence station in Beirut; how some evaded capture and lived, and how others were exposed and killed; how those Jewish refugees from Arab countries experienced Israels birth while pretending to be Arab refugees from a Jewish country; how they witnessed the violent collapse of their world, the Jewish world in Arab lands; and then the flood of those newcomers into the new state, which wasnt expecting them, and which was transformed by them into a place different than its founders had planned. The members of the Arab Section were one part of what later became the Mossad. When Cohen died in 2002, having spent much of his life under an assumed identity, he was described by a military historian as one of Israels most successful agents: We never heard of him because he was never caught. Saman , the mastermind, eventually ran Eli Cohen, Israels most famous spy, who penetrated the Syrian regime as the businessman Kamal Amin Thabet before he was exposed and hanged in 1965. But the point Id like to make here is not about what they did, but instead about who they were and what it says about the country they helped create. Were they the ones who become like Arabs? Or was that identity real? This is an important question beyond the particular case of these spies. The divide between Jews from Christian countries (known as Ashkenazim) and from Muslim countries (generally called Mizrahim) has always been the key fault line in Israeli society, with the former clearly on top. But in recent years it has become more acceptable to admit or even celebrate the Middle Eastern component of Israels Jewish identity. The Hebrew pop style known as Mizrahi, long scorned, now rules the airwaves. The dominance of the political right in recent years comes far less from the settler movement, as foreign observers tend to think, than from the collective memory of Israelis who remember how vulnerable they were as a minority among Muslims and grasp what this part of the world does to the weak. In the countrys official view of itself, it might still seem as if the Jews of the Islamic world, by coming to Israel after the founding of the state, joined the story of the Jews of Europe. But in 2019 its quite clear that what happened was closer to the opposite. Although such aspirations were firmly quashed during the opening years of colonial rule, the March 1 demonstrations of 1919, and particularly the calamities of their bloody suppression, compelled the Japanese government to change its approach. That fall, the new colonial administration declared a liberalized policy of cultural rule that stressed the harmony of Japan and Korea. This did not mean Koreans would gain independence, or even that the mechanisms of autocratic foreign occupation would weaken. But it did mark the peak formative period of modern Korean nationhood. Koreans could now participate much more freely in publishing, religion and business, and they formed and joined organizations dedicated to all kinds of cultural, intellectual and economic endeavors. This produced the first canon of great modern literary works, fostered competing articulations of national identity and even prompted the standardization of written Korean. But these hopeful developments came to a screeching halt when Japan, during the Pacific War of 1937-1945, imposed a total mobilization, which included abuses such as forced labor, sexual slavery and an attempt to obliterate a distinctive Korean identity. Under intense strain, even revered figures like Yi and Choe, who had eloquently given voice to their countrymens longing for independence, now called for Koreans to become imperial subjects of the Japanese emperor and sacrifice their lives for Japans wars. So did the March 1 movement fail? While it prompted a flowering of national and nationalist culture, it did not result in Koreas independence, its primary goal. And the moderation of colonial rule eventually gave way to brutal repression of Korean identity. The movements significance extends to another major outcome of March 1 as well. A month after the protests broke out, resistance groups established, in Shanghai, the Korean Provisional Government of the newly declared Republic of Korea. These groups included budding Communists, armed fighters from Siberia and Manchuria, expatriates from the United States and activists from within the peninsula. On April 10, 1919, they issued a founding proclamation and draft constitution, which pointed to the March 1 demonstrations and, like the February declaration, promised that the new state would join the League of Nations. This unity proved short-lived. The independence movement split into two opposing ideological camps, a division that eventually became institutionalized into the separate states that we know today as North and South Korea. Communist leaders spread across Asia and later fought the Japanese in the wilderness of Manchuria, while their right-wing counterparts aligned with the Chinese nationalists. Another batch of independence activists worked out of the United States, although they too branched into separate groups based in Hawaii and California and on the East Coast. An umbrella organization that linked the various non-Communist independence efforts after 1919 was the Korean National Association, headquartered in Los Angeles. Over 16,000 K.N.A. documents, which were discovered in 2002 and have since been digitized by the Korean Heritage Library of the University of Southern California, reveal an extensive, global network of organizations, funds and activists, including esteemed figures like Ahn Chang-Ho, Henry Chung, Philip Jaisohn, Hyun Soon, Syngman Rhee later the first president of South Korea and Kim Kyu-sik, a self-appointed delegate to the Versailles Peace Conference and the K.P.G.s first foreign minister. The character sketch of Donald Trump by the keeper of his secrets was no surprise to anyone who has given a passing glance at the hulk of malevolence in the Oval Office. He cheats. He defrauds. He lies by way of respiration. He thinks his son is an idiot, and that only suckers served in Vietnam. He believes blacks are incapable of governing. He acts like a gangster. He stiffs contractors and pays off porn stars. We knew all of that. Getting it under oath from a man who was once executive vice president and special counsel to Trump just gave historians a formality for the obvious. But if Michael D. Cohens description of a president who morphed into the worst version of himself was not news, certainly the way Republicans took the baton from the ex-loyalist was. They have now become Trumps fixers, doing his dirty work, issuing threats and ditching long-held principles like so many empty beer bottles thrown from a car. Cohens portrayal of the fraud in the White House, and the details of a Trump Organization run like a criminal enterprise, are not disqualifying to Republicans. Just the opposite. Trump is a racist, a con, a cheat, in Cohens words but those are among the reasons people voted for him. Proving it only strengthens his standing with a large sector of the electorate and many members of Congress. It may well be a myth that no one was jailed after the 2008 financial crisis 56 bankers and traders, including 13 C.E.O.s, were sent to prison. But none were prominent. And the boiling rage about the fact that mortgage owners got stuck with the bill for the sins of high finance was an animating factor for Trump voters. The Tea Party got its revenge on the system it saw as corrupt in 2016. Occupy Wall Street is now standing restlessly in the wings and calling for world revolution as it waits for its turn in 2020. Justice delayed, after all, is justice denied. Democratic societies are the result of choices that voters make. Last year, more than 60 percent of federal criminal prosecutions came in immigration-related cases. That follows: The voters who put Mr. Trump in office wanted a crackdown on noncitizens making lives for themselves illegally in the United States. Thats happening. But it also means that the number of prosecutions for all other types of crimes committed by citizens making their living illegally in the country are way down. When gobs of resources are directed at something like reducing violent crime, the amount of violent crime declines. When the Internal Revenue Services Criminal Investigation Division gets stuck with the same number of special agents it had 50 years ago, lots of tax cheating is going to go undetected and unpunished. If Congress decides not to properly fund the I.R.S., it wouldnt be overreach for Democrats to look into the presidents tax returns. After all, Mr. Trumps tax scheming over the years included outright fraud, according to a Times investigation. Recent research suggests that the public is increasingly aware of the seriousness of white-collar crime and becoming more punitive toward those found guilty of it. Sentences for white-collar criminals are getting longer. But while Americans still feel that violent criminals warrant harsher sentences, they say they want equal or more resources devoted to white-collar crime control. Harder still is deterring white-collar crime, wrongly perceived as victimless, in the first place. Without the same psychological stop signs that signal that one is about to break the law, many white-collar criminals cannot identify in hindsight the moment they crossed the line, wrote former federal prosecutor Nicolas Bourtin. Mr. Cohen now says, after a decade of dutiful service including issuing an estimated 500 threats against those seen as somehow threatening to Mr. Trump, that it was Mr. Trumps behavior in office that led to an epiphany about the weight of Mr. Cohens own guilt. But Mr. Cohen was no doubt hustled along to that realization when he was arrested and staring down the long corridor of a multiyear prison sentence. Normal America gave white-collar criminals parking tickets, while sending SWAT teams after drug dealers because it viewed one type of criminal as a far greater threat to the republic. Now is not the time to return to what was normal. Its a time to learn from past misjudgments. Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. The reporter Gray Chapman was already endeared to opossums when she first spotted the pointy-faced, small-handed marsupials in her social media feed. We have a couple of opossums that hang out near my back yard that Ive tried to lure with orange peels, said Ms. Chapman, who wrote about them for a story in Thursdays Styles section: The Cutest Animal on Instagram Is Possibly in Your Trash Can. It introduced the world to verminfluencers: the quintessential millennial pet. Ms. Chapman was speaking by phone outside a coffee shop in Atlanta, where she works full-time as a freelance writer. She is interested in the interaction between humans and animals (and has two dogs herself, who often make it onto her Instagram page). Her first article for The Times was on Breyerfest, the festival where people in love with horses, both real and plastic models of them, gather to delight in their passion. Researchers identified 13 STRs that were very effective in matching people to DNA samples. The probability of the STRs all being identical in two unrelated people is less than 1 in a trillion. DNA testing became a standard legal tool for identifying criminal suspects and resolving paternity disputes. But for all its power, the test could not tell identical twins apart. And that led to some Kafkaesque impasses. In 2004, for example, Holly Marie Adams won a paternity suit in Missouri against Raymon Miller for child support. A standard DNA test indicated he was the alleged father. Mr. Miller appealed the case because Ms. Adams had also had sex with his twin brother, Richard. A DNA test on Richard also yielded a match. The results of blood tests performed on the two brothers demonstrated that both had a 99.999 percent probability of being the father, Judge Phillip Garrison wrote. The court was forced to rely on other evidence the timing of the womans pregnancy, for example to decide that Raymon Miller was in fact the father. Faced with such cases, forensic DNA experts tried something once thought impossible: building a test that could tell twins apart. The researchers took advantage of the fact that identical twins are not, in fact, genetically identical. When a fertilized egg starts dividing, theres a small chance each new cell will gain a new mutation. When the cells separate into twin embryos, one gets some of the mutant cells and the other gets the rest. Unique mutations will end up in cells throughout each twins body. In the mid-2000s, scientists at the University of Hanover in Germany wondered if new STRs could arise in one twin and not the other. They developed a test to examine thousands of STRs instead of just 13. I have a solid six ideas every single day for a business, said Ariel Arce, the owner of two Greenwich Village hot spots: Tokyo Record Bar and Airs Champagne Parlor. Thats not to say that all of those are good ideas. But because Im naturally really impulsive, I just want to do it and I want to get people involved in it. And I shouldnt do that. Still, Ms. Arce, 31, has not been able to limit herself. Two years after opening those first two venues, frequented by actors and comedians like Jake Gyllenhaal, Mandy Moore, Wanda Sykes and Olivia Wilde, she is opening two more restaurants this spring. At Niche Niche, which opens next week at 43 Macdougal Street, a sommelier or some other beverage nerd will pick four wines per night, and food will be cooked to match. Customers pay $40 for the tasting and $40 for food. In April, Special Club, a supper club that will feature live musicians, will open in the same building. (The building previously housed an Italian-American social club that was plagued by rumors about organized crime.) My therapist believed that if you wanted to manifest something in your life, you needed to focus your energy on that thing. I decided to apply this to my search for love, so I made a list only a 22-year-old could make. I wanted the man of my dreams to be: 1. Taller than me (Im 6-foot-2, so its a big ask) 2. Dark-haired 3. Fit, kind and funny (but not too funny because that was my job) 4. Social but not too social (I didnt want to compete for attention) 5. Creative Later that day I was on my way to the laundromat when I saw Todd. We had acted together in a Westchester Broadway Dinner Theater production of Grease. He was Danny Zuko. I was Doody. He looked even more beautiful than I remembered. Except for being 12 years older and straight, he was exactly what I wanted. He was even two inches taller than I was. I just moved into the building next door, he said. I tried not to swallow my tongue. Todd said hed heard about my father dying and felt terrible about not calling. I knew he had gotten divorced, yet I hadnt called either. At MWC, the White House sent a team from the State, Commerce and Defense Departments, as well as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, to make the case against Huawei. Nobody appeared to be won over. Vodafones chief executive, Nick Read, defended Huawei at a news conference, repeating a not-so-subtle swipe at the United States that criticism of Huawei wasnt fact based. Officials in the United Arab Emirates, a typically reliable American ally in the Middle East, seemed to agree. On Monday, just as MWC was starting, the countrys state-owned wireless carrier announced a deal with Huawei to build the 5G network there. Perhaps sensing a momentum shift, Huawei has ratcheted up its opposition to the American campaign. On Monday, a Huawei executive, Vincent Peng, said cybersecurity was a technical challenge, not a political challenge. The next morning, Guo Ping, the companys rotating chairman, said the United States had a more checkered history of espionage than Huawei, referring to the whistle-blower Edward J. Snowdens disclosures in 2013 of an internet surveillance program by American spy agencies and their allies. Huawei is a relatively boring company. While it has branched out to become one of the worlds largest manufacturers of smartphones, it primarily makes the gear needed to make phone networks work. Its the kind of infrastructure people rely upon but dont give much thought. But the debate is worth following. Huawei foreshadows conflicts about important emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, in which China is developing an expertise that the United States and its allies are likely to view as an economic and security threat. In other news: The other week, I averaged three hours and 12 minutes of screen time per day. I feel somewhat proud of this figure, pathetically, because it was down from some of my more frightening recent averages, which occasionally topped not sure I should admit this five hours. Kevin Roose described his detox experience in a memorable column about how we can assert control over our digital lives. I have a long way to go. Life is even worse than we thought for Facebook moderators who are paid $15 an hour to review the internets most horrific material. After Casey Newtons must-read investigation was published this past week in The Verge, I like the idea that all Facebook employees should have to spend a month doing this job. The prospectus is the first time that Lyft has made extensive details of its finances publicly available. Its public offering is being led by JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and Jefferies. Lyft did not disclose the market valuation it is seeking from public investors; it was last valued at $15.1 billion by private investors during a financing round in June. [Lyft and Uber said to offer drivers a chance to participate in I.P.O.s.] Lyft filed confidentially to go public in December, the same day Uber did. Both companies are dueling to hold their offerings ahead of the other, in an attempt to be the first publicly traded ride-hailing company. But the onus has mostly been on Lyft to get out first because Uber estimated to go public at a valuation of as much as $120 billion would potentially steamroll its much smaller rival. Both companies are set to face questions about when and how they will become profitable. The ride-hailing business is inherently expensive because companies typically pay incentives to recruit drivers and offer discounts to riders. In addition, the companies are spending heavily to grow in areas such as autonomous driving and bike sharing. In 2018, Lyfts revenue more than doubled to $2.2 billion from $1.1 billion in 2017, according to its filing. But losses mounted, rising to $911.3 million last year from $688.3 million in 2017, though they declined as a percentage of revenue. Total costs and expenses were $3.1 billion in 2018, up 77 percent from $1.8 billion in 2017. Uber, which has disclosed its finances for several years even though it is not public, said in February that it lost $842 million in the final quarter of 2018 on revenue of $3 billion. The firm has been trying to turn its image around after a series of scandals involving its workplace culture and onetime hardball business tactics. [Whos in, whos out and whos still thinking about it. Check out our presidential candidate tracker.] This is the 11th hour, but it is Washingtons hour to shine. Its a time of great peril, but also of great promise, Governor Inslee said in his State of the State speech earlier this year. I dont know of any other issue that touches the heart of things so many of us care about: our jobs, our health, our safety and our childrens future, he added, referring to climate change. Mr. Inslee has said in recent speeches that he would push the nation to global leadership in research and development of lower-carbon energy policies, likening the effort to the mass mobilizations and deployment of resources during World War II. But his base of support in his home state is also narrow. In his election to the governors office in 2012, he carried only eight of the states 39 counties, all of them along the heavily populated liberal western slope of the Cascade Range. He trailed his Republican challenger in more rural and conservative agricultural communities. In his second campaign four years later, he carried nine counties. Many Washington residents, even those who admire Mr. Inslee and have voted for him, are prone to sometimes mock him for his sunny, boyish enthusiasm in talking about passions like ocean acidification and carbon. Hes a true believer, said Travis N. Ridout, a professor of government and public policy at Washington State University and longtime observer of Mr. Inslee. Hes identified with climate change. Other than that, its hard to at least in my mind come up with signature policy focuses. The positive of that is that its hard to think of the big scandals hes been involved in either. Hes fairly low drama. Hes not a firebrand. A woman in Los Angeles was sentenced to 15 years in prison this past week for what the authorities said was an unprovoked attack on an elderly man last year. The woman, Laquisha Jones, 30, was accused of beating the man with a brick and telling him to go back to your country, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys office said. Ms. Jones was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to an elder abuse charge, as part of a plea agreement in December. She had previously been charged with attempted murder and elder abuse, including a hate crime allegation, a spokesman for the district attorneys office said Friday. The plea agreement did not include the hate crime component, the spokesman said. The case drew widespread attention after the man, Rodolfo Rodriguez, now 92, was left bloodied, bruised and bewildered on the sidewalk in Willowbrook, an unincorporated area of the county about 15 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, while going for a walk on the evening of July 4. He will be talking about himself at least if his advisers have their way. His top aides are not just white men. And unlike last time, when he enjoyed playing the insurgent foil to an establishment-backed politician, Senator Bernie Sanders is now eagerly projecting himself as the front-runner. In 2016, Mr. Sanders had little choice but to run the race of an outsider disorganized, decentralized and improvisational. But as the Vermont senator formally kicks off his second presidential bid with an appearance in his native Brooklyn on Saturday, this much is apparent: He is at least attempting to mount a different kind of campaign. Yet even as he builds a more sophisticated and modern organization, Mr. Sanderss iconoclasm and possessiveness over his brand of democratic socialism has created turmoil in his own ranks. His media consulting team abruptly quit this week after the senator and his wife, Jane, expressed displeasure with the sleek announcement ad the advisers produced, deeming it inauthentic, and instead booked a Vermont studio to record a no-frills, nearly 11-minute video that Mr. Sanders wrote himself, according to multiple Democratic officials familiar with the matter. The clash was a reminder that Mr. Sanders, dating to his first campaigns for office in Burlington, Vt., has always charted his own political course. But in interviews over the last week, his aides and advisers said the 77-year-old Independent has consented to some strategic changes as he tries to win over a party that in the Trump era is not singularly focused on economic inequality. Representative Ilhan Omar, a freshman Democrat from Minnesota, came under scrutiny again this week because of her comments about Israel. The remarks in question came during a discussion at a Washington bookstore on Wednesday about how critics have repeatedly labeled Ms. Omars criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic. She argued that the label is being used in bad faith to shut down debate. The sentence that garnered the most attention was, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is O.K. for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country. [See a full video of the event.] Ms. Omar questioned why it was acceptable for her to speak critically about the political influence of the National Rifle Association, fossil fuel industries and big pharma, but not the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. (After she was widely criticized for a tweet about Aipac last month, she deleted it and apologized.) Mr. Inslee has praised the Green New Deal a sweeping proposal by some Democrats in Congress that, among many other environmental and economic goals, calls for a fully renewable energy supply within 10 years for elevating public discussion of climate change and acknowledging the scale of the action needed. But he has also described it as more of an aspirational outline of principles than a policy document. His environmental policy record in his home state is long. In 2015, he ordered Washingtons Department of Ecology to impose a cap on carbon emissions. He created a fund for clean energy, and the state now has extensive solar energy infrastructure and electric buses. While economic damage is a concern for opponents of limiting fossil fuels, Washington had the highest G.D.P. growth in the nation in 2018, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. Mr. Inslee also tried unsuccessfully last year to get the Washington Legislature to vote on a carbon tax, which would have been the first in the nation; voters rejected the proposal in November. He then proposed a different series of actions, including running the states electric utilities fully on renewable power by 2045, requiring buildings to be more energy efficient, promoting electric vehicles and cutting down on hydrofluorocarbons, which are used in air-conditioners. Hydrofluorocarbon emissions have been growing faster than any other form of greenhouse gas emissions. In an op-ed in The Washington Post, Mr. Inslee called for net-zero carbon emissions nationwide by 2050 a longer timeline than the Green New Deals 10 years, which experts say is unrealistic. (Net-zero could mean either eliminating carbon emissions altogether, or reducing them and using offsetting technologies to cancel out the rest.) He also called for a 100 percent clean-energy grid and massive investments to transition buildings, industries and transportation to renewable sources. In an email, Mr. Penn played down the significance of the visit. I tagged along with my friend Andrew Stein at his request to one of his meetings, and for the first time to meet the president, he said. I have had hundreds of meetings with presidents and I dont relay their conversations, but this was a cordial meeting and no advice was given or taken but old-time politics was discussed. Mr. Penn added, Despite my misgivings about the Mueller investigation, let me be clear as a lifelong Democrat under no circumstances would I work paid or unpaid for President Trump nor was this meeting about that in any way. Reached late Friday night, however, Mr. Stein said he invited Mr. Penn to the meeting specifically to discuss polls with Mr. Trump. Mr. Penn was one of three advisers who helped Mr. Clinton navigate toward the political center when he battling a newly empowered Republican majority in Congress led by Newt Gingrich, then the House speaker. He stuck with the Clintons longer than some of Mr. Clintons other political gurus, like Dick Morris and Douglas E. Schoen, who became highly vocal Clinton antagonists. Mr. Penn also helped Mrs. Clinton win a New York Senate seat in 2000. But his fallout with the onetime reigning brand in Democratic politics began during Mrs. Clintons 2008 presidential campaign, where he clashed with other advisers and was ultimately removed as the chief strategist. Over the past year, like Mr. Schoen and Mr. Morris, he too has won praise on the other side of the political spectrum as he has become seen as a heretic on the left. Mr. Penn has been praised internally at the White House, and by the president himself, for his fulsome attacks on the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. In his appearances on Fox News he last appeared on MSNBC in September 2017 and in his opinion pieces in the conservative-leaning opinions pages of The Hill, Mr. Penn has accused Mr. Mueller of overreaching in his investigation. But an actual sit-down meeting with the president in the Oval Office was, for some former colleagues of Mr. Penn, the inevitable outcome of what they see as his rightward lurch. Some people are loyal to Republican red, some people to Democratic blue and some capitalism green, said Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Mrs. Clinton, who served as her gatekeeper in the Senate and at the State Department. A small group of Republican strategists opposed to President Trump, branding themselves Defending Democracy Together, quietly conducted polling and focus groups last fall to gauge whether the president was vulnerable to a primary challenge in 2020. Assembling a presentation for sympathetic political donors, they listed points of weakness for Mr. Trump such as tweeting/temperament and criminality/corruption. The group concluded that Mr. Trumps scandals were not yet badly damaging him with Republican-leaning voters: Even relatively high information voters arent paying particularly close attention to day-to-day scandals, the presentation stated. But it added that there was room to educate voters on the subject. Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trumps former lawyer, may have begun that education on Wednesday. With Mr. Cohens appearance before a House committee, the public airing of ethical transgressions by Mr. Trump reached a new phase, one that may be harder to ignore for friends and foes alike. The spectacle of Mr. Trumps onetime enforcer denouncing him in televised proceedings, detailing a catalog of allegations of cruelty and crimes, signaled the pressure the presidents already strained coalition could feel in the coming months as Congress scrutinizes him, and as the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III completes his investigation. Republicans still find it difficult to imagine that Mr. Trumps electoral base would ever desert him, though they acknowledge that bond may soon be tested as never before. Mr. Trumps core supporters numbering about two in five American voters, polls suggest have stayed with him through revelations of financial and sexual impropriety, painful electoral setbacks and the longest government shutdown in history. [Read: Here to Ruin Your Daily Commute: A Plague of Potholes Jolts the Midwest] The weather comes during a winter of extremes. In late January, Chicago broke a record for lowest maximum daily temperature at minus 10 degrees, busting its earlier record of minus 3 degrees. The city also hit a record daily low at minus 23 degrees. A few days later, in early February, Washington, D.C., broke a 28-year record when highs reached 70 degrees, a balmy temperature more common to South Texas or Los Angeles. Last month, though, was the first February on record that downtown Los Angeles did not reach 70 degrees, a milestone marked by light grousing from Angelenos. But when it snowed in the city last week, it prompted a flurry of delighted social media posts. And when the Bay Area got a dusting earlier this month, residents of the region got out their sleds. According to climate experts, increasing weather extremes are in keeping with broader predictions of climate change. Severe weather be it precipitation or cold worries observers in the Golden State, where every storm brings the risk of mudslides in fire-scarred communities and flooding. Daniel Swain, a California climate scientist, said that climate change is making extreme swings between warm weather and cold weather, drought and rain, the new normal. [Read: Both sides of the climate change debate are using extreme weather in their arguments.] Things are changing faster than I think has been apparent to a lot of people, he said. It seems incremental until it doesnt. He said he had heard stories from Californians who did not think much about wildfires they were just things on the news until they found themselves screaming at their children to get in the car before flames reached their homes. He said he had also heard from South Lake Tahoe residents who had owned their homes at lake level for decades and who said that they had noticed their yards were getting blanketed less and less frequently. So when it does snow in years like this, the contrast is more marked. The University of Missouri sued a former pharmacy professor this week, accusing him of stealing a graduate students research and secretly using it to sell a new drug that it said could make him millions. In the lawsuit against the former professor, Ashim Mitra, the universitys Kansas City campus claimed ownership over the invention of a new treatment for dry eye that Dr. Mitra sold to a drug company. The university said a Ph.D. student under Dr. Mitras advisement performed the research that was central to the discovery but was not credited in the patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The lawsuit said Dr. Mitra had already made about $1.5 million from the inventions. The university seeks to restore its rightful ownership interest in and its resulting right to a fair share of the proceeds to be generated from the groundbreaking, patented inventions that led to this new F.D.A.-approved drug formulation, the lawsuit said. The university said in a statement that Dr. Mitra assisted drug companies in patenting and commercializing these inventions, all the while concealing his efforts and denying his involvement to university officials. The drug at the center of the dispute, Cequa, uses nanotechnology to make it a more effective treatment than traditional eyedrops. It received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in August, and its website advertised it as coming soon. In fact, in some Native American nations, like the six Iroquois, the elder matriarch is responsible for appointing the chief, holding him to certain standards and removing him if he fails to measure up, Wagner said. ______ MYTH: Contraception is a modern convention. REALITY: Condoms, diaphragms and the sponge have been around since the 1800s. The birth control pill may have not come on the market until 1960, but a variety of effective contraception methods were available to both women and men in the United States well before 1850, Wagner said. It was the Comstock Act, passed in 1873, that changed everything allowing Anthony Comstock, a conservative Christian who proposed the legislation, to determine what was considered obscene in the country. He decided that anything to do with sex or reproduction was obscene, Wagner said. As a result, hundreds of people were arrested and imprisoned under the Comstock Act for distributing or possessing contraception, or publishing information about it. The activist Ida Craddock was among them, arrested for distributing such information. She took her own life shortly before her sentencing, which she believed would be life imprisonment. In her suicide note, she wrote: I earnestly hope that the American public will awaken to a sense of the danger which threatens it from Comstockism. ______ MYTH: Feminists burned bras. REALITY: No bras were burned! Seriously. The myth emerged on a hot summer day in 1969, when feminists gathered on the boardwalk of the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., to protest the competition. Street protests are officially banned in the capital and the police have not hesitated to use force to repress them. As Mr. Bouteflikas condition has steadily deteriorated, the government has stifled opposition by adopting security laws with often vague and broad definitions of what qualifies as a threat to the state. But this time that strategy does not appear to be working. The countrys extensive security forces have been mostly passive as citizens have coursed through the streets of Algiers shouting slogans against Mr. Bouteflikas candidacy. On Friday, there was occasional use of tear gas, but the police appeared to be well disposed toward the crowds on the whole, observers noted. For years the government has tamped down opposition by holding itself as the only alternative to the chaos of the countrys bloody civil war in the 1990s, when some 200,000 were killed in an Islamist uprising. That legacy also helped keep the country calm even as others around it were swept up in the Arab Spring of 2011. But many in the crowd, noted Mustapha Bouchachi, a human rights lawyer in Algiers, are now too young to have known the so-called black decade of the 90s. Its a movement of the young, and of all Algerian citizens, Mr. Bouchachi said in a telephone interview from the capital. Its this feeling of dishonor, that the regime is daring to present as candidate a man who is gravely ill, and who runs nothing. Its this contempt for Algerians that is pushing this uprising, along with the rampant corruption, he added. The president is incapable both of managing the state, and of naming officials. This person can no longer read or write. Hes been taken hostage by a mafia band. MOGADISHU A gun battle that raged for nearly 20 hours in the capital of Somalia as soldiers battled to dislodge Islamist militants holed up in a building next to a hotel they had bombed ended on Friday with all of the attackers killed, the police said. The militants, from the Shabab extremist group, set off two car bombs on Thursday: one outside the Hotel Makkah al-Mukarammah on a busy street in Mogadishu where Somalis were dining at restaurants, and another near the home of Appeals Court Chief Judge Abshir Omar. The blasts and shooting killed at least 29 people and injured 80 others; officials said the toll was expected to rise. After the explosions, the attackers retreated to an adjacent building from where they fired on soldiers who tried to enter. A police captain, Mohamed Hussein, told The Associated Press that two of the dead were soldiers. At the hospital, Lucia and her mother made clear that they wanted to terminate the pregnancy. Over the following days, the girl and her relatives were caught up the nations abortion wars as local officials and activists took steps to stop her from having an abortion. Abortion is illegal in Argentina. But for nearly a century, it has been allowed in cases of rape and in instances in which the pregnancy poses a life-threatening risk to the mother. Yet, instead of arranging for her to terminate the pregnancy, officials at the hospital gave Lucia drugs that accelerated the development of the fetus, according to her lawyers. These were all delaying tactics to pass the time and force the girl to give birth, said Celia Debono, the Argentina coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Womens Rights. They said they were giving her vitamins when they were giving her medication to mature the fetus. The hospital also allowed anti-abortion activists to visit Lucias hospital room, where they urged her to have the baby, warning that she otherwise would never get to be a mother, said Fernanda Marchese, the executive director of Human Rights and Social Studies Lawyers of Northeastern Argentina, which is representing Lucia and her family. While Lucia remained hospitalized, provincial authorities released little information about the case. As they grew restless, relatives of the girl sent an email to Ni Una Menos, a group that fights violence against women and has become a leading voice in an effort to legalize abortion. When lawyers from the group arrived at Lucias bedside on Monday, we were faced with a situation that was desperate and anguishing, Ms. Marchese said. The family was not given the proper information to be able to exercise its rights. NEW DELHI When an Indian fighter pilot who had been captured by Pakistan was released on Friday, it capped a humiliating episode for India and a surreal week for him. First the pilot, Wing Cmdr. Abhinandan Varthaman, was soaring through the sky in a MiG-21 on Wednesday. Then he was shot down by Pakistani forces. After parachuting into enemy territory and being surrounded by a mob, he tried to eat some of the documents he was carrying, according to Indian news media reports. He was then badly beaten before being rescued by Pakistani troops. But that wasnt the end of it. Over the next few days, videos of him being interrogated in Pakistani custody spread on social media around the world. DOHA, Qatar American negotiators and Taliban officials set to resume negotiations in the Qatari capital on Saturday expressed guarded optimism that they are getting closer to an agreement that could help end 17 years of conflict, Americas longest war. During a two-day break from direct negotiations at a holiday resort in Doha, a series of small meetings continued around town to bridge the gap on core issues, such as withdrawal of American troops and prohibiting international terror groups from using Afghan soil, according to several current and former officials from all sides involved in the talks. There is progress, Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Talibans negotiating team, said in an interview on Friday. The technical groups are working on the details of a draft agreement about troop pullout from Afghanistan, and also that Afghanistans soil must not be a haven for anyone to use it against other countries. We have moved the agreement forward, but we have not completed it. But a host of complications remain, including the continued violence, as neither side has given up making attacks. Even as negotiators were sounding hopeful in Doha, Taliban fighters assaulted a large Afghan Army base in Helmand Province where United States Marines are present, killing at least two dozen Afghan soldiers. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Taliban suicide bombers penetrated a key government military base in southern Afghanistan on Friday, in a major attack that inflicted heavy casualties on the eve of the latest round of Afghan peace talks, local authorities said. The early-morning assault came as American and Taliban negotiators prepared to resume peace talks in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday after a two-day break. Afghanistans Ministry of Defense reported at least 23 members of the Afghan security forces were killed and 16 were wounded during an hourslong siege of Camp Shorab military compound in Helmand Province. Eight suicide bombers and numerous other attackers were involved, it said. Mirza Hussain Alizada, a member of the Helmand provincial council, put the death toll higher, saying up to 40 Afghan soldiers were killed. Losing face might prove a blow for Mr. Kim, who cultivates the image of a peerless leader in his totalitarian homeland. Lee Byong-chul, a senior fellow at the Institute for Peace and Cooperation in Seoul, the South Korean capital, said Mr. Trump might be content with a freeze on North Korean weapons tests. But I wonder how long the moratorium will last, he added. As Mr. Trump left Hanoi aboard Air Force One on Thursday, the path forward was unclear. At a news conference on Thursday, Mr. Trump said that his relationship with Mr. Kim remained very friendly and that he intended to continue negotiations at a measured pace. But during a surprise late-night news conference in Hanoi, Choe Son-hui, a vice foreign minister of North Korea, warned that Mr. Kim had lost some of his desire to negotiate with the United States. Mr. Kim has options other than reigniting nuclear and ballistic tests. He could choose to wait, particularly given that Mr. Trump is likely to be sidetracked by his own domestic troubles for the foreseeable future. TORONTO Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada promised a fresh approach to politics, one that was based on openness, decency and liberalism. Now he is embroiled in a scandal involving accusations of back-room deal-making and bullying tactics, all to support a Canadian company accused of bribing the Libyan government when it was run by the dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi. Canadian newspapers are filled with outrage and opposition parties are calling for a resignation. Elections are still seven months away, but some members of Mr. Trudeaus own governing party fear the scandal has armed opposition parties with rich campaign fodder against its leader, who promised sunny ways in politics. This is a huge, huge blow to Justin Trudeaus personal brand and Justin Trudeaus promise of doing politics differently, said Shachi Kurl, the executive director of the Angus Reid Institute, a nonprofit polling firm based in Vancouver. BERLIN After serving 15 years in a German prison for his role as an accomplice in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and being extradited last year to his native Morocco, Mounir el-Motassadeq was handed an envelope containing 7,000 euros in cash. It was his prison wages about $8,000 including a monthly stipend. Now, the German authorities are investigating what might have been a significant violation of the countrys foreign trade and payments law. When it comes to that money, we are looking into who gave exactly what instructions to whom, Nana Frombach, a spokeswoman for the Hamburg district attorneys office, said on Friday. Ms. Frombach said investigators were scrutinizing who had authorized the payments to Mr. el-Motassadeq, a member of Al Qaeda and a friend of Mohamed Atta one of the masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed thousands of people. LONDON It has a lot going for it: a two-story house on a leafy cul-de-sac, a short walk from schools, parks and a train station. And then theres the downside. A year after a nerve-agent attack nearly killed a Russian former spy and his daughter, the enormous job of decontaminating his former home in Salisbury, England, is complete, the government announced on Friday. Hundreds of specialists spent a total of 13,000 hours cleaning up 13 sites in and around Salisbury that had been tainted by the nerve agent, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said. The house where Sergei V. Skripal lived, and where he and his daughter, Yulia S. Skripal, were poisoned, was the last to be pronounced decontaminated. Though Mr. Skripal appears to have been the target of the attack, five people were sickened by exposure to the chemical, including one who died. LONDON Shamima Begum, the 19-year-old Briton who married an Islamic State fighter four years ago and recently asked to be allowed to return home, has been forced to move from her place in a Syrian refugee camp with her newborn after receiving threats, her familys lawyer said on Friday. British media outlets reported that Ms. Begum may have been moved to another refugee camp closer to the border with Iraq. But in a phone call on Friday afternoon, the lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, said: We dont know where she has been moved to. We dont know if its within the camp or to another one. The new development adds to the uncertainty surrounding a case that has split opinion in Britain. Some Britons have said that Ms. Begum was so young when she left to join the extremists that she deserves a chance at rehabilitation. Others have called for her never to be allowed back in Britain again. The British newspaper The Sun was the first to report the threats against Ms. Begum in Al Hawl refugee camp in northeastern Syria, where she fled to several weeks ago from the last remaining village held by the Islamic State in Syria. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Philippe Etienne, diplomatic adviser to French President, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held separate meetings with diplomatic adviser to French President Philippe Etienne and former U.S. official Susan Shirk in Beijing Thursday. When meeting Etienne, Wang said that this year marked the 55th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations, and both should carefully prepare for the high-level exchanges between the two countries within the year, to lead the steady development of China-France comprehensive strategic partnership through leaders' meeting. As permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, China and France should keep communication when facing a complex international situation, he said. "China and France should cooperate to meet various challenges," said Wang, adding that the two sides should "co-release a positive signal of adhering to multilateralism, opposing unilateralism, maintaining peace and stability, and improving global governance." Etienne said that France was willing to work with China to prepare for high-level exchanges between the two countries, strengthen multilateral coordination as well as maintain multilateralism. When meeting with Susan Shirk, Wang called on the United States to view China's development and the broad common interests between the two countries in an objective and rational way. He suggested China and the United States jointly advance bilateral relations with coordination, cooperation and stability as the defining features in accordance with important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries. Shirk expressed the hope that both countries could carry out cooperation in broad fields and settle differences through negotiations. 2 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Poppy farmers in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are forced to guard their fields day and night in a desperate attempt to fend off large groups of opium-addicted parrots who get high off the narcotic effects of poppy seeds. Scattered rains have already affected poppy production in Neemuch district, but farmers here say that the increasing number of opium-addicted parrots that pillage their crops on a daily basis are making things even worse. Using loudspeakers and firecrackers to keep the birds at bay has failed and the farmers appeals to local authorities have fallen of deaf ears, so people have no choice but to guard the poppy fields day and night. But even so, the birds still come to get their fix dozens of time a day. Photo: video screengrab One poppy flower gives around 20-25 grams of opium. But a large group of parrots feed on these plants around 30-40 times a day and some even fly away with poppy pods. This affects the produce. These opium-addicted parrots are wreaking havoc, poppy farmer Nandkishore told reporters. We have tried making loud sounds and even use firecrackers to scare the birds. But nothing has helped. Video footage published by Zee News shows the parrots frantically ripping open the poppy pod to get to the seeds, and even chewing through the plant stalk and flying away with the whole pod to feast on it in nearby trees. The opium-addicted birds have reportedly learned how and when to swoop in on the poppy fields as not to attract the attention of the farmers. Earth.com reports that the clever birds will sometimes wait for the farmers to cut the poppy pods open in order to help them ripen, which exposes latex that is rich in morphine. Dr. R.S. Chundawat, an Indian opium specialist in Mandsaur, told Daily Mail that the narcotic in the poppy seeds has the same effect on parrots as coffee and green tea has on humans, giving them an almost instant buzz. Like humans, once the parrots experience this sensation, they quickly become addicted. This isnt the first time Indian poppy farmers have had to deal with opium-addicted parrots. Last year, Indian media reported that such birds were raiding poppy fields in Rajasthan, and back in 2015, DNA India covered similar cases in Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh. Poppy seeds arent the only thing birds can get high on. Last year, we wrote an article about drunk birds in Minnesota flying straight into cars and windows after eating fermented berries. Joe Hulihan Finn Partners has named Joe Hulihan, MD, who had headed Johnson & Johnsons Janssen Neuroscience medical affairs team, as its medical advisor.. The 15-year J&J veteran handled drug development and post-approval medical support for numerous therapeutic areas. At Finn, he will provide day-to-day guidance to ensure content is medically sound, compliant with regulatory requirements and valuable to patients. Hulihan also will provide staff training and insights into disease education, product/scientific communications strategies, clinical research programs and medical expert engagement. Science is a foundational element of health marketing communication, permitting us to express brand value and build anticipation in the marketplace, Gil Bashe, managing partner of Finns global health practice, told ODwyers. Appointing experts like Dr. Joe enables Finn to translate science into compelling call-to-action that aligns a fragmented healthcare systeman environment where each sector has distinct needs. Finn also added Ann Hemingway, a veteran of Edelman, Ogilvy and Havas, as a partner in its New York health group. It promoted Michael Heinley, who manages teams involved with biopharma, medical devices, diagnostics and advocacy clients, to senior partner. Kevin Foley The incendiary words of the National Rifle Association never cease to amaze. This is the organization that represents the countrys gun industry, and its board of directors and staff seem always on the offensive when it comes to a reasonable dialogue about sensible regulations for the most lethal consumer product manufactured in this country. The NRAs March issue of American Rifleman magazine took the organizations offensive to another level, however, when it published a picture of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Gifford at a news conference. The headline was unambiguous: Target Practice. In the age of Trump, this kind of propaganda is worse than irresponsible. Its an open invitation to some unhinged gun nut to take action; to put on his camo, lock, load and go after political leaders legislating things like universal background checks at the behest of those who elected them. The familiar visage of Giffords standing behind Pelosi was no editorial accident, either. In 2011, a crackpot named Jared Lee Loughner shot Giffords in the head, killed six others and wounded 18. Loughner, who had a history of mental health and drug and alcohol abuse, legally purchased a Glock pistol and 33-round magazine. Would a background check have prevented him from buying the gun? Well never know. After personally experiencing the horror of that mass shooting, Giffords recovered and, along with her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, has become a passionate and outspoken advocate for sensible gun safety laws, which is why the NRA editors made sure she was in the picture. Their message could not have been clearer: Mess with us, sister, and you might just get a bullet in the brain. Of course, the magazine attempted to massage that message with a sub-head that read, Congressional Democrats target gun owners for persecution with extreme firearms transfer bans. Oh, I get it now. Its not target practice on politicians. Its target practice onno, wait, the persecution ofgun owners. The article under the picture was written by somebody named Chris Cox, an NRA executive director. It criticized H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, introduced Jan. 8, the anniversary of the mass shooting that wounded Giffords. Lets be clear. The only thing Cox cares about is selling as many guns and as much ammo as possible. Anything that gets in the way is to be attacked, vilified, and slandered. As a public relations professional who has studied the NRAs communication tactics, the organization does this by portraying gun owners as victims of government oppression. The subtext is, they want to disarm you so you wont be able to fight back. This is nonsense, of course. There are more than 300 million guns in the hands of American citizens. Id love to know how anyone would go about confiscating all those arms. The NRA would like you to believe universal background checks are unpopular. In fact, in the wake of the horrific Parkland, Florida mass shooting one year ago, a Quinnipiac University poll found that 97 percent of respondents, including gun owners, supported background checks. Coxs article is nothing new. NRA leadership has a long history of viciously attacking those who oppose their agenda. In a 1995 fundraising letter, the organizations Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called federal law enforcement agents jack-booted government thugs. In protest, former President George H. W. Bush resigned his lifetime NRA membership. At a 2007 concert, NRA national board member, rocker Ted Nugent, called presidential candidate Barack Obama a piece of s---, and I told him to suck on my machine gun." He went on to call Hillary Clinton a worthless bitch, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein a worthless whore, and demanded jail for anyone who utters the words gun control. Coxs recent article may be somewhat more nuanced, but many of its readers will undoubtedly pick up what hes putting down. As reported in Newsweek last Saturday, Pelosi, meanwhile, has faced numerous threats, including one earlier this month from Christopher Paul Hasson, a self-proclaimed white nationalist who federal prosecutors say was plotting an attack on Democratic lawmakers. He was arrested earlier this month in Maryland, where investigators claim he had been stockpiling firearms to use in the alleged attack. How many other Hassons are out there? And which ones will read Coxs article and the headline over it, contemplate that photo of Pelosi and Giffords, and feel encouraged to act? "The NRA should face legal consequences," tweeted California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. "But lets put them out of business with boycotts and ballot boxes. #EnoughIsEnough." Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was murdered in the Parkland massacre, said the picture and article "reinforces the notion that (the NRA is) a terror group." "We must condemn this intentional, outrageous criminal incitement," wrote Christine Pelosi, the House Speakers daughter. "We cannot allow this hate speech to stop common-sense gun violence prevention." Kevin Foley owns KEF Media in Atlanta. Seamus Darby's much-anticipated appearance on TG4's acclaimed Laochra Gael programme was hugely popular with viewers on Wednesday evening with one segment seeing Seamus describe the night his life was threatened. The hour-long episode delves into the life of the 'man who got the goal,' the embodiment of one of the GAA's most famous moments. While his goal to down Kerry and deny them a five-in-a-row in 1982 featured heavily, the show will be remembered for the searingly honest contribution of the man himself. Seamus went into the darker side of the fame that followed, the personal and professional problems he has encountered in his life, health scares and finding ultimate happiness. The documentary trailed Seamus Darby's life after that famous moment in Croke Park and brought us to London where the Rhode man moved to work during the recession of the 1980s. After 1982 All Ireland, Seamus bought a pub in Borrisokane on the back of success renting shops in Edenderry, but the ill-fated venture almost sunk the three-time All-Ireland winner. Having lost the business, he moved to London where he says he spent time "sleeping under a radiator in a pub." He described the fall from grace as coming from "a serious high to a real low." Eventually, Seamus began working as bar manager around London but in one particular job in Barking, he encountered some serious individuals. "Guys would come around looking for protection money, lads from Limerick, tough skins, but I'd say no, I can't afford it," Seamus explained. "A gun was pulled on me one night and this guy, he had a fire in his eyes, and he was going to do away with me, but another friend of mine who had also come over from Edenderry, Mike McGuinness, talked him out of it," he added. Seamus was undeterred and soon got a pub of his own to run and remained there for eight years. He said it was hard work and recalled spending two weeks on his hands and knees scrubbing a carpet to get the place off the ground. Having moved back to Ireland, Seamus once again went to Tipperary, this time Toomevara, where he purchased the Greyhound Bar. He remains the man behind the bar there to this day and some 1982 memorabilia sits proudly on the wall. Although Seamus explained the difficult times he encountered in his life, he said "I'm in a good place," added, "I'm very happy with my life right now." You can catch up on Seamus Darby's entire Laochra Gael episode on TG4 at 11.55pm on Friday, March 1. An Offaly man has described the horror of spending 22 days in a Kenyan jail following his release, pending trial for an alleged visa breach, next Thursday, March 7. Tullamore native Rory Bracken had been working as a preacher in the African country with the Testify World Ministries group and had performed ceremonies and healings, attracting thousands of followers and spectators. He was thrown in prison in February and told the Offaly Express from Kenya on Friday that prisoners are treated appallingly in the facility. ABOVE: Mr Bracken performing a healing ceremony The Tullamore native claims that he was sent to prison due to a "false charge of breaking a visa" and his lawyers are "confident" he will be vindicated in court on March 7 and that compensation may well be owed to him in such an event. He also believes a number of individuals have a "vendetta" against him and resent him preaching in Africa. "You wouldn't treat dogs the way they treated people there [in prison]. I was in a tiny cell with two other men and some cells had as many as nine prisoners in them." He spent more than a week without a mattress or blanket. "Guards hit many men, including with sticks," he added. Rory says he avoided such brutality due to "the protection of God and some of the guards there." "I stood up to them and said I am an innocent man and you will not treat me like this," he explained. Mr Bracken claims God wanted him to see the conditions and the plight of the prisoners, adding, "although many are criminals, the conditions are unimaginable." "It is a maximum security prison and some men are only allowed out of their cramped cells for 15 minutes a day." Rory continued to pray in prison and he claims "many people I prayed for were released" during his 22-day stay there. "They stopped me from contacting the embassy for a long time," Rory said. He was also critical of the time it took for the Department of Foreign Affairs to reach him. Rory says that now having seen the conditions of the prison, he will "stand and fight" for the rights of criminals, "especially if I receive compensation after Thursday." Rory is a former CBS Tullamore student who has spent many years preaching in Africa, as well as Pakistan. He is married to a woman in Uganda and claims that if he is unsuccessful in court on March 7 and deportation is ordered, he will be fighting to be deported to Uganda. "People back home who knew me 13 years ago as a drinker and a gambler may be surprised to see me preaching in this way, but I have completely turned my life around," Rory told us. "Even when I was in that situation, I was kind-hearted, and if I did win money gambling, I'd buy a drink for the whole pub or give people loans." He intends to continue preaching, saying, "I have no fear of people who may want to halt me from preaching, I just want to spread the message of God and continue healing and helping people." He is due to appear in court facing visa-related charges on March 7. Sean Kelly, MEP for Ireland South, which now incorporates Offaly, has called on the European Commission to put in place an ambitious Just Transition Strategy for the EU aimed at supporting the workers and communities most impacted by the transition away from fossil fuels and emission-intensive practices. Speaking in Tullamore, Co Offaly on Friday morning following a public meeting held on Thursday evening on Bord na Monas transition away from peat, Mr. Kelly made the following comments: The need for a Fair or Just transition is often overlooked in our discussion on Climate Change. The debates we have on the level of ambition of policies are hugely important and help ensure that the required emissions cuts are made. However, these debates sometimes fail to take into account the costs involved, or the threat to jobs if we do not get the balance right," the former GAA president said. Often the public representatives that claim to represent the working classes are the ones that look for the highest level of emission reductions on the shortest timeline, without considering the impact this can have jobs and costs." The recent announcement by Bord na Mona that workers are set to lose their jobs as a result of the move away from peat demonstrates the need to take these matters seriously." For this reason, I am calling for the establishment of an ambitious EU Just Transition Strategy to ensure climate ambition goes hand-in-hand with support for those most affected. If I am returned to the European Parliament in May, I will fight for this to be made a priority by the incoming European Commission President when he or she is elected later this year." In Tullamore, we discussed the ways in which we could ensure a Just Transition for the Bord na Mona workers and the communities of the Midlands, something that is essential and urgent. However, this issue is far broader and encompasses all sectors," Kelly said. We must ensure a Just Transition for everyone - be it those employed in energy generation, industry, manufacturing or indeed farming. Our move to a low carbon economy must be fair and inclusive for all, and we must ensure that nobody is left behind." An ambitious and well-funded Just Transition Strategy at EU level is the way we can make sure this happens," concluded Mr Kelly, leader of Fine Gael in the European Parliament. RENUA Ireland leader and Offaly county councillor John Leahy has warned, "Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is too soft on ISIS and it is part of a dangerous pattern." The party was commenting on the Taoiseachs claim that he would allow Irish citizens fighting for ISIS to return home because it would be wrong to leave someone stateless. Mr Varadkar also said a country must take responsibility in such circumstances and it would be wrong to offload problems to another state. RENUA Ireland leader Leahy said: "We agree with Mr Varadkar in one regard. We should not offload our responsibilities to any other state, but when it comes to homecoming events, the only place any ISIS terrorist should return to is a detention centre." "Those who join a terrorist group automatically forfeit their rights as a citizen of the State. They are a threat to society and must be treated in this fashion until they recant from their current ways," he added. "The dead bodies of cartoonists, women and children strewn across various areas of Europe mean we cannot risk being soft on terror." Cllr Leahy expressed concern that the Taoiseachs latest remarks were part of an ongoing pattern of "being soft on terror." "By contrast, Mr Varadkar said of the alleged Islamic State terrorist that he couldnt comment but any Irish citizen around the world is entitled to consular assistance and will get that." "The Taoiseach needs to toughen up his stance on Islamic terrorism or he will do more harm than good to the security of our State," Leahy concluded. Young Offaly man Martin McDonagh was the recipient of a Garda Youth Award in the Laois/Offaly district at The Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise on Friday last, February 22. He had been nominated by the Offaly branch of Jigsaw, the National Centre for youth mental health. The awards celebrate outstanding young people between the ages of 13 and 21 years. Laois-Offaly Gardai, along with sponsor Supermacs recognise that a lot of good work is being done by young people in every community throughout both counties, which should be awarded. As a young Traveller in Offaly, Martin is from an ethnic minority that has often been overlooked in Ireland. He has overcome many adversities in his life to become an inspiration and role model to young people and adults locally, from the Traveller and settled communities. Martin achieved way above and beyond his academic potential in school at Tullamore College. He worked with huge dedication, application and determination and an exemplary attendance record to get himself to 3rd level at Maynooth University. His sheer focus and hard work saw him win a Maynooth University Access Programme award for leadership - as he showed his community what you can achieve with hard work. Now studying Law and Spanish at Maynooth University, Martin has a bright future ahead of him. Martin is very proud of his ethnic identity and has been hugely immersed in the work of Offaly Traveller Movement. He has volunteered in a number of capacities throughout his teenage years and has demonstrated great leadership skills. He completed work experience at OTM and was found to be a very valuable member of the team. Martin is always quick to give of himself and very committed. He has been involved in mentoring and teaching young people from the Traveller community. He was hugely involved in contributing to the content, development and production of Breaking Down Walls, a video production aimed at highlighting suicide among young people in the Traveller Community in Ireland, that inspires a message of hope and resilience. "Breaking Down Walls is what Martin is all about. He was the first young person from the Traveller community to join the Youth Advisory Panel in Jigsaw Offaly and has been a leading light in doing so since 2015. His work with Comhairle na nOg up to that time demonstrated his commitment to making a difference in his community, from a very early age," a statement from Jigsaw said. "Martin participated in numerous training events and planning sessions over the years in Jigsaw. Martin took his voice and advocacy work to a national platform when he competed for and secured a position on the Jigsaw National Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) where his contribution has been greatly welcomed." "This level of volunteering has required serious commitment with Martin travelling up to Dublin regularly on public transport to partake in meetings and events. With both the Offaly and National YAP, his contribution has included sitting on an interview panel for new members of staff; representing Jigsaw at open days and events across the community; contributing to the development of youth strategy. "Martin is a true advocate for youth mental health. He always contributes steadily, in a gentle, assured, self-effacing way. He has brought forward ideas and always followed through on actions. Martins motivations display true altruism and integrity. His loyalty has been remarkable and an innate leader, these skills have blossomed, along with his confidence, over the years." "Martin is not afraid to use his voice even if its unpopular but always shows mutual regard, respect and compassion for others. He does not allow anything to get in the way of being a leading voice for issues that he believes in," Jigsaw said. Black Activist Becomes Leader Of Prominent Neo-Nazi Group, Vows To Dismantle It Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When James Hart Stern previously dissolved a Ku Klux Klan chapter in Michigan. A black activist has become the leader of one of the nations largest neo-Nazi organizations in hopes of undermining and dismantling it. READ: Ron Stallworth Isnt Just The Real BlacKkKlansman, Hes Hip-Hops First Cop Too [Interview] James Hart Stern has been named the director and president of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) according to a report from NBC News. He succeeds Jeff Schoep who had first took control of the group back in 1994 and renamed it the NSM. The information came from court documents filed on Thursday, with the documents suggesting Stern wants to use his new position to undermine the organizations defense in a lawsuit theyre facing. The NSM is one of several groups being sued for conspiracy and negligence in regards to their involvement with the violence that occurred during the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The documents are asking a federal court in Virginia to rule against the NSM before one of the lawsuits goes to trial. However, the documents dont explain how Stern got the position, with the 54-year-old activist stating that he had no official or casual relationship with this group prior [to February 2019]. Matthew Heimbach, a leading white nationalist figure who served as the NSMs community outreach director last year, said Schoep and other group members werent in agreement with the direction of the organization. With Stern now leading, Heimbach think this is the end of the group in its current iteration. I think its kind of a sad obit for one of the longest-running white nationalist organizations, Heimbach said. According to Newsweek, Stern dissolved a KKK chapter in Michigan after meeting former Grand Wizard Edgar Ray Killen in prison while serving a five-year sentence for wire fraud. Newsweek also notes that Stern had written a blog post in 2017 where he helped Schoen and the NSM to replace the Nazi swastika as the groups logo with an Odal rune. I have personally targeted eradicating the [KKK] and the National Socialist Movement, which are two organizations here in this country which have all too long been given privileges they dont deserve, Stern said in a video posted on his site. The reports have led some to compare the news to Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman film in which a black police officer infiltrates a KKK group. Source: NBC News Caleb Cole, senior graphic design major from Norman, Oklahoma Caleb Cole Senior Art and Design Exhibit Running Through March 7 March 1, 2019 Caleb Cole, senior graphic design major from Norman, Oklahoma, is currently displaying his senior art show through March 7. The exhibit is displayed in OBUs Art Building and is a culmination of Coles work in art and design from his four years as a student. Cole draws inspiration from numerous designers who have blazed the trail before him. Paul Rand, Saul Bass and Aaron Draplin are design professionals that have greatly influenced my work, he said. Also, Corey Fuller [associate professor of graphic design and chair of the Division of Art and Design] has greatly influenced my work process. He attributes his current level of skill and production in design to his training at OBU. The OBU art program gave me a wide understanding of the industry of art and design and that helped me define the specific area of design I wanted to specialize in, he said. The professors in the art department have been champions. They have encouraged, guided and challenged me to be a good artist, designer and individual. I wouldnt have had the success Ive had without them. In the exhibit, Cole chose prints, serigraphy, product photography, ceramic, package mock-ups, painting and drawings as his media of work. Following his graduation in May, he will be working as a graphic designer in Oklahoma City. Over 300 job offers made on day one of IIT Delhi Placements 2020 Indias hiring index to be stable by 2021 in Q3: Study Report says 3 million Indian IT jobs to be slashed by next year 7 Reasons Why You Must Hire Freelancers In Covid-19 Pandemic 898 AT BN ASC Recruitment 2019: Apply for various fireman posts India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P New Delhi, Mar 01: Applications are invited from eligible male candidates of Indian Nationality for the Group 'C' post of Industrial Mazdoor, Fire Engine Driver & Fireman to reach 898 AT Bn ASC, PIN-905898, C/O 56 APO by registered post. The candidate who is looking for following post can apply application from 09.03.2019 and before 08.04.2019. Education Qualification: Applicants who have completed 10th or equivalent from a recognized Institute. Age Limit Minimum Age Limit : 18 Years Maximum Age Limit : 25 Years Salary Details Fire Engine Driver : Rs. 21,700/- Fireman : Rs. 19,900/- Industrial Mazdoor : Rs. 18,000/- Selection Process: Selection will be on Written Test, Physical Standards and Interview. Important Dates: Starting Date for Submission of Application : 09.03.2019 Last date for Submission of Application : 08.04.2019 Click here for Notification For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 18:24 [IST] Abhinandan's family serving India for generations India pti-PTI Chennai/Mumbai, Feb 28: The father of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan after an air combat, on Thursday said he was proud of his son's bravery and thanked the people for their support and good wishes. In a statement, Abhinandan's father S Varthaman, who was an Air Marshall, referred to a purported video of his son after his capture, and said he spoke like a "true soldier" despite being in captivity and that he was praying he would not get tortured in the neighbouring country and return home "safe and sound". [Signalling peace with India, Imran Khan says IAF pilot will be released tomorrow] In the evening India erupted in joy when Pakistan Prime Minster Imran Khan announced that Abhinandan will be released on Friday as a "gesture of peace". The family of Abhinandan has an excellent track record of serving the Indian Air Force for generations since the second World War and his father besides being an ace pilot was a consultant for Mani Ratnam's film "Kaatru Veliyidai". Pakistan held Abhinandan Wednesday after fighter jets of both nations engaged in an air battle following an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes. "Thank you my friends for your concern and wishes. I thank God for his blessings, Abhi is alive, not injured, sound in mind, just look at the way he talked so bravely...a true soldier...we are so proud of him," his father said. [How IAF shot down Pakistan's F-16 in an aerial dogfight] "I am sure all your hands and blessings are on his head...prayers for his safe return. I pray that he does not get tortured and comes home safe and sound in body and mind," the veteran IAF personnel, whose father was also an air warrior, further said. He thanked the people for being with the family in this hour of need. "We draw our strengths from your support and energy," he added. Meanwhile, well wishers and political leaders continued express solidarity with the family of the IAF pilot. Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar was among those who met the family at their suburban residence in Chennai. Jayakumar lauded the captive IAF officer's parents for their courage adding it was unforgettable. "Abhinandan's father Varthaman Air Marshall (retired) served the nation during the Kargil war," he said adding the captive officer's grandfather Simhakutty too had served the nation during the second world war in the Air Force. Local MLA S R Raaja, Lok Sabha MP K N Ramachandran, VIPs, and officials including those from the police visited Varthaman's residence. For the veteran Air Marshall, who is a recipient of honours including a Param Vishisht Seva Medal, an uncanny similarity between reel and real life now appears to be playing out in his own life. [Inside JeM Balakot camp: Religious fanaticism, hard core training by Pak officials] Just like the 2017 Tamil film "Kaatru Veliyidai," for which Varthaman was a consultant, his son has unfortunately landed in Pakistan's custody. In the movie, hero Karthi -who essayed the role of an IAF officer- lands in Pakistan after his jet was shot down. A silver lining is that the hero was reunited later with his family in the movie. Hashtags like #BringBackAbhinandan, #AbhinandanMyHero, #MeraJawanSabseMajboot trended on microblogging site Twitter seeking Abhinandan's early return. Actor Karthi tweeted saying, "I'm very fortunate to have met a few of our fighter pilots in #IAF. It's a true honour to know them and they are men of a different league. I sincerely pray for the safe return of our warriors." According to a defence release issued in 2011, when Varthaman took charge as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command, he was among a few select pilots to hold the distinction of having flown 40 types of aircraft with over 4000 flying hours. During the Kargil conflict, he was the Chief Operations Officer of Gwalior and he was in command of an operational airbase in the western sector at the time of Operation Parakram following the December 13, 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament. PTI PM-Kisan 10th installment to roll out by next week: How to check your status and name in beneficiary list? Red caps are like red alert for UP, PM Modi's jibe at Samajwadi Party in Gorakhpur rally PM Modi lauds UP govt for the work done for the benefit of sugarcane farmers Ahead of PM Modi's Kanyakumari visit, MDMK, BJP workers clash; Vaiko arrested India pti-PTI Kanyakumari(TN), Mar 1: MDMK leader Vaiko and scores of his supporters were on Friday arrested after BJP and MDMK volunteers clashed in Kavalkinaru area on the border of Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts, police said.' Vaiko had announced that black flags would be shown to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest against his visit to Tamil Nadu. He gathered at Kavalkinaru along with his supporters and gave a speech listing out the alleged betrayal of the state by the Central government on various issues including Cauvery. Even as Vaiko was speaking, MDMK and BJP cadres clashed, pelting stones at each other, police said. Police swung into action and arrested Vaiko and his party workers. MDMK men carried placards which read "Modi go back as you betrayed Tamils." [Grand alliance in Tamil Nadu: BJP to contest on 5 seats, PMK-7] Police said BJP volunteers also demanded the arrest of Vaiko, adding he was spreading lies about the Central government. Police said as many as 100 people had been arrested. Vaiko and his party cadres were refused entry into Kanyakumari district by the police and stopped at the border. The Prime Minister is visiting Kanyakumari on Friday to inaugurate a number of welfare projects. PTI Banned in the nick of time: Jamaat-e-Islami was spiralling out of control India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 01: The Centre has banned the Jamaat-e-Islami under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged anti-national activities. The Jamaat-e-Islami had come under the radar in Jammu and Kashmir and nearly 150 of its members, including its president and spokesperson were taken into police custody recently in a major crackdown. This is the first major crackdown on the Jamaat, which has been termed as the parent political party of the Hizbul Mujahideen. The crackdown on the outfit is a significant one and it may be recalled that the National Investigation Agency had recently learnt that there was a major plot being hatched to carry out a wave of terror attacks in India ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The plot was unearthed after the NIA busted an Islamic State inspired module that went by the name Harkat-ul-Harb e Islam. The NIA learnt that two calls made by the alleged kingpin of the module were to Pakistan and Bangladesh. The NIA said that the module was being headed by Mufti Suhail, a resident of Amroha in Uttar Pradesh. Panic grips Kashmir as govt launches crackdown on separatists, arrests 150 people During the course of the investigation the NIA learnt that Suhail was being handled by a Pakistani. The chat transcripts with the agent, Abu Malik unearthed clearly suggested that the instructions were coming from across the border. However a call that was made by Suhail in October 2018 to a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh has made the case even more curious. The call was made in October from the United Kingdom in which Suhail is told to start preparing to launch operations. He was told that the operations would be launched and from January onwards there would be a series of attacks running up to the elections. The revelation comes in the wake of various reports suggesting that the ISI was trying to meddle in the recently concluded Bangladesh elections. Both the ISI and the Jamaat have opposed India's support to the Awami League. The operative who called Suhail tries to indicate that India's support to the Awami League must be avenged and hence a series of attacks need to be launched. India faces a very crucial election this year. The intelligence agencies are reporting extensive activity by ISI moles and agents to disrupt the polls and create havoc ahead of the polls. The recently busted module by the NIA was one part of that operation, officials tell OneIndia. However Pakistan wants the deniability factor and hence uses the name of the Islamic State to launch new operations in India. Intelligence agencies in India have always maintained that the operations of the so called ISIS inspired modules in India are not being handled from Iraq or Syria. In the busting of every module, we have come across clear instances of the events being staged by Pakistan. The ISIS problem in India have been two-fold. One is the setting up of modules, while the other is regarding recruitments for the mainland. Be it modules in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi or Uttar Pradesh, they have all been staged by Pakistan. In each case, the Pakistan link has cropped up and the handler has always been traced to that country. Shoot them at sight if Railway property is destroyed says junior Rail minister BJD, Cong furious over bifurcation of East Coast Railway to create new zone headquartered at Vizag India pti-PTI Bhubaneswar, Feb 28: Odisha's ruling BJD and opposition Congress on Thursday strongly criticised the Centre's decision to bifurcate the the Bhubaneswar-headquartered East Coast Railway to create a new zone with its headquarters at Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam. The Railway Ministry on Wednesday created the new zone -- South Coast Railway -- giving it a portion of the Waltair division of the East Coast Railway. The portion of Waltair division taken away will now be part of the Vijayawada division, Railways sources said here. [Piyush Goyal announces new railway zone for Andhra, to be headquartered in Visakhapatnam] Terming the Centre's action a "conspiracy", Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik accused the BJP-led Central government of discriminating against the state. Patnaik threatened the Congress will launch an agitation against the decision. BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, "It is a betrayal with the people of Odisha. They will give a befitting reply to the BJP for working against the state's interest." The BJP, however, maintained the new south coast zone was formed as per item 8 of schedule 13 (Infrastructure) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. "Ask Congress leaders whether the previous UPA government had not planned to bifurcate the East Coast Railway Zone," said BJP spokesman Golak Mohapatra. PTI Election expenditure: How much did BJP, Congress, DMK, CPI, TMC, AIADMK receive funds and spent during polls? Opposition front not possible without Congress: Shiv Sena leader Raut after meeting with Rahul Gandhi Brush up your history: Cong reminds PM that Indira Gandhi was Indias first defence minister India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 02: Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally in Kanyakumari on Friday that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was the first woman to hold the portfolio in the country, the Congress on Friday asked him to "brush up his history". Urging the Prime Minister to brush up his history, the grand old party reminded the PM that Indira Gandhi was the first woman defence minister of the country and not Sitharaman. [India will no longer be "helpless" in fighting terror, says PM Modi] Taking to Twitter, the party took potshots at the Prime Minister and also wondere if the PM had 'missed this chapter during his entire Political Science degree'. "FYI, Smt Indira Gandhi was the first woman Defence Minister of India - you should brush up your history - in case you missed this chapter during your entire Political Science degree," the party tweeted. The PM has reported finished his post-graduation in political science from the Gujarat University in 1983 as an external student. Gujarat University vice-chancellor MN Patel had earlier claimed the Prime Minister had passed his post-graduation in political science with 62.3 per cent marks. The reaction from the Opposition party came hours after Modi called Sitharaman the first woman's defence minister while hailing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was then in Pakistan's captivity and is also a resident of the southern state. [Ahead of PM Modi's Kanyakumari visit, MDMK, BJP workers clash; Vaiko arrested] At the Kanyakumari rally, PM Modi had said how proud he was of the fact that Sitharaman "India's first woman Defence Minister" was from Tamil Nadu. Touring the country on the same day, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said the Prime Minister "can't leave aside his public relations exercise even for five minutes". He was obviously referring to PM Modi's claim that the Opposition was 'politicising' the pre-emptive operations carried out by the armed forces. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, March 2, 2019, 2:20 [IST] Chanda Kochhar fails to appear before probe agency, to be summoned again No coercive action against former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar in PMLA case: ED tells SC Chanda Kochhar, Venugopal Dhoots residences searched by ED in loan fraud case India oi-PTI Mumbai, Mar 1: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches against former ICICI bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot in connection with a bank loan fraud case, officials said. They said the raids are being carried out in at least five office and residential premises in Mumbai and a few other locations. The agency had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) earlier this month against Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, Dhoot and others to probe alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning of Rs 1,875-crore loans by the ICICI bank to the corporate group. A team of ED sleuths, assisted by the police, is looking for more evidences in the case and the raids were launched early Friday morning, officials said. The ED's PMLA case was filed after taking cognisance of a CBI complaint lodged in the matter last month. Cabinet approves 10 pc reservation for general category poor in J-K The CBI had named Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, and Dhoot and his companies -- Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) and Videocon Industries Limited (VIL). The central probe agency also named Supreme Energy, a company founded by Dhoot, and Nupower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak Kochhar, in the FIR. It is alleged that Dhoot had invested in Deepak Kochhar's company Nupower through his firm Supreme Energy a quid pro quo to loans cleared by ICICI Bank after Chanda Kochhar took over as the CEO of the bank on May 1, 2009. The ownership of Nupower and Supreme Energy changed hands through a complex web of shared transactions between Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot, the CBI alleged. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 11:16 [IST] Documentation, procedural delays held up release of IAF pilot by Pak for several hours: Sources India pti-PTI New Delhi, Mar 1: Procedural delays and issues relating to documentation held up the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to Indian authorities by Pakistan for several hours Friday, official sources said. [Abhinandan Varthaman returns home finally via Wagah-Attari border] Initially the Indian authorities indicated that Wing Commander Varthaman would be handed over to India at around 4 PM and later they suggested that he would be released at around 6:30 PM. However, he finally emerged at 9.10 pm Indian time at the Wagah checkpost on the Pakistani side, accompanied by Pakistani rangers, the Indian air attache posted in the High Commission in Islamabad. The sources said Pakistan postponed the time of his release twice. Varthaman was captured by Pakistani authorities on February 27 after an air combat between the air forces of the two countries, a day after New Delhi had conducted counter-terror operations in Pakistan's Balakot. [Balakot air strikes: Pak accuses India of 'Eco Terrorism', to lodge UN complaint] Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a special joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday announced his release as a "peace gesture". However, India has been maintaining that Pakistan's decision is in consonance with the Geneva Convention. The Pakistani government was under tremendous international pressure to de-escalate the tensions with India and release the captured pilot. PTI IAF is happy to have him back, says Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 01: IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India at the Wagah-Attari border two days after he was captured by Pakistan during an intense aerial dogfight. Wing Commander Varthaman was received by the Border Security Officials. While addressing the media following the wing commander's return to India, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said,''We are happy that Wing Commander Abhinandan has been handed over to us. The entire procedure was carried out according to Air Force operatives.'' Abhinandan Varthaman returns home finally via Wagah-Attari border RGK Kapoor further added, "Varthaman will be taken from here for a detailed medical examination because he had to eject the plane. IAF is happy to have him back." Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, while speaking to the media, said that IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the Wagah-Attari border ten minutes back. "We didn't ask the Pakistani authorities the reason for the delay," he added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 22:04 [IST] List of 28 agreements/MoUs signed during the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit in New Delhi Highlights: Nirmala Sitharaman meets IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Mar 02: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday met IAF Pilot Wing Commander, Abhinandan Varthaman in Delhi and conveyed to him that the entire nation is proud of his courage and determination, officials said. During the meeting at a medical facility of the Indian Air Force, Varthaman is understood to have explained to Sitharaman details about his nearly 60 hour stay in Pakistan. After a tense wait, IAF Pilot Wing Commander, Abhinandan Varthaman was finally handed over to India by Pakistan. He returned home via the Wagah border after spending nearly 60 hours in captivity. There are several procedures that would have to be followed, which includes a medical test to gauge his fitnesses levels and also a de-briefing session. The IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman spent nearly 60 hours in captivity. Abhinandan, dressed in a suit, walked across the Zero Line at the Attari-Wagah border at 9.20 pm, about four hours later he was reportedly scheduled to return. He was accompanied by Group Captain J T Kurien, Air Advisor in the Indian High Commission, and Fareeha Bugti, Director (India) in the Pakistan Foreign Office. The release came a day after Pakistan PM Imran Khan, addressing a joint session of parliament, in a "gesture of peace" aimed at de-escalating tensions between the two nations announced the Indian pilot's return. Here are the Highlights: Newest First Oldest First J&K: General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, Army Commander, Northern Command visited White Knight Corps to review the operational preparedness of the forces in the Corps Zone in view of the current situation along LoC and International Border. pic.twitter.com/WCwbyAnFI7 ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2019 Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, Army Commander, Northern Command visited White Knight Corps to review the operational preparedness of the forces in the Corps Zone in view of the current situation along LoC and International Border. The government on Saturday issued an "alert" for all airports and airlines in the country, asking them to "enhance the existing security measures", as it has received intelligence inputs in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and subsequent developments. Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used for terrorism against any state, including India, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday as claimed that the "nerve centre" of the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group has been taken over by the government. ANI quoted Sources saysing that after returning from Pakistan, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has informed that though he was not physically tortured by the Pakistanis but went through a lot of mental harassment. Pakistan was not under "pressure" or "any compulsion" to release Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said today. The Wing Commander will stay at Air Force Officer's Mess. India will keep up the pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terrorism infrastructure and the masterminds of terrorist attacks despite the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman following backchannel diplomacy and public messaging by global powers. Acoording to reports, Pakistan said Abhinandan Varthman was handed over along with his belongings, however, all that he came back in civilian clothes, without his service pistol. In the taking over certificate, Pakistan has mentioned returning his watch, ring and spectacles. It was earlier learnt that upon ejecting out of his crashed MiG 21 Bison, Abhinandan still had his pistol with him, which he used to allegedly fire on locals in Pakistani territory who were chasing him. Meanwhile, the chiefs of the Indian Air Force and Navy will get Z-plus security cover after a fresh assessment of their threat perception by the security agencies, officials said. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman in a hospital today. Courtesy: ANI Samjhauta Express services to resume from India from March 3. Congress President Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Ranchi, Jharkhand: Indian Air Force protects the country, Air force pilots sacrifice their lives but our Prime Minister steals money from the Air Force, and puts it in Anil Ambani's pockets, it is a shame. According to IAF officials, Wing Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman met IAF Chief BS Dhanoa today morning and explained his detention in Pakistan. The Wing Commander will stay at Air Force Officer's Mess. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh: Entire world stands together against terrorism. No representative of India used to be invited to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) but India's image has become such, that OIC invited India for the first time. It is a diplomatic victory. Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM, says, "Pak PM talked of Tipu Sultan and Bahadur Shah Zafar in his assembly,Tipu Sultan wasn't enemy of Hindus but adversary of the enemies of his sultanate.He talks about atom bomb, it's weird..we've it too.Handle your Lashkar-e-Shaitaan & Jaish-e-Shaitaan. Pakistan violated ceasefire in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district at 12:30 pm today. Indian Army is retaliating. When our Air Force reached Balakot in KPK before we could get any information some people started saying Balakot is along LoC.Some people whom I call compulsive contrarians found a new Balakot and didn't check that, that Bala Kote is in our Poonch.Why'd our forces attack our territory?: Arun Jaitley Mehbooba Mufti and PDP workers protest in Srinagar against the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami (Jammu & Kashmir) by the Central Government. BSP Chief Mayawati said, " Hearty welcome safe return of IAF pilot Abhinandan from Pak custody. Big relief and ease of tension is natural but sensing a sea change in security scenario around, India must have a long, lasting & credible policy for its security-honour besides a good policy to deal with neighbours." Referring to IAF Pilot's bravery, PM Modi said, " India has the ability to change the meaning of words. Abhinandan was till now ' Congratulations' in English, now the meaning will change." Addressing a meet at Construction Technology India in Delhi, Prime Minister Modi said, " The world will notice whatever India does." IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is at the central medical establishment, he spent the night there, underwent a medical test, met his family briefly, according to News 18. Three members of family killed due to heavy shelling by Pakistan troops in Solatri village of border district of Poonch. Meanwhile, shelling by Pakistan forces across LoC in Jammu continues, People in border areas of Rajouri, Poonch districts move to safer places; Schools closed, according to All India Radio News. India has dug up contract details between the USA and Pakistan on the AMRAAM missile fired from an F-16 aircraft and is learnt to have shared the information with American interlocutors to bolster its case about misuse of the fighter aircraft against India, according to Indian Express report. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released by Pakistan after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned the neighbouring country of dire consequences, former Karnataka chief minister and state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa said on Friday. He would also have to undergo several phycological tests as he had been captured by the enemy and underwent a traumatic situation. The IAF Pilot will be subject to a medical test today. He will be taken for a detained medical checkup. The officer had to eject from a plane, which would have put his body under immense strain, AVM RGK Kapoor said following the release. Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman landed in Delhi on Friday night, hours after he was handed over to India by Pakistan after being in captivity for nearly three days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets, "Welcome Home Wing Commander #Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!" The SSP of Budgam said that some aircraft has fallen. As of now were are ascertaining the situation. We have found two bodies and have evacuated them. The technical team is here and is currently assessing the situation, he also added. Meanwhile a high level meeting has been convened to assess the situation. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has arrived at the meeting at the Home Ministry and is assessing the situation. India however rubbished the claim. Sources tell Oneindia that no aircraft has been shot by Pakistan. The claim of a pilot being arrested os also not true. All our pilots have been accounted for the source also added. The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said that this was not a retaliation to continued Indian belligerence. Pakistan has therefore taken strikes at non-military targets avoiding human loss and collateral damage. The statement further read, sole purpose being to demonstrate our right, will and capability for self defence. We have no intention of escalation, but are fully prepared to do so if forced into that paradigm. That is why we took the action with clear warning and in broad daylight. Sources say that the PAF dropped bombs at Laam, Kerri and Nadian in Rajouri district at around 10 am. The Indian jets are still flying in the area. Locals have said that they saw a Pakistani ket in flames across the Line of Control. Meanwhile officials confirm that they have seen the F-16 pilot paradropping. Pakistani jets violated Indian air space, but were pushed back by Indian aircaft, the report said while quoting top officials. The jets entered into Indian air space over Nowshera sector this morning, but were immediately pushed back by Indian jets on air patrol. This comes in the wake of Pakistan claiming that it had shot down two Indian aircraft. Indian officials however said that the jets violated Indian air space by entering the border areas of Nowshera sector in Jammu and Kashmir;s Rajouri district. A Sukhoi 30 MKI was seen chasing the Pakistan F-16 fighter on the Line of Control at the Nowshera sector. Maj General Ghafoor while addressing a press conference said that two pilots have been taken into custody. He had earlier said in a tweet that the PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistan airspace. He had also said that one Indian pilot had been arrested. India should not carry any further violence in Pakistan because its continuation will affect regional security. Also the continuation of such conflict will cost a lot to India, he also said. Meanwhile the Taliban has warned India and said that the ongoing tension would affect the Afghanistan peace process. In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, the continuation of such conflict will affect the Afghanistan peace process. DG ISPR, Pakistan Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor has said that there are reports of a crash of an Indian aircraft on the Indian side. We had no engagement with that aircraft, he also added. Pakistan has released a video showing a blindfolded man saying that he is Wing Commander, Abhinandan. He says that his service number is 27981. He asks if he is with the Pakistan Army as he has a right to know. India is yet to officially respond to the video. Ghafoor also said that the ground forces arrested two pilots, once of them was injured and has been shifted to the Combined Military Hospital. God willing, he will be taken care of, he also said. Todays action was in self defence. We dont want to claim any victory, he further said. A high level meeting of the civil and police officials has been called in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was called to discuss the measures to be taken in the backdrop of the tensions with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been briefed about the situation. Amidst the claims made by Pakistan that it had shot down two IAF jets, India has said that it shot down a F-16 jet. Entire airspace of North Delhi vacated amidst escalated tensions with Pakistan. After Pakistan released a video of an Indian pilot being captured, India says it is verifying further details. A joint media briefing of the Indian Air Force and Ministry for External Affairs is underway at New Delhi. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar says India shot down by Pakistan F-16 jet. In the engagement we have lost one pilot. The whereabouts are unknown. We are ascertaining more details he added. Pakistan targeted military installations. We lost one MIG-21. Pilot missing in action says MEA spokesperson. Pakistan is yet to formally inform India about the missing IAF pilot. Pakistan claimed that it has captured an Indian pilot Abhinandan. We were able to foil Pakistans efforts due our high state of alertness says MEA. Pakistan responded to out counter terror operation by targeting our military installations says MEA. Imran Khan in a televised address warns against escalation. He says Pakistan is ready for dialogue. He also said that better sense should prevail. Read the full MEA statement here: India had informed about counter-terrorism (CT) action it took yesterday against a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pakistan based on credible evidence that JeM intended to launch more attacks. Against this counter-trrorism action, Pakistan has responded this morning by using its Air Force to target military installations on the Indian side. Due to our high state of readiness and alertness, Pakistans attempts were foiled successfully. The Pakistan Air Force was detected and the Indian Air Force responded instantly. In that aerial engagement, one Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG 21 Bison of the Indian Air Force. The Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side. In this engagement, we have unfortunately lost one MiG 21. The pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts." The weapons that you and we have, can we afford miscalculation. If it escalates from where, where will it go. Neither will it be in my control nor Modis control. Better sense should prevail, let us sit and resolve issues, Imran Khan also said. Hours after Pakistan claimed that it had an IAF pilot in its custody, sources said that India has not been informed officially about the same. The whereabouts of IAF Wing Commander, Abhinandan is not known as yet. Pakistan claimed that it had arrested two pilots. While one is in custody, the other is at hospital, Pakistan also said. After Pakistan claimed that it had one IAF pilot in its custody, India has summoned Pakistan deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah. India is treating todays action by the Pakistan Air Force as an act of military aggression. Attack on CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir: One martyred, four injured in terror attack J&K: 'Dead' militant starts firing, 2 cops martyred near Handwara encounter India oi-Madhuri Adnal Handwara, Mar 01: Five CRPF jawans and two officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Police has been martyred during the Handwara encounter in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. Eight security personnel have been injured. A civilian was also killed in the clashes that broke out near the encounter site between the forces and youth. A civilian who was killed has been identified as Waseem Ahmad Mir (21) son of Mohammad Akbar Mir of Zaloora who suffered critical bullet wounds in his abdomen and head, reported news agency GNS. According to reports, CRPF and the Army personnel went to retrieve the militant bodies amid a lull, one of the two militants, earlier believed to be dead stood up and fired indiscriminately. Kupwara: 4 security personnel martyred in encounter with terrorists The encounter broke late last night after the joint team of the Army's 22 RR, 92 Battalion CRPF and SOG launched a cordon-and-search operation at Khanan Babagund in Langate. All the injured were taken to district hospital Handwara for treatment. This is the second best police station in the country Farm owner in Odisha files complaint after chickens 'die of shock from loud music' Odisha: 2 policemen killed, 17 injured as truck rams into police van India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P Jharsuguda, Mar 1: Two policemen were killed and 17 others injured when an overspeeding truck rammed into a police van near Belpahar on NH-49 of Jharsuguda district on Friday. The 17 police personnel, injured in the accident, have been admitted to a hospital. The police van, carrying 33 policemen, was en-route to Banharpali in Jharsuguda district for deployment ahead of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's visit today. With 20 MP seats 'a Kannadiga can be PM again': Kumaraswamy Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each and a government job to next of kin of deceased policemen. In case of serious injuries which might lead to disability in future,ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh has been announced for the policemen. The injured have been admitted at TRL hospital in Belpahar and central hospital at Mandalia. Those with critical injuries have been shifted to VIMSAR in Burla. Police investigation is on to ascertain the cause of the accident. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 12:13 [IST] R&AW picked 5 JeM camps, but here is why Balakot was zeroed in on R&AW mapped Balakot 15 years back, but it needed guts to hit it India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 01: The Balakot terror facility of the Jaish-e-Mohammad had been on the radar of the Research and Analysis Wing for over 15 years. Balakot was a known terrorist camp. It is not now, but 15 years back itself, we had mapped it out, intelligence officials tell OneIndia. These targets were on the radar of the Indian establishment for long. R&AW picked 5 JeM camps, but here is why Balakot was zeroed in on Prior to planning the surgical strikes, Balakot was discussed. However India did not want a hurried operation at Balakot and thought it would be better to test the waters in the form of a surgical strike first. After hitting Balakot meant entering deep into Pakistan and hitting the target. Although the agencies were aware of a massive build up of terrorists at Balakot, they was no green signal from the government. Former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing Amar Bhushan confirms that they had mapped Balakot 15 years ago. However there was no signal from the government to hit it. It is one of the biggest and most dangerous facilities of the JeM and it ought to have been hit long back, Bhushan explains. Since then there have been many times that we wanted to hit the camp. These targets were on the radar of the Indian establishment for long, Bhushan also says. I am sure that in 2016, before the surgical strikes were carried out, this option on Balakot would have been considered. However it appears that the decision to test the waters before going for a strike at Balakot would have been weighed in. With regard to the number of terrorists killed in the operation, Amar Bhushan says that the numbers really dont matter. The fact is that an identified camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad has been hit. It was a regular structured base, where terrorists were trained. I would say that by hitting the camp, India has conveyed a very strong message. The other message that we have conveyed is that we know where they are are and what support they are getting. I am sure that the loses have been great in number. I cannot believe it when someone says that the terror camps would have been emptied. Pulwama attack could not have been staged by one man alone: Former R&AW chief Pakistan earlier would hold a prayer meeting and name them. Now they have completely stopped publishing the names. Back in the day, we would codify the names of those who died in the Kashmir conflict and issue it. That is when they started believing us. Don't worry about the numbers for now, the names and figures will be out soon, says Amar Bhushan. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 11:39 [IST] Make in India: With production of over 5 lakh Ak-203s, UP set to become major defence hub Senior army officers visit forward areas India oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi New Delhi, March 1: Indian Army is on the high alert along the Line of Control (LoC) due to the Pakistani aggression and senior army officers have visited forward areas. In the wake of Indian Air Force targeting Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camps across in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on February 26, Pakistan tried to attack Indian military installations on February 27. Enough evidence to show F-16 was used by Pakistan, says IAF at joint defence briefing The attack with the sophisticated F-16 aircraft was thwarted by a Combat Air Patrol of the Indian Air Force resulted in the destruction of one F-16 aircraft. But, the operation also led to the loss of one Indian aircraft and the capture of an Indian Pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan, who is expected to be handed back by the Pakistani authorities today. Indian aerial attack was a response to the horrendous terrorist attack by JeM at Pulwama, Kashmir on 14, February that left more than 40 CRPF personnel dead. India had acted against terrorist camps as per the international norms in self-defense, but Pakistani response is a clear invitation of a war. Since then Pakistan Army has been resorting to unprovoked and heavy fire all along the LOC with heavy caliber weapons. The Indian response has been swift and appropriate, resulting in severe destruction to Pakistani forward posts along with a number of casualties. Pak troops have been firing their mortars and missiles from civilian houses, using villagers as human shields. The Indian army, however, targeted the Pakistani posts away from civilian localities. The Indian Army is in a state of high alert all along the LOC. Commanders of the Army at the senior most level are consistently visiting forward posts to check the preparedness and give a boost to the morale of the soldiers deployed there. Even as the firing and from across the border was underway the Army Commander of the Northern Command, Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, accompanied by the Corps Commander visited the forward posts. The senior officers took an on-ground assessment of the situation to ensure that the preparedness was in order. They took a detailed briefing on the actions taken to meet the challenges of increased ceasefire violations through superior and aggressive domination of LOC by the troops, in accordance with the policy to giving a befitting reply to Pakistani transgressions. India inflicts 'number of casualties' on Pak troopers The Army Commander was appreciative of the measures, he, however, emphasised upon the need to remain prepared to effectively meet the current and emerging security challenges. He exhorted all ranks to remain vigilant to counter the nefarious designs of the enemy and anti-national elements. Earlier, in the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh had visited the Kashmir Valley over two days to interact with the troops. He had assessed the Standard Operating Procedures instituted by the units to minimise civilian causalities. The visit of senior officers to forward locations under these tense times, though risk-prone, are in accordance with the ethos of the Indian Army where officers lead from the front. They serve the twin purpose of the leadership remaining tuned to ground realities and also building the morale of the troops. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 11:31 [IST] UP govt beat those seeking employment with sticks, remember this when BJP seeks votes: Rahul Gandhi UP Police Constable Result 2018 to be declared soon; check updates India oi-Deepika S Lucknow, Mar 01: The UP Police Constable 2018 result is expected to be released soon. Once declared candidates can check their results from the official website. The UP Police Recruitment 2018-19 notification was released in October 2018 for filling up 49,568 vacancies. The UP Police Constable recruitment examination was held on January 27 and 28, 2019. The UP Police Recruitment Board is expected to declare the written exam result on today so that the document verification process and PET/PMT can be completed in the first or second week of the March. The reports claimed that the final result will be announced in the last week of the March if all goes as planned. The written result, Physical Efficiency Test (PET) / Physical Measurement Test (PMT) schedule and the final list of selected candidates will be released on the official website uppbpb.gov.in separately. UP Police Result 2018: Steps to check Go to the official website uppbpb.gov.in . . Click on the link for UP Police Constable Result 2018 to go to a new window. Enter the details asked to check your result. In case the result is released in a PDF format, candidates would be required to check their roll number in the list provided. Download the result and take a print-out. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 11:47 [IST] Weather forecast for March 02: Winters to bid farewell to Delhi-NCR India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 01: Let us have a look at weather forecast for Bengaluru, Delhi, Bhopal, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand on March 02. Bengaluru: Another Cyclonic Circulation is over Bangladesh. A trough is seen extending from Odisha up till Interior Tamil Nadu across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. As per Google weather, there is a low possibility of clouds throughtout the day which would pave way for good visibility. The maximums here would be touching the 33C mark. The minimums will be somewhere between 20C. Delhi: Delhi is once again ready to receive scattered rain and thundershower activities on the weekend. Rains are expected to commence on Saturday and will continue until Sunday. Isolated hailstorm activities are also possible over Delhi and NCR. According to Skymet Weather, the pollution levels are at present in satisfactory category over most places and in moderate category over a few places. Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand After making a late start, winter rains and snow over the three hilly states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are currently in good shape. As per Skymet weather, during the next 24 hours, scattered rain and snow might be seen over the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Also, scattered rain and thundershower activity is a possibility over West Rajasthan. Bhopal: The state of Madhya Pradesh is witnessing dry and warm weather. A fresh Western Disturbance is now likely to approach Western Himalayas on March 2, which will induce a Cyclonic Circulation over Western parts of Rajasthan. As per Skymet weather, by March 3, weather will start clearing up, over Western parts of the Madhya Pradesh. Scattered rains may occur over East Madhya Pradesh by March 4. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 17:43 [IST] PM-Kisan 10th installment to roll out by next week: How to check your status and name in beneficiary list? Red caps are like red alert for UP, PM Modi's jibe at Samajwadi Party in Gorakhpur rally PM Modi lauds UP govt for the work done for the benefit of sugarcane farmers Welcome home Wing Commander, tweets PM after IAF pilots homecoming India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 01: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, saying the nation is proud of your exemplary courage. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!," PM Modi tweeted. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted, "Proud of you Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. Jai Hind." Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad too lauded the pilot for his bravery and welcomed him back to the country. Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman crossed the Wagah-Attari border post into India from Pakistan on Friday evening, two days after his capture by Pakistani forces. Pakistan's Foreign Office on Friday announced the returning of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India but described him as a "prisoner of war" (POW). In a statement issued minutes after the pilot crossed over to India from the Wagah-Attari border, the FO said, "While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law." "The captured Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India today," it said. Varthaman was arrested when his jet MIG-21 crashed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after being shot down by Pakistan Air Force on February 27. The statement described the pilot as an "India POW". Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the Indian pilot's return in Parliament on Thursday as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at de-escalating rising tensions between the two countries following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to return home today: What we know India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 01: A delegation of IAF team will on Friday receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan during an aerial combat, at the Wagah border, official sources said. Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. Welcome back home ''Singam'' Wing Commander Abhinandan Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday in a "peace gesture". Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. It came 12 days after the JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers. A team of Indian Air Force officials will receive Wing Commander Abhinandan at the Wagah border on Friday evening, the sources said. It is not clear whether Varthaman will be handed over to the International Red Cross or to the Indian authorities by Pakistan. India on Wednesday demanded immediate and safe return of the IAF pilot. "We are happy that our pilot who had fallen across the Line of Control and was in the custody of Pakistan is being released. We are extremely happy to have him back. We only see it as a gesture which is in consonance with the Geneva Conventions," Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, the assistant chief of Air Staff, told a news conference. Signalling peace with India, Imran Khan says IAF pilot will be released tomorrow Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has offered to receive Wing Commander Varthaman at the Attari border. The Congress leader tweeted his request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Dear @narendramodi ji, I'm touring the border areas of Punjab & I'm presently in Amritsar. Came to know that @pid gov has decided to release #AbhinandanVartaman from Wagha. It will be a honour for me to go and receive him, as he and his father are alumnus of the NDA as I am," he wrote. (With agency inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 6:00 [IST] Balakot air strikes: Pak accuses India of 'Eco Terrorism', to lodge UN complaint International oi-Deepika S Islamabad, Mar 01: Pakistan Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam on Friday claimed that India's IAF airstrike targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp has damaged dozens of pine trees near the Pakistani town of Balakot. Taking note of which, the Pakistan plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing it of "eco-terrorism". The Pakistan has claimed that India bombed a hilly forest area near the northern Pakistani town of Balakot, about 40 km (25 miles) from India's border in the Himalayan region of Kashmir. LIVE Updates: Abhinandan Varthaman crosses border to enter India Indian jets bombed a "forest reserve" and the government was undertaking an environmental impact assessment, which will be the basis a complaint at the United Nations and other forums, Pak climate Change minister was quoted saying by Reuters. What happened over there is environmental terrorism... dozens of pine trees had been felled. There has been serious environmental damage," the minister told Reuters. Hostilities between the neighbours have peaked since Wednesday, with aerial combat between Indian and Pakistani warplanes for the first time in 48 years. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured after the encounter. Ties nosedived between India and Pakistan and many countries have urged de-escalation of hostilities in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, in which over 40 soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. On Tuesday, India sent fighter planes to Pakistan for the first time since 1971 and bombed a massive Jaish terror training facility in Balakot. New Delhi said it was a "non-military and pre-emptive" strike based on credible inputs that Jaish was training suicide bombers for more attacks like Pulwama. IAF pilot Abhinandan's release: China welcomes Pakistan's 'goodwill signals' International oi-Vikas SV Beijing, Mar 1: Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's release by Pakistan was termed as Islamabad's 'goodwill signals' by China. China on Friday welcomed Pakistan's decision and encouraged the two countries to engage in more counter terrorism cooperation and dialogue for the regional peace and stability. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made this statement earlier of Friday before the IAF Pilot returned to India. Pakistan released captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday evening as a "first step" to open negotiations with India. Pakistan detained the pilot following a fierce engagement between air forces of the two sides along the Line of Control when his MiG 21 fighter jet was downed. How IAF shot down Pakistan's F-16 in an aerial dogfight Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned to India from the Wagah-Attari border, two days after being captured by Pakistan during an intense aerial dogfight. Pakistan had turned down a request by India to send back the Wing Commander by aerial route and not through the Attari-Wagah land border. Asked how China views Pakistan's decision to release the pilot and whether Beijing played any behind-the-scenes role in it, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters earlier: "Well, from the start China has been calling upon the two sides to exercise restraint and take measures to ease tensions, engage in dialogue to resolve the differences". LIVE Updates: Wing Commander Abhinandan handed over to Indian authorities "I have taken note of the developments. China welcomes the goodwill signals released by the Pakistani side. De-escalation serves the common interests of both the countries. We encourage the two sides to engage in more dialogue for the peace and stability in the region," he said, as per a PTI report. About Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's offer to investigate the Pulwama terror attack if credible evidence is provided, Lu said: "we encourage the two sides to take more measures to create favourable atmosphere for the joint efforts to deal with the relevant issue. "The cooperation on counter-terrorism and jointly uphold the regional peace and stability, this is what China hopes to see". China's call for more India-Pakistan cooperation on the counter-terrorism comes in the backdrop of Beijing endorsing India's demand for elimination of breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism and agreeing to have joint policy coordination under the aegis of Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers mechanism. Briefing the media after the RIC ministers talks held on February 27 at the Chinese city of Wuzhen, Wang said: "we agreed to jointly combat all forms of terrorism through closer policy coordination and practical cooperation. Especially important is to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism". External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who attended the meeting, held talks with Wang before the RIC meeting. Wang, in his concluding remarks, tried to strike a balance by backing Pakistan, saying "we believe that Pakistan has always been opposed to terrorism". US, Saudi and a tough Indian stand: What led to the release of IAF Pilot But at the same time, he said China would play a constructive role to de-escalate the tense stand-off between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mahammed (JeM). China, however, is yet to disclose the stand it would take in the UN Security Council when the US, the UK and France resolution to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist comes up for discussion. China has blocked previous three attempts by India and the three countries on the same issue. On Thursday, it sounded no-committal about the US, the UK and France resolution to list Azhar as a global terrorist. "As we have said on many occasions, the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council has clear norms on the listing of terrorist organisations or individuals and relevant procedures," Lu said in response to a question on the issue. China will continue to take a responsible attitude and participate in the discussions of the Security Council's relevant sanctions committees and other subsidiary bodies, he added. OneIndia News with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 17:59 [IST] Imran Khan was in Lahore to ensure 'smooth' handing over of Indian pilot: Sources International pti-PTI Lahore, Mar 1: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was present in Lahore to oversee the 'smooth' handing over captured Indian Air Force pilot to India at the Wagah border on Friday, official sources said. Khan arrived in Lahore on Friday afternoon, a couple of hours before IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was brought to the Wagah border from Islamabad, amid high security. "PM Khan's main purpose of being in the town was to oversee the 'smooth' handing over of the captured Indian pilot to the Border Security Force," an official source told PTI. He said during his stay Khan held a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, who praised the premier for ordering the release of the Indian pilot. They said this gesture would establish that Pakistan was a peace loving country and wanted peace with its neighbouring countries especially India. Buzdar said: "This move will help de-escalte tensions between India and Pakistan." "The prime minister stayed in the city till the time the Indian pilot was handed over to his country. Later, he left for Islamabad," the source added. Pakistan Foreign Office, in a statement issued after handing over of the Indian pilot to India said: "Prime Minister Imran Khan who announced his (Varthaman's) return as a 'goodwill gesture' aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India." Wing Commander Varthaman was arrested when his MIG-21 crashed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after being shot down by Pakistan Air Force for what Islamabad said "violating Pakistani airspace" on February 27. PTI Centre renames 2 prominent institutes after Sushma Swaraj on the eve of her birth anniversary The joy of our lives: Sushma Swaraj's husband warm birthday wishes for late leader Remembering Sushma Swaraj on her death anniversary: Facts about Iron Lady of India Pak Foreign Minister to skip OIC meet over invite to Sushma Swaraj International oi-Deepika S Islamabad, Dubai, Mar, 01: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that he will not attend the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states over the invitation extended to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has arrived in United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take part in the inaugural session of the foreign ministers' conclave of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi. Swaraj is expected to raise the issue of terror when she represents India for the first time at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the UAE's Abu Dhabi today. Qureshi makes 'urgent' phone call to Chinese FM, briefs him on Indo-Pak tensions His statement came amid the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the former claimed to have struck terror launch pads in Balakot. Swaraj has been invited as a "guest of honour" at the inaugural session of the foreign ministers' conclave in Abu Dhabi on March 1-2. Opposition parties in Pakistan have also called for a boycott of the OIC meeting for inviting India as "guest of honour". "Pakistan should boycott the OIC meeting. It is an insult that our enemies are being invited as a guest of honour when Kashmiris are facing bloodshed," Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif said on the National Assembly floor. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 12:18 [IST] Russia offered to mediate, provide venue to India, Pak to hold talks International pti-PTI Islamabad, Mar 1: Russia on Friday offered to mediate and provide venue to Pakistan and India for the talks to resolve their current differences, Pakistan Foreign Office said. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi over telephone and discussed the situation in the region following escalation of tensions between the two neighbours, it said. [Abhinandan Varthaman returns home finally via Wagah-Attari border] "Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov reiterated his country's offer of mediation and provision of venue for the talks between India and Pakistan," the FO added. Qureshi appreciated Russia's balanced and constructive role in de-escalation of tensions in the region. He welcomed the Russian offer and said that he had acknowledged Moscow's constructive role in Parliament while addressing the joint session earlier in the day, which was well received. The two Foreign Ministers agreed to continue consultations for promotion of peace and stability in the region, according to FO. PTI US did not share Osama bin Laden's location with Pakistan due to lack of trust Saudi Arabia revokes citizenship of late al-Qaida leader Osama's son Hamza bin Laden International oi-Madhuri Adnal Riyadh, Mar 01: Saudi Arabia on Friday revoked citizenship of Hamza bin Laden, the son of late al-Qaida leader, after US offers $1M bounty for him. Earlier on Thursday, the United States offered a USD 1 million reward for information on a son of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, seeing him as an emerging leader of the extremist network. The location of Hamza bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him in Pakistan, Afghanistan or under house arrest in Iran. US offers mil reward for info on 'crown prince of jihad' Hamza Bin Laden, Osama's son "Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise," a State Department statement said, referring to Al-Qaeda. The State Department said that it would offer $1 million for information leading to his location in any country. Bin Laden, who according to the United States is around 30, has threatened attacks against the United States to avenge the 2011 killing of his father, who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, by US special forces. (with PTI inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 1, 2019, 20:44 [IST] Venezuela political crisis: China, Russia veto US resolution in the UN International pti-PTI United Nations, Mar 1: Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a US resolution in the UN Security Council on addressing the crisis in Venezuela, but a counter-proposal from Moscow did not win enough votes. The failure to take action on the two competing drafts laid bare divisions among world powers over the way forward in Venezuela, which is mired in a political standoff and an economic meltdown. The proposed US text -- which called for new presidential elections in Venezuela and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian aid -- won the required nine votes at the 15-member council, but Moscow and Beijing joined forces to block it. Resolutions at the council, which are legally binding, must garner nine votes to be adopted, with no vetoes from the five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Russia's draft resolution -- which urged a settlement "through peaceful means" and insisted that all humanitarian aid be agreed by Maduro's government -- won only four votes: Russia, China, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea. Seven countries including the United States, European countries and Peru opposed the Russian measure and there were four abstentions. Battered by economic collapse, Venezuela descended into a major political crisis when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January and asserted that President Nicolas Maduro was no longer legitimate. The United States is leading a push for recognition of Guaido, who heads the National Assembly. He is now backed by more than 50 countries. After the double vetoes, US envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams took an implicit swipe at Russia and China, lamenting that countries "continue to shield Maduro and his cronies and prolong the suffering of the Venezuelan people." Abrams expressed satisfaction that "a clear majority of the council" had supported the US stance. France, Germany and Britain were among those that backed the proposed US measure. South Africa voted no while Indonesia, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast abstained. [Explained: The ongoing crisis in Venezuela] Asked how long it will take for Maduro to fall, Abrams told reporters: "Are we talking days, weeks or months? We hope it's as little as possible." - Regime change. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia meanwhile accused the United States of putting forward a text that was "written for regime change, disguised as care for people. We have all seen this already in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan." Venezuela's Ambassador Samuel Moncada renewed his government's assertions that the United States is preparing military action, referring to President Donald Trump's statement that "all options are on the table." Maduro has accused the United States of using aid as a political tool aimed at overthrowing him, and blames US sanctions for the economic turmoil. The crisis turned violent over the weekend when four people died in clashes at Venezuela's borders during an attempt led by Guaido to bring in humanitarian aid from Colombia and Brazil. PTI Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to reach Lucknow on July 16; Key meetings scheduled in Delhi before visit UP Board Class 10th, 12th Result 2021 Declared: How to check Members of farmers' body detained in Lucknow for trying to burn effigies of PM Modi, Shah Section 144 CrPC invoked in Lucknow in view of Christmas, New Year UP: Property dealer shot dead at wedding function Lucknow pti-PTI Etah (UP), Mar 1: A property dealer was allegedly shot dead at a wedding function by two unidentified persons in a village here, police said Friday. Atul Tiwari, 26, was attacked on Thursday night at Gumanpur village in Rizor area, they said. The body was sent for post-mortem and a probe on in the matter. No arrests have been made so far, the police said. PTI Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to reach Lucknow on July 16; Key meetings scheduled in Delhi before visit Members of farmers' body detained in Lucknow for trying to burn effigies of PM Modi, Shah Section 144 CrPC invoked in Lucknow in view of Christmas, New Year Uttar Pradesh: Man attempts suicide by shooting himself in Balda Lucknow pti-PTI Muzaffarnagar, March 1: An official of the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself at a village in this district, police said on Friday. Devdutt (26) shot himself over family dispute at his house in Balda village on Thursday evening. According to Bhopa Police Station SHO the injured man was rushed to district hospital in serious condition. [IIT Hyderabad student commits suicide writes,'Life holds no intrigue anymore'] A case has been registered in this regard and an investigation is underway, the official said. PTI By Paul Sandle, Reuters | Feb. 28, 2019 Rolls-Royce dropped out of the race to power Boeing's planned mid-market aircraft on Thursday, saying it did not want to risk more disruption for its airline customers by rushing out a product without extensive testing. The move strengthens a leading position in the high-profile contest already held by a transatlantic venture involving Rolls' arch-rival General Electric, industry sources said, Britain's Rolls-Royce, which makes engines for large civil aircraft and military planes, wants to avoid a repeat of the problems with its Trent 1000 engine that powers Boeing's Dreamliner 787. Chief Executive Warren East said he had taken the "very difficult decision" to withdraw from the Boeing competition because it couldn't make the development of its new UltraFan architecture fit the timetable for the aircraft. Boeing has proposed launching a new mid-sized jetliner to fill a gap between the narrow and wide-body aircraft, with airline operations beginning in 2025. "If you enter into service with an engine that is not sufficiently mature, then you are almost inevitably going to run into lots of in-service issues, lots of customer disruption and lots of incremental costs," East told reporters. He said, however, that Rolls was still committed to UltraFan, a major new fuel-efficient architecture that will power wide-body jets towards the back end of the next decade. CFM International -- a joint venture between GE and France's Safran -- as well as Pratt & Whitney are also potential suppliers for the new Boeing jet. Pratt & Whitney recently re-entered the civil market for narrow-body jets and wants to expand to larger ones, but has been hit by industrial problems. Unhappy Customers In the nearer term, Rolls is still dealing with the costs and disruption of fixing Trent 1000 engines caused by the poor durability of components. "On this issue we have indeed turned the corner," East said, although he added that the level of customer disruption was still unacceptable. It raised the Trent 1000 charge to 790 million pounds from 554 million pounds at the half year, contributing to a full-year operating loss of 1.16 billion pounds (US$1.54 billion), and allocated another 100 million pounds in cash to the problem. The issue has damaged Rolls' standing with its big customers. British Airways owner IAG said on Thursday it would order 18 Boeing 777-9s, rather than a competing package from Airbus that industry sources said included the A350, which is powered by Rolls. "I have been frustrated, largely with the performance of Rolls-Royce, not so much with Airbus," IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said. East, however, said Rolls had an excellent relationship with BA and put the choice down to IAG's fleet requirements. "I am totally confident we will be continuing to be a major partner with BA for many, many years into the future," he said. East said that aside from Trent 1000, the rest of the business was performing well, although the large engine deliveries of 480 fell short of its 500 target, in part due to the challenge of stepping up Trent 7000 production. Shares in Rolls were trading down 3.4 percent at 950 pence, underperforming a 1 percent drop in the FTSE 100. The company reported a 8 percent rise in underlying revenue to 15.1 billion pounds and a doubling of operating profit to 616 million pounds. However, changes in Rolls-Royce's dollar-pound hedge book had a significant impact on its results, and were in part responsible for a reported full-year loss of 2.9 billion pounds. Yggdrasil's Strong Performance for Q4 and 2018 has CEO Elmqvist Positively Beaming Published March 1, 2019 by Lee R The business model at Yggdrasil is paying dividends, and readers should take not of the organisation's growth. Yggdrasil's Q4 and full 2018 reports have been released, and CEO Fredrik Elmqvist could not be happier. Highlight Numbers He praised the solid growth and revenues, which reached all time high levels of MSEK ~274, for a robust 62% year-on-year jump. He also celebrated the healthy underlying profit whilst being in high growth mode, with EBIT amounting to MSEK ~70. Investment Profile Elmqvist further lauded the important investments effectively made for the future bringing more development projects in the pipeline than ever before. Manpower Growth Organisational gains include total employees increasing to 295, for a jump of almost a full 100% from the previous year. GGA Elmqvist also pointed out the significance in 2018 of GGA (Global Game Availability), which empowered Yggdrasil to manage all new games in all environments including regulated ones at the same time. YGS Masters Yggdrasil Gaming also started YGS Masters to provide opportunities to emerging startups by selecting leading independent studios to develop and distribute gaming content on Yggdrasils platform. The signing of three new studios according to Elmqvist has the program set to provide the best games and end player user experience in the industry. New Games Yggdrasil also most importantly launched 18 new games, including the third game in the immensely successful Vikings series, Vikings Go To Hell, as well as Yggdrasil's first branded game in collaboration with Nitro Circus. Clientele Growth New operator clients were also in abundance in 2018, as evinced by the signing of several notable customers during the year including Paf, Veikkaus, 888 in addition to Svenska Spel and ATG, with the latter two being key additions in light of the new era of Swedish regulation launched this year. Employee Kick-off Fun The enhancement of strategic alignments kicked off in Krakow, Poland with the gathering of all employees for Yggdrasil's annual kick-off during three action-packed days in October. Organizational Growth Approach Elmqvist is looking forward in 2019 to the challenges and opportunities that 2019 has to offer through organisational prioritisation of growth with a three-pronged focus consisting of commercial expansion, technological consolidation and global collaboration. Outlook How this well-developed strategy plays out over the course of the year will be fascinating to watch. Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: FinTech platform for alternative investments DarcMatter (DM) has announced a partnership with South Korea's bank holding company Hana Financial Group (HFG). DarcMatter claims that the partnership solidifies it as a key partner in providing enhanced access to exclusive deal flow throughout alternative investments globally. "This partnership is one of many in the region solidifying DarcMatter's footprint with the South Korean institutional investor community," said DM's CEO and President, Sang Lee. "We will be able to consummate key investment transactions for leading industry players like HFG in a comprehensive manner from compliant sourcing to effective due diligence and documentation," Lee added. DM has been an active player in the financial services scene in South Korea since 2017 and has continued to grow its foothold in the region establishing partnerships with the financial services firms as well as public and private institutional investors. "Local investors are continuing to grow their active allocation into alternative assets with almost two-thirds of South Korea-based institutions now investing in private equity, while about two-fifths of the community have committed to the other private capital asset classes," DM claimed. DarcMatter will continue to expand its partnerships with top global alternative managers able to meet the requirements of the Korean investment community, it said. DM's platform a...................... 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Another factor fuelling the growth of off-highway diesel engine market is the stiff competition in the mining industries to cut down costs on fuel prices and enhance profits. Therefore, the fleet operators and managers prefer the use of off-highway diesel engine so as to gain competitive advantage and sustain profitability. However, the costs associated with deploying such diesel engines are too high for small and medium sized fleet operators. Due to the low profit margins, they continue using the conventional machineries and equipment for executing the mining and construction activities. Also, countries with unstable mining policies hamper the regular use of such off-highway diesel engine equipment. These factors adversely affect the growth of off-highway diesel engine market.With the goal to comply with the changing emission standards and improve fuel efficiency, major players in the market are coming with new machinery and equipment. 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Rest of the World (Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Others)To Share Any Query, Ask Our Experts@Additionally, key Hadoop Market players impacting the Market are profiled from the analysis together side their SWOT analysis and market plans. The report also targets leading industry players along with advice like company profiles, services, and products offered, financial information of the past three decades, an important development in the last five decades.Major TOC:1. Introduction2. Executive Summary3. Industry Overview4. Market Analysis by Regions4.1. North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)4.2. Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Rest of Europe)4.3. Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Rest of Asia-Pacific)4.4. South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Rest of South America)4.5. Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Rest9. Global Hadoop Market Competition, by Manufacturer9.1. Global Hadoop Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017)9.2. Global Hadoop Price By Region (2016-2017)9.3. Top 5 Hadoop Manufacturer Market Share9.4. Market Competition Trend10. Hadoop Market Forecast (2018-2025)10.1. Global Hadoop Revenue (Millions USD) and Growth Rate (2018-2025)10.2. Hadoop Market Forecast by Regions (2018-2025)10.2.1. North America Hadoop Market Forecast (2018-2025)10.2.1.1. United States Hadoop Market Forecast (2018-2025)8. Company Profiles8.1. Cisco Systems8.1.1. Business Overview8.1.2. Service Portfolio8.1.3. Strategic Developments8.1.4. Financial Overview8.2. Datameer, Inc8.2.1. Business Overview8.2.2. Service Portfolio8.2.3. Strategic Developments8.2.4. Financial Overview8.3. Karmasphere, Inc8.3.1. Business Overview8.3.2. Service Portfolio8.3.3. Strategic Developments8.3.4. Financial OverviewDrivers and Restraints:The significant drivers for the market development is the developing volume of organized and unstructured information, expanding interest for enormous information investigation and speedy and reasonable information handling administrations offered by Hadoop technology. Distributed computing and security issues in Hadoop Platform are going about as the significant restrictions for development of this market.List of Tables and Figures:Figure Germany Hadoop Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2014-2025)Figure France Hadoop Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2014-2025)Figure UK Hadoop Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2014-2025)Figure Russia Hadoop Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2014-2025)Figure Italy Hadoop Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2014-2025)Figure Rest of Europe Hadoop Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2014-2025)To avail Reasonable Discount of Report @About Crystal Industry Research:Crystal Offers One Stop Solution For Industry Research, Business Intelligence, And Consulting Services To Help Clients Make More Informed Decisions. It Provides Both Syndicated As Well As Customized Research Studies For Its Customers Spread Across The Globe. The Company Offers Industry Intelligence Reports Across A Broad Range Of Industries Including Healthcare, Chemicals & Materials, Technology, Automotive, And Energy.Contact Us:Judy S,304 South Jones Blvd, Suite 1896,Las Vegas NV 89107,United StatesToll Free: +1-888-213-4282Email: Sales@CrystalIndustryresearch.Com Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) Market 2019: Top Key Players are Axrtek, Bytelight, Inc. (Acuity), Fujitsu, General Electric Co., Ibsentelecom Ltd., Integrated System Technologies Ltd, Koninklijke Philips N.V., etc. Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) Market https://www.researchreportsworld.com/enquiry/request-sample/13872760 https://www.researchreportsworld.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/13872760 https://www.researchreportsworld.com/purchase/13872760 Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) Market 2019 Report analyses the industry status, size, share, trends, growth opportunity, competition landscape and forecast to 2025. This report also provides data on patterns, improvements, target business sectors, limits and advancements. Furthermore, this research report categorizes the market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.Get Sample Copy of this Report@Global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) market 2019 research provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) market analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status. Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) Market research report spread across 105 pages with top key manufacturers and list of tables and figures.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) market competition by TOP MANUFACTURERS, with production, price, revenue (value) and each manufacturer including Axrtek Bytelight, Inc. (Acuity) Fujitsu General Electric Co. Ibsentelecom Ltd. Integrated System Technologies Ltd Koninklijke Philips N.V. Lightbee Corp. ..This report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaGlobal Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) Market providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) market development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With tables and figures helping analyze worldwide Global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) market, this research provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Order a copy of Global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) Market Report 2019 @Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Photodetector Light-Emitting Diode Software and Services Modulation Vehicle and Transportation Underwater Communication Consumer Electronics Hazardous Environment Street Lights OtherMarket segment by Application, split into Hospital Defense and Security Smart Store AviationThe study objectives of this report are: To analyze global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) 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.There are 14 Chapters to deeply display the global Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) marketChapter 1: To describe Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) Market Overview, Introduction, product scope, market opportunities, Application.Chapter 2: To analyze the Top Manufacturers of Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems), with sales, capacity, production, revenue, and price of Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems), in 2014 and 2019.Chapter 3: Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems), to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers with capacity, production, share by region, sales, revenue, gross margine and market share in 2014 and 2019.Chapter 4: To show the global market by regions, supply, consumption, with sales, export-import, revenue and market share of Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems), for each region, from 2014 Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) to 2019.Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 To analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, analysis by application, 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, strategy analysis and factor analysis from 2016 Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) to 2019.Chapter 12 Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) market forecast, by regions, type, with sales and revenue, growth rate, price Forecast from 2019 to 2025 Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems).Chapter 13: Connected Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems).Chapter 14: To describe Li-Fi (Light Fidelity Communication systems) sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.About Us:Research Reports World is the credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs. At Research Reports World, 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 MoreEmail: sales@researchreportsworld.comOrganization: Research Reports WorldPhone: +1424 253 0807/+44 203 239 8187 NoSQL Databases Software Market 2019 Global Analysis By Key Players MongoDB, Amazon, ArangoDB, Azure Cosmos DB, Couchbase, MarkLogic NoSQL Databases Software Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3776202-global-nosql-databases-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3776202-global-nosql-databases-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=3776202 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On NoSQL Databases Software Market 2019 Global Analysis By Key Players MongoDB, Amazon, ArangoDB, Azure Cosmos DB, Couchbase, MarkLogic.NoSQL Databases Software Industry 2019Description:-In 2018, the global NoSQL Databases Software market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025.This report focuses on the global NoSQL Databases Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the NoSQL Databases Software development in United States, Europe and China.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThe key players covered in this studyMongoDBAmazonArangoDBAzure Cosmos DBCouchbaseMarkLogicRethinkDBCouchDBSQL-RDOrientDBRavenDBRedisMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoCloud BasedWeb BasedMarket segment by Application, split intoLarge EnterprisesSMEsMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South America.Enquiry About Report @Table Of Contents Major Key Points1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global NoSQL Databases Software Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2014-2025)1.4.2 Cloud Based1.4.3 Web Based1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global NoSQL Databases Software Market Share by Application (2014-2025)1.5.2 Large Enterprises1.5.3 SMEs1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 NoSQL Databases Software Market Size2.2 NoSQL Databases Software Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 NoSQL Databases Software Market Size by Regions (2014-2025)2.2.2 NoSQL Databases Software Market Share by Regions (2014-2019)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Opportunities3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 NoSQL Databases Software Market Size by Manufacturers3.1.1 Global NoSQL Databases Software Revenue by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.1.2 Global NoSQL Databases Software Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.1.3 Global NoSQL Databases Software Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 NoSQL Databases Software Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players NoSQL Databases Software Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into NoSQL Databases Software Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application4.1 Global NoSQL Databases Software Market Size by Type (2014-2019)4.2 Global NoSQL Databases Software Market Size by Application (2014-2019)5 United States5.1 United States NoSQL Databases Software Market Size (2014-2019)5.2 NoSQL Databases Software Key Players in United States5.3 United States NoSQL Databases Software Market Size by Type5.4 United States NoSQL Databases Software Market Size by ApplicationContinuedBuy 1-user PDF @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Key Insights of Future Prospects of Quillaia extract Market During 2017-2027 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3822 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3822 www.futuremarketinsights.com Quillaia extract, a native of China and South American countries, is obtained from the stems and branches of the Quillaja Saponaria Molina. It is obtained by the extraction of the inner bark or wood of pruned stems. Quillaia extract is rich in sapogenins and saponins. Saponins are extracted either by solvent based or by water-based processes. Quillaia extract is the natural foaming and emulsifying agent used in food and beverage industries. The quillaia extract is applied in various forms such as powdered and liquid form depending upon its use in the industrial processes.Global Quillaia extract: Market DynamicsThe Quillaia extract market is driven by the food and beverage industry. The increase in the consumption of natural ingredients owing to its health benefits over the synthetic market attracts the attention of manufacturers towards the quillaia extract. Moreover, other factors such as the increase in the percentage of obese people, changing food preferences, growing concerns about the health benefits of the natural ingredients favors the market growth. The use of quillaia extract as a foaming and emulsifying agent in the food and beverage industry is the key trend in the market triggering the quillaia extract market. Thus owing to all its natural base and health benefits supported with its the wide industrial application facilitate the quillaia extract to have a significant demand during the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @However, the direct consumption of quillaia extract is not considered for the human use as it contains tannins in high amount. Quillaja saponin is toxic in nature. The ingestion of the quillaia bark may cause liver damage, diarrhea, and respiratory failure and can also lead to coma. The quillaia extract consumption should be avoided in pregnancy. Though the dosage intake is not specified yet, it is used as per the government authorization of the industrial process. All the above factors directly affect the quillaia extract market and can stagnant the growth.Global Quillaia extract: SegmentationQuillaia extract is segmented based on its type in following categoriesType I( Unpurified extracts)Type IIHigh Purified Quillaia extractQuillaia extract is segmented based on its physical forms in following categoriesPowderLiquidQuillaia extract is segmented based on its applications in following categoriesFoaming agentEmulsifying agentFlavoring agentQuillaia extract is segmented based on its Industrial use in following categoriesFood and BeverageSoft drinksCiderCream sodaDairy productsPuddingsConfectionariesCosmeticsBaby care productsOral careAnti-dandruff productsNatural and organic cosmeticsAgricultureAnimal feedGlobal Quillaia extract: Segment OverviewBased on the type, quillaia extract is segmented into Type I which is considered to be the unpurified extract. It contains around 20-26% saponins concentration. Type II quillaia extract is lighter and more processed than the type I as it is subjected to the filtration to remove tannins, polyphenols that can affect the color of the food. It contains around 75- 90% saponins. Highly purified quillaia extract is a purified and filtered followed by separation to remove polyphenols. It is used in animal vaccines. Owing to the properties of surfactant and skin friendly product used in cosmetic and detergents. Based on the physical forms, quillaia extract is segmented into two type namely powdered form which is used in food processing and as a liquid which is preferred in the beverage industry. Based on the industrial use, the quillaia extract market is segmented into food and beverage industry in which the quillaia extract is used in puddings, soft drinks, dairy products, and confectionaries. In cosmetics, the quillaia extract is used in the baby care and personal care products. It is also used in the anti-dandruff products. The quillaia extract is also used in animal feed and agriculture. By applications, quillaia extract market is segmented into foaming agents used in food industry, as an emulsifying agent consumed in the beverage industry and as a flavoring agent.Global Quillaia extract: Regional OverviewThe quillaia extract is native to China and other South American countries such as Chile and Peru but marked its presence in the regions including North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle-East and Africa. Moreover, Europe followed by the North America and Asia Pacific dominates the market by contributing the significant share regarding revenue. Europe is expected to grow at significant CAGR due to a strategic alliance between the players, increasing number of food and beverage industries, and favorable governmental policies. The quillaia extract market is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR in the forecast period owing to increasing use of natural ingredients over the synthetic one, health benefits and rapid industrial development specifically in food and beverage industries. Considering all these factors, the demand growth of the quillaia extract market is anticipated to have the positive outlook during the forecast period.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Global Quillaia extract: Market PlayersThe quillaia extract market is driven by the prominent players includingGaruda International Inc.,Naturex S.A.PERA GmbHAbout UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: 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 9.7% CAGR Growth for Global Infrared Sensor Market by 2023| FLIR Systems Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., Hamamatsu Photonic K.K., Omron Corporation, Sofradir etc. https://inforgrowth.com/requestdiscount/r/1213231/global-infrared-sensor-market-company-profiles-and-competitive-intelligence-report-2018 https://inforgrowth.com/samplerequest/r/1213231/global-infrared-sensor-market-company-profiles-and-competitive-intelligence-report-2018 https://inforgrowth.com/customizationrequest/r/1213231/global-infrared-sensor-market-company-profiles-and-competitive-intelligence-report-2018 The global infrared sensor market was valued at US$ 399.68 Mn in 2018 and is expected to reach US$ 634.96 Mn by the end of the forecast period, growing at a CAGR of 9.7% during the period from 2018 to 2023.INQUIRE FOR DISCOUNT UPTO 50% ON INFRARED SENSOR MARKET 2018-23 REPORT AT:The global Infrared Sensor (IR) sensor market is highly fragmented owing to the presence of international, regional, and local vendors. The demand for IR sensor is expected to grow due to the rising investments in R&D by key players, such as FLIR Systems Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., Hamamatsu Photonic K.K., Omron Corporation, and others. To expand the market, the majority of the vendors are adopting new technologies and product launches to gain a competitive advantage in the global market. The Infrared Sensor (IR) market is largely driven by new product launches and acquisitions. For instance, Honeywell International Inc. and Omron Corporation together have acquired local infrared detector manufacturer companies for enhancing their global outreach and increase market share.The key players operating in the market include FLIR Systems Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., Hamamatsu Photonic K.K., Omron Corporation, Sofradir, Excelitas Technologies Corp., Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Nippon Avionics, Raytheon Company, Honeywell International Inc., and others. The company profiles will include key information about companies such as company description, base of operations, operational presence, product/business portfolio, employee strength, list of key stakeholders and board of directors, organizational structure, key competitors and their details, financial information such as revenue growth, profit margin, market capitalization, market positioning of key players, share price comparison, SWOT analysis, key developments, business strategies, and analysts views.The competition in the global Infrared Sensor (IR) market is intense as various vendors are providing the technology to various end-use industries for market expansion. They are used in a wide range of applications, while new applications are continuously developing. For instance, in November 2016, Excelitas Technologies Corporation has launched new CaliPile sensors, an intelligent IR sensor that comprises highly-sensitive infrared detectors and connected electronic circuitry. These sensors are primarily being used in numerous applications in the field of medicine, communications, science, agriculture, remote sensing from space, and others.ASK FOR A SAMPLE COPY OF THIS REPORT AT: COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE & COMPANY PROFILES REPORT SAMPLE LINK:Recent Developments in the Market:Elliptic Labs: In Dec 2018, Elliptic Labs and Solomon Systech Combine Ultrasound and Capacitive Technology for OEMs to Remove IR Proximity Sensors from Smartphones. Elliptic Labs, the innovator in ultrasound virtual sensors, announced a partnership with Solomon Systech Limited, a leader in display controllers, which will help the smartphone market take a big step forward towards eliminating the outdated IR proximity sensor that has been around since the first Smartphone. Eliminating the IR sensor gives an almost full-screen display in smartphones.AKMC: In Sep 2018, Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation, (AKM) has developed a short-range infrared sensor IC, known as the AK9754, with a built-in Human Approach Detection algorithm. The AK9754 consumes less power because of the built-in algorithm, as compared to the existing systems that need external signal processing. It is suitable for battery-powered applications.The AK9754 integrates AKMs original InSb quantum IR sensor element, an analog front-end circuit for converting the current output of the element to voltage.ENQUIRE MORE ABOUT THIS REPORT AT: COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE & COMPANY PROFILES REPORT CUSTOMIZATION LINK:Related Reports on Infrared Sensor Market:Global Infrared Sensor Market Full ReportGlobal Infrared Sensor Market Summary ReportGlobal Infrared Sensor Market Segmentation ReportGlobal Infrared Sensor Market Regional ReportGlobal Infrared Sensor Market StatbookAbout InForGrowth:We are a market-intelligence company formed with the objective of providing clients access to the most relevant and accurate research content for their growth needs. At InForGrowth, we understand Research requirements and help our clients in taking informed business-critical decisions. Given the complexities and interdependencies of market-intelligence, there is always more than one source to explore and arrive at the right answer. Through our smart search feature and our reliable & trusted publishing partners, we are paving the way for more simplified and relevant research.For all your Research needs, reach out to us at:Address: 6400 Village Pkwy suite # 104, Dublin, CA 94568, USAContact Person: RohanEmail: sales@inforgrowth.comUS: +1-909-329-2808UK: +44 (203) 743 1890 Drain Cleaning Equipment Market Dynamics and Segmentation | Market Participants are Masco Corp, DURACABLE. https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4622 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4622 https://www.fmiblog.com/ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com http://www.marketresearchblog.org/ Drain cleaning equipment is the major components in operation and maintenance of water, wastewater, and sewer utilities. It is a never ending and challenging task to keep drainage system, the piping system in the flow. However, it is most important but most overlooked elements of healthy facilities. As there is numerous material which can cause blockage in drainage. The area of blockage may be hard to access and so difficult to remove the blockage. Drain cleaning equipment help to remove the blockage in these locations and clear the drainage system.Drain cleaning equipment is equipment of includes hand tools as well as power tools. A major misconception related to drain cleaning equipment is one machine can handle all the drain issues. But in reality, it is not so, as there are several issues at various location and in different sizes systems. So there are different equipment made for different issues to solve it effectively and easily.Request Sample Report@Drain Cleaning Equipment Market:Market DynamicsSignificant investments by State and Federal governments on the operation and maintenance of water, wastewater, and sewer utilities is one of the major factors in driving the drain cleaning equipment demand in the forecast period. A survey from American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) states that waste water treatment plants will increase considerably in the upcoming year. As these are the target markets, the drain cleaning equipment market is expected to grow significantly in the upcoming years.The high price of power drain cleaning equipment limiting their usage on commercial applications. The traditional hand tools such as plungers and augers are commonly found to be used in household applications, the major reason being the low cost, which in turn results in high penetration of these products. Where the advance drain cleaning power tools such as drum machine, sectional machine, sink machines, and water jetters are capable of offering a wide range of operations and are easy to use, find limited adoption in the household due to its high price. However, providing drain cleaning equipment on rent is in trend these days.Drain Cleaning Equipment Market:Market SegmentationSegmentation ofDrain Cleaning Equipment Market can be doneon the basis of product type as follows: Hand Tools; Auger, Hand Spinners, Plunger, Sewer Tapes, Power Tools; Sink Machines, Drum Machines, Sectional Machines, Water Jetters, Rodder Machines; Segmentation of Drain Cleaning Equipment Market can be doneon the basis of application as follows: Municipal, Residential, Industrial, Segmentation of Drain Cleaning Equipment Market can be doneon the basis of By sales channel as follows: Distributor Sales, Retail Outlet, Online Sales.Drain Cleaning Equipment Market: Regional OutlookNorth America holds a significant share in the global Drain Cleaning Equipment Market in terms of value as well as volume followed by Europe. The Drain Cleaning Equipment Market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a substantial rate over the forecast period. Growth in Asia-Pacific Drain Cleaning Equipment Market is mainly due to the rapid growth in the urbanization and industrialization. Furthermore, significant investments in the field of cleaning as well as operation and maintenance of drains, wastewater, and sewer in the countries such as India and China will bolster the Drain Cleaning Equipment Market. The growth in the Drain Cleaning Equipment Market in North America is chiefly due to the government support and funding in the field of development and implementation. Rest of the world market is estimated to account for a relatively small share of the Drain Cleaning Equipment Market.Request to View TOC @Drain Cleaning Equipment Market: Market ParticipantsSome of the examples of the market participants in the global Drain Cleaning Equipment Market, identified across the value chain are: Masco Corp, DURACABLE., Gorlitz Sewer & Drain, Inc, General Wire Spring Co., Electric Eel Manufacturing Co Inc, Spartan Tools LLC, Duracable Manufacturing CO, Rothenberger USA LLC, Goodway Technologies Corp., GT Water Products Inc.Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog:Web:Blog: Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market and Forecasts up to by 2023 | Top Key Players Include : Microsoft Corporation, IBM, Apple Inc., Preferred Networks, Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing http://www.contrivedatuminsights.com/Home/RequestaSample/2516 http://www.contrivedatuminsights.com/Home/GetSpecialPricing/2516 http://www.contrivedatuminsights.com/Home/ProductReport/2516 www.contrivedatuminsights.com The Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market relies on large datasets, using statistical modeling and various technologies such as machine learning and natural language processing to generate insights from the manufacturing records, data, IT systems, stock control and order processing. AI uses electronic records (ER), machine-produced data from apps and sensors, factory and equipment databases, which is then being applied to material technology, factory process control, customer and supplier relationship management, logistics and warehousing management, decision making and communication of process information. Besides cost and time efficiency, various other technologies are responsible for the integration of AI in manufacturing such as the growing cloud computing and robotics market.Get a Sample copy of this Report:The manufacturing industry has seen dramatic changes in the past decade and continues to undergo radical process changes in the delivery of its products. The advancement in technology and innovations are changing the market scenario and increasing the need of cost-effectiveness and superior customer services. There is an increasing need for implementation of technological innovations to the manufacturing processes and data to enable better decision plans, greater responsiveness to customer demands, improved product design and quality, and faster turnaround times.The key and the prominent vendors covered in the report include Google Inc., Microsoft Corporation, IBM, Apple Inc., Preferred Networks, Inc., Skymind, Inc., and others.According to Infoholic Research, AI in manufacturing market is estimated to be $330.5 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $4,012.5 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 51.6% during the forecast period 20172023. The leading adoption of the internet of things augmented reality, digitization and 3D printing are the major reasons contributing to the adoption of technology in manufacturing.The report provides in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and supportable projections and assumptions about the market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions based on the vendors portfolio, blogs, whitepapers, and vendors presentations. Thus, the research report serves every side of the market and is segmented based on regional markets, technology type, applications, and end-user verticals.The report contains an in-depth analysis of the vendor profiles, which include financial health, business units, key business priorities, SWOT, strategy, and views; and competitive landscape. The vendors have been identified based on the portfolio, geographical presence, marketing & distribution channels, revenue generation, and significant investments in R&D.Get Special Pricing:The report provides an in-depth analysis of the Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market aiming to reduce time to market for products and services, reduce operational cost, improve accuracy, and operational performance. The major driving forces for Artificial Intelligence are supplemental technologies such as cloud computing, cognitive analytics, and the need to shift towards cost-effective solutions to make decisions in different sectors. The report discusses technology types, applications, and regions. Furthermore, the report provides details about the major challenges impacting market growth.Table of Content (TOC):Chapter 1 Introduction and OverviewChapter 2 Industry Cost Structure and Economic ImpactChapter 3 Rising Trends and New Technologies with key playersChapter 4 Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market Analysis, Trends, Growth FactorChapter 5 Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market Application and Business with Potential AnalysisChapter 6 Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market Segment, Type, ManufacturersChapter 7 Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market Analysis (by Application)Chapter 8 Major Key Vendors Analysis of Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing MarketChapter 9 Development Trend of AnalysisChapter 10 ConclusionFor More Information:Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide the custom report.About Contrive Datum Insights :Contrive Datum Insights (CDI) is the most comprehensive database of market-related research. Serious researchers from across the globe seeking up-to-date information on the latest market trends with in-depth analyses turn to Contrive Datum Insights. Our massive database boasts authentic reports published by leading authors and publications. Contrive Datum Insights highly motivated and expert in-house team undertakes rigorous screening of the credentials of publishers and authors before accepting their submissions. Such vetting is imperative for internal quality control.Alex Jones,(Sales Manager),Office : 4859 Slcan Street,Vancouver,British Columbia, Canada+19084598372,sales@contrivedatuminsights.com Global Chemical Logistics Market 2018-2025 Planet Market Report Global chemical logistics market to reach USD 3.6 trillion by 2025 https://www.planetmarketreports.com/reports/global-chemical-logistics-market-forecasts-2018-2025 https://www.planetmarketreports.com/report-sample/global-chemical-logistics-market-forecasts-2018-2025 Global chemical logistics market is valued approximately USD 1.3 trillion in 2017 and is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 13.98 % over the forecast period 2018-2025. Growing demand for modernized green warehouses in chemical industry is the key factor triggering the growth of the chemical logistics market over the forecast period of 2018-2025. Also, the rising demand for energy conservation, the private players are focusing on adopting eco-friendly and sustainable business initiatives thereby, contributing towards the growth of the chemical logistics market.Key driving factor for the chemical logistics market is growth in chemical industry. For instance: According to the American Chemistry Council ACC s Chemical Industry Situation and Outlook presents that in 2017, U.S. chemical trade increased by 6.2% to $241.0 billion 6% increase in 2017. Also, the United States chemical exports is expected to grow around 7.2% to $139.2 billion in 2017. By 2023, the trade surplus in chemical industry is anticipated to reach $71.4 billion. Thus, growth in chemical industry would generate the need for chemical logistics since the utilization of logistics allows the chemical industry to access regular supply of both chemical distributors and suppliers from different locations across the globe. As a result, the demand and adoption of chemical logistics would increase thereby, supplementing the growth of the market over the forecast period. Furthermore, rising concerns related to product safety and security offers lucrative growth prospects for the chemical logistics market. However, high cost of operations coupled with the growing market competition expected to hinder the growth of the market during the forecast period.On the basis of segmentation, the chemical logistics market is segmented into services. The service segment of global chemical logistics market is classified into transportation, warehousing and others.The regional analysis of chemical logistics market is considered for the key regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and ROW. Asia-Pacific holds the leading position in chemical logistics market headed by India and China owing to the growth in chemical industry along with the rising urbanization. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region in terms of market share. The growth of Asia-Pacific region is witnessed owing to increasing disposable income and rapid industrialization. Also, growing focus to develop industrial infrastructure is also expected to supplement the growth of Asia-Pacific region over the forecast period.Access Full Report with TOC @The leading market players include-AgilityBDP InternationalBASFDB SchenkerC.H. RobinsonDeutsche Post DHL GroupMontreal Chemical LogisticsCT LogisticsSchneider NationalUnivarThe objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players.The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:By Services:TransportationWarehousingOthersBy Regions:North AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeUKGermanyROEAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanROAPECLAMEABrazilMexicoROWMiddle East & AfricaFurthermore, years considered for the study are as follows:Historical year 2015, 2016Base year 2017Forecast period 2018 to 2025Target Audience of the Global Chemical Logistics Market in Market Study:Key Consulting Companies & AdvisorsLarge, medium-sized, and small enterprisesVenture capitalistsValue-Added Resellers VARsThird-party knowledge providersInvestment bankersInvestorsCustomizations availableWith the given market data, Planet Market Reports offers customizations according to specific needs. 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We help you in your buy choice by mapping your data needs with our immense accumulation of reports.Contact US:-Name: Jennifer DanielEmail-Id: sales@planetmarketreports.comUS: +1-716-2260907UK: +447441952057Organization: Planet Market Reports New Study Focusing on Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Growth by Emerging Trends Analysis and Forecasts 2019-2025 | AB InBev, Discover Diageo, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Boston Beer, Distell, Etc. Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/70581 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/70581 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/70581 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/70581 www.upmarketresearch.com Up Market Research offers a latest published report on Global Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink (RTDs)/High Strength Premixes Market Research Report 2019 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 93 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Request Sample Copy Of this Report @Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes 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 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes 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 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)For More Information On This Report, Please Visit @The Major Players Reported In The Report Are: AB InBev Discover Diageo Bacardi Brown-Forman Boston Beer Distell Global Brands Halewood Radico Khaitan Suntory SpiritsGlobal Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market: Product Segment Analysis: Spirit-based RTDs Wine-based RTDs Malt-based RTDs High-Strength PremixesGlobal Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market: Application Segment Analysis: Supermarket and Hypermarket Liquor Specialist Store Online Retailing Duty-Free StoresThe Report Covers In- Depth Analysis As Follows: Chapter 1 Overview of Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types Chapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry Chapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Chapter 6 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers Chapter 7 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Market Analysis of Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Chapter 9 Cost and Gross Margin Analysis of Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Chapter 10 Marketing Status Analysis of Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Chapter 11 Report Conclusion Chapter 12 Research Methodology and ReferenceRequest Complete TOC Of this Report @Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Global Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market: Key Stakeholders: Manufacturers Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream VendorsIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market 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 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market 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 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market analysis and forecast 2018- 2025.Avail Discount On this Report @Customization of the Report:Up Market Research provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Alcoholic Ready-To-Drink /High Strength Premixes Market United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States What's driving the GCC Natural Gas Market trends? Key Company Profiled Exxon Mobil, ONGC Videsh, Statoil, ConocoPhillips, Rosneft, GAZPROM, LUKOIL, Eni, Chevron, ADNOC Group GCC Natural Gas Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2636 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2636 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.Get a sample copy of report @Growing need to cater burgeoning domestic demand, achieve self-sufficiency and reinforce energy security will drive the GCC natural gas market share. According to the 2017 BP Energy Outlook, energy consumption across the Gulf region is projected to increase by 54% by 2040, with natural gas representing over 60% of growth. Population growth, improved standards of living, urbanization, and industrialization across the regional economies will further fuel the industry growth.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.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.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.Abundant reserves featuring high-margin and low-cost development opportunities will propel the conventional natural gas market. For instance, the North Field natural-gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf is the worlds largest gas reserve. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the field holds an estimated 1,800 TCF of in-situ gas majorly shared by Iran and Qatar.Inquiry before buying report @Increasing investment towards the development of unconventional natural gas reserves along with growing demand for energy will propel the Saudi Arabia natural gas market share. For instance, Saudi Aramco announced to invest USD 7 billion for the development of shale gas reserves.Eminent participants across GCC natural gas market include Saudi Aramco Statoil Total Petroleum Development Oman Rosneft Petrobras Dana Gas Eni ONGC Videsh Ltd ConocoPhillips Gazprom Neft ChevronAbout 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: You have the right to access public places without discrimination Civil rights laws in Oregon protect you. You have the right to seek housing and go to places that do business with the public without being discriminated against. Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari (top R) attends a Security Council meeting on Venezuela, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2019. The UN Security Council on Thursday failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on Venezuela, sponsored by the United States and Russia respectively. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on Venezuela, sponsored by the United States and Russia respectively. The U.S. draft received nine votes in favor, three against, and three abstentions in the 15-member council. Russia and China, as well as South Africa, vetoed the resolution. Minutes later, the Security Council voted on the Russian draft, which received four votes in favor, seven against and four abstentions. The U.S. draft stresses the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela and to facilitate unhindered access and delivery of assistance to all in need in the entirety of the territory of Venezuela in accordance with humanitarian principles. The Russian draft, on the contrary, calls that international assistance should be provided with the consent of, and on the basis of an appeal by, the government of Venezuela. It also urges the settlement of the current situation through peaceful means and supports all initiatives aimed at reaching a political solution among Venezuelans. Thursday's Security Council meeting is the third on the situation in Venezuela in just over a month due to the escalation of political tension facing the Latin American country. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, said that the meeting "may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real, not humanitarian, intervention," adding that it may cause the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela. "At the Security Council, on the Venezuelan issue, our starting point is to uphold the spirit of the UN Charter and the basic principles governing international relations, promote a peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan issue and maintain long-term peace, stability and development in Latin America," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN. China opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela internal affairs and opposes military intervention in Venezuela, he stressed. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since Jan. 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. A U.S.-backed drive to deliver "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela through border crossings on Feb. 23 met strong resistance from the Venezuelan government as President Nicolas Maduro believed the aid, mainly from the United States, is a smokescreen for a military invasion. The Venezuelan government has d borders with Brazil and Colombia and some air and sea routes. 9 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] A 42-year-old man who raped a 12-year-old girl after her mother gave her permission to stop by his Southeast Portland apartment to watch a movie was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday. Demarcus Ramone James, now 43, was a trusted adult in the girls life. On Aug. 8, 2017, the girl had asked her mother if she could walk a short distance to James apartment to watch a movie and her mother said yes, according to a probable cause affidavit. About 20 minutes later, the mother stopped by to check on her daughter and gave the girl 15 more minutes to finish watching the movie and then come home, investigators say. About 15 minutes later, the girl rushed home crying, ran straight into the bathroom and shut the door, the affidavit states. The mother opened the door to discover blood everywhere and the girl said James had forced sex and other sexual acts on her, investigators say. The daughter, via TriMet bus, rode to a nearby hospital, where staff examined her for signs of sexual assault and collected DNA that matched James. James called 911 that night to report that two men had just burglarized his apartment, stabbed him in the shoulder and thrown him into his large TV, according to the affidavit. He later told police he made up that story to draw attention away from the girls report. James initially denied touching the girl, but later claimed she came on to him. James waived a jury trial in December and Multnomah County Circuit Judge Leslie Bottomly found him guilty of a long list of crimes, including first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and initiating a false police report. Shortly after Bottomly read the verdict, James threw a cup of water at Deputy District Attorney Amanda Nadell. He was charged with harassment, and he pleaded guilty to that crime Thursday. Hell be sentenced in April for that offense. Deputy District Attorney Amity Girt handled the sentencing hearing in place of Nadell. James defense attorney asked for eight years and four months, what he believed was the mandatory minimum under Oregon law. But Bottomly sentenced James to 25 years after the prosecutor argued that was the minimum -- because James committed separate criminal episodes as he assaulted the girl in the living room, bathroom and bedroom of his apartment. -- Aimee Green agreen@oregonian.com o_aimee Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. A 20-year-old woman was arrested in the Corvallis area Wednesday after police say she caused the death of a 1-year-old boy who was in her care. Amber M. Scott remained held in the Linn County Jail on Thursday on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Asher Carter. Emergency responders were called to a home in Lebanon on Feb. 19 and found Asher unresponsive, according to Lebanon police. He died Monday at OHSU Doernbecher Childrens Hospital in Portland. Police said it appears Asher was struggling to breathe while Scott was looking after him, and his breathing troubles led to his death. Scotts boyfriend is the brother of Carters mother, court records show. Police havent given any specific information in what Scott did to be accused in the toddlers death. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. They want to take your pickup truck, Sebastian Gorka said Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. They want to rebuild your home. They want to take away your hamburgers. This is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved. What the heck? Theyre coming for our hamburgers? The annual CPAC gathering is known for producing eye-popping rhetoric, but sometimes its so eye-popping that it sparks interest beyond the conservative-activist bubble. This is one of those times. Gorka, a Fox News talker and former assistant to President Donald Trump, was ginning up opposition to new Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs Green New Deal proposal, which seeks dramatic investments in clean-energy jobs, technology and infrastructure. Conservatives, in general, are not onboard. They question the overwhelming scientific consensus that the planet is warming and that human activity is chiefly responsible. And they fear disruption of the fossil-fueled-based economy. As for why Gorka believes a clean-energy economy would mean the confiscation of our pickup trucks and hamburgers -- well, were not sure about the trucks. With the burgers, hes probably referring to the fact that livestock are responsible for about 15 percent of the worlds global greenhouse-gas emissions. When Ocasio-Cortez announced her Green New Deal, her staff put out a jokey fact sheet that mentioned the challenge of bringing down emissions because we arent sure that well be able to fully get rid of farting cows. And Ocasio-Cortez did offer up the blasphemous suggestion that maybe we shouldnt be eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This much we know for certain: Gorka is wrong that the late Soviet dictator dreamed of eliminating the hamburger. Wrote the Washington Post: Joseph Stalin was unambiguously pro-hamburger: In the 1930s, he sent his food-supply commisar on a research mission to the United States, which resulted in kotleti, a Soviet rip-off of the classic ground-beef burger, being popularized throughout Russia. Britains The Independent also weighed in, pointing out that Trumps former aide is incorrect in singling out the humble hamburger as an emblem of Bolshevik disapproval. At one time, the regime positively envied the all-American lunch option and considered it a model meal: simple, affordable and nutritious. Of course, the actual facts about Stalins views of the American burger did not matter to those listening to Gorkas speech. You are on the frontlines of the war against communism coming back to America under the guise of Democratic socialism, Gorka declared. The assembled rose in unison to cheer his speech -- and chant U.S.A.! U.S.A! U.S.A.! -- Douglas Perry @douglasmperry Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Business groups frustrated with the policy inertia around Oregons underfunded and increasingly costly public pension system are looking to build a broader coalition to push for money-saving reforms either at the legislature or the ballot box That push began Thursday with a launch of a website PERSsolutions.org that draws heavily on the policy playbook that the Oregon Business Council and Oregon Business & Industry rolled out at the annual Oregon Leadership Summit in December. The site provides background on the source of Oregons pension woes, describes the pension-related bills before the Legislature this session, and outlines what backers believe are seven sensible PERS solutions. It also asks visitors to join the pro-reform coalition. Oregons chicken and egg debate over pension reform or increased taxes has become a ritual stalemate at the Legislature. This year is no exception, as lawmakers debate $2 billion in new corporate taxes to support schools and business groups lobby for reforms that would prevent all that new money from being sucked up by the pension system. As always, there is the threat of referring any tax increase to voters or challenging any pension reform in the courts. This years new twist is the prospect of bringing pension reform to the ballot. Tim Nesbitt, a former labor leader who has been consulting with the business groups on PERS reforms for years, says the new push aims to test whether their reform ideas have any resonance beyond the business community. We want to promote these ideas to a broader coalition, he said, and perhaps file a ballot measure, though that decision hasnt been made yet. Some of the ideas are familiar -- employee cost sharing in the pension plan, equalizing pension benefits for older and younger employees. Others are new offering employees a choice of a pension or 401 (k)-type plan, or an early retirement option that could help pay down pension liabilities. Either way, many of them are anathema to public employees, as most involve a cut in total compensation. Melissa Unger, executive director of the Service Employees International Union Local 503, says unions have their own website keeporegonspromise.org that tells the stories of public employees and why the current pension plan is such a valuable tool for the state. The stark difference from our website is that they continue to act like this is a funding problem, and not something that really impacts 300,000 Oregonians, including people who literally put their lives on the line to protect us, she said. They may be doing more outreach, but every year its the same conversation. Theyre treating this like a budget problem and ignoring the people that it really affects. Shes also not particularly alarmed by the prospect of a PERS ballot measure. She says the unions have done their own polling that shows a majority of Oregonians do not support rolling back pension benefits. Nesbitt says the business groups proposals do keep the only promise that public employees really ever had: that they would be entitled to a pension equal to 50 percent of their final salary after 30 years. We agree with keeping the basic pension promise; were trying to correct the excesses, he said. Its when we overshoot the mark, we have to admit theres a mistake and a correction to be made. SALEM As Oregon Gov. Kate Brown begins the process of selecting the next secretary of state, its unclear how much of a say Republicans will have. Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, who died Tuesday night, was the first Republican in 16 years to win election to a statewide office and the party wants to provide input on whom Brown should appoint. Brown and Oregons three other statewide elected officials are Democrats, and the party holds majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Under state law, Brown must select a Republican to replace Richardson. But the requirements end there. Unlike with legislative vacancies, there is no requirement for candidates to be selected by party officials. Republicans are drafting a list of three to five people they would like Brown to consider for secretary of state, said Oregon Republican Party Chairman Bill Currier. On Wednesday night, the partys executive committee passed a resolution calling on the governor to consider their input. Currier said that by picking the next secretary of state from such a list, Brown would be honoring the will of the voters who selected Richardson over Democrat Brad Avakian based on Richardsons campaign platform. Currier said then-Gov. Neil Goldschmidt, a Democrat, sought nominees from the Republican party to fill a treasurer vacancy in 1988 so its not without precedent. Its unclear whether Brown will take the unsolicited advice. Kate Kondayen, a spokeswoman for the governor, wrote in an email that Brown plans to appoint Richardsons successor in the coming weeks. She reiterated the governors mandate, first issued last year amid discussions of the severity of Richardsons brain cancer, that any appointee would have to promise not to run for the office in 2020. Kondayen also forwarded an email she sent to The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, stating that Brown is reaching out to legislators, business people, public officials in the administrative and judicial branches, and others in the advocacy or non-profit sectors to both solicit names of potential candidates and gauge qualification for the office and interest. Kondayen did not immediately respond to a question Thursday afternoon about what weight the governor will give to the Republican partys recommendations. In the meantime, Deputy Secretary of State Leslie Cummings is serving as the acting secretary of state. House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, said on Thursday that there will be a ceremony in the House chamber at 2 p.m. Wednesday remembering Richardsons life and public service. Former Rep. Julie Parrish, a Republican who was close to Richardson, said she is not seeking the appointment but would prefer the next secretary of state to be someone who had a connection with Richardson. Someone whos not completely obscure to our party, Parrish said, adding that appointing someone who is relatively unknown among Oregon Republicans would be a huge betrayal of trust to the voters. Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. A former executive director for a Lane County summer camp for kids with diabetes who stole hundreds of thousands from the nonprofit that operated the program was sentenced Wednesday to two years and eight months in prison. Cheryl Rae Sheppard, 61, was also ordered by a Multnomah County circuit judge to pay nearly $364,000 in restitution. Prosecutors said Sheppard routinely deposited camp vendor checks meant for the Gales Creek Camp Foundation for Children with Diabetes into her personal bank account and that shed spent more than $731,000 on bets at casinos between 2009 and 2017 and lost more than $150,000 in that same period. Sheppard pleaded guilty in October to first-degree aggravated theft and computer crime. She worked as executive director of the camp, which serves children with Type 1 diabetes, between September 2005 and July 2016. An investigation of funds being stolen from the Portland-based nonprofit began the same month Sheppard left the organization. Prosecutors said it started because board members at the time thought there was $600,000 in the nonprofits account and learned it was actually $75,000 and that Sheppard was trying to transfer those funds. Sheppard was indicted in January 2018. The camp foundation filed a lawsuit against Bank of America in June 2017 claiming negligence for allowing Sheppard to deposited unendorsed checks made payable to Gales Creek into her personal account. The foundation also said Sheppard made Gales Creek issue checks made payable to third parties and shed deposit those unendorsed checks into her account too. The restitution amount covers the latter amount in checks Sheppard deposited. The foundation accounted for more than $479,000 they said Sheppard stole from the organization between at least 2010 and 2016. The lawsuit was dismissed in March 2018, federal court records show. Its not immediately clear Thursday if the lawsuit was dismissed in lieu of a settlement. According to state tax filings, Sheppard was paid at least $85,000 by the nonprofit in 2014 and 2015 and was the only member of the foundations 20-plus-member board to receive compensation. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. As internet speeds continue to lag in rural parts of the state, Oregon lawmakers are contemplating a new fee on cellphone service to help pay for expanded broadband in remote and underserved communities. House Bill 2184 would raise about $10 million a year to fund broadband projects through grants and loans. Advocates say it would cost cellphone subscribers between $4 and $12 a year. We cant all be part of the modern life and the modern world if we dont have access to some of the needs, said Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland. The bill will face fierce opposition from the wireless industry, though, which says it will fight to keep Oregon cellphone fees low. The industry says it doesnt make sense to tax one kind of service wireless phones to subsidize a completely different kind of wired internet service. HB 2184 is tens of millions of dollars in taxes that will hurt all Oregonians including those with low and moderate incomes, said Jamie Hastings, vice president of state and external affairs for the wireless industry trade group CTIA. This regressive bill will have a negative impact on working families and burden those who rely most on wireless as a vital lifeline, Hastings said in a written statement. The bills supporters say broadband service is a lifeline unavailable to many in the states rural communities. Marsh said fast internet access has become indispensable for businesses, schools and families. And she said that while the state has long recognized the gap between rural and urban areas, Marsh said it hasnt been deliberate about addressing it. Weve just got this ginormous urban-rural technology divide, and that cant be good for any of us, she said. Oregon cellphone owners have long enjoyed some of the nations lowest cellphone taxes. The Tax Foundation ranks Oregon as the cheapest in the nation for cellular at 2.1 percent just one-sixth of the national average. In prior years Oregonians have zealously guarded their low-tax status. In 2004, for example, Portland contemplated a 5 percent cellphone tax to pay for drug treatment programs and more jail cells. The proposal died before even coming to a city council vote amid a consumer outcry. With a Democratic supermajority in Salem, though, and persistent broadband disparities in the Republican-leaning rural areas of the state, there may be more appetite to collect more from cellular customers. Currently before the House Committee on Economic Development, chaired by Rep. John Lively (D-Springfield) Marsh said she anticipates the bill would need to clear the Revenue and Ways and Means committees before getting a floor vote. Census data released last fall shows that 87 percent of Oregon households were broadband subscribers in 2017, up from 78 percent five years earlier. In some Portland neighborhoods up to 98 percent have broadband access, defined as 25 megabits per second. In rural parts of the state, though, such as Lake and Jefferson county, broadband penetration is as low as 50 percent. Its expensive for telecom companies to run high-capacity fiber optics into remote areas and there are relatively few potential subscribers to help the companies offset the cost. The bill before the Legislature would have the states business development agency distribute up to $10 million in broadband funds through grants and loans, with priority given to school districts seeking faster access. The bill has a host of supporters including Oregon counties, cities, 1000 Friends of Oregon, the Oregon Farm Bureau, the Citizens Utility Board and the AARP, which hopes faster internet access could improve telehealth services for seniors in remote areas. And while Oregon Republicans generally oppose higher taxes and fees, there has been no consensus from the Republican caucus in Salem opposing the bill. That could be because Republicans rural constituents would be most likely to benefit. The fee would apply only to a portion on cellular bills, the portion covered by intrastate phone calls. Estimates vary on just how much it would add to monthly bills, with estimates ranging from 33 cents up to $1 per phone. If lawmakers approve the fee as currently drafted, the bill would take effect January 1, 2020, so subscribers would start paying the tax early next year. If collections were to vary considerably from the $10 million lawmakers seek, the Oregon Public Utility Commission would be responsible for adjusting the fee upward or downward in future years. The bill would also reduce Universal Service Fund fees collected by landline phone companies and currently used to ensure phone service is available in remote parts of the state. Those fees have gone up in recent years as the number of landline phone customers in Oregon has declined requiring larger collections from the remaining landline subscribers. Spreading that burden more widely, to include cellular subscribers, would reduce the burden on landline customers. For that reason, the Oregon Telecommunications Association, which represents phone and internet companies in smaller communities around the state, supports the bill. Currently, the state is exempting the wireless guys from helping pay for this, which we think is just wrong, said Brant Wolf, the telecom associations vice president. Oregonian reporter Elliot Njus contributed to this article. -- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699 Alma College will host the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters' 2019 annual conference Friday. With 33 sections of student and faculty presentations, audiences can expect to hear topics ranging from anthropology and business administration to sociology and zoology. The non-profit organization, which was founded in 1894, initially highlighted the sciences but now focuses on the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Supported by 32 member-institutions, the Michigan Academy works as a way to exchange knowledge throughout the academy and across the state of Michigan. "Alma has been a generous host to the Michigan Academy for years, and we are thrilled to share our facilities to academics across the region," says Jessie DeHaan, assistant director of the Michigan Academy. "As an interdisciplinary conference, we offer a unique opportunity for scholars across many disciplines to learn and interact with colleagues in fields they wouldn't otherwise, while also providing an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to gain experience presenting in a welcoming environment," she says. "Thanks to Alma College for its willingness to host our 125th conference." Conference check-in takes place at the Remick Heritage Center. Presentations begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue to 5 p.m., with a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Stephany Slaughter, associate professor of Spanish and chair of the World Languages and Cultures Department at Alma College. The Kapp Award for outstanding undergraduate research also will be awarded. Alma College has been the home of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters since 2004. All abstracts from the presentations are printed in the Michigan Academician, an academic journal published by the Academy. Members receive a subscription to the journal as a benefit of membership. More than 500 guests are expected to be in attendance, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, independent researchers and retired scholars. Guests are welcome to attend the presentation for a cost of $35 for the day. For more information, visit the Michigan Academy website at www.alma.edu/offices/michigan-academy/ The childhood lemonade stands were just a warmup for Maggie Walker, a Saginaw Valley State University student whose entrepreneurial ambitions led her to start a retailing business as a college junior and win a first-place statewide award for it recently. The SVSU accounting major received the first-place nod in the entrepreneurship category of the Michigan Collegiate DECA competition hosted in Dearborn in February. She and five of her SVSU classmates at the contest qualified for Collegiate DECA's national competition scheduled for April in Orlando. "It was pretty surprising to win," Walker said. "It was great hearing someone tell you that your idea could be successful." Collegiate DECA is an international association of high school and college students interested in marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service. The organization hosts competitions judged by panelists, including mock investors. The business plan Walker pitched to a mock investor in the entrepreneurship category, though, was no mock setup. She presented her own real-life start-up, Everyday Adult, which she founded in August 2018 to help young business professionals purchase professional clothing at affordable prices. Already, she has sold clothing to 60 customers and built an online following of 10,000 people. Walker said Everyday Adult sprouted from her own shopping habits. "I buy a lot of clothing for myself, and some of the prices are so high for a college student like me, so I like to find the best prices," she said. She decided to apply those bargain-hunting skills to a business plan by finding new or barely-used clothing and offering those items to customers largely through Poshmark, a retailing website. Her customers are primarily 25 or younger. Her Poshmark account can be found at https://poshmark.com/closet/poshwmw. While the business transactions occur online, Walker said she hopes to expand Everyday Adult's presence. "My end goal is to purchase a trailer and sell at pop-up boutiques," she said. Walker said she applied many of the business practices learned while studying at SVSU. The result is a company with a promising start, she said. "This is pretty much my first real business if you don't count the lemonade stands I had when I was a kid," she said. "It's been great." Along with Walker, the following SVSU students competed at the Michigan Collegiate DECA contest earlier this month: Keegan Booms, an international business major from Almont, finished in third place in the business ethics category with his partner, Jacob Saint Amour, a supply chain management major from Laingsburg. Amour also was a finalist in the retail management category. Carly D'Alessandro, a management and marketing double major from Midland, finished in second place in the event planning category with partner Brady Wieland, a mechanical engineering major from Essexville. D'Alessandro also was a finalist in the professional sales category. Madisyn Nicol, a management and marketing double major from Chesaning, was a finalist in both the advertising campaign and sales management meeting categories The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Tuesday, Feb. 26 10:53 a.m. -- A 17-year-old Lee Township woman was arrested after she assaulted two 15-year-old students on a Bullock Creek School bus in Homer Township. 6:40 a.m. -- A Greendale Township gas station reported that a person in a small blue Chevrolet four-door car drove off without paying $34.92 in gas. No license plate number was obtained. Monday, Feb. 25 11:51 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to the area of West Isabella Road and South Alamando Road in Greendale Township for a car-deer crash. 9:06 p.m. -- Officers responded to a civil dispute in the 400 block of East Hines Street. 6:29 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash on the westbound U.S. 10 overpass near Sturgeon Avenue. 5:16 p.m. -- Officers responded to a property damage accident near the intersection of Joe Mann Boulevard and Cinema Drive. 4:20 p.m. -- Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 200 block of West Ellsworth Street. 2:41 p.m. -- Officers responded to a crash on private property near the intersection of South Saginaw Road and East Haley Street. 1:48 p.m. -- Animal Control was dispatched to Larkin Township for a loose dog. The dog was unable to be located. 1:53 p.m. -- Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 400 block of Edwin Street. 1:07 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to Edenville Township for the theft of a license plate. A 24-year-old Beaverton woman parked her vehicle overnight and discovered it missing upon return. 11:41 a.m. -- Deputies responded to a report of a vehicle losing control and driving into the median on eastbound U.S 10 in Lincoln Township. 9:11 a.m. -- Officers performed a warrant arrest near the intersection of North Saginaw Road and West Sugnet Road. 8:53 a.m. -- Officers responded to a case of damage to property in the 700 block of West Wackerly Street. 5:50 a.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Lincoln Township business for an alarm. Upon investigation it was discovered that the wind had blown a rear door enough to separate the alarm contracts. The building was secured by the keyholder. 1:09 a.m. -- Deputies were dispatched to an Ingersoll Township residence when a 56-year-old female caretaker said the 24-year-old man with special needs she cares for was using the residence phone to contact a friend who he was told not to speak with. The man agreed to never contact his friend again at the request of the deputies. To the editor: I recently sent this letter to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel: I was deeply saddened to see Michigan on the list of states opposing President Donald Trump's efforts to protect our southern border and the taxpaying citizens of our country. Do you not understand that you were elected by and obligated to protect the citizens of Michigan? I doubt that you got any votes from the illegal immigrants streaming across the southern border, but maybe you did. Congress has failed to do its job in stopping this and the flood of drugs that are coming in from Mexico that everyone acknowledges is happening. I agree that there are a lot of things that can be done to stop this other than a wall, but for political reasons no one in Congress will address or even consider them. Here is a short list of things that I came up with that could actually act as a deterrent, but they will never happen if we rely on our current Congress, which is why we need the wall: 1. Pass a law stating that no welfare shall be provided to people illegally crossing the border 2. Pass a law stating that any non-citizen caught voting in national or state elections will be deported 3. End, or greatly restrict, chain migration 4. Cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities 5. Enforce the E-Verify system 6. Enforce overstaying of visas 7. Tighten the guest worker program 8. Pass a law doing away with the anchor baby provision. Nothing like any of this has been proposed. All that is ever talked about is "use technology rather than a wall". A wall might not be 100 percent effective, but is certainly better and more humane than anything else being proposed. It seems that President Trump is the only person of authority to care about protecting the citizens of our country from the onslaught of the caravans, and you want to stop him. Even worse, your office will be using Michigan tax dollars pursuing this to stop him from trying to protect our citizens. This is really sad, and it reflects poorly on the state as the lawsuit will obviously be overturned by a court, based on precedence. JOHN LYNN Midland Juba, South Sudan (PANA) - Human rights group Amnesty International said on Friday that South Sudan authorities executed at least seven people in February 2019 alone, three of whom were from the same family Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The "first group" of 20 Rwandese nationals, currently detained "arbritrary" by Uganda's Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence(CMI), was released Friday with one of Rwandan senior Government officials wondering why too many of his compatriots are still languishing in isolation, and incommunicado detention in neighboring country In the off chance that you are a normal person with a healthy brain who is not plugged into the extremely online Democratic primary discourse that is already in full swing a full year before any votes are going to be cast, you may have missed that last week, Bernie Sanders finally ended speculation that began the night of Nov. 8, 2016 and announced that he was, in fact, running for president of the United States. Sanders joins an already crowded, diverse lineup of Democratic presidential hopefuls, many of whom have come to embrace some very progressive positions that just a few years ago were completely out of the mainstream of American politics (except, it seems, for Amy Klobuchar, who apparently is going all in on trying to excite people with something called tax-advantaged savings accountsgood luck with that, Amy). Some prominent media liberals have questioned whether Sanders presence in the race is even necessary anymore, given all he has done to shift the mainstream of the Democratic Party leftward over the last four years. Its natural that when choosing a candidate to support, different people are going to make different political calculations about what is more important to them. But if you are of the belief that the greatest threat facing America (and perhaps the world) is the entrenched power of a small group of powerful billionaire oligarchs, representing various elite factionsthe energy & healthcare industries, Wall Street, or the military industrial complex, to name a fewwho essentially own the US government and have steered the nation over the last several decades into levels of wealth inequality unseen since the robber baron era and towards the brink of an environmental calamity of biblical proportions, then the central question of 2020 is this: who do you trust to meaningfully confront these people? Something that should have become abundantly clear to everyone during the Obama era is that the elites who own large financial stakes in both of Americas political parties cant be compromised with, or reasoned with, or placatedthey must be beaten. Its one thing to indicate support for big ideas like Medicare for All or a Green New Deal, but who is actually going to fight for these issues and who is just saying what they need to say in order to get elected? Actually implementing these policies is going to require directly challenging the entrenched power structures of the political donor class, and theres only one candidate with no history of close proximity to these very structures, and whose decades-long political life suggests hell have what it takes to actually follow through on this: Bernie Sanders. Just listen to how he talks about them. He hates these people. Seriously good shit pic.twitter.com/WftsmLd3no Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) February 20, 2019 And they hate him too! Its absolutely correct that theres a reason billionaire Howard Schultz is willing to endure the daily humiliation that has been his fledgling presidential campaignhe knows that his candidacy would almost certainly tip the scales towards Donald Trump, who he presumably finds detestable but who has been undeniably fantastic for his bottom line. The same can be said for the Wall Street CEOs that are lining up to oppose him, not to mention the supposedly pragmatic centrist think tanks like Third Way that they fund and control. Elizabeth Warren is the only candidate who poses a similar threat to Americas ruling class, and all indications are that they are similarly, if not quite equally, opposed to her campaign. But while there might be obvious parallels between their platforms, theyre approaching these issues from two completely different political traditions, and Warren, famously a Reagan Republican who switched parties in the 90s, calls herself a proud capitalist and is ultimately interested in saving the system from itself through strict reforms. If youre a person who has come to believe that the system itself is the problem, then ultimately this approach is not going to be forceful enough. Even setting aside their policy differences, Sanders has already shown to have a massive fundraising advantage over Warren and every other Democratic candidate, to say nothing of his massive grassroots organization of now-veteran organizers who have been patiently waiting for four years to get to work. Not only is Sanders the candidate who is most likely to go on the offensive against the elite interests that have corrupted democracies in America and all over the world; he also happens to have all the intangibles in place that you need to actually win a presidential election. Its important to note that a Bernie Sanders presidency will not be a panacea. Passing any progressive legislation will be difficult in light of a Republican political establishment that will oppose it with even more white-knuckled determination than they did Obamas moderate, centrist approach (to say nothing of a corporate-sponsored, reactionary Supreme Court that Donald Trump has now entrenched for the next generation). But as we careen toward the point-of-no-return climate deadline, if the vast economic machinery that powers modern society shows no sign of adapting or evolving, there will need to be an unprecedented mass mobilization of grassroots activism the likes of which modern human civilization has never seen. When this time comes, the person sitting in the White House will need to make a decision to side with the people in the streets or with the powerful interests with whom they are in direct conflict. Despite what some would tell you, there is no third way here. If you agree with that basic premise, then who do you trust to ultimately make that decision? The answer is clear. Obviously Bernie has his weak spots. After being criticized for not doing enough to reach out to black voters in 2016, he needs to be able to talk about issues like criminal justice reform with more nuance than he has in the past, and hopefully he will have better surrogates in place this time around. Hes expressed some problematic views on immigration in the past, and though he wants to finally move forward with the DREAM act and return to an Obama-era status quo, for many activists who have been battling Americas cruel deportation force tooth and nail for years now, this is simply not going to be good enough. Hes taken criticism from the left for his lack of emphasis on foreign policy, but he also recently fought to pass an unprecedented Senate resolution to withdraw U.S. military support from the disastrous Saudi war in Yemen, and his recent hiring of progressive foreign policy advisor Matt Duss indicates that this will be an important focus going forward. Despite coming into the election with the inherent advantage of the incumbent, Donald Trump is actually quite unpopular and eminently beatable in 2020. While some candidates poll better against him than others, theres a good chance that the winner of the Democratic primary is going to go on to become president of the United States, and theres no question that virtually any of the current candidates would be an upgrade over the racist buffoonery of Trump and his ghastly crew of neocon vampires who are trying to overthrow governments from Iran to Venezuela while fast-tracking the planet to a climate apocalypse. But if your goal is to do more than simply beat Trumpif your goal is to go on the offensive against the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country who have spent the last few decades using their vast political influence to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone elsetheres really only one option. Suck it up and feel the Bern. Question: When is a distilled spirit not really a distilled spirit? Answer: When its actually a high-ABV, fermented wine, posing as a popular style of distilled liquor to trick consumers into buying it! Look. Let me begin by saying yeah, I get it that Im not the target demographic for the array of fake liquors Im about to discuss in detail. You dont need to point this out. If youre reading this, then you most likely arent the target demo either. Lets be honest: The typical Paste reader is more likely to be a collector of rare beer and scotch than they are a frequent consumer of 99-cent gas station mystery liquor bottles. But that doesnt mean we cant still be equal parts angry and bemused at the sheer charlatanism of what is going on hereor at the very least, disgusted to see such a brazen attempt at tricking the implied target demographic, which is the poor and the homeless. Its not like the existence of bum wine is a new phenomenon, but at least the likes of Mad Dog 20/20 or Thunderbird dont PRETEND to be something they arent. Its the disguisesthe putting on of airshere that are so heinous. So lets get to the point: We are talking about a rangeId say a brand, but they dont have an overarching brand nameof products made by the same company that can now be found in many gas station and convenience stores, which are disguised with the aesthetic trappings of common, popular liquor styles. Theres Stroyski, which looks just like a Polish or Russian vodka. Theres Old Westbury, which looks like a dapper, London-style dry gin. Theres Hobble Creek, which borrows the rugged iconography of bourbon. Theres Vera Cruz, which puts an agave plant on its front label, but is most definitely not tequila. None are actually distilled spirits at all. Who could possibly mistake them for spirits while reading a description like this, which uses the word vodka three times and manages to leave the letter T out of the word sought? Click for a larger version. Instead, this entire range of products are what is apparently known in industry parlance as fermented spirits. Theyre strong, fortified wines that are produced with natural flavors in order to emulate whatever style of liquor theyre pretending to be. Each bottle contains the words grape wine with natural flavor added in the small print, for the sake of legal necessity. And theyre made (brewed?) to the maximum strength that can be sold in gas stations/convenience stores in various states. At least two different strengths exist: 16 percent ABV bottles found in the Carolinas, and 21 percent ABV bottles (which I sampled myself, Im sad to say) found throughout Georgia. The full range of distribution is difficult to ascertain, given that information about these brands is very scarce online, but theyre also sold in Florida at the very least, and probably in numerous other states. When found at 21 percent ABV, that makes them considerably more potent than even the typical likes of Mad Dog, Night Train, Thunderbird or Cisco. Heres one Florida distributorships rather hilarious definition of the fermented spirits segment, which highlights its value to the consumer as the convenience of not having to make a separate trip to the liquor store in order to obtain terrible booze. Fermented spirits are those alcoholic beverages that reach up to 42 proof (21% ABV) and are available for purchase in grocery/convenience stores in addition to bars and restaurants. These products are produced in a manner similar to spirits, but the alcohol they contain is from grape fermentation rather than distillation. For retailers, this means that fermented spirits can be sold without a full liquor license. For consumers, this means that the flavor of national brands of alcohol will be available in grocery and convenience stores without a separate trip to the liquor store. Gee, thanks for the time-saver, guys. Why stop at the package store to pick up a bottle of Knob Creek when I can just grab some 21 percent ABV Hobble Creek whiskey-flavored wine, a product whose very name makes it sound like it will leave me with a permanent limp? Thats not an insane substitute at all. Im sure it makes a great Manhattan. After all, they apparently use it in bars and restaurants, presumably of the highest caliber. The obvious question: Who actually makes this stuff? The back of each label reads the following: Bottled by the Brookstone Distilling Company, Lewiston, ME. Theres our answer, right? Well, not so fast. Do a little Googling, and you quickly see that theres no distillery in Maine by that name, or at least none with a public face. There is a company named Boston Brands of Maine that operates a bottling plant (and apparently does some distilling) in Lewiston, Maine, though, and THEIR parent company is Sazerac Co. Which is to say: Sazerac Co., one of the two largest spirits companies in the U.S., is where the buck stops here. Brookstone Distilling Co. is simply a phantom name that I can only assume was designed to move the product one step further away from anyone having to take ownership of it. Oddly enough, Buffalo Trace (also owned by Sazerac) also has a subsidiary by the name of The Brookstone Distilling Co., with address listed as Frankfort, KYwhere Buffalo Trace is also based. This made me wonder for a fleeting moment if the liquid in bottles of Stroyski and Vera Cruz could possibly be made by Buffalo Trace in Kentucky, so I reached out to Sazerac directly to allow them to comment on these 99-cent gas station bottles. The company ultimately behind these brandless bottles from the Brookstone Distilling Co. The company responded quickly, pointing out that these types of beverages are not new, and are made to the highest quality standards. In fact, it turns out that their low alcohol content (in comparison with real, 80 proof spirits) is actually in keeping with the promotion of moderate consumption and calorie controla valuable quality in any 99-cent plastic bottle of gas station hooch, I think youll agree. The full statement from Amy Preske, PR manager for Sazerac, reads as follows: By way of background, these type of alternative beverages are not new, they have actually been on the market for 40+ years. Consumers are increasingly seeking out a variety of different beverages and packages in non-traditional retail outlets; spiked seltzers, craft beers, canned wines, ciders, wine and malt-based coolers have also been enjoying a resurgence. Our products are made to the highest quality standards using proprietary wine recipes as the statement of content on the label shows and also explains the variety of outlets in which they are sold. They can be enjoyed neat plus they also make a fantastic array of mixed drinks including screwdrivers, bloody Mary, with tonic, margaritas, colada, and with Coke. Their low alcohol content is in keeping with the promotion of moderate consumption and calorie control. These products are produced and bottled at our Lewiston, Maine facility. The Brookstone Distilling Company is one of our DBAs at our Lewiston plant. It is fairly common to have several DBAs [which means Doing Business As] under one facility. In answer to your question about if a distillery can produce these products, the answer is yes, but the correct terminology would be to say it is produced, in this case, produced at our plant in Lewiston, Maine. The bottom line is that I could forgive a lot of this, if only the packaging for these products (and their marketing descriptions) didnt try so hard to be inherently deceptive. But they doacross the board, terms like vodka, gin, whiskey and tequila are used in the description and marketing of these bottles that are none of those things. Total Wine has Stroyski in the vodka section, and describes it as vodka. So does the Sazerac brand portfolio online. In fact, the Sazerac brand portfolio website straight-up calls Old Westbury gin, Vera Cruz tequila and Caribe Bay rum. Theres no other word for this than lying. Thats just what it is. Sazeracs attempted defense is to simply point at the fine print of the label and claim that its discerning clientele clearly wants to buy vodka-flavored wine, but that doesnt mean we have to believe them. If vodka-flavored wine was a big selling point, it would be in bold type, not fine print. Finally, please enjoy this Carolina distributorship that is clearly so confused by what the hell these products are that they think the line of bottles are simply called Sazerac. Were sure this is exactly the kind of advertising Sazerac Co. wants associated with their name. B&B has exciting news; we are adding Sazerac to our family! Sazerac is spirit-like wine based products at 32 proof.Hitting the shelves early next week look for them anywhere that sells beer! #sazeracpic.twitter.com/ZG7fNx6gLd B & B Distributors (@bb_distributors) April 18, 2018 And of course, because this is Paste, we had to go out and actually taste the damn things in order to know exactly how bad they really are. In a handful of Georgian gas stations I was able to find six varieties meant to replicate vodka, gin, spiced rum, tequila, bourbon and cinnamon whiskey. Online research suggests there are at least a handful more of these brands, which are meant to emulate brandy, triple sec (?), white rum and (GAG) Irish cream liqueur. Dear god, Im glad I didnt find THAT one. Irish cream wine cocktail? Get behind me, Satan! Oh, and by the way they MISSPELLED THE NAME OF THE PRODUCT IN LARGE PRINT. Delcans, my god. How could this possibly get any sadder? I present them below, in order of best to worstbecause determining the worst here is obviously more fun and interesting than picking the best. I invite you to count the copious misspellings we unearth on this journey together, which should be a fun and educational little game for the kids at home. Pretending to be: Gin By far the most palatable of these tiny plastic bottles is the Old Westbury, London Style Extra Dry something or other. They made sure to use all of the most common gin words in that title, didnt they? Heres the product description I could find online: Nestled under the bluffs in Englands Wlishire [sic] County is the small market town of Old Westbury. Old Westbury Extra Dry is a drink crafted in homage to the rich character of the English. Embodies English botanicals and strong Juniper notes. Perfect in any cocktail. So, its inspired by an unrelated, misspelled county (its Wiltshire) in England, is crafted in homage to the rich character of the English people themselves, and embodies (which is a nice way to say does not necessarily contain) English botanicals. Sounds about right. All of these fermented spirit descriptions are laid out in this very precise (but constantly misspelled) legalese, no doubt designed to protect them from claims of false advertising. On the nose, Old Westbury actually smells pretty approachablelight pine, and sweet lemon-lime soda. Its not too far off from actual gin, to be honest, or at least a New Western-style gin like New Amsterdam. On the palate, its quite soda-like, with heavy lime candy flavor, like a green Lifesaver. Fairly mild and neutral otherwise, its lightly sweet but quite watery in texture (which was universal in all of these). Booze is minimal, especially compared to the others in this tasting. Pine and light floral notes round out what was by far the best of these bottles. Compared with the rest, this one is royalty. I expect that if you told someone it was REALLY cheap gin, they might actually believe you, except for the texture being all wrong. But buckle up, because it gets a lot worse from here on out. Because I assume you want proof of my gas station fake liquor harvest, here you go. Pretending to be: Vodka I preemptively feared that the vodka-style imitation of Stroyski might represent the worst this field had to offer, but its saved on some level by its relative blandness. Heres what Sazeracs description has to say: No drink is more closely associated with Russia than vodka (translated from a Russian word meaning little water). Since it was first produced in Russia back in the mid-fifteenth century, vodka has become one of the most commonly consumed spirits in the world. Much of vodkas popularity is due to its neutral flavor, making it the perfect addition to any cocktail. We have sough [sic] to capture this classic characteristic with Stroyski. Mix and match in your favorite drink and raise a glass with friends. Cheers! Truth in advertising here, as aside from saying vodka over and over in that description, theyre pretty accurate about the neutral flavor. Stroyski, to my genuine relief, doesnt taste much like anything. Lightly boozy, with a slightly buttery quality that reminded me of the smell of cooking rice, it just tastes like watery, neutral booze. A hint of nail polish on the nose, and very flat and flabby on the palateit reminds me of grain alcohol mixed with club soda that has lost all of its carbonation. In fact, you might as well just dump Everclear into water and dilute it to 21 percent ABV, because youd end up with functionally the same thing as this. This stuffs only purpose is to deliver alcohol directly into the bloodstream without dealing with the complications present in taste. Pretending to be: Spiced rum A lot of these bottles contain random filler wordsCaribe Bay hits us with both premium quality and island style, seemingly seeking to fit as many lies as possible into the 1 inch x 1 inch label. This bottle is meant to be impersonating spiced rumunfortunately, I was unable to find the white rum variant. Sazerac says the following: Toes in the sand, the sound of crashing waves, and a cool tropical drink in your hand. What could be better? Weve daydreamed of being on a beach rather than behind a desk. When the sand and waves can be sometimes be hard to find, the tropical drink doesnt have to be! Caribe Bay is open year-round and you dont need a plane ticket to visit. Just a bottle and a sunny state of mind will do! Your Caribbean getaway is just a sip away Jesus, none of these got any kind of copyediting, did they? When the sand and waves can be sometimes be hard to find? Think youve got an extra word in there, folks. And why do I get the feeling that this 99-cent bottle is less likely to be consumed on a tropical beach than in a gas station parking lot? Hmmmm My first thought (and note) was that Caribe Bay smells like molasses cookies dipped in rubbing alcohol. Intense, fake caramel flavoring and vanilla extract notes dominate the nose, which is more than a little concerning. On the palate, you get intense molasses flavor but a very watery texture, which is a bizarre combination Ive never experienced before. Vanilla extract and brown sugar sweetness are present in abundance, in what is a very one-note profile. They dont exactly go well with the ribbon of medicinal alcohol notes in the background, but this one is still better than a few of the other strongly flavored bottles. Pretending to be: Bourbon or blended whiskey The nonsense words on Hobble Creeks label include traditional and blended, making me wonder what the hell blended is supposed to mean in this context. Perhaps they put the mixture into a giant, industrial blender before bottling? I would believe anything at this point. Sazeracs description is as follows: Having been around nearly as long as the country itself, American whiskey has deep roots in both the history and culture of the United States. Whiskeys popularity caught on fast in 18th Century America, and it quickly became the nations most popular libation. Hobble Creeks carefully blended formula was influenced by some of the earliest American whiskey recipes, giving it the smooth, unmistakable taste that Americans first fell in love with all those years ago. For a drink as true as the red, white, and blue, theres no beating Hobble Creek. Ed note: No misspellings in this one! Congrats! So, Hobble Creek is influenced by some of the earliest American whiskey recipes, eh? I had no idea that Americans were making whiskey-flavored grape wines in the 18th century. Truly, you learn something every day in this job. Of these bottles, Hobble Creek is the one where you most clearly realize Im drinking a strange, flavored wine. Much of that is thanks to its weird nose, which calls to mind grape soda, butterscotch and apple juice, according to my tasting notes. It smells faintlyfaintly, mind youlike bourbon, but if you gave me a bourbon that smelled like this in any other context I would assume that something was terribly wrong, or perhaps that you made it yourself at home. Texturally, Hobble Creek is also very upsetting. All of these bottles are watery by nature, but when youre drinking something designed to mimic bourbon, the lack of viscosity is only more off-putting. On the palate, you get some similar caramel flavoring that was present in the Caribe Bay, but its less intense, coupled with out-of-place grape and apple fruitiness. It tastes like you made an old fashioned with the cheapest available blended whiskey, drank half of it, left it out overnight to melt, and then finished the melted, room-temperature drink the next morning. Thats a drink as true as the red, white and blue. Pretending to be: Tequila If this is the reserva version of Vera Cruz, then I would hate to taste the cheap stuff. Its bottle is light on the nonsense words, emblazoning itself only with autentica. Im as shocked as anyone that they did actually include the accent mark over the E. The description reads as follows: Named after a small town in the state of Jalisco, tequila is a Mexican staple that has been enjoyed around the world for generations. Its origins, stretch back even further to the old days of pre-Columbian Mexico, when indigenous people consumed alcohol fermented from the agave plant. The beverage has undergone many changes since then, but tequilas distinct flavor has been central to Mexican culture for over a thousand years. Vera Cruz Reserva Especial embodies the unique taste that made tequila famous, and the essence of old Mexico itself. The beverage has undergone many changes since then but none bigger than removing anything to do with distillation and replacing it with agave-flavored wine, right? I think we can all agree thats a bold choice, in keeping with the spirit of old Mexico, si? At first, I thought Vera Cruz might not be so bad, even though anyone in their right mind would be afraid of tequila-flavored wine. This one is pretty mild on the nose, smelling only faintly of ethanol and a hint of pine needles. On the palate thoughyikes. Harsh booziness meets vegetal strangeness in a meeting of flavors that certainly wont remind anyone of agave. Its so many strange flavors at oncegrassy, almost minty, bitter and overwhelmingly boozy. As I wrote at one point in my notes, this is BAD bad. It also highlights one of the weirdest things about these bottles: You can simultaneously TASTE a lot of unpleasant ethanol flavors, but the ABV (at 21 percent) is low enough that you dont get the traditional alcohol heat/burn of liquor. Youre getting only the most unpleasant aspect of the ethanol, which is its raw flavor. Pretending to be: Cinnamon whiskey I love how this title just stops after Cinnamon, as if its rude of you to inquire any further. Its like the beginning of a Whos on First routine. Excuse me sir, cinnamon what exactly? None of your business, thats cinnamon what! Flash Point can also claim the most random of all the bottle nonsense texts: Therell be a hot time in the old town tonight! This is apparently a quote from an American song standard from 1896, if you were curious. Once again, were learning valuable new facts here. As for the booze, Sazerac says the following: Flash point: a point at which someone or something bursts suddenly into action or being. No matter what youre celebrating, the party cant start without a little something to set it off. Thats where Flash Point Cinnamon comes in. With a red hot cinnamon flavor and a unique formula, you can heat things up to just the right temperature without burning out too early. Good people and good drinks make a good time. So bring your friends, and well take care of the rest. Open up a bottle, find your flash point, and let it burn You can just feel the contents of this bottle inviting younay, compelling youonward to dark deeds, cant you? The description makes it sound like the launching pad for 1,000 police reports. Thankfully, I dont really see how that could be true, because I cant fathom who would be able to stand more than a sip of Flash Point, much less drink enough to become intoxicated. On the nose, I began to write down that it smells like a stick of Big Red gum, when I realized that the more accurate comparison was that it smells very much like the cinnamon potpourri waft you catch emanating from the cinnamon brooms in Hobby Lobby every fall. Not offensive, perhaps, but have you ever actually been tempted to eat one of those brooms? Yeah, I thought so. On the palate, it just tastes like liquified, fiery hot cinnamon candies, mixed with a fall Yankee Candle. Being someone who already has no interest in Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, that description obviously wasnt ever going to entice me. Its overpoweringly flavorfulstronger in flavors and alcohol/spice heat by orders of magnitude compared to all the rest of these 99-cent bottles. It is, suffice to say, bad, which I think sums things up nicely, considering Ive just about used up the rest of my descriptive language. Alright, what did we learn? Well, we learned that Sazerac Co. manufactures these quasi-liquors in Maine. We learned that they are not distilled OR brewed, but produced. We learned that they most definitely are not actual spirits. We learned that theyre produced to be however strong state law will allow them to be in your state. We learned that this doesnt stop Sazerac, its distributors, or alcohol vendors like Total Wine from shamelessly implying them to be spirits anyway. We learned that nobody bothered to proofread any of the product descriptions, and none of the distributorships or sites that posted those descriptions bothered to correct the mistakes, either. Oh, and we learned that they taste as terrible as you would expect them to taste, with the possible exception of the gin. So with that said: Can we just discontinue these things and regain the slightest shred of dignity in the process? That would be great. Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident alcohol geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing. The "52FilmsByWomen" hashtag isnt a new invention, but in the last few years, and especially 2017, its gained increasingly urgent relevance. Created and disseminated by Women in Film, a nonprofit outlet established to "achieve parity and transform culture," the tag translates into a simple pledge: Watch one movie directed by a woman each week for an entire year. Most years, completing that pledge would be the least one could do. Today, its a means of pushing back against rampant gender bias in the film industry. To help those interested in putting their viewing habits to good use, Paste is highlighting some of Februarys best new movies in theaters, as well as on home video, directed by women. Release Date: February 1, 2019 Director: Mitzi Peirone Someone ought to give Madeline Brewer an award for the work shes done carving out a niche playing young women either troubled or utterly broken by the circumstances of their lives. In The Handmaids Tale, she plays manic, a woman made mad by the crushing psychic weight of patriarchal domination. In Cam she plays a sweet, and playful, and ultimately baffled to the point of, again, madness, camgirl replaced by a malevolent lookalike on her own stream. Now, in Mitzi Peirones Braid, shes somewhere in the middle, mad once more but not so much as a consequence of male intervention. Rather, shes off her rocker because shes stuck living out her childhood well into her adulthood, or maybe shes living out her childhood well into her adulthood because shes off her rocker. In Braid, Brewer plays Daphne, wealthy and absolutely bonkers; Sarah Hay and Imogen Waterhouse play her two old friends, Tilda and Petula, whose names invoke the dark whimsies of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and who wish to rob Daphne blind. But Daphnes lunacy requires patience to pierce, so Tilda and Petula must subject themselves to her twisted make believe games. Braid plays like a Mobius strip, looping back on itself repeatedly, bending audience perception of its events and its objective reality. Whose perspective is the film actually couched in? Were given cause to eventually question whether Daphnes the only delusional one, or if Tilda and Petula are just as stuck in arrested development as she is. Frankly, the answer doesnt much matter, because were stuck with them. Andy Crump Release Date: February 22, 2019 Director: Claire Simon Sit around and listen to French people argue about students of cinema for two hours sounds like a drag, but Claire Simons The Competition doesnt drag at all. Its propulsive. Her film condenses the demanding application process at La Femis, the most prestigious film school in all Paris, into just under 120 minutes, providing only the bare necessities for context and comprehension before launching into a series of tests and interviews, corralled as vignettes. That The Competitions narrative is so cohesive belies the absence of cohesion in La Femis examinations. The schools hopefuls number in the hundreds, vying for just 40 slots; the observers in charge of their fates range from theater managers to filmmakers to critics and editors and everything else in between, and they, too, number on such a scale that objectivity becomes a joke. Maybe thats as it should be. Film, after all, and arts criticism writ large, is a subjective gig. Watching the observers various subjectivities collide turns out to be a hoot at times, a learning experience at others, or just good drama at others still. Surprise: Putting a bunch of French folks in one room and letting their passions and tempers flare makes for good filmgoing! Simons fly-on-the-wall approach functions as an investment in the process, and in the outcome of the process for the select few students we get to meet. There are too many waiting their turn for Simon to chronicle all of them, but those that do make in front of her camera give context and rationality to their seemingly irrational bid for a spot at La Femis: Cinema, to them, is everything, whatever side of the industry theyre interested in taking. Its worth the stress of the process. Its worth the great risk of failure. Simon hasnt just captured La Femis enrollment philosophy in The Competition, shes captured its would-be students hopes and ambitions, and treated them with loving care. Andy Crump Release Date: February 19, 2019 (DVD) Director: Marielle Heller Withnail and Sookie St. James make a perilous odd couple, but if you can dip jalapeno peppers in chocolate and get away with it, you can put Richard Grant on the same screen as Melissa McCarthy and make a movie thats equally as sweet as spicy. The better word, the most accurate word, to describe Can You Ever Forgive Me?, the recently Oscar-nominated movie from The Diary of a Teenage Girl director Marielle Heller, is bitter, but however you qualify the film, its a gem: rough around the edges, sharp to the touch, surprisingly warm. Can You Ever Forgive Me? is the tale of Leonore Carol Lee Israel (McCarthy), celebrity biographer, who in the 1990s found herself broke and so in need of work that she turned to forgery, penning fake letters by dead authors and selling them off to a tidy sum per piece. Shes aided by her friend, Jack Hock (Grant), a bon vivant bordering on sociopathic in his disregard for the severity of Lees circumstances. Watching McCarthy in grouch mode is entrancing, not the least because shes so good at nodding to Lees innermost insecurities without ever showing them. No one, at a glance, might guess at whats happening under Lees hood, so distracting are her boozy, pugilistic tendencies. But Lees nursing a case of desperation thats more crippling than a hangover, as well as fear of being left behind by her own industry. Her biographical style is over. People want warts. Lee doesnt let people see her warts; why the hell would she bother exposing the warts of others? The writing world doesnt have any use for a woman who wont play by the rules set out for her to follow. Men like Tom Clancy get to wear their smugness like a crown and make obscene chunks of change writing crap, but a gifted woman with a bad attitude gets kicked to the curb. Its the great injustice of Lees life. We dont condone her for making a career change to crime, and yet the crime lets her put her talent to good use, showing up the literary elite as the jackasses they are, and theres considerable pleasure to derive from watching as Heller stages Lee and Jack as drunken, foul-mouthed, avenging angels, righting the wrongs dealt them through pranks and felonies. The greatest pleasure Can You Ever Forgive Me? offers, though, is the chemical reaction between McCarthy and Grant, perhaps an unlikely pairing but no more perfect a pairing than you will find as we roll out of the juddering doldrums of awards season. Andy Crump Release Date: February 15, 2019 (Netflix) Directors: Madeleine Sami, Jackie van Beek Comedies about gal pals tend to follow one plot path, in which complications arise in their friendship and they suffer a split, and then reconcile by the end. The Breaker Upperers, a joint collaborative effort by Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beekstars, writers and directors all at oncedoesnt stray from that path, exactly, but Sami and van Beek are smart enough not to reach hard for a reason behind their characters inevitable blow-up. Turns out that once upon a rom-com trope, Jen (van Beek) and Mel (Sami) dated the exact same man at the exact same time without either of them knowing it, until they did, and broke up with that man, and started their own business breaking up with peoples significant others for them. The Breaker Upperers runs on a current of that delightful New Zealand cringe comedy, just as embarrassing and agonizing as cringe comedy in other countries, but with a dose of sweetness and charm to make the chagrin go down easier. It helps to have a solid emotional center, toonothing saccharine, just good old fashioned human drama, made utterly believable by both Samis and van Beeks chemistry-driven performances and the nature of their characters work. Mels grown sick of what they do. Jen, not quite the people person, cant imagine where shes coming from. Maybe making a career out of ending relationships isnt the worst thing in the world, but when that career makes it impossible to maintain personal connections and move on with life, maybe find a new career? Thats where the sweetness comes in, and thats what makes The Breaker Upperers so damn special. Andy Crump Release Date: February 5, 2019 Director: Mari Okada The Iorph people, known as the Clan of the Separated, enjoy life spans centuries beyond humans, living out their days in their remote homeland weaving Hibiol, a unique cloth as well as a written record of times passage. When the kingdom of Mezarte invades the Iorph village, wreaking havoc and upon dragons, 15-year-old Maquia (Manaka Iwami) winds up separated from her kin and removed from her home, where she must begin again as an outsider in a land not her own. Her very identity puts her in danger, more so when circumstances lead her to adopt an abandoned human baby. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, a high fantasy epic helmed by the great anime screenwriter and director Mari Okada, thus becomes the story of one girl writing the Hibiol of her life. Its a fraught life: The film spans years, decades even, and Maquias path takes her through wilderness, war, poverty, mourning and constant alienation from all around hereven her surrogate son, Ariel (Miyu Irino), doomed to age and die long before Maquia. Or maybe: Shes doomed to survive him. Neither case sounds pleasant, but Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms reminds us that the pain of loss is proof of life, of memories made and love shared between parents and children. Okadas a titan in her field. She doesnt need one more movie under her belt to prove it, but Maquia: When the Promised Flower Bloomss ambition, both as narrative and as a demonstration of stunningly fluid, ever gorgeous animation, makes for an impressive entry in her body of work regardless. Andy Crump Joe Biden proved yet again that he is not the future of the Democratic party on Thursday when he remarked at University of Nebraska at Omaha that Vice President Mike Pence is a decent guy. Yeah, that Pence, the one who supports gay conversion therapy and plays Igor to Trumps Dr. Frankenstein (though the president himself definitely could not complete a doctorate). At the Chuck Hagel Forum in Global Leadership on Thursday, the former vice president mentioned the frosty reception to Pences speech at the Munich Security Conference, as CNN reports. The fact of the matter is it was followed on by a guy [Pence] whos a decent guy, our vice president, who stood before this group of allies and leaders and said, Im here on behalf of President Trump, and there was dead silence. Dead silence, Biden noted. The possible 2020 hopeful also discussed the Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim Jong-Un at the forum (The president treats everything like a real estate deal), but his passing comment about Pence was the line that stuck out to most, particularly critics on the left. My feelings when Joe Biden just referred to Mike Pence as a decent guy pic.twitter.com/ogEoU8u8G8 Jonathan Van Ness (@jvn) March 1, 2019 Mike Pence, the guy who has been 100% in lockstep with everything this administration is doing, now thats my main man right there! Joe Biden, while doing a kickflip or whatever Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) March 1, 2019 Unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate and prominent queer activist Cynthia Nixon criticized Biden for tacitly endorsing Pences homophobic views. The Scranton native responded to her via Twitter: Youre right, Cynthia. I was making a point in a foreign policy context, that under normal circumstances a Vice President wouldnt be given a silent reaction on the world stage. But there is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the Vice President. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 28, 2019 A silver lining for Bidenhe did get some praise from Senator Lindsey Graham! Thats an endorsement sure to score him a place on the Democratic ticket! See, it doesnt hurt to say something nice about a possible opponent. Could any Dem today say something nice about President @realdonaldTrump or @VP Mike Pence? (2/2) Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 1, 2019 CNNs resident hack Chris Cillizza (who kind of sucks, in case you werent aware) chalks up Bidens comment about Pence to being a politician from a bygone era. And hes not entirely wrong, but Cillizza misses a vital point about the era during which Biden rose to political power: It was one in which queer people had to hide their identities, in which the expression of their love was often outlawed. Its time for that old time-y politeness to be thrown out the window, because thats how homophobia and bigotry proliferate. If youre too worried about appearances and calling people across the aisle decent in spite of their utterly indecent views, then you miss the opportunity to help the vulnerable. After all this, were still not entirely sure if Biden is running for president, except of course hes running. Even the governor of Washington state threw his hat in the ring on March 1 (sorry, Jay Insleenot a chance in hell). Old Joe is playing it coy, though, saying at the event in Delaware: We are in the final stages of that decision, andit would be the greatest honor of my life to be president of the United States, but also it is something that I have to make sure I could run a first-rate effort to do this, and make clear where I think the country should go and how to get there. I have not made the final decision, but dont be surprised. We wont. First off, the dummy didnt get nothing. Trump caved because hes the worst negotiator in human history, but he didnt walk away empty-handed. Saying he got literally nothing reflects a really depressing worldview defined by constant threats of nuclear war, and frankly, a worldview based on faulty logic that the North Korean regime wants us to adopt because it helps their cause of projecting more power than they actually have. First off, here is Friday afternoons breaking news coming the day after Trumps canceled lunch with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Per NBC News: The U.S. military is preparing to announce that annual large-scale joint exercises conducted with South Korea every spring will no longer be held, according to two U.S. defense officials. The major U.S.-South Korea exercises are being curtailed as part of the Trump administrations effort to ease tensions with North Korea, the officials said. The exercises known as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle will be replaced with smaller, mission-specific training, according to the officials. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has repeatedly complained about the large-scale exercises, saying theyre too costly and the U.S. bears too much of the financial burden. Every year, around the same time, the U.S. and South Korea do joint military exercises that basically cosplay an invasion of North Korea. Its a demonstration of our joint military might, and every year, around the same time, North Korea does something provocative as well. In the United States, we only really get news on the latter, not the former, and the oh my God North Korea can bomb California! national news cycle is as reliable as Fox News War on Christmas annual news cycle. Its not like theres no reason to fear North Korea. They have nukes! Or something approximating them. Its hard to tell. They dont call it the Hermit Kingdom for nothing, but our understanding of their motivations is based on faulty logic. And this is where we get to the part where yes, Trump made a horrible deal given the leverage he held, but he scored an important victory for peacewhether he meant to or, more likely, whether it was a temper tantrum stemming from last nights loss. What do 1940s South Korea, China and Greece, 1950s Iran, Guatemala, Laos, Indonesia, Lebanon, Iraq, 1960s Democratic Republic of Congo, Laos, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Brazil, Iraq, Vietnam, Dominican Republic (again), Indonesia (again), Greece (again), 1970s Bolivia, Iraq (again), Chile, 1980s Afghanistan, Poland, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, 1990s Kuwait, Haiti, Iraq (again), 2000s Yugoslavia, Iraq (again), Palestine, Syria, and 2010s Libya, Egypt and Yemen have in common? None of those U.S.-backed overthrown regimes had nuclear weapons. We tried amplifying the popular protests earlier this century against nuclear-curious Iran and that regime is still standing. The United States has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the only way to avoid the inevitability of regime change in the nuclear era is to either fall in line with U.S. foreign policy, be unimportant to U.S. foreign policy, or own nuclear weapons. Our conception of North Korea is wrong, and its due mostly due to the elite political and media hysteric consensus that this is a suicidal regime hellbent on our destruction. Sure, thats the propaganda they put out, and the North Korean regime undoubtedly centers much of its propaganda around standing up to our empire, but its propaganda that has a nugget of a point. Kim Jong-un and his ruling regime are not some reckless group of tyrants hellbent on destroying the world in a nuclear inferno (but they are reckless tyrants). This is one of the oldest ruling regimes on the planet. They know what theyre doing. North Korea is the last modern connection left to the Japanese imperialist authoritarianism that dominated that region during World War II. They want us to think that they are their hyperbolic rhetoric as a way of both shoring up their support at home, and as a negotiating tactic because everyone knows that they hold their finger above the worst-case scenario button. Theyre not the unhinged psychopaths they project themselves to be. Theyre rational actors just like we are. Just like South Korea, and the 78% of South Korean citizens who support these efforts to make peace in the region. The United States is part of the problem. North Korea is relatively untouchable for two reasons. First, they can level Seoul (a city with a million more people than New York City) with conventional weapons in the span of an hour. Second, China. The former is a reality that will never go unchanged, while with the latter we have some amount of control. Its not a great situation for China to have a nuclear-armed tyrant stirring up tensions on its southern border, but its a better situation than the United States having thousands of troops perpetually stationed just across the Chinese border. North Korea exists in this current iteration in part due to the United States presence in the region. If the U.S. decreased its military presence in the region, China would feel less threatened, changing their calculus on Kim Jong-un. Trade with China represents a little more than half of North Koreas economy. If the Chinese wanted Kim Jong-un gone, they could do it in a month. His value to them lies largely in being a hedge against the U.S. history of military and CIA operations against adversarial regimes, but if the U.S. lessened its aggressive posture, China would view the Americans as less of a threat in kind (Im not advocating a full-retreat from the region hereproviding increasingly authoritarian China with that kind of vacuum to step into would be a betrayal to our allies in Japan and South Korea, and likely more disastrous than failing to nullify a key piece of North Korean leverage). Theoretically, the goal should be to create a situation where China views Kim Jong-un as more of a nuisance than a buffer, hopefully leading to a consensus among regional powers that with this genocidal North Korean regime, regime change is necessary, even if the United States and its sordid history is involved. The question that all international relations comes down to is whether someone is a rational actor or not. If they are, then they will act in their own self-interest, and a simple survey of the relative interests of various actors provides a map to various outcomes. When the United States and South Korea do these joint exercises, it threatens the credibility of the peace deal. Its not like the United States has gone back on a deal before, and, well *Don Draper voice* thats what the [nuclear weapons] are for! The situation with North Korea is incredibly complex, and the U.S. is not the primary consideration here. South Korea, China and Japan are the regional powers most immediately threatened by a bellicose North Korea, and Americas role in all this is clouded by our vast history of regime change. Supporting the ongoing provocations (military exercises is literally repeating the state line) means undermining the peace efforts that an overwhelming majority of South Koreansour staunch allieswant. I cant believe Im saying this, but Donald Trumpwhether intentionally or nothas honestly done as much to forge peace in that region as any president in this millennials lifetime. This was a bad deal because there really was no deal and North Korea got yet another tangible and propagandistic victory over America, but de-escalating tensions is not nothing. Ultimately, its everything. Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling. China is Apple's third largest source of revenue. When the Chinese economy began to fall in the second half of 2018, it eventually caught up with Apple which led to their preannouncement that they would miss it's Q1 2019 guidance. Apple's CEO made it known that most of their revenue shortfall in their guidance, and over 100 percent of their year-over-year worldwide revenue decline, occurred in Greater China. What Apple refused to acknowledge was that local Chinese competition from the likes of Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus and Xiaomi was also taking a toll with their smartphones selling for less than half the price of iPhones with a quality product. Today a new report published by a Chinese publication paints a bleak view for Foxconn's Apple plants. If calendar Q4 was bad for iPhone production, then calendar Q1 appears to be looking much worse. One of Foxconn's largest iPhone factories is in Zhengzhou and according to information released by Zhengzhous customs administration, mobile phone exports plunged 23.7 per cent in January compared to a year earlier. It's an indicator that calendar Q1 could be worse than calendar Q4, though Apple did move like lightning to lower prices in China in early January which was well received. Though that might have just been to burn off inventory backing up on factory floors and not a sign that production is back on track in the Foxconn plant. Today's South China Morning Post (the Post) report states that working conditions inside the worlds largest iPhone assembly plant are not normal, as weaker demand iPhone assembled inside the vast 1.4 million square metre (15 million square feet) facility has led to lower salaries and reduced benefits from Apples largest supplier. Around two dozen workers told the South China Morning Post that their salaries had been cut at the end of last year, an unprecedented step in their experience. Beyond salary cuts, Foxconn's shuttle bus service to the workers gloomy dormitory compound has been cancelled, forcing some to walk for up to 40 minutes to get to their rooms. The company's one-time free laundry service was also cut at the beginning of the year for the first time. The report further notes that the hiring and firing cycle at Foxconn is leading to mass resignations as employees seek stable employment. This is causing pressure on Foxconn to find enough workers to keep production reliable. The Zhengzhou facility is a special facility with it's own customs officials at the factory gates to speed up the process of transporting finished iPhones to the nearby airport for export. More than 100,000 migrant workers live and work inside the special trade zone where the Zhengzhou facility resides, which accommodated around 300,000 workers at its height at the end of 2014. To ease some of the pain in this area, they noted that about two weeks ago, Taiwan Central News Agency reported that the Zhengzhou facility had received orders from Huawei and the facility would recruit 50,000 workers. The rest of the Post's report is about Foxconn crammed dorms and the politics of getting Foxconn to invest in the Zhengzhou plant with high tax breaks that may never pan out for the Chinese province unless Apple's iPhone sales turn around. It also includes two videos covering Foxconn employees feedback and how in general Chinese consumers are being lured away from the iPhone by lower prices from local competition. You could read the rest of the Post's report here. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Its Friday, so theres a new article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Campbellites and Mormonites: Competing Restoration Movements Abstract: In October 1830, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson were the first missionaries sent to travel through the western states to the Indian territory at the far reaches of the United States. Pratt, a former resident of northeastern Ohio, suggested they stop in the Kirtland, Ohio, area and visit his preacher friend, Sidney Rigdon. It was Rigdon who had earlier convinced Pratt that the restoration of the ancient order that included faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit could be found in Alexander Campbells restoration movement. Within a few weeks, the four missionaries baptized Rigdon and more than 100 new converts into Joseph Smiths restoration movement many of whom had been members of Campbells restoration movement. Although both Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith called their movements restorations, the foundation upon which each was built was very different. *** Church Donates $2 Million to the International African American Museum: Elder Bednar presents donation at RootsTech And heres a wonderful expression of thanks from political leaders in Charleston, South Carolina, and from leader of the Museum itself: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Donates $2 Million to Center for Family History Im very happy about this gift, and very proud of my church. *** The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued an official statement on the geography of the Book of Mormon. Its not too long, and its worth reading especially by those who pay much attention to questions about where the events of the Book of Mormon occurred: Book of Mormon Geography Heres a short but significant comment on the statement by Neal Rappleye: Official Church Statement on Book of Mormon Geography *** I was involved in a meeting on quite a different topic yesterday afternoon, but the subject of Tad Callisters new book came up. Theres some real excitement about it among people whose views I respect: Tad R. Callisters A Case for the Book of Mormon Available for Preorder Incidentally, if youre considering purchasing A Case for the Book of Mormon (or almost anything else), please consider purchasing it through AmazonSmile. Using AmazonSmile is easy. Its just about as easy as using the regular Amazon. Heres a brief but very helpful video on How to use Amazon Smile to Make Donations, kindly created on his own initiative by my friend Tom Pittman: How to use Amazon Smile to Make Donations AmazonSmile donates .5% of the price of whatever you buy through it to a designated charity of your choosing. Thats not a huge amount, but it can add up if enough people use the service. And, please remember, this entails no extra charge to you. The Interpreter Foundation is one of the charities that you can choose. But whether you designate the Interpreter Foundation or some other charitable group, you should do this. Let me reiterate that it costs you not a penny extra. You cant, of course, deduct the amount contributed from your taxes, because its Amazon thats contributing, not you. And this really doesnt let you off the hook for making actual, direct donations to charities. But why not enlist Amazon to support causes that you like? Really. Why not? In Quest of an American Zen Reflections as the Empty Moon Zen Network creates a sangha in Anaheim, California James Myoun Ford At the beginning of April, our Empty Moon sanghas currently meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach and the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church in Costa Mesa will consolidate as a single group, meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim, California. As part of this consolidation and move, I will be assuming responsibility as part-time minister of the church. And the leadership of the church sees fostering the Zen mission as part of their mission, as well. A lovely, complicated, and no doubt it will be a messy collaboration. This shift calls me to pause and to consider what we, and I are doing. For both aspects the UU church calling into ministerial leadership a Zen priest, and for the Zen group given more time and space than it has had. The Zen group will be meeting on Saturday mornings, with a day long once a month also scheduled, in addition to every Tuesday evening. Im taking this as a moment to reflect on this work in progress. We started Empty Moon three years ago. We consist of two sanghas in Washington State led by Senior Dharma Teacher Janine Larsen, a sangha in Pennsylvannia led by the Reverend Edward Oberholzer, and what were two groups and now that single consolidated group in Anaheim. Our mission is to support those who wish to practice in an authentic branch of the great stream of Zen Buddhism. Our specific origins come with my training background, first as a priest within the Japanese derived Soto school and then my training within the Soto reformed koan curriculum developed by Daiun Sogaku Harada Roshi in the early decades of the Twentieth century. Already begun and begun anew, this is what I hope for with our new Anaheim sangha, our little school for broken hearts. It is my dream we can offer support for practice for three specific groups of people. As I see it they exist as nesting bowls. Each has its integrity. The first, largest, and most expansive of the groups we hope to call into existence, Im calling Friends of the Way. These are people who are interested in Zen, like the literature, sit when they can, and in general want to find ways to be better, more compassionate, and wise people. This represents an authentic call to the spiritual life. And often includes people whose interests are not primarily Zen. As I see it we can best help here in two ways. The first is by offering classes on aspects of the Zen dharma. Our new location in Anaheim will allow us to do this. The other, and I find this extremely exciting is what Im calling First Saturday. First Saturdays will be based in the Sunday services that have evolved within the Soto Mission in Hawaii and Western Unitarian Universalist Sunday programming. The central point will be a dharma talk. This is something Ive been thinking about for years. And, Im so excited to be able to see whether it is something people really want. However it goes I see it as part of a conscious focus on creating community. The second I call our Zen Practice Community. Within the nesting bowl of our practice this includes opportunities described for Friends of the Way. But, it takes us in a more focused direction. This is the heart of our mission, providing opportunities to sit in zazen, to investigate koans, to have deeper experiences of retreat from a single day to the traditional three, five, and seven-day sesshin. This is the invitation nearly unique to Zen in the West, with focused opportunities to practice meant to integrate with other aspects of ordinary life, jobs, family, and community involvement. Included in this is the opportunity to formally enter the Zen Buddhist way, to take the precepts, and if one wishes in conversation with a teacher to undergo spiritual direction. This is an offering of a comprehensive and complete Zen practice. The third of these nesting bowls is expressed as the Ordained Sangha. Again, it includes everything offered in the Friends of the Way and the Zen Practice Community. While seeking to avoid the problems of clericalism, and to uphold the centrality of lay practice as defined as the Zen Practice Community, it is meant to answer an ancient call many of us feel. This ordained way for us has its own three-fold aspects. One aspect is a commitment to a vowed life. Specifically, there is an ongoing expectation of supporting each other in our practice in both spirit and deed. One way of looking at this is by considering the Christian concept of third orders as opposed to regular orders, which with the Christian churches also drop vows of celibacy. This is a practice of bowing into life. The obligations of ordination do not supersede marriage or similar commitments, but must be taken as equal to them. And so it is not to be taken on lightly. The second aspect of ordination is a commitment to a liturgical practice. Here, again, we can see parallels in the Christian tradition and particularly in the celebration of Eucharist. Through rites that have evolved in Japan over more than a thousand years, and rooted in celebrations a thousand and a half older, of chanting, bowing, offering incense or flowers (and in some adaptations water), with the express intent of the healing and blessings for the world, including named people and situations, we find a work that is unique to our ordained life. I make no theological assertions about this liturgical practice, also called service. But for those who ordain it is simply and whole-heartedly embracing a calling of our hearts as an ancient expression of the bodhisattva way. Literal, metaphorical, all are outside our concern. Rather we bow into this as a critical part of the ordained way. These first two aspects are fully part of the ordained life in Japanese Zen. The third aspect exists in Japan, but here in the West it becomes clearer and more explicit. And that is the call to ministry, the conscious preparation for and a life devoted to the service of others. This last may be the most visible aspect of the ordained life. So. In summary. As I see it in the light of this moment. It is our goal in this new Anaheim sangha to support people who seek these aspects of the Zen life. Going forward our leadership will be drawn from both the Zen Practice Community and the Ordained Sangha. Although with the vows of ordination one takes on a level of obligation to help in the support of the community not asked of for either Friends of the Way or the Zen Practice Community. With this we hope were beginning to see the outlines of a full life of practice and service, where we can engage our own practice and support others in theirs. With this we hope to grow in depth and wisdom. And perhaps, even be of use in this world of tears Patna: Female politicians in Patna on Thursday, ignoring party differences briefly to mark the International Women's day, joined hands with each other outside Bihar Assembly to demand reservation for women in the Indian Parliament. Ladies of the Janata Dal U, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Congress, in a show of solidarity over more power for women in the Indian polity, huddled in the well shouting slogans favoring more seats for women in the Parliament and in the state legislatures. The protest, however, was more symbolic than an attempt to drown the House in noises. After Speaker Vijay Kumar Chowdhary acknowledge their demand, the ladies returned to their seats and the House proceeding was allowed to move smoothly. Demanding seats proportionate to the ratio of the women population of the country, the legislators said that though women were in a much better shape today than they were a few decades ago thanks to awareness programs like the International Women's Day, they still were considered weak by the male-oriented society and deemed unfit for many jobs. Those who took part in today's symbolic protest included Ranju Geeta, Poonam Yadav, Lesi Singh, Kavita Singh, and Sunita Singh Chauhan, (all JD-U); Ejiya Yadav, and Prema Chaudhary (both of RJD); Gayatri Devi and Bhagirathi Devi (BJP); and Amita Bhushan of Congress. The Speaker also announced that legislator Ranju Geeta of JD-U would be the Speaker of the House for one day during his absence. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister of Bihar and RJD leader Rabri Devi demanded more protection for the women leaders in Bihar and 33% reservation for women in the Parliament and State Assembly. Patna: Members of the Nishad Vikas Sangh, a caste-based outfit representing fishermen and mallahs (boat steerers), on Saturday took out massive rallies in Patna and elsewhere in Bihar to demand reservation for its people. Led by the organization's national President Mukesh Sahni, protestors carrying banners and placards under the banner of 'Sons of Mallahs', demanded reservation in jobs and education on the line of reservation policies in West Bengal and Delhi. "If India is a nation of all and the constitution and tax system is same for all then why different reservation policies for different communities? If we don't get the reservation that we are asking for by the end of June, we will take out a massive rally at Patna's Gandhi Maidan in the month of October," Sahni said. Providing more details of the proposed rally, Sahni said that the Nishad community will announce the name of a its own party in October and the Nishads will field their own candidates at all 40 seats in Bihar. Members of the Son of Mallahs said that they had been pressing for their demands for the last three years but the government has not paid any attention to it. Meanwhile, the Nishads will take out a bike rally in Muzaffarpur on Sunday that, they claimed, would be attended by more than 20,000 participants. Beer drinkers in central Pa. have a lot to look forward to in 2019. At least nine new breweries have big plans in the works this year, some closer to opening than others. Heres who is expected to turn on the taps, or at least forge ahead with projects in the coming months. Devils Eye is targeted to open in April at the former Flapjacks Pub & Restaurant at 9 N. U.S. Route 15 in Dillsburg. The brewery will encompass a restaurant, bar with local wine and spirits and deck with outdoor seating. Co-owner Holly Ann Amig enters the project with a restaurant background, having worked in the industry her entire adult life. I just got tired of working for everybody else. I had a lot of things I wanted to do that you just cant do as an employee, she said. She is a firm believer food is a necessary accompaniment to beer. When people go out to drink they need food, Amig said, adding without food they go someplace else. This keeps them here. Devils Eye will serve pub-friendly food such as wings, burgers, grilled cheese, pizza, sandwiches, steaks and seafood as well as a kids menu. As for the beer, part-time brewers will work together to create Devils Eye portfolio of several different styles, Amig said. In the beginning six beers will be on tap and eventually expand to about a dozen offerings. 2. Highway Manor Brewing Nearly four years ago, Johnnie Compton III opened Highway Manor in Lower Allen Township specializing in adventurous sour and funky beers. His nearly 30 products sell mostly in Philadelphia and New York City as well as here in central Pa. Now Compton has his eyes set on the next project, building a 100-seat tasting room at the brewery due to open at some point this year. For the first time the public will be able to take a seat inside Highway Manor at 2238 Gettysburg Road. Compton admits he wasnt eager about entering the hospitality sector, but its a logical next step to maintain Highway Manors relevance among beer drinkers. A lot of people are coming into beer. There is a lot of education about what we do and how we do it, Compton said. The tasting room not intended to be a sour beer bar, by any means - will serve beer cocktails, natural wines and ciders mixed with a few of Comptons favorite sour beers from other breweries to form a beverage hub. A 12 beer draft line will combine Highway Manors beers with guest beers. On the food side, Compton said he plans to start basic with a simple menu of pub food favorites. The start-up brewery will be a first for Huntingdon County. CEO Sean Steeg, who said a career change and early mid-life crisis sparked the idea for Juniata Brewing Company, has partnered with brewmaster David Welsch. My deal with him is you handle beer and Ill handle the rest of the stuff, Steeg said. They hope to soon announce the brewerys address in Huntingdon and open in time for Juniata Colleges homecoming in September. Plans call for a small-scale facility and five-barrel brewing system. They recently purchased equipment from GearHouse Brewing Company. The tasting room might accommodate up to 60 people. As you may have heard we are young and untested, so we wanted to keep the scope of what we are doing manageable and give ourselves room to grow, Steeg said. As for styles of beer, Welsch said Juniata Brewing wont follow a specific style but produce a mix of classic and newer styles like New England IPAs. He admits to being partial to Belgian beers, stouts and porters, and acknowledges the portfolio will need to be broad enough to appeal to different beer drinkers. You shouldn't have to feel guilty about taking breaks. #norefrigerationneeded Posted by Lindgren Craft Brewery on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 Father-son team Clifford and Michael Lindgren are hoping to make the leap from a two-barrel pilot system to something bigger in 2019. The Lindgrens are eyeing a property in Duncannon where they will expand production to 20 barrels and open a tasting room in collaboration with a restaurant. They hope to finalize plans this year. For now, they brew favorites such as I Love Mary Jane (Tropical Duncannon style) IPA and Weak in the Knees Pale Ale on the familys Penn Township farm in Perry County. The beers are on tap at Mastracchio's Restaurant & Lounge in Newport and Sorrento's Bar & Lounge in Duncannon. It was always one day we are going to start a business together, said the younger Lindgren. After leaving college Michael Lindgren worked at Appalachian Brewing Company where he met Jason Simmons, who has been hired as Lindgrens head brewer. Simmons has more than 15 years of experience in the industry. We want to be able to brew really interesting beers people enjoy, Michael said. Among their experiments was a beer brewed with sweet potatoes. It was very light and crisp with a slight sweetness and its probably one of our more popular beers, he said. Three converted beer curmudgeons will bring Red Lion Alesmiths to the basement of the Shadesville Hub & Corner Cafe at 157 E. Broadway in Red Lion. Renovations are underway for a possible April opening. The Broadway Ale House will serve eight beers on tap along with Allegro wines on the main floor of a new pub bar. One might describe the taproom feel we are going for as a sort of steam punk theme crossed with a Cracker Barrell country, Harley style and 70s love child tie dye mash up. It is our hope that the synergy among us will help bring people back in to the center of Red Lion and revitalize the neighborhood, said Chris Grothe, one of the owners. Red Ale is a partnership between Grothe and Ed Miller and Rich Day, all lifelong friends and 1984 Red Lion High School graduates. What was a hobby eventually turned more serious as they gained confidence with their recipes. Grothe said before the friends were serious home brewers they used to drink beer for the alcohol, not the taste. As a result, they are intent on brewing unique, groundbreaking beers. We believe we can make some of the best craft brew products in the region and beyond. And not only that, we believe we can make products that will encourage more people to rethink what they drink and why, Grothe added. They also hope to fill a need in the community by offering a place for people to gather including large groups for meet ups or banquets. Plans call for multi-course tasting parties, seminars, tasting events, trivia and beer festivals. Brothers Wade and Drew Leedy are following their passion for craft beer. The owners of Tommys Pizza in Gettysburg are branching out with Fourscore Beer Co., a 75-seat brewpub due to open later this spring at 603 S. Washington St. in Gettysburg in a former auto parts store. I like good beer and have for a while, and my brother got turned onto it, Wade said. The area needed a good hometown brewery. Wade is a former home brewer who has handled beer sales at Tommys where they sell a mix of cans and bottles and draft beer. The brothers are third generation owners at Tommys, a restaurant started by their grandfather. Fourscore borrows its name from President Abraham Lincolns famous speech and will operate on a seven-barrel system. Ben Little, former brewmaster at Manor Hill Brewing in Ellicott City, Maryland, has been hired as brewer. Thirteen beers will be on tap. Were going to have a little bit of everything. Well have the IPAs, some stouts, sour beers and some lagers, Wade said. To pair with the beer they will serve a small menu centered around bar food such as appetizers, sandwiches and salads. (No pizza, by the way.) Owner Brooks Hemauer is taking his passion for home brewing to the commercial level. Hes converting a detached garage at his home in Warrington Township outside of Dillsburg into a production facility. Construction is underway at the brewery. Mainly it is to have a business which not only can provide for my family but can also reinvest within our local community, he said. Right now, beers, including a Dilled Pale Ale and How Now Brown Cow Stout, are not available for sale but you can track them down at events such as PA Flavor in April. Hemauer said his portfolio will be diverse with something for everyone and eventually incorporate sour beers and barrel programs. If all goes according to plan, he said he hopes to eventually open a taproom in Dillsburg. 8. Our Town Brewery Our Town Brewery could open as early as the end of 2019 at 252 N. Prince St. in Lancaster, according to Lancaster Online. There are not a lot of details but the 6,000 square-foot space will house a brewery and restaurant with seating for about 100. The project is being developed by Rob Patz and Rob Tarves, longtime friends who once worked together at a brewpub in Lewisburg, according to the site. Tarves has experience from working at Spring House Brewing Co. and Mad Chef Brewing Co., both in Lancaster. Wolf Brewing operates under the vision artfully crafted, small batch creations with distinctive elements. It has actively brewing since 2011 when co-owner Derek Wolf started competing on the home brewing circuit. His claim to fame is 115 awards from all 50 states with 49 different beers. Derek and Elaine Wolf have been extremely active in the local beer community with nearly a dozen collaborations with other breweries and participation in beer festivals and events such as Harrisburg Beer Week. Wolf has a slew of awards to its credit. Up next, the Wolfs will open a permanent brewpub in Mechanicsburg. They are in the land development stage and hope to begin construction of the brewpub by the end of this year or by Spring 2020. An announcement about the exact location will happen in the coming months. The extinction of a tiny brown rodent in Australia is being blamed on climate change and described as a "national tragedy" by environmentalists and scientists who say it could have been avoided. The Melomys rubicola, or Bramble Cay melomys mosaic-tailed rat, inhabited the small, barren island of Bramble Cay in northeastern Torres Strait near Papua New Guinea. Professor John Woinarski of Charles Darwin University, an expert on the tiny mammal, said early intervention by the government could have prevented the extinction. He said an effort could have been made years ago as sea levels began to rise due to climate change. Because the island was low lying, it was slowly being eroded by high tides and storm surges, giving this small creature little chance of survival. The PA Media Group The Patriot-News and PennLive will honor 20 high school seniors as the Best and Brightest to represent the potential of the class of 2019. This is our 27th year of honoring these exceptional students. The deadline to enter is only one week away. The deadline is March 8, 2019. Applications can be mailed to our office at 2020 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, 17050 or dropped off in person at our office in Hampden Twp. A postmark of March 8, 2019, is acceptable. Recipients are featured in The Sunday Patriot-News in May and in a photo gallery, videos and profiles on PennLive. Students, families and school officials also are invited to an awards reception. To be eligible, a senior must have at least a B or 3.0 grade point average although a grade point average below 3.0 because of extenuating circumstances does not preclude participation. Seniors must attend a public or independent high school or be home-schooled or attend cyber school in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry or York county. Local residents attending schools in other counties or states are not eligible. Selection is based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities and service to school, peers and community as well as an autobiographical essay and two letters of recommendation. Students are asked to address any challenges they have faced in the essay. Educators assist in semifinalist selection and leaders from business, the arts, education, faith, government and the community choose the 20 finalists. For more information, send an email to Deb Kiner at dkiner@pennlive.com or call 717-257-4749. Adam Catlin, the Selinsgrove man with cerebral palsy who was facing the possible phase-out of his Walmart greeter job scored a big win Friday for himself, and possibly scores of other Walmart employees in the same spot. Catlins story became a social media sensation in mid-February, when the 10-year Selinsgrove store employee was told his job would soon be converted into a new role that would require more physical labor and the ability to help with theft prevention duties. For Adam, who walks only with the assistance of a walker, cant write well and cannot stand for long periods of time, it was effectively a pink slip, set to take effect April 26. Except, that is, for the legion of customers at the central Pennsylvania store who took to Facebook, the press and other platforms to condemn the move - and Walmart - after Holly Catlin, Adams mother, posted a heartfelt letter of concern about her sons plight on her own Facebook page. It wasnt long until echoes of Adams story were being heard across the country, and Walmart - which had perfectly sound business reasons for the changes to its front-of-store operations - was suddenly facing what looked like an unintended public relations disaster. Advocates for the disabled joined in, noting that under the Americans with Disabilities Act it is Walmarts obligation to try to make accommodations for current staffers as job duties change. Thats what ADA wants the employer to do, Theotis Braddy, chief executive officer of the Harrisburg-based Center for Independent Living of Central PA told PennLive last week. They do not want them to write a person out of a job, especially when someone has been there for a period of years. The happy ending was teased Thursday, when Walmart announced it is keeping all of its disabled greeters on indefinitely while individual store managers look for accommodations that could keep them on staff permanently. Adams specific case was resolved Friday morning, when his manager offered - and Catlin accepted - a change that will see his greeter role shifted to the stores self-checkout area. Another store staffer will be on hand to monitor the self-scanner machines, but Adam will make sure all shoppers know that theyre available and help customers who maybe unfamiliar with the technology when needed, said Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg. Adam is super excited to stay in his workplace, with his work family and management that he loves so much, Holly Catlin posted on her Facebook page after the meeting. Adam was back at his regular post Friday after his meeting, but Pennlive spoke to his sister, Amber Piermatti, by telephone. "The position just kind of fits him well, and everything hes going to be doing is within the scope of his abilities, Piermatti said. Store management has also assured the family, she said, that they will be ready to make adjustments as needed once Adam settles into the new role. Topping all this off for the Catlin family is Walmarts stated commitment to make the same kind of role adjustments for all other disabled and elderly employees. That means the world to us, Amber Piermatti said. Because the population that were talking about, I think, sometimes they get lost in the shuffle and they dont feel like they have a voice. So it was nice to see other people speaking out for them when they needed it. The fate of Cheyney University is riding heavily on Aaron Waltons shoulders. Cheyneys president has four months to prove the nations oldest historically black university can live within its means, despite dismal cashflow projections that leave that in question. Cheyneys enrollment has plunged from around 1,400 a decade ago to 415 in the spring semester. If Cheyney fails to end the fiscal year on June 30 with a balanced budget, it would put its accreditation in danger with Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The commission last year gave the university an unprecedented second year to get its financial act together. State System of Higher Education Chancellor Dan Greenstein last week told state senators at a budget hearing that he expected the school, which operates on a $27 million budget, would need a $10 million loan from the system to keep its doors open. According to the State System, the university has about $2.3 million in cash on hand or about enough to make payroll for another four two-week pay periods with a little left over to pay the rest of its bills. The systems board anticipated discussing the universitys financial situation at a meeting on Thursday, but that conversation was cancelled following a high-level meeting with Gov. Tom Wolf the night before. Among those joining Wolf inside his Capitol office for the two-hour heart-to-heart about Cheyneys status were Walton, Greenstein, system board Chairwoman Cynthia Shapira, and Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia. A Cheyney trustee, Hughes has deep ties to Cheyney; his father, James, also served as a trustee and was a founding member of the State Systems board. At the meeting, Walton indicated there was no specific action required by the systems board at this time, although system spokesman Kenn Marshall said "the board stands ready to address the matter at any time as needed. Hughes said the university president certainly didnt ask for a $10 million loan that would be diverted from the other 13 universities in the system and would be on top of the $43 million it already borrowed from its sister schools, a large portion of which is to be forgiven if it maintains a balanced budget for three more years. Walton was not available on Thursday or Friday for an interview. We walked out with everybody committing to go forth full throttle to help Cheyney survive and in fact, thrive, Hughes said. It was a recognition that a lot of really good work has been done by President Walton making some very hard, very difficult decisions that other folks did not make over the years and putting Cheyney in a position where there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel. And we really got to double down to make sure that light is realized. The fate of Cheyney University rests heavily on the shoulders of its President Aaron Walton. Hughes isnt the only one putting full faith and confidence in Walton to pull this off. So is Wolf, who has committed to keeping the embattled university open. Cheyney President Aaron Walton has demonstrated tremendous leadership through his plan to stabilize the university and create opportunities for future generations of students, Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott said. While the schools financial situation is challenging, the governor is hopeful the Middle States Commission on Higher Education will maintain the universitys accreditation. Walton, a former system board member, was appointed as Cheyneys president 21 months ago. He immediately began the process of transforming the university in Delaware County to achieve the vision laid out by a special task force formed to create a new business model that would keep the school around for years to come. That involved moving the university toward becoming an institute, the Institute for the Contemporary African American Experience, that has a narrower focus on the study of contemporary issues related to race, access and diversity in American society. Walton forged corporate partnerships with the likes of Starbucks, Thomas Jefferson University and Epcot Crenshaw Corp. to help it pursue that new mission, and he hopes to expand that list. Waltons vision is to maintain the university as a four-year degree-granting university that holds a Middle States accreditation, Hughes said. Hughes and Wolf share that vision. At the Senate budget hearing, Greenstein sounded pessimistic about Cheyneys chances of remaining accredited. He presented three options for what the future may hold for the school: close it, affiliate it with another university, or transform it to offer a career and technical education that didnt require Middle States accreditation. He also said losing its accreditation was not the end of the world but perhaps a new beginning for the school to go in a different direction. In his testimony to senators, Greenstein expressed his confidence in Walton, calling him probably one of the nations most creative leaders in higher education today based on what he has managed to do in his short tenure as the imperiled universitys head. At the same time, it is my opinion that Aaron has arrived several years too late, Greenstein added. Hughes, along with Cheyney alumni and the rest of its community, are of a different mind. They hold on to hope that with Walton in charge, the universitys situation can turn around and prove wrong the naysayers who say its too late and is not worth saving. They aim to defy critics who say the enrollment has sunk too low to be viable and the role it was founded to play 182 years ago in educating black students who couldnt gain admission to other universities is no longer relevant. They believe Cheyney can end the fiscal year without need for any financial assistance. Moreover, they see a path that will allow the university to meets Middle States requirements so it can hold on to its accreditation. If I know President Walton like I think I know him, his program is going to be about making sure that budget question is addressed long before June 30, Hughes said. Im betting on Aaron Walton. A former central Pennsylvania high school student who was sexually molested by her band director cant sue two school districts where that educator was employed, a federal appeals court has ruled. That decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit frees Lakeland School District in Lackawanna County and Western Wayne School District in Wayne County from the ex-students claims that they failed to protect her from Matthew Stevens. It also upholds U.S. Middle District Chief Judge Christopher C. Conners September 2017 ruling that dismissed the former students suit against both districts. Stevens was sentenced to 6 to 23 months in prison after pleading guilty to a corruption of minors charge in 2014. The former student claimed he had a sexual relationship with her when she was a 17-year-old senior at Lakeland in 2011-12. She reported the abuse a year later, Judge Thomas M. Hardiman noted in the 3rd Circuits opinion. Hardiman rejected the former student claims that Lakeland officials ignored indications that Stevens was having an inappropriate relationship with her. Those signs, the former student contended, including the amount of time the two spent alone in the band room and an occasion where she claimed the district superintendent saw her withdraw her arms from around Stevens waist. Although Stevens and the girl spent a lot of time alone in the band room, no administrator suspected an inappropriate relationship given (the students) music-focused curriculum and interest in pursuing a career in music, Hardiman wrote. Nor were Lakeland officials negligent in hiring Stevens from Western Wayne, the appeals judge found. The former student claimed Lakeland administrators didnt sufficiently delve into Stevens background before taking him on. The ex-student also insisted that Western Wayne officials failed to adequately investigate a rumor Stevens was having an inappropriate relationship with a student in that district. Hardiman disagreed, noting Western Wayne administrators immediately asked that student and her father about the rumor and were told it was untrue. With the benefit of hindsight, Western Wayne could have done more to investigate the rumor, Hardiman wrote. This does not mean, however, that the districts decision to end the inquiry after interviewing the student and her father constituted deliberate indifference. The circuit court ruling comes more than a year after a state Superior Court panel found that an insurer didnt have to provide coverage for Stevens against the ex-students federal lawsuit. One might argue that no institution touches more midstate lives than Harrisburg Area Community College. With more than 58,000 graduates and more than 18,000 students seeking degrees and an additional 7,700 workforce development students, HACC is a powerful force in Central Pennsylvania. HACC has no more enthusiastic cheerleader than its president, John J. Sygielski, Ed.D., known to students, staff and the public as Ski. I asked him to bring us up to date on whats happening on HACC campuses. Lets start by allowing you to do your favorite thing brag about HACC. How has it changed since you took over the reins in 2011? Since I arrived in July 2011, some of the ways HACC has changed include the following: I follow your activities on Facebook. It seems like you participate in every activity on every HACC campus. Where do you get your energy? My energy and passion come from seeing the positive, life-changing work we do on all five HACC campuses and through our virtual learning offerings daily. Through the transformative work we do in and out of the classroom, I am able to see, firsthand, individuals enthusiastically achieve their personal and professional goals. In trying to be as present as I can be on each of our campuses, I have the privilege of engaging with students who are: Recent high school graduates Single parents Former students returning to HACC after being out of high school for decades Senior citizens Re-entrants from prison who engage in credit or noncredit coursework By engaging with these individuals and others, I learn what resources are required or obstacles need to be eliminated to ensure their lives and destinies are influenced for success. I believe HACCs mission statement to create opportunities and transform lives to shape the future together fuels me to work on our students behalf. You also go on a very long bicycle ride once a year. Tell us about that. I take at least one week during each summer to ride between 500 and 1,000 miles while exploring new areas of the country or world alone. I use the time riding to reflect upon and celebrate the successes HACC enjoyed over the past academic year. I also use the time to review the challenges the college and I faced to better understand the lessons Ive learned from them and how they will influence my behavior and thoughts going forward. It also affords me an opportunity to reflect on my leadership style and personal and professional goals and refine them if necessary. Over the past seven years, I have often used my time on my bike to raise money for our students, as I did two years ago when I rode from New Orleans, La., to Nashville, Tenn., on the Natchez Trail, raising over $5,000 for a scholarship. Finally, my rides provide me an opportunity to gain insights from the different cities and people I meet along the way. While touring, I try to visit colleges, especially community colleges. These visits afford me opportunities to benchmark them against HACC. The experience also provides me an opportunity to gain insights from these observations to use in future speeches, social media posts and articles. While you have numerous academic degrees, including a doctorate, you mention frequently that you were the first person in your family to graduate from college. How does that come into play in your dealings with HACC students? Growing up in a working-class family and neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, I was expected to become a steelworker. However, I had the privilege through a scholarship to attend a prominent high school in the city, which changed my career trajectory forever. This experience afforded me an opportunity to witness, firsthand, the real difference an education can make in not only a persons future but also that of a familys future. Having been a first-generation student myself, I am keenly aware of how HACCs programs and, especially, services need to be student-focused and easy to find and understand. It also provides me a sensitivity and unique understanding when dealing with these students having had firsthand knowledge of being one myself. In many cases, especially at graduation, I see myself and my family sitting in the audience and walking across the platform. While you always look like you are having fun at your job, there must be great challenges. What are they? I enjoy my job very much. In fact, I believe it is the most exciting job at the college. However, some of the challenges that HACC and I face include the following: Competition finding ways to ensure HACC remains competitive in its marketplace and beyond as it encounters new and expanding postsecondary institutions marketing within our service region and beyond Demographics finding ways to ensure the college is able to address the changing social, racial and ethnic demographics of our 11-county service area Educational technology finding ways to ensure our classroom technology is current for our digital-native students Enrollment finding ways to increase enrollment among nontraditional students Governance Facilities finding ways to keep our facilities state-of-the-art Finances finding ways to identify and procure financial support from the private sector since there will continue to be an erosion among public-sector funding Focus finding ways to ensure our course offerings remain relevant Innovation finding ways to ensure we remain innovative and entrepreneurial in identifying revenue-generation opportunities Partnerships finding ways to partner with tradition and nontraditional private and public-sector organizations Regulations finding ways to address the ever-increasing federal regulations being placed upon higher educational institutions Workforce training finding ways to ensure our credit and noncredit programs remain relevant for the current and future jobs in our service region and beyond Virtual learning finding ways to ensure our quality online programs remain relevant and focused on successful outcomes. What does the future hold for HACC? Even though HACCs future is bright because of our ability to meet the ever-changing education and training needs of our communities, the future HACC will need to: Remain entrepreneurial and innovative Remain steadfast on controlling costs Remain focused on how to best serve a changing student population Remain focused on training for the most in-demand jobs Compete effectively with new and expanding educational providers Partner with private and public entities Revise traditional academic governance operations Focus additional efforts on raising funds from within the private sector Offer personalized learning Remain creative in offering competency-based and developmental education Become brokers of learning. NANCY ESHELMAN: columnist1@verizon.net Editors note: This column was updated to correct a typographical error regarding the number of graduates. Nancy Eshelmans latest book, More Pieces of My Mind, can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1724139576 A Bucks County mother accused of killing five family members with the help of her 19-year-old daughter pulled her son from enrollment at a local school district two weeks earlier, ABC27 reported. The news station cited Morrisville School District Superintendent Jason Harris, who said Shana Decree told district officials her son, Damon Decree Jr., was being withdrawn from the district. The mother did not specify the reason that her son was being withdrawn, the news station reported, adding that she was expected to register a follow up education plan with district officials, but she did not do so. Shana Decree, 45, and her daughter, Dominique Decree, 19, are charged with killing five family members, including three children, inside a Bucks County apartment Monday. Both face five counts of criminal homicide and one count of conspiracy in the Morrisville slayings. The five people were found after a maintenance worker entered the home at the behest of a concerned social worker, authorities said. They have been identified as Shana Decrees two children, NaaIrah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree Jr., 13, both of Morrisville; Shana Decrees sister, Jamilla Campbell, 42, of Trenton, New Jersey, and Campbells 9-year-old twin daughters, Imani and Erika Allen. Authorities did not immediately say how the five family members died, and Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said it could be weeks before the causes and manners of the deaths are determined. In the day since the killings, some family members have speculated to media that the womens actions may have been part of a murder-suicide pact with religious or cult motivations. They were all going through something religiously, and they decided to drag the kids into it, Destiny Harris, the half-sister of the twins killed, told Action News 6 ABC of Philadelphia. Charging documents indicate Shana Decree told police everyone in the house wanted to die and talked about suicide. A multiple-vehicle crash has closed a lane on Interstate 83 in York County. The crash is reported in the northbound lanes just north of Exit 34 (VALLEY GREEN), 511PA reports. Heavy and stop-and-go traffic is reported in the area of the crash. The 10- to 30-year prison term of a Pennsylvania mother convicted of trying to kill her two children by asphyxiating them in her car has been upheld by a state appeals court. The Superior Court panel backed the attempted murder convictions of Melissa Ann Scholl despite her claims that she didnt receive a fair trial in Luzerne County Court and that important evidence in the case was mishandled or destroyed. Scholl, now 35, of Wilkes-Barre Township, was found in her running, parked car with her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter in December 2015. A hose attached to the cars exhaust pipe was channeled into a passenger side window and was pumping carbon monoxide into the vehicle, police said. Both Scholl and the children survived without serious injuries. Scholls first trial in the case ended with a deadlocked jury, but she was convicted during a second trial in September 2017. Her defense was that she didnt actually intend to kill her children. Rather, Scholl said she was a physically and emotionally battered woman who was making a cry for help. On appeal to the state court, Scholl sought a new trial or a complete dismissal of the criminal case. She claimed prosecutors should not have been allowed to present a recorded interview with her son as evidence, that cell phone data was secured illegally and that the jury wasnt properly instructed on the law. Also, she claimed the case should have been voided after her car was destroyed and the hoses police said were used to channel carbon monoxide into the vehicle were touched by investigators who werent wearing gloves. Senior Judge John L. Musmanno rejected all those arguments in the state courts opinion. Instead, he seconded an earlier appeal denial issued by county Judge David W. Lupas. Lupas concluded police conducted a thoroughly legal investigation and that Scholl received a fair trial. He noted Scholls car was destroyed by a third party without the permission of prosecutors and that the circumstances were being investigated by state police. Still, Lupas said, the destruction of the car didnt remove any evidence that might have favored Scholl. As for the hoses, Lupas said there was no evidence that they were cleaned or that their handling by investigators would have ruined evidence valuable for Scholls defense. The Peyton Walker Foundation announced Friday its intentions to donate 21 automated external defibrillators to Harrisburg School District. A comprehensive site assessment found that 21 new devices were needed throughout the districts 11 schools, and various sporting venues, the foundations founder and executive director Julie Walker said. The foundation plans to work with the district to install new devices in accessible and visible locations. Walkers daughter, Peyton, passed away unexpectedly due to sudden cardiac arrest. Since her passing, Walker has made it her lifes mission to educate others on sudden cardiac arrest warning signs, as well as how to save a life. Every minute a person suffering from cardiac arrest doesnt have access to a defibrillator, or to someone certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, known as CPR, the survival rate decreases 10 percent, according to the foundation. District staff thanked the foundation, Pinnacle Health Foundation, and UPMC Pinnacle for its efforts to launch the new program. When sudden cardiac arrest strikes, every second counts, said UPMC Pinnacle pediatric cardiologist Dr. Sunil Patel. Providing appropriate training to staff and students and equipping them with AEDs, can prove highly effective in saving lives. UMPC Pinnacle is proud to support the Peyton Walker Foundation in its commitment to providing awareness, education, and support schools in central Pennsylvania to create heart-safe communities for youth. A man with dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship has been sentence to 63 months in prison by a federal judge in Harrisburg for his role in an expansive international scam. Prince Edosa, 54, formerly of Brooklyn, N.Y., was apprehended after four years as a fugitive. In addition to the prison term, U.S. Middle District Chief Judge Christoper C. Conner ordered him to pay $668,525 in restitution. U.S. Attorney David Freed said Friday that Edosa and nine others were indicted in the scam in 2013. The con involved fraudulent sweepstakes, advance fee and internet purchase schemes, Freed said. He said Edosa, who participated in the cons using Western Union and MoneyGram outlets he operated, agreed that 410 victims were scammed out of more than $1.4 million between 2002 and 2010. Much of the ill-gotten money was diverted to Canada, Nigeria and Romania. Edosas wife and three other co-defendants have been convicted and prosecuted. The remaining conspirators are still fugitives from justice, Freed said. Driver arrested for 'recklessness' while Egyptian transport minister resigns CAIRO - At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a locomotive smashed through the buffers and burst into flames at the Egyptian capital's main train station on Wednesday. Egypt's public prosecutor said a preliminary investigation indicated the driver stepped off the train to talk to another driver without pulling the hand brake, causing the unattended locomotive to speed off and hit a concrete platform. Security camera footage from inside the city's Ramses Station showed the train failing to stop as it arrived at platform six, smashing through the buffers and a metal end railing and exploding into a huge ball of fire. Passengers carrying luggage ran for their lives as the fire spread, and several people were running cloaked in flames, witnesses said. Egyptian state television said the train driver had been arrested. Health Minister Hala Zayed said authorities had not been able to identify many of the 20 bodies recovered because they were too badly burned. Transport Minister Hisham Arafat said the train's diesel tank had exploded and led to the blaze. He resigned later on Wednesday. Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker will take temporary charge of the transport ministry, a cabinet source said. Witness Ibrahim Hussein said: "I saw a man pointing from the locomotive as it entered the platform, and screaming 'There are no brakes! There are no brakes!', before he jumped out of the locomotive. And I don't know what happened to him." The fire sent smoke billowing above the station. Inside, the train's charred engine could be seen tilted to one side next to a platform. Railway officials said the single railcar was traveling too fast when it collided head-on with the barrier. Bystander Mina Ghaly added: "I was standing on the platform and I saw the train speed into the barrier. ... Everyone started running but a lot of people died after the locomotive exploded. I saw at least nine corpses lying on the ground, charred." Zayed, the health minister, said that as well as the 20 killed, 43 people were injured, 15 of whom had been released after treatment. State television earlier put the death toll at 25 and said 50 were injured. Ahmed Youssef, a doctor at nearby Al Helal hospital, said more than 20 injured people had been admitted, most of them in serious condition. Witness Ahmed Abdeltawab said the platform had been crowded with passengers waiting for another train and people fled in flames. "The fire overwhelmed them and they ran while they were on fire until they fell meters from the incident," he said. "The scene was terrifying." Egypt General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek ordered an extensive investigation. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday: "I have instructed the government to immediately rush to the accident scene to follow up the situation and hold those responsible accountable after the results of an accurate investigation. The accident triggered an online debate among many Egyptians, with many blaming the government for not improving railway services. Official figures show that 1,793 train accidents took place in 2017 across the country. In March last year, Sisi said the government lacked 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or about $14.1 billion, to overhaul the run-down rail system. He spoke a day after a passenger train collided with a cargo train, killing at least 12 people, including a child. Reuters - Ap - Xinhua A state Superior Court panel has upheld the prison term of a central Pennsylvania man who was convicted helping to shoplift dog toys. In the courts opinion on the case, Senior Judge Dan Pellegrini didnt buy Benjamin Forsythes claim that he didnt know his girlfriend was stuffing the pup playthings in her purse. The unusual thefts occurred in July 2017 at the Franklin Hardware & Pet Center in Chambersburg, police said. Pellegrini noted store workers suspected the crime after an empty package for a nylon dog toy on a shelf the day after Forsythe and his girlfriend paid a visit. Surveillance camera footage showed the woman stuffing $186 worth of dog items in her purse and Forsythes apparent participation in the offense, the judge wrote. Although he claimed ignorance of the shoplifting, a Franklin County jury convicted Forsythe, 28, of Newburg, of conspiracy to commit retail theft after a trial this past June. He was sentenced to 2 to 23 months in prison. On appeal to the state court, Forsythe, who has prior convictions for crimes including simple assault, contended that prosecutors didnt prove he actively participated in the thefts. He stressed that his girlfriend tried to take sole responsibility for the crime. Several actions captured by the stores security cameras belie Forsythes claim, Pellegrini found. He noted that Forsythe left the store and went to his truck to retrieve the purse his girlfriend later used in the thefts. Forsythe then pointed at certain items that ended up in (his girlfriends) purse, Pellegrini wrote. She showed Forsythe merchandise on the shelves that she had taken. Although Forsythe did not physically remove any items from the store, a conspiracy can be inferred from the circumstantial evidence regarding his and (his girlfriends) actions, the judge concluded. Editors note: This story was updated to include a statement issued Friday by the school district. Pennsylvanias Department of Education suspended some federal money and launched a review of the Harrisburg School District after concerns were raised about the implementation of a program started last year by Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney. The departments Division of Federal Programs launched a compliance review in February after the department was made aware of concerns related to the implementation of the Blended Transition Academy, according to PDE spokesman Eric Levis. He said the federal money used to support the program will be suspended for the duration of the investigation. The Blended Transition Academy started last January to improve graduation rates under a proposal by Barbara Hasan, a retired principal and assistant superintendent who has continued to be employed by the district through annual contracts since retiring in 2014. The proposal involved using School Improvement Grants to finance the academy. District spokeswoman Kirsten Keys issued this statement Friday: The Districts Administration is aware and acknowledges that PDE is conducting a compliance review of the Blended Transition Academy at John Harris Campus. We look forward to working with PDE to address this matter. Hasan was overseeing the School Improvement Grant implementation at the main high school, and that is the federal money that is currently suspended. Shortly after the money was halted, Knight-Burney announced that Hasan would be the new interim principal of Harrisburg High School. Its unclear what her new salary will be, as the personnel change has not yet been presented to the school board. Principal Sieta Achampong had been overseeing both high school campuses Sci Tech and John Harrissince the beginning of the school year after the prior John Harris principal, Lisa Love, was removed. The plan for Achampong to oversee both campuses always was intended to be temporary and the district began advertising for a full-time principal for the John Harris campus earlier this year. But the change to move Achampong in recent days was abrupt. Knight-Burney sent an email to board members this week saying the decision to remove Achampong from the John Harris campus, where she had been spending 85 percent of her time, and insert Hasan as principal. Knight-Burney said the district did not receive a very good pool of candidates for the John Harris principal vacancy and that she had promised Achampong that she would only need to lead both campuses for a few months. The superintendent said she wanted keep her promise to Achampong and minimize disruptions so she was looking to plug someone into the principal position who knew the staff, knew how the school functioned, and had strong administrative experience. Hasan met the criteria, Knight-Burney wrote in the email. In addition, Hasan was already in the school monitoring SIG implementation and working closely with various staff members. Knight-Burney did not say whether either of the two longtime John Harris assistant principals, Dwight Forrester or Keith Edmonds, were considered to fill the temporary vacancy. The superintendent said in the email that she plans to post the job opening at John Harris again and conduct interviews within the next few months so the new principal can have time to get acclimated before the next school year. The Pennsylvania Department of Education would not provide additional details on the reasons behind the suspension of the federal School Improvement Grant money or the exact amount that had been suspended. When the new Blended Transition Academy was first proposed in January 2018, it carried a nearly $700,000 annual price tag. The academy is intended to identify students without enough credits to graduate and get them into small-learning environments to get them back on track with their credits. At least 11 positions, many part-time, were included with the proposal as well as 50 Chromebooks for online coursework. Its unclear whether the academy was fully financed by the School Improvement Grant program or whether money was also drawn from other district sources. School district officials did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment about the suspension of federal money or the status of the Blended Transition Academy. The school district was originally awarded a School Improvement Grant in the 2016/17 school year for the amount of $1.3 million. The district obtained second-year funding in 2017/18 at $1.9 million and a similar amount for this current school year. In all, the district was set to receive $8.4 million in School Improvement Grants over five years. The U.S. Department of Education website describes the SIG program on its website as a Title 1 program managed by state departments of education, which then provide sub-grants," to local school districts that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide adequate resources in order to substantially raise the achievement of students in their lowest-performing schools. The state Department of Education announced last October that it planned to launch an audit of the Harrisburg School District after a series of financial scandals, including hiring 37 teachers for positions that werent budgeted and continuing to pay health care costs for 54 former teachers after they left the district. That audit began this month by the firm Wessel & Company, according to a letter from PDE to the school district, which is attached below. Lost in the headlines, rapidly accelerating news cycles and the pervasive fear generated by terrorist threats is the fact that terrorist attacks worldwide have actually been declining in some areas substantially. Terrorism researchers like me have long noted that the number of terrorist attacks rises and falls in waves generally lasting several decades. Im the founding director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, and one of the original creators of the Global Terrorism Database. My colleagues Laura Dugan, Erin Miller and I define terrorism as the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by non-state actors to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal through fear, coercion or intimidation. The database shows that the world has been gripped by a wave of terrorist attacks that began shortly after the 9/11 attacks. My research using the START database shows the extent of this spike. From 2002 through 2014, worldwide terrorist attacks increased by 12 times and terrorist fatalities increased by more than eight times. Especially hard hit were Iraq and Afghanistan in the Middle East, India and Pakistan in South Asia, and Nigeria in sub-Saharan Africa. The most active terrorist organizations driving this worldwide boom were the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, the Islamic State Group (also known as IS), the Communist Party of IndiaMaoist and Boko Haram. But since 2014, the picture has changed dramatically a development that has gone largely unreported in the media. Lets examine that change. A downward trend In 2015 total terrorist attacks decreased by 11.5 percent and total terrorism-related deaths by 12.7 percent. In 2016, we saw a further 9.2 percent decrease in attacks and 10.2 percent decline in total terrorism-related deaths. The downward trend continued in 2017, the most recent data available, with a 19.8 percent drop in attacks and a 24.2 percent decline in fatalities. Taken together, these 36 months have witnessed the single largest three-year decline in attacks and fatalities since the Global Terrorism Database began in 1970 nearly a half century ago. The recent declines are geographically dispersed. In the peak year of 2014, five countries Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Somalia accounted for 57.2 percent of the worlds total terrorist attacks and more than half of the worldwide terrorism-related fatalities. By the end of 2017, all five of these countries had experienced sizable declines in attacks. Three of these countries also experienced a dramatic decline in fatalities: a 53.6 percent drop in Iraq, a 55.4 percent drop in Pakistan, and a 97.1 percent drop in Ukraine. The violence in Ukraine was concentrated in 2014 and 2015 and associated with the rapid rise of the Euromaidan revolution and culminated in the overthrow of the Russian-backed Ukrainian president. During the same period, fatalities increased by 12.5 percent in Afghanistan and 203 percent in Somalia, but these increases werent big enough to offset the declines in Iraq, Pakistan and Ukraine. Major groups less active Attacks and fatalities claimed by the worlds most active and dangerous terrorist organizations have also declined during the last three years. In 2014, the five most active terrorist organizations in the world were the Islamic State Group, or IS, the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and the Donetsk Peoples Republic a separatist organization operating in Ukraine and receiving military backing from Russia. By the end of 2017, attacks by the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and the Donetsk Peoples Republic had all declined. Total attacks by IS decreased by 2.2 percent from 2014 to 2015 but then increased by 7.7 percent from 2015 to 2017. In Western Europe and the United States, total terrorist attacks are down sharply from the 1970s. In 2017, Western Europe accounted for only 2.7 percent of worldwide attacks and the United States for less than 1 percent of attacks. That may seem surprising given the amount of media attention generated by a small number of high profile attacks. In 2015, attacks in Paris took the lives of 130 and injured another 400. In 2016, Western Europe experienced a series of mass casualty attacks carried out by IS and its affiliates in Nice, Brussels and Berlin. While the total number of attacks in the United States remains extremely low, the public was shocked in 2015 by the 14 victims of the attack by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik in San Bernardino, California, and the nine people killed by Dylann Roofs attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2016, Americans witnessed the 49 deaths linked to the assault carried out by Omar Mateen in Orlando, Florida. And in 2017, Americans learned of the eight deaths in New York City linked to Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov who claimed an affiliation with IS. Some hotspots remain Terrorist attacks and fatalities are not declining everywhere and every year. The START database shows that in 2017, attacks and fatalities increased in India, the Philippines and Nepal. In 2016, attacks and fatalities increased in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Turkey. And in 2015 attacks and fatalities increased in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Egypt. Also, while worldwide attacks have declined, a large number of countries are still being targeted. Thus, while terrorist attacks took place in a total of 100 countries in 2014, total countries experiencing attacks was 99 in 2015, 108 in 2016 and 100 in 2017. Countries only experiencing attacks in 2016 included Kazkhstan, Panama and Switzerland. This effect was especially apparent with IS and its affiliates, which claimed fewer attacks and deaths in 2017 but at the same time carried out attacks in a larger number of different countries. Not all reasons for declines in terrorist attacks are positive. For example, an argument can be made that terrorist attacks have declined in Afghanistan in part because the Taliban in recent years has been so successful in taking back control of the country. A similar outcome but with the regime rather than the terrorist perpetrators gaining control of the situation no doubt explains declining terrorist attacks and fatalities in Syria. While we have observed major declines in terrorist attacks and fatalities from 2015 to 2017, both attacks and fatalities remain at historically high levels. The number of attacks in 2017 is 27.9 percent higher than in 2012, and deaths 70.6 percent higher. Even more strikingly, attacks were more than twice as common in 2017 as they were during 1992 the peak year for an earlier wave. An end to chaos? One thing is certain: The number of terrorist attacks in a particular region of the world as a whole will eventually peak and then decline. It seems logical to conclude that the chaos and disorder that follow in the wake of terrorist attacks provide strong incentives for societies to adopt strategies for countering them. Few individuals or communities prefer living endlessly in chaos and violence. We can only hope that we have reached that tipping point in 2019. At the same time, we must humbly admit that prediction is the most precarious task of the social sciences. Gary LaFree, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Not the Usual Tour of HCMC: Medicines, Markets, and Floating Temples Story and photos by Claudia B. Flisi A traveler looking for a more authentic part of Saigon, Vietnam, ends up getting lost in the back alleys of a neighborhood where few foreigners tread. Phuong was lost. We had missed the ideal bus stop for the Ho Thi Ky Flower Market in Ho Chi Minh City, and now we were fighting our way through a local food market to get there. Plenty of protein formsliving, dead, and in varying stages of expiration (chickens, frogs, fish, crustaceans, but happily no dogs) were being bartered and weighed and scrutinized by Vietnamese intent on nailing down the best bargain. We had to slither and shove our way through the crowd. Nevertheless, I wasn't worried, partly because this was an authentic District 10 neighborhood market, not one catering to tourists. There wasn't a round eye in sight and no one bothered me, the way they do in District One's Ben Thanh Market, heavily frequented by foreigners. Mostly I wasn't worried because Phoung, a native of Ho Chi Minh City, seemed to know her way around. I had found her through a website called With Locals; I chose her when she had responded with imagination to my request for a five-hour tour of "not the usual sights." She had proposed an itinerary far from District One: the flower market we were trying to find, a museum of traditional medicine, and a floating temple on the river. They were all located in District 10, roughly five miles north of the usual tourist drag. Into the Streets With Phoung She met me at my hotel at 9 a.m. wearing a bright lilac t-shirt over jeans, so I could spot her easily in a crowd. Lithe, personable, and 20-something, she occasional conducts private tours to supplement her income as an export manager and part-time yoga instructor. She guided me to the public bus stop and we rode for 25 minutes to the location of the city's largest wholesale flower market. The bus ride itself was an adventure. The storefronts became smaller and less lavish, sidewalks more crowded, traffic noisier, fewer cars, more motorcycles. But when we got off the bus, we didn't see a huge flower pavilion. Phuong's mistake stemmed from unfamiliarity: this district isn't her usual bailiwick. She kept stopping people to ask them where to go, and every response was different. Her confusion was compounded by unfortunate timing. Ho Thi Ky Flower Market blossoms, shall we say, between 2 and 8 a.m. By mid-morning, the most lavish floral displays are long gone. We navigated narrow alleys with some colorful remaining flower stands for weddings (or funeralsI couldn't tell), but Phuong was looking for a large indoor market, and couldn't find it. After searching in vain up and down several alleyways, she announced that we were going to continue to our next destination by Uber; a bus would be too complicated, she explained. Insight Into Traditional Medicine The Museum of Traditional Medicine is based in a handsome five-story wood-carved villa originally built for a family in 2003. So a visit is like taking a tour through a private home built to Viet specifications. Such traditional houses have three doors: one for men, one for women, and one for "special" (religious) visitors. The entrance to each of the villa's 18 rooms has a step; this is to prevent ghosts from entering, as Vietnamese ghosts apparently can't float over doorsteps. The family temple on the top floor reflects the country's multicultural pastChinese with Indian influences, explained Phuong. Vietnamese medicine also reflects these influences, according to our official guide. He was a young man with excellent command of English and a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of Vietnamese medicine. I couldn't keep up with all the information he shared, but a few nuggets stuck. While the traditional medicine of northern Vietnam is Chinese in origin, some medicines in the southern part of the country are unique. Both emphasize a holistic approach to health, a combination of harmony and balance. Last, when chi flows smoothly, we are healthy. Wine seems to make chi flow, since one room was entirely dedicated to the large wine vessels approved as a supplement to herbal medicines. A wine buried for 100 days is considered to impart a good balance of yin and yang, and an old Vietnamese saying maintains that "A man without wine is a flag without wind." Other rooms were lined with medicine cabinets to store the herbs and plants used in traditional medicine. The lotus flower and ginseng are especially important. Each cabinet had drawers in sets of ninenine across and nine down. This, explained our guide, is because nine is a lucky number, a belief brought from China. To help me understand what it was like to prepare a traditional medicine, the guide gave me a ao dai, hat, and a choice of three kinds of grinders so I could prepare some herbs the old-fashioned way...at least long enough for a photo session. The museum holds more than 3,000 objects, some dating back 3,000 years. All these displays, the introductory film in English, the virtuosity of our guide, and the opportunity to sample an herbal tea at the end of our tour made for a multi-dimensional, multi-sensorial experience. Both Phuong and I were ready for lunch at this point. We took another public bus to Tran Ba Giao, a crowded commercial street. This cafe-rich boulevard runs north-south just west of Song Van Thuat, a branch of the Saigon River that gave HCMC its former name. Continue to Page 2 Ward and Eis Gallery to support Women's Resource Center with benefit Ward and Eis Gallery will host its annual 'Gifts Twice Given' benefit to support Womens Resource Center of Northern Michigan programs and services on Dec. 11 and 18. Smaller African countries have a greater commitment than their richer continental counterparts to fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases, or NTDs, according to the Uniting to Combat NTDs, a nongovernmental organization. The NTDs, which can stunt growth in children, thrive in communities without access to clean water and inadequate sewage systems. The five common diseases are blinding trachoma, intestinal worms, mosquito-borne elephantiasis, snail-borne bilharzia and river blindness. NTD infections afflict more than 1.6 billion poor and marginalized people in the world and are a consequence of environmental and socioeconomic conditions, according to the World Health Organization. One in five people in the world, including over 600 million people in Africa, are infected. To increase the number of Africans accessing treatment, governments need to expand infrastructure such as roads and water and sanitation to create a safer and cleaner environment. More investments, using domestic mobilized resources, are also needed to boost local strategies. A new ranking released by the lobby group showed that Eswatini, Malawi, Mali, Sierra Leone and Togo are recording higher treatment levels for the five diseases when compared to the larger economies of Botswana and South Africa. Thoko Elphick-Pooley, director of Uniting to Combat NTDs, said the success came from commitment and leadership. Elphick-Pooley said free provision of drugs by international pharmaceutical companies to prevent and cure the NTDs has been one of the most effective strategies. "More than $17 billion worth of drugs have been committed by the companies since 2012, allowing governments, partners and communities involved in distributing and administering the drugs to deliver them at a cost of just 50 US cents per treatment per person," she said. Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a small, landlocked monarchy in southern Africa with 1.4 million people. While the number of people in need of treatment is much smaller than in Nigeria, Eswatini scored highly because of its commitment to reach every individual in need of treatment, according to the report. Richer countries with a higher UN Human Development Index, such as South Africa and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Botswana all ranked low in the NGO's table. Botswana looks to change its rankings by pledging to mobilize its domestic resources and allocate $6 million to fight NTDs. South Africa, with the third-largest economy in the continent, performed dismally and was among 14 countries in the bottom of the league table whose performance was deemed not to be on track. This puts in doubt the progress of the continent in achieving the UN sustainable development goals, which aim at eliminating NTD epidemics by 2030. Coalition to Launch to Combat China's Worsening Religious Persecution Contact: ChinaAid, 432-553-1080, media@chinaaid.org WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- ChinaAid's founder and president, Bob Fu, will join a host of U.S. lawmakers and Chinese religious freedom and human rights experts on Monday for a press conference to announce the launch of the Coalition to Advance Religious Freedom in China (CARFC), detail China's human rights abuses, and urge China to adhere to respect the rights of the Chinese people by adhering to its own, pre-existing laws, as well as the legal practices of the international community. Photo: U.S. Representative Chris Smith (center) meets with a ChinaAid delegation. Press Conference Details: When: Monday, March 4, 2019, from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EST Where: The Congressional Auditorium in the Capitol Visitor Center. The conference will highlight the voices of those who have experienced persecution in China, including Uyghur Muslims, Christians, Tibetans, and other religious practitioners. In addition, details on how China surveils its religious citizens and Chinese police tactics will be presented, as well as a call for the U.S. to apply sanctions against individuals involved in China's mass persecution of Uyghurs. United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and retired Congressman Frank Wolf are also among those expected to speak, with possible appearances from other U.S. policymakers, including Congressmen Chris Smith and Jim McGovern. The coalition, comprised of numerous human rights and religious organizations from a variety of different backgrounds, will exist to protect and improve the human rights and religious freedom of Chinese citizens. "ChinaAid has proudly steered the establishment of this coalition with the leaders of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable in D.C. and other members of the coalition," Fu said. SOURCE ChinaAid Contact: ChinaAid, 432-553-1080, media@chinaaid.org Covering more than 10,000 square metres at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in district 7, the three-day event brings together around 380 exhibitors from around the globe, including China, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and host Vietnam. The participating businesses are showcasing their latest products and technologies in various groups: parts and components, electronics and systems, accessories and customisation, repair and maintenance, alternative drive systems and digital solutions, and motorcycles, among others. Automechanika Ho Chi Minh City is one of 17 Automechanika fairs held in Africa, Asia, Europe and North, Central and South America. Since the debut show in 2017, Automechanika HCMC has quickly become a leading event for Vietnam, by bridging local industry with international peers for unrivalled business connections, information exchanges and educational opportunities. The trade show is co-organised by Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd., Chan Chao International Co. Ltd. and Yorkers Exhibition Service Vietnam. This years event is expected to attract 8,600 visitors from around the world. The Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack in Hawaii should be remembered not only for leading the United States into World War II, but also for the many American service members who paid the ultimate price that day, Berks veterans director Ken Lebron said. PRESS RELEASE: Pole Bicycles Key features New Pole geometry Dust sealed bearing seats Three water bottle mounts Stiffmeister compatible Presale pricing TR 4,028.23 XC 5,370.97 LE 7,584.68 Frameset 2,580.65 Prices excluding VAT (Europe +24%) How did Pole come up with Bushmaster? Engineer's take Stamina opened my eyes how much we can actually make a difference by just changing the frame construction. Stamina took us to a new era of the frame design how to go faster, and our goal on Bushmaster is to make a bike that is truly fun and fast. On Stamina, we started to remove the bolts from the frame as we became more confident on the new frame profile. We have applied for some patents on the new frame construction, and now we can start the production on both frames. Yes, it's lighter, stiffer and all that jargon, but Bushmaster might be an eyeopener for the people who have been doubting Pole's geometry and our innovative approach as it's going to hit the fun argument more than speed argument. Bushmaster is not going to be a statement that we go back to conventional frames. Bushmaster has just 15mm shorter wheelbase than our bikes normally would, but we can make a difference with that 15mm shorter Pole. Leo Kokkonen Pole Bushmaster specs and details are out. Here's Joe Nation riding the Stamina but just think about how the Bushmaster is going to go on a trail if Joe can make the 180mm travel Stamina go like this!Bushmaster is the long waited new short travel trail bike from Pole, and as the name says, this bike does well in the bushes. Bushmaster is designed for people who want to ride technical but flat trails like a snake and have fun in the bush. We started designing Bushmaster by designing the Stamina first. We wanted to test the new frame construction first from the top and then go back to shorter travel. On Bushmaster, we took 2% off from the speed and made it more fun, so its still fast but yet more fun. Bushmaster still has a long wheelbase, steep seat tube, and slack head angle but it does manual easier, and it gives you more time on riding on the edge.Stamina was an eyeopener for Pole even though all of our bikes have been very successful, we learned that even now starting from a clean desk is worth the effort. Bushmaster was named and on our roadmap before Stamina. The idea was to create a shorter travel trail bike after we launched the Machine. Our Founder and head engineer, Leo's insight, was to create a more playful, shorter travel trail bike with Pole DNA. Just before the project had started Leo got an idea that we should make a mule "Stamina" to test if we could push the limits of the bikes yet further. So instead of creating one bike, he wanted to create two! When we had done first laps with Stamina, we knew right away that we have made a breakthrough. We learned that a 180mm travel 29" still pedals like a trail bike and it is also fast. Then we decided to release Stamina as well.Later we got challenged by Steve Matthews when he claimed that he had figured out a perfect front and rear center balance for cornering. We already knew that it is not like that, but we stood up and wanted to do science with Steve. We took his theory and tried to test it in practice. We got a bike that had exactly his portions and compared it to Stamina, which should not work. In the result, we found out that our portions are 3% faster than his. You can read the full story about the test here. With Bushmaster we take a notch off from the speed and focus for a balanced playfulness and leave that 1% advantage to for the races. This bike is our answer to the playfulness and speed. Instant Pot Jambalaya Soup perfect for Mardi Gras!!! Smoked Sausage, Chicken, chicken broth, diced tomatoes and green chiles, tomato paste, Creole seasoning, and brown rice. Serve with some homemade cornbread for an easy and delicious meal! Our whole family LOVED this yummy cajun/creole soup. SO easy to make in the electric pressure cooker! Remember this recipe. Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later! Pin This Recipe Easy Cajun Soup Recipe Do you have an Instant Pot yet? Ive been using mine for about a year, and I like it more each time I use it. Today I am sharing this yummy Instant Pot Jambalaya Soup. It is loaded with chicken, smoked sausage, rice, and Cajun/creole seasoning. This is all kinds of delicious! It is also all kinds of easy with the Instant Pot. Just saute the sausage, dump everything else in the pot and cook. How to Make Jambalaya Soup in the Instant Pot This soup is super easy to make. Start with browning the smoked sausage. Add chicken broth, Rotel tomatoes, tomato paste, cajun seasoning, garlic, brown rice. Seal the Instant Pot and cook. Release the pressure and stir in some cooked chopped chicken and enjoy! I used some spicy Conecuh Sausage in this soup. It was perfect! If you cant get Conecuh Sausage, any brand of smoked sausage will do. You can also use smoked turkey sausage to cut down on the calories. in this soup. It was perfect! If you cant get Conecuh Sausage, any brand of smoked sausage will do. You can also use smoked turkey sausage to cut down on the calories. Can I use raw chicken instead of cooked chicken? Yes! Saute the chicken when cooking the sausage and proceed with the recipe as written. Yes! Saute the chicken when cooking the sausage and proceed with the recipe as written. Here is our recipe for Homemade Cajun/Creole Seasoning : https://www.plainchicken.com/creolecajun-seasoning-secret-recipe/ : https://www.plainchicken.com/creolecajun-seasoning-secret-recipe/ If using store-bought seasoning , make sure to look for salt-free Cajun/creole seasoning. Regular Cajun/creole seasoning can be really salty. You just want to get the Cajun/creole flavor without all that added salt. , make sure to look for salt-free Cajun/creole seasoning. Regular Cajun/creole seasoning can be really salty. You just want to get the Cajun/creole flavor without all that added salt. To avoid getting a burn notice on the Instant Pot, make sure to scrape up all the cooked bits of sausage from the bottom of the insert. Just pour the chicken broth in the pot and scrape everything off the bottom while the pot is still warm. You will be good to go! on the Instant Pot, make sure to scrape up all the cooked bits of sausage from the bottom of the insert. Just pour the chicken broth in the pot and scrape everything off the bottom while the pot is still warm. You will be good to go! Can I make Jambalaya Soup in the slow cooker? Sure! Brown the sausage and place all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook until warm and the rice is tender. Sure! Brown the sausage and place all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook until warm and the rice is tender. Can I freeze Jambalaya Soup? Yes! You can freeze the leftovers for a quick meal later. If the soup is too thick after reheating, add some water or chicken broth. Yes! You can freeze the leftovers for a quick meal later. If the soup is too thick after reheating, add some water or chicken broth. Free free to stir in some uncooked shrimp with the chicken. What to Serve with Jambalaya Soup We both LOVED this soup. Chicken Legs has requested this for Mardi Gras next week. I usually serve this with some homemade cornbread sticks. I think I will add some King Cake Bites for dessert this time! Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this yummy soup: Recipe Print Recipe Instant Pot Jambalaya Soup Author: Stephanie @ Plain Chicken Yield: 6 people Prep Time 5 mins Cook Time 30 mins Total Time 35 mins Instant Pot Jambalaya Soup perfect for Mardi Gras!!! Smoked Sausage, Chicken, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, and green chiles, tomato paste, Creole seasoning, and brown rice. Serve with some homemade cornbread for an easy and delicious meal! Our whole family LOVED this yummy cajun/creole soup. SO easy to make in the electric pressure cooker! #instantpot #pressurecooker #mardigras #soup #stew Equipment: Instant Pot Ingredients: 1 (16-oz) package smoked sausage, chopped 4 cups unsalted chicken broth 2 (10-oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained 3 Tbsp tomato paste 1 to 2 Tbsp salt-free Creole seasoning 1 tsp minced garlic tsp salt or to taste cup uncooked brown rice not instant 2 cups chopped cooked chicken Instructions: Turn the Instant Pot to saute. Add chopped sausage and cook until starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Turn Instant Pot off. Add chicken broth to Instant Pot, scraping any cooked bits from bottom of the insert to avoid getting a BURN notice. Add diced tomatoes and green chiles, tomato paste, Creole seasoning, garlic, salt, and brown rice. Cover Instant Pot with lid and lock. Seal valve. Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 22 minutes. Quick release pressure and open lid. Stir in cooked chicken, let sit for 3 minutes to warm chicken and serve. Steph 964 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent the White House into a panic by telling reports that Michael Cohen answered all of their questions in the closed-door session. Schiff was asked if there were any questions that Cohen refused to answer or help with. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee answered, He was fully cooperative and answered all of our questions. You know, this has obviously been an excruciating time for him. Were very grateful that he was as forthcoming as he was. We made the same admonishment that my colleague Chairman Cummings made so eloquentlyhe made it much more eloquently than Ithat he needed to tell us the full truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And none of the questions that we had for him went unanswered. Video: Adam Schiff terrifies Trump by announcing that Michael Cohen answered all questions. https://t.co/rXSZJj93uv pic.twitter.com/5ASUUAUKeH PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 1, 2019 Trump and the White House should be terrified Michael Cohen appears to have gone much deeper in closed-door testimony than he was able to in the public hearing. The fact that Cohen is coming back on March 6th should worry the White House. Add in that Michael Cohen is cooperating with document requests from congressional investigators and the fear should double in the Oval Office. Trump might be able to stall on the Mueller report, but if Congressional investigators can get access to the information and the documents that they need through witnesses like Michael Cohen it becomes impossible for the president to bury the truth. The White House cant stop Cohen, and they cant stop the House investigation. For the first time since the midterm election, the Democratic majority in the House is bearing real fruit for the nation in terms of investigation and oversight. Adam Schiffs investigation is a freight train that is heading straight for Donald Trump. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Chris Christie points out why Trump has big trouble in the Southern District of New York. Chris Christie Says Trumps got SDNY Problems Christie said on MSNBCs Deadline: White House: Theres a few things here. The southern district of New York I have been saying for months now is the more dangerous one for the president and his team because they have no restrictions on them. Mueller has a restriction, its Russia. Russia-related items and thats it. The southern district has no restrictions at all, in fact. The U.S. Attorney used to call them the sovereign district all the time. They thought they could investigate anything. I always said the two problems for him there are Michael Cohen and Rick Gates. Now the southern district has two tour guides, a tour guide for the inaugural and the campaign Rick Gates. The tour guy through his business and personal life in Michael Cohen. You dont want prosecutors having your lawyer and your former dep dan manager and executive director of your inaugural as tour guides looking for criminality. I think thats the big problem for the president from yesterday. And I think there were other things happening that I thought were good for him yesterday. But those were the ones that if I were there, I would be saying this is the stuff we have to worry about. Video: Chris Christie, "Now the southern district has two tour guides, a tour guide for the inaugural and the campaign Rick Gates. The tour guy through his business and personal life in Michael Cohen. " https://t.co/TyGQZxjlXw pic.twitter.com/3LGPWBgXjR Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 28, 2019 Trump has already been linked to felonies The White House is worried about Michael Cohen and the Southern District of New York for good reason. Donald Trump is not innocent. His business is not clean. Between Michael Cohen and Rick Gates prosecutors will be able to uncover Donald Trumps trail of criminal activity. Trump has already been linked to multiple felonies by the SDNY. There is a growing possibility that he ends up connected to many more. Michael Cohens testimony was a bad day for Trump because it revealed that his legal problems are just beginning and will be getting much worse. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Trump overruled US intelligence officials and made them give Jared Kushner a national security clearance. The New York Times reported: President Trump ordered his chief of staff to grant his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, a top-secret security clearance last year, overruling concerns flagged by intelligence officials and the White Houses top lawyer, four people briefed on the matter said. Mr. Trumps decision in May so troubled senior administration officials that at least one, the White House chief of staff at the time, John F. Kelly, wrote a contemporaneous internal memo about how he had been ordered to give Mr. Kushner the top-secret clearance. The White House counsel at the time, Donald F. McGahn II, also wrote an internal memo outlining the concerns that had been raised about Mr. Kushner including by the C.I.A. and how Mr. McGahn had recommended that he not be given a top-secret clearance. This is a perfect example of Trump not listening to the intelligence community and betraying America for profit. Jared Kushner is a national security risk. It is has been reported for years that Kushner is compromised by foreign governments and has been using his national security clearance to make money. Trumps decision to override national security and jeopardize the country is just one way that he has turned the government into a for-profit venture of the Trump family. Democrats have already been investigating Kushner for selling out the US to Saudi Arabia. It was reported in January that Trump rammed through the security clearance that officials had deemed too risky, but now we know exactly how Trump got Kushner his clearance. Trump has sold out America is so many ways, but when he gave his national security threat son in law a high-level security clearance, he jeopardized the country. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Rachel Maddow used one of Trumps properties to show how the President Of The United States has committed felony bank fraud. Rachel Maddow said: We believe these financial statements have been through the hands of the FBI and therefore they have been seen by federal prosecutors. Weve now got Cohens blunt under oath assertions as to what those financial documents were used for if Deutsche Bank is handing over documents to the congressional committees then presumably well know if Michael Cohen was right in his testimony yesterday. And if these documents were in fact used in a loan application to Deutsche Bank or used with insurance companies or any other financial institutions. Clearly, there appears to be something wrong with the 2012 financial statement. Clearly, that is not a $291 million property as nice as it may seem. I say its not a $291 million property not because I can tell at a glance when a property is worth, I say that because thats what Donald Trump says. Trump doesnt claim its a $291 million property, not when he knows people are watching. When he filed his financial disclosure form in 2018, he said it was worth 25 to $50 million. How is it worth $291 million in 2012? I mean, if that quarter billion-dollar magic trick he tried to play with that financial statement is in fact, evidence of felony bank fraud, as far as I can tell, were well within the ten-year statute of limitations for such a crime. As a country, now, we have all just been shown evidence of this potential felony bank fraud by the president. Video: Rachel Maddow, As a country, now, we have all just been shown evidence of this potential felony bank fraud by the president. #Maddow https://t.co/L73lbhzwOr pic.twitter.com/Zjed4qgQCz Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 1, 2019 Maddow also said in the segment that they could have pulled out any number of examples, but they used one specific property in New York as a case study. The example that Rachel Maddow used shows why Trump is so desperate to win reelection. The statute of limitations is not up on his crimes. Trump was committing financial crimes even as president. The only thing keeping Trump from being indicted is his position as president. If Trump is voted out of office, he will almost certainly face a criminal indictment. These are the crimes that keep Trump up at night because they are the felonies that could land him in prison. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 495 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard (Reuters) The prototypes for President Donald Trumps contest for a border wall near San Diego, California, were torn down on Wednesday, to make way for a new section of actual border fencing. To the presidents supporters, the eight 30-foot-high (9-meter) models were a symbol of his commitment to build a wall along the length of the U.S. Mexico border to enhance national security. To opponents, they were a waste of taxpayer money and an affront to Mexico and immigrants. Since the test and evaluation of these prototype models is complete, they have served their purpose and are now being removed, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman Ralph DeSio said in a statement. Using jackhammers, ladders and blow torches, military special forces and CBP special units spent weeks trying to go under, over and through the walls to test their strengths and weaknesses. The tests of the eight prototypes, which Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Michael Scappechio of the San Diego sector said cost between $300,000 and $500,000 each to build, showed the effectiveness of the kind of steel post, or bollard, fence that already exists along large sections of the border. Now, a new 30-foot-high bollard fence is being built as a secondary barrier along a 14-mile (22.5 km) section, behind an existing, 18-feet-high bollard fence, Scappechio said. The ability of agents to see through a barrier is crucial to their safety, and a fence made out of steel posts or bollards is easier to repair when breached and relatively cost effective, he said, while the 30-foot height is a deterrent to climbers. The fence will also incorporate fiber optic sensor, Scappechio said. (Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler) 1.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard During his testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Donald Trumps former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, observed, It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes. And when author David Cay Johnston appeared on CNN this morning he explained why the attorneys statement on Trumps finances was quite accurateand why Trump isnt as wealthy as he would have people believe. Johnston recalled, I revealed in 1990 that he wasnt a billionaire, and Donald called me a liar until he had to put in the record documents showing he had a negative net worth of almost $300 million. Johnston told CNNs Alisyn Camerota that exaggerating his net worth is nothing new for The Donald, basically confirming everything Cohen said earlier this week. The biographer then went on to say this about the presidents financial situation: People are going to be very shocked about his finances, and they will see that he has the lifestyle of a billionaire, but he doesnt have any kind of wealth. Camerota asked Johnston what Americans can expect when Trumps tax returns are made public. The author responded: One of the things that were going to see is that his adjusted gross income in recent years was less than $500,000. We know that because he got something in New York called the star property tax credit on his principal home, which is in Trump Tower. You only get that if your adjusted gross income is less $500,000. Johnston also implied that Trumps tax returns may contain inaccuracies, and this could be a big reason why the president has always refused to release his returns to the public. Camerota went on to play for Johnston a clip of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioning Cohen during Wednesdays House Oversight Committee hearing. Ocasio-Cortez asked Cohen if Trump ever provided inflated assets to an insurance company, and Trumps former employee replied, Yes. Johnston told Camerota that he thought Ocasio-Cortez did an excellent job of examining the witness, adding that the New York City congresswoman went right to the point and did questions the way a good lawyer or investigative reporter would do. Based on his research into Trumps finances through the years, Johnston said that it is probable that the president: Committed bank fraud by inflating asset values when applying for loans, Committed insurance fraud by inflating asset values when making claims under policies, and Committed tax fraud by deflating asset values for tax purposes. He basically makes up numbers to serve his purposes, depending on the situation hes in, Johnston said. The 70-year-old Johnston has been writing about Trumps finances for decades. He is author of the 2018 book Its Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America and the 2016 book The Making of Donald Trump. CLICK HERE to watch the interview on CNN 869 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Richard Cowan (Reuters) In addition to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and other federal prosecutors, several U.S. congressional committees are pursuing investigations focusing on President Donald Trump, looking at questions regarding Russias role in the 2016 presidential election as well as the Republican presidents finances. Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in January, giving them new investigatory powers including the ability to issue subpoenas. Republicans control the Senate. Mueller is due to submit to U.S. Attorney General William Barr a report on his investigation into whether Trumps campaign conspired with Russia and whether the president unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Muellers findings and those of the congressional committees may influence whether Congress seeks to impeach Trump and remove him from office. Here is a look at some of the work of congressional committees. HOUSE OVERSIGHT AND REFORM COMMITTEE This committee, under Democratic Chairman Elijah Cummings, possesses wide-ranging oversight authority. The committee on Wednesday became the first congressional panel this year to hold a public hearing involving a key player in the issues surrounding Trump, his former longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen. The hearing produced new allegations of wrongdoing by Trump including after he took office in January 2017. Cohen himself has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and other charges and is due to begin serving a three-year prison sentence on May 6. His allegations included that Trump knew in advance that the WikiLeaks website would release Democratic emails that U.S. officials have said were stolen by Russia to harm Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Cohen also said Trump directed the plan to pay hush money ahead of the election to an adult movie actress who has said she had a sexual encounter with him. Cohen provided the committee with documents including a check to him signed by Trump that the former lawyer said was to reimburse him for the payment to Daniels to buy her silence. Cummings said the committee may try to get the presidents son, Donald Trump Jr., and his former accountant, Allen Weisselberg, to testify in light to Cohens statements. HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE This committee, which oversees taxes and the Internal Revenue Service, is studying ways to obtain Trumps tax filings. Trump previously has refused to divulge the tax documents, citing an IRS audit. U.S. presidents and presidential candidates for decades have routinely made their tax filings public in order to be transparent about their personal finances. Committee members have raised questions about whether the tax returns could reveal whether Trump had any income related to investments or other business dealings with Russia or other countries. The committees chairman is Democrat Richard Neal. HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE Democratic Chairwoman Maxine Waters wants to investigate Trumps ties with Deutsche Bank AG, one of the worlds largest financial institutions, as well as information about potential Russian money laundering through the bank. This committee oversees the financial services industry including banks. When Republicans controlled the panel, they refused Waters requests to subpoena records held by the bank, which maintained that privacy laws prevented it from providing information without subpoenas. The Senate Intelligence Committee also has expressed interest in looking into Deutsche Bank documents. HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE This committee, whose chairman is Democrat Adam Schiff, oversees U.S. intelligence agencies. It aims to examine the scope of Russian influence in U.S. politics, potential collusion between Trumps campaign and Moscow and whether any foreign actors hold leverage over Trump, his family, his business or his associates. Schiff has said he will subpoena Muellers complete final report on his investigation if it is not given to Congress. Schiff also has said he will call Mueller to testify if necessary. There was partisan bickering on this committee when Republican Trump ally Devin Nunes was its chairman before Democrats took control in the House in January. Trump has often criticized Schiff including in a Twitter post misspelling the congressmans name to sound like an expletive. SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE Like its House counterpart, this committee also oversees U.S. intelligence agencies. In a rare bit of bipartisanship in a Congress with deep partisan divisions, Republican Chairman Richard Burr and senior committee Democrat Mark Warner have been conducting an in-depth look into Russias role in influencing U.S. elections. While they have worked in a collaborative way, Burr has said he has not yet seen anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia. Warner publicly disagreed with Burr and cautioned against any conclusions until the investigation was finished. HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE The committee, whose chairman is Democrat Jerrold Nadler, oversees the U.S. Justice Department and federal law enforcement agencies. It has investigators combing through court documents related to Muellers filings to determine potential topics for committee hearings. The panel is focusing on the numerous contacts Trumps campaign had with Russia during the 2016 presidential race. The panel also intends to look into whether previous testimony given to Congress and federal investigators by figures associated with Trump has been false or misleading. Nadler also is expected to subpoena the Mueller report if it is not released. (Compiled by Richard Cowan; Editing by Will Dunham) 179 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday hes running for president, saying he will emphasize attempts to combat climate change during his bid for the Democratic nomination. Im Jay Inslee and Im running for president because Im the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nations Number 1 priority, the 68-year-old governor said in a video announcing his candidacy. Were the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and were the last that can do something about it. Our countrys next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change. A book Inslee wrote on the topic some 10 years ago, Apollos Fire, argued for a clean energy program on the scale of President John F. Kennedys moon shot. Hes still pushing that message. In the video released Friday, Inslee said combating climate change would create job growth. We have an opportunity to transform our economy, run on 100 percent clean energy, he said. That will bring millions of jobs to every community across America, and create a more just future for everyone. VIDEO: This is our moment, our climate, our mission together, we can defeat climate change. Thats why Im running for president. Join #OurClimateMoment today https://jayinslee.com/join VIDEO: This is our moment, our climate, our mission together, we can defeat climate change. That's why I'm running for president. Join #OurClimateMoment today https://t.co/zg8ILGyk0Z pic.twitter.com/pUZVxyzfc5 Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019 Inslee has reason to be at least mildly optimistic. An NBC poll from December found that 66 percent of Americans now say action is warranted on climate change, up from 51 percent two decades ago. But it isnt clear that voters will make the environment a top priority in the 2020 election. Inslee lost a 2018 ballot initiative in Washington that would have imposed the nations first carbon fee on large polluters. His focus on climate change will not be Inslees only appeal for primary voters, however. As chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, he helped his party turn seven GOP states blue in the 2018 midterms. Inslee has also gotten publicity for being a vocal critic of Donald Trump. Washington state brought suit against Trumps initial travel ban, and won an injunction. He was also critical of President George W. Bushs Iraq war when he served in Congress. Inslees political action committee has raised $112,500, according to a November filing with the Federal Election Committee. That is a very modest amount for a presidential candidate, but it could help him finance his campaign in early primary states like Iowa, where he visited twice in 2018, and New Hampshire, The Seattle Times reported. There will be a great deal of competition for the Washington governor in the 2020 nominating process, and he is not considered a top-tier candidate by any means. Youre coming from Washington state, and thats a big liability, Ron Dotzauer, a Seattle-based political strategist told McClatchyDC.com. You cant get farther away from the epicenter of politics, except if youre in Alaska or Hawaii. If things dont go his way, Inslee could drop out by May, in time to run for a third term as Washingtons top politician. I see no reason to take that off as an option, the governor said. 464 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The anger of Republicans in Congress is reaching a boiling point at Donald Trumps plans to improperly divert billions of dollars from money that was earmarked by Congress for the military to build his border wall. Trump intends to divert the money using the authority of his questionable national emergency declaration. Trump and his administration lackeys are trying to pull together nearly $8 billion for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Their plan is to redirect $3.6 billion originally appropriated for critical military construction projects throughout the United States. The presidents misguided decision to declare an emergency and take military funds to build a wall has sparked intense backlash from members of Congress in both parties. Conservative Republicans are rightly concerned that Trump is blurring the constitutional separation of powers while attempting to supersede Congresss government funding decisions. GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) told reporters to keep in mind the irony of the president deciding to take money away from military construction projects that were part of his previous budget requests. We had military leaders come before us and make the case for each of these projects as being vital to our national security and it seems to me very shortsighted and harmful to our national security for that money to be used for other purposes, Collins said. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), during a floor speech, also urged Trump to rethink his emergency declaration and reshuffle more money from the Pentagons counter-drug accounts rather than military construction. Using funds already approved by Congress avoids taking money from military construction projects specifically approved by Congress for such activities as military barracks and hospitals, Alexander said. Senators dont know where Trump will shuffle money from or if projects in their home states will be put on hold. This is an important question for politicians who want to be seen as providing for their constituents. The Senate will vote on a resolution later this month to block Trumps emergency declaration. Trump has threatened to veto any resolution that finds its way to his desk, which would create a conflict between the him and members of his own party. I think its clear that people want to see the final documentation and they want to know the specific statutory basis, said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who is expected to back Trump. Republicans raised concerns about tapping military construction accounts, as well as the administrations broader legal strategy, during a closed-door lunch with Vice President Pence and DOJ officials this week. That was the sentiment generally expressed. That we want to see what its coming out of, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), asked if Republicans need to see details on the military construction funding before the Senate votes. Pentagon officials have not told Congress what projects they expect will be affected by Trumps move. McMahon added that they were still waiting to hear from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about how they plan to spend the militarys funding. The Defense Department is currently identifying what military construction money might be moved, and what construction jobs under way might be delayed. 4.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard It doesnt matter what the Mueller report finds, Donald Trump will still be facing years of criminal investigations related to his business practices and finances. Ken Dilanian of NBC News reported, It is the opening of what looks like a dangerous chapter for the president and his family. Regardless of what happens with the Mueller investigations, these other criminal investigations could be following Trump for years to come The question is how deeply would they go into business conduct by the trump organizations that would go back to many, many years. Thats why the statute of limitations of these of five years or ten years. What he said were financial statements that may have been manipulated and stories of charitable manipulation and auction of a portrait. There was some talk of overstating assets to an insurance company. Video: The criminal investigations will be following Trump for years. https://t.co/yc9ImOVwYp pic.twitter.com/pMyH9k9OvA Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 1, 2019 Trumps problems are bigger than Mueller and Russia Many people, especially on the left, have emphasized the Mueller report, but as events are unfolding, it is becoming clear that the larger and more long term threat to Trump is in the Southern District of New York, and New York State. Congress is going to be investigating Trumps finances and business practices, but there is only one possible outcome for Congress, and that is a decision on the question of impeachment. Donald Trump and his family could be haunted for years by the criminal investigations in New York. Unlike impeachment, the threat will not go away after Trump leaves office. Trump spent decades on a crime spree, and now he will spend the rest of his life trying to stay out of prison. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 6.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Donald Trump is rage-tweeting again this morning, and it may be because events of the past week show that his daughter Ivanka is in big trouble. Michael Cohen implicated Ivanka in the sprawling story of her fathers shady business dealings during his testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. Then Adam Schiff and the House Intelligence Committee announced they were bringing in Trump Organization financial officer Allen Weisselberg and Russian mafia money launderer Felix Sater to testify about their roles in Donald Trumps scandals. Ivanka has ties to both Sater and Weisselberg, and both of them have immunity to testify against her and her father. This could be really bad news for the First Daughter. On top of that, Elijah Cummings, chair of the House Oversight Committee, told reporters that everyone mentioned by Michael Cohen will be brought in to testify. When a reporter asked if that included Trumps kids, he said to check the transcript and see who was mentioned. And Michael Cohen definitely mentioned Ivanka Trump during his public testimony. So Ivanka is about to get hauled in to testify before at least one House committee, and probably more. If she tries to fight it, Cummings will subpoena her to testify. Shell have to either show up or risk being held in contempt of Congress and ordered by the courts to appear. So now we know that Ivanka Trump is going to be forced to testify before Congress, and she will either have to perjure herself (and face jail time for that) or tell the truth and further implicate herself, her father, and her entire family in various and sundry criminal acts. Most recently, she was caught making false statements about her husband Jared Kushners security clearance. And Saters testimony will be a huge problem for Ivanka because he partnered with the Trump Organization to build the shady Trump Soho real estate project. The entire project ended up being so ugly, Ivanka Trump was reportedly nearly indicted for her role in it in 2012. Now one of the key people involved in the project is about to publicly testify. Considering Saters longtime status as a government informant, this is about to get ugly for Ivanka very fast. So in response this morning Donald Trump whined on Twitter about the widening scope of investigations into his familys alleged wrongdoing. Oh I see! Trump tweeted. Now that the 2 year Russian Collusion case has fallen apart, there was no Collusion except bye Crooked Hillary and the Democrats, they say, gee, I have an idea, lets look at Trumps finances and every deal he has ever done. Lets follow discredited Michael Cohen, he added, and the fraudulent and dishonest statements he made on Wednesday. No way, its time to stop this corrupt and illegally brought Witch Hunt. Time to start looking at the other side where real crimes were committed. Republicans have been abused long enough. Must end now! Oh I see! Now that the 2 year Russian Collusion case has fallen apart, there was no Collusion except bye Crooked Hillary and the Democrats, they say, gee, I have an idea, lets look at Trumps finances and every deal he has ever done. Lets follow discredited Michael Cohen.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019 and the fraudulent and dishonest statements he made on Wednesday. No way, its time to stop this corrupt and illegally brought Witch Hunt. Time to start looking at the other side where real crimes were committed. Republicans have been abused long enough. Must end now! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2019 This shows that Donald Trump has reached a desperation point. Many believe believe that once he sees that Ivanka is at risk of being charged with crimes and possibly going to prison, he will flip out. It appears that the time for the president to flip out has come, because his beloved oldest daughter now finds herself in some very deep trouble indeed. Get the SC business stories that matter. Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free. Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Generally cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 62F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Thunder possible. Low 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Federal permits are expected to be issued issued for seismic blast testing in any or all of five areas offshore. This Feb. 2, 1972, file photo shows Draft Director Curtis W. Tarr spinning a Plexiglas drum in Washington as the fourth annual Selective Service lottery begins. On Feb. 25, 2019, the chairman of a panel considering changes to the U.S. military draft said its recommendations to Congress won't be influenced by a federal judge's recent ruling that the current system is unconstitutional because it only applies to men. Recent efforts to make registration mandatory for women have set off intense debate in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles W. Harrity, File) Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. Protestors rally against war outside the United Nations on Feb. 28 in New York. Pakistan's prime minister has pledged to release a captured Indian jetfighter, a move that could help defuse the most serious confrontation in two decades over the Kashmir region. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) Assistant Columbia bureau chief Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill. We live in a different era. As we head into 2022, with the COVID-19 variants on the rise, I am grateful for us as a community. We have done ou Read more For anyone familiar with New Yorks staggeringly consequential double jeopardy loophole, the news of Donald Trumps advisor Roger Stones federal indictment for lying to Congress and obstructing an investigationwas more than yet another indication that the president may not have surrounded himself with the best people: it was also a painful reminder that New York law still leaves the state without recourse to prosecute a defendant based on the same act or criminal transaction as a prior federal prosecution, even if the president abuses his broad pardon power to protect his associates, family members or even himself. Last weeks news that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is preparing to charge former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort with crimes that pale in significance to those brought against him by special counsel Robert Mueller further reinforced how the failure of the New York Legislature to close the double jeopardy loophole has made it exceedingly difficult and in some cases impossible for New York prosecutors to ensure that defendants pardoned by the president face consequences for their crimes. A federal jury convicted Manafort last August of tax fraud and bank fraud, and he later pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Any charges brought by New York would need to be based on acts distinct from the federal crimes charged by Mueller because of New Yorks double jeopardy law, which severely limits and complicates Vances options. While the full extent of the criminal charges the DA is considering is unclear, evasion of New York taxes and failure to keep accurate books and records in accordance with applicable New York statutes appear to be among them. Ironically, while Muellers prosecutors have recommended a sentence as long as 24 years, essentially life in prison, if Trump pardons Manafort and he is convicted on New York charges, he could face the even less desirable outcome of serving time in New Yorks notoriously grim and dangerous prisons. Last August, New Yorks then-Attorney General Barbara Underwood, now state solicitor general, sounded the alarm, attempting to shake New Yorkers and the New York state Legislature out of the false security induced by cable news legal experts who repeatedly assure viewers that a defendant pardoned for a federal crime can still be prosecuted under state law. It is true that the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution does not bar a state from bringing a subsequent prosecution for the same crimes charged by federal prosecutors or another state under the dual sovereignty doctrine. However, an unintended consequence of the phrasing of New Yorks criminal law means that an individual cannot be prosecuted for crimes under New York state law once jeopardy has attached in a federal action based upon the same act or criminal transaction. Even though the New York state Assembly and Senate have passed 12 exceptions to New Yorks broad double jeopardy law, they have yet to add an exception for when the defendant receives a pardon from the President. President Trump has publicly dangled the possibility of a presidential pardon and incentivized defendants not to cooperate with Mueller and the United States attorneys pursuing related cases. After it was revealed that Manafort briefed Trumps lawyers about his testimony in the Russia investigation, Trump said in an interview with the New York Post Why would I take [a pardon] off the table? One can assume Trumps comments were not lost on Roger Stone: the very day Stone was arrested and charged with obstruction of a government proceeding, witness tampering and five counts of knowingly making false statements to Congress, Stone proudly declared, "I will not testify against the president because I would have to bear false witness, an assertion of fealty he repeated in various forms in the days thereafter, leading to speculation that he was auditioning for a pardon. While the cockiness of Stones demeanor may be explained in part by his unique personality, it may also stem from his confidence that he will escape punishment through a pardon as long as he doesnt testify against President Trump. New York legislators are well aware of the serious consequences of the pardon loophole, and many have publicly supported legislation to amend it. Last year a bill to close the loophole was introduced in both chambers (Assembly Bill A10422 and Senate Bill S8236), sponsored by Assemblyman Joe Lentol and state Sen. Todd Kaminsky. Gov. Andrew Cuomo indicated that he would sign it, but the bill died in committee in both the Assembly and the Senate. With a solid Democratic majority voted into the state Senate in November and the Democrats now in control of all three governing bodies in Albany, the moment to act on the bill would appear to have arrived. Newly elected Attorney General Letitia James first announced her desire to close the loophole from the campaign trail, and the bill remains a top priority for AG James. But while Sen. Kaminsky pre-filed the bill (S85) so that it could be reintroduced in the Senate on January 9, 2019, the very first day of the new session, and the bill currently has 23 Democratic co-sponsors, corresponding legislation has yet to be reintroduced in the Assembly. The attorney general, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senator Kaminsky continue to work on language acceptable to the Assembly that would narrow the scope of the bill so it wouldnt permit subsequent prosecutions for low-level crimes. While it is important for the bill to be airtight, the indictment of Roger Stone was a reminder that the clock is ticking. It is already too late for New York to try Paul Manafort for crimes based on the same actions uncovered by Mueller that he was charged with in the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Columbia since jeopardy already attached in those cases. Under New York law, jeopardy attaches when a defendant pleads guilty, or, if the defendant proceeds to jury trial, the moment a jury is sworn. Even the charges that Vance is reportedly preparing based on different criminal acts are likely to be challenged by Manaforts attorneys on double jeopardy grounds. Because New York is the financial center of the country and home to the Trump Organization and many of Trumps family members and associates, it is vital that New York be able to bring to justice those who have violated New York law. Regardless of whether Trump ultimately declines to pardon Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, few doubt that Trump would use his broad federal pardon power to protect his family members -- and potentially even himself. The time to close the loophole is now, before more indictments fall. WEST WHITELAND The Chester County commissioners announced Thursday two steps regarding the Mariner East pipeline project, with the boards chairwoman declaring that the trio had no confidence in Sunoco Pipeline LPs efforts to engage with residents concerning the safety of its two pipelines. The county has hired the Philadelphia law firm of Reger Rizzo & Darnall to represent it in an effort to intervene in the legal challenge by some residents to Sunocos pipeline plans before the state Public Utility Commission, the commissioners said at a press conference. The residents, three from Chester County and four from Delaware County, contend that Sunoco does not have a proper emergency plan in place in the event of a pipeline catastrophe, which could lead to property damage, personal injury, or death. In addition, easements across county property that had been granted in 2017 will be cancelled, the commissioners said. Time and again, Sunoco has been severely lacking in effective communication and transparency, and we have no choice but to take these formal measures, said commissioners Chairwoman Michelle Kichline. Even with the groundswell of activity and appeals from elected officials, grass root organizations and residents affected by the pipeline, the company is not playing ball. We have no confidence that they ever will and we are done with trying to get answers on our own. The residents are asking the PUC to grant them emergency relief and shut down the existing Mariner One pipeline that transverses the county, and to halt work on the Mariner Two pipeline that has drawn howls of protest across the region. The commissioners, by seeking to join with the residents involved in the challenge, are essentially contending that Sunoco has failed in communicating with its emergency services officials, and lacks coherent plans for an emergency. They have shown a complete disregard for the safety of our residents, for our emergency responders, and for the community, said commissioners Vice Chairwoman Kathi Cozzone. Its been very frustrating. I think that is the key, agreed Commissioner Terence Farrell at the press conference. The principal concern that we have is the safety of our citizens. Their action comes just days after the West Chester Area School District announced its intention to request the PUC to grant it party status in the case as well. For more than two years, according to the trio, the commissioners and leadership from the countys Department of Emergency Services have been formally requesting crucial pipeline emergency safety information and procedures from Sunoco, either directly or through the PUC and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, in order to prepare mass notification plans and neighborhood emergency practices in the event of a Mariner East pipeline disaster. The commissioners contend those requests have gone unanswered, so the county is now joining with the complainants in the case of Flynn vs. Sunoco because of shared interests, legal causes of action and requested relief, according to a press release. In addition to this proposed legal action, the commissioners on Thursday sent a letter to Sunoco giving it notice that the county plans to terminate two temporary easements on the library property that were granted to the company in 2017 a work space easement and an access road easement for the new pipeline constriction. Work on the property did not commence within the term of the temporary easements, the county contends, so the commissioners letter informs Sunoco that it no longer entitled to utilize the countys librarys property. There were no terms for renewal of the temporary easements within the 2017 agreements. The commissioners made the announcement at the Chester County Library in Exton, the property owned by the county that sits on a section of the Mariner East pipeline owned by Sunoco. In January, the commissioners issued a blistering statement after sinkholes appeared around the Mariner East One pipeline in West Whiteland. In commending the work of its emergency personnel and local first responders, they said they were hampered by Sunocos lack of communication. Sunocos continued delay in getting information about the sinkhole to our emergency management personnel and out to the public and the companys perceived desire to distance itself from potential safety issues is disgraceful, the three said at the time. To say that we remain frustrated and appalled by their lack of responsiveness to our Department of Emergency Services is an understatement. But Thursdays announcement went further. It is time to take legal measures to force Sunoco to change its practices and be accountable, added Kichline. Kichline said the move echoes the anger and frustration that the commissioners have heard fro residents about Sunocos behavior. The move to intervene is expected to be opposed by Sunoco, said Assistant County Solicitor Kristen Mayock. She said a timeline on when the PUC would grant or deny the request to intervene depends on how long it takes Sunoco to file its motion, and for the county to respond. A spokesman for Sunoco Pipelines parent company, Energy Transfer Partners of Texas, could not be reached for comment. The countys selection of Reger Rizzo and Darnall was based upon the qualifications of one of the firms partners, Margaret A. Morris, who works in the firms Philadelphia office, Cozzone said. Morris chairs the firms Utility Group and has more than 30 years legal experience with a specific focus on utility regulatory issues at the municipal, state and federal levels. She spent 10 years as legal counsel to Vice Chairman Robert Bloom at the PUC and has expertise in legislative and regulatory developments specific to the energy and gas industry. Reger Rizzo has offices throughout the region, including one in West Chester. We have been working with pipeline safety groups, municipalities, industry organizations, pipeline operators and concerned citizens for many years, introducing notification practices, the web-based Pipeline Information Center, and holding public meetings on issues relating to pipeline matters, said Cozzone, a member of the states pipeline infrastructure task force. But Sunocos complete disregard for the safety of our residents has led us to seek legal counsel to address Mariner East pipeline issues. We are confident that Margaret Morris is the person to guide the county to successful conclusions. And to be clear, this legal action is against Sunocos corporate practices and is being taken to benefit the health and safety of all county residents, added Cozzone. Earlier this month, an executive with of the Mariner East pipelines parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, said he recognized the company could have done differently in addressing safety issues. A published report stated that the firms chief executive officer acknowledged the problems the pipeline was having in Pennsylvania during a financial analyst call. Weve made mistakes and we are correcting those mistakes and will not make those mistakes again, Kelcy Warren allegedly said in response to a question of whether the company has learned from the past what to execute better. The pipelines have had 80 violations ranging from spills of drilling fluids to sinkholes in backyards to improper disposal of hazardous waste over a two-year period. Company officials have maintained that 86 percent of the spills between 2010 and 2018 were under 50 barrels and that 95 percent of the incidents in 2017 were on company property. Earlier this month, a leak was reported in Marcus Hook that required Post Road to be temporarily closed as a precaution. The right-of-way for the pipeline through land and adjacent to the Exton Square Mall was recorded in 1937, prior to the countys ownership, and the library property is encumbered with a permanent easement area. In 2017, the county formalized what already existed in terms of the right-of-way that Sunoco needed to maintain the existing line, and to allow for two additional lines proposed by the Mariner East Two project. The easement agreements that Chester County entered into with Sunoco in 2017 were only completed once all other landowners residential and commercial affected by the Mariner East pipeline had signed agreements with Sunoco. At that time, the Commissioners and County Emergency Services leaders were still actively pursuing information on emergency policies from Sunoco and were given assurances that the information would be shared. The lack of regard and respect for government officials, regulatory and safety organizations and above all, Chester Countys men, women and children is unconscionable, said Farrell. In addition to taking these legal actions, we commend the citizens of Chester County who have been taking an effective stand against the shoddy practices of Sunoco. They too are instrumental in this fight for health and safety. All three commissioners are seeking re-election to the board this year. The plaintiffs in the PUC action include Nancy Harkins of Westtown, Caroline Hughes of East Goshen, and Gerald McMullin of West Whiteland. They and four Delaware County residents filed the challenge before the PUC in November. CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. Longtime Clifton Park Town Clerk Pat ODonnell last week announced she will not seek re-election in November and will instead retire at the end of her term in December. ODonnell and her ever-present smile and joyful personality have been a mainstay in town hall for 30 years. For many residents who settled in the community during that time period, she was their first official contact with the town. Ive thought about it the last couple of years, she said earlier this week. Itll be 30 years in September, 23 of them as town clerk. Its bittersweet, but its time. The announcement came early Friday when the Clifton Park Republican Committee announced its endorsement for candidates who are running for town office in November. ODonnells photograph on the press release had been replaced by Deputy Town Clerk Teresa Brobston. Teresa has everything, the qualifications, the demeanor, shes a natural. Shell be perfect, ODonnell said. ODonnell is a native of Mt. Vernon. She had been living outside Pittsburgh with her husband when he took a job change to Clifton Park 50 years ago. She began working for the town in the 1980s as a paid secretary for what was then the Parks and Recreation Commission, an advisory board to the Parks and Recreation Department. From there she became secretary for the Fire Advisory Board. In 1989, ODonnell learned that the position of deputy clerk to then Town Clerk Millie Peck would soon be vacant. She applied for the position and was hired by Peck. When Peck retired from her long career as town clerk in 1992, ODonnell sought the endorsement of the town Republican Committee, ran for office on the Republican ticket, and has been reelected every two years since. Brobston has been one of two deputy town clerks in the office for 23 years. When ODonnell confirmed that she was set on retiring and would not seek re-election, Brobston successfully sought the Republican Committees endorsement. I went into this position never really thinking that Id run for town clerk someday, but after around five years I thought maybe I would, she said. I love the job. I love helping residents each day. As with ODonnell, Brobston started out with the town as a secretary to the Zoning Board of Appeals and what was then the Master Planning Committee. She later spent two years as a town hall receptionist while at the same time filling the role of secretary to the late director of Buildings and Grounds Mike Handerhan. Again, as with ODonnell, she moved into the town clerks office as deputy clerk to fill a vacant position. Theres more responsibility in being town clerk, but I enjoy meeting all the people each day and helping them, Brobston said. Welcoming residents and others to the office each day is something both women see as an integral part of the town clerk duties. Were often the first people residents meet when they move into town and you can welcome them; give them all the information they need. I think that personal contact is important, ODonnell said. Oftentimes thats the first impression they get of the town so you want to make it a nice one. Then there are residents who come in for something like a dog license or something else and we wind up talking. Ill miss that interaction for sure. ODonnell will complete her term Dec. 31. Itll take me that long to clean out my desk, she said. As a candidate for town office Brobston must canvas the town, get petitions signed, and submit them for approval to the Saratoga County Board of Elections to be on the ballot in November. In other news surrounding an elective office, the Town Board of the Town of Halfmoon last week appointed Eric Catricala to fill the seat vacated by former town councilwoman Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon. Catricala has owned and operated Catricalas Funeral Home, 1597 Route 9 for 22 years. He is a member of the Halfmoon Celebrations Committee, a former member of the Halfmoon Republican Committee, and he was a member of the towns Grievance Board for 11 years. He also performed the duties of Deputy Coroner for Saratoga County for 15 months. Originally from Watervliet, Catricala came to the town more than 20 years ago. Its the people of Halfmoon who have made us successful by allowing us to serve them, he said. Ive done a lot with the town and I wanted to continue serving this community. Tonights appointment is another avenue to do that. Catricalas appointment is in effect until Dec. 31. He must decide within the next few weeks whether he intends to run for the seat in November. NORRISTOWN A Phoenixville man is free on bail while awaiting his fate from a judge after he admitted to possessing child pornography on a computer at his Upper Merion workplace. Joseph Anthony Conroy, 64, of the 300 block of High Street, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to charges of possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents that occurred in early 2018 in Upper Merion. Judge Richard P. Haaz deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report, including drug and alcohol evaluations, about Conroy. Conroy, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of 7-to-14-years in prison on the charges. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence. Regardless of the sentence he receives, Conroy faces a 15-year requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvanias Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act. An investigation of Conroy by state police began in January 2018 after Conroys employer became aware that Conroy had been accessing child exploitation material on a company owned laptop through the companys network, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Mark Gibble, a member of the computer crime unit. The company reviewed Conroys browsing history and discovered frequent access to child exploitation content and specific keywords indicative of child exploitation content, Gibble alleged in the arrest affidavit. The company for which Conroy worked was located in the 200 block of Mall Boulevard in Upper Merion, but the specific identity of the company was not revealed in court documents. Armed with a search warrant, investigators went to Conroys workplace on Feb. 6, 2018, and seized his company-issued laptop computer. At that time, Conroy allegedly stated he knew authorities were there because of the pictures, according to the arrest affidavit. He explained that he has been addicted to looking at inappropriate images for quite a while, Gibble alleged. He stated that it was admittedly very wrong.' Conroy, according to court papers, told investigators he used various search engines to search for images while at work. He stated that he figured he would get caught at some point, Gibble alleged. When authorities examined the computer, they found at least 20 images that depicted child pornography, including images of naked females between the ages of 1 and 11 engaged in sexual acts with adults or in sexual poses, according to the arrest affidavit. Police alleged they uncovered approximately 500 other images of child erotica material while examining Conroys work computer. The federal Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, also took part in the investigation, court papers indicate. A purported social media challenge aimed at kids that is said to encourage harmful acts is causing some concern for area school districts. Rumors of the Momo Challenge have been circulating around social media over the past week. While many, like Neiman Lab and the popular fact- checking website Snopes, have noted the challenge is a likely hoax, others claim that they have seen the videos for themselves. The challenge is enough of a concern that area school districts have sent out warnings to parents about it. Districts including Pottstown and Pottsgrove in Montgomery County and Antietam, Boyertown and Daniel Boone in Berks County have informed parents about the challenge and encouraged them to speak with their children about it. It has been reported through staff members that a small number of students in the district have been exposed to this challenge outside of school. We want to make you aware of the Momo Challenge so you can talk to your child at home. If your child utilizes these programs and other social media platforms, we encourage you to review their history, read a school safety post from Pottsgrove Superintendent William Shirk. In a warning similar to that of Pottsgroves, Boyertown School District said: We teach our students in the Boyertown Area School District to inform a trusted adult of any situation that may make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your childs school counselor or principal. The Momo meme is said to pop up in the middle of unofficial videos that are related to popular games like Fortnite and other videos that feature childrens characters such as Peppa Pig. The character in the meme then encourages the viewer to participate in a challenge that often involves self harm or other risky behavior to avoid being cursed. The meme features a photo of a character called Momo that, according to Snopes is an unrelated sculpture of a grinning figure with dark hair and bulging eyes created by a Japanese special effects company. The challenge is believed to circulate through social media apps such as Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp. YouTube tweeted about the matter after word began to spread: Hoax or not, schools are urging parents to take this opportunity to be aware of what children are watching online. In a warning on Facebook sent out by Daniel Boone School District, parents were asked to remain vigilant and have open communication with their children. Please be aware and mindful of what your children are viewing and sharing on the internet. As adults, you are most likely the owner of your households data sources and devices and so it is important that children understand that their connectivity is subject to your rules. Most importantly, if your child expresses concern or distress about the Momo Challenge, please take the appropriate steps to reach out to your schools guidance counselor, an administrator, or mental health professional, read the districts post. Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta is under fire from nearly all sides over the sweetheart deal he gave to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein when Acosta was a U.S. Attorney in Florida. The fire is all the more intense because a Florida federal judge has now ruled that, in the process of giving Epstein his deal, Acosta violated federal victims rights law. Editorialists of all political stripes have called on Acosta to resign or be removed. So have members of the Florida congressional delegation. Florida Senator Rick Scott wants a thorough inquiry into Acostas handling of the Epstein case. So does his Florida colleague Sen. Marco Rubio. But, tellingly, theres one group that isnt shooting at Acosta: the AFL-CIO. Politico reports: The AFL-CIO executive council held off Tuesday on asking Labor Secretary Alexander to resign over his 2008 plea deal with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. On a conference call to discuss the controversy. . .two union leaders. . .worried that Acostas successor will end up being worse for workers. This underscor[es] a counter-intuitive political dynamic: The same traits that make Acosta tolerable to unions a propensity for deliberation, a preference for legal prudence, and a persistent fear of generating negative headlines have eroded Acostas support among pro-management lobbyists. (Emphasis added) Weve been writing about this dynamic for the better part of two years. In fact we predicted it before Acosta was confirmed. The dynamic applies not just to union-related issues, but pretty much across-the-board. Acosta has steadfastly refused to take action that might offend liberals and generate bad press. You can bet the open borders crowd and civil rights groups want Acosta to remain at DOL about as much as the AFL-CIO does. Liberals who deal with the Labor Department and those who ran it under President Obama are delighted that Alex Acosta is at the helm in a Republican administration. They can barely believe their luck. They dont want it to run out just because Acosta broke the law to help a pedophile. Thats a more than rational attitude for left-wingers to adopt. But how about President Trump? What interest of his is served by retaining a justifiably damaged Labor Secretary who protects left-wing interests and steadfastly refuses to drain the swamp? None, I hope. I found Michael Cohens testimony to the House Oversight Committee troubling and laughable and distasteful. With respect to the rationale proffered for his turn against Trump, though, what an unctuous liar. Unfortunately, the Democrats have much more of this coming down the pike. This was only a preview of coming attractions. They seem to be moving on from collusion to the Trump Organization and so on. Cant we all just get along? In one important respect Cohens testimony was helpful to President Trump. Unless you were watching, however, you probably missed it. I refer to Cohens denial that he had been to Prague during the campaign, a key component of the so-called Steele Dossier. Cohen supposedly went to Prague to work out the details of the Trump campaigns collusion with the friends of Vladimir Putin. I gave Greg Gordon and Peter Stone of McClatchy News my award for the fakiest news of 2018 in recognition of their story on Cleta Mitchell. I think that Gordon and Stone deserved extra credit for Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier (April 13, 2018) and Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting (December 27, 2018). I doubt it, but we shall see. Tucker Carlson was watching Cohens testimony. The April McClatchy story about Cohens trip to Prague made a cameo appearance in his entertaining monologue last night (video below at about 02:10, transcript here). As Tucker reminds us, the dossier and related news stories were good enough for John Brennan. Brennan serves to remind us in turn that this all started with an Obama administration counterintelligence investigation and alleged collusion with Russian authorities on the part of the Trump campaign. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:44:27 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 517 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 Swelling of conjunctiva (tissue covering white portion of eye) due to allergy is known as allergic conjunctivitis. Allergic conjunctivitis is caused due to allergens in patients such as household dust, mold spores, pollen from trees and grass, chemical scents (e.g., household detergents or perfume) and animal dander. Allergic conjunctivitis treatment includes medication for redness and inflammation caused to the conjunctiva. International Ocular Inflammation Society (IOIS) describes allergic conjunctivitis as a type of ocular allergy that is further classified into two types, namely, seasonal allergic conjunctivitis and perennial allergic conjunctivitis. In the U.S., allergic conjunctivitis affects 15-20% of the general population while in other parts of the world, the estimates vary from 5-22% depending upon the topographical and demographic variations annually.Allergic Conjunctivitis Treatment Market: Drivers and RestraintsEnhanced awareness about allergic conjunctivitis among the patients, medical community and people associated with the patients is one of the major driver for the growth of global allergic conjunctivitis market. Development in lifestyle and overall growth in number of patients suffering from allergic conjunctivitis are key factors boosting the growth of the global allergic conjunctivitis market. Hence, treatments that can reduce allergic conjunctivitis are in demand. However, high cost associated with clinical trials acts as a major barrier for global allergic conjunctivitis market.Request Sample Report @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1318 Allergic Conjunctivitis Treatment Market: SegmentationAllergic conjunctivitis market is classified on the basis of allergy type, drug type and geography.Based on the type of allergy, the global allergic conjunctivitis market is segmented into the following:Acute Allergic ConjunctivitisChronic Allergic ConjunctivitisBased on the drug type, the global allergic conjunctivitis market is segmented into the following:AntihistaminesVasoconstrictorsMast Cell StabilizersNon-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS)CorticosteroidsGlobal Allergic Conjunctivitis Market: OverviewRapid technological advancement, increase in the number of patients, increasing aging population, increasing demand for efficient drug types, increase in the incidence and prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis cases is expected to fuel growth of the global allergic conjunctivitis market during forecast period.Global Allergic Conjunctivitis Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global allergic conjunctivitis market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa. North America is the largest market owing to the high prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis in the region. According to estimates, approximately 60 Mn to 90 Mn Americans suffer from ocular allergy. The APAC market is poised to grow rapidly in the near future owing to large population base which boosts demand for better healthcare facilities. Rapid urbanization and increasing particulate pollution has increased incidences of allergic conjunctivitis in several Asian countries such as India even though, the market has certain restraints such as awareness among general public regarding eye disorders and lack of health insurance.Request to View TOC @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1318 Global Allergic Conjunctivitis Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in the global allergic conjunctivitis treatment market are Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Allergan Inc., Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis AG, Bausch & Lomb Inc., CIBA Vision Ophthalmics, Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., and Santen Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. The report on Library Management Software market is a source of expansive ideas, statistical data, and detailed information, which has the potency to ensure profit of an enterprises. Mobile and Web Event Analytics Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 19:46:10 Press Information IT Intelligence Markets Contact info: Vijay Tanna Survey No-9/4, Flat# 6, Panchshil Park, Ganpati Marg, Nigadi, Pune 411044 Website: www.itintelligencemarkets.com/ Email: sales@itintelligencemarkets.com Phone:+91 740-024-2424 Vijay Tanna Sales Manager +91 740-024-2424 email http://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/ # 560 Words Contact info:Vijay TannaSurvey No-9/4,Flat# 6, Panchshil Park, Ganpati Marg,Nigadi, Pune 411044Website: www.itintelligencemarkets.com/Email: sales@itintelligencemarkets.comPhone:+91 740-024-2424Sales Manager+91 740-024-2424 The report on Library Management Software market is a source of expansive ideas, statistical data, and detailed information, which has the potency to ensure profit of an enterprises. It gives a basic overview of the industry which includes definition, applications, classifications, and industry chain structure. Extensive development plans and policies are discussed meticulously. The research analysts provide an elaborate description of the value chain and its distributor analysis. This Mobile and Web Event Analytics market study provides comprehensive data which enhances the understanding, scope and application of this report.For Sample Copy of this Report@: https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/request_sample.php?id=1155 Some of the Key Players of this Market:Adobe Systems, AT Internet, comScore, Google, IBM, SAS Institute, Webtrends, Clicktale, Clicky, KickFire, Kissmetrics, Woopra, Crazy Egg, Chartbeat, Omniture, and Others.This report includes massive data relating to the product or technological developments observed in the market, complete with an analysis of the impact of these advancements on the markets future development. Global Library Management Software market has been carried out. This report analysis will help organizations understand the major threat and opportunities that vendors have to deal in the market. Moreover, the report presents a 360-degree overview and SWOT analysis of the competitive.Highlighted key points of this market research report:-This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics-It provides a forward-looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth-It provides seven-years forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow-It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future-It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors-It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsGet Discount on this Report@: https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=1155 Different attributes are considered while scrutinizing this report such as production, revenue, and capacity. The notable feature of this report is, it covers trending factors which are influencing the market shares. The report provides significant information about the prominent companies such as financial overview, specification and recent developments. Finally, the research sheds light on possible strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities that can affect the progress of global Library Management Software market.The competitive landscape of global Library Management Software market is described by profiling leading key players across several regions. Geographically, several global regions such as North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and India have been scrutinized on the basis of productivity of Library Management Software sector. It takes a closer and analytical look at the framework and methodologies of several leading companies.Market segment by Type:ClickTouchTapMarket segment by Application:BFSIHealthcareRetailAfter studying key companies, the report focuses on the startups contributing towards the growth of the market. Possible mergers and acquisitions among the startups and key organizations are identified by the reports authors in the study. Most companies in the Library Management Software Market are currently engaged in adopting new technologies, strategies, product developments, expansions, and long-term contracts to maintain their dominance in the global market.For More Information, Visit @: https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=1155 If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:43:22 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 513 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 The chronic bronchitis is defined as the inflammation of the bronchi that lasts for more than 3 months for consecutive 2 years. The bronchi are the tubes which carry air in to the lungs. The major symptom of bronchitis is persistent cough associated with mucus expectoration, headache, nasal congestion, sore throat and fatigue. Risk factors for bronchitis include irritants, chemicals, air pollution and smoke. There are mainly two types of bronchitisacute (short term) and chronic (long term). Acute bronchitis is mainly caused due to viral infection and last for around 10 to 15 days. The first line of treatment for acute bronchitis is symptomatic treatment, however, if the symptoms persists, antimicrobial therapy is advised. Mostly antibacterial such as clarithromycin or azithromycin are administered.The treatment for chronic bronchitis includes bronchodilators and steroids. The bronchodilators such as albuterol (Ventolin, Proventil, Vospire, ProAir), metaporterenol (Alupent), formoterol and salmeterol, helps in relaxation of the smooth muscles of the bronchi which helps in expansion of the inner wall for better airway passage. Moreover, certain steroids are used such as prednisone, methylprednisolone that help in reducing the inflammation consequently helping in reduction of mucus secretion. Sometimes antibiotics are administered especially when there is an exacerbation of chronic bronchitis caused as a result of bacterial infection. Furthermore, PDE4 inhibitors are also being tested for their use in treatment of chronic bronchitis. For instance, Arcapta Neohaler received a FDA approval from NovartisRequest Sample Report @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1277 Bronchitis Treatment Market: Drivers and RestraintsBronchitis treatment market is driven by sedentary lifestyle, addiction to cigarette smoke and chemical pollutants. Guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), stringent regulations to pollutant emission control, adherence to various international protocol such as Montreal Protocol and World Bank Millennium Development Goal is expected to boost overall bronchitis treatment market.Bronchitis Treatment Market: SegmentationBronchitis Treatment Market further segmented into following typesBy Treatment:DrugsOxygen therapyBy Class of Drugs:AntibioticsBronchodilatorsMucolyticsAnti-inflammatory DrugsBy End UserHospitalsClinicsDrug storesBronchitis Treatment Market: OverviewSignificant increase in respiratory disorders along with alarming rise in chemical pollutants is expected to drive the demand for effective bronchitis treatment. The market is expected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period.Bronchitis Treatment Market: Region- wise OutlookThe global Bronchitis Treatment Market is expected to register significant CAGR during the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global Bronchitis Treatment Market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & AfricaNorth America dominates the global Bronchitis Treatment Market due to good awareness of healthcare in people and having good health care setup. Europe occupies second place in this market with its new regulations in the major economies. Asia Pacific is expected to witness fastest growth and is expected to gain significant market share over the forecast period.Request to View TOC @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1277 Bronchitis Treatment Market: Key PlayersMajor players of this market includePfizer Inc.GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals LimitedSanofi AventisBoehringer IngelheimDr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:42:00 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 530 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 Companion diagnostics are tests to understand which patient can be benefited from a certain drug or what dosage should be prescribed based upon patients clinical diagnosis, which provides evidence required for the successful and harmless use of an equivalent drug or biological product to treat the medical condition. These are medical instruments that support doctors to elect which treatment and dosage should be given to patients personalized to their necessity.Companion Diagnostics is utilized to ascertain who would benefit from treatment and it comes in handy to identify if someone cannot be cured, but also conversely can be harmed by use of specific drug used for their ailment. Technological advancements has brought a lot of changes in the method of disease treatment. Companion diagnostics is characterized by growing requirement for enhanced personalized patient treatment that gives healthcare providers and their patients an assurance about the treatment result in a positive way, contrary to traditional treatment procedure. Major impact of companion diagnostic will been on oncology therapy area.Request Sample Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1255 Companion Diagnostics Market: Drivers and RestraintsPresently, companion diagnostics global market is driven by the technological advancement in healthcare industry, increase in various treatment procedures. Number of companion diagnostics can be given approval for a single drug as scientific knowledge advances with practical application of treatment. Although, cost related with latest technology acts as a key barrier for the growth of global companion diagnostics market.Companion Diagnostics Market: SegmentationCompanion diagnostic global market is segmented into following segments:By ApplicationColorectal CancerBreast CancerLung CancerMelanomaUrologyGastric CancerBy TechnologyImmunohistochemistryMolecular DiagnosticsIn-situ HybridizationFISHCISHReal Time PCRGene SequencingBy RegionNorth America (U.S., Canada)Latin America (Mexico. Brazil)Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)JapanMiddle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, N. Africa)Companion Diagnostics Market: OverviewWith rapid technological advancement, increase in the incidence of chronic disease, rise in aging population, increasing adoption rate of treatment of chronic disease, increase in number of prevalence of chronic disease around the globe are the factors expected to boost the companion diagnostics market over the forecast period.Companion Diagnostics Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global companion diagnostics market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.North America is the leading market for companion diagnostics because of rapid technical inventions, huge investment on research and development in this region. Whereas, Asia-Pacificand Europeis projected to grow at a significant growth due to large consumer base, rising government initiatives for enhancing healthcare infrastructure, and high disposable income.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1255 Companion Diagnostics Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating global players in companion diagnostics market global market are ARUP Laboratories, Roche Molecular Systems Inc., Dako Inc., Qiagen Ltd., bioMerieux Inc.,Ventana Medical Systems Inc., Abbott Molecular Inc., Myriad Genetics Inc.,Biogenex Laboratories, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH and others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 15:04:53 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1000 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / PJX Resources Inc. ("PJX") is pleased to announce that preliminary drilling to test a shallow Magnetotelluric ("MT") target has intersected massive sulphide mineralization consisting of pyrrhotite/pyrite (iron sulphides) with minor sphalerite (zinc sulphide), galena (lead sulphide), and chalcopyrite (copper sulphide). The massive sulphide mineralization is conductive and occurs as a 0.8 m thick vein in sediments near the top of the shallow MT target. As previously announced, MT geophysics have identified both shallow and much larger deeper conductive targets on PJX's Vine Property located near Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada."The massive sulphide vein is 0.8 metres thick and is faulted along the footwall (bottom side) of the vein," states Dave Pighin. "The current hole entered a thick gabbro rock unit following the fault which suggests that the sulphide vein has been faulted away with the possibility that there is more of the vein or additional veins that the hole missed in the gabbro unit at the center of the MT anomaly. Additional drilling is recommended once all the data has been compiled and assessed." "This is an important finding as a proof of concept that MT is working and identifying massive sulphide," states the President and CEO of PJX, John Keating. "PJX's primary target is a potential massive sulphide body possibly similar to a Broken Hill type deposit. Intersecting massive iron sulphide with minor zinc, lead and copper sulphide mineralization as a vein provides greater confidence that MT is identifying sulphides rather than other sources of conductivity, such as graphite. The deeper MT target is much larger, with a coincident magnetic signature and possible gravity response as compared to the shallow target. This larger, more conductive MT anomaly may be similar in style of mineralization to the Broken Hill deposit as it appears to be associated with the favourable folded phyllite and breccia rock units that host zinc mineralization above a regional fault. This will be the next target area to drill." (see MT with Geological cross sections at http://pjxresources.com/PJX_Vine-X_Sections.pdf) BackgroundThree-Dimensional ("3D") Modeling of MT and Magnetic data has identified a shallow MT target and a larger more conductive MT target with coincident magnetic signature at depth on the Vine Property.The large conductive MT anomaly can be traced for 800 metres (m) horizontally along strike, starts at about 600 m deep and can be traced down dip to the west to a depth of at least 2 kilometres (km).Two-Dimensional Modelling of gravity data suggests the potential for large dense bodies of massive sulphide at depths coincident with the large MT and magnetic anomalies.Anomalous zinc and lead mineralization have been intersected in holes drilled up dip and on strike with the anomalies.The large MT anomaly is interpreted as representing a folded massive sulphide body, or multiple bodies, along the regional Moyie fault and suggests a mineralization style similar to the Broken Hill type massive sulphide deposit in Australia.Drilling will test the deep, larger and more conductive target followed, if necessary, by downhole geophysics to assist additional drilling.The road-accessible Vine Property is located approximately 140 km east of Teck's Metallurgical Complex and about 35 kilometres south of the Sullivan Mine, which operated for over 90 years before being closed in 2001. The property is at an elevation with terrain amenable to drill at any time of the year. It is crossed by two power lines as well as a rail line and is only a 20-minute drive south along Highway 3 from Cranbrook, British Columbia.The foregoing geological disclosure has been reviewed and approved by Dave Pighin P.Geo. and John Keating P.Geo. (qualified persons for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Pighin is the consulting geologist for PJX on the Vine Property. Mr. Keating is the President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of PJX.About PJX Resources Inc.PJX is a mineral exploration company focused on building shareholder value and community opportunity through the exploration and development of mineral resources with a focus on gold and base metals. PJX's properties are located in the historical mining area of Cranbrook and Kimberley, British Columbia. Please refer to our web site http://www.pjxresources.com for additional information.FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:Linda Brennan, Chief Financial Officer(416) 799-9205info@ pjxresources.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking InformationThis News Release contains forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements which relate to future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to exploration results, the success of exploration activities, mine development prospects, completion of economic assessments, and future gold production. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "appears to", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential", or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking-statements.Although PJX has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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 forward-looking statements.SOURCE: PJX Resources Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 19:48:11 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1005 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: "EPL") has received notice from optionee Roughrider Resources Ltd. ("Roughrider"; TSX-V: "REL") that it wishes to terminate the option agreements relating to the Brownell Lake (VMS-polymetallic) and Olson (gold) exploration properties located 120km east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan in order to focus efforts elsewhere.Brownell Project Summary:See the Brownell project map here.The Brownell Lake Project is host to regionally-sheared, highly-strained meta-volcanic rocks which are considered to be prospective for volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") mineralization. Highlight drilling results include 3.35 m of 0.48% Cu, 2.28% Zn, 1.46 g/t Au; 2.2 m of 6% Zn; and 20.5 m of 0.49% Cu. Historic work has delineated a 2600m mineralized EM/magnetic anomaly, with an additional 1700 m of prospective magnetic anomaly that remains untested by electromagnetics and diamond drilling. Results are historical in nature and have not been confirmed by Eagle Plains, but are considered to be reliable and will form a basis for ongoing work.During 2018, Eagle Plains and Roughrider completed a comprehensive geological compilation of all existing data on the property, followed by a $100,000 exploration program consisting of ground geophysics, geological mapping, soil sampling, resampling of historic core and sampling and survey of existing collar locations.As a result of this work, Eagle Plain's geologists consider the property to be drill-ready, with the objective of expanding the known mineralized trend and defining a maiden NI 43-101-compliant resource. The 2018 ground magnetic-VLF surveying agreed well with historical data and was successful in extending the magnetic-conductive trend associated with the Brownell Lake Cu-Zn Zone ~1.2 km to the east. Analysis and correlation of whole rock geochemical results from both surface sampling and drill core indicate the presence of alteration signatures consistent with base-metal-rich hydrothermal systems.Past drilling was successful in establishing mineralization near-surface, but only one fence tested the zone to any moderate depth. In this area, drilling indicated that not only did the deposit continue down-dip to a depth of at least 134 m, but also that the grade and thickness of the mineralization increased (Saskatchewan Assessment Report 63M04-0007). In addition, historical drilling by INCO in the late 1950's to early 1960's only assayed for Cu and Ni, whereas more recent drilling indicates that copper mineralization is associated with significant Zn, Ag and Au grades, which were not considered in early resource estimates.Olson Project Summary:See the Olson project map here.The Olson project is host to regionally-sheared, highly-strained meta-volcanic rocks which are considered to be prospective for orogenic gold mineralization. The Olson project area is host to 29 mineral occurrences defined by historical geological mapping, prospecting, trenching and 4700 m of diamond drilling. Historical drilling has intersected 7.5 m grading 2.07 g/t Au including 13.00 g/t Au over 0.65 m and grab samples of up to 105.52 g/t Au. The project is considered to be significantly underexplored, with known gold occurrences open at depth and along strike. Results are historical in nature and have not been confirmed by Eagle Plains but are considered to be reliable and will form a basis for ongoing work.In 2018, Eagle Plains and Roughrider completed a detailed compilation of existing data, followed by a 2- Phase, $150,000 field program which consisted of geological mapping and prospecting and the collection of a total of 862 soil samples and 126 rock samples.The 2018 field program verified the results of historical work and identified additional targets in areas that were previously unexplored. Grid soil geochemistry highlighted two main areas with extensive gold in soil anomalies. Soil geochemical values ranged from below detection to a maximum of 2704.6 ppb Au, with 6 samples returning greater than 1000 ppb Au. In the Jena area, soil geochemistry delineated a 1.4 km strike length of anomalous soil results greater than 80 ppb Au with a maximum of 1346 ppb Au. The Ackbar-Tuscan-Point area also returned promising results, with a 300m by 100m zone returning values greater than 80 ppb Au and a maximum of 2704.6 ppb Au. Soil geochemistry at the Olson and Juba showing areas returned lower values, likely related to thick clay and soil cover in these areas.Prospecting in the areas of anomalous soil geochemistry identified gold mineralization associated withshear-hosted quartz veins. Analytical results ranged from below detection to a maximum of 45.1 g/t Au, with 20 grab samples returning greater than 1000 ppb Au. The Olson area had a maximum assay of 41g/t Au from a grab sample of sheeted veins. The Jena area had 20 samples in excess of 1000 ppb Au with a maximum assay of 15.7 g/t Au from quartz-arsenopyrite veins. At the Juba occurrence, a grab sample returned 13.1 g/t Au. Mineralization at the Point and Tuscan area returned maximum values of 9.8 g/t Au at the Point and 45.1 g/t Au at Tuscan.The next phase of work will focus on defining targets for diamond drilling.Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has prepared, reviewed, and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release.Analytical and QA/QC ProceduresAll samples were shipped to Bureau Veritas in Vancouver BC for analytical work. Soil samples were analyzed for 37 major and trace elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. For Brownell project work, rock and drill core samples were analysed using total whole rock characterization. Major oxides, precious metals and base metals were analyzed using ICP-ES and MS methods with a total of 65 elements analysed. For Olson project work, rock samples were analyzed with ICP-MS analysis for 35 major and trace elements. Gold was analysed using fire assay atomic absorption analysis. A 30g split for gravimetric fire assay was also used for gold analysis for samples that had over 10 ppm Au. Quality control and assurance (QA/QC) was done using in house Bureau Veritas protocols consisting of reject duplicates, blank and certified reference materials.About Eagle Plains ResourcesBased in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by a PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:41:30 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 580 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 Endocavity transducer is a device which is used to visualize the colorectal and transvaginal areas internally by the help of ultrasonic sound waves.They are inserted into body cavities to diagnose problems associated with colorectal and transvaginal body parts. Endocavity transducer is combination of sensor and actuator. Endocavity transducer is device which converts electrical signal into ultrasonic energy that can be transferred into tissue and emit ultrasonic energy back from the tissue into an electrical signal which can be displayed as an image. A corresponding layer of material is placed on the tip of transducer to increase the effectiveness of energy transmission into patient.Endocavity transducer is a device that has ultrasound capabilities and is different from other imaging devices such as MRI, traditional X-rays which are used for diagnosis and monitoring internal organs. Endocavity transducer produces real-time images during surgical procedures allowing the surgeons to see into patients anatomy leading the procedures to be less disturbing and more efficient. Endocavity transducer is a specific and precise device that reduces uncomfortable patient experience in several types of surgical and non-surgical (diagnosis) procedures.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1256 Endocavity Transducer Market: Drivers and RestraintsGlobal endocavity transducers market is driven by the technological advancement, rapid innovation in production technologies and increase in surgical process across the globe. Increasing privatization in healthcare sector and adoption of new technologies in emerging countries are also fuelling the global market for endocavity transducers devices. Along with this rapid market authorizations, increase in awareness through education, increase in research and development activities are playing key role in driving the global market for endocavity transducer. Although, absence of regulation and harmonization of guidelines and lack of expert professionals act as a major barriers for global endocavity transducers market.Endocavity Transducer Market: SegmentationGlobal endocavity transducer devices market is classified on the basis of application type and product type:Based on application type endocavity transducer market is segmented into the following:By Application typeObstetrics/ GynaecologyUrologyBased on product type endocavity transducer market is segmented into the following:By Product TypeCurvilinearPhased arrayEndocavityLinearBy End UserHospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentresClinicsDiagnostic CentresEndocavity TransducerMarket: OverviewThe global endocavity transducer market is expected to register a healthy CAGR during the forecast perioddue to its better quality over generic clinical diagnosis. Also, factors such asrapid technological advancement, increase in the number of surgical process and demand for advance diagnosis are expected to boost the growth of global endocavity transducer market across the globe.Endocavity Transducer Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global endocavity transducermarket is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.North America endocavity transducer market is estimated to hold maximum revenue share due to increase in awareness for endocavity transducer devices, increase in adoption of innovative products and growing infrastructure investment to support medical and healthcare development. Whereas, Europe is estimated to be second most lucrative market for endocavity transducer devices. The market for endocavity transducer in various regions is specifically driven by progressively rising awareness and increase in adoption of advance clinical diagnosis.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1256 Endocavity Transducer Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating global players in endocavity transducer global market are Philips Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Mindray ZONARE, Toshiba Medical Systems, FUJIFILM SonoSite, Inc., Hitachi Medical Systems,Providian Medical and others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 22:44:09 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 952 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VICTORIA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Erin Ventures Inc. [TSXV: EV] [OTCQB: ERVFF] is pleased to announce the release of an amended mineral resource estimate report titled, "Mineral Resource Estimate Update On The Piskanja Borate Project, Serbia, October 2016 - Amended February 28 2019" (the "Report"), for Erin's 100% owned Serbian boron property. The Report was authored by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd ("SRK") independent of Erin, and has been prepared in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI 43-101").The effective date of SRK's mineral resource statement contained within the Report is July 19, 2016, and was prepared in conformity with the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) "Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines".In summary, in producing the mineral resource statement, the Qualified Persons (the "Authors") at SRK have:Modelled the borate horizons in 3D;Composited the sample data into 1m intervals and undertaken a statistical analysis of the assay data in each mineralised domain;Evaluated the composited assay data for the presence of high-grade outliers from histograms;Undertaken geostatistical analyses to determine appropriate interpolation algorithms;Created a block model with block dimensions of 10x10x2 m;Undertaken a Quantitative Kriging Neighbourhood Analysis (QKNA) to test the sensitivity of the interpolation parameters;Interpolated borate grades into the block model;Visually and statistically validated the interpolated block grades relative to the original sample results; andReported an MRE according to CIM Standards.Upon consideration of data quality, drill hole spacing and the interpreted continuity of grades controlled by the deposit, the Authors variously classified portions of the deposit in the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource categories.The Authors applied basic economic considerations to restrict the Mineral Resource to material that it considered had reasonable prospects for economic extraction by underground mining methods.The updated MRE for the Project is presented below.SRK Mineral Resource Statement as at July 19, 2016 for the PiskanjaDeposit prepared in accordance with CIM StandardsMineral Resource Category1Cut-off(B2O3)Tonnage, MtB2O3Grade, %ContainedB2O3, Mt3Indicated12%7.831.02.4Inferred212%3.428.61.01Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves as they have no demonstrated economic viability. SRK and Erin are not aware of any factors (environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political, or other relevant factors) that have materially affected the Mineral Resource Estimate.2The quantity and grade of reported Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to report these Mineral Resources in the Measured category and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading a part of these to this category in due course or if further technical work will enable them to reported as Mineral Reserves.3Contained metal figures and totals may differ due to rounding of figures.Report ConclusionsThe infill drilling and database verification work completed in 2016 added further confidence to the geological model and borate grade distributions and enabled the production of an updated MRE which is similar in quantum, but is now more robust, than that previously produced.Comparison to Previous Estimates:In comparison to the previous 2013 MRE for the Project, which was also reported at a cut-off grade of 12% B2O3 but above a minimum mining thickness of 1.0 m, this updated MRE (which is reported above a minimum mining thickness of 1.2 m) has more borate in the Indicated category (2.4Mt compared to 1.7 Mt) and less borate in the Inferred category (1.0Mt compared to 1.8 Mt). These changes are primarily due to some previously reported Inferred material being upgraded in to the Indicated category though there is also a slight reduction in B2O3 content for the Project as a whole from 3.5 Mt to 3.4 Mt (-4%) mainly as a result of a 6% reduction in tonnage. This change is primarily due to the 2015 infill drilling which has shown some of the thicker zones to be less continuous than previously assumed but also enabled the higher grade zones to be better delineated, which has reduced the tonnage slightly but at the same time slightly improved the grade (namely a global 2% increase in grade compared to the previous estimate).Piskanja Mineralisation Model, looking north(To view the full-size image, please click here)SRK Mineral Resource Classification(To view the full-size image, please click here)The Report describing the details of the resource estimate will be available under Erin's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com , and on the Company's website www.erinventures.com . The full report contains more information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, methods and risks of determination associated with the Mineral Resource Estimate.On behalf of the Board of Directors,Blake Fallis, General ManagerQualified PersonsThe technical information in this release was prepared and approved by James E Wallis, M.Sc. (Eng), P. Eng., a director of Erin, who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.The responsible persons for the updated MRE are Dr Mike Armitage (C.Eng. C.Geol.) and Dr Mikhail Tsypukov who are both full time employees of SRK and Qualified Persons in accordance with the CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves (CIM Standards) and independent of Erin Ventures. Dr Mikhail Tsypukov visited the Project between 17th and 19th of October 2018.About Erin Ventures Inc.Erin Ventures Inc. is an international mineral exploration and development company with boron assets in Serbia. Headquartered in Victoria, B.C., Canada, Erin's shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "EV" and OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol "ERVFF". For detailed information please see Erin's website at www.erinventures.com or the Company's filed documents at www.sedar.com For further information, please The report incorporates enormous information identifying with the ongoing item and innovative improvements saw in the market, finish with an investigation of the effect of these headways available future advancement. Communications Hardware PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 19:43:16 Press Information Research N Reports Contact: Sunny Denis (Sales Manager), (Research N Reports) 10916, Gold Point Dr, Houston, TX, Pin 77064, +1-8886316977, sales@researchnreports.com, www.researchnreports.com Sunny Denis Sales Manager +1-8886316977 email http://www.researchnreports.com # 558 Words Contact:Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr,Houston, TX, Pin 77064,+1-8886316977,sales@researchnreports.com,www.researchnreports.comSales Manager+1-8886316977 Examination of Communications Hardware market and its up and coming development prospects is been said with most extreme exactness. This examination incorporates an elaborative outline of Communications Hardware showcase which additionally incorporates depictions that offer profundity of data of different divisions. Through subjective and quantitative examination of key elements which are in charge of boosting or hampering the market development and the promising open doors in Communications Hardware advertise have been given. Essential and optional research is been done in detail which enables the per users to have a solid comprehension of the total market for the figure time of 2019 to 2026.For Sample duplicate of this report: https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=140252 Major Key Players in this report are: Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, Telefonica, Huawei, Samsung, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, China Mobile, Korea Telecom, and SoftBankComprehensive market information concerning the urgent components and portion of the worldwide Communications Hardware advertise that can impact the development prospects of the market are said. The report incorporates enormous information identifying with the ongoing item and innovative improvements saw in the market, finish with an investigation of the effect of these headways available future advancement. The report examines the whole request and inventory network in the worldwide market and further investigations the different segments.The worldwide Communications Hardware advertise is additionally being driven by the expanding maturing populace, developing consumption on medicinal services, rising number of government activities to digitalize social insurance, and heightening appropriation of wearable gadgets. Continuous mechanical headways and the relentless entrance of web in the remote corners of the world are additionally in charge of the eminent development of the worldwide Communications Hardware advertise.Avail discount on this report: https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=140252 The report additionally talks about key players in the Communications Hardware advertise and the methodologies utilized by them. It additionally clarifies the different elements driving or limiting the Communications Hardware advertise. It makes utilization of Porter's Five Forces investigation and SWOT examination to comprehend the capability of the Communications Hardware market and offers intriguing bits of knowledge to new and existing players to empower them to strategize appropriately.Most imperative information incorporate the key proposals and expectations by our experts, planned to direct a vital business choice. The organization profiles area of this exploration benefit is an accumulation of the development techniques, budgetary status, item portfolio, and ongoing advancements of key market members. The report gives point by point industry examination of the worldwide Communications Hardware showcase with the assistance of demonstrated research procedures, for example, Porter's five powers. The powers investigated are haggling intensity of the purchasers, dealing intensity of providers, risk of new contestants, danger of substitutes, and the level of rivalry.For more enquiry: https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=140252 What our report offers: Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments Market share analysis of the top industry players Strategic recommendations for the new entrants Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements The smaller scale and macroeconomic components impacting the development of the market are shrouded in detail in this examination. Besides, the prime qualities and shortcomings of the key merchants' predominant in the market have been investigated based on SWOT examination. Home Builder Software PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 19:43:50 Press Information Research N Reports Contact: Sunny Denis (Sales Manager), (Research N Reports) 10916, Gold Point Dr, Houston, TX, Pin 77064, +1-8886316977, sales@researchnreports.com, www.researchnreports.com Sunny Denis Sales Manager +1-8886316977 email http://www.researchnreports.com # 401 Words Contact:Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr,Houston, TX, Pin 77064,+1-8886316977,sales@researchnreports.com,www.researchnreports.comSales Manager+1-8886316977 Research N Reports declares the expansion of another statistical surveying concentrate to its developing business sector insight storehouse. The new report thinks about the Worldwide Home Builder Software Market in detail and exhibits exhaustive figures with respect to the market's development direction in the coming years. The report, titled 'Worldwide Home Builder Software Statistical surveying Report 2019,' is accessible available to be purchased on the official site of Exploration N Reports.Get sample copy of this report at: https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=153709 Significant Key Players in this report are: Sage, Oracle, Viewpoint, Goldenseal, Constellation, Comprotex, BuilderTREND, BuilderMT, Nextobuild, Procore, Punch, PlanSwiftThe smaller scale and macroeconomic components impacting the development of the market are shrouded in detail in this examination. Besides, the prime qualities and shortcomings of the key merchants' predominant in the market have been investigated based on SWOT examination. The innovative progressions occurring in this market have been displayed by enumerating their effect on the development of the market.Also, broad speculations are being made in innovative work to empower item upgrades and changes. With the coming of new advances all the time, players are endeavoring hard to incorporate the latest innovation to pick up an aggressive edge over the rest.Get discount at: https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=153709 Subsequent to concentrate key organizations, the report centers on the new companies contributing towards the development of the market. Conceivable mergers and acquisitions among the new businesses and key organizations are recognized by the report's creators in the investigation. Most organizations in the Home Builder Software advertise are at present occupied with receiving new advances, strategies, item improvements, developments, and long haul contracts to keep up their predominance in the worldwide market.For Enquiry OR Any Query? Ask to our Expert @ https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=153709 What our report offers: Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments Market share analysis of the top industry players Strategic recommendations for the new entrants Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:12:20 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 771 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Imcon Secures First Latin America Sales of Its Proprietary SolutionATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / Imcon International Inc., the developer of the Internet Backpack, an immediate connectivity solution that allows users to be able to communicate from almost any location on the planet, has reached a major milestone with sales of its proprietary solution for pilot programs in Costa Rica. These deals mark Imcon's first sales into Latin America. Imcon's Internet backpacks are deployed with cutting edge VMware software Workspace ONE cloud applications, enabling users to have access to any application, on any device, anywhere.The first deployment for a long-term pilot program is on Costa Rica's Isla Caballo, one of the world's most remote locales. The second pilot is with Fundacion Omar Dengo, a non-profit organization whose main objective is the development of capabilities, through innovative educational proposals, supported by the use of new technologies. Both programs have the potential to scale up dramatically across Latin America, with an ultimate reach of over 800 remote and indigenous locations in Costa Rica alone.Imcon International is coordinating the projects through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Imcon Latin America Corp., which is headed by Dr. Alvaro Salas Castro, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Democracy Lab Foundation, the non-profit foundation dedicated to helping citizens achieve civic engagement with their governments in Central America."This is a huge step in the growth of Imcon, as these pilot projects illustrate our ability to deploy real world connectivity solutions in the most remote of environments," said Rob Loud, CEO, Imcon International, Inc. "As we have already demonstrated in Africa, the backpack has the potential to reach underserved populations wherever they are, providing enormous education and health benefits to isolated communities. Under the direction of Dr. Salas Castro and his team, we anticipate deploying our solutions in remote and indigenous communities across Costa Rica and all of Latin America." Working in partnership with Costa Rica's Viva Idea, MarViva Foundation and the Zamora Teran Foundation, the Imcon team travelled to Isle Caballo, a remote island of 250 people. Once on the island, they immediately set up first time ever internet connectivity for its school and for a community that has no running water, no running electricity, and no infrastructure.The Viva Idea Foundation provided financial resources to the MarViva Foundation, which selected the island as part of a pilot project to support coastal communities. The Zamora Teran Foundation is donating the computers and is responsible for training the teachers and the community. Democracy Lab brought these partners together for the pilot project."Isla Caballo feels like it's at the end of the world, without access to fresh drinking water, connection to the national electrical grid or a primary healthcare clinic," said Roberto Artavia, president of Viva Idea and MarViva, "But, as of today, the people of Isla Caballo have internet, which will provide the community with better access to information, better communications and, most importantly, the opportunity to create content and learn from the rest of the world how to improve their quality of life." "We are thrilled to receive the Internet Backpacks, which will become a primary portal to the world for our students," added Jalila Tabash, director of the school on Isla Caballo. "For teachers this is a critical tool that allows us to provide a better education for these deserving kids." Imcon is also working towards a binding MOU with Fundacion Omar Dengo (FOD), a non-profit organization, to explore the use of the Internet Backpack connectivity solution to connect schools in remote locations throughout the country that do not yet have internet connectivity. FOD works closely with Costa Rica's Ministry of Education (MEP) to connect all the public schools of the country and offices of MEP in a single broadband network.About ImconImcon International, Inc., is an immediate connectivity solutions provider. Imcon is developing edgeware services and device solutions, such as the Internet Backpack, which conform to the Open Specifications Model for the Internet of Things v0.5. The Internet Backpack is a remote connectivity solution utilizing narrow-bandwidth utilities which allows users to be able to communicate from almost every location on the planet. The Internet Backpack also allows users to create internal wireless networks with large coverage areas utilizing various radio frequencies. Please visit http://imconintl.com for more information.Contacts:For Imcon International:Rob LoudImcon International, Inc.rob@ imconintl.com 470-210-0760Alan WinnikoffSayles & Winnikoff Communicationsalan@ sayleswinnikoff.com 212-725-5200 x111Alvaro A. Salas-Castro Ph.D.Imcon Latin America Corp Ltd.Alvaro@ imconintl.com (506) 71897326SOURCE: Imcon International Inc. The Global IoT Healthcare Market Report includes a comprehensive analysis of the present market. The report starts with the basic IoT Healthcare Market overview and then goes into each and every detail. IoT Healthcare Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 19:42:35 Press Information Absolute Markets Insights 1 st Floor, The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, MH, Pin 411016 Shreyas Tanna Sales Manager 7400242424 email http://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com # 557 Words 1 st Floor, The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, MH, Pin 411016Sales Manager7400242424 The Global IoT Healthcare Market pertaining to the value that it offers considering the data obtained from both primary and secondary research. It has been aggregated on the basis of different dynamic aspects of the businesses. The deployment of IoT based solutions across the industry is anticipated to bring in high degree of automation, reduce operating costs and enhance the decision-making process. Dependency of healthcare on IoT is increasing day by day to improve access to care, enhance the quality of care, and most importantly to limit the cost of care.The global IoT healthcare market size is expected at a CAGR of +20% over the forecast period 2019-2025.Different sales strategies have been elaborated to get a clear idea for getting global clients rapidly. It helps various industry experts, policymakers, business owners as well as various c level people to make informed decisions in the businesses. It includes the massive data relating to the technological advancements, trending products or services observed in the market. . Many technology companies have now entered the IoT Healthcare Market after realizing the strong potential growth of this particular market.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Top Key Vendors in Market:Cerner Corporation, Diabetizer Ltd. & Co. KG,Infosys Limited, Medtronic Public Limited Company, Microsoft, PhysIQ, Proteus Digital Health, IBM, Philips, AdhereTech Inc., Aeris, Apple Inc., Castlight Health, Cisco Systems Inc. amongst others.This report provides an in-depth analysis of the IoT healthcare market across the type of medical devices, systems and software, connectivity technologies, services, applications, end users, and regions. IoT in healthcare systems and software consist of remote device management, network bandwidth management, data analytics, application security, and network security. IoT healthcare market report includes market analysis of connectivity technologies, such as Wi-Fi, BLE, NFC, ZigBee, cellular, and satellite. Healthcare applications of IoT have also been considered in the report.All the key factors are provided that attracts the market towards its growth. The report also enlarges on the opportunities of the emerging markets of North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Various regions, manufacturers, and types are considered to analyze the production, capacity, and revenue of the IoT Healthcare Market.Early buyers will receive up to 10% Discount on this report @Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoMedical DeviceSystems & SoftwareServiceConnectivity TechnologyMarket segment by Application, split intoTelemedicineWork Flow ManagementConnected ImagingMedication ManagementObjectives of IoT Healthcare Market report are:To study and forecast the market size of IoT Healthcare in global market.To analyze the global key players, SWOT analysis, value and global market share for top players.To define, describe and forecast the IoT Healthcare Market by type, end use and region.For more Information:About Us:Absolute Markets Insights is a global market research company taking into account leading businesses, colleges, universities, non-profit organizations, and government foundations. Absolute Markets Insights is dedicated to presenting you an ideal blend of data parameters. Our reports depend on the research and analysis that covers a magnitude of factors, for example, industry research, market sizing and forecasts, technological advancements, innovation trends, financial growth, pricing trends, competitive insights, and an in-depth study of market segments. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:41:00 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 682 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 The medical pendant systems provide appropriate positioning of medical equipment, terminal units, medical gas, specialty and electrical services. Medical pendant systems are mounted on the ceiling with the robust carcass system consisting of stainless steel flanges and supporting rods. Medical pendant is the compact system with various configurations to fulfill exact requirements of hospital. Medical pendants have various number of arms which can be help to accommodate all electrical services, medical gas, data communication services and facilitating equipment management. Incoming electrical and gas services from ceiling to minimize the cable clutter provide a safer and cleaner place for the movement and activity of medical professional teams. The movable arm of medical pendant system allows it to be located at exactly where it is most suitable for the operating team and these arms cover the requirement of any operation theatre. Medical pendants make medical tasks and procedures easier, while ensuring safety while placing monitoring equipment. Medical pendants are designed to maximize space in the operation theatre for operations and critical care areas to improve accessibility around the patient bed thereby enabling healthcare staff to deliver effective patient care.Medical PendantMarket: Drivers and RestraintsThe primary factor for the growth of global medical pendant market is growing awareness in the healthcare professionals andrequirement of safe and low risk work space for medical staff. Medical pendant systems are highly useful in operation theatres or in intensive care unit. The growth of medical pendant market is primarily attributed to accurate and effective results in various application areas such as surgeries and endoscopy. Major factor which limits the growth of the global medical pendant market is high cost of medical pendant system setup and unavailability of skilled nursing staff.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1243 Medical Pendant Market: SegmentationGlobal medical pendantmarket is classified on the basis of product type, application and geographyBased on product type, the global medical pendant market is segmented into the following:Fixed PendantsFixed Retractable PendantsSingle Arm Movable PendantDouble Multi Arm Movable PendantBased on application, the global medical pendant market is segmented into the following:SurgeryEndoscopyAnaesthesiaIntensive care UnitsMedical Pendant Market: OverviewMedical pendant systems are designed to remove standing devices from the operation floor around the patient bed. The unique design of medical pendant systems enables mounting of a number of medical devices in a compact space. The maximum range of movement enables quick, easy positioning of service and provides safety control while minimizing the infection risk. Medical pendant systems decrease the visual impact in the patient environment, increasing the capacity of equipment load and improving equipment access. Medical pendant systems allow various devices to be connected with it such as electrical supply, lighting, communication equipment, gas and liquid supply and rail system for installations of equipment. Medical pendant systems design enable different combinations and resources that fulfill the special needs and expectations of operating rooms in hospitals. Fixed Retractable Pendants and Double Multi Arm Movable Pendant product type segments are expected to register highest CAGRs in terms of value owing to faster adoption among the medical communities worldwide.Medical Pendant Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global medical pendantsystem market is expected to register a healthy CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic region, global medical pendant systemmarket is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America held largest share in the global market of medical pendant systemfollowed by Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific owing to the need for increasing the standard of healthcare infrastructure coupled with substantial investments. The developing nations in APAC and MEA hold huge potential for growth in the global medical pendant systemmarket, due to the convenience it offers in hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1243 Medical Pendant Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating global players in medical pendant systemsmarket are ELEKTRA HELLAS, Starkstrom, Ondal, Hipac, Beacon Medaes, Unicorn Medicals, Medilon, Uttam, Medimax, Brandon Medical. Methyl Isobutyl Carbinol Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 10:59:45 Press Information Persistence Market Research (PMR) 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, yogesh sengar Team Lead +1-646-568-7751 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 581 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Team Lead+1-646-568-7751 Methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) is an organic chemical compound, a branched hexyl alcohol, which is used as a frother in mineral flotation. Methyl Isobutyl carbinol is a clear, colorless liquid, slightly soluble in water and miscible with most organic solvents. Methyl isobutyl carbinol can be used as a solvent, in organic synthesis, as a precursor to some plasticizers and in the manufacture of brake fluid. Methyl isobutyl carbinol is also known as methyl amyl alcohol, isobutyl methyl methanol, Isobutyl methyl carbinol, 1,3-dimethylbutanol, 4-methyl-2-amyl alcohol, 2-methyl-4-pentanol and 4-Methyl-2-pentyl alcohol among others. Methyl isobutyl carbinol has good solvent properties for oils, waxes, dyestuffs, natural resins and ethyl cellulose. Methyl isobutyl carbinol is readily biodegradable, unlikely to accumulate in the food chain, and is considered non-toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms on an acute basis.Methyl isobutyl carbinol is primarily used in the production of lube oil additives and for antiwear and corrosion inhibitors. In addition, methyl isobutyl carbinol is used as a solvent for dyes and stains; solvent for nitrocellulose and ethylcellulose lacquers; solvent for ester gums, oils, natural resins, phenolics, waxes; chemical intermediate for higher alcohols, surfactants; extraction solvent for essential oils for flavors/fragrances and process solvents for soaps. Methyl isobutyl carbinol is used as a flotation frother for treating coal, copper ores, tars and mining. Methyl isobutyl carbinol helps to boost the productivity of mining operations by increasing the mining yield. In mining frother applications, methyl isobutyl carbinol is used in the ppm range, with usual concentrations less than 1000 ppm and in many cases in the hundreds of ppm range (100 - 600 ppm). In addition, methyl isobutyl carbinol is used as a raw material in the manufacturing of methyl amyl sebacate and methyl amyl phthalate, which are used as plasticizers.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4596 The increase in consumption of lube oil additives is expected to be a major driving factor for the growth of methyl isobutyl carbinol market. Methyl isobutyl carbinol prices are significantly affected by feedstock costs and the price of natural gas. Stronger demand and higher feedstock costs helps to boost prices for methyl isobutyl carbinol. In addition, growing demand in emerging economies is expected to boost the growth of methyl isobutyl carbinol market. Methyl isobutyl carbinol is a preferred frother of choice for the mining of ores, such as copper and molybdenum sulfide, as well as coal. The growth of the mining industry is expected to further drive the demand for methyl isobutyl carbinol. However, availability of substitutes and demand fluctuations could hamper the growth of this market.The Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region for methyl isobutyl carbinol industry. China, Republic of Korea, India, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia are some of the major consumers of methyl isobutyl carbinol in Asia Pacific. The U.S. and Western Europe are the largest consumers of methyl isobutyl carbinol. The European market is said to be fairly balanced with steady demand. In addition, demand for methyl isobutyl carbinol is growing in Latin America due to increase in mining operations.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4596 Some of the key players in this market are Shell Chemicals ( U.S), BASF (Germany), Dow Chemical (U.S.), E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (U.S.), Mitsubishi Chemical (Japan), LG Chem (South Korea), AkzoNobel (Netherlands), Sumitomo Chemical (Japan), Mitsui Chemicals (Japan), Toray Industries (Japan), Eastman Chemical Company(U.S.), and Evonik Industries (Germany) among others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:42:26 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 567 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 Molecular diagnostics is a method of analyzing and identifying the biological markers in the genome and proteome in order to identify gene expression by applying molecular biology. Molecular diagnostics are used to diagnose disease and risk involved. Molecular Diagnostics helps to decide the therapies are suitable for individual patients. The new advanced technologies has qualified the instruments in providing accurate results. This ability of the diagnostic tool resulted in increased rate of acceptance of the molecular diagnostics. The concept of personalized medicine has emerged out of molecular diagnostics.Molecular Diagnostics Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe factors driving molecular diagnostic market are increase in demand for care facilities, favorable regulatory policies which aims at promoting the care diagnosis, acceptance of personalized medicine, development in biomarkers, advancements in proteomics, increasing awareness of the diagnostic procedures. However rising cost of molecular diagnostics, obligation of skilled labors to handle the complexity of instruments are the factors restraining the growth of molecular diagnostics market.Request Sample Report @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1262 Molecular Diagnostics Market: SegmentationMolecular diagnostic market is classified on the basis of product, technology, application, end use and geography.Based on product, the global molecular diagnostic market is segmented into the following:InstrumentsReagentsOthers (service and software)Based on technology, the global molecular diagnostic market is segmented into the following:DNA sequencingPolymerase chain reactionIsothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification TechnologyTranscription Mediated Amplification (TMA)In situ hybridizationSequencingMicroarraysMass spectrometryDNA sequencingOthers (southern blotting, northern blotting, electrophoresis)Based on application, the global molecular diagnostic market is segmented into following:CancerPharmacogenomicsGenetic testingInfectious diseasePrenatalNeurological diseaseCardiovascular diseaseBased on end use, the global molecular diagnostic market is segmented into following:Diagnostic laboratoriesHospitalsOthers( nursing home, blood banks, point of care)Molecular Diagnostics Market: OverviewThe awareness of diagnosis is giving rise to the trend of self-care management. The early diagnosis of disease or disorder helps the patient in getting better treatment and cure. Infectious disease and Oncology is estimated to be the fastest growing application owing to the increased prevalence of cancer and demand for early diagnosis. The introduction to specific biomarkers for the treatment has a positive impact over the molecular diagnosis market. However maximum use of reagents is estimated owing to their accurate results. Commonly used reagents are salts, formamide, sodium dodecyl sulfate and dextran sulphate heparin. Growing awareness about the prenatal genetic testing for early detection of chromosomal abnormalities during pregnancy has enhanced the use of molecular diagnostics.Molecular Diagnostics Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, the Global Molecular Diagnostics market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America is estimated to be the largest player in molecular diagnostic market owing to the technological advancements and innovations, increase in R&D investments by large pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries and demand for early diagnosis. Asia Pacific is estimated in rising molecular diagnostic market due to increase in the prevalence of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases and large population suffering from diabetes.Request to View TOC @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1262 Molecular diagnostics Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the molecular diagnostic market are Abbott laboratories, Becton Dickinson, Novartis, Roche Diagnostics, Johnson and Johnson, Bio-Rad Laboratories, bioMerieux, Danaher Corporation, Qiagen N.V, Siemens Healthcare, Cepheid, Hologic, Inc,. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:42:40 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 569 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 Myocardial infarction, generally called as heart attack is characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart muscles, primarily due to coronary artery disease. According to American Heart Association (AHA), every year around 17.3 Mn people die of heart diseases worldwide, with myocardial infarction being the leading cause of death. In 2012, British Heart Foundation reported 73,680 deaths in United Kingdom due to coronary heart disease. Mortality from acute myocardial infarction can be decreased if patient receives the emergency access to the treatment. The global cardiovascular treatment market generated a revenue of 170 Bn in 2010 and is expected to expand drastically over the forecast period of 2016-2026. Multitude of products available for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction with different indications include Zorprin, Plavix, Angiomax, Diovan, Lovenox, Aggrastat, NitroStat, Benicar and many more.Myocardial Infarction Therapeutics Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing incidence of coronary artery disease and changes in lifestyle are the major factors expected to drive the growth of global myocardial infarction therapeutics market. Increasing number of smokers, increasing incidence of obesity and blood pressures, lack of exercise can be some other reasons likely to flourish the global myocardial infarction therapeutics market over the forecast period of 2016-2026. WHO findings show that the death rate due to cardiovascular diseases is more in smokers than that in non-smokers. Whereas, saturation in R&D can be the major restraint for the growth of global myocardial infarction therapeutics market.Request Sample Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1263 Myocardial Infarction Therapeutics Market: SegmentationThe global myocardial infarction therapeutics market has been classified on the basis product type, distribution channel and geography.Based on product type, the global myocardial infarction therapeutics market is divided into following:AnalgesicsAntiplatelet agentsVasodilatorsThrombolytics and anti-thrombotic agentsGlycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors adrenergic blockersAngiotensin receptor antagonistsAngiotensin converting enzyme inhibitorsBased on distribution channel, the global blood canner treatment market is divided into following:HospitalsHospital PharmaciesDrug StoresOnline drug storesMyocardial Infarction Therapeutics Market: OverviewAnalgesics and antiplatelet agents segments are foreseen to hold more share in global myocardial infarction therapeutics market as these agents are used for initial treatment of an acute myocardial infarction. Amongst sales channels, hospital pharmacy segment is expected to contribute more into global myocardial infarction therapeutics market. The global myocardial infarction therapeutics market is foreseen to experience the boost in market volume over the forecast period due to the launch of several new products such as Apixaban, Xarelto and introduction of generic drugs after expiration of patents for Crestor and Benicar.Myocardial Infarction Therapeutics Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, the global myocardial infarction terapeutic market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America will continue to take leading position in global myocardial infarction therapeutic market owing to expanding aging population and prevalence of co-morbidities. The expiry of blockbuster drugs in European market is likely to deter the segment share in global myocardial infarction therapeutics market. Japan is expected to experience the stagnancy in global myocardial infarction therapeutics market, in part due to saturation in R&D.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1263 Myocardial Infarction Therapeutics Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global myocardial infarction therapeutics market are Novartis N.V., Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, AstraZeneca, Apotex Inc., Sandoz, Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc., Mylan N.V., Pfizer Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:40:50 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 591 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 Remote patient monitoring devices supports in monitoring of patients physical condition. Patient does not need to visit the medical practitioner. Digital technology is used in remote patient monitoring devices to gather health and other forms of medical data to securely pass on to healthcare providers situated at different location for clinical review. The accuracy of remote patient monitoring devices allows reliable diagnosis, leading to a more specific and efficient treatment. Remote patient monitoring devices helps to reduce costs of hospital stays by continuing to monitor patient condition, irrespective of patient location and also it helps to reduce overcrowding at clinics and diagnostic centers. Remote patient monitoring devices systems are used for continuously monitoring important physiological parameters like, heart activity, body temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate and other clinical conditions. Remote patient monitoring devices is based on real time data sharing which helps physicians to take vital decisions to ensure better patient treatment. Physician and healthcare providers are extending the use ofremote patient monitoring devices to enhance the excellence of patient care and reduce expenses by prognosis.Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: Drivers & RestraintsRemote patient monitoring devices market is fueled by great technological advancements. The increasing incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases like heart conditions and diabetes requires compulsory life-long monitoring will also contribute to remote patient monitoring devicesglobal market. Increase in geriatric population around the globe is leading to enhanced global market forremote patient monitoring devices. Awareness among the medical practitioners and improved private sector and government involvement in remote patient monitoring devices is supporting the global market for remote patient monitoring devices dwell in developing countries. Deficiency of trained and expert professionals are hampering the growth of remote patient monitoring devices.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1240 Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: SegmentationGlobal remote patient monitoring devices market is segmented as following:By Product Type:Heart Rate MonitorsBlood Pressure MonitorsHeart MonitorsBreath MonitorsSleep Apnea MonitorsBlood Glucose MonitorsWeight MonitorsBody Temperature MonitorsInfusion PumpsBy End User:HospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersHomecare settingsRemote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: OverviewIncreased technological improvement, rise in the incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases along with increase in aging population, enhanced demand for remote monitoring, private sector and government involvement in remote patient monitoring devices, the global market for remote patient monitoring devices market is expected to have a healthy growth rate in the forecast period (2016-2026).Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global remote patient monitoring devicesmarketis segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.North America is the leading global remote patient monitoring devices market due to the high volumes of surgical procedures being performed. Also, the availability of established healthcare infrastructure, high influence of healthcare to economy are the reasons for the high demand in North America. Europe is also a lucrative market for remote patient monitoring devices due to rapid technological advancement in terms of healthcare sector. Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a good rate as compared to NA and Europe as there is ample market opportunity in countries like India and China due the large population.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1240 Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating global remote patient monitoring devicesmarketare Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., AMD Global Telemedicine, Honeywell International Inc., Omron Healthcare, Smiths Medical, Medtronic, and others. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:45:26 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 590 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: httpsManager+1-347-918-3531 Robotic X-ray scanner is a medical imaging device which gives flexibility to the medical practitioner. It has got its name from its characteristic of moving according to commands given to it. This robotic X-ray scanner uses radiographic abilities and is used in fields of emergency care, critical care, orthopaedic and surgical and non-surgical processes. The X-ray source and X ray detector can move simultaneous without moving the patient. Robotic X-ray scanner comes in handy when patient is unconscious and is unable to move or respond.Robotic X-ray scanner has capability to produce real-time images during surgery process and enabling the medical practitioners to observe patients anatomy distinguishes changes during and after the surgery better than that of other diagnostic imaging devices such as MRI machines, traditional X-rays and ultrasounds.Robotic X-ray scanner adds supreme elasticity to surgical process. Robotic X-ray scanner reduces the time required during surgery procedures for scanning patient and helps to take critical decisions according to the situation. This all can be done without patient been carried from one room to another just for X-ray. Robotic X-ray empowers swifter, smoother and easy patient positioning and completion of procedures.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1257 Robotic X-ray ScannerMarket: Drivers and RestraintsPresently, Robotic X-ray scanner global market is driven by the technological development in healthcare industry, increase in geriatric population, and increasing prevalence of osteoporosis and other bone related disease. Robotic X-ray scannerglobal market is expected to grow by the factors such as rapid innovation in products,technological advancement in production and modelling technologies, increasing privatization in the healthcare sector, rising acceptance of refurbished medical imaging devices in emerging countries.Globally manufacturers have been modifying their product lines to attract more consumers and as a result, it assist them to stay forward of the competition.The major restraint faced by the market is the high cost of robotic X-ray scanner. Various end-users do not have the financial plan to capitalize on expensive robotic X-ray scanners.Robotic X-ray scannerMarket: SegmentationRobotic X-ray scanner global market is segmented into following types:Segmentation based on Application:TraumaSurgeryOrthopaedicsSegmentation based on End User:HospitalsLess than 200 Beds200500 BedsMore than 500 BedsAmbulatory Surgical CentresDiagnostic Imaging CentresRobotic X-ray ScannerMarket: OverviewThe global robotic X-ray scannermarket is expected to grow with a healthy CAGR over the forecast period (2016-2026) due to advancement in technology, approval of new products in different regions, increase in adoption rate of robotic X-ray scanner devices, and increase in healthcare expenditure across the globe.Robotic X-ray ScannerMarket: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic region, robotic X-ray scanner global market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.North America is estimated to hold maximum share by revenue in global robotic X-ray scannermarket due to the increasing awareness about medical imaging equipment, financial stability to purchase exclusive medical imaging devices, adoption of technically-advanced products, and growing infrastructure investment to support medical and healthcare development. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is likely to grow at the highest CAGR in diagnosis and interventional radiology procedures due to increase in disposable income and healthcare expenditure.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1257 Robotic X-ray Scanner Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating players in global robotic X-ray scanner market are Siemens AG, Philips Healthcare, GE Healthcare Inc.,Ziehm Imaging, Hologic corp., BMI Biomedical International s.r.l., Medonica Co. Ltd., DMS Health Technologies, Gemss Co. Ltd., Shimadzu Corp. and others. Silica Fibers Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 11:00:51 Press Information Persistence Market Research (PMR) 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, yogesh sengar Team Lead +1-646-568-7751 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 598 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Team Lead+1-646-568-7751 Silica fiber is a long thin thread made of sodium silicate. Silica fibers are the dominating material in fiber optics due to their excellent properties and characteristics. Silica fibers have superior mechanical strength against bending and pulling, provided that the fiber is not very thick and that the surfaces are well prepared. In addition, cleaving and fusion splicing of silica fibers works fairly well. The mechanical strength of silica fibers can be further improved with a suitable polymer jacket. Silica fibers can be used as reinforcements in polymer, metal and ceramic matrices. The high strength-to-weight and modulus-to-weight (i.e., stiffness-to-weight) ratios of the silica fibers allow the fabrication of composite materials that are superior in physical properties to much heavier homogeneous metal materials. In addition, silica fibers are chemically very stable as compared to other materials.Silica fibers have many applications in automotive, telecommunication, electronics and aerospace industries, due to their superior heat resistance. Silica fibers are used as optical fibers for long distance telecommunications, sensors and fiber optic medical instruments. Huge investments have been made to develop innovative types of silica fibers, which have further increased the performance advantages of silica fibers over fibers based on other materials. Silica fibers can also be used to produce silica acid fibers by a dry spinning method. Silica fibers have properties which make them useful in friction-lining materials. Silica fibers can withstand temperatures of up to 1832 degrees Fahrenheit (1000 C) for long periods or even higher temperatures of 3092 F (1700 C) for short periods of time. Silica fiber heat protection is so effective that silica fiber blankets are used on space shuttles as part of the thermal protection system. The threads are part of the advanced flexible reusable surface insulation. Silica fibers reduce the weight of the insulation and can deal with the heat load encountered upon re-entry. Other applications of fiber optics include imaging for surgical procedures, and as sensors. One surgical application is an endoscope. This tool is made up of bundles of silica fibers and is used to inspect the interior of the body.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4603 The growth in key end user industries such as telecommunication and electronics industry is expected to drive the demand for the silica fibers. Demand for silica fibers is growing due to their excellent characteristics such as high temperature insulation, low thermal conductivity and energy efficiency. This has resulted in the increased applications of silica fiber products in diverse industries such as iron and steel, metal, petrochemical, and others. However, development of alternatives could hamper the growth of this market.Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region for silica fibers due to growth in telecommunication industry. China is one of the largest market for silica fibers and accounts for majority of the world demand. The demand for silica fiber is growing in North America and other emerging economies of Asia Pacific due their efforts to build Fiber to-the-Node and Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) networks. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) consumption of silica fibers is forecast to lag behind.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4603 Global prospects for silica fiber companies appear profitable. The key players in this market are mostly fiber optic companies. Some of the companies operating in this market are Corning, Draka, Prysmian, Nexans, Sumitomo Electric, Fujikura, Yangtze Optical Fiber and Cable Company, Sterlite and Prime Optical Fiber Corporation among others. The growth in fiber optics industry is expected to boost the demand for silica fibers and increase the revenue of silica fiber companies over the next few years. Silver Amalgam Alloys Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 10:58:04 Press Information Persistence Market Research (PMR) 305 Broadway 7th Floor, New York City, NY 10007, United States, yogesh sengar Team Lead +1-646-568-7751 email http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com # 580 Words 305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Team Lead+1-646-568-7751 Silver amalgam is a mixture of mercury, silver, tin and copper and used for dental applications. Amalgams are generally crystalline in structure with the exception of those with high mercury content which are liquid. Some of the important characteristics of an amalgam are dimensional change, compression strength, flow and creep. The dimensional change characteristics deal with an amalgams ability to expand and contract depending on its use. The compression strength characteristic is the ability of amalgams to resist fracture which is an important prerequisite for any restorative materials. The strength of silver amalgam depends on the composition of the alloy.Silver amalgams alloys are also known as dental amalgams and are used for dental fillings. Silver amalgams are popular dental restorative material because of their low cost, strength, durability and ease of application. They are long lasting, have a better performance than other fillings, applicable for broad range of clinical performance and are of better quality. However, its popularity is diminishing today because of concerns of mercury toxicity, allergic potential and inferior aesthetics quality. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended labeling of dental amalgam products, which includes a warning against using the product in patients who have an allergy to mercury. In addition, it has a warning that dental professionals follow a proper protocol while handling dental amalgams and a statement mentioning the risks and benefits of dental amalgam so that patients and dentist can make informed decisions.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4604 The continued use of silver amalgam in dental applications will be a major driving factor for silver amalgam industry. The FDI World Dental Federation has reaffirmed the safety of use of silver amalgams in dentistry and hence it is used by dentists all around the world. Majority of dental restorations depend on silver amalgams and hence it has a significant market. However, development of viable substitutes, growth of dental composites market and lack of awareness could hamper the growth of this market.The market for silver amalgam is worldwide as it is recommended by FDI World Dental Federation for use in its dental applications. The use of silver amalgams is quite popular in Asia Pacific, especially the emerging markets such as China and India due to its low cost and wide availability. The American Dental Association has also approved the use of silver amalgam for dental restorative procedures and hence it is used by majority of dentists in the U.S. However, the use of silver amalgam is declining in Europe with Sweden, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Austria and Finland reducing the use of silver amalgam for dental applications.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4604 Some of the key players in this market are DPM limited, Sirona, Nobel Biocare, Straumann, Astra Tech, Megagen, Osstem Implant Co. Ltd, Avinent Implant Systems, Zimmer Holdings, Inc, MIS Implants Technologies Ltd, Intra-Lock International and CAMLOG Implant Systems among others. Straumann and Nobel Biocare are leading players in this market with significant global market share. Straumann, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, has collaborated with multiple research institutes, universities and clinics to develop a broad range of dental implant products. The company has presence in major markets of Asia Pacific, South America, Europe and North America. Nobel Biocare, headquartered in Kloten, Switzerland has manufacturing plants for dental implants in Sweden, U.S. and Israel. It offers innovative dental implants and dental prosthetics to its clients and is listed at the SIX Swiss Exchange. PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 23:18:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 690 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 CHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2019 / The Latin American Chamber of Commerce Charlotte (LACCC), in collaboration with Wells Fargo and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) is proud to announce a new business accelerator program titled Avanzar.For the past four years, Wells Fargo has spent more than $1 billion per year with diverse suppliers. ''We're committed to increasing our spend with diverse suppliers through building capacity in diverse businesses across the country. The Avanzar Program is one of our innovative approaches to creating a pipeline of strong Hispanic owned businesses,'' said Regina Heyward, senior vice president and head of supplier diversity for Wells Fargo.As part of this new initiative, the LACCC will administer a year-long accelerator. Each month for eight consecutive months, the ten participating Hispanic businesses from our community will meet for an educational programming series. The administered curriculum and training will help the participants overcome barriers to success in order to scale their businesses and build sustainable enterprises.''We are humbled and excited that Wells Fargo and the USHCC have chosen Charlotte to provide this program. Also, we believe this allows the LACCC fulfill its mission to foster the economic growth and development of the Hispanic business community in the Charlotte region. The LACCC continues to provide support to the business community in the area to increase revenue and employee opportunities,'' said Rocio Gonzalez, LACCC Executive Director.''We are thrilled to be collaborating with the LACCC and Wells Fargo for the Avanzar program. This program is a reflection of our steadfast commitment to Local Chambers and Hispanic businesses in the communities they serve,'' said Ramiro Cavazos, USHCC President & CEO.''Wells Fargo is proud to support the Latin American Chamber of Commerce and their business accelerator program,'' said Kendall Alley, Region Bank president for Wells Fargo. ''We understand the important role small businesses play in Charlotte and the need to help foster their success. At Wells Fargo, we believe we're responsible for promoting the long-term economic prosperity and quality of life for everyone in our communities. If our communities prosper, we all prosper.'' Participant Criteria Hispanic businesses between $100K - $ 250K in revenue Must be an established business with at least 3 years of operations Must have a business that in the long term is scalable into an enterprise Be in good membership standing with the local chamber of commerceFor the Avanzar application in Charlotte, click here.About LACCCThe LACCC offers a sustainable bilingual platform of programs, events and services that engages, empowers and supports both Latino and non-Latino businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals in order to ACCELERATE their ACCESS to RESOURCES GROWTH and SUCCESS when navigating together this new economy. With approximately 450 members, LACCC is Energizing the Latin-American Business community in Mecklenburg County since 2001. Please visit lacccharlotte.com for upcoming events. Follow us on Twitter @LACCCLTAbout Wells FargoWells Fargo & Company is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,800 locations, more than 13,000 ATMs, the internet ( wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 259,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune's 2018 rankings of America's largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.About USHCCThe USHCC actively promotes the economic growth, development, and interests of more than 4.37 million Hispanic-owned businesses, that combined, contribute over $700 billion to the American economy every year. It also advocates on behalf of 260 major American corporations and serves as the umbrella organization for more than 200 local chambers and business associations nationwide. For more information, please visit ushcc.com . Follow us on Twitter @USHCC.CONNECTING EMPOWERING MENTORING GROWING145C Scaleybark Rd, Charlotte, NC 28209Tel: 704-343-2525admin@ LACCCharlotte.comwww.LACCCharlotte.com SOURCE: Latin America Chamber of Commerce Charlotte PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 16:43:55 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: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.com FMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/ Web: https://www.fu Abhishek Bhudholiya Manager +1-347-918-3531 email https://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 545 Words Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531 Tuberculosis (or) TB is a chronic infectious disease which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis, also known as pulmonary tuberculosis, infects to any part of the body majorly affects lungs. Extra pulmonary tuberculosis occurs when infection spreads other than the lungs. The bacterial infection that spreads through lymph nodes, blood stream to any organ in body. Tuberculosis is a contagious disease and transmitted from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air. Tuberculosis is mainly of two typeslatent tuberculosis and active tuberculosis. In latent TB condition, person infected with the bacteria but it is inactive state and cause no symptoms. It isnt contagious. It is also called inactive tuberculosis (or) TB. It can turn into active TB, so treatment is important for the person with latent TB and to help control the spread of TB. Active Tuberculosis stage enable bacteria spread to others. It can occur in initial stages after infection with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, or it might occur years later. Tuberculosis can be diagnosed through the tuberculin skin test or blood test. The positive tuberculin test or blood test enable to detect person infected with bacteria but it unable to detect latent tuberculosis infection.Tuberculosis Therapeutics Market: Drivers and restraintsIncreasing prevalence rate of tuberculosis provides the lucrative market for the global tuberculosis therapeutics market. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about one-third of the worlds population diagnosed with latent tuberculosis (TB), 9.6 million people diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2014. 1 million children diagnosed and 0.14 million children died in 2014. Low income and middle income countries more prevalent to the tuberculosis. People infected with HIV are 20-30 times more likely to develop active tuberculosis. The risk to occurrence active TB greater in persons suffering from other conditions that impair the immune system. Program to treat tuberculosis Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course (DOTS) developed by WHO, witnessed robust growth of global tuberculosis therapeutics market. Shortage of anti-tubercular drugs to treat TB in children.Request Sample Report @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1303 Tuberculosis Therapeutics Market: SegmentationGlobal Tuberculosis Therapeutics Market can be segmented as following typesBy Product:Hydrazine derivativesIsoniazidMiscellaneous anti tubercular drugsRifampinEthambutolPyrazinamideBy End user:Hospital PharmaciesAmbulatory Surgical CentersIndividual PharmaciesTuberculosis Therapeutics Market: OverviewIncreasing demand for advance medication to treat tuberculosis and rising awareness among people and novel medications to treat the tuberculosis is expected to account for a robust growth of global tuberculosis therapeutics market over the forecasted period.Tuberculosis Therapeutics Market: Region-Wise OutlookDepending upon the geographic regions tuberculosis therapeutics market segmented into seven key regions: Those are North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa.North America and Latin America regions is expected to dominate the tuberculosis therapeutics market throughout the forecast period. People are becoming health conscious and aware of treatments of tuberculosis in the region. Asian Pacific region and MEA are anticipated to register double digit CAGR over the forecasted period.Request to View TOC @ www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1303 Tuberculosis Therapeutics Market: Key playersSome of the key players in Tuberculosis therapeutics market are Sigma Pharmaceutical Pty Limited, Aventis Pharmaceuticals Limited, Novartis AG, Sanofi -aventis U.S LLC, Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Versapharma Incorporated, Bayer Health care. Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-01 19:41:14 Press Information Absolute Markets Insights 1 st Floor, The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, MH, Pin 411016 Shreyas Tanna Sales Manager 7400242424 email http://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com # 652 Words 1 st Floor, The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, MH, Pin 411016Sales Manager7400242424 Veterinary equipment and consumables are used in animal hospitals and clinics for various applications, such as anesthetic medication, respiratory support, temperature management, and fluid management. Veterinary equipment and consumables are used in animal hospitals and clinics for various applications, such as anesthetic medication, respiratory support, temperature management, and fluid management. Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market Control of the concentration of anesthetic to the animal is dependent on dilution with gases supplied from the machine; gases such as oxygen and nitrogen, from the vaporizer's flowmeter. During the delivery of the drug into the animals body, oxygen flows through the vaporizer and picks up the anesthetic gasses.The global Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market is valued at USD 1.63 billion in 2019 and projected to reach USD 2.40 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of +8%.The major strategies accepted by the established players for a better saturation in the Global Market also form a key section of this study. These methods can be employed by the upcoming players for a better view in the market. The global Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market has also been examined in terms of its revenue. Dynamics such as market drivers, restraints and opportunities have been combined and displayed which helps in collecting the statistics on the future growth of the market.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Top Key Vendors in Market:Beijing Yi Shiheng electronic technology co., LTD, Midmark Corporation, Kent Scientific Corporation, Everest Veterinary Technology, Smiths Medical, Supera Innovations, Vetronic Services Ltd, Patterson Scientific, Synthomer plc., JD Medical Dist. Co., Inc., Kent Scientific Corporation, Hallowell Engineering & Manufacturing CorporationRecent advancements in drug development procedures in the field of animal medicine are boosting the adoption of this equipment among veterinarians. Advancements in intravenous anesthesia, research pertinent to effective drug delivery to pets, and new product approvals are some of the primary growth stimulants for the Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market. The demand for veterinary anesthesia is paving new road across hospitals and private clinics. There is an increase in trend for adopting pets in the modern society, which has resulted in a growth for high-end animal healthcare.The global Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market is analyzed in terms of its competitive landscape. For this, the report encapsulates data on each of the key players in the market according to their current company profile, gross margins, sale price, sales revenue, sales volume, product specifications along with pictures, and the latest contact information. The reports conclusion leads into the overall scope of the global Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market with respect to feasibility of investments in various segments of the market, along with a descriptive passage that outlines the feasibility of new projects that might succeed in the global market in the near future.Early buyers will receive up to 30% Discount on this report @Table of Content:Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market Research Report 2019-2025Chapter 1: Industry OverviewChapter 2: Veterinary Anesthesia Machines International and China MarketChapter 3: Environment Analysis of Veterinary Anesthesia Machines.Chapter 4: Revenue by Classifications of Veterinary Anesthesia Machines MarketChapter 5: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and ApplicationsChapter 6: Analysis of Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Revenue Market Status.Chapter 7: Veterinary Anesthesia Machines Market Industry Key ManufacturersChapter 8: Sales Price and Gross Margin Analysis of Veterinary Anesthesia MachinesChapter 9: Trader or Distributor Analysis of Veterinary Anesthesia Machines MarketChapter 10: Appendix and Data SourceFor more Information:About Us:Absolute Markets Insights is a global market research company taking into account leading businesses, colleges, universities, non-profit organizations, and government foundations. Absolute Markets Insights is dedicated to presenting you an ideal blend of data parameters. Our reports depend on the research and analysis that covers a magnitude of factors, for example, industry research, market sizing and forecasts, technological advancements, innovation trends, financial growth, pricing trends, competitive insights, and an in-depth study of market segments. The Federal High Court in Ibadan has stopped the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria from forcefully registering as members anyone involved in providing information technology and computer services. Justice N. Ayo-Emmanuel said the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria Act (Control and Supervisory Regulation) 2010 did not expect it to be engaging in trivialities. Rather, the judge said the Act established the Council to create core professionals in the computer industry. He was delivering judgment in case No FHC/IB/CS/23/2009 filed on May 13, 2009, by an Ibadan-based IT retail firm, Citadel Oracle Concept Limited. Citadel Oracle had sought the order of the court to restrain the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria from compelling its managing director, Benjamin Joseph, and the staff of the company to register as its members against their will. In its application, counsel to the company, O. Echo, asked the court to declare that as a limited liability company, Citadel Oracle did not fall within the category of organisations expected to register with the computer professionals group. Besides, Mr Echo also asked the court to declare that Computer Professionals lacked the capacity to compel Citadel Oracle to register with it. The institution of the suit followed an incident in which Citadel Oracles offices and the business outlet at Ajibade House, Iya-Olobe Area, Ekotedo, Ibadan, were broken into and normal business activities disrupted by Computer Professionals officials on April 28, 2009. Citadel Oracle demanded a N700,000 payment as damages for losses the company suffered during the incident. In a counter application, Computer Professionals wanted the court to rule that considering the statutory responsibilities of Computer professionals and the business of Citadel Oracle, the former has the right to demand the registration of the latter with it. Also, the group asked for an injunction restraining Citadel Oracle from continuing to render computer professional services of repairing and maintenance of computer systems, provision of information technology (IT) services, and selling of computer accessories, consumables and other electronic products without registering with the Council as members. In addition, the group asked the court to direct Citadel Oracle to pay N9.6 million to it, being the amount the company and ten of its staff ought to have paid to regularize their membership. The payment, the council said, would cover the purchase of registration forms, payment of registration and annual renewal/subscription as a corporate body and individual members since 2009 when they ought to have registered. In delivering its judgment, the court reviewed the provisions of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria Act; Control and Supervisory Regulations 2010; and Services Constituting Practice as a registered member of Computing Professional Regulation, 2015. Section 1(1) and (2) of the Act said the objective of the Council was for advancing the knowledge of computer science and the use of computational machinery and techniques. To be qualified to be registered as a member of the defendant (Computer Professionals), the Act said prospective members must meet all criteria set down. In his ruling, Justice Ayo-Emmanuel said going by the provisions of the two laws, it was clear the Council was created for the interest of core professionals who must write and pass certain examinations to be qualified to be members. Consequently, he said the Council could not be seen to be compelling everybody, including traders on the streets who sell or repair computers, or those who have anything to do with Information Technology, to register with it against their will. The above-quoted provisions of the Act are very clear and unambiguous and as such must be given its ordinary and grammatical meaning, the judge said. The Act tends to create core professionals in the computer industry, which can be regulated like any other profession. The Act does not make room for trivialism. In implementing the Act, the defendant cannot be seen to be compelling everybody, including traders on the streets who sells or repairs of computers or who has anything to do with Information Technology to be registered with it. That will definitely be outside the objective of the Act, he said. Justice Ayo-Emmanuel rejected Citadel Oracles request for a N700,000 compensation without records of its daily sales. The judge also dismissed the counter-claim filed by the Council for a declaration that Citadel Oracles refusal to register with it was unlawful. Popular Yoruba actress, Lola Alao, has won the custody case of the two children of her late friend and colleague, Aisha Abimbola. The deceased, who was popularly known as Omoge Campus, died and was buried in Canada in May 2018. She died of breast cancer at the age of 42. In a video shared on Instagram on Thursday, Lola and Aishas children were in a joyous mood. Lola, who filmed the video while taking them to school, thanked everyone who supported her. She thanked some of her colleagues in Nigeria, Folake Sadare and Foluke Daramola, for their efforts. Lola also advised couples to embrace their children no matter the state of affairs in any sour marriage. The late actress estranged husband, Victor Ibrahim, and his family made all attempts to have the custody of their two kids (Keji and Lase) but did not succeed. https://www.instagram.com/p/BubSjyvgWDp/ Botswanas President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Friday dismissed a report that the country had offered Zimbabwe a 600 million dollars diamond-backed loan. He said his government only offered to guarantee a 100 million dollars private credit line for Botswana companies to invest in their troubled neighbour. Zimbabwes Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted in the state-owned Herald newspaper on Tuesday as saying Botswana offered to lend Zimbabwe 500 million dollars to support its diamond industry and another 100 million dollars for the local private firms. I want to clarify these reports that we are giving Zimbabwe hundreds of millions in loans. That is totally untrue, Masisi told reporters in Gaborone, a day after visiting Zimbabwe for business and trade mission. We are not giving them a single loan. The only thing we gave them yesterday are medical supplies made in Botswana and supplementary feeding worth197, 600 dollars. There is 100 million dollars credit from private banks in Botswana and Zimbabwe to help Botswana private companies. What we have demanded, which we are waiting for, is a letter of guarantee from the Zimbabweans to counter our own guarantee, he said. Masisi said Botswana, which is the largest producer of diamonds by value, would help Zimbabwe with its diamond trade because it would be useful and strategic for Botswana as it aimed to become a global centre of diamond trading. Zimbabwes diamond sector has struggled since the government kicked out private companies from the eastern Marange fields in early 2016 after they declined to merge under the state-owned mining company. Relations between Zimbabwe and Botswana have improved following a strained period when Botswanas ex-President Ian Khama, who stepped down in 2018, routinely criticised Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe for holding on to power for too long. A military coup in 2017 forced Mugabe to resign, ending his 37-year rule. (Reuters/NAN) The February 23 presidential election saw the re-election of Nigerias president, Muhammadu Buhari, of the All Progressive Congress (APC). He defeated his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as well as 71 other candidates. Apart from Mr Buhari and Mr Abubakar, no other presidential candidate won in any of Nigerias 36 states and Abuja. The two of them have nursed their presidential ambitions for over a decade before Mr Buhari won the 2015 presidential election. Mr Buhari had contested the presidency three consecutive times before he defeated the former president, Goodluck Jonathan. Mr Abubakar, a former vice president, has been trying to be Nigerias president since 1993. He has however been on the ballot only twice (2007 and 2019). In the 2015 general election, Mr Buhari won with 2,571,759 votes as he polled 15,424,921 while his opponent, Mr Jonathan, who was the sitting president, had 12,853,162 votes across the country. Mr Buhari also scored the highest votes in the 2019 presidential election polling 15,191,847 votes, while his major challenger, Mr Abubakar, polled 11,262,978 votes. Atiku Abubakar (Photo Credit: Channels TV) Mr Buhari led his opponent with a margin of 3,928,869 which is higher, compared to the margin in 2015. However, an analysis of the results across the states shows that Mr Buhari lost more votes in many of his strongholds while he gained votes in areas he has been traditionally poor in. PREMIUM TIMES compares the performance of Mr Buhari at the 2015 polls with what was obtained in the 2019 election in major Nigerian states that have over two million eligible voters. POSTPONEMENT The postponement of this years presidential election may have affected the turnout at the polls especially as many who travelled for the election, returned and could no longer travel again. Although the elections of 2011 and 2015 were also postponed, because of logistic challenges and security threats by the Boko Haram insurgents respectively, the 2019 postponement was the worst because it was adjourned on the election day, few hours before the election was to start. Information released by the electoral commission, INEC, shows that 72.7 million permanent voters cards (PVCs) were collected before the 2019 general election. This shows an improvement of over 16 million when compared with the 56.4 million collected in 2015. The states with a high rate of PVCs collected include Lagos, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Delta, Niger, Oyo, Plateau, and Rivers states. Each of these 13 states had over two million voters who collected their PVCs. The Pattern While Mr Buhari won more votes in the South-east (an opposition stronghold) than in 2015, he scored fewer votes in many northern states including his home state, Katsina. Only Borno was an exception to the reduction of votes scored by Mr Buhari among the northern states with a high PVC collection. One major factor that could have contributed to fewer votes for Mr Buhari in many key northern states is his opponent. In 2015, Mr Buhari contested against Goodluck Jonathan, a Southern Christian, a factor that worked strongly for Mr Buhari in the North. However, in 2019, Mr Abubakar of the PDP is also a Northern Muslim like Mr Buhari. Mr Abubakar polled more votes in the key Northern states than Mr Jonathan did in 2015. The narrative of a Muslim versus Muslim ticket also flipped in the South-South and South-east states as none of the key candidates could benefit from the sentiment of being a Southern Christian. The 11 states in the two regions are Christian-dominated. Mr Buhari polled more votes in the two regions than he did in 2015. Apart from the Muslim versus Muslim narrative, there were also peculiar factors in each state that largely reduced the presidents performance in northern states and increased it in South-south and South-eastern states. PREMIUM TIMES analyses such possible factors in the 13 states with the highest eligible voters. /infograph.venngage.com/ps/QlUczEZYto/president-buharis-performance-in-the-2015-and-2019-elections Lagos The state had the highest number of collected PVCs, with 5,531,389 cards collected. It is also the home of the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu. Mr Buhari won in the state. He led Mr Abubakar with a 132,798 vote margin. The margin was lower than the 160,143 vote margin he polled against Mr Jonathan in 2015. Lagos, over the years, has been a ground for the major parties to slug it out at the presidential election. Several factors can be adduced to the reduction in the presidents vote in Lagos. These include lower voter turnout, violence, and the late arrival of election materials in many states. Voter turnout in Lagos in 2015 was about 29 per cent. It was less than 20 per cent in 2019. Kano Mr Buhari polled his highest votes, 1,464,768, in Kano. The figure is, however, almost 500,000 votes less than the 1.9 million votes he scored in 2015. Although Mr Buhari had always won in Kano, 2015 was the first time he ever scored up to 1.9 million votes. In that election, he had the support of the then Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso. Although Mr Kwankwaso is not as popular as Mr Buhari in Kano, he also commands large followership through his Kwakwansiyya movement. Rabiu Kwankwaso Mr Kwankwaso last year defected to the PDP due to differences with Mr Ganduje. Perhaps sensing his influence in Kano, President Buhari made efforts including last-minute meetings to convince Mr Kwankwaso to remain in the APC. However, without Mr Kwankwasos support, the president was still able to win Kano, although with a much smaller margin. Mr Kwankwaso has, however, alleged that the election was rigged against the PDP. Kaduna The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, is a prominent member of the APC. The state is also perceived as one of the major strongholds of the APC and is where Mr Buhari lived before he was elected president. Mr Buhari won with a margin of 643,675 votes in 2015 but could only get a 343,833 margin against Mr Abubakar. The presidents vote also reduced from over 1.1 million to less than one million in 2019. The worsening ethnic and religious tension in Kaduna, especially in the southern part of the state is believed to have further alienated the president from a constituency that has always had its reservation about him. Kaduna is also the base of Shiite Muslims in Nigeria, hundreds of whom Mr Buharis government has killed extra-judicially in the past three and a half years. The Shiite leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has also been detained for the past three years two of which was without trial despite being granted bail by the court. Majority of the Kaduna Shiite Muslims who supported Mr Buhari in 2015 are believed to have voted against him in 2019. Lastly, many traditional Kaduna politicians who were in the APC with Mr Buhari in 2015 have moved to the PDP, taking their supporters with them. Rivers This is the most populous state in the South-south region and a stronghold of the PDP. The state governor, Nyesom Wike, is a notable critic of the Buhari administration. Although Mr Buhari lost to Mr Abubakar in Rivers as it happened in 2015, the president improved in his performance as he polled 150,710 votes on Saturday against the 69,238 votes he scored in 2015. The elections in the state were however marred with violence and elections did not hold or were cancelled in six local government areas. There are over 900,000 eligible voters in the affected areas. It is not clear how that could have influenced the results. However, unlike in 2015, Mr Buharis government controls the military which the PDP and Governor Wike have accused of working to help Mr Buhari in Rivers. At least 11 people were killed in the Rivers election violence including a soldier. Anambra Like Rivers State, Anambra is another stronghold of the PDP. The state produced Mr Abubakars running mate, Peter Obi. According to the results of Saturdays poll, Mr Buhari had 33, 298 votes, which is about 50 per cent increase to the 17,926 votes he had in 2015. Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano Apart from the religious factor which plays a key role in determining who the people in Anambra support, the ruling party in the state, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), is believed to have supported Mr Buhari in 2019, a factor that may have contributed to the increase in votes for Mr Buhari. The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, once an ally of the PDP vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, became one of the fiercest critics of the PDP in Anambra. Plateau Despite the sitting governor, Simon Lalong, being a member of the ruling party, Mr Buhari was still defeated by Mr Abubakar of the PDP. Mr Abubakar polled 548,665 while the president had 468,555. For Mr Buhari, the result is a slight increase from the 429,140 votes he scored against Mr Jonathan in 2015. An increase in Mr Buharis votes in Plateau is, however, not unexpected. Unlike 2015 when the sitting governor, Jonah Jang, was of the PDP, Mr Lalong worked tirelessly for Mr Buhari. Arguably, the president could have won the state but for the insecurity caused by the violence between herdsmen and host communities in Plateau and other states in the middle belt of the country, including Benue and Taraba. With most of the herdsmen considered to be Muslims, and the failure of the Buhari administration to stop the killings, religious sentiments became high in Plateau. Also, INEC on Tuesday said it cancelled a total of 146,555 votes from Plateau in the Saturday presidential election, votes that could have influenced the results one way or the other. Bauchi Bauchi State is governed by Muhammad Abdullahi of the APC and is another stronghold of Mr Buhari. Although he was declared the winner in the Bauchi in both 2015 and 2019, Mr Buhari polled 931,598 votes against Jonathan but scored a lesser figure of 798,428 in 2019. Also, in 2015, Mr Buhari won all the 20 local governments in Bauchi. He, however, lost one to the PDP candidate in 2019. Yakubu Dogara The PDP won in Speaker Yakubu Dogaras local government area of Bogoro. The local government is believed to be Christian-dominated while Muslims make up the largest population in Bauchi. Mr Dogara, a Christian, is also very popular in the area, winning his re-election. The defection of Mr Dogara from the APC to the PDP is believed to have affected the performance of the ruling party in Saturdays poll. Many other local politicians including current federal lawmakers also left the APC due to disagreements with the governor. They left the APC with their supporters. Benue The north-central state was a battleground for the two presidential candidates, but Mr Buhari was defeated by his PDP opponent with a narrow margin of 9,149 votes. In 2015, Mr Buhari won in Benue after polling 373,961 votes against the 303,737 votes scored by Mr Jonathan. The state governor, Samuel Ortom, was a key supporter of Mr Buhari in 2015 but dumped the ruling party for the PDP in 2018. The herdsmen, farmers clashes that caused the death of hundreds of people in Benue in 2018 also raised sentiments against the president and the APC in the state. Aside from the defeat of the president, all the three senatorial candidates in Benue, fielded by APC, lost to their PDP counterparts. Borno The state is one of the core parts of the North-eastern region and is the state most affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. In Borno, Mr Buhari scored 836,496 votes to take the state ahead of his PDP opponent who got 71,788 votes. This is a great improvement when matched with the 473,543 votes the president garnered in 2015. Mr Buhari was always expected to win Borno, but several factors are believed to have worked in his favour for the almost double number of votes. One is that more local governments in the state are accessible than in 2015 when the Boko Haram controlled a large part of the state. Also, some traditional Borno politicians, such as a former PDP chairman, Ali Sheriff, joined the APC in the build-up to the 2019 elections. Mr Sheriff led a campaign team for Mr Buhari. Many people including the PDP have, however, questioned the results in Borno despite the Boko Haram insurgency. One local government in the state, Mafa, had a controversial 87 per cent turnout rate in the election despite a national average of less than 40 per cent. Delta In Delta State, which is a PDP stronghold, Mr Abubakar won with 594,068 votes to Mr Buharis 221,292 votes. In 2015, Mr Buhari had 48,910 votes in the oil-producing state while his opponent won with over one million votes. The increase in the number of votes for the president is believed to have been boosted by the defection of some prominent Delta politicians to the APC. These include an ex-governor of the state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, and a senator, Ovie Omo-Agege. Mr Omo-Agege, who defected from Labour Party to the APC in 2017 was re-elected last Saturday. Oyo Oyo State had the second highest number of registered voters in the South West region. Mr Buhari lost to Mr Abubakar with a margin of 1,461 votes in the state. The president won in Oyo in 2015 defeating Mr Jonathan with over 225,000 votes. Former Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi [Photo: Today.ng] In 2019, Mr Buhari scored 365,229 votes, much lower than the 528,620 votes he scored in 2015. One major factor that worked against the president in Oyo is the unpopularity of the governor, Abiola Ajimobi, who, by his policies and actions, has alienated many supporters of the party. Mr Ajimobi on Saturday lost his senatorial bid in the state. Alao Akala [Photo: pishmagazine.blogspot.com] Another factor is the defection of some major Oyo politicians who all worked for Mr Buhari in 2015. These include a former governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala, who is popular in Ogbomoso part of the state, as well as supporters of the late Oyo governor, Lam Adesina, including his son, Dapo. On Saturday, Senate President Bukola Saraki lost in his bid to return to the Senate. In the National Assembly elections held in Kwara Central Senatorial District, Mr Saraki, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost to Ibrahim Oloriegbe of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The returning officer, Olawole Obiyemi, a professor of human kinetics education at the University of Ilorin, said Mr Saraki polled 68,994 votes while Mr Oloriegbe poled 123, 808 votes. Mr Oloriegbe was thereafter declared the senator-elect in Kwara Central Senatorial District. Aside from losing his bid, the Senate president lost all four of the local governments in his senatorial district and could not deliver his local government and state to PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Tsunami Similarly, Mr Sarakis numerous allies and anointed candidates lost in all of the seats contested in the state as the APC won all three senatorial positions and all of the House of Representatives seats across the state. Analysts opine that the development puts an end to Mr Sarakis hegemonic influence in Kwara politics, which began effectively in 2011 after he displaced his late father, Olusola Saraki. PREMIUM TIMES observes that a number of factors helped the opposition displace the Senate President and his party, the PDP, in the state. This newspaper hereby highlights the factors that triggered his fall in Kwara politics. 1. Unpaid Salaries By far the most potent weapon the opposition used against the Senate president and his party was the issue of unpaid salaries. People affected include teachers, local government officials and pensioners, among others. The Kwara State Government has for long had protracted battles with workers in the state over unpaid salaries. There have been a series of protests in the past over the issue. In 2017, an advocacy group, Kwara Must Change, claimed that the rate of suicides among Kwara civil servant was high because of unpaid salary arrears. Last September, teachers In the state threatened to embark on strike over welfare issues. While Mr Saraki is not the current state governor, having served in that position between 2003 and 2011, residents of the state hardly separate the Abdulfatah Ahmed-led state governments performance from the Senate president. In effect, he is widely seen as immensely influential in the decision-making process of the Kwara government. Due to the harsh economic conditions thrown up by the unpaid salary controversies, it was all but easy for the opposition to ride on this wave and convince affected people to vote out the PDP. 2. Kwara South opposition/Oke-Ero bye-election Offa, a major town in Kwara South, is considered the home of opposition in Kwara politics. From the second republic through the third and the current dispensation, the town is known for standing shoulder high against the Saraki dynasty. Politicians from the town, notably Sunday Olawoyin, a leading disciple of the late Obafemi Awolowo, were known to have stood in the progressive camp, standing as the nemesis of the Saraki establishment. The struggle that resulted in Mr Sarakis fall on Saturday is said to have its root in Offa and other parts of Kwara South, beginning with the Ekiti/Irepodun/Isin/Oke-Ero Federal constituency bye-election which the APC won in 2018. But shortly before the bye-election, the anti-Saraki sentiment in the town was however intensified by the Offa robbery debacle of April 2018. 3. Offa Robbery Debacle In April 2018, police officers, residents and bank customers were murdered in a robbery operation that lasted for over an hour in Offa, Kwara State. The robbers blew up entrances into the banks with dynamite, before carting away money from about five banks, then killing scores of people. photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery. photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery. photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery. photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery. By June, suspects arrested by the police allegedly implicated Mr Saraki in their confessional statements, Jimoh Moshood, Force Public Relations Officer, said. A slew of controversial developments, including evidence presented by police, would later raise public concern about Mr Saraki and the Kwara State Governors involvement in the debacle. Offa, Omu-Aran, Erin-Ile and other adjoining communities have for years been at the mercy of bank robbers, especially during Yuletide periods. Although the Senate president denied all allegations, it did little to address the negative opinion formed against him by the people, which the opposition latched on. A resident told PREMIUM TIMES on the eve of the election that, based on the developments, the people are not convinced the Senate president (and Kwara State Government) had no connection with the suspects. 4. Defection to PDP In July, Senate President Bukola Saraki defected to the PDP, alongside Kwara Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. Mr Ahmed, like Mr Saraki, said he defected having realised that the All Progressive Congress (APC) can longer serve as a platform for achieving the aspirations and expectations of his people. Bukola Saraki and Abdulfatah-Ahmed Mr Saraki joined the APC on January 29, 2014, after falling out with the then PDP government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan. Shortly after his defection, a huge number of PDP chieftains in the state defected into the APC en masse. Mr Sarakis defection to PDP, analysts said, made him vulnerable in the hands of the opposition APC, which controlled the government at the centre. 5. Federal Might In all of the Saraki dynastys electoral battles since 2003, it never worked against the government at the centre, except in 2015. In 2003, the late Olusola Saraki supported his son, Bukola, on the platform of the then ruling PDP. The younger Saraki sought re-election in 2007 and installed his candidate, Mr Ahmed, in 2011on the platform of same ruling party. In 2015, although Mr Sarakis political camp worked against the Jonathan-led PDP government, it was widely believed that the people also embraced the APC. In last Saturdays election, the absence of federal support exposed the weaknesses of the Saraki camp, especially in Asa Local Government and other places rumoured to be its rigging stronghold, which the opposition exploited. 6. Ilorins allied forces For decades, one of the reasons why anti-Saraki dynasty electoral battles in Kwara State have always been lost is that they were most often championed by people outside of Ilorin, the state capital. From John Dara through Lai Mohammed to Simeon Ajibola, people outside of Ilorin rarely pull the crowd for reasons analysts opine may be cultural and ethno-religious solidarity. Nigerias Information minister, Lai Mohammed. In the last election, however, many of those considered the backbone of the Saraki winning machinery in the heart of Ilorin were recruited into what the APC called the struggle to liberate Kwara. With Lai Mohammed and APC governorship aspirant, Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman leading the pack, Sarakis ex-loyalists including Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Yinka Aluko, Moshood Mustapha, Cook Olododo and others like Yahaya Seriki, Abdulyekeen Alajagusi were on the ground in the emirate city to deliver for APC. 7. Religious propaganda Although its use always raises questions, propaganda plays a key role in elections in Nigeria. In Kwara, one tactic used against the Senate president was to question his Islamic faith. People think he is not a Muslim but only deceives Ilorin with that identity. Some of our people now call him Gideon, a voter who declined to have his name in print told PREMIUM TIMES in Post Office area of the city days before the election. Ilorin is a deeply religious society and some of the people connected with it and spread the claim, without confirming its veracity. On the other hand, the APC also appealed to the Christian population, using its O to ge mantra. Shortly after the election was postponed, Kayode Alabi, APC deputy governorship candidate visited churches in Ilorin to canvass for support wherein he recited Bible verses containing the o to ge mantra. There are also allegations of being arrogant, aloof and other character flaws levelled against the Senate president which the opposition amplified. 8 Kwara North revolt Kwara north is generally considered to be the most underdeveloped part of Kwara State. Besides, the region considers itself the most politically marginalised part of the state in its struggle to produce the state governor. In the buildup to the election, youth in the region were reported to be violent toward the Saraki dynasty. In Kaiama, Ilesa-Baruba and other parts of Kwara North, random videos showed how the people rejected the PDP in its campaign across communities in the district. Troubled by the rejection the party witnessed across the region, reports said Mr Saraki promised to zone the governorship position to the region in 2023. The moves, however, did little to sway voters decision as results from the region showed that the people embraced the APC and rejected the PDP. The party swept all legislative seats with wide margin and residents voted massively for APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. 9. Influence of local media When the history of the fall of Mr Saraki and the PDP in the state is documented, local media especially those owned by opposition politicians would get a mention. Abu Abdullahi, a member of the APC in the state, told PREMIUM TIMES that affairs of the state have largely been kept in secrecy for years until the opposition had alternative media to air their grievances. They (PDP/Saraki) controlled state-owned media houses in the past and people had no access to information that affect them, Mr Abdullahi said in Yoruba. He added, however, that with the emergence of independent radio stations, the people were informed about the various excesses of the PDP government, unlike in the past. PREMIUM TIMES observed that in Ilorin, Sobi FM remains one popular private radio station considered the peoples favourite, especially because of its newspaper review programme Feli-feli. The station, owned by APC guber aspirant, Lukman Mustapha, has had to shake off allegations of partisanship. The opposition didnt have access to the state government-owned Radio Kwara so they started with Harmony FM, but with many other stations now available, the people are better informed, Mr Abdullahi added. 10. O to ge The APC revolutionary campaign mantra As far as the 2019 general election is concerned, the Kwara APC O to ge! mantra would go down as the most potent campaign mantra. PREMIUM TIMES observes that one unique aspect of the O to ge campaign is the revolutionary tone it took, with most politically conscious Kwarans seeing the movement as one meant for liberation. The campaign was so infectious that residents in the state expressed it in different forms, with motorcycle riders and cab drivers popularly using the horn of their cars and motorcycles to make the sound in the city centre. Although the Kwara APC was careful about labelling the Saraki family largely because of the involvement of Gbemisola Saraki in their campaign, the subtle campaign narrative that appealed to the people centred on the revolutionary need to end the Saraki hegemony in the state. PDPs O tun ya response did little to dilute the potency of the mantra. On Saturday, immediately after Mr Saraki was declared to have lost out in the election, those present at the INEC office ended the session with solidarity songs typical of student revolutionary struggles. 11. Corruption Allegations In August, the APC listed what it called Mr Sarakis long list of corruption cases. Among the cases listed were allegations of fraud which led to the collapse of Societe Generale Bank; alleged illegal receipt of salary from Kwara State treasury after leaving office; misappropriation of Kwara State funds; the various revelations in the Panama and Paradise Papers investigations, among others. Mr Sarakis political career has been defined largely by allegations of corrupt practices. Although the concerns could be waved away as inconsequential, random interviews with residents of Ilorin before and after the election showed that some of the people were worried about the allegations and they indeed affected voters decision. Workers who have not been paid salaries hear of billions and millions allegedly looted by Saraki in the news and you expect them not to be worried? Something will give in, said Abdulhakeem Adeyemi, a resident. The APC also intensified its campaign using these allegations as a bulwark. It eventually succeeded in deepening the anti-Saraki feeling across the state. 12 The secret tape Another factor that arguably contributed to the dent on Mr Sarakis image in Kwara was the release of a November 2018 secret tape. In the tape, Mr Saraki was heard attributing his major grouse with President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to the alleged suffering of Kwara State indigenes due to the absence of federal appointments despite committing resources to the presidents electoral success in 2015. Although the Senate president made the statements to appeal to pity and calm fraying nerves, claims that he paid money for election in 30 states did not go down well with some Kwarans. Some collected N300 million, while some collected N400 million, some collected N200 million, Mr Saraki was heard saying. In the midst of unpaid salaries and grinding poverty, some residents said, such news items had domino effect on peoples perception. That was in addition to his numerous battles with Mr Buhari, whom a significant percentage of the people in the state still consider honest and pro-poor. 13. Obscene pension arrangement and alleged Illegal salaries In May 2016, reports said the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) sitting in Abuja was informed of how Senate President Bukola Saraki continued to get paid his salary by the Kwara State Government after he had stepped down as the governor of the state on May 29, 2011. Details were also laid bare on the numerous lodgments and transfers made by Mr Saraki and his aide during his tenure as governor of the state, with some occurring several times in one day. Michael Wetkas, an EFCC detective, claimed that Mr Saraki received monthly salaries from June 2011, when he left office as governor of the state, to August 2015 when he served as a senator. There were also reports of obsecene pension entitlements accruing to the Senate president. All of these were amplified in local media via their newspaper review programmes, often broadcast in Yoruba across radio stations in Kwara. Prominent among the programmes at the time was PDP Gbode, aired on Harmony FM, Idofian. When he defected into the PDP and earstwhile members of the party defected en masse into APC, the same programme philosophy was extended to Sobi FMs prime-time programme, O to ge! Mr Sarakis perception troubles were compounded by these reports, even as Kwara battle with unpaid salaries. A building allegedly owned by the Senate president around the Government House area, GRA, was often pointed at by residents as proceeds of the obscene acquisitions. By the time the dust would settle, the people had made up their mind to send him and his loyalists packing. His moves to offset salary arrears owed workers and local chiefs did little to address the concern. The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress has suspended the Minister of Nigeria Delta Affairs from the party. The NWC also suspended the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the NWC suspended two sitting governors, Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun. All the four people suspended are diehard supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari but have worked at cross purposes with their party in state elections. The NWC announced the suspension on Friday after its meeting in Abuja. The NWC has also taken a decision to recommend the expulsion of the suspended individuals to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, the partys spokesperson, Lanre Isa-Onilu said in a statement. BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE STATEMENT Anti-Party: APC NWC Suspends Amosun, Okorocha, Usani, Okechukwu The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has suspended the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun and the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha for anti-party activities. Also suspended by the APC NWC over anti-party activities are the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani and the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu. This decision was reached on Friday at a meeting of the Partys NWC, presided by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole at the APC National Secretariat. The NWC has also taken a decision to recommend the expulsion of the suspended individuals to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. The NWC would also issue a query to the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu over his glaring anti-party activities, which greatly affected the fortunes of our candidates in the recently-conducted Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state. Recall that the NWC had earlier written to the suspended governors on their anti-party activities, and several other steps were taken to ensure they desist from taking actions that are inimical to the interests of our party and candidates. Notably, these individuals have not shown any remorse and have actually stepped up their actions. The party reviewed the serial anti-party activities of the concerned individuals before and during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections in their respective states and resolved to enforce party discipline in line with our constitution. The NWC noted how the suspended members have continued to campaign openly for other parties and candidates that are unknown to our great party, even while they have constituted themselves as opposition to APC candidates in their respective states. Importantly, the NWC is closely monitoring the activities of our members across the country, and particularly, in the states these suspended members belong to. We wish to reiterate that any member of our party who takes any action solely or in line with the directives of the suspended members to undermine our partys candidates in the coming governorship and House of Assembly elections would face disciplinary actions. We wish to congratulate our members nationwide for the victories we recorded across the country in the last elections and particularly, the renewal of our partys mandate for President Muhammadu to continue to pilot the affairs of this country for another four years. This could not have happened if not for the hardwork and commitment of our members. We therefore urge all our members to unite and work ever harder to ensure victory for our candidates across the states in the coming governorship and House of Assembly elections. Consequently, the NWC calls on our members to disregard directives and actions of the suspended individuals as APC would continue to live by the dictate of our constitution. SIGNED: Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu National Publicity Secretary All Progressives Congress (APC) Two days after President Muhammadu Buhari was declared the winner of Nigerias presidential election, the cracks within his party have again come to the fore. Mr Buhari is considered a rallying point for diverse interests within the APC. All interests within the party worked together for his victory. However, some officials of the party, including two of its governors had declared they would support candidates of other parties for governorship and state assembly elections in their states. On Friday afternoon, the APC announced the suspension of the two governors, Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC suspended the two governors after a meeting. Two others suspended were the Niger Delta minister, Usani Usani, and the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu. The NWC also recommended the expulsion of the governors and the presidential appointees from the ruling party in a recommendation sent to APC national executive committee, the partys highest decision-making organ, for ratification. All four suspended officials are known allies of Mr Buhari who played controversial roles during the presidential campaign rally in Ogun and Imo. In both states, Mr Buhari made statements that suggested he was asking party supporters to vote for the governorship and state assembly candidates of their choice irrespective of the party. Messrs Amosun and Okorocha have had running battles with the party leadership after their preferred candidates for the upcoming governorship and state assembly elections were rejected by the APC. Both governors, who won senatorial seats on the APC platform last Saturday, are now backing their preferred candidates who defected to other parties. Okorocha Reacts In reacting to his suspension, Mr Okorocha said the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, has thrown caution to the wind in his politicking. He said the chairman is working to destroy the party in the South-east zone. Mr Okorocha made his position known in a statement sent to Punch newspaper. Adams Oshiomhole was determined right from the outset to destroy APC in the South-East and unknown to party chieftains from the zone who had genuinely supported his chairmanship, he said. The Imo governor said Mr Oshiomhole, with the suspension, was playing politics of 2019 and 2023. He is playing the politics of 2023 in 2019 and in playing it, he has thrown caution to the wind. In all the South-East states there are crises and all arising from the fraudulent manner he conducted the primaries. Mr Okorocha did not elaborate on what he meant by politics of 2023 in 2019, but there has been intense tussle within the APC that after President Muhammadu Buharis tenure in 2023, the presidency should move to the South. Messrs Okorocha and Okechukwu are at the forefront of it moving to the South-east while major politicians from the South-West including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and ex-Lagos governor Bola Tinubu want the presidency to go to the South West. Mr Okorocha, should he remain in the APC till then, would be a contender for the presidency from the South-east. In his statement, Mr Okorocha narrated how he played a major role in the formation of the APC. He lashed at Mr Oshiomhole for backing a governorship candidate with five corruption charges and travel ban. He was referring to Hope Uzodinma, a senator who is the APC candidate in Imo in the March 9 gubernatorial election. In 2015, Governor Okorocha had joined the merger that gave birth to APC at the risk of his second tenure and was called all sorts of unprintable names. Yet, he won the governorship election, delivered 24 out of the 27 members of the House of Assembly for APC, two House of Representatives members and one Senator. In 2019, Oshiomhole felt that such a man should be treated with disdain. He handed over the governorship ticket of the party to Hope Uzodinma who has never resigned his membership of the PDP on the floor of the Senate like others did and giving all kinds of flimsy excuses. If Oshiomhole had meant well for APC and Imo people in particular, would he have given the ticket of the party to a man facing five corruption charges and having travel ban slammed on him, to be the partys candidate. Mr Okorocha boasted of his exploits in terms of winning elections for his party in the last polls, accusing Mr Oshiomole of cutting short the celebration mood. In the February 23, 2019 Presidential and National Assembly election, Governor Okorocha won in ten, out of the twelve local governments in Orlu zone to emerge winner for Imo West Senatorial District. He also delivered four House of Representatives candidates on the platforms of APC and AA respectively, with one Senate seat and two House of Representatives seats outstanding. When the APC members across the nation are still celebrating the success of the party in the Presidential and National Assembly elections, Oshiomhole in his wisdom or lack of it, felt that the best action in the circumstance was to suspend two governors who did well in the election, even when he played safe in 2015 and 2019 in Edo State without any known pressure. Again, Oshiomhole coming up with the purported expulsion this time was only acting out of the fear that God in his infinite Mercy could give Governor Okorocha a role to play in the Senate, in the overall interest of the nation. The truth is that Oshiomhole is only labouring in vain to play his own part of the deal that warranted his giving out the tickets of the party to non-deserving elements like in the case of Imo. Finally, APC especially in the South-East and in Imo, in particular, will outlive Oshiomhole. Men like him hardly sleep with their two eyes closed. They always sleep with their eyes open because they have murdered sleep with their actions and inactions. And unfortunately for him, the purported expulsion cant stand because the law has taken care of it even long before now. Okechukwu not briefed In his reaction, the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, said he was yet to be notified of his suspension from the APC. Osita Okechukwu One has not gotten a letter of suspension from my great party, he said. Mr Okechukwu said contrary to the partys belief that his actions affected the performance of the party in the just concluded election, he worked for the party. One had taken time and resources to campaign vigorously for my great party and even set up the Zikist-Buharist-Movement (ZBM), an offshoot of Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) of which am a foundation member. It is on record that with ZBM we toured the nooks and crannies of Enugu and indeed the South East, canvassing for votes for our great party. Am also instrumental to the most consistent advert placed in several media in the South East, on behalf of our great party he said. He, therefore, said they should not be blamed for the performance of the party in the South East. Accordingly, one should not be blamed for the triumph of bigotry in Enugu State and South East in general. Our chairman should not blame me for hoisting some unpopular National Assembly candidates for the APC in our zone. For I am at a loss how one contributed to the failure of his darling candidate, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku Nwagu in Egede, her home town and Udi local government her primary local council in the five that make up the senatorial district. He also believes the suspension may not be unconnected with those who want to sideline their enemies in this season of contestation. A former governor of Oyo State and candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Adebayo Alao-Akala, has formed an alliance with the gubernatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adebayo Adelabu, ahead of the March 9 election. Mr Alao-Akala, while announcing the alliance, said he had jettisoned his ambition to contest under the ADP. He, however, insisted that candidates of the ADP for the state House of Assembly election would still have his support. Messrs Alao-Akala and Adelabu are two of the five leading governorship candidates for next Saturdays governorship and state assembly elections in Oyo. PREMIUM TIMES reported how alliance talks have been on between the various parties in order to win the election. Mr Alao-Akala, a former governor of the state, last year dumped the APC when he discovered that he could not secure the ticket of the ruling party. His announcement of the alliance comes two days after he had a meeting with an APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, in Abuja. File Photo of APC Chieftain, Chief Bola Tinubu briefing State House Correspondents Mr Alao-Akala, in a statement signed by Wale Ohu, Director General, Akala Campaign Organisation, declared that he decided to form an alliance with APC instead of other opposition political parties in the interest of the people. Mr Ohu in the statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday evening in Ibadan, the state capital, said, Following the outcome of the just concluded presidential and national assembly elections, the Alao-Akala Campaign of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), has decided to go into an alliance with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adebayo Adekola Adelabu ahead of the March 9th Governorship and state elections in the state. However, all Action Democratic Party (ADP) candidates contesting for the House of Assembly seats will go into the elections with the full support of His Excellency, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. This serves as the true position of things against the rumoured defection of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala into the APC. For the benefit of hindsight, the unfortunate breakdown of alliance talks with the main opposition parties in Oyo State vis-a-vis our great party the Action Democratic Party (ADP), the African Democratic Party (ADC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) which the former Governor of Oyo State and Osi Olubadan, Senator Rashid Adewolu Ladoja Initiated is not but unconnected with the fact that, personal interest and sentiments over-rided the general interest of the people of Oyo State. The diverse and unachievable interest that pervaded the coalition amongst other connected issues that were raised and left unanswered led to the pull out from the coalition talks. So also, against the spirit of equality, Justice and fairness, the decision of certain interest within the coalition parties to narrow down the face of the coalition to a particular zone of the state also contributed largely to the breakdown of the coalition talks. Left with no other option upon being approached by the National Leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to help salvage the party in Oyo State and with the promise of the APC gubernatorial candidate Bayo Adelabu expressing his readiness to work with the Action Democratic Party, adopt and implement the core values of our party and its manifesto and the intervention of the presidency hinged on our performance at the last elections and grassroots network not only in Ogbomoso but also in other parts of the state, His Excellency, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala accepted to support Bayo Adelabu of the All Progressives Congress for the Gubernatorial election. FILE PHOTO: Chief Akin Oke, Oyo APC Chairman, Gov. Ajimobi and the APC gubernatorial candidate, Adelabu (Photo Credit: The News) His Excellency, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, wishes to assure the good people of Oyo State that the hindrances of the past which led to our earlier exit from the APC which is dead and buried will never rear its ugly head again with a promise of a new lease of life with the new ADP/APC coalition Government which the new alliance promises to bring forth amongst many other suitable conditions which is cast in iron and under the strict supervision of the National Leadership of the APC. Mr Alao-Akala is being prosecuted by the anti-graft agency, EFCC, for allegedly stealing state funds while he was governor. The U.S. government has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election. Mr Buhari of the All Progressives Congress defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party to win the presidential election. Mr Abubakar and the PDP have, however, alleged fraud and vowed to challenge the result in court. In its statement by Michael Pompeo, the Secretary of State, the U.S. said it congratulates the people of Nigeria on a successful presidential election, and President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election. We commend all those Nigerians who participated peacefully in the election and condemn those whose acts of violence harmed Nigerians and the electoral process. We note the assessments of international and domestic observer missions affirming the overall credibility of the election, despite localized violence and irregularities. We also congratulate all the other candidates for their peaceful participation in the electoral process. We call on all Nigerians to ensure successful state elections next week. Going forward, the United States remains committed to working together with Nigeria to achieve greater peace and prosperity for both our nations. A court in Abuja on Thursday blocked an attempt by Zinox Technologies Limited to suppress press freedom and stop PREMIUM TIMES from continuing its reporting on the allegation of N170 million contract fraud against the computer firm. In its ruling on the motion by Zinox Technologies seeking an injunction to restrain PREMIUM TIMES from further reporting the scandal, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Apo, Abuja, dismissed the application for lack of merit. In his judgment, Justice SC Oriji said a close examination of the totality of evidence and address by Zinox Technologies did not show any cogent reason why the court should grant the injunction in its favour. According to the judge, a media organisation cannot be restrained from publishing a report yet to be proven legally as libellous. The judge said when a media organisation considers its publication factual, and its publishers have sworn to defend the facts of the publication, the court will infringe on the publics right to know if it stops the press from exercising the responsibility guaranteed under Section 39 of the Constitution. Consequently, the Court dismissed the application by Zinox Technologies and upheld PREMIUM TIMES argument that the former had no good reason to warrant the Court granting the injunction. The matter was adjourned to March 11 for the hearing of their motion for extension of time within which they can file their reply to our statement of defence. ROOTS OF THE CASE On May 15, 2017, Zinox Technologies, an affiliate of Zinox Group, filed a suit seeking to restrain PREMIUM TIMES and some of its officials from continuing its reporting on the N170.3 million contract fraud scandal involving five of the companys officials, including its top management. Zinox had accused the newspapers editors of libelling it and its chairman, Stanley Ekeh, through the series of publications on the scam. Apart from its demand for N2 billion in damages, Zinox asked for an order of perpetual injunction restraining PREMIUM TIMES from further publication, an apology as well as court directive for the removal from the newspapers website series of publications on the scandal. But, PREMIUM TIMES pushed back with a counter application demanding N10 billion as damages against Zinox Technologies and its top officials, for attempting to suppress press freedom by asking the court to stop the discharge of its role inform the public factually on issues in the society. Pending the commencement of hearing on the substantive suit, Zinox, on December 3, 2018, filed an application seeking the courts injunction to restrain PREMIUM TIMES from publishing any further report on fraud scandal against its top officials. Hearing on the matter was adjourned to January 8. At the resumed sitting, after arguments were heard from both parties, the court adjourned till February 28 for the ruling, and commencement of hearing on the substantive suit. On Thursday, the court ruled against Zinox in favour of PREMIUM TIMES. But, the commencement of hearing on the main suit, which was earlier scheduled to commence immediately, was adjourned to March 18, 2018. Counsel to PREMIUM TIMES, Jude Muoka, hailed the judge for delivering a sound and erudite judgment by upholding the right of the press to publish factual and credible information and defending the right of the public to know. We have always known the application was never on a firm foundation. Zinox Technologies and its officials were only using the application to attempt to shield themselves from the searchlight of the public over the scandal, Mr Muoka said. Meanwhile, during the court sitting, Mr Muoka said he drew the courts attention to the continued publication of defamatory materials against PREMIUM TIMES. Some of the publications surfaced in various online platforms a fortnight ago about the purported clearance by the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the accused Zinox top officials over the fraud scandal. The reports featured in publications including Sabi News, Brand Spur, Grassroots.NG, Communications Week, Independent, ThisisLagos, and Latest Nigerian News. But, the police and EFCC have since denied knowledge about the substance of the reports. EFCC spokesperson, Tony Orilade, told PREMIUM TIMES the question of clearance to Zinox does not even arise because it is not part of the mandate of the anti-graft agency. As a rule, EFCC does not give clearance to any person or group in cases under prosecution. It is only the courts that are authorised to do so after the matter has been diligently prosecuted and the accused person or group discharged and acquitted, he said. Also, police spokesperson, Frank Mba, said he had no knowledge about Police clearance of the Zinox officials. I am not aware of any such report (of clearance of Zinox officials), I can assure you. I dont know anything about it, and I dont have anything to do about it for now, Mr Mba said on the telephone. Following the just-concluded presidential and National Assembly election which saw the incumbent president, Muhamadu Buhari, get a second term mandate, two domestic election observers have released their findings. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday morning declared Mr Buhari the winner of the rescheduled election. Mr Buhari polled 15,191,847 votes to defeat the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, who scored 11,262,978 votes. Mr Abubakar has since rejected the results and will be heading to court. YIAGA The YIAGA Africa Watching The Vote (WTV), an accredited observer for the 2019 general elections, in its report, urged Nigerians to have confidence in the official results announced by INEC. But YAIGA Africa also asked INEC to explain the discrepancies between the number of registered voters announced before the election and during collation. The group, on Wednesday, at a press conference superintended by Hussaini Abdu, said the issues are of pressing concern to the Nigerian people. According to the WTV chair, he said the 84 million registered voters published by INEC, did not align with the figures announced by the state returning officers at the national collation centre.. The group based its findings on its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) process and the report received from its deployed 822 mobile WTV observers and 46 Voting Point observers, with a team of eight special members from polling units across the country. It said the commissions figure did not align with 82,344,125 registered voters that was published by INEC before the election. Prior to 23 February 2019, INEC clearly communicated that 84,004,084 voters were registered and publicised state by state breakdowns of this figure. The number of registered voters announced by the state returning officers at the national collation centre did not align with the figures published before the election, he added. The overall number of registered voters as announced dropped by 1,659,959 voters to a total of 82,344,125 registered voters, he said. He further urged INEC to provide an in-depth explanation for the discrepancy. He, however, noted that the differences do not affect the election outcome and should not undermine public confidence in the announced results. YIAGA AFRICA also said the canceled ballots recorded in the 2019 general elections, which was four times higher than the rate from 2015, also had no impact on the overall outcome of the elections. Overall, the percentage of cancelled ballots announced by INEC was 3.3mper cent of all registered voters. This is four times higher than the rate from 2015 when registered voters in canceled polling units were less than 1 per cent of all registered voters, the group said. CODE Meanwhile, the second group, Connected Development (CODE), also an accredited observer for the general elections, at a press conference in Abuja, on Thursday, urged INEC to decentralise its activities to avoid logistics and operational challenges. The Head of Mission, Election Observation Team, Hamzat Lawal, made the call during the presentation of its final report on the elections Mr Lawal also commended the efforts of the electoral commission. But CODE suggests that in order to enhance confidence in the election process, INECs complete autonomy must be strengthened to ensure it provides more effective and objective electoral process. We seek to see an INEC that is decentralised to avoid issues of logistics and operational issues. We, however, commend INEC, for allowing the will of the people to be heard, and for remaining firm on her duty regardless of pressure from political actors that want to truncate the electoral process, Mr Lawal said. Mr Lawal, however, chided the electoral commission over its poor level of preparedness to conduct violence-free elections describing it as disheartening. As an accredited observer, we are disheartened at the poor level of preparedness shown by the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] to conduct a violence-free election, despite the week-long postponement of the election to allow for adequate logistics and security readiness. Mr Lawal said with its use of Uzabe technology, Open Situation Awareness Room (OSAR), it recorded violence, vote buying and underage voting and these marred the electoral processes in states across the country. Uzabe recorded issues of electoral violence, voter suppression, security personnel and party agents influencing ballots of voters, vote buying, underage voting and destruction of voting materials in Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers, Kogi, Taraba, Bauchi, Kebbi, Borno and Yobe, leading to the death of civilians. CODE strongly condemns election-based violence which resulted in the burning of thumb-printed ballot papers in Isolo local government area in Lagos; the killing of a young voter at a polling unit in Dekina Local Government, Kogi State; death of two persons in Nembe, Bayelsa and the death of 16 persons in Rivers and injuries of citizens. The chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Kabiru Marafa, has reacted to the decision of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to challenge the outcome of Saturdays election in court as a normal human behaviour. Mr Abubakar lost to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Mr Buhari scored 15, 191,847 while Mr Abubakar polled 11,262,978. The former Vice President however, rejected the outcome of the election saying it was rigged in favour of Mr Buhari. Speaking with State House correspondents Friday, Mr Marafa, an APC stalwart said, it is an inherent human behavior to always reject failure, so there is nothing new about the oppositions rejection of President Muhammadu Buharis victory. The Senator said the most important thing for him is that success has been recorded and have been accepted by Nigerians and the international community. He urged Mr Buhari to continue to the logical conclusion his fight against corruption because it is a serious problem in Nigeria. On the worries expressed by the PDP on the high number of votes recorded by Mr Buhari in states experiencing insecurity such as Zamfara, Mr Marafa said there is anything to worry about. He said he was not even pleased with the votes that came from Zamafara because more could have been done. We have 1.4 million registered voters and we recorded only about 650,000 votes, so what is the big deal about it? If you look at all the states, I think the overall performance is below 60 per cent. We have more than 80 million registered voters and out of that figures how many voted? In fact, we are supposed to lament because the situation is supposed to be much more than that. Nigerians are supposed to be more politically aware and they are supposed to turn out in their numbers to vote much more than what we have seen. So I dont see anything unusual about that, the senator said. Zamfara polls On the forthcoming governorship election, the Zamfara senator said, there are a lot of disparities across the states which the president himself has reckoned with. He said voters should turn up to vote for people they trust and those that can protect their lives and properties. He said this position was exemplified by President Buhari himself when he campaigned in Imo and Ogun states and asked the people to vote for the candidate of their choice, without specifically asking them to vote for APC candidates. This is to tell you that the president is ushering a new brand of democracy without bitterness. People should be allowed to choose. In fact, if you listen to his comments about ballot box snatching, which a lot of people made so much noise about which I think is unnecessary. Unless if you are one of the ballot box snatchers, I dont see why you cannot support Mr President on what he said. As a politician, I know the problem of ballot box snatching, whatever you think you can take about it, I think it should be a welcome idea. People should be discouraged from snatching ballot booxes because it is the equivalent of a civilian coup. President Muhammadu Buhari Friday received more congratulatory and goodwill messages from world leaders following his victory in the February 23 presidential election. The Nigerian President received separate telephone calls from UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, congratulating him on his re-election and wishing the Nigerian people progress and prosperity. Mr Buhari thanked the two leaders for their unflinching support to Nigeria and her people, pledging commitment to continue working with them to advance various areas of cooperation. Leaders from many countries including Morocco, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Qatar had earlier congratulated the president. The fugitive former pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina, has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election. Mr Maina, who has been on the run for years, said he would continue to give Mr Buharis administration necessary support. On behalf of myself and my family, I wish to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on their victory in the just concluded 2019 historic Presidential election. This goes a long way to show the unalloyed support and trust that the generality of Nigerians have on your persons and administration. We shall continue to give you and your administration the necessary support while you continue making Nigeria great again and taking us to the next level, the advert reads. On the run Mr Maina was in 2012 accused of leading a massive pension fraud scheme amounting to more than N100 billion. Ironically, he was drafted by the then Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 to sanitise a corrupt pension system. The Senate Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishment and State and Local Government Administration, which investigated the allegations, indicted Mr Maina and issued a warrant of arrest against Mr Maina. Mr Maina sued the Senate and the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, and thereafter went into hiding after being declared wanted by the police. He was dismissed from the civil service for allegedly absconding from duty and attempting to evade arrest and charged to court. He was on July 21, 2015 charged by the EFCC, alongside former head of service Stephen Oronsaye and two others with fraud. While Mr Oronsaye and the two other accused were in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge, Mr. Maina remained at large. Since absconding, nothing was heard of Mr Maina until shortly after the emergence of President Buhari in 2015 when members of his defunct Presidential Task Team on Pension Reforms offered to work with the then incoming administration. The team, which addressed a press conference in Abuja, said its work would be easier under Mr Buhari, known for his anti-corruption stand. PREMIUM TIMES found in October 2017 that the new government had secretly reinstated and promoted Mr Maina. Amid natiowide outrage, President Buhari ordered immediate sack of Mr Maina. It later became clear Mr Maina was reinstated with the knowledge of the minister of interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami. The head of service, Winifred Oyo-Ita, said the decision was taken without her approval. Mrs Oyo-Ita in a leaked memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, said she warned Mr Buhari against the reinstatement. Mr Maina himself said his reinstatement was ordered by President Buhari. Advert In October 2017, PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Maina was being provided guards by the State Security Service (SSS). This newspaper learnt that a safe house in Maitama, allegedly belonging to the SSS, was also provided for his use. This paper also found out that Mr Mainas controversial $2 million house in Jabi, Abuja, was guarded by the police. However, the SSS did not react to the publication. The role of the SSS in bringing back Mr Maina was confirmed by a representative of his family, Aliyu Maina, who told journalists few days later that the fugitive was working with the SSS, also known as DSS. Despite declaring him wanted and securing an arrest warrant against the former pension boss, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has failed to track him down for about one and half years ago. Fridays advert featured photographs of both Mr Buhari and Mr Maina. It was signed by the fugitive ex-civil servant on behalf of himself and family. It appeared on a page of Leadership newspaper of Thursday February 28. The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Kingsley Moghalu, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to form an inclusive government with competent people, following his re-election on Saturday. Mr Moghalu said in a statement sent to media houses as his first reaction since the Presidential and National Assembly elections. Although the YPP candidate did not congratulate the president on his re-election, he said on the basis of his being announced the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he owed Nigerians an inclusive and competent government. He said this was the only way we can heal our land and take millions of Nigerians out of crushing poverty. The former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the Buhari administration must establish a new, philosophically and conceptually grounded approach to economic management in the country. This, he said, must go beyond mere economic growth statistics to urgent priority to real economic development and structural transformation for our country. He offered to be part of the engagement process to bring about a new economic system in the country over the long haul. Our struggle for a better and well-governed society, a productive and inclusive economy that breaks the backbone of poverty, and to restore Nigerias leadership role in the world continues. I for my part will remain engaged in that struggle over the long haul, he said. He expressed sadness over the violent loss of lives during the elections, saying the vote was marred by operational failures of INEC. Apart from massive vote-buying and vote-rigging through various methods, he said the credibility of the election was called to question by the complicity of the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the malpractices. He rejected the number of votes tallied for him by the INEC during the election, saying it did not represent anything close to the electoral strength of his candidacy. These false numbers were the result of brazen theft of our votes and the suppression of our voters, he said. With the outcome of the elections, Mr Moghalu said it appears the desire for real change in the countrys polity and governance in 2019 far outweighs the strong determination by Nigerians to change the incumbent government through the ballot box. Describing 2019 as the last gasp of the old political order that has robbed Nigeria of real development, he said he was confident of a change by 2023. He called for fundamental reforms in the countrys electoral system for our democracy to have real meaning. Elections, as they are organised and executed today in Nigeria, are a travesty, he said. He identified the areas requiring urgent reforms to include the systems of registration, voting and collation of votes. As of today, these processes are tedious, inefficient and prone to risks and performance failures such as those we have experienced. We can make the processes more transparent through better use of technology, he said. Besides, he said government be ready to issue stiffer punishment for electoral offences and ensure stricter enforcement of accountability in the electoral process. On the involvement of Nigerians in Diaspora, he said since the have continued to remit billions of dollars home every year, immediate action must be taken to ensure they are able to vote from 2023. Seventy-eight days after he was controversially arrested by the police, Deji Adeyanju has been released from custody. Mr Adeyanju told PREMIUM TIMES he was freed from Kano Central Prison on Friday afternoon. The freedom comes nearly two weeks the Kano State High Court granted the activist a bail. Mr Adeyanju said he was on his way to Lagos, from where he would later travel to Abuja where he has lived and worked for over a decade. Mr Adeyanjus arrest on December 13 on allegations of murder has drawn nationwide attention. The arrest itself came after the activist had spent a week in prison between late November and early December 2018. He was leading a protest against alleged police bias ahead of the general elections when he was arrested and accused of defamation against senior security chiefs. The police did not file substantive charges of murder against Mr Adeyanju. The December 13 arrest was linked to a homicide case that was concluded in 2009. Although Mr Adeyanju was named in the murder trial, he was discharged and acquitted after four years of prosecution in 2009. He was remanded in custody while the trial lasted. The police said the matter was not wholesomely concluded, suggesting that Mr Adeyanju might have jumped bail. Still, they did not immediately charge the activist for murder, initially keeping him for days without trial, in contravention of the Nigerian law that prohibits detention of a suspect beyond 48 hours without charges. After several weeks in detention, Mr Adeyanju was granted a bail on February 18 by the Kano State High Court. But his friends raised an alarm a few days later, accusing court officials of frustrating his release as part of a plot to keep him away from participating in the election. Legal analysts argued Mr Adeyanju could be a victim of double jeopardy, a constitutional principle that forbids multiple trial of a citizen for a single offense. Mr Adeyanju, a critic of the Buhari administration, said his arrest was unjustified, politically motivated and an attempt to keep him away from the public beyond the presidential election. The election held on February 23 and President Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner for a second term. A former Head of State, Abdulasalami Abubakar, has announced the outcome of a meeting between the National Peace Committee and President Muhammadu Buhari which held on Friday. After the meeting, Mr Abubakar said they visited the president in order to intimate him of the grievances raised by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar. Mr Buhari defeated Mr Abubakar in the presidential election held last Saturday. However, Mr Abubakar, a former vice president, rejected the outcome of the election and threatened to seek legal redress. The Abdulsalami-led peace committee met with the PDP candidate on Thursday at his residence in Abuja. Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting the president Friday, the former Head of State said the election result has raised a lot of dust and people feel aggrieved. Yesterday l met the PDP Presidential candidate and his party in order to ensure that this peace committee ensure that really, our concern is about Nigeria, he said. And in order to listen to their grievances and what they think has gone wrong, we are here today to see his Excellency, the President in order to relay the fears and concerns of the PDP and Mr President listened to us and has taken note of what we have told him. He also called on Nigerians to work for peaceful co-existence in the country. We are not talking about self-interest, we are talking about the interest of the country. I keep saying, whenever there is violence, we are not going to see violence in Ikoyi, in the Villa and you will not find violence in the various government houses in this country. It is always the poor that get to kill themselves and so on. So, please, yes, as much as we have grievances, l am glad that the PDP say they are going to court to challenge the process, l think this is the right way to go about it, and l hope and pray that we will maintain this, he said. No preconditions Contrary to reports, Mr Abubakar said the former vice president did not give conditions but grievances when they met him Thursday. Atiku presented his grievances and his observations, he did not present any conditions. He gave his complaints, which we have come to present and discuss with Mr President to see what can be done, he said. President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said has proven his fitness to hold the top job for the next four years. Mr Buhari said this at a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, where ministers congratulated him on his success at the polls. Mr Buhari, whose health has been called to question after he repeatedly travelled for medical treatment in the United Kingdom in the early days of his administration, said his visits to the states for campaign showed his fitness. He said, during the campaigns, I tried to visit the 36 states and Abuja, firstly, to prove to the other side that I am fit. I tried to cover two states per day and secondly, not to make anybody feel that any state had been left out. So, I thank God that He gave me the strength and health to see through my plan and I think it is appreciated. Mr Buhari, who defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win a second term in office, said his second term in office will be tough because Nigerians appear to be forgetful. My last lap of four years, I think, is going to be tough because people are being forgetful. That was why wherever I went, I reminded them of the campaign promise of our party, particularly security, as I kept on saying that you have to secure the country well. If you dont secure the country, you cant achieve anything no matter how many programmes you put in place, he said. Mr Buhari also said unemployed able bodied youth remains a big problem in Nigeria today. He said the youth need to be kept busy. Mr Buhari said he is glad that the country had good two rainy seasons and his government had the foresight to get the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria to give soft loans to farmers so that everybody that is educated and looking for white collar jobs and cannot get it, can go back to the land. We are lucky the rainy season had been good. He also said his administration was lucky as a result of efforts of some state governors in Lagos, Ogun, Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi. We dont import rice but we have savings from rice in terms of foreign exchange which we put in the budget and use for infrastructure. That is a very good thing because the oil sector is becoming very difficult to predict. It is becoming unpredictable and depending on it makes us materially insecure but thank goodness, agriculture has come to save it and people are appreciating it, he said. Elated ministers Earlier, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha said the Ministers decided to visit the villa and congratulate the president because his victory at the polls was well deserved. The SGF said the victory of Mr Buhari was a referendum on honesty, integrity, uprightness and sincerity. He said the change promised by the president four years ago to put the Nigerian economy on a sustainable development path; restore security of lives and property; and to fight corruption has laid the firm foundation for growth in the country. Your commitment, dedication and purposeful leadership has indeed become the springboard that has taken us to the Next Level, he said. He said Nigerians have validated and rewarded the long rigorous hours they (ministers) spent in the Council Chamber to deliberate on matters of national importance. You led us with assured calmness, understanding and ensured that we gave account of our stewardship openly, he said. The SGF also spoke ongoing reforms aimed at strengthening good governance. For the records, we recall your reform achievements signposted by the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Bank Verification Number (BVN), Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), the Open Government Partnership (0GP), the whistle blower policy, and the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan [FCSSIP] 2017-2020. Equally, your commitment to the implementation of the Minimum Wage as well as to the welfare of the Nigerian workers. All of these have combined to transform the Public Service into an effective and productive machinery, Mr Mustapha said. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has sanctioned 45 broadcast stations, including NTA, AIT, Channels and TVC News, for alleged ethical infractions in relation to the 2019 general elections. Director-General of the commission, Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday. Mr Kawu said the erring stations, which cut across the country, violated provisions of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code, and were fined N500,000 each. Despite our various interventions, at the end of the Presidential election which was held on 23, Feb. 2019, 45 stations were found culpable of infractions on the provision of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and have been sanction accordingly. We gave them the highest level of sanction under the NBC which is to make them to pay N500,000 each and the cut across the entire country. NBC also sanction stations that allowed politicians to utter abusive, inciting and provocative statements during rallies. And this happened on several radios and television stations, particularly and unfortunately on the big nation network such as NTA, AIT, Channels, TVC News. There are also several radio and TV stations involved in this various infraction. Only recently J FM for instance in Jos, Plateau State was sanction for inciting broadcast by a preacher, who move away from religion into the arena of politics and was saying particularly inciting comments. Mr Kawu warned that any of the stations that continue to broadcast hate and inflammatory comments that threaten the security of the country would be shutdown. He said it had become necessary for NBC to issue such warning as the country move to the next elections. He reminded all the stations that were sanctioned and those that were not to know that the next step NBC was going to take was to close down any erring station. Mr Kawu said the commission had set up a National Monitoring System involving all members of the board of management of NBC to monitor stations on 24 hours basis. We monitored all the broadcast in every single Radio and Television and all our licences. We monitored exactly the way people performed during the elections. The DG said NBC was working in partnership with INEC, the EFCC, and Nigeria Financial Intelligence Units on tracking campaign financing in the country. It is a very vital part of deepening the democratic process and it is important for us to mention this as we move to the next elections. (NAN) The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has said that nobody will stop the party from contesting the outcome of the February 23 Presidential Election in the court. Mr Secondus, while addressing a press conference on Friday in Abuja, said the party believed that justice would be done at the court. We will go to court. Nobody will stop us from going to court and bring out all of the facts both the international observers and some people have not seen. We will unearth them at the court and I believe that justice will be done at the court. Because, if we continue to suppress injustice and go sentimental, the country will continue to pile on gun powder that will explode one day. So much injustice has been done in this country and if we allow it and it continues to pile, nobody knows what will happen. So, thats why we decided as good citizens and law-abiding and people who believe in rule of law that we will go, Mr Secondus said. Speaking on the recent meeting the party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had with the National Peace Committee, Mr Secondus said there was no condition given to the party, as they were only invited to state their grievances. There was no condition. Initially, we were not to talk with them because a decision had been taken to go to court, but because of the personalities involved, we said ok, lets just talk. There was no condition. There was no request of any condition. We made it clear that unless the injustices are addressed, there is no room for peace. It is only when you address the injustice that you can now sit down for peace, he said. Mr Secondus also spoke on the alleged militarisation of the elections particularly in the South South and South East. He said it was one of the strategies the ruling party used in denying PDP victory. He added the development was also responsible for alleged killing of innocent electorate and suppression of voters who were either scared out or chased away from polling units. He said even by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) own record voter turnout in last Saturdays election fell to about 36 per cent from 44 per cent it was in 2015. While the military was suppressing voters in PDP strong hold areas in the South, a different abracadabra was going on in some northern states particularly in Kano, Yobe, Borno and Zamfara States where numbers refuse to add up. In Borno, Yobe and Zamfara States, confirmed report shows that there was non-compliance in the use of Smart card reader as approved by INEC rules. He added that The same applies to cancelled votes, in Nasarawa State over 115,000votes cancelled, Kogi 79,000 votes, Plateau 30,000 votes indicating that these high incidence of vote cancellation were designed to suppress the margin of victory in PDP strongholds. Mr Secondus urged PDP members and supporters across the country not to despair but to remain steadfast and focused. Like our presidential candidate assured, we shall triumph at the end because democracy has come to stay in this country and is staying by the grace of God. I also wish to reiterate to our security agencies particularly the Army that they are not at war with any section of her citizens and they must try to be professional in their duties by staying away from election matters as directed by the Supreme Court of the land. Highlight of the press conference include one minute silence for Nigerians who lost their lives on the election day and in the course of celebrating the outcome. (NAN) An Abuja High Court has given an order, restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from issuing a certificate of return to Chris Ekpenyong on the just concluded election for Akwa Ibom North-West District. INEC had declared Mr Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom, winner of the election, against the incumbent senator, Godswill Akpabio. According to the result announced by the returning officer, Peter Oban, a professor, Mr Akpabio scored 83,158 votes, while Mr Ekpenyong scored 118,215 votes. Before the announcement of the election result, Mr Akpabio had petitioned INEC, alleging that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, was considering reversing the announced cancellation of result from Obot Akara. Mr Akpabios opponent, Mr Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is from Obot Akara. It is the law that a pronouncement on a result has been made, only a court of law can reverse such decision. An attempt to reverse same is total illegality, Mr Akpabio said in the petition, dated February 23, and signed by his brother, Ibanga Akpabio, who was the APC senatorial agent in the election. The Abuja court on Friday gave the ex parte order restraining INEC from issuing a certificate of return to Mr Ekpenyong, following an application brought before it by Mr Akpabio. INEC is the respondent in the matter. Leave is hereby granted to the applicant to apply for judicial review of the issuance of a writ of mandamus, prohibition, injunction, and other declaratory reliefs against the respondent. Leave so granted shall operate as stay of further action by the respondent and particularly further action in respect of issuance of certificate of return to any candidate in respect of the seat of the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District on the account of the election held on the 23 February, 2019, the court stated in its order. Additionally, I direct that parties shall first address me on jurisdiction on the next adjourned date, the order further stated. The court was presided over by Justice Valentine Ashi. March 8 has been fixed for the hearing of the substantive application. Mr Akpabio was represented by S. I. Ameh. Although INEC is yet to react to the order, the norm in the past was for aggrieved losers of an election to approach an election petition tribunal. set up by the Supreme Court. Although they have been set up, none of the tribunals across the country have commenced sitting. Over 40 political parties in Zamfara State, on Friday, directed their supporters to vote for the All Progressive Congress (APC), in the March 9, Governorship election in the state. Zayyanu Salisu, spokesman of the group and governorship candidate of the APP in the state, said their decision was influenced by the leadership style of Governor Abdulaziz Yari. He said, We met along with our party leaders, reviewed and supported the positive changes brought about by the Yari led administration of the APC. Since our collective drive is the growth and development of the state, we unanimously agreed to support the government and its governorship candidate for the next election, so that we can move forward. I hereby present to his Excellency, the governor of Zamfara state, these over 40 political parties; their candidates, leaders and supporters and commit their allegiance, he said. Receiving the list, Mr Yari, who described his achievements as modest, thanked the politicians for their support. I want to assure you that the APC in the state and at the national level will not leave you. We will continue to carry you along for the good of the state, Mr Yari said. Similarly, the state government received 28 PDP, APGA and other youth groups, who came to the Government House and declared their support. Spokesperson of the groups, Bello Sani, said over 6,000 youths, cutting across the major opposition parties, formed the APC youth support coalition. We could not come for this declaration before now due to certain reasons that I cannot reveal at this moment. I want to state that during the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections on March 9, all youth organisations that are here; will join other youth groups and massively vote APC, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that among the associations that joined the APC were Divorcees, Married Women and Widows, under the leadership of Banta Unguwan-Shado. They pledged the support of women groups at the coming polls for the APC. Responding, Mr Yari, commended the groups for their foresight. He promised that the APC candidate would run an inclusive government, including the youth and women, if voted into power. (NAN) The Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has threatened to disgrace the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) if the congress insists on embarking a protest scheduled to take place next Tuesday in the state. The governor handed down the threat while featuring on a monitored radio live programme on Thursday with a warning that, the Wabba-led administration should stay away from the state, in their own interest. I learnt that some people are planning to stage a protest in the state, to be led by the National President of NLC, Comrade Wabba. Tell them to stay away or they will be disgraced. They are coming here to play politics, tell them that they will be disgraced, Mr Amosun declared. The Nigeria Labour Congress had earlier issued out a statement on the planned protest over what it described as anti-workers policies of the state government. Reacting to the governors threat, the congress described the threat against the planned protest by as empty. The state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the State, Akeem Ambali, in a statement, said the scheduled protest will hold and Mr Amosun would further be exposed. Labour wish to State that the empty threat and denial of evident diversion of bailout funds by Federal Government and Paris funds refund which was meant for payment of backlog of unpaid deductions like Cooperative, shilling fund, Ileya and Xmas savings of Ogun Workers running into billions of Naira. Mr Ambali, while listing other grievances of the Labour, said the refusal to pay Salary and Allowances of TASCE Omu Workers and Proscription illegally of Trade Unions in Omu, fraudulent diversion of Ogun Workers Contributory Pension Deductions running into 105 months the highest in Nigeria. Reduction of Retirees Gratuity against Pension Laws, Unpaid Gratuities to Public Servants in Ogun State, threats to life of Labour Leaders, suspension and dismissal of Labour leaders without following due process in order to cow and crippled Labour Unions to enable him continue this anti-labour policies cannot be seen by any reasonable mind as just nor a Godly or tagged political move by Labour against Government. Labour therefore wish to counsel Ogun State Government that instead of resulting to blackmail, intimidation and brigandary to oppress workers, it will be more honourable to adopt a mature approach of dialogue with Labour before Tuesday 5th March to resolve these issues as no man has a monopoly of power and wisdom, most especially when this immunity covered position will expire within 3 months. Ogun State indigenes do not want to be tagged as citizens of State notorious of disparaging, insulting elders, national and Global leaders but mature, civilized and intelligently led people. We wish to notify all Security Agencies to be more vigilant and provide security covers to all Labour leaders to prevent their assassination before, during and after the mother of all protest coming up next week Tuesday. Finally Ogun NLC wish to state that since Governor Amosun was already aware of the postponement of the peaceful rally to Tuesday 5th March, his Macho man interview today is unnecessary. Conclusively, we reiterate that the Protest will go as planned on Tuesday and call on all courageous Ogun State workers, retirees, veterans and labour leaders to come out en masse to join all Labour leaders to condemn and force Ogun State Government to change this Anti-Labour Policies and programmes. Lets show that No Government will succeed in crippling Labour. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. Entries will be evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges comprised of six international industry experts, namely: Albert Cheng , Advisor to the World Gold Council and former Managing Director, Far East (WGC) , Advisor to the World Gold Council and former Managing Director, Far East (WGC) James Courage , former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) , former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) Nirupa Bhatt , Managing Director of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in India and the Middle East , Managing Director of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in and the Yasukazu Suwa , Chairman of Suwa & Son, Inc , Chairman of Suwa & Son, Inc Mark Lee , Research Director of Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy Albert Cheng shared, "Having been part of the judging panel for the past seven years, I have seen the discovery of many 'glittering gems' in our industry. If you are nominated and eventually win an award in your category, it would be like a hidden, beautiful rough stone transforming into glittering precious gemstones or diamonds. Are you ready? We are waiting for you." "Be part of an exclusive list of outstanding jewellery companies that have won or become Honourees in the JNA Awards -- the only one that exclusively covers the jewellery industry," James Courage added. Letitia Chow, Chairperson of the JNA Awards, and Director of Business Development -- Jewellery Group at UBM Asia, said, "The JNA Awards has established itself as an influential platform for the international jewellery and gemstone industry to come together and share success cases for the advancement of the trade. We hope to attract more innovators and pioneers to take part in this prestigious awards." JNA Awards 2019 is supported by Headline Partners Chow Tai Fook, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, and DANAT, together with Honoured Partners KGK Group, China Gems and Jade Exchange, and Guangdong Land Holdings Limited. Kent Wong, Managing Director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, said, "Chow Tai Fook is honoured to have been the Headline Partner of the JNA Awards since it was first staged in 2012. We sincerely hope that more players in the sector will support our cause and be our partners in advancing the jewellery industry." Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of SDE, shared, "The honour hall of the JNA Awards opens grandly again in 2019. I look forward to the delightful surprises and brilliant performances of the brilliant enterprises bringing us through this amazing opportunity." Kenneth Scarrat, CEO of Danat added, "Competition, from wherever it comes, drives the future. It is time to come forward and participate through the JNA Awards programme and show the world what it means to be an industry leader." Edward Johnson, Director of Business Development of Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) also shared, "RJC is proud to work in collaboration with UBM Asia to promote the JNA Awards, and we encourage eligible jewellery businesses to participate, which is an effective step in improving the reputation of their business, and that of the gem and jewellery industry." To enter the JNA Awards, interested parties must complete and submit their entry forms no later than midnight (Hong Kong time) of 26 April 2019. For more information, visit http://www.jnaawards.com/ or contact: JNA Awards Marketing UBM Asia (Hong Kong) +852 2516-2184 marketing@jnaawards.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/829086/JNA_Awards.jpg Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/470744/UBM_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/774742/JNA_Awards_logo_2019_CMYK_Logo.jpg Related Links http://www.jnaawards.com/ SOURCE JNA Awards STAMFORD, Conn., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lockwood Group (Lockwood), a science-based medical communications agency, was recently named to the 2019 Best Places to Work in Connecticut list by the Hartford Business Journal. This is the fifth year in a row that Lockwood has been selected for this honor. The award recognizes companies that have been successful in creating and maintaining workplace excellence. The winners were determined through a survey conducted by The Best Companies Group that ranked businesses in Connecticut with the most satisfied employees. Being named to the list for the fifth time in a row is an exceptional honor for Lockwood, and validation of the priority the agency places on its people and culture. Lockwood President and CEO Matthew Schecter is especially appreciative of the recognition, "Being voted as one of the best places in Connecticut to work for the past 5 years in a row is one of the ways I define success at Lockwood. We have seen tremendous growth in our business, which is directly attributable to the culture we have created here at Lockwood. To be recognized by the Hartford Business Journal for this commitment to our team members is a true honor." Lockwood has seen significant growth in the past 12 years, with more than 210 team members on staff at the turn of the new year. Over a third of these team members hold advanced scientific or medical degrees, an especially rare offering in today's competitive marketplace. Five-time winner Lockwood collaborates with clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech, genetic, and medical device industries to identify effective, holistic, science-based strategies to address their objectives through medical communications. For the ultimate benefit of patients, Lockwood helps clients advance their objectives in a world of new regulations, business models, payment approaches, technologies, roles, and work practices. About Lockwood www.thelockwoodgrp.com (http://www.thelockwoodgrp.com/) Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Lockwood communicates clinical and therapeutic advances to every variety of medical experts, healthcare practitioners, and decision makers. For the ultimate benefit of patients, Lockwood helps clients advance their objectives in a world of new regulations, business models, payment approaches, technologies, roles, and work practices. Lockwood teams are organized around the specific needs of each client. With experience in all major therapeutic areas and many rare diseases, along with highly specialized knowledge in biologics, devices, and diagnostics, Lockwood can quickly deploy the right scientific, business, and communications experts to address the challenges at hand. SOURCE Lockwood Related Links http://www.thelockwoodgrp.com WASHINGTON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the filing of a lawsuit challenging the Arkansas Department of Correction's (ADC) forced combination of religious services for Islam, the Nation of Islam, and the Nation of Gods and Earths. [NOTE: Nation of Gods and Earths is sometimes referred to as Five-Percent Nation or the Five Percenters.] The CAIR Legal Defense Fund, joined by Professor Douglas Laycock of the University of Texas at Austin, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Gregory Houston Holt a/k/a Abdul Maalik Muhammad. Holt, joined in the suit by Muslim inmates Rodney Martin and Wayde Stewart, believes that attending Friday prayer services alongside and led by other adherents of Islam is a spiritual requirement. The current ADC policy, which forces adherents of Islam, the Nation of Islam, and Nation of Gods and Earths to attend a combined religious service, does not meet that requirement because the three groups represent different religious groups with distinct beliefs and practices. The suit alleges that Arkansas's combined services policy violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Under ADC policy, Muslims risk losing their designation as Muslim if they skip or refuse to attend the combined Friday prayer services. Losing that designation in turn threatens the loss of their other religious accommodations, including meals during Ramadan. LINK TO LAWSUIT: http://tinyurl.com/CAIRArkansasPrisonLawsuit "Religious freedom protects everyone's ability to worship with those who share their faith," said CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri. "Followers of Islam, Nation of Islam and the Nation of Gods and Earths should be permitted to worship separately in a manner of their choice, just as Arkansas currently offers such accommodations for Catholic, Baptist, Jewish, and Buddhist worship services." She noted that Holt previously prevailed 9-0 before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case which required Arkansas to permit Holt to grow a beard, in accordance with his sincerely-held Islamic beliefs. SEE: Holt v. Hobbs Supreme Court Case https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/holt-v-hobbs/ "Mr. Muhammad won the right to practice his Muslim faith in Arkansas prisons four years ago, and should win again here," said Professor Douglas Laycock, who argued Holt's earlier case before the U.S. Supreme Court. "The Arkansas Department of Correction needs to join the Federal Bureau of Prisons and several large state prison systems in recognizing that Islam and the Nation of Islam are completely different faith traditions." The suit also asks for the Nation of Gods and Earths to be recognized as a separate faith. "It is unacceptable that Arkansas thinks it may define who is a Muslim based on whether or not they attend Friday services, all while refusing to provide spiritually-valid Friday services," said CAIR National Trial Attorney Carolyn Homer. "No one checks how often Christians in the facilities attend Sunday services before letting them celebrate Christmas." This case is the latest in a series of lawsuits CAIR has brought to defend the rights of inmates to practice their faith inside jails and prisons across the country. Last, year, CAIR filed lawsuits on behalf of Muslim inmates in Alaska and Washington state. SEE: Judge Orders Alaska Prison to Stop Serving Pork Products to Muslim Inmates https://www.newsweek.com/ramadan-cair-muslims-alaska-department-corrections-lawsuit-945434 CAIR Press Release: Judge Orders Prison to Stop Starving Fasting Muslim Inmates https://www.cair.com/federal_court_orders_washington_prison_to_feed_starving_muslim_inmates_within_hours_of_cair_filing_suit CAIR is also suing jail officials in Virginia and Maryland who have systematically disfavored Muslim inmates while conferring privileges on inmates of other faiths. SEE: The Appeal: Virginia Jail Accused of Favoring Christians who Agree to Live in 'God Pod' https://theappeal.org/virginia-jail-accused-of-favoring-christians-who-agree-to-live-in-god-pod/ CAIR Welcomes Federal Court's Decision to Allow Suit Challenging Maryland Islam-Specific Prison Policy to Move Forward https://www.cair.com/cair_welcomes_federal_court_s_decision_to_allow_suit_challenging_maryland_islam_specific_prison_policy_to_move_forward The Washington-based civil rights organization offers an educational toolkit, called "A Correctional Institution's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," to help correctional officers and administrators gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims. SEE: A Correctional Institution's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices http://tinyurl.com/CAIRCorrectionalGuide CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos. Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/ Subscribe to CAIR's Email List http://tinyurl.com/cairsubscribe Subscribe to CAIR's Twitter Feed http://twitter.com/cairnational Subscribe to CAIR's YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/cairtv SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Related Links http://www.cair.com REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing celebration of innovation in higher education, the EdTech company Course Hero will be sponsoring a Higher Ed Happy Hour for Educators and Administrators attending SXSW EDU 2019. At this event, Course Heroan online learning platform curating over 25 million course-specific study resourceswill provide a new networking opportunity for individuals seeking to promote innovation in higher education. On March 6, 2019, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Course Hero invites SXSW EDU attendees to Palm Door on Sabine in Austin, TX , for free drinks, hot appetizers, and idea sharing. There, members of the Course Hero educator partnerships team will be available to offer more information on opportunities for paid content creation, a feature article in the Faculty Club series , and Course Hero's upcoming 2019 Education Summit in San Francisco, CA. Among the more than 300 educator partners now working with Course Hero, two who signed on at last year's SXSW EDU include Dr. Edward Burger, President of Southwestern University , and Dr. Cynthia Matson, President of Texas A&M University, San Antonio. Recently, Dr. Burger visited Course Hero's headquarters in Redwood City to speak about his new book, Making Up Your Own Mind: Thinking Effectively Through Creative Puzzle-Solving, as part of the Course Hero Signature Lecture Series . Two other Course Hero partners will be presenting at SXSW: Jonathan Chin, MA, of the New York City College of Technology, CUNY , will share his colorful lesson "Using Tattoos to Teach the Essay Writing Process," and Kathryn Dawson from the University of Texas will host a book signing for her recently published Drama-Based Pedagogy: Activating Learning Across the Curriculum. "Course Hero's vision is for every student to graduate confident and prepared," said Course Hero cofounder and CEO Andrew Grauer. "We are excited to connect with university and college educators at SXSW EDU who are innovating within their classrooms to learn from their best practices and experiences. We hope to build a network of educator resources to enable the best possible outcomes, for students and instructors alike." At SXSW EDU 2018, Course Hero awarded scholarships to 5 educators, 4 of whom are now featured in Course Hero's Faculty Club series. These include LaShera McElhany , Assistant Professor of Teacher Education from Southwestern Assemblies of God University, and Latoya Hardman Lewis , Professor of English/Developmental English from Lone Star College System. Links to McElhany's tips for using educational technologies to teach the "YouTube generation" and Lewis's creation of an Instructional Technology Certification Program can be found on their profile pages. Visit coursehero.com/educators to learn moreor share your own best lesson. About SXSW EDU 2019 The 9th annual SXSW EDU Conference will be held March 4-7, 2019, in Austin, TX. The conference will bring 4 days of sessions, in-depth workshops, learning experiences, and more to a global community of educators. In the past, SXSW EDU has brought together more than 15,000 attendees to connect and empower the world of education. About Course Hero Course Hero is an online learning platform where members can access over 25 million course-specific study resources contributed by a community of students and educators. The platform includes practice problems, study guides, videos, class notes, and step-by-step explanations to help with every college classfrom mathematics to literature, biology to history, accounting to psychology, and everything in between. Course Hero has been recognized as one of the 2017 Technology Fast 500 by Deloitte and named a 2018 Best Place to Work in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal. Connect with Course Hero at www.coursehero.com or on LinkedIn , Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , or Pinterest . For more information, contact: Grayling PR for Course Hero [email protected] SOURCE Course Hero Related Links http://www.coursehero.com SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE: DEI), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced today that President and CEO Jordan L. Kaplan will be participating in a roundtable discussion at the 2019 Citi Global Property CEO Conference on Monday, March 4, 2019 at 11:35 am Eastern Time. A live webcast of the discussion will be available at: http://www.veracast.com/webcasts/citigroup/globalproperty2019/45107477454.cfm A replay of the discussion will be available on the same URL starting one hour after the end of the live event and continuing until June 1, 2019. About Douglas Emmett, Inc. Douglas Emmett, Inc. (DEI) is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), and one of the largest owners and operators of high-quality office and multifamily properties located in the premier coastal submarkets of Los Angeles and Honolulu. Douglas Emmett focuses on owning and acquiring a substantial share of top-tier office properties and premier multifamily communities in neighborhoods that possess significant supply constraints, high-end executive housing and key lifestyle amenities. For more information about Douglas Emmett, please visit our website at www.douglasemmett.com. Safe Harbor Statement Except for the historical facts, the statements in this press release regarding Douglas Emmett's business activities are forward-looking statements based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to us about known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties and factors that are beyond our control or ability to predict. Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and some will inevitably prove to be incorrect. As a result, our actual future results can be expected to differ from our expectations, and those differences may be material. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on forward-looking statements to anticipate future results or trends. For a discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Stuart McElhinney, Vice President Investor Relations 310.255.7751 [email protected] SOURCE Douglas Emmett, Inc. Related Links http://www.douglasemmett.com OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders from The Permanente Federation, Northwell Health and Manatt, Phelps and Phillips have been selected to present on "Healthcare's Digital Disruptors: Hope vs. Hype," a panel on March 9, 2019 at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference in Austin, Texas. The hour-long panel will explore ways to optimize innovations to improve the quality of health care, lower costs and make health care more human. What: Attendees will learn about innovative technologies that hold promise for improving the health and well-being of countless lives. The panel also will explore ways to leverage new technologies and information to improve health care while preserving the patient-physician interaction. Technologies that will be discussed include: Predictive analytics Machine learning Precision medicine When: Saturday, March 9, 5 p.m. 6 p.m., Central Time Where: REGISTER to attend this event, which takes place at the JW Marriott, Salon H, 110 E 2nd Street, Austin, TX 78701 WHO: Panel participants include: Edward M. Ellison , Co-CEO, The Permanente Federation; Executive Medical Director/Chairman of the Board, Southern California Permanente Medical Group; and Chairman of the Board & CEO, The Southeast Permanente Medical Group , Co-CEO, The Permanente Federation; Executive Medical Director/Chairman of the Board, Southern California Permanente Medical Group; and Chairman of the Board & CEO, The Southeast Permanente Medical Group Ira Nash , Senior Vice President, Northwell Health; Executive Director, Northwell Health Physician Partners; and board member, the Council of Accountable Physician Practices , Senior Vice President, Northwell Health; Executive Director, Northwell Health Physician Partners; and board member, the Council of Accountable Physician Practices Lisa Suennen , Group Leader, Digital, Technology and Ventures, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips , Group Leader, Digital, Technology and Ventures, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips Jayne O'Donnell , Healthcare Policy Reporter, USA Today (Moderator) You can follow the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #SXHealthDisruptors To learn more about the Permanente Medical Groups, visit permanente.org. About the Permanente Medical Groups The Permanente Medical Groups are self-governed, physician-led, prepaid, multispecialty medical groups composed of nearly 23,000 physicians. We are dedicated to the mission of improving the health of our patients and communities. Together with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, we are Kaiser Permanente an award-winning health care system that delivers Permanente Medicine to more than 12.2 million Kaiser Permanente members. We work collaboratively, enabled by state-of-the-art facilities and technology, to provide preventive and world-class complex care in eight states from Hawaii to Maryland and the District of Columbia. About The Permanente Federation The Permanente Federation LLC (the Federation) is the national leadership and consulting organization for the eight Permanente Medical Groups (PMGs), which, together with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, comprise Kaiser Permanente. The Federation works on behalf of the PMGs to optimize care delivery and spread Permanente Medicine medicine that is patient centered, evidence based, technology enabled, culturally responsive, team delivered, and physician led. The Federation, based in Oakland, California, fosters an open learning environment and accelerates research, innovation, and performance improvements across the PMGs to expand the reach of Kaiser Permanente's integrated care delivery model and to lead the nation in transforming care delivery. About South by Southwest (SXSW) SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. The event, an essential destination for global professionals, features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. SXSW 2019 will take place March 8-17, 2019. SXSW 2019 is sponsored by Bud Light, Mercedes Benz, Capital One, Uber Eats, and The Austin Chronicle. SOURCE The Permanente Federation Related Links http://www.permanente.org NEW YORK, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by King & Spalding LLP regarding the Toyota Sienna Sliding Door Class Action Settlement. Si desea recibir esta notificacion en espanol, llamenos o visite nuestra pagina www.ToyotaSiennaDoorSettlement.com . There is a proposed Settlement in a class action lawsuit against Toyota concerning certain Sienna vehicles. Those included in the Settlement have legal rights and options that must be exercised by certain deadlines. What is the lawsuit about? The lawsuit alleges the power sliding doors in certain Sienna vehicles are defective. Toyota denies that it has violated any law, or engaged in any wrongdoing. The Court did not decide which side was right. Instead, the parties decided to settle. Am I Included in the proposed Settlement? Subject to certain limited exclusions, you are included if as of March 1, 2019, You own(ed), purchased, and/or lease(d) a 2011-2018 model year Sienna ("Subject Vehicle"); and Your Subject Vehicle was distributed for sale or lease in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all other United States territories and/or possessions of the United States. This Settlement does not involve claims of wrongful death, personal injury or physical property damage caused by an accident. What does the Settlement provide? The Settlement offers several benefits including a Customer Confidence Program providing prospective coverage for certain repairs to certain sliding door parts, a Loaner Vehicle to eligible Class Members, and reimbursement of certain out-of-pocket expenses. Some of these benefits require action by Class Members by certain deadlines. What are my options? If you do nothing , you will remain in the Class, receive certain benefits and will not be able to sue Toyota. You can exclude yourself by May 3, 2019 , if you don't want to be part of the Settlement. You won't get any settlement benefits, but you keep the right to sue Toyota. You can submit a Claim Form by a date to be set, which will not be earlier than 60 days after the Court's June 4, 2019 fairness hearing, if you have out-of-pocket expenses covered by the Settlement and don't exclude yourself. You can object to all or part of the Settlement by May 3, 2019 , if you don't exclude yourself. The full notice describes how to exclude yourself, submit a Claim Form and/or object. The Court will hold a fairness hearing on June 4, 2019 at 11 a.m. EDT to: (a) consider whether the proposed settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate; and (b) decide the plaintiffs' lawyers' request for fees of up to $6,500,000.00 and costs and expenses of up to $500,000.00 (which includes Class Representative service awards of not more than $2,500.00 each). The motion for attorneys' fees and costs will be posted on the website after they are filed. You may but are not required to appear at the hearing, and you may hire an attorney to appear for you, at your own expense. For more information or a Claim Form call 1-833-305-3915 or visit www.ToyotaSiennaDoorSettlement.com. SOURCE King & Spalding LLP Related Links http://www.ToyotaSiennaDoorSettlement.com Interested enterprises and individuals may self-nominate or nominate others in the following categories: Brand of the Year Retail eSupplier of the Year Industry Innovation of the Year (business model, management process, marketing or branding initiatives, manufacturing process, product development, technology, gemmological research) Manufacturer of the Year Cutting & Polishing Creativity and Innovation Manufacturer of the Year Jewellery Outstanding Enterprise of the Year China Outstanding Enterprise of the Year Countries/Regions outside of India and China Outstanding Enterprise of the Year India Retailer of the Year Sustainability Initiative of the Year Young Entrepreneur of the Year (age 40 and below) Lifetime Achievement Award (nominated by the organiser) Entries will be evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges comprised of six international industry experts, namely: Albert Cheng , Advisor to the World Gold Council and former Managing Director, Far East (WGC) , Advisor to the World Gold Council and former Managing Director, Far East (WGC) James Courage , former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) , former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) Nirupa Bhatt , Managing Director of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in India and the Middle East , Managing Director of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in and the Yasukazu Suwa , Chairman of Suwa & Son, Inc , Chairman of Suwa & Son, Inc Mark Lee , Research Director of Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy Albert Cheng shared, "Having been part of the judging panel for the past seven years, I have seen the discovery of many 'glittering gems' in our industry. By participating in the JNA Awards, your company, like 'unpolished gemstones' will be subjected to selection, cutting and polishing. If you are nominated and eventually win an award in your category, it would be like a hidden, beautiful rough stone transforming into glittering precious gemstones or diamonds. Are you ready to show us your 'hidden gem'? We are waiting for you." "Take the opportunity to illustrate why you or your company deserve to lead in a JNA Awards category. Be part of an exclusive list of outstanding jewellery companies that have won or become Honourees in the JNA Awards the only one that exclusively covers the jewellery industry," James Courage added. Letitia Chow, Chairperson of the JNA Awards, and Director of Business Development Jewellery Group at UBM Asia, said, "In the past seven years, the JNA Awards has established itself as an influential platform for the international jewellery and gemstone industry to come together and share success cases for the advancement of the trade. We hope to continue to attract more innovators and pioneers to take part in this prestigious and inspiring awards event to showcase positive developments in the industry." JNA Awards 2019 is supported by Headline Partners Chow Tai Fook, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, and DANAT, together with Honoured Partners KGK Group, China Gems and Jade Exchange, and Guangdong Land Holdings Limited. Kent Wong, Managing Director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, said, "Chow Tai Fook is honoured to have been the Headline Partner of the JNA Awards since it was first staged in 2012. We have seen how the JNA Awards serves as a prestigious platform for bringing industry elites together and driving the industry towards excellence. We sincerely hope that more players in the sector will support our cause and be our partners in advancing the jewellery industry." Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of SDE, shared, "The honour hall of the JNA Awards opens grandly again in 2019. Excellent enterprises fear neither competition nor challenge. They care more about showing the best of themselves. I look forward to the delightful surprises and brilliant performances they will bring us through this amazing opportunity." Kenneth Scarrat, CEO of Danat Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones added, "Competition, from wherever it comes, drives the future. This is as true for the gemstone and jewellery sectors as it is for life itself. Those that 'step up to the plate' are the drivers of the future. Regardless of your sector, level of creativity or innovation, it is time to come forward and participate through the JNA Awards programme and show the world what it means to be an industry leader." Edward Johnson, Director of Business Development of Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) also shared, "RJC is proud to work in collaboration with UBM Asia to promote the JNA Awards, and we encourage eligible jewellery businesses to participate. By doing so, companies can demonstrate their commitment to best business practices, which is an effective step in improving the reputation of their business, and that of the gem and jewellery industry." To enter the JNA Awards, interested parties must complete and submit their entry forms no later than midnight (Hong Kong time) of 26 April 2019. Honourees or shortlisted entrants will be announced on 20 June 2019 at the June Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. For more information, visit http://www.jnaawards.com/ or contact: JNA Awards Marketing UBM Asia (Hong Kong) +852 2516-2184 [email protected] Notes for Editors: 1. About the Headline Partner 1.1 Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited (www.chowtaifook.com) Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited (the "Group"; SEHK stock code: 1929) was listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in December 2011. Founded in 1929, the iconic brand "Chow Tai Fook" of the Group has been widely recognised for its trustworthiness and authenticity, and renowned for product design, quality and value. The legacies of the Group and its iconic brand are rooted in innovation, craftsmanship and heritage. The Group also encompasses other jewellery brands including Hearts On Fire, MONOLOGUE and SOINLOVE. The Group's commitment to sustainability is anchored in its "Smart+" initiatives which have been in place to promote innovation surrounding its business, people and culture. Another asset underpinning its sustainability is a sophisticated vertically integrated business model which supports the Group in fostering excellence and extending opportunities along the entire value chain. With an extensive retail network in Greater China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States, and a fast-growing e-commerce business, the Group is capable of implementing effective online-to-offline ("O2O") strategies and achieving omni-channel retailing. 1.2 Shanghai Diamond Exchange (www.cnsde.com) Authorised by the State Council, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) is the only diamond exchange body in China; and provides diamond dealers a fair and safe transaction venue under close supervision. It also enjoys a favourable taxation policy and is operated in accordance with international best practices of the diamond industry. Established in 2000, the SDE is a non-profit, self-regulating membership organisation and a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses. 1.3 Danat - Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (www.danat.bh) The Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (Danat) was established in 2017, as an initiative of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Danat was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom. Danat evolved from the Pearl & Gem Testing Laboratory of Bahrain (the first laboratory of its kind in the region), which was established in 1990. It was formed to expand upon and enhance the excellent work of the laboratory, with the vision of becoming the world's preferred institute for natural pearl and gemstone third-party verification services and scientific research. Currently, Danat plays a vital role in protecting and enhancing the public's trust in pearls, gemstones and jewellery. With its offices located at the iconic Bahrain World Trade Centre, the facility aims to establish itself as the window into international markets, serving local and global clients, and bolstering the reputation of the Kingdom as a leading centre for pearl and gemstone expertise. Danat is an authority on industry standards, scientific knowledge and education, and is committed to the highest standards of professional and personal ethics. It is dedicated to supporting the pearl and gemstone industry and offers training programmes locally, regionally and internationally to a new generation of gemmologists, industry professionals and gemmology enthusiasts. 2. About the Honoured Partners 2.1 KGK Group (www.kgkgroup.com) The KGK Group was founded in 1905 by Kesrimal Kothari and Ghisilal Kothari of Jaipur (India), with the humble task of trading gemstones between India and Burma. With a global presence across 19 countries today, the privately held group has evolved into one of the most preferred brands in the gemstone and jewellery industry, with a vertically integrated operation that spans the entire supply chain from mines to brands. KGK is one of the few conglomerates covering the entire spectrum of mining, sourcing, manufacturing and distribution of coloured gemstones, diamonds and jewellery for over a century. KGK Group has a resilient team of 12,000 employees with operations and offices in Asia, Australia, North and South America, Europe and Africa. Having achieved an impeccable reputation in the gemstone, diamond and jewellery trade, the group has recently diversified into real estate. 2.2 China Gems & Jade Exchange (https://www.csgje.com/) China Gems & Jade Exchange is a national gem and jade trading platform approved by the State Council. China Gems & Jade Exchange adheres to the principle of "Led by Technology, Develop with Innovation" by using the latest real-time traceability, big data, block chains, high-end intelligent technology to solve various bottlenecks in the development of the gemstone industry. At present, two platforms have been built, namely, gemstone trading service platform and intelligent supply chain service platform. China Gems & Jade Exchange has become the only international gemstone trading service platform with full process tracking service in the industry. In line with the basic principles of " fairness, impartiality and openness", China Gems & Jade Exchange combines the concepts of "innovation, advancement and compliance" to provide high-quality and professional third-party supporting trade services for jewelry enterprises at home and abroad. 2.3 The Guangdong Land Holdings Limited (www.gdland.com.hk) The Guangdong Land Holdings Limited (GDLAND), with its headquarters in Hong Kong, is listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, and is a subsidiary of GDH Limited, which is Guangdong Province's largest conglomerate operating outside Mainland China. The principal business of GDLAND is property development and investment, including but not limited to the development and operational management of the innovative commercial real estate, urban complex and industrial business complex. As the strategic arm of GDH Limited, GDLAND engages in the business development of commercial real estate, as well as urban and industrial complex projects. GDLAND's flagship project, namely the "Buxin Project," is planned to become the biggest and most advanced jewellery mart in the world, including a large-scale jewellery trading and exhibition centre along with other facilities, with a lot size of over 87,000 square metres and a construction scale (floor area) that is projected to exceed 700,000 square metres. The Buxin Project, which is located in the Buxin area of Luohu district in Central Shenzhen, close to the Shuibei Gold and Jewellery Base, is expected to develop the area into one of the most influential gold and jewellery trading and exchange platforms in China and around the world. 3. About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com) UBM Asia recently became part of Informa PLC, a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organiser in the world. Please visit www.ubm.com/asia for more information about our presence in Asia. 4. About Responsible Jewellery Council (https://www.responsiblejewellery.com/) The Responsible Jewellery Council is an international not-for-profit standards and certification organisation. It has more than 1,100 member companies that span the jewellery supply chain from mine to retail. RJC Members commit to and are independently audited against the RJC Code of Practices an international standard on responsible business practices for diamonds, gold and platinum group metals. The Code of Practices addresses human rights, labour rights, environmental impact, mining practices, product disclosure and many more important topics in the jewellery supply chain. RJC also works with multi-stakeholder initiatives on responsible sourcing and supply chain due diligence. The RJC's Chain-of-Custody Certification for precious metals supports these initiatives and can be used as a tool to deliver broader Member and stakeholder benefit. The RJC is a Full Member of the ISEAL Alliance the global association for sustainability standards. For more information on RJC Members, Certification, and Standards please visit www.responsiblejewellery.com SOURCE JNA Awards Related Links http://www.jnaawards.com/ CALGARY, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Representatives of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI), which owns a controlling interest in Kinder Morgan Canada Limited (KML), intend to participate in investor meetings at the Raymond James Annual Institutional Investors Conference on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 in Orlando, Florida to discuss the business and affairs of KMI. In addition, representatives of KMI intend to participate in investor meetings at the Barclays Investment Grade Energy & Pipeline Corporate Day on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 in New York City, New York to discuss the business and affairs of KMI. Both of these events may include discussion of KML's business. Interested parties will be able to view the materials to be presented on the day of each event by visiting KML's website at https://ir.kindermorgancanadalimited.com/presentations-and-webcasts or KMI's website at: https://ir.kindermorgan.com/presentations-webcasts. About Kinder Morgan Canada Kinder Morgan Canada Limited (KML) focuses on stable, fee-based energy transportation and storage assets that are central to the energy infrastructure of Western Canada. We strive to promote shareholder value by increasing utilization of our existing assets while controlling costs and operating in a safe and environmentally responsible way. For more information, visit kindermorgancanadalimited.com. SOURCE Kinder Morgan Canada Limited Related Links https://www.kindermorgancanadalimited.com SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 21, Margaret Wolfson, the Founder and Chief Creative of River + Wolf, an award-winning New York City brand naming and writing agency, will lead a talk on brand naming at The Hivery, a female-fueled coworking space open to everyone in Mill Valley, CA. The event is The Hivery's Entrepreneur Circle, a monthly discussion The Hivery hosts for its members and the community. Margaret Wolfson, Founder and Chief Creative, River + Wolf In this month's talk, Wolfson will introduce participants to the little understood world of brand and product naming, shedding light on what elements to consider when developing a brand name, from style to construction to messaging, and providing tips for choosing a name that works. Wolfson will also touch on trademarking, an important and complicated topic for entrepreneurs to consider as they choose their moniker. "Choosing a brand name is one of the most important decisions an entrepreneur will make, but it is not always given the time, attention and weight it deserves," says Wolfson, adding that she is committed to raising awareness about the intricacies of brand naming. Toward that end, she has spearheaded a number of initiatives. This March, in addition to the talk at The Hivery, she will lead a naming educational session at WeWork. She is also scheduled to speak about fragrance naming in Paris in May. Additionally, she launched an online gallery of exceptional company and product names called NOD (Names of Distinction). Each month, NOD showcases 12 names from a different industry or category. The gallery kicked-off with cosmetic shade names. In February it featured notable fragrance names. March's showcase shines a light on women's coworking spaces to honor International Women's Month. An accompanying blog with tips on creating great names accompanies each exhibition. "The NOD Gallery is a labor of love. My team and I have invested significant time in examining each month's category, identifying exceptional names, and articulating what makes these monikers so magnificent. For us, the investment is worth it to promote the discipline of brand naming, and to showcase our passion for the practice," explains Wolfson. For Wolfson, the gallery and talks are both great ways to spread the word about brand naming, an aspect of branding that is not widely understood or celebrated. "I welcome any opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs and marketers about brand naming. I am always struck by how many questionsand misconceptionspeople have about how to create names, what makes a name work, and the role of a name in branding," she explains. The Hivery's Entrepreneur Circle about brand naming will be held March 21 from 12:301:45 at The Hivery in Mill Valley, Calif. As seats are limited, advance online registration is required. This event is free for The Hivery members and $30 for non-members. Visit The Hivery for more information. To learn more about Margaret Wolfson or to inquire about booking her for a talk or workshop, contact Jacqueline Lisk at [email protected]. About River + Wolf River + Wolf is an award-winning brand naming and writing agency that creates product names, company names, and service names, along with brand stories and messaging. River + Wolf works in all industries and with all sizes of companies, from solopreneurs to Fortune 500s. River + Wolf is based in New York City, but works with clients across the globe. For more information, visit https://riverandwolf.com/. Media Contact: Jacqueline Lisk, PR partner, River + Wolf 914-325-2152 [email protected] SOURCE River + Wolf Related Links https://riverandwolf.com "Sam has repeatedly demonstrated a conscientious, thoughtful approach to his work and is a key contributor to the MTPA success story," said Atsushi Fujimoto, President, MTPA. "He brings strong capabilities in the financial policy, accounting and reporting functions for our Commercial business operations. Sam has always gone above and beyond, proving himself to be a collaborative leader." Previously Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analytics for MTPA, Sam will take on the VP position previously held by Armand Famiglietti, who plans to serve as a senior strategic advisor for the organization. Sam has over 20 years of experience in the life sciences sector, having held various financial, operational and engineering positions at Purdue Pharma, OSi Specialties, CES and IBM. Prior to joining MTPA, he was Treasurer of Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, where he provided executive oversight for the hospital's pharmacies, revenue cycle, procurement, accounting operations and treasury management, and served as the liaison to the New York State Department of Health. About Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. Based in Jersey City, N.J., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. (MTPA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation's (MTPC) 100 percent owned U.S. holding company, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Holdings America, Inc. MTPA is dedicated to delivering innovative products that address the unmet medical needs of patients in North America. It was established by MTPC to commercialize approved pharmaceutical products in North America with plans to expand its product line through collaborations with partners. For more information, please visit www.mt-pharma-america.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Media inquiries: Debbie Etchison 908-340-8578 [email protected] SOURCE Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. Related Links https://www.mt-pharma-america.com A strong majority of registered Michigan voters (59%) oppose requiring a prescription for OTC cold and allergy medicines containing PSE, including majorities of Democrats (55%), Republicans (60%) and Independents (69%). voters (59%) oppose requiring a prescription for OTC cold and allergy medicines containing PSE, including majorities of Democrats (55%), Republicans (60%) and Independents (69%). Over two-thirds of respondents (69%) believe a prescription requirement would negatively impact themselves or their families, including 42% who would find such a law very inconvenient. Seven-out-of-ten Michiganders supported the current National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx) system, an existing tool for tracking and blocking the illegal sale of PSE medicines that might be diverted from their intended use. "For decades, cold and allergy sufferers have been able to treat their symptoms with over-the-counter medications. This poll further illustrates the hassle and inconvenience that would be forced upon law-abiding individuals simply looking to buy products like Claritin-D or Zyrtec-D to care for congestion related to allergies or a common cold. People would be forced to miss work to see their doctor and families would be burdened with higher costs through insurance co-pays for doctor and pharmacies," said Kathleen Slonager, RN, executive director of AAFA Michigan. "We greatly support efforts that effectively prevent criminal meth production in Michigan, however PSE prescription proposals miss the mark and simply do more harm than good." Carlos Gutierrez, vice president for state and local government affairs at CHPA, said, "Many state legislatures across the country have found an appropriate balance, in recent years, in curbing the diversion of PSE-containing medicines while avoiding imposing unnecessary burdens on honest consumers. Voters across Michigan have made clear that they oppose a prescription requirement for these medicines, while they support successful, commonsense initiatives like the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx), which prevents the illegal sale of PSE." Gutierrez added, "It is important for lawmakers to understand the difference between local meth use and local meth production. As the Office of National Drug Control Policy stated in their 2019 National Drug Control Strategy, 'most of the methamphetamine available in the United States is manufactured in Mexico.' The report also says that domestic meth production is at its lowest level in 15 years." The poll was conducted by ALG Research from February 4-7, 2019 and included 500 registered voters living in Michigan. The poll included an even mix of landline and cellphone interviews and has a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percent. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America Michigan Chapter is the state's only asthma and allergy nonprofit dedicated to providing education, training and advocacy for all those affected by these diseases. aafamich.org The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) is the 138-year-old national trade association representing the leading manufacturers and marketers of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and dietary supplements. Every dollar spent by consumers on OTC medicines saves the U.S. healthcare system $6-$7, contributing a total of $102 billion in savings each year. CHPA is committed to empowering self-care by preserving and expanding choice and availability of consumer healthcare products. chpa.org SOURCE Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America - Michigan Chapter; Consumer Healthcare Products Association From March 11 - 13, 2019, NHK will showcase the world premiere of the 8K live concert footage captured along Sting and Shaggy's critically-acclaimed 2018 world tour, 44/876, featuring songs off their GRAMMY Award-winning album of the same name, as well as their collective greatest hits. This will be accompanied by other 8K contents from Japanese musicians: Sakanaction, Japan's top rock band; and Superfly, a celebrated solo female artist. The SXSW installation will bring the world's highest quality in experiencing images and sound through its 8K x 22.2 multi-channel sound . The 8K Theater will be installed in Austin during SXSW at Grimes Studio (500 E 5th St. Austin, TX. 78701) and feature a giant 440-inch LED screen (31.8ft wide by 17.7ft tall) that incorporates Sony's Crystal LED Display System, a visual system that utilizes ultrafine LEDs, measuring about the thickness of a human hair (0.003 mm). The 8K Theater will provide an experience unlike any other TV broadcast through 8K visuals, images with 16-times more pixels than current HD technology, and a truly immersive 22.2 multi-channel sound system. This brings the powerful 8K experience on a screen 4-times larger than the one used in the 2018 SXSW installation. The 8K Theater will provide super high-fidelity visuals on a 440-inch screen with 3D sound from a 24-speaker system. NHK's footage will be delivered by the Sony's Crystal LED Display System . This goes beyond conventional display technologies by delivering over a million-to-one contrast, precise color reproduction, a 99 percent black surface area using 0.003 mm ultrafine LED, and a 180-degree viewing angle. The technology is currently used in professional applications including broadcast studios and corporate showrooms around the world. Its modular nature enables the Crystal LED display to accommodate any size or aspect ratio for immersive viewing experiences at the show. https://pro.sony/ue_US/technology/crystal-led About NHK NHK, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), is Japan's only public broadcaster. As a public broadcaster funded by fees received from TV viewers, NHK delivers a wide range of impartial, high-quality programs, both at home and abroad. NHK had launched the world's first 8K satellite channel in December 2018. https://www.nhk.or.jp/bs4k8k/eng/about8k/ For press inquiries please contact Jennifer Gross Evolutionary Media Group +1 (323) 658-8700 [email protected] SOURCE NHK Related Links http://www.nhk.or.jp OneH2, which manufactures zero-emission hydrogen fuel along with fuel production, storage and dispensing equipment, plans to make this facility a fuel production hub serving its distributors throughout the Southeast US. Among other factors, this particular facility was selected with the assistance of local utility companies due to its proximity to low transmission cost feedstock necessary for competitive hydrogen fuel production. OneH2 anticipates that the facility will serve as a template for future hubs planned to be built across North America, the UK, and Australia over the coming years, with Pontiac, Michigan, being the next facility in the pipeline. Each OneH2 hub will allow hydrogen to challenge the regional price of gasoline and diesel at the pump, a strategy that OneH2 believes will empower businesses that operate truck fleets to make an affordable change to zero emission fuel. OneH2 recently reported that it had acquired the PowerTap Hydrogen generator business from Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cleveland based Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (NYSE: HY) The grant will directly assist in facility renovations necessary to put the Nuvera PowerTap hydrogen generator range into long run production. Wes Pandoff, OneH2 Senior Vice President & Director of Operations commented, "Things are really moving along here at OneH2. Everyone at the company is excited about the progress we've made in such a short amount of time. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank the State of North Carolina for its generous support and encouragement of the hydrogen industry, as well as reaffirm our commitment to the town of Long View." ABOUT ONEH2, INC. OneH2, Inc., headquartered in Longview, North Carolina, is a privately held, vertically integrated hydrogen fuel company. OneH2 is emerging as a leader in providing scalable hydrogen fuel systems coupled with cost effective delivered hydrogen fuel for use in industrial vehicle and truck markets. For more information about OneH2, Inc. visit the Company's website at www.oneh2.com. If you would like more information about this topic, please call Andrew McCoy at (844) 996-6342, ext. 710 or email [email protected]. SOURCE OneH2, Inc. Related Links http://oneh2.com NEW YORK and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), TriArtisan Capital Advisors LLC ("TriArtisan") and Centerbridge Partners, L.P. ("Centerbridge") today announced that they have closed a transaction in which Paulson and TriArtisan acquired P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc. ("P.F. Chang's" or the "Company") from Centerbridge. Jim Bell, CEO of P.F. Chang's, said, "We want to thank Centerbridge Partners for their strong support of P.F. Chang's. We are fortunate to have a partnership with Paulson and TriArtisan which will allow us to implement a collaborative growth strategy. Paulson and TriArtisan bring financial strength and expertise that will allow us to grow our dine-in and off-premises channels both domestically and internationally." The first P.F. Chang's restaurant opened in 1993 in Scottsdale, AZ, where the Company is still headquartered, and has expanded to become a globally recognized brand known for authentic made-from-scratch Asian cuisine with focus on high-quality, fresh ingredients, and wok-trained chefs. Today the Company has more than 200 company-owned restaurants in operation and over 90 franchised locations globally across 24 countries. John Paulson, Founder and President of Paulson, said, "P.F. Chang's is a highly differentiated, iconic global brand with excellent financial performance and strong growth prospects. We are very excited to partner with P.F. Chang's' outstanding management team to drive the business forward." Rohit Manocha, a TriArtisan Founding Partner, said, "We intend to provide the management team with the resources to rapidly scale the business of providing high quality, contemporary Asian cuisine at a compelling value to our customers worldwide in both the off-premises and dine-in channels." Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. BofA Merrill Lynch acted as lead financial advisor to the Company. Barclays also acted as financial advisor to the Company. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel to the Company. Credit Suisse served as Paulson and TriArtisan's financial advisor for this transaction and Ropes & Gray LLP and Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C. served as legal counsel. About P.F. Chang's Founded in 1993, P.F. Chang's is the first multi-unit restaurant concept in the U.S. to honor and celebrate the 2,000-year-old tradition of wok cooking as the center of the guest experience. Since inception, P.F. Chang's chefs have been hand-rolling dim sum, hand chopping and slicing all vegetables and meats, scratch cooking every sauce and wok-cooking each dish, every day in every restaurant. P.F. Chang's Farm to Wok menu highlights its wholesome, scratch-cooking approach and introduces new dishes and drinks for lunch, happy hour and dinner. Today, P.F. Chang's has more than 300 restaurants in 24 countries and territories. For more on P.F. Chang's, visit www.pfchangs.com. About Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson") Paulson & Co. Inc. is an investment management firm established by founder and President John Paulson in 1994 with offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. About TriArtisan Capital Advisors LLC ("TriArtisan") TriArtisan Capital Advisors is an established, New York-based private equity investing firm. TriArtisan's flexible institutional capital allows it to invest in companies requiring a broad range of investment needs including leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments, spin-offs, carve-outs, roll-ups, recapitalizations and restructurings. In each of its investments, TriArtisan partners with high quality management teams to support them in achieving returns for its institutional and management partners. For more information, please visit the firm's website at www.triartisan.com. About Centerbridge Partners, L.P. ("Centerbridge") Centerbridge Partners, L.P. is a private investment management firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplinesfrom private equity to credit and related strategies, and real estatein an effort to find the most attractive opportunities for our investors and business partners. The Firm was founded in 2005 and as of September 2018 has approximately $27 billion in capital under management with offices in New York and London. Centerbridge is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams across targeted industry sectors and geographies to help companies achieve their operating and financial objectives. For more information, please visit www.centerbridge.com. For Paulson & Co Kekst CNC Dawn Dover / Ross Lovern 212-521-4817 / 212-521-4866 [email protected] / [email protected] For TriArtisan Capital Advisors Gagnier Communications Dan Gagnier 646-569-5897 [email protected] For Centerbridge Partners Kekst CNC Jeremy Fielding / Anntal Silver 212-521-4800 SOURCE Paulson & Co. Inc.; TriArtisan Capital Advisors LLC; Centerbridge Partners, L.P. RADNOR, Pa., Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Trust, a leading wealth management firm in the Greater Philadelphia region, has announced the appointment of Senior Vice President Jonathan M. Heckscher to Chief Investment Officer. Pennsylvania Trust Heckscher joined Pennsylvania Trust in 2012 to enhance the firm's active fixed income capabilities and solutions. As he assumes the new role of Chief Investment Officer, he will retain the duties of Director of Fixed Income and continue to oversee fixed income investment policy, strategy and security selection. With more than 20 years of investment management experience, Heckscher will be the lead architect of Pennsylvania Trust's investment policy as he steers the Investment Policy Committee. He will serve as a key contributor to the firm's investment management thought leadership and a member of the Management Committee. Prior to joining Pennsylvania Trust, Heckscher served as Managing Director for Logan Capital, responsible for the firm's fixed income portfolios. He also served as Director and Executive Vice President of LOM Asset Management Limited in Hamilton, Bermuda. As head of the portfolio management team, he was responsible for management of the LOM Fixed Income Fund. Heckscher started his career in the trust department at The Boston Company (now BNY Mellon). "In his eight years with Pennsylvania Trust, Jon has established himself as an invaluable leader in the firm's investment department. He is highly regarded by colleagues, clients and outside investment professionals," said George C. McFarland, Jr., President and CEO of the firm. "I have great confidence that under Jon's guidance we will continue to deliver superior investment outcomes that are consistent with our clients' goals." In addition to regularly representing the firm at conferences and speaking engagements, Heckscher is a member of the Bond Club of Philadelphia, the Financial Management Committee of the Pennsylvania Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, and he serves on the Scholars Advisory Board of the Philadelphia Education Fund. Heckscher received his B.A. in Psychology and Business Administration from Rollins College. About Pennsylvania Trust Pennsylvania Trust is a leading independent and employee-owned wealth management firm in the Philadelphia region with $4 billion in assets under management and administration. For over 30 years, the firm has focused on providing compassionate and caring client service. Pennsylvania Trust provides investment, financial planning, tax, trust, estate and philanthropic solutions to help individuals, families, nonprofits and other organizations preserve and grow their wealth. Media Contact: Lauren Force [email protected] 610-228-4071 SOURCE Pennsylvania Trust TORONTO, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - SOL Global Investments Corp. ("SOL Global" or the "Company") (CSE: SOL) (OTCQB: SOLCF) (Frankfurt: 9SB) is pleased to release its financial results for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2018, and provide a general corporate update, including a management-prepared internal net asset value calculation. The Company's unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis (the "MD&A") for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2018 are also provided herein. All financial information in this press release is reported in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated. A Note to Shareholders, from CEO Brady Cobb: "Sunday, March 3 will mark four months since I was appointed as CEO of SOL Global. Over the last four months, we have evolved into a first-class global cannabis investment company. We've gone through a lot; a name change, a highly successful and ground-breaking sale of our Latin American assets, and continued investments in leading cannabis companies around the world. Over the past year, I had the privilege of providing input and working with lawmakers in Congress on the U.S. federal Farm Bill, which legalized hemp production in the United States. The past year has not been without challenges; however, I have remained as passionate as ever in building SOL Global into a company that will represent the future of the industry. As a company dedicated to creating shareholder value and helping to build the foundations of the international cannabis industry, my executive team and I are pleased to share the following highlights of the last quarter." - Brady Cobb, CEO Financial Highlights Net Asset Value Below are internal unaudited management calculations of SOL's net asset value based on the investments that the Company has made and the cash and liabilities of the Company. Investments made in private companies are presented at the amount that SOL paid for these investments. The table below is expressed in millions of dollars, and in Canadian Dollars. As at 28-Feb -19 31-Mar-18 Net working capital $47.6 $28.9 Total private company investments, at cost $210.0 - Estimated tax liability $(19.7) - Net assets $237.9 $28.9 Shares outstanding 54.3 28.5 Net assets per share $4.38 $1.01 Notes: Net working capital noted above consists of cash, cash equivalents, prepayments, other receivables and investments in public companies less accounts payable and accrued liabilities. Estimated tax liability is as per SOL's December 31, 2018 unaudited interim financial statements. Shares outstanding as of February 28, 2019 represents current issued and outstanding of 47,009,520 plus shares due to CannCure shareholders of 7,317,500 for a total of 54.3 million. Based on a closing share price of $3.15 share on February 28, 2019 , the Company's net asset value is 1.39 times greater than its share price. SOL's private company investments are presented at SOL's cost base, and therefore, at book value. Normal Course Issuer Bid Results SOL Global repurchased 2,451,861 ordinary shares of the Company's stock for cancellation, reducing the total current issued and outstanding shares to 47,009,520. The average price of the re-purchased shares was $2.00 per share, which compares favorably to the Company's February 28, 2018 closing stock price of $3.15 per share. *Selected Financial Highlights for the three and nine-months ending December 31, 2018 Expressed in Canadian dollars and in millions As at 31-Dec-18 31-Mar-18 Cash 29.9 0.8 Total assets 221.1 35.1 Total liabilities 28.8 6.2 Total shareholders' equity 192.3 28.9 Working capital (excludes deferred share units liability) 58.6 33.3 Three-months ended 31-Dec-18 31-Dec-17 Revenues (47.2) 0.0 Expenses 12.7 4.2 Loss before tax provision (59.9) (4.2) Loss per share, basic (1.22) (0.21) Loss per share, diluted (1.18) (0.21) Nine-months ended 31-Dec-18 31-Dec-17 Revenues 138.6 0.0 Expenses 22.0 17.8 Net income (loss) before tax provision 116.6 (17.8) Income (loss) per share, basic 2.57 (1.07) Income per share, diluted 2.45 (1.07) The Company's balance sheet is healthy, with working capital of $58.6 million plus a portfolio of non-current investments in private companies. The Company's loss for the three-month period occurred primarily due to the depreciation of the Aphria shares that the Company held and disposed of between the closing date of the LATAM sale transaction on September 27, 2018 ($19.00 per share) and December 31, 2018 ($7.85 per share) plus higher expenses revolving around transaction fees relating to closed and open deals. The Company's gain for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2018 was primarily due to the sale of the Company's subsidiary, LATAM, in exchange for Aphria shares. A total of 15,678,310 shares were received in Aphria, with a price of $19.00 per share. The $19.00 per share price represented the share price of Aphria on September 26, 2018, the day before the transaction finalized. Investment and Divestment Highlights Partial Sale of Aphria Shares Results SOL's total cost of LATAM assets was $93.3 million . That amount includes $83.9 million of direct costs to acquire the LATAM business and its subsidiaries including funding amounts and the fair value of the Company's 18,855,630 common shares paid a consideration to acquire LATAM and its subsidiaries totaling $66.5 million . The amount also includes transaction costs totaling $11.3 million . . That amount includes of direct costs to acquire the LATAM business and its subsidiaries including funding amounts and the fair value of the Company's 18,855,630 common shares paid a consideration to acquire LATAM and its subsidiaries totaling . The amount also includes transaction costs totaling . SOL received 15,678,310 shares of Aphria at a price of $12.31 , as announced on September 28, 2018 . , as announced on . As of December 31, 2018 , SOL sold 14,008,310 shares at an average sale price of $15.63 . , SOL sold 14,008,310 shares at an average sale price of . SOL realized total proceeds to date of $219 million on the Aphria share sales. on the Aphria share sales. SOL's total gain to date on the share of the Aphria sales is $46.5 million . U.S. Investments CannCure: On October 23, 2018, the Company announced the entering into of a binding share purchase agreement to acquire the issued and outstanding common shares of CannCure Investments Inc ("CannCure"). At the time of signing, CannCure owned a 60% interest in 3 Boys Farms LLC ("3Boys") and held an indirect contractual right and obligation to purchase the remaining 40% of 3Boys. The CannCure purchase price will be satisfied by a combination of $29,270,000 in the Company's common shares at a deemed price of $4.00 per share to be issued to the CannCure selling parties; $67,613,200 (USD$52,100,000) in Verano Holdings LLC ("Verano") Class B units (the "CannCure Verano Shares") held by the Company which will be transferred the CannCure selling parties; and $24,916,900 (USD$19,200,000) in cash, which would be applied against the acquisition costs for the remaining 40% of 3Boys. In December 2018, CannCure acquired the remaining 40% interest in 3Boys. The completion of the acquisition of CannCure by the Company is subject to certain closing conditions, including receipt of all required governmental approvals, including from the Florida Department of Health, Office of Medical Marijuana Use. Verano: On October 23, 2018, the Company announced an investment of $115,259,000 (USD$88,000,000) indirectly in Verano Class B units and announced the entering into of a membership interest contribution agreement in which it would transfer and sell 3Boys to Verano in share exchange for $130,976,000 (USD$100,000,000) in additional Verano Class B units. As a result of these transactions, after distributing the CannCure Verano Shares, the Company will own $177,996,000 (USD$135,900,000) Class B units in Verano. The completion of the sale of 3Boys to Verano is subject to certain closing conditions, including the completion of the acquisition of CannCure and receipt of all required governmental approvals, including from the Florida Department of Health, Office of Medical Marijuana Use. Verano is well positioned to achieve outsized market share across every market it enters by leveraging proven methods and strategies which have made the Company a dominant player in Illinois, Maryland and Nevada. Verano's brands cover the complete spectrum of superior cannabis product options for medical and adult-use consumers. OG DNA Genetics Inc: On December 12, 2018, SOL Global announced an investment in OG DNA Genetics Inc ("DNA Genetics"). The Company acquired an approximate 8 percent stake for $13.3 million (USD $10 million). DNA Genetics is recognized worldwide for its highly selective, genetics-based approach to cannabis cultivation. DNA Genetics is established in the U.S. cannabis marketplace, cooperating two million square feet of medical canopy in California, where they began developing high-quality cannabis seeds for the global market. DNA Genetics is also the exclusive provider of DNA certified products to a wholly-owned Ontario-based subsidiary which is of one of the world's largest diversified cannabis and hemp companies. US Regulatory Environment In the United States, marijuana is largely regulated at the state level. To the Company's knowledge, there are to date a total of 38 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam that have legalized marijuana in some form, either for a medicinal use and/or for adult/recreational use. The United States has a complex regulatory landscape when it comes to medical marijuana. The CSA regulates the possession, importation, manufacture, distribution and dispensing of controlled substances under United States federal law. Under the CSA, controlled substances are classified into schedules based on their potential for abuse by a patient or other user. Marijuana is and always has been classified as a Schedule 1 substance under the CSA. On January 4, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum that rescinded previous nationwide guidance specific to the prosecutorial authority of United States Attorneys relative to marijuana enforcement on the basis that they are unnecessary known as the Cole Memorandum, given the well-established principles governing federal prosecution that are already in place. Those principals are included in chapter 9.27.000 of the United States Attorneys' Manual and require federal prosecutors deciding which cases to prosecute to weigh all relevant considerations, including federal law enforcement priorities set by the Attorney General, the seriousness of the crime, the deterrent effect of criminal prosecution, and the cumulative impact of particular crimes on the community. Subsequent to the issuance of the Sessions Memorandum on January 4, 2018, the United States Congress passed its omnibus appropriations bill, SJ 1662, which for the fourth consecutive year contained the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment language and continued the protections for the medical cannabis marketplace and its lawful participants from interference by the Department of Justice up and through the 2018 appropriations deadline of December 31, 2018, and this legislation remains in force as of the date of this update. American courts have construed these appropriations bills to prevent the federal government from prosecuting individuals when those individuals comply with state law. Additionally, the 2018 Farm Bill passed out of both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2018, and said bill includes the Hemp Farming Act. The Hemp Farming Act removes hemp and CBD products with less than .3% THC from Schedule 1 of the CSA. This will allow market participants such as the Company to cultivate, process and dispense hemp and CBD products (with less than .3% THC) throughout the United States without violating the CSA, and will also serve to open up banking and financial services for such hemp and CBD operators. Presently, the United States Food and Drug Administration has indicated that it will initiate public commentary workshops and rulemaking proceedings relative to the issuance of regulations to govern the nascent CBD marketplace and products, and such proceedings are anticipated to commence in April of 2019. The Company will be an active participant in these proceedings. Additionally, the STATES Act was filed in 2018 by Senator Cory Gardiner (R-CO) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and the STATES Act if passed will remove medical or adult use marijuana related conduct from Schedule 1 of the CSA in states where such uses/activities have been made legal by state law, so long as such operations are compliant with state law. The STATES Act is set to be heard in Congress in 2019, and the SAFE Banking Act (which would provide a safe harbor to banks who wish to serve the cannabis marketplace) was heard by the House Financial Services Committee in February of 2019 and is also expected to advance in Congress in 2019. On November 7, 2018 Mr. Sessions resigned from his position. As of the date of this report, William Barr has been appointed and confirmed as the United States Attorney and his position on state legal cannabis marketplaces and their interplay/compliance with the CSA has not been promulgated. European Investments GreenLight Pharmaceuticals: On January 2, 2019, SOL Global announced an investment in GreenLight Pharmaceuticals Ltd. ("GreenLight"). GreenLight, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a vertically integrated medical cannabis company with a clinical research and development operation, a seed genetics program, cultivation operations, and brand and distribution operations. SOL Global acquired a 25 percent stake in the equity of GreenLight for 1.8 million, with an option to increase its stake to 51 percent. In addition, SOL Global has an option to acquire a 75 percent stake for approximately 1 million in a future GreenLight subsidiary that successfully obtains a cannabis cultivation license in Ireland or Northern Ireland. "SOL Global structured and deployed approximately $130 million of capital during the quarter in conventional and unconventional cannabis and cannabis-related companies. SOL Global's deal flow continues to rise at meteoric rates as we set the benchmark as a pre-eminent small and mid-cap private equity investment firm and leader in the cannabis industry," said Peter Liabotis, CFO at SOL Global. "Our team continues to see strategic shifts and developments not only in our core portfolio investments, but in non-affiliated sectors that create integration opportunities not yet ventured into by competing investment firms, enabling much higher yields at a much faster pace. As U.S. and European regulatory transformation continues at such a rapid pace, SOL sits in pole position for a larger amount of global cannabis investments, with the ability to provide non-traditional structures if required to maintain our lead." About SOL Global Investments Corp. SOL Global is an international investment company with a focus on, but not limited to, cannabis and cannabis related companies in legal U.S. states, the hemp and CBD marketplaces and the emerging European cannabis and hemp marketplaces. Its strategic investments and partnerships across cultivation, distribution and retail complement the company's R&D program with the University of Miami. It is this comprehensive approach that is positioning SOL Global as a future frontrunner in the United States' medical cannabis industry. Cautionary Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "likely", "should", "would", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "proposed", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy. Some of the forward-looking information contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the Company's estimated net asset value, the Company's strategy and future business plans; future expectations regarding the value of the European cannabis market; the completion of the Company's proposed transactions with CannCure and Verano; the anticipated value of the Company's investment in Verano, and the Company's plans to participate in the development of US CBD regulations. Forward-looking information is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. While we consider these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to management, there is no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. By their nature, forward-looking information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond our control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this press release. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the Company's ability to comply with all applicable governmental regulations in a highly regulated business; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under US federal laws; changes in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; inconsistent public opinion and perception regarding the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry; and regulatory or political change. Additional risk factors can also be found in the Company's current MD&A and annual information form, both of which have been filed on SEDAR and can be accessed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this press release and is based on the beliefs, estimates, expectations and opinions of management on the date such forward-looking information is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law. The securities referred to in this news release have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent such registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities for sale, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities. NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES This press release includes references to net asset value and net asset value per share, which are financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Net asset value is calculated as the value of total assets less the value of total liabilities at a specific date; net asset value per share is the value of the total assets less the value of total liabilities divided by the total number of common shares outstanding as at a specific date. The Company believes these non-IFRS financial measures not only provide management with comparable financial data for internal financial analysis but also provide meaningful supplemental information to investors. In particular, management believes these financial measures can provide information useful to its shareholders in understanding the performance of the Company and may assist in the evaluation of its business relative to that of its peers. Investors are cautioned that these non-IFRS measures should not be construed as an alternative to the measurements calculated in accordance with IFRS as, given their non-standardized meaning, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. SOURCE SOL Global Investments Corp. RICHARDSON, Texas, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The UT Dallas Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship today announced it has launched a partnership with Capital Factory, one of the most active early-stage tech investors in Texas, to accelerate to market the products and services of ventures founded by UT Dallas students. An entrepreneurial nerve center, Capital Factory opened offices in Uptown Dallas in mid-2018, and a key element of the partnership is that select UT Dallas student-founders and their teams will be granted co-working memberships there. The partners have agreed to reciprocal program promotion and branding in key locations at both UT Dallas and Capital Factory. The partnership also is expected to result in downtown Dallas becoming an anchor location for UT Dallas entrepreneurship activity. A grand opening launch of the partnership at Capital Factory-Dallas is scheduled the evening of Tuesday, April 2, during Dallas Startup Week. "We are thrilled to offer this exciting opportunity to UT Dallas student-founders as an important new extension of the innovation and entrepreneurship programs and facilities that the institute operates," said Steve Guengerich, executive director of the institute. Participating startups will receive exclusive access to education, mentorship, networking, programming, products and services. They also will have connections to leading corporations and access to capital channels. And the incubator will offer programs and events open to the larger community. The partnership with Capital Factory marks the latest in a series of formalized relationships the institute has entered in order to elevate the visibility of UT Dallas in economic development efforts in North Texas and North America. Other new partners include the Toronto-based Blockchain Research Institute and the Dallas Innovation Alliance's (DIA) Innov8te smart cities incubator, based in the Dallas West End. "UT Dallas aims to be one of the nation's best public research universities and one of the great universities of the world. Our research activities not only transform society but also create new inventions that lead to economic development for Texas and the nation," said Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, vice president for research at UT Dallas. "We are excited about the new opportunities for UT Dallas faculty and students to meet and work with private and public industry innovators, large and small, through each of these partnerships with Capital Factory, with DIA's Innovate and with the Blockchain Research Institute." Since it opened in Austin, "Capital Factory has had student entrepreneurs from the UT System in our community adding to the talent pool and energy, and also sourcing some of the companies that we've invested in," said Joshua Baer, Capital Factory founder and CEO. "UT Dallas was one of the first places I visited when I toured Dallas for the first time, and I was impressed. The strength of its student body and faculty from the business school to engineering to computer science to life sciences was exceptional, as was its shared entrepreneurial mission. We've already invested in more than one UT Dallas alumni company, and I expect to see that number continue to grow." "Dallas' urban core is an incredibly important hub of entrepreneurial innovation from startups to large corporate innovation centers with a sophisticated and growing range of venture investors choosing to locate there," said Duane Dankesreiter, senior vice president of research and innovation at the Dallas Regional Chamber. "We are excited to see UT Dallas connecting deeper into the community and becoming an even more active participant in the exciting things happening at Capital Factory." UT Dallas students have submitted the first round of applications for Capital Factory membership, and evaluation of student-founders and their teams is underway. Follow progress about UT Dallas innovation and entrepreneurship partnerships and programs on LinkedIn at innovationUTD, Twitter at innovationUTD, and Facebook at launchpadUTD. About the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Founded in the UT Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management in the early 2000s, the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship today operates across all eight schools and research initiatives at UT Dallas, with the mission of enabling the next generation's new ventures. The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine have ranked the Jindal School's graduate and undergraduate academic programs in innovation and entrepreneurship No. 11 and No. 23 in the nation. The institute also serves students at the Blackstone LaunchPad at UT Dallas, the most active university incubator in North Texas over the past five years, and it runs the second-largest student-pitch competition in Texas, as well as the award-winning UT Dallas Seed Fund. More at: innovation.utdallas.edu. Media Contact: Jimmie R. Markham [email protected] 972-883-5079 SOURCE Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UT Dallas Related Links http://innovation.utdallas.edu The last ranking was carried out in February 2018. EU countries, required to implement 100% market penetration of sulfur-free (less than 10 ppm) fuels since January 2009, continue to dominate the Top 40. Sweden, which led the way with full market penetration in 1990, continues to reign at No. 1. The 13 countries that moved into the 2019 ranking, led by Fiji at the 58th spot, are: Fiji Georgia Ghana India Mexico Moldova Mongolia Nigeria Panama Philippines Saudi Arabia South Africa Thailand Countries that dropped in the ranking, such as Brazil, did not alter its diesel fuel specifications but were simply passed by others that implemented stricter sulfur limits or supplied lower sulfur fuels ahead of legislation. Six countries - Botswana, Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland -dropped out of the 2019 ranking and were replaced by Fiji, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, all of which entered the Top 100 for the first time. This movement is due to reductions in sulfur limits that have been implemented during the past year, or supplies of lower-sulfur diesel on the domestic market. Mongolia made the greatest jump, 54 places, to rank 92nd, followed by Moldova which jumped 52 places to rank 71st. India and Nigeria jumped 49 places to share the 86th spot with Ghana. Even though cities and provinces are not officially ranked, it is worthwhile to note that select cities and provinces of Brazil, India, Iran and Peru required diesel fuel with lower sulfur of 50 ppm or below, stricter than the rest of the respective countries. For example, Brazil has required 10 ppm sulfur diesel in select metropolitan regions since January 2013 while the rest of the nation is required to meet a maximum sulfur limit of 500 ppm. Stratas Advisors, a Hart Energy company, is a leading global consulting and analytics provider for upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and related sectors, such as automotive; transportation; power; petrochemicals and heavy industries. Stratas Advisors' team of experts provides data and strategic insights to companies seeking to understand key drivers shaping development. Stratas Advisors' consultants and analysts offer forward-looking perspectives to help energy decision makers leverage opportunities, mitigate risk and implement strategies. Stratas Advisors is headquartered in Houston with offices in Brussels and Singapore. Media Contact: [email protected] 713-260-4657 SOURCE Stratas Advisors Related Links https://stratasadvisors.com Created over the course of multiple semesters, Academy of Art University students from various disciplines collaborated with the Norman Rockwell Museum for its newest touring VR experience, "Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt and the Four Freedoms." Rich Bradway, from the Norman Rockwell Museum, wanted to create a VR experience that immersed people in an interactive art experience. Lead by a core team from the School of Game Development, the collaboration included students and staff from the departments of Illustration, Web Design & New Media, Animation & Visual Effects, Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media, and Motion Pictures & Television, who all contributed assets and resources to the final project. "It's an amazing experience to get this type of high profile exposure for a project that our students and faculty have worked so hard on," said David Goodwine, Executive Director of the School of Game Development. To produce a project of this scope with emerging technologies, the Academy created a new, collaborative lab format class where students facilitated different production roles under the direction of faculty and staff. "I learned the technical side of how you put a game together and how to collaborate amongst the different disciplines; also, working with the museum, it's learning how to work with a client," said Illustration student Abigail Lashbrook. Under the direction of Phil Kauffold, Technical Lead with the School of Game Development, the exhibit has been touring publicly since May 2018. For the past 3 months, over 35,000 people have put on an Oculus VR device at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. From there, the touring exhibit will be headed to France, and Texas, before finally residing at the Rockwell Museum in Fall 2020. Background information Founded in San Francisco in 1929, Academy of Art University offers more than 125 accredited degree options spanning more than 40 areas of study. It is one of the largest private art and design universities in the United States. For more information, please visit https://www.academyart.edu Media Contacts: William Liu Director of Marketing and Strategic Development Academy of Art University 415.618.8372 [email protected] SOURCE Academy of Art University Related Links http://www.academyart.edu NEW YORK, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AJC denounces the latest UN Human Rights Council report singling out Israel for condemnation. The report was prepared by an "independent international commission of inquiry" established by the Council to investigate the violence that took place along the Gaza-Israel border from March 30 to December 31, 2018. "True to form, the commission of inquiry has exhibited a myopic view of the situation in Gaza, largely ignoring Hamas's repeated provocations and attacks against Israel and almost exclusively blaming Israel," said Daniel Elbaum, AJC Chief Advocacy Officer. "The commission deliberately ignores the facts that Israel totally withdrew from the Gaza Strip (and not only from Israeli settlements) in 2005, transferred it to the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas has ruled the coastal enclave since 2007, persistently threatening and attacking neighboring Israel. Israel has shown more restraint than nearly any other nation would demonstrate against an organized attempt to breach its border and endanger its civilians." Since its founding in 2006, the Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, has repeatedly singled out and censured Israel. Most egregious is the Council's agenda Item 7, which subjects Israel to permanent indictment. Israel is the only country that is subject to a separate, stand-alone agenda item, while human rights violations in every other nation are considered collectively under agenda item 4. The new report of the Council's commission of inquiry is consistent with this pattern of bias. Key facts ignored or distorted by the commission of inquiry include: Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza , Hamas and other terrorist organizations have launched more than 10,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and villages. Hamas also has built dozens of tunnels designed to enable its death squads to penetrate Israel and kill Israeli civilians. , Hamas and other terrorist organizations have launched more than 10,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and villages. Hamas also has built dozens of tunnels designed to enable its death squads to penetrate and kill Israeli civilians. In a change of tactics but not of goal, which remains the destruction of Israel Hamas has used civilians as tools to score propaganda points against the Jewish state. This tactic was the essence of the so-called "March of Return," orchestrated by Hamas last year. Hamas has used civilians as tools to score propaganda points against the Jewish state. This tactic was the essence of the so-called "March of Return," orchestrated by Hamas last year. The violence on the Gaza border was the deliberate choice of Hamas, which urged Palestinians, many of them only teenagers, to rush and attempt to break through the security barrier, to hurl Molotov cocktails or other objects, and to launch flaming kites at Israeli positions, in the cynical knowledge that these threats to Israel would be repelled, blood would be shed, and accusing fingers would be pointed not at those who provoked these assaults but at those who defended against them. border was the deliberate choice of Hamas, which urged Palestinians, many of them only teenagers, to rush and attempt to break through the security barrier, to hurl Molotov cocktails or other objects, and to launch flaming kites at Israeli positions, in the cynical knowledge that these threats to would be repelled, blood would be shed, and accusing fingers would be pointed not at those who provoked these assaults but at those who defended against them. The overarching theme of the "March of Return" was the demand that Palestinians who fled their homes in 1948, and their descendants, be allowed to return to lands that became Israel . This so-called "right of return" is unacceptable since a large influx of Palestinians would mean the end of the Jewish state. . This so-called "right of return" is unacceptable since a large influx of Palestinians would mean the end of the Jewish state. The solution for the Palestinian refugees lies in their settlement in the Arab lands where they currently live, or their repatriation to a future Palestinian state, which can only be established as a result of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The commission of inquiry cites UN General Assembly resolution 194, which purportedly provides for the return of Palestinian refugees, but conveniently ignores the fact that at the time of its adoption in December 1948 the resolution was totally rejected by the Palestinian leadership and all Arab states. Nor does the commission recognize that resolution 194 was overtaken by the events of the past 70 years. the resolution was totally rejected by the Palestinian leadership and all Arab states. Nor does the commission recognize that resolution 194 was overtaken by the events of the past 70 years. Because a state of armed conflict exists between Israel and the Hamas regime controlling Gaza , Israel has the right under international law to protect its citizens, including by a blockade in international waters. Yet every day hundreds of trucks cross the Israel - Gaza border, carrying food and other goods from Israel to the Gaza Strip Imports. Israel has repeatedly offered an arrangement whereby any humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip can be delivered to the ports of Ashdod and Haifa , and then transferred to the Gaza Strip through the existing overland crossings. Regrettably, the commission of inquiry chose to ignore realities, preferring instead to follow the all-too-familiar pattern of disproportionately condemning Israel. In so doing, the commission has done a disservice to those who truly seek peace. A comprehensive, sustainable Israeli-Palestinian peace can only be achieved through direct, bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Yet, the PA, led by Mahmoud Abbas, walked away from the table five years ago, and refuses to return. https://www.ajc.org/news/ajc-denounces-un-human-rights-council-report-on-israel-hamas-conflict SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links https://www.ajc.org DALLAS, Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alerian announced that the methodology guide for the Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index (AMZI) has been updated and is available at alerian.com/indices/amzi-index. This update is meant to, among other things, better capture the investable universe, increase benchmarking efficiency, and minimize future index turnover. Additionally, the methodology guide for the Alerian MLP Equal Weight Index (AMZE) has been updated. The effective date of the methodology guide updates is February 28, 2019 and will be applied during the next quarterly rebalancing. Consistent with industry practice, Alerian will continue to periodically consult with stakeholders for feedback regarding its indices. Alerian makes no guarantees nor is under any obligation to comply with any of the responses from these consultations, which may result in no changes or outcome of any kind. About Alerian Alerian equips investors to make informed decisions about energy infrastructure and Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). Its benchmarks are widely used by industry executives, investment professionals, research analysts, and national media to analyze relative performance. As of January 31, 2019, over $13 billion is directly tied to the Alerian Index Series through exchange-traded funds and notes, separately managed accounts, and structured products. For more information, including index values and constituents, research content, and announcements regarding rebalancings, please visit alerian.com. About the Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index The Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index is a composite of energy infrastructure Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The capped, float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted index, whose constituents earn the majority of their cash flow from midstream activities involving energy commodities, is disseminated real-time on a price-return basis (AMZI) and on a total-return basis (AMZIX). About the Alerian MLP Equal Weight Index The Alerian MLP Equal Weight Index is the equal-weighted version of the widely used Alerian MLP Index (AMZ). The index, which includes the same companies as the float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted AMZ but allocates the same weight to each constituent at each rebalancing, is disseminated real-time on a price-return basis (AMZE) and on a total-return basis (AMZEX). SOURCE Alerian Related Links http://www.alerian.com OAKVILLE, ON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Further to the news release of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (TSX: AQN, AQN.PR.D) (NYSE: AQN) ("APUC" or the "Company") dated February 26, 2019, APUC announced today the applicable dividend rates for its Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series D (the "Series D Preferred Shares") and Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series E (the "Series E Preferred Shares"). With respect to any Series D Preferred Shares that remain outstanding after April 1, 2019, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly fixed cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the board of directors of the Company (the "Board"). The dividend rate for the 5-year period from and including March 31, 2019 to but excluding March 31, 2024 will be 5.091%, being equal to the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield determined as of today plus 3.28%, in accordance with the terms of the Series D Preferred Shares. With respect to any Series E Preferred Shares that may be issued on April 1, 2019, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board. The dividend rate for the 3-month floating rate period from and including March 31, 2019 to but excluding June 30, 2019 will be 4.962%, being equal to the 3-month Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield determined as of today plus 3.28%, calculated on the basis of the actual number of days in such quarterly period divided by 365, in accordance with the terms of the Series E Preferred Shares. Beneficial owners of Series D Preferred Shares who wish to exercise their conversion right should communicate with their broker or other nominee to ensure their instructions are followed so that the registered holder of the Series D Preferred Shares can meet the deadline to exercise such conversion right, which is 5:00 p.m. (EST) on March 15, 2019. All dollar amounts referenced herein are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. About Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. APUC is a diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility with approximately $9 billion of total assets. Through its two business groups, APUC provides rate regulated natural gas, water, and electricity generation, transmission, and distribution utility services to over 768,000 connections in the United States, and is committed to being a global leader in the generation of clean energy through ownership of or investments in long-term contracted wind, solar and hydroelectric generating facilities representing over 2 GW of installed capacity. APUC delivers continuing growth through an expanding pipeline of renewable energy, electric transmission, and water infrastructure development projects with a global focus, organic growth within its rate regulated generation, distribution and transmission businesses, and the pursuit of accretive acquisitions. APUC's common shares, Series A preferred shares and Series D preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN, AQN.PR.A, and AQN.PR.D. APUC's common shares and Series A subordinated notes are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN and AQNA. Visit APUC at www.algonquinpower.com and follow us on Twitter @AQN_Utilities. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements included in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws in each of the provinces of Canada and the respective policies, regulations and rules under such laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). The words "expected", "intends" and similar expressions are often intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, the declaration of quarterly dividends. These statements are based on factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including assumptions based on historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Since forward-looking statements relate to future events and conditions, by their very nature they require making assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. APUC cautions that although it is believed that the assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, these risks and uncertainties give rise to the possibility that actual results may differ materially from the expectations set out in the forward-looking statements. Material risk factors include those set out in APUC's most recent annual and interim management's discussion and analysis and most recent annual information form. Given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of their dates. Other than as specifically required by law, APUC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise. SOURCE Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. Related Links http://www.algonquinpower.com DUBLIN, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) today announced that its data will be featured during the 2019 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. March 1-5, 2019. The meeting will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and the scheduled times (noted in local Eastern Time) for the Allergan presentations are as follows: Oral Poster Presentations Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A Directly Affects Sebocytes and Inhibits Induced Lipogenesis Authors: Hui You , Alex Chernavsky , Sergei Grand , Amy Brideau-Andersen , Birgitte Jacky , , , , Birgitte Jacky Friday, 3/1: 10:00-10:05AM , Hall H, ePoster Presentation Center 1 Protective and Reparative Effects of a Topical Dual Serum System Against UV-Induced Skin Damage Authors: Elizabeth Makino , Pricilla Tan , Rahul C. Mehta , , Saturday, 3/2: 9:45-9:50AM , Hall H, ePoster Presentation Center 1 Environmental protection and rejuvenation from a novel antioxidant dual serum system: A randomized, double-blind, regimen controlled, multi-center study Authors: Zoe D. Draelos , Elizabeth Makino , Priscilla Tan , Kuniko Kadoya , Audrey Nguyen , Lily Jiang , Rahul C. Mehta , , , , , , Sunday, 3/3: 9:10-9:15AM , Hall D, ePoster Presentation Center 2 Poster Presentations Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A Exhibits a Linear Correlation Between Dose, Peak Efficacy and Duration of Effect in Functional Assays Authors: Greg S. Nicholson , Dave Canty , Amy D. Brideau-Andersen and Ron S. Broide , , and Available for online viewing during program Safety and Efficacy of OnabotulinumtoxinA for Treatment of Masseter Muscle Hypertrophy: Results from a Phase 2 Dose-Escalation Study Authors: Jean Carruthers , Steven Liew , Jason K Rivers, Shyi-Gen Chen, Shannon Humphrey , Elisabeth Lee , Beta Bowen, Mitchell F. Brin , , Jason K Rivers, Shyi-Gen Chen, , , Beta Bowen, Available for online viewing during program Clinical Efficacy of a Novel Two-Part Skincare System on Pollution-Induced Skin Damage Authors: Elizabeth T. Makino , Annie Jain , Priscilla Tan , Audrey Nguyen , Alain Mogac, Kuniko Kadoya , , , , Alain Mogac, Available for online viewing during program Evaluation of the Protective Effect of a Topical Serum Against Particles Modeling Atmospheric Pollution Authors: Elizabeth Makino , Pricilla Tan , Cecile Charmel, Rahul C. Mehta , , Cecile Charmel, Available for online viewing during program About Allergan plc Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical leader. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world. Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products primarily focused on four key therapeutic areas including medical aesthetics, eye care, central nervous system and gastroenterology. Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, a model of research and development, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. With this approach, Allergan has built one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry. Allergan's success is powered by our global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right. With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day. For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com. Forward-Looking Statement Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; the impact of uncertainty around timing of generic entry related to key products, including RESTASIS, on our financial results; risks associated with divestitures, acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; risks related to impairments; uncertainty associated with financial projections, projected cost reductions, projected debt reduction, projected synergies, restructurings, increased costs, and adverse tax consequences; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. CONTACTS: Allergan: Investors: Manisha Narasimhan, PhD (862) 261-7162 Media: Amy Rose (862) 289-3072 SOURCE Allergan plc Related Links www.allergan.com SAO PAULO, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Banco BTG Pactual S.A., a sociedade por acoes incorporated in the Federative Republic of Brazil (the " Company ") hereby announces that the substitution of the branch through which the Company acts as issuer of its 8.750% Perpetual Non-Cumulative Junior Subordinated Notes (144A Note CUSIP: 05952VAA6 and Regulation S Note CUSIP: P0779LAA3) (the " Notes ") from the Company's Luxembourg Branch to the Company's Cayman Islands Branch has become operative (the " Branch Substitution "). As announced on January 29, 2019, the Company obtained the consent to the Branch Substitution from eligible holders of a majority of the outstanding principal amount of Notes through a consent solicitation process. The Branch Substitution was effected pursuant to a first supplemental indenture dated as of January 29, 2019 that supplements the indenture governing the Notes dated as of September 18, 2014 (the " First Supplemental Indenture "). While the First Supplemental Indenture was binding on the parties upon execution, the First Supplemental Indenture only became operative upon the approval of the Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil) (the " Central Bank "), among other customary conditions. The Company received the approval of the Central Bank on February 28, 2019 and the Branch Substitution became operative as of March 1, 2019. The Branch Substitution was made in the context of management's reevaluation of the activities currently undertaken by each branch. The Company will remain the ultimate obligor under the Notes, with the only change being through which branch it is acting in such capacity. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "plans" or "continue" or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology referring to future events or results. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors. About Banco BTG Pactual S.A. The Company is a Latin American multi-service investment bank, asset manager and wealth manager. In addition, the Company has established a successful global asset management platform, along with strong international investment and distribution capabilities. The Company was founded in 1983 and has operated as a meritocratic partnership since its inception. Currently, the Company has local coverage offices across Latin America, including in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina, and has an international presence focused on distribution of a wide variety of banking products in Latin America and managing global clients' funds in New York and London. Through this platform, the Company provides a comprehensive range of financial services to a Latin American and global client base that includes corporations, institutional investors, governments and high net worth individuals. SOURCE Banco BTG Pactual S.A. DALLAS, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BenefitMall, the leading provider of employee benefits and payroll services, today introduces TalentFocus, a new payroll feature which will provide a talent recruitment and electronic onboarding system tied directly into its PayFocus and PayFocus Pro platforms. TalentFocus makes finding and hiring the right talent at the right time significantly easier. "We are thrilled to announce this new feature and help our clients save time and money," said Todd Waletzki, president of Payroll Division for BenefitMall. "Our team has worked hard to create an exciting new service to simplify any growing business." Applicant tracking, electronic onboarding and the WOTC Analyzer are included in the TalentFocus launch. Applicant tracking allows employers to create a job posting and share it to many top job boards and social media sites with one click and the employer can add optional pre-interview questions to the posting. The platform helps employers easily identify top candidates, automatically schedule interviews, filter candidates and send offer letters. "At BenefitMall, we give businesses easy access to affordable quality workforce solutions," said Waletzki. "We are proud to introduce TalentFocus as our newest innovation to finding and hiring the best candidates for your business." Electronic onboarding automatically keeps track of every resume and job application employers receive while simultaneously storing them securely in the cloud. Also stored in the cloud by TalentFocus are federal and state documentation such as I-9 and W-4 forms, WOTC documentation, direct deposit information and more.This feature has the ability to reduce time to hire by over 90 percent as it allows new hires to complete onboarding documents even before their first day on the job. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Analyzer, which displays each candidate's estimated tax credit value in their application, will automatically prepare documents for tax reporting and save employers money by identifying eligible candidates for the WOTC program. TalentFocus is now available to all BenefitMall clients. About BenefitMall Headquartered in Dallas, BenefitMall partners with a network of 20,000 Brokers and CPAs to deliver employee benefits and payroll services to more than 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses. By combining payroll and benefits, BenefitMall empowers Trusted Advisors to develop the best employee programs while maintaining compliance with government regulations and Health Care Reform. Owned by Management and The Carlyle Group, BenefitMall also operates HealthCareExchange.com, the leading online community for information regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. More information is available at www.benefitmall.com . SOURCE BenefitMall Related Links http://www.benefitmall.com MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Editorial Advisory and Securities Review Committee of BetterInvesting Magazine today announced Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (NDQ: SWKS) as its May 2019 "Stock to Study" and CarMax, Inc. (NYSE: KMX) as its May 2019 "Undervalued Stock" for investors' informational and educational use. "The committee selected Skyworks Solutions for its opportunities in the internet of things industry and 5G networks, strong management and reasonable stock valuation," said Adam Ritt, editor of BetterInvesting Magazine. "For the Undervalued selection, the committee cited CarMax's reasonable stock valuation in light of its ongoing fundamentals and proven business model." Check BetterInvesting's May issue for more details about these selections. Go to the trial version of BetterInvesting's online tools to study the investment potential of Skyworks Solutions and CarMax by viewing their fundamental data and applying judgments. Committee members are Robert M. Bilkie, Jr., CFA; Daniel J. Boyle, CFA; Marisa Bradbury, CFA; Philip S. Dano, CFA; Maury Elvekrog, CFA; Walter J. Kirchberger, CFA; and Adam Ritt. As stated, the BetterInvesting committee's Stock to Study and Undervalued Stock choices are for the informational and educational uses of investors and are not intended as investment recommendations. BetterInvesting urges investors to educate themselves about the stock market so they can make informed decisions about stock purchases. About BetterInvesting BetterInvesting is a national nonprofit organization that has been empowering individual investors since 1951. Founded in Detroit, the association (formerly known as National Association of Investors Corporation) was borne of the conviction that anyone can become a successful long-term investor by following common-sense investing practices. BetterInvesting has helped more than 5 million people become better, more informed investors by providing webinars, in-person events, easy-to-use online tools for analyzing stocks, a monthly magazine and a community of volunteers and like-minded investors. For more information about BetterInvesting, visit its website at www.betterinvesting.org or call toll free (877) 275-6242. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. SOURCE BetterInvesting Related Links http://www.betterinvesting.org NORWICH, England, Mar. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BizClik Media is pleased to announce the launch of the March issue of Business Chief Asia. World-renowned motorcycle manufacturer KTM Group is setting its sights on conquering the Asian market. Laura Mullan sat down with Luca Martin, Managing Director at KTM Asia Motorcycle Manufacturing, to discuss how the firm's supply chain transformation has laid the foundations for success on its latest frontier. "We are working with some partners in Asia to develop a supplier rating platform where each supplier can log in, create a profile and get feedback about their performances," Martin says. "I think this digital approach is important for the future of procurement." Jollibee Food Corporation has meanwhile established itself as one of the world's fastest-growing quick service restaurant companies. The firm spoke to Marcus Lawrence about its expansion strategy, the importance and strength of its Filipino identity, and its ultimate goal of becoming a global leader in the industry. Elsewhere, Business Chief also spoke with Singapore Life about its digital transformation journey and the disruptive technologies driving customer centricity in insurance. For this month's City Focus, Business Chief explores the vibrant Thai capital of Bangkok and its history as a manufacturing hub and key regional port, while Harry Menear ranks the region's tallest buildings. In addition, the issue includes in-depth company profiles on AXA, Paidy, and Anheuser-Busch InBev and their respective stories about digital disruption and gaining an edge over the competition. As always, Business Chief is excited to hear from readers and companies keen to share their stories and projects. To be featured in an upcoming magazine, please get in touch with our editor at [email protected]. The latest issue of Business Chief Asia can be read here. About Business Chief Business Chief is a media brand fit for the digital age, providing cutting-edge content tailored for company executives, business pioneers and industry thinkers. Divided into eight separate regional titles, Business Chief tells the stories that matter to business leaders and professionals on their way to the top. Through our expertly-crafted digital magazines, websites, videos and social media, those stories reach the right people. Our flagship features are the Leadership Showcases; exclusive interviews with key decision-makers at some of the biggest companies on the globe, documenting their journeys to business transformation and the lessons they've learned along the way. With further themes focused on technology, talent and sustainability, Business Chief has insight on the trends that matter to C and V-level executives, while also delivering consumer-friendly lifestyle content to reflect their interests and wider ambitions. On top of all that and more, Business Chief showcases in-depth digital reports on companies every month, ensuring it covers every angle in the world of business. www.businesschief.com Media Contact: Marcus Lawrence [email protected] +44-(0)-1603-215-072 SOURCE BizClik Media NORWICH, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BizClik Media , the innovative-focused Norfolk-based digital media firm, has published its latest issue of the USA edition of Business Chief . The March edition of the magazine addresses digital transformations within the financial, personal care and enterprise software solution sectors. "What gives us an edge is our scale we're the number one in the industry and we have been at it the longest," says Ben Hawksworth, Chief Technology Officer at Progressive Leasing. Business Chief interviews Hawksworth to find out how the company is helping credit-challenged customers with a disruptive digital transformation. From its 27,000 retail locations and online, Progressive Leasing's lease-to-purchase option has helped millions of customers and their families, harnessing the company's agile methodology and applying it to fintech at scale. Hawksworth says that "we measure usability, we practice design-first thinking and, at the end of the day, we're really passionate about taking the friction out of the process for our customers at every step." Also highlighted this month is Edgewell Personal Care, a company with a motto of 'challenge to win' that is taking the company on a journey to transform its procurement function. The company aims to enable a consumer-centric, sustainable future, and Infor USA, the industry-leading software company using cutting-edge analytics, data lake technology and its own artificial intelligence to unlock the human potential of its customers. The March edition also includes in-depth exclusive interviews with Pay-O-Matic Corporation, Boise State University, Choice Financial, Dimension Data and Hyster. This month's City Focus takes a look at Charlotte, North Carolina, and three of the disruptive 'unicorn' startups that call it home. You can also find Charlotte on our list of the Top 10 Smart Cities in the country, alongside other rising stars like Atlanta and Columbus, and established innovation hubs like Boston and New York. The issue can be read here. About Business Chief Business Chief is a media brand fit for the digital age, providing cutting-edge content tailored for company executives, business pioneers and industry thinkers. Divided into eight separate regional titles, Business Chief tells the stories that matter to business leaders and professionals on their way to the top. Through our expertly-crafted digital magazines, websites, videos and social media, those stories reach the right people. Our flagship features are the Leadership Showcases; exclusive interviews with key decision-makers at some of the biggest companies on the globe, documenting their journeys to business transformation and the lessons they've learned along the way. With further themes focused on technology, talent and sustainability, Business Chief has insight on the trends that matter to C and V-level executives, while also delivering consumer-friendly lifestyle content to reflect their interests and wider ambitions. On top of all that and more, Business Chief showcases in-depth digital reports on companies every month, ensuring it covers every angle in the world of business. About BizClik Media BizClik Media Ltd is a diverse, multi-platform digital media company focusing on the global B2B marketplace. We have a passion for great content and we collaborate with the world's most inspiring and innovative business leaders to deliver only the best, most engaging and relevant content to you. With a trusted and recognised publishing portfolio that is home to over 16 brands, including e-magazines and web platforms, combined with our social media marketing and data marketing tools, we have the experience, approach and know-how, to deliver your brand in front of the people that matter. Contact: Harry Menear Content Producer Editor-in-Chief, Business Chief US Deputy Editor, Supply Chain Digital Tel: +44-(0)-1603-217-576 Email: [email protected] SOURCE BizClik Media VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Irvin Cantor and Jeffrey Breit grew up in different parts of Virginia (Cantor in Richmond, Breit in Virginia Beach), graduated from law school a year apart (Cantor in 1978 from the University of Virginia, Breit from Tulane in 1979), and later became great friends and two of the most heralded trial attorneys in their home state. Each has been president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and routinely recognized as among America's "Super Lawyers" and the nation's top litigators. In Richmond, the legal community considers Cantor, Stoneburner, Ford, Grana and Buckner one of Virginia's top brain injury and medical malpractice firms. In Hampton Roads, Breit, Drescher and Imprevento is viewed as the "go-to" practice for complex personal injury cases. Now, Jeffrey Breit and Irvin Cantor have united their legacies and companies into one. Breit Cantor Grana Buckner, with offices in Richmond and Virginia Beach, will represent victims of accidents caused by the negligence of others, seeking to secure fair settlements for their injured clients. "We are both veterans in the area of personal injury law in Virginia and elsewhere," says Breit, who comes from a family of attorneys (father, brothers and wife) and now teaches as an adjunct professor of law at the College of William and Mary. "Each of us has outstanding young attorneys working with us, so Irv and I thought it was time to bring together everyone's talents to provide Virginians with serious injury cases the most experienced, knowledgeable and vigorous representation possible." "Stephanie Grana, Elliot Buckner and Scott Bucci are also Super Lawyers in their fields and well known in Central Virginia for their ability to win significant awards," says Cantor. "In fact, Stephanie is a past president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and Elliot is in line to become one. We have all partnered with Jeff and his team on cases. The relationship and results have been excellent." Jeff's protege is Kevin Biniazan, an Arizona native who graduated cum laude from W&M Law where he received some of his litigation training from Breit himself. "Kevin is on his way to a very successful and productive career," says Jeff, "and having a great team of lawyers, either in the next office at the Oceanfront, or at the other end of the phone line in Richmond, to provide advice and co-counsel will benefit him and his growing list of clients." Cantor's protege is his son, Joseph, who also graduated cum laude from the University of Richmond Law School. Virginia Beach attorneys Mike Imprevento, Allen Beasley and Billie Hobbs Leeth will remain as part of the new entity. In Richmond, Breit Cantor also includes lawyers Lewis Stoneburner, Aubrey Ford, Bellamy Stoneburner and Jeffrey Stedman. Irvin Cantor, who is a Past President of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, is also founder and President of Jury Impressions, a jury consulting company, which arranges mock trials and focus groups for attorneys nationwide. Jeffrey Breit has made his mark, not just in the courtroom, but also at the statehouse, leading the fight to raise the "cap" on medical malpractice awards in Virginia, which had been frozen for 17 years. He also was one of 15 attorneys who represented 125,000 businesses, fishermen and other individuals who filed lawsuits against defendants in the April 2010 BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Pending the official formation and launch of Breit Cantor Grana Buckner, inquiring parties can learn about and request the services of Breit Drescher Imprevento by visiting https://www.breitdrescher.com/. If you would like any additional information please call Jeff Breit at (757) 670-3888 SOURCE Breit Drescher Imprevento Related Links https://www.breitdrescher.com HOUSTON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE:BRS) announced that L. Don Miller has been named President and Chief Executive Officer and appointed him as a member of the Board of Directors, which took effect at the close of business on February 28, 2019. Miller previously served as the company's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Bristow Group extends its thanks to Thomas Amonett, Executive Vice Chairman of Bristow Group's Board of Directors, for his service as interim President following the announced retirement of previous President and CEO Jonathan Baliff. "Don's energy, intellect and commitment to the Bristow team and our customers gives the board full confidence in his ability to lead Bristow, the world's leading industrial aviation solutions provider," said Tom Knudson, Director and Chairman of Bristow Group's Board of Directors. "As we continue to navigate through challenging times, Don's steady hand will provide important and needed continuity. Don's knowledge of the business and our clients coupled with his extensive experience in financial and capital markets position him well to lead this great company." Miller joined Bristow Group in 2010 and has held several leadership positions within the company's Finance and Strategy functions, including Vice President of Mergers, Acquisitions and Integration. Miller, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder, was also named a finalist for the 2018 Houston Business Journal CFO of the Year award. "Bristow serves a critical role in the oil and gas and search and rescue industries and beyond, and I'm honored to have the opportunity to lead the company through one of the most dynamic markets in recent history," said Miller. "Bristow has the best employees in the world, with an unwavering commitment to safety and our clients. I'm confident we will continue to provide unparalleled service as we work through our challenges and become an even better long-term partner to our clients." Additionally, the company announced that Brian Allman has been promoted and will replace Miller as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Allman was previously Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer for Bristow, and will continue as Bristow's Chief Accounting Officer. Allman joined Bristow in 2006 as Director of Financial Reporting. "Brian is a well-respected financial leader both internally and externally," said Miller. "While leading our global accounting and tax team, Brian played an important role in our recent financings and is fully integrated with our investor relations, internal audit and financial forecasting and modeling functions." About Bristow Group Inc. Bristow Group Inc. is the world's leading industrial aviation service provider offering helicopter transportation, search and rescue (SAR) and aircraft support services to government and civil organizations worldwide. Bristow's strategically located global fleet supports operations in the North Sea, Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico; as well as in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Trinidad. Bristow provides SAR services to the private sector worldwide and to the public sector for all of the U.K. on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. To learn more, visit our website at www.bristowgroup.com. Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure Statements contained in this news release include forward-looking statements (including statements made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These forward-looking statements include statements regarding future opportunities, market and industry conditions, and other statements identified by words such as "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "should," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "aim," "hope," "predict," and similar words, phrases and expressions, although not all forward-looking statements include such words, phrases or expressions. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause events or results to differ materially from those anticipated include but are not limited to the following: fluctuations in the demand for our services; fluctuations in worldwide prices of and supply and demand for oil and natural gas; fluctuations in levels of oil and natural gas production, exploration and development activities; the impact of competition; actions by customers and suppliers; the risk of reductions in spending on industrial aviation services by governmental agencies; changes in tax and other laws and regulations; changes in foreign exchange rates and controls; risks associated with international operations; operating risks inherent in our business, including the possibility of declining safety performance; general economic conditions including the capital and credit markets; our inability to obtain financing on favorable terms, whether caused by our financial position, lower debt credit ratings, unstable markets or otherwise; our ability to pay, refinance or restructure our debt and aircraft lease commitments; the risk of grounding of segments of our fleet for extended periods of time or indefinitely; our ability to re-deploy our aircraft to regions with greater demand; our ability to acquire additional aircraft and dispose of older aircraft through sales into the aftermarket; the possibility that we do not achieve the anticipated benefit of our fleet investment program; availability of employees; and political instability, war or acts of terrorism in any of the countries where we operate. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. Bristow Group Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, including financial estimates, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Bristow Group Inc. Global Media Relations Adam Morgan Director, Global Communications +1 832.783.7927 [email protected] Investor Relations Linda McNeill Director, Investor Relations +1 713.267.7622 [email protected] SOURCE Bristow Group Inc. Related Links http://www.bristowgroup.com SHANGHAI, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CARsgen Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company committed to developing Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell therapies for cancer, today announced that one of its leading drug candidates, CT053 fully human BCMA (B-Cell Maturation Antigen)-CAR-T cell for the treatment of patients suffering from relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (rrMM), has received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). "At the American Society of Hematology meeting in December 2018, our collaborator, Dr. Songfu Jiang presented encouraging safety and efficacy data in patients with rrMM who received CT053 BCMA-CAR-T cells. The IND clearance of BCMA-CAR-T cells by China's NMPA is of great significance to CARsgen," said Dr. Zonghai Li, founder, CEO and CSO of CARsgen. "According to JAMA Oncology, in 2016, there were about 130,000 cases of myeloma, which means from 1990 to 2016, incident cases of myeloma increased by 126% globally[1] and despite the development of novel therapies, multiple myeloma remains incurable and new treatment options are needed. As part of the CT053 development plan, we also intend to submit an IND application for BCMA-CAR-T cells to the U.S. FDA in 2019. Our goal is to continue the development of novel, safe and effective immunotherapies. This is our long-standing commitment to cancer patients worldwide." References: About CARsgen Therapeutics CARsgen Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immune-oncology company committed to the development and commercialization of CAR-T therapeutics for unmet medical need. The company has collaborated with top hospitals in China to launch several First-in-Human studies such as CAR-GPC3-T for hepatocellular carcinoma and squamous lung cancer, CAR-EGFR/EGFRvIII-T for glioblastoma multiforme and CAR-Claudin18.2-T for gastric and pancreatic cancer. For more information, please visit: www.carsgen.com SOURCE CARsgen Therapeutics Co. Ltd. Related Links http://www.carsgen.com CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- To keep up with the latest trends, more than 1,000 professionals dedicated to the growing closets and organized storage industry will meet at the Charlotte Convention Center March 6-8 for the Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo. "It's not your parents' closet anymore," said Laurel Didier, publisher of Closets & Organized Storage, a trade magazine dedicated to the industry and sponsor of the event. "Closets are more than places to store your clothes, more often home storage professionals are building pantries, laundry and mud rooms, garages, and multi-use rooms. The prices have gone up but so have the number of upgrades available to the consumer." The three-day event (open to the trade only) kicks off March 6 with a full day of education and plant tours. David Linda, founder of Houston-based SpaceMan Home & Office, will open the day with his keynote, "How I launched a closets business and retired early." Attendees will tour two Charlotte-based facilities: architectural woodworking firm, Carocraft and woodworking machinery supplier, Biesse America. Another highlight of day one will be the release of an exclusive State-of-the-Industry study of the closets and home organization industry. The research project surveyed more than 160 closets-related companies to gauge the overall size and characteristics of the industry and the latest trends in design and accessories. We're excited to conduct this study to see where the industry stands and where it's headed," said Didier. A trade show featuring more than 100 exhibitors and complimentary keynotes and seminars are slated for March 7-8. The Closets event is co-located with Wood Pro Expo Charlotte, which is dedicated to woodworking professionals. Attendees will descend upon the nearby NASCAR Hall of Fame on the evening of March 7 to find out the winner of the Top Shelf Design Awards, recognizing the best in closets and home organization projects. This year's competition had a total of 86 entries the highest number of submissions within the last five years. The Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo and Wood Pro Expo Charlotte are part of Woodworking Network, owned by CCI Media. For more information contact Laurel Didier [email protected]. SOURCE Woodworking Network Related Links https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com PHOENIX, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chief Squad Records recently announced the upcoming release of J.Rob The Chief's second album, "Eight," for March 8, 2019. The album will be featured in a subsequent release show two days later on March 10 at the Monarch Theatre in Phoenix. "Eight" features artists A.D. as well as Yung Reece, with appearances from guest producers K-Beatz, Hurricane and JSHP LIOR. "Eight" was executively produced by Stevie Hardy. "Eight" is a tour de force, with multiple tracks that include: Chief Squad Records Releases Second Album from J.Rob The Chief: Eight The Dress (Prod. by Stevie Hardy ) ) True Colors ft. Yung Reece (Prod. by Stevie Hardy ) (Prod. by ) 5 AM (Prod. by Stevie Hardy ) (Prod. by ) India Love (Prod. by Stevie Hardy ) (Prod. by ) Gotta Be Down (Prod. by Stevie Hardy ) (Prod. by ) Run it Back (Prod. by JSHP LIOR) 2 Plus ft AD (Prod. by K-Beatz) Changed (Prod. by Hurricane) Brief Bio of J.Rob The Chief A native of Phoenix, J.Rob The Chief is part of a musical legacy that began with his entertainer father, who encouraged him to write music starting around the age of 10. Performing for multiple family functions as he grew up, J.Rob The Chief eventually began to understand that music would forever shape him as person. It was at the age of 18 however, after dedicating a show to the memory of his late father, that J.Rob added "The Chief" to his stage name. In honoring his mentor, an artist was officially born. J.Rob also acknowledges his strong Dominican roots in the hard work and dedication to family modeled to him by his mother. Growing up in a musically rich environment listening to hip-hop and R&B, in addition to his mother's favorite Bachata and Merengue J.Rob The Chief recognizes all of the varied influences that continue to inform his artistic choices. He plans to continue that legacy, now that he has become a parent. Preorder the album on iTunes: "Eight" Learn more about artist, J.Rob The Chief on: Facebook: Facebook.com/jrobthechief Instagram: @jrobthechief Twitter: @jrobthechief YouTube: youtube.com/therealjrob About Chief Squad Records Formed in Phoenix in 2018 to directly support the musical endeavors of J.Rob The Chief, Chief Squad Records produces both Hip-Hop and R&B records. J.Rob The Chief often collaborates with best friend and producer, Stevie Hardy, formerly of Epicenter Recording Studios. With a gradually growing roster of artists, Chief Squad Records is content to take its time producing albums slowly and carefully, emphasizing musical quality over quantity. Learn more at: J.Rob The Chief. Contact: Elihu B. Cortez (831)595-2796 SOURCE Chief Squad Records DUBLIN, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "China Blood Product Industry Report, 2019-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. With the adjustment of the national medical insurance catalogue, the clinical application and reimbursement rate of almost all blood products have been greatly improved, and the market for blood products has been further opened. In 2018, the lot release volume of Chinese blood products increased 13.5% year on year to 73.94 million bottles, of which the lot release volume of human albumin soared 13.8% year on year to 45.17 million bottles. At present, Chinese blood products are still centered on albumin, of which human albumin occupies a relatively high proportion. By the lot release volume, human albumin accounts for about 60%, followed by human immunoglobulin for intravenous injection with about 15%, human rabies immunoglobulin and tetanus immunoglobulin with more than 5% each. The proportion of human fibrinogen, three special immunoglobulins, human prothrombin complex and coagulation factor VIII is relatively low, especially coagulation factor products, life-saving drugs for hemophilia patients, are often in shortage. The main reason is that the current utilization rate of plasma in China is low, and many companies are unable to produce such blood products. Therefore, China's blood product industry still faces big problems: how to further raise the plasma collection volume, how to expand the production scale of various products, how to improve the resource utilization, and how to alleviate the tight supply. There are over thirty blood product manufacturers in China. Among them, China Biologic Products, Hualan Biological Engineering, Shanghai RAAS Blood Products and Beijing Tiantan Biological Products are more competitive, as they have richer blood product lines and adequate supply of raw materials from plasma stations. In the future, China's blood product industry will see faster industry integration and higher concentration. The report highlights the following: Analysis of development of China blood product industry, including policies, status quo, market structure, supply & demand, market size, and competitive landscape; blood product industry, including policies, status quo, market structure, supply & demand, market size, and competitive landscape; Analysis on market segments of China blood product industry, covering human albumin, human immunoglobulin (pH4) for intravenous injection, blood coagulation factor VIII, hepatitis B human immunoglobulin, human immunoglobulin, human prothrombin complex, Tetanus Immunoglobulin, and Human Rabies Immunoglobulin; blood product industry, covering human albumin, human immunoglobulin (pH4) for intravenous injection, blood coagulation factor VIII, hepatitis B human immunoglobulin, human immunoglobulin, human prothrombin complex, Tetanus Immunoglobulin, and Human Rabies Immunoglobulin; Analysis of 13 blood product enterprises, including operation, revenue structure, gross margin, R & D investment, blood product business and development strategy; Summary & forecast and trends. Key Topics Covered: 1. Overview of Blood Products 1.1 Definition 1.2 Classification 1.3 Recombinant Blood Products 1.4 Industry Chain 1.5 Features 2. Development of China Blood Product Industry 2.1 Related Policies 2.2 Status Quo 2.3 Market Structure 2.4 Market Supply and Demand 2.4.1 Supply 2.4.2 Demand 2.5 Market Size 2.6 Competition Pattern 3. Market Segments of China Blood Product Industry 3.1 Human Albumin 3.1.1 Development Status 3.1.2 Bid Price 3.1.3 Market Structure 3.1.4 Competition Pattern 3.1.5 Prospects 3.2 Human Immunoglobulin (pH4) for Intravenous Injection 3.2.1 Development Status 3.2.2 Bid Price 3.2.3 Competition Pattern 3.2.4 Prospects 3.3 Coagulation Factor VIII 3.3.1 Development Status 3.3.2 Bid Price 3.3.3 Competition Pattern 3.3.4 Prospects 3.4 Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin 3.4.1 Development Status 3.4.2 Bid Price 3.4.3 Competition Pattern 3.5 Human Immunoglobulin 3.5.1 Development Status 3.5.2 Bid Price 3.5.3 Competition Pattern 3.6 Human Prothrombin Complex 3.6.1 Development Status 3.6.2 Bid Price 3.6.3 Competition Pattern 3.7 Tetanus Immunoglobulin 3.7.1 Development Status 3.7.2 Bid Price 3.7.3 Competition Pattern 3.8 Human Rabies Immunoglobulin 3.8.1 Development Status 3.8.2 Bid Price 3.8.3 Competition Pattern 4. Major Enterprises 4.1 China Biologic Products (CBPO) 4.1.1 Profile 4.1.2 Operation 4.1.3 Revenue Strucuture 4.1.4 Gross Margin 4.1.5 R&D Investment 4.1.6 Blood Products Business 4.1.7 Guizhou Taibang Biological Products Co., Ltd. 4.1.8 Shandong Taibang Biological Products Co., Ltd. 4.1.9 Xi'an Huitian Blood Products Co., Ltd. 4.2 Hualan Biological Engineering Co., Ltd. 4.2.1 Profile 4.2.2 Operation 4.2.3 Revenue Strucuture 4.2.4 Gross Margin 4.2.5 R&D Investment 4.2.6 Blood Products Business 4.2.7 Development Strategy 4.3 Shanghai RAAS Blood Products 4.3.1 Profile 4.3.2 Operation 4.3.3 Revenue Strucuture 4.3.4 Gross Margin 4.3.5 R&D Investment 4.3.6 Blood Products Business 4.3.7 Development Strategy 4.4 Beijing Tiantan Biological Products 4.4.1 Profile 4.4.2 Operation 4.4.3 Revenue Strucuture 4.4.4 Gross Margin 4.4.5 R&D Investment 4.4.6 Blood Products Business 4.4.7 Chengdu Rongsheng 4.5 Zhenxing Biopharmaceutical & Chemical 4.5.1 Profile 4.5.2 Operation 4.5.3 Gross Margin 4.5.4 R&D Investment 4.5.5 Blood Products Business 4.5.6 Development Strategy 4.6 Jiangxi Boya Bio-Pharmaceutical 4.6.1 Profile 4.6.2 Operation 4.6.3 Revenue Structure 4.6.4 Gross Margin 4.6.5 R&D Investment 4.6.6 Blood Products Business 4.6.7 Development Strategy 4.7 Weiguang Biological Products 4.7.1 Profile 4.7.2 Operation 4.7.3 Revenue Strucuture 4.7.4 Gross Margin 4.7.5 R&D Investment 4.7.6 Blood Products Business 4.7.7 Development Strategy 4.8 Beijing Bohui Innovation Technology 4.8.1 Profile 4.8.2 Operation 4.8.3 Revenue Strucuture 4.8.4 Gross Margin 4.8.5 R&D Investment 4.8.6 Blood Products Business 4.8.7 Development Strategy 4.9 Wuhan ZhongyuanRuide Biological Products 4.9.1 Profile 4.9.2 Operation 4.9.3 Blood Products Business 4.8 Sichuan Yuanda Shuyang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 4.8.1 Profile 4.10.2 Blood Products Business 4.11 Shanxi Kangbao Biological Product 4.11.1 Profile 4.11.2 Blood Products Business 4.12 Green Cross China 4.12.1 Profile 4.12.2 Blood Products Business 4.13 Nanyue Biopharming Corporation Ltd. 4.13.1 Profile 4.13.2 Blood Products Business 5. Summary and Forecast 5.1 Summary 5.2 Development Trend 5.2.1 The Industry Continues to Boom 5.2.2 Industry Integration Speeds Up, Concentration Rises Further 5.2.3 Plasma Collection Volume and Number of Plasma Stations Determine the Status in the Industry 5.2.4 Plasma Volume Increases Progressively 5.2.5 Enterprises Make More Input in R&D of New Products to Sharpen Competitiveness 5.2.6 Comprehensive Utilization of Blood Plasma Gets a Further Rise 5.2.7 Downstream Demand Stimulates the Development of the Industry 5.2.8 Healthcare System Reform Deepens, Gradual Perfection of Medical Insurance System Favors the Development of the Industry For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/28bx8v/china_blood?w=5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Strategic, founded in 1987 and based in Arlington, Virginia, is the largest independent investment manager dedicated to the OCIO sector, with AUM of over US$26 billion on behalf of its discretionary clients. OCIO services are a growing part of the investment management industry and Strategic, as a leader in this segment, provides high-quality, independent, customised solutions which are highly attractive to its pension, foundation, endowment, healthcare and sovereign wealth clients. Through its centralised, institutional investment process, the firm's approach combines active portfolio management, rigorous risk management and open architecture manager selection. Northill's investment in Strategic is consistent with its strategy to invest over the long-term in high-quality active investment businesses that create a strong strategic and cultural fit. This transaction is Northill's sixth to date and sees the firm's AUM increase to over US$79 billion from US$53 billion at 31 December 2018. The transaction, which was announced on 20 December 2018, was subject to obtaining client consents and satisfying other customary closing conditions. The transaction has since been approved by 100% of Strategic's clients. Jon Little, Partner, Northill Capital LLP, said: "We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of Strategic Investment Group, the gold standard independent investment firm in the OCIO/Solutions sector. The management team's increased ownership of the business is a strong vote of confidence in its future and that of the sector. We are looking forward to working with the firm's talented and passionate team as an owner alongside management and long-term supportive partner, to ensure that Strategic has the support and autonomy necessary to achieve long-term outperformance and sustainable growth." Brian Murdock, Chief Executive of Strategic Investment Group, said: "We are excited to announce the closing and are grateful for the overwhelming support of our clients in making this transaction possible. We are thrilled to be entering into this partnership with Northill, with whom we share a strong philosophical and cultural alignment. Northill provides a patient and permanent capital base and complete autonomy to manage our business and our investment process. The transaction also provides a mechanism to ensure cross-generational stability by increasing the equity ownership of the current and future leaders of our firm. In short, this transaction best positions us to deliver the service and long-term performance that our clients expect." Contacts: Northill Capital Jon Little Northill Capital LLP +44 (0)207 016 4011 Gay Collins / Toto Reissland-Burghart Montfort Communications [email protected] +44 (0)20 3770 7905 / 7907 Strategic Investment Group Nikki Kraus, CFA Managing Director, Global Head of Client Development [email protected] +1 703.243.4433 Notes to editors: Northill Capital Northill Capital is an independent, privately held asset management business, established in London in 2010, with substantial financial backing from interests associated with the Bertarelli Family. Northill's long-term strategy is to build a portfolio of high quality, specialist asset management businesses. Assets under management by businesses in which Northill owns a majority interest total approximately US$53 billion at 31 December 2018. Northill brings deep industry experience and expertise and the patient, long-term application of substantial private capital to support skilled investment professionals to develop their businesses. Northill Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.northill.com Strategic Investment Group Strategic, founded in 1987 and based in Arlington, Virginia, is an OCIO pioneer, purpose-built to provide sophisticated, customized investment solutions to a select group of clients. Strategic offers customized investment solutions because no two institutions have the same objectives, core mission, strategic direction, and ability to bear risk. Strategic also understands the need to practice sound investment governance to avoid high manager turnover, lackluster performance, and excessive costs. Strategic has delivered for its clients, helping them achieve their objectives through experience, insight, discipline, efficiency, cost-consciousness, and sound governance. Over the past three decades, Strategic has built a client-centric, team-oriented culture based on these attributes which acts as the largest dedicated OCIO. From designing and implementing investment policies to providing a full-range of back office support, an OCIO handles the day-to-day tasks of investment management to allow clients to focus on their mission and strategic objectives. Operating at scale with significant operational investments made, Strategic has delivered compelling results across market cycles and made the successful transition to the second generation of its investment team. Acting as a seamless extension of clients' investment teams and staff, the firm provides comprehensive, customized fiduciary solutions for clients. Strategic is registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission. www.strategicgroup.com SOURCE Strategic Investment Group Together, Coulson and Unical are well along in the design and modification of the UH-60A and the CH-47D to install Coulson's proprietary RADS tanks, respectively, as well as to add other unique capabilities such as night-vision, IFR navigation and hover filling. The modified UH-60A and CH-47, which will be type certified and FAA approved, are to be known as the "CU-60" and the "CU-47". Both aircraft will enable Coulson Unical to offer world class Helitanker firefighting performance at competitive pricing. The SMART Delivery System Controller technology in these systems will allow for automated target drops for our night vision goggle firefighting program and will have the capability to adjust flow rates based on speed and altitude, providing ground crews the same options as our fixed wing air tankers. "This partnership with Unical Aviation is the future of aerial firefighting, combining the best of both companies as we introduce the CU-60 and CU-47 Next Gen Helitankers," stated CEO, Wayne Coulson, Coulson Aviation, "The foundation of our company was built on the premise of offering the customer better value, which both of these aircraft types will provide." Han Tan, CEO of Unical Aviation stated "We wanted to partner our fleet of UH-60's and CH-47's with the best, most innovative aerial firefighting outfit we could find. Coulson was the clear choice, and we're delighted to be teaming with them." Britton Coulson, VP of Coulson Aviation added, "Both the CU-60 with the new RADS-M, and the CU-47 with the new RADS-L, will be based on our proven and highly desirable C-130 RADS-XXL and B737 RADS-XXL/2 systems. All Coulson RADS series of tanks have a common touch screen SMART Delivery System Controller with proprietary technology that's far superior to anything else on the market. We pride ourselves on OEM Style integrations that modify the airframe in the least intrusive way possible while achieving the optimal design and performance for the mission." Coulson Unical are targeting to launch operations for the 2019 fire season in North America. About Coulson Coulson is an industry leader in aerial firefighting and the only operator of both heavy fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Coulson continues to push the boundaries of Innovation with the design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of the Boeing 737 multi-purpose 4,000 USG air tanker. Coulson also is the first commercial operator of large Type 1 helicopters to conduct full Night Vision Goggles including hover filling. About Unical Unical is an industry leader in support of aircraft and engine parts and services to commercial and military operators worldwide. Unical has a parts inventory of over 1.3 million line items and over 85 million piece parts with hundreds of items shipped daily. Unical provides comprehensive aviation parts and services solutions through its affiliate companies: Unical MRO, Unical Defense, Unical 145 and Unical Aero. Photo content is available at www.coulsonunical.com. SOURCE The Coulson Group of Companies Related Links http://coulsoniceblast.com/ SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Dell Boomi (Boomi), the only unified platform that radically accelerates business outcomes with intelligence that speeds the flow of data across systems, processes and people. Today we announced the winners of the Boomi Blue Challenge. The top companies were recognized for demonstrating innovative transformation efforts powered by the Boomi platform. Launched at Boomi World 2018, the Boomi Blue Challenge asked companies to share the blue sky thinking that inspired a transformation project and how they gained a competitive advantage by using Boomi to improve how their organization works and innovates. "It is truly inspiring to see the inventive ways our customers and partners are transforming not only their own organizations but also their industries with technology," said Chris Port, COO at Boomi. "Our customers are introducing better, more innovative products and services at an unprecedented pace and we want to celebrate their ambitious thinking and the outcomes they have achieved with our platform." Winners were recognized across four regions and best demonstrated how integration with Boomi is accelerating organizational transformation efforts. The winning companies include: Alleantia SRL EMEA Boomi partner Alleantia is making it easy to transform IoT data into new insights, revenue streams and digital innovations. The lightweight Boomi Atom runs on edge devices and talks with Alleantia's software, supported by Boomi's unique distributed integration architecture. With such intelligence permeating their factory systems, manufacturers can improve business operations and drive digital transformation initiatives. Brightline USA Brightline is redefining train travel for the Uber generation. The premium rail system makes scheduling and booking a trip a seamless multichannel experience, from the mobile phone to the electronic kiosk to the ticket booth and aboard the trains. Bringing a top-shelf customer experience to train travel is no easy feat. Rail companies need to operate efficiently, maintain safety, ensure consistent service quality, meet ever-demanding passenger needs, and achieve more with shrinking budgets. Intouch Insight Canada Intouch Insight offers customer experience management software and services that help global brands delight their customers, strengthen brand reputation and improve performance. Now Boomi is helping Intouch Insight delight its own customers even more. With Boomi seamlessly managing critical integrations of Intouch Insight's own platform with other mission-critical software, the company is able to provide much more robust and seamless reporting capabilities as part of its product. Integration connections that would have taken the company six to nine months to build only took weeks with Boomi. Origin Energy APJ Origin Energy , a leading energy provider in Australia, has used Boomi to dramatically improve the productivity of thousands of its workers who operate and maintain gas facilities, pump lines and infrastructure across Origin's sprawling operations. Origin's employees often work in remote locations with no reliable internet connection. Held back by old-school paper-based reporting, Origin needed a better way to gather operational data, schedule work efficiently, and gain real-time visibility into the activities of its far-flung workforce. But cost-savings was just one of several benefits that Boomi delivered. With Boomi in place, Origin can now easily integrate its extensive legacy systems with its new cloud infrastructure and IoT edge devices, laying the foundation for additional innovations and cost savings in the future. The winners will receive a complimentary trip to Boomi World Tour London , March 25-26, 2019, and a chance to participate in a main stage keynote focused on digital transformation. About Dell Boomi Dell Boomi, an independent business unit of Dell, quickly and easily unites everything in your digital ecosystem so you can achieve better business outcomes, faster. Boomi's intelligent, flexible, scalable platform accelerates your business results by linking your data, systems, applications, processes and people. Harnessing the power of the cloud to unify everything inside and outside of a business, Boomi gives more than 8,200 businesses the agility to lead the future. Boomi has an industry-leading customer satisfaction rate of 95 percent and renewal rate of 97 percent. For more information, visit http://www.boomi.com 2019 Boomi Inc. Dell, Boomi, and Dell Boomi are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other names or marks may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Contact: Janine Kromhout Dell Boomi 650-269-1417 [email protected] Kelsey Quickstad Hotwire for Dell Boomi 415-820-4494 [email protected] Special note: Statements in this material that relate to future results, future hiring, and future events or investment are forward-looking statements and are based on Boomi's current expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by such forward-looking words as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "confidence," "may," "plan," "potential," "should," "will" and "would," or similar expressions. Actual results, hiring, customer trends, and events in future periods may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements because of a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including the challenge of finding and onboarding new personnel, marketplace trends, ongoing management attention to the market, the uncertainties associated with technology changes and the development and release of new technology. Boomi and Dell Technologies assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. SOURCE Dell Boomi Related Links http://www.boomi.com BOSTON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At a Special Meeting of Shareholders held on February 28, 2019, shareholders of Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund II (NYSE American: EIV) approved the merger of EIV into Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund (NYSE American: EIM). The merger is currently expected to be completed as of the close of business of the New York Stock Exchange on or about March 22, 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Each EIV shareholder will be issued common shares of EIM at an exchange ratio based on the Funds' respective net asset values per share. Each Fund is a closed-end management investment company sponsored and managed by Eaton Vance Management. Eaton Vance Management is a subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp. EIV and EIM trade on the NYSE American. Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV) provides advanced investment strategies and wealth management solutions to forward-thinking investors around the world. Through principal investment affiliates Eaton Vance, Parametric, Atlanta Capital, Hexavest and Calvert, the Company offers a diversity of investment approaches, encompassing bottom-up and top-down fundamental active management, responsible investing, systematic investing and customized implementation of client-specified portfolio exposures. As of January 31, 2019, Eaton Vance had consolidated assets under management of $444.7 billion. Exemplary service, timely innovation and attractive returns across market cycles have been hallmarks of Eaton Vance since 1924. For more information, visit eatonvance.com. Additional Information about the Funds This press release is for informational purposes only and is not intended to, and does not, constitute an offer to purchase or sell shares of the Funds. Fund shares are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of principal invested. No Fund is a complete investment program and you may lose money investing in a Fund. An investment in a Fund may not be appropriate for all investors. Additional information about the Funds, including performance and portfolio characteristic information, is available at www.eatonvance.com . Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond a Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. SOURCE Eaton Vance Management Related Links http://www.eatonvance.com AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ram brand reports record February as sales rise 24 percent. Jeep Cherokee sets February record All new heavy-duty Ram begins to arrive in dealer showrooms FCA US LLC reported today that the Jeep Cherokee set an all-time February sales record, despite another month of bitter weather across key selling regions for the brand. The Ram brand scored another record month as well, on the back of award-winning products in the hot light-duty and heavy-duty markets. Following 11 straight months of year-over-year sales increases, the company's overall U.S. February sales retreated 2 percent to 162,036 vehicles in a soft market, compared with sales of 165,903 vehicles in February 2018. The Jeep brand is returning to a more "normal" sales cadence after benefiting from both the new and old Wrangler coming off the production lines this time last year. "The overall industry is starting off slower due in part to weather, the U.S. government shutdown, and concern over tax refunds," U.S. Head of Sales Reid Bigland said. "We still see a strong, stable economy and anticipate any lost winter sales will be made up in the spring. For us, the Ram brand was the standout in February, and Jeep Cherokee set a February record as well." See the attached table for the breakdown of brand and nameplate sales. FCA US LLC Sales Summary February 2019 Month Sales Vol % CYTD Sales Vol % Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Compass 12,063 16,026 -25% 22,361 26,218 -15% Patriot 3 116 -97% 9 264 -97% Wrangler 15,001 15,936 -6% 28,015 27,675 1% Gladiator 70 0 New 80 0 New Cherokee 16,020 12,225 31% 31,158 26,846 16% Grand Cherokee 18,009 17,468 3% 33,084 33,832 -2% Renegade 5,909 8,249 -28% 10,769 14,888 -28% JEEP BRAND 67,075 70,020 -4% 125,476 129,723 -3% Ram P/U 39,950 33,299 20% 74,839 62,657 19% Cargo Van 0 0 0% 0 0 ProMaster Van 4,632 2,235 107% 8,391 4,006 109% ProMaster City 960 1,203 -20% 1,961 2,113 -7% RAM BRAND 45,542 36,737 24% 85,191 68,776 24% 200 6 219 -97% 18 470 -96% 300 2,508 4,449 -44% 4,586 6,769 -32% Town & Country 0 0 1 2 -50% Pacifica 7,854 11,482 -32% 14,817 19,493 -24% CHRYSLER BRAND 10,368 16,150 -36% 19,422 26,734 -27% Dart 3 82 -96% 6 165 -96% Avenger 0 0 100% 0 1 -100% Charger 6,547 7,568 -13% 11,757 12,761 -8% Challenger 3,639 6,093 -40% 6,869 9,498 -28% Viper 0 1 -100% 1 3 -67% Journey 8,258 4,782 73% 15,490 8,144 90% Caravan 12,521 16,443 -24% 19,634 26,852 -27% Durango 6,105 5,218 17% 10,393 10,363 0% DODGE BRAND 37,073 40,187 -8% 64,150 67,787 -5% 500 207 416 -50% 468 870 -46% 500L 51 118 -57% 107 222 -52% 500X 219 484 -55% 493 972 -49% Spider 139 223 -38% 299 406 -26% FIAT BRAND 616 1,241 -50% 1,367 2,470 -45% Giulia 646 853 -24% 1,177 1,801 -35% Alfa 4C 16 20 -20% 23 32 -28% Stelvio 700 695 1% 1,312 1,383 -5% ALFA ROMEO 1,362 1,568 -13% 2,512 3,216 -22% FCA US LLC 162,036 165,903 -2% 298,118 298,706 0% Method of Determining FCA US LLC's Monthly Sales. FCA US's reported vehicle sales represent unit sales of vehicles to retail customers, deliveries of vehicles to fleet customers and to others such as FCA US's employees and retirees as well as vehicles used for marketing. Most of these reported sales reflect retail sales made by dealers out of their own inventory of vehicles previously purchased by them from FCA US. Reported vehicle units sales do not correspond to FCA US's reported revenues, which are based on FCA US's sale and delivery of vehicles, and typically recognized upon shipment to the dealer or end customer. As announced on July 26, 2016, FCA US has modified its methodology for monthly sales reporting as follows: Sales to retail customers by dealers in the U.S. are derived from the New Vehicle Delivery Report ("NVDR") system and are determined as the sum of (A) all sales recorded by dealers during the month net of all unwound transactions recorded to the end of that month (whether the original sale was recorded in the current month or any prior month); plus (B) all sales of vehicles during that month attributable to past unwinds that had previously been reversed in determining monthly sales (in the current or prior months). Fleet sales are recorded upon the shipment of the vehicle by FCA US to the customer or end user. to the customer or end user. Other retail sales are recorded either (A) when the sale is recorded in the NVDR system (for sales by dealers in Puerto Rico and limited sales made through distributors that submit NVDRs in the same manner as for sales by U.S. dealers) or (B) upon receipt of a similar delivery notification (for vehicles for which NVDRs are not entered such as vehicles for FCA employees). About FCA US LLC FCA US LLC is a North American automaker based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It designs, manufactures, and sells or distributes vehicles under the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT and Alfa Romeo brands, as well as the SRT performance designation. The Company also distributes Mopar and Alfa Romeo parts and accessories. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler Corp., established in 1925 by industry visionary Walter P. Chrysler and Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (F.I.A.T.), founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli. FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA). This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on FCA's current expectations and projections about future events and, by their nature, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. They relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur or exist in the future and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on them. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in such statements as a result of a variety of factors, including: volatility and deterioration of capital and financial markets, including possibility of new Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, changes in commodity prices, changes in general economic conditions, economic growth and other changes in business conditions, weather, floods, earthquakes or other natural disasters, changes in government regulation, production difficulties, including capacity and supply constraints, and many other risks and uncertainties, most of which are outside of FCA's control. SOURCE FCA US LLC Related Links http://www.fcanorthamerica.com NEW YORK, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) announced today its inclusionfor the first time everin the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the highest number of 20182019 Fulbright U.S. Scholars. Each year the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the top producing institutions for the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program. The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes the lists annually. One scholar and two specialists from FIT were awarded Fulbright awards for 20182019ranking among the top awarded colleges of "associate and baccalaureate/associate institutions." Joseph Antee, associate professor, Fashion Business Management, and Brenda Cowan, associate professor and associate chair, Exhibition and Experience Design, were awarded Fulbright Specialist Grants. The Fulbright Specialist Program sends faculty and professionals from the United States to serve as expert consultants on curriculum, faculty development, institutional planning, and related subjects at academic institutions abroad. Deirdre Sato, dean for International Education, has been awarded a Fulbright International Education Administrator Seminar Award to travel to India. Winners of this award are given the opportunity to learn about the host country's education system, as well as establish networks of U.S. and international colleagues. "I am so very proud of FIT's new Fulbright awardees and delighted for them, as well," said Dr. Joyce F. Brown, president of FIT. "Globalism is part of the FIT mission because it is important to us that our students learn to navigate in cultures unlike their own. I am confident that our students and the rest of the FIT community will be enriched by the experiences of our Fulbright awardees on their return." Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 390,000 participantschosen for their academic merit and leadership potentialwith the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. More than 800 U.S. college and university faculty members and administrators, professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, and independent scholars are awarded Fulbright grants to teach and/or conduct research annually. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program operates in over 125 countries throughout the world. "We thank the colleges and universities across the United States that we are recognizing as Fulbright top producing institutions for their role in increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries," said Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for Educational and Cultural Affairs. "We are proud of all the Fulbright students and scholars from these institutions who represent America abroad, increasing and sharing their skills and knowledge on a global stage." The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State, funded by an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education. The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. students and teachers to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, some 4,000 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, lecture, conduct research and teach foreign languages. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit eca.state.gov/fulbright . About FIT The Fashion Institute of Technology, a part of the State University of New York, has been a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology for almost 75 years. Providing its 9,000 students with an uncommon blend of hands-on, practical experience, theory, and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, FIT offers a wide range of affordable programs that foster innovation and collaboration. Its distinctive curriculum is geared to today's rapidly growing creative economy, including fields such as computer animation, toy design, production management, film and media, and cosmetics and fragrance marketing. Internationally renowned, FIT draws on its New York City location to provide a vibrant, creative community in which to learn. The college offers nearly 50 programs and grants AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, preparing students for professional success and leadership in the new creative economy. Visit fitnyc.edu . Alexandra K. Mann Media Relations Specialist (212) 217-4722 [email protected] SOURCE Fashion Institute of Technology Related Links http://www.fitnyc.edu CLEVELAND, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 26th 2019, UBS downgraded Caterpillar investment rating two notches, moving from buy to sell. The company's stock tumbled and other analysts began to reconsider their outlook for Caterpillar because of the well-publicized downgrade. UBS expects Caterpillar profits to peak in 2019. In a research note, UBS' Steven Fisher wrote, "We believe many of [Caterpillar's] key end markets, notably North American construction, China construction, and oil and gas are approaching peak demand levels in 2019 and will roll over in 2020." Fisher argued "that investors have yet to account for cyclical pressure and a possible earnings decline in 2020", "forecasting a roughly 8 per cent drop in earnings per share in 2020." What the Downgrade Gets Wrong According to Freedonia's Gleb Mytko, "UBS' downgrade overlooks a number of Caterpillar's strengths and minimizes other key considerations, painting an unnecessarily gloomy picture that does not fully recognize the company's strong financial standing and long-term growth potential." Attesting to its profitability and the success of recent reforms, Caterpillar's revenues are up by more than $16 billion since 2016, reaching levels in 2018 not seen since 2014. Caterpillar is currently in the final stages of its comprehensive restructuring plan, launched in 2015. By closing production facilities, reducing its labor force, and streamlining its distribution and administration operations through consolidation, Caterpillar lowered its production costs and boosted the efficiency of its operations. The restructuring plan also helped increase its profitability and competitiveness, and made the company more nimble, positioning it for long-term success. Today, Caterpillar is better able to cope with weaker conditions in the off-road equipment market than many of its competitors. Caterpillar's heavy investment in technological innovation is also key to both the company's short- and long-term success. The introduction of new off-road equipment featuring advanced technologies will continue to spur interest in Caterpillar's products, helping it gain market share around the world and weather periods of weakness. Technological innovation has allowed Caterpillar to also broaden its customer base. Looking Beyond the Stock Price UBS downgrade is exclusively focused on the near-term and focuses on factors outside of Caterpillar's control, failing to fully take into account the company's strengths and growth potential. It also doesn't fully recognize the impact of Caterpillar's restructuring plan and its numerous partnerships with other companies and institutions, and minimizes the positive outlook for its mining business and opportunities in smaller markets, such as agriculture, forestry, and utilities. Opportunities in Mining While Freedonia's economists concur that the global construction sector will slow, the outlook for the global mining sector for 2020 and 2021 is quite strong, and associated demand for off-road equipment is expected to grow. In addition to boosting Caterpillar's mining equipment sales, the expansion of the global mining sector will also stimulate demand for numerous products manufactured by its Construction Industries business, such as loaders and excavators. The ongoing shift toward partly- and fully-automated mining equipment, and other advanced mining technologies will continue to drive global demand for Caterpillar's products, leading to an improvement in the company's market position. For more information, see Freedonia's Global Mining Equipment study: https://www.freedoniagroup.com/industry-study/global-mining-equipment-3629.htm Forecasts for the years 2019 and 2023 will be included in the new report Global Off-Road Equipment Technology 2019 scheduled to be published next week. About The Freedonia Group The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is a leading international industrial research company publishing more than 100 studies annually. Since 1985 we have provided research to customers ranging in size from global conglomerates to one-person consulting firms. More than 90% of the industrial companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia Group research to help with their strategic planning. Each study includes product and market analyses and forecasts, in-depth discussions of important industry trends, and market share information. Studies can be purchased at www.freedoniagroup.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com. Press Contact: Corinne Gangloff +1 440.684.9600 [email protected] SOURCE The Freedonia Group Related Links https://www.freedoniagroup.com VANCOUVER, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - GATLING EXPLORATION INC. (TSXV: GTR, OTC: GATGF) (the "Company" or "Gatling") is pleased to announce that a 10,000 m diamond drill program is underway at its Larder gold project, 35 km east of Kirkland Lake in Northern Ontario. Larder is host to three high-grade deposits, located along the prospective Cadillac-Larder Break (Figure 1). Drilling aims to expand known mineralization envelopes and to test new targets on the property. Expansion Targets. Phase I will target expansion of the Bear Lake deposit, down plunge and along strike to the east, where previous exploration by Bear Lake Gold Ltd. intersected 22.5 g/t Au over 7.9 m (Target A in Figure 2). Phase I will target expansion of the deposit, down plunge and along strike to the east, where previous exploration by Bear Lake Gold Ltd. intersected (Target A in Figure 2). Near-Surface Targets. Phase II will target near-surface gold mineralization at the Cheminis and Fernland deposits (Target B and C in Figure 2) and explore down plunge extension of the Fernland deposit (Target D in Figure 2). Phase II will target near-surface gold mineralization at the Cheminis and Fernland deposits (Target B and C in Figure 2) and explore down plunge extension of the Fernland deposit (Target D in Figure 2). Highly-Prospective Gold Belt. Both phases are designed to intersect the litho-structural belt known as the Cadillac-Larder Break, where more than 70 million Oz of gold has been produced. The Cadillac-Larder Break strikes across the Larder property in a N70E direction. This belt is heavily deformed, steeply-dipping, and is composed mainly of intercalated meta-sediments and mafic to ultramafic volcanics (Figure 1). This belt is home to several world-class gold deposits and is bisected by the Trans Canada Highway on the Company's property, which itself is just 2 km north of the town of Larder Lake. Nav Dhaliwal, President and CEO of Gatling Exploration, commented, "We are excited to have begun this 10,000 m drill program at the Larder Gold Project with the dual focus of expanding our known zones of mineralization and testing for new, shallow-depth zones. The project contains three high-grade gold deposits that Gatling considers to be a single larger mineralized system over 4 km strike length. Larder lies within close proximity of past-producing mines and active projects and is close to well-established infrastructure, making it a particularly attractive property. We are looking forward to advancing the project." About Gatling Exploration Gatling Exploration is a well-financed Canadian gold exploration company focused on advancing the Larder Project, located in the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt in Northern Ontario. The Larder property hosts three high-grade gold deposits along the Cadillac-Larder Lake Break, 35 km east of Kirkland Lake. The project is 100% controlled by Gatling and is comprised of patented and unpatented claims, leases and mining licenses of occupation within the McVittie and McGarry Townships. The 2,096-hectare project area is positioned 7 km west of the Kerr Addison Mine, which produced 11 million ounces of gold. All parts of the Larder property are accessible by truck or all-terrain vehicles on non-serviced roads and trails. QA/QC Drill core is logged and sampled at the Larder project site. Core samples from the program are cut in half, using a diamond cutting saw with half sent for assay at Expert Labs in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. The other half is secured and retained on site. All samples are analyzed for gold using standard Fire Assay-AA techniques. Samples returning greater than 10.0 g/t gold are analyzed utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. Certified reference standards and blanks are routinely inserted into the sample stream as part of Gatling's quality control/quality assurance program. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Nathan Tribble, P. Geo., VP Exploration of Gatling Exploration and a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Nav Dhaliwal, President and CEO Gatling Exploration Inc. 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. Forward Looking Statements: Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainness and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. SOURCE Gatling Exploration Inc. Acclaimed news anchor Juju Chang will host the multi-platform event, with on-camera experts, including biologist Thor Hanson and entomologist Phil Torres, showing springtime phenomena in various locations across the country, in ecosystems ranging from the Rockies to the Everglades, from inner-city parks to remote wilderness preserves. The series will include a mix of live and pre-taped footage highlighting some of the most pivotal events in nature's calendar. A diverse group of researchers and citizen scientists will investigate how a wide range of organisms respond to the change of seasons. They will share their insights into the natural world, reveal new technologies that make their discoveries possible and encourage audiences to join the adventure of science. "Nature throws a party every year, and it's called spring. It is the most active time in the natural world for plants and animals, from birth and rebirth to migrations to pollination," said Nature executive producer Fred Kaufman. "In addition to witnessing incredible wonders, the goal of Nature: American Spring LIVE is to inspire people to go outside and get involved with science. Everyone can play a part in our natural world." Each episode is built around a central theme chosen to reveal how the new season triggers extraordinary biological change. Tentative live locations include California's Sequoia National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore, Florida's Everglades, the Eastern shore of Virginia, a sheep farm in Maine, a black bear den in rural Western Maryland, and Texas's Bracken Cave and Gulf Coast. Episode 1: "Birth and Rebirth" (w.t.) premieres Monday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) and facebook.com/PBSNature Tracing the green wave that sweeps across the continent in spring, see how the rising temperatures and longer days spur plants to awaken and flower. Animals go through their own transformations, seeking out newly abundant resources, moving from winter homes to summer breeding grounds, or emerging from hibernation. Learn how both plants and animals have incorporated seasonal change into their life cycles and successful reproductive strategies all demonstrated by the birth of a lamb in Maine. Episode 2: "Migration" (w.t.) premieres Tuesday, April 30 at 8:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) and facebook.com/PBSNature Breeding and the greening of the landscape are tied to another major spectacle of spring: the mass movements of animals as they take advantage of spring's bounty. Meet the scientists who track these journeys, often over vast distances, from winter refuge to spring nesting grounds. As they attempt to uncover the precise triggers and timing of migration and its impact on other animal species, the scientists grapple with how these patterns and behaviors may shift due to climate change. Episode 3: "Connections" (w.t.) premieres Wednesday, May 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) and facebook.com/PBSNature Nature's perfect partnerships, precisely synchronized, have evolved over thousands of years. Learn how plants and animals depend on each other to survive. See first-hand how climate change can break those connections, altering the timing of weather and plant growth, and disrupting the delicate relationships between plants and pollinators such as bees and butterflies. To encourage citizen science participation during the broadcast and beyond, Nature: American Spring LIVE has partnered with the Bird Cams Lab and Celebrate Urban Birds projects (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), The Great Sunflower Project (San Francisco State University), The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (University of Minnesota Monarch Lab), Track-a-Lilac with Nature's Notebook (USA National Phenology Network), SciStarter (Arizona State University), Next Avenue (Twin Cities PBS), and the National Park Service. WNET Community Engagement will work with PBS stations in communities across the country in partnership with local science and community-based organizations to encourage diverse audiences to participate in citizen science through a series of training workshops, family events and more. A robust collection of classroom resources produced by WNET Kids' Media and Education will be hosted on PBS LearningMedia with activities to help teachers get students involved in hands-on science research. Nature: American Spring LIVE is the finale of Nature's 37th season on PBS. The series has won more than 700 honors from the television industry, the international wildlife film communities and environmental organizations, including 18 Emmys and three Peabody Awards. Nature is a production of THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET and PBS. For Nature, Fred Kaufman is Executive Producer, Bill Murphy is Series Producer and Janet Hess is Series Editor. American Spring LIVE is a production of Berman Productions, Inc. and THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET. Al Berman is Executive Producer and Ann Johnson Prum is Senior Producer. Major support for Nature: American Spring LIVE was provided by the National Science Foundation and Anne Ray Foundation. Additional financial support was provided by the Arnhold Family in memory of Henry and Clarisse Arnhold, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust, Kathy Chiao and Ken Hao, the Anderson Family Fund, the Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation, Rosalind P. Walter, the Halmi Family in memory of Robert Halmi, Sr., Sandra Atlas Bass, Doris R. and Robert J. Thomas, Charles Rosenblum, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by the nation's public television stations. Websites: pbs.org/americanspringlive, facebook.com/PBSNature, @PBSNature, instagram.com/pbsnature, youtube.com/naturepbs, #AmericanSpringLivePBS About WNET WNET is America's flagship PBS station: parent company of New York's THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its new ALL ARTS multi-platform initiative, its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each month. WNET produces and presents a wide range of acclaimed PBS series, including Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, and the nightly interview program Amanpour and Company. In addition, WNET produces numerous documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings, as well as multi-platform initiatives addressing poverty and climate. Through THIRTEEN Passport and WLIW Passport, station members can stream new and archival THIRTEEN, WLIW and PBS programming anytime, anywhere. SOURCE WNET PARAMUS, N.J., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a global pharmaceutical company, today announced the presentation of a new post hoc analysis of data from a Phase 2a, proof-of-concept study of GBR 830 at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. GBR 830 is an investigational, anti-OX40 monoclonal antibody being studied for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD). The Phase 2a study was conducted to investigate the safety of GBR 830, evaluate its effects on AD biomarkers, and generate the first clinical evidence of its biological activity. The study was not powered for statistical differences between GBR 830 and placebo. The new, post hoc analysis of the Phase 2a study was conducted to evaluate the activity of GBR 830 in patients with intrinsic and extrinsic AD subtypes, and for subjects with elevated IgE levels at baseline. The analyses demonstrated that baseline clinical scores (EASI, SCORAD, IGA) were consistent regardless of a patient's AD subtype or whether they had elevated IgE. Reductions in SCORAD clinical scores were observed throughout the treatment period. "The consistent effect of GBR 830 observed across AD subtypes is important because not all AD therapies are effective or appropriate for all patients, thus increasing the need for precision in diagnosis and treatment," said Mahboob Rahman, President and Chief Medical Officer at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. "We are pleased to present this evidence at AAD on the potential effectiveness of GBR 830 across subtypes, which is valuable for future clinical development and decision making." Sixty-two randomized subjects (GBR 830 n=46; placebo n=16) received at least one dose of study drug during the trial. Of the 46 subjects treated with GBR 830, 42 were evaluated by baseline AD subtype (extrinsic n=15, intrinsic n=27, not specified n=4). Baseline clinical scores on the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) and Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) did not show marked differences according to AD subtypes or IgE level. After treatment with GBR 830, decreases in SCORAD were observed during the study regardless of AD subtype or IgE level. These responses were observed shortly after the first dose of GBR 830 and maintained through the study period and beyond.1 In the study, GBR 830 was safe and well-tolerated. The most common treatment emergent adverse event was headache, with no meaningful differences observed between GBR 830 (13%) and placebo-treated (25%) patients. A Phase 2b clinical trial of GBR 830 in moderate-to-severe AD is underway and currently enrolling patients in the U.S. and Europe. About GBR 830 in Atopic Dermatitis GBR 830 is designed to inhibit OX40, a costimulatory immune checkpoint receptor expressed on activated T cells and memory T cells. Costimulatory signals are essential for T cell activity, and binding between OX40 and OX40L is a biomarker for the severity of autoimmune diseases. The activation of this pathway leads to conversion of activated T cells into memory T cells, which promotes inflammation. In addition, regulatory T cells also contribute to inflammation, and OX40 signaling by these cells downregulates immune suppressing functions. It is believed that GBR 830 may inhibit the dual activities of OX40 and OX40L binding in both activated T cells and regulatory T cells, thus potentially reducing inflammation associated with symptoms of atopic dermatitis. About Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, global, integrated pharmaceutical organization with operations in more than 80 countries. It is ranked among the top 75 Pharma & Biotech companies of the world in terms of revenue (SCRIP 100 Rankings published in the year 2018). Glenmark is a leading player in the discovery of new molecules both NCEs (new chemical entity) and NBEs (new biological entity). Glenmark has several molecules in various stages of clinical development and is focused in the areas of oncology, immunology and pain. 2019-GLMK-PR-01-02/v1/02-2019 References: Yasky GY, et al. Evidence for Activity of GBR 830 (anti-OX40) in Extrinsic and Intrinsic Atopic Dermatitis (AD) in a Phase 2A Study. AAD 2019 Annual Meeting. March 2, 2019 ; Washington, DC . SOURCE Glenmark Pharmaceuticals DUBLIN, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Tissue Banking Market Forecast up to 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global tissue banking market is estimated to witness a CAGR of 11.2% during the forecast period 2018-2024 The conservation and banking of tissues subsequent to donor harvest is an extended medicinal area that has until lately witnessed progress. Nevertheless, in a similar way we bank stem cells, embryos and other tissues at present are likely to govern the biological time for complete tissues through approaches identical to vitrification and controlled hypothermia. A constant growth of tissues and organs scarcity has led to early deaths with consequences in enormous outlays to society. The capacity to bank tissues has an instantaneous effect on transplant medicine, surgical treatment of cancer, combat trauma, and industrial accidents. Market Analysis: Regional Analysis: The regions covered in the report are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (ROW). North America accounts for the largest share of the tissue banking market, followed by Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. More than 44.0% of the market is occupied by North America, with the US being the major contributor to the market growth. Type Analysis: Based on types, the market is segmented into equipment and consumables. Equipment holds a dominant share in the market and is also the fastest growing segment. Application Analysis: Based on application areas, the market is segmented into clinical application and research & development. The market is dominated by research & development. Tissue Type Analysis: Based on tissue banking areas, the market is segmented into cardiovascular tissue, lung tissue, kidney tissue, corneal tissue, and other tissues. The corneal tissue segment is dominant among others in the market. Competitive Analysis: The tissue banking market is facing intense competition due to the presence of many players in the market. However, the majority of the market share is occupied by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Danaher Corporation, Custom Biogenic Solution, Tecan Group, and Brooks Automation, Inc. To maintain their leadership, the major players are collaborating with small players who have advanced technology. For instance, in March 2014, Brooks Automation collaborated with BioCision for the development of automated temperature-controlled technology for biobanking and sample handling. This association helped in filling the gap amongst sample handling and automation process. Key Topics Covered: 1 Industry Outlook 1.1 Industry Overview 1.2 Total Addressable Market (TAM) 1.3 Trends of the Market 2 Report Outline 2.1 Report Scope 2.2 Report Summary 2.3 Research Methodology 2.4 Report Assumptions 3 Market Snapshot 3.1 Market Definition 3.2 Segmented Addressable Market (SAM) 3.3 Industry Trends 3.4 Related Markets 3.4.1 Wound Biologics 3.4.1.1 Trends in Wound Biologics Market 3.4.2 Stem Cell Banking 3.4.2.1 Trends in Stem Cell Banking Market 4 Market Outlook 4.1 Evolution 4.2 Market Segmentation 4.3 Porter 5 (Five) Forces 5 Market Characteristics 5.1 Market Dynamics 5.1.1 Drivers 5.1.1.1 Increasing demand for regenerative medicine 5.1.1.2 Advancements in Tissue Banking Technologies 5.1.2 Restraints 5.1.2.1 Stringent regulatory requirement 5.1.2.2 Ethical Issues 5.1.3 Opportunities 5.1.3.1 Market opportunities in Asia Pacific 5.1.3.2 Mergers and acquisitions 5.1.4 DRO - Impact Analysis 6 Types: Market Size and Analysis 6.1 Overview 6.2 Tissue Banking Equipment 6.3 Accessories and Consumables 7 Application: Market Size and Analysis 7.1 Overview 7.2 Clinical Application 7.3 Research and Development 8 Types: Market Size and Analysis 8.1 Overview 8.2 Cardiovascular Tissue 8.3 Corneal Tissue 8.4 Lungs Tissue 8.5 Kidney Tissue 8.6 Others Tissue 9 Regions: Market Size and Analysis 9.1 Overview 9.2 North America 9.2.1 Overview 9.2.2 US 9.2.3 Canada 9.3 Europe 9.3.1 Overview 9.3.2 UK 9.3.3 Germany 9.4 Asia Pacific 9.4.1 Overview 9.4.2 India 9.4.3 China 9.4.4 Japan 9.5 Rest of the World 9.5.1 Overview 9.5.2 Brazil 10 Competitive Landscape 11 Vendors Profile 11.1 Thermo Fisher Scientific, INC. 11.1.1 Overview 11.1.2 Business Units 11.1.3 Geographic Presence 11.1.4 Business focus 11.1.5 SWOT analysis 11.1.6 Business Strategy 11.2 Danaher Corporation 11.3 Custom Biogenic Systems INC 11.4 Brooks Automation, INC. 11.5 Tecan Group 12 Companies to Watch for 12.1 Biolife Solutions 12.1.1 Overview 12.2 VWR Corporation 12.3 PHC Holdings Corporation 12.4 Bluechiip Limited 12.5 Merck KGAA 12.6 Eppendorf AG For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/xwpfv6/global_tissue?w=5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com BOSTON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Goldman Sachs has successfully completed 71% of the $1.8 billion in consumer-relief it is obligated to provide under its two mortgage-backed-securities settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and three states, according to the latest report by the Independent Monitor of the settlements, Professor Eric D. Green. In his tenth report on the Goldman Sachs settlement announced today, Professor Green approved settlement credit for Goldman Sachs' forgiveness of first-lien principal on 794 loans and extinguishment of another 58 second-lien loans, bringing Goldman Sachs' cumulative consumer-relief credits under the settlements to a total of more than $1.25 billion. Since Professor Green's previous report on November 1, 2018, Goldman Sachs forgave a total of $82,828,355 in principal on 736 first-lien mortgages, for average principal forgiveness of $112,539 per loan and total reportable credit of $84,445,523 after the application of appropriate crediting calculations and multipliers. Goldman Sachs also sought credit for the extinguishment of 58 second lien loans, with $3,734,507 in total principal forgiven for an average principal forgiveness of $64,388 and total reportable credit of $1,826,785 after the application of appropriate crediting calculations and multipliers. The latest increment brought the total amount of credit claimed and conditionally validated by the Monitor to $1,286,075,590 or 71% of the $1.8-billion target. "I am pleased to be able to confirm that Goldman Sachs continues to make steady progress toward meeting its obligation to provide Consumer-Relief valued at $1.8 billion," Professor Green said. "Nearly three years after the Settlement Agreements were signed, Goldman Sachs appears to be 71% toward completing its Consumer-Relief obligations." The modified first-lien mortgages are spread across 43 states and the District of Columbia, with 36% of the credit located in the settling states of New York, Illinois, and California, and 50% of the credit located in Hardest Hit Areas, or census tracts identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as containing large concentrations of distressed properties and foreclosure activities. The extinguishment of the 58 second lien loans are located in 27 states, with 25% of the associated credit in the three Settling States and 50% in Hardest Hit Areas. Goldman Sachs' two settlement agreements, reached on April 11, 2016, resolved potential claims regarding the marketing, structuring, arrangement, underwriting, issuance and sale of mortgage-based securities. Besides the Department of Justice, California, Illinois and New York, Goldman Sachs reached settlements with the National Credit Union Administration Board and the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Des Moines. Under the settlements, Goldman Sachs agreed to provide a total of $5.06 billion, including consumer-relief valued at $1.8 billion to be distributed by the end of January 2021. Professor Green, a professional mediator and retired Boston University law professor, was named by the settling parties as independent Monitor with responsibility for determining whether Goldman Sachs fulfills its consumer-relief obligations. He has assembled a team of finance, accounting and legal professionals to assist in the task. The report is available at the Monitor's website at: http://goldmansachs.mortgagesettlementmonitor.com . The website provides further details about the settlement, plus contact information for Goldman Sachs, the Department of Justice, the Attorneys General of California, Illinois and New York, and agencies that provide legal or tax advice to consumers. The Monitor's mailing address is: Monitor of the Goldman Sachs Mortgage Settlement, P.O. Box 10310, Dublin, OH 43017-5910, and the e-mail address is [email protected] . SOURCE Eric D. Green BOSTON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Governments must do more to establish frameworks to support the ethical use of AI and build trust with citizens, according to a new Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report titled The Citizen's Perspective on the Use of AI in Government: BCG Digital Government Benchmarking. The report found that the ethical implications of AI as well as its potential impact on jobs are among citizens' top concerns. Thirty-two percent of survey respondents expressed unease about the potential ethical issues associated with AI, 31% were concerned about lack of transparency in AI-based decision making, 61% of respondents were worried about AI affecting the availability of work, and 58% believe governments need to regulate AI to protect jobs. "AI has the potential to transform government policy and services delivery, generating enormous value for citizens," said Miguel Carrasco, BCG Senior Partner and co-author of the report. "To fully realize the benefits of AI, governments need to do more to build citizens' confidence and trust in AI. This can be done by working with citizens and the private sector to establish clear frameworks to support the responsible and ethical use of AI." To gain insights into citizens' attitudes about and perceptions of the use of AI in government, BCG surveyed more than 14,000 internet users around the world, asking them how comfortable they are with certain activities or decisions being made by a computer rather than a human, what concerns they have about the use of AI by governments, and to what extent they agree or disagree with certain statements in relation to the impact of AI on the economy and jobs. Support for Government's Use of AI and Key Findings Citizens expressed a positive net perception for use cases such as tax and welfare administration, assistance with services delivery, and identifying fraud and non-compliance. However, they were less supportive for the use of AI in areas such as health care and justice. For example, 71% of respondents agreed with the use of AI in optimizing traffic, whereas 51% of respondents disagreed with using AI to determine innocence or guilt in a criminal trial. Support for use of AI strongly correlates with trust in government. The analysis found an alignment between countries where citizens are most supportive of AIIndia, China, Indonesia, and UAEand those that showed the highest levels of trust in government on the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer, the annual global survey. Implications for Governments Governments need to tread carefully when looking to harness AI to enhance the efficiency and impact of the services they deliver. Transparency into where and how AI is used in government will be essential to establishing legitimacy and credibility of the technology in citizens' eyes and to mitigate their concerns about any negative impact it might have on their lives. "For governments, this is a journey," Carrasco said. "It is essential that they bring citizens along with them on that journey." 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], or Deepti Pathak at + 65 91067840 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. SOURCE The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. Related Links www.bcg.com ST. LOUIS, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ARCH) announced today that Holly Keller Koeppel, a former senior executive in both the utility and financial services industries, and Robert Brewster Hamill, a retired managing director at Jefferies and Company, have been elected to its board of directors, effective immediately. "We are extremely pleased to welcome Holly and Bob to the Arch Coal board," said James N. Chapman, Arch's board chair. "They bring proven leaderships skills and a wealth of experiences in energy and financial markets that are directly applicable to Arch. I am confident that they will be great additions to the Arch team." "I echo Jim's enthusiasm about the addition of Holly and Bob to our high-performing board," said John W. Eaves, Arch's chief executive officer. "I look forward to working with the two of them, and with the rest of the board, as we chart Arch's future course in a smart, responsible and value-creating manner." Most recently, Holly Keller Koeppel served as managing partner and head of Gateway Infrastructure Investments LP and as partner and global co-head of Citi Infrastructure Investors at Citigroup, Inc. Prior to those roles, Koeppel held the position of executive vice president and chief financial officer, along with other leadership posts, at American Electric Power. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership positions at Consolidated Natural Gas Company. Koeppel currently serves on the boards of AES Corporation, B.A.T. Industries PLC, and Vesuvius PLC, and is a former board member of CoaLogix, Inc., Energy Insurance Mutual Ltd., Integrys Energy Group, Inc., and Reynolds American, Inc. She earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Robert Brewster Hamill recently retired from Jefferies and Company, where he had served as managing director of high-yield bond and leveraged loan sales since 2008. Prior to joining Jefferies, Hamill was managing director of high yield sales at Lehman Brothers and managing director of high-yield finance at J.P. Morgan Securities. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions at Drexel Burnham Lambert and E.F. Hutton & Company. Hamill earned an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Boston, Mass. Scott Vogel, who has been an Arch director since October 2016, will not stand for re-election at the annual meeting in May. At that time, the company expects to have eight directors. U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. is a top coal producer for the global steel and power generation industries. Arch operates a streamlined portfolio of large-scale, low-cost mining complexes that produce high-quality metallurgical coals in Appalachia and low-emitting thermal coals in the Powder River Basin and other strategic supply regions. For more information, visit www.archcoal.com. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, particular uncertainties arise from changes in the demand for our coal by the domestic electric generation and steel industries; from legislation and regulations relating to the Clean Air Act and other environmental initiatives; from operational, geological, permit, labor and weather-related factors, from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other tax reforms; from the effects of foreign and domestic trade policies, actions or disputes; from fluctuations in the amount of cash we generate from operations, which could impact, among other things, our ability to pay dividends or repurchase shares in accordance with our announced capital allocation plan from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. For a description of some of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results, you should see the risk factors described from time to time in the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SOURCE Arch Coal, Inc. Related Links https://www.archcoal.com TAMPA, Fla., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa-based Laser Spine Institute announced today that it will discontinue its operations, effective at the close of business on Friday, March 1. Despite significant cost saving activities over the last 6 months including closing three surgical centers that dramatically reduced its operating cost structure, the company has been unable to achieve a financially sustainable path forward. The company, the nation's leader in minimally-invasive spine surgery, will cease operations, effective immediately. The company is reaching out to other surgical providers in the markets where they operate -- Tampa, Cincinnati, Scottsdale, St. Louis -- to determine whether these providers have the capacity to absorb the additional surgical demand. Simultaneously, company representatives are reaching out to all patients who were slated to have surgery in one of the company's four surgical centers to notify them of the company's closing and refer them to other in-market options. The company will also provide facilities for patients to receive the requisite post-operative care. "My heart goes out to our great, dedicated staff who have stuck with us through all of our adversity and worked so tirelessly to help us right the ship," said Jake Brace, Laser Spine Institute's CEO, who was brought in late last year to help restructure the company. "We celebrate their efforts to keep the company going, as well as their great track record of providing nearly 100,000 surgical procedures, thereby helping patients afflicted with chronic neck and back problems quickly and effectively regain their prior lives," he added. The company had achieved an operational turnaround. However, it was unable to attract the necessary financing to undertake a Chapter 11 process and continue operations. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Laser Spine Institute helped patients find lasting relief from debilitating neck and back pain caused by spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, pinched nerves, bone spurs, bulging/herniated discs, sciatica and other chronic conditions. Laser Spine Institute has been repeatedly recognized for outstanding patient satisfaction and reports an enterprise-wide 98 percent patient satisfaction rate. Media Contacts: Kathleen Donald [email protected] 813-392-7420 Hayes Nolte [email protected] 215-499-6436 SOURCE Laser Spine Institute Lectra's Education Partnership Program is donating DesignConcept, the firm's innovative virtual prototyping and development solution, to The Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (UC DAAP). Students with majors ranging from transportation to fashion and furniture design will learn how to develop product ideas using digital product-development techniques, including 3D modeling and 2D pattern-making. DesignConcept enables makers of seating, dashboards and steering wheel covers for vehicles, marine vessels and aircraft to accelerate product development with collaborative virtual prototyping. The Ullman School of Design, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, was ranked as one of the top five undergraduate industrial design programs in the U.S. in 2016 by consulting and research firm DesignIntelligence. The school's five-year co-op internships give students the opportunity to gain experience working for high-profile car manufacturers such as General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Audi, Mercedes Benz and Tesla Motors, among others. The new studio topic, "The Future of Autonomous Vehicle Interiors: Materials and New Configurations," represents the first time that hands-on training using DesignConcept will be provided to a multidisciplinary group of UC DAAP students. The studio will be offered starting in September 2019 and is open to students preparing for design careers in transportation, fashion, furniture design and other industries. Lectra's longstanding partnership with the Ullman School of Design began in 2001. Committed to training the next generation of fashion students worldwide, Lectra provides more than 900 schools and universities with access to software and design expertise. Now that commitment has been extended to automotive interior design, which is undergoing a major transformation brought about by self-driving and connected cars, shared mobility and electric vehicles. "This is a perfect example of our commitment to industry-focused education," says Dr. Gjoko Muratovski, Director and Endowed Chair of the Ullman School of Design. "The Lectra donation will take our tech capabilities to new heights and enable our students to do things that they could never do before." For Celine Choussy, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Lectra, the partnership with the Ullman School of Design at UC DAAP brings Lectra closer to the automotive industry and connects students to the company's advanced technology. "This renewed partnership offers students the perfect laboratory to see exciting emerging automotive interior trends come to life with our digitalized product development solution. Lectra is pleased to play its part in training tomorrow's designers." Follow Lectra on social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lectra/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LectraOfficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LectraTechChannel?hl=fr About UC DAAP Established in 1819, the University of Cincinnati, a Tier 1 Research Institution, is the home of the world-renowned College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP) and The Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design. The School offers three core programsCommunication Design, Industrial Design, and Fashion Designbut they often work on the intersection between these disciplines on projects ranging from wearable technology to the future of mobility and transportation. For more information, please visit www.daap.uc.edu About Lectra For companies that breathe life into our wardrobes, car interiors, furniture and more, Lectra is crafting the premium technologies that facilitate the digital transformation of their industry. Lectra's offer empowers brands and manufacturers from design to production, providing them with the market respect and peace of mind they deserve. Founded in 1973, today Lectra has 32 subsidiaries across the globe, serving customers in over 100 countries. With more than 1,700 employees, Lectra reported revenues of $333 million in 2018. Lectra is listed on Euronext (LSS). For more information, please visit www.lectra.com Press contacts: Sarah Berman The Berman Group t: +1 212 450 7300 e: [email protected] SOURCE Lectra Related Links http://www.lectra.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. (CSE: LDS), (OTCQX: LDSYF), (Frankfurt: LD6, WKN: A14XHT) ("LDS" or the "Company") announces its flagship product CannaStrips has been delivered to multiple stores. The Company recently filled a purchase order for lbs. Distribution out of West Sacramento to sell the remaining re-stickered batch of CannaStrips to their customer base of over 120 stores throughout California. Since the delivery, the CannaStrips have been processed into inventory and the Company has been working to educate the lbs. Distribution's team on the benefits of CannaStrips. Within the first two weeks of availability for delivery, lbs. Distribution has delivered CannaStrips into four stores, namely: Horizon Collective- Sacramento, CA Relief CCR- Los Angeles, CA Smartweed- Los Angeles, CA (BARC) Beverly Hills Collective- Beverly Hills, CA Casey Fenwick, President of LDS, stated, "The amount of time and effort put into launching CannaStrips into the market is showing results. Both teams are working together to execute the strategy we have worked on since the initial delivery to lbs. Distribution." The Company's CEO, Brad Eckenweiler, stated, "The relationship with lbs. Distribution will have lasting implications for CannaStrips and will allow us to continue to grow the number of stores carrying CannaStrips products." The Company will continue to update the market on all of the developments related to the growth and expansion of CSPA Group, Inc. About CSPA Group Inc. The Company is located in Adelanto, California and is a City-permitted and State-Licensed manufacture and distributor/transporter in the California cannabis industry. Manufacturing extracted oils and distillates, and producing CannaStrips under a license agreement with Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. a British Columbian corporation. About Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. is a technology company that licenses its technology to a state-of-the-art production and packaging facility located in Southern California. The Company's technology produces infused strips (similar to breath strips) that are not only a safer, healthier option to other forms of delivery but also superior bioavailability of cannabis constituents. Some strips will also include supplemental co-active ingredients such as nutraceuticals, vitamins and peptides. The technology provides a new way to accurately meter the dosage and assure the purity of selected product. From start to finish, the production process, based on the Company's technology, tests for quality and composition of all the ingredients used in each and every strip which results in a delivery system that is safe, consistent and effective. Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Brad Eckenweiler CEO & Director FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: [email protected] Cautionary Disclaimer Statement: The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Related Links http://www.lifestyledeliverysystem.com NEW YORK, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Marble Ridge Capital LP today reported that it has sent the following letter to the Board of Directors of the Neiman Marcus Group Ltd LLC in response to Neiman's announcement of a "Final Company Proposal." March 1, 2019 RE: "Final Company Proposal" Dear Members of the Board of Directors, Neiman Marcus' announcement today of a so-called "Final Company Proposal" that has the purported support of a sub-set of bondholders merely seeks to pressure creditors to forgive the misconduct of the Board and turn a blind-eye to the Sponsors' self-enrichment scheme. As must be obvious to all concerned, this so-called "Proposal" does not have and we believe will not obtain the approval necessary to make it effective. Your continued attempts to co-opt certain creditors will not insulate yourselves from liability and does nothing to change the wrongdoing charged in the Amended Petition filed against Neiman Marcus and the related entities in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, that the Neiman Defendants have engaged in gross misconduct including an improper transfer of assets of approximately $1 billion of value, intentionally stripping these assets away from creditors for no consideration. You, as Board members, surely must know that continuing to use your position to disadvantage creditors in favor of the out-of-the-money Sponsors has all of the hallmarks of a scheme to loot Neiman Marcus of valuable assets and, in doing so, to hinder, delay and defraud creditors of Neiman Marcus Group Ltd LLC. Your "Proposal's" request for bondholders to waive their claims against you and the Sponsors arising out of your misconduct is nothing more than a transparent attempt to insulate yourselves from liability. We are confident that discovery will confirm, among other key facts: On March 10, 2017 , the Company announced the first step of its Scheme to loot assets by unilaterally removing certain controlled subsidiaries from the restrictions placed on the Company by its creditors. , the Company announced the first step of its Scheme to loot assets by unilaterally removing certain controlled subsidiaries from the restrictions placed on the Company by its creditors. On September 18, 2018 , the Company announced the second step of its Scheme distributing the MyTheresa assets to Parent for no consideration whatsoever. , the Company announced the second step of its Scheme distributing the MyTheresa assets to Parent for no consideration whatsoever. The Company announced today a third step in the Scheme a "Proposal" to have the Sponsors retain 50% of the equity value of the MyTheresa assets together with $250 million of 10% Cumulative Preferred Equity for no consideration , representing several hundred million dollars of value stripped from creditors in order to benefit the out-of-money Sponsors. of 10% Cumulative Preferred Equity for , representing several hundred million dollars of value stripped from creditors in order to benefit the out-of-money Sponsors. At all times, this multi-step Scheme has been concocted against the backdrop of the Company's insolvency and in order to serve the interests of the Sponsors. The Scheme has been enabled through a self-serving, so-called corporate governance structure of Parent, Holdings and the Company engineered to avoid liability for breach of fiduciary duties. At the same time, this superficial corporate governance structure has been exacerbated by the role of the conflicted legal professionals, whom have stood on the opposite side of each transaction through their simultaneous representation of both the Parent and its insolvent subsidiary. As we have communicated to you, 100% of the valuable MyTheresa assets must be returned to the Company and the pervasive conflicts of interest that enabled these valuable assets to be improperly stripped for no consideration must be resolved by appointing a separate and independent governing body that is capable of making independent decisions affecting the insolvent subsidiary, as such body's applicable legal duties require. We have made clear our view to you that as Board Members you have acted in wanton disregard of your duties to creditors while the Company has been or was rendered insolvent thereby, and no "whitewashing" of the Scheme will insulate you from liability. Your machinations to cajole creditors into acceding to your demands will not survive further scrutiny. You have every reason to recognize that a neutral third party, whether appointed by a single creditor or by an estate representative, will seek to undo your self-serving transactions for the benefit of all unsecured creditors. In the meantime, we will not stand idly by and allow you, as Board Members, and your conflicted counsel, to put at risk Neiman's storied franchise and the thousands of jobs that hang in the balance. We plan to speak with other bondholders in the coming days about our concerns to seek to ensure a fair and just result is achieved for all stakeholders. We will continue to take all necessary actions to protect our rights, all of which are expressly preserved. Respectfully, Daniel Kamensky MARBLE RIDGE CAPITAL Media Contact: Robert Siegfried / Cathryn Vaulman Kekst CNC 212-521-4800 [email protected] SOURCE Marble Ridge Capital LP IRVINE, Calif., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total February sales of 23,854 vehicles, a decrease of 7.3 percent compared to February 2018. Year-to-date sales through February saw a decrease of 13.4 percent, with 43,897 vehicles sold. With 24 selling days in February, compared to 24 the year prior, the company posted a decrease of 7.3 percent on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis. KEY SALES NOTES: Sales of the CX-5 totaled 13,377 in February, an increase of 1.2 percent compared to February 2018 . . Sales of the CX-9 totaled 2,422 in February, an increase of 5.9 percent compared to February 2018 . . CPO sales totaled 4,410 vehicles in February, an increase of 20.2 percent compared to February 2018 . Year-to-date CPO sales through February increased 14.8 percent, with 8,302 vehicles sold. Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported February sales of 5,036 vehicles, an increase of 16 percent compared to February last year. Year-to-date sales through February increased 12 percent, with more than 10,158 vehicles sold. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom. Follow MNAO's social media channels through Twitter and Instagram at @MazdaUSA and Facebook at Facebook.com/MazdaUSA. Month-To-Date Year-To-Date February February % % MTD February February % % YTD 2019 2018 Change DSR 2019 2018 Change DSR Mazda3 4,610 6,070 (24.1) % (24.1) % 9,206 11,895 (22.6) % (22.6) % Mazda6 1,906 2,246 (15.1) % (15.1) % 3,525 3,798 (7.2) % (7.2) % MX-5 Miata 456 654 (30.3) % (30.3) % 803 1,090 (26.3) % (26.3) % CX-3 1,081 1,259 (14.1) % (14.1) % 2,052 2,609 (21.3) % (21.3) % CX-5 13,377 13,216 1.2 % 1.2 % 24,029 26,679 (9.9) % (9.9) % CX-9 2,422 2,286 5.9 % 5.9 % 4,282 4,622 (7.4) % (7.4) % OTHER 2 Total Vehicles CARS 6,972 8,970 (22.3) % (22.3) % 13,534 16,783 (19.4) % (19.4) % TRUCKS 16,882 16,761 0.7 % 0.7 % 30,363 33,910 (10.5) % (10.5) % TOTAL 23,854 25,731 (7.3) % (7.3) % 43,897 50,693 (13.4) % (13.4) % Selling Days 24 24 49 49 SOURCE Mazda North American Operations Related Links http://www.mazdausa.com NEW YORK, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The new Hudson Yards Shopping Center, opening March 15, 2019, will be the site of Swiss company Micro's first US Flagship store. Micro started the modern scooter revolution with the launch of the first micro scooter in 1999 and has since spearheaded the transition of scooters from toys to transport. Key hallmarks of Micro are high-end Swiss design, precision engineering, and quality components. Combined they produce a unique riding experience and sense of enjoyment. The Micro showroom and shop at Hudson Yards will feature the full line of children and adult scooters, kickboards, and ride-on hand luggage, together with Micro's newest range of electric scooters and accessories. All will be available to ride on the showroom's in-store test track. Hudson Yards is the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center. Micro will be joining more than 100 shops, schools, hotels, offices, homes, and restaurants in New York's newest community. Micro is known for making the world's best-rated scooters and kickboards. Micro Kickboard, as the brand is known by in the US, offers highest-quality mobility products and award-winning customer service. Micro has been recognized globally with numerous awards for design and innovation. Micro Kickboard owner Julie Hawksworth said, "Our showroom marks the first time the full line of Micro products will be available in one place in the U.S. We now have about 40 different models, all designed for different people and purposes. Trying them out is the best way for customers to find the right Micro for them. For example, parents of children already riding Micro are often interested in joining their children to ride as a family, but really want to try out a variety of adult scooter styles before choosing one. Similarly, trying out an electric scooter will help many people see how fun and easy they are to ride." The Micro store will be located on the 4th floor of Hudson Yards' Shopping Center, located at 20 Hudson Yards, New York, N.Y. Micro Kickboard has leased the space through the end of 2019. www.microkickboard.com Media Contact: Jamie Rau Phone: 888.236.5657 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Micro Kickboard Related Links https://www.microkickboard.com WASHINGTON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is hosting their annual Women's Business Conference (WBC) in Jacksonville, Florida from October 13-15, 2019. The theme of this year's conference is "Our Time is Now." As the women business owner segment of our economy continues to grow, it is important that our nation develops programming to target this growing sector of our workforce. "Our time is now for women business owners to capitalize on our success and continue to support each other's endeavors," said Molly Gimmel, NAWBO National Board Chair. "The WBC is an amazing opportunity to learn new skills, meet like-minded women business owners, and recharge your battery for another year of success for your business. We look forward to hosting entrepreneurs from across the world." The NAWBO WBC draws nearly a thousand women business owners and offers break-out sessions that provide practical and inspirational tools to scale and grow businesses of all sizes, from solopreneurs to multi-million dollar enterprises. The keynote speaker is Lisa Ling, the former field correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show and contributor to ABC News' Nightline and National Geographic's Explorer. Bank of America will serve as the WBC's Presenting Sponsor for the seventh year. "Women business owners have the power to change their communities and the world and the time to realize that power is now," said Jill Calabrese Bain, Managing Director and Head of Wealth Management Banking and Lending for Bank of America. "NAWBO's annual conference provides the resources and connections to help women business owners take action and reach their potential. Bank of America is proud to serve as presenting sponsor for the conference and the Women Business Owner of the Year Award." NAWBO and Bank of America have also kicked off their NAWBO National Woman Business Owner of the Year Award contest. Applications must be received by April 30, 2019. The winner will be announced at the WBC NAWBO Awards Gala. About NAWBO Founded in 1975, NAWBO is the unified voice of America's more than 10 million women-owned businesses representing the fastest growing segment of the economy. NAWBO is the only dues-based organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries. NAWBO develops programs that help navigate women entrepreneurs through the various stages of their business growth. To learn more, please visit www.nawbo.org. SOURCE National Association of Women Business Owners Related Links http://www.nawbo.org - Late breaking presentation of the Phase 2b long-term findings on the investigational molecule, bimekizumab, demonstrates complete or almost complete skin clearance in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis - Long-term data from Phase 3 studies CIMPASI-1, CIMPASI-2 and CIMPACT highlight the strong efficacy and durability of CIMZIA (certolizumab pegol) in psoriasis BRUSSELS, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, will present results from the clinical development program of the company's key pipeline molecule, bimekizumab, a novel humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody that potently and selectively neutralizes both IL-17A and IL-17F, in addition to new two-year data on CIMZIA (certolizumab pegol) in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. These new data, presented at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. (March 1-5, 2019), underscore the ongoing advancements of the company's immuno-dermatology portfolio and pipeline. Notable data to be shared at AAD 2019 include a late-breaking oral presentation on a Phase 2b extension study of bimekizumab in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The 60-week findings are the longest-term data so far, highlighting the clinical benefit of the molecule's unique mechanism of action, which includes dual neutralization of both IL-17A and IL-17F cytokines. UCB is also presenting 12-week results of the Phase 2 BE AGILE study of bimekizumab in ankylosing spondylitis and 48-week results of the BE ACTIVE study of bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis. The safety and efficacy of bimekizumab have not been established, and it is not approved by any regulatory authority worldwide. Ongoing Phase 3 studies will further define the safety and efficacy of bimekizumab. "UCB research presented at AAD this year underscores our ongoing focus on delivering meaningful, differentiated outcomes for specific patient populations where there is significant unmet need. Psoriasis patients need durable, lasting skin clearance. The breadth of our immuno-dermatology development program can provide viable solutions for these patients. We are pleased to present long-term data demonstrating durable efficacy for Cimzia and robust Phase 2b data for bimekizumab. We are excited about further advances to come," said Emmanuel Caeymaex, Head of Immunology and Executive Vice President at UCB. Additional presentations include two-year findings from the CIMPASI-1 and CIMPASI-2 Phase 3 trials of CIMZIA (certolizumab pegol), the only Fc-free, PEGylated anti-TNF, in psoriasis, investigating long-term treatment durability for this patient population with high unmet need. Furthermore, the company will present on the unmet clinical needs of women of childbearing age living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Following is a guide to the UCB-sponsored data presentations: Presentations on CIMZIA Certolizumab Pegol for Plaque Psoriasis: 2-year Efficacy Results from Two Phase 3 Trials (CIMPASI-1 and CIMPASI-2), K. Gordon, K. Reich, A. Blauvelt, D. Thaci, C. Leonardi, Y. Poulin, M. Boehnlein, S. Kavanagh, C. Arendt, A. B. Gottlieb Session Information: ePoster only Durability of Response in Plaque Psoriasis Patients Treated with Certolizumab Pegol: Two Year Data from the CIMPASI-1 and CIMPASI-2 Phase 3 Trials, K. Gordon, K. Reich, A. Blauvelt, D. Thaci, C. Leonardi, Y. Poulin, M. Boehnlein, S. Kavanagh, C. Arendt, A. B. Gottlieb Session Information: ePoster only Efficacy of Certolizumab Pegol Dose Escalation in Patients Who Inadequately Respond to Initial Treatment: Results from the CIMPACT Trial, M. Augustin, M. Lebwohl, V. Piguet, H. Sofen, A. Blauvelt, L. Peterson, C. Arendt, M. Boehnlein, R. B. Warren Session Information: ePoster oral presentation Date/Time: Sunday, March 3 , 10:20AM 10:25AM , LOCATION: Hall H, ePoster Presentation Center 2 Presentations on UCB's Investigational Pipeline: Bimekizumab Dual Neutralization of Interleukin (IL)17A and IL17F with Bimekizumab in Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis: 60-Week Results from a Randomized, Double-Blinded, Phase 2b Extension Study, A. Blauvelt, K. Papp, J. Merola, A. Gottlieb, N. Cross, C. Madden, M. Wang, C. Cioffi, C. Griffiths Session Information: Late-breaking research presentation Date/Time: Saturday, March 2 , 2:40PM 2:50PM , LOCATION: Ballroom A Dual Neutralization of IL-17A and IL-17F with Bimekizumab in Patients with Active PsA: Overall and TNF-Inhibitor-Naive Population Results from a 48-Week Phase 2b Randomized Study, J. Merola, A. Kavanaugh, G. Schett, J. Scher, R. Warren, D. Assudani, T. Kumke, B. Ink, I. McInnes, C. Ritchlin Session Information: ePoster oral presentation Date/Time: Friday, March 1 , 12:45PM 12:50PM , LOCATION: ePoster Presentation Center 1 Dual Neutralization of IL-17A and IL-17F with Bimekizumab in Patients with Active Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS): 12-Week Results from a Phase 2b, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Ranging Study, D. van der Heijde, L. S. Gensler, A. Deodhar, X. Baraliakos, D. Poddubnyy, MK. Farmer, D. Baeten, T. Kumke, M. Oortgiesen, M. Dougados Session Information: ePoster only Women of Childbearing Age Research Incidence of Peri-Pregnancy Flares Among Psoriasis Patients, B. Brady, G. Kim, R. Fowler, E. Lee, R. Suruki, J. Stark, L. Pisenti, M. Yassine, J. J. Wu Session Information: ePoster oral presentation Date/Time: Saturday, March 2 , 12:30PM 12:35 PM , LOCATION: Hall H, ePoster Presentation Center 2 Fears and Misconceptions of Women with Chronic Inflammatory Diseases on Their Journey to Motherhood, J. Murase, C. De Simone, R. Fischer-Betz, C. Ecoffet, A. Tincani Session Information: ePoster oral presentation Date/Time: Friday, March 1st , 10:05 AM 10:10 AM , LOCATION: Hall H, ePoster Presentation Center 1 About Bimekizumab Bimekizumab is an investigational novel humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody that potently and selectively neutralizes both IL-17A and IL-17F, two key cytokines driving inflammatory processes. IL-17A and IL-17F have similar pro-inflammatory functions and independently cooperate with other inflammatory mediators to drive chronic inflammation and damage across multiple tissues. Previous early phase clinical studies in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis have suggested that bimekizumab's unique dual neutralization of both IL-17A and IL-17F may provide a new targeted approach for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.i,ii,iii Preclinical results in disease-relevant cells have shown that neutralizing IL-17F in addition to IL-17A reduces skin and joint inflammation, as well as pathological bone formation to an extent greater than inhibition of IL-17A alone.ii,iv,v The safety and efficacy of bimekizumab have not been established, and it is not approved by any regulatory authority worldwide. About CIMZIA in the EU/EEA In the EU, CIMZIA in combination with methotrexate (MTX) is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe active RA in adult patients inadequately responsive to disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) including MTX. CIMZIA can be given as monotherapy in case of intolerance to MTX or when continued treatment with MTX is inappropriate. CIMZIA in combination with MTX is also indicated for the treatment of severe, active and progressive RA in adults not previously treated with MTX or other DMARDs. CIMZIA has been shown to reduce the rate of progression of joint damage as measured by X-ray and to improve physical function, when given in combination with MTX. CIMZIA, in combination with MTX, is also indicated for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis in adults when the response to previous DMARD therapy has been inadequate. CIMZIA can be given as monotherapy in case of intolerance to MTX or when continued treatment with MTX is inappropriate. CIMZIA is also indicated in the EU for the treatment of adult patients with severe active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), comprising: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) adults with severe active AS who have had an inadequate response to, or are intolerant to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) without radiographic evidence of AS adults with severe active axSpA without radiographic evidence of AS but with objective signs of inflammation by elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and/or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) who have had an inadequate response to, or are intolerant to NSAIDs. CIMZIA is also indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy. About CIMZIA in Fertility, Pregnancy and Lactation in the EU/EEA Women of childbearing potential The use of adequate contraception should be considered for women of childbearing potential. For women planning pregnancy, continued contraception may be considered for 5 months after the last CIMZIA dose due to its elimination rate, but the need for treatment of the woman should also be taken into account (see below). Pregnancy Data from more than 500 prospectively collected pregnancies exposed to CIMZIA with known pregnancy outcomes, including more than 400 pregnancies exposed during the first trimester, does not indicate a malformative effect of CIMZIA. However, the available clinical experience is too limited to, with a reasonable certainty, conclude that there is no increased risk associated with CIMZIA administration during pregnancy. Animal studies using a rodent anti-rat TNF did not reveal evidence of impaired fertility or harm to the foetus. However, these are insufficient with respect to human reproductive toxicity. Due to its inhibition of TNF, CIMZIA administered during pregnancy could affect normal immune response in the newborn. CIMZIA should only be used during pregnancy if clinically needed. Non-clinical studies suggest low or negligible level of placental transfer of a homologue Fab-fragment of certolizumab pegol (no Fc region). In a clinical study 16 women were treated with certolizumab pegol (200 mg every 2 weeks or 400 mg every 4 weeks) during pregnancy. Certolizumab pegol plasma concentrations measured in 14 infants at birth were Below the Limit of Quantification (BLQ) in 13 samples; one was 0.042 g/ml with an infant/mother plasma ratio at birth of 0.09%. At Week 4 and Week 8, all infant concentrations were BLQ. The clinical significance of low levels certolizumab pegol for infants is unknown. It is recommended to wait a minimum of 5 months following the mother's last CIMZIA administration during pregnancy before administration of live or live-attenuated vaccines (e.g. BCG vaccine), unless the benefit of the vaccination clearly outweighs the theoretical risk of administration of live or live-attenuated vaccines to the infants. Breastfeeding In a clinical study in 17 lactating women treated with CIMZIA, minimal transfer of certolizumab pegol from plasma to breast milk was observed. The percentage of the maternal certolizumab pegol dose reaching an infant during a 24 hour period was estimated to 0.04% to 0.30%. In addition, since certolizumab pegol is a protein that is degraded in the gastrointestinal tract after oral administration, the absolute bioavailability is expected to be very low in a breastfed infant. Consequently, CIMZIA can be used during breastfeeding. Important Safety Information about CIMZIA in the EU/EEA Cimzia was studied in 4,049 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in controlled and open label trials for up to 92 months. The commonly reported adverse reactions (1-10%) in clinical trials with Cimzia and post-marketing were viral infections (includes herpeszoster, papillomavirus, influenza), bacterial infections (including abscess), rash, headache (including migraine), asthaenia, leukopaenia (including lymphopaenia, neutropaenia), eosinophilic disorder, pain (any sites), pyrexia, sensory abnormalities, hypertension, pruritus (any sites), hepatitis (including hepatic enzyme increase), injection site reactions, and nausea. Serious adverse reactions include sepsis, opportunistic infections, tuberculosis (including miliary, disseminated and extrapulmonary), herpes zoster, lymphoma, leukaemia, solid organ tumours, angioneurotic oedema, cardiomyopathies (includes heart failure), ischemic coronary artery disorders, pancytopaenia, hypercoagulation (including thrombophlebitis, pulmonary embolism), cerebrovascular accident, vasculitis, hepatitis/hepatopathy (includes cirrhosis), and renal impairment/nephropathy (includes nephritis). In RA controlled clinical trials, 4.4% of patients discontinued taking Cimzia due to adverse events vs. 2.7% for placebo. Cimzia is contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity to the active substance or any of the excipients, active tuberculosis or other severe infections such as sepsis or opportunistic infections and moderate to severe heart failure. Serious infections including sepsis, tuberculosis and opportunistic infections (e.g. histoplasmosis, nocardia, candidiasis) have been reported in patients receiving Cimzia. Some of these events have been fatal. Monitor patients closely for signs and symptoms of infections including tuberculosis before, during and after treatment with Cimzia. Treatment with Cimzia must not be initiated in patients with a clinically important active infection. If an infection develops, monitor carefully and stop Cimzia until the infection is controlled. Before initiation of therapy with Cimzia, all patients must be evaluated for both active and inactive (latent) tuberculosis infection. If active tuberculosis is diagnosed prior to or during treatment, Cimzia therapy must not be initiated and must be discontinued. If latent tuberculosis is diagnosed, appropriate anti-tuberculosis therapy must be started before initiating treatment with Cimzia. Patients should be instructed to seek medical advice if signs/symptoms (e.g. persistent cough, wasting/weight loss, low grade fever, listlessness) suggestive of tuberculosis occur during or after therapy with Cimzia. Reactivation of hepatitis B has occurred in patients receiving a TNF-antagonist including Cimzia who are chronic carriers of the virus (i.e. surface antigen positive). Some cases have had a fatal outcome. Patients should be tested for HBV infection before initiating treatment with Cimzia. Carriers of HBV who require treatment with Cimzia should be closely monitored and in the case of HBV reactivation Cimzia should be stopped and effective anti-viral therapy with appropriate supportive treatment should be initiated. TNF antagonists including Cimzia may increase the risk of new onset or exacerbation of clinical symptoms and/or radiographic evidence of demyelinating disease, including multiple sclerosis; of formation of autoantibodies and uncommonly of the development of a lupus-like syndrome; of severe hypersensitivity reactions. If a patient develops any of these adverse reactions, Cimzia should be discontinued and appropriate therapy instituted. With the current knowledge, a possible risk for the development of lymphomas, leukaemia or other malignancies in patients treated with a TNF antagonist cannot be excluded. Rare cases of neurological disorders, including seizure disorder, neuritis and peripheral neuropathy, have been reported in patients treated with Cimzia. Adverse reactions of the haematologic system, including medically significant cytopaenia, have been reported with Cimzia. Advise all patients to seek immediate medical attention if they develop signs and symptoms suggestive of blood dyscrasias or infection (e.g., persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, pallor) while on Cimzia. Consider discontinuation of Cimzia therapy in patients with confirmed significant haematological abnormalities. The use of Cimzia in combination with anakinra or abatacept is not recommended due to a potential increased risk of serious infections. As no data are available, Cimzia should not be administered concurrently with live vaccines. The 14-day half-life of Cimzia should be taken into consideration if a surgical procedure is planned. A patient who requires surgery while on Cimzia should be closely monitored for infections. Cimzia was studied in 325 patients with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and in 409 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) for up to 4 years. The safety profile for axSpA and PsA patients treated with Cimzia was consistent with the safety profile in RA and previous experience with Cimzia . Cimzia was studied in 1112 patients with psoriasis in controlled and open-label studies for up to 18 months. The safety profile of Cimzia 400 mg every 2 weeks and Cimzia 200 mg every 2 weeks were generally similar. Please consult the full prescribing information in relation to other side effects, full safety and prescribing information. European SmPC date of revision July 2018. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/cimzia-0#product-information-section CIMZIA is a registered trademark of the UCB Group of Companies. For further information, UCB: Corporate Communications Investor Relations Brand Communications France Nivelle, Global Communications, UCB Antje Witte, Investor Relations, UCB Andrea Levin Christopher, Immunology Communications, UCB T +32.2.559.9178, [email protected] T +32.2.559.94.14, [email protected] T +1.404.483.7329 [email protected] Laurent Schots, Media Relations, UCB T+32.2.559.92.64, [email protected] About UCB UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases in immunology or neurology. With more than 7,500 people in approximately 40 countries, the company generated revenue of 4.5 billion in 2017. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCB_news Forward looking statements UCB This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current plans, estimates and beliefs of management. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial information, expected legal, political, regulatory or clinical results and other such estimates and results. By their nature, such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions which could cause actual results to differ materially from those that may be implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Important factors that could result in such differences include: changes in general economic, business and competitive conditions, the inability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals or to obtain them on acceptable terms, costs associated with research and development, changes in the prospects for products in the pipeline or under development by UCB, effects of future judicial decisions or governmental investigations, product liability claims, challenges to patent protection for products or product candidates, changes in laws or regulations, exchange rate fluctuations, changes or uncertainties in tax laws or the administration of such laws and hiring and retention of its employees. UCB is providing this information as of the date of this press release and expressly disclaims any duty to update any information contained in this press release, either to confirm the actual results or to report a change in its expectations. There is no guarantee that new product candidates in the pipeline will progress to product approval or that new indications for existing products will be developed and approved. Products or potential products which are the subject of partnerships, joint ventures or licensing collaborations may be subject to differences between the partners. Also, UCB or others could discover safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with its products after they are marketed. Moreover, sales may be impacted by international and domestic trends toward managed care and health care cost containment and the reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payers as well as legislation affecting biopharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement. References: i Glatt S, Helmer E, Haier B, et al. First-in-human randomized study of bimekizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody and selective dual inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F, in mild psoriasis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2017 May;83(5):991-1001. doi: 10.1111/bcp.13185. Epub 2017 Jan 10. ii Papp K, Merola J, Gottlieb A, Griffiths C, Cross N, Peterson L, Cioffi C, Blauvelt A. Dual neutralization of both interleukin 17A and interleukin 17F with bimekizumab in patients with psoriasis: Results from BE ABLE 1, a 12-week randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase 2b trial. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2018 Aug;79(2):277-286.e10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29609013 iii Glatt S, Baeten D, Baker T, et al. Dual IL-17A and IL-17F neutralisation by bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis: evidence from preclinical experiments and a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial that IL-17F contributes to human chronic tissue inflammation. Ann Rheum Dis. 2018; 77(4):52332 iv Shah M, Maroof A, Al-Hosni R, Gikas P, Gozzard N, Shaw S, Roberts S. Bimekizumab Blocks T Cell-Mediated Osteogenic Differentiation of Periosteal Stem Cells: Coupling Pathological Bone Formation to IL-17A and IL-17F Signaling [ACR abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017; 69 (suppl 10). v Maroof A, Okoye R, Smallie T, et al. Bimekizumab dual inhibition of IL-17A and IL-17F provides evidence of IL-17F contribution to chronic inflammation in disease-relevant cells. Ann Rheum Dis. 201706;76 (suppl.2):213-213. HQ/0119/MPR/00001 SOURCE UCB, Inc. Related Links http://www.ucb.com LONDON, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report on Plan S[1] from the Institute for Scientific Information, using Web of Science data poses a number of questions for the research community, including funders, publishers and institutions. This is the second report in the Global Research series from the recently relaunched Institute for Scientific Information. The report, "The Plan S footprint: implications for the scholarly publishing landscape", examines recent patterns of publications funded by Plan S supporters, exploring potential impacts on funders, subjects, countries, publishers, and journals. Dr Jonathan Adams, Director, Institute for Scientific Information said: "Our report, based on journal data taken from Web of Science Core Collection, looks to provide an unbiased and data-driven background analysis to inform the debate around a potentially transformative change in research policy. "The report raises a number of questions for consideration by funders, publishers and institutions when exploring possible ways to implement Plan S." The report findings pose the following questions, which are backed up with data: Some research areas have very few journals that are currently Plan S compliant. Without carefully paced transition to allow for the emergence of new titles, is there a risk of unusual constraints and disjunctions in publishing opportunities in affected subjects? Citations are not a defining metric of quality, but might the restructuring of the spread of well-cited papers have unplanned contingent consequences? How can the shift to Gold Open Access and associated APCs be managed equitably to protect the positions both of unfunded researchers in G20 economies and of a wider spread of authors in emergent research regions? The large publishers, with a diverse stable of titles, will be influential in discussions, but there are many small publishers, including those linked to learned societies, who publish an important part of the Plan S funded output in serials central to their discipline. Will transition be more difficult for them and, if so, can this be managed effectively but flexibly? The report dataset is comprised of publication records drawn from the more than 20,000 journals in the Web of Science Core Collection. These records were filtered for content published in 2017 and documents were then classified as articles or reviews. Proceedings papers are not identified as a document type under the Plan S proposals. Document records in Web of Science contain 'acknowledgments', which include funding sources. These were used to identify papers sponsored by Plan S funder organisations, by cross-reference to a manually curated list of funder variants. This enabled broad capture of papers that would be affected by Plan S mandates. Some authors will have failed to identify Plan S funding and there will also be papers not included because of missing data or obscure name variants. The Plan S funded records analysed therefore represent a minimum estimate of Plan S papers published and of those indexed in the Web of Science. Web of Science integrates data from Impactstory's Unpaywall which has one of the widest sets of data on article level OA information and is augmented by a direct journal level feed from the DOAJ. ** NOTES TO EDITORS [1] Plan S is an initiative from "cOAlition S": a consortium of the European Research Council and national research agencies and funders, initially in Europe but now including other funders worldwide. It will require researchers who benefit from state-funded projects and institutions to publish in open repositories or in journals where all papers are publicly accessible, for free to anyone with an internet connection. The report can be downloaded from here: https://clarivate.com/g/plan-s-footprint/ Media Contact Amy Bourke-Waite Director of External Communications [email protected] 07375089729 About Web of Science Group Web of Science Group organizes the world's research information to enable academia, corporations, publishers and governments accelerate the pace of research. It is powered by the Web of Science the world's largest publisher-neutral citation index and research intelligence platform. Its many well-known brands also include Converis, EndNote, Kopernio, Publons, ScholarOne and the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). The 'university' of Web of Science Group, ISI maintains the knowledge corpus upon which the index and related information and analytical content and services are built; it disseminates that knowledge externally through events, conferences and publications and it carries out research to sustain, extend and improve the knowledge base. Web of Science Group is a Clarivate Analytics company. www.webofsciencegroup.com About Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Analytics is a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation. Building on a heritage going back more than a century and a half, we have built some of the most trusted brands across the innovation lifecycle, including Web of Science, Cortellis, Derwent, CompuMark, MarkMonitor, and Techstreet. Today, Clarivate Analytics is a new and independent company, on a bold entrepreneurial mission to help our clients radically reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing innovations. Forward-Looking Statements This press release and oral statements made with respect to information contained in this release may contain forward-looking statements regarding Clarivate Analytics. Forward-looking statements provide Clarivate Analytics' current expectations or forecasts of future events and may include statements regarding anticipated synergies and other future expectations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including factors outside of Clarivate Analytics' control that may cause actual results to differ materially. Clarivate Analytics undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE Institute for Scientific Information SAN JOSE, California, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Niagara Networks, the leading network and security visibility provider, has introduced the SSL/TLS Decryption Engine to its Packetron-based open architecture solution. Many network security and monitoring applications do not have visibility into encrypted traffic and therefore cannot inspect the traffic contents. Security and monitoring applications with embedded SS/TLS decryption technology can't keep pace with the high demands of high-throughput environments. This creates dangerous gaps in corporate defenses or results in partial network visibility. Using Niagara Networks' SSL/TLS decryption engine accelerates performance of cybersecurity threat detection. The SSL/TLS engine, which supports multiple SSL and TLS versions including TLS 1.3, is able to dynamically detect and decrypt encrypted web, emails, messaging, DNS, and files which are collected from interfaces ranging from 1GbE up to 100GbE. The Niagara SSL/TLS decryption platform is able to send the decrypted traffic to multiple security appliances, introducing significant performance and efficiency benefits rather than having each tool perform its own TLS decryption independently. Niagara's SSL/TLS decryption engine resides inside the N2-series modular, multipurpose visibility node, which offers enhanced flexibility in optimizing the SSL/TLS decryption and maximizing use of computational resources. Niagara's SSL/TLS platform can receive aggregated traffic from multiple sources, replicate decrypted traffic, or load balance decrypted traffic to multiple security tools for improved security service redundancy and lower cost of deployment. "The open architecture allows cyber security applications or other custom applications to be deployed on Packetron modules as part of the SSL/TLS decryption platform," says Yoram Ehrlich, Vice President of Products at Niagara Networks. "This powerful combination enhances the efficiency of both the decryption platform and the on-board resident security application, delivering a cyber threat detection multiplier." The SSL/TLS decryption platform supports multiple types of deployment passive out-of-band, active out-of-band, and active inline. Integrating directly into the Packetron modular system ensures that enterprises can easily and cost-effectively scale capacity and performance to meet their decryption and security needs. For pricing and availability of the SSL/TLS Decryption Platform, contact Niagara's sales team at [email protected] Niagara Networks will be demonstrating the capabilities of the SSL/TLS Decryption Platform and the Open Architecture Packetron at the RSA Conference, March 4-8, North Expo, Booth #4221. About Niagara Networks Niagara Networks provides high performance network visibility solutions to allow seamless administration of security solutions, performance management, and network monitoring. Its products deliver significant advantages in terms of network operation expenses, downtime, and total cost of ownership. Niagara Networks offers all the building blocks for an advanced Visibility Adaptation Layer at all data rates up to 100Gb, including taps, bypass elements, packet brokers and a unified management layer. Thanks to its integrated in-house capabilities and tailor-made development cycle, Niagara Networks is agile in responding to market trends and in meeting the customized needs of service providers, enterprise, data centers, and government agencies. Media Contact Amy Kenigsberg K2 Global Communications http://k2-gc.com/ [email protected] tel: +972-9-794-1681 (+2 GMT) mobile: +972-524-761-341 U.S.: +1-913-440-4072 (+7 ET) SOURCE Niagara Networks Related Links https://www.niagaranetworks.com/ THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- We have been informed by the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office (DPP) that they are nearing the conclusion of their investigation and are preparing to prosecute Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE: RDS.B) for criminal charges directly or indirectly related to the 2011 settlement of disputes over Oil Prospecting License 245 (OPL 245) in Nigeria. As appropriate, we will provide updates as this matter progresses. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations", respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest. This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "aim", "ambition", ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2017 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, March 1, 2019. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. This Report contains references to Shell's website. These references are for the readers' convenience only. Shell is not incorporating by reference any information posted on www.shell.com. We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. US investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. This announcement contains inside information. Contacts: Linda Szymanski Company Secretary Investor Relations: International + 31(0)70-377-4540 North America +1-832-337-2034 Media: International +44(0)207-934-5550 USA +1-832-337-4355 LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 Classification: Inside Information SOURCE Royal Dutch Shell plc Related Links http://www.shell.com PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pall Corporation, the global leader of advanced filtration, separation and purification technologies, has completed certification of Boeing 737, 757 and 777 versions of its microbial and odor-removing Advanced Cabin Air Filter (A-CAF). These versions are now available for sale through the Pall Aerospace business unit's exclusive global distribution partner, Satair. They complement Pall's existing A-CAF filters for the A320 family, as well as the A330/A340. "Pall partnered closely with the Aerospace industry to develop these new filter options for Boeing aircraft" explained Steve Simpson, Marketing Director, Pall Aerospace. "Our previous success introducing similar filters for the Airbus A330 and A320 resulted in further demand for A-CAF across the spectrum of commercial aircraft platforms." Pall's A-CAF combines a HEPA particulate filter designed to remove microbial contaminants with a bespoke odor and volatile organic compound (VOC) reduction technology. This is the first product available to address odors and VOCs for cabin air in these Boeing platforms. Pall's A-CAF utilizes the latest version of their bespoke adsorbent technology, which is specifically formulated to remove unpleasant smells and undesired substances found in aircraft cabin air that can be a nuisance to passengers and, therefore, result in costly operational interruptions. A-CAF technology can also help mitigate fumes that enter the cabin from the bleed air that can be of concern for aircraft passengers and crew. Smells are removed three to four times faster than without the A-CAF filters and Pall's bespoke technology provides 30 percent better cabin air quality and odor reducing performance that lasts more than five times longer than filters that use standard activated carbon. "Pall has supplied cabin air filters to the commercial airline industry for nearly 40 years and we lead the industry in technologies that advance cabin air quality. The first company to introduce HEPA rated filters to the aircraft market, we leveraged our pedigree and expertise in innovative odor reduction technology to bring new solutions that can improve comfort and safety for passengers and crew," explained Roberto Gregori, Pall Aerospace General Manager and Vice President. The newly certified A-CAF for 737, 757 and 777 are all approved via FAA-PMA as direct fit replacements for the existing HEPA filters with no modifications required to the aircraft. Pall Aerospace will continue to expand its A-CAF product line. A-CAF airline adopters are eagerly anticipating the launch of the Pall PUREcabin Clean Air Technology (CAT) fresh air filtration system and Cabin Air Quality Sensor. These products will further improve cabin air quality and will enable aircraft maintenance personnel to quickly diagnose and fix maintenance issues that create cabin air odors. To learn more about Pall Aerospace technology solutions, please visit: www.aerospace.pall.com or email [email protected]. Aerospace on Twitter: @pallaerospace. About Pall Corporation Pall Corporation is a filtration, separation and purification leader providing solutions to meet the critical fluid management needs of customers across the broad spectrum of life sciences and industry. Pall works with customers to advance health, safety and environmentally responsible technologies. The Company's engineered products enable process and product innovation and minimize emissions and waste. Pall Corporation serves customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.pall.com. Or follow us on social media: Google+ YouTube LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Corporate Media Contact: Pall Corporation Mariann Kourafas Director, Communications (508) 871-5469 Product Marketing Media Contact: Steve Simpson Senior Director of Marketing Air Products +44-780-891-2260 [email protected] SOURCE Pall Corporation Related Links http://www.pall.com SARASOTA, Fla., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The next time the Peace River Authority will need to apply for a new water use permit will be February 26, 2068. That's one year before their 50-year permit to use water from the Peace River to supplement water supplies for Charlotte, Desoto, Sarasota and Manatee Counties. Florida will be a very different place 50 years from now, but one thing will be exactly the same: the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority will harvest water ever-mindful of protecting the river and flows to Charlotte Harbor downstream, just as they always have. When water flows are high, the Authority can take water, treat it and store it for when they are not. "This is a major step to ensure water security, well into the future, for the Authority and member governments," said Alan Maio, Authority Chair and Sarasota County Commissioner. "This 50-year permit demonstrates the confidence the Southwest Florida Water Management District has in us and our ability to be good stewards, to protect the resource, while we make use of it for the region." The permitted withdrawal will increase from 120 million gallons per day (MGD) to 258 MGD by 2069. Intake, treatment and storage facilities will be expanded, over time, to ensure a steady supply of water is available for member governments. The member governments will continue to promote conservation as they do now. "This was a monumental undertaking," said Patrick Lehman, Executive Director, Peace River Authority. "Years of planning and investment, years of reliability in facility and resources management, and years of collaboration among our members have made this possible. We look to the future with confidence knowing there is still much work to be done." "The District supports the PRMRWSA and their efforts to ensure a long-term sustainable water supply for the southern region," said Brian Armstrong, Executive Director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. "This forward planning will also provide a significant benefit to the water resource by reducing reliance on traditional groundwater sources." "While this is the first of its kind in Florida, 50-year permits are not uncommon for major infrastructure investments," said Doug Manson, Authority General Counsel, of Manson Bolves Donaldson and Varn. "We've been good stewards and worked diligently to ensure that our application met or exceeded criteria. We continue to work with the District so that our mission to provide water and theirs to protect it, are both attained." SOURCE Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority Related Links http://www.regionalwater.org Many reporters from press agencies and media centres around the world expressed their special impressions of Vietnams careful preparations for this important event. Nhan Dan reporters had interviews with foreign journalists and technicians at the Summit. , Igor Belyaev This is the first time Igor Belyaev, a senior correspondent from Tokyo Bureau of ITAR-TASS (Russia) has visited Vietnam. Just arrived, he has not had time to enjoy the traditional dishes of Hanoi and hoped to taste these delicious dishes. He expressed his impressions about Vietnamese peoples friendliness and hospitability as well as the hosts good preparations for the second DPRK USA Summit. He also noted that Vietnam would gain more opportunities for its development after this important international event. Eldad Beck Eldad Beck, reporter from Israel Hayom the biggest newspaper in Israel, came to Hanoi six years ago. He emphasised the changes of Vietnams capital city with many new high-rise buildings as well as developed and expanded roads and infrastructure. He expressed his pleasure at his presence in Hanoi to report on the second DPRK USA Summit. The reporter said he would introduce information about Vietnam so that Israeli people could know more about the host country. Peter Wang According to Peter Wang from Eastern Broadcasting Limited Company in Taiwan (China), Hanoians are always smiling, friendly and open and Vietnamese traditional food is very delicious. He was impressed by Vietnams rapid development towards modernisation. The country has made a great preparation for the second DPRK USA Summit despite a very short time frame (only about two weeks). He expressed his hope that with the role as the host of the Summit, Vietnam would significantly contribute to the regions peace and stability. Radicioni Francesco During his third visit to Vietnam, reporter Radicioni Francesco from Italys Radio Radicale had a chance to witness the impressive changes here. He noted that Hanoi was very beautiful, particularly in the days of the second DPRK USA Summit, which is taking place on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Hanois UNESCO recognition as a City for Peace. Radicioni Franceco reported the first Summit in Singapore and he felt wonderful to come to Hanoi for the second event. He stressed that this would be a good opportunity for Vietnam to show its hospitability and important role in contributing to maintaining the peace and stability in the region. Vietnam is considered as a symbol of economic development and renewal as well as efforts for peace, he added. Ambrosius Nara Krisna Being a reporter for the first DPRK USA in Singapore, Ambrosius Nara Krisna from Associated Press (AP) News said that Vietnams preparation for the second one was very good. The reporter also expressed his impressions about the restaurants in Hanois streets and talked about his interesting experience in the capital city. Kenichi Asano Kenichi Asano from Japanese Choson Sinbo newspaper noted that Vietnam and Japan have a good relationship and was very pleased to see Vietnams development as well as careful preparations for the second DPRK USA Summit. Donald Kirk Journalist Donald Kirk from CBS News/Radio is also impressed by the hosts preparation, particularly the decoration for streets with lights, flags and colorful flowers. Vietnam was selected as the host of this important event, which demonstrated that Vietnams role is increasingly important in the region and the world. He hoped that Vietnam would further develop in the near future. Parker Walton During his first time to Hanoi, Parker Walton from Japans Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, he felt very interesting and was amazed at the citys efforts for this important international event. He noted that just outside the representative office of his newspaper in Hanoi, streets were full of slogans, panels and flowers. He also said this was a good opportunity for promote Vietnams image to the world. ATLANTA, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In fulfillment of its commitment towards promoting the accessibility of quality mental and behavioral healthcare services, Perimeter Healthcare is delighted to announce the acquisition of Lake Pines Hospital, located in Kenner, Louisiana. The 36-bed behavioral healthcare facility is renowned for providing quality, individualized in-patient care for adults facing acute mental and behavioral health challenges. This acquisition also includes the St. Theresa Hospital building which houses Lake Pines Hospital. Veteran healthcare executive and CEO of Lake Pines Hospital, Debbie Tullier expressed her joy at the successful deal. "Perimeter Healthcare is a leading behavioral healthcare company and Lake Pines Hospital's vision and mission align with theirs. I am quite positive that the acquisition is a bold step in the right direction." She further assured the general public that, "Our focus on our patients will always be our number one priority. If anything, the standard of care and the commitment towards individualized mental and behavioral therapy will be improved upon and services expanded." Stating Perimeter Healthcare's plans for the acquired facility, the President and CEO of Perimeter Healthcare, Rod Laughlin stated, "About 40 to 45 beds will be added within the next 8 months. We plan to give the whole building a facelift, improve the general ambiance, and of course enhance the quality healthcare delivery in the hospital." The newly renovated facility will be named Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of New Orleans. The scope of operations will also be expanded to cover adult, geriatric, and adolescent populations. In her statement, Lisa Evans, the Chief Operating Officer at Perimeter Healthcare, stated, "We are not only concerned about expanding our reach but ensuring our track record of excellent service delivery is upheld. It is our desire to replicate the success we have had in our other facilities across the country in New Orleans. We will always continue working towards achieving the Perimeter mission of providing hope and transforming lives everywhere we operate." For more information, please visit www.perimeterhealthcare.com. About Perimeter Healthcare Perimeter Healthcare consists of a network of mental and behavioral healthcare facilities that are committed to the mental well-being of their clients. They provide a broad range of comprehensive treatment programs for a variety of mental health disorders. The network is managed by President and CEO Rod Laughlin, who brings 35 years of experience in building and operating successful facility-based healthcare companies. Ridgemont Equity Partners is the financial sponsor of Perimeter Healthcare. About Ridgemont Equity Partners Ridgemont Equity Partners is a Charlotte-based middle market buyout and growth equity investor. Since 1993, the principals of Ridgemont have invested over $4.0 billion in 142 companies. The firm focuses on investments of $25 million to $125 million in industries in which it has deep expertise, including basic and industrial services, energy, healthcare, technology and telecommunications. Media Contact: Kelly Laughlin Company Name: Perimeter Healthcare Telephone: 470-554-7902 Email: [email protected] Address: 2250 Northwinds Parkway Alpharetta, GA 30009 Website: www.perimeterhealthcare.com SOURCE Perimeter Healthcare New Orders, Production, and Employment Growing Supplier Deliveries Slowing at Slower Rate; Backlog Growing Raw Materials Inventories Growing; Customers' Inventories Too Low Prices Decreasing; Exports and Imports Growing TEMPE, Ariz., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in February, and the overall economy grew for the 118th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The report was issued today by Timothy R. Fiore, CPSM, C.P.M., Chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee: "The February PMI registered 54.2 percent, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points from the January reading of 56.6 percent. The New Orders Index registered 55.5 percent, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points from the January reading of 58.2 percent. The Production Index registered 54.8 percent, 5.7-percentage point decrease compared to the January reading of 60.5 percent. The Employment Index registered 52.3 percent, a decrease of 3.2 percentage points from the January reading of 55.5 percent. The Supplier Deliveries Index registered 54.9 percent, a 1.3 percentage point decrease from the January reading of 56.2 percent. The Inventories Index registered 53.4 percent, an increase of 0.6 percentage point from the January reading of 52.8 percent. The Prices Index registered 49.4 percent, a 0.2-percentage point decrease from the January reading of 49.6 percent, indicating lower raw materials prices for the second straight month after nearly three years of increases. "Comments from the panel reflect continued expanding business strength, supported by notable demand and output, although both were softer than the prior month. Demand expansion continued with the New Orders Index reaching the mid-50s, the Customers' Inventories Index scoring lower and remaining too low, and the Backlog of Orders returning to a low 50's expansion level. Consumption (production and employment) continued to expand, but fell a combined 8.9 points from the previous month's levels. Inputs expressed as supplier deliveries, inventories and imports stabilized at a mid 50's level and had a slight negative impact on the PMI. Inputs continue to reflect an easing business environment, confirmed by Prices Index contraction. "Exports continue to expand, at slightly stronger rates compared to January. The manufacturing sector continues to expand, but inputs and prices indicate easing of supply chain constraints," says Fiore. Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 16 reported growth in February, in the following order: Printing & Related Support Activities; Textile Mills; Computer & Electronic Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Fabricated Metal Products; Paper Products; Wood Products; Primary Metals; Chemical Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Petroleum & Coal Products; Transportation Equipment; Machinery; Furniture & Related Products; and Plastics & Rubber Products. The only industry reporting contraction in February is Nonmetallic Mineral Products. WHAT RESPONDENTS ARE SAYING "Strong domestics market. Slow export markets." (Paper Products) "Demand remains healthy at the beginning of 2019. However, growing concerns for what could be another round of tariffs in March are further escalating price increases of already constrained electronic components. Expect to see increased lead times and prices throughout Q1 and Q2." (Computer & Electronic Products) "Strong start to the year, though weather has been a challenge." (Chemical Products) "Still fairly steady with production and services." (Transportation Equipment) "Economy showing general strength, especially in manufacturing. Cost pressures and tariff challenges persist but are manageable. General outlook is for stability and potential improvement in the second half of 2019." (Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products) "Orders remain strong. Supplier delivery continues to be challenged on some commodities." (Machinery) "Aerospace engine-related business continues to be strong. Energy and general industry-related business is flat to down." (Miscellaneous Manufacturing) "Business so far this year is meeting, but not exceeding, our forecast. We are concerned about indicators showing a slight recession for the second half of the calendar year." (Fabricated Metal Products) "Uncertainty of steel prices due to Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and lack of resolution of the anti-dumping trade cases." (Petroleum & Coal Products) "General business conditions started to slow at the end of January, continuing through February." (Plastics and Rubber Products) MANUFACTURING AT A GLANCE February 2019 Index Series Index Feb Series Index Jan Percentage Point Change Direction Rate of Change Trend* (Months) PMI 54.2 56.6 -2.4 Growing Slower 30 New Orders 55.5 58.2 -2.7 Growing Slower 38 Production 54.8 60.5 -5.7 Growing Slower 30 Employment 52.3 55.5 -3.2 Growing Slower 29 Supplier Deliveries 54.9 56.2 -1.3 Slowing Slower 36 Inventories 53.4 52.8 +0.6 Growing Faster 14 Customers' Inventories 39.0 42.8 -3.8 Too Low Faster 29 Prices 49.4 49.6 -0.2 Decreasing Faster 2 Backlog of Orders 52.3 50.3 +2.0 Growing Faster 2 New Export Orders 52.8 51.8 +1.0 Growing Faster 36 Imports 55.3 53.8 +1.5 Growing Faster 25 OVERALL ECONOMY Growing Slower 118 Manufacturing Sector Growing Slower 30 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business data is seasonally adjusted for the New Orders, Production, Employment and Supplier Deliveries Indexes. *Number of months moving in current direction. COMMODITIES REPORTED UP/DOWN IN PRICE AND IN SHORT SUPPLY Commodities Up in Price Aluminum*; Electronic Components (7); Paper-Based Products; Plastic Components; Printed Circuit Board Assemblies (2); Steel* (6); Steel Hot Rolled* (2) and Steel Products* (10). Commodities Down in Price Aluminum* (5); Caustic Soda (5); Memory (2); Oil; Steel* (6); Steel Hot Rolled* (6); and Steel Products* (2). Commodities in Short Supply Capacitors (20); Electronic Components (10); and Resistors (16). The number of consecutive months the commodity is listed is indicated after each item. *Indicates both up and down in price. FEBRUARY 2019 MANUFACTURING INDEX SUMMARIES PMI Manufacturing expanded in February, as the PMI registered 54.2 percent, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points from the January reading of 56.6 percent. "This indicates growth in manufacturing for the 30th consecutive month. The PMI reversed a January increase in expansion primarily through an expansion softening of a combined 8.9 points in production and employment. The index reached its lowest level of expansion since November 2016, when the PMI measured 53 percent," says Fiore. A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting. A PMI above 42.9 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. Therefore, the February PMI indicates growth for the 118th consecutive month in the overall economy and 30th straight month of growth in the manufacturing sector. "The past relationship between the PMI and the overall economy indicates that the PMI for February (54.2 percent) corresponds to a 3.3-percent increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) on an annualized basis," says Fiore. THE LAST 12 MONTHS Month PMI Month PMI Feb 2019 54.2 Aug 2018 60.8 Jan 2019 56.6 Jul 2018 58.4 Dec 2018 54.3 Jun 2018 60.0 Nov 2018 58.8 May 2018 58.7 Oct 2018 57.5 Apr 2018 57.9 Sep 2018 59.5 Mar 2018 59.3 Average for 12 months 58.0 High 60.8 Low 54.2 New Orders ISM's New Orders Index registered 55.5 percent in February, which is a decrease of 2.7 percentage points when compared to the 58.2 percent reported for January, indicating growth in new orders for the 38th consecutive month. "Customer demand expansion softened compared to January, with four of the top six industry sectors expanding," says Fiore. A New Orders Index above 52.5 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Census Bureau's series on manufacturing orders (in constant 2000 dollars). Thirteen of 18 industries reported growth in new orders in February, in the following order: Wood Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Fabricated Metal Products; Primary Metals; Furniture & Related Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Chemical Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Paper Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; and Machinery. The only industry reporting a decrease in new orders in February is Nonmetallic Mineral Products. New Orders %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 28.2 57.8 14.0 +14.2 55.5 Jan 2019 29.8 52.0 18.3 +11.5 58.2 Dec 2018 19.7 57.5 22.9 -3.2 51.3 Nov 2018 31.0 55.0 14.0 +17.0 61.8 Production ISM's Production Index registered 54.8 percent in February, which is a decrease of 5.7 percentage points when compared to the 60.5 percent reported for January, indicating growth in production for the 30th consecutive month. "Production expansion continued in February, but at a slower pace compared to January. Production was not able to keep pace with customer-inventory demand and was not able to prevent a growth in backlog orders. Weather conditions causing factory shutdowns may have contributed to the weaker expansion performance," says Fiore. An index above 51.7 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Federal Reserve Board's Industrial Production figures. The 12 industries reporting growth in production during the month of February listed in order are: Printing & Related Support Activities; Chemical Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Computer & Electronic Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Primary Metals; Paper Products; Transportation Equipment; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; and Machinery. The four industries reporting a decrease in production in February are: Textile Mills; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Furniture & Related Products; and Plastics & Rubber Products. Production %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 26.0 59.5 14.5 +11.5 54.8 Jan 2019 28.3 56.0 15.7 +12.6 60.5 Dec 2018 21.6 58.8 19.5 +2.1 54.1 Nov 2018 30.6 56.8 12.6 +18.0 59.9 Employment ISM's Employment Index registered 52.3 percent in February, a decrease of 3.2 percentage points when compared to the January reading of 55.5 percent. This indicates growth in employment in February for the 29th consecutive month. "Employment continued to expand, but at the lowest level since November 2016, when the index registered 51.6 percent," says Fiore. An Employment Index above 50.8 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on manufacturing employment. Ten of 18 manufacturing industries reported employment growth in February, in the following order: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Primary Metals; Computer & Electronic Products; Machinery; Transportation Equipment; and Chemical Products. The two industries reporting a decrease in employment in February are: Wood Products; and Fabricated Metal Products. Six industries reported no change in employment in February compared to January. Employment %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 18.2 68.7 13.2 +5.0 52.3 Jan 2019 17.6 71.1 11.3 +6.3 55.5 Dec 2018 18.6 70.7 10.7 +7.9 56.0 Nov 2018 22.7 69.1 8.2 +14.5 57.7 Supplier Deliveries The delivery performance of suppliers to manufacturing organizations slowed in February, as the Supplier Deliveries Index registered 54.9 percent. This is 1.3 percentage points lower than the 56.2 percent reported for January. "This is the 36th straight month of slowing supplier deliveries, with the index recording its lowest level of expansion since May 2017, when it registered 54.3 percent. Supplier delivery improvement contributed to slight gains in inventory expansion," says Fiore. A reading below 50 percent indicates faster deliveries, while a reading above 50 percent indicates slower deliveries. The 12 industries reporting slower supplier deliveries in February listed in order are: Textile Mills; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Primary Metals; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Transportation Equipment; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Machinery; Chemical Products; and Computer & Electronic Products. No industry reported faster supplier deliveries in February. Six industries reported no change in supplier deliveries in February compared to January. Supplier Deliveries %Slower %Same %Faster Net Index Feb 2019 16.6 77.3 6.1 +10.5 54.9 Jan 2019 17.7 75.6 6.7 +11.0 56.2 Dec 2018 17.6 78.0 4.4 +13.2 59.0 Nov 2018 25.9 70.2 3.9 +22.0 61.5 Inventories* The Inventories Index registered 53.4 percent in February, an increase of 0.6 percentage point from the 52.8 percent reported for January. "Inventories expanded for the 14th consecutive month, at a faster rate than the previous month. This growth is due to continued improvement in supplier delivery performance. Inventory expansion achieved its highest level since August 2018, when the index reached 55.4 percent," says Fiore. An Inventories Index greater than 44.3 percent, over time, is generally consistent with expansion in the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) figures on overall manufacturing inventories (in chained 2000 dollars). The 10 industries reporting higher inventories in February listed in order are: Textile Mills; Wood Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Paper Products; Furniture & Related Products; Transportation Equipment; Machinery; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Computer & Electronic Products; and Fabricated Metal Products. The three industries reporting a decrease in inventories in February are: Primary Metals; Plastics & Rubber Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing. Inventories %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 20.0 66.8 13.2 +6.8 53.4 Jan 2019 21.5 62.5 16.0 +5.5 52.8 Dec 2018 20.9 60.6 18.4 +2.5 51.2 Nov 2018 23.4 59.0 17.6 +5.8 52.9 Customers' Inventories* ISM's Customers' Inventories Index registered 39 percent in February, which is 3.8 percentage points lower than the 42.8 percent reported for January, indicating that customers' inventory levels were considered too low. "Customers' inventories are too low for the 29th consecutive month and recorded their lowest level since December 2010, when the index registered 39 percent. Low customer inventories continue to represent future production-growth potential," says Fiore. The only industry reporting customers' inventories as too high during the month of February is Apparel, Leather and Allied Products. The 10 industries reporting customers' inventories as too low during February listed in order are: Chemical Products; Machinery; Primary Metals; Plastics & Rubber Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; and Paper Products. Six industries reported no change in inventories in February compared to January. Customers' Inventories % Reporting %Too High %About Right %Too Low Net Index Feb 2019 74 4.3 69.4 26.3 -22.0 39.0 Jan 2019 77 9.6 66.4 24.0 -14.4 42.8 Dec 2018 82 4.3 74.7 21.0 -16.7 41.7 Nov 2018 79 8.9 65.1 26.0 -17.1 41.5 Prices* The ISM Prices Index registered 49.4 percent in February, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the January reading of 49.6 percent, indicating a decrease in raw materials prices for the second straight month. The Prices Index has dropped 22.2 percentage points over the past four months. "Prices contracted for the second straight month. Decreases were reported in aluminum, steel, steel-based products, various chemicals and plastic resins. Steel prices have returned to more normal levels. Price increases and shortages continue for passive electronic components," says Fiore. A Prices Index above 52.5 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Producer Price Index for Intermediate Materials. Six of the 18 industries reported paying increased prices for raw materials in February, in the following order: Printing & Related Support Activities; Textile Mills; Computer & Electronic Products; Transportation Equipment; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; and Machinery. The eight industries reporting a decrease in prices for raw materials in February listed in order are: Furniture & Related Products; Wood Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Plastics & Rubber Products; Paper Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Chemical Products; and Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products. Prices %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 20.0 58.9 21.1 -1.1 49.4 Jan 2019 20.6 57.9 21.5 -0.9 49.6 Dec 2018 26.8 56.1 17.1 +9.7 54.9 Nov 2018 32.0 57.3 10.7 +21.3 60.7 Backlog of Orders* ISM's Backlog of Orders Index registered 52.3 percent in February, which is 2 percentage points higher than the 50.3 percent reported in January, indicating order backlogs grew for the month. "Backlogs expanded during February despite the softening of growth in new orders indicating production struggled to keep up with incoming demand," says Fiore. The nine industries reporting growth in order backlogs in February listed in order are: Wood Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Computer & Electronic Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Primary Metals; Paper Products; Transportation Equipment; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; and Machinery. The seven industries reporting a decrease in order backlogs during February in the following order are: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Textile Mills; Petroleum & Coal Products; Furniture & Related Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; and Chemical Products. Backlog of Orders % Reporting %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 88 23.4 57.8 18.8 +4.6 52.3 Jan 2019 88 20.1 60.3 19.6 +0.5 50.3 Dec 2018 89 19.8 60.3 19.9 -0.1 50.0 Nov 2018 88 27.7 57.5 14.9 +12.8 56.4 New Export Orders* ISM's New Export Orders Index registered 52.8 percent in February, 1 percentage point higher compared to the January reading of 51.8 percent, indicating growth in new export orders for the 36th consecutive month. "Export orders continued expansion at better rates than the prior month, but still at low levels of expansion, consistent with the prior four months. Two of the six big industry sectors contributed to the expansion," says Fiore. The seven industries reporting growth in new export orders in February listed in order are: Wood Products; Furniture & Related Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Chemical Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Machinery; and Plastics & Rubber Products. The two industries reporting a decrease in new export orders in February are: Apparel, Leather and Allied Products; and Fabricated Metal Products. Nine industries reported no change in new export orders in February. New Export Orders % Reporting %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 78 11.8 82.2 6.1 +5.7 52.8 Jan 2019 78 12.8 77.8 9.3 +3.5 51.8 Dec 2018 80 13.9 77.7 8.4 +5.5 52.8 Nov 2018 81 12.9 78.6 8.4 +4.5 52.2 Imports * ISM's Imports Index registered 55.3 percent in February, an increase of 1.5 percentage points when compared to the 53.8 percent reported for January, indicating that imports grew in February for the 25th consecutive month. "Imports expansion improved, reversing a three-month expansion decline that was due in part to continued activity to import prior to the Lunar New Year, as well as to avoid potential tariff increases on March 1. The index recorded its best expansion performance since June 2018, when it achieved 59 percent," says Fiore. The 13 industries reporting growth in imports during the month of February listed in order are: Wood Products; Textile Mills; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Furniture & Related Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Machinery; Chemical Products; Transportation Equipment; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Computer & Electronic Products; and Fabricated Metal Products. No industry reported a decrease in imports during February. Imports % Reporting %Higher %Same %Lower Net Index Feb 2019 80 16.6 77.5 5.9 +10.7 55.3 Jan 2019 85 17.0 73.6 9.4 +7.6 53.8 Dec 2018 86 16.7 72.0 11.3 +5.4 52.7 Nov 2018 83 18.7 69.8 11.5 +7.2 53.6 *The Inventories, Customers' Inventories, Prices, Backlog of Orders, New Export Orders and Imports Indexes do not meet the accepted criteria for seasonal adjustments. Buying Policy Average commitment lead time for Capital Expenditures decreased by two days in February to 146 days. Average lead time for Production Materials was unchanged at 68 days. Average lead time for Maintenance, Repair and Operating (MRO) Supplies decreased by three days to 33 days. Percent Reporting Capital Expenditures Hand-to- Mouth 30 Days 60 Days 90 Days 6 Months 1 Year+ Average Days Feb 2019 18 3 13 20 26 20 146 Jan 2019 20 4 12 18 24 22 148 Dec 2018 19 5 11 22 23 20 142 Nov 2018 19 5 9 22 22 23 150 Production Materials Hand-to- Mouth 30 Days 60 Days 90 Days 6 Months 1 Year+ Average Days Feb 2019 10 37 24 17 9 3 68 Jan 2019 13 30 27 19 8 3 68 Dec 2018 11 35 27 17 6 4 68 Nov 2018 9 35 30 15 8 3 68 MRO Supplies Hand-to- Mouth 30 Days 60 Days 90 Days 6 Months 1 Year+ Average Days Feb 2019 34 45 15 4 1 1 33 Jan 2019 35 39 17 6 2 1 36 Dec 2018 37 41 14 5 3 0 32 Nov 2018 37 39 15 6 3 0 33 About This Report DO NOT CONFUSE THIS NATIONAL REPORT with the various regional purchasing reports released across the country. The national report's information reflects the entire U.S., while the regional reports contain primarily regional data from their local vicinities. Also, the information in the regional reports is not used in calculating the results of the national report. The information compiled in this report is for the month of February 2019. The data presented herein is obtained from a survey of manufacturing supply executives based on information they have collected within their respective organizations. ISM makes no representation, other than that stated within this release, regarding the individual company data collection procedures. The data should be compared to all other economic data sources when used in decision-making. Data and Method of Presentation The Manufacturing ISM Report On Business is based on data compiled from purchasing and supply executives nationwide. The composition of the Manufacturing Business Survey Committee is stratified according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and each of the following NAICS-based industry's contribution to gross domestic product (GDP): Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Textile Mills; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Wood Products; Paper Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Petroleum & Coal Products; Chemical Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Primary Metals; Fabricated Metal Products; Machinery; Computer & Electronic Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Transportation Equipment; Furniture & Related Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing (products such as medical equipment and supplies, jewelry, sporting goods, toys and office supplies). The data are weighted based on each industry's contribution to GDP. Beginning in January 2018, computation of the indexes is accomplished utilizing unrounded numbers. Survey responses reflect the change, if any, in the current month compared to the previous month. For each of the indicators measured (New Orders, Backlog of Orders, New Export Orders, Imports, Production, Supplier Deliveries, Inventories, Customers' Inventories, Employment and Prices), this report shows the percentage reporting each response, the net difference between the number of responses in the positive economic direction (higher, better and slower for Supplier Deliveries) and the negative economic direction (lower, worse and faster for Supplier Deliveries), and the diffusion index. Responses are raw data and are never changed. The diffusion index includes the percent of positive responses plus one-half of those responding the same (considered positive). The resulting single index number for those meeting the criteria for seasonal adjustments (PMI, New Orders, Production, Employment and Supplier Deliveries) is then seasonally adjusted to allow for the effects of repetitive intra-year variations resulting primarily from normal differences in weather conditions, various institutional arrangements, and differences attributable to non-moveable holidays. All seasonal adjustment factors are subject annually to relatively minor changes when conditions warrant them. The PMI is a composite index based on the diffusion indexes of five of the indexes with equal weights: New Orders (seasonally adjusted), Production (seasonally adjusted), Employment (seasonally adjusted), Supplier Deliveries (seasonally adjusted), and Inventories. Diffusion indexes have the properties of leading indicators and are convenient summary measures showing the prevailing direction of change and the scope of change. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally declining. A PMI above 42.9 percent, over a period of time, indicates that the overall economy, or gross domestic product (GDP), is generally expanding; below 42.9 percent, it is generally declining. The distance from 50 percent or 42.9 percent is indicative of the extent of the expansion or decline. With some of the indicators within this report, ISM has indicated the departure point between expansion and decline of comparable government series, as determined by regression analysis. The Manufacturing ISM Report On Business survey is sent out to Manufacturing Business Survey Committee respondents the first part of each month. Respondents are asked to ONLY report on information for the current month. ISM receives survey responses throughout most of any given month, with the majority of respondents generally waiting until late in the month to submit responses in order to give the most accurate picture of current business activity. ISM then compiles the report for release on the first business day of the following month. The industries reporting growth, as indicated in the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business monthly report, are listed in the order of most growth to least growth. For the industries reporting contraction or decreases, those are listed in the order of the highest level of contraction/decrease to the least level of contraction/decrease. Responses to Buying Policy reflect the percent reporting the current month's lead time, the approximate weighted number of days ahead for which commitments are made for Capital Expenditures; Production Materials; and Maintenance, Repair and Operating (MRO) Supplies, expressed as hand-to-mouth (five days), 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, six months (180 days), a year or more (360 days), and the weighted average number of days. These responses are raw data, never revised, and not seasonally adjusted since there is no significant seasonal pattern. ISM ROB Content The Institute for Supply Management ("ISM") Report On Business (both Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing) ("ISM ROB") contains information, text, files, images, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, and any other materials or content (collectively, "Content") of ISM ("ISM ROB Content"). ISM ROB Content is protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, and other laws, and as between you and ISM, ISM owns and retains all rights in the ISM ROB Content. ISM hereby grants you a limited, revocable, nonsublicensable license to access and display on your individual device the ISM ROB Content (excluding any software code) solely for your personal, non-commercial use. The ISM ROB Content shall also contain Content of users and other ISM licensors. Except as provided herein or as explicitly allowed in writing by ISM, you shall not copy, download, stream, capture, reproduce, duplicate, archive, upload, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, retransmit, distribute, perform, display, sell, or otherwise use any ISM ROB Content. Except as explicitly and expressly permitted by ISM, you are strictly prohibited from creating works or materials (including but not limited to tables, charts, data streams, time-series variables, fonts, icons, link buttons, wallpaper, desktop themes, online postcards, montages, mashups and similar videos, greeting cards, and unlicensed merchandise) that derive from or are based on the ISM ROB Content. This prohibition applies regardless of whether the derivative works or materials are sold, bartered, or given away. You shall not either directly or through the use of any device, software, internet site, web-based service, or other means remove, alter, bypass, avoid, interfere with, or circumvent any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices marked on the Content or any digital rights management mechanism, device, or other content protection or access control measure associated with the Content including geo-filtering mechanisms. Without prior written authorization from ISM, you shall not build a business utilizing the Content, whether or not for profit. You shall not create, recreate, distribute, incorporate in other work, or advertise an index of any portion of the Content unless you receive prior written authorization from ISM. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute ISM ROB Content can be made by contacting in writing at: ISM Research, Institute for Supply Management, 309 W. Elliot Road, Suite 113, Tempe, Arizona 85284-1556, or by emailing [email protected]. Subject: Content Request. ISM shall not have any liability, duty, or obligation for or relating to the ISM ROB Content or other information contained herein, any errors, inaccuracies, omissions or delays in providing any ISM ROB Content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. In no event shall ISM be liable for any special, incidental, or consequential damages, arising out of the use of the ISM ROB. Report On Business, PMI, and NMI are registered trademarks of Institute for Supply Management. Institute for Supply Management and ISM are registered trademarks of Institute for Supply Management, Inc. About Institute for Supply Management Institute for Supply Management (ISM) serves supply management professionals in more than 90 countries. Its 50,000 members around the world manage about US$1 trillion in corporate and government supply chain procurement annually. Founded in 1915 as the first supply management institute in the world, ISM is committed to advancing the practice of supply management to drive value and competitive advantage for its members, contributing to a prosperous and sustainable world. ISM leads the profession through the ISM Report On Business, its highly regarded certification programs and the ISM Mastery Model. This report has been issued by the association since 1931, except for a four-year interruption during World War II. The full text version of the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business is posted on ISM's website at www.ismrob.org on the first business day* of every month after 10:00 a.m. ET. The next Manufacturing ISM Report On Business featuring March 2019 data will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET on Monday, April 1, 2019. *Unless the New York Stock Exchange is closed. Contact: Kristina Cahill Report On Business Analyst ISM, ROB/Research Manager Tempe, Arizona +1 480.455.5910 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Institute for Supply Management Related Links http://www.ismrob.org ELK GROVE, Ill., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- R3 Reliable Redistribution Resource has joined the Strategic Market Alliance (SMA) to expand within the Janitorial/Sanitary (Jan-San) and non-food disposable markets. R3's product and logistical solutions are now formally available to SMA members thanks to our new partnership. SMA is a member-owned cooperative comprised of prominent distributors in North America who provide janitorial, sanitation, and foodservice packaging products and related services. This new partnership with SMA enables R3 to redistribute Janitorial, sanitation, and non-food disposable products to a wider market and to share the R3 Factor with more customers. "We are excited about the high potential that our new partnership offers SMA members, manufacturing suppliers and mutual customers." - Chris Rowe, SMA Solutions "We are excited about our new relationship with SMA. We see the SMA members are strategic partner to our long term JanSan and paper business. We look forward to the future." Mike Stuckey Vice President, National Accounts R3 reaffirms its commitment to the Jan-San industry through this decision to partner with SMA. R3 is a national organization who services the United States, Canada and Mexico from more than 70 distribution centers. With over 300,000 products, 5,000+ employees and access to over 160 distribution centers R3 has the largest and most experienced sales and support team in the industry. SOURCE R3 Reliable Redistribution Resource SK Innovation will provide 'total solution' after developing differentiated hard coating and functional coating for clear PI films. Commissioning of demo plant will be completed by the end of March, this year, and commercial operation will begin in the second half of 2019. FCW was unveiled for the first time at CES 2019. At MWC 2019 , new foldable phones were announced amid heated competition. SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Innovation plans to bring forward the mass production of flexible cover window (FCW), a key material for flexible displays, to the second half of 2019. FCW is SK Innovation's flexible plate brand for flexible displays. SK Innovation will begin mass production once commissioning of a demo plant is completed by the end of March. FCW is a material that adds hard-coating and functional-coating to the existing clear polyimide (PI) film to prevent contamination. FCW is a differentiated technology as it has bending and anti-scratch features. To enter into the market for flexible displays, SK Innovation began to develop FCW based on the PI film technology it had accumulated since 2006. Flexible displays are used in smartphones, laptops and tablets globally. SK Innovation succeeded in developing products for flexible displays and commercial production is around the corner. At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019, many smartphone manufacturers announced plans for mass production of foldable phones, attracting much attention to materials for flexible displays as relevant market is expected to grow. According to Strategy Analytics, a research and consulting firm in the U.S., the global foldable smartphone sales will increase from 32 million units in 2019 to 50.1 million units by 2022, recording CAGR of 250%. It is expected that the clear PI film market will grow as well. Currently, a few companies from Korea and Japan including SK Innovation are competing with the aim for mass production. "SK Innovation has advantages because we can provide total solution from clear PI film manufacturing to hard- and functional-coating," a spokesperson from SK Innovation said. "We have also obtained competitive edge based on material development capabilities such as Lithium-ion battery separator (LiBS) where SK Innovation ranks second in global market share." SK Innovation will finish construction of the demo plant during March and join other manufacturers in developing foldable displays by demonstrating FCW products. The company invested KRW 40 billion in the second quarter of 2018 to build FCW plant for mass production at the LiBS plant located in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province with an aim to begin commercial operation in the second half of 2019. In addition, SK Innovation is reviewing a plan to build additional plant, considering the fast growing market. SK Innovation announced FCW products for the first time at Consumer Electronics Show 2019, the world's largest consumer technology show, gaining attention from participating companies and visitors. In the future, the company will showcase the products at a variety of exhibitions. On the 26th, Rho Jea-sok, CEO of SK Innovation's Material Business paid a visit to MWC. After looking around the halls where foldable phones were displayed, he said, "We will respond to the expanding foldable phone market proactively with our differentiated competitiveness in FCW including hard coating technology." SK Innovation has decided to spin off its Material Business to enhance its expertise and obtain global competitiveness. The spin-off will be determined at the annual general meeting to be held in March with the timeline of splitting the unit into a subsidiary by April 1st. SOURCE SK Innovation WICHITA, Kan., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit AeroSystems [NYSE: SPR] announced it has become a member of the University of Strathclyde's Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC). Located in Glasgow, Scotland, the AFRC is one of the U.K.'s leading research institutions, concentrating on innovation and breakthrough technologies in manufacturing. "On top of developing and accessing emerging technologies, this collaboration will give Spirit an incredible opportunity to tap into the university's student and post-graduate talent pool to directly contribute to the design and manufacture of next-generation wing and fuselage structures," said Spirit AeroSystems Vice President, Research and Technology Sean Black, Ph.D. Spirit's membership comes as a result of a number of successful collaborative projects between the two organizations and the wider University of Strathclyde community. "We are delighted to join forces with the AFRC and increase our exposure to innovative manufacturing techniques and processes," said Spirit AeroSystems Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Quality Officer John Pilla. "This will strengthen our ability to lead the way in the future of flight." This relationship with the AFRC further leverages Spirit's investment in the creation of a new 70,000-square-foot Aerospace Innovation Centre at its manufacturing site in Prestwick, Scotland, which will open in 2020. Spirit AeroSystems is one of the largest manufacturers of aerostructures in the world with design and build capabilities for both commercial and defense customers. The Prestwick site manufactures metallic and composite wing components, such as the leading- and trailing-edges for the Airbus A320 family, as well as wing structures for the Boeing 767 and Airbus A350. On the web: www.spiritaero.com On Twitter: @SpiritAero About Spirit AeroSystems Spirit AeroSystems designs and builds aerostructures for both commercial and defense customers. With headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, Spirit operates sites in the U.S., U.K., France and Malaysia. The company's core products include fuselages, pylons, nacelles and wing components for the world's premier aircraft. Spirit AeroSystems focuses on affordable, innovative composite and aluminum manufacturing solutions to support customers around the globe. More information is available at www.SpiritAero.com. SOURCE Spirit AeroSystems Related Links http://www.spiritaero.com BASSETERRE, St Kitts and Nevis, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Government of St Kitts and Nevis has been made aware of media reports suggesting that citizens and prospective citizens of St Kitts and Nevis may be at risk of having their citizenship cancelled or revoked. The Government refutes such concerns and wishes to make it clear to all current and prospective citizens of St Kitts and Nevis that any citizenship granted by the Government under the Citizenship by Investment Programme is only granted after a full and rigorous vetting and due diligence process of the applicant. Once the applicant satisfies the stringent legal and due diligence requirements then and only then would that applicant be granted citizenship. Applicants who have satisfied the legal requirements and passed the due diligence process and are granted citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis are assured that their citizenship cannot be cancelled or revoked except only in the most exceptional circumstances. There is no current or future policy of the Government of St Kitts and Nevis which will in any way negatively impact the citizenship granted to applicants. The St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme remains the global platinum standard known for its maturity and stringent due diligence and security requirements. The programme plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of St Kitts and Nevis and is helping the Federation to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for its people. Every citizen of the Federation is assured of the full faith and support of the Government. The Government of St Kitts and Nevis has always stood and will continue to stand resolutely with its citizens whether at home or abroad and will continue to defend and protect the integrity of this all-important Citizenship by Investment Programme. Citizens and prospective citizens of St Kitts and Nevis should have no concern whatsoever about the integrity and sanctity of their citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis. https://www.ciu.gov.kn/ SOURCE Government of St Kitts and Nevis Related Links http://www.ciu.gov.kn THC BioMed purchases an additional lot in its current Kelowna location THC BioMed ships its best-selling cannabis products to Ontario THC BioMed applies for variance to grow cannabis on West Kelowna industrial property THC.CSE THCBF - OTC TFHC.F VANCOUVER, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - THC BioMed Intl Ltd. (CSE: THC), ("THC BioMed" or the "Company") $500,000 Private Placement of Units THC BioMed announces the completion of an additional draw down of $500,000 pursuant to the capital commitment agreement with Alumina Partners (Ontario) Ltd. ("Alumina"). The Company issued to Alumina 1,623,377 units ("Units") at a price of $0.308 per Unit, for total proceeds of $500,000. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company for a period of 36 months from closing at a price of $0.512 per share. This private placement is being carried out in connection with the capital commitment agreement with Alumina that THC announced on August 11, 2017. The proceeds raised through the private placement will be used for general working capital and expansion of THC's facilities. Purchase of Additional Strata Lot in Kelowna, B.C. THC announces the purchase an additional strata lot in the industrial complex in Kelowna it currently occupies. THC previously announced the purchase of additional strata units in this building in January of this year and in December, October, and June of 2018. THC purchased this property as a part of its expansion plan due to high demand for its products. The purchase price was $350,000 plus fees and taxes, for a total of $367,256.30. THC purchased the strata lot for cash and did not require a mortgage. The new strata lot will be used for production purposes as part of THC BioMed's expansion plan. THC BioMed Ships it's Best-Selling Pre-Roll Cannabis Products to Ontario THC BioMed Ltd. is pleased to announce it has shipped its best seller pre-rolls to the province of Ontario for recreational cannabis distribution. Additional shipments of our other popular adult-use Cannabis products are expected soon. "THC BioMed's cannabis has been a best-seller in B.C. and we hope to continue that trend in Ontario,' said John Miller, President and CEO of THC BioMed. THC BioMed Applies for Variance to Grow Cannabis on West Kelowna Industrial Property THC BioMed has applied to the City of West Kelowna for a development variance permit to allow cannabis production on a property located within the city. THC Biomed has entered into a conditional Contract of Purchase and Sale for the property. About THC THC is an ACMPR Licensed Producer and Canada's largest supplier of legal Cannabis Genetics. THC is on the leading edge of scientific research and the development of products and services related to the medical cannabis industry. Management believes THC is well-positioned to be in the forefront of this rapidly growing industry. Please visit our website for a more detailed description of our business and services available. www.thcbiomed.com The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release. Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of THC BioMed. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of THC BioMed. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "will," "may," "would," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "could" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Although THC BioMed 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 because THC BioMed can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release include that (a) the private placement funds will be used for the stated purposes, (b) the property will be used for production purposes, (c) additional shipments of THC BioMed's products to Ontario will be made in the near future, (d) THC BioMed's products will be best-sellers in Ontario, (e) THC BioMed will obtain the variance that it is seeking (f) THC BioMed will purchase the property for which it is seeking the variance, as the medical marijuana industry develops, it will become more important to focus on scientific research and development of products and services related to medical cannabis, and, (f) THC BioMed will be in the forefront of this rapidly growing industry. THC BioMed 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. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release. SOURCE THC BioMed Related Links http://thcbiomed.com/ NEW YORK, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited ("TPHL"), successor company to Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited ("Petrotrin"), has made available an investor presentation, available online to certain eligible investors at the link provided below, to update investors on recent developments and the state of the company since the restructuring announced on August 28, 2018. https://dealroadshow.com/e/TPHL2019 For further information, please contact: Arveon Prout Telephone: +1.868.625.5240 Corporate Communications Department THIS PRESS RELEASE AND THE INFORMATION IN THE LINK REFERRED TO ABOVE ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT AN OFFER TO PURCHASE, A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR A SOLICITATION OF CONSENT WITH RESPECT TO ANY SECURITIES. ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF SECURITIES TO BE MADE IN THE UNITED STATES WILL BE MADE BY MEANS OF AN OFFERING MEMORANDUM, WHICH WILL BE ABLE TO BE OBTAINED FROM TPHL AND WILL CONTAIN DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY, ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND MANAGEMENT, AS WELL AS CERTAIN FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. Forward-Looking Statements The information in the link referred to above contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature or which relate to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. No assurance can be given that the transactions described herein will be consummated or as to the ultimate terms of any such transactions. TPHL undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or for any other reason. SOURCE Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited RICHMOND, Va., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana & Buckner (Richmond) and Breit Drescher Imprevento (Virginia Beach) are merging to form Breit Cantor Grana Buckner, a powerful Virginia law firm specializing in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Independently, each law firm is renowned for its representation of individuals and families devastated by personal injury, wrongful death and other cases of serious personal, commercial and economic loss. Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana & Buckner in particular has over 100 verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million. These two firms are merging for one simple reason to be the go-to firm for catastrophic cases in Virginia and along the East Coast. Because our attorneys focus their practices on only the most serious plaintiffs' cases, our clients receive exhaustive and aggressive representation from the first meeting through trial. Most importantly, our limited case-load and client-focused approach ensure that all clients are given the attention, compassion and respect they deserve. Our attorneys are routinely sought out by other attorneys to assist on complex cases and have been recognized for their professional leadership, litigation experience and reputation for legal acumen. Four of our attorneys have served (or will serve in 2020) as President of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and three have served as President of the Virginia Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. All of our partners have been selected by their peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America and/or Super Lawyers, in addition to numerous other professional accolades. Our lawyers have also had leadership roles in and actively participate with the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, American Association for Justice, the Lewis Powell Inn of Court and the Metro Richmond Woman's Bar Association as well as numerous other legal, professional and charitable organizations. The combined experiences, insight and background of the two law firms means even more powerful resources will be available for clients. The two office locations in Richmond and Virginia Beach will incorporate 14 attorneys and a vast team of paralegals, nurses and investigators. Breit Cantor Grana Buckner will be a powerful force that fights for justice on behalf of those who have sustained life-altering injuries or the death of a loved-one. Until the official formation of Breit Cantor Grana Buckner this spring, inquiring parties can learn about and request the legal assistance of Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana & Buckner in Richmond by visiting https://www.virginiatrialfirm.com/. For more information please call Irv Cantor at (804) 644-1400 SOURCE Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana & Buckner Related Links https://www.virginiatrialfirm.com TOLEDO, Ohio, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- U-Haul Moving & Storage of Maumee River at 855 E. Broadway will close its retail showroom and cease most on-site services on March 15. The location, which has served Toledo since 1977, will continue to operate as an unmanned U-Haul self-storage and U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 facility going forward. Local residents will continue to have their moving needs met at the new U-Haul Moving & Storage of Downtown Toledo at 801 Washington St., which opens today in the old Willis Day building. Customers can find an expansive showroom featuring a full line of moving supplies, boxes, hitch accessories, bike racks and more. The 100 indoor climate-controlled self-storage rooms at Maumee River will be run remotely by the new store, which is less than three miles away. U-Haul of Downtown Toledo will offer an additional 800 self-storage rooms when renovations are done. In addition to the closing showroom at Maumee River, U-Haul will also cease hitch installations and propane dispensing. Those services will be available at the Downtown Toledo store, U-Haul Company of NW Ohio president Cory Hall confirmed. Four U-Haul Team Members will be let go due to the closing services at the Maumee River store. Local U-Haul Companies are always exploring opportunities for growth as they pursue means to better meet the needs of customers, but sometimes find it necessary to close or relocate stores, or cease certain business operations at locations. Reasons for closures can include: long-term strategic plans; physical plant limitations; shifts in demographics; trends in migration; expansion of the U-Haul neighborhood dealer network; and proximity to other new or existing U-Haul stores. Find U-Haul store and neighborhood dealer locations near you at uhaul.com/locations. About U-Haul Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 now offers customers access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the self-service options on their internet-connected mobile devices. U-Haul customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 161,000 trucks, 118,000 trailers and 42,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 632,000 rooms and 55.2 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. Contact: Andrea Batchelor Jeff Lockridge E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 602-263-6981 Website: uhaul.com SOURCE U-Haul JOPLIN, Mo., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- U-Haul Storage of Joplin at 2521 E. 7th St. in Joplin closed its retail showroom and ceased most other on-site services on Feb. 10. The facility, which has served Jasper County for 42 years, will operate exclusively as a U-Haul self-storage facility going forward. Local residents will continue to have their moving needs met at the new U-Haul Moving & Storage of Joplin at 1410 E. 7th St., where customers can find an expansive showroom featuring a full line of moving supplies, boxes, hitch accessories, bike racks and more. The 5,539 square feet of self-storage at the old property will be run remotely by the new facility less than one mile away, where additional indoor climate-control self-storage rooms will soon be available. In addition to closing the retail showroom, U-Haul will also cease truck and trailer sharing, hitch installations, U-Box portable storage containers and propane sales. All of those services will be available at the new facility, U-Haul Company of Missouri president Aaron Self confirmed. Five full-time Team Members will be let go due to the closing services at U-Haul Storage of Joplin. Local U-Haul Companies are always exploring opportunities for growth as they pursue means to better meet the needs of customers, but sometimes find it necessary to close or relocate stores, or cease certain business operations at locations. Reasons for closures can include: long-term strategic plans; physical plant limitations; shifts in demographics; trends in migration; expansion of the U-Haul neighborhood dealer network; and proximity to other new or existing U-Haul stores. Find U-Haul store and neighborhood dealer locations near you at uhaul.com/locations. About U-Haul Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 now offers customers access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the self-service options on their internet-connected mobile devices. U-Haul customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 161,000 trucks, 118,000 trailers and 42,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 632,000 rooms and 55.2 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. Contact: Andrea Batchelor Jeff Lockridge E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 602-263-6981 Website: uhaul.com SOURCE U-Haul MUMBAI, India, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- President Cyril Ramaphosa today officially opened Vedanta Zinc International's (VZI) Gamsberg mine, outside Aggeneys in South Africa's Northern Cape Province. President Ramaphosa was joined by Minister of Mineral Resources Mr Gwede Mantashe, Northern Cape Premier Mrs Sylvia Lucas, and hosted by Vedanta Chairman Mr Anil Agarwal, Vedanta CEO Mr Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, and VZI CEO, Deshnee Naidoo. The Gamsberg zinc resource, though discovered more than 40 years ago, had been held undeveloped in the portfolios of various South African mining companies until Vedanta acquired it in 2011, as part of the Black Mountain Mining complex. Vedanta gave the project the go-ahead in 2014, and the first blast occurred in mid-2015 just eight months later. Gamsberg has a reserve and resource of more than 214Mt with a grade of between 6% and 6.5% zinc and an estimated life of mine (LoM) of 30+ years. Phase 1 of Gamsberg, celebrated today, represents a US$400 million investment by Vedanta in South Africa. This phase has a LoM of 13 years and will see 4MTPA of ore produced from the open pit and 250,000tpa of concentrate from its concentrator plant. Evaluation for Phase 2 and 3, a further investment of US$350 to US$400 million, is underway. This will see ore mined increase to 8mtpa and increase in zinc-in-concentrate production, in a modular way to 450,000tpa, and ultimately to 600,000tpa. Vedanta is simultaneously pursuing a feasibility study into the development and construction of a smelter-refinery complex, to the cause of Vedanta and Government's commitment to local metal beneficiation. Vedanta's CEO, Mr Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan reflected on his time in the South African mining industry, and the pride he felt as President Ramaphosa opened Gamsberg. Speaking on behalf of Vedanta, Chairman of Vedanta Resources, Mr Anil Agarwal emphasised his commitment to South Africa, and his belief in the future of the South African mining industry. Mr Agarwal also noted his and Vedanta's support for President Ramaphosa's immediate vision for the industry. He reiterated the commitment made by Vedanta to South Africa's investment drive. Delivering the keynote address, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: "The Vedanta Gamsberg project is an important step in our shared journey to revive our mining industry. It confirms our view that with an effective regulatory framework, improved collaboration between all stakeholders and sustained investment, mining has the potential to be a sunrise industry. "We welcome this substantial investment by Vedanta, which not only deepens South Africa's relationship with India but also signals Vedanta's confidence in the future of South Africa's mining industry." More about Gamsberg Gamsberg is located in the ecologically sensitive Succulent Karoo Biome - one of the world's 35 "biodiversity hotspots". VZI's biodiversity action plan includes the preservation of plants and seeds for post-mining replanting, and a biodiversity offset programme involving the purchase of 12,500ha of land. Gamsberg is one of the most digitally advanced greenfields mining projects in South Africa. Digitalisation at Gamsberg includes Smart Ore Movement, Spatial Risk Monitoring and Management and Collision Avoidance Systems. Vedanta is committed to local economic development in Khai-Ma and the Northern Cape. Spend towards local enterprises increased from R25 million in the 2016/17 financial year to R77.5 million for the 2017/18 year. From a CSR perspective, Vedanta has invested more than R44.6 million for the 2017/18 financial year on training and social projects aimed at skills development, education, health, enterprise development and municipal infrastructure support. For more detailed information please visit www.vedanta-zincinternational.com About Vedanta Limited Vedanta Limited is a diversified natural resources company, whose business primarily involves producing oil & gas, zinc - lead - silver, copper, iron ore, steel, aluminium and commercial power. The company has a presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Ireland. Vedanta Limited is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc. Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company is conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 'Sustainable Plus Platinum label', ranking among the top 10 most sustainable companies in India. To access the Vedanta Sustainable Development Report 2018, please visit https://www.vedantalimited.com/VedantaDocuments/4SustainabilityReport2017-18.pdf Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information please visit www.vedantalimited.com Vedanta Limited Vedanta, 75, Nehru Road, Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400 099 www.vedantalimited.com Registered Office: Regd. Office: 1st Floor, 'C' wing, Unit 103, Corporate Avenue, Atul Projects, Chakala, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 093 CIN: L13209MH1965PLC291394 Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forwardlooking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. For further information, please contact: Communications Arun Arora Head, Corporate Communications Tel: +91-124-459-3000 [email protected] Investor Relations Rashmi Mohanty Director Investor Relations Tel: +91-22-6646-1531 [email protected] Sneha Tulsyan Associate Manager Investor Relations SOURCE Vedanta Limited Related Links http://www.vedantalimited.com TOLEDO, Ohio, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) will participate in the Citi 2019 Global Property CEO Conference to be held at The Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida. Tom DeRosa, Chief Executive Officer of Welltower, will present during a session scheduled for Monday, March 4, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The presentation can be accessed at the following link: http://www.veracast.com/webcasts/citigroup/globalproperty2019/72209310263.cfm A replay of the presentation will be available via the above link one hour after the conclusion of the event. The webcast link will expire on June 1, 2019. About Welltower Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL), an S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. The company invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower, a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing, post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties. More information is available at www.welltower.com. SOURCE Welltower Inc. Related Links http://www.welltower.com HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At its regular meeting held on February 28, 2019, the Board of Directors of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. declared a $1.00 per share annual dividend, payable in cash on March 27, 2019, to holders of record of Common Shares as of the close of business on March 18, 2019. About White Mountains White Mountains is a Bermuda-domiciled financial services holding company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Stock Exchange under the symbol WTM. Additional financial information and other items of interest are available at the Company's web site located at www.whitemountains.com . Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 This press release may contain "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." All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included or referenced in this press release which address activities, events or developments which White Mountains expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The words "will", "believe", "intend", "expect", "anticipate", "project", "estimate", "predict" and similar expressions are also intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements with respect to White Mountains's: change in adjusted book value per share or return on equity; business strategy; financial and operating targets or plans; incurred loss and loss adjustment expenses and the adequacy of its loss and loss adjustment expense reserves; projections of revenues, income (or loss), earnings (or loss) per share, dividends, market share or other financial forecasts; expansion and growth of its business and operations; and future capital expenditures. These statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by White Mountains in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to its expectations and predictions is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, including: the risks that are described from time to time in White Mountains's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to White Mountains's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 ; business opportunities (or lack thereof) that may be presented to it and pursued; actions taken by ratings agencies from time to time, such as financial strength or credit ratings downgrades or placing ratings on negative watch; the continued availability of capital and financing; general economic, market or business conditions; competitive forces, including the conduct of other insurers; changes in domestic or foreign laws or regulations, or their interpretation, applicable to White Mountains, its competitors or its customers; an economic downturn or other economic conditions adversely affecting its financial position; and other factors, most of which are beyond White Mountains's control. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments anticipated by White Mountains will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, White Mountains or its business or operations. White Mountains assumes no obligation to publicly update any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. CONTACT: Todd Pozefsky (203) 458-5807 SOURCE White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. Related Links http://www.whitemountains.com As the world's largest data security conference, RSA showcases approximately 700 global data security companies every year. At the event, these companies give presentations on the latest data security issues and promote their most recent products and services. XABYSS will be featuring NetArgos, a next-generation network security solution that is capable of detecting, analyzing, and responding to previously undetected security threats and is expected to gain significant attention from global buyers and partners. NetArgos operates in a way similar to that of the CCTV cameras, in that it reliably stores and analyzes the data traffic that enters intranet to discover potential threats, thereby minimizing network security gaps also known as network security blind spot. For 15 to 30 days before any new security policy is published and applied, companies can use NetArgos to store and analyze their incoming network data. XABYSS also independently developed First-N technology, which efficiently stores network traffic data by selecting and storing designated N-sized packets rather than capturing entire packets. NetArgos detects and stores only packets that are necessary for conducting security gap analyses, thereby reducing the quantity of saved packets to one-fiftieth of the quantity previously required. In addition, it detects, analyzes, and classifies security gaps in time increments (daily, weekly, and monthly). By working in conjunction with existing network security appliances (firewalls, IPS, etc.), NetArgos also provides data that can be used in updating security policies. XABYSS CEO Lee Si-young said, "We have high hopes that RSA will be an invaluable opportunity for us to introduce our unique, innovative solution to buyers and potential partners from all over the world. By offering the capability to identify and respond to security gaps that arise due to the time and/or operational limitations of existing real-time network security appliance, we aim to show our clients that they can enhance their network security detection and response capabilities. For more detailed information on XABYSS, visit www.xabyss.com. ABOUT XABYSS Founded in 2014 by a network and security expert, XABYSS (www.xabyss.com) is a supplier of software-defined network devices (SDND) that possesses unique, patented network packet capture technology. The company has developed and is distributing a 'cyber CCTV' solution via NetArgos. Recently, XABYSS was selected as sole supplier of cyber CCTV to the ROK Army as part of establishing its next-generation intelligence management system that required the benefits of NetArgos. ABOUT BORN2GLOBAL CENTRE Born2Global Centre (www.born2global.com) is a full-cycle service platform for global expansion. Since inception in 2013, Born2Global has been setting the standard for successful startup ecosystem as the main Korean government agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Born2Global has expanded and transformed startups to be engaged, equipped and be connected with the global market. SOURCE K-ICT Born2Global Centre Related Links http://www.born2global.com Seoul: South Korean President Moon Jae-in has a telephone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his office in Seoul on April 24, 2018, in this photo provided by the office. Abe expressed his hope to meet with North Korean leader Kim Image Source: IANS News WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2018 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the White House for the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 24, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with his T Image Source: IANS News TOKYO, Jan. 28, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a policy speech in Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 28, 2019. Shinzo Abe on Monday made a number of pledges including to create a viable social welfare system, deal with the impending imp Image Source: IANS News Washington, March 1 : US President Donald Trump held phone conversations with leaders of South Korea and Japan over the Hanoi summit during his flight en route to Washington, the White House has said. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told the press on Thursday that Trump had updated South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Xinhua reported. Trump told the two leaders that his administration would "continue the conversations" with Kim and continue to coordinate closely with the allies, Sanders said. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was on his trip to Manila, told reporters that Washington had not set a date for next working-level meeting with Pyongyang, adding that the two sides "need to regroup a little bit". Trump and Kim ended their second summit in Hanoi on Thursday without reaching an agreement. Trump said at a press conference that there was "a gap" in what North Korea and the US were pursuing. Kim demanded relief from sanctions against Pyongyang "in their entirety" in exchange for denuclearizing a "large portion" of North Korea's nuclear programme, something the US could not agree to, according to Trump. However, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said at a separate news conference in Hanoi on early Friday that "what we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but they are partial removal," adding that North Korea only asked those sanctions impeding the livelihood of its people to be removed first. "It is regrettable that President Trump and Chairman Kim were unable to reach complete agreement," Kim Eui-keum, spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told a press briefing. The Blue House spokesman, however, noted that it seemed clear that the two leaders have made "more meaningful progress" than ever as they expanded the scope and depth of their understanding of each other's positions through the two-day summit in the Vietnamese capital. UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28, 2019 (Xinhua) -- The photo taken on Feb. 28, 2019 shows the United Nations Security Council voting on a Russia-drafted resolution on Venezuela at the UN headquarters in New York. The UN Security Council on Thursday failed to Image Source: IANS News UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Samuel Moncada, Venezuela's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting on Venezuela, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2019. The UN Security Council on Thu Image Source: IANS News United Nations, March 1 : The UN Security Council has failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on Venezuela, sponsored by the US and Russia respectively. The US draft received nine votes in favour, three against, and three abstentions in the 15-member council, on Thursday. Russia and China, as well as South Africa, vetoed the resolution, Xinhua reported. Minutes later, the Security Council voted on the Russian draft, which received four votes in favour, seven against and four abstentions. The US draft stresses the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela and to facilitate unhindered access and delivery of assistance to all in need in the entirety of the territory of Venezuela in accordance with humanitarian principles. The Russian draft, on the contrary, calls that international assistance should be provided with the consent of, and on the basis of an appeal by, the government of Venezuela. It also urges the settlement of the current situation through peaceful means and supports all initiatives aimed at reaching a political solution among Venezuelans. Thursday's Security Council meeting is the third on the situation in Venezuela in just over a month due to the escalation of political tension facing the Latin American country. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, said that the meeting "may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real, not humanitarian, intervention," adding that it may cause the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela. "At the Security Council, on the Venezuelan issue, our starting point is to uphold the spirit of the UN Charter and the basic principles governing international relations, promote a peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan issue and maintain long-term peace, stability and development in Latin America," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN. China opposes external forces interfering in Venezuela internal affairs and opposes military intervention in Venezuela, he stressed. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since January 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. A US-backed drive to deliver "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela through border crossings on February 23 met strong resistance from the Venezuelan government as President Nicolas Maduro believed the aid, mainly from the US, is a smokescreen for a military invasion. The Venezuelan government has closed borders with Brazil and Colombia and some air and sea routes. Srinagar, March 1 : A gunfight started on Friday between the security forces and holed up militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, officials said. Police said following information about the presence of militants, security forces surrounded Babagund village in Langate area on late Thursday evening. "The hiding militants opened fire at the security forces triggering an encounter which is on," a police officer said. Reports from the area said two to three militants could be hiding in the village. Washington, March 1 : US President Donald Trump commanded his then-Chief of Staff John Kelly to grant his son-in-law Jared Kushner, a top-secret security clearance, despite intelligence concerns, informed sources told The New York Times. Trump's command to Kelly came in May 2018, the day after the White House Counsel's Office urged him not to grant the senior presidential adviser the clearance, the report said citing four people briefed on the matter. The directive prompted two internal memos -- one from Kelly on being "ordered" to grant Kushner the clearance, and another from then-White House counsel Don McGahn listing issues raised against Kushner, including from the CIA, and advising against the clearance, according to the paper. Kelly did not respond to the New York Times request for comment. Kushner's attorney Abbe Lowell has disputed the NYT report on Thursday. "In 2018, the White House affirmed that Kushner's security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone," Lowell's spokesperson Peter Mirijanian told CNN in a statement. Lowell told CNN in May 2018 that "there was... nobody in the political process that had anything to do with" Kushner's security clearance, adding that "there was nobody who pressured it. It was just done the normal, regular way." White House Press sSecretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement to CNN on Thursday: "We don't comment on security clearances." The report contradicts previous assertions by Trump and his daughter Ivanka that the President did not direct White House officials to coordinate for Kushner to acquire a clearance. The NBC reported in January that Kushner's application was rejected by two White House security specialists before they were overruled by their supervisor Carl Kline, prompting House Democrats to call for Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to revoke Kushner's access. House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings said the report "indicates that President Trump may have granted access to our country's most sensitive classified information to his son-in-law against the advice of career staff -- directly contradicting the President's public denials that he played any role". Cummings has written to the White House asking for specific documents and interviews relating to Kushner clearance. "The Committee expects full compliance with its requests as soon as possible, or it may become necessary to consider alternative means to compel compliance," he added. Eric Swalwell, who is the chair of the panel's Intelligence Modernisation and Readiness Subcommittee, said it will ensure "our deepest secrets are protected, we will work to ensure clearances are granted based on trust, not by blood or bond". Srinagar, March 1 : Two militants were killed on Friday in a gunfight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, police sources said. Bodies of both militants have been recovered from Kralgund village of Langate area and searches were underway to sanitise the place. Information about the militants presence was received late on Thursday, following which the early morning raid was conducted. Jammu, March 1 : One-way traffic was restored on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Friday as hundreds of vehicles moved from Srinagar to Jammu. "After stranded vehicles were cleared to decongest the highway, we have allowed trucks to move from Srinagar to Jammu," a traffic official said. Around 2,000 trucks have already crossed the Jawahar Tunnel towards Jammu early in the day. A total of around 6,000 trucks will be allowed to move on the day, he added. The highway was restored at 3 p.m. on Thursday after landslides hit the Mom Passi area in Ramsoo-Ramban sector. Long queues of vehicles were seen at petrol pumps in the valley after they were replenished. A sudden crisis had emerged due to the severing of the road link. At many places here, police had to step in to regulate the queues. Washington, March 1 : Texas has executed a 70-year-old man, becoming the oldest person the US state has put to death since the modern era of the death penalty began in the 1970s. Billie Coble was pronounced dead at 6.24 p.m. on Thursday after receiving a lethal injection at Huntsville prison (near Houston), according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Coble was the oldest of 560 prisoners executed in Texas since the reinstatement of the death penalty over 40 years ago, Efe news reported. In 1989, Coble had been married to his wife, Karen, for a little over a year when she told him that she wanted a divorce. Shortly thereafter, on August 28, Coble killed Karen's parents - Robert and Zelda Vicha - and her brother Bobby, who lived in two houses in the small town of Axtell, near Waco. When Karen returned home from work that day, she found her four children tied up by Coble, who told her that he had just murdered her relatives. He then kidnapped her at gunpoint in his car before a police patrol began to follow Coble, who ended up crashing the vehicle. At the trial months later, it became clear that Coble had a long history of violence and sexual abuse against his former spouses and young girls, and evidence of a traumatising childhood was heard. The jury sentenced him to death. Coble became the second prisoner executed this year in Texas and the third in the country. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in the US in 1976, a total of 1,493 prisoners have been executed in the country, most of them in Texas. New Delhi, March 1 : He has given one hit after another, but Grammy-nominated producer DJ Snake says he never assumes success or craves it. DJ Snake debuted on the international scene in 2013 with singles "Bird machine" and "Turn down for what". He later came out with tracks like "Get low", "Lean on", "Magenta Riddim" and "Taki taki". Did he expect all his tracks to blow up like they did? "No, I never assume success or crave it. I make what I love and then share it with everyone," DJ Snake, whose given name is William Sami Etienne Grigahcine, told IANS in an e-mail interview. In his musical journey, DJ Snake, who bagged the ninth spot on the Billboard Dance 100 in March 2018, has collaborated with renowned personalities like Cardi B, Selena Gomez, Ozuna, Dillon Francis and Lil Jon. Asked if he feels collaborations help in amping up an artiste's music and reaching a wider audience, DJ Snake said: "Yes, you reach a wider audience of course. But that's not why you do it." He added: "You put on a record who will be best for the record. You cannot think about chasing success. That's not true creativity." Talking about how he got into making music, the 32-year-old DJ said: "I was always surrounded by music when I grew up from all cultures. I got my first set of turntables at 14, and that was it. I was hooked." The French record producer is now coming to India to celebrate Holi with his fans. He will be performing at a Sunburn 2019 gig on March 21 in Mumbai. He will also be performing in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi. India is one of his favourite places in the world to play. The country also inspires the "Let me love you" hitmaker. "My music is influenced by different cultures across the world and India is one of them. Indian culture has influenced my songs like 'Lean on' and 'Magenta Riddim'. I cannot go to sleep on the new things that I hear in India," he said. He said there is no specific reason as to why some of his songs have Indian flavours in them. "I just get inspiration in the studio, could be the mood I was in, what I just heard in a taxi... anything," he added. What has he planned for 2019? "More music, more creativity and more love," he concluded. (Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in) Kabul, March 1 : A military base in Afghanistan's Helmand province came under attack by a militant group early on Friday, the Governors office confirmed. The official statement released said the attack was carried out against the 215 Maiwand Corps base. The attack started around 4 a.m. in which at least 27 attackers, including seven suicide bombers, were involved, Tolo news reported. Amaravati, March 1 : Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Visakhapatnam on Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked him if he was not ashamed to visit the state empty-handed. In an open letter to Modi, Naidu slammed him for visiting the state without according it the special category status and fulfilling other commitments made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief told Modi that 5 crore people of the state were seething with anger over his betrayal. Naidu, who has given a call for black-flag protests against Modi's visit, questioned him over the failure to fulfil the assurances even after five years. He said Modi owed an explanation to the Andhra people. The Chief Minister said he visited Delhi 29 times seeking fulfilment of the assurances but in vain. He wanted to know why the Centre failed in the last five years to accord the special status as per the assurance given on April 20, 2014, by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Rajya Sabha. "Is it not deceiving people of AP by releasing Rs 3,979 crore against the revenue deficit of Rs 16,000 crore after state bifurcation," he asked. The TDP leader recalled Modi's promise to develop a state capital more attractive than Delhi but said only Rs 15,000 crore were released during the past four and half years. "The central government failed to set up steel plant at Kadapa, though the state government came forward to provide necessary facilities including land, water, power and subsidies." He said while Andhra Pradesh allotted 2,909 acres of land for 11 national educational institutions, the Centre released Rs 895 crore against Rs 12,825 crore required. Naidu raised a total of 17 issues relating to the commitments made by the Centre at the time of bifurcation of the state and also provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. On Railway Minister Piyush Goel's announcement for creation of South Coast Railway with Visakhapatnam as its headquarter, Naidu said the split of 172-years-old Waltair division and causing a revenue loss of Rs 6,500 crore to Andhra Pradesh reveals the revenge of the Centre towards the state. "The central government once again hurt the sentiments of North Andhra people by hurriedly announcing South Coast railway zone without mentioning the railway recruitment board," he said. Islamabad, March 1 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has admitted that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is "very unwell", adding that Islamabad is open to "any step" that will lead to a de-escalation of tensions with India. Qureshi's remarks during an exclusive CNN interview on Thursday came after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the captured Indian Air Force pilot, will be released on Friday as a "peace gesture". "Prime Minister Khan made the statement (about Varthaman's release) while addressing a joint session of Parliament (on Thursday) and this is a goodwill gesture. This is an expression of Pakistan's willingness to de-escalate," the Minister told CNN. When asked if Azhar was in Pakistan and if authorities would go after him in the wake of the escalation of tensions, Qureshi replied: "Well he is in Pakistan. "According to my information, he is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house." Queried about why has Pakistan not arrested Azhar, despite the fact that the JeM has been labelled a terrorist organisation which causes "incredible tension between the two highly armed neighbours", the Minister said: "If they (India) give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan... If they have solid, inalienable proof, share it with us so that we can convince the people and the independent judiciary of Pakistan." Following the February 14 attack by a JeM suicide bomber on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama causing the death of 40 troopers, the Pakistan Prime Minister had asked India to provide evidence to Islamabad to take necessary action. Qureshi said that Pakistan follows a "legal process" and will have to "satisfy that legal process" for the country to take any action against Azhar and his group. The Minister told CNN that an all out war between India and Pakistan would be "mutual suicide". "When I learned about the tragic Pulwama attack, I condemned it and made a very balanced and sincere offer (to India). If you have evidence, share it with us, we will honestly and sincerely investigate." He said that the new Imran Khan government has a "new mindset". "After a very long time there is a government in Pakistan which supports the Pakistan Armed Forces. The civil and political leadership is on the same page. "The policy of this government is that we will not allow our soil to be used by any organisation or individual for terrorism against anyone and that includes India," Qureshi told CNN. The Minister thanked US President Donald Trump "for taking an interest to de-escalate the situation", adding that the "US can play a significant role". "The US and Pakistan have had good relations for decades. We have been allies. I am happy that they have taken notice of the situation... This is a very welcomed development." New York, March 1 : The US had launched diplomatic efforts to tamp down the rising New Delhi-Islamabad tensions before Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement that he was going to free the Indian pilot captured by his country and there were signs that Washington may have had advanced information about it. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has said that he spent "a good deal of time" on Wednesday night with leaders of both neighbours before Khan made the announcement on Thursday calling it a goodwill gesture. Pompeo did not say to whom he had spoken on Wednesday, but in an earlier round on Tuesday, he talked to both External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. It would appear from the timeline of events leading up to Khan's statement about freeing the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot that US had advanced knowledge of it. President Donald Trump said cryptically at a news conference that began at around 12.30 p.m. (Indian time) in Hanoi on Thursday, saying: "We have, I think, reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India... I think, hopefully, that (the confrontation) is going to be coming to an end." Hours later at a Pakistan National Assembly session to discuss the India-Pakistan situation that began in Islamabad at 3.30 p.m., Khan declared that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was going home to India. Tellingly, Trump headlined the India-Pakistan issue in his statement to reporters in Hanoi, even ahead of the breakdown in talks with North Korea. He said the US had "been involved in trying to have them stop" and "been in the middle, trying to help them both out". Later in Manila, Pompeo made the New Delhi-Islamabad diplomacy the top item at his news conference. He told the media that he had good conversations with leaders of India and Pakistan to ensure "there was good information exchanged" and hoped to lessen the tension on the sub-continent. "I spent a good deal of time on the phone last night talking to leaders in both countries, making sure there was good information exchanged, encouraging each country to not take any action that would escalate and create increased risk. "I had good conversations, and I am hopeful that we can take down the tension there, at least for the time being, so they can begin to have conversations that don't portend risk of escalation to either of the two countries. So we're working hard on that," Pompeo added. Neither Trump nor Pompeo took credit directly for Varthaman's impending release or for Khan's conciliatory tone, beyond the hints. But it had echoes of the Kargil conflict in 1999 when India and Pakistan were on the brink of a major conflict and then-President Bill Clinton intervened to get Islamabad to back down. After provoking India by sending its troops into Kargil and facing a defeat and isolation, Pakistan's then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appealed to Clinton for help. Clinton "made Pakistan's withdrawal a precondition for a settlement and the price it must pay for the US diplomatic involvement it had long sought", according to Strobe Talbott, who was the Deputy Secretary of State then. Then as now, the nuclear factor did not work. The killing of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers in a suicide bombing in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, on February 14 for which the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group claimed responsibility, created a fresh wave of revulsion in Washington and around the world sickened by terrorism. Last week Trump made a statement that made India's retaliation sound reasonable, when he said that he "understood" why New Delhi was seeking a strong response to the suicide bombing. New Delhi is "looking for something strong" and "I can understand that also". After the Indian strike on a JeM base in Balakot, Pakistan, on Tuesday, Pompeo issued the sternest possible message to Pakistan offering a justification for the IAF's actions by calling them "counter-terrorism actions", a loaded phrase in international parlance. He also mentioned "close security partnership" between the US and India. If Islamabad had expected condemnation of India or even a measure of understanding from Washington when Qureshi called Pompeo soon after the Balakot raid, it was disappointed. As the US negotiations with the Taliban enter a crucial phase and Washington plans to reduce the number of troops based there by half and eventually pullout completely in five years, it has to ensure that chaos on the subcontinent do not interfere with its plans. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) Attari : , March 1 (IANS) Carrying tricolour flags, garlands and posters, scores of enthusiastic people assembled at the Attari Joint Check Post (JCP) here on Friday to receive Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who is likely to be released by Pakistani authorities later in the day. People started arriving in Attari, around 30 km from Sikh holy city of Amritsar, since 6 a.m. Their numbers swelled to hundreds by 10.30 a.m. "We have come here to welcome our country's hero back home. We will give him a grand welcome. He showed a lot of bravery in the air combat and even after being captured by the Pakistanis," Jitender, a resident of Amritsar who arrived here with his friends, said. The Border Security Force (BSF), which mans the JCP and the 553-km long International Border with Pakistan in Punjab at high alert, Punjab Police and other security agencies stationed additional personnel since early Friday morning. The people, mostly from Amritsar district and other parts of Punjab, were kept around 1 km away from the actual border gates located at the Zero Line between India and Pakistan. "The rush of people has been stopped at the outer gates of the JCP to ensure security in the area," a BSF officer told IANS. Many people could be seen getting their faces painted with the tricolours. "We are excited to give a hero's welcome to Abhinandan when he returns. We want to take him in a big procession," Amritsar Deputy Mayor Raman Bakshi said here. Abhinandan's parents, Air Marshal S. Varthaman (Retired) and mother Shobha Varthaman, who is a doctor, were also expected to be in Attari. The 35-year-old Wing Commander was captured on Wednesday by Pakistan after his MiG-21 Bison fighter jet was hit by Pakistan Air Force jets near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said that the pilot is likely to be brought by Pakistani authorities from Rawalpindi to Lahore and handed over to Indian High Commission officials before being brought to the JCP on Friday afternoon. Varthaman will be debriefed by defence and security officials upon his return before being flown to New Delhi from Amritsar. "Many celebrities and other important people come to Attari border on different occasions. But today, a real hero is coming back. We will give him a a big and warm welcome with dhol and bhangra," Manjit Singh, who was carrying a dhol, said. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the captured IAF pilot will be freed as a "goodwill gesture" after New Delhi sought his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release. Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Industries Ltd during the launch of Dilip Kumar's autobiography The Substance and The Shadow in Mumbai, India on June 9, 2014.(Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, March 1 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried simultaneous raids at the residences of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot in connection with an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning of Rs 1,875 crore loan by the bank to the corporate group. The agency searched Kochhar's south Mumbai and Dhoot's Aurangabad residence. Earlier the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had searched Nupower Renewables and Dhoot's office in Mumbai and Aurangabad. This is the first time that the ED conducted a raid at the Kochhar residence. The ED had registered a case of money laundering in February on the basis of a CBI FIR. In January, the CBI had raided four locations in Mumbai related to the case. Kochhar is accused of "sanctioning loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with other accused to cheat the ICICI Bank". The FIR followed a preliminary enquiry (PE) instituted on March 31, 2018, against Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Group officials and others to determine whether any wrongdoing was involved in the sanctioning of loan by the ICICI Bank as part of a consortium. In January, Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee that probed the allegations against Kochhar found that she violated the bank's code of conduct in dealing with conflict of interest and fiduciary duties in the case of loans to Videocon that had routed a part of the money to a company owned by her husband Deepak. 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"I have decided not to attend OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi," he said, adding that a lower-level delegation from Pakistan will attend the OIC session and the delegation will "staunchly" oppose any move to grant observer status to India at the body. Reiterating his protest against the OIC's decision to invite Sushma Swaraj to attend the meeting, Qureshi said he will skip the session due to the inter-governmental organisation's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart. Mentioning that "the United Arab Emirates has always helped Pakistan in difficult times", Qureshi said that despite Pakistan's protest, the OIC's invitation to Sushma Swaraj was not rescinded. "There was no consultation over OIC invitation to Indian Foreign Minister. India is neither a member nor an observer of the OIC," he said, adding that he sent two letters to the UAE calling upon the body to withdraw its invitation to the Sushma Swaraj. Qureshi informed the Parliament that he requested the OIC to either rescind the invitation or postpone the session in view of the prevailing situation, neither of which was done. The UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan will inaugurate the 46th session of the OIC's Council of Foreign Ministers, under the title "50 Years of Islamic Cooperation: Road Map for Prosperity and Development". OIC Secretary-General Yousef Al-Othaimeen and representatives of 56 member states and five observer states will be present at the meeting. Lucknow, March 1 : Six persons have been arrested after two communities clashed following an incident of eve teasing in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnore district, police said on Friday. The violence erupted in Khurram Sarai locality late on Thursday, an official told IANS. Initial probe revealed that a youth and his friends passed lewd comments on some girls, leading to young men from the other community to intervene. Both sides fought pitched street battles. Extra police was deployed after midnight and the situation was brought under control, police officer Pravin Kumar said. The police have stepped up vigil in the area. It was an incident of eve teasing that led to massive riots in 2013 in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts in Uttar Pradesh leaving 64 people dead and many injured. New Delhi, March 1 : Delhi High Court judge Justice Valmiki Mehta passed away on Friday morning due to a heart attack, the Bar Council here said. "The news of sudden demise of Justice Mehta has come as a shock to legal fraternity and as a big loss to the Bar and the Bench," the Bar Council said in a statement. Mehta, born in Mumbai on June 6, 1959, assumed office as Additional Judge, Delhi High Court, on April 15, 2009. He did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Vishakhapatnam, and completed graduation from Sri Venkateshwara College, Delhi, and LL.B. from Campus Law Centre of Delhi University. He started law practice in Delhi High Court in 1982 after which he was enrolled with the Delhi Bar Council. He was designated a Senior Advocate on September 22, 2001. Islamabad, March 1 : Pakistan former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday petitioned the Supreme Court against a decision by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejecting him bail in a corruption case. Sharif was on December 24 sentenced to seven years in prison by an anti-corruption court in Al-Azizia Steel Mills case for owning a steel factory abroad without disclosing its ownership. On February 25, the IHC dismissed the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader's plea seeking bail and suspension of his sentence on medical grounds. A petition filed by Sharif's counsel Khawaja Haris on Friday sought that the IHC decision be declared null and void. The anti-corruption court judge had last year imposed hefty fines on Sharif after ruling that Al-Azizia Steel Mills -- a Saudi Arabian firm carrying the name of his son -- belonged to the three-time Premier and that he was unable to demonstrate how the project was funded. Islamabad, March 1 : Pakistani authorities have launched a search operation to locate two missing foreign climbers at the Nanga Parbat mountain, the media reported on Friday. A joint rescue team of the Army Aviation and mountaineers detected the tent of the missing climbers -- Daniel Nardi from Italy and Tom Ballard from the UK -- at Camp-3 and found traces of an avalanche in the area, Dawn news reported. The two mountaineers, who were attempting to summit the Nanga Parbat through a new route, went missing from Camp-4 at 6,300 metres above sea level on February 24. This was the fifth attempt by Nardi to summit the Nanga Parbat and Ballard's first, whose mother had died at the mountain in 1995. The Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain in the world. It is located at an altitude of 8,126 metres in Gilgit Baltistan's Diamer district. Hyderabad, March 1 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that India was getting the cooperation of Islamic countries in its fight against terrorism. "All countries are coming on one platform to fight terror. There should be a decisive war against terror," the Minister said while inaugurating the office and a residential complex of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) here. He noted that the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) had for the first time invited India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj as a guest of honour for its meeting. The Home Minister said terrorism had nothing to do with caste, creed or religion. "Some people link terrorism with religion which is not proper." Every Indian irrespective of caste, community and religion felt the pain following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a tough stand to eliminate terrorism from Indian soil. Attari : , March 1 (IANS) The Retreat Ceremony at the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost between India and Pakistan was cancelled for Friday by the Border Security Force (BSF) as IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is set to return from Pakistan in the evening. Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Shivdular Singh Dhillon told the media at the checkpost that the BSF had cancelled the event due to security reasons. Scores of enthusiastic people assembled at the border on Friday to receive Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who is likely to be released by Pakistani authorities. Varthaman will be debriefed by military and security officials upon his return before being flown to New Delhi from Amritsar. The BSF, which mans the checkpost and the 553-km International Border with Pakistan in Punjab, is on high alert. Punjab Police and other security agencies stationed additional personnel in the area since Friday morning. The 35-year-old Wing Commander was captured on Wednesday by Pakistan after his MiG-21 Bison jet was hit by Pakistan Air Force jets near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and it crashed in Pakistani territory. The impressive Retreat Ceremony attracts up to 15,000 people at the mini-stadium-like 'Viewers' Gallery' when border guards of both countries lower their respective national flags at sunset and mark the closure of the border gates for the night. The impressive ceremony, which has an energetic and patriotic flavour to it, is conducted jointly by BSF troopers, including women personnel, on the Attari side (in India) and Pakistan Rangers on the Wagah side (in Pakistan) every evening before sunset. Attari is around 30 km from Amritsar. Kochi, March 1 : The Kerala government on Friday declared it will not implement the Church Act, which aims to put in place a Devasom-like structure of administration to preside over churches in the state. Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told the media that the Left government was not going forward with the Act, a day after the Inter-Church Council got together near Kottayam to protest the proposed move. The problem started after retired Supreme Court judge Justice K.T. Thomas, as Chairman of the Law Reforms Commission, put up the draft Church Act on the website to solicit public opinion. Thomas was appointed by the Pinarayi Vijayan government to take a fresh call on a 2009 Churh Act, prepared by another retired Supreme Court judge, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer. Iyer's suggestions have been gathering dust for a decade. "Already there are laws to look into it and hence a new law is not required. Some people with vested interests are spreading rumours about this," said Balakrishnan. "These are canards. We, the CPI-M, are not for it and so is the Left government and this has been made very clear," he added. The Inter-Church Council has warned of dire consequences if any new law was brought to manage temporal properties of the Kerala churches. Former Justice Thomas also told the media that everything at present was mere speculation that had surfaced with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections. "I have not submitted anything before the government and even if one is to compare what we have done to the previous one, this is a much watered-down version," he added. Manila, March 1 : US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Friday that China's military activity in the disputed South China Sea is a threat to the sovereignty of the Philippines. Pompeo arrived in Manila on Thursday night for a two-day official visit to the country and held a brief meeting with the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. He also met his Philippines counterpart Teodoro Locsin on Friday, Efe news reported. "As an island nation, the Philippines depends on free and unobstructed access to the seas. China's island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the US," Pompeo said at a joint press conference with Locsin in Manila. "As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defence obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defence Treaty," he added. The defence treaty, signed between the traditional political and military allies in 1951, establishes that the countries would help each other if they are attacked by an external party. Pompeo's remarks came after the Philippines Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced a few weeks ago that he had asked for a review of the treaty to clarify "ambiguities" on the joint response if tensions in the South China Sea escalate. Speaking on the matter at the joint press conference, Locsin said that he did not believe there was a need for a review as "in vagueness lies the best deterrence". In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague granted sovereignty to the Philippines of several territories in the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal and part of the Spratly Islands, an area of great geo-strategic importance as over half the world's trade passes through it. China rejected the ruling and continued its military activities without any protest from Duterte's government, which reoriented its foreign policy towards the Asian giant in exchange for generous investments and loans. Mumbai, March 1 : Actor Adivi Sesh, who will be seen as Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the NSG commando who lost his life while rescuing many hostages during the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, acknowledges the importance of not promoting jingoism through cinema. Excerpts from an interview in which the actor talks about the process of playing a soldier so heroic: Q. Congratulations, Adivi. How did this dream role come your way? A. Yes, dream role is right. You'll find this hard to believe. But I lived with the dream of playing Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan for eleven years. Even when I was living in San Francisco, I was completely taken up by his grit. I felt he was my brother. That's how close I feel to him. Q. So playing him on-screen is just a logical culmination of your dream? A. You could say that. When Mahesh Babu, who is a co-producer on this project and his wife Namrata Shirodkar approached me with this offer, it felt unreal. How could I be offered a chance to play a character that I have lived with for so many years? Q. Of late, films on the theme of national heroes and patriotism have almost become a formula. Isn't that a dangerous development? A. Cinema is a reflection of society at large. I am a proud Indian and happy to see a surge of patriotism in our country. Movies on true national heroes is most welcome for the actor as much as the audience. The important thing is to stay on the right side of the line dividing patriotism from jingoism. Q. So many biopics, many of them about army heroes, are being made. Does playing a real-life character mean an added responsibility for the actor? A. Of course. It does for me. I can't speak for others. This is the first time I'm playing a real-life character, and that too one someone who is taught as a subject in numerous textbooks in Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana. It is a responsibility and one that I am taking very seriously. I am writing the film myself. Q. Why aren't you directing it? A. It wouldn't be possible for me to play the Major, write the film, and also direct it. I trust the director Shashikiran Tikka completely. He directed me in "Goodachari". I like working with a closely-knit team. The process of creativity becomes so much easier when you are working with the people you trust. Q. Do you feel a special affiliation to Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan because he is a South Indian like you? A. Well, I can't deny the fact that we both belong to the same region, and that does heighten the sense of kinship. But I'd be just as happy and comfortable playing a war hero from Punjab. I think playing a hero of this stature goes beyond cultural considerations. How Gujarati was Ben Kingsley who played Mahatma Gandhi? Q. How much research is being done for the film and your character? Do you intend to meet the Major's family? A. I have been interacting with Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's parents for quite a while now. And I won't be wrong in saying that I am very close to Uncle and Aunty. I wouldn't like to dwell on my closeness to them as this would seem like a ploy to attract attention to our film. Q. But surely you did reach out to them because of this film? A. Yes, of course. There's no denying my selfish motive for getting to know them. Having known them closely for some time now, I can confidently say our relationship has gone beyond the film. Uncle and Aunty have enriched my life. I would've been poorer had I not known them. London, March 1 : Shamima Begum, a British teenager of Bangladeshi descent who ran away in 2015 to become an Islamic State (IS) jihadi bride, has been moved from a Syrian refugee camp after threats were made against them, according to her familys lawyer. The 19-year-old and her son were moved from the Al-Hol camp due to "safety concerns around her and her baby", the Guardian reported on Friday citing lawyer Tasnime Akunjee. Last week Begum, who left the UK in 2015 with two school friends, said she wanted to return home for the health of her then-unborn child. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered stripping off of her UK citizenship, a move Begum called "unjust" and "hard to swallow". On Friday, British tabloid Sun reported that Begum had received death threats since speaking out about her plight. British officials have ruled out any effort inside Syria to extract Begum and her child. Her family have pleaded for the mother and child to be allowed to come back to Britain. They say the teenager should face justice if she is found to have broken the law by travelling to Syria. Earlier this week, a shooting range in Wirral in north-west England defended its use of Begum's image as a target, saying it had received a large number of requests from customers. Chennai, March 1 : Two-time Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC on Friday announced a 25-man squad for their AFC Cup qualifying playoff round against Sri Lankas Colombo FC and included Dhanpal Ganesh, who missed CFCs entire ISL title defence due to a knee injury. It was also announced that Chennaiyin FC will be playing the home match of the two-leg qualifying tie at The Arena by TransStadia, Ahmedabad since playing their Sri Lankan opponents in Tamil Nadu would not be politically conducive. This is Chennaiyin's debut AFC Cup campaign following their 2017-18 ISL title success and they are placed in the South Asian Zone of the competition. This qualifying tie against Colombo FC is for a place in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Cup. Colombo defeated Bhutan's Transport United 9-2 on aggregate in the preliminary round and will be hosting Chennaiyin in the first leg at the Colombo Race Course Ground in Colombo on March 6. Chennaiyin's home leg will be played in Ahmedabad on March 13. Australian Chris Herd, who joined CFC in the January transfer window, will be the club's Asian player in the qualifier with the Brazilian trio of Mailson Alves, Eli Sabia and Raphael Augusto being the other three foreigners. Four youth team players have also been included in the squad. Defender Hendry Antonay (U-18 & B team) and midfielder Zonunmawia (B team), who were also part of the 2018-19 ISL first team squad, are joined by defender Reamsochung Aimol (B team) and forward Bawlte Rohmingthanga (B team). Following the 1-0 defeat away to FC Goa in their final 2018-19 ISL fixture on Thursday, Chennaiyin will continue their AFC Cup preparations in Goa and leave for Sri Lanka on March 4. Kanyakumari : , March 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a no-holds-barred attack on some opposition parties, accusing them of questioning and doubting the armed forces and making statements that favour Pakistan. "Some parties are converting their hate for Modi into hate against the nation. They are doubting the armed forces and are issuing statements favouring Pakistan. They are suspecting the fight against terrorism. These are the same people whose statements are being happily quoted in the Parliament of Pakistan and Radio Pakistan," he told a public meeting here after laying the foundation stone of a railway line between Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi. Modi did not take the name of any party in his attack at the meeting which was also attended among others by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswamy, whose AIADMK has sealed a pact with the BJP for contesting the Lok Sabha polls. The Prime Minister began his speech with the statement that every Indian was "proud that the brave" Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, taken captive by Pakistan, hailed from Tamil Nadu. He added: "I am proud that India's first woman Defence Minister is from Tamil Nadu." Then Modi referred to the surgical strikes carried out by the Army after the Uri terror attack and the aerial attack on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) training camp last month and quoted media reports to say that when the 26/11 terror attack happened in Mumbai, the armed forces sought permission to conduct surgical strikes on terror camps in Pakistan. "But the UPA government blocked it. Today we are living in an era when the armed forces have full freedom. Terrorists and terrorism will be curtailed even more. This is the new India. The terrorists will be paid back with capital and interest. "The armed forces are protecting the nation. I thank the armed forces. Well, the entire nation is proud of the armed forces as does the entire world. I salute all those who are serving the nation. It is their vigilance that keeps our nation secure," he said. Attacking the opposition parties, Modi said: "I want to ask them (parties) -- do you want to support our armed forces or raise doubts about them? Do they want to back our armed forces or support those forces which are helping foment terrorism on our soil? "Modi will come and go but India remains. Please don't weaken the country in trying to strengthen yourselves politically. Don't play with the defence and security of the country. We are Indians first. Your politics can wait," he said. Modi then turned his attack on the Congress over corruption. Referring to a late Prime Minister's talk of only 15 paise out of a Rupee going to the poor and an "arrogant" Minister claiming 'zero loss' in the spectrum case, he said: "Some talk of corruption as a way to life. It may be acceptable to them but not to me." He said the NDA government had taken historic steps against corruption. "The corrupt have to now give answers. The famous recounting Minister, who had insulted the middle class, now has to go to courts for bail for 'family pack' like the first family of the Congress party. "People have to answer. We have come down heavily on corruption. But we have also rewarded the honest tax payer... Did the governments of the past ever think of providing relief to the middle class?" The Congress' economic culture benefited only the ruling family and those close to them, he alleged. "If there was anyone who spoke against the Congress economic culture, it was Rajaji who hailed from Tamil Nadu. We are implementing his policies and India is rising on the ease of doing business from the position of 77 five years ago to 142 now in the global index." He said for the Congress social justice was just a slogan and during its regime there were innumerable atrocities against Dalits. He also accused the Congress of having defeated B.R. Ambedkar twice in elections. Modi said the choice for the people in the 2019 elections was between two sides. "On the one side strength and stability and the other stands weakness and vulnerability. Our leadership work culture is known across India; they are confused and have no leadership. They have no interest in the nation or people and are shamelessly indulging in corruption." The Prime Minister also came down heavily on the DMK for politicking over portfolios after the 2004 elections which brought the UPA to power. "The Ministers were not decided by the Prime Minister but by people who had nothing to do with public service. There was telephonic bargaining for Ministers' posts. "The 'mahamilawat' (adulteration) government will be held hostage to individual ambitions and family politics. My family is the 130 crore people of India. I will live for them and fall for them. I am in public life to further their destiny. I am here only for India's development." New Delhi, March 1 : External Affairs Ministry top official on Friday briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs on bilateral relations with Pakistan in view of India's attack on terror camps in the neighbouring country, followed by Pakistan's aerial incursion. According to sources, the members of the panel, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, suggested that the government tell the international community more extensively and emphatically that it was not an attack on Pakistan but a targeted attack on terror camps and terrorism. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed the members of the parliamentary panel about the sequence of events since the air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan to how the Indian forces foiled Pakistan's aerial incursion by shooting down one of their F-16 fighter jets in a dogfight which also led to the loss of one of India's MiG-21 Bison fighter jets, sources said. All members of the parliamentary panel hailed the action of the Indian Air Force and called it a "heroic job". Sources added that Gokhale was also asked about the third-party intervention by the US and the UAE, to which he responded that he "could not speak for US President Donald Trump". Trump had on Thursday said that the US had been "going at it" and had been involved in trying to have India and Pakistan de-escalate the matter. The US President had said that there is "some reasonably decent news" and hopefully it's coming to an end. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is also a member of the panel, was not present at the meeting. Hyderabad, March 1 : Terming terrorism as a major challenge for the entire world, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that India was getting full cooperation from the Islamic countries in its fight against terrorism. "All countries are coming on one platform to fight terror. They are all of the view that there should be a decisive war against terror," the Minister said while inaugurating the office and residential complex of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) here. NIA's Hyderabad office will cover the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The Minister also inaugurated the agency's Guwahati office via video conferencing. This office will cover all the northeastern states. He said terrorism was a major challenge not just for India but for the entire global community. He noted that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for the first time invited India's Foreign Minister as the guest of honour for its conference. The Home Minister said terrorism had nothing to do with caste, creed or religion. "Some people link terrorism with religion which is not proper," he said. Every Indian irrespective of caste, community and religion felt the pain following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a tough stand to eliminate terrorism from Indian soil. The Minister also referred to the return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday. While thanking the organisers for according 'Abhinandan' (welcome) to him and other dignitaries, he said: "The truth is that our and your 'Abhinandan' and the entire country's 'Abhinandan' will enter India in few hours." Stating that there was a strategic change in the country's response to terrorism during the last few years, he said the credit for this should go to the NIA. He pointed out that the NIA has achieved a conviction rate of 92 per cent. "Perhaps no other agency in the world has such a high conviction rate." He lauded the NIA for effective coordination with various Central and state agencies and also organisations of other countries. "NIA is developing skills to solve cases no matter however complex and complicated they are," he said. Singh said the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved a proposal of the NIA to open a research cell on the Islamic State (IS) terror group. He said 100 new posts were sanctioned for the NIA for effective investigation and supervision. He claimed that circulation of fake currency had declined due to the efforts of the NIA and other agencies. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali also attended the event. NIA Director General Y.C. Modi said the agency has so far registered 250 cases including 97 terrorism related, 37 fake currency and 25 Left Wing terrorism cases. The agency has filed chargesheets in 180 cases. The Director said that so far conviction was achieved in 42 cases and 206 convicts were sentenced. The office and residential complex in Hyderabad has been built by the NBCC at a cost of Rs 46 crore while the facility in Guwahati has come up with an expenditure of Rs 40 crore. The NIA has eight regional offices and 11 camp offices in the country. Abu Dhabi, March 1 : In an obvious attack on Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that states which shelter and fund terrorists must be told to dismantle terror camps on their soil. "If we want to save humanity, then we must tell the states which provide shelter and funding to terrorists to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to terror organisations based in that country," she said here on Friday. Swaraj was speaking at the conference as a "Guest of Honour", a first for India. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi kept away from the OIC meet due to her presence. Her remarks, without naming Pakistan, came three days after India targeted a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pakistan following the February 14 Pulwama suicide bombing in Kashmir which killed 40 CRPF personnel. The Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack. Swaraj said that terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels and use diverse causes. "But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed." She said the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation with any religion. "It cannot be. Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood." "It is a verse in the Holy Koran which says La Ikrah fiddeen - Let there be no compulsion in religion. And Sura Al Hujurat says "O Mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know one another, not that you may despise one another." Swaraj said the menace of terror cannot be defeated solely through "military, intelligence or diplomatic" means but must be won by "strength of our values and message of religion". "It is also a battle, that must be won through the strengths of our values, and the real message of religions. This is a task that states, societies, sages, scholars, spiritual leaders, and families must pursue, through personal contacts and on social media. "And, for this faiths must speak to faiths, cultures must engage cultures, communities must build bridges, not erect walls, the youth must shape the future, not destroy lives. "This is not a clash of civilization and culture but a contest between "ideas and ideals," she said and also referred to the remarks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity. "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," she said. The Minister also spoke about India's ancient civilisational values, its ethos of pluralism and its eternal message of peace. "God is one but learned men describe Him in many ways," she said, adding that Swami Vivekananda said that this phrase from the Rig Veda has "given the theme to all subsequent thoughts in India, and one, that will be the theme of the whole world of religions". Swaraj said the world is witnessing sweeping changes, multiple challenges and there were global shifts in power. The world, she said, is also seeing the human and economic costs of climate change and "witnessing the terrible daily destruction in senseless terrorist violence". "It is destroying lives, destabilising regions, and putting the world at great peril. The reach of terror is growing, Its lethality is increasing and the toll it is taking, is rising. In the rich diversity of Southeast Asia, in West Asia, and the Gulf, in North Africa, and Sahel region, in Europe, and North America, in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India, we see the terrible face of terror," she said. The minister said the OIC is making a new beginning at 50 years of its "completion and "the choices you make, the direction you set, will have a profound impact on humanity". "The OIC has a huge responsibility and a great opportunity to lift humanity to a higher level of peace and prosperity, and to make this planet a better place, not just for your people, but for rest of the world." She said India will work with the OIC to spread the true meaning and mission of all religions, promote respect for and between faiths, counter the language of hate with the message of harmony, advocate moderation over extremism and pluralism over exclusion, inspire youth to the path of service than of destruction, build bridge of understanding and reduce barriers across culture" and religions. She cited a couplet by Guru Nanak Dev about one God being the origin of all humanity and a remark by former President APJ Abdul Kalam about righteousness ultimately leading to peace in the world. Noting that she comes from the land of Mahatma Gandhi where every prayer ends with the call for peace for all, Sushma Swaraj conveyed her support and solidarity in "your quest for stability, peace, harmony, economic growth and prosperity for your people and the world." Swaraj said "the world we leave" should be infinitely better "than the one we inherited" and the mission has "brought us together in Abu Dhabi." She said India was the fastest growing economy and will work to ensure that the path to development remains open to all and the global trade regime is open, stable and fair. New Delhi, March 1 : An MiG-21 shooting down an F-16 in a dogfight over Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday is being hailed as some sort of a military aviation feat, but experts said IAF aircraft might have belonged to the Soviet vintage, but its upgraded version Bison is certainly not completely outdated. As the details of the aerial engagement between a large number of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and IAF fighters filter in, it has emerged that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was able to maneuver his MiG-21 successfully to take a shot at the lead aircraft of the intruding formation, bringing it down. Pakistan denied involvement of F-16s in the raid, but India called the bluff displaying the evidence. MiG-21s and F-16s are generations apart. The PAF flies F-16 C/D advanced version of US-made fighter, while MiG-21 Bison is the upgraded avatar of an aircraft in service for nearly 60 years. The public perception about MiG-21 in India is not encouraging as frequent crashes of the aircraft have earned it the label of "flying coffins" leading to questions about using vintage fighters during the tense moments with Pakistan recently. But experts explain that F-16 without doubt is far superior in maneuverability and in terms of the range of weaponry, MiG-21 comes with its own positives. An MiG-21 is the obvious choice for IAF as an operational readiness patrol which is akin to the 100 number of the police, manning 24x7 to meet any emergency. The MiG-21s are the most preferred aircraft in this role simply because they take the shortest time to get airborne compared to all other fighters. The Mig-21 can be launched only in two minutes, experts said. The MiG-21 Bison can carry a range of weapons like any modern fighter and has fairly good features. It has an R073 close combat missile which has a range of 20-25 km and can also fire beyond visual range missiles R-77. It has got phased array radar, jammers and countermeasure dispensing systems chaffs and flares. The IAF is striving to get replacements for MiG-21, but experts said until then the force has to fly what it has got. All these are also part of the F-16 package, but the US fighter can fire AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, sky flash and R550 Magic air-to-air missiles. It can also fire Maverick, HARM and Shrike air-to-surface missiles. When the PAF aircraft approached the LoC from the south-west, MiG-21s were the first to engage the leading F-16s which were being given protection by JF-17 Thunders. While the Su-30s and Mirages chased away the support component, the MiG-21s took on F-16, sources said. (Gautam Datt can be contacted at datt.gautam@gmail.com) Srinagar, March 1 : For Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Jammu and Kashmir the ban imposed on the socio-political religious organisation by the union government is not the first and perhaps not the last. The government on Thursday declared the JI Jammu and Kashmir as "an unlawful association whose activities have the potential of disrupting the unity and integrity of India". Before imposing the five-year-long ban, more than 250 leaders and cadres of the organisation were picked up by police during nocturnal raids throughout the Valley. After lodging them in local police stations, many senior leaders of the JI have been shifted to the central jail in Srinagar city. The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), the separatist conglomerate headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, called for post Friday prayer protests against the ban. The authorities reacted by imposing restrictions in parts of Srinagar city to prevent any protests. The ban order has been criticised by some mainstream politicians, including former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Mehbooba said: "Democracy is a battle of ideas. The crackdown, followed by the banning of Jammat Islami is condemn able and another example of high handedness and muscular approach of the GOI (Govenment of India) to deal with the political issue of J&K". Separatist leaders in both the Syed Ali Geelani headed group and Mirwaiz Umer headed Hurriyat group have condemned the ban with one voice. The authorities have placed Mirwaiz Umer under house arrest while Geelani continues to be under house arrest in Srinagar city. Muhammad Yasin Malik is also under preventive detection. JI Jammu and Kashmir is distinct from Jamaat-e-Islami Hind that was founded in 1948 as an Islamic organisation, but finally split into three offshoots in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, however, continues to the beacon light for the JI J&K as well. The JI was first banned in 1975 during the emergency for opposing the Indira-Abdullah accord that finally brought back the National Conference (NC) founder, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, into mainstream politics. The organisation was again banned by the central government headed by V.P.Singh in 1990. That order was revoked in 1993 by the P.V. Narasimha Rao headed Congress government. JI leaders, including Muhammad Yusuf Shah, who later became the supreme commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit in his new avatar as Syed Salahudin, fought the 1987 assembly elections with other leaders who opposed the NC under the banner of the Muslim United Front (MuF). It is generally believed that many JI candidates, including Muhammad Yusuf Shah were defeated by a false declaration of results. Senior JI leader Geelani, however, won the 1987 assembly elections repeating his victories in 1972 and 1977. Geelani has been a part of the state's electoral process till the JI decided to say goodbye to mainstream politics after 1990. Many people believe that the single biggest reason for the JI cadres supporting militancy and separatism was their engineered defeat during the 1987 elections. After ending their association with electoral politics, senior JI leaders supported the state's merger with Pakistan, although the JI cadres did not initially pick up weapons to join the armed struggle till militancy took the centre stage in the Valley in 1989. Since the pro-azadi Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) advocated an independent state free from both India and Pakistan, the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) that had a predominant number of youth belonging to families of JI cadres was formed in September 1989. HM stands for state's merger with Pakistan. After the HM was formed, the official crackdown on JI-run schools and other organisations involved in fund raising started. Geelani, who heads his faction of the separatist Hurriyat group, has formed his own organisation called the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, but continues to wield both respect and influence in the JI. (Sheikh Qayoom can be reached at sheikh.abdul@ians.in) Kasargode : March 1 (IANS) The families of the two murdered Youth Congress workers in Kerala's Kasargode district, on Friday approached the police chief and the state home secretary seeking a CBI probe into the killings. In a letter to the two senior officials, the families expressed doubts about the ongoing probe by the Crime Branch. They demanded that the conspiracy angle should also be probed, and since CPI-M leaders are involved in the murder, only a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation will bring out the truth. Youth Congress workers Krupesh, 19, and Joshy, 24, were attacked on February 17 by three men. Krupesh died at the hospital and Joshy succumbed to injuries on his way to the medical facility. Police have so far arrested five people in the case including a local CPI-M leader A. Peethamabaran, who had said that he committed the crime under the influence of a drug. He, however, changed his statement in the court on Monday. Peethamabaran told the judge that he has no role in the murder and the police forced him to confess to the crime. The Congress has demanded a CBI probe, while Communist Party of India (Marxist) state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on a few occasions dismissed the need for it as he feels that the Kerala Police will have no job left if all cases will be probed by the CBI. Ujjain : , March 1 (IANS) The management of Ujjain's Mahakal temple on Friday barred a priest from entering the temple premises after a video allegedly showing the priest molesting a minor girl went viral in social media. Ujjain Mahakal is one of the 12 famous "Jyotirlingas" of Lord Shiva across the country. Although the police have not taken any action yet, they said that if a formal complaint is filed, "we'll surely take action". However, priest Hemant Dubey has stated that it is a conspiracy hatched by older priests of the temple to frame him in the fake case. In the wake of development, the Congress has questioned former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan as to which political powers are protecting criminals in the state. State Congress chief's media coordinator Narendra Saluja on Friday said in a statement that Hemant Dubey, who is allegedly involved in many criminal activities, has connections with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "Chauhan should explain, who are the people whose names are surfacing during the two-month-old Congress regime? Who are the people trying to challenge the law and order and which political powers are protecting them? Waiting for your (Chauhan's) tweet," said Saluja. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. March 1, 2019: This report focuses on the global Social Network Marketing status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Social Network Marketing development in United States, Europe and China. Social networking refers to the act of coming together of groups of people with common interests on social platforms and building relationships with the help of websites and applications. In 2017, the global Social Network Marketing 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-social-network-marketing-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025/request-sample The key players covered in this study Facebook Instagram Google LinkedIn Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Mobile Applications Digital Platforms Access Full Report With TOC @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-social-network-marketing-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025 Market segment by Application, split into Public Sector BFSI Telecom and Media Retail/Wholesale Other 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 Social Network Marketing status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Social Network Marketing 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 Social Network Marketing 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 Madrid, March 1 : FC Barcelona have extended the contract of Spain international left back Jordi Alba until the end of June 2024, the club has said. The new contract sets Alba's buyout clause at 500 million euros ($569 million), meaning that it is very unlikely anyone will be able to buy the 29-year old they signed from Valencia in the summer of 2012, reports Xinhua news agency. During his six and a half years at the club (where he began his career as a youngster, before being released because he was thought to be too small) Alba has played 282 games, scoring 14 goals and helping Barca win 14 different titles. He has also become a vital part of Barca's attack with his constant runs down the left touchline and during his career his association with Leo Messi has been vital as he has set up no fewer than 20 goals for the Argentinean striker. Shillong, March 1 : Air Marshal Rajiv Dayal Mathur on Friday took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command headquarters here in Meghalaya, an Indian Air Force (IAF) official said. Air Marshal Mathur succeeds Air Marshal Anil Raghunath Nambiar. Headquartered in Shillong, the Eastern Air Command's area of responsibility covers 11 states. It has permanent air bases at Chabua, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Barrackpore, Hasimara, Jorhat, Kalaikunda and Tezpur with forward bases at Agartala, Kolkata, Panagarh and Shillong. Air Marshal Nambiar, who was highly praised for shooting five of the eight Laser Guided Bombs on Pakistani positions during the Kargil war from his plane, took over as chief of the IAF's sword arm Western Air Command. An alumnus of St Joseph's Academy, Dehradun, Air Marshal Mathur had joined the National Defence Academy in 1978 and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 4, 1982. Air Marshal Mathur has over 5,000 hours of flying experience on a variety of fighter aircraft, trainers and helicopters. He also led its space and cyber wings. Prior to taking over as chief of Eastern Air Command, he was the Senior Air Staff Officer of South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. He has held various Command and Staff appointments including command of a front-line Air Force station and a fighter aircraft squadron. His staff appointments include Principal Director, Information & Electronics Warfare, and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Space) at Air Headquarters New Delhi, Air Defence Commander at Headquarters Eastern Air Command Air Marshal Mathur has undergone post-graduate courses at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the National Defence College, New Delhi, and holds M.Sc and M Phil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University He has been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2003 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014. Beijing, March 1 : China on Friday urged the UN Security Council to reconsider the sanctions imposed on North Korea in order to move forward in the negotiations for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula after a second summit between US President Donald Trump and Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-un ended inconclusively. "China believes that according to relevant resolutions and the progress made in the peninsula, especially measures taken by North Korea on denuclearization, the UNSC needs to consider and hold a debate about revoking the provisions of the Council in order to modify sanctions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said. According to explanations provided by Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the negotiations failed on Thursday when Kim offered to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear research facility - where North Korea produces nuclear material for its weapons - in exchange for a complete lifting of sanctions. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho contradicted this version of the negotiations hours later in a midnight press conference in Hanoi, saying that Kim had asked the US for only a partial removal of sanctions in exchange for dismantling Yongbyon. "After this summit, we have noticed that both sides made statements about the lifting of sanctions. They are different from each other but both sides believe lifting sanctions is an important part of denuclearization and it should be considered," Lu said. The Chinese spokesperson urged all parties involved to deal with the issue in a "responsible manner" and make joint efforts to reach an agreement. China, which is North Korea's primary trade partner and traditional political ally, has in recent years accepted the adoption of tough sanctions against Pyongyang by the UNSC in order to pressurize the regime into stopping its nuclear weapon and missile development programmes. The Chinese Foreign Ministry refused to comment on reports that Kim might meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and discuss the results of his meeting with Trump. Attari : , March 1 (IANS) Notwithstanding the India-Pakistan tension, the Punjab Police on Friday distributed eatables to Pakistani nationals stranded here due to the suspension of the Samjhauta Express by the Pakistani authorities. Informed sources said that 40-50 Pakistani passengers were stranded at the Attari railway station and were waiting for the train service to resume so that they could travel back to their country. Punjab Police personnel, including women police, distributed food to the stranded passengers. The authorities later made arrangements to enable the stranded passengers to cross the International Border through the Attari-Wagah joint check-post. Pakistani authorities on Thursday did not allow the peace train between the two countries to leave from the Lahore railway station. The train runs between India and Pakistan on Mondays and Thursdays. It links Lahore with Attari in Punjab. Another train of the Indian Railways connects Attari with Delhi. Gurugram, March 1 : The Gurugram police arrested a youth who allegedly played a crucial role in the murder of Vijay Batra, the alleged bookie, at Sohna Road on February 22. Accused Sujeet Gupta alias Bullet, a resident of Devi Lal colony of Gurugram, had reportedly informed shooters of the Kaushal gang about the movement of Batra on February 22. The shooters intercepted Batra's car in a service lane of Sohna Road, in front of Parsvanath residential complex, and shot him from point blank range. "Gupta was tasked to track the movement of Batra. His interrogation revealed that the ganglord had instructed him to monitor Batra's movements," said Shamsher Singh, ACP crime, Gurugram. "Gupta tracked Batra for a week before the murder. He passed the information to the shooters about Batra when he got out of his residential complex Park View Apartment. The accused had a foolproof plan for his murder. They chose the place as well as the escape route," Singh said. The police said Gupta's criminal record spans three years. "When he was 19 years old, he was a street vendor at Khandsa road Anaj Mandi. He had enmity with local resident Aakash Chokkar. The accused allegedly fired several rounds on Chokkar who narrowly escaped despite sustaining three gunshot injuries," said the ACP. "An FIR had been registered at the Sector 37 police station. Gupta was released on bail 7 months back. When he was in prison, he reportedly came in contact with active members of Kaushal gang. Since then he was working for them," the ACP said. The accused was arrested from an underpass of NH 8 near Khandsa Anaj Mandi. He was produced before the Gurugram district magistrate who sent him to five-day police remand. The police have already arrested two youths, including a shooter, in the case. Islamabad, March 1 : Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday said his country would respond in self-defence to any act of "unprovoked aggression" by the Indian military. According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Army chief made the remarks in his telephonic communication with the commanders of the US Central Command, UK Chief of Defence Staff and the Australian Chief of Defence Force as well as the ambassadors of the US, UK and China in Pakistan. "Pakistan shall surely respond to any aggression in self-defence," Gen. Bajwa was quoted as telling the military chiefs and envoys by Major General Asif Ghafoor, the head of the military's media wing ISPR, on Twitter. During the phone calls, Gen. Bajwa and the defence chiefs and ambassadors discussed the prevailing stand-off between Pakistan and India and its impact on the "peace (and) stability in the region (and) beyond", according to the Ghafoor's tweet. Tensions spiked between two countries after the Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kasmir's Pulwama on February 14. India, in retaliation, bombed the JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday claimed to have killed a large number of terrorists. This was followed by Pakistan seizing Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after his MiG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday. Visakhapatnam, March 1 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Opposition was playing into Pakistan's hands by making statements lowering the morale of the Indian armed forces. Addressing a public rally here, Modi said the Opposition's "anti-Modi" attitude has turned into "anti-India attitude." "It is the misfortune of the country that at a time when the whole world is seeking answers from Pakistan, they (opposition parties) are making statements that undermine the morale of the security forces of the country. "The Pakistan parliament is quoting these irresponsible statements to counter us. This is unfortunate. Their penchant to oppose Modi has turned into anti-India attitude," Modi said. The Prime Minister's remarks come in the wake of 21 opposition parties unanimously accusing Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party of "blatant politicisation" of armed forces' sacrifices. Without taking names, Modi also attacked the Congress over dynasty politics and accused the state's ruling Telegu Desam Party of hindering Andhra Pradesh's development. "Unlike them, we do not have the fear of corruption cases or dynasties. That is why we are taking decisions without fear or any baggage in the best interest of the people," Modi said. He also announced approval of the South Coast Railway Zone which will be headquartered in Visakhaptnam. "It will create jobs, improve economy and develop the region. It reflects the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) commitment to developing Andhra Pradesh," he said. New Delhi, March 1 : Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said he was not in the race for the prime minister's post and as a pure RSS man for him the nation comes first. "I have nothing to do with it (Prime Minister post). I am not in the race to be the Prime Minister. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is the Prime Minister and will be the Prime Minister even after the elections," he said speaking at the India Today Conclave. The Water Resources Minister then said, "I am an RSS man and working for the country is our mission. Under Modiji, the country is progressing. So we all are behind him. I am just another worker in the fulfilment of his vision. Where does the question of me becoming a Prime Minister arise?" he said. Asked if he would become the Prime Minister if the BJP gets only about 200 seats in the elections, he replied that "thinking about Prime Minister's post is like 'mungeri lal ke haseen sapne' (day dreaming)." "And we are going to get clear majority in 2019 elections as well," he said. When asked about 'Congress mukt Bharat' (Congress free India), Gadkari said, "The ideologies of both the parties are different and we are not enemies of each other. There can be difference of opinion... It is human behaviour, it is our tradition. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru and even Modiji welcomes the opposition party." Gadkari said the Ganga river will be clean in the next 13 months. "And during my recent visit for 'Kumbh Snan' people told me that for the first time in 50 years they had found the river nirmal (clean)." Highlighting the works of his ministry, he said that on the Yamuna river in Delhi he was working on 13 projects worth Rs 4,500 crore besides the work on the Ramnadi, Kali Ganga and 40 tributaries. He also said that highway projects worth Rs 50,000 crore were underway. "A bridge at Dhaula Kuan to decongest Delhi will be inaugurated on Saturday when I return from Nagpur and a foundation stone will be laid by the Prime Minister for Dwarka Express Highway soon," he said. Gadkari also said that by March this year, the construction of highways is likely to reach 34 km per day against 28 km per day last year. Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston Thrissur, March 01 : CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Friday rejected accusations of treason levelled against him by BJP for a speech he made the other day, saying that he had merely criticized prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. I didnt say anything treasonous. All I did was criticize Modi and Shah. I will continue with the criticism. If they want to put me in jail for this, then let it be, he told reporters. Clarifying that his speech was against the policies of the right-wing BJP-led government at the centre, Mr. Balakrishnan alleged that a fake propaganda was on against him from certain quarters. Mr. Balakrishnan had the other day told a public function that he suspected that the Balakot air strikes carried out the other day targeting terror camps in Pakistan were a political stunt by the RSS-BJP aimed at sabotaging the upcoming elections to the lok sabha. He had also accused the BJP-led government of stirring the communal pot in Kashmir and whipping up hatred against muslims for political gains by engineering communal polarization, adding that BJP was spreading war hysteria in the country fearing defeat in the elections. His comments had kicked up a storm with the BJP Kerala leadership calling for him to be booked for treason. Terming Mr. Balakrishnans speech anti-national, BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai accused the CPI(M) state secretary of trying to whip up communal feelings. He called on chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to offer a clarification on the speech made by the CPI(M) state secretary. Rajya Sabha MP and former BJP state president V Muraleedharan demanded that Kodiyeri Balakrishnan be arrested for treason, saying that the CPI(M) leader was living up to the CPI(M) tradition of supporting the enemy. Shillong, March 1 : Amid escalating tension between India and Pakistan, the Indian Navy and Army on Friday temporarily withdrew from the search operation for 15 miners trapped inside a coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, a defence official said. However, the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force and other agencies will continue the operation. A 21-member Indian Navy team had been working since December 29 to evacuate the 15 labourers, who were trapped inside an illegal 370-feet flooded coal mine at Khloo Ryngksan in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district since December 13, 2018. "The Indian Navy divers have been called back to their respective Naval bases in view of the current situation. They have temporarily withdrawn," a senior defence official told IANS. He added that the Indian Army team providing logistics support to the operation has also been temporarily withdrawn. Of the 15 people trapped, the teams have retrieved two bodies so far, while three more bodies have been detected by the Navy's Underwater Remote Operated Vehicle. East Jaintia Hills district Deputy Commissioner F.M. Dopth thanked the teams for their efforts. "We wish them a safe journey home," Dopth said. The labourers got trapped when they broke the wall of another mine and water gushed inside. The tragedy came to light after five labourers escaped from the coal pit. The disaster took place despite an interim ban on rat-hole coal mining in Mehgalaya by the National Green Tribunal since April 17, 2014. The Supreme Court, which is monitoring the rescue operations, has ordered that the labourers must be taken out of the mine "dead" or "alive". Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. March 1, 2019: This report focuses on the global Smart Well status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Smart Well development in United States, Europe and China. The onshore segment dominated the smart well market and accounted for a major part of the overall market share. The Americas to dominate the smart well market during the forecast period. The US is the major revenue contributor to the smart well market in this region. In 2017, the global Smart Well 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-smart-well-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025/request-sample The key players covered in this study Baker Hughes Halliburton National Oilwell Varco Schlumberger Weatherford International Statoil Salym Petroleum Woodside Energy Emerson Process Management INTECH Process Automation Nabors Completion & Production Services RPC Inc Superior Energy Services Trican Well Services Welltec International Click For Report Details @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-smart-well-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025 Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Hardware Software Services Market segment by Application, split into Onshore Offshore 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 Smart Well status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Smart Well 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 Smart Well 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 Attari : , March 1 (IANS) IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, returned to India on Friday night. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, he was received warmly by senior Border Security Force (BSF) officers at Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. After the Pakistan Rangers escorted him till the border gates, one BSF officer put his arm around the Indian Air Force officer and led him away, apparently for handing him over to the IAF officials. The air force officer looked calm as he waited for a while close to the border in Pakistani territory along with Indian High Commission officials from Islamabad and Pakistan Rangers before getting the final okay for him to cross over to India. The capture of Wg Cdr Abhinandan on Wednesday in Pakistani-administered Kashmir led to strong demands from New Delhi that he be handed over to India immediately and unharmed. New Delhi, March 1 : The Centre on Friday appointed former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia as the Non-Executive Chairman of Bank of Baroda for a period of three years. Adhia would also be the part-time Non-Official Director of the public sector lender, according to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the appointment of Hasmukh Adhia as part-time Non-Official Director as well as Non-Executive Chairman on the board of Bank of Baroda for a period of three years from the date of notification, or until further orders," it said. Adhia, a Gujarat cadre IAS officer, retired on November 30, 2018 after an eventful stint as Finance Secretary during the days of demonetisation and the ushering in of the Goods and Services Tax regime. Attrai: 35-year-old IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to Indian High Commission officials at Pakistan's Wagah border, being taken away in Attari, Punjab on March 1, 2019. (Screen Grab: DD News) Image Source: IANS News Attari: 35-year-old IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to Indian High Commission officials at Pakistan's Wagah border, being taken away in Attari, Punjab on March 1, 2019. (Screen Grab: DD News) Image Source: IANS News Attari : , March 1 (IANS) Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, returned to India on Friday night. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, he was received by senior Border Security Force officers at 9.21 p.m. at Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. While one BSF officer shook his hand, another put his arm around the pilot to escort him back into India. "I am happy to be back home," Abhinandan said in his first reaction after stepping into India, according to Amritsar Deputy Commissioner, Shivdular Singh Dhillon, who received the IAF pilot along with senior IAF and Border Security Force (BSF) officers. Abhinandan was accompanied from Pakistan side by Group Captain J.D. Kurian. He was surrounded by armed troopers of the Pakistan Rangers up to the border gate. The Wing Commander was in Pakistani captivity for over 60 hours before he walked back home through the Zero Line at the Wagah-Attari joint check-post and received by senior IAF and security officers. Pakistani authorities kept delaying his actual return to India through the day on Friday for unexplained reasons. He was whisked from the Attari joint check post (JCP) complex under tight security cover. Air Vice Marshall R.G.K. Kapoor told the media that the Wing Commander was "handed to us as per standard operating procedure of the Indian Air Force". "He will now be taken for a detailed medical check-up. The check-up is mandated particularly because the officer has had to eject from an aeroplane which would have put his entire body under great stress," Kapoor said. "IAF is happy to have Abhinandan back," the Air Vice Marshal said. Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Dhillon said that the "happiness in his (Abhinandan's) eyes said it all" upon his return. Dhillon said that there was no particular reason for the delay in IAF pilot's return. Earlier, Abhinandan was formally handed over to officials of the Indian High Commission at Wagah (in Pakistan) led by Group Captain J.D. Kurian. He was captured in Pakistan on Wednesday (Feb 27) after his MIG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during an aerial dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC). Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the captured pilot will be freed as a "goodwill gesture" after New Delhi demanded his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release. New Delhi, March 1 : Marking its single largest infrastructure loan ever, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday signed a $926 million loan agreement with India to operationalise two lines for the Mumbai metro rail system. It aims to ease the distress of millions of commuters each day and help provide a cleaner and less congested city, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. "The single largest infrastructure project loan in ADB history approved by the ADB Board on February 26, will help fund lines 2A (Dahisar to D.N. Nagar), 2B (D.N. Nagar-Bandra-Mandale), and 7 (Dahisar-East to Andheri-East), totalling about 58 kilometres," it said. The project will fund 63 six-car trains, signalling and safety systems and help establish a new dedicated metro operations organisation to manage the entire metro network in Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will implement the project and once operational by the end of 2022, an estimated 2 million passengers a day will use the two new lines, the Ministry said. It will also reduce emissions from vehicles. Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to fall by about 1,66,000 tons a year, it said. "ADB financing will ease travel for millions of commuters across Mumbai, help decongest heavily crowded suburban rail systems and contribute to providing modern, clean and livable urban environment to its citizens," ADB Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama said. Mumbai, the financial capital of India with a population of about 12 million, is the capital of Maharashtra, which accounts for about 15 per cent of India's gross domestic product, about 40 per cent of which is generated from the Mumbai metropolitan region. Rail is the primary means of transport in Mumbai, where the suburban network totals almost 400 km and carries more than 7.5 million passengers a day. "The New Mumbai Metro is an ambitious and truly transformative venture planned by the state government which will contribute to enhance the efficiency of the urban transport network and productivity of India's financial centre," said Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Finance Ministry. Recognising the transportation challenges, the government has developed a plan for 12 metro lines with a total length of 276 km. Line 1, completed in 2014 on a public-private partnership model, carries about 4 lakh passengers a day and has reduced travel time along its east-west route from 71 minutes to 21 minutes. Other new metro lines will ease travel and make the city more liveable and competitive. Since access to the stations is sometimes difficult, ADB is also assisting MMRDA to improve last mile connectivity by piloting electric vehicles and non-motorised transport at select stations. The project also marks ADB's first co-financing with the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, which will provide $260 million toward the metro systems project. The MMRDA will implement civil works and other related components for the lines 2A, 2B and 7. New Delhi, March 1 : A notorious criminal and member of an interstate bootlegger gang accused of killing his rival group member in Haryana was arrested in North Delhi, the police said on Friday. "A special team headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sandeep Lamba arrested Pankaj Kumar following a tip off on Wednesday night when he came to meet a person near Kashmiri Gate," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rajesh Deo said. Kumar, a resident of Bihar's East Champaran district, belongs to the Chunnu Thakur gang which is involved in over 150 cases of murder and kidnapping in various states. The gang is also involved in liquor smuggling in Bihar. "Kumar, Chunnu Thakur and Ravi had kidnapped their rival gang member Amit Kumar Singh from Bihar on February 20. Singh was taken to a flat in Faridabad in Haryana where the accused killed him," Deo said. "In a bid to destroy evidences, they burnt the body at an isolated place in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura and returned to Delhi," the DCP said. "Singh was involved in at least 20 cases of murder," Deo said. Srinagar, March 1 : The police on Friday arrested a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant who was involved in weapon snatching incidents. "Based on a specific input regarding the movement of a suspected person near the Bone and Joint Hospital here, a special team of Srinagar Police apprehended a person. "On questioning, he identified himself as Showket Ahmed Khan, a resident of Budgam district associated with the LeT, the banned terrorist organisation. His code name is Aumer Bhai," the police said. "The arrested person was involved in weapon snatching incidents. Further questioning is going on," the police said. Although the police are yet to confirm it officially, sources said the arrested person was a constable who worked with the state armed police before going underground. "He is believed to be involved in the weapon loot that took place on December 31, 2018 when four rifles went missing from the guard's room of a Congress legislator in Jawahar Nagar area of Srinagar," sources said. Attari: 35-year-old IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to Indian High Commission officials at Pakistan's Wagah border, being taken away in Attari, Punjab on March 1, 2019. (Screen Grab: DD News) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, March 1 : Commenting on Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthamans safe return to India from Pakistans custody, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the nation was proud of the brave officer. "Proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram," Sitharaman tweeted. Varthaman was captured by the Pakistan Army on February 27 after his MiG 21 Bison was shot down during a dogfight and he ejected. He landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir across the Line of Control (LoC) where he was manhandled by local villagers. He was later rescued and taken into custody by the Pakistan Army. On February 28, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament that Varthaman would be handed over to India on Friday. The fighter pilot was handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah-Atari border in Punjab on Friday evening. Dressed in a blue coat, grey trousers and white shirt, he was received by senior Border Security Force officers at 9.21 p.m. at the Zero Line that marks the India-Pakistan land border. New Delhi, March 1 : The closure of Pakistan air space resulted in cancellation of 11 international flights to and from the national capital's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Friday. Pakistan has banned Indian aircraft from using its airspace and Pakistan's Air Traffic Control (ATC) has banned flying of any aircraft below 32,000 feet. However, the commercial airspace in Pakistan was partially opened on Friday. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said four Pakistani airports were resuming flight operations from Friday evening while the airspace in the rest of the country would remain closed until Monday. According to people in the know, there is a fresh NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) for international flights having the air space restrictions over Pakistan which restricts flights until 1.30 p.m on March 4. The original NOTAM issued on Wednesday said the restriction was applicable until Friday morning. The air space restriction by Pakistan impacted traffic at the IGI Airport with 11 international cancellations -- 5 departures and 6 arrivals. On Thursday, the restriction had resulted in cancellation of 24 flights -- 12 departures and 12 arrivals. The development comes days after the IAF chased away intruding Pakistani fighter jets in the Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector. On their part, airlines like Lufthansa and Air India, however, said the restriction would not have any major impact on their operations. Abu Dhabi, March 1 : The OIC nations have expressed zero tolerance towards terrorism, T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary of Economic Relations at the Ministry of External Affairs, told the media on Friday. He said it was a "historic day" in India's engagement with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as on the 50th anniversary of the first session of the OIC in 1969, India was invited as the guest of honour at the inaugural plenary of the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC. He said it opened a new chapter in India's engagement with the OIC. "In her address, the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj underlined that the fight against terrorism was not a confrontation against any religion. Her speech was widely welcomed," Tirumurti said. "All the speakers in the session had no hesitation in saying that they had zero tolerance for terrorism," he added. Responding to a media query on the Pakistan Foreign Minister saying that India had no moral right to be present at the OIC meet, the senior official said: "The invitation to India was extended in recognition of its global political stature as well as its time-honoured and deep-rooted cultural and historical legacy and its important Islamic component." He pointed out that OIC nations catered to India's energy security and were home to the 12 million strong Indian diaspora. The volume of India's trade with OIC countries was $230 billion, which was 30 per cent of our total trade. He said the OIC nations were India's "important partners" in fighting terrorism. Mumbai, March 1 : While India sat glued to TV screens waiting to catch the first glimpse of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as he crossed the Wagah border late on Friday evening, two days after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, Bollywood celebs were busy sending out feverish messages lauding the airman's heroism. And here's what the stars had to say: Ranveer Singh: Welcome home Abhinandan! Inspiration to our whole nation. Jai Hind. Karan Johar: We salute your bravery and valour.... We applaud your strength in the face of adversity. Anil Kapoor: With pride in our hearts and a smile on our face, welcome home Abhinandan. Kirron Kher: India doesn't need weapons to fight a war. Warriors like Abhinandan are enough. We cannot thank our brave soldiers enough for their endless efforts and sacrifices for our Motherland. Varun Dhawan: Welcome back home Abinandan, a true hero. These humane actions give hope that all humanity is not lost. Bharat Mata ki Jai. Emraan Hashmi: Proud of you sir! Salutes to the brave son of India. Parineeti Chopra: Everyone can learn something or two about real heroism from you. The entire nation is extremely proud of you and your courage! Boman Irani: Saluting the valour and bravery of our Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Like the entire nation, I would love to say welcome home Abhinandan. Arjun Kapoor: We salute your valour and the entire nation is extremely proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan... Welcome home. Nimrat Kaur: In the face of grave adversity, to stand tall and unbroken takes other worldly nerves. Welcome home Abhinandan, your steely valour and calibre has been awe-inspiring. All of India and the uniform swells with pride today. A fauji daughter's salute to you. Dia Mirza: There is no place like home. Love, respect and gratitude. Wing Commander Abhinandan. Celina Jaitly: Each and every officer and Jawan's family must be continued to be saluted and celebrated like this... the price our forces and their family pay for our freedom is phenomenal! Preity G Zinta: People in America are shocked that a 65-year-old Russian MIG-21 shot down an American made and sold F-16 at the India-Pakistan border. This tells a lot about pilot training. The best plane is the one with the best pilot inside. Welcome home Abhinandan. Shatrughan Sinha: We whole-heartedly welcome the brave and dashing IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Vardhaman and greatly appreciate the sincere efforts of the Government of India to get him back...not to forget Honourable Imran Khan's matured goodwill gesture of peace. My profound regards to the Indian. New Delhi, March 1 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and several Union ministers including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman soon after he returned via Wagha border to India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders took to Twitter to welcome him and hailed his courage and valour. "Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. Vande Mataram!" tweeted Modi. Shah said: "Dear Wing Commander Abhinandan, entire nation is proud of your courage and valour. India is glad to have you back. "May you continue to serve the nation and IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication. Best wishes for your bright future." Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistanis two days ago after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistani territory, returned to India on Friday night. "Welcome Home! The entire Nation is proud of Wing Commander Abhinandan," Rajnath Singh said. "Proud of you Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The entire nation appreciates your valour and grit. You held your calm in the face of adversity. You are an inspiration to our youth. Salute. Vande Mataram. Jai Hind," Sitharaman said. Union Minister Smriti Irani said: "Salute to India as Abhinandan returns to home." Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Ram Vilas Paswan and other leaders also expressed their happiness over his return. New Delhi, March 1 : The Union Home Ministry has sought a detailed report from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) or paramilitary to fix the anomaly in the retirement age of their personnel in the wake of a Delhi High Court order asking the government to implement equal superannuation age criteria in each force, an official said on Friday. Director Generals (DGs) of all the paramilitary forces have been asked to submit the report by next week, with detailed information on whether the retirement age of their troopers should be 60 or 57 years. The direction came at a Home Ministry meeting on February 27 after the Delhi High Court on January 31 questioned the current policy of different ages of superannuation in the paramilitary forces, calling it "discriminatory and unconstitutional". The High Court has asked the Home Ministry to implement its order in four weeks. The present retirement age for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is 57. However, the superannuation age in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Assam Rifles (AR) is 60 years. The meeting, chaired by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and attended by DGs of all the paramilitary forces and other Home Ministry officers, discussed the implications of increasing the retirement age limit of CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB personnel to 60 years as they are deployed in combat duties unlike CISF and AR personnel. The Ministry also sought a clarification from the paramilitary DGs regarding the impact of the proposed decision on "future" recruitments, age profile of personnel deployed for border guarding tasks and deputation of these men and women to special forces like the National Security Guard (NSG), Special Protection Group (SPG) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The Ministry also asked them to analyse the "incremental increase" in manpower once the retirement age is enhanced and whether there would be any long-term effect with regard to raising of new battalions in case of change in retirement age. The CRPF, the BSF, the ITBP and the SSB are deployed in a variety of security roles ranging from guarding borders to conducting anti-Maoist operations and combating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi, March 1 : Budget carrier SpiceJet will launch eight new daily direct flights to Gwalior under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme. In addition to the eight new flights to Gwalior, SpiceJet will also operate four new daily flights connecting Bhopal, including the Bhopal-Udaipur UDAN flight. "These new flights reiterate the airline's commitment to UDAN and direct connectivity, besides on-boarding non-metros and smaller cities onto the national aviation map," the airline said in a statement At present, SpiceJet operates 23 flights under the UDAN scheme. New Delhi, March 1 : The recovery of 36 live cartridges and a suspected bomb from a dustbin near a bus terminal in south Delhi on Thursday sent the police into a tizzy today. The Police and other security agencies in the national capital are on high alert following the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers were killed on February 14. "The Police Control Room received a call around 9.40 a.m. on Thursday from a sanitation worker informing it that he had found 36 cartridges, while he was cleaning a dustbin near the Ambedkar Nagar bus terminal. The caller also found an electronic device, a suspected bomb," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar told IANS. "The recovered articles are being examined," Kumar said. "It appears that someone threw the cartridges and the suspected bomb into the dustbin hurriedly because of tightened security. We are scanning the CCTV footage to identify the accused," the DCP said, adding a case has been registered. New Delhi, March 1 : The proposed India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) cannot be finalised without an Indian commitment to lower import duties on cars and car parts since this is a politically sensitive issue in the European Union (EU), the EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski said here on Friday. The India-EU FTA negotiations, which started in 2007, were suspended in 2013 after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in some important areas. "For political reasons, no FTA will be approved in the EU Parliament without having car and car parts included. We can have a very long transitional period but we need to include cars," Kozlowski said at a conclave on India-EU cooperation in trade and sustainable development organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Amfori, an EU trade association. The major areas of disagreement in the EU-India FTA talks have been automobile tariffs, the issue of data security and more access for Indian professionals. "The EU is ready for an asymmetrical agreement but both sides should consider that the FTA will not be profitable to both in all the sectors and that only the 'final balance should be positive for both'," Kozlowski said. "The EU is ready to introduce substantial level of asymmetry to the agreement as it is aware that India is a developing country and not at the same level as Japan and Korea," he said. "India should decide how much foreign trade is important for the country's economic development," Kozlowski said. The Ambassador pointed out how the EU was India's largest trading partner at 85 billion euro, or Rs 8,500 crore, in 2017. However, from the EU's perspective, India was only the ninth biggest trading partner, far behind China, and lower than Korea. He also said there was strong will on both sides to go ahead with the stalled FTA talks which was evident from the fact that since 2017, there has been extremely active contacts at the level of experts, chief negotiators as well as Commerce Secretaries. New Delhi, March 2 : A 52-year-old property dealer was gunned down on Friday by an unidentified bike-borne man in his office in the national capital, police said. The incident occurred at 3.45 p.m in Rohini's Begumpur area of west Delhi when the deceased Sanjeev Sharma was in his office. "A bike-borne man with covered face came and fired at Sharma," Deputy Commissioner of Police S.D. Mishra said. Sharma was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead, he said. Sharma was living with his family in Jain Nagar and was into real estate business for the last eight months, Mishra said. A probe is underway to ascertain the cause of attack, he added. Kolkata, March 2 : Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), which has been bullish on Africa continent and south Asian countries, is expecting 10 per cent growth in balance sheet this fiscal, an official said on Friday.A "We are looking at a 10 per cent growth in our balance sheet to touch Rs one lakh crore by March 2019. This has been supported by a growth in overseas project finance business," bank's Managing Director David Rasquinha said. Under overseas project finance business, the bank has the largest single country exposure in Bangladesh at close to $9 billion to be used over a period of five-to-six yearsAfor various social and infra projects,Ahe said on the sidelines of a programme, organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The lender finances for railway lines and rolling stock among others and is focusing on renewable energy, power transmission, agriculture, textiles and sugar, he said.A Exim Bank has now in place 236 lines of credit covering 62 countries in Africa , Asia, Latin America and the CIS with credit commitments of aroundA$23 billion, available for financing exports from India. "In terms of exports, we need geographical diversification. There is need to look at other parts of the world. Among fastest economies in the world, 7 are in Africa. In terms of ease of doing business Rwanda and Mauritius fares better than India. Africa looks very promising for us in terms of land area and resources," he said. According to him, at present exports to Africa are around 8 per cent and he wished to see it reach 20 per cent in ten years time.A New Delhi, March 2 : Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was released from Pakistan's custody on Friday, reached Delhi around midnight from Amritsar. An enthusiastic crowd had gathered outside the Palam airport to welcome him. He would be taken straight to Army's Research and Referral Hospital here for thorough medical check up, sources said. Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan Army on February 27 in the Pakistan administered Kashmir after his MiG 21 was hit, and he ejected. He was chased by a mob and later rescued by the Pakistan Army. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Thursday that Abhinandan would be released on Friday without any preconditions as a "gesture of peace". United Nations, March 2 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan and asked both countries to keep up the "positive momentum". A statement issued by his spokesperson's office shortly after Varthaman returned to India said: "We welcome the news of the Pakistani authorities releasing the captive Indian pilot today. The Secretary-General calls on both parties to sustain this positive momentum and engage in further constructive dialogue". Guterres reiterated his offer good offices to facilitate a dialogue should both countries agree. Varthaman was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday after his MiG was shot down and crashed in Pakistani territory during an Indian Air Force operation to repel Pakistani planes intruding into Indian territory. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) Sydneys new underground CBD metro railway stations are taking shape about 25 metres under the centre of the city. The Sydney Metro City & Southwest project is the first new rail line through Sydney since the 1970s and will reduce travel times for commuters across the whole system. Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance today met workers and had the first look at major construction work at the Martin Place Metro Station. Its incredible to see the progress thats been made by machines and workers underground with thousands of pedestrians moving above ground, Berejiklian said. Two roadheader tunnelling machines are working 24-7 to excavate the new Martin Place station, which stretches underground between Hunter Street and Martin Place. This project is really taking shape and when it opens, customers in the heart of Sydneys CBD will be more connected than ever before. Constance said the Martin Place metro platform caverns will be about 220 metres long, 16 metres high and 14 metres wide when fully lined with concrete. Roadheaders and about 95 workers have already excavated more than 166,620 tonnes of crushed rock at Martin Place enough to fill about 26 Olympic swimming pools, he said. They are also digging underground pedestrian connections to the existing Eastern Suburbs Line, making it easier to get around our great city. This once again shows that only the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government will deliver Metro rail across Sydney. When Labor was last in office they announced 12 rail projects. They did not deliver one in full and they are already promising to cancel the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro upgrade. Sydney Metro will deliver a turn-up-and-go train service up to every two minutes to the four train stations being built in the Sydney CBD Martin Place, Pitt Street, Barangaroo and Central. Sydney Metro Northwest is on track to open in the coming months and is at least half a billion dollars under budget. It includes 13 Metro stations and 4000 commuter car parking spaces. Metro rail is being extended from the north west, into the CBD and beyond to Bankstown in 2024, delivering Sydney 31 metro stations and a 66 kilometres standalone metro railway line. Malcolm Gunning, the former president of the Real Estate Institute of NSW and the Real Estate Institute of Australia, will face court next month to answer one charge of being a licensee who contravened the rules of conduct that apply to licensed real estate agents. NSW Fair Trading has commenced legal proceedings against the former REIA President Malcolm Gunning and his wife Alice Gaye Gunning for the conduct of their real estate business Guncom Pty Ltd ACN 105 217 874 (the Company), which is a Surry Hills based commercial property orientated estate agency that operates in Sydney's southern suburbs. Mr Gunning told the ABC that both he and his wife would be "vigorously defending" the court proceedings. Mr Gunning acknowledged that a deficit of as much as $288,000 had appeared in the property management trust fund, but that the money was returned. Mr Gunning said that the problems resulted in significant changes to how the business was run. "The whole property management staff were completely replaced," he said. Mr Gunning faces a potential fine of about $5,000 if convicted, and his case returns to court for a mention on March 7. Mr Gunning and the companys matters are next before the Parramatta Local Court on 7 March 2019. Ms Gunning has been charged with numerous offences including breaching rules of conduct that apply to licensed real estate agents, failing to have trust account records audited and trust account fraud. Ms Gunnings matter is next before the Parramatta Local Court on 21 March 2019. His wife, Alice, faces five charges that relate to her conduct between October 2012 to December 2016 as a director of Guncom, the family company that owned their real estate business, Gunning Real Estate. Fair Trading has accused her of knowingly commissioning a corporate offence by the corporation between October 2012 and June 2016, by fraudulently converting $278,237.29 that was to be held in trust pending completion of transactions, to the use of her corporation. She has been charged with one count each of being an agent making use of service provider not as prescribed, failing to properly supervise persons engaged in business, being a licensee who contravened the rule of conduct, failing to cause trust account records to be audited as required and fraudulently converting more than $5000. Fair Trading alleges Mr Gunning failed to ensure his corporations trust was properly maintained and audited prior to December 2016 and that he failed to read the auditors reports in February 2017 for the financial years 2013-16 and as such failed to know that the account was in deficit. It alleges Mrs Gunning was aware the property management trust account was in deficit since about June 2012. Mr Gunning faces a maximum penalty of $5500 and the case is scheduled for March 7 at Parramatta Local Court. Mrs Gunning faces a maximum of 10 years jail or a fine of $49,500. Her case will be mentioned at the same court on March 21. Their first court attendance notice was last December. Mr Gunning was president of the Real Estate Institute of NSW between 2014 to 2016. He went on to become president of Real Estate Institute of Australia from December 2016 to late 2018. The couple was first put on notice in a compliance blitz by Fair Trading in February last year., Fairfax Media reported. The business was fined $3300. Mr Gunning was reprimanded for breaching the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act. Following the same blitz, Mrs Gunnings licence was cancelled. She was disqualified from holding another for four years. Gunning's principal Malcolm Gunning has over 30 years experience in real estate agency. He told the REB industry website that he was not the licensee at the time. When I was made aware of it, I immediately took back control of the business. "I effected those changes including changing all the staff, worked with Fair Trading to make sure all the systems were in place, he said. None of the clients of Guncom were disadvantaged, Mr Gunning said, as any shortfall was paid back by him. None of our clients were disadvantaged cause any money that at the time was a shortfall was paid back by me, he said. New procedures, new staff, no ones disadvantaged, but we were fined, and now weve got to face not only the press but these other proceedings. Which we are vigorously defending, he said. The Property Industry Foundation (PIF) raised $90,000 for homeless young people via their annual Melbourne Charity Sailing Challenge, with major sponsor Brookfield. A fleet of 37 yachts took over Port Phillip Bay to raise funds for the PIF House Program. The initiative brought together over 400 individuals from the property and construction industry, Australian Olympic sailors Haylee Outteridge, Rio gold medallist Tom Burton and PIF Event Patron John Bertrand, AO, Americas Cup Winning Skipper. 42 per cent of homeless people in Australia are under 25 years old, meaning there are over 44,000 young Australians sleeping on the streets each night. The funds raised will support the national PIF House Program, which builds homes for at risk and homeless young people across NSW, Victoria and Queensland. In these homes, carers and counsellors provide support and mentoring to rebuild young lives. Nationally the PIF House program has delivered 32 bedrooms since 2017, 50 bedrooms are in the pipeline and the aim by 2021 is to have 125 bedrooms completed for homeless youth. Mr Bertrand, AO, is passionate about helping young people who he believes are our future. I have been the event patron for PIFs Melbourne Charity Sailing Challenge for nine years. Each year I come back, I am astounded by the property industrys passion and dedication to helping homeless and at-risk young people." The Chairman of PIF Victoria, Peter Inge OAM, said, "The great part about this industry is that we come together to raise funds and also use our skills to physically build these homes to help young people break the cycle of homelessness, he says. Over the last five years, PIF have invested $10 million into charitable programs, helping to rebuild young lives. ANZ has joined forces with the Property Industry Foundation to combat youth homelessness, with the bank committing to a three-year partnership worth $150,000 to support the Foundations PIF House Program. The Property Industry Foundation works with the property and construction industry to build homes for disadvantaged youth and is set to deliver 125 bedrooms by 2021 under its PIF House Program. ANZs support will contribute to the programs development pipeline of 44 new bedrooms across several states, including an 18-bedroom crisis accommodation in Melbournes CBD, a seven-bedroom house in Orange, NSW and a six-bedroom house in Clayton, Victoria. ANZs head of property, Jason Cannock said: The foundation has played a pivotal role in delivering housing outcomes for at-risk youth over the last two decades. We want to play our part in supporting them, so its important we partner with our clients across the industry to help deliver more transitional housing to those most in need. Kate Mills, Chief Executive Officer, Property Industry Foundation, said ANZs commitment will create a long-term legacy. Homeless young people typically live in these PIF Houses for up to 12 months until they have the skills to live independently, she said. It means each year, ANZs investment will give even more young people a new start. Thats the real value of the contribution. The program has completed construction of 32 bedrooms since 2016, with those rooms located in three PIF Houses where carers and counsellors provide support and mentoring to rebuild young lives. For 20 years, the Property Industry Foundation has used the resources of the property and construction industry to build bedrooms for homeless young people. Companies and people from across the sector in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland donate their time, expertise, resources and money to help reduce youth homelessness. I am thrilled about the opportunity to work with the xCELLigence to continuously monitor tumor cells infected with our fusogenic oncolytic virus. Teresa Krabbe, Ph.D., a student in the working group of Dr. Jennifer Altomonte at Klinikum Rechts der Isar of the Technical University Munich, has been awarded an xCELLigence Research Grant for her proposal to develop adoptive T cell therapy as a complimentary immunotherapeutic for an improved oncolytic virus platform. Oncolytic viruses represent an exciting new aspect in the evolving field of cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Krabbe and colleagues have previously engineered a novel hybrid vector comprising vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV), named rVSV-NDV. This recombinant virus can induce tumor-specific syncytia formation, allowing for efficient cell-to-cell spread of the virus and rapid onset of immunogenic cell death. Furthermore, the toxicity associated with the wildtype VSV has been abrogated through this engineering approach. Nevertheless, as with all oncolytic viruses, the relative inefficiency of systemic delivery of the vector remains a major challenge. To address this issue, Krabbe hypothesized that adoptively transferred T cell receptor transgenic T (TCR-T) cells could be used as cell carriers to deliver the rVSV-NDV viruses and to provide synergistic effector functions. To generate preliminary data to support her hypothesis, she will employ in vitro studies which will be facilitated by the xCELLigence RTCA system. The goals of this study include 1) the characterization of the fusogenic oncolytic rVSV-NDV by impedance monitoring, and 2) the evaluation of an innovative strategy combining VSV-NDV with TCR-T as a delivery vehicle for the virus or using the virus to prime the tumor cells for a more effective T cell therapy. With the xCELLigence RTCA platform, Dr. Krabbe will be able to illustrate the synergistic effect in vitro in real-time. I am thrilled about the opportunity to work with the xCELLigence to continuously monitor tumor cells infected with our fusogenic oncolytic virus. It will greatly improve our ability to track the morphological changes that occur at very early stages of infection, stated Dr. Krabbe. We are working on a combination of our oncolytic virus platform with TCR-T cells and hope to illustrate a synergistic effect in vitro by real time cell analysis with the xCELLigence. In September 2018, we awarded the first xCELLigence Immunotherapy Research grant to a young postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Cancer Center for CAR-T research. We are excited to see Real Time Cell Analysis technology to be applied with the transgenic T Cell receptors in an oncolytic virus platform, stated Dr. Yama Abassi, Vice President of ACEA Biosciences. We are expecting great data from this study, resulting in further collaboration between the Technical University of Munich and ACEA Bioscience. ACEA Biosciences is now accepting applications for the next xCELLigence Research Grant funding period, which is open to all cell analysis applications. For six months, the research grant winner will be provided access to the xCELLigence RTCA DP instrument, consumables, and consultation. Click here to apply. About xCELLigence Real Time Cell Analysis (RTCA) ACEA Biosciences xCELLigence RTCA instruments are being used in both academia and industry for life science applications ranging from cancer immunotherapy, bacterial biofilms, vaccine development and cardiotoxicity testing. With the xCELLigence technology, scientists can non-invasively monitor the behavior of cells by quantifying cell proliferation, morphology change, and attachment quality in a label-free, real-time manner. About ACEA Biosciences, A Part of Agilent Technologies ACEA Biosciences, a part of Agilent Technologies, is a pioneer in the development and commercialization of high-performance cell analysis platforms for life science research. ACEAs xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis instruments and NovoCyte Quanteon flow cytometers are used in pre-clinical drug discovery and development, toxicology, safety pharmacology, and basic academic research. More than 3,000 instruments have been placed globally, and have been used in more than 2,000 peer-reviewed publications. For more information visit: http://www.aceabio.com. Follow on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. About Agilent Technologies Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a global leader in life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. Based on more than 50 years of insight and innovation, Agilent instruments, software, services, solutions, and people provide trusted answers to customers most challenging questions. The company generated revenues of $4.91 billion in fiscal 2018 and employs 14,800 people worldwide. Information about Agilent is available at http://www.agilent.com. To receive the latest Agilent news, subscribe to our Newsroom. Follow Agilent on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Contact: ACEA Biosciences, Inc. Dr. Jeff Xue Phone: 858-299-8023 email: jxue(at)aceabio(dot)com 1TRYBE is about finding value in real people, in face-to-face relationships and in community," said Erika Mull, 1TRYBE Council member. 1TRYBE strives to utilize the technology we love and rely on to connect us in real life in order to make our journey one that we can be proud of. 1TRYBE (http://www.1TRYBE.com) has recruited a nationwide team of millennials that will officially serve as the companys innovative focus group, ensuring that the new App to launch later this year is built by millennials, for millennials. The 1TRYBE Council is charged with providing design and content feedback to help guide the creation of the new AI-driven App being designed for this coveted demographic. The companys founder believes that you must understand and listen to your audience to truly create a product that will enact change across an entire generation. This is why 1TRYBE recruited a group of more than a dozen young adults from across the country to actively engage in the App development process. In exchange for their efforts, the team will be compensated with equity in the company as well as other perks, including paid positions within the organization when it rolls out to markets across the US. We believe in empowering human connection through AI, stated 1TRYBE founder Ed Silansky. 1TRYBE is designed to inspire and engage millennials to take root in their communities. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, 1TRYBE empowers people to live local: see more, do more, and make a difference. We cannot and should not do this without our 1TRYBE Council, they are the heart and soul behind this entire endeavor. We value their insight and input above all else. The 1TRYBE Council is comprised of a team of millennials ages 20-35, all from various backgrounds, ethnicities and geographic locations, and all in different stages of life. From a young Pastor in Los Angeles raising his growing family to a recent Florida graduate seeking to make it on her own,' this groups strength is in its diversity and its mission to give a voice to all millennials. The council has the ability to veto, change or add to the platform when and where they feel necessary. Not only has the council helped to create the App, they all believe in the mission behind the App, and what is developing is truly magical and a business case study in the making. 1TRYBE is about finding value in real people, in face-to-face relationships and in community, helping to shoulder one anothers burdens and share in each others triumphs," said Erika Mull, 1TRYBE Council member. 1TRYBE strives to utilize the technology we love and rely on to connect us in real life in order to make our journey one that we can be proud of. Once the App is launched, it will be clear to all who use it, the power and influence the council has had on this App. The movement to create a happier and safer world is in the hands of the next generation, and creating the 1TRYBE council was imperative to the process. I believe in the power of community, said Sarah Harrington, council member and facilitator. When you know your neighbors, community and networks, you feel connected to where you live. I intend to be a part of the 1TRYBE movement that helps people reconnect to where they live and work and to help recreate a society based around our actual communities. 1TRYBE Council models what it means to be a community. A community with at least one like-minded idea: to create a world they want to be a part of and raise their families in. When you create something powerful and influential, people are bound to gravitate towards it. The 1TRYBE Council is paving the way to a new business model: one focused on doing good and including your TRYBE in the process. About 1TRYBE: Established in 2018, 1TRYBE (http://www.1TRYBE.com) is an innovative online millennial community fostering offline engagement in the communities where they live and work. The companys vision is to empower human connection through AI. Combining patented artificial intelligence technology, psychology and anthropology, 1TRYBE leverages the power of human belonging, rewards relationship building, encourages meaningful community connections and in doing so, makes lives better. The company is comprised of a nationwide 1TRYBE Council -- a community of millennials that is charting a path forward to reclaim their lives -- to make their generation feel more fulfilled, to make lives more meaningful, and to make themselves and their communities happier. The 1TRYBE mission is to enable people to see more, do more, and make a difference. Moon Rise: A Tucker Family Adventure: an exciting journey of faith, is the creation of published authors Bo & Stacia Quick, a married couple inspired to write a fantasy adventure as a fun family project. The Quicks live in Georgia with their two teenaged children. The Quicks write, They were supposed to be on vacation. Instead, Joe and Rachel Tucker and their kids, Valerie and Zack, have suddenly found themselves in a place much farther away. Theyve arrived in a country known as Elaria, a kingdom with ties to a lost world, and the Tuckers are soon embroiled in an old prophecy concerning its salvation. "With help from some new friends, the Tucker family will have to face a myriad of dangers and challengesand some creatures theyve never seen beforeif they want to find a way home. Joe and Rachel and their kids must evade capture and use their wits, their talents, and their faith in the Lord to succeed before time runs out. And on the way, perhaps they can somehow help rid Elaria of the two evil rulers who occupy the throne. Can the Tuckers find their way home before Moon Rise? And can they bring light and hope to a kingdom where darkness reigns? But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 (AKJV) Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Bo & Stacia Quicks new book is an enchanting story about how a quirky, loving Christian family can face even out-of-this-world adventures with humor and resourcefulness, relying on the power of God to bring them through their journey for the sake of His kingdom. View a synopsis of Moon Rise: A Tucker Family Adventure on YouTube. Consumers can purchase Moon Rise: A Tucker Family Adventure at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Moon Rise: A Tucker Family Adventure, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Holiday, FL Team Bright Now! Dental partnered with the Smiles for Everyone Foundation and opened its Holiday office to provide free dental services for over 60 underinsured, low-income individuals. Volunteers across Bright Now! Dental offices in West Florida extended their hearts well beyond Valentines Day at the February 16th Day of Giving. Seven doctors, four hygienists and their dedicated support staff gathered at Bright Now! Dental in Holiday, FL to remind under-served members of their communities just how much they are cared for. Patients were referred to this heartfelt Day of Giving by local nonprofit organizations, such as Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay, Bay Area Youth Services Florida, and The Grow Group, an employment assistance program. Over 60 individuals were on the receiving end of compassion as the Team donated $40,000 in much needed dentistry. Services included checkups, cleanings, oral cancer screenings, fluoride treatments, fillings, extractions, and more. Many of the patients couldn't believe how warmly they were treated during their visits. "I have never been as welcomed into a doctor's office as they made me feel," remarked patient Jacqueline H. "Thank you for your overall kindness!" Another patient, who chose to keep their identity anonymous, agreed with Jacqueline by saying, You all were amazing! You made me so comfortable that I left feeling like family. The Smiles for Everyone Foundation would like to thank the entire Holiday Team, including Dr. Girdsnite Boileau, Dr. Krystelle Duvert, Dr. Alan Hecht, Dr. Alexander Marrero, Dr. Keum Park, Dr. Angel Rivera, and Dr. Hector Rodriguez, for all of their hard work and impeccable care. With the help of the fantastic volunteers, they were able to succeed in delivering Smiles for Everyone! About Bright Now! Dental Bright Now! Dental provides general dentistry, childrens dentistry and, in select locations, specialty care services such as orthodontics, oral surgery, periodontics and endodontics at over 150 offices across Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Bright Now! Dentals Holiday office is operated by Castle 1st Dental Care, P.A., (the Group). The Group is affiliated with Smile Brands Inc., one of the largest providers of business support services to dental groups in the United States. Smile Brands Inc. provides comprehensive business support services through exclusive long-term service agreements with affiliated dental groups, so dentists can spend more time caring for their patients and less time on the administrative, marketing and financial aspects of operating a dental practice. Smile Brands is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors (Gryphon), a leading middle-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit http://www.smilebrands.com. . About the Smiles For Everyone Foundation The Smiles for Everyone Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of delivering smiles for everyone by providing free dental care for those in need, both at home in the U.S. and around the world. Since 2011, the Smiles for Everyone Foundation has delivered over 19,000 smiles and nearly $15 million in donated dentistry. The foundation currently supports programs which provide free dental care to those in need in Cambodia, Ghana, Laos, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Thailand and the United States. For more information or to make a donation, visit http://www.smilesforeveryone.org. Contacts: Bright Now! Dental Jody Martin PR(at)smilebrands.com 714.427.1299 Smiles for Everyone Foundation Crystal Strait crystal.strait(at)smilesforeveryone.org 714.824.5037 Divi Little Bay Beach Resort - pureocean Pool & Bar Theres something for everyone at the new pureocean Pool & Bar. Plenty of pools for the kids to play, a swim-up bar for mom and dad to sip on a much-needed cocktail, a hot tub for those wishing to unwind after a long day of island adventures and a fire pit to sit around while watching the sunset. Divi Little Bay Beach Resort on St. Maarten is making a splash with the grand opening of its brand new pureocean Pool & Bar, an expansive oasis with multiple pools that spill into one another overlooking stunning ocean view, and the completion of all resort upgrades. Theres something for everyone at the new pureocean Pool & Bar, said Marco Galaverna, Divi Resorts President & COO. Plenty of pools for the kids to play, a swim-up bar for mom and dad to sip on a much-needed cocktail, a hot tub for those hoping to unwind after a day of island adventures and a fire pit to sit around while watching the sunset. Named one of The best pools in the Caribbean, 2019 edition by USA Today, this stunning new focal point features soothing waterfalls, a central fire pit, a lively swim-up bar, a large hot tub, comfortable cabanas and seating on several terraces. Our new pool area is like nothing youve ever seen below. Its truly a spectacular spot to soak up the sun and enjoy the terrific turquoise sea in the background, said Anne-Marie, Divi Little Bay Beach Resorts General Manager. Plus, in the evening, the pools illuminate in a magnificent display of color, making it the perfect place to relax day or night. The resort also recently opened two brand new restaurants, pureroc, a unique dining experience featuring an incredible selection of meats, seafood and veggies cooked to perfection on a steaming hot lava rock, and The Shack, a grab and go eatery serving up delicious Caribbean jerk, roti, BBQ and more, as well as completing upgrades to the resorts signature pureocean Restaurant, which now features a refreshed modern look with sleek furniture and contemporary decor, expanded indoor seating and completely revamped menus full of delicious classics and tasty island favorites. For more information on Divi Little Bay Beach Resort, visit http://www.DiviLittleBay.com. For more images of the pureocean Pool & Bar, visit bit.ly/2Xt0qBY. For more images of the new and improved restaurants, visit bit.ly/2BY8h1s. About Divi Resorts Divi Resorts is the vacation expert of the Caribbean, with a collection of eight premium resorts spanning the five stunning Caribbean islands of Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, St. Croix, and St. Maarten. For more information on Divi Resorts, call 1-800-367-3484 or visit http://www.diviresorts.com. Anthony Cuccia, Managing Director of Research & Commercialization Services Our move to retain top talent from the industry positions the company to leverage dramatic changes unfolding in the U.S. healthcare system for the benefit of patients and our customers. eMAX Health Systems, LLC announced that Anthony Cuccia has joined its Senior Leadership Team in February 2019. As Managing Director of Research & Commercialization Services, Mr. Cuccia will be responsible for leading the market access and health economics business units to drive growth, product development, and value optimization for global biotech, diagnostics, and technology clients. Previously, Mr. Cuccia served in various leadership roles in product marketing and business operations at Pfizer and held several positions of increasing responsibility at UnitedHealth Group. He will join key members of eMAX Healths senior leadership team including Julian Casciano, President & Chief Executive Officer, Gary Lebovics, Vice President, Insight & Analytics and Lee Passell, President, eMAX Health Patient Access Center subsidiary. We are thrilled to have Anthony join the leadership team, said Mr. Casciano. His impressive career accomplishments over the last 17 years include broad healthcare experience in commercial positions with biopharmaceutical manufacturers, and in managed care with the last 10 years presiding over key specialty brands at Pfizer. Our move to retain top talent from the industry positions the company to leverage dramatic changes unfolding in the U.S. healthcare system for the benefit of patients and our customers. About eMAX Health eMAX Health Systems, LLC was established in 2004 to provide independent research and innovative pharmaceutical commercialization support across various segments of the global healthcare system. The eMAX Health Market Access and Health Economics business includes global clinicians and researchers skilled in comparative effectiveness research, market access strategy and account pull-through programs to optimize the value of biopharmaceutical products. Its subsidiary, eMAX Health Patient Access Center helps implement medical policy by managed care organizations to improve patient access to needed treatments. eMAX Health offers independent outcomes monitoring, rebate adjudication, and administrative reporting services, bringing competing interests together to improve health outcomes and lower cost. Ryann Richardson, President & Co-Founder, ExecThread We see this moment as a huge opportunity to introduce the ExecThread of the future, one thats focused on championing Diversity and Inclusion among the leadership ranks of Corporate America. ExecThread, Inc., a venture capital-backed professional network of diverse, carefully vetted executives and the largest aggregator of unpublished executive-level career opportunities, announced today that it has crowdsourced over 10,000 hidden executive-level job opportunities, and has added Ryann Richardson as its new President and Co-Founder. Richardson joins ExecThread to lead the transformation of the private executive job sharing platform into a robust member community and diversity talent acquisition tool. Richardson comes to ExecThread after a decade working in the technology, media and communications sector. She was most recently Vice President of North American Marketing for the on-demand private jet marketplace, Victor, where she spearheaded the UK-based brands entry into the US market, and also headed global culture building. Prior to Victor, Richardson led East Coast regional marketing and strategic partnerships at Uber. While at Uber, she was also a founding member of the employee-led Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, a precursor to the companys now robust Global D&I team. Early in her career, Richardson worked on the national expansion of the MetroPCS wireless brand, launching its Mid-Atlantic markets after T-Mobiles acquisition of the prepaid carrier. Ryann joins us at an exciting and pivotal time, said ExecThread Founder and CEO, Joe Meyer. Its rare for an organization to announce a co-founder after its inception, but we see this moment as a huge opportunity to introduce the ExecThread of the future, one thats focused on championing Diversity and Inclusion among the leadership ranks of Corporate America. Ryann brings a proven track record as a strategist and diversity and inclusion leader. We are proud to announce such a strong partner as we continue to drive business results and workplace diversity. I look forward to working alongside Joe and the entire ExecThread team to help shape the future of industry by driving access for talented leaders of diverse backgrounds, and championing inclusion in the highest ranks of the business world. Truly effective organizations are built on a foundation of diverse and intersectional perspectives and our work at ExecThread, helping to inject those diverse perspectives at senior leadership levels, will have a profound business and societal impact. Im delighted to join ExecThread in this transformative period, said Richardson. ExecThread connects a diverse community of professionals with career-advancing jobs that are largely inaccessible via the traditional executive recruiting process. To date ExecThread has crowdsourced over 10,000 hidden executive-level job opportunities, and shared them with more than 33,000 vetted, executive-level members of its curated community. About ExecThread, Inc. Founded in 2015, ExecThread, Inc. is creating the world's most diverse network of executives and leveraging their collective influence to solve pervasive workplace diversity and culture issues from the leadership ranks outward. It works by empowering a member community of over 33,000 distinguished executives - over half of whom are underrepresented leaders - with professional development tools, an active support network, and access to the most sought-after and elusive executive-level career opportunities. Through a unique crowdsourced model, ExecThread has given its member community access to a previously hidden job market. ExecThread also connects employers and recruiters with top candidates, thereby helping to surface the best candidates and reduce time-to-hire. To join the ExecThread community, click here. Contact: Jeanette Brown Email: pr@execthread.com Phone: 718.813.1147 LONDON, February 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- "If I could have chosen to discover just one work among all those that have been lost in history... I would have chosen this one, without hesitation". Such is the conviction and fascination of art expert Eric Turquin for the painting known as the "Toulouse Caravaggio" he has been entrusted to sell by auctioneer Marc Labarbe. thierry Ehrmann: "After five years of research, analysis and polemics, the two men have announced that the owners are happy to let the Art Market decide the value of this exceptional and extraordinarily powerful work for which the French State has finally granted an export visa". A A A A (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/644091/Artprice_Logo.jpg ) A A A A (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/828816/Toulouse_Caravaggio_in_London.jpg ) A A